Expansion Thoughts

[omgitshim 903]

It was recently announced that the VHL will be expanding once again, adding two more teams to make it 12 total. Let's start things off with a big congratulations is due to the newly appointed GMs @diamond_ace & @Enorama. For diamond_ace, this is a homecoming of sorts as he'll be returning from a 26 season hiatus to become GM once again. Jason Glasser was the longest tenured GM in Calgary Wranglers history, running the team for 16 straight seasons between S26 and S41. In fact, the only GM that has had a longer uninterrupted tenure with any team is current Seattle Bears GM Blake Campbell @Banackock, who is in the middle of his 19th consecutive season. It's almost symbolic then that Kefka Palazzo is part of the Bears organization. Glasser had some success as GM for the Wranglers, winning a Continental Cup in S30 and a Victory Cup in S31. He was also one of just five GMs in VHL history to win the David Knight Trophy three times, taking home the prize in S28, S30, and S34. Diamond_ace is one of the most respected members on the forums, and it's truly great to see him take up the GM reigns once again.

 

On the other side of the coin, Enorama will be dipping his toes into the VHL GM waters for the first time. Eno Rama is not entering the ring without experience, however. Rama served as GM for the S65 & S67 World Junior Championships for Team Asia, leading both squads to the bronze medal. He also served as GM for Team World in the S66 World Cup, winning a silver medal there. Enorama has been an outstanding member of the VHL for a full year now, and he has constantly helped out all around the forums as an updater, hall of fame writer, graphics maker, you name it, he's probably done it. It's a well deserved promotion for Enorama, and it'll be exciting to see how long it takes to turn his franchise into a contender.

 

 

As for the new teams themselves, with the split into North American and European divisions, it would make sense that one team would be placed in the USA or Canada while the other would tap into a new European market. My guess is that Jason Glasser would take over the North American team while Eno Rama will be in charge of the European one. Currently North America has 2 teams in the USA and 3 teams in Canada, but with a lot of USA based teams recently joining the VHLM, it wouldn't shock me to see a 4th Canadian team added to the league. Given Glasser's history with Calgary, opening up a team placed in Edmonton would be a fitting place for him, though having two teams in Alberta might be a bit overkill. Another location that may be more likely for a team is Montreal. With the relocation of the Vancouver Wolves, Quebec, Canada's largest province, is currently not represented in either the VHL or the VHLM. The people of Quebec were not happy to see the Wolves success last season after they had abandoned the province, so it would be a great story for vengeance and lay the groundwork for a long term rivalry between the two clubs.

 

 

For the European side of things, I'm going to go a little out of the box. Given Eno Rama's history with Team Asia, I would not be surprised to see an Asian team added to the league. Specifically, Shanghai seems to be on top of the list due to this input given by Enorama in one of the previous new franchise discussion threads. Shanghai is home to the Shanghai Hockey Club, one of the biggest premier amateur hockey leagues in all of China. While an expansion to Asia would be a logistical nightmare for a real life hockey league, we don't have to worry about that in a sim league. Expanding to more international markets is great for the league as a whole, as new users from those areas are more likely to stick around as they see that they too are represented. It would also be the first step to expansion all around the globe, as it opens pathways for teams in other underrepresented areas like South America, Africa, even Australia. Maybe even one day we'll see the North Pole Penguins in the league!

 

Edited August 12, 2019 by omgitshim