diacope

Breaking News: Halifax deals for Mexico City Star
 
October 6th was a day of shake up for the VHML, 3 separate trades occurred one of these was the trade by Halifax to bring in star player Ryan Busser. The Halifax GM is a manger known for his trading, always looking to improve the talent of his roster. This trade didn’t have much ceremony and broke as the last trade, showing the professionalism of both teams as no transfer info was leaked to the press.

The Trade
Breaking down the trade Halifax swapped two future picks for the services of Ryan Busser, this move singles a clear win now attitude and a focus on brining in proven talent. Halifax so far has gone through a lack lustre season by looking to bring in talent Halifax GM is clearly making a push for the playoffs. By righting the ship and making the playoffs Halifax looks to become a more respected team increasing chances of mid-season singings and build interest from fans.
 
The Player
Breaking down the player Ryan Busser, assigned back down to the VHML after being drafted 29th in the previous season draft. Standing at 5’ 8: and 172lb Ryan plays on the RW and slots in to the current Halifax squad very nicely creating extra depth while taking over the 1st line RW. Ryan comes with praise from both his previous teams both coaches of San Diego and Mexico City rave about the performance of Ryan during training acting as a strong foundation for team success, always a gym rat Halifax made this deal looking to bring in a player of this activity.

The Outcome
The purpose of this trade is obvious for both teams, Mexico City felt they no longer needed the services of Ryan as they felt they had enough talent and wanted to secure future talent. Halifax perspective might come out to be short sighted as they trade future assets to bring in a current player. Halifax will obviously look to make the playoffs after this trade while Mexico City will continue with the current players while looking towards the future.
 
Press Responses:
GM of the Halifax 21st @fonziGG was happy with the move quote:
“Let’s go! He’s going to be huge force on our first, everyone works hard and we will be looking very strong. Ryan Busser will be an absolute star for this team and I’m very proud to have him on my team.
 
Ben Storm fellow Halifax player:
“I feel like we had some instant chemistry and have become fast friends of the ice, on the ice we are a dynamic duo when we share the puck. He is an absolute monster player and is the kind of experience this team needed.”
 
Ryan Busser  @diacopeTwitter release
Firstly, I would like to thank the players, the staff and most importantly the fans of Mexico City, I have enjoyed my time here immensely and gave grown so much under your tutelage. To the fans of Halifax be prepared I'm excited to help propel Halifax to higher levels.
 
510 words

Monday morning was a hell of a start to the week, it started fairly normally with me ignoring Beaviss and his calls, but after he texted me to get into his office right now - I knew something was up. When I made it there he told it straight - I have been traded. Not going to lie, that was a surprise. I have been asking for a trade every year since I got drafted, but to finally get the news slapped all over your face like that - truly woke me up.
 
There was no time to waste, I shook the GM´s hand and thanked him for having pants on for once and for everything he did for me over the years, came close to cup few times and won one last year, so a lot of memories and history in Vancouver.
 
Beaviss offered to drive me to the airport, but I said no thanks, I needed to still pack and everything, so I left the GM´s office and started to head back home. Before I went to my car I quickly popped into the locker room to tell the news to the guys, they were surprised to see me there. I usually never join the morning skates, mandatory for others, the surprise soon changed to mix of tears and high fives, I said what I had on my mind and offered to put in a good word to the Riga management if someone wanted, sad day and moment overall - we went through a lot together you know. That was the end of my journey in Vancouver, for now at least.
 

One of the over 3000 SuperAlkos in Latvia.
 
When a chapter ends - a new one begins. For me move to Riga is a big change, a new country, a new city and of course a new team. Always a mystery how well you hit it off with new players, but I´m confident that I´m able to play on a high level right away. Going to be interesting to see what it´s like to play for a European team, do the fans support me or do they boo at me? Let's face it, I have ruined a lot of games during last couple seasons by scoring and making plays happen, almost feel bad now for only playing for first two periods and sitting out the third periods, Beaviss told me that last year 200 points was a reality if I played in the third periods. If I hit 200 points last year - would I have been traded now? Who knows, but I´m fully focused in Riga right now.
 
When I look at the roster, there is a lot of quality players, so expectations are high - everybody wants to win something this year. By the looks of it we are sitting pretty nicely on a playoff spot, currently third in the European division, Davos is fourth with nine points less than us, the last team out of playoffs is Moscow and they are eleven points behind, unless we go into terrible run we should make it into playoffs this year and that is the only thing that matters for rest of the regular season - make sure we make it and get ready for playoffs. For me these games are important, get to learn the system and get more familiar with every player in the team.
 

Guy Lesieur has just been traded from the Mexico City Kings and there will be more to be said about that from a different angle, but this is more of a goodbye to the fans. When I was drafted by the Mexico City GM, I had two emotions. The dominant one was joy over being drafted to my very first team in the VHML, but my second was surprise. There was hockey being played south of the Rio Grande? How do they keep the ice from melting? Must be some great refrigeration systems down there! It’s amazing enough that Houston has a team, but Mexico City?
 
So, I wondered what you all would be like? How many Mexicans would come out to see what is, afterall, primarily a North American and European game? I wondered if many of you would even understand the game or if it was just some curiosity.
 
And you certainly set me straight. Mexico City knows its hockey and supports its team as well as any fans in the hockey world. And so loyal. We have played our hardest and yet we’ve been middle of the pack in the standings all year. Some fans would drift off to other sports or entertainment options, but not our Kings fans!
 
Thank you for waking me up to how wonderfully knowledgable and supportive you are. And thank you for a great half season amongst you. I may have been moved to Las Vegas in a trade, but a piece of my heart will never be able to be moved. It will remain in the capital city. Go Kings!

VHLM Tier List
 
S Tier:
Houston Bulls
If this team has ever had a do-or-die time to win cup it would be now. Houston has traded off every pick in the S69 draft for assets that will pay off now. Every goal you score against the Bulls is a major victory, because they will never come easily against this roster. Houston's offense has increased over the course of this season, and if they continue on their current trajectory, they will be a cup favorite when the playoffs arrive.
Las Vegas Aces
Can a team win a cup on pure offense? The Aces are going to try to answer that question in the affirmative. This explosive team can put up four goals in a period against any defense in the league. The only downside here is the 'live by the sword, die by the sword' mentality of this play style. 
Minnesota Storm
This team has a frightening roster. The only weakness you could really ascribe to Minnesota is their lack of a true center capable of winning face-offs. However, this team is already put itself in a good position to make a cup run this season and will become even stronger next season with several mid-round picks in the coming draft.
 
A Tier:
Yukon Rush
The say that defense wins championships and Yukon is banking hard on that truism. Don't be fooled by their disappointing offensive stats, when the playoffs arrive, this team is going to be a scary opponent in any round.
Mississauga Hounds
Mississauga is already my pick to win the S69 Founder's cup, but I'm afraid that the pieces just aren't there yet for them to make a cup run this season. With three first round picks in the next draft, this team is going to be a formidable opponent very soon.
Halifax 21st
Halifax is a goal scoring machine with no back-end. They are exciting to watch and might just upset someone in the first round of the playoffs, but they are a goalie and couple defensemen from being a series contender.
 
B Tier:
Mexico City Kings
Mexico City's first overall pick in this season's draft is the only thing going for them so far this season. However, with a large number of collected picks over the next two seasons, Crawford may just be the first piece in a future cup-winning roster.
San Diego Marlins
The Marlins will likely barely squeak into the playoffs, just as they did last season. And, just as happened in that season, they certainly wont make it any further than that.
Philadelphia Reapers
So much potential, so completely squandered. Foolishly, I thought Philadelphia had it in them to trade away some picks this season and make a run at the cup, but the GM changes at the beginning of the season may have changed those plans. Now, it seems unclear what the plan is as they ride this season of mediocrity to it's end.
 
Tank Tier:
Saskatoon Wild
Saskatoon has opened a fire-sale on all current assets as they try to race Ottawa to the bottom. Most of their eight wins came earlier in the season, before they started trading off players for picks
Ottawa Lynx
This team has shown that they can beat anyone, almost literally, as their seven wins have all come against different opponents, including some of the best teams in the league. Unfortunately, they can also get shut out by anybody, being shut out in more games this season than any other team.

bai @diacope <3

mexico making money moves
 
damn wtf i didn't even mean for that to be an alliteration. thanks to @diacope for being a great guy in Mexico, good luck in Halifax and I'll be waiting for you in Riga

Halifax receives:
Ryan Busser

Mexico City receives:
S69 HFX 1st
S70 HFX 3rd


This trade has been accepted by all parties and is pending league approval.

We’ve done it. We had hiccups along the way. People sending the wrong number on purpose, Matt forgetting how to count, or Devise getting angry that people were counting. But we did it. I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish. Together. As a community. There’s many people I’d like to thank. Jubo, Matt, Beaviss, Diacope, Berocka, Matmenzinger, and the various others who helped us achieve this feat along the way. We managed to conquer the trolls, demolish the haters, and prevail. We reached this glorious number. And with that, Blade and gentlemen, Nyko and girls, we have reached NUMBER 1000!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I’ve never been so proud of anything in my entire life

First i would like to thank @rjfryman @fonziGG and @Banackock for giving me the opportunity to run a team. The experience so far has been fantastic and i am very thankful that i get to do this. I have been eagerly waiting to do this so let's get straight into! LETS GO CANADA!!!!!
 
Forwards:
C : Scotty BigShotty @FerdaJets
C : Alex Pearson @Jayrad28
C : Nate Telker @Telkster 
RW : Jeff Tates @PotatoKing
RW : Ryan Busser @diacope
RW : Benson Kramer @Benson
LW : Blake Laughton @Grape
LW : Brendan Plunkett @MetalToday
LW : Micha Sage @AcousticKazoo

Defense:
Seabass Perrin @Sebster03
Brock Louth @Beaviss
Ricky Johnson @Midnite
Alyksander Hunter @Jaku

Goalies:
Fang Flashback @uphillmoss
Bruce Theodore @Larry Five Hole
 
Thats the team! Apologize if you did not make the team Canada has some fantastic players! If you were tagged please join this discord! https://discord.gg/79RjqBm
Please please join the Discord if your on the team! It's our way of communication! 

Back at it again with the shitty sigs.
 

 
@FrostBeard
 

 

1,000
Now we count to 10,000 ?

1000!!!!!!

HE SCORES! WOOOOHOOO!

FUCKIN 1000 BOYS @Matt_O @DilIsPickle @diacope

994
 
Think he means the Oct 4th prediction?

996

973

971

Here is a list of the most effective players this season based on the numbers I collected, added up specialty team points and "clutch" points together, this is what I got..
 
1. Benny Graves - Center - Las Vegas Aces  (29)
8 PPG 7 PPA - 2 SHG 2 SHA 
6 GWG 1 GTG - 3 PSG

2. Jeff Tates - Right Wing - Las Vegas Aces  (26)
6 PPG 10 PPA - 2 SHG 2 SHA
5 GWG 0 GTG - 1 PSG 
 
3. Jacob Perry - Defense - Philadelphia Reapers  (22) 
9 PPG 8 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA 
3 GWG 2 GTG - 0 PSG 
 
3. Emil Passerelli - Right Wing - Halifax 21st  (22) 
9 PPG 11 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
1 GWG 1 GTG - 0 PSG 

4. Jerry Wang - Right Wing - Mississauga Hounds  (21) 
4 PPG 7 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA  
7 GWG 1 GTG - 2 PSG 
 
4. Khalabib Stiopic - Defense - Houston Bulls  (21)
3 PPG 15 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA  
2 GWG 0 GTG - 1 PSG 

4. Liam Rooney - Center - Halifax 21st  (21)
3 PPG 14 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
4 GWG 0 GTG - 0 PSG
 
4. Justin Rushmore - Left Wing - Yukon Rush  (21)
6 PPG 9 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
3 GWG 1 GTG - 2 PSG
 
5. Edu Stava - Center - Houston Bulls  (19)
7 PPG 8 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
3 GWG 1 GTG - 0 PSG
 
5. Balentine Kidd - Center - Mississauga Hounds  (19)
7 PPG 8 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
1 GWG 3 GTG - 0 PSG
 
5. Titus Stone - Defense - Yukon Rush  (19)
4 PPG 12 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
2 GWG 1 GTG - 0 PSG
 
Honorable Mentions:
RW Benson Kramer  (18), D Alyksander Hunter  (18), RW Roadkill Steve (18)
 
Will add up numbers again down the road to see how things change, thanks for taking the time to read! See you next time!
 
       @MD9 @street @stevo @Liberty_Cabbage @ColeMrtz @Jaku @TukTukTheGreat @PotatoKing @SparrowLTD @elrune1988 @Benson @Edustava @SweetMike666 @STZ

In Season 62, a young Quebec City Meute team surprised the defending champions from Davos in Game 7 of the semi-finals and advanced to their first finals appearance in 5 seasons. Earlier in the playoffs, an even younger Riga Reign squad featuring lots of goals but no defence to speak of, as well as the inactive Arvid Aamo in net, made much less noise going out in the wildcard round, but left with the promise of much more to come.
 
Although containing few similarities at the time, since that season, the Meute (now the Vancouver Wolves) and Reign have made the playoffs every season with one exception – the Wolves in their first season in Vancouver, S65 – made three combined trips to the finals, claiming a Continental Cup each. What unites the two teams, other than longevity at the top, is a commitment to rebuild on the fly, not mortgaging the future and constantly refreshing the team with homegrown players. Together, GMs Keaton Louth @Beaviss and Benjamin Zeptenbergs @hedgehog337 have shown the way to compete in the modern VHL with deeper drafts – here's how they've done it.
 
 Vancouver Wolves – Competing since S62
The Meute got to that surprise S62 run through a more conventional rebuild. Legendary GM Frank Chadwick stepped down not long after orchestrating 4 straight finals appearances and a championship in S56, with a ready made replacement available in the young Louth; one of the few smooth GM transitions in the 50s. The drafts on which Quebec focused were not the greatest (S59, S60, S61 offering little depth and only a handful of quality players), but they had enough picks to make it work. After trading himself to Calgary and bringing in a younger player in Beau Louth, Louth had a solid core to work with going into S62 – Tristan Iseult in goal, Samuel Gate on defence, and a very promising forward lineup of Beau Louth, Veran Dragomir, Rauno Palo, and Vesto Slipher.
 
Things didn't quite work out for the young Meute, the S62 finals ultimately being the highlight of all these players' time in Quebec. Gate went inactive, Iseult publically imploded after the S64 playoffs and the infamous Keaton Louth Rule, while the forwards struggled to find much chemistry and the team consistently underperformed, hovering around the wildcard round places instead of making a push for the Victory Cup. Parallels can be drawn between the early 60s Quebec and the recently blown up New York team but with one very key difference – Louth didn't throw in the kitchen sink to compete in S63 and S64. The veterans he had acquired for the S62 run (Colton Rayne, Casey Jones, Jeff Gow, Sergei Komarov) cost very little (the Meute effectively gave up Dan Wilinsky and Roctrion King to get them), meaning another full-blown rebuild wasn't necessary. Even when the newly relocated Wolves hit their lowest ebb by missing the playoff entirely in S65, there was no panic – the process was already underway building the team that would win it all by S67.
 
The remarkable thing about the back-to-back finals Vancouver just made in S66 and S67 is that they featured just two of those original core members from S62 – Palo and Louth. However, the S67 squad featured a further 9 players drafted by Vancouver since S65. Some of those high-end picks like Gritty, Julius Freeman, Denver Wolfe, but others were classic diamonds in the rough – Jagger Philliefan, Hans Gruber or even the 6th rounder Ben Hafkey. Another recent cup winner in Shawnomir Jagr is the latest in a long line of underrated Quebec/Vancouver second round picks. First they drafted Oleksiy Revchenko, Karl von Moltke, and Lando Baxter in S62, then they traded that trio to Calgary for cap reasons and picked up Jose Gonzalez and Randoms with their new S63 picks. When the cap squeezed again, Gonzalez and Randoms were shipped off to Davos for a S65 pick (Bald Guy) and the S66 second used on Jagr.
 
As a result, the Wolves are again entering a slight transition phase with the retirement of Beau Louth, but will undoubtedly remain near the top of the North American Conference and can look forward to four first-round picks in the next two drafts, having just added the highly rated Jeff Downey to the team. Having acquired Shawn Glade on the cheap and got more when sending him back to Davos, as well as surviving a turbulent goaltending era featuring Rogert Sterling and Ismond Kingfisher by now handing the long-term reins to Greg Eagles, Vancouver has won a Continental Cup without needing to rebuild and it will surely not be their last.
 
 Riga Reign – Competing since S63
Riga was one of the teams that usurped Quebec at the top of the VHL, defeating the Meute in the S57 finals and following up with a second Continental Cup in S58. However, thanks to retaining the same GM in Zeptenbergs and the timing of their rebuild, they came out with a new core only a season behind Quebec. The Reign certainly benefited from their S63 championship-winning team featuring 3 free agents signed the previous off-season (James Faraday, Jeff Gow, and Joseph Bassolino), but the groundwork for long-term success was laid in the previous seasons. Maximising the sales of veterans like Lukas Muller and Markus King led directly to landing the draft picks for Edwin Preencarnacion, Ryuu Crimson, and Dylan Nguyen. Supplemented by high profile picks in Podrick Cast, Leph Twinger, and Ryan Kastelic in consecutive drafts, the core was in place for a long contending run, salary cap permitting.
 
The salary cap did permit it to an extent, but like Vancouver, Riga's management has had to make many difficult choices over the past few off-seasons. By not having to give up any assets to win the cup in S63, the Reign kept hold of their draft picks and a highly effective scouting network made sure they were transformed into what was at one point the VHL's most promising prospect pool. From Shawn Glade and Mikka Pajari, who graduated by S63, followed by the likes of Rylan Peace, Kisshan Shan, Dan Baillie, Basaraba Moose, Anthony Matthews, and Teagan Glover, it is a highly impressive draft track record but Riga has not been able to afford the vast majority of these draftees.
 
Nonetheless, the approach has paid some dividends. After the Victory and Continental Cup double in S63, the Reign finished second in the regular season for a further three seasons, although couldn't get past the first round of the playoffs each time. In the meantime, similar to the Wolves, the team's core got progressively younger and following the trade of Cast and Randoms to Moscow and the retirement of Preencarnacion, Kastelic and goalie Kallis Kriketers are the only remnants of the cup-winning team. Much of the rest of the team was drafted by Riga in S66 (Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Arnor Sigurdsson, and Apollo Hackett its leading lights), followed by Lincoln Tate in S67, and the acquisition of some older players from New York (Joseph McWolf) and Davos (Elias Dahlberg and Pat Svoboda). The latter trio cost more than either Vancouver or Riga had given up in years, but the Reign had built up such a collection of prospects and draft picks that they could afford it.
 
In S67, Riga had their best playoff performance in a while, coming within one win of the cup finals. They'll be looking to improve on that in S68 before their new core becomes too expensive to hold onto. Whatever the outcome, you would back them to extend their playoff streak (aiming for a 7th straight season in S68 which would put them joint third all time) as they continue to draft well and hang onto their key picks going forward.
 
 Is this the best approach in the modern VHL?
So, having praised Vancouver and Riga's adaptation to 60s VHL, is it however the best approach to building a cup winner? The other two teams to win the Continental Cup since S62, Helsinki and Toronto, have continued down the tried and tested road of buying to win now and worrying about the future later. The Legion did this to great effect in S64 and S65 and it looked for most of the S67 regular season that it could pay off again, but now they look to have entered the downturn of the Ryan Power style of management. The long-term effects will be interesting to assess, but the last team with which he went quite so gung ho, S42-S46 Cologne, disbanded just over 10 seasons later. Certainly, although Toronto got the most championships this decade, it is probably more advisable to go for Vancouver or Riga's more patient approach and extend the contending window given the fine margins on which a season can turn in the playoffs. The Titans, with another old school GM in Matt Bailey, have not quite gone to such an extreme, but having successfully banked on their S63 core delivering results, their four straight trips to the finals owe much to the sometimes expensive veteran pick-ups (Mats Johnsson, Jasper Canmore, Matt Thompson, Dan Wilinsky). Helsinki will probably avoid a long rebuild with a healthy collection of youth and future picks at the moment, but it won't be enough to avoid it entirely once this run comes to an end.
 
Therefore, both schools of thought remain active in the VHL. We shall see if firesales become a thing of the past or if we will look at these Wolves and Reign teams as anomalies which rode the wave of historically deep drafts.

Here is a list of the most effective players this season based on the numbers I collected, added up specialty team points and "clutch" points together, this is what I got..
 
1. Benny Graves - Center - Las Vegas Aces  (29)
8 PPG 7 PPA - 2 SHG 2 SHA 
6 GWG 1 GTG - 3 PSG

2. Jeff Tates - Right Wing - Las Vegas Aces  (26)
6 PPG 10 PPA - 2 SHG 2 SHA
5 GWG 0 GTG - 1 PSG 
 
3. Jacob Perry - Defense - Philadelphia Reapers  (22) 
9 PPG 8 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA 
3 GWG 2 GTG - 0 PSG 
 
3. Emil Passerelli - Right Wing - Halifax 21st  (22) 
9 PPG 11 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
1 GWG 1 GTG - 0 PSG 

4. Jerry Wang - Right Wing - Mississauga Hounds  (21) 
4 PPG 7 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA  
7 GWG 1 GTG - 2 PSG 
 
4. Khalabib Stiopic - Defense - Houston Bulls  (21)
3 PPG 15 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA  
2 GWG 0 GTG - 1 PSG 

4. Liam Rooney - Center - Halifax 21st  (21)
3 PPG 14 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
4 GWG 0 GTG - 0 PSG
 
4. Justin Rushmore - Left Wing - Yukon Rush  (21)
6 PPG 9 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
3 GWG 1 GTG - 2 PSG
 
5. Edu Stava - Center - Houston Bulls  (19)
7 PPG 8 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
3 GWG 1 GTG - 0 PSG
 
5. Balentine Kidd - Center - Mississauga Hounds  (19)
7 PPG 8 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
1 GWG 3 GTG - 0 PSG
 
5. Titus Stone - Defense - Yukon Rush  (19)
4 PPG 12 PPA - 0 SHG 0 SHA
2 GWG 1 GTG - 0 PSG
 
Honorable Mentions:
RW Benson Kramer  (18), D Alyksander Hunter  (18), RW Roadkill Steve (18)
 
Will add up numbers again down the road to see how things change, thanks for taking the time to read! See you next time!
 
       @MD9 @street @stevo @Liberty_Cabbage @ColeMrtz @Jaku @TukTukTheGreat @PotatoKing @SparrowLTD @elrune1988 @Benson @Edustava @SweetMike666 @STZ

Today we will highlight just a few of our very successful Marlins "candidates" who have either garnered success on another VHLM team through the most recent draft, or have already grown their big boy wings and have climbed their way up to the VHL. The Marlins have had a lot of players come and go, so not everyone is highlighted here, but keep in mind, I will likely make this a two or three part "piece" to cover everyone I can. 
 
In this article, we're going to talk about our S67 players who were on the team that have moved on to bigger, and better things. 
 
In Total, SDM "created" 6 eventual players who would become VHLers, they were as follows: 
 
Alex Pearson - Jayrad28 - 311 TPE - Prague Phantoms
Charles Drumm - frescoelmo - 238 TPE - D.C Dragons
Greg Eagles - greg_di - 502 TPE - Vancouver Wolves
Lincoln Tate - Tate - 545 TPE - Riga Reign
Phil Marleau - Phil - 555 TPE - Malmo Nighthawks
Scotty BigShotty - Ferdajets - 317 TPE - Prague Phantoms
 
As we can see here, out of the six who made it "big", three of them have hit or exceeded 500 TPE, but all of them seem to be having good careers for their respective teams. It's funny, because out of this list, four of the players from San Diego were actually waiver-wire pick-ups and the other two were draft picks. Phil Marleau ended up living up to his hype as he was our top selection in his draft and is now leading the pack of players from the Marlins in the VHL. 
 
We're happy to see that the Marlins organization is able to produce VHL caliber players, and we hope this trend continues! We will follow-up next week with our S68 players. 
 
 

Cya Nyko

League Leaders
 
Today we will be looking to the little sibling of the Victory Hockey League to highlight some of the players that are leading the way offensively.
 
Points: Jeff Tates (Las Vegas,71pts)
 
You will likely see a pattern here in the league leaders in the offensive categories, but we will start with the league leader in points in the VHLM, Jeff Tates. Tates got a taste for the VHLM last season with the Saskatoon Wild, and those fifty-three games last season seemed to have done wonders for the Canadian winger. Tates has played in all thirty-one games for the Aces this season putting up thirty-two goals and thirty-nine assists to lead the league with seventy-one points. Tates will need to continue to bring it every-night for the Aces as they currently sit in third place in the VHLM with forty-one points.
 
Goals: Benny-Graves (Las Vegas, 35G)
 
The second Aces player that find themselves at the top of the leaders board, Benny-Graves is using his audition for the upcoming VHL Entry Draft very well. Benny-Graves has dressed for all thirty-one games for the Aces and finds himself with thirty-five goals in those thirty-one games. Now a goal per game isn’t unheard of in the VHLM, it usually isn’t done by players in their draft year. Benny-Graves is a great complete to any pass first player, including that of current team-mate, Jeff Tates.
 
Assists: Jeff Tates (Las Vegas, 39A)
 
Tates finds himself on the top of the points leaderboard in the VHLM, also finding himself leading the league in assists. Tates thirty-nine assists is three more than his Aces team-mate Cinnamon Block. Tates and the Aces are hoping for more of the same as they progress towards a Founders Cup run.
 
For the Week of Sept 16th-22nd