DMaximus

Thank you @GustavMattias for taking the time to write all this out. For those wanting to dive even deeper into this (and some different opinions than what is presented here), I strongly recommend checking out @Positivefan036's excellent analysis in these articles: https://vhlforum.com/topic/56612-a-regression-analysis-on-how-attributes-impact-regular-season-stats/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/57252-regression-pt-2-hits-pim-sb-shots/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/61104-improved-vhl-regression-goals-assists-points/

Awesome, I didn't know that.

That's assuming they didn't sign a multi-year deal, which all 20 of the top TPE earners for S66 signed 3 year deals.

If the brand tournament is done away with, there will need to be a significant cap upgrade or some other way to get players additional money. Right now the standard VHL rookie contract is somewhere in the $1 - 1.5 mil range (which is less than the base VHLM contract, how does that make sense?). Most items in the player store cost $3 mil plus, so it could take some rookies up to 3 years to even be able to buy one item from the player store. With most VHL teams already having cap issues, I'm not sure how money is going to get into the hands of members of the upcoming rookie classes.

I want to blame the backup goalie for this loss, but it's tough when you only score 1 goal.

Davos got worked this game, no way around that. Looks like we were so mad we started a full on line brawl at the end of the game. Shawn Glade plowed into Bert Meyers with 12 seconds left in the game and all hell broke loose. General Fight at 19:48 of 3rd periodBert Meyers and Rylan Peace fight to a draw at 19:48 of 3rd periodJulian Borwinn and Veran Dragomir fight to a draw at 19:48 of 3rd period plus minors to Ludvig Sederstrom (HSK), Dan Montgomery (HSK), Shawn Glade (DAV), Alvaro Jokinen (DAV), Bald Guy (HSK)

Recent revelations from the FBI’s match fixing investigation that the VHL is supplying players with pills known as TPE has garnered much public attention and sparked ethical debates across all forms of media. In a press conference held today, the FBI announced it has officially referred the TPE drug matter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Lead FBI investigator Burt Macklin said “The FBI felt it was in the best interest for the investigation to bring in our federal drug experts, the FDA.” Overseeing the FDA’s investigation will be FDA head Peter Quaker who spoke at the press conference “With so little known about TPE, our administration will do a thorough and complete investigation into TPE to determine its legality.” The VHL could face steep penalties if TPE is found to be an illegal narcotic. Drug policy expert Dr. Zora Williams noted “If the VHL is forcing players to take an illegal drug, or even if they weren’t directly forcing players but created a systemic environment where taking an illegal drug was a requirement for professional success, the penalty for that would result not only in the dissolution of the VHL, but probably jail time for many executives in charge of the VHL.” Shortly after the announcement from the FBI, VHL PR head Dani Greene released a short statement saying the VHL will “fully cooperate with all reasonable requests from the FDA and any other investigating body.” FDA drug trials normally take years to complete. The FDA has not given a timeframe on when they expect their TPE investigation to complete. Some expect the high profile nature of this investigation will expedite the FDA’s findings. Dr. Williams thinks differently saying “Unless TPE contains some already identified illegal narcotic, which it probably doesn’t because it would have already been detected, the FDA will need to do extensive research. That will take a long time. I don’t expect to receive results from the FDA for a while.” If that is the case, the FBI’s investigation will need to continue without knowing the legality of TPE.

There has been a wealth of information that has been made public since the beginning of the investigation into alleged match fixing by VHL player Charlie Paddywagon. The investigation, originally started by the Nevada Gaming Commission (NGC) then expanded to include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has also grown from focusing on Charlie Paddywagon to include the VHL and the VHL Fantasy Zone. Recent revelations include the VHL publicly declaring that the VHL is a simulation where players have no agency during the actual game to affect the outcome. One issue that has received little discussion is what the VHL Fantasy Zone is offering as rewards for players. There must be a very enticing reward that makes players want to bet on the outcome of games they are playing in and other games in the VHL and VHLM. Based on our reporting we have learned that the VHL Fantasy Zone pays winning players with something called TPE. Details on what TPE actually is are scarce. Until now, none of this information has been made public. We spoke to top sports doctor Dr. Jakub Satan, ex-VHL head physician and brother of retired professional hockey player Miroslav Satan. Dr. Satan has spent significant time working with TPE. Due to strict non-disclosure agreements, Dr. Satan is unable to discuss the contents of TPE but was able to provide this summary “TPE are drugs in pill form that all VHL players are required to take. After ingesting a pill, the player experiences a permanent increase in performance.” One of Dr. Satan’s duties as head physician of the VHL was to administer the VHL’s TPE distribution program. His primary duty was to allocate and distribute TPE pills to all VHL and VHLM players. Players are awarded pills by the VHL based on various contribution metrics. Both on-ice and off-ice performance contributes to the TPE earned by players. The VHL Fantasy Zone was one of the way players could receive additional TPE. Dr. Satan added “The VHL promotes earning TPE to all the players. If any player wants to succeed in the VHL, they have to consume TPE to improve themselves.” Dr. Satan decided to speak publicly about TPE because of concerns he has for the well-being of VHL players. “There have been no studies on TPE or its long term effects on the human body. We have no idea the ramifications of ingesting so much TPE in such a short time does to the players.” Dr. Joseph Christian, a doctor who has received compensation from the VHL for being an expert witness and writing amicus briefs supporting the VHL, down played the need for extensive studies “The VHL has been operating this way for 66 seasons, don’t you think that has been more than enough time to provide real life evaluation of TPE? I’ll answer that for you… it has been enough time. We know that TPE does not negatively affect players. In fact the opposite is true, TPE is an amazing accomplishment that has the potential to advance all of humanity.” Another safety concern raised by Dr. Satan and others is the length of the career for VHL players. “The VHL may be the only professional league to force its players into retirement. And they do so after only 8 seasons. Why is that? Is it because the VHL knows the body can not withstand long-term TPE usage?” The VHL has previously stated the reason for the forced retirement is to promote the health of their players and to keep fans excited and engaged. Dr. Satan shares additional information about the effect of TPE, “We’ve seen players begin physical deterioration after only 5 seasons of taking TPE. Of course, the VHL covers that up by simply giving players more TPE to overcome that regression.” The VHL has not responded to our requests for comment on this issue. Without knowing the contents of TPE, it is difficult to know the legality of what the VHL is doing. Based on what little information that is available, TPE appears to have all the hallmarks of a performance enhancing drug. If the VHL is forcing players to take illegal drugs to enhance their performance, it could spell the end for the entire league. There is no doubt this information will come under close scrutiny of investigators and the court of public opinion.

Davos controlled the entire game, really shouldn't have even made it to a shootout, but still the better team prevailed here. Credit to a punchy New York team who played their hearts out just to make it to OT.

Davos' plan to get backup games in against teams in the bottom half of the standings backfired when going up against the now hot defending champions. Still a strong game from Davos with a Fenwick % of 55.56. Fairly unlucky to lose, all of these types of games will be W's when Finn gets back between the pipes.

Player Name: Charlie Paddywagon Preferred Render: any picture that has colors that match Davos' purple and black (possibly this picture? https://chocolatehockey.com/wp-content/uploads/reading.jpg) VHL Team: HC Davos Dynamo Text Preference: None Other: None

Davos and Moscow trading 4-3 wins back and forth. This was a much closer game than the previous one activity wise, but a better outcome for Davos.

Skipping Bushito picking for Lupas. With my last pick, I'll take F - Kronos Bailey @MMFLEX, back to you buddy

G - Roger Sterling I'll give @Bushito some time to pick for Lupas before I make my next pick.

Davos with a monster 10 minutes in the 1st period, scoring all 5 of their goals. Strong win for Davos. The future is looking bright! Shoutout to Shawn Glade who intercepted 28 passes this game!

A lot of head scratching in the Davos locker room after this game. How do you get 50 shots, have 11 powerplays and still lose to the last place team?

Absolutely dominating performance by Davos. The scoreline was much closer than the actual game. In addition to more than doubling Seattle's shots on goal, we almost had 2/3 of all the opportunities on goal: Corsi For: 101 Corsi Against: 53 Corsi: 48 Corsi For %: 65.58

Big win for Davos. Props to the D for limiting Riga to 19 shots. More props to Finn Davidson for recording his 2nd shutout of the season!

New set of questions. Choose 6 to answer: 1) Davos has started the season as a .500 team going 6-6-0 in the first 12 games. What do you think of Davos’ beginning of the season? 2) Does the start of the season change your expectations for Davos this year? 3) Rylan Peace is leading the team with 8 goals and 14 points. How important is his continued strong performances to the overall success of the team? 4) Off-season signee Shawn Glade joined the team under heavy expectations to be the team’s top defenseman. How do you think he has filled that role so far? 5) How do you feel about your personal performance up to this point in the season? 6) Looking around the rest of the league, expansion team Malmo is currently in first place. Do you think they’ll be able to maintain their top of the league standing? How come? 7) Why do you think Malmo is performing so well? 8 ) Defending champions Toronto are in next-to-last place. Does that surprise you? Why or why not? 9) Why do you think Toronto is performing so poorly? 10) Last week was Mother’s Day. What did you do for your mom?

Not the best performance from Davos' 2nd line. Credit to Helsinki for playing really well today.

Pretty strong performance from Davos here in a good win. Looks like Smirnov lost his composure after getting labeled by Smitty. Smirnov flew into a rage which ended with him and Paddywagon dropping the mitts for Charlie's first professional fight.

It's been enough time to skip @Bushito picking for Lupas. I'm taking D - Maxim Kovalchuk @MMFLEX, your turn.

F - Leph Twinger @Bushito to pick for Lupas

It's crazy Davos lost the last 2 games against Vancouver. We controlled both games, but walk away with 0 points.

A close game. The puck just isn't bouncing Davos' way right now. These tough L's will turn into W's soon enough.