jRuutu

Los Angeles managed to beat Moscow Menace 4-2 despite Moscow being clearly the more active team. Moscow had 42 shots in the game, but The Menace managed to score only twice. Los Angeles was far more ruthless with their 26 shots, The Stars scored four goals. One of the players in Moscow who might feel they could have done more is, without a doubt, center Jarmo Ruutu who got thrown off the game when only 3 minutes was played in the second period. At that point the game was 2-2, so perhaps Moscow could have turned the game for a win if they had all players available for the rest of the game. Jarmo Ruutu appeared to be down after the game, he gave short answers to the media about the game, but after he glanced at his phone he appeared to spark up, when a reported asked did he receive good news, Jarmo had this to say: "I just saw the recent news about the elections, Donnie-T is doing well, that makes me and everybody else in Moscow super happy. We have been waiting for this moment for a long time and now it looks like the moment is finally here, truly amazing. We lost today, but I think I speak for everybody when I say that in days like this hockey comes second."

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If you browse the VHL forum you might quickly notice VHL has been around a long time! For example, in the "General Discussion" - section you can find posts dating all the way back to 2013. One of those threads is the following. The thread tells a story about two VHL members meeting on a bus. They did not know each other outside of VHL. One day they sat next to each other in a bus when one noticed the other was browsing VHL and some other hockey league on their phone. They contemplated whether they should say something. Luckily they did, they exchanged a few words by the sound of it, and because of that we have this little fun story. The point of this article is to focus on the exact moment when the other VHL member realized they were sitting next to another VHL member. Throughout the history of VHL not knowing who the users in VHL are really has been a key factor in how users around VHL interact. The "anonymity" has allowed users to share thoughts and ideas they would not maybe share on other platforms. The users can also do the opposite and remain in the shadows and share very little about themselves as they focus more on their players, which could be the opposite of how they operate on other platforms. Some GMs might feel like they can take more risks as VHL is a game that should be played, if a move backfires they can not really lose face as nobody knows who they are really. These few examples would be drastically different if you would have to face the VHL members out in the real world. When the VHL member realized they were sitting in a bus next to another VHL member many thoughts must have run through their mind: "If I say something; do I now need to be nice around the forum?", "Are personal messages in VHL now somehow more weird than before?", and of course "Should I jump off in some other stop than I usually do?". The lore of VHL, the knowledge, the belief, is that you will never meet anyone you interact with in VHL because you don't have to. You should not know where another VHL member lives. You should not know what another VHL member looks like. What the VHL member did on the bus that day is and was wrong. They broke the code, they did something that is taboo. They called out another VHL member in a real-life setting. By doing so they started a snowball effect that we can feel around VHL today. What used to be a bathroom for mostly males is now a bathroom for everybody. There is still writing on the walls, but fewer curse words and the font is a lot nicer. The smell is still pretty bad, but you can sometimes smell a flowery scent of some kind. Nowadays, the sounds of farts are not enough to let those around you know you are feeling bad or good, you need to also say it with your words. These subtle changes in the aura and vibe of VHL tell a story of two different times. In my opinion, it was better when VHL members knew very little about each other, VHL members had more in common in those days.

Moscow Menace center Jarmo Ruutu was speaking to the media yesterday. Before the season started the goalie position was seen as a bit of a question mark after the trade of Syko, but Hugo Boss and Joseph Reed have been playing well so far, a reporter wanted to hear Jarmo's thoughts and what kind of message he would like to send to Boss and Reed. Jarmo encouraged Boss and Reed by saying they have done a solid job and they should keep on catching the pucks! At this moment Hugo Boss made an appearance and yelled: "How about you catch some bitches ". The whole room went quiet as they turned to see who said and what, then everybody turned back to Jarmo, waiting to hear what the Finnish center would have to say, Jarmo did not hesitate: "I would rather catch feelings". A moment of silence was interrupted by two clapping hands, then a few more joined in, a few seconds later the whole room was clapping. Jarmo continued: "I respect females, I think females deserve our respect, the word "female" is a cool word, female, female, female, it is an enjoyable word to say". The press conference ended moments later. Everybody in the room appeared to be in good spirits as they had just witnessed a beautiful moment.

1. It looks like our hot start wasn't a fluke, and we now have only 1 regulation loss in 23 games while surging comfortably at the top of the league. Does the Victory Cup curse ever start to creep into mind? Do you believe in it? If and when we finish first and get a early exit then I am a believer. This season feels different with so many weaker teams but then again we have also won the better teams clearly, I am thinking this year we should have solid odds of making a deep run in the playoffs. 2. Our goalie play was the biggest question mark going into the season, but our goalies combine to lead the league in GAA with strong SV%'s as well. What message do you have for @Diland @BrutalBoost to keep their momentum going? Good job fellas, keep catching the pucks! 3. Last season, Jarmo Ruutu led the league in assists as a forward, now Maverick Goncalves paces the league in assists. Why do you think the Moscow style of play favors forwards generating so many assists when it's often a defenseman category? The Moscow forwards believe in the old-school mentality of leaving defenders to do the defending, that allows the forwards to focus only in offense, which naturally translates to solid numbers offensively. 4. 7 out of 10 skaters on the roster are well over a point per game pace. Is this sustainable? How do we avoid a crash? It is! We are too talented, both lines click well. With so many weaker teams in the league we can demolish many teams and feast on points. 5. As well as the Menace are playing, the Pittsburgh Penguins look to be playing inversely as they're playing horrible hockey. Am I just not allowed to have two of my favorite teams playing well? Puljujärvi has friends in high places, you should consider buying Puljujärvi jersey for good luck. 6. How's your NHL team doing after the first couple weeks of the season? Better than the Penguins hopefully? I don't have a NHL team, but it has been cool to see the Finnish players in big roles in many teams.

Moscow makes it look easy

Diego Machado beats up Jarmo Ruutu at 16:49 of 3rd period Jarmo Ruutu (MOS) for instigated a fight (Game Misconduct) at 16:49 Jarmo Ruutu ejected from game at 16:49 of 3rd period Time slows down, everybody in the arena is holding their breath, Diego Machado is skating away from the lifeless body of Jarmo Ruutu. The fight between the two power-forward centers had ended in a clear victory for Machado, perhaps not surprisingly considering how many fights Machado has already won this season. Moments later Jarmo Ruutu gets up from the ice and starts making his way off the ice. A once so proud and strong gladiator has been humiliated in front of the cheering Toronto Legion fans. After the game, Jarmo Ruutu appeared to be in full health as he spoke to the media: "I would like to apologize to the fans of Moscow Menace, losing a fight like this was not what I anticipated before the game. I knew there could be a possibility for tight and heated battles in the game because The Legion have not been playing too well so far, we all knew they would come into the game hard and we were playing on their home ice. When I had scored a couple of goals and it looked like Moscow was going to win, I approached Machado and asked if they would like to drop the gloves. I knew Machado is a tough fighter but I also felt confident in my abilities. I wanted to fight and show the Menace fans at home we are skilled players but we are not afraid to get physical. I got my ass kicked pretty badly. It looked bad and it felt bad. I can only promise that I will learn from this experience, and I will add fighting lessons to my training schedule. The next time I drop the gloves I will be victorious. Thank you." The game between Moscow and Toronto is one to forget for fans of Toronto. Moscow was up 6-1 after two periods, especially the first line of Moscow was too much to handle for The Legion. Toronto did get some positives from the game with the two powerplay goals they scored in the third period. It will be interesting to see what the future brings for Toronto who is now 7 points away from the last playoff spot in the North American division. The game against Moscow showed Toronto can create plenty of chances but they also get carved open defensively too easily. On the other side, Moscow is top of the league with a 10-point lead to the next team. It will be equally interesting to see whether Moscow is able to finish first and do they even want to. Last year Moscow finished first in the regular season but the playoff ride was over quickly. Toronto plays against Seattle, Vancouver, and Calgary in the next three games. All three can be seen as crucial games as the mentioned teams are in second, third, and fourth place in the NA standings. If Toronto were to lose all three games it would mean their losing streak would be at eight games already. Moscow continues their season with games against Davos, Prague, and Malmo. If Moscow can win all three their winning streak would reach 11 games!

Six Moscow Menace players can be found in the top-30 for scoring. That fact answers why Moscow Menace is the best team in the league right now. Moscow Menace is like a dirty love poem, layers on top of layers. We must still not forget that the European division is not doing so well with four teams already looking like they will be having seasons to forget. It will be interesting to see what happens between now and the trade deadline. Are some of the NA teams going to send their players over to the EU side to give the players a taste of playoff action? Normally as a player, you would not perhaps mind if you get traded to a team making it into the playoffs, but if you are a player who finds themselves in the 5th placed EU team after the trade deadline - you might not be too happy about it as the odds are heavily against your team due to the monumental difference in skill and depth. Then again the EU teams might not have too many pieces to move in the first place, which could cause the "hype" for the trade deadline to fade away completely well before we even reach the trade deadline. Luckily at least in the NA division, the battle for playoffs remains tight with the majority of the division being within reasonable distance from each other when looking at the points total.

1. We've started off very hot, 8-0 in the first week but the level of competition has been iffy given a lot of bad teams during that time. Do our wins mean much to you? What are you taking away from these initial games? I think the points could end up being valuable in the end if and when we want to finish first in the standings. You need to still win the weaker teams, and we have done that. 2. Despite going through depreciation, Jarmo Ruutu and David Rashford are still over a point per game pace. What do you think they're doing that's giving them continued success? Internal storm created by being extremely talented and humble at the same time. 3. Has any team's start this season surprised you? As in a team is performing better than you expected, or someone worse than expected? Toronto perhaps, I was expecting them to be higher in the standings, but then again the schedule might have been weird and they have faced only the better teams so far. 4. Who do you think will be our stiffest competition in the EU this season? Riga is the defending champion, Davos is entering their competitive window, and Malmo has a mix of veterans and fresh blood. Who poses the biggest threat and why? I think Riga, they appear to have 2 solid scoring lines, that will be huge thing in a long regular season. 5. How do you feel about the extreme disparity between contending teams and rebuilding teams? The point differential between the worst wild card team and the next best team in the EU is already pretty substantial. Does it take away from the competitive integrity of the league for the playoff teams in a conference to be known before the season even starts? Not good for the league and I think the teams in the contending window will have to analyze games against the better teams in greater detail than maybe in the past because the difference in skill is so big that the weaker teams can be beaten with random tactics. 6. Why do you like playing for Moscow? Give me some testimonials to use on recruiting people or interviewing draft prospects in the future . Moscow is a nice city to live in. Playing for Moscow Menace has always been a dream of mine. When you say what you are told and you do your best - you will not get traded away. What more can you ask for?

Review: I like the idea for the article because it is fun and interesting to hear what kind of predictions / expectations players have for their teammates. The layout here makes it easy to consume the content as each point is clearly separated. The article has a nice introduction to start the article, the reader knows what they are going to get into and also the introduction gives a cool tip for anyone looking for ideas - ask your teammates if they have any ideas! The conclusion in the end provides extra information on what kind of season is expected for Malmo as a team. Overall, I will give this article a solid 9/10. Adding a picture and a slightly "tighter" layout with the spacing of the text could push the grade to 10!

Ottawa vs Philadelphia The Reapers got reapered. Weier earned a two-minute minor for slashing, Ottawa took advantage of the opportunity - Jakobs scored to make it 1-0. Only moments later Ottawa scored again as Harrington made it 2-0. Both teams played conservatively the whole game, not that many chances were created, but Owen two managed to find the back of the net again for Ottawa, a 3-0 lead after two periods. Philadelphia tried to get back into the game in the third, they had 9 shots to Ottawa 4, but Philadephia failed to score any goals. A truly dark moment in the first period for Philadephia ended up costing them the game.

Helsinki vs London The battle between Helsinki and London was an even one. In the first period, Dew scored for Helsinki when just under five minutes was played. Dew scored again in the second period to make it 2-0. Smith Jr got London on the scoreboard moments after the fight between Billy Joel and Maple Dogwood. Despite London being the more active team in the second it was Helsinki who scored next as Maple Dogwood made it 3-1 for Helsinki on the powerplay. Dew rounded up their perfect night by scoring the hat-trick goal in the third period when just under one minute was played. The game ended 4-1 for Helsinki. A surprising result when taking into consideration the shot totals, both teams had a fair number of chances, but Dew was the difference-maker.

Moscow Menace has started the season with six wins from six games. However, some of the glory fades away when considering a couple of the wins came from teams like Helsinki and Warsaw, who have not been able to put together a "full" roster for the season. Moscow also won Praque three times, which is not a big deal either as the Praque roster is made largely from whoever happens to be near the local park when training camp is about to start. If they can wake up each morning by 9 for a couple of weeks, they are part of the Phantoms for the season at least. You can only wonder why teams like Warsaw and Helsinki can not use the same tactic to round up their rosters. The only proper test for Moscow so far came against Riga, Moscow was clearly the more active team and deserved the win, so despite the fairly easy schedule to start the season - Moscow has what it takes to beat the top teams. It must be said the European division is a big mess at the moment. The top teams in Europe are at the top in VHL, but the bottom teams are among the worst we have seen in a while. It will take a while for the European division to bounce back from this hole.

21.10 - 27.10