Ninetyfourgoalie

You don't earn captaincy at 19 without being an excellent leader and I have no doubt in my mind Crosby is a great captain. It's impossible to know what goes on behind closed doors but it's laughable to think that a team could ever win a Stanley Cup with a captain younger than the vast majority of the team who is not a strong leader - that simply would not sit well with veterans regardless of what Crosby could do on the ice. And I don't really get what the big deal is about Crosby's defense - he may not be a premier defensive center but he does the job well enough and that's beside the fact that when he's on the ice, he tends to be in a position where his team is on the offensive as opposed to defending. Based on everything aside from injury concerns, Crosby is easily the best player in the NHL. There is no way anyone can, without bias, say otherwise. The numbers are there. The indications that he is a skilled leader are there. And watching him play is honestly mesmerizing. Believe me, I was never the biggest Crosby fan but it's impossible to see what he does and say he isn't one of the greatest hockey players of all time.

Haha he is so fucking annoying - I think it's the hair that pushes him over the hump into my hate list.

The season 40 entry draft is fast approaching and some are beginning to wonder where Jerrick Poole will land. He is a curious case as a first-gen player with not as much history as teams would like to feel confident in making him an early pick in what is shaping up to be a loaded draft class. Right now, if the decision was based purely on talent alone, I don't think there would be a single person to say he would not be the fourth pick. But, teams also have to consider the future and sometimes it's better to go with the known rather than the unknown. Realistically, Poole should be a first round pick. Whether he goes early at number four or at the end of the first round is the big question. Established players such as Lloyd Light, Rami Jakobsson, and Joshua Rubin very well may go ahead of him and, depending on team needs, goaltender Gunnar Skovsgard also has a legitimate claim to go ahead of Poole. But, what many of these players do not have or have not yet shown to the level Poole has is current commitment. Ultimately, taking Poole early comes with a risk. Nobody has seen what he can do over a longer period of time although teams surely will be encouraged by what he has been able to do so far. There are rumors that he has been contacted by two teams so far, both of whom could have a lottery pick in the upcoming draft, indicating that the interest is there to take Jerrick Poole with an early pick. While Poole's thoughts right now are focused on winning the Founder's Cup with the Lynx, it's hard to imagine that the VHL is not in the back of his mind.

Liked: Getzlaf Bergeron Quick Doughty Schneider Hated: Hartnell Subban Cooke Burrows Briere

Completely agree. You have a handful of guys similar to Toews. Don't get me wrong, Toews, Bergeron, Getzlaf, Datsyuk, Kopitar, and guys like that are insanely valuable but when you have a guy like Crosby who, over his career, has been so heads and shoulders above everyone else offensively, he is the best player in the NHL. The reason the Penguins have been in such a rut is Crosby, Malkin, and Letang. Those three players take up nearly 40% of Pittsburgh's cap. That's just not feasible, especially when Letang is not even that great of a dman imo. If the Penguins want to win, they need to get rid of Malkin/Letang and add more depth. Plus, seven of the last eight Stanley Cup champions have had one of those five guys I mentioned (I didn't even realize this until I decided to check) and the other had Crosby.

I just needed something to write about

Nearly halfway through the season the Ottawa Lynx find themselves sitting at a disappointing third place in the North American Conference. Despite a 22-5-3 record, the Wild and Blades are handily ahead of Ottawa and are overshadowing the team that was expected to be this year's Yukon Rush. While it is always easy to say it's a team effort and that everyone has to pick it up, it's hard to blame anyone on the Lynx aside from goaltender Soren Douffet. The Lynx defense is doing their job, allowing just over 22 shots per game. To put that into perspective, only the Wild and Red Wolves join the Lynx in allowing less than 30 shots per game and the Wild, who are second best in the league in this category, give up five more shots per game than the Lynx yet have allows more than a goal less per game. And it's not like Douffet isn't getting support from his offense. The Lynx are scoring more than 5 goals per game and have scored more than all but three teams in the league. They are controlling possession and dominating in just about every game they play. But, with a league-worst .851 save percentage, Douffet is Ottawa's weak link and preventing the team from being the threat many envisioned prior to the season. Until Douffet can prove he can be a solid VHLM goaltender, he will be the scapegoat for a season that ends in anything other than a Founder's Cup for the Lynx, and rightfully so.

As a first-gen, I guess it probably would be helpful to add my input. I lucked out in that I was originally claimed by a fairly active team and then drafted to that same team as one of their 5 or whatever first round picks. It's been very helpful to have an active locker room and also to be on a competitive team since you don't really get many chances to win a Founder's Cup if you're active. It's been a very important part of the experience and I think not having an active LR would make the league less interesting, for sure, especially since I have no connection to the VHL at this point. I voted that there should be a decrease in teams because it's no fun to be on a shit team with nobody to share your successes with and nobody to help out and answer any questions about the league. In addition, I think there also should be some kind of rule limiting the hoarding of draft picks and having a maximum and minimum number of picks in the first and second rounds together in order to increase parity and give teams more of an incentive to remain competitive.

When the Lynx drafted Jerrick Poole as their number one defenseman, he took the role on as a huge responsibility. Many questioned the team's decision to pass on Mason Richardson earlier in the draft and wondered, with Poole's lack of history, if the decision would be the correct one for the team with such high hopes for the Founder's Cup. If one thing is for sure, it is that Jerrick Poole has embraced and excelled in his role. Not only has he been a leader for the Lynx defensively but he has shown that he can contribute in the offensive zone with sixteen points through the team's first twelve games. In addition, VHL teams are beginning to notice him as he has, at the moment, become a consensus top four prospect for the season 40 VHL Entry Draft. With the relative lack of high end defensive talent in the VHL, Poole and Mason Richardson could very well make this a draft that will be remembered for years to come.

just joined

4-3 Reign

61 Iron Eagles 62 Titans 63 Americans 64 HC Dynamo

I am

Wild 4-2

Outlaws Wild Blades Lynx

This. I will fully admit that I copied and pasted because I didn't have the time to comb through the entire league to make my predictions since I'm very, very unfamiliar with the VHL.

Sorry, was using this thread http://www.vhlforum.com/index.php?/topic/9434-season-39-entry-draft-vs-38vs37vs40/ I went in and fixed the info I got from there.

Could the season 40 VHL Entry Draft be one of the best drafts in recent memory? It certainly is shaping up to be just that with an already robust group of prospects that are poised to easily surpass the high end talent we saw in the season 39 draft. Not only does this draft already have a number of players that possess immense potential but it has incredible depth with more than ten players already having more than 50 practice hours. Even more interestingly, we have a pair of brand new agents with players looking to be first round locks. The biggest thing to note about this draft is that there were seven players in the season 39 draft who reached the 130 practice hour milestone by draft day. Season 39 has yet to begin and this draft already has four players with at least 130 practice hours and, even more interestingly, two of these are defensemen. It is not unrealistic at all to expect at least four players in this draft to exceed 200 practice hours by the time the entry draft rolls around. To put that into perspective, the player with the most practice hours in the season 39 entry draft, Jackson Miller, had just 190 when he was drafted. As if this draft class wasn't already generating excitement throughout the VHL, the fact that nine of the ten teams own a first round pick in the season 40 entry draft is a stark contrast from season 39, where seven of the top ten picks were owned by two teams. While this is likely to change as some teams make final pushes to compete for the Cup later in the season, these picks will make for difficult decisions to move and even tougher to acquire with the sheer amount of talent that will be available. This could be one of the strongest groups of draftees ever in the VHL and we very well may be seeing the next generation of VHL stars in the making.

Don't forget about your defenseman teammate from Boston

Sent my $20 for S39 - would like an extra doubles week and a $25 donor taggg. Also, I'm assuming this has been brought up before but the dollar signs are in the wrong spot on the tag haha

Player Name: Jerrick Poole VHL Team: N/A Cash you have: $7,000,000 Purchase Name: Extra Fan590 x2 Cost of Purchase: $1,000,000 Cash Left: $6,000,000

The Season 39 VHLM Dispersal Draft wad held last night with the Ottawa Lynx owning 5 of the first seven picks in an extremely deep draft. Even before the draft, many saw Ottawa as a favorite to win the VHLM Cup in season 39 with their ability to add five high caliber players. With these five picks, the Lynx were able to add forwards Akssel Thomassen, Thomas O'Malley, and James Faraday as well as defenseman Jerrick Poole and goaltender Soren Douffet. This will give the team a strong Boston presence as O'Malley and Poole hail from the Massachusetts capital while Faraday is an Essex native. One player who was extremely happy with his draft position was Jerrick Poole. The newcomer to the VHL was claimed off waivers by the Lynx late in season 38 and began to display some real ability that began to gain him some notice around the VHLM. After being selected sixth overall in the VHLM dispersal draft, everyone could sense Poole's excitement and relief. "Truly, Ottawa is the place I wanted to be. They gave me an opportunity right away and with their position heading into this season, there was not a single team that was more attractive to me. Not many people can say they spent their entire VHLM career with a single team and I don't only think I'll be able to have two seasons of playoff experience under my belt before hopefully heading to the VHL but I think this team has so much potential to do great things this year. Anything short of a the cup would be disappointment and I can't wait to get this thing started."

S40 draft is gonna be insane. Calling at least 4 players with 200+ TPE on draft day. I don't know much about the league's history but if they're saying S39 could be one of the best, they have no idea what's coming.

I'd love to apply to be a writer. I want to get involved more in the league and writing is definitely one of my strengths. I also think it would be nice of you to hire someone who is new to the league since I feel like this would definitely help me to become further acquainted with many of the players. Also, since my player will be in the VHLM all next season, I will have a stronger investment in the VHLM than most. I'll link to my articles from this league so far - have yet to get a single grade below full points http://www.vhlforum.com/index.php?/topic/9117-jerrick-poole-headed-to-vhl/ http://www.vhlforum.com/index.php?/topic/9142-jerrick-poole-rookie-profile/ http://www.vhlforum.com/index.php?/topic/9323-jerrick-poole-makes-vhlm-debut/ http://www.vhlforum.com/index.php?/topic/9616-poole-looks-to-future/ http://www.vhlforum.com/index.php?/topic/9875-introducing-the-walser-this-way-starters/ http://www.vhlforum.com/index.php?/topic/9443-jerrick-poole-the-biography/