Gustav

I don't think I'll be selected by Davos after the deal for Shawn Glade, but before that deal, I thought it was a near guarantee. Honestly, I'm surprised I'm the popular choice so far--and even more surprised I'm the only one who's picked Volosenkov.

Did someone say TAGGING GUSTAV REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Hi @berocka! I'm GustavMattias, GM of the Mississauga Hounds, one of the league's new expansion teams, and I'm happy to see you've joined the VHL! Our minor league just had its draft, and being a GM in said minor league, I'm writing to let you know I'm interested in signing you. Right now, I can offer you a spot on our 3rd line, with nice potential to move up the chart if you stay active. If you're interested, feel free to quote this offer and say "accepted," and I'll make you a contract offer on the portal! Welcome to the league once again, and, as always, feel free to contact me if you have any questions. -Gustav

Next up: is Charlie Paddywagon real in the first place?

All this has me thinking I should write up a mock draft...

With HHH, Riga gets an immediate second-line center with definite Hall of Fame potential, and with Podrick Cast being S61, they'll have a top-line star at the ready when his time comes. Regardless of concerns about whether or not he'll stay with the team he's drafted to, I'd say it's worth the risk. No other elite centers on the list.

@HenrikZoiderberg I almost forgot I did a rookie profile--this was way back when I had no idea what I was doing. Interesting to see someone digging that far back in the records. You're a hot rookie already--you'll do really well here. Good luck this season, but be warned--word on the street is that our teams might be rivals...

Tagging our new signing @raghas so he knows where to find our press conference!

Hello there @Mark Striker! I'm GustavMattias, GM of the Mississauga Hounds, one of the VHLM's new expansion teams this season. At the moment, we have the best goalie of the draft class and some great forwards, but one piece is missing: defense! If you sign with Mississauga, I can guarantee you'll be placed on our top 4, and if you're active, I can pretty much guarantee you'll crack the top line before long! If this sounds good to you, feel free to quote this offer and say "accepted" with it so I can offer you a contract on the portal. Good luck this season, and feel free to ask me if you have any questions! -Gustav

Hello there @HughJas_! I'm GustavMattias, GM of one of the VHLM's new expansion teams, the Mississauga Hounds. We came out of the draft with great value and great forward depth and scoring talent, and we'd like to capitalize on that by complementing our forwards with some great free agent defensemen. At the moment, we NEED defensemen, and you could be just the player for the job! I can offer you a definite top-3 spot, with very high potential to move onto our top pairing. If this sounds good to you, feel free to quote this offer and say "accepted," so I can officially make you a contract offer on the portal. Good luck this season, and, as always, feel free to ask if you have any questions. -Gustav

I've sent you an offer on the portal! I'll also be sending you a DM with a link to our locker room on Discord. Welcome to the team!

Hey there @Pominville29! I'm GustavMattias, GM of the Mississauga Hounds, and since not many have made any offers yet, I figured I should to make sure you have some options and you don't go unsigned. At the moment, we do have our goalie--he's highly active and one of the top members of the current draft class and figures to be our starter for the entire year. He'll be starting most of our games, even if we do get a backup. So, if you're looking for starter-role potential, personally, I wouldn't come here if I were you. With that being said, however, we'll still get you into a few games here and there, and should another team require a goaltender, we'd be more than happy to respect your wish to be traded there should you have one. I'm not about keeping players on the bench when they could be much more of a factor elsewhere. As a side note, I see your username and assume you're a Sabres fan...in that case, me too! Though I don't believe we can get you the greatest opportunity to start on our team, feel free to quote and accept my offer if you're simply just looking for somewhere to play, and I've made us sound good. Good luck this season! -Gustav

I've done it! I'm the #1 defenseman! (For now)

Hey there @raghas! I'm GustavMattias, GM of the Mississauga Hounds, one of the league's three new expansion teams. We're looking to add some forward depth, and I think you might be perfect for the job. Right now, I can offer you a spot on our third line, with definite potential to break into our top lines if you stay active. If this interests you, feel free to quote my offer and say "accepted," and I'll send you an offer on the portal! The best of luck to you this season, and as always, feel free to ask if you have any questions. -Gustav

We actually have 3 LWs. Good to read anyway, I like it!

Hey there @RickyThunderschtick! I'm GustavMattias, GM of one of the VHLM's new expansion teams, the Mississauga Hounds. I'd like to know something about you before we start--in the last round of the draft we picked up an inactive player named Richard Tremblay (@maximlab). Are you and this person one and the same? If so, it would be cool if you were to sign with us. ...and if not, that would be cool, too. We'd love to have you around regardless. If you can promise that you'll be active, and if you'd like to play for my team, please quote this offer and say "accepted." We can offer you a spot on the third line with definite potential to move up the chart. Good luck this season! -Gustav

Hello there! I'm GustavMattias, GM of the Mississauga Hounds, one of the league's new (and promising!) expansion teams. After the draft, I can tell you that we're a legitimate contender, and we've got many highly active players on both the site and in our locker room on Discord. I'm interested in creating a team of ACTIVE players--if you plan on being an active member of the site, then I will do all I possibly can to help you achieve that goal (i.e. rise to the top 10 of your draft class if you're active enough). If you do plan on being active, and you'd like to come to Mississauga (right now you'd be on the third line, but we have quite a bit of potential to move up if you earn points quickly), please quote my post and say "accepted," and I'll make you an offer on the portal. Good luck this season @princetonsnomad! -Gustav

Many thanks yet again to @gorlab for helping me keep up the photo editing work...I'm improving, I promise.

Did someone say BANDWAGONING Just kidding, good luck in Philly @uphillmoss

Hey @Chet! How goes it? We already have a Chett on our team, but it may have just been meant to be that we might end up with a Chet as well... I'm GustavMattias, GM of the Mississauga Hounds, one of the league's new expansion teams. We came out with a VERY strong draft class, but what we REALLY need is defensemen. If you're interested in playing for my team, just quote my offer and comment "accept." We can offer you a starting role, possibly even first-line, with LOTS of ice time every game. If you're interested, I'd love to have you! Welcome to the league, and don't be afraid to ask if you have any questions! -Gustav

See above--I'm going to have to go with Owen May and Beau Buefordsson. I'm playing to win! This is partly because I want to win, and partly because I feel like if I didn't win, both myself and the commissioners would face a good deal of criticism from people who think I'm too new for the job and don't think I deserved to be hired. As far as the future goes, I can't see any point in my career when I wouldn't want to GM. It's been a lot of fun lately and I like getting the new guys interested and involved. I tried to think of a song by the Dead here, but the fact of the matter is that there really isn't anything they've written in the vein of intense pump-up music. In fact, I wouldn't say I listen to a great deal in that vein. About the heaviest I get is this 24-minute masterpiece, one of my favorite songs of all time off an album that I don't otherwise care for. More like an album--check out Zonkey by Umphrey's McGee. Usually, I don't care for covers (and in fact, I'd go so far as to say that in most cases, I particularly don't care for covers) and I also don't really care for most mainstream music, but the way everything is thrown together in songs like this is just something I really love, half ironically, half unironically. The #1 step to ensuring that your players are doing what they need to do to succeed is to make sure that they know what to do in the first place. I've posted everything I know about TPE-earning at the moment, and I'll update every time something new comes up. I've also brought in Callum MacElroy, my old Bulls teammate, as well as draftees Rayz Funk and Hulk Hogan, all of whom I know are highly active on Discord. I believe that having a great locker room atmosphere will help me make something out of not much, as keeping our players active in the locker room will translate to success in league matchups as well. You know what? Cherry Garcia is OK. I don't hate it. But I'm going to have to go with either Vanilla Caramel Fudge or Milk & Cookies. Anyone who doesn't love those is out of their mind. Tagging @Renomitsu simply because I haven't lately.

In the interest of not being too cliche and saying 11, I'll go with a 10.9 here. I loved every minute of it; we just never won that cup. Being picked by an expansion team would be really interesting. All I've ever known in this league is expansion teams. But really, whoever picks me will be my favorite. No matter who it is I can't wait. Absolutely! There are stats other than just points for skaters. Watching both my hits and blocked shots pile up like nobody's business was quite fun, and it was a pleasant surprise when I scored rather than an unpleasant one when I didn't. I'd be a forward. Goaltending is quite competitive here and forward building gives you more options. I don't have any personal reason to avoid any team--I just hope wherever I go isn't completely saturated with defensemen. I'd like my ice time. @FacebookFighter has mentioned some interest in playing with me and I like that idea. Playing with @Radcow, my AGM in Mississauga, would also be pretty nice. Bert Meyers seems like a decent guy too, I wouldn't mind feeding him the puck. I understand I won't be a star in my first season, so I'd just like to be able to say that my name is recognized around the league. I'd like to change the common mentality here that every skater has to be a goal-scorer. Even defensemen here aren't built to be defensemen--scoring is commonly above defense for lots of them. Hopefully, I can influence someone to try to build a player like Jerry. I'm not too familiar with how depreciation works here, so we'll see just how much I suck in my later years and I'll decide at that point. At the risk of being labeled a filthy Communist, team success all the way! That's what being a defensive defenseman is all about--sacrificing your line on the scoresheet to contribute immeasurably to your team. I'd definitely step in. It really only takes one bad teammate to ruin the VHL experience, and that one bad teammate can ruin an entire team's atmosphere in the locker room. Being good off the ice is just as important as being good on it. Hopefully I do stick around, and I don't see myself leaving anytime soon. I've actually thought up a WONDERFUL idea for a player that's a bit of an inside joke among Sabres fans, but I won't give away too much at the moment.