Peace

Damn. Five difficult pills to swallow, but I think we’re matching pretty well against them for now anyway.

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Sorry, Calgary, I seemed to have doomed you early with my 3-0 prediction.

I know I suck, but if I were in any other group I would have sucked just a little less.

Why am I always put in the groups that have averages like this.

1. A little late, but we secured the third seed. We'll face off against Seattle, it'll be tough but we've slayed bigger dragons this season. Issue is, we need to slay them four times. 2. Vancouver! 3. I couldn't really tell you, everyone has been performing well in my opinion. Career seasons, strong nights, this season was certainly a team effort. 4. Engage more with the team. 5. No rest for the Legion. We fight until there is no fight left. 6. Arby's Curly fry poutine, an upgrade from the original.

Hardly. Two forwards in the minors coming up, and still got the first and second round picks for this entry draft. Weiss' build replaces McDagg's 421 TPA regression pretty easily too, as McDagg has a lot of TPA spread out between CK, DI, PA, ST and SK.

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So @Beketov I'm guessing teams that get a bye (on the index) don't need to submit lines right away? It's only critical for the four teams playing in the qualifiers at the moment.

I don't play any of the above, so can't vote for 'em.

There goes your second round pick. lol

TORONTO, CANADA -- The regular season has concluded today, and the North American brackets have been officially determined; the DC Dragons will face off against the Calgary Wranglers in a best of five qualifying series, where the winner will move forward to challenge the Vancouver Wolves; meanwhile, in a separate environment off-set by Vancouver getting a by and DC and Calgary playing each other in the qualifiers, the defending Seattle Bears engage the Toronto Legion in a best of seven series. Personally, I'm quite excited this time around, even though Toronto made the playoffs in S72 and pushed Calgary to the brink. Now I want to take a partial deep dive into both teams. Tear them apart, sorta, and see what we're working with from both ends of the ice. On the surface you already know Seattle has the advantage, but how much of an advantage do they actually have in TPA? I dunno, we'll find out. SEATTLE: FOWARDS: (S71) J. BOB | LW - 935 | (S69) K. RICE | C - 930 TPA | (S71) UHTRED | RW - 770 TPA | (S72) T. BROWN | RW - 653 TPA | (S74) I. CAMPBELL | C - 383 TPA | (S73) ROCKET | LW - 320 TPA | TOTAL F TPA: 3991 PROJECTED LINEUP: BOB - RICE - UHTRED ROCKET - CAMPBELL - BROWN DEFENSE: (S67) H. HOGAN | D - 919 TPA | (S67) B. SUNDQVIST | D - 867 TPA | (S70) O. OMDAHL | D - 835 TPA | (S72) R. MARSH | D - 560 TPA | (S73) H. KUK | D - 340 TPA | TOTAL D TPA: 3521 Projected Pairings: HOGAN - OMDAHL SUNDQVIST - MARSH x3 - KUK GOALIES: (S73) J. TONN | G - 580 TPA | (S69) N. FOMBA | G - 345 TPA | STARTER: TONN Seattle's roster is honestly intimidating, and they've gotten younger compared to their past championship teams and will remain competitive despite some of their defenders being forced to retire at the beginning of the off season. The Bears are bristling with offensive firepower, similarly to the iconic WWII battleships from an era not so long ago, and you'll see why I make that comparison soon. You look at the forward group GM Blake Campbell has put together and you can see the sheer caliber of their top players, both Rice and Bob, who would represent the massive cannons those warships had. They're also supported with quality players in Uhtred and Brown, and although the guns get smaller with Campbell and Rocket, a battleship only needs to strike once to sink another ship. That is the firepower the Bears have, and when they're engaged, it's extremely difficult to escape the lethal barrages they'll unleash. Defensively though, like the sturdy armor of those iron giants, Seattle has a rock solid foundation from top to bottom throughout their own zone. Hogan leads the charge, but both Sundqvist and Omdhal help form a neigh impenetrable citadel, but there are always gaps in any defense. I don't mean to shame, or talk down on anyone here, but Seattle's weakness is in goal. In WWII battleships were almost always escorted by cruisers, destroyers, escort carriers and some navies that employed frigates. Seattle's a battleship, but they have no escort. The gap in the armor is in rookie netminder Tonn, and that's a target Toronto is hoping to expose. Tonn isn't a bad goaltender, going 37-22-7 with a .911 save percentage and a 2.77 goals against average. However, if you had Funk in net going into this series, you could comfortably predict Seattle would walk away with it. Tactical strikes against Tonn might be what sinks the ship, but we'll have to wait and see. TORONTO: FOWARD (S70) C. MAGNUM | C - 932 TPA | (S69) K. MCDAGG | LW - 521 TPA | (S73) J. MERRICK | C - 510 TPA | (S68) R. RITCHIE | RW - 501 TPA | (S73) O. SENS | RW - 413 TPA | (S72) J. GAINER | LW - 361 TPA | (S71) J. BLAZE | RW - 282 TPA | TOTAL F TPA: 3520 PROJECTED LINEUP: MCDAGG - MAGNUM - RITCHIE SENS - MERRICK - GAINER (BLAZE) DEFENSE: (S71) E. KILLINGER | D - 980 TPA | (S70) G. GUTZWILER | D - 447 TPA | (S69) DALDO | D - 437 TPA | (S68) F. ELMEBECK | D - 409 TPA | (S72) Z. ANIGBOGU | D - 380 TPA | (S70) L. GUTZWILER | D - 329 TPA | TOTAL D TPA: 2982 PROJECTED PAIRINGS: KILLINGER - ELMEBECK G. GUTZWILER - DALDO ANIGOBGU - L. GUTZWILER GOALIE: (S70) J. HEXTALL | G - 978 TPA | STARTER: HEXTALL During World War Two -- if you spotted a distant battleship steaming your way -- it often meant that you were about to engage in fleet warfare, so if Seattle is the battleship looming on the horizon for the Toronto Legion, you have to wonder what kind of warship the Legion are. Toronto is almost certainly an aircraft carrier, for numerous reasons, given they lack any serious strengths but omit any glaring weaknesses. You see... a carrier isn't well armored, they're often woefully under armed, and they're assets that need to be protected by larger heavier surface warships or risk sinking under enemy fire. Toronto's offensive tools aren't the cannons Seattle has, but rather the hit and run attacks from a carriers dive bomber and torpedo attack squadrons. The Legion will be outshot, likely out chanced, and outplayed for the majority of the series... but they'll fight, and they'll fight, and they'll fight. You can predict that Seattle will have the upper hand, as displayed during the regular season series between the two clubs, but Toronto has the ability to exploit the opportunities they get and they're persistent enough to recognize when those opportunities arise. Chad Magnum, Raleigh Ritchie, John Merrick, Kristopher McDagg, Oh Sens and Joseph Gainer are all skilled enough to make Seattle regret a mistake, and they're skilled enough to force those mistakes upon Seattle. The aircraft carrier has a role to play, but they're not themselves surface combatants in any strategy, they're long range floating airstrips that deliver firepower from ranges beyond cannons, anti aircraft armaments and flak barrages. That's where Killinger comes in, that's where he hopes to play, as he'll be replied upon as the guy who will be making plays from the blue-line. Setting up those opportunities to for the forwards to slam a puck behind Tonn, and maybe win four games to move onto the next series. In net, though, is where Toronto has the serious advantage. Hextall is a superb goaltender, the highest rated goalie in the league as far as I can tell, and may just show up with Rayz Funk level of play against... ironically... Funk's former team. Hextall's playoff performance has already been noted as 'strong', as he essentially backstopped the Legion to a seven game series against Calgary, and he'll be a key piece in any victory Toronto achieves.

STHS has been fucking us this entire season, we're now the spokesteam for it.

It's Gustav, he'll panic anyway.

I assume that was the intent. Purchase an ad spot on a video, make sure it's the first video of NHL 21 be a pro covered by his channel, and you get a lot of traffic to VHL because everyone wanting NHL 21 had to wait until it was released.

New week, new PC. 1. As a member of the Toronto Legion, you've just celebrated thanksgiving in Canada. How did you spend your holiday, and what kind of food(s) did you eat? 2. For thanksgiving, Toronto was awarded with two 5-2 victories to jump seven points above the team that could push them out of position. How do you feel about the teams post-season birth being slowly built up after a 1-9-1 start? 3. Jaxx Hextall has been nothing but quality in Toronto's last four games, including three games with forty one or more saves, do you think he's finally found his groove? / (For Rookie) Has Hextall performed more like you were hoping in the last couple set of sims, or do you expect more out of your goalie? 4. Raleigh Ritchie announced his retirement for the end of the season, and is currently enjoying his best season in yet in the Victory Hockey League. How do you feel about his upcoming departure? / (For Danger) Ritchie is currently underway in his most productive season yet, did retiring come with hard decisions or did you know this is what you 100% wanted? 5. Ziarie Anigbogu recently resigned with the Legion for three seasons, what do you think of the extension? / (For NG4) How do you feel about resigning with Toronto? 6. The trade deadline has passed, and Toronto held firm by keeping their S74 first and second round draft picks. Are you happy that there was no movement, or do you think Toronto should have acquired more players for a playoff push?

Final claim

TPE: 1000 You've done it, Rookie. You've done it. FRANCHISE. PLAYER. (Goalie, more accurately.)

TORONTO, ONTARIO -- When the trade was still being discussed, Toronto's GM knew Oh Sens wanted top six minutes, and that was something he had no issue committing too. Jeff Blaze was initially an intermediate presence in the training facilities, but stopped showing up altogether just before the off-season began. The Legion decided to sign Blaze during free agency with the intent to replace him during the season, and they did... in fact, the individual they replaced him with has been an impressive contributor for the team. After Toronto acquired the Titans' Oh Sens that sent picks back in the transaction, the newest member of the Legion displayed why he was requesting that top six role. In his first game with the Legion, in Toronto no less, Oh Sens scored his first goal with the club two minutes and seventeen seconds into the second period during game two-eight-nine against the Riga Reign, who would fall in the shootout as Toronto won the game 2-1. Eleven games later, rounding it off at a nice dozen games in a Toronto jersey, Oh Sens has registered thirteen points for his new club. Seven of them are goals, three on the powerplay, and an additional six assists equate thirteen points since he was traded. Compared to his time in Helsinki, which he was playing a depth role, Sens registered just four goals and seven assists in thirty six games. Welcome to Toronto!

Here we go! 1. Toronto recently acquired Oh Sens from Helsinki for a third and two fourth round draft picks. What do you think of the deal? / (For osens): How are you enjoying your time on Toronto? 2. Chad Magnum -- seems like we mention him a lot here -- has been quietly leading the Legion for seasons, so it shouldn't be a surprise that he's atop our scouring chart once again. Do you think he has another opportunity to win the 'best two-way forward' award again? 3. Jaxx Hextall seems to be struggling, what do you think can calm his nerves for the upcoming games? / (For Rookie) How do you keep yourself motivated during times where you've been frustrated with your performance? 4. Toronto's current record is 21-19-3, good for 45 points in the NA Conference, so do you think we can maintain a playoff spot now? Chicago, Calgary, New York and Toronto are all competing for the fourth and fifth spots at the moment, although Chicago is overperforming similarly to how S72 TOR did. 5. Once more Toronto has played the least amount of games compared to... literally any other VHL team. When do you think we'll catch up, if we do at all during the season? 6. John Merrick is trailing the Warsaw duo for top rookie (which is unfortunate because they're an expansion team and are more likely to give points to rookies). Do you think he can overcome them and start leading the rookie race? / (For Steve) Merrick has three games in hand over the other top rookies, do you think you can climb ahead of them?

There's a term for what I visualize what is happening. In the military world... for some countries anyway... bending, breaking, and testing vulnerabilities in any system or whatever is called penetration tests. I know, hue hue, but if the rules became adaptive to combat the exploits that appear, I think most of the issues would be resolved with decent efficiency.

I'll be the first to admit I'm a culprit of one of the things mentioned in this article, as I'm sure other GMs are as well. It is an intentional thing, it is absolutely a strategy that I employed, add I can guarantee you that -- at the cost of competing one year and completely tanking the other -- it worked well for Saskatoon. Here's the thing, when you did it like I did, when you were a shit-tier team someone else had your entire draft stock. So... let me comment on this particular issue. When I was GM of Saskatoon, this was absolute correct for the team I managed... alright, maybe not all of it, but the underlined part is. You see, when I felt we could compete, I completely sold everything I had in order to ensure I could get high enough to win championships. I did it in S63, sat at the bottom of the barrel for S64, recovered slightly in S65 and went all in again in S66. The process of my time in Saskatoon can accurately be summed by this line: Contender-Trash-Bubble-Contender. S63? Champion. S64? Trash S65: Bubble S66: Contender (we lost to Philly in a series that made no sense IMO) S67: Trash S68: Bubble S69: Champion. Had things gone correctly for me in 66, I would have had a very obvious cycle as a VHLM GM, although it is very much obvious. That was a strategy. A strategy I used to ensure I was competitive every third season while also being available to offer new players contracts. The catch? You can see my post history if you want, but I'm confident I did my job correctly, so I will state I feel as if I was offering on most players. Aside from S69, which Saskatoon literally had no room, I was still engaging with new players and offering limited ice time or explaining going with another team would be a wiser decision. Some would respond, some would take a third line position and ~10 minutes of ice time, and others would completely ignore me and sign elsewhere. Throughout my time as a VHLM GM I made an offer to players when I could, I'll admit I missed a few, I'm human and miss notifications from time to time. Sure, they're right in front of you at the start, but when you've got seven chained up together during a recruitment drive it's human error you got six of those seven and forgot the unfortunate first guy who created. It didn't happen often, but I know it did happen, especially when another team picked up the slack and made an offer after it was brought to our attention on Discord. Every VHLM GM during my time as one is guilty of that. There was one thing I never did, though, and that was intentionally playing an inactive over an active player. Hell, I would get angry at GMs who did in the VHLM GM Discord chat, and I'm sure those fights with 'target GM' are buried behind those closed doors. Saskatoon had a player that went through the minors to become a piece of controversy, Danny DeYeeto, although I proved numerous times during his time in SSK he was indeed active. PMs of Cran and I conversing on the forum, him logging in every once and a while to check the box scores and do what ever else it is he did, and him ignoring my Discord invites a few times. More truths came out later, and part of me feels a little guilty I was associated with the name. You make a lot of good points, Gustav, very well done.

Looking forward to it!

Congrats on your WJC appointment, Nick!

Well... I don't think anyone is surprised I'm covering the VHLM for my 'dream team', as per the theme week instructions, since I was the general manager of a real VHLM team that absolutely dominated season sixty nine. I would absolutely classify this as a 'dream team' during my last season as Saskatoon's skipper, all the cards fell nicely into place and we pushed for numerous records and complete shattered others. Obviously, I'm going to be covering the S69 Saskatoon Wild, but you saw this coming.... right, I really hope you did, I'm not as egotistical as Bana (:eyes:) but I've got to toot my own horn sometimes. The S69 Saskatoon Wild went 68-4-0, recorded 138 points, and scored a mind-blowing 408 goals. I'll try to put how asinine that accomplishment was by putting into perspective this way: the Wild dismantled the entire league that season, we had a goal differential higher than the next closest teams total goals for, and Lafontaine was the first goalie in some time to record over a .900 save percentage in a minor league team. Yes, the S69 Saskatoon Wild completely dominated, and we loved reading about it during the entire season. Now, as I understand it, the S74 Halifax team is prepared to push one particular topic: their roster is more competitive than the S69 Saskatoon Wild, and that just might be, but Halifax isn't breaking any records set by the S69 Wild team this season... are they? It's no secret that the VHLM is more competitive now than it was just a few seasons ago, teams are fuller and the league is larger, so they could actually put up a challenge against the S69 Champions. But what about a 3F-2D-1G fight? Alright, let me pick my team, and maybe Dil can pick his top three forwards, top three defenders and a goalie. I'll start with the forwards. #1: Ondrej Ohradka Ohradka's final season with Saskatoon was absolutely insane, the left wing scored 118 points on the top line that was shuffled around (IIRC) for the majority of the season, helping both himself and other players achieve a balanced scoring on a team that registered 408 goals. Ohradka is actually the Wild's leading goal scorer, his build was incredibly balanced and that's where the decision to choose him comes into play. As many people know, it's been determined that having 10 TPE between SC and PA, while having both under DF, allows a player in the VHLM to be considered successful. Ohradka has that, and so do the rest of his teammates. #2: Killy Foilen Foilen joined Saskatoon as an active free agent, one of the rare times one was actually available to be chosen after a dispersal draft, so after the draft we approached him and described what we wanted to accomplish. After a few days, he joined the club, and although I wasn't able to get him the trophies he wanted... I'm hoping he was more than satisfied as his team destroyed everyone they touched. Have any of you guys seen the Beans commercial where they're on the moon, and running away from the monster? One by one they're all killed, and the last guy breathing was hiding behind a rock. He farts, and the monster turns around. Well... Saskatoon is that monster, and Foilen was a huge part of Saskatoon's dominance. #3: Dagmar Havlova Choosing the final forward for Saskatoon was difficult, there are so many others that played absolutely remarkable for the entire season, but Havlova stands out for me here. This isn't a knock against any of the other forwards, not at all, but a nod to Diamond_Ace's acknowledgement in the role he played. You see... Dagger was the teams' very angry and rigid utility player, so to speak, as he played any role he was given on any line it was given to him. Offense? You bet! Defense, if he had too, and the list goes on. The stability Havlova provided with his superb build allowed Saskatoon to blossom in other areas. #4: Edwin THE Encarnation Whoa! Why didn't you select DeYeeto? Well... that's actually very simple to answer. DeYeeto was obviously a very successful defensemen with the Saksatoon Wild, made very clear by nearly sweeping the awards that season, but the user never really socialized within the locker room. Cram was satisfied just checking the box scores to see how he was doing, maybe saying a few words, and then disappearing. Meanwhile, Tagger, was more vocal and played a more important 'lock-down' role than DeYeeto. I made Encarnation the PK and DF specialist, while DeYeeto was jammed onto the PP and became our specialist on the blue-line during the powerplays. Generally, though, I pick Encarnation over DeYeeto for balance... it'll make more sense after my next pick. #5: David O'Quinn O'Quinn was absolutely a defensive specialist, but the majority of the season he spent it on weaker pairings. The one weakness of the S69 SSK team was our top four, not because we didn't have strong defenders, but because our fourth defender wasn't strong. O'Quinn manned that line, lifting Porter up higher than he ever did lift himself in the VHL, and Porter was our fourth defender. The TPA difference between Porter's final build, and O'Quinn's, meant that the 'tough minutes' were more on David than Danny or Edwin. Together, though, they were quite the pairing... and that's why I'm choosing them. The balance of the builds complemented each other well, and DeYeeto seemed to only play well with a similarly built Encarnation. #6: Jacques Lafontaine Lafontaine was an awesome goalie in the VHLM, and this was is pretty obvious my selection here, as he was the only Saskatoon goalie to make an appearance between the pipes the entire season. I believe we had a backup that went inactive shortly after, but I quite honestly can't recall, but it must not have been a thing because the portal isn't showing another. Put these six on a team, and sim them against the S74 HFX top six, I'd be genuinely curious of the results.