Victor

Season 66 will see at least one record broken in the VHL as Seattle Bears GM Blake Campbell embarks on his eighteenth season in charge, overtaking Jason Glasser's 17 seasons managing Calgary, which had stood as the longest single tenure in charge of one team since Glasser stepped down in Season 41. Campbell is unlikely to claim the overall record in this run as although there is currently a three-way tie between Greg Harbinson, Mike Szatkowski and Chris Miller at 22 seasons of GMing each, the latter of this trio is about to add to his tally with the newly-founded Malmo Nighthawks. A realistic record which Campbell could set his sights on however is Mitch Higgins' 19 overall seasons in charge of Helsinki, split across two runs as GM in the 30s and then the 50s. Full GM statistics can be found in the spreadsheet in this thread: https://vhlforum.com/topic/1060-vhl-all-time-gms/ Longevity is impressive but can be a deceiving statistic, especially if a GM overstays his welcome. The currently most successful GM, reigning back-to-back champion Ryan Power has never stayed with a team for longer than five seasons but has 13 playoff appearances in 15 seasons of GMing and now a record six Continental Cups. However, neither Glasser or Campbell can be accused of lving off past glories. At the 17-season mark they have identical records, with 10 playoff appearances, two trips to the finals and one cup each. Going into this off-season, Campbell made 54 trades, slightly above Glasser's 49. Overall, respectable results over about a quarter of VHL's history, which is no mean feat. Beyond the statistics, similarities are harder to find. The pair GMed in completely different eras, with an 8-season gap between Glasser stepping down (which was before Campbell was even drafted) and Campbell taking over in Seattle. Glasser took over Calgary in the tail-end of the original eight-team era and then navigated through the changing world of post-expansion VHL. The first part of Campbell's tenure was in the somewhat dystopian late stage of 10-team VHL, with conference imbalances and a general lack of parity, before going through Project Player Two, contraction, and now a fresh expansion. There are also few similarities in their personal styles and approaches to the job. Was either GM better than the other? It's hard to say. One cup in 17 seasons means both Campbell and Glasser had their fair share of misfortune. Calgary won a well deserved cup in S30 but that core could have done more, but couldn't convert a dominant regular season in S31 to tangible playoff success, before losing a finals Game 7 in S34. Chasing that second championship ultimately hamstrung Glasser's second rebuild and he stepped down nearly a decade after his peak, although there was enough left over for the Wranglers to win a cup in S44. Ultimately, the competition in the North American Conference was consistently sky high, with crossover briefly introduced before expansion in large part because all of New York, Seattle, Calgary, and Toronto had championship aspirations just before S30 and Quebec replaced Seattle in the mix for most of the next decade. Seattle when Campbell took over also had to compete with three stacked teams in Toronto, New York, and Quebec, therefore opted to trade their assets to the weaker European Conference, restocked and won back-to-back Victory Cups in S52 and S53. However, much like more recently in S64 and S65, the Bears' playoff performances have no correlation with the regular season – they have not made the finals after any of their dominant regular seasons, but did win the cup in S59 despite going into the postseason as underdogs. Three strong contending cycles is ultimately a good reflection on Campbell as a GM, but doesn't mean there won't be lingering regrets. Is there a moral to this story? There doesn't necessarily have to be as after all these are two GMs from different times with different stories who just happened to be in competition for one VHL record. Perhaps the curse of longevity is that you will always have peaks and troughs, but you can't make mistakes without trying and you certainly can't win without taking risks. @diamond_ace @Banackock

He'll want to be there for Thompson signing with Toronto though. ?

had to do it for the Devise meme Welcome @ChaceT

Kendrick performing honourary seppuku helped.

Think you'd have been on Kristensen at the time. nah it was McNeil

1. High hopes for the coming season in Moscow? 2. Thoughts on the insane depth of this draft coming up, how does it compare to your own? 3. If you had to pick one thing you wanted to achieve in your career, what would it be? 4. How did you come up with your player name? 5. What's one thing the VHL could do better?

Wow that's weird. Unfortunately my regular site zippyshare is now blocked in the UK, the decent alternative I found last week decided to not bother uploading anything today so I've had to opt for this rogue website. Open to suggestions.

Literally what the fuck are the commissioners even doing

1. I was in Toronto last October, shame I missed you. Sup? 2. There's so many people in this league now, ever thought you'd see the day? 3. Ever think you're gonna remember who all the newbies are? I literally have no idea half the time. 4. Thoughts on the two new teams in the VHL? 5. What flavour ice cream are you?

I yawn my way through a podcast which is just ramblings of a mad man. Fuck everything. https://www.filefactory.com/file/4fuqfpvtai9t/APWNP_Ep 16.wav

After the trade of the first overall pick, Moscow Menace GM Victor Alfredsson decided to stir shit up and said the following: “For a few days now I have been debating trading the first overall pick or sticking with it. On one hand you had a guaranteed franchise player in HHH, on the other two guaranteed VHL players but perhaps neither quite so good. Oh wait no, it wasn't a decision between HHH and two players, as I was going to draft Shane Mars first overall. This isn't me trying to grab the headlines after losing the spotlight of the first overall pick, this is the truth. I spoke to both HHH and Mars and realised that the chances of Moscow keeping HHH beyond his entry-level contract were about 50/50 – yeah he left it open to be convinced but I think it was too much of a risk. Mars on the other hand indicated that he would be motivated by being drafted first overall over HHH and would be glad to represent Menace loyally after that. So I was on the verge of deciding to surprise the league and pick Mars first. That would have been fun to watch, as suddenly all the teams immediately below who have been trading up and down and all around the top 4 picks would realise that all this time HHH was available at second overall and in fact would go to Vancouver. But alas, I ultimately decided that the drop from Mars to fifth overall wasn't big enough to justify missing out on basically a free asset in tenth overall. We really need assets. I leave the drama in the hands of Riga now, perhaps their GM will take Mars first to fuck with everyone. I wish I had that choice but needs must. Just thought I'd tell you what could have been.”

Expansion draft and trade talk: https://www.filefactory.com/file/1r865tmn3r5z/Pod Cast Show Ep 11.wav

Well that's my scouting done.

5 for Pavlov

no idea. Should be 6 TPE for you, updated OP.

hockeyfan, bloody hell

cuz Brexit hasn't torn these isles apart yet

@sterling

HOLYYYYYYYYYY FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK

Updated. Also @jblock3 - moved you up to 4 TPE as per PM.

Haha, I just remember him being part of the threepeat at some stage, was not massive active myself to realise if you were.

Kerkko did didn't he? That said, did notice you and Warlock racing up the cup wins chart. Unsung heroes.

It doesn't whoops. That should give you four of the missing five, I'll edit that later.

So I was going to be nice and tag everyone individually but the website didn't want to play ball so fuck that. Tagging everyone, if you're not listed below, don't worry that's just because of the mass tag, but make sure to participate in S66 trivia next season! (I also tag everyone for week 1). @Members 6 uncapped TPE goes to: Bucky___lastard Enorama gorlab Kylrad Matmenzinger rjfryman SlapshotDragon Thranduil Anthony Matthews DMaximus DollarAndADream FacebookFighter Grape GRZ GustavMattias Jubo07 oilmandan omgitshim Radcow RunnerBert11 SirRupertBarnes Snussu Sonnet StamkosFan Toasty Beketov Victor for running this shit 5 uncapped TPE goes to: BladeMaiden Esso2264 hedgehog337 Jtv123 Quik SidTheKid87 Velevra xsjack Bushito DilIsPickle K1NG LINUS Nykonax Patpou22 Poptart Sharkstrong Spade18 TheLastOlympian07 Xdpark 4 uncapped TPE goes to: efiug Matt_O nethi99 solas Tagger flyersfan1453 gregreg Hybrid1486 Josh. Kirby Renomitsu Sogarn TheFlash jblock3 3 uncapped TPE goes to: aleks Birdman cody73 Gabella19 GlowyGoat Infernal leafsman Lightningyamasha littleboi MexicanCow123 okocha5 Oost philliefan SaltyTalty Ahma Inf1d3l 2 uncapped TPE goes to: bluesfan55 Eudaldkp Joeyboucher1 jRuutu majesiu McWolf O4L PapaGage Rocketman04 Slashacm Smarch BOOM 11 Eleven Bonzaijoe FacePuncher FrostBeard Kuch9 ShawnGlade SparrowLTD Uphillmoss zepheter 1 uncapped TPE goes to: chillzone diamond_ace eaglesfan036 hockeyis66 kithoo monkeywrench15 Peace Romaris TheFlash Yusuf Abdul-Latif .sniffuM Adama Traore ItsMcLovin Kisshan leafssteen Rayzor_7 TacticalHammer AndrewWarren13 Antone10 Award97 Barracuda Birdman Dangles13 don draper FBR flan Galdoblame Jake Levine Joeyboucher1 Jus Kyle leafssteen Nacho Plate Savoire Faire StaticShocked Sunburst teztify Tophdaddy TriaL Exotic Trifecta wcats Wheaties ADwyer87 DoubleCarl Goonie Greg_Di Jacob Kundrat Jayhawk nethi99 PSanchez55 WhiteMocha Full results if you're interest (1 point per correct answer during S65):

That's it for S65 trivia then. And S65 in general. Good season everyone, pats on the back all around. Here's the final answers: Which of these four current VHLM teams names has been used for the longest amount of time? (1 uncapped TPE to @Tagger for providing the question) Of the four option, the Saskatoon Wild are the correct answer, having remained unchanged since moving from Buffalo (where they were known as the Jr. Bears) in S17. Ottawa's team changed from Ice Dogs to Lynx in S34, the Rush have been known under one name but only came into existence in S31 in the first expansion, while the Storm, formerly based in Oslo, were renamed from the Screaming Seamen in S24. Easiest place to find that is probably here: https://vhlforum.com/topic/3173-vhlm-team-abbreviations/ Before Daisuke Kanou, how many times did a goaltender win Playoff MVP? (1 uncapped TPE to @solas - although he actually answered it incorrectly when he submitted the question) 5 goalies won the award in the VHL's first 19 seasons - the very first winner Matthew Pogge, and then Maxim Desny (first player to be crowned playoff MVP in a losing effort), followed by Marek Van Urho (S10), Benoit Devereux (S11) and finally Zach Voss in S19. Then came Kanou who won the award 3 times and the rest is history. 2 capped TPE goes to: Nykonax @Nykonax xsjack @xsjack Jubo07 @Jubo07 Oilmandan @oilmandan Bucky___lastard @Bucky___lastard Smarch @Smarch Romaris @Romaris SlapshotDragon @SlapshotDragon efiug @efiug Jtv123 @Jtv123 Infernal @Infernal Esso2264 @Esso2264 gorlab @gorlab DilIsPickle @DilIsPickle 11 Eleven @11 Eleven BladeMaiden @BladeMaiden Enorama @Enorama GRZ @GRZ zepheter @zepheter jblock3 @jblock3 Snussu @Snussu Velevra @Velevra littleboi @littleboi SirRupertBarnes @SirRupertBarnes StamkosFan @StamkosFan Anthony Matthews @Anthony Matthews Rayzor_7 @Rayzor_7 TheFlash @TheFlash Matmenzinger @Matmenzinger Beketov @Beketov Gabella19 @Gabella19 Poptart @Poptart Savoire Faire @Savoire Faire Thranduil @Thranduil omgitshim @omgitshim Grape @Grape solas @solas Slashacm @SlashACM Eudaldkp @Eudaldkp chillzone @chillzone BOOM @BOOM™ rjfryman @rjfryman Xdpark @xDParK RunnerBert11 @RunnerBert11 cody73 @cody73 Matt_O @Matt_O Spade18 @Spade18 Toasty @Toasty Sonnet @Sonnet DollarAndADream @DollarAndADream facebookfighter @FacebookFighter flyersfan1453 @flyersfan1453 okocha5 @okocha5 GustavMattias @GustavMattias hedgehog337 @hedgehog337 Kylrad @Kylrad DMaximus @DMaximus SidTheKid87 @SidTheKid87 Radcow @Radcow eaglesfan036 @eaglesfan036 Quik @Quik 1 capped TPE goes to: TheLastOlympian07 @TheLastOlympian07 FacePuncher @FacePuncher Greg_Di @Greg_Di Renomitsu @Renomitsu