VHL Franchise All-Time Goaltending Ranking: Teams 5-10

[Victor 11,009]

So all-time franchise statistics have been discussed recently, in particular by current goaltenders Alexander Pepper and Finn Davison who wanted to understand where they stood in the long and varied histories of Helsinki and Davos, respectively. That and my insatiable desire to make sense of the mess that is 66 seasons of sim league hockey has resulted in this – a ranking of 10 VHL franchises based on the success of their goaltenders. The franchise goaltender is an important, often essential, component of a successful franchise, and I've tried to take into account both the talent level of the goalie (e.g. were they a Hall of Famer) and their impact to the specific team (i.e. cups and awards).

 

Malmo and Moscow are excluded from the ranking as they've had 5 starting goalies in 5 cumulative seasons of existence. However, I will be including Vasteras and Cologne in here given they were around for longer than most members. So starting with number 10, let's jump into this countdown.

 

10. Cologne Express

S33-S37 – Evgeni Chekhov

S38-S41 – Blaine Olynick

S42-S43 – Martin Brookside S42 | Shaw x2

S44-S45 – Brock Waldron

S46 – Sandro Clegane HOF

S48 – Callum Sinclair

S49-S50 – Artom Zhumbayev

S51 – Atticus von Braxton

S52 – Dmitri Dadonov

S53 – Ilya Kopralkov

S54 – Markus King HOF

S55 – Vernon Von Axelberry

S57 – Shawn Brodeur

 

There are a number of reasons for why Cologne ended up on the chopping block when contraction came around in S57, but a failure to ever get a real franchise goaltender in 27 seasons certainly didn't help. By some distance Cologne's most successful goaltender was Martin Brookside, the playoff MVP in their only cup win in S42, but he was only there for the final two seasons of his career. The Express only ever had two Hall of Famers appear in net for them and both Clegane and King departed after their rookie seasons. Ultimately there is little else to write here other than this was possibly the easiest team to place in the ranking.

 

9. Calgary Wranglers

S1 – Drew Barclay

S2 – Joseph Baker S2

S3-S4 – Robert Sharpe S3

S7 – Adrian McCreath HOF | Tretiak

S8-S9 – Max Weinstein S8

S10 – Raul Thundercat

S11-S15 – Jonas Markstrom

S16-S18 – Demetrjusz Dudek S18

S19 – Zach Voss S19 | Tretiak

S22-S24 – Joey Clarence S23

S28-S32 – Marius Henchoz S30 | Shaw

S33 – Skylar Rift

S34 – Satan

S35 – Alexander Labatte HOF

S37-S41 – Martin Brookside

S43-S46 – Hans Wingate HOF | S44 | Shaw x2

S46-S47 – Bernie Gow

S50-S52 – Ariel Weinstein

S54-S57 – Jacob

S58-S63 – Norris Stopko HOF | S62 | Shaw x2

S64-present – Brick Wahl II

 

Calgary long had a legitimate claim for being the most successful franchise in VHL history, a claim that has weakened in the last few decades, especially after being effectively contracted along with Cologne. However, that success had little to do with the quality of the Wranglers' goalies. In their first 40 seasons of existence, Wranglers fans only saw two Hall of Famers don their goalie masks for them – Adrian McCreath for half a season in S7 and then Alexander Labatte for one year 28 seasons later. That's not say that cups were won in spite of their goaltenders as most of Calgary's long-term starters were still among the best in their generation, but they certainly weren't the stars of the team.

 

As the championships dried up in more recent years, there has been a slight shift in the importance of the goalie to Calgary. The S44 cup is almost synonymous with Hans “WinGod” Wingate, and likewise the recent trips to three straight finals wouldn't have been possible without Norris Stopko, fittingly a goaltender the Wranglers picked up along with the rest of Stockholm's assets. That's not quite enough to move them up this list though.

 

8. Seattle Bears

S3-S6 – Adrian McCreath HOF | S4, S5 | Tretiak x2

S9-S12 – Steve LaFramboise S12 | Tretiak

S14-S16 – Greg Harbinson

S17 – Alex Young S17

S19-S21 – Joey Clarence

S26-S30 – CAL G HOF | S28 | Tretiak

S35-S39 – Steven Smyl

S41-S43 – Niklaus Mikaelson S43

S47-S49 – Sandro Clegane HOF | Shaw

S49-S53 – Jakab Holik Shaw

S57-S59 – Vernon Von Axelberry S59

S60 – Markus King HOF

S61-S65 – Roger Sterling

S67-present – Rayz Funk

 

Similarly to Calgary, the Bears that most current VHL members are familiar with are a far cry from their initial success. Also similarly to Calgary, Seattle's goaltenders were solid but often not the star attraction on their best teams. However, probably the Bears' two best eras featured two of the better goalies the VHL has seen with McCreath backstopping the generation led by Scotty Campbell and then CAL G being a core component of the “Seattle Six”. Since then though it has been an odd journey, with a few very fallow periods mixed in with some top goaltending displays (in particular by Clegane and Holik). The Bears' two championships in modern times have come with Mikaelson, a young goaltender not quite in his prime then, and Von Axelberry, whose career-best spell came in the S59 playoffs.

 

7. Vasteras Iron Eagles (including Madrid Thunder and Stockholm Vikings)

S1-S4 – Matthew Pogge HOF | S1 | Tretiak x2

S5-S10 – Anton Nygard

S11-S12 – Alex Gegeny HOF

S13-S14 – Steve LaFramboise

S15-S18 – Zach Voss Tretiak

S21-S26 – Andreas Bjorkman S26 | Tretiak

S31-S32 – CAL G HOF

S34-S40 – Eggly Bagelface Shaw

S43 – Brick Wahl HOF

S44-S45 – Blake Campbell

S47-S49 – Ariel Weinstein

S52-S55 – Rhett DeGrath HOF | Shaw x2

S56 – Vernon Von Axelberry

 

For all of Vasteras' issues over time, which followed them wherever they relocated, finding top goaltending talent was never a problem. Starting with inaugural top goalie and playoff MVP Matthew Pogge, any contending Vasteras/Madrid/Stockholm roster featured one of the best netminders in the league and many, in a recurring theme for the Swedish franchise, were unlucky not to win more team and individual awards in their time there. Many unheralded goaltenders went through Vasteras (single season save % record holder Nygard, top goaltender of his generation Voss, and unlucky to be overshadowed by others Bagelface and Weinstein). They perhaps ended with their finest, with Rhett DeGrath putting up record-breaking regular season stats for the Vikings, but falling short in the playoffs. That was the last straw and ended a long and proud lineage of goaltenders.

 

6. New York Americans (previously Hamilton Canucks)

S1-S5 – Jesus Christ Tretiak

S8-S10 – Greg Eagles

S12-S15 – Vase Trikamaki S14 | Tretiak

S18-S19 – Alex Young

S24-S31 – Benjamin Glover HOF | Tretiak x2

S32 – Skylar Rift S32

S33-S34 – Alexander Labatte HOF | Shaw

S36-S42 – Brick Wahl HOF | S39, S41

S38 – Tuomas Tukio HOF | Shaw

S45 – Niklaus Mikaelson Shaw

S46-S47 – Blake Campbell S47 | Shaw

S48 – Atticus von Braxton

S49 – Ariel Weinstein

S52 – Ilya Kopralkov S52

S53 – MT Power S53

S54-S55 – Jakab Holik

S58-S59 – Rhett DeGrath HOF | Shaw

S60-S61 – Ike Arkander Shaw

S62-S66 – Ismond Kingfisher

 

New York as a franchise seems to have come full circle. Initially the team that had to wait longest for its first Continental Cup (even including Quebec and Cologne later on), now the Americans are on the longest cup drought in the VHL. In between they almost became the model franchise and their goaltending history follows a similar pattern. Outside of Benjamin Glover and Brick Wahl, New York has had little in the form of franchise goalies, but those were definitely two good franchise goalies to have. In between, the Americans featured cameos from two all-time greats in Tukio and Labatte, although they did seem to find championship success more often with less heralded players (rookies Rift and Power or journeymen Campbell and Kopralkov).

 

The past 10 seasons have been rough, however, as the Americans have been hit by two GM inactivities, both of whom were also in charge of the team's starting goalie (Arkander and now Kingfisher). Although it's still a long fall to reach the Shortbus era of early days New York, they are now dangerously close to revisiting to those pre-Glover days when they were searching for a second cup and a franchise goaltender.

 

5. Vancouver Wolves (previously Quebec City Meute)

S34-S36 – Skylar Rift S35 | Shaw

S37 – Tuomas Tukio HOF | Shaw

S39-S43 – Brock Waldron

S40 – Lennox Moher Shaw

S44 – Niklaus Mikaelson

S45-S46 – Ariel Weinstein

S49-S50 – Greg Clegane HOF | Shaw

S53-S58 – Apollo Skye HOF | S56 | Shaw

S61-S65 – Tristan Iseult Shaw

S66 – Roger Sterling

S67-present – Ismond Kingfisher

 

It's been a rough time since they moved to Vancouver (1 inactive season of Iseult, Sterling and so far Kingfisher performing below expectation), but while in Quebec the Meute got through quite a bit of elite talent in goal. Quebec became proficient at picking up Hall of Fame or near Hall of Fame level goaltenders just as they were entering their prime, starting of course with their infamous free agent signing Rift who propelled them to their first championship. He was soon followed by Tukio, Moher, and Clegane, who all had career seasons in Quebec, before the Meute finally developed their own bonafide superstar in Apollo Skye and reaped the rewards with four straight trips to the finals. Time will tell if that wasn't a purely French Canadian thing or if the Wolves will slowly start slipping down this ranking.

 

 

1,600 words so 3 weeks for Cast.

[diamond_ace 3,112]

At least I was the best at something, even if it was just that I was the best goalie on a team that consistently had shit goalies.

[Victor 11,009]

2nd week for Cast

[Victor 11,009]

3rd week for Cast