Victor

No Triple Gold additions then, but Canada did break their duck and woo Nordic!

Thank you to the team for the MVM votes and Ricer for building the team and also giving me the leadership trophy - lots of great candidates for that one though! What a season - I'll be sure to check in on future Marauders' progress in the future and of course on how the class of S74 get on in the VHL.

smh kids

Will Nordic finally get better than a silver?? Canada breaking the medal drought though.

I knew I shouldnt have traded down.

My first or second ever hockey game I went to was the Giants. There were like 11 goals and 2 fights and they won the cup either that season or the next. Forever have a special place in my heart.

That's me destroying Halifax's hopes and dreams.

MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW I'm coming for you Simon you piece of shit.

got em

If you two want to split Jaguar and Freeman then go for it

Yeah I had a look at the stats after that post and maybe would have been a long shot anyway. But I think in the era of having the Wylde Trophy and more recognition of defensive stats, maybe he could have snuck in. Maybe still can. ?

Don't understand the loyalty to depth players to the extent of trading your 3rd best forward tbh.

stfu rory

one of the worst ideas alongside the VHLM and the Vancouver Wolves

*removes Flowers from HOF ballot shortlist*

Used to be the case for about 50 seasons, then one GM had to go and ruin it for everyone. But what is?

bet you input all the stats incorrectly again too

There's only been all 3 awards since S62 or S63 - Smitty won all 3 but never in one season, I think the Wylde is hardest to combine with a high scoring season. So well done to Adrienne, looks like another Hall of Famer for you smh lol. Key differences are Lafontaine didnt have the outright lead in shutouts and save % in S72 while Bernard had 200 extra shots faced. Neither made the top 10 in shots faced this season so the team factor was also less obvious- I think Calgary was still a good defensive team, just low scoring, unlike S72 Moscow. Great job @Doomsday, best presented ceremony to date imho! Dont you dare leave me again. And thank you all for the votes for top GM - third in 10 seasons in Moscow! Wish it was three cups instead but at least it seems people still think I know what I'm doing which is a plus. And of course... MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW

Circus monkey getting in early tonight huh

Should have done this after S72 tbh.

No idea lol. There are some stats floating around but not sure if even half the tournaments are documented.

Well, well, well, if it wasn't the 35th instalment of the VHL World Cup upon us. I am a sucker for international tournaments in all sports and I feel the World Cup here is very underappreciated, especially in recent seasons. So in an attempt to add some energy to this season's tournament I thought I'd do a little World Cup preview. It wouldn't be one of my Media Spots without a reference to some of my infamous spreadsheets. There's not many lying around for the World Cup and the spreadsheet connoisseurs among you are probably already familiar with them. But let's look at some headline figures. The bragging rights The medal standings going into this tournament remains as tight as ever. The World Cup has been dominated by three teams historically – the US, Canada, and the amalgamation known as Northern Europe, Sweden, Scandinavia, and most recently Team Nordic. The latter team holds a tournament record 4 straight gold medals from the 20s (I touched on that legendary team in an older World Cup piece) but fell on hard times recently, going a miserable 5 tournaments without a medal – a record for the “Big Three”. However, after pulling back with two hard-fought silvers in S70 and S72, a new question now arises.... Can Canada break their duck? Despite a lot of natural advantages, the Canadians barely have the all-time lead in gold medals, and are in danger of letting that slip away too. They are now without a medal in three World Cup editions and another tournament without a top 3 finish would set a team-worst mark of 4 tournaments without finishing on the podium. Team Canada is bringing another star-studded lineup to this season's event, with the likes of Lincoln Tate, Hulk Hogan, Rayz Funk, and Brock Louth set to play their last official matches, but after 3 seasons of disappointment, the pressure is building. What about the other guys? So the reason there's only 3 main nations (or groups of nations) despite the World Cup always have 6 teams is because no one else really got a long enough run going. Switzerland was back in the olden days, then UK became the hip destination of choice, while Germany sometimes existed on its own, while for most of recent history all 3 countries have fluctuated between Western and just Europe. Russia had a brief productive spell (although their second gold medal was heavily aided by Ukrainians – classic), before giving way to Team World which has probably been the recent fourth force (or third even given Scandinavia's struggles). But let us not forget about the Mercenaries, usually the easy win in the tournament but defending champions from S72, after the rag-tag group won their first ever gold medal. “Defending” is a loose term of course – the nature of the team means there are no returning members, having retired or been “promoted” to their proper national team. But it will be fascinating to see this installment try to match the achievements of their predecessors. The Triple Gold Club Finally, let's get to the big individual reward from the World Cup. No one cares how many points you put up and even the medal winners are forgotten, but with a bit of luck you can land a place in the coveted Triple Gold Club, reserved for winners of each of the Founder's Cup, Continental Cup, and a World Cup gold medal. It's a notoriously difficult list to crack, I only got in with my seventh player, and here's who's currently in a good position to: Andrew Su, fresh off a Continental Cup win with Vancouver, has also made the Team Canada roster in a hugely important tournament for them. Shawn Glade III and Emi Rune also have both the VHLM and VHL components but have yet to get the call to the World Cup. @Da_Berr Su's Canadian teammate Timothy Brown may be a rival with Seattle in the VHL, where he won the cup as a rookie, but here they are now fighting for a common goal – as a team and as individuals. @a_Ferk Brown's Seattle teammate Uhtred has two Continental Cup rings to his name, but the British winger may struggle to add a gold to his collection for now, given Western Europe's goaltending struggles. However, with some significant skating talent and an extremely hard-hitting duo of Chad Magnum and Phil Marleau up front, who knows what the Europeans can achieve. @leafsman Veteran Nate Telker, VHL champion as a sophomore with Moscow in S70, finally makes his World Cup debut with the Mercenaries and a chance to make a bit more history for what would be quite a Cinderella story of a career. @Telkster And finally Raymond Bernard, one of the finest goaltenders of his generation, was the star of that Moscow playoff run and took over as USA's main man from Alexander Pepper shortly after but the Americans have struggled to piece together a good run since then. Bernard may be inspired to carry them to the top in his final tournament, but on paper they will pose a threat regardless. @Mr_Hatter