Is the VHL run by a Veteran GM Cartel?

[Victor 10,940]

Formatting, WORD Here's a fact that may surprise you – the last GM to win the Continental Cup with less than 10 seasons of VHL GMing experience was Keaton Louth in S67 – his 8th season in charge of the Quebec/Vancouver franchise. Before that, it was actually Benjamin Zeptenbergs aka hedgehog, who won his first two cups with Riga (S57 and S58) in his fifth and sixth season in the job. Since then it's been a roll call of some of the longest-tenured GMs in VHL history – Tyler Barabash, Tyler Owens, Matt Bailey, Ryan Power, Victor Alfredsson, Mitch Higgins, Blake Campbell (5 times), and Louth and Zeptenbergs again. That's 176 seasons worth of GMing between them, accounting for 6 of the top 10 GMs in terms of longevity – 2 of the others haven't GMed since the early 50s, while another is Jason Glasser of Prague. The fourth is Chris Miller, who made the finals with Malmo in S68.

 

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Now we all know experience matters and when it comes to VHL GMing that may be more true than in other jobs – it takes a while to grasp the dynamics of trade negotiations, drafting, the VHL salary cap and the planning involved in locating and grasping the window of opportunity to compete. There's probably something to say about the inner workings of the sim engine as well and knowing that tiny bit more about them to gain an edge in the playoffs. Although, it's not a massively different picture in the regular season – since S60, the only additional name not mentioned above to win the Victory Cup is Ryan Jubis with Calgary in S72, the season he officially took over from Barabash. He also made the finals last season, a feat achieved only by him and now Julian Borwinn among relatively new GMs in recent memory (Borwinn has just finished his sixth season in charge of Helsinki).

 

So, what does that mean for the GMs who haven't been around the VHL since time immemorial. Is the recent rise of Jubis and Borwinn a sign of fresh faces on the horizon or is the VHL GMing elite a closed shop? Only 5 of the current 16 VHL GMs are veterans (defined as tenure over 10 seasons), but 3 of these own the current longest playoff streaks (Riga's record-setting 13 seasons as well as Seattle's 7 and Moscow's 6 straight). Louth's Vancouver made the playoffs for 6 straight seasons themselves recently and he has only missed the postseason twice since S60. It does make you wonder if it is easier to maintain the status quo in the modern VHL, where contenders can pick late or even trade their first-rounders and still replenish the cupboards enough to compete perennially. The Reign and the Wolves are certainly shining examples of this method (until Riga's implosion this off-season), with the Menace, Bears, and Titans also joining the retool rather than rebuild train in recent seasons. It is telling that since the 2nd set of expansion (Prague and DC in S68), these are 5 of the 7 teams to make the finals – alongside the aforementioned Wranglers and Malmo's surprising run that first season.

 

Finally, to hammer the point home, the franchises who have struggled the most through what is now most of the current VHL's population's lifetime – New York and Davos – have spent these nearly 15 seasons without an experienced hand to guide them and with little transition from previous management. Both of the last two GM changes in New York happened due to inactivity, while Shawn Glade's exit in Davos to make way for Gustav Mattias was a very acrimonious affair. That is not to say that those two in Davos or the Americans' Colton Rayne and now Esso Drunkmann were not strong candidates when they took over their respective teams, but they were thrown to the wolves in a league with some heavyweights swirling around them with years of experience. Perhaps it is just a phase and maybe even one we're on the way out of – but maybe this new, subtle form of disparity is the new VHL normal.

 

 

---Comment section---

[eaglesfan036 4,603]

Apt analysis, any team lucky enough to have as level-headed and wise of a leader as Victor will be going places 

[Quik 4,113]

7 minutes ago, chatfan036 said:

Apt analysis, any team lucky enough to have as level-headed and wise of a leader as Victor will be going places 

 

Early bird dinner counts as going places, I guess

[Victor 10,940]

10 minutes ago, Quik said:

 

Early bird dinner counts as going places, I guess

between vacation and Mingle, do you even remember what the playoffs are?

[Quik 4,113]

Just now, Victor said:

between vacation and Mingle, do you even remember what the playoffs are?

 

Considering both Kronos and ACL made it when I came back, yes...but they are a distant memory. sigh

[hedgehog337 3,483]

 

most of VHL GM's right now

[BOOM 8,745]

4 hours ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

most of VHL GM's right now

 

 

Last GM meeting...