Ringless: The S21 Seattle Bears

[Matt_O 897]

 

Welcome to the second edition of Ringless. In this series we look at the best teams throughout VHL history to never win the cup.

 

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There are many teams in VHL history that were elite but never won a cup. Sometimes it’s because a different team is just plain better, or a lot of bad luck. The Seattle Bears of the S20s are one of the greatest teams to never win a cup, with three hall of famers on the team during their period of contention, which was brief. How did this Bears team never even win a playoff series? 

 

The early VHL wasn’t known for having elite drafts, but S18 was one of the most well-known draft classes in history. This draft class setup many teams for success in the early S20s. Davos drafted Daisuke Kanou first overall, giving them an elite franchise goalie. Toronto drafted Aidan Shaw in the second round, who challenged Kanou for the title of top goaltender throughout their careers. New York would select Jukka Hakkinan third overall, and while they wouldn’t find much success, Hakkinan did have a hall of fame career. The Bears selected goalie Joey Clarence in the third round, who would go on to have a really solid career, one that could be argued as hall of fame worthy. Seattle also selected future hall of famer Anton Brekker, but he would be traded away to Davos pretty quickly. Where did the Bears get all their talent from? It all came from the S17 draft class, which was a much quieter class. They selected Markus Strauss 2nd overall, and Cam Fowler 9th. These two would be the core for the Bears during their contention, and this draft class set the Bears up for success. They also selected Phil Gerrard 3rd overall in the S19 draft, who would be another core player and future hall of famer. These three would help bring the Bears to elite status during the early S20s.

 

Markus Strauss was the face of the Bears, and it was clear from the beginning of his career he would be a superstar

 

S20 wasn’t the best year for the Bears, as they were still young and developing. They had 38 wins and 81 points, but that was more than enough to make the playoffs in the North American conference since the Wranglers and Americans were in the midst of a rebuild. Markus Strauss led the team with 139 points, a mark that was sixth-best in the league. Cam Fowler had 108 points, building on his S19 season where he had 100 points. Rookie Phil Gerrard had 85 points, and veterans Dante Terragini and Rhett Gouldhawke had 92 and 93 points respectively. Dante Terragini is a name that likely doesn’t ring a bell, but he is an interesting player. When looking through his stats, you could make an argument for him possible entering the hall of fame. It wouldn’t be a strong argument, but it is there. During Terragini’s four seasons on record, he averaged 1.07 points per game, which is better than most modern defenseman, and nearly as good as hall of fame defenseman James Bencharski, who scored 1.1 points per game and played in the same era. That raises the total of this Bears team to two possible hall of famers and three future hall of famers, albeit one of the two possible hall of famers has a very weak case. Unfortunately for the Bears, they ran into a team that was just plain better and at the beginning of their contention period, the Toronto Legion. The Legion swept the Bears with ease, and Seattle had to make moves during the offseason to keep pace.

 

Seattle’s needs were clear; they needed help on defence. Joey Clarence had a poor year in net, and their defence is what hurt them the most. During the offseason, Bears management completely overhauled the defence in an attempt to completely leapfrog Toronto as the best team in the conference. Davos, the defending champions, traded the MVP Patrick Bergqvist, Jordan Berglund, and Geno Esposito to the Bears for a handful of picks. All three of those players are defensemen, and the Bears went from a mediocre defensive core to the most deadly in the blink of an eye. They also traded for forward Alex Stoyanovich from Riga towards the end of the season to further boost the offence. The S21 Seattle Bears were a force to be reckoned with.

 

Markus Strauss led the team in points with 133, while Cam Fowler had 108 yet again. The trade deadline acquisition Stoyanovich had 96 points, while recently acquired Patrick Bergvist and Geno Esposito had 94 points each. Phil Gerrard had 88 points and continued to build upon his rookie year, and Joey Clarence’s improved play helped the Bears win 48 games, a ten-game improvement from the year prior. Unfortunately for them, Toronto was a train that was not going to stop for anyone. They won 58 games and comfortably finished in the first place of the North American Conference. A first-round matchup between the two was inevitable, it was truly going to be a clash of the titans.

 

Cam Fowler was the epitome of consistency; he had five consecutive 100 point seasons from S19 to S23

 

Game one was close, but Toronto’s two third period goals were enough to put them on top and win game one 4-2. Game two was a huge bounce-back game for the Bears, as Markus Strauss’ two goals and Joey Clarence's big day helped tie up the series with a 3-1 win. With that being said, this game was a bit controversial. The Bears had 13 power plays during that game, and all three of their goals were on the powerplay. Rumours of fixed games in order to guarantee a long series began to swirl around the VHL. However, Toronto put those rumours to bed with a 2-0 win in game three, and both of their goals were on the powerplay. Aidan Shaws 28 save shutout was the highlight of game three, and the Legion had a 2-1 series lead. Game four was a huge game for both squads, especially the Bears. If they wanted any chance to upset the Legion, they needed to win this game. They did, and their 3-1 win helped tie the series at 2. Markus Strauss had a hat trick, and Clarence yet again had a big day. Unfortunately, there was more controversy. The Bears had eight power plays in that game, double the amount Toronto had. More rumours began to spread amongst the VHL about the possibility of fixed matchups. Nonetheless, both teams prepared for a huge game five.

 

Heading back to Toronto, the Legion were favoured to take a 3-2 series lead. However, Joey Clarence’s 22 save shutout was enough to hold off Toronto, and the Bears came out of Toronto with a stunning 2-0 win. However, there was still controversy. The Bears had 11 power plays, nearly double what Toronto had for the third time this series. Toronto players were fed up with the unfair officiating, and fans called for new officials to ref the remaining games of the series. The league didn’t listen, and the Bears would head back to Seattle with a chance to head to the continental cup finals.

 

The refs were heavily criticized heading into game seven by both teams, and rumors spread that the VHL was fixing games for maximum revenue

 

This series was heavily scrutinized by fans and players alike for the seemingly unfair officiating in favour of the Bears. As Seattle suited up for a potential series-deciding game six, they needed to put that behind them and play some good hockey. Unfortunately for the Bears, they had a hard time blocking out the critics, and they were very unfocused in a sloppy 3-1 loss. Toronto had over double the number of shots as Seattle, and Joey Clarence was the only one who came to play, with 41 saves in a losing effort. This game caused even more controversy, as the Legion had nine power plays to the Bears three. Rather than Legion players and fans becoming vocal, Bears players began voicing their displeasures as well. Many people began to wonder if it was fixed in order to make sure it goes seven games for maximum revenue. Perhaps they were right, we will never know. We were headed for game seven.

 

Game seven in Toronto and the winner will face the Dynamo in the continental cup finals. Both teams had battled all series long to get to this point, and they weren’t going to let critics get to their head in this one. The puck dropped, and game seven began. Late in the first, Markus Strauss scored his seventh goal of the postseason to give the Bears a 1-0 lead after the first period. It was a powerplay goal, to the dismay of Legion fans who firmly believed the league was fixing the games. After a scoreless second period, the Bears were only twenty minutes away from a continental cup finals birth, as long as they could hold their lead. Early into the third period, the Legion got a power play, and unlikely hero Biggie Shakur scored to tie the game for the Legion. As the clock continued to go down with the score still tied, the nervous energy in the building began to rise. With nine minutes to go, Biggie Shakur received another pass and scored again, to give Toronto the lead. The Bears were getting outplayed during the third period, and it was the worst time it could have happened. With a few minutes to go, Max Kroenenburg iced it for the Legion, and the Legion would win 3-1. They would go on to win the continental cup, and the Bears would head into another offseason wondering what to do.

 

This loss was the crushing blow for the Bears. They would trade Cam Fowler to the Titans, Joey Clarence to the Wranglers, and Phil Gerrard to the Legion. Markus Strauss would stay, but his 131 points in S22 wasn’t enough to help the Bears, who only had 22 wins and finished last in the North American Conference. Eventually, Strauss would be traded to the Dynamo to finish his career, and the elite core of the Bears from S21 was gone.

 

The second consecutive playoff loss to Toronto seemed to prove to Bears management that they could never beat Toronto. They completely tore it all down, despite having a pretty young core. The problem for the Bears was their timing, and their best chance at a cup also happened to be during the Legions many years of contention. But now, imagine if the result was different. What if Seattle holds onto the 1-0 lead and wins? Since Toronto handily won the S21 finals, we can assume the Bears would do the same. If the Bears won the cup, do they immediately rebuild after? Or do the Legion have to make some moves? The Legion and the Dynamo were the two premier teams of the early S20s, but if the Bears took down Toronto in S21, perhaps it would be Seattle and Davos, not Toronto and Davos. The early S20s Seattle Bears are one of the greatest teams to never win a cup.

 

@gregreg @CoachReilly @Phil @.sniffuM 

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by Matt_O

[Victor 10,953]

[diamond_ace 3,112]

You would somehow manage to avoid talking about the s20 draft in this 

[Matt_O 897]

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