HearnNation67

Woody McPine has issued the following statement following the conclusion of the VHLM s72:
 
“Congratulations to the Saskatoon Wild on a well deserved championship victory. You guys had a fantastic season and were always a tough battle when we played. Our 3-2 regular season record against you means absolutely nothing now, but had the Storm and Wild met, it would've been a hell of a battle between us for sure.
 
Also, congratulations to Zamboni Driver of the Mexico City Kings on making the finals. Our round 2 series showed which tendy could show up for the big games, and it wasn't me this year. Keep up the hard work, and I'll be coming for you in the VHL.
 
Lastly, congrats to all my Storm teammates on a great 2 seasons. It was a ton of fun and can't wait to see you all in the big leagues someday.
 
Happy summer,
Woody
 
Word Count: 152

Longevity is a rare thing in today's VHL. With how the league is designed, where you have a player for a maximum of only 8 seasons it's very difficult for a General Manager to build a competitive playoff team that stays competitive for long periods of time. To show you just how difficult that is, the current record holder in the VHL for consecutive playoff appearances are the New York Americans with 11 straight appearances from  S24-S34. That pales in comparison to the most recent NHL playoff streak that comes to mind with the Detroit Red Wings who had a 25 year run, and that's not even an NHL record.  
 
What made the Red Wings such a long term success was their ability to draft solid roster players from the later rounds and develop from within. To be able to get any kind of longevity in the VHL you would have to focus on those same two things, Drafting and Development.  Even though it hasn't shown in the form of a long playoff streak as of yet, I feel like Phantom's GM Jason Glasser @diamond_ace has done a great job when it comes to drafting from the later rounds and that's what I'll be showing you in this week's Media Spot. 
 
Originally my inspiration for this article came from a discord discussion with some of my fellow Phantom's team mates in which we we're discussing the most recent Phantom's trade in which we moved down 2 spots in the upcoming draft for two extra third round picks. These picks could potentially be valuable because of Jason Glasser's drafting success from the 3rd or later rounds. Lets take a quick look at the Phantom's drafting history from the 3rd or later rounds since they've come into the league in S68.
 
Season 68
 
27th Overall selection, Gert B. Frobe, @NumberJ5
34th Overall selection, David Wallace, @Juddy
38th Overall selection, Jacob Perry @Liberty_Cabbage
50th Overall selection, Ben McGirr @cartoes
62nd Overall selection, Lukas Schweitzer
 
In the Phantom's inaugural season, they held 3x 3rd round picks and that year's draft had enough depth to require two more rounds after that. This was a very successful draft for the Phantoms as they built most of their core from this draft. The 5 picks from the later rounds of this draft gave the Phantoms an enforcer/depth defender in Frobe, a 2nd pairing defender in Perry and a versatile top 6 forward in Ben McGirr. Schweitzer was a bust and Wallace retired after finishing his last year in the VHLM. Overall I think Glasser did well in acquiring 3 roster pieces from the later rounds of this draft.
 
Season 69 and Season 70
 
No picks
 
No picks in the later rounds were made during these two season since the Phantoms traded away their 3rd and 4th round selections from both drafts.
 
Season 71
 
35th Overall selection, Woody McPine @HearnNation67
41st Overall selection, Jack John @GoadenGoalie35
 
While both picks haven't yet played a single VHL game I wouldn't consider either of these two players busts, it's just that they haven't reached that point in their development. McPine is slated to have his VHL debut next season for the Phantoms as he's expected to compete for the team's starting goaltender position.  John is still an active member and on his current projection he will crack the VHL in another season or two. 
 
Season 72
 
32nd Overall selection, Riley Knight Gee @KnightRiley
46th Overall selection Ernie King @Greg Ernest
 
It's still a little too early to tell but it looks like the Phantoms drafted themselves another roster player in last year's draft as Riley Knight is currently holding off on TPE in order to be able to play an extra season in the minors. He's currently hovering under the 250 tpe minor league limit at 244 and he's almost guaranteed to become a member of the Phantoms after another season in the minors. King is looking like he may turn into a bust.
 
So after a review of Glasser's selections past the 2nd round, if you count future players Knight, McPine and John, Glasser will have gotten at least one VHL game out of 66.6% of his late round selections so far during his tenure as the Phantoms GM which is outstanding. So here's to hoping that at least one of the two 3rd rounders acquired from the Calgary Wranglers can turn into yet another success story for the Phantoms organisation. 
 
 
 

1. My lackluster play at the end and throughout the playoffs
2. We really came together as a team and won a lot. Great way to end my VHLM career
3. I was pretty good at stopping the puck
5. I'll be in the VHL with Prague
6. Pretty excited yeah, it's what we're all working for
7. Yes

The dream season for the Minnesota Storm came to a thunderous halt in the second round of the S72 playoffs. After breezing through most of the regular to a 60-10-2 record with 122 points, the Storm were finally weathered by the Mexico City Kings in 6 games. It was a tough playoffs for Minnesota, as the 8th placed Miami Marauders took the Storm to 7 games, including 3 do or die games for the Storm. The team did all they could to break the funk, from mixing up the lines to benching their starting goaltender, but it was no use.
 
The struggles began in the last 10 games of the regular season, where Minnesota went 5-5, gathering half of their losses on the season in those games, including a 7-2 thumping at the hands of the Saskatoon Wild and a 4-3 overtime loss to the very same Miami Marauders. It appears the writing was on the wall for the Storm, but not many people could see it.
 
Word Count: 167

The dream season for the Minnesota Storm came to a thunderous halt in the second round of the S72 playoffs. After breezing through most of the regular to a 60-10-2 record with 122 points, the Storm were finally weathered by the Mexico City Kings in 6 games. It was a tough playoffs for Minnesota, as the 8th placed Miami Marauders took the Storm to 7 games, including 3 do or die games for the Storm. The team did all they could to break the funk, from mixing up the lines to benching their starting goaltender, but it was no use.
 
The struggles began in the last 10 games of the regular season, where Minnesota went 5-5, gathering half of their losses on the season in those games, including a 7-2 thumping at the hands of the Saskatoon Wild and a 4-3 overtime loss to the very same Miami Marauders. It appears the writing was on the wall for the Storm, but not many people could see it.
 
Word Count: 167

The dream season for the Minnesota Storm came to a thunderous halt in the second round of the S72 playoffs. After breezing through most of the regular to a 60-10-2 record with 122 points, the Storm were finally weathered by the Mexico City Kings in 6 games. It was a tough playoffs for Minnesota, as the 8th placed Miami Marauders took the Storm to 7 games, including 3 do or die games for the Storm. The team did all they could to break the funk, from mixing up the lines to benching their starting goaltender, but it was no use.
 
The struggles began in the last 10 games of the regular season, where Minnesota went 5-5, gathering half of their losses on the season in those games, including a 7-2 thumping at the hands of the Saskatoon Wild and a 4-3 overtime loss to the very same Miami Marauders. It appears the writing was on the wall for the Storm, but not many people could see it.
 
Word Count: 167

I have confidence those numbers will come up behind Block, Perrin, and Stansson next season
 
 

Woody, man, it just doesn’t make sense! You must’ve accidentally peed on the ancient burial ground of Simon’s ancestors to earn such bad STHS luck. Oh well, if nothing else, ol’ McPine always makes sure things stay interesting!

The Minnesota Storm were a force not to be messed with all season long. Carried by strong offense and goaltending, they had multiple 10+ game win streaks. But as the season wound down and the playoffs began, goaltender Woody McPine failed to show up. This seems to be a trend in the young goaltender's career. McPine has failed to show up in the games biggest stages, whether it's the VHLM playoffs were he and the Storm bowed out in 6 games to the San Diego Marlins, or in the World Junior Championships, where he failed to get Canada past a bronze medal in 2 years. This years playoffs are going similarly, with McPine being pulled 4 times against expansion team Miami Marauders and the Mexico City Kings in 11 games. McPine has a 5-5 record so far in this years playoffs, with a save percentage of 0.837, a career worst, and goals against average of 3.94. These numbers are a stark contrast to his regular season record of 60-10-2, 0.900 save percentage, 2.25 GAA, and 9 shutouts. Is the young tendy cracking under playoff pressure again? Or could he just be tired after playing all 72 games this season? Storm GM @Rayzor_7 seems to believe its the latter, as he benched McPine for Bennett Dahl in game 3 against Mexico City.
 
The first round series saw 8th place Marauders started off hot, winning the first 2 games with scores of 4-1 and a dominant 5-1 game 2, before the Storm woke up with a 7-6 victory, and then another Miama victory of 3-2 to push the regular season champs to the brink and go up 3 games to 1 in their first ever playoffs series. With their backs against the wall, Storm players bailed out their goaltender and rallied off 3 straight wins, led by Mickael Keef with 5 points, and Cole Newhook, Ike Bennet, Mickey Dickson, and Liam Flaten with 4 points each.
 
Minnesota's second round sees them matched up against the 4th place Kings, and it's been a wild ride so far. The Storm took the first game 4-3, and then got thumped by the Kings 7-0 in game 2. Woody was riding the pine in the next game, as the Storm started reliable backup Bennett Dahl instead. The move almost paid off, as the Storm took Mexico City to overtime before Kirishima Wakaro put the puck past Dahl to give the Kings a 5-4 win. McPine was back between the pipes for game 4, which saw the Storm come away with a big 7-4 victory, led by Newhook, Flaten, and Joe Exotic with 3 points a piece. Game 5 was a tight one, a 2-1 victory of Mexico City to once again push Minnesota to the brink of elimination. McPine has played better in games 4 and 5after his benching, with save percentages of 0.892 and 0.882, respectively, and a GAA of 2.5 over the 2 games while picking up 1 win and 1 loss. Time will tell if he can keep it up, but one thing is for sure, McPine will need to play much better if he and the Storm want to raise the cup this year.
 
Word count: 532

The Minnesota Storm were a force not to be messed with all season long. Carried by strong offense and goaltending, they had multiple 10+ game win streaks. But as the season wound down and the playoffs began, goaltender Woody McPine failed to show up. This seems to be a trend in the young goaltender's career. McPine has failed to show up in the games biggest stages, whether it's the VHLM playoffs were he and the Storm bowed out in 6 games to the San Diego Marlins, or in the World Junior Championships, where he failed to get Canada past a bronze medal in 2 years. This years playoffs are going similarly, with McPine being pulled 4 times against expansion team Miami Marauders and the Mexico City Kings in 11 games. McPine has a 5-5 record so far in this years playoffs, with a save percentage of 0.837, a career worst, and goals against average of 3.94. These numbers are a stark contrast to his regular season record of 60-10-2, 0.900 save percentage, 2.25 GAA, and 9 shutouts. Is the young tendy cracking under playoff pressure again? Or could he just be tired after playing all 72 games this season? Storm GM @Rayzor_7 seems to believe its the latter, as he benched McPine for Bennett Dahl in game 3 against Mexico City.
 
The first round series saw 8th place Marauders started off hot, winning the first 2 games with scores of 4-1 and a dominant 5-1 game 2, before the Storm woke up with a 7-6 victory, and then another Miama victory of 3-2 to push the regular season champs to the brink and go up 3 games to 1 in their first ever playoffs series. With their backs against the wall, Storm players bailed out their goaltender and rallied off 3 straight wins, led by Mickael Keef with 5 points, and Cole Newhook, Ike Bennet, Mickey Dickson, and Liam Flaten with 4 points each.
 
Minnesota's second round sees them matched up against the 4th place Kings, and it's been a wild ride so far. The Storm took the first game 4-3, and then got thumped by the Kings 7-0 in game 2. Woody was riding the pine in the next game, as the Storm started reliable backup Bennett Dahl instead. The move almost paid off, as the Storm took Mexico City to overtime before Kirishima Wakaro put the puck past Dahl to give the Kings a 5-4 win. McPine was back between the pipes for game 4, which saw the Storm come away with a big 7-4 victory, led by Newhook, Flaten, and Joe Exotic with 3 points a piece. Game 5 was a tight one, a 2-1 victory of Mexico City to once again push Minnesota to the brink of elimination. McPine has played better in games 4 and 5after his benching, with save percentages of 0.892 and 0.882, respectively, and a GAA of 2.5 over the 2 games while picking up 1 win and 1 loss. Time will tell if he can keep it up, but one thing is for sure, McPine will need to play much better if he and the Storm want to raise the cup this year.
 
Word count: 532

Review: Tough road for a young goalie. Keep your head up and have faith that your player will only get better as he heads into the VHL. As for the article you did a really good job breaking down the numbers to help the reader visualize McPines successes and struggles. The paragraph separation was good and grammatically was solid. The subject matter was good as well. It’s always good to hear how a player is feeling about their career so far. Rating: 8/10.

1. Play our game. Play as a team. Don't let them in our heads
2. I talk to myself all the time, and its usually along the lines of "Get your shit together"
4. I was not, but anything can happen in playoffs
5. Pretty pleased until it comes to playoffs
6. Probably Chel or Rockband/Guitar Hero
7. About 700 lbs of wood

1. I think we'll get 123
2. All of us, once we win the 'ship ?
3. Playoffs, that's what really matters
4. I'd say defence. Can't lose if the other team can't score
5. Probably peppers or onions
6. Just try to get in the zone and listen to music. And getting dressed in the same order each game

With the VHLM regular season coming to a close, we managed to sit down with Minnesota Storm goalie Woody McPine for a quick interview. The young stud has a 59-10-1 record through 70 games, with 9 shutouts.
 
Q: Woody, you've had an incredible season so far. What do you attribute to your success?
W: Well, I put in a lot of hard work at the tree farm in the offseason that made me stronger and faster. But ultimately, it comes down to my incredible teammates. We wouldn't be here without all of us working together.
 
Q: Now, you've been pulled twice in the last five games, both against Saskatoon. Is that something you're concerned about with the playoffs coming up?
W: No I don't think so. Everyone has tough games and I'll bounce back in time if we play them in playoffs. Just have to make sure I'm mentally prepared.
 
Q: How do you mentally prepare yourself before each game?
W: I like to get in the zone by listening to music and just being off in my own little world for a bit before we hit the ice.
 
Q: How do you stay focused during the game?
W: Everyone knows who the dangerous players are on each team, and which players specialize on getting under your skin. You have to try and ignore what they say and do, and shrug it off when they put a puck past you. It's easier said than done (chuckles).
 
Q: Switching gears, you were once again selected to represent Team Canada at the World Junior Championships. How was the experience this year compared to last year?
W: It was a little different since I didn't play as much this year. But it was still an honour to wear the Maple Leaf and come away with a bronze.
 
Q: A huge honour for sure. Now back to the regular season. You got your 100th career win this season, any thoughts on that?
W: Oh that was a huge thrill. We had a bit of a celebration afterwards with the team. I have the puck on my bookshelf at home.
 
Q: What kind of books do you read?
W: A little bit of everything really. But mostly biographies of musicians and athletes, or fantasy/sci-fi adventures.
 
Q: This is likely your final season before moving up to the big leagues with Prague. Excited?
W: Excited is an understatement (laughs). I never dreamed of this growing up, so I want to soak it all in and don't want to take anything for granted.
 
Q: Have any predictions for the upcoming playoffs?
W: It'll be tough, but if we can focus and play as a team, I think we can win it all. Last season we had home ice advantage in our first series against San Diego but still lost in 6 games. So we have a chip on our shoulders this year and want to prove any doubters out there.
 
Q: Well Woody, thanks for siting down with us and good luck the rest of the way.
W: Not a problem, thanks for having me.
 
Word Count: 518

1. I like the part where we beat every other team multiple times
2. It feels too easy sometimes because we're so great
3. Quite pleased, McPine is doing much better than I expected
4. It'll be hard to be better
5. I'm currently not working and I watch netflix, read, play video games, sometimes exercise, play music, and try to become woke
8. I have a chemistry degree but I think my favorite subject to learn about if I didn't have to do work for it would be history or anthropology
 

Hello all,
 
Since people didn't like my previous attempt SEEN HERE at a dark theme I decided to give it another go.
 
This time I used an old test theme that Will and I were working on and used that as a foundation. The result was this:

 
After doing a 10 min beta test and having @Enorama say "Not gonna launch a dark theme where 90% of the screen is white again" along with 3 other volunteers saying it looked good its finally ready for release!

I'm proud to Introduce the Animated Dark Theme banner! Found here:

 
 
I will hopefully be able to add additional animated banners but for now you get one. If you find any bugs with this new theme please send me a message or tag me in this thread (other than Commissioner names being too dark)
 
Hope anyone that likes dark themes can find a use for this!
 

congrats man, keep up the great work!!

Almost half your wins were this season, absolute beast and future star ?

Congratulations, that's a big milestone for a tendy at any level!!

The winningest goalie in Minnesota Storm history reached another milestone this week. In just his 155th career game, Woody McPine recorded his 100th career VHLM win with 14 saves on 16 shots in a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Marlins. The first 7 of those came after he was signed by the Las Vegas Aces and the remaining (franchise leading) 93 came for the Storm. McPine sits 3rd in games played (and started) by a goalie in team history with 122 and also holds the franchise record for shutouts with 12, where he is closely followed by phenom Jaxx Hextall @ROOKIE745 who had 10 in just 72 games. When asked how it felt to get his 100th career win, McPine replied “Dang, that's a big number.” McPine has a career record of 100-41-5, and has a league leading record of 44-5-1 with 8 shutouts and 4 assists on the season.
 
Word Count: 150

The winningest goalie in Minnesota Storm history reached another milestone this week. In just his 155th career game, Woody McPine recorded his 100th career VHLM win with 14 saves on 16 shots in a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Marlins. The first 7 of those came after he was signed by the Las Vegas Aces and the remaining (franchise leading) 93 came for the Storm. McPine sits 3rd in games played (and started) by a goalie in team history with 122 and also holds the franchise record for shutouts with 12, where he is closely followed by phenom Jaxx Hextall @ROOKIE745 who had 10 in just 72 games. When asked how it felt to get his 100th career win, McPine replied “Dang, that's a big number.” McPine has a career record of 100-41-5, and has a league leading record of 44-5-1 with 8 shutouts and 4 assists on the season.
 
Word Count: 150

The winningest goalie in Minnesota Storm history reached another milestone this week. In just his 155th career game, Woody McPine recorded his 100th career VHLM win with 14 saves on 16 shots in a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Marlins. The first 7 of those came after he was signed by the Las Vegas Aces and the remaining (franchise leading) 93 came for the Storm. McPine sits 3rd in games played (and started) by a goalie in team history with 122 and also holds the franchise record for shutouts with 12, where he is closely followed by phenom Jaxx Hextall @ROOKIE745 who had 10 in just 72 games. When asked how it felt to get his 100th career win, McPine replied “Dang, that's a big number.” McPine has a career record of 100-41-5, and has a league leading record of 44-5-1 with 8 shutouts and 4 assists on the season.
 
Word Count: 150

The winningest goalie in Minnesota Storm history reached another milestone this week. In just his 155th career game, Woody McPine recorded his 100th career VHLM win with 14 saves on 16 shots in a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Marlins. The first 7 of those came after he was signed by the Las Vegas Aces and the remaining (franchise leading) 93 came for the Storm. McPine sits 3rd in games played (and started) by a goalie in team history with 122 and also holds the franchise record for shutouts with 12, where he is closely followed by phenom Jaxx Hextall @ROOKIE745 who had 10 in just 72 games. When asked how it felt to get his 100th career win, McPine replied “Dang, that's a big number.” McPine has a career record of 100-41-5, and has a league leading record of 44-5-1 with 8 shutouts and 4 assists on the season.
 
Word Count: 150

The winningest goalie in Minnesota Storm history reached another milestone this week. In just his 155th career game, Woody McPine recorded his 100th career VHLM win with 14 saves on 16 shots in a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Marlins. The first 7 of those came after he was signed by the Las Vegas Aces and the remaining (franchise leading) 93 came for the Storm. McPine sits 3rd in games played (and started) by a goalie in team history with 122 and also holds the franchise record for shutouts with 12, where he is closely followed by phenom Jaxx Hextall @ROOKIE745 who had 10 in just 72 games. When asked how it felt to get his 100th career win, McPine replied “Dang, that's a big number.” McPine has a career record of 100-41-5, and has a league leading record of 44-5-1 with 8 shutouts and 4 assists on the season.
 
Word Count: 150

The winningest goalie in Minnesota Storm history reached another milestone this week. In just his 155th career game, Woody McPine recorded his 100th career VHLM win with 14 saves on 16 shots in a 5-2 victory over the San Diego Marlins. The first 7 of those came after he was signed by the Las Vegas Aces and the remaining (franchise leading) 93 came for the Storm. McPine sits 3rd in games played (and started) by a goalie in team history with 122 and also holds the franchise record for shutouts with 12, where he is closely followed by phenom Jaxx Hextall @ROOKIE745 who had 10 in just 72 games. When asked how it felt to get his 100th career win, McPine replied “Dang, that's a big number.” McPine has a career record of 100-41-5, and has a league leading record of 44-5-1 with 8 shutouts and 4 assists on the season.
 
Word Count: 150