Victor

Right, 3 Builder articles to go. @flyersfan1453, give us an ETA. @Rayzor_7 @Tagger what's the current situation or should I steal yours too?

@Enorama @TTtheT @MexicanCow123 @Ricer13 @MSO94 @Kelsier @Beketov @Josh @Spartan @UnkemptCL4PTP @okifenoki @GrittyIsKing09 @Owen Taylor @correllvincent @BiPsen @BigZouzou @Anthony Suzuki @KingMortie @Grapes-Tophat_Clan- @Jakefufu @BrutalBoost 1. It's the halfway mark of the season, if your player matched their production up to now for the rest of the season, would you be happy with your season? 2. Likewise, on a team level, do you think there is room for improvement? 3. What is one skill you'd like to be able to borrow from one of your teammates? 4. I don't think expansion is necessarily on the horizon in either the VHL or VHLM but where would you put the next franchise in either league? 5. Other than Moscow of course, what is your favourite VHL franchise? 6. Do you think we'll see some trade deadline movement this season?

Joined: January 9, 2014 Positions Held: VHL Head Grader & Head Reviewer, VHL General Manager, Board of Governors DollarAndADream, usually known as Dollar, is a shining example that longevity and hard graft can get your recognition without necessarily having the flashiest roles in the VHL. Instead, it's all about doing what you do well and consistently, and stepping up when it matters. Dollar joined the league under the username travhave, creating S37 draftee Travis Boychuk, an exciting first-gen at an exciting time for the league, still fresh from expansion to 10 teams and still attracting new members. Tagger had made his first active player in S35, Will was about to join in S38 – Dollar now joins them as a Builder in the Hall of Fame, having hardly missed a beat since Boychuk's first week in the league. Boychuk very much set the tone for Dollar's players in the league – a solid contributor, comfortably in the unofficial Hall of Very Good, and a great guy to have in the locker room. Boychuk was captain with both franchises he played for, two seasons in both Calgary and Quebec, a rare feat, and won his first Grimm Jonsson Trophy in S44, the now defunct top leader award. The follow-up, Zach Parechkin, added four more of those, a joint record, while also becoming just the third player ever to captain a franchise for 7 seasons (there are still only 5 who have achieved this feat). In many ways, Parechkin was the pinnacle, but Dollar has continued to be a great locker room presence to this day, and added more cups as captain with both Sebastian Ironside and Leph Twinger. All in all, Dollar is now on his sixth player and only one of them failed to hit 900 TPE (GM player Bo Boeser retiring after just 6 seasons for a variety of GM-related reasons). That is consistency that very few VHL members can match. The above is the extremely solid foundation for Dollar's Builder induction but only tells half the story. First of all, he has not just created likeable players and been a good guy to have around – Parechkin and Ironside are both in the Hall of Fame and Boeser missed out primarily due to that shortened career. Parechkin of course captained Toronto to a famous threepeat in those 7 seasons as captain and the Legion are the franchise that Dollar then GMed throughout most of the 50s, not succeeding in chasing down similar success but setting up another strong rebuild which led to two more championships in S64 and S65. If anything that showed that you don't necessarily need championships to leave a positive legacy as a GM, and how you build and nurture a team is just as important. Lastly, but arguably most importantly, is Dollar's contribution to grading. I don't have the dates to hand, but he joined the grading team early on in his VHL career, during Boychuk's career, as this was a role which was often a stepping tone to future VHL success back in the day. Many reading this article today won't have any experience of grading but it was a hugely important role at the time, possibly second only to simming, as without a grade (or two for much of the league's history), you wouldn't be able to claim your 6 TPE point task. Graders were always in demand and it wasn't about how critical you could be of a graphic or how many grammar mistakes you could find in a media spot – if you were consistent and pumped out grades every week to avoid a league-wide backlog, you would be recognised. Dollar was in the highest echelon of graders and was rewarded for his consistency and longevity with the head grader role, very important for rallying the troops and sorting out any member disputes. Many head graders in the past have ended up receiving Builder inductions and now Dollar is no different, and as the league evolved he didn't lose the role but rather had it incorporated into his current BOG/Head Reviewer/Updater Adviser fusion. There is lots of good that Dollar has done to the league in now over 6 and a half years and we can only hope this continues. The VHL thrives off hard-working members like him and fortunately he is showing no signs of slowing down. @DollarAndADream

Oof at Calgary retirements. End of an era. If this season was going better, I would say this is a risky move for Lafontaine's HOF prospects. As it stands, you probably miss out anyway but a very solid career - even if there isn't a cup to cap it off I think anyone would look at those playoff stats (and some performances like that loss to Calgary) and agree it wasn't Lafontaine's fault.

But... why now

Yeah been touched on above, but yeah nowhere near 50-60 haha. I've skipped the past few because I refuse to be put in a creative straitjacket and 6 TPE doesn't make or break a career, I'm sure some others feel the same. I think they're referring to the 50s, not the entire 9 a week era lol.

DA BEARZ

2 before that graphic is multiple...

Tonn benefiting from the day off yesterday.

Racist against Rara

Michael Olson > Rara Rasputin

Grant deserved better

That's enough DC for now.

Unsung Hero

Huge sim by Tonn!

Damn Lahtinen went OFF on one against DC

Rasputin one of the league's best, you love to see it. Oh wait I traded him away. Great write-up on Moscow

Unfortunately gotta stick to the policy we've had for a while now of only first answer counting.

I will shortly be putting together the HOF ballot for S76 and that's a time of the season where I frequently at what current players might have a shot. Let's run through the drafts. S69: Lots of good careers here but possibly no entries to the ballot. Benny Graves is hovering around the point-per-game mark in what we'll term Scott Greene territory – he also doesn't have Greene's cups so would appear to be a long shot. Guy Lesieur has an award from last season but off the pace in points, Cinnamon Block has been steady but never the star, guys like Jubis, Jensen never quite broke out. The likeliest candidate here appears to be Patrik Tallinder, top scorer from a couple seasons ago. He is above point-per-game for his career, although a patchy playoff record might hurt him. Kris Rice is only 14 points back – it will be interesting to see if Tallinder's trophy and cup put him ahead or voters choose to pass on both. S70: Wow this is like looking at an old school draft. No depth but there is Mikko Lahtinen, late bloomer but now 2-time MVP and still going strong. Bek has been worried about hitting that 600 point mark for his career but I reckon he's safely in regardless. A sleeper pick here is Jacques Lafontaine, probably the most consistent of the Spyro/Wolski/Hextall (and himself) generation, but needing a signature season asap. I was gonna do S71 and S72s where there are some interesting names but maybe next week.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdKvlaOxUeMVMpb2nbyclcOvrRqIQ9l_r54_ot-oM4zffV1-Q/viewform?usp=sf_link Each correct answer is worth 1 capped TPE at the end of the week. Don't reveal the answer in public, but if you're not sure, ask around, here, or in the special trivia Discord channel.

Two good games then appears Rasputin spiked Tonn's drink. Rara also stealing a point off Vancouver, ya love to see it.

He's definitely on the ballot.

so you have chosen pain