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.

6 hours ago, Frank said:

@DMaximus please never stop posting these.

 

 

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 2^nd 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 1^st in the league with 335 minutes on the powerplay. Their next closest teammate was Vasile Lamb @dlamb who finished 63^rd 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 2^nd 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!

 

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

$126 donation to the Center for Trauma and Embodiment at the Justice Resource Institute. They offer online sessions of trauma sensitive yoga, which helps restore the connection of mind and body that is often compromised as a result of trauma.

 

 

 

One Raffle Entry please.

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

One raffle entry please.

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