Sova

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"There are many great prospects that I have noticed over the past season as I still follow the league in my free time and as it might impact me directly i have an interest in it. Nathan seems to be dominating the league in all important aspects and therefore I think that he would be a great fit for almost any team. Calgary doesn't need goal scorers as much as other teams and therefore he might not be a great fit for us in particular but that is not because of his lacking talent. Bolt Vandehuge seems to be a fantastic defensive prospect that will be a great player as soon as he hits the majors as there is somewhat of a lack of defenseman in the VHL. I would be more than happy to be playing alongside any of the players coming out os Saskatoon as I know they have gone through a great team that teaches them all the needed essentials. I think in the future many great players will come out of this team and any player looking for a VHLM team should head there if he has the opportunity"

Mark Gebauers offseason has so far been enjoying his offseason by using the by Calgary provided practice facilities. Mark has been seen trying to work on multiple aspects on his game and this is something that proves is a great work ethic that has gotten him so far. We have interviewed Mark and asked him about his thoughts on the league and his team and whatever else he had to say. "Mark your season has come to an early end what is your opinion on not being part of the playoffs?"  "Well it doesn't feel good for sure but what can you do besides going back and trying to become a better player and a better team which is a long process but a process that is worth it. I think this might take a couple of seasons but at some point, we will be able to make the playoffs we have a great core and a great team but well you never know." "You just mentioned your team what do you think about Calgary?" "I think we are a great team that has a bright future but we will have to patient but I rather win as soon as possible of course but what can you do? We have a great goalie that is developing quickly and we have some great veterans." "Is there a player that you would like to see on your team and if yes why?" "That is a hard question there are many great players in this league but in the end i would have to go with Elias Dahlberg since we have often been compared in the past and i would enjoy developing with him and in the best way also playing on a line with him and I think we would make a great duo in the near future but I doubt something like this is going to happen any time soon but maybe one day." "Do you have any advice for this year's draftees?" "As a new player myself, I can just tell them to enjoy their time in the league and be humble as there are many players that are way better than you and you should be aware of that. You will not be as good as in the VHLM but you will improve way quicker as you will be around great player that can teach you a lot and as a last piece of advice, play for Calgary and Saskatoon." "One last question what do you want to work on the most?" "Quite contradictory I will work on my defence since it has helped me imrpove my scoring by a mile and therefore i think it might be more important to me thant i thought in the beginning." "Thanks for your time and the advice that will for sure help many young players even though they might need to consider your bias, good luck in the coming season and with your offseason practice"

Part I - Pick em' (Pick the correct winners of all three games for 2 TPE)

Game 4 - Las Vegas Aces @ Halifax 21st

Game 5 - Halifax 21st @ Las Vegas Aces

Game 6 - Las Vegas Aces @ Halifax 21st 

Part II - Predict the Score (Predict the correct score and winner of this game for 3 TPE)

Game 5 - Halifax 21st @ Las Vegas Aces Vegas 2-1

Part III - Player Predictions (Predict the correct player for each category, 1 TPE for each correct answer)

Series leader in points: Vanderhuge
Series leader in goals: Diljodh

Series leader in assists: Vanderhuge

No game or series over can be a viable answer

Part I - Pick em' (Pick the correct winners of all three games for 2 TPE)

Game 3 - Helsinki Titans @ Toronto Legion

Game 4 - Helsinki Titans @ Toronto Legion

Game 5 - Toronto Legion @ Helsinki Titans 

Part II - Predict the Score (Predict the correct score and winner of this game for 3 TPE)

Game 5 - Toronto Legion @ Helsinki Titans - Toronto 4-3

Part III - Player Predictions (Predict the correct player for each category, 1 TPE for each correct answer)

Series leader in points: Arroyo
Series leader in goals: Ironside

Series leader in assists: Tzuyu

How do you feel about not making the playoffs?

Bad of course but next season is another chance

Do you have any plans with your team mates for the off season?

Practice

Best Wranglers inside joke.

Dahlberg if that is considered an inside joke

Do you think your GM will protect you or are you destined to Menace the league with Victor?

I have no idea to be honest havent looked into it

3 things that are not equipment that are in your hockey bag.

Headphones, ID and beer

Worse thing I would find in your car if I looked.

You could notice I don't have a car.

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"Well its disappointing for sure and I was kinda hoping to be participating but in the end it is my fault that I am not there now and I will use the free time I have to work on my game so that I can take my team to the Playoffs in the next season but as I already said it is also somewhat out of my control. I hope that our team improves around me as i noticed some of them slacking of and skipping practices which is a team environment I don't like. I am there working hard and they are out partying but I guess to everyone their own I just hope we can have some more success next season.

I don't know yet where my journey will take me, of course, I would like to go to Moscow and live there but I am also really happy in Calgary but time will show us how things develop and depending on that I make my decisions right now its all about improving my game. I hope to be a better player at the start of next season and I think I will be able to do that and I just want to make the people proud that believe in me."

Today we will do a small recap on Mark Gebauer seasons and see how the rookie did. First of all, if you take a look at where his team, the Calgary Wranglers, ended the season you might quickly judge it as a disappointing season and you would not be entirely incorrect with that judgement. At the beginning of the season Mark was struggling a lot and was bearly able to score any points for his team, he wasn't even in the top 50 skaters for a long time. As the season continued to develop Mark started to become an integral part in the offence of the Wranglers and worked his way up to the 3rd most important scorer on the team. This is even more impressive considering how much ground he had to cover because of his slow start and if he is able to keep this up he might be a vital player next season. People that followed the Junior World Cup saw mark leading team Europe all the way to the finals where they lost a close game against Canada. All these factors seem to indicate that he has truly improved as a player during the last season and will now be a lot better than what he was just a couple of months ago and if that development continues he might become an outstanding player that might  be able to be a star on a roster at some point. This is all quite speculative as Mark is still young and we can't be sure if he continues to develop or if he is going to hit a plateau sooner rather than later but this will only be certain with time. 

Any GMs that are looking to acquire a scoring center should be looking into the possibility of getting Mark since it is somewhat of a gamble considering that there is a chance he'll just stop improving but that might allow them to trade him for less valuable assets and therefore get a great deal if his team decides they want to trade him. We asked Mark about this issue and he stated that he has no allegiances to any VHL team and just wants to play as much as possible and at some point win a cup but besides that, the Rookie made no comments about which team he favours or if he would like to be traded or not. It seems to be a good time for GMs to reach out but also he might also stay in Calgary and he would be more than happy doing so. One peculiar thing Mark mentioned is that he said if he had to choose a team he would like to play for Moscow since this is a city he feels at home in and the GM @Victor seems to be great at his job. Mark also quickly added he would not want to cause damage to Calgary and therefore will not demand any trades neither now nor in the future unless unforeseen circumstances arise and force him to do so.

17 hours ago, ShawnGlade said:

 did you even look at our roster when writing this?

if he did he would have looked at the roster he would have seen you have no good players neither protected or unprotected is that what you are saying? (besides Dahlberg)

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve read on the VHL or seen this week?

Passing doesnt help with assists PH is king (stats analysis)

What’s the most useless talent you have?

I can juggle, read Cyrillic, eat the spiciest food, solve magic cubes in under 20 seconds.... there is a lot 

Reason you were last sent to the penalty box, or would be if you don’t have penalty minutes.

Bwoah... hooking I think?

Your most over used emoji and why you use it so much?

Like because i cant reach the other stuff on my phone

What players have the best personalities goalies, forwards or defensemen? Explain your reasoning.

Dahlberg, because he brings some spice into the league

What’s something you really resent paying for?

Entertainment

Where is dahlberg didn't you read my article?

5 minutes ago, Nykonax said:

missed someone on the list smh

The real all starts are at the world cup juniors 

Well someone in the stands is gonna get a silver medal 

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"Well I mean most of us saw it coming to some extent in my eyes expansions always somewhat dilute the league and make the overall skill level drop if you look at some teams most of their roster could still be playing in the minors and would even be tearing it up there but after all the choice isn't mine. I personally slugged away in the minors for longer than some others here considering I was already playing in Europe and it didn't hurt me and some of my friends from other sports are spending 4 years playing in college which most of us skip completely and they are not even getting paid during that time so I think we have it pretty good as is and now with the new teams contracts are gonna go up and the demand for talent too which I am uncertain of if the minors can provide it but all in all I am happy about what is happening well just see how it goes and if the level of play drops that's only good for me so I have no reason to complain. As to locations we are expanding too I am really happy about having a Russian team and one of the young players I am coaching in my free time Rasmus Stalin hails from there and if he makes it already expressed interest in playing for his home team but we will see. "

Disclaimer: This is a joke so please don't take it seriously

Today I will present to you my 100% correct expansion draft prediction first I will name the best player at all the positions and then we will dive into who should draft whom and what each GMs priorities should be.

This is gonna have a different format from most mock drafts but my way of doing it is definitely far superior.

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1) The World Junior Championship is finally underway; who do you think wins it all and why?

Europe because we have Dahlberg (I think at least haven't seen him show up on the score sheet so far) @Nykonax

2) With VHLM playoffs right around the corner, where do you see your team ending up when its all said and done?

Saskatoon will sadly probably not be going to deep.

 3) How do you feel about your own personal performance thus far? Do you need to step it up, or stay consistent with what you have?

I need to step it up

4) What team do you think will be the biggest surprise in the last portion of this season?

Maybe someone suddenly retiring  would be wild

5) Where do you see yourself at this point next season? What do you hope to have accomplished by then?

Scored at least 100 points

6) What do you like most about the VHL? What keeps you around?

I like ice hockey so i guess that is what is keeping me here besides the great people

This world Junior Mark has been at the center of team Europe and the medias attention. After a slow start, Mark has started his 6 game point streak and so far has been able to rack up 12 points in 8 games. Mark has been a vital peace for Europes offence and is leading the entire tournament in scoring so far and is only second to his teammate Landon Baxtor in points. Mark seems to have found his groove an this is showing in this tournament and many people hope he will be able to show up in such a big way in the VHL as well since so far Mark has at best been mediocre. Marks game has changed drastically over the last couple of weeks and it seems to be paying off as he started racking up points in the VHL and WCJ but at the moment it is to early to definitively judge this.

Marks performance in the WCJ seems to show that he truly is struggling with the competition in the VHL rather than being flat out untalented which could be perceived as a good sign since he might adjust to the harder competition while it would be unlikely for him to suddenly find his talent again.

All in all, we can just hope he gathers some confidence in this tournament that he then uses in the VHL and gift us some great goals.

27th

Canada

In so far Mark Gebauer has been more than struggling to adapt to the majors league but now he seems to have broken his drought and had two strong outings back to back. When you observe his game you can clearly see that his understanding of where to position himself on the ice has clearly improved which creates a lot more scoring opportunities for himself or his team. This sudden rise in hockey IQ seems to have come almost out of nowhere so we talked with the rookie after his last game.

"Mark in the last 2 games you have seemed to have been playing quite differently compared to how you played before so I want to ask you what changed?"

"Well you know I now started Imagining a certain face on the puck so I think my shots got a bit faster which helps and also I watched a bit of tape so I guess that helped."

"You don't sound so happy is your performance still bothering you?"

"No, I just think I can do better and I hope I will so we will see I guess just keep practising."

Mark seemed to not be quite so happy with his performance and wasn't willing to give us any more insight but who can blame him he has a 6% shooting percentage even though he has quite a good shot for a rookie but we will see how this develops and we can just hope he keeps up the pace he had in the last games and maybe he can turn the season around"

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