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solas

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Posts posted by solas

    Helsinki Titans Press Conference

    in Team Press Conferences

    Posted

    1. Remy and Nasherov have not yet released their new builds, what are they hiding?

    They figured out the new OP meta build, 99 leadership/99 discipline. Nobody's gonna stop them this season.

     

    2.  Have you ever bought experience points from the player store?

    I think once, and that was only because it was my last season and I had money left after buying all the depreciation fighters.

     

    3.  Frank Funk Jr, our general managers player, joined D.C Dragons, what are your thoughts?

    I can tell you that Frank Funk Sr. never would've done this to us. At least it's a NA team!

     

    4.  Last year only two teams had over 50 wins, (53 both), do you think Helsinki can get more this year?

    Who knows? I don't think we will though. In my opinion, the new build system will make it harder for teams to be completely dominant since there isn't necessarily a prevailing meta for the time being.

     

    5.  How did you spend the 10 TPE you got from training camp?

    I mean it kinda fell into the big TPE pile to spend in the offseason, so who knows? I guess since it was one of the last things I earned I think it would've gone into Offensive Vision. 

     

    6.  Do you have a personal rivalry with any player around the league? Tag them, so they can see the following statement: Helsinki is winning the cup this year.

    I do not. Also even if I did I probably wouldn't tag them because what if we don't win the cup? That'd just make things worse. That's an unforced error.

    Official Reading/Book Thread

    in Off-Topic Discussion

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, fishy said:

    i just looked this up and it sounds super interesting. what did you like about it?

    It's written in the style of a journal by the main character which I think makes it really interesting since the style of writing gives you insight into both the character and the setting. So without giving away too much, the mystery ends up unraveling in a really intriguing way because of that. I think it's a really interesting approach to fantasy. The pacing also really felt good to me, personally - though I've seen some reviews say otherwise and (again, without giving away too much) I guess I could see why.

    Cologne Express Press Conference

    in Team Press Conferences

    Posted

    1. Well that one hurt, what was the first emotion you felt after the reverse sweep? 

    I was surprised. I don't know if I've ever seen a reverse sweep before. Maybe there was one a long time ago in the VHL? But it's been a while.

     

    2. Think there was anything we could've tried differently in that series with Rome? 

    Not sure, honestly. There's only so much you can do with the lines in STHS and players capped where they are. So it goes.

     

    3. How are you moving on and enjoying the offseason so far?

    Honestly I've been spending a bit of time away from the league. Or at least not thinking about it seriously. It's been nice.

     

    4. What's your big plans for next season? Retirement? Back in the E? Moving up to your VHL franchise? 

    Well I'm at 399 TPE right now so it looks like with this PC I'm going to officially be moving up to the VHL next season. Go Titans.

     

    5. With hybrid attributes this offseason we should have a real solid shakeup of the best players in the league. Do you have a strategy going into this mandatory TPE re-roll? 

    I'm looking a lot at deking and stick checking to work for my build. I've also been weighing up whether or not to go with a less serious build where I go for stuff like leadership and penalty shot since I think it'd be fun to see someone just go with those attributes. But at the same time I also told nobody about this before I made this player and went with a more serious build at first, so I don't wanna pull the rug out from under my GM/teammates by making an almost purposefully bad build lol.

     

    6. Any new music helping you get over our finals heart break? Mt Joy's new song Lemon Tree is exactly what I was looking for.

    There haven't been a ton of recent releases that I've been listening to (not by choice, I just haven't been looking for new music lately). There is some music that's new to me that I've been listening to as of late, but whether or not it counts depends on how you deal with heartbreak lol. I like The Lightning II from Arcade Fire's latest single. I've been listening to a bit more of Big KRIT lately. I've also been listening to Elliott Smith lately, and I've enjoyed what I've heard from Black Country, New Road's newest album (had heard of them but didn't really start listening to them until recently). And I really like Mitski's new album.

    HOF x3: VHL/SBA/EFL Hall of Fame Members

    in Archived Media Spots

    Posted

    Definitely surprised Molholt isn't in the EFL HoF, I remember him leaving early on but would've expected him to have a HoF player there at some point. Also if you want to count additional leagues OD/Green is at 4 with an SHL HoFer which is even more impressive.

    If only Hugo Dubois had a better career, then I could've been at least closer to making this list :P

     

    1 minute ago, Victor said:

    VHL+SHL gang. Waiting for a functioning (association) football league.

    VHL+SHL gang.

    Also the SSL is decent from what I can tell so far but not perfect. Definitely better than some of the leagues in the past. But I've also only been there for like two weeks lmao.

    Cologne Express Press Conference

    in Team Press Conferences

    Posted

    1. We just acquired defenseman Milan Dvorak. What are your thoughts on management going all in at the deadline?

    I think it's a master stroke. Great move. That guy's a star, and he's a really important piece for any team hoping to win a title. Future hall of famer.

     

    2. Despite dropping the last two games, we had a pretty strong week. Do you like our chances of finishing on top of the standings?

    I'd say they're really good. I mean that's mostly because the season is already over now but you can ignore that part. I personally guarantee we will finish first place in the standings in the regular season.

     

    3. Our defensemen have been very active recently, racking up a ton of goals for us. How important is production from your defense?

    I'd say it's really important. Especially as we're in the last throes of the meta era, it's good to build up our scoring and get as many shots on goal as long as this strategy works. So it's a key that our defensemen are involved in that too.

     

    4. Are you modeling your build off of another player? If so, which player? If not, what playing style are you trying to go for?

    I'll take this question to answer with the new hybrid attributes since that makes for more interesting builds. I wouldn't say I'm modeling my build off of anyone in particular, but I'm considering a couple different ones. Obviously my initial build was an offensive defenseman, so I'm kinda thinking about sticking with that, but I might put a little bit into leadership like I've been doing currently just cause I think that'd be fun.

     

    5. Do you have a favorite NHL team? If not NHL, any other hockey league around the world?

    For the brief amount of time that I was a hockey fan, it was the Bruins. So if I had to pick one now, I think I might stick with them? I don't really have a favorite hockey team though.

     

    6. Spring break is just around the corner for me. What is the coolest place you have been to for spring break?  

    I don't think I went anywhere for spring break either lol. It was nice to go home and get away from the stress though, lol.

    Helsinki Titans Press Conference

    in Team Press Conferences

    Posted · Edited by solas

    1) What are your thoughts on the new attribute updates intended to fix the "meta" problem?

    I think it's interesting. I don't want to say I love it right away, because I don't know how it's going to work out - I remember being really positive about the VHLE at first and now I'm just kinda lukewarm on it. But I think it's really interesting and I'm looking forward to seeing how it works out. I assume it's been test-simmed so the league isn't going to completely blow up next season lmao.

     

    2) Do you know what you want to do with your build now?

    I have some ideas but not any really specific ones. I was kinda moving away from meta-building this season (was having fun putting TPE into leadership), so idk what my approach will be this time around. I think I'm still gonna try to find a few attributes that would be the most helpful for a defenseman like Dvorak

     

    3) Who do you think is going to win the Continental Cup this season?

    Vancouver. One last cup for the road before the meta is nerfed.

     

    4) As a VHL player, do you follow the VHLM or VHLE?

    Technically I'm in the VHLE now and I still don't really follow either. I mean, that's partially down to my semi-activity but I personally just don't have any interest in them. Not a slight on either, those leagues are built for newer members and not me.

     

    5) What do you think the hardest job in the league is?

    The moderator jobs seem pretty difficult to me. Probably wouldn't be fun to have to keep track of Discord like that. Also I've always felt the VHLM Commish jobs were a little bit more complicated than they might appear because you have to 1) deal with high turnover in the GM jobs and 2) keep retention and the experience for new members as your main goal, rather than just competitiveness and enjoyment for everyone. Simmer was also up there but with the portal and things being automated my belief is that it's much easier (I could be wrong though). Of course there's also the main commish jobs but I feel that's a bit more obvious. 

     

    6) Tell me what your first impressions of the league were when you first joined?

    I was new to sim leagues, so it all seemed very big and exciting to me. This wasn't my first sim league, though, so I already had an idea of how the leagues worked. But I was new to the weekly PT format so for a while I'd do both a graphic and a media spot every week without realizing I was only allowed to do one. I also remember thinking the graphics people here were so incredible and I didn't understand how they were so good at making sigs.

    Helsinki Titans Press Conference

    in Team Press Conferences

    Posted

    1) How do you feel about our stsrt to the season thus far?

    Hard to be too upset with it. I mean, obviously it's not ideal but we're still young as a team and EU is tougher than NA this season. Warsaw/Moscow/Helsinki is still pretty close, anyways. (Plus the team's gonna be better when I make it up to the league ;))

     

    2) Do you enjoy Valentine's Day? Have any fun plans?

    It's alright. No strong feelings about it either way but I like chocolate so that part is cool. And no, I sadly do not have plans.

     

    3) What is your favorite VHL memory?

    Oooooh man that's a tough one. I have fond memories from my time here - winning my first cup with Calgary in S30 (that was a fun team), my brief time with Vasteras in the 30s, the "dead era" of the 50s that was actually kinda fun, or any of the dumb bullshit drama threads that have happened across my ten years here. But I'd probably go with my most recent cup, winning in S76 with Chicago. Getting drafted by the Phoenix and getting to know everyone in that locker room was seriously fun, and that time period was seriously great on Discord and the forums.

     

    4) Would you rather have a 75% faceoff record or lead the league in hits (if you were a center)

    Faceoff record for sure. Hits are fun to look at, but imo they can harm the team a lot because they often correlate with a lot of PIMs. High faceoff percentage helps the team a lot more.

     

    5) What is your favorite icebreaker when meeting someone for the first time?

    Honestly I hate icebreakers. Maybe that's why I'm bad at meeting people lol.

     

    6) What is your ideal real world first line?

    I'm gonna be honest with you, I had like three different joke answers to this and then got rid of them because they weren't funny. So uhhhhhh... Ovechkin-McDavid-Kucherov? I don't know. I don't know hockey. I just googled the best forwards in the NHL and recognized those names. Sorry.

     

    Helsinki Titans Press Conference

    in Team Press Conferences

    Posted · Edited by solas

    1) I think it's a great acquisition. We only gave up prospects, no draft picks or VHL players, and we gain a young player who's already in the league. Plus he's been a good presence for the locker room.

     

    2) I think we're kind of on the bubble as far as playoffs. My prediction is that we'll probably be the four seed in the EU. We've got some higher-end talent in Booberry, Ori, and Johnston, so we could make some kind of a push for the playoffs, but our defense is a little weak and we don't quite have some of the depth to match other teams. We're young though, so that'll come with time.

     

    3) I think that's fair. I'm slightly more bullish on our chances but considering we're dead last in the conference at this point I could be overestimating us. We only have a few people meta-building anyways.

     

    4) Do well in the VHLE, maybe win a cup. Would be cool to be the top defenseman in the league, or at least be up there in scoring.

     

    5) It's a combination of things, I'd say. I've mentioned it before, but just based on a cursory glance we don't have as many meta builds as the other teams in our conference. But at the same time, I think the EU is tougher than NA this season. We're clearly better than DC, New York, or Chicago (sorry Jeff) this season. And we've only played one of those teams once. Plus there are a couple teams that I think will drop down the standings in due time.

     

    6) You know people argue about this all the time but I've never really thought about it that much. It's just a hot dog. If we're doing things literally, then yeah I can understand why it'd be a sandwich. But human knowledge isn't purely literal, is it? How similar is the way we would think of a hot dog to the way we would consider, say, and peanut butter and jelly sandwich? What about a sub? Epistemologically, how much leeway is there within our own definition of a "sandwich"? Is it simply that each person has their own intuitive definition of what a "sandwich" is, and therefore trying to strictly categorize whether or not a hot dog fits into this definition is a fool's errand because truth is not, ultimately, as objective as we wish it was? Are these just a bunch of pointless questions that I’ve written to make myself sound smarter and feel better about my liberal arts degree? I don’t know.

    Scouting Report: Milan Dvorak

    in Prospect Scouting Report

    Posted

    Scouting Report: Milan Dvorak

    rZmSVYT.png

    Position: D
    Height: 5’9”
    Weight: 180 lbs.
    From: Prague, Czechia
    Drafted: 5th overall, S82 (Helsinki Titans)
    VHLE: Geneva Rush
    VHLM: Yukon Rush (S80) / Ottawa Lynx (S81)

     

    The Season 82 draft certainly had its twists and turns, and there were many big-name prospects getting a lot of media attention going into the event. One name that didn’t quite get as much media attention was Czech defenseman Milan Dvorak. That’s not to say Dvorak wasn’t talked about at all - he certainly was. But he certainly wasn’t earmarked as one of those elite, can’t-miss talents that headlined the top of the draft class. There were some suggestions that he might be selected by the Chicago Phoenix at fourth overall, in part due to his agent’s relationship with the organization. But other mock drafts that didn’t consider this fact had him pegged as more of a mid-to-late first rounder, hovering somewhere around the 8-10 spot. So when he was selected by the Helsinki Titans at fifth overall, it was a surprise to many watching. Some sources within the player’s circle suggest that it was even a surprise to Dvorak himself. And most Titans fans barely even knew who he was.

    So who is Milan Dvorak? After spending much of his career with Sparta Prague in Czechia, the young defenseman made the surprising decision at age 19 to move to the VHLM for Season 80 with a view towards entering the S82 VHL Entry Draft. Dvorak signed with the Yukon Rush for the remainder of the season, and averaged about a half a point per game as a depth defenseman. After the Rush fell in seven games in the Founders’ Cup Finals, he was selected 16th overall by the very team that Yukon lost to - the defending champion Ottawa Lynx. Dvorak then put up 78 points in the regular season (T-7th among VHLM defensemen) as a part of a dominant Lynx team that won its second cup in a row. That brings us to this season. Now, Dvorak will be making his way to the VHLE with the Geneva Rush for a bit more seasoning before he (presumably) plays for the Titans in S83. So what can Titans fans expect to see out of their new hot prospect?

     

    PROS
    Scoring - Dvorak has very impressive goalscoring abilities, especially for a defenseman. He put up 16 powerplay goals with the Lynx in S81 (T-5th among all skaters), a sign that he’s got not only a dangerous slapshot from the blueline but also a keen eye for goal. He’s an offensive threat almost any time he’s on the ice, which is an asset as we move towards a new high-octane offense era in the VHL.

    Puck Handling - Dvorak’s offensive ability doesn’t purely come from his shooting. He’s also great at carrying the puck into the offensive zone, which makes him a useful player to have in transition. His great hands tend to create goalscoring opportunities for both himself and others, which can often take a decent amount of pressure off of the forwards.

    Defensive Positioning - He doesn’t necessarily throw the body around like other defensemen, but make no mistake about it: Dvorak is a very intelligent player defensively. What he may lack in size, he makes up for in an ability to cut down angles and see passing lanes. It’s easy to watch Dvorak play and categorize him as a liability on defense. And while he is an offensive defenseman, one cannot disregard his keen defensive awareness.

     

    CONS
    Size/Strength - We’ve mentioned it briefly before, but now it’s time to address it head on. At 5 foot 9 and 180 pounds, Dvorak is certainly not the prototypical size teams would want out of a defenseman. This was a sticking point for multiple front offices - some of whom wanted him to move up to the wing, which Dvorak and his team were dead-set against - and a large part of why many expected him to go later in the first round. This won’t truly be tested until he gets to a higher level. Dvorak was able to avoid questions about his size in the VHLM and Europe thanks to his offensive ability as well as the comparative talent gap of the teams that he ended up playing for, but he might not be able to get away with it in the big leagues. 

    Checking - This is kind of a situation where one plays into the other. Because of his size, Dvorak has developed a game where he avoids having to rely on physicality wherever possible. This is an understandable approach. But it could also turn out to be a drawback, especially as he gets to the VHL. It’s very possible that Dvorak’s skillset won’t be nearly as unique when he gets to the pros, and so he might be exposed by players who are more adept at throwing their body around. It’s likely that Helsinki might pair him with a much more physical defenseman in the VHL in order to disguise his shortcomings.

    Passing - It’s surprising to see an offensive defenseman who isn’t a skilled passer of the puck, and it might not be considered that much of a drawback in today’s shoot-first-ask-questions-later VHL, but it’s a weakness nonetheless. Dvorak tends to rely on his shooting and puck handling when it comes to his offensive game to create space for passes. This can work, but it’s a problem when things don’t come off as expected. He’s hesitant to make the more aggressive pass, and can sometimes misplace simple passes that lose possession for his team. This is a less serious issue than the other two, though, and can likely be remedied fairly quickly.
     

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