K1NG LINUS

Earlier today, Nighthawks Defenceman Rusty Shackleford is reported to have purchased a 15 bedroom house in the city of Malmö. Shackleford blew through almost his entire bonus to do this, and immediately set about nailing 2x4 planks of lumber over the front door to spell out "Hawk House," though several pieces have already fallen off.
 
Shackleford was originally quoted as saying "I couldn't decide who I wanted as a roommate, so I decided to just be roommates with the whole team!"
 
Multiple members of the Nighthawks have been sighted entering the home, leading some to believe that the entire Nighthawks roster is living under one roof. 
 

Pictured above: Shackleford, Garcia, and Materazo playing the signature Malmö drinking game: "Drink the Beer," in which the only rule is to drink as much beer as possible.
 
Every hour on the hour semi trucks have been arriving and unloading kegs and commerical pallets of various types of liquor. Since the festivities began, sounds of raucous chanting and yelling mixed with Russian Hard Bass have filled the surrounding neighborhood, and the smell of cheap lager now permeates from the building.
 
The empty kegs and commercial sized pallets of hard liquor have already begun filling the Hawk House's driveway, causing their neighbors to become concerned by what is surely enough alcohol to kill a herd of elephants being consumed nearby. 
 
Shackleford has explained that the Hawk House plans on hiring VHLMers to clean up the party debris, but that they would only be paid in beer. 
 
 
@xsjack @Devise @Matt_O @Gaudette @Phil @Wheaties @Bucky___lastard @VanCanWin @GustavMattias @K1NG LINUS @Toasty @Abaddon @fonziGG @Jus @HughJas_ @MetalToday @trevmi @Dalton Wilcox @Jayhawk @mmarcoux98 @HanManHimself @Advantage

Earlier today, Nighthawks Defenceman Rusty Shackleford is reported to have purchased a 15 bedroom house in the city of Malmö. Shackleford blew through almost his entire bonus to do this, and immediately set about nailing 2x4 planks of lumber over the front door to spell out "Hawk House," though several pieces have already fallen off.
 
Shackleford was originally quoted as saying "I couldn't decide who I wanted as a roommate, so I decided to just be roommates with the whole team!"
 
Multiple members of the Nighthawks have been sighted entering the home, leading some to believe that the entire Nighthawks roster is living under one roof. 
 

Pictured above: Shackleford, Garcia, and Materazo playing the signature Malmö drinking game: "Drink the Beer," in which the only rule is to drink as much beer as possible.
 
Every hour on the hour semi trucks have been arriving and unloading kegs and commerical pallets of various types of liquor. Since the festivities began, sounds of raucous chanting and yelling mixed with Russian Hard Bass have filled the surrounding neighborhood, and the smell of cheap lager now permeates from the building.
 
The empty kegs and commercial sized pallets of hard liquor have already begun filling the Hawk House's driveway, causing their neighbors to become concerned by what is surely enough alcohol to kill a herd of elephants being consumed nearby. 
 
Shackleford has explained that the Hawk House plans on hiring VHLMers to clean up the party debris, but that they would only be paid in beer. 
 
 
@xsjack @Devise @Matt_O @Gaudette @Phil @Wheaties @Bucky___lastard @VanCanWin @GustavMattias @K1NG LINUS @Toasty @Abaddon @fonziGG @Jus @HughJas_ @MetalToday @trevmi @Dalton Wilcox @Jayhawk @mmarcoux98 @HanManHimself @Advantage

Earlier today, Nighthawks Defenceman Rusty Shackleford is reported to have purchased a 15 bedroom house in the city of Malmö. Shackleford blew through almost his entire bonus to do this, and immediately set about nailing 2x4 planks of lumber over the front door to spell out "Hawk House," though several pieces have already fallen off.
 
Shackleford was originally quoted as saying "I couldn't decide who I wanted as a roommate, so I decided to just be roommates with the whole team!"
 
Multiple members of the Nighthawks have been sighted entering the home, leading some to believe that the entire Nighthawks roster is living under one roof. 
 

Pictured above: Shackleford, Garcia, and Materazo playing the signature Malmö drinking game: "Drink the Beer," in which the only rule is to drink as much beer as possible.
 
Every hour on the hour semi trucks have been arriving and unloading kegs and commerical pallets of various types of liquor. Since the festivities began, sounds of raucous chanting and yelling mixed with Russian Hard Bass have filled the surrounding neighborhood, and the smell of cheap lager now permeates from the building.
 
The empty kegs and commercial sized pallets of hard liquor have already begun filling the Hawk House's driveway, causing their neighbors to become concerned by what is surely enough alcohol to kill a herd of elephants being consumed nearby. 
 
Shackleford has explained that the Hawk House plans on hiring VHLMers to clean up the party debris, but that they would only be paid in beer. 
 
 
@xsjack @Devise @Matt_O @Gaudette @Phil @Wheaties @Bucky___lastard @VanCanWin @GustavMattias @K1NG LINUS @Toasty @Abaddon @fonziGG @Jus @HughJas_ @MetalToday @trevmi @Dalton Wilcox @Jayhawk @mmarcoux98 @HanManHimself @Advantage

In honor of the VHL Draft happening soon, let's take a quik look at the latest VHL draft that happened. This will be based solely on TPE. This will only include the first two rounds.
 
1 - Riga Reign - Hunter Hearst Helmsley - 607 TPE (-) @Beaviss
Hunter Hearst Helmsley is still far and away the best player in the draft. He had a very strong rookie season with 26 goals and 24 assists for 50 points. HHH will go down as the best player from this draft as it seems. He has the most TPE by a mile.
 
2 - Vancouver Wolves - Julius Freeman - 503 TPE (-) @rjfryman
Julius Freeman also stays in the same draft position as the number 2 player in this class. He and HHH are the only two to break 500 TPE. Although, Jet is hot on his tail. Freeman had a decent season with 12 goals and 27 assists for 39 points. 
 
3 - Seattle Bears - Jet Jaguar - 494 TPE (+7) @gorlab
One of the high risers of this class. Jet is very close to breaking 500 TPE and would join HHH and Freeman as the top 3 to do so just 1 year later. Jet had a marvelous season with 40 goals and 50 assists for 90 points. However, unlike the previous two players, Jet didn't make the playoffs as Moscow did not qualify.
 
4 - Riga Reign - Mikko Aaltonen - 441 TPE (-) @GRZ
Mikko Aaltonen stays in the same draft position and he is firmly in the 4 spot. 50 TPE behind Jet but 13 ahead of Jerry Garcia. Mikko scored 18 goals and assisted on 16 goals for 34 points in his rookie season which is a decent.
 
5 - Moscow Menace - Jerry Garcia - 428 TPE (+2) @GustavMattias
Jerry Garcia moves up a few spots and ends up in Moscow. During a trying rookie season in Malmo, Jerry was a bright spot with 4 goals and 27 assists for 31 points. A nice total for a rookie on a new team in the league. He was also solid defensively with 145 shots blocked.
 
6 - HC Davos Dynamo - Apollo Hackett - 423 TPE (+10) @Renomitsu
Apollo Hackett is the biggest riser in the draft class going from 16th overall IRL to 6th in this redraft. Apollo had a decent year with 1 goal and 31 assists for 32 points. He also had 239 hits, so he really laid the body into players.
 
7 - Malmo Nighthawks - Charlie Paddywagon - 415 TPE (-1) @DMaximus
Charlie falls to the Malmo NIghthawks at pick 7 from 6. Charlie seemed to struggle offensively with 1 goal and 15 assists for 16 points this season. Charlie also put up 89 shots blocked in limited minutes.
 
8 - Riga Reign - Shawnomir Jagr - 407 TPE (+6)
Shawnomir Jagr was another player who jumped up quite a bit in this redraft (counting the points this week, I would be in 7th technically but we also don't account for Charlie putting in work as well). Shawnomir seemed to struggle this season with just 11 goals and 5 assists for 16 points. Jagr has been working on his passing this off-season to hopefully get more points next season. He will also be given more PP time so that will help as well.
 
9 - Riga Reign - Arnor Sigurdsson - 399 TPE (-) @bluesfan55
Arnor is one of 9 players to break 400 TPE from this draft class (yes I know, 399 but pretty much 400). Arnor struggle like Jagr with 6 goals and 6 assists for 12 points during the season. Arnor though should be improving as he gets more ice time and more practice hours.
 
10 - Moscow Menace - Bert Meyers - 390 TPE (+5) @RunnerBert11
Bert Meyers has had another decent climb up this redraft making it into the 1st round. Meyers had a very strong start to his career with 24 goals and 31 assists for 55 points. Meyers would have been a strong addition  to the newly formed Menace.
 
11 - Moscow Menace - Chico Smeb - 390 TPE (+8) @xDParK
12 - Calgary Wranglers - Dimitri Volosenkov - 384 TPE (-7) @SirRupertBarnes
13 - HC Davos Dynamo - Shane Mars - 383 TPE (-10) @Spade18
14 - Vancouver Wolves - Owen May - 382 TPE (-3) @FacebookFighter
15 - Helsinki Titans - Codrick Past - 362 TPE (-2) @Kylrad
16 - Riga Reign - Rusty Shackleford - 351 TPE (+1) @K1NG LINUS
17 - Malmo Nighthawks - Aron Nielsen - 345 TPE (-9) @solas
18 - Vancouver Wolves - John Frostbeard - 317 TPE (-6) @FrostBeard
19 - HC Davos Dynamo - Valeri Morozov - 271 TPE (+1) @Dangles13
20 - Seattle Bears - Kyle Sabertooth - 232 TPE (-2) @uphillmoss
 
Unfortunately cut this short because I am lazy and work is over so. Here it is. A quik redraft of the S66 VHL Entry Draft (Round 1 and 2).

@Rayzor_7 Made VHLM HISTORY as a new GM...

 
 
 
 
 

With the long and grueling Season 66 over and done with, Rusty Shackleford's career with the Saskatoon Wild has come to an end. Shackleford began his VHLM career in Saskatoon, and was overjoyed to get to come back to play for Saskatoon Wild General Manager Peace when Saskatoon chose him with their 1st pick of the Season 66 draft. Shackleford shed blood and tears for Peace and every one of his teammates in Saskatoon. Shackleford's season and tenure with the Wild came to an end after his team was eliminated in the semi-finals. 
 
Shackleford wanted to personally thank many of the great friends and mentors that he made along the way in his time in the minors, including @Peace, @Renomitsu, @nethi99, @Oost, @Jus, @Advantage, and all the others that made Saskatoon such a great place to play. 
 
Shackleford was rumored to have been upset following the Wild's elimination loss, breaking every single one of his sticks, and one of his goalie Juandice's as well. After the handshake line and reconvening with his teammates, Shackleford is rumored to have shed a few tears, but he has denied this, stating that it was only "pain juice coming out my eyes."
 
Although this major chapter of Shackleford's life is over, he is also looking forward to the future, and excited to play in the VHL under GM Advantage for the Malmo Nighthawks. 

With the long and grueling Season 66 over and done with, Rusty Shackleford's career with the Saskatoon Wild has come to an end. Shackleford began his VHLM career in Saskatoon, and was overjoyed to get to come back to play for Saskatoon Wild General Manager Peace when Saskatoon chose him with their 1st pick of the Season 66 draft. Shackleford shed blood and tears for Peace and every one of his teammates in Saskatoon. Shackleford's season and tenure with the Wild came to an end after his team was eliminated in the semi-finals. 
 
Shackleford wanted to personally thank many of the great friends and mentors that he made along the way in his time in the minors, including @Peace, @Renomitsu, @nethi99, @Oost, @Jus, @Advantage, and all the others that made Saskatoon such a great place to play. 
 
Shackleford was rumored to have been upset following the Wild's elimination loss, breaking every single one of his sticks, and one of his goalie Juandice's as well. After the handshake line and reconvening with his teammates, Shackleford is rumored to have shed a few tears, but he has denied this, stating that it was only "pain juice coming out my eyes."
 
Although this major chapter of Shackleford's life is over, he is also looking forward to the future, and excited to play in the VHL under GM Advantage for the Malmo Nighthawks. 

With the long and grueling Season 66 over and done with, Rusty Shackleford's career with the Saskatoon Wild has come to an end. Shackleford began his VHLM career in Saskatoon, and was overjoyed to get to come back to play for Saskatoon Wild General Manager Peace when Saskatoon chose him with their 1st pick of the Season 66 draft. Shackleford shed blood and tears for Peace and every one of his teammates in Saskatoon. Shackleford's season and tenure with the Wild came to an end after his team was eliminated in the semi-finals. 
 
Shackleford wanted to personally thank many of the great friends and mentors that he made along the way in his time in the minors, including @Peace, @Renomitsu, @nethi99, @Oost, @Jus, @Advantage, and all the others that made Saskatoon such a great place to play. 
 
Shackleford was rumored to have been upset following the Wild's elimination loss, breaking every single one of his sticks, and one of his goalie Juandice's as well. After the handshake line and reconvening with his teammates, Shackleford is rumored to have shed a few tears, but he has denied this, stating that it was only "pain juice coming out my eyes."
 
Although this major chapter of Shackleford's life is over, he is also looking forward to the future, and excited to play in the VHL under GM Advantage for the Malmo Nighthawks. 

(Posting this with express permission from Beketov)
 
Hey everyone, you may (or may not) know me from the SBA. I'm here today to gauge interest in our community for a side project I am working on with Molholt. 
 
Now, before I go further - a lot of the elements are wildly different than the typical point task league. That's why I am here to gauge interest - to our knowledge, this hasn't really been done so much (if ever), so we aren't sure what to expect in terms of interest.
 
First things first, this will be a baseball league run by OOTP, using a backend similar to SBAO (or, for those here not in SBA, something that functions similar to the VHL Portal). Let me run through some bullet points about this new league.
 
Baseball, which brings with it OOTP, probably the best sim engine on the market quik sim. Each season will last two weeks, meaning up to 26 could happen in a calendar year. Random player creation. No starting archetype or base attribute list, every player is randomly generated by OOTP (with some requirements). Decide what position you want to play and then see what your starting point is! Do you have some potential for the future, or are you a solid player already? How will it impact your build strategy? No manual player regression or forced retirement. Players can play until they retire in-game. Careers in less than a year. With quik sim and no career length, experience an entire career in less than one calendar year! Player progression and regression are ON in-game. This means you can develop naturally in addition to your own points being applied, and will regress naturally. Injuries and suspensions turned ON. Given the quik sim nature and no limit on career length, missing time for injuries isn't a huge detriment and brings with it much more realism. No point tasks. You do not have to write an article, create a graphic, record a podcast or do anything of the sort to earn points. Subscription model. The league would be setup with a subscription model, meaning that if you're a monthly subscriber you get a lump sum of points each season to apply to your player(s). Given that two seasons would be within a month, each month would be two seasons worth of points. Low Price Point. I'm thinking $5/month gets you one pitcher and one hitter. Once created, they'll be in the system. Any month you subscribe you'll get points for both of them for two seasons. Potential for more players/levels if there is desire. Automation. No requirement for jobs. Updates will be handled by the system I am building specifically for this. Simming done by Molholt. No need for any other jobs. Potential Monetary Prizes. There is potential to reward league MVPs, Cy Youngs, etc., with a monetary reward. If there is a buy in for GMs then there is potential to pay the championship GM each season, etc. Just a thought right now. Low Effort. With no tasks to do, simply show up and enjoy your player's development and career. Chat with other players, decide on free agency, see where you get drafted, etc., all without worrying about writing an article or making a graphic each week.  
Because this is so wildly different, we are gauging interest before we devote a ton of time to it. I know it's out there compared to the standard leagues such as the SBA, VHL and EFL and even the money leagues like the SHL and PBE. However, with the two of us behind it and our passion for not only sim leagues, but baseball as well, I think this could be a really fun community to be a part of. I also think it could attract a completely different group of people that might find some interest in this that then filter over into our standard sim league community. Start them off with low effort and get them hooked, bring them over here. I think it's important to throw out there that we aren't competing with the SBA, or the PBE even, or really anyone in the sim league community. Our subscription model will also not find its way to the Affilite Trio of the SBA, EFL, or VHL - this is a separate endeavor entirely.
 
Let us know what you think. Would you have interest? What elements are exciting for you? What elements would turn you away or cause concern? Hit me up here or on Discord anytime if you have thoughts, love to hear them!
 
Link to our site, where you can sign up for the SimLB mailing list: https://www.simlb.com/
Link to our Discord: https://discord.gg/t7VJXUg

S66 OFF-SEASON SCHEDULE
Dates Subject to Change
  
Sunday, June 30th
Depreciation
S67 Finance TPE Cut-Off  (all TPE earned, up to, and including, this date will affect salary brackets for S67) 
Experience Points Allocated  
  
Monday, July 1st
Canada Day
S66 VHLM Achievement Tracker TPE Awarded
S66 VHLM Awards Ceremony
  
Tuesday, July 2nd
S66 ALL-VHLM TEAMS
S67 VHLM Entry Draft @ 830PM EST
 
Wednesday, July 3rd
S67 VHL Entry Draft @ 8PM EST
Free Agent Discussions Open @ 11PM EST
  
Thursday, July 4th
Free Agency Opens @ Noon EST
S66 VHL Awards Ceremony
Training Camps Open
World Cup Day 1
World Cup Day 2
 
Friday, July 5th
S66 Hall of Fame Induction
World Cup Day 3
World Cup Day 4
 
Saturday, July 6th
World Cup Day 5
World Cup Quarter Finals
 
Sunday, July 7th
67 VHLM TPE Cut-Off  (Any players who have earned 201 TPE or more, up to and including this date, will no longer be eligible to play in the VHLM for S67 - Training Camp may not be claimed after this date if you are at the Cap; if you are within 10, you may claim up to the cap, i.e. If you are at 194, you may claim 6 TPE from Training Camp)  
World Cup Semi-Finals
 
Monday, July 8th
S67 VHL Pre-Season Starts 
Pre-Season Retirement  (Players can re-create for S68 and still play S67)
World Cup Bronze & Gold Medal Games
 
Tuesday, July 9th
S67 VHL/VHLM Indexes Posted 
 
Wednesday, July 10th
S67 VHL/VHLM Regular Season Begins 
Training Camps Close 

Too many people just now learning that the Hounds are a team and have actually been playing the whole season to care.

Today we're looking at the very real possibility it'll be one through fourth seeds advancing to the second round of the VHLM playoffs, but that's not an unexpected conclusion of the first round of the playoffs, what makes it more interesting is that the Saskatoon Wild (who dropped to fourth) would face the Philadelphia Reapers (who climbed to first) in what I expected to actually be the championship match up. While Ottawa and Halifax have formidable teams, that was my initial projection based on the spreadsheets I have comparing the Wild to the Reapers and other teams. While I haven't kept up with it, Saskatoon has certainly remained competitive against teams above them in the standings. 

Since the most anticipated series I expected is happening a whole round sooner, I present you the line by line comparison between the Philadelphia Reapers and the Saskatoon Wild. 

Yes I know, the Saskatoon Wild have to advance to the next round, but being up 3-1 over Mexico I'd nearly tender my resignation if we drop the series 4-3.

This is a comparison for the top units only, which means Saskatoon's first forward and defensive lines against Philadelphia's first forward and defensive lines. I'll break down the comparisons below, and maybe I'll add a TL;DR snip to the bottom of the thread but I genuinely want this match up to build some hype within the VHLM community, so I don't care what the VHL-league'd players think as they're not included into this. 

I may have my quarrels with Blade, we don't get along and have different policies on how to GM as individuals, so this is an article that removes the practices from both parties (Saskatoon front office and Philadelphia front office) and focuses on a raw comparison. It's crude, nothing overly fancy, and really just a couple paragraphs to get the TPE bonus - but this is also something I've wanted to do before the playoffs even started but couldn't without my PC (I'm on the road or away from my home 50% of the month right now). 

FIRST FORWARD LINE 

Saskatoon: 
Griffin - Nygren - Pavlov

Philadelphia:
Sabertooth - Clements - Frostbeard

If we're looking at total points assigned (TPA) the Reapers technically win this battle by a landslide... if said landslide was three rocks falling down the side of a cliff, but it should be noted nevertheless. Honestly three attribute points near the cap is effectively inconsequential, as Pavlov's build (he's got 223 TPE) is dedicated towards a pure-scorer, so he's chosen to withhold applying the final three TPA to his player. The only reasonable attribute Victor would use them for is passing, and a quik glance at the player's page would reveal he's building up his skating, puck handling, defense and scoring first as this is his GM player for Moscow. 

Let's take a deeper look into each build, though, as that's where the meat and potatoes are with a comparison like this. 

Griffin: 
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 70 40 40 70 60 70 40 62 70 74 40 40 40 200  
Nygren:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 40 40 40 78 40 70 40 66 80 75 40 40 40 200  
Pavlov:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 40 40 40 77 55 72 40 50 77 77 40 40 40 197  
VERSUS

Sabertooth:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 50 44 41 70 60 70 40 70 76 70 40 40 42 200
 
Clements:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 50 40 40 70 55 60 70 75 65 70 40 40 40 200  
Frostbeard:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 45 40 45 70 45 75 40 70 80 70 40 40 40 200  
We can clearly observe that the top line Saskatoon deploys is geared towards more offensive builds, while the lineup the Philadelphia Reapers have iced focuses more on two-way play on both sides of the ice. We're going to ignore checking, fighting, discipline, strength, penalty shot, experience and leadership because - aside from checking - both teams aren't using physicality to their strategy. Philadelphia''s top line is publicly available as 0-1-4 (Physical - Defense - Offense) while Saskatoon's top line is a little more conservative at 0-2-3, both solid options for your offensive units. 

When comparing skating among all six players Saskatoon has a significant advantage when put together, in fact Saskatoon's top unit has 15 more attributes assigned to skating than the Reapers, and while a jump from 70 to 71 wouldn't be as notable in the sim, the jump from 70 to 77 is, and enables Saskatoon's top line more skating options when the decision formula is applied during a play - this could enable Saskatoon to enter the Reapers zone more frequently than the Reapers top line against a similarly built top defensive unit.

Next up is a direct puck handling comparison - and while both teams are similar - Saskatoon once again earns a victory in this head-to-head match up thanks to the Wild players having almost identical PH stats. While the Reapers puck handling is exceptional at 205, the Saskatoon Wild benefit from the previously mentioned similarly, resulting in a narrow 212-205 victory in this attribute comparison. 

Passing is a hotly debated topic whether or not it leads to assist production, and I've recently experienced a season where most of my points were assists, even though my build was largely (for the majority of the season) 80/95 SC, 80/99 SC and 85/99 SC. I believe that assists come with passing and defense, along with puck handling, as scoring really is - as per the STHS manual - a decision for the player to shoot (as passing is a decision to pass). Ignoring the other attributes, focusing on just how likely each player is to pass than another across the rink, then we look directly into passing and nothing else. The Reapers have 215 attribute points in passing, and as sad as I am to report this, it absolutely slaughters Saskatoon's collective 178. 

Scoring - like passing - is the tendency for a player to take a shot over a pass... at least according to the STHS manual. While a true comparison will be below (passing+shooting) the Saskatoon flagship offensive unit is more 'shoot now' over their contemporary line across the ice rink. Although not impressive, the Saskatoon Wild enjoy a significantly more offensively geared top line when comparing passing+shooting together as a ratio, but as an attribute alone they squeak by with 227 over Philadelphia's 221. 

Now if we take those two into a ratio based on the collective, we'll notice that Saskatoon is considerably more Carolina Hurricane like. They'll take shots from the red line, the face off circle, the hash marks, the slot, the point, their own blue line and your grandma's front porch... and we're sure Shakleford would try to hit the net from Saturn when he just right sends it... but Philadelphia is largely more balanced with a 215:221 pass-to-shoot ratio, while Saskatoon will try to complicate things with a barrage of shots with 178:227 ratio. 

So the last thing to compare is defense. Philadelphia makes things boring by having a static seventy points with each player within their own top unit - which collectively adds 210 points into the skill - while Saskatoon likes to spice up the love life a little by throwing more defense onto their players, which enables them to make defensive plays easier than their counterparts. Saskatoon's top unit is significantly more 'defensive' than Philadelphia's with an impressive 227-210 advantage in perhaps the most important attribute on STHS.

Which line up is better is up to interpretation, but I'd like to give the advantage to Saskatoon's top unit especially after considering they'll intercept more passes, play a better defensive game, all while getting more pucks to the net over raw possession through passing and a similar puck handling ability to Saskatoon. What do you guys think? 

TOP DEFENSIVE UNIT 

Rusty Shackleford:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 70 47 45 66 50 70 40 66 46 80 40 40 45 200  
Anthony Amberback:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 70 40 40 70 45 70 40 70 60 78 40 40 42 196  

VERSUS

Edward Vigneault:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 70 40 60 70 50 60 40 70 70 70 40 40 40 200  
Kevin Low:
CK FG DI SK ST PH FO PA SC DF PS EX LD TPA 40 40 40 70 45 70 40 70 80 74 40 40 40 188  

This is clearly a battle between offensive defenders and defensive defenders if a quik look at the scoring attribute makes a statement, and it should, so you can anticipate who's going to be better defensively and offensively with a quik glance at the builds. Although it is entirely possible for Philadelphia to change things up with a deep defensive depth, this is currently their top pairing, so we'll use that in a direct comparison. If there is a change to be made you simply swap that which was changed and they'll most likely match up the same. Both Shackleford and Amberback are defensive defenders, with Amberback having a more offensive upside. 

For this comparison we'll be looking at checking, skating, puck handling, passing, scoring and defense. We add checking to the mix this time around (unlike above) because of their position and role in the STHS decision making formula. They'll hit an attacking player and cause a turn over while defending far more than a forward will while defending or in the offensive zone, but this is just an observation I've noticed. 

Since we're already writing a novel I'll expedite the process. 

When it comes to checking Saskatoon enjoys a 140:110 advantage as both Shackleford and Amberback have seventy points into the checking attribute, while Low hasn't updated a single point into his own state, preferring a far more offensive build with his defender over both Saskatoon pillars. Saskatoon's defensive wall will be more physical, which may lead to more turnovers and possession control for the Saskatoon Wild, which is a bonus when they're breaking up offensive attacks a little more effective than the Reapers top unit. 

Skating is a similarly attributed fight, but the Reapers win by four, as Shackleford only has sixty six into his skating in favor of an impressive 80 DF attribute. As we've mention above the difference between one rating isn't significant, but there's a large cap and a milestone between 66 and 70. Although they're nearly the same, the Reapers win out and they'll have the advantage with the STHS decision making formula against their comparisons. 

Puck handling surprisingly goes to Saskatoon with a 140:130 advantage, and to be honest when I briefly looked at Low's build, I expected both skating and puck handling to be higher despite the general 'get everything to seventy' meta the VHL recommends across first and second (plus) generation players. Regardless, despite Saskatoon winning, most of the plays any four of them will make is from their own defensive zone so it could be argued that even fifty puck handling would result in a similarly competitive player. 

Passing is another area where Philadelphia edged out Saskatoon, in fact it's exactly the same skating, as they're technical advantage is only four greater than their Saskatoon counterparts. Shackleford and Amberback's strengths will be revealed soon, and there is still room for Low to grow, but it's unlikely as the playoffs have already begun that another player update will be ran. It's not unreasonable to assume the Low you see now is the Low you'll get throughout the post-season. 

Scoring is clearly 'advantage Philly', as both Low and Vigneault are built more as offensive defenders (or you could argue two-way defenders) over the builds Shackleford and Amberback employ for their players. Philadelphia enjoys a 150:102 advantage over Saskatoon when it comes to offense being produced by the top defensive pair, and they know what they're doing; Saskatoon runs Shackleford and Amberback at 1-3-1, 0-4-1 or 0-3-2 over Philadelphia's 0-2-3. 

Defense is where Saskatoon slaughters the Philadelphia pairing - 153:144 - and while not as impressive as the scoring deficit I will argue that defense is more important for a defender (and even a forward) over attribute points assigned into more raw offensive categories. Shackleford and Amberback are relied upon defensively and do a remarkable job keeping Saskatoon's end of the rink relatively clean, while tossing in a fair share of assists thanks to the limited discovery that puck handling and defense actually lead to more assists than passing does. 

In an offensive system Philadelphia's top pairing is more effective, they'll create more chances and opportunities to score, but in a defensive battle the balance is shifted into Saskatoon's favor. 

In a hopeful best of seven series, I think this one goes all the way, with the Reapers depth pushing the Wild out of the second round in seven games. 

Hope you enjoyed the read. 

2, 000+ words. 
Claiming for the next month! 

The Malmo Nighthawks first season is over and while the opening portion of our season was a shocking success, the rest of our season left a lot to be desired.  In reality, the result was expected as Malmo finished outside of a playoff position.  With that being said, it was a positive year for the team that saw a lot of its players performing and still sees no shortage of young talent on its way up.  For this lengthy article, I am going to look at my first draft as the Malmo Nighthawks.  I want to take a look at the Season 66 Dispersal Draft a year later and see how the group we drafted have been doing since.
 
7th Overall – Jerry Garcia [D] – Malmo Nighthawks – 390 TPE
The purely defensive Garcia had a fairly successful campaign with the Malmo Nighthawks.  It is generally pretty challenging to play in the VHL the year after being drafted, and even more-so for a defender who provides little offense.  Defensively he proved to be rather solid on the Expansion squad with 119 hits and 145 blocked shots.  While he was a -10, this was a pretty decent plus/minus considering he was on the second worst team in the league and played top minutes as someone who doesn’t offer much offense.  He did still finish with 31 points mainly due to some decent puck-moving and will continue to look to turn into a top two-way defender down the road.  There were some excellent players at seventh overall, and Garcia projects to be one of the best and is on pace to become a tremendous top pairing defender that Malmo can count on.
 
17th Overall – Rusty Shackleford [D] – Saskatoon Wild – 305 TPE
There is something about Malmo and shutdown defenders it seems.  Rusty Shackleford is a purely defensive defenseman that hits as much as he can in the defensive zone.  His season resulted in 56 points, 162 hits and 108 blocked shots to go along with a +21 rating on the much-improved Saskatoon Wild squad.  He is improving his skating and passing as the year goes on which could make him a similar player to what Garcia projects as.  In a league where top defensive defensemen can often make a team very tough to beat come playoff time, Shackleford will be a worthy addition to a defense that already features both Basaraba Moose and Jerry Garcia.  With his abundance in practicing since the draft, he looks like an excellent pick where I got him and I couldn’t be happier that I selected him.
 
37th Overall – Nacho [C] – Halifax 21st – 205 TPE
Nacho had an excellent sophomore season in the VHLM, recording 79 points in 72 games for Halifax.  This was a steep improvement from his 45 point rookie campaign that saw him get passed over in the first couple of rounds.  Nevertheless, Nacho has showed decent improvement for much of the season but has slowed down of late.  Much of his future potential will depend on whether or not he can get back to his previous practicing, but nevertheless he still projects as a jack-of-all-trades center who can fill in on either a second or third line.  If he starts improving his work ethic he could move his way up into a first line role while in his prime and a second line center until then.  Still a decent pick where he was selected to say the least.
 
38th Overall – Juan Jaundice [G] – Saskatoon Wild – 219 TPE
Jus is one of my favourite members in the league honestly.  He’s a great dude and his personality is literally the reason I was thrilled to select him with the thirty-eighth overall pick in the VHLM Draft.  After talking to him for the first time on Discord, I immediately took him two days later in the VHL draft just based off that interaction alone.  Jus has been living a bit of a busy life lately but is slowly improving and projects to be a solid netminder down the road.  Jaundice showed vast improvement in his sophomore season jumping from 34 to 50 wins, going from a .871 save percentage to .893 and improving his GAA from 3.7 to 2.62.  His development is probably not indicative of a future Hall of Fame goaltender or anything, but in a league that seems to be moving to just needing a solid goalie to win the Continental Cup, with consistent improvement he may become a good option down the road.  Add in a great teammate and member of our locker room and you have someone I am very proud to have on Malmo.
 
47th Overall – Blake Laughton [LW] – Ottawa Lynx – 206 TPE
When I took Blake Laughton at 47th overall I was pretty surprised to see him still available at that pick.  He was about the same amount of TPE as my previous two picks, but I suppose that showcases how deep this draft was.  Laughton is a goal-scoring power forward who played a key role in Ottawa’s success this season.  The young forward recorded 41 goals, 39 assists and 261 hits in 72 games this season.  He was a consistent offensive threat and someone who played the other team incredibly physically, making him one of the hardest players to play against in the minors.  This attitude will need to stay the same in order to continue his success, but it wouldn’t surprise me if that does happen.  Since the draft, Laughton has been solid when it comes to practicing and is projected to be a future top six winger in the near future.
 
57th Overall – Morpheus Destructious [D] – Las Vegas Aces – 176 TPE
What has become very clear since this draft is that Morpheus Destructious was the best player available when I took him with the 57th overall pick.  Others in his round like Clements, Hafkey and Clarke are still slightly higher in overall practice hours, but none of them have out-earned Destructious since the draft.  Additionally, no one taken after the great physical behemoth has earned more overall.  Destructious is a 6”8, 250 lb monster that possesses tremendous physicality and excellent defensive credentials.  Projecting as an old-school shut down defender ala Scott Stevens during his New Jersey years, Morpheus is banking on his consistent growth and development to serve him well as he moves up the professional ranks.  While he may not be up with Malmo next season, he has grown as much as any prospect on the Nighthawks, which is quite impressive given where he was taken.  Last season saw the defender record 27 points, 337 hits and 137 blocked shots as a key member of the Las Vegas Aces.  Sadly, while Morpheus did his job each and every night, his team struggled to win which put him in a very difficult position.  The aging defender projects as a future defensive second pairing defenseman and the Nighthawks certainly cannot wait for his arrival.
 
67th Overall – Eeli Harju [C] – Mexico City Kings – 81 TPE
While Harju has not worked out (not that I expected him to as he was inactive come draft time), I do take some solace in that I only missed out on one player that is still active.  Sadly it was a player that I had looked at for both of my last two picks in Thomas Kennedy, but nevertheless it’s not the end of the world either way.  Harju likely will be a career VHLM player as will the majority of those that were left.
 
77th Overall – Finn Theismann [D] – Houston Bulls – 54 TPE
This one actually kills me because it was literally between Finn and Kennedy (who now sits at 194 TPE) and I chose Finn.  While I know a lot of people have praise for my draft, I am someone that expects perfection and the fact that I chose Theismann over Kennedy will probably haunt me for a while.  Good for Seattle though cause that was one of the biggest steals ever if he keeps it up.  Nevertheless, not the end of the world that I didn’t hit here given that it was one of the last picks of the draft.
 
Draft Grades
Jerry Garcia -> A
Rusty Shackleford -> A
Nacho -> B
Jaundice -> B
Laughton -> B+
Destructious -> A-
Harju -> F
Theismann -> F
 
All in all, I think it was an excellent first dispersal draft for Malmo and it has helped set them up for years to come.  In addition to all these picks, we also traded for Blake Gaudette who was drafted 34th overall by Davos and will be playing on the Nighthawks this season.  He looks like another good one in the same vain as a Nacho or Laughton.  If everything works out, the Nighthawks should boast much of their core from this draft and given the already young crop they drafted in the Expansion Draft, Malmo has a lot to look forward to.  Given the history of Sweden in our great league, this is a welcome notion for the newest VHL franchise.
 

Well this would have been nice to know before I wrote a 3,900 word article that wasn't at all about the playoffs. 
I like writing though, so we're good. 
It's a doubles week right?

What a Game! Another shutout for @Jus and a great performance by everyone. And we didn't even have to abuse an official doing it!

A couple weeks ago, @Renomitsu wrote an article which put together grades of each North American team's draft class, and at the end put this out there: 
 
 
I agreed to do this, but only on the condition that I did not grade Malmo. You see, I play for Malmo, and I wanted to be fair--I can easily see myself trying to be modest and calling Garcia a bust (which I don't think he is), and I can also see myself not wanting to be mean and giving all my teammates high praise, whether or not they deserved it. I feel that I can be objectively fair with the rest, though, especially since the last article made clear that the grades contained therein are meant to revolve around 5/10 being average. Not great, but certainly not as bad as 5/10 sounds in most contexts. 
 
If you're wondering about the Malmo grades, Renomitsu has written them up, and they'll be in this article as well
 
This article will take into account players' TPE as of the week ending June 2nd, so as to provide a picture consistent with that of the North American conference article, which was written on the 1st. I'll also do my best to grade players and teams in the same manner as the previous article, using the same metrics. And speaking of pictures consistent with those of the last article, here's one, shamelessly copied and pasted, and for my own reference just as much as yours...
 
*quik note: Renomitsu went through the trouble of calculating TPE and averages for players as of this week, so, while the Malmo numbers have been run with a greater sample size, it is my belief that the numbers present here provide a nice picture of things as well, and as these are the ones already available to my lazy ass, these are the ones which will be used.
 

 
So, anyway, PREPARE TO BE UNDERWHELMED! In no particular order...
 
HC Davos Dynamo

 
Draftees:
D Charlie Paddywagon (6th)
D Codrick Past (13th)
LW Chico Smeb (19th)
LW Blake Gaudette (34th)
D Hiromu Takahashi (43rd)
C Pascal Batz (44th)
G Wendy Kandee Cain (54th)
D Cody Parkey (64th)
C Shawn Michaels better than HHH (74th)
 
As the guy who was projected to be the first defenseman off the board by just about everyone (at least, just about everyone after I'd become the highest-TPE defenseman in the draft class), I thought I was going to Davos at #6. Sure, I'd written in Garcia to Malmo in my mock, but in the time between my posting and that of the draft results, I'd heard so much "Davos is picking a defenseman" around the league that I'd simply assumed that this would be the case. These being the facts of the matter, I was very surprised to see Charlie Paddywagon (@DMaximus) going to the team at #6--I'd projected Paddywagon to Davos at #13, and Garcia wasn't even off the board yet! Paddywagon's selection, however, proved to be not entirely questionable in this instance--his 71 TPE earned between the draft and the week ending June 2nd beats the average for the first round, and, in fact, actually beats out Garcia, who still leads the way in TPE by a week or so but earned 69 in the aforementioned period (I like to think I earned 69 on purpose).
 
In the second round, though, Davos' defensive pick leaves a bit to be desired, not necessarily in value but in placement. Codrick Past's (@Kylrad) TPE earnings amount to 51, a few below average, and as a welfare claimer, it appears that Past may have been a bit of a reach at #13. At the end of the second round, though, Davos made up the ground they lost by selecting Chico Smeb (@xDParK), a winger who fell all the way to #19 and who was easily the best player available as far as TPE is concerned. While Smeb's +59 is as far above the average as Past's +51 is below, Smeb is also a welfare claimer, and, though he consistently earns 10 TPE or more per week, could start to see his value drop off some if his peers become more competitive in the future. 
 
The fourth round proved quite eventful for the team, though not necessarily in the way general manager @ShawnGlade would have hoped. Davos selected winger Blake Gaudette (@Gaudette), who almost immediately requested a trade due to circumstances about which I do not know enough to attempt to explain. Gaudette was promptly traded to Malmo, and the jury is still absolutely out on which team won the trade as there is a "part 2" which is due to happen this coming offseason. Gaudette, however, was a solid pick in the mid-4th, as he's got a nice +71, far above the round's average. Though the trade hasn't yet been completed, Davos has received Malmo's 4th-round pick in the coming draft already, and it's been hinted that Malmo will be on the negative end of things in the second part, making Davos' return on the investment quite helpful.
 
Beyond the fourth, though, Davos' picks were a whole lot of not much. The team picked Hiromu Takahashi (@O4L) at #43, who hasn't claimed a single point since the week of April 28th. Following that up, they selected Pascal Batz (@efiug), a welfare claimer whose +37 is right around the round's average. Pick number 54 saw goaltender Wendy Kandee Cain (@SlashACM), once the top goaltender in the draft class and now the top retired goaltender in the draft class, while inactive Cody Parkey (@SaltyTalty) went at #64 and Shawn Michaels better than HHH (I blame Quik), a worthless test player, was selected at #74. 
 
Overall grade? Paddywagon ended up being a nice choice (though, for the moment, Garcia is still better). The second round's picks evened out to average. Gaudette was quite the steal and could end up being costly for Malmo in this mysterious part 2, but the team looks to have missed completely on every pick but perhaps Batz after that fact. 5/10.
 
 
Helsinki Titans

 
Draftees:
C Bert Meyers (15th)
C Ludvig Sederstrom (22nd)
C Jordan Tonn (29th)
D Guillaume Fontenette (30th)
C Rhys Chism (39th)
G Kolur Bjoernsson (49th)
D Duncan Jeffers (59th)
RW Sami Van Den Dreissche (69th)
LW Micheal Rassmussen (79th)
 
I had a feeling prior to the draft that Bert Meyers (@RunnerBert11) would fall some, as the teams who needed a center satisfied said needs with earlier picks, leaving Meyers to fall until he was far enough behind that not picking him would be a move worthy of great question. And he did, eventually being picked up by Helsinki (who, I'd imagine, was very happy to have a first-round talent, TPE-wise, fall to them in the second). Meyers actually improved at a rate greater than many first-rounders, as he recorded a very nice +90 by June 2nd and shows no signs of slowing down. 
 
The Titans' second pick, though, proved to be more of a miss than most GMs would like to see in the early third round, in Ludvig Sederstrom (@aleks). He was certainly active enough at the time of the draft to warrant a selection at #22--he was #20 in the TPE rankings. Since then, though, he's racked up a total of 17 TPE, whether we look at the week of June 2nd or today. Though aleks was my teammate last season in Houston, and I've seen enough in Discord to know he's busy rather than inactive, Sederstrom is still dangerously trending toward bust territory.
 
The team had to wait until the end of the third round to make any more picks, and there they drafted Jordan Tonn (@MexicanCow123) and Guillaume Fontenette (@okocha5). Tonn is +50, while Fontenette is +60--both above average for the round. In fact, since Meyers' TPE puts him inside the top 10 of the draft class, and the earn rate of Tonn and Fontenette averages out to just about your friendly neighborhood second round, Helsinki's choices so far would have earned them an only slightly below-average grade had they been mid-round picks an entire round higher. It gets even crazier when we look at Rhys Chism (@Jables), a scoring center who, to anyone who wasn't his teammate in Houston last season, came out of absolutely nowhere to become one of the more active members of the league this season, currently AGMing Houston (and, oh, look, he's got a +67 on top of that, managing to run right with the first-rounders' earn rate). All in all, an absolutely ridiculous first four rounds for the Titans.
 
After that point, the team's picks quieted down somewhat. Kolur Bjoernsson (@jblock3) is a +56 and a reliable welfare claimer, representing solid value at the 49th draft position. Bjoernsson could develop into a reliable backup for Alexander Pepper in a few seasons, but when Pepper is out the door, Bjoernsson, if he keeps claiming, will likely be far enough along that he's able to start in net for a few seasons in Helsinki. While it's a solid pick for now, time till tell if it develops into anything meaningful. Duncan Jeffers (@Tophdaddy), while he came back a couple weeks ago and claimed some, is still +18 and hasn't shown the greatest steal potential as of yet. It's my opinion that Sami Van Den Dreissche still may amount to something or other in the future--his agent, @TsarPeter, was a fairly active member, and a media spot guy at that, right up to mid-March, when he very suddenly went inactive after being named GM of Team Europe in World Juniors (will he ever know that he won gold? Maybe, maybe not). Whether he suddenly lost interest, or life got in the way for a bit, the interest was 100% there for a good while, making this +0 pick a potential steal in my mind.
 
The Titans actually managed to pick up a player who's been...around the site to some extent in the last round, and the only last-round selection who's been around the site to any extent, Thomas Kennedy aside--Micheal Rasmussen (@Connor mcdavid). He's been around VHL Discord recently, and though he's +10 as of the week of June 2nd, it should be noted that he's +12 between that point and now. He may be back, and Helsinki might have themselves a legitimate steal.
 
Overall grade? Amazing value with the first four out of five, even first five out of six, picks. The team may have whiffed in the sixth and seventh, but it's hard to count later-round picks against a team. Sederstrom aside (and we could see Sederstrom start picking up the points in the future, I don't doubt that), I'd argue that Helsinki may have had the best draft, value-wise. Not much quantity here, but @Quik still has quite a bit to look forward to with this class. 8/10 7/10, as Rhys Chism just announced that he'll be leaving for a while.
 
 
Moscow Menace

 
Draftees:
LW Dmitri Volosenkov (5th)
C Jet Jaguar (10th)
G Owen May (11th)
D Beau Buefordsson (21st)
LW Edgar Tannahill (25th)
RW Mat Tocco (31st)
D Edward Vigneault (33rd)
RW Emil Passerelli (35th)
RW AJ Axelsen (41st)
LW Devin Gabella (50th)
D Dean Clarke (51st)
D Papa Gage (60th)
LW David Clarkson (61st)
D Srraxxarrakex II (70th)
D DWin Championship (71st)
D Fabius Adomaitis (80th)
 
Well, here I'm stuck sorting through half of Toronto's picks--Moscow ended up with Toronto's first-round pick, as well as every Toronto pick from the fifth round to the last. In terms of quantity, the Menace did great, but this isn't about quantity, it's about quality. But since we've got quantity, buckle up, as this might take a while.
 
Anyway, to start things off, Moscow picked up winger Dmitri Volosenkov (@SirRupertBarnes). Though Volosenkov is +68, beating the average by a few, he's been more or less a welfare claimer, and sometimes not even a welfare claimer, in recent memory, and though he's still on every week to claim a few things, has seen his activity drop off to some extent lately, making his progress something to watch and indeed a concern should the trend continue. By stark contrast, though, the team's second pick, Jet Jaguar (@gorlab) has arguably been their MVP this season, producing at (maybe) ROTY-level after somehow falling to the end of the first round. Jaguar's also +100 between the draft and the week of June 2nd, and as one of the league's resident sig gods, will most definitely be around at this level for a good while, and may end up the face of the franchise in a season or two, if he isn't already. A case could have been made for him at #5, even, as he was only 4 TPE behind Volosenkov at the time of the draft, so it's a surprise that he fell as far as he did and I'm sure @Victor doesn't mind.
 
The Menace kicked off the second round by selecting goaltender Owen May, to the surprise of not many. May, at first just about universally projected to go to Malmo at #7, rapidly became the consensus pick for Moscow, who fulfilled the expectations of most by picking him up at #11. Throughout S65, May climbed the goaler rankings, surpassing the likes of Wendy Kandee Cain and Clayton Park to become easily the top goaltender in the draft class. He's +68 by my standards, making his earn rate right up there with the first-rounders. @FacebookFighter has also since proved himself to be one of the team's foremost leaders, creating a Discord locker room, asking press conference questions, and being named AGM of the team, demonstrating his value off the ice as well as on it. 
 
...And here's where I get to call Beau Buefordsson a bust again, much to the dismay of my own AGM, @Radcow. Though I can attest to his dedication, enthusiasm, activity, and value as my own AGM, and I can confidently state that he will one day make a great GM (take note, commissioners!), his player, Beau Buefordsson, is a bit of a different story. Buefordsson went above the cap prior to the draft with a burst of activity that may have helped his draft stock. He's actually +46 between the draft and the week of June 2nd, above the third-round average, but only claimed trivia that week and hasn't claimed a single point since, raising questions about his value to the team. The same can be said of Edgar Tannahill (@gregreg), a league vet whose business with the league, as I understand it, goes way back--he's one of the all-time longest-tenured GMs, and in fact the all-time losingest (I don't care if that's not a word, it was the best way to put it), as we learned from a trivia question last season. Tannahill was drafted 25th overall, after writing a few articles exhibiting his great desire to be called up to the VHL if possible, as well as to be picked up by Moscow. The latter happened, though the former didn't, as Tannahill currently sits in San Diego. Though Greg may be back in it at some point in the future, Tannahill is +12 and hasn't claimed since mid-May.
 
Here's also where I get to make up for my undervaluing of Mat Tocco (@Matmenzinger) in my mock draft, as well--he's +53, well above the fourth-round average, and though the fact that he gave up a good amount to stay down likely made him slip a bit in the draft itself, Moscow came away with a solid, active forward prospect with this pick. The fourth round contained two other Moscow picks, in fact--defenseman Edward Vigneault (@Patpou22) and forward Emil Passerelli (@SparrowLTD). Vigneault is +42, and steadily earning around 6-10 TPE a week as a welfare guy, while it appears that the team may have missed out on Passerelli (and, meanwhile, Halifax may have hit a gold mine for next season). The winger currently sits at 198 TPE, and his agent last visited the site over a month ago, making him, by the league's definition, inactive. 
 
The team began hitting on their picks again in the fifth round, picking up AJ Axelsen (@littleboi), a +74 forward who's been consistently active, getting into media spot writing a bit, being active on Discord, and developing at a nice rate. They also managed to pick up Devin Gabella (@Gabella19), who's +44 and currently sits at exactly 200 TPE. He's a welfare guy, but does do more than the bare minimum and has been developing consistently. Dean Clarke (@Kyle), selected at #51, is also +44, but he's a league vet and former first-overall choice, and figures to bring some valuable experience to the team. 
 
After this point, there's not a whole lot to be seen from this draft class. David Clarkson (@Jacob Kundrat), who's +41 and has been earning TPE mostly in increments of 6 as a welfare-and-practice-facility claimer, stands out as the only active member out of the rest--Srraxxarrakex II (@flan, someday I'll learn to spell that), DWin Championship (@Award97), and Fabius Adomaitis (@Claire, this draft's Mr. Irrelevant as the last selection) have all gone inactive. 
 
Overall grade? A few good choices. Jaguar, May, Tocco, and Axelsen all come to mind, but all things considered, there were more misses than there should have been. Volosenkov has underproduced for a #5 overall, the third round was one big swing and a miss, and it's likely up for debate whether or not most other players picked will amount to anything. 4/10.
 
Riga Reign

 
Draftees:
C Hunter Hearst Helmsley (1st)
RW Mikko Aaltonen (4th)
D Aron Nielsen (8th)
RW Arnor Sigurdsson (9th)
D Apollo Hackett (16th)
RW Aleksander Rodriguez (24th)
D Anthony Amberback (36th)
D Samuel Sparrow (46th)
G Sunny Burst (56th)
D Titus Stone (66th)
C Charles Alderson (76th)
 
I'm in love with the management practices of @hedgehog337 leading up to this season--not only did he make Riga one of the top teams in the league, but he managed to amass a veritable arsenal of picks in the draft, coming away with four (yes, one, two, three, and four) first-round picks (and, oh, by the way, this was after trading up to #1 overall). Riga surprised absolutely nobody by using that pick to take Hunter Hearst Helmsley (@Beaviss), who racked up 125 points in Yukon last season and has already broken 550 TPE (Beav is on record as having said that he aims to get Helmsley to 99 in every stat, so we'll see if that happens. It would take quite a bit of updating, as well as breaking the all-time record by over 500--getting every stat up to 99 requires 2,220 TPE, and that's before depreciation. But it is HHH, after all). Anyway, HHH has produced this season (he's also +92, by the way), putting up 50 points on a team with a good amount of depth, making this look like a nice choice for Riga so far. 
 
The next pickup of the first round was winger Mikko Aaltonen (@GRZ). Aaltonen is +65, or just about average for the first round. The fact that he only managed to put up 34 points this season could call his value into question, but we also have to remember that he's playing on one of the league's deeper teams, and could move up the chart in future seasons if he remains active. A look at his update log shows that while he claims welfare, he maxes out otherwise, making him, while not the ideal first-round pick, a pick with potential to play an important role. The same not-ideal-first-roundiness can be applied to defenseman Aron Nielsen, the third defenseman out of this draft's "big three" to be selected in the first round. While @solas has reached the Hall of Fame twice, he doesn't appear to be able to devote 100% of his time to the league as of late--as someone who knows his way around Gimp, he's done graphics, but only just graphics, the past couple weeks, and he's +51 in the timeframe being used here. While this is hardly a concern, Nielsen is also not quite living up to the expectations of a first-rounder and will not likely live up to his agent's reputation. The first round actually wasn't full of a whole lot of wonderful picks for Riga, as Nielsen was followed right up with Arnor Sigurdsson (@bluesfan55), who's +38 and a welfare claimer as of late, in much the same way as Aaltonen.
 
The second round brought about Apollo Hackett (@Renomitsu, who I've tagged absolutely nowhere else in this article), a defenseman who emerged late in the season to become (after a hiatus or two) one of the league's more active members. Hackett is +90 in the timeframe given, and +34 in the two weeks since, and though Renomitsu leads a busy life which should be expected to get busier soon, he's got that covered with media spot claims running into September. The third then brought Aleksander Rodriguez (@Jtv123), the second overall draft choice in the VHLM this season. Rodriguez does all right TPE-wise--though only +36, he's earned 10 or more TPE per week recently, and while claiming welfare, does more than the minimum and has demonstrated his enthusiasm for the league in the past, so we can't write him off at all. 
 
The Reign decided on defenseman Anthony Amberback (@Oost) in the fourth round, and here we have another pick who has, so far, been somewhat of a disappointment. He's +32 and did a nice job in the weeks immediately following the draft, but quickly dropped out of the picture as he currently sits at 196 TPE. Being a member of the Saskatoon Wild, it's possible, though remotely so, that Oost is planning on staying in the minors another season, though he does happen to be giving up quite a few points in doing so. Another defenseman with much the same story was selected in the fifth, that being Samuel Sparrow (@Birdman), an old Houston teammate of mine. Sparrow is +29 and hasn't updated since the week of May 29th. At 183 TPE, also, he could end up in San Diego for another couple of seasons if his inactivity turns out to be "not just a phase, mom."
 
We see the same story yet again in the next round, when the Reign selected goaltender Sunny Burst (@Sunburst). I thought this was a great pickup at the time of the draft--Burst had shown more activity in the offseason, had done a few solid-looking (at least by my standards) graphics, and appeared to be on the road to activity. This was not to be, though, as his last update also came during the week of May 12th, and the goaler's +26 may end up being all he ever gets. The last two picks here are no different, as defenseman Titus Stone (@MD9) and center Charles Alderson (@kithoo) may be long gone from league business.
 
Overall grade? I think Hedge is a great GM, far better than I am. Most of his picks, at the time of the draft, I thought were good ones, and had I written up a review then, Riga would have received a pretty nice grade from me. The only picks which have stood out as good ones, though, are Helmsley and Hackett, and Helmsley's selection involved no real deliberation on the matter, as he is and was indisputably the best player of the draft class. The rest, in general, form a sea of players who are at best average and at worst just downright ugly. I hate to do this, but: 3/10, and I even strongly considered giving Riga a 2. 
 
 
And now, a set of grades written by @Renomitsu himself...
Malmo Nighthawks

Draftees:
D Jerry Garcia
D Rusty Shackleford
G Juan Jaundice
C Nacho
LW Blake Gaudette
LW Blake Laughton
D MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS
C Eeli Harju
D Finn Theismann
 
The Malmö Nighthawks started this season as remarkably as any expansion team in VHL history. Through twelve games they were 9-3, with important victories over second-seeded Riga and a heartbreaking 1-0 loss to the runaway Victory Cup lock for this season in the Helsinki Titans. They had strong victories over New York, Toronto, Vancouver, and Moscow early on, suggesting a reasonable shot at the playoffs. Their hot streak eventually came to an end and they were eliminated from the playoffs, but Malmö’s early success can be attributed to a strong Expansion and Entry draft class, the latter of which we’ll investigate now.
 
Our S66 expansion team started by drafting defenseman Jerry Garcia @GustavMattias seventh overall – and the second of three consecutive defenders to go in the first round between Charlie Paddywagon to Davos and Aron Nielsen to Riga. Garcia has contributed wonderfully to the Nighthawks as a relatively pure defender; he’s tenth overall in shots blocked (140 through 70 games) but firstamong rookies, putting him in good company like Tzuyu, Samuel Gate, and Robert Malenko. As one of only four defensemen on the team, he gets first-line minutes both at even strength and on PK lines – which means he’s often up against players with twice his TPE. Since the last rankings, he’s gone from 286 to 373 TPE, which makes Malmö’s investment in him perfectly justified. He’s earned a little more than most first rounders (87 vs. first-round average of 80.2), so Malmo GM @Advantage should be happy with this pick.
 
Malmö’s second-round selection and defenseman Rusty Shackleford @K1NG LINUS has out-earned even Garcia (94 vs. second-round average of 72) while contributing a +20 plus-minus with Saskatoon in the VHLM this season. He’s been among the more point-productive defenders in the minors as well, with 46 assists in 65 games, and also contributes plenty of hits (152) and shots blocked (95). We’re two-of-two so far for the Nighthawks before moving on to the team’s three fourth-round picks.
 
Strangely enough, all five of Malmö’s mid-to-late round picks were hits as well – among them fellow Saskatoon Wild teammate G Juan Jaundice @Jus, Halifax teammates C Nacho @Nacci25 and LW Blake Gaudette @Gaudette, Ottawa’s winger Blake Laughton @Grape, and titan-like MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS @Abaddon. Jaundice and Nacho above-average for their draft position (+51 and +47 respectively, +41 round average) by a handful of points – a positive sign for a team with a goalie just hitting his prime and only 3 or 4 active forwards. Nacho has contributed valuable second-line minutes to his minors team and while his earning has slowed down somewhat, he’s nonetheless a promising prospect to get third- or even second-line minutes over the next couple of seasons. Jaundice, on the other hand, is currently the winningest goalie in the minors and has pitched 7 shutouts (T-2nd). He’s been middle-of-the-road in save % and goals against on average, but stats tend to compress in the minors. Malmö’s fifth-rounder, LW Blake Laughton, has been similarly above-average for his round (+55 vs. 46 round average) and will graduate to the majors this upcoming season. Should he stay active, he’ll probably get second- or third-line minutes alongside Halifax teammate Nacho.
 
The team’s last fourth-rounder in Gaudette and sixth-rounder in DESTRUCTIOUS have been major boons for the Malmö drafting committee. Gaudette (+81 vs. 41 round average) and DESTRUCTIOUS (+84 vs. 40.6 round average) have blown expectations out of the water, doubling their fellow draftees’ earnings. At present, neither is starter- or high-second-line worthy, but their performances in the minors and first-round-draftee style earning potential makes for a very promising future for the Nighthawks.
 
In draft rankings, it’s pretty hard to count seventh- and eighth-round draft picks against teams, since their TPE increases are usually pretty minimal (11 for 7th round, 16 for 8th round due to one outlier). C Eeli Harju and D Finn Theismann have essentially ghosted the Nighthawks since draft day, and it’s unlikely they’ll make the majors any time soon.
 
Draft Grade: 9/10. Malmö hit on all of their high- and mid-round picks, which is more than any other team can say – their pickups have arguably been even more impressive than Vancouver or Riga.
 
 
Word count: 
-3,900-some for me, I doubt I'll ever go 4 weeks without writing a media spot, but should I decide to over the next four weeks, here it is. I believe this is also my 666th post maniacal laughter intensifies
-721 for Renomitsu, who (should those in charge of these things agree) can add a week on to an already massive list of stuff to claim for the future if he so desires.
 

With the Season 66 VHL playoffs starting tomorrow, let's take a look at our first round matchups, how they stack up against one another, and who has the advantage in each category.
 
(3) New York Americans vs. Vancouver Wolves (2)
Season series: 6-2 New York
 
Offense
The Vancouver Wolves finished third in the league for GF behind only Davos and Helsinki, while the Americans nearly scored the LEAST amount of goals in the entire league with only 183 GF (Seattle in last had 182). While these numbers don't mean much come playoff time, it's very alarming to see how uneven these teams are offensively. While Vancouver had three forwards to eclipse the 80 point mark this season, New York had none, in fact the Americans' highest point scoring forward was Dan Wilisnky with 67 points. Looking at New York's first line, they actually have a solid starting three in Wilinsky, Twinger, and Ylonen down the middle. Heck, New York's depth isn't even that awful either. With Puigdemont centering Kirbsson and Shan, those three make up a nice second line for the Americans, with two of those three still on rookie deals and potentially taking over first line duties in the near future. While these lines are solid, it does not guarantee scoring, as New York only had 3 players on their team surpass 20 goals on the season. Looking at Vancouver, they've had a healthy crop of offensively gifted players this season, scoring in bunches. The Wolves had three forwards pass 80 points this season, the highest total coming from Jake Davis with an impressive 104 points. Their first line is definitely overpowering, featuring Louth centering Davis and Freeman, where Freeman seems to be the worst player on that line with 39 points, seeing as Louth and Davis combine for 194 points. The second line for the Wolves is a bit tricky, as Palo is really the only bright spot on the line that features two young players who admittedly have yet to break out. Vancouver also has a depth player in Hans Gruber, but he also has yet to break out and will serve a minor role for the Wolves. While I think New York has the advantage in their second line and depth, it's hard to overlook Vancouver's top players and the seasons' they've been having.
Advantage: Vancouver
 
Defense
The main focus on this series will be on either teams' defenses, as both teams have very good looking bluelines. On the New York side of things, they have more big names, with McWolf, Malenko, and Jerwa all on the backend. Robert Malenko needs no introduction, as one of the league's best dmen for the better part of 4 seasons is enjoying himself another fantastic year offensively, with 61 points, nearly averaging a PPG. Joseph McWolf was high regarded as the league's best defensive defenseman, however in the past two seasons he has decided to be more offensive, as he led all defensemen on the Americans with 63 points in 72 games. Despite these offensive numbers, McWolf still holds a touch of defense and physicality, finishing with 250 hits and 146 blocked shots. Lastly, former Davos draft pick Piotr Jerwa is in the midst of his second best season, scoring 46 points in 72 games. I make these numbers sound good, because they are, all things considered with New York. These three defensemen are among the top scorers on the New York roster, as Joseph McWolf  ranks second on the team in scoring . Vancouver is an interesting case on defense, as they have more points combined than New York's, they arguably have less valued players on their blueline. Starting off, Shawn Glade has been a monster since coming to the Wolves via trade not too long ago, as he averaged 4 points per game in his first week with the team (No, not kidding). He's recently come back down to earth with his scoring, but is still the highest scoring dman on Vancouver. Going down the deoth chart, Jagger Philliefan has also emerged as a solid dman for the wolves, scoring 51 points and racking up 211 hits. Denver Wolfe and Konstantin Mulligan are both rather defenesive in their play, blocking 126 shots and 102 shots respectively, while Mulligan had 195 hits this season. So in the grand scheme, I think Vancouver has the best defender in this series in Shawn Glade, however New York has very nice defenders on their blueline and I think it fits well if they can counter Vancouver's offense. It's hard to see Vancouver's dmen outplaying their New York counterparts, and for that I think it's a pretty easy decision here.
Advantage: New York
 
Goalies
While both teams can say they have a solid goalie in net, I have to believe that the whole reason New York has even made it this far is because of Ismond Kingfisher. Kingfisher is tied among starters for the league lead in Save% at .924, comes second in GAA with 2.36. He only had 2 shutouts this season, but the aging netminder is a key part to New York's run and it's easy to see why. Roger Sterling for Vancouver has also played well, but he's had a way better team in front of him. Sterling is rocking a .906 Save% and a 2.86 GAA so far this season in 64 games played. I would say these numbers aren't bad for the VHL, but they sort of are. This season we've seen way better goalie stats than ever before and these stats would rank Sterling in the bottom half of goalies in the league. It's hard to see why, as Vancouver has a solid team, but it could be attributed to the less than ideal defensive core he has in front of him. It intrigues me that Kingfisher faced 1976 shots this season compared to Sterling's 1813 yet Kingfisher has had a far better season. Not to mention that with more shots and the same number of games played, Kingfisher has allowed nearly 20 goals less than his counterpart, only allowing 151 goals all season on a weak New York squad. I think if the Americans get past the Wolves, Kingfisher will be the reason why.
Advantage: New York
 
Overall
Despite New York having an advantage over Vancouver in 2/3 of the categories, it's really hard to overlook Vancouver's offense and their winning record. Countering that though, it's really difficult to overlook the season series between these two, as New York pummeled Vancouver this season. This series could honestly be a toss up, as It's really hard to go against either team here. I think this will be a longer series than people think and if it goes to game 7, I honestly don't know who wins.
Prediction: Vancouver in 6 games
 
 
(3) HC Davos Dynamo vs. Riga Reign (2)
Season series: 7-1 Riga
 
Offense
Both these teams stack up very well up front, as both teams finished in the top 4 for GF. Looking at Davos, they have a pretty stacked top 6 consisting of Crimson, Peace, Dragomir, Dahlberg, Svoboda, and Madden. Of these six, five of them passed 60 points this season, with the only outlier being Pat Svoboda at 43 points. They also have very nice goal scoring, with those same five players all scoring at least 20 goals this season, with three of them also scoring over 35 goals. It's hard to exactly say who makes up the first and second lines for this team, as the line have changed a lot over the season, but we can assume that Crimson, Peace, and Svoboda make up the first line to start the series. They also have a small depth forward in Katie Warren, who hasn't done much offensively but has seen an increase in ice time as the season went on. On the Riga side, the Reign have a nice mix between young and old players throughout their top six. The Reign make an interesting choice opting to play their younger players on the first line, when their aging players have been arguably better. We may see HHH, Garrop, and Randoms start the on the first line for the Reign, and it wouldn't be an awful idea, as those three have been on the upswing as of late. The real power line lies on their second line, with Cast, Preencarnacion, and Smeb all forming together. Cast and Preencarncaion are on the back half of their careers, but certainly don't play like it, with Cast putting up 80 points and Preencarnacion nearly reaching the century mark with 97 points. Riga is also one of the few teams with a full third line, which consists of Aaltonen, Sigurdsson, and Matthews. The third line hasn't dont fantastic on the scoresheet, but they definitely counter the depth of Davos. It's hard to judge who's offense is better, because Davos has more top players, but it's hard to bet against Preencarnacion and Cast, especially when HHH could be a wildcard to the Reign. I think the offense battle comes down who can brute force it more, and I think Davos does that to a T, as they just have more star power up front.
Advantage: Davos
 
Defense
Another hard to judge category, because both teams are very similar to one another on defense. Davos opts to run 5 defensemen, with two rookies on the backend. To go with two rookies, they also have two older defensemen to lead the youngins in Marvin Harding and Alvaro Jokinen. Jokinen has consistently been a top defensemen offensively, but has seen a decline in production this season, only putting up 48 points on a stacked Riga squad. Harding was acquired not too long ago and has done decently so far, so the verdict on him is unknown, however 71 points this season is definitely not looking bad. Rounding out the non-rookies, we have Smitty Werbenjagermenjensen, who has played a top 2 role this season on the blueline, and has put up a career best 48 points this season, also blocking 137 and 124 hits, standing out as Davos' best defensive dman. Paddywagon and Past have both had less than ideal seasons, but are still rookies so they have time to develop. For Riga, Ryan Kastelic continues his Reign (see what I did there?) as a top offensive defenseman in the league, as he had a career best 80 points for Riga this season. Heading down the list, the Reign also have a nice mix of young and old, with Cayden Saint nearing the end of his career after a decent season with 46 points and 116 shot blocks. The Reign have two rookies on the blue line in Apollo Hackett and Aron Nielsen, where both outperformed both Davos rookies in nearly all categories. Riga has a clear advantage in the rookie department, but I don't think this series comes down to rookies. IMO, these teams are almost too close to call. Harding and Kastelic could cancel each other out, Werbenjagermanjensen and Saint are about equal, Jokinen cancels out Nielsen stat-wise which leaves it down to Paddywagon (excluding Past, as he's a 5D) and Hackett, which is a tough call because Hackett is better offensively and physically, but they are pretty equal defensively. However, Hackett has 174 PIMs compared to only 9 for Paddywagon, so Paddywagon definitely isn't putting his team down as much. It's a tough call to decide who wins here, as it could really go either way. Stat wise, Riga has the advantage, but the value goes to Davos, so it's hard.
Advantage: Tie
 
Goalies
Another tough category, but for different reasons. Again, I doubt either team goes to their backup, so it's a safe assumption that Davison and Kriketers will start for their teams. Finn Davison has struggled a bit this season, but has maintained decent numbers, with a .913 Save% and a very nice 2.6 GAA. He is still looking for a breakthrough moment, as he's struggled to get over the hump so far in his career. He's played well don't get me wrong, but he's looking to join the Kingfisher's of the league so to speak, which he still has yet to post those kinds of numbers. Looking at Riga, Kriketers is far better in nearly every stat, with a .922 Save% and a 2.31 GAA in 66 games this season. He's faced more shots and played more games than Davison, but has had the better stats, including a very impressive league leading 9 shutouts this season. This being said however, hedge can confirm that Kriketers is notorious for shitting the bed in the playoffs and has jokingly(?) been the reason that the Reign have been eliminated in the past 2 seasons. Yet, when we turn to stats, it's very easy to see who has the advantage in this department.
Advantage: Riga
 
Overall
Another tough call of a series, as either team has a nice shot at this series. Something to note however, both teams are sort of limping into the playoffs, so I think it's not about who wins the series, it's about who doesn't lose. The season series is hard to ignore here, and it looks like Riga may steamroll Davos. They tied at 1-1 in the categories, and for good reasons. If this series ends in 4 or 5 games, I think Riga will be the winner just because of their season so far and their dominance over Davos. Conversely, if this series goes to 6 or 7 games, I think Davos wins it, because of their star power and depth they have everywhere, and it shows that the season series doesn't mean shit here. Either way, very close series and a tough call
Prediction: Riga in 5

I saw last week that VSN guys want more attention to their articles. I need TPE for my guys so here are some while I have mood for that. 
 
Seasonal TOP player article.
 
Idea stolen from SHL(?). I don't know, maybe other leagues had this before, but I saw this thing first in that league. SBA also was trying to do that, but it's members couldn't do this on consistent basis. So VSN guys could do that, like TOP 50 players of S66 and something like that. Don't think we need more than 50 players, maybe we could do even less since we don't have that much players yet. VSN crew also could hire experts who will rate players or just do it by themselves. I think it could be fun to see your player being mentioned among the tops. 
 
History thing.
 
I know Matt likes to write history related articles. How about updating this section and make VHL 50 in 50 and VHL 60 and 60? I'm a fan of these ones and it's a shame that members stopped doing these after the fourth decade. So this is another thing VSN members could do. And while all of these writings won't be under the VSN section, this should make themselves even more relevant in people eyes. 
 
Hot takes.
 
I mean, everybody can do these, right? So why should VSN writers focusing on these? I don't know, just want to reach 500 words. But for real, they could provide a detailed writing about a certain topic. Like Kallis Kriketers is shit. And then I'll say this article is irrelevant since this is some freezing cold minus 270 degrees ass take. But then, we have way more relevant topics. Like why NY is so inactive? Does Helsinki stands a chance in playoffs? Or are Devise's GM skills overrated since he isn't known for rebuilding teams? Or is Discord bad for this league? I don't know, maybe this can generate more replies and views too. 
 
Hire more podcast'ers.
 
How podcast guys this thing has? I know Uphill was making these at some point, but for now it's empty as fuck. So why not revive this radio sub-section? @K1NG LINUS was doing this rink-side chat series with GM's. [And now I remember I haven't done this although I said I will do it like a month ago. Cause I'm a lazy 'hog and will continue to be busy and lazy at the same time. And I don't know what I was meaning with lazy and busy at the same time stuff so let's continue this article.] The point is, King [or other VSN radio guy] could make this as a podcast. And not even with GM's only. Any prominent or just an interesting persona who has mic and is interested to do this will do it. You could even do these hot takes in radio section too. You know, we see some words in forum, but how about add some more emotion to these? 
 
 
So yeah, this is my article and so called ideas which very likely won't be implemented anyways. Cause it's not like these were some valuable stuff, just some random thoughts in my head. But I'll still tag them to be an annoying guy. And then they probably will write 2000 essay about why Kallis Kriketers is shit. And the I'll say this article is irrel...I'll just stop here. 
 
@VSN
 
That's it and I'm out. 
 
6 TPE goes to Kallis. 

Hey Matt. You know that I've been around in the Discord here & there (I'm more active in my teams Discord though), I'm very friendly and approachable, I've been learning about the sim slowly from @GustavMattias & @Rayzor_7 as I've been looking heavily at how player TPE allocation has affected the Hounds play and Team Canada's at the WJC. I'm very interested in being your right hand man, if you'd have me. 

Mira! 
 
You fail to realize that the VHLM isn’t about championships and record breaking, it’s about developing prospects and retaining users for the VHL so the league is successful. 
 
Treat your active members poorly while forcing them to play under inactive but higher TPA players? You lose your job, end story. 

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN -- The Saskatoon Wild clinched a playoff birth into the season sixty-six post season, but at the moment they're in a two way tie with the Halifax 21sts for the third seed. If the playoff started right now the Saskatoon Wild would face the Mississauga Hounds, a team they've had good success against in the regular season, and currently lead the regular season series four games to one. If that were a best of seven series the Wild would have already defeated the Hounds, obviously, but the season progresses and the two teams meet a few more times before the regular season comes to a close. 

If the Wild fall to fourth somehow they'd face the San Diego Marlins. The Marlins enjoy more success against the Wild than the Hounds have, but they're still trailing the season series three games to two, and if the regular season is supposed to be any indication (and it's really not in the NHL at least) the Wild may comfortably find a position within the second round of the playoffs. Saskatoon clinched the playoffs a few days prior to the trade deadline, and the Wild have added to their offensive depth by acquiring Russian-national and Moscow prospect Pavlov to augment their already potent offense. 

It'll be an interesting playoffs and it's safe to say most of the births have been decided with just over twenty games to play in the regular season. 

 

Rusty for mvp