Historical Significance

[Victor 10,565]

VHL Offside Editorial
WRITTEN BY VICTOR
 
Weekly article looking at a recent event, player, or achievement and putting into VHL historical perspective.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Molholt

[Victor 10,565]

My time on the Mag Editorial didn't quite work out as I planned so I've decided to jump back into my comfort zone with some VHL history. Instead of bombarding you all with historical facts however, I've proposed a new column entitled “Historical Significance” where I will try to pick a recent event or achievement every week and put it into perspective in VHL history.

The inaugural edition of this column will be looking at Kimmo Salo, the recently-drafted new franchise Helsinki Titans goaltender. In fact, that's a false advertisement as Salo won't be mentioned much from here on out. What struck me as interesting at the recent VHL draft was that Salo, a Finnish goalie, was drafting by our Finnish team: the Titans. In fact, the recently traded Tuomas Tukio, Helsinki's go-to guy (or at least when HEL G was unavailable) for six seasons, was also a Finn, though Salo took it a step further by being born in Helsinki too. Another Helsinki-born netminder once played for Helsinki in Season 16, that was my own first-gen Vase Trikamaki in his final year in the VHL.

So, three Finns and two born in Helsinki have worn Titan teal (it's cornflower blue really). My thought process must be easy to follow now, as I simply went and looked at the other active or at least notable goaltenders in Titan history.

S1-S5: Maxim Desny (Russian)

S6-S11: Dominik Stryker (German)

S12-S15: Izaak Muller (Swiss)

S19-S24: Jakob Kjeldsen (Danish)

S25-S28: Claudio Martucci (Italian)

S29-S30: Pekka Svenson (Swedish)

You'll notice a gap between Trikamaki (S16) and Kjeldsen (S19) which was filled by some scrubs like Jimmy Ryan and Erich Schomann, at least one of whom was European. This brings me to the key point of my findings: every goalie of note in Titans history was European. Three Finns, two more Scandinavians, and a whole host of other nationalities but not a single North American. Are they the only such franchise? Quite probably so as I can think of at least one Canadian or American for every other franchise including Cologne and Quebec. Is this significant? Not really but you have to admit it's fairly cool.

That should be the essence of this column, however long it may last. Statistics will likely come into play sooner or later and some findings will be more pride-enticing than others. Kimmo Salo can in the meantime pride himself on being a reason for one of my articles, the starter of a trend, and a new addition to a Helsinki production line of great European goaltenders. In terms of goaltending, the Titans are historically renowned for consistently strong performers, including cup-winners, Tretiak Trophy winners, and even playoff MVPs. In any case, that's sufficient rambling now, until next week, this has been “Historical Significance”.

[Victor 10,565]

183: Taylor Eyeing A Record

In the VHL League Discussion subforum in Into the Stands, there is a variety of pinned threads containing all sorts of information. One of them is called All-Time Captains and while I do not know if it makes for popular viewing among VHL members, I do know that it is updated at the start of every season with each team's captain for that season.

As you may have guessed, this week's historical tidbit will be centered on team captaincy and in particular some of the longest-serving captains in VHL history. In the so-called “real world”, it is rare for players to captain more than one team in a lifetime but over here in the VHL it's not an uncommon sight, even among those who served their teams against all rivals for the majority of their career. As a result, even such a handy-ish list as the one provided in the aforementioned forum makes for some confusing reading so please find below the longest-serving captains of all-time:

Olivier Scarlett: 6 seasons in Riga, 1 in Toronto (S19-S24, S25)

Alex Sclafani: 6 seasons in Vasteras (S9-S14)

Jack O'Riley: 3 seasons in Avangard/Davos, 3 in New York (S9-S11, S12-S14)

R.J. Stafford: 6 seasons in Vasteras (S21-S26)

Miles Larsson: 5 seasons in Riga, 1 in Quebec (S29-S31, S33-S34, S35)

You may note that no player has served as their team's captain for more than six seasons while just one, TPE whore defenceman and 3-time Top Leader Olivier Scarlett (winner of little else) managed to push his overall count to seven. As you can also see, the bizarre scenarios I described above are in full view as Riga lifers Scarlett and Larsson secured captaincy in their lone, retiring seasons as rentals with completely new teams, while Jack O'Riley spent his whole six-season career as captain, despite playing for two very different franchises (winning a Continental Cup with each no less).

That's not all of course. These tedious facts are nice and all, but crucially a new contender has arisen though with time running out. Cologne's Kameron Taylor has been an Express (a train?) for his whole career and their full existence and after letting veteran blue-liner Radislav Mjers wear the C in their inaugural season, Taylor has been the leader for now six seasons. Indeed, he was purposefully left off the list to drum up some fake tension in this article.

As you may be well aware, Season 38 will be Kameron Taylor's last in the VHL. Much like Scarlett in his heyday, Taylor has amassed a lot of TPE and delivered strong performances with an oft-underwhelming supporting cast, but could get recognition (alongside his own Grimm Jonsson Trophies as top leader) for becoming the first ever 7-season captain of a single franchise. This would in all likelihood be ranked higher than Scarlett's achievement and there is no reason for Cologne management to deny Taylor the honour – unless of course, they trade him before his retirement. Scarlett and Stafford were both denied the opportunity and became rentals for rebuilding teams and this adds a subplot to any Taylor trade rumours. In any case, Taylor is aiming for a record and we shall see if Cologne personified will be an 8-season Cologne man.

[STZ 5,288]

FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY

[Victor 10,565]

184: Being Frank

Amidst an exciting off-season prior to this current, yet again fascinating, Season 37, three GM changes were made. They were fairly important changes, with some of the longest-tenured GMs around the league stepping down from their duties but while the shifts at Helsinki and Cologne garnered significant attention as new, first-gen members gained positions of considerable respect in the VHL, the Quebec City Meute's GM change went virtually unnoticed.

This was rather strange given that Pavel Koradek, like Joey Kendrick, had been the founder and only GM of an expansion team. In their different ways, both franchises have experienced early success, but in terms of trophies won, there is no denying the Meute have been superior to the Express. In fact, even Mitch Higgins' Titans were at times inferior to Quebec over this past generation. So, what was the reason for this under-the-radar announcement? Was it because Koradek has never been as vocal a member of the VHL community? Was there some hidden animosity towards him for being successful in signing free agents? Was Quebec's stable situation of less interest than the potential on-ice change incoming for Helsinki and Cologne? Or was it the relative unknown factor that is new GM Frank Chadwick.

Frank has been in the VHL longer than I would say at least half its actives. He created a Hall of Famer with his first-gen defenceman Adam Schultz and won cups with career Wrangler goalie Marius Henchoz and now Doug Clifford. The activity may have slightly withered since Schultz's retirement and Frank has never been one to earn ridiculous amounts of TPE, but a strong track record is there and crucially, he has already been GM previously. In fact, his track record in an oft overlooked stint as GM of the HC Davos Dynamo reads quite impressively:

Season 24: Continental Cup champions

Season 25: Continental Cup champions

Season 26: Last place in the VHL

An interesting tenure no doubt, somewhat the reverse of this current Davos era. In fact, that last place in his final season in charge was part of setting up a Dynamo dynasty in a way similar to the team since Season 35, as in the Season 27 draft Frank managed to accumulate four first-round picks (out of eight) and an additional two top 12 selections. The result? Playoffs for four consecutive seasons capped off with a championship in Season 31.

Sadly, Frank never got much credit for that nor did he for the back-to-back championships, remarkably losing out on Top GM to New York's Sam Helberg both seasons, whose team was ousted in the first round in S24 and by Davos in the final of S25. This, despite breathing life back into a dynasty considered on the verge of ending after a disappointing first-round exit in Season 23, and adding two cups to its Season 20 victory to make the Dynamo one of the greatest teams in VHL history.

Knowing the focus of this article, some of you may be realising the correlation, not just between GMs, but also between the situations in S24 Davos and now S37 Quebec. Ageing squads near the cap ceiling, one of which re-wrote VHL history and another is trying its best to do the same. Of course, there is no Daisuke Kanou, at least because Tuomas Tukio has replaced Skylar Rift, but both Quebec netminders have performed admirably and Tukio is on pace for a career season. It's also unlikely that these Meute feature six future Hall of Famers as S24 Davos did. However, there is the small matter of having four forwards and three defencemen, much like the severely under-rated (in the pre-season anyway) S25 Davos. Frank was questioned then for trading the younger Pavel Koradek and Claudio Martucci (and it was a mistake in the long run) and this season for swapping Roberto Martucci for Gregory Glass, but history shows that Frank's inexplicable decisions can pay off. This is why more attention should have been paid to his appointment.

[Victor 10,565]

185: A Game of VHL

Winter is coming but in the meantime a new season is upon us though it's actually at around the trade deadline of this book. It would seem the Cologne Direwolves are the first to take a hit as ruthless GM Walder Schneider-Frey and David “Roose” Collier are preparing to deliver (as of writing) a horrific stab in the back of fan favourites Catelyn Taylor and Robb Spurk. In case you haven't noticed, this isn't Historical Significance but rather a tribute to the return of Game of Thrones and an attempt to liken the current VHL season to the end of season 3/start of season 4.

Over in the easternmost part of Vasteros, Ser/Lord (delete as appropriate) Davos Seaworth prepares to accompany rebel/righful heir (delete as appropriate) Jardy Baratheon and the clinically insane red Lady MÉTISandre on a quest to stop the threat from the North. Whether that involves combating Mance Corcoran or, even worse, the White Riggers remains to be seen, but recent sims suggest it won't be an easy fight for Davos and his “friends”. On the bright side, last season marked the end for Lord Commander Higgins with Samwell Tarly (S.T.(Z)) taking over, though he appears to be too busy on #BabyWatch2014 to take much notice of the goings-on this season.

Political intrigue is the name of the game in the west and there are now literally too many names to keep track. While Tywin Edgar aims to consolidate his position on the throne, he is undermined by the fall from grace of Ser Remy “Le Pretty” Lannister, aka the Forwardslayer, whose past deeds stand for little when he isn't making the same saves as he did in the past, what with losing one of his hands. Ser Remy can consider himself fortunate to not be Greyjoy Harbinson, who would probably give up his hand if it meant retrieving one of his other, erm, limbs. Alas, what's done is done and with past mistakes, the team from the sea(ttle) will hope that giving up an arm and a leg (and, y'know) before this season will pay off and they will get some consistency and be a bit less dysfunctional as rival houses are getting away.

Speaking of whom, how about the new (York) power on this fantasy scenery? It's around here that I ran out of puns to relate the two awesome things abbreviated as GoT and VHL, but hey, we're all allowed to have bad weeks, right? It was good up until this point too, I hope. Plus, who cares about all these politics and back stabbing when it all comes down to who has the most dragons and/or draft picks? At least, that's the way it should be but expect the unexpected in this universe.

I would like to close out this article by saying that there was very little in terms of ideas this week for me but I will be back with some semi-interesting facts and tidbits in the next edition of the VHL Mag. One of my considerations for the week's article was to mention the lack of trade activity this season but given that there are rumours of a big move at the deadline, I would risk looking foolish in dedicating that article to that (he says, having dedicated half an article to something less relevant before running out of inspiration). But to those intrigued by what I could write and/or those still reading this article for lack of better things to do, I can reveal that the only other tradeless season was Season 17, which was won by Seattle who beat Toronto and Riga, who has beat Madrid (now Vasteras). Bad news for Davos, Quebec and New York I guess?

[Victor 10,565]

186: T for Tremblay

A fairly recent addition to the Season 38 VHL Entry Draft class was Steve Tremblay, a player created by a player agent with a fairly prolific history in the league, although largely forgotten by this juncture. In fact, this Tremblay caused some confusion among the league's veterans who mistook him for Danny Tremblay, who also attempted a comeback to the league with defenceman Dan Tremblay, now of the Riga Reign. Steve Tremblay's agent actually made his name before making a player named Tremblay (the largely forgotten Pierre-Marc Tremblay), having created forward Guillaume Latendresse in the league first decade before following him up with legendary Seattle Bears goaltender Steve LaFramboise, whose single season shutouts record from Season 11 stood until the arrival of another Bear in CAL G in Season 27.

Confused yet? It's OK, I'm here to help. Please find located below a list of all five (!) Tremblays in VHL history:

D Danny Tremblay (S1-S8)

C Pierre-Marc Tremblay (S15-S22)

D Dan Tremblay (S35-present)

LW Simon Tremblay (S35-present)

LW Steve Tremblay (a S38 draftee)

There are two pairs of Tremblays on this list which come from the same player agency. Danny and Dan are the first pair, both defencemen from former Seattle Bears GM Danny Tremblay. This Tremblay was a big name in the very early days of the VHL, not the greatest defenceman, but an important one for the Seattle Bears dynasty which won three Victory Cups (S4-S6) and two Continental Cups (S4-S5). Tremblay was also the team's captain from S2 to S6 and its GM from S2 to S4, orchestrating the Scotty Campbell trade from Vasteras and making numerous other great trades and draft picks. After winning a third Continental Cup with the Avangard Havoc in S7, Tremblay retired alongside Campbell with the Toronto Legion and his next career (S9 draftee Mikhail Sevastiyanov) never really took off. Nonetheless, the return of the legendary Tremblay (though he was confused with Pierre-Marc initially) was reason for excitement among the VHL's veterans. Dan Tremblay was drafted in the late second round of the great S33 draft, took some time to get to the VHL and his activity stalled. He was ultimately traded to Riga from Toronto as a cap dump where he remains a depth defenceman to this day.

As implied, Pierre-Marc and Steve are the other related pair of Tremblays. In a horrifyingly terrible S15 VHL draft in the dark days of the league, Pierre-Marc Tremblay was the fourth overall pick, selected by the struggling Calgary Wranglers. His activity seemed to be waning after LaFramboise's great career, who was prossibly snubbed from a Hall of Fame induction, and he created some drama by requesting a trade from Calgary when the team was finally on the up and was involved in a trade deadline three-way trade with Riga and New York orchestrated by yours truly (New York GM at the time, for the sake of having a three-way trade) and became an American. He would leave New York in his last moment of activity and sign with Davos in free agency, where he watched Calgary win back-to-back championships before being discarded by the Dynamo in S20, when they won a cup of their own. Pierre-Marc Tremblay became a journeyman, playing for tanking teams for the rest of his careers, with his one claim to fame being constantly confused with Danny Tremblay (which also made some believe Danny Tremblay and Steve LaFramboise were the same agent's players). Now, this Tremblay is back and looks set for LaFramboise or Danny Tremblay levels of activity, and hopefully won't flop like Dan Tremblay.

Of course that's not it as Simon Tremblay exists in the league as well. This is Meg's player and may well be her best, which says very little, but Simon was a first-round pick in Season 34 and after stops in Cologne and Calgary is now plying his (her?) trade in New York. Simon Tremblay is completely not related to Danny, Dan, Pierre-Marc, or Steve, but is rather named after the VHL's sim engine, STHS (Simon T (T for Tremblay) Hockey Simulator). Perhaps that is the most useful piece of information to take from this article.

[Victor 10,565]

187: Other Common Names

Last week, I profiled five Tremblays in VHL history, in an article which likely made things as confusing as they were before people even found out there had been so many Tremblays in the league. I am now following up that article with a look at two other common last names in the VHL, something not really relevant to today's VHL but relevant to last week's mag article (in fact, I wrote these articles in the same day before I left the league for a fortnight, so mag writers could read this long before the rest of the league).

Now that I have made everyone jealous of VHL mag writers, I can now reveal the two most common last names in VHL history. There are five of both, so once Steve Tremblay hopefully makes it to the VHL, the Tremblays will be joint top too. The Staffords are not on the list as while there were five, only three (R.J., J.J., and S.J.) cracked the VHL and while there were three Smiths and one Smyth, that name is not as common as one might think.

First up, we have the Jones':

Dan Jones

Davey Jones

Kered Jones

Ty Jones

Bob Jones

I would add more information about these players, but I can honestly say I've only ever heard about three of them. Ty played 72 games and Bob 96 and it's quite likely these two were just CPUs (in the VHL's first decade, all CPUs has names, from Alexei Yashin to Ari Ahonen and all sorts). Kered Jones also preceded my time but the name does come up. He was part of the beast that was the S5 draft, which consisted of five rounds and saw Hall of Fame goaltender Alex Gegeny go in the third round, alongside fellow future starts Travis Wilcox and Ace Lightning. Raul Thundercat himself was a fifth-rounder, while Kered Jones went in the fourth to Calgary. Who knows what career path he followed after that, but he did somehow end up on the star-studded, cup-winning Toronto Legion roster of Season 9, alongside Gegeny and other Hall of Famers Kevin Brooks, Mike Szatkowski (also the team's GM), Branden Snelheid (Matt Bailey and recently Matteo Gallo), and Jochen Walser (you know him today as Ashton Galbraith).

There was a Jones famine after that however, until S22 draftee Dan Jones. This was an unremarkable player who got into some controversy in the VHLM but never delivered on the big stage. He once came back with Dan Jones Jr., who evidently never made it to the VHL. This leads us up nicely, to Davey Jones, the controversial figure who plays for the HC Davos Dynamo, being crowned top rookie in S35 and last season winning a cup and being named playoff MVP. Already, Davey is the best Jones the VHL has ever seen.

The other big VHL “family” are the Knights:

Blake Knight

Steven Knight

David Knight

Ricky Knight

Jordan Knight

Like two of the Jones', Steven, Ricky, and Jordan lasted but a season in the VHL and two of them, as far as I'm aware, never came back, though Steven offered some hope with the creation of Nikita Lebedev, formerly of Toronto and now of Davos. The two actually famous Knights are David and Phil, the Toronto brothers who have held various positions in the league over their time and are now young defencemen David Januzaj and Phil Villeneuve. The issue, however, is that Phil never made a player named Knight, instead opting for Gerrard and Rafter with his first two players, which worked out quite nicely for him come to think of it. In fact, David Knight might have a trophy named after him and served as Toronto GM for a very long time, but the player's only distinction was winning the Continental Cup, Founder's Cup, and World Cup gold medal in a weird order (Continental in his rookie year, Founder's in his last). His first player was David Night, not Knight, and he was a Hall of Famer, as were Davids Henman, Walcott, and Smalling. Knight, after all, is a cursed name.

That is perhaps embodied by Blake Knight, a career Vasteras Iron Eagle, formerly its captain, and now in his last season with everyone's favourite cursed team.

[Victor 10,565]

188: Vasteras on par with history

The historic failings of the Vasteras Iron Eagles (or the IK, or even the Madrid Thunder) are well known and documented. Of course, things weren't always so bleak. After back-to-back finals against the Calgary Wranglers, unexpectedly winning in Season 1 before getting swept in Season 2 (despite a Victory Cup after a dominant regular season), Vasteras instantly seemed destined for success, and not just in the European Conference. The success hinged on individuals, but it didn't take much those days, and what individuals those were, with Scotty Campbell up front, Matthew Pogge in goal, and another Hall of Famer Matt Defosse helping out on the wing. A bit of depth would be enough for long-term success.

Instead, GM Lucas Tannahill opted to trade Campbell and Defosse, while still in the S3 playoffs (effective after their conclusion), in one of the greatest turning points in VHL history. It wasn't a bad trade by any means, what with future Hall of Fame forwards Mike Szatkowski (long-term assistant GM too) and Brannan Anthony, along with a first-round pick, heading Vasteras' way. It does seem like it was an unnecessary deal, perhaps Tannahill trying to make up for being largely inactive on the trade front in Seasons 1 and 2. The effect was immediate, as Campbell and co. were undone by Maxim Desny's goaltending heroics and the underdogs from Helsinki won the European finals. In Season 4, Pogge's last season, the era came to an end with another first-round exit at the hands of the awkwardly constructed Stockholm Rams. Vasteras hasn't made more than two consecutive playoff appearances since.

Two first-round exits (S7, S8)

Two first-round exits (S12, S13)

A first-round exit and a finals loss (S17, S18)

A first-round exit and a Continental Cup (S25, S26)

A first-round exit (S32)

A first-round exit (S37)

In many cases, Vasteras has been genuinely unlucky, which is a bit of a running theme. The franchise has won just one Game 7 in its history, against the underdog Reign en route to a finals collapse against another underdog from Calgary in S18. In S3, S8, S12, S13, and S32, the deciding game didn't go Vasteras' way. In the first two instances, only incredible goalie performances by Desny and then the Reign's Travis Wilcox (even more unexpected) allowed the heavily-unfavoured teams to defeat the IK. Riga, in particular, has been a thorn in Vasteras' side, as during their Madrid incarnation, the S17 Reign upset the Thunder despite having given up two of their best players to Madrid through free agency and trade. When Vasteras got ahead of Riga in the regular season in S24, they couldn't make the playoffs because of being in a superior conference, despite being the fourth-best team in the league.

For these reasons, this past season's playoff appearance feels different for the Iron Eagles. For one, they weren't expected to be there. With a group of players that any VHL member would struggle to name aside from Eggly Bagelface, Willem Janssen, and Keiji Toriyama (unsurprisingly, the players who carried Vasteras into the post-season), and having been upended by a half-sold-off Cologne Express in Season 36, most people put the Iron Eagles in fourth place in Europe. Instead, for most of the season they stayed in second place, taking wins even off the HC Davos Dynamo. Then, luck seemed to turn against Vasteras again when Riga traded for Kameron Taylor and Malcom Spud. But for a change, Vasteras was the underdog and taking the now favourites from Riga to a Game 6 is an achievement of its own. You can't fault the team for believing a corner has been turned.

It's unlikely though the the fairy tale will play out as Vasteras wants. In truth, we should expect much of the same next season, an increasingly aging team led by a forward duo and a great goalie with a bare prospect cupboard and little in terms of draft picks. Then, in Season 39, it would be reasonable to expect another Vasteras playoff streak to end at two seasons, likely without wins, as Helsinki and Cologne look set to be coming off rebuilds/retools by that time. That would be right on par with the franchise's history, despite the positives they can take from this glimmer of hope.

[Victor 10,565]

189: Legendary Lebeau

It feels like this article was in the making for seven seasons if not more. From his rookie season on a god awful Toronto Legion roster, somehow passed over by the goalie-less Vasteras Iron Eagles in the draft despite clear high TPE potential, Remy LeBeau had the makings of a great. In six seasons, LeBeau won two Aidan Shaw Trophies and showed the consistency on and off the ice to punch a ticket into the Hall of Fame. The Continental Cup eluded him, however, caused by a mixture of LeBeau being the first piece of an extended rebuild and the increasingly popular theory of the irrelevance of a goalie's TPE beyond a certain threshold. At last, LeBeau has fully repaid Toronto's trust and has done so in style, leading the Legion to eight wins in just ten S37 playoff games.

Post-season performances remain the ultimate judgement of a goaltender. Benjamin Glover and Tuomas Tukio are two victims of sometimes underwhelming performances and even CAL G, a playoff MVP co-winner in Season 28, is perceived to have had a lacklustre playoff career, leading to even his superb regular season numbers going unnoticed. Of course, these are all Hall of Famers and rightly so, but we are talking about the difference between great and legendary status. Daisuke Kanou is a legend, arguably even moreso than his career rival and regular season superior Aidan Shaw. Did LeBeau's recent playoff performance, most certainly worthy of earning him a sweep of the Kanou Trophy vote, lead him to that legendary status?

For comparison, here are Kanou's stats from his three playoff MVP wins (then of course not called Kanous):

S20: 8-6-0, .937SV%, 1.91GAA

S24: 8-1-2, .962SV%, 0.98GAA

S25: 8-3-0, .937SV%, 1.73GAA

LeBeau counters that with:

S37: 8-2-0, .943SV%, 1.62GAA

A bit off those absolutely astonishing Season 24 numbers from Kanou, ultimately the watershed of the Davos legend's career, but superior to Kanou's other performances. Of course, there is no matching Kanou, especially considering LeBeau only has one season left in his career and in that great season Kanou outdueled his arch-nemesis Shaw with not-too-shabby stats (6-5-0, .946SV%, 1.45GAA). That and Shaw's own playoff MVP season (8-4-0, .940SV%, 1.62GAA) is more comparable to LeBeau. Not good enough for Kanou but good enough for Shaw? Placing in between those two, widely recognised as the VHL's greatest ever netminders, is no small feat.

Beyond, Kanou and Shaw, the playing field levels off. Oh, there were great goaltending playoff performances, by Matthew Pogge and Maxim Desny and Zach Voss and most recently Skylar Rift. It would be fair to put LeBeau above them in the all-time lists. The argument ultimately comes down to two other consecutive cup winners in Seasons 10 and 11:

Marek Van Urho: 8-2-1, .954SV%, 1.47GAA

Benoit Devereux: 8-3-2, .940SV%, 2.34GAA

Before the coming of Daisuke, it was Van Urho's playoff performance with Riga which was the one to beat. However, the rest of his career was deemed not worthy of a Hall of Fame induction, much unlike Kanou's Davos predecessor Devereux, whose great season compares more favourably to LeBeau. A dilemma then is created. Should Van Urho be a Hall of Famer? Does Van Urho being overlooked in history put LeBeau in the same risky situation? The answer is probably no for both. Remy LeBeau has delivered consistent game-winning performances since the start of his career and still has a season left to consolidate this great Season 37. He may be more Shaw than Kanou, fittingly so given that Shaw is a fellow Legion great, but on the whole, it would be fair to say LeBeau is the closest to reach their level despite following the likes of Glover, G, and Alexander Labatte. Just for that, LeBeau is worthy of being considered a legend.

[Victor 10,565]

191: Low on All-Time High

 

“Smarch”, earlier known as “Tommy” and then “THC” is one of the longest-serving members of the VHL but not one of its most well-known. Indeed, through 35 seasons, he had never brought in a player who exceeded 500 TPE and understandably, individual success was not always easy to come by. That said, there are a lot of names from the agency which would ring a bell for many VHL members, though few of them would likely ever be strung together in one's head. There was Tommy Brown, winner of all first three Continental Cups, Max Weinstein, Calgary's cup-winning starter in Season 9 and briefly a true rival to the legendary Alex Gegeny, Grimm Jonsson's long-term team-mate (and mine in New York) and lesser-known brother Baron Von Jonsson, a two-time cup winner, everyone's favourite inactive free agent of the early 20s Robin Big Snake and finally Abraham Sander, a depth forward in Davos and an expansion draftee for Cologne, where he became one of the franchise's first leaders.

 

There was a certain consistency with most of those names and GMs knew what they got when they drafted a THC or Smarch player. You would be forgiven for expecting a depth, team-first player in defenceman Conner Low as well. The team-first mentality hasn't gone away and Low is poised to be a career New York American and is already the team's long-term captain. However, he's coupled that with not just exceeding 500 TPE, but now also 600, while also having an early statistical record which most players can only dream of. In addition, following the recent VHL awards ceremony, Low now has a tremendous haul of trophies.

 

2 Sterling Labatte Trophies

1 Alexander Beketov Trophy

1 Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy

1 Grimm Jonsson Trophy

 

That alone would see a lot of defencemen get into the Hall of Fame, and definitely when seen alongside a career better-than-point-per-game pace. The caveat is that Low has already won those trophies two seasons into his career, with potentially (and it has to be likely) five seasons left to go. Of course you shouldn't count your chickens before they hatch, but it would be hard to argue that Conner Low isn't set up better than anyone for greatness.

 

Naturally, anyone who isn't a league pioneer, such as Scotty Campbell, Sterling Labatte, or Christian Stolzschweiger, will struggle for an immediate break-through in the modern VHL. That's one of the main reasons why career numbers of early greats are so hard to hit – they started on a level playing field in their rookie seasons. These days, it takes even the best young players two or three seasons to truly join the league's elite, at which point they of course block the way for new young players. Perhaps the last player to truly have a quick start in the VHL was Jardy Bunclewirth, a record-breaking “Stolzy” Trophy winner, who went on to have possibly the best career point-per-game pace since around Season 10, making up for a VHL debut delayed by two seasons. Low was delayed by just one season and has wasted no time getting up to speed straight away.

 

It seems fitting that a member who struggled with activity and/or motivation in the past would get instant rewards with his best player (on paper) to date. It remains to be seen what the future holds, but with such a dream start to his career, Conner Low is set up to become of the all-time greatest defencemen and even players, largely because of these “additional” two good seasons at the start. It's likely that most players who have joined after the first VHL generation have considered what it would be like to be really good from the start. Low might just show exactly what that's like.

 

#connorlowtho

[Smarch 2,950]

   

[Victor 10,565]

192: Sandro Desaulniers Builder Article

 

This is a Builder article which will feature in the Inducted Members section of the VHL Hall of Fame.

 

Sandro Desaulniers

 

Joined: December 26, 2007

Member Number: 224

Positions Held: General Manager, Graphics Grader

 

From its opening back in 2007, the Victory Hockey League has long since evolved from a mere sim league to a well-established and active online community. Members have spent large chunks of their lives on the VHL and have known other members longer than lots of people in the offline world. Most importantly, and somewhat peculiarly, the VHL has been a key development stage of many peoples' lives and not just in terms of improving their writing or graphic-making skills. For many members, there has been visible change in their personalities and the way they interact with people, sometimes for the mere fact that they have aged six or seven years while being a part of the league. VHL veteran Sandro Desaulniers a particularly good example of this.

 

If you were to join the VHL in 2008 or 2009, you would have witnessed a completely different version of Sandro. One of the league's youngest members, who was your typical easily excitable teenager, infamous for especially loud and over-the-top fandom of the Canucks, today that Sandro would likely be seen as a mildly irritating but productive (especially on the graphic side of things) member of the community. Of course, these were different days when the VHL was more similar to the majority of the internet: unforgiving and quite abusive of those that fell out of line. Sandro Desaulniers and others, such as the New York “Shortbus” which he was a part of, ended up on the wrong side of the early-league barricades.

 

It's a credit and testament to Sandro that not only did he stick around despite being the butt of numerous jokes, but he's evolved from just a prominent member to a respected one, who can be relied on providing activity in the locker room and creating at least serviceable players. Fabian Brunnstrom, Sandro Desaulniers, Dante Terragni, Gaz, and now Jakub Kjellberg have all been players who won very few awards between them and missed out on true greatness but at any given time they were viewed as top prospects or dangerous (mostly offensive) weapons. Sandro has been a part of countless cup winners and always breaking the 500 TPE threshold with every player helped all the team he contributed something to. Plus, of course, he's not going anywhere and has the potential to contribute even more, from a sim point of view.

 

From a builder point of view, perhaps Sandro's peak has been reached, due to real life commitments and various time constraints. This would appear to be the reasoning behind his stepping down from management of the Toronto Legion at the end of Season 35, his second GM job. That in turn was the reasoning to induct Sandro into the Hall of Fame as his longevity and success in VHL team management fits in nicely with the convenient but ultimately accurate narrative of his evolution from a young, immature member into one of the VHL's longest-serving ones. Plus, he didn't spend so long (four seasons (S16-S19) in Seattle and ten (S26-S35) in Toronto) in the GM hot seat for nothing – on the contrary, both teams won a Continental Cup during his tenure and his efficient and well-timed rebuilds set up new contending eras in both cities, including the Season 37 champions in Toronto. In addition, Sandro was particularly renowned as GM for his immaculate drafting, despite pretty bad draft lottery luck, never drafting a bust in the early selections and often finding gems in the later picks, with his Seattle and Toronto teams being the platforms which jump-started many a first-gen members, many of whom still play a role in the VHL. For those accomplishments, his longevity and consistency, Sandro Desaulniers was unanimously voted into the Hall of Fame for the first and most important time.

[Victor 10,565]

193: Tukio/Wahl tandem look to make history

Watching Tuomas Tukio, the goalie with the greatest skill-set of all-time, struggle to find a team in free agency before his final season was as amusing as it was intriguing. Someone was bound to gamble and spend 4.5 million on a position no contender needed and one which has in recent years come into considerable doubt in terms of playoff performance. Perhaps a lesser netminder would not have found a retirement home at all, but this was a man with the potential to max out all his attributes and reach 1,400 TPE (both VHL firsts and both now achieved).

When the New York Americans finally made the move, it was a risk no doubt, but in any case it was widely assumed that the regular season was to go to third-year goalie Brick Wahl, also the GM's player, while Tukio would play eight backup games and then come in as a huge boost in the playoffs. Instead, Wahl has spend most of the first half of the season on the bench while Tukio has consolidated his Hall of Fame claim by putting up some astonishing stats and helping the Americans to one of the greatest regular season starts in VHL history. By this point, New York has to be seen as the S38 Continental Cup favourite, but as we have not yet reached the playoffs, there is an opportunity to speculate on how this Americans season will end. Typically for this piece, this will be done by looking at past goaltending tandems and how they worked out for everyone involved.

As expected, two-man acts in net are uncommon sights throughout history, especially since the league has more or less settled into today's pattern from around Season 8. Cap space issues, goalie selfishness and simply a lack of genuine and active starters to fill even eight teams has generally meant such situations are hardly ever likely or necessary. For a fact, no GM has ever sacrificed a season of their goaltender in such a way as Wahl, as in a league of short careers, especially for goalies, a missed season often spells the end for Hall of Fame aspirations. For Wahl, who had an opportunity to join Daisuke Kanou and Alexander Labatte as great goalies with eight full seasons, this is an especially risky and uncharacteristic choice.

S12: Alex Gegeny and Greg Harbinson (VAS)

S15: Greg Harbinson and Alex Young (SEA)

S24: Daisuke Kanou and Claudio Martucci (DAV)

S28: Claudio Martucci and Marius Henchoz (CGY)

The older, main goalie is listed first in all four examples. Season 24 was the only time such a tandem resulted in a Continental Cup, Season 15 being the only other finals appearance. It's also interesting to note that two goalies who were once backups (Harbinson and Martucci) went from being second-string goalies to two legends in their rookie seasons to relegating other rookies to the backup positions in their final seasons. For all of Harbinson, Young, Martucci, and Henchoz, this rookie season as a backup meant they were in their third (fourth for Harbinson) post-draft seasons when they became starters and as neither goalie went even to their seventh season of eligibility, all of the quartet were never under serious Hall of Fame consideration, despite being some of the best goaltenders of their time.

What does this all mean? Not much, actually, due to a small sample size and the varying situations (for instance, S28 Calgary was not a contender and only put up a fight in the playoffs thanks to the rental pick-up of Martucci). As a result, whatever the Americans achieve with Tukio and Wahl will be of historical note and will also be significant for Wahl's career past Season 38.

[Victor 10,565]

194: Boychuk's Big Debut

As all VHL players started on a level playing field in Season 1, the first season in which rookies, as we know them today, appeared was Season 2. These were still players with as much as much as a half of a VHL season under their belt, and it's no surprise S2 rookies still feature prominently on all-time rookie leaderboards. This is not to take away from the achievements of those players, in particular of Christian Stolzschweiger, whose 72 goals and 140 points remain the all-time record and the trophy was deservedly named after the man. Anywhere he went, even if it was an early league struggler like Hamilton, Stockholm, or Avangard, “Stolzy” made a difference and is in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest scorers and just simply players in VHL history.

However, it has been difficult to even come close to Stolzschweiger's achievements since. Some Hall of Famers have had solid rookie seasons, some have had slow starts to their careers, while other top rookies didn't have particularly notable careers afterwards. In Season 12, Geoff Gartner, ultimately a decent, if uninspiring, player became the best rookie since Season 2 with 99 points. The 100-point mark was finally broken again by Matthew Gunnarsson in Season 17, with Jardy Bunclewirth finishing third in league scoring with 54 goals and 132 points, the closest any rookie has come to Stolzschweiger's achievements. All in all, just seven rookies have cracked the century mark since Season 2, with three of them coming in the absurdly high-scoring Season 20.

S17: Matthew Gunnarsson (CGY): 38 goals, 101 points

S18: Jardy Bunclewirth (CGY): 54 goals, 132 points

S20: Michael Angelo (HSK): 21 goals, 119 points

S20: Japinder Singh (NYA): 31 goals, 113 points

S20: Roman Andreev (CGY): 45 goals, 111 points

S28: Shane Lynch (DAV): 24 goals, 105 points

S31: Ethan Osborne (HSK): 48 goals, 106 points

By this point, you have probably realised the purpose of this article. Travis Boychuk of the Calgary Wranglers, a franchise, as seen above, with a strong history of rookie success, was an under-rated first round pick in Season 37 but after one season in the VHLM has taken the VHL by storm. He is on pace for 37 goals and 114 points, one of the best all-time totals, while if he stays in the top five VHL scorers, his end position will be only inferior to Bunclewirth's third-place finish. A Continental Cup is of course less likely for this addition of the Wranglers than Season 18, but the only thing standing between Boychuk and a guaranteed Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy is Kimmo Salo's save percentage, much harder to predict and to anticipate how it impacts the final award voting.

What does a 100+ point season mean in the long-term? Bunclewirth won three Continental Cups with Calgary and led the league in points twice, all in just six seasons, with the best career points-per-game of any player who's retired since Season 13 (and ninth all-time regardless). Japinder Singh might have just missed out on a rookie award and never won a Sterling Labatte Trophy but is still regarded as one of the greatest all-time defenceman and is another first-ballot Hall of Famer. Ethan Osborne should make it a trio of Hall of Famers sometime soon and was one of the best centers of his generation, if not quite an all-time great.

The other four had less spectacular careers. Angelo and Andreev lost two seasons to the VHLM like Bunclewirth but never reached his heights, though they won championships and were key components of the Titans and Wranglers of the “20s”, respectively. Matthew Gunnarsson struggled to produce points during back-to-back cup wins with Calgary, went back to 100+ points in Season 20 and then abruptly retired, while Shane Lynch threatened to break up the Braxton-Higgins defensive duopoly but went inactive, though he did end up leading the league in assists twice, once in a four-way tie, and once tied with the even lesser-known Genghis Khan.

Where will Boychuk fall on this spectrum? Who knows. He's set himself up extremely well with a superb start and plays and acts like a long-term leader for the Wranglers. History shows little correlation between great rookie seasons and great careers, but in any case, Travis Boychuk has joined a small group of players and you have to back him to make good use of it.

[Victor 10,565]

195: Godly Odin

As the New York Americans have broken out and taken the S38 regular season by storm, it is remarkable how little focus there has been on their offense's outright leader: Odin Tordahl. Tordahl has already passed the 50-goal and 100-point marks with 15 games to go this season, and seems set to best his career highs from his top scoring break-out in S37, en route to lead the league in scoring for the second straight season.

Part of the explanation for the lack of coverage is his own selfless and soft-spoken attitude, another possibility is that a slow career start (not only for him it seems, but also for his whole generation) has forced Tordahl to simply be under-rated. Perhaps Tordahl is simply seen more as a two-way, physical forward, as backed up by his Scott Boulet Trophy win in his first 100-point season with Davos. However, now in New York, the Swede has toned down his hard-hitting playing style to become largely a pure scorer. With two Continental Cups already won and a strong points haul even from the early seasons as a depth piece, Tordahl has paced himself well to be the best forward of his time and an easy Hall of Fame selection.

Indeed, one needs only look at where a second Lemieux/Szatkowski Trophy (top scorer) places him in an all-time list. While offensive dominance was a common sight in the days of Scotty Campbell, Brett Slobodzian and even Kevin Brooks, it's been harder to come by consistent top-place finishes since Season 10.

Zach Arce (S12, S13)

Grimm Jonsson (S15, S16)

Jardy Bunclewirth (S19, S21)

Tarik Saeijs (S20, S23)

Tukka Reikkinen (S27, S30)

A list of first-ballot Hall of Famers with the exception of Saeijs who couldn't really compete with the goaltending legendary duopoly of Aidan Shaw and Daisuke Kanou but nonetheless fared very well as a first-gen in a generation of centers such as Anton Brekker, Markus Strauss, and Lars Berger. Jonsson and Reikkinen's top scoring seasons allowed to make a serious challenge for title of all-time greatest forward while Arce and Bunclewirth would have struggled to be remembered without them as they only last 5 and 6 seasons in the league, respectively.

For Tordahl, he is now on his third straight 100-point season which has followed 40, 60, and 80 points seasons to open his career. With two seasons to go, there are opportunities to add to this total with an excellent, young and still improving supporting cast in New York. In an era which featured several top forwards only have a truly crowning season in the twilight of their careers, it is a refreshing change to witness a top offensive player excel in his prime. It remains to be seen what Odin Tordahl's career points total will be but if it's anywhere in the mix of Phil Rafter, Alexander Chershenko, Leeroy Jenkins, or Tukka Reikkinen, his ever-growing awards list will provide a strong case for inclusion in the all-time greats. And who could be a better person for it to happen to?

[Victor 10,565]

202: New York's Individual Glory

Before going on hiatus after edition 195, Historical Significance looked at the second straight top season of Odin Tordahl and the elite company his two top-scoring seasons put him in. As the New York Americans continued one of the best regular seasons of all-time which was ultimately ended in the playoffs by Remy LeBeau and Toronto's superior second line, the historic seasons of their players kept on increasing in stature. Tordahl eventually not only led the league in points for the second straight season, he also led the league in goals (commonplace for the VHL's top scorers) and narrowly earned the Alexander Beketov Trophy with the league's most assists. This hat-trick of offensive awards allowed Tordahl to match a very short list of the league's great players.

Brett Slobodzian (S1, S3)

Scotty Campbell (S4)

Grimm Jonsson (S15)

As you can see, it's remarkably rare to win all three offensive awards in the VHL, in large part because defencemen often with the Mikita/Beketov Trophy and Tomas Jenskovic is the only defenceman in league history to lead the league in scoring. However, even when forwards are top assist-makers, they often score less and almost never lead the league in points, making Tordahl's accomplishment all the more impressive (the trio of names above speaks for itself).

Unlike Slobodzian, Campbell, and Jonsson, Tordahl wasn't crowned league MVP or even named the VHL's most outstanding player. It would seem impossible when considering the above two paragraphs, but Tordahl was outshone by his goaltender Tuomas Tukio. Tukio finally earned the individual honours he deserved last season in Quebec and this mag segment theorised over the potential of the Tukio/Wahl tandem in Season 38. Yet Tukio outdid all predictions with arguably the greatest single season by a goaltender of all-time.

A 1.63 GAA is inferior only to CAL G's 1.60 in S27 (who, shockingly, didn't win the Tretiak/Aidan Shaw Trophy that season). 13 shutouts, which matched Tukio's own S37 exploits, also put him in elite company:

CAL G (S27): 19

Steve LaFramboise (S10): 14

Alex Gegeny (S10): 13

Alexander Labatte (S35): 13

Skylar Rift (S36): 13

50 wins might be just about average for top goaltenders in VHL history but a .937 save percentage is anything but. Only five goaltenders, all of whom played in a shot-heavy era from Season 8 to Season 11, have posted superior numbers to Tukio.

Anton Nygard (S9): .949

Alex Gegeny (S10), Anton Nygard (S10), Benoit Devereux (S11): .940

Steve LaFramboise (S11): .938

Nygard is an outlier, but also spent Season 9 on one of the worst teams in the league and played just half the season in Season 10. Like CAL G, Gegeny and Devereux didn't win Tretiaks in the seasons which appear in these lists (in fact, LaFramboise in S11 is the only man on either list to do so). As such, Tukio not only was the undisputed top goalie in his top season, he also set the modern record for save percentage (S32 featured .935 from Labatte and Satan and .934 from G, matched by LeBeau in S34) and features on every single season record list. It was undoubtedly the best netminding performance of any VHL season and it had to be to receive higher honours than Tordahl's own history-making.

The New York Americans had an outstanding regular season in S39, but like so many other regular season powerhouses, they were stymied in the playoffs. Yet unlike most regular season greats, New York was also led by great individual performances, from Tordahl and Tukio and yet again Conner Low, a defenceman who has now become a Historical Significance regular and joined Sterling Labatte, Tomas Jenskovic, Jochen Walser, Daniel Braxton, and Ryan Sullivan as defencemen with three Orr/Labatte Trophies.

[BOOM 8,435]

 

Brett Slobodzian (S1, S3)

Scotty Campbell (S4)

Grimm Jonsson (S15)

 

 

Holy shit.

[Victor 10,565]

203: Greg Harbinson Builder Article

This is a Builder article which will feature in the Inducted Members section of the VHL Hall of Fame.

Greg Harbinson

Joined: April 25, 2008

Member Number: 392

Positions Held: VHL & VHLM General Manager, Graphics Grader

Free agency is not as massive an event as it could be in the VHL, most blockbuster trades take place between newly-rebuilding and competing teams, while few players ever ask out of their teams. As such, loyalty is not a rare trait in the VHL, at least for the bulk of a player's career (5-8 seasons). However, over a long enough time in the league, most members experience at least half of the league's franchises and locker rooms. This has not been the case with recent Hall of Fame Builder inductee Greg Harbinson.

Since becoming a fully active member of the VHL, Greg has had five players, with the fifth being S39 draftee Devin Sundberg. Prior to the retirement of Zack Sound at the conclusion of Season 37 and excluding the first three seasons of journeyman goaltender Greg Harbinson's career (S10-S12), Greg's players have spent 25 seasons with the Seattle Bears, almost without interruption. Even that 'almost' is trivial at most: it was the result of a pre-draft season without a team between Harbinson and Markus Strauss (S16), a rental season in Davos for Hall of Famer Strauss (S23), and not even half of a rental season in Davos for top center Felix Peters (S31).

Harbinson and his players had been the beating heart of Seattle for over half of their and the VHL's existence. For 13 seasons, Greg had also been the Bears' General Manager over two spells, and his first tenure was preceded by a short time as GM of Seattle's VHLM affiliate, the Saskatoon Wild, a franchise he himself relocated from Buffalo. Strauss, Peters, and Sound combined for nine seasons as Seattle's captains, and in other seasons were often among the two alternate captains. As for Continental Cups, perhaps two in the aforementioned time span does not seem as an impressive record, but rarely were the Bears of the Greg Harbinson era out of contention. In Season 21, a star-studded team gave a run for their money to the budding dynasty of the Toronto Legion, while for five seasons later in the decade, the core known as the “Seattle Six” was unlucky to take home just one league championship.

Even in a barren decade during the S30s, Seattle has never been quiet, sporting team avatars and sigs and making their presence felt constantly around the league. This was a feature of Greg's Bears, as was the role of other outspoken individuals, be it Cam Fowler, Joey Clarence, and Nikolai Lebedev in the earlier days, or Sebastian Ball Jr. and Karsten Olsen in more recent times. Having a team-first attitude is something the Bears have over these 25 seasons become renowned for, even if it led to some heated, but ultimately healthy, rivalries, including the famous ones against Toronto and New York.

This may not be the final chapter of Greg Harbinson's time in Seattle, but it will remain the most famous one. There have been VHL Builders inducted for many reasons but not one had such a significant impact on a single franchise. Whether or not he returns to his rightful place in the VHL remains to be seen, but it will certainly not be Greg's only potential contribution. He has created some superb players and spent some time in a grading position, while the Between the Pipes podcast series, co-hosted with current Toronto GM Tyler Edgar, was one of the pioneers of the modern podcasting world in the VHL. Yet until enough time passes for Season 40 to be ancient history, Greg Harbinson will be the Builder of the Seattle Bears and the Builder of Seattle in the VHL.

[Victor 10,565]

204: Unexpected Top Scorers

For the most part of Season 39, including as of writing, there's been a surprising name topping the scoring charts in the VHL. Largely, it's been the coming-out party at last for S33 draftees not named Odin Tordahl, with the likes of Wesley Kellinger, Niklas Lindberg, and David Collier at last performing consistently at a top level offensively. Yet the man they're chasing, that draft's second overall selection Karsten Olsen, has largely been discarded due to inactivity. Having now gone through depreciation and being the best player on an otherwise unspectacular Seattle Bears roster, defenceman-turned-forward Olsen was no one's pick for individual success this late in his career.

Fortunately, after a career where high enough TPE levels didn't transfer to Sterling Labatte or later Scott Boulet Trophy contention, Karsten Olsen's belated surge to the VHL's current top scorer allows us to take a look at some unexpected past winners of the Lemieux/Mike Szatkowski Trophy. As is the norm, we start off with a handy list of the forwards in question.

S11: Jonathan Matthias (137 points)

S24: Mathias Chouinard (124 points)

S29: Jason White (107 points)

S35: Michal Wozniak (154 points)

Honourable mentions: Brandon Rush (S17) and Nikolai Lebedev (S28) achieved little outside from their top scoring campaigns but were not shocking winners of the award at the time.

So, who are the members of the company Olsen might join? Some might be well-known still and some have been forgotten, but all made a mark on the VHL in one way or another and, unlike Olsen so far, all won at least one Continental Cup. The first two entries, Matthias and Chouinard, in fact finished their respective careers with three straight championships, two of which, predictably, came with the HC Davos Dynamo.

Matthias was a first-round pick back in Season 7 and in fact the top rookie that year. Then he floated in a largely semi-active state and made stops in a couple VHL location before, at just over 400 TPE, arriving at the newly-relocated Dynamo. It was a team which featured Hall of Fame defenceman Jochen Walser, the eventually even better defenceman Tomas Jenskovic, legendary (but then sophomore) goaltender Benoit Devereux and future two-time MVP Zach Arce, but on paper was nothing special at the time. Of course, Davos cruised to Victory and Continental Cups led by the MVP Matthias who would have no doubt won the Dustin Funk Trophy if it existed in S11. He didn't though, but he did win playoff MVP with Seattle the following year and returned to Davos to complete his renaissance.

Mathias (not Matthias) Chouinard was the opposite: a third-round pick in the great S18 draft, he took his time to reach the VHL, then lingered behind other great forwards of the time, but was crowned playoff MVP in S23 with Calgary. Suddenly, after a mid-season move to the Davos dynasty in S24, Chouinard went on one of the greatest scoring stretches in modern VHL history, with 100 points in just 47 games, claiming the title of top scorer. He ended up with an excellent career point-per-game pace as a result, but not enough elsewise for a Hall of Fame induction.

Finally, Jason White and Michal Wozniak are on absolute opposite ends of the top scorer spectrum. No player has ever won the Lemieux/Szatkowski Trophy with as few points as White, who just finished one point ahead of Alexander Chershenko thanks to a record-setting 10-point game in Season 29. Wozniak, who like White was oveshadowed by his peers before being traded, instead put up Scotty Campbell-esque numbers and became the fourth straight top scorer from Calgary (following linemate Volodymyr Rybak, Jarvis Baldwin, and Chershenko), which should have made him an easy pick prior to S35. Yet he still qualifies on the basis that even with that season, his career stats weren't enough even for a Hall of Fame ballot appearance. Plus, it's cool that he won a trophy named after his own agent.

[Victor 10,565]

206: Reflecting on Old VHLM Changes

A week ago, some key changes were at last finalised by the Board of Governors and the VHLM commissioners to implement into the VHLM over the next two seasons. A couple of other slight alterations may also soon be on the way, all with the goal of further improving the minor league product, experience, and effectiveness. Yet while these minor changes should be beneficial, it's interesting to note how small any VHLM changes remain in comparison to the big shift back in Season 20.

Almost twenty seasons ago, then-VHLM commissioner Terence Fong proposed a revolutionary change to the VHLM system. For the whole of the league's history up until then, every VHLM team (eight of them back then) was affiliated with a VHL team. The remnants of that arrangement can be seen in some sim categories, like VHLM standings and individual leaders. As a result, any player drafted in the VHL was (if eligible) rooted to one VHLM team and trades could only involve waiver pick-ups or VHLM draftees, so the one season, give or take a few weeks, or a player's pre-VHL draft career. Perhaps even more importantly in terms of its negative impact, general managers in the VHLM were appointed by their parent teams, often resulting in disinterested members in charge and sometimes the VHL GM attempting a half-hearted juggling of two teams' management.

The changes implemented for Season 20 changed that and numerous other facets of the VHLM, all outlined in the list below:

- No more VHL/VHLM affiliation

- Strict salary cap on free agents (largely inactives)

- For four seasons, players in the VHLM belonged to the VHLM team they were drafted to (barring trade)

- Limit on waiver slots per team

- Hard cap (no banking) on 175 TPE limit

The new system was of course not flawless, hence the continued debate and minor alterations brought in from time to time. Nonetheless, in terms of overall impact, which has been discussed at depth numerous times including in the VHL 20 in 20/30 in 30 article series, few, if any, changes in VHL and VHLM history can rival those brought in by Fong and the VHL commissioners of the time (David Knight, Jardy Bunclewirth, and Sterling Labatte). They have made the VHLM a much more enjoyable and active experience and despite some lack of parity, which is being addressed now, you could argue the league has been much more balanced since S20 than it was prior to then. The platform for more trivial amendments like the ones announced recently was created back then and I believe it's not even hyperbole to theorise that without those changes half of the VHL history's ago, there would be nothing here to discuss, without the members to discuss it either.

As we look to improve the future, it's important to understand the significance of the past. The Season 20 VHLM changes illustrate this better than anything else and thankfully, there were people then who put the project into motion.

[Victor 10,565]

207: Futile Playoff Series

On Friday, the Seattle Bears and Calgary Wranglers were preparing for what has to be considered an ultimately futile playoff series. Both teams are worthy of top six spots on the basis of this season (though you could make a case for Cologne over Calgary), but neither the rag-tag mix of youngsters and semi-active veterans in Calgary nor the Bears' array of inactive would-be superstars now 2-3 seasons past their expiry date has any realistic chance of upsetting the New York Americans in the North American final.

Such playoff match-ups are generally intriguing, even if of no real consequence, but they are also very rare in the VHL's history. Do not fear however, for I have done my utmost best to locate and profile all the precedents to Season 39's futile meeting between Seattle and Calgary.

S4: Stockholm Rams vs Vasteras IK (Rams win 4-2)

S17: Riga Reign vs Madrid Thunder (Reign win 4-2)

S19: HC Davos Dynamo vs Riga Reign (Dynamo win 4-2)

S21: Riga Reign vs HC Davos Dynamo (Dynamo win 4-2)

S35: Cologne Express vs HC Davos Dynamo (Express win 4-1)

It turns out that the Bears and Wranglers made some history this season by becoming the first non-consequential series in North America, a conference previously renowned for its competitive edge and usual superiority over Europe. As a result, we see a high concentration of Riga (Stockholm) and Davos on the list, including two sets of repeating match-ups (Madrid was Vasteras' brief stop from S16 to S20 inclusive).

The first decade of the VHL had very high parity but in Season 4, the balance of power shifted critically to North America, where the Wranglers dynasty missed the playoff for the only time between Seasons 1 and 9. It's likely Calgary was the third best bet to win the Continental Cup, but in any case the 'real' final was between the powerhouse Seattle Bears (they of ultimately back-to-back championships and a ridiculous six future Hall of Famers) and the just slightly less star-studded Hamilton Canucks, led by the great Christian Stolzschweiger. For the Canucks' misfortune in their only playoff appearance, the Stockholm Rams benefited in their best season, going on a Cinderella run with a rather average roster and ending Vasteras' only truly great era.

The two franchises met again in Season 17 when again the real deal was across the ocean between two superb line-ups of retiring superstars in Toronto and Seattle. The Bears won and predictably won the cup again, in the second sweep of four final sweeps in VHL history, pushing aside the defending champions from Riga, who were decimated by departures including to the Madrid Thunder, who still couldn't compete with the best.

Ironically, the Reign wouldn't return to the final until Season 32, despite continuing a long run for four more seasons. Three straight times they were stopped in their tracks by the HC Davos Dynamo (of the Daisuke Kanou and Anton Brekker days), but while Davos won the cup in Season 20, they were by far second-best in Seasons 19 and 21, winning just one game over the two finals. On the first occasion, the league was won in the most predictable fashion ever, when the pre-season favourites from Calgary took their second straight trophy in a still-standing record of nine games. The second time around it was between Toronto and Seattle in the NA again, with the Legion dynasty avenging its predecessor's S17 defeat and winning it all.

Finally, despite the expansion of playoffs in Season 31, this season's non-event in North America is only the second such since expansion. Four seasons ago, in Cologne's so far best season, they made short work of the young Dynamo, but despite a valiant effort against the Helsinki Titans powerhouse, they were pretty big underdogs and went out in six.

[Victor 10,565]

208: Davatars are love, Davatars are life

For the fourth straight season, the HC Davos Dynamo have put on their “davatars”, images of Ser/Lord Davos Seaworth of Game of Thrones fame, for their playoff run. For the fourth straight season, the Dynamo have made it to the Continental Cup final, which some attribute to the power of their playoff rally. While, davatars have been the most prominent playoff avatars in recent years, they are far from the first playoff rally in VHL history. As I'm sure you are dying to find out more, here is a quick history (which I WON'T use for doubles week) of memorable and active playoff rallies in the VHL.

The Origins

I can not say for certain having joined in Season 10, but I believe playoff rally roots can be traced back to Season 11, the first season of the HC Davos Dynamo. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Davos pioneered playoff avatars, though they have largely been lost in history. En route to their first Continental Cup win in Switzerland, including an epic Game 7 victory over the (of course) Riga Reign, members of the Dynamo sported pictures of themselves IRL with superimposed moustaches, sunglasses and the like.

S11 was a bit of a false start though as the VHL went through an era of low interest and not many playoff themes. Finally, in Season 17, during a do-or-die series between the Toronto Legion and Seattle Bears, captain Emerson Hrynyk (slobo) implemented rally tits, with no explanation required. The Bears overcame Toronto in Game 7 and won the cup, at last kicking playoff rallies into action. Though Seattle's attempted rally tits in the future failed, the process had well and truly begun.

Zerotars and beyond

The very next season, the Calgary Wranglers entered the scene. Their captain was J.D. Stormwall (the founding father of Stormwall Gonna Storm, Wranglers Gonna Wrang, and so forth) and they (or we rather) went on to win back-to-back cups, including in a still-standing record of nine games in S19. How did this happen? Stormwall's, or Zero's, long-standing avatars of a South Park character saying “Fuck You” were so iconic that all of Calgary decided to use them. It was the first occurrence of a whole team using the same avatar and it worked both in these two seasons, as well as in S23, following a less successful attempt to “Do it for Flute Girl”. Zerotars have kept their 100% record and though they were displaced at the last minute by an Anchorman theme in S30, that flopped in S31, keeping Zero's sainthood in tact.

In between Calgary's victories, Davos entered the scene with back-to-back championships of their own and “ACT OF GOD” avatars in Seasons 24 and 25. This was an ironic twist of the Dynamo's perception as the bad boys of the VHL and in part their thunder and lightning defeated the Toronto Legion's “Teamwork makes the dream work” (it didn't), featuring some model David Knight liked in S24.

Helsinki also entered the foray in their huge underdog victory in S22, featuring references to the Hangover's Wolfpack and #DoItForKhan (prospect Sarmad Khan couldn't get called up for the playoffs; he then was traded after 5+ years in S27, and the Titans won again), and of course J.E.T.

J.E.T.

Jason Eugene Terry inspired victory over the Miami Heat around S22, which inspired Cam Fowler (CoachReilly) to channel his power in a superb run as the playoff MVP. J.E.T's future success is debatable, with some misses but a big hit with the Seattle Bears in Season 28. Up until davatars and maybe Calgary's Anchorman references in S30, this was the last truly memorable playoff rally.

Indeed, some of the magic does seem to wear off, especially if playoff rallies change too often and without success. The New York Americans went through too many different themes over their 11 playoff seasons and prevailed only once in S32. Similarly, the Helsinki Titans achieved less than anticipated with their constant chopping and changing. Stick to a theme and history proves you can be remembered.

[Victor 10,565]

Going on hiatus, 40 in 40 cometh.

[Victor 10,565]

Shit it's been two months.

VHL returns to Stockholm

Hello there! I am briefly returning from writing beastly 40 in 40 articles this week to contribute a Vasteras-relocation-inspired article for the magazine. As you are well aware, the second-worst-kept secret of the season (after the Lindberg to Vasteras trade) was Vasteras' imminent relocation and so it is official: the Iron Eagles are packing up, turning into Vikings and moving slightly east to Stockholm. It was always going to be Stockholm if Vasteras was to relocate, since the VHL without a Swedish team would simply not be right. Once, there were five Swedish teams in the league: Vasteras and Stockholm, as well as Vasteras, Jonkoping (later Kolari, now Turku), and Gothenburg (now Oslo) in the VHLM. With the move of the Vasteras which definitely shouldn't have existed (the second team in the minors) to Moscow, big league Vasteras was the sole representative of Sweden left out of ten European franchises.

The one and only issue with Stockholm as a destination was the fact that this path has been taken before, with little success. Of course, there are precedents, with Vasteras itself moving to Madrid and back as well as the Minot Gladiators taking an ill-advised break in Syracuse, but at least these teams were just moving back and were moderately successful originally. The Stockholm Rams, who existed in the VHL's first seven seasons, were probably not the worst franchise even at the time, with that distinction going to the Hamilton Canucks who made just one playoff appearance ever, the second coming several seasons after a move to New York. Nonetheless, the Rams were bad enough for management to look for a fresh start and move to Riga prior to Season 8, which would turn out to be a positive change for the franchise.

Stockholm's record in the VHL:

S1: Missed playoffs

S2: Swept in conference finals

S3: Missed playoffs

S4: Defeated in cup finals in five games

S5: Swept in conference finals

S6: Missed playoffs

S7: Missed playoffs

The best word to describe the Stockholm Rams would be mediocre, which is ironic given that was a charge levelled at Vasteras for so long. The franchise didn't start off too well, originally named the Thunder by a long-forgotten member who left early in Season 1. However, this wasn't a rarity at that time, with only one original GM actually sticking around for more than two seasons (that was of course Vasteras' Lucas Tannahill aka Pensfan101). In comparison to many other teams, Stockholm was fairly stable in that regard, but sadly their symbol and franchise face was not a great one: it was the infamous Chris Julien. Renowned for bizarre decisions and opinions, Julien's reputation was not enhanced by his inability to grasp the English language well, which didn't bode well for him explaining his moves and strategy. In retrospect, he was probably vilified much more than necessary, but the VHL, especially in the first decade, can be a fickle beast. After setting himself up for failure with a doomed playoff run in Season 2 (the Rams were swept by Vasteras), things looked so bad that league commissioner Scotty Campbell stepped in for a time.

Julien got the job back after a while and in fact oversaw the Rams' best two seasons, which of course isn't saying much. In Season 4, the VHL was very unbalanced and though Stockholm was Europe's best, they would have finished a distant fourth in North America, which showed when the Rams were dispatched with ease by the Seattle Bears in the final. The following season, despite the high-profile acquisition of Christian Stolzschweiger, the Rams were overtaken by Helsinki and that was the beginning of the end. A shock free agent signing of Raymond Funk only set up the gradual takeover by Raymond and his brother Dustin from Julien and ultimately the move to Riga.

All in all, the VHL has experienced an uninspiring past in Stockholm. The Thunder/Rams' brief history was similar to Vasteras/Madrid's long one, so the Stockholm Vikings get to start from two clean slates, which should mean minimal expectations and should bode well for the VHL's newest team.