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With about 20% of the season left to play in S93, contenders in the VHL's European Conference are in the midst of a potentially unprecedented race for playoff positioning. Just a couple of days ago, teams one-through-five in the EU were *all* tied with 36 wins and separated by just two points in the standings overall. For five teams to be so tightly-packed is incredible, and certainly makes for an exciting ride for the fans! The teams aren't just close in terms of points in the standings either, as they have the second-through-sixth place goal differentials in the VHL as well, with a range of +43 to +60. All five teams seem poised to battle it out for positioning right to the bitter end. Malmo Nighthawks Leading the EU with a 38-15-4 record and 80 points are the Malmo Nighthawks. The Nighthawks have, to an extent, had some issues offensively this season, but they are riding strong team defense and goaltending to a contending spot. Their 190 goals for ranks 8th in the VHL, but their 144 goals against is fewest in the league. Netminder Ash Sparks @DarkSpyro is in the league's top-five in SV% (0.925) and is second among starters in GAA (2.43) and shutouts (4). Viktor Jensen @Advantage is the star of the show offensively, leading the team with 68 points, although Malmo's offense features a pretty balanced attack overall with six players right around or above the PPG mark. All-situations defender Jacob Stone @scoop is having his best year in the VHL, with 67 points, 178 hits, and 138 blocks as the #1 defenseman on the league's best defensive team. London United The London United are actually tied with Malmo at 80 points, but have one more game played and one fewer win (37-15-6). The United boast a formidable roster that's a little differently-constructed than Malmo. They're a lot more top heavy with less depth, but equally effective, with Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ leading the entire VHL with 102 points and linemate Leonard Triller @Triller with a remarkable 85 points in 58 games himself. London has the sixth-best offense but second-best defense in the VHL, with certified superstar Jesse Teno @aimkin between the pipes. Teno is in the final season of an eight-year VHL career spent entirely with London, and he is authoring yet another excellent campaign. Prague Phantoms The Prague Phantoms come next, currently one point back of Malmo/London (37-16-5, 79 points). Prague has a bit of a unique roster construction as they have played most of the season with two fewer players than most VHL contenders. The recent pickup of LeBen Aky now leaves them just one defenseman short of a "full" roster. They have not been punished for this, though, as they've been on a roll all year long. Prague has some true star power in the lineup with John Jameson @Frank, Nikolas Kauppi @Tetricide, and Skor McFleury @Alex, and all three players are living up to the hype. Jameson is second in the VHL with 101 points, Kauppi leads the league with 46 goals (93 points), and McFleury leads the league in assists (62) and defenseman scoring (82) points - while being top-5 in hits (231) and blocked shots (185), too. Moscow Menace The Moscow Menace are fourth in the conference but they, too, are sitting on 37 wins (37-18-3, 77 points) and boast the league's second-best offense with 214 goals for. Moscow are a young team with a roster built similarly to Malmo's in that they're very deep and balanced, and having nine players at the 50-point mark is a testament to that depth. Axle Gunner @Steve has been the team's best player since his rookie season in S91 and continues to improve, having gone from 73 points to 94 to now pacing for 103 this season (83 points in 58 games). On the back end, Leif Reingaard @Zetterberg is having a stellar year with 68 points in 58 games so far. The second-year pro is already one of the league's best offensive blueliners. Warsaw Predators Warsaw (36-20-3) sits in fifth place, with brick wall Lachlan Summers @kirbithan having a massive part to play in that. Summers was brilliant in S90 for Davos and captured some individual hardware then - he seems poised, now, to fill up that trophy case a little further in his first year outside of Davos. Summers has faced a tougher workload than most starters - the only goalies that have faced more shots are Matthew McCagg, Karl Pederson, and Red Panda who all play for rebuilding teams in LA, Davos, and Riga (for perspective - Summers has 32 wins himself; LA, Davos, and Riga combine for 34 wins all together). Despite facing 260 shots more than the nearest goaltender on a playoff team, he's atop the league with a .935 SV% and also has 4 shutouts. Their offense has been keyed by breakout seasons from their entire top line of King Kisslinger @Kisslinger (88 points in 59 games), Thor Reingaard @N0HBDY (86 points in 59 games), and Maxim Anisimov @McLovin(85 points in 59 games). Their biggest weakness is a lack of depth - they have six players over 56 points, but then nobody else with more than 17 - but they did make a recent move to pick up Sunglasses Joyo @JetsGoalie101 to help remedy that. This will mark the 21st season since the league's expansion to 16 teams, and only twice in that time have teams 1-through-5 in either conference been separated by even less than 10 points: S87 when first-place Davos was separated from fifth-place London by 9 points, and S77 when first-place Chicago was 9 points ahead of fifth-place Vancouver, making this season's race potentially historically-close. For the vast majority of S93 so far, these five teams have not been separated by more than 5 points. Remarkably, the first-through-seventh place teams were only separated by 11 points in S87, so there were higher stakes in that case, as two teams didn't even make the playoffs. Still, if the level of play shown by all five of these teams so far continues through the final 13-15 games, we could be witnessing the hardest-fought battle for positioning within a conference in recent VHL history. --- 1032 words, for this week and next

The Vasteras Iron Eagles currently sit 3rd in the VHLE with 91 points with 4 games remaining. The point scoring lead on the team is held by the electric VHLE rookie Gianfranco Del Rocco @Victor who has 76 points in 68 games. Second on the team in scoring is rookie defender, Lucy Leitner, with 56 points in 68 games. With 11 goals and 45 assists, Leitner leads the team in the helpers category, and on paper, 11 goals seems like a respectable number, but a quick glance at Leitner's shooting percentage tells a different story. Shooting at 3.86% on the season, Leitner's 285 shots on goal are the most by any defender in the VHLE. When compared to the defender with the next highest shot total, the problem is strikingly clear. Leitner's former Houston teammate, Benjamin Abenduct @Schnee, has 21 goals on 270 shots, shooting a modest 7.78%. With 10 more goals than Leitner on fewer shots and a shooting percentage that is still below league average, it becomes obvious why Leitner was approached this week with a sponsorship deal from Little Bites-- you know, like the company that makes mini-muffins? Last season, critics of Leitner referred to her then as a "muffin factory" owing to her apparent inability to convert shots into goals at a rate comparable to her peers. Though her shooting percentage last season eventually rose to a respectable 8% by the end of the season, it did hover around the 3-4% mark for much of her VHLM rookie campaign. This time around in the VHLE, there seems to be no such puck luck for Leitner who expressed her frustration with her futile shooting efforts. "My main goal is to help the team win, but when you shoot 285 times and only score 11 goals-- something is wrong with that picture. The silver lining, I guess, is it got me this sponsorship and the team is still doing fine overall". The sponsorship deal, which is set to pay Leitner $100,000 and a lifetime's supply of Little Bites muffins, was signed on Monday evening before the Iron Eagles would take on the Rome Gladiators in a back-to-back. Vasteras would eventually take the win in both of those games with Leitner recording the opening goal in the first game, only 5:38 into the 1st period of play. There were reports of Little Bites' interest in Leitner as a brand ambassador last season until her shooting percentage spiked upward and the "muffin factory" moniker fell out of favor. This season, however, the muffin factory is back up and running, churning out muffins for goalies to gobble up. Ever the optimist, Leitner has remained upbeat about the less than flattering comparison and has continued to work on her shot in practice, hoping to shut down muffin production once and for all. At this time, we don't know if the Little Bites sponsorship would be voided if her shooting percentage eclipsed a certain threshold, but for the time being, Lucy "Little Bites" Leitner is rolling in the dough.

I think the leadup to the VHL Draft is probably one of my favourite portions a career. Considering how the last draft cycle went for me, with me spending a large portion of my career with the team that drafted me, building a dynasty with them and eventually winning our Continental Cup together, my hopes are high. Looking forward to my VHL career, my goal this time around is being in the right place at the right time for my personal career. I had a blast riding on Daniel Janser’s coattails last time around, and I still hold that time very dear to me. But this time I’m giving myself the best odds to get myself a legendary personal career. I will be communicative, I will be helpful, I will give my all to whichever franchise has my contract currently. But I will have no objection to hitting FA or working towards trades. With that in mind, I want to outline my current thoughts toward each of the VHL Franchises and how I think they will fit my player, Jillian Woods. Calgary Wranglers Funnily enough, this is the only VHL Franchise to have drafted me. Never played for them the first time around, as they seem to have just picked BPA and then ended up with a bunch of random VHL-ish goalie prospects and shipped me off. Landon Wolanin obviously played a large chunk of time there. Seeing how Strasmore, McFleury and Stauffer have struggled to put up offense though, I am not sure this is a good fit right now. Chicago Phoenix Cole is a GM that I’ve always wanted to play for, and there are a decent amount of young prospects that should have a good amount of success. I’m not sure they have a Janser-level talent here, but this feels very reminiscent of what Calgary looked like coming into S84. I fear that I would probably ride along with Lamb and Collberg for a long while before I could ever step into my own. It would be a great ride, but I wonder if there are better options for my personal success. D.C. Dragons D.C is an interesting scenario. They’re very obviously putting their efforts into winning right here, right now. They’ve got the next couple of seasons lined up, assuming they can find a Tucker Jr replacement, but this could be a great shot for someone like me to shine. Sure, they’ve got Calaway and some really solid supplementary defenders, but a second defender here could get some really strong usage on a team that will certainly score goals. HC Davos Dynamo Davos has very little on their roster, but a ton of draft capital and prospects. This was an expertly planned rebuild, and should be a very potent team. They’ve secured Bucatini and Forum Content up front that should be high TPA players, some decent goaltending prospects, but their main lack here is on defense. Getting to be the player who can take advantage of some high-potential players, especially while the talent level is still low, would give me a great shot of shooting out the gate hot. Helsinki Titans I’m not really sure what to make of Helsinki at this point. This season was obviously not supposed to have happened this way for the team, they had lots of talent, but were a piece or 2 short of the rest of the insanity that is Europe at the moment. They have a lot of prospects, but very few in VHLE territory and none above 300TPA. Most of the team will be aging out by the time I’d be getting around, but for a couple seasons, maybe we could get up to some trouble. Not hugely optimistic though. London United ... hi guys. If you’ve been paying attention to the United roster over the last few seasons, I am a high-TPA defender hater. I much prefer to dump my cap into forwards and goaltenders, which yes, is ironic since I made a defender. I’m sure if I was on the board for myself I would take myself, but we both know that won’t happen, and I’ll be okay without that happening. Los Angeles Stars Not much here to talk about. Much like Helsinki they have a lot of prospects but not many that are near the VHL roster. I wouldn’t mind being one of the first pieces, but I’d probably prefer being the second draft of a rebuild. Malmo Nighthawks This has always been a very D-heavy franchise, and I’m sure Kaleeb knows how to sling D around by now. McFleury will be gone, and Stone aging out, could be a great chance for me to step inat the perfect time to become the next guy. The question is whether there will still be a contending team by that point. Moscow Menace Who keeps giving Moscow picks? Yeah this team is already a contender and has a boatload more picks coming. There’s no room for me I’m afraid, even if it would be a great ship to ride along on. New York Americans This team has been built from the back, and should be set there for the first half of my career. I don’t really think this is the spot that gets me the best start. I will cheer them on in their attempt to break the curse though, as I do always love a curse-breaker. If I were a forward, this would be a prime target for me. Prague Phantoms Prague is on a heater here in their last-ditch effort to get another Cup. By the time I’m up, there won’t much left from the current roster, if anything. They may not have much to sell and this may be a long rebuild. Much like the Stars, could be fun to be a first piece, but I’d much prefer to be in the second draft of a rebuild. Riga Reign Riga will have a new GM coming in for the first time in forever. This core didn’t really turn out, but some pieces could carry over, or some real assets could be recouped and a great team created. This is a really enticing spot for me, and I’m hoping that a great GM can be put in to run this rebuild. Seattle Bears I have always been a Seattle hater, as a Wranglers fan. But hey Leandro and Ricer have both done a stint there, so surely it can’t be that taboo. I can never really project what Seattle will be with Bana’s unique ability to just decide to compete and then it just happens. If I were to pick a positional need now though, it would be on defense and with a lot of talent retiring shortly, I could certainly find a spot in their retool, along with Mina. Toronto Legion Toronto is another team all in, and have a lot of talent retiring in the next couple of seasons. If they choose to ride to the end, this could be a tough rebuild, but they could also be the best team in the league for a couple more seasons. Really depends on what their plan is as to whether I would want to be in on this team. Could either be a really convenient timing on my part, or being the worst defender on a stacked, aging roster. Vancouver Wolves This is pretty much the same situation as Moscow, but a couple seasons behind. This team is loaded, will probably secure their final pieces this draft and move on to kick our asses until we change the rules again. Some things never change my friends and Vancouver winning in the finals against Moscow may once again be on the cards for the next 5 seasons. Oh, and there’s no room for me in this inn. Warsaw Predators This is the oldest, youngest team out there. I fear they may be perpetually cursed to have 3 good pieces forever. What it does mean is that the top couple of players on this squad rack up major success, but the team ends 5th or 6th. Would be a great launching point for me, and maybe I can help break the cycle! I have fond, distant memories of Warsaw, and would love to be back at some point. Anyways, that’s about it. Some final disclaimers here for legal purposes. This article does not replace a draft interview. This article does not exclude anyone. I will sign with whichever team drafts me. I may not extend beyond that, but this article does not imply the results of that future decision. This article is not meant to sway opinion, encourage tomfoolery, or break any rules. Any names and likenesses are purely circumstantial. I am not liable for any decisions made from here on out. This is not legal advice. Talk to your doctor before drafting Jillian Woods. Not available to citizens in Quebec, Texas, Florida and Nova Scotia. Also shoutout to this ridiculous S94 Class, and this wave of defenders who will inevitably kick my ass my whole career.

Hello there, my dear, amazing readers! Today, I have a special treat for you. I finally managed to get to do an interview with legendary Lucy Leitner. How this thing went? Pretty nice, as you can read right now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Good afternoon, Lucy. First of all, thank you so much for finding time to do this interview. Second of all, even though actions speak louder than words and especially in your case, it is probably useless as everyone knows you, but.. Could you say a few words about yourself nevertheless? How would you introduce yourself? L: It's my pleasure! I guess I would say I'm a bit of a hockey nerd. I love playing and watching the game, but I also have some pretty eclectic interests away from the sport as well. I love music and creative writing and I really enjoy spending time with friends and teammates. For me, that's the most fulfilling part of being on a team-- sharing those experiences with good friends. Everyone knows that you are an amazing hockey player and you are very valued amongst your teammates. You proved to be a very solid piece in the rosters of teams you’ve been part of. Do you think that you’re becoming a young idol for upcoming generations of hockey fans/players? L: I appreciate the compliment! I don't know if I'm any kind of idol, but I do want to be a good role model for anyone who might look up to me. I just want to be the best I can be, both on and off the ice, and I think that comes with a responsibility to be a good person as well. So I guess that's my ultimate goal-- be a good player and a better person. Life of a hockey player can be tricky due to numerous reasons. You can get stressed from upcoming games, the thrill of play-offs, the news trying to shame you down for even the tiniest mistakes. And to add to all this, you frequently have to travel. Both when the team is on the road and when you change teams. Last time you made a major change, you moved from Houston to Europe. How do you deal with those stress-inducing factors? L: A lot of that change and travel is still kind of exciting to me, though I'd be lying if I didn't feel any kind of stress or nervousness with new places and situations. The best way to handle it, I've found, is not to dwell on any negative emotions, but just enjoy the excitement that comes with the stress. I try not to get too ahead of myself and just enjoy what's in front of me every day, no matter where I am. As I mentioned, the last major change for you was a change of continents. To Västerås, Sweden, specifically. How do you feel about this town, Sweden or Europe in general? Do you hang out with your teammates? L: Vasteras is a great city! I've really enjoyed being here so far and Sweden has lived up to every hope that I had so I can't complain at all! We've got a great group as well and we've had opportunities to hang out in the town or go out for drinks. Off the ice, I've had a lot of personal stuff going on so it's been a bit harder than usual to make time for teammates, but when I can, I love spending time with them. I believe that your career is steadily going up and up. And the leagues’ GMs think so too. After having an amazing season in Minors with Houston Bulls, you have been drafted in first rounds in both major drafts. That is VHL and VHLE, where you’re currently playing. Do you feel more star-ish than when you started? L: Haha, I guess I feel more star-ish! Being drafted 2nd and 3rd in those drafts is definitely a great feeling, but I also feel like that comes with a lot of pressure and responsibility to live up to the expectations and hopes of those teams that drafted me and used that high pick. I suppose that's what comes with feeling star-ish, but it's absolutely a great honor and I hope I live up to those expectations. I know your personality just flourishes, as if it didn’t flourish before, hehe, and that you like to socialize. However, hockey is a different thing and some people prefer to remain professional in the locker room. Do you often find yourself bonding with your teammates, both on and off the ice, or do you focus more on the practical things, like practise, talking about tactics, etc.? In the end, you have some Europeans on the roster, right? L: I do like to socialize, there's definitely a balance to strike between professional work and personal life. I do love spending time with my teammates though and I try to keep things fun around the rink. It is a game after all and it should always be fun, even if it is a job. I do take time for practice and I'm always happy to talk tactics to make our team better, but it's hard not to enjoy the company of teammates, especially with so many awesome people on the team. We do have some Europeans and so far I've learned that I can't keep up with them if we go drinking, but I do my best! There was Easter last week. How did you celebrate, if at all? I am sure that Czech traditions must have scared you a bit, at least. Did Ondra tell or show you? He told me about it and it seemed fun. L: My family was in town and we had dinner together for Easter, but not much more than that. It's just a good opportunity to be together as a family though, which is becoming a rarer thing as time goes by, so I do cherish those moments. And if Ondra did tell me about Czech traditions, I honestly can't remember, but my imagination goes to wild places! You’re a defenseman, a very good one, and that means you are in a direct connection with your goaltender. Do you find Jorgen and Ondra as good pieces to the defensive side of Iron Eagles’ game? That is, if Ondra is finally sober. L: I don't care what Ondra's drinking, he can do whatever he wants if he keeps playing like he has! Both goaltenders have been absolutely unreal this season. By far, I think we have the best goaltending tandem in the league with both of our goalies at the top of the league statistically. They've been a huge part of our team's success this season so they deserve a ton of credit! If Ondra's drinking, the next round is on me! Alongside Ondra, you managed to pull of some sort of a ‘miracle’ in the minors, where you made it all the way to the second round of the play-offs with Houston Bulls. I believe that the mood wasn’t filled with disappointment. More than that, you guys showed that you can fight and shocked some, to be sure! Do you think season will turn into a bigger success? Västerås is a much stronger team than Houston was at this point last season, currently sitting on a second place. L: I really hope that we can have some success in the playoffs this year with Vasteras. It would have been amazing to have won with Houston, but I feel our chances this season are a lot better with the quality of our roster, so I am hopeful. We can't be complacent though, and it's going to take commitment from our whole team to make a long playoff run, but I believe we have the pieces and people to accomplish it! Now for the final round of questions: Why is the vanilla ice cream light in colour, when vanilla itself is dark in colour? L: I have no idea... Aren't vanilla flowers white though? Maybe that has something to do with it. What would be the one and only thing that you’d eat for the rest of your life if you had only one option? L: I love Vietnamese spring rolls-- the kind with rice paper, not deep fried. I could eat those every day forever! And if you had to spend a month on a shutter island with one of your teammates, who would that be and why? L: That's easy, I'd bring Ondra because I need someone I can trust, but also someone who's a lunatic in the best way possible! Alright, that is all for this interview. Lucy, thank you so much for participating in this, even though you had to wait so long for it. I apologize for that. But it was amazing and sweet having you here, I hope we can repeat this joyful activity soon! L: Thank you! It was fun to chat with you and I'd love to do it again sometime! ------------------------------------------------------ I hope you liked this interview, dear readers. Thank you for reading it up until here, I will see you next time with fresh news and articles from the hockey world! - Ben Icio del Torro ------------------------- 1543 words capped for week ending 04/21/24 All answers of Lucy Leitner were written by @LucyXpher

This is based off of the time I bought the Las Vegas Aces and moved them to Quebec City. I made this version in French: Albeit I don't speak French let alone Quebecois French (ok je parle un peu але моя українська краща. ухххххх слухайте Ana Lua Caiano на Spotify, її музика чудова) so if it translates weirdly my apologies. idk why i talk so formally on here its really not that serious There's Lore I guess? There was an Expansion Draft, but I was too lazy to see how ACTUAL VHL(E/M) expansion drafts work so I just went based off of vibes. QUEBEC TALONS ROSTER - VHL VERSION: Connor Simard (Halifax 21st) Maple Dogwood (Halifax 21st) Cole Stermer (Houston Bulls) Johnny Tsunami (Houston Bulls) Nikita Yolishev (Las Vegas Aces) Eugene Ryanheart (Las Vegas Aces) Dakota Nachbaur (Mexico City Kings) Isaak Robinson (Miami Marauders) Aiden Paige (Miami Marauders) Taylor Swift (Mississauga Hounds) Matteo Stefano (Mississauga Hounds) Marek Nowaczyk (Ottawa Lynx) Jillian Woods (Ottawa Lynx) Staroseltsev Mikhail (Philadelphia Reapers) Magni Jinn (Philadelphia Reapers) Keith Perry (San Diego Marlins) Kevin Johnathen (San Diego Marlins) Austin Goulet lll (Saskatoon Wild) So. Yeah.

@Mysterious_Fish asked me to run round 1 as they were busy. So you're stuck with me (for now). Another year, another disappointing cup run for [insert your favorite team here]! To drown your sorrows, have some bonus TPE! The form will close at 6 pm EST on Monday, 4/22. ROUNDS WILL BE RELEASED AS SOON AS THE MATCHUPS ARE SET*. *Unless NHL decides to start Round 2 early for some reason. Then I will do East / West if necessary. SCORING SYSTEM (like last year) Max - 225 points Series winner - 10 points Series Length (doesn't have to be the winner) - 5 points TPE PAYOUT Stanley Cup Champs in round 1 - 4 additional TPE 1st - 6 TPE 2-3 - 5 TPE 4-5 - 4 TPE 6-10 - 3 TPE 11-20 - 2 TPE 21+ - 1 TPE HERE IS ROUND 1!! GOOD LUCK!!! Check to see if you completed it!

This season has been a little rough for Vancouver’s rookie winger, Logan Ninefingers. He has done some good things at times and abysmal at times. He has recently gotten into a physical role and had some good fights along the way. So today I’m going to take a deep look at Nine finger’s career fight card. VHLM S91 Game 304- vs Alexandros Mograine (Saskatoon) (fought to a draw) VHLE S92 Oslo/Bratislava Game 67- vs C1 (rome) Win- at least I can beat up a bot Game 78- vs Karol Lamb @dlamb(BRA) -- Loss--- Getting beat up by your GM really hurts. Game 114- vs S Winston Dixon jr @Rjdixon01 (VAS) Win Game 117- vs C1 (ROM) draw- me and this dude have beef for sure Game 21- playoffs vs Theo Allard @InstantRockstar (COL) Loss S92 Pro Am Fight vs Callum Gary Yanick Janser @Daniel JanserDaniel - LOSS S93 VHL Vancouver Game 195 vus Raimo Tuominen @SlapshotWrangler(CGY) Draw Game 298 vs Jarmo Ruutu @jRuutu (MOS) loss Game 306 vs Tommy Sleeves @dasboot(HSK) loss Conclusion, winning fights isn’t easy and apparenlty Logan needs to hit the weight room in the off season. Happy Friday everyone

The next two weeks are super busy for me so trying to do an extra long media spot to count for two weeks. I am off to Las Vegas for two weeks which is waaaay too long to be in the desert. So this weeks Around the League will cover a bunch of topics such as Bollos de Trueno potential draft spot, a look in on Rip Wheeler, the race to the playoffs, and maybe other random stuff to get me to 1000 words. BOLLOS de TRUENO A quick look in at the upcoming draft shows a pretty deep first round and truly a bunch of “can’t miss” draft pick for the first 10-15 picks. Lots of big names and huge earners litter the top spots and a large amount of these picks are defensive players. What does that mean for Trueno? Well lets look deeper at BDT. Without even looking at @Thunder current player in Trueno we have to think his draft stock is high simply because of his history. His first player, Jake Thunder was the type of defenseman that set the standard for modern era VHLers looking to make a Hall of Fame dman. Not knowing what type of build Trueno will be, it seems likely we will be looking at Jake Thunder 2.0 but maybe better since Thunder is passed the learning curve now and knows what to put his TPE into now. Currently, Bollos de Trueno plays for Saskatoon and is having a great season. In 61 games he has 12 goals 39 assists 51 points with 94 hits and 67 SB. 6 of his 12 goals are on the power play and he somehow snagged a shorthanded goal to show he is a threat in any circumstance. He currently sits #7 in overall TPE (3rd overall for defenders) for the upcoming draft class that shows 7 defensemen in the top 15. So where will he go? Based on the current standings it looks like LA will have #1 pick with Davos picking #2. LA’s needs could force them to take a sure pick goalie in Soju @Frank first overall and based on Franks past players could prove to be the smart choice. If Davos had the second pick they could go with #2 in overall TPE in Jillian Woods @jacobcarson877who is lighting it up in Ottawa (18-47-65) and another guaranteed winner of a pick. But could Davos draft Trueno at #2 since his former player was a Davos legend? Davos has some young forward talent but some needs all around so tough to say, only @AlexAlex knows. There is some amazing forward talent as well in Maverick Goncalves @leandrofg who skipped the M and is already playing well against better talent in the VHLE. Maverick is supreme talent and earner, and we can easily see him go #1 in this draft or any previous draft. If he falls to #2 will Davos pick him up to lead their club in the future? Other names like Felicia Hardy @JCarson, Pierre Mac Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito, The Phantom of the VHL @Hogan, Pombo @samx, Lazlo Holmes @Gustav , Maple Dogwood @dogwoodmaple, Erik Thorvaldsson @Tetricide, and Wally Lose @youloser1337 all complicate the matter too since they are all great talent with historically great players. My prediction for Bollos de Trueno’s draft spot is #2-#8 spot. My sincere hope is that he somehow falls to Vancouver’s draft selection so that I may play with my friend in real life. But it’s more likely he ends up somewhere else just based on pure statistics and, in that case, I hope to smash his face on the daily. LOL. Best of luck Trueno, either way I can’t wait for you to get to the VHL and make another Hall of Fame defenseman. RIP “Glass jaw” Wheeler To date, I have recruited four players to the VHL. Two shit the bed early and were useless. One made the hall of fame (Jake Thunder) and one recruit I like to consider an off and on disappointment in Rip Wheeler. Now, I know Rip in real life, and we work together. So, we often have conversations about Rip Wheeler @ScottyP and my player, Logan Ninefingers dropping the gloves and going at it. For example, he told me that he was, “going to make that rookie Ninefingers pay the price in the big leagues,” when my player got to the VHL. So recently when the Vancouver Wolves squared off against the Prague Phantoms in game 393 in Prague. So, in front of his sold-out hometown crowd Rip Wheeler tried to assault young Vancouver forward, Riley Martin @Smarch. At the 16:44 mark Rip embarrassed himself by challenging the youngster to a fight by slashing him up the ice over and over. What happened after will be shown on YouTube clips for ages as the rookie Martin served right hand after right hand into Wheeler’s mouth. Wheeler looked like a puppet on strings as Martin showed the veteran forward a little about pugilism on ice. To add fuel to the fire poor Wheeler was given a game misconduct for his antics and a guaranteed hearing with league officials over his behavior. However great the fight win was for Vancouver they ended up losing in a shootout to a goal by Skor McFluery. VHL Standings At the 60-game mark the Toronto Legion are currently the best team in the league with a 43-15-2 record. Malmo, Seattle, London, New York, Moscow, and Prague are all close and this off-season should be a fun one to watch. Seattle and Moscow made the most moves at the deadline to try and improve their clubs and I think both were successful and pose a real threat to other clubs come playoff time. Warsaw, defending champs DC, and Chicago also have their talents and are looking to wreck their pairings come playoffs. The current hot team in the league is Malmo with a 4-game win streak and is in a battle for top spot in the European division with London. It will be an exciting ending to the season to see where these clubs shake out. will claim for weeks 04/28 and 05/05

In which @Advantage accidentally offered me a $1 bonus, which I purposely accepted, which made the portal look like we were in cap trouble. Expansion was the name of the game back in the day. S65 saw the founding of the Moscow Menace franchise, along with two additions to the VHLM in Houston and Philly. I'd played for Houston and was fairly intrigued when I saw that the big league would be expanding again right in time for me to join it. The Malmo logo looked cool, the limited impressions I'd had of inaugural GM Advantage seemed positive, and I just really liked the idea of being a team's history rather than simply adding to it. They were also one of a handful of teams to actually scout me, which is something I don't care about as heavily now but did as a first-gen. In the days leading up to the draft, I had a good time taking in the new member experience. I remember @MubbleFubbles writing a mock draft that said some nice things about me, and I took that idea and made what's still one of my favorite articles ever--my own mock draft, 50 picks deep, that taught me everything I needed to know about every player when I was writing it. I really knew nothing ahead of time about who was going where, but correctly speculated on a bunch of things. Some that I'm proud of were Julius Freeman over Shane Mars to Vancouver at #2 overall, Apollo Hackett to Riga at #16, Edward Vigneault at #33, and Rhys Chism at #39--oh, and my very own Jerry Garcia, 7th overall to Malmo and the first player ever to be drafted to the Nighthawks. My mock was weirdly accurate with Malmo picks in general. I ended up joining Rusty Shackleford (@K1NG LINUS) and Nacho (@Nacci25), picked 17th and 37th overall in both my article and the actual draft. Also of note were goaltender Juan Jaundice (@Jus) and monster goon MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS (@Abaddon), as well as Blake Laughton and @Grape, my VHLM teammate and the only other member of Malmo's inaugural draft class to be active today. I knew some of these people already, and the time that all were active was enough for me to get to know the rest. Our locker room was super active and a really fun place to be in general, removing quite a bit of the doubt that many players have when they leave the M. But of course, we were an expansion team that finished last in S66. Garcia played just-OK and wasn't really anything special despite having lots of empty space on the roster to stand out from. These trends would continue in S67, where the team got marginally better and so did Jerry. Worse, we already had a couple of our S66 picks go inactive. There was some sort of foundation built, at least (we drafted @Phil's Phil Marleau and @fonziGG's Michael Johnson, players that stuck with us at forward and in net for a while)--and we figured it wouldn't be too-too long before things started going the right direction. And go the right direction it did in just the next season--not only did we pick @OrbitingDeath 's Condor Adrienne (the best defenseman of the generation) at #1 after winning the draft lottery, but @Beketov's Matt Thompson (the best player of the S60s) signed with us in free agency for his last season. A few things happened in S68 that were really nice. First, Garcia had his best season on defense. His stats (60 points, 154 hits, and 150 SB) may not mean a whole lot to anyone used to the standards of the S90s, but they were pretty solid for that time and got me nominated for the Jake Wylde Trophy. And though the vote had solid support, it fell one short of winning. I still haven't won an individual award not named Campbell, and this was the closest I ever came. But I digress--S68 had a whole lot more going on as far as the team was concerned. We went from the VHL's basement all the way to the top, finishing first place in the standings and taking home the Victory Cup in just our third season of existence. At some point in our first few seasons--and I think it was here--Advantage became the first VHL member to ever hit 1000 wins as a GM. All of that was cool, and we carried that success into the playoffs, where regular-season MVP Thompson played so well--shooting at somewhere around 20%--that it drew accusations of sim rigging and the strongest demand for live sims up until that point. That's the reason why we have live sims today, actually--it's not a special event as much as it's proof that the simmer isn't cheating. The playoffs went very well, and we made the finals with the chance of becoming the earliest championship winners of any expansion team in the league's history. The finals had been simmed live before S68, so doing them this way was as much common practice as it was the result of peer pressure. So, we did them live--and although I never once believed that the sims were being rigged, the people who thought they were certainly had something to laugh at when we got swept by Seattle (whose core by this point was made up of multiple players who used to be my own first-gen players in the M). It was my first finals, and would remain so for quite a while. After S68, my player success (and my team success) declined steadily. I don't remember a whole lot about S69-71 as a player, to be honest--S69 was my best run as a VHLM GM (as I'll talk about in a future article), and I remember S70 being absolutely dominated by Moscow. Also during this time, Garcia somehow acted as Condor Adrienne's kryptonite. He didn't even steal stats, either, because his totals went down a little bit even as I kept adding to his TPE. But after S71, Advantage stepped down, @FrostBeard took over as GM and started the team's first rebuild, at the start of which he was gracious enough to give me a fair deal to move Garcia out to the Davos team I was then running. That's also a future article, but the long story short is that I made Jerry a winger and enjoyed a couple seasons of being half decent on my own underachieving team before retiring. Jerry Garcia would eventually finish his career with 420 points (an amazing coincidence). He never won a Cup or an award and was never really the top player on any of his teams. He doesn't even come close to making my own Hall of Not Bad series. In fact, I believe that he was the worst player to ever reach 1500 TPE back when 1500 TPE actually meant something. But even though his TPE total was his most impressive number, that's still representative of over a year of work that I put into making him what he was, and I have no regrets about it (not even the part where I built Passing over Scoring). Jerry taught me that I could make it in the VHL as more than just a flashy new kid, that I could earn with the best of them and build a player that most people still respected even when that didn't show up on the leaderboard. And I hope no one who played with him regretted it, either. There were lots of players drafted after 7th overall in S66, but none of them can say that they were Malmo's first choice--and I like to think Malmo wouldn't have had it any other way.

@AJW

Player Information Username: Anthique Player Name: Alphonse Desjardins Recruited From: Returning Age: 18 Position: D Height: 76 in. Weight: 215 lbs. Birthplace: France Player Page @VHLM GM

@samx and here's a smoller one if you wanted it as a sig

For those of you who have been following my media spots this season you know that I have been doing a series on my thoughts as a first season GM. It has been an interesting process of learning the behind the process scene activities, getting to know the other GM’s, getting up to speed on discord, and learning to assist individuals in building their player. This week’s topic of my GM ramblings is the look ahead to the next season. First things to note is that I made the decision that Mexico was not going to be competitive in the playoffs for season 93 so I took the opportunity to position myself for the season 94 draft. To do that I took most of my top players who were expected to be above 200TPE and would move the VHLE and traded them to playoff contending teams for draft picks. There were two pieces that were important to me in the process: 1) I needed to make sure anyone I moved had the chance to play in the playoffs and potentially contend for the Cup. In that I also made sure that I focused first on all the players that I don’t manage. I never officially put Felicia Hardy on the trade block, but in the deal to move the last player I was hoping to trade, Hardy was asked about, so I made the choice to pick up some additional picks to strengthen Mexico’s draft standings. 2) Any trade I made had to set Mexico up for success in the future. And more specifically it needed to make Mexico successful in the next two seasons. Yes, I am putting it out there, Mexico is focused on winning the Cup within the next two seasons, the VHLM needs to take us seriously as we are coming hard. Beyond the trade deadline I have already started my process of evaluating my current players to see how they will fit into the framework of the future. Currently I have 3 options of players I have drafted that might be around next season. However, I expect it will be only 1 as there are 2 players that are currently over 170tpe so by the time we get to the end of the season and through the offseason they should be moving to the VHLE. Outside of my current draft stock I have a few players that I have picked up on waiver as they joined the league. All of them seem very engaged right now, however I can accept that there is the possibility of that changing over the offseason. If I have my way, I will be trying to make sure all of these players remain active over the offseason and as much as possible stay with Mexico. I know that will be difficult to do but it is my goal. Outside that, I plan to target a few key positions in the draft with the goal of creating a strong core that I can then build around. So, for now, we do what we can in season 93 and plan for season 94.

i just REALLY like making these things they're so fun , if you look closely you'll see Helsinki City Centre, and I might start putting more easter eggs into my graphics bc it'll be funny i had this idea pop into my head while talking to the nice guys on the Helsinki Titans (@samx and @Triller), and I spent a stupid amount of time researching Finnish hockey only for it not really to matter in the end but HEY fuck it we groove btw while we're here STREAM GLORIA GROOVE!!!!! and Ana Lua Caiano and idk message me if you want non-english music recs bc I have them like pokemon cards okay I'm tired i'm going to bed GOODNIGHt. -ethan agent of robin sierra

There is a new giant in the VHLM. At 6’8”, weighing in at 250 pounds, this player has come to cause damage. Marlins GM, @dylanjj37, has joined the San Diego Marlins squad, and in his short preview of only playing 6 games, GM has been punishing opponents. GM has 16 hits thus far, and the referees have taken notice to the physical force GM provides to the San Diego defense. @Mysterious_Fish, San Diego Marlins general manager, has welcomed his new player, and plans on mentoring Marlins GM, so that GM has a successful career in the VHLM. San Diego AGM, @meandyoc, has some concerns with the freedom Marlins GM has with the team and has expressed his concerns of the possibility of San Diego relocating to the Faroe Islands, where Marlins GM is from. Given Marlins GM relationship with Juan Ceson, John Season, Stan Par, and other wealthy hockey stars, Mysterious_fish and Meandyoc are looking forward to the unlimited resources that could be coming Marlins way, and they are planning on a VHLM championship in the future. In the meantime, they are spending their free time in the Juan Ceson zoo, as they have lifetime membership passes. 270 words

Reducing VHL unemployment since S65. It's true that I have an important job. It's true that I have a lot of posts, that people have liked those posts a lot, and that I'm a big fancy old guy who can make targeted attacks against you and your player specifically influence league policy through both my job and my role in the Board of Gustav. But I still find it hard to claim that I'm any more influential than I used to be. Maybe I'm a little more respected as the portion of people here newer than me continues to grow, but influential? I think I was at my peak as a VHLM GM. That influence stayed within our own team for the most part, while others just heard about it--but I've never been able to say that the work I put in to interact with people helped to shape them into active members quite as much since then. I won't tag everyone who played for me and eventually ended up in a management role of some sort, because that would be a few too many tags (). Instead, I'll point out a few who started on my teams and made it really far. I like to think that the work of @Ricer13 and @Berocka speaks for itself, and while I take zero credit for anything that's happened since S68 or so, I still think about their beginnings with the Hounds--Ricer as a then-pass-first forward who initially described himself as a "lurker" in our server after we drafted him late, and Berocka as a waiver signing who didn't even join our server at first and who we had to pressure a bit to talk to us. I think both of these were cases where the VHLM can really change the course of a person's involvement--I described in my first article here how I was very hesitant to say or do much at first, and the teams that go beyond a simple "welcome, tell me if you need anything" can make lots of things happen. VHLM GM is also the one job I've had where I feel no need to self-deprecate. I never won much on the VHL level, I've done some unpopular things and been less visible as a commissioner, there have been times where I've said things I now disagree with in BoG, and my heart was never in updating during the time when I did it. But I was really good in the M and I believe that on some level, the league has seen activity from people other than myself that may not have necessarily happened had my team been run by some other GMs of the day. This led to me writing up a statistical article a few seasons in where I concluded that people on my teams were more likely to get hired than people off of them. Looking back on the first one, this wasn't even true. It's a long story, but my analysis showed a p-value of about 0.2 and most stats people don't care until that goes under 0.05. Some of the comments I got weren't incredibly friendly, either--I managed to make it funny by joking about it on Discord a lot, but it definitely rubbed some people the wrong way. It was still a joke about 6 months later, and I still occasionally caught some snarky comments about it at that point, so I ran the numbers again. This time, it came with a better understanding of calculating statistical significance (along with a better understanding that maybe I shouldn't tag 27 people in passing mentions to get my point across). I had the right p-value in mind and put together an updated list. And lo and behold, after a few more seasons as a VHLM GM, it had become super-ultra statistically significant. In fancy statistical talk, our "null hypothesis" was "Gustav does not positively influence a member's chances of being hired" and the results pointed to strongly rejecting that statement. Like anything in stats, though, this isn't direct proof, and I also think that the multiple layers of interpersonal relationships and luck and whatnot that are separate from the numbers don't make any test like that definite. But I'd done my best to quantify it in a way that I've never seen anyone else do, and I think that in the end it is a real testament to my own effect on the VHLM (however seriously you want to take the results). In the end, 15 people who were either my teammate or a player I had GM'd (mostly the latter) got jobs as GMs or AGMs between S65 and S70--not counting three hires I'd made on my own terms by making my players my own AGMs. At a rate of about three hirings per season, I think that's pretty solid. So I hope you can forgive the ego stroking in this article, because it's kind of what I have to do to make it a readable piece about what I've done for the league's first-gens. What happened to these players on my teams is a different (and less biased) story from the player and team end, and I'll be happy to tell it soon. Read my other articles for the full Gustav experience (hi Berocka): #1: Lightning Glory Gonna Be My Name #2: Can't We All Just Get Along? #3: Who Needs Cybersecurity Anyway? #4: The House That I Built #5: Can We Fix It? #6: American Beauty

@v.2

we can kick @Grape out and make room for you

Cologne, Germany - As the season progresses toward its end, teams outside of contention start to make their offseason plans clearer. This week's rumor involves Maverick Goncalves, the Express winger who ignored the opportunity to play his eligible season in the VHLM, instead choosing to move up to the VHLE, where he's facing harsher competition. His preference for playing in Europe came to light during the last off-season when he was interviewed during a Continental Cup Finals game. He then stated he wasn't leaving, creating a whirlwind of rumors regarding his future in the VHLM and a subsequent tour around Europe to visit different VHLE cities and teams. Some General Managers have already started working on this season's draft class, as some VHL teams are already out of playoff contention. There are rumors that HC Davos Dynamo was the first team to reach out to Maverick. Not only would this allow the Goncalves family story to continue, but it would also enable Maverick to play in his home country. After all, Davos was the first place Maverick saw after being born on the flight that took his father, Leandro, from Seattle to Davos. Given the rumors surrounding Maverick, this surely won't be the last piece it's written about this.

Hail, warriors! As Season 93 winds down, the time has finally come for Jarl Doomsday to add to the Halls of Leadership of the Stockholm Vikings, and is now actively seeking to appoint an AGM. No previous experience with an AGM/GM position or with STHS is required, but the Jarl does decree that whoever seeks this position should be full of zeal and passion, and have an open mind towards both learning and teaching. The challenges of promoting activity in the VHLE are no small task, and it is the single biggest aspect that the Jarl is looking for. Regardless of your experience, knowledge, and tenure in the VHL, if you believe that you are the right person for the job, please apply! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me on the forums or on Discord at doomsdayvhl

When we consider the day-to-day work of a general manager in VHL, VHLM, and VHLE, I think it is safe to say the level of effort and dedication required could be compared to the effort and dedication of a car salesperson. The cars are going to be there even if the salesperson is not right next to the car all the time. If you have a question or if something needs to be done the car salesperson will get back to you in a bit, or they will send the recently hired young car salesperson to do the dirty work. A lot of the actual selling is done by the internet as the cars are advertised on the websites and other forums. People can also research the cars in advance. Sure, the car salesperson can hype up the car and say this and that, but you would be foolish to fall for their sweet words. Similar to VHL, the actual selling is done by the portal as we can see the players, picks the team has, etc to see if we would want to play in the team. When the GM approaches you or starts to sell their team up, you know they are up to no good, you would be foolish to fall for their sweet words. Quite interestingly, the general manager also shares a lot of similarities with a person about to buy a new car. They both point their fingers toward something while saying: " I want that one". General managers, of course, point their fingers towards players. They look at the stats and numbers but ignore them completely as something else captures their attention, similar to a person who is about to buy a yellow car that eats a lot of gas just because they are over 40 and think they deserve nice things. A lot of being a general manager and car salesperson is about showing up. Some days it will rain, and some days the sun will shine, but when you come to the office most of the hard work is already done.

Tommy Shelby Age: 22 Position: C Height: 6' 0" Weight: 190lbs Born in Birmingham, Halifax 21st centreman Tommy Shelby's life did not follow the 'typical' path of a VHLM player. In fact, he only started playing a few short years ago when he was 18. Prior to that, he had a difficult childhood and led a rather tumultuous life that is worthy of a novel or a TV series. With his father passing away at a young age, Shelby's family consisted of his mother, two brothers, and a close aunt. The family was not well off, and although his mother worked various part time jobs, they always seemed to be just scraping by. As the boys got older, the family's plight led them to developing an entrepreneurial mindset and they spent their days trying to make some extra money anyway that they could. In the beginning it was normal kid stuff like selling lemonade on the streets but over time their business practices got a little more sketchy and they began to run various hustles like stealing and reselling goods and loansharking small amounts to other kids. Their drive paid off and in addition to making a name for themselves in the local community, the money they were bringing in was making a big difference in their homelife and had lifted the family out of poverty. On account of this, their mother fully embraced her sons growing business. As these things go, their lines of business continued to expand and the amount of risk they were willing to take on continued to increase. By the time Tommy was 16, the brothers were running gambling rings and engaged in the drug trade. And through a connection with a local liquor store, they were purchasing massive quantities of alcohol an reselling it at massive markups to their underage peers. The trio had long stopped attending school at this point and were generally consumed with conducting their business and bringing in cash. Although they didn't have much time for sport, the boys would, on occasion, pull the net out of the garage and play some street hockey. When they were kids this always their go to sport when the sun was shining and although they played less as they got older, they never completely abandoned it and tended to retreat back to it when they were having a tough time with the business. Unfortunately for the brothers, the success andd profit that they had come to enjoy didn't last very long. The fact is, this isn't 1920 and these types of things don't stay secret for long in the age of cameras everywhere. In the face of insurmountable evidence against them, all 3 brothers reached plea agreements with prosecutors. The agreements called for siezure of all proceeds of their crimes, a short stint in juvenie detention and lengthy community service. In detention, the brothers once again retreated to their old past time and Tommy started a street hockey league in the yard. The league was a huge success and the winning team (which was the Shelby team) even had a match against a team of guards. When Tommy was released, he was just shy of his 18th birthday and he knew that he had a choice to make. He could revert to his old habits, make some good money for awhile but he knew that eventually he would be caught and this time he wouldn't be considered a kid. Or he could find a legal way to have the life he wanted. As part of his community service, Shelby began volunteering at the local rink and it was here that he noticed an advertisement for tryouts for a local U18 team. Despite most of hockey experience being on the street with a ball, Shelby didn't hesitate to sign up and began devoting his time to hockey. He convinced the rink manager to let him use the ice overnight and would spend hours and hours practicing. Tryout day came and, perhaps partly due to his training and partly due to low turnout, he made the team. He was no superstar when he started that season but he continued to work at it relentlessly and he would later credit his coaches and teammates from that obscure team as teaching to him to be the player he is today. By the end of the season, Tommy was the best player on the ice, every game. One of Shelby's coaches was so impressed with his progress that he set up a tryout for Shelby with a professional team the following season. It came as no surprise to the coach when Shelby made it. And it was shortly after this that Shelby's new coach introuced him to a personal friend of his - former VHL player, commissioner, and agent Don Draper. Draper had been retired and this meeting was simply meant to be an opporunity for Shelby to get some career advice. By the end of the meeting, Shelby had convinced Draper to be his agent and get him on the fast track to the VHLM. And now, partway through his first VHLM season, Shelby has his sights set on the VHL Entry Draft.

After Halifax clinched a playoff spot last week, captain Andrew Skilton @ace_five_ decided to take the team out for dinner at the highest-rated restaurant he could find in the city and treat them all to some fine dining. He worked his magic and got them a reservation for 20 for the following evening to celebrate the accomplishment – the first goal of the season being complete. Andrew knew it was going to be a new experience for most of the team, considering the average age of the team is just over 19, with most being 18 or younger. Arriving first, just after Skilton and 20 minutes early, was newcomer Phil Sakic @Phil. Ready to impress and maybe trying to assert some dominance, Sakic took a seat at the head of the table. Coming in together not too much later were management icons @LucyXpher and @Will3. They casually took a seat while making some small talk with Sakic. Entering with some laughter and light ribbing were big guns John Season @dylanjj37, Maple Dogwood @dogwoodmaple, and Pierre Marc Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito, who showed up just before the reservation time together, with Season dethroning Sakic and taking the head of the table. Right on time, in strolled Connor Simard @Alex99 and Jon Webber III @Webberj, who were coming out of a light jog and checking their watches to make sure they weren’t late. Tommy Shelby @Will was next to enter the restaurant, fashionably (literally) late as usual without a care in the world. He sat right in the centre to make sure he could hear and speak to everyone equally. As everyone was getting their drink orders in, some loud laughing could be heard at the entrance as Dustin Moore @Maxx and Alexandr Novotny @Patrik Tallinder made their way in. A fist bump could be seen as the two came around the corner grinning at each other. Trickling in after that were Aanarsi Reingaard @Laine, Ty Duke @TheDuke, Captain Nugget Jr. @Captain nugget and Dorji Khan @Oddpurplefly, who each quickly took their seats and called over the server to get their drinks in, which of course had to be the most expensive ones on the menu (that they could legally drink of course). Last but not least, in running came Robin Sierra @ethanjaeda apologizing profusely and explaining that they went to two of the wrong restaurants before arriving. Apparently, they’d been left out (or they accidentally removed themself) from the group chat saying where the restaurant was. Finally situated, the team ended up having an amazing dinner of steaks, salads, seafood, and drinks until each and every one of them was completely stuffed. They chatted about their individual accomplishments throughout the season as well as what they’ve been able to accomplish together, bringing the 21st out of the basement of the league and making the team a force to be reckoned with. There was talk about the beginning of the season when they couldn’t seem to score more than two goals in a game, to now being the highest-scoring team in the league. Robin Sierra finally let Skilton know that they dyed his laces with glow-in-the-dark ink back on April Fools Day, to which Andrew was baffled he hadn’t figured out yet. Everyone had a good chuckle about the ridiculous story that Saskatoon defenceman Bollos de Trueno @Thunder22 put out trying to disparage management. Even Lucy and Will had a laugh about that one, whether it was through their teeth or not was undetermined. By the end, Dogwood had revealed that the Jelly Coin extravaganza was finally over. They would never be getting their money back, but the investigation had finally come to a close. At the end of dinner, Skilton tapped on his glass and asked for some silence at the table. He stood up from his chair with his glass in hand and said, “I just want to thank each and every one of you for the season that we’ve had. We couldn’t have made it this far without the hard work and dedication of everyone. While we’ve had some ups and some downs, we’ve been able to band together and put up some outstanding numbers for this club. I want to thank Lucy and Will for putting together this group and pushing us to our highest potential. You’ve given us all an opportunity to shine on this stage, knowing that in doing that, you won’t end up seeing us for too long as we make our way to the VHLE and ultimately, the VHL. You’ve made the experience for a new guy like me one to remember, and I’ll carry that through to the end of my career and beyond.” Some cheers of ‘Here here!’ were shouted from various points of the table at this statement. Skilton continued, “It has been an honour and a pleasure to call myself the captain of this squad and I’m proud to call you all brothers and sisters in arms. Now, this isn’t the end of the road, the playoffs are a whole new game, but I’m confident that if we continue what we’ve been doing all season long and trust in each other, we’ll be hoisting the Founder’s Cup in no time! So let’s make a toast, to the best locker room in the VHLM, the Halifax 21st!” As those words were spoken the team erupted in a cheer, clinking glasses and chugging what was left in them. The restaurant staff had to come over and quiet the team because they were disturbing the other patrons. Understanding they were maybe overstaying their welcome, the team began departing. They all decided to take a walk at the pier and take in the ocean and the namesake of the team. Of course, the group can’t go anywhere without causing some sort of havoc, so Phil Sakic was sent to the end of the pier after being told that if he looked straight down into the water he could see the remains of the last ship to dock at Pier 21 before it caught on fire. Unceremoniously, Sakic was shoved into the chilly waters by his teammates, who let him wade a bit before helping him out and handing over a cheque for a new suit. They all had a laugh and began breaking off to head home and get some rest for the upcoming playoffs. (1042 Words)

1. We’ve only got a few regular season sims left, who do you predict will be the Continental Cup champion? I've still got Toronto. Europe is going to be a slog to get through, and the Legion have had such a strong team from day one. 2. Our beauty of a captain, David Jokinen, has had a career year! Any words to commend him on this feat? Oh captain my captain! And assistant captain! And other assistant captain! Here's to hoping it continues next season when I'm also up. 3. What do you believe we can learn from this season that we can carry onto the next? Any bold predictions or suggestions? To be honest? Not really. There's going to largely be a new roster next season, so while it's been great to get a few wins, I think a lot of the game planning will start from square one. 4. If you had a chance to add a new award to the VHL, what would it be and what would you name it? You say people don't build players with fighting? Then let's change that - most fights won now gets an award. We're calling it the Rocky Award until we get a good VHL legend to name it after. 5. Regarding fighting in hockey, do you believe it is a staple of the sport? Or is it something that should be phased out of the game entirely? I swear I didn't see this question before answering the last one. Honestly, the reason that a lot of people play sports is to get some aggression out. As long as it's not causing lasting injuries, then yeah, let them have at it. 8. Since this debate has flared up again recently: is a hot dog a sandwich? People focus too much on this question and not the alternative: I think every ham sandwich should be called a hot dog. Think about it - contains a pig-based meat, you typically want to eat it with condiments for flavor, comes within some sort of bun. Real geniuses have been saying this.

I will apply

You thought I had milked all I could from my list of my most common last names in VHL history? Think again, for that list provides a wonderful alternative – most popular FIRST names in VHL history! On this occasion I will not list out every player to have played in the VHL but instead focus on some of the big hitters. I will also caveat that I did not add any new VHL players who debuted in S93 so apologies if the totals for some of these popular names need to be adjusted slightly (although I'd be amazed if it was by more than 1 or 2). If you do want the full list, then it is available at the link below. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FsUQv-rCKu6bI3y0KCfQVUwJvcBlYH3mWl8iF2Kt5Js/edit?usp=sharing Alex (20) and Alexander (21) Well we have a clear runaway winner. 41 Alexs/Alexanders have graced the VHL (nearly 2% of all VHL players ever). 8 of them are in the Hall of Fame (approximately 5% of the Hall). 3 of them have trophies named after them – Chershenko in the VHLM and the Beketov and Valiq in the VHL. It's a pretty good name to have in hockey (see Ovechkin, Mogilny, and to a lesser extent Radulov). It's only the 44th most popular male name in the US in the last 100 years but as evidenced by the list above, it has a more international impact across Europe especially. Anyway, you guys want me to type out the full list? Of course you do. *deep breath* Abraham, Beketov, Brandner, Buturlin, Carter, Chershenko, Davidson, Deslauries, the Great (good on him making it some 2,350 years after his death), Johnston, Kharlamov, Khavanov, Labatte, Letang, McNeil, Minion, Murphy, Parise, Pearson, Pepper, Povenofsky, Randoulov, Rawnsley (he was actually a CPU but it's not like any other name is particularly close anyway), Sauve, Sclafani, Staal, Stokes, Stoyanovich, Stroheim, Thrower, Torjano, Valiq, Watson, Yengeni, Young, and finally Kachur (twice), Gegeny (twice as well) and Bridges (also twice). These guys will take some time to dislodge from the top. David (22) We do have a nearly one-man attempt to challenge the Alex/Alexander supremacy. In fact, if you split those two, they actually finish just below David, the name which former commissioner David @Knight uses to name all his players. He accounts for nearly half of the 22-man roster with 9 Davids – the Hall of Famers Smalling, Henman, Night, and Walcott and also Blind, Hamilton, Januzaj, Knight himself, and now Rashford. So long as he keeps going, the Alexanders can not get too complacent. John (17) and Jon (9) I'm going to stick this one below David because it's a bit more controversial than combining Alex and Alexander – Jon can be Jonathan and that's less likely to be John although these could be the same name sometimes. More importantly, despite 28 of Johns and Jons over the years, there is not too much quality in their ranks. There's just the 1 Hall of Famer – Locke and only a handful of notable players otherwise with Sleeman and Frostbeard in the level below Locke and Jameson who should be this group's second entry into the Hall. Michael (15) , Mike (3), and Mikey (3)... and Mikael? (3) Quite a mix here, depending on where you draw the line on what counts as a Michael – in any case it doesn't move them up or down from fourth place. The Michaels on their own don't have much star power but when you add in Mikes you get both Szatkowski and Szatkowski Jr and suddenly this group is looking a lot more glamorous. Matt (13) and Matthew (7) A more straightforward combination – Matthew straight from the Bible and the shorter version, Matt. We have the three most similarly sounding Hall of Famers here – Bentz, Bailey, and Bentley, and also Pogge, Thompson, and Defosse for a very strong ratio of Hall of Famers to players (6 out of 20). So clearly this is a good name to have if you want to make a real impact in the league. Ryan (17) The good thing about Ryan is that there isn't really any alternative so we know for a fact there are 17 of them not being grouped with anyone else. One of them is actually just called Ryan with no last name which I think is something unique for this article. There's no Gosling vs Reynolds dynamic in the VHL – the clear leader is lone Hall of Famer Sullivan (the original) although there is also erstwhile all-time TPE leader Kastelic and other noteworthy players. Jeff and Jack – 15 each These two names aren't actually the same name, but they're just joint seventh in this list (unless we add Jack together with John which we are not going to do). None of the Jacks have made the Hall of Fame or have been close with the most successful probably being Shephard, although O'Riley, Sound, and Kowalski were also above average players in their time. The Jeffs have a bit more sparkle with Hamilton and the second Downey in the Hall. Both names can more up quickly to catch up to the Ryans and the Matts in due course. That's about as far down the list as I'm willing to go for my own sanity. Other points to note on the list are the David-like effort by his brother Phil to drag that name up the ranking, although unlike David, @Phil has had no help as I believe all 10 players are his (but we know an eleventh is just around the corner). The 10 Shawns in the meantime are primarily the work of TheLastOlympian (Brodeur, Gretzky, Howard, Muller, and Zyuzin) and 3 Shawn Glades. Mildly amusing is the fact “The” ranks in midtable with 9 appearances thanks to The Charm, The Loch Ness Monster, The Mediocre One, The Process, The Seabasstard, The Board Game Clue on Skates, The Terrible Trivium and current star The Frenchman who is en route to be their first Hall of Famer. I think that's as much content as I can get out of this list, for now anyway.

1. We’ve only got a few regular season sims left, who do you predict will be the Continental Cup champion? Long Live The King! London got this. 2. Our beauty of a captain, David Jokinen, has had a career year! Any words to commend him on this feat? Thanks 3. What do you believe we can learn from this season that we can carry onto the next? Any bold predictions or suggestions? Our rookies will dominate. 4. If you had a chance to add a new award to the VHL, what would it be and what would you name it? We could try and bring back Top Leader award and name it The Annual @Phil Award. 5. Regarding fighting in hockey, do you believe it is a staple of the sport? Or is it something that should be phased out of the game entirely? Personally I don't like fighting in hockey, but I understand why it's there. I hope there will be less of it in the future, doesn't need to be fully phased out of the sport though 6. The Stanley Cup playoffs have begun! Which team has impressed you most thus far? McDavid, 5 assists in the first game of Oilers playoffs. For a team it's too early to say imo 7. In terms of playstyle and build, which NHL player is yours most similar to? Brady Skjei? 8. Since this debate has flared up again recently: is a hot dog a sandwich?

I was having some free time, so just for the fun of it I decided to browse the portal. I noticed that it is not as common for players to have the "NTC" in their contract. Most teams have a couple of players with the clause on their current deal, and some teams have none, so it is fair to say that the majority of players in VHL at the moment do not have an NTC on their contract. I started to wonder why is that. Over the years I have learned that general managers appreciate when a player commits to the team and works towards the common goals. And in my opinion, nothing says I am interested in staying more than a NTC. I think one big reason behind the lack of NTCs is the fact that general managers are too nice. They are out there helping and being good people. If your general manager approaches you and says there have been few offers for you or the season is not going well, so you might be traded, it is a given that the general manager then tries to find a nice place for you. That is wrong and a shame. Where is the fear of getting traded to a bad team? It does not exist, because it has become acceptable for general managers to be our friends. We should hate our general manager, we should be afraid of our general manager. When you are traded, you should hear about it on the forum first. Or ideally, you would not have to worry about it as you have that NTC on your contract. Another reason is the lack of competition. It has become acceptable for teams to tank and suck. It is widely accepted as part of the experience to have teams rebuilding. On the surface, that is how it is in every sport, but in most sports, the level of competition is still more fierce. VHL simply has too many teams and not enough active players. The general managers are forced to be nice because the pool of actives is so small. When teams in VHL tank and suck, they are not even trying to compete and make deals. I think that is because welfare players are too good. It is too easy to build a solid player with welfare. Active players should be fought over, the should be hunted. Welfare players in return should be terrible. The league plays a big part in that, but the real enablers are the general managers and them being too nice. The general managers are out there understanding when they should be making threats and promises about the player getting traded out if they don't make that graphic or media spot next week. If you ask me, the league should drop a few teams, welfare should be made weaker, and like in Jason Bourne, before any general manager is accepted into the program they should be forced to fire a welfare player. I think through those steps VHL would have more passion and character. More importantly, the users in VHL would learn valuable lessons about thinking a few steps ahead and never describing who is or is not in the room with them when standing in front of a window.

Playoff Seeding Still in Flux With around five games remaining for each team, the playoff seeding still remains mostly unknown. We do know who has made the playoffs, but the only matchup that is likely locked in is between the first seed Ottawa Lynx and the 8th seed Mexico City Kings. Mexico City went 1-9-2 this week, but Kings GM @JCarson was not surprised. "It was decided at the trade deadline that we would sell off and focus on next season. The fact we have not done well since was an expected outcome of that decision." He is not optimistic of a first round upset saying, "We are outmatched, so we will just focus on having fun." Las Vegas is poised to take the fifth seed, and will await their opponent (either Saskatoon or Houston) over the next few days. Building Momentum - Ottawa Lynx, Saskatoon Wild, and Houston Bulls Ottawa, Saskatoon, and Houston are all gearing up for their playoff run. All three teams achieved ten wins this week and are hoping to take that momentum forward. Ottawa in particular is hoping for a deep playoff run as they are likely going to take home the Prime Minister's Cup. They finished off the week with a six game win streak. Looking to the Future - Miami Marauders and San Diego Marlins With Miami and San Diego officially eliminated from the playoffs, they look forward to the S94 VHLM Dispersal Draft. Miami has two first round picks (MIA and HOU) and 8 picks total. Marauders GM @Ricer13 declined to give specific details about their draft plans, "but I will say that we are going to be looking to fill those holes on our roster with the best players we can." While Miami is set to have a big first round, San Diego has seven picks, but none appear to be in the first round. Marlins GM @Mysterious_Fish assures that "we do have a 1st with an agreement made last season." They are focused on locker room engagement to bring the team back to its winning ways in going forward. It will be an uphill battle by both of these teams, but things can turn around quickly in the VHLM. mmrs617's Stars of the Week Herald Benson @Benson (HOU) - G - Benson posted a 10-2-1 record this week, facing a league leading average of 17 shots per game. Houston hopes to make a push for the second place seed. Taylor Swift @lilchrist (MIS) and Anthony Simmons II @Starchychaff (MIS) - C and RW - Since acquiring Simmons II, the one-two punch in Mississauga has put phenomenal numbers. The combination of Swift and Simmons II have put up a total 35 points in the last 13 games. Bollos de Trueno @Thunder (LVA) - D - de Trueno put up 18 point last week (5 goals and 13 assists) to jump up 22 places in the overall league standings. They were a key factor in the Aces bounce back week, just in time for the playoffs.

So the first thing I had to ask myself is, why? Why would I come back to the league and why now. I wish I had a better answer for you, but it's totally random and not interesting. I have a folder in my bookmarks titled "Sports" and in there was the VHL Link, TSN.ca, Discord, Fantasy Football and Sports Betting. I clicked the wrong one and went here but in turn it technically may have been the right one if you are a VHL lifer. Then I was like, wow when I was 16 (19 years ago) I really enjoyed that place. Now with the odd grey hair coming in, a four year running around and another on the way; it seemed like the worst time to join. But when have I ever done things logically and with much thought? (don't answer that). I'm both excited to see some fresh faces and catch up with some of the guys who made this place what it was. Weird as an original member to come back and feel like the newbie but I might be lost on Point Task stuff. I'll stick to what I do know and then go from there I guess. This is me asking for tips! (Phil, not that type).

1. I think you would probably have to go Seattle or Coyotes, new team and new fan base you can have an identity with the team and be apart of the teams history 2. I would have to say I have a top three and they are @Banackock & @Gustav & @dasboot. Bana as I have spent some time with him IRL and had some good chats since he drafted me in S67, Boot for similar reasons as well as our hour long podcasts we would do almost every week. Gustav as have always had some contact with him since joining his team in S66 as well as trying to create a sim league together 3. Two point goal if you score from behind the blue line Q1. Which VHL member would you like to see come back Q2. What is your least favourite point task that you do each week Q3. If all the blues were to step down at once who should replace them to keep the sim league running

What is there to say about the Eagles dynasty that hasn't been said before? They are a hockey family who produces all-stars. It started with Greg the goalie, followed by Tom the defenseman and currently Henry the forward playing his last season. Now the newest member to join the VHL family is Roger Eagles who will complete the positional full circle by returning as a goalie. Roger was born and raised in Wroclaw, Poland like every other Eagles member. The difference between Roger and all the others is that he was born and trained specifically for this role. He is the cousin of Tom Eagles (who was the son of Greg). As soon as he could crawl, Greg, started training him by playing floor hockey. He quickly learned that when Greg shot, he had to stop the ball. This continued on a daily basis for a few hours a day and while most toddlers would get bored, Roger just kept on smiling and continuing to stop the ball. At this point, Greg new that Roger's calling was to be a goalie. He took him under his wing and started teaching him everything he knows. As he grew up throughout the years the training continued. Every day at the Eagles training facility in Wroclaw, Roger and Greg would train. They would work on all the important aspects of goaltending from Rebound Control, Hand Speed, Reaction Time, Style control and agility. The trainings kept getting longer and longer, more intense and intense but Roger would never quit. He just kept on going. The dedication shown by Roger to be the best in his position was unmatched. " I threw everything I could at the kid and he just wouldn't stop. He wanted to keep going " Greg said when asked about Roger's training "I knew that he will be something special in hockey and maybe the best one of the Eagles yet. He has the drive to be the best and he won't stop until he achieves that" The one surprising thing about Roger is that he didn't play on any organized teams in his childhood, the Eagles family wanted to keep him out of the spotlight so that he could develop with Greg. Many are wondering if this will be a big benefit or if it will hurt him. Most experts say the lack of organized games early on will stunt his growth and also may shock him when he doesn't succeed right away while working up the ranks in the VHL. " Many people believe he didn't play games when he was younger and that is partially correct" says Greg "while he didn't play organized league games, every weekend we brought in some of my VHL buddies and played games at our facility. We had it all coaches, refs, top tier guys playing with Roger playing in net. It gave him the ability to see and learn from the best of the best in the VHL in game situations" As he turned 16, Roger was finally entered into organized league games, playing at the highest level in Poland and then North America. He really excelled in both leagues winning multiple awards and leading his teams to victory. This was the notice to the hockey world that Roger is here and he is ready to take the hockey world by storm. As he enters his first professional steps in the VHL, he will be backed by all the Eagles alumni as they will be traveling with him to help in his training. Before fully committing to the VHLE, Roger will play the last few games of the VHLM season in San Diego, the same team where Greg Eagles started. While it hasn't been the best of starts, Roger does not seem worried. " It's a transition phase, I started near the end of the season where I am still getting a feel for the VHL and getting my conditioning up to game ready state" Roger said "I have had a few poor starts but things are starting to go better. This VHLM phase is just a conditioning stint until I get to the VHLE and most likely spend 2 seasons there getting ready. When asked where he thinks he will go in the draft Roger said " Doesn't matter to me, I know most goalies don't go first overall and I am ok with that. I will go to any team that drafts me at any spot and will ensure I give them my all to win multiple cups. That is my only goal in the VHL" It will be interesting to follow Roger throughout his upcomming career as he is the only Eagles up to this point to be specifically trained to play in the VHL and for the goaltender role. Will this experiment work out or will it be an Eagles flop? Only time will tell.

1. marlins gm doesnt know any of the players you listed 2. marlins agm is not worried about marlins gm and in fact was recently given a pay rise by marlins gm 3. you keep mentioning everyone going to the juan ceson zoo. the zoo is not in every single city in the world. this is very unreasonable. 4. they do not have lifetime membership passes to the zoo 5. neither do you 6. you also dont have a pass to the juan ceson fan club

I had forgotten that I already done a Logo Layering for Chicago Phoenix previously, here is an another version of it.

And double dubs

https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/17588090/

@rory this appears to be the record corroborated by @JardyB10 https://vhlforum.com/topic/29912-fun-facts/?do=findComment&comment=331139 The link to the game itself seems to be dead even going through the index. Ironically, I may have misinformed Kit at one point that he had 7 goals in this game... which led to his fake news player name: https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/5852 So Anisimov @McLovin appears to have tied the record unless someone remembers more than 6 goals in a game between S43 and now.

Just fight Rip Wheeler a few times, that will boost your win loss record.

It is Friday evening, and I am sitting somewhere in Finland listening to my neighbor play their flute. I have lived in this building for a few years now, and I cannot say for sure who lives in this building with me. I like it. I like the anonymous vibe this building has. Unfortunately, now I know someone here plays the flute. I don't know that person, I don't know where they live exactly, I don't know their name, but my respect for the person and towards this building has gone down as a result. Like a recently planted birch, sitting on a fertile ground, just waiting to get bigger and bigger, each minute that goes by my hatred grows. I started to wonder if this forum would be better if we were not able to see the usernames. All we would see is the content and when it was posted. You could comment and react to the content like now. The portal would not show the updating history, just the statistics and attributes. But of course the updaters/staff could see who posted and what. I think the anonymity and not knowing who posted and what could make for some interesting interactions. You would have to invest in the content in front of you as the username would not dictate whether you take the time to engage or not. You could perhaps be more open and honest in commenting on what you see and hear, both good and bad. Sometimes it is harder to be positive and give nice feedback because then you might feel like you need to do so all the time. Sometimes the content you see should be commented on more harshly than your "role" in VHL allows. Many great moments and stories never come alive because we are too busy keeping appearances up. If I now think about my flute-playing neighbor again, I would hate them even more if I knew who they were and where they lived exactly, because they knew other people lived in this building, and out of all instruments they decided to play the flute. But then again, now that I don't know who they are and where they live exactly I don't feel as bad yelling at them to stop. On some other day, I could even add a swear word or two into the yelling. If I knew who they are and where they live I would have a harder time yelling for them to stop, because I need to keep appearances up. Nobody wants to be known as the person who yelled at a kid practicing or a pensioner trying on a new hobby. Nobody wants to be known as the person who said nice things to a kid or a pensioner playing the flute - that would be weird. Because of the anonymity, this great meeting of souls could take place. The neighbor feels like they can play the flute while surrounded by other people and I get to yell at them. They know that nobody knows who they are or where they live exactly and vice versa, I know that they know that they don't know who I am or where I live exactly. The flute was still being played, loud words were yelled, and feelings were hurt. This would not be possible if we knew each other on any level. If we knew each other well and where we lived exactly, the only thing that would have happened was the flute was being played. I would more than likely just ignore the noise. I might not even think twice about it. What a sad story that would be.

This is for my in-progress scouting report, I was gonna like, put this along with it as a summary. I know that there is room for improvement here so I would love to hear y'alls thoughts

Player Information Username: dylanjj37 Player Name: Marlins GM Recruited From: Member (MexicanCow) Age: 47 Position: D Height: 80 in. Weight: 250 lbs. Birthplace: Faroe Islands Player Page @VHLM GM

This week, the Halifax 21st are recognizing John Season @dylanjj37 as their SuperSailor. Season, who is expected to announce his retirement this week, has played 131 games with the 21st and has racked up 92 points in those games as a defenseman. Over the past two seasons, he has been a leader in the locker room and on the ice, contributing to the team's culture and helping to lead them through a difficult season 92. In his past 5 games, Season has scored 3 goals and added 2 assists, really elevating his game as of late to help propel the 21st to within 3 points of 1st place overall. In his career, John Season has played 203 regular sason games with Halifax and Las Vegas, scoring 38 career goals and 74 assists. As Halifax pushes for the playoffs in season 93, John Season looks to return to the playoffs for the first time since his rookie season and add to his total of 5 playoff games played. Though he probably flew under the radar in the eyes of some scouts and managers, Season managed to carve out a successful individual career at the VHLM level with his excellent defensive ability. While not the most versatile player, his exceptional puck disrupting abilitiy allows him to stop plays dead in their tracks, recover the puck, and move it up the ice to convert defense into offense. As of this week, he has matched his career high in points (46) with 13 games left to play. As the regular season draws to a close and the playoffs begin, John Season looks to finish his career strong. With the Halifax 21st seeking their first Founder's Cup victory in their 42 season history, perhaps Season can be among the first to hoist the trophy wearing the Halifax blue and white. Congratulations to John Season on being named this week's SuperSailor and for a terrific career! ༻❁༺

It's a tad off with the video and audio but only a second, maybe less. Enjoy my lookback at what I accomplished with Jesse. Thank you to everyone who supported me and Jesse over their career. I truly appreciate it.