solas

1. Chicago is in a little slump right now and can't seem to win as often as we did before. What can we do to change this? Well hopefully switching up the lines helps. Would be nice to see some better performances from our goalie, whoever that guy is 2. What is one thing you'd tell to a newer member to the league? Man, there are a couple things. Don't get too worried about trying to be the best player of all time right away. It's nice to have that ambition, and I'm not going to tell you to not shoot for it, but at the same time you shouldn't be disappointed when your player isn't amazing. STHS can be fickle sometimes, so your hard work might not be rewarded all the time. And I don't mean this in an old-boys-club-just-wait-until-you're-on-your-tenth-player kind of way, I mean try to just enjoy what you can because the sim is out of your control. Whatever it is that attracts you to the league, keep focusing on that. Because there's a lot of fun stuff to do here. And if it's not for you, it's not for you. That's fine. 3. Which EU team would you like to see come back for the VHLE? Vasteras, although I suspect my avatar gives that away. If Vasteras doesn't come back I will burn this league to the ground. The team honestly really matters to me (at least as much as a fictional team in a fake hockey league can, so it's not that important) and if there's a legitimate to finally turn around the perception and actually win something with the Iron Eagles it would make me very happy. 4. Who should be given a chance to GM the new VHLE league? This is a really tough one because I'm unfamiliar with who the people are that would want VHLE GM jobs. I considered applying just for Vasteras myself but at this point I am probably the last person who "should be given a chance" because of how long I've been here. Instead I'll give a generic answer and say two groups of people should be considered the most: 1) VHLM GMs who want to have a new challenge and 2) people without management experience who are more interested in a competitive environment rather than the learning-based one of the VHLM (or just haven't had VHLM opportunities). Although on the second one, I would add that if they want to be a future VHL GM I would say that some VHLM involvement should be considered. Not because it directly translates, but because being a GM should be more than just bringing in players and making moves; you should be building a good environment in the locker room, being welcoming to newer members, and just being helpful overall. We've had some GMs in the past, back when nobody wanted to be a GM, who didn't really have this interest in mind. I think the newer crop of GMs since the big recruitment classes of the 60s have been really different in this regard - maybe both because a lot of them started in the VHLM, maybe because they have a more recent experience of being a newer member. Either way this was wayyyyy too long of an answer and I kind of got off track so I'm gonna wrap it up lmfao. 5. Which line would you say has been the driving force for the team thus far? Well it certainly seems like it's been the first line because sadly the second line isn't doing as well. 6. Should we chase Lidia for the captain post on the VHL team announcement or should we just let it slide? Do it! At this point I imagine everyone who was going to vote has done it already so there's no reason to not announce it other than to be annoying. I always like when teams announce the captains every year.

Would be cool to see Oslo return as a location, although they’d have to use a different name (Storm already in use, Screaming Seamen and Naggerwolves are probably self explanatory). Also I’d love to see Bratislava back.

1. NHL playoffs are also right around the corner. Any specific matchups you are expecting or any matchup you would like to see? I don't even watch hockey! So no, there aren't really any specific matchups I would like to see. Whatever makes the playoffs go by faster so I can actually understand the conversations in discord general chat. 2. What game are you incredibly good at? PC games, mobile games, drinking games etc. I don't think I'm "incredibly good" at any game really. I'm kinda decent at FIFA, I guess if Jeopardy on discord counts then I'm pretty good at that. To be honest video games for me are just something I like to have fun with, so while being bad can be frustrating I'm not too worried about being incredible at them. 3. Who's the one teammate that you definitely can win a bet against, no doubt? Gorlab. Not because I'm better at betting than him, but because he makes so many bets that logically he'll have to lose one. 4. The conditioning coach offers you pizza, beer, and fries, what do you do? Do you accept it or is it a trap? Of course I take it. If they get angry at me then it's stupid. Not a very good way to build up trust between a coach and a player, is it? 5. The current management team has been in charge for a few seasons now. How are they doing and what can they improve on? They could improve by Jeff being less inactive. /s But seriously, there really isn't much to be improved upon in my opinion. I think you two have done a great job and I'm really happy with both this team's competitiveness and the environment that has come about in the locker room. 6. What's the one place you often visited pre-covid times? That's tough. There is one friend whose house I'd visit a lot so we could hang out, so that's one. I didn't go to the movies too often but that's definitely a place I'd like to go more often once COVID dies down - there are a lot of things that I feel like I took for granted before all of this happened.

My logic is that Davos' recent reputation comes from a period of bad GMing rather than the team's overall history. Vasteras' reputation kind of persisted no matter who was in charge which hamstrung any GM who wanted to make the team into a winner - when I was around I think the team was more unlucky than badly managed and that shouldn't have added to the ridicule. Of course, that could be happening with Davos right now when I think about it...

I didn’t have any ideas for PTs this week so here, have some of my random, unorganized, and largely unedited thoughts. This was originally going to be a VHL.com article but it ended up being so long that I figured I could extend it to 500 words pretty comfortably. Won’t pretend this is my best work but hey, it’s 6 points. Seeing the VHLE announced was really surprising as someone who is not at all involved in BoG/blue team decisions. And the more I think about it, honestly, the more I’m interested in it. It preserves the idea of the VHLM as a developmental league (probably enhances it, in fact), and adds a more competitive early league for both new players who are and recreates like myself who aren’t (and shouldn’t be) the target of the VHLM. Personally, my interests in the VHLM have basically been 1) maybe being in a locker room with some cool people to hang out with and 2) trying to accomplish the Sisyphean task of winning a Founder’s Cup so I can finally have a player in the triple gold club. So having a new league based around competitiveness early in players’ careers definitely piqued my interest. Of course, the biggest part of this for me is the possible return of Vasteras. You may have seen me bringing up Vasteras a lot since the announcement, and if that was annoying/confusing then I apologize. This is too short of an article to give you the full breakdown, but long story short Vasteras was a polarizing team that had a small, dedicated group of supporters (myself included) who enjoyed playing for an underdog with a unique and distinctive history. Basically, imagine the memes around Davos now, except stronger, less justified (imo), and extended over ~30 seasons. This article is a good retelling of the team’s history around the time that I was there if you have the time/interest in seeing more details. What I’m getting at here, though, is that I’ve always wanted to see Vasteras return to the VHL - and while that is sadly looking less and less likely, the idea of them coming back this way makes me far more interested in the VHLE. I’m also interested to see what the rest of the league ends up looking like. I won’t say it’s perfect - while I get that the league is going to be 100% old teams being brought back, I would’ve liked to see maybe one or two teams in new locations that haven’t been covered yet. It seems like the VHLE is meant to curb unsustainable expansion in the VHL, so I feel like the locations/teams that would’ve/should’ve been considered for expansion should be considered for the VHLE. It also would’ve been nice to maybe see teams outside of North America or Europe. Either way, I’m still excited by the possibility of the league. For a while, I’d been thinking about taking a short break from having a player in this league after Camus just so I could recharge and hopefully be more motivated to max earn with my next player. But now, there’s the possibility that my next player could return to Vasteras, possibly for multiple seasons if I’m not that concerned about earning or my player’s individual success in the VHL. I’ve also even thought about trying for a VHLE GM job when the time comes but I just don’t think that kind of responsibility is for me, if I’d even get hired. I don’t know how to finish this article now, so uh...congratulations! You made it to the end of my media spot.

G - Jean-Pierre Camus F - Aloe Dear @BladeMaiden

9-2 and 7-2, beautiful sim

Next step, add promotion and relegation so Vasteras can finally take back their rightful place in the VHL

Definitely affected by your monitor. It is a really dark green, but it looks different on different on different monitors (I used to see green on my old laptop, now I only see black until I look closer). You can kinda see the green if it's on a darker background (edit: I notice gorlab already said this)

Sorry about that! New pick is F - Robin Winter

D - Latrell Mitchell F - Christian Mingle @BladeMaiden

F - Jim Bob D - Tyler Walker @RomanesEuntDomus

It was a disappointing playoff outing for the Chicago Phoenix. As the defending champions and the top seed in the North American Conference, expectations were high for the S73 expansion team to build on their already large successes. But it was not to be - Chicago fell to the Los Angeles Stars in shocking fashion, swept on four straight regulation losses. It certainly wasn’t what the fans wanted to see. One of the biggest concerns, surprisingly, was the performances of goaltender Jean-Pierre Camus. Camus won the Kanou Trophy for his incredible efforts in net during the team’s cup run in Season 77, but seemed to be completely lacking all the poise of last season against the Stars. He was outperformed by the younger Doug Dimmadome in three out of four games. The best he could muster in Games 1, 2 and 4 was an .875 save percentage. One could point to his Game 3 performance (.959, 47 saves) as a counterpoint - but it wasn’t enough as the potent Chicago offense sputtered, only putting up one goal. Camus himself is acutely aware of this. “To say I underperformed feels like putting it lightly,” he says. It’s clear he’s spent some time ruminating on this. With five seasons in the books now, the French Canadian netminder has more experience to use as a guide, and he claims that’s been a big help. “I think if this kind of thing happened to me when I was early on in my career, it would’ve affected me much more. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying it hasn’t motivated me. I’ll be back better than ever next season. But I think a younger me would have taken this differently. Either one of two things would’ve happened - I’d have completely lost all my confidence and shut down, or I’d have overworked myself and tried way too hard to reinvent the wheel. I think I'm in a good place for Season 78. This offseason I’ve just been trying to keep things low-key: stay in contact with my teammates, relax at home, look at tape from last season and try to iron out some of my mistakes. That’s all you can do, really.”

in at the last minute

Transaction ID: 20629376049787885 5 TPE Doubles Week $1M player store

@Minion

CAPTAIN ELSBYYYYYY @Spence King

Lee Xin Participation HOF

Tyler was Pavel, actually. Manship was Andrei. I only know this because I wrote Tyler's HoF builder article.

1. Which ocean would you want to sail across? And with what type of vehicle would you use to do so? Either the Indian or the Atlantic for me. Arctic is too cold, obviously, and I think the Pacific is too big (it gets really remote in some places, which I think would make me uncomfortable. And I refuse to acknowledge the "Southern Ocean". I think I'd go with the Indian since I'm already familiar with the Atlantic. And I'd probably choose some sort of small yacht. 99% of the time, I think yachts are needlessly ostentatious and stupid but in this case it'd be useful because for such a long trip I'd want to have some kind of interior that feels like a home rather than just a sailboat. Maybe a houseboat? 2. It's now the offseason. What could we have done better? A lot. I think our team was built really well but the performances just weren't there, particularly in net because we lost a lot of games where we outshot our opponents. 3. If there was one thing you could tell your parents/loved ones, what would it be? That I care about them and appreciate them. I think they know that but I do owe a lot to them and I like people to know that I'm grateful for what they do for me. 4. Are you a white light or yellow light person? I've honestly not thought too much about that. White light can be a bit much sometimes, but I think each one has its place. 5. Do you keep up with your flu shots every year before the flu season starts? Not too often. I got one about two years ago I think though? I feel like that's something I should do. 6. Have you ever came across someone that really made an impact on you? If yes, who was it? I tried and failed to come up with a jokey answer here because I can't come up with a real one, so instead I'll just choose the cop out answer and say I don't know. I would say I'm fairly empathetic, so people do have an impact on me, but I don't ever have one story that changed my viewpoint on life immediately. I feel like it happens slower than that for me. Or maybe I'm just too young and that hasn't happened yet. Who knows, really.

Is this where I apply for the GM job?

Well. That was awkward. What went wrong? LA's depth maybe? Also worth noting there was no firecat posting. Who's the first person you're going to take golfing, now that we're not playing hockey? Myself. I need to be alone after JPC's playoff performances, and also because I don't want anyone seeing how bad I am at golf. I haven't played since, like, middle school/early high school and I wasn't strong enough to drive the ball very far back then. We have a lot of unrestricted free agents this season, who would you like to see re-sign and make a return? All of them because I like it here. I mean, ideally it'd be nice to get the depth from S75 back but I don't wanna be the guy to say that I don't want people to be my teammate any more because that seems mean. Chicago doesn't pick until the 3rd round this year. Do you think we'll be able to uncover some hidden talent with our late picks? Talent would be nice, but I'd like a funny name personally. I feel like with where our team is development-wise it'd be hard to make place for a prospect. Unless Geojeff is planning to rebuild the team and trade all of us away. It's almost the offseason, which means it's almost vacation time. Where will you be spending our time off, in our COVID-free simulation world? At this point I don't even know anymore. I guess I would go somewhere that's warm and would be unlikely to have anything hockey-related going on. Gotta have an escape. The Caribbean sounds nice. Also on a different note I've always wanted to see a national park so maybe somewhere like Yosemite? Who's the funniest teammate you had all year, and why? I can't pick one person in particular. I feel like everyone else has got the dynamic of the locker room down in their previous answers so it's hard to really build on that. There's not really one particular person who's the funniest, sometimes there's one person who drives the conversation but I think overall it's the team atmosphere that's great here.

Reminds me of when we used to use player headshots back in like S30-S40. I'd be a fan of this if there was an easy way to put it in the portal

can't believe jeffrey pines won the fa cup! congrats rory!!