Vince Benson is a Canadian SHL player, and is the captain of the 
Benton Bruisers. He is known for being the best defensive player, or defenceman of the league, widely regarded as such. He is known for his fierce grit, excellent defensive positioning and play, and for his high scoring potential. During the 2012-2013 Season, Vince captained the Bruisers to the SHL Cup final, where despite Benton's superior defence, they were outmatched by the Kimberly Knights, losing 4-2.
Along with Denis Durgman, him and Vince are known as the Two Towers of Benton. Vince is currently the highest rated defenceman in the league, at 94 overall.
Vince has won the Iron Fist Trophy four times, tied with Gustav Magerkoff. The two are comparable in this regard; though Gustav has won more SHL Cups, Vince is credited as "the greatest defender" due to his solid "carry-on-the-back" games he had where it was described as defending an entire mass of players at once. Vince also has scored the most goals of any defenceman, and has the most for a single season - 46, which has yet to be broken, and he has done this two years in a row. He is also the only defenceman in the league to record 100 points or more in a single season, until the 2017-2018 Season, where his teammate Denis Durgman recorded 100 points. However, Vince has the most points in a season by a defenseman with 112.
During the 2017-2018 Season, Vince captained the Bruisers to the SHL Cup finals for the first time in five years. After defeating the Damon City Warlords in five games, Vince received the Canadian Leaf Trophy as playoff MVP, and had a few accolades, such as being the first player to not record a minus throughout a playoff run, broke the long-time record of most points and highest +/- by a defenseman in the playoffs set by Chris Hunter during the 1995-1996 Season with 26 and +22 respectively (Vince got 30 and +25), and had the highest GWG-GWA of defenseman ever - Vince record either a game-winning goal or assist in 13 of the 16 wins for the SHL Cup. Vince passed it off to Nikelov first to commemorate his father.
Stats
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| Year | GP | G | A | P | +/- | EN | PP | SHG | GWG | GWA | SH | S% | HT | MIN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003-2004
| 32 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 40 | ||||||
| 2004-2005
| 70 | 26 | 64 | 90 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 48 | ||||||
| 2005-2006
| 65 | 32 | 55 | 87 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 62 | ||||||
| 2006-2007
| 70 | 30 | 64 | 94 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 68 | ||||||
| 2007-2008
| 70 | 26 | 69 | 95 | 9 | 1 | 3 | 84 | ||||||
| 2008-2009
| 68 | 30 | 55 | 85 | 14 | 1 | 7 | 50 | ||||||
| 2009-2010
| 70 | 30 | 61 | 91 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 76 | ||||||
| 2010-2011
| 66 | 36 | 43 | 79 | 9 | 1 | 2 | 72 | ||||||
| 2011-2012
| 70 | 36 | 54 | 90 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 66 | ||||||
| 2012-2013
| 70 | 46 | 66 | 112 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 56 | ||||||
| 2013-2014
| 70 | 30 | 50 | 80 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 60 | ||||||
| 2014-2015
| 68 | 25 | 62 | 87 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 44 | ||||||
| 2015-2016
| 70 | 22 | 68 | 90 | +28 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 101 | 21.9% | 2 | 58 |
| 2016-2017
| 70 | 18 | 52 | 70 | ||||||||||
| Total | 929 | 400 | 835 | 1235 | 36 | 784 |
