DMaximus

@vincentlg2007your 12 hours has elapsed for your first pick. You are on the clock for your 2nd pick. You have 7 hours remaining on the clock. Please make both picks before your time runs out and you are DQ'd.

G - Brandt Fuhr

 

@vincentlg2007 you're up for your final two picks.

Copying roster to page 2 for ease of use.

 

1.  DreMin15

F - Zach Kisslinger II

F - Matty Fire

F - Cobalt Burns

D - Tavish DeGroot

D - Ryuji Sakamoto

G - Papa Emeritus

 

2. Scurvy

F - Vasile Lamb

F - Vinny Detroit

F - Nezuko

D - Brian Payne

D - Hari Singh Nalwa

G - David Davis

 

3. InstantRockstar

F - Saku Kotkakoivu

F - Ryan Vidot

F - Girts Galvin

D - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish

D - Max Torq

G - Xavier Booberry

 

4. Triller

F - Nico Pearce

F - Brendan Marner

F - Nils Godlander

D - Jerome Reinhart

D - Erlantz Jokinen

G - Ben Dahl

 

5. DMaximus

F - Ronan Lavelle

F - Hulk Hogan 2

F - Igor Molotov

D - Bo Johansson

D - AirRig GoodBrandSun

G - Brandt Fuhr

 

6. vincentlg2007

F - Daniel Janser

F - Tomas Sogaard

F - Perry Laperriere

D - Jake Thunder

D - Mo Probert

G - Wumbo

F - Hulk Hogan 2

 

@Triller

@vincentlg2007 AJ Williams is retired, https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/4029 Please make another selection.

D - AirRig GoodBrandSun

 

@vincentlg2007 for the next two picks.

I'll take

F - Ronan Lavelle

 

@Triller

D - Bo Johansson

 

@vincentlg2007you're up for the next two picks.

@DreMin15 and everyone, please remember to tag the next person so they know they're on the clock.

 

@Scurvyyou're on the clock

@DreMin15 you're up first. Please make your first pick.

My post to track our picks.

 

1.  DreMin15

F - Zach Kisslinger II

F - Matty Fire

F - Cobalt Burns

D - Tavish DeGroot

D - Ryuji Sakamoto

G - Papa Emeritus

 

2. Scurvy

F - Vasile Lamb

F - Vinny Detroit

F - Nezuko

D - Brian Payne

D - Hari Singh Nalwa

G - David Davis

 

3. InstantRockstar

F - Saku Kotkakoivu

F - Ryan Vidot

F - Girts Galvin

D - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish

D - Max Torq

G - Xavier Booberry

 

4. Triller

F - Nico Pearce

F - Brendan Marner

F - Nils Godlander

D - Jerome Reinhart

D - Erlantz Jokinen

G - Ben Dahl

 

5. DMaximus

F - Ronan Lavelle

F - Hulk Hogan 2

F - Igor Molotov

D - Bo Johansson

D - AirRig GoodBrandSun

G - Brandt Fuhr

 

6. vincentlg2007

F - Daniel Janser

F - Tomas Sogaard

F - Perry Laperriere

D - Jake Thunder

D - Mo Probert

G - Wumbo

week 4 claim

week 3 claim

Week 2 claim.

4. Who is your early prediction to win the Continental Cup?

I guess it’s not so early now, but I think Moscow has a great chance to win it all. Also don’t sleep on Chicago.

5. What is your favourite dessert?

Really tough, because I’m not sure I had it yet. Tough to top a really good tiramisu. But I’m still holding out hope of something more amazing. Tough to hate on really good ice cream too.

6. What is your favourite Olympic Sport?

I like a lot of Olympic sports. One of my favorite things is to watch all the events I normally don’t get to see. This last Winter Olympics I really got into biathlon. Always love curling, short track speed skating as well. Summer games are a whole different story, because there’s so many, but I really like fencing and badminton, among tons of others. Basically whatever is on quickly becomes my faovrite.

20th Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S85

Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 20^th Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring the highs and lows of S85! Thank you to everyone that reads this. And yes you’re reading that correctly, this has been going on for 20 seasons!

 

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 

 

Riga owned the top 5 (or bottom 5 depending on your perspective) spots in this category. Daniel Clarke stood above (below) their teammates and took the award home with a -65.

 

All-time record: S82 – creed -156

 

Last 5 Pylon Award Winners:

Season	Player	+ / -
S85	Daniel Clarke	-65
S84	Ryan Li	-60
S83	Barron Kruulenstien	-66
S82	creed	-156
S81	chris foley	-96

 

 

 

The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Girts Galvins @Girts 

 

Florida Man’s @zepheter winning of the award last season has done quite a number on this award. Everyone’s going crazy and committing penalties now. Girts Galvins wins the award this season with an all-time high 6 PIM. Remember, the purpose of the award is for the least penalty minutes! The goal isn’t to get some penalties and hope everyone else gets more.

 

All-time record: S81 - Brendan Telker - 0 PIM, 2211 Minutes Played

 

Last 5 Gandhi Award Winners:

Season	Player	PIM	Minutes Played
S85	Girts Galvins	6	2153
S84	Florida Man	2	1880
S83	Mason Jones	2	2146
S82	Omi Aberg	2	2132
S81	Brendan Telker	0	2211

 

 

 

The Major² Award (most major penalties) - Vinny Detroit @dasboot

 

Based on their play style and high PIM in previous seasons, it’s shocking this is Vinny’s first win of this award. A very strong 12 majors gets the award in Mr. Detroit’s battered hands.

 

All-time Record: S77 – Randy Marsh - 14 Majors

 

Previous Major² Award Winners:

Season	Player	Major Penalties
S85	Vinny Detroit	12
S84	Cadmael Ixazaluoh	9
S83	Brian Payne	11
S82	Owen Taylor	12
S81	Magnus Verlander	9

 

 

 

The Timex Award (received most hits) – Perry Laperriere @KaleebtheMighty 

 

A recent trend of this award was that the overall points leader also took home this award. It make sense, to score a lot, you need to have the puck a lot, which means you get hit a lot. Perry Laperriere broke that streak. They won this award with 339 hits taken. Points leader Daniel Janser @Daniel Janser, finished 9^th in this category with 273 hits taken.

 

All-time Record: S82 – Bogdan Trunov - 408 Hits taken

 

Last 5 Timex Award Winners:

Season	Player	Hits Taken
S85	Perry Laperriere	339
S84	Duncan Idaho	316
S83	Saku Kotkakoivu	346
S82	Bogdan Trunov	408
S81	Lester Green	381

 

 

 

The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Zaza Colors @McWolf

 

Zaza Colors painted the opposing goalies with black by splattering 566 shots on goal. Although I hadn’t considered until now that the pucks in this sim might not be black. Maybe each team uses pucks that are their colors. In that world Colors really lived up to their name then. The multi-colored puck world, that’s a world I want to live in.

 

All-time record: S82 – Jerome Reinhart - 713 Shots on goal

 

Last 5 John Wayne Award Winners:

Season	Player	Shots on Goal
S85	Zaza Colors	566
S84	Duncan Idaho	621
S83	Saku Kotkakoivu	692
S82	Jerome Reinhart	713
S81	Jerome Reinhart	711

 

 

 

The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Alex Johnston @Alex

 

For the first time in the history of this award, we have a repeat winner! Alex bested their winning total from last season by 1 to end up with a league high 168 own shots blocked.

 

All-time record:  S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 204 Own shots blocked

 

Last 5 HtBotB Award Winners:

Season	Player	Own Shots Blocked
S85	Alex Johnston	168
S84	Alex Johnston	187
S83	Saku Kotkakoivu	189
S82	Taylor Mourning	195
S81	Jerome Reinhart	204

 

 

 

The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Zaza Colors @McWolf

 

Zaza zaza’d all over the boards behind the net. They missed the net with shots 406 times this season.

 

All-time record: S81 – Jerome Reinhart - 532 Shots missed

 

Last 5 CHtBotB Award Winners:

Season	Player	Shots Missed
S85	Zaza Colors	406
S84	Baby Bob	415
S83	Saku Kotkakoivu	509
S82	Jerome Reinhart	489
S81	Jerome Reinhart	532

 

 

 

The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Deron Nesbitt @AW13

 

Deron blocked a very-satisfying-to-type-out 222 shots.

 

All-time record: S82 – creed - 460 Shots blocked

 

Last 5 New Shin Pads Award Winners:

Season	Player	Shots Blocked
S85	Deron Nesbitt	222
S84	Jaromir Lemiuex	268
S83	Barron Kruulenstien	261
S82	creed	460
S81	Artair McCloud	237

 

 

The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Florida Man @zepheter 

 

Florida Man avoided the heat and humidity by spending a league leading 2221 minutes on the ice.

 

All-time record: S82 – Chicken Wing – 2,512 Minutes played

 

Last 5 Tired Legs Award Winners:

Season	Player	Minutes Played
S85	Florida Man	2221
S84	Jerome Reinhart	2400
S83	Rhys Trenton	2374
S82	Chicken Wing	2512
S81	Artair McCloud and Ryan Vidot	2469

 

 

 

The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Bo Johansson @Shindigs 

 

I had to double check my work here because the next closest Chicago player was 20^th in the league. It’s really difficult to understand how a player could spend so much more time on the powerplay than their teammates, but Bo made it happen and led the league with 344 minutes on the powerplay.

 

All-time record: S79 - Muffbeav - 454 power play minutes

 

Last 5 Snap! Award Winners:

Season	Player	PP Minutes
S85	Bo Johansson	344
S84	Napoleon Dynamite	369
S83	Battre Sandstrom	339
S82	Tyler Reinhart	397
S81	Bogdan Trunov	397

 

 

 

The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Hari Singh Nalwa @Dil 

 

Hari must like special teams. They were the runner up for the Snap! Award last season and take home this award with 317 minutes killing penalties.

 

All-time record: S79 - Gustislav Nasherov - 447 penalty kill minutes

               

Last 5 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:

Season	Player	PK Minutes
S85	Hari Singh Nalwa	317
S84	Deron Nesbitt	335
S83	Zeedayno Chara	340
S82	Hulk Hogan 2	359
S81	Sven Eightnine	319

 

 

 

The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – AWARD SUSPENDED

 

 

The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) – AWARD SUSPENDED

 

 

I talked about this in last season’s award show. Basically the face-off % in the stats index is broken. For example, the top player won 30.86% of their face-offs. Then when you go into their individual player page, it shows they won 35% of their face-offs. Something’s wrong because they don’t match but also there’s no way the top face-off % was 35%. There’s a player who took 2 face-offs, their reported % is 30.71, a mathematically impossible result. Last season I was able to cobble together who I think won the awards and handed them out. That took more time and effort than it should and I’m not even sure it’s accurate. Because of all that, we’re not handing out the face-off awards this season. Hopefully whatever bug is causing this gets fixed in the future.

 

 

The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Hammar Voss @BOOM 

 

This award is normally reserved for the top skilled forwards in the league, but defenseman Hammer Voss is changing the norm. They won this awards by scoring 6 penalty shot goals. More than any other defenseman or forward in the league. Great stuff!

 

All-time record: S67 - Veran Dragomir and S78 - Thomas Landry II - 8 penalty shot goals

               

Last 5 Triple Deke Award Winners:

Season	Player	Penalty Shot Goals
S85	Hammar Voss	6
S84	Zach Kisslinger II	7
S83	Zeedayno Chara	7
S82	Baby Bob	4
S81	Armani Calamari	5

 

 

 

The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Vinny Detroit @dasboot

 

There’s two ways to win this award, get in a couple of fights and win them all or get in a lot of fights and win simply though the sheer volume of opportunity. Vinny Detroit went with the later. They racked up 12 fights this season, ending with a 5-3-3 record. The 5 fight wins nets them this award, but who’s the best fighter this season will still be debated with many fans pointing to the more impressive 4-1-3 Jared Carter the 2st @jaredc7

 

All-time record: S83 Brian Payne – 7 fights won

               

Last 5 Rocky Award Winners:

Season	Player	Fights Won
S85	Vinny Detroit	5
S84	Paul Atreides	4
S83	Brian Payne	7
S82	Owen Taylor	4
S81	Pistil Stamen	3

 

 

 

 

The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Henri le Massif @Garsh 

 

There’s many signs that can indicate it’s time to retire. Getting repeatedly punched in the face is one of those signs. Henri le Massif read the signs from their league worst 3 fights lost and retired at the end of the season. Two other players also lost 3 fights, Rocky Award winner Vinny Detroit and tied-for-this-same-award-last-season-but-also-didn’t-win-because-of-the-tiebraker Cadmael Ixazaluoh @Vice. Massif won on the tiebreaker because of their overall fight record of 0-3-2.

 

All-time record: S74 - Lee Xin and S69 Rusty Shackleford - 5 fights lost

               

Last 5 Glass Joe Award Winners:

Season	Player	Fights Lost
S85	Henri le Massif	3
S84	Deagun Rust	3
S83	Kyle Glass	3
S82	Vasile Lamb	2
S81	Magnus Verlander	3

 

 

 

The Stars Award (most stars won) – Saku Kotkakoivu  @DollarAndADream  

 

Saku won this award with 28 total stars. He reached those stars in a somewhat unorthodox fashion, by netting 8 3^rd stars. Multiple players have more first stars, but no one had more total stars. Special recognition to Zach Kisslinger II @Kisslinger and Nico Pearce @Spartan who tied for the league lead with 14 first stars. Also shout-out to Augustus Kennedy @InstantRockstar who led all goalies with 22 total stars. And of course Clueless Wallob @DMaximus who led the goalies with 12 first stars.

 

All-time record: S76 - Mikko Lahtinen – 34 total stars

               

Last 5 Stars Award Winners:

Season	Player	Total Stars
S85	Saku Kotkakoivu	28
S84	Duncan Idaho	33
S83	Zeedayno Chara	31
S82	Taylor Mourning	33
S81	Justin Lose	28

 

 

 

The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1^st star) – Hard Markinson @STZ

 

Markinson found it extremely difficult, tough, onerous, exacting, arduous or some synonym of that to get a first star this season. But they wound up with a total of 16 2^nd and 3^rd starts which is the all-time record for this award. Congratulations on that!

 

All-time record: S85 – Hard Markinson - 16 stars

               

Last 5 Bridesmaid Award Winners:

Season	Player	Stars
S85	Hard Markinson	16
S84	Asher Reinhart	13
S83	Tui Sova	12
S82	Gustav Hjalmarsson	9
S81	Donny Carter	8

 

 

The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Jerome Reinhart @MexicanCow123 

 

There was actually a tie between Jerome Reinhart and Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems @FrostBeard who each outscored their nearest teammate by 20 points. Reinhart wins on the tiebreaker because they score more total points.

 

All-time record: S82 – Taro Tsujimoto - 52 points more than nearest teammate

           

Last 5 Backpack Award Winners:

Season	Player	Point Difference from nearest teammate
S85	Jerome Reinhart	20
S84	Nico Pearce	32
S83	Saku Kotkakoivu	23
S82	Taro Tsujimoto	52
S81	Alex Johnston	32

 

 

 

The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Sting Chameleon @Hybrid1486 

 

This is season 85, so the award goes to the player in 85^th place in total points. Congratulations to Sting Chameleon! They recorded 51 points this season, good enough for 85^th place.

 

Last 5 Anniversary Award Winners:

Season	Player	Points
S85	Sting Chameleon	51
S84	DB III	51
S83	Robert Wilk	54
S82	Jakub Brozik	71
S81	AJ Williams	76

 

 

 

 

The Eggshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Boris Tsezar @comrade cat 

 

8 must have been a popular number this season because there was a 5-way tie for this award with 8 OT losses. Boris Tsezar wins it because they played less total games than the other goalies.

 

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
S85	Boris Tsezar	8
S84	Cole Pearce	9
S83	David Davis	9
S82	Sirkants Klamasteris	11
S81	Papa Emeritus	9

 

 

 

The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Oskar Lindbergh @Doomsday

 

Oskar Lindbergh claims this award for a 2^nd consecutive season with 12 PIM. Brandt Fuhr @Tate also committed 12 PIM, but Oskar gets the award because they played less total minutes.

 

All-time record: S76 - Doug Dimmadome - 29 PIM

 

Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:

Season	Player	PIM
S85	Oskar Lindbergh	12
S84	Oskar Lindbergh	16
S83	Ben Dahl	14
S82	Thadius Sales	18
S81	Barry Taffe	23

 

 

  

The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Oskar Lindbergh @Doomsday

 

The same stick work that won them the previous award appears to have come in handy to win them the Poke Check award as well. Oskar stopped 88.5% of the 26 penalty shots they faced.

 

All-time record: S81 – Tater Tot – 100% penalty shots stopped (10 shots faced)

 

Previous Poke Check Award Winners:

Season	Player	Penalty Shots Stopped
S85	Oskar Lindbergh	88.5%
S84	David Davis	80.0%
S83	Dexter Vaughn	80.0%
S82	Tater Tot	88.2%
S81	Tater Tot	100.0%

 

 

 

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!

 

 

Great GM recipe

 

Being a great GM isn’t all that difficult. You really just need a few key ingredients in the right proportions, some time to let everything combine, and maybe some ideas cooking in the brain, and boom you have a great GM.

 

Here’s my recipe:

1 cup of passion – This is far and away the most important ingredient. If you don’t have passion for the position, or passion for position, or passion for the league, or passion for the community, or passion for the people on your team, or passion for the other people in the league, you’re doomed before the whole thing even takes off. You have to care in order to even have a change to succeed. I think everyone has passion when they first start, but, for some, it goes away. GMing is sometimes a thankless job, it’s sometimes burdensome, it’s sometimes a drag, it’s sometimes a letdown. All of that wears on you. The only way to combat that is with passion. Caring about you and your team.

½ cup of time (add in small increments) – Let’s face it performing all the GM duties takes time. But (unlike the writing of this article) it’s not like you can handle all the duties in one big clump on Sunday night. To be a great GM, you need to check in here and there throughout the week. You need to be around to help anyone or answer questions. You need to be around to sign players. You need to be around to motivate your players. You need to be around to represent you team. Each of those things don’t take a lot of time individually, but collectively being a great GM requires a dedication of your time.

¼ cup of personal skills – The crazy thing about the VHL and the reason it’s so different from CPUs in video games is that the VHL is comprised of real people. To be a great GM, you need to be able to interact with people. You need to be able to find ways to motivate them. You need to find ways to keep them interested. Then you also need to be able to interact with all the other GMs. You have to be able to communicate with them when trying to figure out a deal. You have to be able to find ways to understand what is import to someone else and use that to make a deal that helps our you and your team. All of those things rely on your personal skills.

1 tsp luck – A little luck never hurt anyone especially when it comes to STHS.

¼ tsp hockey knowledge- Yes this is a hockey sim, but really you need almost no knowledge to be a great GM. Let’s face it STHS is not a sophisticated sim engine. There are very basic elements at play here that barely represent actual hockey. Essentially if you know what offense and defense is, you’re good to go.

 

The instructions are to combine all of those things into yourself and apply for a GM job. Keep at it until you’re a great GM.

Week 2 claim.

1. With the first day of regular season right around the corner, what are your expectations for this season?

I know that we have a young team. I expect us to have some bumps in the road. I hope that we’re able to stay together as a team and overcome whatever comes our way.

2. Which VHL team do you see winning the cup this season?

It looks like Vancouver is going to be really good. You can never count out Moscow either. Oh wait, I mean Prague.

3. What type of player do you want your player to be?

I just want to be someone who goes out there and gives it their all, night after night. If I leave it all on the ice, I’m satisfied, Also, don’t come into my crease.

S85 Pre-Season Rankings

 

Last season I wrote a media spot with my pre-season rankings. I enjoyed making the article, so I figured why not have another go at it.

In addition to the rankings, I used tiers last season. This season many teams are pretty close in talent. It was tough to make meaningful tiers. So, no tiers.

I know the season is already underway, but you’ll have to trust me that I made this order before the season started. Actually you can probably figure that out once you see the ratings.

 

16) Riga

Last Season: My Prediction 9^th. Finished 6^th.  

I give Riga props for fielding a full roster, even if it is mainly comprised of players who wouldn’t start on most VHLE and even some VHLM teams. Riga is mainly composed of aging players who haven’t updated their skills in a while. They’ll stay at the same level all season while the rest of the league gets better. Not a good recipe for success.

 

15) Prague

Last Season: My Prediction 16^th. Finished 16^th.

Prague’s best days are in front of them. Aging in some areas, young in others, Prague’s roster won’t strike fear into too many opponents. What will strike fear is their prospect pool and future draft pics. At least they have a great goalie.

 

14) Helsinki

Last Season: My Prediction 3^rd. Finished 4^th.

I placed Helsinki so high last season because of their goalie Xavier Booberry @CowboyinAmerica. They’re still on the team, so why the big drop? Look at the remainder of the roster. Outside of a couple of players, Helsinki is lacking in talent.

 

13) Los Angeles

Last Season: My Prediction 14^th. Finished 13^th.

I think Los Angeles’ similar ranking to last season speaks to the strength of the rest of the league, rather than a deficiency with the Stars. L.A. has a bona fide star in Sirdsvaldis Miglaskems @FrostBeard and some good young talent in places. If there was a team on this list that I think could be the most off from where I place them, it’s L.A. They have a chance to finish much better than where I am putting them.

 

12) London

Last Season: My Prediction 10^th. Finished 11^th.

London has a solid roster up and down. Their unproven goaltending and lack of an offensive star, or even really a clear top line, are the causes for concern.

 

11) Toronto

Last Season: My Prediction 5^th. Finished 8^th.

The retirement of Paul Atreides @Mr_Hatter leaves a hole in this roster that doesn’t appear to have been filled. They have a nice top line, but will someone step up and be the leader of the team? Until someone does, Toronto might find themselves on the outside of the playoffs, looking in.

 

10) Malmo

Last Season: My Prediction 15^th. Finished 14^th.

Malmo struggled last season because they were so young. With a season of experience under their belt, Malmo should make some good strides forward this season. I still think they’re a year or two away from making it to the top of this list, but they’ll get there if they stay on the same path they’re on.

 

9) Seattle

Last Season: My Prediction 7^th. Finished 3^rd.

I undervalued Seattle last season and it appears I’m doing the same thing this season. Unfortunately, I just can’t convince myself to rank them higher. They have a great top line, but the lack of depth and young goaltending are what I see holding them back. But look, one thing Seattle has shown time and again is to not underestimate them.

 

New York

Last Season: My Prediction 13^th. Finished 12^th.

New York has a great balance on their roster. Young, old, experience, leadership, it’s all there. Really the type of group you can see banding together and making a run when it matters most.

 

7) D.C.

Last Season: My Prediction 1^st. Finished 2^nd.

I said this earlier in the article, but it bears repeating. D.C. is ranked here not because they are all that much worse than last year. It’s just the rest of the teams in the league got better. I think D.C. fans should be excited for this season, they might not be on the top of the conference, but they’ll be right in the thick of it at the end of the season.

 

6) Chicago

Last Season: My Prediction 11^th. Finished 7^th.

I went back and forth between ranking Chicago or D.C. higher. Ultimately the reason I ranked Chicago higher is because of their talent goaltender, Cole Pearce @N0HBDY I think he’ll pull out a couple wins this season for Chicago, which will keep them ahead of D.C.

 

5) H.C. Davos

Last Season: My Prediction 6^th. Finished 10^th.

There’s not a lot of separation between these last 5 teams. Davos has a great roster up and down. I probably should rank them 3 or 4. But they’re getting 5^th because I messed up their prediction last season by overvaluing them. Davos will need to prove to me they’re really ready for the big stage before they get ranked there.

 

4) Warsaw

Last Season: My Prediction 8^th. Finished 5^th.

Although they finished 5^th in the regular season, Warsaw went on to win the Cup in the playoffs. Warsaw looks ready to defend their championship. The only thing that might hold them back is a slight lack of depth, but they should be able to handle that as they defend their championship.

 

3) Calgary

Last Season: My Prediction 2^nd. Finished 9^th.

Speaking of overvaluing/underperforming, we have Calgary. I thought Calgary were due for great things last season, they disagreed with me. I think Calgary is in a very similar position this year. They have a great looking roster, are they ready for greatness this season?

 

2) Moscow

Last Season: My Prediction 4^th. Finished 1^st.

Moscow easily won the Victory Cup for best Regular Season record for the 2^nd consecutive season last year. You would think that would give them the nod into 1^st for these rankings. And you could make some very strong arguments for why they should be first. I placed them second because I just like the look of the first ranked team a little more.

 

1) Vancouver

Last Season: My Prediction 12^th. Finished 15^th

No contest for the biggest jump from last season to this season. Vancouver turned an aging roster with weak talent into a powerhouse in just one offseason. Bravo! We’ll see how it all plays out, but Vancouver has strength in all areas and should cause problems for all other teams.

 

Thanks for taking the time to read. Until next season, take care!

G - Brandt Fuhr
F - Brendan Marner

 

@Novanod- still on the clock.

I'll take:
F - Sigard Petrenko
D - Max Torq

 

Back to @Novanod

Sorry for the delay. Forgot to check last night.

 

Here's my two picks:

F - Vinny Detroit
D - Erlantz Jokinen

 

@Novanod

week 4 claim

week 3 claim