Leaderboard

I'm gonna do my best to respond to everything but please recognize there's a lot going on in here, not just in the OP but in the comments as well. I'm only human, stuff is gonna get missed; more on that later. Right off the top, the reason you haven't been able to find an owner for the VHL is because there isn't one. From a technical standpoint @Will runs the server admin stuff and keeps the doors open so to speak with @sterling keeping the funds and @Quik and I running the day to day. If you want to use your business analogy the closest interpretations I can think of (and keep in mind I work in film, not business, so these might be wrong) would be the following: COO: Will CFO: Sterling CEO: Myself and Quik With that said let's look at your business viewpoint of the VHL because I believe it to be a tad problematic which affects everything else. Even if we ignore the idea that running a sim league like a business doesn't work and just treat this as metaphor there's an issue with your comparison. You have viewed the commish team as more or less management to the employees which is to say the members. That would not be how I'd view the league's structure. As pointed out Quik and I are more of CEO's than management. I view the "employees" (for the sake of the metaphor) as the GM's, BOG, recruitment crew, etc. The people tasked with specific jobs that need to get done to help the business (league) operate. I don't view regular members as employees at all. Their job is to enjoy themselves. For the sake of metaphor I would look at them more as customers. We create and curate the service and the members enjoy it. Now obviously the metaphor cannot go too far. As others have pointed out, this is not a business and this is not a job. Contrary to some of the jokes that always come up (and I do recognize them as jokes) we aren't skimming donation money off the top for ourselves. I don't get paid to run the league, I don't have weekend drinking trips with @Will (regardless of how much I suggest them) and I don't treat this league as a job because it isn't one. I'm volunteering my time and energy (a rather limited resource) to the community I have loved for 12 years. This is where I do take offence to messages like this pointing fingers at the "problems of the league" but then basically saying the problem is me. I don't hate your guts for doing it, as @flyersfan1453 pointed out I have thicker skin than that. However @Doc Holliday is accurate that the job is rather thankless (simming even more so but we'll get to that). Either I'm not doing enough and people are made about that or I'm too busy and therefore not doing enough in other ways and people are mad about that. I'm a human. I work a demanding job that is usually 9-5 but can be 9-6, or 7, or 8, or 9, or sleeping at the office. It happens. The producers like to say we don't work bank hours, we work until it's done. That can mean watching a cut while I shove a sandwich down my throat instead of simming on my lunch break as I normally do and don't mind doing. I think from another comment I read in here (perhaps from someone else) people seem to think it's a travesty that I sim from work but quite frankly I prefer it because I have a family as well and I need to take time away from them after to sim if it's not done at work. Anyway, I'm rambling, back to the point. I take offence to the idea that my simming has been anything less than consistent. The time may not be dead on every day but I have been simming for I believe 5 seasons now and can count on one hand the amount of times I have missed a sim without warning a backup in advance that I'd need them to cover for me. If we assume the sim season is roughly 6 weeks, that's daily sims 42 days of a season for 5 seasons: 210 days. Might be more than 5 seasons when I look at that number but let's take it at face value. 210 sims and I haven't done it daily maybe 5 times. I knew what I signed up for and I get the job done because that's what the league needs and we don't trust just anyone to do it. Do I deny telling @DilIsPickle to fuck off when he pinged me for sims? Not in the slightest because you'll notice he does it literally every day. It's a game at this point, Dil tells me to sim, I tell him to eat shit and then I sim anyway. Nothing about that exchange is serious. Not to sound like that "old boys club" everyone loves to complain about but, and yes I'm going to say it, back in my day we went 4-5 days sometimes without sims and @JardyB10 would flat out tell us off for complaining. I don't say this as a way of saying "you have it good, quit your bitching" but there is a certain level of entitlement that comes from the consistency the league has been able to provide. Which brings me to my next point, this "clique" or "old boys club" business. There are some of us that have been around for years. Sterling and I 12 years, @Victor somewhere around 11 I think? @Tagger is probably in the 8-9 range? You get my point. We've been around and that means we look at things differently for 2 reasons. First, that we are older (I was 15 when I joined the VHL) and therefore less likely to spend our whole day on the site commenting on things or chatting on the discord. Second, that we have seen the major differences the league has gone through. This leads back to that entitlement issue I just brought up. We're not trying to be old gruffs shouting "back in my day" at everything but to a point it's true. We had sim updates maybe 3 times a season and "daily sims" 4 times a week. The league has thankfully evolved past that but that consistency means that we see people come on and complain that their update hasn't been applied a few hours after they claimed it or that the sim, which is coming, isn't at a convenient time for them. Regular members think nothing of it because this kind of consistency is all they've ever known but those of us that went through the formative years and know how bad things can get do get a bit uppity about these trivial things sometimes. Does that make us un-approachable? Not at all. You specifically mentioned @Phil several times who's as "old boys club" as any of us. Difference is that he doesn't hold a major position in the league and therefore has more free time to interact with people. That's great but if we give him more responsibility that amount of free time decreases and he becomes part of the problem: an out of touch old timer. We aren't intending to be closed off or difficult and for the most part I do believe we achieve that but it's a two way street. People who have devoted literally years of their life to this site have seen countless members come and go because not every member can stay: this is a fact we recognize. Have you considered that it's possible we don't reach out to everyone individually because our time on the site is better served keeping things running smoothly? I look at this as delegating, VHLM GM's and recruitment crew and such are tasked with keeping members engaged. I don't keep every single new member engaged because I can't. There are hundreds of them and only 1 of me, doing a lot of other stuff. By all means approach me and talk to me, I assure you I don't bite. Even Dil and I have reasonable conversations when we aren't in the usual "sim / fuck off" mode. Calling us all a clique but putting the onus on us to include others in that clique doesn't make sense. The VHL is a community, period. Talk with whoever you want and don't assume anyone is being standoffish because they've been here awhile. We aren't but it's another lose-lose. If we engage with everyone we have no time to get other tasks done because we're just chatting all day. If we don't engage we're disconnected old fuckers that don't care about the members. Wow this is getting long, moving on. The delegation I mentioned does 100% pass through to PM's. I get hundreds in a week, things get buried, things get missed. Often times I read them in an email and mean to respond but don't. Go ahead and poke me about it, I won't get mad. Quik does it all the time. However as a general rule of thumb, and bringing it back to your business analogy, would a customer demand to speak with a CEO and then get mad if the CEO doesn't respond? There's a lot on my plate and everyone assumes that going straight to the top is the best way to get things done but often it's not. If it's a portal related thing I differ to @Josh and @Will because I don't understand the portal magic. If it's a store thing, that's Josh again. If it's a VHLM thing that's @Banackock or @diamond_ace. I'm not being lazy, I'm putting it through the best channels to get a response because the VHL is incredibly complex and 1 person can't accurately respond to everything. So yes, I did miss your message and I have apologized for that but messages to me will get missed; period. There's nothing I can realistically do about it. I could fill an entire day just answering PM's if I tried to answer them all. Delegation keeps the cogs turning so getting mad at the biggest cog when you could have adjusted any of the others instead doesn't make sense to me. I do what I can and I can assure you I don't ignore specific people or specific messages but I'm only human. I'm gonna bring up two more points though I'm sure there are many more. Sadly I have been typing this for 45 minutes and need to take my dog for a walk before she rips my couch apart. The first is you made a comment saying how you were drafted first so clearly, because I run the drafts, I must know who you are. This is unfortunately incorrect for 2 reasons. One is that I don't tend to run the drafts because of timezone issues making them usually run in the middle of the night during the week for me. Makes it quite impossible. I've literally only ever run 1 draft. Maybe that was yours, maybe it wasn't. I honestly don't even recall which raft it was. The second reason is that I've never been a VHL GM and never wanted to be one. This means I do not scout the drafts, almost ever. I look at their overall numbers and see how the league growth is and such but I can't get to know every draftee personally. I'm sorry but I can't, not even the top 10 in every draft, it's just too much. I do hope the GM's do a better job at this than me but honestly I couldn't tell you who went 1st overall in any draft dating back to S61 when I was drafted and only can then because it was me. It's not a slight at you, it's just the state of how these things go. There's several hundred players between the VHL and VHLM. I don't know every member and I certainly don't know every player they control. I'm not honestly going to apologize for that because I don't believe it's unreasonable to say I can't memorize 300+ players and members. The last point I wanted to bring up is a quick one. You seem to be putting the onus of your storyline and your engagement in the league on others and I don't quite understand the logic behind this. You create your player, you tell us his or her story. That's how this works. We can, and have, given you the framework to do so but the amount you put into it is on you, not the league. I'm sorry that I can't comment or even listen to every podcast but I can't. I wish I could more often and I do when I have the time but usually it's impossible. That doesn't mean user engagement in the league is shit though. Look at what you created here, even if the message was a bit harsh. Engagement is about pulling people in. As a league we can't force people to engage in stuff, that's how #fixthelottery happened. Just as I can't listen to every podcast, neither can anyone else. We all do our best but engaging in the league is a personal choice. If you want to engage more than engage more. Chat on the discord, comment on MS', be involved. Me liking a podcast every once in awhile isn't going to change someone's engagement in the league I assure you. Clearly I should have written this as a media spot, I could have been set for the next month. In any case I hope I touched on your main concerns at least. I know I can't cover everything from this in a single response but I tried.

When I initially found the VHL I was blown away that I had never known about a SIM league like it before. The VHL had a lot of what I was looking for (story, sports, statistics) and I dove right in. If you were to compare my activity in the beginning with it now, you'd be shocked to see the drop off that has occurred. I happen to really like what the VHL is about, which is why I am writing this message, and why I have complained in private to the commissioners and also gone and reached out to older members in the hopes I could identify who owns this site. I still haven't found out who owns this site btw, I have no idea who the owner of the VHL is (it's not Sterling) but I'd like to speak with him/her/them, so I could express the same concerns I've had to them. There are many issues I would like to tackle but there is one glaring issue I can't help ignore and that's the leadership team that is here. I'm going to pick on one of the three commissioners, because they play a huge role in running this site and it's with one of them that I can identify most of the issues with. I've seen messages/responses posted, specifically by @Beketov, wondering aloud how other leagues do a better job at retention or gaining high volumes of members. I reached out to Beketov privately to suggest a new job, one that would be called the Retention Crew, and those people would specifically focus on new/old users and engage with them (comment on their stuff, be positive, listen to them, create story angles, etc). Beketov didn't read nor respond to my message to him, and instead only did so when I called him out on it when Blademaiden had her meltdown post and Beketov was saying something along the lines of, "I don't know why there is a belief that we ignore people." Beketov apologized to me but at the same time gave excuses as to why he didn't see my message, and then they went about creating a Public Liaison, so that messages from people like myself wouldn't be missed in the future. This didn't solve the problem, because the problem is lack of engagement. Some of that lack of engagement has to do with the fact that the commissioners are human beings who work full time jobs and have lives of their own. Recently I saw Beketov tell Dill to fuck off on VHL General Discord because Dill asked him about the SIM (when it would be), and Beketov expressed that he was so busy at work that he didn't even get a lunch break that day. I see two big issues with Beketovs response - 1. He told a user to fuck off because they asked him about a SIM. Even if Beketov is friends with Dill, no commissioner should be telling a user to fuck off in public, especially when they ask about something like the SIM. It's not a good look (unprofessional), and if you didn't know Beketov, you might not want to message him about something in the future. Before you go and tell me it's not a big deal, Commissioners should be held to a higher standard, as they represent this league. 2. He's clearly very busy. Now that I'm in several SIM leagues I have a better understanding of how they work, and I also have seen other commissioners give up their position because of the #2 reason above. If you're too busy to handle your duties, then do what is right for the league, and put someone in that spot that can handle it. Leadership stems from the top, and shit rolls down hill. If you don't have strong leadership, everything falls apart. What we lack here is a positive culture, and certainly one that is not being reinforced from our leadership, and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that the commissioners lack the real world experience to properly lead this site, and also don't have enough time in their life to properly devote themselves to their role (namely Beketov). Creating culture is a difficult thing to do, but there are a lot of examples you can follow to achieve your goal. The leadership team here should be looking at the VHL in the same way a business looks at it's employees, so here are some examples taken from Forbes on how a business creates a positive culture in their company: Emphasis on employee wellness. No organization can expect to foster a positive culture without healthy employees. Employees need to feel their best – physically, mentally and emotionally – in order to contribute to a positive culture. In many ways, employee wellness is a foundation for a positive corporate culture. Leaders should ensure that employees have the resources, tools and on-site healthcare opportunities they need to live their healthiest life – inside and outside of the office. *** This is obviously not achievable from a physical standpoint (no health care provided at the VHL), but definitely the mental and emotional side of it should be considered, as that plays a huge role in retaining members. I used to put a lot more effort into writing but I find that it is not overly rewarded, and that just doing the bare minimum is enough to get my TPE. Grow off your current culture. Building a positive corporate culture doesn’t mean employers should completely scrap everything their company currently stands for. Rather than expecting employees to do a complete 180, employers should work on enhancing the current culture they have. Ask employees what they do and don’t like about their current culture and work environment. Leaders should use these suggestions to help create a positive corporate culture that’s appropriate for their workforce. ***You've got a great group of people here that can help grow the culture. There are members like Phil who will reach out to new people, but how many of you oldies do the same? How many of you could do more? I find the VHL to be very cliqy, and a particularly difficult group to crack. I've been here for months and still haven't been able to connect with the majority of older members, and all I ever try to be is fun and positive. Instead people call me a brown noser and or they don't talk to me at all. I have never once had a commissioners comment or like a single thing I've done here, and to me, that's crazy. Provide meaning. Meaning and purpose are more important in the workplace now than ever. A majority of employees crave meaning and purpose in their work. Without it, job satisfaction takes a major hit. And a company certainly can’t build a culture without any meaning behind its work. Create a mission statement and core values and communicate these to employees. Give employees specific examples of how their roles positively impact the company and its clients. ***Ever notice how a lot of members drop off after the draft? There has to be more to the league than just getting drafted, and engaging the new people more and giving them incentives to work toward will help with that. Pay attention to the people who take the time to be here, let them know that what they do matters. Create goals. No organization can have corporate culture without clear goals in place. Employers should gather with their team to create goals and objectives that everyone can work towards. Creating a company goal brings employees together and gives everyone something specific to work towards – other than a paycheck. ***This has been recently expanded on (career PT's) Encourage positivity. In order to build a positive culture, employers need to start by encouraging positivity in the workplace. It’s essential to promote positivity on a daily basis. Employers should lead by example by expressing gratitude, smiling often and remaining optimistic during difficult situations. Employees are much more likely to engage in positive behavior when they see their employers doing so. ***This is what's missing the most, from the leadership standpoint. They currently rely on GM's to do most of this, and while that's just barely acceptable, we need more from the leadership overall. If you're too busy to engage with your users, hire another commissioner (or two), or step down and become a player instead. If you don't want to engage with the group but want to be a player, we won't have a problem with that whatsoever. Foster social connections. Workplace relationships are an essential element to a positive company culture. When employees barely know their colleagues and rarely interact, there’s no possible way for a strong culture to grow. Leaders need to provide employees with opportunities for social interactions in the workplace. Consider weekly team meals, happy hour excursions or even a book club to get things started. ***Another SIM league, the PBE, does social events for example. They also give out money or TPE to attend those events (which is a great incentive). More can be done to bring the group as a whole together. Listen. Being a good listener is one of the easiest ways employers can start to build a positive culture. According to research gathered by CultureIQ, 86% of employees at companies with strong cultures feel their senior leadership listens to employees, as compared to 70% of employees at companies without strong culture. Listen to employees, and make sure they feel their voices are heard and valued. ***If you don't have time to read a PM that has been sent to you by a user, you're not listening. Empower “culture champions.” Similar to “wellness champions,” culture champions are employees who embody the values and missions of a company. They are excited to promote a company’s aspirations and encourage others to do the same. Identify these employees and encourage them to keep spreading the cheer. ***This is in line with my retention crew idea, have people who are Rookie Mentors, who have an interest in engaging with members. One of the most important roles a leader has is creating a positive culture. Be sure to cultivate a positive culture that enhances the talent, diversity and happiness of your workforce. Building a unique, positive culture is one of the best – and simplest – ways to get your employees to invest their talent and future with your company. ********************** There is no way for me to post this without offending Beketov or others that are allies of his, but it has to be said, and people who are in positions of power should be able to handle criticism. At this rate I am strongly considering not re-creating and it has a lot to do with the culture here. I was told by Bana that the VHL is a much nicer place to be than the SHL, I find that to be the opposite. I've been treated exceptionally well at the SHL, the PBE and the EFL, but why haven't I had the same experience here? And before you go and call me a whiny baby - I am a max earner, who has created a ton of content and was selected first overall in my draft, and yet none of that is worth a like or a comment? When my draft article appeared on the front page, they saw it- but nothing from them at all was strange... and to me, that shows a lack of care. If you're wondering, in every other SIM league I am in I have had engagement from the leadership team, they've all taken time to talk to me or comment/like something I did, and that positive reinforcement went a long way in inspiring me to do more/be better. There is a great divide between the older members and the new, and just because you've been here since the start doesn't mean you're the best choice to lead this site. If you're too busy to engage, take a break. Do what's best for the league. You can still get your max TPE by simming, so why hold on to something you can't handle? I know that I am going to get blasted for making this post, and I expect that. But I sure hope that you think about what I've said, and consider how great this place could be if you took steps to create a stronger, more positive, culture. Sometimes that means stepping aside. Now, go ahead and attack me on a personal level, feel free to question my character or try to tell me that what I've said isn't true. But I am not alone in feeling this way, and I bet you'd be surprised to find out just how many other people share the same opinion as me. I took the time to write this message because I want to see a change for the better. I don't want to be like so many other users and just fade away, and I'm not going to be- I'm not walking out the door without letting you know about it.

3rd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S68 Another regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 3rd Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards for S68. Anyway, these awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors. I wrote silly little descriptions for most of these award names in the original award post. This year I'm cutting down on that junk and getting straight to business. Without further ado, away we go: The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Sven Hitz @JayF D.C. Dragons Not surprisingly the winner came from one of the expansion teams. Sven led the league with a -58. D.C. Dragons occupied the top 9 slots in worst +/-. Previous Winners: S67 - Piotr Jerwa and Nethila Dissanayake (-34) S66 - Bryce Zhields (-49) The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes) – Jack Lynch @xsjack Malmo Nighthawks Jack led the league with 0 PIM in 1473 Minutes Played. Previous Winners: S67 - Diljodh Starload (0 PIM, 2091 Minutes Played) S66 - Beau Buefordsson (0 PIM, 1939 Minutes Played) The Timex Award (received most hits) – Mikko Aaltonen @GRZ D.C. Dragons Mikko was hit 297 times this year. The previous winner, Rauno Palo fished in 2nd with 260 hits taken. Previous Winners: S67 – Rauno Palo (302 hits taken) S66 - Beau Louth (300 hits taken) The John Wayne Award (most shots taken) - Rylan Peace @Peace Toronto Legion Rylan took 466 shots this year. Previous Winners: S67 – Matt Thompson (495 shots) S66 – Shane Mars (533 shots) The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Rylan Peace @Peace Toronto Legion Rylan had 144 of his shots blocked (14.98% of his total shots). Previous Winners: S67 - Beau Louth (153 shots blocked) S66 - Oyorra Arroyo (142 shots blocked) The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) - Rylan Peace @Peace Toronto Legion Rylan completed the sweep of the shots award with winning this award by totaling a league leading 351 missed shots this season. Previous Winners: S67 - Beau Louth (364 shots missed) S66 – Roctrion King (372 shots missed) The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Seabass Perrin @Sebster03 Prague Phantoms Seabass led the league with 207 blocked shots the year. Previous Winners: S67 - Piotr Jerwa (170 shots blocked) S66 - Lando Baxter (189 shots blocked) The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Mikko Aaltonen @GRZ D.C. Dragons Maybe this is why he was hit so much. Mikko led the league with 2,290 minutes played. Previous Winners: S67 - Shawn Glade (2,226 minutes) S66 - Robert Malenko (2,324 minutes) The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Joseph McWolf @McWolf Riga Reign McWolf was on the power play for 351 minutes. Previous Winners: S67 - Beau Louth (437 power play minutes) S66 - Jake Davis (412 power play minutes) The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Jack Lynch @xsjackMalmo Nighthawks Jack Lynch must hate penalties not only did he get 0 penalties this year, he also spent the most time killing them. He spent 353 minutes killing penalties. Previous Winners: S67 - Aron Nielsen (374 minutes) S66 - Lew Bronstein (352 minutes) The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %) - Podrick Cast @Victor Moscow Menace Podrick puts a stamp on the end of his career by winning 62.56% of his face-offs Previous Winners: S67 - Beau Louth (63.09%) S66 – Rauno Palo (63.10%) The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %) - Gritty @eaglesfan036 HC Davos Dynamo Gritty won 36.31% of his face-offs. Previous Winners: S67 - Gucci Garrop (35.07%) S66 - Bryce Zhields (30%) The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Jorgon Weyed @Joubo Moscow Menace Jorgon scored 6 penalty shot goals. The Malmo Nighthawks Trevor Van Lagen @VanCanWin also scored 6 penalty shot goals, but he loses the award because he had one more attempt than Jorgon. Previous Winners: S67 - Veran Dragomir (8 penalty shot goals) S66 - Leph Twinger (5 penalty shot goals) The Rocky Award (most fights won) - Tyler Barabash Jr @Bushito Calgary Wranglers In a very down year for fight Tyler took the award by winning only 2 fights. His record on the year was 2-1-2. There was only one other player that won 2 fights, New York Americans’ Nethila Dissanayake @nethi99. Nethila also won 2 fights, but lost the award because they had one more fight than Tyler. Previous Winners: S67 – ACL TEAR (6 fights won) S66 - Ryuu Crimson (4 fights won) The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – It’s a tie! Podrick Cast @Victor Moscow Menace and Jordan Tonn @MexicanCow123 Helsinki Titans Both Podrick and Jordan lost 2 fights this season. The both engaged in fisticuffs the same amount of times, 5. Previous Winners: S67 - Kronos Bailey and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (4 fights lost) S66 - Rauno Palo (3 fights lost) The Stars Award (most stars won) - Matt Thompson @Beketov Malmo Nighthawks The league leader in points reclaimed this award with 32 total stars. Matt also led the league with 14 first stars! Previous Winners: S67 - Rauno Palo (25 total stars) S66 - Matt Thompson (28 total stars) The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) - Zeno Miniti @Zeno Prague Phantoms Zeno won 9 stars without ever winning the 1st star! Previous Winners: S67 - Dan Baillie (13 stars) S66 - Mikka Pajari (7 stars) The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Mikko Aaltonen @GRZ D.C. Dragons While logging the most minutes and getting hit the most number of times, Mikko also scored the most points on his team, besting his teammate (Dan Gles @No_Dangles) by 28 points. Previous Winners: S67 - Podrick Cast (23 points more than teammate) This concludes the unofficial award ceremony. Thank you to everyone reading. Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! Have a good night! 1,006 words will claim for weeks ending 10/27 and 11/3.

Then why would you quote my final line in addition to that comment? You had to precisely cut out everything in between those two lines in order to have that exact quote. Anyway, let's see what you suggest: So you want...people to like your content? You want more rewards for writing more? Your platform loses focus here. Tying your self-worth to a few likes on a forum post is not an issue that a sim league can solve for you, and the reason the "bare minimum" only is needed is to make sim leagues as widespread appealing as possible, and as inclusive as possible. Sounds like a decent cultural move to me, which you're disagreeing with here. You want to actually be less inclusive and reward people who can put more time in, based on your language here. I can't comment on this at all, as I don't check in very often, just to claim my TPE or when I have a commissioner-level question and our Affiliate Server isn't responding quickly enough. I will say that you aren't going to connect with every older sim vet league - rarely do I reach out and connect with newer members except when they have a pertinent question that only I can answer. I simply don't have the time, and we have people in other roles for that. We'll come back to this. Users create their own meaning. Are they telling a story with a player? Do they want to chase rings? Do they want to be a part of a grand rebuild? Do they want to be the mercenary or the loyal captain? Opportunities are endless already for meaning on the player side. Do they want to be involved in helping the league run, grow, and expand? I can't answer this for the VHL, but my league is always willing to take someone on in a role. I doubt this isn't true here as well. Here's where we come back to a prior point. "If you're too busy to engage with your users...step down and become a player instead". Frankly, this reeks of someone who has not held a significant position within our community. Are you aware of the administrative tasks needed to keep a sim league running smoothly? Aware of all the tasks that are run in the background, without the overwhelming majority of the userbase knowing? My guess is no, since I believe you are very new to our community as a whole. For most of 2019, I have spent 60-100 (you are reading this correctly) hours per week on my duties in my league. Building an online portal from scratch. Iterating on it. Taking feedback, applying it, repeat. Moving to the next module. etc. Yes, my time is not going to be the norm for a typical sim league administrator, but if you think the average admin's hours aren't still significant then this conversation shouldn't even be occurring. The people in these roles, spending these hours, are typically the best person suited for the rule. We want them there because they are the best person for the job. If that means you need to go to your GM if you have a question, then that is absolutely the right move and a commissioner should not step down because your path to enlightenment doesn't start directly at the top. Will is essentially my counterpart here - would you want Will to give up everything and just become a player, losing everything he provides at the top? Now, on the actual subject of encouraging positivity, you yet again lose focus and don't actually give an example of the positivity you're looking for. Is it likes? Is it a hello? What specifically are you looking for here that you aren't getting now? Are you asking for the league to help you make friends here, or simply give the opportunity to do so? Forcing people together is, despite what you would like to imply, not always a positive. People can resent being forced together. If TPE is involved, I would wager people will participate (because it's TPE) but resent the way they have to go about earning it. If you want real, unforced social connections - reach out to someone on Discord. Start a conversation. I know Jeff from this VHL not because of this league, but because we bullshit about gambling in my league's Discord. And here is where this comes to a close. There is more, but this is the point that really made this post for me. This all circles back to the fact that Beketov ignored you (accidentally). It also is not a crime for a commissioner to miss a PM. If you think a person should never miss a PM, DM, forum post, etc...that's just really naive and disrespectful of their time, energy, effort, and role. You are telling me that your need to be heard is more important than their duties to the league - or even worse, more important than their lives outside of it. Overall, your post starts out with strong points and language at each point and then...seems to lose focus and direction. You want change, but you aren't quite sure what that change should be (or go off into a tangent). You took some basic headlines from Forbes (which, lol) and then didn't really add much to the conversation in my opinion. I'd be much more interested to read a follow-up where you acutely detail the changes you want, rather than vague musings. I would also implore you to spend a bit more time within our community before coming to such locked-in conclusions. You have been here (by ones' post) 3 months? Some have been here a few years. Some have been in our community for 17. That isn't to say "shut your mouth, we know better" but rather, your experiences may be atypical or in some points (like social connections) you simply haven't been around very long.

Team World Almanac Team World has just debuted its roster to the world stage, competing in the World Junior Championships. Team World suffers from a lack of experienced talent having to field a team largely made up of VHML players and highlighted by a few stars. Team World has bowed out of the tournament finishing with 2 wins and 6 losses. Although not the powerhouse of the tournament Team World showed its young and hungry future stars to the national stage and are looking to be a devastating force in the future. Team World provides an excellent opportunity to bring players from across the world together on a single roster. The combined might of several countries came together to from this roster and shining a highlight on the upcoming superstars is important as a warning to the other teams. Australia Killy Foilen – Killy is a 6’ 4” 230lb RW is still currently playing in the VHLM for the Las Vegas Aces. Foilen is a talented scorer having scored 28 goals in the last VHLM season. Foilen grew up playing in the major league circuit in Australia through inexperienced in America his scoring is highly refined and technically practiced. Foilen provides much needed scoring to the inexperienced team world. For team world to have a successful tournament it would be important for Killy to succeed at scoring goals against elite defense. Ben Storm - Ben is a 6’3” 180lb RW also playing his first season in the VHML. Ben has proved to be strong overall player in his first VHLM player his talent has showcased on the national stage scoring a goal in his debut game for team world. Through Ben’s first season he has displayed a strong handle for the puck and will synergize excellently with his new teammates. Charles Drumm – Charles is a very talented defensive player, in-fact maybe the best player on the team. Charles has a lot of experience playing with his Australian teammates as they have spent a lot time playing against each other back in Australia. Charles is a 6' 2" 220lb D currently playing for the DC Dragons. His tenacious defence is just what Team World needs to succeed. Block Buster – The backup keeper is another shot blocker, hailing from Australia Block Buster has unparalleled drive and work ethic that is infectious on this young team. His energy rallies players during practise and was given the best teammate award by his peers on Team World. Sierra Leone Walter Clements – Walter is a 6’ 8” 250lb C having occurred two professional seasons under his belt. Clements brings a level of experience to this young team, currently playing for the New York Americans Walter was able to score 5 goals and 11 assists. Clements is an all-around player having no skill that surpasses his others his most elite talent is his defensive play. Clements will have a large role on this inexperienced team and will be important for the team to have any success. Walter was born in Sierra Leone and represents his country with pride. United States of America Peach Panther – Peach is a 6’ 2’ 225lb RW currently playing his debut VHLM season. Peach has proven himself to be a mazing shooter. Peach has been amazing in team world practice winning penalty shootouts. In his debut season he both scored and assisted 10 for a total of 20 points. Peach is a very talented player but is very young and inexperienced. Team World will give him a great opportunity to showcases his talent on a world stage. Virgil Ligriv – Is the team’s goalie and damn is he a good one! With a save percentage of 0.887 Virgil is a defense savant only allowing 164 goals against him the entire season his lock down defense of the goal is critical for Team World Success in future. Great Britain David Wallace – David is a 6’ 2” 175lb RW hailing from Great Britain. David brings an amazing talent of sharing the puck to this team, the ability to pass is pivotal for the success of a team with so much scoring prowess. David’s silky Smoove passes have dazzled watchers at all levels of play showcased by his 43-assist season playing for the Las Vegas Aces. His combo with Raleigh is a deadly weapon for Team World. Raleigh Ritchie – Raleigh joins David Wallace as another star from Great Britain, Raleigh thrives off David’s passing ability as his scoring ability is simply incredible. Raleigh creates highlight clips like non other with outstanding skating, puck handling and scoring his clips occur millions of views on YouTube. Finishing his season with the San Diego Marlins Raleigh scored 45 goals and had 40 assists. His scoring is needed to keep up against the high-powered offensive competitions. Ben McGrr – Rounds of this trio of Great Britain with a solid third option the compliments his teammates perfectly. Standing at 6’ 3” and 180lb Ben uses his natural athletics to dominate the wing. Ben adopted a leadership role for the team being known as the team’s unofficial captain. This is backed up by is Philadelphia teammates that rave about his leadership. Ben has a weird work out plan seemingly working on traits at random, but with consistent effort this strategy may pay off. Slovakia Ondrej Ohradka – Ondrej is a 6’ 1” 207lb LW hailing from Slovakia. Ondrej is coming into this tournament after a very successful VHLM season scoring 50 goals and 54 assists. Even through his youth Ondrej provides star power as one of the best players on the roster. Ondrej is a strong overall player with no skill that far surpasses his others., his all-around play helped him score 5 goal winning goals this season for the Saskatoon Wild. Netherlands Mike Van Stronk – Mike lives up to his name, he is a giant form the Netherlands standing at 6’ 8” and weighting 250lb Mike quite literally is Stronk. This Defense man make quite an impact whenever he takes the floor. Sometimes lacking in fundamental Mike Van Stronk makes up for it with his gigantic frame often effecting play just by his presence on the ice. Mike currently plays for the Las Vegas Aces and has scored 14 goals over his professional career. Egypt Cinnamon Block – Cinnamon Block breaks boundaries and not only on the ice. Cinnamon is an Egyptian female that has proven she belongs in the VHLM and will look to be picked highly in the upcoming VHL draft. Her elite talent was too goo to be told to stay in female leagues Cinnamon is always striving to push herself to new levels against the best competition. Cinnamon is amazing at passing having an eye for placing the puck exactly where it has supposed to be. But her best talent is her checking ability despite her feminine nature this 6’ 3” D can absolutely deck opposing players to the ground. Cocos (Keeling) Islands Khalibib Stiopic - Khalibib brings much needed experience to this roster, his elite defensive play highlights the team covering the teams many weaknesses. The 6’ 0”, 185lbs having played 3 seasons in the VHML his elite awareness will be needed for Team World to execute in the future. His latest VHLM season saw him create 87 points for the Houston Bulls in their pursuit of the title. That he plans to bring home to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands and show his family. Serbia Andrej Petrovic – Andrej is a Serbian on a mission, every time he takes the ice, he plays with 100& effort the entire time this energy is infectious as Team World rallies around him. The Serbian brings his 3 years of VHLM experience to the ice for the team. The 6’ 1” defense man is a commander on the ice using his all-round ability to be a calming presence for his team. In his last season with the Yukon Rush Andrej got 88 points a commendable achievement. Breaking Down The Tournament Game 1 World vs United States of America The tournament started with a high scoring affair against the United States team, the final score of 2-5 the world team was dispatched. In the 5:55 minute of the third period a sense of gloom loomed over Team World as they trailed 0-4 but this goal streak by the US Team was snapped when Ben Stormed opened up the scoring for Team World banking one in from the right corner. No more then 6 minutes later Killy Foilen scored the other World goal. Team World fought valiantly but it was obvious they were inexperienced and outclassed. This games Team World MVP is Killy Foilen Game 2 Word vs Europe Team World’s second game was an underwhelming affair, a crushing 0-4 defeat against the Europe highlighted Team Worlds biggest weakness. Team World sent 21 shots at the goal and saw each one ricochet back at them the clang it made deafening in the players’ minds. This game was decided very early as the inexperienced Team World became dejected against the strong and psychical Team Europe. This games Team World MVP is Charles Drumm Game 3 World vs Canada Huzzah! Team World is able to score a rousing win against Team Canada a final score of 3-2 showcased some of Team Worlds superstar talent as they left Team Canada star struck. 7:18 minutes into the game Charles Drumm evened the game bringing it to 1-1. After another Canadian goal Walter Clements even it up 12:20 minutes into the second period. With no more then 3 minutes left in the final period Killy Foilen brought the puck up then scored the goal to give Team World the lead which they carried the rest of the game. Moral was high for Team World after this game players looked forward to the next game with heads held high. This games Team World MVP is Walter Clements Game 4 Asia vs World In this thrilling overtime game Team World valiantly lost against Team Asia to the tune of 4-3. Through it came in a loss this game was very different to the other losses. In comparison after going down big against Team Europe the World team collapsed and folded in on itself unable to complete a pass let alone execute a comeback. In the first period Asia scored two goals which before would have sealed the game, but the newly minted Team World fought valiantly. Peach Panther and Khalabib Stiopic scored goals for Team World tying the game and putting World in a position to win. Team Asia scored early in the third period, but Team World refused to lose as Ondrej Ohradka ties the game sending it to overtime. Unfortunately, Team World couldn’t finish against Team Asia. Through the loss this game is definitely a highlight for the young Team World. This Games Team Word MVP is Khalabib Stiopic Game 5 World vs Asia After the rousing game against Team Asia this game was just the rematch Team World was looking for. Unfortunately for Team World this game came to the same result a 3-4 defeat for Team World, this game speaks to the growth of these young players at the tournament. Throughout they have gained more experience and knowledge and have found ways to score even in hard positions. Again, going down big against Team Asia as only Mike van Stronk scored as Team Asia pushed 3 goals through Word’s net. In the second period Team World though valiantly as Walter Clements and Khalabib Stiopic scored. Team World were unable to capitalize on the run and bowed out of the game without scoring the third period. This Games Team World MVP is Cinnamon Block Game 6 Canada vs World Canada is known for two things. Being nice and winning ice hockey. Winning being the primary operative as Team Canada refused to lose to Team World twice. Team Canada made 3 goals whizz through Team Worlds net as only Killy Foilen was able to respond willing Team World to a 3-1 loss. This Games Team World MVP is Killy Foilen Game 7 United States of America vs World Team World came into this tournament inexperienced and outclassed and while still inexperienced this team had a will to fight like none other. The time had came for Team World to get revenge for the thrashing they received at the beginning of this tournament. Team World flew out the gate to 1-3 victory against the odds. Team World gave America a taste of their own medicine as they had a three goal first period having Killy Foilen, Ben Storm and Ondrej Ohradka all score. Riding this first period Team World closed out the victory. It was this win that meant the most to the team it really signified how much they had grown. This Games Team World MVP is Co between Block Buster and Ben Storm Team World consist of players from 9 countries with the most diverse of backgrounds and the teams ability to come other is why sport is such a beautiful thing. Hockey as a game brings people together and I know these players are so thankful they got to make Hockey their lives. Word Count 2000 claiming from week 27/10 to 17/11 Feedback would be awesome Users mentioned: @cpetrella, @Aye my name jeff, @Da Trifecta, @Juddy, @animal74, @DangerGolding, @cartoes, @Beerfridge, @frescoelmo, @omgitshim, @SweetMike666, @Tyler, @MMFLEX, @Banana2311 and finally thanks @Motzaburger for managing us!

I think the statement of this is a hobby so it shouldn't be run like a business is missing a major point Tate was trying to make. Everyone understands that this is a hobby and we're doing it for fun. Tate's comparison to a business is to highlight the way businesses create a culture for success. I think the VHL can use some of the examples from the business world that Tate cited to create a positive, thriving culture that is more enjoyable for everyone. What I think Tate is trying to get at is that the current culture of the VHL isn't helping retain long-term members. I'm pretty sure he wasn't advocating for creating a business where the commissioner is on the clock from 9-5 and if the sims come in late the simmer gets docked TPE or something. I don't necessarily agree with such a rigid breakdown of old member vs. new member that Tate proposed, but it is undeniable that culture gets set at the top and rolls down to everyone else. If there's too much on a commissioner's plate that they're unable to respond to messages from players, what can the VHL do to help a commissioner that is overburdened with messages to help them or someone else respond to messages? If a simmer is too busy to make sims on time, what can the VHL do to help out the simmer to ensure they or someone else makes sims happen in a timely manner for our players? If a new user makes their first media spot a great post, what can the VHL do to provide positive feedback to that user? If a first gen player is maxing their TPE every week, what can the VHL do to highlight that player? If a new player is barely claiming welfare each week, what can the VHL do to make sure that person is satisfied with their experience? I'm purposely asking what the VHL can do for all these instances, because I think, as others have rightly put, it's more than just one person or one role or one group of people's responsibility make the VHL great for everyone. The current culture of the VHL is not as focused on positive user experience as it should be and that needs to change for the long term growth and sustainability of the VHL.

lol this is hilarious considering the way we used to talk to each other in the first 30 seasons. The league has become WAY more buttoned up than it ever was previously. Jardy used to get drunk and tell people to eat shit. The forum has become significantly less fun since then but the sim and league product has vastly improved, people are getting upset about a commish telling someone to fuck off? This isn't a professional sport. I am shocked people are complaining about this.

This just feels like you wanted to openly complain about one person, and tacked on the other stuff. I also disagree with most of your presentation. At no point should these leagues be treated like a business. Commissioners are volunteers, giving up their free time to make a site - your hobby - as enjoyable as possible and keep things moving as smoothly as possible. Sometimes these commissioners are in these roles because there is literally nobody better. They are also not profiting from your enjoyment of this league. They owe you no such niceties for bugging them, complaining about, flaming them, etc. If you're a dick, expect to get treated as such. If you want users to start being treated as business employees, man...so many sim league users would be fired so quickly, some would have to shut down.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. Some people will like VHL more, some will like SHL more. Some prefer apples, some bananas. Some conservative, some Liberal. Some people like cock, others like vag. I don’t like cock - special clarification for all you Doug’s out there in the shadows. Both leagues are incredibly different. You’re comparing things that have similar ideas and concepts - yet completely different structures, leaders and assets. McDonald’s is not run the same way as Burger King - despite both being fast food joints. I’m a supervisor at my job and it’s a nation wide company And in the states too with hundreds of subdivisions. The manager 40 miles away has different leadership styles and perspectives that may make his subdivision and style differ from mine.. despite same job, same tasks and same company. We’re real people. Real emotions. Real lives. Real problems. This is a game. An online community of people from all around the world that enjoy the concept the league brings and delivers. It doesn’t have to be a mirror image of any league. The fact each league is different are special. As stated, some prefer one over the other. Some like both the same. I was at the hand of much harassment that during my mid years in the SHL due to tampering and being an annoying, young teen. I’ve seen a lot during my “decade” as opposed to 6 months in the SHL. I’ve seen trolls destroy people. Actually bully them to the point they’ve quit the league. I’ve seen BoG and commissioning members on the SHL be harassed out of their roles and watched them step down. I’ve heard and watched old, veteran members who once were prominent traits to the league when I joined, that echoed how it changed and is no longer something they can enjoy. You ever hear of the new hire at work saying “wow, this job isn’t bad and I love it” and the old guy murmurs in the background “give it time”. I used to be that new hire at work, now I’m the old-young guy saying “hey, not every day is roses and cherries”. Despite this, I don’t openly slash the SHL like this post. The fact you say 6 months = the entire existence of the SHL almost is amusing and the fact you say, individually you are the kind of member the league needs and wants is false. This post, to me, doesn’t scream that. I’m not saying we don’t need or want you - I’m more so asking “why is that?”. What makes you special over the other members? The league wants everyone to enjoy and have fun. We want everyone to feel welcome and safe. I see so much positivity, enjoyment and friendship on here in a day. Man, sometimes I fucking hate @Devise and half the time we can’t talk to one another without bickering. I’d still give him my last smoke in the smoking pit if he was all out and jonesing for a dart. He’s still good shit. I’m a member that gets in trouble sometimes for saying what a lot of people are thinking but are too afraid to say. Sometimes, I’m even a dickhead whose had a bad day at work. Shits going wrong, my boss is being a dick or I fucked up. Plain and simple. Next thing you know I’m on here, read something the wrong way and I overreact and can come off as a dick. Everyone does it. We are all human on here and Despite the criticism and sometimes negative feelings it causes me from that, I’ll carry on being honest and open. The VHL is amazing and there isn’t one member on this site that wouldn’t receive my help, that wouldn’t receive a response or that wouldn’t be treated fairly even If I didn’t agree with them or even care for them as people on the internet. If you’re wanting the VHL to change in specific ways, instead of blurting our and crying that the waters been poisoned when really someone just spiked the punch with Bacardi breezers, I encourage you to promote individually what you preach and do your best to be that positive change. As part of league management, my voice may be a little louder than some and my opinion may hold more weight. I positively effect the league in that role but individually, outside of that, I separate myself as an individual member who loves the site and the members on it. That’s why I do the role I do. For me - despite being busy and sometimes not even answering me (fuck you), I appreciate the daily, consistent sims that @Beketov pumps out and the leadership, time and dedication that he places into this site - not just for him, but for everyone else that he does it for.

Thanks to @Enorama for joining me on the latest podcast! We did a lot of recording on this one (There's actually an hour more after this which covers Draft Preview and answers the Questions we received that we'll likely post a bit later on) and Eno has kindly edited them down to smaller chunks so that they make for easier viewing and I've uploaded them with appropriate titles so you know the topics we're going to cover for each. Combined run length of over 100 minutes, so 4 Weeks worth of PT's for myself and @Enorama for Week Ending 10/27, 11/3, 11/10, 11/17

The Mississauga Hounds have Safely landed in the Playoff race for the Founders Cup. That means harder practices, Longer meetings, more intense study of film. Except for today when they walked into the Locker Rooms, There were some Nintendo Switches set up and some drinks out. A letter from The General Manager informed the Players that today was about Bonding and having fun. They were to Organize and Run a Smash tournament between all of the players. Jay Garcia wanted to give his players a reward for working hard so he thought a day to themselves as a team, couldn’t hurt. They set up the accounts and over various minutes of Bickering and yelling a Bracket was formed. Each round was a Best of Five All the players grabbed there drinks and some snacks and Gathered around the Television in the locker room to watch. Pulling up chairs and getting comfortable. Preparing and learning and getting some practice in before they had to compete. Kachur Vs. Hanley The rounds where Tied 2-2, after an intense bout of leaning and Shoving, Hanley took the Win eliminating the rookie Kachur Lahtinen Vs. Tallinder This matchup was very one-sided as Tallinder went 3-0 and dominated most of the action and offense. Clearly, he is the one to beat on this team. Dabberson Vs. Saskamoose By far the most boring of the matches as both played very slow and reserved. After what felt like forever Saskamoose pulled out the 3-1 victory. Wang Vs. Rice Wang came out swinging with an Early 2-0 lead. Looking like we was about to secure the Sweep Rice came back to tie the series up 2-2. The last round was intense as both where intently looking as the locker room watched on as Rice completed the reverse Sweep 3-2. Mort Vs. Kidd This matchup was a back and forth as both traded blows and traded Rounds. It ended in a draw when on the final round they both fell off the map. It was determined by a Coin flip that saw Mort win and advance Olson Vs. Louth the Match was another one-sided affair with Louth Dominating Olson with a swift 3-0 causing to Olson to get ribbed by the Locker room a little. Murphy Vs. Macburn Determined by coin toss this match was decided that the winner would get around bye. The action by far was fast and furious, both seemed to have a lot of experience in this particular game. After a very entertaining match, Murphy pulled out the 3-2 Victory. After the first day, everyone just sat around talking Hockey, playoffs, the tournament and who chocked and who didn’t. Overall Jay was happy with the results as it seemed the guys (and girl) were all happy and relaxed ready to take on the Grueling Playoff Schedule and routine. The Yukon Rush awaited them in the first round. The next matchups for the Tournament were posted on thWhiteboardite board. So no one would forget. Hanley Vs. Tallinder Rice Vs. Saskamoose Mort Vs. Louth Murphy (Bye) 510 Words @ColeMrtz21 @Cxsquared @Patrik Tallinder @Creative Name2 @GlowyGoat @Tigris @Krice13 @TukTukTheGreat @Radcow @Ckbruinfan @DizzyWithLogic @Beketov @aleks @GustavMattias

"I am highly active and worthy of your interaction, it's you who needs to see that." Wow.

It’s articles like this that flame the league as having these horrible glaring problems that can only be fixed by massive overhaul that drive people out of the league. It stirs up drama and gives everyone a fit. Leave the management to the staff and if you want to change something talk to them yourself like a big boy, not put the site on blast in some over the top controversial attention grab. Honestly if you had a legitimate complaint you would use the resources available to you rather than stir up discourse.

All I'm gonna say is in no way shape or form should the VHL be treated like a business. At the end of the day, everyone is here to have fun. As an example, this is exactly why there is not a rule for every single scenario that can come up, and some rules are left intentionally broad. As a former blue, you want to know the quickest way to lose interest in the league? Become a commissioner. Every single time you log on, everyone and their mother has a problem that you need to solve. Almost all of your time on the site is spent fixing/handling league issues. You no longer get to enjoy the site like a normal user. And for what - just to help keep the league you very much enjoy moving properly. Proper, every day sims are a relatively new thing in not just the VHL, but in all sim leagues in general. The VHL specifically had an inside joke that we wouldn't get sims for days at a time because @JardyB10 would go on a weekend bender. And guess what? The world didn't fall apart, since the VHL is a league and a website for fun, not serious business. And you know what, exactly, about the "real world experience" of the leadership team? I do agree with you on the lack of content/replies on this site regarding media spots and other PTs, but I blame that on Discord and other similar/previous chats. What you're talking about used to be the norm years ago, but as more content/conversation moved off-site, the less that happened on site. The cats out of the bag, and things like Discord aren't going away, but I wish it could all go back to the site. And also just an FYI, there's an option to get your PMs sent to you as an e-mail as well. I know when I was a commissioner, I used that option - so I would read a PM through e-mail and not on site, and it wouldn't show it as read.

A VHL Story A recent conversation got me thinking about what the VHL story has been over the years. There is much that goes into the success of a sim league and I believe that longevity is often due to the dedication of the members. For me specifically this makes me think of long-time members that have dedicated so much of their lives to running teams or listening to players who bare their souls in the early hours of the mornings. My thoughts drift to all the players of the team I have managed in my short tenure as a VHLM GM. All the stories that I shared with them, the stories they shared with me and what we created together. The VHL theme week gave me an opportunity to look back and think how much long-time members, specifically ones that have been around from Season One, must have seen throughout their seemingly endless VHL careers. The Article I would have loved to have had the opportunity to write here is one that I can not tell as a recent member. I would tell the back story of the league, but the truth is that those are not my stories to tell nor could a new member do them justice. There are indeed some things that the “ole boys” know best and this topic is one of them. The things I am referring to are not necessarily tracked on the forums these days. They are the VHL narrative. To explain this thought fully you must understand that there is a story that is told on each sim site. Simplified, it is both the interaction of users and their players. Basically, it is they dynamic created when a bunch of people who throw their sticks in a pile and decide to play a game of pick up hockey. You find friends and enemies. People who are smart or dumb, maybe that one annoying person who is just waiting for you to fall so they can laugh or even the person who leaves halfway through the game for no reason. You find all that and everything else in-between, to say the lease it makes for a riveting story that gets it's hooks into even the most somber person. I can honestly say that I doubt this perspective gets explored much. As it is a sideshow to what is usually seen as the main event, I am of course talking about the sim. However, in my personal experience I can say that a printout of what happened in fake hockey is not what keeps me around. To this day I can say the users and their stories, whether fictional or real is what keeps me coming back for more. So in my attempt to honor the old boys, I am using this VHL.com to reach out and inspire the new guys to write their own narrative. Reach out and create a story. Make connections with the people you meet and have some fun. after all, that is what the VHL has been since inception and that is what we as new members should continue to do in order to honor those who have put so much into a seemingly simple sim site.

Revisiting the Goalie Shortage in the S68 Dispersal Draft My Previous Work Prior to the S68 Dispersal Draft, I wrote about the shortage of goalies in the upcoming draft. After submitting my piece, the situation became even more dire, with Prague declaring their intentions to call up rookie goal tender Bruce Grimaldi, my projected first overall pick. This meant that the remaining two goalies would likely end up going in the first round instead of being spread across the first two. I also predicted that Mississauga would take a goalie with the first overall pick. Obviously, for reasons that I will talk about later, Mississauga ended up with the second overall because they believed that they would get their guy at second. In the VHL, sometimes narratives write themselves, and this is one of those situations. In the first round of the playoffs, the five seed Mississauga Hounds are facing the four seed Yukon Rush and the goalie that was once theirs, Block Buster. The History When Mississauga joined the league in S66, they were blessed with one thing above all else, incredible defense. The pairing of Hulk Hogan and Noah Hanley carried the Hounds to the playoffs in their first season. These two made Rayz Funk look like a top-tier goalie, and despite their first round loss, really made this team look like a contender. However, the loss of Hogan, Funk, and forward Callum MacElroy, left Mississauga in a rough spot in S67. The team plummeted. The only bright spot of that season was the addition of goal tending superstar, Block Buster. Despite having significantly less defensive support and facing nearly three hundred more shots, Buster had nearly the same SV% as Funk. This still developing goalie was playing out of his mind, and with the core of young players around him and the multiple first round picks in the upcoming draft, it looked like Mississauga was about to make the breakthrough. In this time frame, Yukon had been on an opposite trajectory. S66 had been the bottom of a hard rebuild for Yukon, but the tank had earned them a high draft position and they managed to snatch up A. Red Guy. Guy helped Yukon reach the playoffs in S67, but just as Mississauga had the season before, the Rush left the playoffs in the first round. They simply lacked the depth to make a deep run into the playoffs, but the core was there and a lot of eye were watching to see what Yukon would be able to do with it. Entering S68, it was clear that Guy was going to get called up to play for the Americans, so high on Yukon's shopping list would be a replacement goalie as well as some new offensive weapons to win potentially high-scoring games. It is worth mentioning that there were two other teams in dire need of goalie going into the S68 draft, Mexico City and Las Vegas. So, with four teams and only two goalies, I had predicted that goalies would be going for a high price in S68. The Draft Coming into the S68 Dispersal Draft, Missisauga had the first and ninth overall picks, while Mexico City had the second, Las Vegas had the third, forth, and seventh, and Yukon had the eighth. While goalies were in short supply, this draft offered more offensive options than possibly any that came before it. It had high-scoring defenseman, generational talents at center, and more play-making wingers than you could shake a stick at. So, teams in need of a goalie had seven of the first nine picks, and shortly before the draft we all learned that the pool of goalies had just gone from three to two. To get an idea of how this affected the draft strategies of these teams, I interviewed @GustavMattias, and asked him about his thoughts looking back at the S68 draft. "What was your thought process going into the S69 Dispersal Draft?" "In just about any draft, I don't really head in with a strategy, but instead I look at the board and take whoever happens to look good to me when my pick comes up. Most of the time, I've got my very first pick planned out (i.e. I want this player, but if they're taken I'll take this player, and if they're taken I'll take this one, and so on), but after the fact I'll just look at who's there when I'm up and take who I think is best." This was interesting to me, because I have been asking myself whether or not you would have to reconsider all decision made in the draft if you imagine the first round differently. But what Gustav is saying here somewhat confirmed what I had already believed. GMs plan out their first round, but after that it is more about taking the best player on the board than about filling specific roles on your team. Later, that is the logic I will be using when considering how the draft could have gone differently and what that might have changed. "Did you consider drafting a goalie in the first of second round?" "I certainly did, and I can say that I was heavily considering taking Block Buster later in the first or early in the second. Yukon ended up picking Buster at #8, though, if I remember correctly... ...After Buster went off the board, there was simply nobody left--the only remaining goaltender was Bruce Grimaldi. I almost picked him, too, but learned at the last second that he'd been drafted by Prague and had expressed a desire to be called up. So, that wasn't a chance I was willing to take, at least not with a first or second round pick." This implied that Buster hadn't been a consideration for Gustav's first pick. According to Mattias, he had his guy with Brock Louth. But this begs the question, why? Was Louth worth the first overall pick, or could have they gotten a comparable player later in the draft? What made the chance of missing out on a goalie worth not picking Buster right away? Maybe this was a tactical decision, but perhaps it was more? I continued my interview to find out. "Were there any behind the scene's conflicts that contributed to your decision not to use your first overall pick to secure him for S68?" "Not at all; in fact, I was very happy with how Buster did (if I remember correctly, Buster's SV% was within 5 points of that of Rayz Funk the season before, and in that season, Funk was playing with a much better team). I had my eye on Buster during the draft, but goal tending is just one of many positions out there. In the VHL, you don't need an elite goalie to win games; you need an elite offense, and an OK goalie will get the job done. I try not to put a ton of emphasis on the goalie, and regardless of what happens in our series against Yukon, we've proven that we can beat good teams this season without having elite goal tending talent. I actually never tried to go for a goalie. I feel that this may end up drawing a bit of criticism, and that's understandable. Throughout the season, though, I was focused on getting some of our less experienced active goalies some good starting time--first Lukas Schweitzer, then Nicolas Fomba, and finally Aleksander Aleksandrov." But this is only one side of the story. I interviewed Block Buster as well, to get his side of the story. "Were you expecting to stay in Mississauga after S67?" "I thought that I would be selected in the draft by Mississauga... ...I am not one to talk much but the Locker Room is quieter in Yukon." Beyond that, Buster didn't want to say much about his former team or the circumstances of his departure. He said that he was just focused on winning at the moment, regardless of who the opponent was. Before we take a look at how things could have gone differently, lets take a dive into how these decisions turned out for these two teams throughout the season. The Season I'm going to break the season down into twelve six-game section and discuss each. Mississauga: 1-6: It was a rough start for the Hounds. They opened up with a five game losing streak, including a shut out. Something had to change. 7-12: Things started to turn around, but slowly. They managed to go .500 through this stretch. 13-18: While improved, Mississauga was extremely erratic early on, within four games of each other, the Hounds were shutout by the Aces 0-4 and then turned around and shut them out 4-0. 19-24: Strangely enough, while still unable to manage a winning record yet in the season, Mississauga had beaten all of the top teams, LVA, Minnesota, and Houston. The potential is certainly here. 25-30: And BAM! The team took off, something finally clicked on the offense. 6-0 through these six games and finally above .500 on the year. 31-36: Probably the largest thorn in the side of the Hounds this season were the Minnesota storm, breaking their winning streak with two mid-season defeats. 37-42: Slowing off of their offensive explosion, it seemed like it was time for Gustav to decide whether to sell assets and prepare for next season or double down and make a run. 43-48: A couple of trades made it look like the Hounds might have given up on their playoff dreams, but that was just to fool the rest of us. 49-54: Another run of beating top teams behind them, Mississauga showed that they were still a serious contender. 55-60: Up against teams that made big late-season acquisitions, the Hounds struggled at times, but they had nearly secured their spot in the playoffs. 61-66: Keeping their head above water, now it is just a question of positioning. Would they be able to push the Storm out of third overall? 67-72: Fate had spoken. It was meant to be. The Hounds would be facing the bizzaro-world version of themselves in the first round of the playoffs. Yukon: 1-6: It was a hot start 4-2 start for Yukon. They came out of the gate ready to go. 7-12: Fighting for the #1 spot with Houston, Yukon looked unstoppable early. Despite lacking offensive superstars, they were winning high-scoring games and defensive slug-fests. 13-18: Then it came crashing down. It is had to explain this collapse, but the hottest team in the league went on a five game skid and fell to the middle of the pack. 19-24: What is a good way to bring yourself back from a near-collapse? Beating up on your rival in three straight games. Yukon looked like they were back. 25-30: Just as the Hounds were taking off, the Rush were struggling to keep their heads above water. A bit of a mid-season lull. 31-36: Back on their feet and beating some of the top teams in the league. Yukon was showing that they could still be a contender. 37-42: And just like that, the offense showed back up. Like at the beginning of the season, Yukon was burying teams and not looking back. 43-48: After splitting games with the Bulls, it really looked like these teams might go number one and number two over the course of the season. 49-54: Every time you make late-season acquisitions, you run the risk of disrupting the momentum of the team. You have to wonder if that is what happened to Yukon here. 55-60: As their new star defenseman got acclimated to the team, the strong back end of Yukon kept the team afloat as the offense struggled. 61-66: It was clear that Yukon was a serious team, but the question remained open about whether or not they could make themselves into a top contender. 67-72: Yukon wanted to answer that question with two shutouts in their last three games. Although sliding in the standings over the second half of the season, Yukon refused to be counted out. The Playoffs As if destined by the hockey gods, Mississauga and Yukon ended up facing each other in the first round of the S68 playoffs. Here's a breakdown of the series. Game 1: Twenty one shots, twenty one saves. I couldn't have asked for a better game to fit the narrative of this article. Block Buster took over the game and no one was going to take it back. This game simply couldn't have been won by Mississauga. No series is decided in the first game, but Yukon made the strongest possible statement with this game. Game 2: If it takes twenty four shots to get a goal past this team, none of us stand a chance, let alone 45 shots. We haven't seen a goalie perform like this in the playoffs in a generation. But perhaps this first goal will prove to be a turning point for Mississauga. Regardless, Yukon did their job and won their home games and are in control of the series at this point. Game 3: Things are getting dire for Mississauga. They were finally able to break through and score some goals against this Yukon defense, but that wasn't enough as the Rush put up four of their own. However, Yukon's offense has been inconsistent and if the Hounds finally found a way to score against Buster, this could be the turning point. Game 4: And just like that, the Hounds turned the corner, putting up five in a crushing victory. Regardless of where the series goes from here, Mississauga was looking to make a statement that they weren't here by mistake. Can Yukon regroup and find a way to close out the series? Game 5: THAT.. WAS.. BRUTAL.. Nate Wright, early in the third, scoring the only goal of the night. Both goal tenders played lights out in what might go down as the most exciting match up of the playoffs this season. Alternate Reality All of this has been building to one thing. What would happen if we imagined a world in which Mississauga didn't choose Brock Louth first and had instead gone with their S67 goalie? Obviously we can't know for sure. When I asked Gustav in my interview with he, this was his take. "I think things certainly would have been different, but whether better or worse, I really couldn't tell you. Had we picked a good goalie with our first pick, the only pick where one was available, we would have missed out on our top defenseman. That likely would have changed the whole draft for us." This kind of contradicted his earlier statement that after the first round he mostly just takes whoever he thinks the best player on the board is, regardless of position. So I'm not sure that it would have changed their entire draft, and because I don't want to have to try to redraft the entire thing, I'm going to assume it wouldn't. Now the rest here is conjecture, but here is how I think that draft might have gone. 1. Mexico City takes Crawford 2. Mississauga takes Buster 3. LVA takes Louth 4. LVA takes Graves 5. San Diego takes Washington 6. Houston takes Jensen 7. LVA takes Gilbert 8. Yukon takes Kidd 9. Mississauga takes Block But what would this change? It is hard to say, but I have a few ideas. Mississauga Until Yukon acquired Alyksander Hunter late in the season, the Hounds undoubtedly had the better defense. However, over the course of the season, their goalies gave up thirty more goals than Buster. I think, behind Mississauga's defense, we might be talking about Block Buster as the regular season MVP and Mississauga as a favorite to win the cup. But what would they have done with Cinnamon Block instead of Brock Louth? Exactly the same. They are both physical defenders, they both scored 87 points this season. While Block is slightly more defensive and Louth takes more shots, you could argue that difference is as much about circumstance as anything. I obviously can't say for certain, but I think in hindsight, the Hounds would have very likely been a better team if they had taken Buster and missed out on Kidd. There were just too many good substitutes at forward for me to believe that they would have been offensively hindered. Gustav was pretty candid in his interview about the possibility of drawing some public criticism for undervaluing not just Buster, but goalies in general. However, he truly believes that he has a strategy that will work going into the future, and only time will tell if he can bring better results to this young team. Las Vegas What if we took the highest scoring defenseman and put him on this season's goals leader? Well, we wouldn't have just had an offensive juggernaut in Las Vegas, we would have had one the highest scoring teams the VHLM has ever seen. It would have been a spectacle, but I'm not confident it would have been highly successful. They say defense wins championships, but this would have challenged the very notion of that. San Diego It is hard to overstate how big of an upgrade Washington is over Gilbert. I don't think this would have been enough on it's own, but it may have inspired the Marlins to sell future prospects to build a team around George now. Yukon Without elite goal tending, this team wouldn't have survived. You could argue that a forward like Balentine Kidd would have solved some of Yukon's offensive woes, but the slow spots in the Rush's season would have been twice as devastating without Block Buster keeping them in every close game. This may be bold, but I think Yukon may have missed the playoffs entirely with him. But the hockey gods have spoken and if Buster stays in the minors another season we might just see a dominate Yukon team like in the days of old.

Playoff Primer: Toronto at Seattle Welcome to the first primer article leading into this season's VHL playoffs. This season is off to an exciting start, with the plucky Seattle Bears taking on the legends of the Toronto Legion. It's a battle of the old versus the new, with the core of the Legion, an established crop of S63 players trying to hold onto glory taking on the up and coming Bears and their core of S67 sophomores. Can veteran experience defeat a slump? Can Romulous beat Ursine? We'll see! The Teams: Toronto had a perfectly balanced .500 season, finishing with 29 wins, 29 losses, and 14 overtime losses to finish the season with a respectable 72 points. Though they finished the season with a relatively average goal differential, they're a team based on high-skill defenders such as perrenial VHFL superstar Tzuyu @tfong and fightin' Irish Lando Baxter @Elhandon. Toronto seemed to be snakebit this year, with only two of their regular rostered players shooting over 10%. Toronto's motto this season was that the best Offense is a good Defense, and it seems they were able to turtle their way into the playoffs by outlasting their opponents, rather than outgunning them. S68 was the first that The Bears came into their own. After an abysmal bottom feeding end to S67, an off-season training and diet regemen created to encourage player development allowed them to top their conference and come out fourth-overall, beating out less skilled teams like The Wolves by a wide margin. The Bears finished the season 43-24-5, only 3 wins back of the top seed in the entire league, and have set themselves up for a first-round home-ice @Advantage. If The Legion are an immovable object, The Bears are an unstoppable force, their top six all posting 50 point plus seasons, lead by captain Acyd Burn @Acydburn, who both lead the team in scoring and posted his first point-per-game season (though surely not his last). The Bears aren't a one-trick pony though, and managed to post these offensive numbers while also tying for the second-lowest goals against in the league thanks to a heroic effort by their MVP goalie Ray Funkz @Rayzor_7. If this trend continues, The Legion will have to be cautious that their spears don't shatter against The Bears' defensive prowess. The Story So Far: Being division rivals, The Bears and The Legion have squared off eight times this season, with The Legion taking home three victories and five defeats. Among those wins; however, was a 5-0 sloughing of Seattle's finest. The Legion also hold the edge in experience and leadership. The result? This series could go either way, and if The Bears get too ahead of themselves, they could easily be found with pucks in their own net. If Seattle takes Toronto seriously and shells the goalie with high-percentage chances, they should be able to come out on top, but a betting man looking to make a high-reward wager may be inclined to pick Toronto for this series. Crazier things have happened in this mixed up league we all play in. Good luck to both teams, I'll be back in Round Two with further coverage. 529 Words TPE for week ending October 27

My initial reaction was “OP is a bit of a twat” ngl. Almost went to post it then thought better of fishing for likes. Then I thought, oh hello it’s me from about five years ago. Which is to say, OP is a bit of a twat just like I was (am). I totally understand the frustration. When you’re a very active member without any real power and you see the blue team struggling with real life commitments, it’s annoying. Off putting even. I ended up bitching my way into a commish job which I proceeded to do AND tried to engage with every single person in the league until it inevitably drained me and I stepped down and asked Will and flyersfan to replace me (2 newer members, who also drained themselves in the end). Anyway, point is, I think Bek and Quik atm are in the position that’s David and Sterling were before me - too busy and probably in need of younger blood even if they don’t recognise it. But calling them out in public ain’t gonna do the trick.

The SHL is 100x more immature, rude and hostile. Everyday there’s new Thunderdome shit posts it feels like, or trolls harassing people in punishment sections that turn into 30 page discussions shit talking specific members... Theres a reason I stay away from most SHL discussions on SHL. There’s a reason my activity has gained here over the years and has struggled on the SHL since roughly S22. I’ve watched commissioners in the GOMHL shit talk and joke just the same. I’ve watched SHL commissioners do that exact same and even in the far past, shit talk similarly in the SHL Thunderdome and chats etc. I guess that’s what happens when you’ve been around for a while. I’m able to look from S3 on the SHL to present day... and early 40’s on the VHL I believe... and see a much bigger picture. You have less than 3 seasons experience in your entire sim league life, correct? I’d say fast judgement. Spend a career or two and then place judgement on each league. Hands down, VHL has the least of problems and problem causing members or trolls compared to SHL. GOMHL is just plain shit, garbage and inactive. Beketov can be busy. Every member can be. Our leadership members aren’t also 16 year old kids on their phones in art class. That could be too

With the VHLM Playoffs kicking off soon, S69 prospects will be making their last impressions on VHL GM's before the draft. After finishing 4th in the regular season, Mississauga looks to do damage in the playoffs, beginning with their series against Yukon. The team is rich with talent, and has only gotten better over the course of the season. General managers are sure to have an eye on this team, especially the players preparing to be drafted into the big leagues. Brock Louth - D - 200 TPE (114 Banked) The draft's leader in TPE, Brock Louth is a defenseman who plays way beyond his years. Not only is his defense ahead of his peers, his offensive instincts make him a catalyst for any team he plays for. With a stunning 32 goals and 123 shot blocks on the season for the Hounds, Louth is an attractive choice for an all-situations defender in the VHL. It is no wonder he was selected 2nd overall in last season's dispersal draft. Guy Sasakamoose - D - 182 TPE (0 Banked) Another defenseman who has panned out perfectly for Mississauga. Sasakamoose is an absolute steal of a pick from the third round, and has been a key contributor for his team to this point. At 6'4", 220 lbs, the Canada native shows impressive mobility. The perfect defenseman on the breakout, he can evade forecheckers and make a tape-to-tape first pass like it's nothing. His ability to move the puck has lead to an impressive 52 assists on the season, and an underrated shot contributed for 9 powerplay goals. Patrik Tallinder - LW - 160 TPE (0 Banked) The first forward on the list, Tallinder has proven to be a great offensive player in his first VHLM season. Similar to the team's success, the winger's offensive success progressed steadily through the year. He enters the playoffs on a hot streak that he looks to continue that through the playoffs, ultimately finishing with 34 goals and 4 hat tricks on the season. Tallinder is a fairly lanky player who finds his greatest strengths in his wrist shot, and his ability to create room for himself, using his skating, to get those shots off. Kris Rice - RW - 152 TPE (0 Banked) Kris Rice is a player who seems to see the game as well as anyone he plays with, or against. On both ends of the rink, Rice is able to anticpate plays before they happen, and use his outstanding speed to intercept passes or find passing options of his own. With a combination of speed and puck handling, he is able to maintain possession of the puck with ease until he sees a play open up. Like Sasakamoose, Rice has a shot that he doesn't use as often as some, but can surprise goalies who may be anticipating a pass with a quik release. Chris Murphy - LW - 32 TPE (0 Banked) Murphy is the perfect glue guy in the locker room, and on the bench. He shows strong leadership qualities, and is well-respected by his teammates, even despite his limited offensive production. Never one to shy away from physicality, Murphy hits like a truck, and will stick up for a teammate without hesitation by challenging any opponent to a fight. Tigris Mort - D - 32 TPE (0 Banked) Your typical stay-at-home defender, Mort plays his best hockey in the defensive zone. At 6'3", 180 lbs, he has a long reach and nice mobility to go along with it. He can make a nice first pass, and alleviate some of the pressure being put on by the other team in his own zone. It is certain that a strong playoffs will go a long way for all of these players in their individual careers, so there is no doubt that they will be working extremely hard with Mississauga to bring home the Founder's Cup. While they aren't currently the favourite to win it all, the talent is definitely there. For some on the Hounds, this is their last year in the VHLM, and they, as well as the rest of the team, are trying to make the most out of their last opportunity to win the Founder's Cup together.

Fuck off

ECN's "VHL Now!" 14th Edition "Playoffs are here!" Welcome back to your ECN coverage of important things happening around VHL and this time we will be looking at playoffs and first games we have seen already played between teams who have graciously made their way into playoffs. Quite surprisingly, every team that we see in playoffs have had truly competitive series. We are currently 4 games into Playoffs and 3 of the series are tied at 2-2 and only one series has 3-1 score. Seattle and Toronto are still keeping up the same competitive nature they had in regular season. With series 2-2 and very similar on-ice performance, we see a battle of a young and flourishing team battling against hardened, older team that has all the tools to win any match-up. The question here will be who’s goaltender will win the series for them, either the best young goaltender in VHL Rayz Funk or highly praised goaltender JB Rift? Calgary and Vancouver are series that probably not a single person thought will go this way. After Calgary sent their star player Diljodh Starload to Vancouver they seem to be performing better as they not only finished season on a better pace then they had at the start of the season, but they have seen to found their way at being a tough team to fight against on the defensive end. Again, another series that will be decided on a single question – will Vancouver be able to crack the shell the shell of Brick Wahl and make their way past the team they have faced 2 playoffs in a row? Davos and Malmo match-up is interesting, yes, Malmo on paper has the better roster and they are clearly the favorites for the cup win, that being said, we can not lay off the idea that Davos could completely destroy Malmo and be victorious in the end. Here Davos will have to rely on their star goal-tending and offensive capabilities that we see from players like Jake Davis. Who knows, maybe their secret weapon Gritty will be the one to lead the team to the next round? Helsinki and Riga match-up is probably the most interesting one considering how much star power is surrounding both teams. Helsinki and their fantastic duo in Julian Borwinn and Kronos Bailey have kept everyone on their toes after they have continued their fantastic play we saw in regular season. For Riga it is the question of whether or not their amazing and experienced forwards in Rauno Palo and Ryan Kastelic will be able to push for multi point games and be as effective on the offensive end as their opposing team. All in all, we have to wait and see who will be going out of the first round and who will be getting their chance at winning the prize everyone wants to get – Continental cup! Will they be current champions Vancouver Wolves or will there be a new challenger who will hoist the cup and have the bragging rights for the next season. Brought to you by Frostbeard Entertainment

It’s a sim league that he literally VOLUNTEERS to run. He’s been on it for more than a DECADE. The man has a life and although I, and others, ping him and Devise for sims, we know pinging them won’t make them sim any faster. It’s a joke, we aren’t serious, and his replies aren’t either. This is probably the third time or so I’ve had to tell you this, you cannot take everything literally. This is the internet. The VHL isn’t a business, and therefore you cannot organize it as such. It’s a community of people who enjoy the sport of hockey and are doing this for fun. For me personally the league isn’t about the sims or the players anymore and the main reason I come on here is to interact with the community on the discord, which I can say is probably the best I’ve ever been apart of. Will, Quik, Bek, and anyone else who spends hours a week doing this aren’t getting any compensation out of it. They’ve been on this site for years and genuinely care about it. Saying we need to “change leadership” is bullshit, There isn’t anyone more qualified to run the VHL than people like Bek or Will. They have given up so much of their own time in organizing the league and developing aspects of it that other leagues cannot even come close to.

Cheers mate, series was a lot closer than the win/loss would suggest. Glad we put together a solid game to finish it off though. Best of luck next season to the Hounds players and @GustavMattias.

Join nen

I was and still am a strong supporter of a sort of "code of conduct" for VHL/VHLM Commissioners and GM's. I believe that is does not help our image especially if a new member joins and sees rants between 2 VHLM GM's or Commissioner attacking a member. My fellow VHLM GM's know that I have tried to stop certain conversations from escalating more in public space on forums. That being said, I don't personally see that being an issue on Discord, well, if we will put restrictions on Discord on what people can or can't say we will be creating a no-conflict environment that loves your lord and savior and allows kittens to run around freely meowing like crazy. Surely, we don't need to turn Discord into Postal 2 chat game too, but there is a middle ground and we are at it right now. When it comes to Retention crew, I don't see a real point for it considering that it is the job of VHLM GM's to keep people engaged. I feel that the GM's I have had pleasure talking to extensively all are doing a fine job on that. One thing is for sure - the community can't be pushed into doing something, they have to be willing to write comments to express their opinion, community has to rally around great ideas and it should come naturally. Right now it does happen in Discord LR's and VHL General. Sadly, we don't see that on forums. Those are my few cents on this matter.

I can understand a lot of these feelings. I think I have an interesting view of this because I've only spent slightly less than 1 season here. I do feel some disconnect between some of the staff/older members and a lot of the new people. But I'm also not properly in the VHL so hopefully a lot of that disconnect will change once I'm drafted. I will say there are a lot of people out there that I feel embody the helpful/encouraging spirit. A big shout out to @GustavMattias and @Berocka. I think they solve a lot of the issues of rookie retention by having a great LR and are consistently helpful in all aspects. But that's only 1 LR. I agree with Gustav that it's on the GMs to be the main source of retention. Whether or not other GMs see it that way is something I'm not sure of. I see the staff here as an inverted pyramid. The commissioners should help the GMs out where they need it and encourage the GMs to be active and engaged. Then the GMs pass those same things along to their players. If the players don't think the GMs are involved enough then I could see players easily loosing interest. Just as well if the GMs don't think the commissioners are involved enough then that trickles down to the players. I really like the openness of write ups like this and if you are feeling like this I can guarantee there's at least some others that feel the same way. Hopefully stuff like this can only make VHL better in the future.

This was an amazing read. I myself have been very busy lately and I have been struggling to find time to get onto the VHL and engage with the VHL as a whole. Between my Jobs as Recruitment Leader and VHL GM etc I have some trouble finding some extra time in just engaging on the site as a whole. The league does need some stronger from the top down regarding keeping people honest in their roles. I'm even at fault in that regard when it comes to the Recruitment Crew.

I mean...I'm not going to attack any opinion you've got; you're allowed to have whatever opinions you'd like, obviously. I disagree, but I can do so in a civil manner. Something to add that's not straight-up disagreement: to me, GMs should be the retention crew--if a GM, VHL or VHLM, but VHLM especially, isn't already doing what you described for the retention crew idea, they're not doing their job right.

I had a hard time coming up with an idea for theme week this season. I usually like to incorporate a bit of data in my media spots, but the history of the VHL is already pretty well documented. Initially, I thought I would do some era-adjusted stat comparisons between current players vs those of the past, but collecting player stats prior to season 59 is still on my to-do list, and there wasn’t a whole lot of interesting player comparisons I could find with what I had. It wasn’t all a waste however, since all that work did eventually lead me to something I did want to write about, albeit with not a lot of time left to actually do the writing. The chart below plots the scoring output for how the league-average player performed across each season from S59 to S68. It may not look like there is a huge difference (in hindsight, comparing the “league-average player” across seasons may not be the best way to view what I want to show), but the effects become more obvious when looking at some of the stat leaders; S62 was by far the craziest. I was already somewhat aware about the high scoring S60-S63 seasons, just from chatter around the forum, but what I never really understood was what caused it. Why did scoring come back down to earth in S64 and plateau? What caused it to go up in the first place? Naively I just assumed that the SHTS sim has lots of knobs that can be tweaked and that some knob was probably turned in such a way that made scoring increase. While possible, that answer is highly unsatisfying. More realistically, there is probably something in the data that can explain it. I had a couple of ideas about what types of things I would think would cause a scoring increase in the VHL. For example, maybe the ratio of the number of user-created forwards to the number of defencemen/goalies was more in favour of forwards? If there weren’t a lot of people that chose to make players in goal-preventing positions, then it would make sense to see scoring go up. The chart below plots this information. As you can see, this mix of positions has pretty much been left unchanged across the years. In particular nothing here stands out about S62 that would explain it's league scoring rates. Rather than looking at the quantity of players at each position, we should really be looking at the quality. It still feels like TPA is the most common way that people measure the quality of a player on the forums, so that’s what I used. Below plots the average TPA invested in each player at each position group (forward, defence, or goalie). S62 clearly looks like the outlier here, with low average TPA across all position groups. Most notably it was the worst goalie crop we’ve seen in a while, mostly due to retirement of the elite guys from the year before. But in terms of the gap between TPA in forwards vs TPA in defence vs TPA in goalie, there really doesn’t seem to be a clear explanation. In fact, the TPA gap favours forwards in more in recent years than at any other point in my data, yet league scoring hasn’t returned to it’s past high. Number of User Players By Position Average TPA of Players By Position One obvious flaw to the above line of reasoning is that it doesn’t account for where the TPA was spent. There are definitely high TPA forwards that don’t score much (Current Riga forward Anthony Matthews has the highest TPA “cost” per goal scored in all my data). And there are also high TPA defensemen that don’t prevent scoring well (this is harder to measure, obviously, but the most notable high TPA, high minus player from my data was Luc-Pierre Lespineau-Lebrunette. What a fighter). To account for this without getting too complicated we might only want to look at two TPE stat categories; SC as the strongest predictor of goal scoring and DF as the (most-likely) strongest predictor of suppressing goal-scoring. Below the chart plots the average rating of SC vs DF across seasons. One thing this shows is how investment into DF changed after S63. Despite SC increasing on pace with DF in recent years, it seems that just the presence of DF being invested in played a role in moving past the high scoring early 60’s. In my mind, there’s still a lot left unexplained in regards to league-wide scoring variations across seasons in the sim. What I am more confident in saying is that the early S60’s were likely an anomaly; a period where the average player was worse than we’ve seen in a long time, where people didn’t care as much about DF as we currently do, and where the few good players that did exist were able to take advantage and score at an insane rate. I doubt we see something quite like it again.

I’ve always said the VHL is about the community, the sim just just a small part of it; numbers on a screen that maybe 10% of the league is happy with at any given time. The sim isn’t enough to keep people around, and it certainly wasn’t back in the day when it received 3 updates at best per season. Maybe that’s how Scotty was so good, maybe he updated himself every week. Anyway, I digress. Its actually kinda tough to reminisce about the early early VHL years purely because of how long ago they were. 12 years is unheard of in sim league terms. Like I was 15 when the VHL started. I was partway through high school. Meanwhile I graduated university 6 years ago, Got a job, got married, movies cities for work, bought a house, and have a kid on the way. Meanwhile the VHL is still here, chugging away. What’s kinda funny is how accurate is “ole boys” are when we say new people couldn’t have survived back in the day even though no one wants to hear it. It’s not to say people couldn’t have adapted but it is true. Waiting around 3-5 days for your grades, then up to a week for the updater, then what could be months before it went into the sim. Hitting 100 TPE a season, so about 800 total, was something only for the most adamant TPE whores; now it’s not even a landmark and can easily be doubled. If we had these systems now the league would be dead in a month, it’s just too strict. And that’s just the league, let alone the members. We were fucking animals, ripping each other apart. Was quite brutal to be honest. There’s no rose tinted glasses here, the league was a rough place way back when.

Sigh Why must I always make theme week a thing, it means I actually have to write stuff. This season especially is annoying since I need to actually remember the league’s first 10 seasons: difficult since it was 12 years ago. So, what’s a commish to do? The simple thing of course, talk community instead. Specifically steal an idea I read earlier but go a bit further back and mention the 3 people I’d like to see back in the league from its first decade. Scotty: Ah our original leader. The man responsible for most of the articles this week given how completely dominant his player was in everything but being drafted first. Scotty’s got a kid and a wife and is generally a busy guy these days which means he hasn’t come back around in quite some time, even though I ask him to on most of the league’s anniversaries. Anyway, none of us would be here without him and after such a huge member surge the past few years I think it would be interesting to have the new members meet the man who helped create the place. McNeil: Most people likely don’t remember McNeil as well, or at least as fondly, as I do. He was a staple member around the board when I was active with Beketov and an amazing teammate in the S12 Bears locker room which, to this day, remains one of the best LR’s I’ve ever been in. McNeil and I would shoot the shot over CoD a bunch and were generally closer than I have been with most members. I brought him back a few seasons ago but he couldn’t keep his activity level anywhere near the standard it used to be. Still, would be great to have him back. Julien: This is actually someone I wouldn’t have thought of until about a week ago when he commented on something in the VHL Facebook group and reminded me of his existence. Julien was one of the league’s earliest GM’s and one of the more targeted members back in the day. The league as a whole was pretty trolly and, as @JeffD can confirm, Julien and I were common targets. I don’t have insanely fond memories of him like I do with McNeil or anything but I just think it would be interesting to have an early member around who might enjoy seeing how far the league has truly come compared to where we started.

The Old White Rhino - Part 6 Aleksei groaned softly and tongued the the roof of his mouth. He'd been too eager and burned himself on the first bite of pizza. Across the table, his grandson, Roman Sytsevich giggled and looked up from his soda. Aleksei had a tradition of taking the boy out to pizza hut at the end of a season, and he wasn't about to let the ten year old down, even after a disappointing year. Traditions were important. Family was imporant. And if he was to extend his legacy to the next generation and help raise a strong future player, the boy would need to eat and be surrounded by strong men and women. Strong like bull. Strong like mother country. Alskei withdrew his hip flask and took a long pull, maintaining eye contact with the wait staff. There was much on his mind from the past seventy-two games: Every player on his team had providen a defensive liabiliity one way or another, except the young Center Bert Meyers @RunnerBert11. Of The Phantoms, he was the closest to having a negative goal differential. His scoring wasn't especially oustanding, but at times outlasting an opponent was more important than defeating them with force. Don Draper @Infernal had reached the 30-goal plateau as a sophomore, and despite slowing down a bit as the season progressed, would be a core piece moving forward. He even was Canadian enough to own a moose jaw, a yellow knife, and a sault ste. marie (whatever that was). He'd be kept around. "Patushka, mozhno mne drugoy kusok?" "Konechno, moy malen'kiy voin" Aleksei smiled. Growing boys needed to eat, and he had a plan for the savior of The Phantoms, "Konechno". 280 Words TPE for week ending October 27

SUMMARY

007 Reflects... Ondrej Ohradka on Team World Last week after a hard practice, Saskatoon left winger, Ondrej Ohradka, was surrounded by a media scrum and asked about his recent selection to represent Team World at the S68 World Junior Championships. "It's a huge honor for me. I just found out and I’m thrilled. I was totally not expecting it." He said with a broad grin, sweating dripping off his face. "I've played internationally for Slovakia before and that's been awesome, but to play in a tournament like this so early in my pro career is an absolute thrill. I can't wait!" When asked what he brings to the team: "I hope I can be more than a depth guy. I like to think my game is pretty well-rounded and I'm a hard worker. I'd like to chip in offensively for sure. I'm a quiet guy in the locker room but I let my play do the talking." What he knows of his Team World mates: “I really don’t know a lot about my teammates except for playing against them a few times. Charles Drumm and I were both drafted by Minnesota the same year but then we were both eventually traded.” Fast forward a couple of weeks… Since that scrum, Ohradka caught fire while the Saskatoon Wild continued to sink finishing with the second worst record in the VHLM. “007” meanwhile, finished the season leading the Wild in goals, points, and game-winning goals as he posted his first 50-goal, 100-point campaign. He amassed 104 points which put him fifth place in league scoring and his 50 goals were tied for fourth with Jerry Wang. He also finished fifth in the league with 356 shot on goal, tied for fourth with 15 powerplay goals, and posting career-highs in every statistical category. There are rumblings around Saskatoon offices that this season is but a stepping stone and Ohradka is one of the cornerstones in which to raise the Wild back to championship calibre. If he doesn’t make the Calgary Wrangler’s roster next season, the Wild have a chance to build on this season and Ohradka has a chance to crush some franchise scoring records if he duplicates his stats from this past season. As for Team World, Ohradka was visibly frustrated at his ice time playing under 11 minutes a game - a team low. He still managed to pot two goals in eight games but he was held scoreless in just over 11 minutes in the Quarter-Final game as Team World lost a disappointing 4-1 decision to Team USA. After the loss Ohradka reflected on the season and the tournament: “Wow, that was a tough tournament for me. I know I could have played better and next year, if I am selected, I will. These games at the Championship and with the Wild taught me what I have to do to be an even better player next season. There are lots of areas where I can improve my game. Sure a 100-point season is nice but it sucks to watch the other teams continue to the playoffs. I don’t want summer to start, I want to keep playing. It sucks.” With that, he politely asked the media to interview someone else and slowly, the members of the press left him to stew in his stall with his broody thoughts and competitive fire.

Perhaps I'm missing something. Personally, I have never felt that I haven't been engaged with much, even back when I was new and hadn't become established as a relatively well-known member of the community. I've played for two great GMs so far, who have done all they possibly could to help me out when I need it, and get involved with locker room discussion whenever they've got the time. I've also had great teammates on both levels who read and enjoy my content, and multiple people around the league who I've never been on a team with (hi Reno!) do the same. Personally, I do my best to do return the favor to those around me. Check my post history--just last night I practically wrote a media spot for someone I've talked to maybe once or twice because they asked for feedback on their writing. Those who are "important" in this league are, from my experience, no different--the amount of help and question-answering I get from these members is unbelievable, and that's only me, just one member of many. The only example of "I'm not being engaged with" that I'm able to draw from this (and perhaps I am wrong) is that you once didn't get a response from Bek when you messaged him, which he's already explained by the fact that it's impossible for one person to stay on top of things. I'd be interested in hearing what else you think contributes to this opinion--because right now, I can't say I understand it.

I believe we started around the same time @Tate but I am not having the same experience as you. I have felt engaged ever since I first created a player here, from the GM's posting on the create a player thread with information, to GM's/other players answering my PM's (for when I wasn't even drafted yet) and giving me tips on builds and other items and then the overall engagement with GM's when playing in the VHLM and VHL. When I got drafted by Vancouver, for the first season I didn't go on discord as I was too busy and every couple weeks different players on Vancouver would reach out to me saying "hey, come on discord, even if its for a bit" " Hey, we haven't seen you on discord yet and would be great if you can hop on when you have time just to talk a little" Those sort of things keep me engaged, I don't need that engagement from the commissioners. I don't need them to like my media posts. Those posts are for me to tell my players story. They have enough on their plate trying to run a FREE sim league for your enjoyment. The engagement from GM's and your team-mates should be more then enough. Do you expect engagement from your president/prime minister or having them "like" your FB/Twitter posts because you contribute to society? Do you expect a CEO of a global conglomerate with thousands of employees to know who you are? No, you don't because those tasks are delegated to your member of parliament or for a work example delegated to your regional manager/boss. The same is done here, there are far too many members for the commissioner to engage with them one on one on a daily basis, so those tasks are delegated. Lets also take the NHL for example, Do you think Gary Bettman engages with EVERY player, likes posts or has conversations? No he doesn't. He is too busy running a league, sure he might talk to a few of the older players/stars but he will not engage with every player and he doesn't know who every single player is and probably wont recognize most rookies if he saw them walking on the street because that is not his job. His job is to make sure the league is running smoothly and making revenue. I work in HR and retention is a big aspect of this as well but that is a job that has been delegated to me. The CEO's job is to keep the company running, make the best decisions for the company and not be bothered with doing the small day to day. Those things are delegated to people who specialize in doing those tasks. The commissioners and admin team have too much on their plates to cater to one person, if they took time out of their day to talk to everyone nothing would get done with the site and there would be no improvements. That would be a bigger cause of people leaving.

@Tate please recognize that 99% of my time on the site is mobile these days. A such I don’t even see signatures that would indicate which player is which. So no, you can scream about it all you want, but I don’t know who you or really anyone else is. If I commented on the draft I likely saw a player with lower than average TPE or something for first, nothing more. I promise you I do not know what draft that was and until I was commenting on this from a computer I did not recognize who your player was. It’s not a slight at you, it’s a reality of things. Regardless of how much I interact with someone there’s a high chance I don’t know who their player is. Ask anyone who’s asked me to do something for their player on the portal and they’ll tell you, I always ask who their player is because I don’t know. It’s not a slight, it’s a fact. I don’t know every member and every player. Choose not to believe me all you want but an off-hand comment I made however long ago proves nothing. You are looking at everything from your perspective as 1 member talking about or to one other member. I don’t get that luxury. I have to focus on every member so yes, that means I don’t know who everyone is. It has nothing to do with inner circle or cliques or any other garbage. I get along fine with @Molholt but couldn’t tell you his player’s name. Up until this season it was the same with @Phil or @OrbitingDeath. I fail to see how I’m bad at the job for not remembering 300 names on the internet and what 300 players are linked to those names. You also say you can track my activity: that’s true, and yes it is most often spent talking to the same people for a simple reason: either I’m working directly with them for the betterment of the league (usually this is why I talk to Bana so much) or they are someone that is engaging with me. You act as if me not approaching every member is a crime but don’t stop to consider that I’m more than willing to talk to anyone. It may so happen that there’s a “circle” willing to approach me but that’s hardly my fault if new members decide they want to complain about management instead of actually talking to them. Also consider that, even though I apparently refuse to engage, I took a full hour out of my morning; the only time I really have to myself in a day, to respond I’m rather great detail to a thread that quite frankly did nothing but tell me I’m a piece of shit. I did that not because I had to but because I wanted to clear the air. So quite frankly you spitting it back in my face and saying that’s not good enough for you is extremely insulting and self centred.

Look, I'm new around here. But this reeks of having no idea how sim leagues are run. You've attempted to flex your IRL credentials, which is fine I guess, but I feel like you're asking for the leadership of this league to do a lot of the work for you. Create meaning for your player, curate a space for you as a user to make friends (what exactly do you think a discord server and a forum are?), interact with you specifically, like all your posts, etc. Specifically to the point about Beketov not messaging you back--did you send a second message? Or did you make this whole to-do because he failed to respond to a single PM from you? Did you try to reach out on discord? Maybe to contact a different BOG member? Surely the entire onus isn't on the guy who is probably doing the most for this league. Simming is a shit ton of work, not to mention all the other duties of admins, and whatever else his actual life has going on. Here's an example of what I mean: I presented the draft tonight in SBA. It took me 2 full hours to present, not to mention all the behind the scenes work that went into organizing it, ensuring all the trades were tracked correctly, tagging GMs to remind them to make picks, and prepping all the presentation. All told, I've probably given 30 or 40 hours to the draft over the course of the last 10 days. That's a whole work week. For free. With my actual job and my personal life going on simultaneously. Now if you ask any of the SBA GMs or Admins, I was very irritable the whole time. I was pretty mean to the GMs. And other members, too. I won't defend it--it was excessive at times. But it came from a place of stretching myself too thin to do a pretty basic function of the league where I'm an Admin. Nobody had stepped up to do the draft, so I did. And if I hadn't, maybe nobody else would have. And then you get members complaining about the draft being late. Instead they joked about how mean I was. Here's the point of this story: when you're an Admin in a sim league, you can't win. You either don't do enough, or you're doing too much which means you somehow don't do enough somewhere else. You're always the bad guy, enforcing rules or changing things people like, even though it's often in the name of making the thing we all like better. So I guess what I'm saying is lighten up. If you're so experienced in management or whatever, you know it can often be stressful and thankless. You also have said you recognize this is a hobby, so let it be fun. Make it fun for yourself! Do the things you want! Don't make everything the responsibility of the handful of people with fancy titles. They have enough going on.

I believe this comes down to two things: LR and opportunity. I was super fortunate to be a part of an amazing locker room in the VHLM with Halifax that made that season a blast (quite frankly I was worried I would lose some interest once making the jump to the VHL). That said, I was drafted to Malmo which is at minimum, the equal to what Halifax’s locker room was. We have an active, fun group of guys. We have a GM that keeps everyone engaged by giving all players as good of opportunities as he can. The two things that keep me interested in this league is the activity level (whether in discord or in articles/media spots etc) and opportunity to be a player that can succeed. The league is built to encourage younger members to have success early which keeps interest. I think overall this league, @Beketov included, is run very well compared to any other sim leagues I’ve ever been a part of. I like you @Tate as a member and tbh I was wondering in our draft year how the heck you were getting so much love (first overall with growing hype) while no one seemed to know me (3rd round despite a resume that screamed top 10). I really hope you recreate as I loved reading your stories and following you as a player.

i agree with some of what you had to say and disagreed with others. I mean have you met @DilIsPickle? Im surprised he doesnt get told to fuck off more often to be honest.

i try my best i did one like 2 seasons ago why tf is @Beaviss not putting it out smh

I love the article @Tate . It really hits the nail on the head. I feel the biggest disappointment was when I was drafted into the VHL. It is dead compared to the M. I see why players have lost interest if not self motivated. Great comment @Cxsquared

Yay I was an example

@Enorama I forgot I made this back before I got my job and forgot to post..

David O'Quinn has been a shining member of the defensive team on the Saskatoon Wild. On a team that finished second last in the league, O'Quinn amounted 167 Hits and a whopping 123 Shots Blocked. He nearly reached a point per game as he just fell short with 69 points in 72 games. He is likely to be selected in the bottom of the first round, but will need more time to develop before being an impact player in the VHL. He is considered a late-bloomer defenseman who just fell off the mark in this draft class. With strong prospects like Louth, Summers, Saskamoose and Velvet, O'Quinn's name might be overlooked - however make no mistake, he is the fifth ranked prospect, and when you look back on this draft, he will be a significant player taken from this draft. @JohnOQuinn Class of S69 Brock Louth Player Card Erik Summers Player Card Soloman Crawford Player Card Fernando Jokinen Player Card Guy Lesieur Player Card Guy Saskamoose Player Card Ben Storm Player Card

THIRD 👏 ROUND 👏 STEAL 👏

For this theme week, I'm going to talk about the first thing I remember happening when I joined about a year ago. I joined on August 6, 2018, on the morning of the S62 Entry Draft. I can recall it happening on my first day, but I can't say I really remember how it went down, so I'll go through it again, and see what the 1st round should have looked like with 20/20 hindsight. Original Draft Board: https://vhlportal.com/teams/drafts/1 1. Rauno Palo @jRuutu 4th pick (QUE) | 276 TPE at draft | 1331 TPE today Palo was originally selected by the then-Quebec City Meute with the 4th pick, the franchise with whom he played the first 6 seasons and a half of his career. After starting his career as more of a defensive-minded forward, Palo exploded in S67, when he scored 110 points, and brought the Mike Szatkowski, the Alexander Beketov, the Scotty Campbell, the Brett Slobodzian and the Continental Cup home. He's the player from this draft class that enjoyed the most personal success so far in his career, so it would have made sense for Riga to get him with the first pick overall. 2. Maxim Kovalchuk @Banackock 2nd pick (SEA) | 203 TPE at draft | 1083 TPE today Kovalchuk was drafted 2nd overall in S62 and, if the draft happened again today, I'm 100% positive Bana would do the same move and draft himself. He has no reason not to, given how he has absolute control over this player, with no risk of him asking for a trade or leaving for free agency at any point in his career. The defenseman has the stats and the hardware to back the selection up, too. He very well could have been named the league's top rookie in S62 if it wasn't for Bana's other rookie scoring 150 points, if I remember correctly, and scored at an over-ppg rate until he moved from defense to center to help the team. He's also the only defenseman not named Mats Johnsson with a Wylde, a Valiq and a Labatte trophy to his name. The Wylde and the Valiq have only been around since S59, but it's still impressive for a modern defenseman when you're alone in a category with MJ. 3. Jake Davis @Josh 10th pick (TOR) | 186 TPE at draft | 1235 TPE today This was a weird pick to re-do. I almost gave the team Johnny Havenk Carison. He was a reach back then, and he would look like an even bigger one now, but he was clutch in the S65 playoffs and helped Toronto win a second Continental Cup in as many years. But I figured, if they were able to do it with JHC, they could have done it with basically any backup-level goaltender, so it would probably make more sense for them to draft a high TPE player with better value. Davis is the guy here. He lacks the hardware the two men above him got, but he just barely missed them. He has career highs of 45 goals, 104 points and 201 hits. He was actually never below ppg except for a 70-point rookie season. He's a consistent sharpshooting power forward, and a staple of many VHFL teams since he entered the league. 4. Shawn Glade @ShawnGlade 11th pick (RIG) | 145 TPE at draft | 1073 TPE today Glade was originally drafted in the second round by the Reign, with who he won a Cup as a depth player in S63. He was later traded to Vancouver, where he won a second Cup, this time as a key member of the team, so it's funny that the re-draft puts him straight with the Wolves. Glade has been one of the best two-way defensemen in the league in the last couple of seasons. He scored over 70 points thrice, and only failed to block 100 shots once in 6 VHL seasons. Like Davis before him, personal awards have eluded him. The main reason he ranks behind Davis here is the fact that, while his best seasons were on par with the forward's, his worse seasons have been fairly bad. 5. Dan Montgomery @BarzalGoat 6th pick (HSK) | 189 TPE at draft | 679 TPE today It's actually pretty funny that a player that's been barely active in the later half of his career actually moved up in this re-draft. STHS works in mysterious ways, sometimes (always). Montgomery had a honest start to his career, but eventually moved from forward to defense and blew up, claiming the S66 Alexander Valiq Trophy as his own, thanks to a career high (again, as a defenseman) of 91 points. He has calmed down a bit since then, but he's still a reliable defenseman for the perpentually contending Titans. 6. Leph Twinger @DollarAndADream 1st pick (RIG) | 319 TPE at draft | 1228 TPE today Oh, what could have been. Sometimes STHS just won't work your way, for some reason. After 133 points in his final VHLM season and 116 in his rookie VHL season, Twinger never scored over 75 points again in a season. He even failed to reach the 50-point mark once, in S67. Since then, he moved from his eponymous position to defense, to try and shake things off, and the results have been good in his first season, though we can all agree it's a bit too late to salvage the disappointment that was his whole career up to this point. Nothing seems particularly off about the guy; he's 3rd in TPE in this whole class, his build was a very regular shoot-first power forward build that has proved to work again and again with other players. Maybe Simon T. really dislikes pun and he gave bad karma to the player? We'll never know. 7. Ryuu Crimson @SlapshotDragon 9th pick (RIG) | 149 TPE at draft | 1044 TPE today Crimson had a good career, but he kind of stalled there. He had a rookie season to remember, when he scored 62 points and ultimately helped Riga win a Continental Cup, while claiming the Daisouke Kanou Trophy for himself. 2 seasons later, in S65, he scored career highs of 41 goals and 89 points. It looked like this would be the first of many great seasons for him, like he'd be a common name in the league's top 10 in both goals and points until the end of his career, but he moved from Riga to Davos, and failed to score more than 75 points every season after that, effectively failing to take the next step up to stardom. He still has one season before he retires, to try and surpass his best of 89 points. 8. Paolo Nano @leafsman 19th pick (RIG) | 69 TPE at draft | 703 TPE today Nano's career took a turn for the best when he decided to join the ever-rebuilding New York Americans and it got even better when he decided to sign as a free agent with the Moscow Menace in their second ever season. Nano went from scoring around 30 points per season to over 60, three seasons in a row. He's been recognized as one of the league's prime offensive defenseman, but the lack of personal awards and Cups make it hard to redraft Nano any higher, though it's still a nice upgrade for the 3rd-round pick. 1,200 something words Claiming on weeks ending October 20 (with theme bonus) and October 27

The fact that Beketov took the time to write out a long, thoughtful response to your post that probably included more of his personal life than he wanted to and you simply disregarded it tells me that this has never been a good-faith discussion. You came in here claiming to have thoughts about how to improve the league but this really boils down to a tantrum about not getting enough attention. Beketov is under no obligation to know who you are, whether you like it or not. You may write the longest Media Spot every week, but that doesn't mean you deserve some kind of recognition from a particular member. This notion that your content is so outstanding that Big Daddy Bek can't help but notice you, and thus his lack of response is deliberately ignoring you, is incredibly self aggrandizing. Speaking as an admin in another league and a regular member in this one, I read maybe two Media Spots a week, maximum. Likely less. It's been said a number of times, but I'm going to try to be as explicit as possible so maybe it'll sink in: you are not any more special than any other member of this league, and nobody here has any obligation to give you the time of day if they don't want to. I'm not surprised you have cited your experience in PBE as a good one, because all that league does is stir up shit to argue about on a daily basis. This is the same sort of bad-faith shit I saw time and time again over there. You probably esteem yourself a valued member of that community because you think you've won a few arguments. That likely just makes you an asshole, as we've seen over and over in this thread. This shit is ridiculous, and so, in the now-famous words of one particular Admin: Fuck off.

Also speaking from experience, I again disagree with you entirely. Know the audience you're responding to.