Victor

6 uncapped TPE goes to: Anthony Matthews 12 BladeMaiden 12 DilIsPickle 12 DollarAndADream 12 Enorama 12 fever95 12 gorlab 12 hedgehog337 12 ItsMcLovin 12 Kekzkrieg 12 leafsman 12 majesiu 12 McWolf 12 MexicanCow123 12 Midnite 12 Mr_Hatter 12 Omgitshim 12 OrbitingDeath 12 philliefan 12 Tagger 12 TheLastOlympian07 12 Velevra 12 Victor 12 .sniffuM 11 Acydburn 11 Beketov 11 BigBallerFromDownUnder 11 Cxsquared 11 diacope 11 DoktorFunk 11 Edustava 11 FrostBeard 11 Greg_Di 11 GRZ 11 GustavMattias 11 Hughjas_ 11 HulkHogan 11 JeffD 11 jRuutu 11 Jtv123 11 Jubo07 11 Liberty_cabbage 11 Patrik Tallinder 11 Phil 11 studentized 11 5 uncapped TPE goes to: CowboyinAmerica 10 DMaximus 10 Erik Summers 10 flyersfan1453 10 Joubo 10 Juddy 10 Kylrad 10 Renomitsu 10 sjs88speed 10 Snussu 10 Tate 10 wcats 10 Banana2311 9 Beaviss 9 Berocka 9 chillzone 9 Dalton Wilcox 9 Elmebeck 9 enigmatic 9 Esso2264 9 FonziGG 9 HenrikZoiderberg 9 JBeezy76 9 JohnOQuinn 9 Josh 9 Matt_O 9 nethi99 9 Patpou22 9 PotatoKing 9 R jubis 9 Rayzor_7 9 Saelven88 9 Sebster03 9 Spyro 9 Steve 9 Telkster 9 VanCanWin 9 4 uncapped TPE goes to: Bushito 8 Fire_In_Babylon 8 Garsh 8 Harpskii 8 Jayrad28 8 Krice13 8 MacH 8 Matmenzinger 8 Motzaburger 8 NumberJ5 8 TacticalHammer 8 Grape 7 Larry Five Hole 7 Peace 7 Poptart 7 rjfryman 7 SlapshotDragon 7 Tuktukthegreat 7 3 uncapped TPE goes to: 73MPL4R 6 Bruins10 6 Cornholio 6 DangerGolding 6 eaglesfan036 6 frescoelmo 6 KC15 6 MMFLEX 6 Oilmandan 6 Quik 6 Sharkstrong 6 stevo 6 SweetMike666 6 Tape-to-Tape 6 Tbeezy99 6 zepheter 6 Benson 5 Big Mac 5 bluesfan55 5 Brrbisbrr 5 Donno100 5 efiug 5 Frank 5 Jaku 5 KC Philip 5 Smarch 5 Zeno 5 2 uncapped TPE goes to: 11 Eleven 4 Apoc_Chaos 4 Aye my name jeff 4 Beowoof 4 Doc Holliday 4 Goliathus 4 Kyle 4 Molholt 4 monkeywrench15 4 MWHazard 4 Nykonax 4 SidTheKid87 4 Sixersfan594 4 TheNano74 4 Tomato Soup 4 Uphillmoss 4 aCrypticPancake 3 Ahma 3 BarzalGoat 3 cartoes 3 Chad D 3 Ckbruinfan 3 ComplexRevo 3 elrune1988 3 Infernal 3 littleboi 3 SDCore 3 Thatguy91 3 1 uncapped TPE goes to: Briedaqueduc 2 Frostbite 2 funkydave 2 hewasajazzman 2 LefLop 2 okocha5 2 Sade 2 Siddhus 2 Sonnet 2 StamkosFan 2 Strooper99 2 Walter Fizz 2 Xdpark 2 animal74 1 Bucky___lastard 1 DizzyWithLogic 1 Elhandon 1 FerdaJets 1 Murphy 1 ViperXhawks19 1

@FrostBeard explain yourself

hop on my back boys I'll take you into the horizon

It will be interesting to follow. To be honest, I realised when looking through the career stats, of the 26 players over 800 points, 13 have retired since S30. So it's literally a 50/50 split (OK, we're closer to S70 than S60 now). So perhaps there's not such a massive drop off in big points producers after all.

So it ends. Yes, Matt Thompson and Podrick Cast will also compete in one last World Cup for Canada and Western Europe respectively, but as far their meaningful careers are concerned, the era of the two S61 powerhouses has come to an end. Drafted first and third overall eight seasons ago, the Thompson vs Cast dynamic has dominated this decade and will go down as one of the most memorable individual rivalries in VHL history, purely because of how rare it is for two draft rivals to match each other stride for stride quite so much. I reported on the halfway mark of their careers, when already the duo's Hall of Fame credentials were clear to see. As it stands, although we are now nearly done with the 60s, it is still very much up in the air what other players who have made their debut since S60 will be in that conversation, but for Thompson and Cast it appears no more than a formality. Statistically, this is how things ended for the two: Matt Thompson Podrick Cast Goals Points Goals Points S61 33 56 49 97 S62 76 150 79 174 S63 51 102 50 106 S64 56 110 48 102 S65 52 101 41 95 S66 51 101 33 80 S67 43 83 46 104 S68 60 122 33 88 422 825 379 846 After having the upper hand for the first halves of their careers, Cast let Thompson past him quite clearly after S64. In the end, quite fittingly, one of the two was clearly better than the other for 3 seasons each, with S63 and S64 being something of a wash. The career stats also evened out after Cast's fast start, with Cast finishing 15th all time in career points, narrowly ahead of Thompson in 19th. The headline stat however is of course Thompson's 422 goals, which comfortably puts him 4th all time – only 3 players since S10 hit the 400-goal mark previously, with Phil Rafter and Max Molholt leading the pack on 407 goals each. For further context, Thompson was just 28 goals off being second only to the great Scotty Campbell in that regard. As far as awards are concerned, both forwards accumulated a healthy share in their time, but Cast's failure to win a team or individual trophy in the second half of his career contributes to the sense of the tables turning considerably after that halfway point of S64. Podrick Cast One Continental Cup (S63 Riga) Two-time MVP (S62 and S64 Scotty Campbell Trophy) S62 Mike Szatkowski (most points), Kevin Brooks (most goals), Brett Slobodzian (most outstanding) Trophies Matt Thompson One Continental Cup (S66 Helsinki) Two-time Most Outstanding (S64 and likely S68 Brett Slobodzian Trophy) One-time MVP (S68 Scotty Campbell Trophy – projected) Two-time top scorer (S64 and S68 Mike Szatkowski Trophy) Three-time top goalscorer (S64, S66, S68 Kevin Brooks Trophy) Four-time top two-way forward (S62, S64, S65, S66 Scott Boulet Trophy) Both Cast and Thompson will have a few regrets which come with operating at such a high level (i.e. striving for perfection). With 1,635 and 1,571 TPE respectively, which translated to 1,155 TPA for Cast at the time of retirement and 1,080 for Thompson, anything less than being the best in league is in a way a failure. For Cast, this manifested itself in the last few weeks of S67, when he lost the goals and points leads and the subsequent MVP vote to Rauno Palo, a decision which contibuted to the abolition of the awards committee. Thompson's close vote loss happened in S66, when another strong playoff performance should have resulted in the Daisuke Kanou Trophy but one rogue vote led to that award going to teammate Alexander Pepper. In addition, his intense focus on goal-scoring especially to end his career led to a decline in Thompson's hitting and he missed two chances to match David Smalling on a record 5 Scott Boulet Trophies. Ultimately though, who was the better forward? Interestingly enough, this might have a different answer to who should have been drafted first overall in S61. Based on final TPE, overall loyalty (6 seasons as Riga captain vs Thompson's 3 trips to free agency), and the fact Cast won a cup on his entry-level contract, means that Seattle might have been better off selecting Cast over Thompson after all. However, there is obviously no proof their careers would have gone the same way especially as there is a good chance Quebec would have swooped in to take Thompson second overall instead. Plus, of course the Bears now have fewer regrets as unlike Riga, who continued to compete to this day, Seattle pulled the plug on their contending run after S65 and the pieces from that firesale led to the championship with a brand new team in S68. But even with that in mind, Thompson did eventually edge ahead of Cast in terms of career achievements. Cast has the modern day single season record in S62 but Thompson now has the arguably more impressive career goal-scoring mark, in addition to a larger collection of awards. His two-way play put him clearly ahead in a category in which Cast could not compete, and will put Thompson in good stead whenever the the ranking of the top 10 all-time two-way forwards is updated (he'd currently have a case to be placed anywhere from sixth to second). Both Cast and Thompson are also likely to rank high on an updated top 15 forwards list, although the top 5 might still be hard to crack. But where Thompson really pulls ahead is in the playoffs. Whereas Cast put up a very average 32 points in 35 playoff appearances (and didn't actually win a playoff series outside of the S63 cup run), Thompson was regularly his teams' focal point in the post-season, from the young underdogs in Seattle in S62 all the way to the more recent go with Malmo in S68. As a result, he put up a remarkable 1.51 point-per-game pace, which combined with a Gabriel McAllister-esque hitting ability probably actually puts him ahead of McAllister as the third best forward in VHL playoff history, just behind Scotty Campbell and Alexander Chershenko. How that would impact a rejigged all-time list given also the need to consider to other relatively recent retirees (Norris Stopko, a goalie, and Mats Johnsson, a defenceman) is a matter of debate for a later date, but it certainly puts Thompson ahead as the best player of his generation. And so it ends. Until the S69 Hall of Fame induction ceremony, where the inseparable Podrick Cast and Matt Thompson should make one last appearance together – two giants of an era that has finally closed. @Beketov

Final week results! 1. How many players have won the Alexander Beketov Trophy in non-consecutive years? (Credit and 1 uncapped TPE to @rjfryman) Almost everyone who's won the trophy more than once weirdly. 11 players have led the league in assists more than twice but only 2 did so in consecutive seasons (caveat: Conner Low did do that also in S39 and S40, but qualifies for "non-consecutive" criteria giving he also won the Bek in S37). 2. Which VHL expansion franchise made its first finals appearance quickest (i.e. fewest seasons from formation)? Malmo just this season did make some history by making the finals in just their third season of existence, beating Quebec's old record of 5 seasons. Quebec did win the cup in S35 though, so that record remains up for grabs for all of the 4 recent expansion teams. 2 capped TPE goes to: gorlab @gorlab SlapshotDragon @SlapshotDragon Tate @Tate Josh @Josh Cxsquared @Cxsquared GustavMattias @GustavMattias Berocka @Berocka Banana2311 @Banana2311 Tagger @Tagger Patrik Tallinder @Patrik Tallinder McWolf @McWolf Beketov @Beketov Mr_Hatter @Mr_Hatter Liberty_cabbage @Liberty_Cabbage TheLastOlympian07 @TheLastOlympian07 Krice13 @Krice13 Anthony Matthews @Anthony Matthews Frostbite @Frostbite Jubo07 @Jubo07 Snussu @Snussu wcats @wcats jRuutu @jRuutu Renomitsu @Renomitsu Jtv123 @Jtv123 majesiu @majesiu leafsman @leafsman Phil @Phil OrbitingDeath @OrbitingDeath Patpou22 @Patpou22 Matt O @Matt_O KC15 @KC15 Henrikzoiderberg @HenrikZoiderberg DoktorFunk @DoktorFunk StamkosFan @StamkosFan Kekzkrieg @Kekzkrieg GRZ @GRZ Hulkhogan @HulkHogan fonziGG @fonziGG Doc Holliday @Doc Holliday Steve @Steve 73MPL4R @73MPL4R Molholt @Molholt Elmebeck @Elmebeck Erik Summers @Erik Summers R jubis @R Jubis Goliathus @Goliathus diacope @diacope enigmatic @enigmatic TheNano74 @TheNano74 CowboyinAmerica @CowboyinAmerica BigBallerFromDownUnder @BigBallerFromDownUnder JohnOQuinn @JohnOQuinn Chillzone @chillzone VanCanWin @VanCanWin Enorama @Enorama Saelven88 @Saelven88 Velevra @Velevra Jaku @Jaku Spyro @Spyro Dalton Wilcox @Dalton Wilcox Edustava @Edustava DMaximus @DMaximus DilIsPickle @DilIsPickle philliefan @Philliefan Beaviss @Beaviss ItsMcLovin @ItsMcLovin Greg_Di @Greg_Di fever95 @fever95 DangerGolding @DangerGolding Eaglesfan036 @eaglesfan036 JBeezy76 @Jbeezy76 Acydburn @Acydburn MexicanCow123 @MexicanCow123 Matmenzinger @Matmenzinger NumberJ5 @NumberJ5 sjs88speed @sjs88speed Juddy @Juddy rjfryman @rjfryman Cornholio @Cornholio nethi99 @nethi99 Motzaburger @Motzaburger Sebster03 @Sebster03 .sniffuM @.sniffuM Omgitshim @omgitshim Tactical hammer @TacticalHammer Harpskii @Harpskii studentized @studentized DollarAndADream @DollarAndADream Midnite @Midnite frescoelmo @frescoelmo Garsh @Garsh Jayrad28 @Jayrad28 Kylrad @Kylrad BladeMaiden @BladeMaiden flyersfan1453 @flyersfan1453 Sebster03 @Sebster03 Renomitsu @Renomitsu hedgehog337 @hedgehog337 Peace @Peace JeffD @JeffD Hughjas_ @HughJas_ PotatoKing @PotatoKing zepheter @zepheter FrostBeard @FrostBeard 1 capped TPE goes to: @Big Mac

uhhhh

I know Vancouver has no cap, but didn't think Helsinki was much better.

Bana's posts should come with a disclaimer saying "this opinion is mine and mine alone".

Never had the chance to experience disappointment on two different World Cup teams simultaneously.

If New York didn't protect you last minute in S65 you already would have been.

Well it's a blue whose name starts with a B who actually responded to something, why would you ever assume it was Bek.

Playoffs every season and 3 cups. Quite a good return.

Could have been worse I guess.

lol RIP 3rd finals sweep in 5 seasons, step it up VHL

My conservative ass wants us to go back to when if you announce your retirement before the WC you don't get to play, but that has changed recently so yes Cast should be there for one last hurrah.

I reckon he'll be on the HOF ballot and then we'll see what happens. Solid career.

who r u

I hate everyone involved in this series why am I even checking the games

I've droned on about how goalies aren't having such a good time in the modern VHL and the S68 regular season was another one where on average it wasn't statistically good (although Finn Davison did have a more traditionally good season for a goalie). But maybe the tide is turning just a bit in these playoffs. In my regular update of this spreadsheet, S68 has seen a large influx of goalies onto the list, beating a threshold of .930 save percentage in a single series. The fact there are six new entries is partially to do with there being more playoff series, but even with expansion, the ranking has only had small trickles in (1 a year basically throughout the 60s until things sped up in S67 and now this season). Now we have Rayz Funk and Michael Johnson breaking through as sophomores (Funk might have the inside track on the Kanou Trophy, although his impressive performances did come in the weaker conference), while Pepper and Kriketers have added a second good playoff season to their tally, albeit in a losing effort. Brick Wahl also had performed heroically in S67 only to fall short against Vancouver, but now finally pushed Calgary over the edge (even if only to lose in the next round). Is a golden era of goaltending on the horizon? Who fucking knows, maybe.

1. How many of the inducted Builders do not currently have a Hall of Fame player? (Credit and 1 uncapped TPE to @Beaviss) Proving that you don't need to have sim luck to be inducted into the HOF for your achievements as a member, the following six members have not yet seen one of their players honoured with a HOF induction: Sandro Desaulniers - currently inactive and without a player Lucas Tannahill aka Pensfan101 - as above Austin Gow aka @eaglesfan036 Jim Gow aka @flyersfan1453 Ryan Power aka @Devise Jason Glasser aka @diamond_ace 2. What is the longest Continental Cup streak achieved by one team? (Credit and 1 uncapped TPE to @uphillmoss) We had many repeats in the VHL - Calgary in S2 and S3, most recently Toronto in S64 and S65, but only one ever threepeat, making the correct answer. The threepeat, the only one of its kind, was achieved by @Molholt's Toronto Legion of S48-S50 (and god was it close to a fourpeat ?). 2 capped TPE goes to: HenrikZoiderberg @HenrikZoiderberg GustavMattias @GustavMattias Krice13 @Krice13 cxsquared @Cxsquared Matt_O @Matt_O Steve @Steve gorlab @gorlab Patrik Tallinder @Patrik Tallinder Betocka @Berocka Banana2311 @Banana2311 Beowoof @Beowoof Telkster @Telkster SweetMike666 @SweetMike666 Beketov @Beketov Liberty_Cabbage @Liberty_Cabbage FrostBeard @FrostBeard OrbitingDeath @OrbitingDeath GRZ @GRZ philliefan @Philliefan Josh @Josh JBeezy76 @Jbeezy76 DilIsPickle @DilIsPickle Enorama @Enorama Kekzkrieg @Kekzkrieg TheLastOlympian07 @TheLastOlympian07 Mr_Hatter @Mr_Hatter VanCanWin @VanCanWin Greg_Di @Greg_Di Midnite @Midnite Velevra @Velevra Dalton Wilcox @Dalton Wilcox ItsMcLovin @ItsMcLovin Edustava @Edustava motzaburger @Motzaburger majesiu @majesiu McWolf @McWolf leafsman @leafsman frescoelmo @frescoelmo Erik Summers @Erik Summers Tate @Tate Tagger @Tagger Elmebeck @Elmebeck Tbeez99 @Tbeez99 R jubis @R Jubis Kekzkrieg @Kekzkrieg Anthony Matthews @Anthony Matthews wcats @wcats JohnOQuinn @JohnOQuinn Phil @Phil Esso2264 @Esso2264 zepheter @zepheter Numberj5 @NumberJ5 Cornholio @Cornholio jRuutu @jRuutu Juddy @Juddy DMaximus @DMaximus KC15 @KC15 enigmatic @enigmatic DoktorFunk @DoktorFunk sebster03 @Sebster03 BladeMaiden @BladeMaiden poptart @Poptart Larry Five Hole @Larry Five Hole Omgitshim @omgitshim sjs88speed @sjs88speed Acydburn @Acydburn Sixersfan549 @Sixersfan549 BigBallerFromDownUnder @BigBallerFromDownUnder Jayrad28 @Jayrad28 Grape @Grape Bushito @Bushito Garsh @Garsh PotatoKing @PotatoKing Patpou22 @Patpou22 Renomitsu @Renomitsu Joubo @Joubo fonziGG @fonziGG Jtv123 @Jtv123 flyersfan1453 @flyersfan1453 Rayzor_7 @Rayzor_7 DollarAndADream @DollarAndADream hedgehog337 @hedgehog337 Hulkhogan @HulkHogan Spyro @Spyro CowboyinAmerica @CowboyinAmerica studentized @studentized VanCanWin @VanCanWin .sniffuM @.sniffuM MexicanCow123 @MexicanCow123 Harpskii @Harpskii Kylrad @Kylrad fever95 @fever95 Big Mac @Big Mac diacope @diacope JeffD @JeffD stevo @stevo Hughjas_ @HughJas_ Beaviss @Beaviss 1 capped TPE goes to: animal74 @animal74 Jubo07 @Jubo07 Goliathus @Goliathus Murphy @Murphy

fixd

Last one of the season! 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/1FAIpQLSf1K0RjMVdn0VdYzjdeU4ay5Vt7bXzxNnA364EN2qVtzhFdYA/viewform?usp=sf_link

1. Probably that win streak of hope at the end when Bernard went on a mad one and we somehow almost did it. 2. I think all the teams I like are out now. Of the 3 remaining, Riga is my fave but I should probably withdraw support before it's too late. 3. Just gonna keep chugging along to hopefully break out as one of the league's top defencemen. 4. Uhhhhh..... probably not qualified to answer this one but I would recommend you take me as a tour guide to NZ. 5. Cast is one of the finest players in VHL history, can always find a new mother in law. 6. I prefer not to speak, if I speak I am in big trouble.

Wow what a shock