McLovin

Claiming 2/2

I can confidently say writing this whole this article was so much fun, and the more I looked into the team, the more I realized y'all are loaded for a great push! Here's hoping you guys go far in the playoffs! (so long as you don't face Las Vegas in it )

(graphic pending ) VSN Presents: S92 Houston Bulls Deep Dive! Welcome to this week's edition of VSN’s coverage of S92 in the VHLM! Today we got a special one for you, as we’ll be doing a deep dive into the Houston Bulls, covering the success their team has had this season, as well as some individual stories and achievements they’ve had. With all being said, let’s take a look at the Bulls! Let’s start with the basics! The Bulls are enjoying a very comfortable season right now, putting up a respectable 22-13-3 record as of writing this. Having one of the best offenses in the league has certainly helped, with them bolstering a commendable 134 goals for, tied for 4th in the entire league! The defense and goaltending are also very strong and capable of locking down games for them, as they’ve only allowed 122 goals against in an otherwise very offensively skilled S92 so far. They’re definitely one of the teams that benefitted the most from the recruitment drive and massive influx of waiver players in the offseason and first half of the regular season. Depth has been a problem for many teams in the VHLM in recent memory, with last season especially being the highlight of the player drought, where some teams had as few as two or three players rostered TOTAL. With the drive however, the Bulls have been able to roster an entire team's worth of players in all three primary positions, and they have utilized a great deal of varying skills and abilities that have granted them a very good team this season. There’s many factors that play into the Bulls success so far, and many of them will be covered in today’s article, but we at VSN thought it was a good idea to begin doing deep dives into various teams and points in time in the VHLM’s rich and vast history, and cover a team that is very deserving of its own article. Part of this success has been found in their trading and signings, as General Manager @AJW has been hard at work this season to put the best team on the ice as possible! On draft day, AJW made a trade to acquire Miami’s second in the S92 draft for a 3rd and 4th in the same draft. That player ended up becoming Chris Reynolds Jr @Crstats23, who’s put up a very strong two-way game for them, throwing hits, blocking shots, and being an over point-per-game player for Houston! Losing out on Joe Shmo @matt sovick & Onyekachukwu Chidieber Oluwaseun @TenIQ hurts in the short term, as both players are doing great in their own regards, but Chris Reynolds Jr has been a phenomenal player for them, so the trade seems to be working out well thus far! The second trade made by AJW this season was to pick up long-time Aces forward Barry McOckiner @LanerDUST for a S93 3rd round pick. This is a great trade for Houston, as Barry has put up solid seasons with the Aces in the past, including back to back 60+ point seasons, and has definitely contributed up and down the stat sheet for them too. He’s put up a 31 point campaign in the 38 games played so far, as well as being third on the team in hits. His two-way game complements the style of play Houston is going for this season, in which they utilize players with skill on both ends of the ice, and can lock down the opponent wherever they find themselves. Moving along, the Bulls have also been blessed with a large number of quality waiver pickups this season too. Some of the most notable being forwards Nathan Ecker @Nathan_8, & Filip Zinek @FiZi, who’re both putting up great seasons with 10 goals & 17 assists, 13 goals & 11 assists respectively. Defensemen Benjamin Adbenduct @Schnee & Lucy Leitner @LucyXpher were also brought on, who’re both having incredibly strong seasons offensively, with well over a point-per-game seasons being put up by them too. Goaltender Ondrej Vencko @Mutti was also brought in as the primary starting goalie for the Bulls, and has had very clutch games while maintaining a very respectable number of stats in an otherwise very offensively minded league this season, to which he is to be commended for that alone. The ability of AJW to find gems in waivers, and put them in positions to allow them and the team great success has been phenomenal, and will definitely go down as some of the best FA pickups of the season. It’s a very well thought out short term process, but that does raise the question of what it means for the future. Retaining these players that don’t immediately move onto the E after this season should also be a big priority of Houston, and it will be interesting to see how the management team goes about achieving this goal in the coming draft as they only hold 2 picks in the top 30 of S93’s draft class. This in mind, there may have to be a bit of a healthy competition for who earns those two picks between the players, that being Houston doesn’t acquire more picks, or the players aren’t snagged up by other teams looking to emulate Houston this season. Regardless, no competent manager ever goes into the off season without a plan, and the Bulls management team have proven quite well this season at just how well versed they are in the art of team building. Approaching the end of this article, it’d be worth it to predict a bit of how well the team is projected to become with player growth and already existing line chemistry considered. With this remarkably strong team as is though, and Houstons indication that they don’t intend to slow down the improvements at all, I’d expect an all in push to the playoffs, and a very depth filled and experienced team to transition into the future. Houston is certainly a dark horse candidate for the Founder’s Cup, and has every piece needed and then some to make that dream a reality. Players like Trimiskez Artav @jake & Chris Reynolds Jr, the aforementioned defensemen like Lucy Leitner and Benjamin Abenduct, all of them are going to be leaned on especially heavily going into this second half of the season, and already seem to be absolutely thriving under the pressure. The future is incredibly bright for Houston, so I’m personally very excited to see how all the players do, and looking forward to following their careers into the VHLM, the VHLE and VHL proper. All said, the Bulls are a remarkably well run team. AJW & Nathan_8 have put together a very strong team, and are a model example of what a team should look like, both in the standings, as well as in the locker room. Every interaction I’ve had with a member of the management or on ice players has been an absolutely fantastic one, and I definitely find myself being a fan of theirs despite actively general managing against them (oops). With that in mind, here’s to a very successful season for the Bulls!

YESSIRRRRRRRR THE IRISH HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!

Claiming 2/2

THAT'S MY GENERAL MANAGER! FUCK THE HATERS LET'S WIN A CUP BOYS

(Shoutout @Zetterberg for the amazing graphic for VSN's coverage this season!) VSN Presents: S91 World Junior Championship Recap! Welcome to this special edition of VSN, where today we will be recapping the S91 WJC! It was quite the tournament, with upsets, star power, comebacks, and everything in between! We’ll take a deep dive into the Round Robin first, and then cover the individual Medal Round games! So without further ado, let’s get right into it! Round Robin Team Europe: 8-1-1 | 22 Points, 1st in WJC Round Robin: This season's WJC started off with a bang for the Europeans, looking to make yet ANOTHER Gold Medal Game appearance and defend their throne that they’ve dominated for almost 10 seasons now. In the Round Robin, Europe looked like they were well on pace to achieve their goal as well, with 4 players either at or over a point per game pace throughout the first round of the Tournament. On the backs of Joseph Dubois @Dubois & Phillip Rave @tcookie especially, the point production was lethal, and Europe proved to be a top offensive team once more, outscoring almost every opponent they faced. Even in the games they lost, it was very competitive, and this was achieved thanks to the outstanding goaltending provided to them by Karl Herzlich @LastGoon007 & Clark @cl4rk, who put up .948 and .920 save percentages respectively! When all gears are turning like this, it’s no surprise that Team Europe was ready to go deep into the Medal Rounds, but we’ll cover what happened next in the Medal Round section! Team World: 7-2-1 | 21 Points, 2nd in WJC Round Robin: With their incredibly strong defensive core and strong goaltending, Team World came into this tournament with the perfect situation on their hands. They came ready to shut down any offense in the WJC, while also being able to put up a significant number of goals for themselves, and it reflected remarkably strong in the stats. THREE players put up 13 points in the 10 games they played in the Round Robin, and had another two players nearly at or equal to a point per game pace as well. Considering 3 of those top 5 scorers were also defensemen, it provided World with a dynamic offense that many teams in the tournament struggled to keep down. Similarly to Europe as well, the goaltending provided great help in getting them a solidified second place finish in the first section of the tournament, with Dalkr Vidarsson @KaleebtheMighty especially putting on a good show, racking up a 4-1-1 record, with a .930 save percentage, and a 1.81 goals against average. World definitely had the best two-way setup at this point, and they were looking to go very far in the Medal Rounds carrying this momentum! Team Asia: 5-3-2 | 17 Points, 3rd in WJC Round Robin: A pleasant surprise at the midway mark of the Round Robin, Team Asia certainly lived up to VSN’s prediction that they would play upset to many teams hopes at winning critical games for optimal standing going into the Medal games. Rin Kagamine @Rin, Toby Kadachi @ROOKIE745, & Vlad Von Carstein @Dom all put up 12 points in their 10 games played, and certainly carried the offense, and likely the team, to a very respectable record in the tournament. The big surprise, however, came with the goaltending. David Slezak @ShawnGlade went undefeated in his 4 games played, putting up an incredible .949 save percentage as well! With only a 2.5 goals against average to show as well, Slezak stood on his head game in and game out to keep Asia competitive, and is easily Team Asia’s MVP in VSN’s book. With the momentum on their side, they went into the Medal round with a very optimistic outlook on the tournament thus far, and we’ll cover how the rest of the WJC went for them in a bit! Team USA: 5-5-0 | 13 Points, 4th in WJC Round Robin In a bit of a surprise, Team USA didn’t have the Round Robin many people were expecting them to have, and looking at the team, the stats they put up, the games they played, it is very surprising to see them this low. Despite that, however, the Americans did remarkably well despite what their record shows. Mina @Baozi & Chris Sanzone @handfullofbubba both put up very respectable offensive numbers, and as a defenseman and forward respectively, it’s nice to see both ends of the ice contributing to the scoresheet in this way. The goaltending was quite strong too actually, both putting up over .930 save percentage showings in their games played. My guess as to why the Americans were down here would probably have to be chalked up to a lack of depth, as was predicted in the VSN’s coverage of the WJC a few weeks ago, but it didn’t hamper them nearly as much as it could have, giving the Americans a strong fighting chance in the Medal Rounds should the goaltending step up and win in a big way like they did in the Round Robin! Team Canada: 0-8-2 | 2 Points, 5th in WJC Round Robin Man, what is there to say here? We knew Canada was going to struggle with the lack of depth similar to Team USA or Asia this tournament, but I don’t think anybody expected a goose egg in the wins column! Looking at the team as well, it baffles me how they were so unlucky despite their production numbers. Eno Velvson @Nykonax & Joshua Schwarzer @Velevra both had very strong showings offensively, putting up 13 & 11 points respectively. Even the goaltending was strong, especially in the case of Toddly Bobbly @ToddlyBobbly, who in his two games played put up a .957 save percentage, and a 1.98 goals against! With numbers like that, it completely blows my mind that they couldn’t get a single win. Not much is left to be said other than they hope and pray that their luck swings their way in the Medal Round, cause I think Canadians everywhere want to forget the Round Robin even happened. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Medal Round: Onto the second half of the tournament, we get to the nitty gritty, the place where every game matters and nobody is safe! The wildcard and semifinals were intense matchups, and a BIG upset happened that we’ll cover in this article. Let’s take a look at the games and see what happened! Wildcard Game: Team Canada vs Team USA In a hail mary attempt to salvage their tournament, Team Canada came into this game with one goal: Win a game. And they certainly came to fight for their place against Team USA. Goal scoring opened up with a goal from Joshua Schwarzer 7 minutes in, but Team USA answered back within 14 seconds and tied the game up at 1. Schwarzer wasn’t happy with that, as 10 seconds after Team USA tied the game, he put up ANOTHER goal, giving Canada the 2-1 lead. Mina tied it back up on a powerplay marker at two a piece, and that ended the first period. Team USA came out firing in the second period, notching two goals, including another powerplay goal with 35 seconds left in the period to make it a 4-2 Team USA game. Team USA got the insurance marker at 3:45 in the third to make it a 5-2 game, and despite a Joshua Schwarzer hattrick, Canada fell short 5-3 to knock them out of the tournament. Semi-Finals: Team USA vs Team Europe The game everyone reading has been waiting for, the big upset. Team Europe came into this tournament with one goal in mind: Pure gold, and it would take a miracle on ice to prevent them from achieving that goal. Well, Chris Sanzone had an idea of how to start that off with a goal at 18:56 in the second to give Team USA a 1-0 lead going into the third. An uncharacteristically quiet first two periods for Team Europe, they had to pull out all the stops to make their dreams a reality. A second marker by Sanzone gave them the 2-0 lead at 2:42 in the third, but Xiver Zilla wasn’t going to go down fighting, and found a way past the brick wall that was Olober Syko. It wasn’t enough however, as Team USA pulled off one of the greatest upsets in recent WJC history, knocking Team Europe off of their throne, and for the first time since S85, ensuring Team Europe doesn’t make a Gold Medal appearance. Team USA sending themselves off to the Gold Medal game, the only question was who would face them? Team Asia or Team World? Semi-Finals: Team Asia vs Team World Ready to fight for their own tournament lives, Team Asia faced off against the juggernaut Team World. In the first period, Team World went up 2-1 against Asia, off two quick goals in the first five minutes of the period. Period two wouldn’t get any easier for Asia, as a quick goal 19 seconds in made it a 3-1 game. Asia couldn’t muster up a great offense against Dalkr Vidarsson, who was standing on his head facing 32 shots by the end of the game, and with a goal from Grimgor Ironhide at 17:29 into the third making it a 4-1 game, Asia ran out of steam, and Vidarsson shut the door, giving Team World a ticket to the Gold Medal game! With this though, Asia still had an opportunity to upset Team Europe, who were reeling from the loss against Team USA, but they had to prepare for a fight, because nobody expects Team Europe to let something like that happen twice in the same tournament. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Bronze Medal Game: Team Asia vs Team Europe When you poke a sleeping bear, you get exactly what you pay for, and I won’t even mince words, Team Europe came out absolutely swinging against Team Asia in this game. While the first period was relatively quiet, only showing a goal from Phillip Rave to put Team Europe up 1-0, the second was an absolute massacre. FOUR goals from Europe, including two powerplay markers put them up 5-1 with 20 minutes still left to play. With an early goal by Xiver Zilla in the third to make it a 6-1 game, Karl Herzlich put on a show, stopping 38 of 39 shots faced, and blanking Asia in their Cinderella run for a medal. While disappointing, Asia can be proud of their season, as they fought to the bitter end to make it happen. I fear for the WJC next season however, as I feel Team Europe is going to take earning a Bronze Medal personally, and be out for blood against the rest of the tournament come this time next season. Gold Medal Game: Team USA vs Team World The big game! The David vs Goliath showdown that’s been hyped up since our roster predictions, Team USA has made it to the Gold Medal game, and they face down the World in this winner take all game. The puck drops, and for the first twelve minutes, the score is even. Leif Reingaard breaks the stalemate, and puts Team World up 1-0, ending the period on some good momentum. This carried over into the second, as on the powerplay, Spanish Moon Moth got a marker to put World up 2-0! Team USA wasn’t going to go down without a fight, and on their own powerplay, Logan Ninefingers cut the lead in half. However, Team World have proven to be special team champions this tournament, and on another powerplay, gets their third goal to make it a 3-1 game. The story of the game however came in the third, as Dalkr Vidarsson absolutely blanked Team USA, stopping 33 of their 34 shots of the game and securing Gold for Team World! An incredibly fun game, Team World now has a Championship they intend to defend and fight for going into next season. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ At the end of the day, the WJC is one of the most fun tournaments the VHL has to offer. It’s always a blast watching the future of the league represent their countries and continents, fighting for their peoples right to take home the Gold and etch their name in VHL history! This has been an incredibly fun tournament to watch, and even more fun to write! So I thank all our readers for supporting VSN’s coverage of the WJC, and we look forward to seeing you here again for S92’s WJC!

Welcome welcome!!

holy shit what a trade

GUESS WHO'S BACK, BACK AGAIN. MCLOVIN'S BACK, TELL YOUR FRIENDS I am back as Team Europe's General Manager, and I'm very excited to announce this seasons representatives at this seasons World Junior Championship! Without further ado, here is the roster for Team Europe at the S91 WJC! Forwards: Otis Boudreaux Jr @Otis Boudreaux Jr Philip Rave @tcookie Xiver Zilla @jhatty8 Alexandre Crosby @hockeyis66 Miroslav @Zyrok Jussi Jokinenegg @HearnNation67 Baby Moo Moo @Elvis Jorjo Costova @Hybrid1486 Oden Bell @WhiskyJack Defense: Callum Gary Yannick Janser @Daniel Janser Joseph Dubois @Dubois Didier Verhault @FTK Tobias Weiss @jfaly Goalies: Karl Herzlich @LastGoon007 Clark @cl4rk Here's the discord link for players and fans alike to use to keep up to date with all things WJC! https://discord.gg/RSDc6vkq

Also claiming 2/2 on this since I posted at the deadline

(Credit to @Zetterbergfor the amazing graphic!) VSN Presents: S91 WJC Roster Predictions! Hello, and welcome back to this seasons edition of VSN’s coverage of the World Junior Championship, this time for S91! We got a bit of a different tournament happening this time around, so without further ado, let’s see what each team might be bringing to the international stage in a few days! Team Asia: Starting this roster prediction alphabetically, we have Team Asia! Team Asia, like in past tournaments, struggles to fill out a roster by themselves, and will likely need to have other teams lend players to them in the tournament to adequately complete its roster. As it stands, Team Asia only has 14 players eligible for its roster, and while that is enough to fill a roster, it severely limits their ability to be very competitive in the tournament as a majority of the team hasn’t even left the VHLM yet, not to mention they don’t actually have a natural Center in the entire continent, so it’s expected that Asia will struggle in the faceoff circle greatly. They are quite top heavy though with the likes of Toby Kadachi @ROOKIE745 & Red Panda @Lemorse7 likely being leaned on heavily for their elite VHLE caliber play, but it certainly drops off from there. Asia has great potential to be a spoiler for many teams in the tournament, and has a decent chance to make the Medal round competitive should they make it, but only time will tell if this ends up happening. Here is VSN’s prediction for Asia’s roster going into the S91 WJC! Forwards: LW Toby Kadachi @ROOKIE745 - 469 TPA RW Afonya Romanov @DontCallMeCarson - 319 TPA RW Ivan Ivanov @KmaddFPS - 193 TPA LW Stinky @taylorherd - 172 TPA RW Kel Varnsen @JayF - 126 TPA RW Demko @Demko - 120 TPA Defensemen: D Rin Kagamine @Rin - 364 TPA D Vladimir Kozlov @vladbatton - 199 TPA D Petit Hughie @Sen - 163 TPA D Viktor Vyzovsky @Vik - 108 TPA Goalies: G Red Panda @Lemorse7 - 400 TPA (Loaned from Europe) G David Slezak @ShawnGlade - 269 TPA Team Canada: Up next on our list, we have Team Canada! Canada is an interesting nation this season, as they don’t exactly bolster the greatest top end talent or the depth of the tournament compared to other nations and continents. They still have an excellent team, but a quick look at the players eligible for Team Canada’s roster, nothing immediately jumps out at you as game changing for them. Canada can bring a strong forward core to the tournament, but will likely struggle immensely on defense as they actually don’t have enough defensemen in Canada to be rostered on the team, and will have to be loaned a player from another team to fill the final D slot. Expect many high scoring, tight contest type of games from Canada as they are very capable of putting them up themselves, but also receiving the same number of goals back. Players like Joshua Schwarze @Velevra & Eno Velvson @Nykonax will be leaned on heavily for offensive production, so big things are expected of these two players. With all being said, let’s see what Canada’s roster could look like by puck drop! Forwards: LW Joshua Schwarze @Velevra - 400 TPA C Eno Velvson @Nykonax- 353 TPA RW James MacAvoy @Enraged - 319 TPA C Med @Med - 310 TPA RW Bryce Woodworth - @SirRupertBarnes - 304 TPA LW Isaac mclflopper @sportexperts show - 200 TPA Defenseman: D DB IV @wcats - 200 TPA D Mak Doyon @Mak - 140 TPA D Dustin Moore @Maxx - 84 TPA (Loaned from World) D Sunset Moth @McWolf - 284 TPA Goalies: G Devon Giguere @omniscius - 241 TPA G Toddly Bobbly @ToddlyBobbly - 206 TPA Team Europe: At the midway marker of our list, we have Team Europe! The Europeans have a pretty nice roster all around, and are definitely expected to make some waves come the Round Robin and Medal Round points of the tournament. They have a remarkably well rounded team, with 4 of their top players all playing different positions across the ice, meaning that each position will have great play coming from it. The likes of Otis Boudreaux Jr @Otis Boudreaux Jr & Phillip Rave @tcookie at forward, Callum Gary Yannick Janser @Daniel Janser at defense and Karl Herzlich @LastGoon007 between the pipes ensures elite play up and down the ice, and all these players will be greatly leaned on to provide what they can to their specific positions. With that in mind, let’s take a look at what a Team Europe WJC roster could look like this season! Forwards: LW Otis Boudreaux Jr @Otis Boudreaux Jr - 400 TPA C Phillip Rave @tcookie - 400 TPA C Xiver Zilla @jhatty8 - 360 TPA LW Alexandre Crosby @hockeyis66 - 356 TPA RW Miroslav @Zyrok - 322 TPA LW Jussi Jokinenegg @HearnNation67 - 317 TPA RW Baby Moo Moo @Elvis - 316 TPA LW Jorji Costova @Hybrid1486 - 301 TPA C Oden Bell @WhiskyJack - 274 TPA Defensemen: D Callum Gary Yannick Janser @Daniel Janser - 400 TPA D Joseph Dubois @Dubois - 346 TPA D Didier Verhault @FTK - 330 TPA D Tobias Weiss @jfaly - 258 TPA Goalies: G Karl Herzlich @LastGoon007 - 399 TPA G Clark @cl4rk - 369 TPA Team USA: Up next, we got the red, white and blue, Team USA! Team USA is in a similar funk to Team Asia and Canada where they don’t have the immense depth that they’ve usually had in previous tournaments. As of writing this article, there are only 21 players eligible to play for Team USA at this season's WJC, which also limits their depth and star potential, but certainly not to the extent of Asia, and even to Canada in some places. They have similar high end talent to Europe, in which they have players in almost all positions that can excel at them, but they lack the depth to really amplify the play to the extent of say Europe or World. Team USA is gonna likely be a middle of the pack team come the tournament, but that gives them immense potential in being the upset and finally knocking Europe off it’s throne. That being said, let’s see who Team USA could potentially roster as its representatives in the WJC! Forwards: LW Chris Sanzone @handfullofbubba - 400 TPA C Bruise Banner @ctots - 329 TPA RW Riley Martin @Smarch - 200 TPA C George Richmond @badcolethetitan - 200 TPA RW Logan Ninefingers @Scurvy - 200 TPA LW Caring Bear @thecaringbear - 199 TPA LW Joe Shmo @matt sovick - 147 TPA RW William Wallace @Dynamicmlb_42 - 133 TPA C Jimmy McGill @Windows (It wouldn't format his name) - 97 TPA Defensemen: D Mina @Baozi - 400 TPA D Marty Byrd @Marty B - 282 TPA D Bric Sheithaus @Oldhead91 - 166 TPA D Free Gorlab @eaglesfan036 - 165 TPA Goalies: G Oliver Syko @Spartan - 400 TPA G Joseph Reed @BrutalBoost - 342 TPA Team World: Lastly, but certainly not least, we have Team World! Team World is VSN’s personal favorite to win the WJC, solely because they have the depth, the star power, and every piece needed to go head to head with every other team in the tournament. Still riding the high of the mass influx of players from Greenland, it could be more apt to call this team this season Team Greenland, as a large majority of the team is made up of these players. This is Worlds last chance with most of the Greenland players to make something happen in the WJC, and they’ll be putting their full weight into this tournament to make their dreams come true. Team World is blessed with great depth in every position, with elite VHLE caliber players taking up a majority of the top ice line minutes, which will make them quite the team to face in the Round Robin, and especially in the Medal Round where you only get one chance to do better than the other guys. With that in mind, this is Team Worlds tournament to lose. The only way they can reasonably lose this is if the chemistry between lineups ends up creating problems, or that they collapse in the heat of a Medal Game. As it stands, however, Team World has got everything they need and more. So without further delay, let’s see who Team World could potentially bring to represent the planet in this WJC! Forwards: RW Carson Walker Jr @Cwalker - 400 TPA C Spanish Moon Moth @Renomitsu - 400 TPA RW Thor Reingaard @N0HBDY - 400 TPA LW Grimgor Ironhide @FrostBeard - 400 TPA C Mikko Borisyuk @Minebro - 397 TPA C Theo Allard @InstantRockstar - 390 TPA C Jeid Rohnson @TopTiddee2 - 295 TPA LW Behrens Minion @UnknownMinion - 290 TPA LW Olumide Anderson @Theory - 228 TPA Defensemen: D Leif Reingaard @Zetterberg - 400 TPA D Lionel Collberg @Masu Chan - 392 TPA D Celise Pereira @asteria - 377 TPA D Vanellope von Schweetz @Arce - 200 TPA Goalies: G Dalkr Vidarsson @KaleebtheMighty - 400 TPA G Pipo Popa @npuBeT - 200 TPA That concludes these predictions for the S91 WJC rosters, presented by VSN! A lot of exciting possibilities with these rosters, and we’ll see what the GM’s decide is the best route for their teams in a few days once rosters are announced! Until then, it’s always fun to speculate and predict rosters when it comes to these amazing tournaments! With all being said, this has been Marcus Svedberg of VSN, wishing everyone a happy New Year’s, and a happy WJC!

Welcome back!

Review: Man alive this is a clean graphic. Like Steve said previously, the visor reflection is a very few and far between attribute seen in player graphics, and it was masterfully executed on here! The background has a great blend of vibrant color and explosive setting, and really adds an extra layer to this graphic. Lastly, the blending of the logo onto the jersey is seamless and looks completely natural. Overall, this is an absolute 10/10 from me! I might have you commission a few Las Vegas Aces players graphics if you'd be down for that in the future, cause if this is what your average work looks like, I'm very excited to see what you do in the future!

The Las Vegas Aces of the VHLM have had an interesting last couple of seasons. After struggling to climb out of the basement of the standings, and then recently with back to back to back first round eliminations, it's perfectly understandable to be speculative over the title of this media spot. However, I do genuinely believe that the Aces have what it takes to finally be a major contender in the VHLM for S92, and here's a few reasons as to why I think this The first and foremost reason is just the size of the VHLM to begin with. They are almost an entirely rostered team, and that alone is a very big step above many teams in the VHLM. While this isn't going to turn into another recruitment team bashing post, the number of players in the league as a whole does hurt some teams, and benefit others, especially Las Vegas in which a majority of the active players are personal friends and family of the GM. With this personal connection in mind, chemistry on the team is naturally a lot higher than average, and being able to rapidly build TPE for your team while you actually can be face to face with some of your players definitely helps. A little branch off from that, there's the actual skill of the players themselves to be considered as well. A lot of them are nearing the VHLM TPE cap of 200, and history has shown that depth doesn't matter if you don't have all-star talent playing those top minutes. It's why Las Vegas was eliminated by Philadelphia despite having a much better record than them in the regular season. Head to head matchups against better skilled players always defines a series, and usually in favor of whoever stacks their top lines better. With the Aces now bolstering a few players of this same caliber for next season, it's very easy to see why management of Las Vegas is optimistic for next season, and even beyond. A very strong team has been built here over the last few seasons and it provides the Aces with a unique opportunity to not need to bend over backwards as much to field a competitive team. All in all, the Aces, despite a rocky start to GM McLovin's career, have a very promising future, and once a few things are tweaked and improved upon, the team has a very, very strong chance of becoming a contender for the Founder's Cup Championship. Whether a new recruitment drive ends up bringing new players to the league in the upcoming season or not, or whether Las Vegas can retain a lot of their players as a good number of them have started to go inactive, the Aces definitely have their work cut out for them in the coming months, but definitely keep an eye out on this team, and it's players as we enter the WJC and full offseason. They're going to make strides, and I can't wait for the day that they get to raise the Founder's Cup over their heads after months and months of hard work and dedication to the team, and the league as a whole.

Claiming 2/2

VSN Presents: S91 VHLM Power Rankings: Playoff Edition! Hello, and welcome back to the final edition of this season's Power Rankings! In this edition, we’ll be covering the regular season success and shortcomings of each team, and what it may bring them come the playoffs and into the offseason! I have a flight to catch in a few hours, so let’s just jump right into it before I miss my flight! 1. Saskatoon Wild | 56-11-5, 1st in Western Conference, 1st in League Standings +3 Up first on our rankings, we have the Saskatoon Wild! Having gone on a massive winning streak since our last rankings, they took the league by storm and taken first place in the league! Led by Jacob Smith Jr @jacobaa19 putting up a 102 point season, with 41 goals and 61 assists being produced from the second line, he’s the perfect two-way center that will carry Saskatoon to hopefully a deep playoff run! Alexandros Mograine @sliceruseralso had a remarkable season, putting up 98 points, with 38 goals and 60 assists! With center depth like this, it’s no surprise all their wingers on those two lines put up well over a point per game, with 3 of them being in the 80 point range. It’s safe to say Saskatoon bolsters one of the best offenses in the league, and will be a dangerous team to face in your own zone come the playoffs! If Toddly Bobbly @ToddlyBobbly can maintain his strong regular season pace, the Wild appear to be a safe lock for at least a Conference Final appearance, and are easily the favorites to win the Cup at this point in the season! Time will tell if this becomes the case! 2. Houston Bulls | 52-16-4, 2nd in Western Conference, 2nd in League Standings +1 Pushing onwards, we have the Houston Bulls! The Bulls are blessed by the best defense in the league, having only let in 106 goals over the course of the 72 game season, and it’s all thanks to Pipo Popa @npuBeT and his 22 shutout performance! Historic numbers like this have not been seen in my tenure as a VSN writer, or likely in league history, and should immediately lock Popa in for goalie of the season without a doubt in my mind. Luna Everdeen @Dee, Vanellope von Schweetz @Arce & Guntis Gavilrovs @Girts all put up strong seasons offensively too, so the Bulls are certainly capable of scoring against you while putting up the best defensive game the league has seen in seasons. A finals between Saskatoon and Houston would be incredible, and certainly one for the history books, but the league works in funny ways, so we’ll see what happens come the Founders Cup Finals! Regardless, expect a deep run by the Bulls in which offenses get absolutely shut down. 3. Ottawa Lynx | 48-18-6, 1st in Eastern Conference, 3rd in League Standings -1 Onto the first Eastern Conference team, we have the Ottawa Lynx. While they might’ve had a weaker finish to the season than expected, they’re still a remarkably dangerous team. Having a top 4 offense in the league doesn’t happen by itself, and it’s on the backs of George Richmond @badcolethetitan & Thijs @Thijs putting up 101 & 97 point seasons respectively. Helped by rookie goaltender Olafur Gunnleifsson @JartY, he’s put up strong numbers in the Lynx’s own zone helping them maintain their top 3 defense position in the league standings. Overall, the Lynx have a great two-way team, but the only thing that could hold them back is they don’t greatly excel at either category, which might prove problematic should they face Saskatoon or Houston which dominate in their own respective categories. A strong two-way game might benefit them in those matchups, however, if they can shut down the other team's primary function of winning games, whether it be a completely lethal offense or blanketing defense. Time will certainly tell if the Lynx can do this, but they stand a strong chance in this regard and will hold their own till the very end, which could very well possibly be a Founder’s Cup victory for the second time in 5 seasons. 4. Las Vegas Aces | 48-18-6, 3rd in Western Conference, 4th in League Standings -3 At the halfway point of these playoff rankings, we have the Las Vegas Aces! They went on a big losing streak towards the end of the season facing Houston and Mississauga, and showed the team that they still have holes in the team that need work before a definitive dominant season can be achieved. They still bolster a top 3 offense in the league, on the backs of Stinky @taylorherd & Jean-Marc Lemieux @Gorth putting up 90+ point seasons. Piston Maicupp @MandyManiac & Bric Sheithaus @Oldhead91 also put up well over point per game seasons, so having point production from both forwards and defensemen help greatly, but their biggest problem might be their goaltending, and specifically Hugo Boss’s @Dil numbers this season. Despite having 47 wins on the season, Hugo struggled greatly to keep his save percentage above .900, and ended the season with a .896 save percentage. He’s been getting steadily better as the season progressed, however, so we’ll see if enough production and growth from him will propel the Aces to their end season goal of a Founder’s Cup Championship or not. Significant pressure is on him to help the team, and his game will make or break the Aces success in the postseason. 5. Philadelphia Reapers | 47-18-6, 2nd in Eastern Conference, 5th in League Standings = Onto the latter half of the rankings, we have the Philadelphia Reapers! What is there to say about this team that hasn’t already been said? Bolster by far the best offense in the league, they will lean heavily upon it in the playoffs. Absolutely historic seasons by their two top forwards. Caring Bear @thecaringbear put up 166 points, with 69 goals and 97 assists just for the fun of it, and if that wasn’t enough, Logan Ninefingers @Scurvy put up 64 goals and 88 assists for a total of 152 points to end the season. When your top two forwards put up over 300 points combined in the regular season, you have a seriously deadly combo that should provide you with near nonstop goalscoring in any game they play, and they proved they’re very capable of that against much better teams in terms of depth or defense. kodie Curran @Battlepopcorn also put up nearly 100 points as a defenseman, with 75 assists and a plus/minus rating of 82! This team has got it all, and is easily the dark horse candidate favorite of VSN to win the Cup on the backs of the best individual numbers we’ve seen in recent history. Should strong defensive teams like Houston find a way to shut down their offense, they may be in trouble, but a series between the two teams would be incredible to watch. 6. Mississauga Hounds | 35-30-7, 3rd in Eastern Conference, 6th in League Standings = Up next on our list, we have the Mississauga Hounds! Again, not much has changed for the Hounds, and in this ever evolving league, that can prove to be a death sentence in the playoffs. While they have a good shot with the likes of Tom Dufour @Cookie and Pierre-luc Dutil @Pierre-Luc Dutil, the lack of depth has certainly stung Mississauga in a bad way, and made them suffer for it in the regular season standings. They have a relatively strong two-way game setup for them, but it will take an incredible goaltending performance or an all-star point production against some of the top teams in the playoffs to go far. They will still put up a good fight, and won’t go down without giving it their best shot. 7. Miami Marauders | 32-35-5, 4th in Eastern Conference, 7th in League Standings = Nearing the end of our rankings, we have the Miami Marauders. Another similar case to Mississauga, Miami bolsters a strong two-way team with decent depth. It’s just the lack of all-star talent on the roster taking games over that proved to be problematic for Miami in the regular season, and they suffered for it in a big way. Strong regular seasons from Matthew Highmore @NineIQ v2 & Petit Hughie @Sen have helped keep the Marauders heads above water, but they can only do so much when the defense and goaltending lets up as much as they do. Goaltending especially is going to hurt Miami in the postseason, as Shaunca @shaun1979 has struggled to keep his numbers in range of a contenders, and being outclassed by goalies with lower skill sets is definitely something Miami is going to have to look at long term and determine if it’s something worth banking on going into next season. 8. San Diego Marlins | 23-48-1, 4th in Western Conference, 8th in League Standings = Onto our final team of these rankings, we have the San Diego Marlins! The fact that they are this low in the standings and getting a top 3 pick in the draft as well as a postseason appearance gives the Marlins a unique opportunity. While not very much is expected of San Diego going up against juggernaut teams, they have the chance to experiment with players they may want to retain long term, either through the draft or in their own system. Factor Lee @Hockeywizard676 put up a strong season as a defenseman, and should definitely put on a good show in likely his last season in the VHLM. The Marlins also have a rookie goaltender in Jake Dunzapp @Dunzapp, who they’re likely going to try and pick up in the upcoming draft should he continue to put up halfway decent numbers with the team fielded ahead of him into the playoffs. Overall, San Diego is in a unique spot and should benefit greatly from the experience gained from this postseason, and who knows? Maybe they’ll win a series or two as well! They definitely have it in them to pull it off! With all said and done, that concludes this season's edition of VSN’s coverage of the S91 Regular Season! Thank you for reading these editions of VSN, and we’ll see you next season for more regular season Power Rankings! This has been Marcus Svedberg of VSN, signing off! Happy playoffs everybody!

also claiming week 2/2 cause i was lazy and didn't write this earlier in the week like i should've

VSN Presents: S91 VHLM Power Rankings: Trade Deadline Edition! Hello, and welcome back to the VSN’s S91 VHLM Power Rankings! We’re a little past the midway point of the season now, and a lot has changed since our last rankings! With that in mind, let’s get into who’s risen and fallen in this edition of VSN’s VHLM Power Rankings! 1. Las Vegas Aces | 36-8-6, 1st in Western Conference, 1st in League Standings +2 Starting off our trade deadline rankings, we have the Las Vegas Aces! Having a stellar midseason, the Aces are actively on a 11 game winning streak, and this kind of performance has shot them up to first place in the league once more! Bolstering the best offense in the league still, the likes of Stinky @taylorherd, Jean-Marc Lemieux @Gorth & Piston Maicupp @MandyManiac have been well over a point per game pace the entire season, and have been putting the team on their backs with their offensive production. Being tied for third least goals against also helps a great deal, with players like aforementioned JML & Bric Sheithaus @Oldhead91 putting up massive defensive numbers on top of both of their point per game performances. The team is set for a deep playoff run, and anything short of a Cup victory will be seen as a failure to them. 2. Ottawa Lynx | 36-9-5, 1st in Eastern Conference, 2nd in League Standings +2 Up next on our rankings, we have the Ottawa Lynx! The Lynx are a remarkably strong and well rounded team, and it shows in their games since our last rankings. They have not lost a single game in regulation since our previous rankings, and this sort of performance has helped them maintain their first place position in the Eastern Conference, while propelling them up the league standings to be only a point behind the hot streak Aces. The team's offense has been solid this season, being led by George Richmond @badcolethetitan at center with 32 goals already in S91, with his linemate Thijs @Thijs not too far behind with 24 goals, and 40 helpers to match Richmonds 41. Vlad Von Carstein @Domhas had an incredible season thus far as well, with 61 points in 50 games, with 91 hits and 95 shots blocked to help. Andrew Cobberson @BrandyAndy & Olafur Gunnleifsson @JartY have almost split starts this season down the middle, and both goalies have been strong in keeping the puck out of the net for the Lynx, constantly giving them a fighting chance in any game they play. The Lynx are a dangerous team, considering their ENTIRE roster has nearly been a point per game at this point in the season, and should they maintain their current pace, they have a strong chance of taking first place in the league and becoming a serious playoff juggernaut. 3. Houston Bulls | 35-12-3, 3rd in Western Conference, 4th in League Standings -2 Onto the next team, we have the Houston Bulls! Having dropped a bit since our last standings, they’re still a strong team, and shouldn’t be discounted as a true threat despite their power ranking. Pipo Popa @npuBeT has been the star of the team, being arguably the best goaltender in the league at this point of the season. His elite play has helped the Bulls maintain the lowest goals against in the league, as well as the lowest GAA for a goalie in the starter category. With players like Luna Everdeen @Dee & Vanellope von Schweetz @Arce keeping their strong point per game pace as well, the Bulls have everything they need to contend for a Founder’s Cup. Will the goaltending and defense be able to hold strong enough against some of the high scoring juggernauts of the league is the question, and could make or break a deep playoff run for the Bulls until they get a player to truly take over offensively. Things are looking great for the bulls at it stands however, so we’ll see if they can keep the strong pace into the playoffs! 4. Saskatoon Wild | 35-10-5, 2nd in Western Conference, 3rd in League Standings -2 Pushing onwards, we have the Saskatoon Wild! Despite only having one rostered defenseman, the Wild have managed to keep the goals out with strong goaltending and an impressive top 6 forward core. Four of their players are over 60 points already this season, with Alexandros Morgraine @sliceruser & Stefan Nikolaev @Is_thatok being the headliners of the offense. The big piece of this team, however, definitely has to be their goaltender in Toddly Bobbly @ToddlyBobbly. Going 35-10-5 with a .920 save percentage and a 1.88 goals against average, Bobbly is still a strong contender for goalie of the year, and should he maintain pace, he’s got a strong chance against Houston's Pipo Popa for the award at season's end. Overall, the Wild have a fantastic team, and have a solid shot at making something happen in the playoffs should the defensive core not have too many long term issues for them. 5. Philadelphia Reapers | 31-14-5, 2nd in Eastern Conference, 5th in League Standings +1 At the halfway mark of our power rankings, we have the Philadelphia Reapers. This is by far the biggest wildcard team in our rankings, and they have the best chance of being the upsetter/Cinderella story of this season. This section of the power rankings should be called the Bear/Ninefingers section though, because we’d be crazy to not cover what they’ve been doing this season in detail. Caring Bear @thecaringbear has 115 points this season, including 46 goals and 69 (nice) assists. Logan Ninefingers @Scurvy has 107 points with 46 goals as well, and 61 assists on the season. It’s simply incredible what these two players are contributing to their team, and to league history itself. In my years as a writer, I’ve never seen two players absolutely dominate every single game they play on such a consistent basis, and they are more likely than not the sole reason why Philly is up here in the rankings and the standings. They’re definitely helped by kodie Curran’s @Battlepopcorn two-way play on the blueline, and Olumide Anderson’s @Theory strong season as well. The only thing to be worried about is if Bear and Ninefingers get shut down by a strong goalie like Saskatoon and Houston bolster, do they have what it takes to close out a series? Amir Redzic @Slav_Sloth gives them a fighting chance each night he’s in net, but he can’t be solely relied on to keep pucks out of the net. Should the depth prove to be an issue for the Reapers, you might see them get booted early in the playoffs, but at this point, I don’t have any doubt that Bear and Ninefingers can single handedly carry the Reapers to a deep run. 6. Mississauga Hounds | 24-21-5, 3rd in Eastern Conference, 6th in League Standings -1 Onto the latter half of our rankings, we have the Mississauga Hounds! The Hounds have struggled a bit with getting goals on the board, and it’s burned them in the standings quite a bit in the halfway point of the season. With no all-star forward to really pitch in on offense, the defense and goaltending has been leaned on heavily to break ties and close games, and they’ve done pretty well in this endeavor. Pierre-luc Dutil @Pierre-Luc Dutil has had a solid season, posting a .918 save percentage, and a 2.28 goals against average. With these numbers, the addition of a lethal scorer on the forward core would pay off greatly with this team, and likely propel them much higher in the standings, in our VSN Power Rankings too. Until that happens, however, the lack of offense might be the achilles heel that takes down the Hounds in the long run. 7. Miami Marauders | 22-25-3, 4th in Eastern Conference, 7th in League Standings = Pushing onward, we find ourselves at the Miami Marauders! A bit of a reverse problem for Miami as opposed to Mississauga, they have elite scoring available on their team, but suffer in the depth and defensive categories. Matthew Highmore @NineIQ v2, Petit Hughie @Sen, & Demko @Demko have all been putting up stellar seasons offensively, and have definitely been the saving graces of the Marauders. The biggest issue however, appears to be their lack of all-star talent to compliment the already exceptional offense, mostly in the form of an elite defenseman. Shaunca @shaun1979 has suffered in net because of it, but his play has also contributed greatly to keeping the Marauders above water. Should they go out and acquire a high end defenseman to ease the workload of Shaunca, the Marauders do still have a strong chance at making something happen in the playoffs, but time will tell if this move is made or not. 8. San Diego Marlins | 17-32-1, 4th in Western Conference, 8th in League Standings = Nearing the end of the list, we start entering the more difficult to salvage teams, starting with the San Diego Marlins. While they’re still in, and most likely a lock for a playoff position, the Marlins struggle greatly in their positional offense and team depth, and it has cost them dearly in the standings. Factor Lee @Hockeywizard676 is the leading scorer of the Marlins as a defenseman, but unfortunately bolsters a -29 +/- rating to snuff. Jake Dunzapp @Dunzapp has taken over the starter position in between the pipes for the Marlins, but has initially struggled to maintain an above .500 win percentage as the depth continues to prove problematic. While that problem cannot most likely be solved this season, it does put the Marlins in a unique position to still at least compete in the playoffs while still holding onto a top 3 draft position. Should they be able to maintain their current roster and bolster the depth more, the Marlins should be a lethal team for S92. 9. Mexico City Kings | 7-37-6, 5th in Western Conference, 9th in League Standings +1 Onto the Tank Bowl teams, we have two teams nearly neck and neck in the standings fighting for last place, the first up being Mexico City! On paper, the Kings aren’t that bad of a team in all honesty. All the rostered players of the Kings, consisting of Trey Daniels @Tdan04, Nathan Doh @TheJaguarGod, and Hezeus Ohmontegue-Steinhardt X @Sisyphus are about a point per game pace right now, but it truly comes down to the fact that they ONLY have 3 rostered skaters on their team at the moment. Inactivity seems to have been the biggest contributor to their lack of players, with a handful of others being traded to the Bulls earlier in the season. Mexico City is truly embracing the rebuild, and we’ll see what happens at the end of the season whether the Kings will win the lottery, or if they’ll be edged out by our final team of our VSN Power Rankings! 10. Halifax 21st | 7-39-4, 5th in Eastern Conference, 10th in League Standings -1 As we enter our final team of these rankings, we find ourselves in a rather familiar place. Very little has changed with the 21st, besides the few players remaining on the team having improved individual skills a bit. Bubba Tree @Bubba is still their leading scorer with 44 points on the season so far, but the big story lies in their goaltender Girgiy Costanzov @Mongoose87. Having such an elite goalie playing for a last place team is remarkable, and considering the numbers he’s put up this season, I’m impressed he hasn’t stolen more games than he has so far. Despite his record of 7-41-4, he bolsters an incredible .921 save percentage, and a goals against average just under 3, at 2.96. Those kinds of numbers would make a couple teams near the top of our list an almost immediate lock for a Founder’s Cup championship, but instead he finds himself spending his final year in the VHLM helping the 21st fight for the last place spot in the league. If the 21st truly wanted to, he would be a very easy asset to move to one of those contender teams for big pieces coming back, but whether or not Halifax pulls the trigger on a trade of that caliber remains to be seen. The tank is truly rolling out in Halifax, however. That concludes this edition of VSN’s coverage of the S91 VHLM Power Rankings! Tune in next time when we cover end of season rankings and give predictions as to playoff matchups and an eventual Cup winner! Thank you for reading, this has been Marcus Svedberg of VSN, signing off!

Nasher has a really popular NHL 24 Be a Pro series on his channel right now that brings in a ton of viewers. Most recent one from a few days ago broke 100k views so maybe reaching out and seeing what an ad on his channel on one of the episodes would look like wouldn't be a bad idea

Shit at this point sign me up for the recruitment crew, I got a YT with a combined 3 million channel views I'll run ads for the VHL for free on there

Daily posts is wiiilldddd nobody is expecting that from the team, if it were a weekly thing that recruitment could use as job pay for their player then it's another story. With how VSN has to write 500+ words or a graphic a week for their 8 TPE, recruitment should have to do something similar in terms of getting word out there and getting people in. Have the graphic designers of the recruitment team make a real quick standings post which would literally take like 30 mins start to finish, submit that to the twitter and insta and claim their weekly TPE. Have the people who don't want to do graphics spend like 30 mins of their week just going around reddits or forums spreading the word, have them all collab on an ad and use some of the dono money to elevate the ad onto services that'll bring people in. There's plenty of solutions the recruitment team can do quickly and effectively, hell I managed to come up with those suggestions just in the span of writing this so there's no excuse as to why there isn't more effort going into getting people in. Lil edit here as well covering the second part of that post. It's much, MUCH easier to put a bunch of text onto a copy paste template for trades, signings, hell even score sheets than it is to make a player signature graphic from scratch. Again, 30 mins tops start to finish.

I can say that as someone who works in the M as a GM, constantly trying to retain players, get them updating and interested in the league, the player drought right now would be just as bad for us as the rest of the league had I not twisted the arms of my friends and family to make players in the VHL. I don't agree with removing M teams, but I do agree with the statement that until a recruitment drive or something like removing the E and changing the TPE cap for M teams changes our situation, the M will continue to struggle immensely and something needs to be done soon. The M is meant to be a developmental league where players get their bearings and learn what they need to do to make good players to compete in the other leagues. When I can count on one hand how many active users are in M locker room discords ACROSS THE BOARD, not just in the small rostered teams, there is a MASSIVE problem that is being neglected. What's the point of having a developmental league if the only people we're developing are recreates and the odd new gen that's gonna leave the league once they are gone from the team they were recruited to? I'm not blaming the recruitment team solely for this issue, but a lot of the responsibility for this issue can be attributed to the fall from grace from where they used to be in their recruiting numbers back in the S60's & 70's and now. Get posting to reddit again, roll out YT ads, go door to door, literally anything except just reposting graphics from users and VSN on the league Instagram and Twitter.