Banackock

Good luck man. Keep up the good shit! @DaftRaincloud

HELL YEAH BROTHER

Agreed with a few points here but will mostly keep them in the shadows. What I will comment on is my management tenure and how it’s always been fun. I know it’s not likely what you meant. There’s been a few lows along my tenure too, but nothing too extreme. You learn as you go. Ride the wave, whether it’s big or small. What I will say is that Seattle hasn’t been good for all 4 years, or 24 seasons straight, that Ive been a GM. There’s moments of frustration (expansion, criticism or whatever) and moments of being tired and exhausted from the role. However, I think those moments are individual pieces of sand on an entire beach and that’s how I think about it. I have loved managing Seattle the entire time and have always had it be my passion, even before the VHL when I was on the SHL. Does the criticism suck? Yeah it can. After awhile though, you care less and less because you learn it’s usually just the same people and a majority notice your work, efforts and accolades. Not everyone is gonna like your style, trades or ways. That’s how it will always be and can’t shit on them for it. I want them to enjoy the league as much as I want them to enjoy Seattle. And usually, it’s lighthearted bugging and jokes. We must remember what this community is about. We’re all here together with the same purpose. It’s something I’ve learned more and more over the years to respect, cherish and even welcome. Ive had bad rebuilding teams too and empty locker rooms. Probably more than most as my tenure has been longer than any single tenure ever in league history. What keeps me going is the passion and it’s what also makes the criticism and all that a little more intense (likely for you too as I know you had amazing passion for Halifax). I’ve encountered so many amazing people on Seattle and throughout the league. The role gives me the ability and desire to reach out to many members that possibly I wouldn’t without the role (and others maybe don’t as much). I have had members on my squad in recent seasons that I basically consider buddies and have become people that I trust the most on this site and it’s amazing to still have that happening after all these seasons. That’s weird for me. “Online buddies”. But these guys I talk to everyday and when the time comes to move them, I actually do feel sad. Moving @FrostBeard, as an example, I felt like I wanted to tear up, man. He’s a VHL brother to me. Having the GM role and doing that, it’s pretty damn special. I am grateful for the GMing role. I have no intentions on stepping down for quite some time and while our differing opinions on the role are okay, I find it to be amazing. It’s the best thing that’s happened to me on these sites and I cannot truly express how amazing it’s been and how amazing it continues to be after all these seasons. The fire is still very much burning like it was on the day that the blues picked me to lead the Bears. It’s such an amazing experience and privilege to be able to serve the league, it’s members and the dominant dynasty known as the Seattle Bears. I know shits been frustrating on here for you a bit Shawn, but nobody has any horrible thoughts towards you in the grand scheme of things. You’re a great guy and have great potential on this site. Thank you for what you’ve done over the last 2 years and I hope you stick around for many more man. I’ve really enjoyed you being around!

Some good old fashioned puck!

HC tried!

Awesome stuff, @Kendrick. Always been a member I’ve respected and appreciated with all the history, hard work and passion you’ve put into the VHL. I was very happy to see you make a return to the league - especially under your OG name and not an alias. Everyone has a past and blemishes, you too, but those don’t even come close to shadowing all the amazing things you’ve done for this place. So thank you! It’s crazy to feel, but it feels like forever ago since my first day as Bears GM. It’s wild for me to try and think back to some moments and either forget pieces or things entirely, or have fuzzy vision with some stuff because it’s been so long. It’s been an amazing ride, many great experiences and encounters, and I hope the league will allow me to keep pushing until the tank is empty. Surprisingly, after 24 seasons, it still is as full as ever (most of the time). But yeah.. Guilty Oilers fan here.. Hopefully shows my dedication to the game because damn, it can be tough some seasons, haha. Raising a shitty glass back at ya (because If I remember correctly... you’re a Devils fan ??)

Wowza

@Phillip Good luck

Coming from a man that knows a thing or two about longevity..

WELCOME TO THE LEAGUE @Evan

Funk wins us game

I am looking for an elite graphic artist to help me out and make me a sweet signature for my next player. I’ll be retiring in the off-season to play out next season most likely. ? Discord me or PM here or Comment.

Nice. Good luck @Grape

Welcome back!

Geez... like a mosquito that buzzed in your ear and wakes you up when sleeping, hey? Lol Anywho, MOSCOW sucks at losing as much as winning me guess.

Funk.. more like slam dunk

Good stuff

Hello, everyone. I hope all your weekends went well and you're all bracing yourselves for Monday. My lazy ass is just getting off a nice long stretch of days off and won't be finding my way back to them for another 10 days starting tomorrow. Figured it was likely best to get this out of the way now as opposed to waiting until some time this coming week. My initial thoughts of this season's theme for theme week was pretty damn good but heading into it I didn't know what to expect. Like I did, I just wasn't sure it was going to be this good. What I seen was some pretty good retention, a lot of members being noticed for their hard work, dedication and care they show towards the league and a lot of deserving members were shown a lot of great love over the last little while. I guess now it's my turn to write that little bit of a media spot. Fortunately, I've spent the last 24 seasons as a very dedicated, passionate GM of the VHL, as well as the last 2 years up until recently as the VHLM's almighty and powerful ruler. Working both of these roles for the league has given me the ability to look, hunt and interact with a massive amount of members - new and old. For me, this was something I really liked about the job. I got to notice people. I went out of my way to notice people who just signed up for the site, got to know them and helped get them a little bit hooked or going. It's a cool feel. So when I seen this being the theme for the up coming weeks or whatever, It really made me pumped on who I could talk about. Now, some of these guys are getting love for different reasons. Some of these guys are a little older, some are a little newer but I figure I might as well crunch some words, kill a week with theme week pay (Whatever the hell it is. How much do I claim for theme week? lol) and then maybe slap another week off. Without anymore blabbering, who has caught my eye as members in this league? 1. They're the people that made me want to listen to podcasts. I've been on these sites for something close to what feels like 10 years. I'm not entirely too certain on the correct time but it's been a damn long time. I joined SHL in S2-3 and they're in the 50's or something now (I'm 1/10 active there). During this large amount of time, I've never had a strong interest to ever listen to a podcast. I don't think they were really boring. I just don't think I could sit there and listen to something that long and really care about it. I'm not entirely too sure. Maybe, getting older and all that, it also appeals to me differently now than it would have in the mid-to-late teens. HOWEVER, this all changed when @Berocka started kicking out his podcasts. I didn't miss a single one and would be like "yo, when's the next one at?". They were that awesome. Then I gave @DoktorFunk and @DarkSpyro a chance and liked it just the same. These 3 guys joining arms is always the best. I haven't quite dipped fully into that video one yet but dudes, good shit. It's super awesome to see you guys create this atmosphere over the last few months. Maybe people are going covid-crazy, but I appreciate the amazing dedication you guys have to the VHL. 2. Your name is something I like. You've grown on me, but I knew you would. The moment you joined the league, I was a fan of you. Your name was sweet. I don't know if it's your real one or a made up one, lmao, but who cares. Legit name. I've been a big fan of making my players Russian's or Swede's throughout the many years on these sites. I've always enjoyed your coverage of media and work you put out and unfortunately, you have to play on @hedgehog337's damn team! @Patrik Tallinder Keep up the great work, man. 3. Similar to above. Very much so. Maybe it's because I like the NHLer who actually goes by this name. He's sweet. I think he has a lot of potential and could be a better player than what he is. To think of it, this is basically describing both of these guys - real NHL player and the VHL man himself. Every time he does something around the league or on the Discord, I feel a positive vibe and such from him. You can tell he's super interested in the league and with the few discussions I've had with him, I was really impressed and excited to see what he becomes. He currently leads while the main GM, Sonnet, temporarily steps away from his duties due to personal reasons. While this not being the best circumstance to get his foot in the door, I always had a feeling he'd fine a way. @PatrikLaine Be the Patrik Laine both the Winnipeg Jets AND the VHL need. 4. He's a good, dude. He's a teacher that teaches. @bigAL He's a new dude around the league but he's grown fast as a member. I remember when we were first discussing him coming on board as an Assistant GM in the VHLM and we were comparing the top 2 guys for the job. They were both good candidates while also being fairly different and both would have done well likely in the role, however, bigAL has really done some good stuff. Whether it was in the VHLM GM section or private discussions or in general or whatever the hell, he's always been an awesome person to talk with. I think he will do a lot of good things in this league as long as he doesn't go crazy. Not the wrong crazy anyway, lol. 5. DA BEARZ Now, I do believe I am slightly over 1,000 words which was my main goal here. However, I don't feel like it was enough love given. During my time as VHLM Commissioner, I was always, always keeping my eye on members to see how retention was going but to also see who could very well be the next VHLM GM in the league. There was a few times we took gambles on pretty new members, or members that were first gens, and it largely paid off. Some hiring's were even a little bit of a surprise to some but honestly, very few were bad. I say it like that because I'm sure there had to of been one dud. We ain't perfect, ahah. It was also an an opportunity to keep my eye on everyone else so that each and every time we hired someone or whatever, we were doing what was best for the VHLM. Some people that have surprised me or that I've really noticed doing good by the league are @Zetterberg @Jubis@rory @a_Ferk, @Tate-> always have to throw the gentle giant on the list, @FrostBeard -> amazing dude, hardworker to make VSN great again, @Mr_Hatter -> for letting seattle go 3/4 , @Hooperorama @Aye my name jeff @BigTittySmitty @gorlab -> Enjoy seeing you back in a league that I am in.. @Elijah (Fong's Son) -> For making VHL explode with activity lmao, @BladeMaiden -> You know what for, but well drive the people crazy with this tag. @Joe Exotic -> For quality netflix during covid-19, @Kevin King, @Kekzkrieg -> I feel like I love every Erik Karlsson sig you do, lol There's many more but I could go on forever. Keep up the good shit my dudes. Thank you for making this place diverse and TYPICALLY awesome.