Fire Tortorella

WUMBO DRAFTED BY OSLO, WARSAW OSLO, NORWAY - Every player's career is filled with defining moments - whether it's a series winning goal, a game losing penalty, or the save of the season, every player has individual points of time that will stay with them forever. For many young players, their first defining moment is the VHL Draft. Historically, a player would be drafted by their VHL team the season after they are drafted by a VHLM team. However, with the introduction of the VHLE, players are now often selected twice within the same week - once to their next step in development in the VHLE, and once to their professional team in the VHL. This past week, Wumbo went through this selection process, first with the VHLE and then with the VHL. The VHLE's inaugural season included six teams throughout Europe. In Season 81, the league expanded by two teams and reintroduced previous franchises associated with the VHL and VHLM - the Oslo Storm and the Geneva Rush, previously of Yukon. In the Season 82 VHLE Draft, the Oslo Storm selected Wumbo, the young goaltender from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In their first season, the Storm finished with 55 points in 72 games, good enough for 6th best record out of 8 teams. This was a very respectable first season in a league in which the team was given limited additional roster players to catch-up to the already established teams (editors note: no idea if that is true or not, but it makes for good writing). While the team was able to add a good mix of young players with potential and veterans who either couldn't quite hack it in the VHL or were past their prime, the goaltending situation was never quite settled. Michael Fletcher, a wily veteran who never made his mark in the VHL, manned the net for all 72 of the Storm's regular season games and all 8 playoff games. The Storm are hoping that Wumbo will make his mark in the Storm net for Season 82. Given the level of prospect Wumbo is, it is extremely unlikely that he will be in the net after this upcoming season, but that is the nature of these leagues. "Excited to join Oslo - HERE WE GO! #BringTheStorm" tweeted Wumbo after his selection. In his introductory press conference, Wumbo elaborated a little further: "Obviously my player agency has had a large number of players in this league. Surprisingly, it is believed (but not 100% confirmed) that this agency never played for the Storm for any length of time. I'm also the first player to go through the VHLE, so I'll be a little bit of a guinea pig. If I'm perfectly honest, I don't know too much about the Storm organization or Oslo as a city, but similar to Saskatoon, I'm excited to learn more." While joining a VHLE franchise is exciting for a young player, it is not as career defining as the VHL Draft. The team that selects a player is guaranteed at least three seasons of control, and the vast majority of players continue with this team for at least one or two more seasons, if not longer. Earlier tonight, Wumbo was selected by the Warsaw Predators 10th overall. It was only earlier that day that the general manager reached out to Wumbo's representatives to notify them that the young goaltender was potentially in their plans at the 10th overall pick. Wumbo had to watch 3 goalies selected before him, but in all honesty, that wasn't too much of a surprise. Last season, the Predators finished 5th in the European Conference and 8th in the VHL. Backstopped by veteran Andrew Bowman, Warsaw defeated the HC Davos Dynamo in the 1st round of the playoffs 3-1, but were then swept by the Malmo Nighthawks 4-0 in the 2nd round. However, Bowman has notified the team that he was retiring after the season, leaving a gaping hole in net. It's currently unknown what direction the Predators will be moving in Season 82 and beyond (editor's note: as in I have no idea, as I just joined the team and haven't followed the VHL for a couple of seasons). While the team has some veteran players and up and coming rookies, there is currently a gaping hole in net. Wumbo is not expected to join the team until next season, so the franchise is in an awkward position of attempting to find a netminder for the current without potentially alienating their expected netminder of the future. Does the team continue to go all in for next season, or is this an opportunity to potentially sell off and set up for a rebuild? "The past couple of hours have been a whirlwind," commented Wumbo. "I haven't yet had the opportunity to speak with management to learn about what the team's expectations are for the next couple of seasons and how I tie into them. I'd be excited to go in goal for a contending team just as much as I would be to help lead a rebuild. As a goalie, there are limited starting spots in the league, and even fewer for a contender, so theoretically if I wanted to leave, WHICH I DO NOT, it's not like I'd really have an opportunity to do so. In general, as a goalie, your fit within your own team, let alone another team, just comes down to fit and time and is luck dependent." All in all, the future is looking bright for Wumbo. While not necessarily expected to be the top goaltender in his draft class, his realistic potential is that of a solid, franchise goaltender. Most years, he's not going to be the reason you lose many games, and he'll most likely have the ability to steal a couple as well. His NHL compatibles include Corey Crawford, Steve Mason, and Martin Biron. While some teams may be able to do better than Wumbo in net, every team would be able to do worse as well.

Got drafted to the Oslo Storm in the VHLE - going to write a media spot on this later, but the team looks pretty good. Hopefully we make some noise in the playoffs. Speaking of getting drafted, one of the things that kind of...I don't want to say annoyed me, but maybe very very slightly left me chuckling irritably to myself is the vast amount of scouting conversations that were sent to me for the VHL and VHLE. Obviously it's important for each GM, but it seems like they all asked the same questions (half of which I don't think are even important). I 100% admit to just phoning them in at the end and answering with very short answers. No BOG leaks, but I'm excited for the newest minor way to earn TPE to be announced. I think it's a good compromise between what I think is a good way to earn TPE that some other leagues have as well, but with much, much more lax standards. I'm also excited for the new trivia to eventually to be added to the league.

1.) From looking at the stats last season, we have to get better everywhere, but most importantly, we have to let less pucks in the back of our net. 2.) I haven't had the chance to visit yet, but I am interested to learn more about the team and the city. 3.) Wumbo seems like a pretty cool guy - but I'm happy to join the team either way. 4.) Bring the storm? Be the storm? 5.) I just got here so I can't really comment on that, but I hope it won't be goaltending. 6.) Again, I just got here so I can't really comment on that....but I hope I'll be able to say goaltending!

First

2/2 donation rewards

When I first joined in the mid to late S20's I feel there were more RP articles, but it's slowly gone away. I think in general the longer you've been here the harder it is to keep any type of RP going.

Congrats! I'd like to petition to allow thad to click the welfare and practice facility buttons for @LuluSalesAway (if needed).

D'oh.

Very nice article to read as a S82 goalie!

Wait I won????

Congrats to the winners!

Happens to the best of us! But hope you are able to stick around in the VHL in some capacity.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone! Man, so many people getting banned this week! The funny thing is (and I don't think this is bad to admit?) is that it's actually not that hard to have a multi and stay under the radar. The high profile and low profile cases of getting caught almost all feature doing something to link the two members together, such as hire yourself for a job. One of the recent situations is the exception - I don't believe they would have gotten caught if not for some irregularities involving the individual accounts themsevles. Another week of not earning 2 capped TPE from reviewing! Problem is that it's 10:30 and I got work tomorrow and don't feel like reviewing - also realized I could have just taken the free 12 TPE week this week, but oh well. Everyone to badger @Squidwardto re-create - he is being lazy and not taking 15 minutes a week to earn 10-12 capped TPE per week.

1.) Can I wish for COVID to finally go away? Just really tiring at the moment and continue to know too many people affected by it. 2.) "Never tell me the odds!"....but yeah, we're probably not going to make it. 3.) You know, I don't even remember at this point. Actually, that's not entirely true - I found Claudio's recruiting post on HFBoards and joined from there. 4.) Wumbo - he's pretty good. 5.) Soda - I don't keep it in the house for that reason. I drank way too much of it in college and I'll get it for myself as a treat when I go out for dinner. 6.) Ew, no - too thick, don't like the texture.

WHAT

And I think he holds (or at least held?) the record for most Continental Cups by an individual player.

Actual Day 12 post

Dicey Dungeons

Day 12 First - no complaining!

Day 11.

Re-create.

Day 10