xsjack

Happy Birthday VHL. crazy to think that it’s already this old

What a season it has been for Einar Mathiesen the young Icelandic defenceman has exceeded all expectations that were placed upon him at the beginning of the season and he certainly proved any of his doubters wrong with the performance he put up across all 72 regular season games and the 6 games Miami played in the postseason this year. The regular season was a good time this year for both Mathiesen and Miami as the Marauders would finish 2nd in the VHLM only being behind the dominant Halifax 21st meanwhile individually Einar would end the season being just over a point per game with 18 goals a good amount for a defenceman and 55 assists for a combined total of 73 points, he would also achieve the 100+ with hits and shots blocked along with a +|- of 40 on the season. Unfortunately, the postseason wouldn’t go as well as the regular season went for Miami as they would come up against San Diego in the 1st round a matchup that should have gone their way yet due to some stellar play from the Marlins especially their goalie and former marauder Spider Panda Miami would fall in 6 games, a very disappointing end to what was a good season Einar wouldn't have long to dwell on this loss as he said goodbye to Miami and everyone on the team thanking them for his time with the club but now was time to make another step in his career as he was going to move up a league of two. The goal for Einar ever since he completed that first year of hockey a few years ago and realized he was talented in a pair of skates and with a stick in hand was the VHL and here he was only a few weeks away from being drafted into the league and if that wasn’t already big enough he was being projected as a 1st round pick you could probably even say he was a lock to go 1st round his dreams were about to come true it all felt so surreal to him. But he wasn't gonna just be drafted once this summer it was very likely that a team in the VHLE would also select him with one of their picks he had even been contacted by some GMs in the E asking him about how he would feel about playing for them he wasn't so sure about the E it was still pretty new to him but if his VHL team whoever that might end up being deemed he wasn't ready for the big leagues just yet and wanted him to play over in Europe for a year he would, playing in Europe again wouldn't be a bad thing he could develop some more as a player and see more of the world like he always wanted. As soon Einar left Miami and went home back to Reykjavik he almost immediately went back to his old rink and got to work he needed to be ready and prove that he was indeed worthy of being a top pick in both drafts it wouldn't be easy but nothing worth it in life ever was. 536 words.

week 3 claim for the week ending July 14th

claiming week 4/4 for the week ending July 14th

1. Till the end of the playoffs simple. 2. 2nd is all we can get now unfortunately but that's where we shall sit until the end of the regular season. 3. anyone but sasky they have some curse on us or something. 4. no comment at this moment in time. 5. verbally and physically abuse the opposition until they can't play anymore. 6. not enough cannons in my opinion we need MORE!

claiming week 3/4 for the week ending July 7th

week 2 claim for the week ending July 7th

We are back once again to talk about my boy Einar Mathiesen and he has pleasantly surprised me so far this season, by the end of this week he should be at VHLMs cap of 200 TPA which feels great to get down I should also have 16 banked after this article which I'll be using to get my poke checking up to 50, last week I played around with the TPA tool and I think I have a vision of Einar's future build in mind up until around 500 TPE now the question is will I remember it and actually stick with it not sure on that front, the plan though for him eventually is a two-way defenceman a skor mcfleury if I want to be delusional. Now the reason why I said Einar has surprised me so far this season is he's actually sitting over a point a game with 65 points (4th on Miami, Tied for 5th for Defencemen in the M) in just 62 games he's been a mainly pass first player having just shy of 50 assists on the season with 49 (2nd on Miami, 6th In M D-men) at this moment but when he shots the puck he has a good chance of scoring with a 12.21% shooting percentage (10th in the league overall) his 16 goals so far this season is pretty decent for his position. when Einar originally got to Miami it seemed like he was just out there on the ice and not really doing much but now its nice to actually feel like he's contributing to the team, offensively he's doing great right now yet I feel the defensive side of his game needs work so that's where any foreseeable tpe will go for now, Miami has been doing quite well this season sure we arent halifax but we've been 2nd or 3rd for the better part of the season and I believe we can really give the 21st a challenge and potentially come out on top in a series against them if we play our absolute best, we shall see shortly though with the playoffs just around the corner. Now to end this off I just wanted to list some goals I want to complete this season and offseason 1. End the season with 20 goals and a point per game average (I think this is certainly doable) 2. Win the cup with Miami (possible but would be hard) 3. Get Drafted in the 1st round of the VHL Entry draft (should happen we'll see) 4. continue to max earn like I have been. anyway, that's it for me this week lots of rambling really in this one but that's how it goes sometimes. 455 words (okay didn't realize it was that much claiming this for 3 weeks I guess)

1. San Diego I think the logo would look better with darker colours like dark blue and black/grey. 2. closing out games in regulation we've had too many games go to OT that we could have won. 3. he's a traitor plain and simple, we'll destroy him just like the rest of them when we meet in the playoffs. 4. Robinson and Pines Jr both playing better than I expected and both are big reasons why we are doing so well I believe. 5. Cooking 100% 6. Nope I personally think the cannons are just fine, they make us look tough.

claiming for the week ending June 30th 2/2

tbf San Diego is my dark horse this year so.

Thanks the more I wrote the more I realized how good you guys are, gonna be an interesting playoffs.

So the trade deadline is upon us soon and that means theme week as well and well it seems I can't escape writing about something to do with the VHLM for even a week as that's the theme this week, after doing some brainstorming I landed on reviewing all 10 teams season halfway into season 94 and I think we'll start with the good end and the teams that are in a race for the Prime Minister's Cup. Halifax 21st The favourites to lift the Prime Minister's Cup right now they sit 1st in the East and the league overall sitting on 68 points after 38 games they have a pretty decent 9 point lead on 2nd place in the league, the 21st have a very impressive goal difference of +98 this is due to having both the #1 offence and defence currently they are on an 11 game win streak and with only 3 regulation losses so far this season not to mention they also have my pick for MVP in Robin Sierra who already has 37 goals and 37 assists for a total of 74 points which is the league leader at this moment, aside from Sierra this is a very strong team having 6 players at 200 tpa with another 2 being in the 190s, Halifax is clearly the team to beat this year if you want a shot at the founders cup. Mexico City Kings The Kings are having a good season so far yet despite that they currently sit 2nd in league standings I think they are more along the lines of the 3rd best team currently which is pretty good, especially for a team whose defenceman are all S95 Mexico City actually has the 2nd least goals allowed against and I would say that defiantly has something to do with their star defenceman Samsayz I-Smell who since being drafted 3rd overall by the team this year has been contributing on both ends of the ice racking up 10 goals and 42 assists along with a good deal of hits and shots blocked, it will be interesting to see how this team does playoff time can they step up their offensive production as right now they score the least amount of goals amongst the top 6. Miami Marauders Miami for me is the other top 2 team along with Halifax as they sit only a point behind Mexico City despite being a game behind them that and the superior goal difference of Miami, This team is good all over they have a top goaltender in the VHLm along with a very solid backup, pair that with two great lines of forwards and then add in some capable defenceman and you've got a team that has a great shot at the cup and they are also 2-1 in their games against favourites Halifax, Miami has been on a very good streak as of late question is can they keep it up and try and close the gap between them and 1st place. Saskatoon Wild The Reigning Champions look if you look at the standings look pretty similar to Miami in that department right? So why do I think Miami is the 2nd best team and the Wild are 4th (aside from my partial bias) i purely believe it has to do with their defence which consists solely of rookies who have the potential but are pretty lacking in ability compared to the other top contenders, now while their defence has actually been pretty good with the amount of tpa they have I'm not sure how well they would hold up against the other top teams come playoffs. San Diego Marlins & Houston Bulls These two teams are pretty similar at the moment almost the exact same record except Houston has one less win and game played they even have the same amount of Goals scored, It's win or die in regulation for these two as they both only have one game going to OT unfortunately for both of them they lose more than you would like to see, right now with the way they are playing they are in that middle ground of good enough to make the playoffs but not at that level to be a major contender, for Houston the problem is quite obvious they only have a goal difference of +10 and you can see why if you look at their roster they only have 2 defencemen both who are alright but not enough when you add into the equation a rookie goalkeeper who is still developing unless they decide to acquire a better goalkeeper or another defender I cant see their offence being able to carry them past the 1st round, San Diego on the other hand is the opposite they have a great set of defenders and a good goalie but their forwards arent there yet, I don't think Tano and Dancalot will be enough to carry them far in the playoffs unfortunately. Mississauga Hounds & Philadelphia Reapers Once again a similar situation, teams that aren't going to be making much if any noise this year come playoff time and are looking forward to the future it will be interesting to see if these teams decide to sell at the deadline as both have some good players that could fetch them something to build on for next year I don't really have much else to say here. Ottawa Lynx Ottawa only has 3 players and that's cause the sale in the capital has already started and Ottawa's draft stash looks nice for it they have 4 1sts in the next 2 drafts along with a bunch of other picks I personally think Ottawa has set themselves up for the rebuild and will be watching them to see what they do with their assets and how they move forward. Las Vegas Aces And Last we have Las Vegas the tank is pretty impressive and they have outdone Ottawa only have 2 players on their roster, and their goal difference will probably end up the worst we've seen in a while the bright side for them is they pretty much guaranteed the 1st pick this upcoming draft and they have a decent stash of picks so the future could be bright in vegas if all goes well. This is probably a lot more than I planned to write when I started this but I'm glad I got every team in here even if some didn't get nearly as much attention as others. 1,088 words claiming for the weeks ending June 23rd & 30th

1. positioning and timing it's all about being in the right place at the right time. 2. Skates I feel the blades on them could be of some use. 3. "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again" - W.E Hickson. 4. I find the streams a ton of fun, especially the draft ones. 5. jogging and listening to music. 6. probably not but I'm still gonna say a young Owen Wilson.

2nd week claim