Victor

Part I - Pick em' (Pick the correct winners of all three games for 2 TPE) Game 3 - Calgary Wranglers @ Quebec Meute Game 4 - Calgary Wranglers @ Quebec Meute Game 5 - Quebec Meute @ Calgary Wranglers Part II - Predict the Score (Predict the correct score and winner of this game for 3 TPE) Game 4 - Calgary Wranglers @ Quebec Meute 2-4 Part III - Player Predictions (Predict the correct player for each category, 1 TPE for each correct answer) Series leader in points: Canmore Series leader in goals: Louth - of the Keaton variety Series leader in assists: Canmore

Thanks Seattle!

Got great arenas in hell.

playa

great tune

How old is the father?

It's coming home.

S62 was a great year I don't know what you're talking about.

What about S62????

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It is a World Cup year, right? I feel like I should know this but nothing really seems to be happening and we're about to hit the Continental Cup finals without a commish, GMs, any mention of the WC. Hopefully someone is on top of it. In the meantime, assuming it is a World Cup year, it's a weekend, I'm not in the playoffs any more, so not too much to talk about apart from the World Cup. I hope that Team Europe has got a few more of the first-gens after the nation swaps for the WJC because previously it was just me and @Tyler pretty much. That would be a hilarious trainwreck of a WC tournament. That said, I do recall lots of the S63 first-gens opted for Asian countries and other 'rest of the world' places so I suspect that team will get a bit of a boost in addition to the existing Russians led by @Banackock's love in for their players, while Europe will be in total shit. As long as we don't get merged with Scandinavia we should be fine. The World Cup is a weird one. It always feels like it's dominated by Canada and the USA, but then you look at it and actually Scandinavia is the dominant force historically (still driven by 4 straight golds in the 20s, god I timed Lars Berger's career right). Even the less fancied teams generally have never been utterly shit, apart from Mercenaries but that is pretty much expected. Here's a thread: https://vhlforum.com/topic/29475-world-cup-medals-by-team/ In my absence I lost my place atop the WC medals list to Kendrick and Smarch. Here's a thread: https://vhlforum.com/topic/22461-world-cup-medals-by-player-and-by-member/ In all likelihood, making European players will not help my chances at all, but then the massive Irishman that is Greg Clegane did get quite a few medals. So maybe all hope is not lost. Anyway, looking forward to seeing stuff appear for this tournament in the next week. *nudge* *wink*

Allez les wolfs

Sterling says he played around with the sliders for Jenskovic, his defenceman and made a lower scoring league but that's the extent of the evidence. I don't know if the sliders were cranked up to be offensive for Campbell. Equally it's not unfathomable that he was the best player in the league as he had the most TPE by a fair amount (and 400 to 600 is a bigger difference than 800 to 1000) having a guaranteed 9 TPE/week. So I personally don't think it was full on riggery if at all.

A separate point for old fucks such as myself in here - we might have exhausted all V1 options personally but like half of the current member base is on their first players. They haven't exhausted anything and I would hate for us to take away the V1 experience in pursuit of some (probably) unrealistic ideals. I mean test away, but I'm pretty sure V1 still offers the best balance of enjoyment for all positions compared to other versions.

Ah damn thought you wouldn't be so basic. Can't blame you though, if I had O'Malley he'd be my favourite by a distance. Maybe Cast can come close.... So I'd have to guess one of Boomchenko, Tordahl, and Koenig so Tordahl? Also the best but really good at his peak and played for some good teams.

A A RON

Omg this is so rigged.

Krigars. I think you slowly built up from a good team player in Zeptenbergs (also threepeat member right), then a fun goon turned good all around defence man in Petenis, but Krigars was just really good and you won cups with Riga. I'd like to think Davey Jones because he lasted 6 seasons and Davos was good fun. Also Moon though maybe? He was really good for a time. It does feel like you have no favourites cuz you always retire them.

I did think you'd throw me a curveball tbh. BVJ is a fairly sensible choice and it was a fun time so makes sense.

1,764 words so week of 24th week of 1st week of 8th

Not so long ago I was thinking who a few people's favourite players are and realised there was some solid Media Spot potential there. It's a bit of a guessing game because it's all about the mindset – favourite doesn't necessarily mean best. It depends on a lot of factors, including activity at the time and how invested you are in the story. For instance, my best player was probably Clegane, but my favourite is still Chershenko. So, without further ado... Trying to guess your favourite player @CowboyinAmerica Karsten Olsen Hans Wingate Gabriel McAllister Quite a difficult one to start off here as you've done quite well on your last 2 players. I feel like I got a happier vibe from 'WinGod', what with being undisputed best goalie for a bit and the threepeat (first and only of its kind etc etc). Both Wingate and McAllister are remarkable playoff perfromers too but I'm going for Wingate here fully expecting the correct answer to be Olsen. @sterling Sterling Labatte Grimm Jonsson James Bencharski Alexander Labatte Tom Slaughter Jeff Hamilton With a 6/6 Hall of Famer record this is actually quite difficult to call, but I've always got the feeling that your favourite player was your first – hence the same username ever since. If I had to rank the rest it would be the other Labatte in second, and Grimm Jonsson in third, and who knows about the rest. Going for Sterling, but spoilt for choice really. @Higgins Mitch Higgins Tuomas Tukio James Faraday Black Velvet Jacob Jack Shephard The draft hype, the threepeat, then some individual success and finishing on a high in Helsinki as GM, I think this is a pretty easy call. Plus the banner in your profile always gives the game away given it's been nearly 10 seasons now. I reckon before Velvet it was Tukio, once upon a time the statistically best goalie ever (or thereabouts) but he's been usurped quite comprehensively. @tfong Terence Fong Ginzou Fujiwara Daisuke Kanou Ying Qin Xin Xie Xiao Biggu Kyanon Fook Yu The laid-back resident Asian Fong never lets on that he cares too much about his players, but still must have some favourites. Given Kanou was possibly the best playoff goalie ever (award named after him and all) and not too shabby in the regular season, I have to imagine he takes the crown. @Beketov Robert Sharpe Alexander Beketov Alex Young Niklas Kristensen Jason White Evgeni Chekhov Jackson Miller Jakab Holik Roman Sokolov What's in a name? Beketov changed his name early in the VHL days to, well, Beketov, and has kept that since despite going through a multitude of players in the ensuing 50+ seasons. That gives the game away to be honest and is no fun. Damn it Beketov. @street Fayt Leingod Geno Esposito Benjamin Glover Keiji Toriyama Lloyd Light Diana Maxwell mist4ke This is quite an interesting as I never know how to read street. I feel like Glover might have been the favourite at one point, just because that was probably the peak of your activity, but Maxwell to me achieved what Glover did, but even more given the two cups with New York. Therefore I'm going with Maxwell here out of the two Hall of Famers. @Quik Matthew Pogge Branden Snelheid Matt Bailey Matteo Gallo Mats Johnsson I know I've missed some off here, but I don't think it matters – it has to be Matt Bailey. You're still talking about him now and made his son (grandson?) just this past trade deadline. Granted, it's easy to understand why – one of the greats of his time, a pioneering two-way forward and massively versatile. My favourite is still Gallo mind (go Davos, what a steal by the GM). @Tyler Pavel Dubnikov Nicholas Evans Andreas Bjorkman Connor Evans Milos Denis Slava Aleksei The Charm Honestly, I have no idea. Going to go for the (probably) best player on the list in Bjorkman, with the added bonus of ending the Vasteras Curse, for a time anyway. However I feel like it could also be one of the Evans', or maybe even your current player, who's also broken a bit of a curse in Davos. Just don't let Damien take over as GM now. @.sniffuM @Green Remy LeBeau Thomas O'Malley Pietro Maximoff Peter Quill Adam Warlock If this was me, it would be O'Malley all the way. In fact, it might well still be O'Malley and that's completely understandable, given he is not so arguably probably almost certainly the best player ever accounting for Campbell playing in the stone age. But it's boring going for the best and I feel like if anyone has a softer spot for a slightly worse player then it's Green. I feel like Toronto playoff hero LeBeau is #1 in your heart. @Will Don Draper Aleksi Koponen John Locke Draper was actually a bit of an underachiever and Locke, while randomly an absolute beast (especially in the playoffs), I feel like you missed too much of his career to be the favourite. Therefore I have to default to Koponen, who had a pretty decent Hall of Fame career and was part of your very successful Helsinki GM stint. @diamond_ace Lars Intranquilo Clark Marcellin Martin Brookside Kerkko Hyvarinen Evan R. Lawson And they say the VHL doesn't allow for diversity – this is a pretty unique blend of players. Lots of good players to choose from – late-bloomer Brookside, assist god and best second line center money can't buy Marcellin, but I feel like you're a person who still thinks back fondly on your first player, being nearly lifetime Wrangler Intranquilo. Could be wildly off the mark here though. @Tagger Edwin Encarnacion Edwin Reencarnacion Edwin Threeencarnacion The weird random number generator one Edwin Preencarnacion Well at least these were pretty easy to remember. I think you had lots of fun collecting PIMs and maybe even being a career backup with a VHL record save %, and it's very possible Preencarnacion will turn out the best based on these first 2 seasons. That said, I feel like it's still Reencarnacion for being pretty much indisputably your best player (apart from in save % of course). @Smarch Tommy Brown Max Weinstein Baron Von Jonsson Robin Big Snake Abraham Sander Conner Low Ariel Weinstein Lee King Snatch Rusty Trombone Joseph Bassolino What an eclectic mix. Conner Low stands out so much here as a vindication of sticking around for 11 actual years that it has to be him. I was recently doing that rookie/sophomore stuff for Cast and I actually forgot how good Low was straight away bearing in mind that I was pretty aware of how good Low was. That said, all this talk of Low but your fave is Big Snake isn't it? @.sniffuM Damien Walec Joey Clarence Tukka Reikkinen GIYGAS E'Twaun Delicious I've missed a few of your weirder players because I don't think it matters. The Reik has to be the answer here and I remember there was one point I was making the argument that he was the best player ever (this was at a time where Leeroy Jenkins was the likeliest candidate for the new Campbell (i.e. the pre-O'Malley days)), and though that might have been a bit excessive, he was still ridiculously good that's for sure. Shame about all your other players though. @Devise Rauno Pajari Skylar Rift Logan Laich Thaddeus Humbert M.T. Power Ryzard Macht Verner Reinholdt You strange, strange man. I actually wouldn't be able to do this, this bizarre self sacrifice ritual which is your player building. It also means your mentality is clearly so different to mine that I'm not sure how I'd be able to get in your shoes. Is Rift your favourite because he was actually almost Hall of Fame material? Or Laich because he was so bad it was actually funny? I'm going to go for Humbert because I feel like that was when you had the most enjoyment as a GM and it was a decent player. @Fire Hakstol Jim Gow Robin Gow Bernie Gow Shayne Gow Jeff Gow Such incredible creativity. I never realised until I actually wrote out all your players' names. Also, I feel like you always liked Riga and Robin embodied Riga and also had a pretty decent career. I know for a fact you hated Bernie and have to imagine that the others didn't quite reach the team+individual heights to make them a favourite. @DollarAndADream Travis Boychuk Zach Parechkin Torstein Ironside Bo Boeser Threepeat, Hall of Fame, overall an excellent time, it has to be Parechkin. The rest of your players seem like fun but missed that tiny bit of luck which I think you need for maximum enjoyment. Parechkin took all of it and ran and so I feel this is one of my easier guesses. @Velevra Shane Baker Severin von Karma Apollo Skye You'll get inducted into the HOF this year I promise. A terrible oversight for a great player who I therefore assume is your favourite. My favourite of yours was Shane Baker of course, Matt Bentley's partner in crime on that great Davos team, but I feel like it'd be a stretch to think you think the same. Skye though, I missed most of his career but he was very impressive looking back. @Advantage Michael Angelo Ryan Sullivan Brick Wahl This is horrible because I can't remember all your players (Gunnar Rask is the only other one and I don't really want to include him). That said, seeing as your sig's 'past notable players' only include this trio, I reckon I can narrow it down pretty easily. And similar to Quik, I feel like your current player name gives the game away. That and the fact I've spoken to you a lot over the year and I am pretty confident that Sullivan is your favourite by some distance. @Bushito Tayson Barabash Peyton Nydroj Satan Damon Tyrael Brady Stropko Hudson Abbott Norris Stopko Jasper Canmore There are lots of options here and I wouldn't be surprised if Stopko or Canmore take the crown in the end, but of the earlier players, I feel like your peak activity over a whole career was with Nydroj and you also didn't have to cut it short for GMing reasons. Therefore, the Toronto sniper is my choice for your choice of favourite player. That ends that, I went off people I saw online and who had multiple past players, but if I missed you let me know and I'll take a wild stab in the dark at your favourite player too.

Ooh I'm back in the sexy dodger blue.

I hope you find no happiness in the rest of your careers.

I reckon this is where I drop two 50-point seasons, finish with a few just over 100 and get to the same 800-899 points mark for the career. But I'll always have these first two seasons.

RIP