Claimed: Most Recent HOFers By Team, Analyzed [1/2]

[CowboyinAmerica 2,708]

 

The Hall of Fame in Recent Years by Team

 

Waiting for the draft, I began to wonder – what exactly did I want Gabriel McAllister’s career to be? I could try and aim for the Hall of Fame, but Hans Wingate already summited that mountain. I could go for as many titles as possible, but Wingate’s four would be hard to pass there too. I could get my number retired by some franchise – but despite only being in Toronto three seasons, Wingate managed that also.

 

Eventually I landed on the following: I wanted McAllister to be the face of a franchise. One career I think hasn’t held up over history but was extremely impressive was that of Brennan McQueen – not just because of the high hit and TPE totals, but also being the king (queen?) of Riga for all eight seasons. I thought that’d be fun to do with McAllister, and I hope to do so in Seattle over the next eight seasons.

 

But that got me thinking – who are the faces of the franchise for each player in recent memory? Or to ask the question a different way, which teams have the most recent Hall of Famers attached to them? I decided to take a look using Baseball Hall of Fame rules, guessing which team’s “hat” each player would select upon induction.

 

What I found is that, well, nobody’s really had a dry spell like I expected, including my own Seattle Bears.

 

 Helsinki Titans – S55, D Phil Hamilton

The most recent inductee frontloaded his career, winning two cups in his first two seasons and two Labattes by his fifth year. A well-deserved entry, Hamilton was one of many Titans enshrined during recent years, including goalie Greg Clegane that came two seasons before him. And given the back-to-back, there will likely be more in future seasons as well.

 

 Toronto Legion – S54, LW Zach Parechkin

It’s not particularly surprising, given the success that Toronto had at the end of the ‘40s, that a few of their players have been enshrined recently. He was part of a core that included fellow Hall of Famers Max Molholt and Hans Wingate, and future Hall of Famer Black Velvet.

 

 Riga Reign - S54, G Sandro Clegane

Sandro Clegane was my first real judgment call, given that he experienced a large amount of success in Seattle and Davos as well. But it was in Riga where Sandro won his only title, his MVP award and two of his three Top Goalie honors despite only playing there two seasons. If not Sandro, the most recent Riga Hall of Famer would be the aforementioned McQueen in Season 43.

 

 Seattle Bears – S52, C Felix Peters

I partially cheated on Sandro to make Seattle last longer without a Hall of Famer, but that only actually lasted two more seasons. The Bears have had some down years since VHL expansion, but Peters represents the glory days when the franchise was dominating in the late ‘20s. It took him a while to make the Hall of Fame, but he was certainly worth the wait.

 

 Calgary Wranglers – S51, G Hans Wingate

Yeah, Wingate may be more known for the three-peat, the first of its kind in VHL history. But he would go into the Hall in a Calgary uniform, where he won his first title, Shaw award, and Playoff MVP. Toronto has enough other representatives from that run, anyway. If not Wingate, Calgary easily has the longest Hall of Famer drought in the league, going back to Volodymyr Rybak in Season 37.

 

 New York Americans – S51, C Edwin Reencarnacion

The Americans have had so much success in the past 25 seasons of the VHL, and so many top players, that it almost surprises me to see they’ve gone four seasons without a Hall of Fame entrant. Reencarnacion was easily the standout player of that Season 47 championship team, though, and many others on the team like Biggu Kyanon, Lloyd Light and Blake Campbell were good, but not quite there.

 

 HC Davos Dynamo – S50, D Mason Richardson

Richardson may have won his only Continental Cup in Cologne, but given some animosity on the way out and his longer tenure in Davos, I believe the Dynamo get the nod here. Similar to New York, I’m somewhat surprised there haven’t been more Davos Hall of Famers in recent years, but fans of their past dominance may be surprised to hear they’ve only made one Finals since Season 39.

 

 Stockholm Vikings – S50, LW Lord Karnage

I mentioned McQueen above, but Karnage would also be a good model for what I’m looking to do with McAllister, even though he was originally a GM Player. With TPE like crazy, Karnage didn’t see as much team success over his career, but he was loyal to a fault and put up some franchise records in Stockholm that will likely never be touched. Easily the best recent player for a franchise that hasn’t won it all in 30 seasons.

 

 Cologne Express – S49, C Bismarck Koenig

What the hell franchise would Koenig want to represent him in the Hall of Fame? He hopped around to different cities like he was worried the ASIO was on his ass. Ultimately, I’m putting him in Cologne because it’s where he asked for a trade before Season 43, went to two straight finals, and began his eye-popping statistical career. If not Koenig, Cologne’s most entrant would be Thomas O’Malley one season earlier.

 

 Quebec City Meute – S47, C Aksel Thomassen

It’s odd to me that Quebec has had the longest draught since having a Hall of Fame entrant, especially given the franchise’s success in recent years. It’s also odd to me that every single team has had at least one star in the Hall of Fame in the past 10 seasons. But despite a few championship back-to-backs, it has been an era of relative parity in the VHL in recent years, and this trend proves it. Here’s to hoping for more parity and strong teams moving forward into the future.

[Gudnason 607]

And the fact I knew you would stick around for eight seasons through highs and lows was the reason why I literally threw the kitchen sink (except for Ay Ay Ron and Vernon von Axelberry) at Seattle, but still failed. 

[BOOM 8,408]

"Cologne is a fine city"

 

Bismarck Koenig, S49.

[DollarAndADream 3,356]

Review:

Solid write-up. Man, that Toronto run was crazy. Producing some HoFers and future ones. We had a great team. Molholt is a god.