Steve

Well here we sit on the sidelines watching the top teams battle it out for the ever so prized cup. While our time in the playoffs was brief, we did take the team that everyone had them sweeping us to five games. So I guess we have that to build on. So outside of that bright spot, we sit and watch the other teams compete for the ultimate prize. We will be there at some point. If things go the way our GM Kaleeb has planned, Max should be in contention to win another cup with Malmo before he moves on. Only time will tell but I feel good about the plans for our future. Speaking of top teams, Moscow sure seems like they can keep a roster that can be in the top tier of teams on a consistent basis. Hat's off to whoever their GM is. I was surprised to see Seattle, my old team, drop like a dress on prom night. They might be building for next season but I am sure Bana has a plan. Chicago is a prime example of a team that has slowly built itself into a strong playoff contender. It was just a few seasons ago they were hugging the bottom spot in the North American conference. Look at them now. Truly a success story. Good luck to all the players still in the playoffs.

Review: I really like bashing classics. I think your design concept was well intended and I really like the look of this graphic. I know it would be a bit hard to replicate his brush strokes for your addons but it still looks fun and that's what counts. A bit of text would have been good to see but I am not sure how I would put text on this one. Nice logo effect and the helmet looks crazy good. I think this is a fun graphic and would like to see more bashing on the forums. 8/10

Review: Good Ol' Mike Milbury. A great choice for a render. He was a character behind the bench and when he was playing. I like this graphic more for your choice of render than it's graphical appeal but that doesn't mean I don't like it. I like the twisted effect and that it's black and white. Highlights helps with a focal point which is sometimes hard to do with a black and white design. Well done. 8/10

Forgot to resize it

At the time of this writing, Malmo is headed into game five of the wildcard playoffs. Go figure, we are going to game five when most thought we would be weak and fold like a cheap suit. We have been competitive in all but one game where their elite goalie went lights out. Other than that one standout game, they have all been one goal games. It might take another season or two but Malmo will be a contender at some point. We have several players that have come alive and want to do their part to be successful. I hope the trend continues and the GM acquires a few active players down the road. Which brings me to the issue of new players. I don't follow how many new players are joining the league, I just go by “feel”. It feels like the league is falling off a bit faster than I would like to think. I am not sure about the VHLE. When looking at the teams, they look full except for one with only 5 forwards, mostly older players that are most likely inactive. I didn't conduct a deep dive into the other teams but I think I would find several filler players. I like the concept of the three league system but I think we are lacking in actual active players to make it seem legit. This is just my take and filling in the word count for the most part but I do think there is a decline in the active player list. I know it seems slow in the summer and the league is a bit more active in the winter. I hope some form of recruitment and player retention is in place.

Review: Good looking sig in many ways. I always like to see detailed renders. I looks like you have a good feel for lighting and background blending. You color choice is great with just the right amount of saturation. The main focus is the render, which is the point. My only concerns are the balance is too heavy on the left, dead space on the right and the render would look betting, imo, looking towards the center of the graphic. Great job. 8/10

Review: Well this is certainly nice and bright. Filled with colors and elements known to be part of the Vegas scene. I like the concept though I think the formatting is off a bit. The team logo looks good as well as the text. The render looks to be a lower resolution than the background. Nice touch with the hand though the team logo on the rings would have been cool. Overall you have a lot going on here and I like the design. I think a little refinement would go a long way but I do realize this is a theme week graphic and most are just made to get the tpe. You did good with this one. 8/10

Looks like in a few days the season will be over and the teams will either be working on playoff strategy or booking tee off times. Malmo looks to have a firm grip on the fifth spot in the European conference. It's a fairly huge step forward from last season. I think we could have been even higher in the standings if it weren't for Simon making us have so many overtime loses. Eight of them is a bit high. If we had any puck luck we could have taken a few of those and would look even better in the standings. With the clever addition of a couple players, we have a much better sense of what we need to do moving forward. The team is very motivated to do well. That is a good sign. We will do the best we can and build on our successes as well as our failures. It's the only way to move forward and develop a team that can be competitive. With great leadership and players pushing harder than they have in the past, aka earning, we should be able to break away from being a bottom dweller to a team that isn't easy to beat. Good luck to all.

Review: What a cool looking graphic. Thos multi render graphics are sometimes hard to pull off but I really like your choices with this one. The render formatting looks well balanced and I love the black and white with some texture. The text looks clean and I can't figure out where a better place for it would be. I am not sure the orange bleed is helping or hurting this graphic but it looks good. You should make more like this and show off your skills. Great work 9/10

Review: You have a lot going on here. Theme week has always been a fun time where your concept is more important than the quality. This graphic fits into that slot. I really like the design with the mean at a table with some renders about them. The players/team in the middle has logo swaps, which is a good thing. I think if you worked on the blend ranges and a few other adjustments, it would make this much easier to see the elements in question. Still, it's a fun time and you did a good job. 8/10

Thank you for the comment. This just might be my next player in 4 more seasons.

Nice, a non traditional graphic. I am a huge fan of this.

Cutting out renders is half the fun. A skill everyone making sigs should get good at.

Wow, this season is flying along. It's always a fun time when we are all playing. Watching the league battle and developing rivals has been entertaining. Seems like all the usual suspects are at or near the top and the bottom dwellers are sinking. That leaves the teams in the middle. Not the best at any particular aspect of the game but not the worst either. These teams are where all the tension and heavy action is. Fighting for a playoff spot has got to be one of the more exciting parts of the season. I mean there isn't anything wrong with being so good that you know the team will be in the big show, but for those on the bubble, it's intense. It's what makes the game worth playing. Wanting to just make it into the playoffs and then put up a really good fight against, most likely, a stronger team. I wonder how many fringe teams that made the playoffs have actually won the cup. I am not one to do the research but it would be an interesting stat to know. I am not sure it's even possible but then again, we do use Simon. Good luck to all the teams fighting to get into the post season.

Review: A solid design. I like the larger graphics like this. The background fits the theme really well. I like how you use the diagonal method for formatting. I often use it over the rule of 3rds. Your render looks clean. Details are crisp but maybe a bit of overshoot on the face. The lips look too sharp or maybe just needed to be touched up. Logo looks good but could be placed better. I mostly line up a logo with the shoulders of the render and adjust from there. It also looks like the logo is floating at the bottom. It's just nit picking, overall it looks fine. 8/10

Review: It's way cool to see a vintage goalie render. This Fuhr image looks really good for the era. I like the effects you have and the logo swap is just fine. Looks like the colors worked out well and blends nicely with the background to render. The only thing missing is a bit a text maybe. If this graphic was telling a story or had some action to it I could see not having text but it does look a bit static. Overall I like what you were aiming for. 8/10