Grape

So the prophecy is true. The Chosen One has arrived. 

I hate timezones. They are a ploy from the clock company to sell more clocks. Everyone knows that time is a constant on this planet. 

Welcome to the second edition of VSN’s S70 Weekly recap (Games 49-123).  We’ll cover a host of things in this recap each week including highlights of important VSN happenings, three stars of the week, power rankings, rookie profiles, and anything else of importance.
 
Recap

The second week of the S70 season has commenced. Let’s take a look at some of this week’s highlights and low-lights. Competition is fierce in the European Conference and I wouldn’t be shocked to see any of the top four teams at the moment in the first place spot by this time next week. As for the North American Conference, I don’t know if you can pay one of the bottom three teams to take the last playoff spot willingly. Week performances this week from Toronto and D.C. have allowed Seattle to begin clamouring at the door again and they will be a threat to everyone in the conference if they manage to make the playoffs.

We saw an uptick in hostilities around the league as several teams faced off against bitter rivals with thirteen fights in total and two bench-clearing brawls. One such helter-skelter resulted in some of the dirtiest hockey I have seen in this league and calls player safety strongly into question. This correlated with an uptick in scoring across the league, but whether the fights were the cause of or the result of the scoring isn’t clear. This includes the highest-scoring game of the season so far, 6-5 fireworks show between Moscow and Malmo.

This week also featured several players who were traded over the off-season facing off against their former teams for the first time. Most notable among these was the league’s current winningest goalie, Brick Wahl, facing off against his former team, the Calgary Wranglers, with an outstanding performance. But that is just some of the excitement from this week’s games, so strap in and get ready for a lot of recapping.
 
3-Stars

First Star
JB Rift (CGY) - .935 SV%, 2.05 GAA, 1 SO
Second Star
Aston Martin (RIG) - 5 Goals, 10 Assists
Third Star
Guillaume Fontenette (HSK) - 7 Goals, 7 Assists
 
Power Rankings

European Conference
Riga Reign - (+3) Skyrocketing to the top after a very strong week of sims against top teams. Moscow Menace - (-1) They need to start beating top teams if they want the #1 spot back. Prague Phantoms - (-1) Wildly inconsistent, beating good teams, losing to lower teams. Helsinki Titans - (-1) Once again, Europe looks very strong this season. I’d rank Helsinki #5 in the league. HC Davos Dynamo - Falling behind isn’t an option in this conference, but Davos is still in striking distance. Malmo Nighthawks - They beat Vancouver this week! That’s about it...  
North American Conference
Vancouver Wolves - (+2) Stop losing to teams at the bottom of the table! That being said, this was a successful week for the Wolves  Calgary Wranglers - (-1) Calgary is currently playing all of the top teams. It shows in their record this week. New York Americans - (-1) A late-week slide really hurt New York this week. They still have a high upside. Toronto Legion - The bottom three here is almost interchangeable at this point. That is bad news for Toronto. Seattle Bears - There is a light at the end of the tunnel that maybe even includes sliding into a playoff spot. D.C. Dragons - A couple of impressive wins by Seattle slips D.C. into the last spot.  
Notable Games

Game 58 - Vancouver vs D.C.
What an upset! D.C. has some great veteran talent, but it just hasn’t come together often for them so far this season. This was a flash of the greatness that we wish we could see from them on a regular basis. The veterans really stepped up this game with Frostbeard and Kriketers dominating the shootout for an important 2 points. We also saw some cracks begin to form for Vancouver with the disgusting OT play of Jeff Downey. There is no place in the league for that kind of play, and doing it out of frustration in OT cost his team a chance to win the game before it went to a shootout.

Game 75 - Riga vs Prague
A battle for the top spot in the European Conference, Moscow leads both these teams but is yet to face either on the ice, so for now, this is the closest we get to a title bout. The first period was insane with a combined twenty-three shots and six goals. Riga got out to an early lead, up 3-1 after seven minutes, and didn’t take their foot off the gas. The Reign can be truly explosive at times and showed it here. However, to be fair to Prague, they went on to win the rematch in Game 98, so their defence is certainly cable of hanging with even the best scorers.

Game 89 - Vancouver vs Moscow
The rematch of one of the best games from last week, this could very easily be a preview of this season’s cup final. Both teams executed their game plans with excellence. Vancouver appeared to dominate offensively through the first two periods, but still, Moscow stayed within one with very efficient shooting on their limited offensive opportunities (at one point, they were scoring on 1/3rd of their shots). In addition to that, both teams produced on the power play, scoring two goals apiece while holding the man advantage. The Menace looked as though they would force overtime through defensive mastery in the third, but Vancouver was able to resist their continued pressure and secure the win.

Events of the Week

Fights
Game 49 - Nolan draws with Vigneault After an action-packed first period, it had been twenty-eight long minutes since the last scoring. Nolan and Vigneault must have been getting bored because they decided their last fight needed round 2. This time, they each got in a few solid blows but there was still no clear winner. These teams face each other again in Game 127, so key an idea on these two to see if they get up to these antics again. Game 51 - Kastelic draws with Plunkett After going up 3-1 on the Dynamo, Ryan Kastelic decided to add injury to insult. Right from the faceoff, Kastelic started throwing his weight around. He was eventually able to find a sparring partner in Brendan Plunkett, but even he didn’t seem interested in a real fight. After a lot of jersey holding and jabs, refs broke it up and sent Kastelic off for instigation. Game 56 - Jubis beats up Vigneault In his third fight in as many games, Edward Vigneault finally got what was coming to him. Fighting is fine, but being a goon is different. One can only hope that the beating Vigneault received at the hands of RJ Jubis was enough to make him think twice before dropping his gloves at the drop of a hat again. Jubis’s victory was the only one the Phantoms would find in this game. Game 61 - Barabash Jr. draws with Vigneault So much for knocking some sense in the Edward Vigneault; this makes four in a row. This time, the job of fighting Vigneault fell to Tyler Barabash Jr. It took the refs four games to finally have enough of Vigneault’s nonsense and ejected him from the game following the fairly meaningless fight. Game 62 - BRAWL! This was a shameful display by both teams. Hockey sticks are dangerous weapons and should be treated as such. Brendan Plunkett and Walter Clements got into a heated discussion right off the faceoff and their fight sparked complete chaos. John Madden ended up bloodying Jaxon Walker and Fernando Jokinen threw a few punches at Ryo Yamazuki II but the smaller forward had no interest in that matchup. The truly horrific part was the four skaters who wildly and dangerously tried to hit others with their sticks. Matthew Materazo, Joseph McWolf, David O’Quinn, and Jagger Philliefan should all be ashamed of their actions and the league should take a hard look at further discipline for those involved. Game 70 - Adrienne beats up Dissanayake After scrapping in the corner for the puck, these two came out swinging. It is unknown what really sparked the hostilities in a game tied 1-1, but Adrienne definitely managed to get the upper hand over Dissanayake. Play resumed uneventfully while these two sat in the box and another goal wasn’t scored for another thirty-five minutes. Game 91 - Summers draws with Laughton Blake Laughton is the most penalized player in the VHL, but sometimes he is answering the needs of his team. Prague was down by a goal going into the third period and they needed a spark. Laughton provided that when he dragged Erik Summers into his first VHL fight. Summers managed to hold his own through the fight, with both sides landing several blows, but it lead Titans to draw four more penalties in the third, with one of them resulting in the tying goal. Despite Laughton’s ejection from the game, Prague went on to win in the shootout. Game 101 - BRAWL! These undisciplined melees are becoming more common as the season goes on. After Jack Lynch bodied Gritty on the forecheck, Gritty came up swinging and found Ambrose Stark ready to drop gloves. Dan Baillie picked up Lynch and started wailing on him. Neither fight had a clear winner, but both Moscow players were ejected from the game for instigation. Plenty of sticks and fists flew from other players as well resulting in penalties to Oskar Lagesson, Vladimir Pavlov, Henrik Zoiderberg, Berocka Sundqvist, and Mat Tocco. Game 109 - Tear draws with Okada Two players who rarely fight, these two had simply seen enough of each other tonight. Following a puck tipped away from ACL Tear as he entered the zone by Hiroshi Okada, the play moved on but the players different. It was a long fight, as both players refused to go to the ice, but in the end, they each sat their five minutes and by the time they returned, the game-winner had been scored. Game 123 - Forest draws with Crosby It isn’t clear what transpired between these two earlier in the period, but they had some words a few minutes earlier. That conversation continued on the bench with chirping back and forth. Eventually, both players decided to give in to the inevitable and as soon as Crosby stepped on the ice, he skated straight to Boris who was eagerly awaiting him. The fight was over quickly, and both sides seemed to cool down as they went into the second period.  
Hat-Tricks
Game 55 - John Madden After going down by two goals in the first period, John Madden put the rest of HC Davos on his back and got to work. Over the next twelve minutes, Madden put up three unanswered goals. From there, Bert Meyers took over with two of his own to put the game away for the Dynamo. Game 57 - ACL Tear With an empty-netter in the final seconds, ACL TEAR has secured his first hat-trick of the season. The early season series between Helsinki and Riga has been intense and each side now has a hat-trick in the series as well. Apollo Hackett deserves recognition here as well with assists on all three goals.  Game 66 - Mat Tocco Mat Tocco becomes the second player in S70 to put together a four-goal game. To do that and somehow still not be the highest-scoring player in the game is a cruel fate. At least they were smart enough to give Tocco the first star, but Vladimir Pavlov’s five assists should also be made note of. Game 80 - Codrick Past A one-period hat trick! Svoboda tacked on one more in the second, but this game was over as soon as Codrick scored his third goal in less than eleven minutes. Also of note, Ryan Kastelic had four assists (two primary and two secondary) in this game to move himself up into the top ten in assists in the league while Past moved into the top five goal scorers. Game 95 - Jet Jaguar It took overtime, but Jet Jaguar managed to put together his first hat-trick of the season. Jet scored the game-winner with just twenty seconds left in OT to save his team from the ever-fickle shootout. Moscow and Riga are racing to lead the league in hat-tricks. Game 108 - Dan Baillie And just like that, Moscow ties Riga with three hat-tricks so far this season. Dan Baillie counted for nine of Moscow’s forty shots and ended the night with three goals and an assist. Despite having four points in the game, Moscow still needed one more goal from Nate Telker, his first of the season, to put Malmo away. Game 117 - Tyler Barabash Jr. Tyler Barabash Jr. opened up the scoring for Calgary on the power play just over three minutes into the game. In the second period, he went on to score the game-winner and then put the cherry on top with a phenomenal short-handed goal. He also nearly had another goal in the second put it was tipped in by his teammate instead when Barabash’s shot seemed to be on target but Kris Rice secured the goal with a last-second tip to beat Samuel Ross. Shutouts
Game 56 - Calgary vs Prague Sweet, sweet revenge. After threatening to retire if he stayed in Calgary, this matchup holds an unimaginable amount of significance for Brick Wahl. How sweet, then, it must feel to get a shutout in your first game against your former team under such circumstances. Brick Wahl is showing us all that he still has some great goaltending left in him. Game 65 - Malmo vs Seattle Is Seattle getting over their cup hangover? Maybe back-to-back cups means double the hangover. If Seattle wants to 3-peat they are going to have to have performances like this from Rayz Funk a lot more often. Seattle’s defence also deserves a shoutout for only allowing four shots in the second period. Game 67 - Calgary vs New York Oof! That is two shutouts in a week against Calgary. This team has the weapons, but scoring has been ice cold recently. A Red Guy records his first shutout of the season and New York manages to keep the series between these teams close and the rankings at the top of the North American Conference even closer. Game 86 - Calgary vs Davos JB Rift has been on a tear this week and this shutout was the finishing touch on his this masterpiece of goaltending he has put together. Davos has struggled to produce a lot of scoring opportunities in a few of their recent games and the Calgary defence took full advantage of the struggling Dynamo to hold them to only seventeen shots. Game 113 - Toronto vs Seattle This game was a goal-tending clinic. The two goaltenders walked away with the first and second star and combined for sixty-eight saves on sixty-nine shots (nice). However, only one can walk away with the win and the shutout, and that honour goes to Owen May with his first of the season. Game 114 - Malmo vs Vancouver In what might be the most shocking box score of the week, Malmo shut out the Vancouver Wolves despite allowing forty-nine shots on goal. Michael Johnson records his second shutout of the season and he deserves every ounce of the glory. His team hung him out to dry again and again and he simply could not allow a puck to slip by him. Easily the most impressive single-game performance of the season. Game 119 - Vancouver vs D.C. Greg Eagles must have felt inspired after watching Johnson’s performance in the Wolves’ last game. Either that, or he didn’t want someone else to have more shutouts than him because he came into this game with a chip on his shoulder. By the second half of this game, with a 3-0 lead, Vancouver’s defence simply became oppressive, allowing only twelve shots in the final thirty minutes of play. Game 120 - Moscow vs Seattle Remember what I said about the Malmo/Vancouver score being the most shocking of the week? This is the only game that rivals it. Rayz Funk wasn’t going to let another amazing performance go to waste as he was a Walrus in net while his team chased Moscow’s starting goalie from the ice. Toronto should be scared knowing this Seattle team is clawing up behind them for a playoff spot. Game 122 - Prague vs. Davos Brick Wahl is now the winningest goalie in the league so far this season. He has played a couple more games than his nearest competition, so we will have to wait and see if that stands, but performances like this one will keep him firmly in that position. Prague killed off nine penalties in this match, nine. It was a miraculous piece of goal-tending that saved them here.  
Rookie Spotlight

Calgary’s Youth Line

At one point this week, the Calgary Wranglers had the three highest-scoring rookie forwards in the league. Ondrej Ohradka, Kris Rice, and Mikko Lahtinen have combined for 27 points in their first season in the VHL. Ohradka and Lahtinen had some great chemistry coming into the season after spending last year together on the cup-winning Saskatoon Wild team of S69. There, they combined for 211 points while Rice put up 137 in Mississauga, first among forwards.
 
Interestingly, Rice and Lahtinen also had a VHLM connection while playing together for the Mississauga hounds in S68, but found themselves on opposite sides of the ice for the S69 cup final. Apparently there are no hard feelings because these two have been playing off each other wonderfully so far this season.
 
Calgary’s future is looking extremely bright with so much young talent at hand, it just took a strangely constructed tank last season to get there. If the Wrangler can entice these three to spend a large chunk of their careers in Calgary, expect this to be the top-scoring line in the league just a couple seasons from now.
 
 

As long as I can skate, I'll still be throwing the body.

All too many know how painful the story often goes: a hometown superstar or high-quality minors prospect devotes their life to the game. Hundreds upon hundreds of hours of practice year after year, an incredible mentor or two, and they're making a name for themselves in the minor leagues. A solid draft spot and long career seems like a reasonable conclusion to their first year or two in the league.
 
Draft night comes, everyone and their mother is wearing their Sunday best, and you wait. Maybe you're not Cinnamon Block, Hunter Hearst Helmsley, or Condor Adrienne. That's fine, no-one expected you to go first. Then the first few draft picks are off the table -- you get your hopes up because now, the teams that already have a solid core of players and are in contention can pick. You're passed on a few more times, and it's the end of the first round -- that's fine, those 350 TPE kids can do what they want with their fancy carry-over.
 
By the end of the second round, your stomach starts to churn. Will anyone take you? Mid-tier players start moving off the draft board, and maybe a friend or old teammate of yours is exasperated.
 
"You're definitely better than that guy," they say.
 
End of the third, and maybe the fourth - the round where, in most drafts, the GMs start passing on selections - and you're beside yourself. In the Season 66 through S68 drafts, you might see yourself drop into the fifth, or maybe even the sixth or seventh rounds. Some people might consider that an insult so great that it cuts them off from the game in no time flat -- after they collect the first season check, at any rate.
 
But we're not going to talk about the many players that flame out of the league in their first season. No -- we're going to discuss those that were passed on literally dozens of times, those that used this perceived slight as motivation. These are the handful of players that should, by most conventional metrics, be a subtle 'oh, he was famous for some reason or another' or a nice, obscure trivia question at local bar nights - but instead kept at it, grinding out a proper spot for themselves in the major leagues. Here are each season's late-round survivors.
 
Season 63

Image credit to the man himself, Tape-to-Tape!
 
RW/C Joey Boucher @Tape-to-Tape, Helsinki Titans
Drafted: 25th Overall (Round 4 of 4) by Helsinki
Career TPE: 688
 
The oldest member of our list, Joey Boucher is getting awful close to retirement - but he still certainly has a spot on the Titans' roster. He's spent time on three different teams - being shipped off to a Continental Cup-winning Toronto Legion in Season 65 and moving to Malmo for Season 68 before spending what will likely be his last couple of years back in Helsinki. Some will argue he's one of the shortest members on the list; he's listed at 5'6", but that hasn't stopped him from enjoying a satisfying pro career.
 
Because he's the oldest, he also has the most history to discuss. Boucher started his career as a relatively pure scorer, but took a season or so to bloom. He scored just 16 points in his first year with Helsinki as a third-liner on a team that included the likes of The Charm and Keaton Louth, as well as younger versions of Kronos Bailey and Julian Borwinn, he had little time on the ice (12.87 minutes/game). His second season - likely his most successful - saw him play over twice as many minutes while scoring a whopping 63 points for the Legion; indeed, he was moved to Canada with The Charm and, in spite of receiving 2nd/3rd line minutes and marginal time on the powerplay (as a defenseman!), he managed a solid season.
 
He since has recorded another couple of seasons over 50 points, including a 72-point outburst in his last season with Toronto. He's gradually evolved into a more grinder-style forward, capping out oat 192 hits in Season 67 with the Legion, though he continues to manage ~0.5 ppg with the Titans this season around. Part of Boucher's charm is how wonderfully he treats his teammates, shouting out Virgil Ligriv as an 'unsung hero' of his team just a couple of days ago. Most of the youngins on Helsinki know Boucher's name well -- and though he's not a first-line worthy forward at present, most still see him putting in the hours at the team practice facility on a regular basis.
 
Season 65
 

RW Don Draper @Infernal, Prague Phantoms
Drafted 28th Overall (Round 4 of 4) by Vancouver
Career TPE: 418
 
The second player on our list is none other than the Mad Man himself, Don Draper. He's just old enough to be one of the few players to have both "Quebec City" and "Vancouver" listed on his career transcript (on the portal, anyway). Provided his draft position, some assumed that he was condemned to obscurity -- especially provided he spent three full seasons in the minor league as part of the Ottawa Lynx. His pick originally belonged to Davos, which had been traded around a couple of times (to Seattle, then to Quebec City as part of a trade that involved star Veran Dragomir).
 
While his first minor league season was unspectacular, he managed 92 and 90 points in his second and third VHLM seasons, respectively -- and that earned him the call-up in Season 67. After being swapped back to the Dynamo (with other assets) for Shawn Glade, he was unspectacular for Davos, and like Boucher was only afforded third-line minutes (provided end-of-season lines, receiving only 10% ice time at that!). With the Season 68 expansion, introducing Prague and D.C. as new franchise locations and Draper finally experiencing free agency, he took his talents to Prague. Though times are always tough as a franchise's first set of forwards, Draper took the dive and has had his most productive pro seasons to date, with 58 and 41 points (so far) respectively. He also has a reputation as a two-way forward, with excellent defensive and checking acumen on top of demonstrable scoring chops.
 
Season 66

The only picture of Cody Smith I could find was the one in his signature!
 
D Cody Smith @cody73, Calgary Wranglers
Drafted 42nd Overall (Round 5) by Calgary
Career TPE: 520
 
Season 66 is historic, and continues to hold the title of the largest number of picks (80) in a VHL Draft ever. Because it went a mind-boggling eight full rounds, with no GMs skipping any selections and a new franchise in the Malmo Nighthawks, there were going to be some players that got lost in the sauce, so to speak. Cody Smith is the first, and arguably one of the most significant for wriggling his way into an important spot for the Calgary Wranglers.
 
To be clear, no draft before Season 66 even had 42 total picks to begin with, which is significant -- Smith is actually the highest selection of any player in the Season 66 draft to make this list. He had an unremarkable first VHLM season with Halifax, scoring 23 points in spite of playing every game in the season -- but then exploded with the Hounds in Season 66, ending with 87 points (45 G, 42 A). He then was called up to the Wranglers as something of a project player. The Wranglers employed the Canadian defenseman on their second and fourth pairs in tandem with the now-retired Robert Malenko with marginal minutes but an excellent plus-minus in context (+14) with 45 shot blocks.
 
When the Wranglers moved on from Malenko, they brought on promising rookie Kefka Palazzo, and a gradual change in the Wrangler guard has occurred in the seasons since, with standbys Sebastian Ironside and Leph Twinger moving on to the end of their careers. While still an incredibly important part of Calgary's depth, Smith has played a more integral role in the Wranglers' defensive pairings, notching 44 points in 68 games, 157 hits, and 82 shots blocked (so far) this season. The Wranglers may be out of the playoffs this season, but Cody Smith has earned himself a spot as a pro defenseman for years to come.
 

 
LW Blake Laughton @Grape, Prague Phantoms
Drafted 47th Overall (Round 5) by Malmo
Career TPE: 409
 
Laughton follows a career trajectory similar to Cody Smith - spending two seasons with the Ottawa Lynx and breaking out in Season 66 with 80 points (41 G, 39 A). Arguably more importantly from a scouting standpoint, he managed a very physical 261 hits. Laughton occupies a niche not often filled in the big leagues, and has had 170 or more hits in all three of his pro seasons.
 
Though Laughton was taken by the Nighthawks, he wasn't in their plans for long -- and ironically enough, the Canadian forward was traded to New York on (American) Independence Day in exchange for a couple of late-round picks in the S67 and S68 drafts. He's maintained his gestalt of an enforcer-scorer hybrid in the last few seasons, but has had some difficulty finding the net with regularity for the Phantoms (50 points in S68, 34 points in S69). Regardless, he stands as an important part of both power play and even-strength units in Prague, and will likely continue his consistent play through depreciation.
 

 
D Dean Clarke @Kyle, Moscow Menace
Drafted 51st Overall (Round 6) by Moscow
Career TPE: 482
 
The first of just two 6th rounders on this list, Dean Clarke is a rare breed of defensemen that is tasked with manning a Moscow defense fraught with the most goals against among the top seven or eight teams. Clarke has managed roughly 100 shots blocked per season ever since entering the pros in Season 67 -- an impressive enough feat for a first rounder, to say nothing of the company he has on this list.
 
In his two most recent pro seasons, he's been part of this offensively-oriented, fast-paced team with schemes that might leave most average defenseman befuddled in the dust. It took Clarke some time to adjust (8 points in S67), but now he's matured nicely into his role as a second-pair defender for the Menace -- so nicely, in fact, that he was offered a nice extension through Season 71 just this past off-season.
 

 
LW Ben Hafkey @McLovin, Helsinki Titans
Drafted 53rd Overall (Round 6) by Vancouver
Career TPE: 527
 
American winger Ben Hafkey -- in fact the lowest draft pick on this entire list -- has the most TPE of any mentioned player in this article. Like many others on this list, Hafkey was a project player, spending a second season with the Reapers in the minor league before being called up in Season 67. Unlike most other players on this list, however, he has no strong minor league season to brag about in the pros -- instead, he has a lengthy history of success, including a Founder's Cup and multiple successful regular and playoff appearances with Vancouver. His playoffs streak will continue with a Helsinki team that is likely to take the second or third seed in the European Conference.
 
Hafkey's scouting profile is often more impressive than his numbers. A relatively pure, traditional forward, he has excellent passing and scoring abilities, as well as good defensive positioning. To this point, his big knock has been average skating skills and a penchant for getting knocked off the puck - but that hasn't stopped him from posting upper-tier plus-minuses (+17 this season) and reasonable shooting efficiency (15 goals on 150 shots). He also keeps a squeaky-clean penalty sheet, with just 32 penalty minutes accrued in 213 games
 
For some perspective, this sixth round pick has earned his way onto the same line as multiple-award-winners Julian Borwinn and Kronos Bailey. Not bad for a project player, huh?
 
Players from the S67-68 Drafts that should be recognized, but aren't featured in this article:
C Edu Stava @Edustava
G Virgil Ligriv @MMFLEX
RW Bud Knight @Dilly Dilly
RW Raleigh Ritchie @DangerGolding
 
Total Words: 2020 excluding this. This was done intentionally, fight me.
Claiming for Unsung Heroes Theme Week.

+10

At least he didn't say anything about trading me. That's a good sign, I think.

I swear if I get traded again imma flip

1. I wouldn't say anyone really is exceeding expectations. Everyone is playing around where they should. Some guys are playing pretty well right now but nothing too crazy.
2. Personally I just like to get back on the ice. Sometimes it's not possible to do so immediately after the game but it always feels good to just skate around casually. Really lets your mind run free.
3. I can't say I really model myself after everyone. I go out there and just play my own game and do my own things and it's worked out so far.
4. Pregame I hit myself up with my special grilled cheese. I use a secret recipe. Don't want the other team to discover its magic. For post game I don't usually eat anything. Maybe some water and an orange just to re-hydrate me but that's about it.
5. Don't really care either way. It'd be good to do something like that to remind us of some of the greats in the VHL, as long as there isn't too many popping up. Wouldn't want to restrict players too much.
6.  Just need to play a fuller game, more production from some of are guys really. Looking at some of our stats, there's definitely some players who could really improve and I feel that everyone can generate a little more offense, myself included. I don't see our defense getting super good so the best way to steal wins is to out-chance and outscore our opponents.

1. Of course. Although it's a bit of a bummer to leave New York, it's always exciting to go and play for an expansion team.
2. I think the best thing for me to do is improve my defense and to take less penalties. Last season both my +/- and pims were pretty undesirable and will what I focus on improving this season
3. Everyone, really. Always fun to play with a new group of guys and see what we can do together
4. Yea it looks pretty slick.
5. At the moment I have my doubts, but depending on who we bring in, we can definitely finish off better than them.
6. Right now, we could use a little bit of everything. Depth is a necessity.

S66 Draft Gems 
With many focusing on the proven players that are sure to be chosen early in the draft, not much focus is being given to players that have a chance to be worth much more than their place in the draft may indicate. In this report, we will highlight some of the young players that could end up being major steals in the season 66 draft.  
 
Blake Laughton  @Grape
A massive young man at 6’3” and 229 lbs, Laughton, while not the flashiest player in the draft, still has a lot of potential, and could be a great mid to late round pick up for any team. While Laughton has not been receiving as much TPE as he could, he has been very consistent, and could definitely prove to be much more valuable if he starts to pick up the pace. Blake Laughton was most noticeably very adept at both skating and his shot, and also showed a flair for his ability to get the puck in difficult situations. Laughton did not have very flashy stats which is to be expected given the poor season that his team had, but what stands out is the timing of his few goals. Out of the 7 goals he scored in the regular season, five were on the powerplay, and two were game winning goals. If Laughton keeps up the consistent improvement, he may prove to be a very important clutch player that is able to get things done for his team when they need him most.  
 
Anthony Amberback  @Oost
Amberback is another very consistent player, and is actually even bigger than Laughton at 6’4” and 235 lbs. Amberback embodies a true two-way defenseman, amassing 37 points, 180 hits, and 83 shots blocked. He also maintained a –3, despite being on the defensively struggling Saskatoon Wild. Amberback’s checking, puck handling, and defensive abilities stand out the most, and if he keeps up his pace of consistent improvement, he may be a pretty decent steal. While many mock drafts have him going in the 4th or 5th round, he could definitely be a much more valuable pick than many of the players that will likely be less reliable.  
 
Edgar Tannahill @gregreg
Tannahill has an impressive pedigree despite joining Saskatoon late in the season. Between his late start and at times less than desirable playing time, Tannahill still managed to put up some very respectable numbers. Like the others, he is expected to be drafted in one of the later rounds, but many think that he has the resolve and tenacity to make a name for himself unbecoming of such a low pick. His impressive skating and scoring abilities helped him to net a shocking 35 points despite his playing time. Tannahill was also only briefly on Saskatoon’s powerplay, but he was able to get 5 powerplay goals in that limited time. Like Laughton, his ability to execute in clutch situations proves that this young skater has tremendous poise, and will likely be a great addition to any locker room come draft time.  
 
These three skaters have all stood out as players that could perform far better than surface-level scouting would suggest, and perhaps a good reason for GMs to hold on to some later round draft picks, and also for those watching the live draft to potentially see these players picked higher than the initial scouting reports have predicted.  
 
Media Spot for Week of 04/21/2019, Word Count: 567 

This draft class has a large amount of SHLers who have made the jump over to the VHL after the amazing portal update. In this VHL.com article we'll be looking at where they rank in the S66 Draft. I probably forgot some usernames I don't recognize. 
 
1. @gorlab 212 TPE
Gorlab is clearly the best SHLer in this draft class. Sitting at 212 TPE he's 1st among SHLers and 6th overall.  Although he was BANNED from SHL, I'm still counting him as an ex-SHLer.
 
2. @bluesfan55 207 TPE
207 TPE, bloobs is looking like a stud in the VHL already. A very successful SHLer, I have no doubt he's going to create an amazing player here as well. Good luck with your player bloobs! 
 
3. @Dangles13 165 TPE
The Co-Commish of the SHL! Looks to be off to a solid start to his VHL career, already at 165 TPE. He ranks #3 on our list.
 
4. @SlashACM  152 TPE
Already wrote about Slash a lot in my MS this week, don't want to type the same thing over again. 
 
5. @xDParK 147 TPE
Same as above
 
6. @Kylrad 146 TPE 
Same as above
 
7. @leafssteen 139 TPE
Really solid SHL member, seems like a nice guy from what I've seen. He'll be a great player if he puts in similar effort to the SHL.
 
8. @Birdman 119 TPE
Not bad, but he's down 4 spots in the rankings. Maybe falling off a bit? Bird is a sick dude but I'm not sure how committed he is here.
 
9. @Grape 87 TPE
Could be a 5th round + steal if he remains consistent with the easily earned TPE here. He's one of my fav GMs in the SHL.
 
10. @Teztify 79 TPE
I love tez but I think he stopped updating here
 
11. @Rent A McZ 79 TPE
Same as Tez
 
12. @cpetrella  69 TPE
Puts in a lot of work into the SHL. I like this person.
 
13. @O4L 54 TPE
He's a bust, don't draft this guy.
 
14. @Samee 50 TPE
Can be a little bit aggressive in the SHL. Haven't really seen him around here much.
 
15. @KitRas
 BUST 
 
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More than enough (aka any at all) discussion will be had around HHH and the high end of the draft, but that's boring as hell. Who cares about first overall anyways? I'm more interested in some of the guys who are on the lower end of the TPE scale, but whose draft stock has been rising, for any one of many possible reasons. Here are a few that jump out to me.
 
1. LW - Kyle Sabertooth: 157 TPE @uphillmoss
Sabertooth will be on the threshold of capping out at the end of this season and therefore forcing himself into the big league. With the way he's been earning of late, I highly doubt the winger will be returning the the M for S66. Moss has been active around the site and on discord, leading me to believe he won't peter out anytime soon as well.
 
2. RW - Emil Passerelli: 138 TPE @SparrowLTD
Sparrow's TPE earnings probably don't jump out at anyone, simply based on the fact that he's been primarily claiming welfare instead of doing a PT. I think he's still a really solid option in this deep draft because of how consistent he's been with his claims every week. On top of welfare, Sparrow tends to do Trivia and Press Conferences, and he has a couple recruits under his wing (ha) that help both his TPE earning potential in the long run and the likelihood of him sticking around for seasons to come. Once again, combine the above with his activity and interaction with other members, and you have a solid depth prospect.
 
3. D - Apollo Hackett: 124 TPE @Renomitsu
I would have to imagine that Hackett is flying under nobody's radar at this point. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised to see a team like Riga, who could use someone like him possibly staying in the M another year, take him with a late 1st round pick. I know that may sound crazy considering how many players are already above 200 TPE in this draft class, but I think the long term TPE earning potential that Renomitsu brings greatly outweighs the short term benefits of taking someone with a high amount of TPE on draft day. Between donations, trivia, maximizing uncapped TPE opportunities, and doing a PT every week, Renomitsu has already shown that he's prepared to dig in and better his player. The fact that he was only ranked 40th in the latest S66 draft rankings means he could be the biggest riser in the weeks to come.
 
4. LW - Blake Laughton: 87 TPE @Grape
This pick is a bit of a funny one. Grape went 3 full weeks after creating Laughton before claiming any TPE, but since then, he's been earning welfare solidly every week, with the occasional press conference, trivia answers, or even graphic sprinkled in. For whatever reason, I'm just getting a vibe that Laughton might be one of those slow burning picks, one of those that might stay another season or even two in the VHLM, but in 5 seasons' time is an integral part of a contending team's 2nd line. Honestly there's no real concrete reason to throw Laughton on this list, but I'm just getting a feeling.
 
535 Words, theme week.

Ight then let's go

Very proud to be selected this early. Now is time for it to really begin