State of the Nation: Ireland [1/2]

[zepheter 586]

State of the Nation: IRELAND

As of 10/14/2019

State of the Nation is a series in which I look over active and free agent players in the VHL by their nation. By doing this, I hope to make it easier for those who don't want to go through each player, clicking dozens of times to go from one screen to the next when they can just read about them here. Plus, it gives me something to do while I sit at home and contemplate whether or not cats and dogs understand each other.

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Over the past eight seasons, there have been eight Irish players to come onto the VHL scene. Some have seen no playing time in the VHLM, while others have solidified themselves as award-winning impact players in the VHL. Perhaps a couple will become Hall of Famers, but only time will tell. As explained above, I will now go on to tell you a bit about each player in order of newest to oldest based on their VHL draft year. As well as asking a question that they should answer in the next few seasons as they continue to develop their players, or not.

 

Odin Omdahl | D | S70 | 43 TPE

VHLM 0 GP | 0 G | 0 A | 0 P | +/- 0

zepheter

Having just created his player, Omdahl is the newest Irish player in the VHL. Sitting at just 43 TPE, he has a long way to go to fill in the shoes of some of the current VHLers who are soon to retire after great careers. Will he be able to meet the expectations set by other Irish players in the VHL? 

 

Kevin Reegsman | D | S69 | 81 TPE

VHLM 49 GP | 2 G | 2 A | 4 P | +7

Reegs

Having played a little under one full season, Reegsman has plenty of time to grow into a respectable presence in the VHL. Expecting a good offseason, Reegsman should be in for a strong showing next season in the VHLM. After a compelling first couple of weeks, Reegsman seems to have slowed down. Will he be able to pick up the pace as Ohmdahl looks to overtake him in the near future? 

 

Owen Nolan | RW | S68 | 335 TPE

VHL 63 GP | 8 G | 6 A | 10 P | -12

studentized

At a pace of about 22 TPE per week, Nolan is on track to hit 400 TPE in about three weeks if he can keep up this tremendous growth rate. Despite the point total of the VHL rookie, he's projecting to be one of the most highly rated players from Ireland. While it's too early to make assumptions on what he could accomplish, there's not much to be desired when it comes to his commitment to get better. Will Nolan be able to keep up his terrific progression and become a star in the VHL? 

 

Colum ODowd | LW | S65 | 32 TPE

VHLM 0 GP | 0 G | 0 A | 0 P | +/- 0

sour_chin_music

Unfortunately, ODowd was never able to carve out a spot in the VHLM. After posting a single update in January of this year, he hasn't been active. Any chance of a comeback seems to be written off at this point. 

 

Denver Wolfe | RW | S65 | 679 TPE

VHL 210 GP | 25 G | 95 A | 120 P | -14

VHL PO 35 GP | 7 G | 14 A | 21 P | -1

InstantRockstar

After being drafted, Wolfe spent S65 in the VHLM, where he racked up 98 assists and 116 points to win the Vladimir Boomchenko Trophy as the player who led the VHLM in assists during the regular season. He also helped lead his team to win the Founder's Cup, earning first star in the cup clinching game. Since then, Wolfe has done all but prove that he isn't worth the 9th overall selection. After posting 36 and 37 points in his first two seasons in the VHL, Wolfe has taken a larger step and thus far has 47 points in 66 games. Just three seasons in, Wolfe is proving to be exactly what his team wanted when they drafted him. Where will he stand in the all-time rankings as an Irish forward? 

 

JB Rift | G | S64 | 732 TPE

VHL  198 GP | 107 W | 64 L | 27 OTL | 0.915 SV% | 2.74 GAA

VHL PO 6 GP |  1 W | 3 L | 1 OTL | 0.880 SV% | 3.90 GAA

Devise

Rift has maintained a high level of play ever since he stepped into the VHL. He started off in a big way by winning the Benoit Devereux Trophy in VHLM S64 as the top goalie in the VHLM. To no surprise, he has continued to keep his team in contention since his first VHL start in S65. Despite not having the greatest run in S66, Rift went on to have a monster season by establishing a record of 47-10-7 with a 0.927 SV%. He stacked up the trophies in the regular season by winning the Aidan Shaw(best VHL goalie), Dustin Funk(most improved), and Greg Clegane(lowest GAA- 2.3) trophies. Sadly, Toronto would go on to lose in five games to the Vancouver Wolves in the NA Conference Finals. This season appears to be in the books for Rift and the Toronto Legion, but will they be able to rise to the occasion with Rift having only three more seasons of eligibility? 

 

Konstantin Mulligan | D | S62 | 751 TPE

VHL  500 GP | 71 G | 167 A | 238 P | +5

VHL PO 19 GP | 4 G | 10 A | 14 P | +5

Pandar

While Mulligan appears to be on the decline, that does not discount what he has done throughout nearly seven full seasons in the VHL. Even though he may not get the most points, he is a wrecking ball at 6'8" 280 lbs. He has managed to register just over 1,375 hits up until now. With six more games left in this season, he could very well reach 1,400 hits and perhaps even 1,500 by the end of next season if he decides not to retire early. Mulligan is a classic case of a playoff performer. He has averaged about 0.48 points per game during the regular season, but averaged 0.7 in the playoffs as a defenseman. As a result of his performance, he made it to the S66 Continental Cup Final with Vancouver. They were bitterly swept by the dominant Helsinki Titans. In S67 he moved to HC Davos, who failed to make the playoffs, while Vancouver went on to win the Continental Cup. Mulligan is back with Vancouver, but their playoff chances are becoming ever so slim. Will Mulligan end his career a champion? 

 

Lando Baxter | D | S62 | 646 TPE

VHL  426 GP | 63 G | 246 A | 309 P | -48

VHL PO 17 GP | 3 G | 8 A | 11 P | +2

Elhandon

Baxter started off his minor league career in Ottawa, where he won the Founder's Cup in S62. Since then, he has served his teams well as a productive offensive defenseman over the past six seasons. Even though he isn't putting up stellar numbers, he will likely go down as the highest scoring Irish defenseman in recent history. It's sad to say, after a long career, he will likely retire having not won any trophies or championships. It doesn't look like Toronto will make the playoffs this season, and he only has one more opportunity to win if he chooses not to retire after this season. However, he is still serviceable and a contender could look to pick him up and help him finally win it all. 

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DISCLAIMER 
Due to the limitation of only being able to see players from S61 to present in the player list, I won't be able to search for most older players. While that is a bummer, it doesn't stop me from keeping you informed about the most recent VHL players.

If you happen to have any information that I could use to better inform my audience, please don't hesitate to message me.

Thanks for reading, and if you would like to see more of the "State of the Nation" series, just let me know!

 

1,346 words, using for 10/20 & 11/17

Edited November 10, 2019 by zepheter
Adding word count & weeks I will be submitting

[Gustav 6,393]

On 10/14/2019 at 5:36 PM, zepheter said:

If you happen to have any information that I could use to better inform my audience, please don't hesitate to message me.

Half because it's relevant and half because I've already pinged @Victor like 3 times today, so what's another one really...

 

There's no way he doesn't have a spreadsheet on this somewhere.

[Victor 10,909]

3 hours ago, GustavMattias said:

Half because it's relevant and half because I've already pinged @Victor like 3 times today, so what's another one really...

 

There's no way he doesn't have a spreadsheet on this somewhere.

Greg Clegane was from Ireland that’s all you need to know

[zepheter 586]

2nd claim.

[Renomitsu 934]

Review

I like this idea for an article, and kind of wish it'd been done even earlier on (and for more countries)! I know the World Cup brings regions together, but doesn't nicely delineate country-specific teams (even if nationalities are listed). I don't really have any comments about word choice, usage, grammar, or spelling to speak on.