DMaximus

@animal74 12 hours came and went. You’re still on the clock for your 2nd pick.

I'll take: F - Brendan Marner @Spartakiller2 you're on the clock.

Week 3 claim.

Thanks Frank! I'm not sure I can commit to forever, but I plan to keep making these as long as I'm around. Week 2 Claim.

21st Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S86 Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 21st Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S86! Thank you to everyone that reads this. These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors. For each award, I list the winners from the last 5 seasons. If you want to check out the award winners from every season, use this link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1sAZtX3bxVpPTIsKe1rSRVOenH1-iyWzbQEdR9ZvYOdU/edit?usp=sharing I also document the “all-time” record for each category. Of course, by that I mean all-time for the existence of these awards, not all-time, all-time. Clear? Ok, good. Let’s get things underway! The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Daniel Clarke @Danzo For the first time in the history of this award, we have a repeat winner! Daniel Clarke tied with teammate James Marino @Adrest245 with a -55 rating. Clarke takes home the award because they played less minutes than Marino. All-time record: S82 – creed -156 Last 5 Pylon Award Winners: Season Player + / - S86 Daniel Clarke -55 S85 Daniel Clarke -65 S84 Ryan Li -60 S83 Barron Kruulenstien -66 S82 creed -156 The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Mason Jones @Masu Chan Mason Jones wins the award for the 2nd time in their career. Thanks in part to what I assume is increased anger across all of the VHL, Jones is able to claim the award with 6 PIM. Johnny Xavier @Johnny_HX also recorded 6 PIM, but Mason Jones played more total minutes. All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners: Season Player PIM Minutes Played S86 Mason Jones 6 2175 S85 Girts Galvins 6 2153 S84 Florida Man 2 1880 S83 Mason Jones 2 2146 S82 Omi Aberg 2 2132 The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Jared Carter the 2st @jaredc7 Jared Carter the 2st showed the entire league they can successfully count to 10. Their 10 Major penalties was 1nd in the league. All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors Previous Major2 Award Winners: Season Player Major Penalties S86 Jared Carter the 2st 10 S85 Vinny Detroit 12 S84 Cadmael Ixazaluoh 9 S83 Brian Payne 11 S82 Owen Taylor 12 The Timex Award (received most hits) – Perry Laperriere @KaleebtheMighty Our first repeat winner since Hunter Hearst Helmsley repeated in S70+S71. Perry Laperriere may be made of water because they appear to flow with all these hits they get. The 337 hits they received led the league this year and were 2 shy of their previous season winning total. All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken Last 5 Timex Award Winners: Season Player Hits Taken S86 Perry Laperriere 337 S85 Perry Laperriere 339 S84 Duncan Idaho 316 S83 Saku Kotkakoivu 346 S82 Bogdan Trunov 408 The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday Marner was the only player to record over 600 shots this season. They totaled 602 shots. All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners: Season Player Shots on Goal S86 Brendan Marner 602 S85 Zaza Colors 566 S84 Duncan Idaho 621 S83 Saku Kotkakoivu 692 S82 Jerome Reinhart 713 The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Landon Wolanin @jacobcarson877 Landon Wolanin fired a lot of shots this season, unfortunately for his opponents, many of those shots hit them. Wolanin led the league by having 171 of their shots blocked. All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners: Season Player Own Shots Blocked S86 Landon Wolanin 171 S85 Alex Johnston 168 S84 Alex Johnston 187 S83 Saku Kotkakoivu 189 S82 Taylor Mourning 195 The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Brendan Marner @MetalToday It doesn’t happen every season, but it’s pretty standard fare for the John Wayne winner to win this award. It makes sense, they take a lot of shots, lots of those shots are going to miss. Marner claims this award with 436 shots missed. All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners: Season Player Shots Missed S86 Brendan Marner 436 S85 Zaza Colors 406 S84 Baby Bob 415 S83 Saku Kotkakoivu 509 S82 Jerome Reinhart 489 The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – James Marino @Adrest245 Congrats to James Marino for winning this award after losing the Pylon Award on a tiebreaker. No need for a tiebreaker here, Marino beat the next closet player, George Sanderson @SpicyGecko, by 29 shots blocked. All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners: Season Player Shots Blocked S86 James Marino 243 S85 Deron Nesbitt 222 S84 Jaromir Lemiuex 268 S83 Barron Kruulenstien 261 S82 creed 460 The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - James Marino @Adrest245 Back-to-back award wins for James Marino! Marino played 2,422 minutes, more than anyone else in the VHL. All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners: Season Player Minutes Played S86 James Marino 2422 S85 Florida Man 2221 S84 Jerome Reinhart 2400 S83 Rhys Trenton 2374 S82 Chicken Wing 2512 The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Brendan Marner @MetalToday Marner finished 1st in the league with 335 minutes on the powerplay. Their next closest teammate was Vasile Lamb @dlamb who finished 63rd in the league with 246 PP minutes. Did they lock the door to the bench and not allow Marner to get off the ice? All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes Last 5 Snap! Award Winners: Season Player PP Minutes S86 Brendan Marner 335 S85 Bo Johansson 344 S84 Napoleon Dynamite 369 S83 Battre Sandstrom 339 S82 Tyler Reinhart 397 The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Doug Matchett @jacobaa19 Matchett wins the award with a total of 336 minutes on the penalty kill. All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners: Season Player PK Minutes S86 Doug Matchett 336 S85 Hari Singh Nalwa 317 S84 Deron Nesbitt 335 S83 Zeedayno Chara 340 S82 Hulk Hogan 2 359 The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser Whatever issues that existed with the Face Off statistics in the index appear to have corrected themselves (or someone did something to fix them, thank you to that person). Congratulations to Daniel Janser for winning this award with a fantastic 62.90% of their 3,342 face-offs won. All-time record: S74 - Brock Louth - 63.72% face-offs won Last 5 Sean Archer Award Winners: Season Player Face Off Pct S86 Daniel Janser 62.90% S85 N/A S84 Paul Atreides 61.22% S83 Zeedayno Chara 63.17% S82 Pistil Stamen 62.10% The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – William Futch @Futch Futch had the rare honor of being traded twice in this season. Was it the poor face-off performance that led to the trades? Futch had a league-worst 34.87% face-off win percentage. All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov – 29.60% face-offs won. Last 5 Castor Troy Award Winners: Season Player Face Off Pct S86 William Futch 34.87% S85 N/A S84* Pistol Pete 43.73% S83 Gregory Bates 31.86% S82 Eeli Rantanen 30.47% The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser Daniel Janser proved they are the most skilled player in the VHL multiple ways including dazzling penalty shot goals. Not only did Janser lead the league with 9 penalty shot goals this season, they set the all-time record for this award! Amazing! All-time record: S86 – Daniel Janser - 9 penalty shot goals Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners: Season Player Penalty Shot Goals S86 Daniel Janser 9 S85 Hammar Voss 6 S84 Zach Kisslinger II 7 S83 Zeedayno Chara 7 S82 Baby Bob 4 The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Jared Carter the 2st @jaredc7 Jared Carter the 2st is really showing they are one of the top fighters in the league. They were runner-up for this award last season and come right back and win the award this season with 5 fights won. All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won Last 5 Rocky Award Winners: Season Player Fights Won S86 Jared Carter the 2st 5 S85 Vinny Detroit 5 S84 Paul Atreides 4 S83 Brian Payne 7 S82 Owen Taylor 4 The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Jason Argos @Insypher Jason Argos argot beat up a lot. They lost 5 fights on the season, which ties the all-time mark. All-time record: S86 – Jason Argos, S74 - Lee Xin, and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners: Season Player Fights Lost S86 Jason Argos 5 S85 Henri le Massif 3 S84 Deagun Rust 3 S83 Kyle Glass 3 S82 Vasile Lamb 2 The Stars Award (most stars won) – Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser No real surprise here as the top performer in the league also led the league in total number of stars. Janser’s 17 first stars also led the league, along with his award winning 33 total stars. Shoutout to Dusty Wilson @dustywilson22for leading all goalies with 24 total stars. All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars Last 5 Stars Award Winners: Season Player Total Stars S86 Daniel Janser 33 S85 Saku Kotkakoivu 28 S84 Duncan Idaho 33 S83 Zeedayno Chara 31 S82 Taylor Mourning 33 The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – The Frenchman @OrbitingDeath The Frenchman beat Sock Monkey @chikn on the tiebreaker for this award. The Frenchman had 6 2nd starts, one more than Sock Monkey. All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners: Season Player Stars S86 The Frenchman 9 S85 Hard Markinson 16 S84 Asher Reinhart 13 S83 Tui Sova 12 S82 Gustav Hjalmarsson 9 The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser Another award for Janser their 21 points more than their next teammate was larger than the difference on any other team. It’s tough for teammates to keep up with someone scoring 120 points in a season! All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate Last 5 Backpack Award Winners: Season Player Point Difference from nearest teammate S86 Daniel Janser 21 S85 Jerome Reinhart 20 S84 Nico Pearce 32 S83 Saku Kotkakoivu 23 S82 Taro Tsujimoto 52 The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Callum Murray @Berocka This is season 86, so the award goes to the player in 86th place in total points. Congratulations to Callum Murray! They recorded 49 points this season, good enough for 86th place. Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners: Season Player Points S86 Callum Murray 49 S85 Sting Chameleon 51 S84 DB III 51 S83 Robert Wilk 54 S82 Jakub Brozik 71 The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Ben Dahl @Ben Ben Dahl may go on a ben der after winning this award. Their 10 OT losses was one away from the all time record. All-time record: S82 - Sirkants Klamasteris, S78 – Calvin Harvey, S75 - Doug Dimmadome, and S71 Jaxx Hextall - 11 OT games lost Previous Eggshell Award Winners: Season Player Overtime Games Lost S86 Ben Dahl 10 S85 Boris Tsezar 8 S84 Cole Pearce 9 S83 David Davis 9 S82 Sirkants Klamasteris 11 The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Augustus Kennedy @InstantRockstar Augustus used his glove to slap the faces of many opponents. In total, they recorded a league high 16 PIM. All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners: Season Player PIM S86 Augustus Kennedy 16 S85 Oskar Lindbergh 12 S84 Oskar Lindbergh 16 S83 Ben Dahl 14 S82 Thadius Sales 18 The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Matt Murdock @Acydburn I’m not sure how Murdock does it, but he seems to be completely in tune with the puck and everything around him. He stops penalty shots so well, he could probably do it blindfolded. Not only did Murdock pull off the amazing feat of stopping every penalty shot they faced this season, they also set the all-time record by facing more shots (12 in total) than the previous record of 10. All-time record: S86 – Matt Murdock – 100% penalty shots stopped (12 shots faced) Previous Poke Check Award Winners: Season Player Penalty Shots Stopped S86 Matt Murdock 100.0% S85 Oskar Lindbergh 88.5% S84 David Davis 80.0% S83 Dexter Vaughn 80.0% S82 Tater Tot 88.2% That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!

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How to Get More Involved – Tips for First Gens Now that I’m in the middle of my third gen player, it seems like forever ago that I discovered this site and made my first player. In actual time it was almost 4 years ago. Thankfully for this article, I do remember what it was like to be a first gen. I hope to share some of the knowledge I’ve learned during my time here. Personally, I think the best parts of this league open up once you become involved and invested in the league. Here’s some suggestions for how to become more involved. Read the game results – The game results are the only information we get from the sim. To better understand your player, your teammates, your team, the league, you need to read the game results. By this I don’t mean just clicking on the results link and reading the box score. I mean clicking on the Full Game link and reading the detailed report. Search for your player’s name and read what they’re actually like on the ice. I think this detailed information is helpful because you can come up with better ideas for how to build your player. You also learn what teammates your player works well with. All this helps you become closer to your team and your teammates. That closeness will naturally pull you in more and get you more involved. Write articles – Articles are a great way to get your brain thinking about the league. Of course, they also have the added benefit of earning you sweet, sweet TPE. Write zany stories about your character if you want to focus on role-playing. Write about results/stats if you’re more mathematically inclined. Take on the role of a beat reporter and cover your team, reporting on players and stories from the locker room. A really good way to get involved is to have a reoccurring article or theme. Maybe a weekly summary of the league, or your team, or player that you handle like a newspaper article. Or maybe create a long, over-arching storyline that plays out over the course of many articles. It doesn’t really matter what you actually write about. Just the act of spending the time dedicated to it will increase your involvement. Answer Press Conference Questions – By this, I don’t mean the all-too-standard, mumble out a partial sentence that answers a question in as few words as possible. I mean use the question as an opportunity to breathe life into your player. Think of the scene, you’re sitting at your locker stall with microphones all around you, or you’re up at the podium staring out at a room full of people. They’re expecting you to elaborate on your answer. If they ask something like “How did the last game go?” You answering “Good.” Is not sufficient. Pull out a specific moment to reference to add depth to your answer. Also, you can use this as an opportunity to flesh out your character, maybe they have a certain uniqueness to them, like they say the first word of their answer twice, or continually mispronounce common words. Little nuances like that can really go a long way to create a complete person. Press conferences are the perfect opportunity to go deeper with your player. Keep trying to get a job – I titled this like I did, because I think persistence is extremely important for a first gen to get recognized enough to get a job. A job is a great way to get involved in the league, because you’re forced to be more involved by contractual obligation! But really just the act of seeking a job will get your more involved. I hope this gives you some good ideas and helps you become a contributing member of the VHL community!

1. Comments on Pragues start to the season? I think our start is right in line with expectations. We’ve shown flashes of greatness in some games and flashes of awfulness in others. I think we’re on a great path to get everything sorted out by playoff time. 2. Who has been the most surprising player in the team so far? I think fans wondered how Erlantz Jokinen was going to fit in with the team. Personally, I’m not surprised he’s gelled so well with the squad, but still I’m surprised at how much he’s contributed offensively. 3. What team you enjoy playing against the most? Honestly, it’s whoever we’re playing against in that moment. Almost every team is great this season, there’s no days off. You have to respect every opponent.

@DreMin15 @Scurvy @InstantRockstar@Triller@vincentlg2007 Thank you all for a good draft. Please double check your roster to make sure everything is accurate. If anything is wrong, let me know. @BarzalGoat- Our draft is complete.

1. For roleplaying purposes - should it be ok to answer and ask question in a press conference using other languages than just English? I would say it’s ok to answer a question in another language as long as an English translation is provided. 2. What would be the worst possible destination for training camp? I’m thinking the middle of the desert because getting ice would be really difficult. 3. Just how important it is to win faceoffs in the modern VHL? It’s probably as important as it was in the historic VHL. I think it has a minor importance. Obviously there’s value in starting with possession of the puck. But turnovers are so prolific in the VHL that I don’t think there’s too much value in actually winning the faceoff.

@DreMin15 Bogdan Trunov is retired https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/3875. Please make another selection. You are still on the clock.

@DreMin15your initial time has elapsed for your final pick. You have 9 hours to make your last pick or you will be DQ'd.

F - Igor Molotov @Triller