Thranduil

Oslo would like to start by offering you a one year contract at 1.5 mil. We are a rebuilding team which I know doesn't sound too appealing but we will be able to offer plenty of playing time. The season is over halfway done so you will most likely be spending next year in the VHLM as well. If you take this contract you only have to spend one year with us before your contract runs out. We will be really good next season so if you sign we may be able to get you back next season to help us win the cup. I really Hope you choose Oslo but if you don't, that's ok No pressure though and no hurry. Good luck!

@TacticalHammer, this is where VHLM GM's will offer you a contract and you'll be allowed to choose which team you want to play for. The contract amount is set league wide at $1,500,000 and you'll accept the contract by stating which teams offer you accept in this thread. There is no rush and you will be given time to look around and speak to the GM's and such if you wish! Good luck in the decision making and your career ! Halifax 21st @ShawnGlade Las Vegas Aces @Jubo07 @oilmandan Oslo Storm @Trifecta @Thranduil Ottawa Lynx @diamond_ace @McWolf Saskatoon Wild @Dtayl @Peace Yukon Rush @BarzalGoat @Reives

I know this graphic isn't amazing but I am still kind of proud of it and I think it's progress from the last graphic I designed. I have decided to make it my goal to improve at one thing with each graphic and this is the first time I've ever used stylized text. Other firsts include the Halifax city skyline at the bottom, a glowing border on the logo to make it pop more, star and smoke effects over the image, as well as using a darker background to make my foreground stand out more. I am really enjoying getting better with graphics and I am open to any tips, tricks or constructive criticism people might have to offer. It's all welcome here as I am always focused on improving my skillset. Thanks all.

1) Svoboda. He's verging on being a second round pick already. He's crazy active. I could see him going 10 or even higher. Lot's of players rated higher he'll have no problem passing. 2. i) I can't be 100% certain. But I average about 12 per week and I have about 75 to go so I would guess 6 to 7 weeks. 3) Canada 4) Draft oriented. I don't really know. Have to write something. 5) Get a routine of which PTs you will do in a week to maximize your TPE output based on your time available, and then follow it every week. Make sure you do everything on the schedule and then once you have done those, you can focus on other things like fantasy. This way, you are guaranteed a consistent amount of TPE every week. 6) I think VHLM all-star game is an awesome idea. And I think my chances are pretty low, although it depends on the roster space. If its nine forwards per side, I doubt I make it.

@Tagger what does positional number mean?.

Early Life John Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Madden was born May 19th, 2001 in the town of Heddesheim, Germany. He was the third-born son of Hughie and Brunhilde Madden. He grew up with three brothers (two older, one younger) and two sisters (both younger). Hughie Madden (John's father) ran a mine with his brother-in-law, Sebastian Mischler (John's uncle). Brunhilde Madden was a stay-at-home mom who was, at-the-time, looking after three kids and was pregnant with a fourth. When John was two years old, there was a tragic accident at the mine where his father worked and seven miners were killed, including John's uncle. The mine was closed do to unsafe conditions, leaving John's parents impoverished and unemployed, with three hungry boys. It was then that John's parents made the decision to pool what money they had saved and move back to Hughie's home-country, Canada. Hughie's Story Hughie Madden was a young-man who grew up in an orphanage in Edmonton, Alberta. In 1988, he graduated from public school as an and following his 18th birthday, was immediately kicked from the orphanage for good. He picked up odd jobs here and there and after apprenticing at a hydraulic fracturing firm, found he had a knack for mining. Growing up as an orphan, toughened Hughie up and no job was too much for him. Being only 18, he still had an explorative nature about him and never stayed at one job long enough to get a pay-raise or promotion, though managers always spoke highly of his work ethic. One day, after a long work day, Hughie was sitting in a bar, enjoying a hard-earned beer, when a Calgary Flames game came on. He had known what hockey was, but never payed much attention to it. He immediately noticed how everyone in the bar was glued to the television and decided to watch a game just to see what all the fuss was about. To his own surprise, he actually enjoyed it and decided to come back to watch another game. When he arrived at the bar, a few days later, the whole place was packed to the gills with hockey fans. It was all Hughie could do to squeeze inside. Every time the Flames scored, everyone went wild, and eventually Hughie joined them in the excitement. At the end of the game, the whole bar went completely ballistic and the screen showed a hairy guy with a giant moustache lifting what appeared to be a hunk of metal, in the shape of a chicken leg. Later he learned this was called the Stanley Cup. Flash forward a year and Hughie is playing a game for his recreational team, against a team from Germany. He scores three goals and wins the game in overtime. After the game, he is asked to give an interview for the local newspaper. In the interview, he jokingly says "I think this warrants a raise from my boss back at the mine." After hearing the interview, Sebastian, one on the German players tells Hughie about his new mining corporation in Germany and how he is looking for someone to run it with. Hughie, having always wanted to visit Germany, had nothing to lose by leaving Canada, and so he took Sebastian up on the offer. Once arriving in Germany, Sebastian introduced Hughie to his sister Brunhilde, and the two instantly fell in love. Eight months later, they were married. Hughie continued working at the mine for some ten years until the day of the accident. Little did they know at the time, but they accident would be the event that paved the way for John Madden's career. Moving to Canada After arriving in Vancouver, Hughie Madden was offered a job at a mine 200 kilometres North of Prince George, British Colombia. He didn't see a chance for another job, so the Maddens rented an apartment in Prince George, while Hughie went North to begin his new job. Brunhilde, a pregnant woman had three boys to look after, so she had to find ways to keep them busy. She signed her eldest son, Thomas, up for ice-hockey as it seemed that was what a lot of boys his age were doing. One year later, Graham, the Madden's second son joined hockey as well. John remembers watching his brothers play when he was three years old and wanting nothing more than to join them on the ice, but instead he was stuck on the bleachers with his mother and baby sister. The only thing John Madden wanted for his fifth birthday was to play hockey like his brothers. He had a hockey themed cake and hockey-themed party hats. Of course, his birthday being in the middle of the summer, he still had to wait four months for the season to begin but every day up until then, he was on the street practicing with his brothers. John was three years younger than his oldest brother, but by the time the season rolled around, he was already better than both of them. His father was able to come to his first game and John scored 5 goals, including one from outside the crease. It was the proudest moment of his life, and from that moment on he has completely dedicated to hockey, wherever he went. When John was seven, Hughie suffered a mining injury and was forced to retire at the age of 48. Fortunately, in his five years as an executive with the mine, he had accumulated one million dollars and a nice big pension. From then on, he coached every one of John's hockey teams until John was twelve. Hughie taught John lots about the game and entered him in power skating lessons. John quickly became the fastest skater in his age-group. Prince George Rep Madden began to play AAA rep hockey for Prince George and became a dominant force. When he became an Atom at nine years old, he made AAA in his first year eligible. He did not disappoint, scoring 19 goals and 18 assists for a total 37 points in 36 games, good for third in team scoring. Keep in mind, half of the kids were one year older than John. In his second season playing Atom AAA, he met his future VHLM teammate, Basaraba Moose. Basaraba's parents had immigrated from Ukraine just before he was born and neither of them spoke very good English. John could relate to Moose as they had both grown up in families who had immigrated, the only difference was that Basaraba had lived in Canada for his whole life. The two young boys quickly became inseparable and played the 2011-12 together, Moose on the blueline and Madden playing up front as the team's top player. That season, John put up very good numbers, leading his team by a mile in both goals (26) and points (48), in 35 games, playing with his new best friend, Basaraba. Hughie began to notice John's natural ability to score and strongly encouraged him not to pass as often, which he would realize, years later, wasn't doing John any favours. In 2012-13, he coached John and Basaraba for the last time, again in AAA but this time as PeeWees, playing with 11 and 12 year-olds. That was the season John became a major puck-hog. Though he was still capable of passing, he didn't often and many of his teammates, including Basaraba began to resent him for this. Hughie took note of this resent but thought the other players were just jealous of his son's ability and it only made him play John more. He didn't understand that the problems that had arisen had been his own doing. That year, John averaged almost a goal per game, finding the back of the net 28 times, but only adding 15 assists, for a a total of 43 points in 36 games. John's spectacular goal-scoring pace had put him on the radar of a lot of scouts from other, larger cities. Springbank In the summer of 2013, the Maddens moved to Calgary, Alberta, so John could play with other players his level. He had been invited by a scout from Springbank, a PeeWee AA team in Calgary, to join the roster. Before he left Prince George, him and Basaraba had one last visit. They got into a big fight about hockey and the day ended with Basaraba hitting John over the head with a mini-stick. Basaraba was sent home and John was devastated that his friendship had ended that way. When arriving in Calgary, John had a hard time making friends at school and hockey was his only getaway. In one season with Springbank, John continued his amazing goalscoring pace, putting up 19 goals and 32 points in 20 games. He felt like he was on top of the world and nothing could stop him. In 2014-15, he played on the Springbank Bantam team and this was the year where John was finally expected to make some adjustments. His coach told him that if he really wanted to have a shot at turning pro, he'd have to stop being such a puck-hog and pass more. For the first time in John's career, someone expected him to be a playmaker. He made some adjustments to his game and for the first time ever, he ended the season with more assists than goals, finishing the season with 12 goals and 15 assists in 18 games. John continued to run smoothly, through his second year in Bantam, captaining the team to an almost perfect regular season, and leading the way with a spectacular 19 goals and 43 points in 20 games. At this point, John was sure he would be the first overall pick in the NHL draft a few years down the road. Everything seemed to be going very well. That is until John hit Midget hockey. It was in his first season of Midget, 2016-17, with the NWCAA Stamps when John finally began to struggle. He had a lot of adjustments to make. For one, he no longer was the top player on his team and was playing with lots of other young men who had all been the best players on their teams the year before. This meant a number of things. For one, his ice-time went drastically down and he wasn't on the powerplay very often. He couldn't always have his way like he was used to and he had to learn to be more of a team player in order to stay on the team. He realized the basic passes that had worked the last two years to help him become a better playmaker no longer worked. He also had a harder time than he ever had, finding the back of the net. John spent the majority of the season playing on the third line and only managed 14 goals and 14 assists in 42 games. He began to doubt that he would get drafted to the NHL at all, never mind first overall. John trained hard over the summer and did very well in training camp, the next season. He had a very strong start to the season, putting up 24 points in his first 16 games of the season, but in game 17, John was slammed headfirst, into the boards and suffered a concussion. John was very upset with himself as he had a duty to fill as alternate captain, which he could not fill. John sat out 15 games before finally returning to the roster. By then he was too out of shape to continue where he left off and only managed 9 points in his last 11 games of the season. That year John was offered a contract from the Red Deer Rebels of the WHL. He was on the verge of signing it, when he got another call from the VHLM, Halifax 21st, offering him more money in a much higher level league. If he decided to join Halifax, this meant he was signing his rights over to the VHL draft and would no longer be eligible for the NHL draft, a season down the road. John wasted no time in accepting the contract with Halifax. He felt it was the better decision for his career, based on what his goals were. He bid his a family goodbye and set out to begin a new chapter of his life on the east coast. Halifax When John arrived in Halifax, he was quicly introduced to his teammates, Nikita Flipachyev and Nathan MacKinnon, whom the Halifax general manager, Shawn planned to play on a line with. John once again got off to a very slow start, but picked up momentum as he went along. The team was slowly built into a contender as the league's best defenseman, Jesse Wilson was added to the team as well as defensive-minded gritmeister, Evgeni Komarov. Halifax also traded for two-way specialist, Wlodziemers Zajaczkowski and to John's surprise signed his old best friend, Basaraba Moose. Moose apologized for the incident that had happened so many years ago and the two of them played the season together, recovering their old friendship. John's line was very successful. Both MacKinnon and Flipachyev finished in the top ten in scoring. The three of them were 1, 2 and 3 in VHLM plus / minus. They taught John a lot about being a good player and he put up decent numbers with them, scoring 21 goals for the Halifax 21st and 42 assists for 63 points in 72 games. Next season, Madden hopes to come back a better player and leader, possibly as captain of the 21st. His mother, father and five siblings watched every one of his games last season and could not be prouder. Madden in the 2013-14 season. 1,812 words (Not including part about Hughie)

+10 John Madden

150: Saskatoon 151: Yukon 152 Ottawa 153: Saskatoon

Saskatoon 4-1

It was announced on Monday that John Madden of the VHLM's Halifax 21st would be representing Team World at this year's World Junior Championship. Madden, left winger for the 21st, was passed over in the S63 VHLM draft and he found himself in free agency where he signed with Halifax. A big part of his decision was the support coming from 21st General Manager Shawn Glade, who will be representing Team USA as one of the top players in the tournament this year. Madden is nonetheless excited to face-off against one of his biggest role models. He showed immense pride in being chosen for Team World, having only played 32 VHLM games in his entire career. "I'm honored and frankly a little surprised that they entrusted me with this responsibility after seeing so little of me this season," says Madden, "They have faith in me and so I shall put my best foot forward in this year's WJC." Though he's a very reserved person, especially when talking about positive aspects his game, Madden broke his usual modesty by saying he has quiet confidence in his skill set and believes he has the ability to make an immediate and lasting impact on the team this year. He will be sharing ice-time with some very talanted players, Gucci Garrop, Mark Gebauer, Shawn Mendes, Piotr Jerwa and Mountain Thunderfist to name a few, as well as Team Captain Jordan Weyed, and teammates Tyler Smith and Nathan MacKinnon (Whom with he shares a line in Halifax). It will be interesting to see what Madden can do come tournament time. Is he all talk, or does he really have what it takes to keep up with some of the world's biggest stars?

Pretty cool to see some friends and teammates representing Canada this year. Hope one day my name will be on that list.

Basaraba Moose

@Sonnet yeah I'm pretty new to graphic making. I don't know how to do stylized text or effects in front. I'm not sure which program to use or anything but I am a huge fan of your graphics, so if you have any advice that would be awesome. Either way, thanks for your feedback. I always appreciate constructive criticism.

@Tagger You accidentally posted it as October 6th update rather than November.

1. Very well in most aspects. I think big four this year have been Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Flipachyev, Jesse Wilson and Jonathan Hill. I was hoping I would be able to hop into that category with ease but I have been struggling to do so. Huge thanks to @ShawnGlade and the rest of the 21st for having faith in me. I promise, I'll make all of you proud one day. But for now, I just appreciate all of the patience and opportunity you have given me even though I am not up to par with anyone's expectations. Thank you. 2. I am quietly confident. I don't believe in bragging that we are the best and such because that's like asking for upset. All I can say is, I think we're going to surprise I lot of people this year. 3. Obviously. Anyone could do that. I mean, all it takes is a good core for three years straight, some luck, and a genius hacker-type GM. All of which are super common and easy to come by...? 4. As I said, I'm just quietly confident. Players from other teams are going around saying how good they are and such. I don't believe in that. I believe in showing people through actions rather than telling them. You see, nothing good comes about being overconfident. You just end up setting expectations really high and if you achieve anything less, it's a letdown. If you don't say anything but end up winning the cup, no one has anything over you other than their admiration. It's always better to be the underdog (as Ottawa unfortunately proved last season.) That said, I think we match up well with every team. We have the ability to be competitive with all of them if we put in the effort. 5. It's for sure a management thing. Shawn pulled off some wicked deals in these last couple days that just pushed us beyond and above. I don't know how he did it, but it looks like we are set to finish first twice in a row. 6. Definitely the Ottawa Lynx. Everything seems to go in for me when I play them, in fact 11 of my 24 points this season have been against the Lynx. It's also nice to get revenge on the team that ruined Halifax's cup dreams last season. It's always a coast when I'm playing them. My least favourite so far is the rush. They are super tight in their own end and the only team I haven't got a point against this season. I hope to figure them out sooner than later. 7. Very mediocre, and for that I apologize, but I've been doing a bit better of recent, as in my last four games, I have scored 3 or more points in two of them. I have been taking awhile to get used to the league, though I am very grateful for my linemates, Flipachyev and MacKinnon, as well as our best defender, Jesse Wilson. They are all outstanding role-models, after which I model my offensive game. I also have been looking up to my good friend and teammate, Jonathan Hill. He adjusted to the league very well and I am very proud of his performance this season. He impresses me in everything he does. 8. Very good moves. There are now six very capable players on the teams, plus the two stellar goalies. The future is bright for Halifax. Thoughts of the powerplay send shivers down my spine. Madden - MacKinnon - Flipachyev Wilson - Hill / Komarov That's a very good powerplay. Well, at least 80% is very good. The rest is OK. 9. To be worthy of playing with MacKinnon and Flipachyev full-time. I haven't really proved myself a part of that line. Both of them are tearing it up and they are doing their best to bring me along but I can't help but feel I've been dragging them down. Hopefully this is not the case by the end of the season and by then I hope to be playing at a high-enough caliber to keep up with them completely. 10. I like to be quietly confident, so possibly... maybe... probably... most likely...

Bad pun I know. I just wanted a decent title and I couldn't think of anything that wasn't stupid so alas, we have arrived at this point...

107: Halifax 108: Yukon 109: Ottawa 110: Halifax

5-3 Halifax

Of all the VHLM emergences we have seen this year, perhaps one of the most surprising is that of recently signed Halifax 21st rookie defenseman, Jonathan Hill, who has emerged as an elite VHLM player already. In 18 games for Halifax this season he has posted a stunning 17 points ( including 3 goals in his last 3 games), which leads all first-year defensemen. On top of those outstanding point totals, Hill also is tied for the league lead in the +/- category (With teammate Nathan MacKinnon) , with an astounding +21 rating, as well as being second in blocked shots with 41, only 3 behind fellow Halifax defenseman, Juri Rykonen. It's amazing that a newly signed defenseman, with no expectations on him whatsoever, was able to become such a dominant force, so early in the season. He has been handling most of Halifax's roles as their go-to guy, controlling, the top pair, the powerplay as well as the penalty kill and often playing over 30 minutes per game. Recently, Halifax GM, @ShawnGlade made a few big trades to bring in two of the league's top defensemen (Jesse Wilson and Evgeni Komarov). As a result, Hill's minutes will most likely suffer severely, but at the same time, there will be less pressure on him to perform and he will be able to experiment with his game a lot more. If he keeps his spot on the top pair and ends up with Jesse Wilson, he will most likely end up producing at an even higher level then previously and together, him and Wilson be one of the best defensive pairs in the VHLM. Even if he keeps playing with his current partner, Juri Rykonen, on the second pairing, he will still be a part of a killer Top-4. It was a great decision by Shawn Glade to sign Hill to his team, and I think I can speak for everyone when I say I am excited to watch him play for Halifax, as he continues to improve his game and establish himself as a top D-man throughout his career.

3. Speedy, scoring winger who is invisible in his own end but makes up for it by being a point machine every time he has the puck. Gets many a breakaway and mostly only score goals but is a very underrated playmaker and puck-handler. 4. Everyone is generally in the same range of skill level so if you put in the effort, you can eventually catch up. In the VHL, some guys are thousands of TPE ahead and will always be better until they retire. 5. Yes. I went undrafted but it ended up working out for me. I got to sign to whatever team I wanted and I would much rather be able to choose a team I like then be forced to play for a team I don't like. Loving Halifax so far. The team, the city, the ocean, the donairs. All of it! So, overall I am super happy that I wasn't drafted and that @ShawnGlade will still willing to let me play for him and the team. 8. Yukon Rush. They are decked out. I could see them getting over 60 wins this year and going undefeated in the playoffs. I don't see anyone being able to stop them. They have a stacked roster and an amazing veteran goalie. They're like the 1976-77 Montreal Canadiens. Though, I still think, if we put in the work and get some more good players, we have what it takes to beat them. 9. I didn't like it at first but now it's part of me and my goal is to pot 21 genos this year to show my pride for the 21st. 10. Besides the 21 goals, I think my goals are pretty much the same as what every other player's goals, so I've come up with the formerly mentioned to be unique. I also want to win the founder's cup this season or next and I want to do it with Shawn at the helm. Of course, I don't have tonnes of control over the last one but I'll do what I can this year to help us win.

Claiming TPE for this article's second week.

Hell yeah, first two goals ever for John Madden.

Game 23 Winner: Oslo Game 24 Winner: Yukon Game 25 Winner: Ottawa Games 26 Winer: Yukon

Oslo Storm 5-2

@Trifecta Please do. We need a stud starter and I don't think Sohva has what it takes to be a starter first year.