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NEED I SAY MORE?

The Houston Bulls achieve 1000 Franchise Regular Season Wins! Graphic Credit: @Vice Entering S93 the Houston Bulls had a total of 988 regular season wins all time. In our 12th win this season, Houston has officially reached the milestone of 1000 Franchise regular season wins. If you'd like to check our history, click me. I want to give a shoutout to the former GMs before me as well, here is the list of wins each GM contributed: S65, S71-S72 @Sonnet - 67 S66-S70 @FrostBeard - 162 S73-S79 @rjfryman - 248 S80-S82 @Moon - 142 (@mattyIceman in S80 too) S83 @Arce - 21 S84-S89, S92-present @AJW - 291 S90-S91 @STZ - 69 Total: 1000 It is very nice to be GM of a franchise with a deep history already, Houston only entered the VHLM in S65, so in 25ish seasons we have averaged roughly shy of 40 wins/season... Tradition, Playoffs, and Development Tradition is something I want to create more of for my team in Houston and reaching this milestone is huge for us. In 25+ seasons the Houston Bulls are still itching for our 2nd Founder's Cup, only hoisting it once in S68. Since my arrival in S84 I am unfortunate to say that I do not sit on the podium along side Frosty, but our playoff history in the last 10 seasons is something that is progressing! S84: 1st round exit S85: Missed Playoffs S86: 1st round exit S87: 2nd round exit S88: 1st round exit S89: 1st round exit S90: Missed Playoffs S91: 2nd round exit S92: 2nd round exit Current S93: 5th overall in standings Houston may hold the 2nd round curse I can't lie. I've been GM for 8 seasons here now and that is the furthest I have managed to push my team. With consistent failure eventually comes success, and I am finding Houston to have success in many other ways besides winning games and trophies. As well as team tradition in consistent playoff appearances and competitive rosters, our team pumps out a lot of young talent! We pride ourselves on development of our players and have seen a lot of recent draft success and gains in TPE. Here's a TPE update on last and current season's rosters to see how everyone's earnings are doing: S92 Roster Antonia Bucatini: 518 TPE Nathan Ecker: 312 TPE Chris Reynolds Jr: 307 TPE Tyler Lawson: 251 TPE Barry McOckiner: 231 TPE Filip Zinek: 175 TPE Jack Dickins: 201 TPE Miner vHLer: 341 TPE Micah Cederbaum: 162 TPE Benjamin Abenduct: 351 TPE Lucy Leitner: 385 TPE Cody Toland: 230 TPE Toby Cook: 150 TPE Ondrej Vencko: 290 TPE Herald Benson: 270 TPE S93 Current Season Roster Filip Zinek: 175 TPE Johnny Tsunami: 169 TPE Elf shoes: 158 TPE Charlie klepacki: 132 TPE Cole Stermer: 130 TPE Hulk Smash: 82 TPE Tommy James Longpre: 67 TPE Ray Stanton: 220 TPE Billy Joel: 214 TPE Wladyslaw Mintus: 206 TPE LaClapbomb Hitstick IV: 70 TPE Herald Benson: 270 TPE Already in last season's roster 12/16 players are ready to move up to the VHLE next season if they haven't already done so. So far with this season's roster we have 10/12 over the 100 TPE mark and 7/12 over the 150 TPE mark. This is really awesome for our team as it puts Houston on the draft map for VHLE and VHL teams to draft our players. With consistent draft success coming from the consistent TPE earning of these talented players, Houston can make a stronger name for itself in the development aspect of our league. It will always be our goal to put the best team on the ice in order to win trophies for our club! Development is the first key of success towards that, so I am pleased to bring in so many new faces who want to hop on board. If you're curious towards our roster this season, we actually made some recent moves! Starting off the season, Houston only acquired contract rights to goaltender Herald Benson. With that in mind and a short stock of draft picks, I traded for two forwards from Miami: Elf shoes and Charlie klepacki. After that, the draft was under way and Houston came out with 2 defenders: Billy Joel and Wladyslaw Mintus, and another forward: Cole Stermer, bringing our roster total to a 4-2-1. This was below bare minimum and thankfully two waivers decided to join right away, forwards: Hulk Smash and Tommy James Longpre. The season rolled on and Houston was only successful for one more waiver signing in forward: Johnny Tsunami, bringing our roster to a 7-2-1. With trade deadline around the corner, a second trade was needing to be made: Graphic Credit: @Vice Defenders Ray Stanton and LaClapbomb Hitstick IV enter the locker room for the cost of two future draft picks. Houston was in need of the support on the blue line in order to have a successful playoff run this season. With second season star Herald Benson putting up league leading numbers, and our second line of forwards: Cole Stermer, Charlie klepacki, and Elf shoes leading the charge on offense, this trade felt like the missing puzzle piece we needed. Before the trade, Houston was riding a last ten game record of 4-5-1. Since the trade, the Bulls have managed to come out of their slump and hold a winning 6-4 record heading towards the trade deadline. I feel good with our play as of late and Houston management will no longer be looking to move assets until the off-season. One more trade was made recently, here, where I made the trade in order to meet S94 pick compliancy. S95 pick compliancy will be a future problem to deal with. --- Now here we are in present date. Houston sits in 3rd, 1 point behind the Las Vegas Aces for 1st place in the Western Conference. It will be a battle to the finish line but I have full faith in the squad we have created this season to find another deep playoff run. The birdies have also been chirping and a recruitment drive may take place following this season's trade deadline. Will Houston see some new faces enter the locker room? Hopefully a fuller roster can be a reality for the Bulls as playoffs are only weeks away. Either way, thank you again to anyone and everyone who has contributed towards Houston's all time team success. 1000 wins is a huge accomplishment that I will hold high for us Houston Bulls

Player Information Username: Phil Player Name: Phil Sakic Recruited From: Member (Knight) Age: 17 Position: LW Height: 71 in. Weight: 195 lbs. Birthplace: United Kingdom Player Page @VHLM GM

Player Information Username: RileyL Player Name: Boris Bone-Breaker Recruited From: Returning Age: 29 Position: D Height: 78 in. Weight: 238 lbs. Birthplace: Russia Player Page @VHLM GM

Maybe an idea for a third jersey rather than a complete rebrand. Anyways, hope you like it.

For no other reason than because foxes are my favorite animal and Halifax is the VHLM team I'm most involved with, I introduce to you the Halifax Foxes! For anyone who might think this is serious, let me be clear, it's not. I think that the reference to Pier 21 in the Halifax 21st name is an amazing moniker for a VHLM team and I have no serious reason to suggest it change... but we can have fun here, and that was the goal when I put together this rebrand-- and it's not like Foxes aren't native to Nova Scotia, right? *Google confirms they are!* In any case, here are the jerseys! Home Away Alternate I'm not the biggest fan of the diagonal wordmark (unless it's the New York Rangers), but I didn't have an alternate logo to use and it looked decent enough with the gradient so I decided to stick with it. Let me know what you think and why the Halifax Foxes should never exist. And what other names would suit Halifax as a VHLM team? Foxes as a Vancover Wolves minor league affiliate anyone? ༻❁༺ Claimed for 04/14/24 theme week (rebrand)

There’s something amiss in the VHLM right now. There’s definitely something strange going on. I cannot put my finger on it, but I know that I am onto something because the sun is definitely not lining up with the moon. Well apparently it did for a little while, but that doesn’t explain the phenomenon that is happening. And this is the topic I get to write about for my TPE; however, before I get into it, if you read through this I am asking for your help to provide some input and solve this anomaly because I’ve been racking my brain trying to figure it out. How can Halifax 21st be the nemesis of the Saskatoon Wild in season 93? Saskatoon is a dominating team and hands down is going to win the Founders Cup this season, yet every time Saskatoon matches up with Halifax the skies turn dark, the birds stop singing, the squirrels hide their nuts, and Halifax kicks the living shit out of Saskatoon. Halifax and Saskatoon have matched up four times this season, and Halifax has come out on top all four games. These two teams match up two more times in season play, and I’ve got to figure out how Halifax is cheating before the next two games take place. Saskatoon GM, @Dadam30, is doing everything right, and even with their expertise managing the team, cannot seem to overcome the trickery and dirty handed play by Halifax GM, @LucyXpher. Lucyxpher is no stranger to internal investigations, considering the recent jelly coin debacle. But to continue, it has come to the point of having to hire some private investigators to determine what means lucyxpher is doing to cause Saskatoon’s misery. With the help of Harry Bosch, Mitch Rapp, Scott Coleman, Joe Pike, and Elvis Cole, here are some of the potential suspicious actions by Halifax over the course of the season to cause Halifax to have a huge advantage over Saskatoon. When I say “huge advantage” one only needs to look to the record. Look what has happened over those four games. Saskatoon outshot Halifax 102 to 91, yet Halifax put the puck in the net 13 times to Saskatoon’s 4 goals. Halifax was unusually more aggressive in the competitions, outhitting Saskatoon 89 to 68. With the extra hits came more penalty minutes, as Halifax spent 69 minutes in the box while Saskatoon had 57 minutes in the sin bin, yet there was no advantage to Saskatoon. Saskatoon blocked 31 of Halifax’s shots, while Halifax blocked 27 of Saskatoon’s shots. Both teams scored two of their goals on power plays. Given these statistics, the biggest stat that is lopsided, and yes I agree its the most important stat, is the goals scored. What is Lucyxpher doing to give Halifax such an advantage? I asked Elvis Cole to look into this and here is what he found out. Elvis Cole spent a lot of time looking at the accommodations in Halifax, as well as in Saskatoon and he discovered that the conditions of the hotel rooms provided to Saskatoon were sub par. The heating was at uncomfortable levels and the air quality was just above hazardous levels, which is likely the reason the Saskatoon players seemed to be out of shape during the contests in Halifax. Barely breathing while on the ice, there’s no doubt Saskatoon was a victim of foul play. Investigating further, it was determined that Halifax AGM, @Will3, signed for all of the hotel adjustments. To make matters worse, the food provided to Saskatoon was determined to have been poisoned, which to no surprise caused some indigestion problems with Bollos de Trueno, as if Thunder Buns needed any help there. Scott Coleman conducted covert surveillance on a few of Halifax 21st players and reported that John Season, @dylanjj37, spent a lot of time at the Juan Ceson Zoo, which is not unusual, but what he found to be unusual was the secret laboratory that he found John Season going to every day. Coleman noted the unusual manipulation of the monkeys and the walrus. To make matters even more suspicious was the Geico team meeting with John Season and Halifax goaltender, John Webber III, @Webberj. Webber was providing some advice to Duncan the walrus. Coleman came to the conclusion that Webber was given a synthetic cocktail giving him super agility and vision which played a pivotal role in the inability of Saskatoon to score goals against Webber III. Harry Bosch conducted his investigation in the locker rooms and around the arenas to determine foul play. His report indicated that the Saskatoon sticks had been tampered with as there were several sticks with splinters causing a severe loss of power. Saskatoon goal scorer, Oliver Loo, @Misty, had complained about something being wrong with the sticks and this certainly explains why Loo didn’t more score goals against Halifax. Bosch also discovered that the Saskatoon blades had been dulled and all the sharpening tools were not functional. To make matters worse, there were steel weights found in the pads giving the Saskatoon players a sluggish feel on the ice to go with not having edges on their skates. Joe Pike helped Harry Bosch and he found the boards behind the Saskatoon goal to have been altered, giving Halifax an rebound advantage. You might ask, “what about when the teams change sides,” and Pike located wireless devices that automatically adjusted the boards to the desired rebound. Just ask Boston how Florida got their first goal in the last game. This was obvious as Halifax players, Pierre Marc Bouchard, @Gaikoku-hito, has scored 1/5th of his goals against Saskatoon; Maple Dogwood, @dogwoodmaple, put up 6 points against Saskatoon; Aanarsi Reingaard, @Laine, has 21% of his points credited when playing Saskatoon; and John Season has 4 of his 27 assists against the Wild. The final part of the investigation was completed by Mitch Rapp. Rapp spent some time investigating @lucyxpher, finding her to have secretly have been attending the workouts of Carson Tripp, @Cartripp14, and Micah Cedarbaum, @MicahC. Lucyxpher adjusted the tensions of the ropes, causing Cedarbaum and Tripp to have rubber arms just before game 3. Strategically having John Season create a general fight, GM Lucyxpher picked Dorji Kahn, @Oddpurplefly to fight Carson Tripp; and Ty Duke, @TheDuke, to fight Micah Cedarbaum. Both of these fights, which would have normally ended in Duke and Kahn getting their faces smashed in by Cedarbaum and Tripp, ended in draws and had no favorable bearing for Saskatoon. Luckily for Saskatoon, Leon Bruhmaninho, @BigBruhman, worked out at a different gym when Lucyxpher was commmitting the fouled play, and did not have rubber arms and Bruhmaninho kicked the shit out of an uninformed Robin Sierra, @ethanjaeda. Although the Saskatoon luck was not enough to come up with a victory as Halifax goaltender, Joe Webber III, was all jacked up on juice and stopped every puck that went at him. All of these allegations were found to be factual and everything has been turned over to VHL Commissioners, @Beketov, @Acydburn, and @Josh, who requested a $1000.00 filing fee, which was paid in small unmarked bills to Josh, as directed. We will all have to wait for games 296 and 331 to take place to determine if the commissioners did their jobs or if lucyxpher has juice and everything was overlooked. I can only hope that by the time playoffs start the moon is no longer aligned with the sun, the birds are singing again, the squirrels found their nuts, and the Halifax curse no longer exists. 1261 words To be claimed 04-21 and 04-28.

Player Information Username: Greg_Di Player Name: Roger Eagles Recruited From: Returning Age: 21 Position: G Height: 76 in. Weight: 190 lbs. Birthplace: Poland Player Page @VHLM GM

From Vancouver Wolves to Vancouver OJ's Because they also got away with it

Player Spotlight - Matteo Stefano @mmrs617 The Canadian born winger joined the VHL earlier this month on April 2, 2024 and had jumped right into things in the league. Stefano was signed by the Mississauga Hounds right after joining the league has been played spectacular in his first eighteen VHLM games. So far in those eighteen games Stefano has put up seven goals and nine assists, which if projected over the Hounds full forty-nine games Stefano would be the second highest scorer on the team. Currently to date Stefano has earned 139 TPE I’m just ten days, which is an amazing number especially for a first generation player in the league. The 139 TPE puts him as the four highest TPE earner at forward on the Hounds roster as well as the second highest VHLM Dispersal Draft eligible player for the Season 94 VHLM draft. With a high end work ethic and brilliant one ice ability alot easy showcased in under two weeks in the league, Stefano might challenge for the First Overall draft pick in the VHLM when the time comes

“Tfong” has not been a member of our league for years at this point. Yet to me and many others, “Baozi” is not a member of this league. For years, our head moderator was known in the league as Tfong, making the switch over to Baozi seemingly in late 2021. I have been in this league for nearly 5 years and have shared more time with Baozi then I have Tfong, yet I will always know the head moderator to be Tfong. I believe this is the case for many older members, and a cause of confusion for the younger ones. This week is all about rebranding, and I think rebranding yourself is the hardest thing you can do. TXC is a name that I used in the VHL for a brief period of time. I coined it after less than a year of joining and its original intention was to draw away from Hogan. Hogan was meant to be my player and I didn’t exactly know what I was doing when I created my player. I did actually receive many people calling me TXC, but as you can see, I’m Hogan again. Hogan never left people's minds, many still referred to me as it and I think now if I was still TXC many still would call me Hogan. In response to me telling Gorlab my name is no longer Hogan. Gorlab- “it is to me…and it always will be” N0h- “Calling you txc is just weird” As I learned from Gustav’s most recent 30 for 30. Instant Rockstar once tried to rebrand as “Goonie”. This was a few months before my time but it seems as if the Goonie name was shed very early, but late enough for him to get a VHLM GM job. Diamond Ace- “@beketov just so you know, the new member was actually ir the whole time” I believe the VHL’s most notable rebrand was one done by Kachur. Many know the legend of Horcrux, and those there to experience it know that the legend lives up to the stories. For those who don’t know, Kachur was an old member who was banned and generally not heard from in a long time. On the other hand, Horcrux was a huge piece in the current landscape of the VHL and the moderation team .Horcrux presented themselves as a queer woman, which we now know to not be anywhere close to the truth. Horcrux was only in the league for 2 months, Oct-Dec 2021. 59 Days in the VHL with 323 posts equally out to about 5 and a half per day. This number does not include the discord which would bring our totals up immensely. Around the middle of Horcrux’s time in the league, there was a large change in the COC, while not directly caused by them I believe they had the second largest hand in that whole scenario. But not all things last, shortly after Horcrux was found to be Kachur and was rightfully banned. I don’t want to bring up the specifics behind everything. Kachur was a horrible member who caused a lot of pain for numerous of our members and I do not wish to bring it all back up. In the end, rebranding yourself in the VHL is something that is so incredibly hard to do. Once members know you as one name or character, it will stick. But with true dedication I am sure it’s possible. Or in the case of Horcrux, pure delusion.

Their gloves are all a size too small?

Player Information Username: der meister Player Name: Konstyantyn Shevchenko Recruited From: Returning Age: 17 Position: RW Height: 79 in. Weight: 214 lbs. Birthplace: Ukraine Player Page @VHLM GM

To decide what franchise is most in need of a rebrand it makes the most sense to look at how old each team's logo is. After nearly a quarter-century of VHL seasons of teams slightly modifying and re-using existing logos from other leagues and sports, since S24 all logos have been original, some designed by the VHL's own graphics community, and most of the more recent ones being purchased from third-party designers. Quite a few continue to stand the test of time. Let's count them down. S81: Riga The newest logo in the VHL belongs to the Riga Reign who avoided a rebrand for nearly 60 seasons beforehand and are only on their third logo overall (all variations of the orange lion). I think this one got quite widespread approval and is certainly an upgrade on the previous version so it would be unlikely to be changed any time soon, even as a big change is about to take place in Riga's GM position. S75: Calgary Another long-awaited change to an old franchise's appearance took place just six seasons previously, as the beloved derp horse was retired after 50 seasons to make way for a more imposing stallion. The Wranglers have also only gone through three variations of the red horse and the current version is likely here to stay for a while. S73 expansion teams: Chicago, Los Angeles, London, and Warsaw S68 expansion teams: D.C. and Prague S65 expansion team (Moscow) and S66 expansion team (Malmo) I am grouping all the expansion teams together (which is actually half of the league) for a specific reason: unlike the rest of the teams' logos, these were purchased using the league's donation money with the thought process that these were long-term investments and won't be replaced on a whim in the short-term. Of course, these expansion teams have all been around for at least 20 seasons now but as we have seen with Calgary and Riga above, and indeed many more examples to come, this is far from a long time in VHL terms. Just as importantly, these are actually a solid set of logos, most of which I think there is no great clamour to replace. The exceptions might be LA and London and purely on a personal level I think LA is the franchise most in need of a fresh start but I'll let someone else dive into that topic in more depth. S53: Helsinki The Titans aren't far off from being joint-oldest on this list as their logo change in S53 was only a cosmetic one really, polishing up and slightly recolouring the version they got in S24 when all teams rebranded to in-house made logos. However, given Helsinki did give themselves an uplift 30 seasons later, they fall in the midtable of this list. There's nothing that needs improving for them but maybe they'll want another small makeover in the near future. S52: New York The next three logos are a tale of how logo changes can sometimes seemingly alter history. The Americans had lots of success following the S24 rebrand and were arguably the league's most successful franchise in the following 30 seasons. However, just before their back-to-back championships of S52 and S53 they swapped to this logo and after that initial short-term success.... well you guys probably know most of the story. One finals appearance has followed in the 40 seasons since, so if there's any franchise that needs a rebrand just to dump their loser era it's New York. S47: Toronto In a similar vein to the Americans, the Legion's logo swap immediately led to threepeat, the first of its kind. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster since but Toronto's logo just seems to work for them and also harks back to the version they used in the league's first decades. In fact, the S47 rebrand replaced a very unpopular logo so this change was welcomed and despite being one of the oldest ones in use now, it doesn't feel like there is much clamour for change at the moment. S44: Davos Until the recent renaissance under Alex, this, even more than New York's, was the league's most cursed logo. The Dynamo were definitely the league's most successful franchise before S44 and then they just stopped being that. I also personally preferred the logo they replaced, although I am biased as I was the team's GM just 5 seasons previously. Davos has turned things around a bit now but it's the third-oldest logo in the league so I say get them to switch it up and leave that cup drought firmly in the past. S31 expansion team: Quebec, now Vancouver Funnily enough, given what I said about the “new” expansion franchises above, it seems to be the fate of expansion teams in the VHL that they are stuck with their logo for life. Cologne never replaced theirs and have been resurrected with in in the VHLE, the Quebec's was considered so good that it survived the move to Vancouver (more of a translation rather than a rebrand). In fact, not touching the logo was one of the conditions for the move being allowed to go through. It is still unique in being a logo designed by the team's GM, in this case founding GM Pavel Koradek. What has changed over time is that this is now the second-oldest logo in the league so perhaps popular opinion could be swayed towards a change. It is such a simple yet effective one though. S24: Seattle Fittingly, the oldest logo in the VHL is in Seattle, also home to the league's (soon to be by far) longest-serving GM. The Bears logo does predate Bana's reign (yes there was such a time) and is the only logo to survive from S24, when all eight franchises at the time got custom-made logos, having survived until then on versions ripped from existing teams. Seattle until then (ignoring their 1-season stint as the Everblades) had used the Hershey Bears logo, swapped to fairly similar one in S24 and haven't looked back since. Time for a change? Maybe under a new GM...

WAAAAGH! Or at least that is what Grimgor Ironhide would say to introduce himself. That said, here is my Theme Week submission. To start this off, I decided to take 3 teams and move them to Warhammer Fantasy universe, teams chosen are for a reason as I do believe 3 teams require a strong rebrand. Those would be Warsaw Predators, Vancouver Wolves and London United. Of course I would love to see Warsaw moved to Munich, Vancouver to Quebec City and London moved to.... London, just with a different name, United doesn't work for a hockey team. When it comes to Warhammer Fantasy, I will only focus on Locations in the Old World. And we are first moving to Parravon... So, for the Warsaw Predators, they would be moved to the great Brettonian town of Parravon, and be officially called Parravon Royal Hippogryphs. We all know that Predators is an absolutely horrible name for any sports team so we take something that the great Grey Mountains of the Old World are known for, the magestic, mighty and gorgeous beasts - Hippogryphs. Parravon, being a city carved into the mountain range, not too far off the Grey Mountains, is a perfect place to create a backstory and a reason for a team like that to exist. Now for the 2nd team team, we are moving to Barak Varr. The great dwarven stronghold and the largest Dwarven port in all of the known world, the most maginificent underground caverns, the most beautiful dwarven carved waterfalls that create ripples of sunlight reflecting from the pools of water that sometimes seem to be cascading down. For Barak Varr, being a true dwarven stronghold there is a certain charm to have a hockey team based there. This team should be called Ironclads, the one thing that Barak Varr produced to the highest quality (Not counting the Dwarven ale which is of course the greatest of treats). So from now on, Vancouver Wolves will be called "Barak Varr Ironclads". I think it is perfect. And finally, we are moving to the great city of guns, artillery and gunpowder - Nuln. This is an absolutely easy choice, sure, I wanted to first go to Averland and focus on Averheim but in the end went with Nuln. After all, Wissenland is the greatest provice of the Empire. It is the home to Imperial Gunnery School, which trains all the great sharpshooters of the Empire armies, College of Engineering, known for it's technological advancement and development of different cannon and rocket artillery. It is a place where a single matchstick could destroy half of Wissenland. And for that, we need to move London away to Nuln and create the beautiful team called Nuln Hellblasters, named after their local and brutal invention, Hellblaster Volley guns. Warsaw Predators become Parravon Royal Hippogryphs Vancouver Wolves become Barak Varr Ironclads Lodon United become Nuln Hellblasters Overall, I am personally quite happy with this and will keep this going even after Theme Week as I have plenty of ideas, you just have to wait and see which of the VHL teams could become Skavenblight Warpgrinders...

*A note ahead of the article. This is primarily about the current roster, which means that transactions of players who weren't in Toronto for long, or aren't on now won't get much of a mention. Doesn't mean that they weren't part of the turnaround* Stop me if you've heard this before: a Toronto team has once again been a disappointment in the playoffs. As a die hard Leafs fan, I've heard that story all too much in my life. The Toronto Legion had told a similar story for a long time. One of the original franchises in the VHL back in S1, the Legion saw 9 Continental Cup wins in the first 65 seasons (an average of one Cup in just more than every seven seasons). The longest Cup drought for the Legion in that span was 13 seasons. The Legion also appeared in the Cup Final 17 times in that 65 season stretch, getting there roughly once every four seasons. That Cup win in S65 kicked off a drought lasting 25 seasons that would not see Toronto make a Cup Final appearance, let alone win another Continental Cup. In fact, in that 25 season stretch the Legion would post just 3 Conference Final appearances, as well as only 10 playoff appearances. It was this run of futility that would leave the Toronto Legion branded as a Perennial Disappointment, and one that would require the team to address the issues and forge a better path. S85 Off-Season Off-Ice Changes Begin The changes in the off-season needed to come off of the ice. Toronto was in need of a fresh voice at the top, and a new direction on the ice. That change came before the draft, as Moon was named the GM of the Legion following an interim stint by Agito, who had succeeded Doomsday. Moon headed into the S86 Entry Draft with a long-term plan to re-make the Toronto Legion into a team that could bowl over the competition, and went to work on crafting a team through the draft, free agency, and trades. S86 The Changing of the Guard The current roster for the Legion can be traced all the way back to S86. With a team in desperate need of new life, the Legion made a flurry of trades to acquire draft picks in the S86 draft. Their first draft pick in the S86 draft (13th overall) was used to take a young goaltender from Las Vegas in the VHLM. Coming off of a 41-14-4 season with the Aces, posting a .911 save percentage and 2.34 goals against average with 6 shutouts, Joel Castle was the third goalie off the board in the draft. By S87, Castle had already entrenched himself as the Legion starting goaltender, starting a run of six straight seasons with more than 60 starts in Toronto (with a seventh on the way this season). The Legion didn't only add a goaltender from this draft, as the 22nd overall pick was used on a right winger who has found a spot in the lineup for the last two seasons. Kobe Johnson was taken after playing for Las Vegas as well in the VHLM, and followed up his draft with a 94 point sophomore season in the M. Johnson made his way into the S92 forward group for the Legion, and has posted back to back seasons over 20 points for Toronto. S87 The Franchise Forward Building Blocks There is absolutely no doubt that the S87 Entry Draft was the most important draft in recent franchise history for the Toronto Legion. The Legion held the first overall pick in the draft after finishing second last and winning the draft lottery heading into the draft. Toronto was also fortunate with another pick that they had acquired previously in a deal with Seattle, one that would net them the third overall pick. With two of the first three picks in the draft, it was absolutely imperative that the Legion hit on both picks, and the hits ended up being home runs. The first of the two picks was used to draft a Centre out of Ottawa who had just piled up 128 points in his draft year. The second of the two picks was used on another Centre, this time out of Halifax, who had 129 points in his draft year. The players? Long time Legion Captain Mac Atlas, and multi-season scoring leader Jimi Jaks. Both of these players have been mainstays on the Legion roster, Atlas joining the team and playing in S87, and Jaks making the jump the following year in S88. There is no question that this draft has had the largest combined impact on the current team with what Atlas and Jaks have meant to Toronto. S88 The Blueline Finds its Leader Two drafts in, and the first round focus for the Legion had been in net and up front. There was a clear, growing need to ensure that the back end of the roster wasn't being ignored. Toronto headed into the S88 draft with the third overall pick, and had their sights set on a young defender coming off of a monstrous offensive season in Houston. The Bulls had a defender who led the VHLM in assists, and points by defenders, and that was too much for the Legion to pass up at three. Bobby Bob was added to the Toronto mix, and made his Toronto debut in S89. Since then he's been the offensive leader of the Legion blueline, and is well on pace to lead the blueline in scoring again for the third straight season. S89 The Hidden Gems The Legion had used first round picks three seasons in a row to build up what has now become the core of the team, and it was important to add to that group in order to ensure long term success. Toronto held the third pick again in the S89 draft, but it's not that pick that has ended up being the hits of the draft. Back in S87, Toronto had made a deal with D.C. to receive current and future draft picks. Two seasons out from that deal was the S89 D.C. 2nd Round pick that Toronto received, which ended up being the first pick of the second round (17th overall). The Legion used that pick on a right winger who had 65 points for Ottawa in the VHLM. Toronto held their own pick in the third round (34th overall) as well, and selected a Centre playing for Saskatoon that was coming off of a 67 point season. Those second and third round picks respectively ended up being Harry Callahan and Diego Machado, who both came up together to join the Legion in S91. Both first gen players, they have blossomed into big roles for Toronto, and are currently tied for the lead in points on the team. In addition to the draft picks that would help the Legion later on, Toronto also traded for defender Jimmy MacElroy from Vancouver. MacElroy would be a key member of the blueline for the Legion until his retirement following S92. S90 The Final Piece, and the First Step With players across the board in the forward group drafted, the Legion needed to focus on adding to the blueline. Holding the second overall pick in the draft, Toronto was hoping to make a pick to help round out a group that would ensure that they weren't going to be picking near the top of the draft again. To that end, the Legion had their eyes on one of their own, as Player/GM Walter Fitzroy Jr. was available to select at two in an effort to strengthen the defense portion of the prospect pool. Fitzroy Jr. was coming off of a season in the VHLM that was split between Houston and Las Vegas, one that saw a combined 39 points including 14 goals. The off-season was a hectic, and ultimately very productive one for the Legion. A blockbuster trade with Vancouver saw the additions of Ronan Lavelle and Tomas Sogaard in the forward group, while the Legion inked Siyan Yasilievich to a one year contract to bolster the blueline prior to his retirement. The additions immediately helped propel the Legion out of the depths of the North American Conference and into first place. The season resulted in Toronto's first Conference Final appearance since S83, and only the fourth since their Cup win in S65. S91 The Ultimate Success The Legion had a roster in place, one which had primarily been built through the draft and supplemented through trades. Added during this draft was back-up goaltender Toddly Bobbly out of Saskatoon, who was about to complete a season for the Wild that finished 56-11-5 with a .926 save percentage and 1.76 goals against average. It also ended in a Founder's Cup for Bobbly. Coming off of the monumental jump from last in the North American Conference in S89 to first in the Conference in S90, the Legion were cautiously optimistic that they were a contender again in S91, and set out to prove that their leap forward wasn't a fluke. The team saw three rookies (Callahan, Fitzroy Jr., Machado) all come up to the main roster and contribute. Those rookies helped fill the gaps that were left behind by the one year additions from the previous season. The core players continued to flourish, with Atlas, Bob, Castle, and Jaks all making major contributions to the team success. The rookies grew into their roles. Everything added up to the culmination of the Legion re-brand with a Conference Final berth, a Continental Cup Final berth, and finally a Continental Cup Championship. Gone were the days of the "Perennial Disappointment". The Toronto Legion were "Champions Again", for the first time in 26 seasons. S92 The Streak It's difficult to follow up a Championship season, and it is surely impossible to match the success level. That was the task that faced the Legion in S92. Faced with filling another hole in the forward group following a retirement, Toronto made a mid-season trade to add Steve Lattimer from the Seattle Bears. Lattimer immediately stepped into a productive role with the Legion, and has since grown into a dominant two way player on one of the highest scoring lines in the VHL. The core group of Toronto players all stayed together, and the continued growth of the group resulted in another playoff berth, and enough playoff success to make it back to the North American Conference Finals for the third season in a row. It was the first time that the Legion had reached three straight since the run from S57-S59. S93 The Drive Continues Entering this season, the Legion look to continue the streak of Conference Final appearances. Prior to the start of the season, Toronto traded for forward Mason Rice from HC Davos, who immediately converted to defense to help with a positional shortage on the Legion roster. While there is still plenty of runway left in this season, the Legion currently sit at 37-10-1 and in first place in the North American Conference. The hope will be to continue to have a strong season and push into the playoffs as this core of players continues to grow together. Summary The Re-Brand Successfully Completed Unlike some Toronto teams, this one knew how to do it right. Gone are the days of this organization being a punching bag or a joke. Gone are the days of being a "Perennial Disappointment". It's evident in the way that the Legion have been successful on the ice, whether it is in the standings as a team or on the individual statistical leaderboards for the players. It's even more evident off the ice in the way that the team has been able to get full buy-in from the players and a career long commitment from many as well. Contracts for Captain Mac Atlas, scoring ace Jimi Jaks, blueline stud Bobby Bob, and goaltending brick wall Joel Castle that were signed by each player to keep them in the blue and white for the entirety of their careers show just how far this team has come. The next wave is well on their way to signing extensions to remain with the Legion for their careers. That would never have been possible during the drought of success that had previously come for this team. There's something truly special about being able to have a group stay together for as long as possible, and it should be enjoyed for as long as it can be. Thank you for reading. Toronto Legion: Champions Again

Over the past few weeks, I have created a few poll questions about different aspect going around the VHL from Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy, trades and Conference wins. This got me thinking that wouldn`t it be nice to allow the fans, players and managers of the VHL to actually have an opinion about different topics around the league. So here now lets take a look at what everyone thought of the last two polls. Also make sure to vote into days Your Say Polls about Goaltenders. 1. Who will win the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy this season? Over thirty members voted at the time of writing since I have a bad habit of not closing the polls by a date. From my understanding and the main reason that I posted the poll in the first place is the fact that I don`t think we have a clear cut rookie of the year winner at the start of the season. Based on the voting most agree as Logan Ninefingers @Scurvy and George Richmond @badcolethetitan ended tied with seven votes each with 23.33% of the vote each or 46.66% voting for these two players to win the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy. Interesting current run away leader; Theo Allard @InstantRockstar with an amazing 47pts and on pace for 87pts by season end; only received two votes (most likely his mom & dad) for a 6.67% of the vote. Only one player didn`t even receive any votes (and seem to have no friends); which was Kimi Raikkonen @mattyIceman, who is currently 7th in rookie scoring so would be getting some consideration for the awards and if he has a strong second half of the season could even be a finalist. Made even sadder by the fact that we even received to write in votes, one for Bro? Karol Lamb @dlamb and James MacAvoy @Enraged. Might be interesting to revisit the topic at the end of the season when it might become more clear who the finalist might be and who might actually win the trophy. 2. Who wins the North American Conference? Wasn`t complete surprised by how the voting played out for the next two questions since it is a case of recency bias as I think majority of the voters simple looked at the current league standing and said “them!!” Who was them in the North American Conference it was D.C. Dragons, who received an impressive 61.11% of the votes out of 18 voters. Currently the team leading the conference and who I think will end up as the top team, only received 3 votes for 16.67%. The Biggest surprise might have been the turn out of @Frank parents voting for the Vancouver Wolves as they received 2 votes for 11.11%, tied with New York Americans. If you are not aware Vancouver was 7th at the time I posted this poll and just completed a trade involving their top point scoring forward Larry Abass Jr @RileyL and a solid stay at home defender in Jens Lekman @Bobcat looking like they all but had given up on the season. 3. Who wins the European Conference? This one a 100% agree with but at the time I don`t think that was the way that I was thinking as Moscow Menace was about to play the toughest part of the season schedule in what would have been a make or break week. Fast forward a week and Moscow Menace have a small gap at the top of a very tight European Conference but at 61.11% of the voter claiming that Moscow Menace will maintain that lead until the end of the season. Bit of a surprise with the drop off to the second placed London United and third placed Malmo Nighthawks considering the fact that both team have proven over the past season or two that they are top teams in the Conference. Surprised no one picked Prague Phantoms as they continue to stay within a few points of the conference lead despite missing a forward and a defender running with an 5-3-1 set-up; which shouldn`t hurt them that badly until the playoffs. I guess my tongue lashing swayed the vote against them. What the hell moment came when I seen HC Davos Dynamo actually received a vote as one of the worse teams in the league this season; not to mention the European Conference. 4. Which team should be making a trade “Right” Now? Bit surprised that most think Helsinki Titans are the team in the most danger at the moment but based on the current standing I 100% agree with the 8 voters or 44.44% as Helsinki clearly looks set to miss the playoff this season. Something must change or risk wasting last few season of Daryl Dixon @Ricer13 and Fuukka Rask @Jubis. Can they still make the playoffs? 10pts back at the halfway mark of the final wildcard rather suggest, No, not without making a major change to the line-up. Should be a team to watch with the trade deadline next week? Not completely surprised by the fact that Warsaw Predator received some votes to make a trade as they have a weakness on the back-end and maybe could deal with another top end forward but with the younger forwards being set for the next few season; it was unlikely that they will be able to add at forward without giving up some of that youth. Defense would make more sense but with limited defensive options meanings a difficult time finding a better defender again also needing to trade in and out if they make the trade means I don`t agree with the 22.22% or 4 voters that stated Warsaw. This could change as teams fall out of the playoff and look to secure future assets but Warsaw Predators don`t have any first round draft picks to make a significant trade. Pleasantly surprised that all four teams mentioned did receive votes with New York Americans at 11.11% or two votes. While no write in votes came across the comments. So what did you think? Do you agree with the rest of the voters? Either way make sure to leave a comment below and vote for your VHL Starting Goaltenders in todays poll. Also if you have anything that you would like me to create a poll to ask the league about; VHL related of course than comment below so that you have your Voice Heard and ........ Have Your Say!!

S93 Toronto Legion Assistant Captains Bobby Bob @Baby Boomer Entering his fifth season, the Legion's 3rd overall pick in the S88 Draft has quietly become Toronto's leader on the blueline and one of the league's more underrated all-around defensemen. He has led the team in assists the past two seasons and works extremely hard off the ice setting an example for all Legion players to follow. This is his first season as an alternate captain. Harry Callahan @dstevensonjr After a successful rookie campaign, Callahan took his game to a new level finishing last season second on the team in scoring with 75 points and leading the Legion with 9 game-winning goals. He's proving to be as valuable off the ice as well as he has found his voice in the Toronto locker room and has the ear of the other leaders and management. Therefore, he has been voted an alternate captain for the second straight season. Captain Mac Atlas @v.2 Who else would it be? Altas will serve as Legion captain for the fifth consecutive season in S93. Already one of the most prominent players in franchise history, Altas' passion and desire to win is unmatched on the team and pushes the team to strive for greatness. He will do anything to achieve victory and is also climbing Toronto's all-time goal list. These three will lead the Toronto Legion in S93!

Maybe just shorten your name to Jcarson?

The very first messages in the Hounds server. There's a gap in my message history on the forum between April 3rd and 7th, 2019--that unfortunate period of time I described in my last article where I was busy being nonexistent as a GM in the World Juniors and not having access to my computer. Having things go the way they did might lead many people, myself included, to believe that I wasn't quite cut out for a job as GM. And as justifiable as that may have been, it didn't stop me from applying for a real GM job just four days later on the 11th. Fortunately for myself and others, the league was at the start of a massive period of growth, and jobs were available. In this case, three new teams were being added to the VHLM--the Hounds, Marlins, and Kings. Lots of first-timers had applied for the job, many deserving, but I'd point to a bit of unintentional campaigning as something that made the difference. I'd been into the VHL Discord server a handful of times before, but hadn't gone too deep on a leaguewide basis and didn't have a whole lot of personal interaction that would have made people outside of Houston know me and like me. That would change, though, when I opened up the server to some "getting hired" talk featuring a member named Goonie, one of the other applicants. Goonie was nice. We spent some time talking about our interests in the league, what we intended to do with a team if we got one, and all that. I learned that Goonie was an alias of an older member who wanted a bit of a fresh start, and so it meant something nice to me when we agreed to promote each other in the quest for a job--in the simplest of ways by my posting #hiregoonie and his replies of #hiregustav. We were serious about it, and it's also important to note that when you're active and interacting with others in a positive way, the league will notice. In the end, both Goonie and I got a team. Goonie was hired as inaugural GM of the San Diego Marlins (and just about immediately after ditched the fake name for his old one, @InstantRockstar), and I was brought on as the one who would kick off a legacy in Mississauga. There were a few things I knew I valued from the start. Every GM wants an active server, but I saw how much @Rin had tried with us in Houston and wanted to give that back to my own team. In fact, I loved the Houston server so much that the first version of the Hounds server was almost an exact carbon copy of Houston--the only channel I remember adding on my own terms was #music-sharing, an extremely minor change that just served as my outlet for dumping things I wanted to share on people. I immediately hired @Radcow, a friend of mine from Houston, as my AGM, and we went to work going over the draft lists and getting ready for our first draft in league management. And what. a. draft. that was for us. We took care of goaltending right away by selecting @Rayzor_7 and Rayz Funk 3rd overall, and then turned around and picked @Hogan and his namesake player Hulk Hogan at 22nd. Both eventually spent the bulk of their careers with Seattle and made the Hall of Fame. Our third pick (33rd) featured Cody Smith and @cody73, who would turn out to be a solid VHL-level depth piece as a player and an AGM in a couple different places as a member. Way later on in the draft, too, we were fortunate enough to select Scott Greene, yet another longtime Bear, managed by one of my favorite members of all time in @DoktorFunk. Though I would only invite a few people in from elsewhere, we had way more than enough to keep our server popping, and it positively popped all season long. This didn't even stop at the draft, either--someone you may know as another-future-Seattle-Bear @Berocka joined us through the waiver wire (and I had to send a second DM to get him in our server because he thought I was a bot or something at first). Perhaps the most telling with respect to servers popping was that Seattle GM and VHLM Commissioner @Banackock had access to our server through his role--and you may have noticed a certain VHL team in common among my three most distinguished picks and my most distinguished signing. I won't act like I wasn't lucky to stumble upon such a great group of new members so early on, nor that this wasn't most of the reason our server was as active as it was. But for all Houston was, and for all we heard Philadelphia was, in S65, I like to think that Mississauga was the place to be in S66. Constantly active, overflowing with much of the league's next generation, and even free of the drama that had plagued those other two places a season before and in article #2 of this series. The first Hounds team wouldn't go too far. We were led by VHLM MVP (and S65 Bull) Callum MacElroy, had developed our picks like no one's business, and firmly established ourselves as a competitive playoff team, but just didn't have the resources to spend that teams like (ugh) Philly did and got smacked around in the playoffs. I'd accomplished something big nonetheless by leading a team--this time the right way--and served the actual purpose of the VHLM by showing people a good time and helping them make it big on the next level. And, more importantly for me, I now had people who looked up to me and I felt respected as a more "established" member of the VHL. For all intents and purposes, I'd accomplished what was on my mind for myself. Read my other articles for the full Gustav experience: #1: Lightning Glory Gonna Be My Name #2: Can't We All Just Get Along? #3: Who Needs Cybersecurity Anyway?

Rebranding I always feel a bit left out now that I am a VSN writer when it becomes theme week as I really don`t need to work that hard to get the extra TPE since I just need to do my duties. I tend to go above and beyond when it comes to my duties as a VSN writer as it is!! (blow that horn) as I am writing multiple articles per week based on things that I find interesting around the league and trying to drive interest into different aspects of the league. But I miss out on discussing my own player or really taking part in the theme weeks sometimes, it not that bad and other times I want to take part so that is what I am doing with this article. Rebrand – is a very interesting topic as most teams are looking to rebrand teams either by moving their locations or change of the teams name. I also think I have seen someone rebrand the VHLE and VHLM but I haven`t seen anyone rebrand a player yet!! LOL!! So What am I going to rebrand? Maybe you might have guessed it and maybe you haven`t; yet!! I am going to rebrand the everyone’s favorite news broadcaster since it just doesn`t feel right to me that we have TSN (Toronto Sports Network) always talking, writing and broadcasting everything about Toronto Sports while seemingly forgetting about the rest of the 242,000KM that makes up Canada from Coast to coast. Since some of you may or may not know I have been an assistant manager to the great, wonderful and three-time Vancouver Wolves GM Frank Chadwick @Frank; an Top GM three times and GM for 25 season, only Blake Campbell @Banackock is now a longer serving GM, once Benjamin Zeptenbergs @hedgehog337 officially retires at the end of the season. So what is pampering @Frank ass got to do with a rebrand? Introducing: Since I started working for the VSN I have always found it hard not to over favor Vancouver Wolves and somehow tie everything back to the great and wonderful team from the Pacific North West. How did today’s trades by Helsinki Titans effect the short term, longer term and draft prospects of the Vancouver Wolves? Well, The Vancouver Sports Network (VSN) will tell you even if there is no true connection to the team in any way!! Plan the parade Vancouver as every off season we are the best team in the league where every win is equal to winning the Continental Cup and every loss is a dumpster fire where all player and general managers should be fired. Yes, I here it now; the chats; "Fire Frank, Fire Frank, Fire Frank!!" 75% or more of the VSN articles will now somehow relate to the team in the Pacific North West that everyone loves the Vancouver Wolves!! Just remember don`t hate us since we are now the center of the hockey world regardless if you have a team in your city or if your players are leading everything as they are now a foot note to Vancouver Wolves as the Vancouver Sports Network (VSN) is here for everything Vancouver!! Lets Go Wolves!!

Player Information Username: Kendrick Player Name: Miles Bryant Recruited From: Returning Age: 18 Position: D Height: 74 in. Weight: 201 lbs. Birthplace: Tuvalu Player Page @VHLM GM

Was posting this last week, but Theme week happened.

Things are starting to heat up between Prague Phantoms winger Rip Wheeler, @ScottyP, and Vancouver Wolves winger Logan Ninefingers, @Scurvy. Game #393 found Rip Wheeler to be skirting the ice time with Logan Ninefingers, knowing all too well that Ninefingers has been after Wheeler. Logan Ninefingers, the hard working, gritty power forward for the Wolves had reached out to his GM, @Frank, for a chance to share the ice with Wheeler so they could match up and air out some differences. Ninefingers has been vocal about how disappointing Wheeler is as a hockey player, giving a lackluster effort and just going through the motions. For almost two periods, every time Logan Ninefingers stepped on the ice, Rip Wheeler immediately asked for a sub out. This chicken shit worked as Logan Ninefingers was keenly aware of Wheeler’s antics of being mouthy only when Ninefingers cant get to Wheeler. At the 16:43 mark, Wheeler had only four shots, all of which were easily stopped by Dalkr Vidarrson, @kaleebthemighty. Wheeler received a pass from Skor McFleury, @Alex, while looking on the Vancouver bench and seeing Ninefingers was about to jump on the ice. Wheeler dumped the puck and went right after rookie Riley Martin, @Smarch, with what can only be described as a limpwristed attempt to challenge Martin. Now Martin, not about to back down from anyone, let alone Rip Wheeler, reveled at the instigating and proceeded to use Wheeler’s face to redden his knuckles. Spanish Moon Moth, @Renomitsu and Guntis Gavilrovs, @Girts embraced for a fight to a draw; as did Nikolas Kauppi, @Tetricide and Mikko Borisyuk. @Minebro. Spanish Moon Moth and Nikolas Kauppi both shook their heads in disgust as they saw Rip Wheeler pick himself off the ice and skate to the bench as quickly as possible knowing that Wheeler will not be tangling against Logan Ninefingers anytime soon. Before opening the bench door, Wheeler could be heard begging the referee to give him a game misconduct so he could avoid Ninefingers another day. 335 words

Today, I'll be proposing a new set of teams for the VHL, designing 8 new teams in terms of team location, colors, and branding to replace those of the current NA conference. I'm going to bar all current VHL, VHLE, and VHLM locations to make myself think a little, and it'll be more interesting than another team in NYC, Toronto, Vancouver, etc. This could either be based upon cities I like and want to see a team in purely out of bias, or it could be a complete joke, or it could be an actually okay idea- we'll see! 1. Montréal Royal My NHL team is the Habs, so of course the first place I thought of was Montréal. HOW IS THERE NOT ALREADY A TEAM HERE? I think perhaps there was one a long time ago, but it's honestly inexcusable to have representation in such a city, in a province like Quebec with the amount of history that it has. At least give a team to Quebec if not Montréal. Anyway, I chose the name Royal after the mountain (well more of a hill to be honest) that looms a whole 233m above Montréal. The mountain the city is named for would be a great title for this team, and the name Royal rather than Royals makes it sound more French, something les montréalais would hopefully approve of. I can't deviate from the blue, white, an red that the Habs, the Alouettes, and the Expos already possess(ed), so I'll go with a blue-white-red color scheme as well. 2. Minnesota Aurora For Minnesota, I'll steal a name from their women's soccer team, because the Aurora is beautiful. I was struggling to think of an original and good Minnesota name, but Minnesota having been the North Stars previously did help me decide on Aurora. This is a city that definitely deserves a hockey team... I mean LOOK AT THE STATE. Hockey is extremely commonplace, something you can't say for everywhere in the US, and it's their state sport. The branding could be unreal for a team based on the northern lights; a black jersey base and green, blue, and purple used as accents could be beautiful. I'm imagining the alternates or special occasion jerseys could be very beautiful and incorporate gradients in a really creative way. 3. Boston Blizzard Time to continue this streak of names that don't end in s! The Blizzard is not only an appropriate winter name for hockey, but also alliterates with the city of Boston and would make for a pretty okay chant in "Let's go Blizzard". Given that when a major weather event actually does happen here, it's decently likely to be a snowstorm, the name fits well. Boston deserves a team again because of its history with the Bruins, and it being such an important American city in their history as well. I think good branding colors would be a darker green main color (given the city's fixation on it's NBA team, the Celtics, as well as the Irish heritage everyone there apparently has). Using black and white as accent colors would be ideal since I think anything else would likely clash with the green. I'm also starting to realize how similar to the PWHL Boston team this is becoming. These first three NA teams are also all new PWHL locations but ignore that I'm definitely not copying. 4. Cancún Dolphins It would be crazy to plan out a full league of teams without at least taking into account Cancún, unquestionably the hockey Mecca of the world. Almost everyone grows up playing hockey and it has spread to places like Canada and the US throughout the years. It's exciting to see how the game has grown out of Mexico. A Cancun team could fittingly be called the Dolphins, providing a great opportunity for a creative logo and branding. I see a color scheme being a sea-blue base with golden and white accents, symbolizing the water, sand, and the foam where they meet. This would open up great unique jersey concepts about the ocean. 5. Colorado Mountaineers Given that Davos is ceasing to exist in this universe, we have to honor them with a new purple mountain team. Denver is a great place to expand to given its high elevation and location in a state known for its winter sports. It is a great place to support a sports team given the fanbase of the Avs, Nuggets, and Rockies (and then there’s the Rapids). Mountaineers is a self explanatory name, and the color scheme is going to be purple (because a purple team is needed), white (symbolizing snow) and orange (symbolizing a cool accent color and also maybe the sunrise if you want to get technical). 6. Edmonton Glacier I don’t think I could have felt good about this list putting only one Canadian team on it, so in comes Edmonton. With Ottawa, Toronto, Saskatoon, Mississauga, and Vancouver not being options, it was really only Winnipeg, Quebec City, or one of the Alberta cities left. The Oilers being my second favorite NHL team helps with that decision. The colors will be light blue, white, and black, some pretty evident glacier colors. I chose the name glacier to pay homage to the beautiful glaciers of Banff and to keep the theme of these names on nature because I like nature. I feel some of the only other options would have been oil-related and we already have the Oilers and the Oil Kings. 7. Honolulu Humpbacks Just for fun, let’s throw another tropical team in here with beautiful Honolulu. We have to put aside the logistics of building an arena there, the hours and hours of plane travel from there to literally anywhere else, and also the fact that fans can’t travel easily. But if you overlook those, Honolulu is an awesome city on a stunning island and that’s really all you need. Humpbacks was chosen as a name due to its humpback whale population which has its breeding grounds around the Hawaiian archipelago. For team colors, I have chosen dark blue, white, and grey to fit a general whale/ocean color theme. 8. Raleigh Red Wolves Rather than calling the team here Carolina as seems to be customary, I decided to go with the city name Raleigh (the alliteration is just so good as well); the name Red Wolves is fitting due to the fact that North Carolina is the only remaining place this endangered species can be found in the wild. I know Istanbul already has this name, but it's the VHLE, so they might not be around much longer anyway. As for why I choose Raleigh as a VHL City, they have already shown their love for hockey to their other team, the Carolina Hurricanes of the second-tier NHL league. After relocation from Hartford, Carolina showed they have an amazing atmosphere and fan base and absolutely deserves a team. Their jerseys would be red, purple, and black (red for the obvious red, wolves, purple because it is the best color, and black because it rounds it out nicely).

VHL Centennial Rebrand I think that there's a huge opportunity coming up to in the next few seasons to not only rebrand a team or two but to give the league a new look - a celebratory refresh if you will - for its 100th season. With all the changes that have happened over one hundred seasons, this is possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity to give the league a new look if only for a season and to celebrate it’s rich history, the seven original franchises that have been around for all 100 seasons, and the teams and players that have made the VHL what it is today. Here are a few rebrands/refreshes I think should be considered for the league’s 100th anniversary: League Logo I think that the league logo needs a “rebrand” for it’s centennial, something that incorporates “100” to celebrate it’s one hundred seasons (similar to what the NHL did) and to show the world that it’s one of the best and longest lasting sim leagues ever. Perhaps it could also incorporate the seven (or eight) original team logos in the centennial logo. The NHL's Centennial Logo Original 7 Logos/Jerseys I would like to see the seven remaining original franchises (Calgary Wranglers, Helsinki Titans, Seattle Bears, Toronto Legion, HC Davos Dynamo (Amstel/Avangard), New York Americans (Hamilton), and Riga Reign (Stockholm) get special centennial logos: either a refresh of the original logos, a part of the original logo in the relocated logo where applicable, or a completely new rebrand of the colors and logos for something new and fresh. Also, I think all team logos should have “100” in the logo. I also propose a graphic/banner for each franchise showing things like number of seasons, past logos, number of Cups and Conference titles, player stats leaders, etc. That way, a new member to the VHL or someone joining a team for the first time have a fantastic way of getting a quick snapshot of the team’s history at a glance. Portal Page/Web Now this is where the VHL’s community could really show their talent. I propose a refresh of the portal and forum banners and have a contest where all who wish can submit a centennial banner and the winner (or Top 3?) get TPE. But we could use all of them and have the banners rotate on the pages (if that’s possible). The banners would need to pay homage to the VHL's rich history. Awards There isn’t a better time to unveil a new award or a rebranded award than during a centennial season. I know that they went through a renaming before, but with so much history and great players since then, it might be time for an award or two to be renamed. Maybe induct a special centennial member into the Hall of Fame? I’m not going to throw out too many ideas at the moment but just putting it out there for the general public to discuss. In conclusion, I think the VHL needs to capitalize on S100 to bring in some new looks and bring back old memories to celebrate this league and all the people that have made it run. New visuals should help attract new members and would liven the place up a bit. Plus it would allow our talented community to showcase what they can do and make this centennial a season to remember!

When looking around the league for possible rebrand options, there's one grouping that sticks out like a sore thumb. Looking along the west coast, it's clear that there are just too many teams on that side of the continent. In order to continue to grow the game and keep interest from fans all across the country, we need to move one of those franchises. The easy selection is one of Vancouver or Seattle because, while it makes for a nice rivalry, that's just too much hockey for that close of quarters. Because I once played for Vancouver, I'm letting them stay put and moving the Seattle Bears to Atlanta. Why Atlanta, you might ask? Well in the interest of full disclosure, I'm born and raised here. But more than that, Atlanta has everything you want in a major sports city. We have the world busiest airport which is more than capable of handling the fan and team traffic, in addition to thousands of hotels in and around the city to accommodate the gargantuan needs of a franchise. When you look at what other major institutions call Atlanta home, it's a no-brainer. World headquarters of Coca-Cola, Home Depot, and a slew of other Fortune 500 companies are all here, as well as the College Football Hall of Fame, the Georgia Aquarium, and Centennial Olympic Park. For rabid sports fans, there's the Braves, the Hawks, and the Falcons, as well as the numerous other sporting events Atlanta hosts, including the Super Bowl, the Final Four, and College Football National Championship. Now that we've established that Atlanta can physically do the job as a major city, it's time to talk about geography. There is a massive hole in the league for teams in the Deep South which needs to be rectified. I know hockey may not be a traditionally popular sport, but the love of the game has grown exponentially in the last decade with more and more professional hockey players coming out of the Peach State and surrounding areas. For the actual branding, my first gut has to be the Peaches. Georgia is the Peach State and the city of Atlanta has something like 125 different roads with the words "peachtree" or "peach" in the title. If we go with peach, I'm envisioning a light peach colored peach with green stem, with some dark red accents on the fruit itself. Across the peach would be two hockey sticks pointing in opposite directions at the bottom of the logo. We could even go with Georgia Peaches if the league wanted to, as that's what we're quite famous for. Another option would be the Atlanta Grits. With the prominence of Waffle House in the Deep South, I could see a logo of a plate of buttered grits with two hockey sticks acting as fork and spoon on the plate. This would be a great link to the cuisine and culture of the region and highlight one of the many delicious things that makes the South the South. We could even partner with Waffle House as we'd have a natural strategic partnership to help market the brand and grow the popularity. Regardless of which brand the league would decide to pick, two things are quite clear: first, Atlanta needs a team, and second, the league needs Atlanta. 552 words '

Overview: To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of New York bringing home a Continental Cup, the VHL has released this rebrand for the team. While the shield and stripes stay the same, there is a team name change and a few minor tweaks to the logo itself. We have changed the "NY" part of the logo to the full city name. We have also added the new team name onto the shield itself. The plan is to change the team name every ten seasons; So in ten seasons we will be the NY 63's, then NY 73's, NY 83s etc. etc. until the end of time. If the NY franchise ever do win another cup, we will be renaming ourselves the New York Cursebreakers and each team member will be given a 10ft gold statue right beside Lady Liberty herself. Secondary Patch:

Back when I was on Warsaw with my first player Girts Galvins we had a big rivalry with Moscow and I always referred to them in articles as the Moscow Meanies, so this was an easy rebrand choice for me! @Spartan

I also did one for Seattle for fun.. Seattle Sasquatch!

A simple re-brand that relocates London United to Tokyo, Japan. No offence intended, but I've never thought that the United logo fits alongside the other VHL logos, either creatively or visually appealing. I have no idea of how the realigned conference would work, but hey, it's all make believe, right?

I'm a nerd for many reasons, but one of those reasons is that I'm a little overly interested in geography. By that, I don't mean anything useful, like understanding how topographic features affect weather patterns or human migration or anything. I mean all the dumb stuff like knowing where to find any country on a map, learning the location of each of Ohio's 88 counties, or digging into the history of abnormal features like what the border used to look like between India and Bangladesh. Along the way, I've come across lots of different places that I find interesting for one dumb reason or another, and I'm going to try to match some VHL teams to those places for the purposes of rebranding. Gaffney, South Carolina - the "Peach Capital of South Carolina," Gaffney is known pretty much entirely as the site of the iconic Peachoid water tower. Because of this, the Gaffney Peaches would be a super gimmicky team name. As it's very close to Spartanburg, I think @Spartan and Moscow would be a nice target for relocation here. Kanorado, Kansas - named the way it is because of its location near the state line with Colorado, Kanorado is near Mount Sunflower, the highest point in the entire state. Although Mount Sunflower isn't at all distinguishable from the land that surrounds it, I think that's part of what makes it cool and I think the 153 people living in Kanorado could use a hockey team to make them a bit more distinguishable from the rest. The Kanorado Sunflowers make natural sense to me, and I'd move Saskatoon here because they're already in very flat territory and could get used to it pretty quickly. Greensburg, Kansas - I swear I'll move out of small towns in Kansas after this one, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a place with a more compelling history. Greensburg was completely wiped out by a tornado in 2007, and since completely rebuilt. For that reason, I'd move Chicago here and keep the Phoenix nickname--it's arguably much more fitting here than there. Oh, and it's also the site of the world's largest hand-dug well! Seville, Ohio - proclaiming itself as "a giant of a village" on multiple signs throughout town, I've actually visited this one and was surprised by how much they lean into their most distinguishing feature--that being the home and burial site of the world's tallest married couple. I suppose it's better to focus on that than to draw attention to being the retirement home of Jeffrey Dahmer's father, and it's for that reason that I'll suggest that they go full tacky and welcome the Seville Giants to town--relocated from New York, because New York already has a team called the Giants and I think it would be funny to get rid of a different team in favor of the name. Kennebunkport, Maine - the most well-off place I've ever been to, Kennebunkport is about an hour away from Portland and is the vacation home of the Bush family (as in, both American presidents). I think this would be an interesting social experiment in that a team here could conceivably charge a whole boatload of money to people who have whole boatloads to throw around. Could they balance the budget of a team on a town with somewhat limited population? Quite possibly--and though I'm not 100% sure I love the name, perhaps the Kennebunkport Executives would have to do. I'd move (gasp) Davos here as it's a small-population, rich-people place who probably knows a thing or two. Boonville, California - not in a part of the state that's commonly visited, Boonville is isolated from lots of other places out on the West Coast--which could certainly have been a factor in the development of a language entirely specific to Boonville. The name could come from any word at all in Boontling, but I like the Boonville Bootjacks a lot because the words sound similar and "Bootjacks" just means "Coyotes"--something that's already a thing in the hockey world. Out of all the teams the league has to offer, I think Ottawa, being very wildcat-ish itself and having (in my opinion) a relatively boring logo and a name that's just ripped from their defunct minor league baseball team, could benefit from placement here. Amboy, California - with a population of 4, Amboy isn't the first place one would expect to have an iconic site that's come up in lots of familiar media, but Roy's Motel and Cafe is just that. The reason why both of these things are true is that the town was once a big stop on America's famed Route 66, and is one of many that serve as a memory of what once was. The Amboy Jets would be a nice fit with some of the architecture that defined the town's heyday, and it's for that reason that I'd also move New York here on the same basis as I did for the Giants above. I hope you enjoyed my list of places and that you found them entertaining (and that you learned a thing or two about some of the more unique places the US has to offer!). Come and visit sometime.

Player Information Username: CaptainSB Player Name: Samsayz I-Smell Recruited From: Member (Samx) Age: 18 Position: D Height: 80 in. Weight: 250 lbs. Birthplace: Antarctica Player Page @VHLM GM

So we all know that the VHLE is the leagues most hated league and we also know that the leagues two most beloved members are @BOOM and myself the two Australians this makes total sense then to move the VHLE to become the VHL Australia and rebrand all 6 teams. Well luckily enough for me there are 6 states in Australia and each state has a capital city so I have already selected my 6 cities and they will be in alphabetical order Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. So now we just need to come up with some names and identities for each of the cities. When deciding on the towns below I tried to pick things that were innately Australian, aren’t currently used by other teams in Australia so there are no stolen logos like there were with the Helsinki Titans and the Oslo Storm. Adelaide Kookaburras This is one of Australia’s native birds and it is known for it’s call that sounds like a laugh, most people of Australia will have seen and definitely heard the famous Kookaburra. The colours of the team would be a Brown and White to go along with the identity of the Kookaburra, the Burras as they would be known for short would suit Adelaide which is the 5th biggest city in Australia and is the capital of South Australia. Adelaide is also known as the City of Churches due to its wide variety of faiths and cultures in the area. This would surely be a great hub for some VHLA action. Brisbane Bushrangers My Home town of Brisbane, there were a few ideas I could have gone with here but I love the idea of Bushrangers. Bushrangers are an interesting subject when you are learning about Australian history, they were originally just escaped convicts but the whole idea changed around the gold rush and they became people who robbed under arms. Though throughout the years bushrangers have become symbolic as those who were rebels to the authorities. The most famous Bushranger is the of Ned Kelly who has had countless movies and TV shows made about him. The colours for the team would be Gold and Purple. Hobart Devils The Tasmanian Devil is an extremely popular animal and is even featured alongside Bugs Bunny in Looney Tunes, The Tasmanian Devil is a small marsupial that is pretty much only found on the island of Tasmania which is the smallest state in Australia and Hobart is the capital of that. The colours of this team would be Black and White in line with the animals colours Melbourne Crocodiles One of the most scariest animals in all of Australia in my opinion is the salt water crocodile, not only can they demolish you in the water they can run faster than you on land as well, plus they are angry beasts who are very territorial. Now Melbourne doesn’t have any crocodiles apart from those in the aquarium/zoo but it is a scary animal and its cool. The colours of course for this one would be Green and Blue for the crocodile and the water it swims in. Perth Quokkas The Quokkas are definitely Australia’s cutest mammal apart from our very own Boom. They live on a small island just of the shore of Western Australia where Perth is the capital. I am sure that the mascot would have gritty level of popularity due to how cute the animals are. The colour for this team would be an outrageous blue and pink because why not. Sydney Platypus Last and last for a reason Australia’s worst capital. But I have given them probably my favourite Australian animal the Platypus the animal that all around the world thought was a hoax, there is endless crazy facts about this mammal. But the Sydney team would feature a colour way of Red and Orange because we need some contrasting colours in this league. Well that is all for today let me know which team you would love to play for and who would be your rival team. Thanks

Both of the images on this page are stellar

Halifax, Nova Scotia With a record of 24-4-0 in their last 26 games, the Halifax 21st are cruising. Last week, the 21st clinched a playoff berth for the first time since Season 90 and are chasing the Ottawa Lynx for 1st overall, trailing by only 3 points. While Halifax has more wins than Ottawa with 42 in 56 games, the Lynx have managed to pick up points in 6 overtime or shootout losses and and have only lost 9 times in regulation. The margin between the league's top two teams has been quite slim this season. Halifax leads the league with 188 goals for, while Ottawa has been the top defensive team, only allowing 107 goals against. In terms of goal differential, the Lynx are top in the league with a +57 while the 21st have a +56. Down the stretch, these two teams will meet 3 more times, with their last matchup coming in the final game of the regular season, potentially setting up a big game to clinch 1st in the league. ༻❁༺ The Halifax 21st find themselves in their favorable position due to the outstanding play of their whole team. Top to bottom, they've received big contributions from every player and the statistical leaderboards reflect that. As the team's leading scorer, Maple Dogwood @dogwoodmaple is currently tied for 3rd overall in league scoring with 72 points in 56 games. He's been a threat every time he touches the ice for the 21st and has consistently produced since the first games of the season. Of players who have taken more than 30 faceoffs this season, Pierre Marc Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito leads the league with a dominant 58.76% in the circle over 1484 faceoffs. Bouchard has also picked up his scoring pace recently and is 3rd on the team with 22 goals and 55 points. The team currently has 9 players with over 40 points on the season, including all 4 of their defensemen, 3 of whom are top 10 in scoring by defensemen this season. Alexandr Novotny @Patrik Tallinder leads the way at 3rd overall with 58 points, Dustin Moore @Maxx sits in 7th among defenders with 49 points, and team captain, Andrew Skilton @ace_five_, is 9th with 46 points. The team's 4th defender, John Season @dylanjj37, is only 3 points behind with 43 and ranks 15th in scoring among the league's defenders. The 21st have benefitted all season from a dominant blueline that has found ways to contribute offensively in addition to shutting down the opposition. In terms of forward depth, Tommy Shelby @Will has been an excellent 2nd line centerman for Halifax this season, pitching in 16 goals and 27 assists for 43 points to go along with a 51.47% rate in the faceoff circle. He's picked up his pace as well since the season began and seems to be on track to push closer to a point per game by the season's conclusion. Connor Simard @Alex99 has also been a versatile and effective player for the 21st, at times playing on the 1st or 2nd line. Recently, he's shown good chemistry on the top line with Pierre Marc Bouchard and is up to 17 goals and 23 assists for 40 points so far this season. 2nd line sniper and Halifax veteran, Aanarsi Reingaard @Laine, is 2nd on the team with 24 goals and ranks 4th on the team with 53 points. He hasn't replicated his 46 goal, 91 point pace from last season, but he's also hasn't needed to be the centerpiece of the team's offense and his point shares likely take a hit because of the talent around him. With that said, his point per game pace puts him on track to have his second highest total in 4 VHLM seasons and he remains a constant goal threat with his elite scoring ability. Dorji Khan @Oddpurplefly and Tyler Duke @TheDuke are players who have broken out recently for Halifax, with Khan earning his way into a top line LW spot and is up to 16 points on the season. Ty Duke has locked down the 3rd line center position and has 14 points and a 51.39% in the faceoff circle. Robin Sierra @ethanjaeda and Captain Nugget Jr. @Captain nugget have continued to make strides in their own right. Sierra continues to flash his offensive upside, but has been a bit snakebitten with a 4.94% shooting. Nugget Jr. has 19 points on the season and has played on all of the team's 4 lines at some point in the season, meshing well with a variety of linemates. The leaguewide plus/minus leaderboard is a who's-who of Halifax players with Dogwood, Season, and Reingaard ranking 1st, 2nd, and 3rd overall. Skilton comes in at 8th, Shelby at 12th, and Bouchard in 20th, demonstrating the efficiency of the team in even strength situations. While it's not a be-all-end-all stat, it is indicative of a team that succeeds in scoring more than they allow, which is kind of the point of hockey. In goal, with Samuel Wazinski @samthemancub out for the season on the IA reserve list, Jon Webber III @Webberj has taken control of the Halifax net and ranks 3rd among all goalies with 32 wins in only 44 games. While his save percentage may not be where he'd like it to be at .898%, his GAA is a solid 2.30, good for 4th overall with 2 shutouts rounding out his portfolio. Webber came into the season with something to prove and has quickly become a quality netminder on a team with championship aspirations. Down the stretch, he could be a big contributor to this team's chances of claiming 1st overall and he will inevitably be an important part of Halifax's playoff run. We're down to the last week of the regular season and playoff games could begin as early as Tuesday or Wednesday next week. Players will certainly be working overtime to prepare for the postseason and taking advantage of the limited runway left to improve. In just over a week's time, the regular season will be history, for the Halifax 21st it's full steam ahead! ༻❁༺ 1,015 words 1st claim for 04/21/24

@FiZi @Bazeus Helsinki will be a great home for my Bulls

Janser was jogging in the Central Park alongside his roomie, Rin Kagamine. As they were considering to take a swim afterwards, Callum had his backpack with him with the swim trunks and all the other necessities for such an endeavour. When the two Americans backs approached the final stretch, the hulking Swiss heard a cry of distress from a nearby path. From the sound of it, it appeared to be an elderly lady. So he swerved to his right to see what the ruckus was about. There was indeed an elderly lady staring up a tall tree. 'You cried for help, ma'am. How can we be of assistance?' 'Oh finally someone coming to the rescue. What a fine young man you are. Clarice got scared by a big dog and climbed that tree. I cannot climb it, I am too frail to do so.' 'Not a problem, ma'am. Is Clarice your grand-daughter?' 'No, Clarice is my Maine-Coon kitten. We were taking a walk in the park. I had her on the leash but once she saw the Rottweiler, she wiggled out of her collar and raced up the tree.' 'I understand.' Callum but his backpack on the front so he could contain the kitten once he reached her. He climbed the tree with no apparent effort, being used to climb the Swiss mountains with little to no protrusion, climbing an elm tree was a walk in the park. He lured the kitten with some of the treats her owner provided him with and the scaredy kitty-cat approached him cautiously. Dangling from a branch on one arm, Janser snatched the fugitive and put her into his back pack, closing the zipper so only the head of the pet stuck out. He descended like the seasoned climber that he is and brought the kitten back to the lady waiting impatiently. 'Oh thank you sir. How can I ever thank you for bringing her back to me.' 'Ma'am, no thanks are needed. It was a pleasure to climb again. Take care of your little rascal.' 'I will. Thanks again.'

Playoff are right around the corner and the VHL in both conference as a ton of developing story lines; Could we see a three way tie at the end of the week and maybe the season in the European conference title? It might just happen!! Toronto Legion has the North American Conference all but locked up right? Nope, Watch for the Seattle Bears to make a late season push to catch Toronto, which could set up a fantastic finish for the North American title between the two teams in the final week. Is six points up in the final wildcard race enough? Chicago hopes that it will be as they try to hold off Vancouver and Calgary to claim the final wildcard spot in the North. Some team are also looking a head to the end of the regular season and what they hope will be a turn around off season through the draft, free agency and management changes. Either way lets get into this week. Current Standings: Standings Record Points Last Wk Prediction Last Wk 1. Toronto Legion 39-11-1 79pts 10-3-0 1st North American 2. Seattle Bears 31-17-4 66pts 9-3-2 4th North American 3. New York Americans 28-16-9 65pts 7-5-3 3rd North American 4. D.C. Dragons 31-18-3 65pts 4-8-2 2nd North American 5. Chicago Phoenix 21-21-10 52pts 4-7-3 5th North American 6. Vancouver Wolves 20-26-6 46pts 5-7-2 6th North American 7. Calgary Wranglers 20-29-3 43pts 4-8-2 7th North American 8. Los Angeles Stars 3-48-1 7pts 2-12-1 8th North American Next Week Predictions: 1. Toronto really pulled away during this past week from the rest of the North American conference so should easily walk to the NA title, right? Nope, the Legion will be watching over their shoulders this week if I am correct as the fast-charging Seattle Bears should get close to them in overall points and might just pass them but since the Bears are so far back, I am not going to be that bold but should set up an interesting finish as Toronto and Da bears play twice in the final week of the season. Why has Toronto been so dominate so far well look no further than 204 GF; which is 15 more than any other team. The Legion are head by a three head monster of Diego Machado @Dadam30(35-47-82pts), Harry Callahan @dstevensonjr(25-57-82pts) and Jimi Jaks @ke1vi(37-41-78pts) all top three in the league in scoring. Which is only telling part of the story. 2. Trade swung the standings for the Seattle Bears last week as they climbed to second in the North American conference and add in a weaker schedule this week could see the Bears actually go undefeated this week but that might be a bit bold since they play the Dragons three times but that could only slow them down. By the end of the week the Bears led by new tender Fuukka Rask @Jubis(6-2-1, 2.50ga & 0.918%) should be charging down Toronto and clearly second by the end of the week. 3. Pretty much the same for New York this week playing a few games above five hundred and secure in the third or fourth spot within the conference. FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY Analfist @STZ(28-22-50pts) has really fallen off lately and will need to be better down the stretch if New York is going to be a concern for any of the top three teams in the conference. 36W @rory(25-25-8, 2.44ga & 0.929%) has clearly been a bright spot again this season for New York but can he steal a playoff series or two for the Americans? 4. Well, I guess my kiss of death is still working as I didn`t foresee the Dragons falling out of the sky with an 4-8-2 record this past week. Can the bounce back? This will really depend on the three-game series against Seattle this week; if they lose all three games then they will back and clearly be looking at playing in the wildcard round but if they can beat Seattle than they will put some thoughts into the Bears heads as it could be a first round preview. Henry Tucker Jr @NSG(27-15-2, 2.82ga & 0.919%) will need to lead the charge of the Dragons. 5. Are the Phoenix playing with the chasing Wolves? It seems that way since the Phoenix are doing just enough to stay a head of the Wolves only dropping a single point this past week to chasing team from Vancouver and at the current pace should be enough to secure the final playoff spot. Overall, the team needs just a bit more from Yaroslav Trunov @qripll(36-31-67pts) just behind his 94pt pace from last season and Ryan Artyomov @Enorama(15-21-7, 3.29ga & 0.912%) if Chicago is going to claim the final spot. 6. The wild dogs are chasing but how much do they have left as I think I am starting to see the tongues starting to hang? Can Vancouver make up the six points to the Phoenix? Yes, but I think they will need some help if they are going to actually pass them and make the playoffs. First Vancouver need to worry only about what they can control and that is winning game that they need to win. Vancouver will need Liv Slater @Subject056(20-37-57pts) to regain the former from last season an one of the two offensive rookies to take the next step in Logan Ninefingers @Scurvy(19-20-39pts) or Riley Martin @Smarch(18-16-34pts). 7. Calgary has been rather disappointing since they trade for Larry Abass Jr @RileyL(12-10-22pts) and Jens Lekman @Bobcat(5-9-14pts) since I expected them to move up the standings. For whatever reason the trade just hasn`t worked and is most evident by Larry Abass Jr @RileyL struggles since joining the the Wranglers since he had 33pts in Vancouver in 22 games and now only has 22pts in 30 games with Calgary. What has gone wrong other than the fact that the team just cannot find any goal scoring with a defender leading the team in scoring in Phil Strasmore @Phil(9-40-49pts). Nine points back of the final wildcard spot with 20 games remaining; likely means season done and dusted. 8. The season cannot end fast enough for this team but some hope last week as the Stars up ended Warsaw and HC Davos giving some sign of hope and more important fight from a team that will be dusting off the golf clubs in next two weeks. Draft is coming and so should some more help. Current Standings: Standings Record Points Last Wk Prediction Last Wk 1. Malmo Nighthawks 34-13-4 72pts 10-4-0 3rd European Conference 2. Prague Phantoms 34-14-4 72pts 10-4-0 4th European Conference 3. Moscow Menace 33-16-3 69pts 7-7-0 1st European Conference 4. London United 32-15-5 69pts 8-5-1 2nd European Conference 5. Warsaw Predators 33-16-3 69pts 11-3-1 5th European Conference 6. Helsinki Titans 28-22-1 57pts 9-4-1 6th European Conference 7. Riga Reign 18-29-5 41pts 7-6-1 7th European Conference 8. HC Davos Dynamo 10-40-2 22pts 6-8-0 　 8th European Conference Next Week Predictions: 1. Can I throw my hands up and say I don`t know!! I have a possible three way tie happening for first in the European Conference this week so will have the Malmo remain at the top of the standing as the Nighthawks could be either first or third by the end of the week. Ash Sparks @DarkSpyro(33-12-4, 2.41ga & 0.925%) has been unreal this season for Malmo as he was last season; the question now is can he carry them in the playoffs? Malmo continue to play the team game with no one near the league leaders in scoring. While Jacob Stone @scoop(15-45-60pts) should have his name mentioned again in the Jake Wylde conversation. 2. Again can either be first or as low as thrid in the standings, it is too early to judge the LeBen Aky @Ben_Reformed(0-3-3pts) trade but should help the team as they move towards the playoffs. Still expected to see a bigger move by Prague but it is what it is at this time. Likely it will cost them in the playoff unless John Jameson @Frank(35-54-89pts); Nikolas Kauppi @Tetricide(41-40-81pts) and Skor McFleury @Alex(16-58-74pts) can continue to carry the team with Matt Murdock @Acydburn(29-11-4; 2.55ga & 0.934%). Go time is right around the corner for this team!! 3. Average hockey last week cost me and this team in the standings. Kiss of death is still real it seems but I am going to double down and see this team with a bounce back this week. First or third is my prediction in the really tight European conference. Huge trade see Moscow also get better at the back end with Kronchy Kardashian @Garsh(1-9-10pts). Which is looking good through ten games. Will it be enough to push them toward the Continental Cup at the end of the season? We only have a few weeks to find out!! 4. With the leading goal score Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ(38-55-93pts) on your team, you would expect to be higher up than a wildcard spot but European Conference has been that tight this season that a team that could have easily won the conference is likely playing in the Wildcard game against Warsaw. Can one line drive this team high up the standing and to the Continental Cup? I am not so sure but after the trade deadline that is what they are planning to do!! 5. It will be close with London for home ice advantage during the Wildcard round and I am not sure who is going to finish where. Warsaw has been the surprise team of the season in my eyes with King Kisslinger @Kisslinger(28-54-82pts) breaking out and clearly a Dustin Funk leading candidate; not to mention Thor Reingaard @N0HBDY(37-42-79pts) and Maxim Anisimov @McLovin(34-42-76pts) taking another step this season. Easy when you have an elite goaltender allowing you to cheat towards the offense end as Lachlan Summers @kirbithan(31-16-2, 2.56ga & 0.935%) has been this season. 6. Well, that wasn`t what I expected from Helsinki when I was looking for them to make a trade last week to push them back towards a playoff spot. Gone is star goaltender Fuukka Rask @Jubis(13-18-0, 2.81ga & 0.923%) traded to the Seattle Bears and out goes former Alexander Valiq Trophy winning Kronchy Kardashian @Garsh(12-27-39pts) to Moscow; all but giving up on the season? But than why haven`t they traded aging Daryl Dixon @Ricer13(30-40-70pts) or Michael Shotter @TacocaT9(8-38-46pts)? Twelve points out of the playoffs so it is very unlikely they will make the dance this season as the window of contention is clearly closing for the Titans; if not closed already!! 7. Interesting off season lay a head for the Riga Reign as I look at the team as if they are at a cross road with a new management team expected to take over but also just not good enough to really push forward with the current roster. The roster is lacking star power and with one pick this off season; it is likely that even if they pick star player is going to be enough to push this team towards contending. It will be interesting how the new management views the teams current assets and how aggressive they will be trying to turn this team into a contender. Left in better shape than most teams when changing management so the new managers should have some ability to make changes if that is the direction that they look to head. 8. How long will the rebuild last? Davos looks set to pick another solid three players this off season with what should be at least top three pick with a bit a lotto luck should be top two and two early second round picks at 18th and 19th or 20th. Add in the prospect that the team drafted last season and they should be much better next season but still clearly needing time for the prospect to develop. So how much longer is this fan base going to put up with losing? Final Thought: 10/16 this week or 62.5%. Worse than last week thanks to Moscow and D.C. or the kiss of death; not to mention early pay-off of some of the trade completed last week ahead of the trade deadline. A bunch to still watch for as any of the top five team in the European conference can place 1st or 5th. While in the North American conference the Bears are charging hard for the top spot while Chicago will try to hold off the Wolves and Wranglers for the final playoff spot.

the NYA are the victims to this rebrand. sorry not sorry.

It has come to my attention that I have been traded like I am some piece of property. It's kind of sickening really. I don't understand how a team would trade me! The great Gul Dukat! It's blasphemous really. I have been tearing up the VHLE just to be shipped away. Well, that is what I felt at first. Then when I found out I had been traded to the top team of the league, Cologne. I felt this overwhelming sense of pride. Of course, the top defensemen should be playing for the top team in the VHLE. It shouldn't be any other way! Rome, while it was a very positive experience, will not be free of my takeover of the VHLE. I have already made them pay and will continue to do so. No team will be safe as I will continue to elevate Cologne to even higher heights. It has been a wonderful season for me and now everyone is seeing the true power that I possess. It will only be a matter of time before everyone cheers my name and wants to erect a statue of the great Gul Dukat. The only fear I have is if the league decides to suppress my greatness. I will not let that happen! --End Personal Log--

Ottawa receives: Marek Nowaczyk Miami receives: Dom Chic S95 OTT 2nd This trade has been accepted by all parties and is pending league approval.

Las Vegas receives: S95 HOU 3rd Houston receives: S94 LVA 3rd This trade has been accepted by all parties and is pending league approval.

@AJW put out an article this week outlining some proposed changes to the VHLM. This included abolishing the VHLE and expanding the VHLM by two teams to accommodate the players from the E. I've decided to take this idea and run with it. What if this happened? What could the possible new franchises be? Since it is a two team expansion, it makes sense for there to be one team added to each conference. I started thinking about where these new franchises could end up. I am a little biased, so I only considered Canadian locations. Without further ado, I present the first expansion team added to the Eastern Conference, the New Brunswick Tides! I liked the idea of having the Bay of Fundy represented in a team. Since the Bay is located between New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Maine, and Halifax already has a team, I decided on New Brunswick. The logo features rock formation from the Bay of Fundy and the tides moving in from below. The letters NB are brought in to show the team's location. I decided on a brown and blue colour palette to represent the rocks and water. The team would have two home jerseys, that would be called the "High Tide" and "Low Tide" jerseys. The second team would enter the Western Conference. Saskatoon is the only western Canadian team in the M, so there were lots of locations to choose. I decided on Vancouver, only to realize there is a VHL team in Vancouver (I'm new so I forgot). This team could be a new VHLM team, or possible a rebrand of the Vancouver Wolves. I present to you, the Vancouver Alpines! The Alpines feature a simple by sharp design. The logo consists of a "V" for Vancouver, with the peak of the Rockies emerging from within. The different shades of blue and grey are featured throughout the jersey. I imagine there would be a third jersey that has an alternate word-mark logo that says "ALPS". This was a ton of fun to make, if not time consuming. There are so many concepts I could have gone with, but I'm really happy with how these turned out. Maybe one day we will see @AJW's vision come to fruition, and maybe New Brunswick or Vancouver will be in the running for expansions.

You asked, and you shall receive

Alright @Frank, you move Vancouver to Scotland and I'll move London to Quebec, and then we'll trade teams. Deal?