Florida Man

#S85CUPCHAMPS

please come to helsinki

1. Well, we lost to Warsaw in 7. What's your emotions like after the final game? It sucks. Really thought we had what it takes, but Warsaw was the better team. 2. Anything you would have done differently in the final games to win the series? I'm not sure what else we could do. We took them as far as we could. It just wasn't our year. 3. How do you feel about your own personal playoff performance this season? Way better than expected. I hope to carry the momentum into next season. 4. Warsaw went on to beat Moscow to head to the finals. Does that make losing easier, knowing how tough a team they are, or more difficult knowing Helsinki could have had a shot? It's still disappointing, but sometimes we just have to admit we lost to a better team. That was every bit the case this time. 5. Taking the season as a whole, should this be considered a success for Helsinki? We really took a step forward. Pearce was an MVP candidate, Booberry continued to be dominant, had scoring throughout the entire lineup, and had one of the best goal differentials in the league. I think it would be hard to replicate the individual success, but there is still a strong group that we can find success with next season. 6. Any parting thoughts to our teammates who are retiring and leaving us this off-season? It was a good run and we all appreciate your efforts. Best of luck wherever you end up or with your new players.

1. We're into the playoffs! What do you want to say to the Helsinki fans ahead of the matchup against Warsaw? We appreciate the support all season and can’t wait to hear the best fans carry us through this playoffs! 2. Do you approach a playoff game any different from a regular season game? I keep a very similar routine. Don’t want any added stress or nerves going into the most important games of the season. 3. They say playoff games are a bit more physical. Is that a good thing or bad thing with your style of play? A big part of my game is to avoid hitting and taking hits to reduce the chances of penalties. I don’t think it will hurt the team when we have some heavy hitters throughout the lineup. 4. The Wild Card round had both 5 seeds beating 4 seeds. Are you expecting a lot of upsets this year? I can’t see either of the wild card teams pulling off upsets. Moscow and DC are just built to beat those teams. Other than that it’s mostly a toss up. I could see almost any team winning it all. 5. Other than Helsinki, which playoff series are you most looking forward to? I’ll always be tuned in to the Seattle games. I really liked my time there with my previous player so it’s hard not to root for Bana. 6. Other than Helsinki, what would be your favorite VHL city to play a playoff game? Probably Seattle. Great fans and winning culture there.

1. The end of the regular season is here! Did Helsinki perform to your expectations? Absolutely. I predicted 72-0, but in hindsight that was a very bold take. Finishing second in the division is a great accomplishment when you consider how tough the conference was. 2. How about personally, did you perform as well as you wanted? I really wanted 30 goals and maybe score at a point per game pace. Unfortunately I was just short of both, but I'm happy I was able to improve on last season's totals. 3. Who would you call the Titans MVP this season? We had several great players this season, but for me it's Pearce. He really took over as the most dominant player in the league. Booberry deserves a lot of credit for being in that category as well. 4. As of this writing, it's looking a lot like a Helsinki/Warsaw playoff matchup. Who wins and why? I'll try not to be biased here, but Helsinki has the up front, depth and back end scoring advantage. Superior goaltending and better management . 5. Do you think anybody in Europe can beat Moscow this season? Heck yeah. I think Helsinki is the only team with a chance, but it's gonna have to go the distance to beat a team like that. 6. What's your VHL Finals prediction? I'm gonna be biased here. Helsinki vs Seattle. I think it'll go 6 games and I'm not sure who will win.

1. As of this writing, the Titans are on a 10 game winning streak! What's enabled the team to do so well? Looks like the team has pretty good chemistry and we’re getting offense from players throughout the lineup. 2. What will it take for the Titans to hold off the Dynamo and Reign for third? Gotta keep things the way they are. Barring a string of bad games, don’t fix what isn’t broken. 3. Do you think Helsinki could catch Warsaw for second (or even Moscow for first)? Definitely not Moscow. If we can continue to string some wins together down the stretch, then we absolutely can. 4. Nico Pearce is leading the league in points too, what do you think led to his big jump in production this season? Hard work finally paid off. Should’ve been this way for a season or two. Happy for him. 5. Now that VHL Birthday Week is over, did you have a favorite memory or retrospective? I really liked winning a cup with the Bears in S77 during my last season. I’m not much of a factor when it comes to individual success, so it means a lot when I can chip in to win it all. 6. A quieter VHL Trade Deadline once again, would you like to see more trade action this time of year? I’m not too big on making huge trade deadline acquisitions. Many times it comes back to bite both teams in the ass. It’s definitely worth it to maximize your chances of winning a cup, but I wouldn’t break the bank to do it.

1. The Titans are in fourth in the conference about a third of the way through the season? Is this better or worse than you expected? Well I expected better, but like life anything can happen. Maybe we can hit a serious hot streak here. 2. What's been the surprise of the VHL season so far to you? Moscow lost Idaho and are as dominant as ever. They need to heck off. 3. What needs to happen for the Titans to begin to rise up the standings? I'm not sure if it's an issue with our roster. We have the talent. Might just need some finishing touches with updates to get us going. 4. The Americans' GM recently stepped down following disagreements after the team's latest trade. Do you think VHL teams can actually be "cursed" to perform poorly? Not at all. The teams that succeed, or remain relatively competitive, have the best GMs. I mean no offense to the GMs that struggle. What I've noticed is if you want to win in any capacity, you need to have a vision for your team, build a strong relationship with your peers, maintain an honest reputation, and don't do anything rash. I notice a lot of teams falter when the GM goes for the big franchise-changing trade. You never really know if it's gonna work. That's why drafting and developing your own talent is so important. Although I do think some GMs just can't get the luck of the draw because of who came before them. So I guess there's that. 5. It's the height of summer in the northern hemisphere. What's your favorite cookout food? Gotta go with ribs. I would eat them every day if I could. 6. What's your favorite beach or lake experience? For 4th of July my family in Florida gets together for a week at the beach. It's always a great time.

You can't celebrate 15 years of VHL without the greatest playoff performer of all time. Shoutout to the homie @Rayzor_7 In six postseason appearances with the Bears, Funk racked up a league-leading 55 wins. Also recording a 0.930SV% and 2.09GAA. He won the Stolzschweiger Trophy in his rookie season, and went on to win four Continental Cups including one Victory Cup in S73. In S73, Funk won his fourth and final Daisuke Kanou Trophy. Making him the only four-time winner in VHL history. He may not have put up the greatest numbers during the regular season, but he always performed when it mattered most.

hbd!

F - Brendan Marner @thadthrasher

F - AJ Williams @Jason kranz

D - Hari Singh Nalwa @thadthrasher

D - Hulk Hogan 2 @Jason kranz

G - Oskar Lindbergh @thadthrasher

F - Duncan Idaho @Jason kranz

D - Hulk Hogan 2 @Acydburn

F - Anze Miklavz @Lilpfigher

D - Aurelian Moreau @Acydburn

@Enorama I’d like to ignore the Jerome Reinhart pick and get forwards Vinny Detroit + Zeedayno Chara instead. @Lilpfigher

you’re right Cologne is seriously underrated. they should be #1. wouldn’t mind seeing a total TPA stat for each team in future rankings. great work on this

G - Xavier Booberry @Acydburn

F - Jerome Reinhart @Lilpfigher

Couldn't really figure out what to do with the text. Would like some ideas on how to make it blend in with the background other than using the blend tool. Can't seem to make it look the way I want.

Hi