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VHLM Rebrand Week: Ottawa This week has been determined to be the week in which teams across the VHL, and subsequent minor leagues, rebrand for a bit of fun and to allow greater interaction with the fans. This time around, the fans of the current Ottawa Lynx were polled in order to find a different animal to represent the team. Voting opened up a couple weeks ago asking fans which animal native to Ottawa would replace the beloved Lynx the best. With entries ranging from, Geese to Meese, (yes I know that’s improper pluralization but hey, it rhymes) the fans provided many different options to vote for. This year it has come down to a close race between a few very close competitors, Owls, Porcupine, Grey Wolves, and River Otters. The Owls came in with 45,243 votes just beating out the Geese by a couple hundred votes. The Porcupine reached 67,932 votes, a fair number of votes just shy of 7% of the Ottawa population. And we’re down to the final two options, the Grey Wolves and the River Otters. This season's rebrand for the Ottawa Lynx has been voted to be the Ottawa River Otters. The River Otters received 128,673 votes beating out the Grey Wolves by around 14,000 votes. By a slim margin the River Otters pulled ahead and were selected. There has been some noise about this on social media particularly questioning the ferocity of an Otter. Which, given the look of the animal itself versus how well the team has been doing lately seems to be a fair point. The now River Otters are leading the league with a 34-8-5 record. Jillian Woods and Kevin OConner are both leading the league, Woods with Points for a Defenseman(54) and OConner for Shorthanded Goals(1). Of course we can’t forget the unbelievable performance from Hugo Boss this season, leading the league in wins(34), shutouts(8), and goals against average(1.86). Now back to the topic of Otters. The River Otter is native to much of Canada and the United States, really only avoiding warmer climates. River Otters obviously thrive in cooler climates and in areas where there are an abundance of streams, ponds, and other bodies of water. While they may seem pretty cute and friendly on the outside, they can really tear up some fish and smaller mammals. Their main source of nourishment is fish and mussels and whatever lurks around in the rivers but from time to time they’ll go to shore and hunt for muskrats and small rabbits. They move quite quickly and are resilient to the cold much like the hockey players they were chosen to represent this year. In short, I think the fans came up with a great replacement for the Lynx. The river otter may not be quite as intimidating as a lynx but they’re unsuspectingly able to do what needs to be done when the time comes. The Ottawa fans have spoken and decided that the Lynx will be rebranded to the Ottawa River Otters for S93!

Decided to make and image to honor Ottawa's hard working goalie! Congrats on Making it to Round 2 of the Play offs @Poptart

After losing Bushito to the Stockholm's GM role and with Kendrick stepping down from Ottawa, the VHLM had two vacancies at GM positions. After some deliberation, Frank and I have come to a decision on who the two new GMs will be. Taking Kendrick's place at the head of Ottawa will be none other than @Beaviss, who is new but we believe that he will definitely be getting valuable VHL experience from this. He has proven himself to be quite active already as a first-gen, which really helped his case. @JardyB10 will be his Co-GM if he needs any help or guidance. Stepping in for Bushito in Oslo will be a returning member, and a former VHLM GM, @Megster. Meg has returned and made a very good case for herself as a VHLM GM, and despite a past reputation, looks to be turning that around now. Congratulations to both candidates and happy GMing!

Lynx Off to Hot Start It is often said that in order for a team to succeed, players must understand their roles and perform to the best of their ability. So far, this seems to be the case for the Ottawa Lynx. The Lynx are currently off to one of their best starts in recent memory. Winners of ten of their first thirteen games, the Lynx are currently sitting atop the VHLM in points with twenty-one, three more than the second place Minot Gladiators. There are multiple factors that can explain the success of the team so far. However, it can easily be summed up with a simple idea: everyone is doing their job at a high level. After a bit of a slow start, Ottawa’s top line, which consists of center Frederik Ernst and wingers Brennan McQueen and Robert Gow III, has begun to pick up their play. Ernst has had no trouble lately setting up his talented wingers. His nineteen assists lead the Lynx, who are currently second in the league in goals for per game with 4.15, behind only the Turku Outlaws, who have 4.31 goals per game. Captain Brennan McQueen has noted that an increase in chemistry has been the driving factor in this increase in production. Members of the Lynx waiting for the season to start. “With the trouble the VHL and VHLM were involved in that resulted in a delay to the start of the season, it was hard for me and the rest of the guys to really get anything together. Neither of those guys were with the team last year, and I was used to playing as an individual and attempting to carry the team last year. This year, there are a plethora of talented guys on the team. I can trust them to be in the right place and at the right time. The three of us make a great line. I've got some hands and am great along the boards, Ernst has incredible vision, and RGIII has the potential to be an elite goal scorer at this level.” While offense may get the ladies, defense wins championships. While the Lynx as a whole have done a great job defensively, they are led by one of the premiere defensive prospects in the league, Connor Low. Low, who is currently one of the league leaders in minutes per game, points for a defenseman, and shots blocked, has made sure the entire team has bought into the defensive side of the game. After an early season practice with some rather inept defensive play from the forwards, Low called a players only meeting and ripped into the forwards in general for their poor play in the defensive zone. Goaltender Mike Szatkowski Jr. was also rather displeased, noting, “these guys are leaving me out to dry like I was just a wet sponge or something.” The depth of the Lynx has also done a great job with secondary scoring. When the first line was off the a slow start, the second line, consisting of center Robin Gow and wingers Chop Cho and Petr Janus. Robin, who currently leads the team in points with twenty-two, has carried this line offensively. While Chop Cho is a solid player, Petr Janus is not really someone you want on a scoring line. However, the addition of Jeevan Samuelsson should rectify this situation. Acquired from the Yukon Rush, Samuelsson not only provides more of a scoring presence on the second line, but is also adapt defensively. In the meantime, offensive defenseman Matt Rielly has done a great job providing offense from the back end. The free agent acquired during the S35 off-season currently leads the team with eleven goals. While the Lynx are off to a hot start, they realize that much of the season still remains. They know better than anyone else that anything can happen with so many games left. However, with their hard work and dedication, it seems clear that this Lynx team has a chance to go all the way this year.