Claimed:The Life and Times of a VHL Goalie

[sterling 1,997]

The Life and Times of a VHL Goalie

 

With the recent loss by Thomas Tukio and the New York Americans in the North American semi-finals it got me thinking about the life and times of a VHL goalie. Perhaps I should call it the frustrating life and times of a VHL goalie. Although Tukio took over the career wins lead and will likely add another Shaw Trophy as the VHL's top goalie this season, I can only imagine it remains a hollow feeling for the guy. I know the feeling that comes with being at the top of the charts and being let down. What we saw in this series was an epic goalie duel and in it we saw proof that the VHL is and will always remain a complete crap shoot, especially for goalies.

 

Despite the fact that Tukio will be a first ballot Hall of Famer like my goalie was previously, I bet he still feels the familiar sting of not getting it done in the playoffs enough. In fact, our goalies careers are similar in that our stats, awards and Continental Cups mirror each other closely. When you hold the record for TPE and have one of the best goalies of all time, you expect to win Cups more frequently than once in an eight season career.

 

 

All too often I've seen young goalies like Smyl and Moher go through a bunch of shit the early parts of their career. The problem is that if you expect the shit to stop at the end of your career when you're 'elite' it's not always a safe bet. Labatte was elite for arguably five seasons, three of which were Shaw winning seasons and two of which were horrendously underachieving. To me, too many people in the VHL put all their stock into an elite goalie while woefully ignoring the importance of a good defensive core. As I predicted earlier in the year, New York just wouldn't get it done on account of our poor defense and two goalies on the roster.

 

A good, young goalie can be the difference maker and then again, a good, old goalie can be the difference maker too. There really is no set precedent in the VHL, especially as people start to hoard TPE more and more. Players are getting better and elite players are becoming more plentiful. Truly any combination of TPE, depth and skill can and will win a Continental Cup on any given year. This season it just wasn't in the cards for Tukio because of luck, just like it was for Labatte who lost two straight Continental Cups in game seven.

 

Who do you blame? Yourself for making a great goalie? Your roster for not scoring enough goals? The sim engine that seems perfectly content in taunting your hard work as best possible? That's where my blame lays. In my opinion, the difference between an elite goalie like LeBeau or Tukio and a middling goalie like Moher or Smyl isn't much. One of those middling goalies could just as easily put up a .935 save percentage season as an elite goalie. It's all a random crap shoot and obviously very frustrating for the guys toiling away at their goalies currently. I wish you all good luck and many successes, but in the world of VHL goalies, there just aren't many successes to be had!

[Phil 5,119]

You've sold me. I'm never making a goalie.

[Guest Svoboda_3]

Content: 3/3

565 words. Not overly long, but man did it really send a message. This is one of the big reasons why I've never created a goaltender, although the thought has crossed my mind. You had a good synopsis of what the pros and cons of being a goaltender are as evidenced by your own experiences.

Grammar: 2/2

Thomas = Tuomas

all time = all-time

Cups = cups

shit the early = shit in the early

Appearance: 1/1

You added green and we all know green is the color, football is the game.

Overall: 6/6

[Kesler 1,514]

Claimed