Renomitsu

Aw yiss!

Gotta be honest, this is a pretty legit team. Thanks for the selection fonzi!

Fine. I guess I'll play fantasy.

Riga, Latvia - Just when Hackett thought he had gotten over the trauma of being blamed for bad passes by Elias Dahlberg and his agent @Nykonax, Riga Reign management elected to take the first promising young player Nykonax put his eyes on in Kyl Oferson. Claiming he'd "scouted him personally" and "he's guaranteed to fix our offensive problems," Dahlberg's former agent has continued to speak highly of the prospect since taking him under his wing shortly after Dahlberg retired. Hackett believed he'd gotten past the days where he could go without invectives from the coaching staff or even curious agents; in Dahlberg's last couple of seasons, the now-veteran defenseman had been the target of some aimed criticism that led his overall point production to decrease this season. "It'll be a... hm, a work in progress," Hackett said in a one-on-one interview with local Riga media following the draft, "I suspect Oferson will have a more open mind as he hasn't really played with me before. I'm looking forward to being on the ice with our new rookies." One criticism levied against the Reign this past season was a lack of overall offensive production in spite of having the incredibly-talented Ryan Kastelic at the helm on the first line; now that he's retired, Oferson and second- or third-year players like Patrik Tallinder and Ryan Busser will need to take the next step forward if Riga hopes to compete at all this season.

1. All six of the nearby grocery stores are out of toilet paper, what do? 2. What's the weirdest adjustment you've seen people make as a result of coronavirus? 3. Sounds like the VHL will be starting Season 71 on schedule rather than delaying for this pandemic - what makes them different from other sports leagues? 4. Look 10 seasons into the future. How is the VHL different than it is now? 5. When it comes to gear are you using the latest and greatest, or is there anything that holds sentimental value for you? 6. How much does your story/legacy matter to you in the VHL? 7. Tell me about one thing in your life you've had to sacrifice because of your hockey career. 8. What'd you buy with your first VHL check?

Don't remember if I submitted, so I sent (another?) form in. Sorry about the possible redundancy.

best sleepy goalie gets to give the pads a rest

Calgary put up one hell of a fight in a series that most everyone gave to Moscow before game 1 was played. Bright future and they should be proud, even if the finals didn't go the way they wanted.

Claim 2 of 4, week ending 03/15/20

5 points for Smitty in this one

Trading Block, VHLvania - VHL trading block rumors are vicious and unrelenting, whether for better (the media) or for worse (all of the players). Teams usually have their fair share of hecklers every season unless they've won the most recent championship (and even then, Seattle isn't exempt), and when trade block rumors make their way to the surface it typically comes at the player(s) in questions' expense. After seeing a recent interview with Tate and being told to 'pack everything up' at the end of the European Conference Finals this season, Hackett assumed he'd be shipped off as Riga appears to be headed for a re-tool. "It's tough, you know? You put your best out there and you find yourself not fitting the team's plan at the end of a season, so you're told about the trade block," he remarked at a cozy Reign-specific presser about a week ago. "But I'm confident our sleepy hedgehog boss will do what's best for the team." It's tough to imagine his level of surprise at being placed on the trade block -- but little did we know there exists a constantly-moving villa in the middle of the tiny country of VHLvania literally called "The Trade Block," a location only players are told about. In a leaked video from an unknown VHL player, the place was packed, including Riga veterans Apollo Hackett and Lincoln Tate as previously mentioned - but also virtually the entire North American Conference and most players from the European Conference*. At least half of the rooms surveyed had some sort of rave or club dancing going on, but we also saw at least two rock climbing walls, indoor heated pools, media centers with >100in. screens or projectors, and open kitchens with world-class chefs, to say nothing of the multiple gyms. Some recent retirees like Matt Thompson and Podrick Cast were found with huge entourages in the ritziest spots on campus. What the hell, man? How did nobody know about this before? Is the "trade block" really code for some kind of exclusive players-only destination? *Disclaimer: I have no idea who is actually on the trade block.

Seem to come in waves. All of those guys listed have been in some type of leadership role since joining too!

Part I - Pick em' (Pick the correct winners of all three games for 2 TPE) Game 3 - Moscow Menace @ Calgary Wranglers Game 4 - Moscow Menace @ Calgary Wranglers Game 5 - Calgary Wranglers @ Moscow Menace Part II - Predict the Score (Predict the correct score and winner of this game for 3 TPE) Game 5 - Calgary Wranglers @ Moscow Menace - Menace 4-1 Part III - Player Predictions (Predict the correct player for each category, 1 TPE for each correct answer) Series leader in points: Jet Jaguar Series leader in goals: Jet Jaguar Series leader in assists: Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen Who has the series PIM lead: Mikko Lahtinen Who scores the series winning goal: Jet Jaguar

Claim 1 of 4, week ending 03/08/2020

1. We overcame our most persistent rivals in Helsinki in the first round, only to be sunk by Moscow. What part of this outcome were you most surprised by? 2. Lincoln Tate was the first to break the news that changes may be coming in Riga. What are your thoughts on the future of the Reign? 3. A few teams will be struggling with the cap next season, e.g. Seattle. Does the league need a cap increase, or is it working as intended? 4. Looks like a huge offseason is coming. Whose saga are you looking forward to following most during free agency? 5. Whether you're a rookie or veteran, are you happy with the way your career has panned out? 6. Which team's Discord channel (aside from the Reign) would you be most interested in reading? 7. Given the chance, which of the site's mysterious admins would you want to know more about? 8. Oh god this corona thing is everywhere. Do you subscribe to the whole "wear a mask everywhere" thing, or is diligent hand hygiene enough?

D ? D ? D ? D ? SMITTY/@flyersfan1453 FOR MVP

Welp, guess the playoff dream is over.

except just the title

Posting to speed along team logo pre-approval on behalf of the BoG.

1. What kind of special sauce did boss put into STHS to get us into the playoffs? 2. Another season, another Helsinki/Riga matchup. What's your opinion of how our series went/is going? 3. What would you do to encourage more in-season trades? 4. If any, what 'special cap' (e.g. luxury cap/supermax contracts, franchise tag) would you like to see implemented into the VHL? 5. Who's been your most positive influence since joining the VHL? 6. What's the last song you played on your phone/computer/jukebox/iPod/Walkman/toaster? 7. If you could learn any language instantly, which one would you choose? 8. Do you think the boss actually lives in Latvia, or is he secretly a sleepy American/Canadian hedgehog who works night shift?

Media Spot: S64's Best First Gens Part I VHL.com: Jinxing Gorlab Total +8 uncapped

Moscow, Russia - At this point, there are few in the impressive Season 66 draft class putting on more of a show than Jet Jaguar @gorlab. Drafted 10th overall, Jaguar was at the mercy of a league filled with star centers that forced him to the very bottom of the first round; as a result, the Moscow Menace earned themselves their first franchise star. Just five seasons in, he's earned over 400 points in 360 games, including an impressive 90 point rookie campaign and a league-leading 97 points this season. What makes this even more notable is the shift towards league parity and overall deeper teams, including a Season 69 (nice) without a single 100 point scorer, the first since at least S59 (I mean, Podrick Cast had a 174 point season in S61 for goodness' sake). Perceptions of scoring - especially for this generation of players - will need to be rescaled, with Jaguar likely setting the standard for great scorers of the post-S65 era. The Ukrainian center has had his best season to-date and shows no sign of slowing down, especially as part of a ridiculous 250-goal Moscow team. Adding a bit of hardware to his trophy case will need to be the next step on his path, but thus far he's been as impressive statistically as any in spite of being in the same class as Vancouver standouts Hunter Hearst Helmsley and Julius Freeman.

One Final Shot: S64's Best First Gens (Part I of II) A theme week involving the Hall of Fame doesn't exclude first generation players from its scope. In fact, as I covered in the first article of this series, brand new blood often includes some of the most productive and memorable members of this community, bringing a fresh perspective to how the league is run - in fact, this mish-mash of new and old is necessary to keep the site running. While we could wax poetic about the potential builders emerging from those who have been in the league for scarcely a year and a half, my focus in this article will be players that have had a substantial impact on the league. I won't be discussing their members' community contributions, though it's often mirrored by their level of activity. On to more Season 64 specific material - shall we? This is the second in a series of articles that will detail the best first generation players of their respective classes - excluding those that have retired before their seventh season. Unlike those in my previous article, the players detailed here have the Season 70 Playoffs, as well as all of Season 71 to set their legacy in stone. They've faced most of what regression has to offer, with the worst yet to come - and yet, they've gotten this far without most of the ill effects. This time around, I'll kick off Season 64 with the two goalies that define it: Brick Wahl and Finn Davison. Image credit to @Jubo07 G Brick Wahl @BladeMaiden, Prague Phantoms (1341 TPE) A veritable giant at 6’7” and 247 lbs, Brick Wahl’s name befits his physical stature and has an effectively prescient origin story. Born following a local avalanche, Wahl was born amongst the rocks and spent his early life in his father’s construction sites with brick-laying duties, co-opting a similar stone-faced expression while reading through his textbooks and excelling in academics – particularly math involving quadratic equations or rectangular prisms (that last bit might be a little bit of projection). Rigid and clumsy on skates, he was forced to switch from defenseman to goalie, and enrolled in ballet and power skating classes but never showed truly graceful skating. Early on in his career, he was scouted and made the Moose Jaw Bucks, a AAA minor league team for which he earned 8 wins in 11 games and rapidly promoted to the NWHL. However, he acquired several penalty minutes from the net and was seen by several psychologists at the University of Saskatchewan, all-too-fittingly becoming a Husky. Almost too on-the-nose, Brick studied geology with intents of becoming a geoscientist as a second option. After three seasons, a tryst with 5’2” Caylin Aqua, and helping build a local animal shelter, he made his way to the VHLM. Wahl didn’t have to move far for his stint with the VHLM. He started every game with the Saskatoon Wild, compiling a 46-win record on an 89% save rate and the second spot in the standings. He competed with future notables such as Rylan Peace, Matthew Materazo, and Carles Puigdemont. Indeed, in spite of competing with a Yukon Rush squad with the likes of Kronos Bailey, Ryan Sullivan Jr, and Jagger Philliefan, Wahl managed to lead the Wild to a league second-best in goals allowed. Perhaps more impressively, the Wild pulled a 1-3 series reversal on the 21st in the first round, and eventually toppled the Lynx in an impressive four-game sweep in the finals. So oppressive was Wahl’s goaltending and defense that the Lynx scored just one goal per game – including a Game 2 shutout. One criticism – or at least spotlight – that Wahl has had throughout his career is his storied love life. Though previously with Caylin Aqua in his pre-VHLM days, Wahl was rumored to be dating former VHLM Finals opponent Carles Puigdemont (@Eudaldkp), a finding eventually corroborated by Wahl’s own press release. Just a season or two later, he swept long-time Toronto defender Tzuyu off of her feet following an All-Star Game right around Valentine’s Day. Unsurprisingly, Wahl was met with criticism, suggesting that focusing on his duties as a goaltender might lead to better results for a struggling Calgary team. Image credit to @Jubo07 However, Wahl’s lifetime statistics speak more to regular, intensive effort to improve. In six seasons with Calgary, the Canadian netminder’s wins may not have materialized at a desirable pace, but he’s been a… well, a brick wall for shots both flashy and subtle. His save percentage has never dipped below 91.4% and has peaked as high as 92.4% in Season 66 – a metric impressive enough to afford the goalie a tie for first in the league. Unfortunately, efficiency can only get you so far: Calgary’s defense up until last season or so didn’t quite match Wahl’s impressive feats in the net; in that very same season, he faced 2,112 shots. For reference, that’s over 250+ shots more than S66 Shaw and Clegane Trophy winner Kallis Kriketers faced. Team contribution aside, Wahl unfortunately falls in the realm of “very good” rather than all-time great. As his agent herself has suggested, Wahl has fallen short in the playoffs; he’s never made it out of the North American Conference Finals. Though he’s posted a lifetime save percentage of 92.1% in the playoffs – an excellent metric for a goalie – facing ~36 shots per game on average isn’t a recipe for success for any goalie, and neither is 3.26 (Season 66) or 2.99 (Season 68) goals allowed per game. Several seasons of “very good, but limited supporting cast,” a lack of playoff success, and a sparse awards cabinet unfortunately means Wahl’s impressive feats will go underappreciated in the annals of time. Image credit to @enigmatic G Finn Davison @Poptart, Riga Reign (1250 TPE) Coming off a reasonably successful Season 69 in which he faced a tremendous number of shots (2,395) on a fast-paced Moscow team, Finn Davison has faced the majority of regression without much fall-off in performance. A London native, Davison entered the VHLM at 18 – but he faced a difficult childhood before making his debut. One of three children, Finn was born to an automotive engineer father; his mother was a spender, to put it lightly – thus forcing the Davison family to move frequently between apartments. His friend groups constantly shifted, and as a result he found himself constantly isolated in a world of strangers and barely-acquaintances. The one place Davison could escape – where he wouldn’t feel lonely or superfluous – was the rink. As soon as he put on the pads, helmet, skates, and stick, he was home. Despite new surroundings every several months, he was a goalie through high school and started consistently wherever he went. Most impressively, he found himself able to compartmentalize bad saves and learning opportunities away from his performance in game and became something of a rock for younger players. He was kept honest by his girlfriend April, who supported him even in the earliest stages of his professional hockey dreams – including moving with him across the pond to Ottawa. On receiving the $1.5M contract, he started the back 34 games for the Lynx. Like virtually every goalie in the VHLM, he struggled to an extent – in fact starting shortly after being approved for his flat in Canada, just a few days after arriving in Ottawa International Airport. He played with classmates Elias Dahlberg, Pat Svoboda, Gritty, and Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen, and in fact seized the starting job from eventual Toronto goalie JB Rift. Those of you paying attention may have noted in Brick Wahl’s article that these two future VHL standouts played against one another in the S63 playoff. After disposing of the Las Vegas Aces 3-2 and 4-2 in the first round, the Lynx were nearly eliminated by the Rush in the semifinals, getting blanked in three of their seven games. But the Lynx tightened up after starting the series 0-2, eventually finishing the series with a Davison performance that included a 95.5% save rate. Their Founders Cup dreams were not meant to be, however, as the Lynx scored just 4 goals in as many games in the finals while being swept by Saskatoon. Image credit to @BladeMaiden Davison was understandably a high-value commodity coming off of his minor league season – drawing an endorsement from Haterade and being named to the World Juniors’ Team Europe (a sign of things to come). When the Season 64 Entry Draft rolled around, Davison’s draft position was largely unknown aside from being the second goalie off the board. In a draft otherwise reasonably deep with skaters, Davison fell all the way to the first selection of the third round to a struggling Davos team. Indeed, the Dynamo had compiled a 15-53-4 (34 point) record the season prior, and a nasty -157 goal differential. Davison had his work cut out for him. The young Englishman was thrown into the fire from the first day of practice and played in 34 of the team’s games with a 6-21-5 record. But just like his classmate, Davison put up impressive efficiency numbers including a 91.8% save rate. Scale Finn’s 1,322 shots to a typical number of starts, and he would have faced nearly 2,500 shots on goal (over his career record 2,395, which is similarly impressive). He’d need improvement in the incredibly young talent around him in order to make an impact – and with former Lynx teammates Elias Dahlberg and Pat Svoboda, as well as a spritely young Randoms on offense, he’d get exactly that. Regardless, Davos’s roster was constantly in flux; over the next few seasons, Davison faced a sophomore slump in Season 65 (90.9% SV) but a comparatively excellent record (31-29-5), followed by a surge in performance in Seasons 66 and 67. The team was formidable, having obtained GM player Katie Warren, a promising young core in Bjorn Scoringsonn, Aston Martin, and Don Draper, and having long-time stars Jake Davis, Ryuu Crimson, and Smitty Werbenjagermanjensen in the process. Tragically, the team underperformed on the season, finishing with a 30-31-11 record in spite of Davison’s most efficient year-to-date. Image credit to... uh, Poptart's sig? Davos scraped its way into the playoffs in Season 68 with a rock-solid core – and Davison saved an incredibly 92.7% of shots while compiling a 37-20-7 record. Ostensibly on the upswing, Davison would go on to win both the Aidan Shaw and Greg Clegane Trophies, only to lose to the eventual European Finals representatives in a 3-4 series loss to Malmo. This took the wheels off of the Davos train, derailing the team as various players jumped ship in the off-season. And once a player or two found their way off of the team, so did most everyone else. That included Davison, who was eventually shipped off to Moscow mid-season. His stats suffered for the first half of the year, returning to his career average 91.9% save rate before finishing with a total 26-37-9 record. Though he up-trended in the second half of the season, some had concerns about whether Davison would be able to perform at a high level after being peppered with shots all season. Then came a trade to Riga, who are in the midst of a rebuild but managed to compile a fantastic 36-23-7 record with Davison on board; though the results of the playoffs and award voting are yet to be determined, Davison has a compelling argument for some regular season hardware this time around. Though he faces the worst of regression this off-season, he still has a season and some change to make his argument for the Hall of Fame. -------------- That concludes this week's coverage of Season 64's best first generation players, with three skaters to be explored next week. What do you think of this week's two selections -- do either have a realistic shot at the Hall of Fame, or are they to be relegated to the doldrums of "Very Good"? Is a Continental Cup a requirement for the Hall, or are regular season accomplishments and conference finals sufficient? As these players progress into their final season, they'll need to answer these questions. [2,022 words. First claim, Theme Week 03/01/20]

Diggin' the love for @Cxsquared. He'll be doing work for whatever team he's on long after Hackett is gone.