The Talents Behind the Trophies: the Ethan Osborne Trophy

[Doomsday 4,130]

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Hello and welcome to the second instalment of The Talents Behind the Trophies. We've recently crossed the midway point of the season, the Season 70 trade deadline is just days away and the races for the many awards of the Victory Hockey League are heating up. However, for this segment, we're going to be discussing the story of a trophy from the VHLM instead: the Ethan Osborne Trophy.

 

Awarded to the VHLM points leader, Season 70's competition for the Ethan Osborne Trophy has been primarily a three-horse race. San Diego Marlins centre Kyl Oferson was the first to reach 100 points, doing so in 42 games, and is at the time of print the current front-runner with 105 points along with his teammate, defenseman Roque Davis, who has spent some time atop the M in points himself. Ola Vikingstad of the Ottawa Lynx has also led the race at times but currently finds himself in fifth with 95, seemingly fading from the race. Houston Bulls defenseman Hugh Jass is quietly a contender as well, with 98 points, tied with San Diego Marlins legend Roadkill Steve for third. While Oferson and Davis have primarily been the frontrunners for the league lead in points, all of the top five have been playing extremely well of late and all stand an excellent chance of winning the Ethan Osborne Trophy. 

 

The Ethan Osborne Trophy in all its glory. 

 

Originally known as the Dionne Trophy, it was first awarded in Season Two to Mike Szatkowski of the Fresno Bulls with 131 points. Over the years, it has taken some truly special performances to win this trophy. Alexander Beketov scored 108 goals in Season 5, only to be outdone by Tyler Vassell in Season 9, who became the first VHLM player to eclipse 200 points in a season. In Season 21, Evgeni Fyodorov could have been convicted of arson, as he set the M on literal fire with a ridiculous 272 points, including scoring a staggering 186 goals, feats that to this day have not been matched, although Gunnar Axelson sure tried his damnedest in Season 24 with 185 goals and 267 points. However, since Adam Warlock's 255 points in Season 58, no VHLM player has cracked 200 points. Oferson and Davis are currently on track to finish just shy of that elite number, but it's certainly still attainable at this point. 

 

I know what you're thinking: these stats and stories are great, but what does it have to do with Ethan Osborne? You're listing all these achievements of other people, yet they're not the one the award was named for. And to that, I say: read on. 

 

Ethan Osborne was, plain and simple, quite possibly the best first-generation player of all time. Joining the VHL in Season 29, he quickly caught on with the Saskatoon Wild and the league quickly discovered that a special talent was on their hands. Despite a move to the Bern Royals at the trade deadline, Osborne's work ethic rivalled that of top VHL players, as in his first 51 games in the M, he recorded 66 points. Despite the fact that Bern was quickly swept by the Kolari Panthers in the playoffs, Osborne's star was shining bright. So much, in fact, that despite being projected as the third overall pick in the Season 30 VHL Entry Draft, Helsinki Titans General Manager Mitch Higgins stunned the VHL by selecting him over the highly-touted Yuri Grigorenko and Alexander Valiq, despite the fact that Osborne had less practice hours than both of them. After the Riga Reign selected the now-legendary bust Josef Heiss Jr. first overall the next season, a first-generation player would not be taken first overall again until more than 30 seasons later in Season 63, when the Riga Reign atoned for their last blunder when they selected Ryan Kastelic first overall. 

 

Credit to @solas for identifying this Koradek original!

 

While the hype for Ethan Osborne was about as far off the charts as your mind is able to imagine, the VHL would need to wait another season, as he would spend another season in the VHLM. Selected first overall by the same Kolari Panthers that had ended his season just days before in the Season 30 VHLM Dispersal Draft, his tune-up season in the M only fueled the hype. Osborne proceeded to prove that he was indeed a superstar in the making, scoring 95 goals, recording 97 assists and nearly breaking 200 points on the season. Finishing +89, Osborne also recorded 17 game-winning goals. He proceeded to dominate the playoffs as well, recording 12 goals, 14 assists and a +10 in ten games, averaging nearly three points per game. On top of the Founder's Cup, Osborne also took home the Oates, Hull, Dionne, Sakic and Esposito Trophies, capping off a tremendous season for the first-generation superstar. 

 

Osborne proved that he was indeed worth the wait and hype, as he won the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy as the VHL's top rookie with 106 points. However, the season came to a quick end in a five-game series with the Riga Reign. The Titans stacked up in Season 32, leading to reduced statistical output from Osborne, but Helsinki rolled back to the playoffs. After edging the Vasteras Iron Eagles in a nail-biting seven-game series, the Titans were unceremoniously bounced from the playoffs yet again by Riga, who swept them. Osborne returned to his 100 point form in Season 33 and the Titans captured the VHL's best record and the Victory Cup with 61 wins and a secured berth in the Semi-Finals. However, the Riga Reign defeated the HC Davos Dynamo, setting up a third straight match-up with Helsinki in the playoffs. Doubt filled the collective minds of the VHL, who had seen this before. The Titans quickly went up 3-1, just one game away from the Continental Cup Finals. However, it was not to be. The Reign ripped off three straight wins and punched their ticket to the finals, beating the Titans in the postseason for a third straight year and seizing victory from a Helsinki team seemingly unable to grasp it. 

 

This beauty was made by Koradek.

 

The now two-time Grimm Jonsson Trophy winner had finally had enough. Following a now-legendary tirade in a closed-door meeting following the loss, Ethan Osborne was already preparing for Season 34, and it wound up being the best one of his career thus far. His 110 points were instrumental in the Titans securing another Victory Cup, and ultimately, another match-up with the Riga Reign. Once again, the series was bitterly fought, with a Game Seven in Helsinki deciding who would advance to the Continental Cup. This time, however, the Titans were determined to win, absolutely blowing the doors off of Riga in a 7-1 demolition job. Osborne himself tallied four points in the game, and now only the Calgary Wranglers stood in his way of a ring. 

 

Both series Calgary had played had also gone to seven games, and the Continental Cup Finals would prove to be no different. Game Seven in Helsinki would crown the new VHL champions, but after Odin Tordahl's first-period goal for Helsinki, Calgary answered with a powerplay goal byAlexander Chershenko in the third period. The regulation would not be enough to decide this game, and into overtime, it went. After a back and forth period with both team's fans on the edges of their seats, just when it seemed like it would take another overtime period to settle this one, Brody Hodgson's shot with just seconds left in the period was blocked by Clark Marcellin. However, an alert Anatoli Zhumbayev scrambled to retrieve the loose puck and snuck a shot past Calgary netminder Satan to win the Continental Cup. After many embarrassing and disappointing setbacks, it no longer mattered. Ethan Osborne and the Helsinki Titans were finally VHL champions!

 

The Helsinki Titans overcame the Calgary Wranglers in S34 to win the Continental Cup.

 

After another tremendous season in which Osborne again reached 110 points, the Titans returned to the Continental Cup Finals to defend their title against the Quebec City Meute. The recent expansion team, however, captured their first Continental Cup on the back of a Wesley Kellinger hat trick. Season 36, however, would prove to be Osborne's very best season as an individual player. Scoring a career-high 65 goals, he added on 70 assists to finish with a career-best 135 points and a +45 rating. The Titans quickly swept the Cologne Express but had their season ended in six games by the eventual Continental Cup champions, the HC Davos Dynamo. Osborne received some consolation at the VHL Awards Ceremony, where he won five different awards: his fourth Grimm Jonsson trophy as the top leader of the VHL (shared with Thomas Landry of Davos, Kameron Taylor of Cologne and Conner Low of the New York Americans), the Kevin Brooks Trophy as the top goal scorer, the Mike Szatkowski Trophy as the league's points leader, the Brett Slobodzian as the league's most outstanding player and finally the Scotty Campbell Trophy as the VHL MVP. Osborne had fulfilled a rare feat in winning the top awards in both the VHLM and the VHL, which would go a long way towards the Dionne Trophy eventually becoming the Ethan Osborne Trophy.

 

After a swan song in Seattle, in which he put up 92 points and 19 points in 13 playoff games, Ethan Osborne's playing career came to an end. However, STZ, the man behind Osborne, made perhaps a bigger impact through his career as a general manager. Taking the reigns in Helsinki in Season 37, he initially was the general manager of an unfortunately now-defunct team called the Bratislava Watchmen, taking the reigns in Season 31, his second full season in the VHL. STZ was an incredibly gifted leader, knowing how to inspire, motivate and retain members. In just his third season on the job in Season 33, the Bratislava Watchmen hoisted the Founder's Cup, only the first championship that STZ would guide a team to. I can speak about these qualities as a leader because, well, as a wide-eyed Season 33 draftee, STZ made me a part of his beloved Watchmen. The guidance and lessons he imparted were instrumental to me being able to become what I hope is a positively contributing member of this wonderful league. I don't know how my time here would have turned out under someone else's guidance, but I am perfectly fine not knowing, for I am blessed I got to enter the league the way I did through STZ's watchful eyes. To me, his real legacy is not through all of the awards and trophies won by his players, it's through the members that he led during his time in Bratislava, Helsinki and New York. You have helped make this league a great place, STZ, and we can't thank you enough for all you've done. 

 

The team, led by STZ, that cemented my involvement with the VHL.

 

Player Mentions: @STZ, @Nykonax, @Josh, @Dil, @TheFlash, @stevo, @Mike, @Beketov, @OrbitingDeath, @Higgins, @Boragina, @Koradek, @Enorama, @BOOM™, @Victor, @Tylar, @Omelet, @fever95, @Bushito, @Jericho, @Doomsday, @Kendrick, @Smarch

Edited February 16, 2020 by Doomsday

[Enorama 2,038]

Just now, Doomsday said:

A first-generation player would not be taken first overall again until more than 30 seasons later in Season 63, when the Riga Reign selected Ryan Kastelic first overall. 

 

mfw I get excited for a tag only to see it's a one sentence cameo

[Josh 1,671]

7 minutes ago, Enorama said:

 

mfw I get excited for a tag only to see it's a one sentence cameo

 

Same but also this was a helluva good read. 

[Dil 1,760]

5 hours ago, Doomsday said:

Ola Vikingstad of the Minnesota Storm

@Acydburn??? I WAS TRADED????

[Acydburn 1,607]

2 minutes ago, Dil said:

@Acydburn??? I WAS TRADED????

No...

[Dil 1,760]

Just now, Acydburn said:

No...

BUT HE SAID MINNESOTA. ACYD WHY

[Acydburn 1,607]

22 minutes ago, Dil said:

BUT HE SAID MINNESOTA. ACYD WHY

He didn't research IDK?

[Doomsday 4,130]

28 minutes ago, Dil said:

BUT HE SAID MINNESOTA. ACYD WHY

 

No it doesn't... this what happens when you stay up til degen hours. 

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Thanks for the Warlock mention

[Victor 10,940]

9 hours ago, Enorama said:

 

mfw I get excited for a tag only to see it's a one sentence cameo

Not even factually accurate because of Josef Heiss Jr. the season after. 

 

Although I wish it was true as its cooler this way.

[STZ 5,360]

Damn dude this is probably the coolest write-up I’ve ever read on the forums. Appreciate the words both about Osborne and the time with Bratislava. We had so many good teams with the Watchmen and that was back when the VHLM was nothing like it is today.

 

S29 seems so long ago, it must have taken a lot of research to go this in-depth with Osborne’s career and all those shots at the cup with Helsinki. Thanks for taking the time to do all this, Osborne was definitely my favorite player I had. You did a great job capturing exactly why I fell in love with this league, like an addict always chasing that first high lol

 

Also awesome to remember some of those career long Helsinki dudes Zhumbayev and Hodgson. Some pretty great teams Higgy put together during that run.

 

Thanks for all this @Doomsday 

[Corco 1,237]

3 hours ago, Victor said:

Not even factually accurate because of Josef Heiss Jr. the season after. 

 

Although I wish it was true as its cooler this way.

Truly one of the biggest “what-ifs”; at least Riga got a cup with him though.

[Higgins 3,618]

Thanks for the refresh and it’s accurate. STZ was the heart of Helsinki in the 30’s. The likeable guys era for the Titans.

 

Kind of surprised he was the only 1st gen to go 1st overall for 33 seasons until S63

[Doomsday 4,130]

4 hours ago, Victor said:

Not even factually accurate because of Josef Heiss Jr. the season after. 

 

Although I wish it was true as its cooler this way.

 

I never saw any mention of him at all. 

[Doomsday 4,130]

1 hour ago, STZ said:

Damn dude this is probably the coolest write-up I’ve ever read on the forums. Appreciate the words both about Osborne and the time with Bratislava. We had so many good teams with the Watchmen and that was back when the VHLM was nothing like it is today.

 

S29 seems so long ago, it must have taken a lot of research to go this in-depth with Osborne’s career and all those shots at the cup with Helsinki. Thanks for taking the time to do all this, Osborne was definitely my favorite player I had. You did a great job capturing exactly why I fell in love with this league, like an addict always chasing that first high lol

 

Also awesome to remember some of those career long Helsinki dudes Zhumbayev and Hodgson. Some pretty great teams Higgy put together during that run.

 

Thanks for all this @Doomsday 

 

Thanks for being who you are, brother.

 

When I recreated at the last trade deadline, you were one of the names I was hoping would still be here and I'm thrilled that you are. 

[Victor 10,940]

1 hour ago, Corco said:

Truly one of the biggest “what-ifs”; at least Riga got a cup with him though.

Scored the cup winner too and retired. Legend.

[solas 1,951]

That first sig was made by @Koradek as well, I believe.

 

Great article!  Always love to see articles about the past like this.