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CIA’s Long, Probably Wrong S98 Mock Draft Yes, I know it’s been a long wait. But finally, we’re part of the season that everybody truly enjoys: Arguing about the wild card round and if fourth seeds have an unfair advantage! Oh, and the draft. That too. Indeed, the draft is one of my favorite times of the season because it’s a fount of positivity. Every player is going to be the savior of the franchise (until they go inactive half a season later), and every team has a grand plan for the future that will surely turn out well (until they have to enter another rebuild because a player asks out). It’s the season that rewards backseat driving that is completely devoid of facts, which is awesome for me because that’s what I’m based on. Taken as a whole, this draft should be interesting to me for a few reasons. One is obviously the glut of blues and simmers at the top, because those auto-12s are nice to have. But perhaps even more than that, I’m really interested in the position disparity. Perhaps owed to an emerging mid-TPE goalie meta, we have exactly 1 (one) goalie currently with a first round grade. But lost in the shuffle is that we also have fewer active defensive players than normal, with only three above 150 TPE as of this writing. The result is a lot of forwards early and often, which isn’t a bad thing. But the issue comes with multiple teams - Warsaw, Prague, Helsinki, New York, D.C. - holding multiple first round picks. The natural inclination is to diversify and not just take multiple forwards. With the positional breakdown, though, I’m not sure they’ll get the chance without reaching. So with all of that said, here’s my attempt at a mock draft that I’m sure some trade will blow to smithereens in two days anyway. The TPE totals here are accurate as of Sunday afternoon. And as always, if you don’t like where I’ve placed you in the draft, it’s because I have personally singled you out as a bad person who will be a locker room cancer. You’ve been warned. 1. Prague Phantoms (from Los Angeles): RW Cardinal Copia, San Diego Marlins - 301 TPE @Beketov At a glance, I can see how this would be considered a slam dunk pick. It’s Beketov - if he’s going inactive, the VHL probably has some bigger problems than this pick. And from the Prague standpoint, there is only one forward currently on the roster (Luc Moreau, graduating from Miami) who’s still in the first half of their career. If you want to build your forward corps to go along with your star-studded defense, this is a good way to go. But with that said: Remember what I said about there only being one fully active goalie? Ondrej Vencko has been hit or miss during their time in Prague, and a S93 player doesn’t fit with the current Prague timeline besides. I wouldn’t be at all shocked to see Toby Bob here, then Prague go with a forward at pick 7. 2. Warsaw Predators: G Toby Bob, Saskatoon Wild - 314 TPE @Baby Boomer Easiest pick in the draft in my opinion - Warsaw’s taking whoever’s left of Bob and Copia. If I had to bet, the only player currently on Warsaw’s roster that might still be there in three seasons’ time is Slava Kovalenko. The cupboard is bare, and they have four first round picks this season to help fill it. That’s why, even if they somehow had their choice of Bob and Copia, I think Bob would be the pick anyway. Get the goalie that can be the centerpiece of the rebuild, start to fill out the roster around them with the rest of your firsts, and take it from there with presumably another season at or near the bottom of the league. 3. London United: D Peter Venkman, Mississauga Hounds - 284 TPE @Josh You may not know it from last year’s standings, but I think London is sneakily close to making a big step forward. Last season’s first round duo of Cash Carti and Pelayo Bolivar are set to debut this season, adding to sophomore players D Alagsantere Groenvold, G Chazz Michael Michaels, and RW Drosmis Sarkanis to form the backbone of a real up and coming team. I think they’ve drafted real well. I could see an argument for any of Venkman, Ginky or Augustin Martinez here, but I’m going Venkman for two reasons. First is the fact that of their young players, Groenvold is the only defensive player, and you can set Venkman and not have to super worry about the spine of the defense for a while. Second, while London’s young players are growing nicely, it’s also a group without many league jobs or auto 12s. Having Josh on board provides a semblance of stability that is nice to have as a rebuilding team. 4. Helsinki Titans: C Ginky, Ottawa Lynx - 273 TPE @MexicanCow123 I’m so intrigued by Helsinki’s prospect list. There are a lot of players somewhere between 300-400 TPA, and a few of those - LW Elf Shoes, D Alex LeBlanc, G Draw Mac - are set to debut next season. Added particularly to last season’s third overall pick in D Hugh Neutron (who’s going for a nine season career), does that mean Helsinki’s ready to make a push? I could see it. With that in mind, similarly to what I said for London, certainty is what they’re looking for. Out of all of those prospects, only S95 clicker Danny Ross actually plays center. Getting Ginky on the roster would allow a base to put all of those forwards around, particularly with the cavalry coming in the form of multiple firsts and seconds both this season and next. 5. D.C. Dragons: RW Augustin Martinez, Mexico City Kings - 274 TPE @SleepyPlayz Going into the draft, I think Martinez is the single player I’m most interested to see where they fall in the draft. Different position, but just in terms of rise up draft boards for a first gen and hitting the ground running in collecting TPE, I see a lot of parallels to Lucy Leitner’s rise in the S93 Draft. That saw Leitner end up with the third overall pick in Riga, a pick the Reign would absolutely make again in a heartbeat. Similarly, I wouldn’t be totally shocked if even a London falls in love with Martinez’s potential and they go top 3. On the flip side, I’m also in the SBA where Martinez’s agency is very active, and they admittedly know a lot less about hockey than they do basketball. Could that cause a slide, similar to other SBA agencies who start out hot but the VHL is not their first love? Especially with more known quantities (particularly Zak Trokker) still on the board? For D.C., who would love high-level forward talent to pair with Brandon Petan Jr and Youre Not Fucking Retiring, it’s worth the risk. 6. New York Americans (from Chicago): D Tina Hughes, Miami Marauders - 237 TPE @tinafrombobsburgers This is where I get cute. The next two players on the board by raw TPE are two wingers in Zak Trokker and Alex Bridges IV. However, New York owns picks 6 and 8. Pick 7 is owned by Prague, and in this scenario, they’ve already selected a forward in Copia and may want to diversify even with a strong defensive corps. And New York is staring down S91 Callum Gary Yannick Janser being their only defensive player above 500 TPE. So unless they really love Trokker or Bridges, I see them opting for the positional fit above all else. Hughes’ agency did retire their last player early, but their ability to earn TPE has never been in doubt. With a seasoned GM like STZ at the helm, I think it’s a solid gamble to encourage them to stick around New York for shoot for a reload instead of a rebuild. 7. Prague Phantoms: LW Zak Trokker, San Diego Marlins - 254 TPE @Peace I’m curious what the general consensus is going to be around Trokker when the draft rolls around. It’s an agency that has created Hall of Fame players in the past, knows the VHL, and has a high upside when engaged. But that engagement wasn’t fully there during Kyle Peace’s career, and now nearly ten seasons after Peace retired, Trokker’s been collecting a lot of welfare-plus. I could see an argument where Trokker falls further than some neutral observers might expect. But all things being equal, I think Prague would be a good place for Trokker to land. There’s something to be said about having a consistent welfare-plus player, and especially after snagging Copia, Prague is looking for forward depth, not necessarily a star. This seems like a right fit of player and system to me. 8. New York Americans: RW Alex Bridges IV, Houston Bulls - 251 TPE @Oatex In some ways, Bridges IV is the anti-Trotter. The Oatex agency has had some fits and starts in the past, and while Bridges I and III have been the agency’s most successful players, both topped out in the 500-ish TPE range. But with that said, very casual observation has Bridges the Fourth more engaged than any of their progenitors, with constant activity, writing in various forms, and being able to fit in to a fairly strong Houston team. Especially for a New York squad that is looking for talent that’s ready sooner rather than later, I think this is would be a good landing spot. Dark horse: New York has been known to take big draft swings (see: Wayne Gretzky), and I’ll be very curious if first gen Ryan Mantzz can impress enough in pre-draft interviews to rise up to here. 9. HC Davos Dynamo: C Sidney Sheppard, Miami Marauders - 222 TPE @GoodLeftUndone I also see Davos as a potential landing spot for Mantzz if the team wants to take a swing. But if you look at Davos’ recent non-Ahma draft history, it tends to be a bit more conservative than you might think. There are a lot of players like David Pastanap and Alphonse Desjardins who not only have history with the franchise, but can be counted on as consistent earners, even if they’re not the high ceiling type of earners to be pushing 2000 TPE. That’s Sheppard to a T. You’re probably not prying GLU’s full attention away from the SBA any time soon, but at the same time, I don’t see the SBA auto-12s disappearing either as long as you can keep them engaged similar to Prague’s success with Moritz Stauffer. For a forward group that’s aging quicker than you might think (S91 Sunset Moth + three S93 forwards), a little youth could go a long way. 10. Warsaw Predators (from Calgary): RW Ryan Mantzz, Miami Marauders - 199 TPE @Rkhockey9 As I’ve noted a few times, I wouldn’t be totally shocked to see Mantzz go even as high as number 6 or 7 if a team likes what they find in interviews. But especially given the way the draft board shakes out, Warsaw’s two picks at 10 and 11 are Mantzz’s absolute floor. I think it’d be a good landing spot for Mantzz as well - on a rebuilding team, Mantzz would have some time to learn the ropes and play without pressure. And on the Warsaw side, a high-upside first gen is exactly the type of swing you want to make in hopes you get a future star. Good match for both sides here. 11. Warsaw Predators (from Vancouver): D Bazooka Joe, Philadelphia Reapers - 195 TPE @ScottyP Maybe it’s gotten a bit lost, but Rip Wheeler, the ScottyP agency’s only previous player, had a damn fine career. Ended up above 1000 TPE, won titles in both the VHL (S96 Vancouver) and VHLE, and topped 70 points in four straight seasons as a defensive player. So why did they fall to number 11 here? It’s partially a function of being a welfare-plus player, but also partially a function of some teams ahead (Prague, Davos) needing forwards much more than defense. Warsaw certainly won’t argue though, with this mock giving them one each of forward, defense and goalie to really kick start the rebuild. 12. D.C. Dragons (from Malmo): LW Jakub Kovar, Philadelphia Reapers - 155 TPE @MichkovSzn If you want a potential late riser that not many see coming yet, check out the Philadelphia Reapers’ Jakub Kovar. They started their career with some clicking, but the past month has shown very strong growth, separating themselves from a number of other first gens in the 100-ish TPE cluster. I think D.C.’s 12th and 13th picks may be the ceiling for how high Kovar might go in this draft, but for a D.C. team biding their time until the bottom falls out on the current North American contenders, they can afford the wait to take a swing. If the draft were to fall this way, Martinez and Kovar as a pair of first gen wingers could be a dangerous duo for D.C. to add. 13. D.C. Dragons (from Toronto): LW Lorenzo Mancini, Las Vegas Aces - 157 TPE @GioSivo Similar vibes to what I said about Bazooka Joe - GioSivo’s first player in Francesco Mancini had a damn good career! Topped 1100 TPE playing for New York and Chicago, had two seasons above 100 points, and even won a Most Improved Trophy in S91 while playing for the Americans. So why would Mancini fall to pick 13? It’s largely due to the late creation, where Mancini’s only had four weeks to earn, and one of those weeks was a miss for both PTs and Welfare. But there’s certainly upside here. And even if I’m skeptical that D.C. would want to go forward with all three of their firsts, sometimes you go where the value is. 14. Moscow Menace: LW MacGregor Walcott, Mississauga Hounds - 168 TPE @Spade18 This is where I say that you young bucks don’t know - a former Americans GM, Spade has had some real VHL success and won awards and championships. It’s just that most of those occurred in the 60s. Still, Tullemore Dew was somewhat of a return to form, where despite being a late second round pick, they put up a solid eight season career and topped 70 points on three separate occasions. Moscow tends to swing for high ceiling players, and while I’m not banking on it, you can talk yourself into a similar profile to Moscow’s own David Rashford - a previous high-earning player who returns to form on a winning Moscow team. 15. Helsinki Titans (from Riga): D Remain Six Meters Back From Me, Mississauga Hounds - 149 TPE @Gaming Ringleader I’m writing this before Games 3 and 4 of the Finals have been simmed, so if it looks like Riga’s going to win, yell at me later. That said: I don’t think there’s a better marriage of location and player than sending a player literally named Remain Six Meters Back From Me to Scandinavia. In all seriousness, Legacy Gaming had a solid career with six of their seven seasons in Chicago, and while there are a few recent earning stumbles, I wouldn’t be surprised with both similar earning and consistency here. Helsinki gets another defenseman for their absurd prospect pool. 16. Warsaw Predators (from Seattle): D Darko Alexander Malkovich SR, Halifax 21st - 132 TPE @AColdCanadian Warsaw has made out like bandits so far in this mock with one each of forward, defense and goalie, so they could really go any direction with their last first. And to me, best player available is Malkovich Sr. But to be honest, I have some questions: The agency’s last player was Darko Alexander Malkovich, period. So were they junior? Or is “SR” just part of the name and doesn’t actually mean Senior? So many questions, so little time.

Hello all! Short and sweet today! Thank you @jacobcarson877 for your time as Houston GM, you've been a great returnee to the VHLM GM role and it was a pleasure to have you back in the M to offer your wisdom and experience to new players. We'll miss you in the M, but wish you the very best in all your future endeavors both in the VHL and outside of it! With that, we're excited to bring in some fresh blood to the M in a person who's been extremely active and engaged in all aspects of the VHL and the VHLM. Please congratulate the new GM of the Houston Bulls - @SMYLS4! His podcasts and VSN work have propelled him to the forefront of our hiring discussions, along with his general involvement and awareness of the going-ons around the league. We're looking forward to working with our newest GM in the M! - @VHLM Commissioner

Thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to getting started and hopefully doing some good work in Houston.

@SMYLS4 It's time for the S97 VHLM Awards! I'm MichkovSzn and I will be your host for the S97 VHLM Awards tonight, with lots of help from @Pifferfish writing. Many people have contributed to the VHLM this season either through GMing or being a player, but tonight is about recognizing those who were the very best throughout the whole of S97. Without any further ado, let's get into those awards shall we?

I am applying

Hi friends, Its your friendly neighborhood sam here with some life updates cause life... Lets start woth some good things: I fi ished the first semester of the doctorate program I am in! It went well! I have really started to find where my passion lies and what I want to do with my career in PT. Granted that could still change 45 times before I graduate but for now I really wanna work in pediatrics specifically a neuro population so like Traumatic brain injuries, strokes, etc. 5 more semesters to go! In less great news. I got out of the hospital yesterday after being admitted for a week. My health is steadily doing worse and worse. Still very few answers. Each day is a new battle. I have been adjusting to a new mormal for the time being of using a walker as a mobility aid. Its an adjustment but I know it is only going to help me. It was kind of a wild week. It was my first time actually being admitted to the hospital and was a rather scary experience of suddenly not being able to walk or stand with no explanation. I am not gonna get into the details of it all but it certainly was not fun. I am happy to be home now and readjusting to life. I went grocery shopping today with some friends. It was a really odd exprience. Needing help with everyday tasks is not somewhere I thought I would be at the age of 21. It has taken a lot for me to ask for help in the past and right now I have no choice but to accept it. Its a really strange thing to accept but I am learning to live with it. Anyways all this to say life has not been easy as of late but I am happy to be surrounded by amazing people who make things more barable. I hope you enjoyed this ramble. Please send me cute pictures of your animals (unless they are snakes, spiders or anything more with 4 legs or less than 2).

Cheers folks, hope everyone is having a lovely day so far! It's been over 10 seasons since Moscow last retired jerseys for players, but there's a long overdue retirement and a very fresh retirement to celebrate. I'd fully intended on waiting to induct one of these candidates once they made the HOF, but since our other nominee had a meteoric rise to a stellar career on Moscow, it became difficult to simply retire one while holding off on the other. Let's get into it! --- The last and only goaltender to have their jersey retired for Moscow was Raymond Bernard, a HOF netminder who helped secure Moscow their first ever Continental Cup. With such a stellar career, it was hard to imagine that a franchise netminder would return to tend the pipes in Moscow, but Papa Emeritus rose to the challenge and beyond. The Moscow netminder from S79-S86, Papa managed to unseat Bernard in franchise wins with 262, posting a career record of 262-121-33 with a 0.924 SV%, 2.65 GAA and 25 shutouts in just 412 starts. In the playoffs, Papa oftentimes became an insurmountable beast, leading Moscow to 5 cup finals (we don't talk about the results). Posting a playoff record of 50-31-8, with a 0.928 SV%, a 2.9 GAA and 4 shutouts in 80 games played, Papa was oftentimes the reason Moscow appeared in as many finals as we did. Funnily enough, shortly after his retirement, Bek approached me with his jersey retirement banner already made. In a bit of stubbornness on my own part at his boldness, I told him that I'd only retire his jersey when he made the Hall of Fame. While he's continuously appeared on the final ballot and oftentimes picked up a vote or two, Papa hasn't quite yet made it into the fabled Hall due to the plethora of capable candidates since his retirement, along with the resurgence of older players receiving proper bids for the Hall of Fame. I'm still confident that Papa will eventually land in the HOF, but it was amusing to see the "so you've given up on Papa's HOF" from Bek when I formally submitted Papa's jersey retirement on the portal. Despite Bek's desire to continue to play for new VHL teams and his prior stint on Moscow with legendary Mikko Lahtinen, he was willing to join the Menace and become our franchise netminder. While losing 5 cups is a blemish that I've put on his legacy, I still firmly believe that his time on the Menace was one of the best eras that I've GM'd, as his arrival in Moscow created the infamous "KGB" in Moscow and made the team much better than I could have hoped. I'll leave further praise to his future HOF article, so for now, please congratulate @Beketov on his second player's jersey rising to the rafters in Moscow! G - Papa Emeritus - @Beketov --- Our second retirement might be the most underrated player in the VHL during his time in the league. As a VHLM player, he was drafted to Houston but promptly cut for being inactive, then found a home with the Philadelphia Reapers where he won the Founder's Cup and the Prime Minister's Cup in successive seasons. Despite his success in the VHLM, he was never offered a contract after being drafted 22oa to the Helsinki Titans in S89, and ended up in free agency at the start of the season. As Moscow was prone to do, we signed him to a contract in the hopes that he'd eventually earn enough to be worth some value to some other team in a trade. As was often for a clicker, he spent both S89 and S90 in the M, slowly earning his way up, and earned a call-up in S91 to fill a depth forward role for the oft-cap strapped Menace roster. From there, his roster spot was almost always in jeopardy - as a late blooming prospect on a highly competitive Moscow roster, there was never a guarantee that the team would have a spot for him in any given season. Facing this challenge, he stepped up his game and committed to earning more, speeding up his development and earning his spot on the Menace roster. Despite his late start, he remained a mainstay on the Menace and helped Moscow to a Victory Cup in S95 and S96, winning the Victory Cup in S95 along with the Dustin Funk, Kevin Brooks, Mike Szatkowski, and revered Brett Slobodzian Trophy. At the conclusion of his career, David Rashford ranks 5th all time in Moscow points, 4th in goals, 7th in assists and 5th in playoff goals. While I'm sure VSN will cover his career in more depth than I've mentioned here, it's hard to not have nothing but praise for one of the most special stories I've witnessed in the VHL. Knight was a returning member after a legendary career as a GM during the earlier seasons of the VHL's history, but seemingly not as engaged as he may have been in the past as a welfare earner. As mentioned, with the constant threat that his lower earning may end up getting him traded, he really stepped up and blew away all expectations, winning numerous awards and being a crucial factor in my first ever Continental Cup win. One of the few captains who was never traded away from the team, he was also a trusted advisor within Moscow's management team and was a constant positive force in both the team locker room and his frequent podcasts posted in the community. One of the greatest praises you can get as a VHL GM is from the user the GMotY trophy is named after, and his comments after some of our trades were more than enough motivation to continue striving to be my best for the team. I can't say enough nice things about @Knight, and I'll be eternally grateful and in awe of his contributions to the team. Please congratulate him on his ascent to the Moscow rafters! LW - David Rashford - @Knight --- Please congratulate both of our amazing retirees for their fantastic contributions to the Menace and for their success on the ice as members of our league!

This jersey retirement is sponsored by your city jail. The Vancouver Wolves announced today the jersey retirement of Liv Slater @Subject056 at our home opener versus the Chicago Phoenix in Season 98. Vancouver acquired Liv from Chicago during the Season 89 off-season, she was coming off a strong rookie performance for the rebuilding Chicago Phoenix. Slater came to Vancouver with the promise of being the next star defender as Pierre Emile Bouchard neared retirement. She had a modest start in Vancouver playing behind some future hall of famers. In her first season Liv put up 44 points and Wolves made the playoffs. Shortly after Vancouver lost then goalie Brandt Fuhr to retirement, so the GM decided to enter a rebuild. Slater proving her loyalty to the franchise would stick through the rebuild and help the Wolves enter contention once again. Her best season was Season 92 where she put up a whopping 36 goas, which is still the highest goal total of any defender in the hybrid era (S83 to present). She would go on to take home all three defender awards (Valiq, Wylde and Labatte), despite Vancouver missing the playoffs. The Wolves would return to relevancy again in Season 94 and Liv Slater would ultimately help them win the Continental Cup in Season 96. Slater was what Vancouver Wolves should strive to be on and off the ice. Her name will be synonymous with the Wolves for generations to come as one of, if not the greatest female defender in VHL history. We also believe she'll get the call to the hall of fame in the future, the sooner the better. Vancouver Wolves Regular Season Career Stats: Player GP G A P +/- PIM HIT SHT SB GWG Liv Slater 504 179 344 523 31 730 1263 2331 929 24 Career Accolades: 96 VAN Continental Cup 92 VAN Alexander Valiq Trophy 92 VAN Jake Wylde Trophy 92 VAN Sterling Labatte Trophy 88 OSL Renaissance Cup

@slothfacekilla Welcome everyone! After a really interesting regular season and playoffs full of surprises, it is time to turn the page on Season 97-- but before that, I would like to congratulate @sadie and the Las Vegas Aces for their incredible run in the playoffs and their Founder's Cup victory. S98 will begin with the S98 VHLM Dispersal Draft and we are here to do the Mock Draft. So without further ado, let's dive in with the Marlins! #1 San Diego Marlins Tina Hughes @tinafrombobsburgers D - 255 TPE Even tough the San Diego Marlins finished 3rd in the standings, they had the 1st round pick of the Mississauga Hounds, who finished last in the standings, as they acquired it back in S96. San Diego had a pretty good regular season before losing in the first round to the Las Vegas Aces, and a lot of players are returning for another run in S98. I think that with the returning players and the new rookies, the Marlins will have the team to be pretty good again. Since Tina Hughes is by far the best player in the draft this season, they are, in my opinion, the logic choice for San Diego. #2 Philadelphia Reapers Titus Cunningham @thadthrasher D - 160 TPE After a tough season, the Philadelphia Reapers will look to continue their rebuild by adding a couple of young players that will play in the VHLM for more than one season. With the 2nd overall pick, they have the opportunity to draft a "safe bet" that everybody knows will become a great player in the VHLM and even in the VHL. This player is Titus Cunningham. They will likely play two seasons in the VHLM, and will without a doubt help the team they are playing for. Since I believe the Reapers will be ready to compete next season, Titus is the ideal player for them. #3 Mexico City Kings Krister Von Casar Tzesar @comrade cat D - 145 TPE Mexico City's roster is starting to look good, and I really believe that if they can improve their defense during the off-season, they can compete for the Founder's Cup in Season 99. After Tina Hughes and Titus Cunningham, the third best defenseman in the draft is Krister Von Casar Tzesar, a strong, 6' 8", man among boys from Sweden. Tzesar could really help the Kings this season and even for the season after that as I see him playing in the VHLM for the next 2-3 seasons. #4 Saskatoon Wild Lorenzo Mancini @GioSivo LW - 165 TPE After a really surprising run in the playoffs, the Saskatoon Wild are probably going to continue their rebuild next season and will look to draft players that will play more than one season with them. After losing key players, Mikko Tuomala @flyersfan345 and Brigitta Sandstrom @Acydburn, both of whom moved up to the VHL, the Wild should look for projects in the draft. In my opinion, Lorenzo Manicini is the perfect fit for the team as he will also play for another 2-3 seasons in the VHLM and could help the team now and in the future. #5 Las Vegas Aces Kal El @Viper LW - 137 TPE The Las Vegas Aces lost a lot of star players after their Founder's Cup victory and are kind of in the middle. I could see them trying to make a push to be competitive for another season, but I could also see them selling everything to go into a rebuild. In both cases, Kal El would be the best choice for the Aces. Firstly, they just won the Cup with the team so they are already familiar with how everything works in Las Vegas. Secondly, they can help the team now if they want to compete, but they can also be really useful in the future if the team decides to rebuild. #6 Saskatoon Wild Nick Sansoe Jr @Tipskid97 RW - 134 TPE With their second pick in the first round, the Saskatoon Wild will probably continue with the same strategy they had when they drafted their first player. They will continue their rebuild and Nick Sansoe Jr is the perfect pick for this. just like Kal El, Nick Sansoe Jr played for the Saskatoon Wild last season, so he already knows how things are done there and he could play for the Wild for at least the next 2-3 seasons. #7 Houston Bulls Ryan Mantzz @Rkhockey9 RW - 214 TPE Just like the Las Vegas Aces, the Houston Bulls are at a crossroads, they could go all in for another season or sell everything and enter a rebuild. Ryan Mantzz would be the perfect pick for the team as he can help them no matter what direction they take. He is already a good player and I think he will play two more seasons in the VHLM before going to the VHL. #8 Halifax 21st Family Mart @birb LW - 110 TPE The Halifax 21st have two picks at the end of the first round, and after a really good regular season in S97, they will try to be competitive again in S98. I think a little reconstruction is what the team needs so they can be competitive in S99. With that in mind, Family Mart is the best choice for the 21st. He will be an important player for Halifax for the next 2-3 seasons at least and would be returning to the club after a short waiver stint. #9 Mississauga Hounds Yor Bjorven @Rin G - 134 TPE After a difficult season, the Mississauga Hounds only have the 9th overall pick in the first round, but the team is starting to look good and could even compete next season. The only position that has a big question mark is in front of the net as they don't really have a goalie-- both of their S97 goalies are re-entering the draft after being waiver pickups. This is why they could re-acquire one of them with their 9th overall selection, re-enter Yor Bjorven. #10 Halifax 21st Viener Schnitzel @Spaz RW - 90 TPE Just as with the 8th overall pick, the Halifax 21st are going to draft a player that could help them next season, but especially in the seasons to come. Viener Schnitzel could very well play in the VHLM for the next three seasons and could be a really important player for the 21st in the future as they retool after their Founder's Cup bid. Honorable mentions: Additional Pylons - D @courtjestr19 David David - D @Knight Chris Barbre - D @The Wreckening whiteknight - G @shaun1979 Xavier Dumont - D @Xavier Dumont Finnegan Tex Simms - G @Will3 Vincent Martinez - D @bigdolla Takashi Borisyuk - D @PacifistKit17 Boing Boing - RW @slothfacekilla That’s all for me, thanks everyone for reading, and I wish you all a great draft and a good off-season. See you in another VSN article!

The second and final part of my S97 defense analysis is here. This time, the spotlight is on forwards. The zeroth part, where I give you an introduction and talk about the stats I'm tracking is available here: The first part looking into defenders is here: Now for forwards. For each stat, I will be highlighting top 9 - not because I was picking 6 defenders and I want to make it nice, but because 6 defenders means 3 lines, which means 9 forwards, so it seems fair. Plus I find multiples of 3 weirdly satisfying. Just like with defenders, I will rank the top defensive forwards based on the weighted rankings in all tracked stats, but I will assign different weight to each stat than I did for defenders, because I think some plays are more significant than others based on the position. Puck Retrievals (PR) Weight: 35% Just like with defenders, puck possession is the key. Constantly winning puck battles in the offensive zone and in the neutral zone keeps the puck in your team's possession and as far away from your own net as possible. 1. Maverick Goncalves @leandrofg 885 PR 2. Gustav Mattias @Berocka 844 PR 3. Kimi Raikkonen @mattyIceman 825 PR 4. Wally Lose @youloser1337 797 PR 5. Jebediah Big Ol Doinks in Amish @hylands 774 PR 6. George Richmond @badcolethetitan 766 PR 7. Axle Gunner @Steve 737 PR 8. Harry Callahan @dstevensonjr 734 PR 9. Bryce Woodworth @SirRupertBarnes 733 PR Pass Interceptions (PI) Weight: 30% Intercepting breakout passes helps keeping the puck as far from your net as possible, and intercepting neutral zone passes can directly lead to a counterattack. 1. Gustav Mattias @Berocka 1182 PI 2. Wally Lose @youloser1337 1133 PI 3. Behrens Minion @UnknownMinion 993 PI 4. Bryce Woodworth @SirRupertBarnes 938 PI 5. Maverick Goncalves @leandrofg 897 PI 6. Jebediah Big Ol Doinks in Amish @hylands 861 PI 7. Kimi Raikkonen @mattyIceman 859 PI 8. George Richmond @badcolethetitan 855 PI 9. Steve French @Seabass 849 PI Successful Hits (SH) Weight: 20% Aggressive forechecking can lead to turnovers, which extends your team's puck possession and keeps the puck away from your net. But hitting for the sake of hitting is not always a good defensive play. 1. Toby Kadachi @ROOKIE745 215 SH 2. Grimgor Ironhide @FrostBeard 187 SH 3. Maverick Goncalves @leandrofg 157 SH 4. Savaisk Tzesar @comrade cat 153 SH 5. Axle Gunner @Steve 152 SH 6. Antonia Bucatini @CowboyinAmerica 149 SH 7. Catia Goncalves @cLoWn 146 SH 8. Spanish Moon Moth @Renomitsu 137 SH 9. Maple Dogwood @dogwoodmaple 131 SH Shots Blocked (SB) Weight: 15% While blocking shots is an important part of penalty killing, for forwards it's really a "speciality" stat. Plus as I've said in the article on defenders, I don't think it's a great defensive stat, because blocking a shot is by default a reactive play rather than a proactive play. T-1. Wally Lose @youloser1337 108 SB T-1. Gustav Mattias @Berocka 108 SB 3. Behrens Minion @UnknownMinion 100 SB 4. Taylor Swift @lilchrist 75 SB 5. Maple Dogwood @dogwoodmaple 65 SB 6. Stefan Nikolaev @Is_thatok 64 SB 7. Brandon Petan Jr @sadie 62 SB 8. Kyle Toms @Ktoms22 57 SB 9. Bryce Woodworth @SirRupertBarnes 56 SB Weighted ranking 1. Maverick Goncalves @leandrofg 4.40 rank 2. Jebediah Big Ol Doinks in Amish @hylands 8.40 rank 3. Wally Lose @youloser1337 8.95 rank 4. George Richmond @badcolethetitan 9.00 rank 5. Kimi Raikkonen @mattyIceman 10.15 rank 6. Bryce Woodworth @SirRupertBarnes 12.90 rank 7. Axle Gunner @Steve 13.20 rank T-8. Gustav Mattias @Berocka 14.30 rank T-8. Grimgor Ironhide @FrostBeard 14.30 rank Maverick Gonvalves was highlighted in every category apart from the one with the lowest weight in my ranking, no surprise that he ranked the highest overall. An interesting case was Gustav Mattias, who was 1st or 2nd in everything but successful hits - he ranked 65th out of 87 in these, bringing his overall ranking down to a 2-way tie for 8th. Forgot to add the file with all stats: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rT4mFnOTNJ9yi_Yb3vgYql6ifCoBMbyw2mgKwHaKjH8/edit?usp=drivesdk

The ability for the same people to win year after year and yet I lose every time astounds me; if people are going to scream rigged I might as well get something out of it! Still, congrats to all the winners, we will be in touch shortly to get your prizes all sorted out Tier 1 - 5 Winners: 5 uncapped TPE @Alex @dstevensonjr @leandrofg @LucyXpher @OblivionWalker Tier 2 - 5 Winners: $15 donation equivalent @BOOM @GoodLeftUndone @OrbitingDeath @Thunder @YetiTaz Tier 3 - 3 Winners: Video Game of your choice (up to a max of $90 CAD, on any system) @der meister @Gustav @Tetricide Tier 4 - 1 Winner: Nintendo Switch (OLED) console OR an NHL Jersey of the winner's choice. @Velevra

@Members I promise I have not forgotten the raffle, life has just been busy. I’m going to try and stream it tomorrow night around 7pm EST assuming the coming ice storm doesn’t knock out my power.

Graphic @LucyXpher With the regular season in the rear-view, the S97 playoffs are underway in both the VHL and VHLM. At this point, our VSN team has already provided some playoff preview coverage in the form of a Simon Says Podcast and a new episode of the Piffcast, as well as an excellent article by @Baby Boomer on the VHLM playoffs. That being said, we did an internal poll at VSN to see how our contributors (a.k.a. The Council of Dougs) predict the playoffs will go in both leagues. Full disclosure, these polls were completed before the beginning of the VHL's wildcard round and the first round of VHLM playoff action, but sims move fast and so here we are, partway through the first full round of the playoffs with some teams already packed up and teeing off their first round of offseason golf. Though we certainly weren't 100% in our early round predictions, we'll share them with you here anyway and show you who we predict the rest of the way. The playoffs have already given us some early surprises, so if we don't pick your team to win it all, take heart in the fact that Simon often has other plans and upsets are bound to happen! VHL Wild Card Round: Written by: @Doomsday (5) Prague Phantoms vs (4) Riga Reign VSN Prediction: Riga wins series 3-0 Result: Riga wins series 3-0 In a European Conference in which only half of the teams were actually competing, it meant one of the four rebuilding teams would reach the playoffs, and that team was the Prague Phantoms, whose 20-44-8 record and 48 points “earned” them a Wild Card spot. They met the 44-23-5 Riga Reign to set the stage for a major underdog story. VSN, however, didn’t buy it: the unanimous prediction was a sweep for Riga. As it turned out, reality quickly set in for Prague as they were no match for the Reign and the VSN prediction was spot-on. Riga had gone 5-0-1 against the Phantoms during the regular season and the dominance continued in the postseason as well. Axle Gunner @Steve scored a ridiculous 11 points in the brief three game series and Prague never held a lead during the series. However, Gunner and Riga would now be advancing to face the Victory Cup winners and the European Conference’s top seed, the Malmo Nighthawks. (5) New York Americans vs (4) Seattle Bears VSN Prediction: Americans win series 3-2 Result: Seattle wins series 3-1 (VSN was wrong) With a historically strong season from the North American Conference in which six teams were legitimate contenders, one would be left behind, and that wound up being the Chicago Phoenix at 40-23-9. This left the 44-25-3 New York Americans and the 45-26-1 Seattle Bears in the Wild Card both with 91 points. The Bears received the higher seed and home ice advantage in the series thanks to their edge in regulation/overtime wins, and with their 4-1 record against the Americans this season, it would seemingly make Seattle an early favorite-- but VSN was divided on this series. New York was actually picked to win by six of the eleven voters, with the majority also believing the series was going to go the distance at five games. Despite the result of the series, however, New York didn’t make it easy for Seattle, justifying the split in the predictions made. A furious third period comeback for New York was stymied by Georgiy Costanzov @Mongoose87, who stopped all 15 of the Americans’ shots in the third period, with The Phantom of the VHL’s @Hogan empty net goal sealing the 3-1 win. Game Two appeared to be heading into overtime after Wayne Gretzky @MubbleFubbles tied the game at two with less than three minutes to play. However, Kevin O’Connor @Luke033 was called for slashing on the very next faceoff, and Phantom of the VHL struck yet again, scoring his second goal of the game on the ensuing power play to send New York to a crushing 4-2 defeat. With their backs against the wall, the Americans cruised on home ice in game 3, scoring the first five goals of the game en route to chasing Costanzov from the game and extending the series with a 6-2 beatdown. Game 4 went to overtime at 3-3 after a scoreless third period, but yet again, it was The Phantom of the VHL providing the dagger with the series-winning goal in overtime as the Bears would move on to face the top seed in the conference, the Vancouver Wolves. VHL Quarterfinals Written by: @Doomsday (3) Toronto Legion vs (2) Calgary Wranglers VSN Prediction: Toronto wins series 4-2 Result: Series tied 1-1 Despite being the lower seed, the Toronto Legion are the heavy favorite per VSN, with eight of ten votes choosing them to win the series, with a majority believing it would take six games. A big reason for this is because Calgary failed to defeat Toronto a single time during the regular season, going 0-3-2 against the Legion. It looked like the Wranglers’ struggles against Toronto were going to continue after falling behind 2-0 in the first minute of the game, but Phil Sakic @Phil kept Calgary in it with a goal over a minute later. Despite a potentially back-breaking goal by Diego Machado @Dadam30 to restore Toronto's two-goal lead just seconds later, the Wranglers fought back to tie the game at three before the end of the first period. Despite allowing three goals out of the first thirteen shots he faced, Spider Panda @Ricer13 stopped all of Toronto’s 38 shots the rest of the way, leading Calgary to a huge 5-3 win over Toronto, with Benjamin Abenduct @Schnee providing what proved to be the game-winning goal in the second period. However, the Legion again started hot with two quick goals in Game 2, this time holding that lead into the first intermission as Dalkr Vidarsson @KaleebtheMighty stopped all nineteen shots he faced in the period for Toronto. Calgary again held a significant shot advantage in the second period, but only put one of their sixteen shots past Vidarsson to draw to within one. Leif Reingaard @Zetterberg tied the game for the Wranglers early in the third period, but this time, it was Toronto who roared to life and took control of the game, with Andrew Skilton @ace_five_ scoring the eventual game-winning goal just five minutes later on the power play as the Legion evened the series at 1-1 with a 4-2 win. So far, both teams have alternated controlling the flow of the game, with Spider Panda lifting Calgary to victory over Toronto in Game 1 despite a massive shot advantage against the Wranglers, and Dalkr Vidarsson kept Toronto in position to win despite Calgary massively outshooting the Legion through the first two periods of Game 2. This series seems destined to be won by goaltending and, through the first two games, this could easily go either way. The Legion have a big opportunity to take control of the series at home in Games 3 and 4, but now that the Wranglers have shown they can beat the Legion, they have a chance to seize that momentum and earn their way to the Conference Finals. This has the makings of being a long, hard-fought series just as VSN predicted it would be. (4) Seattle Bears vs (1) Vancouver Wolves VSN Prediction: Vancouver wins series 4-1 (over NYA) Result: Seattle leads series 2-0 This is the series that has the potential to be the biggest script-flipper for VSN’s predictions. For starters, this was predicted to be a series in which Vancouver defeated New York, not Seattle. Yet, despite the Wolves’ 4-1-1 record against the Bears this season, they’ve found themselves down 2-0 to start the series and are in serious trouble as the series now moves to Seattle. How could this happen? The Wolves are the favorite out of this strong North American Conference to represent them in the Continental Cup, so what has them struggling against a team they handled with ease in the regular season? In Game 1, Vancouver found themselves trailing 1-0 after the first period, but dominated the second period by outshooting Seattle 21-10, taking a 3-1 lead into the final 20 minutes. From there, however, it all went wrong for the Wolves. The Bears stormed back by scoring five straight goals, outshooting Vancouver 15-5 and taking complete control of the game. The Bears rallied from their second period adversities, while the Wolves continued to crumble, with their home fans watching in disgust as their ice crew had to remove Seattle Bears hats from the ice after King Kisslinger’s @Kisslinger hat trick. Soju @Frank did not finish the game for Vancouver, adding further insult to the team. Game 2 didn’t go any better for Vancouver as Seattle quickly jumped out to a two goal lead in the first period, which became a three goal lead following a power play goal by King Kisslinger with nearly ten minutes left in the third period. While the Wolves did quickly respond on Riley Martin’s @Smarch goal just seconds later, it proved to be all the offense they could muster as the Bears won 3-1 and took control of the series by winning both games in Vancouver. There’s no sugarcoating it: the Wolves are in real danger of suffering an embarrassing loss and a quick exit from the playoffs after a tremendous regular season. Since that third period of Game 1, Vancouver has been in a serious funk. They’ve been outscored 8-2 in that timeframe, with the Bears out-shooting them in every period since. Outside of that disastrous period, Soju has played well enough for the Wolves to win games, but Georgiy Costanzov has been phenomenal all postseason long and is keeping Vancouver’s offense ice cold. It’ll be a tall order, but if the Wolves can get some consistency going offensively, their team is talented enough to make the comeback. But for that to even be possible, they need to make a big statement tonight in Game 3 and put a halt to the Bears’ momentum. (3) HC Davos Dynamo vs (2) Moscow Menace VSN Prediction: Moscow wins series 4-3 Result: Series tied 1-1 This series has one of the more fascinating predictions of the playoffs for me. The Moscow Menace were a 9-1 favorite to win the series over the HC Davos Dynamo, but the majority of VSN believes that this series will go the distance to Game 7. So while it might look like VSN is predicting an easy victory for Moscow at first glance, if this prediction plays out as VSN believes it will, we’re in for a wild series. It’s easy to see why Moscow was given the overwhelming majority to win the series by VSN: they went 5-0 against Davos this season, clearly having an edge against their conference rivals. However, just as Calgary overcame a winless regular season against Toronto by opening up the series with a big win, the HC Dynamo showed up to Moscow in force in Game 1. Grimgor Ironhide @FrostBeard put Davos up 1-0 in the first period, with Antonia Bucatini @CowboyinAmerica providing not only the assist, but a goal in the second period to put Davos up 2-0. Six and a half minutes into the third period, however, the Dynamo nearly let it slip away as the Menace stormed back and tied the game 2-2. Deadpanda @Alex, however, endured Davos’ relentless onslaught to tie the game and extra time would be needed to end Game 1. Davos prevailed on Bucatini’s second goal of the night, their third point of the game, and the Dynamo made a big statement to win the series opener on the road and make it clear that they were not going to be a pushover. Game 2 started out with Moscow being the ones to jump to a 2-0 lead, with Jarmo Ruutu’s @jRuutu power play tally in the first period and a devastating shortie by Pombo @samx in the second period. Davos, however, wasn’t intimidated by the deficit, and Grimgor Ironhide quickly cut the lead in half early in the third period. Moscow’s two-goal lead was restored, however, with nearly ten minutes to play in the third period by River Harrington @kirbithan. Although Sunset Moth @McWolf quickly put Davos back to one goal down two minutes later, the final score of 3-2 held in favor of the Menace as the series now heads to Davos tied at 1-1. This has been a great series so far as neither team has a clear edge right now, and either team could have won either game. Despite their regular season record, these two teams both appear to be very evenly matched and are both playing great hockey so far. Aleksanteri Kaskiniemi-Kekkonen @Snussu has been outstanding in net for Davos, and Moscow has also gotten great goaltending from Deadpanda. In my opinion, this is the series to watch right now and that prediction of this series going to a Game 7 absolutely looks to be exactly where this series is headed if the first two games have been any indication. (4) Riga Reign vs (1) Malmo Nighthawks VSN Prediction: Malmo wins series 4-3/2 Result: Series tied 1-1 The Victory Cup-winning Malmo Nighthawks face off against the Riga Reign, fresh off of brutalizing the Prague Phantoms. While there is the considerable stigma of the "Victory Cup Curse", VSN has still overwhelmingly predicted Malmo to win the series anyway, albeit with the Reign putting up a tough fight. In the regular season, the Nighthawks performed a clean sweep over the Reign with a 5-0 record. In Game 1, the Nighthawks looked absolutely unstoppable, outshooting Riga 49-13 through the first period and building a 3-0 lead on goals by Conference Prince-de-Galles @UnkemptCL4PTP, Martin Kemp @leafsman, and Lucy Leitner @LucyXpher. However, just like the one that Vancouver suffered through, a devastating third period waited for them. Malmo utterly fell apart in all aspects of the game as Riga completely took the momentum and erased the deficit with three goals in the span of roughly four minutes, with two of them coming on the power play. Murmurs of the curse broke out as the game headed to overtime tied at 3, and intensified as Ronald Johnson MacWallace III @RJMW took a cross-checking penalty. This gave Riga a power play which they only needed four seconds to capitalize on as Axle Gunner buried the game-winning goal shortly after the faceoff, his second goal of the game. The monumental collapse seemingly carried over into Game 2 for Malmo as they opened the game being outshot 10-4, but one of those four shots was a power play goal by Vlad Von Carstein @Dom, inexplicably giving the Nighthawks the lead 1-0 after the first period. Riga would tie the game early in the second on a power play of their own courtesy of Severus Targaryen @Banackock, but Martin Kemp regained the lead for the Nighthawks nearly halfway through the period. The Reign, however, would tie the game again on a Shubham Anand @Will3 goal for Riga’s second power play goal of the period. The Reign would take the lead on their third power play goal of the game in the third period as Ben Laas @dustywilson22 gave them their first lead of the game. Despite Riga controlling the flow of the game for much of the third period, Vlad Von Carstein scored his second power play goal of the game with just over two minutes to play in regulation and Game 2 would also be going to overtime. Mercifully, Malmo fans didn’t have to wait long as Martin Kemp’s second goal of the game won Game 2 for the Nighthawks by a 4-3 score and tied the series at one game each. Discipline has been a big issue for both teams this series, although it has particularly bitten the Nighthawks hard. Six of the seven goals that the Reign have scored have come on the man advantage, 6/17 on the power play this series. It’s clear that Riga’s power play is red hot, and that Malmo’s penalty killers are struggling to slow them down. The fact that only one of their goals in the first two games has come at even strength could be an issue for Riga, but only if the Nighthawks don’t get their act together and keep taking penalties. Malmo’s own power play is 3/11 so far as the Reign have given them plenty of opportunities to score on the man advantage themselves. Make no mistake, this is proving to be a hotly contested series so far that Riga has every right to win with the way they’ve played. But, if Malmo can stop shooting themselves in the foot by avoiding stupid penalties and putting Riga’s deadly power play on the ice, they could rein this series in and come back to Malmo to finish it off. VHL Conference Finals Written by: @LucyXpher (1) Malmo Nighthawks vs (2) Moscow Menace VSN Prediction: Moscow wins series 4-3 So truth be told, we had a tie in our polling for the winner of this series, but most contributors saw it going to 6 or 7 games. The tiebreaker goes to Moscow based on the fact that they were chosen oveer Malmo as the likely Continental Cup Champions (spoiler alert!). In what is sure to be a tightly contested series between two teams that were closely matched in the regular season, perhaps this is where the "Victory Cup Curse" comes into effect-- providing Malmo manages to get by Riga in the quarterfinals, these are predictions after all! Malmo won the season series with three regulation wins to Moscow's two, and marginally outscored Moscow 19-18 on the season. (3) Toronto Legion vs (1) Vancouver Wolves VSN Prediction: Toronto wins series 4-2 Of course, Vancouver getting to this round is a big IF considering they currently trail the Seattle Bears 2-0 in their quarterfinal series, but we're sticking with our prediction here at VSN and picking Vancouver to meet Toronto in the Conference Finals. That's as far as VSN predicts they will get, however, as the scorching hot Legion are our favorites to knock off the Wolves in 6. The Wolves got the best of the Legion in their regular season series as they handed Toronto two regulation losses as well as one shootout loss in five meetings. VHL Continental Cup Finals (2) Moscow Menace vs (3) Toronto Legion VSN Prediction: Moscow wins Continental Cup Finals 4-3 Okay, this prediction comes with an asterisk because our voters were split between Moscow and Malmo in the semifinals. That being said, in a potential matchup with the Toronto Legion in the finals, VSN conclusively predicts the Menace will claim another Continental Cup, albeit in a closely contested 7-game series. It should be noted that in their limited meetings during the regular season, Toronto held a winning record of 2-0-2, outscoring Moscow 15-13. VHLM Quarterfinals Written by: @LucyXpher (1) Halifax 21st vs (8) Mexico City Kings VSN Prediction: Halifax wins series 4-1 Result: Halifax wins series 4-0 There wasn't much debate about the outcome of this series over at VSN, the top seeded Halifax 21st were unanimously picked to take their first round matchup against the Mexico City Kings-- the only real debate was whether it would be a 4 or 5 game series. Boasting a forward group featuring the likes of Pelayo Bolivar @SMYLS4, Ty Duke @TheDuke, Inker Belle @WildfireMicro, and Xhekajsmiddletoe @Xhekajsleftankle, the firepower of the 21st proved to be too much for Mexico City. Those four top forwards for Halifax combined for 19 points in the first round sweep as they outscored the Kings by a combined score of 10-5. Halifax netminder Chad Powers @Big_Dyl also had a strong opening round with a .932 SV% and 1.13 GAA. If Halifax can continue to get goaltending like this to combine with their top tier scoring, they will be a tough out for any team in the VHLM playoffs. On an offensively outmatched Mexico City squad, Pepe Silvia @STZ performed admirably to hold the 21st to only 10 goals as he posted a .942 SV% and 2.07 GAA. Top defenders Carl Erhardt @Elite Steel and Ronan Amnon @Breeze837 also put their best foot forward on the defensive end as they blocked 10 shots apiece. (2) San Diego Marlins vs (7) Saskatoon Wild VSN Prediction: San Diego wins series 4-1 Result: Saskatoon leads series 3-2 A series that most predicted would be a relatively easy first round matchup for the high flying Marlins has quickly turned into a fight for playoff survival. The 7th ranked Saskatoon Wild have surprised thus far as they lead the series with a chance to close it out at home tonight! San Diego jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the series after 3-1 and 2-1 results, but the Wild have stormed back with three consecutive wins of 3-2, 1-0, and 3-2. It's hard to put any blame on the San Diego goaltending as Ricky Lafleur @DarkSpyro has been playing very near his regular season form with a .917 SV% and 1.68 GAA. Where the Marlins might need more is in the scoring department. Though they're a little unlucky to find themselves trailing in the series despite an even goal differential, I'm sure they would have hoped for more than 9 total goals through 5 games of this series. For the Wild, CJ Daniels @xNJDevilsFanx leads the way with 6 points, and Brigitta Sandstrom @Acydburn has 4 points and 13 blocked shots. In goal, Toby Bob @Baby Boomer is showing why he's sure to be a top pick in the upcoming drafts as he's rocking a .939 SV% and 1.67 GAA, and has so far been the best goalie in this series. If Saskatoon is going to pull off the upset, Bob will absolutely need to be the best player for his team and a little offensive puck luck could make all the difference. That said, San Diego should not be counted out and this series seems like it could very easily go to a winner-takes-all game 7. (3) Miami Marauders vs (6) Las Vegas Aces VSN Prediction: Miami wins series 4-1 Result: Las Vegas wins series 4-1 (VSN was wrong) So VSN was wrong, what else is new, but who could have predicted (except maybe @sadie) that the Las Vegas Aces would lead the VHLM in goals to this point in the playoffs after finishing with the 2nd fewest in the regular season? In the regular season, Miami had no trouble scoring and finished with a +88 goal differential, while the Aces were a paltry -8. But of course, this is why we play the games, and Vegas proved that regular season success means very little once the post season rolls around. In terms of goals against, Vegas and Miami were actually quite comparable as Miami surrendered only 8 fewer goals over the 72 game campaign. We knew the Aces had some serious talent on the blueline with Albin Aldgard @animal74 and Kazuma Satou @Spartan both capped at 400 TPA, while Manuel Ceson @dylanjj37 (301) and Mathias Gunnarsson @ThatCanadian (330) were not far behind. In the net for Vegas, Onyekachukwu Chidieber Oluwaseun @TenIQ was also never in doubt as a top caliber goalie in the M. With only one forward over the 250 TPA plateau, however, scoring always looked to be an issue for the Aces. And yet, against an absolutely loaded Miami team with capped players at every position, the Aces managed to pull off a convincing upset. For Miami, it's heartbreaking because of how many players will likely graduate to the VHL next season, but the Aces will hope this first round success helps snowball them to another series victory in the 2nd round. The scary thing about this Vegas team is they hardly needed their elite goaltender to win the series. With a .890 SV%, 2.20 GAA, and 2 shutouts in 5 games, OCO was scarcely tested as he faced an average of 20 shots per game and probably performed at a level lower than one would expect. If he returns to his regular season form in the Semifinals, Vegas is a team that could seriously make some noise. (4) Houston Bulls vs (5) Ottawa Lynx VSN Prediction: Houston wins series 4-1 Result: Houston wins series 4-1 Though the Ottawa Lynx did get some underdog love in our polling, Houston was ultimately favored to win this series in convincing fashion-- and they did just that, as we rightly predicted in the right number of games (pat on the back). Shockingly, despite the lopsided 4-1 series score, Houston only outscored Ottawa 11-10. In reality, it was a very close matchup between the middle seeds which featured a strong showing from Ottawa's Gingy @MexicanCow123 with 7 points in the series, as well as Vladimir Trunov @qripll who posted a .929 SV% and 2.02 GAA in the 4 games he played. On the Houston side, it was truly a case of success by committee. Neither of their goaltenders posted exceptionally strong numbers and they had five players tied for the team lead with 4 points in the series. Going into the next round, Houston will likely need a bit more from their netminders if they're going to keep up with the offense of Halifax, though a balanced attack might bode well for them in the offensive zone. Frankly, I'm not sure what to make of this Houston team as they do alot of things well, but seem to lack that one missing ingredient to make them a real contender-- but then again, Simon might have other plans. VHLM Semifinals Written by: @LucyXpher (1) Halifax 21st vs (4) Houston Bulls VSN Prediction: Halifax wins series 4-2 The firepower of the Boat Gang may prove to be too much for the Bulls, though we think they will put up a good fight. Halifax beat Houston five times in regulation during the regular season, losing only one regulation contest and once in overtime to the Bulls. Though the results were heavily skewed in Halifax's favor, the score in the season series was a close 21-18 for Halifax. (2) San Diego Marlins OR (7) Saskatoon Wild vs (6) Las Vegas Aces VSN Prediction: Las Vegas wins series 4-1 Okay, so because of the Las Vegas series win, we had to do an emergency poll for this round. If things continue the way they are going, we could see a rare 6 vs. 7 seed matchup in the Semifinals if Saskatoon can complete the upset over San Diego. Our contributors, however, high on the Vegas triumph against the mighty Marauders see the Aces knocking off the Wild (or the Marlins) in 5 games. Caution: Count out the Marlins at your own risk! Las Vegas was 6-1-3 against the Wild in 10 meetings, outscoring them 19-13. Against the Marlins, Vegas was 5-3-3, though they were outscored 14-12 by San Diego in 11 games VHLM Founder's Cup Finals (1) Halifax 21st vs (6) Las Vegas Aces VSN Prediction: Halifax wins Founder's Cup No fools errand is complete without predicting the Halifax 21st as the Founder's Cup Champions. Will this be the season that the 21st finally capture their white whale, or will another strong season end in heartbreak? On the other side, will the Aces complete the Cinderella story run from 6th seed to playoff champions, or will they turn into a pumpkin against a team starving for success? Either way, the stories basically write themselves and it would surely be an enthralling final! Vegas went 1-4-1 against Halifax in the regular season and was outscored by the 21st, 12-9 through those 6 games. Editor's Notes: A special thanks is owed to our VSN contributors who voted on the above predictions: @dstevensonjr, @sadie, @SMYLS4, @flyersfan345, @ace_five_, @Ricer13, @Spartan , @Alex, @Baby Boomer, @DarkSpyro, @mmrs617, @OblivionWalker, @McLovin, @KaleebtheMighty, and @Pifferfish. If I missed anyone, I apologize and thank you for your contribution to VSN, it's rather difficult to keep track of everyone when everyone's name is Doug... 2500+ words by @Doomsday 2000+ words by @LucyXpher

I originally wrote this for the MEX Discord locker room, but why not share it here. Every member has their own approach to building their players. There's also tons of resources on this topic on the forum, starting with Player Build Guide (by Gustav) in the New Member Section: While I'm certainly not the most experienced member around, I'm a low-key numbers nerd and probably spend way too much time playing around with the TPA tool and looking through other players' builds. So I thought I'd give you my take on the topic, no matter if you're a new member or a veteran interested to see other members' approaches. Let's start from the back and move to the front. Goaltenders Sadly, I can't give you my personal experience here. I've never built a goaltender, nor am I particularly interested in building one, to be honest. In this case, I'd recommend following other guides, from which the takeaways are: Rebound Control (RB), Style Control (SC), Hand Speed (HS) and Reaction Time (RC) are the primary attributes. Building these should be your priority. Skating (SK), Size (SZ) and Agility (AG) are the secondary attributes. However, you should not neglect them, as they can act like a sort of a bottleneck for the primary attributes. But you shouldn't build them as high as the primary attributes. You don't need to bother with Leadership (LD) or Penalty Shots (PS) in the VHLM. The effect of Leadership is pretty much negligible throughout both leagues, and Penalty Shots only give you a slight edge in a tiny, very specific area of the game, where your other attributes count as well anyway. If I were to build a goaltender, I would first build the primary attributes to 70, then the secondary attributes to 70, and then I'd continue building the primary attributes until I hit the cap. So this is what my final VHLM goaltender build would look like: Skater Attributes Skater attributes the simulation engine (STHS, SimonT Hockey Simulator, AKA Simon) works with, so-called "STHS stats," are Discipline (DI), Leadership (LD), Checking (CK), Fighting (FG), Skating (SK), Strength (ST), Puck Handling (PH), Faceoffs (FO), Passing (PA), Scoring (SC), Defense (DF), and Penalty Shots (PS). But when you open the Player Management page, you can see you don't put your hard-earned precious TPE directly into these attributes like you do with goaltenders, but rather into a completely different set of attributes, referred to as "hybrid stats". These are Deking (DK), Stickhandling (SH), Passing (PA), Body Checking (BC), Grit (GR), Faceoffs (FO), Poke Checking (PC), Defensive Coverage (DC), Offensive Vision (OV), Speed (SP), Slap Shot (SS), Wrist Shot (WS), Fighting (FG), Leadership (LD) and Poise (PO). These attributes are converted to the STHS stats per this table: This way of building was introduced prior to season 83 to discourage the "meta" builds—builds aiming to be the most efficient, but without any real creativity or variability. So when someone mentions the "hybrid era," now you know it means from S83 onwards, and the "meta era" means before S83. So what do the STHS stats actually do? Discipline (DI) is a weird attribute. It aims to reduce the number of penalty minutes you accumulate. It does so, more or less, but at the cost of lowering your total hits amount. You rarely see members spending TPE on Discipline as it doesn't really make sense. If you want to be physical, you don't want Discipline because it lowers the amount of hits. If you don't want to be physical, don't build up Checking. The only instance where it might make sense is building a player with high Defense, but whom you don't want to be physical. But we're talking about 900+ TPA builds then, which is not really the point of what should be a beginners' guide. Leadership (LD) improves your team's morale, which makes the players perform better. Sounds great, but the effect of morale is so minuscule that it's 100% negligible. It also has a slight positive effect on the faceoff percentage and makes your player slightly more prone to taking part in fights. The general consensus is don't spend any TPE on Leadership. Checking (CK) increases the number of hits and penalty minutes (though not as much as it affects hits) you accumulate. A thing to keep in mind: the number of hits is also heavily influenced by your linemates' CK ratings. A player with CK 50 on a line with players with CK 40 may very well record more hits than a player with CK 60 on a line with players with CK 70+. Fighting (FG) increases the number of fights you get in. But it doesn't directly correlate with your success in those fights. In STHS, fights are objectively a bad thing, but it's fun and it gives the winner bragging rights; you can see tons of players building up some Fighting. But probably not the best spent TPE on the VHLM level; maybe just save it for the big league. Skating (SK) lowers the number of times you are bodychecked while skating with the puck and is a part of the decision-making formula (more on that later). It also helps your positioning, helping you get more pick retrievals and pass interceptions, but the influence of Defense is much higher. Strength (ST) is a helper attribute, which slightly increases the chance of winning a faceoff as well as the chance to fight through a body check without losing the puck. Puck Handling (PH) is a really important one. It's the primary attribute determining if you are able to withstand a body check and not lose the puck. It also helps with blocking shots and scoring on shot deflections. Players with high Puck Handling also tend to record more shots on the net and overall points. Faceoffs (FO) are obviously important for centers. While wingers do take occasional draws as well, it's nowhere near often enough to justify spending TPE on it on the VHLM level. Higher TPA builds use the Faceoffs hybrid stat to build up Strength, but again, that's not the point of this beginners' guide. Passing (PA) determines how successful you are when passing the puck and is a part of the decision-making formula (see below). Just a note: high Passing doesn't necessarily mean you will record tons of assists; someone has to score the goal for you to record one. In real life, sometimes a pass is what creates the goal. In the STHS, not so much. You don't often see pass-first forwards in the VHL, probably for a reason. Scoring (SC) determines how likely you are to score on a shot or on a shot deflection. It's also a part of the decision-making formula (I'll get to it, I swear). Players—or at least forwards—with Scoring higher than Passing tend to be more successful in the points department. Even in the assists department, a good part of assists in STHS comes from deflected shots and from shots on the net resulting in rebounds. Defense (DF) is in my opinion the most important attribute for any skater, regardless of the position. It's basically a "hockey IQ" stat, which is paramount for your positioning. More puck retrievals, more blocked shots, more pass interceptions. Basically, the higher the Defense, the more time you—and your team—have the puck on the stick. You won't be successful without sufficiently high Defense, it's as simple as that. Penalty Shots (PS); just like with goaltenders, it's not really worth targeting. With higher TPA builds, you will eventually build some Penalty Shot when building Scoring, but it's really just a byproduct. When you take a penalty shot, your Scoring counts as well. The Decision-Making Formula Before talking about skater builds, I need to say a few words about the Decision-Making Formula. The game simulation is basically just math, just numbers interacting with each other, determining what your player does and if they are successful at it. Speaking of "what your player does," this is determined by the decision-making formula. It's a comparison between your player's Skating (with Puck Handling having a minor effect), Passing (with Defense having a minor effect), and Scoring to determine whether your player skates with the puck, passes the puck, or shoots the puck. By stacking these attributes accordingly, you can dictate what kind of player your player is. When your player gets the puck, do you want them to pass it or to skate with it? (Passing > Skating vs. Skating > Passing). When your player has the puck in the offensive zone, do you want them to shoot it or to pass it? (Scoring > Passing vs. Passing > Scoring). How to build a player? What I mean by that: is it better to be putting everything in one hybrid attribute until I hit the target value for my final build, or build all hybrid attributes simultaneously? I'm personally a fan of the first option, but with one big but. Think about the rate at which you're earning TPE. Every person has their own level of involvement; it's up to each and every member to build their player at their own pace. If you're regularly earning less than 10 total TPE a week, I'd recommend first building a balanced 200 TPA build, then adding to it. If you're dedicated to earning more than that, I'd recommend going for the 400 TPA target values right away. You'll notice I won't recommend building hybrid stats over 80 in the VHLM. That's because applying TPE gets more expensive. Applying up to 70 costs 1 TPE, 71-75 costs 2 TPE, 76-80 costs 3 TPE, 81-90 costs 5 TPE, 91-95 costs 8 TPE, and 96-99 costs 10 TPE. Now, let's finally take a look at some player builds I suggest. Defenders There's a huge variability between defenders. For the purpose of this guide, let's talk about four general types of defensemen: a Defensive defenseman—hitter, a Defensive defenseman—technical, an Offensive defenseman—playmaker, and an Offensive defenseman—shooter. In my mind, a defensive defenseman is a player who's obviously strong defensively, but what sets them apart from the puck-moving defenseman is the fact that upon puck retrieval, they will look to pass to a teammate rather than to carry the puck into the offensive zone themselves. That means they don't need to spend as much on Skating and Puck Handling as their more offensively leaning counterparts, allowing them to spend more TPE on Defense. When building a defensive defenseman, I'd first build PC and PA (and BC for the hitter, which you can substitute with GR if you want to add some Fighting as well as Checking) until I hit the goal, to give a baseline of Defense and to put Passing above Skating, building it high enough for the passes to be effective. Then I'd simultaneously build DK and DC to continue building Defense along with adding some Skating and Puck Handling. To finish the build, I'd simultaneously build SH and SP for a Skating and Puck Handling boost. My suggested Defensive defenseman-hitter build: My suggested Defensive defenseman-technical build: If you're building an offensive defenseman, you want your player to skate the puck out of the defensive zone themselves, carry it into the offensive zone, and pass it to an advancing teammate or shoot it on the net themselves. They will also be your team's top power play quarterback, distributing the puck, shooting through screens, or sneaking along the boards to look for a shot or a pass to the slot. I'd start with building PC, DC and DK until I hit the goal to build up Defense, Skating and Puck Handling. Then simultaneously SH and SP to improve Skating and Puck Handling further, then OV for some baseline offense, and lastly PA or SS, depending on whether I'm building a playmaker or a shooter. My suggested Offensive defenseman-playmaker build: My suggested Offensive defenseman-shooter build: Forwards There's even bigger variability among forwards than among defenders, mostly because of the fact there is a center build and a winger build per every player type. The player types I'll be highlighting here are Sniper, Playmaker and (shoot-first) Power Forward. There's an overlap between a power forward and a two-way forward in the VHL, as physicality plays a major role in voting for the defensive awards. You can call this power forward build a two-way forward as well. If you're building a sniper, you want your player to shoot the puck and be pretty good at it. In STHS, puck possession is key. So even for forwards, I'd recommend starting with building defensive attributes. I'd start by building DK and DC (and FO, if I'm building a center). Then, to improve overall offense, I'd build OV. Then I'd separate Scoring and Passing by building SS and finish the build with SH, PC, and SP to add more Skating, Puck Handling and Defense. My suggested sniper-center build: My suggested sniper-winger build: If you're building a playmaker, you prefer your player to distribute the puck among their teammates and only resort to a shot if there's no passing lane available. Still, your player will take some shots, so I recommend not to overlook their scoring ability. Just like with the sniper, I'd start with building DK and DC (and FO for a center) first to build some Defense, Skating and Puck Handling. Then I'd build OV for baseline offense, follow it with PA to separate Passing from Scoring, and finish the build with SH, PC, SP (and SS for a winger) to round it. My suggested playmaker-center build: My suggested playmaker-winger build: I've saved the best for last. A shoot-first power forward is definitely my favorite player type. If you're building this player, you like to hit the opposing puck carriers or intercept their pass and move the puck in the opponents' defensive zone, where you like to crash the net to score. You're also one of your team's top penalty killers. Like with all forward builds, I'd start with building DK and DC (and FO for a center) for some Defense, Skating and Puck Handling. Then I'd add BC (which you can substitute with GR, if you want to add some Fighting as well as Checking) to add physicality, then OV for baseline offense followed by SS to separate Scoring from Passing, and finish the build with SH, PC and SP. My suggested power forward-center build: My suggested power forward-winger build: I really enjoyed writinh this. If you've read the whole thing, I tip my hat to you, you're a champ. If you're a VHLM GM and like this guide, feel free to post it in your locker room with your additional notes. That would honestly be the biggest compliment and validation for me. I forgot to check the word count, but there's enough babbling and overexplaining that I'm confident it's over 2k words.

It is getting close to season 98 draft day and there will be draft predictions coming up soon in media spots along with other topics going on to discuss who’s the best pick, which team is likely to draft which player, and how things shake out. So I thought I would Start this by selecting the top ten players in the draft based only on their current TPE. In addition, if they are not first gen players, I’ll look back on their previous players to see what kind of trends there might be as far as player development and TPE earning. In the end, its obviously going to be up to the general managers making their draft picks as to who goes #1 and when the top 10 get drafted. I have no clue where the final outcome will be, but judging by what I have looked at, it appears that the first few selections could be in line with TPE earning. #1 Cardinal Copia @Beketov Currently Cardinal Copia is leading the group of season 98 players to be drafted and he has 316 TPE right now. Copia played two seasons in the VHLM, 20 games with Mississauga and a full season with San Diego. The 6‘3“ right wing Power forward likes to hit and puts his share of pucks into the net. Now let’s take a look at Beketov’s previous players. Beketov is coming off a phenomenal career with his player Mark Calaway, who is sure to be a potential Hall of Fame player. Calaway won the continental cup with DC Dragons back in season 92. In season 96, Calaway‘s last season, it was his best season and he probably should have received several awards, but due to a skewed European Conference, Calaway was not able to come out on top of any award categories. Nevertheless, Beketov earned 1763 TPE with Mark Calaway so if this is any indication of what Cardinal Copia will be like you can expect that Copia will be a max earner.. Prior to Mark Calaway, my favorite player of Beketov, was Papa Emeritus. Papa Emeritus was a stud goalie who had a career of high save percentages. Emeritus played for 8 seasons on Moscow and he helped Moscow win the victory cup twice. Emeritus was also the recipient of the Greg Clegane trophy and the Aidan Shaw trophy in season 84. Beketov earned 1544 TPE with Papa Emeritus. From season 70 to season 77 Beketov's player was Mikko Lahtinen, who was a powerful center who liked to dish out hits. Lahtinen played for Calgary and Moscow, and finished the season with London. Lahtinen earned a slew of awards to include three victory cups, the Dustin Funk trophy, Scotty Campbell trophy twice, Brett Slobodzian trophy twice, Kevin Brooks trophy twice, Scott Boulet trophy three times, and the Mike Szatkowski trophy. Mikko Lahtinen was selected in the class of 78 Hall of Fame for all of his success. I encourage you to read the Hall of Fame article written about Lahtnnen; you will be impressed. Beketov earned 1491 TPE with Mikko Lahtinen. Prior to Lahtinen, Beketov had a player by the name of Matt Thompson, who was also a Hall of Fame player. In addition, Thompson was awarded 13 individual awards, those being the Dustin Funk trophy, 3 Scott Boulet trophies, 2 Brett Slobodzian trophies, 3 Kevin Brooks trophies, 2 Mike Szatkowski trophies, and 4 victory cup trophies, along with a continental cup trophy with Helsinki. Beketov earned 1571 TPE with Matt Thompson. Prior to Matt Thompson. Beketov had another goalie by the name of Jakob Holik, who played from season 48 to season 55 on Davos, Seattle, and New York. Holik helped Seattle win two victory cups, and he was awarded the Aidan Shaw trophy. Beketov earned 1017 TPE with Jakob Holik. It will be no surprise if Cardinal Copia is drafted first in season 98, considering the pedigree of players that Beketov has provided the VHL. I did not go back any further in time of the VHL to determine what other players Beketov has had, but the pattern is there for all to see. Beketov cares about his players and making his players the best they can be. #2 Toby Bob @Baby Boomer The next player is a goalie by the name of Toby Bob, who currently has 314 TPE. Toby Bob played two games with Mexico in the VHLM and a full season with Saskatoon, winning 33 games and another five in the playoffs for Saskatoon. Toby Bob was created by Baby Boomer, who has two other players. Before Toby Bob, there was Bobby Bob, a solid defender who played for Toronto and a final season with Calgary. Bobby Bob was the recipient of a VHLM trophy, the Vladimir Boomchenko trophy and a VHLE trophy, the Jake Thunder trophy. In the VHL, Bobby Bob also earned the Alexander Beketov trophy and helped Toronto win the victory cup and the continental cup. Baby Boomer earned 1773 TPE with Bobby Bob. Prior to Bobby Bob there was Baby Bob, who played for Prague and Chicago. Baby Bob was a right wing goal scorer who in his final season, season 86, earned 117 points which gave him the Kevin Brooks trophy. Baby Bob earn 1428 TPE from Baby Boomer during his career. Given the success of Baby Boomer’s players, there’s no doubt that Toby Bob is also going to be a star goalie and the future Bob’s whoever they may be will likely continue the trend as Baby Boomer has shown no signs of lightning up on earning TPE. #3 Peter Venkman @Josh Currently ranked number #3 with 298 TPE is a defender by the name of Peter Venkman. Venkman has played for Mississauga 12 games in season 96 and a full season in 97. Venkman was on the team when Mississauga earned the founders cup. Venkman is created by Josh who has been around the league for quite a while no doubt. Prior to Venkman, there was Jasper Davis, a center who played for New York and Seattle. Davis won the Christian Stolzschweiger trophy in season 89, as the top rookie in the VHL, in addition to winning the Ronan Lavelle trophy in the VHLE. Josh earned 1623 TPE with Jasper Davis. Prior to Jasper Davis, Josh created David Davis, a goalie who played for Prague, Davos, Helsinki, and London. Although David Davis did not receive any awards, he should not be discounted for being a solid player. Josh earned 1286 TPE with David Davis. Before David Davis, there was Roque Davis, a huge defender who played for Davos, Moscow, and Los Angeles. Roque Davis earned the Vladimir Boomchenko trophy, the Ethan Osborne trophy, and the Ryan Sullivan trophy in the VHLM. In the VHL he won the Christian Stolzschweiger trophy, the Alexander Valiq trophy twice, the Alexander Beketov, trophy, Sterling Labatte trophy, and he also helped Moscow win the victory cup. Roque Davis was selected in the season 84 class of Hall of Fame. He was another outstanding recipient who deserves some reading of his Hall of Fame story. Josh earned 1628 TPE with Roque Davis. Prior to Roque, there was Jake Davis, who played for Toronto, Seattle, Quebec, Vancouver, Davos, and Malmo. Jake Davis spent his time on several teams, but was unable to get a trophy individually or a team trophy. Josh earned 1335 TPE with Jake Davis. Peter Venkman is also likely to be a success as the two previous draftees. There is no doubt that Venkman will be a high TPE earner and will likely be taking part in several cup opportunities. #4 Gingy @MexicanCow123 MexicanCow123 created this next player, who is known as Gingy. Gingy is currently ranked 4th with 287 TPE and is a diminutive center who played one season with Ottawa. Prior to Gingy, there was Merome Dilson who earned 1728 TPE as a goalie and received the Orion DH Chiester IX trophy in the VHLE, along with 4 trophies in the VHL; those being the Aidan Shaw trophy, the Scotty Campbell trophy, the Daisuke Kanou trophy, and the Greg Clegane trophy, Prior to Dilson, MexicanCow123 created Jerome Reinhardt, who was a Hall of Fame defender who played for Vancouver, New York, Riga, and London. Reinhardt was the recipient of the Christian Stolzschweiger trophy, the Daisuke Kanou trophy, the Scotty Campbell trophy, and the Alexander Valiq trophy. In addition to the individual trophies, Reinhardt was part of the victory cup recipient four times and the continental cup three Times. Once again, I encourage you to read the Hall of Fame story regarding Jerome Reinhardt. MexicanCow123 earned 1542 TPE with Jerome Reinhardt. Prior to Reinhart, MexicanCow123 created Jacob Tonn, who played for Seattle, Moscow, and London. As a goalie, Jacob won the victory cup twice and the continental cup once; and as far as individual trophies, he was awarded the Greg Clegane trophy three times and the Aidan Shaw trophy once. Jacob Tonn had 1100 TPE before retiring. Prior to Jacob, there was Jordan Tonn, a defender who played for Helsinki, Toronto and Calgary. Jordan did not win any awards in the VHL, but he was on the season 63 Saskatoon team winning the founders cup. MexicanCow123 earned 931 TPE with Jordan Tonn. It is clear that Gingy will be another top draft pick in this draft session as he is likely to be earning max TPE and MexicanCow123 will be building an incredible forward for the lucky team to draft Gingy. #5 Augustin Martinez (1st Gen) @SleepyPlayz Ranked #5 is a first gen player by the name of Augustin Martinez, who is created by SleepyPlayz. For those GM’s who may be questioning whether to go after Martinez in the draft, I am going to recommend to pick him before somebody else does. Sleepyplayz is a max earner and is going to be creating a star forward with Augustin Martinez, who currently has 274 TPE. #6 Zak Trekker @Peace Next up at #6 is Zach Trokker, who was created by Peace. Trokker currently has 254 TPE and Peace is the first welfare player on the list. Peace has created three other players; Kyle Peace, Eric Killinger, and Rylan Peace. Killinger is a Hall of Fame player who was awarded the Sterling Labatte trophy and the Jake Wylde trophy in season 77. It appears that Peace paid particular attention to max earning with Killinger, which is no wonder he received a Hall of Fame award. Ditto on Killinger, like the other Hall of Famers, I encourage you to read about his success. #7 Alex Bridges IV @Oatex At #7, with 251 TPE, we have Alex Bridges IV. Alex Bridges IV was created by Oatex, who has been in the league for a while and has created several players; which include Vincenzo Pagano, Alex Bridges III, Tony Bridges, Harry Fingers, Alex Bridges II, Now Terdds, Alex Bridges Jr, Alex Bridge, and Alex Bridges. Looking at the update log with Alex Bridges IV, it appears that Oatex is committed to making a talented right winger out of Alex Bridges IV. #8 Tina Hughes @tinafrombobsburgers At #8, tinafrombobsburgers created Tina Hughes, a defender who currently has 237TPE. Tina Hughes is the third player created by tinafrombobsburgers; the first being Nathan Perry who earned 1231 TPE, and the second being Rick Grimes, who earned 983 TPE. Tinafrombobsburgers has been consistently earning high numbers of TPE each week and is likely to put the effort with Tina Hughes to come up with a star defender. #9 Sidney Sheppard @GoodLeftUndone At #9 is Sidney Sheppard with 222 TPE. Sheppard is a center who was created by GoodLeftUndone. Shepherd is currently a max earner on TPE and if this continues may be a good selection to pick up early in the draft. GoodLeftUndone has one prior player by the name of Moritz Stauffer, a defender who earned 1150 TPE, along with a victory cup and continental cup with Prague. #10 Ryan Mantzz (1st Gen) @Rkhockey9 Rounding out the top 10 of the season 98 draft is a first GEN player by the name of Ryan Mantzz, made by Rkhockey9. Rkhockey9 appears to be a max TPE earner and has taken on a serious role for Ryan Mantzz to be a future Hall of Fame right wing player. What inspires me about Mantzz is that he has only been in the VLM for 34 games and has picked up 205 TPE. There is no doubt that this could be another outstanding selection for the season 98 draft. 2095 words

Another week of off-season but a few exciting things have happened. The draft was a success and it’s fun to see teams adding some future game changers to the roster. I think there were some big winners in this draft especially Malmo, New York, Davos, and Warsaw. The New York draft picks hits home as both Tina Hughes @tinafrombobsburgers and Ryan Mantzz @Rkhockey9 were together in Miami last season. These pair of beauts were drafted #6 and #8 overall and If I am being honest, I think they are both steals at that spot and could have gone much higher. Both are hungry to earn and are the ULTIMATE teammates. Always upbeat and with good banter that keeps a locker room fresh. I really look forward to watching their careers grow and flourish. @STZ really did his homework and nailed it out of the park with these two. Best of luck New York!! And….. Make sure you feed Guntis @Girts before game time, he gets cranky. Malmo also had a very good (and bad) draft. @LucyXpher is a phenomenal GM and made the easy choice to draft a VHL legend’s player, Cardinal Copia @Beketov. A right winger with size who is already at 332 TPE. A guaranteed solid choice that will do great things in Malmo for years to come. Now @LucyXpherLucy next draft pick I have some concerns. She took Philly Defenseman, Bazooka Joe @ScottyP. A heavy, stay at home dman who had a good season in Philly with 15 goals and 35 assists and 204 hits. A mid-level earner who goes in spurts of great earning followed up with laziness and as my good friend @Thunder puts it, “A completely punchable face.” Now I know @ScottyP in real life, and we work together daily so I am certain that Thunder is right. His face is extremely punchable. In all seriousness, @ScottyP is a great choice and goof fit for the league. Consistency aside he will be a steady addition to Malmo. The best part is I have it in writing that IF I can get @ScottyP to earn TPE, @LucyXpher will allow me to punch him in the face during every pre-game skate they face off against Vancouver. Win Next up, Davos. Now looking at Davos roster I can see them easily competing for a Continental Cup. They have an amazing GM in @Alex who is constantly stiving to make his club better and seems to always end up on top in trades. With their first pick (#4 overall), Gingy @MexicanCow123 they solidified a generational talent in net. There next pick at #9 was Sydney Sheppard @GoodLeftUndone. An extremely talented center and affiliate 12 earner (always nice). A great locker room guy and plays center which is always a team need. Solid pick that gives Davos depth and a guaranteed earner for a career. So, my very first VHL team was in Warsaw and I won my first cup in Warsaw with some great players. Since that time in Season 84 the Preds have had some struggles. This draft though hopes to end those struggles. At #2 they took a solid puck moving defenseman In Peter Venkman @Josh. An easy pick at #2 who max earns and can lead your club from the back end for years. Next up was Zak Trokker @Peace at #10. Another great pick who’s owner has a long career in the VHL, to include a Hall of Fame build. At #11 they took first gen player Jakub Kovar @MichkovSzn. The left winger had a decent season in re-building Philly and shows good earning potential. They finished off with Kal El @Viper at #17, Daniel Novak @tworiversat 26 and David Pasta @Agito at 27th. The final picks are some good added depth provided they get to VHL. Hope everyone has a great week.

I take full credit for the chaotic off-season we just witnessed. Panicked by being mentioned in my article, multiple GMs went out of their way to get themselves out of a rebuild and very possibly into the maybe-still-to-come second edition of cautionary tales - When NOT to Buy. Let's see how every team mentioned by me in the linked piece above reacted this off-season. LA - Have absolutely no idea there was an article about them. Helsinki - Oh boy. To be clear, I made the Titans to be the unlucky ones to be in the rut they were stuck in but now they have made truly made their bed. Maybe it pays to make your own luck? Maybe? There is precedent... but there's a lot more precedent for it backfiring spectacularly. Godspeed. D.C. and Warsaw - Were delighted with my endorsement and carried on doing what they were doing. London - Largely ignored me which is fair enough. Except the weird trade down, we're all a bit unsure on that one. Prague - Did a Helsinki. A Helsinki with a bit more wiggle room though. Didn't need to do it though. Riga and Toronto - Did not heed my advice and have powered through to presumably eternal contention waiting for gravity to pull them down (tbf to Riga, not much they could do without a GM) Malmo - Finally called it a day. Got a weird amount of slack for it.

@sadie

Player Information Username: PacifistKit17 Player Name: Takashi Borisyuk Recruited From: Returning Age: 16 Position: D Height: 77 in. Weight: 189 lbs. Birthplace: United States of America Player Page @VHLM GM

The Jack Reilly Trophy Awarded to the general manager deemed to be the best in the VHLM “This award was renamed from the Ken Holland Trophy to the Jack Reilly Trophy in S42 to honour the VHLM managing career of later HC Davos Dynamo GM Jack Reilly. Reilly was GM of the Saskatoon Wild for 11 seasons from S18 to S28, winning three Founder's Cups and a record four Top GM awards.” @jacobcarson877Jacob Carson (HOU) - 45-20-7, 97 pts, 4th place, 191 GF, 134 GA, +57 Diff Jacob Carson and his Houston Bulls team did very well this season with a solid top four finish. We all know how positive of an influence Jacob is as a person and there is zero doubt that translated to his players and in this Bulls’ locker room. As far as actual team management, the Bulls made just a single trade this season by moving Raoul Cyr and a 2nd (13th overall) in that upcoming S97 draft for Bartholomew Lorequavius. Some called it an odd move as Houston already had a strong netminder in Zaps Cat, but Carson probably has no regrets with this decision as the tandem worked well for the team during the season. Via the draft, the Bulls added Jack Jack, Alex Bridges IV, and Kenton Baze to their strong roster. Alex Bridges IV is probably the highlight of that group as his past of going IA led to a fall down to 23rd. With a strong season of earning, possibly influenced by Jacob’s management, Bridges just went 7th overall in the S98 VHL Entry Draft. Other moves for Houston include re-signing players like Cat and Tommy James Longpre before the start of S97 and keeping them active until the end. @Ricer13Kris Rice (MIA) - 50-15-7, 107 pts, 2nd place, 214 GF, 126 GA, +88 Diff Kris Rice has long been, in my opinion, one of the best asset managers in the VHLM. His work to help set up the recent runs of Saskatoon after a short time as interim GM and now building Miami back into a contender speak to this exact idea. Obviously the playoffs didn’t go to plan, but they did lose to the eventual champs anyways. Looking further at that asset management, we see a few trades. First, Miami turned an S99 2nd and 5th into 12th overall in the S97 draft, allowing them to add Sidney Sheppard, who also has turned into quite the VHL prospect, managing to make it to nearly 300 TPE before the S98 draft. The draft provided little extra support to Miami as they only added James Harle in the later rounds. This team mostly built their roster in the previous seasons. After a mere 18 games in S97, Miami made one of the only significant moves by trading Harle and a 1st for now three-time Bentz winner Filip Zinek. Like we did with Carson, let's also highlight Rice negotiating new contracts with pending UFAs in Armas Jortikka, Jacob Longstreet, and Elf shoes, who all went over a point per game in the season. @roryJeffrey Pines (HFX) - 53-13-6, 112pts, 1st place, 234 GF, 141 GA, +93 Diff Jeffrey Pines managed a solid Halifax team that inevitably lost in the Finals once again. Despite it, they had the best regular season in the VHLM and were dominant all year long, only dropping 19 total games. Sadly, this roster was mostly built by previous GM Lexie Leitner, so it does make evaluating the contributions of Pines a bit more difficult, but we can try. Before the S97 draft, Halifax managed to swap a forward in Jay Sikes for much needed defensive help in Sullivan nominee Shot Blocker. They also added Inker Belle via free agency from Las Vegas to help build on the insane offensive talents on this roster already. Ty Duke could have left for another team, but was retained by Pines to run it back with the #BoatGang. Jeffrey also managed to hit with most of his picks in the draft as he added Hater Tottingham 16th overall and Darko Alexander Malkovich Sr 24th. @sadieSadie St. Louis (LVA) - 32-20-20, 84 pts, 6th place, 126 GF, 134 GA, -8 Diff Obviously, a Founders Cup is a strong addition to any GM’s resume, but the strength of this team was in the will to stay put and let the good games come. A technically below .500 record seems like a bad omen for the management of this team, but if half those OTLs fall the other way, this team shoots right up into the same tier as San Diego and Houston. Clearly, they didn’t win those games and here we are, but it just puts into perspective how underrated this team may have been heading into the playoffs. As far as moves in the name of improving this team’s chances, Sadie made a couple good ones. Firstly, she re-signed Mattias Gunnarsson for the season. Then she added Danny Ross from Miami to fill the hole left by Inker Belle’s departure, at least partially. The next significant place to look was in the crease and in possibly the best single transaction of the season considering the results, Sadie negotiated a contract with Oluwaseun, who then had Devereux and Rift caliber runs. OCO was also already a cup winning goalie who knew what it takes to get it done after a win with Philadelphia in S95. Sadie also made an important trade for Raoul Cyr before the start of the season to further support this crippled forward core. The cost to add this talent was merely a 2nd and 4th in S98. Vegas only had two picks in the S97 draft amount to anything in 3rd overall pick Kazuo Satou and 22nd overall pick Jagger Bomb Jr. Both key contributors in this team’s run. @Mysterious_FishEric White (SDM) - 46-21-5, 97 pts, 3rd place, 167 GF, 120 GA, +47 Diff As many are aware, White loves to trade picks in the first round and for picks in the first round, it's just his thing. To start the S97 season off right, the Marlins moved 6th overall for a S99 1st and S99 5th to Ottawa. Despite this, the team managed to scrape together a pretty good draft adding pieces like first-gen Joseph Poole, Zak Trokker, and Cardinal Copia at 17th, 14th, and 4th respectively. He also resigned three more forwards in Jerry Box, Ender, and Jean-Pierre Devote to shore up that top-6. It can be said the stars of this 3rd place team were the LaFLeurs, the depth that helped them most was built in the offseason moves by White. Congratulations to the S97 Jack Reilly Trophy winner, @sadieSadie St. Louis. Voting: Sadie 4 | JacobCarson 2 | Ricer 2 | MysteriousFish 1 | (Abstained) 2

Portal's dead so I'm going to stir the pot on forums, woohoo! My uneducated and unresearched takes on each VHL team's future: CGY - Looking like a rebuilder with a 4-4-2, dunno if they forgot that we run 6 forwards in the VHL but that's not a great sign. Oven retiring this season, Reingaard in S99, Dassler in S100. Prospects don't seem exciting. Tall order for them to be competitive with VHLer, Sakic and Panda, fully expect a sell coming down in the next couple seasons. CHI - Straight ass, no defense, Victor von Doom in hell for the majority of his career it seems. Interesting choice to build a team from the goalie out, and CHI has no prospects to work with. Better hit on their S100 picks and pray they don't run into cap hell in S103 when those ELCs expire. DCD - Thinking like a contender by adding short term vets, while not quite yet being a rebuilder. Prospects should be able to pitch in from S99 onwards, but the team as of now looks largely uninspiring and most likely to be the best of the lotto teams this season. Maybe should have embraced the suck for another season and focused on prospect development. DAV - Prob the best positioned EU team to compete consistently for the next 2-3 seasons before everyone gets old as hell. 5/6F and 3/4D are pretty uninspiring right now, top guys will need to carry consistently. But they play in the EU so they're fine, Sheppard and Gingy will help justify moving out older forwards before they get too old. HSK - LDN - 3oa trade was questionable, the team hasn't quite developed as you'd hope by this point but the S96-S98's will have to really grind to get this team somewhere respectable. With the EU being as bad as it is, maybe the top guys of Carti/Bolivar/Groenvold can get them United into a consistent playoff bid, but their prospect pool just doesn't look like it'll offer much reinforcement. Don't even have a pick stockpile to work with. LAS - I've been outspoken about my thoughts on a 2 goalie tandem while you have other pressing needs, and I stand by it. I'm glad 2 people are having fun but there are 0 promising forwards on this team and 0 promising forward prospects either. Defense will be fine between LaFleur and Tuomala and welfare prospects, but man this forward unit just belongs in the M. MAL - Luckily had players that weren't retiring in S98 that could be traded for picks. Feels like they made a million trades, but only 3 1sts in the next 2 seasons and Bek as a prospect to show for it. Tottingham will be a fine 3rd winger, no one else on the roster really shows immense promise beyond maybe Middletoe or Shaw if they decide to step it up and not just be welfare earners on a tanking team. MOS - lol goodbye forward unit, probably selling after this season depending on the market, but no prospects ready to come up for S99. The players that remain after the S90's are talented but dunno if you can make up for an entire forward line just disappearing. NYA - Probably mid as usual, Richmond and WWWW can't compete with PIM machines on defense. Mantzz and Hughes were good picks, maybe STZ can get the decent looking prospect pool to develop into something useful down the line. They hold picks worth something so can try to restock a bit. PRG - Idk why they thought they needed Leitner, another team overfocusing on the back end while their forward unit needs help. Still, the team isn't all that old but some are on the cusp of depreciation. Where did all their picks go lol. Tough times ahead for PRG if they don't decide to sell off after S99 or S100 to recoup assets. RIG - Malmo pt 2, V.2 full sending it to give Gunner and Targaryen a chance before retirement and Blues taking too long to hire a GM when everyone else finished trading. No S99 picks, some S100's, 0 prospects whatsoever. Probably going to need to get good value for Raikkonen after this season, along with Shotzky and Robinson. Just a tough look, defense is really bad too. SEA - No picks no prospects Seattle wins the cup in S100 with 3 forwards and 4 defensemen TOR - I don't think they're wrong to full send it, but they seem like a lighter version of Moscow with half their forwards due to retire in the next 2 seasons and no replacements waiting. At least the timing of their sale won't line up with ours. Defense isn't bad, Dalkr is falling off a cliff. Need a new goalie badly. VAN - 4-3-1 LOL. Frank went MIA this offseason after clearing some cap. 3 mil to play with for 3 roster slots, might actually be GG for VAN unless they move some of their high earning folks. Don't know how no one saw what was going on here, but this is a team of 5 6mil players and only 7 total skaters. Guess we'll see if 5 max earners can beat other teams with full rosters? WAR -

To be fair, I didn't think I will write about anything but here I am. Firstly, have to say massive thanks to all my 3 GM's up to this point, Sam, Spartan and Alex for being absolute beauties. Couldn't have asked for a better group of GMs to have for my first 6 seasons of Ironhide's career. Now, being back in Helsinki, it will be a season where I think Grimgor will have to prove he can lead a team. Previously, in Helsinki it was a tough situation as Grimgor would have been and remained as the 2nd Liner for a while and it was not my goal, while in Moscow the idea was to play Grimgor as the 1st liner just didn't work. Davos was different and I had a chance to be a part of the group dedicated to the development of the roster and bringing in the new generation of Davos faithful. Now that journey is at an end and Grimgor has just signed a contract with Helsinki. I am in a bit of an interesting situation as I have a specific plan and goals but it is clear that much of that will be hard to achieve. From the point that I expected Grimgor to be my best player yet and, it clearly is the case to the fact that I hoped to achieve more on individual award level. I do fully understand how many amazing individuals there are creating brilliant players so a chance to receive an award in VHL is a tough job. But all that said, I am very happy with how Grimgor has turned out, he is a dominant player, he plays strong physical game and has impressed me with really solid goalscoring. I do have some expectations still and wouldn't mind winning a cup but it is not a massive priority. Fully focused on Helsinki now, will have to do a lot to win back fans that previously hated my departure. On the other hand, have had a really chill time being away from GMing and have enjoyed not having a responsibility to check VHL things daily. Still get drawn back to ideas that maybe I shouldn't have quit D.C. but every time ideas like that surface they get put back into a box as that sort of commitment is not for me. Also, hoping to get back on the feet on the emotional/mental state. Have had a really rough time and this has echoed my feelings 10 years ago when in February, while studying in 12th grade I lost my dad to pneumonia. It is actually crazy to think that it has been 10 years and I feel empty, lost and more or less disappointed with my choices. Have been thinking that I need to change things massively but there is no motivation for that change to happen. I am not fully sure what my wish would be but I do not feel that my current job at the school is where I belong having more and more of a pressure put on me. It is not burnout, I find school work fairly okay, it is just all together difficult to move forward. Not even sure why I am writing any of this here but I guess I just wanted to vent somewhere. Heck, the trip to US I had couple of weeks ago was a lifesaver as it gave me a chance to reset. Oh well. Well, that is it.

I'll be honest - I've been struggling here. Life has been more stressful lately, leaving me with less time and energy to fully engage in the simulation world. As that time decreases so does the experience's immersion, which can make it more difficult to stay motivated throughout those periods. I've continued to earn as much as I possibly can and Maverick started this past season firing on all cylinders, but he hit a wall in the middle of the season and never seemed to come back to his most efficient self. While I agree and know first-hand that your performance doesn't necessarily match your skill at all times, it does get increasingly difficult to find a reason to do it. Why put in the effort to maximize earnings, and create the best player you can when, in the end, it doesn't really matter? It gets increasingly frustrating as a player, but I'm going to double down on the honesty and say the same thing from a General Manager's perspective. Not all teams are created equal, not all teams will have massively efficient builds or superstar players, and not all teams will contend for the title, but, again, it gets difficult to reason with some of the events that happen around the league. I agree with the Old Testament that anyone who makes the playoffs has the opportunity to create their own story, follow their own path, and carve their legacy, but the randomness of the events leading to these endings just seems to keep increasing season after season. I am not saying I have the answer to these questions. Questions I believe are problems that we need to address as a league and as a community but certainly they have to be approached somehow because I believe they will lead to larger issues. Maverick is now heading into his prime and I'm not sure what I'll do. My feeling though is what worries me the most because surely, whatever I decide upon, it won't matter. I want to win a Continental again, I want Maverick to play like the quality player he is and have his contributions showing for it. At 1200 TPA, playing for a juggernaut, he has faltered to a ~900 TPA playing for a midfield squad. At 1366 TPA, playing for a contender, he will falter to a ~900 TPA playing for a midfield squad. At 1490 TPA, playing for a contender, he will falter to a ~900 TPA playing for a midfield squad. How can I justify grinding for a max build of 1490 TPA when I see no meaningful returns? Especially, when that effort won't help nudge the probabilities my team wins the championship. Projecting a career TPE earnings over 2300 is nice, but when it won't help you achieve your goals, why does it even matter? Anyway, I've been more excited about the league in the past. We strive for balance in a way that competitiveness seems forgotten. I'll continue to be immersed in this community for as long as there are great people around, but my involvement as a player and General Manager will be increasingly tied to these variables.

I am going to ping @Spartan , @Triller, @Pifferfish, @Garsh, and @Banackock right off the bat for being around for this convo. Let's analyze a claim before taking a side on it. Some of us here are no doubt familiar with the world of college football, and many of those here are also familiar with a little something called "the SEC" and some really funny things that happened to the SEC this year. For the great unwashed, the SEC is considered the most dominant conference in college football's recent history. With college football's playoff system determined by rankings, there is usually a controversy related to SEC teams when playoff season rolls around. Some SEC fans believe that their team deserves a bit of extra credit for being in the SEC and playing mostly other SEC teams, who they believe are better as a whole than the others. As some people may argue, a team with a few losses should still be ranked highly and make the playoff field if those losses are to other teams who are so good that one would expect them to happen regardless of how good the losing team is. The overwhelming majority of those who support non-SEC teams feel disrespected by this mindset held by some SEC fans and analysts, feel that it doesn't give their team enough credit, and let their rage be known on social media in advance of actually seeing the games play out and finding out just how good any one conference's teams really are. This year, Alabama missed the playoff--something that seemed very unlikely under its new expanded format--and some people on the network who owns the SEC's TV rights lost their minds. Yes, worse teams than Alabama had made the playoff, but it was because Alabama had simply lost more times and thus was ranked lower. Those people just had to cry about it, and they did, with lots of excuses being made for Alabama and lots of promises that the SEC teams that had made the playoff would demolish the competition. After this point, it then got really funny when just about every SEC team in the playoff got flat-out embarrassed, and it also got really cool for me (consider my biased perspective on the above) when I watched my non-SEC team win the championship. It reminded me a lot of something that I've seen way too much over my time in the VHL, which is "my team lost in the playoffs so now I have to melt down and demand that the structure of the league changes to my benefit"-itis. Now, I'm not saying at all that this is what happened on VHL Discord tonight. All that happened was that a claim was made, and to the best of my efforts to represent it in an unbiased manner, it is as follows: STHS provides a morale boost to winners of wild-card rounds in the playoffs, which matches them up better than they deserve with the higher-seeded team in the next round. Because of this, the wild-card winner beats the higher-seeded team more often than they deserve. I'm told that @Advantage or @CowboyinAmerica or someone has done this analysis in the past, but I'm not immediately familiar with it. Since the wild-card team has an unfair advantage and consistently beats the higher-seeded team, we should re-evaluate how the playoff system works so as to avoid this unfair advantage. This is all well and good. I'd completely agree that if it were the case that the wild-card team were winning upset matchups over top seeds at an unfair rate, then mitigating that would be a proper course of action. But still, a claim was made and I don't see any numbers--and I've spent the past years of my life trying to learn exactly when, where, and how to dispute stuff that other people write. To resolve this, I skip the gym and stay up late tonight so I can get to the bottom of this whole thing. To me, it shouldn't be all that difficult to look at the whole morale part. Just wait until next season rolls around and make sure you pop open the index to find out whether that bump from the first round is really there. If there really isn't any change, then the whole point is moot. And if there is one, is there a way to adjust other teams' morale manually to match? I don't know how simming works. For now, though, let's find out whether it really is true that wild-card teams win too often. I'D LIKE YOU TO HAVE A SPREADSHEET THAT I'M PROUD OF. Start on the first tab, which is an overview of every wild-card winner from the past 10 seasons, compared to the teams they then faced in the next round of the playoffs. On the surface, the argument that these teams win disproportionately seems reasonable. After all, wild-card winners have a winning record of 11-9 against top seeds over this time. Clearly, this isn't what should be considered likely or expected. But is it actually outside the limits of what we would expect, or is this explainable by parity? It's important to note that my model is based on one underlying assumption, and that is that it uses regular-season points as a proxy for overall team ability and the likelihood that a team will win any given game. If you don't agree with this, then you don't agree with any of my analysis. I'm not sure there's a better way to do it, though--it's based on proven history over the regular season, and there's the added bonus that those teams had played each other a handful of times on the way to getting those points. Based on this, S88's Vancouver (with 77 points) would have about a 43% chance of winning any one game against Seattle (102 points). One would obviously expect Seattle to win that playoff series--and they did--but there's a nonzero chance that Vancouver would have pulled the upset. About a 33% chance, actually, according to my estimates. Here's how I did that: I took the single-game winning percentage and generated 1000 random numbers with it. If the number were below 430 (out of 1000), I counted that as a win for Vancouver, and if it were above 430, I counted it as a win for Seattle. That gave me 1000 simply simulated games between those two teams, from which I used a separate list to track totals. Every time one team reached 4 wins before the other, the numbers would reset and it would count as a simulated series win for the team in question. As it turns out, again, based on this method, Vancouver would pull off the upset about a third of the time. This is a very simplified example, but it's nonetheless an example of something called Monte Carlo simulation, where models are drawn up based on random generation. I did this for every wild-card winner's matchup with the top seed of their conference, digging up simulated probabilities that were pretty low for matchups like S90's London versus Davos (unsurprisingly won by Davos) and pretty high for the same season's Vancouver versus Toronto. That one, as of right now (all the random generation regenerates every time something changes with the sheet), says that underdog Vancouver actually wins more of the time than Toronto--which I'm OK with. Random simulation is random and doesn't always match what we would expect; as long as it's in reason (and the difference is only slight in this case), that's OK. Obviously, in almost every run, the top seed wins more simulated series than the wild-card team, so we would expect the average number of series won by those top seeds to be greater. I can change numbers on the spreadsheet, but the cumulative win total of all wild-card teams hovers pretty closely around 7.8. That doesn't change much at all--according to my model, if the VHL playoffs somehow managed to have the same sort of huge sample size that my model does, wild-card teams would have a record of about 8-12 over the past 10 seasons. We knew this already, but they have been winning more than expected. What we don't know is whether this actually means anything. So, we dig back into the same random dataset that we used before. Conveniently, we have the probability that a team would have won a series (there's an important distinction between winning a game versus stringing together 4 wins out of potentially 7, of course, but we've already accounted for this). Taking S91's DC versus LA as an example, my model says that DC would have won this series 57 times and LA would have won it 116 times over the 1000 games that I simulated. So, all we have to do is to generate a random number between 1 and 173 (that's just 57+116), and if that number is above 57, it's a win for LA, and if it's below, it's a win for DC. We do this for every playoff series. Thankfully, the sheet changes all its random cells every time I do anything with it, so every entry is a new simulation of every single playoff series. Barring the time it takes for Google to come up with 20,000+ random numbers at a time, this is great--all I had to do at this point was to write down the total number of wins by wild-card teams, wait a handful of seconds, and have my next number ready to go. I simulated 21 different outcomes (to give 20 statistical degrees of freedom), and this gave me a big range of success (and lack thereof) for wild-card teams. Over the course of these runs, wild-card teams put up a record as bad as 4-16 and as good as 12-8 (better than actual history!) in my simulations. 11 wins was even matched twice. Something that makes me feel really good about the accuracy of these runs was that the average of series wins here was also 7.8--pretty much exactly the same as the number I reach when I add the cumulative winning percentages. It's another random simulation that matches the first one pretty independently of it, so I really feel confident that it's describing the state of affairs accurately. Based on these outcomes, I now had an average and a standard deviation, which I could finally use to do something you probably did in high school: a simple t-test for probability. For those unfamiliar, the t-test is a statistical method that's used to calculate the probability that a given data set could have been generated by chance. Generally, p-values below 0.05 are considered "statistically significant" and good reason to reject the null hypothesis. In stat-speak, that means: Null hypothesis: wild-card teams do not win playoff series at a disproportionately high rate. Alternate hypothesis: wild-card teams do win playoff series at a disproportionately high rate. If the t-test gives us a number below 0.05, then we can reject the null hypothesis. This does not necessarily mean that we accept the alternate hypothesis (which is important because it's the reason why we do this to begin with)--it just means that we conclude that the statement I've listed as the null hypothesis is untrue. However--taking the average, standard deviation, and sample size, and considering how far 11 wins is from our average of 7.8, we get a p-value of: This means that at the moment, based on the information I've come up with, I cannot in good conscience agree with a claim that wild-card teams are afforded an unfair advantage in the second round of the playoffs. There are things that can change this. Perhaps if I go farther back in time, I end up seeing more wild-card wins that push the historical average farther away from the simulated one. Perhaps I simulate another 20 rounds and get a more comprehensive distribution that makes 11 wins look worse (although I wouldn't count on that based on my averages matching and 11 wins appearing to be well within the range of variability). It is not an incorrect statement that wild-card teams have won more often than expected in recent seasons. But, if it were proposed that we change the playoff format because wild-card teams are finding success, I would not currently support it because I can't reasonably say that they're finding it unfairly. I had no idea what the outcome of this analysis would be when I started it, and if I'd come across more significant results, I would have gotten fully behind that idea. So, with apologies to the Moscows and the Malmos and the Vancouvers of the world, sometimes these things happen and that's OK. I hope it can at least be respected, whether or not you agree with me, that I make my case only after having done my best to back it up.

@LucyXpher

It was bound to happen someday! Part of me feels like I owe you all some grand explanation here, but I probably don’t. But hey, when have I passed on an opportunity to write a few more words than needed. Well, it’s a new year, and my second round of post-secondary education is coming to a close. I am not less settled in what my further-than-a-week life looks like, and well, that isn’t exactly a way of life that allows for much consistency and structured activity. There are a lot of unpredictable elements, from the ever-tumultuous job landscape, the inconsistency of output from an ADHD-raddled brain, and the general expectations of being a somewhat independent adult. Every day there are more things I wish I was doing than can be done. There are a lot more things that need to be done than I’ve been able to sustainably do. Gone are the days when I had more time than I could find ways to fill it. And so, instead of giving a half-hearted effort for nostalgia’s sake, I want to take the high road and not waste anyone else’s hard-fought time, that they have graciously offered our community. With that being said, here’s what you can all expect from me going forward: - @Spartan , I plan on max-earning for the remainder of this career. Maybe the odd pension here or there, but I have no intentions of letting Woods fall flat. - @Josh , I’m happy to do some store stuff every now and then as needed, but I don’t plan on doing enough work to warrant the weekly pay. So if you want me to stay on as a 1B to someone else’s 1A, or even just pass my knowledge on to the next generation, I’m happy to do so. I’ll at least stick around in full capacity through the offseason busy time. - @v.2 essentially the same thing goes for Updater. I don’t mind staying on the roster, but I won’t be claiming the Job Pay weekly. - @Spartan and @Gustav , I’m thrilled to have gotten a second round in the VHLM, and the folks in Houston have been fantastic. I had hoped that this would be a longer-term gig, and I had hoped that I would have been able to match my excitement from a couple of years ago, but I’ll be passing the mantle on to someone else, whenever a suitable candidate can be hired. This is not an easy decision, but as I look forward to the things I hope to achieve, my time will hopefully be best spent elsewhere on a consistent basis. And I hope that taking off the pressure to be a leader in this community will allow me to enjoy simply being a member more. And who knows, maybe once I get this next chapter of life settled and a new status quo established, I might be able to introduce more sim league into my schedule. And of course, to all the people that surely know how much they’ve positively impacted my time in the spotlight, all the thanks to you once more.

I don`t agree with you assessment of the Malmo situation and the trade that they completed since they didn`t buy a ton as you claim. I would prefer to hear more constructive criticism rather then saying that Malmo is going to be shit, I would like to hear or see more data to prove that they are going to be shit. So, Let me analyze the trade and the next moves that Lucy can make to improve the roster: The Trade: (S96) D - Narnia Shaw - Traded for S99 MAL 1st - Added a 4th defender that was VHL ready and should make up the future of the blueline in Malmo; Pick will be a mid pick so looking at welfare player in return for player that is earning 12TPE per week. (S95) LW - Bret Weier - S98 RIG 2nd & S99 MAL 2nd - added a depth forward that was VHL ready (gave up either welfare player or inactive picks as drafts have been weak lately (S96) RW - Xhekajs middletoe (HFX) - traded for 3rds & 4ths: Depth player that can earn when he wants and will be VHL ready next season (S94) C - Ty Duke (HFX) - traded for 3rds & 4ths: depth player that will be VHL ready next season. So gave up 1 player but got 4 players back in return that will play for Malmo as soon as next season. That is a clear win even if it looks like a loss. It about knowing the current value and future values of draft picks with 3rd & 4th actually being rather worthless in my opinion at the moment. Even a late 1st and 2nd round picks are risky at the moment. GM Player trade: Lucy Leitner - traded for 12th overall selection in this draft & 11th overall in this past draft; so gave up two welfare picks for a Star defender. Clear win!! Not to mention timeline for these players to make your roster as the timeline is two or three seasons at best. Now future roster breakdown: Malmo Nighthawks have a set roster for next season with Raves & Kemp leading the way offensively and continued growth of three rookies that she acquired above in the questionable trade (not really but that is how most view it) So she is looking for a single forward to fill out her roster and has somewhere around $10.5M to spend means if she is aggressive enough she can buy another forward this season (S98) and maybe beyond to play along since Kemp & Raves; unlikely she will find two forwards but it comes down to the trades that she will try to make. Every off season starts with teams up against the cap and as you have stated some team looking to sell aggressively. She just needs to be aggressive in buying and I think Malmo could have a good team but one that clearly is taking a step back. So what teams are looking to sell this off season? Vancouver, Moscow, HC Davos, Seattle, New York and maybe even Calgary as they are all close to the salary cap and might look at trying to improve their roster long term outlook. Chicago also looks to be a team aggressively selling since they have no player signed next season and this doesn`t include teams looking to move off of older assets for anything of value in return. Okay, I can already hear you saying but she has no assets to trade but one must not forget that she has draft picks as season ending as she will have S100 picks available to trade so giving up an S100 1st & 2nd to bring a player in now for two or three season should be her goal and will make her team competitive again next season. Currently rebuilding through the draft is too risky so being able to retool using futures at the moment is safer call!! While I won`t go into details of who I think she should target during the off season but if she looks closely she should be able to see a few good players to target to keep her team competitive next season and beyond. Should she trade Rave & Kemp for future assets; NO!! But if she can find a deal that improves her roster by moving one of these assets then she must consider it!! Malmo isn`t as bad off as some might think!!

Wonderful dream. Reality is inheriting a team with franchise legends who are a season out from retirement and have hopes of finishing their career with the team that drafted them. I will never regret seeing them through this season and enjoying the best regular season in Malmo history. Imagination is figuring out how to do that while working toward the dream you describe.

Normally I'm a graphic guy so with some downtime during this long off-season I got bored and decided to switch it up a little and made my first attempt at a media spot and first attempt at a mock draft! 1. Mexico City Kings Having the first and third pick in the S98 VHLM draft is a great spot to be in for Mexico City considering the big hole on their roster. By big hole I mean they literally have 0 defenders on their roster. This draft seems to be top loaded with defensemen. 4 of the top 7 prospects to be exact! I believe the Kings will use this pick to take Tina Hughes! @tinafrombobsburgers. Tina who was just drafted 8th overall to the New York Americans in the VHL draft is a 5'10" 170 pound D man, who last season played 72 games with Miami. Don't let his size or lack of fool you! Hughes ended with 4 goals and 21 assists and a great +/- rating of 48! Tina has racked up 296 tpe showing he is a consistent earner! Good things happen and bad things don't when Tina is on the ice which is why I think this is a great pick to build a D core around in Mexico City! 2. Philadelphia Reapers So this might pretty biased but with the second pick I think Philly goes with Tina's future teammate in New York Ryan Mantzz. Mantzz was drafted to the Americans 6th overall in the VHL draft is a first gen RW who says he plans to have a similar game as last year VHLM standout Pelayo Bolivar! While joining late in the year last season Ryan played 34 games in Miami scoring 2 goals and 5 assists. Not the output he was hoping for but making him hungrier in the off-season. Mantzz also has stated he wants to be a first gen hall of famer and has shown he is eager to earn that TPE racking up 271 so far! This will be a great addition to Phillys roster! 3. Mexico City Kings Back to pick again is Mexico City and I think they stick to the plan of filling the lack of Defensemen on their roster and get another amazing prospect in Titus Cunningham @thadthrasher. Titus will add needed size to the blue line being 6'4" and 225 pounds! A late late addition to last season Miami's roster played 9 games and put up 1 goal and 2 assists while having a +/- rating of 15! Paired up with Hughes I think this will be a lethal pair of Defensemen making Mexico a dangerous team this coming year! Being my first year in this I don't know any of @thadthrasher players but if they are as consistent as Cunningham is who has earned himself 187 TPE so far, this will be a steal at 3 as I believe he has the potential to go 1 or 2. 4. Saskatoon Wild Picking at 4 and 6 is Saskatoon who is in the same boat as Mexico City with not having a defensemen on their roster. It depends how they want to attack this with another great forward Lorenzo Mancini left on the board. I believe they can get both and will be safe and address the D situation first and take the 6' 8" 240 lb Sweden native Krister Von Casar Tzesar. Tzesar has earned himself 172 TPE so far and I believe with his massive frame he will grow into a great D man and be a solid foundation piece in rebuilding Saskatoons Defense! 5. Houston Bulls Rounding out the top 5 the Bulls are without a goalie at the moment. And with a decent drop off between this prospect and the next at the the netminder position I believe Houston will select goalie Yor Bjorven @Rin. Joining late last season his numbers don't jump off the page with a .847 save percentage and 4.42 GAA. I believe a big part of that was due to the rebuild going on in Mississauga. I think he will have a better D core in front of him in Houston! As said before I am new to the Leauge and don't know anyone's past players but it seems to be Bjorven is an active earner with his 161 TPE since joining early February! I think he will grow into a great netminder for Houston down the road! Looking forward to the draft and seeing where all these great talents in the draft pool end up! (761 words)

A way too early prediction of the S98 VHL Standings NA Conference Position: 1st Description: Coming off an exceptional season in NA and being the best team in NA in S97, I have Vancouver retaining their spot at the top. Vancouver had a rough playoffs, as they unfortunately fell to the cup winners, but they'll be back this time and hopefully STHS won't screw them over. They've got 6 players (currently) at 1000+ TPE (without regression in yet) and look to be insanely good. They're stacked everywhere and have a very good F and D core, with an exceptional goaltender. This team should be the favorites in NA and one of the favorites to win the cup, barring any massive moves that would make their roster much worse. Position: 2nd Description: Calgary last season fell to Toronto in the first round, but this year they'll be back with a vengeance. Their roster is essentially set, barring a move or two and they should be ready to roll in the stacked NA conference. They've got a great forward core in Dassler, Tuominen, and Reingaard who should be able to carry most the scoring. The D core currently is a bit weak, but with a strong forward core and a good goalie, it shouldn't be a problem. Calgary has an outside shot at winning it all, but they've got the roster that can create some chaos. Position: 3rd Description: The New York Americans are essentially bringing back the team, except a slightly different D core. They've got a strong D core in Janser and Gavilrovs and are focusing on protecting their goalie first. This team might struggle offensively, as they've really only got a single forward above 1000+ TPE, however, they will be a team that can score little goals and keep pucks out of their net. They should easily make the playoffs, whether that be wildcard or as a 3 seed, but they're going to have a tough time against the top two teams in CGY and VAN. I think they have a chance to go far, but it will be interesting to see how the defensive experiment will work out. Position: 4th Description: Toronto decided to keep the roster together last year and honestly, they had a good run. They ran into a red hot Seattle and made it all the way to the conference finals, which is impressive in the NA conference. As for their team this season, they are going to be much worse, as they lost a lot of their firepower on offense. However, they were able to add Reno who should be able to fill some of the gaps offensively, and they still have a good D core with a great goaltending duo. Toronto I think can take down NYA in a series, but without more moves it's going to be difficult for them to punch towards the top. Regardless, Seattle showed any wildcard can win and this could be what Toronto was planning for! Position: 5th Description: Seattle is coming off a cup run, and while they are ranked 5th in my rankings for NA, they could potentially make another run, you never know. However, they are lacking two defenseman currently (which they'll probably address if they haven't), but their firepower overall is lacking a bit. They've got some "great" players, but not those X-Factor players that VAN and CGY have. However, they have amazing goaltending in Costanzov and he'll be looking to carry the load this season. I could again see this team being a dark horse team and potentially taking games, even series off of teams. However, like Toronto, it will be difficult to take down the top two unless they get some luck. Position: 6th Description: I was going back and forth between LA and DC for the sixth spot, but I'll give it to LA. Both of these teams are currently in a spot where their younger players are starting to be be called up and they'll start to make somewhat of an impact at the VHL level. This also doesn't count the insane amount of prospects they have in the system that could eventually make the roster and fill out the team for the long run. Players like the LaFleur brothers, Tuomala, and Eagles seem to be their most impactful players. Although I don't think LA will make the playoffs, they have a solid young core and should be able to start punching towards the wildcard and giving teams a scare moving forward. Position: 7th Description: DC is in a spot just like LA, where some of their younger players are starting to move up and make an impact. On top of that, DC has a lot of prospects that will eventually crack the lineup and with an insane amount of first round picks in the next two drafts, DC could turn into a very scary team for NA. Aldgard, and Petan Jr are already in the lineup and starting to develop which is great news for DC fans. The only issue is that Benson, while he's S93, is essentially stuck on the team with a NTC until the last season of his career, so basically they cannot get any other goalie. Regardless, DC is on the up and I give it a season or two before they're slotting into the wild card position. Position: 8th Description: Chicago has finally decided to blow it up after failing to achieve a cup with their core. They've brought in a lot of picks for the upcoming draft(s) and have little prospects in the system currently, so this will take a bit before Chicago can rebuild. The good news is, they should stand alone at the bottom of the standings, as Chicago is clearly tanking while other teams are either on the up swing or competing. They should easily be able to secure a top 5 pick moving forward and for a couple of seasons, this is where they'll sit. EU Conference Position: 1st Description: The Moscow Menace are ready to roll and have one of, if not the best team in EU. Ruutu and Goncalves lead the charge, with defensive members like Woods and Bocage who are going to be absolute monsters for Davos. In net, they've got Deadpanda who is a great starting goalie for them and they should be one of the favorites to win the cup. Moscow should be locked into a playoff spot no matter what, as I don't see any way how they could miss, so they're just going to have to beat the curse that is the wildcard curse. Position: 2nd Description: HC Davos Dynamo has a roster that rivals Moscow's, with great forwards and defenseman and a slightly weaker goalie. They've got players like Bucatini, Rocco, Hardy, and Mina who will all be key players for their team this season. Davos should be very happy with the roster they've assembled, as I believe they find themselves in the contender category with Moscow, Vancouver, and Calgary in my eyes. Calgary is for sure the weakest out of the four, but it shouldn't matter. Davos will easily be in the playoffs and they should be very happy with their season to that point. Position: 3rd Description: With those two teams out of the way, the EU conference opens up for almost any team to make it in honestly. However, as things stand right now, I'm going to actually go with Prague making it in. On paper, their roster is actually not that bad, with Tetricide and Leitner who will be leading the charge for them. They're not the most stacked team, but in a weaker conference, they should be able to slide in to the playoffs and I think Prague would be extremely happy with 3rd place in EU. However, I don't see how Prague would be able to take down any of the top two teams, so unfortunately, their run would stop there. However, this is a huge step in the right direction and regardless if you agree with the trades made (this article is not meant for that) they are pushing towards a winning team. Position: 4th Description: Up next, we have Helsinki going into the wildcard. I know people are questioning Helsinki's trades and all that, but again, this article is not meant for that, I'm just predicting where team's will finish. Helsinki added a ton of players this off-season in a weaker EU conference and in my eyes, they should be a playoff team. They've got Tcookie and Frostbeard (who should sign) to lead their forward core. Defensively, they are a bit weaker, but they still should be able to make it into the post-season. They lack a number one goalie which will hurt them, but with not many teams competing, they should make it in like I said. I believe this team vs Prague will be interesting to see, as those were two teams that bought this off-season and it'll be super interesting to see their trajectory this season and how they perform. Regardless, Helsinki will finally make it into the post-season and could go on a run! Position: 5th Description: This position could be flip flopped with Riga, as I feel like both teams are essentially in the same spot where they are starting to look towards the future, but also are fine sitting with what they have. Malmo this off-season had a lot of critique, where people questioned their moves and such, but they've at least been able to dig themselves out with zero assets and could find themselves still somewhat competitive. I think this last spot will be between either Malmo or Riga, but regardless, if you make it into the playoffs you could go on a crazy run like Riga/Seattle did. I think Malmo has started to turn the ship at least in the right direction, but it will take some time. Position: 6th Description: Riga is further down as I believe whoever takes over will sell the assets, however, it might be too late for that. Honestly, this team with Targaryen, Gunner, and Raikkonen could make some massive noise in EU, especially with their stud goaltender in Panda. They also have their S99/S100 picks as well, so this team is in a spot where if they wanted to buy a couple depth pieces and try to compete, they easily could and they would slide up to third in the conference no question. However, I think whoever is going to take over this will most likely attempt to sell their assets off and tank to start a rebuild, but it might be too late. I don't know how many more teams are willing to buy, so we'll see. Regardless, this is for sure one of the question mark teams and we'll see what they decide to do when the GM is named. Position: 7th Description: Ok, honestly, I can see London becoming 5th place. This team is actually starting to take shape and the only reason they are down here is due to lower TPE, however, if Malmo is not going to acquire anymore players and Riga is selling, London could sneak into the playoffs as a wildcard. At first glance, this team was actually much better than I anticipated and they've got some good young pieces moving up. Carti, and Bolivar should be great for this team and they've got a really good young goalie in Michaels on the way as well. This is a sneaky team that is for sure going to cause some problems for the wildcard race, but I think the furthest they'll go is to the first round of the playoffs. They're too young and need some more time, but a great step in the right direction for London. Position: 8th Description: There's not really much to say here as Warsaw is like Chicago, probably tanking for the next season. Warsaw has 4 1sts in S98 which will help them with their rebuild and they've essentially kept all their picks moving forward. They've got some young prospects in the system, but I think there is some work to do for N0h if he wants to get Warsaw competitive again. I believe they'll be battling it out with Chicago for the toilet bowl and we'll see who takes it home at the end of the day. Overall Standings Rankings 1 - Vancouver Wolves (NA) 2 - Moscow Menace (EU) 3 - HC Davos Dynamo (EU) 4 - Calgary Wranglers (NA) 5 - New York Americans (NA) 6 - Toronto Legion (NA) 7 - Prague Phantoms (EU) 8 - Seattle Bears (NA) 9 - Helsinki Titans (EU) 10 - Los Angeles Stars (NA) 11 - Malmo Nighthawks (EU) 12 - DC Dragons (NA) 13 - Riga Reign (EU) 14 - London United (EU) 15 - Chicago Phoenix (NA) 16 - Warsaw Predators (EU) Overrated/Team most likely to fail to meet expectations Position: 3rd Description: The New York Americans are an interesting team, it feels like the team is always built on defensive hockey and struggles to score as many goals as the other team's for some reason. They've usually had pretty good teams in the past, but are never able to get over the hump and actually get it done when it's needed the most. This team could be a very good defensive team and shut down other teams, or they could struggle with penalties and essentially be a wildcard again and lose in the wild card matchup. It will be interesting to see how they sim, because this team has big boom/bust potential in my eyes. They could be a contender potentially, and sneak games off of VAN/CGY or they could be the 2nd wildcard spot in NA and bomb out round one. Underrated/Team most likely to surpass their expectations Position: 7th Description: I don't necessarily think placing them 7th does them justice with their roster and having them be a bottom 3 team in the league, but it all depends on the other teams and what they do. London in my eyes could easily be a playoff team in EU if things shake out how they are currently going, which is why I believe they could surpass expectations. I don't think coming in London expects to be a playoff team, but just continue to build on their young core moving forward. However, like I said, the playoffs could be a reality if the cards play into their hands. I have high hopes for London and I hope looking back at this article at the end of the regular season, I was correct and they did end up making the post season. 2000+ words

Vancouver Wolves S97 Awards Let me start with saying something that I think we are all thinking right now; Why is it always the F***ing Bears!!! I never understood the GM that walks up to the podium and congratulates the team the beat them the previous season just before drafting a prospect that hopefully will kick the ass of the team that you just congratulated. I guess it would be okay if you weren’t a play-off team but I say F*** the Champion if it isn`t us!! And might I add why is this off season taking so blood long? Let get on with new season so that we can recover from our devastating loss in the first round already. It like having a Bear eat us a live or someone sitting just continuously poking at the wound just to be annoying!! Ugh!! Okay, We are here once again at the end of the season in the middle of the dark, long and cold off season of the VHL but to bring some warmth to the hearts of some of the players and fans as we reflect on the positive aspect of last season and hand out some cold hard cash!! Uh, I mean awards!! We will start tonight’s awards off with the usual suspect for Best Defenseman and it is nice to see Guntis Gavilrovs has not only found a seat in the front for himself but also for all his girlfriends; has taken you long to get comfortable in the New York!! Also I am assuming you will be up here on stage a lot tonight so at least you don`t have far to walk. And no, I don`t know the results of the awards as I write this. Best Defenseman: Last season we seen two defensemen accomplish amazing results scoring over 100pts in what was an amazing regular season for both Bollos de Trueno (105pts) and Guntis Gavilrovs (100pts) making this one of the toughest choice to hand the award out tonight. So I will do what I usually do when there isn`t much between the two; so tonight first award goes to: Little Wolf Award (Most Hits): I love being surprised by this one like the face of one of the players being unexpectedly crushed by a huge open ice hit and hearing the crowd go nuts, the embarrassment of knowing the other player got the better of you and everyone in the building knows. Last season we had a rather surprise winner in Riley Martin as I don`t think a lot of us seen that one coming as he led the Wolves with 240 hits so are we going to see surprise winner again this season? Unsung Hero: I love to hate this award as it is one of the toughest awards to give out since everyone plays a large role in the team success but who is maybe the player that isn`t complete recognized for the season that they just completed and the role that they played in the success of the team. This season I could easily hand this award to one for five players, Bouchard, Martin, Trueno, Stefano or Soju; which is making me go back and forth but I think I will stay with the first player that came to mind and that is…. Sniper Award (Shooting Percentage): Last season I knew who won this award before stepping on stage but this off season being as long as it has; has made this old man lazy so I haven`t looked yet. My general guess will be either Bouchard or Ninefingers due to the fact that they scored the most goals on the team but I wouldn`t be all the surprised to see maybe Guntis, Stefano or Martin sneak into to claim the award so lets find out together who wins this award…. Most Energetic: I think this award is pretty much locked down for the foreseeable future as this individual is active in the locker room and I cannot see awarding this award to anyone else at the moment; so who is the most energetic this season but none other then ……. QB Award (PP Assists): While I am still considering changing this award or maybe adding a Power-play award for most points; I have decided to keep this once again to assists. Having looked already at the winner; I was a bit surprised that it wasn`t our run away assist leader winning this award but …. Okay I won`t spoil it so let announce the winner(s)…. Most Valuable Player (MVP): So we know that we have a new winner as Martin was voted the Unsung Hero of the Wolves this season unless I make him both; which I don`t think is right as you cannot be unsung if you are the teams MVP. It is also nice to see this award changing hands as many times as it has showing the straighten and character that the Wolves continue to show. This player clearly lead the team when the chips were on the line ( I think league as well) in game winning goals while also pacing the team in points so without trying to spoil it too much let call up ……. Tooth Fairy (PIM Award): While I know I started off tonight stating that I expected to see Guntis on stage a ton tonight and I am even surprised that he hasn`t been called up that much (so far). I think I am safe to go out on the limb here and say that his award his usually his to lose. Hopefully I don`t end up with egg on my face for stating this now!! So who has won the Tooth Fairy Award? Rookie of the Year/Top Prospect Award: As Vancouver Wolves continue to focus clearly winning the Continental Cup and are cleary in win now mode; it was rather surprising when Vancouvers GM brought in a rookie to play the back-end last season along side Guntis but this rookie didn`t disappoint by scoring eight goals, adding thirty-one assist for healthy thirty-nine points in his rookie season. He will be looking for a new defensive partner this season and the Wolves hope to see continued development from this youngster so please welcome to the stage this season Rookie of the Year….. Always Responsible (Plus/Minus): Never really an award that I know what to say but this award shows usually a well rounded player that can chip in offensively while also being defensive so who do I think won this award this season? I have no clue so lets find out now…… It wasn`t me!! (Least PIM): With last season winner taking on a larger role with the team; would one be safe to say that I don`t expect Stefano to repeat but I could be wrong but we already know one player fore sure that won`t be winning this award as he is already heading to the back to get another drink so speeding this along who was the Least Penalized this season? Oops Sorry Eh!! (Least Hits) Usually and offensive forward wins this award as they are not overly looking to punish the other team but rather dancing like a ballerina with the puck on the sticks trying to score rather then using their sticks like a club or their skates as knifes. So who is this season Ballerina of the Wolves? Shoot the lights out (Most Shots): Uh, Sorry Guntis, No you don`t need to come up here and I am sorry that I called you a big dumb knuckle dragging brute!! And remember that I didn`t trade you; it was Frank!! Can I get some security to the stage and can we cut this mans drinks off!! As we really don`t need a Will Smith situation!! I will buy you a drink later Guntis and hopefully it will be water under the bridge? Uh, What award are we at now? Oh, Yes we are now going to award the Most Shots award so without much further ado…. Work Horse Award (AMG): I always love to see who the coach favored this season and to see if it truly paid off with this player being one of the best on the ice night in and night out so who will be reaching for the ibuprofen and ice bags this off season…. C`mon Coach (Least Played): I am here once again to put my foot in my mouth with my comments as this usually goes to Rookie, yet we just seen another rookie win the Work Horse Award so while I think I know who could be lifting this award in a few moments I would rather just we look and find out together so I don`t have to wash my mouth out even further then I already do. The winner is ……. Bruised and Battered Award (SB): This is usually a defenseman award as they lay the body on the line to aid the goaltender and generally playing really great defense. This is usually a sign of great defensive defenseman or signs of a great two way defender. Since we had two outstanding two way defenders on the team last season I am assuming one of the two will be taking this trophy home; it`s just a matter of which one….. Three Stars Award: Copy and paste what I say all the time here as I still haven`t learned so give me a few moment and I will be back…… Final Thoughts: Another great season came to quick and painful end inn the play-offs but goes to show how hard winning the Championship truly is making the previous years championship taste all that much sweeter and all I can think about is the how much more enjoyable winning another championship will be. Salary cap strain is also now fully effecting the Vancouver Wolves roster as we had to say good bye to one of the best defenders we have ever had wear the uniform as we simple couldn`t manage to keep the whole team together forever like we wish we could. More will likely be trade next season and season after as the league cracks down on teams like Vancouver that is doing better then others at being competitive. To that I say our window is now so hopefully we prove the league wrong this season and we lift another Championship or two before the current Wolves sail off into the Pacific sunset ending what I feel has already been great careers!! Now lets go get them!! @Novanod@Frank@Thunder @Smarch@Scurvy@Girts@xsjack@Nykonax@mmrs617@asteria@Gaikoku-hito 2977 words claiming Mar 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th

My thoughts are less the team side and more the player side: I'm a bit worried about the chilling effect on max earners. It's already tough for some in the back half of their career to find a landing spot with the current cap, take the end of Merome Dilson's career for example. If this was applied to this season, take a look at Vancouver's roster and you're probably seeing someone like Wayne Gretzky ending up on a non-competitive team for the prime of their career for cap reasons, just because they're slightly older and slightly more expensive than other up-and-coming players. That isn't super fun. Adding a 1000 TPA player to like D.C. right now isn't magically going to make them a top team, and I think it's either going to lead to some disgruntled max players, or perhaps people dedicing being a max player isn't really worth it anyway (which would really be bad for the league and stifle overall activity).

The Founder’s Cup Awarded to the Playoff Champions of the VHLM Las Vegas wasn’t a team that topped the standings list throughout the season with 90+ points. They stood modestly in around the middle of the league for the whole season finishing 6th with 84 points total. The Aces defense led by players like @Spartan Kazuma Satou and @animal74Albin Aldgard was some of the best in the league allowing only 134 goals. Goaltender @TenIQOnyekachukwu Chidiebar Oluwaseun played a key part as he had an outstanding season between the pipes. In the playoffs the Aces first faced off against the #2 in the league Miami Marauders who had won 50 games and secured 107 points in the regular season. However, despite how strong the Marauders were, the Aces took the series quickly 4-1. In the second round Las Vegas got lucky after the 3 seeded Marlins were upset by the Wild meaning the Aces were favored in the series. Once again they made short work of their opponent in another 4-1 series win. In the finals it was the best team in the league, Halifax 21st who the Aces would need to face. The first two games went Halifax’s way and it seemed that the Ace’s Cinderella story was drawing to a close. After those first two games however, Las Vegas won 4 straight to finish off the 21st and take the Founder’s Cup home. Their top playoff scorers were defensemen Kazuma Satou and Albin Aldgard who scored 22 and 18 points respectively, as well as trade acquisition right winger @TylerRaoul Cyr who over performed in the playoffs with 17 points. Congratulations to the S97 Founder's Cup Winners, the Las Vegas Aces

It's been almost half of a calendar year for me as Trivia Head now, and it’s been a pretty fun job so far. While I haven’t had a huge amount of feedback on my performance, I have taken the limited feedback that I have received on Discord/the forum and intend to do my best implementing it going forward. The biggest point of criticism I've found is the fact that some questions are “too difficult”, which basically means that I have started to add questions that cannot be exclusively answered by information located in the Portal. I am absolutely not anti-Portal; I love the portal, and I think that it has done so much more for the league than most will ever realize, especially for people who weren’t a part of the VHL pre-portal. That being said, one of the weaknesses of the portal is that it there is so much VHL history that isn't available in the Portal. The forum Hall of Fame section (link HERE) has such a great wealth of information/knowledge about the league's history that I feel should not be forgotten. My philosophy on trivia is that it shouldn’t be a completely free 2 TPE every single week; I feel that Trivia should serve as a way to expand the knowledge of VHL history by members who may or may not have been around to experience it first-hand, and the portal has only existed for around 30 or so seasons (I may be a little off on exact numbers there). Going forward, I still intend most of the Trivia Questions to be answerable with only information found in the Portal, but I will continue to include some questions that require a bit more research.

I appreciate the talks we had about this @N0HBDY and your willingness to allow me to move. Looking forward to getting going in Seattle @Banackock. Let's rock and roll.

Thank you to everyone who applied and expressed their interest in being a GM or AGM for this season's tournament! We are very happy to announce the S97 WJC Management Teams! Canada USA Europe World Asia Congratulations to each of you and best of luck with your teams! Please join the WJC Discord as soon as you can so that we can start the roster selection process and get games going shortly after! WJC Discord: https://discord.gg/4kjCkk6c

@Banackock is a well known member across the VHL explicitly for his long term GMing career behind the Seattle Bears, also most recently through the great work he has done to keep the Recruitment Team alive. It is not an easy task to run as Recruitment Head, it is a lot of behind the scenes work that mostly goes unnoticed, although Bana has a tougher battle just ahead of himself. Bana has put in his fair share of time to make this league a better place, and right now, in current times, might be the story book ending to the vastly successful career he has been longing to read. The S97 Continental Cup playoffs are more than underway as we are now soon to approach the final round which will more than likely feature Bana’s Seattle Bears of the North American Conference, as well as the Riga Reign of the European Conference… the team which Bana’s player currently resides. Each team is currently winning their respected series 3-1, and unless a 3 game winning streak is achieved by an opposing team, these finals should be set in stone. The forward duo of Riga’s Severus Targaryen and Axle Gunner @Steve may be considered one of the VHL’s best playoff pairing in history so far. Throughout three rounds of play (wildcard + 1st and 2nd round) the duo has managed to put up a combined 66 points in only 14 games played. Both teams have battled in these playoffs since as early as the wildcard rounds in order to reach this plateau and will not be backing down without a fight. While Riga seems to have solid firepower up front, Seattle is backed by a Seattle legend in @Hogan’s player The Phantom of the VHL, as well as 5th season star goaltender Giorgiy Costanzov @Mongoose87. At the end of the day, Bana’s GMing run will not last forever. He has totalled over 8 years of GM experience with the Seattle Bears and will more than likely seek retirement sooner than later. The question is, if Bana’s Seattle Bears are to win the Continental Cup, will this be his last hurrah? Or, if his own blood ran through Targaryen’s veins is to defeat the legacy he has built, will we see another season of the everlasting GM behind the Bears’ organization?

Prior to Lucy going to Malmo, I intended to just retire as soon as I got to the VHL, nobody interacted with anybody in the Helsinki and I just rather would've stayed in the VHLM. But once I knew there would be a locker room in the VHL with a GM I knew and loved, I wanted to get there as quick as possible, and I intend to continue this streak of earning to the best of my abilities. I don't know if there is another GM that can provide results as well as she can whilst genuinely giving enjoyment to the players she has. I am here to have fun above all, and I feel like the best way I can do that is with Lucy, I wouldn't want to be with any other GM. Thank you Lucy! I have genuinely found a love for the VHL and it would be a lie to give anybody else a majority of the credit.

@Xhekajsleftankle

lol tell me how you really feel I was always well aware that the "hard decisions" might expedite a rebuild, but there's always a trade-off, and an expedited rebuild is not always the "right choice". Those "hard decisions" impact individual players who have put nearly two real years into their players on this team. In a league that ought to be more about player experience than GM success, I'd rather take the chance of a small hit in a future season while players are still new to the team and developing than ship out players who want to be here now and have given their entire career to the franchise with no playoff success to show for it. To be able to give them a real chance as the league's top team this season will always be worth it. Flaming out in the first round was never a foregone conclusion and aiming for anything less than a Victory Cup as a contending team is ridiculous. If you're personally okay with being traded a season away from retirement, then good for you, and I won't say a bad thing about Spartan for building his team the way he wants. It was a priority for me to give our veteran team the best chance at success as long as we were keeping it together. What's the point in keeping those players if we weren't actually serious about competing? That said, I'm perfectly happy with what we got back in our trades and we've seen great progress from those players since they've been on Malmo. They're basically all players I have some familiarity with, to say nothing of the fact that all five players will be on our active VHL roster until at least S102, and trade potential is certainly still there to recoup assets spent if we decide to go that route. So no, the future has not been "sabotaged", I think you just lack the imagination to see how it might still work. And while you're totally entitled to your opinion, where's this critical energy coming from? It sucks enough losing in the first round after the season we had. Just let me grieve in peace, thanks!

Thank you to all those who submitted their nomination, I can now reveal that receiving 2 or more votes and heading to the BOG ballot are... @Banackock @dstevensonjr @LucyXpher @Ricer13 While receiving 1 nomination each are @ace_five_, @Big_Dyl, @Scurvy, @SMYLS4, @Spartan @sadie for some reason you got love in the thread but no actual nominations, but well done anyway! Congrats all - as always if you want to find out the reasons for your nominations message me on the forums or Discord.

The legendary Middletoe’s story Is largely unknown, many rumors surround him, and lots of it is legend, some of it is true, and all of it is impressive. Not much is known about Xhekaj’s Middletoe, it is said one day he just walked up to the door of his first GM grape, and in his desperation for players, he accepted him on the spot. From there the Legend of the Toe was born. From here all we have is speculation, nothing is recorded, we will share all we know, but there is little we know. Truthfully the placement of Tuvalu as the home country of Xhekajs Middletoe was just a guess, chosen by throwing a dart at a map. Some say that Xhekaj’s Middletoe is just as his name sounds, the dissevered sentient middle-toe of legendary and future hall of fame defenseman of the Montreal Canadiens Arber Xhekaj. Believed to have regenerated from simply the toe of Arber Xhekaj, which was dissevered and saved by the Canadiens. Channeled with a toe of Arber Xhekajs power, Xhekaj’s Middletoe has risen in status and grown to be an amazing player in the VHLM. Some say that Xhekajs Middletoe is an alternate reality version of Xhekaj, transported through a portal ending in this universe. Born and raised the same way, but lost his Middle-toe when the portal closed off on him. Being from an alternate universe, they only used last names there and used his last name as his first and replaced his last name with what he missed most, his middle toe. Some say he is a product of weird genetic testing, where they took athletes DNA, to try to create clones, to make an optimized human. It is said that Xhekaj’s Middletoe was the first and only ever successful clone, and WOW is he optimized. Getting his namesake from whom he was cloned from and his very first words. It is said that he came out of the artificial womb screaming and chanting “MIDDLE-TOE MIDDLE-TOE MIDDLE-TOE MIDDLE-TOE”. Born with skates on and a hockey stick in hand, it is believed that 9 hrs post crowning, is when he showed up at the door of Grape. Growing exponentially from that moment on. Others believe he was just born typically, a humble tuvaluan who worked hard to get where he is. Growing up on the rink and working to become a great VHL player. But few people believe his story is so typical. He is simply too sensational to be born in such a typical way. Some believe he is a polar bear in disguise, dressed in a skin suit of the greatest hockey player to ever do it. But the truth is nobody really knows how Xhekajs Middletoe came to be, nor what happened prior to that one fateful night where he showed up at Grapes door. But we do know everything since then. As Xhekajs Middletoe went along through his career he got drafted in the VHLM to the Marlins. After recording a point per game season there Xhekajs Middletoe would play in the JST, Junior Showcase Tournament. Here one of the most impactful interactions would happen with one LucyXpher, as the GM who drafted me we would have many great interactions in the locker room. Here happened another great impact of Xhekajs Middletoe’s career, he would get traded to that very same LucyXpher in that same offseason. As the first trade of his career Xhekajs Middletoe was rather intimidated by the new locker room, but quickly was named captain and fit in perfectly. That season the team would make the playoffs, but get eliminated in the first round. After this young and hopeful team had so much success, tragedy would strike and Lucy would leave Halifax to become the GM in the VHL for the Malmo Nighthawks. Here Xhekajs Middletoe was rather scared of the outcome of this, having a new GM and a bleak outlook on traveling up to the VHL, as he was drafted to Helsinki, where there is no locker room at all, I think they removed it from the building. Luckily one of Lucy’s very first moves as GM of Malmo saved Xhekajs Middletoe from said locker room, or lack thereof. Trading all of her picks for Xhekajs Middletoe and multiple other prospects. This trade gave Xhekajs Middletoe to improve his game immensely. During that season (the present one), Xhekajs Middletoe would begin earning a ton of TPE, committing to improving as quickly as possible. Throughout that season Xhekajs Middletoe would put up his best season since leaving the Marlins. Having 66 points through 72 games. But that doesn’t tell the most of it because Halifax finished this season 1st in the league, and are currently in the 2nd round of the playoffs, after a 1st round sweep. Xhekajs Middletoes career and life is largely hidden in the unknown. But one thing is for certain he is an amazing and humble player with an amazing looking future.

For the first time, and after over two years, I’m officially published as the author of a scientific paper!

When you thought the ship that is Moscow Menace could not move from one side to another more violently, a hidden conversation is revealed to the public. Indeed, the Simon Cowell of VHL, ruthless judge and commentator of trades tried to hide something that can not be hidden - the truth. What we see in front of our eyes is a story as old as time. Stories that are subtly and carefully embellished in the hopes of getting more attention from the good people of VHL. Often carefully planned and executed by prestigious figures who intentionally take on positions they do not fully stand on, all for clicks and likes. What we see in front of our eyes is deception and lies. I for one would like to take this opportunity and ask: When does it stop? When do we say enough is enough and start asking more, especially from those who are in positions of power and influence?

The off-season can be a drag to everyone (except management – who need a break) but this off-season seems different. More people are participating In the Pro-Am, but the real excitement is the World Juniors. After the recent success of the 4-Nation tournament that showed a real battle between the four clubs- particularly USA and Canada, the VHL is promoting a junior tournament that is set to be just as nasty! So, without further, here is the Team USA roster for S98 WJC! TEAM USA Forwards: A great mix of grit and scoring these animals are ready to take the ice on the 27th and take home a Gold Medal! F-Inker Bell @WildfireMicro F-David VanHousen @David VanHousen F-Joseph Poole @Itz_Viperz F-Spallsy McDavid @Lochlan Chisholm F-Michael Lee Jr @blueredlover F-Ryan Mantzz @Rkhockey9 F-Avery Acres @Bravebulldogs F-Alto Red @alto_red F-Big Macken Fries @YetiTaz Defense: The true heart of any club. These four do the nasty things night in and night out. D-Brigitta Sandstrom @Acydburn D-Tina Hughes @tinafrombobsburgers D-Peter Venkman @Josh D-Alex Lebanc @Psanchez55 Goalies: The hardest and most scrutinized position in all of hockey. These two have already showed dominance in the VHLM and are ready to take it to the international stage now. G-Chad Powers @Big_Dyl G-Pepe Silvia @STZ Congrats to all that made the deadliest club in Team USA history! You have all earned a spot here and I am excited to see all of you represent the Stars and Stripes in the World Junior Championship! Join LR herehttps://discord.gg/YYua2qy2

Ahsoka Tano and the Seattle Bears are Cup Champions! Tano faired slightly better in the playoffs than she did during the regular season. In terms of the leaderboard, she finished as the #4 Defenseman with 16 points over 21 games and also finished #4 for Shots Blocked with 49. Through the playoffs, Tano had 4 Goals and 12 Assists for 16 points and was +3. She also had 1 Power Play Goal. “Getting here was a struggle, and I know I can do better. I don’t know if I need to improve my own skills or if I need to figure out how to work with the players around me, but I plan to do what I can during the off season to make sure that I can be a better player come next season.” Seattle will have a few weeks to celebrate as champions before defending their title becomes their number one priority. 154 words for week ending 2/23/2025

The most playoff points in a single post-season was a record proudly owned by yours truly (Alexander Chershenko) for nearly 50 seasons – 36 points in 21 games back in S34. Then came the fraudulent Vancouver threepeat of S80-S82, during which Jerome Reinhart scored a whopping 52 points in S81 (including 28 goals), obliterating the long-standing. But being meta-boosted and all, Chershenko still had a claim to fame even after that. Until this season. Axle Gunner and Severus Targaryen have 44 and 39 points, respectively, a hugely impressive haul even with the 3-game statpad session against Prague in the wildcard round and still have at least 3 games to add to it. Chershenko's record has fallen for good and Gunner in particular has a shot to even beat Reinhart's mark. It will be fascinating to see how the Kanou Trophy discussion this season unfolds, regardless of which one of Seattle and Riga triumphs. But that is not all. Gunner, already a former playoff MVP, had 60 combined points across his previous cup-winning campaigns of S94 and S95. Combined with this season and his less successful playoff stints, he is on 56 goals and 127 points for his career. That's 4 goals away from John Locke's all-time record and most impressively, only 3 points away from Scotty Campbell's 130 career playoff points. History seems to be in the making for this future Hall of Famer and it's not just through sheer number of games – Gunner's 1.53 point-per-game mark puts him 13th all time (although pleasingly, at least in this he is just behind Chershenko for now).

@THEMILKMAN