Calgary Wranglers: Season 51

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

GM: Austin Gow (720/340/323/57/737)

Former GM(s):

Jardy Bunclewirth (504/172/307/25/369)

Jason Glasser (1080/547/456/67/1,161)

Record (after S20): 2,304 GP | 1,059 W | 1,086 L | 149 OTL | 2,287 P | 6,415 GF | 7,288 GA

Playoff Record (after S20): 185 GP | 97 W | 70 L | 18 OTL | 4-2 vs TOR, 4-3 vs QUE, 4-5 vs NYA, 2-2 vs SEA, 1-0 vs DAV, 1-0 vs COL, 1-3 vs HEL

 

 

Season 51 VHL Entry Draft:

1st Round, Pick 4: D Shaka

 

 

Trades (Regular Season):

N/A

 

Season 51 Regular Season - 72 GP | 64 W | 4L | 4 OTL | 132 P | 283 GF | 96 GA

What a difference a few seasons make. The Wranglers were floundering in last place at the end of Season 49 and two seasons later the led the league in points with 132 leading to one of the best records in VHL History. Signings of free agents such as Aleksi Koponen, Unassisted, Tyson Kohler and Black Velvet would do that though. All were the top free agents on the market and all signed with one team that already housed Travis Gowecny, Theo Axelsson and Ariel Weinstein. The result was a 64-4-4 record and a very fun season for the Wranglers after some so so seasons. Koponen, Kohler, Velvet and Unassisted all had over 100 points in the Wrangler debuts. Weinstein had a 0.932 save percentage with 16 shutouts. All was looking good for them heading into the playoffs as the odds on favorite to win the Continental Cup.

 

Season 51 Playoffs - 5 GP | 1 W | 3 L | 1 OTL

With their outstanding record, the Wranglers were given a bye right into the Conference finals where they awaited the winner of the Seattle Bears and Toronto Legion. Toronto ended up winning and wound up playing against Calgary. Everything was looking good for the Victory Cup winners. Calgary previously was 4-1 in series' against Toronto. So this was expected to be a cake walk. However, when Calgary tied the game up in Game 1, the knew they were in for a series. It was 1-1 going into OT before Zach Parechkin sent the home fans home with a sour taste in their mouths. Game 2 was much different as Tyson Kohler scored just 6 seconds into the game but 3 minutes later Toronto answered. It looked like we were heading for OT against before Unassisted scored the winner just 4 minutes into the 3rd to tie the series at 1. Game 3 in Toronto was nothing like the other 2 games as Toronto blew out Calgary 4-0. In game 4, Wranglers scored first as Unassisted did his thing but 2 goals including 1 in the 3rd by old friend Marquis Hyvarinen sealed it for Toronto making it a 3-1 series lead for TO. Game 5 was a little different from the others. Toronto jumped out to a 2-0 lead until 3 minutes left when Aleksi Koponen got off the snide with a goal finally but it was too little to late. Toronto completed the upset and Calgary was left to go home wondering what went wrong. 4 games ended 2-1 with one blow out loss which means Ariel Weinstein wasn't to blame.

 

Awards:

Season 51 Dustin Funk Trophy Winner - Tyson Kohler

Season 51 Sterling Labatte Winner - Black Velvet

Season 51 Alexander Beketov Winner - Black Velvet

Season 51 Mike Szatkowski Winner - Aleksi Koponen

Season 51 Victory Cup Winner

 

Overall:

Overall the regular season was one of the best but the playoffs had a lot to be desired. The depth just wasn't there for the Wranglers as the top lines went head to head the 2nd line and 2nd defense pairing got exposed by the Toronto Legion. A win against the Helsinki Titans in the 5th game of the season was the Wranglers 1000th win (after Season 20) so that was a pretty cool milestone I thought.

 

Koponen, Gowecny, Axelsson, Kohler, Velvet, Doughty and Unassisted all passed the 100 point mark in a Wrangler uniform this season. Klingberg just missed out with 98 points. All these players are in the 41st to 55th range in terms of points scored in a Wranglers uniform. Hitting 100 points is a big deal. Ariel Weinstein is almost at the 100 win mark with 89 in his Wrangler career. He is the best in terms of save percentage and G.A.A with a 0.931 and 1.70 G.A.A. He is also 2nd in shutouts with 26. Does he make a case for best Wrangler goalie of all time thus far?

 

Wrangler Stats

@chatfan036 @Will @Higgins @Kendrick @Smarch 

I can't remember theo axelsson or unassisted off hand, maybe you guys can tag him but care to discuss Season 51? must have been a lot of fun for you guys until playoffs.

[Kendrick 4,741]

@STZ was Unassisted

[eaglesfan036 4,596]

Wow it makes me sick how good this team was that regular season record was unreal

[TheLastOlympian07 2,388]

1 hour ago, chatfan036 said:

Wow it makes me sick how good this team was that regular season record was unreal

too bad you didnt have the STHS sim luck in playoffs. 3 losses were 2-1. Weinstein had a 0.929 save percentage