Renomitsu

1. In some weird way I think Davos/NY have potential to form a rivalry. They're franchises that were both legendary back in the day, had a long period of irrelevance, and in recent seasons have come somewhat back to relevance. They should form a rivalry just to see who forms a dynasty next between the two of them -- even if its dozens of seasons from now. 2. I... don't know what this means as someone who, after a decade of sim hockey, still does not know anything about hockey. 3. I'm definitely going to prank @samx and it's going to involve dino nuggets in some way shape or form. --------- 1. Your player gets an offer to play on the top line for their nation/national region. What do they say, and why? 2. For vets, who was/is your most successful player? For first gens, are you going to go the full 8-9 seasons or are you planning on retiring before all of the regression has set in? 3. If you could play a career either a) at the same length with 1% regression instead of the current regression starting with the sixth season or b) with a couple of additional seasons (ie 11 total), but all of them have half of the normal regression starting with your sixth, which would you choose?

1. Nah, I'm going to be sleeping. I worked the last 12-13 nights in a row and am really not about to wake up in the middle of the day to look at the not-sun 2. Oh man, where do I begin? The vaccine-autism thing, something about jet fuel melting steel beams, lizard people, flat Earth... 3. Ooh, ooh! The New Coke thing from the 80s is kind of interesting. Make a worse product temporarily to increase demand for your primary product. I still don't think it's true since they did make New Coke for like... 20 years, but I could totally see a sleep-deprived marketing department thinking that'd work. 1. What are your thoughts about AI? Are there any fields that you think it really shouldn't touch ever? What fields do you think it'd be most useful for? Are humans doomed to become lazy, uncreative folks reliant on AI? 2. @Enorama's offering lessons in League of Legends. Does your player take him up on his offer? 3. What do you think goes in to being a perfect draft pick for a franchise (outside of just earning the most TPE)?

So wait, the $150 I was spending per month to pay Josh to make Aloe Dear a Hall of Famer just went straight to his pocket???

1. I don't really know. I work so many major holidays that a lot of them have frankly lost meaning for me - and I don't usually get the weekends during or surrounding these holidays off either. 2. Usually the VHL. I don't think, conceptually at least, I should really be having the most fun in any of the minor/semipro leagues because my goal is to live out a player's dream of making it to the pros! 3. Uhh, I probably would choose not to teleport! You didn't say anything about being able to teleport back. --- 1. Happy Easter -- if you celebrate it! Did you celebrate, and if so, how? If not, how was your Sunday? 2. We know being a pro VHLer takes a lot of dedication. What's the longest consecutive number of hours you've stayed up in any context, and what came of it? 3. You just got promoted at your job! What does that look like for you, and are you going to enjoy your job more than your last one?

Prague, Czechia - After a miserable rookie season where they managed just 25 points in 72 games and a pitiful -19 plus-minus, Spanish Moon Moth is on a road to relevance -- or at least is trying to. Through ten games, the winged hockey player has scored exactly ten points and is managing 4.5 shots/game. And while his shot blocks (8) and hits (5) aren't impressive by any means, it's been good enough to finally manage a net-even plus-minus. Unfortunately, being one of the team's top two lines also means added pressure - and the Phantoms have managed 14 points thus far, putting them in a tie for first place. As we've often seen from the past, however, an early start does not necessarily portend good end-results for a VHL team of any tier - the pros, E, or M. Though some fans may try to rest easy with a plus-12 goal differential, early-season schedule can skew hopes high or low disproportionately. Let's have the season go another 30 games or so and we'll be able to see if we should truly be excited about the Phantoms. In the meantime, the phans in Prague are just going to enjoy a good start.

1. What's poppin', Prague?! This week is season start week! How excited is your player? My player's... kind of excited? I don't think we're making waves this season but I'm going to try my best to show out and bring us some success. 2. What has your player been working on in the off-season? Mostly a bit of scoring and defensive attributes. I'm trying to figure out how much checking I want to do in-game. 3. What are some interesting things your player learned in Training Camp? No comment. Gotta keep it a secret for all of the other teams, remember?! 4. Welcome to the Phamily, Rip Wheeler @ScottyP! The team has recently made a trade involving Wheeler and is eager to see him play. What are you thoughts on the trade (link)? It makes sense if we're trying to win a season or two from now rather than this season/in 6 seasons. I'm fine with it. 5. Do you have any Easter...or perhaps April Fool's plans? Nope, I'm working all the dang time. 6. What is one of your all-time favorite movies? Ooh, I really loved the Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse movie (the first). I haven't had a chance to see the second but I really enjoyed how they sort of let the creative team go free for that movie.

1. I think we did an awesome job! Love me some Ferk, and all of our other prospects look pretty promising. I wouldn't pick anything else specific in this draft, especially given our position. 2. Tet is just the worst according to @samx so I expect us to win the championship, thanks. 3. I'm not going to lie, I am a bit worried about the next 2-3 seasons after this one. We're going to have a rough patch for sure, so we had better bulk up in the draft so we can win a championship before I retire. 4. I think so. He's a pretty clear top 3 player for multiple seasons in his career, which normally secures HoF at some point. Whether or not he makes it first or second ballot remains to be seen. 5. Yep, I take an allergy pill every morning (fexofenadine). That's probably not going to change any time soon. 6. Spring break? Spring break? No such thing for residents hahaha

1. I think I might have been just right, if not a touch of a bust. I've already been traded once which is really unfortunate for a top 10 pick. 2. gorlab probably makes the best graphics of everyone. 3. Most likely Media Spots. I've never done graphics or podcasts. -------------------- 1. @Spartan was a GM in the VHL for a while and made FIVE finals but never won a cup. Is he cursed? 2. Who's your 'favorite' member in the league? How did you meet them? 3. Suppose you're a free agent. You have two clubs that reach out to you: one that's probably middle to lower end of the pack but has a bright future and a nice locker room, and one that's a pretty inactive locker room but are the favorites to win the cup for the next couple of seasons. Where do you go?

rekt

Awards voting has always been a point of contention for the Victory Hockey League. Back in the day, members would write lines upon lines espousing their one most-favored candidate for award X or Y, and it'd garner a bunch of views (relative to the size of the website, at any rate), and even within the last ten seasons folks have gotten a lot tamer with regards to getting upset during awards ceremonies. Members used to get really testy on the forum over one player or another getting AnFiByACiMo (if you know, you know). This season's voting is far more clear-cut. Nearly 43% of voters have come out in favor of AK92 Wit da Hoodie, Riga's forward-extraordinaire who's tied for the lead in points, but with a commanding 15 goal lead and over ten times the hits (as well as more shot blocks) than the second best forward. In the VHL's new era of hybrid attributes this is challenging to come by, though certainly not as homogeneous as the ol' 99/40 split of several seasons ago. The two goalie candidates -- Helsinki's Fuukka Rask and Calgary's Merome Dilson -- are both excellent in their own right with nearly identical 93.5% save rates, ~2.3 goal against averages, and between 2250-2300 shots faced with 5 or 6 shutouts apiece. If we're talking about outstanding players, unfortunately they seem to hurt eachothers' cases - so congrats on the very likely win, Hoodie!

1. Since I know overall very little about hockey outside of these little attributes we upgrade on a weekly basis, I'd probably pick "Beginner's Luck" as a team name in hopes of making more experienced GMs squirm. 2. I generally enjoy theme week, but my time available to be able to contribute to it is pretty limited. 3. I'm definitely enjoying having less to pay attention to - it's a nice break even though I generally really enjoy my time here. ----------- 1. What would you say are the biggest hockey stories of this VHL (or NHL) season to someone who doesn't regularly watch? 2. What do you think needs to happen for hockey to become as mainstream as things like American football and basketball in the United States? When do you think that will happen? 3. Do you participate in the league Discord? What channels are your favorites?

Prague, Czechia – With the retirement of Velociraptor Greg and the resignation of GM Acydburn coming just a week or two apart, the future of the Prague Phantoms remains in jeopardy. Its bimodal distribution of player ages – with the majority of their players living in the S84/S85 draft classes – leaves the team with some tough questions to answer in the next season or two. Namely, after S93 finishes, is the team going to pursue a retool for one last go at a championship, or is there going to be a further pursuit of a rebuild? Either situation leaves the team’s younger players in a bit of an awkward position. Indeed, currently the team’s prospects are a variety of sub-400 TPE players drafted 2-3 seasons ago, as well as Elle Aura Ashe, a 197 TPE winger from the same class as Spanish Moon Moth. It’s becoming readily apparent that the team was coming to a difficult crossroads even before their general manager stepped down. Now that the team is also in limbo from a leadership standpoint, do the future Phantoms stand a chance against the rest of the league? Will they be too late to claim important free agents and adequately scout? These will be the questions the incoming GM has to be able to answer – and fast.

1. Uh, I guess I'm mostly hoping that the team doesn't totally fall apart. New GM, bunch of players retiring these next two seasons... a little worried I'm going to be all alone here on Prague. 2. I dunno. Probably would add another Scandinavian team since they're relatively prolific in hockey. 3. Knights of Cydonia. That bass line is something else. ------------- 1. What's the most obscure/rare fact you know about hockey? 2. There have been a few punishments from the head office recently. What do you think about the Spirit of Competition ruling on Seattle? 3. If any one GM job suddenly became available, which opportunity would you leap for first?

Prague, Czechia – With their hopes dashed, the Prague Phantoms once again head home from the first round of the playoffs, the 4th and 5th seed matchup. Sadly, the series didn’t even require a full five games before the decision point was made. With Velociraptor Greg set to retire this upcoming offseason, a lack of playoff success this time around feels particularly deflating and saddening for the Phantoms, who will need to retool a bit with more retirements on the horizon. Season 84 classmates Faith Hope Love and Fred Thompson, as well as S85’s John Jameson and Nikolas Kauppo are set to retire over the subsequent two seasons – so if Prague wants to make a leap for the playoffs, they’ll need some rapid improvement from their current defenseman and a veteran pickup. Otherwise, they’ll have to shift their focus to their S88-91 players while working with their total six first and second round picks and have to look more towards the next 5-6 seasons rather than the immediate future.

1. I don't think my player models their game after anyone in particular, he's a moth! 2. There aren't many, because I think lots of business just try to find their right time to start testing your patience. Costco might be the only one I think of readily, otherwise I try to shop around. 3. Spanish Moon Moth spends most of their paycheck on improvements to villages in the Isle of Man, and spends plenty of time working to improve communities for underserved kids in Prague. ------ 1. Your player is visited by the ghost of someone in their past to help guide them back to the right path - who is it and what advice do they provide? 2. Who's a player that's so old they should be washed up but isn't? 3. Do you participate in the General or VHL channels on Discord? If not, why? And if so, who are your favorite members?