Calgary Wranglers: Season 44

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

GM: Austin Gow (216/81/120/15/177)

Former GM(s):

Jardy Bunclewirth (504/172/307/25/369)

Jason Glasser (1080/547/456/67/1,181)

Record (after S20): 1,800 GP | 800 W | 883 L | 107 OTL | 1,727 P | 5,136 GF | 6,015 GA

Playoff Record (after S20): 134 GP | 69 W | 51 L | 14 OTL | 3-1 vs TOR, 3-2 vs QUE, 2-4 vs NYA, 1-1 vs HEL, 1-0 vs DAV, 1-0 vs COL, 1-2 vs SEA

 

Season 43 VHL Entry Draft

Round 1, Pick 2: Kerkko Hyvarinen @diamond_ace

Round 2, Pick 17: Ash Stevens @Jasmine

 

The Season 43 Draft class was considerably weak. That is no knock to those who were in there but it had 1 Hall of Fame player and that was the 1st Overall pick. The Wranglers held the 2nd overall pick and brought back a familiar face in D_A in Kerkko.

 

Trades (Regular Season):

To 
(S40) RW - Sachimo Zoidberg
(S41) RW - Teuvo Ruutu

To 
S46 CGY 1st (RW LeAndre St.Pierre)

Calgary Wranglers GM: Austin Gow @eaglesfan036
Toronto Legion GM: Mike Molholt @Molholt

 

To 
(S43) D - Chuck Goody

To 
S46 NYA 2nd (C Kol Mikaelson)
S45 NYA 3rd (D Geoff Reid)

New York Americans GM: Chris Miller @Advantage
Calgary Wranglers GM: Austin Gow

 

A few in season trades for the Wranglers saw them bring in Sachimo Zoidberg and Teuvo Ruutu for a Season 46 1st Round Pick which turned into LeAndre St.Pierre who was a key part for the threepeat, the first and only of its kind. Calgary then had to shed salary and traded away defeseman Chuck Goody for a extra 2nd rounder and a 3rd rounder.

 

Season 44 Regular Season - 72 GP | 48 W | 18 L | 6 OTL | 102 P | 237 GF | 150 GA

Season 44 was a huge turnaround for the Wranglers franchise after missing the playoffs for a few season in a row. The Wranglers jumped from 33 points to 102 points and 2nd in the NA Cofnerence. Leading the way was Jackson Miller who was in his first season with the Wranglers. He broke 100 points for 105. He led the team in goals, assists and points. Rami Jakobsson who was acquired for a bag of chips as famously quoted by GM at the time in Austin Gow, showed he was worth way more than those bag of chips with a 95 point breakout. Tyler Cote who came over in the deal with Miller also put up 93 points. Marcus Hurley continued his solid play in a Wrangler uniform with 68 points. Jamie Hill led the defense with 59 points from the backend. Hans Wingate started showing signs of becoming Hans WinGod. He went 40-18-6 with a 2.07 G.A.A and a 0.923 save percentage with 7 shutouts. The Wranglers finished 2nd in the NA conference which meant they host the New York Americans in the Quarter-Final.

 

Season 44 Playoffs - 16 GP | 12 W | 4 L  | 0 OTL

The Wranglers came into the season with modest expectations of at least a semi final appearance. The New York Americans stood in the way of that. However, a 3-0 series lead after 3 games put the Americans down in a hole that seemed unlikely they'd crawl out of. The Wranglers won the first 3 games by a combined score of 15-7. They were firmly in the drivers seat. Game 4 saw a little but of an upset with NYA winning 4-2. However it was all business in Game 5 with a 6-2 drubbing back in Calgary.

 

The next series against the 1st place Quebec City Meute (now Vancouver Wolves) was supposed to be a 6/7 tight game affair. The Meute won the first game 4-2 in Quebec. Game 2 saw WinGod first start to earn his moniker with a 18 save shutout and Sachimo Zoidberg score his 2nd and 3rd goals of the playoffs in the 2nd period before Jackson Miller sealed it with his 3rd goal. It was a tie 1-1 heading back to Calgary which in my mind favors the Wranglers squad. WinGod shut the door again in Game 3 with a 29 save shutout. Jaime Hill provided the only offense with her 4th goal. WinGod has a shutout streak of 139:47 last allowing a goal in Game 1 in the 3rd period from Milos Denis. Game 4 was much more wide open with clear period winners. Period 1 saw WinGod stop 4 more shots and extend his shutout streak to 159:47. Rami Jakobsson scored his 6th goal of the playoffs to give the Wranglers a 1-0 lead into the 2nd. The streak came to an end in the 2nd period with a Brady Stropko shot. The streak is officially 161:09 minutes long. One of the top playoff performances ever by a VHL Goalie. Brady Stropko beat WinGod once more in the 2nd to give the Meute their first lead since Game 1. However, the Wranglers came storming back in the 3rd with a goal from Jackson Miller and Tim TebowGow to make a 3-2 lead which would stand. It is now a 3-1 series lead for the Wranglers and not many would have predicted this at the beginning many thought 2-2 at least or if any team that was to lead would have been the Meute. Game 5 back in Quebec was over by the 1st period as the Wranglers jumped out to a 4-0 lead with goals by Marcus Hurley x2, Tim TebowGow and Sachimo Zoidberg. Zoidberg tacked on one more while Kerkko scored his 1st as well for a 6-0 drubbing in which the Meute couldn't get anything at all going not even getting more than 10 shots a period. WinGod shut out the Meute in 3 of the 4 wins.

 

The Wranglers return to the finals for the first time since winning in Season 30. It was 14 seasons in the making and this team has one of the best playoff performing goalies of all time. Game 1 was played in Koln, Germany. Cologne was coming off a few years of being tops in the European and I think they were champions in Season 42 if my memory serves me right without looking back on it. Calgary went to Germany for games 1 and 2 and won game 1 by a score of 4-2. Tyler Cote, Sachimo Zoidberg, Rami Jakobsson and Nicklas Karlsson all scored while WinGod made 34 saves. Game 2 gave the Wranglers their 1st loss in 5 games. 4-2 was the final score with Tyler Cote providing both goals and WinGod 'only' stopping 33 of 37 shots. Now the German team was making the trek to Calgary, Alberta, Canada for Game 3/4. The Express took the lead in the series with a 3-2 win and for the first time in the playoffs, the Wranglers were trailing in a series. Jackson Miller and Tyler Cote gave the Wranglers a 2-1 lead before a 2 goal 3rd period gave the Express the win. Game 4, the Wranglers woke up with a huge 5-1 win, this was one game that wasn't very close so far in this series. Sachimo Zoidberg, Tim TebowGow, Jaime Hill, Jackson Miller and Tyler Cote all provided the goals while WinGod shut the door for 29 saves on 30 shots. Game 5 back in Koln, was a barnburner. Calgary jumped out to 2-0 lead with two goals from Jackson Miller. Cologne made it 2-1 before the period was done. Jackson Miller completed his hatrick in the 2nd but after the few Wrangler hats were all cleaned off the German ice, the Express scored once more to make it 3-2 heading into the 3rd. Jaime Hill and Rami Jakobsson made it 5-2 with less than 4 minutes left in the game. Over right? No. The Express scored 2 quick goals and pushed for a tying goal but time had run out. WinGod makes 44 saves on 48 shots to give the Wranglers a chance to claim the title on home ice. In Game 6, Rami Jakobsson completed a rare feat, a 1st period hatrick. It was 3-1 at the end of the 1st. Period 2 saw the Express inch closer at 3-2 but that was as close as the Express would get. Sachimo Zoidberg scored before the period was out. With a 4-2 lead, Zoidberg scored in the 3rd and Rami Jakobsson added his 4th goal of the game to make it 6-2. With 25 seconds left the Express made it 6-3 but that was all she wrote. The Calgary Wranglers were champions for the 8th time in franchise history.

 

Trades (off-season):

To 
S46 RIG 2nd (C Jonathan Killeen)

To 
(S41) D - Nicklas Karlsson

Calgary Wranglers GM: Austin Gow
Cologne Express GM: Ryan Power @Devise

 

To 
S47 COL 2nd (RW Kasey Morgan)

To 
(S39) RW - Jackson Miller

Calgary Wranglers GM: Austin Gow
Cologne Express GM: Ryan Power

 

The Wranglers couldn't keep the team together much longer trading away Nicklas Karlsson, a depth defender for a 2nd round pick. However, the big trade was sending Miller out of town after a 105 and 27 point playoff performance. Both got traded to the team they just beat in the finals which is the Cologne Express. Very interesting moves, and I'd love to hear why these moves were made by both Devise and Eaglesfan.

 

 

Awards:

Season 44 Daisuke Kanou Winner - Tyler Cote

Season 44 Aiden Shaw Winner - Hans Wingate

Season 44 David Knight Winner - Austin Gow

 

Overall:

Marcus Hurley breaks into the top 10 scoring for Wranglers after S20 with 289 points in 288 games. Very solid company as he is just behind Volodymr Rybak, Clark Marcellin, Alexander Chershenko, Jardy Bunclewirth, Mathias Chouinard, Lars Intranquilo, Roman Andreev and Ryan Sullivan. Rami Jakobsson becomes one of 36 players to break 100 points in a Calgary Uniform with his 160 career points in 2 season. Jackson Miller breaks 100 as well with his 105 point season. Tyler Cote and Jaime Hill come close with 93 and 90 each. Hans Wingate jumps to 4th in regular season wins with 54. He also breaks 10 shutouts with 10 on the dot which places him 5th. Tyler Cote's huge playoff vaults him into 7th in scoring with 31 points. He is behind only Volodymyr Rybak, Alexander Chershenko, Clark Marcellin, Giygas, Chico Salmon and Felix Zamora. Jackson Miller is tied for 8th with Mathias Chouinard with 27 points. Rami Jakobsson climbs into 10th with 24 points. Marcus Hurley is 12th with 20 points. Sachimo Zoidberg is tied for 13th with 19 points. Tim TebowGow is 15th with 16 points. Hans Wingate takes over top spot in wins with 12, his 3 shutouts are 2nd and his save percentage is 4th though. Overall, it was a fun season that ended up with a Championship.

 

Calgary Wrangler Player Stats