Hoopydog

G - Art Vanderlay @Otaznik

D - Hari Singh Nalwa @aimkin

F - The Board Game Clue On Skates @Otaznik

F - Nico Pearce @aimkin

D - Hammar Voss @Otaznik

F - Ronan Lavalle @aimkin

Yaaaaaaayyyy day 2

Uhhh uhh uhh idk what to say...

D - Ryuji Sakamoto

It's all good dont worry, I'm on British time anyways so it works out fine. G - Xavier Booberry @BOOM

F - Girts Galvins @JardyB10

F - Brenden Marner @BOOM

D - Max Torq @JardyB10

Sorry bout that F - Daniel Janser @BOOM

I seem to be good at this so sign me up!

1. I mean I hope so, he's been amazing for us this season and it would cement him as a Moscow legend if he did. 2. Papa is the main standout for me. Mainly because this sig that go created for him is unreal. 3. Maybe outside shout but I think thad would be such a good commisoner but I can't explain why. 4. I'd go with mint choc chip because it's a staple ice cream flavour but it's more complex than vanilla. 5. Absolutly, if he hasn't I'll be shocked. 6. I want Bek to do an STZ Press Conference edition.

I’ve always been very fortunate to have had great GMs on the teams I have played for throughout my time in the VHL but what was it about them that made them great. When I first got into the league and I was signed and drafted to the Las Vegas Aces, Spartan was the GM of the team. He helped make the discord locker room feel like a nice place to just hang out, chill and talk utter rubbish which helps you settle in when you’re a new user because let’s face it, talking to new people is terrifying. He made it less about winning (Although that was the ultimate goal) and more about having fun, trying to get the users more involved with the league in the hopes that they stick around and that for me is the most important quality you can have in a VHLM GM. I also think being able to help new user with their queries and questions is another great quality to have whether that’s with Trivia answers and being able to point them in the right direction or helping them with their builds if they are having issues and don’t know what route to go down with them. I have been lucky to have had VHLM GMs and AGMs who done these things amazingly which made my time in the M awesome. I do think there are different qualities need when you are looking for a VHL GM. When you are in the VHL, you aren’t dealing with players who are only gonna be on your team for a year and then they are gone. You need to a build a team that you see lasting and having a shot at winning or at least have a plan on how to build the team into a cup winner. We have seen some great examples of this recently with Nykonax building a team that won 3 cups in a row and with both the Seattle Bears and the Moscow Menace in the last season or 2. Bana manged to build an outstanding team to win the S83 cup and also making the right moves and drafting the right player to keep the team fresh and ready to make more pushes for the cup in the years to come. With Spartan at Moscow, he took over and built a team that made it to the finals so many times and was always a front runner to win the cup but unfortunately never did. When that team was coming to its natural end, he made the trades and drafted a new core of players to build the next team around when they old core eventually moves on. Maintaining a healthy locker room is still important and the more vibrant the better but it become less about keeping users in the league and more about finding the best strategy to win, even if that means giving some less ice-time. So that’s what I think is important when it comes to being a GM in this league and there isn’t a GM or AGM that I’ve had that doesn’t have these qualities 524 Words

1. I'm not top worried, I think it's just a bit of bad luck and we'll rebound soon. 2. I feel like my biggest steal was getting Brendan Marner with my 4th pick (so it was like 20th pick of my draft). He's had a great start to the year. 3. The Vancouver Wolves have done some great business getting both Pearce and Miklavz, they look dangerous. 4. I'm loving it honeslty. Currently over a PPG and in the hunt for top rookie. Hopefully I can keep it up and get my hands on that trophy. 5. Name: Steelace, Type: Steel/Fighting, Move: Iron Cannon (100% chance of scoring) 6. It's always been Computing Science and its what I'm still studying at uni.

I wanted to do a quick review of my fantasy draft and give a little insight into why I picked each my player and my strategy overall. I was 5th in my draft order but my group had a lot of skips so I was probably able to get some player that might’ve gotten picked before it was my turn. None the less, this is the team that will hopefully lead me to glory. 1st Pick – Anze Miklavz I took Miklavz with my first picked. I usually like to take a forward with my first picked and with Nico Pearce being off the board. I thought taking his high scoring team mate was a good choice. 2nd Pick – Vinny Detroit With this pick there were still a lot of the top defensemen available but the top forwards were disappearing fast so I decided to snag Detroit and bank on there being good D-Men later 3rd Pick – Hulk Hogan 2 It was time for me to take a D-Man and with the obvious ones gone, I went with Hogan. Top D-Man on a top team. Seemed like a no brainer to me. 4th Pick – Brendan Marner This was a tough one. The picks were going back up the order and half of the guys above me in the order had picked all their D so I knew I could take a forward. I took Marner last year and I’ve got him again. 5th Pick – Erlantz Jokinen Not much to say about this one. Good D-Man on a decent team. I’ll have that thank you. 6th Pick – Xavier Booberry Took the best goalie available, not much else to say

Claiming week 2/2

Introduction The 85th VHL regular season is officially under way and it marks the beginning of Fraser Wallace’s career with the Moscow Menace. So far for Moscow, the season has been anything but plain sailing. Despite dominating their opening 6 games of the season, they find themselves 2nd bottom of the European conference with only 4 points out of a possible 12. It is still very early days and the fact that they are playing good hockey does give them some good optimism for their chances at a cup this year. As for Wallace he has had a great start to life in the VHL as he has scored 7 points from the opening 6 games of the season. He has been playing on the 2nd line with The Seabasstard and Kyosti Karjalainen and its safe to say that he is managing to hold his own on that line. One improvement that he might need to make to his game is to his defensive abilities as he currently has a +/- of -2 but then again, that will change and balance out over the course of the season. He will be looking to keep up this level of offensive performance and try his best to emulate his scoring from the VHLE last season. If he can, who knows what can happen. We managed to grab a chat with Fraser to get his thoughts on how he is adapting to the VHL and to get his thought on his performance level last season. Interview Reporter – “Good afternoon, Fraser, thank you very much for taking the time out of your busy scheduled to talk to us. How are you doing?” Wallace – “Yeah, I’m doing good thanks mate. It’s great to be back and I’m just looking forward to playing more and more hockey” Reporter – “How has it been adjusting to life in Moscow and how much different is it to living in Bratislava?” Wallace – “It’s different for sure. You know for the obvious reason that you are living in a new country, new city but also when I moved to Bratislava, lots of the team was also new so there were quite a few of us who all got used to the city together. Compare that to now, you are joining an established roster where lots of the guys already know each other and you’re the new kid. That being said the rest of the team have been incredibly nice to me so far and have helped me out with whatever I need.” Reporter – “Last season, you had a fantastic year in Bratislava, putting up 89 points and scoring 41 goals. How well do you feel you played last season and do you think you could potentially match those numbers this season?” Wallace – “I felt like I played pretty well last year. It took me a few games to get going for sure but once I got into that sorta rhythm, I was definitely playing some good hockey for sure. I was disappointed with how the playoffs went last year, I know Istanbul were a great team and they went on to lift the cup but when you get so close, it stings when you fall short. As for this season, I’m trying not to get too bogged down in the numbers. I’m just looking to play the best hockey I can and develop as much as I can, the points will come for both me and the team that way.” Reporter – “Just one last question before we jump to some questions from your fans. How did you prepare for the upcoming season? Did you stick to your usual routine or did you try something new to give you and edge this year?” Wallace – “I had a chat with Spartan our GM and he pitched the idea of me switching to playing on the wing for the season as the team already has 2 top centers and I was one hundred percent onboard. So I’ve been taking the time that I would’ve been using to work on my face-offs and tried to improve my puck handling ability and my skating. In terms of the off-ice stuff, I’ve been trying to relax and learn to stay calm as much as possible. In this league if you panic and make mistakes, the players in this league will punish you so if I can limit the number of mistakes I make, the better I can be.” Reporter – “We asked some of our fans on Instagram I they had any question they wanted us to ask you and boy did we get some replies. Cameron asked ‘What’s been your favourite moment of your career so far?’” Wallace – “My favourite moment or game is probably our most recent game against Helsinki. I scored a goal and got 2 assists. I was also named 1st star of the game and getting to do I quick lap of honour, especially after a win is always a great moment” Reporter – “That will definitely a moment to remember. Daniel asked ‘If you had to choose between a game winning goal or game winning block, which one would you rather have?’” Wallace – “People always say this is a tough question but I don’t think it is. Either way you win the game and that’s really all that matters. I’d probably go with the game winning block. I think that it shows the ultimate desire to win, to put our body on line for your team takes a very high level of bravery.” Reporter – “Euan has asked ‘Would you ever want to come back to Scotland and play for the Glasgow Clan again?’” Wallace – “Hahahaha I was waiting for this question to come up. With the Clan being my childhood team, they will always have a special place in my heart but as for right now, my focus is with Moscow and only with Moscow.” Reporter – “We have time for one more question. Let’s go with Emily’s question, she asked ‘Do you think you will win the cup this year?’” Wallace – “I think we have as good a shot as anyone of lifting the cup this year. All we have to do is make the playoffs and once you are there then it’s anyone’s game. The team that wants it the most will win.” Reporter – “Thank you very much for speaking to us Fraser and we wish you the very best of luck for the new season.” 1074 words

1. Honestly I'd take a VHL championship with this Moscow team. I've never won a championship and that's my main goal. 2. I'd go the Phantom Menace, I think that we are a dark horse for the championship and people might not realise it until we are there. I also love a good star wars pun 3. I think it's doors when you take into account things like wardrobes cupboards etc... 4. I think both Davos and Warsaw could give us some problems if we don't take top spot in the conference and end up playing them both in the playoffs. 5. Most is how well my player has been performing especially going over 1 PPG last season in the M. The least is probably how versatile my build has been, the sorta can playing anywhere in any situation. 6. I'd rather have the handcuffs because I sleep with my hands sorta close together anyway.

G - Xavier Booberry @DarkSpyro

D - Erlantz Jokinen @Brandon

1. I had the WJC with team Europe last week which went OK. Not quite the heroics of last season but 3rd place is good. 2. I think the next Moscow team is coming together well and once all of the prospects move up and hit their peak in the VHL, we will be a force to be reckoned with. 3. I haven't been able to keep up with all the moves but my old AGM in Bratislava leandro got a GM job and I think he will do super well. 4. I think the team is looking good to take a good shot at the playoffs. If everyone can work hard this season then we could lift the cup at the end of it. 5. The Riga games for sure, my last player was on Riga for pretty much his whole career so it will be weird but fun to play against them. 6. I always seen to do well in VHFL (usually 1st or 2nd in my group) so yeah easy TPE.