My Expansion MS I never got posted

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Time for Expansion - Version 3

 

The Victory Hockey League will be expanding to twelve teams at the conclusion of Season Sixty-Seven, marking the third time the league has expanded since Season Thirty. The league has changed drastically since the first expansion that saw Quebec and Cologne enter the fray back in Season Thirty-One, an expansion that ultimately was done unnecessarily in the opinion of many of those who were around at the time. Since we are officially awaiting the news of the two new expansion franchises, today we are going to look back at the first expansion, while trying to also look to the future of what may come for the league with uncharted territory with twelve VHL franchises. 

 

Season Thirty-One: Welcome to Quebec and Cologne

 

Now many of these recollection will be coming off my memory, which isn’t the greatest as I was super active with my player at the time point task wise. The leadership team at the time was obviously much different from what we see today with Beketov and Quik, as it was a three headed monster of David Knight, Jardy and Sterling. The main supporter at the time and driver of expansion was Knight, something that he seemed ready to die on a hill for leading up to the actual expansion announcement. Membership at the time wasn’t the best, as most players that were in the drafts were re-creates. First-generation players entering the league over 200 TPE was a big accomplishment, with many of drafts lasting only a round or two leading up to Season Thirty. None the less expansion took place and prominent members Koradek and Kendrick were awarded the two franchises, with Koradek taking over the Quebec franchise and Kendrick running the German based Cologne franchise. The expansion draft rules weren’t as favorable for the teams during the first venture into expansion, so the teams endured some struggles early on. Quebec was the first of the two expansion franchises to see success, qualifying for the playoffs in the second season of play for the franchise in Season Thirty-Two. While the Meute didn’t make much noise in the playoffs in Season Thirty-Two and then took a step back the following season, the team started making team take notice come Season Thirty-Four.

 

Quebec Takes Off:

 

As stated in the article earlier Quebec was the first VHL franchise to become competitive, and even with making the playoffs in year two, they really took off starting in year four in Season Thirty-Four. Heading into the season the Meute made a huge splash with a trade between them and HC Davos Dynamo. The Meute sent the Dynamo Season Thirty-One draftee Steven Stamkos, along with their Season Thirty-Five and Thirty--Six First, Second and Third Round draft picks, for upcoming superstar centre Wesley Kellinger. That move would catapult the team into serious contender status with the likes of Helsinki and Calgary as the season was about to begin. Although Quebec would eventually fall at the hands of the Calgary Wrangles in the North American Conference Finals, the team made huge strides during the course of the season. During the off-season General Manager Pavel Koradek made another move for Miles Larsson in exchange for Jesper Hellkvist and a First and Second Round draft pick in Season Thirty-Seven. Season Thirty-Five started off similar to the past season with the league looking at a three horse race for the championship. Quebec and defending Continental Cup champions Helsinki separated themselves from the pack during the season. Quebec was the best team during the regular season posting a 55-14-3 record, good enough for 113 points and their first Victory Cup win. The Meute carried their hot play into the playoffs, moving past Calgary getting some revenge from the past season, and into the cup finals where they happened to meet the Titans. The Meute and Titans fought back and forth for six games, before Quebec ended the series in front of the Titans faithful. After five long seasons of ups and downs, the Meute finally stood alone at the top of the league, with no one prouder on ice than GM Koradek. On top of their first VHL Championship, the team also took home some personal awards at the awards ceremony, with Goaltender Skyler Rift taking home the Aiden Shaw Trophy for top goalie, and the Daisuke Kanou Trophy for playoff MVP. While Koradek took home the David Knight Trophy as the leagues top General Manager.

 

After the First:

 

After winning their first VHL Championship in Season Thirty-Five the Meute have experienced some wins, some losses, some heartbreak, and a big change. The team has made twenty-four playoff experiences since joining the league back in Season Thirty-One, made the finals in eight of those twenty-four playoffs appearances, while adding one additional Continental Cup to the fold in Season Fifty-Six. While the Meute have experienced some amazing regular season success, it’s the two Continental Cup wins in those eight appearances that stick out the most. The Meute have made the playoffs in six of the past seven seasons, but made the playoffs the first time this season representing Vancouver. The Meute moved to the west coast at the conclusion of the Season Sixty-Four season, looking for a fresh start and apparently a less offensive name. Vancouver now moves forward looking to add to the two Continental Cups in their trophy case, but can always hold on to the fact they were the first VHL expansion franchise to win a championship.

 

German Hockey Invades the VHL:

 

Due to his family connection and German roots, Kendrick was always pushing Germany with his players during his VHL tenure. It was a nature progression that when he was awarded a VHL expansion franchise that it were be based in Cologne Germany. After picking up many of the journeyman players left available in the VHL Expansion draft, Cologne wasn’t able to make the playoffs in the first three seasons of their existence. Cologne made their first appearance in the VHL playoffs in Season Thirty-Four, thanks in large part to a weaker European Conference. Cologne wasn’t a true contender during their first playoff appearance and was bounced quickly from the playoffs. The team would make the playoffs for three consecutive seasons from Season Thirty-Four until Season Thirty-Six, but were unable to reach the finals during any of those three years. General Manager Joey Kendrick would step down from his position after Season Thirty-Six and the team regressed heavily during the next three seasons. Fast forward to Season Forty-One off-season and the announcement of former New York Americans General Manager Ryan Power being hired by the franchise. Power took over and got to work doing what he does best, working the phones and making deals. The first move Power made was arguably his biggest when he acquired goaltender Martin Brookside from the Calgary Wranglers. The Express went into the season with high expectations although they weren’t the favorite expansion team to win in all that season. The Express played well throughout the regular season and qualified for the playoffs in the non-competitive European Conference. The Express cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs, losing only twice on their way to the Continental Cup finals. When they reached the finals the team that stood in the way of their first VHL championship for Cologne happened to be the team they entered the league with. Quebec and Cologne met for the first time in the cup finals, after being the league for eleven seasons. The Meute were no match for the Express who seemed to fins another gear when the playoffs arrived, taking home the championship in game five in Quebec. The Express’ huge off-season acquisition Martin Brookside, was awarded for his strong play during the award ceremony. Brookside took home the Scotty Campbell Trophy as regular season MVP, the Aiden Shaw Trophy for top goalie, and Daisuke Kanou trophy for playoff MVP, which will go down as one of the best seasons ever for a VHL goaltender. General Manager Ryan Power was also awarded for his hard work during the season with the David Knight Trophy for the leagues top GM. With the best season in Express history behind them the team now look forward to defending their title the next season. Season Forty-Three brought on higher expectations for the German hockey club, as fans now had that taste of a winning squad. Cologne again made the playoffs in a weak conference in Season Forty-Three, lead by future Hall of Fame forward Thomas O’Malley. O’Malley dominated the league offensively putting up fifty-three goals on his way to winning his first Kevin Brooks Trophy as the leagues top goalscorer. O’Malley also put up seventy-eight points, good enough for the league league and Mike Szatkowski Trophy with 131 points. Cologne again breezed through the playoffs and ended up in the cup finals again. This time around Cologne would face off against the Seattle Bears, and would unfortunately come out on the wrong side of a game seven loss.

 

Colognes Time Comes to an End:

 

After reaching the finals in Season Forty-Three, the Express again went back to the finals the very next season in Season Forty-Four. The Express would lose this time around to the Calgary Wranglers in six games. The franchise would make the playoffs seven more times between Season Forty-Five and Season Fifty-Seven, making one more appearance in the cup finals in Season Forty-Nine, which they would ultimately lose in five games against the Toronto Legion in the midst of their three straight championships. Cologne would make their final playoffs appearance in Season Fifty-Seven, which also happened to be the last season the Express were in the league. The Express were part of the two team contraction after Season Fifty-Seven as the VHL looked restructure due to a dwindling player base and they failed player two project. Although they only won one championship in the twenty-six season the franchise was in the league, the Express were an elite team in the European Conference for many seasons. Will the Express ever make their way back to the VHL sooner than later?

 

The Move to Twelve:

Where in the World will the VHL teams go?

 

In just a few weeks the VHL will be announcing the locations, team names, colors and all other information about the two newest VHL franchises. The General Managers have been announced to the league already with diamond_ace and Enorama being trusted to see these franchises off the ground. This will be the first time the league will be above 10 teams in the VHL, something that comes with great excitement, while also great trepidation. This time around with expansion as well with the previous expansion that saw the Moscow Menace and Malmo Nighthawks enter the league two seasons ago, expansion is being done out of necessity instead of someone wanting to push it through for what seemed like a personal agenda. The league has grown leaps and bounds since Season Thirty, and continues to grow each day. Drafts are seeing players being drafted into the second and third round that enter the VHL immediately, basically the leagues overall health is the highest its been since the league first opened its doors back in 2007. The biggest question outside of the expansion draft and protections lists from the other ten VHL teams in where will the VHL land next in the world. Logically if you think about it, we should see one team in North America and the other team obviously somewhere else in the world. The team in North America will likely be placed in the United States, which will even out the teams between Canada and the US in the North American Conference. The east coast and west coast are represented right now in the United States with teams in New York and Seattle, so will the team now land somewhere in the middle. Now that gives a lot of spot for the team to land, but hopefully the VHL finds themselves a permanent home somewhere in the Midwest. No matter where the teams land, I wish the best of luck to the two General Mangers as one returns to the gold club, while one starts off his new career as a member of the gold club.

 

2,064 Words. Using for Weeks Aug 18-24, Aug 25-31, Sept 1-7, Sept 8-14

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Sorry for the bump, claiming wk 2 of 4

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claming wk 3 of 4 

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Claiming wk 4 of 4