Once upon a time I was the VHLM GM of the Yukon Rush. This was my first ever GM gig on the VHL, and I was also a much more energetic high schooler. This is similar to many current VHLM GMs. I would be on this website for hours looking for my next strategical advantage or getting the most tpe out of my players. My favorite period was when I drafted @Will, who was a complete nobody at the time as he had just signed up a day before the draft and nobody even knew he was @Higgins. I actually got a tip from a fellow VHLM GM named Devilsfire (I can't find his name to tag), because for some reason he was giving away his draft steals to me for no reason. I think I drafted Will either late 1st or early 2nd, and boy did he turn into quite the steal. Great player and became league commish and one of my great friends on here. We used to talk a lot but now he is busy being accounting boy and I'm busy being on other stuff. That team also had @Munk on it which was fun.
My first suspicion was when his 3 "friends" joined and decided to all post a status about it. Plus he has said he's bored on Discord. But the final straw was when they all submitted 2 trivia submissions each at the same time lmao.
My suggestion would be for this to be an individual convo, just work it out with him as I think he can be an asset to the league, just needs to channel that energy better.
Davos is bad. Like really fucking bad. Like coming out of the VHL draft had 1 full line of VHL eligible players bad. Obviously this sticks Davos in the middle of a somewhat untimely rebuild. However, with a large quantity of picks in the S69 VHL draft, where do they stand for the future?
Fernando Jokinen @Ahma - 17th Overall
Jokinen is the first piece of the Davos puzzle added this draft. The 176 TPE puck moving defenseman is actively playing in Houston this season, and as a consistent enhanced welfare + PC/Trivia earner we can expect steady growth from the player. Jokinen truly came into his own at the end of last season, posting 13 points in 15 postseason games, and is poised to explode this season. Expect to see Jokinen up with the club as soon as next season, breaking into the top 4 easily.
Blacker Velvet @Higgins - 19th Overall
Shortly after Jokinen was selected a second defenseman falls into place in Blacker Velvet. Velvet is a true offensive defenseman, with a build that could pass as a forwards. His projected growth is all over the map, ranging from 14 point weeks to 2 point weeks. However, Higgins prominent role on the site promotes an expectation of steadier growth over time. at 154 TPE, Velvet may also crack the roster by S70.
Kevin Reegsman @Reegs - 24th Overall
Reegsman is yet another defensive piece to the puzzle, and hopefully can find his way back to the star potential he once had. His growth has taken a hit recently, with no updates last week, but should he return to pace Reegsman had a rather sporadic growth pattern that normalized around 12 TPE a week, a high earning player and one that could shoot up to the top pairing with some consistency. Davos would have a steal if the 121 TPE defenseman returns to activity.
Milos Slavik @Frank - 25th Overall
The first offensive player added to the squad, the passing winger has seen a similar fall off to Kevin Reegsman. At 117 TPE right now, Slavik likely wouldn't make the club until S71 in order to break the 250 VHLM cap, but with some steady development a winger with an emphasis on passing could become an integral part of the Davos squad. Slavik is exactly the player that could fill that gap.
Kristopher McDagg @Viperxhawks19 - 26th Overall
McDagg has a heavy emphasis on playing a 2 way game, already hitting the 70 DF mark at only 100 TPE. As a semi-consistent welfare + PF earner, McDagg has a very good shot at making the roster in S71, especially if he picks up the consistency of his updating. With such a strong DF attribute, seeing McDagg start to develop his offence would do wonders for his game.
Boris Boris @Walter Fizz - 29th Overall
With Davison entering his twilight years and Ross going inactive, Boris looks like a sure shot for the future franchise starter of the Dynamo. Already hitting 117 TPE and not slowing down, the goaltender has potential to become one of the greats. Very much a finesse goaltender, Boris' strengths come from his control, whether it be rebound control or movement, everything he does is smooth and calculated.
King Krull @LefLop - 31st Overall
An interesting player, Krull is incredibly strong on the puck, whilst still developing his other skills. A pretty consistent 10 TPE a week player, Krull also benefits from a monthly affiliate check. He'll be a player to watch this season as he begins to truly develop into the defenseman Davos needs.
The players taken after Krull are either too early in their careers to see what they aim for or have gone inactive, however the prospect pool they've pulled from the S69 draft sets them up fairly nicely for the future. Davos shouldn't expect to compete any time soon, but with a little patience expect a team of powerhouses.
VHL Talks #1
featuring @boubabi
Run time: 1h36m
Please leave feedback on the podcast in this thread, thank you and enjoy.
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PODCAST SUMMARY
Introduction & General VHL Talk
Who is boubabi? Players, TPE, Awards, Activity, Graphics, Logos, GMing, VHLM Magazine, Graphics Resources, Draft Projects, Past VHL Talk, Future VHL Talk, state of the league.
Question Period (there are more questions and discussion throughout, just a basic overview here)
Some questions asked – In-depth discussions of various other topics occur throughout. All VHL related. Thanks to those who asked questions on discord.
1. Do you still keep tabs on the forum?
2. Are you active on any other simulation leagues?
3. Are you still doing graphic design?
4. How do you feel about the league using your logos?
5. What are your thoughts on the indefinite ban since it happened 16 months ago? Do you take any accountability for what happened? Looking back do you think it was justified?
6. Do you regret what happened in the S59 Slobodzian Trophy voting thread?
7. Did you feel like you were attacked by different people at the same time and had to defend yourself?
8. Your side of the story, why did things get so toxic?
9. Should there be an appeal system for bans after X amount of time?
10. Would you ever join under an alias?
11. What was your finest moment in the VHL? Why did you enjoy it?
12. Members that you miss?
13. LISTENER QUESTION: Do you remember the all-star game sims? ( @Beaviss)
13. LISTENER QUESTION: What would you tell people that weren’t around 16 months ago and have joined the league since you were banned about yourself in the league? ( @GustavMattias)
14. Do you want to comeback?
15. LISTENER QUESTION: If he re-created, what kind of player would we see him bring into the fold?
Does he have a preferred destination? ( @Tate)
16. Would you be able to play nice and water under the bridge?
With apologies to our group-format forefather @McWolf for the copyright infringement
Last season, many of you may remember a big-ass mock draft that came out just a couple hours before the actual draft. Long story short, a lot of people loved it, and we're back for more.
I organized it this time, but it wasn't my idea--that credit goes to a few people in the Hounds locker room who wanted this done. I messaged everyone who took part in the last group mock, as well--one was on board, the others weren't, and that's OK. What matters is that we're here and we've got this thing going again. So, let me introduce the new crew: myself, @Renomitsu, our one returning writer, Hounds AGM @Berocka, and Hounds alum and current Mexico City AGM @Cxsquared. Give these guys some love, too--not just me.
This was done the same way last season, but I'll explain it again so nobody has to go to last season's group mock to figure it out. We each ranked the picks, in order, and threw together the averages of our ranks. Below, you'll find a list of the individual averages, in order, along with each person's guesses. While we realize that this method may place players with teams that don't necessarily need them, it should certainly represent a general trend and show differing opinions on player selection.
(Also, TPE numbers are as of Wednesday night. If you earned between then and now, your TPE may be off. Many apologies, but please recognize that this isn't a big deal)
Let's get into it!
ROUND 1
#1: Prague Phantoms
Benny Graves | @STZ | C | Las Vegas Aces | TPE: 347
Gustav: 1 | Berocka: 2 | Renomitsu: 1 | Cxsquared: 4
Prague won the draft lottery, and it's certainly a good season to win draft lotteries. Though the #1 overall pick is often a highly coveted position, Prague should be very happy to keep it, regardless of any offers thrown their way by other teams. Graves' agent is a longtime VHL vet, former GM, and Hall of Fame Builder, and it looks like he's here to stay as he's got a recruitment job and maintains a high activity level on the forum. He could be "here to stay" on more than just the site, too--recently he wrote an article about his draft plans, in which he says that he plans on sticking around wherever he's selected long-term. For a recent expansion franchise like Prague, this is perfect. They're in need of a center and want players that will stick around as integral parts of their future plans, and Graves satisfies both. So, while the Phantoms do have other needs as well, Graves is clearly #1.
-Gustav
#2: D.C. Dragons
Soren Jensen | @Velevra | LW | Houston Bulls | TPE: 337
Gustav: 3 | Berocka: 3 | Renomitsu: 2 | Cxsquared: 2
Fresh off his Founder’s Cup victory, Soren Jensen comes in at #2. This is a big pickup for the D.C. Dragons having finished last place in their inaugural season. Jensen will slot right into the Dragons top line and immediately start making a difference. Helping drive the Bulls during the playoffs last season, the left winger Jensen put up an impressive 19 points in just 15 games. This Dane is primarily a playmaker forward but has a great defensive mindset. This pass first mindset led to Jensen racking up an impressive 86 points last season with 49 of those points coming from assists. The D.C. Dragons are still a young team without a lot of star players so Jensen will have a chance to become a staple of the franchise. Only time will tell what kind of impact Soren Jensen can make for this expansion team.
- Cxsquared
#3: Riga Reign (from Moscow)
Cinnamon Block | @omgitshim | D | Las Vegas Aces | TPE: 306
Gustav: 2 | Berocka: 6 | Renomitsu: 3 | Cxsquared: 1
Kinda odd that I'd get the first pick to go to my team, eh? At the end of the day, however, this is a pretty reasonable pick for the Reign. They recently traded away veteran and star defenseman Joseph McWolf, leaving them with just two active defenders in Tate and Hackett. They need someone who can step in and take substantial 2nd line minutes, and fast; S66's Charlie Paddywagon re-signed with Davos, Stropko Jr. is likely to return to Calgary, and giving a free agent a known quantity like Block/omg to round out a second line is sure to at least draw some interest. Not only that, but Riga already has a handful of active wingers, three active centers, and have a low chance of getting what they want out of a goalie this season. Not only is Block the best pick available, she's also a great fit for Riga in the future.
-Renomitsu
#4: New York Americans
Guy Sasakamoose | @Cxsquared | D | Mississauga Hounds | TPE: 243
Gustav: 5 | Berocka: 7 | Renomitsu: 6 | Cxsquared: 3
Guy Sasakamoose is an amazing big bodied Canadian superstar (totally not biased description in anyway) estimated to go #4 overall. It was clear to our panel that Sasakamoose would go in first round, but as you can see it wasn’t clear where. He ended up landing here as the New York Americans’ first pick, which is actually the one spot no one predicted. In reality New York doesn’t need another defenseman but picking up Sasakamoose would give them a lot of options when almost all of their D are up for contracts in season 71. That being said, Sasakamoose is going to turn out to be a solid pick for whichever team gets him. He’s the second highest TPE defenseman in the draft and put up 63 points in his first season with the Hounds. The big question will be how will this first generation player handle the change to the VHL? Will he step up to the challenge or end up getting lost in the pack?
- Cxsquared
#5: Calgary Wranglers
Hiroshi Okada | @enigmatic | C | Philadelphia Reapers | TPE: 251 Gustav: 4 | Berocka: 4 | Renomitsu: 4 | Cxsquared: 10
The 5th pick is for Calgary after receiving it in a trade from Toronto, and with this pick Calgary will go after an incredible centre from Philadelphia Reapers in Hiroshi Okada. The young Japanese player had an outstanding season with the Reapers, scoring 98 points. With Calgary being incredibly short on forwards, with only 5 at the time of writing, it is no surprise that they would pick a forward with their first pick in this draft. With Okada not being very strong on faceoffs, he will likely play a role on the wing. This fits in with Calgary’s needs as they have 3 centres and only 2 wings, so adding a forward to play on the wing should fill their biggest hole. -Berocka
#6: Riga Reign (from Vancouver)
Guy Lesieur | @KC15 | RW | Las Vegas Aces | TPE: 208
Gustav: 10 | Berocka: 5 | Renomitsu: 5 | Cxsquared: 5
I promise this isn't a coincidence -- I mean, if it happened three times that'd be weird. But Guy Lesieur is likely to go to the pick just before this (Calgary) or to Riga's third pick of the draft per Gustav. And it makes sense, too - Lesieur's agent is pretty active in other sim leagues, he's a surprisingly well-rounded player with a modern scoring-first forward build (80 SC, 80 DF, 72 PH, 75 SK). Calgary had a significant retooling this season, holding a fire-sale for many of their players in exchange for picks or seeing some of their players possibly walk in free agency. As a result, they need to start a rebuild from the ground-up; at pick 5, Lesieur is the best pick available, is a versatile scoring winger, and would be a piece that tempts Tyler Barabash Jr. to return to the Wranglers. On the other hand, if he goes to Riga he may sit on the third line for a couple of seasons before replacing one of the less-active players, but would certainly have a starting spot in the future.
-Renomitsu
#7: DC Dragons (from Davos)
Erik Summers | @Erik Summers | D | Houston Bulls | TPE: 215
Gustav: 6 | Berocka: 8 | Renomitsu: 8 | Cxsquared: 6
Summers wasn't projected to be picked at #7 by anybody, but DC should be happy to have him if he's around when this pick comes up. Only one DC defenseman, Luciano Valentino, is any more than semi-active, and Summers is more than able to fill (or, at least begin to fill) this hole on the roster. As one of the fastest-rising, most active first-gens of the draft class, look for Summers to go to a team that's looking to develop young talent--and there is no team better for that than DC, where Summers can use all the ice time he can ask for to his advantage. As a young player on a team with not much veteran talent, he'll also be able to grow into a dominant presence and a face of the franchise (hm, when have we ever heard this from a first-gen defensive defenseman at #7 overall? Not sure). Personally, I've got Cinnamon Block going to DC at #2, but if that doesn't happen and Summers is there at #7, all the stars are aligned for this pick, one which makes perfect sense.
-Gustav
#8: Helsinki Titans
Patrik Tallinder | @Patrik Tallinder | LW | Mississauga Hounds | TPE: 201 Gustav: 9 | Berocka: 9 | Renomitsu: 9 | Cxsquared: 8
Helsinki with their first pick in the draft will pick Patrik Tallinder, and the Swedish left winger will be a good future star for the Titans. He played quite well in the VHLM, helping the Hounds to a 4th place finish. With another season under his belt he will be a force to be reckoned with in the VHL, and with Helsinki’s cap issues at the moment, having a player who stays down another season will help them. Also, with three forwards going to be UFA’s in S70 it is a great pick by Helsinki to help boost them into the future. Tallinder’s great season and continuous growth make him a great pick-up at 8th overall. -Berocka
#9: Calgary Wranglers
Solomon Crawford | @AndrewWarren13 | G | Mexico City Kings | TPE: 181
Gustav: 14 | Berocka: 1 | Renomitsu: 14 | Cxsquared: 9
Easily the most controversial pick of the draft this year, with some guessing he’ll go 1st overall and some putting him all the way down at 14th. What’s clear is that Crawford is the top goalie in this draft. Solomon Crawford was drafted first overall last season by the Mexico City Kings. Crawford managed to net 4 shutouts last year, even though the Kings had a mediocre season. So far Solomon Crawford has only managed to build a middling career in the VHLM with a career SV% of only 0.889 and a 3.13 GAA. While he hasn’t been amazing in the VHLM, he easily has the ability to make a solid VHL backup goalie and even the potential to become a starter in a season or two. If Fang Flashback ends up not working for Calgary then Crawford could easily fill that role for them.
- Cxsquared
#10: Riga Reign
RJ Jubis | @R Jubis | LW | Saskatoon Wild | TPE: 212
Gustav: 7 | Berocka: 13 | Renomitsu: 7 | Cxsquared: 15
Okay, so maybe I just got lucky/unlucky this season, but this pick is technically one I was close to the consensus on. RJ Jubis is a traditional Canadian offensive forward (SC 81, PA 70, DF 70), with solid scoring and passing chops and some supplementary skills to go along with them. But among our panel, we're a bit undecided as to whether he'll go early to DC, or a bit further down the draft to Moscow or New York. My general opinion on the matter is that GMs need to take a careful look at recent TPE gains; Jubis has been a monster the last few weeks, outgaining some of his similarly-rated classmates (+58 in the last two weeks). Further, D.C. is doing OK on defensemen and goalies, and the S69 class is extraordinarily thin at center. After the already-selected Hiroshi Okada and Benny Graves, our next-best center is Weibel at under 100 TPE; Jubis is a natural choice here, as the talent sacrifice needed to hit center for D.C. just drops too far.
-Renomitsu
#11: Calgary Wranglers (from Malmo)
Kris Rice | @Krice13 | RW | Mississauga Hounds | TPE: 188
Gustav: 11 | Berocka: 10 | Renomitsu: 10 | Cxsquared: 11
Here's where I get to insert a shameless plug for one of my own players, and here it is: Rice is great. Originally drafted by the Hounds in the fourth round this past season, Rice has climbed the leaderboard, and now sits in a position to be picked at the end of the first. Also, get this--Calgary has zero playmakers. None. Every one of their forwards has a scoring build. Rice is a bit behind fellow forward Ben Storm in TPE, but by virtue of his build is bumped up a few spots and picked by a team that needs a player like him. Versatility has often been thought to be the key to winning, and Rice is simply the first step on Calgary's road to throwing every type of player at the opposition from every direction.
-Gustav
#12: New York Americans (from Seatle)
David OQuinn | @JohnOQuinn | D | Saskatoon Wild | TPE: 190
Gustav: 8 | Berocka: 14 | Renomitsu: 11 | Cxsquared: 12
Rounding out the first round is the defenseman David OQuinn. Once again this defenseman was a hard choice on where to place him. He ended up landing here at 12th going to New York. While David OQuinn doesn’t really fit into New York's current roster he could be a great call up in season 70. Sitting at 190 TPE currently, OQuinn will probably spend another year in the VHLM. This will probably turn out amazing for him and he’ll put up a dominant performance. Last season he was a passing powerhouse ending up with 63 assists. OQuinn had a solid defensive year blocking 123 shots and throwing 167 hits even though his team, the Saskatoon Wild, didn’t put up a great performance. While he won’t make an impact this year David OQuinn could be an early steal for whoever picks him up.
- Cxsquared
ROUND 2
#13: Moscow Menace (from DC)
Will Clarke | @Will | D | San Diego Marlins | TPE: 173
Gustav: 13 | Berocka: 12 | Renomitsu: 16 | Cxsquared: 7
Clarke is not, in the words of the immortal hedgehog, "super saiyan TPE-earning whore mode," but he's consistent, and any GM who drafts him knows exactly what they're getting. Will, one of the most valuable contributors to the league as a whole, earns a full 12 per week with his portal development job, and while that's usually all he gets, the fact that he's a virtual guarantee to stick around, and do so consistently, is enough for Moscow to pick him up at 13--his hall-of-fame builder status, as well as the fact that his last player finished his career with Moscow, is just an added bonus in the form of experience.
-Gustav
#14: Prague Phantoms Ben Storm | @BigBallerFromDownUnder | RW | Hallifax 21st | TPE: 192
Gustav: 12 | Berocka: 11 | Renomitsu: 12 | Cxsquared: 14
The only player to come from the land down under, Ben Storm seems like a solid pick as 14th overall. Ben Storm is a right winger out of Australia who is a great offensive forward. Last season with the Halifax 21st, Storm put up a respectable 47 points, with 26 of those being goals and the other 21 being assists. Ben Storm is one of the rare players that’s equally comfortable setting up plays as he is finishing them off. For the Prague Phantoms, this fills quite a hole they have in depth forwards. While it’s much colder than he’s used too, Ben Storm has the ability to eventually become a top forward in Prague. His skating and puck handling skills really have been sharpened by having spent most of his early years skating in the hot Australian Outback. Ben Storm really brings an interesting background and skill set to the VHL and it will be exciting to see where those skills take him.
- Cxsquared
#15: Malmo Nighthawks (from New York)
Markus Nygren | @Devise | LW | San Diego Marlins | TPE: 137 Gustav: 15 | Berocka: 15 | Renomitsu: 13 | Cxsquared: 16
Malmo made an incredible run last season, finishing with the most points in the regular season and making the finals. With this great run, the GM will be looking to make picks to help this success continue on into the future. With this in mind, Malmo will use their freshly traded pick to grab Markus Nygren. Nygren’s agent is well known for bringing in talent that will continue to grow through the full 8 seasons. Hopefully with another season of growth in the VHLM, Nygren could be a good replacement for Jake Davis, who will be retiring at the end of S69. The one downside could be that in the regular season Nygren only got 10 points, and as a playmaker you would be hoping for better production than that. Only time will tell if he will be a good pick, but I think it’s worth Malmo making a play. -Berocka
#16: Riga Reign (from Moscow)
Fernando Jokinen | @Ahma | D | Houston Bulls | TPE: 164 Gustav: 17 | Berocka: 16 | Renomitsu: 17 | Cxsquared: 13
Umm.. this is a Riga pick, shouldn’t this be for Renomitsu to do? Gustav make up your mind. Anyway, moving on to the actual pick, with Riga’s fourth pick of the draft they select Fernando Jokinen. This pick I think will completely depend on the previous picks and what Riga’s needs are. So far in the mock they have selected 2 forwards and a D-man, so they should definitely add more defence as they currently only have two defenceman in Hackett and Tate, who both go UFA next season. Jokinen could fill in this huge gap for Riga--with 103 shots blocked in his maiden season in the VHLM he is an absolute powerhouse in defence. With another season in the VHLM Jokinen should make an incredible defensive defenceman. This would be a great pick up for Riga, it will fill their gaps in the team but will also pick up an absolute shot blocking superstar in the making. - Berocka
#17: HC Davos Dynamo (from Toronto) Daldo | @Harpskii | RW | San Diego Marlins | TPE: 147
Gustav: 18 | Berocka: 17 | Renomitsu: 15 | Cxsquared: 17
One of the less contested picks, we have Daldo coming in at 17th overall. It’s quite amazing to see how far this Canadain right winger has come, having been drafted 50th overall in season 68’s VHLM entry draft. Going from 50th overall in the VHLM to 17th in the VHL is quite the feat. It’s really no surprise, though--Daldo shown consistent and steady growth all throughout his first season in the VHLM. He had a slow start to his regular season with the San Deigo Marlins which landed him with 33 points by the end. It was the playoffs where Daldo really shined. He ended up with 10 points in 6 games in his first playoff run. For HC Davos this provides some much needed talent into their prospect pool. If Daldo keeps growing at the steady past he’s already shown, he’ll become a stable in the VHL in no time.
- Cxsquared
#18: Vancouver Wolves
Jimmy Spyro | @Spyro | G | Ottawa Lynx | TPE: 111
Gustav: 16 | Berocka: 18 | Renomitsu: 19 | Cxsquared: 23
Goalies are always tricky picks to explain in mock drafts. Since we're taking the average of positions, oftentimes these picks end on teams that don't really make a lot of sense. Gustav has this young Canadian with lightning reflexes going to the Reign -- which does make pretty good sense provided Kallis Kriketers' impending heavy regression next season -- two of us have him going to Vancouver, and I have him going to Davos. With Greg Eagles as the S67-draftee goalie of the future (seemingly), I opted for Davos - who have a recently-less-active Samuel Ross sitting behind S64 draftee and recent award-winner Finn Davison. By the time Davison faces significant regression, a (theoretically) active Spyro could be hitting his stride in the mid-high tier TPE range, something that Davos, Vancouver, and Riga all would be willing to take a risk on. But he's definitely a project moreso than an immediate starter; for that reason, we could see him span the range of picks we've seen so far.
-Renomitsu
#19: HC Davos Dynamo
Kevin Reegsman | @Reegs | D | Las Vegas Aces | TPE: 121
Gustav: 19 | Berocka: 20 | Renomitsu: 20 | Cxsquared: 20
Reegsman, a late entry to the draft class and a welfare earner, has risen up the board some since his signing with Vegas not long after he joined the site. Though relatively quiet on the forum, he seems reliable enough, and with a selection at 19 could end up in a solid depth role for a VHL team in the future, filling in the second pairing and proving valuable on the penalty kill with a defensive build. Davos, too, is a team that's suddenly in great need of a defenseman, seeing top players Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen (did I spell that right?) and Charlie Paddywagon departing in free agency. All in all, a good landing spot for Reegsman, especially if he continues to develop.
-Gustav
#20: Helsinki Titans
Milos Slavik | @Frank | LW | Houston Bulls | TPE: 117
Gustav: 21 | Berocka: 24 | Renomitsu: 18 | Cxsquared: 18
Casually mentioning Frank to a newcomer will likely get you a blank stare (I can confirm, I was new after Frank's heyday), and that's because the league legend is fairly quiet these days. He does have a player, though, and that player is ready to be drafted. Though he wasn't projected by anyone here to go at #20, this makes sense--Helsinki's aging roster puts them in prime position for a fire sale, and they aren't looking to be good in the near future. So, why not pick up Slavik, who will be on the roster in a season or two and will likely fill a depth role when the roster starts to take shape? The Titans have a solid selection on their hands, and Frank's reputation could make this a big deal on paper.
-Gustav
#21: Moscow Menace (from Calgary)
Oskar Lagesson | @fever95 | D | San Diego Marlins | TPE: 135 Gustav: 20 | Berocka: 21 | Renomitsu: 21 | Cxsquared: 21
Moscow are quite a full team at the moment, but come next season they have one player retiring and six up for UFA. Even if they manage to re-sign all the UFA’s, the one retiree will need to be replaced. Moscow make the pick of Oskar Lagesson to fill in for the loss of Paolo Nano. The 23 year old Swede played three quarters of the season with the Marlins in San Diego. Playing an extremely physical defensive game he landed 111 hits and blocked 51 shots in his 56 games. The agent for Lagesson is well known around the VHL and that will help add confidence to the Moscow GM to pick up Lagesson. - Berocka
#22: Riga Reign
Shush Nyko | @SDCore | LW | Mexico City Kings | TPE: 124
Gustav: 22| Berocka: 26 | Renomitsu: 22 | Cxsquared: 22
With six semi-active to active wingers plus one winger already drafted, why would the Reign want yet another wing player? The answer here lies in the potential to let Shush develop in the minors for a season or two before taking one of the second- or third-line spots, after regression hits 1-2 of their older players. As Shush Nyko is a pretty raw prospect, he isn't particularly specialized; though he's shown some scoring chops for the Kings (33 G, 68 P), he's still at a point in his career where he's flexible enough to become a scorer, enforcer, or passer. He's shown a solid foundation in most facets of the game, and that's a good sign for a player who will spend another season in the VHLM. Berocka's choice in sending him to Davos is a pretty reasonable selection too -- especially since the Swiss team will be retooling a decent amount this offseason.
-Renomitsu
#23: Vancouver Wolves (from Malmo)
Blacker Velver | @Higgins | D | Las Vegas Aces | TPE: 154
Gustav: 26 | Berocka: 19 | Renomitsu: 29 | Cxsquared: 19
At this point, we've got a polarizing pick on our hands. Velvet, aka Higgins, another one of those "former legends I never really met because they were active in the pre-Gustav days," created Velvet on the condition that Boubabi would be unbanned, and at the time was able to ascend right up near the top of the class (with 138 TPE, according to my draft board). After that point, he went largely inactive, popping in every now and then but never doing any serious earning. With that being said, though, he's still a 150-TPE player and he's on the board. Having earned a little recently, too, he's likely caught the eyes of a GM or two, and at this point it's justified for Vancouver to take a shot at him and hope it works out.
-Gustav
#24: HC Davos Dynamo (from Seattle)
Richard Fitzwell | @Tomato Soup | D | Philadelphia Reapers | TPE: 129
Gustav: 23 | Berocka: 25 | Renomitsu: 23 | Cxsquared: 26
With just a few players left in the >100 TPE range, the Dynamo pick up a solid defender who's surprisingly active for this point in the draft. Fitzwell is a good technical and physical wall, especially for the VHLM where point scoring tends to take preference over virtually every other skill. After being taken 62nd overall in the S68 VHLM draft, a spot at the end of the second round of the VHL draft is a pretty nice underdog story. With just two defensemen on the roster prior to free agency, Davos may have a spot with decent minutes for Fitzwell... if he stays active for a season or two. He'll need to prove himself to Dynamo management for another minor league season to do that, but the workings are there if he keeps up his current earning pace.
-Renomitsu
ROUND 3
#25: HC Davos Dynamo (from D.C.) Kristopher McDagg | @Viperxhawks19 | LW | Saskatoon Wild | TPE: 98
Gustav: 24 | Berocka: 27 | Renomitsu: 24 | Cxsquared: 24
Kristopher McDagg is arguably one of the more physical forwards in the VHLM which lands him at 29th overall to the HC Davos Dynamo. This power forward put up a crazy 137 hits last season and a very respectable 32 blocks. It’s clear that McDagg wasn’t afraid to put his body on the line to help his team the Saskatoon Wild. That physical play hasn’t stopped McDagg from being a steady offensive force. In season 68 he put up a respectable 51 points and an impressive 2 short handed goals. By far the most notable thing about McDagg is his height standing at a solid 6’5”. This height really helps him in the corners when he’s battling for pucks. He won’t see the VHL for at least another season but when he does he’ll provide a great depth role to HC Davos.
- Cxsquared
#26: HC Davos Dynamo (from Prague)
Griff Manzer | @Garsh | D | Philadelphia Reapers | TPE: 93
Gustav: 25 | Berocka: 22 | Renomitsu: 25 | Cxsquared: 34
Manzer has a story that is oddly similar to Fitzwell's: an exceptionally young, promising defender with a good earning pace at the end of his first VHLM season. Garsh created quite a bit later than his Reapers teammate projected around #24 above, preventing him from placement in the VHLM Dispersal Draft. But he's one of the top 30 TPE players in his class, and that's got to perk up the ears of any GM with picks going into the third round. This would help round out Davos's second or third pair, and maybe give them some flexibility in power play/penalty kill playtime in the future. It'd be a great storyline for former teammates, and Manzer and Fitzwell would probably be closely watched as they develop in the minors.
-Renomitsu
#27: Helsinki Titans (from New York)
Gary Tarantino | @Garrett | RW | San Diego Marlins | TPE: 81 Gustav: 30 | Berocka: 28 | Renomitsu: 28 | Cxsquared: 29
With the draft getting thin there is not as much choice for Helsinki so with the 27th pick they select Gary Tarantino. This player started out quite strong but sort of fell into a rut during the tail end of the season. Tarantino has been seen spending his small amount of time practicing on the rink just skating around shooting pucks. You would think with this training this would result in more goals, but in the 73 games played Tarantino has only scored 5 times. However, if Helsinki believe that they can give him the puck at the right time, Tarantino might become a prolific sniper, scoring goals night after night. It is a risky strategy but if it pays off it would easily be worth the 3rd round pick. - Berocka
#28: Riga Reign (from Moscow)
Shane Weibel | @ComplexRevo | C | Minnesota Storm | TPE: 80
Gustav: 36 | Berocka: 32 | Renomitsu: 26 | Cxsquared: 25
Oftentimes players in the latter half of their class will be a crapshoot: GMs will draft players with some promise, and hope they pan out long-term. Our panel was pretty divided on when Weibel would go, especially as an inactive of 1 month. Gustav and Berocka have Weibel going to Vancouver or Helsinki, respectively, while our other two panelists think he might go a bit earlier to one of Davos's three consecutive picks. It's possible that Weibel returns to form, but unlikely provided the last few weeks' worth of updates - especially the expected bulk claim period at the end of each season.
-Renomitsu
#29: HC Davos Dynamo (from Toronto) Sade Taika | @Sade | RW | Saskatoon Wild | TPE: 82
Gustav: 34 | Berocka: 30 | Renomitsu: 27 | Cxsquared: 28
Sade Taika is a speedy right winger from Finland. In general she’s small for a hockey player, but she makes up for this with her speed and passing skills. These skills mean she’s a bit harder to hit, having only taken 101 hits last season which in this day and age is quite low. HC Davos has a large need for depth forwards, so Sade Taika should fit that bill perfectly. She has a unique play style that will be interesting to watch when she reaches the big leagues. She managed to watch her head while playing for the Wild in the VHLM, but will that also hold true for the VHL? She’s got a lot to offer but also still has quite a long way to go before she’s VHL ready.
- Cxsquared
#30: Vancouver Wolves Boris Boris | @Walter Fizz | G | Las Vegas Aces | TPE: 86
Gustav: 32 | Berocka: 23 | Renomitsu: 31 | Cxsquared: 33
The Vancouver Wolves have a great goalie in Greg Eagles, but a good goalie prospect would help them in the long run. Boris Boris is fresh off his first season in the VHLM helping Las Vegas Aces having an amazing season coming in at second place. It’s clear he still needs more time in the VHLM but could easily be a great get for Vancouver at 30th overall. Even with the Aces' stellar year, Boris Boris only had a decent season with a 0.861 SV%, but managed an impressive 2.39 GAA. It was a slow year for Boris but he made great progress. He even put up 4 shutouts with only 35 games played in the regular season. Greg Eagles could prove to be a great mentor for Boris if he ends up going to Vancouver. Boris Boris has the potential but needs to keep up his steady growth. Hopefully being drafted in the VHL gives him the push he needs to take his game to the next level.
- Cxsquared
#31: HC Davos
King Kruul | @LefLop | D | San Diego Marlins | TPE: 81 Gustav: 35 | Berocka: 31 | Renomitsu: 34 | Cxsquared: 27
The extreme heavy hitting d-man from Germany hasn’t been seen around the ice recently. In fact it has been reported that he is spending time hanging around some basketball locker rooms trying to change sports. But, if these rumours turn out to be untrue and the possibility of playing hockey and basketball at the same time become easier Kruul could be a great pick up for Davos. Kruul had 270 hits in the VHLM but he did spend 154 minutes in the penalty box, as a primarily physical player enjoys throwing his 218-lb body around the ice. A player like this could be a good pick up for Davos, you know he won’t be a hall of famer but having a physical 3rd or 4th line could help turn the game in your favour. I think it is worth the pick to get some physical presence on the team. -Berocka
#32: Helsinki Titans
Nicolas Fomba | @efiug | G | San Diego Marlins | TPE: 73 Gustav: 27 | Berocka: 29 | Renomitsu: N/A | Cxsquared: 36
One of the few goalies on the list is Fomba, who looks like he could be VHL level talent in a couple of seasons but not any time soon. This could work into Helsinki’s plans perfectly--with Pepper retiring at the end of S70, Fomba could step up in S71 and be the backup for Ligriv. Fomba is still attending training and trying to improve but a goalie who stays in the VHLM for two seasons suits Helsinki. This allows Ligriv to continue to backup and learn from Pepper, and when he is ready to take over Fomba can step up and take a couple of games a season. Helsinki would make a great pick at number 32 with a good backup for the future. - Berocka
#33: Calgary Wranglers
Jack Russell | @quanack | C | Mexico City Kings | TPE: 74
Gustav: 29 | Berocka: N/A | Renomitsu: 30 | Cxsquared: 35
Russell could end up going higher up the board if GMs are keeping their eyes open. Though he's only at 74 TPE, he's earned welfare this week, and if he continues to earn, he could end up higher on the board than 33. At this point in the draft, every pick is more or less a shot in the dark, but Russell escaping the third round is certainly not a possibility that I can see, personally.
-Gustav
#34: Riga Reign
Logan LeBlanc | @Briedaqueduc | LW | Las Vegas Aces | TPE: 71
Gustav: N/A | Berocka: 33 | Renomitsu: 33 | Cxsquared: 31
With no updates since September, it's unlikely LeBlanc will see much ice time in the majors; this pick will likely be a contingency (i.e. "well if he comes back..."). He showed some promise in scoring while working with limited minutes for Las Vegas; LeBlanc would most certainly be a project, and is one of just a few picks that didn't fall on one of our experts' projections -- the expectations have been set, Mr. LeBlanc. Will you meet them?
-Renomitsu
#35: New York Americans (from Malmo)
Justin Goodhope | @Apoc_Chaos | LW | Minnesota Storm | TPE: 69 Gustav: N/A | Berocka: 35 | Renomitsu: 35 | Cxsquared: 30
Goodhope hasn’t been seen at practice for over a month, but rumours exist that he hasn’t quite given up at hockey, with people spotting him around the training rink watching on. The left winger from Canada hasn’t really done much in his first season in the VHLM, only contributing 9 points in his 62 games played. New York might hope that the pick on Justin will be a good one in the future. As when he was at training he would give 100% at making himself a better skater and with 69 TPE going into S69, I can imagine that that sign could mean great things for New York and I am sure it will be a nice pick. - Berocka
#36: Vancouver Wolves
Toppi Attakallio | @Bobby Bummhole | G | San Diego Marlins | TPE: 63
Gustav: 33 | Berocka: 36 | Renomitsu: 32 | Cxsquared: N/A
Attakallio's agent has created and retired a few players already, but this goaltender has been earning a little recently, claiming practice facility the past couple weeks and claiming welfare this week. Since we're in the "everyone just picks whoever looks best" phase of the draft, he'll here go to the Wolves, who have a starting goaltender for the foreseeable future in Greg Eagles but who hope Attakallio will develop into a legitimate prospect nonetheless, whether they hope to trade him or keep him around as a backup.
-Gustav
Honorable Mentions
Kim Jong Un | @Gaudette | LW | Halifax 21st | TPE: 69
Gustav: N/A | Berocka: 34 | Renomitsu: 36 | Cxsquared: 32
Un (or, should I say, Kim--surname comes first in Korea!), is a recreate whose draft position is somewhat unclear. He hasn't earned in a while, but his agent's last player, Blake Gaudette, maintained a respectable earn rate for a while and was at one point looking like a solid Malmo prospect. Only the draft will tell whether he's selected in the first three rounds, but in this mock he finds himself right on the edge.
-Gustav
Isak Sjostrom | @Austin2997 | G | Philadelphia Reapers | TPE: 71
Gustav: 28 | Berocka: N/A | Renomitsu: N/A | Cxsquared: N/A
Personally, I'm surprised to see that nobody's got Sjostrom higher--he's been a consistent welfare earner for at least the past month (any farther back than that, admittedly, I'm too lazy to check). If any consistent welfare earner, regardless of position, makes it out of the top 36, they'll be quite the steal for whoever ends up picking them. Sjostrom's goalie status may cause a few teams to pass, but he'd be a reasonable pickup for any team as a long-term project and possible future starter.
-Gustav
Elliott Porter | @Ren | D | Saskatoon Wild | TPE: 70
Gustav: 31 | Berocka: N/A | Renomitsu: N/A | Cxsquared: N/A
Porter wouldn't be on this list if we wrote this mock last week, as he'd been inactive for about a month prior. This week, though, he logged on and claimed welfare and practice facility. If this is the start of a run of activity, he could be a late steal in the draft, and see himself be picked up somewhere in the third round if GMs are paying enough attention.
-Gustav
Word counts for media spot claims:
Gustav: 2,010
Berocka: 1,468
Renomitsu: 1,494
Cxsquared: 1,645
A couple weeks ago I went through every active player in the VHL above 100 TPE (i.e. S60 to S69) and put down the usernames of those players. I then added a few other members who don't have players but still pop in occasionally. Finally, I added their first player's draft year (or first relevant player's draft year as a few people only properly joined the league on their second attempt) and actual real life year that draft took place in. Then I pivoted the fuck out of it.
Here's the result.
So what does this show us? Well, for one, the absolutely insane recruitment effort which has taken place since the start of 2018 (S60). Now naturally, a table of S60-S69 players will be skewed towards the last two years as even inactives count towards the total and a similar snapshot at any point in time would have resulted in the more recent years being dominant. That said, this is still an unprecedented influx of new members, with roughly 75% of the league still on their first players. Even if only half the new joiners stick around for several years, 2018 and 2019 will still be the most popular join dates of active members.
Aside from that obvious trend which has directly contributed to the revitalisation of the VHL after a really rough year or so, you can also see why the league was down in the dumps for so long. The pivot by year shows the continued retention qualities of the VHL as roughly the same amount of people have stuck around from each year, whether that be the guys here since S1 or anyone more recent. However, the last real good recruitment year before this boom seems to be 2013, with guys like CowboyinAmerica, boubabi, Tagger joining the league after expansion and keeping the momentum going through the 30s. Then the talent stopped trickling in. You look at the five members who joined in 2016 and still have players today – 2 of them are inactive, while the other 3 actually only just resurfaced. Essentially, before Beaviss and Spade joined in S57 towards the end of 2017 and then completely rehauled the league's recruitment efforts, the last 3 major contributing members to join the VHL were hedgehog and Bana in S42, and jRuutu in S43, all now over 4 years ago.
That therefore paints a pretty good picture of why by S50 we were looking at artificially increasing the player pool with Project Player Two and when that didn't help / sucked the energy out of the dwindling member base we still had, we ended up with contraction by S58. So I suppose what I'm trying to say is the recruitment effort after that lowest of low points has been absolutely immense. I retired my “last” player in S52 and genuinely had no intention to come back on a permanent basis throughout 2017. Even when I did, I still found myself zoning in and out of the league in Cast's first two seasons – S60 and S61. But activity has picked up massively, I'm now in charge of an expansion team, we're expanding to a level we never came close to reaching at any point in the Cologne/Quebec era, and I might even be hooked enough to recreate for the foreseeable future. That's a job very well done if you ask me.
With S67 now all wrapped up, we can add another data point for cross-season stat comparisons. For this week, I thought I'd look at the TPA earned by players over time.
A couple of limitations up front (as a result of my data set):
I'm only looking at TPA, not TPE. TPE that is banked is omitted from this, so in general TPE earning is probably a bit higher than what I report. Whether this banking of TPE is increasing or decreasing, I could not track. This is most notable for players making the jump from the VHLM to the VHL, because of the 200 TPA cap in the VHLM forces everyone to bank after that milestone is reached. Because this makes a noticeable impact, I will split out the results into three sections: VHL growth, VHLM growth, and growth in both leagues.
Depreciation exists (and is annoying to measure) so for some players TPA growth does not fully represent TPA earnings. I was about to get accurate and calculate what stats were depreciated based on player age, but then I remembered there are store purchases to counter it, so it wouldn't have been accurate. Ultimately in order to capture this I would need to collect better data sets and track player data at various points throughout season instead of just end of season TPA. Possible to do in the future.
There are two main explanations for why TPA might be increasing (decreasing) over time.
a) players are more (or less) active and everyone is doing more (or less) work on point tasks, etc.
b) opportunities for TPE earning are becoming more (or less) available
The general feeling I've picked up from the forums is that TPE inflation (i.e more point b) is a thing, but I don't really see a way to measure this aside from looking back through old forum pages to compare. My own personal feelings on the matter say that giving out easier TPE might even be (dare I say it) good for the league. My rationale being that as the league grows, relatively fewer members will claim the "top" amount of TPE possible, and more often than not claim a below average amount from what the average was last season. This is just diminishing returns on recruitment. Obviously there will be exceptions to this and you will recruit new members that buy in right away and build fast, but for the most part the more committed users will already be here/some other sim league they prefer. More/easier TPE earning opportunities would be a way to counter that and maintain a consistent amount of player growth that we're used to. Those are all just thoughts, however so now let's actually look at the data.
I looked at end of season (regular season, not playoffs) TPA across players in the VHL and VHLM. Changes in TPA are attributed to the last season i.e S67 data is the change from end of season 66 to end of season 67 and would account for all growth in the following playoffs, the offseason, and the next regular season. It shouldn't really matter where we cut off as long as we're consistent, so I just went with what my dataset had.
The boxplots below chart the changes in TPA across season. I have charted the mean TPA change as the red dot and the median is the bold horizontal black line. I looked at three different data sets; VHL growth (players who went from the VHL to the VHL), VHLM growth (players who went from having no data or being in the VHLM to the VHLM), and "all" growth (from nothing, VHLM, or VHL to VHLM or VHL). This "all" growth is the only one to capture the players coming out of the VHLM and into the VHL, so it includes a bunch of higher TPA growth data points due to limitation number 1 (/the 200 TPA cap in the VHLM).
All Growth
VHL Growth
VHLM Growth
There are some commonalities in all three data sets, most noticeably that S65 seems to be the most "inflated" TPA growth season of the ones looked at. I was not a member of the forums at the time so not sure really why that would be the case, but I would imagine that either some favourable TPA hand-out existed or that it was just an abnormally successful recruitment season. If we look only at the bottom lines of the boxplots (the 25th percentiles) of the "all" growth chart, we can see that S67 was the first season since S64 where that value was 0 TPA. This means roughly 25% of players who played games in the VHL/VHLM were completely inactive or just suffered from some major depreciation they couldn't recover from. This isn't overly worrying in my mind, especially since the median/average values are staying relatively on pace with the S66 ones, but it does potentially hint at some recruitment diminishing returns. Another explanation could just be that GMs had an increased likelihood to play inactive players this season. Definitely could be tracked over a longer period of time to reach better conclusions.
In case anyone is wondering, I can share who some of the biggest outliers were.
The biggest VHL-to-VHL TPA growth season was for Matt Thompson in S63 with a gain of 255 TPA (from 490 to 745)
The biggest season growth altogether was for Hunter Hearst Helmsley in S66 (200 TPA in VHLM to 531 TPA in VHL)
There have been 14 players in the VHLM who made it to the max 200 TPA growth all within their first season, most recently being two S68 draft eligible players in Luciano Valentino and Jeff Downey
The honour of biggest loser goes to Aleksei Federov in S60 (890 in S59 to 637 in S60, a drop of 253 TPA). Surprisingly his stats were better following depreciation
The best S67 VHL growth player was Tyler Barabash Jr with a TPA growth of 248.
That's about all I wanted to do with this data at this point, but am always open to suggestions to do more if anyone has any. I'm also happily getting married tomorrow and honeymooning soon after that, so this will probably be my last post of this level of quality for the next month. (please still draft me GMs ?)
Also, so I don't forget the announcements to make:
TPA Re-Roll can now be purchased in-season, but Re-Roll and Position switch may not be purchased during the same season. Purchasing both in one off-season is still fine.
Multi-Claim Podcasts (need to finalize)
New Lottery format
Update Scale testing - Higgins will be testing a new update scale, which will convert attributes in real-time during the season to a potential new update scale, and be simmed on the same schedule as the regular-season. ( @Higgins can you confirm if you're actually down to do this?)
VHLM Changes (if finalized)
1. When you add talent right before the playoffs start that Yukon has no access to, the results make sense.
2. GG. Play with confidence next time, that was the big difference between the two teams.
3. Lucky Luciano came up clutch a few times on the score sheet and let's be honest the luck was on our side.
4. No one in particular, I hope they are watching our defense because after those first two games I think we will tighten down and defend.
5. Can't think that far ahead as an athlete you have to stay in the moment as cliche as that sounds, I ignore all other teams and games aside from Halifax.
6. Our goalie Thorvald has a couple white Finnish whiskers showing up on his neck...
Everyone is trying to lose! All the players in the VHLM and VHL playoffs are throwing the games! Everyone wants the series to be over so that they can go play World of Warcraft classic when it releases tonight August 26th. "It's just so much more enjoyable to live your life as a fake warlock man than a fake hockey player man" said @tfong
He said a lot more than that but it was really boring stuff so we cut it from the story. I won't be playing WOW Classic but that young fellow @JeffD has said he was forced into signing up when his friends said it's either he cuts out the booze or plays Warcraft with them. An easy decision. Good for you Jeff.
@Matt_O just said vaping is cringe but he uses the animoji to take selfies and pretends he is a fake outer space dwarf named yoda?
Anyway I won't be playing World of Warcraft classic but I will be playing minecraft, until next week catch ya in discord.
Everyone is trying to lose! All the players in the VHLM and VHL playoffs are throwing the games! Everyone wants the series to be over so that they can go play World of Warcraft classic when it releases tonight August 26th. "It's just so much more enjoyable to live your life as a fake warlock man than a fake hockey player man" said @tfong
He said a lot more than that but it was really boring stuff so we cut it from the story. I won't be playing WOW Classic but that young fellow @JeffD has said he was forced into signing up when his friends said it's either he cuts out the booze or plays Warcraft with them. An easy decision. Good for you Jeff.
@Matt_O just said vaping is cringe but he uses the animoji to take selfies and pretends he is a fake outer space dwarf named yoda?
Anyway I won't be playing World of Warcraft classic but I will be playing minecraft, until next week catch ya in discord.
Everyone is trying to lose! All the players in the VHLM and VHL playoffs are throwing the games! Everyone wants the series to be over so that they can go play World of Warcraft classic when it releases tonight August 26th. "It's just so much more enjoyable to live your life as a fake warlock man than a fake hockey player man" said @tfong
He said a lot more than that but it was really boring stuff so we cut it from the story. I won't be playing WOW Classic but that young fellow @JeffD has said he was forced into signing up when his friends said it's either he cuts out the booze or plays Warcraft with them. An easy decision. Good for you Jeff.
@Matt_O just said vaping is cringe but he uses the animoji to take selfies and pretends he is a fake outer space dwarf named yoda?
Anyway I won't be playing World of Warcraft classic but I will be playing minecraft, until next week catch ya in discord.
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Higgins reacted to eaglesfan036 in Old VHL Memory
Higgins got a reaction from Jubis in VHL Talks #1 - boubabi [1/2]
Higgins got a reaction from okochastar in placeholder for next week( FINAL:5)
Higgins got a reaction from Devise in VHL Expansion...Again
Higgins got a reaction from STZ in Da '68 Sleepah
Higgins got a reaction from McWolf in Halifax 21st Press Conference
Higgins got a reaction from Baozi in Losing on purpose to play WOW
Higgins got a reaction from JeffD in Losing on purpose to play WOW
Higgins got a reaction from Nykonax in Losing on purpose to play WOW
