Victory Three

[Toast 887]

Playoffs time...

 

By the time that this article is even released for the public eye, it will be time to start up the playoffs. It seems obvious that in the European conference, it will be a repeat as it was last year. The Riga Reign will be taking on HC Davos in a remarkable matchup while Helsinki will once again get the bye, and the Victory Cup it seems. Everything is all locked up over in the North American conference too, with the Americans getting the bye while Calgary and either Quebec or Toronto will battle it out. While Calgary is certainly the favourite to win the series, could Toronto go on a potential run with all the high scoring they have put up so far this season? That will certainly be something to follow once the series starts up, if they do manage to pass Quebec for the third spot anyways. The playoffs will be a can't-miss event as always, with it not seemingly clear who will claim it all this season.

 

Nations preparing...

 

And with the playoffs right around the corner for the VHL, that means that players of the league will also have to prepare for the World Cup that is set to happen in the off-season after its three season break. Back in S43, Western Europe was able to shock everyone, making a dominate run for the gold medal in the tournament while they were led by Hans Wingate and Bismarck Koenig. As the team is more developed than it ever was now, it seems the team will have a strong performance once again. It could be anyone's tournament however, as every nation has some power house players and if the Western Europe team from S43 can do it, then there isn't any reason that any team in the tournament could go on a miraculous run as well. If you're interested in taking up a GM role in the tournament, make sure to keep an eye out for the job posting as that will come out sometime after playoffs begin.

 

Readership plummets...

 

The VHL Magazine is still trying to find its groove again after recent changes, there is no doubt about that. But last week's edition is arguably one of few editions that had so few comments. Just one to be exact. While it was posted a little late, in the early hours of Monday morning, it still seems odd that there would be nothing to comment on. While there are those who will like the topic that it was posted in, we need to see some actual comments or feedback on the pieces that we put out every week! There is some great work that is featured every week that deserves to be acknowledged as well. You could claim that the lack of activity due to school exams and stuff is the reason, but it's still very surprising that not even the Mag could drive in some comments. Let's fix this for the next edition!

[Toast 887]

Happy Holidays...

From all of us at the VHL Magazine, we hope that the holidays were a great time for all of our members. The Blue Team decided to treat the members to a fantastic Christmas gift and announced on the 25th that they would be handing out a free Doubles Week to anyone who posted in the thread itself. I'm sure there are no issues if anyone were to go post in the thread late to make sure that they get their points (assuming it's not past the deadline), so if you haven't done so yet, make sure to get that done! The free Doubles is one of a few in recent memory and comes soon after the Doubles week from the failed Team Point Task in the previous off-season. While you're at it, make sure to get your donations in for the upcoming season to make sure you're eligible for a whole bunch of rewards. Here's to a good season!

 

Free Agency...

Arguably the biggest free agency crop the league has seen in quite some time hit the market on January 2nd officially. The class was dominated with S40 draft picks it seemed, with the likes of Thomas O'Malley, Mason Richardson, Lloyd Light, and Tyler Cote all opting to choose where they'll chase that final championship. Many free agents with over 600/700 practice hours were available to teams willing to do what it took to get deals done. The biggest losers of the free agency period though had to be HC Davos, who saw pretty well the entire roster head to free agency, crippling the team after several runs for a championship. The biggest winners thus far at the time of writing would have to be the New York Americans, who got O'Malley and Light signed to deals and the Riga Reign, who brought in Richardson and Jerrick Poole to help lead their team as well.

 

S47 Entry Draft...

The Entry Draft will have come and gone by the time this article is released, but will anyone have even noticed? While the S47 draft does feature some nice prospects, like John Sleeman, to pick up with the first few picks, it seems as though this draft will go down as one of the weakest Entry Drafts known in league history. There seems to be no hope for the draft even getting picks done in the second round, so while GMs may be excited for a no-stress night with only a few picks coming early, it seems that this draft will have a rippling effect on the league that will see a lack of talent briefly with barely any stronger prospects coming from this class. With a fantastic S48 Draft right around the corner though, with a massive amount of players set to retire and their player agencies bring in young hopefuls, maybe the league will be all right with a weak draft class. Hopefully recruitment will be stronger going forward though.

 

[Toast 887]

West Europe Prevails...

The World Cup wrapped up right before the VHL season began with Western Europe managing to pull off the back-to-back golds in tournaments. Europe was a heavy favourite going into the tournament, as the players who pulled it off the first time around had developed into true stars. Led by the likes of Hans Wingate and Bismarck Koenig, the Euros were able to beat Team Scandinavia in the final after defeating team World in the semi-final. Team Mercenaries managed to get the bronze medal with a big 5-1 win over Team World. The Mercs drew some criticism for a roster of strong players that were regarded as being FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY from their nations as the players weren't very active in the VHL world, and most believe that Team Mercs should be for younger actives who weren't able to make their nation's squad. While the tournament awards have not been handed out at this point, it's believed they will be awarded by the time Edition 271 is published. Congratulations go out to all for another successful tournament, and we already look forward to what the next tournament will bring.

 

RIP Super Cup...

Draper announced some minor changes for the off-season but the biggest surprise of them all had to be the loss of the Super Cup. The Fantasy Draft tournament which followed the World Cup for off-season fun has been dissolved before the S47 edition. With not much interest in the tournament it seemed, it has been decided that the World Cup will now happen every two off-seasons with something hopefully to fill the off-season with nothing going on. The S46 World Cup may have taken a hit due to it being cramped up in with everything else that was going on for the VHL, so one can only imagine how little attention that the Super Cup would've drawn this off-season. The announcement was seemingly not noticed by much or over-shadowed by the announcement of the death of inactive bonuses, killing Brovy's plan to pay Le'Sean Coutzen seven million for one season.

 

Award Drama...

Some members were not very pleased when the Award List was revealed and Milos Denis was awarded the Kanou over Koponen, with a vote of 6-4 from the league's general managers or team representatives. Koponen has a successful post-season campaign with the eventual cup winners, the Helsinki Titans while Denis was able to tear it up in the first round against the Toronto Legion. While Denis' Calgary Wranglers were able to make it to the Finals yet again, only to fall to the Titans yet again, most do not find him deserving of the Kanou. There has been an outcry for general managers to pay more attention to the underlying stats when voting for awards, or to consider something more than a stat line when voting. Denis will keep his Kanou as he goes off for a happy retirement, but hopefully this will mean more focused voting next time around.

[Toast 887]

Trade Deadline...

The trade deadline is right around the corner with the announcement coming early Monday morning. The deadline will take place Saturday, February 6th at 8p.m. central. By the time this article is released to the public eyes, the deadline will have come and gone. After the past couple of off-seasons being phenomenal for trades that have shaken up the league, it's assumed that the deadline will not amount to much with teams set on competing and rebuilding long before this. Hopefully with the Saturday deadline though, there will be some minor deals done to make it a bit more lively for others. With the deadline approaching, members were permitted to re-create on the first of the month. It's not really known who will be re-creating at the time of this writing, but hopefully by the time of the article being released, hopefully there will be some news on that front. I will be retiring Kurtis Hunter soon after this is submitted, so it was a good run with him at least!

 

All Star Game...

It was announced earlier last week that the All Star Game would be getting a massive revamp as well. Instead of the usual thrown-together game in the off-season, now the ASG will be a spectacle to look forward to right around the same time as the trade deadline. Two Captains will be chosen and draft from a list of players chosen by the Board. This season, the first ASG under the new format will be captained by the capable hands of Phil and Sterling. With the celebration underway to usher in the new format of the game, point tasks related to the ASG have been granted double pay for the week of the all star game only. So if you haven't submitted your point task by the time you read this, you're probably out of luck. Kudos to all of those involved to get everyone excited for the upcoming event though.

 

RIP Chat...

The one thing that has seemed to be in the spotlight for many members is the temporary loss of the league's beloved chat system. When the old, Facebook-style instant messenger was given the boot to upgrade the forum, many were outraged. After just a quick few weeks with the new system though, it seems the new chat is even more loved than the last! But recently it seems that the chat has been out of service. With claims that the chat was being updated or something, it seems there is an issue with the DNS, causing the service to be lost for a week thus far at the time of writing. Hopefully by the time the article is actually released, the issue will have been resolved and we will all be able to go back to the usual random chat that has been causing members to waste hours doing nothing. If it still isn't resolved by the time you read this however? Just keep trying to join. Maybe we can all get Higgin's junk email folder to 9999.

[Toast 887]

VWF…

The Victory Wrestling Federation has taken the forum by storm. In an usual rough period of the season following the trade deadline leading to the post-season, there is a usual mull in activity. Thanks to Molholt though, a portion of the league has a fun little distraction to get through this point of the season. Members are given the opportunity to create a wrestler in-depth as creative as they can get. From there, the created wrestlers are put into WWE 2K16 for some simulated matches which are broadcasted over Twitch for everyone to enjoy. With the success of the first few events, it seems that the federation is growing quickly with an opportunity for members to add points to their stars in hopes of more success for their upcoming stars. Who knows where this upstart will go from here, but here’s hoping that it will continue to assist the regular season as members search for ways to help pass the time.

 

Recruitment Game Strong…

After the disappointing Entry Draft which doesn’t ever need to be mentioned again, it seems that the league actually isn’t dying after a slew of recruits signed up for the league over the past few days. From returning members to newbies all together, it seems that the S49 Draft class will be a strong one as well. With the top players of S48 also looking mighty impressive as we approach the Draft, it looks like the future of the league will be pretty damn nice with a good amount of talent cycling through the league at this point. While focus will be on the upcoming draft for the next few weeks for sure, at least there is reason already to be excited about S49, the draft rankings, and whatever else is to come over the next few months. Whatever we have been doing over the past couple weeks has been great and hopefully will bring in more recruits. This also just goes to show rough points of recruitment need not cause panic around here. We all know we’ll panic anyways though.

 

The returns…

Last week the VHL Magazine saw the return of sterling, Victor, and Draper as well. With the returns came a strong edition of the Magazine to usher in the new era of the All-Star Game, which seems to have gone down with a ton of success as well. It has been a good past few days for the league, with the return of these three to the Magazine also being some great news for the league. Sterling is regarded as one of the best writers across the Magazine’s lifespan while Victor brings up some of the most interesting topics. Draper is best known for being a drapist through his time with the Mag, supposedly. With the strong return of these three however, also came the return of controversy. Kendrick became slightly angered about comments made about Mason Richardson’s final season as he chases some last few awards. Kendrick started a few words with the Americans, so if you haven’t seen that debate, go check out the All-Star editions topic.

[Toast 887]

Jardy…
Earlier in the week it was announced that VHL Playoffs would start on Thursday night. The fact that the announcement was made by Jardy should have been enough to cause some red alerts around the league. Surely enough, come Thursday night, excited VHLers around the site were left with no sim and a simmer that was nowhere to be found. The league and their simmer failed to discuss a backup plan if Jardy was to miss the sim, which left the league scrambling early Friday. Games one and two of the first round were simmed late afternoon with notice going out to the general managers that a sim would happen way later on that night to catch to league up. Jardy then returned and decided to go ahead with the sim however, just three or four hours after the first sim. While this didn’t matter for most, it did matter for one team. At playoff time, you expect everything would be planned ahead and not just rushed, right? Supposedly not. Hopefully next time around, the league will finally realize they need a solid Plan B, and not an emergency plan.

 

Stropko…
The victim of the quick first round sim was the Riga Reign, who once found themselves on the wrong end of a sweep at the hands of the Stockholm Vikings. The craziest thing from the four games has to be the three game winning goals from Brady Stropko, a late pick up for the Vikings who were desperately looking to make a run in the post-season clearly. Three game winners is probably the most any player will see across all of the playoffs, so it seems very likely that Stropko would end up winning playoff MVP if the Vikings were able to continue this run and somehow dethrone the reigning champions, the Helsinki Titans. Many Vikings had strong performances against Riga, but none match the performance of the great Stropko. All hail boubabi and his wise decisions.

 

Rebuilds…
Following another four losses, which brings Riga to a total of 0 wins and 12 losses in the post-season over their past three runs, it seems inevitable that the Reign are going to have to start a rebuild. With Richardson, Poole, and Hunter all leaving to retirement land there seems no one to handle their work load for the skaters. Then, goalie Hans Wingate will test free agency after a disappointing season statistic wise. This leaves Bronson Faux and Raphael Pettyfer as the only pieces that could potentially get Riga something to work with in the future. With no pick in the upcoming entry draft either from the trade to acquire Wingate, this leaves the Reign in a rough spot. Fortunately, another team looking at a potential rebuild, the Calgary Wranglers, own the Riga draft pick and will be able to start a rebuild quite effectively if they are to go for one. Keep a close eye on the VHL this off-season as there should be some entertaining big moves coming up.

[Toast 887]

Down go the Titans…
It seems that just about everyone in the league figured hat we would have to deal with the Helsinki Titans repeating yet again and a power trip from Draper so large that the league wouldn’t know what to do with itself! Thankfully, our lords and saviours, the Stockholm Vikings managed to dethrone the champions with the unexpected series win. Stockholm doesn’t even come close to the band of actives that Helsinki sports, but it seems that the system was just too much for Helsinki to handle. With stars like Stropko continuing to lead the Vikings, Stockholm was able to overcome the odds and is now in the midst of a Finals series against the New York Americans, who were able to beat Calgary in seven games to secure their ticket as well. So, with Stockholm going from last in the conference to the VHL Finals, people can’t help but cheer for them against the Americans. After all, who actually wants to see the Americans win here? This is a serious pick your poison kind of situation.

Mysterious Force…
Earlier this week, the league grew increasingly worried about the location of HC Davos general manager Ahma, who had not appeared on the site for several days. His inactivity streak went for almost a week as he channeled his inner Coach before finally reappearing and putting everyone’s concerns to rest. With how active Ahma has been since joining the league, it shouldn’t be a surprise that there are those who felt that his sudden disappearance was shocking to say the least. Then, as soon as Ahma returned, we lost Jardy for a sim day which caused some panic within the league as it related to one of the most important games thus far in the post-season. Thankfully, Jardy also overcame the odds and returned unharmed as well. The point of all of this is that there must be some sort of mysterious force working behind the scenes, causing our members to go inactive at any given time. I ask everyone to tie their respected ones down somewhere to make sure that this ‘Force’ doesn’t take control of them too. Save the members!

Recruitment Drive…
Most importantly in this week’s news is easily the most important as well. The VHL Recruitment Drive is getting an overhaul that will hopefully spark some of the best draft classes that the league has seen in quite some time. Out with the old system, and welcome to the uncapped TPE campaign. As you all can read in the announcements thread, which will be linked after these comments, there is an insane amount of TPE up for grabs. On top of the usual 3 and 10TPE up for grabs for 75 and 200TPE milestones, there is now 1, 2, and 2TPE for creating, 50, and 175TPE. That seems almost too easy, so anyone not trying to recruit is out of their minds right now. On top of all of this are extra points for related point tasks, a doubles week, and various other things to get everyone excited for the weeks to come for recruitment! It should be a good Drive anyways. See the full details: http://www.vhlforum.com/index.php?/topic/28474-the-recruitment-drive-that-was-promised/

[Toast 887]

Poor Free Agency…
The past couple of off-seasons may have spoiled us. We saw some big names like Bismarck Koenig making his inevitable run through free agency with a supporting cast of characters such as Mason Richarson, Lloyd Light, and James Faraday. Now, it seems that the VHL GMs are fighting over the very scraps of the league. If you ask me, this is what Free Agency should be most of the time. Teams trying to pick up depth or cap to meet the floor and nothing really more minus the odd big name. This is the perfect world where everyone in the VHL is a true team player and will go along with everything, but alas things will never be that way. So while this season may be kind of a bore for anyone looking for those big signings, at least it’s pretty well certain that these big signings will be back again at some point. The power of the league needs to shift through several teams to keep things interesting and free agents will make sure that happens by testing free agency when possible for some members.

Black Velvet…
The debate that has been going on for a few months now has finally come to an end. After winning the draft lottery, the Toronto Legion made the choice to select Black Velvet with their first overall pick in Saturday night’s VHL Entry Draft. With the Velvet pick planned, Toronto also made the move to secure some of the top talent that the VHL has to offer with some teams deciding to take the rebuild approach to things. Velvet will join an already strong offense, with some other depth coming from the previously mentioned trades. The Legion were also able to sign coveted free agent Hans Wingate, who will be looking for a turn around season. With all of these pieces coming together for the Legion, it’s clear that the team will be giving the Americans a lot of pain to deal with throughout the season. Could the team dethrone the Champions next season and show just how quickly a team can rise to the top of their conference?

Mag Changes…
It comes with sad hearts that the Mag will be parting with Molholt as the Magazine’s editor. M has been great for the issues that he has overseen, making sure to get the public eye on the Mag and even generating some discussion for the Mag. It even seemed readership was at an all-time high based on comments made about the Mag. Unfortunately, being updater of this is a lot of extra work on the league. Something GMs already have a lot to deal with in the first  place. Taking over for Molholt will be none other than former editor STZ, who has been there for some of the Mag’s high points and certainly some of its low points. So rest assured, regardless of the sudden changes to the team, the VHL Mag has a lot of plans going forward. Stay on board for the ride as our writers work to bring you some of the most in-depth pieces of work yet!

[STZ 5,280]

"certainly some of it's low points"?

 

wtf Toast, you want a Stone Cold Stunner?

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

O'Malley not even in the support cast for the free agency from the last off seasons. This hurts Toast  

STZ, fire him!

[BOOM 8,408]

1 hour ago, Green said:

O'Malley not even in the support cast for the free agency from the last off seasons. This hurts Toast  

STZ, fire him!

 

That's because NY chose O'Malley over Koenig(who wouldn't?) after it was close to a done deal. Toast has my back!

 

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

I was a package deal with Street ;)

[BOOM 8,408]

[Toast 887]

My bad, I just type the first thing I think of. It's necessary to follow highs with lows in a sentence. You're the best as long as you keep signing my paychecks, Steezy!

[Toast 887]

Successful Drive…
March 13th marked the end of the most hyped up recruitment drive that this league has seen in quite some time it seems. Lots of uncapped TPE was given away for members who brought in some new crop, or simply helped spread the word by making their point task related to the recruitment drive. After a sad, sad draft in S47, it was time for some serious changes to be made to the efforts going in to recruitment around the league. Sure, there could’ve been a better effort from some of the guys who complain about this topic often enough, but it’s nice to see old and new faces alike making a debut (or re-debut) to the league. With the end of this drive, hopefully we will see the new players continue to put the work in and hopefully another recruitment drive like this at some point to encourage the members to keep working to get people in.

 

Campbell and FA woes…
Blake Campbell backstopped the New York Americans as they went on to win their championship. Unfortunately for Campbell though, that effort wouldn’t be enough to keep him around. With a young goaltender working his way through the system towards what should be a brilliant career, and with the Americans looking to stay atop the conference and league… the team bid adieu to Campbell. So, Campbell was off to free agency. Coming from the Banackock player agency, Campbell was arguably a top free agent… but received no offers until the last few days. Now the player is left to consider retirement due to no interest from strong teams (who have had their goalies for seasons and seasons now). So, while this could be attributed to a rough FA class (Coutzen got paid 7 mil…), this is more so the lack of spots for goalies in the VHL with too many options around. It seems that Campbell simply has been pushed out of the league, and it’s a damn shame.

 

Off-season issues…
A few members have been very vocal about their concerns with the off-season. The VHL fashion for the off-season is to have a schedule set in place as soon as the off-season is open, so people are aware of the plan. Unfortunately this season, even though a schedule was announced… it really hasn’t been followed. While off-season in a sim league is brutal to manage for commissioners and league staff, it makes sense why there would be some who are openly upset about the lack of communication on what’s going on from league officials and the failure to follow a schedule that was announced to the league already. The blame for delays can be put on several people though, rather than one party. So while the season’s start is still a mystery (scheduled for the 11th with no sign of the season as of writing on the 13th), it seems that everything will work out in the end. At least next off-season the World Cup will return and everyone should be at least distracted by what’s going on there instead of focusing on a schedule…

[Toast 887]

Slow Start…

The off-season certainly dragged on for some, and those members weren’t afraid to share their thoughts on that. Then the season started, and while things have been going smoothly through the first chunk of the season, things just don’t feel right. Discussion has been pretty quiet recently, but with vacation season upon us and the final stretch of school for students approaching, it seems that this should just be expected for a good chunk of the season. There isn’t really much that can help the regular season out as it’s going to be quiet regardless. But for those of us who are around, get vocal! Cheer your team on in the game threads, get some discussion going for whatever you’re interested in right now! Anything will help the whole community get a little more chatty as the season keeps heading towards the exciting points of the season. It’s going to be a rough start, but like every other time we can get through it no problem.

Unstoppable Legion…

One heck of a re-brand and a phenomenal off-season can really turn things around. There’s proof in the VHL of this with the Toronto Legion, who after 13 games to start the season, are undefeated on the road and only have one loss. The Legion were able to get a great draft picks for the Entry Draft, and were also able to pick up Hans Wingate from Free Agency to turn the team into a legitimate contender. It seemed that the New York Americans would be the team to watch again in the NA, but Toronto has started off burning hot and will look to continue that going through the rest of the regular season. While their one loss comes against New York, the Legion have many over bright spots that make the loss forgettable. Wingate is on pace to put on one of greatest seasons from a Keeper ever seen, and the Legion have proved they can compete against strong teams, as they have beat the Americans on several occasions. Congratulations on the heck of a start, Toronto!

Struggling Titans…

On the other side of the world, we have a team that seems to be struggling a tiny bit. While the Helsinki Titans are as good as ever, the team isn’t performing at the level expected of the squad at this point. The Titans have nine wins and five losses on the season so far. Their 18 points is only enough to keep them in second place in the conference by one point, with the Cologne Express trailing right behind them. The reeling European conference is expected to be a cakewalk for the Titans and Vikings, who are easily the strongest of the teams, with the Express ready to take things for themselves going forward. As Helsinki’s roster continues to age, they’re definitely praying for a turn around from players like Phil Hamilton. If the Titans can get some consistency for the team going, they’re sure to compete for the conference title and face one of the NA juggernauts. For more info about the Titan’s season, make sure to read The Beat!

[Toast 887]

Helsinki Over Cap…
The end of this week saw a lot of news come out, but the biggest news of it all would have to be the fact that Helsinki has been operating over the cap by 1.5 million. While the fault seems to be on Helsinki for the most part, this really wasn’t that big of an offense. Some drama in this seems to come from DGFX’s player, Kendrick Cole. As Cole never truly accepted his contract offer from Helsinki, technically Helsinki was within the cap. Then the crime would become them playing with an illegal play on their roster, so regardless the punishment of one 3rd rounder being stripped from the team would probably stand. As it’s just merely a third rounder being taken from the team, this can be looked at as more of a slap on the wrist more than anything. This kind of thing could have happened to anyone, and since Helsinki was just barely over the cap, there wasn’t too much to be concerned about here. 

Forum update…
It’s fair to say that since the move to the new forum, the VHL has seen a lot of upgrades. From being able to tag members in their posts, to being able to stroke the ego of members, or even the chat… there is plenty to be happy about with the site. Very recently though, the forum has been most recently updated with the ability to embed videos. So now, on top of all the other thing that you can do to get on people’s nerves or be buddy, buddy with them… you can now link videos directly to the site and have them play from here to show your proper reaction! There’s not really many major updates that could come to the forum, so something like this will definitely be welcomed with open arms by the members around here. 

 

Seattle too good…
Before the season started it seemed that the league was discussing the inevitable North American final that would happen between two of the giants in the league, New York and Toronto. Since the season began though, there has been a team performing under the shadows it seems. As of the time of writing, the Seattle Bears are currently sitting in second place in the conference, ahead of the Americans. Some might argue that the Bears haven’t really faced much competition to start in the season, but the Bears have found ways to beat the Titans on a regular basis as well as win a few of their games against the NA giants. The issue is that lately it seems the Bears are struggling. There is no doubt now that the team needs more credit than it has been given so far, but will they be able to hold on to their second place spot in the conference? That will be something to follow as the season moves on. This is just proof that once again, we can’t completely predict what will happen in a season. Keep your eyes on Mengsk and the Bears! 

[Toast 887]

Jokes on you…
For April Fool’s, it seemed any site of prominence around the Internet was coming up with a gag that would get them attention. Surely, there was no way the VHL was going to be left behind! While the NHL announced a rebrand of the New Jersey Devils to the New Jersey Angels, the VHL went even higher by announcing that the league would be expanding in the legendary S50. Vasteras would be making a return to the league and a North American team that was simply revealed to be the Pirates. Location would be determined by the successful candidate who would opt to take on either of these two sad, new teams. There were also details of an expansion draft to go along with the gag, but I was too angry about Vasteras and didn’t even bother to read that part. On the plus side though, at least the gag well well thought out and had some good content behind it. We should be happy there was something at all to entertain us.

New GM Applications…
While the April Fool’s joke was looking for GMs of the new expansion team as a joke, it seems the league is actually on the hunt for some new general managers to step into the league. It’s not revealed when these GMs would be taking the jobs, or who would be stepping down from their current team. While the posting is as vague as it gets for information, this could be a great opportunity for those who want to get involved in the league on a higher level. It’s assumed however that this is just to give the league options in the unfortunate situation that someone has to step down from their spot, like Ahma did not too long ago. That way the league at least will have a starting point when it comes to looking for someone else to step into the spotlight. 

Draft woes…
Sure, there are a good handful of players who look like they will become studs in the top half of the upcoming VHL Entry draft. The concern here though is that it’s just that. Once that handful of players are out of the way early in the top half of the first round, the S49 draft is going to mellow out quick. After the hard work the league put into recruiting before the season started, people were probably hoping for this draft to turn out a little better than it did. People will be killing themselves trying to get Green or gorlab for sure, but hopefully there is a plan in place to make sure that the S50 draft will be one that blows people away. Kendrick just recently released the latest edition of his rankings for the upcoming draft, so head over to the usual place to get some info on your S49 draftees thus far.

[Toast 887]

All Star Game…
It may have already happened by the time this piece is officially published, but the VHL All Star game is right around the corner. Ruutu and boubabi were selected as captains by a public vote, which was met with some controversy when munk was not voted in despite a solid effort from a group of members. The cast of players who would be taking part in the event was also decided upon by VHL members again, with some real close votes being the highlights of the week leading up to the game. With the rosters selected, the VHL called on members to select the starters for the game as well. The All Star Game is the second under this format which has seemingly been met with positive feedback from most who partake in the voting and so forth. Helsinki, Toronto, and Seattle all led the VHL teams with five players from their rosters being named to the VHL spectacle. To help celebrate the event, the league was offering to pay any point task related to the All Star game double the TPE! This was also offered for tasks related to the Young Stars Game that was mentioned, but seemingly never lifted off the ground despite expectations. 

Trade Deadline…
Also taking place on the Monday along with the All Star Game was the VHL Trade Deadline. With most teams ready to go for the post-season, not too many moves were expected to take place. With teams right up against the cap, there wasn’t really much room for teams to take on more salary despite the retained salary bonuses. With just 24 hours to go in the deadline at the time of writing, it seems all the deals that will be taking place have been filed. With Calgary sending Tim TebowGow to the Toronto Legion for more draft picks, making the Wranglers rebuild looking pretty appealing for younger players. Other deals saw Davos and Stockholm swap depth players while Cologne acquired THE MAN, BRADY STROPKO from Davos… and Callum Sinclair as well for a pair of third round picks. The VHL is ready for its final stretch!

Retiring Commences…
With the announcement of the trade deadline’s official date and the All Star Game earlier in the week, the league announced that members were officially allowed to retire and re0create for the big S50 draft. With the head start given a go-ahead on the 4th, it took a few members a little bit of time to start going with the retirements, but its nice to see the class off to a solid start. While we do see one GM player from eaglesfan, the likes of solas and Jack will be recreating as well. The league will certainly be planning something for the big draft as well, as it will mark a historic moment for the league. With the death of TebowGow, let’s just hope that mentioning Tebow by any means will finally succumb to it’s slow and painful road to this point.

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Playoffs begin…
By the time that this article has published, the long awaited VHL playoffs will have begun(and hopefully the VHLM ones as well). The season has seemingly gone by with a whimper, except when the All Star game period brought us back to life. Since then teams have just been patiently waiting what will happen in the post-season, with some teams looking forward to the draft lottery more than the playoffs itself. With that said, will the playoffs bring the VHL community together for some more discussion. The forum seems to be lacking while the poor chat is definitely suffering. It would be interesting to see if the league pays attention to all of the playoffs or just follows their own teams specifically. There is definitely a group of core members who will follow the games regardless, but what about the average Joe of the league? This is something to watch as the post-season progresses for sure. Let’s see if the league cares about the post-season because it’s the playoffs, or if it’s just because their own team is there.

North American Conference…
This Victory Three will be dedicated to taking a look at the playoffs before they officially begin, and the North American conference has certainly given us a lot to talk about. Toronto will be getting the bye into the second round, and as CiA mentioned in a previous thread, this is the first time that Wingate has had the honour of having the bye to the conference. Is this a blessing or a curse though? In the round one match up we will be seeing the New York Americans take on the Seattle Bears. New York as awfully close to getting the bye themselves and was regarded as a favourite to win it all once again, which makes it seem that New York will beat Seattle in their first round match. We all know what can happen when the Bears are regarded as the underdogs though… so anything could happen in the first round. More than likely, we will see the clash of the Goliaths in the conference final. Toronto has had a fantastic season, but New York is up there right with them. North America is the conference to watch this post-season!

European Conference…
For the love of God! Once again we will see the Helsinki Titans take their bye to the conference final as their dynasty continues to make a run at the Cup. The Titans have certainly taken a few hits over the seasons, but with the core of the group continuing to develop, it’s easy to see why this team continues to make a run at the cup. In the first round, the Stockholm Vikings will be taking on Cologne Express in what should be a clear round one result. Well, we’ll have to see, because as mentioned for the Bears, anything can happen in the playoffs. We should be seeing a rematch of the Titans and Vikings clash. Maybe something different will play out? This is certainly exciting!

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Seattle please…
Again we see something that is almost unimaginable in the playoffs! Somehow, the Seattle Bears ousted the New York Americans in a seven-game series to punch their ticket to the conference finals against the Toronto Legion. While the Legions and Americans were regarded as near equals heading into the post-season, the Americans weren’t able to beat the third seed in the conference and have given a hope to the VHL fanatics that are hoping to see another Seattle cinderella run in the playoffs. As we head into game six of the conference finals at the time of this writing, Toronto has the slight lead on Seattle, but there is no counting out the Bears so far. There have been many whispers around the VHL fanbase that this could be the work of VHL simmer and Seattle Bears player manager, Jardy, but really those beliefs are foolish even  if the conspiracy theories are lining up. It has been a heck of a run for Seattle so far though.

Riga secures #1…
Going into the draft lottery everyone knew that anything crazy could happen especially with the lottery format that the VHL has adopted. The last-seeded team, the Riga Reign, managed to keep the first-overall selection and go into the important and stressful challenge of picking first overall. With a franchise that definitely needs a good turn around, they are going to need to make sure that they make the proper selection when the league gets to draft time. The rest of the order stayed the same as well with the Calgart Wranglers winning the right to pick second overall while HC Davos and the Quebec City Meute will select third and fourth overall respectably. With the draft lottery out of the way, the attention will for sure move back to the playoff games that are underway reasonably. But with the draft quickly approaching everyone will be paying attention to the players who are soon to find some professional league homes.

Lotto winner…
Surprisingly, despite all the odds set against everyone, we saw a winner of the jackpot 10 uncapped TPE in last week’s edition of the VHL Magazine! YEAH! Was the big winner of our jackpot and will definitely be using those points in hopes of keeping the Americans competing for one last championship, but now would seem like a great time to change the lottery system with the VHL Magazine. Everyone around the VHL should know that there have been whispers of this happening for the past few editions and as we pass the big #300, it seems the time for change would be now if ever. So make sure to let us know if you feel like change would be appropriate or if you feel that the lottery system is fine as is. Would you like to see some numbers for inactive members removed? Would you like to see a whole new system introduced? Make sure to comment and let us know! All feedback is always appreciated.

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Helsinki GM change…
One of the most surprising pieces of news from the past week is definitely the change of power in the Helsinki Titans front office. Draper has decided he has reached the end of his road, and has opted to focus more on his commissioner duties while Daniel will be given a crack at the role of VHL GM. A job posting/interest thread was posted weeks back fielding who was interested around the league for the opportunity to become a GM, and with the right candidate ready to take his moment, the Titans opted for the GM switch. Of course, as Daniel is the player agent of Dadanov, a move had to be made to make sure Daniel would be connected to the Helsinki franchise. Dadanov along with Quebec’s S49 1st and S50 2nd were shipped to Helsinki while Quebec received star VHLers Greg Clegane and Alexei Koponen, thus ending Draper’s run with the Titans completely. We wish Daniel the best of luck in his new role and give congratulations to Draper for an arguable HOF builder run with Helsinki.

World Cup returns…
It’s that time of the year again with the off-season featuring one of the greatest spectacles known to the VHL members, the off-season World Cup. Not much has changed since the last time around where we saw Western Europe won Gold. While some players have left the game and newbies are looking for their shot at World Cup glory, most of the same results are expected for the S48 campaign it seems. Following the Continental Cup Championship being awarded, all attention has turned to this tournament, with the announcement of who will be leading each nation as the general manager. All six members selected have played a strong part of the VHL community and will without a doubt be heavily involved with the tournament, meaning members can expect lots of interaction with the sims and such. It should be a lovely time so keep tuned in as Nations select their rosters in the coming days.

Toronto pulls it off…
It seems as though many expected that it would happen, but the Toronto Legion made it official in just five games when they ousted the Helsinki Titans to capture the Continental Cup. After making important signings and trades in the off-season leading to the season, it seemed the Legion were poised for a run to the Finals. With New York also finding themselves eliminated at the hands of the Bears, Toronto’s work load in the conference final was arguably lighter than what it could have been. It takes a heck of a performance to win the championship in a short five game series however, so congratulations on behalf of the VHL Magazine staff go ut to Molholt and the rest of the Toronto Legion for a fantastic regular and post-season. Enjoy the win!

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Kronos goes #1…
After a few days of speculation, it was finally made official at the S49 VHL Entry Draft. The Riga Reign found their man in defenseman Titan Kronos, who will hopefully become the face of the team for the months to come. The draft went very smoothly it seemed with the biggest surprise coming when Pietro Maximoff, of the famed Green agency, fell all the way to the fifth-overall pick, and was even traded merely a day later when it seemed that contract negotiations were not going as expected. In a defense-heavy draft, it was expected that a few of the top picks would go for offense since it was lacking in the draft. Calgary and Davos instead stayed with defense, taking Ted Doughty and Bobby Digital respectively, giving each of the main rebuilding teams a big piece for their blue line. Another interesting fact to already come from the draft is both S49 class goalies have decided to switch positions, with both AK47 and Sven Wolf giving up their blockers and pads.

Changes in Seattle…
A shockwave went through the front offices of the VHL a few hours before the Entry Draft. It was announced that Mike, GM of the Seattle Bears, would be stepping away from his team shortly after joining the team. Blake Campbell, a successful VHLM GM, was named the new GM of the Bears in the very same press conference. It didn’t take long for Campbell to assert himself as one of the more gutsy GMs in the league, as he made trades to bring in the likes of AK47, hoping to keep the team strong through multiple generations. Seattle also played the free agency market well, securing the rights of Biggu Kyanon and re-signing Hamilton for an extra season. With the strong defense, can the Bears find a way to make a run in one of the best conferences in the S49 North American group?

Awards Announced…
Sunday night the VHL and VHLM came together for their annual award ceremony and of course, there were definitely some surprises with some of the award winners. Edwin Reencarnacion continues to prove that he is one of the best players of his generation as he cleaned up on awards night, taking home the VHL’s Scotty Campbell, Slobodzian, and Boulet (just to name three of his five awards…) after a dominate season that we may not see replicated! There are many other players that deserve credit, like Sandro Clegane for winning the Shaw, and Marcel Faux taking home the Dustin Funk trophy. Of course, with the award ceremony comes some strong opinions from the VHL members, so make sure to check out the thread for everyone’s opinions a they are sure to be posted over the next few days. Congratulations go out all the VHL and VHLM players who were able to take home trophies for S48!

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Recruitment Drive…
As expected, the league officially revealed a spectacular recruitment drive for S50. With S50 being a milestone season that some leagues don’t even dream of hitting, and with some issues of smaller teams, it’s time for the league to do everything they can to get some new blood or returning blood back around here. The offers were laid out to all members to get recruiting, with uncapped TPE up for grabs for every recruit that they bring in. On top of this, whenever a recruit hits a certain TPE milestone the recruiter gets a nice bonus of more uncapped TPE to compensate. Recruits can be new VHL members who have never experienced the league before, or getting someone to return to the league who has been inactive for quite some time. There hasn’t been much of a turnout so far a week into the Drive, but with league-wide bonuses available if certain totals are hit, it seems as though members will eventually get to work.

 

Two Players…
Another idea that has been circulating the forums as of late is allowing members to bring two players into the league. And idea that was originally presented by Molholt back earlier this month. Since the suggestion was made, the idea has been picking up lots of steam with the backing of many key members in the community. So much so that there was even a proposal of how the league would start to usher in the two player era. And what better time to start this stuff than at the pivotal S50? Victor was even kind enough to show some support for new members to get their second players as well with a thought-out add-on to the original proposal. While the idea won’t come into place for at least a couple more seasons it seems, at least there seems to be quite a set of legs on this proposal. At some point, VHL members will have two players. Once this change does come into effect, teams aren’t going to be the same… heck, the league will never be the same.

 

The VHLSC watches…
An account for the VHLSC recently popped up and allows a great idea to take an even bigger part of the site up. This gives the scouting central a chance to interact more with the prospects of the upcoming VHL Entry Draft and hopefully provide pro teams with more information as the draft draws nearer. It will be interesting to see if anything else comes from this account other than discussions with the prospects and posting the usual editions of the VHLSC, or if there is something even bigger planned for the account. Kudos to whoever came up with that idea. Prospects, get talking with the VHLSC account if you want something to be added in on the usual scouting report! A new great way to raise your draft stock has presented itself, don’t go blowing the opportunity.

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Clegane and Muller…
It was a week that was unexpected by some with big trades going on throughout majority of the league. The great thing is, lots of different teams were involved with the moves! The most recent one of the deals we’re going to cover is a trade that saw Sandro Clegane and Shawn Muller moved from the Seattle Bears to HC Davos in return for Jakab Holik, and Davos’ first and second round picks in the upcoming S50 Entry Draft. The deal works out for both sides with Davos looking to take advantage of a weak European conference while Seattle takes a step back and starts a re-tooling process after trading their first round earlier in the off-season. Members like Jardy and StevenStamkos give Davos a sense of credibility they were desperately looking for, and may represent a turn-around point for the squad. Hopefully it’s only good things to come from this point on for both teams!

 

Faux joins Champs…
Right as the weekend began, another big move took place with the toronto Legion looking to load up for their potential repeat as champions. For this they brought in a Helsinki trooper in Marcel Faux. Tylar has been a member of the Titans for quite some time, and would’ve had no issue sticking around with the rebuilding team. It made sense for Helsinki to seek a return for the player though, and they were able to get first and second round picks from Toronto for Faux. Faux will now hopefully lend a strong offensive hand to a loaded team, and he has done so already since making his debut with the squad. The best thing of all about this deal though? It really seems to have gotten Tylar back up to full activity. It’s a win for the league if Tylar returns to the level he was at as Saskatoon GM, and a win for both Toronto and Helsinki if they get what they want from the deal as well.

 

Von Braxton moved…
The most shocking of all the recent deals however, was of course the move that saw the New York Americans bring in Ariel Weinstein for Atticus Von Braxton IV and a New York second rounder in the S51 draft. The biggest story from this trade of course is the fact that the Advantage agency will no longer be associated with the New York franchise. Advantage had a fantastic run as the GM of the Americans for quite some time, but it seems right for New York to pull the trigger on this deal to make sure that they can keep fighting with the Legion as they go forward in the season. It’s really odd to see Von Braxton on another team as well, but it’s a deal that works for all sides involved to conclude our coverage of a fantastic set of trades in the past week of the VHL.