Gustav

Mississauga's getting some REPRESENTATION in this thread! I love seeing it. I'd write page-long recommendations for @Radcow, @cody73, or @HulkHogan if that weren't a bit weird, but let's face it--it is. My recommendations here and elsewhere likely don't (and shouldn't) mean a thing to the commissioners in the long run of the hiring process, but I'll tell anyone, any day, that the Hounds have some management-worthy talent.

For the week ending 6/30: 1. Our season ended earlier this week, when we lost in the playoffs to the Ottawa Lynx. What are your thoughts on your experience this season as a whole? What did you like, and what didn't you like? 2. Who wins the cup now, Philly or Ottawa? 3. Which VHL team do you think will pick you up? Which VHL team do you hope picks you up? If you're heading back into the VHLM draft, are there any teams other than the Hounds you wouldn't mind being selected by? 4. It's a bit early to know for sure, but do you plan on going up to the VHL or staying down in the minors another season? 5. The Ottawa Lynx GM job is currently open. Do we have a chance at seeing another Hound make their way into management? 6. The offseason may be longer than you think. How does your player plan to pass the time until play resumes? @Rayzor_7 @HulkHogan @cody73 @No_Dangles @GlowyGoat @DoktorFunk @mmarcoux98 @SweetMike666 @maximlab @Cran @Viknegar @NavyCanuck @raghas @HanManHimself @berocka @hartfordhitmen @aCrypticPancake

I've watched two of my favorite teams do exactly the same thing this season.

Whether you stay or go, thanks for being a great teammate last season and a great guy in general. Also a nice addition to my collection of "people in management who have been on my team," which is more extensive than it should be.

Here's the article I wrote for theme week: Using this reply to claim the 1-point bonus for both the 6-point task and the 2-point task.

Nice series @Esso2264, and the best of luck going forward.

? Good luck Ottawa!

@Matt_O hi! 1. Were you surprised to be named GM of the Aces? Why or why not? 2. Do you have any particular plans for the future of Vegas? 3. What's something valuable you've learned as AGM of Malmo? 4. Is there anything in particular that makes you optimistic about the future of the Nighthawks? 5. Are you happy with your player's performance this season? 6. How exactly has VSN improved recently, and how do they plan to continue improving?

If I'm allowed to ask questions here, I notice a particular lack of questions in here for this week... 1. Who's winning the cup in the VHLM this season? 2. Who's winning the cup in the VHL this season? 3. Who on your team has made the biggest impact on you this season? 4. Who on a different team has made the biggest impact on you this season? 5. If you could be drafted to any one VHL team, which would it be and why? 6. What are your goals for your player's career? If you've been around, you know the deal, but if you're new, here's the deal: answer 3 of these for one TPE, or all 6 for two.

MALMO--Earlier this season, it looked like the Nighthawks would make history. The team went on the hottest of hot streaks (at least, for an expansion team) right at the start, rising to a spot among the league's top teams for a good while before dramatically crashing and burning in what may have been one of the worst turnarounds in league history. Dropping all the way to ninth, the Nighthawks watched their playoff (and, dare I say, cup) hopes fall away, leaving their arena in need of some good use when the regular season came to a close. With the start of the postseason, Malmo had plans, expressing their newfound rivalry with fellow expansion team the Moscow Menace through a brand-new promotion held last night to benefit those in need in the city--"Boo Moscow Night," which saw the arena filled up just as much as in any hockey game. "We sat down and just booed Moscow for three hours straight," said Reine Ejstes, a local fan of the Nighthawks. "It was a great time and definitely worth it. It's not a playoff game, but it's the next-best thing for sure."

I almost voted Gate, actually, but for me it ended up being a literal coin flip between Wahl and Kingfisher. Both put up great numbers on OK teams.

Congrats @TheFlash!

First

Well this would have been nice to know before I wrote a 3,900 word article that wasn't at all about the playoffs. I like writing though, so we're good. It's a doubles week right?

@Rayzor_7 @HulkHogan @cody73 @No_Dangles @GlowyGoat @DoktorFunk @mmarcoux98 @SweetMike666 @maximlab @Cran @Viknegar @NavyCanuck @raghas @HanManHimself @berocka @hartfordhitmen @aCrypticPancake Came in to ask some questions, but it looks like they've been asked already! Feel free to answer any 6 of these for your TPE this week.

I can see where you're coming from, for sure. My thinking was this: I graded not based on how valuable the draft class turned out to be in terms of quantity, but by how much value a team got out of the draft, compared to the picks they did and did not have. Having a ton of picks, but picking up a lot of average players relative to the round in which they were selected (see Moscow) will earn a lower grade, while having few picks but making some very good choices (see, for the most part, Helsinki, and, dare I say, Malmo) will merit a higher one. First of all, Riga had four first-round picks. They selected HHH (who was the near-consensus #1 pick, and I can safely say that any old idiot knew he'd turn out to be valuable. I actually didn't even consider HHH in my final grade because of this fact. Whether this was a mistake is entirely your, and everyone else's, opinion). Then, they selected three other players, two of which have become welfare claimers and one of which does PTs but certainly doesn't max out. In fact, five players in the first round (Mars, Aaltonen, Volosenkov, Nielsen, and Sigurdsson) do not regularly max out, capped TPE-wise, and Riga managed to select three of them. It's true that they're all on the team, but they were all over 200 TPE at the time of the draft and had no choice but to be there. No player that Riga drafted in the first round was, in my opinion, a bust. They simply aren't living up to their earning expectations. Apollo Hackett was a great pick, and arguably the best of the second round. Whether this should have made the grade higher is, again, a matter of opinion. To me, it stopped the grade from being lower. Rodriguez has been just about average, given his draft position. I might have even been nicer about this one than I should have been, given his TPE numbers. And then, everyone else selected by Riga is now inactive. So we have: -Four first-rounders, one who would have been picked up by just about anyone (except maybe Victor), and three who aren't earning like first-rounders ideally should. -One second-rounder, who's been great. -One third-rounder, who's been OK. -One pick in every round from the fourth to the last, who's been a bust. Again, 5/10 is average. A rating of 5/10 doesn't mean that I'm deducting 5 points off of a perfect score for one reason or another, it simply means that the draft class was average. I felt that Riga's class was below average, for sure, more so than Moscow, who I gave a 4/10 for being slightly below average. Everyone is absolutely entitled to their own opinion, and I'm aware that I might get disagreement less civil than this after a good bit of time has passed with this up. Looking forward to hearing all opinions, though, no matter what they might be!

Nobody's a bust yet--first impressions can be misleading! I've never met @Kylrad, but by all accounts, I hear he's great.

@Jables I've said this to you at least twice tonight already, but you're a wonderful person and someone who's of great value to the league, and I'm sad to see you go. Here's to a speedy return, although don't ever rush yourself back in! As Sonnet said, you're the ultimate homie. Feel free to hang out with us in the Houston locker room anytime you want.

A couple weeks ago, @Renomitsu wrote an article which put together grades of each North American team's draft class, and at the end put this out there: I agreed to do this, but only on the condition that I did not grade Malmo. You see, I play for Malmo, and I wanted to be fair--I can easily see myself trying to be modest and calling Garcia a bust (which I don't think he is), and I can also see myself not wanting to be mean and giving all my teammates high praise, whether or not they deserved it. I feel that I can be objectively fair with the rest, though, especially since the last article made clear that the grades contained therein are meant to revolve around 5/10 being average. Not great, but certainly not as bad as 5/10 sounds in most contexts. If you're wondering about the Malmo grades, Renomitsu has written them up, and they'll be in this article as well This article will take into account players' TPE as of the week ending June 2nd, so as to provide a picture consistent with that of the North American conference article, which was written on the 1st. I'll also do my best to grade players and teams in the same manner as the previous article, using the same metrics. And speaking of pictures consistent with those of the last article, here's one, shamelessly copied and pasted, and for my own reference just as much as yours... *quik note: Renomitsu went through the trouble of calculating TPE and averages for players as of this week, so, while the Malmo numbers have been run with a greater sample size, it is my belief that the numbers present here provide a nice picture of things as well, and as these are the ones already available to my lazy ass, these are the ones which will be used. So, anyway, PREPARE TO BE UNDERWHELMED! In no particular order... HC Davos Dynamo Draftees: D Charlie Paddywagon (6th) D Codrick Past (13th) LW Chico Smeb (19th) LW Blake Gaudette (34th) D Hiromu Takahashi (43rd) C Pascal Batz (44th) G Wendy Kandee Cain (54th) D Cody Parkey (64th) C Shawn Michaels better than HHH (74th) As the guy who was projected to be the first defenseman off the board by just about everyone (at least, just about everyone after I'd become the highest-TPE defenseman in the draft class), I thought I was going to Davos at #6. Sure, I'd written in Garcia to Malmo in my mock, but in the time between my posting and that of the draft results, I'd heard so much "Davos is picking a defenseman" around the league that I'd simply assumed that this would be the case. These being the facts of the matter, I was very surprised to see Charlie Paddywagon (@DMaximus) going to the team at #6--I'd projected Paddywagon to Davos at #13, and Garcia wasn't even off the board yet! Paddywagon's selection, however, proved to be not entirely questionable in this instance--his 71 TPE earned between the draft and the week ending June 2nd beats the average for the first round, and, in fact, actually beats out Garcia, who still leads the way in TPE by a week or so but earned 69 in the aforementioned period (I like to think I earned 69 on purpose). In the second round, though, Davos' defensive pick leaves a bit to be desired, not necessarily in value but in placement. Codrick Past's (@Kylrad) TPE earnings amount to 51, a few below average, and as a welfare claimer, it appears that Past may have been a bit of a reach at #13. At the end of the second round, though, Davos made up the ground they lost by selecting Chico Smeb (@xDParK), a winger who fell all the way to #19 and who was easily the best player available as far as TPE is concerned. While Smeb's +59 is as far above the average as Past's +51 is below, Smeb is also a welfare claimer, and, though he consistently earns 10 TPE or more per week, could start to see his value drop off some if his peers become more competitive in the future. The fourth round proved quite eventful for the team, though not necessarily in the way general manager @ShawnGlade would have hoped. Davos selected winger Blake Gaudette (@Gaudette), who almost immediately requested a trade due to circumstances about which I do not know enough to attempt to explain. Gaudette was promptly traded to Malmo, and the jury is still absolutely out on which team won the trade as there is a "part 2" which is due to happen this coming offseason. Gaudette, however, was a solid pick in the mid-4th, as he's got a nice +71, far above the round's average. Though the trade hasn't yet been completed, Davos has received Malmo's 4th-round pick in the coming draft already, and it's been hinted that Malmo will be on the negative end of things in the second part, making Davos' return on the investment quite helpful. Beyond the fourth, though, Davos' picks were a whole lot of not much. The team picked Hiromu Takahashi (@O4L) at #43, who hasn't claimed a single point since the week of April 28th. Following that up, they selected Pascal Batz (@efiug), a welfare claimer whose +37 is right around the round's average. Pick number 54 saw goaltender Wendy Kandee Cain (@SlashACM), once the top goaltender in the draft class and now the top retired goaltender in the draft class, while inactive Cody Parkey (@SaltyTalty) went at #64 and Shawn Michaels better than HHH (I blame Quik), a worthless test player, was selected at #74. Overall grade? Paddywagon ended up being a nice choice (though, for the moment, Garcia is still better). The second round's picks evened out to average. Gaudette was quite the steal and could end up being costly for Malmo in this mysterious part 2, but the team looks to have missed completely on every pick but perhaps Batz after that fact. 5/10. Helsinki Titans Draftees: C Bert Meyers (15th) C Ludvig Sederstrom (22nd) C Jordan Tonn (29th) D Guillaume Fontenette (30th) C Rhys Chism (39th) G Kolur Bjoernsson (49th) D Duncan Jeffers (59th) RW Sami Van Den Dreissche (69th) LW Micheal Rassmussen (79th) I had a feeling prior to the draft that Bert Meyers (@RunnerBert11) would fall some, as the teams who needed a center satisfied said needs with earlier picks, leaving Meyers to fall until he was far enough behind that not picking him would be a move worthy of great question. And he did, eventually being picked up by Helsinki (who, I'd imagine, was very happy to have a first-round talent, TPE-wise, fall to them in the second). Meyers actually improved at a rate greater than many first-rounders, as he recorded a very nice +90 by June 2nd and shows no signs of slowing down. The Titans' second pick, though, proved to be more of a miss than most GMs would like to see in the early third round, in Ludvig Sederstrom (@aleks). He was certainly active enough at the time of the draft to warrant a selection at #22--he was #20 in the TPE rankings. Since then, though, he's racked up a total of 17 TPE, whether we look at the week of June 2nd or today. Though aleks was my teammate last season in Houston, and I've seen enough in Discord to know he's busy rather than inactive, Sederstrom is still dangerously trending toward bust territory. The team had to wait until the end of the third round to make any more picks, and there they drafted Jordan Tonn (@MexicanCow123) and Guillaume Fontenette (@okocha5). Tonn is +50, while Fontenette is +60--both above average for the round. In fact, since Meyers' TPE puts him inside the top 10 of the draft class, and the earn rate of Tonn and Fontenette averages out to just about your friendly neighborhood second round, Helsinki's choices so far would have earned them an only slightly below-average grade had they been mid-round picks an entire round higher. It gets even crazier when we look at Rhys Chism (@Jables), a scoring center who, to anyone who wasn't his teammate in Houston last season, came out of absolutely nowhere to become one of the more active members of the league this season, currently AGMing Houston (and, oh, look, he's got a +67 on top of that, managing to run right with the first-rounders' earn rate). All in all, an absolutely ridiculous first four rounds for the Titans. After that point, the team's picks quieted down somewhat. Kolur Bjoernsson (@jblock3) is a +56 and a reliable welfare claimer, representing solid value at the 49th draft position. Bjoernsson could develop into a reliable backup for Alexander Pepper in a few seasons, but when Pepper is out the door, Bjoernsson, if he keeps claiming, will likely be far enough along that he's able to start in net for a few seasons in Helsinki. While it's a solid pick for now, time till tell if it develops into anything meaningful. Duncan Jeffers (@Tophdaddy), while he came back a couple weeks ago and claimed some, is still +18 and hasn't shown the greatest steal potential as of yet. It's my opinion that Sami Van Den Dreissche still may amount to something or other in the future--his agent, @TsarPeter, was a fairly active member, and a media spot guy at that, right up to mid-March, when he very suddenly went inactive after being named GM of Team Europe in World Juniors (will he ever know that he won gold? Maybe, maybe not). Whether he suddenly lost interest, or life got in the way for a bit, the interest was 100% there for a good while, making this +0 pick a potential steal in my mind. The Titans actually managed to pick up a player who's been...around the site to some extent in the last round, and the only last-round selection who's been around the site to any extent, Thomas Kennedy aside--Micheal Rasmussen (@Connor mcdavid). He's been around VHL Discord recently, and though he's +10 as of the week of June 2nd, it should be noted that he's +12 between that point and now. He may be back, and Helsinki might have themselves a legitimate steal. Overall grade? Amazing value with the first four out of five, even first five out of six, picks. The team may have whiffed in the sixth and seventh, but it's hard to count later-round picks against a team. Sederstrom aside (and we could see Sederstrom start picking up the points in the future, I don't doubt that), I'd argue that Helsinki may have had the best draft, value-wise. Not much quantity here, but @Quik still has quite a bit to look forward to with this class. 8/10 7/10, as Rhys Chism just announced that he'll be leaving for a while. Moscow Menace Draftees: LW Dmitri Volosenkov (5th) C Jet Jaguar (10th) G Owen May (11th) D Beau Buefordsson (21st) LW Edgar Tannahill (25th) RW Mat Tocco (31st) D Edward Vigneault (33rd) RW Emil Passerelli (35th) RW AJ Axelsen (41st) LW Devin Gabella (50th) D Dean Clarke (51st) D Papa Gage (60th) LW David Clarkson (61st) D Srraxxarrakex II (70th) D DWin Championship (71st) D Fabius Adomaitis (80th) Well, here I'm stuck sorting through half of Toronto's picks--Moscow ended up with Toronto's first-round pick, as well as every Toronto pick from the fifth round to the last. In terms of quantity, the Menace did great, but this isn't about quantity, it's about quality. But since we've got quantity, buckle up, as this might take a while. Anyway, to start things off, Moscow picked up winger Dmitri Volosenkov (@SirRupertBarnes). Though Volosenkov is +68, beating the average by a few, he's been more or less a welfare claimer, and sometimes not even a welfare claimer, in recent memory, and though he's still on every week to claim a few things, has seen his activity drop off to some extent lately, making his progress something to watch and indeed a concern should the trend continue. By stark contrast, though, the team's second pick, Jet Jaguar (@gorlab) has arguably been their MVP this season, producing at (maybe) ROTY-level after somehow falling to the end of the first round. Jaguar's also +100 between the draft and the week of June 2nd, and as one of the league's resident sig gods, will most definitely be around at this level for a good while, and may end up the face of the franchise in a season or two, if he isn't already. A case could have been made for him at #5, even, as he was only 4 TPE behind Volosenkov at the time of the draft, so it's a surprise that he fell as far as he did and I'm sure @Victor doesn't mind. The Menace kicked off the second round by selecting goaltender Owen May, to the surprise of not many. May, at first just about universally projected to go to Malmo at #7, rapidly became the consensus pick for Moscow, who fulfilled the expectations of most by picking him up at #11. Throughout S65, May climbed the goaler rankings, surpassing the likes of Wendy Kandee Cain and Clayton Park to become easily the top goaltender in the draft class. He's +68 by my standards, making his earn rate right up there with the first-rounders. @FacebookFighter has also since proved himself to be one of the team's foremost leaders, creating a Discord locker room, asking press conference questions, and being named AGM of the team, demonstrating his value off the ice as well as on it. ...And here's where I get to call Beau Buefordsson a bust again, much to the dismay of my own AGM, @Radcow. Though I can attest to his dedication, enthusiasm, activity, and value as my own AGM, and I can confidently state that he will one day make a great GM (take note, commissioners!), his player, Beau Buefordsson, is a bit of a different story. Buefordsson went above the cap prior to the draft with a burst of activity that may have helped his draft stock. He's actually +46 between the draft and the week of June 2nd, above the third-round average, but only claimed trivia that week and hasn't claimed a single point since, raising questions about his value to the team. The same can be said of Edgar Tannahill (@gregreg), a league vet whose business with the league, as I understand it, goes way back--he's one of the all-time longest-tenured GMs, and in fact the all-time losingest (I don't care if that's not a word, it was the best way to put it), as we learned from a trivia question last season. Tannahill was drafted 25th overall, after writing a few articles exhibiting his great desire to be called up to the VHL if possible, as well as to be picked up by Moscow. The latter happened, though the former didn't, as Tannahill currently sits in San Diego. Though Greg may be back in it at some point in the future, Tannahill is +12 and hasn't claimed since mid-May. Here's also where I get to make up for my undervaluing of Mat Tocco (@Matmenzinger) in my mock draft, as well--he's +53, well above the fourth-round average, and though the fact that he gave up a good amount to stay down likely made him slip a bit in the draft itself, Moscow came away with a solid, active forward prospect with this pick. The fourth round contained two other Moscow picks, in fact--defenseman Edward Vigneault (@Patpou22) and forward Emil Passerelli (@SparrowLTD). Vigneault is +42, and steadily earning around 6-10 TPE a week as a welfare guy, while it appears that the team may have missed out on Passerelli (and, meanwhile, Halifax may have hit a gold mine for next season). The winger currently sits at 198 TPE, and his agent last visited the site over a month ago, making him, by the league's definition, inactive. The team began hitting on their picks again in the fifth round, picking up AJ Axelsen (@littleboi), a +74 forward who's been consistently active, getting into media spot writing a bit, being active on Discord, and developing at a nice rate. They also managed to pick up Devin Gabella (@Gabella19), who's +44 and currently sits at exactly 200 TPE. He's a welfare guy, but does do more than the bare minimum and has been developing consistently. Dean Clarke (@Kyle), selected at #51, is also +44, but he's a league vet and former first-overall choice, and figures to bring some valuable experience to the team. After this point, there's not a whole lot to be seen from this draft class. David Clarkson (@Jacob Kundrat), who's +41 and has been earning TPE mostly in increments of 6 as a welfare-and-practice-facility claimer, stands out as the only active member out of the rest--Srraxxarrakex II (@flan, someday I'll learn to spell that), DWin Championship (@Award97), and Fabius Adomaitis (@Claire, this draft's Mr. Irrelevant as the last selection) have all gone inactive. Overall grade? A few good choices. Jaguar, May, Tocco, and Axelsen all come to mind, but all things considered, there were more misses than there should have been. Volosenkov has underproduced for a #5 overall, the third round was one big swing and a miss, and it's likely up for debate whether or not most other players picked will amount to anything. 4/10. Riga Reign Draftees: C Hunter Hearst Helmsley (1st) RW Mikko Aaltonen (4th) D Aron Nielsen (8th) RW Arnor Sigurdsson (9th) D Apollo Hackett (16th) RW Aleksander Rodriguez (24th) D Anthony Amberback (36th) D Samuel Sparrow (46th) G Sunny Burst (56th) D Titus Stone (66th) C Charles Alderson (76th) I'm in love with the management practices of @hedgehog337 leading up to this season--not only did he make Riga one of the top teams in the league, but he managed to amass a veritable arsenal of picks in the draft, coming away with four (yes, one, two, three, and four) first-round picks (and, oh, by the way, this was after trading up to #1 overall). Riga surprised absolutely nobody by using that pick to take Hunter Hearst Helmsley (@Beaviss), who racked up 125 points in Yukon last season and has already broken 550 TPE (Beav is on record as having said that he aims to get Helmsley to 99 in every stat, so we'll see if that happens. It would take quite a bit of updating, as well as breaking the all-time record by over 500--getting every stat up to 99 requires 2,220 TPE, and that's before depreciation. But it is HHH, after all). Anyway, HHH has produced this season (he's also +92, by the way), putting up 50 points on a team with a good amount of depth, making this look like a nice choice for Riga so far. The next pickup of the first round was winger Mikko Aaltonen (@GRZ). Aaltonen is +65, or just about average for the first round. The fact that he only managed to put up 34 points this season could call his value into question, but we also have to remember that he's playing on one of the league's deeper teams, and could move up the chart in future seasons if he remains active. A look at his update log shows that while he claims welfare, he maxes out otherwise, making him, while not the ideal first-round pick, a pick with potential to play an important role. The same not-ideal-first-roundiness can be applied to defenseman Aron Nielsen, the third defenseman out of this draft's "big three" to be selected in the first round. While @solas has reached the Hall of Fame twice, he doesn't appear to be able to devote 100% of his time to the league as of late--as someone who knows his way around Gimp, he's done graphics, but only just graphics, the past couple weeks, and he's +51 in the timeframe being used here. While this is hardly a concern, Nielsen is also not quite living up to the expectations of a first-rounder and will not likely live up to his agent's reputation. The first round actually wasn't full of a whole lot of wonderful picks for Riga, as Nielsen was followed right up with Arnor Sigurdsson (@bluesfan55), who's +38 and a welfare claimer as of late, in much the same way as Aaltonen. The second round brought about Apollo Hackett (@Renomitsu, who I've tagged absolutely nowhere else in this article), a defenseman who emerged late in the season to become (after a hiatus or two) one of the league's more active members. Hackett is +90 in the timeframe given, and +34 in the two weeks since, and though Renomitsu leads a busy life which should be expected to get busier soon, he's got that covered with media spot claims running into September. The third then brought Aleksander Rodriguez (@Jtv123), the second overall draft choice in the VHLM this season. Rodriguez does all right TPE-wise--though only +36, he's earned 10 or more TPE per week recently, and while claiming welfare, does more than the minimum and has demonstrated his enthusiasm for the league in the past, so we can't write him off at all. The Reign decided on defenseman Anthony Amberback (@Oost) in the fourth round, and here we have another pick who has, so far, been somewhat of a disappointment. He's +32 and did a nice job in the weeks immediately following the draft, but quickly dropped out of the picture as he currently sits at 196 TPE. Being a member of the Saskatoon Wild, it's possible, though remotely so, that Oost is planning on staying in the minors another season, though he does happen to be giving up quite a few points in doing so. Another defenseman with much the same story was selected in the fifth, that being Samuel Sparrow (@Birdman), an old Houston teammate of mine. Sparrow is +29 and hasn't updated since the week of May 29th. At 183 TPE, also, he could end up in San Diego for another couple of seasons if his inactivity turns out to be "not just a phase, mom." We see the same story yet again in the next round, when the Reign selected goaltender Sunny Burst (@Sunburst). I thought this was a great pickup at the time of the draft--Burst had shown more activity in the offseason, had done a few solid-looking (at least by my standards) graphics, and appeared to be on the road to activity. This was not to be, though, as his last update also came during the week of May 12th, and the goaler's +26 may end up being all he ever gets. The last two picks here are no different, as defenseman Titus Stone (@MD9) and center Charles Alderson (@kithoo) may be long gone from league business. Overall grade? I think Hedge is a great GM, far better than I am. Most of his picks, at the time of the draft, I thought were good ones, and had I written up a review then, Riga would have received a pretty nice grade from me. The only picks which have stood out as good ones, though, are Helmsley and Hackett, and Helmsley's selection involved no real deliberation on the matter, as he is and was indisputably the best player of the draft class. The rest, in general, form a sea of players who are at best average and at worst just downright ugly. I hate to do this, but: 3/10, and I even strongly considered giving Riga a 2. And now, a set of grades written by @Renomitsu himself... Malmo Nighthawks Draftees: D Jerry Garcia D Rusty Shackleford G Juan Jaundice C Nacho LW Blake Gaudette LW Blake Laughton D MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS C Eeli Harju D Finn Theismann The Malmö Nighthawks started this season as remarkably as any expansion team in VHL history. Through twelve games they were 9-3, with important victories over second-seeded Riga and a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the runaway Victory Cup lock for this season in the Helsinki Titans. They had strong victories over New York, Toronto, Vancouver, and Moscow early on, suggesting a reasonable shot at the playoffs. Their hot streak eventually came to an end and they were eliminated from the playoffs, but Malmö’s early success can be attributed to a strong Expansion and Entry draft class, the latter of which we’ll investigate now. Our S66 expansion team started by drafting defenseman Jerry Garcia @GustavMattias seventh overall – and the second of three consecutive defenders to go in the first round between Charlie Paddywagon to Davos and Aron Nielsen to Riga. Garcia has contributed wonderfully to the Nighthawks as a relatively pure defender; he’s tenth overall in shots blocked (140 through 70 games) but firstamong rookies, putting him in good company like Tzuyu, Samuel Gate, and Robert Malenko. As one of only four defensemen on the team, he gets first-line minutes both at even strength and on PK lines – which means he’s often up against players with twice his TPE. Since the last rankings, he’s gone from 286 to 373 TPE, which makes Malmö’s investment in him perfectly justified. He’s earned a little more than most first rounders (87 vs. first-round average of 80.2), so Malmo GM @Advantage should be happy with this pick. Malmö’s second-round selection and defenseman Rusty Shackleford @K1NG LINUS has out-earned even Garcia (94 vs. second-round average of 72) while contributing a +20 plus-minus with Saskatoon in the VHLM this season. He’s been among the more point-productive defenders in the minors as well, with 46 assists in 65 games, and also contributes plenty of hits (152) and shots blocked (95). We’re two-of-two so far for the Nighthawks before moving on to the team’s three fourth-round picks. Strangely enough, all five of Malmö’s mid-to-late round picks were hits as well – among them fellow Saskatoon Wild teammate G Juan Jaundice @Jus, Halifax teammates C Nacho @Nacci25 and LW Blake Gaudette @Gaudette, Ottawa’s winger Blake Laughton @Grape, and titan-like MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS @Abaddon. Jaundice and Nacho above-average for their draft position (+51 and +47 respectively, +41 round average) by a handful of points – a positive sign for a team with a goalie just hitting his prime and only 3 or 4 active forwards. Nacho has contributed valuable second-line minutes to his minors team and while his earning has slowed down somewhat, he’s nonetheless a promising prospect to get third- or even second-line minutes over the next couple of seasons. Jaundice, on the other hand, is currently the winningest goalie in the minors and has pitched 7 shutouts (T-2nd). He’s been middle-of-the-road in save % and goals against on average, but stats tend to compress in the minors. Malmö’s fifth-rounder, LW Blake Laughton, has been similarly above-average for his round (+55 vs. 46 round average) and will graduate to the majors this upcoming season. Should he stay active, he’ll probably get second- or third-line minutes alongside Halifax teammate Nacho. The team’s last fourth-rounder in Gaudette and sixth-rounder in DESTRUCTIOUS have been major boons for the Malmö drafting committee. Gaudette (+81 vs. 41 round average) and DESTRUCTIOUS (+84 vs. 40.6 round average) have blown expectations out of the water, doubling their fellow draftees’ earnings. At present, neither is starter- or high-second-line worthy, but their performances in the minors and first-round-draftee style earning potential makes for a very promising future for the Nighthawks. In draft rankings, it’s pretty hard to count seventh- and eighth-round draft picks against teams, since their TPE increases are usually pretty minimal (11 for 7th round, 16 for 8th round due to one outlier). C Eeli Harju and D Finn Theismann have essentially ghosted the Nighthawks since draft day, and it’s unlikely they’ll make the majors any time soon. Draft Grade: 9/10. Malmö hit on all of their high- and mid-round picks, which is more than any other team can say – their pickups have arguably been even more impressive than Vancouver or Riga. Word count: -3,900-some for me, I doubt I'll ever go 4 weeks without writing a media spot, but should I decide to over the next four weeks, here it is. I believe this is also my 666th post maniacal laughter intensifies -721 for Renomitsu, who (should those in charge of these things agree) can add a week on to an already massive list of stuff to claim for the future if he so desires.

I respectfully disagree, and here's exactly why. I think I've made my stance perfectly clear in this thread and elsewhere. You're still allowed to disagree with me, for sure, but I wouldn't call anything "debunked" at the moment.

@Motzaburger I think I'll have to agree with Nyko in that every week is a bit too frequent for some people. Whether you're busy most of the time, or, like me, you're a writer by trade just casually trying to pick up on the graphics side of things, graphics every week can be a bit much if you're not much of a graphics person. I'd like to get an entry in every week, but one week I was just too busy and this past week I just didn't feel like it (no offense). There's also the fact that there isn't any reward being offered, other than just a spot on the leaderboard. What's the motivation for VHLGFX? There really isn't any; I've just been doing it as a way to learn how to make a passable sig. I don't care where I am on the leaderboard, or who I beat, or who's in front of me. Though the ranking should absolutely play a part in the contest, I have here a little idea for motivation, which doesn't involve the ranking at all but certainly encourages all members, of all skill levels, to take part... Now, this would involve a bit of work on your part, or on the part of anyone who volunteers to help as well. If this sounds good to you, though, I'd suggest that it be given a try. It also involves the use of a FAIR LOTTERY SYSTEM, but enough editorializing on my part. Every week (or every increment of time that you decide should be open for each separate ranking), one entry is chosen at random. Whoever made that entry wins a sig of their choice, whether it's of their own player or that of somebody else they know who's in need of a first sig or an improvement. It's a way to a) encourage activity, and b) get some new guys some fresh-looking sigs. Obviously, though, it would be first and foremost your job, although others who are good at this stuff should be allowed and encouraged to help out. Just my two cents, I'm sure there are other ways to improve things.

Claiming for the week ending 6/16. I have a monster media spot coming but don't see myself being able to finish it tonight or tomorrow.

Carison looking good, and Garcia picks up a point in the shutout. No complaints here.