Matt_O

l'll apply

yes

I will apply, I've been around since 2018 and was even GM for Vegas for a while as you know. I stepped down because I became less active, but I am back. I really want to return to a job in the league but I don't want one with as many responsibilities as a GM, so AGM would be great for me. I can do everything you ask for and have experience doing all those things from when I was GM.

Week 3 claim

This upcoming cup final is between Moscow and Seattle, two of the top teams in the latter half of the S60s and early S70s. This finals matchup is definitely not going to make longtime Nighthawk players happy, as the Malmo vs Seattle rivalry was pretty real in S68, and the Moscow vs Malmo was kinda real in S66 and S67. The Bears and the Nighthawks were the two best up and coming teams heading into S68, and their was fierce debate between who would be better. Malmo was better (during the regular season). The Bears undoubtedly benefited from an easy North American Conference that year, as they surprised everyone by finishing in first place. They cruised to the finals to meet Malmo, their rivals. And then they spanked Malmo, which definitely surprised me, but I was on Malmo so I guess of course I was surprised. However, I think everyone can agree that a four game sweep was not expected. Seattle would ride their momentum to back to back cups, while Malmo would never reach that height again. Seattle looks to continue their dominance over the last few seasons, while Moscow looks to stop them, and leave their stamp on the last few years.

1. My favorite part about Vegas is the weird people you see on the streets. One time I was walking on the sidewalk and this very tall black guy comes running past me in nothing by an american flag thong. (this is a true story) I also saw girls with paint on clothes taking a picture with a 90 year old man in a wheelchair. 2. I think it was three good selections. 3. My old players number and the number I use when I play hockey in real life is 22, but I cant use it again. Now, I'm 17, because it fits Zod. 4. An Iguana. 5. Randy Marsh, my fellow defensive partner. 6. We need an ad for the Kryptonian steroids Zod has been taking, they work!

Quik is the best Matt on the site

I see people complain about STHS all the time, and sometimes it seems obvious why. Sometimes, the sims feel almost random, but I would say that most of the time the sims do a good job. Just because there is an upset doesn't mean it's random, because upsets always happen. If what happened in the NHL during last years playoffs (all wild cards won) happened on this site, there would be an uprising against STHS, when in reality it's not that bad. Just because your team was favored to win and lost doesn't mean the sim is broken. STHS has been used for over 70 seasons, so it must be good. The only thing that isn't great about STHS is the way how they seemingly pick which players are stars in the league. You could two people with identical stats and one of them has 100 points and the other has 50. Kyson Blake had 88 points his rookie year, but then had a combined 107 points in his next four full seasons. Player stats sometimes seem sort of random, which is the only real problem, and it's not even all that much of a problem because generally the highest TPE guys are at the top of the points leaderboards. I don't think there is a problem with STHS. Are there better options out there? Probably, but obviously the sim engine is doing something right if it's been in use for over 70 seasons.

Updates for 5/3/20 @efiug moved to S tier @Berocka moved to S tier @Poptart moved to B tier @GlowyGoat added to A tier @Doomsday added to B tier @Big Mac added to B tier @rjfryman added to C tier

I will do some research and provide an update tomorrow

General Zod Defenseman, Las Vegas Aces General Zod has blessed us from his home planet of Krypton and has decided to enter the S72 VHL draft. Being a General, he is a natural leader, and was an assistant captain for the Aces this season. Statistically, he was the best defenseman in Vegas, leading their defense unit in points, assists, hits, and blocked shots. While Zod focuses on being a shutdown, defensive defenseman, he also has the ability to make plays, evident by his 65 assists this season. He evolved into a do it all defenseman this year in the VHLM, and he hopes he can continue that in the VHL. Strengths Physicality Zod's best weapon is the way he uses his body. His huge 6'8 frame allows him to shield his opponents from the puck, and he also is very intimidating. His 201 hits were the tenth most in the VHLM this season, and he got off to a slow start. If he had his second half pace during the first half of the season, he could have cracked into the top five. If any team is in need of a shutdown, physical defenseman, General Zod is your guy. Playmaking At first, Zod had no interest in making plays. He wanted to put the puck in the back of the net with his monster slapshot. However, he realized that making plays and passing the puck is easier, especially when you have elite forwards such as SS Hornet, Joe Proto, Pengu, and the list goes on. Zod's ability to feed the puck to his teammates is second to none. While his assist total of 65 wasn't enough to make it into the top 10 this year, normally it would have been more than enough. If Zod played in S67, he would have been fifth place in assists for the year. Zod is an elite playmaker, but the absurd goal scoring in the VHLM (specifically Ottawa) has made his assist total seem like nothing. General Zod can make plays, despite entering the league as a pure defensive defenseman. Weaknesses Blocking shots You may be wondering, how is Zod a shutdown defenseman if he only has 79 blocked shots? Allow me to explain. Usually, players on bad teams tend to get more blocked shots than players on good teams because the bad teams are in their defensive zone more often. Vegas was one of the better teams in the VHLM this year, which would explain the low shot block totals. Not only that, but Zod still had the most blocked shots on his team. If Zod gets drafted to a below average team in the draft, I would anticipate his shot block totals go way up. However, that hasn't happened yet, so for now, this is a weakness for him. If you select General Zod in the upcoming draft, you will be getting a special talent. His work ethic and commitment to getting better is stronger than ever. You will be getting a tough, physical defensive defenseman that also knows how to make plays. What else do you want from a player?

Everyone, lets not vote for HHH so he isn't in the all star game

Player Card Template Name: General Zod Team: Las Vegas Aces Player Number:17 Render Choice: Cal Clutterbuck (use a picture when he has a mustache) Are you S72?: Yes Signature Template Name: General Zod Team: Las Vegas Aces Player Number:17 Render Choice: Cal Clutterbuck (use a picture when he has a mustache) Are you S72?: Yes

DC 3-2

17 Calgary Wranglers @ Vancouver Wolves 18 D.C. Dragons @ Seattle Bears 19 Malmo Nighthawks @ Moscow Menace 20 Riga Reign @ Prague Phantoms

1. I expected better especially after a great start, but it's alright. This year is unbelievably competitive. In a normal year, we would probably be top 3 at least. 2. McWolf is a surefire first overall pick pretty much. 3. Proto is a boomer but we have had bigger boomers on this site 4. No, he should shave the Vegas logo in the back of his head. 5. Recently I've been having grilled cheese for lunch but I think I like Peanut Butter and Jelly better. It's a really tough decision though. 6. I'd have to say Jeff Blaze, he's putting up tons of points for us.

Week 2 claim

Ahahahaha

Moscow 3-2

391 D.C. Dragons @ Helsinki Titans 392 New York Americans @ Riga Reign 393 Seattle Bears @ Moscow Menace 394 Toronto Legion @ Vancouver Wolves

I should add that DiGiannantonio would be 9th

I probably should be sleeping but I can't sleep tonight so I will be doing a quick mock draft. Not really a mock draft, just a brief look at prospects. The clear best player in the draft is SS Hornet. Not only does he have far more TPE than everyone, he is a center rather than a winger and a returning member. He will most likely be the first pick. Next we have two and three, which are Robin Winter and Valtteri Vaakanainen. Both are strong returning members with lots of TPE. They can be flipped at 2 or 3, it can go either way. There are three huge wild cards for the first round in my opinion. Defenseman Latrell Mitchell, Gino DiGiannantonio, and Zamboni Driver. I considered putting Jungkok as a wildcard but I figured that it's a safe bet to assume that they will go higher than their TPE rankings because it's tfong, everyone knows he won't go anywhere. Mitchell is a first generation defenseman with a decent TPE advantage on myself (General Zod) and Randy Marsh, but it's nothing crazy. Will he be D1 and be a possible top 3 pick? Or will he slip because he is a first gen, and those behind him are returning members and then maybe fall out of top 10? Next is DiGiannantonio. He could find a way to slip lower in the rankings because of the controversy behind the member, but this might just be old news and it's no longer a concern. He could fall if the controversy is still a concern, but I'm not sure if it is. Finally, we have Zamboni Driver. His TPE values are lower but he is basically the only good goalie. He will be drafted way higher than his TPE values suggest. My projected rankings (taking member and such into account) 1. SS Hornet 2. Valtteri Vaakanainen 3. Robin Winter 4. Randy Marsh 5. Jungkok 6. Latrell Mithell 7. Zamboni Driver 8. General Zod

If he ever brings it up or if I can get him too I will let him know, but I think he found the league and was interested in it because he thought it would be more like be a pro rather than have to write stuff for tpe

In November of 2018, I joined the Victory Hockey League. My cousin @TrevorC11 told me about this league, and I had an immediate interest. Unfortunately, he was confused about how it worked and wasn't as interested, and quickly became inactive. I tried to get him back into it and he got signed to the Wild, but never earned any TPE. He just didn't understand how to do it, and it frustrated him. I was new to it as well, so I couldn't explain the process of earning TPE to him because I didn't know much of it myself. He didn't return to the VHL until August, where I tried to get him to make a new player, but he just wasn't interested. All these questions he had when he joined could have been easily answered had he joined the vhl's discord. At the time of his joining, he received only one offer and was confused on what to do. He never accepted the offer because he wasn't sure how to work the portal. I tried to explain it to him the best I could, but I was just as new as he was and I knew next to nothing. I would rely on the team discord servers to tell me how our team did in the playoffs because I didn't know where to find the game results. I also frequently posted vhl.com articles in the media spots section because I didn't know there was a vhl.com articles section. The biggest issue was that there was so many different functions of the league that I didn't know what I was doing even though I asked questions in the team discord. I figured it out eventually, but the problem is that people such as my cousin don't have the patience or as much interest as I did, so they get frustrated and leave. A lot of the information for new people are posted on forums and easy to access if you get guidance from other members, but the problem that I faced when I was new was that I didn't know what a lot of the stuff meant. I had access to the information, but I didn't know what the information meant. This is why I don't think it's a coincidence that once teams started using discord, recruitment and retainment skyrocketed in S66 and S67. While the effort of the recruitment certainly was important for that big boom in members, I believe that team discords made retainment of members much higher than it ever has been. The team discords are great for several reasons compared to looking at forums posts for help. First of all, many of the forum posts are locked so you can't ask questions, and even if you do, there's a chance no one will see it. In discord, it is not only a guarantee someone will see your question and answer, but the time it takes for them to answer is way faster than what it would take on forums. Discord also creates a much more friendly experience because you feel a bond with other new members as well as the team GM, which is key for retainment. Having team discords certainly helped to keep me active, because I would have no idea what was going on without it.

Review This a very well thought out response to recruitment efforts. I agree with you about social media specifically, since the last time I checked, the Instagram and Twitter for the VHL aren't active. I also completely agree about the search, it is pretty terrible. I do historical articles often and try to look up player names and other stuff, but it is very hard to find. The way you formatted this made it easy to understand. Your experience with social media could be used in a useful way, and I would hope that the higher ups contact you about that because you bring up a very fair point that this site is for a very specific group of people. Overall it was a well written, well thought out article with many good suggestions that can help recruitment and retention. 9/10