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Joined: July/August 2007 Positions Held: Grader/Updater, Moderator, General Manager of Bern, VHLM Commissioner x4, Yukon Rush GM, Halifax Founder , GM of Davos , VHL commissioner, VHL Lottery Manager This should be one of the easiest HOF articles I've written and likely my last (barring some oldie gets into the Hall of Fame in future seasons). I'm not entirely sure how active Smarch AKA Connor Low (not to mention a bunch of other notable players) is on the boards anymore, but what I can attest to is that he stands as one of the least heralded and most important members in the history of the league. If you go through the list of his players and accomplishments, you'll see that he's been on a lot of teams with me. The reason for that is that we're good real life friends, having known each other since high school. The other amazing thing is that we've both been involved in the VHL almost since we left high school. Indeed the VHL is older now than The LastOlympian was when he first joined. Almost no one else around these parts has been here as consistently in those 12 years than Smarch and he didn't get elected as a builder until recently. In the early days of the VHL, Smarch was mostly known as a strong journeyman. He had a handful of worthwhile players that were generally active, but not spectacular. I often times convinced the GM of my team to pick him up via the draft or through free agency because I knew he was a dependable member. The likes of his first few players (Tommy Brown, Barron Von Jonsson, Max Weinstein) were steady, but not spectacular. He was well regarded in the early days as a dependable grader for many years and later on an updater in the olden days when updating was a very labour intensive task. His other notable accomplishment was in our long-lasting PTI podcast that spanned for a few years in the early days of the league. Smarch always would come and go, taking breaks sometimes during seasons in the careers of his players or taking a hiatus between players. Sometimes he'd make a player (Robin Big Snake lol) and flame out. He was never truly an elite member until Connor Low emerged. If you want more information on the highlight reel career of Connor Low you can find it listed under the players section of the Hall of Fame. He truly was one of (and arguably the greatest) defensemen of all-time. During much of Connor Low's career, Smarch was a VHLM Commissioner - a role he played many times and over many seasons. He was one of the most consistent commissioners ever and he was held in high regard in this role. He parlayed this into stints as General Manager with Bern, Yukon and Halifax, as well as being a successful General Manager of Davos in the VHL. I'd argue Smarch is most well known though for his time as one of the VHLM Commissioners - an often unforgiving and challenging role in those days of the VHL It was a role he had to share with another member (and in his case several different other members) adding to the complicated nature of the position. Smarch was eventually promoted to a full-fledged VHL Commissioner around the time I left the VHL. He also became one of the shortest lived commissioners despite being one of the most productive ever. A short Hall of Fame builder article can't encapsulate over 12 real life years of VHL lore. The unfortunate truth is a lot of Smarch's accomplishments have been forgotten as the league has evolved. At times he's been one of the most active members in the league, and at other times he's disappeared for seasons at a time. As you can see though, the breadth of his positions held in the VHL, and the success of his individual players tells us that he's been an integral part of the league since it's inception. I was always fortunate (for the most part) to share a lot of memories in the VHL with Smarch as our players almost always followed similar career timelines. I can say that he was also always one of the best teammates and hardest workers around the boards. One such example is when he offered to switch positions with Connor Low - a move that somewhat tarnished the player's legacy in terms of stats, but that's the kind of guy Smarch is. He's a good teammate and a large part of the fabric of what has made the VHL so successful for so many years. So here's to you Smarch and your lousy weather! And finally, I would be remiss if I didn't personally thank you for your tireless and dedicated work for the league over the years.

Ottawa season 67 review This was my first season as Ottawa’s GM, I just wanted to tank all of the players on the team for a great season. We pulled off something that a lot of people doubted we could do when the season started, having a .500 team. We accomplished this goal and then some, ending the season as the number 1 seed on the season. This wouldn’t have been possibly without the help of: Aamon Grim @aCrypticPancake Anthony Amberback @Oost Anthony Hawk @ahawk2191 Beau Bennett @Datools Cameron Eastwood @CammyM Cody Parkey @SaltyTalty Finnegan MacBurn @DizzyWithLogic Hiroshi Okada @enigmatic Hunter Wagner @Inf1d3l Jacob Scott @jscott John Perdue @johnnyhockey42 Micha Sage @AcousticKazoo Micheal Rasmussen @Connor mcdavid Symere Myles @InciteHysteria Thorny Underyew @jack Titus LaClass @Termancy Wonona Levantoes @oramuda Zeno Miniti @Zeno Raymond Bernard @Mr_Hatter Samuel Ross @Brrbisbrr We ended up with 4 Players in the top 10 for points 5 Players in the top 10 for Assists 3 in the top 5 for goals 1 goalie in the top 5 (36 starts or more) This was clearly a team effort and we couldn’t have done it without everyone. With that said I wanted to highlight some of the individual efforts of the team. Top goal scorer/Most Shots: Thorny Underyew had the most goals on the team with 58 goals in 72 games played. This is a nice accomplishment since he was placed on the second line for the season. He really helped the team out with secondary scoring. Thorny also managed the most shots for the team with 462 the most in the league. The closest one to 462 was 428 set by his teammate Zeno Miniti. Most Assists/Points/+/- This accomplishment goes to Zeno Miniti, he centered the top line and amassed a massive 134 points on the season. The closest to him in points was Thorny with 119. Zeno also had the highest +/- on the team (probably had something to do with the 134 points). Most PIM/HIT The player with the most PIM’s and Hits is no other than Anthony Hawk, he managed 94 PIMS and 398 hits on the season. The closest player this Hawk’s hits was Kenji Hachimura with 259 hits on the season. He kept other players on their toes and was a big contributor to the team. Most Shots Blocked The most shots blocked was defenseman Beau Bennett, he managed 66 shots blocked on the season. That is no to take away from our other defensemen Aamon Grim (64), Finnegan MacBurn (63), Jacob Scott (55). All of the defenseman were very close in SB. We were lucky enough to have two goalies on the Lynx this season Raymond Bernard and Samuel Ross. Both goalies did spectacular this season with a combined record of 61-9-2. What I found the most interesting is that the both ended the year with 2 assists each. Both ended up with a save percentage above .880 and under a 2.2 GAA. Combined they even managed 7 shut outs, 156 goals against on 1421 shots and 4 assists. A player that I wanted to highlight from the Lynx that needs no introduction is Michael Rasmussen. Many of the veterans of the VHL know Michael from a few seasons and I just wanted to highlight that he should win most improved. This season Rasmussen had 20 Goals 46 Assists for 76 Points on the season. When we compare this to his stats from last season of 5 goals and 1 assist for 6 points or season 65 where he had 1 lonely assist. This is a 1166.67% increase from the previous season. Once again, I wanted to thank everyone on the team even if you didn’t get a call out you were a huge contributor and we couldn’t have been as successful this season without you. Here’s to the playoffs and hoping we can bring home the cup!

Well, that was fast. The VHLM playoffs started on Tuesday, which was highlighted by four dominating performances. The longest a series went was five games. Lets take a look at each series, starting with the first seed Ottawa Lynx beating the Las Vegas Aces Ottawa Lynx vs Las Vegas Aces Ottawa wins 4-1 As the GM of Las Vegas, I had some hope heading into the series. The Aces had been playing well heading into the postseason, despite trading most of the good players at the trade deadline. The stunning game one win for Vegas acted as the wake up call for Ottawa, who demolished them in four straight games to win the series. Vegas even winning a single game in this series is enough for them to be happy about. Goaltender Solomon Crawford struggled through the series (with exception to game one), and Vegas simply could not keep up with the high powered Lynx. Nine players on the Lynx finished with five or more points in the series, including three players with over 10 points in this series. Philadelphia Reapers vs San Diego Marlins Philadelphia wins 4-0 The Marlins had no draft picks heading into this season, and still put together a solid squad that kept this series competitive. While you can look at the series and say "How was it competitive, they got swept?" Well, just take a look at the scores of each game. Every game was within two goals, and considering the Marlins were taking on an unfairly stacked Reapers Squad, that is a good thing to take out of this. Brock Louth and Fang Flashback stole the show, as Louth finished with eight points, and Flashback had an incredible .931 save percentage and a 1.75 GAA. Minnesota Storm vs Houston Bulls Minnesota wins 4-0 Well, count me as surprised. The Bulls have arguably the best defense core in the VHLM, with Charles Drumm, Banko Mulleto, Jeff Downey, Frederick Elmebeck, and Khalabib Stiopic. In this series, that clearly wasn't the issue. While they allowed 13 goals through the series, they only scored two goals in the four games. How is that even possible. Storm netminder Virgil Ligriv had a 0.68 GAA and a .972 save percentage. A season that had promise for the Bulls ended in bitter disappointment. Defenseman Kefka Palazzo and Hugh Chan were the top performers for Minnesota, with seven points each. The series between them and the Reapers will be a great one. Yukon Rush vs Halifax 21st Halifax wins 4-1 Yukon came into the series as the favorite to win, but their offense fell apart against the 21st. A dependable offense, with star talents like Frans Eller and Brendan Plunkett, failed to produce anything in this series, only scoring six goals in five games. The Halifax beat the Rush off of their all around attack, as all but four players scored at least a point, and nine players had at least three points. Yukon goaltender A Red Guy didn't face many shots, but didn't save many either. He only had to face an average of 18 shots per game, but still had a 2.67 GAA, considerably worse than Throvald Gunnarsson, the Halifax netminder. It was a rough series for Yukon, who headed into the playoffs as possible contenders. With the first round complete, we can look towards the semi finals. We have the Storm facing the Reapers, which is easily the best series so far. We also have the Lynx taking on the 21st, which should be interesting. The Ottawa offense is on fire, so we will see if Halifax can contain them. Predictions: Storm vs Reapers: Storm in 7 Lynx vs 21st: Lynx in 5

After being called out by huge ass, err.. @HughJas_during the recent Minnesota Storm press conference, Dalton Wilcox was asked to respond to Hugh Chan's comments: "I know Minnesota has the 2-0 lead over us right now, but the series is far from over. He better be careful otherwise @Elmebeck(our PIMS leader) will come for him. I look forward to playing at Malmo with Chan. He's a great dman in the in the VHLM, just like I'm a great scorer in the VHLM. To be honest, I don't know how he can compare himself to me. If I end up somewhere else in the expansion draft, he better watch his back".

During the first playoff game between Houston and Minnesota (1-2) Elmebeck got ejected for a hit the referees called as "attempt to injure" when Elmebeck boarded @HughJas_ in the Houston defensive zone. - I didn't mean to injure, I don't know where my mind was at that time, but I apologize profusely. That is not the kind of player I want to be. I think he got to me after going after @Dalton Wilcox in media and then chirping on the ice. But there is no defending the hit I gave him there, and I am glad he didn't get injured from my lapse of judgement. Elmebeck will be called up to the Board of Player Safety and may be suspended for the rest of the series against Minnesota, and at a minimum will face heavy fines for the hit. GM @FrostBeard had no immediate comments after the game, but didn't look happy about Elmebeck's behaviour on the ice. Elmebeck got a game misconduct, ejected from the game 4 minutes into the third period and 15 PIM. https://vhlportal.com/VHLM/67/Playoffs/VHLM67-PLF-3.html

S67 VHLM MVP Candidates With the end of the regular season upon us, while the playoffs are underway, it's time to have a look at some of the most valuable players of the season in the VHLM. Who significantly impacted the season? Read on and find out; below we have listed 1 forward, 1 defenseman and 1 goaltender to highlight for their on-ice prowesses. Forward: Thorny Underyew Though not predicted as first overall in the central scouting reports, there is little doubt Underyew was the most impactful forward of the season. At his second season in his career, the English center can expect to be awarded for the most goals of the season with 58 notches to his name. He also ranks 2nd overall in points, 1st in shots taken and tied 4th in plus/minus and powerplay goals. Another interesting way in which the young forward broke out from his peers is in game-winning goals, being first with a total 14, and hat tricks, with an impressive total 6 hat tricks this season. Defenseman: Kefka Palazzo At his second full season in the VHLM, the Japanese defenseman refined his offensive game with a marked difference, elevating his amount of points from 22 in S66 to a stunning 99 in S67, ranking 5th overall in points among all players and proving a veritable menace to other teams' special lines with 1st overall in powerplay goals. If things keep going his way, the aspiring defenseman should be looking to join the Seattle Bears' regular lineup at the start of next season. Goaltender: A Red Guy The 50 year-old masked man can be proud of his first season despite the remarkable performances of some of his peers. Guy still netted 2nd in wins this season with a total of 47, with almost half of his lost being dragged to overtime (specifically 10 OTL). He also holds the best goals against average of the league (1.83) and 3rd best save percentage (0.899) despite having received a large amount of shots (8th most shots against) this year. Other interesting fact, the goaltender ties 1st in shutouts with a blistering 11 games without a goal against him.

Time for Expansion - Version 3 The Victory Hockey League will be expanding to twelve teams at the conclusion of Season Sixty-Seven, marking the third time the league has expanded since Season Thirty. The league has changed drastically since the first expansion that saw Quebec and Cologne enter the fray back in Season Thirty-One, an expansion that ultimately was done unnecessarily in the opinion of many of those who were around at the time. Since we are officially awaiting the news of the two new expansion franchises, today we are going to look back at the first expansion, while trying to also look to the future of what may come for the league with uncharted territory with twelve VHL franchises. Season Thirty-One: Welcome to Quebec and Cologne Now many of these recollection will be coming off my memory, which isn’t the greatest as I was super active with my player at the time point task wise. The leadership team at the time was obviously much different from what we see today with Beketov and Quik, as it was a three headed monster of David Knight, Jardy and Sterling. The main supporter at the time and driver of expansion was Knight, something that he seemed ready to die on a hill for leading up to the actual expansion announcement. Membership at the time wasn’t the best, as most players that were in the drafts were re-creates. First-generation players entering the league over 200 TPE was a big accomplishment, with many of drafts lasting only a round or two leading up to Season Thirty. None the less expansion took place and prominent members Koradek and Kendrick were awarded the two franchises, with Koradek taking over the Quebec franchise and Kendrick running the German based Cologne franchise. The expansion draft rules weren’t as favorable for the teams during the first venture into expansion, so the teams endured some struggles early on. Quebec was the first of the two expansion franchises to see success, qualifying for the playoffs in the second season of play for the franchise in Season Thirty-Two. While the Meute didn’t make much noise in the playoffs in Season Thirty-Two and then took a step back the following season, the team started making team take notice come Season Thirty-Four. Quebec Takes Off: As stated in the article earlier Quebec was the first VHL franchise to become competitive, and even with making the playoffs in year two, they really took off starting in year four in Season Thirty-Four. Heading into the season the Meute made a huge splash with a trade between them and HC Davos Dynamo. The Meute sent the Dynamo Season Thirty-One draftee Steven Stamkos, along with their Season Thirty-Five and Thirty--Six First, Second and Third Round draft picks, for upcoming superstar centre Wesley Kellinger. That move would catapult the team into serious contender status with the likes of Helsinki and Calgary as the season was about to begin. Although Quebec would eventually fall at the hands of the Calgary Wrangles in the North American Conference Finals, the team made huge strides during the course of the season. During the off-season General Manager Pavel Koradek made another move for Miles Larsson in exchange for Jesper Hellkvist and a First and Second Round draft pick in Season Thirty-Seven. Season Thirty-Five started off similar to the past season with the league looking at a three horse race for the championship. Quebec and defending Continental Cup champions Helsinki separated themselves from the pack during the season. Quebec was the best team during the regular season posting a 55-14-3 record, good enough for 113 points and their first Victory Cup win. The Meute carried their hot play into the playoffs, moving past Calgary getting some revenge from the past season, and into the cup finals where they happened to meet the Titans. The Meute and Titans fought back and forth for six games, before Quebec ended the series in front of the Titans faithful. After five long seasons of ups and downs, the Meute finally stood alone at the top of the league, with no one prouder on ice than GM Koradek. On top of their first VHL Championship, the team also took home some personal awards at the awards ceremony, with Goaltender Skyler Rift taking home the Aiden Shaw Trophy for top goalie, and the Daisuke Kanou Trophy for playoff MVP. While Koradek took home the David Knight Trophy as the leagues top General Manager. After the First: After winning their first VHL Championship in Season Thirty-Five the Meute have experienced some wins, some losses, some heartbreak, and a big change. The team has made twenty-four playoff experiences since joining the league back in Season Thirty-One, made the finals in eight of those twenty-four playoffs appearances, while adding one additional Continental Cup to the fold in Season Fifty-Six. While the Meute have experienced some amazing regular season success, it’s the two Continental Cup wins in those eight appearances that stick out the most. The Meute have made the playoffs in six of the past seven seasons, but made the playoffs the first time this season representing Vancouver. The Meute moved to the west coast at the conclusion of the Season Sixty-Four season, looking for a fresh start and apparently a less offensive name. Vancouver now moves forward looking to add to the two Continental Cups in their trophy case, but can always hold on to the fact they were the first VHL expansion franchise to win a championship. German Hockey Invades the VHL: Due to his family connection and German roots, Kendrick was always pushing Germany with his players during his VHL tenure. It was a nature progression that when he was awarded a VHL expansion franchise that it were be based in Cologne Germany. After picking up many of the journeyman players left available in the VHL Expansion draft, Cologne wasn’t able to make the playoffs in the first three seasons of their existence. Cologne made their first appearance in the VHL playoffs in Season Thirty-Four, thanks in large part to a weaker European Conference. Cologne wasn’t a true contender during their first playoff appearance and was bounced quickly from the playoffs. The team would make the playoffs for three consecutive seasons from Season Thirty-Four until Season Thirty-Six, but were unable to reach the finals during any of those three years. General Manager Joey Kendrick would step down from his position after Season Thirty-Six and the team regressed heavily during the next three seasons. Fast forward to Season Forty-One off-season and the announcement of former New York Americans General Manager Ryan Power being hired by the franchise. Power took over and got to work doing what he does best, working the phones and making deals. The first move Power made was arguably his biggest when he acquired goaltender Martin Brookside from the Calgary Wranglers. The Express went into the season with high expectations although they weren’t the favorite expansion team to win in all that season. The Express played well throughout the regular season and qualified for the playoffs in the non-competitive European Conference. The Express cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs, losing only twice on their way to the Continental Cup finals. When they reached the finals the team that stood in the way of their first VHL championship for Cologne happened to be the team they entered the league with. Quebec and Cologne met for the first time in the cup finals, after being the league for eleven seasons. The Meute were no match for the Express who seemed to fins another gear when the playoffs arrived, taking home the championship in game five in Quebec. The Express’ huge off-season acquisition Martin Brookside, was awarded for his strong play during the award ceremony. Brookside took home the Scotty Campbell Trophy as regular season MVP, the Aiden Shaw Trophy for top goalie, and Daisuke Kanou trophy for playoff MVP, which will go down as one of the best seasons ever for a VHL goaltender. General Manager Ryan Power was also awarded for his hard work during the season with the David Knight Trophy for the leagues top GM. With the best season in Express history behind them the team now look forward to defending their title the next season. Season Forty-Three brought on higher expectations for the German hockey club, as fans now had that taste of a winning squad. Cologne again made the playoffs in a weak conference in Season Forty-Three, lead by future Hall of Fame forward Thomas O’Malley. O’Malley dominated the league offensively putting up fifty-three goals on his way to winning his first Kevin Brooks Trophy as the leagues top goalscorer. O’Malley also put up seventy-eight points, good enough for the league league and Mike Szatkowski Trophy with 131 points. Cologne again breezed through the playoffs and ended up in the cup finals again. This time around Cologne would face off against the Seattle Bears, and would unfortunately come out on the wrong side of a game seven loss. Colognes Time Comes to an End: After reaching the finals in Season Forty-Three, the Express again went back to the finals the very next season in Season Forty-Four. The Express would lose this time around to the Calgary Wranglers in six games. The franchise would make the playoffs seven more times between Season Forty-Five and Season Fifty-Seven, making one more appearance in the cup finals in Season Forty-Nine, which they would ultimately lose in five games against the Toronto Legion in the midst of their three straight championships. Cologne would make their final playoffs appearance in Season Fifty-Seven, which also happened to be the last season the Express were in the league. The Express were part of the two team contraction after Season Fifty-Seven as the VHL looked restructure due to a dwindling player base and they failed player two project. Although they only won one championship in the twenty-six season the franchise was in the league, the Express were an elite team in the European Conference for many seasons. Will the Express ever make their way back to the VHL sooner than later? The Move to Twelve: Where in the World will the VHL teams go? In just a few weeks the VHL will be announcing the locations, team names, colors and all other information about the two newest VHL franchises. The General Managers have been announced to the league already with diamond_ace and Enorama being trusted to see these franchises off the ground. This will be the first time the league will be above 10 teams in the VHL, something that comes with great excitement, while also great trepidation. This time around with expansion as well with the previous expansion that saw the Moscow Menace and Malmo Nighthawks enter the league two seasons ago, expansion is being done out of necessity instead of someone wanting to push it through for what seemed like a personal agenda. The league has grown leaps and bounds since Season Thirty, and continues to grow each day. Drafts are seeing players being drafted into the second and third round that enter the VHL immediately, basically the leagues overall health is the highest its been since the league first opened its doors back in 2007. The biggest question outside of the expansion draft and protections lists from the other ten VHL teams in where will the VHL land next in the world. Logically if you think about it, we should see one team in North America and the other team obviously somewhere else in the world. The team in North America will likely be placed in the United States, which will even out the teams between Canada and the US in the North American Conference. The east coast and west coast are represented right now in the United States with teams in New York and Seattle, so will the team now land somewhere in the middle. Now that gives a lot of spot for the team to land, but hopefully the VHL finds themselves a permanent home somewhere in the Midwest. No matter where the teams land, I wish the best of luck to the two General Mangers as one returns to the gold club, while one starts off his new career as a member of the gold club. 2,064 Words. Using for Weeks Aug 18-24, Aug 25-31, Sept 1-7, Sept 8-14

So it's 1 in the morning, Friday night, technically Saturday, and I'm running out of ideas so I'm giving up and doing one of these frowned-upon things here. "But Gustav," you might say, "Don't you have some shitpost to throw in here? Can't you just write about Halifax chanting in tongues during commercial breaks or McWolf returning to management or something?" Yeah, that would be nice, but truth be told, I don't feel like it I can't think of any way to squeeze 150 words out of it. So, I'm going to go the Dil route and talk for 150 words about absolutely nothing, and then claim it to finish off this week's earning. Dammit, I'm only at 114. Time to keep going. What do I think about this kind of thing? Honestly, it never really got to me. I never saw myself being one of those guys who just threw up words to get points, and I know I've got a certain reputation as a writer around here--I really enjoy writing. That's even the reason why I'm never motivated to do graphics--as much as I'd like to be good at it, there's an alternative that, to me, is easier, and a good deal more enjoyable. So anyway, I've even broken 200 at this point. Cool, and I'll see you next week with something better. Just kidding, I've already earned all I can this week and would never seriously do this.

The season has finally ended and Greg Eagles has played in his first VHL Season. It was an up and down season but many saw the future potential of this up and coming prospect. He has learned quite a bit from his team-mates and especially the teams veteran goalies Kingfisher. Eagles played in 19 games this season with 16 of those being full game starts. His record was pretty good going 6-7-3 with a .902 save percentage and a 2.85 GAA. He was given more starts then the league required minimum which shows that his team and coaches have faith in his abilities. The 2.85 GAA landed Eagles 7th overall in the league but since he only played 19 games you can’t really compare him to other goalies who played a full season. Yet it is still impressive that he managed to pull of those numbers in his rookie season. “ I think as my first season as a backup that I put up pretty respectable numbers. I tried to give my team the best chance to win every night and to also show everyone what I am capable of” Said Eagles “ I am happy with my stats and next year my goal will be to do even better and improve on those stats, I think we will have a great team next season which will help in that goal” With Eagles getting 19 games this helped Kingfisher with his workload and to make sure Kingfisher was rested and at 100% for the playoffs. This tactic seems to have paid off as Kingfisher currently has the second best Save % and GAA in the playoffs. He also seems to be playing much better then he did in the first half of the season. “ It’s a long season for sure, especially after being in the league for so long and doing this season after season, its good to get some rest and have your backup play” Said Kingfisher “ I think it was important for me to get rest and for me to understand that it is ok to take a break. It has definitely paid off as I feel great heading into the playoffs” “It changes every year, how many games we rest our starter but you would have to ask Kingfisher how it affected him. Maybe the mental rest helped, you know helped him sort of reset. We always discuss how much we want to play our number 1 and how much we want to play our number 2 for development purposes” Said the Wolves coach “I think that both our goalies are very professional and are helping each other out, I know Eagles learned a lot from Kingfisher and hopefully that will carry over when he becomes our future starter" The focus now, for Eagles, is to be the support system on the bench. He can be seen helping the coach with plays and talking to his team-mates on how to find more open space. The Wolves currently have a 3-2 series lead and are hoping to close out the series tomorrow.

Ben Hafkey/Barclay Goodrow

oh look the better team won @Bushito @ItsMcLovin OT HERO!

Bohemian Breakdown Please tell me if it worked, I always question if these things work

Positions Held: Head Grader, VHLM General Manager, VHLM Commissioner, VHL General Manager, VHL Commissioner, Member of BoG, Since joining the VHL in Season 27, Jim Gow has been a model of consistency in both his players and contributions to the league. While Jim has never been one of the most vocal members of the league, when GMs draft a player from the Flyersfan agency they know they are selecting a dependable player. Additionally, Jim has guided the league with a steady hand during his stint as VHLM and VHL Commissioner, and continues to provide rational and measured arguments for proposed league changes in the Board of Governors. Jim’s most notable player is Robin Gow, as he went on to become the Riga Reign’s fifth-highest point scorer of all time, netting 213 goals and 352 assists in 482 games played. Robin spent nearly his entire career with the Reign, with his culminating moment being his Season 40 Continental Cup Victory with longtime team captain Brennan McQueen. Gow went on to win another Continental Cup two seasons later, this time in a trade deadline sendoff to the Cologne Express to give him one last chance at a cup before retirement. It is fitting that Jim’s best player comes from Riga, as he has spent the bulk of his VHL career leading the Reign to success in some capacity. After learning under the tutelage of longtime Riga GM Mike Mike Szatkowski, Jim took over as GM at the start of Season 40. Szatkowski and the rest of the league were impressed by Jim’s prior success at the minor league level, as he was among the most active VHLM GMs, leading the Ottawa Lynx to Founders Cups in Seasons 35 and 39, winning the Jack Reilly award for top GM both years. Coincidentally enough, Ottawa’s Season 35 championship roster laid the groundwork for the Riga’s future success, as it included many future Reign stalwarts in Robin Gow, Brennan McQueen, and Robert Gow III. Jim’s career as Riga’s GM started off hot, as he led the team to a Continental Cup victory in his inaugural year, largely with the same core that won him the S35 Founders Cup. The next season, the Reign narrowly lost to the New York Americans in the S41 Finals, prompting Jim to start a rebuild that would last until he stepped down as GM in S44. Lastly, after a long hiatus from GMing, Jim spent one season as the Oslo Storm GM in Season 57, picking up a best GM award and another Founders Cup in the process. In addition to successfully managing multiple VHL and VHLM teams, Flyersfan has taken on a variety of essential roles to better the league. Members who have joined over the past 10 seasons do not remember the importance of point task graders, as they used to be graded much more harshly and require two grades before being redeemed for tpe. This made grading a key VHL role as active graders were needed for players to earn their tpe, and Flyersfan was up to the task as he reviewed many media spots over the years before eventually becoming head grader. After a long and successful period of thankless work as head grader, Jim dipped his hand into another area, running the VHLM as one of their two commissioners. Duties for this job have also changed over the years as there was much less automation, resulting in Flyersfan spending many hours posting game threads, running waivers, and promoting locker room activity. This was once again a thankless job for Jim, as he provided stability to a league that veteran members at the time often saw as nothing more than a tpe grab on the way to the big leagues. After a largely successful stint as VHLM Commissioner, Flyersfan’s VHL career culminated in him becoming one of Victor’s replacements on the blue team, as he and Will were hired to bring in the next generation of leadership. Flyersfan played a key role in this relationship, as Will was an extremely active first generation player, and Jim provided him with veteran guidance from years of experience both as a member and VHLM Commissioner. After smoothly running the league for a little under a year, real life commitments caused Flyersfan to step down from his role. While Flyersfan may not be contributing as heavily as his heyday, he remains a very productive member of VHL society. His current player, Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen, currently leads his draft class with 750 tpe, and has a shot at adding Flyersfan to the player side of the Hall of Fame as well. Additionally, Jim continues to provide his input to key league activities remaining a member of the blue team forum as well as continuing his service as a long-time Board of Governors member. As the VHL enters a new era, Flyersfan will continue to help guide the league, and we are all the better for it.

During my time at the VHL's Area 51, I had some time to do some shietzz So I did this can I get 6 tpe for this

As the playoffs have started, time is soon nigh for the announcement of the expansion teams, and also for the Season 68 draft. Top runners are @Green, @CowboyinAmerica, @Ace, @jack and @JeffD, with @Sixersfan549 just trailing, according to the latest update on the 18th, with top goalie being @.sniffuM. Condor Adrienne @Green, with Philadelphia Reapers, the predicted first pick, said he was considering sitting out any contract negotiations as he'd rather be with one of the expansion teams, when asked if that was that because then he "would be out of the spotlight?" he answered, "It's not that, it's I rather would have more high people around me, making it easier to get to a destination I want to end up (read: expansion team) Rather not cause drama at the draft time, but afraid I don't have much choice." Condor Adrienne playing some other sport than hockey, while pinching his nipples erotically. Fredrik Elmebeck @Elmebeck, with Houston Bulls, when asked where he wanted to go and at what place he would be drafted answered, "I would be very happy to be in the top 20, but I do expect to hit a level that is appropriate for the VHL rather than staying in the VHLM for one more season. My favorite destination would be New York, but if Västerås gets their franchise back I would rate that very highly. As long as I don't get drafted to Malmö, I don't want to learn a new language." Fredrik Elmebeck rookie card, implies that he knows Russian and Switzerdeutsch better than the local southern Swedish dialect in Malmö. Meanwhile Danny Trejo has backed down on his franchise bid, "They won't talk to me, this whole process seems politicized and I won't waste anymore time or money trying to pursue it. But please do check out or range of Indian Pale Ale and Sarsaparilla products. Just look for Treparilla and TrIPA on the shelves, or ask you local shop to order it in." Danny Trejo abandons hope to get a franchise spot for Amarillo. Looking at the league as a whole Canada have three teams, USA two teams and Europe five, so a lot of people are calling for more Canadian and US teams for the expansion, or even one more Scandinavian team with the soaring number of players from there. Another burning question for the GM's is the expansion draft. We saw in other leagues how for example the NHL, that an expansion team basically stole from the current teams. With two expansion teams, will that still be the case in VHL? And who do you protect? @diamond_ace says "The GM-goalie trend has gone by the wayside, which I largely consider to be a good change, because it means other players can create goalies. There have been plenty of great members to create goalies who have made a large impact on the league." and also asks "Let's say, hypothetically, that 7 players are protected. If your 8th guy is a 250 tpe guy in his 2nd season, not perfectly active but still pretty heavily active and definitely not a guy you want to lose, and your 9th guy is a 500 tpe guy in his 7th season that is depreciated down to only 370 or so of those TPE being used and went inactive 2 seasons ago: I obviously want the first guy". Lawson pitching in. It will definitely be interesting to see how the expansion draft pans out, and hopefully a spectacle. Very interesting times ahead. Blazing playoffs, followed by the season 68 draft, and then an expansion draft. Good times. Commissioners are crazy happy. Oh My! Edit: I didn't realize the Europe and North America teams were separated in "conferences" for the playoffs.

slobo thread

Here's something I always thought should be the case, but I never decided to officially propose it until tonight, when @RunnerBert11 asked me what TPE there is to be earned from asking press conference questions. As most experienced members who have done a presser or two know, asking 5 questions will earn you 1 TPE, while answering 6 questions will earn you 2. WHY IS THIS THE CASE? Nobody wants to answer 5 (or 10) questions--5 won't get you 2 TPE and 10 gives you an extra 4 questions you don't know what to do with. So! Here's my proposal to fix the system, a thought that many have definitely had (and that someone's probably brought up here, though I'm too lazy to find out). What I'm saying is that we have two options... 1. Change the pay to 1 TPE for asking 6 questions and 2 TPE for asking 12. This is likely the less disruptive to the system out of both of these choices, though I must say that we do have something to consider here. Pros: This changes the system the least. Those who are already happy with asking 10 questions a week will likely be just fine with asking 12 (although I cannot claim to speak for anyone). Also, this brings about a HUGE improvement on the part of someone answering the questions. Under this system, anyone being asked anything at all will have at least 6 questions (to completely cover one week) and may end up with 12 (to completely cover 2 weeks!). No doubt about it, this is a great development for the answerer. Cons: Remember when I said we have to consider something here? Here's where I bring that up. The press conference tab is filled with people answering, and there just aren't that many asking. Individual press conference threads die within a week or two, unless you're pretty well-known around the league--I'd say I'm reasonably well-known, and even my first press conference thread died until Bert gave me some questions today (thank you Bert). In fact, the asker-answerer ratio is so unbalanced that two people came into my thread to answer my questions. The con here is not that this will make things any worse--which I don't think it will--but that it leaves another existing problem untouched. 2. Change the pay to 1 TPE for asking 3 questions and 2 TPE for asking 6. Originally, I thought this was a bad idea, but the more I think about it, the better it sounds. Pros: Remember that asker-answerer ratio? This fixes the problem. I'd say that what's keeping people away from asking questions is the fact that they have to come up with 10 new ideas for 2 little TPE. I've tried asking questions in pressers before, and having the mental capacity of a glazed donut, I'm next to incapable of doing so. Usually, I end up asking 6 questions, because a) that's all I can come up with, and b) that's what the answerer actually wants. By making the number of tasks required to earn TPE the same, more members will be active in terms of asking. Individual pressers will become largely a success (especially for newer members who currently create them and are then either ignored or given one or two sets of questions). This also helps out GMs in team press conferences--asking your team 6 questions, so they'll earn 2 TPE, will only get you 1 TPE, and asking them 10 or 12 for the extra points is pointless. Cons: The one possible negative aspect of this is that individual pressers may just become too competitive with the team ones, which are still, for the most part, the most important. However, I really don't see this happening. Human nature (at least for anyone who is, like me, fairly lazy) dictates that we'd rather have things handed to us rather than working for those same things (read: TPE). Answers aren't entirely original thoughts, though questions must be. I can still see the majority of the league being on the answering side of things, but I do believe that this system would help to balance things out. If you're reading this and you have any input on the matter, please feel free to add to it. Let's make the VHL a better place.

The Toronto Legion released a press statement confirming an addition to their Management and Operations team. The press statement, reads as follows; The press release would indicate that current Toronto GM Ryan Power is likely to step down by Season 70. Rylan Peace was a notable candidate among others, in the recent VHL GM Expansion hunt, we were told that after expressing interest in a GM role, Peace was contacted by Toronto management to arrange a contract. While it is still a few seasons away, it will be interesting to see the state of the Toronto Legion franchise when Rylan Peace is slated to take over.

We'll take this in 9. Bank it.

Best of luck Quebec

LET'S GO BOYSSS HAHAHA THAT'S GOING IN THE SIGNATURE

Good series! I know the Rush are a great team so I was expecting this to be a lot closer. Good luck to all the players on Yukon, I hope you guys boss it wherever you end up. Lets keep the boats going!

Good series, on to the next one. Sorry for jinxing you @Josh

Ardsvuni Tigran Khorenatsi Astavdzaturyan Organized Leader of the Artsakh Oblast, Nagorno-Karabakh Region - Controls the Armenian-nationalized Nagorno-Karabakh Region, located as an enclave inside the borders of Azerbaijan - Does not recognize Azerbaijani authority - Fights for the independence of the Nagorno-Karabakh people, would settle for Armenian rule - Yells "Down with the Azerbaijani tyrants!" once every three hours; dedication to this task is unerring and results in restless bouts of brief sleep Former freedom fighter, Artsakh Oblast, Nagorno-Karabakh Region - Fought for the return of Artsakh to its time as a principality in the Middle Ages - Read Elegy on the Death of Grand Prince Juansher to the people every Tuesday at 1, so that they may remember the glory days of the independence of Artsakh Former clergyman of the great prophet, Henrikh Mkhitaryan, Armenian glorious overlord of all Accommodations needed: - Must be willing to give 4 days between shifts, as travel is limited to a poorly maintained railway line between Ketelparaq and Stepanakert, and then outgoing flights from Stepanakert. - Must make enough money per shift to pay for the flights both in and out of Stepanakert, and the train tickets both to and from Ketelparaq. - Must be given off May 29 every year, as it is a holy day of rememberance of the martyrdom of Great Prophet Henrikh Mkhitaryan, when the Azerbaijani tyrants cut him down rather than allow him to enter their country.

James "The Whimmy Jimmy Jimbo-Tron Sex Machine" Benjamin Carl J. Jonah Jameson MMCXII 251 North Bristol Ave., Los Angeles, CA, 90094, in West Philadelphia born and raised 1-877-CASH-NOW AlgaaliuMjFschiaon@yahoo.com Make sure to smash that like button here OBJECTIVE What the hell do you think? I want money. EDUCATION School of Hard Knocks Bachelor of Science, Internal Medicine, April 2069 Minors in Urdu and Music Performance (Electric Didgeridoo) GPA: 1.6 Dean's List: Fall 2067, Spring 2068 SKILLS Languages: Fluent in Sugandese and able to sing the Spanish parts of "Despacito" from memory Computer Skills: Able to accurately mimic the startup noise of Windows XP; also I develop software sometimes Physical: Once made a sick catch in gym class, can run a mile in under three days Attention Span: Have seen both a full baseball game and a full Grateful Dead concert Gaming: Able to stand up to the oppression of society Intellect: Fan of Rick and Morty, online tested IQ of 156 Musical: Able to play Van Halen's "Eruption," as well as "Hot Cross Buns," on the penny whistle, cowbell, and boomwhackers EMPLOYMENT Snake Wrangler, Walmart, Llanfair­pwllgwyngyll­gogery­chwyrn­drobwll­llan­tysilio­gogo­goch, Wales Responsible for the prevention of approximately $420.69 million in snake-related lawsuits on a daily basis Learned and taught the snake-wrangling techniques of pile driving, chokeslamming, and/or flute playing Other job responsibilities include allowing snakes into the store each morning, stunts involving flamethrowers for dramatic effect, and daily invocation of St. Patrick Lead Product Tester, Mile High Dispensary, Denver, Colorado Oversaw and partook in the testing and quality control of store product Responsible for the creative aromatherapy of the collective customer population Aided customers and coworkers in the reaching of a higher level of consciousness DJ KHALED BITCH PLEASE I'M DJ KHALED Grand Poobah, Separationist People's Republic of Northwestern Madagascar Responsible for the command, control, and eventual mass murder of a small guerrilla faction designed to overthrow and replace the government of Madagascar Gained experience in the art of hypocrisy THIS IS ALSO MY VALUABLE LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE, TAKE NOTE Senior Buyer, From Home, Long Term Secured quotes from vendors of required resources to obtain most favorable price terms and services Planned and discussed long term contracts and terms Monitored supply chain initiatives including coordinating supplier selection Inducted, valuated, and tracked vendors cost, quality, and delivery activity Looked over logistics to insure goods timely shipment with proper documentation Inbreeding Geneticist, Old Dead Tree Hill, West Virginia Consulted with couples of direct blood linkage and determined the safety of their potential reproduction Performed 21-point test on all patients, which included measurements of height, weight, cholesterol levels, and density of ear hair Listened to over 600 different renditions of "Country Roads" AWARDS Participation trophies: Little League Baseball, Little League Football, Big League Hog Calling Championship trophies: Little League Baseball, Little League Football, Big Boys Don't Need No Participation Trophies Society of Distinguished Athletes Community: Recipient of the 1997 Oak Springs, Arkansas, Bill Cosby Award for Youth Development and Excellence Military: Graduated top of my class in the Navy SEALs CERTIFICATIONS Certified Water Slide Lifeguard Certified Wax Technician American Red Cross certified Level 3 Threat @eaglesfan036 hello

Haha yeah that was all this is, nothing more formal than that. Kinda a league announcement to say that you are set next in line. No worries this isn't any official declaration that you are an Assistant GM. I forgot how seriously you VHLM folks take AGM stuff lol.

This week in Lynx hockey Welcome back to another installment of this week in Lynx hockey. The final week of the regular season was a successful one for Ottawa as they leaped over Philadelphia and took first place in a wild week. This sets Ottawa up with a date with Las Vegas in the first round. As of this writing, Ottawa is up 3-1 on Las Vegas. More on that later. The Lynx were well represented at the top of the regular season statistical leader board. They have the top 3 overall scorers as well as a leader in assists, plus minus, shots and hits. The stats are there for every one to see so I will skip to what we all came to hear about…Playoff Predictions!!! Ottawa vs. Las Vegas This series seems almost already over as of this writing. Ottawa is up 3-1 after winning 3 straight. I wouldn’t count anyone out because it is the playoffs, but Las Vegas has not looked impressive at all against Ottawa. Even in their win, the Aces were out shot by a wide margin. Sub par play by goalie Samuel Ross was the culprit. Ross eventually recovered and beat Vegas in game 3. So far in this series Anthony Amberback has been the teams biggest threat. He has 2 first stars and his defense has kept shots low. Maybe he’s an early playoff MVP. Who knows? Thorny Underyew is playing lights out again, scoring 10 points in the 4 games. I wonder if this will spring him into the number one spot in the VHL draft? Halifax vs. Yukon This matchup pitted 2 of the hottest teams against each other. Yukon had a great last month as it took down some of the elite of the vhlm and making a case for them to be considered elite as well. They had the VHL’s best defense and arguably the top goalie in the league. This has not seemed to help them much as they are down to Halifax 3-1. Minnesota and Philadelphia have already ended their series. Houston put up a good fight against Minnesota as game 4 ended in a 1-0 shutout. This pits both teams against each other next round. I’m going to assume Halifax and Ottawa win their series for my predictions. So here goes.. Minnesota vs. Philadelphia Philadelphia has kind of cooled off the last month, allowing Ottawa to take the top spot from them. So far it hasn’t hurt them in the playoffs, but it might here. Minnesota isn’t quite unbeatable anymore, but they have some great weapons and I think they might actually take down Philadelphia in this matchup. It’s a classic offense vs. defense battle as both teams have great defenders but I give Philly the edge here. For Minnesota, the opposite seems true to me. Berocka Sundqvist has been consistently great scoring goals for the Storm. I think he will be a key this series. It wouldn’t surprise me if Minnesota pulled it off but it will take 6 or 7 games. This might be the most difficult series to speculate on. Ottawa vs. Halifax Isn’t it funny how things seem to work out? For a good chunk of the season Halifax had Ottawa’s number. Ottawa took down Minnesota for their first loss, then got beaten by Halifax the next game. Ottawa seemed to have cracked the code on Halifax as it went on a 2nd half tear. Halifax also had a GM change, did that contribute to Halifax losing it’s magic? Maybe we will find out in this series. I’m not quite so sure this series will go as long as Minnesota versus Philly. I’m going to take Ottawa in 5. Ottawa’s defense has caught up to it’s blistering offense. The Lynx goaltending has worked very hard as a unit and now both goalies could have starting spots for teams. With 3 hundred point scorers Ottawa’s offense will put the 21st away. This brings us to Minnesota versus Ottawa. This series should be great. Maybe even one that gets the VHLM a little more respect. Could it be one of the best of all time? I think so. It features plenty of star power, lots of two way defensive play, and lots of talented forwards. Will Sundqvist get enough offensive help to overcome Ottawa’s offensive barrage? Will Virgil Ligriv out duel Raymond Bernard? Will Finnegan MacBurn’s physical play continue through these playoffs? I don’t think so. I’m going to call Ottawa in 7. Thorny, Zeno and Anthony Hawk will be the difference makers for Ottawa. Hawk’s physical play will be too much to handle and Bernard will be his steady, calm and cool self. I can’t think of a better series to end season 67.

are you saying Toronto will have picks in S70?

This article is a retrospective look in Trevor Van Lagen’s utilization in his rookie season which has recently concluded. A recent media spot by @dmaximus highlighting S67 unofficial awards gave the 1 vs 100 Award away with the winner holding 374 penalty kill minutes. When comparing this to his own stats, Van Lagen realized he was just 5 minutes shy of that record, in his rookie season! Coming into his first season in the VHL, Van Lagen was known as a scoring center. He didn’t hit, he wasn’t strong, and he definitely didn’t kill penalties. Yet, @Advantage, wanting to give everyone as much ice time as he could, placed Van Lagen at the heart of the teams penalty kill. Van definitely struggled there and by as with anything else, he tried to give 110% at this task as well. Unfortunately, the end result would be he was tired often when he would finally get some offensive ice time (by far lower in ES + PP ice time then most of his teammates). Besides this, Van Lagen was learning the ropes on the wing rather than in his natural position in the middle. This transition though wouldn’t be as big of a change as it did take some of the responsibilities of being a center away from him so he could focus on developing the other aspects of his game. Despite his struggles and frustrations, Van did learn a valuable lesson - he needed to gain strength to compete with the best in this league. That is exactly what he did as he dedicated his energy to the gym gaining that necessary muscle to fill his big 6’-5” frame. He began dumping some hard earned TPE into his strength stat as well as putting emphasis on his skating and puck handling stats in an effort to remain a shifty player who is hard to hit. With his scoring and puck handling developed to 90 and his skating at 85 Van Lagen hopes to spend this offseason learning how to hit as well as improving on his face off abilities. His dream heading into his sophomore season is to become a shifty, strong center who’s stride is at least average and shot is near lethal. He will be able to knock opponents off the puck while being a keep away artist and then when he finds an opening he will be able to bury the puck in the net. The only missing aspect in his repertoire will be his passing. This is however, by design. Van Lagen believes in player types and being a predominant scorer will allow him to be a star earlier in his career. Whether he develops his passing later in his career to when his other attributes are maxed out in an effort to become more of an all around player will be determined when he gets there and by how much depreciation is affecting him in those years. Next season, Van will definitely be more prepared than ever to handle the grind of a 72 game VHL schedule. With the hope and expectation that his ES and PP ice time will improve significantly, expect Van Lagen to be a breakout star in just his sophomore season for Malmo. 541 words

You're welcome.

Trying my hand at doing sigs. This is my very first one, so, any tips or suggestions are very welcome! @ahawk2191

INDEX @VHLM GM All players should be in and updated so we're ready to go on lines. I believe the plan is to start playoffs tomorrow.

The word clown is muted? I’m in trouble

@Beaviss Let's go ahead and give @omgitshim Arroyo the nod. Still had a good final season deserves to be an All Star one last time.

The Mumbai Elephant select Virat Kohli

Cast your mind back to S30, if you can, some point in early 2013. Or if you can't, just imagine the hype of the first ever VHL expansion as the league grew from eight teams to ten for the first time in 5 years and 30 seasons. It is still debatable whether the VHL was ready for that expansion, but what's certain is the VHLM did not, however it was still another five seasons or so before some genius commissioner (☺️) forced the two leagues to run separate sims. Until then, any changes that happened in the VHL had to be replicated in the minor league. The VHL has gone through much upheaval since then – contraction, reexpansion, and everything in between. However, that's nothing compared to what's happened in the VHLM. Now entirely contained within North America and with the most teams it's ever had (eleven), the often neglected minor league is nothing like what it was on the first sim of S31, as I found out while trying to piece together a few bits of VHLM history the past week. So I thought I'd have a look at the fate of those 10 “original” post-expansion VHLM franchises and see where they are now, countless relocations, contractions, and expansions later. Minot Gladiators Who? Well, yes, this North Dakota city of 47,000 including its perhaps most passionate supporter (@701, wherever he may be now) was once a VHLM franchise, and in fact a staple of the VHLM for many veterans of the league. Almost a staple, that is, given the Gladiators had just been taken on a brief foray to Syracuse in a highly controversial move in S26 – S31 was in fact the team's first season back in Minot. There was a bit of a romantic connection with the Gladiators for many members as they used to be quite successful and were affiliated with the Calgary Wranglers – in many ways the model franchise of early days VHL. However, Minot's third and final Founder's Cup was won in S19, before the VHL-VHLM affiliation model was abolished. Their last finals appearance came just before they came back to Minot, in S30. In truth, once the first wave of contraction hit in S42, as everyone realised the VHLM didn't need 10 teams, the Gladiators were the easy option to cull. Ottawa Ice Dogs Behold, the only franchise to have stayed in the VHLM for its entire 66-season-and-counting history. The Ice Dogs were not immune to to one name change which occurred not long after our Year Zero, in S33, as the VHLM's teams went through a significant rebrand and the one logo left lying around was of a cat, therefore the Ice Dogs had to become the Lynx. Apart from that though, this is about as stable as you can get in the VHLM. Ottawa has been a mainstay in the league and has been rewarded with a league-leading 12 Founder's Cups – four ahead of its nearest challengers. It's generally a franchise known for smart and consistent management, the team of current VHLM commissioner Jason Glasser on two occasions, and former commissioners Jim Gow (for most of the 30s) and Jardy Bunclewirth (S46 to S54) on others. The Ice Dogs/Lynx have been to 20 finals (again, the most in the VHLM), 13 of those since becoming the Lynx and 7 of the last 11. A model franchise in every aspect, it's a far cry from some of the other entries here. Saskatoon Wild For most of their history as Seattle's affiliate, the Wild (aka the Fresno Bulls aka the Buffalo Jr. Bears) were a bit of a shambles but then in S16 they moved to Saskatoon and in S17 obtained the godsend that is Jack Reilly as GM. His name now adorns the league's top executive trophy, but he actually stepped down two seasons before expansion. However, the reputation built up by the Wild up to that point seemed to carry them through to continued existence until today. In fact, that's nothing especially noteworthy about Saskatoon since S31 – not as a city or as a VHLM franchise. The Wild have won 5 of their 8 championships since then, have generally seen stable management (having to introduce an interim GM during their most recent cup in S63 notwithstanding), and just have never been bad enough to contract or unpopular enough to relocate. Saskatoon simply exists now as a link to the past, and although its history is a bit less rich than Ottawa's, it is now the second-longest lasting location in the VHLM (and longest without a name change). Brampton Blades Somewhat disappointingly, I have no idea when the Brampton Battalion became the Blades and there is almost certainly no way of finding out now. They were certainly the Blades by the time expansion rolled around and would have been fairly confident of surviving to the present day, but as more and more franchises bit the dust, it looks like Brampton was one of difficult decisions which needed to be killed off in the last wave of contraction (S53). It's a bit of a shame, as although Brampton's best days came before S31, it was still a staple of the league much like Ottawa. Even late on in the franchise's life, the Blades went on a run of 13 playoff appearances in 14 seasons, started by one GM Terence Fong back in S38. This streak ended just before Brampton was wiped off the face of the VHLM but also before the playoffs become all inclusive, so a fine achievement nonetheless. Yukon Rush Yukon 2 gud was the battle cry of the Rush as they entered the league in S31 as the expansion team to match Quebec in the VHLM, and boy did they rush into the league. Yukon won a Founder's Cup in their very first season of existence and made four more finals (winning three) by S38. It was a blistering pace and one they couldn't maintain, although winning just one championship since then (in S59) does make me question how the Rush survived the multiple contractions which have taken place in that time. Yukon is actually the only VHLM team I've managed (in S49 and S50), when I made it my goal to employ solely first-gen players, something that was much harder to do in those dark times for the league than it is today. Looking at the list of the franchise's GMs, it seems that the Rush have generally been in safe hands which perhaps has been their saving grace – a stable, reliable franchise which does its job of promoting prospects into the VHL. Bern Royals Ah Bern. Once Davos' affiliate, perfectly matched to be both in Switzerland and with a purple logo, who could have predicted they'd end up in Las Vegas? That's what happened though, as Robbie Zimmers was let in for just two seasons and that's all it took to push through a relocation in S54 (and also, to be fair, a Founder's Cup in the very first season in Nevada). No one really cared much for the Royals and they have been more successful as the Aces and won more frequently back in their days in Spain as the Toledo Scorpions. However, the move from Europe to North America was probably the final nail in the intercontinental VHLM after 52 seasons (ignoring the 10 further seasons in Oslo), which is a shame. As a final tidbit on the franchise, the Royals/Aces went on a 21-season playoff streak thanks to every VHLM team qualifying for the playoffs from S53 to S61, which only ended last season. Kolari Panthers As great as the concept of a EU/NA VHLM is, teams like the Panthers did little to keep that idea alive. Starting off as Helsinki's affiliate in tiny Jonkoping, Sweden, in S11 the team moved across the border to Finland, in an even smaller location – Kolari, 3,819 people at the start of 2019. Originally, the Kolari franchise was known as the Wolves, before becoming the Panthers in S17 for reasons unknown. That was the situation going into S31, which the Panthers actually entered as defending champions, having won their second cup in their ninth final (actually the second highest amount at the time). It all quickly went downhill from there. Kolari did relocate to a more recognisable location in Turku (Finland's third largest city) in S34, but the Outlaws made just one finals appearance before being a reasonably easy team to contract alongside Minot in S42. Oslo Storm The last bastion of European hockey in the VHLM was one of the least expected, certainly when you consider that not too long before expansion, the Oslo-based team was legitimately called the Screaming Seamen. It was certainly a slap to the face of the highly successful Gothenburg Eagles, who went on a then unheard of eight-season playoff streak and still were relocated to Oslo anyway. By S31, things had cooled down and the Storm were a reasonably average member of the VHLM. Despite a quick start in post-expansion VHLM with a Founder's Cup in S32, Oslo didn't actually win another until S57 and while that is not the be-all-end-all in the minors, it's still quite peculiar that the Storm were the last European franchise standing in the league. Of course, that also didn't last as with the first of the recent rounds of expansion in S65, Oslo saw its team move to Minnesota, leaving Ottawa and Saskatoon as the runaway leaders in terms of longevity. Vasteras IK J20 Lost in the the years of “Fuck Vasteras” campaigning is the fact that Vasteras' original VHL GM Lucas Tannahill also put his VHLM affiliate in the same city. The VHLM Vasteras didn't find much more success than the VHL version, winning its first championship in S11, then having the first 16 draft picks in the S26 Dispersal Draft (no, really) and still managing to choke away a Founder's Cup. The J20 did manage to win their second cup the following year in S27. Other than splitting up the VHL and VHLM sims, one of my main targets as commissioner in the 30s was to destroy Vasteras once and for all. It took until S41 to move the Iron Eagles to Stockholm, but the VHLM team was relocated in S36, becoming the Moscow Red Wolves. It was an odd name with a logo that looked more like a friendly dog, but the team did win a cup in S45. However, when the VHLM went down from 8 teams to 7 in S52, Moscow was another fairly easy choice to cull. At VHL level, we now have both a Moscow team and a Wolves team in Vancouver as of S65 – if they turn out better than the post-Vasteras Moscow remains to be seen. Vasteras, however, is almost certainly gone for good. Bratislava Watchmen Finally, the other expansion team alongside Yukon. Alongside Brampton, this was the last VHLM franchise to fall (other than Oslo's relocation) and to me the most heartbreaking. In just 23 seasons, the Bratislava Watchmen made 7 finals appearances and won all of them, a superb record for an expansion team. What's more, they had some of the most stable management the VHLM has seen, including 3 long-term GMs who immediately graduated to the VHL after their time in Bratislava – Vince Wong to Helsinki, Blake Campbell to Seattle, and Benjamin Zeptenbergs to Riga. The latter two of course are still managing their respective VHL teams. The Watchmen always felt like one of the success stories of the VHLM, a model franchise like Ottawa and not the trainwreck which was quite a lot of the other teams. Although there was a clear move away from Europe just before Bratislava was contracted in S54, with Moscow going just a few seasons earlier and Bern moving to Vegas, choosing to keep the Storm over the Watchmen was, for me, a questionable move. But what's done is done and now there are five fresh VHLM franchises (and Halifax) which might hope to follow Bratislava's trajectory (prior to contraction).

It Hurts more being scored on my one of my former reapers. Hard to be mad at Mclovin lol Congrats to Vancouver, don't choke in the finals Beav

1 Season just ended. We sit in 5th place, 10 points behind the Yukon Rush, who we'll be facing in the 1st round. How do you prepare for this matchup? Since this series is done, I'll say I think we prepared really well for Yukon. I saw the guys putting in extra shifts after practice was over. It was a determination that I don't think most teams can match. 2 Who on the team needs to step up his game if we want to make it to the 2nd round? I think, as a whole, we all have to step up our games if we plan to take the 2nd round. We have a great team, but we can always try to be doing better. 3 Among the other teams in the playoffs, who do you think has the best odds of bringing the S67 Founder's Cup home? Besides ourselves, I think it's between Philadelphia and Ottawa again. Both teams had strong foundations in play to contend for a 2nd cup. I also think we're in the mix there as well, ofcourse. 4 In the same vein, if you followed the VHL season, who do you think has the best odds of taking the S67 Continental Cup? I think it has to be Helsinki again. Great team, but I must say I haven't been following the VHL post regular season. 5 Do you embrace or deny the rumours that say the Halifax 21st is actually a satanic cult? I EMBRACE IT, OF COURSE! 6 Are you excited about being drafted in the VHL and/or in the VHLM in the offseason? Where do you hope you'll land? If you were drafted in the VHL already, are you excited about possibly joining the VHL team that drafted you next season? I have a feeling that I will be protected for the expansion draft so, I don't expect myself to go to a new team. However, I'm excited to see which players are chosen. It'll be a very interesting season in S68.

I don't know what happened with Minnesota, but their goalie @MMFLEX had 97.2% saves and two shutouts. I think he robbed us. GG

Seattle Home No Mo The VHL Expansion draft is on the horizon now with the VHL playoffs underway, and the lists of teams have become known to most around their respective locker-rooms. Rumors started to flow out of the Seattle locker-room of who they would be protecting, and some have realized they are available to be selected during the draft. One of those players is Seattle rookie defenseman Kevin Low. Low was cleaning out his locker recently and overheard a conversation between General Manger Banackock and some Seattle players. By the sounds of the conversation Low wasn’t part of the eight names that Seattle submitted to the league office as a rough list of protected players. While it doesn’t come as a surprise to Low of his agency as the players that are likely to be protected are much further along in their progression than Low is at this point. Since the reports that came out about the possible future for Low in Seattle, a TMZ reporter noticed people visiting Lows’ Redmond residence. Time will tell if Low is officially on his way out in Seattle, as the lists are not known to the public and have the ability to change until likely closer to the draft date.

Kevin Low though...

Good series and a great season for Yukon! Now Halifax on to the next.

Even if his team, the Ottawa Lynx, steamrolls the Las Vegas Aces night after night, Hiroshi Okada can't get a damn point. Every day, his family in Japan looks at the results of the games and is forced to take vacation days because the dishonour is too great. His grandfather was even evicted from his retirement home. This didn't seem to be much of a problem, though, since Hiroshi's parents decided to ban him from the family house until he gits gud. "Loom vacant. Fathel move back in. No Hiloshi. Not my son untir he bettel. Shourd stay in Canada untir he gets point", his father told VHL.com when we contacted him for a comment because we love tabloid journalism. Okada himself understands the urgency of the situation but refuses to meet journalists in this time of crisis. With the VHLM draft fast approaching, he fears that this lack of productivity will ruin his draft stock. After one beer in the most popular bars of Ottawa, Okada would claim loudly that he was a lock for first overall and although that was a stupid assumption from the start, now it seems more certain than ever that he will need to wait for a couple of minutes, if not hours, before he hears his name on draft night.

KnightTime #1018 Welcome back to another edition of KnightTime Podcast! I'm your host, Phil Knight. Answered some great questions from @Tate, looked at the start of the VHL Playoffs! Who's listening!? Enjoy this edition! KnightTime Podcast Questions Thread Songs: Living For the City - Stevie Wonder This is a division of KnightTime Radio. Run Time: 29 minutes

woot Hali on a mission

H a l i

He's been with us since expansion and has just had his breakthrough year, it's time for Dan Baillie to go to the All-Star Game! @wcats