Steve

1. What are your goals for the season? Merrick would like to finish out his career with at least a point per game. Winning the cup is the main focus. 2. Who is going to be our toughest competition? At this point, every team is tough. 3. What were the biggest offseason moves? Well we have some good players that were brought in. I guess during the season we will know who has the biggest impact. 4. Do you workout and train during the offseason? Or do you relax and enjoy the vacation? I chill for the most part. 5. Chocolate or other sweets? Chocolate of course. 6. What is your favorite kind of bread? I like French bread baked with garlic and cheese.

One of the better sigs I have seen here. Very solid design.

Transaction ID: 20769012127109332 $1M Player Store Cash 5 TPE Uncapped Doubles Week

Well the final season for John Merrick is about to start. He has had a great career and has no regrets. Coming off his best season to date, he expects his age will slow him down during his last season. He is a fighter and I expect him to end up still being over a point per game player to finish off his career. Being with the LA Stars has been amazing for him. The team is solid and doesn't panic over a bad run of games. They have been steady with their lines and overall game strategy. It truly has been a pleasure to play on such a good team. I will have to revisit his progress during the season to see how he is holding up. There are many really good players on the team and at this point, Merrick just wants to help where he can. Once the off-season is over, we will get back on the ice and see how the puck bounces. I expect nothing but positive things from LA. I am sure the fans will be pleased.

Review: This is a good example of a multi render graphic. You did a good job with the placement of the renders. The text is very well done. Both renders work well with the background which is simple yet effective. I would say the only real issues are the lack of logos and I think you need some contrast between the two renders. That of course is just my opinion. You did a great job overall. 8.5/10

Review: Interesting graphic you made. I really like the formatting. You really went hot with the saturation and it seems to work well with this design choice. I would say that the render needs a bit more detail and less effects. The text is actually very good looking but not placed very well. The render's stick looks funky but overall I think you did a good job. 8/10

1. What does your player do during the offseason? Not a lot. The aging Merrick likes to chill and watch movies in his underwear. 2. Arvid Johansson is off to the VHLE, how did he contribute to LA's success last season? LA had a great season and everyone, from rookie to vets stepped up to make it all happen. He was a good player for us. 3. How would your player react to being in a veteran role on a new VHLE team, like Johannsson will? I think he will carry himself well and be a team leader. Good future for him. 4. We're training a robot to create VHL drama threads and need some thread names to feed it. Please help. 1) What's a Pronoun and how not to use them. 2) What GM should be removed for having such a shitty record over and over. Only two I can think of. 5. Which player is your dream teammate? Kate Upton in any position. 6. What other languages do you want to know/are interested in? I know a little English and enough Spanish to get my ass kicked. Oh, I can say "How are you doing" in Chinese.

Imagine not voting for the best dman in his final season of his career...

It was a battle to the end. The LA Stars put up a good fight but in the end, it wasn't enough to beat the Seattle Bears. Not that many gave the Stars much of a chance, we still made it a long series and showed just how underestimated we were by many. Nothing to be sad about on this team. We gave it our all and put in an honest hard fought effort. Now for the off-season. Something many of us need to forget the past and plan for the future. I think the Stars will still continue to impress, even with some key players reaching the end of their respective careers. There is a healthy youth movement that has been chomping at the bit for their chance to shine. Well that time is fast approaching. Look for some good results from players that had lesser roles on the team. LA is a winning team that has built a bit of respect in the league. I see no reason that is going to change. I am pulling for Seattle of course. The team that knocked us out but is in our division. More like a dynasty than just any normal team. Amazing how they seem to be the team to beat season after season. Good luck to both teams in the finals and I hope for some exciting hockey from both teams.

1. What are your takeaways from the playoffs? I think it was fun as hell to make it as far as we did. A huge success even though we didn't go all the way. 2. Who are you cheering for in the finals? I would hope Seattle adds another cup to their collection. Amazing team that we had a tough series against. 3. Give me your HOTTEST award take for the season Best dman- Alex Letang. 4. Who is going to be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Alex Letang will get there at some point I would hope. 5. If you had to pick a member to return to their peak activity, who would it be and why? I would like to see Merrick in his younger form. 6. What song are you singing for team karaoke? I don't really sing karaoke but if I did, it would be the "Barney" theme song.

Review: I like your design concept. It looks fairly well balanced. I would have liked a little detail work attempted on the render but it doesn't look bad as is. I like your font choice but the placement looks disconnected. Maybe move the first name down a bit. The background is dark and dramatic but doesn't tie in well with the render/text. All this is subjective of course. Good effort. 8/10

Review: Nice design concept. Good looking and well balanced. I really like the render effect and it works into your theme well. I like the text except for the first name is just a bit hard to read. Not sure if those little "x's" help or distract. I would say your logo it a bit harsh, maybe use a different blend mode. It also needs to wrap around the player a bit better. I admire your design choices and with a few adjustments it would be epic. Great job. 8/10

Good series Bears. Good luck in the finals.

Great series guys.

1. The S79 Fredrik Elmebeck Memorial Trophy Nominations have started, who have you or are going to nominate for this award? I have to take a good look at the several players that I would consider voting for. 2. We went 2-1 in our first sim for the lottery tournament, do you keep track of how your player is doing in the tournament? If the team wins, it doesn't matter how the win came. Player stats are fun to look at in the offseason. 3. The first round of the playoffs has begun, how are your predictions doing so far, or who do you think will win this season? So far so good. I think there isn't too many surprises yet. 4. What’s the most exciting announcement made by the league so far this offseason as we inch closer and closer to the inaugural season of the VHLE? I am excited to see how the league and players work with a middle league. I hope it doesn't take away from the overall VHL experience. 5. If your player was to go pro in any other sport, what sport would it be? Competitive checkers of course. 6. What is your favorite music to listen to in the locker room? I like the sound of silence.

Well this is a tense day as the LA Stars go into game seven against a very strong opponent, the Chicago Phoenix. The series has been hard fought by both sides. Each having their moments of dominance. Though the series has been a tough battle, there seems to be mutual respect, as it should be, from each team. The focus is to win. We are in a do or die game as well as Chicago. Who will come out on top? I hope we do. We will play our game and see how it turns out. Several things to look at on the LA Stars team. A solid defense and a sometimes explosive offense. Thanks to a full team effort, which sees almost the entire team at a point per game or higher. That is a good sign that the scoring is balanced and anyone on the team can step up and make a difference. LA is a great team with older and young players all on the same page. If we have a big game today, we will focus on the next team knowing we will give it our all to win. Good luck to all the teams competing in the playoffs.

Review: I wouldn't say you are bad at graphics. I would say you just need to keep working on graphics and you will progress. This graphic is a lot better than any of my first graphics. You have a logo swap, two renders, a background that fits the theme and two renders that make sense. Just work on what you are doing and master each step. Soon you will be pumping out very pleasing graphics. Overall you have all the elements that you should have. Just keep working at it. 7/10

Review: Very well executed sig. Great formatting. The render has all the detail needed to be the focus and the text looks really good without being distracting. Your color palette is excellent as well. I even like the letterbox bars/borders on the top and bottom, something that is rarely integrated well. Good looking all around. Great job. 10/10