Victor

The Vasteras Iron Eagles currently sit 3rd in the VHLE with 91 points with 4 games remaining. The point scoring lead on the team is held by the electric VHLE rookie Gianfranco Del Rocco @Victor who has 76 points in 68 games.  Second on the team in scoring is rookie defender, Lucy Leitner, with 56 points in 68 games.  With 11 goals and 45 assists, Leitner leads the team in the helpers category, and on paper, 11 goals seems like a respectable number, but a quick glance at Leitner's shooting percentage tells a different story.  Shooting at 3.86% on the season, Leitner's 285 shots on goal are the most by any defender in the VHLE.  When compared to the defender with the next highest shot total, the problem is strikingly clear.  Leitner's former Houston teammate, Benjamin Abenduct @Schnee, has 21 goals on 270 shots, shooting a modest 7.78%.  With 10 more goals than Leitner on fewer shots and a shooting percentage that is still below league average, it becomes obvious why Leitner was approached this week with a sponsorship deal from Little Bites-- you know, like the company that makes mini-muffins?
 
Last season, critics of Leitner referred to her then as a "muffin factory" owing to her apparent inability to convert shots into goals at a rate comparable to her peers.  Though her shooting percentage last season eventually rose to a respectable 8% by the end of the season, it did hover around the 3-4% mark for much of her VHLM rookie campaign.  This time around in the VHLE, there seems to be no such puck luck for Leitner who expressed her frustration with her futile shooting efforts.
 
"My main goal is to help the team win, but when you shoot 285 times and only score 11 goals-- something is wrong with that picture.  The silver lining, I guess, is it got me this sponsorship and the team is still doing fine overall".
 
The sponsorship deal, which is set to pay Leitner $100,000 and a lifetime's supply of Little Bites muffins, was signed on Monday evening before the Iron Eagles would take on the Rome Gladiators in a back-to-back.  Vasteras would eventually take the win in both of those games with Leitner recording the opening goal in the first game, only 5:38 into the 1st period of play.  There were reports of Little Bites' interest in Leitner as a brand ambassador last season until her shooting percentage spiked upward and the "muffin factory" moniker fell out of favor.  This season, however, the muffin factory is back up and running, churning out muffins for goalies to gobble up.  Ever the optimist, Leitner has remained upbeat about the less than flattering comparison and has continued to work on her shot in practice, hoping to shut down muffin production once and for all.  At this time, we don't know if the Little Bites sponsorship would be voided if her shooting percentage eclipsed a certain threshold, but for the time being, Lucy "Little Bites" Leitner is rolling in the dough. 
 

Irresponsible reporting.

You thought I had milked all I could from my list of my most common last names in VHL history? Think again, for that list provides a wonderful alternative – most popular FIRST names in VHL history!
 
On this occasion I will not list out every player to have played in the VHL but instead focus on some of the big hitters. I will also caveat that I did not add any new VHL players who debuted in S93 so apologies if the totals for some of these popular names need to be adjusted slightly (although I'd be amazed if it was by more than 1 or 2). If you do want the full list, then it is available at the link below.
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FsUQv-rCKu6bI3y0KCfQVUwJvcBlYH3mWl8iF2Kt5Js/edit?usp=sharing
 
Alex (20) and Alexander (21)
Well we have a clear runaway winner. 41 Alexs/Alexanders have graced the VHL (nearly 2% of all VHL players ever). 8 of them are in the Hall of Fame (approximately 5% of the Hall). 3 of them have trophies named after them – Chershenko in the VHLM and the Beketov and Valiq in the VHL. It's a pretty good name to have in hockey (see Ovechkin, Mogilny, and to a lesser extent Radulov). It's only the 44th most popular male name in the US in the last 100 years but as evidenced by the list above, it has a more international impact across Europe especially.
 
Anyway, you guys want me to type out the full list? Of course you do. *deep breath*
 
Abraham, Beketov, Brandner, Buturlin, Carter, Chershenko, Davidson, Deslauries, the Great (good on him making it some 2,350 years after his death), Johnston, Kharlamov, Khavanov, Labatte, Letang, McNeil, Minion, Murphy, Parise, Pearson, Pepper, Povenofsky, Randoulov, Rawnsley (he was actually a CPU but it's not like any other name is particularly close anyway), Sauve, Sclafani, Staal, Stokes, Stoyanovich, Stroheim, Thrower, Torjano, Valiq, Watson, Yengeni, Young, and finally Kachur (twice), Gegeny (twice as well) and Bridges (also twice).
These guys will take some time to dislodge from the top.

 
David (22)
We do have a nearly one-man attempt to challenge the Alex/Alexander supremacy. In fact, if you split those two, they actually finish just below David, the name which former commissioner David @Knight uses to name all his players. He accounts for nearly half of the 22-man roster with 9 Davids – the Hall of Famers Smalling, Henman, Night, and Walcott and also Blind, Hamilton, Januzaj, Knight himself, and now Rashford. So long as he keeps going, the Alexanders can not get too complacent.

 
John (17) and Jon (9)
I'm going to stick this one below David because it's a bit more controversial than combining Alex and Alexander – Jon can be Jonathan and that's less likely to be John although these could be the same name sometimes. More importantly, despite 28 of Johns and Jons over the years, there is not too much quality in their ranks. There's just the 1 Hall of Famer – Locke and only a handful of notable players otherwise with Sleeman and Frostbeard in the level below Locke and Jameson who should be this group's second entry into the Hall.

 
Michael (15) , Mike (3), and Mikey (3)... and Mikael? (3)
Quite a mix here, depending on where you draw the line on what counts as a Michael – in any case it doesn't move them up or down from fourth place. The Michaels on their own don't have much star power but when you add in Mikes you get both Szatkowski and Szatkowski Jr and suddenly this group is looking a lot more glamorous.

 
Matt (13) and Matthew (7)
A more straightforward combination – Matthew straight from the Bible and the shorter version, Matt. We have the three most similarly sounding Hall of Famers here – Bentz, Bailey, and Bentley, and also Pogge, Thompson, and Defosse for a very strong ratio of Hall of Famers to players (6 out of 20). So clearly this is a good name to have if you want to make a real impact in the league.

 
Ryan (17)
The good thing about Ryan is that there isn't really any alternative so we know for a fact there are 17 of them not being grouped with anyone else. One of them is actually just called Ryan with no last name which I think is something unique for this article. There's no Gosling vs Reynolds dynamic in the VHL – the clear leader is lone Hall of Famer Sullivan (the original) although there is also erstwhile all-time TPE leader Kastelic and other noteworthy players.

 
Jeff and Jack – 15 each
These two names aren't actually the same name, but they're just joint seventh in this list (unless we add Jack together with John which we are not going to do). None of the Jacks have made the Hall of Fame or have been close with the most successful probably being Shephard, although O'Riley, Sound, and Kowalski were also above average players in their time. The Jeffs have a bit more sparkle with Hamilton and the second Downey in the Hall. Both names can more up quickly to catch up to the Ryans and the Matts in due course.

 
That's about as far down the list as I'm willing to go for my own sanity. Other points to note on the list are the David-like effort by his brother Phil to drag that name up the ranking, although unlike David, @Phil has had no help as I believe all 10 players are his (but we know an eleventh is just around the corner). The 10 Shawns in the meantime are primarily the work of TheLastOlympian (Brodeur, Gretzky, Howard, Muller, and Zyuzin) and 3 Shawn Glades. Mildly amusing is the fact “The” ranks in midtable with 9 appearances thanks to The Charm, The Loch Ness Monster, The Mediocre One, The Process, The Seabasstard, The Board Game Clue on Skates, The Terrible Trivium and current star The Frenchman who is en route to be their first Hall of Famer. I think that's as much content as I can get out of this list, for now anyway.

You thought I had milked all I could from my list of my most common last names in VHL history? Think again, for that list provides a wonderful alternative – most popular FIRST names in VHL history!
 
On this occasion I will not list out every player to have played in the VHL but instead focus on some of the big hitters. I will also caveat that I did not add any new VHL players who debuted in S93 so apologies if the totals for some of these popular names need to be adjusted slightly (although I'd be amazed if it was by more than 1 or 2). If you do want the full list, then it is available at the link below.
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FsUQv-rCKu6bI3y0KCfQVUwJvcBlYH3mWl8iF2Kt5Js/edit?usp=sharing
 
Alex (20) and Alexander (21)
Well we have a clear runaway winner. 41 Alexs/Alexanders have graced the VHL (nearly 2% of all VHL players ever). 8 of them are in the Hall of Fame (approximately 5% of the Hall). 3 of them have trophies named after them – Chershenko in the VHLM and the Beketov and Valiq in the VHL. It's a pretty good name to have in hockey (see Ovechkin, Mogilny, and to a lesser extent Radulov). It's only the 44th most popular male name in the US in the last 100 years but as evidenced by the list above, it has a more international impact across Europe especially.
 
Anyway, you guys want me to type out the full list? Of course you do. *deep breath*
 
Abraham, Beketov, Brandner, Buturlin, Carter, Chershenko, Davidson, Deslauries, the Great (good on him making it some 2,350 years after his death), Johnston, Kharlamov, Khavanov, Labatte, Letang, McNeil, Minion, Murphy, Parise, Pearson, Pepper, Povenofsky, Randoulov, Rawnsley (he was actually a CPU but it's not like any other name is particularly close anyway), Sauve, Sclafani, Staal, Stokes, Stoyanovich, Stroheim, Thrower, Torjano, Valiq, Watson, Yengeni, Young, and finally Kachur (twice), Gegeny (twice as well) and Bridges (also twice).
These guys will take some time to dislodge from the top.

 
David (22)
We do have a nearly one-man attempt to challenge the Alex/Alexander supremacy. In fact, if you split those two, they actually finish just below David, the name which former commissioner David @Knight uses to name all his players. He accounts for nearly half of the 22-man roster with 9 Davids – the Hall of Famers Smalling, Henman, Night, and Walcott and also Blind, Hamilton, Januzaj, Knight himself, and now Rashford. So long as he keeps going, the Alexanders can not get too complacent.

 
John (17) and Jon (9)
I'm going to stick this one below David because it's a bit more controversial than combining Alex and Alexander – Jon can be Jonathan and that's less likely to be John although these could be the same name sometimes. More importantly, despite 28 of Johns and Jons over the years, there is not too much quality in their ranks. There's just the 1 Hall of Famer – Locke and only a handful of notable players otherwise with Sleeman and Frostbeard in the level below Locke and Jameson who should be this group's second entry into the Hall.

 
Michael (15) , Mike (3), and Mikey (3)... and Mikael? (3)
Quite a mix here, depending on where you draw the line on what counts as a Michael – in any case it doesn't move them up or down from fourth place. The Michaels on their own don't have much star power but when you add in Mikes you get both Szatkowski and Szatkowski Jr and suddenly this group is looking a lot more glamorous.

 
Matt (13) and Matthew (7)
A more straightforward combination – Matthew straight from the Bible and the shorter version, Matt. We have the three most similarly sounding Hall of Famers here – Bentz, Bailey, and Bentley, and also Pogge, Thompson, and Defosse for a very strong ratio of Hall of Famers to players (6 out of 20). So clearly this is a good name to have if you want to make a real impact in the league.

 
Ryan (17)
The good thing about Ryan is that there isn't really any alternative so we know for a fact there are 17 of them not being grouped with anyone else. One of them is actually just called Ryan with no last name which I think is something unique for this article. There's no Gosling vs Reynolds dynamic in the VHL – the clear leader is lone Hall of Famer Sullivan (the original) although there is also erstwhile all-time TPE leader Kastelic and other noteworthy players.

 
Jeff and Jack – 15 each
These two names aren't actually the same name, but they're just joint seventh in this list (unless we add Jack together with John which we are not going to do). None of the Jacks have made the Hall of Fame or have been close with the most successful probably being Shephard, although O'Riley, Sound, and Kowalski were also above average players in their time. The Jeffs have a bit more sparkle with Hamilton and the second Downey in the Hall. Both names can more up quickly to catch up to the Ryans and the Matts in due course.

 
That's about as far down the list as I'm willing to go for my own sanity. Other points to note on the list are the David-like effort by his brother Phil to drag that name up the ranking, although unlike David, @Phil has had no help as I believe all 10 players are his (but we know an eleventh is just around the corner). The 10 Shawns in the meantime are primarily the work of TheLastOlympian (Brodeur, Gretzky, Howard, Muller, and Zyuzin) and 3 Shawn Glades. Mildly amusing is the fact “The” ranks in midtable with 9 appearances thanks to The Charm, The Loch Ness Monster, The Mediocre One, The Process, The Seabasstard, The Board Game Clue on Skates, The Terrible Trivium and current star The Frenchman who is en route to be their first Hall of Famer. I think that's as much content as I can get out of this list, for now anyway.

You thought I had milked all I could from my list of my most common last names in VHL history? Think again, for that list provides a wonderful alternative – most popular FIRST names in VHL history!
 
On this occasion I will not list out every player to have played in the VHL but instead focus on some of the big hitters. I will also caveat that I did not add any new VHL players who debuted in S93 so apologies if the totals for some of these popular names need to be adjusted slightly (although I'd be amazed if it was by more than 1 or 2). If you do want the full list, then it is available at the link below.
 
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FsUQv-rCKu6bI3y0KCfQVUwJvcBlYH3mWl8iF2Kt5Js/edit?usp=sharing
 
Alex (20) and Alexander (21)
Well we have a clear runaway winner. 41 Alexs/Alexanders have graced the VHL (nearly 2% of all VHL players ever). 8 of them are in the Hall of Fame (approximately 5% of the Hall). 3 of them have trophies named after them – Chershenko in the VHLM and the Beketov and Valiq in the VHL. It's a pretty good name to have in hockey (see Ovechkin, Mogilny, and to a lesser extent Radulov). It's only the 44th most popular male name in the US in the last 100 years but as evidenced by the list above, it has a more international impact across Europe especially.
 
Anyway, you guys want me to type out the full list? Of course you do. *deep breath*
 
Abraham, Beketov, Brandner, Buturlin, Carter, Chershenko, Davidson, Deslauries, the Great (good on him making it some 2,350 years after his death), Johnston, Kharlamov, Khavanov, Labatte, Letang, McNeil, Minion, Murphy, Parise, Pearson, Pepper, Povenofsky, Randoulov, Rawnsley (he was actually a CPU but it's not like any other name is particularly close anyway), Sauve, Sclafani, Staal, Stokes, Stoyanovich, Stroheim, Thrower, Torjano, Valiq, Watson, Yengeni, Young, and finally Kachur (twice), Gegeny (twice as well) and Bridges (also twice).
These guys will take some time to dislodge from the top.

 
David (22)
We do have a nearly one-man attempt to challenge the Alex/Alexander supremacy. In fact, if you split those two, they actually finish just below David, the name which former commissioner David @Knight uses to name all his players. He accounts for nearly half of the 22-man roster with 9 Davids – the Hall of Famers Smalling, Henman, Night, and Walcott and also Blind, Hamilton, Januzaj, Knight himself, and now Rashford. So long as he keeps going, the Alexanders can not get too complacent.

 
John (17) and Jon (9)
I'm going to stick this one below David because it's a bit more controversial than combining Alex and Alexander – Jon can be Jonathan and that's less likely to be John although these could be the same name sometimes. More importantly, despite 28 of Johns and Jons over the years, there is not too much quality in their ranks. There's just the 1 Hall of Famer – Locke and only a handful of notable players otherwise with Sleeman and Frostbeard in the level below Locke and Jameson who should be this group's second entry into the Hall.

 
Michael (15) , Mike (3), and Mikey (3)... and Mikael? (3)
Quite a mix here, depending on where you draw the line on what counts as a Michael – in any case it doesn't move them up or down from fourth place. The Michaels on their own don't have much star power but when you add in Mikes you get both Szatkowski and Szatkowski Jr and suddenly this group is looking a lot more glamorous.

 
Matt (13) and Matthew (7)
A more straightforward combination – Matthew straight from the Bible and the shorter version, Matt. We have the three most similarly sounding Hall of Famers here – Bentz, Bailey, and Bentley, and also Pogge, Thompson, and Defosse for a very strong ratio of Hall of Famers to players (6 out of 20). So clearly this is a good name to have if you want to make a real impact in the league.

 
Ryan (17)
The good thing about Ryan is that there isn't really any alternative so we know for a fact there are 17 of them not being grouped with anyone else. One of them is actually just called Ryan with no last name which I think is something unique for this article. There's no Gosling vs Reynolds dynamic in the VHL – the clear leader is lone Hall of Famer Sullivan (the original) although there is also erstwhile all-time TPE leader Kastelic and other noteworthy players.

 
Jeff and Jack – 15 each
These two names aren't actually the same name, but they're just joint seventh in this list (unless we add Jack together with John which we are not going to do). None of the Jacks have made the Hall of Fame or have been close with the most successful probably being Shephard, although O'Riley, Sound, and Kowalski were also above average players in their time. The Jeffs have a bit more sparkle with Hamilton and the second Downey in the Hall. Both names can more up quickly to catch up to the Ryans and the Matts in due course.

 
That's about as far down the list as I'm willing to go for my own sanity. Other points to note on the list are the David-like effort by his brother Phil to drag that name up the ranking, although unlike David, @Phil has had no help as I believe all 10 players are his (but we know an eleventh is just around the corner). The 10 Shawns in the meantime are primarily the work of TheLastOlympian (Brodeur, Gretzky, Howard, Muller, and Zyuzin) and 3 Shawn Glades. Mildly amusing is the fact “The” ranks in midtable with 9 appearances thanks to The Charm, The Loch Ness Monster, The Mediocre One, The Process, The Seabasstard, The Board Game Clue on Skates, The Terrible Trivium and current star The Frenchman who is en route to be their first Hall of Famer. I think that's as much content as I can get out of this list, for now anyway.

@rory this appears to be the record corroborated by @JardyB10 https://vhlforum.com/topic/29912-fun-facts/?do=findComment&comment=331139
 
The link to the game itself seems to be dead even going through the index.
 
Ironically, I may have misinformed Kit at one point that he had 7 goals in this game... which led to his fake news player name: https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/5852
 
So Anisimov @McLovin appears to have tied the record unless someone remembers more than 6 goals in a game between S43 and now.
 

@rory this appears to be the record corroborated by @JardyB10 https://vhlforum.com/topic/29912-fun-facts/?do=findComment&comment=331139
 
The link to the game itself seems to be dead even going through the index.
 
Ironically, I may have misinformed Kit at one point that he had 7 goals in this game... which led to his fake news player name: https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/5852
 
So Anisimov @McLovin appears to have tied the record unless someone remembers more than 6 goals in a game between S43 and now.
 

@rory this appears to be the record corroborated by @JardyB10 https://vhlforum.com/topic/29912-fun-facts/?do=findComment&comment=331139
 
The link to the game itself seems to be dead even going through the index.
 
Ironically, I may have misinformed Kit at one point that he had 7 goals in this game... which led to his fake news player name: https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/5852
 
So Anisimov @McLovin appears to have tied the record unless someone remembers more than 6 goals in a game between S43 and now.
 

This is the worst thing I have ever had to do.

That's Gustav

This is the worst thing I have ever had to do.

This is the worst thing I have ever had to do.

The anti-Sydney sentiment of all those not from Sydney is always amusing.
 
Bern is gorgeous though, as is most of the country tbf.
 
Same for Australia...
 
I need to move

Every time I start a new player in the VHL, I think about the history I have with this league, so I thought it would be fun to do a cursory revisit on the players I've had in the VHL since joining around Season 30. As the title suggests, this will be broken into two parts.
 
My first player here in the VHL was Till Lindemann, a heavy, shutdown defender where I roleplayed the singer from Rammstein. That was fun until real life got in the way and Till more or less went inactive. Not an auspicious start. Further, last year [2023] the real life Till Lindemann was accused of some pretty heinous shit, particularly as it comes to sex crimes. I haven't looked into the current status of those allegations, but needless to say as a fan of Rammstein's music and persona since 1997, it was deeply unsettling, and I have regrets about my first player here being modeled after Lindemann.
 
Next was Christoph Klose, which was a really fun player to have. In this case, I was roleplaying my old SHL player coming out of retirement in the "rival" VHL. Klose was my most successful player, and was an excellent two-way forward. For anyone who's read a number of my pieces, undoubtedly you've seen me say things like "Klose was a Lord Karnage away from being a Hall of Famer". That was because Lord Karnage was frequently a quarter of a step ahead of Klose in key categories, which meant that he won a multitude of individual awards while Klose was the runner up. Still, winning 3 Cups in 5 seasons with 3 different teams, and getting to the finals in the other 2 seasons, is a hell of an accomplishment.

VHL Centennial Rebrand

 
 
I think that there's a huge opportunity coming up to in the next few seasons to not only rebrand a team or two but to give the league a new look - a celebratory refresh if you will - for its 100th season. With all the changes that have happened over one hundred seasons, this is possibly a once in a lifetime opportunity to give the league a new look if only for a season and to celebrate it’s rich history, the seven original franchises that have been around for all 100 seasons, and the teams and players that have made the VHL what it is today.
 
Here are a few rebrands/refreshes I think should be considered for the league’s 100th anniversary:
 
League Logo 
I think that the league logo needs a “rebrand” for it’s centennial, something that incorporates “100” to celebrate it’s one hundred seasons (similar to what the NHL did) and to show the world that it’s one of the best and longest lasting sim leagues ever. Perhaps it could also incorporate the seven (or eight) original team logos in the centennial logo. 
 

The NHL's Centennial Logo
 
Original 7 Logos/Jerseys
I would like to see the seven remaining original franchises (Calgary Wranglers, Helsinki Titans, Seattle Bears, Toronto Legion, HC Davos Dynamo (Amstel/Avangard), New York Americans (Hamilton), and Riga Reign (Stockholm) get special centennial logos: either a refresh of the original logos, a part of the original logo in the relocated logo where applicable, or a completely new rebrand of the colors and logos for something new and fresh. Also, I think all team logos should have “100” in the logo. I also propose a graphic/banner for each franchise showing things like number of seasons, past logos, number of Cups and Conference titles, player stats leaders, etc. That way, a new member to the VHL or someone joining a team for the first time have a fantastic way of getting a quick snapshot of the team’s history at a glance.  
 
Portal Page/Web
Now this is where the VHL’s community could really show their talent. I propose a refresh of the portal and forum banners and have a contest where all who wish can submit a centennial banner and the winner (or Top 3?) get TPE. But we could use all of them and have the banners rotate on the pages (if that’s possible). The banners would need to pay homage to the VHL's rich history.
 
Awards
There isn’t a better time to unveil a new award or a rebranded award than during a centennial season. I know that they went through a renaming before, but with so much history and great players since then, it might be time for an award or two to be renamed. Maybe induct a special centennial member into the Hall of Fame? I’m not going to throw out too many ideas at the moment but just putting it out there for the general public to discuss.
 
In conclusion, I think the VHL needs to capitalize on S100 to bring in some new looks and bring back old memories to celebrate this league and all the people that have made it run. New visuals should help attract new members and would liven the place up a bit. Plus it would allow our talented community to showcase what they can do and make this centennial a season to remember!

With one Eagles on his last season (Henry) and leaving the VHL, another one enters to continue the Dynasty.

This time Roger Eagles joins the VHL, a cousin to former all-star Greg Eagles, and a player that has been training under Greg over the last few seasons. While the competition at the goalie position will be tough, Roger believes he has what it takes to not only be a starter in the league but also one of the top goalies in the league.
 
Scouting reports are suggesting this is one of the most talented Eagles to yet join the league, starting off hockey at a very early age and being surrounded by Greg, Tom and Henry has helped Roger grow into a very competitive player. We spoke to Roger on why he decided on the goalie position.
 
" I just loved the position and thought it was time for an Eagles to be back in the net in the VHL" Roger said " I have been training to be a goalie since I was a child and yes I know im entering the league when there is an influx of goalies currently playing but that does not dissuade me from joining at this position. If anything it helps me be more motivated and more focused to earn that VHL starting spot. I think I will be spending some extra seasons in the juniors to help build on my game. I know no previous Eagles has done this but there is always a first for everything"
 
Roger has not yet joined a VHLM team but rumors have it that he may end up joining San Diego this season as they currently do not have a starting goalie. If he does end up joining San Diego, he will be following the same path as Greg Eagles who also first played for the Marlines when he entered the league back in season 66.
 
" I am excited to get started, I am excited to forge my own path and I am excited to continue the Eagles dynasty here in the VHL " Roger said "I will be working hard to ensure our name sake stays relevant in this league and will be working hard to become the first ever Eagles to try and grace that elusive hall of game"
 
While Roger comes highly touted, not many people have seen him play. He has been hidden from the public eye and has not played many junior games, instead he was consistently training at Greg Eagles goalie camp. Any games that he did play in junior, there was a strict no videography or photography allowed. From people that saw him though, everyone has said that he looks like a much improved version of Greg Eagles at his prime. If that is the case then this young goalie will take the league by storm.

The one caveat is that the VHL's scoring has been significantly going up this season as the forwards get better, will Roger, who has not played any professional hockey yet, be able to handle this uptick in goal scoring skill? It will be an interesting journey as we once again follow another Eagles from start to finish.

The Yukon Rush were a team that had several devout fans. They first came into existence as a VHLM team during the league's first expansion in Season 31. Full disclosure: I was the creator of the team as well as its first general manager, so I am definitely biased towards them. That's not to say that I am alone in my despair that the team is currently defunct. If you look back at the announcement that the Rush, playing in Geneva at the time, were being removed from the VHLE, there were several members vocal in wanting to see the Rush return to Yukon. While others may try to find a way to get them back into the VHLM, I think they would make a fine addition to the VHL, in part because I believe there is one particular VHL team that is in massive need of a new identity.
 
The New York Americans franchise was one of the original eight, though they began as the Hamilton Canucks. It was in Season 7 that the team moved to New York and became the Americans. I wasn't around at that time, and I am unfamiliar with how the rebranding was received, but I do know that the team had a poor reputation for how it was managed, particularly in the early seasons. Although that era of the Americans did not last forever, and the team did begin to turn around when new management took over for Robbie Zimmers, they were still one of the least successful teams during the first couple decades of the VHL. Just as I have ties to the Rush, I am also linked to the Americans as well. I served as the team's general manager in Season 17 and Season 18, and then again from Season 22 to Season 29. I helped turn around the team from being one of the worst, and ushered in an era where New York was one of the best several decades of play.
 
It can be argued when the era of the Americans as the class of the VHL truly began. We never won a championship under my leadership, though I did lead them to four straight finals losses long before Spartan came along. From Season 32 to Season 53, the Americans won six Continental Cups. If we expand that range back to Season 25, they reached the finals in 13 of 29 seasons. In the 38 seasons from S24 to S61, they made the playoffs 30 times and the Conference Finals 26 times. Although the team had quite a long stretch where it was undeniably one of the most successful teams, I don't think this era of the team makes it untouchable when it comes to relocation or rebranding.
 
The Americans have had very little success other than the above mentioned run. Outside of that 38-season span (granted, that is over 40% of the VHL's lifetime), the team has just two finals appearances (S13, S14) and one championship (S14). Amazingly, they were able to move up to a tie for the third-most championships in league history when they won their seventh in Season 53. Having not won since then, however, they have fallen back down the list. All six of the other original eight franchises that still exist, as well as Vancouver, who has 30 fewer seasons, have now won more championships. New York behind all other remaining original franchises in playoff, conference finals, and VHL finals appearances. The franchise had a very successful era, but that era of the team is long gone.
 
Now that I've established that the franchise is one of the least successful overall, let's move on to the team branding. To be completely honest, I did not like the Americans as a team name even back when I was general manager, and I regret not making an attempt to rebrand the team at some point during my time in charge. Speaking on the name, the 'Americans' can potentially be alienating to some members of the league. While I do not think people are going to be offended by the name, or turned away from the league in general because of it, I do not think it does any favors for the success of the franchise. The logo is nothing special, and is in fact very similar to the United; does the league really need to red, white, and blue flag-themed shield logos? We have a lot of red and blue in the logos around the league, so I think something a little more unique would be nice. While I do not have concrete data to back this up, I would wager that the Americans would place high on a 'least favorite branding' poll while also not having many would would call it their favorite.
 
Let's look back at the Rush, now. Why, in particular, should New York relocate to Yukon to revive the Rush? Well, I don't necessarily think it has to be New York, but the Rush are a team that would be supported, and I think New York is most in need of a rebranding in terms of VHL teams. While the Rush could maybe return to the VHLM if there is a team in need of a refresh (I do not pay enough attention to the VHLM to know or care), I would love to see them make the move to the VHL. New York could use a change, and the most beloved defunct team is right there. I do think this, however, is where my bias comes into play the most; given that I do not care greatly for the VHLM, seeing the Rush in the VHL would mean so much more to me. I know it's been a long time since I have been GM of New York, but I still hold the Americans franchise as dear to me, so from a personal perspective, to see them take up the Rush mantle would be particularly meaningful.
 
I may be delusional to think that this would ever happen, so I'm going to try to take an objective standpoint for a moment. Do the Rush really fit as a VHL team? Rather, should we really put a VHL team in Yukon? Just think about putting a team there, and comparing that to the other North American markets where we have, or could have, teams. Yukon, of course, is not a city, but a Canadian territory. I think it's fair to say the team would "play" their home games in Whitehorse, the capital. With a population of roughly 28,000, it would be the second-least populated VHL city ahead of only Davos; but Davos has major cities nearby, unlike Whitehorse. Yukon would be a massive outlier in terms of the market, though we are not actually trying to attract fans to an arena. I do understand that some people are going to have a difference of a opinion than me on this, but I am okay with putting a team anywhere, as long as the name makes sense.
 
Undoubtedly, I have my own personal reasons to want to see the Rush return, but I know others want to see it as well. While I don't think the Americans are a favorite team, I do not actually know what the support looks like for having them relocating be the means by which we see a return to Yukon. I think it makes sense from many angles, not the least of which is my personal desire. A blue and gold color scheme would be more unique than what the Americans have to offer. The Rush are a more beloved team, and a new identity could help revitalize the franchise. I think it would at least help to take away the stigma of the team as, quite frankly, terrible and replace it with an aura of excitement that would come with the return of the Yukon Rush.

All of these players are overrated (*I don't know what I'm talking about)

To decide what franchise is most in need of a rebrand it makes the most sense to look at how old each team's logo is. After nearly a quarter-century of VHL seasons of teams slightly modifying and re-using existing logos from other leagues and sports, since S24 all logos have been original, some designed by the VHL's own graphics community, and most of the more recent ones being purchased from third-party designers. Quite a few continue to stand the test of time. Let's count them down.
 
S81: Riga

The newest logo in the VHL belongs to the Riga Reign who avoided a rebrand for nearly 60 seasons beforehand and are only on their third logo overall (all variations of the orange lion). I think this one got quite widespread approval and is certainly an upgrade on the previous version so it would be unlikely to be changed any time soon, even as a big change is about to take place in Riga's GM position.
 
S75: Calgary

Another long-awaited change to an old franchise's appearance took place just six seasons previously, as the beloved derp horse was retired after 50 seasons to make way for a more imposing stallion. The Wranglers have also only gone through three variations of the red horse and the current version is likely here to stay for a while.
 
S73 expansion teams: Chicago, Los Angeles, London, and Warsaw
S68 expansion teams: D.C. and Prague
S65 expansion team (Moscow) and S66 expansion team (Malmo)


                                                       
I am grouping all the expansion teams together (which is actually half of the league) for a specific reason: unlike the rest of the teams' logos, these were purchased using the league's donation money with the thought process that these were long-term investments and won't be replaced on a whim in the short-term. Of course, these expansion teams have all been around for at least 20 seasons now but as we have seen with Calgary and Riga above, and indeed many more examples to come, this is far from a long time in VHL terms. Just as importantly, these are actually a solid set of logos, most of which I think there is no great clamour to replace. The exceptions might be LA and London and purely on a personal level I think LA is the franchise most in need of a fresh start but I'll let someone else dive into that topic in more depth.
 
S53: Helsinki

The Titans aren't far off from being joint-oldest on this list as their logo change in S53 was only a cosmetic one really, polishing up and slightly recolouring the version they got in S24 when all teams rebranded to in-house made logos. However, given Helsinki did give themselves an uplift 30 seasons later, they fall in the midtable of this list. There's nothing that needs improving for them but maybe they'll want another small makeover in the near future.
 
S52: New York

The next three logos are a tale of how logo changes can sometimes seemingly alter history. The Americans had lots of success following the S24 rebrand and were arguably the league's most successful franchise in the following 30 seasons. However, just before their back-to-back championships of S52 and S53 they swapped to this logo and after that initial short-term success.... well you guys probably know most of the story. One finals appearance has followed in the 40 seasons since, so if there's any franchise that needs a rebrand just to dump their loser era it's New York.
 
S47: Toronto

In a similar vein to the Americans, the Legion's logo swap immediately led to threepeat, the first of its kind. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster since but Toronto's logo just seems to work for them and also harks back to the version they used in the league's first decades. In fact, the S47 rebrand replaced a very unpopular logo so this change was welcomed and despite being one of the oldest ones in use now, it doesn't feel like there is much clamour for change at the moment.
 
S44: Davos

Until the recent renaissance under Alex, this, even more than New York's, was the league's most cursed logo. The Dynamo were definitely the league's most successful franchise before S44 and then they just stopped being that. I also personally preferred the logo they replaced, although I am biased as I was the team's GM just 5 seasons previously. Davos has turned things around a bit now but it's the third-oldest logo in the league so I say get them to switch it up and leave that cup drought firmly in the past.
 
S31 expansion team: Quebec, now Vancouver

Funnily enough, given what I said about the “new” expansion franchises above, it seems to be the fate of expansion teams in the VHL that they are stuck with their logo for life. Cologne never replaced theirs and have been resurrected with in in the VHLE, the Quebec's was considered so good that it survived the move to Vancouver (more of a translation rather than a rebrand). In fact, not touching the logo was one of the conditions for the move being allowed to go through. It is still unique in being a logo designed by the team's GM, in this case founding GM Pavel Koradek. What has changed over time is that this is now the second-oldest logo in the league so perhaps popular opinion could be swayed towards a change. It is such a simple yet effective one though.

S24: Seattle

Fittingly, the oldest logo in the VHL is in Seattle, also home to the league's (soon to be by far) longest-serving GM. The Bears logo does predate Bana's reign (yes there was such a time) and is the only logo to survive from S24, when all eight franchises at the time got custom-made logos, having survived until then on versions ripped from existing teams. Seattle until then (ignoring their 1-season stint as the Everblades) had used the Hershey Bears logo, swapped to fairly similar one in S24 and haven't looked back since. Time for a change? Maybe under a new GM...
 

Yes, by looking at the league schedule, and counting. Luckily spreadsheets can do all that work and all I have to do is create the template with formulas and then paste in the schedule output for each season.
 
This particular spreadsheet doesn't convert well to Google docs, so I'm not going to share it. Unless maybe there is demand for it and I can try to fix it up a bit to make it work.