Cornholio

Prague Phantoms, in their third year of existence, has gotten off to a strong start this year. They’re currently tied for third in the overall standings through the first 11 games. Third year defenseman Wolf Stansson, Jr. Has also found himself off to a good start as well, averaging a point per game so far. “We were not kidding when we were going to hold ourselves to a higher standard of play this year. Mostly everybody’s been here together the last two years, so the chemistry is there. The talent got a nice boost with some offseason pickups so there’s that. Exactly what we needed in order to make that jump from the back of the pack to near the front. It is kinda weird not playing out there with the first liners as I’ve done so the last two years. But we trust our coach to make the best personnel decision for the team and they want the best defensive D-man out there, which is Cinnamon Block and Seabass Perrin. That’s okay - I think that this could be better for me because when I get on the ice, I bring an offensive boost while maintaining our defensive strengths. Sometimes it just takes a little shakeup to maximize our strengths and chemistry with each other. This could be the beginning of a very special season for Prague.”

F this +4 pls

Wolf Stansson, Jr. And the Prague Phantoms have some lofty goals to accomplish this season. Last week, WSJ was quoted as saying that Prague would make it to the Cup Finals in their third season of existence, tying the VHL record set by Moscow Menace for the shortest amount of time by an expansion franchise to reach that. ”I’d just like to clarify on that. That was just bulletin board materials for you guys. But what I actually meant by that quote was that we fully intend on reaching the postseason. We made small improvements from first to second yeAr... and now with the offseason we had — it’s time for us to take our game to the next level and that’s the postseason. I fully believe that this is doable with the talent we have on our roster from the front court to the last line of defense between the posts. Don’t you guys go crazy saying that Prague’s gonna make it to the Cup... we know that there are still good teams out there and we have to prove ourselves first by playing and defeating them. And I need to improve my performance as an individual, and that means more points and a better +/- rating.”

+4

1.What do you think of the new additions made by GM Glasser? I think that these additions have been fantastic. Especially Brick Wahl, we’ve struggled at the goaltender position the last two years so that move alone is going to pay huge dividends. The other guys yeah, they should help our offense a whole bunch. 2. What’s your favourite fast food place? Why? I do not eat fast food too much. But if I had to pick one, I would say Taco Bell. Their Grade D meat is so good it makes you experience Bowel movements pretty quick. The food service turnRound is really fast too, so that’s nice if you Re in a rush. 3. Do you think this is the year we finally make the playoffs? Definitely. The last two years you could say that our team was going through the growing pains. Developing our game, learning how to play alongside each other. Now we’re an Attractive destination for FAs and it has paid off. I fully expect a postseason trip this year and more. 4. Who is gonna be the teams mvp this season? And what do you think our strengths/Weaknesses are going into the new season. Brick Wahl no doubt about it. The upgrade at goaltender is huge, coupled with our strong defensive game - is going to see a lot of good things from Prague this year. Our additions along the front line should help us score more goals, I just hope it’ll be more than we got the last two years because thats how you keep up with the top dogs. 5.What kind of numbers do you hope your player puts up this season? (Goals, assists, points?, for goalies wins/ GAA, SV%?) Last year was kind of a stinker for me, my offensive production went down. But my overall game improved so that was good too. I’m hoping my passing practices will pay off in terms of more assists and I also hope to post a positive +/- rating. 6.Whats one area of your game you’ve improved in over the offseason? like I mentioned earlier - I’ve been working on my passing. I think now we have more capable options along the front line, our passes are going to translate to assists more than before... so it’s important that our passes are on point. I’ll also be working on my defense; try to bump it to that 99 rating Seabass beat me to.

Wolf Stansson Jr. heads into his third year with the Prague Phantoms, the only team he’s known his whole career, representing the team’s first selection from the VHL Entry Draft, with high hopes for this season. “A bunch of us have been here since Day 1. We’ve stuck together through thick and thin. We gave ourselves and our faith into the Phantoms front office to get this team together. With development and chemistry, this team would eventually turn the corner and make a move up the standings. This past offseason, Prague has been players and made some aggressive moves if you haven’t been paying Attention. We were able to acquire Brick Wahl, Roll Fizzlebeef, Matthew Materazo, and a couple of other good players. I think that these guys are going to be huge for us. They should be able to take us to the next level and I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people this yeAr. YeAr 3, we’re going to the Cup. Just like Malmo did. Or die trying.”

+4 TPE

Wolf Stansson Jr, heading into his third year as a defenseman for the Prague Phantoms, has aspirations and seems to have shown a desire for more out of his VHL career. ”Being out of the VHL circles for this long does make a person’s body itch. Desires for more, hunger, you know... especially with such a quiet offseason for this long. Just checked out the VHL website and I see that the VHLM and the VHL has finally crowned their champions of S69. Firstly I’d like to congratulate those players on earning their rings. Kudos. You work hard, you train like crazy so that you are able to make it to the professional ranks. But that’s not good enough. You’re in this league because you want to help your organization and yourself, to win a Cup. If that’s not your goal, then you aren’t going to be successful or stick around for long. It’s a team and an individual process to accomplish this... and I kinda feel ready to go out there and get it for myself now. I know it’s not gonna be easy but I’m kinda done with those long offseasons now.”

1. Did you attend any parties for New Year's Eve? I stayed at home and slept in early. Nothing special - my focus is 100% on hockey and nothing else. Those kind of trivial celebrations takes away from our training and we need to make this leap as a team in Year 3. 2. What is your new year's resolution? As I said in my previous question — make the leap as a team in Year 3. Try to continue my training regimen and remove my bad habits. 3. What are you doing to keep busy, considering the long offseason you have? I’ve been spending time with my family in Iceland. Doing some ice fishing, which is something I haven’t done in a long while so that was a nice flashback down memory lane. 4. Among all of this year's pending UFAs, who would you like to see join the team? I do not know who’s a free agent as I unfortunately don’t pay attention to the league beyond my Prague organization. But I hope somebody good decides to give our team a chance to share in their leadership and wisdom. 5. How do you feel about losing your captain and topscorer, Erik Draven? This was a huge bummer for me personally. We had been teammates since our days in the VHLM with the Yukon Rush. So I really appreciated us continuing to be teammates and I think that really helped with the transition process to the VHL. It is rather unfortunate that he had to leave but I wish him nothing but the best of luck going forward. 6. Who should be in the running to fill Draven's role as captain? i think that it should be any of the original Phantom players that are still on the roster. Active preferred. That person should also be a good leader/voice in the locker room... I’d say maybe Seabass.

Wolf Stansson, Jr. has yet another lengthy offseason ahead of him. Ever since he came into the VHL/M community, WSJ has not yet had a long stay in the postseason. His first year [back in S66 with Minnesota Storm] was ended prematurely as they lost to the eventual champions Philadelphia Reapers in five games. His first full year in the VHLM was in S67 with the Yukon Rush, who was also ousted early in the first round against the Halifax 21st. Through his first two years in the VHL with the Prague Phantoms, the team has not yet made it to the postseason, adding to his personal frustrations. "It's never been easy. I understand that you really have to play together and fight as a complete unit on a nightly basis in order to become better as a team. But we've had our opportunities.. twice in the VHLM and both times ended really early. Then no cigar in the VHL with the Prague Phantoms -- no disrespect to our team as they were an expansion team coming into the league at the same time as me. We did improve a little but, but I think that this is really more of a personal thing for me. I was used to having success within the Icelandic ranks and once I left the island, it looks like my postseason success remained on the island too. It also doesn't help that there isn't any international competition this year for me, I think that was what helped me progress through the long offseasons the last three years. Winning a silver and gold at the WJCs was the highlight of those offseasons, and the World Cup last year too. Nothing this year, so it feels like I've been disconnected from the VHL lately. But that only means more time for me to prepare, work on my hockey game and spend time with my family here in Iceland. I'll come back better next year and I can only hope that the rest of my teammates are doing the same. I also hope that the Phantoms front office has something cooked for this offseason, I think we need to add a big piece or two to really push us into the postseason with their talent, leadership and experience."

https://sba.today/forums/index.php?/topic/43990-s43-sbdl-mvp-award-race/ +6 SBA

All is said and done in the regular season of S69. The Prague Phantoms find themselves outside the postseason once again. There are some bright spots though. Prague was 11th out of 12 teams in their inaugural season with 55 points, finishing better than only D.C. This year, Prague still finished better than D.C., racking up 63 points... but it was only good enough to move up a spot to 10th out of 12 teams. The Phantoms surrendered less goals and posted a better goal differential, but their offense also regressed a little too. "You can't just wake up one day and expect to be instant contenders. It's a work in progress and you've got to continually strive to become better, both as an individual and as a team as well. Sure, my numbers really took a big hit this year... I had 11 fewer points this year [4 less goals and 7 less assists]. I blocked less shots, took more shots at a lower percentage. That could be enough to discourage anybody or the Prague fans of my progress as an individual. But the biggest number that I want to look at as the true value metric of my play on the ice rink is my +/- rating. Last year, I was a -35. This year, I finished with a -3 rating. That's a huge sign of progress. I hope that the fans are paying attention to this improvement. We're getting there and I could care less how well I play or if I put up pretty numbers. It's all about being a positive contributor to the team in my time on the ice. The lines I play on aren't always the same, nor the lines the other teams are throwing at us. We don't always play at even strength and our team posted a goal differential of -50 or something like that. But when I was playing, we were only a -3. That's all I can take with me heading into next year, knowing that I am sorta doing something right with my trainings so far this year. I'm not completely sure what I should focus on for next year, but I have some ideas though. You've got to trust the process and hope that your brothers are doing the same."

thanks brother. jesus I've missed too many of those xmas posts

it isn't too late, +1

Vancouver 4-2

08 Vancouver Wolves @ Moscow Menace 409 Prague Phantoms @ Malmo Nighthawks 410 Helsinki Titans @ HC Davos Dynamo 411 New York Americans @ Calgary Wranglers

+1 THX

WJC S68 Team Europe Unsung Hero Yeah, I'm just doing this for the free TPE. Nah, it's nice to get me going, do some research on the VHL. It was tough trying to find an unique topic/person to write about... I could go the easy route and do something on my current VHL team, Prague Phantoms... but I already covered that in my VHL.com PT for the week. With the recent European conquest of the S69 WJC, this brought back plenty of good memories for me. So I decided to check out our S68 roster to see who was our true hero that didn't quite get all the attention he deserved. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages... I present to you... Thorvald Gunnarsson, the starting goaltender for the golden group of Europeans. Drafted #34 overall in the S67 VHL Entry Draft, the Finnish goaltender played two years in the VHLM for the Halifax 21st, [S66 & S67] - the latter as a grooming season to fine-tune his game and get himself VHL-ready as much as possible. Gunnarsson played outstanding in S67, winning 43 out of his 72 starts with a save percentage of .900. Gunnarsson got his opportunity to play in the VHL one year after his draft year -- in S68 and S69 as backup goaltender of the New York Americans. A younger net minder in A Red Guy has apparently taken the job for good, which essentially makes Gunnarsson a career backup unless he can revive his career. Nonetheless, in S68 -- Gunnarsson posted a winning record with 10 victories in 18 games last year, although he hasn't had much luck this year with just three victories in 13 games. Even though his GAA has dropped slightly, so has his Saves % - which is no bueno. But we aren't here to talk about Gunnarsson's VHLM or VHL journey... we're here to talk about his magical run at the S68 WJC for Team Europe and why he was the REAL unsung hero of the team. Through the eight-game round robin format, Gunnarsson was literally on fire as he only allowed 14 goals, posted two shutouts and was undefeated in regulation play as Europe dropped two games in overtime play. The European offense wasn't the highest-scoring unit, but their defense was the most stingiest. With a strong foursome playing in front of Gunnarsson [Elmebeck, Persson, Stansson, DESTRUCTIOUS], they made things tough on opposing wingers, but Gunnarsson was the ultimate final line of defense and he did his job. In the medal round, Europe defeated USA and then Canada in a clean sweep of North America to earn their gold medals and Gunnarsson was simply amazing -- 3 goals allowed in 120 minutes, for a save percentage of .951. Yeah sure defenseman Pierre Persson had an awesome medal round with 5 points [2 goals/3 assists] and Frederik Elmebeck added 4 points, both posting a +/- of +4.... but Gunnarsson is the man who made this happen. The man who made Team Europe golden in S68. He still had to face 61 shots and he only allowed three to slip through. A round of cheers to Thorvald Gunnarsson! May you find success with your VHL career. @Saelven88

Europe reppin'

You're probably wondering "WTF are you talking about", "Are you on crack or something"? Well, I can assure you that the latter statement is not true at all. The first statement, I'll be glad to elaborate with you. Solomon Crawford is a man of humble beginnings -- spending a half-season in the VHLM languishing and looking for an opportunity to show up and prove his worth. Last year, he got his full-time starting gig with the Mexico City Kings when he was taken #1 overall in the VHLM Dispersal Draft of S68, and he was able to show his durability and the ability to bounce back from tough times. Despite not having much to work with, Crawford was able to help Mexico City to the number eight seed and a VHLM postseason berth. While Crawford's postseason experience in the VHLM was as short as one can be [swept in four games with a goal differential of -6] against the eventual champions Houston Bulls... it was Crawford's play between the posts that impressed the Prague Phantoms the most and they took Crawford #14 in the VHL S69 Entry Draft. A third of the season in, Prague made the controversial decision to put Crawford in as starting goaltender over the veteran Owen May, who was somewhat decent in his own right. Then came the Phantoms' slide down the standings and out of the postseason picture. Yeah, you're probably wondering why I picked him? Well... he took the promotion as humble as one can be, and didn't make it about himself at all. Not even one bit. He even elected to demote himself as needed if the team needed a winning streak to boost team morale. Through tough, trying times... Crawford was still able to post two shutouts, which accounts for half of his career wins to date. This man... hate him right now if you must, but you'll love him later on down the road. For you @AndrewWarren13

God bless

1. What is something about the December holidays that you love? I think I enjoy the Christmas lights most of all. It’s so nice to see the city brighten up with the holiday lights. Especially when the nights are long, it helps cheers people up. 2. What is an activity that you do during the holidays? I try to spend my time with the family. It can be hard when your family is a long flight away and not on the mainland Europe. Travel in the VHL can be tough sometimes, so they gonna come over. 3. How will you make someone else's holidays a little bit better? A smile goes a long way toward cheering people up, that much I can confirm to you. The holidays can be tough on some people because it reminds them of what they don’t have. 4. Is there a tradition that you and your family follow this time of year? We all try to build an igloo. We missed out on this last year, so we hope to get back to igloo-building this year now that I know what my travel schedule looks like in advance. 5. What is your preferred meal during the holidays? I eat just about anything. But the gingerbread cookies is a nice touch since we we basically don’t go there other times of the year. 6. What is your favorite holiday themed movie? You can’t go wrong with Home Alone. I’ve also enjoyed some old school cartoons such as Charlie Brown and maybe... that Midnight Express train movie or something.

Wow how nice of you

Second year defenseman Wolf Stansson Jr. Had gotten accustomed to playing at the WJC, having taken part in it the last two editions, as a representative of Team Europe. In S67, Europe had a strong team — however they came up short in the championship game, falling to Team World. S68 saw most of Europe return and they were back with a vengeance. Europe would steamroll through the round robin play as well as the postseason bracket to secure their first gold medal since S65 (second overall). “It sure feels weird seeing all the talk with the WJCs going on, and the excitement associated with this event. Coming up through the ranks, this was my event. Now that I’m in the VHL, accumulating more experience and practice hours - my Junior days are over. It’s time for the new generation of Europeans to lead and carry on the torch for us. Bittersweet in a way, but I’m excited to see what the next group of guys can do. Best of luck Europe, represent us well, and we’ll be rooting you guys on.”

https://sba.today/forums/index.php?/topic/43547-s42-advanced-stats-leaders/ +6 SBA