Sova

25 Helsinki Titans @ Riga Reign 26 Seattle Bears @ Calgary Wranglers 27 New York Americans @ HC Davos Dynamo 28 Toronto Legion @ Quebec City Meute

Today was an important day for me playing my first game in the VHL not everything went to plan but all in all, I am pretty happy about everything. I got up really early to start my pregame routine and getting ready to be at the rink in time which all takes some time also I wanted to take some time to relax before the game since as expected i was pretty nervous but as soon as I was at the arena and the other guys were there I started feeling a lot better. I really feel at home in Calgary and it is really nice that i get to play with players from my minor team as well as one other player that shares his mother tongue with me. Karl has been helping me a lot to get things done for me and helping me transition from team to team so i am really thankful for what he has done off the ice so far on the ice, of course, i am more than happy to have him on my team. I sadly wasnt able to perform as well as I thought initally but i hope with time i will improve and start being of value to the team but things just need time and I knew that the trantition from VHML to VHL would be a big one so i dont really mind and i kind of expected to struggle a bit in the beginning but I guess we will see how i continue and then we can start discussing what i need to work on and where my problems lie. I have been working a lot on my shot recently and I am hoping that i will be able to showcase my new found abilities by making some alarms ring and some lights come on but we will.

1. With the New Season looming what are your plans for your character? Any goals for the season stat wise? Score? Well I want to get over 300 TPE asap  2. The Recruitment Team is working hard to make the VHL a better place. What changes would you make if any? More options or money 3. Have you gone on the leagues discord channel yet? If so what are your thoughts? If you haven't why not? (Discord Link) Its to spammy for me 4. What team do you play for? Where in the standings do you think they will end up? Calgary win or bust 5. Are you aware of the Recruit a Friend Program? Would you suggest the VHL to friends or family? (Recruit a Friend Link) I wasnt but I will 6. What teams in the VHL do you think have the best shot at winning the cup? What team would you want to play for? (VHL TEAMS) Calgary is my team so i will say we are going to win it all this year

Wilinsky

Mark gebauer

Dahlberg biggest bust in vhl history?

Colton Rayne Rig G @Arthur

1. The best-of-3 finals of the Sponsor's Shield Tournament will see the VIKING and True North Gear brands face each. Who do you think takes the first ever Cup home? Viking there name is cooler 2. Are you satisfied with your position in the draft(s) that happened earlier this week?being behind dahlberg is not so great for me Wahl would like it but I dont 3. Who do you think are the frontrunners for the VHLM Founder's Cup this season? Saskatoon 4. Do you like the atmosphere in your new VHLM team's locker room? Yes a lot 5. What have you been focusing on during your most recent training sessions? Scoring  6. Fun question for new members, horrible question for veterans: Are you superstitious? Do you have a pre-game routine? Yes I do I don't eat 24 hours before a game and listen to specific music

Joseph Basilono Keaton louth @Arthur

I suck but I am in

Have you seen him?

I totally see where you are coming from GMs "hugging" goalie spots is a bit concerning in my eyes at least.

As most of you probably already know goalies here have it tough since there are very few spots to fill and there are many great goalies on the market which makes the chances of being picked up rather slim except if you are one of the top TPE earners and I want to share my thoughts on this issue and if there is a way to fix it. First of at least in my mind, it is unrealistic creating more available positions for goalies since it is quite rare for backups to see playing time in reality too so the idea of having backups playing almost half of the games is something I think should not be considered. The next thing to consider is that other sports like Football and to a lesser extent Baseball struggle with similar difficulties but there the stiff competition is one of the reasons people choose to be a QB or a starting Pitcher and it is not seen as much of a drawback. This is why I personally think that people who want to be a goalie choose to take the hard way but its there choice and so there is little reason to change the way the position works because that might affect the league in unforeseen ways.

Today I will try and give you an in depth look into who should draft Mark Gebauer and why, we will take into consideration the current roster, future goals and of course other top prospects. We will start by taking a look at the New York Americans and then go down the draft order until we took passed most teams. So let's get right into it. Note before reading this the VHL forum shows players on wrong rosters and I might have missed some of that so that kinda ruins this whole thing but well here we go anyway. New York1st & 3rd overall New York posses the number 1 and number 3 draft pick in this yeards VHL entry draft and they are coming off a disappointing season for the fans and were only able to win 18 out of their 72 matches which puts them at exactly 25% win rate. They are starting to become comfortable at the bottom of the league as they have been struggling for the past two seasons after finishing second in season 61. So as you would expect by their results this team is looking to make upgrade offensively and defensively and thanks to a great GM they are in a perfect positioning to do so holding two of the top 3 picks in this years VHL entry draft. Their first overall pick almost certainly will be spent on Ryan Sullivan JR. who has been making a lot off buzz this year and many think he is going to be one of the next top VHL defensemen even though his stats only place him at 5th best in the VHML he seems to be incredibly more talented than most of his competition and its more of a question when he will unlock his true potential and become the force of nature that he has shown he can be. So with that out of the way, we can take a look at the options New York has for their second pick. With the defence improved drastically with the pickup of Ryan Sullivan New York should be looking to get some more offensive threads on the ice as they currently only have 2 right wingers on their roster which should put Elias Dahlberg and Mark Gebauer high upon their list for potential picks at 3rd overall or maybe Joel Ylonen but his rate of improvement has been less consistent and so I would assume they make the choice between Dahlberg and Gebauer. Drafting a second defenceman so early also makes little sense in my eyes since except if Piotr Jerwa would still be available since he is the only other 200+ Defenseman in this draft while there are multiple 200+ offensive options. I personally think that New York should Maybe consider trading their top pick for either more picks next season or 3 top 5 prospects instead of 2 top 3 prospects since they lack depth and need players at multiple positions instead of focusing on plugging a few of their holes with high quality players. For Mark that means he could end up being picked 3rd overall if the Americans decide to get add an offensive player rather then a defensive one which would put him on a team with capable wingers and a great defensive player in McWolf which might help unlock Marks goal scoring capability and enable him to become a real threat in the offense by relying on his teammates to create possessions and opportunities. HC Davos 2nd & 6th overall Davos was not so happy with the draft just like they were unhappy with their last season's performance. Davos had a 30% chance of getting the 1st overall pick in this year's draft what could have turned out to be a big deal. Last season Davos struggled significantly and were only able to get 15 wins under their belt which puts them at last in the league. Davos also has the worst goal differential by a margin of 50 so they seem to have a lot to work on but Davos is looking to turn things around with this seasons draft. Since Davos currently has 2 defenders with more than 300 TPE to draw from it is unlikely they will draft Piotr Jerwa and neither are they in dire need of goalies so Davos seems to be looking at expanding their offensive capabilities. Davos desperately needs new wingers since both of theirs are still under 200 TPE so picking Dahlberg at second almost seems like a no brainer. With their 6th overall pick they then probably are going to try and snag another offensively minded player such Joel Ylonen or John Madden depending on who is still available. All in all it seems rather unlikely Mark would ever end up in Davos since he either needs to be picked at 6th overall or over Dahlberg which both seem to be quite unlikely options considering that two of the top 6 prospects are goalies and Mark ranks at 4th overall in terms of TPE, but it is a possibility. Playing for Davos would involve Mark playing behind Elias Sobek for the beginning of his career until he is able to move to the 1st line but then he probably quickly would become one of the top players on the team may be accompanied by one or two more rookies that will play their first full season of VHL with him. This seems like Davos is picking up a new core and they will have to decide carefully which players to build it around since this could decide the future of their franchise for the next couple of seasons. This seems to be one of the best teams to see Mark develope into a franchise player but comes at the cost of not having an extensive supporting cast and losing early on. Toronto 4th overall Toronto barely managed to cling the playoffs and lost in the first round and are now looking to become a real contender in the near future and to do so they will try and add a few vital pieces to their team and make everything click and win a championship lead by Stopko. Toronto has incredible depth when compared to some of the other teams which allows them to focus on making upgrades at a certain position as they are building on a very solid foundation. The first line of this team consisting of Ironside Arroyo and Louth is incredible as they all have earned over 650 TPE and their defence looks solid with 3 players over or close to 400 TPE. Toronto might look to make an upgrade to their second offensive line which could come in terms of either Elisas Dahlberg or Mark Gebauer. Both of these top prospects would spend a long time in the shadow behind the first line but it would also allow them to learn from them and to be on the ice with great teammates which would improve their production considerably. This might be the most likely position for Mark to end up in as Elias might be picked up 2nd overall while New York uses their pick on another Defenseman which leaves Toronto with almost no choice but to pick Gebauer if they are looking to improve their offense, since the next offensive player has 10 TPE less, a slower earning rate and plays the same position. Mark would be playing in the second line right from the beginning together with Trepanier and Lavar Ball which would put him on a line with a former teammate and two capable wingers which might transform the 2nd line of Toronto into a solid line that can lift some of the weight from the shoulders of their stars. Quebec 5th overall Quebec, similar to Toronto, seems to be on the verge of becoming a real contender as they lost to Riga in the 2nd round this year. Quebec is stacked at LW, C and D the only short term improvements can be made by drafting an RW that would work with Wayed to fill that gap in their Lineup and it should be the dream for any young RW to end up in this team will probably start winning as soon as that player reaches their full potential and would make them one of the star players while playing with fantastic surrounding cast, but as long as Mark doesn't transition into playing RW this would be one of the worst Teams for him to draft him as he would be stuck riding the bench for the foreseeable future and once he gets his opportunity the team will probably be rebuilding and loosing again so there is really almost no reason for either party to want to work together. Quebec doesn't need Mark and Mark doesn't want to ride the bench for multiple seasons. Calgary 7th overall After a tough loss in last years playoff finals Calgary is looking to make the most of their current situation and take over the VHL and win a Championship. Just like Quebec Calgary should be looking to pick up an RW which would make John Madden a feasible pick at 7th overall even though he is sitting at 9th overall in most draft rankings. Being drafted to Calgary would make him the 3rd option at center behind a young quickly improving prospect and an experienced old veteran. Calgary seems to be better than Quebec but Mark would massively profit from moving to RW if we was playing for Calgary as well if that is possible Calgary seems like a picture perfect destination for the young player since he will be improving alongside top prospects while being lead by some of the best veterans in the league which would allow him a seemingless transition into a leading role as soon as the older players retire and he might even be on a winning team for his entire career. All in all, Calgary seems to be the team destined for greatness in the near future if things go smooth and they can find the last puzzle piece and if that happens to be Gebauer his career seems to be one step closer to becoming one to remember. Riga 8th overall The reigning champions Riga is the last team that has a pick in the first round and therefore their roster is more than solid. There is little use for them adding another center as they have two quickly developing prospects and one veteran that is doing great work all in all its unlikely, but more than possible, Mark is going to fall so low in the draft but if he does I doubt that riga will pick him up as they might set their sights on some other player such as Piotr Jerwa if he is still available but from here on out there are so many moving pieces since they might draft Mark just to trade him for a profit to a team that they can use a higher pick on a different top prospect but this remains to be seen. All in all, Mark probably is on the radar of more than one GM but only as a second option behind other players. Any team that drafts Mark probably will turn out to be happy with their pick since his progress has been very steady over the last few months and he seems to be keeping that pace up. Mark himself has stated on several occasions that he doesn't have a preference in terms of which team he ends up and he still is adamant about that dismissing any accusations of preferring one team over another, but he should be a first round pick which already takes some teams out of consideration and as we have just had a look at which teams he fits best with there are some that make more sense and some that would seem to be an interesting choice since Mark has little intention of riding the bench from now on. In the end, it all is going to be finally answered in the draft and it is going to be interesting for sure but it might not be one of the greatest nights for Mark. Word count 2045 I will claim this for the weeks ending 23rd 30th 6th and 13th

Wow this is fantastic I hope you are cool with me using it as a sig.

Today I want to try and compare Davidson and Wahl because everyone does that at the moment. Wahl seems superior at the first look since he sits 35 TPE ahead of Davidson but if we take a deeper look into the goalies we also notice they have different styles in playing which might be the bigger difference. The save percentage of the two players is almost the same as they are only separated by 0.08 percent, this speaks for Davidson's style of play since he is able to pull of more with less so to say and if we assume that the TPE gap stays the same in absolute terms the difference percentage wise will shrink and maybe one day Davidson might have a better save percentage than Wahl with less TPE because of his play style. On the other hand, Wahl has accumulated 4 shutouts while Davidson has yet to keep his net clean for an entire game this seems to indicate a higher ceiling but also a lower floor for Wahl while Davidson seems to be very consistent in his performances. So, all in all, I think the VHL is going to get two great future goalies in these two prospects and I am really looking forward to be seeing who comes out on top.

1. We had a influx of new members recently thanks to a big Reddit recruitment drive. I am always happy about competition. 2. Do you have any idea for the Recruitment Team regarding new avenues to recruit new members? I think there is not much awareness for sim leagues so maybe some sort of promotional youtube channel. 3. Were you surprised that the Saskatoon Wild disposed of the Ottawa Lynx so easily in the VHLM Founder's Cup Finals? Nope and don't @ me 4. Do you think the Calgary Wranglers have what it takes to complete the comeback over the Riga Reign in the VHL Continental Cup Finals? Riga won but I could have seen it go both ways. 5. Any VHL team you'd prefer to be selected by in the next VHL Entry Draft? Not really no all teams are great maybe there are some slight tendencies but that is it

Marks first and only season in the VHML has come to an end and we have asked him some question about his season and how he feels about it and his future. -"Hello Mark happy to have you hear so first off all you won the VHML in your first seasons, how does that feel?" "It feels great of course but it wasn't me who won it but my team, we had such a fantastic team in all terms from coaches over GMs to players everything just clicked and I am really happy about it." -"What was your highlight of the season when you look back?" "To be honest I think I have to go with my first goal it was just a magical moment since I felt like I made my next step in my career for me it was huge transitioning from Europe to America and so when I scored my first goal I felt a lot of doubt fall of my shoulders after all its a different continent but still the same game and my first goal really showed me that and I just felt at home on the ice again." -"Now we have had a look to the past what are you looking forward to the most at the moment?" "Well I mean there are quite a few things I am looking forward to but in the near future I am looking forward to the draft and I think it will be another great moment in my career." -"So you just mentioned the draft who do you think will draft you?" "Well that is a hard question I really can't guess but and who knows I know some of my fellow draftees have spent hours thinking about who will draft them but I personally don't care so much what is important to me is that the team that ends up with me has confidence in me and tries to help me to succeed and improve as much as they can. I have a few players that I look up to as does every other player but that doesn't influence my decision I just hope I get a warm welcome in the locker room no matter where I end up." -"What do you think about your fellow draftees?" "Most of them are great guys and I had the luck to play with a lot of them, first of all, I have to mention Davidson and Wahl they are incredible goalies and any team looking for goalies has two longtime solutions right there. Well everyone knows Dahlberg so ill just mentions him and he sure has great stats." -"Do you think you are ready for the VHL?" "No and every draftee that claims so is lying I mean some of those guys can make us look like we never skated before but all of us are ready to become good enough to be one of those guys in the future but right now none of us is at that level yet at least that's what I think."

3

Done

Done

Another goal for gebauer I hope he is heating up great game by wall

Mark Gebauer has been struggling in the playoffs so far and we are here to answer the question why that is and to be able to do that first of all we will take a look into marks stats since stats never lie. Mark has only scored 4 goals in the offseason so far, which you need to keep in mind are 7 games already, and has only contributed 5 assists. None of his goals were the game winning goals and he is shooting goals at an inefficient rate of 15.8%. So far he totals 1.35 points per 20 minutes with the only redeeming quality being the plus minus of 5 with him on the ice. Another small point are is faceoffs which he wins with 55% which is decent and makes him one of the capable backup face off players. All in all we can be sure that Mark is not satisfied with this performance so far but we can also see that he had a positive effect on Saskatoon and that without him they might have lost the series to Halifax because his plus minus is quite high for the offseason. In all fairness, Mark is a sold rookie that you could make a case for being one of the better centers in the VHML right now but he also has some big flaws which might be covered by players like Brick Wahl at the moment since Mark definitely is struggling on the defensive side of the game. Saskatoon can be happy to have picked him up but what is future holds and if he will ever be able to become on of the best players of his draft class is uncertain but he seems to be determined to do so or at least that is what we think we can see since he is always practicing increasing his abilities and just getting better all around. What he needs to work on for sure is his defense since is vision just is not on the level on that of a VHL player which leads to hin being caught out of position quite often as well as his ability to give some hit to opposing players that might try to dangle their way past him. His scoring is quite impressive even though it could still be a lot better as other players are showing but his shots are dangerous and quite precise even though he might not be the player with the hardest shot in the league. What is surprising is how well he is skating and handling the puck which we did not expect to see from this kid but he has been showing off some quite smooth hands the last couple of games and was often able to avoid a hit or two by doing so. In general we can only wait to see what the future holds for this young prospect but nothing is certain yet and he might become one of the biggest busts or the all time mvp of his generation or anything between it everything seems possible and that is what makes mark such a great prospect to follow along his journey.

"Well I am more than excited to face my old team in the finals and I am pretty confident that we will be able to win it this year which would mean the world to me to be able and come into the league and just win a cup. The Ottawa Lynx are a strong team and I know many of them personally from the time I spend playing with them but there are no hard feelings from my side since the trade benefited their team, in the long run, I hope they are not upset either. I just hope to have a nice and clean series and of course I hope that we will win it since this is competitive hockey and every game that I play I want to win but surely there are teams that I would like less to see in the finals and play against so I am quite happy how it all turned out for me. I also got my sights on the big league and I hope I will be able to make the jump in the next 2 or 3 years but that just remains to be seen. Anyway, I am looking forward to the finals and I hope ill be able to score a goal or two.

1. This season's achievement tracker was just released by Banackock. What 2 stats are you going to claim TPE for? Goals and Points 2. The first round of the playoffs saw Ottawa beat Las Vegas 2-0. They are now going against Yukon. Do they have a chance? Yes 3. Who wins the other semi-final, Saskatoon or Halifax? Saskatoon 4. I just shared a 2-round mock draft, do you think anyone was too high or too low in it? I think your mock drafts are quite on point for the most part 5. The VHL All-Star Game was streamed a couple days ago. Did you check it out and what did you think of it? Sadly becasue of time zones I was not able to 6. It's time to make a last push before the draft. How much TPE do you think you'll have on draft day (knowing it's in about 2 weeks)? around 200 I think