Ringless: The S63-S65 Seattle Bears

[Matt_O 897]

 

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

 

 

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The Seattle Bears of the late S60s/early S70s are what the mid S60 Bears wish they were. The current day Bears have won four cups in the past six seasons, while the S63 through S65 Bears didn’t win a single series, despite winning back to back victory cups. This team had future Hall of Famers Matt Thompson, and Maxim Kovalchuk yet couldn’t get it done when it mattered the most. How did this happen? How did they build this team? It all started at the S61 VHL Draft.

 

The S61 Draft is known for two players; Matt Thompson and Podrick Cast. Thompson was selected first overall by the Bears while Cast was selected third to the Reign. These were the superstars of the draft, but there still were plenty of other solid guys that were taken, many of which found their way onto the Bears during their peak years. Roger Sterling was selected by Seattle fourth overall, and he would be their goalie for the years to come. Robert Malenko was selected seventh by the Legion, and he would become an elite defenseman for the Bears, winning multiple awards in S64. The Bears also picked up Sergei Kovalev at eighth overall, and he also would be on the team for multiple seasons and was a good piece for the team. Sebastian Ironside also was part of the S61 draft class, but since he was a GM player at the time of the draft, he went straight to the Legion’s roster. Eventually, he would no longer be a GM player and would sign with the Bears in S65. The S61 draft class was a huge part of the Bears success during the mid S60s, but other core pieces came from different times. In the S62 Draft, the Bears selected Maxim Kovalchuk second overall, and he would go on to be a Hall of Famer.

 

The S63 Bears were the first year that the Bears could consider themselves contenders. On top of the core of players from the S61 Draft, they also brought back Hall of Famer Gabriel McCallister for his final season, Vyacheslav Smirnov was a young up and coming center, veteran David Kiaskov, a reliable point per game player, as well as a young Jake Davis, an elite forward throughout his whole career. The S63 Bears were pretty loaded from top to bottom, and they finished second place in the league with 52 wins and 109 points, just one point behind first place Riga. However, the argument can be made that they were better than Riga that year, as they actually had one more win than the Reign, as well as owning the league's best offense and second best defense. The Bears had serious cup hopes this season, and they hoped it was only the beginning of multiple years of success.

 

Matt Thompson's incredible career saw him win multiple Boulets

 

In the semi-finals, they had to face the Calgary Wranglers, who finished third that year. They had only one less win than Seattle that season, and consisted of hall of famers Jasper Canmore, Oyorra Arroyo, Mats Johnsson, and goaltender Norris Stopko. They also had Keaton Louth, who may also become a Hall of Famer one day. The Wranglers were just as loaded as the Bears, and this was bound to be a great matchup. 

 

Game One is often times the tone setter for the series, and in a hostile Seattle environment, the Bears showed up for the fans, shelling Wranglers netminder Norris Stopko with 56 shots. Unfortunately for Seattle, Stopko also showed up, stopping all 56 shots on goal, helping secure the 3-0 Game One win for the Wranglers in shocking fashion. The Wranglers weren’t necessarily underdogs in this series, but the win was still shocking due to the way it happened. The series as a whole was an offensive showdown, as both goalies had to take on incredible amounts of shots throughout the series. In Game Two, Seattle had 48 shots while Calgary had 36, but this time Stopko didn’t stand on his head, letting in five goals in the 5-3 win for the Bears. Robert Malenko had 3 assists and the Bears tied the series up heading to Calgary for Game Three.

 

Seattle outplaying the Wranglers was the trend of the series, although it didn’t correlate to wins. Roger Sterling's poor play in net cost the Bears in Games Three, Four, and Six. In Game Six, an elimination game for the Bears, they had 56 shots compared to the Wranglers 27. The Wranglers won that game 3-2 after Sterling let in three goals in the first period, and the Bears couldn’t recover. It was an unfortunate loss for the Bears, considering how well they had played, but in the end, it wasn’t the end of the world. The Wranglers are a great team, and the Bears were young, and this would hopefully be just the beginning of something special.

 

Norris Stopko shut down the Bears to help the Wranglers advance to the finals

 

The Bears lost McCallister to retirement in the offseason, but picked up Veran Dragomir to replace him. The Bears headed into S64 with practically the same team, but now everyone was a year older and more experienced. The Bears finished first place in S64 with 108 points, barely beating out Riga by one point. They had by far the best offense in the league, with nearly 50 more goals for that season than any other team. When you have Matt Thompson scoring 56 goals, Robert Malenko dishing out 85 assists, and Veran Dragomir scoring 95 points, it’s no surprise that Seattle’s offense was deadly that year. The only problem was that they struggled on defense, and Roger Sterling's stats were mediocre for a goalie on the league's top team. Even the bot backup had better stats than Sterling in the games he had played. If the Bears wanted to make it past the semi finals this year, they needed Sterling to step up in the playoffs.

 

The Toronto Legion would win the wild card round over the Quebec City Meute after an infringement of the Louth Rule, and would face the Bears in the semi-finals. In game one, the Bears, specifically Roger Sterling, had to make a statement, and they did just that. A 5-1 drubbing of the Legion was a huge victory for Seattle, especially for Sterling, who made 45 saves that game. The Bears couldn’t keep up the momentum though, as they fell 5-2 in Game Two and then lost 5-1 in Game Three. You can blame Roger Sterling for having bad performances in those games, but you also aren’t going to win games when you can’t score, as Stopko was completely shutting down the Bears for the second year in a row. The Bears would put tons of shots on net every game, routinely getting shot totals in the high 30s, 40s, and sometimes even 50s. They just couldn’t put the puck in the net, but in Game Four they figured it out, with a dominating 7-2 win. When you score 7 goals, usually you expect the opposing goalie to be pulled, or have an abysmal save percentage, but Stopko didn’t get pulled, and had a save percentage of .904. How is this possible? The Bears had an ungodly 73 shots on goal in Game Four. Matt Thompson had six points, and the Bears put together one of the most incredible single game performances I have ever seen to tie the series at two.

 

Somehow, the Bears were unable to build on this momentum. They had nearly 50 shots again in Game Five, but the Legion snuck past the Bears with a 4-3 win thanks to Stopko’s 45 saves. Game Six was do or die for the Bears. Another year, another dominating performance, yet they were fighting for their season yet again. It was a high scoring affair, but it was 3-1 Toronto midway through the second. Matt Thompson had two quick goals to complete his hat trick to tie the game, before both teams traded goals and it was tied at four at the end of the second. That score held through regulation, and we needed overtime. One goal, and the Bears could force a Game Seven, or the Legion could go to the Continental Cup Finals. Seattle had 49 shots in Game Six, another incredible offensive performance. But in the end, the shot total doesn’t matter. After a Maxim Kovalchuk penalty sent the Legion to the power play in overtime, Oyorra Arroyo scored another big-time goal against the Bears, this time to send his new team, the Legion, to the finals.

 

Oyorra Arroyo's overtime winner in game six sent the Legions to the finals

 

The Bears had outplayed the Legion at nearly every turn. Unfortunately for Seattle, Norris Stopko shut them down, and Sterling couldn’t keep up. The off-season was filled with questions, specifically if Matt Thompson would re-sign. He did, but the message was clear. In S65, it was cup or bust for the Bears. This was it, no excuses. They added Sebastion Ironside in free agency, and they were ready to make one last run at the cup. They finished with 52 wins in S65 and won another Victory Cup, but it didn’t matter to them. This team looked even better than last year's team. They had an offense just as explosive, but a much sturdier defense, which allowed the second lowest amount of goals. The lack of defense is what largely cost them in S64, but they didn’t lack there anymore. They would have to face the Helsinki Titans in the semi-finals, and hoped to make quick work of them. This was their last chance.

 

Game One went well for Seattle. They had lots of shots, and Roger Sterling managed to hold it together well enough to secure a 4-3 win for Seattle, as young forward Gucci Garrop scored the game-winner mid-way through the third. All was going well for the Bears, but unfortunately things get ugly. Really ugly, as a matter of fact. Game Two saw the Bears take 49 shots compared to the Titans 28, yet the Titans won 5-3. This game was particularly agonizing for the Bears. Seattle led 3-1 just ten minutes into the first, and chased stud goaltender Alexander Pepper from the game. With the bot goalie in, all the Bears had to do was get tons of shots like they always do, and they should win. The bot goaltender for Helsinki would go on to make 41 saves on 41 shots and lead the Titans to an incredible win. The sim gods must have felt bad for what they did to these Bears teams, and repaid them with their success later in the decade. Game Three was very unique for the Bears, as it was the first time they had been outshot in a playoff game since at least S62. They still forced Pepper to make 36 saves in a 4-1 Titans win, but they allowed 48 shots on net, very uncharacteristic of this team. Game Four was absolutely a must-win for the Bears.

 

The Bears yet again had tons of shots, with 41 in this game. The Titans had 40 of their own, but Sterling stood on his head, making 38 saves in Game Four to help secure a Bears win, 4-2. This was a huge win, a momentum swinging win even, but we have learned that the Bears don’t know how to build off of momentum, as they haven’t won back to back playoff games in the past few seasons. Game Five was another high flying affair, with both teams having 35 or more shots. Pepper made 34 saves for the Titans, while Sterling made 37. This game wasn’t on Sterling, it was on the defense for allowing that many shots. The Bears lost 4-2, and even though it was only a 3-2 series lead, the writing was on the wall. The energy was gone. It was clear what was going to happen in Game Six, and to no one's surprise, the Titans picked up the win in Game Six, 4-2, to advance to the finals. This loss was a brutal one. Seattle led 2-1 with just seven minutes left in the game. They were in a great position to steal this win and force a home Game Seven, but the Titans tied it. Then, only a minute and a half later, they take the lead with a Julian Borwinn power play marker. Just twenty seconds later, Helsinki adds the insurance marker to make it 4-2. In two minutes of play, the Bears went from winning and having hope, to losing by two and being dead in the water. It was over for the Bears. They had three seasons with a great team, and threw it all away. 

 

Matt Thompson left in free agency for the Titans, Roger Sterling left, Dragomir left for Davos, and Ironside went to Calgary. The rebuild began in Seattle, as they heavily invested in the S67 draft. As we all know, this worked out huge for them, as they would win four cups in the next seasons, with the chance for five in S74. Perhaps the lack of success by this Bears team is what facilitated possibly the greatest dynasty in VHL history. 

 

Spoiler

@Beketov @Banackock @Velevra   @Bushito  @Will @pennypenny @omgitshim

 

[Banackock 8,124]

Damn Seattle was a good 60’s team tho

[Beketov 9,095]

As soon as you started this series I was waiting to be reminded of this BS. Damn Simon did us dirty.

[Victor 11,009]

Picked the wrong guy in S61

[McWolf 3,116]

Didn't they just win like 4 cups in 6 seasons or something?

[Victor 11,009]

1 hour ago, McWolf said:

Didn't they just win like 4 cups in 6 seasons or something?

unproven rumours

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

Cast > Thompson