McWolf

Review; How dare you temper with the best looking jersey in the history of the league? Kidding. Love what you did with the recolorization of the old black and white photo. The logo on the shirt could have been dirtied up a bit so it would look more real, less image but overall, it's all looking pretty nice. Nice little ad for your fake-film. I'd go watch it.

VHL Season 63 Prospect: Joseph McWolf JOSEPH McWOLF DATE OF BIRTH Jan. 27th, 1998 (20) POSITION Defenseman PLACE OF BIRTH Worcester Park, UK HEIGHT 6 ft. 2 in. NATION England WEIGHT 199 lbs YOUTH TEAM St. Andrews Typhoons SHOOTS Right VHL RIGHTS None (Eligible in the S63 Entry Draft) VHLM RIGHTS Ottawa Lynx (S62 Dispersal Draft; 3rd Rd., 16th pick) Fresh off a strong campaign with the St. Andrews Typhoons in the British University Ice Hockey Association where he amassed 3 goals and 20 assists in 48 games, Joseph McWolf looks to pursue his development in North America, as he was drafted 16th overall by the Ottawa Lynx in the most recent dispersal draft. He was a late-bloomer, only picking up the skates at age 13, but he developed well enough over the course of his short career to earn himself a spot on what could very well be the best team in the VHL’s minor league this season. Strengths EXCELLENT DEFENSIVE AWARENESS; McWolf’s upside comes from his defensive play. He instinctively knows where to position himself to block pass lines or deny shot opportunities, which helps him be an strong presence in his own zone, both at even strength and in shorthanded situations. STRONG PHYSICAL PLAY; McWolf isn’t exactly massive, standing at 6’2” and 199 lbs, but his size is just about enough for him to be able to punish opponents trying to cross him in the neutral zone. His size is also an asset when it comes to winning battles for the puck near the boards. He never shies away from tough situations and may even drop the gloves to shift the momentum of the game or protect a teammate if necessary. GREAT FIRST PASS; McWolf isn’t a top tier offensive producer, but he knows where his wingers should be and knows where to move the puck to breakout from the defensive zone. He might even surprise the opponents with long, precise, two-zone passes. TEAMWORKING AND ATTITUDE; Far and foremost, McWolf has proved time and time again that he is a perfect team player. He does the dirty work so others don't have to do it and he doesn't mind never being in the spotlight. He understands he has a specific role to play and it's never going to make him appear as a hero, though he does get some recognition for it, but never as much as a sniper that just scored the game-winning goal. Weaknesses WEAK SHOTS; Saying McWolf’s slapper is subpar would be a massive understatement. The kid definitely needs to learn to shoot the puck towards the net strong enough to at least provoke deflections. As things are right now, he is not a threat from the blueline and opponents always expect him to pass first, making his whole offensive game predictable. AVERAGE SKATING; McWolf haven’t skated for a whole decade yet and it shows. He has a passable cruising speed, but he can’t accelerate quick enough to reach that maximum speed fast. This might become a problem in the VHLM, where forwards are way better skaters than what he was used to in the English University games. He needs to work on that as soon as possible if he doesn’t want to get caught out of position and leave his defensive partner outnumbered a couple of times per game. LACK OF DISCIPLINE; McWolf sometimes has a problem making the difference between a strong clean hit and a useless cheap hit. This is troubling, because he is most of the time seen as his team’s penalty kill specialist, but he’s also often the team’s leader in penalty minutes. He needs to continue delivering those possession-shifting clean hits, but he definitely needs to tone down on the stupid hits that get him caged for 2 minutes. Projected Role McWolf figures to develop into a top 4, borderline top 2 defenseman in the VHL. He has the skillset to become any team’s penalty killing specialist, but he is lacking the offensive talent to see any powerplay minutes. He could become a solid top 2 option if he’s able to develop his skating ability and if he becomes more disciplined. --- Word count; circa 700 Week; Aug. 6th-12th

Review; This is nice, man! I like the city skyline in the background and bubbly sky. And you just gotta love Marchessault's expression there. Guy is my favourite feel-good story of these past few years. He seems to have so much fun playing the game. You cannot not love him!

Review; I like it. The art on the mask is freaking great. It looks real. Normally, with stuff like that, you can see that the image was edited, but it's really hard to notice in this case, it looks like this is a real mask. The way you got the name on the back making the same wave as the jersey itself, it's great. I like the treeline in the back too, fits with the whole wolf setup. Only thing I'm not a fan of in this, really, is the font and the placement of the text, but that's it. Rest is neat.

Oh right, well I'm going to do that as well, I believe.

Keeping this in mind for the next trivia questions. I'll edit it though, I'm sure this error wouldn't have slipped through the Chronicle Herald proofreading staff.

Post-Draft Interview with Lynx Defenseman Joseph McWolf HALIFAX, NS - As many of you readers are probably aware, the Season 62 VHLM Dispersal Draft was held today in Halifax. Halifax had the honour of hosting this fantastic event, after being granted an expansion franchise a couple days ago, the Halifax 21st. The Saskatoon Wild kicked off the event with the selection of left winger Ryuu Crimson, followed at #2 by the Las Vegas Aces using their pick on another left winger, Karl von Moltke. It was then the turn for the Halifax 21st GM to write a new page in the VHLM history, making defenseman Tzuyu their first ever selection. The rest of the draft ran smoothly for the most part, with the exception of pick #13, where some confusion as to who actually owned the pick slowed the whole process down. One of the more interesting picks of the evening was at #16, when Ottawa Lynx GM, Jason Glasser, walked on the stage and called Joseph McWolf’s name. A week ago, the English defenseman was completely unknown to everyone, but he has then made some splashes around the league and his stock value was on the raise ever since. Rumours had him going around the 4th or 5th round, but the Lynx finally decided to give him a chance with their first selection of the 3rd round. We were able to have a few words with McWolf after the draft ended. Interviewer: How was today, Joseph? McWolf: It was incredible. I tried not to let the whole draft stress me out, but in the end I was really nervous. A couple of general managers made it clear that I was going to be drafted for sure, but it’s still a stressful event. You’re sitting there in the stands, hearing all those names being called, wondering when it’s gonna be your name. Interviewer: In the end, the wait wasn’t too long for you, as the Lynx picked you with the first of their two 3rd round picks. Were you surprised to be selected in the 3rd round, or to be selected by the Lynx? McWolf: I thought I was dropping to at least the 4th round, maybe even further back. All those guys that went before me, and a couple that went after me, they are solid. Some of them already played in the league last year too, so I was surprised to be called this early. I was kind of expecting the Lynx to select me, though. Glasser did show his interest in me on the very day I arrived from England. He met me at the airport and told me he’d like to have me on his team. And he had a whole lot of picks, so, yeah, I was expecting this. Interviewer: You talked about the number of picks the Lynx made tonight. How thrilled are you to be a part of this young team, filled with rookies? McWolf: Right? Honestly, it seemed like he spent half the night on the stage. [laughs] It feels great, really. I talked with a couple of those guys and I’m excited to be a part of this team, I got the feeling we’re gonna do great this season. Glasser met with all of us at the end of the event and explained his plan for the season, what the lines would look like and everything. He came ready, he knows what he’s doing and we’re all thrilled he picked us to play those roles in his plan. We’re all excited to go out there and try to fulfill his vision of that next Lynx team. Interviewer: The Ottawa Lynx last won the Founder’s Cup in season 58. Do you think this current team is good enough to win it now, in season 62? McWolf: I wish we can do it but, honestly, this is all way too early to tell. I haven’t even hit the ice in North America yet. Is the ice here even the same as English ice? [laughs] Interviewer: [laughs] Probably, you should be able to skate. Well, that was all, I’m not keeping you any longer. Good luck for your first season in the VHLM, Joseph. McWolf: Thanks! Hey, can I take a second and say hi to my family, back in England? Hey, Oliver, mom, dad, I made it! Woooooh! Interviewer: You know this isn’t TV right? I'm a reporter for the Chronicle Herald. McWolf: Oh, can you just write in the article that I said hi, then? --- Word count; 775 Week; Aug 6th-12th Double TPE week

I know you won't say them. But I'm hella curious.

But I literally need to know

Who are player A or player B, though?

Will do! Just gotta get Patrick Roy back as a coach and everything will be fine.

I need to find myself tricks like that. Those damn secret rooms though, it took me soooo long to understand where the basic one would be. It took me a couple of 99x bombs or Ipecac runs to understand the logic. Also, Ipecac best item?

That's a very convincing speech. Next game I'm playing, I'll be GM for my hometown Quebec Remparts.

you gotta set yourself a couple rules to have fun offline. Most of the time, I just never sign FA, and I don't trade for stars either. I get my good guys from the draft only.

I use them and try to remember but I always end up confusing them. "I'll keep that nuke tarot card for the boss room, aww yeah.... oh shit, that was a warp."

Same man, I had the game running in every freaking uni class that allowed laptops ahah I never enjoyed playingin the CHL, but most people seem to be like you and enjoy it a lot. I should give one more try soon-ish.

I'm probably around 200hrs played and I swear, I don't know what half the tarot cards or trinkets do yet.

Hit me up at the dl, it's only a matter of time before my Flames go back to being a dumpster fire, so I will probably sell, just don't know what yet. Lost 5-2 twice in the last sim, including once to you.

You got a strong team in BHL right now, you might just do it this year. Just gotta beat the Oilers and whatever the East sends your way in the Finals.

Really? Wow, I figured everyone in BHL was veterans. Congrats on being so good online so fast!

I go wayyyyy back, man. I played freeware EHM from like 2003 to 2010. I used to be in forum sim leagues using it. And there's definitely a good chunk of that 10k from idling too. Hitting the spacebar once every 10 mins while watching TV

I have no shame at all. Clock on EHM is at 1,2k hours according to Steam. That doesn't count the time I played with Wi-Fi turned off, which might be a couple more hundreds. And I have no idea about the exact time for the previous games, but I think I played freeware EHM and EHM 2007 a lot more than I played EHM. Probably 10k hours overall, something like that.

1. If I had to define myself as a player, I'd say I am a good puck moving stay-at-home defenseman. I look up to guys like Marc-Édouard Vlasic. Not pretending I'll ever reach that level of defensive abilities, but I think my skillset resembles his. 2. Are you asking a sport player if he is superstitious? I do. We all do. Those that say they don't care what colour socks they wear or what song they listen to in the locker room are liars. As for me; I always hit a steak with pastas a couple hours before the game, I always lace my right skate first, and I always listen to the same playlist on my phone when I'm gearing up. 3. I don't mind the team I would play for as much as I mind the GM I would play for. I talked with a few VHLM and VHL GMs so far, and I think I connected with a couple of them. I'd see myself playing for them and, unless it happens that I'm not in the team's plans anymore or that relationship with the GM turns to crap, I plan to play for the same GM for most of my career. I won't say what teams I spoke with, though. 4. Posh Spice was the best back then and she still is, but I did like Sporty Spice as well. 5. It's funny you ask that, because back home, I used to play that hockey simulation game called EHM. One thing I would like to do is edit every team in the NHL to create a new 30-team league with random players in. That would create a nice challenge, as compared to playing in the regular, well-known NHL. Among all teams I created over the years, my favourites were the navy-and-gold North Dakota Thunderbirds, the classic Washington Capital-coloured Minnesota HC and the gold-black-and-white Oakland Quakes, so I would probably go with one of these. VHL opens up a lot of European markets though, so maybe I would go with something completely new too.

I don't have high expectations about the round I'm getting selected in. The draft class seems to be massive, with a couple of guys being far above me in terms of talent and experience. Unlike most of these guys, I was only invited to join the league through the draft, I didn't get to play for a team last season, so I don't have any flashy stats to showcase and I'm aware of it. I think I might get drafted around the 4th or 5th round. That being said, I don't mind the position I'm drafted at. I'd be happy to be selected by pretty much any team, and in any round. I wouldn't even mind being this year's Mr. Irrelevant, as the last player drafted in the whole thing.

Today is the day of the VHLM Entry Draft, and Joseph McWolf has made himself available to answer media's questions on the subject.