VHL Magazine 271
New York State of Mind
VHL Magazine Edition 271
WORL D C U P A WARD D R A M A DRAPER & MO R E!
Moment of the Week The big prize in the recent S47 VHL draft was 6 foot 3 Canadian defenseman John Sleeman. It was widely expected that he would be selected by the Stockholm Vikings who held the #1 overall selection, but fans of the team were disappointed when that pick was traded to the Quebec City Meute, in a 3-way deal also involving the New York Americans. Sleeman has terrific skating and passing talents, but also possesses a solid grasp of his defensive responsibilities that will ensure his position as Quebec’s blue line maestro for many seasons to come. With an incredible understanding of the game and it’s intricacies, Sleeman is in line to be a Labatte candidate for the duration of his career and Guelph, Ontario residents will have a player to be truly proud of.
Lottery
Credits
7-4-7
boom
Molholt
1.25M - Carried Over
brovy
Solas
3-1-4
iRockstar
Toast
9 TPE - Carried Over
7-7-0 3 TPE - Carried Over
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Victory Three WE ST EU RO PE P RE VAI L S
The World Cup wrapped up right before the VHL season began with Western Europe managing to pull off the backto-back golds in tournaments. Europe was a heavy favourite going into the tournament, as the players who pulled it off the first time around had developed into true stars. Led by the likes of Hans Wingate and Bismarck Koenig, the Euros were able to beat Team Scandinavia in the final after defeating team World in the semi-final. Team Mercenaries managed to get the bronze medal with a big 5-1 win over Team World. The Mercs drew some criticism for a roster of strong players that were regarded as being snubbed from their nations as the players weren’t very active in the VHL world, and most believe that Team Mercs should be for younger actives who weren’t able to make their nation’s squad. While the tournament awards have not been handed out at this point, it’s believed they will be awarded by the time Edition 271 is published. Congratulations go out to all for another successful tournament, and we already look forward to what the next tournament will bring. RIP S U PER C U P
Draper announced some minor changes for the off-season but the biggest surprise of them all had to be the loss of the Super Cup. The Fantasy Draft tournament which followed the World Cup for off-season fun has been dissolved before the S47 edition. With not much interest in the tournament it seemed, it has been decided that
By Toast
the World Cup will now happen every two off-seasons with something hopefully to fill the off-season with nothing going on. The S46 World Cup may have taken a hit due to it being cramped up in with everything else that was going on for the VHL, so one can only imagine how little attention that the Super Cup would’ve drawn this off-season. The announcement was seemingly not noticed by much or over-shadowed by the announcement of the death of inactive bonuses, killing Brovy’s plan to pay Le’Sean Coutzen seven million for one season. A WARD DRAM A
Some members were not very pleased when the Award List was revealed and Milos Denis was awarded the Kanou over Koponen, with a vote of 6-4 from the league’s general managers or team representatives. Koponen has a successful post-season campaign with the eventual cup winners, the Helsinki Titans while Denis was able to tear it up in the first round against the Toronto Legion. While Denis’ Calgary Wranglers were able to make it to the Finals yet again, only to fall to the Titans yet again, most do not find him deserving of the Kanou. There has been an outcry for general managers to pay more attention to the underlying stats when voting for awards, or to consider something more than a stat line when voting. Denis will keep his Kanou as he goes off for a happy retirement, but hopefully this will mean more focused voting next time around.
Kesler Unfiltered
UP
The Quebec City Meute. A team that just barely missed the playoffs last season that had some god young talent and some picks in the most recent S47 draft you would think they would have continued to run course and improve their team and maybe make the playoffs in S47 right? Well this is not the case for the Meute and was not the case for General Manager of the Meute, Mr. Chevy. On day one of the off-season Quebec sent out prized franchise defensemen Francis York Morgan with a 2nd round selection for a first round pick in S48. This was the indicator that Quebec gave to the rest of the league they were going into a
By brovy
full on rebuild. After not attempting so sign any big name free agents and only stick to some depth players when the draft came around Quebec held picks 3 and 8 in the first round. Right before the draft Quebec, Stockholm and New York pulled off a crazy three way deal which Quebec sent out Ariel Weinstein and 8th overall for 1st overall and some depth pieces that helped them get to the cap f loor. Quebec then went on to select John Sleeman who was the clear number one pick in the draft and at third they selected another defenseman in Felipe Rodriguez. Quebec also acquired franchise center men Tom Lincoln via the General Manager rule. These three pieces they acquired on
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draft day are a good start to a core group and it looks like Quebec is in the run for first overall this season so they are looking good for their future. UP
HC Davos Dynamo. General Manager Jack Reilly had been criticized last season for not showing up and watching the Dynamo play and not completing General Manager duties. The Dynamo had a great team that consisted of stars such as Mason Richardson, Callum Sinclair and Bismarck Koenig that carried the Dynamo all the way to the European conference finals where they were defeated by the soon to be back to back Continental cup champions. Mr. Reilly was nowhere to be found at this point and as the off-season opened up he had his star players such as Koenig and Richardson who were without contracts and had not been offered extensions. When free agency came around the Dynamo lost out on
these two elite talent players. Bismarck Koenig headed to the conference rival Helsinki Titans to maybe win them their third cup in as many seasons. Mason Richardson also headed to a conference rival of the Dynamo, just not the Titans, instead he went to help out the Riga Reign who had a tough break last season. Only bright spot of the Dynamos off-season was that they had three first round picks in the draft, too bad it may be the weakest draft the VHL has ever seen. They ended up with Sir William Covington who was a top 2 talent in the draft but refused to play for certain teams so fell down to Davos’ pick at number 4. At 7 Davos selected maybe one of the biggest steals in the draft in Vincent Adultman. With the final pick in the first round of the draft they selected Mikhail Gribov who is far from a sure fire prospect but may turn into something. All in all Davos lost big time in this off-season mainly because of the disappearance of GM Jack Reilly.
Hometown Heroes By iRockstar
Playoffs have come on and gone and now we’re on to a new season, but I’m not done talking about the old one just yet. Before, this article was all about the players, but this time around? I’m switching the game up just a little bit. Instead of featuring one of the best players in the playoffs, I’m here to highlight a manager that deserves a little bit of recognition for what he accomplished last season. Draper is a long-term member of the league and in my eyes, one of the most well respected members in the league. Despite some controversy that surrounded the playoffs and the ‘simming’ portion of things, Draper the general manager is absolutely a beast, and deserves a lot of praise for bringing the Titans all the way. Let’s talk a little bit about the run and how it all became what it did, and how Higgins played the biggest part in all of it. Draper joined the Titans as general manager back in Season 42 after the Titans had a very rough campaign into the playoffs the season prior. Looking at the first two seasons of his tenure, it’s obvious that the rollercoaster ride was only beginning. In Season 42, the Titans were the third best team in the league and took their division no problem, getting almost twenty points ahead of the second place Cologne Express. Despite destroying the Express in the regular season however, the team would end up losing to them in the second round of the playoffs and the Express would actually go on to win that
season. No matter how it happened, it obviously took a toll on the Titans squad as the very next season was an absolute nightmare. Season 43 was an obvious rebuilding stage for the team, as with three players the team finished second last in the league, not even coming close to being in the playoffs. Because of this, some questions must have been raised but regardless Draper stuck around to see things through. The consistency was finally there, but not in the way Draper or anyone active on the Titans would have liked it to be. Despite being in a good rebuilding state, the players were becoming anxious as another below average season happened once again. Season 44 was rock bottom for the squad as they placed dead last and didn’t even have a fighting hope. However because Draper had a plan from the get-go, he wasn’t disappointed by this, as he’d pick up a top pick and continue moving forward with the rebuild. And this is where the story get’s really good. Come Season 45, and now the team was back to full form. With a full roster including some of the best in the game currently and a bunch of major all-stars, the team rallied their way back to first in the division and actually placed first in the league. With nervousness of a possible repeat of their Season 42 performance, Draper was likely on the edge of his seat as the playoffs took place. However the Titans took the Dynamo with ease and made it to the finals after a bye week in the first round. Finally in the
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finals, this team was ready to overcome everything, that was until the series went to a game seven. Everything became a little antsy but despite the possible odds against them, the Titans would finally take home the championship and win their first cup since Season 27. Almost ten seasons later, the dream had become reality, and the Titans were ready to do it all again. Now jumping to Season 46, the Titans hadn’t lost the steam they had from the previous season and Draper was ready to repeat. With nothing to lose and everything to gain, the team jumped into the season with a head of steam and eventually overtook their division and stayed there the whole season. At the end of regulation, they had repeated the same success from the previous season and topped the league with the best win/loss record and another opportunity to win it all in the playoffs. With another bye week,
the Titans had some time to rest but there was so much practicing going on, that they didn’t really take much time off to enjoy the week that they should have. With a repeat match-up from the previous season, the Titans would go on to almost sweep the Dynamo and move on to the finals where they would once again face the Wranglers. With controversy in mind, the Titans would end up eventually taking it all, being the first team since the Dynamo to win back-to-back championships. Draper is instantly a lock in my eyes for a hall of famer but he’s not done yet, and to me he’s only going to continue trying, possibly even trying to be the first ever GM to threepeat the championship win. Controversy aside Draper, you’ve got my vote as a lock for the HoF and I commend you on your great GMing over the course of almost eight seasons now. Keep on trucking, and doing your thing, let the haters talk while you win it all, again and again.
The Beat By CowboyinAmerica
NE W YO R K , N EW YORK
Usually in this space, I select a team that isn’t quite the favorite in the VHL, but isn’t expected to be in the gutter. Usually, The Beat focuses on a team that has recently made some changes, is making waves, and hasn’t really proven itself yet but very well could this season. Well, what if that team expected to take the leap is also the championship selection of exactly half (23 of 46) of the people that have made predictions thus far? It’s undeniable – the New York Americans have caught everyone’s eye so far this preseason. Whether it’s the big-time addition of reigning MVP Thomas O’Malley, or a new general manager in Edwin Encarnacion, or a relative weakening of the team’s biggest competitors in Calgary and Helsinki, the Americans look to be the presumptive favorite entering the season. But what will it take to not only break through to the finals (and break Calgary’s three year streak in the process), but to win for the first time this decade of VHL seasons? Here are the three keys I’ll be watching.
more interesting question comes with whether his linemates can keep up, particularly Edwin Reencarnacion. Entering his fourth season and sitting at 720 TPE, the former No. 1 pick is now entering the prime of his career. S46 saw a huge leap for the winger, with his 51 goals sitting tied for third in the entire VHL. However, especially with O’Malley now on his line, Reencarnacion will be expected to at least equal or possibly exceed that output if the team is to live up to expectations. He may have 99 scoring and skating ability, but will the actual results be so kind? 2 . CAM P BE L L , M M M M M M GOOD
Here’s a dirty little secret that few realize outside of New York: Campbell isn’t progressing at the rate that he once was. For all of the talk about his decision to sign with New York last offseason, goalie Blake Campbell has only actually written one media spot since arriving in town, and he has only gained 34 TPE in that time span (helped out heavily by the Christmas Gift). That’s probably not the best thing for a goalie that is now entering the latter half of his career.
1. T H E R EIN C A R NAT I O N
Much has been made of O’Malley’s arrival in New York, but let’s be honest: We know what to expect from him at this point. He’ll be up near the league lead in points; he’ll win a lot of faceoffs and assists, and he’ll certainly be in the MVP conversation. For as much as a star can be a yawner, there simply isn’t much variation there. To me, the
In fact, thanks to depreciation, Campbell’s overall ratings are actually slightly worse than they were at the start of last year. So, what does that mean for New York? Campbell did play well enough to garner two votes for the Shaw Trophy, and his .918 save percentage and 1.92 goals against average were both second in the VHL.
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On the other hand, both Cleganes and Weinstein have improved, while Wingate and Sinclair have at least stayed stagnant. It may be unreasonable to expect a repeat performance from the goalie, and moving forward, it will be interesting to see whether this is his last Americans season with von Braxton waiting in the wings. 3. OF F EN SIV E C I T Y
If there’s an accurate NHL comparison that can be made to this year’s Americans team, it’s to the Chicago Blackhawks. They’re always Cup favorites, they have strong offensive forwards, and... well, they don’t exactly like to hit that much. Defensive acquisition Lloyd Light will help in that regard, but with depreciation, he comes with below-perfect 90
checking and 91 strength. Presumptive linemate Biggu Kanyon is an offensively oriented defenseman and has not worked on his checking once. And third defenseman Thaddeus Humbert only has nominal checking additions. The forwards aren’t much better either. O’Malley isn’t a checker and has actively added to his discipline, and Shock and Delicious are not wellversed in the skill. Both Ruutu and Reencarnacion do have 90 checking, but neither one is seen as elite in the skill—Reencarnacion’s 262 last season led the team but sat just outside the top 10. It’s not a necessity for a team to be good at hitting – just look at last year’s Wranglers, who were ninth in the league – but will a lack of any Klosetype enforcers at all hold them back?