Tyler HOF Article

[solas 1,953]

Tyler Owens - @Tyler

 

Joined: 2008
Positions Held: Vasteras Iron Eagles GM (S21-S26), HC Davos Dynamo GM (S57-S63), Brampton Battalion GM (S17), Grader

 

Tyler Owens, better known as Tyler, is one of the VHL’s longest-serving members and a great contributor to the league.  While he’s never reached the hall of fame with any of his players, he has had a relatively consistent level of activity with each of them as well as some significant highs with goaltender Andreas Bjorkman.  But what makes him such a surefire induction into the hall of fame as a builder is his contributions as a general manager of both the Vasteras Iron Eagles and HC Davos Dynamo.

 

Tyler joined the league very early on, around Season 6 in 2008.  His first player would be Pavel Dubnikov, the brother of Zach Manship’s Andrei Dubnikov.  Both Dubnikovs would garner some negative attention, in part due to the immaturity that was much more common in the league back then, and in part due to their time spent on the notorious New York Americans teams of the time (a concentrated hub of said immaturity).  Nonetheless, Pavel would find success away from New York as a part of the cup-winning Seattle Bears team of S12.  Afterwards came defenseman Nicholas Evans, a Season 14 draftee who would have a higher TPE total but wasn’t too successful.  

 

In Season 21, though, Tyler would take the job that would probably come to define him the most: GM of the Vasteras Iron Eagles.  At this point, Vasteras was the laughing stock of the league.  After having won the first-ever Continental Cup in Season 1 with an upset victory over the Calgary Wranglers, they’d gone the next twenty seasons without winning a title - the longest cup drought of any team in the league by quite a ways at the time.  They hadn’t even made the finals from Season 3 to Season 17.  In fact, the team’s reputation was so low that they had been moved in S17 to become the Madrid Thunder.  

 

After Andreas Bjorkman, his most recent player, was drafted first overall by Madrid, Tyler took over the job from Zach Voss.   This was shortly after Voss had moved the team back to Vasteras with the new nickname “Iron Eagles”.  The problems were twofold: not only was he given the task of rebuilding the team that had finished dead last in their conference the previous year, he was also taking charge of a team that was disliked and/or considered cursed by a portion of the league.  Tyler would find some success through the draft, however.  Longtime team captain RJ Stafford would be taken by the team in the same draft as Bjorkman.  Vasteras would end up winning the draft lottery in the following season and taking highly-touted defenseman Clint Guite first overall.  In Season 23, Lucas Tannahill, Vasteras’ original GM and the man most associated with the franchise, would return to the team as forward Lasse Milo was selected fourth overall.  Future hall of famer Tuukka Reikkinen was selected in the same spot in Season 25.

 

These players would all contribute to the cup run and form a solid core, but the team would still need to make moves if they wanted to truly contend.  Tyler’s first push in this direction came in Season 24, with the acquisitions of hall of famers James Bencharski and Lars Berger from Toronto in exchange for three players, including Guite.  While this move surprisingly wasn’t even enough to bring Vasteras to the playoffs in what would be Berger’s only season with the team, it was a sign of the Iron Eagles beginning to move towards contention in a way that hadn’t happened yet under Tyler’s management.  The playoff drought would be snapped in Season 25, although cup dreams were ended with a seven-game loss to Davos in the conference finals.  The bigger push came in Season 26.  Tyler’s defining move would come in another trade with Toronto, as forward Phil Gerrard (another future hall of famer) joined the roster along with the returning Clint Guite.  Vasteras won the Victory Cup in the regular season (the first time since Season 2) before finally returning to the peak of the VHL by beating the New York Americans 4-1 in the Continental Cup Finals.  Tyler took home the David Knight Trophy for Top GM for his efforts.

 

He subsequently stepped down from the role, having broken the 25-season curse that loomed over the team.  The rebuild would begin under new management.  Bjorkman was shipped out, and would in fact end up winning MVP right after with a stellar season as a part of the Riga Reign.  But this isn’t where the story ends.  Tyler’s reputation as a curse-breaker would be reinforced with another team.  This time, ironically, it would be the HC Davos Dynamo - the team that had held Vasteras back in the European conference all those seasons ago.  

 

When Tyler took his next GMing job 31 seasons after he stepped down from Vasteras, the VHL was in a much different place.  At this point, the league was significantly less active.  In fact, the league contracted from 10 teams down to 8 after Owens’ first year in charge of Davos. As just about anyone who was around at that time could tell you, there weren’t many people applying for GM jobs.  And while Davos wasn’t in a terrible spot, this was also a team that hadn’t won a cup since Season 39.  It might not have been a particularly desirable job, even to those who were active.  

 

Tyler took charge and immediately started the rebuild, making seven trades before the start of S57 and receiving a net gain of 11 draft picks.  Unfortunately, the lack of truly good drafts around this time meant that many of these new picks didn’t pan out, but three of them would make Davos’ eventual cup-winning team.  In fact, some of the most important draft picks for the team were made with Davos’ own picks.  Forward Joseph Bassolino was taken with the first overall pick in Season 59.  The Charm, Tyler’s own player, came to the team via the GM rule.  Thanks to contraction, goaltender Shawn Brodeur was taken in the S58 dispersal draft - ironically, he was originally selected by Cologne with a draft pick Owens had acquired from Calgary in his first offseason before trading to Cologne shortly after.  But like with Vasteras, Davos’ big move towards contention once again came through aggressive trading.

 

The big piece - and the cornerstone for the cup-winning S61 team - was legendary forward Gabriel McAllister.  A Season 56 draftee, McAllister was acquired in the prime of his career alongside center Otto Axelsson and the rights to free agent defenseman Mats Johnsson in exchange for a first round pick.  While Tyler would make other acquisitions in order to fill out the team, this was truly the one that put them over the edge.  McAllister would absolutely dominate in Season 61, earning MVP, Playoff MVP, and Top Two-Way Forward as Davos would end their 22-year dry spell with a Continental Cup.  Tyler would stay in place as GM for another two seasons, as Davos fell in the conference finals in Season 62 before Owens started another rebuild and then handed the reins over to Shawn Glade.  

 

At the end of the day, Tyler’s great work in ending two of the three longest “curses” in league history sets him apart.  He didn’t necessarily build dynasties - dynasties seem to require a bit of luck that his teams didn’t have - but instead, he did something that might even be harder.  Tyler built contending teams, cup winning teams, usually in a situation where he was at a disadvantage.  His well-deserved hall of fame induction is in large part a product of this.  For myself and the other Vasteras supporters, the S26 title remains as a unique achievement especially when considering the franchise’s later history.  As the years go on and our league changes, it’s important to recognize Tyler’s undeniably positive influence on the league as both a GM and a person.

[Devise 4,475]

You can call him The Curse Breaker. Wasn't GM but Connor Evans was on the curse breaking S32 NY squad as well. 

 

Anyway good write up Solas enjoyable read down memory lane.

[Victor 11,043]

Can't believe I missed this - great write-up focusing on what really makes this one of the most unique Builders we have. Tyler's one of our most underrated members for sure.

[Victor 11,043]

Also @solas, your sig dropdown/spoiler is world class