Victor

Don't worry Seattle will still win top GM.

But will we finally see a Robbie player in the Hall of Fame?

Probably not by Toronto though let's be real.

Had to idea that was stevo, I was wondering where he went after the threepeat.

You are right in a way, don't think I'd stick around if the league didn't look like it was picking up right after S61. I was still on and off throughout much S60 and S61. That said, for me S62 was also a big motivating factor - kind of need to make a great player. Also that was very much a Scotty type season.

Note: Wrote this a couple days ago for next week but now seems like an opportune moment to post it. RIP You may have noticed I've been on a bit of a crusade against the management of the Toronto Legion. Be it in responses to Devise's Media Spots or in comments on trade threads, I think I've been pretty scathing in my review of Toronto's strategy. Here's why. For context, I think Devise is one of the best GMs in VHL history. He's done it 3 times before and won cups each time, but there is one caveat. Both New York teams and the Cologne team he picked up and led to championships (in S32, S42, S52, and S53) had already gone through rebuilds – Devise just needed to make some final adjustments to push them over the edge. Each time he also left before the next rebuild had to begin. So this, his fourth GM stint, now in Toronto, is unique in that the Legion were more than a few tweaks away from the cup. However, the approach hasn't changed and that is the concern. Devise has sold the farm yet again but for why? Toronto is probably now the fourth favourite (or not) for the cup this season, and then will lose Ironside, Stopko, Louth (Editor's note: LOOOOOL), and Kane (not even confirmed coming back) – basically all its stars and half its core. At that point, Toronto will have to decide whether to buy even more or sell what's left. There's a problem with buying – the Legion now have very little to offer and no one is expected to rebuild soon. But if they sell, they're then back to what Devise has been trying to avoid: tanking without having their own (S66 in this case) draft picks. I understand the Legion has horrific luck in recent seasons. They lost the lottery twice when they had their own pick (missing out on Twinger and Kastelic), but their pick won it both times they didn't have it (Thompson and Sullivan Jr.). Dollar also complicated matters by trading Davis and Malenko before stepping down. But did they need to give up so much for Davos leftovers last off-season? Did they need to go for broke this off-season? I don't think so. I may be proven wrong – unfancied teams have won the cup before. But you can't say the odds are not very much against Toronto.

I don't think we've had a bad logo since everyone rebranded tbf, but definitely think the vintage Toronto look they went with for the threepeat is much slicker.

This is a cool podcast concept actually, glad I've come across this even via blatant advertising. Also have no idea if Toronto or Helsinki would have offered you the best stats (probs not Riga tbh), but this decision definitely tickles me more.

1. It may or may not surprise you that is something I have given some thought - not a lot of thought mind because it's still speculation and I've got a couple other projects going on. Nothing jumps out at me immediately and it's certainly unique for a cup winner to have such a diverse prospect pool. We've just never had so many consecutive deep drafts so it might become the new norm. 2. Having participated in the discussion, neither surprised me that much, although both weren't what I voted for. I think Ironside is more understandable, while a team improving less than the other and paying a higher price for that.... that's just not right. 3. Sort of expected. It reminds me of the Super Cup and maybe points to there being a limit to how much people want out of the VHL. I do think it should be an indication to those passionate about brands to make some changes otherwise I think we'll have to cut the cord within 6-8 seasons. 4. I'm still trying to adapt to this new world and grasp how much TPE there is in a season. I'm still stuck in the mindset that a season is about 100 TPE, in which case I don't have a chance, but obviously that's not right so I don't know. What I should note is the TPE record is not my aim - I don't want to max out every attribute therefore I don't really need that much now other than to fight off depreciation. So I think I'll slow down within the next couple of seasons and start recharging for the recreate.

Fitting, cuz two of those logos are from way back then too.

S61 was quite low scoring too but dunno if 8 teams has anything to do it if S62 is anything to go by.

Muchas gracias. Were you Evgeny Namestnikov back in the day?

Thanks. I'm afraid I no longer have the authority to hand that out. But I'm sure you could find some graphical PT use for them afterwards.

Hello fine GFX savyy gentlemen. Could one of you more talented people than me crop out the logos from the below hidden cup banners and turn them into logo emojis (e.g. ) please? Lost the images and no one has them saved and it's been bugging me. Much appreciated.

Yeah, no one disagreed but doesn't look like anyone really agreed either. Need to make a mental note for S64.

I'm still not sure he should be on the ballot - did anyone actually agree with him being on there?

@Quik you can react thoughtfully all you like but unless Bash is trading you a threepeat on a silver plate you have some explaining to do.

3 years later I find this thread. Better late than never. Think everyone who posted here is dead now but oh well.

This off-season is just Toronto trading draft picks and Helsinki giving favours to Calgary.

The predictions actually changed last season to remove the 'offensive' part in anticipation of the D award changes (at the time I was aiming to get rid of the Wylde rather than create the Valiq) so the plan was to annul results for the Wylde and only give prediction points for the Labatte.

Wow, great narrative-building guys considering more than half of the people who voted for options 1 and 2 are first-gens. Maybe give some genuine thought to what needs to change to make it more engaging instead of writing off criticism as "old men yelling at clouds".

I looked at our first games, forgot about the next games, then found out in the LR that we were eliminated.

There's lots of players over the years who can say that though.

Also big moment for Thompson being listed above Cast. First time since the draft is it? @Beketov

Well the thing is, the only situation like Louth's is your own with Bailey but there in a 4-season forward stint you won 3 Boulets (as well as getting a Labatte as defenceman). Louth didn't win anything but half a Stolzy on defence and so far just a Kanou as forward. I'm not hugely convinced. Ay Ay Ron's career, as it ended, has similar stats to Jake Wylde (better even) and that's with a serious dive as forward. So we are already assessing the worst case scenario with him (whereas with Louth we are speculating on his first 4 seasons matching up to his last 4 seasons at least to some extent as a forward). Of course, the key with Ron for me is the 3 Labattes he would have won and 3 Beketovs (only matched by Low) that he did. So I don't think they are comparable situations at all really. Naturally, if you add Louth to the ballot in S65, we can debate the shit out of this. At the moment I don't see it though.