animal74

You guys have been on a crazy ride! Good luck in Game 7!

Teno is insane! Holy frick @aimkin!

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. Here we are! Back in the Conference Final for the third straight season! How many games will the series go? 2. What has been your favorite memory of this playoff run so far? 3. Who has been our playoff MVP so far? 4. If we make it to the Final, who would you prefer to play - London United or Helsinki Titans? 5. Do you have any routines or superstitions that you're following during the playoffs? 6. Which is your breakfast cereal of choice?

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. We will be playing the New York Americans in a play-in series. We were 2-4 against them. What do we have to do to beat them? 2. Our captain Mac Atlas @v.2 scored his 200th goal in Legion blue for 10th all-time. In three more seasons, how many more can he score? 3. Who will score our first goal of the playoffs? 4. With Evan Bihler playing so well, do you think he should start in net for the playoffs? 5. Finish this Valentine's Day card: Roses are red, the Legion are blue... 6. Which teams do you think will make the next big trade in the NHL?

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. We're six points back of D.C. for third in the conference. Can we catch them with 11 games left in the season? 2. Our sophomore forwards (Callahan and Machado) have matched their goal totals from last season and set new highs in points. What has impressed you most about each one's progress this season? 3. Bobby Bob needs 11 assists in the last 11 games to become only the third Legion player to reach 60 assists in the last 10 season. Will he reach it? 4. Will one of our goalies get another shutout this season? 5. Do you have an embarrassing Valentine's Day story? 6. Who is your pick to win the Super Bowl - Chiefs or 49ers?

You're turning into a goon!

After being shut out four times so far this season, the Legion goaltending duo of Joel Castle @animal74 and Evan Bihler @Eb14 are taking matters into their own gloves and have shut out opposing teams a combined four times in the last seven games. The most recent and most impressive goose egg was posted by Bihler, who stopped 36 Seattle shots in a 1-0 victory, his third of the season. The shutout was his first this season and only second of his career. Joel Castle posted three shutouts in five games blanking Warsaw, Davos and London to help him tie his single season career-high of four which he has now reached four times in his career and which vaults him into a four-way tie for second in the league. With 20 games left in Toronto’s season, there is still plenty of time for both goalies to set new career-highs for shutouts in a season.

So I was thinking to myself: What would be a cool yet crazy idea to bring forward to the VHL’s All-Star Committee (which doesn’t exist)? An idea that give players a chance to showcase their skill and yet be a bit bizarre? So I thought about where I loved skating most and I thought of my childhood when our fields would flood and freeze and we’d have a beautiful, mirror-like 10-acre field of ice to skate on as fast as we wanted. Check. We could do the All-Star game on a huge frozen field! Bring in seating for thousands, food trucks, music, all sorts of fun activities! But then I thought, that’s a lot of ice to cover, we’d have to have more players. Why not have all the players play at the same time? What about all the goalies? Have a quadrant for each team – in fact, make it a free for all! Players could wheel around and score on any of the other three goalies! Maybe even have two, three, or even four pucks! Holy frozen chaos, Bekman! Then there’s the question of the Skills Competition. Incorporate it in the actual game! There would be so much ice, you could award extra points for speed, super dekes, amazing saves, hardest shots and put obstacles all over the ice to pass through, skate around, targets to shoot at and maybe even ice ramps to jump off! That would be crazy! Another wild idea: In a predetermined number of games leading up to the All-Star game, any player that gets a major penalty will also have to sit in dunk tanks placed all over the outdoor ice rink and All-Stars will get points for shooting pucks at the target during the chaotic gameplay and sinking the perpetrators in the “swim bins”. Now the teams, how could they be divided up? Four teams for four quadrants? Sure. Eye color? Left or right stick? Season born in? By native global region? Beauty contest? There are so many ways this could be accomplished but maybe just let the fans decide. Since we’re on a huge sheet of ice anyway, another activity I would love to see among the All-Stars is a go-cart race on an ice track around the “stadium”. Throw some hay bales or something around it for protection and let them have a four lap race around the track. Other games for cash prizes could be longest slapshot, most accurate curling throw, and make the All-Stars don speed skates and do a speed skating lap. The possibilities are endless! And of course you’d need an Alumni/Hall of Fame Game. But you would probably need ambulances stationed strategically around the rink as the older players might have trouble skating that far. It would take a lot of technology to make this happen but I think the VHL could pull it off. There would have to be sensors in a lot of the equipment and the cameras would have to be top notch. The weather would need to cooperate as well. I think it would be a monumental spectacle which is more than you can say for all the other All-Star Games.

S92 Toronto Legion Assistant Captains Harry Callahan @dstevensonjr Callahan burst onto the season as a rookie last season, placing 5th in VHL rookie scoring with 55 points, also leading Toronto in PPG and Plus/Minus. A prominent voice in the locker room, he's been selected to increase his leadership role on the team. Joel Castle @animal74 Entering his sixth season, all with the Legion, Castle rise as one of the top goalies in the league culminated in backstopping Toronto to the S91 Continental Cup along with earning the Daisuke Kanou Trophy as playoff MVP and an All-VHL Second Team nomination. Captain Mac Atlas @v.2 Voted as captain for the fourth consecutive season, Atlas had a career season in S91 leading the Legion in goals (for the third time in four seasons) and points as well as setting a franchise record for most points in a playoff season. These three will lead Toronto in their defense of the Continental Cup for S92!

Can All-VHL be incorporated/included? Since there are no All-Stars per se, this is kind of thin...

What a descent into averageness has befallen last season’s playoff MVP goalie Joel Castle of the Toronto Legion. One of the top goalies the last two seasons, Castle has not been playing up to his usual standards until recently and the stats show. He hasn’t placed in any of the Top-10 statistical lists for most of the season – at one point sporting a dismal 2.95 GAA with the Legion bouncing in and out of a play-in spot. “I knew something had to change,” said Castle during yesterday’s post-game scrum after one of his better performances of the season, a 4-3 SOL to rival Los Angeles where he stopped 42 shots. “I talked to our goalie coach, we looked at some film from last season and made some tweaks to a couple of bad habits I’ve been getting into. Nothing major, just some stylistic changes and how I push off from the post. I’ve also changed some of my workout routine to maintain my flexibility after such a long season last year. And, I’m not getting any younger.” The results, at least in net, have been positive as Castle is back to his stellar form. Over the last seven games he's posted a 1.84 GAA on 13 goals against, a 0.936 SV% and earned his first shutout of the season. Unfortunately, his better play hasn’t necessarily translated to a big boost in the standings as the Legion have only scored 16 goals in that span going 3-3-1. Even with an improved power play, they’re still ranked last in the VHL with the man advantage. They’ll have to do better then that to secure a spot in the playoffs to defend their championship.

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. At the halfway point of the season we are tied with Chicago for the last play-in spot. What are your thoughts on our season so far? 2. We rank last in the league in power play percentage with 14.77%. What can we change on the PP? 3. With the trade deadline approaching what should management's strategy be? 4. Which team (besides us) has surprised you the most (good or bad) this season? 5. What new helmet do you think would look best with our uniforms - a matte blue or chrome blue? 6. Rank the four new NHL Stadium Series jerseys with 1 being the best and 4 being the worst.

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. What do you think of the move to bring in Lattimer and Caufield Jr? 2. What grade do you give your performance this season so far? 3. We currently sit at 11-11-2 with an uncharacteristic -9 goal differential. What not working for us? 4. Do you think we're suffering from Cup hangover? 5. What song/album do you have on repeat right now? 6. What is your best story about 40 degrees C (104 F) or -40 C (-40 F)?

Glad to have you aboard @pugsood! Hopefully we can win again like we did with the JST Pickles!

Speaking of tampering, @rory your goalie name is going to be tampering with the goalie stats page layout for the next eight seasons.

@leandrofg All done!

Also, can there be a Career Task checklist so when we claim one on the portal, it ghosts it on the dropdown or there's a list that gets marked? I can't remember how many I've done most of the time and it's a lot of scrolling through the update log to find them.

Yup I love this and have been thinking about this but forgot to add it. Being able to add links to articles related to your player would be great - like an index. This would also potentially increase forum traffic. Also, the ability to add jersey numbers.

That's wicked! Toronto renames the team to Legion of Angels...

There are two special members of the Toronto Legion who announced their retirement shortly after the team’s Continental Cup win: Dens Oden @Snussu and Tomas Sogaard @Brandon. Sogaard had a remarkable career, retiring as one of only 35 players in VHL history with at least 650 points and at least 1500 hits. He was a part of some strong Moscow teams that won the Victory Cup in S84 and S89. He had his best season in S88 leading the league with a career-high 51 goals which earned him the Brooks (Goals Leader) and Funk (Most Improved) Trophies. He scored 30 or more goals in seven straight seasons (every one except his rookie season) finishing with 288. He also made the playoffs each of his eight VHL seasons scoring 78 points in 79 playoff games including 9 game-winners. His best playoff showing was Toronto’s S91 Cup run where he posted 22 points and a team-leading 12 goals. He led the team with 61 hits and tied for the team lead with 4 game-winners including the team’s only two overtime goals. He will forever be remember for his post-season heroics. His Toronto totals are 66 goals and 134 points in 144 games. In the playoffs he posted 19 goals and 32 points in 29 playoffs games. Oden was a late bloomer and despite being drafted in S83, he bounced around a few organizations before finally finding a home in Toronto and played his first VHL game in S87. He has bled blue ever since. The slick forward may not have been the most talented but he was as consistent and unselfish as they come. He even switched to defense in his final season – a move that undoubtedly helped put Toronto on the path to their Cup win. He scored a career-high 28 goals in S90 and then a career-high 59 points as a defenseman last season. As proof of his leadership and versatility, he had won the team’s Unsung Hero, Most Energetic and Most Gentlemanly awards. Always a positive voice in the locker room, his steady and reliable presence will be missed. He finishes his Legion career with 107 goals and 246 points in 360 games and 22 points in 29 playoff games. Thank you to Dens and Tomas for your contributions to Legion hockey. Enjoy retirement!

“And the winner of the S91 Daisuke Kanou Trophy, for leading the Toronto Legion to their first Continental Cup in 26 seasons, Joel Castle!” Shaking my head in bewilderment, I slowly get to my feet and make my way to the stage. I get high-fives and a few hugs from my Legion teammates as I cross the floor. I’m in shock, my brain racing through the last five seasons. From my first start for the Legion in S87 to our first playoff game in S90 and the thrilling series win against Vancouver to the crushing defeat at the hands of Los Angeles. Knowing of all the adversity we faced this season, the struggle to get back into the playoffs but just having that confidence in one another and using the lessons learned the last few seasons to march through each series and finally finish our comeback in Game 6 of the Final. The memory of hoisting the Cup and skating around the rink followed by my Legion brothers is bright in my mind as I accept the beautiful Kanou Trophy from the presenter. Emotion welling up inside, I simply say: “Thank you. Thank you. This is a dream come true, an honor and a day I didn’t know if it would ever come but I kept working toward it anyway. Thank you to our GM Moon for assembling us together and believing in us even when the critics didn’t. Thank you to our captain, Mac Atlas, who could be up here instead of me after his incredible run and breaking the Legion single playoffs points record. Thank you to all the rest of my teammates, Jimi – you were awesome and if Mac hadn’t broken the record, you would have. Dens and Tomas, you both fought until the bitter end and now you retire as champions! Bobby and Jimmy were solid all playoffs in the back end and Burnsy came up big when needed. Our Toronto Trio of rookies, Diego, Harry, and Walter – you guys played like vets – don’t ever forget these moments. And finally, but not least, my brother in pads, Evan you helped keep me focused and loose throughout the whole playoffs. You always kept cheering us on, pushing us to be better. And not to forget, a huge thank you to our fans in Toronto and around the world who have stayed with us for the long haul and now we’ve been able to bring a Cup to TO. You guys are the best fans in the VHL and we love you all! To all the goalies I faced this season – you guys made me push myself to be the best I could be. I look forward to facing you next season.” I turn shake a few hands then grab the trophy and lift it to a round of applause. As I make my way backstage, the announcer says, “This is Joel Castle’s first Kanou trophy and the first individual trophy of his career.” The rest of the night is honestly a blur. There are pictures, more hugs and handshakes, poses and parties. But I can’t stop thinking about the trophy shining in the lights and what it means. Now, I have to be ready even more for next season. We are the defending champs and everyone in the VHL will be gunning for us. And it’s a great feeling. I’m ready for it.

1. @Velevra F - John Jameson F - Jason F - Jimi Jaks D - Mark Calaway D - Liv Slater G - Matt Murdock 2. @N0HBDY F - Yaroslav Trunov F - Alfred Champagne F - Randy Bobandy D - Elias Lampi D - Velociraptor Greg G - Merome Dilson 3. @Steve F - Henry Eagles F - Molly the Cat F - Axle Gunner D - Skor McFleury D - Michael Shotter G - Lachlan Summers 4. @animal74 (GM) F - Larry Abass Jr F - Wann Kerr F - Yaroslav Bogatyrev D - Jacob Stone D - Bobby Bob G - Joel Castle 5. @tcookie F - Daryl Dixon F - Mac Atlas F - Todd Cooke D - Kronchy Kardashian D - Moritz Stauffer G - Fuukka Rask 6. @Renomitsu F - AK92 Wit da Hoodie F - Jasper Davis F - Francesco Mancini D - Pierre Emile Bouchard D - Jens Lekman G - Jesse Teno

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. What was your fondest memory of the Cup parade through Toronto? 2. What area are you going to be focusing on improving this off-season? 3. Do you feel there were any snubs at the VHL awards? 4. What do you think our biggest strength and weakness will be this season? 5. With all the discussion about league improvements, what one thing would you change about the league? 6. What is the best use for snow?