Banackock

Blake Campbell - Seattle Bears Head GM January 3rd, 2017 Blake Campbell has had a fairly successful career in the VHL and it comes on many levels. For starters, he was an excellent goalie who managed to have some pretty good seasons and managed to get a cup lifted over his head by his own heads in both leagues. He was a member of the Wranglers, Vikings and New York American's during his career before being pretty much forced into retirement. While also playing as a goalie in the VHL, Blake Campbell managed to find time to do some side general managing where he led the VHLM organization, the Bratislava Watchmen. During his tenure with the Watchmen, he netted himself a record of 174-153-34 in 5 seasons and while that record doesn't stand out for himself, his many of accolades tell a different story. With 2 championships in a row in S47 and 48, he also found himself the winner of the Jack Reilly trophy, awarded to the top general manager in the leagues during 3 of his 5 seasons (S44, 47 and 48). After his strong managing career in the VHLM, word circulating the league was that there was potentially two openings for VHL teams and Campbell's name was one of the top candidates. After some wait and lots of anticipation from the young manager, he was named Head General Manager of the Seattle Bears organization in S49. Throughout his slightly 3.5 season career with the Bears, there's been highs and lows just like any other team. He has fallen and then helped build the team back up where they belond. He's made some excellent moves - done some amazing things and has put in a lot of hard work, but has also made some mistakes along the way and felt a few bumps and hiccups every now and then. For our first General Manager Scouting Report, we're going to break down each VHL season individually and take a microscope to the GM's career. What were some of his biggest moves and some of his worst? What direction has he taken the team and how has the tream down under his reign of power? From where Seattle was to where they've been along the way to where they are now - what kind of handle has Blake Campbell had on the team? We'll answer all of this and then at the end, break down everything and give the manager himself a final grade. "I had known for a while that my name was in the hat to potentially be pulled as a new General Manager in the VHL. Where or what team it was though, I had no idea. Waking up to a phone call one morning from Draper instructing me where to go, what to do and that I was officially the Seattle Bears General Manager, there's not a feeling like it. I guess each moment in my career has been on a different level. As a junior GM, a professional player and now this. It opened up a whole new field of limitations I couldn't wait to push through". Blake Campbell Career GM Statistics Seattle Bears GM S49 to Present Season 49 - The meltdown Campbell clearly frustrated with how things were turning During Campbell's first year behind the Seattle Bears organization, a lot of change came to the team - not once, but twice. Initially, Campbell decided that the roster they currently had was well enough to build around, but not in a season or two, right now. With Free Agency signings in Bobby Boucher, Biggu Kyanon and Jeff Hamilton, along with acquiring Simon Valmount via trade, the team looked like they had everything they needed to become a contender. Strong forwards, strong defense and great goaltending, the team was on their way. So they thought, anyway. With a stacked North American conference, as the season went on the odds of them truly contending pushed further and further away. Although they had a strong record, eventually they found themselves always short and barely looking into the playoff window. Campbell made a tough decision, however, followed through with his word to the Free Agents. If they were out of the race, he promised to accommodate those who wished to try their luck elsewhere and that's exactly what he did. Say good bye to Shawn Muller, Mengsk, Clegane, Kyanon, Hamilton and Skovgaard and hello to a bunch of younger future assets and future star goalie Jakab Holik. The only notable staying? Bogdan Podarok. Safe to say, the rebuild had begun. Regular Season Stats GP - 72 W - 40 L - 30 OTL - 2 PTS - 82 GF/GA - 183/155 Playoffs Stats N/A Season 50 - The Rebuild Begins Campbell with Draftee Sven Wolf Season 50, his 2nd year behind the reigns, was a lot different than the year prior. As witnessed by the VHL hockey world, Campbell ripped apart his team and decided to build from the ground up. During which, he managed to draft multiple keys pieces in Sven Wolf, AK-47, Guntis Petenis and Max Von Hohenzollern.The team's stock pile of youth was growing but the team took a large step backwards when it came to their chances at winning a championship or competing competitively during the regular season. Aside from the youth added through the draft, very minor players were added through the Free Agency period and the team was essentially destined to end the year near the rock bottom. While this was the prediction, they actually managed to give a few of the teams a run for their money and ended up missing the playoffs by 14 points, finishing with 62 on the season. "I think we as a team knew that it was going to be a tough season. We moved a majority of our talent for younger pieces and hadn't the strongest team on paper. In fact, we didn't have much of one if you want to be honest. It was a tough bullet for myself and the guys to bite, however, it was something that I felt needed to be done. When playoff time hit and we missed it for the second season though, wasn't at all enjoyable watching from home and talking to the guys when we could be out there playing the game we love". Regular Season Stats GP - 72 W - 28 L - 38 OTL - 6 PTS - 62 GF/GA - 144/179 Playoffs Stats N/A Season 51 - A Step in the Right Direction Seattle Bears celebrating a victory against the Wranglers For both Campbell and the Bears, Season 51 was a step in the right direction. The team had seen strong progression in development from Petenis, Wolf and AK-47 and Jakab Holik was coming into form very nicely. Podarok was handed the leadership role and the team seemed to be finally turning the page in the rebuild chapter and headed to a stronger path. Scoring on the team was up very slightly but the goals against were down by 23. The team also managed to add defender Fillipe Rodriguez from the Quebec Meute, along with Shayne Gow via a trade made with Helsinki later on in the season. Podarok lead the team in points, with 78 in 72, Wolf and AK-47 struggled to find a consistent game and young blue-liner Petenis had a strong performance during his rookie campaign. While the team was nowhere near being strong enough to contend, the team managed to make the playoffs. There they faced the Toronto Legion where they would lose in 6 games. While this isn't too impressive, they managed to last one more game longer than the Contending favorite Wranglers did against the eventual champions. "A step in the right direction is what we like to look back on it and call it. We played a good year and seen a lot of development from a lot of our bigger assets. While the finish wasn't anything to great, it was progress and shows that we had been successful with the path that we chose. Numerous players were stepping up on the ice and a majority of them were also doing so in the locker room and around the VHL community. Everyone was signed long-term minus a few and the following season looked extremely appealing". Regular Season Stats GP - 72 W - 37 L - 29 OTL - 6 PTS - 80 GF/GA - 162/156 Playoffs Stats GP - 6 W - 2 L - 4 GF/GA - 11/20 Season 52 - Let's Prove Them Wrong Jakab Holik and company have been on FIRE this season so far! Season 52, the team loaded up with some more talent in the off-season. Old time Bear and a member of the S49 meltdown Biggu Kyanon decided to call hsi career quits in Seattle and signed a one year contract with the organization. The team seen Shayne Gow leave for bigger and better opportunities, but the team had the depth currently to handle the situation with Petenis, Rodriguez and Kyanon standing tall for them on the blue-line. The team then managed to add Joel Jarvi in a deal from the Cologne Express and Thor Odinsson from the Quebec Meute. Both would turn out to be huge players for the team this season, however, the team hit a road bump when it came to Odinsson as he decided to hang up the skates after barely half a season with the Seattle organization. While this will put a hole in Seattle team future wise, the team currently is flying high in the regular season, sitting in first place with a 10 point lead on the New York Americans with 5 games remaining for the Bears and 6 for the Americans. "Always feels good to turn things around so strongly, but feels even better when the entire community for the most part was against you or doubting you. This season has been full of so many things - from triumph, to disaster - from good times with the team rolling on fairly lengthy winning streaks to drama circulated around myself, my managing ways and the organization. Looking back on it all? I'm fairly okay with how things turned out. I mean, some unfortunate happenings like Odinsson retiring will set us back, but I don't think the Bears will be ready to go back to sleep after this season. We're pushing really hard and there's no one who deserves it more than the guys I've sat with since my tenure pretty much began. Who have stuck by my side through the good and bad. They deserve it all and more". Regular Season Stats GP - 67 W - 55 L - 10 OTL - 2 PTS - 112 GF/GA - 241/112 Playoffs Stats COMING SOON Overall Statistics 267 Games Played - 160 Wins - 107 Losses - 16 Overtime Losses While his career hasn't been full of shiny accolades or being in the spotlight for being a contender up until this season, Campbell's career has been fairly successful when it comes to being the bench boss for the Seattle Bears organization. With the numerous challenges they've faced, the team seems to have come out on top and were completely up to the challenge. While not all of this can be credited to the General Manager, he was the works behind putting together the roster and throwing in the lines. For future purposes, we expect Campbells career to carry on in the same direction. Overall Grade: B 1,895 words - for Aleksei Federov - DOUBLE TPE - 12

#1 imo

Woo-hoo, Bigguuuuu

PODA-ROCKED @The Bread Man (DAMN name change! Lol)

Atta boyy @evrydayimbyfuglien

Oslo 3-0

Saskatoon Bratislava Yukon

Claim 5 TPE. Thanks, @Will

Luck + Holik.

Initially when reading your message I felt a couple of things. The first, of course, being a little ashamed and saddened that something like that would need to be taken so far. Maybe also the fact that I caused it to go that far. I, nor do I think anybody, would like to see something posted publicly in such a nature. I wouldn't necessarily call it hurt because after all, this is an online thing, but it did affect my confidence, determination and thoughts a significant amount. My confidence was affected because I've thought I've done a fairly good job in Seattle bringing us back up to the top, especially considering the circumstances. My determination because I've been working extremely hard, putting in hours a week only to have something like this come up in our face and negatively affecting the teams current situation and outlook. My thoughts because it simply had me thinking "Are they right? Do I need to take a step back and evaluate certain things?". So, that's exactly what I did and this is what I've taken in from that and have to say. While I have an idea who wrote this, that doesn't matter. While I also have some things I disagree about, there's also things I agree with. What I disagree with doesn't overly matter but it would be regarding the whole situation with BOOM's value. The letter taught me a couple things and that it's people are watching Seattle very closely and while I feel as though it's the same people over and over again, those are still people we would love to have on our organization and we obviously want to be liked by all and become a place people want to play and enjoy playing with. So I did take some things into thought and consideration while reading the letter and if I have any clue who wrote this, I also took in a bunch during our private conversation prior to you publicly going out with it as well. Firstly, I took a step back and gave it some thought before I approached the situation and here I find myself writing this letter. This is something I did not do in the situation of BOOM retiring his pleasure. Now that the spotlight is on me, I'd like to briefly explain that. We put a lot of time into acquiring Odinsson, but we also put a significant amount of future pieces into him. What we saw when acquiring him was a player who was signed for a couple seasons, who was an active - amazing member and had a good, young player on his hands. Adding a player like this to a group which is very similar to him was an excellent case for us. So when the time came that I stumbled on here and found that, I was extremely frustrated with a mixture of disappointment. The way I handled the situation though was extremely improper and not in a way that should be exemplified by a General Manager in the VHL. Of course, we're human and it was only human error that this happened, but it's something that will not be accepted or happening in Seattle any longer. Secondly, I'd like to briefly touch upon the S49 blow up of the Bears roster as a specific member seems to bring it up often. After signing, as well as during, the free agents, we knew the trouble we were getting in with such a competitive conference. I had an agreement with numerous players that if we failed, I would try and accommodate them to a team that would at least stand better chances than we currently had. So when the time came near, rather than have them all sit on the sidelines, I tried to help them the best I could. Now I understand acquiring and then trading such assets doesn't necessarily look professional or good, I was simply only following through with my word to them and allowing them to enjoy the site to the fullest. Those who wished to stay and wanted to remain a Bear, did so. Thirdly, my management skills when it comes to trade offering or free agency. As put it best by someone I spoke to privately, while there is nothing wrong with putting in a crazy amount of effort and excitement, over eagerness isn't something that positively attracts people to the organization. I understand that multiple PM's gets old and one is more than good enough and this will be applied in the following off-season. As for trades, I simply try and initiate trade talks and if an offer is made, they are more than welcome to discuss, tell me their thoughts and/or send me a counter. While speaking to @Mr. Power, I also took into consideration of more formed, better prepared offers and this is something that each GM can expect when the phones open back up next season. Lastly. Seattle is an amazing organization and within that organization, all we have is great, loyal and active people. The amount of respect and loyalty I received could potentially be beyond what I deserve and I am extremely grateful and appreciative that these guys have decided to stand by me and build something here. They deserve to win and that's exactly what I push and push for them to do. To give back because they give me a great deal. Our youth and loyalty is something which makes Seattle strong and along with those 2 things we have amazing skill upfront, on the blue line and in net. My actions have potentially hindered their chances slightly and this is something that I do not want for myself, them or us as an organization. I'm a newer GM - as pointed out prior, and I am still learning and molding my ways as a General Manager. As players throughout the league looking for a team during the off-season, ones on another team getting traded here or GM's on the other side of my messages, I'd like to formally apologize to those who have been "bothered". Seattle, our players and myself want a strong relationship with everyone here, whether you are on our team or playing on an opposing one and hopefully this is something we can build towards in the near future. Seattle has so many great pieces and in my defense, I am an excellent GM who has made some silly, regretful (minor) mistakes. Criticism sucks but this is something I have not taken lightly and will respond in an appropriate matter by listening and adapting. Hopefully we can move forward and Seattle can receive a shot from each of you. All the best leading up to New Years and Happy New Years when the time comes, Banackock Christmas double for Aleksei Federov by the way for the week Dec 26th to Jan 1st

Another good game. Would be a hell of a series!

Damn GG CGY

TOR VS Vikings, but good game huh

Holik #1

When Sven Wolf first started his career, hopes were high that he would become a strong member for the Bears organization as they lacked a strong number one center. While S51 was a successful campaign overall for Seattle, with a first playoff birth since their rebuild began late in S49 and a first round exit in S51, Wolf didn't exactly live up to par. while his 55 points in 72 games is fairly good for someone his age who is still progressing into an elite center, he felt as though he largely came up short. I expected a lot bigger of a season. 15 goals on the year is fine as my specialty is play making and setting up the goals. While I'm not strongly disappointed with 40 assists and 55 points, I felt as though I could have done a little better. My goal on the season was to have roughly 65 points, something I fell short off slightly but that's okay I guess. Wolf has passed expectations, even for himself this season. While the Bears went out and acquired a number one center in Joel Jarvi, Wolf has still excelled on the 2nd line and is putting up much stronger numbers than last season. With 7 more goals and 3 more assists on the season already, Wolf hit his last seasons goal of 65 points this season in 54 goals. With 22 goals, 43 assists and 65 points on the year, its safe to say Wolf has definitely turned it up a notch this season for the Bears.

This year was Aleksei Federov's first Christmas truly away from home and his family. One where he won't be able to see his family on the 25th or during the week for festivities as he's away from home playing in the prestigious Victory Hockey League's minor league, the VHLM. Likely with the option to fly home, Federov elected to stay in Bratislava to continue his training and progress in becoming one of the top young dman prospects in the VHLM. During his stay though, he did manage to spend one evening with his teammates where his name was a late addition into the secret Santa. Of course, his GM managed to pick his name and what he got came to his surprise. I'm a very dedicated player to my game, so it was a pretty nice and funny gift to receive. My GM got me an hourglass, one of those timers where sand pours out and there was a message on the note that he also put in it. It read, "While you work extremely hard and are an extremely dedicated player, never lose track of time or moments". I think it's a very fitting gift and will be something that I will tag a long with me throughout my career.

competitive game eyy

Damn.

we win and i suck wooo

4-3 Wranglers

319 Express 320 Americans 321 HC Dynamo 322 Bears

Two Attribute Points - $5,000,000-Limit once per season.-This does not count towards your total TPE, just your attributes-This adds 2 to any attribute point you have. Example, you have 82 in Skating and raise it to 84. The higher the attribute the more actual TPE value you get out of this purchase. Cash had: 5M Cash spent: 5M In Bank now: 000000

Rest of the league? Dunno why your opinion becomes "the rest of the league". Two people above just stated they don't mind myself, nor Seattle. Anywho, have a good night Kendrick. I will take your feedback into consideration as always.

I'm pretty decent at negotiations. So my trade offers are bad sometimes and my updater and I sometimes bat.. I don't see the reason for hate, nor @Kendrick do I not see how I'm not GM material. We have come a long way since S49/50. Especially due to our limitations. I handle my players well, involve them and do whatever I can to help them succeed individually and as a team. I literally put in a crazy amount of time. As you stated, most GM's are more experienced, thus know how to handle themselves and "work the system" a little better. They've been around the block a few times. So rather than shit on me during my first few seasons, why not give me a chance and wait until I'm a little more established, seasoned and have walked around the block a few times? I think that's mostly fair. Seattle has a great group of guys and what we've built here, has been a team effort. We have one of the best goalies, in my mind the best. Podarok is an amazing player and person and so are the rest of the guys. Our D core is great and young. Everyone is signed long term. I say stupid shit sometimes or make a bad trade offer or two. At the end of the day, we're supposed to be here to enjoy the league - the site - the people. Why do we make such big deals and so much drama out of such small shit? Why can't we all just get along? It sounds kiddish, but it's pretty much the truth. We're hating on members when our members are what keep this place alive. Can we really afford to lose any? This kind of stuff pushed a lot of great SHLer's away and what makes the VHL so great. No drama. I'm still learning and every time you cause something huge out of something small, I take a lot of hate. You've been here what, 50 seasons? I've been a GM for 4-ish. So please, I appreciate some of the feedback, but I'm learning and I'm trying really hard. I only want what's best for the team and hopefully people can start coming around to the idea of Seattle because everyone here deserves it and that includes me. I will learn, I will become better at controlling my team, negotiating with other teams and establishing a true identity for Seattle. However, without a chance, how at all is that possible? Seattle is an excellent choice for the team. I would do anything for this team and if it means stepping down, I'll do so. I wanted a VHL GM job so bad and have felt such strong pressure to perform. I have people hating on me left and right wanting to prove you wrong and guys who have put so much into me, I want to give back to them. Being a VHL GM is a lot, but I love doing it. I love signing on, doing the duties and finding a way for our team to kick ass together. I'm getting better and more efficient and we clearly see that in the standings. All we need and I need is a chance. If you already have a bad picture painted, what else is there that can be done? Best part of the VHL is the no drama and it just being a great atmosphere where everyone is accepted. Seems to be changing oddly enough!