animal74

Cup Buddies An interesting thing has happened in my time in the VHL. I have been fortunate to win three Continental Cups now with my four players: One each with Gunnar-Rune Rorvik (Seattle, S12), Druss Deathwalker (Malmo, S79), Joel Castle (Toronto, S91). Incredibly, I’ve had one teammate with me on each of those championship teams despite 67 and 79 seasons between the first Cup in S12. That teammate is @v.2 . We were v2 and animal back in S12, then we both took a hiatus of over 10 years and then returned to the VHL. His players (Josh Vestiquan, Tui Sova, Mac Atlas) have been much more prolific than mine ( two HOFers) so maybe I’ve been riding his coattails, but it’s been great to be able to share three Cups with the same person. So, this is just my appreciation post for v.2 and how hard he works. He has now won six Continental Cups (S7, S8, S12, S79, S85, S91) which puts him in a tie for 33rd in league history with 13 others.

Definitely a hard pick this season.

I keep missing these. Sheesh.

Leandro Goncalves led the league in goals, game-winning goals, game-tying goals, shots, hat tricks, AND face-off percentage while taking the 2nd-most faceoffs. He was also T-2nd for plus/minus.

Great season, great playoffs! So many strong teams but the Legion kept believing in themselves and kept marching on!! S91

Honored and humbled by the nomination!

8 maids-a-milking

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. Game 5 tonight. What's your predicted score? 2. Which Legion will score our first goal tonight? 3. What did you like best about our two 4-2 victories in Games 3 & 4? 4. What part of your game do you feel you need to elevate? 5. What food do you slide by during Christmas dinner and not put on your plate? 6. Do you believe in Santa Claus?

Taylor Swift is overrated

Yup! Should be epic!

VS After being drafted 13th and 14th overall in the S86 Draft, goaltenders Joel Castle @animal74 (Toronto Legion) and Fuukka Rask @Jubis (Helsinki Titans) have been spending the last five seasons working their way up to the top echelon of the VHL, pulling their teams with them. Having very similar career trajectories, they both got their first taste of the post-season in S90 although Rask lost in the first round, while Castle lost in the Conference Final. Now they face each other in the Continental Cup Final and one of them will help their team end a lengthy Cup drought. Helsinki last won the Cup in S66 and Toronto the season before in S65. This will be the 5th time these teams have battled for the Cup with the last time being when Toronto won their last of consecutive Cups in S64 and S65 beating Helsinki both times. They also faced off against each other in S22 (Helsinki won) and S48 (Toronto won) which means that Toronto holds a 3-1 edge in Finals series wins. Good luck to both teams!

Five Golden Rings! (and hopefully a Cup ring for the Legion!)

Thanks for everything you did for the Wranglers. If a break is what you need then enjoy it and I hope it refreshes you. Cheers!

Good series, LA but we were waiting for this since last season. Helsinki, we're ready for you. Looking forward to battling you, @Jubis!

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. Here we are, the rematch against LA. What is your prediction for our series against the Stars (winner, # of games)? 2. Which Legion will score Toronto's first goal in the series? 3. What surprised you the most about our sweep of Chicago in the first round? 4. Who do you think was our MVP of the first round? 5. What is your favorite outside winter activity? 6. When is the earliest date Christmas lights should be turned on?

3 French Hens

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. What is your prediction for our series against Chicago (winner, # of games)? 2. Which Legion will score Toronto's first goal of the playoffs? 3. What grade would you give your regular season (A-F)? 4. Do you think we can make it to the Continental Cup Final? 5. What is your favorite Christmas gift you got as a kid? 6. What are you asking Santa for this Christmas?

Great read @dstevensonjr!

You've had a fantastic season. It's been fun trying to catch up to you!

With a recent 2-1 win over the Riga Reign, Toronto goaltender Joel Castle set a new career-high with his 39th win of the season, besting his mark of 38 set last season. To set this new mark, Castle stopped 38 of 39 shots which also earned the 1st Star of the game. Two games later he won his 40th game of the season, again against Riga. With the 32-save performance, Castle moved into the league lead for save percentage (among starters) with 0.938 and is still second in GAA (2.04) and third in wins. Despite the win, the 138th of his career, Toronto still sits in second place behind the LA Stars in the North American Conference and have been chasing them all season. Now only three points behind, both teams each have five games left in the season to battle for first place and determine their playoff matchups. Although, they don’t have another head-to-head game this season, Toronto will face Riga one more time who they’ve now beaten in all three meetings.

Claim 2/2

Toronto Legion Press Conference (2 TPE for answering all six questions) 1. What was the most impressive aspect of our 14-game win streak? 2. We are now four points back of the LA Stars. Will we overtake them? 3. Needing 15 goals in 18 games, will Mac Atlas make it to 50 goals? 4. What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish? 5. What is the most overplayed Christmas carol? 6. What's the best thing that goes with peanut butter?

Why (and How to) Join the VHL? Welcome to the Victory Hockey League (aka VHL)! If you love hockey, sim leagues, online community, writing, podcasting, making graphics, or any combination of those, you should check out the VHL! What is the VHL? We are one of the longest-running hockey sim leagues on the internet with over 90 seasons of rich history completed over a 16-year span. The VHL currently has 16 teams split into the North American and European Conferences, with two smaller developmental leagues (VHL Europe and VHL Minor). To enjoy this much continuity and stability, many dedicated members are required and the VHL definitely has had a lot throughout the years. But, we can always use more and we’d love you to join us and share your love of hockey and unique content with the rest of our league! Like most things, the amount of enjoyment and success you get is determined by how much you put into your player and the league. The more points you earn for your player, the better they’ll play and the more fun you’ll have. Similarly, the more you interact with the community (either via the forums or Discord), the more connected and invested you’ll hopefully become. Some quick facts: The VHL sites include the Forums, a Portal, and Discord. You don’t necessarily need to use all three to enjoy your player, but each site have different aspects that give you more information. The VHL runs on the Simon Tremblay Hockey Simulator or STHS. You don’t need to download the sim client to develop your player. Sounds like fun? Here’s a brief guide/index on how you can get started on your VHL career: Step 1: Make an account and create a player. Go to the VHL Forums and create an account. Then go to the Portal and begin creating your player. You have a lot of options when creating your player so have fun with it? Want to emulate a real player, create your alter ego, or use a pop culture reference? Go ahead! As long as the name is not offensive, it should be accepted. You can choose your players’ position, height, weight and nationality (which will determine where your player may participate in various world tournaments that happen during the off-season). Then you’ll receive 30 TPE (Total Points Earned – our points system for upgrading players) or more depending when you join and then you’ll be able to apply them to different categories (and thus become TPA or Total Points Applied). For more details on these steps, please check out this Create a Player guide and How to Update guide by @Will and the Player Build guide by @Gustav . Of note, skaters add TPE to VHL “hybrid” attributes that fractionally increase one or more of the SHTS attributes. Goalies follow the STHS attributes. Step 2: Earn more TPE (Total Points Earned) and add them to your player There are a lot of ways you can earn TPE for your player’s development. Every week (Monday-Sunday) you have the opportunity to earn Capped TPE to a maximum of 12. Then there are other opportunities throughout the season to earn extra Uncapped TPE (Practice Facility, Career Tasks, Fantasy, Special Events, etc.) Again, @Will has a great guide on How to Earn TPE. Step 3: Join a Team Depending when your player’s career starts during the VHL season, you will either be contacted on the Forums by VHLM (Minor League) General Managers with offers to join their team and you will then be able to pick a team for the remainder of the season or you’ll wait a bit and go straight to the VHLM Draft. If you signed for the remainder of the season, you’ll be released at the time of the Draft and become eligible to be drafted by any of the 10 VHLM teams. As you build up TPA in your player, you’ll eventually graduate to the VHLE and then the VHL. Skipping the VHLE is a possibility for fast earners. For more details on how you join a team, please see this guide by @eaglesfan036 After you join a team, there will be lots of members who will give you a hand and answer any questions you may have. The General Manager (GM), Assistant General Manager (AGM), your teammates, and other staff are always willing to make you introduction into the VHL a fun and worthwhile experience. You can also ask questions on the Discord channel #newcomers-help Here are some other links you may find useful: New Member Guide VHL Rules VHL Code of Conduct VHL Hall of Fame/History (Useful for Trivia) Championship Trophies: VHL – Continental Cup VHLE – Renaissance Cup VHLM – Founder’s Cup We hope you join us and enjoy the thrill of bringing your player up through the system to the big league and hopefully feel the elation of winning a Continental Cup!

Many in the hockey world wondered how the Toronto Legion would weather the loss of their top scorer and top defenseman scorer to retirement during the off-season. Ronan Lavelle @Arce led the team with 95 points and Siyan Yasilievich @badcolethetitan led Legion blueliners with 78. Fortunately for Toronto, a trio of rookies have made the jump and had a positive impact. Right winger Harry Callahan @dstevensonjr (S89, 17th OV), center Diego Machado @Dadam30 (S89, 34th OV), and defenseman Walter Fitzroy Jr @Moon (S90, 2nd OV) have been enjoying fabulous seasons in their first VHL action and all have been making their mark in helping Toronto recently go on a 14-game win streak and climb into 2nd in the North American Conference. Callahan has been among the Top-5 rookie scorers all season and currently sit 5th with 40 points. Machado had a slower start but has been heating up as of late with 35 points and sits behind Callahan in the rookie race. As for Fitzroy Jr, he has been contributing as well with 5 goals and 25 points and is 4th on the team with a plus-17 rating. With 20 games left to play and the playoffs imminent, Toronto will need these rookies to continue their strong play if the Legion want a chance to get to the Continental Cup.