McLovin

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!

23 hours ago, Beketov said:

The content of the ad matters a lot and since the content isn’t usually super clear when we are focussing on those franchise mode type of audiences we get users thinking the league is either a GM league or some type of EASHL thing or something of the sort. They don’t understand quite what they are signing up for.

 

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

16 minutes ago, jacobcarson877 said:

So with daily posts (which I imagine would be the professional standard), plus on call posts for trades, signings and such, how many people can be reasonably expected to handle that volume of content? People get paid like real salaries to do this kind of work.

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.

Claiming 2/2

(Graphic credit to @Zetterberg)

VSN Presents: S91 VHLM Power Rankings: Weeks 1 & 2 Edition!

Hello, and welcome to this season's iteration of the VSN VHLM Power Rankings for S91! We have a lot to cover, as we are now entering our second week of VHLM games! So without further ado, let’s jump straight into the rankings!

 Houston Bulls | 17-2-1, 1st in Western Conference, 1st in League Standings

Starting off this season's power rankings, we have the Houston Bulls in the number one spot. The Bulls have been hands down the most dominant team in the M this season by far. Boasting the best defensive team in the league, and constantly being a top 3 team in goal production as well. With dominant seasons being put up by rookie Vanellope von Schweetz @Arce, VHLM sophomore Luna Everdeen @Dee & shutdown goaltending by Pipo Popa @npuBeT, the Bulls are easily the early Cup favorites at this point in the season, and will have high expectations going into the playoffs.

 Saskatoon Wild | 15-5-0, 2nd in Western Conference, 2nd in League Standings

Moving on, we bring ourselves to the Saskatoon Wild! A very deep and skilled forward core has proven fruitful as they bolster the second best offense in the league, having put up 57 goals on the season already! Alexandros Mograine @sliceruser, Adi Dassler @BOOM & Leo Neelson III @silentnyrf31 are all having phenomenal seasons, and are contributing greatly to Saskatoon's success. Despite the teams lack of defensive depth, the stellar goaltending of Toddly Bobbly @ToddlyBobbly has been simply elite, and has been a major contributor to the team's success this season. Should he maintain form through the halfway point of the season, I see him very easily being a front runner for Goalie of the Year.

 Las Vegas Aces | 12-4-4, 3rd in Western Conference, 4th in League Standings

Onto our third Western Conference team in a row, we have the Las Vegas Aces! The Aces this season are far more elite offensively than last season, bolstering the best goals for in the league with 59. On the backs of offensive production from Stinky @taylorherd, Jean-Marc Lemieux @Gorth & Piston Maicupp @MandyManiac, they have had no problem putting on high volume of shots and goal production to get them up in the standings. Their achilles heel this season, however, is easily the defense. Already up to 43 goals against on the season, they’ve been struggling in their own zone as much as their opponents have against them, leading to high scoring slugfests regularly. Should Hugo Boss @Dil crank the goaltending numbers up more, the Aces will be a very dangerous team come playoffs.

 Ottawa Lynx | 14-4-2, 1st in Eastern Conference, 3rd in League Standings

Pushing forward, we have our first Eastern Conference team of our power rankings thus far, the Ottawa Lynx. Having a remarkably strong season in a rather weak conference, the Lynx have been carried by a strong offense similarly to Las Vegas. George Richmond @badcolethetitan & Thijs Mooij @Thijs are both having incredible seasons, and have been major factors to the success the Lynx have enjoyed into this first half of the season. Similarly to the Aces again, they do struggle a bit defensively as they only roster two defenseman at the moment, and their goaltending situation is far from perfect as they have two backup caliber goalies fighting for the starting position. If Andrew Cobberson @BrandyAndy reaches his potential in playing ability, the Lynx will solve a lot of defensive problems and likely shoot up even more in the standings, and in our power rankings!

 Mississauga Hounds | 12-7-1, 2nd in Eastern Conference, 5th in League Standings

Onto the halfway mark of this iteration of our power rankings, we have the Mississauga Hounds! The Hounds find themselves in a strange position at this point in the season, where they’ve found themselves in a bit of a lucky streak despite specific stats holding them back. They’re not the most offensively remarkable team, as players like Tom Dufour @Cookie, Gremlis Lielais @Anomalijs & Howdy Doody @BigIrish are having just hovering around point per game seasons, which is still impressive but not of league average when looking at other top team scorers. This plus the lack of defensive depth has hurt them a bit in the standings, but the elite play of Pierre-luc Dutil @Pierre-Luc Dutil has helped keep Mississauga in the competition, and may prove to be the piece needed for a deep run into the playoffs.

 Philadelphia Reapers 11-9-0 | 3rd in Eastern Conference, 6th in League Standings

In the latter half of our rankings, we have the Philadelphia Reapers! A very peculiar team indeed, they bolster the number one and number two scorers in the entire league by FAR in Caring Bear @thecaringbear & Logan Ninefingers @Scurvy, who both have 47 points in just 20 games played! With offensive production like that, surely you’d expect the Reapers to be a much better team than one at an 11-9-0 record. That isn’t the case however, as their lack of roster depth has forced Bear and Ninefingers to essentially put the entire team on their backs to keep the Reapers competitive. Whether this is a winning formula or not is yet to be seen as it’s still too early to say, but the Reapers have two assets here that they either can compete and build around now, or trade at the TDL or sooner for capital on their rebuild. As it stands right now however, I only see the Reapers maintaining this pace unless something drastically changes.

 Miami Marauders | 8-10-2, 4th in Eastern Conference, 7th in League Standings

Moving right along, we have the Miami Marauders. The defenseman shortage in the M right now has definitely stung Miami, as they find themselves in the worst half of the goals against statistic right now, with their goal differential being at the time of writing this a -10. Players like Demko @Demko & Jeffrey Howard Dewberry Kalin @Motzaburger having strong PPG seasons, they can only do so much as they lead the way offensively. Petit Hughie @Sen is the only rostered defenseman on the team, and the immense responsibility put on the rookie's shoulders has forced him to be a rather good offensive player, but receiving very little help in the way of defense. Perhaps a trade for a defenseman from a team with strong depth in that category (Las Vegas comes to mind with their five rostered dmen) would bear some fruit, and propel the Marauders up in the standings more. Until then, however, I fear the playoffs will be a quick one and done series for Miami unless something changes.

 San Diego Marlins | 7-12-1, 4th in Western Conference, 8th in League Standings

On the final stretch of our rankings, we move onto the San Diego Marlins! Another victim of the lack of depth plague that’s consumed teams in the M for the last few seasons, San Diego has struggled to keep their heads above water. Forward production has not been at the place it needs to be to help the team, as the two leading scorers by far are defensemen in Factor Lee @Hockeywizard676 & Vladimir Kozlov @vladbatton. They were forced to release a goaltender in Vincenzo Pagano @Oatex who was putting up great numbers, and replaced him with Jake Dunzapp @Dunzapp, who early in the season has struggled a bit with the team rostered in front of him. Should they be able to go out and acquire a star forward to help with offensive production (Maybe one of the two stars from Philly?), it would tremendously improve the team, and shoot them up the standings, and our own VSN power rankings as well.

 9. Halifax 21st | 2-18-0, 5th in Eastern Conference, 10th in League Standings

Nearing the end of our rankings, we move onto the Halfiax 21st. It’s no surprise to see Halfiax here, as they have only 3 forwards rostered, with no defense and a rather good goaltender in the crease. The rebuild is truly on as Halifax looks to build the future with Bubba Tree @Bubba & Josh Caz @Caz96 at the helm. When you only have two wins in your first twenty games, it’s hard to have much hope at saving the season. Fully dedicating to the rebuild and doing everything they can to maintain their last place position should be a priority, but given the quality of the S92 VHLM Draft so far, it might be difficult to jumpstart a contender after this season unless some moves are made. It’s certainly safe to say that GM @ShawnGlade has his work cut out for him.

 10. Mexico City Kings | 2-15-3, 5th in Western Conference, 9th in League Standings

Onto the final team in our rankings, we have the Mexico City Kings. Another similar situation to Halifax, the rebuild has truly begun in Mexico City. The strangest thing about this team, however, is that I just find it incredibly difficult to believe they are THIS bad this season. They bolster great star power, with Arne Holmquist @axtron & Hezeus Ohmontegue-Steinhardt X @Sisyphus leading the way offensively, both as defensemen. At this point in the season, it’s an extremely tough call as to what to do. They’re VERY far down the standings, so it may be worth it to dedicate to the rebuild and liquidate their assets before many of them move onto the VHLE. At the same time, they are only 8 points behind San Diego for the last spot in the playoffs, and should they be able to figure out good line combinations and strategies to get out of this massive rut they find themselves in, they have a slim chance to make the playoffs, but a chance nonetheless. Time will tell what happens in this regard.

This concludes this Week 1 & 2 Edition of the VSN’s Power Rankings coverage of the S91 VHLM Regular Season! A lot of interesting stories are being made, and a lot to unpack from these first 20 games. This is going to be a very exciting season for the VHLM, so tune in next time for VSN’s coverage of the midway point of the season! Thank you for reading, this has been Marcus Svedberg, signing off!

I'm going to sound like such a boomer saying this, but back in my day of the mid to late S60's and early 70's, it was just the M and VHL. That method worked just fine for teams in both leagues as the M was constantly filled with recreates and had players to spare, and the VHL itself was rarely small rostered. Having less teams is an unfortunate route, but it means more players per team and thus improved performance. There are M teams right now that literally only have a handful of players, 2 or 3 max and that's just unacceptable in my eyes. Considering this last draft and the next not being projected to be in bulk either, it makes me wonder why the E exists if it's just a stopgap solution to a problem that, in my eyes at least, never existed. I do believe the TPE cap of the M should be raised regardless as players rotate out far too quickly, teams are broken up and chemistry is lost between teammates, which is a big retainer of newer players in the VHL to begin with.

tldr; Until we get a recruitment drive, we need to simplify the league and delete the E, raise the TPE cap of the M and all these problems are pretty much solved once we get the drive to improve the quality of drafts.

7 hours ago, VattghernCZ said:

Even this version of Ukraine Wayne plays for the Preds, of course

When I got drafted by them bro I couldn't stop laughing no joke, stars def aligned on that one 

Maxim Anisimov Rookie Experience

Maxim Anisimov has graduated from the VHLE, and has officially played his first 4 games in the VHL with the Warsaw Predators! In this Rookie Experience article, we're going to cover goals Anisimov has for this season, as well as his entire VHL career and what he aims to accomplish in his time in the pros. Being drafted 5th overall in the VHL Draft leaves high expectations for all. For players, for the team, for the fans, everyone wants big things from who they hope will become a cornerstone piece to a Championship winning team. Anisimov has taken this pressure in stride as he's exploded onto the VHL scene with 3 points in 4 games already, on a team that is in the midst of a hard rebuild. The aims of Maxim during this season is to show the team and the league what he has to offer, and help make hockey more mainstream and popular in Ukraine, his home country. His performance thus far has definitely helped this aim, as he's already scored his first VHL goal against the Helsinki Titans. His hope is that he can elevate his game even more, and give kids in Ukraine inspiration to do what he's doing, and make names for themselves in the VHL. Having already represented Team Asia and Europe in the WJC during seasons 89 & 90, he feels like he's on the right track.

Long term goals for Maxim Anisimov are to definitely meet the expectations of being drafted 5th overall, and become a franchise player for the Predators. His aims for the next few seasons include racking up the assists and raising his teammates scoring up by being a special teams menace for opponents. Of course, he'd love to break a few team or league records while he's at it, but he rather keep his head in the moment and have a good rookie season before he starts daydreaming about the Hall of Fame, but he'd be lying if he said he isn't aiming for that by the end of his career! With that in mind, he's loved his time in Warsaw so far! Interactions with management have been remarkable, and he absolutely wants to spend his career playing for Warsaw! His teammates have been great influences and help in transitioning to the pros, and he's already learned so much about how to be the best player he can by their teachings and guidance.

Overall, Maxim Anisimov is incredibly optimistic over his VHL career, and he can't wait to show the league what he can do!

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Claiming 2/2

Commander Doom @Mech hi Confirm referral

   S90 World Cup Preview   

Hello and happy World Cup to all of our readers! It’s an exciting time to be a fan of the international tournaments as the WJC just wrapped up with a threepeat victory for the Europeans! Now the big guns of the VHL are gonna face off against each other, representing their nations and continents on the biggest stage the VHL has to offer, the World Cup! In today’s article, we’re gonna preview what the S90 World Cup will likely have to offer, including teams and players to look out for! Without further ado, let’s get into this preview!

 Team World: 

Starting off with arguably the best team in the tournament, we have Team World! Carried by the best goaltending and defense the tournament has to offer, this team is going to be a significant challenge to score on. The only thing the team struggles with slightly is their offense, where they find themselves more middle of the pack competitively speaking. While it is still serviceable and able to get goals on the board, leaning heavily on the defense to protect the net should be Team Worlds priority going into the Round Robin. Should the likes of Hammar Voss @BOOM & Lachlan Summers @kirbithan be able to take over games, Team World should be expected to play very well, and be the “way too early to predict” favorites to take home Gold at this season's World Cup!

 Team Canada: 

Moving on, we have Team Canada! Statistically speaking, Canada bolsters the second best offense in the tournament, and it’s not hard to see why. When your first line is projected to consist of the likes of Todd Cooke @KRZY, Molly the Cat @JCarson, and Leonard Triller @Triller, you can expect goals on goals from those players should they play together. While the defense is good and will lock games down where they can, the biggest piece of the team might very well be Joel Castle @animal74, who’s already proven to be one of the best goaltenders in the VHL. Should Castle be able to steal games for Canada, they have an incredibly good chance at making their 3rd Gold Medal appearance in 4 tournaments, and outscoring the competition in every game they play.

 Team Western Europe:

Into the middle of the pack, we have Team Western Europe. Based on the statistics mentioned in the previous team preview, Team Western Europe has by far the best offense in the World Cup, and taking a glance at their forward roster goes to show exactly why they’re going to be a scary team to play against. Ronan Lavalle @Arce, John Jameson @Frank, Leandro Goncalves @leandrofg & The Frenchman @OrbitingDeath are all elite players in their own right, and will be looked upon to come in clutch during close games. The reason I say close games is because while they have good defense similarly to Canada, they certainly struggle between the pipes. Their starting goaltender isn’t even European, so let that go to show just how desperate the goalie situation in Western Europe is at the moment. Team Western Europe will live or die on the backs of Ash Sparks @DarkSpyro & Karl Herzlich @LastGoon007, and their performance will be the deciding factor on the teams success in the Round Robin.

 Team Eastern Europe:

Onto the second half of our preview, we have the other European team, Team Eastern Europe! A similar situation to Western Europe, East also has a strong cast of offensive tools at its disposal. The highlight of the team, though has to be defenseman Siyan Yasilievich @badcolethetitan, who aims to carry a defense that consists of mostly VHL newcomers, who might struggle against fully veteranized All-Stars. His leadership and elite two-way play will be make or break for Team Eastern Europe, and his play alongside the strong offense the team has, games between them and the rest of the tournament will likely devolve into slugfests. If you enjoy high scoring matches, make sure to catch Eastern Europe's games, as they are projected to be some of the most competitive and hard fought wins anybody in the tournament will fight. Should they be able to keep the puck out of their net, they could be a very serious Cinderella storyline in the making, so keep your eyes open for these guys!

 Team Scandinavia:

Nearing the end of our list, we move onto Team Scandinavia! A very well rounded team, they have everything a team could need to compete in the World Cup. Their biggest assets who will be relied on heavily include LW Nikolas Kauppi @Tetricide & Fuukka Rask @Jubis. Having a strong number one forward & goalie to support your team and make clutch plays definitely helps, but I worry that Team Scandinavia lacks enough star power to compete with some of the top teams in the tournament with the likes of Team Canada and World having matched and beat them in every category statistically. However, numbers are only that, numbers, and once the puck drops, anything can happen. With that in mind, and Fuukka Rask in particulars game considered, Scandinavia has the potential to be a real upsetter in the Round Robin, and even another dark horse candidate for Medal contention should they pull out strong games against higher skilled opponents. Do not underestimate Scandinavia’s ability to take advantage of overconfidence from their competition, because anything can happen in the World Cup.

 Team USA:

Concluding our preview, last but certainly not least, we have Team USA! A very similar situation to Team Scandinavia, the All-Star power in Team USA is not as prevalent as seasons past, but don’t let that fool you. They’re an incredibly well rounded team, but just statistically on average have the lowest of the numbers you’d hope for in international competition. Lead by players such as Daryl Dixon @Ricer13, Mac Atlas @v.2 , & Brian Payne @Scurvy, Team USA has a wonderful mix of young and veteran presence on the roster. While it might not be the most competitive Round Robin for the Americans, the young guns will want to come out swinging and prove to the world that they have what it takes to compete on the international stage. Never underestimate the resolve and skill of players trying to prove they belong, because it’s usually a great opportunity to take advantage of and create a couple of upsets along the way. Whether this happens or not is yet to be seen, but I don’t see Team USA going quietly into the night whatsoever. They’re going to fight for every game, and give quite the run on anybody they face.

This concludes this VSN coverage of the S90 World Cup Preview! A lot to be excited for in this seasons iteration, and I personally can’t wait to see what happens. Thank you for reading, and have a wonderful evening. For VSN, Marcus Svedberg, signing off!

IT'S SHOWTIMEEEEEEEE!!!

I have been given the honor of being the General Manager of Team Eastern Europe for this seasons iteration of the World Cup, and I'm very happy to be here to announce Eastern Europe's international representatives!

Without further ado, representing the BETTER half of the continent, here is your Season 90 Team Eastern Europe Roster! 

Forwards:

 Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ

 Henry Eagles @Greg_Di

 Yaroslav Bogatyrev @Bojovnik

 AK92 Wit da Hoodie @hedgehog337

 Left Alone @okochastar

 Yaroslav Trunov @qripll

Defense:

 Siyan Yasilievich @badcolethetitan

 Faith Hope Love @MMFLEX

 Hunor Solyom @solyom

 YaBoi Oven @Doomsday

Goalies:

 Bubbles Utonium @fishy

 Ilya Bryzgalov @Devise

Congrats to everyone that was selected, here is a discord invite link for players and fans alike to keep up to date with all things World Cup! See you on the ice!

https://discord.gg/RbvzJW4FzS

Credit to  @kirbithan

VSN Presents: Recapping an Era: Philadelphia

Following the end of the S90 playoffs, we saw the end of one of the most successful GM careers in recent VHLM history, as @Pifferfishstepped down as the GM of the Philadelphia Reapers. In today’s special presentation of VSN, we’re going to recap the era of Reapers hockey that Pifferfish was instrumental in constructing, and the legacy that has been built and will be the standard of GMs for seasons to come.

Piffer’s M career started when he was brought into the Reapers organization as an AGM during S85. Assisting the Reapers management; the GM being @Lemorse7, with pressers and lineup assistance, he helped bring the team into the playoffs with the Reapers posting a 35-31-6 record. Despite their regular season performance, the Reapers went all the way to the Founders Cup Finals, in which they beat the Las Vegas Aces in 6 games to win the Founders Cup! Off to a strong start, Piffer carried the knowledge acquired from such a successful season into S86, continuing AGM duties and assisting in improving the Reapers regular season record to 45-22-5. On the back of Ryan Sullivan winning defenseman Elias Lampi, the Reapers advanced all the way to the Conference Finals where they were ousted in 7 games to the Ottawa Lynx. Having contributed to the success of the Reapers, helping them be only a game away from back to back finals appearances, and the resignation of the GM, Piffer learned enough to ascend to the position of full time General Manager for S87.

S87 was a rough one as Piffer inherited a rebuilding franchise as a rookie GM. The team itself went 22-44-6, and was not present in the S87 playoffs. The season definitely proved to be a trial by fire, but glimpses of brilliance were already shining through in some moves being made by Piffer. A trade made in the season to acquire a S88 4th & 5th from Mexico City for a S87 4th showed that Piffer had long term goals with the team, and intended to turn the Reapers into a powerhouse team in a few seasons. His handling of S87 would prove to be perfect for the franchise as they vastly improved upon their S88 showing. Almost doubling their wins from the previous season, the team went 43-26-3 in the regular season. Piffer would complete three trades in S88, biggest of them being the acquisitions of Trey Jones @Slick, Dank Turtle @DankTurtle & Zyn Westwood @Sullvino. In the playoffs, the Reapers would dominate the competition in clinching games, having won two game 7’s on their path to their second Founders Cup in 4 seasons.

S89 would easily prove to be Piffers best showing as GM of Philadelphia, as this was the season the Reapers absolutely dominated everything and everyone. 55-12-5 was their regular season record, which would be good enough for the Prime Minister’s Cup for most points in the regular season. Axle Gunner @Steve would go to win the Ethan Osborne, while Tyler Swift @lilchrist would win the Vladimir Boomchenko & Ryan Sullivan Awards & Karl Herzlich @LastGoon007 would go to win the Mitch Higgins. A near sweep of yearly awards would surely mean playoff success, which they found by advancing all the way to the Finals for the third time in 5 seasons. Unfortunately the dream of another Founders Cup was cut short by a dominating performance by San Diego, who ousted them in 5 games. Even more unfortunately, this would be Piffers last season as GM of the Reapers, as he decided to resign down into the AGM position he previously held before becoming GM. 

As of S90 Piffer had proven to be a great influence in management and remained as the AGM for the newly re-hired GM @Lemorse7, who he helped assist the team in maintaining competitiveness after the rebuild commenced. Despite entering a rebuild, the team remained very competitive, finishing the season with a commendable 30-34-8 record, allowing them to compete in the playoffs, though they were ousted in the first round. 

The career of Pifferfish in Philadelphia was one of great success, and brought multiple team and player awards to the team, including two Founders Cup Championships, a Prime Minister’s Cup, and 8 individual player awards over the span of 6 seasons. While he may not be GM anymore, it’s safe to say that the prestige and competitiveness he brought to Philadelphia is definitely worth notice from around the league, and should be the standard as to how to help an M team win. 

For this special presentation of VSN, this has been Marcus Svedberg, wishing you all a pleasant evening!

On 8/16/2023 at 10:54 PM, MandyManiac said:

all fax, no printer 

https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/6087 has reached 100 TPE

On 8/23/2023 at 4:37 PM, CaptainGatsby said:

Mclovin referred me

https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/6095 has reached 100 TPE

On 8/22/2023 at 12:11 AM, Oldhead91 said:

it's brittney bitch

https://vhlportal.com/players/playerfocus/6094 has reached 100 TPE

I'm very interested in being a WC GM, I apply!

IT'S MAXIM NOT MAXSIM 

 The great @Blazzer has decided to resign from her position as AGM of the Aces, which means the Aces are now looking for a new AGM! 

Should you be interested in the job, make sure you meet the requirements for the position before applying!

- Be able to create press conferences every week for players to complete for TPE

- Be active and engage in the locker room Discord with players

- Assist players with questions they may have regarding builds, TPE opportunities, etc

- Assist myself in creating lineups, scouting for the draft, trading and other managerial duties

No experience is required to apply, and I'll likely send interviews out to those interested in the coming days! Thank you in advance!

15 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said:

I trust you can see my perspective that even if Calgary won all three of the surplus bot games, it would not have mattered standing-wise and therefore the effective violation of the rule was miniscule

  

This is why I'm kinda pissed on Warsaw's behalf because according to team stats, the bot for the Preds won 5 games, which actually meant Warsaw was more competitive with the bot goalie if we're going off win/loss ratio. That plus the starting goalie for Warsaw has been inactive for over a year now, I don't really see how the Preds playing better on average with a bot goalie over a one year+ IA goalie who has similar stats anyways means they should be knocked down FIVE draft spots in the lottery, that's horrendously overkill. 

EDIT: Here's the stats of the two goalies from the regular season just for reference

27 minutes ago, Nykonax said:

feel like it's a little harsh for calgary, 3 games could definitely just be a simple mistake + not like it really impacted anything. extra bot games worth 6 points each and they're 8+ points between everyone else in standings.

warsaw makes sense, double amount of backup games is pretty excessive, but still think it only impacts NYA really. should just swap their odds and take off like 5-10% maybe. i don't mind the severe punishment to set precedent though so don't have to deal with this in the future

I strongly beg to differ. Dropping back 5 spots in the lottery for 5 extra games than Calgary is overkill as fuck, and seems malicious if I didn't know any better. I agree that this needs to be appealed and reviewed before implemented cause it's quite honestly bullshit