Gustav

Theme week noises Wow, this has to be the first time in a while that I've had theme week actually line up with a week where I'd otherwise have to write something up and claim it anyway. I'm certainly not complaining, though it's always nice to throw up 2,000 words one week, forget that the next week is theme week, and then drop 2,000 more on the general public and be able to sit back and enjoy a PT-free life for the next month-plus. I don't mean to make a giant death bomb out of this article, though, so let's get on with the why and the what and such. This theme week which may or may not have been my idea is all about assembling a dream team! I originally thought about throwing one together for Davos, but then I considered a few complications which might end up getting in the way. For one thing, take players like Hall-of-Famer Jochen Walser, who played exactly one season for Davos in S11. Could he really have been considered a Davos player? And, if so, how would he be evaluated--on his contributions to Davos in particular (which would easily leave him off the list) or on his status as a great player? And, anyway, I've got almost 75 seasons of players and stats to sort through, and that's the kind of time I don't have on my hands right now. So, I'm choosing to write about the Hounds, the team I used to manage, the team for which I currently play, and the one team whose history I know the most about. I'll also be pulling what's known as a "not Simon" and differentiating between different forward spots, for the sake of keeping things interesting. C - Balentine Kidd (@TukTukTheGreat) S67: 44 GP | 19G - 15A - 34P | -33 | 20 PIM | 45 HIT S68: 72 GP | 40G - 60A - 100P | +46 | 67 PIM | 111 HIT Other notables: JaredN, Dan Gles The Hounds have a curious case of never having had a center who put up the numbers in the minors and went on to accomplish much at the big level. Out of the four notables listed, only JaredN is still in any way active, and numbers at this position group are relatively unimpressive as far as all-time stats in the VHLM go. At the time, Kidd's 100 points in S68 after coming in as a S67 waiver signing set a team record, and he was the top-line center on a team which made the first of two legitimate attempts to win a championship under my control. Active while in the minors, Kidd was eventually drafted by DC and now finds himself on the low end of London's line chart. Tsujimoto is actually on pace to become the Hounds' greatest-ever center, but since we haven't gotten to that point yet, here we are with Kidd. LW - Patrik Tallinder (@Patrik Tallinder) S68: 72 GP | 34G - 30A - 64P | +7 | 47 PIM | 80 HIT S69: 72 GP | 64G - 63A - 127P | +36 | 27 PIM | 104 HIT Other notables: Joseph Gainer, John Brewitt, Cody Smith I ended up picking Tallinder in the third round of the draft in S68 after he showed an impressive amount of activity after joining. While he didn't pan out much in S68 (by VHLM standards), he almost doubled his point output in S69 and altogether put up two solid seasons for the Hounds, putting together a single-season campaign which threw him into first place on the team's all-time and single-season goal lists, as well as third on the single-season points list and second in all-time points. An easy pick based on VHLM stats alone, Tallinder continues to be a significant presence in the VHL community, these days finding his niche in the world of VSN. RW - Kris Rice (@Ricer13) S68: 72 GP | 13G - 20A - 33P | +8 | 41 PIM | 112 HIT S69: 72 GP | 57G - 80A - 137P | +41 | 55 PIM | 126 HIT Other notables: Michael Mac, Callum MacElroy The right side of the attacking group was by far the most difficult group to pick from, because three choices present there were deserving of this spot. For one thing, there's Mac, listed at #1 in all-time points for the Hounds on the portal (though I believe he was traded to the Hounds midseason at some point, so technically that's incorrect), and for another, there's MacElroy, whose 107 points in S66 led the VHLM and brought about an MVP win in the team's first season. It's probably a tossup between Mac and Rice, but I'll go for the active here. Rice followed up an underwhelming post-fourth-round selection season with the highest single-season point total in Hounds history in S69, playing at an elite level all over the ice and being one of a few players who helped lead the team to the cup finals. Flipping his build from playmaker to scorer and his position from winger to center after graduation, Rice continues to be dynamic up in the VHL, where he currently plays for Seattle. D - Finnegan MacBurn (@DizzyWithLogic) S68: 72 GP | 8G - 67A - 75P | -2 | 58 PIM | 97 HIT | 99 SB S69: 72 GP | 11G - 81A - 92P | +25 | 48 PIM | 102 HIT | 76 SB MacBurn came to the Hounds in a trade prior to the start of S68. Inactive soon after due to real-life concerns, he managed to hang around on the Hounds' roster for some time and ended up putting numbers on the board as a great contributor to team success in both of his two Hounds seasons. With defense and passing both at 80 at the time, MacBurn was an assist machine--he's fourth on the Hounds' all-time points list despite only having scored 19 goals, and first in assists by a wide margin. As his rights expired after S69, he left the Hounds, but was active enough to accept offers from a couple different teams in the next two seasons before he finally disappeared off the map for good. D - Hulk Hogan (@TXC) S66: 72 GP | 17G - 77A - 94P | +17 | 118 PIM | 181 HIT | 128 SB Other notables: Will Clarke, Brock Louth Well, here's a name the VHL knows and loves. Hogan was the second-ever player drafted to the Hounds, brought into S66 as the roster's only active defender. With STHS doing its thing, it's no surprise that Hogan was able to put up points in abundance in S66, as well as complement his offensive play with some of the best defensive numbers the Hounds have ever seen. His efforts were well-recognized, as he took home the VHLM's top defenseman award, and ended up leading the league in assists as the back end of a deadly combo with Callum MacElroy. At the end of the line for his VHL career, he's found a reasonable amount of player success, and has found himself in the inner management circles of teams including Halifax and Chicago. G - Jimmy Spyro (@DarkSpyro) S69: 72 GP | 57W - 12L - 3OTL | 0.886 | 1.97 | 9 SO Other notables: Jacob Tonn, Rayz Funk For now only one of three Hounds goalies with a winning record (Askarov could join the club and make a case for being on this list this season), Spyro came to the Hounds as a first-round pick in S69 after becoming increasingly active in the weeks leading up to the draft. Of course, as one might infer by now, S69 was the team's most successful campaign to date, and the play is reflected in Spyro's numbers. Overshadowed by Jacques Lafontaine and the eventual cup-winning Saskatoon team, Spyro quietly put up the best performance the Hounds have ever seen, with a GAA under 2 and a franchise-record nine shutouts. Now the main man for Vancouver, his agent can be seen still with his first VHLM team, as AGM for the Ottawa Lynx. So, that's that! I'm hoping you'll all enjoy. As a side note (that I might as well include because I'm very close to the next word bracket and I don't have any occasion to write a .com article this week), I'm seeing a lot of new members joining the league right now, presumably from whatever recruitment thing is going on behind the scenes at the moment. I've received a few DMs from very new players in the past few days talking about wanting to sign with me or be drafted--and I'd just like to say that that's great! I'm a bit distanced from the newer players these days now that I'm no longer running a VHLM team, but just about any GM will be willing to help you out if you need it. If you're newer and reading this (well, first of all, welcome!), the BEST way to catch the eye of a GM is to be active. Every new member will say that they're going to be active, but it's then on you to follow it up. Join conversations on the forums and on Discord when you'd like to, write about interesting things, learn how to make a solid graphic, and earn all the TPE you can. And, just as importantly, know your limits, know when you're having fun, and don't feel weird about scaling back if real life or burnout starts to get in the way. It might be best for your team or the league if you're a max earner, but it's best for you if you do the best you can while still having fun. Right now, though, jump into it! If you're thinking about doing a 6-point task, go do it! Theme week is a great place to start. 1,661 words; claiming for three weeks.

For like the 5th time in my entire VHL career I found the fantasy thread without being pinged about it. It is indeed a historic moment.

So much for "if you follow it, you'll be notified." Pings are broken smh my head

Garcia on any dream team is a mistake. Good thing I just missed it.

False. Read the copy-paste before posting smh my head

@Mr_Hatter @Rayzor_7 obligatory ping Pro tip: quoting a post or @ mentioning someone will give them a notification! Simply replying might go unnoticed.

@OrbitingDeath guess you're definitely not going back to the old username now. Welcome to the league @Green! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The league's Discord server is a great place to start.

I've done one in each of the last couple rounds of asking, so if anyone would like to steal this from me you're more than welcome to. But, I had fun doing the last couple and I'd take Ironside if there aren't any other interested parties.

@jhatty8 would like a word. Welcome to the league! You should be getting offers from VHLM GMs today, and at that point you'll be able to pick your team for this season. Good luck with everything!

Man I wish you were there to see the one time we took out a big YouTube ad in S69 to see firsthand just how true this was (in that one case at least; I'm well aware that we've had some great members come over from YouTube who might not love the generalization here). For about three days the Discord was a giant stream of people joining and throwing in whatever spam they wanted. I know for a fact we had at least two people from that drive permabanned and it might have been more than that--on top of that, we had maybe 3-4 people out of the 100-ish who joined actually stick around, and I'm not even sure anyone from that specific drive is still in the league. Oh, and we had about 80 goalies, which was a fun time in and of itself.

I mean, there's nothing stopping anyone from doing that right now. It's just that we've never organized that in any sort of official capacity. I'm somewhat neutral on this and could go one way or the other. I'm not really on social media and wouldn't join Twitter myself just to retweet stuff from the VHL account, but for those who might I'm probably not the right person to offer an official opinion.

Yeet

VHLM GMs have one simultaneous collective aneurysm

How did this never occur to me? I always forget to do fantasy zone.

@Dil

78K27905F6766445F $1M Cash 5 uncapped Doubles Week

@Dil

Eh I want to and I'd totally apply if I thought it were a good idea but I'm busy enough school-wise this semester that at the moment taking on more responsibility here probably isn't in the best interest of either myself or the league. Good luck to everyone applying, though! Looking forward to seeing who gets it and I hope they'll be able to serve the VHLM well.

Sure, but a link to the forum isn't being specifically marketed as something one can go elsewhere and drop in on their own time. I highly doubt we'd have any actual serious issues if we end up doing that with a portal page, but it was something that came to mind and I wouldn't be surprised if some mild trouble popped up at some point.

For the week ending 10/4! 1. You've probably been asked a million times in these press conference threads what your "pregame ritual" is. What do you do after games? 2. Who's your favorite NHL team and what's the worst thing about them? 3. Last week, I asked who your favorite sports figure of all time was. Who's your least favorite, in any sport? 4. We've been...inconsistent lately, beating first-place Riga one day and losing to expansion Warsaw the next. What's your general outlook on our chances this season? 5. Which GM, apart from myself, do you know the best? Are there any GMs who you haven't talked to much or at all? 6. Is there anything you wish the league did or offered that it currently doesn't? @Ferda @BlueMaple @Jer_Lefebvre @Sonnet @McWolf @Velevra @turkey2349 @David O'Quinn @Ahma @Josh @PadStack @Rayzor_7

...also apparently I never claimed this. Thank the lord I didn't because next week I get an exam in a class that hasn't been taught very well.

?

I don't think it would be bad in the case that you're suggesting. It's just a bad look if someone joins the SHL discord or something and just starts spamming the link everywhere.