Victor

Da Bearz

Oooh some points

They haven't actually. We're only 28-29 games into the season. But following a 10-game winning streak, the Nighthawks have put themselves ahead of the pack by a whisker in their quest for a 3rd straight Victory Cup, a feat only achieved four times in VHL history in the past. The most recent team to do so was the meta-abusing Vancouver Wolves squad of S80-S82, who won three straight Continental Cups as well. Malmo by contrast haven't won a playoff series since S87. Therein lies the problem. Since the official end of the meta era in S82, no Victory Cup winner has gone on to win the important cup in the playoffs. In fact, other than Moscow in the very first season of the current era, none of them have even made the finals. That is by far the worst streak in league history and whilst not wholly unexpected in an era of increased parity, it is still pretty damning. Is it even worth winning the regular season trophy at this point and having an extra large target on your back. The Nighthawks have now lost two straight games, suggesting they don't particularly want the title for the third season running. All those with 3 or 4 straight Victory Cups before won at least 2 Continental Cups off the back of them. Malmo would have an unwanted record should they go into the playoffs as the top seed again. Now with just four points separating them from sixth place in the league, perhaps we will now see a race away from the top and the Victory Cup curse.

26 games into Del Rocco's rookie season... Gianfranco Del Rocco's step up to the VHL hasn't been a complete disaster but it hasn't been smooth sailing by any means. At the time of writing we are 26 games into Season 93, with the young Italian stallion is just below a point-per-game pace, not unlike his one full season in the VHLM two seasons ago. Onlookers hoping for clear progress from the player in two years are left yearning for more, although there is something to be said about carrying roughly the same level from the minor leagues through to the big stage – Del Rocco is at the very least not getting complacent or standing still. Familiar themes from his VHLM and VHLE days continue to creep up in the VHL however. After scoring Seattle's first goal of the season and recently notching his first VHL hat-trick, it is notable that those 4 goals account for over a third of Del Rocco's entire output to date – consistency has been hard to come by and he continues to blow hot and cold. Whilst not completely adrift in the rookie scoring race, currently sitting in fourth place in the rankings, the 10-point gap to fellow Italian Antonia Bucatini is unlikely to close based on what we've seen so far. Of course, Bucatini has a more prominent role on a rebuilding Davos squad, not unlike Del Rocco's star role in Vasteras last season, while Del Rocco has taken a step back to the bottom of the depth chart at defending champions Seattle. The scoring spread on the Bears reflects that reality – 3 forwards are roughly 20 points clear of the rest of the team with Del Rocco falling firmly within (although pleasingly not rock bottom of) that second group. There's not much new information that we can really glean from Del Rocco's rookie experience with eerily similar stat lines across three different leagues undoubtedly leaving scouts scratching their heads at what exactly the young forward's full potential looks like. Does this VHL start suggest future Hall of Fame aspirations? Not necessarily. Does it immediately undermine such goals? Not really either. It appears that for the time being Del Rocco is satisfied being a cog in the wheel of a successful team, picking up experience from a strong locker room. A Continental Cup victory as a rookie would certainly be a promising start to a promising career, but no one in Seattle is counting their chickens yet, not in such a competitive North American Conference. What role, if any, their former second overall pick has to play in the season's business end remains to be seen.

Week 2 of 3

Hat trick

Yeah I did years ago, agree completely on how easy it was to read and quite clever in how you really get to understand the kid's perspective (I think he had autism or was on the spectrum to some degree?). Also picked up Fahrenheit 451 randomly in a hotel room a few months ago, maybe you left it. I thought the set-up was interesting but the plot just fizzled out which was a bit disappointing. Also bashing through classics recently after years of not reading at all really. Read 2 random Jack Reacher novels - both very much in the easy to read / hard to put down mould. Storm Island by Ken Follett another one in that category - and a real gripping thriller. And finally on the classics front read Catch-22 recently - really hard work to follow to begin with because it takes non-linear an extreme. But rewarding once you make it past the first half.

Thank you to those volunteering information about your cup droughts which means I can extend my naming and shaming for 2 more TPE. @McWolf – I actually don't know how I missed you, I distinctly recall going through your player pages but clearly forgot to actually add them up. 24 seasons means you're in a respectable third place unless someone else that I've missed steps up. @mattyIceman – I suspect there may be others in the 16-20 season bracket which is in effect only two full careers and a bit. I think to be honest it's only a proper drought once you got 3 full careers with no cup so get going with Raikkonen. @Ahma – I've decided to tally up what your drought was pre S89. It's not quite all time as Diego Jokinen won the cup with Helsinki in S55 but after that it was 6 seasons of Alvaro Jokinen, 8 seasons of Fernando Jokinen (just 2 playoff appearances by him....), 8 seasons of Tavau, and the first 2 seasons of David Jokinen. Plus the last 4 seasons of Diego, so 28 seasons in total. Not quite as bad STZ's ongoing streak but also pretty bad with a lot fewer finals too. I wonder if anyone beats those numbers all time but I doubt I will actually get around to finding out.

Yeah I can't multiply 8 by 3 lol

18 seasons and I missed you off?? That's my VHL.com for this week sorted.

I woke up and chose violence

The other week I looked at some of the longest playoff streaks members have had in the VHL over the years. There were a few people quite close together with very impressive numbers and then Higgins blew us all out of the water. Fair play. Now let's flip that upside down and do some naming and shaming instead. For every cup won, there is a losing finalist. For every playoff streak extended on the last game of the season there is a soul-destroying return to the golf course for someone else. And with more members than ever but still just one championship to contend for, that means we have an increasing amount of people who have never won the Continental Cup even after years of trying. So who are the league's current unluckiest members? This article is effectively made up of two sections – first I reveal those who have never won the cup at all despite multiple players and a lot of seasons spent trying. Then I also look at some of the longest active cup droughts from members who have won the cup at least once before. So without further ado (and I bid adieu to anyone who doesn't know what word to use in this sentence correctly), let's dive into the 6 members who have spent the most time in the VHL without winning the ultimate trophy. Section 1 – Six members who have never won the Continental Cup @Josh – 27 seasons (Jake Davis, S62-S69, Roque Davis, S71-S78, David Davis, S81-S86, Jasper Davis, S89-present) Finals lost: 1 (S66 with Vancouver) Coming in at number one is a commissioner, simmer, and portal guru. You would think he would just make it happen by any means necessary at this point. But no, Josh has steadfastly looked to win the big one the honest way and hasn't really come particularly close. Now on his fourth Davis, not only has neither of them won the cup in 27 seasons (and counting) of trying, it's also been 22 seasons since Josh has even made the finals. It's OK though, the breakthrough should be imminent now that he is one of the stars of *checks notes* …. the perennially successful New York Americans. @Gustav – 25 seasons (Jerry Garcia, S66-S73, Taro Tsujimoto, S75-S82, Art Vandelay, S84-S92) Finals lost: 2 (S68 with Malmo, S90 with Los Angeles) Gus is currently in the middle of writing his memoir (?) in an act of ego-stroking which I'll be honest puts me to shame and I hope he uses one of his 30 articles to look at his nearest misses at the championship. To be clear, there haven't been many of those but things must have looked so much more hopeful back in S68 when he surprisingly made it to the finals in his and his franchise's 3rd ever VHL season. It's been far from smooth sailing since then though, with a GM run in Davos undermined by misfortune and then a career spent leading Los Angeles through their greatest ever period. Fourth time lucky Gus? @okochastar – 20 seasons (Guillaume Fontenette, S67-S72, Julian Nouisianen, S74-S80, Left Alone, S87-present) Finals lost: 1 (S67 with Helsinki) Rounding out the list of those on 2 decades or more with no championship, okochastar benefits slightly from not having a player for a while between Nouisiainen and Alone, but the clock has ticked over 20 seasons now. His 3 players have been on some good teams who just haven't clicked in the playoffs, with no finals appearances since his first player's rookie season. I feel less need to be as mean as I was to Josh and Gus but it might be time to throw loyalty to the wind and start glory-hunting my friend. @Spartan – 18 seasons (Alex Letang, S73-S79, Nico Pearce, S81-S89, Olober Syko, S92-present) Finals lost: 2 (S81 with Moscow, S89 with Vancouver) I have no reservations about being mean here though. The record of near-misses here isn't actually as tragic it is on Spartan's GM tenure, but the fact that Nico Pearce literally moved from Vancouver to Moscow the season the Wolves won the cup and then came back to lose in the finals is objectively hilarious. Not quite Marian Hossa but also no happy ending. Spartan is safe from the top 3 here by virtue of other high-profile members also have no sim luck, but also feels closest to having a genuine breakdown. Watch this space. @youloser1337 – 16 seasons (Justin Lose, S76-S82, Scoish Velociraptor Maloish, S84-S92) Finals lost: 1 (S92 with London) After that top 4 we have a slightly less remarkable case with just two cupless careers from Mr. Lose. I can't lie, it does feel like there is nominative determinism here given the username and first player name, it's almost like he's asking for it. Seeds of hope have sprouted with a Game 7 cup finals loss in Maloish's last game (and to be fair London lost the cup in Game 7 in back-to-back seasons now which feels like something bigger than any of us) so perhaps the third attempt will break the duck. @N0HBDY – 14 seasons (Bob Tristan, S76-S80, Cole Pearce, S82-S89, Thor Reingaard, S92-present) Finals lost: 0 And finally, Spartan's protege (they may both dismiss this title but I think we all know the truth) rounds off our list of those with absolutely nothing to show for their VHL careers to date. Again, calling yourself nobody isn't going to help. Paradoxically, this means that nobody has never made the finals. But nobody actually hasn't. Pick that one apart. To be clear, this is not a commentary on how Warsaw is being GMed so it's not bullying. Not again. Section 2 – Five members who haven't won the Continental Cup in a long time @McLovin – 16 seasons (Ben Hafkey, S68-S73, Gustav Hjalmarsson, S76-S82, Maxim Anisimov, S91-present) Finals lost: 2 (S73 and S77 with Helsinki) For no particular reason, I have flipped the order for this section in that the cup droughts will get progressively longer, not shorter. We start with a case which is particularly peculiar because McLovin won the Continental Cup in his first ever rookie season back in S67 and has had no luck since. I suppose that is justice for buying a forged ID. @CowboyinAmerica – 17 seasons (Gabriel McAllister, S62, Lance Flowers, S68-S75, Xavier Booberry, S81-S88) Finals lost: 3 (S75 with D.C., S87 with Davos, S88 with Seattle) This one surprised me a bit, but since the success of Hans Wingate and Gabriel McAllister, Cowboy hasn't won the cup since McAllister's penultimate season. There was particular misfortune in the last two seasons of Booberry, who left the Dynamo before they finally ended their drought, and was part of a rare unsuccessful Seattle trip to the finals. The streak isn't as long in actual seasons due to his penchant for taking nearly a full career's worth off between players, but does add an interesting dynamic to the rivalry I will inevitably try to force between our current players. @Tagger / @MubbleFubbles – 19 seasons (Edwin Preencarnacion, S64-S67, Edwin THE Encarnacion, S70-S76, The Board Game Clue On Skates, S83-S90) Finals lost: 2 (S70 with Calgary, S72 with Calgary) Again, slightly surprised by this one but turns out it has been a good while now since Riga's cup-winning team in S63. Lots of players peaked that season including Preencarnacion, which turned out to be the last championship in the Encarnacion line (for now?). Mubble has since then switched accounts and has embarked on several more bizarre player building experiments, but maybe the Great One can now break both his and New York's slump. @Advantage – 22 seasons (Dexter Lane, S60, Ryan Sullivan Jr, S64-S71, Tyler Walker, S73-S80, Viktor Jensen, S89-present) Finals lost: 2 (S68 with Malmo, S80 with Moscow) This one would have been quite a bit longer if not for Dexter Lane's surprising and inactive cup win in S59 – Advantage's previous championship was with Brick Wahl back in S41. Anyway since Lane, Advantage has staged a few comebacks in the VHL and in GM roles, has gone first overall twice, but has failed to get another championship. Most recent disappointments include back-to-back Victory Cups bit little to show for them in the playoffs. But it's not quite enough for first place... @STZ – 32 seasons (Rhett DeGrath, S52-S59, Ike Arkander, S57-S61, Benny Graves, S69-S76, Hard Markinson, S78-S85, Snubbed Analfist, S88-present) Finals lost: 10 (S53 with Stockholm, S56 with Davos, S60 with New York, S75 with D.C., S80, S81, S82, S83, and S85 with Moscow, S89 with Vancouver) To conclude our streak of VHL Builders who have forgotten how to win, we have a fascinating case here. STZ is another old-timer who took a brief break and while he has not lost his touch when it comes to successful players, his finals record is truly diabolical. On average, since Unassisted retired in S53 (which technically means the drought is at 30 seasons but what does it matter at this point), STZ's players have made the finals every third season they've been the VHL – and they've lost each and every one. The nadir certainly came during Markinson's career with Moscow (another hat tip to Spartan) and it makes sense after a run like that to go to New York and hope for the best. The Americans are carrying a lot of cursed energy this season that's for sure.

Thanks babe, all down to the GM x

It's finally over

That era was very virgin coded

I have given you so much quotable content over the years I feel like I should be getting royalties.

I reckon it's being set right now

what a twist

G - Joel Castle @DarkSpyro

Da Bears

F - Harry Callahan @wcats

F - Grimgor Ironhide @DarkSpyro

Stone's already gone

D - CGY Janser @wcats

It's that Oslo juice, test them all for PEDs