MD9

Player's Tribune: Farewell Saskatoon
Written by Jake Scheel
 

 
The Saskatoon Wild may have been my home for my two-season VHLM career, but not everyone took my joining the team particularly well. When I walked in the locker room, I was met with open arms and everyone was polite right off the bat. But my decision to choose Saskatoon over the Las Vegas Aces, who at that time were undefeated, was met with some confusion -- and perhaps even a little laughter. A couple people assumed I was mistaken in choosing the team I did, but the opposite was true. I wanted to join a team that wasn't already 'finished', one where I would be able to make an impact and enjoy my time in the league -- where if I won, it would really feel like I earned it.
 
It took one more season than I initially hoped, but in the end, I'm leaving Saskatoon having achieved just that. I was truthfully only a very small part of the team that won the championship. Thanks to some very good management, the team ended up being very well balanced. Powerful without being outright stacked. I think that the Wild's victory this season was perhaps positive for more than just our team for that reason -- although one of the stronger teams in the league won, it wasn't the consensus pick that seemed to stack the cards in its favour. Of course, there's nothing wrong with trying to build a winning team, and going to great lengths to do it -- but for the sake of league parity, the first place team not winning the championship can only be viewed as a good thing.
 
Of course, the honour goes to the Las Vegas Aces for that, as they were the ones that defeated the team that had effectively became the Aces 2.0. It's a little ironic, but it's true. And playing against the Aces in the finals only offered a shot at revenge after we lost to them last season.
 
The point of this article though isn't just to retread this season or last season -- plenty of articles about the Wild, the Aces, and the Storm have, and will cover similar topics, as the fallout of the playoffs is a story that has, and will continue to dominate the VHLM until the off-season gets into full swing. Rather, this is more or less all just a preface to my saying farewell to the Wild, and to thank them for having me on their team for however brief it was. I was happy to join them to begin with, and I was even happier when they made the move to bring me back after I was entered into the draft as a mid-season signing. 
 
I'm glad I got a chance to play alongside a great group of guys and girls, and that we were able to make good on the promise we showed this season and sealed the deal, to end the season on the highest note possible. At this point, a lot of our careers are going to be splitting off into every which direction, but I hope to be able to play against and alongside my now former teammates with the Wild for many seasons to come. Some of you, like McAllister, Ron, and Do, are probably going to be bigger stars than me -- but maybe one day I'll manage to find my way onto one of your guys lines so you can make me look good by scoring off my passes all over again. And maybe we can win again, you know -- that's always nice too.
 
 

Sorry for the late reply -- I'm happy to play either way. Wing on first line would be fun from a production standpoint but I'm also happy to play second line center so I can do my natural position (and if we don't have another 2nd line C, hopefully win faceoffs).

So after discussing this with @Smarch and @Higgins we've decided to give everyone a bump of 5 TPE, with the maximum pay out being 20. 
 
Going forward we will likely be making the minimum pay out 10 TPE for everyone. 
 
@crutchfield - 15 TPE
@bgreene21 - 9 TPE
@Jonessee27 - 18 TPE
@Eggy216 - 19 TPE
@MD9 - 20 TPE
@Symmetrik - 20 TPE
@Tyler - 14 TPE
@Lunaro - 12 TPE
@John Scott - 10 TPE
@Gooningitup - 18 TPE
@Laflamme - 20 TPE
@mpclardy - 13 TPE
@Kyle - 12 TPE
@Advantage  - 16 TPE
@murguy - 20 TPE
@Banackock - 20 TPE
@CowboyinAmerica - 20 TPE
@punkhippie - 12 TPE
@boubabi - 20 TPE
@Green - 20 TPE
@Tagger - 20 TPE
@eaglesfan036 - 13 TPE
@evrydayimbyfuglien - 20 TPE
@Higgins - 20 TPE

Happy to be here! Looking forward to hopefully having a strong rookie season and going far in the playoffs.

Player's Tribune: Farewell Saskatoon
Written by Jake Scheel
 

 
The Saskatoon Wild may have been my home for my two-season VHLM career, but not everyone took my joining the team particularly well. When I walked in the locker room, I was met with open arms and everyone was polite right off the bat. But my decision to choose Saskatoon over the Las Vegas Aces, who at that time were undefeated, was met with some confusion -- and perhaps even a little laughter. A couple people assumed I was mistaken in choosing the team I did, but the opposite was true. I wanted to join a team that wasn't already 'finished', one where I would be able to make an impact and enjoy my time in the league -- where if I won, it would really feel like I earned it.
 
It took one more season than I initially hoped, but in the end, I'm leaving Saskatoon having achieved just that. I was truthfully only a very small part of the team that won the championship. Thanks to some very good management, the team ended up being very well balanced. Powerful without being outright stacked. I think that the Wild's victory this season was perhaps positive for more than just our team for that reason -- although one of the stronger teams in the league won, it wasn't the consensus pick that seemed to stack the cards in its favour. Of course, there's nothing wrong with trying to build a winning team, and going to great lengths to do it -- but for the sake of league parity, the first place team not winning the championship can only be viewed as a good thing.
 
Of course, the honour goes to the Las Vegas Aces for that, as they were the ones that defeated the team that had effectively became the Aces 2.0. It's a little ironic, but it's true. And playing against the Aces in the finals only offered a shot at revenge after we lost to them last season.
 
The point of this article though isn't just to retread this season or last season -- plenty of articles about the Wild, the Aces, and the Storm have, and will cover similar topics, as the fallout of the playoffs is a story that has, and will continue to dominate the VHLM until the off-season gets into full swing. Rather, this is more or less all just a preface to my saying farewell to the Wild, and to thank them for having me on their team for however brief it was. I was happy to join them to begin with, and I was even happier when they made the move to bring me back after I was entered into the draft as a mid-season signing. 
 
I'm glad I got a chance to play alongside a great group of guys and girls, and that we were able to make good on the promise we showed this season and sealed the deal, to end the season on the highest note possible. At this point, a lot of our careers are going to be splitting off into every which direction, but I hope to be able to play against and alongside my now former teammates with the Wild for many seasons to come. Some of you, like McAllister, Ron, and Do, are probably going to be bigger stars than me -- but maybe one day I'll manage to find my way onto one of your guys lines so you can make me look good by scoring off my passes all over again. And maybe we can win again, you know -- that's always nice too.
 
 

Many thanks!
 
Media Spot +7
Achievement Tracker +20
Fantasy Draft +1
TC +10 (5 def/5 pass)
Prediction Points +8
 
202 + 46 = 248 (73 banked)
 
SPENDING BANKED
 
Faceoffs 55 + 5 = 60
Scoring 67 + 9 = 73
Defense 77 + 46 = 91 
Passing 78 + 13 = 83
 
Week 8/8 of Media Upgrade

Updated, congrats on making it to the VHL  

Happy to be here! Looking forward to hopefully having a strong rookie season and going far in the playoffs.

Hey guys, just wanted to congratulate everyone involved on such a great season! We couldn't have done it without all the effort put in by everyone, from top to bottom. Everyone pulled their weight this year and it really paid off.  Congrats to all the players graduating to the VHL next season and for those who aren't, keep updating and let's get ready to do it all over again!
 
 
 
@CowboyinAmerica@MD9@BeanSobie@Wikiplaysgames@Doomsday@Eggy216@.sniffuM@boubabi@daBenchwarmer@murguy@Marko@FBR@Jeff@Fire Hakstol

Scheel Finds Redemption, Along with Wild
 

 
After losing to the Las Vegas Aces in a heartbreaking close to S54's campaign, the Saskatoon Wild had an unexpected opportunity to claim revenge (and redemption) after the Aces surprised and defeated the Oslo Storm to make it to the finals for the second year in the row. Once matched up against each-other, the Wild were clearly the team with something to prove -- and they played like it, winning four straight games to claim the championship. Out-shooting the Aces at every turn, the defending champions simply couldn't keep up with the Wild, and appeared stunned at times by the onslaught. That being said, they did a good job of grinding down and keeping some of the games close, and deserve all the credit in the world for making it so deep into the post-season when many had written them off.
 
That being said, there's little doubt that for the Wild, being able to sweep the Aces -- even a weaker version of the Aces -- provided a measure of satisfaction, given some of the more negative aspects of last season's competitive atmosphere. Links to last season can be found through the return of players such as Gabriel McAllister, Jake Scheel and Daring Do -- the first of whom has repeated his previous success, with his second straight year as the playoff points leader. Players like Ay Ay Ron and Emil Martinov have established themselves even further with their campaigns, and on the Las Vegas side, Rask Rowe and Rudi Ying have proved that their personal success wasn't merely the result of a stacked team.
 
Calling back to an earlier couple of articles published on this site, the win has some added significance for sophomore Jake Scheel. Last year, we discussed at length his postseason struggles in which he recorded a meager seven points in eleven games, far below his regular season pace. This came hand in hand with his decline in the draft rankings from the consensus no. 2 or no. 3 selection, to falling anywhere from no. 5 or no. 6. This season, his sluggish training pain for part of the season raised even further questions about his spirit, his drive to improve, and above all else, his ceiling as a player. This year, Scheel recorded seventeen points in seven games, a much improved rate, finishing tied for second along with Rudi Ying and Mattias Forsberg amongst centers. Granted, Ying played more games than Scheel and Forsberg played less, making the statistic somewhat skewed, but the fact remains that at least this year Scheel didn't play well below what he displayed during the regular season.
 
All this is to say that perhaps, despite his off and on struggles on the eyes and the difficulty of last season's playoff run, Jake Scheel's personal story-line has really just been following that of the Saskatoon Wild as a whole. He showed up late in S54, surprised a lot of people with how well he played, managed to drive up some hype for himself before ultimately falling off at the very end of the season, the exact worst time to fall off, before coming back this season with a stronger, and ultimately winning campaign. Questions now linger for both Scheel and his team. As Scheel looks towards the VHL proper, he faces the likelihood of coming up against much stronger, much more challenging competition, while the Wild themselves will be looking to replace a number of the key pieces that led this championship run in the off-season, and avoid the post-victory decline that so many junior teams have to go through.

Scheel Finds Redemption, Along with Wild
 

 
After losing to the Las Vegas Aces in a heartbreaking close to S54's campaign, the Saskatoon Wild had an unexpected opportunity to claim revenge (and redemption) after the Aces surprised and defeated the Oslo Storm to make it to the finals for the second year in the row. Once matched up against each-other, the Wild were clearly the team with something to prove -- and they played like it, winning four straight games to claim the championship. Out-shooting the Aces at every turn, the defending champions simply couldn't keep up with the Wild, and appeared stunned at times by the onslaught. That being said, they did a good job of grinding down and keeping some of the games close, and deserve all the credit in the world for making it so deep into the post-season when many had written them off.
 
That being said, there's little doubt that for the Wild, being able to sweep the Aces -- even a weaker version of the Aces -- provided a measure of satisfaction, given some of the more negative aspects of last season's competitive atmosphere. Links to last season can be found through the return of players such as Gabriel McAllister, Jake Scheel and Daring Do -- the first of whom has repeated his previous success, with his second straight year as the playoff points leader. Players like Ay Ay Ron and Emil Martinov have established themselves even further with their campaigns, and on the Las Vegas side, Rask Rowe and Rudi Ying have proved that their personal success wasn't merely the result of a stacked team.
 
Calling back to an earlier couple of articles published on this site, the win has some added significance for sophomore Jake Scheel. Last year, we discussed at length his postseason struggles in which he recorded a meager seven points in eleven games, far below his regular season pace. This came hand in hand with his decline in the draft rankings from the consensus no. 2 or no. 3 selection, to falling anywhere from no. 5 or no. 6. This season, his sluggish training pain for part of the season raised even further questions about his spirit, his drive to improve, and above all else, his ceiling as a player. This year, Scheel recorded seventeen points in seven games, a much improved rate, finishing tied for second along with Rudi Ying and Mattias Forsberg amongst centers. Granted, Ying played more games than Scheel and Forsberg played less, making the statistic somewhat skewed, but the fact remains that at least this year Scheel didn't play well below what he displayed during the regular season.
 
All this is to say that perhaps, despite his off and on struggles on the eyes and the difficulty of last season's playoff run, Jake Scheel's personal story-line has really just been following that of the Saskatoon Wild as a whole. He showed up late in S54, surprised a lot of people with how well he played, managed to drive up some hype for himself before ultimately falling off at the very end of the season, the exact worst time to fall off, before coming back this season with a stronger, and ultimately winning campaign. Questions now linger for both Scheel and his team. As Scheel looks towards the VHL proper, he faces the likelihood of coming up against much stronger, much more challenging competition, while the Wild themselves will be looking to replace a number of the key pieces that led this championship run in the off-season, and avoid the post-victory decline that so many junior teams have to go through.

Scheel Finds Redemption, Along with Wild
 

 
After losing to the Las Vegas Aces in a heartbreaking close to S54's campaign, the Saskatoon Wild had an unexpected opportunity to claim revenge (and redemption) after the Aces surprised and defeated the Oslo Storm to make it to the finals for the second year in the row. Once matched up against each-other, the Wild were clearly the team with something to prove -- and they played like it, winning four straight games to claim the championship. Out-shooting the Aces at every turn, the defending champions simply couldn't keep up with the Wild, and appeared stunned at times by the onslaught. That being said, they did a good job of grinding down and keeping some of the games close, and deserve all the credit in the world for making it so deep into the post-season when many had written them off.
 
That being said, there's little doubt that for the Wild, being able to sweep the Aces -- even a weaker version of the Aces -- provided a measure of satisfaction, given some of the more negative aspects of last season's competitive atmosphere. Links to last season can be found through the return of players such as Gabriel McAllister, Jake Scheel and Daring Do -- the first of whom has repeated his previous success, with his second straight year as the playoff points leader. Players like Ay Ay Ron and Emil Martinov have established themselves even further with their campaigns, and on the Las Vegas side, Rask Rowe and Rudi Ying have proved that their personal success wasn't merely the result of a stacked team.
 
Calling back to an earlier couple of articles published on this site, the win has some added significance for sophomore Jake Scheel. Last year, we discussed at length his postseason struggles in which he recorded a meager seven points in eleven games, far below his regular season pace. This came hand in hand with his decline in the draft rankings from the consensus no. 2 or no. 3 selection, to falling anywhere from no. 5 or no. 6. This season, his sluggish training pain for part of the season raised even further questions about his spirit, his drive to improve, and above all else, his ceiling as a player. This year, Scheel recorded seventeen points in seven games, a much improved rate, finishing tied for second along with Rudi Ying and Mattias Forsberg amongst centers. Granted, Ying played more games than Scheel and Forsberg played less, making the statistic somewhat skewed, but the fact remains that at least this year Scheel didn't play well below what he displayed during the regular season.
 
All this is to say that perhaps, despite his off and on struggles on the eyes and the difficulty of last season's playoff run, Jake Scheel's personal story-line has really just been following that of the Saskatoon Wild as a whole. He showed up late in S54, surprised a lot of people with how well he played, managed to drive up some hype for himself before ultimately falling off at the very end of the season, the exact worst time to fall off, before coming back this season with a stronger, and ultimately winning campaign. Questions now linger for both Scheel and his team. As Scheel looks towards the VHL proper, he faces the likelihood of coming up against much stronger, much more challenging competition, while the Wild themselves will be looking to replace a number of the key pieces that led this championship run in the off-season, and avoid the post-victory decline that so many junior teams have to go through.

Nice one! Glad we managed to win it, and doing it against who we did just makes it even sweeter. Vengeance!

Scheel Finds Redemption, Along with Wild
 

 
After losing to the Las Vegas Aces in a heartbreaking close to S54's campaign, the Saskatoon Wild had an unexpected opportunity to claim revenge (and redemption) after the Aces surprised and defeated the Oslo Storm to make it to the finals for the second year in the row. Once matched up against each-other, the Wild were clearly the team with something to prove -- and they played like it, winning four straight games to claim the championship. Out-shooting the Aces at every turn, the defending champions simply couldn't keep up with the Wild, and appeared stunned at times by the onslaught. That being said, they did a good job of grinding down and keeping some of the games close, and deserve all the credit in the world for making it so deep into the post-season when many had written them off.
 
That being said, there's little doubt that for the Wild, being able to sweep the Aces -- even a weaker version of the Aces -- provided a measure of satisfaction, given some of the more negative aspects of last season's competitive atmosphere. Links to last season can be found through the return of players such as Gabriel McAllister, Jake Scheel and Daring Do -- the first of whom has repeated his previous success, with his second straight year as the playoff points leader. Players like Ay Ay Ron and Emil Martinov have established themselves even further with their campaigns, and on the Las Vegas side, Rask Rowe and Rudi Ying have proved that their personal success wasn't merely the result of a stacked team.
 
Calling back to an earlier couple of articles published on this site, the win has some added significance for sophomore Jake Scheel. Last year, we discussed at length his postseason struggles in which he recorded a meager seven points in eleven games, far below his regular season pace. This came hand in hand with his decline in the draft rankings from the consensus no. 2 or no. 3 selection, to falling anywhere from no. 5 or no. 6. This season, his sluggish training pain for part of the season raised even further questions about his spirit, his drive to improve, and above all else, his ceiling as a player. This year, Scheel recorded seventeen points in seven games, a much improved rate, finishing tied for second along with Rudi Ying and Mattias Forsberg amongst centers. Granted, Ying played more games than Scheel and Forsberg played less, making the statistic somewhat skewed, but the fact remains that at least this year Scheel didn't play well below what he displayed during the regular season.
 
All this is to say that perhaps, despite his off and on struggles on the eyes and the difficulty of last season's playoff run, Jake Scheel's personal story-line has really just been following that of the Saskatoon Wild as a whole. He showed up late in S54, surprised a lot of people with how well he played, managed to drive up some hype for himself before ultimately falling off at the very end of the season, the exact worst time to fall off, before coming back this season with a stronger, and ultimately winning campaign. Questions now linger for both Scheel and his team. As Scheel looks towards the VHL proper, he faces the likelihood of coming up against much stronger, much more challenging competition, while the Wild themselves will be looking to replace a number of the key pieces that led this championship run in the off-season, and avoid the post-victory decline that so many junior teams have to go through.

Scheel Finds Redemption, Along with Wild
 

 
After losing to the Las Vegas Aces in a heartbreaking close to S54's campaign, the Saskatoon Wild had an unexpected opportunity to claim revenge (and redemption) after the Aces surprised and defeated the Oslo Storm to make it to the finals for the second year in the row. Once matched up against each-other, the Wild were clearly the team with something to prove -- and they played like it, winning four straight games to claim the championship. Out-shooting the Aces at every turn, the defending champions simply couldn't keep up with the Wild, and appeared stunned at times by the onslaught. That being said, they did a good job of grinding down and keeping some of the games close, and deserve all the credit in the world for making it so deep into the post-season when many had written them off.
 
That being said, there's little doubt that for the Wild, being able to sweep the Aces -- even a weaker version of the Aces -- provided a measure of satisfaction, given some of the more negative aspects of last season's competitive atmosphere. Links to last season can be found through the return of players such as Gabriel McAllister, Jake Scheel and Daring Do -- the first of whom has repeated his previous success, with his second straight year as the playoff points leader. Players like Ay Ay Ron and Emil Martinov have established themselves even further with their campaigns, and on the Las Vegas side, Rask Rowe and Rudi Ying have proved that their personal success wasn't merely the result of a stacked team.
 
Calling back to an earlier couple of articles published on this site, the win has some added significance for sophomore Jake Scheel. Last year, we discussed at length his postseason struggles in which he recorded a meager seven points in eleven games, far below his regular season pace. This came hand in hand with his decline in the draft rankings from the consensus no. 2 or no. 3 selection, to falling anywhere from no. 5 or no. 6. This season, his sluggish training pain for part of the season raised even further questions about his spirit, his drive to improve, and above all else, his ceiling as a player. This year, Scheel recorded seventeen points in seven games, a much improved rate, finishing tied for second along with Rudi Ying and Mattias Forsberg amongst centers. Granted, Ying played more games than Scheel and Forsberg played less, making the statistic somewhat skewed, but the fact remains that at least this year Scheel didn't play well below what he displayed during the regular season.
 
All this is to say that perhaps, despite his off and on struggles on the eyes and the difficulty of last season's playoff run, Jake Scheel's personal story-line has really just been following that of the Saskatoon Wild as a whole. He showed up late in S54, surprised a lot of people with how well he played, managed to drive up some hype for himself before ultimately falling off at the very end of the season, the exact worst time to fall off, before coming back this season with a stronger, and ultimately winning campaign. Questions now linger for both Scheel and his team. As Scheel looks towards the VHL proper, he faces the likelihood of coming up against much stronger, much more challenging competition, while the Wild themselves will be looking to replace a number of the key pieces that led this championship run in the off-season, and avoid the post-victory decline that so many junior teams have to go through.

Nice one! Glad we managed to win it, and doing it against who we did just makes it even sweeter. Vengeance!

FML my dump-in on the PK leads to the series winner. GG Wild, you deserved it, after what happened last year and your success this year. Didn't really expect to get swept, but it was much closer than the 4-0 showed.
 
Great team you built @Corco, and look forward to taking our battles to the big leagues @MD9 @Eggy216 @CowboyinAmerica @boubabi
 

Let's win this pls.

INDEX

Another draft memory, this time for the VHLM. Since I signed midseason in Saskatoon the first time, there was some uncertainty about who could come back. Thankfully, the new GM in Corco managed to find a way to get McAllister, Scheel and Do all back on the top, on top of picking up some pretty sweet players to make us a stronger team overall.

Good luck, I'm rooting for Sasky unless, of course, the opponent is Vegas.

Well, playoffs went about as expected.
 
Good news is next season we have Stockholms 1st, and they somehow lost to Davos in the first round (lol)! So that is 6th overall and a much better pick than expected. 
 
Good luck to @MD9 with Saskatoon in the playoffs, even though you are playing against me and @crutchfield! Can't wait to have you both in the bigs next season
 

The draft. I fell far, but it was the first time I was a touted prospect in any sim league. It was kind of fun being in the top five, wondering where I'd go -- and being able to worry about not being a bust, rather than having to prove myself as a steal.

Best memory is probably the playoffs last season. We didn't win, but it was fun for a first go with some nice guys on the team.

The draft. I fell far, but it was the first time I was a touted prospect in any sim league. It was kind of fun being in the top five, wondering where I'd go -- and being able to worry about not being a bust, rather than having to prove myself as a steal.