ShawnGlade

I love this. Recently I've been getting a few messages and I won't blast anybody or whatever, but man I really don't enjoy getting these generic draft messages. I'm assuming it's new GMs or people who don't quite know me sending me these, because I read it and it sounds like I'm getting some cookie cutter "oh hey I'm a good manager blah blah play for me" which I don't even really like in any setting but I won't pretend like VHL isn't full of copying and pasting. I say newer GMs and such because I feel like it's not an issue with someone like you Gustav, or say Bana, yknow people that I already know and have a history with wouldn't be asking me this stuff. I'd much rather get a discord message just being like "yo whats up bro whatchu think about playing here"

Yes I stole this idea from bana and not I'm not ashamed of it. I think it's a great idea and others should do it, I like interacting with you guys and hearing about your lives outside of this virtual community. I went on a few dates this week with a girl I've been seeing. She was very adamant about paying for my dinner, which I've never had before so that was pretty cool. I got really sick this week though, I started writing my 2000 word PT on like Tuesday but just got around to finishing today. My throat was KILLING me and I'm not really the kind of person to get sick often but this week SUCKED for feeling icky. I'm getting over it now though, I still have a bit of a cough but I have work in less than an hour so I'll just suck it up

New Rocket League season started this week too, I've been grinding that since my gaming buddy won't be around for a few months, I've been real sad that I have nobody to grind ranked league with. Excited to get back in the gym tomorrow man, being sick took me away from it and I just feel so unathletic and gross not working out. But anyways, hope everyone reading had an awesome week and this upcoming week is even better

Press Conference

1. If you had to re-name your player, what would you choose?

2. Which VHL team do you think has the best shot at winning the cup next season?

3. Who's one member on this site you'd like to give a shoutout to and why?

4. What team would you most like to play for in the VHL?

5. What's your favorite dessert?

6. Avs or Lightning?

We recently just passed my VHL birthday on June 16th, marking 4 years that I've been a member in this wonderful community. There are numerous topics I thought about writing about, but I feel as though personal lives aren't discussed enough around here, for good reason I suppose.

A lot has changed for me in the last 4 years since I joined the site. When I joined I was heading into my senior year in high school, 17 years old. It's crazy to think that 4 years later, I'm heading into my senior year of college at 21 years old. That's like, a MAJOR life time slot I've somehow fit all this into. I would come home every single day and check games to see how badly Halifax had kicked another team's ass, feeling dope that I was in control of such a powerhouse. Bragging aside I was able to maintain VHL with my life as I went through that senior year and as I graduated. Cool enough, right before graduation, I got a girlfriend for the first time in what felt like forever, and shit was awesome. That summer, everyday consisted of working a 9-8, doing VHL shenanigans, and then seeing my girlfriend. I'll admit, after a while that schedule got kind of exhausting, and my girlfriend also felt that way so literally 12 hours before my plane ride away from home and off to college, she DUMPED me on the damn BEACH. It stung and I don't mean to sound dramatic, but I think that was the first domino to fall in what would be a tough few years for me. I went off to college far away from my family and had moved out entirely at 18 years old, which these days seems more impressive than it used to be. I was afraid to be completely honest. I was in a new state surrounded by new people with a new life, and still reeling from my breakup, I entered what at the time was the lowest point in my life. I grew up being this tough, stereotypical hockey player who refused to show emotion, but man there were too many nights that first month of college where I couldn't sleep because I was crying too much. It ate at me and I told myself I wanted to move back home, but I finally got a bit of hope. My college hockey season had started and it gave me an outlet. Sure, I got teased, hazed, pranked, everything just because I was a rookie in college, but I was apart of a family, almost like a frat if you will. A few weeks later I met a girl who I thought was just so amazingly beautiful and we connected so well, we filled each other in as people and it was magical. After a month of sneaking around acting as though we were friends, I finally got the courage to ask her out and even though I had dated before, I don't think I have ever been so in love with someone from the first time I saw them. It seemed as though everything was looking better for me and this was going to work out after all.

December 14th, 2019 will forever stick out to me as the day my life changed the worse. Less than a month after asking out the girl of my dreams, I'd get hurt in my team's last game of the fall semester. I was on defense when my center picks up the puck in the opposite corner, and I start skating diagonally towards our bench with a full head of steam calling for it. The puck touches my stick and in less than a second I'm staring up at the rafters. I thought to myself, "Well fuck, that hurt." I threw up in my mouth a bit, sitting there on one knee I got hit so hard, I couldn't tell if I was breathing, I wasn't sure if I got the wind knocked out of me or not. I took one step towards the bench, and then everything goes to black. I come to staring at the ice, nothing going through my head, nothing telling me to get up, nothing telling me to move, just sitting there thinking "yep, that's ice I'm looking at." I had been out for over 45 seconds, long enough for trainers to be by my side already and paramedics waiting in the lobby. What happened was the dude who hit me had 6 inches and 150 pounds on me, so not only did he clean my clock, but my head took the brunt of the hit because he was just taller than me, and then the back of my head bounced off the ice when I fell. I remember throwing up on the bench after and watching the rest of the game next to the backup goalie, answering the same question over and over and I kept asking the woman treating me, "what the fuck just happened?" I spent the night in the hospital with a grade 3 (severe) concussion just a week before Christmas break.

My birthday is 5 days before Christmas, so this incident took place just 6 days before my 19th birthday. I was set to fly home the day before, but rain in Denver caused my flight to be grounded to well over an hour, so I ended up missing my connection in Seattle. I didn't get in until 12:30am and the best they could do was rebook me for 15 hours later, and that's how I spent my 19th birthday sleeping on the floor, alone in the Seattle airport, with a major concussion. Yeah, definitely not on the list of cool birthdays. Something did happen though during that Christmas break, I saw my best friend from high school again and he was RIPPED. We weren't loners exactly, but to put it lightly, I was really the only one he bothered to hang out with. He told me that since I left, he wasn't sure what to do with himself, so he hit the gym grind hard, and man did he ever. He showed me the app he was using and I was hooked right away. The entirety of that winter break, I spent in his garage lifting weights with him, it was awesome. I follow this passion still, working out 6 days a week, and this moment where he introduced me to his new hobby stands as the inspiration for my career path. For those that are unaware, I'm now a certified personal trainer, and I'm working of getting my dietary certification all thanks to my friend for tuning me into how sick lifting was.

After getting back to college that spring, this little disease you may have heard of started making the news. I didn't think much of it, just some sickness making it's way into the US. I like everyone else thought I was getting a two week spring break, which turned into an entire summer of sitting on my ass doing long distance with my girlfriend. That summer I attempted a comeback to the VHL and it went solid for a while, but soon again realized I just didn't want to do it, so I left again. I went back to school that fall and moved into a new, bigger dorm which was sweet. But around this time I started having issues with my girlfriend, at the same time I was struggling in classes and my health was not there at all. I loved fitness but gyms being closed for over half a year meant I had every excuse in the world to just not try and so I was the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I fought with my girlfriend a lot, and a school year that just had everything going wrong, got worse when we broke up in April 2021. The weeks after I became that worst possible version of myself. I wasn't angry, didn't lash out, none of that, I just let myself go in every possible way. I stopped showering, only ate fast food, I'd stay up till 6 in the morning playing video games, and I stopped going to class entirely. I failed all my classes and I was just this smelly, overweight, gross kid in college. I was at the lowest point in my life and knew it. I was lucky enough to grow up and not go through "normal teen emotions" such as anxiety or depression, but boy was I sure depressed heading into the summer of 2021. Although some life changing stuff would pop up on my Instagram on this exact day one year ago. My hockey teammate had started the 75 Hard challenge and was documenting his progress. I looked at the challenge and thought "damn, that's pretty cool" and decided to give it a shot. For those unaware, the challenge puts you through the ringer giving you tasks every day to complete for 75 straight days, one fail and you're back to day 1. I didn't make it through to the end, but by the time it was all said and done, I had lost 40 pounds, back to my original weight from a year prior, and I was in a much safer head space.

I moved in with my best friend at the time who happened to be a lesbian chick. We did everything together and it just felt right, so we got an apartment last summer. I was also close with her girlfriend, who was pretty much living with us at the time. For the first time in my life, everything felt like it was back on track, and I was talking to a new girl, the first since my breakup. Everything was awesome, and for the first time since my concussion, I skated in a college hockey game for the first time in close to two years. Everything can only be so short lived though. See, the thing about moving out at 18 meant I've been financially independent since I was 18. I didn't have the money to go home for the holidays. My parents had gotten a divorce shortly after I began my freshman year at college, and I couldn't afford a plane ticket to either one of their houses. I made the toughest decision ever to stay in Colorado for the holidays and just work. And if you were wondering, yes, it was very sad spending my birthday, christmas, and new years alone. To make matters worse I was stood up by the girl I was seeing and when my roommates came back, they suddenly decided they wanted to make my life suck. My new years resolution was to be nicer to myself, to not let things bother me as much. It sucked being shot down by that girl, hearing "I like you, but I'm in love with another guy" just like it sucked when my roommates would come back drunk every night and yell at me for some random inconvenience I caused them.

I talked with those two multiple times, I felt disrespected in my own living space, but they didn't care. I spent all spring listening to parties on a nightly basis while I'm trying to sleep, hearing what once was my group of best friends, say just hurtful things about me as if our walls aren't thin and I can't hear everything they're saying about me. I tried to not let that stuff bother me, but yknow at a certain point it's hard not to take things personally. This past spring wrapped up nicely for me though. My grades were the best they've been since coming to college, and I started getting out more. I started dieting and spending more time in the gym, which has led me to new friendships with people I never thought I'd even talk to. I even started talking to a new girl I've had my eye on for a while and things are going well. I wish I could give you guys a sort of redemption arc where things look up, but this brings us to present day as I'm writing this. I'm looking for a new place to live because I don't like living with these people anymore and just trying to figure it out one day at a time. But man, does it feel good to finally be back in the VHL, and I haven't even gone inactive yet!

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Week of 6-19

Week of 6-26

Week of 7-3

Week of 7-10

ill apply so i can stop writing these god forsaken 590s

Press Conference

1. Season is over, what was our downfall?

2. How do you feel about your player's season?

3. Who's one member of this team you'd like to give a shoutout to and why?

4. What should our focus be in the upcoming draft?

5. What's your favorite ice cream flavor?

6. Do you own any NHL jerseys? If so what's your favorite?

23 hours ago, Dil said:

Tf bro you weren’t supposed to share that

35 minutes ago, McWolf said:

I was on the other team lmao

In that case I hate you for killing our cinderella run

In a rollercoaster of events, the Ottawa Lynx have been dumped in 6 games. For Jani Karppinen, the season that started well for the Finn has ended in a disappointing way. After earning 3 points in his first 3 games, Karppinen would score just 3 points in 16 games, and 1 assist in 12 postseason matches. One place he was consistent however, was the penalty box, in both the regular season and playoffs, Karppinen averaged 1 PIM per game, and was a -4 in the playoffs. Even as a new player, that sort of production makes Ottawa wonder what could've been if their new toy had panned out the way they wanted. It will be interesting to see how the offseason goes for the young Finnish star, as he will enter the VHLM draft before entering the VHL draft next offseason. Will he work hard and go high in the draft, or will he fall and have another disappointing year?

I'm not eligible for the theme week appreciation post bonus, but in true appreciation spirit, I don't need an incentive to talk wonderfully about my baby, the Halifax 21st.

When I first joined the VHL way back in the early S60s which feels ancient now I didn't know the hell I was doing. Older members can remember a time like this, and I had just joined when we still updated manually in team forums, when the "OG Teams" were the new kids on the block, and when the Vancouver Wolves (and @Beaviss) were a meme for choking every season. I joined the Yukon Rush for that playoff run just a few days after joining, and we actually lost in the finals due to some questionable manager decisions, but it is what it is. I remember there were talks about an expansion franchise joining the VHLM. AT the time there were only 6 teams in the league which today seems outrageous, but I guess that's why the league needed an expansion. They were looking for a management team for this new team and I since I was an ambitious whippersnapper, I thought, "I'll throw my name out." After a few days, @Smarch was named GM, and his first order of business was naming me as AGM, which came as a complete shock, but I welcomed the role with open arms and an eagerness to learn. EXCEPT, Smarch's second action as GM was to resign, handing the reigns over to me. I was shocked, but also super excited. After I had taken over as GM, the commissioners had reached out to me and asked where I thought the team should be located, since they didn't have a city or name picked, they just knew they wanted to add a team. I got this list of 5 cities and immediately, one stuck out to me more than any of them. Now I've always had a deep connection to Halifax, despite being an American citizen and never being outside the country. I have family from there, and I've always been a true Mooseheads fan because of Nathan MacKinnon. It's really the only Canadian city I am a true fan of, so it was an easy choice. I submitted my vote and sure enough, Halifax was chosen as the next VHLM franchise.

I tried to model a lot of what VGK did that inaugural season, seeing as this was in 2018 and the Golden Knights had just had their cinderella run to the finals that calendar year, and I figured it would be a fun immersion to real world events. This was when team's still had locker rooms and season threads, so I named ours "The Golden Misfits" because like the NHL, we also had an expansion draft (although the best I got was a 4th round pick). To my surprise, we dominated early season, which gave me a lot of confidence. I also did my best to be a likable figure as GM, making funny waiver claim posts to new members which got us a lot of free agents, so many so that we had active 4th liners with over 100 TPE, which I'm sure the BOGs would explode with rage seeing that happen today. That S82 squad was special in a few ways, my favorite VHL memory also occurred because of this team. This member is no longer active so I don't feel bad laughing about this, but I once got the league's top forward (and eventual MVP/point leader) and a top 2 dman, for an inactive player and a 5th rounder. The trade was so lopsided that it got veto'd because the commish thought we were colluding, but once it was found out I fleece'd him outright, this poor GM was made to sit down with commish and have a chat about proper player value. Anyways, that team was star studded, had so many name of people who went on to be so much more on this site. @ColeMrtz @McWolf  @Peace @Baozi , just to name a few of the big names on that team. It was insane, and after finishing first in the league convincingly, we got swept in the Finals. Oof.

S83 was different. Not nearly as good, but still a force to be reckoned with and a third place finish to bring us to the conference finals that season. I did well enough to earn a promotion to the VHL which I actually almost declined because Halifax was my baby, it was me, I hadn't know anything that wasn't the 21st. But I chose to take the promotion, but I only agreed if I could choose the next GM, which was strange at the time, but I was allowed to and chose McWolf as my successor which I believe was his first job on the site, so you're welcome McWolf ;). I came back to Hally a few seasons later, this time in a comeback-gone-wrong attempt with another player. I AGM'd for @Dil who I did not like at all, but he grew on me and he was willing to put our differences aside and let me help manage my baby, and so I decided to be an adult about it and just work as friends, so I apologized yada yada we kissed whatever. We had different philosophies on managing the team, and a bit of lazyness on my part led to dil firing me which I was a bit salty about but I couldn't really be mad about. That was the last time I had every been part of the management for Halifax.

Truthfully I'd love to run the team again someday. I know VHLM GMs can be a carousel at times, but I won't hold my breath. There are others more deserving than me, and the way to grow the league is to give other, newer members a shot. I've posted a few times in the discord that despite whichever teams I've been on, and whichever people I've managed, I still wear my Halifax 21st hoodie out in public, it's cozy.

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Week ending 6/5

Week ending 6/12

Oh I like this! Awesome detail by styling the logo to look like it's on a jersey, and paired with the text and player render it makes for a pretty appealing sig. I also appreciate people who make an effort to remove logos and such from renders, makes it feel more realistic. Only thing I'd say is making the player bigger would fill a bit of the empty space around his head, but I'm sure you have your reasons. 9/10

This made my day

Don't see my name anywhere, so I think this is bad...

But on a serious note I like these articles. I'm a huge fan of this particular theme week for articles like this, where we can step aside from the league and recognize individual members who make each and every day fun in this tight knit community we have. I like the write up and each member and I'm sure it makes these guys feel awesome. 9/10

Ottawa Lynx

Press Conference

1. The cinderella run is in full swing! Why do you think that is? 

2. Who's you pick to win playoff MVP?

3. In your opinion, who goes #1 in the VHLM draft this off-season?

4. Do you pronounce it Gair-age or Gah-rage

5. How do you feel about your performance these playoffs?

6. Who do you want to win the Stanley Cup?

Ottawa Lynx

Press Conference

1. What's one piece of advice you'd give your play heading into playoffs?

2. How do you feel about your season as a member and a player?

3. The team has been streaky lately, what's your opinion on what's going good and what's going bad?

4. Do you pronounce it Colo-RAW-do or Colo-RAH-do?

5. Who's your pick for team MVP?

6. Which team do you think will be a spoiler in the playoffs?

DIdn't get our offer in in time, Ottawa woulda loved to have you. But regardless, welcome back Phil, always nice seeing an older name pop around again

Welcome back pal

I will throw my hat in this ring

First career goal for Jani Karppinen in his debut. LFG

Title made me laugh before I even opened the article, which maybe you intended but it gave me a chuckle. I always appreciate articles that list players like this and show stats to back it, it makes the article feel more immersive and gives life to it. Plus the writeup on each player was done nicely and it was easy to read. Maybe you could've added a picture of some player missing an open net or something. 9/10

Pretty solid article, I would also like to see some more pictures and pizzaz to this piece, but it was very well written. Only content thing  I'd add is more of a writeup for the players. It's cool seeing your name mentioned in an article but it's kind of a bummer when there's no real substance to the paragraph, like the one about Riga. 7/10

I've made like 7 players at this point, and apart from 1, all of them have been in the "Shawn Glade" bloodline. When I decided to come back to the VHL I didn't want to make another SG player because not only would it get meme'd but god damn how cringey would it be to make a Shawn Glade 6? The original SG played 20 seasons ago, if there's 6 generations in 20 years then I wanna know what the hell is in the water in the Shawn Glade household. I wanted to make a European player because I was bored, although I will miss playing for team USA. I went to a random name generator and selected a Finnish name and boom, chose the most Finnish sounding hockey name I could. I can't decide how I want to pronounce Jani though. Should I keep the J sounding like a Y or should I really pronounce the J?

21033993213884712

Free Week

5 Uncapped

Doubles Week

 It's no secret that I am somehow related to Trifecta in the sense that I am making a new player every so often, only to ditch them after a few weeks because I get too busy. When I first joined the league I was heading into my senior year of highschool, and let's be honest, highschoolers have fuck all to do during the day so I was able to spend HOURS a day on the site. I'm not joking when I say that every morning before school, I'd spend upwards of 2 hours a morning managing my VHLM team making trades, offers, etc. and maybe that's why we were so successful, but that's a topic for another day. After a while I got offered the Davos GM spot I wanna say around December-ish of my senior year and it was just constant downhill moves from there. If my memory serves correct, we did make the playoffs one year and took the Nighthawks to game 7 OT but that's as far as we ever got under me. Everyone pretty much knows what happened after that so I won't go too into detail but once I went off to college I had significantly less time to spend on the site, seeing as I was playing hockey for my school and finally went and got a girlfriend, both of which took up 90% of my time. Also the site just got kind of boring for me. It wasn't fun logging in everyday just to be clowned or told I suck or whatever, something I'm sure everyone can sympathize with. I got fired in January 2020 and from there pretty much just said fuck this and left.

I've made a few players between then and now, mostly unsuccessful returns apart from summer 2020. A few weeks ago Zack reached out to me and basically asked how I was doing yada yada and then asked if I had ever considered returning. At first I was a bit on the fence given my history, but I fell asleep on it that night and thought, "yknow what? I do miss the VHL." I told Zack that if I came back, I'd do it properly and start on the deadline (which I totally almost missed because I forgot) to amass as much TPE as I can. Plus, if I stick with it and go high in the draft, how cool of a comeback story would that be? Anyways, there's a lot about the site I'm not a fan of, like this new TPE system which I've had explained to me 5 times already and still don't know what the hell I'm looking at, but I miss a lot of the good. I miss fleecing bana in trades and then winning a cup on his team like nothing happened especially @Banackock. Anyways, hopefully I can find the time this time around, and maybe it helps I stopped the SG bloodline of players, it was getting tiring just adding a roman numeral on to each of my player's names.

21 hours ago, Zack said:

Ottawa Lynx

Press Conference

 

1. Fans want merchandise, what's a random item you want us to sell with your jersey number on it?

 

2. How do you view daily sims? Instantly check, Discord results or scroll through the text?

 

3. Does anything in the league remind you of anything in real life? If so, what? If not.. Why?

 

4. The Lynx skills competition is coming up.. What drill is your player signing up for? 

 

5. Are you a speed or puck handling enjoyer?

 

6. What's a food or drink you've never had but want to try?

1.  Underwear, so your mother can finally let the entire neighborhood who her favorite player is

2. I don't tbh, I msg our GM and he tells me how we are doing

3. When I check sims and see I scored 0 points, reminds me of my play in real life

4. Shootout contest because my player isn't very good at anything right now so hopefully he can impress with flashy shit

5. Puck handling for sure

6. A real cinnabon cinnamon roll. I alsways got their pretzels as a kid but fuuuuuck man a cinnamon roll sounds bomb right now