Retirees' Requiem

[McWolf 3,115]

 

Retirees’ Requiem

1st edition: Season 68

 

As we close the door on Season 68, it’s sadly time to say goodbye to some players that decided to hang their skates. This article intends on being an hommage to these players from the Season 61 draft class that made the choice to stop their careers short or those from the Season 62 draft class that played until they couldn't take it anymore, reaching the maximum of 8 full seasons. To avoid having to rank them by career successes, the recent retirees featured in this article were ordered alphabetically.

 

Podrick Cast

S69 Hall of Fame Inductee

 

The list starts strong, as our first retiree is none other than Podrick Cast, who's seen as a likely first-ballot Hall of Famer by his peers. Cast has accomplished more in his career than every other retiree not named Matt Thompson on this list, though a case could be made for him to go down in history as the better of the two. The British centre's career began in Riga after the Reign used the 3rd overall pick in the Season 61 Entry Draft on him. He spent the first six seasons of his career in Latvia, where he formed a dangerous forward pair with fellow Season 61 draftee Edwin Preencarnacion (6th overall pick). Their chemistry was undeniable from the early days and it shows in both players' career stats, as they averaged 98 goals and 113 assists per season over their six seasons as the Reign's - and arguably the league's - most proficient teammates of the early-to-mid 60s. The pair was broken up during the offseason following both their 6th season when Cast was traded to the Moscow Menace, managed by his GM alias Victor Alfredsson. His success continued in Russia, as he notched his 6th 40-goal season and 4th 100-point season in Season 67.

 

Over the course of his career, Podrick Cast established himself as one of the best offensive stars in the history of the game. His 79-goal, 174-point campaign in Season 62 stands as the 3rd best season in the history of the league, both in terms of goals and points. He ranks 15th in career points with 846 and 19th in career goals with 379, only 21 short of the 400 plateau only surpassed by 7 players. Given his career totals, you'd expect his personal trophy case to be filled to the brink, but sharing the ice with two other generational talents in Matt Thompson and Gabriel McAllister often forced him to settle for runner-up mentions in awards voting, limiting his career haul. He still claimed a respectable total of six awards - a Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy, 2 Scotty Campbell Trophies, a Brett Slobodzian Trophy, a Mike Szatkowski Trophy and a Kevin Brooks Trophy - on top of a Continental Cup win with Riga in Season 63.

 

Ryuu Crimson

 

Ryuu Crimson was recruited by the Riga Reign with the 9th pick of the S62 Entry Draft. He spent his first pro season down in the minors before joining the Latvian franchise in S63. The sharpshooting winger developed well during his extra season with the Halifax 21st, which paved the way for him to have a great rookie season during which he scored 22 goals and added 40 assists. His first playoffs will probably be the reason we will remember him for a long time, as he exploded for 13 points, including 6 goals, in 11 games. His team captured the Continental Cup and he got to share the Daisuke Kanou Trophy, awarded to the playoffs MVP, with opposing goaltender Norris Stopko. He is the only rookie to win the award ever.

 

His best season statline, however, came two seasons later, when he sniped 41 shots past opposing goaltenders and added 48 assists, totalling 89 points. Following this third season in Riga, Crimson was sent to Davos, where he continued to post impressive numbers. Over six seasons, the winger scored 419 points, just 13 short of the elusive point-per-game pace, but eventually felt like he needed to move on from hockey and decided to call it a career.

 

Shawn Glade

 

Every player has a different objective as to what they wish to accomplish before hanging their skates. While some unrealistically want to go down in history as the best VHLer ever, some others have more reasonable goals: win some individual awards, make great connections with teammates, etc. For Shawn Glade, in retrospect, the objective he set for himself is crystal clear: he wanted Continental Cups. Following two VHLM seasons in which his teams were Founder's Cup were finalists (Yukon in S61, Halifax in S62), he joined a very competitive Riga Reign squad. He may have been a mere depth defenseman at this point of his career, but success found him, as his team beat the Calgary Wranglers in the Continental Cup finals.

 

He spent the first half of his career with Riga, establishing himself as a strong two-way defenseman before he started to travel a bit to accomplish his career goal. He ended up playing for Davos, Vancouver, Davos again and Seattle, putting his name on the Continental Cup on two more occasions: with the Wolves in Season 67 and with the Bears in Season 68. When all was said and done, Glade retired with 3 rings and could easily have added 3 more, losing twice in the VHLM playoffs finals and once in the VHL, with the Wolves in Season 66. He totalled 379 points in his career, exceeding the point-per-game mark twice, and totaled just short of 1000 hits and 750 shots blocked. Equally impressive from both an offensive and defensive point of view.

 

Sebastian Ironside

 

Sebastian Ironside began his eight-season career as a GM player for the Toronto Legion. He was poised to become the team's franchise defenseman but, following the Season 63 offseason in which the team added defensive prospects Tzuyu and Robert Malenko, he decided to move from the soon-to-be overcrowded blueline and line up as a centre for the rest of his career. His second and last campaign as a defenseman was easily the better of the two, as he passed the point-per-game mark with 74 points, adding 226 hits and 196 shots blocked along the way. While he was considering as a future star on defense, it was as a forward that Ironside truly left his mark.

 

Starting in Season 64, the Canadian center scored over 100 points for four straight seasons, two with the Legion, one with the Seattle Bears and one with the Calgary Wranglers, with who he eventually finished his career. His best statistical output came in Season 63, during which he scored 56 goals and 59 assists for 116 points. He also distributed 310 hits, en route for a haul of 3 individual trophies: the Scotty Campbell, the Kevin Brooks and the Dustin Funk. Over the 8 seasons he played, Ironside was able to lift the Continental Cup once, with the Legion in S64. He wrote his name in a couple of all-time lists, finishing his career with the 78th most points with 686, 71st most assists with 423 and 27th most hits with 2053, which has us wondering how high these numbers could have been if he began his VHL career as a center instead of switching from defenseman two seasons into his career. A Hall of Fame induction isn't out of the question for Ironside, though he will probably need a couple of weaker class to eventually get the nod.

 

Robert Malenko

 

A controversial player on and off the ice, Robert Malenko has been one of the best offensive defenseman of the past decade. He was selected with the 7th pick of the Season 61 Entry Draft by the Toronto Legion. His career began explosively, as he scored 23 goals and 74 points in his rookie season, before asking for a trade out of Toronto. General Manager Travis Boychuk obliged and sent him to the Seattle Bears, where he continued his offensive growth, scoring 92 and 106 points in the next two seasons. His 21-85-106 statline in Season 64 enabled him to go home with both the Alexander Valiq and the Alexander Beketov trophies, but it wasn't enough for him to add the Sterling Labatte Trophy to his collection, which is when it all started spiralling down for the Canadian blueliner. 

 

He felt like he deserved the award more than the more defensive-minded Joseph McWolf. His motivation completely went away and he began a journey through the league, playing for four different teams in his last four seasons while scoring less impressive point totals every season. His 510 points rank him as the 60th defensemen in all-time points, but leave much to be desired, as it looked like he had the potential to maybe score over 600, which would have placed him near the top 25. His 106 points in Season 64 is the last time a defenseman hit the century mark.

 

Matt Thompson

S69 Hall of Fame Inductee

 

Alpha and Omega. Podrick Cast and Matt Thompson. I love how the alphabetical order placed them first and last because the last 8 seasons were basically all about these two. Their rivalry will be one of these things that naturally come to mind when thinking about the 60s. Just like Cast, Thompson is a Hall of Fame lock and will most likely be inducted in the next offseason, when his name appears on the ballot for the first time. Thompson's legendary career all started as a part of the Seattle Bears franchise after they selected him with the 1st overall pick of the Season 61 Entry Draft. He played his first five seasons for GM Blake Campbell in Seattle, but eventually travelled out East, joining both the Helsinki Titans and Malmö Nighthawks as a free agent in Season 66 and 68, respectively. Wherever he played though, one thing we could always count on was that MT would light the lamp often. He reached the 50-goal and 100-point plateaus in all but two seasons, scoring as much as 76 goals and 150 points in what was a very high scoring (and probably rigged) Season 62.

 

Now that it's all said and done, the Canadian winger sits at the 4th place in the all-time goalscoring list with 422, and he's first out of every player that didn't get to skate in the first ten seasons in the history of the league. His 825 points rank him 19th overall, just 4 spots behind rival Podrick Cast. He's also 42nd in the all-time hits leaderboard with 1827, cementing his reputation as one of the best power forwards to ever hit the ice in the Victory Hockey League. Thompson's career performances led to his name getting engraved on the Continental Cup once as a part of the Helsinki Titans in Season 66, and saw him be the recipient of a surrealistic haul of 13 individual trophies: 1 Scotty Campbell Trophy, 2 Brett Slobodzian Trophies, 4 Scott Boulet Trophies, 2 Mike Szatkowski Trophies, 3 Kevin Brooks Trophies and a Dustin Funk Trophy.

 

It's sad that these 7 players career had to come to an end, but that's just the way it goes. We were truly blessed these last few seasons with generational talents that left their print in all-time lists, players that will undoubtedly be inducted in the VHL Hall of Fame. With that, we finally turn the page and look forward to the start of Season 69, when new players should rise and take their game to the next level, in hopes to be recognized as one of the best once it's their time to retire.

 

Farewell, Podrick, Ryuu, Shawn, Sebastian, Robert, Matt. It was an honour to see you on the ice. Enjoy your retirement.

 

People mentioned: @Victor, @Beketov, @Tagger, @CowboyinAmerica, @ShawnGlade, @DollarAndADream, @tfong, @pennypenny, @McWolf, @Banackock

 

VSN Writer McWolf

Edited January 30, 2020 by McWolf

[Beketov 8,997]

35 minutes ago, McWolf said:

Now that it's all said and done, the Canadian centre

Just an FYI, Thompson was a winger.

 

Good write up though.

[McWolf 3,115]

38 minutes ago, McWolf said:

the Canadian winger

 

2 minutes ago, Beketov said:

Just an FYI, Thompson was a winger.

 

Good write up though.

 

yes, of course 

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

Wow this is amazing

 

Really sad to see this group of players go, because when I joined the site, these were the people I battled and played with, so it's fitting to retire on such a good note with these boys

 

Also I'm so glad my first player on the site had such a storied career. Played S61-S68 and only didn't make the finals twice, that's 6 finals appearances in 8 seasons. Points are nice but not many can say they've won it all 3 times in one career

Edited November 18, 2019 by ShawnGlade

[Banackock 8,036]

Good group of players. Malenko rivalry and what not was pretty good.  He was a good player for some time. Too bad that stopped. 

 

Still should have went Cast > Thompson. Sorry Victor.

[Victor 10,911]

24 minutes ago, Banackock said:

Still should have went Cast > Thompson. Sorry Victor.

It's OK, I'll get drafted 1st overall eventually.

 

Chances are, neither of us would have been as good if we swapped teams at the start.

[gorlab 4,321]

Who's cutting onions in here?!?

[McWolf 3,115]

12 hours ago, gorlab said:

Who's cutting onions in here?!?

that would be me, sorry

Edited November 20, 2019 by McWolf

[McWolf 3,115]

Unnecessary bump to (1) congratulate this class' standouts and all-time greats, Podrick Cast and Matt Thompson, on being inducted in the HOF this past offseason as first-ballots - suck it, Keaton - and to (2) self-promote the fact that the S69 edition is going to cover 13 careers and is hopefully gonna be released tomorrow.

Edited January 30, 2020 by McWolf