Victor

MIAMI! INDEPENDENCE! DELETE VHLM!

Very much this for me in the UK (and I've lived in Canada, spent some time in Australia and NZ, plus am actually Eastern European). The US and the UK remain in the very short list of places where I could do my job, earn however much I earn, and not fear for my life. But the political system in the western world is trash. I think there's just not been change for longer than ever before - it's not healthy for there to be the exact same parties consolidated power everywhere. There's a few examples of newcomers in (usually struggling) European nations but it's not enough. The majority of politicians have no real distinguishing characteristics. That said, as Bek says here, US takes it to another level. A system where 1 extra vote in the right place in Florida could in theory sweep its entire 29 "points" or whatever they are... that is deeply flawed. It really turns election into a sporting event and you can see it in the language ("taken the early lead", "mounting a comeback", wtf guys, it's not happened live, the voting happened). It's all very toxic. Yup, similar here - the majority of my colleagues, being white collar, in finance, and pretty well off, will vote Conservative because they will guarantee the rich stay richer. That is enough for a lot of people and the risk caused by helping someone else isn't worth it. This is quite interesting and I will look to read up more on this. I know that not just in Russia, but many African countries and other "failed democracies", the systems set up are probably better than in the west purely on the basis they were written with the experience of the UK, US, etc in mind. But is that just theory? Ultimately these countries went back to their ways largely because the political elite never wanted democracy or the ones who did lost power very quickly after their revolution/independence/dissolution of the Soviet Union/etc. So they were never gonna prove their system actually could have worked. I want to think this but it is simplistic. It's the same argument that I made and still sometimes generalise over here with Brexit voters. Ultimately that's where the left falls down, by insulting the intelligence of the opposition. Yeah some of them are dumb thugs, probably on both sides, but the most influential are the people who truly would rather kill the poor and the blacks and whatever else. And just rich people. Yeah, ultimately though, I understand why people vote for the right. And in most countries you vote for a party, not a person. But the US president is pretty much a separate entity. And people vote for that sleazeball? He is a disgusting human being (a fun Halloween costume but a disgusting human being).

So that was quite an end to the VHLM season. What started off as a “let me sign with a team that's not dog shite and have a starter role and hope for the best” season was in fact that season for about 4 or 5 weeks. Rasputin was distinctly mediocre, Miami was too, and even the playoffs were far from guaranteed (if memory serves we were more than 10 points out one point). Then the recruitment drive happened and.... nothing really changed immediately. Rasputin did start posting shutouts around the same time and we starting winning more than we lost, enough to push us into an actual playoff race. It was still tight. We made it and I was hoping to scare Halifax a bit – this was after all the team that offered me a backup spot “on the way to a cup”. Heh. VHLM logic as I knew it is that big regular season teams win more often than in the VHL. This is slightly outdated but still supported by teams like Saskatoon, Ottawa, and Minnesota in recent seasons. When Miami won Game 1 I gleefully declared that it didn't matter what happened next as I got the scare I wanted. We then won 11 more games en route to the Founder's Cup. Now I'm no VHLM historian but I'm pretty sure that is unprecedented for an 8th seed. So that was great. I'm still not convinced it happened. It also bodes well for the burgeoning #UnholyAlliance – I hope you're all ready for what else Beav and I have in store. @Beaviss And finally, a VHL playoff tidbit. The Continental Cup finals between Helsinki and Vancouver are the sixth meeting between the two franchises – now the joint 3rd-most common intercontinental match-up. What makes that impressive is that Quebec/Vancouver has existed for 30 fewer seasons than everyone else on the list. The Wolves have also not faced any other European team in the playoffs since their relocation from Quebec – Helsinki won in S66 before Vancouver's revenge in S67 and now here we are.

wow ok i see how it is

uh oh

it's a hot pink one

@tcookie25 had no time to waste Well done boys, what a team to captain. Fuck the haters, Miami baby.

Helsinki defence has a lot of faith in Driver.

Yikes at those shot totals.

When's the first recording?

AHHHHH

He Cabe, he saw, he conquered

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. You also get 1 uncapped TPE if your question gets used. Submit questions by PMing me. Here's the form for week number 7 of S74. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc7Jln3nwviK3U5MnTkiAnaWGwPIPDpPw6lPu5K_R_DLypg4Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

I assume you figured this out btw? Completely missed this, sorry.

Not at the moment but there will be 2 new ones in a couple weeks when the HOF induction takes place.

Superb life decision

This one is going down in history for sure, great run.

Some team you put together from nothing here.

MIAMI MIAMI MIAMI

it's me x

#UnholyAlliance

LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOO

Oh yeah, if you want to know what you got nominated for, send me a PM.

Congratulations to this season's ballot nominees (2 or more votes), @IamMOOSE @Hylands @JigglyGumballs @MattyIce @Spartan @rjfryman @Ricer13 @Patrik Tallinder But also congrats to everyone who received a nomination, which this season was: @Acydburn @Beaviss @Berocka @BladeMaiden @Blazzer @Crstats23 @chatfan036 @Garsh @Josh @Jubis @McWolf @Mr_Hatter @NickSunderbruch @PatrikLaine @tcookie25