Calgary Wranglers: A Brief History (S1-S19)

TheLastOlympian07 · February 8, 2019

The Calgary Wranglers were one of the original teams in the VHL and have enjoyed success on multiple occasions. Are they the most successful VHL franchise of all time though? Let's take a look at their history prior to S20 where the indexes let us go back.

VHL Championships - 9

The Calgary Wranglers had won 5 Continental Cups in the VHL's first 19 seasons in Season 2, Season 3, Season 8, Season Season 18 and Season 19. As we can tell the team has 2 back to back championships on their docket with a lone win coming in Season 8. The Calgary Wranglers had won 26.3% of the Continental Cup's in this time period and were a team many wanted to play for.

Season 2 Championship Roster
C - Brad Janssen
LW - Scott Boulet (C)
RW - Brett Slobodzian
RW - Alex Watson
D - Doug Schneider (A)
D - Sterling Labatte (A)
D - Tommy Brown
D - Lucas Smith
G - Joseph Baker

Season 3 Championship Roster
C - Ondrej Skokan
C - Edward Holm
LW - Scott Boulet (C)
LW - Edward Eldred
RW - Brett Slobodzian
RW - Alex Watson
D - Sterling Labatte (A)
D - Doug Schneider (A)
D - Joey Kendrick
D - Tommy Brown
G - Robert Sharpe

Season 8 Championship Roster
C - Edward Holm
C - Robbie Zimmers
C - David Knight
LW - Josh Vestiquan
LW - Miroslav Ladic
RW - Devon Marlow-Marta (A)
RW - Ace Lightning
D - Sterling Labatte (C)
D - Doug Schneider (A)
D - Giddy McFly
D - Pavel Kurakov
G - Max Weinstein

Season 18 Championship Roster
C - Lars Berger (A)
LW - J.D. Stormwall (C)
LW - Jardy Bunclewirth
LW - Matthew Gunnarsson
RW - Mikka Virkkunen
RW - Juha Ikonen
RW - Rhett Gouldhawke
D - Alexander Sauve (A)
D - Hiro Renomitsu
D - Bryton Guerequeta
D - Greg Eagleowski
G - Demetrjusz Dudek

Season 19 Championship Roster
C - Lars Berger (A)
C - Jardy Bunclewirth
LW - J.D. Stormwall (C)
LW - Matthew Gunnarsson
RW - Mikka Virkkunen
RW - Rhett Gouldhawke
D - Alexander Sauve (A)
D - Matt Bailey
D - Ryley Dawson
D - Kristian Asgard
G - Zach Voss

Season 23 Championship Roster
C - Biggie Shakur
C - Jake Steen
LW - Jardy Bunclewirth [A]
LW - Evgeni Fyodorov
RW - Mathias Chouinard [C]
RW - Roman Andreev [A]
D - Dante Terragni
D - Lars Intranquilo
D - Jon Cruze
D - Jeff Dar
G - Joey Clarence

Season 30 Championship Winning Roster
C - Alexander Chershenko [C]
C - Leeroy Jenkins
C - Clark Marcellin
LW - Volodymyr Rybak [A]
RW - Yuri Grigorenko
RW - Nikolai Chershenko
D - Vladimir Boomchenko [A]
D - Ryan Sullivan
D - Klaus Muller
D - Jim Gow
G - Marius Henchoz

Season 44 Championship Roster
C - Tyler Cote [A]
C - Tim TebowGow
LW - Rami Jakobssen
LW - Marcus Hurley [C]
RW - Sachimo Zoidberg
RW - Jackson Miller
RW - Teuvo Ruutu
D - Jaime Hill [A]
D - Nicklas Karlsson
D - Michael Clardy
D - Kerkko Hyvarinen
G - Hans Wingate

Season 62 Championship Roster
C - Jasper Canmore
C - Johannes Vihjalmsson
LW - Oyorra Arroyo
LW - Evan R. Lawson
RW - Keaton Louth
RW - Niko Bogdanovic
D - Mats Johnsson
D - Peter Quill
D - Cayden Saint
D - Jesper Stromberg
G - Norris Stopko

As you can tell, these Wrangler teams were loaded with VHL HoFers including some of the bigger names like Lars Berger, Jardy Buclewirth, J.D Stormwall, Sterling Labatte, Scott Boulet, Brett Slobodzian and Brett Slobodzian. Other great players in their own right (some lesser known HoFers) are Alexander Sauve, Matt Bailey, Zach Voss, Doug Schneider, Devon-Marlow Marta, Robbie Zimmers, Josh Vestiquan, David Knight and Alex Watson.

The Season 23 iteration of the Wranglers had some great players like Bunclewirth and Mathias Chouinard (who is fisted anally by a circus monkey from the HoF btw) and Dante Terragni on defense. Joey Clarence on the back end has been great the past two seasons.

Regular Season Record/Playoff Record

Record (after S20): 792 GP | 310 W | 437 L | 45 OTL | 665 P | 2,218 GF | 3,031 GA

Season 20 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 17 W | 52 L | 3 OTL | 37 P | 306 GF | 481 GA

Season 21 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 25 W | 44 L | 3 OTL | 53 P | 250 GF | 298 GA

Season 22 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 44 W | 20 L | 8 OTL | 96 P | 241 GF | 192 GA

Season 23 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 46 W | 22 L | 4 OTL | 96 P | 230 GF | 158 GA

Season 24 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 20 W | 47 L | 5 OTL | 45 P | 121 GF | 271 GA

Season 25 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 10 W | 61 L | 1 OTL | 21 P | 133 GF | 348 GA

Season 26 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 10 W | 61 L | 1 OTL | 21 P | 143 GF | 371 GA

Season 27 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 11 W | 56 L | 5 OTL | 27 P | 160 GF | 394 GA

Season 28 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 46 W | 23 L | 3 OTL | 95 P | 239 GF | 182 GA

Season 29 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 36 W | 30 L | 6 OTL | 78 P | 184 GF | 172 GA

Season 30 Regular Season Record: 72 GP | 45 W | 21 L | 6 OTL | 96 P | 211 GF | 164 GA

Record (after Season 20): 37 GP | 22 W | 12 L | 3 OTL | 1-1 vs Toronto Legion, 1-1 Seattle Bears, 1-0 vs Helsinki Titans, 1-0 vs HC Davos Dynamo

Season 22 Playoffs - 7 GP | 3 W | 4 L | 0 OTL | lost to Toronto Legion

Season 23 Playoffs - 12 GP | 8 W | 3 L | 1 OTL | beat Toronto Legion, beat Helsinki Titans

Season 28 Playoffs - 3 W | 3 L | 1 OTL | lost to Seattle Bears

Season 30 Playoffs - 11 GP | 8 W | 2 L | 1 OTL | beat HC Davos Dynamo, beat Seattle Bears

Awards

Victory Cup (Best Regular Season Record) - 9 Times

Season 1 - 69-3-0 (138 Points)

Season 3 - 61-6-5 (127 Points)

Season 8 - 57-12-3 (117 Points)

Season 9 - 56-12-4 (116 Points)

Season 19 - 56-14-2 (114 Points)

Season 31 - 59-8-5 (123 Points)

Season 51 - 64-4-4 (132 Points)

Season 61 - (109 Points)

Season 62 - (123 Points)

The Wranglers won 5 of the 19 Victory Cup's in the VHL with probably something that won't ever be beat and that is the 69-3 season they had in S1. Overall, the Wranglers were always one of the top teams in the league for the most part always being in contention for the Victory Cup.

Devon Marlow-Marta Award (Western Conference Champions) - 13 Times

S1, S2, S3, S6, S7, S8, S18, S19, S23, S34, S44, S45, S46

The Calgary Wranglers won the west 8 times in 19 season including 6 times in the first 8 seasons. The Wranglers to put it kindly, owned the VHL in the early decade. With a S23 win, the Wranglers bump up to 9 time finalist for the Continental Cup.

Scotty Campbell Award (MVP) - 9 Times

Season 1 - Brett Slobodzian - 72 GP | 79 G | 92 A | 171 P | +103

Season 3 - Brett Slobodzian - 72 GP | 76 G | 78 A | 154 P | +103

Season 6 - Scott Boulet - 72 GP | 65 G | 74 A | 139 P | +65

Season 18 - Mikka Virkkunen - 72 GP | 65 G | 82 A | 147 P | +65

Season 19 - Jardy Bunclewirth - 72 GP | 45 G | 75 A | 120 P | +44

Season 31 - Volodymyr Rybak - 72 GP | 66 G | 81 A | 147 P | +74

Season 33 - Jarvis Baldwin - 72 GP | 68 G | 70 A | 138 P | +70

Season 34 - Alexander Chershenko - 72 GP | 55 G | 70 A | 125 P | +69 (nice)

Season 35 - Michal Wozniak - 72 GP | 72 G | 82 A | 154 P | +75

The Scotty Campbell Award has been awarded to the Calgary Franchise 5 times in the first 19 seasons with Brett Slobodzian taking the award twice with a 155 G, 170 A for 325 P in just 144 games. The Wranglers MVP winners lowest totals were in S19 with Bunclewirth who had 120 P and a +44 which would be career highs for anyone in todays VHL, this is basically what Bunclewirth averaged in his career in the old high scoring ways of the VHL.

Brett Slobodzian Award (Most Outstanding Player, as voted on by the members) - 7 Times

Season 18 - Mikka Virkkunen - 25 Votes

Season 19 - Jardy Bunclewirth - 16 votes

Season 31 - Alexander Chershenko - 15 Votes

Season 33 - Jarvis Baldwin - 19 Votes

Season 34 - Alexander Chershenko - 14 Votes

Season 35 - Michal Wozniak - 35 Votes

Season 61 - Norris Stropko - 15 Votes

The Slobodzian award wasn't awarded until S11 so to have 2 players win in 9 seasons, is pretty impressive.

Daisuke Kanou Award (Playoff MVP) - 13 Times

Season 2 - Brett Slobodzian - 13 G | 12 A | 25 P | +3

Season 6 - Sterling Labatte - 5 G | 14 A | 19 P | +4

Season 8 - Sterling Labatte - 7 G | 8 A | 15 P | +6

Season 18 - J.D Stormwall - 9 G | 7 A | 16 P | +4

Season 19 - Zach Voss - 8 W | 1 L | 0 OTL | 2.12 G.A.A | 0.932 SV%

Season 23 - Mathias Chouinard - 9 G | 10 A | 19 P | +9

Season 30 - Alexander Chershenko - 9 G | 8 A | 17 P | +4

Season 34 - Alexander Chershenko - 18 G | 18 A | 36 P | +2

Season 44 - Tyler Cote - 8 G | 23 A | 31 P | +22

Season 45 - Hans Wingate - 11 W | 5 L | 0 OTL | 1.94 G.A.A | 0.936 SV%

Season 46 - Milos Denis - 10 G | 12 A | 22 P | +16

Season 62 - Keaton Louth - 7 G | 11 A | 18 P | +10

Season 63 - Norris Stropko - 6 W | 4 L | 2 OTL | 2.50 G.A.A | 0.938 SV%

Again, we start to notice a trend as 5 times a Wrangler player won a award. This time the Kanou as playoff MVP was won on 5 different occasions with defenseman Sterling Labatte taking the award in S6 and S8. Slobodzian had himself a playoff with 25 points in what memory serves me correct was like 12 games. Mathias Chouinard adds to his impressive legacy with a S23 Kanou Trophy with 9 goals and 19 points.

Mike Szatkowski Award (Top Point Scorer) - 11 Times

Season 1 - Brett Slobodzian - 171 P

Season 3 - Brett Slobodzian - 153 P

Season 18 - Mikka Virkkunen - 147 P

Season 19 - Jardy Bunclewirth - 120 P

Season 21 - Jardy Bunclewirth - 136 P

Season 24 - Mathias Chouinard - 124 P

Season 31 - Volodymyr Rybak - 147 P

Season 33 - Jarvis Baldwin - 138 P

Season 34 - Alexander Chershenko - 125 P

Season 35 - Michal Wozniak - 154 P

Season 51 - Aleksi Koponen - 135 P

S-s-s-streak broken. This time only 4 Wranglers won the Szatkowski with Slobodzian claiming 50% of them. We see the gradual climb of better players all around as the high scoring early days compared to the scoring we have no as the gradual decline of leading point scorers in Calgary history.

Kevin Brooks Award (Top Goal Scorer) - 10 Times

Season 1 - Brett Slobodzian - 79 Goals

Season 3 - Brett Slobodzian - 76 Goals

Season 12 - Matt Bentz - 61 Goals

Season 18 - Mikka Virkkunen - 65 Goals

Season 29 - Alexander Chershenko - 49 Goals

Season 31 - Alexander Chershenko | Volodymyr Rybak - 66 Goals

Season 33 - Jarvis Baldwin - 68 Goals

Season 34 - Alexander Chershenko - 55 Goals

Season 35 - Michal Wozniak - 72 Goals

Season 45 - Bismarck Koenig - 53 Goals

New streak? We have 4 player again win the Brooks Award for Top Goal Scorer. The greatness of Brett Slobodzian continues to shine as he scored 79 and 76 goals to claim 50% of the awards won in this category. Bentz is the 'lowest' entry with 61 goals while Mikka contributes with his 65.

Alexander Beketov Award (Top Assists) - 10 Times

Season 1 - Brett Slobodzian - 92 Assists

Season 3 - Brett Slobodzian - 78 Assists

Season 5 - Joey Kendrick - 112 Assists

Season 19 - Matt Bailey - 88 Assists

Season 29 - Vladimir Boomchenko - 79 Assists

Season 31 - Ryan Sullivan - 101 Assists

Season 33 - Clark Marcellin - 88 Assists

Season 35 - Clark Marellin - 96 Assists

Season 51 - Black Velvet - 98 Assists

Season 62 - Jasper Canmore - 96 Assists

The Wranglers claimed 3 of the first 5 Beketov's before not winning one all the way until S19. Once more, Slobo wins 2 of the 4 but Joey Kendrick comes in with 112 which might still be a team record.

Sterling Labatte Award (Top Defenseman) - 14 Times

Season 1 - Sterling Labatte - 16 G | 86 A | 102 P | +93 | 77 H | 93 SB

Season 5 - Joey Kendrick - 22 G | 112 A | 134 P | +67 | 35 H | 113 SB

Season 7 - Sterling Labatte - 32 G | 71 A | 103 P | +41 | 101 H | 129 SB

Season 8 - Sterling Labatte - 32 G | 82 A | 114 P | +67 | 74 H | 123 SB

Season 15 - Alexander Sauve - 35 G | 66 A | 101 P | -10 | 196 H | 175 SB

Season 19 - Matt Bailey - 29 G | 88 A | 117 P | +31 | 169 H | 159 SB

Season 22 - Dante Terragni - 20 G | 59 A | 79 P | +32 | 211 H | 139 SB

Season 24 - Dante Terragni - 20 G | 62 A | 82 P | +27 | 143 H | 151 SB

Season 31 - Ryan Sullivan - 20 G | 101 A | 121 P | +74 | 194 H | 127 SB

Season 35 - Clark Marcellin - 21 G | 96 A | 117 P | +48 | 277 H | 182 SB

Season 38 - Godavari Yumalatopinto - 31 G | 63 A | 94 P | -26 | 385 H | 215 SB

Season 51 - Black Velvet - 23 G | 98 A | 121 P | +92 | 221 H | 95 SB

Season 52 - Black Velvet - 21 G | 65 A | 86 P | +60 | 186 H | 83 SB

Season 63 - Mats Johnsson - 25 G | 70 A | 95 P | +61 | 285 H | 123 SB

Well when the Award is named after the player, you will find out that Labatte spent his whole 9 season career in Calgary. Yes 9 season, he was apart of the S1 Supplemental Draft which had players who didn't declare for the Entry Draft in time. Supplemental players were able to play in S1 and have it not count as a season played against the 8 season rule. Labatte won 3 of the 6 Labatte's that the Wranglers won over this time. Well 5 1/2 since Sauve counts as a 1/2 as he was traded by Calgary during the season.

Alexander Valiq Award (Top Offensive Defenseman) - 1 Time

Season 61 - Mats Johnsson - 25 G | 70 A | 95 P | +51

Jake Wylde Award (Top Defensive Defenseman) - 2 Times

Season 62 - Mats Johnsson - 24 G | 89 A | 113 P | +68 | 223 H | 150 SB

Season 63 - Mats Johnsson - 25 G | 70 A | 95 P | +61 | 285 H | 123 SB

Aidan Shaw Award (Top Goaltender) - 7 Times

Season 7 - Adrian McCreath - 44 W | 20 L | 6 OTL | 2.53 G.A.A | 0.935 SV% | 3 SO

Season 19 - Zach Voss - 50 W | 12 L | 2 OTL | 2.28 G.A.A | 0.919 SV% | 6 SO

Season 30 - Marius Henchoz - 40 W | 19 L | 5 OTL | 1.93 G.A.A | 0.921 SV% | 8 SO

Season 44 - Hans Wingate - 40 W | 18 L | 6 OTL | 2.07 G.A.A | 0.923 SV% | 7 SO

Season 46 - Hans Wingate - 49 W | 20 L | 3 OTL | 2.05 G.A.A | 0.923 SV% | 11 SO

Season 61 - Norris Stopko - 49 W | 14 L | 1 OTL | 1.64 G.A.A | 0.932 SV% | 14 SO

Season 62 - Norris Stopko - 55 W | 6 L | 3 OTL | 1.83 G.A.A | 0.928 SV% | 9 SO

Amazing that throughout the first 19 seasons, only Zach Voss won the Award.

Scott Boulet Award (Best Defensive Forward) - 7 Times

Season 1 - Scott Boulet - 53 G | 79 A | 132 P | +107 | 132 H | 7 SB

Season 2 - Scott Boulet - 60 G | 59 A | 119 P | +63 | 133 H | 23 SB

Season 5 - Scott Boulet - 57 G | 73 A | 130 P | +64 | 134 H | 36 SB

Season 6 - Scott Boulet - 65 G | 74 A | 139 P | +65 | 134 H | 50 SB

Season 18 - J.D Stormwall - 61 G | 63 A | 124 P | +57 | 314 H | 44 SB

Season 19 - J.D Stormwall - 48 G | 53 A | 101 P | +48 | 283 H | 37 SB

Season 35 - Voloymyr Rybak - 64 G | 73 A | 137 P | +62 | 260 H | 65 SB

The Wranglers won 6 of the first 19 Boulet awards with the namesake winning 4. Stormwall winning in back to back seasons is equally incredible.

Christian Stolzschweiger Award (Top Rookie) - 8 Times

Season 9 - Matt Bentz - 29 G | 56 A | 85 P | +28

Season 11 - Leander Kaelin - 30 G | 52 A | 82 P | -15

Season 17 - Matthew Gunnarsson - 38 G | 63 A | 101 P | +34

Season 18 - Jardy Bunclewirth - 54 G | 78 A | 132 P | +60

Season 21 - Jon Cruze - 21 G | 63 A | 84 P | -9

Season 22 - Evgeny Fyodorov - 44 G | 47 A | 91 P | +24

Season 29 - Ryan Sullivan - 19 G | 55 A | 74 P | +27

Season 38 - Travis Boychuk - 35 G | 68 A | 103 P | -1

The Wranglers as a team won 4 Stolzy awards with Bentz and Bunclewirth being the names that standout.

Dustin Funk Award (Most Improved) - 8 Times

Season 29 - Vladimir Boomchenko

Season 31 - Ryan Sullivan

Season 35 - Michal Wozniak

Season 38 - Godavari Yumalatopinto

Season 46 - Tim TebowGow

Season 51 - Tyson Kohler

Season 59 - Jasper Canmore

Season 61 - Norris Stopko

David Knight Award (Top GM) - 10 Times

Season 2 - Brett Slobodzian

Season 7 - Scott Boulet

Season 18 - Matt Bentz

Season 19 - Matt Bentz

Season 23 - Jardy Bunclewirth

Season 28 - Jason Glasser

Season 30 - Jason Glasser

Season 34 - Jason Glasser

Season 44 - Austin Gow

Season 57 - Austin Gow

The David Knight Trophy was won by 3 different men on 4 occasions. Bentz winning back to back Continental Cups in S18 and 19 has him as the only back to back winner in team history but with the way some of these Wrangler teams were built, you have to wonder why they only won 4 in 19 seasons especially in the first decade. Jardy adds his name to the list of Calgary GM's to win the Knight Trophy with his Wranglers winning the S23 Continental Cup.

Grimm Jonsson Award (Top Leader) - 4 Times

Season 6 - Sterling Labatte

Season 7 - Sterling Labatte

Season 16 - Demetrjusz Dudek

Season 23 - Jardy Bunclewirth

Not surprising to see Sterling win 2 of the but surprising to see Dudek win the award in S16 as top leader as I don't remember his username. I have a feeling it is Fernando but we won't speak much about him. Jardy also adds his a Grimm to his Award cabinet with the S23 version of the trophy.

Mikka Virkkunen Award (Most Sportsmanlike Player) - 8 Times

Season 3 - Brett Slobodzian

Season 4 - Alex Watson

Season 6 - Devon Marlow-Marta

Season 16 - Mikka Virkkunen

Season 17 - Mikka Virkkunen

Season 19 - Mikka Virkkunen

Season 31 - Yuri Grigorenko

Season 32 - Yuri Grigorenko

Finally, everyone's fav award, the Top Pussy award. The name sake won 3 of the 6 in a 4 season span but also 3 Wranglers from S3 to S6 won the award as well giving the Wranglers 6 Virkkunens.

Trophy Total: 160

The Wranglers have won each of these award 71 times over the course of 19 seasons which is a average of 3.73 awards per season for the Wranglers.

I wish I can break this down further but this is what we got for now. This was all used with the Portal and I got what I could from it. Hope you enjoyed a quik history lesson.

claiming for just 1 week as the meaningful writing on this piece is around 500 words.

Calgary Wranglers Season 20

Calgary Wranglers Season 21

Calgary Wranglers Season 22

Calgary Wranglers Season 23

Calgary Wranglers Season 24

Calgary Wranglers Season 25

Calgary Wranglers Season 26

Calgary Wranglers Season 27

Calgary Wranglers Season 28

Calgary Wranglers Season 29

Calgary Wranglers Season 30