Kesler

Oslo Storm Draft Review
 

 
OSLO, NORWAY - There's a storm brewing in Oslo. With the conclusion of the Season 57 VHLM Dispersal Draft, expectations are rising for the Norwegian based team. Last season's roster was extremely top heavy. The two main cogs of the team (Boner and Ko Kane) moved on to the VHL. Winger Ben Greene was a solid contributor, but couldn't quite be called a super star. However, this team is different. Almost every draft pick by the team this year is expected to improve throughout the season, resulting in a much more complete team than last year. This, in addition to the continued improvement of Greene, should lead to a very solid team. Without further ado, here is a review of the Oslo Storm's most recent draft class.
 
Jasper Canmore - Center - 77 TPE - @Bushito
 
So, there's actually a funny story with the first overall pick. For the longest time, I thought I didn't have my 1st round pick for this draft, as the draft pick trade tracker wasn't completely updated. It wasn't until the current draft thread was finished that I realized I had the 1st pick, and I didn't start my review of the draft board until a couple of hours before the draft. With that, I had quite the conundrum, as there were multiple players available who would have been worthy of the 1st overall pick. In the end, I went with Jasper Canmore. Everyone knows that @Bushito is one of the biggest TPE whores on the site with his players, so there was no concern with him not hitting the 175 TPE cap. However, there were more than a few centers who have the potential to hit the cap as well, so I was considering going with another player at a different position. In the end, I wanted to get a sure thing with the first overall pick. Canmore should be one of the VHLMs best this year.
 
Aksel McKnight - Left Wing - 75 TPE - @Kesler
 
This was one of the easiest picks for me this draft. After picking Canmore with my 1st pick, it wouldn't have made sense for me to select another center, which ruled Mueller and Stronk out. Removing those two left McKnight and Burger King on my board for this pick. Obviously I ended up going with McKnight, but I don't think I could have gone wrong with either player. King was (and still is I believe) the only active goalie in the VHLM, which can be a very important position. I could have secured this position and had an absolute strength relative to the rest of the league. However, I went with McKnight under the idea that if no one besides one other team has a goalie, then we basically all don't have a goalie. With that in mind, I selected McKnight in order to boost our offense and go with the strategy to just outscore every team. And yes, you need to do that to win anyway, but you all know what I mean. As he's currently built, McKnight is a playmaking winger, which is a bit of a rarity in the VHLM.  However, this means that McKnight will fit seamlessly on any line, as the majority of forwards are built as snipers. There was a little bit of risk with this pick as @Kesler is just coming back to activity, but even if he never updated the player again, McKnight would still be a solid VHLMer. However, I doubt that this will be the case, as we all know that Kesler can make pretty good players. McKnight will more than likely hit the 175 TPE cap this season and should be near the top of the assist chart this year.
 
Ryszard Macht - Defense - 30 TPE - @Devise
 
I couldn't have been more excited when this pick came up. With the first two picks being forwards and losing Ko Kane to the VHL, the Storm's defense was somewhat bare. While Nicodemeus Raven is a decent player, he's not quite good enough to be considered a 1D at the VHLM level. As the second round was progressing, I thought Macht was going to be selected 10th overall, but he ended up falling into Oslo's lap. Macht's player agent @Devise is known for making solid at worst players and does have the capability of making a Hall of Famer as well. Based on the agency's comments its looking like Macht trend towards the latter more than the former, which will bode extremely well for Oslo. Macht is expected to lead the Storm's D this year. 
 
Elias Karlsson - RIght Wing - 36 TPE - @Heracles
 
As we started to get to the later rounds of the draft, I wanted to focus on high upside new members or returning players. Going through the remaining players, @Heracles was one of the few members to have logged in recently at the time of the draft. This is still the case, as this member has logged in from time to time and chimed in to the locker room discussion. Karlsson is a two-way forward who leans towards more of a scorer than a playmaker. Karlsson will fit in nicely on the 2nd line and 1st PK unit. Karlsson won't be expected to be a primary scorer on this team, but he should be a good depth player on the second line. While Karlsson has been missing from the practice facility the past couple of weeks, Karlsson has the chance to develop into a nice VHLM player next season and become a good prospect for whichever VHL team drafts him.
 
Emil Woods - Goaltender - 37 TPE - @TheMinimum
 
Due to a trade least season, the Storm did not have a 5th round pick. With their last selection in the draft, Oslo selected goaltender Emil Woods. Woods is admittedly a long shot prospect, but as a goalie, there is tremendous upside for the team. Woods is currently battling to be the starter with the incumbent OSL G, and with any training will more than likely get the spot. At this point though, Woods may be on the bench.
 
 
For Jeff Gow
Weeks of  10/9-10/15 & 10/16-10/22

Now that is a process to trust.

ggs everyone, the season is gonna be a breeze.

Low key the reason why I went inactive was to binge watch GoT, sucks season 8 doesn't come out 'til 2019.

I want proof that Unassisted had 484 apples...

cnseeee @solas @Frank

cnseeee @solas @Frank

Savage, how many pairs of runners you go through? lol

Sorry for the necropost, although to be fair this is a thread that could do with reviving. Just figured it would be the place for this:
 
Last full week of September I ran 73 miles in 4 days. Full marathon Wed, full marathon Thu, 21 miles Sat. The original plan was for 5 full in 5 days - total of 131 miles - but it was excessively hot and on Sat I got an electrolyte imbalance strong enough to make my arm shake, so I called it there. I'll be the first to admit that none of this series was done at any real speed, for what that's worth - but given the mileage, that was definitely the smart plan.

Back in April I ran a 50k, I don't think I was active here at the time, but I'm now officially an ultrarunner. Trap Pond in Delaware. I'm looking into a few in Philly over the next few years, so perhaps I can refuel afterward with a beverage with the Gows...

Did we just post at the same time and both posts were regarding sigs? wild stuff

@Smarch @Strtlght @Kesler @Beaviss
 
I'll be making sigs for you guys some time this week and into next week so let me know if you have a player preference. 

cnseeee @solas @Frank

Lmao. Well since I've been not so active since July obviously nothing has come up but before when I was on either the SHL/VHL I would literally tell friends/family and my ex that I was "Nerding the fuck out on a hockey sim league" (in a fun/goofy way, not a fuck off kinda way if you got that drift) and they would just laugh and give no comment on it. 

All y'all must be losing tons of calories out here jumping to conclusions.

All y'all must be losing tons of calories out here jumping to conclusions.

All y'all must be losing tons of calories out here jumping to conclusions.

@Frank We've been exposed.

Bromance. @Kesler

So I was just browsing Reddit, when all the sudden...
 

 
#sethknew

Review:
Something about the whole feel to this I really like. The text might look a little simplistic at first, but the colour pops out of the background, and the wavey effect does some good. Kind of looks like Joey Bada$$, but I'm not sure, but he blends well into the background too. I think it's kind of hard to tell where the real focus of the sig is here, what with the render being in the top middle, which seems like an odd place for a focus to be, but it still works.

First thing I see here is the black border, not a fan of that right away, the render placement is good, the bg is interesting and I am not sure if it fits that well. The text isn't bad but this could certainly use some more work.

No sir, but with his addition we wont need one with all the high fire offense we have.

Hrdina On The Comeback Trail
by Cecil Harvey, Ice Monthly
 
-ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA

 
Morning breaks. The sun rises on the city of Erie, cresting over the lake, and with it comes the sounds of skates scraping the ice, pucks flying into the net, and whistles being blown. Three men are out on a small local outdoor rink. One of these men, Clark Marcellin, screams commands over the sound of a whistle. "Hustle" is heard as he points to a line. VHL free agent Vaclav Hrdina lines up on the blue line, ready to perform a skating drill around a series of cones. His father, former NHL center Jan Hrdina, is out there watching his son, making sure he keeps up with the rigors of practice. He knows there's potential there; it wasn't long before when the younger Hrdina was a star studded prospect lighting up the Czech league and turning heads with the decision to declare for the VHL rather than Jan's NHL.  Jan has always been supportive of Vaclav's decisions, even that which led him to try out a rival league, but he's seen his fair share of disappointment when his son hung up the boots in frustration a few seasons back.

"It hasn't always been easy, watching my boy out there making rookie mistakes like he never used to make. There was a time when I thought he could, and most likely would, be better than I was. Those days are gone, but somewhere in there is the old flame that used to burn in this kid for the sport. If that can be lit, he could still make something of himself. I want to see him do it, which is why my friend Clark is on him day and night to get better." Jan's career wasn't anything too spectacular either, but he carved out a niche for himself as a faceoff specialist and 40 point guy on the Pittsburgh Penguins, before winding down his career with the then-Phoenix Coyotes and New Jersey Devils while battling hip issues. After he finished in the NHL, he had a few sporadic seasons in the Swedish league before calling it a career. He knows what it's like to have and then lose a career as a pro hockey player, which is why it hurts him to see Vaclav squander his gifts so much.
 
Back when Vaclav was first deciding between the VHL and the NHL, Jan had plenty of connections in the NHL, so he decided it might be a good idea to try to build up relationships with a few high profile names in the VHL. He looked for a respected agency first, but then focused on trying to find a player who'd succeeded in a similar role to what his son wanted to become. He'd found a few, and the two Hrdinas went to talk to them, get a feel for what to expect in the league, but the one man who stood out the most was Clark Marcellin. Incidentally, the diamond_ace agency was one of the ones on Vaclav's shortlist, so naturally when Marcellin was willing to put in a word, that sealed the deal. Now, years later, the success story that was Marcellin, having long since retired, has been trying to bring his young protege back into the fold.
 
"I really thought highly of Hrdina when he first wanted to join. He had all the makings of a superstar, except apparently the drive to actually become one. I took him under my wing when he first came into the league, but when he stopped showing up to practice, he also stopped calling me for advice and drills. At that point, it just spiraled out of control for him. It was no surprise when he inevitably dropped out of the league and no team was willing to sign him. You have to have a guy who is at least willing to go to practice, to try to get better. Vaclav had lost that somewhere. From what I've seen so far, he might have found it again, but then again he was never really expected to lose it in the first place. The jury is still out on whether he earns another shot, but my early prognosis is good. I mean he came out here to train with me at five in the morning, there had to be at least some drive there." Marcellin was highly decorated when he was in the VHL, so if he sees something different about this young man now than before, it's a good bet he's right. Marcellin found a home in Erie after his playing career, as he decided he wanted a location that was relatively near a few VHL teams (Toronto Legion, New York Americans, Quebec City Meute) now that he was training players. He travels to team facilities if it's a player under contract, but if he's working with a free agent, he'll invite them to stay in his guest house for their time spent with him so as to save himself the expenses.
 

 
After three hours of morning skating and passing drills, the three stopped at a nearby coffee shop for breakfast and to warm up before heading back out. Post-breakfast training saw Vaclav try to best his old man at faceoffs, which used to be Jan's specialty. Marcellin would call out an area - left of the dot, straight back, or right of the dot - and Vaclav would try to win the faceoff and direct the puck in the specified direction. As the day wore on, he seemed to improve somewhat, although he'd still lose the occasional one to the former centerman.
 
It's a long hard road ahead for a kid who hasn't played competitive hockey in a few seasons. He'll have to compete against guys who never took a week off, much less the amount of time he's spent sitting on the couch. Nonetheless, there's no question the talent is there, and the potential to go with it. That's never been in doubt. The question is whether the work ethic is there to convert that potential into more talent and a spot in the league he once left. So far, he's off to a good start.