Renomitsu

F - Markus Nygren @HearnNation67

D - Erik Killinger @Mrpenguin30

F - Kris Rice Continues to be @HearnNation67's pick!

D - Lincoln Tate @Mrpenguin30

F - RJ Jubis @HearnNation67

Warsaw, Poland – “Huh, okay. This might not be so bad.” The first several words uttered from a curious Aloe Dear weren’t quite what you would expect from someone who had just been selected first overall in the VHL Entry Draft. Indeed, with recent pressers revealing that Aloe had no interest in playing for a team that scouted her, and that she’d be testing free agency after her rookie contract no matter what, she expected her draft stock to plummet. “No, Warsaw definitely reached out to me,” she said with a knowing smile in a post-draft presser, “it would seem as though my expectations did not go unseen. That’s always a good first step.” At the end of the day, Aloe was more interested in seeing where various friends of hers – including a prominently-featured Venus Thightrap @BladeMaiden , who placed an easy second in overall points, tying San Diego’s Pietro Angellini with a neat 125 underneath league leader and teammate Riley Knight Gee. Indeed, the top round of the draft was dominated by her former teammates – including the likes of Mingle, Schauer, The 3rd, and Campbell – to say nothing of her former Aces teammates like Nousiainen, Dimmadome, and Sandstrom. But with relatively few of them landing in the same place, Aloe finds herself with brand-new teammates (but familiar users) like Tim Waters, Lexi Glass, and Chris Reynolds; we’ll have to see how these new guys and gals pan out with her.

Transaction ID: 5MC64693A9393584V $1M Player Store Cash 5 TPE Uncapped Doubles Week

1. We have the first overall pick in the draft, anyone you wanna snag? Well, I guess I can't really answer this question. But I'm glad to be here! 2. What will you be doing to improve for next season? Same as it always was: as much training as I can humanly possibly handle provided adequate time for reflection. It's important to make sure whatever training you're doing makes sense to you and is done with the intention of improving specific skills. 3. Are there any regrets you have about last season? I couldn't help lead my team to a championship even though we were pretty hyped and had multiple 250 TPE players, so that was a little disappointing. 4. With season 73 done, who do you consider the best player for that class? I'd have to think Jacob Tonn, who just came off of a championship with the Bears and played six or seven games more than his backup minimum should be in consideration for 'best player of the class.' The Bears are going through a bit of a transition period, but with Rayz Funk moving off to Davos it'll become more immediately obvious how good or bad Tonn is next season. 5. What are you looking forward to next season? Starting my first pro game!! There's something about starting something brand-new, and I've certainly never been in Poland before. My mentor, Apollo Hackett, spent his whole career in Riga so I'm hoping to spend a little time there during our off periods to see what I can learn. 6. What does your player's number mean to you? 00? Well, we have to start somewhere, and there's little that means less than a double zero, right?

only if I get a nice group

Houston, TX – After a firm statement indicating that she’d be testing free agency after her rookie contract, Aloe released another that might doom her draft stock. She’s not interested in continuing on with a team that doesn’t scout her. “I understand I’m not necessarily as marketable an option as other players,” she commented at an exit presser before the VHL Entry Draft, “but I’m just not interested in playing for a team that doesn’t scout me now. The VHL has its mandatory three year contract and so on and so forth – and I get it, you want to make sure a team that drafts a player gets a couple of good years out of them.” “But you can bet if a team doesn’t scout me but drafts me anyways, I’m not interested in continuing on with them beyond those three seasons. I can guarantee you I’d walk in free agency rather than just ‘testing’ it.” It’s not all that unreasonable a request in the end – were Aloe a third or fourth round pick projection she might come off as temperamental or demanding. But realistically speaking, is it so outlandish to just ask for a little communication between a player and their new team, whether they’re a slam-dunk first rounder or third round selection?

Houston, TX – A couple of blunders – losses to a Las Vegas team that has continued its run of excellence after flaming out of the playoffs last season – and the Houston Bulls find themselves just a point under a Miami team on a thirteen win streak. “These last few days have been tough, but it’s a good indicator that we’ve still got room to improve,” a hopeful-looking Aloe Dear noted at a recent presser. “We need to respect the rest of the league and I’m hoping these last few losses will help us figure out what our weaknesses are. We’re definitely capable of defeating Las Vegas and Miami both, and we’ve done so earlier this season.” Through 53 games, the Bulls are 3-3 against the Aces and 2-2 against the Marauders, suggesting there’s much more to the matchup than just a raw skill differential. Las Vegas has consistently played above their perceived talent – a credit to the recruiting and drafting skills of Aces GM Spartan – while Miami’s hot streak is demonstrative of their carefully-curated wealth of talent. A clear-cut favorite has been hard to come by this season, a departure from previous minor league expeditions where there are often one or two teams head-and-shoulders above the rest. Indeed, Miami has been excellent this season, but so have Houston and Ottawa – and no one would doubt many of the remaining playoff teams’ abilities to take games or even upset a series against the ‘top’ teams.

Thought I would claim this last week but did the EFL Media Week instead. Claiming for Week Ending 08/16/20 (claim 2 of 2)

EFL +6

Picture Perfect: An Aloe Dear Junior Review Straight hair, perfect marks, straight edge. For most of her life, Aloe Dear exemplified perfectionism. She was a veritable role model among her peers with a classically attractive appearance, nigh-ideal performance in school, and a keen, socially conscious mind. It established her firmly as a stuck-up, pretentious prude to some, and a future paragon of society to others. She had her privileged upbringing – and a proportional increase in expectations – to thank for all of that. But her parents, while wealthy, refused to spoil their daughter by making her blind to the inequities of the world; she very quickly came to realize there were relatively few in Denmark (or otherwise) who were afforded the opportunities she possessed. In school she was a model citizen, with a personality and mannerisms delicately and deliberately curated by her family and those around them; indeed, she was alternately dainty or outspoken as the situation demanded. She wasn’t afraid of approaching a situation with decorum fitting aristocracy or a confrontational voice, often expressing herself the way she felt would be best received. It was tempting, at times, to produce a Mean Girls-like social circle with her social standing – but there’s no good reason for that, right? What made her break this cycle of societal constraints (even if only just) was hockey – or, more accurately, the girl who introduced her to hockey. Venus Thightrap. The names really wrote the stories on their own – Aloe was, as described previously, a ‘model citizen’ to a fault, a paragon of someone’s oddly subjective view of what’s considered ‘good’ in society. She was a little bookish and relied mostly on her head to accomplish her job on the rink. Venus had been a hockey fan as long as she had lived, finding that she preferred excellent hockey – its physicality, pace, and comradery – to blind patriotism while watching an international match. Indeed, the charismatic, rough-around-the-edges Venus won over VHLM recruiters with her play. And just as her picture-perfect good-girl appearance lent Aloe a large degree of personal magnetism, so did the contrasting ostentatious, high-energy, aggressive nature of Venus. In spite of their opposing personalities, Aloe and Venus became great friends pretty quickly – sped up by a call-up/substitution in that allowed them to play on the same line just a few years ago. Whether it was an inherent game sense or a perfect bonding of personalities, the two became an extremely formidable duo in the few opportunities they had to play together – positioning perfectly across the ice from one another after just a handful of practices. Venus was physical, aggressive, and masterful as a two-way center, while Aloe was a perfectionist, relying more on finesse and technique as a relatively pure scorer. Aloe would be remiss to suggest her foray into the VHLM – and indeed, much of her success on the non-professional circuit – had nothing to do with Venus. Indeed, many considered her a bit too one-dimensional, especially early in her career, to be a successful professional hockey player. And while Venus earned her time on the ice and external scouting out of sheer skill, production, and personal magnetism, Aloe benefited from the exceptional on-ice chemistry she had with the center. Her invite came from VHLM recruiters who had been following Venus for a much longer time, and Aloe was all-too-happy to ride on her coattails.

Pearls and Pitfalls - Awards in the Time of Expansion What additional details should be taken into consideration when voting for awards? Award season is notorious for its frustration and excitement in equal parts, with the former coming from those narrowly missing out on the award and the latter from most others. And since most award voting goes on behind closed doors, it’s pretty tough to tell what the criteria for most awards is aside from looking at the name of the award itself. But there are oftentimes conflicting definitions of “Top” – which appears in at least seven of the named awards’ titles – exactly means. Does a lead in points define better ‘top’ defenseman? What about one with an overwhelming lead in plus-minus? Is that viewed as an exclusively team statistic or as an aggregate of a player’s impact on the ice? Ultimately, this nebulous definition serves a few purposes for the Board of Governors and their associates, among them (1) giving integral flexibility in their selection of an award winner and (2) allowing for multiple potential justifications in their selections should there be challenging interactions after the ceremony. But for the min-maxers/collectors among the VHL userbase, this can sometimes be a difficult pill to swallow: after all, how are you supposed to optimize your trophy case if there isn’t truly a set definition? This season, as the largest (or at least tied-for-largest) expansion season in the VHL, will have stats massively in favor of single great players on new teams desperate for players, as well as generally inflated scoring due to large mismatches of good non-expansion teams vs. expansion teams. With the awards definition already somewhat ill-defined, what additional parameters do the committee have to wade through – and, perhaps most relevantly, what should we be worried about as we progress through the season? Awards Without Context Perhaps the most difficult aspect of awards voting is taking those shiny numbers from the index and turning them into something meaningful. For those of us that don’t have a ton of time to pore over the stats and team performance, it’s tempting to do one of two things: (1) Vote strictly based on volume stats, since everyone plays the same number of games, or (2) Look at how others have voted and make our selections based off of the subset of players they’ve argued for. There are clear flaws with both of these methodologies, and neither is ideal – optimistically, this would be a worst-case scenario and affect an extremely small minority of voters. But that’s not my primary point. Not every player can be like Condor Adrienne. When isolating simple volume statistics from their greater context – overall team skill, the extremely finicky nature of STHS in terms of apparent minimum randomness/points, lopsided forward vs. defenseman vs. goalie ability, and so on – it’s extremely tempting to go with #1 above. If all players play the same number of games, then naturally the best players should produce the best volume stats. Right? …Right? Well, it’s a little tough to say that for certain (and I’m certain that quite a few high-earning players would agree with it). Season 72’s top defenseman, Malmo’s Condor Adrienne, was far and away the best point producer and arguably the best defensive volume stat player in the VHL at 100 points even, 254 hits, and 188 shots blocked. But he also did so on a league-worst 26-41-5 Malmo team that was outscored by 70 goals last season. They were, by a margin of 35 goals, the worst defensive team in the league, and Adrienne basically willed them to their 26 victories by sheer force. But this still came at the cost of a shockingly poor -29 plus-minus in the process. There are five winners (well, four solo winners and one co-winner) in the 72-season history of the VHL that won the Orr/Labatte trophy with a negative plus-minus including Adrienne. The most recent ones were Samuel Gate (S66) and Joseph McWolf (S64), who won with a -9 and -7, respectively. But you have to search all the way back to S38, when Calgary’s Godavari Yumalatopino clearly outclassed Conner Low in all volume stats (2 more points, 142 hits, 81 shot blocks) with a 67 plus-minus differential in Low’s favor just to become the co-winner, let alone a winner outright. What I ask for in this situation is extreme caution as we find several more players in similar positions for this season – including four of the top five scorers in the league at present. While it’s not the Top Defenseman award, these four forwards have a pretty reasonable lead (or are at least tied) on New York’s Acyd Burn, a 37-point player who ranks tied for third at present. Don’t get me wrong – the likes of Sigard Gunnar, Tyler Barabash Jr., Hunter Hearst Helmsley, and Guy Lesieur are among the league’s most talented players and might contend for awards even in different situations. But we also very carefully need to examine the LA, London, and Warsaw team success when considering these players’ candidacy for awards this season. All three of the teams that own these players currently sit in the bottom six of the league (even if this may change by a spot or two in the coming days). And it’s tempting, based on their volume stats should they continue along their current trend, to vote them in as the ‘Top XYZ’ in the league. My concern is it sets a relatively dangerous precedent. Sure, these four players may not have the same overwhelming statistical lead of Condor Adrienne in all categories by the end of the season. I think that’s relatively difficult to predict, but we can likely argue they won’t be more than a half-dozen points past second place, or more than two dozen points past third place like Adrienne was, and they very likely won’t dominate in hits and/or shots blocked like him, either. But when voting for awards, I would think quick voting based on volume stats is less acceptable this season than most others – as rewarding great single (or duo) players on a team for carrying the league minimum stats is an absolutely damning proposition. Team success should continue to be an incredibly important factor from “most improved” to “most valuable.” [1,044 words - claiming for week ending 8/2/20 & 8/9/20]

The Houston Bulls have quite the spectacle going on this season. Although there are debatably higher-performing teams, Houston has been the center of attention as a result of their all-ladies’ line – consisting of Venus Thightrap, Isabella Campbell, and Aloe Dear – all making appearances in the top twenty in scoring as the Bulls lay claim to a top two spot in the VHLM. But in spite of their above-average performance thus far, the Bulls defense was regarded as a liability; no more, thanks to one Riley Knight Gee. The defenseman holds the league lead in points at 31 – that’s among all skaters, not just defenders – and a respectable 20 hits and 19 shot blocks all the while. Perhaps more relevantly, Knight Gee’s net impact is extremely positive – among the top ten in the league at +14 – and plays the fifth-most average minutes per game, making them one of the most reliable players in the minors. And while it’s nice and all to get attention for a potential league-first among their forwards, perhaps more people should keep their eyes on Riley Knight Gee instead.

'Right into your trap, ha-ha! Get it? Trap?'

1) Excluding current team members and myself, who is your favorite user in the league? 2) If you could bring one member currently in the SHL (but not the VHL) over here, who would it be and why? 3) But... like... why birds? And why specifically the Natu with sunglasses? 4) Who's your favorite first-gen of the S73 class? The S74 class? 5) Why does RJ bully me into answering medical questions in the Houston LR? 6) Why did you increase the price for "take a sip of water" on your stream? Do you hate your viewers?

Claiming for Week Ending 7/26

S73 Donation Transaction ID 5YU22140TB452673M Claiming with this post: 5 TPE Uncapped Doubles Week $1M Player Store Cash

You know, between my ten years of sim league history, there are some things I have yet to try. With the exception of the EFL (where you have two players), I’d never tried making an offensive player before Aloe Dear – but I think finally creating one shouldn’t be all that surprising. I’ve also never tried testing free agency in any league (be it VHL, SBA, EFL, SHL, NSFL, etc.) – the only time my players have ever moved were with expansion drafts or via trades, as generally once a team gets my player they tend to want to hold on to them (I don’t have an explanation for that one, sorry). So maybe I’ll get my feet wet in free agency this time around. I haven’t entirely committed to it yet – let’s be honest, making a forward is a big change for me to begin with – but having the option of swapping teams and testing the waters and never exercising it makes for a stable, if uninteresting time for my player. Does this mean I’ll team hop and shop around for championship squads? I mean, maybe. I’ve always wanted a player worthy of the hall of fame, and I think looking for well-constructed teams is part of that process. But as one of the top players in this draft, I’m confident that making this announcement early makes it more likely people will respect the decision should I decide to try my luck with a different team.

Media Spot, ye ye 13 years old was around the time I started high school, which was a significant transitional period for me. I wasn't much of an extracurriculars kind of student, but (unsurprisingly) found a home in my high school's math team and science club. I was younger than most of my classmates and honestly had a pretty hard time making friends even through high school - but for me, just having a forum to discuss what I liked about science and math or explain problems to others was an important part of becoming who I am today (even if I still have a little of my old social anxiety).

Into the Fire: Three S73 First Gens Under the Spotlight Expansion! Woo! The VHL is going to be a beast this season as the classic 'expansion teams are terrible' paradigm sets in - and with exactly a quarter of the league with that designation, there are going to be some wonky scorelines come the end of the season to say the least. But more relevantly, expectations for some of the S73 class members - be it for this season or their careers - are oftentimes disproportionate to their TPE or starting role in their respective teams. And since first gens are always a hot topic, why don't we start with a few of them? LW Jeffrey Pines @rory, LA Stars The top first gen of S73 by TPE, winger Jeffrey Pines is coming off a 91-point season in what was one of the most successful seasons for a historically beleaguered Mexico City franchise. Indeed, of the Kings’ 275 goals last season, pines had a hand in just under a third while putting up a stellar +51 opposite fellow winger Chris Hylands. What had impressed many scouts throughout the season, however, was Pines’s commitment to playmaking and rock-solid fundamentals, as he has some of the best defense and passing technique out of any rising S73 player this past season. On draft night most had expected Pines to go top five, what with his raw talent, first-gen status, and an expectation that Marshall James Frostbeard would go at the end of the first as a GM player. But VHLM front offices and Pines’s camp alike were shocked to find Pines available at eighth overall, at which point he became the first-ever selection for the Los Angeles Stars. And a franchise’s first pick presents an entirely different set of expectations and challenges: as one of the top four forwards on an expansion team, it’s entirely possible Pines will see some first-line minutes and plenty of powerplay time against players with half a dozen years of experience over him. And as a first selection, he undoubtedly has expectations of the franchise on his shoulders going forward. Indeed, there’s no falling back on crushing the VHLM for Pines now; at 311 TPE, the winger’s a big boy with no option to return to his old stomping grounds. Without a storied set of true, star-level veterans to lead the way, he’s going to have to learn fast – but rory already has some managing chops under his belt and has no signs of slowing down. LW Groovy Dood @bigAL , D.C. Dragons Speaking of expectations, woof. Half the VHL was shocked when the D.C. Dragons took Groovy Dood, a 258 TPE forward, as the first overall selection of S73. Now, naturally the other half wasn’t surprised with GM Enorama’s drafting strategy focused exclusively on first gens, including a specific connection to bigAL prior to draft night. But perhaps most relevantly, Dood was just barely past the 250 TPE mark that would have allowed him to stay in the minors, which puts him in the now much tougher position of playing on a star-studded D.C. lineup that fell far short of expectations last season. As a user that spent his first week or two getting acclimated to the site, bigAL earned slowly. But by mid S72, he was no stranger to the ice, managing 57 points as the first line centerman for minor league championship favorite Minnesota Storm. He falls in a mold not dissimilar to Pines: a pass-first forward with a strong emphasis on fundamentals. Indeed, the center probably has slightly worse technical skills in favor of a more diverse skillset that includes a little checking, face-offs, and an impressive ability to hold on to the puck down the ice. For a player of Dood’s caliber, the expectations would typically fall around the middle of the road as far as first round selections go. He’s proven himself over the last season in spite of limited powerplay minutes, and he finds himself on a well-established roster that would allow him the mentorship of fellow centers Benny Graves and Boris the Forest (who could each be first line stars in their own rights). But what skyrockets Dood’s expectations over the course of his first three or four seasons is that status as 1OA, first gen or not: he will be the bar that all other S73 picks are judged against. Even while he sits as his team’s likely third line center, the fans in D.C. expect a lot from their relatively young franchise after the Dragons stunned their fanbase with an underwhelming eleventh-place finish. C Dakota Lamb @dlamb , Warsaw Predators Let’s get back to the expansion team selections, shall we? Dakota Lamb, whose agent is a self-professed VHLM Assistant Assistant Assistant General Manager reject by trade and perhaps better known for his escapades in the SBA, finds himself drafted to Warsaw with this most recent draft. And unlike our two previous picks, Lamb has the option of staying down in the minors this season – and he’ll likely be helping a star-studded Miami team take the league by storm thus upcoming season (no pun intended, Minnesota). But Lamb also finds himself in a pretty interesting position as Warsaw’s first-ever selection, and it’s a little tough to say anything about the future of their roster. Indeed, one of the most glaring things about the Predators’ post-expansion roster is the presence of a soon-to-retire Hunter Hearst Helmsley and a Zeno Miniti that isn’t far behind him. But at this stage in their careers, these more veteran centermen are in very different positions – with HHH still in the prime of his career and Miniti having seen better days – that would theoretically allow Lamb to earn second line forward minutes from day one. As a result, it’ll be pretty interesting to see what GM Muffins does with Lamb’s major league eligibility over the course of his first season (even if there’s a 99% chance he stays down the entire season + playoffs). Although Lamb has the pressure of being Warsaw’s first selection, I’d imagine the pressure on the young center is relatively lower compared to our first two selections. He’d sit third line at best, but most likely won’t see pro play for his first season. Obviously the expectations at the minor league level will be high – but that’s the case for any player in the first three rounds that has the option to stay down, not a perception unique to Dakota. At tenth overall, there was a player or two with less raw talent that were taken by non-expansion teams – so there may in fact be more ‘chip on his shoulder’ energy to this selection than high expectations. [1,116 words, claiming 7/19 and 7/26]

In. Am willing to be a group manager too, of course!

1. We're the champs!!! How did you feel when the confetti came down and we hoisted the cup? 2. How did this season's results compare to how you thought we'd do at the start of the season? 3. Now that we've gone out on top, what are your plans for the off-season? 4. Expectations will still be high for Riga next season - how can we keep up? 5. Next season's the last hurrah for the old fogies from S66; who do you think will perform best from that class? 6. A lower cap number and expansion means a lot of young current VHLMers will have large roles. If you're a current VHLM player, how do you feel about next season? If you're a VHL player, how will you help these guys out? 7. We found a weird spiky, circular diagram drawn on the floor of hedge's office. What's the deal with that? 8. Uh.. has anyone seem our Assistant General Manager recently? I don't know if it's related to question #7 but I'm a little worried it is.