Devise

Cologne 4-3

I had originally wanted Fong and Jardy Victor. Both had told me via chat/PM that they'd be interested in coming to Cologne, and I was happy to give up O'Malley if that was part of my return. I had originally targeted trading 6th overall to Riga for 4th. The reason? I could take Biggu from them at third, they didn't need a goalie and they could of still gotten their player as it was NY who drafted fifth and they were quite obviously going to take a goalie if the option was available. Then introduce Kesler. Who taunted and targeted me on chat, as he had a better offer for 4th than mine. Mine was just this deal the other way, because at the time there was no other bidders. It makes no sense not to trade down and get another 2nd to get the exact same player you were going to get anyways, It's a free pick to use as leverage. Kesler had a huge offer on the table for 4th, an offer that he basically ended up paying for third. But once I realized I no longer could get Fong and Jardy in the same draft class, I decided to screw Kesler over. Mostly because he challenged me to. When we were chatting he kept taunting me with "you want Fong? Then go ahead and draft him, but you aint getting Fong and a goalie! You want a goalie? Then I'm drafting Fong!" I told him he wouldn't like me when I improvised, and he laughed it off. Hence this trade. At the time, Riga was hesitant about trading for Frank because competing now in Europe seemed like a tough bargain. But it was the best offer on the table. However trading up, gave them the opportunity to get Fong. A fantastic opportunity for them, as Fong was younger and a better fit for Riga than Frank was. Knowing that I couldn't get both Fong and a goalie anymore, this was my improvisation. Kesler went livid, because at the time, it created a gap where he went from getting a player in the top four, to not getting one at all. But then Kesler was able to improsive, and offer even more for the 1st than he was originally offering. Either way I'm happy with my result. I recognized that I wasn't able to get Fong and a goalie, instead got Jardy and Evgeny, gained a 2nd to be able to use to trade away to fill my roster, and forced a fellow GM in Quebec to completely overpay for his goalie. Both Quebec and I entered the off-season in similar minds, sort of rebuild. I was able to trade my biggest asset for 2 1st's, two draft picks that are players that help the future of Cologne very well. But I was also able to take one of those picks, turn it into a 2nd, (and then into another player) and on top of that force Quebec to trade their biggest asset with another player and two 2nds just to get their goalie. All in all I'd say I'm pretty happy with that result. So no, I don't see what is confusing about this trade.

Humbert is claiming 4

Another big inter conference win, nice stuff!

Nice! Big win here!

Want a solution? Player Card Crew should return, pay should be set to seasonal, the off-season before the upcoming Season the PC Crew should have submitted and posted for the board to see all the PC cards from that seasons set. They then get paid the current weekly amount added up into what it would be per season. They link the thread showing the work during the off-season to show they have done it to get their TPE. If they are late a few days and bleed into the regular season of the next season, it isn't the end of the world. They can't claim until they have posted, but they still get rewarded for doing the large amount of work they have to do. Easy, simple, done.

Why did it get cancelled? If we have people willing to work on stuff see no reason why we can't let it keep going.

I don't have any clever meme I just googled lays because of Frank and saw this.

Felt too personal for that STZ.

Yeah I'm not implying that you wouldn't of done something if you could have and are happy with what you have. I'm just arguing that with league parity at an all time high, instead of focusing on the "traditional" method of building teams GM's should give other options a try. Not just because it can work, but because it honestly creates a better league atmosphere for everyone involved. (in my opinion) Sure there is more disappointment, and that sucks. But the amount of attention the Cup wins over the last several seasons have received from the league is in large part due to the parity. Our salary cap with the evolving league helps keep that parity in tact. Winning means more when more people are gunning to win. You say making the playoffs is irrelevant. I disagree not just due to not having your own picks. But also because of what could happen in the playoffs. Not just winning a Cup. For my own franchise, I view making the finals 3 straight years as an accomplishment, one Cup sure, but still an accomplishment. Why? Not because of some grandiose vision of Cologne being great. But because in order to do it, they had to topple a very talented very strong Stockholm team. The competition made the series more interesting, and it made the win more meaningful. Parity does that. I highly doubt we see a salary cap change, which is why I predict as we move forward more teams may adjust the way they build. Hell look at Helsinki and Riga jumping the gun. They didn't have to, as you said it may have made more sense not to. But they did anyways. It may not always be the way I'm building, but I just wanted to make an argument that the changes in building teams is a good thing for the league, as is the parity that we currently have. At season end I may be sitting on the outside of the playoffs, having no picks for the upcoming draft and still a full roster. But I"m more invested in the season, and because of that, the league. That matters imo.

Also, Boubabi where did I say I was a "match" against top tier teams? If you want my honest opinion there is only one top tier team in the league next season and it's Calgary. Europe is filled with a complete mess of teams that all have different strengths in different areas but ALL of them have flaws. Stockholm, Davos, Cologne, Helsinki and Riga could all lose nearly all of their season series to a team like New York just because Mikealson decided to play lights out. Just as likely as O'Malley could light it up for Helsinki and dominate goalie after goalie. Just as likely as Waldron could go on a tear and shut out teams. Just as likely as Lord Karnage and 3 Moons could pile up the point, just as likely as Thomassen could give Riga a huge boost in a game. The list goes on. Nowhere in this did I say "Cologne is making the playoffs because none of you guys are good enough in Europe." All I said was Calgary is the only team that is nearly flawless. Davos has two defenders, and not even a 500 TPE goalie yet. Riga is exceptionally young. Stockholm has a goalie that is under 450 TPE and only has 4 forwards. Helsinki is a lot younger than people realize, their goalie TPE wise is worse than Sinclair and Campbell at the present. Cologne has no star power defenders, and only one fringe star power forward in Miller. But for all those weaknesses each Europe team has a strength. Davos has the best defender in the league ready to break out, as well as star power players James Faraday to lead the offense with other players waiting to break out like McJustice. Riga has one of the top 5 forwards in the league to go with some of the best forward depth in the conference. Stockholm has two 700 TPE defenders to go with 2 stud forwards in 3 Moons and Karnage. Helsinki has O'Malley, Klose, still has Stropko hanging around to make the most formidable first line in the conference, and despite their youth has a full roster. Cologne has the best goalie in the conference on paper, and also has the leverage of sound defensive depth and a full roster. It's going to be one hell of a playoff battle that is for sure.

Not completely accurate Boubabi. To Beketovs point about the trend leaning in that direction, it's involuntarily happening. Teams want to compete. Teams have a roster ready to make that next push. But teams don't have the cap to overload. So they want a big star power player like say Koenig in free agency. Okay they have to make room. So they decide, shit I need to deal this player the question no longer becomes "where is the value for him" it becomes "who can I deal him said player to that doesn't improve my closest competitors?" This isn't about just Miller either. Koenig was a top target free agent that had offers from very few teams. Some if was cap related, but even if teams had the cap, the fact that underdogs with depth has won Cups has changed in a way how some teams look at building teams. Suddenly questions like, is 5 forwards and 3 defenders really enough? Sure you can have another star power forward, but you lose a 400 TPE depth guy in the process and run with less players for the season. In the old VHL that would be fine. We saw it all the time. But now, the team your competing with that is icing a full roster also has one or two star power players to your 3 or 4. Suddenly, you get upset because they have the perfect combo of depth, star power, and age and your sitting there kicking yourself. Calgary did that exact thing to the league last season.

The off season got started as quickly as humanly possible. The day Calgary Wranglers eliminated the Cologne Express and won the Continental Cup, Cologne GM Ryan Power and William Shaw GM of the Helsinki Titans made a blockbuster deal that saw long time Cologne Captain Thomas O'Malley and Christoph Klose head to Helsinki in exchange for 3 1st round picks, 2 of which were in the stacked S45 draft. To most, this was a signal of the end of an era of Cologne. League scholars, philosophers, and analysts ruled Cologne as a "rebuilding team" and away the off-season went. But then Power began making moves that analysts questioned. He gave away what some see as a potential lottery pick in exchange for promising middle aged player Gifford Shock, who still has yet to blossom into the player many thought he could become. Power began adding players on the cheap, giving up two 2nd round draft picks for Jackson Miller and Nicklas Karlsson from the Wranglers. Power seemed on a quest to fill his roster with as much depth as he could, adding players like Tyrone Williams and Koji Yamazaki via free agency, and then trading for depth defender Joshua Rubin. Many analysts remain baffled at Powers move. While he was able to utilize two of the picks obtained in the blockbuster trade with Helsinki to draft promising young prospects Sandro Clegane and Evgeny Nezhmetdinov, the efforts and assets he traded away to obtain a full roster seemed curious, and silly to most around the league. Most would argue that Europe is easily the most competitive conference in league history. The two rebuilding clubs, Riga and Helsinki acquired players to push them into playoff contention. While Davos and Stockholm have been dealing with the salary cap this off-season, the rosters they do possess still have some of the biggest and best names in the VHL. They remain a playoff threat. Because of this, most assume Cologne is the "limbo" team. A team that doesn't have leverage. Power, disagrees and challenges other GM's to break the trend of the VHL. When asked about his off-season and the criticism, he had the following to say. "League parity is at an all time high right now. Nobody can deny it. Teams have struggled to repeat as Cup champions despite multiple repeat finals appearances, we've had underdog champions, playoff upsets, the list goes on. Too many people in this league, general mangers included believe in an "old" way of building a franchise. That way is littered with the following; suck, draft high, build contender, try to win early and stagger out the age of your players to make you run as long as possible. Then repeat.It's tired. Underdog champions are winning Cups because the diversity of top end talent is so far spread across the league it is nearly impossible for one team to overload." "I'm not saying I'm some genius or that I've figured out some new way to dominate. No. I just have the balls to look a tanky rebuild in the face and laugh. Full on rebuilds are for cowards too afraid to use draft picks as the actual assets they are. I've always maintained a low draft philosophy and it isn't because I dislike drafting. It's because building a team season to season, whether your building for the future or to try and win in that season is always about one thing...team needs. Do you need a depth defender? A star power forward? A goalie? I maintain that I will draft when I see a possibility to acquire the needs of my team. As co GM I drafted Mason Richardson and Thomas O"Malley. The team needed star power players to face lift the franchise. We did that. After Waldron we lacked a quality goalie for our future, so I did what I had to do in an attempt to draft that very player. But the rest of the picks I've dealt? I have no guarantee that they present with what my team needs." "Look at the picks I've dealt. The supposed lotto pick for Gifford Shock. Sure, it could be a lotto pick. But with 5 teams icing rosters in Europe every season, one will eventually blink. Maybe more than one. America isn't going to stay dormant for long with players improving, and the moment the opportunity to strike iron for a rebuild comes. Boom. Just like that one of the many teams that is aging up in Europe could rebuild. Meanwhile after losing O"Malley, Klose and Koenig I needed a long term forward who at least did welfare and could get to 600+ TPE in his career. Depth forwards, especially centers like that are invaluable. Shock provides that for me. There is no deal I made this off-season that wasn't in an effort to address long and short term team needs." "Ultimately, I don't blame people for critiquing my off-season. It was unusual, began with what heralded a rebuild and ended up with a depth team with some underrated star power. However I'm easily worse than I was last season. But that is irrelevant. With the exception of Calgary all of the competitors last season are worse. Stockholm sold due to cap reasons and lost players to retirement, Davos had cap issues as well. The talent that the league did trade? Got spread out. Calgary is the only team that overloaded. Look at Europe, if you don't believe Cologne has a shot at making the playoffs then your forgetting that despite star power forwards, Stockholm, Helsinki, Riga and Davos all have a goalie that is worse than Brock Waldron. That alone gives Cologne a small edge. I'm not saying we are a sure in playoff team, of course not. It's crazy right now in Europe. I'm just saying that predicting who will make it and who won't isn't as easy as it looks. It's going to be a long, battling, crawl for the playoffs this season. "I just wanted to make that crawl even more competitive. Why? Because in my humble opinion it doesn't matter what teams do, that is the nature of the VHL in this current era. Deserving teams get upset every season in the playoffs, teams that have tried to overload like Stockholm and Quebec have fallen short to underdogs like Seattle, Calgary and Cologne. Building a successful team right now in my eyes isn't about just finding a window with your core of players. It's about building a team that can attempt to make the playoffs as best as possible. You still need star power, you still need depth, you still need to have good age gaps and handle salary cap and all that. But despite all the efforts to do that, and then even overload your roster? You still may get upset. What I'm saying is that in a league filled with parity the only predictable thing you can say is that one team who make the playoffs is going to win a Championship. The only way to ensure you have a shot at that is to ice a roster good enough to make the playoffs. Simple as that." *****Nobody will read all of this and that is fine. But i felt like writing something more personal and this is the best format to do it in. ******

Also, for those criticizing this deal, I only had 3 defenders heading into the season, and this was the best option to fill the slot on the table that kept me the most assets I valued but still gave me a player of acceptable enough quality that I wasn't completely scraping the bottom of the barrel. I didn't give up a 1st for Rubin, I traded down a 1st to a 2nd for him. Despite that meaning not too much, it still means something and is a distinction worth remembering.

Your a finale...

It has been a crazy off-season for Cologne, we've seen tons of changes. Because of this, our entire leadership core from the previous season has been traded, left via free agency, and retired. One from every fold. With that in mind we are pleased to announce our new leadership for the upcoming season. After careful deliberation management has decided...on the following... Introducing, new Assistant Captain, this man is a young defender who has the benefit of being on Cup winning teams the past two seasons in a row. He is an underrated defender who has shown an ability to be the perfect depth piece on a Championship team. Nicklas Karlsson! Our second new Assistant Captain, easily the best graphics maker in league history (okay Koradek, Boubabi, and several other names are up there, but hey remember Fucking Sigs? What a legend.) he is credited as the founding leader of Rogue Squadron and can show up and cause league change in a moments notice. In what has come to a huge "shock" to the entire Express franchise....Gifford Shock! Lastly we are proud to introduce our new captain....this is an aging forward coming off a very successful playoff performance that him and his team win a Continental Cup. After he became a cap casualty to team upgrades he boldly welcomed Cologne as his franchise of choice for the remainder of his career. Coming from a player agency that is highly underrated, but that has deep roots in the very fabric of Cologne history....Jackson Miller! Congratulations to those selected, wear the letters proudly!

I accept.

Solid career. Hopefully you can have the best final season here.

Yeah Karnage was robbed of MVP imo, but overall good stuff. Congrats to all winners.

Lies. I got back on Sunday and then this crazy ass off-season happened. By Monday, I promise!

I'm calling up Evgeny Nezhmetdinov. I feel like once he does training camp and other off-season stuffs he'll be high enough to contribute in the VHL. Sandro Clegane has stopped updating at 200, intentionally forfeiting TPE. He wishes to stay down, so he will stay in the VHLM this season.

Player Name: Thaddeus Humbert VHL Team: Cologne Express Cash you have: $2,500,000 Purchase Name: VHL Radio Upgrade Cost of Purchase: $2,000,000 Cash Left: $500,000

The VHL has recently been witness to one of, if not the most league shattering off-season in history. Teams that were just starting out rebuilding, like Helsinki, Riga, and New York have rocketed forward. Teams that were once kingpins have decided to rebuild, most namely Quebec but Cologne slightly as well. The recent Continental Cup Champion Wranglers have restructured to bolster their roster for repeat while other top teams like Stockholm and Davos have made some changes in attempts to deal with the salary cap. Even the young rebuilding teams who are further out made efforts to solidify their future both via drafts and trades. The amount of changes to each team is pretty crazy, here is a rundown of players in and out whether it's from trade, free agency, or retirement for every team. Calgary Wranglers In: Bismarck Koenig Out: Sachimo Zoidberg, Nicklas Karlsson, Jackson Miller New York Americans In: Niklaus Mikaelson, Biggu Kyanon Out: Jax Barnstormer, Jakob Linholm, Azmet Ali Quebec City Muete In: Jax Barnstormer, Francis York Morgan, Tyson Stokes, Mario De Rossi, Ariel Weinstein, George Patton Out: Brady Stropko, Aksel Thomassen, Niklaus Mikaelson, Travis Boychuk, Milos Denis Seattle Bears In: Several S45 Draftee's Unlikely to Make Roster in S45 Out: KJA, Mario De Rossi, Dirk Firkley Toronto Legion In: Max Molholt Out: Benjamin Zeptenbergs, Alistar Graves, Kyle Kingma, Jack Kowalski, Slaeter Fjorsstrom Cologne Express In: Nicklas Karlsson, Gifford Shock, Jackson Miller, Koji Yamazaki, Sandro Clegane, Evegeny, Nezhmetdinov Out: Thomas O'Malley, Bismarck Koenig, Christoph Klose, Ron World Peace, Chris Raymond, Mikkel Boomgaarden Davos Dynamo In: Simon Valmount Out: Gifford Shock, Kurtis Hunter Helsinki Titans In: Greg Clegane, Phil Hamilton, Aleksi Koponen, Marcel Faux, Theo Matsikas, Brady Stropko, Christoph Klose, Thomas O'Malley Out: AIM-11, George Patton Riga Reign In: Le'Sean Coutzen, Jack Kowalski, Kurtis Hunter, Milos Denis, Aksel Thomassen Out: Koji Yamazaki, Dimonthesis Vlasis Stockholm Vikings In: N/A Out: Tom Slaughter, Tyson Stokes, Francis York Morgan As you can clearly see, we are witnessing a large amount of change this off season. Stockholm is the only team not to "gain" new players on their roster this season. Seattle arguably as well, although some of those S45 draftees could spend time on their club this season. All teams made at least one significant trade this off-season. Trades that involved either quality picks or players. All teams are either experiencing a influx of new players on their team or alternatively like Stockholm lost some players due to the salary cap. The fact that the off-season isn't even over, and rumblings of more deals are to be had is rather impressive. I don't know if I would call this the craziest off-season of all time, but it is certainly up there.