SlapshotWrangler

HOUSTON - A very frustrated Raimo Tuominen left the ice after the Bulls were eliminated in the first round. After a very solid regular season for the young winger, he and the rest of the team were hungry for more in the playoffs. Sadly, Ottawa would end up eliminating, which proved to be immensely disappointing for a team that mostly impressed in this campaign. “I could have done way better.” Raimo answered when asked his initial thoughts. “I played my hardest but it wasn’t good enough. A goal and an assist in 5 games is a joke and I wasn’t exactly productive on the physical side of the game. This team was a great team and I wanted to win it with them.” With the Junior Showcase Tournament currently happening and a busy offseason yet to come, Raimo had to recover quickly from the frustration he felt. While he is focusing on making the VHLE next, it is still a painful loss for him. “All I can do now is move on and get ready but man, that was not the way I expected it to go. It’s hockey though, expectations are basically made to be broken in this sport. I’m still going to draw lessons from this though. My first season outside of Europe had some positives and negatives. Now I have to fight hard to return to Europe.”

Wildcard Game 1 - Rome Gladiators vs. Oslo Storm The playoffs have begun. The Gladiators and the Storm face off in game one. They are in a battle to see who can get past the wildcard stage. The game got underway. 5 and a half minutes after puck drop, the Oslo Storm started the action with a goal from Winston Dixon Jr. This gave Oslo a quick one goal lead but soon, Rome would respond. BjorkaBjorn BjornaBjorkson would pot one in to tie the game about a minute later. There would be no action for a while until the Storm took a penalty. On the powerplay, there was some divine power behind Pope Francis' shot, netting a goal for the Gladiators and giving them a two goal lead. To finish of the first, the Gladiaors extended their lead again courtesy of Eldon Escobar. Then the first intermission came. After the most ear-wrenching cover of I WIll Always Love You by a fan, the action started in the second. Or rather, didn't start. There were no goals from either side until the last quarter of the period. At 15:50, there was finally a goal by Justin Williams to extend the Gladiators lead once again. Despite outshooting the Gladiators with 15 SOG to 7 SOG, the Storm only mustered a goal by Braeden Panarella to cut the lead in half. In period three though, things got interesting as Alexander Stroheim scored just past the 10 minute mark for the Storm. It was 4-3 for a good while. There was one more goal scored. It was Justin William's second, no overtime for this game. The Gladiators won 5-3.

1) Absolutely. We're in a tough spot right now but I do believe that with some adjustments, we can definitely make it back on track. 2) My 18th birthday! It was actually today. As of now, I am an adult. That's kind of cool. We also took a trip to New York and Montreal. 3) I'm going with my boy Xiver Zilla. Dude is an offensive beast for us right now ---- 1. Who is your favourite VHL player of all time? (Can be past or present) 2. If you had to compare your VHL player to an NHL player, who would you compare your player to? 3. How big of a goal difference does there have to be before you call a hockey game a blowout?

HOUSTON - Raimo Tuominen has just completed his first regular season in the VHL system. He had solid offensive production (no doubt helped by the offensive powerhouses on the Houston Bulls roster) with 27 goals, 33 assists, to make 60 points. His 24 plus/minus is a testament to the complete game the Bulls played during the regular season. Now that the regular season has ended, the Houston Bulls are looking forward to the playoffs and preparing for it. “I’d say the first season in the VHL system went well for me. I had some struggles but I developed into a better player. However, no matter how good we felt in the regular season, everyone in the locker room realizes that the playoffs will be a different beast. We want to make sure that we can keep up with the increased pace and higher intensity. It’s the playoffs; anything can happen. We need to make sure we are ready for anything.” The VHLM playoffs are soon to start and every team involved is planning on going for broke. Realizing this, players will have to start playing harder than they have before. “We can’t afford to rest on our laurels here. And I know none of us intend on doing that. We have to take it one game at a time.”

Wow, this league is only two years younger than I am. Happy birthday VHL!

1) I would say I'm a cat person. Dogs are great and all but I'm a bit more down to be chill with a cat. Plus when they finally warm up to you, they're super cute. 2) I would rather be only able to talk to people on a T.V. Better sound quality and also I have an excuse to be lazy and stay in one place. 3) The craziest thing actually happened a while ago. I was on the TopView Tour Bus that T-boned the MTA bus in New York City. 1) What kind of VHL merchandise would you be interested in buying? 2) You score in overtime! How would your player most likely have scored the goal? (E.g. a booming slapshot, a slick redirection/mid-air tip-in, a well placed snipe over the goalie's shoulder) 3) Building on the idea of the Theme Week this season, if you had to change the name of the VHL what would you change it to?

HOUSTON - The Victory Hockey League Minors is nearing to a close. The best hockey of the season is yet to come and teams are scrambling to finish the season strong. Raimo Tuominen is taking in his first season in the VHL system and is adjusting to the pace here. Ever since getting drafted by the Houston Bulls, Raimo is always adding new things to his game. “At first I was really struggling offensively. I couldn’t get quality shots off, my passes were shaky, and I was just overall being swarmed by the pace. I will admit, I had a really rough start to the season. I had a sit down with the coaches and realized I could not continue playing the same style of hockey as I did back in Finland. The first step for me was definitely getting more physical.” Raimo was good at taking hits but he did not exactly dish them out. This was pointed out and it was the first thing he aimed on getting better at. After being offensively minded in SM-liiga, Raimo learned that he could not focus on one side of the game. He had to work toward being a 200-foot player. “I may not be exactly like Grunkle who basically smothers every single player on the opposing team with hits but I did need to become more active physically in order to contribute when I don’t have the puck. It turned out that getting more physical actually helped me get more chances. My shot has changed too. I used to rely on having a strong shot. I still have it and utilize it but now I’ve learned to be more deceptive and to really be selective with my shots instead of firing over and over like a machine gun.”

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img923/4659/PZMfHu.png https://imgur.com/jhuu0sM included both in case imgur doesnt work

Game 438 - Vancouver Wolves vs. Los Angeles Stars Welcome to the battle of the monochromes! This NA conference battle has the winning Wolves and the struggling Stars face each other. While the uniforms on the ice were colourless, the game definitely wasn't. Whatever that means. Longtime Wolves goalie B-VAN G1 and longtime Stars goalie Art Vandelay were in between the pipes for each of their teams. To get the action started, Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems scored just past the 4 minute and a half mark on the powerplay to give the Stars an early lead. However, less than two minutes later, the Wolves responded with a goal from Oreo McFleury. These were the only goals in the first period, meaning we were heading into the second tied. During the first intermission, the Stars mascot played with local business mascots in a mascot hockey game against a local U8 hockey team. The mascots were dominant in a 24-0 score effort with the Stars mascot having 6 goals, 5 assists, 5 PIM, and 10 hits. The second period was very quiet with Pearce scoring to break the tie. Now you might be wondering why I am only saying the last name. That's because I want you to guess whether it's Calix or Nico. Well, you're probably just gonna skip doing that so I'll tell you; it was Nico at the 10:42 mark giving the Wolves a 2-1 lead. The second intermission featured a Zamboni race. I still have no idea how three zambonis were able to race across the ice without any issues. I also have no idea why the Stars have three zambonis available. The last period was also very quiet except for one goal by Dogwood Maple. This gave the Wolves a 3-1 lead. Both goalies would perform very well but B-VAN G1 was the standout allowing only 1 goal out of 36 shots. However, Art Vandelay also had a good showing with 33 out of 36 shots saved.

1. Glad to have Moon on our side and it's always a W to build upon our defense. This team is shaping up to be real good! 2. I think our roster is damn great and it's just a matter of seeing how the rest of the season goes. This is a good group of guys and I'm excited to finish strong. 3. It was a really fun one to do. Of course, I don't think any of my Unhinged Hockey League ideas will be applied unfortunately, which is a real shame. 4. Raimo Tuominen would probably warn Walter about stuff that doesn't even happen. Just to see what happens. 5. Relaxed coach. Probably one like Erkka Westerlund that is player focused and uses the input from players to help build around his own ideas. 6. Organization. My goodness, I have terrible organization skills. My backpacks are all a clusterfunk of a bunch of random things and my desk drawer isn't much better.

TAMPERE - Sigard Petrenko has been playing with Tappara in the SM-Liiga after his time in the Victory Hockey League. Recently, one of his old teammates has joined the VHLM’s Houston Bulls. It was actually Sigard Petrenko who suggested to Houston right winger Raimo Tuominen to join the VHL system. “I told him that he’d love it and that it would be a great opportunity for him. I was ecstatic when I heard that he was draft eligible. It was cool to see him take my advice. Raimo’s a real young fast guy; just lacks experience and needs to face the physicality of the highest level of hockey. It’s great to see that he’s in the VHLM now.” Petrenko and Tuominen shared the ice together in Tampere; the former acting as a mentor to the latter. After sharing the ice in Finland, Raimo Tuominen gets to skate on the same home ice as Sigard Petrenko. It may be hard to remember since it was less than half a season but Sigard Petrenko’s very first VHLM team was the Houston Bulls. “Yeah, I started off my VHL career as a Bull too. It’s a great place to play and the fans are awesome. Great organization and I’m sure they will help Raimo find the next level he needs for the VHL.”

https://imgur.com/a/i9eqMCs (imgur seems to be giving me problems so here's imageshack as well) https://imagizer.imageshack.com/img922/1482/Ld9ubj.png Houston's very own!

1. Goodbye Arby's. I wish I could say I had fond memories of you but I do not. I will always have a disdain for you. It is time for you to finally meet the end that you deserve. There are no words that describe how much hatred I have buried deep within me. It is like eating shame. The way shame feels is how your food tastes. Now, I finally get to exact revenge on behalf of every human being that has tasted the shameful food. Good riddance, you disgusting, loathsome restaurant. 2. I'm not taking that shot. What's the point of trying to save people if we're going to kill people we are trying to save? 3. Easily winning the Championship with my player Petrenko and with the SEATTLE BEARS! - 1) What is an underrated colour scheme you think would look great/should be used more on hockey jerseys? 2) If your player was not a hockey player, what occupation would they have? 3) Name an NHL or VHL unsung hero; a player you believe is underrated in the league. Will claim on week ending July 15th

I remember there was some sort of issue with the name Meute but damn, I don't think there was a reason to move from Quebec City to Vancouver. I agree, let's give Quebec City the pro team they deserve even if it isn't under the Meute name! Also a hockey team in Seoul (and in Asia in general) would be so fun.

Alright, this is going to be the weirdest version of the Victory Hockey League yet. I call it the UHL; the Unhinged Hockey League! First things first, we are going to change how teams work. Every week at random, teams will protect 6 players. Then every Sunday of the week, the unprotected players will enter a dispersal draft. That’s right, EVERY SINGLE UNPROTECTED PLAYER. And this will take place every week. Genius right? Gone are the days of people claiming star players were carried by a strong team. Gone are the days of thinking about how good the team in front of them was when it comes to goalie awards! Next, we are removing the 5v3 limit of power plays. That’s right, in some god forbidden world, a team can take 5 penalties and it will be a 5v0 power play for the other team. Actually, screw it. Whenever goalies are penalized, they have to go in the box themselves, goalie gear and all. If your backup and starter both take penalties one after another, you have no goalie! Send your biggest defensemen to try and play goalie with no pads. This will ensure a cleaner game. Or it will turn into a nightmare. Who cares? To keep the fun of hockey in the Unhinged Hockey League, we will also be implementing a ‘boring rule’. If there are no fights, goals, or big saves made every 5 minutes, each team will play rock paper scissors. The winner gets a goal added to the scoresheet. Also, in order to ensure that goalies will never have a shutout again (we hate it when there are no goals in the UHL), if a team has 0 goals allowed at the end of regulation, the other team just wins! That’s right, if your goalie has a generational performance, they just lose. Isn’t that just splendid? Hockey is a beautiful sport and it is unlike any other sport. Maybe too unlike any other sport. Introducing the three point line! If a goal is scored past the three point line (which will be located in the middle of the top of the faceoff circle and the blueline), then you get FOUR points! Why is it called the three point line? Because we think it’s fun. We also will be adding a field goal from American football. If you can lift the puck over it, that is half a point. Yes, it will be an actual regulation size NFL field goal. We also believe the fans should be involved! At the first intermission, the fans will decide between three new rules that they can add to the game. Rule 1 is switching the puck for a balloon for the first 10 minutes of the game. Rule 2 is activating sudden death goalie elimination! What does that mean? If a goalie allows a goal, they are ejected from the game. Yes, this includes goals from the rock paper scissors matches. Trust me, it’s great! Rule 3 is that three players are ejected and are replaced by three random fans selected by a random number generator. With these new changes, we hope the VHL will continue to advance and bring joy to the hockey community! God bless us all!

HOUSTON - Raimo Tuominen has been in the VHLM for a bit and is taking in his first season in the VHL system. Coming from SM-Liiga, Raimo has kept the same jersey number from his time with Tappara. Before wearing the 44 that he wore with Tappara and now wears with Houston, Raimo was the number 8. “It’s not much of a surprise but growing up, Teemu was THE man. He went from a Finnish hockey champion to an NHL legend. This man single handedly saved Jokerit, got Finland a silver medal in the olympics, won Finnish and NHL championships, set a bunch of Anaheim scoring records, had the best rookie season in NHL history, had a long career even after all his knee problems- you get the gist. Teemu Selanne was our guy. Makes sense that he would be my favourite player. I wanted to be a goal scorer as dynamic as he was and a player who was just as resilient. Still do,” Raimo commented. “Naturally, I wanted to rep his number 8.” Then, when he went to Tappara, the number was retired in honour of SM-Liiga’s all-time leading scorer, Janne Ojanen. Ojanen had played most of his career playing for Tappara. As a young prospect, there was no way he was going to get the number. So, he just chose 44. “4 plus 4 is 8. I wanted to keep some reference to the number 8 because of how much success it brought me. I’m quite the superstitious type,” Raimo admitted.

1. Well, I'll go with 6 for now. Definitely would have to be DarkSpyro, Rookie745, Banackock, Gooningitup (if he was still active), AJW, and Jubis. 2. I would make a really good goalie and be sure to be active with him. I have a soft spot for goalies but I also believe that a good goalie can help stabilize teams regardless of where they are in the standings. 3. My plan is to get guys who are active. An active starting goalie is great then I can settle for an inactive backup over a bot. I'd then go for really good defensive defensemen with maybe one offensively successful. Then when it comes to forwards, the hands I am dealt are what I get and I'll try to make lines out of them that are efficiency. 1) Choose a VHL team and then compare it with an NHL team! I do not have a preference in what aspect, just make a comparison! 2) What is the most timeless VHL (can include logos from the VHLE and VHLM) logo in your opinion? 3) Congrats, you have successfully revolted and taken over the ownership of the Victory Hockey League! Now that you have overthrown the BoG, what is your new name for the league? Will be claimed on Week Ending July 9th

1. Well, he's contributing so I did expect that much. I am a bit surprised by how inconsistent he is, however, as long as the team is winning and he is contributing, I don't have too much to complain about. We've got a hella deep team and it's great. 2. It's great having fellow rookie Martin Kemp with Raimo because Kemp is a natural scorer and Raimo is just sorta doing whatever. It's awesome to see Raimo with Grunkle and Kemp. 3. I think we stack up fine against them. I have confidence in this team and we're doing so well even though most of us aren't maxed out. When we are all maxed out as the season continues, it'll definitely be interesting to see. As of now, I think we stack up against Mexico City just fine. 4. One thing I think the VHL is missing is Asian city teams. That would be fun. Also, I'm a bit biased considering I'm asian myself. 5. As a Flames fan, I'm keeping an eye on the free agent frenzy but also the draft. I have a feeling we may be seeing a few trades (mostly players leaving Calgary) during the draft, if Conroy is anything like Brad Treliving. 6. I would say 2 days tops if left uncovered. If it is covered though, I'd probably say about a week. Usually if I don't taste anything weird in the water, I'll drink it regardless.

Game 137 - Moscow Menace vs Toronto Legion Normally, I'd try to come up with some sort of plotline for the game. Or at the very least, some narrative device that I would mention at the beginning that would have no real impact on the importance of the game. However, I just thought this was a fun game to watch. Oh wait, there is a narrative device. This game featured the Toronto Legion, last place in the North American conference, going against the Moscow Menace, tied for second in the European conference. Interestingly though, the shots on goal count favour Toronto by 10; the count being 31-21. The first period featured great defense from both sides, with neither side allowing a goal. Both teams limited high quality chances in their respective zones and the only scoresheet action we can see is TOR D3 taking a penalty. The first intermission came, with fans trying to draw the logos of both teams and failing miserably. Both logos are still awesome however. The second period began and Toronto struck quickly with Dens Oden potting one to give them a quick 1-0 lead. 4 minutes and 30 seconds later, Tomas Sogaard scored to tie up the game. It remained tied for a while until noted veteran TOR D10 scored, giving Toronto the lead. This was a great sight to see as TOR D10 is probably one of the longest tenured players in the league and has stuck with the team for so long, just seemed to struggle staying in the lineup and producing points. This was a breakthrough moment for Toronto as the next period, Phoebe Bridgers would extend the lead with what would be the eventual game winner. The Legion would hold on, only allowing one more goal from Tomas Sogaard. But it's Tomas Sogaard, what do you expect?

Game 66 - Oslo Storm vs Geneva Rush Oh man, seeing these two logos face head to head give me such nostalgia of when I first joined the VHL and these two teams were in the VHLM. It is always great to hear the words Storm vs Rush again. No time for nostalgia though, this is VHLE action and we got to see some great hockey in this close game between the two teams. The Geneva Rush outshot the storm 39-21; this can be approximated to almost twice as much shots than the Oslo Storm. The puck dropped for the first frame and despite a few chances, the most action that showed up on the scoreboard was a Rush penalty. Both teams shut down offensive opportunities and good quality chances were quite limited. Eventually, after a period of no scoring, the first intermission came along. The Rush mascot came out with a T-Shirt cannon. However, it ended up jamming and so they ended up bringing out an emergency T-Shirt slingshot instead. Most mascots would have just thrown them to be honest. Then there was a Geneva Rush trivia game between two fans. Funnily enough, the Oslo Storm fan won. Intermission ended and we got our first goal just before the 4:30 mark with Kobe Johnson scoring for Geneva. This gave the Rush a 1-0 lead for about 10 minutes before Alexander Stroheim scored, bringing us right back to where we started. The period ended and once again, neither team had a lead going into intermission. This intermission featured happy birthday wishes as well as a race between two mascots of local companies. Both faceplanted. In the third period, Dank Turtle was anything but slow as they gave the Rush a quick lead about 4 minutes in. Then Tullemore Dew followed shortly after; needing only 29 seconds after Turtle's goal. Eventually, the Storm would get a goal to cut it back to a 3-2 score courtesy of Braeden Panarella, however, that score would also be the final score. Geneva won.

HOUSTON - The Bulls have kicked off the season well and are hoping to continue maintaining their pace. Charging at their opponents at full speed, each individual player is contributing to the high-effort playstyle that the Bulls have adopted. With a deep forward lineup full of young talent, 4 stud defensemen, and Devon Giguere between the pipes, the Bulls are looking to improve as the season continues. They are aware that they have to build on what they have now and aim to grow from game to game. It has also proved to be a solid recovery for Raimo; encouraging after the slow start he had for the first few games of the series. Raimo Tuominen is a rookie playing in a line with Grunkle Stan-dingyouup and fellow rookie Martin Kemp. “I think they are excellent linemates. Probably the best linemates I’ve had in my career so far. We’re on the same page and we can find each other really well. Grunkle is such a great player on both ends and Martin Kemp is just a natural scorer. They are teaching me how to be better offensively and I can feel myself improving learning from them. I know I have a lot to learn and having two great guys to work with on a line is awesome.” On a deep team, he is learning how to play his role and is learning a lot from all of his teammates. “Just look at our team. We have guys like Kyle [Toms], Marty [Kemp], and Xiver [Zilla] potting the puck. Sev [Targaryen] just being so good all around. Jason [Lajeunesse Jr.] always gives us 100% effort and fights for the puck. Block, Jeb, Simons, and Harjen are killing it on the blueline. And Devon in between the pipes giving us big saves. We’ve got a lot more to do and the season is young but this is a great starting point.”

https://imgur.com/a/pRYBmai

@dstevensonjr F - Pete Mitchell my final pick