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WCEHL 1958 Offseason Events
 
New Faces in Different Places!

     The summer of 1958 was one that will live in the memories of WCEHL fans for decades. With over twenty big names free to make a move in the eight-team league, no one knew which market would end up with the Magnum at the end of next season.

     The first player to set expectations for the frenzy was Al Stone, who left his comfy, successful home in Salt Lake to chase $44,500 all the way to a city better known for taking fortunes rather than giving them. Emotionally, this shook up the Salt Lake fanbase who could not believe their loyalty was traded for a one-year contract. This feeling would be short lived, though, as Salt Lake would welcome a struggling Rezvan Ruohong to the hive. The former number one pick was no longer welcome in San Diego, but one man’s trash proved to be another’s treasure as SLC scooped the winger up for two years.

     Back in Las Vegas, Flamingos would not be celebrating for long. Departing from the desert is Alex Rosen, who had been with LV since the WCEHL came to existence. Rosen will be moving West to pack the blueline on a Canners team who is filled with prospects that are eager to claim the Magnum.

     The final two stars on the move would be the ones to break CBS headlines, interrupting Saturday morning breakfast for many families across the nation who were just trying to enjoy the 9 AM news in peace. Joe Benoit would make the second move of his career, heading to Long Beach due to San Diego not being able to find a way to make the aging veteran fit in the Canners offense that tends to focus on youth.

     Last would be Anastasio Moran, who would be making his first voluntary move to another team in his career. The highest respected player in the sport had finally become too expensive for Long Beach, a team who developed more questions than answers when it came to finances. What’s most fitting is that Moran, the undeniable best in the West, would land in Paramount, the place that gave life to the league that claims the same coast. With this signing, TTHC will finally give more than a whisper in the highly competitive league. In fact, many believe they will make plenty of noise.
 
 
It Pays to Stay.

    Although these players didn’t stir the pot by leaving their teams, they were sure to make their presence felt in the wallets of the organizations paying to have them. Salt Lake was the team who fielded the most action in the offseason, shelling out over $200,000 for players to stay the upcoming season. The most jarring contract from SLC goes to Norris Childress, who almost won the offseason by claiming a seven-year contract at the age of thirty. Other notable players who will be buzzing out of the gate are Paul Ryding and Frank Olesen, Salt Lake’s duo of budding, young talent.

     Despite the very large hole left from Moran’s absence, Long Beach did a decent enough job keeping key pieces in the navy and gold. The biggest success for the Quakes would be landing Billy McGorrie for five years, followed by securing Benton Brownschidle, who has been known as one of the league’s brightest goaltenders the last few years, for an additional two seasons. Brian McCoal would be Long Beach’s final signing before the season started. For $28,000, the Earthquakes would keep a gritty and integral part of the organization for one more year. This will likely be McCoal’s last season, as he will be turning 40 by the end of his lucrative victory lap. 

     Before we reach the biggest story of the resigning phase, there were two teams who successfully stayed out of the spotlight when it came to keeping players loyal. This included San Diego, who had to deal with another young star reaching the end of their rookie contract, and Two Towns, who quietly resigned Jerry Townsend in the shadow of Moran’s deal.

Goalies, What Are They Good For?
     Finally, there is only California left to talk about. Entering the offseason, the Grizzlies thought their biggest concern would be keeping 23-year-old defenseman Jim Stephens in the organization, which they did for a pretty penny. Instead, it would be their anchors that caused the most trouble. A day prior to California closing a deal with Shawn Urbair, co-goalie Collin Cornish would demand a trade to Long Beach. What seemed to be a coward’s move at the time, ended up being a selfless act as Cornish immediately retired when he set foot in Long Beach, leaving the Quakes with nothing and the Grizzlies with some type of liquidation.

     Realizing that he was now negotiating with a team who had absolutely no goalie stability or future in the role, Urbair decided to re-enter negotiations with California to gain a more lucrative deal. The stalemate ended up lasting until the last day of preseason, when Shawn Urbair finally got California to crack, resulting in a record breaking $120,000 contract for one year. On top of this, Urbair also convinced team owner, Jed Diggins, to agree on adding a clause to the goalie’s contract that would allow Urbair to visit one of Jed Diggin’s “gold mines” for a maximum of one hour, fill a wheelbarrow with anything he desired and leave with it having no questions asked.

     Of course, Diggins did not break a sweat because he took Urbair to a site that was widely known for being unsuccessful due to the complete lack of gold, like he planned on doing when he made the deal. Once Diggins unlocked the gate, opening it to the site, Urbair made his way into the distance and returned back fifteen minutes later with his wheelbarrow full of rocks and mining equipment. Upon further inspection, it was found that these “rocks” were actually pure gold, making it the first and only time ever that gold appeared on the premises. Jed panicked when he learned the truth, causing the organization's owner and goalie to lose focus when the season started. By the end of a lengthy, unnecessary legal battle, Diggins caved to his love of the element, handing over 15% of California Grizzlies ownership to Shawn Urbair in exchange for what would end up being… $120,000 worth of gold.
 


Things Aren’t What They Used to Be.
     Lastly, we must pay respect to a couple early legends of the WCEHL. Two goalies would retire this year, leaving nets and hearts empty with their departure. First was Rusty McFadden, who was best known for his Most Valuable Goalie performance during the 1955/56 season played in Long Beach. The 36-year-old leaves saying he has “plenty of talent left, but enough money gained”.
     
     This leads to Collin Cornish’s retirement, who also ended his career in Long Beach, after being traded to fill the spot left by McFadden. Cornish would play zero games for the Quakes, but had previously started his career wearing another shade of navy with Two Towns. Cornish is best known for his exceptionally high save percentage earned during his time in San Francisco, where he won a Magnum in his final season. 

 
     Sorry this was so long, but the offseason was wild and could not be neglected. I hope you all enjoyed it! Tell me what you think, because I would love to hear.

Oh California, you beautiful, wacky, gold-loving organization.

Pegging Arizona and Oakland as the first teams to relocate. As for Long Beach, seems like French will sell sooner or later

1958/59 WCEHL Season


     The first night of the 1958/59 season had odds makers shaking in their boots. Even the Flamingo, a top dog in Vegas that was known to bet on anything besides their own professional team’s games (or so they say), pulled back on betting limits when Sgt. Johnson coached his fairly broken Patriots to a 4-1 victory over Las Vegas for his first career win behind the bench.
     
     By the end of the season, it would be the Salt Lake Bees who comfortably took the regular season title. Although they ended up three games ahead of the pack, media felt the team merely stumbled their way to the top spot. The Bee’s season started with four straight wins, followed by a collapse that didn’t see another tally in the win column for a whole month. Seeing that hope was fading for his talented team, Buzz Buissen would make a trade for 20-year-old, defenseman Trevor Fitzgerald to strengthen a questionable blueline. While the trade helped, more credit must be given to Salt Lake’s offensive prowess. When players like Rogers, Oleson and Riekstins found their scoring touch the Bees took off, but it was the duo of Ruohong and Einari Varonen that made the team soar. At the age of 22, the once silent Varonen became deadly when his production picked up half way through the season. The breakout star would carry the Bees from sixth to first with a performance that put his name at the top of the most notable stat lines.
 
     After first, the three remaining playoff berths were tightly contested all the way to the last game of the season. The team that outperformed the rest in the final stretch of games would be a Two Towns club that heavily depended on some Moran magic. Outside of Anastasio's dominance that earned him ten points in the final five games of the season, Moran provided an additional fifty points to earn yet another Most Valuable Player award. Although Moran stole the show, there were other players on TTHC that played a part in the team’s success. Moran’s center, 1957/58’s Rookie of the Year, Scott Kehler would make another step in the right direction by accumulating 44 points, doubling his total from the previous year. Young goaltender, Samuel Sabourin  would also show promise in a year where he made 38 of the teams starts. One other notable player would be Carl Dillard, a veteran that stepped into the spotlight after the club decided to send Jerry Townsend out of “The Towns” six games after resigning him.
 
     Long Beach continued their steady climb down the league table, but results could have been much worse than third for the team. Things looked disjointed for the Quakes from the start. While Joe Benoit had fallen into his usual, consistent rhythm, guys like Hornbury and McGorrie looked lost without Moran on their line. Benton Brownschidle would play lights out at the beginning of the season, which gave the first line time to adjust, becoming more familiar with each other over time. The new-found chemistry fueled Benoit’s career best season, and Long Beach’s desperate leap into the playoffs at the last second.
 
     The Canners, Flamingos and Patriots all deserve to be talked about together this year, due to the fact that the three teams generated the story of the season. While the trio bounced between fourth and sixth all year, it was the “Final Stretch” that had fans holding their breath. The first of the teams to be left behind was Oakland, who lost four of their final five, resulting in crushed playoff hopes with three games remaining. This finish would not bring the Patriots down, though. Instead, they saw the team’s ability to claw their way out of the basement as a success. The fans of the team also took pride in the aggressive reputation the team built, with 20-year-old Nico Tortellini becoming the poster boy for the organization, owning Oakland's "Bad Boy" persona by producing 191 PIMs in his 44 games. Nico was also one of four 20-year-old players on the team to finish top seven in points produced for the Patriots during the season.

     It was San Diego trying to catch Las Vegas on the last night of the season, needing a win against the league’s top team to push their way into the playoffs. Unfortunately for the Canners, their young group would get a taste of what it was like to have the door slammed in their face, losing 5-1 to Salt Lake. On the other hand, the results showed the league that Las Vegas was once again competent. Many were confused when they traded their promising, 4th overall draft pick, David Bannatyne, only months after selecting the kid, but the point per game value that they got from Jamie Van Boselen in return would justify the move for the time being. The only players to top Van Boselen this season would be free agent signing, Al Stone, and Flamingo fan favorite Marty Shaver, who put up 49 points in his third year.
 
     Speaking of Bannatyne, he would go on to produce a campaign worthy of “Rookie of the Year”, in the adobe and turquoise threads. With team leading veteran Wayne Zimmerman on his line, the fresh face from Vegas bloomed into a major threat on the ice. Despite Bannatyne’s efforts, Danish playmaker, Finn Pedersen would remain Arizona’s favorite young gun on his way to a 33-point finish. 
 
     In last was the reigning champions, who’s aging roster finally showed cracks during a season that had more focus put on the team’s ownership. With a championship season and record-breaking contract in his back pocket, Shawn Urbair went on to win 12 of his 35 starts. Rookie, Thatcher O’Cotter would relieve Urbair in 6 of these starts, showing enough to earn the number one role by the end of season. To top off the team’s monumental collapse, California decided to overcorrect their mistake from the previous season by resigning owner-player Shawn Urbair to a 2-year, $28,000/year contract prior to the conclusion of the season.
 
 
     Well, that was a wild ride, and it’s not over! Tell me what you think of this season. Did you see it coming? Or did you think that the chalk wouldn’t be thrown out the window that dramatically/aggressively.
 
     Buckle up, buttercup. Here comes “The Gauntlet” presented by CBS.