Thranduil

Part I - Pick em' (Pick the correct winners of all three games for 2 TPE) Game 5 - Ottawa Lynx @ Saskatoon Wild No Game Game 6 - Saskatoon Wild @ Ottawa Lynx No Game Game 7 - Ottawa Lynx @ Saskatoon Wild No Game   Part II - Predict the Score (Predict the correct score and winner of this game for 3 TPE)  Game 5 - Ottawa Lynx @ Saskatoon Wild No Game Part III - Player Predictions (Predict the correct player for each category, 1 TPE for each correct answer) Series leader in points: Burnt Toast Series leader in goals: Mark Gebauer Series leader in assists: Burnt Toast

This week, Halifax 21st GM, Shawn Glade announced his resignation from his post after two successful VHLM seasons in a row. In his first season with the 21st, he led the first year expansion team to a first place finish, in the process putting together a very stacked team of players, many of whom are now big name VHL players. The team showed a lot of promise and the season included a big showing from youngster Karl von Moltke (KVM), who, after being picked up in one of the most one-sided trades in VHLM history, posted astounding numbers, with 45 goals and 80 assists for 125 total points. Everything seemed to be in place for Halifax and they dominated semi-finals, beating the Saskatoon Wild four games to zero. Halifax had all the pieces to win the founder's cup but ultimately fell short, dropping the final series in four games, to the third seeded Ottawa Lynx. Although it came to a crushing end, this inaugural expansion season was still a huge accomplishment for first year GM, Shawn Glade and he began to prove himself as a crafty, quality general manager. In season 63, Halifax wasn't left with a lot to work with but Shawn remained confident and utilized what he had. Not being able to snag anyone decent in the draft, he turned to the only other way he could add roster players: Free Agency. The first player to catch his eye was a young enthusiastic winger who was passed over by everyone in the draft and was willing to play for anyone who wanted him. This player was John Madden. Shawn quickly signed Madden to a deal before anyone else had the chance. The signing marked the completion of one of the best line in the VHLM in season 63, which would be made up of second year Halifax players, Nathan MacKinnon and Nikita Flipachyev, along with Madden. The team got off to a fast start and took hold of the first place spot in the first 30 games of the season. Shawn bolstered the blueline by adding offensive defenseman, Jesse Wilson and shut-down specialist, Evgeni Komarov, as well as two-way forward, Wlodzeimers Zajaczkowski up front. Halifax once again had a good regular season and finished 3rd in league standings, led by Nathan MacKinnon who finished second in league points and first in plus / minus. The 21st played the Saskatoon Wild in the semi-finals and after taking a commanding 3-1 series lead, dropped the series in seven games. Game 7 marked the last time Shawn Glade would GM the 21st, and although he never won a cup with the team, he still proved in only two seasons that he could be a top-class GM. Shawn was given the nod to take over operations of HC Davos and began this week. He says he would have liked to have stayed with the team long term, but the position with the Dynamo that was offered to him was too good to pass on and he decided a career as a VHL GM was too good not to pursue. Shawn, having no AGM to immediately step into his role, left Ottawa Lynx AGM, McWolf to take control of the team. Shawn has expressed his confidence that McWolf will be able to fulfil the expectations others have laid out for the team, in year three of its existence.

Welcome to the league @huntax0! How did you find the VHL?

Well thanks anyways for doing the re-sim.

Yeah I'm on Halifax. GM said he was updating lines. Moving Wlod up. The lines still have him listed on line two. I'm sure it wouldn't have made a huge difference but it could have considering Wlod had a four goal performance in one game and like 7 goals in the series and taking in to account how close the score was.

Lines didn't update damn it.

We needed Wlod on the first line to carry us to another comeback from 7-1 with another 4 goal game. Didn't have the boys to play with.

Put together cards for a few players and so I thought, why not use them as my graphic TPE as well? Harris and Donald are teammates, and Wahl and Dahlberg are big stars now. Loving it.

Cup`s coming home to Hally like it should have last season!

Thanks for the shoutout bro!

@Banackock 1. As you can see Bana, both are very good fighters. Neither require a weapon to beat each other up. Trudeau beat a big boy up in the boxing ring a few years back. Trump is also very skilled with a fist as he once destroyed fellow billionaire, Vince McMahon. Just watch and be amazed and the American president himself, shows off his knuckles of iron. Overall Bana, I think Trump would have a big edge as he is the bigger of the two boys and he doesn't wear gloves so his punches will be much more devastating. Twas a very good question you asked and I hope this gives you a better idea of why you should never mess with em. 2. Cigarettes. They smell like tobacco before lit which isn't a bad smell. 3. Favourite to watch hockey and I like the Anaheim Ducks. I don't play hockey as much as soccer though and if I had to pick a favourite soccer team, it would be my province local team, the Vancouver Whitecaps. 4. If these are the women you like, then our tastes are very different. I probably wouldn't fuck any of em. But if I was trying to pick the best order, Margot Robbie is kinda hot so I'd fuck her, then I would marry Blake Lively and kill Beyoncé. 5. Self tying shoes because tying my shoes is when I'm at my lowest in life.

1. Plus / Minus (+44) and goals (63) 2. Yes. Not a big fan of that Dahlberg boi but if they beat the Aces 2-0, anything can happen. 3. Halifax. Big performance from John Madden wins it in six. 4. Joel Ylonen maybe a bit high. 5. I watched the entirety. Great game, nice comeback by team Banackock. 6. In the 180s. Maybe 190 if I can pick up my game a bit.

dont yell at me man

I had to answer. I love answering Press Conference Questions.

@FamishedBlanket 1. Must be p cool. 2. Hally course 3. Fun to meet your match. Infinate tinder. 4. They may have more size but I am not submissive 5. zero so far, but i'll put a few 6. yes I have all season and I know what im doing more then most the fellas ha

Wow, you have me at seven. That's a big compliment.

Plus / Minus: 44/6 = 7.3 Points: 63/10 = 6.3 Total: 7.3 + 6.3 = 13.6 Rounds to 14

Katie, join Hally.

Yesterday, as the VHLM playoffs kicked off, Halifax 21st players, Donat Sitza and John Madden announced the opening of their brand new VHL trading card business. They are offering basic cards for any player who requests one in either the VHLM or VHL, as well as two specialty card series, glitched and insert. The two young men have big plans for their company, hoping to eventually grow it into an official VHL partner. Beginning next season, they will be producing complementary cards for every VHL player. Understanding all the work that this will entail, company chairman and head developer Donat Sitza wasted no time in hiring two other VHLM players to work for them. Yukon Rush goaltender, Rhett Stoffiday has been brought in as head of human relations and Las Vegas Aces forward Diljodh was hired to be head of techinal operations. The new businessmen highly encourage any and all members of the VHL to join their company Discord and request cards.

Welcome in the league, @lepavaa. If you need any help getting started, there's a channel dedicated to helping newer members in the VHL Discord where veterans can answer every question you have or help you in any way you need, or you can just send me a PM on here.

Didn't have time this week to put lots of effort in. Just a quick image to represent the beginning of the S63 VHLM playoffs. See you at puck drop where the Las Vegas Aces will be hosting the Ottawa Lynx to kick off a best of seven series.

@Trifecta Thank you for the opportunity that you gave me. You really helped me to learn what being a GM was all about. I hadn't realized you wanted an AGM long-term. Otherwise, I am very happy that you trusted me to your services, even if it was only for one season. On a separate note, congrats to @DilIsPickle on getting the AGM title. I know you won't let Trifecta down as I have.

1. I think Haterade's roster is looking unfairly stacked. 2. Travel back in time with @McWolf. Basically graphics and articles gotta be about retired players of the past. 3. Jesse Wilson 4. VHL GM (Not AGM) 5. 1st Overall, shocker, Ryan Sullivan Junior. In many scenarios, if you are drafting first overall, you take the player that matches your needs best. This is not the case should there be a franchise player available who is so dymanic, he leaves all his competition in the dust and has the ability to step in right away and make an immediate impact on the team. This is the kind of player Sullivan is. Like Rasmus Dahlin, a top-end two-way defenseman who can play a physical, shutdown type role when needed but also has tremendous skill with the puck and can run a well-oiled powerplay. No matter if he fits your team's needs or not, you take him. 2nd Overall, Elias Dahlberg. At this point, I don't think its a surprise to anyone to see Dahlberg go ahead of Zabby who has been number 2 for so long but I don't see anyway New York wouldn't take Dahlberg. He is the most talented goalscorer in the VHLM this season and New York needs goals more than anything. They also lack depth on the left side and Dahlberg would slide perfectly onto the first line. He has been improving much faster than Zabby and New York already has a number 1 center so there would be no reason for them not to take Dahlberg. 3rd Overall, Mark Gebauer. Many will be surprised I didn't say Zabby and I'm not so sure that this is the choice Helsinki will make, but in my opinion it's the one they should make. Gebauer has been bringing up his game much faster than Zabby and in my opinion is the top centerman in this draft. By the time the draft rolls around, Gebauer will be the clear superior. He has proved versatile by fitting in everywhere he goes. He has a winning mentality and is a real team player. By that point, the only way I could see Helsinki taking Zabby would be for his defensive play which is far better than Gebauer's but unless something drastic happens, Gebauer will be a top 3 pick. 4th Overall, Ryan Zabby. Davos obviously needs both defense and offense. Zabby brings both of those things. He has the ability to be a dynamic, number one center for a lot of years with Davos. A bit of a risky pick as he is showing less and less improvement with his game. Still a very good player and at the least will get 20 points per year with Davos. 6. I do read the newsletter. It's super useful. It tells me everything I need for that week. Greatest idea ever.

Standings: Though it's a very close race, the Yukon Rush continue to hold on to the top spot in the VHLM. They played very well this week, with a record of 7-2-2, making sure Saskatoon doesn't overtake them in the standings. Meanwhile, the second placed Wild continue their hot streak going undefeated in regulation in their last eight and finishing the week with a spectacular record of 9-1-1 and pulling within 3 points of the Rush. The chemistry seems to be getting better everyday in Saskatoon and they are now considered by most, the favourites for the Founder's Cup this season. A separate, even closer battle is taking place for third in the standings between the Halifax 21st and the Las Vegas Aces. Currently tied in points, the two teams have been in very close competition for the last two to three weeks. Halifax hasn't played as well the last few weeks and Las Vegas seems to have been doing nothing but winning since acquiring Kevin Weekes from Saskatoon. Rumor has it that there is an ongoing competition between Las Vegas Winger, Diljodh and Halifax Winger, John Madden. Both are attempting to prove to each other that they are the superior VHL prospect winger. Madden has a large edge in points, but Diljodh's defensive play is far superior to Madden's. Both players reportedly want to be chosen higher in the draft than the other. It doesn't help their respect for each other that their teams are so close in the standings but it certainly makes things a lot more interesting for everyone else. Now a long ways behind the both the Aces and the 21st are the Ottawa Lynx and the Oslo Storm. Both teams have accepted the fact that they will be rebuilding this season to build for next season. At this point, Oslo has a dreadful point percentage of .507 and have only won 13 of their 65 games this season. Stats: After 5 straight weeks of maintaining the league lead in points, Halifax Center Nathan MacKinnon has finally been knocked off his high horse. Elias Dahlberg of the Ottawa Lynx is the new top-scorer after being hot on MacKinnon's trail for over 3 weeks. Dahlberg is currently ranked first in points (108) as well as goals (53) and sixth in assists (55). Amazing for a player who is still in his first VHLM season and is playing on a losing team. MacKinnon remains in a close second with 104 points. The top three is rounded out by Dahlberg's teammate, Chance Matthews (93) who currently, along with Jesse Wilson, leads all players in assists (69). Halifax's Wilson continues to lead all defensemen with 90 points this season. MacKinnon and his dominant line in Halifax still hold three of the top four spots in league plus / minus, along with Joel Ylonen, who recently took hold of the third spot. Things got a little more interesting in the goaltending categories this week, when Halifax goalie Tyler Smith finally got a chance to step into the crease for two more games. Both of them resulted in wins and he now leads the league in both save percentage (.933) and goals against average (1.98). Yukon netminder, Rhett Stoffiday follows him up in both of these categories, posting very solid numbers in each. His save percentage sits at .904 and his goals against average at 2.12. Still very good stats. Stoffiday also leads the league in shutouts with seven, followed by Kevin Weekes (5), who is just behind Stoffiday in all three major goalie categories. Cole Mertz is third in shutouts with 4. Trades: Only one trade happened in the week of the deadline, but it was a very important one. Saskatoon made a big trade, yet again, sending three picks to Ottawa, in return for Mark Gebauer. This move confirmed their assertion as the top team depth-wise in the VHLM. Gebauer has been fitting in well in Saskatoon and the Wild have not yet lost with him on the roster.

Saskatoon 5-3