Victor

So this off-season I was tagged in a VHFL group as I am every off-season and when I went to check it I was shocked to find I had got the first pick yet again. Oh lucky you, you might think. Well, the weird thing is I couldn't remember the last time I didn't have back-to-back picks in a VHFL draft (i.e. didn't pick 1st or 6th which results in that). So I went back and had a look. My VHFL draft pick every season: S69: 1st S68: 1st S67: 6th S66: 6th S65: 1st S64: 6th S63: 4th S62: 6th S61: 3rd Well then. So not only have I ended up with a back-to-back pick in a VHFL draft for the past six straight seasons, this has also only not happened twice in the 9 seasons since I came back and started participating in VHFL. Isn't that insane? What are the odds? Someone tell me the odds. Not that I'm complaining. I think having back-to-back picks is the best position to be in for a snake draft, and also means I only need to pop into the thread 3 times if I have the 6th pick and 4 times if I have the 1st. It's all very convenient, just very odd and feels quite unlikely.

It's the moment you've all been waiting for! With an obligatory start-of-season member tag. @Members Fill out the form linked below. 2 correct answers = 2 capped TPE 1 correct answer = 1 capped TPE Uncapped TPE based on season leaderboard handed out at end of season. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSd0oH8wvFkLbtQObv-hZV630Xrm1-fAUjtupGrxqlpy9eP9rQ/viewform?usp=sf_link I am always taking question suggestions via PM, with 1 uncapped TPE going your way for each question that ends up getting used.

Is the title of this article racist? Maybe, but it still feels safer than going “A History of Indians in the VHL” and then finding out all those I assumed were Indian were actually Pakistani. Regardless, the idea behind this article came about in my surprisingly slightly more frequent forays into Discord, when I realised @DilIsPickle seemed to be actively looking for “brown people” in the VHL. It appears he has already located @fonziGG but he wants more. This seemed odd to me, since I recall there were so many and although this might not be really true on reflection, what really motivated me was the realisation that some of these members, who were a staple of the VHL community for years, are literal unknowns now. And thus, was born this brief history. The OG: Matt Bailey aka @Quik The VHL's most famous Indo-Italian, although he has never made a player to reflect his ethnicity with the exception of the Italian Matteo Gallo, probably his least successful player. But Quik, recently inducted into the Hall of Fame as a Builder, has an otherwise long and storied history in the league. His first three players made the Hall of Fame – Vasteras' playoff MVP Matthew Pogge, the underrated Branden Snelheid and of course Matt Bailey, the VHL's greatest ever half-defenceman/half-forward (sorry Keaton Louth). After disappearing from the league for several real life years, Quik returned with another Hall of Famer in Mats Johnsson, before picking up his old role as Helsinki GM, winning a cup in S66 with Kronos Bailey as captain, 50 seasons after Matt Bailey was the playoff MVP, inspiring a Helsinki championship in S15. Of course, Quik also became VHL commissioner, further cementing his legacy in the league, before seemingly going inactive in the second half of S68. We shall see if he returns to his old self, but he remains a shining example for people of colour everywhere. The Ones That Really Come To Mind: Harvey and Japinder Singh @DGFX. @8Ovechkin8 Before we had Dil, we had the Singhs. Granted, neither was actually a Singh, but two of their most famous players were and they fully embraced their Indianness. Harvey Sekhon aka DGFX was the first to join, the New York Americans picking up Harvey Singh late in the third round of the S12 draft. Singh would make his debut for New York in S14, in time for the franchise's maiden Continental Cup, and the following season was promoted to a role as assistant GM, the right-hand man of rookie GM Vase Trikamaki, aka me. After the quick rise to prominence, Harvey was then one of the key pieces of New York's firesale and ended up in Riga to start S16, where he teamed up with Jesse Jussal, a little-known S13 draftee, aka 8Ovechkin8. Together they would help an unfancied Reign team to a championship in S16 and would become a notorious duo for many seasons to come. Point to note: this is where I admit I can't remember whether Riga's GM at the time, Vladimir Kliment, was another member of the brown crew rising through the VHL ranks in the 'teens'. If so, a brief history of this member would be as follows: great_save_luongo joined the VHL for the S8 draft, with Vladimir Kliment* drafted by Riga where he would stay for his entire VHL career. Kliment was a key part of the Reign's first ever Continental Cup win in S10, before becoming Dustin Funk's assistant GM, enabling a smooth transition into him leading the rebuild which concluded with the championship in S16. His second player, Zlatan Zanetti, joined Riga as the GM player and to my knowledge never recreated after stepping down not long after the S16 cup. *A sudden realisation dawned on me when writing this little tangent that Vladimir had an older brother, Ilya Kliment, whose member bobbylu is better remembered for the follow-up, Hall of Famer Carl Jacobs. Does that mean bobbylu was another member of the VHL's Indian community? Or were neither one of them and they were just from Vancouver (as, to be fair, were also DGFX and 8O8). One can only speculate.... After their brief time in Riga, both Harvey and 8O8 would embark on their most famous careers. DGFX joined the legendary S18 draft with forward Anton Brekker, who initially had a bad boy reputation attached to him, which meant he was traded from Seattle to Davos on the cheap after his rookie season. He promptly shook off the negative image and became one of the key figures of the great Davos dynasty which followed. That team was most famous for its goaltender, Daisuke Kanou, but Brekker also became a surefire Hall of Famer fairly quickly, and helped Davos to 5 finals and 3 Continental Cups. Jussal retired a bit later than Harvey Singh, and was succeeded by the first ever Indian first overall pick – Japinder Singh being the consensus number one prospect in S20. While the pair's previous players didn't necessarily all play up the stereotype, Japinder reveled in it and became probably the best player brought to the VHL by either member, earning a place among the greatest defencemen of all time. Japinder Singh would end up joining Brekker in Davos for two of the championships, before claiming a third with Helsinki in S27. DGFX and 8O8 seemed to be drifting out of the league by this point but rejoined forces as the Athera twins for the S28 draft. Both carved out respectable careers, although not quite as impressive as those of Brekker and Singh, and the spark seemed to be largely gone. For DGFX, Theseus Athera was his last notable player, save for a brief attempt in the late 40s as Kendrick Cole, a highly rated prospect who burned out after the draft. Troy Athera was the more successful Athera, on the right side of the Riga vs New York shenanigans of S32 and S33 (winning a final against Riga first, before being traded there and beating New York the season after), which seemed to be enough motivation to create another India-born first overall pick: Godavari Yumalatopinto in S36. “Yuma” would be his last player and he would claim a surprise Sterling Labatte Trophy in S38, shared with the great Conner Low. However, inactivity soon hit, followed by a position switch and seeming to be a expendable extra forward for a few cup contenders for the rest of his career. Anyone else? Two other names come to mind, although the details are a bit murkier on them. First, before 8Ovechkin8 there was miniovechkin8, and the only reason he even makes an appearance here is because on one Sterling and Smarch podcast they seemed to be under the impression that they were the same person. They weren't, but I am not sure in that case if that passing comment was at all linked to miniovechkin's ethnicity. Either way, he didn't achieve much in the VHL, with his best player being the forgettable Aaron Skille in the latter years of the first decade. Then there was Hamza. Hamza became a bit of meme for many years, although I can't exactly recall the details behind it, other than it was to do with grading, but whether GFX or Media Spot I can not be sure. But player wise Hamza Ahmed was a combustible type, probably around 14 in his brief time in the VHL, and also a crossover from the SHL who I feel for many years remained the representation of the SHL as a whole to many members (loud and immature essentially). Hamza didn't last long here – he was one of the third round steals in S18, like Joey Clarence, Roman Andreev, and the recent addition to the HOF, Mathias Chouinard, but unlike these more prolific names, only spent a season or two in the VHL before an abrupt retirement. Like many on this list, he was never seen or heard from again. That concludes my little trip down memory lane. It was not researched and probably error-strewn but hopefully shed some light on the occasionally diverse VHL past.

Hatter, u ok hun

Second line and Bernard, phewf

He's lost playing Dee Fenceman's role

ma I made it

It's on the radar, although don't know when. Low key I think I want to GM Moscow long enough to justify at least an honourable mention. But my top 5 would be Higgins, Devise, Advantage, Frank and I dunno - Quik, Jason, Knight, probably Bana in the mix, but I also rate hedgehog's Riga above Bana's Seattle. (not that you asked for my top GMs)

Longevity =/= quality. He's getting up there, and this recent rebuild helps a lot, but go back 2 seasons and you're looking at 1 cup in nearly 20 seasons.

McGee also wasn't listed on your finances although he doesn't count against the cap. Anyway all fixed now.

Then New York should be top of the league? Either way, Malmo isn't one of the teams that ends up giving CPUs much ice time, since they've got extra forwards and defencemen too. I don't think there's any logic to be found. ?

*cough*regressiontothemean*cough*

Expansion teams on top, it's a brave new world.

Mark Gebauer and Owen May

3 Stars 1 - Mark Gebauer (PRG) We still love you @Sova!

That's more like it The @Telkster with the game winner!

lol fucking McGee gtfo

And here I was thinking Sunday night entertainment was sorted.

49 Prague Phantoms @ Moscow Menace 50 Calgary Wranglers @ Vancouver Wolves 51 Seattle Bears @ Helsinki Titans 52 HC Davos Dynamo @ Malmo Nighthawks

4-2

Moscow prospects doing bits.

Season 69 VHL Entry Draft Board Portal Link Red = VHL Hall of Famer S69, S70 = S69, S70 Continental Cup Champion, etc. Round One 1. PRAGUE PHANTOMS: D - Cinnamon Block 2. D.C. DRAGONS: C - Benny Graves 3. RIGA REIGN (from Moscow): D - Guy Sasakamoose S72, S75 4. NEW YORK AMERICANS: LW - Soren Jensen 5. CALGARY WRANGLERS (from Toronto via Davos via Vancouver): LW - RJ Jubis 6. RIGA REIGN (from Vancouver): RW - Guy Lesieur 7. RIGA REIGN (from Davos via D.C.): RW - Ben Storm 8. HELSINKI TITANS: D - Erik Summers 9. CALGARY WRANGLERS: C - Hiroshi Okada 10. RIGA REIGN: LW - Patrik Tallinder S72 11. CALGARY WRANGLERS (from Malmo via Davos): RW - Kris Rice 12. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Seattle): D - David OQuinn Round Two 13. MOSCOW MENACE (from D.C.): D - Will Clarke S70, S71, S72 14. PRAGUE PHANTOMS: G - Solomon Crawford 15. MALMO NIGHTHAWKS (from New York): LW - Markus Nygren S71 16. RIGA REIGN (from Moscow): LW - Shush Nyko S72 17. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from Toronto): D - Fernando Jokinen 18. VANCOUVER WOLVES: G - Jimmy Spyro S74 19. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (via Vancouver): D - Blacker Velvet 20. HELSINKI TITANS: RW - Daldo S75 21. MOSCOW MENACE (from Calgary): D - Oskar Lagesson S70 22. RIGA REIGN: D - Richard Fitzwell 23. VANCOUVER WOLVES (from Malmo via Moscow): D - Griff Manzer S74 24. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from Seattle): D - Kevin Reegsman Round Three 25. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from D.C.): LW - Milos Slavik 26. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from Prague via Moscow): LW - Kristopher McDagg 27. HELSINKI TITANS (from New York): RW - Gary Tarantino 28. RIGA REIGN (from Moscow): G - Nicolas Fomba S72 29. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from Toronto): G - Boris Boris 30. VANCOUVER WOLVES: RW - Sade Taika 31. HC DAVOS DYNAMO: D - King Kruul 32. HELSINKI TITANS: C - Jack Russell 33. CALGARY WRANGLERS (via Seattle): C - Kim Jong Un 34. RIGA REIGN: D - Elliot Porter 35. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Malmo): D - Sven Nyckel 36. VANCOUVER WOLVES (from Seattle via D.C.): C - Shane Weibel Round Four 37. VANCOUVER WOLVES (from D.C.): G - Isak Sjostrom S74 38. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Prague): LW - Logan LeBlanc 39. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from New York): LW - Justin Goodhope 40. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from Moscow): G - Toppi Attakallio 41. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from Toronto): RW - Symere Myles 42. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Vancouver): G - Mark Davis 43. HC DAVOS DYNAMO: LW - Andy Roche 44. VANCOUVER WOLVES (from Helsinki via New York): D - Kato von Essen 45. CALGARY WRANGLERS: RW - Little RiDog 46. RIGA REIGN: C - Russ Germain 47. D.C. DRAGONS (from Malmo via Davos via New York via Seattle): RW - Igor Trice 48. MOSCOW MENACE (from Seattle via D.C.): C - Dylan Morrow

Season 68 VHL Entry Draft Board Portal Link Red = VHL Hall of Famer S68, S69 = S68, S69 Continental Cup Champion, etc. Round One 1. MALMO NIGHTHAWKS: D - Condor Adrienne S75 2. NEW YORK AMERICANS: D - Lance Flowers 3. SEATTLE BEARS: C - Thorny Underyew 4. VANCOUVER WOLVES (from Davos): D - Jeff Downey S74 5. D.C. DRAGONS (from Moscow): D - Luciano Valentino 6. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Calgary): C - Frans Eller 7. CALGARY WRANGLERS (from Riga via Davos): LW - Teemu Lehtinen Jr. 8. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Toronto via Helsinki): G - A Red Guy 9. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Helsinki): D - Fredrik Elmebeck 10. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from Vancouver): G - Samuel Ross 11. MOSCOW MENACE (from D.C.): G - Raymond Bernard S70 12. PRAGUE PHANTOMS: D - Wolf Stansson Jr. Round Two 13. NEW YORK AMERICANS: RW - Owen Nolan 14. D.C. DRAGONS (from Malmo via Riga via Davos): C - Kaspars Claude 15. PRAGUE PHANTOMS (from Seattle via Moscow): G - Bruce Grimaldi 16. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Davos via Seattle): LW - Micha Sage 17. PRAGUE PHANTOMS (from Expansion Draft): D - Seabass Perrin 18. D.C. DRAGONS (from Expansion Draft): D - Ricky Johnson 19. PRAGUE PHANTOMS (from Moscow via Vancouver): RW - Willie Dredge 20. CALGARY WRANGLERS: LW - Sigard Gunnar 21. RIGA REIGN: RW - Jeff Tates 22. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Toronto): D - Aamon Grim 23. SEATTLE BEARS (from Helsinki via New York): D - Finnegan MacBurn 24. HC DAVOS DYNAMO (from Vancouver): RW - Jerry Wang 25. D.C. DRAGONS: C - Balentine Kidd 26. CALGARY WRANGLERS (from Prague via Moscow): G - Fang Flashback Round Three 27. PRAGUE PHANTOMS (from New York): D - Gert B. Frobe 28. MOSCOW MENACE (from Malmo via Riga via Davos): D - Andrej Petrovic 29. RIGA REIGN (from Seattle via New York): RW - Ryan Busser S72 30. MOSCOW MENACE (from Davos): RW - Killy Foilen S70 31. D.C. DRAGONS (from Moscow via Riga via Malmo via Calgary): RW - Mac Hooper 32. MOSCOW MENACE (from Calgary via Davos): C - Nate Telker S70 33. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Riga): RW - Ryo Yamazuki II 34. PRAGUE PHANTOMS (from Toronto via New York via Davos via Moscow): RW - David Wallace 35. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Helsinki): RW - Jaxon Walker 36. VANCOUVER WOLVES: D - Tony Bolonee 37. D.C. DRAGONS: C - Liam Rooney 38. PRAGUE PHANTOMS: D - Jacob Perry Round Four 39. RIGA REIGN (from New York): D - Aleksandyr Hunter 40. RIGA REIGN (from Malmo): C - Chad Gilbert 41. MALMO NIGHTHAWKS (from Seattle via New York): C - Nate Wright 42. CALGARY WRANGLERS (from Davos): RW - Roadkill Steve 43. SEATTLE BEARS (from Moscow via Toronto): LW - Justin Rushmore 44. CALGARY WRANGLERS: LW - Ondrej Ohradka 45. MOSCOW MENACE (from Riga via Vancouver via Davos): D - Alex Armstrong 46. D.C. DRAGONS (from Toronto via New York via Seattle): G - Block Buster 47. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Helsinki): RW - Case Martell 48. SEATTLE BEARS (from Vancouver): RW - Joakim Sakic 49. D.C. DRAGONS: RW - Julian Blackthorn 50. PRAGUE PHANTOMS: LW - Ben McGirr Round Five 51. NEW YORK AMERICANS: LW - Jason Connors 52. MALMO NIGHTHAWKS: D - Mike van Stronk 53. NEW YORK AMERICANS (from Seattle): RW - Bud Knight 54. HC DAVOS DYNAMO: D - Beau Bennett 55. MOSCOW MENACE: RW - Ryan Dingle 56. CALGARY WRANGLERS: D - Ryan Chism 57. RIGA REIGN: RW - Benson Kramer 58. TORONTO LEGION: RW - Alex 59. HELSINKI TITANS: LW - Keith Harris 60. VANCOUVER WOLVES: C - Cameron Eastwood 61. D.C. DRAGONS: RW - Raleigh Ritchie 62. PRAGUE PHANTOMS: G - Lukas Schweitzer

G - JB Rift F - Elias Dahlberg @Acydburn