zepheter

1. We're at the halfway point of the season! What's been the biggest VHL surprise to you so far? LA is a lot better than I had anticipated. Really impressive season so far. 2. Have the Titans lived up to your preseason expectations so far? We're staying somewhat competitive with mid-low level teams, but getting smoked by good teams. So kinda what I expected. 3. In keeping with the Theme Week, what makes a good GM to you? Winning is important, but keeping your LR lively is probably the most important. Gotta make it fun to be on the team otherwise it'll just be a boring experience. 4. Who's your favorite VHLM/VHLE/VHL GM you've played for and why? Thad was great in the VHLE with Stockholm. Always checking on and looking for ways to get players more involved. Playing for Bana's Bears was awesome. He keeps the team competitive which means players will frequently come and go. It was awesome to meet all of the different people. All of the cups were a bonus. 5. It's starting to get cold in Helsinki, what piece of winter gear do you still need? I have a box of swimsuits on the way as we speak. 6. Have any special plans for the first day of snow? Sneaking out to go snowboarding in my brand new swimsuits. It's gonna be a blast.

1. The Titans are right at the edge of playoff contention right now. Do you think we will be able to stay there? We’re not consistent enough and constantly getting dominated in most games regardless of the score. It’s not looking very likely we stay in our current spot the way we’re trending. 2. What's been the biggest surprise of the VHL season so far for you? I thought it was going to be a tough season, not only as a team but individual success might not be that great. Our top players have been producing along with a lot of depth scoring. Booberry has been the reason we remain in the picture. Probably the best goalie in the league and I hope CIA gets every possible award. 3. There's been a lot of roster change, but that also means some new teammates. How have you been getting to know them in the locker room? Honestly haven’t spoken to them much. It’s pretty empty in the LR, but that’s to be expected. 4. Finnish can be tough to learn for some of our players. Do you speak another language outside of English, and if so, how did you learn it? I can speak very little Spanish. Learned it in school, but forgot most of it. 5. With fall here in the Northern Hemisphere, what are you most looking forward to over the next couple of months? I can’t wait for Halloween. My extended family gets together for dinner and it’s a lot of fun. 6. What's your favorite season in general? I don’t mind the cold, but I definitely prefer being warm. I’m gonna go with Summer.

1. Well, that probably wasn't the offseason Helsinki fans were looking for. What do you think went wrong? It is what it is. We’re playing well now even with all the players leaving. I hope they all find success with whichever teams they went to. Hopefully we can keep the wind coming. 2. Anything you would have done differently in team construction, given the constraints? I’m fine with it the way it is. On paper it might be rough, but we have great players at every position to help us remain competitive. 3. Despite that though, Helsinki's gotten off to a quick start. How do you think that's happened? There is production throughout the lineup and Booberry is carrying. 4. What's your personal goal for your player this season? Right now I’m on pace for 50 goals and 100 points, but 40 goals and 85-95 points would be great. I hope FLMAN becomes a top winger in the league. 5. What should be the goal for the Titans? Is playoffs realistic? I don’t think we make the playoffs, but this is the VHL and quite literally anything can happen. 6. Who's your beginning-of-season championship prediction? DC vs Warsaw. I’ll go with DC winning the cup.

Okay perhaps I was wrong but I will be right at some point this season.

Don’t worry Lavelle 6 points next sim.

F - Nezuko F - Ronan Lavelle @KnightRiley

D - Hulk Hogan 2 G - Cole Pearce @KnightRiley

F - The Board Game Clue On Skates D - Bo Johansson @KnightRiley

#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