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***boom*** · 03-20-2022, 02:26 PM

With Vancouver starting on a rebuild of...pretty much the whole team in the last SMJHL draft, I thought it'd be interesting to recap the rise of the team from the last time it was nearly inactive into one of the best teams in the league. The saga starts with the S52 SMJHL Reddit draft which, to put it mildly, didn't exactly go well. Out of seven picks, only the first-rounder William Hartmann remained active past their rookie season. To make matters worse, three of the top defensemen on the team and the starting goalie were all called up to the SHL or aged out. With the team headed into a hard rebuild, the team started from the net out by drafting the player formerly known as Cal Covid, followed by a second-round pick in Ryosuke Sato. This pick in particular might have ended up being one of the most influential picks in the team's recent history, as Sato was a key contributor to a Four Star Cup, then became GM and led the team to another one. Other depth picks like Slimey Snail and the unsung hero Luffy Richard, as well as UDFA Bryce McMahon, were good adds as well to this team, though they missed the playoffs with a 17-win season. Expectations going into the next season were optimistic as the team added several key pieces in Johnny Shuffleboard, Devin Basher, Daniil Nikiforov, Wile Coyote, Jason Desrouleaux and Lonnie O'Donoghue through the draft. Unfortunately, the team completely cratered, winning only 11 games, and veterans in Sven Yxskaft and Stracimir Petrovic were shipped out for futures. The next draft, however, was franchise-altering. With an incredible amount of draft capital while picking at 8, 12, 13, 30, 33 and 37, the Whalers drafted Dee Centerman IV, Sarah Burke, KnockedOut ByOvechkin, Rikki Petrov, Valtterri Kauppinen, and Zebulon Leavitt. All six players turned into high earners and formed the core of the team for the next few seasons. These moves, along with savvy trades to bring in Rotticus Scott and Simon Takshak as rentals and adding capable rookie goalie Jon St. Ark in the draft, led the Whalers to their first Four Star Cup in eight seasons in S56.

After that Cup however, things got more difficult. Almost half the roster was promptly called up to the SHL along with the head GM, dmills, leaving myself and Dex to try and keep the team going. With limited draft capital, we were able to pull off an underdog run to the semifinals. Leading the way were five players, mostly from that S55 draft class: Valtterri Kauppinen, KnockedOut ByOvechkin, Rikki Petrov, Sarah Burke and Johnny Shuffleboard. With a deadly power play and a penchant for clutch performances (we won something like 10 games in overtime and another 4-5 with power-play goals from this unit in the last minute). Perhaps the enduring memory of this team was Valtterri Kauppinen scoring seven points in a single game in the second round against Detroit, a performance which was not duplicated until S62 and has not been surpassed in the playoffs. The team kept building through the draft, picking up key pieces in the S58 and S59 drafts in Alexis Saint-Michel, Sven Svechnikov, NBA YoungBoy, Olof Karsikko and others, but kept running into Kelowna in the playoffs and falling short. It was at this point where I got promoted to the SHL's Edmonton Blizzard and Dex took the reigns. More drafting of good players like Conner Tanner and trading for established players ensued and it culminated in the S61 season, a 51-win season capped off by a sweep of Newfoundland in the finals. Unfortunately, the capital for those trades has to come from somewhere, and a combination of low draft capital and a couple weak draft classes in a row led to the team being in the position of having no active players. While it's a difficult position to be in, I'm sure every team would gladly take it in exchange for two Cups.

*Scrufdaddy* · 03-20-2022, 04:54 PM

Approved! +5 TPE @boom

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