part 1: a look back at the roster of the Season 70 winning Minnesota Storm, before and since

[ROOKIE745 593]

It's been a while since I've done a big media spot, I've just been drained for quite some time but I think I've found an idea I'd like to do!! I'm not gonna spell it out here but hopefully this is an idea I can bring forward and continue to do.

 

I don't need to repeat it just how amazing the season 69 Saskatoon Wild were, from their amazing record to their dominate playoff run, that team would leave a massive shadow over the VHLM for season 70. We all knew that that team was lightning in a bottle, once in a blue moon, something we won't see often. I imagine to some extent it felt daunting for any GM to have to follow that up, any team after would live in the shadow of S69 Wild. But the GM and AGM of the Storm, Rayzor and Hatter would rise to the challenge, and make a team that I would say almost rivals the S69 Wild. This isn't going to be a comparison of the two, merely just setting the stage for this look back at the incredible season 70 Storm.

 

The Minnesota storm had missed the playoffs the previous season, falling shy by just four points. They were ninth overall with a goals for of 8th at 228, and their goals against was tenth at 328. They had a home record of 10-23-3 and away record of 11-21-4 for an overall record of 21-44-7. The storm would turn this around next season to a overall record of 61-8-3, a home record of 31-3-2 and away record of 30-5-1. Goals for was third in the league at 342 and goals against was first in the league with just 152 getting by them. They went from 49 points to 125. That shows just how things can change in the VHLM, it is the nature of the beast in the league but it is none the less an impressive turn around for the team. Now lets take a look at the roster that helped them get their. I will be taking a look at every player of the S70 Storm and see where they came from, and where they went afterwords. We'll take a look at the forwards first, going by centers, right wingers, left wingers and then defensemen and finally the goaltender.

 

Centers:

Dick Cheezy

VHLM: Mississauga Hounds-Minnesota Storm

Drafted by the hounds in season 69, he was 22nd overall and put up decent totals, of 13 goals and 28 assists for 41 points. The hounds of course would go all the way to finals where they lost to the unstoppable Wild, his performance in the playoffs was perhaps not what you would have wanted, only getting 4 point, 1 goal and 3 assists. That off season the VHL team the Toronto Legion would draft him 23rd overall and back in the VHLM he was traded to the Storm. He was not VHL ready yet and would need more time to develop. The pickup was smart bringing over a player who had lots of playoff experience and could serve has a type of leader with that experience. He would have a career year that season, putting up fantastic totals of 43 goals and 64 assists for 107 points. He stepped up his game to in the playoffs putting up 6 goals and 10 assists. Having come so close to the previous season, it must have felt great to win the cup in the VHLM, one would think he'd be ready for the VHL but sadly Cheezy just didn't develop much from here. His next season was a slight step down however this could be more of a case of the team just not being the powerhouse they were last season. 21 goals, 79 assists for 100 points, playoffs 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points. He would be released after season 71. It's unfortunate that it turned out this way, not just for the Legion but for the player to, so much promise but he just seemed to loose the passion, the drive. He would never see the light of day in the VHL.

 

Leon Gutzwiler

VHLM: Las Vegas Aces-Halifax 21st-Minnesota storm

Leon was drafted 21st overall in VHLM season 69 by the Aces, a team he wouldn't spend much time with as he would be traded to the 21st very early that same season. In his 71 games with the 21st he scored 34 goals and 47 assists for 81 points, a solid start to his career and in the playoffs he would score 13 points in 11 games, 5 goals and 8 assists. In the second round the team was beaten by, you guessed it the Wild. In season 70 he would be traded again to the Storm, this time in 72 games Leon improved his play, scoring 44 goals, 60 assists for 104 points. In the playoffs he continued to be a clutch performer, netting 11, 10 helpers for 21 points in 14 games. He was a proven player and his effort was rewarded when he was called up.

 

VHL: New York Americans-Toronto Legion

In the season 70 draft, Leon was picked up by the New York team at 18th overall, however like deja vu early in season 71 when he was called up he would be traded not that long after to the Legion. Leon has been important to Legion but he has had his struggles, it is important to note that he and his brother both shifted over defense in season 72 in Toronto. To give and overview first though, he's scored 162 points in 360 games, 54 goals and 108 assist. His develop was steady for the first three seasons but in S74 he went from 54 points, a career high to just 6, 3 goals and assists, it was worse for him in the playoffs however, scoring no points in 12 games. He rebounded next season with 52 points and career high goals scored record for himself at 17. His career is still ongoing but his development has halted and as the play take a toll on him, it's possible he may bounce back.

 

Liam Rooney

VHLM: Mississauga Hounds-Halifax 21st-Minnesota Storm

A long stay in the VHLM, Liam Rooney was drafted by Halfax in season 68 22nd overall. However be for that he signed as a free agent for Hounds in season 67. In 44 games he got 8 goals and 17 assists for 25 points, he showed promise but unfortunately for the hounds he was going into the draft. Coming out of it he was now with Halifax, he'd end up playing 2 season with them getting himself 174 points in those two seasons with season 69 being his best year. 32 goals, 69 assists for 101 points. In the playoffs he was no slouch either, while he never made it to the post season with the Hounds, in Hali he recorded 21 points in 23 games from his two post seasons with the team. As you might have come to expect at this point, he was traded to the Storm. Bringing in a player with a load of experience was a great plan and he proved to be very important to the team. In his 71 games he scored 16 goals, 62 assists for 78 points, his second best season, playoffs would see him gather 12 points in 14 games, 2 goals, 10 assists. One would think that after being released from the Storm he'd get picked up by another team but whether it be is decrease in production that year or just that it would be his fifth season in the M no GM picked him up and thus his career end.

 

VHL: D.C. Dragons

Now this is interesting, we actually need to back track for this one but in season 68, his draft year, he played five games for the team that drafted him 37th overall. The dragons of course were a new team perhaps this was just to fill out roster space or just giving him a chance but he would only score one goal in those five games and thus his time in the big leagues would come to an end to. As we already covered he would go on to play two more season in the M so it's kind of a shocker that he never made it back but I guess his development just wasn't where the Dragons wanted it to be at.

 

Kendall Rasmussen

VHLM: Ottawa Lynx-Minnesota Storm

Next up is the fascinating career of Kendall Rasmussen, joining at the tail end of season 69, Kendall played 4 games and recorded 2 assists, there's not much to take from that considering it was only four games but in the playoffs Kendall would net nothing at all. Season 70 rolls around and Kendall is drafted 31st overall by the Storm. In their first season with the team Kendall scored 3 goals and 23 assists for 26 points, in the playoffs just 1 assist in the 14 games they played on their way to a cup win. What happened after this? Kendall played two more seasons with the Storm and scored zero, that's right nothing. Kendall also played in the two post season as well where they only scored one assist in total. So recap in 220 regular season games Kendall record 3 goals, 25 assists for a total of 28 points, 26 of those points coming from one season, and in the playoffs 2 assists in 37 games. I just find it interesting they stuck around this long and produced zero points in 144 regular season games after the cup win. It's no surprise then that they never made it to the VHL.

 

Jack Feriancek

VHLM: Philadelphia Reapers-Minnesota Storm

Another draftee by the Storm but once again before the draft Jack played for the reapers as a free agent pick up. Scoring 13 points in 47 games, 5 of those goals and 8 assists, playoff wise 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points 6 games. In the draft Jack was picked 36th overall by the Storm and would go on to play two seasons with the team. Jack would wrack up 80 points in his 144 games with the team, 37 goals and 43 assists. In the post season Jack scored 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points in 20 playoffs games over two post seasons. These are modest totals but there was improvement each season. He may have not been a super star on the team not not every player is going to be, he was a depth player that helped them win.

 

VHL: HC Davos Dynamo-Riga Reign-Malmo Nighthawks

Now you may see three teams up there but Jack would only go on to play for the Nighthawks and even then only for a short while. While he was with the team till season 74 he would record only two minutes played that season, which believe it or not is more time than he played last season where he didn't even record a minute of play time but did register one hit. Most of his play time came in season 72 where he got 9 goals and 10 assists for 19 points. It seems the GM had no trust in him as he never played a full minute in any game and only recorded one shot in the S74 playoffs. Feriancek is an interesting player for sure and I gotta give him credit for showing up to every game to only sit there for for 99.9% of the match. You could probably do a full story on him but I do need to move on at some point.

 

Shane Weibel

VHLM: Minnesota Storm

I thought Ferianeck would be the most interesting player of the centers but Weibel might be even more so. Shane Played for Minnesota as a free agent pick up in S68, playing 62 games and scoring 3 goals and 12 assists for 15 points, playoffs he recorded one assist in 7 games. I'm guessing Weibel showed promise as he would be drafted 24th overall by the Storm and go on to play 3 more seasons with the franchise. So far everything seems normal right? well don't worry were getting to the more interesting bits. Season 69 would see Shane hit career highs with 23 goals and 28 assists for 51 points. Surely next season would be better or around the same right? well in season 70 Shane only played 48 games and played 0 in the playoffs yet still is still considered part of that winning team. Shane recorded 2 goals and 2 assists for 4 points in those 48 games but after just disappeared. I can't find a trade or anything to explain this so I've reached to Rayzor in hopes of finding an answer, but in the meantime Shane would come back in season 71 and play the full 72 games only leaving me even more curious as to what happen. 4 goals and 1 assist shows that he wasn't developing or the player he used to be and after the season was released. He was drafted 36th overall by the Wolves but as you can guess, he would never play with the team.

 

I wasn't sure how long each player summary would be but after getting through just the centers I can see now this is gonna need to be multiple parts, I'll cover the wingers next and then defenders and goalie. Honestly while a bit tiresome I did have fun with this, seeing where some of these plays have gone or this case seeing how almost all of the centers would sadly never make it to the VHL, I have hope for the rest of the team though. Stay tuned and I'll see you guys in like a month or so.

 

(word count 2316)

 

@Rayzor_7 and @Mr_Hatter I thought now would be a good time to look back at the S70 storm team, see where these players have gone since I was curious myself. Hope you enjoy it to some extent.

Edited March 6, 2021 by ROOKIE745

[ROOKIE745 593]

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