A Dream Team of My Favorite Teammates

[solas 1,952]

I’ll be honest, I’ve blatantly procrastinated on doing something for the theme week, and I’ll admit that this article probably isn’t going as interesting or as well-written as I would ideally like.  But I’ve had this idea for an article ever since I saw what the theme was for this season.  This dream team is going to consist of my favorite teammates throughout my entire history in the VHL.  The idea for this is based on another idea for a media spot that I’d had in the past, where I look at who I’ve been teammates with the longest.  I might still revisit this idea if I have the time/interest.  But for now, this is going to be looking at who I enjoyed being teammates with the most.  What exactly does that mean?  Time to find out.

 

Forward: Alexander Chershenko @Victor (Calgary S28-S31) 
I didn’t truly become active in the VHL until I made my second player, German defenseman Klaus Müller.  And a big part of that activity and interest was the Calgary Wranglers team that Müller was on.  The locker room was filled with a bunch of great teammates, and the cup runs in S30 and S31 were very fun to be a part of.  And probably the most important player on that team was Alexander Chershenko, the third player of Victor (alfie_forever at the time).  

Chershenko was a fantastic player, as evidenced by the hall of fame induction.  Victor, meanwhile, is one of the most important members in the VHL’s history as well as someone that I enjoyed being teammates with and still get along with today.  Somehow, we haven’t been teammates that often.  The only other time was when I briefly returned to sign with Riga as a free agent and then go inactive again sometime in the early S60s.  Either way, this is someone that I knew I had to put in my dream team.

 

Forward: Travis Gowecny @eaglesfan0366 (Calgary S50-S52) 
It’s kind of ironic that I’m following up a fantastic hall of fame player with a fairly average player like Gowecny (sorry Austin).  But there is a reason for this.  Almost twenty seasons after my stint with Müller, I found myself back in Calgary as Theo Axelsson was selected second overall.  During the pre-draft process, I had spoken to eaglesfan a bit since he was the GM of Calgary and we’d end up talking more in the locker room (and in chat, which should be brought back).  Considering what was in place, I was excited for the future.

Things went into the next gear as Axelsson and Gowecny finished their rookie seasons and a historically great free agent class came up in Season 51.  Somehow, Calgary recruited the top four players available (more on these four later) and quickly changed from a rebuilding team with a very bright future into the de facto #1 contender for the Continental Cup.  Unfortunately, things didn’t quite turn out as planned.  We were quite dominant in the S51 regular season, winning a Victory Cup and putting up a historic points tally, but it just wasn’t to be.  Eaglesfan ended up stepping down as GM, then Kesler took over and decided to rebuild (more on this later, too).  But during those three seasons, eaglesfan would become one of my favorite teammates.

 

Forward: Pierre Gaudette @Frank (Quebec City S53-S57) 
This one has a fairly similar beginning to Gowecny.  Another player of mine, Lukas Müller (that’s different from the other Müller) was entering the draft, and after discussions with Quebec’s GM Frank, the Meute ended up trading down from 1 to 2 to draft me rather than Franchise Cornerstone.  This ended up being a perfect fit.  Frank had a clear plan for the team’s rebuild, and a big part of that plan would be the duo of Müller and Frank’s recreate Pierre Gaudette.  This plan would end up in success.  Quebec would make three straight finals appearances, winning one of them in Season 56.  

During this time, Lukas Müller and Pierre Gaudette would form a historically great duo - so in a purely statistical sense, it’s undeniable that Gaudette would be one of my best teammates.  But additionally, Frank was a great member that I enjoyed being teammates with and that I wish was still active.

 

Defenseman: Black Velvet @Higgins (Calgary S51-S52, Helsinki S53-S55)  
Velvet, one of the greatest defensemen of all time as well as one of the aforementioned free agents, would first join up with Theo Axelsson in Calgary.  But while Velvet would be a great player, the main reason for his inclusion on this list is what would come in Helsinki.  Remember when I mentioned the rebuild in Calgary and how that ended Axelsson’s time with the Wranglers?  Well that rebuild included one of the most lopsided trades ever, in which Calgary traded two future hall of farmers and a lottery pick to Helsinki in exchange for Higgins’ second player, a goalie who would finish his career in the 400-500 TPE range.  

Yes, I partially chose Black Velvet just because I wanted to mention that trade.  But there’s more important stuff.  Higgins ended up building a dynasty in Helsinki that won back-to-back cups (which were ironically won in the first two of the previously-mentioned finals appearances by Quebec).  Most importantly, though, that Helsinki team had a great, active locker room, and Higgins played a big part in creating that.

 

Defenseman: Clark Marcellin @diamond_ace (Calgary S28-S31) 
Okay, so this one technically isn’t accurate.  Marcellin wasn’t a defenseman while I was in Calgary.  In fact, by the point that he’d switched positions, Müller was already retired.  I could’ve included players that I was teammates with when I was actually a defenseman, too!  Ryan Sullivan and Vladimir Boomchenko were very nearly in this position.  But at the end of the day I felt like I had to include diamond_ace on this team.  

As the GM of that Calgary team, d_a is similar to the other GMs that I’ve included on this list in that they built great teams and that I got along well with them.  But additionally, he’s someone that I’ve crossed paths with many times across different sim leagues.  Ever since I first started doing sim leagues ten years ago (oh man why am I still here), I feel like I’ve been teammates or at least acquaintances with him a bunch of times.  Hence, Marcellin makes the team in this spot.

 

Goaltender: Eggly Bagelface @Corco (Vasteras S34-S39, Helsinki S40) 

As I’ve mentioned before, being a part of the Vasteras Iron Eagles was a great time in the VHL for me.  Just like with Gaudette and Gowecny before, my player (in this case Willem Janssen) was drafted second overall by a rebuilding team and became a part of the team’s core alongside the GM’s recreate (in this case Corco with Eggly Bagelface) who was in the same draft class.  This time was a little different.  Although we weren’t necessarily successful, it was incredibly enjoyable being a part of a constantly underestimated team trying to beat the odds.  
There would be other key players and good members who came into the team, but Corco and I were the two key parts of the team. We’d talk about key trades and how to make the team into a contender, and the possibility was even brought up of me taking over as GM when it became clear that he was going to be stepping down from the position.  But even though I’ve picked Bagelface for this list, Corco and I have been teammates many different times.  I mentioned the media spot I was looking at writing in the beginning - Corco is the person who tops the list, as our players have been teammates for 16 seasons.  I don’t know how that compares with other duos of members but it certainly seems like a hell of a long time.  So it couldn’t have really been anyone else in goal.

 

(1,318 words, good for two weeks - will be claiming this for the bonus week this week before using it as a PT for the next two weeks)
 

[Victor 11,021]

Solas x

 

Some strong selections here

 

7 hours ago, solas said:

Corco is the person who tops the list, as our players have been teammates for 16 seasons.  I don’t know how that compares with other duos of members but it certainly seems like a hell of a long time.

Is this a challenge 

[solas 1,952]

Claiming for week 1 of 2.

[solas 1,952]

Claiming for week 2 of 2.