Matt_O

General Zod had a real solid start with 23 points in 26 games. Since that point, he has a mind blowing 2 points in his last 14 games. What's up with that? I have no real idea of why this is happening. At least Zod's defensive numbers are really strong this year. Zod is well on pace for breaking his career high in shots blocked by a decent margin, as well as tallying 200+ hits. I'm still disappointed in his lack of production though. Perhaps Zod should have signed elsewhere? The answer to that is most definitely not. The situation in Calgary was too hard to pass up, and even if Zod's offensive numbers aren't great, the Wranglers sit first in the North American Conference and have been on a roll after the first ten games. Zod looks like a bum out there on the ice unfortunately, but he is still committed to getting better every weak and leading his team to victory like a true General.

1. Zod ordered him the top Kryptonian steaks on the market. 2. Without a doubt he breaks 200 hits, and he likely breaks 250 as well. He has a shot at 300. 3. The Bruins. We have an elite first line with solid depth, solid blue lines and an elite goalie and a great backup too. 4. Edwin the Encarnacion doesn't get as much attention as his other linemates. 5. He just needs to pick it up offensively. Defensively he has been strong, but offensively he has lost his rhythm. 6. Zods Oats arena, after his own cereal brand!

That Riga jersey is sick

So far, the Wranglers super line has worked out pretty well, although not as explosive as perhaps we had hoped. All three of the players are around a point per game, but the expectations were even higher for that line. This isn't reason to complain, as Calgary still sits in first place in the North American conference for now. General Zod is the primary power play and main defenseman supporting that line, and he has 23 points in 26 games which I'm happy with for now. I want at least 70 points this year, so he will need to pick up the pace just a little bit for me to reach that mark. I'm hoping the superline can go on a tear during the second half of the year, and they all finish with 85-90+ points. If that happens, Zod should definitely be able to clear 70 points, since he shares tons of minutes with that group. Zod is also playing solid defense with 40 or so blocked shots and I believe 80 hits, which is pretty good. That puts Zod on pace for 224 hits, which would be a career high, and 119 blocked shots which would almost be a new career high. So far, Zod is playing well, but I'm hoping for just a bit more from him. If he keeps up this pace, I'd be fine with that. I'm just hoping the top line can go on fire for a long period of time to help the team win and also get Zod some points.

1. Our offensive depth is great and we definitely can finish first in the NA with the talent we have. 2. We currently are in first place, and I see no reason why that would change by the end of the year and I can only hope we keep this up come playoff time. 3. Probably Lafontaine as the best goaltender. 4. I'm happy with it, 23 points in 26 games is pretty solid. I want to finish with 70 points this year and I'm on pace for 64, so I'm hoping I can maybe pick up the pace a little. 5. Probably Nathan N from my Vegas days with my previous player back in S64. He had 113 points, barely beating Dil for most points in the league which made everyone happy. 6. Probably Bergeron since his defense rating would be high

My two year anniversary on VHL just went by and I didn't even realize. I can't believe I have been on this site for two years already. I remember when I first joined, my cousin @TrevorC11 told me he found this cool league and we checked it out. He wasn't as interested and never earned any TPE, but I took a liking to it. At first I felt obligated to earn TPE, but eventually it became easy. I became a pretty prominent member throughout 2019, as I was with VSN, a VHLM GM, and even in the BOG. How did I get into the BOG? Your guess is as good as mine. Eventually I stepped away from the VHL in late 2019 because I actually got a life, pretty shocking. I started dating this girl and we still are dating now a year later. Can you guys believe this? The S+ tier clown actually got a girl- hulk hogan wishes he could be on my level. Hogan, I know you are reading this because you search up your player name. The VHL was super important to me in 2019, and even though it is less important to me now it still is something fun that I am really glad my cousin told me about. 215 words

I've seemingly completely run out of media spot ideas, so I've decided to come back to everyone favorite topic of discussion; TPE. Does TPE inflation exist? The answer to that question is obviously yes, and at this point it's hard to deny it. We just saw Ryan Kastelic a few seasons back hit the 2000 TPE mark. When I first joined the league towards the end of S63, the highest all time TPE earner was Gabriel McCallister, with 1613. Mats Johnsson overtook McCallister with 1674 not too long after that, so the highest TPE earner of all time up to when I joined was 1674 TPE. Not even a full player career later, we saw a 2000 TPE earner. How did so much extra TPE just appear so fast? Alex Pepper sits in 30th place all time with 1390 TPE. If you take that amount and rank him based on when I first joined, he jumps from 30th place all the way to 6th place. How did that big of a difference happen in such a short amount of time? I don't have an answer to that question, but TPE inflation is clearly real. However, the question isn't about whether it's real or not. The question is, is it even a problem? People who believe TPE inflation is a problem likely believe that the VHL should implement some sort of player archetype system. To me, the most valid argument that says TPE inflation is a problem is that every player is pretty much the same. When you have enough TPE, why not max out everything you can? If you had less TPE, you would be forced to be more specialized, and maybe hit 99 in one, maybe two categories rather than four or five. If you are a forward that consistently hits the cap and take advantage of most uncapped TPE opportunities, you probably can get a 99 in defense, scoring, skating, and then your choice between puck handling or passing, but you can get both if you really grind for the TPE. Once you reach a certain TPE threshold, every player is practically the same. All the useful stats maxed out, all the useless ones not touched, and then strength and checking might have some TPE into it. This was a big reason why the idea of a new TPE scale was being tested out, but it quickly died alongside Higgins. On the other side of the coin, people say TPE inflation doesn't matter. The most frequent argument I remember seeing was that the majority of VHL players were not reaching those absurd levels of TPE, and only the highest earners could reach it. They believed that the problem was only present in the few highest TPE players, and they deserve their TPE if they worked hard for it. While I am team TPE inflation is a problem, the idea that it isn't a problem since barely anyone actually reaches that TPE level is valid. I reached the cap nearly every single week and took advantage of nearly every single uncapped TPE chance I got, yet I never even came close to the levels of TPE that some players get. It never made sense to me. Where did these players get this TPE from? I remember writing a media spot a while ago examining how HHH was able to outgain me by 200 TPE in only ten weeks, and in order to actually make up that number I had to make some wild assumptions that definitely didn't happen. I had to say that he won every lottery, every fantasy, and got max offseason TPE gains, and if all that happened, then it would make sense. Obviously, that isn't what happened. How big of a problem is TPE inflation if someone who earns max nearly every week never comes close to reaching the point of having 'too much' TPE? Both arguments have good points, but I believe that player diversity would be good. I'm not suggesting having archetypes, I actually am not a huge fan because it limits what you can do if you change your mind. I think we should try to change the TPE scale, since I believe it was a good idea at the time and it's something worth looking at again. Like 675 words or so

So, the Wolves won the cup. They are a really young team, so I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't the beginning of something special. Perhaps the transition between the Bears dynasty and the Wolves dynasty (?) is happening? Is this the unofficial passing of the torch? I mean, probably not. Seattle will still be around and be good, and saying the Wolves will win four cups in six seasons is a tough thing to ask any team. It's possibly we never see a team like the Bears again, but the similarities are there. Having a couple older players as veterans for the first couple runs. The Bears had Kovalchuk and probably someone else, I'm not sure because I'm going off the top of my head. The Wolves had Louth and Michael Scott. They both had tons of young pieces, and won a cup when most of their guys were still young. The similarities are there. Is this the beginning of something special in Vancouver?

So I started writing this in notes on my phone because I didn't think I would have much time when I got home to write a media spot, so I wanted to do most of it while I was in the car. I got about halfway done, and all was good. But alas, my phone was stolen, so here we are rewriting this media spot at 10 pm on a sunday night. What makes a playoff series exciting? Is it the tight, close games? The high scoring? The low scoring defensive games? The physicality? If you picked any of those answers, you would be correct. All of those contribute to a great playoff series. Unfortunately for the VHL, none of those things matter. Since the games are simulated, you aren't watching them happen live, so a close game is pretty much the same as a blowout, since at the end of the day it gives a team one win. If you aren't on one of the two teams in a series, why would you care about it? Well, there are two other things that make playoff series great that we didn't mention before that the VHL can take advantage of, and thats rivalries and storylines, which are pretty similar in the end. Rivalries, in my opinion, are extremely valuable to the VHL and I think that there needs to be more dislike amongst the league. Not dislike in a way that drives members away, I just mean dislike of teams and team hatred, not individual. When I try to remember every playoff series I've been in, the two that come to mind are ones that featured rivals. When I played with Malmo, our S68 finals matchup against the Bears was notable because they were our rivals. It's hard for me to say what the rest of the league was feeling about that matchup, but I would think there was some intrigue around the league about the finals matchup, more so than in a typical year. Even though the series ended in a quick and convincing 4-0 sweep, it still is one that I remember. It wasn't an intense, hard fought series. Yet I remember it the most clearly. I also remember playing the Bears in the conference finals as a member of the Wranglers now, this was only a couple seasons ago. We were up 3-1, and then we lost. The storyline is what is important to remembering that series, but there was a little animosity between us and Seattle. In the playoffs, it's just a way for newer members to check out if their team isn't participating. It's two weeks of no sims for your team sometimes, and that can make it hard to really maintain interest. I would say that interest in the VHL reaches its lowest point during the playoffs because not enough people are playing, and that isn't something the VHL should change, it's just an unfortunate fact we have to deal with. That's why rivalries are so important. I barely paid attention to the playoffs this year, but I did when the Bears played the Menace two seasons ago. That wasn't much of a rivalry, but the storyline is there; they were the two best teams of the late S60s. Having an exciting rivalry can make non team members interested in playoff series, and that is really important. 564 words

It was a tough decision to make this off season. When I played with my old player, I wanted to test free agency, but decided to re-sign early because I didn't want to say I was going to stay and then leave, but I also was very very sure I wasn't going to leave. With Zod, I was set. No matter what, I was going to test free agency. Calgary was great the first two years, and I was really good in my second year. I was hoping for more of the same in year three, but both me and the team struggled. I was pretty confident I would re-sign heading into the season, but I wasn't so confident afterwards. However, Jubis messaged me with a tremendous plan he had laid out, and it was one I simply couldn't say no too. I don't know if I'm allowed to say what teams spoke to me, but some teams had really good offers and it was so tough to say no to them, but I only wanted to leave if I was 100% certain the situation I was going to was definitely better than Calgary, and I didn't quite feel that way towards any team. I hope I don't come to regret my decision, but I doubt that I will.

1. Elite 2. Win the cup of course, but also I want to be able to put up some solid numbers myself. 3. Sort of. My hit numbers were down a little, but not a ton so I wasn't too disappointed with that, and my shot blocks went up a lot so I was happy with that. I am disappointed my point totals really fell off at the end of the year, I was doing great at first but just fell of a cliff at the end. 4. I wouldn't really say I have a favorite genre since I like lots of different kinds of music. 5. Jubis, the passion he has for Calgary is unlike anything I've ever seen from a GM. 6. We could use Gary Rush the most, and I've always wondered why we have so many good goalie prospects, we have three really solid prospects but we still have Lafontaine.

So, just today I left VSN for the second time because I am not able to keep up with the workload. This isn't going to be one of those typical articles that bash everyone after leaving, which we have seen with quite a few different jobs or just the site in general as people angrily leave. Seeing VSN where it is today is incredible after seeing how it was in its beginning stages. I was a member of VSN from February of 2019 to November or December, then re-joined in May or June I think but honestly I have no idea when I joined again. All I can say is that the difference in the organization from when I started in February to now is really something that longtime editor @FrostBeard and @Banackock should be proud of. When I joined VSN, I had to think of a series to start. I had no idea what I wanted to do, but I decided I would recap past seasons in the league, starting from S20, the first season that has an archive on the portal. That lasted for only a few season recaps until my new series Deep Rewind took over, which was my main thing for a very long time. I still have no idea why I picked history to write about. When I first joined VSN in February, I had only been on the site for about four months or so, the most history I knew was that Riga won the S63 Continental Cup and the Wranglers lost in the finals. I joined VSN and it was nothing like how it is today. The summer of 2019 was a particularly dead time for VSN, and it pretty much became a platform for me to write stuff and get more publicity than what a typical media spot would. I would post twice a week, and I don't even know how I did that. I can hardly even keep up with posting once every other week now, posting twice a week would be a death sentence for me. That being said, I didn't have much of a life during that summer, but now I actually do so that probably is a factor. I believe during the month of August, there were nine posts and I had seven or eight of them, but I'm not exactly sure. I remember I said something that VSN should have more publicity and thought of ways that we could get that to happen, and the overwhelming response by people was that VSN just kinda sucked. We fixed things for a while, and then it went back to a lack of articles being posted. This is when Frostbeard and Bana took over (I think). I'm doing this whole timeline off the top of my head so it's definitely a little spotty. But, Frostbeard and Bana took over VSN and made it much more organized and complete than at any point in my tenure. We got new writers, I believe this is when we got a graphics department too, it became rejuvenated. After a few months under this new leadership, my life actually got interesting and I wasn't able to keep up with VSN anymore, as I was too busy getting with the ladies ? . But I also wasn't able to keep up with the league in general anymore, I stepped down from my GM job, and then about a month later I think I left VSN and the league as a whole for a few months until I came back in around March. I came back to VSN because I wanted to write for them again and my activity on the site had picked up, but now, I don't know if I can keep up anymore. VSN has grown tremendously, and I also have to mention @Doomsday for his incredible contributions to VSN, as a great history writer and he was definitely the most deserving successor of Frostbeard. I hope VSN can continue to grow and improve and become better than ever before.

1. Defense is the most important category regardless of position. Also, never invest in penalty shot or fighting, even if you want too be a good fighter. 2. Definitely some more offense, our defense has been solid and goaltending isn't going anywhere. 3. No, but I wouldn't even consider the Bears dynasty a super team. So I don't think we are a super team either, but we are pretty good. 4. I never minded the current logo to be honest. 5. That could be pretty cool, customized jerseys are always good and fun to make. 6. I've been paying attention to the MLB postseason and now the NFL, the NBA I didn't pay any attention to at all though.

For some reason the graphics I added into the article aren't appearing so now this just looks like a huge wall of text, I'm not really sure what happened with that

Welcome to the sixth and final edition of Ringless. In this series we look at the best teams throughout VHL history to never win the cup. Make sure to check out other series VSN has to offer, such as our weekly reviews, podcasts, and scouting reports VSN Radio | VSN Scouting | Under 250 | BOG Update The Meute have been the victims of some unfortunate sim luck throughout VHL history. Their S49 and S50 woes are well documented, and they suffered a similar fate only a handful of seasons earlier, in S43 and S44. They had three future Hall of Famers, as well as an elite goaltender and solid supporting pieces. What could go wrong for this team? How could a team that good win only two playoff games over the course of two playoff runs? Heading into S43, the Meute had been good for quite some time. They made the playoffs the prior three seasons, including a finals run in S42. The Meute’s success was largely due to making trades for young players. Aksel Thomassen was an exception, however, as he was drafted in S39 due to the GM rule, and he would help lead the Meute to some great success during his hall of fame career. They also traded for Bruno Wolf, another hall of fame forward, from the Bears early in his career. This set the Meute up with two future superstar forwards to build their team around. They selected goaltender Brock Waldron sixth overall in the S38 draft, and these three alongside other supporting players helped the Meute finish second in the North American Conference in S40, in what was a very successful year for Quebec City. They were just starting to revamp their team, and they had already found some success. They didn’t do much in the playoffs, losing in the first round to the Wranglers, but it was a good season. In the offseason after S40, the Meute wanted to continue their growth, and made some moves. They traded for Travis Boychuk, a young forward, that could secure their second line. They also traded for rookie Rami Jakobssen, who was the final piece of the first line that consisted of Thomassen, Wolf, and now Jakobssen. With these moves in place, the Meute went from 99 points to S40 all the way to 111 in S41. Thomassen and Wolf had monster years, with 136 and 123 points respectively, while Boychuk's 103 points was a huge boost from the second line. Thomassen and Wolf finished with the first and second-most points in the league that year, while Boychuk finished eleventh. Thomassen won multiple awards, including the Brett Slobodzian Trophy for most outstanding player, Dustin Funk Trophy for most improved, and the Beketov and Szatkowski Trophies for most assists and points, while Wolf won the Scott Boulet as best two way forward, and finally the Kevin Brooks Trophy for most goals. The Meute owned the second-best offense in the league, and looked like they had many great years ahead of them. The Meute dominated the Wranglers in Round One, easily dispatching them in a quick five games. The offense looked deadly, scoring five or more goals three times in the series. In the Conference Finals, they would go on to face the Americans. New York proved they were simply too much for the Meute. They were able to shut down the offense, with one shutout and two games only allowing one goal. They took down the Meute in five games, and it was clear they needed to shore up the defense at some point to seriously contend. They would only get better from here, as Thomassen, Boychuk, Jakobssen, Wolf, and goaltender Waldron all were young players. During the offseason, the Meute surprisingly decided not to go after any defensemen, but instead picked up forward Milos Denis. This would prove to be a good move, since Denis would have multiple successful seasons in Quebec City, but there wasn’t much of a need for another forward. With Denis’ arrival, Jakobssen got moved down to the second line, and the new first line of Aksel Thomassen, Bruno Wolf, and Milos Denis would be the most deadly lineup in the league. Thomassen and Wolf yet again finished first and second in the league in points, with 141 and 137 respectively. Wolf won the Boulet and Brooks Trophies again, but added the Slobodzian Trophy to his collection, while Thomassen won the Beketov and Szatkowski Trophies for the second consecutive year. Waldron had a great year in net, with a 2.10 GAA and a .920 save percentage, and the Meute finished first place in the league with 54 wins. They had the best offense and third best defense in the league, and many had them as the favorite to make it to the finals, and perhaps win it all. They had a bye into the Conference Finals, and they would face the Americans for the second year in a row. These Americans weren’t the same as last year's team, but they still put up a great fight. They brought it all the way to seven games against the Meute, but Quebec City held on to win Game Seven thanks to Waldron's 40 saves. The Meute won the series, and they were heading to the Continental Cup Finals to face the Cologne Express. Games One and Two both went to the Express, and the Meute only had three goals in those two games. Game Three went Quebec’s way, but after a Game Four loss, the writing was on the wall. Robin Gow’s overtime winner in Game Five won the Continental Cup for the Express, and the Meute’s run was over. While it certainly was a rough way to go out, the Meute had multiple years of success ahead of them. All of their players were young and still growing, but they just needed one thing to perhaps push them over the edge: a sturdy defenseman. During the offseason, they got their priorities straight and set out to acquire the best defenseman that was actively being shopped around: Jake Wylde. Many know his name because he has the award for best defensive defenseman. After a bit of discussion, Quebec City was able to trade for Wylde to finally secure their blue line, and truly solidify themselves as the best team in the league. However, the move for Wylde wasn’t as big of a splash as it may have seemed. They still finished first place in the North American Conference, but the offensive totals went down from the previous year, going from the league's best offense to third best, while the defense still ranked third. However, goalie Brock Waldron massively improved, with a 1.85 GAA and a .924 save percentage. The Meute, once again, were the favorite to go to the finals. The Seattle Bears were the Meute's opponent in the Conference finals after they took down the Legion in the first round in a sweep. No one gave the Bears a real chance at taking down the Meute. The roster wasn’t even that great, the GM was inactive, and the Meute were just that much better. The Meute won Game One 4-3, but after that, things started to go Seattle’s way. They won the next three games and took a 3-1 series lead. How could this happen? The Bears were not good, yet found themselves a win away from the finals. The Meute's offense had been lackluster, and the Bears had taken advantage. The Bears jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in Game Five, but the Meute tied the game and forced overtime. In overtime, the Bears would score and win the game and the series, sending a shock to the Quebec City fans in attendance. A few seasons ago, this team was young and had tons of promise. When they lost in the playoffs, it wasn’t the end of the world, as they could always say that there is always next year. This was a reality check. There wouldn’t always be a next year, and this team was starting to get older. S44 was a must win season for the Meute. In what was clearly the Meute's final chance at a ring, they went all-in. They acquired goaltender Niklaus Mikaelson, who had just beaten them as a member of the Bears, and Brady Stropko, a forward that also was a part of the Bears team that had taken them down. This was perhaps the most impressive team that the Meute had put together. They had the second-best offense, finishing with just one less goal than the first-placed Express, as well as the third-best defense, with only five more goals against than the first-placed Stockholm Vikings. Thomassen had 108 points, Stropko had 105, Wolf had 102, Boychuk had 101, Denis had 96, and Wylde had 92. This team was loaded with elite talent, and they had six players in the top 20 for points in S44. This was likely the team's best and final chance at a cup. They finished first in the league again, their second Victory Cup in three seasons, and got a bye in round one. They would face the Wranglers in the Conference Finals, who they had a very intense rivalry with. The Wranglers had a very solid team in S44, as goaltender Hans Wingate, who would eventually be inducted to the Hall of Fame, helped lead the team to finishing second in the North American Conference. They didn’t have any stand out names though, the complete opposite of Quebec City. If the Meute wanted to win, they needed their big names to shine. In Game One, Bruno Wolf was the one who stepped up, with three points in a 4-2 win. The Meute would need more of that if they wanted to keep winning. Unfortunately for them, they did not get much of anything in Game Two, losing 3-0 with only 18 shots on net. It would be a similar story in Game Three, losing 1-0. This was looking very similar to what happened the season prior. Game Four was clearly a must win. The Wranglers scored first, as Rami Jakobssen, who once was a member of the Meute, gave the Wranglers the lead late in the first period. Brady Stropko would answer back in the second period with two consecutive goals to give the Meute the lead headed to the third. In the third, the Wranglers would tie the game, and then score again just fifteen seconds later to take the lead, and that was all she wrote. The Wranglers won Game Four, and had the Meute on the brink of elimination. It was a demoralizing loss for the Meute, it seemed as though the series was already over, and the Wranglers did not let up in Game Five. After a four goal first period, the Wranglers cruised to a 6-0 Game Five win, defeating their much hated rivals in Quebec City. The S40 and S41 Meute had championship aspirations, and it looked like they were set up very nicely to win one, if not multiple cups in the future. The closest this team ever got was a five game finals loss. It was clearly over for the Meute. Thomassen and Milos Denis were both shipped to Riga, Bruno Wolf was traded to New York, Wylde was moved to Calgary. They made the playoffs in S45 thanks to a weak North American Conference, but got swept by none other than Calgary in the first round. The Meute began a rebuild, which led to them forming perhaps the best team in franchise history in S49 and S50. Neither of those teams would win anything either, suffering a fate that the S43-S44 Meute also suffered. This will be the final edition of Ringless. There simply aren't enough elite teams that never won a cup, and many of those really good teams that didn’t win a cup happened before S20, which is where the VHL archives end. Thanks to @Victor for his list of the best teams to never win a cup, which was used plenty of times to help find teams for this series. Next on VSN, we will be launching a series called, “Hall of Very Good,” which will talk about the best players that aren’t in the Hall of Fame. @Frank @philthethrill81 @STZ @DollarAndADream @Hybrid1486

Welcome to the fifth edition of Ringless. In this series we look at the best teams throughout VHL history to never win the cup. Make sure to check out other series VSN has to offer, such as our weekly reviews, podcasts, and scouting reports VSN Radio | VSN Season Preview | VSN Scouting | Under 250 | BOG Update The Seattle Bears of the late S60s/early S70s are what the mid S60 Bears wish they were. The current day Bears have won four cups in the past six seasons, while the S63 through S65 Bears didn’t win a single series, despite winning back to back victory cups. This team had future Hall of Famers Matt Thompson, and Maxim Kovalchuk yet couldn’t get it done when it mattered the most. How did this happen? How did they build this team? It all started at the S61 VHL Draft. The S61 Draft is known for two players; Matt Thompson and Podrick Cast. Thompson was selected first overall by the Bears while Cast was selected third to the Reign. These were the superstars of the draft, but there still were plenty of other solid guys that were taken, many of which found their way onto the Bears during their peak years. Roger Sterling was selected by Seattle fourth overall, and he would be their goalie for the years to come. Robert Malenko was selected seventh by the Legion, and he would become an elite defenseman for the Bears, winning multiple awards in S64. The Bears also picked up Sergei Kovalev at eighth overall, and he also would be on the team for multiple seasons and was a good piece for the team. Sebastian Ironside also was part of the S61 draft class, but since he was a GM player at the time of the draft, he went straight to the Legion’s roster. Eventually, he would no longer be a GM player and would sign with the Bears in S65. The S61 draft class was a huge part of the Bears success during the mid S60s, but other core pieces came from different times. In the S62 Draft, the Bears selected Maxim Kovalchuk second overall, and he would go on to be a Hall of Famer. The S63 Bears were the first year that the Bears could consider themselves contenders. On top of the core of players from the S61 Draft, they also brought back Hall of Famer Gabriel McCallister for his final season, Vyacheslav Smirnov was a young up and coming center, veteran David Kiaskov, a reliable point per game player, as well as a young Jake Davis, an elite forward throughout his whole career. The S63 Bears were pretty loaded from top to bottom, and they finished second place in the league with 52 wins and 109 points, just one point behind first place Riga. However, the argument can be made that they were better than Riga that year, as they actually had one more win than the Reign, as well as owning the league's best offense and second best defense. The Bears had serious cup hopes this season, and they hoped it was only the beginning of multiple years of success. Matt Thompson's incredible career saw him win multiple Boulets In the semi-finals, they had to face the Calgary Wranglers, who finished third that year. They had only one less win than Seattle that season, and consisted of hall of famers Jasper Canmore, Oyorra Arroyo, Mats Johnsson, and goaltender Norris Stopko. They also had Keaton Louth, who may also become a Hall of Famer one day. The Wranglers were just as loaded as the Bears, and this was bound to be a great matchup. Game One is often times the tone setter for the series, and in a hostile Seattle environment, the Bears showed up for the fans, shelling Wranglers netminder Norris Stopko with 56 shots. Unfortunately for Seattle, Stopko also showed up, stopping all 56 shots on goal, helping secure the 3-0 Game One win for the Wranglers in shocking fashion. The Wranglers weren’t necessarily underdogs in this series, but the win was still shocking due to the way it happened. The series as a whole was an offensive showdown, as both goalies had to take on incredible amounts of shots throughout the series. In Game Two, Seattle had 48 shots while Calgary had 36, but this time Stopko didn’t stand on his head, letting in five goals in the 5-3 win for the Bears. Robert Malenko had 3 assists and the Bears tied the series up heading to Calgary for Game Three. Seattle outplaying the Wranglers was the trend of the series, although it didn’t correlate to wins. Roger Sterling's poor play in net cost the Bears in Games Three, Four, and Six. In Game Six, an elimination game for the Bears, they had 56 shots compared to the Wranglers 27. The Wranglers won that game 3-2 after Sterling let in three goals in the first period, and the Bears couldn’t recover. It was an unfortunate loss for the Bears, considering how well they had played, but in the end, it wasn’t the end of the world. The Wranglers are a great team, and the Bears were young, and this would hopefully be just the beginning of something special. Norris Stopko shut down the Bears to help the Wranglers advance to the finals The Bears lost McCallister to retirement in the offseason, but picked up Veran Dragomir to replace him. The Bears headed into S64 with practically the same team, but now everyone was a year older and more experienced. The Bears finished first place in S64 with 108 points, barely beating out Riga by one point. They had by far the best offense in the league, with nearly 50 more goals for that season than any other team. When you have Matt Thompson scoring 56 goals, Robert Malenko dishing out 85 assists, and Veran Dragomir scoring 95 points, it’s no surprise that Seattle’s offense was deadly that year. The only problem was that they struggled on defense, and Roger Sterling's stats were mediocre for a goalie on the league's top team. Even the bot backup had better stats than Sterling in the games he had played. If the Bears wanted to make it past the semi finals this year, they needed Sterling to step up in the playoffs. The Toronto Legion would win the wild card round over the Quebec City Meute after an infringement of the Louth Rule, and would face the Bears in the semi-finals. In game one, the Bears, specifically Roger Sterling, had to make a statement, and they did just that. A 5-1 drubbing of the Legion was a huge victory for Seattle, especially for Sterling, who made 45 saves that game. The Bears couldn’t keep up the momentum though, as they fell 5-2 in Game Two and then lost 5-1 in Game Three. You can blame Roger Sterling for having bad performances in those games, but you also aren’t going to win games when you can’t score, as Stopko was completely shutting down the Bears for the second year in a row. The Bears would put tons of shots on net every game, routinely getting shot totals in the high 30s, 40s, and sometimes even 50s. They just couldn’t put the puck in the net, but in Game Four they figured it out, with a dominating 7-2 win. When you score 7 goals, usually you expect the opposing goalie to be pulled, or have an abysmal save percentage, but Stopko didn’t get pulled, and had a save percentage of .904. How is this possible? The Bears had an ungodly 73 shots on goal in Game Four. Matt Thompson had six points, and the Bears put together one of the most incredible single game performances I have ever seen to tie the series at two. Somehow, the Bears were unable to build on this momentum. They had nearly 50 shots again in Game Five, but the Legion snuck past the Bears with a 4-3 win thanks to Stopko’s 45 saves. Game Six was do or die for the Bears. Another year, another dominating performance, yet they were fighting for their season yet again. It was a high scoring affair, but it was 3-1 Toronto midway through the second. Matt Thompson had two quick goals to complete his hat trick to tie the game, before both teams traded goals and it was tied at four at the end of the second. That score held through regulation, and we needed overtime. One goal, and the Bears could force a Game Seven, or the Legion could go to the Continental Cup Finals. Seattle had 49 shots in Game Six, another incredible offensive performance. But in the end, the shot total doesn’t matter. After a Maxim Kovalchuk penalty sent the Legion to the power play in overtime, Oyorra Arroyo scored another big-time goal against the Bears, this time to send his new team, the Legion, to the finals. Oyorra Arroyo's overtime winner in game six sent the Legions to the finals The Bears had outplayed the Legion at nearly every turn. Unfortunately for Seattle, Norris Stopko shut them down, and Sterling couldn’t keep up. The off-season was filled with questions, specifically if Matt Thompson would re-sign. He did, but the message was clear. In S65, it was cup or bust for the Bears. This was it, no excuses. They added Sebastion Ironside in free agency, and they were ready to make one last run at the cup. They finished with 52 wins in S65 and won another Victory Cup, but it didn’t matter to them. This team looked even better than last year's team. They had an offense just as explosive, but a much sturdier defense, which allowed the second lowest amount of goals. The lack of defense is what largely cost them in S64, but they didn’t lack there anymore. They would have to face the Helsinki Titans in the semi-finals, and hoped to make quick work of them. This was their last chance. Game One went well for Seattle. They had lots of shots, and Roger Sterling managed to hold it together well enough to secure a 4-3 win for Seattle, as young forward Gucci Garrop scored the game-winner mid-way through the third. All was going well for the Bears, but unfortunately things get ugly. Really ugly, as a matter of fact. Game Two saw the Bears take 49 shots compared to the Titans 28, yet the Titans won 5-3. This game was particularly agonizing for the Bears. Seattle led 3-1 just ten minutes into the first, and chased stud goaltender Alexander Pepper from the game. With the bot goalie in, all the Bears had to do was get tons of shots like they always do, and they should win. The bot goaltender for Helsinki would go on to make 41 saves on 41 shots and lead the Titans to an incredible win. The sim gods must have felt bad for what they did to these Bears teams, and repaid them with their success later in the decade. Game Three was very unique for the Bears, as it was the first time they had been outshot in a playoff game since at least S62. They still forced Pepper to make 36 saves in a 4-1 Titans win, but they allowed 48 shots on net, very uncharacteristic of this team. Game Four was absolutely a must-win for the Bears. The Bears yet again had tons of shots, with 41 in this game. The Titans had 40 of their own, but Sterling stood on his head, making 38 saves in Game Four to help secure a Bears win, 4-2. This was a huge win, a momentum swinging win even, but we have learned that the Bears don’t know how to build off of momentum, as they haven’t won back to back playoff games in the past few seasons. Game Five was another high flying affair, with both teams having 35 or more shots. Pepper made 34 saves for the Titans, while Sterling made 37. This game wasn’t on Sterling, it was on the defense for allowing that many shots. The Bears lost 4-2, and even though it was only a 3-2 series lead, the writing was on the wall. The energy was gone. It was clear what was going to happen in Game Six, and to no one's surprise, the Titans picked up the win in Game Six, 4-2, to advance to the finals. This loss was a brutal one. Seattle led 2-1 with just seven minutes left in the game. They were in a great position to steal this win and force a home Game Seven, but the Titans tied it. Then, only a minute and a half later, they take the lead with a Julian Borwinn power play marker. Just twenty seconds later, Helsinki adds the insurance marker to make it 4-2. In two minutes of play, the Bears went from winning and having hope, to losing by two and being dead in the water. It was over for the Bears. They had three seasons with a great team, and threw it all away. Matt Thompson left in free agency for the Titans, Roger Sterling left, Dragomir left for Davos, and Ironside went to Calgary. The rebuild began in Seattle, as they heavily invested in the S67 draft. As we all know, this worked out huge for them, as they would win four cups in the next seasons, with the chance for five in S74. Perhaps the lack of success by this Bears team is what facilitated possibly the greatest dynasty in VHL history.

G- Jimmy Spyro @Matt thunder

D- Hugh Jass @fishy

1. Nope, I know we are a great team and it's only a few games. 2. It might, but everyone on the squad is a team player that will do whats right for the team. 3. Our new locker room has brought in some extra energy, so that's a possibility. 4. I wouldn't say we've proven we can beat them if we lost to them in the conference finals last year, but the Wolves look like the best team in the conference as of now. 5. Zod's big body intimidates his opponents and puts them in a daze, which is how he makes plays. 6. Zod isn't a scorer, and he is too passive sometimes, but this year he is looking to shoot the puck more.

After a great sophomore season, Zod has built nicely upon that and started his third year in the league strong, with 8 points in 7 games, and Calgary has won three games in a row. However, one thing clouds Zod and the Wranglers: the impending free agency. Not only is Zod a free agent, but fellow S72 defenseman Latrell Mitchell also becomes a free agent this offseason. It would be in Calgary's best interest to re-sign one of these players obviously, but re-signing both isn't quite out of the question. "Everything in Calgary is great. Locker room is good, I'm putting up good numbers offensively and defensively while getting the chance to compete for a cup. The only reason I haven't re-signed is because I want to test free agency just to see what it's all about." Zod made it clear he isn't just going to leave in free agency. Returning to Calgary is absolutely on the table, and if Zod had to make odds for his landing spots, Calgary would likely be the favorite. However, his desire to test the open market for the experience of doing it for the first time is perhaps the only thing stopping him from re-signing, and it's hard to imagine that the grass is greener on the other side for Zod.

F- Phil Marleau @Matt thunder

Killinger was taken already

On the standings page in the forums, the ROW is right next to the wins column and comes before the losses, which to me is kind of unnatural and makes it confusing to look at the standings sometimes. I think ROW should be moved to the column to the right of points, and on the column to the left of the goals for, I think this will make it look better

F- Lewis Dawson @fishy

D- Lincoln Tate @Matt thunder