Peace

I need two TPE and figured I'd do a small update about my general absence this week.
 
Sunday evening I discovered some open blisters on the back of my neck [also known as the nape] and figured it was caused by the heating pad I had foolishly fallen asleep on the night prior. It's totally reasonable to assume it was a heat rash, right? Normally that'd be a solid bet, I reckon, but unfortunately for me it wasn't a heat rash at all. By Tuesday afternoon it had spread across the back of my head [known as the crown] and advanced along the top towards my right eye. At that point I knew something was wrong, and due to my family history of skin cancer, a collective group of concerned family members were starting to become concerned for my well being.
 
These were similar symptoms before it was discovered that one of my family members had skin cancer just a few years ago. 

I called for a doctors appointment Tuesday evening before they closed, the earliest I could get in was Thursday. 

By Wednesday morning the swelling had begun, and by mid afternoon I had numerous sores the size of hockey pucks. Literally, I have picture proof. 

Thursday was worse, the never ending pain started and to this day has yet to stop. Prescription NSIAD painkillers? Not even helping, and I can't use an opioid based painkiller as it conflicts with other medication I'm now on to combat this damn thing. 

It's on the back of my neck, top of my head, around and inside my ear, not to mention it's now tormenting my vision with my right eye. 

What is the culprit? 

@Renomitsu might have guessed it just by reading the description. 

It's god damn shingles. 

The same virus that gives us chickenpox as children [or adults] apparently goes inert inside the nerves, and when the virus reactivates... let's just say my experience with this never ending pain of open blisters and rashes means that chickenpox got the last laugh.

How did this affect my VHL activity? I wasn't around, at all, since Monday morning as I retreated back to the small town I once lived in.

One of my favorite articles to write has always been 'GM Perspective' media spots, I feel like they're a great way to engage with some community members and grants me a creative outlet to discuss... well pretty much anything related to Toronto and my time as the Legions' general manager. I've written articles that have expressed my emotions on various levels; frustration with certain situations, situations where I could have been more tactful as I dealt with the cards that were given; anger at some of the users, whom helped or created conflict and drama both here [on the forum] and within the locker room itself; and not to mention my thoughts on trades, the players I've drafted and ranting about the sim engine robbing Toronto's previous core. 

Yeah, yeah, you've heard it before... I still strongly feel like Toronto's S77, S78 and S79 (at the beginning, anyway...) rosters underperformed considering the team we had. Some say we were too bulky on the back end, lacked the offensive firepower compared to other VHL teams as a result, while others suggested that the builds we accumulated simply weren't performing well together inside STHS' whacky decision making formula. Those are essentially ancient history now, but something big for Toronto recently happened. 

The S81 VHL Entry Draft is important, yes, I'll be discussing that for another 2,000 words [I hope] down below. No, no, the big thing for Toronto was MattyIce deciding to stay during his punishment and Doomsday returning to our shared game near the end of S80. Matty's current player was drafted second overall by the Toronto Legion, he had earned an inane amount of TPE prior to his suspension, and since he made the decision to stick around -- quite early in the punishment I will say -- Toronto suddenly has another top earning forward once again. Oh, and of course we've got Lindbergh manning the pipes for us for the foreseeable future, we spent the fourth overall pick on him so I'm elated he returned. 

Those are big. 

Loosing Fire and Lindbergh would have been catastrophic, but like a stalling plane nose diving to gain airspeed, we've recovered and are trending in the right direction. 

Now let's talk about that draft, eh? What a quality draft it was!

 
Cadmael Ixazaluoh - @Vice
VHL: Drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafting 6th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Undrafted; too powerful for the VHLM!

Selecting Vice was perhaps the easiest decision I've made in the last five seasons [at least regarding entry draft selections]; he conducted himself with respect, remained professional and expressed his thoughts in a matter-of-factly way I appreciate. Honestly his draft interview reminded me a lot of another user from a fleeting past, but this article isn't about that person, it's about Vice's Cadmael Ixazaluoh joining the Toronto Legion. You can forget about positional needs, if Cadmael was a forward he'd still be on Toronto. 

I wanted Vice on my team; I shuffled my draft board so many times that Vice bounced between the top spot and I'd say maybe no lower than third before settling atop my chart just before the draft began, and I'm sure there's a bunch of quotes saying he was there or here, that I had him at some specific place... well I'm going on record now, even if I had first overall -- especially considering the crap that happened during the entry draft -- Ixaxaluoh would have been joining the Legion regardless. 

I'm very excited about the future with Vice and where we can take the Toronto Legion. 


 
Harkat Mulds - @hylands
VHL: Drafted 9th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Undrafted; declared for VHL
VHLM: Drafted 4th overall by the Yukon Rush

When I drafted Hylands to the Legion I had no idea why he was sliding so far, I guess in a way I still don't fully comprehend how he landed at my feet with the ninth overall pick. Here we are though, Hylands and I have talked and I'd like to say we're both looking forward to seeing how both he and Toronto will perform the next few seasons. Toronto was never a destination I thought Mulds would land -- from what I gather neither did Hylands -- so I never took the opportunity to scout my former colleague, perhaps something I should have done.
 
Toronto and Mulds might not have a long future together, or things might develop into a nine season friendship. Regardless of where the future lies between the player and club, there's an absolute fact that lies smack in the middle of every conversation you could have between myself and Hylands: Mulds is a core piece of Toronto now, he'll be joining Fire and Peace as top earners and is complimented by the developing forward core the team already had through previous trades and drafts. 

The future is indeed bright, even if it's just for a while. 
 
 
 
George Sanderson - @SpicyGecko
VHL: Drafted 17th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 13th overall by the Geneva Rush

Here's another user I was unable to scout, well actually... for the record Vice was the only player drafted to Toronto that received a pre-draft interview, the rest of these selections were based on hunches by whatever means I developed them. In this particular case, Sanderson was Vice's teammate with the Reapers. Two objectives came together when he dipped out of the first round, I knew that it would be risky selecting someone I never scouted but truthfully it was worth it; firstly he was a teammate of a user I had just drafted, they're familiar with one another and that's important; and secondly he was a positional need, as George Sanderson is a defender Toronto desperately needed at the time. 

I can't say too much about the discussions we've had, some DMs back and forth so I'm excited the avenue to communicate is officially open. Of course Sanderson instantly became one of our top prospects, I anticipate him joining the Legion within the next few seasons in order to join his teammate Ixazaluoh on the blue line. Build wise I've noticed that Gecko is building what appears to be a physical, disciplined defensive specialist and they generally work pretty well at the VHL level. It's not glamorous, you don't generate a whole lot of points, but turnovers do occur in the sim and those lead to offensive opportunities.

Ixazaluoh - Sanderson pairing in 83, maybe? 
 
 
 
Weenuk Warrior - @KnightRiley
VHL: Drafted 24th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 24th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 12th overall by the Halifax 21sts

Here's a user I know very little about! This was absolutely a pick I made based on an article I read -- which stated an interest to play for Toronto -- so when Toronto was on the clock for the twenty fourth overall pick in the VHL Entry Draft I chose to make this selection over drafting scouted users, which weren't many to begin with. While I don't know much about KnightRiley, I'd love to learn more about this user and their interests moving forward together as members of the Toronto Legion. 

As for Weenuk Warrior's arrival in Toronto, I don't expect WW joining the Legion anytime soon. With a season of VHLM play, following a season of VHLE play, we're likely to see Warrior join Toronto in S83 or S84. The great thing about this new system [in my opinion] is how it pushes regression back the longer you're away from the VHL. The downside is you don't get a full VHL career, but the positives of not worrying too much about daunting regression means you can make the most out of every point you earn. 

Of course I give my players the option to join the team when they're eligible, so perhaps we see Warrior on the Legion sooner than I think!
 
 
 
Ashton Komaryk - @Komaryk
VHL: Drafted 29th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 32nd overall by the Cologne Express
VHLM: Drafted 62nd overall by the Houston Bulls

At 29th overall I was torn with who to select, I could have gone with Salo here but ultimately I decided to go with Komaryk for two reasons; he was a Houston Bulls prospect, a team I played for with Killinger; and they're earning a steady six capped TPE every week. Not to say Salo isn't earning steadily, the deciding factor was mostly the Houston Bulls connection, but I noticed Salo dipped to just four capped TPE a week [meanwhile earned up to ten on other weeks]. I'm not sure what the safer pick will end up being, I'm not really here to dwell in hindsight, I'll do everything in my power to help Komaryk develop Ashton the way Komaryk wants Ashton to develop. 

If Komaryk can make the VHL roster sooner-than-later, assuming no additional right wingers are acquired through a trade or the entry draft, there is a natural RW availability between the deep stack of centers and strong left wingers Toronto already has on the roster. With some elevated work ethic Komaryk could dominate the depth chart along the right side of the ice, perhaps even overtake some of the overfill we currently have. Toronto will be operating with numerous centers on a line, particularly the first line where Fire and Numminen/Calamari will be skating together, so there's a lot of room to grow for Ashton.

Future top six winger?
 
 
 
Harry Hagel - @jasplunds
VHL: Drafted 31st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 26th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Drafted 32nd overall by the Halifax 21sts
 
Drafting Harry Hagel was a positional selection for the Toronto Legion, truthfully I was leaning towards another user that was earning more but decided to trust my gut. There's room for Hagel to develop with Toronto, while drafting a forward to an already cluttered forward group just meant less opportunity for growth. With Hagel being a defender, there's plenty of room to replace inactive D on the Legions' roster without having to worry about someone taking your job. 

Hagel won't join the Legion for quite some time, Jasplunds is slowly developing his player and we'll likely see a competitive defender for the minority of his career. Hagel will join Toronto somewhere around S84/S85, but as I covered above that means he won't have to worry about regression. Unfortunately the career clock exists, Hagel won't see much VHL ice but his potential successes at the VHLM, VHLE  and VHL levels of competition are pretty much endless. When he does join the Legion, I expect Hagel to slot into the top four and help Toronto chase some championships. 

Nothing wrong with gut instinct!
 
 
 
Boris Tsezar - @comrade cat 
VHL: Drafted 41st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 27th overall by the Rome Gladiators
VHLM: Drafted 28th overall by the Mexico City Kings
 
I've been honest to a fault up to this point, so I don't see why I should break that streak. Sadly this pick was a BPA made by the staff team during the VHL Entry Draft, I had a family dinner I kept excusing myself from and by this point in the draft I was getting the wondering judging eyes from family as I floated away back to my computer in between two bites of chili. I asked the team ensuring an orderly draft to BPA my picks with anyone active from this point further, which means Simeoni below was also a BPA. 
 
That being said I'm excited there were active players in the third and fourth rounds, normally there's usually a few but the majority -- if memory serves me correctly -- have fallen into inactivity after leaving the sim league entirely or sometimes temporarily. I've reached out to Comrade Cat and they've accepted a Discord invite, so communications are now open and I'm eager to learn more about the user behind the player as time goes on. Sim wise though it's unlikely we see Tsezar in Legion blue for a while, but I'll be following the 'tenders career in the VHLM and VHLE until they're ready for the big leagues. 

Backup roles aren't immediately interesting, but hopefully Toronto is a championship team at that point and the experience is enough to have some fun.



Alessio Simeoni - @Alesime
VHL: Drafted 60th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 44th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 26th overall by the Saskatoon Wild

Seemingly struck gold three times with this selection, er, you know... despite not actually making the selection. Sadly I was committed to my family dinner when the staff BPA'd Toronto's sixtieth overall pick, but holy crud was it a good one [I might be biased] for a few reasons; one: they'll be playing for the Saskatoon Wild, and god damn it I love that franchise; two: Vice, Gecko and Alesime were all teammates with one another during their time with the Reapers; and three: I believe Simeoni could be the steal of the S81 draft, I really really believe that's a possibility. 

At current pace Toronto won't see Simeoni until S84/S85 most likely, but again that conflict has both a positive and negative charge; on one hand you've got little to no depreciation, on the other you've only got four-five seasons with a VHL team. With a little more effort -- say perhaps a VHL.com article and press conference questions -- there is little doubt in my mind Simeoni would be the steal of the draft, I can't express that enough! I'm excited for that potential, okay, there's nothing wrong with that considering this was ultimately a best-player-available pick. 

Simeoni!


 
That about wraps it up! 

I hope you enjoyed the read. 
 
2,000 words!

Nice way to turn frustration into 2 TPE. 

Bravo, bravo.

Nice way to turn frustration into 2 TPE. 

Bravo, bravo.

Legion of Young Talent Arriving In Toronto

 
TORONTO - The 80th season of the VHL turned out to be less than kind to the Toronto Legion, whose 12-53-7 record and 31 points firmly placed them at the bottom of not only the North American Conference, but also the entire VHL. Despite the bright spot that was rookie forward Matty Fire’s 113 point season, winning him the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy as the top rookie, it was a dismal year for Toronto. However, that’s something that General Manager Rylan Peace is rectifying, as a legion of young talent is on it’s way to Toronto in the upcoming seasons.
 
Even before the Season 81 VHL Entry Draft, several new faces were confirmed to be joining the Toronto roster as rookies. Armani Calamari, after an incredible off-season of training, has made his way to the Legion after winning the inaugural VHLE championship with the Vasteras Iron Eagles and WJC gold with Team Canada. After scoring 100 points in the VHLE with the Bratislava Watchmen, Jakub Brozik makes his way to Toronto to join the rebuild. Their fifth round pick from Season 80, Kyle Peace, also makes his way to the pro roster after scoring 93 points with the VHLE champion Vasteras Iron Eagles and winning gold with Team Canada in the WJC. Lastly, Season 80 fourth overall pick Oskar Lindbergh finds himself on Toronto’s pro roster after winning a championship in the VHLE with the Vasteras Iron Eagles and a silver medal with Team Europe in the WJC. He appears slated to be the opening day starter and unquestioned #1 netminder for now.
 

 
Before the draft, the Legion received a much-needed boost on the blue line in free agency, reaching an agreement with former D.C. Dragons defenseman Jannik Nylen on a four-year deal. After spending two seasons in the VHLM, Nylen made the Dragons’ roster in Season 79, recording 7 assists in 72 games with a +8 rating, 77 hits, and 90 shots blocked. With the creation of the VHLE in Season 80, Nylen found himself on the Bratislava Watchmen, where he thrived, scoring 95 points with a +14 rating, 117 hits, and 235 shots blocked. The 6’4, 245 pound defenseman now looks to break out with the Toronto Legion, who will be offering him plenty of ice time and a tremendous opportunity to establish himself as a VHL player. Pending free agent and human wrecking ball Jared Carter also agreed to re-sign with Toronto, keeping the key physical presence on the Legion in town. Otto Numinen also joined Toronto through a trade with the Prague Phantoms, and while the price was high, including Asher Reinhart, who seemed unlikely to re-sign with Toronto after the season. Signed through Season 83, Numinen is poised to be a better fit in the long term for Toronto. 
 
Toronto continued to add to their blue line with the fifth overall selection in the Season 81 VHL Entry Draft, selecting defenseman Cadmael Ixazaluoh of the Philadelphia Reapers. Despite being one of the better defensemen in the draft pool, Ixazaluoh will be spending Season 81 with the Bratislava Watchmen as he continues to develop, eyeing to break into the VHL in Season 82. Toronto's other first round selection, Harkat Mulds, is joining the Legion immediately for Season 81. After a dominant season with the Yukon Rush in the VHLM, in which he scored 53 goals and 141 points, Mulds bypassed the VHLE, going straight to the VHL, giving an immediate boost to Toronto's young roster. 
 

 
With the first of four selections of the second round, Toronto continued to add to their growing roster of defensive prospects, selecting George Sanderson seventeenth overall. The 6'3, 200 pound defensive defenseman is rough around the edges offensively, but has some real potential in his own end, especially on a Toronto team in need of physical players. The Legion selected winger Weenuk Warrior with the 24th overall pick, adding an interesting dynamic to the prospect pool. In a league increasingly filled with snipers, Warrior is a playmaker, someone who looks to set up teammates first. This is certainly a player to keep an eye on during their development in the VHLM.
 
Later, at 29th overall, Toronto did take another forward in Ashton Komaryk that perhaps fits the norm. Komaryk showed a strong scoring touch and puck handling abilities with the Houston Bulls last season, but still needs further seasoning, particularly defensively, before making the leap to the pros. The Legion received more support for their blue line with Harry Hagel at 31st overall, who has shown strong defensive ability with the Halifax 21st of the VHLM, and has also shown promise passing the puck as well. A defensive pipeline that was barren going into the draft now holds several promising young players that look to round out the future roster. 
 

 
In the fourth round, at 41st overall, Toronto addressed their need for depth at the goaltender position with Boris Tsezar, currently with the Mexico City Kings of the VHLM. There's still plenty of time before Tsezar will join Oskar Lindbergh at the pro level, but he has looked very strong so far in the VHLM. Finally, with their last selection, at 60th overall, Toronto selected center Alessio Simeoni of the Saskatoon Wild. Despite being a fifth round pick, Simeoni has been a consistent updater thus far, and is on track to be a big contributor with Saskatoon in the VHLM this season. 
 
It's certainly going to be another tough season for Toronto faithful in Season 81, but there is something present that wasn't there last season: hope. Young players such as Matty Fire are becoming key components of the team, and others, such as Kyle Peace and Harkat Mulds, are ready to step in and become key members of the team. The goaltender of the future, Oskar Lindbergh, is here and starting from day one this season. Even Toronto's pipeline, which was rather barren a season ago, is once again brimming with talents such as Cadmael Ixazaluoh, George Sanderson, and Weenuk Warrior. More rough times may be ahead, but the Legion of talent being assembled by Rylan Peace gives Toronto something to look forward to moving ahead. 
 
Jethro Novacek is an award-winning writer for the MSFL Times, a purveyor of nothing but the finest of simulation sports history. He enjoys influencing the opinions of ducks with bread, finding creative uses for Thanksgiving leftovers, and throwing communists from helicopters.

LFR: Legion Fan Reaction
 
Welcome, everyone, to LEGION FAN REACTION. What is that, you may ask? Well, Stove Dingle here is gonna go through a few of the past week's Toronto Legion games. And where better to start, than with the first game of the year?
 
Game 5: NYA 5 TOR 4
The only loss we're going to cover this week. 5-4 shootout loss to New York isn't ideal, but because the shootout is fake hockey it doesn't count. I KNOW WHAT I SAID. One of the bright spots of this game is Otto Numminen getting his first career game, goal, AND HATTRICK. Reminds me of another Toronto based athlete where they did that in their first game AND STILL LOST. After giving up three goals in the second period, Jared Carter manages to score late in the third to tie the game. Unfortunately Rhynex Entertainment pots the only goal in the shootout and the Legion loses. 
 
Game 20: DCD 1 TOR 10
I mean, what can you say? Holy shit! A notable storyline coming into this game is the homecoming of Jannik Nylen, playing against his former team in DC. He managed to go through an entire season with DC without scoring a goal back in '79, so of course he scores in this game for his FIRST EVER VHL GOAL. But other than him, it is literally easier to list people who didn't score than list the people who did. So in order to shame those, I will list them. Otto Numminen, Jared Carter, Armani Calamari, Guy Lambert, and Nathan Steele did not score, EVERYONE ELSE DID. Unfortunately, right at the end of the second DC gets a goal to ruin Lindbergh's shutout. Buncha jerks. 
 
Game 42: CHI 1 TOR 6
Another game where Lindbergh had the shutout just barely snatched out of his grasp, call that a Stove's Ding-It. Fun little thing I noticed after the game. First goal for the Legion was a pass from Lemieux to Nylen, one times it and gets deflected in by Guy Lambert into the net, notably his first of the season. About 5 minutes later, what happens again? Lemieux passes to Nylen, Nylen one times it and Lambert deflects it again for his second. You've got to think they've practiced this and have it as a set play, right? Numminen nets one to finish out the first period. Second period is quiet until again Lingbergh's shutout is stolen. Peace, Sanderson, and Fire each score in the third period to solidly nail down the coffin lid and secure another Legion Win!
Game 51: TOR 6 SEA 0
FINALLY! For the first time in Oscar Lindbergh's professional hockey career, he has his first shutout making 44 saves! One thing I've noticed is that the Legion loves to have one single period where they just don't score during a blowout. Back to the game, Numminen scores in the first, and Jakub Brozik opens and closes the scoring in the second period. Legion swapped to a defensive game for the third period and managed to finally relieve the blue balls of barely missing the shutout by finally getting it. 
 
Thank you everyone for reading, hope you enjoyed! Hit Fire, Heart, Or Cheers in the post and comment down below. This has been Stove Dingle, have a great day!

First career shutout and a 2-0 sim?
 
Yes please.

Toronto continuing our TEAR
 
 
THIS CALLS FOR STOVE DINGLE VICTORY PUPPIES
 

First career wins!!

One of my favorite articles to write has always been 'GM Perspective' media spots, I feel like they're a great way to engage with some community members and grants me a creative outlet to discuss... well pretty much anything related to Toronto and my time as the Legions' general manager. I've written articles that have expressed my emotions on various levels; frustration with certain situations, situations where I could have been more tactful as I dealt with the cards that were given; anger at some of the users, whom helped or created conflict and drama both here [on the forum] and within the locker room itself; and not to mention my thoughts on trades, the players I've drafted and ranting about the sim engine robbing Toronto's previous core. 

Yeah, yeah, you've heard it before... I still strongly feel like Toronto's S77, S78 and S79 (at the beginning, anyway...) rosters underperformed considering the team we had. Some say we were too bulky on the back end, lacked the offensive firepower compared to other VHL teams as a result, while others suggested that the builds we accumulated simply weren't performing well together inside STHS' whacky decision making formula. Those are essentially ancient history now, but something big for Toronto recently happened. 

The S81 VHL Entry Draft is important, yes, I'll be discussing that for another 2,000 words [I hope] down below. No, no, the big thing for Toronto was MattyIce deciding to stay during his punishment and Doomsday returning to our shared game near the end of S80. Matty's current player was drafted second overall by the Toronto Legion, he had earned an inane amount of TPE prior to his suspension, and since he made the decision to stick around -- quite early in the punishment I will say -- Toronto suddenly has another top earning forward once again. Oh, and of course we've got Lindbergh manning the pipes for us for the foreseeable future, we spent the fourth overall pick on him so I'm elated he returned. 

Those are big. 

Loosing Fire and Lindbergh would have been catastrophic, but like a stalling plane nose diving to gain airspeed, we've recovered and are trending in the right direction. 

Now let's talk about that draft, eh? What a quality draft it was!

 
Cadmael Ixazaluoh - @Vice
VHL: Drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafting 6th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Undrafted; too powerful for the VHLM!

Selecting Vice was perhaps the easiest decision I've made in the last five seasons [at least regarding entry draft selections]; he conducted himself with respect, remained professional and expressed his thoughts in a matter-of-factly way I appreciate. Honestly his draft interview reminded me a lot of another user from a fleeting past, but this article isn't about that person, it's about Vice's Cadmael Ixazaluoh joining the Toronto Legion. You can forget about positional needs, if Cadmael was a forward he'd still be on Toronto. 

I wanted Vice on my team; I shuffled my draft board so many times that Vice bounced between the top spot and I'd say maybe no lower than third before settling atop my chart just before the draft began, and I'm sure there's a bunch of quotes saying he was there or here, that I had him at some specific place... well I'm going on record now, even if I had first overall -- especially considering the crap that happened during the entry draft -- Ixaxaluoh would have been joining the Legion regardless. 

I'm very excited about the future with Vice and where we can take the Toronto Legion. 


 
Harkat Mulds - @hylands
VHL: Drafted 9th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Undrafted; declared for VHL
VHLM: Drafted 4th overall by the Yukon Rush

When I drafted Hylands to the Legion I had no idea why he was sliding so far, I guess in a way I still don't fully comprehend how he landed at my feet with the ninth overall pick. Here we are though, Hylands and I have talked and I'd like to say we're both looking forward to seeing how both he and Toronto will perform the next few seasons. Toronto was never a destination I thought Mulds would land -- from what I gather neither did Hylands -- so I never took the opportunity to scout my former colleague, perhaps something I should have done.
 
Toronto and Mulds might not have a long future together, or things might develop into a nine season friendship. Regardless of where the future lies between the player and club, there's an absolute fact that lies smack in the middle of every conversation you could have between myself and Hylands: Mulds is a core piece of Toronto now, he'll be joining Fire and Peace as top earners and is complimented by the developing forward core the team already had through previous trades and drafts. 

The future is indeed bright, even if it's just for a while. 
 
 
 
George Sanderson - @SpicyGecko
VHL: Drafted 17th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 13th overall by the Geneva Rush

Here's another user I was unable to scout, well actually... for the record Vice was the only player drafted to Toronto that received a pre-draft interview, the rest of these selections were based on hunches by whatever means I developed them. In this particular case, Sanderson was Vice's teammate with the Reapers. Two objectives came together when he dipped out of the first round, I knew that it would be risky selecting someone I never scouted but truthfully it was worth it; firstly he was a teammate of a user I had just drafted, they're familiar with one another and that's important; and secondly he was a positional need, as George Sanderson is a defender Toronto desperately needed at the time. 

I can't say too much about the discussions we've had, some DMs back and forth so I'm excited the avenue to communicate is officially open. Of course Sanderson instantly became one of our top prospects, I anticipate him joining the Legion within the next few seasons in order to join his teammate Ixazaluoh on the blue line. Build wise I've noticed that Gecko is building what appears to be a physical, disciplined defensive specialist and they generally work pretty well at the VHL level. It's not glamorous, you don't generate a whole lot of points, but turnovers do occur in the sim and those lead to offensive opportunities.

Ixazaluoh - Sanderson pairing in 83, maybe? 
 
 
 
Weenuk Warrior - @KnightRiley
VHL: Drafted 24th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 24th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 12th overall by the Halifax 21sts

Here's a user I know very little about! This was absolutely a pick I made based on an article I read -- which stated an interest to play for Toronto -- so when Toronto was on the clock for the twenty fourth overall pick in the VHL Entry Draft I chose to make this selection over drafting scouted users, which weren't many to begin with. While I don't know much about KnightRiley, I'd love to learn more about this user and their interests moving forward together as members of the Toronto Legion. 

As for Weenuk Warrior's arrival in Toronto, I don't expect WW joining the Legion anytime soon. With a season of VHLM play, following a season of VHLE play, we're likely to see Warrior join Toronto in S83 or S84. The great thing about this new system [in my opinion] is how it pushes regression back the longer you're away from the VHL. The downside is you don't get a full VHL career, but the positives of not worrying too much about daunting regression means you can make the most out of every point you earn. 

Of course I give my players the option to join the team when they're eligible, so perhaps we see Warrior on the Legion sooner than I think!
 
 
 
Ashton Komaryk - @Komaryk
VHL: Drafted 29th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 32nd overall by the Cologne Express
VHLM: Drafted 62nd overall by the Houston Bulls

At 29th overall I was torn with who to select, I could have gone with Salo here but ultimately I decided to go with Komaryk for two reasons; he was a Houston Bulls prospect, a team I played for with Killinger; and they're earning a steady six capped TPE every week. Not to say Salo isn't earning steadily, the deciding factor was mostly the Houston Bulls connection, but I noticed Salo dipped to just four capped TPE a week [meanwhile earned up to ten on other weeks]. I'm not sure what the safer pick will end up being, I'm not really here to dwell in hindsight, I'll do everything in my power to help Komaryk develop Ashton the way Komaryk wants Ashton to develop. 

If Komaryk can make the VHL roster sooner-than-later, assuming no additional right wingers are acquired through a trade or the entry draft, there is a natural RW availability between the deep stack of centers and strong left wingers Toronto already has on the roster. With some elevated work ethic Komaryk could dominate the depth chart along the right side of the ice, perhaps even overtake some of the overfill we currently have. Toronto will be operating with numerous centers on a line, particularly the first line where Fire and Numminen/Calamari will be skating together, so there's a lot of room to grow for Ashton.

Future top six winger?
 
 
 
Harry Hagel - @jasplunds
VHL: Drafted 31st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 26th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Drafted 32nd overall by the Halifax 21sts
 
Drafting Harry Hagel was a positional selection for the Toronto Legion, truthfully I was leaning towards another user that was earning more but decided to trust my gut. There's room for Hagel to develop with Toronto, while drafting a forward to an already cluttered forward group just meant less opportunity for growth. With Hagel being a defender, there's plenty of room to replace inactive D on the Legions' roster without having to worry about someone taking your job. 

Hagel won't join the Legion for quite some time, Jasplunds is slowly developing his player and we'll likely see a competitive defender for the minority of his career. Hagel will join Toronto somewhere around S84/S85, but as I covered above that means he won't have to worry about regression. Unfortunately the career clock exists, Hagel won't see much VHL ice but his potential successes at the VHLM, VHLE  and VHL levels of competition are pretty much endless. When he does join the Legion, I expect Hagel to slot into the top four and help Toronto chase some championships. 

Nothing wrong with gut instinct!
 
 
 
Boris Tsezar - @comrade cat 
VHL: Drafted 41st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 27th overall by the Rome Gladiators
VHLM: Drafted 28th overall by the Mexico City Kings
 
I've been honest to a fault up to this point, so I don't see why I should break that streak. Sadly this pick was a BPA made by the staff team during the VHL Entry Draft, I had a family dinner I kept excusing myself from and by this point in the draft I was getting the wondering judging eyes from family as I floated away back to my computer in between two bites of chili. I asked the team ensuring an orderly draft to BPA my picks with anyone active from this point further, which means Simeoni below was also a BPA. 
 
That being said I'm excited there were active players in the third and fourth rounds, normally there's usually a few but the majority -- if memory serves me correctly -- have fallen into inactivity after leaving the sim league entirely or sometimes temporarily. I've reached out to Comrade Cat and they've accepted a Discord invite, so communications are now open and I'm eager to learn more about the user behind the player as time goes on. Sim wise though it's unlikely we see Tsezar in Legion blue for a while, but I'll be following the 'tenders career in the VHLM and VHLE until they're ready for the big leagues. 

Backup roles aren't immediately interesting, but hopefully Toronto is a championship team at that point and the experience is enough to have some fun.



Alessio Simeoni - @Alesime
VHL: Drafted 60th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 44th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 26th overall by the Saskatoon Wild

Seemingly struck gold three times with this selection, er, you know... despite not actually making the selection. Sadly I was committed to my family dinner when the staff BPA'd Toronto's sixtieth overall pick, but holy crud was it a good one [I might be biased] for a few reasons; one: they'll be playing for the Saskatoon Wild, and god damn it I love that franchise; two: Vice, Gecko and Alesime were all teammates with one another during their time with the Reapers; and three: I believe Simeoni could be the steal of the S81 draft, I really really believe that's a possibility. 

At current pace Toronto won't see Simeoni until S84/S85 most likely, but again that conflict has both a positive and negative charge; on one hand you've got little to no depreciation, on the other you've only got four-five seasons with a VHL team. With a little more effort -- say perhaps a VHL.com article and press conference questions -- there is little doubt in my mind Simeoni would be the steal of the draft, I can't express that enough! I'm excited for that potential, okay, there's nothing wrong with that considering this was ultimately a best-player-available pick. 

Simeoni!


 
That about wraps it up! 

I hope you enjoyed the read. 
 
2,000 words!

One of my favorite articles to write has always been 'GM Perspective' media spots, I feel like they're a great way to engage with some community members and grants me a creative outlet to discuss... well pretty much anything related to Toronto and my time as the Legions' general manager. I've written articles that have expressed my emotions on various levels; frustration with certain situations, situations where I could have been more tactful as I dealt with the cards that were given; anger at some of the users, whom helped or created conflict and drama both here [on the forum] and within the locker room itself; and not to mention my thoughts on trades, the players I've drafted and ranting about the sim engine robbing Toronto's previous core. 

Yeah, yeah, you've heard it before... I still strongly feel like Toronto's S77, S78 and S79 (at the beginning, anyway...) rosters underperformed considering the team we had. Some say we were too bulky on the back end, lacked the offensive firepower compared to other VHL teams as a result, while others suggested that the builds we accumulated simply weren't performing well together inside STHS' whacky decision making formula. Those are essentially ancient history now, but something big for Toronto recently happened. 

The S81 VHL Entry Draft is important, yes, I'll be discussing that for another 2,000 words [I hope] down below. No, no, the big thing for Toronto was MattyIce deciding to stay during his punishment and Doomsday returning to our shared game near the end of S80. Matty's current player was drafted second overall by the Toronto Legion, he had earned an inane amount of TPE prior to his suspension, and since he made the decision to stick around -- quite early in the punishment I will say -- Toronto suddenly has another top earning forward once again. Oh, and of course we've got Lindbergh manning the pipes for us for the foreseeable future, we spent the fourth overall pick on him so I'm elated he returned. 

Those are big. 

Loosing Fire and Lindbergh would have been catastrophic, but like a stalling plane nose diving to gain airspeed, we've recovered and are trending in the right direction. 

Now let's talk about that draft, eh? What a quality draft it was!

 
Cadmael Ixazaluoh - @Vice
VHL: Drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafting 6th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Undrafted; too powerful for the VHLM!

Selecting Vice was perhaps the easiest decision I've made in the last five seasons [at least regarding entry draft selections]; he conducted himself with respect, remained professional and expressed his thoughts in a matter-of-factly way I appreciate. Honestly his draft interview reminded me a lot of another user from a fleeting past, but this article isn't about that person, it's about Vice's Cadmael Ixazaluoh joining the Toronto Legion. You can forget about positional needs, if Cadmael was a forward he'd still be on Toronto. 

I wanted Vice on my team; I shuffled my draft board so many times that Vice bounced between the top spot and I'd say maybe no lower than third before settling atop my chart just before the draft began, and I'm sure there's a bunch of quotes saying he was there or here, that I had him at some specific place... well I'm going on record now, even if I had first overall -- especially considering the crap that happened during the entry draft -- Ixaxaluoh would have been joining the Legion regardless. 

I'm very excited about the future with Vice and where we can take the Toronto Legion. 


 
Harkat Mulds - @hylands
VHL: Drafted 9th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Undrafted; declared for VHL
VHLM: Drafted 4th overall by the Yukon Rush

When I drafted Hylands to the Legion I had no idea why he was sliding so far, I guess in a way I still don't fully comprehend how he landed at my feet with the ninth overall pick. Here we are though, Hylands and I have talked and I'd like to say we're both looking forward to seeing how both he and Toronto will perform the next few seasons. Toronto was never a destination I thought Mulds would land -- from what I gather neither did Hylands -- so I never took the opportunity to scout my former colleague, perhaps something I should have done.
 
Toronto and Mulds might not have a long future together, or things might develop into a nine season friendship. Regardless of where the future lies between the player and club, there's an absolute fact that lies smack in the middle of every conversation you could have between myself and Hylands: Mulds is a core piece of Toronto now, he'll be joining Fire and Peace as top earners and is complimented by the developing forward core the team already had through previous trades and drafts. 

The future is indeed bright, even if it's just for a while. 
 
 
 
George Sanderson - @SpicyGecko
VHL: Drafted 17th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 13th overall by the Geneva Rush

Here's another user I was unable to scout, well actually... for the record Vice was the only player drafted to Toronto that received a pre-draft interview, the rest of these selections were based on hunches by whatever means I developed them. In this particular case, Sanderson was Vice's teammate with the Reapers. Two objectives came together when he dipped out of the first round, I knew that it would be risky selecting someone I never scouted but truthfully it was worth it; firstly he was a teammate of a user I had just drafted, they're familiar with one another and that's important; and secondly he was a positional need, as George Sanderson is a defender Toronto desperately needed at the time. 

I can't say too much about the discussions we've had, some DMs back and forth so I'm excited the avenue to communicate is officially open. Of course Sanderson instantly became one of our top prospects, I anticipate him joining the Legion within the next few seasons in order to join his teammate Ixazaluoh on the blue line. Build wise I've noticed that Gecko is building what appears to be a physical, disciplined defensive specialist and they generally work pretty well at the VHL level. It's not glamorous, you don't generate a whole lot of points, but turnovers do occur in the sim and those lead to offensive opportunities.

Ixazaluoh - Sanderson pairing in 83, maybe? 
 
 
 
Weenuk Warrior - @KnightRiley
VHL: Drafted 24th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 24th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 12th overall by the Halifax 21sts

Here's a user I know very little about! This was absolutely a pick I made based on an article I read -- which stated an interest to play for Toronto -- so when Toronto was on the clock for the twenty fourth overall pick in the VHL Entry Draft I chose to make this selection over drafting scouted users, which weren't many to begin with. While I don't know much about KnightRiley, I'd love to learn more about this user and their interests moving forward together as members of the Toronto Legion. 

As for Weenuk Warrior's arrival in Toronto, I don't expect WW joining the Legion anytime soon. With a season of VHLM play, following a season of VHLE play, we're likely to see Warrior join Toronto in S83 or S84. The great thing about this new system [in my opinion] is how it pushes regression back the longer you're away from the VHL. The downside is you don't get a full VHL career, but the positives of not worrying too much about daunting regression means you can make the most out of every point you earn. 

Of course I give my players the option to join the team when they're eligible, so perhaps we see Warrior on the Legion sooner than I think!
 
 
 
Ashton Komaryk - @Komaryk
VHL: Drafted 29th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 32nd overall by the Cologne Express
VHLM: Drafted 62nd overall by the Houston Bulls

At 29th overall I was torn with who to select, I could have gone with Salo here but ultimately I decided to go with Komaryk for two reasons; he was a Houston Bulls prospect, a team I played for with Killinger; and they're earning a steady six capped TPE every week. Not to say Salo isn't earning steadily, the deciding factor was mostly the Houston Bulls connection, but I noticed Salo dipped to just four capped TPE a week [meanwhile earned up to ten on other weeks]. I'm not sure what the safer pick will end up being, I'm not really here to dwell in hindsight, I'll do everything in my power to help Komaryk develop Ashton the way Komaryk wants Ashton to develop. 

If Komaryk can make the VHL roster sooner-than-later, assuming no additional right wingers are acquired through a trade or the entry draft, there is a natural RW availability between the deep stack of centers and strong left wingers Toronto already has on the roster. With some elevated work ethic Komaryk could dominate the depth chart along the right side of the ice, perhaps even overtake some of the overfill we currently have. Toronto will be operating with numerous centers on a line, particularly the first line where Fire and Numminen/Calamari will be skating together, so there's a lot of room to grow for Ashton.

Future top six winger?
 
 
 
Harry Hagel - @jasplunds
VHL: Drafted 31st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 26th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Drafted 32nd overall by the Halifax 21sts
 
Drafting Harry Hagel was a positional selection for the Toronto Legion, truthfully I was leaning towards another user that was earning more but decided to trust my gut. There's room for Hagel to develop with Toronto, while drafting a forward to an already cluttered forward group just meant less opportunity for growth. With Hagel being a defender, there's plenty of room to replace inactive D on the Legions' roster without having to worry about someone taking your job. 

Hagel won't join the Legion for quite some time, Jasplunds is slowly developing his player and we'll likely see a competitive defender for the minority of his career. Hagel will join Toronto somewhere around S84/S85, but as I covered above that means he won't have to worry about regression. Unfortunately the career clock exists, Hagel won't see much VHL ice but his potential successes at the VHLM, VHLE  and VHL levels of competition are pretty much endless. When he does join the Legion, I expect Hagel to slot into the top four and help Toronto chase some championships. 

Nothing wrong with gut instinct!
 
 
 
Boris Tsezar - @comrade cat 
VHL: Drafted 41st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 27th overall by the Rome Gladiators
VHLM: Drafted 28th overall by the Mexico City Kings
 
I've been honest to a fault up to this point, so I don't see why I should break that streak. Sadly this pick was a BPA made by the staff team during the VHL Entry Draft, I had a family dinner I kept excusing myself from and by this point in the draft I was getting the wondering judging eyes from family as I floated away back to my computer in between two bites of chili. I asked the team ensuring an orderly draft to BPA my picks with anyone active from this point further, which means Simeoni below was also a BPA. 
 
That being said I'm excited there were active players in the third and fourth rounds, normally there's usually a few but the majority -- if memory serves me correctly -- have fallen into inactivity after leaving the sim league entirely or sometimes temporarily. I've reached out to Comrade Cat and they've accepted a Discord invite, so communications are now open and I'm eager to learn more about the user behind the player as time goes on. Sim wise though it's unlikely we see Tsezar in Legion blue for a while, but I'll be following the 'tenders career in the VHLM and VHLE until they're ready for the big leagues. 

Backup roles aren't immediately interesting, but hopefully Toronto is a championship team at that point and the experience is enough to have some fun.



Alessio Simeoni - @Alesime
VHL: Drafted 60th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 44th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 26th overall by the Saskatoon Wild

Seemingly struck gold three times with this selection, er, you know... despite not actually making the selection. Sadly I was committed to my family dinner when the staff BPA'd Toronto's sixtieth overall pick, but holy crud was it a good one [I might be biased] for a few reasons; one: they'll be playing for the Saskatoon Wild, and god damn it I love that franchise; two: Vice, Gecko and Alesime were all teammates with one another during their time with the Reapers; and three: I believe Simeoni could be the steal of the S81 draft, I really really believe that's a possibility. 

At current pace Toronto won't see Simeoni until S84/S85 most likely, but again that conflict has both a positive and negative charge; on one hand you've got little to no depreciation, on the other you've only got four-five seasons with a VHL team. With a little more effort -- say perhaps a VHL.com article and press conference questions -- there is little doubt in my mind Simeoni would be the steal of the draft, I can't express that enough! I'm excited for that potential, okay, there's nothing wrong with that considering this was ultimately a best-player-available pick. 

Simeoni!


 
That about wraps it up! 

I hope you enjoyed the read. 
 
2,000 words!

One of my favorite articles to write has always been 'GM Perspective' media spots, I feel like they're a great way to engage with some community members and grants me a creative outlet to discuss... well pretty much anything related to Toronto and my time as the Legions' general manager. I've written articles that have expressed my emotions on various levels; frustration with certain situations, situations where I could have been more tactful as I dealt with the cards that were given; anger at some of the users, whom helped or created conflict and drama both here [on the forum] and within the locker room itself; and not to mention my thoughts on trades, the players I've drafted and ranting about the sim engine robbing Toronto's previous core. 

Yeah, yeah, you've heard it before... I still strongly feel like Toronto's S77, S78 and S79 (at the beginning, anyway...) rosters underperformed considering the team we had. Some say we were too bulky on the back end, lacked the offensive firepower compared to other VHL teams as a result, while others suggested that the builds we accumulated simply weren't performing well together inside STHS' whacky decision making formula. Those are essentially ancient history now, but something big for Toronto recently happened. 

The S81 VHL Entry Draft is important, yes, I'll be discussing that for another 2,000 words [I hope] down below. No, no, the big thing for Toronto was MattyIce deciding to stay during his punishment and Doomsday returning to our shared game near the end of S80. Matty's current player was drafted second overall by the Toronto Legion, he had earned an inane amount of TPE prior to his suspension, and since he made the decision to stick around -- quite early in the punishment I will say -- Toronto suddenly has another top earning forward once again. Oh, and of course we've got Lindbergh manning the pipes for us for the foreseeable future, we spent the fourth overall pick on him so I'm elated he returned. 

Those are big. 

Loosing Fire and Lindbergh would have been catastrophic, but like a stalling plane nose diving to gain airspeed, we've recovered and are trending in the right direction. 

Now let's talk about that draft, eh? What a quality draft it was!

 
Cadmael Ixazaluoh - @Vice
VHL: Drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafting 6th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Undrafted; too powerful for the VHLM!

Selecting Vice was perhaps the easiest decision I've made in the last five seasons [at least regarding entry draft selections]; he conducted himself with respect, remained professional and expressed his thoughts in a matter-of-factly way I appreciate. Honestly his draft interview reminded me a lot of another user from a fleeting past, but this article isn't about that person, it's about Vice's Cadmael Ixazaluoh joining the Toronto Legion. You can forget about positional needs, if Cadmael was a forward he'd still be on Toronto. 

I wanted Vice on my team; I shuffled my draft board so many times that Vice bounced between the top spot and I'd say maybe no lower than third before settling atop my chart just before the draft began, and I'm sure there's a bunch of quotes saying he was there or here, that I had him at some specific place... well I'm going on record now, even if I had first overall -- especially considering the crap that happened during the entry draft -- Ixaxaluoh would have been joining the Legion regardless. 

I'm very excited about the future with Vice and where we can take the Toronto Legion. 


 
Harkat Mulds - @hylands
VHL: Drafted 9th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Undrafted; declared for VHL
VHLM: Drafted 4th overall by the Yukon Rush

When I drafted Hylands to the Legion I had no idea why he was sliding so far, I guess in a way I still don't fully comprehend how he landed at my feet with the ninth overall pick. Here we are though, Hylands and I have talked and I'd like to say we're both looking forward to seeing how both he and Toronto will perform the next few seasons. Toronto was never a destination I thought Mulds would land -- from what I gather neither did Hylands -- so I never took the opportunity to scout my former colleague, perhaps something I should have done.
 
Toronto and Mulds might not have a long future together, or things might develop into a nine season friendship. Regardless of where the future lies between the player and club, there's an absolute fact that lies smack in the middle of every conversation you could have between myself and Hylands: Mulds is a core piece of Toronto now, he'll be joining Fire and Peace as top earners and is complimented by the developing forward core the team already had through previous trades and drafts. 

The future is indeed bright, even if it's just for a while. 
 
 
 
George Sanderson - @SpicyGecko
VHL: Drafted 17th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 13th overall by the Geneva Rush

Here's another user I was unable to scout, well actually... for the record Vice was the only player drafted to Toronto that received a pre-draft interview, the rest of these selections were based on hunches by whatever means I developed them. In this particular case, Sanderson was Vice's teammate with the Reapers. Two objectives came together when he dipped out of the first round, I knew that it would be risky selecting someone I never scouted but truthfully it was worth it; firstly he was a teammate of a user I had just drafted, they're familiar with one another and that's important; and secondly he was a positional need, as George Sanderson is a defender Toronto desperately needed at the time. 

I can't say too much about the discussions we've had, some DMs back and forth so I'm excited the avenue to communicate is officially open. Of course Sanderson instantly became one of our top prospects, I anticipate him joining the Legion within the next few seasons in order to join his teammate Ixazaluoh on the blue line. Build wise I've noticed that Gecko is building what appears to be a physical, disciplined defensive specialist and they generally work pretty well at the VHL level. It's not glamorous, you don't generate a whole lot of points, but turnovers do occur in the sim and those lead to offensive opportunities.

Ixazaluoh - Sanderson pairing in 83, maybe? 
 
 
 
Weenuk Warrior - @KnightRiley
VHL: Drafted 24th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 24th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 12th overall by the Halifax 21sts

Here's a user I know very little about! This was absolutely a pick I made based on an article I read -- which stated an interest to play for Toronto -- so when Toronto was on the clock for the twenty fourth overall pick in the VHL Entry Draft I chose to make this selection over drafting scouted users, which weren't many to begin with. While I don't know much about KnightRiley, I'd love to learn more about this user and their interests moving forward together as members of the Toronto Legion. 

As for Weenuk Warrior's arrival in Toronto, I don't expect WW joining the Legion anytime soon. With a season of VHLM play, following a season of VHLE play, we're likely to see Warrior join Toronto in S83 or S84. The great thing about this new system [in my opinion] is how it pushes regression back the longer you're away from the VHL. The downside is you don't get a full VHL career, but the positives of not worrying too much about daunting regression means you can make the most out of every point you earn. 

Of course I give my players the option to join the team when they're eligible, so perhaps we see Warrior on the Legion sooner than I think!
 
 
 
Ashton Komaryk - @Komaryk
VHL: Drafted 29th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 32nd overall by the Cologne Express
VHLM: Drafted 62nd overall by the Houston Bulls

At 29th overall I was torn with who to select, I could have gone with Salo here but ultimately I decided to go with Komaryk for two reasons; he was a Houston Bulls prospect, a team I played for with Killinger; and they're earning a steady six capped TPE every week. Not to say Salo isn't earning steadily, the deciding factor was mostly the Houston Bulls connection, but I noticed Salo dipped to just four capped TPE a week [meanwhile earned up to ten on other weeks]. I'm not sure what the safer pick will end up being, I'm not really here to dwell in hindsight, I'll do everything in my power to help Komaryk develop Ashton the way Komaryk wants Ashton to develop. 

If Komaryk can make the VHL roster sooner-than-later, assuming no additional right wingers are acquired through a trade or the entry draft, there is a natural RW availability between the deep stack of centers and strong left wingers Toronto already has on the roster. With some elevated work ethic Komaryk could dominate the depth chart along the right side of the ice, perhaps even overtake some of the overfill we currently have. Toronto will be operating with numerous centers on a line, particularly the first line where Fire and Numminen/Calamari will be skating together, so there's a lot of room to grow for Ashton.

Future top six winger?
 
 
 
Harry Hagel - @jasplunds
VHL: Drafted 31st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 26th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Drafted 32nd overall by the Halifax 21sts
 
Drafting Harry Hagel was a positional selection for the Toronto Legion, truthfully I was leaning towards another user that was earning more but decided to trust my gut. There's room for Hagel to develop with Toronto, while drafting a forward to an already cluttered forward group just meant less opportunity for growth. With Hagel being a defender, there's plenty of room to replace inactive D on the Legions' roster without having to worry about someone taking your job. 

Hagel won't join the Legion for quite some time, Jasplunds is slowly developing his player and we'll likely see a competitive defender for the minority of his career. Hagel will join Toronto somewhere around S84/S85, but as I covered above that means he won't have to worry about regression. Unfortunately the career clock exists, Hagel won't see much VHL ice but his potential successes at the VHLM, VHLE  and VHL levels of competition are pretty much endless. When he does join the Legion, I expect Hagel to slot into the top four and help Toronto chase some championships. 

Nothing wrong with gut instinct!
 
 
 
Boris Tsezar - @comrade cat 
VHL: Drafted 41st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 27th overall by the Rome Gladiators
VHLM: Drafted 28th overall by the Mexico City Kings
 
I've been honest to a fault up to this point, so I don't see why I should break that streak. Sadly this pick was a BPA made by the staff team during the VHL Entry Draft, I had a family dinner I kept excusing myself from and by this point in the draft I was getting the wondering judging eyes from family as I floated away back to my computer in between two bites of chili. I asked the team ensuring an orderly draft to BPA my picks with anyone active from this point further, which means Simeoni below was also a BPA. 
 
That being said I'm excited there were active players in the third and fourth rounds, normally there's usually a few but the majority -- if memory serves me correctly -- have fallen into inactivity after leaving the sim league entirely or sometimes temporarily. I've reached out to Comrade Cat and they've accepted a Discord invite, so communications are now open and I'm eager to learn more about the user behind the player as time goes on. Sim wise though it's unlikely we see Tsezar in Legion blue for a while, but I'll be following the 'tenders career in the VHLM and VHLE until they're ready for the big leagues. 

Backup roles aren't immediately interesting, but hopefully Toronto is a championship team at that point and the experience is enough to have some fun.



Alessio Simeoni - @Alesime
VHL: Drafted 60th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 44th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 26th overall by the Saskatoon Wild

Seemingly struck gold three times with this selection, er, you know... despite not actually making the selection. Sadly I was committed to my family dinner when the staff BPA'd Toronto's sixtieth overall pick, but holy crud was it a good one [I might be biased] for a few reasons; one: they'll be playing for the Saskatoon Wild, and god damn it I love that franchise; two: Vice, Gecko and Alesime were all teammates with one another during their time with the Reapers; and three: I believe Simeoni could be the steal of the S81 draft, I really really believe that's a possibility. 

At current pace Toronto won't see Simeoni until S84/S85 most likely, but again that conflict has both a positive and negative charge; on one hand you've got little to no depreciation, on the other you've only got four-five seasons with a VHL team. With a little more effort -- say perhaps a VHL.com article and press conference questions -- there is little doubt in my mind Simeoni would be the steal of the draft, I can't express that enough! I'm excited for that potential, okay, there's nothing wrong with that considering this was ultimately a best-player-available pick. 

Simeoni!


 
That about wraps it up! 

I hope you enjoyed the read. 
 
2,000 words!

One of my favorite articles to write has always been 'GM Perspective' media spots, I feel like they're a great way to engage with some community members and grants me a creative outlet to discuss... well pretty much anything related to Toronto and my time as the Legions' general manager. I've written articles that have expressed my emotions on various levels; frustration with certain situations, situations where I could have been more tactful as I dealt with the cards that were given; anger at some of the users, whom helped or created conflict and drama both here [on the forum] and within the locker room itself; and not to mention my thoughts on trades, the players I've drafted and ranting about the sim engine robbing Toronto's previous core. 

Yeah, yeah, you've heard it before... I still strongly feel like Toronto's S77, S78 and S79 (at the beginning, anyway...) rosters underperformed considering the team we had. Some say we were too bulky on the back end, lacked the offensive firepower compared to other VHL teams as a result, while others suggested that the builds we accumulated simply weren't performing well together inside STHS' whacky decision making formula. Those are essentially ancient history now, but something big for Toronto recently happened. 

The S81 VHL Entry Draft is important, yes, I'll be discussing that for another 2,000 words [I hope] down below. No, no, the big thing for Toronto was MattyIce deciding to stay during his punishment and Doomsday returning to our shared game near the end of S80. Matty's current player was drafted second overall by the Toronto Legion, he had earned an inane amount of TPE prior to his suspension, and since he made the decision to stick around -- quite early in the punishment I will say -- Toronto suddenly has another top earning forward once again. Oh, and of course we've got Lindbergh manning the pipes for us for the foreseeable future, we spent the fourth overall pick on him so I'm elated he returned. 

Those are big. 

Loosing Fire and Lindbergh would have been catastrophic, but like a stalling plane nose diving to gain airspeed, we've recovered and are trending in the right direction. 

Now let's talk about that draft, eh? What a quality draft it was!

 
Cadmael Ixazaluoh - @Vice
VHL: Drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafting 6th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Undrafted; too powerful for the VHLM!

Selecting Vice was perhaps the easiest decision I've made in the last five seasons [at least regarding entry draft selections]; he conducted himself with respect, remained professional and expressed his thoughts in a matter-of-factly way I appreciate. Honestly his draft interview reminded me a lot of another user from a fleeting past, but this article isn't about that person, it's about Vice's Cadmael Ixazaluoh joining the Toronto Legion. You can forget about positional needs, if Cadmael was a forward he'd still be on Toronto. 

I wanted Vice on my team; I shuffled my draft board so many times that Vice bounced between the top spot and I'd say maybe no lower than third before settling atop my chart just before the draft began, and I'm sure there's a bunch of quotes saying he was there or here, that I had him at some specific place... well I'm going on record now, even if I had first overall -- especially considering the crap that happened during the entry draft -- Ixaxaluoh would have been joining the Legion regardless. 

I'm very excited about the future with Vice and where we can take the Toronto Legion. 


 
Harkat Mulds - @hylands
VHL: Drafted 9th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Undrafted; declared for VHL
VHLM: Drafted 4th overall by the Yukon Rush

When I drafted Hylands to the Legion I had no idea why he was sliding so far, I guess in a way I still don't fully comprehend how he landed at my feet with the ninth overall pick. Here we are though, Hylands and I have talked and I'd like to say we're both looking forward to seeing how both he and Toronto will perform the next few seasons. Toronto was never a destination I thought Mulds would land -- from what I gather neither did Hylands -- so I never took the opportunity to scout my former colleague, perhaps something I should have done.
 
Toronto and Mulds might not have a long future together, or things might develop into a nine season friendship. Regardless of where the future lies between the player and club, there's an absolute fact that lies smack in the middle of every conversation you could have between myself and Hylands: Mulds is a core piece of Toronto now, he'll be joining Fire and Peace as top earners and is complimented by the developing forward core the team already had through previous trades and drafts. 

The future is indeed bright, even if it's just for a while. 
 
 
 
George Sanderson - @SpicyGecko
VHL: Drafted 17th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 13th overall by the Geneva Rush

Here's another user I was unable to scout, well actually... for the record Vice was the only player drafted to Toronto that received a pre-draft interview, the rest of these selections were based on hunches by whatever means I developed them. In this particular case, Sanderson was Vice's teammate with the Reapers. Two objectives came together when he dipped out of the first round, I knew that it would be risky selecting someone I never scouted but truthfully it was worth it; firstly he was a teammate of a user I had just drafted, they're familiar with one another and that's important; and secondly he was a positional need, as George Sanderson is a defender Toronto desperately needed at the time. 

I can't say too much about the discussions we've had, some DMs back and forth so I'm excited the avenue to communicate is officially open. Of course Sanderson instantly became one of our top prospects, I anticipate him joining the Legion within the next few seasons in order to join his teammate Ixazaluoh on the blue line. Build wise I've noticed that Gecko is building what appears to be a physical, disciplined defensive specialist and they generally work pretty well at the VHL level. It's not glamorous, you don't generate a whole lot of points, but turnovers do occur in the sim and those lead to offensive opportunities.

Ixazaluoh - Sanderson pairing in 83, maybe? 
 
 
 
Weenuk Warrior - @KnightRiley
VHL: Drafted 24th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 24th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 12th overall by the Halifax 21sts

Here's a user I know very little about! This was absolutely a pick I made based on an article I read -- which stated an interest to play for Toronto -- so when Toronto was on the clock for the twenty fourth overall pick in the VHL Entry Draft I chose to make this selection over drafting scouted users, which weren't many to begin with. While I don't know much about KnightRiley, I'd love to learn more about this user and their interests moving forward together as members of the Toronto Legion. 

As for Weenuk Warrior's arrival in Toronto, I don't expect WW joining the Legion anytime soon. With a season of VHLM play, following a season of VHLE play, we're likely to see Warrior join Toronto in S83 or S84. The great thing about this new system [in my opinion] is how it pushes regression back the longer you're away from the VHL. The downside is you don't get a full VHL career, but the positives of not worrying too much about daunting regression means you can make the most out of every point you earn. 

Of course I give my players the option to join the team when they're eligible, so perhaps we see Warrior on the Legion sooner than I think!
 
 
 
Ashton Komaryk - @Komaryk
VHL: Drafted 29th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 32nd overall by the Cologne Express
VHLM: Drafted 62nd overall by the Houston Bulls

At 29th overall I was torn with who to select, I could have gone with Salo here but ultimately I decided to go with Komaryk for two reasons; he was a Houston Bulls prospect, a team I played for with Killinger; and they're earning a steady six capped TPE every week. Not to say Salo isn't earning steadily, the deciding factor was mostly the Houston Bulls connection, but I noticed Salo dipped to just four capped TPE a week [meanwhile earned up to ten on other weeks]. I'm not sure what the safer pick will end up being, I'm not really here to dwell in hindsight, I'll do everything in my power to help Komaryk develop Ashton the way Komaryk wants Ashton to develop. 

If Komaryk can make the VHL roster sooner-than-later, assuming no additional right wingers are acquired through a trade or the entry draft, there is a natural RW availability between the deep stack of centers and strong left wingers Toronto already has on the roster. With some elevated work ethic Komaryk could dominate the depth chart along the right side of the ice, perhaps even overtake some of the overfill we currently have. Toronto will be operating with numerous centers on a line, particularly the first line where Fire and Numminen/Calamari will be skating together, so there's a lot of room to grow for Ashton.

Future top six winger?
 
 
 
Harry Hagel - @jasplunds
VHL: Drafted 31st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 26th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Drafted 32nd overall by the Halifax 21sts
 
Drafting Harry Hagel was a positional selection for the Toronto Legion, truthfully I was leaning towards another user that was earning more but decided to trust my gut. There's room for Hagel to develop with Toronto, while drafting a forward to an already cluttered forward group just meant less opportunity for growth. With Hagel being a defender, there's plenty of room to replace inactive D on the Legions' roster without having to worry about someone taking your job. 

Hagel won't join the Legion for quite some time, Jasplunds is slowly developing his player and we'll likely see a competitive defender for the minority of his career. Hagel will join Toronto somewhere around S84/S85, but as I covered above that means he won't have to worry about regression. Unfortunately the career clock exists, Hagel won't see much VHL ice but his potential successes at the VHLM, VHLE  and VHL levels of competition are pretty much endless. When he does join the Legion, I expect Hagel to slot into the top four and help Toronto chase some championships. 

Nothing wrong with gut instinct!
 
 
 
Boris Tsezar - @comrade cat 
VHL: Drafted 41st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 27th overall by the Rome Gladiators
VHLM: Drafted 28th overall by the Mexico City Kings
 
I've been honest to a fault up to this point, so I don't see why I should break that streak. Sadly this pick was a BPA made by the staff team during the VHL Entry Draft, I had a family dinner I kept excusing myself from and by this point in the draft I was getting the wondering judging eyes from family as I floated away back to my computer in between two bites of chili. I asked the team ensuring an orderly draft to BPA my picks with anyone active from this point further, which means Simeoni below was also a BPA. 
 
That being said I'm excited there were active players in the third and fourth rounds, normally there's usually a few but the majority -- if memory serves me correctly -- have fallen into inactivity after leaving the sim league entirely or sometimes temporarily. I've reached out to Comrade Cat and they've accepted a Discord invite, so communications are now open and I'm eager to learn more about the user behind the player as time goes on. Sim wise though it's unlikely we see Tsezar in Legion blue for a while, but I'll be following the 'tenders career in the VHLM and VHLE until they're ready for the big leagues. 

Backup roles aren't immediately interesting, but hopefully Toronto is a championship team at that point and the experience is enough to have some fun.



Alessio Simeoni - @Alesime
VHL: Drafted 60th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 44th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 26th overall by the Saskatoon Wild

Seemingly struck gold three times with this selection, er, you know... despite not actually making the selection. Sadly I was committed to my family dinner when the staff BPA'd Toronto's sixtieth overall pick, but holy crud was it a good one [I might be biased] for a few reasons; one: they'll be playing for the Saskatoon Wild, and god damn it I love that franchise; two: Vice, Gecko and Alesime were all teammates with one another during their time with the Reapers; and three: I believe Simeoni could be the steal of the S81 draft, I really really believe that's a possibility. 

At current pace Toronto won't see Simeoni until S84/S85 most likely, but again that conflict has both a positive and negative charge; on one hand you've got little to no depreciation, on the other you've only got four-five seasons with a VHL team. With a little more effort -- say perhaps a VHL.com article and press conference questions -- there is little doubt in my mind Simeoni would be the steal of the draft, I can't express that enough! I'm excited for that potential, okay, there's nothing wrong with that considering this was ultimately a best-player-available pick. 

Simeoni!


 
That about wraps it up! 

I hope you enjoyed the read. 
 
2,000 words!

One of my favorite articles to write has always been 'GM Perspective' media spots, I feel like they're a great way to engage with some community members and grants me a creative outlet to discuss... well pretty much anything related to Toronto and my time as the Legions' general manager. I've written articles that have expressed my emotions on various levels; frustration with certain situations, situations where I could have been more tactful as I dealt with the cards that were given; anger at some of the users, whom helped or created conflict and drama both here [on the forum] and within the locker room itself; and not to mention my thoughts on trades, the players I've drafted and ranting about the sim engine robbing Toronto's previous core. 

Yeah, yeah, you've heard it before... I still strongly feel like Toronto's S77, S78 and S79 (at the beginning, anyway...) rosters underperformed considering the team we had. Some say we were too bulky on the back end, lacked the offensive firepower compared to other VHL teams as a result, while others suggested that the builds we accumulated simply weren't performing well together inside STHS' whacky decision making formula. Those are essentially ancient history now, but something big for Toronto recently happened. 

The S81 VHL Entry Draft is important, yes, I'll be discussing that for another 2,000 words [I hope] down below. No, no, the big thing for Toronto was MattyIce deciding to stay during his punishment and Doomsday returning to our shared game near the end of S80. Matty's current player was drafted second overall by the Toronto Legion, he had earned an inane amount of TPE prior to his suspension, and since he made the decision to stick around -- quite early in the punishment I will say -- Toronto suddenly has another top earning forward once again. Oh, and of course we've got Lindbergh manning the pipes for us for the foreseeable future, we spent the fourth overall pick on him so I'm elated he returned. 

Those are big. 

Loosing Fire and Lindbergh would have been catastrophic, but like a stalling plane nose diving to gain airspeed, we've recovered and are trending in the right direction. 

Now let's talk about that draft, eh? What a quality draft it was!

 
Cadmael Ixazaluoh - @Vice
VHL: Drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafting 6th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Undrafted; too powerful for the VHLM!

Selecting Vice was perhaps the easiest decision I've made in the last five seasons [at least regarding entry draft selections]; he conducted himself with respect, remained professional and expressed his thoughts in a matter-of-factly way I appreciate. Honestly his draft interview reminded me a lot of another user from a fleeting past, but this article isn't about that person, it's about Vice's Cadmael Ixazaluoh joining the Toronto Legion. You can forget about positional needs, if Cadmael was a forward he'd still be on Toronto. 

I wanted Vice on my team; I shuffled my draft board so many times that Vice bounced between the top spot and I'd say maybe no lower than third before settling atop my chart just before the draft began, and I'm sure there's a bunch of quotes saying he was there or here, that I had him at some specific place... well I'm going on record now, even if I had first overall -- especially considering the crap that happened during the entry draft -- Ixaxaluoh would have been joining the Legion regardless. 

I'm very excited about the future with Vice and where we can take the Toronto Legion. 


 
Harkat Mulds - @hylands
VHL: Drafted 9th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Undrafted; declared for VHL
VHLM: Drafted 4th overall by the Yukon Rush

When I drafted Hylands to the Legion I had no idea why he was sliding so far, I guess in a way I still don't fully comprehend how he landed at my feet with the ninth overall pick. Here we are though, Hylands and I have talked and I'd like to say we're both looking forward to seeing how both he and Toronto will perform the next few seasons. Toronto was never a destination I thought Mulds would land -- from what I gather neither did Hylands -- so I never took the opportunity to scout my former colleague, perhaps something I should have done.
 
Toronto and Mulds might not have a long future together, or things might develop into a nine season friendship. Regardless of where the future lies between the player and club, there's an absolute fact that lies smack in the middle of every conversation you could have between myself and Hylands: Mulds is a core piece of Toronto now, he'll be joining Fire and Peace as top earners and is complimented by the developing forward core the team already had through previous trades and drafts. 

The future is indeed bright, even if it's just for a while. 
 
 
 
George Sanderson - @SpicyGecko
VHL: Drafted 17th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 13th overall by the Geneva Rush

Here's another user I was unable to scout, well actually... for the record Vice was the only player drafted to Toronto that received a pre-draft interview, the rest of these selections were based on hunches by whatever means I developed them. In this particular case, Sanderson was Vice's teammate with the Reapers. Two objectives came together when he dipped out of the first round, I knew that it would be risky selecting someone I never scouted but truthfully it was worth it; firstly he was a teammate of a user I had just drafted, they're familiar with one another and that's important; and secondly he was a positional need, as George Sanderson is a defender Toronto desperately needed at the time. 

I can't say too much about the discussions we've had, some DMs back and forth so I'm excited the avenue to communicate is officially open. Of course Sanderson instantly became one of our top prospects, I anticipate him joining the Legion within the next few seasons in order to join his teammate Ixazaluoh on the blue line. Build wise I've noticed that Gecko is building what appears to be a physical, disciplined defensive specialist and they generally work pretty well at the VHL level. It's not glamorous, you don't generate a whole lot of points, but turnovers do occur in the sim and those lead to offensive opportunities.

Ixazaluoh - Sanderson pairing in 83, maybe? 
 
 
 
Weenuk Warrior - @KnightRiley
VHL: Drafted 24th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 24th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 12th overall by the Halifax 21sts

Here's a user I know very little about! This was absolutely a pick I made based on an article I read -- which stated an interest to play for Toronto -- so when Toronto was on the clock for the twenty fourth overall pick in the VHL Entry Draft I chose to make this selection over drafting scouted users, which weren't many to begin with. While I don't know much about KnightRiley, I'd love to learn more about this user and their interests moving forward together as members of the Toronto Legion. 

As for Weenuk Warrior's arrival in Toronto, I don't expect WW joining the Legion anytime soon. With a season of VHLM play, following a season of VHLE play, we're likely to see Warrior join Toronto in S83 or S84. The great thing about this new system [in my opinion] is how it pushes regression back the longer you're away from the VHL. The downside is you don't get a full VHL career, but the positives of not worrying too much about daunting regression means you can make the most out of every point you earn. 

Of course I give my players the option to join the team when they're eligible, so perhaps we see Warrior on the Legion sooner than I think!
 
 
 
Ashton Komaryk - @Komaryk
VHL: Drafted 29th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 32nd overall by the Cologne Express
VHLM: Drafted 62nd overall by the Houston Bulls

At 29th overall I was torn with who to select, I could have gone with Salo here but ultimately I decided to go with Komaryk for two reasons; he was a Houston Bulls prospect, a team I played for with Killinger; and they're earning a steady six capped TPE every week. Not to say Salo isn't earning steadily, the deciding factor was mostly the Houston Bulls connection, but I noticed Salo dipped to just four capped TPE a week [meanwhile earned up to ten on other weeks]. I'm not sure what the safer pick will end up being, I'm not really here to dwell in hindsight, I'll do everything in my power to help Komaryk develop Ashton the way Komaryk wants Ashton to develop. 

If Komaryk can make the VHL roster sooner-than-later, assuming no additional right wingers are acquired through a trade or the entry draft, there is a natural RW availability between the deep stack of centers and strong left wingers Toronto already has on the roster. With some elevated work ethic Komaryk could dominate the depth chart along the right side of the ice, perhaps even overtake some of the overfill we currently have. Toronto will be operating with numerous centers on a line, particularly the first line where Fire and Numminen/Calamari will be skating together, so there's a lot of room to grow for Ashton.

Future top six winger?
 
 
 
Harry Hagel - @jasplunds
VHL: Drafted 31st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 26th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Drafted 32nd overall by the Halifax 21sts
 
Drafting Harry Hagel was a positional selection for the Toronto Legion, truthfully I was leaning towards another user that was earning more but decided to trust my gut. There's room for Hagel to develop with Toronto, while drafting a forward to an already cluttered forward group just meant less opportunity for growth. With Hagel being a defender, there's plenty of room to replace inactive D on the Legions' roster without having to worry about someone taking your job. 

Hagel won't join the Legion for quite some time, Jasplunds is slowly developing his player and we'll likely see a competitive defender for the minority of his career. Hagel will join Toronto somewhere around S84/S85, but as I covered above that means he won't have to worry about regression. Unfortunately the career clock exists, Hagel won't see much VHL ice but his potential successes at the VHLM, VHLE  and VHL levels of competition are pretty much endless. When he does join the Legion, I expect Hagel to slot into the top four and help Toronto chase some championships. 

Nothing wrong with gut instinct!
 
 
 
Boris Tsezar - @comrade cat 
VHL: Drafted 41st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 27th overall by the Rome Gladiators
VHLM: Drafted 28th overall by the Mexico City Kings
 
I've been honest to a fault up to this point, so I don't see why I should break that streak. Sadly this pick was a BPA made by the staff team during the VHL Entry Draft, I had a family dinner I kept excusing myself from and by this point in the draft I was getting the wondering judging eyes from family as I floated away back to my computer in between two bites of chili. I asked the team ensuring an orderly draft to BPA my picks with anyone active from this point further, which means Simeoni below was also a BPA. 
 
That being said I'm excited there were active players in the third and fourth rounds, normally there's usually a few but the majority -- if memory serves me correctly -- have fallen into inactivity after leaving the sim league entirely or sometimes temporarily. I've reached out to Comrade Cat and they've accepted a Discord invite, so communications are now open and I'm eager to learn more about the user behind the player as time goes on. Sim wise though it's unlikely we see Tsezar in Legion blue for a while, but I'll be following the 'tenders career in the VHLM and VHLE until they're ready for the big leagues. 

Backup roles aren't immediately interesting, but hopefully Toronto is a championship team at that point and the experience is enough to have some fun.



Alessio Simeoni - @Alesime
VHL: Drafted 60th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 44th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 26th overall by the Saskatoon Wild

Seemingly struck gold three times with this selection, er, you know... despite not actually making the selection. Sadly I was committed to my family dinner when the staff BPA'd Toronto's sixtieth overall pick, but holy crud was it a good one [I might be biased] for a few reasons; one: they'll be playing for the Saskatoon Wild, and god damn it I love that franchise; two: Vice, Gecko and Alesime were all teammates with one another during their time with the Reapers; and three: I believe Simeoni could be the steal of the S81 draft, I really really believe that's a possibility. 

At current pace Toronto won't see Simeoni until S84/S85 most likely, but again that conflict has both a positive and negative charge; on one hand you've got little to no depreciation, on the other you've only got four-five seasons with a VHL team. With a little more effort -- say perhaps a VHL.com article and press conference questions -- there is little doubt in my mind Simeoni would be the steal of the draft, I can't express that enough! I'm excited for that potential, okay, there's nothing wrong with that considering this was ultimately a best-player-available pick. 

Simeoni!


 
That about wraps it up! 

I hope you enjoyed the read. 
 
2,000 words!

One of my favorite articles to write has always been 'GM Perspective' media spots, I feel like they're a great way to engage with some community members and grants me a creative outlet to discuss... well pretty much anything related to Toronto and my time as the Legions' general manager. I've written articles that have expressed my emotions on various levels; frustration with certain situations, situations where I could have been more tactful as I dealt with the cards that were given; anger at some of the users, whom helped or created conflict and drama both here [on the forum] and within the locker room itself; and not to mention my thoughts on trades, the players I've drafted and ranting about the sim engine robbing Toronto's previous core. 

Yeah, yeah, you've heard it before... I still strongly feel like Toronto's S77, S78 and S79 (at the beginning, anyway...) rosters underperformed considering the team we had. Some say we were too bulky on the back end, lacked the offensive firepower compared to other VHL teams as a result, while others suggested that the builds we accumulated simply weren't performing well together inside STHS' whacky decision making formula. Those are essentially ancient history now, but something big for Toronto recently happened. 

The S81 VHL Entry Draft is important, yes, I'll be discussing that for another 2,000 words [I hope] down below. No, no, the big thing for Toronto was MattyIce deciding to stay during his punishment and Doomsday returning to our shared game near the end of S80. Matty's current player was drafted second overall by the Toronto Legion, he had earned an inane amount of TPE prior to his suspension, and since he made the decision to stick around -- quite early in the punishment I will say -- Toronto suddenly has another top earning forward once again. Oh, and of course we've got Lindbergh manning the pipes for us for the foreseeable future, we spent the fourth overall pick on him so I'm elated he returned. 

Those are big. 

Loosing Fire and Lindbergh would have been catastrophic, but like a stalling plane nose diving to gain airspeed, we've recovered and are trending in the right direction. 

Now let's talk about that draft, eh? What a quality draft it was!

 
Cadmael Ixazaluoh - @Vice
VHL: Drafted 5th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafting 6th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Undrafted; too powerful for the VHLM!

Selecting Vice was perhaps the easiest decision I've made in the last five seasons [at least regarding entry draft selections]; he conducted himself with respect, remained professional and expressed his thoughts in a matter-of-factly way I appreciate. Honestly his draft interview reminded me a lot of another user from a fleeting past, but this article isn't about that person, it's about Vice's Cadmael Ixazaluoh joining the Toronto Legion. You can forget about positional needs, if Cadmael was a forward he'd still be on Toronto. 

I wanted Vice on my team; I shuffled my draft board so many times that Vice bounced between the top spot and I'd say maybe no lower than third before settling atop my chart just before the draft began, and I'm sure there's a bunch of quotes saying he was there or here, that I had him at some specific place... well I'm going on record now, even if I had first overall -- especially considering the crap that happened during the entry draft -- Ixaxaluoh would have been joining the Legion regardless. 

I'm very excited about the future with Vice and where we can take the Toronto Legion. 


 
Harkat Mulds - @hylands
VHL: Drafted 9th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Undrafted; declared for VHL
VHLM: Drafted 4th overall by the Yukon Rush

When I drafted Hylands to the Legion I had no idea why he was sliding so far, I guess in a way I still don't fully comprehend how he landed at my feet with the ninth overall pick. Here we are though, Hylands and I have talked and I'd like to say we're both looking forward to seeing how both he and Toronto will perform the next few seasons. Toronto was never a destination I thought Mulds would land -- from what I gather neither did Hylands -- so I never took the opportunity to scout my former colleague, perhaps something I should have done.
 
Toronto and Mulds might not have a long future together, or things might develop into a nine season friendship. Regardless of where the future lies between the player and club, there's an absolute fact that lies smack in the middle of every conversation you could have between myself and Hylands: Mulds is a core piece of Toronto now, he'll be joining Fire and Peace as top earners and is complimented by the developing forward core the team already had through previous trades and drafts. 

The future is indeed bright, even if it's just for a while. 
 
 
 
George Sanderson - @SpicyGecko
VHL: Drafted 17th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 13th overall by the Geneva Rush

Here's another user I was unable to scout, well actually... for the record Vice was the only player drafted to Toronto that received a pre-draft interview, the rest of these selections were based on hunches by whatever means I developed them. In this particular case, Sanderson was Vice's teammate with the Reapers. Two objectives came together when he dipped out of the first round, I knew that it would be risky selecting someone I never scouted but truthfully it was worth it; firstly he was a teammate of a user I had just drafted, they're familiar with one another and that's important; and secondly he was a positional need, as George Sanderson is a defender Toronto desperately needed at the time. 

I can't say too much about the discussions we've had, some DMs back and forth so I'm excited the avenue to communicate is officially open. Of course Sanderson instantly became one of our top prospects, I anticipate him joining the Legion within the next few seasons in order to join his teammate Ixazaluoh on the blue line. Build wise I've noticed that Gecko is building what appears to be a physical, disciplined defensive specialist and they generally work pretty well at the VHL level. It's not glamorous, you don't generate a whole lot of points, but turnovers do occur in the sim and those lead to offensive opportunities.

Ixazaluoh - Sanderson pairing in 83, maybe? 
 
 
 
Weenuk Warrior - @KnightRiley
VHL: Drafted 24th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 24th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 12th overall by the Halifax 21sts

Here's a user I know very little about! This was absolutely a pick I made based on an article I read -- which stated an interest to play for Toronto -- so when Toronto was on the clock for the twenty fourth overall pick in the VHL Entry Draft I chose to make this selection over drafting scouted users, which weren't many to begin with. While I don't know much about KnightRiley, I'd love to learn more about this user and their interests moving forward together as members of the Toronto Legion. 

As for Weenuk Warrior's arrival in Toronto, I don't expect WW joining the Legion anytime soon. With a season of VHLM play, following a season of VHLE play, we're likely to see Warrior join Toronto in S83 or S84. The great thing about this new system [in my opinion] is how it pushes regression back the longer you're away from the VHL. The downside is you don't get a full VHL career, but the positives of not worrying too much about daunting regression means you can make the most out of every point you earn. 

Of course I give my players the option to join the team when they're eligible, so perhaps we see Warrior on the Legion sooner than I think!
 
 
 
Ashton Komaryk - @Komaryk
VHL: Drafted 29th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 32nd overall by the Cologne Express
VHLM: Drafted 62nd overall by the Houston Bulls

At 29th overall I was torn with who to select, I could have gone with Salo here but ultimately I decided to go with Komaryk for two reasons; he was a Houston Bulls prospect, a team I played for with Killinger; and they're earning a steady six capped TPE every week. Not to say Salo isn't earning steadily, the deciding factor was mostly the Houston Bulls connection, but I noticed Salo dipped to just four capped TPE a week [meanwhile earned up to ten on other weeks]. I'm not sure what the safer pick will end up being, I'm not really here to dwell in hindsight, I'll do everything in my power to help Komaryk develop Ashton the way Komaryk wants Ashton to develop. 

If Komaryk can make the VHL roster sooner-than-later, assuming no additional right wingers are acquired through a trade or the entry draft, there is a natural RW availability between the deep stack of centers and strong left wingers Toronto already has on the roster. With some elevated work ethic Komaryk could dominate the depth chart along the right side of the ice, perhaps even overtake some of the overfill we currently have. Toronto will be operating with numerous centers on a line, particularly the first line where Fire and Numminen/Calamari will be skating together, so there's a lot of room to grow for Ashton.

Future top six winger?
 
 
 
Harry Hagel - @jasplunds
VHL: Drafted 31st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 26th overall by the Bratislava Watchmen
VHLM: Drafted 32nd overall by the Halifax 21sts
 
Drafting Harry Hagel was a positional selection for the Toronto Legion, truthfully I was leaning towards another user that was earning more but decided to trust my gut. There's room for Hagel to develop with Toronto, while drafting a forward to an already cluttered forward group just meant less opportunity for growth. With Hagel being a defender, there's plenty of room to replace inactive D on the Legions' roster without having to worry about someone taking your job. 

Hagel won't join the Legion for quite some time, Jasplunds is slowly developing his player and we'll likely see a competitive defender for the minority of his career. Hagel will join Toronto somewhere around S84/S85, but as I covered above that means he won't have to worry about regression. Unfortunately the career clock exists, Hagel won't see much VHL ice but his potential successes at the VHLM, VHLE  and VHL levels of competition are pretty much endless. When he does join the Legion, I expect Hagel to slot into the top four and help Toronto chase some championships. 

Nothing wrong with gut instinct!
 
 
 
Boris Tsezar - @comrade cat 
VHL: Drafted 41st overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 27th overall by the Rome Gladiators
VHLM: Drafted 28th overall by the Mexico City Kings
 
I've been honest to a fault up to this point, so I don't see why I should break that streak. Sadly this pick was a BPA made by the staff team during the VHL Entry Draft, I had a family dinner I kept excusing myself from and by this point in the draft I was getting the wondering judging eyes from family as I floated away back to my computer in between two bites of chili. I asked the team ensuring an orderly draft to BPA my picks with anyone active from this point further, which means Simeoni below was also a BPA. 
 
That being said I'm excited there were active players in the third and fourth rounds, normally there's usually a few but the majority -- if memory serves me correctly -- have fallen into inactivity after leaving the sim league entirely or sometimes temporarily. I've reached out to Comrade Cat and they've accepted a Discord invite, so communications are now open and I'm eager to learn more about the user behind the player as time goes on. Sim wise though it's unlikely we see Tsezar in Legion blue for a while, but I'll be following the 'tenders career in the VHLM and VHLE until they're ready for the big leagues. 

Backup roles aren't immediately interesting, but hopefully Toronto is a championship team at that point and the experience is enough to have some fun.



Alessio Simeoni - @Alesime
VHL: Drafted 60th overall by the Toronto Legion
VHLE: Drafted 44th overall by the Oslo Storm
VHLM: Drafted 26th overall by the Saskatoon Wild

Seemingly struck gold three times with this selection, er, you know... despite not actually making the selection. Sadly I was committed to my family dinner when the staff BPA'd Toronto's sixtieth overall pick, but holy crud was it a good one [I might be biased] for a few reasons; one: they'll be playing for the Saskatoon Wild, and god damn it I love that franchise; two: Vice, Gecko and Alesime were all teammates with one another during their time with the Reapers; and three: I believe Simeoni could be the steal of the S81 draft, I really really believe that's a possibility. 

At current pace Toronto won't see Simeoni until S84/S85 most likely, but again that conflict has both a positive and negative charge; on one hand you've got little to no depreciation, on the other you've only got four-five seasons with a VHL team. With a little more effort -- say perhaps a VHL.com article and press conference questions -- there is little doubt in my mind Simeoni would be the steal of the draft, I can't express that enough! I'm excited for that potential, okay, there's nothing wrong with that considering this was ultimately a best-player-available pick. 

Simeoni!


 
That about wraps it up! 

I hope you enjoyed the read. 
 
2,000 words!

Inactive player position swap.

@Beketov @bigAL @Josh
 

Ixazaluoh Selected 5th Overall
 
In a stunning turnout, Cadmael Ixazaluoh, the Guatemalan Defense-phenom was selected 5th Overall by the Toronto Legion in the S81 VHL Entry Draft. This came as a surprise to some as some of the bigger names in the draft seemed to slide down, making room for a pick like Cadmael to come in. When we asked about his recent selection, he had this to say: "I am grateful to the Toronto Legion for selecting me! I am excited to be a part of an organization that is looking to do good things down the road. I will be with my former linemate George Sanderson so El Pollo Loco will most certainly rise again." Ixazaluoh was selected alongside fellow former Philadelphia Reapers George Sanderson (@SpicyGecko) and Alessio Simeoni (@Alesime). "A lot of the credit has to go to our former GM, @Alex_J32 for setting us all up for success, really." After his selection to Toronto, he is expected to be drafted to the VHLE as well for S81 until he is prepared to be called up to the VHL. "I do not expect much in way of the VHLE draft as I hope to hone my skills enough to be called up to the VHL as soon as I can." Last season, Toronto sat last in the standings. "I take this as a challenge to do great things for a team that really needs it. I foresee really having an impact here and I cannot wait for the season to get underway so I can put my practice to work." 

More from Cadmael and his journey as it continues!

Word Count: 268

Kyle Peace finished the VHLE playoffs with nineteen points in Vasteras' fourteen post season games, which, well, obviously concludes his first and final VHLE season with a championship in true Vasteras fashion. We quote another veteran VHLer in saying it was 'the most inevitable outcome', the team fought hard to get the VHLE's ultimate trophy; we covered it in another article, but we'll reiterate it here: Vasteras has a history as a dissolved/regressed team, so that quote is a reference to the Iron Eagles former life. Today, much to the disappointment of the Italians, Vasteras is the inaugural champions of the VHLE!
 
The team is celebrating a comeback victory after trailing the series three games to one.

But how were those games, we can look at the play-by-play to reveal the stories.
 
GAME ONE:
Rome wins 5-3, leads series 1-0.
 
Baby Bob scored the game winning goal 11:26 seconds into the third period, it was a goal that broke a then 3-3 tie and gave the Gladiators a small but significant 4-3 lead heading into the second half of the final frame of the first ever VHLE championship game. They wound up coasting to a 5-3 victory over Vasteras despite some late game efforts to even the score, ultimately Rome would head to the dressing room leading the series one game to none over the Iron Eagles. An otherwise innocent play doomed the 'comeback kids'. 

Gladiators' Numminen won a defensive zone faceoff against Eagle Captain Armani Calamari, dished the puck to Aky who opted to dump the disk into Vasteras' zone after being pressured through the neutral zone. Eagles' defender Nano retrieved the puck, but Nathan Steele connected on a quality check moments after Nano took control of the play. Numminen acquired the loose puck and set the game winning play up, he dished it back to the point where Ben Aky received a pass, quickly recognizing a now open Baby Bob. 

The twine was stretching before Booberry could really react. 


GAME TWO: 
Rome wins 4-3, lead series 2-0.

If the finals were a science fiction novel, then Otto Numminen would have been the antagonist to our Vasteras heroes. The Gladiator center simply dominated during game two, accumulating three points, ten shots on goal, thirty one and a half minutes... you get the point. Numminen also scored the game winning goal 16:57 into the third period, meaning Rome once again broke a 3-3 stalemate to win the game. Unlike Bob's game winning goal in the first game, Numminen's GW tally was pretty straight forward.
 
An errand pass by Kyle Peace was intercepted by Nalwa, but before a sloppy play resulted in Numminen's breakaway, Peace intercepted Otto's pass in the neutral zone. Now that there's some context, we can imagine the play developing. Numminen has the puck in the neutral zone, gets pressured into making a play, and the puck is intercepted by Peace. Peace doesn't have a lot of space, tries to squeeze it through Numminen's legs, but Nalwa is there to collect the puck. The clean pass over a sprawling Peace was enough to enable Numminen to enter Vasteras' zone on a breakaway, and he quick work of a chaotic moment. 

We're not even sure Peace was off the ice before the goal was scored.


GAME THREE:
Vasteras wins 4-3, trails series 2-1.

Vasteras' first win of the finals wasn't a literal 'flip the script' moment on the Gladiators, but it was a moment the team would take. Unlike the first two games, which were tied three apiece before a game winning goal was scored to seal the victories for Rome, Vasteras had already scored the game winning goal 15:39 into the third frame. The difference between Vasteras' first fourth goal in the first three games was their lead when it was scored, which so happened to be 4-2 when the goal was registered by Jocke Jockesson's first goal of the postseason. 

The play was pretty simple. Calamari was applied pressure through the center of the Gladiators zone, took a shot on net, and collected the rebound that scooted off towards the boards. A quick pass through some bodies found Jockesson's stick, and the Eagle tapped it home for a goal that extended the Eagles' lead to two. Less than two minutes later Rome would tally to cut their lead to one, but the goal held up and consequentially became the game winning goal.

Booberry stopped 39 of 42 shots to give his club the win. 


 
GAME FOUR:
Rome wins 5-4, leads series 3-1.

The fires of Mount Doom are glowing red, and the showers of the category five hurricane 'Gloom' are rapidly approaching Vasteras. Other than the obvious Lord of the Rings reference, there's also a subtle one if you can find it on the scoresheet. It doesn't take that long, but it is a bit of a stretch, so the hints you get are 'fellowship' and what happened to it. Oh fuck it, we'll explain why Nalwa's third period goal wound up being the final nail in the Iron Eagles' game four efforts. 

You see they lead the game 3-0 heading into the second period, and just after the second frames 11th minute, the Eagles had secured a 4-1 lead over the Rome Gladiators. Everything was looking up, the fellowship of the ring was healthy as it could be. Optimism was high, the mere idea they could tie the series at two had unified their play, and then the Orcs -- er we mean Gladiators -- ruined the fellowship by completely dismantling the Eagles through the last eight minutes of the second period. A once 4-1 game was tied at four heading into the third period, and Nalwa secured the victory over Vasteras 15:50 into the final leg. 

Brink of elimination.


GAME FIVE:
Vasteras wins 4-3, trails series 3-2.

Okay now we have a literal 'flip the script' situation here. Does this seem familiar at all to you? It's the third period, the game is tied 3-3 and the game winning goal breaks a stalemate to become the game winner. Yeah, it's pretty familiar to us too, but this time fortune favored the bold as Vasteras threw everything they had into the eventual powerplay goal. Oh damn, was that another reference? Just like any Star Trek movie, or really any movie not labelled Infinity War lately, our heroes seem to always find a way to have plot armor... er, find a way to achieve victory. 

Tipton's third period goal just over five minutes was enough to give Vasteras the lead, but it wasn't enough to secure the game. Oh no, that came on the back of Xavier Booberry, who had to make seventeen additional stops to ensure the Eagles weren't eliminated in game five. Overall the goaltender stopped all twenty three he faced during the period, and perhaps some of the most important saves were before Tipton scored the go-ahead goal, but nevertheless Xavier deserves special recognition for building a shield. Xavier La Forge, anyone... no? 

Oh and for the first time this series, Vasteras was able to save their 3-1 lead.


GAME SIX:
Vasteras wins 7-4, series tied 3-3.

Vasteras' win was pretty convincing in game six, and truthfully a spoiler to how the club would play in the decisive game seven. The seven goal output was nice, but the real factor in the victory was limited the Gladiators to just twenty four shots throughout the game. In a league/era where goals are seemingly scored through shot volume, the Gladiators simply didn't have enough darts on the board to get a bullseye. We're done with the movie references so don't worry, I had my fun and now it's over.
 
The Eagles-Gladiators series, however, has now become more interesting than anyone could have predicted following the first four games. In another 'flip the script' moment, Vasteras was able to comeback from Rome's 3-1 lead and successfully tied the series, something they were unable to do -- including game five -- throughout the finals against Rome. Our game winner this time around was scored back in the first period, on the Eagles fifth goal of the frame, which really recapped an impressive display from Captain Armani Calamari. 

Onto game seven! 


GAME SEVEN:
Vasteras wins 6-1, wins series 4-3.

Okay now the ultimate 'flip the script' moment has been completed. The Eagles' 6-1 victory has secured the players, staff, fans and city the inaugural VHLE championship. I'm not really sure what the award is called for the winning VHLE team but I'm sure someone will point it out. Regardless, and fortunately for our heroes in this book, the Eagles are ending the season on the highest note possible. The climax has arrived, and now the final chapters will be written in the history books. Many players will be graduating to their VHL teams, leaving Vasteras a hollow shell of the team that just won the VHLE's top trophy. 

In a six-one victory it's hard to pinpoint any particular turning point, the scoring was so spread out six individual skaters all recorded goals in the contest, although it could be said Vidot's four point effort or Booberry's excellent goaltending helped the team achieve what they achieved. The truth it this seventh game was a complete team effort, unlike some of the games above despite a win or loss at the end of the night. Everyone on the ice was celebrating as if it were the Stanley Cup, no one really cares who got the game winner, or who scored the most points. 

Remember that good sportsmanship is key. It was a hard fought series, Rome, you should be proud of your effort; you were a great antagonist to this story.

It's not rude, but to explain why would ultimately cause some drama we don't need.

Vasteras has a long history under old management, but under this new league -- the European division of the Victory Hockey League [VHLE] - they've got no former technical history, it's the inaugural season and every team is starting with a clean slate. For the Iron Eagles, the story they wrote was fairly frustrating yet just enough to keep the pages turning: It was a fairly rocky season, they barely squeezed themselves into the playoffs by finishing just a mere point above the Cologne Express, and had it gone to a tie-breaker they'd be playing golf instead of hockey. 

As much as the Iron Eagles' roster would like to think the current round is nearly over, they've got to stay focused and close out the series in game six before getting comfortable with a lead, or worse before anyone gets complacent about the teams last three performances. Sure, in the last three games they've only allowed two goals, and are currently riding a two game shutout streak but the Vikings were the top team in Europe for a reason and are likely to regroup. 

Eagles and Vikings' fans have all eyes on that decisive sixth game. One side will be cheering for their team to advance into the finals, while the other side will be cheering for their in hopes they return to form.

Kyle Peace is determined to stay focused, all his energy is being directed at settling his nerves and calming himself before the butterflies in his stomach turn into trembling hands and missed opportunities on the ice. There's only a few moments left for him in Europe, his destiny is to join Toronto next season, it'll take all the focus he has to conquer himself. His feelings about his team though? He's immensely proud of the work ethic they've shown, how the group has strung together a hot run and is ultimately impressed with the last three games against the leagues top team. 

Memories are made every game, memories that'll stick with the young Legion prospect for quite some time. 

"I don't know what everyone else is, well, you know, how they're preparing for tomorrow... but for me? I've got to keep myself on my toes." Peace said in an interview with VHL.com earlier today. "I know myself, and I know if I let these wins get inside my head I'll perform terribly tomorrow, so I think after this interview I'm turning away from social media and TV. I might go fishing, or maybe go for a bike ride on a trail near Vastaras... hell, maybe just stay in and order some decent flippin' food."

We asked Peace about his team shortly after receiving an earful from the young man. "I'm extremely proud of the team," Peace stated. "I'm very happy with how the last three games have turned out. We went from trailing the series two - zilch to leading three - two, and we've all played a role in climbing above the Vikings. Everyone's play recently has been downright impressive, I'm... simply overjoyed with the club. Bravo, Eagles, bravo, and that's enough to sum it all up."  

Vasteras hosts Stockholm tomorrow for game six.

I'd like to say I'm impressed with Moscow leading the series 3-1, but having just experienced a 3-1 deficit with Vasteras, I know the series isn't over yet... although I'm interested to see if Moscow can finish off the Wolves tomorrow and wrap this season up. It's been a long season, a frustrating season, and I'm well aware that's the grave I dug for myself. I'm beyond ready for it to end, I'm ready for my player to be on Toronto and I'm ready to begin preparing for the entry draft. This season could mark the first season in a long time where I might be absent, so I have to dot my I's and cross my T's before sending in a priority list. 

Or I can have someone show up for me. 🤔 

Reflecting back on the playoffs I'm honestly surprised DC fell in four after fighting hard against Chicago, but I suppose STHS decided the teams who lost their first game would be swept in the second round.

Oh and the European conference first round were both sweeps. 

The fuuuu.....

Kyle Peace finished the VHLE playoffs with nineteen points in Vasteras' fourteen post season games, which, well, obviously concludes his first and final VHLE season with a championship in true Vasteras fashion. We quote another veteran VHLer in saying it was 'the most inevitable outcome', the team fought hard to get the VHLE's ultimate trophy; we covered it in another article, but we'll reiterate it here: Vasteras has a history as a dissolved/regressed team, so that quote is a reference to the Iron Eagles former life. Today, much to the disappointment of the Italians, Vasteras is the inaugural champions of the VHLE!
 
The team is celebrating a comeback victory after trailing the series three games to one.

But how were those games, we can look at the play-by-play to reveal the stories.
 
GAME ONE:
Rome wins 5-3, leads series 1-0.
 
Baby Bob scored the game winning goal 11:26 seconds into the third period, it was a goal that broke a then 3-3 tie and gave the Gladiators a small but significant 4-3 lead heading into the second half of the final frame of the first ever VHLE championship game. They wound up coasting to a 5-3 victory over Vasteras despite some late game efforts to even the score, ultimately Rome would head to the dressing room leading the series one game to none over the Iron Eagles. An otherwise innocent play doomed the 'comeback kids'. 

Gladiators' Numminen won a defensive zone faceoff against Eagle Captain Armani Calamari, dished the puck to Aky who opted to dump the disk into Vasteras' zone after being pressured through the neutral zone. Eagles' defender Nano retrieved the puck, but Nathan Steele connected on a quality check moments after Nano took control of the play. Numminen acquired the loose puck and set the game winning play up, he dished it back to the point where Ben Aky received a pass, quickly recognizing a now open Baby Bob. 

The twine was stretching before Booberry could really react. 


GAME TWO: 
Rome wins 4-3, lead series 2-0.

If the finals were a science fiction novel, then Otto Numminen would have been the antagonist to our Vasteras heroes. The Gladiator center simply dominated during game two, accumulating three points, ten shots on goal, thirty one and a half minutes... you get the point. Numminen also scored the game winning goal 16:57 into the third period, meaning Rome once again broke a 3-3 stalemate to win the game. Unlike Bob's game winning goal in the first game, Numminen's GW tally was pretty straight forward.
 
An errand pass by Kyle Peace was intercepted by Nalwa, but before a sloppy play resulted in Numminen's breakaway, Peace intercepted Otto's pass in the neutral zone. Now that there's some context, we can imagine the play developing. Numminen has the puck in the neutral zone, gets pressured into making a play, and the puck is intercepted by Peace. Peace doesn't have a lot of space, tries to squeeze it through Numminen's legs, but Nalwa is there to collect the puck. The clean pass over a sprawling Peace was enough to enable Numminen to enter Vasteras' zone on a breakaway, and he quick work of a chaotic moment. 

We're not even sure Peace was off the ice before the goal was scored.


GAME THREE:
Vasteras wins 4-3, trails series 2-1.

Vasteras' first win of the finals wasn't a literal 'flip the script' moment on the Gladiators, but it was a moment the team would take. Unlike the first two games, which were tied three apiece before a game winning goal was scored to seal the victories for Rome, Vasteras had already scored the game winning goal 15:39 into the third frame. The difference between Vasteras' first fourth goal in the first three games was their lead when it was scored, which so happened to be 4-2 when the goal was registered by Jocke Jockesson's first goal of the postseason. 

The play was pretty simple. Calamari was applied pressure through the center of the Gladiators zone, took a shot on net, and collected the rebound that scooted off towards the boards. A quick pass through some bodies found Jockesson's stick, and the Eagle tapped it home for a goal that extended the Eagles' lead to two. Less than two minutes later Rome would tally to cut their lead to one, but the goal held up and consequentially became the game winning goal.

Booberry stopped 39 of 42 shots to give his club the win. 


 
GAME FOUR:
Rome wins 5-4, leads series 3-1.

The fires of Mount Doom are glowing red, and the showers of the category five hurricane 'Gloom' are rapidly approaching Vasteras. Other than the obvious Lord of the Rings reference, there's also a subtle one if you can find it on the scoresheet. It doesn't take that long, but it is a bit of a stretch, so the hints you get are 'fellowship' and what happened to it. Oh fuck it, we'll explain why Nalwa's third period goal wound up being the final nail in the Iron Eagles' game four efforts. 

You see they lead the game 3-0 heading into the second period, and just after the second frames 11th minute, the Eagles had secured a 4-1 lead over the Rome Gladiators. Everything was looking up, the fellowship of the ring was healthy as it could be. Optimism was high, the mere idea they could tie the series at two had unified their play, and then the Orcs -- er we mean Gladiators -- ruined the fellowship by completely dismantling the Eagles through the last eight minutes of the second period. A once 4-1 game was tied at four heading into the third period, and Nalwa secured the victory over Vasteras 15:50 into the final leg. 

Brink of elimination.


GAME FIVE:
Vasteras wins 4-3, trails series 3-2.

Okay now we have a literal 'flip the script' situation here. Does this seem familiar at all to you? It's the third period, the game is tied 3-3 and the game winning goal breaks a stalemate to become the game winner. Yeah, it's pretty familiar to us too, but this time fortune favored the bold as Vasteras threw everything they had into the eventual powerplay goal. Oh damn, was that another reference? Just like any Star Trek movie, or really any movie not labelled Infinity War lately, our heroes seem to always find a way to have plot armor... er, find a way to achieve victory. 

Tipton's third period goal just over five minutes was enough to give Vasteras the lead, but it wasn't enough to secure the game. Oh no, that came on the back of Xavier Booberry, who had to make seventeen additional stops to ensure the Eagles weren't eliminated in game five. Overall the goaltender stopped all twenty three he faced during the period, and perhaps some of the most important saves were before Tipton scored the go-ahead goal, but nevertheless Xavier deserves special recognition for building a shield. Xavier La Forge, anyone... no? 

Oh and for the first time this series, Vasteras was able to save their 3-1 lead.


GAME SIX:
Vasteras wins 7-4, series tied 3-3.

Vasteras' win was pretty convincing in game six, and truthfully a spoiler to how the club would play in the decisive game seven. The seven goal output was nice, but the real factor in the victory was limited the Gladiators to just twenty four shots throughout the game. In a league/era where goals are seemingly scored through shot volume, the Gladiators simply didn't have enough darts on the board to get a bullseye. We're done with the movie references so don't worry, I had my fun and now it's over.
 
The Eagles-Gladiators series, however, has now become more interesting than anyone could have predicted following the first four games. In another 'flip the script' moment, Vasteras was able to comeback from Rome's 3-1 lead and successfully tied the series, something they were unable to do -- including game five -- throughout the finals against Rome. Our game winner this time around was scored back in the first period, on the Eagles fifth goal of the frame, which really recapped an impressive display from Captain Armani Calamari. 

Onto game seven! 


GAME SEVEN:
Vasteras wins 6-1, wins series 4-3.

Okay now the ultimate 'flip the script' moment has been completed. The Eagles' 6-1 victory has secured the players, staff, fans and city the inaugural VHLE championship. I'm not really sure what the award is called for the winning VHLE team but I'm sure someone will point it out. Regardless, and fortunately for our heroes in this book, the Eagles are ending the season on the highest note possible. The climax has arrived, and now the final chapters will be written in the history books. Many players will be graduating to their VHL teams, leaving Vasteras a hollow shell of the team that just won the VHLE's top trophy. 

In a six-one victory it's hard to pinpoint any particular turning point, the scoring was so spread out six individual skaters all recorded goals in the contest, although it could be said Vidot's four point effort or Booberry's excellent goaltending helped the team achieve what they achieved. The truth it this seventh game was a complete team effort, unlike some of the games above despite a win or loss at the end of the night. Everyone on the ice was celebrating as if it were the Stanley Cup, no one really cares who got the game winner, or who scored the most points. 

Remember that good sportsmanship is key. It was a hard fought series, Rome, you should be proud of your effort; you were a great antagonist to this story.

I'd like to say I'm impressed with Moscow leading the series 3-1, but having just experienced a 3-1 deficit with Vasteras, I know the series isn't over yet... although I'm interested to see if Moscow can finish off the Wolves tomorrow and wrap this season up. It's been a long season, a frustrating season, and I'm well aware that's the grave I dug for myself. I'm beyond ready for it to end, I'm ready for my player to be on Toronto and I'm ready to begin preparing for the entry draft. This season could mark the first season in a long time where I might be absent, so I have to dot my I's and cross my T's before sending in a priority list. 

Or I can have someone show up for me. 🤔 

Reflecting back on the playoffs I'm honestly surprised DC fell in four after fighting hard against Chicago, but I suppose STHS decided the teams who lost their first game would be swept in the second round.

Oh and the European conference first round were both sweeps. 

The fuuuu.....

I'm interested!

I'm interested!