Toronto Legion: A Brief History (S1-S19)

TheLastOlympian07 · April 9, 2019

The Toronto Legion are one of the only teams in the history of the VHL to not have moved or been rebranded. They are one of the most illustrious franchises in the history of the VHL because well it is Toronto.

Continental Cup

Season 9 Continental Cup Roster
C - Kevin Brooks (C)
C - Mike Szatkowski
LW - Wolfgang Stein
LW - Kered Jones
RW - Branden Snelheid (A)
RW - Dany Ribody
D - Jochen Walser (A)
D - Ilya Kliment
D - Markus Sedin
D - Alex Kachur
G - Alex Gegeny

The Season 9 Continental Cup winning squad had 3 HoFers on the roster with Kevin Brooks and Mike Szatkowski down the middle and Jochen Walser manning the blueline. Branden Snelheid was a very good player in his own right as well and might be a HoFer too but my memory is a bit foggy on that. Alex Gegeny in net is great because he is one of the best in the business at the time even though his career was so short.

Regular Season/Playoff Record

Unfortunately, there are no records which are available to break down the teams for the first 19 Seasons in the VHL for any of the teams which is a crying shame.

Awards

Victory Cup (Best Regular Season Record) - 2 Times

S10 - 61 W | 11 L | 0 OTL | 122 P

S17 - 54 W | 10 L | 8 OTL | 116 P

The Toronto Legion have won 2 Victory Cups in team history averaging 57 wins and 4 OTL's per win for 119 points.

Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy (North American Champions) - 3 times

S9, S10, S16

The Legion have made the finals 3 times in S9 and S10 and then again in S16.

Scotty Campbell Trophy (MVP) - 5 Times

S2 - Christian Stolzschweiger - 72 G | 68 A | 140 P | +53

S7 - Scotty Campbell - 73 G | 73 A | 146 P | +59

S9 - Kevin Brooks - 63 G | 65 A | 128 P | +60

S10 - Kevin Brooks - 61 G | 96 A | 157 P | +104

S17 - Brandon Rush - 56 G | 73 A | 129 P | +70

The Scotty Campbell Trophy has been home to the Toronto Legion 5 times in history. Stolzy was the first to win in S2 when he had a 140 point season. Campbell, the man himself won in S7 with a 146 point season before Brooks owned the trophy in 2 straight seasons in S9 and S10 with a combined 285 points before Brandon Rush shared to trophy in S17 with 129 points.

Brett Slobodzian Trophy (Most Outstanding Player, as voted on by the members) - 1 Time

S17 - Brandon Rush - 21 Votes

Rush is the only winner of the Slobo in the first 19 seasons winning with a 21 votes.

Daisuke Kanou Trophy (Playoff MVP) - 2 Times

S9 - Jochen Walser - 5 G | 12 A | 17 P | +8

S16 - Zak Rawlyk- 8 G | 10 A | 18 P | +4

Kanou Trophy has been home to Toronto twice in S9 when Walser did his best Duncan Keith impersonation and in S16 when Zak put up 18 points.

Mike Szatkowski Trophy (Top Point Scorer) - 4 Times

S7 - Scotty Campbell - 146 Points

S9 - Kevin Brooks - 128 Points

S10 - Kevin Brooks - 157 Points

S17 - Brandon Rush - 129 Points

The Legion have won 4 Szatkowski Trophies with Campbell winning in S7, Brooks with back to back in S9 and S10 and finally Brandon Rush in S17.

Kevin Brooks Trophy (Top Goal Scorer) - 2 Times

S7 - Scotty Campbell - 73 Goals

S9 - Kevin Brooks - 63 Goals

The Brooks Trophy has been home to the Legion on 2 separate occasions with Campbell winning in S7 and the namesake Brooks winning in S9.

Alexander Beketov Trophy (Top Assists) - 2 Times

S10 - Kevin Brooks - 96 Assists

S16 - David Henman - 78 Assists

Kevin Brooks has shown enough to be one of Toronto's best players ever as he won the Beketov Trophy in S10 before Henman won in S16.

Sterling Labatte Trophy (Top Defenseman) - 3 Times

S9 - Jochen Walser - 30 G | 69 A | 99 P | +41 | 89 H | 109 SB

S10 - Jochen Walser - 46 G | 76 A | 122 P | +82 | 93 H | 93 SB

S15 - Alexander Sauve - 35 G | 66 A | 101 P | -10 | 196 H | 175 SB

Unlike their NHL counterparts, the Maple Leafs, the Legion defenders have brought home the Labatte Trophy (VHL Version of Norris Trophy) 3 times. Walser in back to back seasons and Sauve in S15.

Aidan Shaw Trophy (Top Goaltender) - 3 Times

S8 - Alex Gegeny - 48 W | 10 L | 6 OTL | 1.99 G.A.A | .940 SV% | 7 SO

S9 - Alex Gegeny - 51 W | 7 L | 6 OTL | 1.80 G.A.A | .935 SV% | 3 SO

S17 - Tayson Barabash - 50 W | 10 L | 8 OTL | 2.18 G.A.A | .916 SV% | 9 SO

Gegeny's dominance in S8/S9 won him the Shaw with a combined 99 wins in 2 seasons. Barabash came out of no where to post a 50 W season in S17 to win himself a Shaw.

Scott Boulet Trophy (Best Defensive Forward) - 0 Times

N/A

Never in the first 19 seasons did a Legion player win the Scott Boulet Trophy as league's best Defensive Forward.

Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy (Top Rookie) - 4 Times

S2 - Christian Stolzschweiger - 72 G | 68 A | 140 P | +53

S3 - Raymond Funk - 11 G | 50 A | 61 P | 0

S6 - Kevin Brooks - 39 G | 50 A | 89 P | -41

S12 - Geoff Gartner - 45 G | 54 A | 99 P | -19

4 times the Legion have won the Stolzy Trophy including the namesake in S2, the first year it was awarded. Then again in S3 Raymond Funk won the award and just 3 seasons later in S6 Brooks won making it 3 times in 5 seasons the Legion won a Top Rookie Award. In S12, Gartner made it 4 Stolzys in the cabinet.

David Knight Trophy (Top GM) - 1 Time

S9 - Mike Szatkowski

The Knight Trophy has only made its way to Toronto just once in S9 when the Legion won it all. Mike Szatkowski was the winner that season as GM of the Legion.

Grimm Jonsson Trophy (Top Leader) - 2 Times

S9- Jochen Walser

S17 - Zak Rawlyk

The Grimm Jonsson was home to Toronto 2 times as Walser would win it in S9 followed by Zak Rawlyk in S17.

Mikka Virkkunen Trophy (Most Sportsmanlike Player) - 1 Time

S8 - Scotty Campbell

Scotty Campbell is the only winner of the Virkkunen in the first 19 seasons for Toronto.

Trophy Total: 34

The Toronto Legion have won 34 Trophies in the first 19 seasons including 1 Continental Cup and a massive 5 Scotty Campbell Trophies.

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