Matt Thompson vs Podrick Cast: End of an Era [2/2]

[Victor 11,043]

So it ends. Yes, Matt Thompson and Podrick Cast will also compete in one last World Cup for Canada and Western Europe respectively, but as far their meaningful careers are concerned, the era of the two S61 powerhouses has come to an end. Drafted first and third overall eight seasons ago, the Thompson vs Cast dynamic has dominated this decade and will go down as one of the most memorable individual rivalries in VHL history, purely because of how rare it is for two draft rivals to match each other stride for stride quite so much.

 

I reported on the halfway mark of their careers, when already the duo's Hall of Fame credentials were clear to see. As it stands, although we are now nearly done with the 60s, it is still very much up in the air what other players who have made their debut since S60 will be in that conversation, but for Thompson and Cast it appears no more than a formality. Statistically, this is how things ended for the two:

 

	Matt Thompson		Podrick Cast
	Goals	Points	Goals	Points
S61	33	56	49	97
S62	76	150	79	174
S63	51	102	50	106
S64	56	110	48	102
S65	52	101	41	95
S66	51	101	33	80
S67	43	83	46	104
S68	60	122	33	88
	422	825	379	846

 

 

After having the upper hand for the first halves of their careers, Cast let Thompson past him quite clearly after S64. In the end, quite fittingly, one of the two was clearly better than the other for 3 seasons each, with S63 and S64 being something of a wash. The career stats also evened out after Cast's fast start, with Cast finishing 15^th all time in career points, narrowly ahead of Thompson in 19^th. The headline stat however is of course Thompson's 422 goals, which comfortably puts him 4^th all time – only 3 players since S10 hit the 400-goal mark previously, with Phil Rafter and Max Molholt leading the pack on 407 goals each. For further context, Thompson was just 28 goals off being second only to the great Scotty Campbell in that regard.

 

As far as awards are concerned, both forwards accumulated a healthy share in their time, but Cast's failure to win a team or individual trophy in the second half of his career contributes to the sense of the tables turning considerably after that halfway point of S64.

 

Podrick Cast

One Continental Cup (S63 Riga)

Two-time MVP (S62 and S64 Scotty Campbell Trophy)

S62 Mike Szatkowski (most points), Kevin Brooks (most goals), Brett Slobodzian (most outstanding) Trophies

 

Matt Thompson

One Continental Cup (S66 Helsinki)

Two-time Most Outstanding (S64 and likely S68 Brett Slobodzian Trophy)

One-time MVP (S68 Scotty Campbell Trophy – projected)

Two-time top scorer (S64 and S68 Mike Szatkowski Trophy)

Three-time top goalscorer (S64, S66, S68 Kevin Brooks Trophy)

Four-time top two-way forward (S62, S64, S65, S66 Scott Boulet Trophy)

 

Both Cast and Thompson will have a few regrets which come with operating at such a high level (i.e. striving for perfection). With 1,635 and 1,571 TPE respectively, which translated to 1,155 TPA for Cast at the time of retirement and 1,080 for Thompson, anything less than being the best in league is in a way a failure. For Cast, this manifested itself in the last few weeks of S67, when he lost the goals and points leads and the subsequent MVP vote to Rauno Palo, a decision which contibuted to the abolition of the awards committee. Thompson's close vote loss happened in S66, when another strong playoff performance should have resulted in the Daisuke Kanou Trophy but one rogue vote led to that award going to teammate Alexander Pepper. In addition, his intense focus on goal-scoring especially to end his career led to a decline in Thompson's hitting and he missed two chances to match David Smalling on a record 5 Scott Boulet Trophies.

 

Ultimately though, who was the better forward? Interestingly enough, this might have a different answer to who should have been drafted first overall in S61. Based on final TPE, overall loyalty (6 seasons as Riga captain vs Thompson's 3 trips to free agency), and the fact Cast won a cup on his entry-level contract, means that Seattle might have been better off selecting Cast over Thompson after all. However, there is obviously no proof their careers would have gone the same way especially as there is a good chance Quebec would have swooped in to take Thompson second overall instead. Plus, of course the Bears now have fewer regrets as unlike Riga, who continued to compete to this day, Seattle pulled the plug on their contending run after S65 and the pieces from that firesale led to the championship with a brand new team in S68.

 

But even with that in mind, Thompson did eventually edge ahead of Cast in terms of career achievements. Cast has the modern day single season record in S62 but Thompson now has the arguably more impressive career goal-scoring mark, in addition to a larger collection of awards. His two-way play put him clearly ahead in a category in which Cast could not compete, and will put Thompson in good stead whenever the the ranking of the top 10 all-time two-way forwards is updated (he'd currently have a case to be placed anywhere from sixth to second). Both Cast and Thompson are also likely to rank high on an updated top 15 forwards list, although the top 5 might still be hard to crack. But where Thompson really pulls ahead is in the playoffs.

 

Whereas Cast put up a very average 32 points in 35 playoff appearances (and didn't actually win a playoff series outside of the S63 cup run), Thompson was regularly his teams' focal point in the post-season, from the young underdogs in Seattle in S62 all the way to the more recent go with Malmo in S68. As a result, he put up a remarkable 1.51 point-per-game pace, which combined with a Gabriel McAllister-esque hitting ability probably actually puts him ahead of McAllister as the third best forward in VHL playoff history, just behind Scotty Campbell and Alexander Chershenko. How that would impact a rejigged all-time list given also the need to consider to other relatively recent retirees (Norris Stopko, a goalie, and Mats Johnsson, a defenceman) is a matter of debate for a later date, but it certainly puts Thompson ahead as the best player of his generation.

 

And so it ends. Until the S69 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where the inseparable Podrick Cast and Matt Thompson should make one last appearance together – two giants of an era that has finally closed.

 

@Beketov

[Beketov 9,140]

7 minutes ago, Victor said:

As a result, he put up a remarkable 1.51 point-per-game pace, which combined with a Gabriel McAllister-esque hitting ability probably actually puts him ahead of McAllister as the third best forward in VHL playoff history, just behind Scotty Campbell and Alexander Chershenko.

The fact that I managed to do this without ever winning a Kanou is still ridiculous to me. Take the ranked voting out of S66 (the only time it was used) and I would have had one but I digress. Best non-Kanou winning playoff performer ever perhaps?

 

Anyway, was a hell of a run for us both with quite a lot of back and forth to keep things interesting. I knew long ago that you were going to beat me in points but I was content with having more goals plus the physical play. Didn’t actually even realize I was so far ahead of you in the playoffs. Regardless, a hell of a run for us both. Probably the last of the true superstars in the league, at least for a while. With depth getting more important and the meta basically figured out I doubt many true superstars will continue to emerge.

 

Was a hell of a run. I’ll see you in the HoF buddy.

[Victor 11,043]

1 minute ago, Beketov said:

Probably the last of the true superstars in the league, at least for a while. With depth getting more important and the meta basically figured out I doubt many true superstars will continue to emerge.

It will be interesting to follow. To be honest, I realised when looking through the career stats, of the 26 players over 800 points, 13 have retired since S30. So it's literally a 50/50 split (OK, we're closer to S70 than S60 now). So perhaps there's not such a massive drop off in big points producers after all.

[Victor 11,043]

1,119 words, here's week 2.

[KC15 340]

Review:  Ridiculously well-researched article made all the more interesting by the hook of "let's explore the rivalry of two giants" that is carried through from start to finish.  Well done!

[fonziGG 1,071]

Review:

Really well written out! I think that if you bolded the names within each paragraph (which would've been a lot of extra work - granted) would have been a lot more comforting on my eyes. Besides that, I love the comparison between the two legends. Sad to see them go.

[chillzone 231]

Review: game recognizing game! i def feel the respect and love for your fellow competitor here. love how this dived deep into a great rivalry and analyzed each player so thoroughly. i also felt a hint of the friendship that emerged from the competition. a true clash of the titans. as a graphics guy, I would have loved a couple photos - like portraits of the two players. cheers!