Arce

I apply for any VHLM opening.

Now that the wildcard round is out of the way, the stage is set for the Conference Semi-Finals. Moscow already knew that Malmo would be their opponent, since they blew their first place lead in the final 2 games of the season. Moscow thought they would be cracking open some cold ones and seeing if they would play Riga or Warsaw, but instead they would have a date with Malmo. Frustration was definitely brewing in the locker room as they thought a 1st place finish was under a lock and key. "We are definitely not happy with how the season ended." Ronan Lavelle said, who led the team with 40 goals in the S87 regular season. "If there is one positive it changed up our attitude. We were getting ready to cruise the past few days and just see who we would play. Finishing 2nd and now playing a good Malmo team re-shifted the focus. We had a few team meetings, and added a practice on our day off just to keep our focus up. We can't be caught by surprise like that again in the playoffs." Lavelle concluded. The Menace finished 3-2 against the Nighthawks in the regular season where the goal differential was, you guessed it ZERO. These two teams played another close all season long. The big question for Moscow is which team will show up? The one where their dynamic offense/defense lights up the scoreboard, or where they get held to 3 goals or under despite putting up a load of shots? All eyes will be on rookie Matt Murdock, who will make his post-season debut. Murdock had a fantastic rookie season, and is well within the ROTY discussions. Murdock had a .939 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA while tacking on 4 shutouts. Malmo goaltender Boris Tsezar will also be making their playoff debut in their 5th VHL season. Tsezar was apart of a long awaited Malmo rebuild. Tsezar had a .928 save percentage, 2.52 GAA and 5 shutouts of their own. So it is believed a goaltender battle could ensue in this series as it did in the regular season. Moscow point leader Nico Pearce with 91 points says he is expecting big time production from the Moscow offense. Pearce is a career point per game playoff player. He has a lot of experience in the playoffs, and is looking for his first Continental Cup. Pearce is re-united with former Titan teammate Hammar Voss in the post-season. This will be Voss' third run with Pearce. Voss tore up the playoffs in S84 with Helsinki, recording 11 points in 7 games. If Voss can elevate to this level again with this core, Moscow's offense will undoubtably be a problem with Voss' two way play. He is arguably the best puck carrying defenseman in the VHL. Career Menace Tomas Sogaard is believed to be the dark horse key to victory for Moscow. Sogaard has been apart of every Moscow run since S83, and his hot and cold play could mean the difference if he is able to hit one of his hot streaks in this series. AK92 Wit da Hoodie voiced frustration all season long about his performance. Hoodie is a point per game playoff player through two playoff runs. It does always seem talented players who had an average season stat wise have a way of elevating their game in the playoffs. Could this come true for Hoodie? The playoffs, depth is so important. The Menace had a 30 goal scorer and 2 20+ goal scorers on their second line. Fraser Wallace and Kyosti Karjalainen's production will be critical to relieving pressure off the Moscow 1st line. If they are on as they were during Moscow's big win streak, this team will be very difficult to stop. Karjalainen, the Moscow captain has a ton of experience when it comes to the post-season. He has been apart of the heartbreak for 3 of Moscow's 5 finals losses under GM Euron Leonidas. The captain seems ready to be on the other side of history as he said he expects nothing short of Moscow to hold the cup. Expectations are high in a very competitive European Conference with a few big titan North American teams waiting on the other side. Can the Menace make it through?

This is bullshit.

Rivalries: Part 2 Part 2 of this piece takes me to the modern day VHL. After over 10 years of being absent, 10 years of no rivalries, I returned to form new ones. When you return after a long absence, or are new there are no rivalries initially as you are getting the hang of the ropes again. However, then you realize your first rivals are usually your draft classmates. It is not an intense rivalry, however it is a fun one. I found myself in a very competitive S82 draft class with the likes of Bo Johannson, The Board Game Clue on Skates, Max Torq, Cole Pearce, Vasile Lamb, Tavish DeGroot, Bubbles Utonium, Perry Laperriere, and Girts Gavins. A majority of these players had already been established in the league already and had an upper hand. Shindigs joined around the same time I did. We were in the same TPE bracket, battled back and forth for a while. But when he was able to get his TPE packages, and just being Shindigs he put a decent gap between us at one point TPE wise despite my max earning. The rivalry I had with Shindigs was a friendly one, and was very motivational for us both. It would only escalade more after the draft when Shindigs and Mubbles would be drafted to the rivals of the team I was drafted to. I was drafted by the DC Dragons 7th overall. Eno saw the potential I had and blew a little luck on the dice before throwing them. I was really happy with this, as I was a big fan of Eno's laxed but very involved style. We would always gather in the LR after games to recap what had happened and potentially discuss any changes to the lineup if need be. Being a member of the Dragons meant that a rivalry with the Seattle Bears and Chicago Phoenix was imminent. You just know those Bears are going to be competitive for a majority if not the whole span of my career, because Bana just knows how to build a winning product. Chicago would have the two highest earners in my draft class in Bo Johansson and The Board Game Clue on Skates. Not only did Chicago get two great players, they got two members who would have big time voices in regards to the direction of the team. Those freaking Phoenix swept us out of the Wildcard round in S83 3-0 when we had a better team on paper. That is when I really said, "Man I want to beat the guys." Shindigs was one of my closer VHL friends outside of the sims as we spent a lot of time talking in the Moscow LR with the other "fellow commies". But when it came to game time, we both wanted to win. We would get our revenge on Chicago in our re-match in S85 as we overcame a 2-0 series deficit to win 4-2, which would book our ticket to the VHL Continental Cup Finals, where we would capture DC's first ever cup. It was a very sweet victory as we beat our rivals to get to the big show, and winning it only made it better. The Empire always does strike back though don't they? Chicago would beat us in the S86 Conference Semi Finals in a hard fought 7 game series. With that, my time in the North American Conference came to an end. And for now, my rivalry with Chicago is over. But now out here in Moscow, new ones are already starting. Part 3? To be determined! Word Count: 600

Holy shit man, this is unbelievable work! I am absolutely blown away! I knew it would be a good looking final product, but I never expected this. Thank you very much for including me in this fun project, the final outcome was so worth the wait!

Claim for week ending in 2/26.

I will apply to offer my services to a great organization. Completely understood is someone who has never GMed before is chosen.

Voss the boss bb.

I am probably one of the oldest bats within the VHL. It does bring me a little satisfaction that I am not the oldest though. It is unfortunate we do not have the game logs from the old forum, so I will do my best to retain the older ones from memory/whatever VHL artifacts we have of them. In S9 my first player Zach Arce was drafted by the Avangard (land of make believe) Havoc, who rebranded in S10 to the HC Davos Dynamo that we know today. My first season in the VHL was apart of the Dynamo. We had one of the most heated rivalries in league history with the Riga Reign. When I tell you it was ugly, it was UGLY. The rivalries today are much softer, not much trash talk. But back then it was a free for all. We absolutely despised Riga, and they detested us right back. Terence Fong was one of the first people I talked to on the VHL outside my friends I joined with, as a member of the Havoc. We traded Fong's player during our rebuild, and he ended up on you guessed it, the Riga Reign. There were a lot of guys on the team I liked talking to outside of the sims, but once the games were simed, the forum was lit, and the trash talk blew up. The likes of Layken Heidt, Ace Lightning, Brandon Rush, Zak Rawlyk, Blake Beukeboom, and of course Marek Van Urho. Riga went on to win the S10 Continental Cup, so that naturally left a bad taste in our mouths in Davos. The start of the rivalry. My S11 Davos squad would get revenge in the sweetest of ways in S11. We would of course go on to meet the Reign in the European Conference finals, and we would go on to beat them in game 7. Those game day threads were some of the most fun I have ever had. But after we went on to win that game 7, that thread was going off. No one even cared about what was going on in the North American Conference. There were members of that Riga team who accused Scotty Campbell (Commissioner, Davos GM, and simmer at the time) of rigging the game even though I am pretty sure we had started live streaming the games to some extent by this point. There was just a lot of passion, and they wanted to beat us that bad. It was the most satisfying series win I think I have had since being apart of the league. We would then go on to beat the Seattle Bears 4-2 in the Continental Cup final which was of course not as dramatic. Our team consisted of myself, Tomas Jenskovic, Tuvia Bielski, Da'brickashaw O'Neal, Jack O'Riley, Bob Loblaws, Sebastien Perrin, James Platts, Jonathan Matthias and the legendary Benoit Deveruex. It was my first cup, my first MVP, and I was hooked. Would Riga come for revenge? Of course they would. Despite my MVP season, Davos flopped out in S12. And it would be the Riga Reign who would be the ones in the Continental Cup finals. To the league's shock however, those Seattle Bears came out of the woods and struck down the Reign in 7 games. Do you think they took kindly to that? Nope. Did we go into that game day thread letting them have it? Yes we did. The rivalry we re-sparked for S13. We added the one and only Fayt Leiongod (Scoop/Streetlight) and Matt Bentz for his final season. We went in there and beat out the Reign in 6 games in the European Conference Finals, which brought back that satisfying feeling from S11. Not as good, but close. We would then go into a grueling final against the New York Americans, and we were able to get past them in game 7 for my second Continental Cup. After that, Davos and Riga both went into rebuild mode. The 6 consecutive seasons of seeing Davos or Riga in the Continental Cup finals was over, and that age of the rivalry was over. Word Count: 691 For week ending: 2/26 but claiming Theme Week Doubles for 2/19.

Ah, I remember the old grading days. My first league job! That was a bit ridiculous, and I was always trying to be generous on the ground someone put an effort into their piece, no matter how poorly it was written.

Claim for week ending in 2/19.

So we got the BK Whopper and Big Mac. Now all we need is a Dave’s Single from Wendy’s and we got the trifecta!

That leadership board completely shuffles after every sim it feels,. But it still always seems to have@Daniel Janserahead of me. You and Spartan are one big sim away from the top 3.

It is just stupid temptations, I am not actually going to apply it. Depreciation would not be kind. I am also happy in general with my player.

I hear ya Jacob! In the same boat here. Every bad sim for myself, I take a glance at all the banked TPE I have to see if I should make some adjustments.

Going to help out management here a little, hopefully Spartan doesn't give me too much smoke. Moscow Press Conference Week Ending: 2/12/2023 1. 31 games in, Moscow is in first place by the slimmest of margins. How are we feeling about our chances to win the conference? 2. Is there a weekly ritual the team should try to spark the power play? What should the ritual be? 3. For those still building your player, which attributes are you working on updating at the moment? If your player is already built, are there any adjustments you would make to any of your attributes if you could? 4. Do you have any plans for the Super Bowl this Sunday, if so what are they? 5. The VHL has been rolling out new ways to improve the league as of late, what would YOU like to see improve? 6. We are in the middle of the NHL season, what is your favorite hockey arena you have been to? (This can be from ANY league, not just the NHL.)

Acyd, I am really sorry for everything that you have had going on with your family. That is such an incredibly tough thing to deal with, especially having to go through it with both parents. I never wanted to pry into your personal life, but if you ever need someone here to talk or vent to I am always available. Otherwise, I am happy to continue throwing our money away in parlays. On the positive note congratulations!! Really happy for you, and wish you both a lifetime of happiness!

I gave him more than his asking price, and he still sent me to the scriptures. Then I just got him the Wynn and Encore, look how bougee they are.

Juan told me to go check the scriptures, and when I saw they were destroyed he told me to ask Bryn, who of course will not talk about Juan.

I couldn't get enough info. Those scriptures were destroyed when Jason burned down Juan's Magical Forest.

I did say he demanded to be traded, but was still mad at Saskatoon for trading such a low pick for him. I just started off after Juan's draft year to get closer to Juan's fame in Vegas. A complete biography of Juan's home life and childhood will definitely be needed in the future.

The Beginning: S82 Las Vegas Aces legend Juan Ceson has had quite the story in the VHLM. Controversy, driving his GM's crazy? That is Juan. Ceson was drafted in the 7th round by the Saskatoon Wild, although he wouldn't be there very long. The Calgary Wranglers also took their shot at Ceson by taking him in the 5th round of the VHL draft in hopes he would pan out to be a solid VHL prospect. However, Ceson made it quite clear he would be sticking it out in the M for life. Ceson was traded to the Las Vegas Aces in exchange for an S83 7th round draft selection. Juan had nothing but snarky comments to make towards the Saskatoon Wild, insulted by his value. These snarky comments came after they granted Juan the request to be traded in the first place. Saskatoon does not have a gambling license which angered Juan who said that could not be his home. Ceson had a quiet S82 campaign scoring just 2 goals and 6 assists with no notable defensive totals to add to it. Ceson was just playing an in depth role for the Aces when he initially got there. GM Anthony Pratt had no idea what he was in for in the future with Juan Ceson. The Founders Cup Era: Juan Becomes a Vegas Icon In S83 Juan Ceson decided to pick up the slack on the loaded Las Vegas Aces roster. He recorded 9 goals and 22 assists from the blue line. More impressively he delivered 240 hits and 71 shots blocked. Juan got into "the fight" in a brawl against their rival San Diego Marlins who finished tied with 118 points (Las Vegas held the tie breaker). Before the S83 playoffs MGM offered Juan an endorsement for the city which would include Juan Ceson personalized fan store for the Aces in the one and only Mandalay Bay. MGM Grand also had incorporated a big Juan Ceson banner over the building. Las Vegas is always a very lively city, but the city was so hyped for their Aces going into the S83 playoffs being the best team in the VHLM. The Aces swept the Philadelphia Reapers out of the first round 4-0. They would go on to a tighter series as the Ottawa Lynx took the Aces to 6 games before falling on their sword. In the Founder's Cup FInals, the Aces would meet their rivals the San Diego Marlins in what looked like an even matchup. The Aces would be crowned champions, winning the series 4-2! Ceson was a hitting machine. He recorded 53 hits in 16 games in the playoffs, and recorded 26 blocked shots. He also was notorious for catching 2 beers thrown on the rink at him and chugging them Stone Cold style. Naturally, this lead to even more Vegas fame and endorsements. Juan was given a special restaurant in the re-branded Juan's Palace. Slowly, but surely Juan Ceson was taking over Vegas, whether the city knew it or not. In S84, the Aces were primed for a repeat. Pratt did a fantastic job maintaining the roster and building it even stronger. Naturally, Juan's ego had also inflated by this point. This forced Pratt to have to be on Ceson to do basic things such as attend practice. Ceson at this juncture did not feel he needed to since the facility was named the Juan Ceson Practice Facility (and later the Captain Juan Ceson Practice Facility). Pratt had to emphasis to Ceson he was still under contract and apart of the team, so practice was still mandatory. This led to creative ways to get Juan to practice. Including one time being airlifted in despite Juan living just a 2 minute walk away from the facilities. In S84, Ceson would however have his best season yet on all accords. He had 13 goals, 36 assists for 49 points. He also had 99 PIM, 268 hits, and 110 SB all career highs. Vegas was very pleased to see Juan more productive on the score sheet. The Aces finished as the best team in the VHLM by far with 121 points to end the season. Going into the playoffs the Aces had their toughest opponent in the first round. Defeating Juan's old Wild team 4-2 in a well fought series. The Aces would go on to easy pass the Kings in the semi-finals 4-1 and absolutely demolished the Halifax 21st to capture their second Founder's Cup in a row! Juan was once again champion, this time scoring 2 goals in the playoffs and adding 3 assists. At this time Juan's face was all over Las Vegas, and everyone knew who he was. Present Day Juan Ceson: What has happened with Juan since becoming a two-time Founder's Cup Champion and the captain of one of the most successful modern day VHLM teams? Well, Juan had his practice facility renamed to Captain Juan Ceson Practice Facility and has had a statue built at Mandalay Bay which resides in the Juan Ceson Complex along with Luxor, Excalibur, MGM Grand, and New York, New York. Juan Ceson Co. has actively tried to add the Bellagio to this complex, as it would be the most powerful complex in the world. However, MGM has stalled negotiations on this to Juan's anger. This almost led to Ceson leaving Las Vegas and persuing other options. All this after Ceson became a 21 goal, 63 point scorer in S86 as well as a career best 285 hits and 214 shots blocked. Ceson even posted 141 PIM, he was a freight train out there. This drew a lot of interest to the Las Vegas legend. Even from a VHLE team, the Vasteras Iron Eagles. But Vasteras not having a gambling license inevitably turned Ceson off. He was tempted to take his talents to South Beach, but was reminded by his agent he still has a warrant out there for operating a casino illegally years ago. After close consideration, Ceson decided to remain with his empire in Vegas. What is next for Juan Ceson? Word Count: 1,012 Claim for: 2/12, 2/19

The solution was right in front of us the whole time.

RUMORS SWIRLING