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VHL Franchise Misery Index

Matt_O

By Matt_O
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Matt_O

Matt_O 897

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Every franchise has a story. Whether it is a tale of great triumph, or tales of tragic loss, every team has a story. Today, we will talk about which team has the happiest story (or saddest, if you are a pessimist). Using a system I created, I have looked at the last 15 VHL seasons (S52-S66) to determine which team has been the most miserable. If you want to see what things were considered in this study, click here. That link will tell you how much a continental cup win, semi final loss, playoff drought and much more is worth. After every team, I will give you their best and worst moment from the last 15 seasons. In the meantime, lets rank every team based on how sad they are from least sad to most sad. (not including Moscow or Malmo)

 

Don't forget S67 results aren't put into this, despite the fact that one teams worst moment is from S67.

 

 

8. Helsinki Titans :hel:

Misery Score: 95

 

This score is insane. I had to do a rescore to make sure I did my math correctly. This team has won four cups in the last fifteen seasons, including back to back cups in S54 and S55. This score could easily be lower, if they hadn't missed the playoffs in S62 and S63, which accounted for 100 total points going against them. They made the playoffs every year from S53 to S61, a nine season stretch that went unmatched through this research. The Titans are the epitome of consistency and they are the VHL's model franchise.

 

Worst Moment: Losing to Toronto in back to back finals

Best Moment: Upsetting the Vikings in S54 and winning the cup

 

 

 

7. Riga Reign :rig:

Misery Score:  152

 

Another team that has been remarkably consistent, the Riga Reign just keep on chugging. They have three cups in this fifteen season period, with their most recent being in S63. They are consistently at the top of the standings, and know how to rebuild. From S58 to S62, they missed the playoffs twice and had two wild card eliminations, which drove this score up a little bit. They bounced back from that short cold streak, and won the cup in S63 and haven't missed the playoffs since.  Of course in those three playoff appearances, they have lost to inferior teams all three teams. But they still made the playoffs none the less.

 

Worst Moment: Losing to an inferior team three straight years (S64-S66)

Best Moment: Back to back cups in S57 and S58

 

6. Toronto Legion :tor:

Misery Score: 227

 

The current version of the Toronto Legion is one that never ceases to amaze us. They looked down for the count after they missed the playoffs, and then traded for Rylan Peace, signed key free agents, and had a truly dominant season.  All this after winning back to back cups in S64 and S65. However, when we look before this, their history isn't as rich. Before their back to back cup wins, they made it to the postseason six times. Four of those six times they failed to make it out of the wildcard round. Fortune didn't bounce Toronto's way, until the cup runs. That was most notable in S59, when they finished the regular season with 25 more points than the Bears, but still couldn't beat them in the semi finals. Maybe this was Simons way of saying "I'm sorry for what I did to you. Have two crazy cinderella runs and win back to back cups".

 

Worst Moment: Being upset by the Bears in S59/Being upset by the Wolves in S67

Best Moment: Winning back to back cups in S64 and S65

 

5. Calgary Wranglers :cal:

Misery Score: 230

 

The current rendition of the Wranglers seem pretty sad. Not because of a lack of talent, but back to back series lost in overtime of a game seven to Vancouver? That's tough. The thing that helps Calgary the most is that they never had long stretches where they didn't make the playoffs. They would miss for two seasons and be back in contention. The only problem is that when they actually made the playoffs, they didn't do much. Until they won the cup in S62, they had six postseason appearances and just two appearances past the wild card round. They don't have any notable hot or cold streaks in the past fifteen seasons. They are just a middle of the pack team, with their lone S62 cup win.

 

Worst Moment: Losing to Vancouver in back to back game seven overtimes

Best Moment: Winning the cup in S62

 

4. Vancouver Wolves :que:

Misery Score: 268

 

I can't be the only one that noticed, but when you look at the Wolves score change over the years, it takes a big spike upwards once Beaviss takes control. After an excellent run in the mid-S50s, the Wolves (then the Meute) GM Frank decided to step down, and Beaviss started the rebuild.  They had three straight years of missing the postseason, before finally making it back. They made the finals in S62 but lost in sad yet hilarious fashion, as Keaton Louth was the first star of game seven. Louth played for Calgary. That is a heartbreaker. The heartbreak continued two seasons later, when the inability to follow to Louth rule, literally named after beaviss, caused Vancouver to have to put in their CPU goalie in the wild card round against Toronto. They lost both games in that series. They shockingly missed out on the playoffs in S65, before having a wild run to the finals only to get swept by Helsinki the very next year. This team is all over the place. I thought the score would be higher than this, but I guess not.

 

Worst Moment: Losing in the S62 finals in Game 7, and Keaton Louth getting the first star of the game.

Best Moment: Winning multiple series in overtime (New York in S66, Toronto in S67, Calgary in S66+S67)

 

3. New York Americans :nya:

Misery Score: 290

 

After opening up this study with two cup wins and multiple semi final appearances, the Americans had a quik rebuild and continued cruising along. They were a consistent playoff team, and often made it at least to the semi finals every time they got there. This franchise was one of the best in the league, but all that changed after S62. That was the year the Americans were starting the rebuild. Back to back years of missing the postseason quickly turned into three straight misses. In S65, they barely squeaked into the wild card game before getting swept by Helsinki. All their players seemingly went inactive. In S66 they lost in the wild card round again, and new GM Esso blew it up. A rebuild gone wrong. Out of the score of 290,  235 points are because of the last five seasons. The last five seasons have brought the once great franchise to a standstill. That is the only reason they are this low.

 

Worst Moment: Losing to the Titans in back to back years (S59 Semi Finals + S60 Finals)

Best Moment: Back to back cups in S52 and S53

 

2. Seattle Bears :sea:

Misery Score: 310

 

Poor Seattle. Despite having one of the most talented rosters in the league, they failed to even win a single series and had to rebuild after Thompson bolted in Free Agency. Missing the playoffs four years in a row from S54 to S57 doesn't help, but it's the most recent few years that is just sad. In S62, they made it to the semi finals but lost to the Wranglers in six. The next year? Oh boy, it was the Bears year. They finished one point behind Riga for the Victory Cup and came into the playoffs with a lot of hype. What did they do? Lose in the semi's to Calgary in six again. That sucks for them, but no need to panic. Calgary was nearly as good as the Bears anyways. In S64, the Bears win the Victory Cup, ironically finishing one point ahead of Riga. They had 15 more wins than both wild card teams. Surely this would be an easy ride to the finals. They face the Legion in the semi's and lose in six. This was sad. But hold on, it gets even worse. Matt Thompson enters free agency but decides to re-sign for one year. This was it. Cup or bust, no excuses. They win the Victory Cup again, but they don't care. All they care about is the playoffs. They have to play the Titans, who had ten less wins than the Bears during the season. And then, you guessed it, they lose in six. What was wrong with this team? They couldn't do anything by time the postseason rolled around. The last five years is what have put the Bears up here.

 

Worst Moment: Losing in the semi-finals in four straight years, despite winning the Victory Cup twice

Best Moment: Upsetting long time rival Toronto en route to winning the cup in S59

 

1. HC Davos Dynamo :dav:

Misery Score: 367

 

Where to start. Their cup win in S61 remains the only bright spot of the past fifteen seasons. The biggest issue with Davos is that the ratio of rebuild to playoff success is way off. They rebuild way too often, and when the rebuild is over, they rarely have anything to show for it when they end up tearing it all down again. Missing the playoffs in S53 and S54 resulted in one trip to the finals and no cups. They started rebuilding again, missing the playoffs three straight years after that. They were rewarded with a cup. They would then proceed to rebuild again, missing the playoffs three straight years before making it back in S66. They swept Riga before losing to Helsinki, and then.... traded everyone? They got rid of all the core pieces and replaced them with a ton of picks. They have three rebuilds in the last 15 seasons, lasting a combined eight seasons. They have had six seasons of contention, and the one extra season was just a random year that they made the playoffs only because no one else in the European Conference was good (Davos had 46 points that year and made it). A middle of the pack team like Calgary has nine seasons of contention with six rebuilding years, and elite franchises like Helsinki have only three rebuilding years and twelve contending seasons. The study of Davos is truly fascinating.

 

Worst Moment: Losing to the Meute in the S56 Finals

Best Moment: Winning the S61 Cup

 

So there we have it. The HC Davos Dynamo have been crowned as the saddest franchise of the past fifteen seasons. What surprised you in this list? Also, if you want to see the full data table, it is right here:

 

Spoiler
  Davos Seattle Vancouver Helsinki Calgary Riga Toronto New York
S52 5 0 20 20 5 0 20 -10
S53 20 5 5 0 20 20 20 -15
S54 20 20 0 -10 20 5 5 0
S55 0 20 0 -15 5 20 20 0
S56 0 30 -10 5 0 0 5 20
S57 35 40 0 5 15 -20 5 35
S58 35 0 35 15 35 -25 5 5
S59 52 -20 35 0 35 15 15 5
S60 15 5 52 -20 5 35 35 0
S61 -20 35 15 5 0 35 35 15
S62 15 15 10 50 -30 30 52 50
S63 50 25 15 50 5 -30 30 50
S64 50 45 35 5 50 22 -30 75
S65 75 45 50 15 50 15 -40 30
S66 15 50 5 -30 15 30 50 30
                 
  367 310 268 95 230 152 227 290

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Matt_O
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Beketov

Beketov 9,015

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10 hours ago, Matt_O said:

Fortune didn't bounce Toronto's way, until the cup runs. That was most notable in S59, when they finished the regular season with 25 more points than the Bears, but still couldn't beat them in the semi finals.

 

10 hours ago, Matt_O said:

In S62, they made it to the semi finals but lost to the Wranglers in six. The next year? Oh boy, it was the Bears year. They finished one point behind Riga for the Victory Cup and came into the playoffs with a lot of hype. What did they do? Lose in the semi's to Calgary in six again. That sucks for them, but no need to panic. Calgary was nearly as good as the Bears anyways. In S64, the Bears win the Victory Cup, ironically finishing one point ahead of Riga. They had 15 more wins than both wild card teams. Surely this would be an easy ride to the finals. They face the Legion in the semi's and lose in six. This was sad. But hold on, it gets even worse. Matt Thompson enters free agency but decides to re-sign for one year. This was it. Cup or bust, no excuses. They win the Victory Cup again, but they don't care. All they care about is the playoffs. They have to play the Titans, who had ten less wins than the Bears during the season. And then, you guessed it, they lose in six.

 

The joy of being the constant in all of these playoff losses....

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Matt_O

Matt_O 897

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6 minutes ago, Devise said:

@Molholt GM'd Toronto the only 3peat in league history. No offence to my own back to back a few seasons ago but I'd say the 3peat probably the Legions best moment in franchise history. 

I agree with that, except this was only from S52 to current day. So your back to back was the best moment in that timeframe

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Beaviss

Beaviss 4,957

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5 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

Me: "Well Davos does have a cup in the s60 decade so i think we may be middle of the pack, number 1 will be vancouver or new york"

 

*Davos number 1*

 

WHAAAAAAAAT

 

I wasn't surprised.....

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Victor

Victor 10,923

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On 8/28/2019 at 8:02 AM, Kyle said:

I know this is from S52 on. But if there's a worse moment for Riga than when we blew a 3-1 lead against NYA in the finals in S32 I'd like to see it. God damnit I hate NYA.

New York blowing a 3-1 lead to Davos the season before. :P

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Kyle

Kyle 667

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3 hours ago, Victor said:

New York blowing a 3-1 lead to Davos the season before. :P

 

lmao after I had left Davos after 3 years of devastating losses. What a league.

 

Still ❤️:olddav:

Edited by Kyle
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