hockeyis66

“In the past 2 games, I was able to feel like I was able to finally help the team win by scoring 3 goals and chipping in with an assist as we beat Oslo in the first game and then Bratislava in the second one.  I scored my 8th and 9th goals of the season against Oslo just over a minute apart to give us a 3-0 lead and then we scored our 4th goal of the game just 30 seconds later and put it in cruise control after that. “
 
“We doubled up the Watchmen 4-2 in the next game and I was able to get my 10th goal of the season about halfway through the second period and then set up Sanzone for a power play goal later in the period as we built a 3-0 lead again.  The offense was just clicking well this game with over 50 shots on goal.”
 
“I felt better about my game these past 2 wins as I think the game came to me a little better than it had in the past and I need to keep that momentum going.  I am still 10th in the league in shot but only at a 5% shooting percentage so I have to work on that better to provide the second line of scoring any team needs to be successful in the playoffs.”

Through the first 12 games of the VHLE season, the “E” has been pretty competitive so far as only 6 points separate the top 5 teams while only one team has fallen behind.  With more than 80% of the season left, there will be a lot of movement in the standings between now and the end of the season and whichever teams get hot or cold at the right or wrong times could go a long way to determine the final positioning for the playoffs.
 
1st place – Vasteras Iron Eagles – 8-3-1; 17 points.  One of the main reasons why the Iron Eagles currently hold down the top spot in the league is that they are tied for first in offense and have the best defense so far leading them to have the best goal difference of 12 which is just one better than the second best team.  They have a balanced scoring attack up and down the lineup with no one above 6 goals so far this season and Panarella leads the team with 16 points while each of their goalies have won 4 games each with Gauthier posting a .936 save percentage and a GAA of 1.81 with 1 shoutout.
 
2nd place – Cologne Express – 8-4-0; 16 points.  The Express have scored the same amount of goals as the Iron Eagles and only given up one more goal on the season.  They had been in first place for a few games early in the season and are riding a 3 game winning streak into second place in the “E”.  The Express currently have 5 players averaging a point or more per game led by Gamble’s team leading 17 points and Land’s 16 points.  Both of the goalies have split 6 games in net with each of them winning 4 games each.
 
3rd place – Stockholm Vikings – 7-4-1; 15 points.  The Vikings have scored 30 goals but have also only given up 30 goals putting them currently in the middle of the league point wise but with 3 more wins than losses.  Anisimov and Machado are leading the team in scoring with 14 and 13 points respectively and the 3rd overall pick in the “E” draft, goalie Artyomov, has played in 9 of the 12 games so far winning 5 of them with a nice .935 save percentage and a GAA of 2.53.
 
4th place – Bratislava Watchmen – 7-5-0; 14 points.  Similar to the Vikings, the Watchmen have not scored as many goals as the top 2 teams in the league with just 30, but are tied for the second best defensive team by only giving up 29 on the season as they are only 3 points out of first place.  They also have a couple of players who are averaging more than a point per game in Boudreaux Jr who has 14 points and Callahan with 13.  Their rookie goalie, “W”, has been stellar so far with 6 wins in 9 games and a massive .942 save percentage, a GAA of 2.31 and one shoutout on the season.
 
5th place – Rome Gladiators – 5-6-1; 11 points.  Here is where there is some separation among the teams, but the Gladiators are still only 6 points out of first.  They have scored the least amount of goals in the season with 26 but they have only given up 32 on the season which is keeping them in shouting distance of the higher places in the league.  Clark has played well in goal so far this season with a 2.56 GAA and a .931 save percentage and has started all 12 games this season winning 5 of them.  3 of their top 4 scorers are defensemen with RW Hoover II leading the team in points with 11.
 
6th place – Oslo Storm – 1-10-1; 3 points.  Its been a tough season so far for the Storm as they have the second worst offense in the league and given up the most goals so far by a decent margin.  Getting themselves this far in a hole this early in the season gives them time to dig out of it, but the cards are getting stacked against them quickly.  They do have 2 players averaging a point or more a game in Goncalves and Dover.
 
705 words; claiming w/e 9-3-23 for 6 tpe

With 5 picks in the top 25 of the VHLE draft including 4 picks in the first 11, the Stockholm Vikings were able to rebuild their roster for the upcoming season and will look to improve upon last season’s last place finish to make the playoffs and challenge for a championship.
 
GOALIES
 
Ryan Artyomov and Jeffrey Blake
 
With the 3rd overall pick in the VHLE draft, Stockholm drafted Artyomov to be the anchor in goal this season and he will see the bulk of action with Blake stepping in every few games to give him a break.  While being one of the better goalies in the “E” this season, Artyomov has the rebound control, hand speed and reaction time to steal games for the Vikings and provide the team the solid goaltending they need to make a deep run in the playoffs this season.
 

 
DEFENSE
 
Celise Pereira, Eldon Escobar, Roy Krishna and Tommy Sleeves
 
Stockholm picked up a couple of defensemen early in the draft but only Sleeves will be making the jump to the “E” and will be the true “defensive type of defensemen” on the team that can also be hard hitting as well.  Pereira and Escobar will be more of the offensive type of defensemen that will man the top power play unit from the blue line who can carry the puck out of the defensive zone and make the passes up to the forwards in the neutral zone for breakouts.  Kirshna is the prototypical two-way defensemen that can chip in offensively while still being able to be sound in his own end.
 

 
OFFENSE
 
Austin Goulet, Chris Sanzone, Diego Machado, Alexandre Crosby, Maxim Anisimov, McDonalds BigMac, Ronald Johnson MacWallace III and Steven mcdard
 
With 2 of those 5 picks in the “E” draft, the Vikings selected Anisimov and Crosby to round out their forward spots on the top 2 lines.  Anisimov will be the first line right winger who is smooth skating, puck handling play making winger who can also put the puck into the net.  Crosby will also probably jump on the first line as a left winger and is more of a power forward / two-way forward who can score but can also back check and play some defense to create turnovers.  The first line will be centered by Ronald Johnson MacWallace III who is a master in the face off dot and can do everything else well including getting the puck into the net and finding his teammates for shots on goal as well.
 
The second line center will be Machado who is very similar to MacWallace in terms of Machado can do a little bit of everything but isnt as strong in face offs or scoring but is a little bit of a better passer.  On right wing will be BigMac and on left wing will be Sanzone both of whom are capable of both passing and scoring decently.  McDard and Goulet will both see action on the 3rd line.
 

 
Through the VHLE draft, the Stockholm Vikings were able to restock a couple of forwards, a defenseman and a goalie for the upcoming season to improve upon their last place finish from last season.  With these new additions to go along with the pieces already in place, the Vikings should be able to make the playoffs this season and hopefully challenge for a championship at the end of the season.
 

Earlier this week, Alexandre Crosby was drafted into the VHL by the Helsinki Titans and the next night, he was drafted into the VHLE by the Stockholm Vikings.  He was not the only player drafted by each of those and below is a recap of each team’s draft and the potential teammates Crosby will have this upcoming season in the VHLE and in the future in the VHL.
 
Helsinki Titans
 
VHL Draft #1 overall pick – D YaBoi Oven – Oven was the overall number one consensus pick and for good reason as his TPE was head and shoulders above everyone else’s.  He turned in quite a season from the blue line for Ottawa this past season with 10 goals and 31 assists for 41 points to go along with 163 hits and 122 shot blocks.  7 of his 10 goals were on the power play and he even scored one shorthanded goal.  He should be a stud on the blue line that the Titans can build around for seasons to come.
 

Oven with one of his many hits on the season
 
VHL Draft #16 overall pick – C Bruise Banner – Banner comes from the same Ottawa VHLM team as Oven does and scored 25 goals and 23 assists on the season with 128 hits and 237 shots.  With Dixon getting close to retirement, Banner will be called upon to be one of the centers of the future for the Titans and the eventual #1 center.
 
VHL Draft #17 overall pick – W Alexandre Crosby – Crosby only played 38 games for Miami in the VHLM and scored 20 goals and had 41 points and turned around another 10 points in 6 games in the playoffs against the #1 seed.  Crosby will spend a season in the VHLE to hone his skills like Banner will and will come into the VHL with a little chip on his shoulder as he was passed over by some teams late in the first round. 
 

Crosby carrying the puck into the offense zone for the Miami Mauraders in S89
 
VHL Draft #23 overall pick – D Tommy Sleeves – Another draft pick from Ottawa, Sleeves had 45 points on the season with 10 of those finding the back of the net.  Sleeves will provide solid 2-way play for the Titans and could possibly see #1 dman pairing with Oven before its all said and done.  He also had 178 hits and 136 shot blocks.  All 4 of these picks should make the jump to the pros within the next couple of seasons and will provide a solid foundation for the Titans
 
VHL Draft 3rd / 4th rounds – W Barry McOckiner and W Gremlis Lielais – both of these players turned in solid seasons in the “M” with McOckiner getting 52 points and Lielais having 43.  Both players could turn out to be steals from the later rounds in the draft and provide some solid depth on the Titans in a few seasons as long as they continue to update.
 
Stockholm Vikings
 
The Vikings had 4 picks in the top 11 to restock the team and with the #3 overall pick, the Vikings selected goaltender Ryan Artyomov who will step right into the #1 goalie role with the team.  Up next at the #8 pick was defensemen Tommy Sleeves who will step right in and provide some depth along the blueline.  With the 10th pick in the “E” draft, the Vikings selected winger, Maxim Anisimov.  Anisimov had a near 90 point season in the “M” with 39 goals and will probably jump right onto the first line to provide some scoring for the team.  And the last of those 4 picks at the #11 spot was another defensemen in O.S. Canut du Bocage who will also see some significant minutes along the blueline.
 
In round 4, the Vikings selected winger Alexander Crosby who will provide some depth on the second line while working on his two-way game for the team.  And then in the later rounds of the draft, the Vikings selected 3 wingers and a defensemen, all of whom for now will sit on the team’s depth chart. 

I'm excited I get to work with you in both the E and VHL!  

“Leading up to the draft I was quite nervous and although I had talked with several teams, I had no idea where I was going to go.  I had an idea in the range of being late first round to early second round and that’s exactly where I fell on draft night.  It was a thrill to hear my name called by Helsinki and have my years of hard work pay off to finally be on the path to making it to the VHL.  There’s still a lot of hard work left to go though and I am going to work hard with my new teammates and management team to do what I need to improve to help Helsinki win a championship in the future.”
 
“However, the VHLE draft was a little more nerve racking as round by round kept going by and I didn’t hear my named called.  I mean it makes sense in that I may only play one season there and the players that will probably play 2 seasons will get drafted first, but then the end of the 4th round came and Stockholm called my name.  At least I wont have to travel to far when the time comes to go from the VHLE to the VHL and I ll do what I can to improve my game and help the Vikings win.”

“Leading up to the draft I was quite nervous and although I had talked with several teams, I had no idea where I was going to go.  I had an idea in the range of being late first round to early second round and that’s exactly where I fell on draft night.  It was a thrill to hear my name called by Helsinki and have my years of hard work pay off to finally be on the path to making it to the VHL.  There’s still a lot of hard work left to go though and I am going to work hard with my new teammates and management team to do what I need to improve to help Helsinki win a championship in the future.”
 
“However, the VHLE draft was a little more nerve racking as round by round kept going by and I didn’t hear my named called.  I mean it makes sense in that I may only play one season there and the players that will probably play 2 seasons will get drafted first, but then the end of the 4th round came and Stockholm called my name.  At least I wont have to travel to far when the time comes to go from the VHLE to the VHL and I ll do what I can to improve my game and help the Vikings win.”

“It was a tough way to lose in the playoffs especially after we tied Philly at 2 games each, but they came out in Game 5 and showed why they are the best in the league this season as they crushed us 5 to 0.  We had taken games 3 and 4 at home so we knew we still had a chance at home in game 6 for force game 7 but once again Philly took control and won the game by 2.  I had a great season with the guys and was glad we could experience the playoffs as a team before we go our separate directions.”
 
“As for my offseason, I am going to focus on improving my game at both ends of the ice so I can be a total player that can play in every situation for the team that will eventually draft me.  Speaking of the draft, I am happy to go to any team that drafts me and I hope to be a big part of that team’s future to hopefully bring home a championship.  But first, I have to work on my defense, skating and puck control so that in a season or two when I make the jump to the big league, I can contribute right away.”

With the first round of the VHLM playoffs over, lets take a look at those series that surprised us and the ones that met our expectations in terms of the winners:
 
#7 Ottawa  v #2 Houston 
 
Needless to say, Houston came in as a heavy favorite against an Ottawa team that made the playoffs near the final games of the regular season, but this series certainly had a shocking outcome as Ottawa won the series 4 games to 1.
 
Ottawa won the first three games of the series including the first two games being on the road before Houston won game 4 to return home for the next game.  Game 5 would finish in a 2-2 after regulation, then after the first overtime and then again after the second overtime.  Early in the third overtime, Ottawa would get a power play chance on a hooking call and Ruutu would cash in to end Houston’s playoffs in 5 games.
It was Ottawa’s defense and goaltending that won this series for them as they only allowed Houston to score 3 goals once and that was in Houston’s game 4 victory as Houston was held to 1 or 2 goals in the other 4 games.  Ottawa’s goalie, Artyomov, had a .938 save percentage and a 1.76 GAA average in the series.  The penalty killing units were 96% successful against Houston in the series as the Bulls scored on only 1 power play chance in the 5 games.
 
Ottawa’s offense did just enough in the series by scoring 14 goals in the 5 games and was led by Ruutu’s 3 goals in the series and Banner led the team with 7 points on a goal and 6 assists.  The power play was about average in the series converting on 16% of its chances.
 
#6 Halifax  v #3 San Diego 
 
Defense would once again rule this series as the teams would combine for only 22 goals in the series with 7 of them coming in the last game.  Halifax would jump out to a 1 game to none lead on a 2-0 shutout over San Diego, but the Marlins would storm back and win the next 4 by only giving up 6 goals in those games and only allowing Halifax to score 3 or more goals once in the series to win the series 4 games to 1.
 
Goaltending and defense were once again keys to the San Diego series win as Clark posted a .941 save percentage and a 1.60 GAA.  No player on the team was a (-) player during the series either as everyone was even and above.  The Marlins PK was just slightly below league average during the series at 80% as Halifax tried to stage a massive comeback in Game 5 in the third period as they were down 4-1 and outshot San Diego 13 to 4 in the period.  Although they scored 2 goals in the third, Halifax could not get the game tying goal.
 
The San Diego offense was led by Sjin who had 3 goals and 6 assists for 9 points to either lead the team in each category or co-leader.  Byrd and Marchand each had 6 assists for the Marlins as well.  The power play has been around league average so far in the 5 game series as they scored 4 goals at an 18% conversion rate with the man advantage. 
 
#5 Mississauga  v #4 Mexico City 
 
We finally see a series with a decent amount of goals – 35 in total, but Mississauga would jump out to a 1-0 series lead before Mexico City would storm back with 3 straight wins to take a 3-1 series lead.  Mississauga would win game 5 in overtime, but Mexico City would not be denied in game 6 with a 3 to 1 win to take the series.
 
Mexico City would score on about 20% of its power play chances but one thing they must fix in the second round is their penalty killing which only stopped 65% of Mississauga’s chances which is way below the playoff average so far.  Mexico City had a well round attack from forwards Ironhide, Walker Jr and Sanzone while defensemen Prince-de-Galles and Gorlab were also in the top 5 of team scoring during this playoff series.  Both goalies saw action in this but Avocado put together a little better numbers than Pagano did as Avocado won 3 of the 4 games against Mississauga. 
 
Mississauga was led by Kopecky who had 5 of the team’s 16 goals and 7 points while MacAvoy led the team with 5 assists.  Dutil was in goal for the Hounds and posted a save percentage of .888 and a goals against of 2.94.
 
#8 Miami  v #1 Philadelphia 
 
When you look at the series and Philadelphia winning 4 games to 2, you wouldn’t think that Miami put much of scare into the Reapers especially since they went up 2 games to 0 over Miami.  However, Miami did win the next 2 games at home to tie the series and in game 5, Philadelphia put the boom down on Miami in a 5-0 win.  Game 6 was close as well as Philly needed an empty net goal to win 5 to 3 and take the series in 6 games.
 
You would expect this series to have the most offense in it and it did with 44 total goals but it was the Philly 5 on 5 play that won the series for them.  The Philly power play only converted on just 12% of their power play chances against Miami and is something they will need to improve upon during the course of the playoffs to take pressure off of their 5 on 5 play.  The penalty killing units were below league average as well at just over 77%.
 
The Reapers had a well rounded attack against Miami with Simmons, Aky and Gunner having success against Miami.  Swift continued his success from the blueline with help from Johnson and Reingaard chipping in as well.
Panda got both of the Miami wins in goal with a .905 save percentage and a goals against of 3.78.  Crosby and Norden led the team with 10 and 9 points respectively with Crosby leading the team in goals with 4 and Norden leading the team in assists with 7.
 
Round 2 will now feature Mexico City against Philadelphia and Ottawa facing off against San Diego
 
Word Count 1068
claiming PT week of 7/23 to 7/29 and week of 7/30 to 8/5

“It came down to the wire, but we sneaked into the playoffs behind some solid play by our team and winning the games we should have.  Our goalies played great and kept us in games while we got timely goals from our offense.  We certainly have a first round matchup that will be extremely tough especially when you face the best team in the league in the Philadelphia Reapers.  We will be severe underdogs and no one will give us a chance, but all we can do as a team is go out shift by shift and give it our best shot.”
 
“As for my regular season, I ended up playing in 38 games and getting 41 points in those games while the team came from the bottom of the league standings and ended up in 8th spot in the standings.  I was able to score 20 goals on a shooting percentage of almost 16% and a +2 on the season.  I am most proud of how this team turned this around and fought for a playoff spot and were rewarded with that even though it will probably be short lived but still the playoffs are the playoffs.”

With the VHLM season winding down and teams having either 7 or 8 games left in their respective seasons, lets take a look at how the playoff races are shaping up as we come into the last sims of the season.
 
1ST OVERALL SEED –
 
Philadelphia: they are firmly set as the #1 seed overall in the league as they have a 9 point lead over second place Houston.  It will be interesting to see how they finish the season up since we see teams with big point leads coast at the end of the regular season and then come out flat in the playoffs versus a team that has been fighting for their playoff lives.
 
2nd / 3rd SEEDS -
 
Houston, San Diego: Houston has 95 points and 7 games left while San Diego has 91 points and 8 games left.  Both teams have pretty easy schedules to finish the season with Houston having a slight advantage since the top team they play is Mexico City while San Diego has both Philadelphia and Mississauga on their schedule.  The two teams do not play each other the rest of the season.  Also on the line could be home ice advantage in the semifinals of the playoffs if the seedings hold and these two teams play each.  If a series goes to game 7, having that game at home is a huge plus.
 
4th / 5th SEEDS - 
 
Mexico City, Mississauga: These 2 teams will be playing in the first round against each other and just 4 points seperate them as Mexico City has 75 points and Mississauga has 71.  Both teams have 8 games left in their seasons.  Mexico City finishes their season with 4 straight games against Halifax while playing Philly and Houston once each.  Oddly enough, Mississauga plays Halifax twice in addition to playing San Diego and Philly twice as well too.  Halifax, who is chasing both of these teams as well, could have a direct say in who gets home ice advantage or could potentially fall to the 6th seed if Halifax wins these games against these teams
 
6th / 7th / 8th SEEDS -
 
Here is where things get a little crazy with 5 teams battling for 3 spots with Halifax having the upper hand currently in points and total wins:
 
Halifax, Ottawa, Miami:: Halifax sits in 6th with 62 points, Ottawa is 7th with 56 and Miami is 8th with 54 points.  Halifax has played 65 games while the other two teams have played 64.  Halifax has a heavy dose of Mexico City on their schedule as they play the Kings 4 times in the final 7 games while playing Mississauga twice in their next two games and Ottawa once.  Ottawa plays the two best teams in each conference twice, Houston and Philadelphia, along with Saskatoon twice and then both San Diego and Halifax once.  Miami has Houston, San Diego and Saskatoon twice while getting Mississauga and Las Vegas once each.  Halifax has the easier schedule since they avoid the top 3 teams in the league (Philly, Houston and San Diego) while the other two teams basically play them 4 or 5 times each.  Halifax also has a huge tiebreaker advantage with the amount of wins they have in total compared to the other teams that are trying to catch them.  
 
Las Vegas, Saskatoon: Las Vegas sits in 9th with 52 points and 7 games left while Saskatoon is 10th has 49 points and 8 games to play.  They do have one game against each other in the next set of sims which if Saskatoon looses, it could make it real tough for them to have to climb over two teams to grab that 8th and final playoff spot.  Vegas does play Miami once but will also face San Diego twice and Philly once with both games against San Diego coming at the end of their regular season.  Saskatoon will face Miami and Ottawa twice which means they have 5 out of their 8 games against teams directly ahead of them in the standings, but then also have Houston twice as well too.
 
In the final handful of games in the VHLM season, while only Philly probably is the only team so far with their true seeding set in stone, there is still a lot to be figured out.  There are some key head to head matchups among the teams still fighting for similar seedings and while the better teams in the league have already clinched a playoff spot, they will still have a direct say in who makes the playoffs since they end up playing the teams fighting for those final 2 or 3 spots.

1 -- yes we will still make it espeically with the reason additions and solid goaltending in place.  we play saskatoon twice and las vegas once in our final 3 games and winning those will set us up to make the playoffs.
 
2 -- i am ok with my performance this season espeically with the power play and assist results. definitely some areas to work on like defense.
 
3 -- yes, we definitely gave Philly a run for their money and handed them 3 of their 11 losses on the season in those 7 games.  we were able to score against them and now just need to limit their shots on goal and scoring chances against them
 
4 -- exciting even though i came in about halfway through the season - it has been good to see the turnaround in Miami and go from being out of a playoff spot to holding down the final one as we come into the final games of the season
 
5 -- thats a tough one to call between Gunner, Moo Moo and Targaryen, but i think Gunner will hold onto his current lead at the end of the season
 
6 -- been in western, pa my whole life so it has been nothing but Penguins for me

thanks for letting me know and i can rearrange the article pretty easily to accomodate overall standings v conference

With the VHLM season winding down and teams having either 7 or 8 games left in their respective seasons, lets take a look at how the playoff races are shaping up as we come into the last sims of the season.
 
1ST OVERALL SEED –
 
Philadelphia: they are firmly set as the #1 seed overall in the league as they have a 9 point lead over second place Houston.  It will be interesting to see how they finish the season up since we see teams with big point leads coast at the end of the regular season and then come out flat in the playoffs versus a team that has been fighting for their playoff lives.
 
2nd / 3rd SEEDS -
 
Houston, San Diego: Houston has 95 points and 7 games left while San Diego has 91 points and 8 games left.  Both teams have pretty easy schedules to finish the season with Houston having a slight advantage since the top team they play is Mexico City while San Diego has both Philadelphia and Mississauga on their schedule.  The two teams do not play each other the rest of the season.  Also on the line could be home ice advantage in the semifinals of the playoffs if the seedings hold and these two teams play each.  If a series goes to game 7, having that game at home is a huge plus.
 
4th / 5th SEEDS - 
 
Mexico City, Mississauga: These 2 teams will be playing in the first round against each other and just 4 points seperate them as Mexico City has 75 points and Mississauga has 71.  Both teams have 8 games left in their seasons.  Mexico City finishes their season with 4 straight games against Halifax while playing Philly and Houston once each.  Oddly enough, Mississauga plays Halifax twice in addition to playing San Diego and Philly twice as well too.  Halifax, who is chasing both of these teams as well, could have a direct say in who gets home ice advantage or could potentially fall to the 6th seed if Halifax wins these games against these teams
 
6th / 7th / 8th SEEDS -
 
Here is where things get a little crazy with 5 teams battling for 3 spots with Halifax having the upper hand currently in points and total wins:
 
Halifax, Ottawa, Miami:: Halifax sits in 6th with 62 points, Ottawa is 7th with 56 and Miami is 8th with 54 points.  Halifax has played 65 games while the other two teams have played 64.  Halifax has a heavy dose of Mexico City on their schedule as they play the Kings 4 times in the final 7 games while playing Mississauga twice in their next two games and Ottawa once.  Ottawa plays the two best teams in each conference twice, Houston and Philadelphia, along with Saskatoon twice and then both San Diego and Halifax once.  Miami has Houston, San Diego and Saskatoon twice while getting Mississauga and Las Vegas once each.  Halifax has the easier schedule since they avoid the top 3 teams in the league (Philly, Houston and San Diego) while the other two teams basically play them 4 or 5 times each.  Halifax also has a huge tiebreaker advantage with the amount of wins they have in total compared to the other teams that are trying to catch them.  
 
Las Vegas, Saskatoon: Las Vegas sits in 9th with 52 points and 7 games left while Saskatoon is 10th has 49 points and 8 games to play.  They do have one game against each other in the next set of sims which if Saskatoon looses, it could make it real tough for them to have to climb over two teams to grab that 8th and final playoff spot.  Vegas does play Miami once but will also face San Diego twice and Philly once with both games against San Diego coming at the end of their regular season.  Saskatoon will face Miami and Ottawa twice which means they have 5 out of their 8 games against teams directly ahead of them in the standings, but then also have Houston twice as well too.
 
In the final handful of games in the VHLM season, while only Philly probably is the only team so far with their true seeding set in stone, there is still a lot to be figured out.  There are some key head to head matchups among the teams still fighting for similar seedings and while the better teams in the league have already clinched a playoff spot, they will still have a direct say in who makes the playoffs since they end up playing the teams fighting for those final 2 or 3 spots.

“I like the way we have been playing recently and played Philadelphia tough in most of the games we played against them.  Our goaltending has been spectacular as of late and the main reason why we are winning games and in the hunt for not only the 4th spot in our conference but also sniffing around 3rd as well too.  We just have to keep plugging away each shift and take it one shift at a time and go out on the ice and out work the other team and beat them to the puck and win those loose puck battles to take the pressure off of our defense.  Getting more offensive zone time is key to keeping our shot total down.”
 
“While my goal total has gone up and am happy with that, I still need to do a better job in the defensive end to help our goalies out.  We seem to be clicking very well on the power play and cashing in on a lot of chances and I have been seeing some penalty killing time too.  Defense, skating and puck control will probably be my focus for the rest of the season to help round out my game.  Offensively, I am finding open looks at the net and taking my shots and if its not there, trying to find open space to get my teammates the puck.”

“I like the way we have been playing recently and played Philadelphia tough in most of the games we played against them.  Our goaltending has been spectacular as of late and the main reason why we are winning games and in the hunt for not only the 4th spot in our conference but also sniffing around 3rd as well too.  We just have to keep plugging away each shift and take it one shift at a time and go out on the ice and out work the other team and beat them to the puck and win those loose puck battles to take the pressure off of our defense.  Getting more offensive zone time is key to keeping our shot total down.”
 
“While my goal total has gone up and am happy with that, I still need to do a better job in the defensive end to help our goalies out.  We seem to be clicking very well on the power play and cashing in on a lot of chances and I have been seeing some penalty killing time too.  Defense, skating and puck control will probably be my focus for the rest of the season to help round out my game.  Offensively, I am finding open looks at the net and taking my shots and if its not there, trying to find open space to get my teammates the puck.”

“I have been glad that we have started winning as a team here recently now that we have gotten some more active players on the team.  The GM’s have done a great job getting new players in here and keeping on us to make sure we are improving and doing what we need to do improve the team and ourselves.  We have made up some ground on the teams ahead of us, but still have a long road ahead of us and just have to keep working hard each shift and do the best we can to get at least one point if not two points out of each game.”
 
“As for my game, I have been pretty happy so far with the results I am getting.  I am able to set my teammates up for goals and score goals too.  I just want to be that guy out there in all situations and play all 60 minutes and do whatever I can to help the team win.  I am going to continue to work on all aspects of my game and really focus on my defense and skating so I can force the other team into turnovers and use my speed and skating in a full 200 foot game.”

It has been a whirlwind first dozen games in the VHLM career for Alexandre Crosby after he signed with the Miami Marauders.  Not only has Crosby chipped in with goals and assists, the Marauders have started winning and are gaining ground on the teams ahead of them in the standings for the 4th and final playoff spot.
 
Game 174 – Miami at Ottawa
 
In Crosby’s first game, he played over 20 minutes and after a scoreless first period, Ottawa took a 1-0 lead, but just less than a minute later, Crosby would get the secondary assist on a goal by Jahey for his first professional point in the VHLM.  After Ottawa would score the next 2 goals, Miami would go on the power play and Crosby would once again get the secondary assist for his first multi-point game.  However, that would be the last goal of the game as the Marauders would lose 3-2.
 
“It took me a couple of shifts to get use to the speed and skill level of the players at this level, but once I got my feet set, I was able to start to see the game and anticipate better.  I was happy to assist on both of our goals, but would have rather taken home the win as a team.”
 
Game 179 – Miami at Mississauga
 
After Mississauga took a 3-0 lead, the Marauders went on the power play about halfway through the second period and Crosby fed a pass back to Destroyer at the point who fired a slap shot and got Miami on the board.  The Hounds would take a 4-1 lead on another goal, but just over 4 minutes into the third period, Crosby would get the first goal of his career on a pass from Jahey.  The Marauders would cut the lead to 4-3 before the Hounds would get a late goal to win 5 to 3.
 

 
“I was a little more aggressive in this game after looking at the tape from the Ottawa game and the coaches wanted me to take more chances on the net.  Once I saw that pass coming from Jahey, my instincts took over and I just fired a one timer and beat the goalie over the blocker in the top corner.  I was glad to get the goal early on in my career and once again we lost, but I feel a win is coming soon.”
 
Game 190 – Ottawa at Miami
 
After losing another game to Mississauga, Miami hosted Ottawa in search of their first win with Crosby in the lineup.  The Marauders would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game with Crosby getting the secondary assist on the second goal.  The Marauders would get an early power play goal in the second period with Crosby getting the primary assist, but Ottawa would come back with 3 unanswered goals in the period to tie the game at 3-3.  However, with 4 minutes left in the game, Crosby got a shot on goal that was stopped but Oinas put in the rebound to give the Marauders a 4-3 win their first with Crosby on board.
 

 
“As good as it was to have 3 assists in the game, I am most proud of the team not giving up when the game was tied and battle for a win.  We can only go up from here and start to catch the teams in front of us now that we have a solid group of players in place.”

It has been a whirlwind first dozen games in the VHLM career for Alexandre Crosby after he signed with the Miami Marauders.  Not only has Crosby chipped in with goals and assists, the Marauders have started winning and are gaining ground on the teams ahead of them in the standings for the 4th and final playoff spot.
 
Game 174 – Miami at Ottawa
 
In Crosby’s first game, he played over 20 minutes and after a scoreless first period, Ottawa took a 1-0 lead, but just less than a minute later, Crosby would get the secondary assist on a goal by Jahey for his first professional point in the VHLM.  After Ottawa would score the next 2 goals, Miami would go on the power play and Crosby would once again get the secondary assist for his first multi-point game.  However, that would be the last goal of the game as the Marauders would lose 3-2.
 
“It took me a couple of shifts to get use to the speed and skill level of the players at this level, but once I got my feet set, I was able to start to see the game and anticipate better.  I was happy to assist on both of our goals, but would have rather taken home the win as a team.”
 
Game 179 – Miami at Mississauga
 
After Mississauga took a 3-0 lead, the Marauders went on the power play about halfway through the second period and Crosby fed a pass back to Destroyer at the point who fired a slap shot and got Miami on the board.  The Hounds would take a 4-1 lead on another goal, but just over 4 minutes into the third period, Crosby would get the first goal of his career on a pass from Jahey.  The Marauders would cut the lead to 4-3 before the Hounds would get a late goal to win 5 to 3.
 

 
“I was a little more aggressive in this game after looking at the tape from the Ottawa game and the coaches wanted me to take more chances on the net.  Once I saw that pass coming from Jahey, my instincts took over and I just fired a one timer and beat the goalie over the blocker in the top corner.  I was glad to get the goal early on in my career and once again we lost, but I feel a win is coming soon.”
 
Game 190 – Ottawa at Miami
 
After losing another game to Mississauga, Miami hosted Ottawa in search of their first win with Crosby in the lineup.  The Marauders would jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game with Crosby getting the secondary assist on the second goal.  The Marauders would get an early power play goal in the second period with Crosby getting the primary assist, but Ottawa would come back with 3 unanswered goals in the period to tie the game at 3-3.  However, with 4 minutes left in the game, Crosby got a shot on goal that was stopped but Oinas put in the rebound to give the Marauders a 4-3 win their first with Crosby on board.
 

 
“As good as it was to have 3 assists in the game, I am most proud of the team not giving up when the game was tied and battle for a win.  We can only go up from here and start to catch the teams in front of us now that we have a solid group of players in place.”

CHILDHOOD
 

 
Bored in Italy to parents that are scientists, Crosby moved to Canada when he was only 2 years old as his parents got better jobs there and settled outside of Toronto, where his parents worked, in a town called Brampton.  In the summers, he would play soccer of course being from Italy, but when he was 4, his parents got him into ice skating and learn to play hockey programs in and around Brampton. 
 
Crosby was able to pick up skating and hockey pretty easily and quickly moved into play club at the age of 6 while being able to travel around the Toronto area playing other teams.  He often found himself as one of the , if not , the biggest kid on the ice so he was able to do almost anything at will on the ice leading his team to many tournament championships.
 
By the time he was 8, Crosby was easily the biggest and fastest player on the ice at his age level which didn’t really pose any competition for him so he was moved up to the next age level to go against 10 year olds.  He didn’t miss a beat after a short transition time to get used to the more skilled players at that age group and still continued to rank up points and trophies, both individually and team, against the older competition and even traveling further north into Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec to play against the best players and teams in those cities.
 
It was pretty clear at this point of his young career that he not only needed to move up one level past 12 and under, but take on the very best at the 14 and under level which now introduces body checking for the first time.  Being that he was already as tall, if not taller, than most 14 year olds, he still needed to fill his frame out weight wise.  He was certainly targeted by both players and parents not only due to his age versus everyone else but also his skill level compared to this age group but Crosby held strong and was able to start to travel all over Canada to face different levels of competition.
 
MIDDLE YEARS
 

 
As more and more people saw him play, more and more people wanted to be around him and be a part of his hockey career.  However, Alexandre’s parents were pretty particular and protective of him and found a couple of trainers to continue to work on his skating and skills.  Being one of the higher ranked AAA players in the Toronto area led to lots of hours training along with school and not much time for anything else, but Crosby loved being on the ice, loved shooting the puck, loved scoring but most importantly, loved winning as a team and took the most pride in championship trophies.
 
His parents taught him to be humble and not act like he was the best player on the team to keep him grounded.  By age 12, Crosby was playing against 14 and 16 year olds all across Canada and even into the United States.  Through his training, he was starting to put some weight on and gain some strength which helped him to control the puck more and gain some speed on his shots and passes.  While he didn’t throw a lot of  body checks at this level, he learned he had to be more physical than most in order to send a ‘message’ to the other teams that he wasn’t a push over being the youngest player on the ice.
 
At the age of 14, Crosby was now 6’1” and about 180 pounds and was able to start to travel internationally as he tried out for and made Canada’s 16U team and play in the world championships in Europe.  While he only was able to score 2 goals and have 2 assists in 8 games, he got a taste of what major big league hockey was as Canada brought home the bronze medal.
 
He grew to 6’3 and nearly 200 pounds at the age of 15 and once again made Canada’s U16 team and played in the world championships which were held in Toronto and in front of his family and friends as the captain of the team due to his increasing strong leadership skills and the ability to connect to all his teammates.  Crosby just utterly dominated the tournament with his size and skills to the tune of 17 goals and 13 assists in 8 games as he helped Team Canada to bring home the gold medal just miles from the town he grew up in. 
 
DECISION TO JOIN VHLM
 

 
At age 16, Crosby had a lot of opportunities and offers to continue his hockey career from schooling in both Canada and the United States at the top academic institutions to various amateur leagues across both countries.  In the end though, the lure and idea of getting to go up against players the same age or a couple of years older and along the same skill level as Crosby was just too much to pass up.  He was lucky enough to hear from a few teams and hear a lot of great pitches to join a VHLM team.  After talking it over with his parents and former coaches that he is close to, Crosby decided to join the Miami Marauders and will end up playing about 15-20 minutes per game including time on the power play.  So far through 6 games, he has one goal and 7 assists for 8 points with 18 shots and 10 hits while being a -2 on the season as Miami looks to climb out of the 5th spot and into a playoff spot in the second half of the VHLM season.

For this season's theme week, I came up with 3 ideas that I would like to implement for my commissioner for a day:
 
1 – VHL Relocation of North American conference teams from NHL cities to non-NHL markets
 
Its time to give the non-NHL traditional markets some love, so one of the first things I would do as commish for the day is to move the 8 North American franchises to different markets.  Also keeping in mind regional travel and hopefully setting up rivals as well based on location.
 
Getting promoted from the VHLM would be:
San Diego, Houston and Saskatoon
 
These 3 are already Mid-Western to Western on the map, so I would add one more west coast franchise in Portland, Oregon.  Now this leaves me with the opportunity to pick all 4 east coast teams from scratch – adding 2 Canadian teams within relative distance to each other is pretty easy in Hamilton and Quebec City and would leave the new VHL with 3 Canadian teams out of 8.  The 7th team to add is a pretty easy one and its time to bring back the Whalers to the city of Hartford.  There are lot of great choices for the 8th and final team and while I could start to look to go a little toward the Midwest, I am going to keep that east coast feel and give the final relocation to the city of Baltimore.
 
VHL North American Conference would be:
Baltimore
Hartford
Hamilton
Quebec
Houston
Portland
San Diego
Saskatoon
 
2 – Relocation and addition of 2 more franchises to the VHLM
 
With the VHLM losing 3 franchises to the VHL, this will leave openings that will need to be filled and lets make the league 12 teams now with 6 franchises in each division instead of 10 cause I like 12 teams in that league and it will help support #3 down below.  Keeping to the same idea as the VHL in that no NHL cities and an east of the Mississippi and west of the Mississippi divisions.
 
In the Western Division, Mexico City is the only one that would stay.  I would add a desert / southwestern team in Albuquerque and a midwestern team in Kansas City especially so players can enjoy the wonderful BBQ there if for nothing else.  This gives 3 teams that are relatively close wise and then I would start to move more north and place a team in Salt Lake City.  Rounding out the 6 team Western Division would be two Canadian cities in Regina and Kelowna. 
 
In the Eastern Division, Mississauga and Halifax would be the lone 2 franchises staying, leaving 4 open spots.  I like the close idea of having Thunder Bay, Milwaukee (free beer at games?) and Indianapolis together in a mid-western feel to the league which then leaves one spot left.  I cant do Cleveland here, just cant.  Which leaves me down to Cincinnati v Charlotte as I just cant go into the deeper Southern US here either.  I like how Cincy is closer to the other cities than Charlotte but Charlotte is at least getting a foot print into a decent market into the South and not having as many teams in the Midwest.  It comes down to a coin toss….and Charlotte (nicknamed the Flair’s?) will be the 6th and final team in the new VHLM.
 
3 – Addition of a second player for some users
 
One of the fascinating aspects of a sim league is the opportunity to have a second player and to be able to tinker with a different player build that you normally would not have the chance or tried to do with your normal player.
Having a second player would only be available to those users who have had at least 2 players reach over 1000 tpe as a reward for their loyalty and longevity in the league.  The second player would not be allowed to have carryover, play on the same team as their other player or take advantage of special tpe giveaways to keep the second player’s tpe totals lower than the first player’s. 
 
Users would not have to do double tasks as the tasks could be assigned to both players except for the career type of tasks which would have to be done separately. 
 
This will also help aid in the expansion of the VHLM and hopefully get rid of some of the bot players as well and encourage more users to stick around and hit this tpe mark.  Maybe a user has been shy about becoming a goalie or being more of a defensive type of player whether it be a forward or defensemen and this opportunity would allow for that while still being able to enjoy the build and performance of the user’s main player.  Hopefully this would also allow the types of builds to become more diversified as well too allowing other users to follow in the footsteps of more veteran users with a different type of player and TPE placement to follow along to.

CHILDHOOD
 

 
Bored in Italy to parents that are scientists, Crosby moved to Canada when he was only 2 years old as his parents got better jobs there and settled outside of Toronto, where his parents worked, in a town called Brampton.  In the summers, he would play soccer of course being from Italy, but when he was 4, his parents got him into ice skating and learn to play hockey programs in and around Brampton. 
 
Crosby was able to pick up skating and hockey pretty easily and quickly moved into play club at the age of 6 while being able to travel around the Toronto area playing other teams.  He often found himself as one of the , if not , the biggest kid on the ice so he was able to do almost anything at will on the ice leading his team to many tournament championships.
 
By the time he was 8, Crosby was easily the biggest and fastest player on the ice at his age level which didn’t really pose any competition for him so he was moved up to the next age level to go against 10 year olds.  He didn’t miss a beat after a short transition time to get used to the more skilled players at that age group and still continued to rank up points and trophies, both individually and team, against the older competition and even traveling further north into Ottawa, Montreal and Quebec to play against the best players and teams in those cities.
 
It was pretty clear at this point of his young career that he not only needed to move up one level past 12 and under, but take on the very best at the 14 and under level which now introduces body checking for the first time.  Being that he was already as tall, if not taller, than most 14 year olds, he still needed to fill his frame out weight wise.  He was certainly targeted by both players and parents not only due to his age versus everyone else but also his skill level compared to this age group but Crosby held strong and was able to start to travel all over Canada to face different levels of competition.
 
MIDDLE YEARS
 

 
As more and more people saw him play, more and more people wanted to be around him and be a part of his hockey career.  However, Alexandre’s parents were pretty particular and protective of him and found a couple of trainers to continue to work on his skating and skills.  Being one of the higher ranked AAA players in the Toronto area led to lots of hours training along with school and not much time for anything else, but Crosby loved being on the ice, loved shooting the puck, loved scoring but most importantly, loved winning as a team and took the most pride in championship trophies.
 
His parents taught him to be humble and not act like he was the best player on the team to keep him grounded.  By age 12, Crosby was playing against 14 and 16 year olds all across Canada and even into the United States.  Through his training, he was starting to put some weight on and gain some strength which helped him to control the puck more and gain some speed on his shots and passes.  While he didn’t throw a lot of  body checks at this level, he learned he had to be more physical than most in order to send a ‘message’ to the other teams that he wasn’t a push over being the youngest player on the ice.
 
At the age of 14, Crosby was now 6’1” and about 180 pounds and was able to start to travel internationally as he tried out for and made Canada’s 16U team and play in the world championships in Europe.  While he only was able to score 2 goals and have 2 assists in 8 games, he got a taste of what major big league hockey was as Canada brought home the bronze medal.
 
He grew to 6’3 and nearly 200 pounds at the age of 15 and once again made Canada’s U16 team and played in the world championships which were held in Toronto and in front of his family and friends as the captain of the team due to his increasing strong leadership skills and the ability to connect to all his teammates.  Crosby just utterly dominated the tournament with his size and skills to the tune of 17 goals and 13 assists in 8 games as he helped Team Canada to bring home the gold medal just miles from the town he grew up in. 
 
DECISION TO JOIN VHLM
 

 
At age 16, Crosby had a lot of opportunities and offers to continue his hockey career from schooling in both Canada and the United States at the top academic institutions to various amateur leagues across both countries.  In the end though, the lure and idea of getting to go up against players the same age or a couple of years older and along the same skill level as Crosby was just too much to pass up.  He was lucky enough to hear from a few teams and hear a lot of great pitches to join a VHLM team.  After talking it over with his parents and former coaches that he is close to, Crosby decided to join the Miami Marauders and will end up playing about 15-20 minutes per game including time on the power play.  So far through 6 games, he has one goal and 7 assists for 8 points with 18 shots and 10 hits while being a -2 on the season as Miami looks to climb out of the 5th spot and into a playoff spot in the second half of the VHLM season.

For this season's theme week, I came up with 3 ideas that I would like to implement for my commissioner for a day:
 
1 – VHL Relocation of North American conference teams from NHL cities to non-NHL markets
 
Its time to give the non-NHL traditional markets some love, so one of the first things I would do as commish for the day is to move the 8 North American franchises to different markets.  Also keeping in mind regional travel and hopefully setting up rivals as well based on location.
 
Getting promoted from the VHLM would be:
San Diego, Houston and Saskatoon
 
These 3 are already Mid-Western to Western on the map, so I would add one more west coast franchise in Portland, Oregon.  Now this leaves me with the opportunity to pick all 4 east coast teams from scratch – adding 2 Canadian teams within relative distance to each other is pretty easy in Hamilton and Quebec City and would leave the new VHL with 3 Canadian teams out of 8.  The 7th team to add is a pretty easy one and its time to bring back the Whalers to the city of Hartford.  There are lot of great choices for the 8th and final team and while I could start to look to go a little toward the Midwest, I am going to keep that east coast feel and give the final relocation to the city of Baltimore.
 
VHL North American Conference would be:
Baltimore
Hartford
Hamilton
Quebec
Houston
Portland
San Diego
Saskatoon
 
2 – Relocation and addition of 2 more franchises to the VHLM
 
With the VHLM losing 3 franchises to the VHL, this will leave openings that will need to be filled and lets make the league 12 teams now with 6 franchises in each division instead of 10 cause I like 12 teams in that league and it will help support #3 down below.  Keeping to the same idea as the VHL in that no NHL cities and an east of the Mississippi and west of the Mississippi divisions.
 
In the Western Division, Mexico City is the only one that would stay.  I would add a desert / southwestern team in Albuquerque and a midwestern team in Kansas City especially so players can enjoy the wonderful BBQ there if for nothing else.  This gives 3 teams that are relatively close wise and then I would start to move more north and place a team in Salt Lake City.  Rounding out the 6 team Western Division would be two Canadian cities in Regina and Kelowna. 
 
In the Eastern Division, Mississauga and Halifax would be the lone 2 franchises staying, leaving 4 open spots.  I like the close idea of having Thunder Bay, Milwaukee (free beer at games?) and Indianapolis together in a mid-western feel to the league which then leaves one spot left.  I cant do Cleveland here, just cant.  Which leaves me down to Cincinnati v Charlotte as I just cant go into the deeper Southern US here either.  I like how Cincy is closer to the other cities than Charlotte but Charlotte is at least getting a foot print into a decent market into the South and not having as many teams in the Midwest.  It comes down to a coin toss….and Charlotte (nicknamed the Flair’s?) will be the 6th and final team in the new VHLM.
 
3 – Addition of a second player for some users
 
One of the fascinating aspects of a sim league is the opportunity to have a second player and to be able to tinker with a different player build that you normally would not have the chance or tried to do with your normal player.
Having a second player would only be available to those users who have had at least 2 players reach over 1000 tpe as a reward for their loyalty and longevity in the league.  The second player would not be allowed to have carryover, play on the same team as their other player or take advantage of special tpe giveaways to keep the second player’s tpe totals lower than the first player’s. 
 
Users would not have to do double tasks as the tasks could be assigned to both players except for the career type of tasks which would have to be done separately. 
 
This will also help aid in the expansion of the VHLM and hopefully get rid of some of the bot players as well and encourage more users to stick around and hit this tpe mark.  Maybe a user has been shy about becoming a goalie or being more of a defensive type of player whether it be a forward or defensemen and this opportunity would allow for that while still being able to enjoy the build and performance of the user’s main player.  Hopefully this would also allow the types of builds to become more diversified as well too allowing other users to follow in the footsteps of more veteran users with a different type of player and TPE placement to follow along to.

For this season's theme week, I came up with 3 ideas that I would like to implement for my commissioner for a day:
 
1 – VHL Relocation of North American conference teams from NHL cities to non-NHL markets
 
Its time to give the non-NHL traditional markets some love, so one of the first things I would do as commish for the day is to move the 8 North American franchises to different markets.  Also keeping in mind regional travel and hopefully setting up rivals as well based on location.
 
Getting promoted from the VHLM would be:
San Diego, Houston and Saskatoon
 
These 3 are already Mid-Western to Western on the map, so I would add one more west coast franchise in Portland, Oregon.  Now this leaves me with the opportunity to pick all 4 east coast teams from scratch – adding 2 Canadian teams within relative distance to each other is pretty easy in Hamilton and Quebec City and would leave the new VHL with 3 Canadian teams out of 8.  The 7th team to add is a pretty easy one and its time to bring back the Whalers to the city of Hartford.  There are lot of great choices for the 8th and final team and while I could start to look to go a little toward the Midwest, I am going to keep that east coast feel and give the final relocation to the city of Baltimore.
 
VHL North American Conference would be:
Baltimore
Hartford
Hamilton
Quebec
Houston
Portland
San Diego
Saskatoon
 
2 – Relocation and addition of 2 more franchises to the VHLM
 
With the VHLM losing 3 franchises to the VHL, this will leave openings that will need to be filled and lets make the league 12 teams now with 6 franchises in each division instead of 10 cause I like 12 teams in that league and it will help support #3 down below.  Keeping to the same idea as the VHL in that no NHL cities and an east of the Mississippi and west of the Mississippi divisions.
 
In the Western Division, Mexico City is the only one that would stay.  I would add a desert / southwestern team in Albuquerque and a midwestern team in Kansas City especially so players can enjoy the wonderful BBQ there if for nothing else.  This gives 3 teams that are relatively close wise and then I would start to move more north and place a team in Salt Lake City.  Rounding out the 6 team Western Division would be two Canadian cities in Regina and Kelowna. 
 
In the Eastern Division, Mississauga and Halifax would be the lone 2 franchises staying, leaving 4 open spots.  I like the close idea of having Thunder Bay, Milwaukee (free beer at games?) and Indianapolis together in a mid-western feel to the league which then leaves one spot left.  I cant do Cleveland here, just cant.  Which leaves me down to Cincinnati v Charlotte as I just cant go into the deeper Southern US here either.  I like how Cincy is closer to the other cities than Charlotte but Charlotte is at least getting a foot print into a decent market into the South and not having as many teams in the Midwest.  It comes down to a coin toss….and Charlotte (nicknamed the Flair’s?) will be the 6th and final team in the new VHLM.
 
3 – Addition of a second player for some users
 
One of the fascinating aspects of a sim league is the opportunity to have a second player and to be able to tinker with a different player build that you normally would not have the chance or tried to do with your normal player.
Having a second player would only be available to those users who have had at least 2 players reach over 1000 tpe as a reward for their loyalty and longevity in the league.  The second player would not be allowed to have carryover, play on the same team as their other player or take advantage of special tpe giveaways to keep the second player’s tpe totals lower than the first player’s. 
 
Users would not have to do double tasks as the tasks could be assigned to both players except for the career type of tasks which would have to be done separately. 
 
This will also help aid in the expansion of the VHLM and hopefully get rid of some of the bot players as well and encourage more users to stick around and hit this tpe mark.  Maybe a user has been shy about becoming a goalie or being more of a defensive type of player whether it be a forward or defensemen and this opportunity would allow for that while still being able to enjoy the build and performance of the user’s main player.  Hopefully this would also allow the types of builds to become more diversified as well too allowing other users to follow in the footsteps of more veteran users with a different type of player and TPE placement to follow along to.

1. I think with a fuller roster now and a solid game plan in place , we can definitely make up ground in the second half of the season and make the playoffs. 
 
2. happy with the first couple of games but would have rather gotten the team wins instead of losses. 
 
3. greatly. Having a little jolt of tpe and updating each week should help us sneak into the top 4 and playoffs 
 
4. am just swimming and relaxing and hitting a picnic later in the day
 
5. Swift or Aky look to be the front runners and I ll go with swift 
 
6. not until beginning of august to cape cod area of Massachusetts