Matt_O

Review:  I'm ok with numbers IRL, but wading through lots of stats in an article is tough.  However, the clear writing makes the reader's job much easier.  The cogent logic also helps.  Very interesting and clear article showing both the very real drop in scoring per player and the dominance of Campbell.  9/10 (Not sure what would be a 10/10, but want to reserve that for something that just absolutely slays me.  lol)

1. Defense was Riga's problem last season but now the future on D is set, pretty good job.
2. I think defense might be a pretty big strength, especially with Harvey backing us up in net. 
3. Didn't really follow the draft much, but Nixon Caldwell could be a steal. Kendrick is a big name member and if he stays active that's a second round pick that could be a beast.
4. Definitely not Zod and his goofy bald head, thats for sure. Calvin Harvey seems like he would rock a mullet, just from his name.
5. "I cannot tell you, it's confidential. Anyways, how is your sex life" or "Everybody betray me, I'm fed up with this world". Both are from The Room, I can't pick between them.
6. Rudy Gobert touching all the microphones as a joke about the NBA new covid rules and then getting covid three days later and causing the cancellation of the season. If that didn't happen covid might have actually gotten worse because I think the NBA shutting things down is what caused everyone to realize this thing is for real, so maybe Gobert saved people. 

Would you look at the time, it's HOF induction time already! Warning: A lot of awards are about to be listed.
 
D - Condor Adrienne, S68-S75 
 RS: 576 GP, 156 G, 442 A, 598 P, +74, 1,417 PIM, 1,936 HIT, 1,144 SB, 18 GW
PO: 66 GP, 14 G, 55 A, 69 P, +18, 148 PIM, 232 HIT, 144 SB, 3 GW
 
S70 Jake Wylde Trophy (Top Defensive Defenceman)
S72 Brett Slobodzian Trophy (Most Outstanding)
S72 Mike Szatkowski Trophy (Most Points)
S72 Sterling Labatte Trophy (Top Defenceman)
S72 Alexander Valiq Trophy (Top Offensive Defenceman)
S73 Jake Wylde Trophy (Top Defensive Defenceman)
S74 Sterling Labatte Trophy (Top Defenceman)
S74 Alexander Valiq Trophy (Top Offensive Defenceman)
S74 Jake Wylde Trophy (Top Defensive Defenceman)
S75 Sterling Labatte Trophy (Top Defenceman)
S75 Alexander Valiq Trophy (Top Offensive Defenceman)
S75 Alexander Beketov Trophy (Most Assists)
3x All-VHL First Team (S72, S74, S75)
1x All-VHL Second Team (S73)
One Continental Cup (S75)
 
There was something inevitable about the consensus 1st overall pick Condor Adrienne in S68, as everyone could see it was back to @OrbitingDeath  at his best. And yet, his ascent to greatness wasn't immediate. A surprise run to the finals in his rookie season, a Wylde Trophy in his 3rd, it wasn't quite a rapid start. But then, as Malmo went into a rebuild, Adrienne became their shining light. Even when he became the first defenceman to lead the league in scoring in nearly 60 seasons, his Hall of Fame case wasn't secure, but between then and winning the cup with Malmo in his last game, Adrienne dominated the defencemen field to such an extent that there remained no doubt. A selection of accolades reads as follows:
 
Most Valiq Trophies
Most Wylde Trophies
1st Player to win Labatte, Wylde, and Valiq in same season
2nd Defenceman to lead the VHL in scoring (1st since S14)
 
He's the best defenceman we've seen in over 20 seasons, if not longer, and it will take a while for another to match him. Except, one didn't fall far behind even when competing against him....
 
 
 
D - Lincoln Tate, S67-S74 
 RS: 576 GP, 98 G, 410 A, 508 P, +125, 860 PIM, 1,314 HIT, 940 SB, 15 GW
PO: 91 GP, 19 G, 59 A, 78 P, +16, 137 PIM, 208 HIT, 158 SB, 4 GW
 
S71 Sterling Labatte Trophy (Top Defenceman)
S71 Jake Wylde Trophy (Top Defensive Defenceman)
S72 Alexander Beketov Trophy (Most Assists)
S73 Sterling Labatte Trophy (Top Defenceman)
S73 Alexander Beketov Trophy (Most Assists)
S74 Jake Wylde Trophy (Top Defensive Defenceman)
3x All-VHL First Team (S71, S72, S73)
1x All-VHL Second Team (S74)
One Continental Cup (S72)
 
You're not going to look as good on the same page as Adrienne, but few players could rightly consider themselves pretty much equals as much as Lincoln Tate. There's a lot of similarities - fellow 1st overall picks, far from plain sailing at the start, one-team men. I was a bit surprised to see Riga go for @Tate after their big trade to get 1st overall and for a while, it seemed like a rare misfire for the GM. Not in terms of TPE, but in terms of performance Tate did not seem to stand out. Like Adrienne though, as soon as he crossed the halfway mark of his career, Tate transformed into one of the elite defencemen. Between S71 and S75, they took home all the Labatte Trophies. Tate also led his team to the cup as well, part of one of the all-time great defensive units in VHL history, having been an instrumental part of Riga's record-setting 13-season playoff streak (it ended immediately after Tate's retirement).
 
It is fitting that the two defencemen that dominated their generation will forever be remembered together through this HOF induction.
 
VOTE RESULTS
Condor Adrienne - 12/12
Lincoln Tate - 8/12
---
Mike Szatkowski Jr. - 1/12
Raymond Bernard - 1/12
Hulk Hogan, Jeff Downey, Wesley Kellinger, Tyson Kohler, Jakab Holik, Alexander Pepper - 0/12
 
 
 
And as usual, we are not quite done here as we have a Builder to announce! This one I am particularly pleased to announce as I have been something of this man's cheerleader for half a decade now. As a little-known first-gen Shane Baker, I brought him to Davos and he formed a defensive partnership with my own player that went to 3 straight finals and won 2 cups. I have then continued to hype up his players of increasing quality - Severin von Karma, Hall of Fame goalie Apollo Skye, Veran Dragomir, and most recently Soren Jensen. But it's not just about players for @Velevra  who over the course of these careers has earned an astronomical amount of TPE by being one of our most reliable updates, from manual labour to the present Portal-driven days. Even more importantly, prior to the implementation of the Portal and its connection to the sim, Velevra was the one who manually updated attributes for players in the sim which as you can imagine is a highly unpleasant task and took a massive workload off the simmers who previously did this themselves. Through it all, Velevra has maintained a quiet profile, happy to get on with his job with little to no recognition. Well now we are recognising him as best we can, immortalising Velevra as VHL Builder.
 
 
Congratulations @OrbitingDeath  @Tate and @Velevra !

Well, I have to say it would have been so poetic if I could say "12 seasons - a cup in my 6th and a cup in my 12th". Alas, the almighty sim had other plans.
 
Nonetheless,
 
12 seasons
9 playoff appearances (including an ongoing 8-season streak)
3 Victory Cups
2 finals appearances
1 Continental Cup
and 3 Top GM trophies (maybe one more on my way out?)
 
Not bad for an expansion team eh?
 
I think I set myself a target of about 10 seasons as GM and to win the cup at least once. All in all, mission accomplished. I actually had plans to retire after the back-to-back finals in S70 and S71, but stumbling into a superb S72 draft class reinvigorated me long enough to build a new core. We didn't quite reach the previous heights, but it was a solid run and it was a fun locker room all the way through.
 
I don't think I would have gone back into the GMing game under any circumstance other than expansion, but the appeal of building a franchise from scratch was too much to look past and I am very happy with the result. Moscow is a staple of the league now, it's an attractive franchise, and there is a legacy to carry forward. I'm hugely ambitious so there's usually lingering disappointment from anything but I am sure I will look back at this era with a sense of pride.
 
I will also remember fondly the many players who have gone through Moscow over my time here. It would be unfair to only name a few in this post but stay tuned for an article of some shape in the near future.
 
That's a wrap though. I will oversee trade negotiations until my replacement is formally announced but I suspect someone else will be representing Moscow at the draft next week. Actually, that won't be much of a change....
 
MOSCOW MOSCOW MOSCOW x

I need an article for this week, so why not shoutout my boys at VSN. These guys do such a tremendous job week in and week out. I worked with VSN for almost all of 2019, and then for a few months again in 2020. Working there is really draining, at least it was for me. I wasn't even being asked for that much, just a history article every other week, and then help out with extra offseason stuff (usually I did the award show preview). It still was a lot, and VSN deserves a ton of credit. There were so many different points through 2019 where VSN just looked dead but it has come on stronger than ever because of some hard work. I wanted to run VSN when Bana/Frost took over since I had been around a long time, but they did a tremendous job and looking back, I'm glad I didn't get that job. It just would be so much work. Doomsday also did a tremendous job, and now Hatter as well. Even if you don't really care for VSN and the content they produce, you have to acknowledge the effort and hard work it takes. Writing a series week in and week out is a lot harder than it might seem, and the guys at VSN do it with no problem. 
 
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GL! 

So, I looked at the standings today since the final sims of the season happened. I saw Calgary sitting fifth place in the North American conference, and we are scheduled to face the Bears in the wild card round, which is pretty exciting. I was confused though; I could have sworn we were way better than 31-33-8. Obviously I was wrong, but I feel like in the locker room over the past week or two we have had maybe one sim where we lost both games. I'm pretty sure we also had a stretch where we won 9 of 10 games. I could be totally wrong about this, but I was just surprised to see us sitting below .500. 
 
This matchup with the Bears should be great. We met in the conference finals back in S73 I believe, where they came back down 3-1. I think we met some other time in the playoffs but I can't quite remember. A win over Seattle would be sweet. They have been the main rival for the team I've played for since S68, with Malmo. We met Seattle in the finals that year and got swept after talking loads of shit about how the NA was just a weak conference and that they wouldn't have been good in the EU. In our defense, I think they would have finished 4th or 5th in the EU that year with their point totals (top 4 made playoffs at that time).
 
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So, I looked at the standings today since the final sims of the season happened. I saw Calgary sitting fifth place in the North American conference, and we are scheduled to face the Bears in the wild card round, which is pretty exciting. I was confused though; I could have sworn we were way better than 31-33-8. Obviously I was wrong, but I feel like in the locker room over the past week or two we have had maybe one sim where we lost both games. I'm pretty sure we also had a stretch where we won 9 of 10 games. I could be totally wrong about this, but I was just surprised to see us sitting below .500. 
 
This matchup with the Bears should be great. We met in the conference finals back in S73 I believe, where they came back down 3-1. I think we met some other time in the playoffs but I can't quite remember. A win over Seattle would be sweet. They have been the main rival for the team I've played for since S68, with Malmo. We met Seattle in the finals that year and got swept after talking loads of shit about how the NA was just a weak conference and that they wouldn't have been good in the EU. In our defense, I think they would have finished 4th or 5th in the EU that year with their point totals (top 4 made playoffs at that time).
 
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This is something I've wanted to do for a while, and with recent events not only in the league but in my personal life, I've decided now is a great time.

I'm planning on beginning the VHL's first (to my knowledge, which isn't a lot) mental health initiative. I've talked to quite a few members about helping this thing gain some traction, so I hope it is able to do that.

Times are tough right now. COVID has made our lives a lot harder and mental health numbers are higher than normal. I just want to put it out there, you are not alone. If you need help, there are many members around the league who are willing to help you and a lot of resources available. I'm hoping to create a discord server that has some resources in it and where people can just talk. If you are struggling, people will listen without judgement. The best thing you can do is talk now and reach out. It seems scary, especially if it feels embarrassing to ask for help, but it is the best option for you in the long run. I'll put a few resources here that I received from @Emi.
 
One resource is a free app called Wysa. The app allows you to talk to a friendly AI penguin who listens to your thoughts, helps you get them into order, and gives you a few simple exercises to resolve your problems. 
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=bot.touchkin&hl=en_GB&gl=US

If you do not have google play, I am sure there are similar apps available to you. 
Futhermore, there's a discord group ran by people who want to take care of your mental health, you can get one to one conversations with medical professionals OR just people who want to help and you can talk to them about your worries. 
https://discord.gg/thehaven
 
Finally, this next resource is only for users in the UK. If you put the name of your GP surgery into this page on the NHS website it will tell you which free counselling services there are in your area. Most of the time you don't have to speak to a GP first before signing up for the services. 
https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/

There will be a resource board in the server. Feel free to add any resources you think will be helpful. 

I'm hoping this can spread around the league so people know they aren't alone in their fight.

If the idea to create a server is a good one, I can start it. However, I will not moderate heavily as it will be for the community's benefit. That being said, if anything that is uploaded is deemed inappropriate, it will be removed immediately.

Also, on this thread, if you have any thoughts, feel free to empty them. I want to know how people are doing and how me and others can help.

I've already done my research on checking/hits/penalties. I've wanted to do an article where I dig a bit deeper and figure out whether or not checking and hits actually help, but don't currently have a good reason to get that involved as school just started for me.
 
It's something I still aim to do at some point, though--might involve a lot of manual samples and probability tests with confidence intervals though as I have no idea how to analyze the game output in the way that I'd like to analyze it. Thankfully I took stats and I know what I'm looking for so it shouldn't be too hard, just a lot of time that I don't have a good excuse to make for myself now.

He only needs to make articles to be more entartaining than the VSN at times 🔥
*no shots fired towards VSN tho

Re-name it the Power Forward award for real tho

The Boulet is the only award I’ve been able to win with consistency, you quit being mean to it
 
Homesrly hits have never been a perfect metric but neither is anything else when we’re working with super limited stats. Hits are just the best option we have.

This is a trophy that I have never understood, even from when I first joined the VHL. The Scott Boulet trophy is the worst award in the entirety of the league, not including the Grimm Jonsson trophy, which was given out to the best leader. Seriously? What was the VHL thinking?
 
I'm actually going to use the Jonsson trophy to draw a parallel between why that was stupid and the Boulet. When it comes to leadership, it's almost impossible to quantify with stats. How are numbers supposed to tell me who the best leader is? Simply put, they don't. It's almost the same story with the Boulet. The VHL doesn't have super advanced stats and metrics we can use to figure out which forwards are playing great defensively. The only thing we use as criteria for this award, to my understanding, is hits and points. If you get a ton of hits and score a solid amount of points, chances are you will be a finalist for the Boulet. That is dumb. Hits do not determine someone's two way abilities. Let's look at Bergeron, who has won 4 Selke's and is regarded as the best two way forward in the league by many fans. Do you know how many hits he had in his four Selke winning seasons? He had around 50 in all of them, with an outlier of 73 in one of his seasons. Sean Couturier, who won the Selke last season, had 60 hits. Why are hits the biggest factor for the Boulet? Is it because we have to make up for the lack of real defensive stats we have available?
 
How can we give an award out solely based on that? In real life, what separates the best two way forwards from the rest are things like positioning, being strong on the puck, takeaways, blocking shots, killing penalties, boxing out your man in front of the net, clearing rebounds. Do you know how many of those stats are recorded in the VHL? One, and blocked shots is hardly even considered when it comes to the Boulet (as far as I understand.) 
 
Alas, perhaps that is an unfair indictment on the VHL. After all, the NHL doesn't track many of those things either. But do you know what the NHL has that the VHL doesn't? Real games. We can watch players in their own zone, and see who is better. They also have more advanced stats to use. Do you know why you see the same guys get nominated for the Selke, year after year, but most other awards see different guys most of the time? It's because most people rely on stats for award races, and the Selke is more about the eye test than anything. There aren't many stats that track defensive capabilities, so the same guys get nominated year after year because we can safely assume they were great defensively that year. The VHL doesn't have the eye test, or advanced statistics. The Boulet is the worst trophy in the VHL.
 
If the NHL awarded the Selke the way that the VHL awards the Boulet, Bergeron would not have a single award. Last year, Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson would have been favorites. Perhaps Ovechkin as well, as he ranked 19th in the league in hits while scoring more points than anyone ahead of him on the hits list. Are we legitimately going to say any of those guys are Selke worthy? The Boulet is stupid and cringe and makes no sense, and we should get rid of it.
 
 
 
 

This is a trophy that I have never understood, even from when I first joined the VHL. The Scott Boulet trophy is the worst award in the entirety of the league, not including the Grimm Jonsson trophy, which was given out to the best leader. Seriously? What was the VHL thinking?
 
I'm actually going to use the Jonsson trophy to draw a parallel between why that was stupid and the Boulet. When it comes to leadership, it's almost impossible to quantify with stats. How are numbers supposed to tell me who the best leader is? Simply put, they don't. It's almost the same story with the Boulet. The VHL doesn't have super advanced stats and metrics we can use to figure out which forwards are playing great defensively. The only thing we use as criteria for this award, to my understanding, is hits and points. If you get a ton of hits and score a solid amount of points, chances are you will be a finalist for the Boulet. That is dumb. Hits do not determine someone's two way abilities. Let's look at Bergeron, who has won 4 Selke's and is regarded as the best two way forward in the league by many fans. Do you know how many hits he had in his four Selke winning seasons? He had around 50 in all of them, with an outlier of 73 in one of his seasons. Sean Couturier, who won the Selke last season, had 60 hits. Why are hits the biggest factor for the Boulet? Is it because we have to make up for the lack of real defensive stats we have available?
 
How can we give an award out solely based on that? In real life, what separates the best two way forwards from the rest are things like positioning, being strong on the puck, takeaways, blocking shots, killing penalties, boxing out your man in front of the net, clearing rebounds. Do you know how many of those stats are recorded in the VHL? One, and blocked shots is hardly even considered when it comes to the Boulet (as far as I understand.) 
 
Alas, perhaps that is an unfair indictment on the VHL. After all, the NHL doesn't track many of those things either. But do you know what the NHL has that the VHL doesn't? Real games. We can watch players in their own zone, and see who is better. They also have more advanced stats to use. Do you know why you see the same guys get nominated for the Selke, year after year, but most other awards see different guys most of the time? It's because most people rely on stats for award races, and the Selke is more about the eye test than anything. There aren't many stats that track defensive capabilities, so the same guys get nominated year after year because we can safely assume they were great defensively that year. The VHL doesn't have the eye test, or advanced statistics. The Boulet is the worst trophy in the VHL.
 
If the NHL awarded the Selke the way that the VHL awards the Boulet, Bergeron would not have a single award. Last year, Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson would have been favorites. Perhaps Ovechkin as well, as he ranked 19th in the league in hits while scoring more points than anyone ahead of him on the hits list. Are we legitimately going to say any of those guys are Selke worthy? The Boulet is stupid and cringe and makes no sense, and we should get rid of it.
 
 
 
 

I mean at this point I would say the Boulet trophy is a power forward trophy rather than a two-way forward trophy.   I will note that I'm not particularly knowledgeable about hockey but maybe that gives it some value.  I would love to actually have a two-way forward trophy but STHS doesn't really provide us the opportunity.
 
And just to play devil's advocate - without the Boulet, would anyone even add to checking?  At that point pretty much every forward build in the league will be the same.

As a major bergeron fan I always thought we missed the boat on what the vhl version of the selke trophy should be.    

Amazing article. I agree with Spartan.

my favorite VHL.com article in my (almost) year on this site, i love it!

This is a trophy that I have never understood, even from when I first joined the VHL. The Scott Boulet trophy is the worst award in the entirety of the league, not including the Grimm Jonsson trophy, which was given out to the best leader. Seriously? What was the VHL thinking?
 
I'm actually going to use the Jonsson trophy to draw a parallel between why that was stupid and the Boulet. When it comes to leadership, it's almost impossible to quantify with stats. How are numbers supposed to tell me who the best leader is? Simply put, they don't. It's almost the same story with the Boulet. The VHL doesn't have super advanced stats and metrics we can use to figure out which forwards are playing great defensively. The only thing we use as criteria for this award, to my understanding, is hits and points. If you get a ton of hits and score a solid amount of points, chances are you will be a finalist for the Boulet. That is dumb. Hits do not determine someone's two way abilities. Let's look at Bergeron, who has won 4 Selke's and is regarded as the best two way forward in the league by many fans. Do you know how many hits he had in his four Selke winning seasons? He had around 50 in all of them, with an outlier of 73 in one of his seasons. Sean Couturier, who won the Selke last season, had 60 hits. Why are hits the biggest factor for the Boulet? Is it because we have to make up for the lack of real defensive stats we have available?
 
How can we give an award out solely based on that? In real life, what separates the best two way forwards from the rest are things like positioning, being strong on the puck, takeaways, blocking shots, killing penalties, boxing out your man in front of the net, clearing rebounds. Do you know how many of those stats are recorded in the VHL? One, and blocked shots is hardly even considered when it comes to the Boulet (as far as I understand.) 
 
Alas, perhaps that is an unfair indictment on the VHL. After all, the NHL doesn't track many of those things either. But do you know what the NHL has that the VHL doesn't? Real games. We can watch players in their own zone, and see who is better. They also have more advanced stats to use. Do you know why you see the same guys get nominated for the Selke, year after year, but most other awards see different guys most of the time? It's because most people rely on stats for award races, and the Selke is more about the eye test than anything. There aren't many stats that track defensive capabilities, so the same guys get nominated year after year because we can safely assume they were great defensively that year. The VHL doesn't have the eye test, or advanced statistics. The Boulet is the worst trophy in the VHL.
 
If the NHL awarded the Selke the way that the VHL awards the Boulet, Bergeron would not have a single award. Last year, Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson would have been favorites. Perhaps Ovechkin as well, as he ranked 19th in the league in hits while scoring more points than anyone ahead of him on the hits list. Are we legitimately going to say any of those guys are Selke worthy? The Boulet is stupid and cringe and makes no sense, and we should get rid of it.
 
 
 
 

This is a trophy that I have never understood, even from when I first joined the VHL. The Scott Boulet trophy is the worst award in the entirety of the league, not including the Grimm Jonsson trophy, which was given out to the best leader. Seriously? What was the VHL thinking?
 
I'm actually going to use the Jonsson trophy to draw a parallel between why that was stupid and the Boulet. When it comes to leadership, it's almost impossible to quantify with stats. How are numbers supposed to tell me who the best leader is? Simply put, they don't. It's almost the same story with the Boulet. The VHL doesn't have super advanced stats and metrics we can use to figure out which forwards are playing great defensively. The only thing we use as criteria for this award, to my understanding, is hits and points. If you get a ton of hits and score a solid amount of points, chances are you will be a finalist for the Boulet. That is dumb. Hits do not determine someone's two way abilities. Let's look at Bergeron, who has won 4 Selke's and is regarded as the best two way forward in the league by many fans. Do you know how many hits he had in his four Selke winning seasons? He had around 50 in all of them, with an outlier of 73 in one of his seasons. Sean Couturier, who won the Selke last season, had 60 hits. Why are hits the biggest factor for the Boulet? Is it because we have to make up for the lack of real defensive stats we have available?
 
How can we give an award out solely based on that? In real life, what separates the best two way forwards from the rest are things like positioning, being strong on the puck, takeaways, blocking shots, killing penalties, boxing out your man in front of the net, clearing rebounds. Do you know how many of those stats are recorded in the VHL? One, and blocked shots is hardly even considered when it comes to the Boulet (as far as I understand.) 
 
Alas, perhaps that is an unfair indictment on the VHL. After all, the NHL doesn't track many of those things either. But do you know what the NHL has that the VHL doesn't? Real games. We can watch players in their own zone, and see who is better. They also have more advanced stats to use. Do you know why you see the same guys get nominated for the Selke, year after year, but most other awards see different guys most of the time? It's because most people rely on stats for award races, and the Selke is more about the eye test than anything. There aren't many stats that track defensive capabilities, so the same guys get nominated year after year because we can safely assume they were great defensively that year. The VHL doesn't have the eye test, or advanced statistics. The Boulet is the worst trophy in the VHL.
 
If the NHL awarded the Selke the way that the VHL awards the Boulet, Bergeron would not have a single award. Last year, Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson would have been favorites. Perhaps Ovechkin as well, as he ranked 19th in the league in hits while scoring more points than anyone ahead of him on the hits list. Are we legitimately going to say any of those guys are Selke worthy? The Boulet is stupid and cringe and makes no sense, and we should get rid of it.
 
 
 
 

This is a trophy that I have never understood, even from when I first joined the VHL. The Scott Boulet trophy is the worst award in the entirety of the league, not including the Grimm Jonsson trophy, which was given out to the best leader. Seriously? What was the VHL thinking?
 
I'm actually going to use the Jonsson trophy to draw a parallel between why that was stupid and the Boulet. When it comes to leadership, it's almost impossible to quantify with stats. How are numbers supposed to tell me who the best leader is? Simply put, they don't. It's almost the same story with the Boulet. The VHL doesn't have super advanced stats and metrics we can use to figure out which forwards are playing great defensively. The only thing we use as criteria for this award, to my understanding, is hits and points. If you get a ton of hits and score a solid amount of points, chances are you will be a finalist for the Boulet. That is dumb. Hits do not determine someone's two way abilities. Let's look at Bergeron, who has won 4 Selke's and is regarded as the best two way forward in the league by many fans. Do you know how many hits he had in his four Selke winning seasons? He had around 50 in all of them, with an outlier of 73 in one of his seasons. Sean Couturier, who won the Selke last season, had 60 hits. Why are hits the biggest factor for the Boulet? Is it because we have to make up for the lack of real defensive stats we have available?
 
How can we give an award out solely based on that? In real life, what separates the best two way forwards from the rest are things like positioning, being strong on the puck, takeaways, blocking shots, killing penalties, boxing out your man in front of the net, clearing rebounds. Do you know how many of those stats are recorded in the VHL? One, and blocked shots is hardly even considered when it comes to the Boulet (as far as I understand.) 
 
Alas, perhaps that is an unfair indictment on the VHL. After all, the NHL doesn't track many of those things either. But do you know what the NHL has that the VHL doesn't? Real games. We can watch players in their own zone, and see who is better. They also have more advanced stats to use. Do you know why you see the same guys get nominated for the Selke, year after year, but most other awards see different guys most of the time? It's because most people rely on stats for award races, and the Selke is more about the eye test than anything. There aren't many stats that track defensive capabilities, so the same guys get nominated year after year because we can safely assume they were great defensively that year. The VHL doesn't have the eye test, or advanced statistics. The Boulet is the worst trophy in the VHL.
 
If the NHL awarded the Selke the way that the VHL awards the Boulet, Bergeron would not have a single award. Last year, Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson would have been favorites. Perhaps Ovechkin as well, as he ranked 19th in the league in hits while scoring more points than anyone ahead of him on the hits list. Are we legitimately going to say any of those guys are Selke worthy? The Boulet is stupid and cringe and makes no sense, and we should get rid of it.
 
 
 
 

This is a trophy that I have never understood, even from when I first joined the VHL. The Scott Boulet trophy is the worst award in the entirety of the league, not including the Grimm Jonsson trophy, which was given out to the best leader. Seriously? What was the VHL thinking?
 
I'm actually going to use the Jonsson trophy to draw a parallel between why that was stupid and the Boulet. When it comes to leadership, it's almost impossible to quantify with stats. How are numbers supposed to tell me who the best leader is? Simply put, they don't. It's almost the same story with the Boulet. The VHL doesn't have super advanced stats and metrics we can use to figure out which forwards are playing great defensively. The only thing we use as criteria for this award, to my understanding, is hits and points. If you get a ton of hits and score a solid amount of points, chances are you will be a finalist for the Boulet. That is dumb. Hits do not determine someone's two way abilities. Let's look at Bergeron, who has won 4 Selke's and is regarded as the best two way forward in the league by many fans. Do you know how many hits he had in his four Selke winning seasons? He had around 50 in all of them, with an outlier of 73 in one of his seasons. Sean Couturier, who won the Selke last season, had 60 hits. Why are hits the biggest factor for the Boulet? Is it because we have to make up for the lack of real defensive stats we have available?
 
How can we give an award out solely based on that? In real life, what separates the best two way forwards from the rest are things like positioning, being strong on the puck, takeaways, blocking shots, killing penalties, boxing out your man in front of the net, clearing rebounds. Do you know how many of those stats are recorded in the VHL? One, and blocked shots is hardly even considered when it comes to the Boulet (as far as I understand.) 
 
Alas, perhaps that is an unfair indictment on the VHL. After all, the NHL doesn't track many of those things either. But do you know what the NHL has that the VHL doesn't? Real games. We can watch players in their own zone, and see who is better. They also have more advanced stats to use. Do you know why you see the same guys get nominated for the Selke, year after year, but most other awards see different guys most of the time? It's because most people rely on stats for award races, and the Selke is more about the eye test than anything. There aren't many stats that track defensive capabilities, so the same guys get nominated year after year because we can safely assume they were great defensively that year. The VHL doesn't have the eye test, or advanced statistics. The Boulet is the worst trophy in the VHL.
 
If the NHL awarded the Selke the way that the VHL awards the Boulet, Bergeron would not have a single award. Last year, Brady Tkachuk and Tom Wilson would have been favorites. Perhaps Ovechkin as well, as he ranked 19th in the league in hits while scoring more points than anyone ahead of him on the hits list. Are we legitimately going to say any of those guys are Selke worthy? The Boulet is stupid and cringe and makes no sense, and we should get rid of it.
 
 
 
 

This might have been done already but we could have everyone write about their favorite VHL memories, or people could write suggestions and ideas to make the VHL better for theme week

I'll join. My skill level is pretty pedestrian, but I used to be pretty decent I just haven't played in a while. Probably will get smashed by any good players but I'll join anyways