The Scotty Campbell Trade Needs a Deep Rewind

[Matt_O 897]

The day is February 5th, 2008. It was the offseason between season three and season four, when Lucas Tannahill pulled the trigger on the biggest trade in VHL history, involving multiple hall of famers, such as Scotty Campbell, Mike Szatkowski, Matt Defosse and Brennan Anthony. But how did we get here? How did Campbell get to Vasteras? Why was Campbell, unanimously considered the GOAT, traded in the middle of his prime? This trade needs a deep rewind.

 

 

 

We can go all the way back to the inaugural VHL draft, where Vasteras had the eighth pick and the Hamilton Canucks had the second pick. Vasteras had their eyes set on Campbell, and were in the process of negotiating with Hamilton. They agreed, and they sent the second overall pick to Vasteras in exchange for their eighth overall pick, and a second rounder for the next season. They would go on to draft Campbell with that pick. Things weren't all bad for Hamilton though, and while they did miss out on Scotty Campbell, David Night was a good consolation prize. He was a future Hall of Famer, but he was not on Campbells level.

 

Vasteras also drafted future Hall of Famer goaltender Matthew Pogge with the ninth pick, and they were stacked in year one. They would go on to defeat the Wranglers in the finals and won the first ever Continental cup. During that offseason, they drafted another future hall of famer in defenseman Matt Defrosse. The Bears took Brennan Anthony sixth overall, and the Wranglers took legendary defenseman Sterling Labatte seventh. These additions from Calgary lead them to a rematch between them and Vasteras in the finals, but this time the Wranglers brought out the brooms on them, and swept them.

 

 

During that offseason, Avangard took Mike Szatkowski with the second overall pick. However, it wouldn't take long for them to swing him to Seattle, for Jon Church and a future first rounder. Now we know how the big names got to the Bears and Vasteras. But why did they even trade Campbell?

 

Well, it is a simple answer; he wanted out. In the beginning of season three, we almost saw a trade that sent Scotty Campbell to the Titans for Robert Sharpe and a couple of first rounders, but the deal fell apart when the Vasteras GM Lucas Tannehill backed out last second. Sharpe was the player picked first overall ahead of Campbell in the first draft, ironically. There also was a verbal agreement to trade away hall of fame goaltender Matt Pogge to the Bears, which also fell apart. They wanted one last go at it before the group would wither away, but Maxim Desny singlehandedly knocked them out in the semi finals.

 

Scotty Campbell wanted out. When the idea of a trade went into play, his teammate Matt Defosse wasn't happy. 

 

"I wasn't really in favor of moving from Vasteras when the idea of the trade first arose. Scotty approached me about going to Seattle and sold me on the idea. 'We'll win a cup there,' he said." (source) After Defosse was sold, the deal was done. A Seattle team with good core peices, and a Vasteras team in need of a culture change made the trade of all trades; Scotty Campbell and Matt Defosse were headed to Seattle while Mike Szatkowski and Brannan Anthony were going to Vasteras. 

 

How did these teams end up? The Bears would go on to win the next two continental cups, while Vasteras would go through a long painful rebuilding process over the next several seasons.  The Bears would end up trading Campbell to the Titans after their back to back cups, as they fell back to the bottom. What moment in VHL history should we review next?

Edited April 26, 2019 by Matt_O

[Quik 4,113]

1 hour ago, Matt_O said:

There also was a verbal agreement to trade away hall of fame goaltender Matt Pogge to the Bears, which also fell apart

 

I actually don't remember this, so if it's true, it's news to me haha

[Matt_O 897]

1 hour ago, Quik said:

 

I actually don't remember this, so if it's true, it's news to me haha

When I was doing research I definitely read this somewhere, I don’t remember where but when I find it I’ll put the link

Edited April 26, 2019 by Matt_O