Renomitsu

Posting to claim for my vhl.com article + the ms/vhl.com bonus

Look at all of those hits for Houston! Nice, physical game for them.

HHH where did you go

is it bad that I believed this for a split second

sunny burst this game

Well I don't think that's a result anyone was expecting. Not a great pair of sims from the Storm today. Aces looking hot!

Oh man, does this mean it's angry Minnesota time? I don't want angry Minnesota time.

Parkey with two goals on 3 shots... a legend haha

Great question, but it's hard to answer at this point. @Advantage made a great point in a radio interview I listened to on the way to practice this morning about how Malmö is a franchise undiscovered. Any players joining the Nighthawks have a chance to be the first in something great - to set a strong tradition for the team from the get-go. That definitely appeals to me, even as someone who doesn't take in a ton of headlines like HHH or Kari. My agent knows Jasper Canmore @Bushito from a long, long time ago. He's very explicit and direct in the way he addresses his players, the press, and other executives in the league, and I'd like to think (based on that) that he runs a tight ship. I'd probably be more likely to butt heads with him than other GMs, but if that makes me a better player then I'm all for it. Calgary has a history that pre-dates my uncle Saul, and re-affirming that tradition would be a great experience. Riga, like Calgary, is a long-standing franchise. They have a lot of capital in this season's draft. I'd have to see who they pick before my name is called, but if Kallis Kriketers @hedgehog337 drafts wisely, he could be set for the next few seasons in this league. I think it'd be an incredible experience to grow with a team largely made up of players from my class. Otherwise, I either don't have a strong history with other GMs or I haven't had a lot of opportunities to talk to them, so it's very hard to have a grasp on how their teams are run.

Let the memes come.

Apollo approaches the mic in a navy blue Wild cap. "Dunno what you'd ask me, but let 'em fly." Index Below:

New set of questions for the 21st! 1) Halifax doesn't have a lot of draft picks for next year, but has a ton of talent currently on the team. 1a) (If you were drafted by Halifax) Who do you think your team should target in the Dispersal Draft and why? 1b) (If you were picked up as a brand-new player) Where do you see yourself going in the S66 VHLM Dispersal Draft? Where would you enjoy going most if you couldn't be picked up by Halifax again? 1c) (If you've already been drafted into the VHL) Who from your current VHLM team (1 player) would you most like to see drafted to your VHL team? 2) The Malmö Nighthawks are joining the major league next season. How interested are you in joining them? 3) What player(s) outside your current team are you following in the VHLM right now? Why? 4) Dimitri Volosenkov @SirRupertBarnes was noted to have discipline problems in his rookie scouting report. What's the craziest penalty he's taken, and how in the world did it involve Gritty (of NHL fame)? 5) Your GM @McWolf was recently described as the Jim to @Esso2264's Pam in a recent presser. How do you think they'd fare in a GM brawl against @Josh. and @BladeMaiden? 6) Let's say 4 seasons from now you're a bona-fide VHL star at your position. How important (on a scale from 1-10 each) are: team loyalty, ice time, contract (i.e. $$$/season), and contender status?

New set of questions for you guys! 1) The Reapers are eliminated from the playoffs and are almost guaranteed the top spot in the draft (answer one of the two): 1a) (If you were drafted by Philadelphia) Who do you think your team should target in the Dispersal Draft and why? 1b) (If you were picked up as a brand-new player) Where do you see yourself going in the S66 VHLM Dispersal Draft? Where would you enjoy going most if you couldn't be drafted by @BladeMaiden? 2) The Malmö Nighthawks are joining the major league next season. How interested are you in joining them? 3) What player(s) outside your current team are you following in the VHLM right now? Why? 4) MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS @Abaddon is literally 50 years old and 6'8". What's the weirdest thing he's done in the locker room? 5) Philly has a ton of picks in the next two Dispersal Drafts. Realistically, how far do the Reapers go in S66 and S67? 6) Let's say 4 seasons from now you're a bona-fide VHL star at your position. How important (on a scale from 1-10 each) are: team loyalty, ice time, contract (i.e. $$$/season), and contender status?

Katie Warren with a stellar game. Those penalty minutes are scary all around for USA though, wow.

@Kirby with a fantastic WJC debut!

I think it's possible to work around some of the cons while accommodating the (hopefully-sustained) larger draft classes. If we're able to maintain larger draft class sizes & have solid player retention, we could keep expanding - but who's to say we'd have a larger number of members who would want to take on GM roles? I love expansion, and suspect that it'll be required multiple times in the next five seasons, especially if the Recruitment Crew keeps doing what they do, but we should also have a contingency plan for teams if the interest in managing doesn't match the expansion in player base. Provided the composition of this year's class, it's clear newer members (like old members) like making forwards. If we're to have a place for all of these new wingers and centers, it should be in a league system that can accommodate them instead of shoe-horning players either into (1) low-minute roles even if they're active or (2) playing a position they just don't want to. With 9/4/1, it's possible to have decent minutes as a forward with activity, and members who wanted to make defensemen in the first place can do so without worrying (as much) about playing time. On the other hand, I think balancing 4 lines' worth of forwards may be a bit much. At that point, if we attach a minutes restriction for all four lines, it begins to eat pretty significantly into top players' ice time, which diminishes the effect of being a star - and achieving that high-minute, high-stat output is an important ideal to look up to as a newer player. Three lines is worth trialing at least, because otherwise we'll need multiple expansion teams OR recent draftees to take the L in minutes because there's just not enough roster space, which may not be good for player retention. As far as record book effects, I think it would be worth discussing simply immortalizing pre-depth chart changes and establishing a new record book thereafter. That way, old players' records are still maintained, and new players still have a realistic chance of challenging new ones. Talking heads discuss greats from different 'eras,' and having more talking points isn't necessarily a bad thing. As far as ice time, we could impose similar restrictions on the regular season/playoffs as we do on the World Juniors.

Saskatoon, SK – Apollo Hackett doesn’t like discussing the draft. “Doesn’t my agent do enough of that for you guys?” he playfully asked a gaggle of reporters at a recent presser, “He literally just writes essays about the it so I don't have to.” Hackett’s blasé attitude towards the draft comes off of this week’s splurge of talking head discussion around the VHL Entry Draft, with nearly a dozen mock drafts coming from different members of the community. The most official of the lot published by the VHL Scouting Center showed the young American defender going in the third round (pick 26), significantly higher than many expected from a very green prospect. “I’ve definitely been putting in work with the team trainers, but there’s still a lot to get used to. Love attending other minor league games and seeing who’s who, and you can tell who’s going in the first round; that's about it for me.” At present, he’s regarded as one of the top ten defensemen in this season’s draft, but he may be as puzzling to GMs as any player in the field right now. It seems unlikely he’ll breach anything above the late second round, but team executives have made stranger moves in the past.

Philly sure made those shots count. Weirdly poor game from May in this one, great job from the Philly scorers in spite of the loss.

Short-handed goal for Yukon, but those penalty minutes really killed them today...

Lots of things going on here, but I'm most impressed by Matthews's FO win rate this game.

Yikes. I'd hate to be the team in a series with Minnesota rn.

Good games from Pekka Pouta and Draper, but yeah. Ottawa can't catch the first pick now - just gotta try to hit pick #2.

Jeffers didn't do a whole lot of good for his team in this game, oof. Glad we could take advantage though.

Finally, a win against Halifax! Another great game by Freeman, and a good defensive effort from Basraba. Hopefully we can pull another one of these off.

In only 17 minutes played, too - what a beast.