MacH

43 Toronto Legion @ Vancouver Wolves 44 Calgary Wranglers @ D.C. Dragons 45 Riga Reign @ Helsinki Titans 46 New York Americans @ Seattle Bears

C - Kronos Bailey @Poptart

G - Kallis Kriketers @MexicanCow123

My bad, F - Julius Freeman F - Dan Wilinsky Didn't realise both were retired ? @Poptart

Not sure why I posted here

F - Beau Louth @Poptart

F - Veran Dragomir @MexicanCow123

So the DC Dragons lucked out and picked up Mac Hooper in the draft, the young right winger was still floating around in the 3rd round they managed to snatch him up with pick 31. Mac has had a brief conversation with the GM and has been told he is expected to be an active and creative player, something that is well within Mac's capability and he looks forward to being apart of the league new team, he also looks forward to talking to and learning about his teammates. For this season however Mac will be staying down in the VHLM playing for the Storm, looking to improve on his stats from last season and his 2nd line spot, which is an upgrade from his initial 3rd line start that should come with more minutes and by proxy more opportunities to find the back of the net. His stats have improved considerably since he started playing from the storm likely thanks to his diet and fitness routine which you can read more about by clicking the links provided in case you were looking to improve your own game or just general life health and fitness.

Sure why not

1. The draft was last night, which is what brought most of you to the Dragons organization. Did you go earlier or later than you expected? If you weren't drafted, how did you make it here? I was hoping to be drafted a little earlier but knew that because of my stats last season where I was picked was a decent spot. 2. What team had the best draft? The drafts were pretty equal in my eyes, though I am probably not the best at analyzing stats yet 3. Who will be the biggest steal of the draft? Myself hopefully, I was picked in the 3rd round but hope my improvements will make me a player to be contended with. 4. Who is your early prediction to go 1st overall at the S69 draft? Couldn't say, it's probably a tough choice between a small group of players. Soren Jensen seems like a solid pick in my eyes. 5. Do you think the S69 draft is going to be better or worse overall than the S68 draft? Better I would hope. 6. Who out of your fellow Dragons draftees do you think is most likely to be a future captain? Mikko Aaltonen

In light of being drafted by the Dragons I have created a poster with a fun little graphic I made. Still enjoying Photoshop. Still improving

Welcome to another episode of how to improve your hockey game, written by rookie Mac Hooper, after having just finished his first season with a handful of goals including some key game winners he is not only looking to improve his own game but also hoping to help others improve theirs, whether your an older guy playing in a small league with some friends or a kid starting out with his first set of skates, we will be covering all skill levels in this series. So far it has mostly been off ice training and that theme will be continuing this week as I am sure most people understand basic drills to increase puck control, shot speed etc. This week will be a quik feature on meditation, excellent little skill to have in order to increase your discipline and patience allowing you to create more important chances to assist a teammate or for you to be moving at the correct time to receive a pass that ends in a goal. Start by simply sitting still and breathing with your eyes shut for 10 minutes, then you can work with different thought processes and before long you will be focusing on improving your game without even realizing. Hope you enjoyed this little article. Feel free to leave feedback.

1. Fairly satisfied, obviously I feel we could have played better and reached the number 1 spot, however I feel we played well. 2. Team is solid, locker room is a decent place to chat usually has some kind of conversation going on. 3. I am finding the back of the net at the right time to close out a game which is a good sign. My performance was solid, still improving and hope that with improvements comes more ice time and better performances. 4. Given the way I am improving I would hope to be moved up to the 1st line. 9. Coming second in the playoffs was definitely a big moment, hoping to clinch 1st next season. 10. A new team would be an interesting addition to the league I am curious to see how it shakes up rosters and if they take the league by storm or if they have a slower start.

This week we are going to be talking about something that we all know and love food. Who better to ask about diet than a professional athlete, so we sat down with Mac Hooper of the Minnesota Storm to talk about his favourite foods and how he keeps his diet as healthy as possible for his hockey career. To begin with he has a relatively simple diet for the majority of his life, this ensures he is getting all of the right nutrients giving him the best food to fuel his sport. He starts the day with cereal with some fruit, usually a banana or an apple this gives him enough fuel to power him through his morning allowing him time to wake up and get on with his daily routines. Followed by a nice healthy salad for lunch with some nuts and a little more fruit, sometimes he will enjoy a coffee at lunch time as well though he has been looking to completely cut out caffeine in the near future. After his workout, games or training he will end the day on a rice or pasta based meal with vegetables and a nice source of protein such as tofu or lentils, depending on his mood. Alongside his regular healthy eating he makes sure that he is drinking enough water to keep himself hydrated something that he struggled with in the past was making sure he drinks enough water, Mac found it all to easy to forget about drinking his daily required amount of water however he has been improving this recently and it is starting to become a habit that he can't forget. He also enjoys fruit juice from time to time and more importantly fruit smoothies sometimes with oats added other times with just plain fruit. Obviously he enjoys a treat every once in a while usually resulting in some biscuits with a cup of tea, healthier ways that he likes to treat himself is trading out his usual meal for a wrap consisting of the same ingredients but adding a little more flavour with a nice hot sauce. Another of his favourite treat meals is a pizza, he usually loads it with jalapenos, peppers and other veggies of course he also prefers it with BBQ sauce not the usual tomato sauce for some reason he finds tomato too bland. Mac has stated that the main thing he struggles with at the moment is getting a nice balance with his portion sizes regularly eating a little too much and sometimes not eating at all, while he is sure that it all balances it in the long run he would like to get a more consistent routine with his eating, making sure to eat at the same time every day as well as keeping his portion sizes to a decent amount, giving himself enough to fuel his daily antics as well as a little extra to make sure he is still building and growing at a strong and consistent rate.

1. Who do you think is going to win the VHLM playoffs this year? I'm going to be rooting for us! 2. What is your favourite type of wings? I don't eat meat. 3. We clinched 3rd, where do you expect us to go in the playoffs? It's a good finish, sets us up fairly nicely for the playoffs 4. Having shorter seasons was brought up recently. What do you think about this? Could be interesting, I kind of like the long seasons though 5. Do you think Minnesota needs a new logo or name, and what kind of logo and name would you like over our current one? I think a redesign could be interesting, not needed though. 6. If you had to compare yourself to an NHL player, who would it be? Jakob Silfverberg with better teeth.

The Pennsylvania Vipers are an up and coming team that are being considered for the VHL, coming straight out of the capital Harrisburg the team are looking to take the league by storm and sky rocket straight through to the top of the VHL, the majority of the players are all local some studying at Penn State university others are just locals who fell in love with the game at a young age. There star player Bob Wilson Sr, is looking to retire soon and become a coach helping the youngsters keep on top of their game as they attempt to enter the VHL. It will not be an easy task for the Vipers however they are determined and excited to see how there hockey careers are panning out. The team recently had a home rink built with a capacity of 6,000 which is an excellent start for such a small team, they are hoping that over time they will be able to save the funds for a larger rink with more amenities from veggie hot dog stands to toilets with bidets for all the fans visiting the team to watch them play. We sat down with the GM to ask him what challenges he faces as a GM in bringing the Vipers up through the league, he merely said "Wins, but good wins, none of this scraping by on 1 game stuff." That's it from me be sure to log back into vhl.com for more articles on the expansion.

I decided to take the expansion as I chance to work on my Photoshop skills and create a team logo. Definitely enjoying playing with Photoshop and I hope to improve my knowledge and skills with it over time.

Moscow 4-2

With 12 games left at the time of writing. Anyone have any questions?

First I know what you're thinking "Skateboarding in a VHL.com article?!" well that's what this article is about so sit back buckle up and drop in to a little article about the sport. Mac is a new player within the VHLM league and yes he is enjoying playing in the VHLM however in the evenings when Mac has time to wind down after training or a match he likes to head down to the local skatepark and get working on his kickflip, shuvits and heels, he may not be particularly good right now but he is determined to master the plank of wood that glides on the ground under is feet, making sure to avoid the little stones that send him flying every once in a while. Lately he has been working on his boardslides and 50-50's, which he describes as one of the more satisfying aspects of his life, he hopes to one day be able to land some air tricks with grabs which you may recognise from watching skaters such as Tony Hawk. Mac describes the sport as relaxing and almost meditative allowing him to clear his head and think about things in his life while learning to land some sweet tricks.

After a 4 win streak for the Minnesota Storm we've decided to take a look into the fitness and health routine of the scrawny young forward Mac, he recently posted a short VHL.com article about the basics of his diet and fitness however now that he has been part of the team holding the number 3 spot for a while now we want to fully understand the ins and outs of how he keeps himself in peak condition to ensure top performance in the league. To start with we will delve into his fitness program, spending 3 days a week in the gym lifting free weights, from dumbbells to barbells. He has been increasing his strength in order to get some power behind that smaller body of his, this has resulted in a nice boost in speed, as well as feeling all around more stable and strong on the ice. On the other 2 days that he is in the gym he focuses on cardio, improving his endurance allowing him to skate freely on the ice without a worry of tiring or running out of breath. The cardio routines also make sure he has that little burst of energy he needs at the end of the game in order to snap an opportunity from a quik breakaway or snatch up a loose puck as it drifts over to the boards. Over the 3 days he has specific days for targeting his Arms and/or Chest/Back depending on the day, his legs and his core. His usual Arms/Chest routine starts with a bench press routine, followed by a mixture of dumbbell lifts and ending on the cable machines, this has improved Mac's upper body strength allowing him to take bigger hits and keep his balance, the added upper body strength has also given him more control over the puck. As for his cardio days he tends to focus on rowing, followed by running on the treadmill though he is considering adding elliptical machines into the mix. Aside from gym routines which he will be working on creating more efficient and effective workout sessions for himself in the future, he has been keeping up with his on the ice training focusing on his defensive side at the moment, because it doesn't matter how many goals you can score if you keep letting them in, you will never keep the lead. Alongside his fellow teammates he has been working on basic skating, shooting and passing drills to keep himself at the top of his game and improving at a good pace. A bit of a shaky start with his first season in the VHLM only managing to net 7 goals and a rather low 5 assists over the course of 60 games played, he is quite obviously a little bit disappointed with himself and will be 100% looking to improve his overall game and increase his stats next season, he is going into the offseason with a strong mindset about his training.

291 Vancouver Wolves @ Calgary Wranglers - 3 - 1

1) Rayzor made a big move by trading G Justin Cole for G Virgil Ligriv? How do you think the move will work out? I'm looking forward to seeing how Virgil gels with the team and playing alongside him. 2) Jaxon Walker was the other trade deadline add to the Storm. Any advice for Jaxon? Just focus and play the game, enjoy every minute of it. 3) With the trade deadline passing, Minnesota’s roster is set for the rest of the season. Any changes to the lines that you’d like to see? I'd like to earn myself a spot on one of the top lines otherwise I think they are pretty solid. 4) Ryo Yamazuki II currently leads the team with an amazing +32. Why do you think Ryo has done so well? Consistency, he is a solid player and makes sure to take every opportunity to increase his points. 5) Some players lose focus in the middle of the season, maybe due to the routine of regular season games or maybe they’re thinking about the playoffs or maybe the summer season. What do you do to maintain your focus during the regular season? Making sure to meditate and enjoy time off the ice/training in order to keep my days interesting and fresh. 6) Has being a hockey player made you more recognized by other people when you’re walking around in public? Do you like attention or wish you had more? I get a decent amount more attention, which isn't a problem at all.