leafsman

S E A T T L E  B E A R S  S 7 5  C A P T A I N S  

 
A S S I S T A N T  # 1
K R I S   R I C E @Ricer13
 
A S S I S T A N T  # 2
U H T R E D  @leafsman
 
C A P T A I N
O D I N  O M D A H L @zepheter
 
I'll keep it short and sweet (coming back after done writing this to say LOL). Last season, the loss to Toronto was probably shocking for everyone but it's something in the sims and even real life that we have to accept. Toronto was a good group of members and it was fun to watch their enthusiasms. Moving into this season, we made a few moves and positioned ourselves once again to hopefully make the playoff and chase another championship. For me, we're entering the season with one of the scarier offensive cores going in the league right now, a complete 180 from last season where it was arguably our defensive core. These 3, including many others, have been awesome in the LR but these 3 stood out to me. Tons of people in their bleed the Bears colors and while he is new, Rice is a massive part to the LR and some I trust to help steer the team. The other 2, They're at the very top. Both of them are loyal to the bone and would do anything for the team. I've been very lucky to have both of them on the Bears and while I know a fake letter in a online league isn't much, I'm very happy to reward and show appreciation to each of you.
 
GO BEARS GO!

The Seattle Bears title defense season ends in a disaster yet again. The Seattle bears were eliminated by the Toronto Legion in 5 games this season in round 2 this time although the bears first series in the new playoff format. This is the same amount of games that saw the bears eliminated by New York Americans in season 72.  
 
The loss ends the carer of a couple bears defenseman legends in Hulk Hogan and Berocka Sundqvist. Both defenseman were vital parts of the bears dynasty which saw the pair win 4 continental cups and a victory cup with the bears. Both players have retired playing their whole career with the Bears. Both players also won the Alexander Beketov Trophy and both of them shared the trophy with another player that season. 
 
Hulk Hogan was drafted 5th overall in season 67 and went on to play 576 games with the bears, scoring 105 goals and 444 assists. Hogan won the Alexander Beketov Trophy in the season 71 cup winning season with 63 assists that season. 
 
Berocka Sundqvist was drafted 17th overall in season 67 and went on to play 504 games with the bears, scoring 125 goals and 312 assists. Sundqvist won the Alexander Beketov Trophy in the disappointing season 72 title defence campaign with 70 assists that season. 
 
 
 
 

The Seattle Bears title defense season ends in a disaster yet again. The Seattle bears were eliminated by the Toronto Legion in 5 games this season in round 2 this time although the bears first series in the new playoff format. This is the same amount of games that saw the bears eliminated by New York Americans in season 72.  
 
The loss ends the carer of a couple bears defenseman legends in Hulk Hogan and Berocka Sundqvist. Both defenseman were vital parts of the bears dynasty which saw the pair win 4 continental cups and a victory cup with the bears. Both players have retired playing their whole career with the Bears. Both players also won the Alexander Beketov Trophy and both of them shared the trophy with another player that season. 
 
Hulk Hogan was drafted 5th overall in season 67 and went on to play 576 games with the bears, scoring 105 goals and 444 assists. Hogan won the Alexander Beketov Trophy in the season 71 cup winning season with 63 assists that season. 
 
Berocka Sundqvist was drafted 17th overall in season 67 and went on to play 504 games with the bears, scoring 125 goals and 312 assists. Sundqvist won the Alexander Beketov Trophy in the disappointing season 72 title defence campaign with 70 assists that season. 
 
 
 
 

9th Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S74
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 9th Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring S74! Thank you to everyone that reads this. I’m always looking for new award ideas. Please keep the award suggestions coming!
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors. I wrote descriptions for most of these award names in the original award post. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Jay Jones @TTtheT 
 
What a difference a year makes. With all the expansion teams, last season was a disaster for this category. Things were much more normalized this season. Our winner, Jay Jones took home the award with a -38, an improvement on his -44 from a season ago and a massive improvement from the winning total of -74 from last season.
 
Previous Pylon Award Winners:
Season
Player
+ / -
S73
Balentine Kidd
-74
S72
Jack Feriancek
-59
S71
John Madden
-43
S70
Bert Meyers
-45
S69
Basaraba Moose
-57
S68
Sven Hitz
-58
S67
Piotr Jerwa and Nethila Dissanayake
-34
S66
Bryce Zhields
-49
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Uhtred  @leafsman  
 
Uhtred lost this award last season thanks to a tiebreaker. Never one to be denied, Uhtred came roaring back to record only 2 PIM in 2,132 minutes played. He won in a tie-breaker over Tyler Walker @Advantage, who had 2 PIM in 1,943 minutes played.
 
Previous Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S73
Joseph Gainer
2
2106
S72
Jared Spaz
2
1106
S71
Soren Jensen
4
2016
S70
Denver Wolfe
2
1988
S69
Hugh Chan
4
2050
S68
Jack Lynch
0
1473
S67
Diljodh Starload
0
2091
S66
Beau Buefordsson
0
1939
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Gary Tarantino @Garrett   
 
I feel like every award show will face a crisis at some point. This award show encountered it here. Sure, it sounds like a great idea to make an award for the player who gets the most major penalties. And sure, it might work great for a season or two when there’s a clear-cut winner. But how do you handle a situation when there’s a tie? Of course we’ve encountered ties in many other categories, sometimes there’s a reasonable tiebreaker, other times we give it to co-winners. I struggled with the tie breaker in this category. Should the tie breaker be most penalty minutes because they like penalties or should it be least penalty minutes, meaning a greater % of their penalties were major penalties? I went with the later. Congrats to Gary Tarantino who took home the award over Kristopher McDagg @Viperxhawks19. Tarantino recorded 10 major penalties but only had 74 total penalty minutes. McDagg lost the tie breaker with 118 PIM.
 
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S73
Mickey Dickson
7
S72
Mikko Lahtinen
9
 
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Mikko Lahtinen @Beketov  
 
Mikko was hit 321 times this season, topping perennial favorite @Beaviss’s player Brock Louth by 17 hits.
 
Previous Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S73
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
310
S72
Anthony Matthews
274
S71
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
274
S70
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
282
S69
John Madden
357
S68
Mikko Aaltonen
297
S67
Rauno Palo
302
S66
Beau Louth
300
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Patrik Tallinder @Patrik Tallinder 
 
I think Tallinder had the number 532 circled on his dream board. He was the runner up to this award last season and watched Sigard Gunnar take it home with 531 shots. Tallinder hit his goal of 532 shot on the nose and wins the award!
 
Previous John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Taken
S73
Sigard Gunnar
531
S72
Jet Jaguar
425
S71
Scott Greene
402
S70
Juilius Freeman
453
S69
Juilius Freeman
452
S68
Rylan Peace
466
S67
Matt Thompson
495
S66
Shane Mars
533
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ray Sheilds @Zetterberg 
 
You don’t need to look much beyond Ray’s sub 8% shooting percentage to understand how he could win this award. Sheilds took home the award getting 157 of his shots blocked.
 
Previous HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S73
Brock Louth
164
S72
Henrik Zoiderberg
122
S71
Guy LeGrande
122
S70
Shawnomir Jagr
129
S69
Julian Borwinn
136
S68
Rylan Peace
144
S67
Beau Louth
153
S66
Oyorra Arroyo
142
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Brock Louth @Beaviss 
 
Brock concludes his career with back-to-back overwhelming victories in this category. He set the new all-time record with 429 shots missed. Last season he won this award by 50 shots, this season was a slightly less, but still massive 46 shots.
 
Previous CHtBotB Award Winners:
Player
Season
Shots Missed
S73
Brock Louth
425
S72
RJ Jubis
299
S71
Guy LeGrande
299
S70
Juilius Freeman
343
S69
Elias Dahlberg
320
S68
Rylan Peace
351
S67
Beau Louth
364
S66
Roctrion King
372
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Matty Socks @fishy 
 
Rookie Matty Socks burst onto the scene this season and wins this award with 181 shots blocked, 3 more than last season’s winner, Alex Bridges @Alex Bridges and London United’s James Rose @MattyIce
 
Previous New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S73
Alex Bridges
194
S72
Condor Adrienne
188
S71
Aron Nielsen
153
S70
Guillaume Fontenette
145
S69
Guillaume Fontenette
166
S68
Seabass Perrin
207
S67
Piotr Jerwa
170
S66
Lando Baxter
189
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Guy Lesieur @KC15  
Guy played a total of 2,279 minutes this season averaging 31.67 minutes per game.
 
Previous Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S73
Alex Bridges
2401
S72
Condor Adrienne and Zyrok12
2227
S71
Juilius Freeman
2189
S70
Juilius Freeman
2164
S69
John Madden
2259
S68
Mikko Aaltonen
2290
S67
Shawn Glade
2226
S66
Robert Malenko
2324
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Micheal Gary Scott @Motzaburger  
 
There’s been some recent debate in Discord on how to pronounce Micheal when it’s spelled like that. I’ll let the scholars debate and decide that one. Regardless, Micheal reclaims this award with 378 minutes on the powerplay.
 
Previous Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S73
Hulk Hogan
356
S72
Micheal Gary Scott
340
S71
Juilius Freeman
364
S70
Juilius Freeman
372
S69
Elias Dahlberg
368
S68
Joseph McWolf
351
S67
Beau Louth
437
S66
Jake Davis
412
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Edwin THE Encarnacion @Tagger  
 
Edwin wins this award over a trio of Prague players. His 344 penalty kill minutes is enough to earn him the trophy.
               
Previous 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S73
Tyler Walker
390
S72
Cody Smith
356
S71
Jacob Perry
344
S70
Jacob Perry
380
S69
Wolf Stansson Jr
328
S68
Jack Lynch
353
S67
Aron Nielsen
374
S66
Lew Bronstein
352
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %) - Brock Louth @Beaviss 
 
A Beaviss favorite, Brock wins him the award with an all-time high 63.72 faceoff winning percentage. Amazing!
               
Previous Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S73
Brock Louth
62.14%
S72
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
62.35%
S71
Jet Jaguar
61.84%
S70
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
60.78%
S69
Rauno Palo
59.45%
S68
Podrick Cast
62.56%
S67
Beau Louth
63.09%
S66
Rauno Palo
63.10%
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) - Kefka Palazzo @diamond_ace  
 
Kefka is listed as a right winger. They probably should have stayed that way. They only won 32.26% of their 1,370 faceoffs.
               
Previous Castor Troy Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S73
Thorny Underyew
35.48%
S72
Richard Penisson
38.13%
S71
Zeno Miniti
42.07%
S70
Zeno Miniti
42.07%
S69
Zeno Miniti
32.27%
S68
Gritty
36.31%
S67
Gucci Garrop
35.07%
S66
Bryce Zhields
30%
 
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Benny Graves @STZ  
 
6 was the magic number for this category for a while. Benny did it one better this season and won the award with 7 penalty shot goals.
               
Previous Triple Deke Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S73
Codrick Past
5
S72
Sigard Gunnar
6
S71
Sigard Gunnar
6
S70
Owen Nolan
6
S69
Owen Nolan
6
S68
Jorgon Weyed
6
S67
Veran Dragomir
8
S66
Leph Twinger
5
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Kristopher McDagg @Viperxhawks19  
 
The threepeat for McDagg has to put him in the conversation for best fighter in the history of the VHL. McDagg went 6-0-4 in fights this season.
               
Previous Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S73
Kristopher McDagg
4
S72
Kristopher McDagg
2
S71
Owen Nolan
3
S70
RJ Jubis and Ambrose Stark
2
S69
Edward Vigneault
4
S68
Tyler Barabash Jr
2
S67
ACL TEAR
6
S66
Ryuu Crimson
4
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Lee Xin @Blazzer  
 
Xin lost 5 fights this season. On the plus side, they did win one fight. I hope that win helps them in the future.
               
Previous Glass Joe Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S73
Mickey Dickson
3
S72
Roll Fizzlebeef
3
S71
Benny Graves and John Madden
3
S70
Walter Clements
3
S69
Rusty Shackleford
5
S68
Podrick Cast and Jordan Tonn
2
S67
Kronos Bailey and Hunter Hearst Helmsley
4
S66
Rauno Palo
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Mikko Lahtinen @Beketov  
 
Mikko’s award win with 32 total stars is impressive. What’s more impressive is that 20 of those 32 stars were 1st stars. The 32 stars ties the all-time high mark set by another player Beketov might be familiar with, Matt Thompson.
               
Previous Stars Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Total Stars
S73
Sigard Gunnar
30
S72
Julius Freeman
25
S71
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
28
S70
Randoms
25
S69
Julian Borwinn
27
S68
Matt Thompson
32
S67
Rauno Palo
25
S66
Matt Thompson
28
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Richard Penisson @bluesfan55  
 
Dick won 12 stars without ever winning the top star.
               
Previous Bridesmaid Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Stars
S73
Spencer Elsby
8
S72
Lewis Dawson
13
S71
Condor Adrienne
12
S70
Luciano Valentino
6
S69
Tzuyu
12
S68
Zeno Miniti
9
S67
Dan Baillie
13
S66
Mikka Pajari
7
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Patrik Tallinder @Patrik Tallinder  
 
Tallinder’s sensational season was enough to win him this award as well. His 127 points was 27 more than his closest teammate, Kyl Oferson @Nykonax .
           
Previous Backpack Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S73
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
27
S72
Benny Graves
13
S71
Roque Davis
20
S70
Julian Borwinn
22
S69
John Madden
28
S68
Mikko Aaltonen
28
S67
Podrick Cast
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Pengu @Pengu 
 
 
Pengu finished 74th in total points with 64 points. Congratulations!
 
Previous Anniversary Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Points
S73
Charlie Paddywagon
63
S72
Ondrej Ohradka
51
S71
Elasmobranch Fish
46
S70
Orion Slade
44
 
 
 
 
The Egghshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Greg Eagles @Greg_Di  
 
Greg led the league with 10 overtime games lost.
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S73
Raymond Bernard
9
S72
Michael Johnson
9
S71
Jaxx Hextall
11
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Ajay Krishna @Hooperorama 
 
Shortly after creating this category, I thought it was going to be a bust. Basically all the goalies get a couple of penalties each year, but nothing exciting. I’m so glad I was wrong, we now have back-to-back seasons with goalies getting game misconducts! I will happily reward them for their efforts. Last season Rayz Funk @Rayzor_7 won the award with a game misconduct for abuse of official. Ajay decided to one up him with an attempt to injure game misconduct penalty in this game against London.
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S73
Rayz Funk
27
S72
A Red Guy
12
S71
Greg Eagles
10
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Jacques Lafontaine @SlapshotDragon  
 
Jacques stopped all but 2 of the 14 penalty shots against him which is 85.70%. Shout out to Jean Pierre Camus @solas who had a higher percentage but faced less than 10 shots, disqualifying him from eligibility.
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S73
Stone Wolski
87.00%
S72
Virgil Ligriv
83.30%
S71
Greg Eagles
79.30%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

I am now in my fourth season with the bears and that means that alot more will be expected of me now that I'm no longer on my rookie deal.  It has been a great start to my career here in Seattle as we have won the cup twice in my first three seasons in the VHL.  It's was a great dominant performance by us last season in winning  the the victory cup to go along with the one everyone wants the continental cup. There have been a lot of changes as some of our great players retired or moved on due to the salary cap and because of that I have placed higher expectations on myself. 
 
Bears forward greats like Scott Greene and Ambrose stark are no longer with us so I really need to step up my play to try and make up for the loss of those legends.  I am not a very loud presence in the locker room but I can be a silent leader by showing all the younger bears how to be a professional hockey player day in and day out.  I pride myself on working hard and doing whatever it takes to help us win.  In my first season here we won a cup and I was more than happy to be more of a role player and chip in offensively when I got the chance.  I can share this experience with some of the rookies like Campbell and rocket and encourage them them that they can make great contributions to winning a cup even if it doesn't show up on the scoresheet.  It's great to score goals and put up alot of points but what's most important to me is winning and I hope I can instill that desire to win in the younger bears. 
 
My expectations for myself are to continue to put up the high scoring numbers as that's the strength of my game.  That said I have also been working very hard on the defensive part of the game so that I can be a more well rounded player out there.  I am not a physical player so I need to keep working on my positioning and work ethic on the defense side of the game.  They say defense wins championship and although I don't really agree with that statement its still an important part of the game.  I feel that to win you need to be great at both ends of the rink and just can't rely on one just being great in one of the zones.   That's another aspect I want to share with my teammates.  You may not be the biggest, stongeest or fastest player in the league but if you have a great work ethic then you'll be successful in this league.  Everyone who plays in the VHL is a very talent hockey player but what separates a good player from a great player is your work ethic or as some call it your compete level.    
 
My words of advice to young bears would be to always work hard and focus on playing great at both ends of the rink.  If you're not producing at the level you want but you have that compete level at max then guys will fight tooth and nail for you.  A perfect bear player is one who gives it 100% every single game, one who is loyal and one who is willing to accept whatever role the team needs you to play to win another continental cup. 

I had a feeling, I didn’t have a feeling. I was confident in the team that we had but you never know with STHS and surely at times the greatness in front of you can blind you from the greatness across from you. Fortunately, for the 4th time in the last 6 seasons, that was not the case. Calgary gave us a run, but the moment this series was down to the wire, I got to work at looking for those special markers in games and patterns, and boom, bang, beam.. we done it! 
 
Helsinki, congrats on the season. It’s special to make it all the way to the big show and I know as well how heartbreaking it can be to be so close and then come up short.. take it from me - you can return and it doesn’t have to take long.  It was bad ass what you guys did to Riga and how far you made it. The feeling sucks ass but don’t be down. It was a hell of a performance from the start of the regular season to the end of the playoffs. 
 
Seattle team - You get tired of me calling you champions yet? It’s like identical twins that look too much the same and I keep fucking up your names. My butler the other day had to remind me “uh sir, that’s not 4x continental cup champion, that’s Scott Greene”.. I corrected him, though. I said “ Butler, that’s 4x Continental Cup Champion Scott Greene to you”... hehe.. The door keeps revolving and while we have been able to work together to keep the amazing core in tact, we’ve continuously brought in younger to have them taste the fine dining and wining that is winning Continental Cups for us. Rumour has it, every place that serves food in Seattle is now giving out free CONTINENTAL BREAKFAST’S for the rest of the week (aren’t they always free?). I’ve said it on 4 different times and many, many other occasions sporadically throughout our times together.. THANK YOU. Thank you for coming on-board and building the dynasty that we have. To them older guys, for showing the newer members on the Bears what it takes to become and remain the best of the very, very best.. your loyalty, your players skills/your hard work and the very most, your guidance, have helped this team become the legendary, historic team it’s became. It would not have without you. 
 
I am so proud of what the Seattle Bears organization has become. Throughout my 25 seasons as GM, plus the 10 or so+ years of sim league experience, I have never felt a brand that was so loyal as the team and teams we’ve had over the last many seasons. 68, 69, 71 and now 73, boys.. all this talk about “Bana maybe being one of the best” and Bana this and bana that is super sweet.. it’s what I strive for every day in this role.. but this one is 110% yours. 
 
It’s sad our time is coming to an end for some of you older Bears. You have been a sim league family to me and am grateful to each of you. There isn’t a soul I trust more in these leagues. To the new boys, I hope you like winning because we ain’t fucking done! Uhtred and Dil have their 2nd cups!! OMD has won with 2 different Bear players during this dynasty.. Timmy got one now..  ODIN is the MAN. Tonn is the best back up... ever. I look forward to moving on.. to new players that cross our paths and the future of da BEARZ. 
 
Enough of the blabbing. I was fishing and had a lot of raw emotions building up about this amazing group that I have. Excited for the future of this team and the role. See you all out there!
 
 
DA BEARZ 

Great win Bears! Champs once again! Let’s do it again next season 

Uhtred needs to step up his play in the Continental Cup Finals.  Uhtred has started off the playoffs fairly well but his level of production has dropped off recently.  Uhtred has an assist in each of the first 2 games of the final but he is currently on a goal scoring drought. Uhtred’s last goal came 8 games ago as he scored his 5th goal in a 3-2 OT loss to Calgary.   That goal came late in the first period as he showed some great hand eye coordination to  deflect a Scott Greene shot past Lafontaine to tie the game at 1.  Since that moment Uhtred has played over 237 minutes without hitting the back of the net.  That is a significant amount of ice time for any player but especially an offense first type player that Uhtred is.  He scored 43 goals during the regular season so he has placed some high expectations on himself.  “The goal drought is very frustrating but I am still getting some great chances and sooner or later the goals will be flowing again.  All that matters is that we win the cup and I will do whatever I can to make that happen.  If I can score some goals we will have a great shot at winning another cup.”
 

Welcome to the fourth edition of VSN’s S73 Weekly recap (Games 355-475).  We’ll cover a host of things in this recap each week including highlights of important VSN happenings, three stars of the week, power rankings, rookie profiles, and anything else of importance.
 
Speaking of other VSN content, make sure to check out the other great work from the greater VSN family! Here are a few handy links to check out, from our weekly podcasts to in-depth history articles, scouting reports, and more!
 
Talents Behind the Trophies | Under 250 | Ringless: S49 Quebec City Meute | VSN Australia | S73 Future Watch: EU
 
Recap
Week 4 was a story with 2 sides. Goalies were absolutely shutting the door to all shooters at the beginning of the week, recording a total of 14 shutouts across the entire week. The last 3 days of the week, it was all about the shooters. Mostly within the last 3 days, 16 hat tricks were recorded across the league including one game where a player scored 5 goals. As the playoffs grow closer, the amount of fighting and physicality has gone up. Hits are at a high for this season and we saw 16 fights across the week. It will be interesting to see how the play of teams will change heading into the playoffs.
 
3-Stars
 
First Star
Odin Omdahl (SEA) - 6 G, 21 A, 39 Shots Blocked
Second Star
Benny Graves (DCD) - 11 G, 14 A, 63 Hits
Third Star
Greg Eagles (RIG) - 2.53 GAA, .910 SV%, 4 Shutouts
 
Power Rankings
Featured on this week’s graphic are Berocka Sundqvist on the Seattle Bears, Mikko Lahtinen from the Calgary Wranglers, and Guy Lesieur playing for the D.C. Dragons.

Shoutout to @Pengu for the banner 
 
This week, the Seattle Bears regain the top spot on the Power Rankings, and rightfully so. The Bears have been terrific all season long, and if not for the insane winning streak that the Helsinki Titans went on, they may have topped the rankings for 3 weeks in a row. This week they were led by this week’s 1st Star, Odin Omdahl, who played a string of great games and anchored Seattle on that blue line. The #2 spot goes to the Calgary Wranglers who have had a resurgence as of late, and have climbed up our rankings all the way from the bottom spot last week after riding a 10 game win streak. They had some stellar goaltending this week from Jacques Lafontaine, who won 12 of his 14 starts which is an incredible stat. 
 
The final spot in our top 3 goes to the D.C. Dragons, who after struggling to start the season, have put all doubts aside and are now firmly cemented in the North American Conference playoff race. Star centre Benny Graves has been the key to the Dragons’ success, and he led the way this week with some terrific performances that earned him our 2nd Star of the week. Coming up next, at #4, we have the Moscow Menace. Moscow has been ever-present in the power rankings this season, only missing out in Week 1, and they have done that on the back of some excellent goaltending by Raymond Bernard. He currently leads the league in save percentage and his solid play has been critical to Moscow’s success.
 
Filling in our back half of the rankings, coming in at 5th spot are the Helsinki Titans who fell off after an amazing week last week. They rode an incredible win streak straight to the top of the rankings and after some average play from the team, they have slipped down the ranks. Erik Summers continues to have a fine season and is currently leading the team in points. Our #6 spot goes to the Vancouver Wolves who have been ever-present in our Power Rankings this season. Their top players are doing all the work for them, most notably, Brock Louth and Jeff Downey who both had great weeks and continue to help push Vancouver towards a playoff spot.
 
Making their first appearance this season in our power rankings, the Toronto Legion will claim spot #7. They’ve been unfortunate to miss the rankings all season, having just missed out in previous weeks, but they finally put together a solid week and it is enough to get a spot in our Top 8. This week was all about the team game for Toronto, with nobody on the roster exploding with fantastic individual performances, but fans of the Legion will be happy to see the team starting to gel. Our 8th and final spot is held by the Prague Phantoms. The Phantoms have been right in that playoff hunt all season long, and are currently just 1 point shy of a postseason berth. With their starting goaltender Virgil Ligriv announcing his retirement earlier this week, they have handed the reins over to Woody McPine who stood tall in his 13 starts and managed to win 8 games.
 
 
Notable Games
 
Game 361 - Prague Phantoms vs Calgary Wranglers
 
This week’s surprise tilt saw the Phantoms take on the Wranglers. The scoring got started early, as just 1:01 into the game, rookie defenseman Kosmo Kramerev would fire a bomb past Woody McPine to put the Wranglers up by 1 early. This would be the only goal of the period, but Calgary dominated the rest of the way. They outshot Prague 15-4 in the opening frame and didn’t slow down in the second. They would get a pair of goals from Willie Dredge at the 46-second mark and the 4-minute mark of the second period to make it 3-0. Midway through the frame, Prague would battle back and score 2 power-play goals within a span of 2:54 to cut the deficit to 3-2. Prague would keep battling all the way to the buzzer that ended the second period but didn’t find a way to tie the game up. All seemed lost for Prague when Kris Rice would bury a wicked wrist shot to make it 4-2, but they didn’t give in. Just 43 seconds later, Gary Tarantino would drill a slapper that had eyes for the net, making it 4-3. Prague would outplay Calgary throughout the third period and it would pay off and just 2:09 after cutting the lead to one, Dagmar Havlova would score on a breakaway to tie it up 4-4. Throughout the rest of the third period, no goals would be scored and it would take extra time to settle this game. Overtime would be back and forth, but with just 36 seconds left in the extra frame, Alex Pearson would put home the game-winning goal, stunning the Calgary crowd as Prague rallied to win against the Calgary Wranglers.
 
Game 373 - Los Angeles Stars vs Warsaw Predators
 
An interesting matchup surfaced this week in Europe, as Los Angeles and Warsaw would clash in a game for the ages. It wouldn’t take long for LA to get on the scoreboard as just 2:40 into the game, Tyler Barabash Jr would drill a one-timer home on the power play to make it 1-0 LA. Later in the frame, Sigard Gunnar would score his 40th goal of the season to double the LA lead to 2-0. Warsaw would respond quickly, with Zeno Miniti putting Warsaw on the board just 6 seconds later. The first period would end with the score staying 2-1 for LA. LA would jump out to a strong second-period start, scoring 2 goals in the first 6 minutes to go up 4-1. Warsaw needed a miracle, and they got one. In the next 3:20 after Sigard Gunnar’s goal that made it 4-1. Warsaw would come back and tie the game, receiving 1 goal from Damien Wolfe and receiving 2 goals from Zeno Miniti, including his hat trick goal that made it 4-4. LA would fight back and with around 5 minutes left in the second, Markus Nygren would put LA back on top 5-4. In the third, Warsaw would continue to battle back and just 1:35 in, Hunter Hearst Helmsley would tie it again, making the score 5-5. The third would be a very competitive period from both teams, but we would need extra time for this game. Overtime wouldn’t solve anything, so we headed for a shootout. In the shootout, Sigard Gunnar would be the only one who would find the back of the net as LA’s emergency backup goalie would stop all 3 shooters in the shootout to help LA win a wild game by a score of 6-5.
 
Game 410 - Warsaw Predators vs Calgary Wranglers
 
One of the best individual performances of the season would come during a game between Warsaw and Calgary. Calgary would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first 15 minutes of the first, receiving goals from Mikko Lahtinen and Willie Dredge. Despite this early barrage, Warsaw would get to within 1 before the end of the period, getting a goal from Damien Wolfe. The second was very uneventful and only one goal would be scored as Dalton Wilcox would tie the game up 2-2 with 5 minutes to go in the period. In the 3rd period, Mikko Lahtinen would explode, scoring 4 goals in around 7 minutes to put Calgary up by a score of 6-2. Calgary would ride this 3rd-period performance to a 6-2 win over Warsaw. Lahtinen with the performance of the season so far, scoring 5 goals and tacking on an assist for 6 points on the night. This is sure to be a confidence booster for him.
 
Events of the Week
 
Fights
 
Game 368 - Milos Slavik vs Nate Wright In a tilt between two expansion rivals, Milos Slavik and Nate Wright would drop the mitts. Wright fought admirably, but Slavik was the more skilled combatant here and Slavik ended up winning the fight. It was a fun fight to watch though, lots of punches and blocks.  
Game 371 - Remy Moreau vs Mikko Aaltonen Trying to set a tone for his team after giving up an early goal, Mikko Aaltonen would challenge Remy Moreau to drop them. The two of them went at it. Aaltonen got the jump on him and gave Moreau a few nice shots to the jaw, but Moreau came back and got Aaltonen right in the nose. The fight ended in a draw, but Aaltonen had to go off for some repairs.   
Game 382 - Griff Manzer vs Bob Helminen After tying the game and losing the tie only moments later, Griff Manzer challenged Bob Helminen right off the next faceoff. Helminen accepted and the two got right down to business. Both combatants were able to land some good blows, but Manzer ended up getting the final hit on Helminen, knocking him to the mat.  
Game 387 - Jet Jaguar vs Squirrely Dan During a highly contested match between the Chicago Phoenix and HC Davos where Chicago just extended their lead to 2-1. Jet Jaguar thought it would be a good idea to set the tone for the rest of the game and fight Squirrely Dan. The two of them went at it pretty good. Both of them were leaking a bit of blood after this fight. However, before one of them could land a deciding blow, the linesmen broke it up.  
Game 399 - Andrej Petrovic vs Tony Bolonee With Vancouver down late in the game, Andrej Petrovic and Tony Bolonee decided to drop the mitts. The two wouldn’t bother blocking and beat at each other’s faces. Both of them hung in there through the whole fight. The linesmen ended up separating the two, with the fight ending up in a draw. Bolonee would end up being ejected for instigating the fight.  
Game 400 - Dalton Wilcox vs Dagmar Havlova Trying to set the tone early for their teams, Wilcox and Havlova would fight just 6 minutes into this game. Havlova would get some solid punches in on Wilcox but in the end, Wilcox was just too much for Havlova to handle and he would end up winning this bout.  
Game 406 - JaredN vs Ola Vikingstad Late in a 5-1 win for Seattle Bears, JaredN would fight Ola Vikingstad. Both players got off a lot of punches that didn’t really materialize into any sort of advantage. As a result, the linesmen would eventually break it up and the fight would end with the result being a draw.  
Game 411 - SS Hornet vs Frans Eller In the most unlikely matchup, SS Hornet and Frans Eller would drop the mitts. Hornet would get some solid right-hand punches in and get Eller on the brink. As Hornet got the finishing blow on Eller, Eller got him right in the nose. Hornet wins but pays the price. He would have to go off for some repairs but would be right back out there 5 minutes later.  
Game 412 - Randy Marsh vs Brock Louth Two tough customers in Marsh and Louth would drop the mitts here. They would start hammering each other right away, wearing both combatants down as the fight went on. The two would begin to struggle and the linesmen would break them up.  
Game 434 - Brock Louth vs Remy Moreau Two players who already have fought players this week decided to drop them here. Louth got some solid right-hand punches in, but Remy would give him a nice shot right in the jaw. This fight was going somewhere, but the linesmen broke it up too early. I really would’ve liked to see the two keep scrapping.  
Game 438 - Damien Wolfe vs DeFenz Mann After a huge hit by Wolfe on one of Mann’s teammates, Mann decided to stand up for his teammate and fight Wolfe. Man came out firing, but the rookie was eventually put to bed by Wolfe, who managed to get him square in the jaw with a right hand. Mann eventually returned to the game after getting 20 stitches in his jaw.  
Game 439 - Jim Bob vs Scott Greene In a highly contested game between the two best teams in the VHL, Seattle got one early and in response, Bob challenged Greene to try and get Helsinki going. The two traded punches, again and again, getting weaker with every blow. Just when it looked like the next punch would be the winner, the linesmen separated the two. We missed out on a great ending to this fight.  
Game 440 - Remy Moreau vs Gert B Frobe This is Remy’s 3rd fight this week, this time taking on a tough customer in Frobe. Frobe would surprise Remy early, getting in some solid right hands and an uppercut to the jaw. In response, Remy would give Frobe one of his signature right-handers to the Jaw. The linesmen would separate the two and both would go off for repairs.  
Game 450 - Gary Tarantino vs Kyl Oferson Tarantino and Oferson would drop the mitts during a highly contested game between Riga and Prague. Tarantino would come out firing with his punches, but Oferson held firm. Once Tarantino was tired out, Oferson landed a few solid blows. At this point, both combatants were exhausted so the linesmen broke them up. Tarantino was ejected for instigating the fight.  
Game 453 - Codrick Past vs Chris Hylands With Malmo losing 2-1 in the second, Hylands took it upon himself to put some spark on the bench and fought Codrick Past. Codrick came out with the punches, but Hylands held firm and even pushed back with punches of his own. The linesmen broke them up eventually.  
Game 466 - Gary Tarantino vs Luciano Valentino In a highly contested game between D.C. and Prague, tensions began to run high and Tarantino would end up challenging Valentino near the end of the first period. The pair didn’t bother blocking and instead just began punching each other right away. To the surprise of many, they both were still standing after they had tired out and the linesmen had to break up the bout. Valentino had to go off for repairs and Tarantino was ejected for instigating the fight.  
Game 471 - Owen Nolan vs Kris Rice Our final fight of the week takes us to a clash between Calgary and New York. After a late Calgary goal would put the game out of reach, Nolan would decide to take his anger out by fighting Rice. The two went back and forth for about 20 seconds. Trading punches and going blow for blow throughout. The linesmen, unfortunately, broke them up as the fight was ending.  It would have been a great finish and I was disappointed that they broke it up so soon.  
Hat-Tricks
 
Game 373 - Zeno Miniti Zeno Miniti would record a hat trick during a crazy game between the Los Angeles Stars and the Warsaw Predators. Despite the hat trick, Warsaw would end up losing 6-5 in a shootout.  
Game 392 - Gary Tarantino In a pivotal matchup against the New York Americans, Gary Tarantino would score 3 goals, including 2 in the third to help the Phantoms steal a 5-4 win from New York.  
Game 393 - Willie Dredge Willie Dredge would record a goal in every period of the game on his way to scoring a hat trick against Moscow. Unfortunately for Dredge, Moscow would end up winning the game 4-3.  
Game 401 - Valtteri Vaakanainen In a marquee matchup between the surging Titans and falling Americans, Valtteri Vaakanainen would score 1 goal in the first period and 2 in the second to record a hat trick in a 5-2 win for the Titans over the Americans.  
Game 410 - Mikko Lahtinen In perhaps the performance of the season by a skater, Mikko Lahtinen would score 5 goals in a 6-2 win for Calgary over Warsaw. 4 of those goals from Lahtinen would come in the third period to break a 2-2 tie. This game has to be a confidence booster for him.  
Game 413 - Benny Graves Benny Graves would record a hat trick during a game between the Dragons and the Legion. He would score 2 in the second and the game-tying goal in the third in a 4-3 OT win for the Dragons.  
Game 419 - Brock Louth Brock Louth would record a hat trick against the Chicago Phoenix, potting 1 goal in the first and 2 in the second for the hat trick.  
Game 424 - Berocka Sundqvist Berocka Sundqvist would record a hat trick, scoring 1 in the first and 2 in the third to help lift Seattle over Warsaw by a score of 5-3.  
Game 425 - The Terrible Trivium The Terrible Trivium would record a hat trick in a key game for London against the rival HC Davos Dynamo. He would score 2 goals in the third and the OT winner to propel London to a 5-4 OT Win.  
Game 429 - Sigard Gunnar Sigard Gunnar would record his first hat trick of the week, scoring 3 goals including 1 in each period to lead the Stars to a 4-1 win.  
Game 437 - Owen Nolan Owen Nolan would record a hat trick, netting one in each of the three periods played during a 5-2 win for the Americans.  
Game 442 - RJ Jubis RJ Jubis would record his first hat trick this week, scoring 3 in regulation and a 4th goal in overtime to lift the Wranglers over the United by a score of 5-4.  
Game 445 - Uhtred Uhtred would record his first hat trick of the week, netting 3 goals on 6 shots during a wild 6-4 win for the Seattle Bears.  
Game 446 - Teemu Lehtinen Jr Teemu Lehtinen Jr would record his first hat trick of the week, scoring 3 goals and tacking on an assist in a 6-3 win over London.  
Game 447 - Gregg Stallion Gregg Stallion would record his first hat trick of the week. He would net 3 goals, including the game-winner in a 5-4 win over Davos.  
Game 453 - Chris Hylands Chris Hylands would record his first hat trick of the week, scoring 3 goals on 9 shots. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be enough as Riga would defeat Malmo by a score of 4-3.  
Game 470 - Gary Tarantino Gary Tarantino would record his second hat trick of the week, netting 3 in a win for the Phantoms as they defeated Riga in the game by a score of 5-2.  
Shutouts
 
Game 359 - Riga Reign vs Moscow Menace Greg Eagles would record the league’s first shutout of week 4, making 26 saves in a 4-0 win against Moscow. 11 of those 24 shots came in the 3rd so he did a tremendous job protecting the Riga lead.  
Game 367 - Toronto Legion vs Seattle Bears Rayz Funk would shut down the high powered Legion offence, making 29 saves in a 3-0 Seattle victory. All 3 Seattle goals came in the first period and Funk did a good job keeping the door shut the rest of the way.  
Game 370 - London United vs Riga Reign Greg Eagles would chalk up his second shutout of the week in a dominating 5-0 Seattle win over the London United. Riga dominated from the drop of the puck and Eagles only had to make 18 saves. Nevertheless, it is still a shutout and 10 of those stops came in the 3rd period.   
Game 390 - Riga Reign vs Los Angeles Stars Greg Eagles would get another shutout, this time against the Los Angeles Stars. Riga dominated this game start to finish to win 7-0. Eagles made 18 saves to clinch the shutout.   
Game 395 - London United vs Calgary Wranglers Jacques Lafontaine would record his first shutout of the week against London. Lafontaine would stop all 12 London shots to take the game by a score of 3-0.  
Game 397 - Chicago Phoenix vs Seattle Bears Rayz Funk would record his second shutout of the week, backstopping Seattle to a 3-0 win over the Chicago Phoenix and recording 14 saves in the process.  
Game 415 - New York Americans vs Los Angeles Stars  β-LAS G, the emergency backup goalie for the Los Angeles Stars would record a shutout. He went in at the beginning of the game and stopped all 35 New York shots in a 1-0 Win.  
Game 419 - Chicago Phoenix vs Vancouver Wolves Jimmy Spyro would record his first shutout of the week, making 37 saves in a 6-0 win over the Chicago Phoenix.   
Game 420 - Calgary Wranglers vs D.C. Dragons Jacques Lafontaine would record his second shutout of the week, stopping 25 shots in a 3-0 win over the D.C. Dragons.  
Game 423 - Los Angeles Stars vs Riga Reign Greg Eagles would continue his stretch of great performances this week, recording his 4th shutout of the week in a 5-0 win over the Los Angeles Stars in which he stopped 29 shots.  
Game 426 - Moscow Menace vs Toronto Legion Raymond Bernard would stand tall for the Menace, stopping 31 shots in regulation, 4 in OT and both shooters in the shootout to help Moscow beat Toronto 1-0.  
Game 448  - New York Americans vs Los Angeles Stars  β-LAS G would record his second shutout of the week against the Americans, making 35 stops in a 1-0 OT win.  
Game 464 - New York Americans vs Helsinki Titans A Red Guy played great for New York in this game, stopping all 23 Helsinki shots to steal a 1-0 win for the Americans.  
Game 467 - Moscow Menace vs Los Angeles Stars β-LAS G would continue a string of terrific games as the emergency goalie for the Stars, making 24 saves in a 3-0 win over Moscow for his 3rd shutout of the week.  
Game 469 - London United vs HC Davos Dynamo β-LDN G would record the final shutout of the week, making 31 saves in a 1-0 win for London over the HC Davos Dynamo.  
Rookie Spotlight
Jacob Tonn

Shoutout to @Zetterberg for the rookie spotlight banner!
 
This week we shine the spotlight on our first rookie goalie this season, and we have chosen to go with none other than Jacob Tonn of the Seattle Bears. Tonn originally joined the league as a waiver signing, opting to play in San Diego with the Marlins where he had somewhat of a tough time. Having said that, in Season 71 when he joined, the Marlins were in the middle of a rebuild and were one of the worst teams in the league, so his early stats are not great indicators of his all-around performance. He was drafted 18th overall in the dispersal draft by the Mississauga Hounds where he helped them to a playoff spot with a solid 2.84 GAA and .893 save percentage. Unfortunately for Tonn and the Hounds, they ran into a red hot Philadelphia Reapers squad and were eliminated in 5 games. 
 
Following the playoffs, the Seattle Bears drafted Jacob Tonn at 4th overall in the VHL draft. The Bears were looking for their goalie of the future and they definitely got that in Tonn. What the netminder lacks in height, he’s only 5’5”, he makes up for in raw talent. He has had a pretty successful rookie campaign for Seattle, with an 8-3-1 record after 13 games. His raw stats are good for a rookie, with a 3.28 GAA and .878 save percentage and we can expect to see those improve soon as he continues to work on his game. What impresses me most about Tonn is his ability to win games for his team despite what his stats say. He won 45 games in his full season in the minors and already has 8 wins under his belt for the Bears. I am excited to see how he improves in the coming seasons.
 
With the retirement of Rayz Funk coming up on the horizon, Tonn will need to absorb all he can from the franchise goaltender in their two seasons together. It will be interesting to see if Tonn will follow in the footsteps of Funk and play out his entire career with the Bears, and with no other goalie currently in the system, it seems that Seattle is banking on just that. So far, Jacob has come up clutch when his team has needed it. For example, this week he made 3 starts and won every one of them which helped cement Seattle’s spot at the top of the standings. Seattle will be hoping they will see more and more of that as Tonn gains experience at the highest level. 
 
Having impressed so far in his rookie season, it is likely that Seattle will look to Tonn more often as Funk ages and creeps up on retirement. It will be crucial for Jacob to string together some solid performances next season as the proverbial torch is passed. I expect that Tonn will live up to all expectations as his stats are solid for a rookie, and we will be looking at a goaltender that will be one of the best in the league someday. It’s very rare to see a goalie under 6 foot these days, and Tonn is a full 7 inches under that mark, but his pure talent can’t be ignored. Seattle has chosen to ignore that and have put their full faith in the Canadian netminder.
 
- VSN Writer Patrik Laine
 
 

7. If you had to pick any player as a lifeline on a game show, who would you pick and why? TAG THEM.
@Rayzor_7 Rayz Funk, he saves our asses on the ice so maybe he can save my ass on the games show too.
 
15. Any predictions on the two finalist teams? Who wins the cup?
The Seattle Bears over Helsinki
 
16. If you had to relocate a VHLM team, which would it be?
Mexico City, Do Mexicans even like hockey?
 
19. You have to fire a commish. Which one are you tossing to the curb?
If we are doing real commish and not vhl I will say Rob Manfred as hes had a brutal 2020.
 
20. You are hired as dictator of the league. What is the first thing you will do?
Give the bears some extra cap space  and draft picks for being amazing
 
21. Make a bold prediction for this season. Make it ballsy but make sure it happens.  
The bears Higan and Sudqvist finish top 2 in D scoring.  Need to finish more of thier beauty feeds from them to make it happen
 

Ray in his natural habitat.
 
If you bring your screen within 4 inches of the above gif and study it, what do you see? Some might see a man wearing glorious clothing that act as magnets for women's clothing. Some may add that they see a bright, magnificent brain bucket that keeps his wisdom library loaded and safe. Some may even happen to notice that he could very well indeed be wearing a leash that is tied to a playground structure. Fortunately, this secondary Seattle HQ is hidden in the autonomous section of the city (MOVE OVER CHAZ) formally known as Banaz. Fortunately, both Seattle and Banaz laws allow the tying up of subjects for educational purposes only. What about this could be educational? Well, let me take you down memory lane, hey?
 
S68 Continental Cup Champions
S69 Continental Cup Champions
S71 Continental Cup Champions
 
DA BEARZ
 
Since that beautiful 71 win, we've seen some decent success and manage to keep the ball going. UNFORTUNATELY, we've come to notice something and it's something we've neglected for sometime. We haven't had the best massage team on the Bears the last season because the only back that was working come playoff time was Ray Funk. I joke. I really do, Seattle. But let's be honest here, the man has played some big games. Arguably, I would say the regular season is the Bears time. We have our climbs, our dips, but we always manage to come out of it good. Then, we hit playoffs. Then, USUALLY, Ray Funk takes over. Last playoffs he took off. We said fuck it. We've done our thing, won 3 cups and you know what? Ray could be fucking sleepy, man. But no. He thinks he can take some more time off. Heading into the regular season, Funk is really taking the whole "I am B in regular season, A+ in playoffs" thing to a whole new level and potential could have him ranked B- or even C+ to the right, nasty VHL scout. Take a look and see for yourself. 
 
 
Ray Funk Reg. Season Stats
 
Season GP W L OTL SV% GAA SO GA SA MP 73 (SEA) 10 5 1 0 0.89 3.9 0 30 273 461 72 (SEA) 65 41 19 3 0.912 2.63 1 169 1920 3861 71 (SEA) 68 40 21 6 0.918 2.36 5 159 1938 4039 70 (SEA) 67 34 24 7 0.916 2.42 3 159 1891 3946 69 (SEA) 65 39 22 4 0.923 2.25 8 146 1896 3897 68 (SEA) 64 38 22 4 0.921 2.42 8 155 1957 3838 67 (SEA) 65 28 29 8 0.913 3.08 2 202 2315 3932 Totals 404 225 138 32 0.916 2.55 27 1020 12190 23974  
Ray Funk Playoff Stats 
Season GP W L OTL SV% GAA SO GA SA MP 72 (SEA) 5 1 3 1 0.902 3.56 0 16 163 269 71 (SEA) 17 12 3 2 0.937 1.67 2 30 474 1074 70 (SEA) 11 6 3 2 0.926 2.4 0 27 364 673 69 (SEA) 19 12 5 2 0.924 2.19 1 47 615 1286 68 (SEA) 14 12 1 1 0.935 1.79 3 26 400 870 Totals 66 43 15 8 0.928 2.10 6 146 2016 4172  
BABA Oogaboogazu... WE SUMMON YOU!

A few seasons back, we performed a ritual against Moscow and were crowned victorious champions, hoisting the continental cup. I embrace the fact that we have to welcome Baba Oogaboogazu back to the Seattle Bears as an special specialist. In this role she will be conducting special services to their members of the organization, however, her main focus and task at hand at the moment is going to be fixing Ray Funk and ending this shit slump he's caught up in. STAY TUNED FOR MORE.
 
 
 
 

S E A T T L E  B E A R S  S 7 2  C A P T A I N S  

 
A S S I S T A N T  # 1
B E R O C K A  S U N D Q V I S T @Berocka
 
A S S I S T A N T  # 2
S C O T T  G R E E N E @DoktorFunk
 
C A P T A I N
R A Y Z  F U N K @Rayzor_7
 
GO BEARS GO!

When I was 13 everyone thought the world was gonna be In chaos with y2k.  Seems like they were off by 20 years for the chaos part.  I was thirteen when the bills lost in the music city miracle game,  terrible day and it was forward pass. 

When I was 13 everyone thought the world was gonna be In chaos with y2k.  Seems like they were off by 20 years for the chaos part.  I was thirteen when the bills lost in the music city miracle game,  terrible day and it was forward pass. 

Surprised a playoff placeholder team didn't somehow get the first overall pick.

Uhtred second season as a bear was much less successful than his rookie campaign from both a team and a personal standpoint and can be classified as a failure. Uhtred production saw a big drop from the season before and the defending Champs were knocked out in the first round.   
 
Uhtred's offensive numbers were down all across the board in his second season. He scored 6 less goals and 9 less assists this past season. He also took 53 less shots than a year ago which can help to account for probably alot of the decrease in his point total. If Uhtred had another 53 shots on goal to match last year's total, with his shooting percentage that would translate to 4.5 more goals. If he had more shots on goal then his assist total would probably increase slightly if one of those shots resulted in a teammate banging home the rebound.   
 
Uhtred's ice time went up this season and as a result a bunch of defensive stats increased in his second season. He blocked almost 3 times as many shots as he did as a rookie. Uhtred's hits almost double rising to 52 from the 31 he had as rookie. The increased ice time and the increase in hits are likely the reasons why Uhtred's penalty minutes double to 32 this season. 
 
Uhtred's playoff numbers were better than his cup winning game rookie season. In the cup winning season Uhtred had a goal and 6 assists in the 17 games it took the Bears to win the cup. This season Uhtred almost matched his playoff total from last season in just the 5 games it took for the bears to be eliminated from the playoffs. He scored a goal and 4 assists this season and was a minus 2 this season (equal to last year's playoff total). Although his personal stats per game are better this season Uhtred doesn't care about that at all and would trade in his personal stats for a cup win. It feel good to put up a point a game in the playoffs this year but we lost and that overshadows all those stats. At the end of the day winning is the only thing that matters to me. If I am putting up good numbers but we aren't winning then those numbers don't mean much. I would rather score less like last season and help us win the cup in other ways like last season rather than putting up better numbers only to have us lose. Because we were eliminated so quickly this year this season was an absolute bust in my eyes. Not only did I produce less during the regular but we lost and that's what stings the most. 
 
Uhtred is now back in England training for his third season in the VHL. Uhtred hopes to be back in Seattle next season but that may not be a guarantee with the upcoming expansion draft. Uhtred hopes to be one of the players the bears protect as he loves playing in Seattle. "I want to stay in Seattleans I want to emphasize that but if I were to be selected in the expansion draft I hope it would be with London. If I have to leave Seattle I would want to be able to play in my home country but if it were up to me I'd be a bear again nest season. 
 

Uhtred second season as a bear was much less successful than his rookie campaign from both a team and a personal standpoint and can be classified as a failure. Uhtred production saw a big drop from the season before and the defending Champs were knocked out in the first round.   
 
Uhtred's offensive numbers were down all across the board in his second season. He scored 6 less goals and 9 less assists this past season. He also took 53 less shots than a year ago which can help to account for probably alot of the decrease in his point total. If Uhtred had another 53 shots on goal to match last year's total, with his shooting percentage that would translate to 4.5 more goals. If he had more shots on goal then his assist total would probably increase slightly if one of those shots resulted in a teammate banging home the rebound.   
 
Uhtred's ice time went up this season and as a result a bunch of defensive stats increased in his second season. He blocked almost 3 times as many shots as he did as a rookie. Uhtred's hits almost double rising to 52 from the 31 he had as rookie. The increased ice time and the increase in hits are likely the reasons why Uhtred's penalty minutes double to 32 this season. 
 
Uhtred's playoff numbers were better than his cup winning game rookie season. In the cup winning season Uhtred had a goal and 6 assists in the 17 games it took the Bears to win the cup. This season Uhtred almost matched his playoff total from last season in just the 5 games it took for the bears to be eliminated from the playoffs. He scored a goal and 4 assists this season and was a minus 2 this season (equal to last year's playoff total). Although his personal stats per game are better this season Uhtred doesn't care about that at all and would trade in his personal stats for a cup win. It feel good to put up a point a game in the playoffs this year but we lost and that overshadows all those stats. At the end of the day winning is the only thing that matters to me. If I am putting up good numbers but we aren't winning then those numbers don't mean much. I would rather score less like last season and help us win the cup in other ways like last season rather than putting up better numbers only to have us lose. Because we were eliminated so quickly this year this season was an absolute bust in my eyes. Not only did I produce less during the regular but we lost and that's what stings the most. 
 
Uhtred is now back in England training for his third season in the VHL. Uhtred hopes to be back in Seattle next season but that may not be a guarantee with the upcoming expansion draft. Uhtred hopes to be one of the players the bears protect as he loves playing in Seattle. "I want to stay in Seattleans I want to emphasize that but if I were to be selected in the expansion draft I hope it would be with London. If I have to leave Seattle I would want to be able to play in my home country but if it were up to me I'd be a bear again nest season. 
 

Uhtred is not having a great sophomore season but his team is still winning games this year.  Through 54 games this season he has scored 10 goals and 11 assists which is just under half his totals from a season ago.  In order to match last year's totals he will have to score 12 goals and 16 assists in the final 18 games of the season which is gonna be nearly impossible.  As the year is not over yet we will see what his production is like on a per game basis.  Last season he scored 0.305 goals and 0.361 assists per game compared to 0.185 goals and 0.203 assist per game.  At first glance we can see that this is a pretty big drop. We will look at three factors to see if we can figure out the possible reasons for his decreased production.  We will examine his powerplay production, his shooting stats and his overall ice time.
 
Powerplay
 When looking at his stats the biggest thing that jumps out at you is that his success season was a result of the powerplay.  In his rookie campaign, Uhtred scored 7 times and had 14 assists for a 21 point total.  This season Uhtred has no power play goals and 6 assists.  One factor contributing to Uhtred's lack of success is that he is shooting the puck a lot less on the powerplay this season with 30 shots compared to 65 a season ago.  The decrease in powerplay points is not a result of a lack of power play time as Uhtred is averaging  3.74 minutes per game this season while he was on the powerplay for 3.69 minutes per game last year.   The bears' powerplay is even better than it was a season ago.  The bears scored 61 goals on the powerplay last season with an 18.89% success rate.  This season the Bears already have 57 goals with a 22.62% success rate.  As the powerplay is still very successful for the bears, Uhtred must be doing something right that doesn't show up on the scoresheet.  His 15 points less than a year ago  this is a major part of his decreased production.
 
Shooting
The next area to examine is the frequency and accuracy of Uhtred's Shots.  Last season Uhtred shot the puck 240 times which is about 3.3 per game and this season he has 137 shots which is about 2.5 shots per game.  This is about a 25% decrease in shots and could be a big factor in his decreased production.  When looking at shooting percentage Uhtred had a 9.17% rate last year while this year he is shooting a 7.3%.  
 
Ice TIme
As we saw at the looks at his powerplay usage that has increased slightly over a season ago but its not much of a difference to prove anything.  When we look at his overall ice time he is actually playing significant more this season.  Last season Uhtred averaged 20.06 minutes per game while this year he has played 25.09 per game.  With ice time going up we can rule this out as a reason for his decreased production
 
 
From examining the stats we can conclude that the Uhtred’s drop in production is mainly a result of shooting the puck less and when he does shoot  it is at a much lower success rate then last season. He is powerplay production is alot lower but the decreased shots is a major contributor.   His overall ice time is up and his powerplay time is relatively the same as the year before.  The bears powerplay is even better than last year so thats not a factor at all.  If I were to pick on reason for his decreased production it would definitely be his shooting this season.
 
 
Ofcourse Uhtred scores a powerplay goal after posting this 

1. What are your thoughts on the Bears so far this season?
This is only my second year so I don't know for sure but seems like last year.  Slow start and then we hit our form and rise in the standings 
 
2. What are your thoughts on the Bears winning last season?
It was amazing way to start me bears career.  Winning is everything so hope to get more cups in my career.  The only downside of winning in the rookie season is that if we don't win every year it's a downfall lol. 
 
4. Who is the Bears MVP so far?
Ray funk he's been great back there and we can win every game thanks to him.  When we suck he pulls us up 
 
5. Who is the leagues MVP so far?
Funk again.  We are the defending Champs and we are having a great season so far and since he's our MVP he should he league MVP too. 
 
6. Who will finish 1st in the league?
Da bearz.  We are playing great right now and I can't name another team unless as we had no shot at winning and since that's not the case Seattle baby. 

As I thought about what to write about for the theme week I figured why not learn about some future teammate careers by seeing how some bears prospects are doing so far.   With the major expansion needs next year who knows if Uhtred or any of these prospects will still be here next year but excited to get to know them if we are. 
 
The bears currently have 4 prospects listed on the roster.  They are two season 71 prospects defensemen Bo Burrows and Erik Hjalmarsson.  The two prospects from season 72 are forwards Conor tanner and Timothy brown.  The two players with the brightest future are are brown and Burrows.  Here is how the bears prospects rank. 
 
Timothy Brown RW Season 72 12th overall  @a_Ferk
Brown definitely tops the bears prospect pool and looks to have a bright future in Seattle.  So far this season Brown has scored 39 goals and 39 assists in 46 games for the Saskatoon Wild.  His phenomenonal play has pushed the wild into second in the VHLM.  Brown is a feisty player who is not afraid to through his body around despite being on the smaller side at 5'11 and 165 pounds.  Brown sits 4th in scoring but leafs the league in hits showing that he is not afraid of the physical side of the game.  Brown has also accumulated a great deal of TPE which should allow him to have a successful transition into the VHL next season.   He will add some extra depth and make up for whoever the bears may lose in this offseason expansion draft.   The bears have had some good performances from rookies with Uhtred and Vikingstad last season and Randy marsh this year.   With the retirement if guy Legrande there is at least his post open on the roster plus whatever happens in the expansion draft.  Brown will be in the VHL next year. 
 
Bo Burrows D season 71 19th overall  @Walter Fizz
Bo Burrows is a hulking 6'5 225 lb defenseman who plays in Mississauga.   Burrows has had a solid campaign this season scoring 12 goals and 23 assists.  Burrows sits sixth in the league with 147 hits.  The strength of Burrows game is his size and ability to defend.  The bears currently have 4 dmen under contract next season and may only make an impact if one of them is traded or lost in the expansion draft in the offseason.   He has slowed down in earning TPE lately but is still earning practice tpe the past few weeks. 

 
Connor Tanner C season 72 33 overall @Keygan
Conor tanner is a giant center at 6'8 but is more like a genital giant.  Tanner has just 66 hits despite his monstrous size and is the total opposite of brown in the physical aspect of the game.  Tanner has posted 5 goals and 17 assists for Vegas this season.  His strength of his game is his defense and he could become a good defensive forward if he can develop a bite to his game.  At this time tanner looks to be a longshot to make the Bears as he hasn't earner much TPE lately and hasn't updated since mid may. 

 
Erik Hjalmarsson D season 71 45 overall @Erik
Hjarmarlson is a teammate of Brown with the wild.  Erik is 6'2 and has 14 assists this season.  Hjalmarsson has an impressive plus 52 rating on the season.  He hasn't developed enough so far in his shirt career and appears destined to be a career VHLM player. He has been getting practice level TPE but at his current rate he will not become a bear in the future. 
 
From the bears prospect pool I can see two players make the roster in the next season or two.  Brown looks like he willbe an impact player for the bears while  Burrows seems to have bottom pair potential at this stage of his career. 
 

As I thought about what to write about for the theme week I figured why not learn about some future teammate careers by seeing how some bears prospects are doing so far.   With the major expansion needs next year who knows if Uhtred or any of these prospects will still be here next year but excited to get to know them if we are. 
 
The bears currently have 4 prospects listed on the roster.  They are two season 71 prospects defensemen Bo Burrows and Erik Hjalmarsson.  The two prospects from season 72 are forwards Conor tanner and Timothy brown.  The two players with the brightest future are are brown and Burrows.  Here is how the bears prospects rank. 
 
Timothy Brown RW Season 72 12th overall  @a_Ferk
Brown definitely tops the bears prospect pool and looks to have a bright future in Seattle.  So far this season Brown has scored 39 goals and 39 assists in 46 games for the Saskatoon Wild.  His phenomenonal play has pushed the wild into second in the VHLM.  Brown is a feisty player who is not afraid to through his body around despite being on the smaller side at 5'11 and 165 pounds.  Brown sits 4th in scoring but leafs the league in hits showing that he is not afraid of the physical side of the game.  Brown has also accumulated a great deal of TPE which should allow him to have a successful transition into the VHL next season.   He will add some extra depth and make up for whoever the bears may lose in this offseason expansion draft.   The bears have had some good performances from rookies with Uhtred and Vikingstad last season and Randy marsh this year.   With the retirement if guy Legrande there is at least his post open on the roster plus whatever happens in the expansion draft.  Brown will be in the VHL next year. 
 
Bo Burrows D season 71 19th overall  @Walter Fizz
Bo Burrows is a hulking 6'5 225 lb defenseman who plays in Mississauga.   Burrows has had a solid campaign this season scoring 12 goals and 23 assists.  Burrows sits sixth in the league with 147 hits.  The strength of Burrows game is his size and ability to defend.  The bears currently have 4 dmen under contract next season and may only make an impact if one of them is traded or lost in the expansion draft in the offseason.   He has slowed down in earning TPE lately but is still earning practice tpe the past few weeks. 

 
Connor Tanner C season 72 33 overall @Keygan
Conor tanner is a giant center at 6'8 but is more like a genital giant.  Tanner has just 66 hits despite his monstrous size and is the total opposite of brown in the physical aspect of the game.  Tanner has posted 5 goals and 17 assists for Vegas this season.  His strength of his game is his defense and he could become a good defensive forward if he can develop a bite to his game.  At this time tanner looks to be a longshot to make the Bears as he hasn't earner much TPE lately and hasn't updated since mid may. 

 
Erik Hjalmarsson D season 71 45 overall @Erik
Hjarmarlson is a teammate of Brown with the wild.  Erik is 6'2 and has 14 assists this season.  Hjalmarsson has an impressive plus 52 rating on the season.  He hasn't developed enough so far in his shirt career and appears destined to be a career VHLM player. He has been getting practice level TPE but at his current rate he will not become a bear in the future. 
 
From the bears prospect pool I can see two players make the roster in the next season or two.  Brown looks like he willbe an impact player for the bears while  Burrows seems to have bottom pair potential at this stage of his career. 
 

Uhtred finally ended his goal drought drought this past week scoring 3 after going blanking the week before.  Uhtred now has 5 goals on the season which puts him on pass for 10 goals or about half the total in his rookie season. The season hasn't being going well for him personally but all he cares about is winning.  "I wish I was scoring more but we are winning and that's what matters most." The bears have been playing well lately after their usual slow start out of the gate.   For some reason the bears seem to take it easy the first week of Sims before ramping it up.  The bears sit first in the VHL, one point ahead of division rival Calgary.   The strength of the bears so far this season is thier special teams.  They are leading the league in penalty kill and rank third in the powerplay.  There is the old adage that your goaltender is your best penalty killer and the bears are no exception.  Ray funk leads the league in save percentage when excluding guys who have played less than 10 games.  The strength of the bears powerplay comes from the blue line as berocka sundqvist and hulk hogan have 6 goals each to go along with forward Scott Greene's 8th.   The bears play of late has shown that they are a threat to defending thier title 

I was going to wait until later to release a statement. I didn’t wake up this morning or go to bed last night thinking this would happen. I never ever had plans of stepping away. I feel like this is just a poor, poor misunderstanding where my wording was blown up and examined and taken out of context.. I don’t even know.. walking in circles.. especially seeing as my words came from the source itself.. 
 
I have given two years to the role as VHLM commissioner and as I mentioned, I never intended to step away ever.. and didn’t last night or this morning when I woke up.. I have missed family events, family suppers during Easter and Thanksgiving, Ive had situations where my grandfather passed away.. my girlfriend found out she has a tumor in May and very well could have cancer.. and my world is flipped upside down. The sadness I’ve had. The dreams I’ve had to which I wake up in the middle of the night with wet eyes crying.. and I was still here for the league, it’s members, the VHLM and my family who was the VHLM  and it’s GM’s. I’ve never left. My activity has never lessened. I was always here at the moment of a ping, a mention, a message.. the moment my alarm rang at 0600 I was on and was here until the moment I put my phone down to go to bed.. 
 
I feel frustrated. I feel very heartbroken. I feel disappointed in the leadership and myself. I feel small. Similar to my Hall of Fame speech I got.. I was so excited to be recognized. I was so proud to reach that level. What I got was a very short, rambled paragraph on how I improved the league and am an asshole to some. I felt so incredibly small. I felt worthless. That I try so hard for everyone here to make this league as amazing as it is, as it’s become and as it will grow into.. and felt like it didn’t matter. I don’t know, VHL. Super sad day. I was booted without even being able to say good bye to people I spent all day talking with, helping.. they weren’t just GM’s.. they were my support.. closest thing to online pals and family I’ll ever have.. I am incredibly grateful for them.. 
 
With that being said,  @VHLM GM , assistants and managers that I’ve had in the past.. I can’t name you all but every single one of you.. Thank you for the amazing 2 years. Yes, sometimes we disagreed. Yes, the M section was a UFC ring sometimes.. sometimes, you know, it even ended on bad terms a little bit and it was unfortunate because in the grand scheme.. I still have a spot for those people. We had many amazing times.. I’m sorry. I don’t even know how to properly thank you guys for being my family for all the hours, days and bad, happy and good times. I just want you all to know that I love you all as members and as people and it saddens me and breaks my heart. I’m really, really going to miss you guys and miss working/talking with you all each and every hour of the day.. I don’t know.. sorry this statement sucks..
 
VHL, VHLM.. thank you for the support. It’s because of you amazing people, all you different people, that have come together to make this place such an .. addiction. Such a strong hobby. Such a strong part of our lives.. it’s you guys that I always wanted to do right by. I put in the work and hours with the intentions to improve you and your experiences here. I’m not perfect. I’m so deeply sorry for the mistakes I’ve made and to anyone who have crossed swords.. 
 
I can’t thank you all enough I just don’t know how to express it and am struggling to find words to say..  I wish you all the best and all the love in the world. Keep making this place a better place than it was yesterday. Remember, mistakes happen. We won’t always agree and we’re such a large group of many differences but we all are here because we love this shit. 
 
You can still expect me behind DA BEARZ..  see you out there. Take care.. 

Uhtred now enters his second season in the VHL and will look to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.  Its hard to prove that a sophomore slump is actually a thing as it depends on how successful a rookie campaign is.  If you have a mediocre rookie season it would not be as difficult to maintain that level of play.  If you have a player with a wildly successful first season then people will take notice of that and follow that player more closely next season.  If you rank high among the scoring leaders theres more room for a failure and when you do people will notice.  Many people usually remember the loses more than wins (especially when I gamble or play fantasy sports)  unless that win is a championship and same should apply to player performance
 
Even if Uhtred manages to avoid the sophomore slump it will be hard to top his rookie season in terms of team success.  Uhtred was a two time champion in his rookie campaign winning the Continental Cup with the Seattle Bears and the Gold Medal with Team Europe.  As Uhtred is no longer Junior eligible this season won’t be as successful as last season even if the bears defend their continental cup.   Last season Uhtred had 22 goals and 26 points as a rookie and will look to at least maintain that level of production this season.  So far this season he has 2 goals and 2 assists in 6 games.  Although its way to small of a sample size this puts him on pace for 24 goals and 24 points which would match last seasons point totals and avoid the sophomore slump.

Uhtred now enters his second season in the VHL and will look to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.  Its hard to prove that a sophomore slump is actually a thing as it depends on how successful a rookie campaign is.  If you have a mediocre rookie season it would not be as difficult to maintain that level of play.  If you have a player with a wildly successful first season then people will take notice of that and follow that player more closely next season.  If you rank high among the scoring leaders theres more room for a failure and when you do people will notice.  Many people usually remember the loses more than wins (especially when I gamble or play fantasy sports)  unless that win is a championship and same should apply to player performance
 
Even if Uhtred manages to avoid the sophomore slump it will be hard to top his rookie season in terms of team success.  Uhtred was a two time champion in his rookie campaign winning the Continental Cup with the Seattle Bears and the Gold Medal with Team Europe.  As Uhtred is no longer Junior eligible this season won’t be as successful as last season even if the bears defend their continental cup.   Last season Uhtred had 22 goals and 26 points as a rookie and will look to at least maintain that level of production this season.  So far this season he has 2 goals and 2 assists in 6 games.  Although its way to small of a sample size this puts him on pace for 24 goals and 24 points which would match last seasons point totals and avoid the sophomore slump.