Plate

I just think there are other defensemen more rewarding and it's baffling how "close" people think this conversation is. I only mentioned the first gen thing because it says first gen on the player in the player page.

I'm just gonna vent how I feel about the Jake Thunder trophy in here. This is not a personal attack against @Rin, congrats on the victory. The VHLE voting this year was a joke. I don't know how the process works. I don't care either. Jordan Bennett, my player, is the first and only player in the HISTORY of the VHLE to win 4 championships. You can argue it's because I was inactive for a while. In truth I was inactive definitely for one of them. But for as long as I've been on Cologne, I've been relatively active and have made posts in their Discord as a member. This isn't the coping trophy. I don't care about how bad the team was. Oslo is dogshit. Rin, for all intents and purposes, played well on that team. Did they play as the best fucking defenseman in the whole league????? NO, are you kidding me?? If you are on a bad team, and the team is bad, your player MIGHT ALSO BE PART OF THE PROBLEM. I don't know how the VHLE can sit there and twiddle their thumbs while this trophy sits in the palm of a player that does not deserve it. From a sim perspective, a symbolic perspective or any perspective with people that have eyes this is a complete disgrace. It's cool giving a new gen a trophy. But let's face it, this is a washed attempt at the VHLE GM community "doing something cool" and "giving a new gen" a new opportunity to hopefully "stick around". Well, maybe if the VHLE didn't suck in execution we wouldn't need these PR stunts dedicated to new members. I will be contending this award until it's given to literally anyone more deserving. I can't help but feel like this whole situation is just something to make a new player feel more welcomed to the league, and not actually an award given to the best VHLE defenseman. That player, was Jordan Bennett. The best defenseman in VHLE history. If the Cologne Express is a train, Bennett was the conductor, and @cl4rk is the rest of the fucking train. Make @Sjin the general manager of the rail company. I promise to be annoying about this until the solution gets resolved. No matter what it takes.

Literally how anyone can pick a player over THE FIRST PLAYER TO GET 4 CHAMPIONSHIPS IN THE VHLE is complete madness and I will be putting in a complaint.

This is not an article I plan on claiming. Jordan Bennett will finish his career in the VHLE. I wanted to weigh in on why I think Jordan Bennett gets the Jake Thunder Trophy. First we have to talk about the candidates. And in my opinion, those would be Jordan Bennett (COL), Leif Reingaard (VAS) and Mina (BRA). Now interestingly enough both Reingaard and Mina were picked back to back in the S91 draft, and everyone knew they would pan out to be incredible defensemen in their position. Both of these players are going to be competing with each other throughout their careers in the VHL. Here in the VHLE there is a third player we can't overlook. WHLE veteran Jordan Bennett. Now, I'm going to start with the case you can make against Bennett and why you would pick the other two options over him. First of all, for a very large portion of his career, he was inactive. So really had he not been inactive he would not have been in this position. And yet, even though Bennett has been in the VHLE for 7 seasons, in only one of those was he in the conversation for the Jake Thunder Trophy, which is this season. So what did Jordan Bennett do this season better than the other options? In a race that is so close you'd be splitting hairs on individual stats? He won the Renaissance Cup for the third time in a row. Not only did Bennett win the Renaissance Cup for the third time in a row, but he also beat Reingaard in the finals to win that cup. And Mina? Well they performed well but it was on a team that did not make the playoffs. And great players on bad teams overperform their skill to certain extents. Bennett is not an inactive andy anymore. He is very much a beloved player by the person that is managing him. And has been ever since he signed with Cologne in S89. Not only that but he is the blueline cornerstone of the dynasty that is the S89-S91 Cologne Express. And you can't have a Dynasty without pieces that make the puzzle fit. Bennett more than deserves the Jake Thunder Trophy, off of his persistence, clutchness, and monumental contributions to the best team in VHLE history.

I have responded to this post and have accepted

Choo. Choo. Mfers.

Something I've always wanted to work in the VHL is proper two-way forwards. Before the hybrid attributes, the best "two-ways" had the most points among forwards. Since +/- is the most direct stat to track how responsible your player is. It's hard to justify naming true defensive forwards without things like puck interceptions, take-aways, etc. These are player types that are incredibly important for team success. In a league where almost every forward tries to get as much scoring and passing as possible, the direct counter will always have a ton of value. Hockey isn't just about putting the puck in the net. It's also about keeping it out of yours. It would be nice to see the defense placed on a higher pedestal. As I described, it's impossible to do from a technical standpoint within STHS. But I don't think it would be unrealistic to run a script that shifts through the game data and pulls out the number of times you stripped the puck or got hit off the puck or something to that effect.

1. I think we'll have about 10 or so. Anything less and I would be surprised. 2. Joachim Bryngelson is such a hard name to say, I love it. 3. I would fire @jacobcarson877and replace him with @jacobcarson877. 4. I was hoping that Jordan would be a ppg player, but with the recent changes I'm glad that scoring is overall lower. It must be really special for those players out there who are above a PPG. 5. As a defensive forward, 1-0 is a much more comfortable win than 8-7. 6. There was a chicken pot pie from swiss chalet that we bought frozen and honestly it was pretty decent.

Claim 4/4

1. There's a strong chance we stay at the top. In the battle of San Diego vs Las Vegas, the battle will be whoever wins the regular-season series will win the league. 2. Wit da Hoodie is definitely the best acquisition for the team. It cost an arm and a leg but overall the skill on the back end was definitely worth it. 3. Probably the most contested 1st round series has to be Toronto vs Tampa. I have Tampa winning the series in seven games. It's really hard to bet against back-to-back Stanley Cups against a team that regularly falls short in the playoffs. 4. The hardest part about growing a business is centered around keeping the community that you have. I think a problem the league has is it doesn't reward active members enough. 5. I have been CRANKING Paramore for the past week or so. Their song Ignorance is probably of my top 5 favorite songs. 6. Goalies are better but that's because players are now using literally half their TPE's worth of points. A 200 TPE goalie is 200TPA, but a 200 TPE player is 100 TPA.

I wrote a .com last week on Monday, and then you wrote 11 articles between then and now.

@Shindigs has written 11 vhl.com articles over the past eight days. I didn't know if anyone was going to bring it up or anything, but I think he needs a hobby. For newer members in the community, no, this is not normal, and you don't need to write ten plus articles in a week. This kind of raises another discussion. Is this a strategy to hoard TPE for the future? Now, I'm asking this genuinely because I don't know. Do the multiple allowable articles rules apply to .coms? Because you can only have up to two active media spots to claim from simultaneously. I don't know if that's the same with .coms. At the start of the thread, I read through the rules and didn't find anything about it. But in all seriousness, that's a lot of work, roughly 2200 words, and I would like to shout out the amount of commitment it takes to pump articles like that. There's a strong possibility that it was a locker room event to promote activity. Either way, Shindigs is a beast.

Claim 3/4

Hello, resident burnout legend Plate here coming at you live with some quality advice. First of all, you should have signed with San Diego. @Shindigs is an absolute goon. I'll speak on behalf of everyone and say that you were genuinely missed. You achieved a feat that not many members do. You broke the 1000 TPE threshold as a first-gen. On top of garnering plenty of experience in the VHLM as a general manager. Trade the picks, trust the process. That is the mentality of a general manager who puts their locker room at the forefront of their mind. That is the mentality of a general manager that embodies the values of the VHLM. To create an active locker room and have a sustainable community in one of the most marketable franchises in the VHLM. As someone who's a bit of an expert at burning out, and as someone who NOBODY would be surprised by if I left tomorrow, I can tell you this as much. The VHL is not about; Maxing out every week (Though every GM out there agrees with this but won't openly admit otherwise) Meta builds (Though most people will try to make their scoring as high as possible anyway) Being the best GM and making the best trades (Though I wrote a 5k mega article about it) The VHL is a forum-based simulation hockey league. You, the BoG, me, and everyone else is here for fun. That is why you were missed. Because you made the VHL experience fun for everyone you came across, even when you fucked up in a bad trade. On a more personal note, I'm glad that you're feeling better from COVID. You'll find employment that's sufficient. The issue you're having now is not uncommon for people your age. Once you find a job and work at it for a bit, your inexperience will turn into experience. It's going good, chief. Welcome back.

I think with how the new hybrid system is, a change back to the 250 TPA cap wouldn't be unreasonable and might still be even a touch low. With the current system, every point in the hybrid attributes (Up to 70) earns about 0.50 STHS Attributes. This means that players with 200 TPA are playing at roughly the same level as players with 100 TPA in the S72/S73 seasons, as mentioned in the draft. I love the hybrid build system in place now. I think it solves many problems the VHL was having before, and it seems as though with scoring lowered goalies are now putting up .940 SV%s for the first time in a long time. And there are even goalies with a below 2.5 GAA. So huge nod in that respect. In that same vein, you still have those few players that are leagues ahead of their similar counterparts. Much like McDavid and Drisaitl in the NHL is akin to the Miklavz, Johnston, and Sandstrom of the VHL. I might be crazy, but a tinfoil hat idea that I had was allowing players in the VHLM to sign with a VHLE team if they wanted as a free agent if they didn't have existing VHLE rights. And that players could apply TPA to their player past 200 (or whatever their cap is) and be a part of the VHLE team they signed with. There would have to be a specific date for this cutoff, probably something like the same day as the trade deadline or something, but at least that way, I could sign with a VHLM team, get TPE, and then bypass the M and go straight into the E. Above is just a rough draft suggestion but interested to hear your thoughts on it.

Hi, Plate here for a review. FUCK, man, this is so nice. You have no idea. I love the color background you chose. And the subtle fact that it's darker around the edges to pull the player's profile into view makes it pleasant. The color palette chosen based on the marlins logo is inherently complimentary, so there are no issues. I love that you opted to go for the white box and names instead of just making the names white against the background. There wasn't a lot going on over there, so it makes it come together really nice. Jersey swap is excellent as always. The only issue I have is there's no "San Diego Marlins" text anywhere, so if you don't recognize the logo, you don't know what team this is. Also, it's hard to see the assistant and captain roles under the names. Otherwise, excellent job. 9/10.

"They have been underperforming to the degree that strategies need to be adjusted." - 10th (-2) There's no other way to put it besides Mexico City is terrible. And by that, I mean they traded away every active player they had this season to spare them. I would be surprised if any other team made it to this spot throughout the season. But yeah, Mexico currently has no defense, no goalies, and two passive players. - 9th (+1) Houston moves up the rankings. While they've played solid games and kept most battles within 1 goal against similarly ranked teams, they've been blown out of the water recently. In particular, their 1-0 loss to Miami proves that there's a tiny bit of fight in them this week. - 8th (-1) Philly has been a reasonably consistent team this season. However, their only wins are against Houston and Mexico City. They haven't committed to a rebuild or a retooling this season, even though some pieces could be traded away or built around. We'll see what they decide to do. - 6th (-1) One would expect Mississauga to top out against Saskatoon. You would even expect them to be mid-table. They have been underperforming to the degree that strategies need to be adjusted. Hopefully, we can see a return to form for this Hound team coming out of this rolling start. - 7th (+3) When I first wrote this list, this team was near the bottom. As I kept writing and did some more research Saskatoon somehow climbed out of the gutter and into a spot that's twice above their rank in the standings. How? Well, the short answer is they consistently beat Mississauga. And they did so with a goal diff of 1 with three games played. This means that against everyone else, they sucked. Who were those other teams they sucked against? Las Vegas and Ottawa. - 5th (-1) Ottawa and Halifax played exclusively against each other this week. The first 6 of the Lynx's eight games have been against Halifax. It was incredibly even with Ottawa getting a 3-3-0 record in that mini-series. Eventually, their extra two wins come from games against Saskatoon. A couple of free-agent signings could push Ottawa above Halifax if they keep it up. - 4th (-2) Halifax has the most significant drop this season. Only barely edging out Saskatoon in their six-game stint. It is a disappointing start for this team as they get a clean win against Houston and even squeeze a point out of Miami in an even game. Ultimately they fit right at 4th, dropping two spots from last week. - 3rd (+2) Miami will be a stronger contender than I think most of us thought. They had the most challenging week 0 start of any team in the VHLM. Playing three games against San Diego and a game against Halifax means that the Marauders had the most challenging week yet. Miami earned 11 points out of a possible 16 against the tough competition. - 2nd (-1) San Diego is quite expectedly one of the top teams in the West. Most VHLMers believed that the Marlins would be the top dog so far. An overtime win against Miami means San Diego gets the second spot this week. Though I should mention, the Marlins have added defenseman AK92 Wit da Hoodie to round out their back end. We should see a spike in defensive depth because of it. - 1st (+1) Las Vegas has dominated the field in the first week. They have the most significant goal differential at 20, which is nuts considering they've only played eight games. And all through their series with San Diego so far is 1-0-1, their dominant win streak and consistent champion style play well earn them the top spot of week 1.

1. Our friggin goaltender has like 75% of his wins as shutouts, and it takes more than 60 minutes to beat him. Our team is a combination of defense and goaltending so I think it's hard for teams to the puck past the goal line. 2. I would probably change to a center and put points in faceoffs as winger two-way forwards aren't worth as much as centers. 3. My favourite outdoor activity is goolf by far. My uncle owns a golf course down the road from me a ways so I get to play there regularly. 4. Best thing that happened to me was breaking up and getting my ex out of my life entirely. 5. GET JIGGLY IN HERE YOU GUYS. LET HIM IN. LET HIM IN. 6. Honestly I prefer cold rain. Warm rain has like a weird musty smell, but cold rain at least chills you down a bit and is almost refreshing.

Claim 2/4

Welcome to the San Diego Marlins @hedgehog337!

God damn it. Welcome back.

I don't know how but this manages to be messy and clean simultaneously. And that is a compliment. It makes the color stick out against all of the grey and green in the back. I like the nice little touch of the logo on the collar. I digress even though technically, it should be the VHL logo if you're going by the NHL to VHL logo swap. I will also say you did an excellent job on the jersey swap. I can notice a guitar pick from anywhere. The most significant point of criticism is the texture of the font. It's a steel/greyish, and it's hard to distinguish from the background. 7/10

Hi, here to review my GMs graphic; I hope I don't get demoted to the 3rd line UwU. First of all, this is fire. I like the discoloration of the jersey to allow the white text for the name Tyler Busser. The jersey swap is perfect. The only thing I would have done is make the Marlins logo more minor on the chest. IMO it's a bit too big for the jersey, but I understand it's a weird logo to work around. The other notable thing is that the deep green reminds me of a deep ocean, and I have no idea why. It's as if the player is in the ocean's depths, and I don't know if that's seaweed in the back, but it adds to the vibe. 8/10

Insane what this guy does sometimes I swear.

"Both of these teams will be pretty bad this season." - 10th Houston is going right into rebuilding territory with this one. We could even see them worsen as the season progresses with some trades. Now imagine a rebuilding franchise without a starting goaltender. I can only imagine how bad the goal differential will be for this team. - 9th Saskatoon's forwards and defense are slightly weaker on paper than Houston's. Both of these teams will be pretty bad this season. With a starting goalie in Basileus jute, the goalie should pad their save stats as tons of shots will be against them. - 8th Mexico has two capped players who are the faces of this franchise for this year and will stand alone as such until the next draft. - 7th Philadelphia finds themselves as the first team with okay potential and might be able to fringe out a playoff spot. A couple of good forward free agent signings mean this team can use longtime VHLM goalie Wiley Blanchette. - 6th Mississauga is the first team on the list to put forward a complete first forward line, a first d pairing, and a starting goalie, whose all members fit above 100 TPE. Don't expect much from the Hounds this season. They'll be pretty average and, I assume, are already looking to add onto their prospects come the next draft. - 5th Miami's got one comparable defensive core to the rest of the contending teams looking to make splashes in the playoffs. - 4th Ottawa's a decent team. Mikayev Ivanovitch and James Marino are incredible pieces for the Lynx, and I can see things coming together for this team at the end of the season. I expect them to be top three by the time the playoffs roll around. For now, they have some depth issues, but those are easily solvable. - 3rd Vegas is a great team. I would pin them as the first true championship-level team, and you'll see them battle it out for the best playoff position through the season. They have a lot of talent, and I can't wait to see them use their combination of defensive responsibility and offensive power to pack one-two punches against their opponents. - 2nd Halifax takes everything from their past few seasons and gives themselves the top dog position in the East by far. The 21st is indeed a complete team with depth in every single position. A full four lines worth of forwards and a decent one-two punch in tandem means they can rotate goalies and not overwork them too much. - 1st San Diego ends as the top dog in my power rankings. They had a great draft, and while you may say that Halifax could squeeze past them in my starting evaluation, I have to say that I'm biased only for this week because I play for San Diego. They have incredible depth and an insane defensive core so that you could flip a coin, and either Halifax or San Diego could land here.