Renomitsu

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?

1. Well, seeing as San Francisco is currently up 10-0 I guess I'll say them? I kind of have an unfair advantage though. 2. I would love my player to break the "most cups won in a career with the same team" record. Victor probably has a spreadsheet for that somewhere. 3. I would love to travel across Europe, in all honesty. I'm very poorly traveled -- whether it's Italy, any part of the UK, France, or Spain, I'd love to start with western Europe and make my way across. --- 1. Way-too-early season prediction: Who's going to win the Stanley Cup this season? (and no, I don't mean the thermos smh) 2. If your team couldn't win the Continental Cup, which team would you be happiest (or least unhappy) winning in your team's stead? 3. Is the Victory Cup truly a curse for winning the Continental Cup? Why or why not?

"GREG GETS TO RETIRE TOMORROW HYPE" - @samx Alas, as soon as Spanish Moon Moth finally makes their debut in the VHL, many of his best teammates face their last career battle with Father Time. S84 stalwarts Velociraptor Greg, Fred Hampton, and Faith Hope Love all have their last seasons soon-to-be on the books, though few have been as excited to leave Moth's presence as one Velociraptor Greg. Why, exactly, does Greg want to leave Prague so quickly after Moth was traded over? It remains a mystery, but the samx management agency has made their thoughts about the matter loud and clear. Greg has amassed nearly 1,000 applied points this season and has a solid 40 points, just 13 of which have been goals -- a decent mark for a defenseman at this point in the season. What's been most impressive, however, is the team's first line plus-minus -- as Greg has a +29 and sits among a massive number of Phantoms in the top ten. The Velociraptor will be sorely missed by Spanish Moon Moth -- but unfortunately it's not clear if the reverse will hold true.

S91's All-VHL 1st Team (per VSN) Leandro Goncalves - Scotty Sundin - Molly the Cat Elias Lampi - Skor McFleury Jesse Teno It's awful lonely at the top. So lonely, in fact, that I don't think anyone from above's S91 All-VHL 1st Team is going to repeat. Don't believe me? Well, the decision's a little easier than you'd think. Who Definitely Won’t Be Making the List Jesse Teno - G - Joel Castle deservedly won the Kanou en route to a Continental Cup last season, far out-performing even his 42 regular season win efficiency to secure the giant trophy and ring. You could have made a pretty fair argument for regular season awards, too, as Jesse Teno had a 0.1% lower save rate and just 0.04 fewer goals allowed per game – but Castle’s lack of shutouts (3 vs Teno’s 6) probably clinched the first gen’s Shaw/Clegane combo over animal74. Unfortunately, both Joel and Jesse have their work cut out for them. They've played 47 games this season – the second most of any starting goalie at time of writing – just 5th in wins with 22 – and they’re not going to catch up to Malmo’s Ash Sparks. Jesse's save percentage (92.2%) also keeps him out of the top ten for the league and a half point under 5th place (among starters), and similarly doesn’t register on the goals against average leaderboard. Teno sits at just one shutout, so unfortunately we can't make that argument, either. Unless he manages to absolutely stand on his head for the next ~15 starts there’s absolutely no way he makes All-VHL 1st Team (or even sniffs 2nd, for that matter). Sad days. Leandro Goncalves – C – As excellent as Leandro was – winning the Slobodzian, Brooks, AND Szatkowski trophies all in one go while securing his second career Victory Cup – he unfortunately can’t make the All-VHL Team in any capacity this season. Why? He’s retired. However, if this were twenty years ago when fewer things had been automated electronically, that probably wouldn’t stop some real-life fans from voting for him. Fandoms die hard. Scotty Sundin – C – Another All-VHL First Team member, another retiree. Sorry Scotty, you’re awesome, but there’s unfortunately no reviving this glorious center for another award ceremony. Enjoy the Szatkowski and Campbell though. Elias Lampi – D – Yep, another first-teamer, another retiree. GG WP to the S91 Labatte and Wylde winner – truly a standout in a very competitive landscape. Who Probably Won’t Be Making the List Molly the Cat – RW – Jcarson’s Christian Stolzschweiger winner and former VHL champion (going back to S88) is a stellar player – and that’s not just because he’s added exactly 1,337 TPE to the Cat at time of writing. Molly has never won an individual award since her debut season for the VHL, but was certainly a dark horse candidate after scoring 107 points including 52 goals, a full 23 of which were on the power play. It’s worth noting that the winger was a much harder/frequent hitter in her early career, having seen a steady decline from 275 hits in her sophomore season on a year-by-year basis. She’s on pace for just under 150 this season – which admittedly would be a tiny uptick from previous. It seems as though I’ve got a lot of praise for the winger – and in fairness, Molly is 10th in shots taken this season with 9 total power play goals. Sadly, her 56 points leave her a full 8 out of the top ten this season, and unless she suddenly picks up a boatload of hits to put her in contention from a two-way forward standpoint this season, there isn’t much of a shot to make it on the All-VHL 1st (or likely even the 2nd) team. Skor McFleury – D – The former Davos, Riga, and Malmo player hasn’t exactly had the most stable of careers – unfortunately being the subject of a full four trades throughout his career since creation. Indeed, McFleury was moved from the now-defunct Rush to the Express in S86, then after making it to the majors was traded rom Riga -> Davos (S89) where he won the Continental Cup (S89), Victory Cup (S90), and Valiq (again, S90). The carousel simply wouldn’t end, however, as McFleury was traded yet again in both S91 (to Malmo) requiring a waiving of his NTC, as well as S92 to his current team in Calgary. I’ll make the argument that Skor has a fairer shot than Molly, however, as he’s currently fifth in points and has substantially more hits than both Pierre Emile Bouchard and compatriot Reese McFleury with a similar number of points. Let’s settle on All-VHL 2nd Team upside, as Jacob Stone and Mark Calaway both have slight leads in points, hits, and shots blocked. 1st Team is a bigger ask and, while we’ve got maybe a couple dozen more games to go, I’m not sure he can eat into those leads in time.

1. Uhh... I don't really follow the NHL in all honesty. I think I happened to watch the game where Alex Ovechkin got his 700th goal so I guess him? Alternatively, I saw that one zamboni driver guy be a goalie for a game years ago, so probably him. 2. My favorite memory is probably coming back. I was inactive when Hiro Renomitsu (way back in the first two dozen seasons) won my first cup, so that doesn't really count. I do remember coming back to make Apollo Hackett (who suuuuucked) and seeing a lot of familiar faces despite taking half a decade away from the VHL. That was really cool. 3. I'd probably change the earning system just a little bit to fit my lifestyle a little better -- more short tasks worth slightly fewer TPE so I don't feel the pressure of putting out a media spot every week. 1. Is VHL your first sim league -- and is it your only sim league right now? If not, where else are you simming? 2. 2023 was an historic year for gaming. Did you play any of the newest, coolest titles? If not, what were you up to? 3. Do you believe that a franchise and/or fanbase can be cursed? If so, what's your best example (and is your fanbase cursed)?

This player has ZERO points added to passing or scoring-relevant attributes and is already leading one statistical category in the VHL despite being only in their second season in the VHL. Simons Worst Nightmare (no apostrophe). Who on Earth is this player – who has ostensibly figured out something about STHS – and why on earth do they exist? In comparing their point production to other players, Nightmare has a comparable number of points to many of the league’s top rookies despite playing on a very future-focused Seattle Bears team, and a pace that is due to match, if not exceed, their 265 shot blocks from last season. zepheter’s S90 Draft create is a champion of Puck Handling and Defense, with each sitting at 87 at time of writing, and absolutely no stats related to scoring. He could just as easily have created a player with a bunch of checking and fighting to amplify his team’s shot at the #1 selection, but instead has a build with superior defensive capabilities and, honestly, pretty reasonable scoring abilities without having dropped a single point in the coveted wrist/slapshot and offensive vision attributes. zepheter, what have you done?

1. Ooh, unfortunately I'm horribly traveled. Oddly, I loved going to Chicago and just walking around to bakeries, touristy stuff like museums and parks, etc. The Bean is awesome. There are obviously some places that aren't great in Chicago but I personally loved the downtown area. 2. Nope, I don't have the money for one at the moment. Hopefully that'll change very significantly in the next 3-5 years, because I would love to help the environment out. 3. My player would probably drive a Prius but try their best not to be snooty about it. --------- 1. What's your favorite party game? It can be alcoholic, non-alcoholic, word-based, board game, anything! 2. As someone who's never followed a hockey team before (yes, seriously), which franchise would you recommend to me? 3. Who's your player's rival, if anyone? How did it get that way?

The Isle of Man, a tiny crown dependency in the middle of the northern Irish Sea, has just five active players – including a sub-100 TPE legend, right winger beaubeau primetime, both Moths, Aeschylus Jigglejawns CXXXVII II (whom I’m eagerly anticipating being called “AJ Jr.”) and Season 87’s Reinhard von Kongming, a Kylrad classic defender that currently plays for Chicago. Historically, only a few other players have ever bothered to come over from the island of just 84,069 people, a nice, tiny population that allows for plenty of individuality. The dependency’s lone player of true note was center Chad Magnum, a Season 70 first gen from Corco who achieved notoriety by absolutely stealing the S73 Scott Boulet out of nowhere, a season where Toronto unfortunately missed the playoffs. His best season only allowed for 89 total points and a massive 385 hits while accruing a +28 plus-minus. There are so many “firsts” still up for grab for this tiny island nation – this is my formal call to have as many players as possible join us in the northern Irish Sea, so that one day, like Greenland, we can have our own tiny niche team with little to no further explanation.

Transaction ID: 0XW5511792961232S Claiming Week Ending 1/21/24: 5 Uncapped $1M Player Store Claiming Later: PT Doubles Week

Am I Washed? Short Answer: Maybe? Long(er) Answer Below. Woof. For someone who’s historically done well in sim sports leagues, Spanish Moon Moth’s career has not gone as I’d expect it to – at least not so far. And I have to say, thus far it’s deserved – a manager like Seattle’s Banackock, who has historically been shrewd, discerning, and resultantly very successful – does not take trading away an important asset and high selection very lightly. On December 23rd, 2023, he elected to trade Spanish Moon over to Prague with an S93 second round selection from Davos in exchange for Steve Lattimer, a first, second, and fourth in that season’s draft. The team was clearly in rebuilding mode and hadn’t found what it wanted from my player in the first season or so after being drafted – and as a team that has to take a multi-season future view, that meant acquiring as many new resources as possible to get the rebuild back on track. Perhaps part of my initial surprise at being traded was hubris. I like to think we both handled our respective ends of the trade professionally, and I’m quite excited to spend my career with Acyd as my manager. But the TPE rankings are what they are – and Spanish Moon isn’t doing as well as I have typically fared. As a result of a few busy weeks, in fact, Zetterberg’s Leif Reingaard has just hit the century mark over my player’s TPE. That hasn’t happened to me before, and certainly has never happened this early in my career. Both he and Daniel Janser are absolute terrors when it comes to earning. But this also isn’t the height of my sim league participation like 2019 and the greater part of the pandemic were, and obviously my place in life isn’t quite the same. Thankfully, I’m also not stuck being the same user I was during my year-long hiatus from sim leagues, working through an absolutely grueling second year of residency. I won’t make excuses: even after my second post-graduate year (PGY-2), I was not the best sim league user by the numbers. It’s also tough to watch my player slip in the rankings (again, deservedly) as someone who has strived to be the best at everything I do. I was drafted fourth overall in the S91 VHL draft, and had slipped to tenth in VSN’s first VHL Future Watch. What hurt arguably more was Spanish Moon Moth’s further descent completely out of the rankings as a whole. Yeah, I know my class is stupidly stacked and even FrostBeard has dropped down to fifth in the rankings. Velv and tcookie have hovered around my player’s rankings too. It’s not often a top five player gets scooted over without significant interpersonal controversy – and there’s certainly no bad blood between Bana and I. Ultimately, I wish I could have been a bit of a better communicator with Bana. You can bet, however, that I’m giving Prague my all, the very same I would have given any earnest, high-quality manager, titles that both Acyd and Bana obviously meet. I’m going to re-prove my worth to this league once more – even if that means running under the radar for a little while.

1. I hear that Wayne Gretzky guy was pretty good, but I don't follow hockey in real life very closely despite being part of the VHL for over a decade. 2. I feel like everyone has their rituals. I have a very specific meal that will remain unspecified in this thread I eat before every game, which is impressive because each sim day may include 2-3 games for a single team. There's a small collection of gameday underwear that I wear too; it's not a single set because that'd be... really unsanitary. 3. I follow the NFL and (peripherally) the NBA. I follow the MLB when the Orioles are close to or above .500, but when it's bad it's really bad. ------------------------------ 1. Do you sing in the shower? And only partially related, do you live with other people (SOs, roommates, dogs/cats/birds, etc)? 2. How often do you tidy your living space? And separate, how often do you clean your living space? 3. Who's going to win the Continental Cup this season? Who's got the most promising future, e.g. 2-4 seasons from now?

London, England – First-generation netminder Jesse Teno – an American playing for London United – has won awards in multiple different seasons – including a Playoff MVP and the cup in Season 88, as well as both the Aidan Shaw and Greg Clegane trophies in Season 91. And don’t get me wrong: his stats were stellar in those seasons, including a remarkable 93.7 Save % and a GAA of 2.02, which would be good for top three goaltending ability in virtually any season. The former number is even more impressive given Teno successfully saved 2,068 shots across the season. This season, however, is a different story entirely. Although London have won only 5 of their 9 games thus far, Teno has averaged a staggering 94.8 Save%, good for first in the league and one of the better marks all-time… if it can be sustained. He’s allowed just 1.88 goals on average per game, and it’s not hard to imagine him being the frontrunner for Regular Season MVP, even with Larry Abass’ 18 points through just 10 games or Kronchy Kardashian’s 16 points in the same time as a defenseman. Even with the understanding that London’s slated to be a top team this season, Teno’s remarkable netminding efficiency is a sight to behold.

Woo! Time to answer a very old press conference that has time-agnostic questions! 1. Who is the person you like the most on your team? and why? Lots of my teammates are great! I really appreciate @samx, @Frank, and @Tetricide for keeping the locker room active and fun 2. Who will win the Cup in the NHL this year? Uhh, I have no idea. When I google the standings, it says the Canucks have one of the better records, so let's go with them. 3. Why did you choose that name for your player? McWolf and I decided on having moths moth-like players, and we chose some really pretty appearing moths as our names. 4. Where would you like the next expansion team to be? Vegas, Boston, or Philly for the VHL, otherwise it doesn't particularly matter. 5. What is you favorite logo in the VHLM? why? Mexico City Kings. The Dia De Los Muertos aesthetic is cool. 6. What is you favorite logo in the VHL? why? I like Davos, DC, and Prague. The latter two are a bit more eSports-y but really cool; Davos just has a nice logo. I don't know what a Dynamo is, but the mountains are cool and the design is sleek.

Prague, Czechia - Under longtime general manager Acyd Burn, Spanish Moon Moth makes the transition from the European league's Stockholm Vikings to the intercontinental big-boy league in the VHL. The Moth made a splash -- sort of, anyways -- as a member of the Vikings, competing fiercely for the scoring title in the league, but ultimately falling short of the mark and an MVP. He emerged rapidly from his VHLM cocoon and a mediocre E debut season, scoring 92 points as a sophomore but still not achieving a positive plus-minus for the season despite the sweltering point total. What, then, do the rookie forward's prospects hold when brought to the big leagues? In the grand scheme of things, Spanish Moon totals out at a fringe second line player who'd push through to the first line on a likely rebuilding team like Vancouver or Davos, but among competitive teams will likely get buried for playing time. The Moth will sit as an outside competitor for rookie of the year -- probably somewhere in the third to tenth range -- unlikely to get the focus required to earn the nod. Given the Moth's response to mediocre seasons thus far in his career, that might be a positive thing!

OKOK, maybe the first time didn't work, but I'm going to try a second time (otherwise I can't really earn the press conference points eh). 1) What's your favorite place -- in your country or internationally -- to visit in the offseason? 2) What is one skill you've been working on during the off-season? Or alternatively, what's one real-life skill you've been practicing (e.g. learning or working on an instrument, carpentry, memeing, getting to the gym at least once a week)? 3) @samx is an avid fan of Parkitect, which is like a modernized version of Rollercoaster Tycoon. What's an amusement park ride or show that is a core memory for you? 4) Have you played GeoGuessr before? What's your understanding of the website? 5) How'd you find the VHL? Have you been in sim leagues before this one? 6) There are some shiny new features in the portal from the last few years, like automated trivia, a "1st Gen" tag, and integration of the "new" attribute system (even if it doesn't feel that new anymore). What's your favorite new feature?

Prague, Czech Republic – After just one season in the Seattle Bears’ farm system, Spanish Moon Moth finds himself traded to a new team. He had just been through a week or two of the offseason when the team’s intentions came from the top, and within minutes it’d been leaked to the press at large. Seattle receives: Steve Lattimer S92 PRG 1st S92 PRG 2nd S92 VAN 4th Prague receives: Spanish Moon Moth S93 DAV 2nd After being selected with a high first round pick, Spanish Moon found himself traded for a first – and some change, assuming Davos’ and Prague’s S92 picks remain roughly in the same place. The Moth hadn’t had a chance to play for the Bears before the trade, and unfortunately the Phantoms lost another asset in winger Steve Lattimer – a 50-70 point forward who had just finished his first two seasons in the league and is expected to contribute meaningfully to a contender in the near future. “This did come as something of a surprise to all parties,” a representative for Spanish Moon mentioned in a recent presser, “but Moth is obviously going to continue doing his best to represent any team he’s contracted to and is expected to remain loyal to whichever team he’s on at the end of his expiring contract. No hard feelings to anyone involved in the process.”

It's been about six months since we last had questions in here so now it's time to revive this thread! 1) Why didn't Prague make the playoffs last season? What steps does the team need to make to be relevant sooner rather than later? 2) @samx is in every server apparently in the VHL. Why does she do this and what is she plotting? 3) What's your newest pre-game pump up song? What's your all-time favorite? 4) Over-under for the number of times Sam will ping me this week: 6.5. What's your pick? 5) I'm someone who has only watched about 3 games of hockey in my life. What hockey team (NHL, AHL, or otherwise) is your favorite, and what's your pitch to sell me on joining their fan base? 6) STHS has been around since the start of hockey sim leagues' existence. What have you found you actually like about the simulator, and what could use a little improvement?

It's time

Hihi

It me Hi

“I guess it could have been worse.” A dejected set of Stockholm Vikings sat rinkside after a painful sixth game against the Vasteras Iron Eagles – their fourth, now-eliminating loss. It was an incredibly close series, with no game decided by more than a couple of goals including the last, a 5-3 loss in the Vikings’ home arena. It was an especially frustrating loss after an absolute banger in the Iron Eagles’ arena, a 3-4 loss that took overtime to finally hammer out to break a 2-2 series standstill despite Vasteras having an 11-point lead over Stockholm in the regular season. Their strength of victory – represented as a +59 vs +12 goal differential for the regular season – didn’t accurately represent just how crazy close the series was. Indeed, it was the thinnest of margins possible over the course of the series without having a blowout win or loss. But where does this leave the Vikings? Grimgor and Spanish Moon are going to leave at the end of this season as currently capped 400 TPE VHLE players and Oloer Syko, the team’s starting goalie, has to leave. Outside of that, the team will largely stay intact and try for another run at the VHLE title.

Transaction ID: 7TB17789JL404504T $1M Player Store Cash 5 TPE Uncapped Doubles Week

It's pretty dang good. Fifteen new attributes. As a returning user who spent the last decade or so primarily in VHL – which has been STHS dependent as long as I’ve known the league, it was weird to return to a system that 1) changed how the attributes we add to improve our players and 2) still have them connected to the inherent attributes of STHS. It was a natural response to the rapidly-developing meta of “hey, let’s max scoring, leave out passing, and leave the rest to RNG because this is clearly the best possible build,” leaving virtually no room for secondary attributes. My initial impression? It’s not a perfect system, but it does allow players to develop attributes in a manner that doesn’t match “turn brain off after maxing scoring and defense,” and finally brings to prominence some important attributes like strength and puck handling. It’s had to accomplish that by tying any competence in scoring to either very poor returns or to less desirable attributes – which is fair, as I imagine very few hockey players can make it to relevance without supporting attributes in real life. There’s certainly still a meta to producing excellent players, but it doesn’t seen quite as uniform as in prior seasons. Scoring is still obtained at an absolute premium, but other attributes are seeing some love largely because scoring is hideously expensive. You either have to 1) tie it to your passing if you want anything resembling a decent attribute to begin with, or 2) raise it at an absolute pittance (0.12 points/attribute increase) which becomes highway robbery as you scale up wrist/slapshots. One could argue it makes the attribute feel “less rewarding” or “unfun” to increase scoring. I’d lean towards the former, as the league was quickly heading in a strictly unfun direction with all teams moving as close to 99 scoring/40 passing as possible. Points leaders at the end of each season – despite the league being close to its peak in COVID-19 membership – were getting rapidly out of control in a league that should have been in its theoretical apex of parity. Any pass-first player was discarded as inefficient and teams like the Vancouver Wolves rapidly became the scorn of the league. I’d know – I was on the team for Aloe Dear’s last season or two and it was a somewhat common occurrence to be told that my team was ruining the league. It’s exciting to see non-1,300 TPE players make differences in decisions when building their players. There are still some that use the checking-type builds, and checking/fighting builds are still obviously in the minority. But lots of players have excellent strength scores – especially centers with their multifaceted faceoff attribute – and virtually nobody has a gap between passing and scoring greater than 20. There are differences between strength, skating, and puck handling for most teams, with centers having greater strength than their winger and defensive counterparts. Oddly even on the high-tier teams, defensive players don’t have exorbitant strength scores. Some have opted for very high passing attributes. There’s excellent diversity in player builds, long story short, and I hope that’s here to stay. And heck, even a top team like Helsinki has a dude with 56 fighting. That’s awesome.

For Children's Miracle Network! For accounting purposes, this is US$100 ($134 CAD).