Grape

I mean they were 5th in goals for when I was writing this

Yea I didn't give time to actually talk about that loss, but there was a lot of roster movement that wasn't accounted for anyways. Had to go off of raw numbers. I've also been a bit lazy this season due to the massive amount of roster movement that I haven't kept track of additions and releases.

The time has come for my usual VHLM rankings, which have always been right and there has never been a single mistake in them ever. I waited a fair bit longer than I usually do, as there were a ton of waiver players that, even after the initial rush, were trickling in and joining teams, boosting some and hindering others (as of right now there are 155 players in this upcoming VHLM draft). Even now there have been multiple roster changes that won’t be accounted for, as I started writing this on Monday and haven’t made any updates to my data since. There will likely also be a massive shift coming in the next couple weeks, as many waiver players will have gone inactive, and rosters will shrink down to more reasonable and manageable sizes, but I feel that I have waited long enough and needed to get a point task done that is not the part two of my draft rankings, because then I probably would never have gotten this done. And since the big plagiariser appears to have gone IA and not much indication of coming back, I guess it is safe to put this out. So here they are. If you have any disagreements, then I implore you to argue with a rock or another hard or dense object. 10. Halifax 21st Current Standing: 8th FD Ranking: 10th (0.161) Goalie Ranking: 7th (91 TPA) The Halifax 21st are in for another long season from the looks of things. After a mediocre draft and despite a pretty large trade early in the season, they boast the league’s worst offense and a really thin and weak defense, aspirations are pretty low this season. This has been a constant for Halifax in past seasons, never going full rebuild and instead allowing for top TPE players to just come and go with no real supporting cast. It will be interesting to see how they approach this season. This is the one season where they really cannot sell off, since most teams are already at capacity. From the looks of things, it will be another season of the same for the 21st. 9. Mississauga Hounds Current Standing: 10th FD Ranking: 9th (0.190) Goalie Ranking: 9th (88 TPA) The Mississauga Hounds seem to have the perfect combination of offense and defense to be an absolutely awful team. Boasting the league’s worst defense and second worst offense, coming together to form the league’s worst goal differential at -57, a whopping 26 goals worse than the next team above them. While they have guaranteed that they will not have the worst season in franchise history, they likely will not end up much better. This team either needs some strong offensive play, or to turtle up and play a boring defensive game. Either way, changes need to be made for this team to do anything but lose. 8. Saskatoon Wild Current Standing: 9th FD Ranking: 8th (0.241) Goalie Ranking: 8th (89 TPA) Saskatoon is much like Mississauga in that they also suck pretty hard. Second worst goals against and just a tad bit above Mississauga in the goals for department. While they have decent pieces at the forward position, their defense is an obvious and glaring weakness. This is a season to forget for the Wild, and with rumors circulating about some of their top end players being on the move, it may get even worse. 7. Philadelphia Reapers Current Standing: 1st FD Ranking: 7th (0.267) Goalie Ranking: 3rd (140 TPA) A string of strong goaltending and luck has shot this team to the top of the official standings, but a look at this team tells a different story. Their forward group is the second worst in the league and their defense is below league average. As of now, their offense is clicking well and with the lowest goals against in the league, they have been able to stay in each game. A strong defensive game will allow this team to continue to win games and for their entire team to catch up in attributes, but will it be enough? This has the makings of a team that will fall apart come playoff time, where their defense begins to crack. At least this team will be fun to follow as they were able to acquire every single Jinn in the draft. So, while the team may not do so well, it’ll be fun to follow the Philadelphia Jinns. 6. Ottawa Lynx Current Standing: 7th FD Ranking: 6th (0.412) Goalie Ranking: 10th (84 TPA) The impact of losing their would be top forward at the start of the season has definitely hindered the success of this team, but with a good handful of waiver players helped turn this team from a would be a massive losing season to an overall middling team. This is the first team outside of the “complete trash” tier and inside the “not good but not bad” tier. Their defense is not much to write home about and their forwards have cooled down a fair bit after a hot start, and right now appear to be losing some ground. Hopes are not necessarily high for this team, especially with the league’s worst starting goaltender, but they should be a lock for the playoffs, albeit likely will not put up much of a show. Their strategy is to go all-in on offense, and when the offense is not clicking like right now, all they are doing is losing. 5. Mexico City Kings Current Standing: 4th FD Ranking: 5th (0.590) Goalie Ranking: 2nd (153 TPA) Mexico City has stayed relatively under the radar, at least to me during this season. Not much movement or noise or really anything has come from them, but such is the curse of a completely average team. They sit in the middle of the league in pretty much every way possible except for goaltending. I do not foresee this team making any drastic changes, whether statistically or in the standings, and will likely get knocked out in the first round after a hard fought battle. 4. Houston Bulls Current Standing: 6th FD Ranking: 4th (0.636) Goalie Ranking: 4th (124 TPA) The Houston Bulls got off to a very funny start immediately after the draft, gaining a massive lead on all other teams in terms of waiver players. While they have lost a few, some via retirement and some via banishment due to league violation, they were able to get even more waiver players to replace those losses, feeling really little impact in those losses. While their start has been less than ideal, they appear to be getting it together and should climb up the standings a little bit. Additions cannot necessarily be made at this time, as they are four defensemen away from having a completely full roster, already with 12 forwards. Growth will determine the fate of the Bulls, and whether they fizzle or fight. 3. Miami Marauders Current Standing: 3rd FD Ranking: 3rd (0.701) Goalie Ranking: 1st (156 TPA) Miami is the first of the “really good” tier of teams. They boast the third best offense and defense, and currently have the highest rated goaltender in the league. They have the top end talent and the supporting cast to do some big damage both in the regular season and come playoff time. Everything seems to be clicking right, and while they aren’t the best at anything, there aren’t any major glaring weaknesses. 2. San Diego Marlins Current Standing: 5th FD Ranking: 2nd (0.822) Goalie Ranking: 6th (102 TPA) San Diego, despite having a very strong forward group, have struggled a fair bit this season. After the acquisition of the greatest player of all time, one would have assumed this team would be at the top of the standings, but the scoring has not been there for the team, while being carried with strong defensive play, with their goals against being the second best in the league. They have the potential to be a possible championship team, they just need to get some offensive spark. 1. Las Vegas Aces Current Standing: 2nd FD Ranking: 1st (0.867) Goalie Ranking: 5th (117 TPA) The head honcho of the league, and not much of a surprise. If there is one thing Vegas has been able to do these past couple seasons, it has been creating and maintaining a good team. And although they have not had much to show for their success, this could very well be the season for them. As of now, they have the highest rated forward and defenseman group in the league, and will likely be stapled to the top of the standings for the entirety of this season. There really is no real weakness with this team, and unlike Miami, they are also the best. Goaltending might be a minor question mark but still very much serviceable. Aspirations are high for the Aces, and if you’re a betting man, I would say put your money on Vegas. (1510 words, 3 weeks o claiming)

I guess the point of it is to maintain relevance for stats upgrading into the 90s. The increase is dependent on the attribute receiving the increase. Some could just eat the increase and be fine, some the increase would make the later attributes irrelevant.

The stat ratios themselves cannot necessarily be changed, since most stats get to or exceed 99, and STHS treats that as the max and doesn't account for anything over that. The ratios can be changed for some stats, and maybe erase some attributes influence altogether (Body Checking is pretty piss poor for boosting defense), but overall it would need a complete overhaul to make it work, and not just small tweaks. Best solution tweaking wise would be to lower the TPE costs per stat increase.

Growth is slow and makes it a real challenge to actually have improvement, especially in the later stages of a player's career, especially due to the TPE:Stat Increase ratio. It was a good plan to kill the meta, but now, especially paired with depreciation, the last few seasons are practically unbearable and it's almost worth it to just retire early and see your work actually have improvement than to watch as you max earn week after week only to do a single upgrade. Either ratios need to be tweaked or costs need to be reduced.

2 weeks of only 1 TPE for fantasy zone. I'm ngmi

I hear practically nothing about LA relative to Warsaw

People may make fun of Warsaw, but there should be more talk about LA...

Didn't know you were a Leafs fan.

After a disappointing start to the season, Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage has demanded a trade on his NHL 24 Goalie Be A Pro save, in which the Toronto Maple Leafs are playing absolutely abysmally after sporting an all 82 overall and under defense. Bocage’s goalie, Brick Wahl, met with the Leafs GM and asked to be traded to a contender, so he was promptly moved to the Buffalo Sabres, who, to the surprise of nobody, also suck, but just a little less. While in NHL 24, Obuz cannot seem to catch a break, he can take solace in the fact that the Moscow Menace are off to a great start and while his stats haven’t necessarily been there, he is happy to be along for the ride. “Last season was a rough one for sure, and winning definitely makes everyone feel better, but this is my home now. I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else.” This statement comes from Obuz in the last season of his entry level contract while also being moved from the top pair to make room for rookie Leif Reingaard, and while no longer being the go-to guy for the Menace this season, OSCB still hopes that he can remain with the team for his entire career. So, while his Be A Pro may not be loyal, Bocage is more than happy to stick around through the thick and thin.

No Achilles?

20 more TPE and he can be added to the Pension Pack

Jumping with joy when I finally pull the reverse holo Olober Syko card worth $1.20

I personally feel pride when I see someone get punished for using AI because I attribute that rule's creation to my article being plagiarized :)

While it is likely too early to say this, I would like to say that, so far, the recruitment drive has been a success. Not only did we get sheer quantity in a ton of new members (my email inbox has yet to forgive me), but also a lot of high quality members who have already shown more activity than some of the longer standing members. The big takeaway in this drive is that there are still a fair amount of people out there interested in this sort of thing, and all that was needed was to simply put it out there that we exist. That being said, if we could follow this up with more successful drives, bring in some more top notch members, we could enter a new golden age in the VHL, maybe not at the same level as the reddit recruitment or covid times, but still a legitimate increase in both quantity of members and activity, and see expansion in the leagues. The M is already nearing capacity and could be due for some growth, which would be nice to see, considering as of now only two teams miss the playoffs. The E might remain relevant for a few more seasons and could go back up to six, or if success is really booming, could sniff eight. The VHL may not see expansion in some time. Inactives would likely be axed first before expansion occurs. While this all depends on the future, I can at least say I have hope. Before the drive, the league was stagnating at best, slowly bleeding itself dry. Now, air has filled the lungs once again, and the league finally has some activity again.

Oh my

Claiming week 4 of 4. Guess I actually have to do stuff now

Don't care Ottawa winning the cup Ivanov - Shotzky best duo in the league not even close

G - Olober Syko

In a shocking turn of events, the Ottawa Lynx had traded possibly the greatest player of all time, Wayne Gretzky, to the San Diego Marlins for a hodgepodge of picks. After being drafted in the fourth round of the S91 draft, Gretzky released a statement that he was recovering from a broken everything and would miss the entirety of the season. A player of this prestige, who had already fallen far in the draft due to their extremely old age of 142 and overall rust in his game, will now be practically non-existent for a full season. Gretzky, the legend he is, was able to make a full recovery in the S91 offseason and engaged in full-contact practice, prepared and ready to hit the ground running in his highly anticipated debut. However, notice came to the GM office in Ottawa that Wayne Gretzky had demanded a trade, citing that the frigid Ottawa weather was impacting the recovery period and needed to be in a warmer location to minimize the threat of reinjury and complete pulverization of his bones. Although he did end up debuting with the Ottawa Lynx, dawning his iconic 99 once more and averaging a point per game, he was officially traded after the 2nd game of the season, tagged on with a handful of picks, to the San Diego Marlins for a bunch of better picks. As was shown before and proven once again, a team can trade for anyone, even Wayne Gretzky.

Basically, SDM needed to be pick compliant, 2nds to replace the 1sts, 4ths to replace the 3rds

D - Leif Reingaard @zepheter

Something something feeling 22 (please join my team)

Condition is removed @Mysterious_Fishto confirm