The Forgotten Playoff Goalie

[CowboyinAmerica 2,889]

 

Here's a trivia question for you: Who's the VHL goalie with best playoff save percentage who has played in at least 15 playoff games? It's not Kanou, who the Playoff MVP was named after. It's not Wingate, who performed just as well in the postseason and won 4 titles. It's not Hall of Famers Gegeny, Stropko or Wahl, who rank 2-3-4 on the list.

 

The answer is Marek Van Urho, who had a .934 save percentage in 43 VHL playoff games (25 of them wins). And perhaps surprisingly, he is not in the Hall of Fame.

 

Drafted with the fourth pick in the S8 draft by Riga, Van Urho would only actually win one VHL title in his career - Season 10, with those very same Reign. He would win Playoff MVP that season with an insane line (8-2-1 1.47GAA .954SV%), but alas, that would be the high point of his career. Van Urho won just one Top Goalie award (Season 12, 50-10-4 2.20GAA .913SV% 7SO) and was consistently outshined by peers Alex Gegeny and Benoit Devereux. In the regular season, Van Urho finished with a 264-151-29 record and .918 over seven seasons - solid numbers, but more wins than only four HOF goalies (who all had a higher SV% and more titles).

 

Van Urho is a prototypical case of the Hall of Very Good - maybe another title run or a Top Goalie, and he'd be in the Hall of Fame. But for now, he's an interesting footnote from the VHL's early years.