SlapshotWrangler

1. I think the team is doing well. We are winning and I think that as we all slowly update we'll be set early in the season. 2. I do think that GMs have a good idea who to choose as captain and as assistants. I don't think I have ever had a moment where I disagreed with a GMs choice for the C's or A's. 3. Nothing gets the boys pumped up quite like Barbie Girl. Just ask David Pastrnak. 4. I would give a team to Alaska. I could be wrong but I don't think they have a VHLM, VHLE, or VHL team. Maybe the backstory can be Mystery-esque. 5. If I had to, I'd have to go with being an AGM for the Saskatoon Wild. Mostly because of my history with them. 6. A hobby I'd love to really get into is playing the drums. I am self-taught but I do hope to have the time to eventually take drum lessons.

D - Pierre Emile Bouchard @KRZY

HOUSTON - Raimo Tuominen’s rookie campaign in the VHLM has not been overly impressive in his first few games. With 2 assists, he seems to be playing okay. His plus/minus is at 0 which is not terrible but not great either. Raimo seems to be playing solidly but doesn’t seem to be making much of an impact on what is otherwise a stacked Houston team. However, he is extremely glad that the team is doing well. “I am a bit disappointed in myself for not playing my part but as long as the team is performing well, I am still pretty happy. I just hope to get going soon and find my rhythm. It’s been different from the European game; the smaller arena’s mean I have less margin for error and it’s just been different going up against such intense competition. We are all young guys scrapping for our change in the E or the Majors. I have a lot to learn. The Bulls have been excellent for me and I will definitely learn a lot from everyone on this team.” He said in a post game interview. “Lot of bigger opponents and also a lot of things I need to work on. I’m doing a lot of things decently. I want to be able to contribute to this team’s success as well. If I don’t end up doing too well individually though, I hope that the team does well. Team success over individual success anyday.”

https://imgur.com/uB7AwMD

I'll make another Bears graphic one day, gotta rep the Seattle boys hahahaha!

New York Americans vs. Malmo Nighthawks - Lottery Tournament Not exactly the tournament that people want to be in but when you are in it, you want to win it regardless. Kicking off the tournament, the Americans and the Nighthawks are going against each other. In the first period, the score was left untouched for the first 16:30 of the game until Zack Martinez potted it with assists from Jacob Stone and Hockley Mann. That was all that happened in the first period. Then after the first intermission, Malmo continued to go at it. New York took a penalty and sent the Nighthawks on the powerplay. Hockley Mann, who assisted earlier in the game, scored to extend Malmo's lead. That goal was assisted by Yaroslav Trunov and Jacob Stone; the latter with his second assist of the evening. Keeping the pressure up, Malmo extended the lead further in even strength with Reid Johnson getting a goal, assisted by Hockley Mann with his second assist of the night and Jacob Stone completing what I am dubbing the "Assist Trick". With Reid Johnson's goal, Malmo was up 3-0. New York took another penalty and Malmo capitalized. Malmo was up 4-0 due to a goal courtesy of Brodie Landry III, Yaroslav Trunov getting another apple while Hockley Mann had an "Assist Trick" of his own. There was no action in the third period as Malmo would win 4-0; Boris Tsezar with the shutout.

Mexico City Kings vs Philadelphia Reapers - Founders Cup Final Game 6 Mexico City is looking to win it all and lift the Founders Cup high. Philadelphia is looking to keep their championship hopes alive. Both teams definitely had this date circled on their calendars and both teams needed to bring their best for this one. A playoff elimination game is always tense for both sides. One team wants to finish the job while the other team is looking to live another day and regroup. This is the beauty of the VHLM playoffs. It's dramatic, it's tense, it's beautiful. This is what the playoffs are about. There was nothing but noise in the city of brotherly love. The Reapers needed to win here at home. For half of the first period, neither side could seem to get a tally until Zyn Westwood came in after about 10 minutes of play. Zyn's goal opened the scoring for the Reapers. A great way to start their fight for another chance. Going into the first intermission, Philly had the lead but then just past a minute and a half into the period, Mikko Borisyuk tied it up for the Kings. That was the only goal that period. During the rest of the second, neither team refused to give up an inch. There were no penalties and it was the period with the lowest shots on goal totals for both teams. It came down to the final frame. Mexico City was anxious to win this one. Philadelphia needed to win this one. Philly would get closer to their needed win with LeBen Aky scoring just before the 4-minute mark and giving the Reapers the lead. Both teams continued to fight for the W. The Kings needed one goal; the Reapers needed to stop them from getting it. Eventually, with 16 seconds remaining in the game, there was a goal. It was Zyn Westwood for the Reapers, securing their win.

1) I'm thinking Seattle (I'm guessing what happened in the Finals has made them want to win that much more), Davos, Calgary, and I'll throw in a bit of a curveball with Riga doing well next season. 2) I put in the minimum amount of vegetables. I'm satisfied with my lettuce and olives. 3) I'm personally a Raptors fan but I cheered for the Kings and Lakers in the playoffs just to spite Warriors fan. Hoping my boys in Toronto can rally around Scottie. 1) Which team do you think has the coolest designed logo in the VHL, VHLM, or VHLE? You can name multiple if you wish. 2) What is your players jersey number and what is the story behind it? 3) Congratulations! The VHLM is letting YOU decide what its next franchise is. What would the team name be and where would the team be located?

HOUSTON - Sitting at home with his family, Raimo was waiting to hear his name in the VHLM Dispersal Draft in order to kick off his time in the VHL system. He got the call from the Houston Bulls shortly after it was announced that he was picked. Soon, Raimo will be taking a flight from his home in Tampere and getting settled in Houston. It will be the first time that Raimo plays for a team outside of Finland but he couldn’t be more excited. “I am very happy to be a part of the Houston Bulls organization. The general manager and coaching staff seem to have a great vision for this season and I am looking forward to playing with my teammates in whatever role I may earn. I know that I am ready for the next step to professional hockey and I am confident that I can earn my keep in the VHLM.” Raimo said soon after being drafted. Houston will have 5 people in the upcoming S90 draft class. These players include Raimo Tuominen, Martin Kemp, Yves Lafleur, Xiver Xilla, and Harjen Van Araken. These young players will all be looking to make a name for themselves. “It’s good to see a mix of veterans and fellow rookies. We can bring energy and spunk to the ice while the veterans teach us the ropes and make sure we are playing responsible hockey. I am excited to see how things go. It doesn’t really need to be said but all of us in the locker room have our eyes on the championship. We want to win. We need to win."

https://imgur.com/z5audb6 Alright, should I post my Nighthawks graphic or my Americans graphic next week?

VHLE Finals Game 5 - Rome Gladiators vs. Oslo Storm Looking to come back and keep their championship hopes alive, Rome came into this game 5 looking to reverse a 3-1 lead. They would need their offensive stars to do what they do best: score. There was a slight hiccup to that plan when they first got onto the ice. Julien Bernier took a penalty, giving the Storm a powerplay. However, that hiccup proved to be inconsequential as Rome would get a shorthanded goal courtesy of Franceso Mancini, scoring their sixth of the playoffs. Eventually, halfway through the period, the Storm would respond with a goal from Alexander Stroheim with their respective sixth of the playoffs. Heading into the intermission, the two teams were tied. They remained tied throughout the second, neither willing to give up an inch to the other team. After the second intermission, it would be Mark Calaway who would give Rome the go-ahead goal. It was all Rome in the third; they had twice as many shots on goal in that last frame as Oslo did. BjorkaBjorn BjornaBjorkson scored two goals in the last quarter of the period, sealing a 4-1 victory for Rome.

Oh true! I do have my old account I dedicated to VHL graphics so might as well use it again lol

Game 16 - D.C. Dragons vs. Toronto Legion - Lottery Tournament Both the D.C. Dragons and Toronto Legion had some challenging seasons. Ranked the bottom two teams in the standings, these teams are simply looking to maintain the top odds for the draft lottery. If there is anything that the VHL has proven, it is that with the right pieces, the bottom teams can make it to the top. This is a part of that process. D.C. and Toronto had the top two best lottery odds for the first overall pick. On the ice, Justin Adolfsen scored their second goal of the tournament about halfway through the period. This game the Dragons the lead. However, things were tied up in dramatic question as a buzzer beater shot from Quinn Clark scored with just a single second left in the first. After intermission, Justin Adolfsen came in again to score their third goal of the tournament, second of the game. Lucas "50 Shades of" Grey of the D.C. Dragons came in to extend the lead soon after. To cut the lead to 3-2, the Legion's Mac "Book" Atlas scored their fourth of the tournament. This happened to be the same Mac Atlas who had a fight earlier in the frame. In fact, the person Mac fought would score the next goal for the opposing team; in the third period, Hasbulla Magomedov scored another goal for the Dragons. The Legion reacted quickly though, and Jimi Jaks would pot their fourth of the tournament less than a minute later. It was 4-3 Dragons and that proved to be the final score despite the Legion's best rallying attempts.

1) My first season was in S63 with the player Ryuu Crimson. I was drafted by the reign and that rookie year, the Reign won the championship. It was great. 2) That would have to be S83 with the player Sigard Petrenko. (Just realizing now that both of the years my players won championships had a 3 at the end). The locker room was excellent and we all had so much fun discussing what to do game by game and celebrating together. 3) Well, my goalie Jacques Lafontaine was part of the stacked S69 Wild squad in the VHLM. Lafontaine was awarded the Benoit Devereux and Skylar Rift. That season, we also won the Founder's Cup. In terms of VHL, it would still be Lafontaine in S72 with the Greg Clegane and the Victory Cup. 4) My first player took one season in the VHLM after being drafted in the VHL. I just stayed active and tried my best to build my player on the "archetype" I decided at the time: which was Power Forward. 6) I personally don't have enough time as of now but if I did, I would love to be an AGM.

TAMPERE - Raimo Tuominen is preparing for the Victory Hockey League Minors dispersal draft. There were three choices laid before him in terms of his hockey career. He could pursue a National Hockey League career, stay in the Liiga, or try to join another top European league. Raimo wanted to play the best of the best, so the last two options were less desirable. “They are wonderful leagues with great players,” Raimo said of Liiga and other European leagues. “But I want to give myself a path to play against the top players. Big boy hockey, as I have heard it called.” It seemed he would attend the NHL combine and get his name in the heads of NHL scouts but one fishing trip with a few teammates introduced a new option. “Sigard Petrenko was our first line right winger for Tappara. He came up to me after hearing the press conference where I announced it would be my last season with Tappara because I wanted to chase the top level. He reminded me about the VHL. I am ashamed I even forgot it. I used to cheer on the Titans all the time,” Raimo explained. Now, with the help of Sigard, Raimo has been training. Sigard has been giving him tips and tricks of adjusting to the pace of the VHLM and VHL. Sigard shared his thoughts on the VHL system. “I never played in the VHLE, so I can’t give him much advice there. But I spent a great year with the Houston Bulls and then another great year with Mississauga in the M. I also still vividly remember my time with the Seattle Bears. Can’t help but miss it but my time there came to an end. Glad they are still the upstanding organization I remember; I hope to get a job with them in the future.” “Broke my heart to hear he was a Titans’ fan,” Sigard jokingly added. “I do believe Raimo has the skills to make it.”

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18yk_PX3cLUC3VznD3xayLtc3gQR-FQat/view?usp=sharing this was actually the first graphic i made in a while, the team oriented ones came after so this one is a bit iffy Moscow Menace graphic next week!

https://drive.google.com/file/d/18yk_PX3cLUC3VznD3xayLtc3gQR-FQat/view?usp=sharing this was actually the first graphic i made in a while, the team oriented ones came after so this one is a bit iffy Moscow Menace graphic next week!

Ask Raimo any questions here!

Thank you very much! Nice to meet you!

Right Winger - Raimo "Right Trigger" Tuominen Jukka Tuominen hung up the skates playing in the SM-Liiga for TPS Turku. While he could not make the jump to North American hockey, he had a lengthy hockey career in Finland. Retiring at the age of 39 was nothing short of an accomplishment. He was no star but was a solid player that always found his way back in the lineup. While stars his age deprecated greatly, he maintained his second-line role up until his final season. Now it was time for him to settle down with his figure skating wife, Sofia. Born in Tampere, Raimo is a part of a new wave of young Finnish hockey players ready to jump into the pro world. His parents, Jukka and Sofia Tuominen, put Raimo in ice skates at the age of 3. Ever since that first “skate”, Raimo has lived on the ice. Determined to be a professional hockey player, Raimo put everything he had into hockey. Raimo trained hard, with the help of his father and his mother, developing his skating and basic skills. Sofia helped develop his smooth skating while Jukka taught Raimo the basics of scoring. Raimo developed his game from a young age and learned the value of hard work. This work ethic, as well as his developed skillset, led him to join Tappara Tampere’s Junior C SM-sarja team at the age of 14. Playing in the best U16 league in Finland at such a young age posed a big challenge for the youngster, yet he managed to find his place and continue to develop. He did not last there long. Not because he wasn’t good enough but because of the opposite. He ended up getting called up to Tappara Tampere’s Junior B SM-sarja team at the age of 15. “Getting chosen by Tappara to join their team was a big deal. They have a great history in Finnish hockey and have won the most championships. I told myself even if I couldn’t fit in the club, I’d try my hardest to let that championship winning pedigree rub off on me. They win for a reason.” Scoring has always been Raimo’s favourite part of the game. He grew up, like many Finns, watching Teemu Selanne highlight reels, hearing the stories of Jari Kurri, and watching young current NHL players like his country’s very own Patrik Laine, America’s Auston Matthews, and Germany’s Leon Draisaitl score and do it often. It’s in his instinct: score first, ask questions later. That isn’t to say he is a selfish player, far from it. Winning is always the focus of each and every game. But man, does Raimo love to score. On a two-on-one, Raimo is known to shoot the puck with no questions. Sometimes, he shoots from impossible angles and takes every single shot attempt he can muster up. Luckily, he tends to succeed but this does lead to some criticism as people believe he should try to make a pass to an open teammate instead of being trigger happy. He wants to be a player that can score in all different kinds of ways, although sometimes his critics are right in saying he needs to make the extra pass to an open teammate. This shoot-first instinct has helped Raimo succeed in terms of goals. Going into the age of 16, Raimo got the nod onto Tappara’s Liiga team. Raimo adjusted to the pace now that he was going against players with way more experience than him. Being in a league with such experienced veterans as well as other young players helped him realize how hard he would have to compete to succeed in such a league. At the age of 16, Raimo put up a respectable 6 goals and 5 assists in his first season in the top league in 22 games of action. “It was a new experience, definitely. I wasn’t going against fresh young faces like mine. I went from a league of boys to a league of men. They weren’t afraid to hit, weren’t afraid to drive hard to the net, and could easily overpower me if I wasn’t careful. I had to reinvent my play. I couldn’t rely on being the fastest 16-year old in Finland, not that I was anyway. I had to rely on being the most complete player I could be at the age of 16.” Now having had a taste of life in the top Finnish league, Raimo made it a goal to get used to the pace and become more productive for his team. Raimo continued to prioritize scoring and utilized his skating ability but he learned how to deal with the tough playstyles of older players. He put effort into making sure he could evade them but if he couldn’t, he learned how to manage it. At the age of 17, Raimo became more active with the team, getting 53 games of action with Tappara. Raimo scored 46 points, two short of the most points scored by a 17-year old in the Liiga. (That record is held by Aleksander Barkov.) He scored 26 goals and 20 assists, 6 of those goals being on the power play. Then, in the playoffs, he scored 8 goals and 6 assists in 18 games. Unfortunately, Tappara lost that final to HIFK. Raimo proved to be a dependent scorer in the playoffs. This is where he gained the affectionate nickname, "Right Trigger", a reference to FPS games using the right trigger button in order to shoot weapons as well as a clever nickname based on Raimo Tuominen's initials. “Brutal way to end it. Especially if this is my last season in the Liiga. Regardless, I am proud of our team for how we played and thankful for my two years here.” At the age of 18, Raimo has made it clear he intends on making the jump to the top tier of professional hockey. One of his Liiga teammates told him of the path he personally recommends to take in order to make it pro. “I was fishing with some teammates in Espoo. One of those teammates was Sigard Petrenko. He had heard that I wanted to play the best of the best and he made a suggestion. I should try to join the VHLM.” "I am ready."

No worries, happy to meet you!

VHLE Finals Game 6 - Oslo Storm vs Rome Gladiators Oslo had a chance to win it all going into this one. Rome had to win this one to get a chance. Truly a dramatic game for this VHLE Final. The Gladiators started off hot with 2 goals. On the power play, BjorkaBjorn BjornaBjorkson did to the Oslo defense like his name did to my tongue; twisted it up. BjorkaBjorn scored his 16th goal in 15 playoff games. An amazing showing this playoff from him, going over a goal per game. Following up BjorkaBjorn, Hannibal Barca scored his eighth goal. The top two scorers of the playoffs scored twice in a row (one goal each) to give Rome a 2-0 lead. Oslo then had their own goal courtesy of Rip Wheeler's third in the playoffs to cut the lead to 2-1 for Rome. At the end of the period, shots proved to be tight with Rome edging out a 14-11 shot on goal total. Figuring they needed to get some towards the net, Oslo ripped 19 shots the next period compared to Rome's 14. However, Rome was the first to score in the second frame with Francesco Mancini, third in goals and second in points throughout the playoffs, tallying on the extra man advantage to give Rome a 3-1 lead. Oslo got a power play of their own with Liv Slater getting her second goal in the playoff to cut the lead to one again. Then they got the tying goal courtesy of Admir Bala, with their second of the playoffs to tie it up. Going into the third, it was a hard fought battle. It came down to another power play. With less than four minutes to go, Swinsola potted the go-ahead goal; their second goal of the playoffs. While Rome's offensive trio did the best they could, Oslo got scoring from throughout the lineup and won it all with a score of 4-3. Congratulations Oslo!

1. The offseason has just started for me as I have returned from my break from the VHL. I am looking to set a good foundation for my player to build open this offseason! 2. Promising. I had some good carryover from Petrenko (my old player) and I am looking to see if I can learn from Petrenko and Crimson to build a winger that can provide scoring. 3. If these are players, I am unsure. If we're talking drinks, however, I'm going team OJ all the way! 1) What do you guys do weekly to gain TPE? Any methods you would recommend for newer players? 2) Latvia and Germany have gone through some hockey awakenings. What country do you think has the potential to do the same? 3) What is more satisfying, a perfectly placed slapshot or a perfectly placed redirection/tipped in goal?