InstantRockstar

I leave the team with no regrets, I loved every second of it. The playoff experiences, the recruitment, the retainment, it's what has made the league what it is. The team is in excellent hands. Congrats again my friend, and good luck!

Only in certain situations, I think that's been proven before lol! Would agree, can't hurt to have two epic members help me start and end my reign as GM! Thanks for making it a fun one

I'll get the band prepared in your honor! Thank you AL! Going out on my own was always the way to go haha, now I can just dream for a bright future. Good luck to you AL, show the VHLM what you got! Always a pleasure to have you, one hell of a pick I'll still never regret trading for. Thanks Boose, you know where to find me + I'm still here Thanks Toast! We've been doing it a long...long time, you ain't wrong there haha. I still have that passion for it, insanely enough! Not leaving the league I'll still be here to chat I promise! I can't escape you Lef, I can't! LOL jkjk, I know where you find you!

Thank you Tate, having your two players as a dream come true haha, Lincoln and Red are elite! respect Rory! Go out and get yourself a spot one day too eh? You deserve it! Also visit me in the retirement home, I don't wanna be loney! Thank you for the kind words San Diego was a lot of fun! RIP the Boomshack...haha Would be the next dream come true for sure You've been a pleasure to have on the team, easily one of the most eager first gens I've ever met haha. Thanks STZ, they did all the heavy lifting, I just made the team come to life, they did the rest. So proud of every single player! appreciate the kind words, you're an excellent AGM with an excellent GM teaching ya, I have no doubt you'll be in the GM seat soon!

But in all seriousness, I just want to start off by saying thank you, to every single person who put their faith in me over the last year and a bit to lead a team in the VHLM. I was very blessed to get a team, as my name wasn’t great around the league after a super long hiatus, and I know I pushed a lot of people’s buttons along the way, it wasn’t until recently, the last season or two of my GMing career that I changed my ways to showcase how I can truly be, and my personality, etc. So how did we get here? Well… let’s hop back to the end of the S65 season when the VHLM commissioners (at the time) Bana & D_A made the decision after league approval for expansion. At the time I was an AGM with Josh in Yukon and had been for going on two seasons. I’m not sure if Josh ever mentioned my name when they were looking for GMs but I put my name in the hat, and instantly messaged D_A since I was familiar with him and had a super long chat. One thing led to another, and then it was finally announced that there were 3 teams joining the league, Mexico, San Diego and Mississauga. Mexico and Mississauga were filled and I remember laughing when D_A told me “no one likes San Diego’s logo, it’s their third choice for a team, would you be okay with them?”. I was just grateful to be getting a team, so absolutely I took it. Fast forward a bit more, and we ended up at the expansion draft. EXPANSION DRAFT: 2nd round pick (LVA) – turned into Birdman (Samuel Sparrow, 183 TPE IA defender, retired) 3rd round pick (YUK) – turned into Big_Mac (Andrei Mikhailov, 195 TPE IA forward, retired) 4th round pick S67 (OTT) – will be mentioned in the S67 breakdown Overall, that season we had two guys who made competing possible, based on all of our other picks we had gathered through trades and such, it seemed pretty promising. After the initial expansion, I was a part of the next 9 drafts, which were amazing, and I just want to thank…a lot of people for making it memorable, so here comes the tags (sorry!). S66 Draft: Phil Marleau @Phil Edgar Tannahill @gregreg Greg Eagles @Greg_Di Samuel Sparrow @Birdman Andrei Mikhailov @Big Mac Dean Clarke @Kyle Scotty BigShotty @FerdaJets Ludvig Sederstrom @aleks This was the first ever team iced for San Diego. @Phil was the first ever Marlins selection with the 5th overall pick and made history with the franchise and the league as such. This inaugural team would finish 7th in the league (no divisions yet) with 84 points and a record of 40-28-4 and 84 points to our name. We would go on to be swept in the quarter finals by the Halifax 21st but nevertheless, we made the playoffs in our first season and from this crop, 6 would make it to the VHL, a very high retainment rate long-term. S67 Draft: NO ONE Yeah so...year two was kind of nuts. After decided to just go balls to the wall and draft everyone in our inaugural year, we ended up having 0 picks in the S67 draft. Now, most people thought to count this team out, but we were far from it. Instead, we would again finish in the 7th spot in the league (still no divisions) with a record of 26-38-8 and 60 points. We would however be swept again in the quarter finals, this time by the Philadelphia Reapers. From this roster, a total of 7 players would make it to the VHL, and despite no draft picks, that was a huge outcome for the team, as this means it was all through recruiting. S68 Draft: Chad Gilbert @Fire_In_Babylon Will Clarke @Will Marcus Nygren @Devise Raleigh Ritchie @DangerGolding Daldo @Harpskii King Kruul @LefLop Richard Fitzwell @Tomato Soup A fairly deep draft left San Diego poised and ready to compete for the third straight year in a row. While it wasn't going to be easy, San Diego did their best to come together and in doing so, managed to once again clinch a playoff birth. For the third straight season, they would finish 7th in the league, a record of 38-31-3 and 79 points. Just like deja-vu, the team would be knocked out again in the quarter finals, but this time they actually won 2 games, going out in 6 to the Las Vegas Aces. Every single pick from this draft class would move on to the VHL level in some degree, thus making it the best recruiting/draft class San Diego has ever had. S69 Draft: NO ONE So seemingly like a pattern, every other year thus far, we've drafted no one. But did we learn from the mistake of counting out San Diego despite no draft? Noooo, we were once again poised to suck and written off by many... instead, we'd make the playoffs again. Unfortunately the index for the regular season is broken, and the portal doesn't go back this far, but I can say we got the 6th seed in the playoffs. Unfortunately again, for the fourth straight year, we'd be eliminated in the quarter finals, this time only in 5 games to the Mexico City Kings. The team would have an undisclosed amount of players go to the VHL (fuck the broken index lol). S70 Draft: Kyl Oferson @Nykonax Roque Davis @Josh Thomas Landry II @Doomsday Ike Bennett @Caboose30 JaredN @jared Nikita Kulikovich @Lockdown Defense Dax Lewis (user no longer exists) This draft was super top-heavy, and it was no surprise that San Diego once again wanted to compete, and compete we did. This was our best season thus far, 5 seasons in and we have now amassed a 2nd place finish in the league (still... no divisions lol) with a record of 58-10-4 and 104 points. The team finally made it out of the quarterfinals with a sweep to Yukon but sadly were sent packing by Ottawa Lynx who eventually lost the cup to Minnesota. Every single player on this list made it to the VHL, most of them have since retired and recreated. S71 Draft: Zamboni Driver (Tape-to-Tape) Jungkok @tfong Yeah, on the forefront of this draft...and this season, I wish I could forget it haha. Not for the team, just for all the drama and shit I caused and just the shit in general, was not a fun a season for me, I was half-tempted just to leave the team cause I didn't wanna deal with the drama, but alas here we are. The team added a ton of huge pieces via trades and waivers and as such, actually had a pretty damn good year, finishing 6th in the league (3rd in their division!) with a record of 42-28-2 and 86 points. The team would once again go to the semi finals, this time being eliminated by the Ottawa Lynx who would actually go on to win the cup finally. From this crop, 4 players would go on to make it to the VHL. S72 Draft: NO ONE So that trend seems to continue, draft a lot of players, draft a few players, draft no players. Now, it's worked out in the past right so you'd think "oh, IR has this, no big deal". WRONG. This truly was a down year for us as we finished 11th in the league (last in the division) with a record of 10-60-2 and 22 points, this was an all-time low for the team and the first time we did not qualify for the playoffs. No one from this team would go on to make a VHL team. S73 Draft: John Merrick @Steve John LeClair II @flyersfan1453 Ryan Schwarz @Enorama Doug Dimmadome @Esso2264 Lucifer Olivier Leveque @InstantRockstar Lester Green @Smarch Bjorn Wilhelm von Luxembourg @d3vilsfire Calvin Harvey (MrPenguin) Nathaniel N @NathanN Logan Hoffman @nickthe00 Some steals in this draft really made the Marlins this year super deep. One of the strongest teams since S70 in my personal opinion and just an excellent crop of guys to have in the locker room. The team would end up finishing 5th in the league (2nd in division) with a record of 51-19-2 and 104 points. Once again the team would make it to the semi finals, but lose to the Miami Marauders. Every single player from the draft this year made it to the VHL. S74 Draft: NO ONE With this draft, we didn't pick anyone. As we've seen in the past, this was either going to go good...or bad. And unfortunately, it went quite bad. While we had some excellent waiver pickups, the lack of pick-ups really ended up hurting us and because of that, we had our worse season yet... finishing 11th place (last in division) with a record of 9-58-5 and 23 points. For obvious reasons again, we did not make the playoffs and due to our team being mainly recruits and IA's, we had no one go up to the VHL. S75 Draft: Cowboy Prout @Cowboy Scotty Kaberle @fromtheinside Nero Endrizzi @TurnDaddy Red Lite @Tate Nikolas DAndrea @Nikdandrea34 Frank Funk Jr @Rayzor_7 Gunnar Odinsson @BOOM Kaladin Kvothe @DangerGolding Phil The Rock Johnson @Phil Jaroslav Petr Patrik Ipsen @BiPsen And here we are...present day. This draft...was the deepest I've seen in 10 seasons, deeper than the S68 draft which I felt was quite deep with talent. Tag on that we added some amazing key waivers in @Mr_Hatterand @OrbitingDeath and we had one of the most solid on-ice teams at least in my mind. There was a ton of terrifying teams this season as proven with Mexico and Philadelphia, that being said we still managed to end up 3rd in the league (2nd in division) with a record of 51-19-2 and 104 points. Unfortunately the pipe dream of winning a cup was once again destroyed when Philadelphia knocked us out in the semi's once again. 9 of my players will appear in the VHL next season. So to recap... 8 playoff appearances in 10 seasons 0 cups. 38 VHL produced players (retainment of 96% players who crossed through SDM) And why am I telling you this? Well... as the title says, the run has finally come to an end, and this is indeed my final curtain call as the San Diego Marlins GM. After 10 long seasons, I am officially stepping down as the GM. I want to again thank everyone who made this dream possible, I want to especially thank every single amazing player who came into our LR and made it what it was season after season, and most importantly I want to thank the VHL for giving me a chance to be a GM in the M, for believing in me even when I was a little shit, and for allowing me to continue to keep this place going by retaining our damn fine members. I can only hope the future is bright here, but for now, catch LOL making jokes on the ice with the Seattle Bears for the foreseeable future. Rockstar...out!

I miss Elme every single day this makes me sad, but also happy. So many deserving nominees, good luck to all nominated.

After Miami won the championship, everyone seen them as a favorite to make another push, despite not having the greatest draft, they acquired some KEY players that truly put them over the edge, and with some returnees, the roster looked poised to push hard. However things were not going in their favor and by the end of the season, they would be paired up with the Marlins who had one hell of a run in my very bias opinion. But while most teams would be looking at the current matchup, their GM couldn't help but be looking at the future. In a quote, the GM was caught saying: "With no disrespect to Miami, our goal is absolutely to make it all the way, but with Mexico and Philadelphia in our way, that is where our focus is on. Miami is absolutely poised to be great for the foreseeable future under the tenure of @Ricer13 but for now, the team is willing and able to do it all." The real question is, are they truly ready? The regular season did prove that they can beat Mexico every now and again, but their strikeouts against Philadelphia has to be sitting in the back of the Marlins heads, but the GM isn't scared, in fact he is quite confident. Will the confidence take them to the Marlins first ever franchise championship? Or will it will slip away? Follow close to find out!

47. What are your quarantine plans for Christmas? - had a nice fam dinner, close get together with the pandemic, all bubbles 48. What do you want for Christmas? - Happiness and the pandemic to end 49. What did you get someone for Christmas? - Got my fam their mortgage paid off for! 50. What are some things you like about Christmas? - Being with family, being together, giving gifts, seeing smiles 51. What is your favorite food at Christmas? - Turkey all day 52. Do you believe in @VHL Santa? - Always have, always will 53. Thoughts on the regular season for the VHL? - Not too shabby tbh, had a great rookie season 54. Thoughts on the regular season for the VHLM? - GO Marlins, that is all 55. Thoughts on Seattle's Season? - Happy with the team efforts and the grind! 56. How do you think we'll do in playoffs? - We will win it all somehow, I believe! 57. What's your favorite snack? - Anything with chocolate and peanuts haha.

happy to win against such an excellent GM, we're looking to go all the way!

wanna fite.

first

I think Beav would have to die before someone replaced him lol.

they were my home for my whole career with my last player, nothing but good things to say about the Wolves haha.

thank you for the kind words, thats all I ever want of our team, to be welcoming, homey and most importantly a fun and safe place for everyone that crosses through the locker room. It was a pleasure to have both of your players on the team at one point in time

I know my attitude was always called into question so I have done my absolute best to change for the better, being more positive, starting less drama, and being a part of less drama too. I appreciate the kind words Bana, hopefully my new actions and findings of being more mature can really show people I am ready for the promotion when the time presents itself

thank you very much for the kind words, that is the goal! We've had an amazing team this whole year that I am beyond proud of.

The San Diego Marlins have existed in the league for 10 seasons officially, and they have only ever had one GM...me. In the last 10 seasons I feel as though while I have not lived the dream of winning a cup, I've built a franchise that has always held respect, loyalty, fun and dedication to the highest regard and really taken the competitive mentality to heart. I would love to believe that doing this forever would be amazing, but the ultimate goal as many know, is the progress to one day becoming a VHL GM, and as a wise man made of blue once told me "your tenure in the VHLM is basically worth nothing when selecting for a VHL GM spot", their words, not mine lol. So what does the future have in store for me? Well... I don't know yet. The cup has been looming over my head for all 10 seasons, so many opportunities to succeed with so many superior squads it really hurts to say I don't have one, that being said would a cup suffice my love and passion for GMing enough that I'd be willing to give it up completely in a hope and pipe dream that one day I am selected as a VHL GM? Who knows, all I know is that I take this rollercoaster ride one season at a time and I enjoy every single season in the moment. Guess we'll have to see how the rest of this season plays out and what the future has in store both for me, and the league in general. Stay classy San Diego

I tagged a fuck ton of people here: so I will not make everyone relive that ping torture. That being said, I am grateful for the VHL, the community, the individuals and just the site as a whole. It's helped me a lot throughout the years and recently has really just kept me on the straight and narrow. I've met a lot of amazing people, more than are listed in the article and I am sure I missed way too many people to count, but I just want you all to know you're like family to me And I always remember, and respect family. So thank you all, for being an amazing part of this experience. And I can only hope I've helped those that were on San Diego my whole tenure really make the time count in the league, I know we are never together long, but I remember every single person who has crossed paths with me

thanks and congrats to all on hitting and surpassing the milestone!

me

me

sup OD! I can offer 4th line mins on a winning, fun team. We're super active, good LR, really fun times. I know its not a lot of mins, apologize I don't have more but the team is super deep (hence why we're winning haha). Let me know and quote if you wanna come win

sup Hatter, I have your GM here, I can give 4th line mins on a winning team. It won't be a lot, I'll be honest due to how deep the lines are, but winning > let me know, quote this bad boy.