Season 23: Year in Review

[Matt_O 897]

After the Helsinki Titans pulled off one of the most incredible upset wins in VHL history over the Toronto Legion, we can start to look at Season 23. During the offseason, some of the wildest trades I have seen in a while took place. First, the Vasteras Iron Eagles struck up a deal with the Americans, where Vasteras sent their second overall pick, two second rounders and the next years first rounder for two prospects and New Yorks fourth overall pick. That was an unexpected trade, but what came in the next few days changed the shape of the VHL forever.

 

Markus Strauss, arguable the top player in the VHL at the time, was shipped off to Davos for a first, and two thirds. The Bears were on full rebuild now, and Davos was trying to capitalize on their final years with Daisuke Kanou. Later that day, Helsinki acquired Tarik Saeijs from Riga, where they traded seemingly their entire team, as well as recent draftee Mitch Higgins, who was the key to the deal. The Titans wanted to capitalize on their championship window that had just opened, while the Reign were just starting their rebuild.

 

DRAFT

 

The S23 draft was a big step up from last years horrendous draft, but it was still a little weak. With the first overall pick, Davos found themselves on the clock, despite making the playoffs. If you remember back to the Season 21 review, the Bears traded a handful of picks in exchange for Patrick Bergqvist, Jordan Berglund and Geno Esposito to try to win the cup. Well, that pick became the first overall selection, where Davos picked up future Hall of Famer Leeroy Jenkins. With the second pick, New York selected Dustin McKullen, and Vasteras took Lasse Milo with the fourth pick. The Titans took Mitch Higgins with the eighth pick, who they later traded to Riga. Overall it was still a pretty weak draft, but far better than last years draft.

 

 

 

The HC Davos Dynamo retook the throne at the top of the VHL for the first time since season 20, off the backs of Daisuke Kanou in net, and the duo of Anton Brekker and Markus Strauss. Strauss had his first year where he took a step back, and had less than 100 points for the first time since the index goes back to (season 20). They also had a one two punch of young studs, with Pavel Koradek and Leeroy Jenkins both having solid seasons.

 

The Helsinki Titans finished right behind them, in large part due to the resurgence of Tarik Saeijs scoring 126 points, and playoff MVP Cam Fowler dropping 116 points as well. Their goaltender Jakob Kjeldson had a stellar year, with a jaw dropping 1.77 GAA.  Even though they traded six players for Saeijs in the offseason, they had more than enough depth help, with guys like Ignatius Feltersnatch, Kevin Hesje and Michael Angelo dropping more than 80 points.

 

 

The Legion took a massive step back from their victory cup winning campaign, barely winning the North American division over Calgary. Peyton Nydroj and Lars Berger kept their elite level of play, both getting over 110 points. Unfortunately for the Legion the depth seemed to tail off, and the Legion heavily relied on the incredible play of Aidan Shaw, and their top two scorers Nydroj and Berger.

 

The Wranglers nearly dethroned the Legion a top the North American divison, with an intense end of season push that fell just short. Joey Clarence was arguably the main reason for this teams success, but the contributions of Evgeni Fydorov and Mathias Chouinard, as well as a well rounded team from top to bottom is what led this team to success.

 

Now with the non playoff teams; the Vasteras Iron Eagles took their first positive stride in a while, and finished with an above .500 record. Their goalie Andreas Bjorkman has started to solidify himself as a solid starter, with a very solid 2.43 GAA and a .918 Save Percentage. Cam Merrill led the team in points again, and Clint Guite had a very good sophomore season. Lasse Milo had a good rookie year as well, with 50 points.

 

The three utter tanks of the league belonged in New York, Riga and Seattle. New York was finally beginning to show some promise, with guys like Jukka Hakkinen, Jaroslav Oslig, Oliver Bergstrom all had over 90 points, and Fantastic McAwesome started to live up to his name, dropping 77 points. The Reign were very bad as well, with the only recognizable names being Ma'a Nonu and Oliver Scarlett. Scarlett, who once was a Sterling Labette winner, had dropped in production as his career began to hit its end, only scoring 61 points. Although the Reign were very trash, no one was close to being as bad as Seattle was. They had nine wins total, and their top guy didn't even hit 60 points. Sam Pouza, who had no notable seasons or awards through his career, finished on top of the team with 59 points. The best plus minus they had was a -34! They were awful, let me tell you.

 

TRADE DEADLINE

 

There were no notable trades at the deadline this year. The Wranglers traded for minor depth peices with Jake Steen and Biggie Shakur, but that is all for this years deadline.

 

PLAYOFFS

 

The Playoff came and we saw two very close series; the Legion vs Wranglers and the Dynamo vs Titans. In North America, the Wranglers headed to Toronto for game one, but the Legion came well prepared, easily taking game one 5-2. Lars Berger had a hat trick in the win. Game two headed back Calgary's way, as the Wranglers bounced back and won 4-1. Trade deadline acquisition Jake Steen dropped three points in game two. Both teams headed to Calgary, and the Wranglers delivered for the fans, winning 2-1 in overtime when Roman Andreev scored on the powerplay. The most notable thing was the fact that Toronto only had 19 shots; a pattern that would continue the next game. Toronto had a mere 16 shots and lost 3-1 to Calgary in game four. The Wranglers were all over the Legion, outscoring them 9-3 in the past three games. And in game five back in Toronto, the Wranglers trounced the Legion, winning 3-0. The Legion were held to 16 shots again in their loss. Jake Steen had three assists and the Wranglers were headed to the finals.

 

Now, we hit the most intense point of a rivalry between Helsinki and Davos that lasted for a few seasons. The two top squads in the VHL facing off for a spot in the finals. Game one was a nail biter, as it was tied 1-1 heading to the third. But HSK RW scored in the third to give the Titans the win in game one. Game two was another heart wrenching game to watch, as the Titans tied it with five minutes left, and Tarik Saeijs won the game in overtime, shocking Davos in both of their home games. Davos stormed back in game three, propelled off of Markus Strauss' hat trick and won 4-3. But the Titans would ultimately head out of Helsinki happy, as they won game four 3-1 and took a strong hold on the series. Davos wasn't done yet. Game five went Davos' way, after Markus Strauss scored his sixth of the playoffs early in the third to bring home the 2-1 win. The two teams headed back to Helsinki for game six. The Titans were up 3-1 heading to the third, but Chad Murphy's two third period goals for Davos gave them a headache. But Cam Fowler wouldn't let it slip away, as he scored with three minutes left to win the game and the series for the Titans.

 

Now we had our finals; Calgary vs Helsinki. The trend of the Wranglers allowing low shot totals continued, as the Titans only got off 19 shots in game one, and Calgary took a 2-1 win. Game two, however, was a complete disaster for Calgary, to say the least. They lost 5-1, and were outshot 42-18. They were embarassed, and Game three was a big one. Helsinki won off of Tarik Saeijs overtime winner to steal game three away from Calgary. The Wranglers bounced back, and returned to their great defensive style of play, winning 3-1 and tying the series up. Game five was back in Helsinki, where Helsinki was shut down once again. Luckily for them, the Wranglers struggled to produce offense as well. Tarik Saeijs goal in the dying moments of the second period would ultimately be the winner, as the Titans won 2-1 in game five. Now, game six was do or die for Calgary. They let up two goals in the first, but scored four unanswered in the second and third period. Jesse McGhann made them feel uneasy, scoring with ten minutes left, but in the end Calgary squeaked out with a 4-3 win and forced game 7.

 

Game 7 was in Helsinki, and the crowd was hoping to win back to back titles. The first period was scoreless until Jardy Bunclewirth scored with three minutes left to give the Wranglers the lead heading to the locker room. They carried the momentum to the second half, when Evgeni Fydorov scored just a minute in. He scored again later that period, and the Wranglers headed to the third with a 3-0 lead. Then, they went into a defensive lockdown, allowing just seven shots in the third period to lock down game 7. It was Calgary's sixth continental cup, and their first since their back to back cup runs of S18 and S19. The legendary Jardy Bunclewirth could end his career off on top, winning his third continental cup.

 

INDIVIDUAL AWARDS

 

To no ones surprise, Tarik Saeijs won the MVP, as he led Helsinki to second place in the league and had 126 points. He also won the Mike Szatkowski trophy for most points in the league.

The Playoff MVP went to Mathias Chouinard, as his 19 points in 12 games help the Wranglers win it all, Peyton Nydroj of Toronto won the Kevin Brooks trophy, with 60 goals. Adam Schultz from Davos won the Sterling Labatte, and Jakob Kjeldson won the Aidan Shaw trophy for best goalie, beating out Aidan Shaw himself. Dustin McKullen, whom the Americans traded for from Vasteras at the draft, won rookie of the year, with 68 points.

Next season, some wild stuff happens. One of the four playoff teams takes a major drop. A blockbuster trade between two unlikely teams took place, and other blockbuster trades happen in Season 24. Tune in on Tuesday, April 30th for our review of Season 24!

[Phil 5,129]

blast from the past! @gregreg @tfong

 

@frescoelmo @CoachReilly @street @JardyB10 @Victor @Advantage @Squinty @slobo @JardyB10 

 

@Beketov (was dustin Mckullen your player? can't remember!)

 

As I would say - the good ol' days.

 

Wonderful recap @Matt_O

[Beketov 9,100]

32 minutes ago, Phil said:

was dustin Mckullen your player? can't remember!)

Definitely not mine.

[Phil 5,129]

2 minutes ago, Beketov said:

Definitely not mine.

 Were you Jason White at that time? Who was your player then? Who am I thinking of?

 

Edit: WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND, BEKETOV??!?!?!

Edited April 29, 2019 by Phil

[Beketov 9,100]

5 minutes ago, Phil said:

 Were you Jason White at that time? Who was your player then? Who am I thinking of?

 

Edit: WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND, BEKETOV??!?!?!

I don’t remember what seasons were what but probably White yeah. If he was in the league then yes, that was me.

[Baozi 1,662]

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the bad guys won.

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

1 hour ago, Phil said:

 Were you Jason White at that time? Who was your player then? Who am I thinking of?

 

Edit: WHAT GOES ON IN MY MIND, BEKETOV??!?!?!

i think McKullen was a funk brother player?

[Phil 5,129]

3 hours ago, TheLastOlympian07 said:

i think McKullen was a funk brother player?

Oh yeah? Woulda been the older funk then!

[frescoelmo 1,282]

18 hours ago, Phil said:

blast from the past! @gregreg @tfong

 

@frescoelmo @CoachReilly @street @JardyB10 @Victor @Advantage @Squinty @slobo @JardyB10 

 

@Beketov (was dustin Mckullen your player? can't remember!)

 

As I would say - the good ol' days.

 

Wonderful recap @Matt_O

sup

Edited April 30, 2019 by frescoelmo

[Kyle 667]

On 4/29/2019 at 4:07 PM, tfong said:

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO the bad guys won.

 

That was a tough loss, we were so stacked. Those Helsinki-Davos matchups were heated.

Edited May 1, 2019 by Kyle

[Victor 11,015]

On 4/29/2019 at 7:28 PM, Beketov said:

I don’t remember what seasons were what but probably White yeah. If he was in the league then yes, that was me.

Think you'd have been on Kristensen at the time.

 

On 4/29/2019 at 9:08 PM, TheLastOlympian07 said:

i think McKullen was a funk brother player?

 

On 4/30/2019 at 12:12 AM, Phil said:

Oh yeah? Woulda been the older funk then!

nah it was McNeil

[Beketov 9,100]

14 minutes ago, Victor said:

Think you'd have been on Kristensen at the time.

One of the two. Kristensen didn’t last that long and was my lowest point for activity so he blends in with White for me.

[Phil 5,129]

2 hours ago, Victor said:

nah it was McNeil

There it is! I knew someone would remember!!