Eudaldkp

13 minutes ago, Beketov said:

Plus even the update is the part that takes awhile and once you’ve claimed it in the topic you can completely wait to update until later.

True, didn't even think about it. In the end I'm sure people can find 30 spare seconds in a week to post in the welfare thread.

I agree with the others, posting welfare takes just 30s+updating it, I don't feel like it's needed. 1tpe is veery low anyways.

Hey! I'd like to apply for GMing whatever team is available. I'm really active around here and I would love to get a shot at a job like this. Really excited for the tournament!

I like the rule, in fact I wouldn't mind if it were more games. This way we could help ease the goalie situation when eventually we have too many goalies in the VHL. It wouldn't be so bad to draft a goalie.

6 hours ago, flyersfan1453 said:

So to start, I'd like to thank you for writing a thoughtful, well-written list of ideas. Bringing up, discussing, and being open to change is always a good thing. With that said, I am now going to disagree with basically every single idea that you just proposed.

 

Section 1 - Roster Limits

VHL - The salary cap and brackets are in place to place an artificial soft limit on roster sizes. Riga's large roster (and I don't believe there are any others currently in the VHL, but I have not actually checked) are the extreme exception and not the norm. I cannot remember a team, competitive or re-building, that had as many skaters as they currently do. If rosters start getting to large, then there is a problem with the salary cap and/or brackets.

 

No to any sort of soft cap or salary cap extension. At the end of the day, the VHL is a sim league and not our jobs, and some simplicity is needed in the structure of the league.

 

VHLM - The waiver cap should always be able to be adjusted based on recruitment. It was only put in place to make sure that team's don't become too strong just due to new players, specifically trade deadline re-creates. Inactive GMs (and I don't mean your 24 hour rule) should be removed. Regarding 24 hours...people are going to be off this site for over a day from time to time. Again, VHL is a sim league hobby, not a job.

 

Section 2 - TPE Limits

 

VHLM Cap to 300 - No, no no no no no. I am one of the biggest proponents of the VHLM there is. Hell, there was a serious argument at one point to completely remove the VHLM, which needed protection at that time. With that said, the goal of the VHLM is to develop and retain members for the VHL. The VHLM is and always should be the secondary league. With only 8 seasons in your career, you really shouldn't want to spend extra time in the minors, because at the end...the results don't exactly matter. Yes, it's  fun when you're there, but at the end of a player's career, no one really cares how many Founder's Cups.

 

Don't know enough about World Juniors to comment.

 

VHL call ups - again, VHL is the primary league. If a member does not want to play in the VHLM or if their VHL team needs them, then they should not be forced to play in the minors.

 

Section 3 - Expansion/Regression

 

I disagree that hard rules are needed here. This is something that comes down to the BoG and respective Blue/Green teams, and I don't believe team numbers should be changing too often.

 

Section 4 - AGMs/Head Coaches

 

I don't see the point in this. AGMs can still learn from GMs. Anyone can send in lines the GM can't. It happens all the time. If VHLM GMs want to give some of their pay to their AGM since there's more daily activity in the VHLM than the VHL, sure, whatever. In my mind, the AGM is there to learn GMing and the VHLM rules, and to also be able to send offers to players in the event the GM can't. This role is not needed in the VHL.

 

Section 5 - Expansion Draft

 

All I have is that I think your protections are about 1 skater too short on all of them. Other than that, whatever we did before worked pretty well I think.

 

Section 6 - Player Career

 

No to extended careers. One of the positives (in my opinion) of the VHL is the high turnover in players. This doesn't allow a single player or a single member to dominate the league for an extended period of time and keeps the leagues/rosters fresh. Player careers are already a little over a year long if you go the full 8 seasons. 

 

Changing the sim speed drastically changes how much TPE is earned in a season, and changes what the VHL is balanced around. You're also putting even more stress on an already stressful job. 

 

 

And damn...I want to claim this as a media spot too.

Except with section 4, I agree with everything here. 

Hopefully this kid can boost Oslo's offense!

Now that we are at the 24 game mark, the standings are starting to shape out and the teams have already made some big moves preparing for what are going to be some very very competitive playoffs. Let’s analyze every team.

 Las Vegas Aces 

Without a doubt the best and the hottest team right now. With a 18-4-2 record they are sitting at the 1^st seed comfortably.

They have recently acquired Curtis Gary from Saskatoon in an exchange of picks and that solidifies them as the deepest team in the league. Their first line of forwards amasses an astounding total of 574 TPE, with Gary, Bailie and Nathan. But, more impressively although it seems hard to do, is their second line, amassing 400 TPE, while the average 2^nd line of the other top4 teams is about 300 TPE.

If we could highlight a weak spot, would be their defense, although the league is lacking quality defenseman.

Overall, LVA is going to be the team to beat this playoffs and looks like the clear contender

 Oslo Storm 

The team that was supposed to be the top1 coming into this draft, now sitting at the 3^rd seed after a rough start to the season. They were struggling hard against the top teams winning only 1 game out of their first 10 games against the other top3 teams. However they have won their last 2 against Halifax and Ottawa.

The Storm’s top line falls behind to only the Aces top line, but statistically Carles, Diljodh and Sven are performing better. They also have the best D pairing in the league, with Jones and Philliefan.

That looks very good, why do they struggle so much against top teams then? They are lacking depth. Schaefer, a guy who has only 30 TPE, is playing 20 minutes a game and has scored only 3 points so far. Their goalie situation is also somewhat compromised, having the worst goalie out of the 4 top teams.

With that said, Oslo Storm is going to be the team to look out for, as they start to catch some form, they could also make a move to acquire some depth and be a very serious contender.

 Ottawa Lynx 

A team that a lot of people was sleeping coming into this season and that not many people were expecting them to be on top, but they have managed to pull together a really promising team. However, they have been struggling a little bit in their last few games and are now sitting in the 4^th seed with a 12-8-4 record.

On paper they have a team that is almost on par with the Storm’s team, but they are lacking a star center, although Gritty has been developing at a good rate and could eventually become that star C the Lynx are lacking. Their depth situation is better than the Storm’s, and they have the best Dman prospect for the S65 draft, Smitty, who is playing phenomenally. Their goalie situation is very solid too, having the best goalie in the league, JB Rift.

The Lynx may be sitting at the 4^th seed at the moment, but by the end they should probably be top3 at least and will be a very real threat for the upcoming playoffs.

Halifax 21^st

When you take a look at their roster, they should be the worst team out of the top4, however, there they are, sitting currently at the 2^nd seed with a really solid 14-5-5 record, netting them a 5 point advantage over the Storm.

With John Madden as their star player and Nathan MacKinnon, a really solid VHLM veteran, they are a team that could make some damage in the playoffs. They have recently acquired Anton Edvin, one of the top performers of the season and someone who will be staying for next year.

The 21^st, while they might not be a clear contender, are a team to fear and could be a very dangerous first round match-up. They should, however, try to look into solidifying their Dman situation, as their 2^nd pairing lacks a little bit.

Now that we’ve taken a look into the top4 teams, we are going to talk a little bit about the bottom feeders, the Wild and the Rush who were both in the finals last year

 Saskatoon Wild 

With their recent moves sending away Gary and Edvin, it has become really obvious that Saskatoon is selling and marking this season as done. They have acquired some draft picks that could put them at a contender position next year and I’m sure they are happy with their season.

This season was never supposed to be a good one for the Wild as they had used some assets to acquire players last year, which seeing as they won the Founder’s Cup, was a really good decision. Left in their roster is Burnt Toast, a Dman who hasn’t developed much but is racking up points, and the upcoming goalie prospect Justin Cole, who has been putting in work lately.

 Yukon Rush 

The worst team in the league. Nobody expected Yukon to be good this year and they aren’t pulling any surprises either. However, they have some players who could be flipped for assets to contend next year.

BB Nat, the VHLM veteran, is a 76 TPE Dman who puts up decent numbers every year, and in a league lacking Defenseman, could be a valuable asset.

In the wing position, they have Jessy and Athanasios, good players who would be really great in a 2^nd line role, but teams are somewhat stacked at that position.

Final analysis

Overall, we have a very clear top 4 who will most likely the teams that we will see in the semifinals. Left to decide is if some team will be able to compete against LVA, the best team in the league right now. The 21^st, Storm and Lynx will all have to compete to make some last-minute roster moves to put their team at the Vegas level if they want a shot at the Founder’s Cup.

Congratulations everyone! @Peace and @BladeMaiden should be on the 1st tho:)

Hey cutie you can come hang out with your old teammates me and Brick @BladeMaiden if you have any free time ;))););)

Today we caught Carles grocery shopping just outside the stadium after the practice and had the chance to have a few words with him. We mainly talked about his last games and his performance, not focusing on Oslo’s performance. He seemed pretty disappointed about how was he playing and he said “I’m probably just having a small slump lately, I’m sure I’ll get out of it. I’ve been putting a lot of work lately and I’m hoping it pays off”.

We have to keep in mind that right now a slump for Carles means he isn’t scoring atleast one point a night, because he has still been contributing to the team and is now sitting at the 5^th position in the points category and is the player with the highest +/- in the league.

However, we all know Carles and he doesn’t want to crack top 10s, he wants to be the top 1.

9 minutes ago, Quik said:

Right now, there's only builder articles remaining, which I wouldn't recommend a newer member tackle.

 

However @Eudaldkp and @.sniffuM have claimed King and Muller, but have yet to submit. Do you guys still want them, or can we open them back up?

I'll give mine up to Sova if he wants it, I'm in the middle of my finals rn and it's tougher than I expected. Sorry!

9 hours ago, Trifecta said:

1. Oslo seems to be struggling, how surprised are you?

2. How has your experience on the VHL been so far?

3. How has your player been performing so far?

4. How do you see our season playing out?

5. With the GM kind of firm on trading picks, do you think it was bad to not go after Curtis Gary?

6. Despite the active bodies on the team, what do you think is the problem with the Storm's lack of success?

 

@Eudaldkp @Tim @JayF @Sohva @Philliefan @Sixersfan549 @DilIsPickle @SwagSloth @Ty343 

1. Pretty surprised, I didn't expect this start. We're struggling hard and we need to do something about it.

2. It's a super fun league, I love it a lot. I see myself playing for a lot of seasons

3. Pretty good I'd say, for now in the top 10 of every scoring category despite having a rough last 5 games, but I'm happy with it.

4. I see the team picking up the slack, we really should be winning more games. Maybe a trade turns it around, I don't know. We're 20 games in and we've won only once against a good team.

5. He could've helped us a lot, that's for sure. I've been pretty vocal about it, I want a trade to happen but there's no need to go for 200tpe guys, what we lack (IMO) is depth.

6. I don't really know. Maybe having a more active goalie would be nice and we probably need more depth. Losing Famished hurt us a lot.

Oh shit wtf this is like the first time in my life that I win something like this. Really happy with it!

Ah fuck

87 Helsinki Titans @ New York Americans

88 Toronto Legion @ Riga Reign

89 Calgary Wranglers @ Quebec City Meute

90 Seattle Bears @ HC Davos Dynamo 

New York 3-2

LET'S GOOOOO

60 New York Americans @ Toronto Legion

61 Quebec City Meute @ Riga Reign

62 Helsinki Titans @ Seattle Bears

63 HC Davos Dynamo @ Calgary Wranglers 

Toronto 2-1

2 hours ago, Sharkstrong said:

Team Western Europe about to be renamed to Team Spain 

Yasss let's get em

We finally won a game against a team not named Yukon Rush, nice

1 hour ago, Sonnet said:

I'm just wondering why every other phrase seems to be bolded like this  

Read only the bolded things and it'll make sense, it's kind of a TL;DR

The Oslo Storm, who were supposed to be the top team coming into this season, can’t seem to catch any rhythm as they sit in the 4^th place of the standings with a 5-5 record. That doesn’t seem too bad, but when we dig deeper into that record, things don't look very favourable for them.

Oslo’s five losses have all come from both the Ottawa Lynx, a team that is looking very strong, and the Halifax 21^st, a team that is supposed to be worse than Oslo. But what’s more worrysome than that, is that their five wins, have only come from games against Yukon, and even though there have been really convincing wins, the Rush are supposed to be a bottom feeder this year, they are games that should be won even before the puck hits the ice.

So, why is the Storm struggling so much at winning? They have only scored 29 goals so far, and that’s second to last only after Yukon, the worst team in the league right now. That’s worrying, but then you have to add the fact that, to everyone’s surprise, the top 4 in the plus/minus category is ALL made of Storm’s players. What’s the deal? Carles with a +16, and Philliefan, Diljodh, Jones with a +14. They’re lacking depth.

Carles and Diljodh, Oslo’s star players, have each 19 and 18 points. Taking into consideration that they have scored only 29 times, that equals to a 65% in participation in all goals in favour. Not a very good look for the Storm’s depth.

Puigdemont, who has just signed a 1 million dollar deal with True North, said “I feel like we need more help. The team isn’t performing up to it’s standards and we are going to need to make some moves if we still want to win it all. If we just played against Yukon we would be the champions without a doubt, but we are struggling way too hard against the top teams.” Even though he sounded disappointed, he wanted to add “Still, it’s just the start of the season. Once we play more games we will see if the team can finally click, and I have a feeling that we will. Hockey can be like that sometimes.”

Coming up in the Storm’s calendar, they are going to face Halifax again twice, then Yukon (they are already celebrating) twice, and the Lynx. They really need to win atleast 2 out of the 3 games against the 21^st and the Lynx, or we might fear that some problems in the locker room will start to emerge.

However, the season is still young, we are only 10 games in and there is 62 to go, and even then you have the Playoffs, where, as we saw last year, everything can happen. The Lynx, who were expected to be a 1^st round exit, ended up in the Finals.

If Oslo has something in their favour, is that they’ve got plenty of playoff experience, with a much improved Carles who won the cup last season.

Although it is not a topic that gets frequently mentioned, there are a few players in the VHL/M that are combining their hockey career with their studying career.

For example, Carles Puigdemont, the star player from Oslo Storm is known to be studying Business & Administration. We asked Carles, how tough is it to combine studying a career with playing at the highest level of hockey? “Well, it is tough sometimes, but when you love hockey as much as I do, playing it feels like enjoying your free time, I don’t feel like I am lacking time. Obviously you gotta take it slow and I am not taking as many classes as I should but I plan to finish my career in 8 years.”

With a career like that and the money he is going to make as a VHL player if he keeps up his training, he is sure to be set for life if he can make wise investments.

Asking some new questions for the lulz and capping:

1. How has your team performed so far? Are you happy with how you started?

2. Who do you think will win the regular season?

3. What is your pick for the VHLM MVP?

4. How has your player been performing? Do you think he's performing up to his abilities?

5. What do you think are the best candidates for taking home the Founder's Cup?

6. What is a change that you would like to see in the VHLM?