oilmandan

Give him 3 tpe

Greetings, VHL, and welcome back to VSN Under 250, where we cover everything VHLM. Today, we'll be looking at the VHLM playoffs and specifically taking a look at how each series may end up. While you’re here please make sure to check out some other awesome VSN content!
 
VSN Presents: S79 Trade Deadline Recap | VSN Presents VHLE Coverage: Team Logos and Changes, Pre-Draft Tournament/Draft Formats| VSN Presents: Trading Toronto
 
Quarter Finals
 
(1) vs. (8)
Mississauga dominated San Diego in the regular season, going 5-0 against the eighth seed. Mississauga’s offense has been too much for San Diego in the past matchups, lead by Nathaniel Minion @Minion and Otto Numminen @Otto Numminen both of whom scored over 110 points in the regular season will look to continue their offensive output into the playoffs. Standing in Mississauga’s way is goalie Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica, who could very well steal a game or two and possibly with a little bit of puck luck the entire series. San Diego’s offense hasn’t had a problem scoring against Mississauga, averaging just shy of 3 goals in each of the games, so if San Diego can shut down the high powered Mississauga offense this is anyone’s series. One thing to keep in mind is that at the 30 game mark of the season San Diego was in last place and has seen an impressive turn around, so much so that if they performed at this pace for the entire season they likely would have been in the conversation for the second through fifth seeds. If Mississauga takes this series lightly they could be in for a rude awakening.
 
Mississauga wins the series 4-1 
 
(2) vs. (7)
Another playoff series that could come down to a few key players. Although Saskatoon won the season series three games to two, Saskatoon only out scored them by one goal and most games were very close. Furthermore, Saskatoon’s lack of depth could play a role in this series as they only have 6 forwards and four defensemen could put them at a significant disadvantage if any games go to overtime. Expect to see Saskatoon’s offense try to get to Halifax netminder David Davis @Josh early in the series and each game as if they are going to control the series Duncan Montana @124715 and Kyle Peace @Peace will need to continue their dominance in each and every game. Expect to see Halifax steal at least one game and should Halifax push the series to game seven it could be anyone’s for the taking especially with Halifax’s new defensive additions in Markus Krowley @Raven, Braden Doucette @bradendoucette88, and Marttins Stepka @DUSS7Y allowing David Davis to finally have some substantial support in front of him.
 
Saskatoon wins series 4-1
 
 (3) vs.  (6)
The first of two series that could go either way, and the only series where the lower seed won the season series as Las Vegas took three of the five games played between these two teams. Of note is the momentum that Miami brings into this first round matchup that could carry them straight through Las Vegas. Unlike Miami, Las Vegas does not have a single capped player, and the difference in high end skill could be the difference maker here as Miami’s offence will look to run over Las Vegas with Mikey Markov @JetsFan81 and defensemen Hari Singh Nalwa @Dil both coming off of over 100 point seasons. For Las Vegas they’ll need their top 2 defensemen Zdeno Chara @Agito and Pistol Pete @PistolP to continue their dominance at both ends of the ice as they have proved to be possibly the best defense pairing in the league. This series will more than likely go the distance and whoever comes out of it could emerge as potential favourites for the Founder’s Cup.
 
Miami wins series 4-2
 
(4) vs. (5)
The second series that could very well come down to a game seven sees the Reapers and the Kings going head to head. Mexico City won the season series three games to two while being heavily out shot in four of the five games. Needless to say this entire series comes down to one player and one player only for Mexico in Bastian Greiss @ThatsGreissy as he will need to be playing his best for Mexico to have a chance. Recent addition Ben Aky @Lilmar will surely be of assistance to Greiss in this endeavour. Furthermore, each team’s top offensive option in Darth Kaprizov @Darth Kaprizov and Deke Rike @JCV were traded for each other last season as Kaprizov was sent to Philadelphia in exchange for a second, third and Rike, making this a storyline to keep an eye on. Expect to see Philadelphia goaltender Tobias Reinhart @Spaz also play a substantial role in this series as he has emerged as a true starting goalie in the VHLM and will look to make a statement in the playoffs. 
 
Philadelphia wins series 4-3
 
The rest of the way!
Semi-Finals
Should the quarter finals go as predicted that would set us up for a bloodbath in the second round as Mississauga would be taking on Philadelphia in the second round, and Saskatoon would be set to face Miami. 
 
 (1) vs.  (5)
In the regular season the hard fought series between Philadelphia and Mississauga seemed rather one sided as Mississauga would take seven of the eight games and if Philadelphia is to put up a fight here they would need to get their offense going and their defense will have to step up in a bug way to stop Mississauga’s offense. Notably this series would feature a pair of goalies in Luke Spinelli @Lspinelli and Tobias Reinhart who served as co-starting goalies in Philadelphia last season with Reinhart having better stats in an identical playing situation.
 
Mississauga wins series 4-2
 
 (2) vs.  (3)
The other semi final would feature the close matchup between Miami and Saskatoon who went back and forth over the regular season with Miami winning the latest game by a score of 5-3. Once again this series could come down to one of two things, either whichever team’s offense can perform better, or whichever team’s goalie steps up to the plate and limits the opponents scoring more. Needless to say this could prove to be an instant classic of a series.
 
Miami wins series 4-3
 
FINALS
 (1) vs.  (3)
Lasly, the finals would feature the two beasts of the east in Mississauga and Miami, these two teams nearly split the season series and will look to prove their superiority in this series. Realistically, the best way to look at this series is to break it down positionally, Mississauga has the better offensive group with Minion, Baby Bob @Baby Boomer, and Numminen, Miami features a slightly better defensive group and goaltender with Em Em Flex @oilmandan. This series could come down to special teams and the Hounds just take way too many penalties for it not to hurt them in the long run, for this reason the Marauders get the nod here and will leave the Hounds wondering what happened in the finals yet again.
 
Miami wins series 4-3
 
This entire season has lead to a chance at the Founder's cup for these eight teams and each one of them has the ability to prove these predictions horribly wrong, best of luck to everyone!

I was told by my genius GM @Banackock to do more updating so that my stud goalie Em Em Flex gets better. So here goes. Like many people, as the world has reopened, I've found myself doing other things aside from sim leagues. I had re-peaked to 5 sim leagues with varying amounts of activity sometime during our 18 month imprisonment. Unfortunately, even with my love of hockey, the VHL was a casualty. But I do hate being a quitter, so we'll see Flex play out his career and take a break from a few sim leagues. The community used to be what kept me around here, as staring at box scores is only so exciting for me. I am glad that Seattle has once again risen to the top of their conference standings, and I'm equally glad Miami has had a very strong regular season as well. With any luck, both will take home championships here shortly. That's over 150 words, so see ya next time

Now Cologne is back, can we sue the EFL for Denver Steam?

Last week was a nice week because I didn't have to do any writing for my leagues. Thank you very much to the donations double free weeks or whatever they're called. It spoiled me a lot and made writing for this week very hard. Also the fact SBA has that season pass is also making me wish the VHL had something similar to that. Is there anything wrong with helping yo members out a little bit? I don't think so. Anyway, just on day off #6 here and heading back for the usual stretch of 8 days (should be 10 but had a stat and AV attached to this 4 day off stretch to = 6). 2 more shifts of work and we get to go to the mountains and do some vacationing with another couple. MUCH EXCITE! For now, let's do some blabbing and get it over with.
 
VHL, can you give us something somewhat similar to the Season Pass/Premium SBA has? I don't even need to fully cap 12/12 if this league is "cheaper" than the SBA, but damn... give me an option where I can provide some financial assistance to the league and then I don't have to write media spots for the season. Make that cost like.. $20 lmao. It's becoming worth it for me. Seattle is doing good. There was a time this season when we were in last place. Now we're once again near the top running with the big boys (some). Team is having fun, everyone is playing good and all of that stuff. Happy Bears, strong Bears, winning Bears, again. Also, I've either hit or am very close to #1200GMWins Just traded Kendrick for Jruutu. Bit of a big deal but we didn't mind. We have a lot of players leaving this season (which was planned), so don't mind moving some assets (when we have a good chunk) to assist the youth we brought in the previous season. S80 is a big draft, so we're excited for the Bears future with the likes of @SlapshotDragon @oilmandan and @jRuutu currently in the system. Next season, we'll also have a ton of cap available, so surely will be speaking with some free agents to have them be part of more special history with Seattle.  Bye

And just like that, it was over. Jim Bob took the title over from Randy Marsh, after the latter forgot to drop the gloves for 20 straight VHL games. Bob's retirement was already announced and, with only 15 games left to his last regular season, he had the chance to hold on to the VFF Champions' belt until he hung the skates. Fast forward 15 games, and Bob didn't get to battle with any opposing player, but with his Phantoms participating in the playoffs, he'd have a couple more opportunities to defend his hard-earned title and could become the first player to ever retire as a VFF Champion. His focus seemed to switch to playing non-dirty, boring, goalscoring hockey and, after a 4-to-1 series win against the London United where he failed to fight anyone, the title was once again vacated.
 
As luck would have it, the belt wouldn't need to travel too far, as the very next fight that ended with one of two contestants laying lifeless on the ice would involve another Prague Phantom as the winner. In fact, Riley Knight Gee beat up Dakota Lamb in the very first game of the European Conference Finals, making it the second time that Lamb was involved in the crowning of a new champion. Knight Gee was one of four favourites that were talked up as favourites to take on the belt at some point in the season and he showed why the VFF Commissioner trusted him so much, as merely two games later, he'd go on to fight to a draw with a second Warsaw Predator, Chris Reynolds. The Predators eventually beat the Phantoms in five games, effectively ending the Phantoms season, forcing the enforcer to take his belt into the next season, which we'll learn about this coming week.
 
VFF Rulebook | VFF Report III | Players mentionned: @jRuutu @oilmandan @KnightRiley @dlamb @Crstats23
 

Updated list of VFF Champions No. Champion Challengers Title Fights 1 Randy Marsh Dakota Lamb, S78 Game 4
The Terrible Trivium, S78 Game 63
Wolf Weiss, S78 Game 189*
Isabella Campbell, S78 Game 260* 4 Title vacated after not fighting for 20 games 2 Jim Bob Lester Green, S78 Game 451 1 Title vacated after not fighting for 20 games 3 Riley Knight Gee Dakota Lamb, S78 Playoffs Game 70
Chris Reynolds, S78 Playoffs Game 76* 2  

there's one in my heart

I hope there is a wing in the hall of fame just for fighters. 

What an honor! Two old teammates, two old gladiators, two VFF champions.

@oilmandan good night, champ

Randy Marsh's reign of terror started with a bang. After becoming the first ever VFF champion in the fourth game of the season, he defended his title not more than 10 games later. Then, either potential opponents started being scared of him or maybe his retirement announcement brought him pity, but he barely even fought for a while. He ended up successfully defending his title two more times, drawing against both Wolf Weiss and Isabella Campbell, essentially prolonging his reign as the only VFF titleholder by an additional 20 games. But that's all he had left and, per the VFF Rulebook, his title was eventually vacated after his 20th game without participating in a single fight. VHL fighters paid their respects to the first of hopefully many, by agreeing to not fight for a couple of days, but the hommage had to end at some point, and it was Jim Bob who broke the minute of silence. After a tumultuous fist fight against Toronto Legion's Lester Green, Bob came on top and officially received became the 2nd VFF Champion about 15 games before the end of Season 78 and, incidentally, his career.
 
VFF Report II | Players mentionned: @oilmandan @Matmenzinger @Banackock @jRuutu @Smarch
 

Updated list of VFF Champions No. Champion Challengers Title Fights 1 Randy Marsh Dakota Lamb, S78 Game 4
The Terrible Trivium, S78 Game 63
Wolf Weiss, S78 Game 189*
Isabella Campbell, S78 Game 260* 4 Title vacated after not fighting for 20 games 2 Jim Bob Lester Green, S78 Game 451 1
 

Hello, hello. First day off here and it felt very good. It was definitely needed and towards the end of that stretch of work I was feeling pretty burnt out. Didn't help that the off-season also landed during this last week and some of work. The Bears were very busy in the off-season and had a lot of hopping around to do. The way I explained it to most was "spider webbing" and it truly did feel that way. It all looked like one big web with each end moving to another. It was pretty exhausting and lots of time put into it. Always a great feeling when the off-season ends, lol. I won't go into it too heavily here as I need something to blab about in the Birthday bash media spot to earn that bonus uncapped TPE. LETS GO!
 
Bears said goodbye to a lot of great people this off-season and it wasn't easy to do but being in the role for this long does help at least make you understand that sometimes you got to make the hard moves. Frosty, Blade, Greg, Hex etc all went out and I think we got some pretty decent returns overall.  Seattle added quite a few good pieces too. It was my goal to add youth pieces to kind of reset what we've been doing the last 11 seasons but to also remain competitive by replacing the talent we have with some form of similar talent. Older was cheaper. I didn't want to ship out $1 for $1. If I could grab $1 back, I only wanted to spend $.75 in value coming and going so we could stock the cupboards. We went from 2 1sts in the next 3 drafts to owning 6 while also maintaining a pretty lethal roster. BIG draft! I was very, very happy to get involved in the draft. Adding @oilmandan and @SlapshotDragon was massive. Both were my #1 targets and somehow I managed to get both. OMD I thought we likely would but SSD was an amazing surprise. Both are huge for the present and future of the team.  
That is all. 

This week was the entry of my third player into the VHL draft. My player EM EM Flex took part in the VHLM draft as well. As a goalie, and after scouting possible destinations, I kind of had the feeling that there may not be a whole lot of action or scouting messages regarding my player. In the end about 4 VHLM teams as well as 6 or 7 VHL teams reached out to my player. I’m not sure if I was disappointed in the lack of interest but am really I was not too surprised. I do have A lot to offer and I am hoping that Miami and Seattle respectively are both very pleased with the player that I will become. 
As for my draft experience as a whole and where I ended up being selected I’m quite happy. I spent last season with Miami and even though it was a rough season, I had a lot of fun. Rockstar did a great job keeping spirits high with the focus on the upcoming season as to when we would make our big move. So I’m really looking forward to the season and seeing where we can go as a much more fearsome team , with all our high draft picks. With Seattle, I’m going into a familiar situation as both of my two previous players spent time in the Bears organization. Bana does a wonderful job keeping players active, motivated and most of all, winning. The amount of championships Seattle has won in the past several seasons is quite insane and I’m really hoping that, that run can continue with a few more championships with my goalie back stopping the team. 
There were a couple other teams that I had very good conversations with regarding my being drafted, and in the end while those didn’t come to fruition, they leave me with a good feeling as to them being good places to play in the future.
 
Looking forward to the season I’m really hoping to establish myself as one of the top goalies in the minor-leagues and proving myself a good draft selection. My numbers from last year definitely leave something to be desired but I think with some luck and more tpe that can change pretty quickly. 
My future with Seattle looks very bright. While there is a bona fide starter in place with the Bears at this time, I think by the time I’m ready to strut my stuff in the pro level, I’ll have a solid opportunity t win the job up there.

I hope to make all the teams that didn’t draft me regret their decision or lack there of, but in the end I ended up quite happy with where I was drafted so there really are no hard feelings in this case. 
The career of Randy Marsh is now a closed book and the career of Dan Wilinsky is very far in the past. I think both had solid careers but definitely fell shorts in the end of any Hall of Fame chances. Perhaps Flex can be the one to break the streak and muscle his way into the VHL Hall of Fame. 

S78 Team Awards
 
 
S78 saw the underdog Nighthawks take another step forward in their rebuild/retool. They made the play-in round for the second straight year and this time advanced past Helsinki to the next round only to lose to eventual champion Warsaw. Many players took great steps in their development and the future is exciting for this young team from Malmo! Announcing the S78 Malmo Nighthawks Team Awards as voted by the players and management.
 
Condor Adrienne Award (Best Defenseman)
Randy Marsh @oilmandan
 
The truculent Marsh was his usual self and made sure he was even more of a pain in the ass in his final VHL season. He led Malmo defensemen in most categories and helped the Nighthawks become the only team this season with two 300+ hitters. He matched his career-high in goals with 18 and set career-highs in shots (228), penalty minutes (260), hits (312), and blocked shots (162). He also was a stud in the postseason posting career-highs in goals, assists, and points with a point-per-game showing (3-7-10) in 10 games. His 260 penalty minutes also led the league and he finishes his career 6th all-time in VHL history with 1450.
 
 
Rookie of the Year
Tui Sova @v.2
 
Drafted 7th overall in the S78 Draft, the skilled defenseman from Fiji provided an instant boost to the Nighthawks’ blueline. He worked his way into a Top-3 role and became reliable in all areas of the game. His offensive game improved as the season went along collecting 8 goals and 32 assist for 40 points which put him third in scoring among all rookies. Defensively, he handled himself with poise and assertiveness as he placed second on the team in blocked shots (169), third in penalty minutes (108) and fourth in hits (148).
 
 
Unsung Hero
Carson Walkers @Cwalker
 
Walkers blossomed into a consistent source of secondary scoring and defensive acumen all season long as the third-year winger set career highs in most categories. His 21 goals were fifth on the team and he chipped in five power play goals, three game-winners and converted both of his shootout attempts. He also provided grit with 162 hits, good for third on the team and was tied for second on the Nighthawks with a +18.  
 
 
Most Energetic
Druss Deathwalker @animal74
 
Deathwalker saw steady improvement in his sophomore season and his non-stop motor caused havoc for opposing teams. He doubled or tripled his numbers from his rookie season scoring 23 goals on 288 shots both numbers fourth on the team. He also led the league with a monstrous 374 hits and was 7th in penalty minutes with 191. This is his second straight award.
 
 
Most Gentlemanly
Kevin Wu @kevinscix
 
Although he had a down year offensively, Wu nevertheless was a solid contributor at both ends for Malmo with 35 points and 123 blocked shots. He was also a quiet leader and his calm demeanor carried into the locker room and on the ice. His calmness also attributed to him only taking nine minor penalties all season in spite of playing over 18 minutes a game.
 
 
Most Valuable Player
Muffbeav @.sniffuM, Brendan Telker @Telkster, Artem Tretiak @Molholt
 
This was the most contested vote as three of Malmo’s stars fittingly tied for the award for Most Valuable Player. Muffbeav and Telker led Malmo offensively all season with Muffbeav flirting with a goal-a-game pace for the first quarter of the season. Telker led the Nighthawks in points with 90 and Muffbeav led the team in goals with 45. They were both among league leaders for goals and shots with Muffbeav leading the league with 531. Telker was also among league leaders for power play goals (14) game-winners (6) and hat tricks (3).
 
Tretiak held the fort between the pipes and announced to the league he was a bonafide starter. He led the league with a sparkling 0.924 save percentage and was Top-5 in shots against and shutouts. His focus and determination helped power Malmo through rough stretches and into the playoffs.
 
 
Nighthawk of the Year
Druss Deathwalker @animal74
 
Deathwalker garners his second Nighthawk of the Year award on the heels of his first season as team captain. Proving that he wasn’t just all boast and bluster, he accepted an increased offensive role and still led the league in hits while providing boisterous energy on the ice and an encouraging presence in the locker room. He strives to help his teammates get better for the good of the team and the ultimate goal.
 
 
3-Stars Award
Muffbeav @.sniffuM
 
After such a sensational season, it’s no surprise that Muffbeav claims Malmo’s 3-Stars award for S78. He led the team in goals and shots and created offense from everywhere and thus he was selected 1st Star a team-high nine times. He also had a team-high 17 star selections for a total of 380 points. Although, his co-MVPs Telker and Tretiak weren’t far behind with 330 and 310 points respectively.
 
Full 3-Star standings below:
 
 
Player 1st 2nd 3rd Star Points Total Stars Muffbeav 9 3 5 380 17 Brendan Telker 4 9 3 330 16 Artem Tretiak 6 5 3 310 14 Druss Deathwalker 2 5 3 190 10 Arthur Dayne 4 1 5 190 10 Randy Marsh 2 4 4 180 10 Viktor Alexei Kamenov 2 2 3 130 7 Tui Sova 2 1 3 110 6 Kevin Sterk 2 2 1 110 5 Carson Walkers 1 2 3 100 6 Kevin Wu 0 1 1 30 2 Jakob Sosa 0 1 1 30 2 Woody McPine 0 0 1 10 1 Kirishima Wakaro 0 0 1 10 1  
Nighthawks: @Infernal @TMGSosa @Snussu @BigTittySmitty @M1nT @STZ @hylands @HearnNation67

Well, happy draft day VHL! It's been quite the rollercoaster up until this point, and I'm realizing now that I may not have actually put out any content this season, or at least since last offseason when I chunked out my podcast and VSN work. Quite a bit has changed since then, along with Warsaw winning their first Continental Cup, the VHLE taking more steps towards being legitimately alive, and a whole regular season of action to shape how today will go. I was planning on doing a podcast for today, but I can't seem to find enough quiet time to record, at least when I'm in the mood to record and then edit out the shit parts. So I attempt to ramble about various topics and see how many weeks this will pay out.
 
Regular Season Reflection
 

 
Moscow had a more competitive regular season this go around, without trading away anyone during the season. We had a fairly consistent roster throughout the season, and there were definitely signs of improvement at various times, being able to compete with teams better than us. However we lacked consistency, probably most notable in Duncan Idaho and Paul Atreides' slump. While the two of them were red hot through about a third of the season, Atreides even being in contention for top goal-scorer in the league, both of them suddenly went into a massive slump - failing to record a point for 6+ games. Multiple line shakeups were needed just to coax a few points out of them, but the damage was really done by that point, with Moscow sliding out of our playoff spot and back into the basement of the EU. 
 
However, the standings do show that we still were decently competitive in a very competitive conference. Marginally the 3rd-highest scoring team in our conference, just behind Prague by a goal. The goals allowed shows a real hole in our game, allowing the most goals in the conference by far. However, we were relying on a very young defensive group, led by rookie Hard Markinson, and supplemented by rookies Bahram Kamkar, Shaggy Tipton, and recently minted veteran Bob Tristan. None of these players older than S75, so the defense group was certainly asked for a lot in their first season together. Markinson was able to show enough to get Stolzy honors, and Tipton was a near miss in my eyes for the All-VHL rookie squad. Very proud of the young group in their first season together.
 
Draft Day
 

 
This draft is shaping up to be one of the most top-heavy classes we've had in a bit. Usually we've had at least some interchangeability between the mid-late first to the early 2nd, but that looks to not even be the case this season. Players that would be mid-late 2nd round picks in other classes are borderline 1st round talent out of necessity for active earners. However, the top 7 or 8 picks look to be very interesting.
 
1st overall is already one of the largest points of contention around the league, as LA faces a bit of a bind. They didn't expect to get first, leapfrogging Vancouver twice, Davos and Moscow to get the selection. But that faces its own challenges. LA is still in compete now mode, with established forwards, defensemen, and a strong goalie to last them at least the new few seasons. In an ideal world, they'd be trading the 5th overall pick for a 700+ TPA D-man to replace Roque Davis who retired last season. 1oa is certainly a complication, as there are already multiple rumblings that neither Reinhart wants to play in LA, with their sights set on Vancouver who acquired the 2nd and 3rd overall selections to take them together. Davos seems content with their selection of D-men at 4, either between Peepants and his playmaking build or Jokinen with his well-rounded offensive build. So LA seems to be best suited to take either Peepants or Jokinen to fill their true need at defense. Otherwise, I'd expect them to pick AJ Williams, first-gen sensation at 1oa, or in a last ditch effort, try to move the pick. But even in that case, you'd be trying to turn the pick into a top d-man somehow. It's a tricky situation and has left a lot of ambiguity as to how picks 1, 2, 3, and 5 will go.
 
Oddly enough, there are quite a few recreates in this draft that aren't getting much attention as they'd deserve. While Beketov, Cow, Z and Jardy are currently getting most of the attention, there are strong players right underneath them that shouldn't be considered consolation prizes. A lot of eyes will be on Scoop to see if this will be the player he can snap his streak of IA-ness with, and I've personally had a very nice interview with him. He's dedicated to having a team built around him and I'm excited to see which team takes the chance on him. I think he'll pay off. Other users like Rookie, SlapshotDragon, PadStack, oilmandan, osens and Donno100 also have a nice history in the league, with osens making his first recreate! All of these folks may not be the max earning freaks like the folks currently penciled in for the top 4/5 picks, but they've made a name for themselves as consistent earners who understand the league and how to earn and build their players. Expect to see a handful of these folks make up the picks after 5oa, likely to teams looking for consistent pieces over faces of the franchise.

Just to start to conclude though, the first-gens in this class are also quite intriguing. AJW has shown some solid activity in the league, and I got a chance to chat with him during the VHL's brief foray into Minecraft. He's certainly very active in the community and has shown a real penchant to try and be a star in the league sooner rather than later. Birdman out of Houston joined a bit later in the season, but his activity in Houston has been pretty nice to see. He actually might be a former user returning to the league, but with the amount of time between stints, I'm basically calling him a first-gen. Lastly, Agito over in Saskatoon has also shown promising signs as a later create. Might be a sneaky pick who can become a bit of a late bloomer. 
 

 
Overall though, I'm both excited and nervous for the draft tonight, as well as for the future of Moscow. There's always so much unpredictability with what goes on in management - there's really no guarantees at all. The most active of members can up and disappear, STHS can decide it just doesn't like you, and the best laid plans of mice and men go awry. Every team is walking into this draft with a plan and a hope. It's anyone's guess as to how it'll really play out.
 
Word Count: 1,157 (2 weeks claim)
 

@oilmandan     @Beketov

GL with Illinois Arizona @oilmandan

2 teams 1 cup

Hey @Nykonax

Interesting take on things. I found it odd I was even nominated, I dumped the remaining chunk of my tpe into checking and fighting to beat up everyone in the league. But no one wanted to dance. So blame the VHL for not wanting to fight Randy

The VHL award ceremony is going on right now, and the Jake Wylde trophy for best defensive defenseman went to Randy Marsh with 5 votes. The other candidates being L with 4 votes, and Cowboy Prout with 2. For a while I've been saying hits are bad, but haven't actually done a full breakdown of why, so here it is
 
Brief intro, increasing checking means more hits means more penalties right. Discipline doesn't do anything just reduces your hits and thus probably penalties. (I haven't actually tested discipline increases, that's just my theory with some basis that it does reduce hits).
 
So looking at the 3 candidates, I compared their stats and added a couple of my own. The first being Hits/Pim, which is just a ratio of how many hits per penalty minute. It's found by just dividing hits and penalty minutes pretty self-explanatory. I think it's a decent stat especially to counter the "but hits lead to turnovers" argument. A higher hits/pim is good, since it means your hitting more and causing more turnovers without taking penalties.
 
Next stat is SH Goals Responsible For (SHGRF). This stat is just on average how many goals the other team would have scored while the player was in the penalty box. It isn't actually the real number since I can't be bothered to manually check every game for 3 players. But I still think it's decent. It's found by taking the players total penalties, then multiplying by 1 minus PK%. So for example, if we wanted to find Kyl Oferson's SHGRF you'd take his total penalties (8), then multiply by 1 minus Chicago's PK% (1-0.776), and you would get a total of 1.79 goals. Obviously goals can't be a decimal which is why it's just an average. I would assume the number would be higher since most dmen would be playing more PK minutes, and substituting them with a worse player or bot would only increase the number.
 
Without further ado, lets look at the stats.

Player SB PIM (No Fights) Hits Hits/Pim Total Penalties SH Goals Responsible For Randy Marsh 162 230 312 1.36 115 22.21 L 164 147 244 1.66 72 16.13 Cowboy Prout 189 118 168 1.42 59 13.19  
 
As you can see, Randy Marsh and L have similar shot blocks (giving this one to L since Malmo was a worse team with more shots against). Looking at Hits/Pim L is higher, suggesting he was more efficient in creating turnovers. Then Marsh was responsible for 6 more goals against than L. But Marsh still wins the award because his hit number was bigger, despite being less efficient at causing turnovers and costing his team more goals. Great defensive defenseman am I right?
 
I also decided to look at the other 3 names listed in the Wylde post.

Player SB PIM (No Fights) Hits Hits/Pim Total Penalties SH Goals Responsible For Alex Letang 139 207 264 1.28 102 22.98 Robin Galante Nilsson 229 76 153 2.01 38 9.84 General Zod 140 154 282 1.83 77 16.08 Letang is the same thing as Marsh, just less efficient. Nilsson and Zod are interesting though, and are who I would've gave my votes to along with L. Nilsson has super good SB, and super high efficiency. Only thing is he suffers from a lack of volume in hits, so you could argue against him for that. Zod I think is super underrated and could be deserving of the award. Super efficient with hit volume similar to Marsh, and responsible for same amount of goals as L.
 
 
I think this award should have come down to L/Zod, and we really need to re-evaluate how we look at hits.
 
P.S. I kind of click-baited the title, looking at the data should probably be Zod winning it but gorlab gets more clicks.
 
 

Hey @Nykonax

Interesting take on things. I found it odd I was even nominated, I dumped the remaining chunk of my tpe into checking and fighting to beat up everyone in the league. But no one wanted to dance. So blame the VHL for not wanting to fight Randy

Good negotiations @Rayzor_7!
 
Welcome to Calgary @MMFLEX🔥
 
We are thrilled to have you join the squad!!!

Thanks for a great awards show @Doomsday
 
Randy Marsh the big winner on the night 

Thanks for a great awards show @Doomsday
 
Randy Marsh the big winner on the night 

Thanks for a great awards show @Doomsday
 
Randy Marsh the big winner on the night