RunnerBert11

USA

216 Calgary Wranglers @ Riga Reign 217 Helsinki Titans @ Toronto Legion 218 HC Davos Dynamo @ Moscow Menace 219 New York Americans @ Seattle Bears

Toronto 5-3

1. We are at about the third season mark. What teams are most likely going to face off in the next Founder's Cup final? At this point I am leaning towards Hali and Minnesota, call me biased, but I think MN has the ship righted and is going to bring it back strong the rest of the season. I wouldn't be surprised though if Las Vegas, Ottawa or even Saskatoon make me out to be a liar. 2. What is one trade you'd like your team to do at this moment? Since the recent acquisition of Cain & Metz I think we are in a great position to get where we want to go and don't think we need to look outside of the club for the right players. 3. The 3rd World Junior Championship Commissioner was just hired (congrats Frostbeard), meaning the S65 WJC is about to start. Do you think you have what it takes to represent your nation? I was a little thrown off by the whole selection process and some of the players that were eligible, but nonetheless my country is stacked so I didn't stand a snowballs chance in hell of making the cut. I may however get a spot to represent Asia due to a large pool of inactive players. So on that note, I think I have what it takes to ruffle some feathers out there and maybe, just maybe, cause an upset or two. 4. Who are your early favourites to win some awards in the VHLM? MVP, best two-way forward, best defenseman, best goalie? I'm not overly familiar with the top players in the league since I've been focusing more on myself and honing my skills, but HHH seems to stand out and comes up a lot when I'm reviewing boxscores. I can say that I will be shocked if Denver Wolfe is not the best defensement, that cat can score with the best of the forwards and is really the backbone of the Storm out there on the ice. 5. What's one song that you listen to before stepping on the ice, that will inevitably pump you up and get you ready for action? Kashmir by Led Zepplin really gets the blood pumping for me and the build up helps get me ready to jam! 6. Describe your VHLM team's General Manager and/or Assistant to the General Manager in 3 words. Cool As Cucumber

Thanks man, truly appreciate it. Looks like we're both getting a chance to get our feet wet in the management side of things! Good luck with worlds!

At 1:17 pm CT the Saskatoon Wild announced that Bert Macklin (RunnerBert11) would be filling in the Assistant GM vacancy. We had a chance to catch up to Macklin after the news dropped and he had the following to say. "I'm super excited and consider myself fortunate to have been given this great opportunity at such an early stage of my career. I hope to bring some more energy to this already amped up organization. I really like what the team has done recently to bring in some new faces and you can't help but notice how rapidly this team has evolved into an almost entirely different entity overnight. I'm hoping to get settled into my new office and acquainted with the staff and players later tonight. With all the newly acquired players in this organization lately I'm ready to help sort through the paperwork and see where this group can take us! I would also like to personally thank @Beaviss for immediately informing me of the open position and @Goonie for taking it upon himself to give me a glowing recommendation which I can only imagine helped put me over the top and gave me the edge over some of the other well qualified candidates. I'm excited to get a chance to learn the ins and outs of the GM role under the tutelage of @Peace. I can't wait to get a chance to sit down and pick his brain a bit, find out exactly what's going on in the mind of Peace and what his plan is going forward for the season. At the rate he's going I wouldn't be surprised if he has his sights set on another player or two, but who knows, maybe he's a one-stop shop kinda guy, that last trade did bring a handful of new guys. As for now though I'm just looking to take in and learn as much as I can to help me become the best AGM I can right now so I can help elevate this club to its fullest potential and hopefully hoist that Founder's Cup! Now you might think I’m getting a bit ahead of myself with a statement like that, but consider this. Yes, maybe they’re currently sitting 7th out of 8 teams in the standings, but don’t be fooled. They have managed to string together an impressive streak of 5 wins that was just ended today by 6th place Yukon. Now while it would’ve really helped narrow the gap in the standings and help get us back into contention, we cannot overlook the recent success this team has found and the measures management has gone to, to bring in the necessary players to fill some of the voids this team had earlier on in the season to make them a legitimate playoff and Founder’s Cup contender. Now if you could please excuse me, I have a flight to catch to Saskatoon and a crew of young guys I’m very eager to meet!” Bert Macklin was last seen passing through airport security on his way to catch his Saskatoon flight to his new home and team. We'll keep a close eye on Bert Macklin as he begins this next step in his career and keep you all updated on his developing story. Bert Macklin The Fucking FBI Saskatoon Wild AGM 555 Words

STHS taking the meaning of sudden death very literally!

So apprentently in OT if you lose the opening FO you lost the game. Last OT loss, Storm lose opening faceoff, HHH scores at :06. This OT loss, Storm lose opening faceoff, Mikko scores at :04. 2 OTL's in a matter of :10....WT actual F!?

Well shit, Bert Meyers ejected from faceoff circle to start OT. HHH wins faceoff vs Slade. 6 seconds later HHH shoots....GOAL...fml

Also a little confused with the Ak47 30 TPE RW

Isn't Rocky LaGarza already on Team USA? @ShawnGlade

170 New York Americans @ Calgary Wranglers 171 Moscow Menace @ Seattle Bears 172 Riga Reign @ Vancouver Wolves 173 HC Davos Dynamo @ Helsinki Titans Come on home team sweep!

After taking some time to look at the map and consider some possible locations and the possibility of geographical rivalries and different areas of NA that would make for a good home for a VHLM team I've come up with the following teams. Ketchikan (AK) Yetis I think AK could use a VHLM team and with a team stepping into AK it would most likely create a natural rivalry with the neighboring Yukon Rush. I think a Yeti would make a great minor league mascot and totally fits in with the whole minor league vibe and is relevant to AK. It also seems to fit well into the current team theme we have going on with the VHLM. For a logo we could do a large Yeti head with like a growling looking face and messy fair or a hockey helmet or you could do a yeti on top of a mountain, similar to King Kong on top of the Empire State Building. I'm thinking the color scheme would welcome a cool/ice blue color, something similar to Milwaukee Admirals or even slightly darker, then top that off with some black and white trim, possibly some grey to add variety to the blue to give an ice north vibe. Something I would think the experts at True North Gear could help me work out and put together. This could work for Yetis or Squatches, with some name and color tweaking Color scheme I was thinking, I like the shield/badge idea, but not overly wild about the yeti look in this particular logo Could do a hockey theme yeti or a yeti head, I like 3rd most Seattle (WA) Sas"Squatches" or Reign Looking at the current layout and disbursement of VHLM teams the pacific northwest seems to be lacking especially when you consider how many professional sports teams across all different sports consider WA home. The mascot almost seems like a no-brainer considering the sheer amount of "big-foot" sighting claims there are centered around this area. It's similar to the Yeti's idea and if we were to pick one it would probably mean the other would need to be reworked or tweaked to avoid mascots being too similar. Since the Pacific northwest is home to many lush evergreen & coniferous forests naturally a dark forest green and brown color scheme would work well. It could be supplemented with white or black for home and away jerseys to add some more dimension. I think the traditional "big-foot" sighting scene would make for a great logo or you could always do something similar to the Yeti idea and do a close up of a Squatch face with a growling or mean. The Reign idea comes from the fact that WA and OR get a ton of rain, we could still use the sasquatch logo and idea, but the team could be called the reign, which I think would play nicely with the idea behind the MN Storm team name, since the name is more of a metaphoric storm or reign in this situation. More Cartoony looking idea, could replace lighter green with brown. Simplistic Logo w/ squatch hiding in the trees Cool logo idea with the color scheme I was thinking about Coos Bay (OR) Coons / Beaverton (OR) Bandits Thinking along the same lines as the Seattle Squatches, where the NW corner or the US could use a team. Something about the idea of using a mischievous bandit looking raccoon for a mascot just seems like a great idea to me and seems like it would fit into this leagues mascots nicely. The colors could be black, brown and white and the jerseys could showcase some black and brown ringed socks like a coons tail and possibly even the arms of the jersey or the jersey itself. I almost get an image of Mario from NES Super Mario 3 with the raccoon flying suit when I start picturing this jersey cruising on the ice! St. Louis (MO) Buffalo/Bison or Sting Another great sports city and area that would certainly welcome a minor league hockey team. They're not encroaching on any other teams turf, but certainly close enough to MN or Houston to create a rivalry sooner than later. I like the idea of a Buffalo/Bison mascot for a Missouri team considering the history of the animal to that area and the push of settlers across that area. My only hesitation with a Buffalo/Bison is it is pretty similar to the Houston Bulls mascot, which makes me like the idea less. No fear though, my backup St. Louis mascot, which would be somewhat similar to the Coos Bay Coons would be for a team to be the St. Louis Sting. The name in itself is a nice alliteration and roles of the tongue naturally and the color scheme is obvious with rich yellow, black & white. It would be similar to the Coos Bay Coons when it comes to jersey style with a yellow and black strip theme to look like an angry bee, which would be the mascot. Something pretty similar to the Georgia Tech Stinger mascot. This could be cool if I swapped out wasp with sting or St. Louis

Hmmm...(Meyers hears door of opportunity opening) Best of luck with your personal project, is that something league related we'll see in the future or something completely unrelated?

I'd like to be considered for GM for team USA.

Yea, I'd be down to learn the ropes for STHS and get an idea of what the AGM role all entails. Windows - Check Discord - Check Desire to Learn STHS - You betcha!

I'm new to the league as of 4 weeks ago, but really enjoying it so far and have been looking for more ways to get involved. I think this would be a great opportunity to get a feel for the management side of things and see how some of the behind the scenes duties are carried out. On that note, I'd like to be considered for "assistant to the commissioner!" (Little Dwight Schrute reference for you office fans!)

@Beketov How does this work, because I am in a similar situation. Team has abundance of wingers and very little for centers or FO stat, so like Hans I've been upping FO and playing center as a LW. Is this something that we can change?

After a mysterious turn of events Minnesota's coaching staff and management we're booked a different flight home from a road game a few weeks back against Houston. The Minnesota Storm players all made it back home as planned, but the others wound up on a plane that was destined for Melbourne Australia. Upon landing there was a confrontation between the MN staff and TSA at the airport and the entire staff was detained in Australian jail for nearly two weeks. The players has been showing up and conducting practices as usual in their coaches absence and carrying out game day plans the same since day one. Unsure of what adjustments need to be made the players are stuck in this perpetual funk. They're at a point where they don't need to develop more chemistry with their line-mates, but rather see some different faces on the ice. To fill the vacancy on the bench where the head coach used to man his post, the team had recently decided to bring in a substitute for moral support. The replacement, Coach McKay, is bringing very little hockey knowledge and sense to the situation, her hockey know-how is so limited to the point that she was unable to change the lines for the upcoming games, even with the help of the more experience players. We caught this priceless moment during their most recent game against the Lynx where Coach McKay tried to change up the games lines by simply yelling this from the bench just moments before puck drop.

1) Since it's not been too long since you've joined the league, what are thoughts on the league so far as a whole? All around great league, everyone is more than willing to help a newcomer learn the ropes, everyone's pretty friendly and the setup is really user friendly and easy to get used to. 2) Are there any areas in the league that you would like to see a change/improvement? Nothing I can think of off the top of my head, I do enjoy the little obscure ways to earn bonus TPE, fantasy, pick'ems and predictions. Wouldn't mind more things like these, but maybe that's just me being TPE hungry! 3) The VHLM Newsletter launched earlier this week, did you read it and was it helpful to you? Yes I did and I found it super helpful and informative. I've been in the league for a little over 3 weeks now, so most of the basics I have down pat, but all the other topics were helpful and a nice read. 4) What are your aims this season in the VHLM? Whether it's my players performance of my consistently capped weeks worth of TPE, I want to establish myself as a top player in the upcoming draft and hopefully see a late 1st round, early 2nd round pick. 5) With the teams starting to take shape, who do you consider to be the favourite for the VHLM Founders Cup? Preseason I had us as favorites to win, but after some issues with coaching and management our lines have gone unaddressed for quite some time now, which has inevitably caused our slow start and constant uphill battle this season, but right now Hali is looking like the team to beat and we have yet to walk away with 2 points against them. 6b) What do you think of your current VHLM team? Wasn't in the draft but signed on with Minnesota Storm before the season kicked off. I really like the team, but wish we were a bit more active as a whole. We've had some issues and hiccups this past week, but I think we're moving in the right direction now hopefully.

So you didn't learn anything or gain any experience or knowledge specific to the SBA with those first 2 players is what you're saying?! Compare this to someone without any prior knowledge of sim leagues, that 10 TPE is basically a nonfactor then in the whole scheme of things.

I think it would weird a candy store out if a 30 something year old was hanging around looking for handouts... This is the same reason why we need to limit government handouts, people get something for free and then just expect it all the time, instead of appreciating the fact that they got anything in the first place for doing nothing.

Just seems like a classic example or people not being able to have their cake and eat it too!