animal74

1. @Webberj F - Daniel Janser F - Tomas Sogaard F - Landon Wolanin D - Jake Thunder D - Callum Murray G - Cole Pearce 2. @Ben mclaughlin F - Brendan Marner F - Zaza Colors F - Cobalt Burns D - Brian Payne D - Max Torq G - Ben Dahl 3. @KRZY F - Nico Pearce F - Nils Godlander F - Sergey Preobrazhensky D - Tavish DeGroot D - Hari Singh Nalwa G - Xavier Booberry 4. @Jubis F - Saku Kotkakoivu F - Vinny Detroit F - Ronan Lavelle D - Erlantz Jokinen D - Sven Eightnine G - Brandt Fuhr 5. @Johnny_HX F - Zach Kisslinger II F - Ryan Vidot F - Baby Bob D - Bo Johansson D - AirRig GoodBrandSun G - Wumbo 6. @animal74 (GM) F - Vasile Lamb F - Igor Molotov F - Girts Galvins D - Scoish Velociraptor Maloish D - Biggie Cheese G - Dusty Wilson

S85 Las Vegas Aces Team Awards Welcome to the S85 Las Vegas Aces Award Ceremony presented by IKEA. First of all, congratulations to the Aces who won their third consecutive Prime Minister's Cup as the VHLM’s top team in the regular season and made their third straight Founder’s Cup final only to be upended by the Philadelphia Reapers in six games. With Anthony Pratt @Shindigs stepping down as Las Vegas GM, I offered to host the team awards tonight. We have a few changes from the last few seasons. @Shindigs and the stats will contribute to most of the chosen winners but players and managers were asked to vote on two awards: the regular season MVP and the new Ace Up the Sleeve (Unsung Hero) Award. There is another award being presented for the first time - the 3-Stars Award. These three will be handed out last. Here is the complete list of awards being handed out tonight: Playoff MVP Points Leader Goals Leader Assists Leader Top Offensive Defenseman Top Defensive Defenseman Top Goalie Lowest GAA Goalie Top Rookie Top Waiver Player Top Two-Way Forward Top Power Forward Top TPE Earner Most High Roller Awards Top Leader (Juan Ceson Award) Unsung Hero (Ace Up the Sleeve Award) MVP 3-Stars Award Let’s get the fanfare started! To begin the night, we’ll hand out the Aces’ MVP of the S85 playoffs. Playoff MVP Our nominees are: Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ Robert Overmeyer @RobBro34 Jens Lekman @Bobcat The winner of the Aces Playoff MVP Award is… Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt! This was a very tough decision as so many players found another level in the playoffs. Each of the nominees scored over a point-per-game and were instrumental in willing the Aces to the Final for a third consecutive season. But just as he did in the regular season, Barksdale led the team in points with 25 including a league-high 18 assists. He was also Top-5 in shots, face-off percentage and minutes played. Points Leader Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt 110 Pure and simple, Barksdale was the straw that stirred the Ace’s drink and his 110 points (4th in the league) was nine more than his next teammate. Goals Leader Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt 49 One of three Aces to score 40 or more goals (Larry Abass Jr and Wann Kerr were the others), Barksdale led the team with 49 which tied him for second in the M. That was also the third-highest single season mark by an Ace in eight seasons. Assists Leader Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt 61 Barksdale beat Robert Overmeyer by one for this award. Top Offensive Defenseman Nominees: Jens Lekman @Bobcat Sigma Freud @CODENAMEJIMMY The winner of the Top Offensive Defenseman Award is… Jens Lekman @Bobcat! With 24 more points than the next Las Vegas blueliner, Jens Lekman had a fantastic season. His 69 points were second among defensemen in the league and he led the Aces in power play assists and was second in power play points. Top Defensive Defenseman Nominees: Jens Lekman @Bobcat Sigma Freud @CODENAMEJIMMY Juan Ceson @dylanjj37 The winner of the Top Defensive Defenseman Award is… Juan Ceson @dylanjj37 A runner-up last year for this award, captain Juan Ceson led the team in blocked shots (98), hits (254), and penalty minutes (108), the latter two numbers were both third in the league. He was dependable all season in his own zone and made the corners a nightmare to go into. Top Goalie Nominees: Joel Castle @animal74 Viktor Hasek @StackThePads The winner of the Top Goalie Award is… Joel Castle @animal74 Returning after seeing how to win a Cup from the bench, Joel Castle took the crease reins from Cory Evans with something to prove. Even though he was outplayed in the Final, he was consistently solid in between the pipes during the regular season, leading all goalies with 41 wins and posting a 2.34 GAA and 6 shutouts. Lowest GAA Goalie Viktor Hasek @StackThePads After joining the team to give starter Joel Castle some relief, Viktor Hasek did more than just provide reliable backup minutes - he dominated when on the ice to the tune of a 1.68 GAA and 5 shutouts posting wins in every one of his 13 starts. Top Rookie Nominees: Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ Jens Lekman @Bobcat With so many of the Aces first year players contributing to the team’s success, one player who has already been mentioned a few times stood slightly ahead of the rest. The Aces’ Rookie of the Year is… Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt! Top Waiver Player Edward Traverse @Python_Starbuzz Traverse came in halfway through the season and made an immediate impact. He notched 23 points in only 38 games as a defenseman and had the highest shooting percentage on the team and tied Lekman for best points per 20 minutes (0.65) among Vegas dmen. Top Two-Way Forward Nominees: Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt Larry Abass Jr @RileyL Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ Robert Overmeyer @RobBro34 The winner of the Top Two-Way Forward Award is… Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt Barksdale tied for the league-lead with three shorthanded goals and led the team in time on ice on the penalty kill and a +49 (fourth in the league). While Larry Abass Jr won the equivalent of this award for the league, the Aces have different criteria and instead awarded him… Top Power Forward Larry Abass Jr @RileyL LAJ was second on the Aces in goals (43), points (101), plus/minus (+45) - all Top-6 in the league - hits (228), and penalty minutes (74) with the latter two numbers leading Vegas forwards. He wins the award for the second straight season. Top TPE Earner Wann Kerr (129) @VattghernCZ Jens Lekman (114) @Bobcat Joel Castle (99) @animal74 Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ burst onto the scene, worked insanely hard and never stopped. His work ethic helped him become a deadly sniper scoring 41 goals and co-leading the Aces with 9 power play goals. Most High Roller Awards The High Roller Award is awarded every week between the week ending after the VHLM draft and the last week of the playoffs. To the non-TDL recreate player on the team that earned the most total TPE that week Wann Kerr (4) @VattghernCZ No surprise that the winner of the previous award also won the most weekly High Roller Awards. Top Leader (Juan Ceson Award) Nominees: Joel Castle @animal74 Juan Ceson @dylanjj37 Larry Abass Jr @RileyL Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ The above names comprised the leadership group for S85 with one player (guess who) chosen as the capable, if not controversial, captain. Juan Ceson @dylanjj37(in maybe his final VHLM season?) wins the award named after him again. Unsung Hero (Ace Up the Sleeve) Award Nominees: Edward Traverse @Python_Starbuzz Grigoris Polyhronidis Jr @GP18 Jens Lekman @Bobcat Joel Castle @animal74 Kobe Johnson @Vkobe-v Viktor Hasek @StackThePads The winner of the inaugural Ace Up the Sleeve Award is… Jens Lekman @Bobcat! As a testament to the Aces’ depth and contributions from all across the roster, each of the nominees received at least one vote from their peers. As stated above, Lekman led the attack from the blueline and was the team’s workhorse all season long averaging 29:40 of ice time a night - over 1.5 minutes more a night then his closest teammate. He was second on the team in shot blocks and third with a +43 and 181 hits. Aces MVP Our nominees are: Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt Joel Castle @animal74 Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ The winner of the Aces MVP Award is… Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt! As voted by players and management. No surprise here as Antoine Barksdale was the Aces’ offensive catalyst all season long. He led the team in goals, assists, points, plus/minus, short-handed and game-winning goals. 3-Stars Award (1st Star = 30 points, 2nd = 20, 3rd = 10) Nominees: Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt Larry Abass Jr @RileyL Robert Overmeyer @RobBro34 Wann Kerr @VattghernCZ Joel Castle @animal74 The winner of the Aces 3-Stars Award is… Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt! Antoine Barksdale tied for the league lead for 1st Star selections and also led the team in 3rd Star selections, total selections (27) and points (580). Below are the full 3-Star Standings for the S85 Las Vegas Aces: Player 1st 2nd 3rd Star Points Total Stars Antoine Barksdale 12 7 8 580 27 Larry Abass Jr 7 9 7 460 23 Robert Overmeyer 4 11 3 370 18 Wann Kerr 4 7 6 320 17 Joel Castle 6 4 5 310 15 Jens Lekman 4 2 3 190 9 Hayden Bromley 2 2 3 130 7 Kobe Johnson 2 2 3 130 7 Juan Ceson 1 3 2 110 6 Grigoris Polyhronidis Jr 0 1 5 70 6 Josh Leblanc 2 0 1 70 3 Sigma Freud 0 1 4 60 5 Edward Traverse 1 0 0 30 1 Kronchy Kardashian 1 0 0 30 1 Grunkle Stan-dingyouup 0 1 0 20 1 Viktor Hasek 0 1 0 20 1 Laytin Cupp 0 0 0 0 0 Congrats to all the winners!! Wishing all the graduating players continued success in their careers and good luck to the returning players as they continue the Aces’ winning legacy. Thank you to @Shindigs and @TopTiddee2 for being amazing managers! Good luck to @Blazzerand @StephenCurry5806N as they look to put their mark on this proud franchise. Thanks for reading and good night!

Congrats to Aces, @Shindigs & @RileyL on the wins. Smh that the top team in the league had no MVP nominees. WTF?

Wow! I am truly honored. I wouldn't have had as much success as I did without all my teammates and managers. Thank you!

Confoundingly interesting

It will be interesting to see how this all goes down!

The VHL is going to have the softest hair after all these conditioner trades.

@Spartan @Dil Fantastic work! This is an amazing idea and updates the league to look much more legit. Question: What constitutes as a "Full Team" or is that strictly manually decided by the Commissioner to ensure roster balance/parity?

I believe this was addressed in the post: This system will also be deactivated from the start of the playoffs until the conclusion of the VHLM Draft. Any creates during playoffs or the offseason will need to be signed via written pitch in their new create thread, as was the common practice.

Oh, I'm sure they'll stick around. There's still the Waiver Pitch! #HashtagsWon'tDie @BOOM

Wow! Both series are pretty intense.

Dehli Pickles Press Conference Answer 3 questions for 1 TPE, 6 questions for 2 TPE (Week ending Nov 6) 1. We secured the top seed in the playoffs! We'll get a bye and play the winner of the Royals and the Steel. Who would you rather play against? 2. Who will score the Pickles' first goal in the playoffs? 3. With the drafts coming up, which league do you think you'll play in next season and what skill are you going to try to improve the most in the off-season? 4. What did you dress up as for Halloween? If you didn't, what was the best costume you saw yesterday? 5. There was a little bit of first snow last night in my area. Have you had snow yet? If so how much? 6. Christmas lights - Do you put them up? When is the appropriate time to start turning them on?

And so the 36-game round robin portion of the Junior Showcase Tournament has concluded and the Dehli Pickles managed to hold on to the top seed with a record of 21-9-6 for 48 points, two more points than Team Clue. Aiding the Pickles to the top was the tournament’s best offense as they scored 122 goals or 3.39 goals a game slightly better than the Brigade’s 119 goals (3.31 goals/game). The Pickles also have the best goal differential (+24) and best home record (14-2-2) while leading the JST in 1st period goals (51), 2nd period goals (32), shots against (782), power play goals (46) and percentage (23.1%) and tied for shorthanded goals scored (3). Having the tournament’s best offense led to some of the Pickles’ players topping a few statistical categories: Winger Left Alone @okochastar led the JST round robin in goals (20), points (47), points/20 (1.12) and hat tricks (3). Antoine Barksdale @CrookedAnt was tops for centers with 44 points. Mac Atlas @v.2 tied for the lead with 8 power play goals while manning the point on the Pickles top unit and was the only player to score 2 shootout goals. Joel Castle @animal74 led all goalies with 10 or more starts with a 2.24 GAA and 19 penalty shots faced. Left Alone also led the team in plus/minus (+13) and power play points (19). Other team leaders were as follows: Antoine Barksdale: game-winning goals (5), faceoffs taken (1163), fights (4) Randy Bobandy @AJW assists (29), power play assists (15) shots (134) Elias Lampi @Pifferfish: defenseman scoring (37), penalty minutes (54), blocked shots (60), minutes played (1039) Frank Forsberg @QcjetsQc: hits (91) Lampi, Forsberg and Sigmund Freud @CODENAMEJIMMY all contributed 10 goals from the blueline. The Pickles also received valuable contributions from Tim Stuzle @NineIQ v2, Zlatan Ibrahimovic @Markusbg, Thor Odinson @GoalPlays, Jacob Bryla @Jakebryla10, Full Player Name @Matt_O, Steve Latimer @pugsood, Shadow Thompson @Kelsey and mid-tournament additions James Chilzer @eraserfrog, Logan Foley @WildfireMicro, and Big B @Bigb33. GM @animal74 and AGM @jacobcarson877 are proud of what the Pickles have accomplished so far and now look to continue their success in the JST playoffs.

Reapers, you played us hard all season. Congrats on the Cup.

That's better. #ThreeOfAKind

Junior Review Name: Joel Castle Position: Goaltender Height: 5’ 10” Weight: 185 lbs Birthdate: 05/17/2003 Hometown: Victoria, BC Nationality: Canada Joel Castle was born in beautiful Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island on May 17, 2003 to Ian and Ruth Castle. While not having any professional sports background, the Castles nonetheless enjoyed being active and playing recreational sports and that active lifestyle definitely rubbed off on Joel and his older sister Autumn. Both Castle children played a variety of sports growing up and even in the moderate climate of Vancouver Island, young Joel fell in love with skating and ice hockey at a young age. Specifically, Joel loved strapping on the pads and daring anyone to score on him. Despite a laid back personality, he always displayed a fierce competitiveness and a will to win. As part of a search to improve his speed and reflexes, Joel also delved into activities such as boxing and drumming. From ages 7-15, Joel played his minor hockey in the Juan de Fuca Minor Hockey League in Victoria and worked his way up as one of the more well-known goaltending prospects in the province. He wasn’t able to break into the top tier though partially due to his height (which finally topped at 5’ 10”) and his lack of individual and team success. His most successful season was his U11 year where his team won one of the year-end tournaments and he was named tournament MVP. Castle’s hard work did not go unnoticed by scouts. In the 2018 WHL Bantam Draft, he was selected by the Prince Albert Raiders in the 12th round although he decided to stay closer to home and never played for the Saskatchewan team. Instead, the young goalie continued his development with the Victoria Cougars of the Vancouver Island Junior Hockey League. He only played a handful of games in each of the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons with the Cougars but they did win the league championship (Brent Patterson Memorial Trophy) in 2018-19 and were the runners-up in the British Columbia Provincial Junior B Hockey Championship (Cyclone Taylor Cup). Although Castle didn’t see any action in these tournaments, he learned a lot about what it took to win a championship. In 2020-21 during the height of the pandemic, he tried out with the Victoria Grizzlies of the BCHL but it soon became apparent that there would be no playing time as the Grizzlies had their goaltending set so Castle looked elsewhere. He ended up with the Cowichan Valley Capitals just up the highway in Duncan. The BCHL’s season was shortened due to the pandemic so each team only played 20 games starting in April 2021. Unfortunately, the Capitals struggled as did Castle. He only played in 6 games and managed a 1-4 record, a 5.31 GAA, and a 0.874 SV%. Despite his poor numbers, the Capitals brought him back for the 2021-22 season. After a great training camp and preseason, Castle got COVID which took him a while to recover from. He lost his spot in the regular goaltending rotation and only played in 12 games. He was able to post better numbers from the season before with a 3-7 record, a 4.36 GAA and 0.884 SV% but after the playoffs, he was encouraged to seek other opportunities. Joel Castle playing for the Cowichan Valley Captials (BCHL) As it became increasingly apparent that he may have to move from his comfortable Vancouver Island bubble in order to further his hockey career, the young netminder cast his (inter)net wider than before – worldwide, in fact. He contacted various leagues and agencies but nothing seemed a good fit. Then, an email came from the Animal Sports Agency, a small company he had never heard of yet one that seemed to have a good reputation, global reach and close ties to the Victory Hockey League. The Agency said they had been scouting him for a long time and while their player base was largely European, they were looking to expand to North America. There was a backup role available in the VHL’s minor affiliate team in Las Vegas, the defending champions, and would he be interested? After some quick research into the league, the team and the management, Castle jumped at the chance to stay in western North America and play for a top team with a chance at a title. GM @Shindigs was very supportive and accommodating and Castle would go on to win all five of his regular season games with the Aces and split a couple of playoff games as Las Vegas would go on to repeat as Continental Cup champions. The Aces liked what they saw on and off the ice from Castle and subsequently drafted him 13th overall in the S85 VHLM Draft to be their number one goaltender for the upcoming season. Joel Castle was drafted 13th OV in the S85 VHLM Draft by Las Vegas

Excellent! I will get you some info shortly.

#HammarHatesHashtags

Hello @WildfireMicro! Welcome back. I am the GM of the Pickles, a team in the Junior Showcase, a rookie/prospect tournament taking place right now. Looking for a place to get back into the groove and have some fun right away? This tournament is a great opportunity to get settled and show us what you can do while you wait for the VHLM draft! I can offer 3rd/4th line minutes with possibly some special teams minutes as well. If you're interested in joining our team, reply to this message with #SlicedToWin We'd love to have you!

Yup, going to be another seesaw series. Let's go Aces! #ThreeOfAKind

I had dadjokitis before I became a dad. Must have caught it from my dad...

Awesome stuff! The GM insight was very interesting. Here's some more VHLM playoff goodness:

Aces Deal Themselves into the Founder’s Cup Final After securing a chance to defend their Founder’s Cup title for the second year in a row by becoming the second team in VHLM history to win the Prime Minister’s Cup with the top regular season record three consecutive seasons, the S85 Las Vegas Aces prepared themselves for a battle against the San Diego Marlins. San Diego Marlins The West rivals last played each other in the postseason in the S83 Founder’s Cup Final when the Aces won the series in six games capturing their first Cup since S64. The Aces hoped history would repeat. Las Vegas won the first two at home handily by scores of 4-2 and 5-0. The Marlins reciprocated by winning their two home games 3-2 (curtesy of a Vincent Laroche-Gagnier @vincentlg2007 OT winner and Lachlan Summers’ @kirbithan 44-save performance) and 3-1. The Aces were not to be denied however and they took the next two games 5-2 on Wann Kerr’s @VattghernCZ four goals and 2-0 with Aces’ goalie Joel Castle @animal74 setting a franchise record with his 2nd career playoff shutout. Mexico City Kings In a repeat of the Western Semi-Finals last season, Las Vegas would play their rivals across the border, the Mexico City Kings after they swept the Saskatoon Wild. In a weird scheduling quirk, the Kings and Aces played their entire nine-game series in each team’s first 19 games of the season with Las Vegas winning the series 7-2 and outscoring the Kings 29-22 with 3 one-goal games (including one shootout). This series proved to be even closer. The two teams split the games in Vegas with the Aces taking the first one 4-3 thanks to Jens Lekman’s @Bobcat power play marker at 14:48 of the third just over a minute after the Kings tied it up. Jeremy Swayman @Agito backstopped the Kings to a Game 2 victory stopping 36 shots in a 5-3 win where the Kings overcame Las Vegas’ three power play goals and got two goals apiece from Alexander Stroheim @Stroheim and The Mediocre One @RElblein. The Mediocre One would score two goals again in a Game 3 5-3 win and along with three assists from Quinn Saint-Willes @Squids McKenzie, the Kings were up 2-1 in the series. The Aces would not quit though and in a bounce-back performance after getting pulled in the last two games, Joel Castle made 34 saves and Laytin Cupp @laytin scored early in the third period to craft a 3-2 win to tie the series at 2 games each. Mexico City then torched the Vegas goalies in a 6-2 Game 5 victory with Nikolas Kauppi @Tetricide scoring twice. On the ropes, Aces’ fans had to wonder which Joel Castle would show up – the goalie that posted two shutouts in Round 1 or the goalie that had been pulled in all three losses in Round 2? Fortunately for Las Vegas, neither team’s goalie was sharp in Game 6, but Castle was a bit better as the Aces got three points each from Larry Abass Jr @RileyL, Robert Overmeyer @RobBro34, and Wann Kerr in a 6-3 win to take the series to Game 7. Despite scoring first two minutes into the game, the Kings would be on their heels the rest of the way as the Aces scored the next three goals, outshooting the Kings 19-9 and ending the first period with a 4-2 lead on the strength of Kobe Johnson’s @Vkobe-v hat trick. Vegas added another score in the second period and Castle shut the door to give Las Vegas a 5-2 win and their third straight trip to the Founder’s Cup. Philadelphia Reapers This will be another great series. Las Vegas Aces are the grizzled veterans and defending champions entering their fourth Final in five seasons. The fourth-place Philadelphia Reapers pulled off their own Game 7 miracle in Round 1 mounting an astounding comeback upsetting the East’s top team, the Ottawa Lynx, after being down 3-0 in the series. Then S85’s Cinderella team beat the Miami Marauders in five games to make the franchise’s first Final since S75 when they won the Cup in six games against Mexico City. The Aces won the regular season series 8-3 but that included an overtime win and two shootout wins. All but one game was decided by 2 goals or less with Las Vegas outscoring the Reapers 39-31. During the post season the team’s stats have been fairly even except on special teams where Vegas has a distinct advantage. Philadelphia will have to stay out of the box in order to avoid the Aces’ lethal power play. In net, Evan Bihler @Eb14 has a slightly better save percentage (0.909 to 0.907) but Joel Castle’s GAA is lower (2.63 to 2.96). Castle has posted two shutouts, Bihler has one. Will Philadelphia’s magical run continue or will Las Vegas make VHLM history with a three-peat? Stay tuned. Welcome to the S85 Founder’s Cup Final!

I don't think it ever goes away...

Dehli Pickles Press Conference Answer 3 questions for 1 TPE, 6 questions for 2 TPE (Week ending Oct 30) 1. How would you grade your performance in the JST so far? 2. What have you enjoyed most about playing in the JST so far? What have you not liked? 3. Which Cup Final (VHL, VHLE, VHLM) do you think will be the toughest/go the longest? 4. How would you rate @animal74 & @jacobcarson877 as team managers? 5. What is your favorite autumn activity? 6. How is your favorite NHL team starting the season off?