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S66 vs. S65 Draft Comparison 
 
#2 The Meat 
 
The VHLM Season 66 Dispersal Draft took place weeks ago, and is now at the edge of the league’s collective memory. However, there are still many comparisons still left to be made, so today we continue the S66 vs. S65 VHLM draft class comparisons with the meat of this draft sandwich.  
 
 
 
57 LW Chett Bandy  HFX | G Sean Dennis  YUK 
Beginning this list is one of the active vs inactive match ups that were so common in the later selections. While Sean Dennis remained inactive since creation, he did play a single regular season game for the Yukon Rush in Season 65, in which he stopped 27 of the 31 shots against him, ending up with a 0.871 SV% and a perfect 4.00 GAA. Chett Bandy, on the other hand, has been very active since being drafted, and is putting up impressive numbers through the first third of the season, making Bandy the definite winner in this comparison.  
56 RW Callum MacElroy  HOU | C Scotty BigShotty  SDM 
MacElroy vs BigShotty is one of the more even comparisons on the list. Both were chosen with the 56th pick of the draft, and both have been very consistent welfare collectors throughout their respective careers. However, MacElroy has proven himself to be reliable over a longer career, and also managed to produce a whopping 56 points in his debut season, while BigShotty has only gotten 2 points through the first third of the season. Scotty will have quite a bit of work to do to prove he is on the same level as MacElroy.  
55 RW Michael McConway   PHI | C Eeli Harju  MCK 
This is another even match up, but unfortunately not for positive reasons. Both players updated only a few times in their careers, but McConway had an incredibly disappointing season leading up to being drafted, while Harju put up an impressive 45 points in his first season prior to being drafted. While Harju has almost doubled McConway in TPE, they are both sitting at 0 points thus far in Season 66, making them equally bad picks.  
54 LW Magnus Pederson  LVA | RW Flash Lightning  MIN 
Flash Lightning is a very solid winner in this one, remaining a consistent welfare recipient and practice facility attendee. Pederson started out with promise in immediately doing a rookie profile and graphic in his first week, but ended up nowhere near as valuable of a pick as Lightning. While Pederson did manage to score 3 goals in the 20 games he played in Season 65, Lightning is just a goal behind at the time of writing, and with how active he is and the defensive contributions he has made for the Storm, he is head and shoulders above Pederson as a hockey player.  
53 C Josh Wilson  HFX  | G Thorvald Gunnarsson  HFX 
Comparing skaters to goaltenders can sometimes be difficult to do, but not in this case. Both players were selected by Halifax with the 53rd overall pick of their respective drafts, but where the inactive Wilson was released just 8 games into his disappointing season with Halifax, Gunnarsson has been having remarkable success as one half of the current goalie tandem for the 21st. While he would probably like to improve his SV% and GAA, he has won 8 out of 10 games at the time of writing, and has created what is becoming a massive goalie controversy in Halifax with Gunnarsson’s surprisingly good play thus far in the season.  
52 G Pekka Pouta  OTT  | LW Koda Adok  HOU 
Many will recognize Pouta as one of the established better goaltenders in the league, and at the time of writing, he is leading the VHLM in GAA, Shutouts, and almost at the top of SV%. While his first few seasons were a bit more rough, that is to be expected from young goaltenders in this league. Pouta has definitely cemented himself as one of the best goalies in the minors, and one of the best 7th round picks ever. Adok is a newer player, but in their short time they have been very active collecting welfare every week, and most recently doing a media spot as well. Adok has a lot of potential, and has been putting up impressive numbers to boot, with 13 points in 19 games played. Only time will tell if Adok can become as great of a player as Pouta already is.  
51 D Robert Burns  LVA  | RW Sami Van Den Dreissche  YUK 
Another comparison between inactives, but Burns is slightly more inactive than Van Den Dreissche. Burns fizzled out shortly into his career, updating only on two non-concurrent weeks and then disappearing forever, whereas SVVD was an active member up until becoming a World Junior Cup GM, at which point he suddenly became inactive. SVVD put up decent numbers last season, and is continuing to help out his team this season as well, making him the better choice among the two.  
50 RW Dick Rash  HFX  | LW Antonio Gonzalez  LVA 
Once again we have two inactives to compare, but there is no contest here. Gonzalez has no record of any updates at all, but has been producing modest numbers for a player with such low TPE. Dick Rash was very active in updating for a few months, but then stopped for essentially all of Season 65. On the surface, it appears that Dick Rash would be the better pick, but both players are surprisingly tied for points in Season 66, making it a very narrow win for Dick Rash.  
49 G Clayton Park  YUK  | LW Tormund Giantsbane  SSK 
Back to another tough match up, we have Clayton Park, currently a starting goaltender in the VHL, and an absolute superstar in Season 65 for Yukon. Park is the player that makes Pouta one of, and not the best 7th round pick ever, which is definitely a title reserved for Park. While Clayton Park has struggled a bit after being called up to the VHL, he still proved himself as a fantastic pick at 49th overall. Tormund Giantsbane is no slouch either, though. He is a welfare collecting player, but gets a whole 6 TPE each week from it do to his veterancy and affiliation with other leagues. He is also rumored to have an interest in an extended minor league stint with Saskatoon, the team that drafted him this season. While both players are steals this late in the draft, Park would have to be the decisively better player for the 49th pick of both drafts. However, depending on the length of Giantsbane’s time with Saskatoon, he may manage the monumental task of overtaking Park in the future.  
48 D Joseph Gagnier  HOU  | D Cody Parkey  OTT 
Gagnier vs Parkey is incredibly lop-sided, with Gagnier remaining active since joining the league, and Parkey being a fairly consistent TPE-earner up until just recently when he seems to have missed a week. Even if Parkey remains inactive forever, he is an infinitely better draft choice than Gagnier. If he returns, which is certainly quite possible given he has only missed a week, he will only further cement what a good choice he was with this pick.  
 

 
47 D Charlie Paddywagon  PHI  | D MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS  LVA 
What may be the best matchup of the middle of the draft, we have two great defenders that have both spent time in Philadelphia and Las Vegas during their VHLM careers. Paddywagon put up phenomenal numbers offensively last season despite being on a tanking Philadelphia for part of the season, and continued to excel after being traded to Vegas. DESTRUCTIOUS has focused more on the defensive aspects of his game so far in Season 66, and while he is unlikely to match Paddywagon’s offensive production, he is still good for other reasons. Paddywagon ended up being one of the best defensemen of his draft class, remaining one of the best two-way defensemen in the league. It will be difficult for DESTRUCTIOUS to match Paddywagon offensively this season, so at the moment the comparison will have to lean towards Paddywagon being the better pick for now. However, if DESTRUCTIOUS is able to pick up the pace offensively and maintain his defensive side consistently, he definitely has a shot of matching Paddywagon.  
46 LW Michael Rasmussen  LVA  | RW Doug Forsyth  OTT 
In this comparison we have another interesting match up. Michael Rasmussen started off active in the week leading up to the draft, making him not a very bad choice at the time, and the same was true of Forsyth, although he was gaining slightly less TPE. However, Rasmussen went inactive within a few weeks, stopping at only 51 TPE. Forsyth was making small updates consistently, up until off-ice events that we will not get into here led to his permanent removal from the league. Rasmussen has been rumored to have become active again, and because he has not done anything to warrant a permanent ban, the match up will have to go his way, even more so if he does return and become active again.  
45 C Nacho  HFX  | LW David Clarkson  SDM 
The one-named Nacho has been a very consistent updater, getting quite a bit of TPE each week since he joined. David Clarkson has also been just as consistent of an updater, but has exclusively focused on welfare and practice facility. Nacho contributed to Halifax with 45 points and 96 hits in his draft season and, after staying down an extra season with the 21st, is set to eclipse those numbers this season. Surprisingly, and despite being at about half the TPE, Clarkson actually has more points and hits this season at the time of writing. This could be a fluke, and also impacted by team lineups, but still an interesting facet of this comparison. Nacho is still the narrow winner in this match up, but Clarkson could definitely change this if he continues to produce on the ice and improves his TPE gathering.  

Now this is a VSN article. Good job VSN.

S66 vs. S65 Draft Comparison 
 
#2 The Meat 
 
The VHLM Season 66 Dispersal Draft took place weeks ago, and is now at the edge of the league’s collective memory. However, there are still many comparisons still left to be made, so today we continue the S66 vs. S65 VHLM draft class comparisons with the meat of this draft sandwich.  
 
 
 
57 LW Chett Bandy  HFX | G Sean Dennis  YUK 
Beginning this list is one of the active vs inactive match ups that were so common in the later selections. While Sean Dennis remained inactive since creation, he did play a single regular season game for the Yukon Rush in Season 65, in which he stopped 27 of the 31 shots against him, ending up with a 0.871 SV% and a perfect 4.00 GAA. Chett Bandy, on the other hand, has been very active since being drafted, and is putting up impressive numbers through the first third of the season, making Bandy the definite winner in this comparison.  
56 RW Callum MacElroy  HOU | C Scotty BigShotty  SDM 
MacElroy vs BigShotty is one of the more even comparisons on the list. Both were chosen with the 56th pick of the draft, and both have been very consistent welfare collectors throughout their respective careers. However, MacElroy has proven himself to be reliable over a longer career, and also managed to produce a whopping 56 points in his debut season, while BigShotty has only gotten 2 points through the first third of the season. Scotty will have quite a bit of work to do to prove he is on the same level as MacElroy.  
55 RW Michael McConway   PHI | C Eeli Harju  MCK 
This is another even match up, but unfortunately not for positive reasons. Both players updated only a few times in their careers, but McConway had an incredibly disappointing season leading up to being drafted, while Harju put up an impressive 45 points in his first season prior to being drafted. While Harju has almost doubled McConway in TPE, they are both sitting at 0 points thus far in Season 66, making them equally bad picks.  
54 LW Magnus Pederson  LVA | RW Flash Lightning  MIN 
Flash Lightning is a very solid winner in this one, remaining a consistent welfare recipient and practice facility attendee. Pederson started out with promise in immediately doing a rookie profile and graphic in his first week, but ended up nowhere near as valuable of a pick as Lightning. While Pederson did manage to score 3 goals in the 20 games he played in Season 65, Lightning is just a goal behind at the time of writing, and with how active he is and the defensive contributions he has made for the Storm, he is head and shoulders above Pederson as a hockey player.  
53 C Josh Wilson  HFX  | G Thorvald Gunnarsson  HFX 
Comparing skaters to goaltenders can sometimes be difficult to do, but not in this case. Both players were selected by Halifax with the 53rd overall pick of their respective drafts, but where the inactive Wilson was released just 8 games into his disappointing season with Halifax, Gunnarsson has been having remarkable success as one half of the current goalie tandem for the 21st. While he would probably like to improve his SV% and GAA, he has won 8 out of 10 games at the time of writing, and has created what is becoming a massive goalie controversy in Halifax with Gunnarsson’s surprisingly good play thus far in the season.  
52 G Pekka Pouta  OTT  | LW Koda Adok  HOU 
Many will recognize Pouta as one of the established better goaltenders in the league, and at the time of writing, he is leading the VHLM in GAA, Shutouts, and almost at the top of SV%. While his first few seasons were a bit more rough, that is to be expected from young goaltenders in this league. Pouta has definitely cemented himself as one of the best goalies in the minors, and one of the best 7th round picks ever. Adok is a newer player, but in their short time they have been very active collecting welfare every week, and most recently doing a media spot as well. Adok has a lot of potential, and has been putting up impressive numbers to boot, with 13 points in 19 games played. Only time will tell if Adok can become as great of a player as Pouta already is.  
51 D Robert Burns  LVA  | RW Sami Van Den Dreissche  YUK 
Another comparison between inactives, but Burns is slightly more inactive than Van Den Dreissche. Burns fizzled out shortly into his career, updating only on two non-concurrent weeks and then disappearing forever, whereas SVVD was an active member up until becoming a World Junior Cup GM, at which point he suddenly became inactive. SVVD put up decent numbers last season, and is continuing to help out his team this season as well, making him the better choice among the two.  
50 RW Dick Rash  HFX  | LW Antonio Gonzalez  LVA 
Once again we have two inactives to compare, but there is no contest here. Gonzalez has no record of any updates at all, but has been producing modest numbers for a player with such low TPE. Dick Rash was very active in updating for a few months, but then stopped for essentially all of Season 65. On the surface, it appears that Dick Rash would be the better pick, but both players are surprisingly tied for points in Season 66, making it a very narrow win for Dick Rash.  
49 G Clayton Park  YUK  | LW Tormund Giantsbane  SSK 
Back to another tough match up, we have Clayton Park, currently a starting goaltender in the VHL, and an absolute superstar in Season 65 for Yukon. Park is the player that makes Pouta one of, and not the best 7th round pick ever, which is definitely a title reserved for Park. While Clayton Park has struggled a bit after being called up to the VHL, he still proved himself as a fantastic pick at 49th overall. Tormund Giantsbane is no slouch either, though. He is a welfare collecting player, but gets a whole 6 TPE each week from it do to his veterancy and affiliation with other leagues. He is also rumored to have an interest in an extended minor league stint with Saskatoon, the team that drafted him this season. While both players are steals this late in the draft, Park would have to be the decisively better player for the 49th pick of both drafts. However, depending on the length of Giantsbane’s time with Saskatoon, he may manage the monumental task of overtaking Park in the future.  
48 D Joseph Gagnier  HOU  | D Cody Parkey  OTT 
Gagnier vs Parkey is incredibly lop-sided, with Gagnier remaining active since joining the league, and Parkey being a fairly consistent TPE-earner up until just recently when he seems to have missed a week. Even if Parkey remains inactive forever, he is an infinitely better draft choice than Gagnier. If he returns, which is certainly quite possible given he has only missed a week, he will only further cement what a good choice he was with this pick.  
 

 
47 D Charlie Paddywagon  PHI  | D MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS  LVA 
What may be the best matchup of the middle of the draft, we have two great defenders that have both spent time in Philadelphia and Las Vegas during their VHLM careers. Paddywagon put up phenomenal numbers offensively last season despite being on a tanking Philadelphia for part of the season, and continued to excel after being traded to Vegas. DESTRUCTIOUS has focused more on the defensive aspects of his game so far in Season 66, and while he is unlikely to match Paddywagon’s offensive production, he is still good for other reasons. Paddywagon ended up being one of the best defensemen of his draft class, remaining one of the best two-way defensemen in the league. It will be difficult for DESTRUCTIOUS to match Paddywagon offensively this season, so at the moment the comparison will have to lean towards Paddywagon being the better pick for now. However, if DESTRUCTIOUS is able to pick up the pace offensively and maintain his defensive side consistently, he definitely has a shot of matching Paddywagon.  
46 LW Michael Rasmussen  LVA  | RW Doug Forsyth  OTT 
In this comparison we have another interesting match up. Michael Rasmussen started off active in the week leading up to the draft, making him not a very bad choice at the time, and the same was true of Forsyth, although he was gaining slightly less TPE. However, Rasmussen went inactive within a few weeks, stopping at only 51 TPE. Forsyth was making small updates consistently, up until off-ice events that we will not get into here led to his permanent removal from the league. Rasmussen has been rumored to have become active again, and because he has not done anything to warrant a permanent ban, the match up will have to go his way, even more so if he does return and become active again.  
45 C Nacho  HFX  | LW David Clarkson  SDM 
The one-named Nacho has been a very consistent updater, getting quite a bit of TPE each week since he joined. David Clarkson has also been just as consistent of an updater, but has exclusively focused on welfare and practice facility. Nacho contributed to Halifax with 45 points and 96 hits in his draft season and, after staying down an extra season with the 21st, is set to eclipse those numbers this season. Surprisingly, and despite being at about half the TPE, Clarkson actually has more points and hits this season at the time of writing. This could be a fluke, and also impacted by team lineups, but still an interesting facet of this comparison. Nacho is still the narrow winner in this match up, but Clarkson could definitely change this if he continues to produce on the ice and improves his TPE gathering.  

...OK, so maybe not my entire draft board. I wouldn't want to give away any real strategies (not that I had any when I was first hired). What I'm doing here is instead reaching into my draft board and evaluating the success, failure, and collective progress of every player I had marked as a potential steal, and putting whether or not my planning was solid up for debate. I can't find any information on these players' TPE at the time of the draft (other than going back and looking at their update logs and figuring it out from there, which I'm too lazy to do), so I instead use the TPE numbers I have listed on the board, which should provide a close enough if not right-on accurate picture of things. So! I use the phrase "without further ado" in my media spots way too often, so, in a manner which does not involve any additional needless delay...
 
Forwards (in order of my ranking):
 
Dan Gles (@No_Dangles)
Drafted by: Mississauga, 36th Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 60
Current TPE: 149
Gles was actually my 15th-ranked forward heading into the draft, so it's no surprise that when he was available at #36, @Radcow (who actually made every pick for me, other than Hulk Hogan, who I was actually around to draft) jumped at the chance to pick him up. While one would have to go down to #42 to find a forward with lower TPE than Gles at the current moment, I'm still happy with this pick--Gles, as a highly defensive-minded forward, has done great things for our team, especially with our lack of defensive depth. While the GM of a different team might argue, rightly so, that Ben Hafkey (Philadelphia, #37) or Dylan Doyle (Yukon, #38) was a better pick, Gles was meant to be for Mississauga. 
 
Chett Bandy (@mmarcoux98)
Drafted by: Mississauga, 55th Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 48
Current TPE: 97
I had Bandy marked as a steal, and was very happy to see him picked up when I finally got back to my computer late the night of the draft, because I'd given him the common "feel free to contact me if you have any questions," and contact me he most certainly did--with probably more questions than anyone else from the rookie class. We've seen Bandy's activity drop off a bit since the season started, but it's certainly not too late for him to get back in the swing of things, and I'm still happy that I made this choice.
 
Doug Forsyth (@DougF)
 
Moving right along past this one...
 
 
Lexington Lewis (@Lexlooter)
Drafted by: San Diego, 65th Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 36
Current TPE: 54
I'd talked to Lex before the draft and thought he'd be a great bet, as he'd taken the opportunity to ask me some questions, not once but twice, after I contacted him. In fact, had San Diego not picked Lewis, he would have been our pick at #66, based on the rankings I'd given Radcow. Though Lex seems to have fallen off, I'm very happy with the player we selected at #66--Scott Greene (@DoktorFunk), who's evolved into our top-line center. In fact, I have no idea why I didn't mark Greene as a steal--he had 36 TPE, according to my board, and I'd made a couple very positive comments about his personality and potential. So, count Greene in as a member of this list, though I'm a bit dumb and must be honest about that.
 
Flash Lightning (@harvey)
Drafted by: Minnesota, 52nd Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 32
Current TPE: 78
I'm not too sure what motivated me to mark Harvey as a steal on my board. My comment on him reads, and I quote, "Was around last year. Could stay." And that's really about it. I guess that's why I decided to make that guess here, as his account was created on April 25th, and since he returned back to the league, he at the very least remembered it and wanted to return. So far, he hasn't been the world's greatest pick, but he's certainly not inactive--he's visited the site in the last 24 hours, and we could see Lightning making a steady climb up the draft rankings as the season progresses.
 
Steven McBuckets (@Stamkosfan69)
Drafted by: Las Vegas, 70th Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 30
Current TPE: 51
McBuckets is actually the only player on my board missing any sort of comment, making it near impossible for me to tell what I thought about him. I do happen to remember that he was a recruit of @StamkosFan, who's been around for a while, so it's possible that I figured that his personal connection with a league member might keep him in the league for a while. McBuckets' last update, however, came during the week of May 12th, indicating that he may, sadly, be out for good.
 
Rick McGundy (@PeterZahBa)
Drafted by: Minnesota, 63rd Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 30
Current TPE: 30
McGundy's situation was just the same as that of Flash Lightning: he'd been around the league at some point in the past (having created an account just over a year ago), and I considered this enough to move him up the board, and in this case mark him as a potential steal. The Storm didn't find much luck in their later picks this season, and McGundy was no exception--though, by the late sixth round, not many active players were left on the board (ahem, Scott Greene), McGundy was a miss, not only for Minnesota, but for my own guessing abilities as well. You know the deal, though--good decisions come from experience, and experience comes from bad decisions...
 
 
Now to the defensemen! There were really only two...
 
Kefka Palazzo (@diamond_ace)
Drafted by: Las Vegas, 24th Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 30
Current TPE: 72
Had I been officially granted the title of "VHLM GM" on the forum when Palazzo was created, I wouldn't have marked him down as a steal. This was back before I knew that every GM gets tagged in every player creation thread, so just about any GM would be an idiot to not notice a "diamond_ace mentioned you" notification in a player creation thread. That being said, though, I was surprised upon further review to see that Palazzo hasn't been earning like a madman since his creation. I know d_a leads a busy life, though, so there's no way I'd call this pick a bust as he's guaranteed to get back in it eventually.
 
Vilnis Balcers (@bukss_a)
Drafted by: Ottawa, 64th Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 32
Current TPE: 56
Balcers was another one of those "created a while ago" players who I guess I really liked back when I was making my draft board, as he's the third one so far in this article. First joining the league in 2016, bukss_a made a comeback this season, and he's been somewhat active since the draft--he didn't earn any TPE last week, but he's been on the site recently and could figure to be a decent above-average-to-high TPE VHLM player next season with Ottawa, especially important with defense being a definite position of need for some teams. As far as this season goes, Balcers wasn't much of a steal, but might end up making some nice contributions next season.
 
 
Now to goalies--I only marked one as a potential steal, so here goes...
 
Thorvald Gunnarson (@Saelven88)
Drafted by: Halifax, 51st Overall
TPE on Draft Board: 40
Current TPE: 130
I think it's safe to say that I was right about this one. For some reason, I really gave a lot of credit to members who were around before last season or before, and Saelven88, who joined the league on April 23, is no exception. Halifax got great value with this pick, though--Gunnarson is their #1 goalie, and has earned more points than any member on this list other than Dan Gles. Though I'd say every goaltender in this draft class was scouted heavily by every GM who needed someone in net, Gunnarson still managed to offer the greatest value out of any of them, by far.
 
 
Word count >1300, will claim for next week as well if I feel like it.

Firstly I’d like to thank @RunnerBert11 for his contributions and time he gave to the Saskatoon Wild, you were a key element in the draft strategy and a quality individual to be around. It’s unfortunate you must stepp down, I feel like I failed you, but I understand your situation and wish you best of luck. I’d also like to extend an offer - if you ever need help with anything just let me know, I’ll do everything in my power to assist. 
 
Okay so... Saskatoon has an open AGM spot. I’ll keep this short and sweet. 
 
Im on the road a lot, so I have some higher expectations of what type of AGM I’m looking for; I need an AGM who will pursue and assist new players and recreates when I am unable to do so myself, we’ve missed on some good players because I read a created players page too late; I need an AGM who has a computer so we can use the websites simulator (STHS) together; and finally I need a vocal AGM because I’m one side of nearly bat shot crazy... haha, okay I mean I’d like some forum activity ad well.
 
Additionally - for the first time in Wild AGM history - having experience with STHS is an asset. Unfortunately there will be early pressure since I’m on the road at the moment you’ll be expected to submit at least one lineup before I’m able to get my PC connected at a place with internet. 
 
Good luck applicants! 

After a long and debaucherous off-season, Shackleford had a very slow start to his season. Weeks into the season, and with no improvement in sight, something changed in Shackleford however to awaken his true potential. While there is plenty of wild speculation as to what the initial problems were, from his rumored crippling alcoholism to spending too much free time flying to Malmo to party, it seems that Saskatoon Wild GM Peace has been able to help Shackleford get back on track and back to being a productive hockey player. It is unclear exactly what Peace did to wake Shackleford up from this stupor, but after asking some associates of the Wild franchise, multiple stories about Peace's methods were reported. These include threatening to take away Shackleford's beer, making him smoke an entire carton of cigarettes, and telling him to actually skate on the ice instead of lazily drifting around. 
 
Most disturbingly, Shackleford seems to have little to no recollection of the first chunk of the season, and was horrified to learn of several developments in the league. Upon being woken from his nap in a giant pile of PBR cans a few weeks ago, he very excitedly asked when the VHLM season was going to start, completely unaware that he had actually played in almost half a season at that point. Shackleford concluded his impromptu interview after asking "who the hell is Hulk Hogan and why does he have suggestive pictures of me?" Suggesting that @HulkHogan may in fact have been behind Shackleford's mysterious memory loss and subsequent lascivious behavior. 

Can confirm, told Rusty to race our ice clearing crew to see who was faster: It was either him or the Zamboni... the zamboni won. 
 
He’s been skating with bricks attached to his skates every practice since. 

As the GM of Saskatoon’s hockey club, we are urging season ticket holders to park in the newly constructed reserved parking space adjecent to the underground parking. We’ve released a statement that the space is now unavailable and we’re in the process of replacing some of the stolen equipment... except anything Philadelphia or Ottawa. We expect Kefka to steal the parliament building during our next game in Ottawa some how, and have instructed the defender that the lost souls of the Reapers are worthless so just take their dignity instead.

Kefka Palazzo, the mad clown, the king of destruction and the evil mastermind behind the World of Ruin, is finally starting to get accustomed to this whole "hockey" thing - so much so that he's decided to build himself a home near Saskatoon's arena. So near, in fact, that it's in the eastern parking lot, the one typically reserved for the season ticket holders with box seats, the lot with the underground parking garage built in that leads directly to some of the reserved access corridors of the stadium. The fancy lot with the heated sidewalks and the food truck lot on the bottom floor where the other lots have a small and sparse array of vending machines.
 
While other players usually see fit to buy a local house if they think this is a long term location for them or somewhere they'd go back to after their careers are complete, or sometimes just rent a nice upscale apartment in the cultural district on rotating 6 month leases for flexibility in case of trade or free agency, Kefka has shown his complete insanity once again by building his own home, from scratch, inside of a parking garage. He's not even much of a builder either, since he had to "borrow" stadium maintenance and force them to help him with the build, compensating them with signed memorabilia, most of which was signed by far better players than him, and promising not to kill them if they helped him out (a promise that most were expecting him not to keep, although to this point he has not killed any of the maintenance workers).
 
So what does this place look like, exactly? Well, anyone familiar with Kefka's tower that he last called home on his previous world will immediately recognize the concept. When Kefka was in Vegas, he took the couch, bed, and television from a hotel room at the Bellagio and dropped them down to ground level outside the hotel via a system of ropes and pulleys. He stole an entire sandwich vendor from the Reading Terminal Market near Philadelphia after Saskatoon's last match at the Reapers. He "borrowed" the entire San Diego Zoo, dug a tunnel under his designated area, and built an entirely new floor to the parking garage under what was until recently the bottom floor, rehoming the zoo in the extra space (with a setup in the corner for poker and blackjack, this time not stolen from the Bellagio, but rather from Binion's, including the original table from the first World Series of Poker). He set up a perimeter area around the home with desks swiped from the immigration office in Halifax, the original location of the 21st pier. He built a replica spaceship designed based on one that was launched from Houston, as well as a drink dispenser that served the bitter chocolate beverage first popularized by the Aztecs on his trip to Mexico City. He planted a cherry blossom tree grown from a sapling at Kariya Park in Mississauga, stuck the gavel from Ottawa's Canadian federal government's sessions out the top of the roof, and reinforced the whole thing with a moat built from Minnesota lake water. Buried in the moat are several flecks of gold such as those found in the Yukon gold rush. It was a monument to chaos and nonsense, built right out of the scraps of his travels to all other VHLM locations, yet technically it was livable (it helped that the maintenance guys helped hook him into the power and water supply of the arena).

@BladeMaiden @Hybrid1486

With the my recent hiring I know I'll need an AGM to help me out in Minnesota. Therefore, welcome @DMaximus to the Minnesota Storm! 
 
With his recent hire as an updater, the interactions I've had with him and him being a man of stats and analytics, I saw a good fit for the position.
 
Welcome @DMaximus and we will let everyone else weather the upcoming Storm!

S66 vs. S65 Draft Comparison 
 
#2 The Meat 
 
The VHLM Season 66 Dispersal Draft took place weeks ago, and is now at the edge of the league’s collective memory. However, there are still many comparisons still left to be made, so today we continue the S66 vs. S65 VHLM draft class comparisons with the meat of this draft sandwich.  
 
 
 
57 LW Chett Bandy  HFX | G Sean Dennis  YUK 
Beginning this list is one of the active vs inactive match ups that were so common in the later selections. While Sean Dennis remained inactive since creation, he did play a single regular season game for the Yukon Rush in Season 65, in which he stopped 27 of the 31 shots against him, ending up with a 0.871 SV% and a perfect 4.00 GAA. Chett Bandy, on the other hand, has been very active since being drafted, and is putting up impressive numbers through the first third of the season, making Bandy the definite winner in this comparison.  
56 RW Callum MacElroy  HOU | C Scotty BigShotty  SDM 
MacElroy vs BigShotty is one of the more even comparisons on the list. Both were chosen with the 56th pick of the draft, and both have been very consistent welfare collectors throughout their respective careers. However, MacElroy has proven himself to be reliable over a longer career, and also managed to produce a whopping 56 points in his debut season, while BigShotty has only gotten 2 points through the first third of the season. Scotty will have quite a bit of work to do to prove he is on the same level as MacElroy.  
55 RW Michael McConway   PHI | C Eeli Harju  MCK 
This is another even match up, but unfortunately not for positive reasons. Both players updated only a few times in their careers, but McConway had an incredibly disappointing season leading up to being drafted, while Harju put up an impressive 45 points in his first season prior to being drafted. While Harju has almost doubled McConway in TPE, they are both sitting at 0 points thus far in Season 66, making them equally bad picks.  
54 LW Magnus Pederson  LVA | RW Flash Lightning  MIN 
Flash Lightning is a very solid winner in this one, remaining a consistent welfare recipient and practice facility attendee. Pederson started out with promise in immediately doing a rookie profile and graphic in his first week, but ended up nowhere near as valuable of a pick as Lightning. While Pederson did manage to score 3 goals in the 20 games he played in Season 65, Lightning is just a goal behind at the time of writing, and with how active he is and the defensive contributions he has made for the Storm, he is head and shoulders above Pederson as a hockey player.  
53 C Josh Wilson  HFX  | G Thorvald Gunnarsson  HFX 
Comparing skaters to goaltenders can sometimes be difficult to do, but not in this case. Both players were selected by Halifax with the 53rd overall pick of their respective drafts, but where the inactive Wilson was released just 8 games into his disappointing season with Halifax, Gunnarsson has been having remarkable success as one half of the current goalie tandem for the 21st. While he would probably like to improve his SV% and GAA, he has won 8 out of 10 games at the time of writing, and has created what is becoming a massive goalie controversy in Halifax with Gunnarsson’s surprisingly good play thus far in the season.  
52 G Pekka Pouta  OTT  | LW Koda Adok  HOU 
Many will recognize Pouta as one of the established better goaltenders in the league, and at the time of writing, he is leading the VHLM in GAA, Shutouts, and almost at the top of SV%. While his first few seasons were a bit more rough, that is to be expected from young goaltenders in this league. Pouta has definitely cemented himself as one of the best goalies in the minors, and one of the best 7th round picks ever. Adok is a newer player, but in their short time they have been very active collecting welfare every week, and most recently doing a media spot as well. Adok has a lot of potential, and has been putting up impressive numbers to boot, with 13 points in 19 games played. Only time will tell if Adok can become as great of a player as Pouta already is.  
51 D Robert Burns  LVA  | RW Sami Van Den Dreissche  YUK 
Another comparison between inactives, but Burns is slightly more inactive than Van Den Dreissche. Burns fizzled out shortly into his career, updating only on two non-concurrent weeks and then disappearing forever, whereas SVVD was an active member up until becoming a World Junior Cup GM, at which point he suddenly became inactive. SVVD put up decent numbers last season, and is continuing to help out his team this season as well, making him the better choice among the two.  
50 RW Dick Rash  HFX  | LW Antonio Gonzalez  LVA 
Once again we have two inactives to compare, but there is no contest here. Gonzalez has no record of any updates at all, but has been producing modest numbers for a player with such low TPE. Dick Rash was very active in updating for a few months, but then stopped for essentially all of Season 65. On the surface, it appears that Dick Rash would be the better pick, but both players are surprisingly tied for points in Season 66, making it a very narrow win for Dick Rash.  
49 G Clayton Park  YUK  | LW Tormund Giantsbane  SSK 
Back to another tough match up, we have Clayton Park, currently a starting goaltender in the VHL, and an absolute superstar in Season 65 for Yukon. Park is the player that makes Pouta one of, and not the best 7th round pick ever, which is definitely a title reserved for Park. While Clayton Park has struggled a bit after being called up to the VHL, he still proved himself as a fantastic pick at 49th overall. Tormund Giantsbane is no slouch either, though. He is a welfare collecting player, but gets a whole 6 TPE each week from it do to his veterancy and affiliation with other leagues. He is also rumored to have an interest in an extended minor league stint with Saskatoon, the team that drafted him this season. While both players are steals this late in the draft, Park would have to be the decisively better player for the 49th pick of both drafts. However, depending on the length of Giantsbane’s time with Saskatoon, he may manage the monumental task of overtaking Park in the future.  
48 D Joseph Gagnier  HOU  | D Cody Parkey  OTT 
Gagnier vs Parkey is incredibly lop-sided, with Gagnier remaining active since joining the league, and Parkey being a fairly consistent TPE-earner up until just recently when he seems to have missed a week. Even if Parkey remains inactive forever, he is an infinitely better draft choice than Gagnier. If he returns, which is certainly quite possible given he has only missed a week, he will only further cement what a good choice he was with this pick.  
 

 
47 D Charlie Paddywagon  PHI  | D MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS  LVA 
What may be the best matchup of the middle of the draft, we have two great defenders that have both spent time in Philadelphia and Las Vegas during their VHLM careers. Paddywagon put up phenomenal numbers offensively last season despite being on a tanking Philadelphia for part of the season, and continued to excel after being traded to Vegas. DESTRUCTIOUS has focused more on the defensive aspects of his game so far in Season 66, and while he is unlikely to match Paddywagon’s offensive production, he is still good for other reasons. Paddywagon ended up being one of the best defensemen of his draft class, remaining one of the best two-way defensemen in the league. It will be difficult for DESTRUCTIOUS to match Paddywagon offensively this season, so at the moment the comparison will have to lean towards Paddywagon being the better pick for now. However, if DESTRUCTIOUS is able to pick up the pace offensively and maintain his defensive side consistently, he definitely has a shot of matching Paddywagon.  
46 LW Michael Rasmussen  LVA  | RW Doug Forsyth  OTT 
In this comparison we have another interesting match up. Michael Rasmussen started off active in the week leading up to the draft, making him not a very bad choice at the time, and the same was true of Forsyth, although he was gaining slightly less TPE. However, Rasmussen went inactive within a few weeks, stopping at only 51 TPE. Forsyth was making small updates consistently, up until off-ice events that we will not get into here led to his permanent removal from the league. Rasmussen has been rumored to have become active again, and because he has not done anything to warrant a permanent ban, the match up will have to go his way, even more so if he does return and become active again.  
45 C Nacho  HFX  | LW David Clarkson  SDM 
The one-named Nacho has been a very consistent updater, getting quite a bit of TPE each week since he joined. David Clarkson has also been just as consistent of an updater, but has exclusively focused on welfare and practice facility. Nacho contributed to Halifax with 45 points and 96 hits in his draft season and, after staying down an extra season with the 21st, is set to eclipse those numbers this season. Surprisingly, and despite being at about half the TPE, Clarkson actually has more points and hits this season at the time of writing. This could be a fluke, and also impacted by team lineups, but still an interesting facet of this comparison. Nacho is still the narrow winner in this match up, but Clarkson could definitely change this if he continues to produce on the ice and improves his TPE gathering.  

S66 vs. S65 Draft Comparison 
 
#2 The Meat 
 
The VHLM Season 66 Dispersal Draft took place weeks ago, and is now at the edge of the league’s collective memory. However, there are still many comparisons still left to be made, so today we continue the S66 vs. S65 VHLM draft class comparisons with the meat of this draft sandwich.  
 
 
 
57 LW Chett Bandy  HFX | G Sean Dennis  YUK 
Beginning this list is one of the active vs inactive match ups that were so common in the later selections. While Sean Dennis remained inactive since creation, he did play a single regular season game for the Yukon Rush in Season 65, in which he stopped 27 of the 31 shots against him, ending up with a 0.871 SV% and a perfect 4.00 GAA. Chett Bandy, on the other hand, has been very active since being drafted, and is putting up impressive numbers through the first third of the season, making Bandy the definite winner in this comparison.  
56 RW Callum MacElroy  HOU | C Scotty BigShotty  SDM 
MacElroy vs BigShotty is one of the more even comparisons on the list. Both were chosen with the 56th pick of the draft, and both have been very consistent welfare collectors throughout their respective careers. However, MacElroy has proven himself to be reliable over a longer career, and also managed to produce a whopping 56 points in his debut season, while BigShotty has only gotten 2 points through the first third of the season. Scotty will have quite a bit of work to do to prove he is on the same level as MacElroy.  
55 RW Michael McConway   PHI | C Eeli Harju  MCK 
This is another even match up, but unfortunately not for positive reasons. Both players updated only a few times in their careers, but McConway had an incredibly disappointing season leading up to being drafted, while Harju put up an impressive 45 points in his first season prior to being drafted. While Harju has almost doubled McConway in TPE, they are both sitting at 0 points thus far in Season 66, making them equally bad picks.  
54 LW Magnus Pederson  LVA | RW Flash Lightning  MIN 
Flash Lightning is a very solid winner in this one, remaining a consistent welfare recipient and practice facility attendee. Pederson started out with promise in immediately doing a rookie profile and graphic in his first week, but ended up nowhere near as valuable of a pick as Lightning. While Pederson did manage to score 3 goals in the 20 games he played in Season 65, Lightning is just a goal behind at the time of writing, and with how active he is and the defensive contributions he has made for the Storm, he is head and shoulders above Pederson as a hockey player.  
53 C Josh Wilson  HFX  | G Thorvald Gunnarsson  HFX 
Comparing skaters to goaltenders can sometimes be difficult to do, but not in this case. Both players were selected by Halifax with the 53rd overall pick of their respective drafts, but where the inactive Wilson was released just 8 games into his disappointing season with Halifax, Gunnarsson has been having remarkable success as one half of the current goalie tandem for the 21st. While he would probably like to improve his SV% and GAA, he has won 8 out of 10 games at the time of writing, and has created what is becoming a massive goalie controversy in Halifax with Gunnarsson’s surprisingly good play thus far in the season.  
52 G Pekka Pouta  OTT  | LW Koda Adok  HOU 
Many will recognize Pouta as one of the established better goaltenders in the league, and at the time of writing, he is leading the VHLM in GAA, Shutouts, and almost at the top of SV%. While his first few seasons were a bit more rough, that is to be expected from young goaltenders in this league. Pouta has definitely cemented himself as one of the best goalies in the minors, and one of the best 7th round picks ever. Adok is a newer player, but in their short time they have been very active collecting welfare every week, and most recently doing a media spot as well. Adok has a lot of potential, and has been putting up impressive numbers to boot, with 13 points in 19 games played. Only time will tell if Adok can become as great of a player as Pouta already is.  
51 D Robert Burns  LVA  | RW Sami Van Den Dreissche  YUK 
Another comparison between inactives, but Burns is slightly more inactive than Van Den Dreissche. Burns fizzled out shortly into his career, updating only on two non-concurrent weeks and then disappearing forever, whereas SVVD was an active member up until becoming a World Junior Cup GM, at which point he suddenly became inactive. SVVD put up decent numbers last season, and is continuing to help out his team this season as well, making him the better choice among the two.  
50 RW Dick Rash  HFX  | LW Antonio Gonzalez  LVA 
Once again we have two inactives to compare, but there is no contest here. Gonzalez has no record of any updates at all, but has been producing modest numbers for a player with such low TPE. Dick Rash was very active in updating for a few months, but then stopped for essentially all of Season 65. On the surface, it appears that Dick Rash would be the better pick, but both players are surprisingly tied for points in Season 66, making it a very narrow win for Dick Rash.  
49 G Clayton Park  YUK  | LW Tormund Giantsbane  SSK 
Back to another tough match up, we have Clayton Park, currently a starting goaltender in the VHL, and an absolute superstar in Season 65 for Yukon. Park is the player that makes Pouta one of, and not the best 7th round pick ever, which is definitely a title reserved for Park. While Clayton Park has struggled a bit after being called up to the VHL, he still proved himself as a fantastic pick at 49th overall. Tormund Giantsbane is no slouch either, though. He is a welfare collecting player, but gets a whole 6 TPE each week from it do to his veterancy and affiliation with other leagues. He is also rumored to have an interest in an extended minor league stint with Saskatoon, the team that drafted him this season. While both players are steals this late in the draft, Park would have to be the decisively better player for the 49th pick of both drafts. However, depending on the length of Giantsbane’s time with Saskatoon, he may manage the monumental task of overtaking Park in the future.  
48 D Joseph Gagnier  HOU  | D Cody Parkey  OTT 
Gagnier vs Parkey is incredibly lop-sided, with Gagnier remaining active since joining the league, and Parkey being a fairly consistent TPE-earner up until just recently when he seems to have missed a week. Even if Parkey remains inactive forever, he is an infinitely better draft choice than Gagnier. If he returns, which is certainly quite possible given he has only missed a week, he will only further cement what a good choice he was with this pick.  
 

 
47 D Charlie Paddywagon  PHI  | D MORPHEUS DESTRUCTIOUS  LVA 
What may be the best matchup of the middle of the draft, we have two great defenders that have both spent time in Philadelphia and Las Vegas during their VHLM careers. Paddywagon put up phenomenal numbers offensively last season despite being on a tanking Philadelphia for part of the season, and continued to excel after being traded to Vegas. DESTRUCTIOUS has focused more on the defensive aspects of his game so far in Season 66, and while he is unlikely to match Paddywagon’s offensive production, he is still good for other reasons. Paddywagon ended up being one of the best defensemen of his draft class, remaining one of the best two-way defensemen in the league. It will be difficult for DESTRUCTIOUS to match Paddywagon offensively this season, so at the moment the comparison will have to lean towards Paddywagon being the better pick for now. However, if DESTRUCTIOUS is able to pick up the pace offensively and maintain his defensive side consistently, he definitely has a shot of matching Paddywagon.  
46 LW Michael Rasmussen  LVA  | RW Doug Forsyth  OTT 
In this comparison we have another interesting match up. Michael Rasmussen started off active in the week leading up to the draft, making him not a very bad choice at the time, and the same was true of Forsyth, although he was gaining slightly less TPE. However, Rasmussen went inactive within a few weeks, stopping at only 51 TPE. Forsyth was making small updates consistently, up until off-ice events that we will not get into here led to his permanent removal from the league. Rasmussen has been rumored to have become active again, and because he has not done anything to warrant a permanent ban, the match up will have to go his way, even more so if he does return and become active again.  
45 C Nacho  HFX  | LW David Clarkson  SDM 
The one-named Nacho has been a very consistent updater, getting quite a bit of TPE each week since he joined. David Clarkson has also been just as consistent of an updater, but has exclusively focused on welfare and practice facility. Nacho contributed to Halifax with 45 points and 96 hits in his draft season and, after staying down an extra season with the 21st, is set to eclipse those numbers this season. Surprisingly, and despite being at about half the TPE, Clarkson actually has more points and hits this season at the time of writing. This could be a fluke, and also impacted by team lineups, but still an interesting facet of this comparison. Nacho is still the narrow winner in this match up, but Clarkson could definitely change this if he continues to produce on the ice and improves his TPE gathering.  

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Riga, Latvia - Hackett's having a standout season in multiple ways - and not all of them are positive.
 
Nearly a week ago, manager @Matt_O announced the USA roster for Season 66's World Juniors - including buddies Hackett and Malmo's Jerry Garcia @GustavMattias. In fact, three of the four defensemen for the newly-announced team were players drafted just a few weeks ago (including Davos's Charlie Paddywagon), and each also approach the point cap for the team. They've each very different styles of play - Paddywagon is a bit more of a pure technical/positioning defender, Hackett is something of an enforcer, and Garcia is a hybrid of the two. That playstyle, at least for Hackett, was on display almost immediately after the announcement.
 
He's had two games with 6+ PIMs since the announcement, including one tripping and two hooking penalties in the first period alone in a game against Helsinki. When asked about this change in play after the game, Hackett smiled and shrugged.
 
"That's how the game is sometimes, yeah? I usually tamp it down after the first period," he said on his way to the locker room, "but today I just got a little careless and unlucky. Never a good combination, got Kriketers taken out early because of some rough early powerplays."
 
His affect brightened a little on mentioning the WJC. "Hah, yeah, I'm definitely excited! Saw some buddies play in the championship last year and it looked like a blast. Can't wait to play on the same team as Jerry."

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Not a shot at you at all, just an observation as I have seen some comments regarding the lottery. The VHLM lottery means so little. Literally all players selected in the top two rounds (and really even round 3) will max out either early on or by midway into the season. If they fail to, that is on the GM for not creating a welcoming environment or doing their due-diligence before the draft. Sure having someone at 190 to start the season is a small advantage but at the end of the day its pretty pointless. In the off chance where you really need that #1 goalie I suppose there is come merit, but who takes a goalie that early anyway? This was another edition of Jubo thoughts brought to you by OverArmour.

100% agree, I just wanted to joke about them losing so much they lose the lottery.

Clearly it was still twitching. There is no kill unless it’s overkill. 

How dare you attack my spam thoughtful discussion of every single sim

Update on the 1v1 I beat him 3-1 I’ll probably make an update on this next week and if Nyko agrees we can make this a weekly thing @Nykonax ?. For this who I know read this @Banackock, @K1NG LINUS, @fonziGG, @Infernal, and @Matt_O.

Fair enough yeah lol.

There's another conference?