Elmebeck

Real sad hours PC
 
1. After a hard-fought series, the Bears come out ahead in Game 7. How do we feel about the series?
 
2. With the season officially over, it's golf season. Who's the best golfer on the team?
 
3. Is it better to lose to the cup champs or watch the team that beat you also lose it all?
 
4. What do you want to improve in the offseason?
 
5. What are you most excited about for S70?
 
6. How was everyone's New Year's?

SASKATOON - The Saskatoon Wild have been cruising through the playoffs. They recently beat the Halifax 21st in a 4-1 series, that one loss they had in the series being the first loss they have had in the playoffs this season. It was a pretty dominant performance by the Saskatoon Wild, which was expected after their dominant regular season. 
 
In the first game, the Saskatoon Wild and Halifax 21st had a close match as the Wild barely edged out the 21st in double overtime, winning 6-5. The Saskatoon goals came from David OQuinn, the Wild's first overall pick scoring two goals, Erik Killinger, who scored two goals including the game winner, as well as a goal from Edwin THE Encarnacion and a goal from Kristopher McDagg. That first game had everybody wondering what the next games were going to be like. This was shaping up to be a good, hard-fought series.
 
Until the Saskatoon Wild won the second game 6-0, making that game Jacques Lafontaine's second shutout in the playoffs so far. The goals came from Dagmar Havlova, who scored two goals, Killy Foilen who also scored two goals, Gary Tarantino with one goal, and Uhtred who opened up the scoring 14 minutes and 29 seconds into the game. Lafontaine had an easy going game with Halifax only having 21 shots against him while Saskatoon pelted Jaxx Hextall with 53 shots. Saskatoon had taken control of the reins once more.
 
The next game had the Wild winning against the Halifax 21st with the score being 6-3, making this the third game in a row they had scored 6. Not an important stat or fact at all, just thought it was cool. Kristopher McDagg and Gary Tarantino both scored 2 goals in this game, McDagg scoring the game winner, as well as Edwin THE Encarnacion and Damien Wolfe scoring one goal each. Obviously, Saskatoon was pushing to win and they were pushing hard.
 
I'm not good at foreshadowing. The Halifax 21st gave the Saskatoon Wild their first loss of this season's playoffs. They won 4-2 as only Jesse Nyman, who scored on the power play, and Erik Killinger scored for the Wild. The Halifax goals were scored by Ben Storm, Anton Edvin, Gabriel Gutzwiler, and Thomas Landry II.
 
Finally, in the fifth game of the series, Saskatoon clinched the series with a commanding 7-3 win. The goals were scored by David OQuinn, who scored 2, Gary Tarantino, Damien Wolfe, Jesse Nyman, Mikko Lahtinen, and Danny DeYeeto. The Saskatoon Wild scored the only 4 goals in the first period, including the game winner and the series clinching goal, courtesy of Damien Wolfe. The series was won by Saskatoon, 4 games to one. The 21st’s season was over while Saskatoon would move on to the Founder’s Cup Finals against the Mississauga Hounds, eventually winning and capping off their historic season by lifting up the cup and becoming the Victory Hockey League champions. Next week, I'll do the review for the aforementioned finals.
 
Congratulations to all of the players and staff for this amazing achievement and for the great season!

Disclaimer: This is a bit of a whistle stop tour of 10 years of history. Where I could below, I've linked to articles which dive into some of these topics in much greater depth.
 
One of the ideas floated around the blue team forum for 12 Days of Christmas was to try to refer to something from all of the 12 years of the VHL's existence. It was a bit convoluted in the end and we went for a simplified approach that you all saw, but I do feel like using the fruits of the brainstorming session. So, barely a week into 2020, why not look back at the 2010s in the VHL? Ten years is several lifetimes in a sim leagues and having joined in April 2009 this is actually a slightly easier topic for me than the entirety of the VHL's existence, so let's dive in.
 
2010
Where were you in 2010? If you're reading this, chances are you weren't on the VHL. In fact, not many people were based on the levels of activity at the start of the year. I won my first Continental Cup in S14, the goaltender of the New York Americans who also won their first cup, meaning that all 8 franchises won at least 1 cup in the VHL's first 14 seasons. That was a fine accomplishment but it did have an end-of-time vibe to it. S14 was also notable for long-time commissioner and simmer Scotty Campbell stepping down from both roles after 14 seasons and just under 3 years. He was replaced by two of the biggest names in the VHL at the time, Brett Slobodzian and Sterling Labatte @sterling, but this didn't lead to an immediate uplift. In fact, in S15, a league-wide poll was posted in the announcements forum asking if the league should pack it in after 15 seasons (at the time, a sim league record). Fortunately for us all, the answer was a resounding no.
 
That was a big turning point. By S16, an inactive third-rounder by the name of Jardy Bunclewirth @JardyB10 was drafted by Calgary – his sudden burst in activity right after that transformed Calgary and then the league when he became commissioner by early 2011. Jardy also headlined the new concept of first-gens as opposed to recreates, alongside other hyperactive names like @Squinty, @frescoelmo, @CoachReilly, and @Phil. This all culminated in the S18 draft, still arguably the greatest in VHL history – quite a turnaround from where 2010 had started.
 
2011
The years after that weren't ever as revolutionary as 2010 but still saw some fundamental changes throughout the league. 2010 was also when the SHL was founded and that became a rival we've had to contend to ever since. At the start though, things were quite amicable – lots of the 2010-11 drafts were filled with SHL members crossing over with varying degrees of success. In early 2011, VHLM Commissioner Terence Fong @tfong successfully pitched an idea to change the VHLM from an affiliate system to the entirely separate junior system we still use today. It was an absolutely essential change even if both leagues stayed on the same sim file (i.e. simmed by the same person, Sterling then Jardy) for some years.
 
Then our beloved forum died. Invisionfree was home to the VHL from July 2007 to July 2011 – I know this because I went on holiday for a month with no internet that year and when I came back it turned out we couldn't post anymore as we hit some threshold. This was the catalyst to finally abandon what was in truth an outdated website, although our first move to Simple Machine Forums (SMF) led by the league's biggest ever flash in the pan, Nick Barretta, would prove to be nearly catastrophic. But it was still an improvement and we ended 2011 with a brand new website to start S24, an early version of the portal to go with it, and brand new custom-made logos for every VHL franchise (many of which you still see today).
 
2012
The next year was spent entirely on SMF and saw continued rise in activity and league parity. The website kept crashing for days on end and we all had to seek refuge on the old invisionfree forum while Sterling tried to figure out what was wrong since Nick had gone inactive pretty much immediately after the move. But we all just went along with it and pretended it was a completely healthy way to run the league. To be fair, apart from that, things were going swimmingly, so swimmingly that David Knight was confident enough to announce expansion, to great hype, to take place in S31. I still think it was worth it and 10-team VHL was better fun than 8-team VHL for at least 20 seasons. Plus, that original level of excitement is still unparalleled in my mind.
 
2013
This is where I have to talk about me for a bit because either in late 2012 or early 2013 I became commissioner at the ripe old age of 16 or 17. I walked over a few people to get there (mainly David @Knight which is a regret but I think we were cool in the end) and can always take solace from the fact that people seemed genuinely disappointed when I stepped down. In terms of fundamental changes in the VHL, I can only take credit for the increased focus on the VHLM which I dedicated a lot of my time in 2013. As my very first act upon gaining access to the admin CP (after changing my username of course), I split the VHLM team forums into their own section as they remained until everything moved to the portal. Then I pushed to change the equally archaic sim set-up where Jardy was still simming both leagues simultaneously, but I couldn't do anything myself as I've always been a bit of a dummy when it comes to the sim. Fortunately, my new right-hand man @Higgins stepped in to split the sims in S33 or S35 and we never looked back.
 
Higgins also turned out to be key during the other major event of 2013: the SMF site being hacked or DDOS'd or whatever happened there. It was a blessing really because it was the most unstable forum I've ever had to use, but unlike when invisionfree went down we didn't have any way of mass communication other than going back to invisionfree if we had been in the league long enough. Somehow, despite over a week of setting up this forum, I don't think we ever lost any members in the transition.
 
2014-15
There was a bit of a gap when we were brainstorming for 12 Days of Christmas and it was in this period of VHL history. Sim-wise I think there were quite a few good storylines but in terms of big changes in the league, nothing came to mind. As one of my last acts of commissioner I held S40 celebrations and then concluded them by announcing that Vasteras would be relocating forever and after that.... I think we just went stale. Nothing really changed for a while in the league.
 
2016
Then came 2016 and we realised things were really unravelling. The same core of members was essentially carrying the league since 2013 if not earlier and everyone was clearly fatigued. There were some cool stories in the VHL throughout this time, probably most impressively Toronto's threepeat team, but whether this was a positive or a negative for the league was unclear. Fittingly, it was Toronto's GM Molholt who put forth the most convincing pitch to date for two players (what came to be known Project Player Two) and in one my last few bursts of activity I saw the band-aid potential for this idea and just ran with it. In S52, our first draft featuring second players took place and the darkest period in VHL history began.
 
2017
I am no expert on 2017 in the VHL as I quit the league in January that year, but I don't think I missed out on too much. Project Player Two flopped and the legitimate fears of existing members burning out came to fruition, while we also let Scott Anderson back into the league and into a GM role because no one else wanted to do anything. Second players were canned by the end of the year and two VHL franchises were contracted, while boubabi and Kendrick threatened to destabilise what was left of the league with petty arguments on a daily basis (it is notable that this was from the first petty squabble in VHL history but was so long-term and so toxic that it warrants its own place as one of the main events on 2010s). Looking back at 2017 now I am very unclear what prompted me to come back in March 2018, but I'm glad I did.
 
2018
For this was the year that the tide turned in almost inexplicable fashion. Fair play to the BOG in the lead up to contraction as they painstakingly assessed all the possible solutions to the dwindling activity in the VHL. It wasn't just the big changes (contraction and end of PP2) that were made in that time – grading was also abolished and a 12 TPE weekly cap established with more capped TPE opportunities than ever before (including the addition of press conferences). 2018 was the first full year of these sweeping changes being put in action and it clearly became a more appealing concept both to burnt-out old members and the new ones being attracted by a revamped recruitment crew.
 
In 2018, the portal also became an integral part of the league. I'm not sure if the portal existed as effectively a database for a few seasons previously (it looks like it starts around S50 but I don't know if this was retroactively added), but this was when updating moved off the forum after 11 years – arguably the biggest change in VHL history. It's a bit ironic that the dinosaur that is the VHL ended up at the forefront of one of the big innovations for sim leagues in general and all credit here has to go to @Will, a solid commissioner but a great admin. I wonder if it was his brief stint as simmer after Jardy stepped down that prompted him to entirely revamp the manual set-up before. Either way, with so many of the league functions moving to the portal since the initial announcement, it's an absolute godsend that he did.
 
2019
With the league structure torn up and revamped and the portal becoming an integral feature of the day-to-day VHL life, the scene was set for the biggest recruitment effort we have ever seen. There's not much more to say here other than that the drafts in the 60s have had the most quality and quantity of prospects ever and most remarkably weren't just one-offs, with VHL players drafted as late as the eighth round. A lot of credit here has to go and has gone to @Beaviss who earned his commissioner spot on the back of revolutionising VHL recruitment. This does also feel like an opportune moment to give shout-out to the guys who had to steer the league through the darker times, like @Beketov, @Devise, and @Smarch.
 
With drafts better than ever we've managed to undo contraction and then some, exceeding old expansion levels with no 12 teams (and it's not unthinkable that this will increase again). Based on the rollercoaster that was the previous decade I wouldn't dare to predict that this will mark a guaranteed golden age in the VHL but if we've survived the 2010s, I'm confident enough to say that this league will still be around in 2030.

Riga, Latvia - Reign defenseman Apollo Hackett faces pending free agency for the first time this off-season four games into a Finals matchup between Riga and Seattle. Though the team is clearly in the thick of an intense playoff race, post-game interviews have also yielded a number of questions surrounding the fourth-year player's fate after the series, which Hackett has generally been tight-lipped about.
 
"Free agency and the off-season are irrelevant to me," Hackett commented shortly after a Game 4 loss to Seattle, "we're in the middle of a 2-2 series and you want to ask me about what team I'll go to? My focus is on winning Riga games, not contemplating a paycheck. I've been consistent in my stance since my rookie season: as you know, Riga drafted me, and my first instinct is repaying that loyalty. The team's success comes first, and free agency has nothing to do with that. We're on to Seattle. Next question."
 
At present, Hackett is one of the league's highest-paid defensemen, and received his first All-Star Game selection towards the end of the regular season; there are no current leads suggesting whether he'll sign an extension with Riga or assess his value in free agency; rumors of suggested locations have, to this point, been entirely unsubstantiated. Since he's accrued 4 seasons of experience, he'll be an unrestricted free agent should he opt to test the waters.

S70 VHL/VHLM Draft Lottery
Monday, January 6th, 7:30PM EST
 
Welcome everyone to the S70 draft lottery, now live!
 
 
 

SASKATOON - The Wild have been breaking records since this season started. And now they are going to top off this great season with a 4-1 series win over the Mississauga Hounds, which crowns them as the Victory Hockey League Minors champions. The Saskatoon faithful got to watch their team win 4-2 which made their championship official. Jacques Lafontaine was reported to be reportedly shouting, “I’m going to Disneyland!” during the celebration.
 
When we interviewed the Wild goaltender after the celebrations, he replied, “Oh yeah, I’m definitely excited. This has been an amazing year for us and we are so stoked about winning the championship. All the guys worked hard for this and we’re proud of ourselves. Lifting up the cup was amazing.”
 
While it wasn’t much of a surprise due to the amazing season the Wild had, it was still a major accomplishment. Congratulations to our boys, the city of Saskatoon will be partying all night.

Saskatoon about to get some Saskapoon. Nicely done this season you Saskagoons.

This is big...you know what, I'll bite my tongue here.
 
First of all, to @Peace, @Elmebeck, and the rest of the Saskatoon crew, you get a big congratulations on a cup win and an altogether wonderful season. The better team won here, and there's no way I could deny that without looking like an idiot.
 
To my people, though:
@goldenglutes @Frostbite @Krice13 @Patrik Tallinder @GlowyGoat @Spyro @73MPL4R @JDGraves @Nykonax @DilIsPickle @Josh @Will
(I think that's everyone active, anyway...)
 
Congratulations on making this the greatest Hounds season yet! I've loved every minute of having you there with me, and I think it's incredibly overestimated how much of this team's great reputation is due to myself and incredibly underestimated how much is due to players like you, who we've had the good fortune of having season after season since we kicked things off in S66. Whether you're staying with us next season or going elsewhere, to one place or another, GOOD LUCK, STAY ACTIVE, AND CONTINUE TO FEEL FREE TO REACH OUT TO ME IF YOU NEED ANYTHING.
 
Here's to many more great seasons to come!

Congrats Saskatoon! Was really hoping to end of my time in Mississauga with a championship, but we had a great season overall. Shoutout to all my teammates, especially @Krice13 who’s been here the past 2 seasons with me. Can’t wait to see how well everyone does in the VHL. Also there can never be enough good things said about @GustavMattias and @Berocka, they have been great to me. Go Hounds! 

First of all, I'd like to congratulate Mississauga management ( @GustavMattias and @Berocka ) for making the finals, and their players for a fantastic season and series. After your first round selections - which surprised me - your rise above Mexico was both fun to witness and fuel for me to bug Motzaburger that Mexico kept falling and falling in the standings. Good luck next season, Hounds! 

Now for my guys... obviously I have to start with @Elmebeck. You are a fantastic AGM that is arguably the breath of life for the team and locker room. You're inclusiveness, passion, presence and commitment to the players on the team will make you a great GM in the future. 

Now onto the players...

@diamond_ace @Laflamme @Cran @JohnOQuinn @Edustava @Tagger @Ren @myself @Garrett @Jesse Nyman @Aye my name jeff @Viperxhawks19 @cjc_24 @Beketov @animal74 @Sade @leafsman @SlapshotDragon 

It was an absolute honor to both play alongside you with Killinger, and be your general manage for this historical season. Saskatoon was insanely dominant this year, a year which the VHL will remember as Saskatoon's season. Season sixty nine (haha, nice) goes down in the record book - on the VHLM index anyway - as the strongest season ever by any single VHLM team. 

Congratulations, everyone, you all deserved this. 

 

Peace for all.

Congratulations @Peace & @Elmebeck as well as all the players on Saskatoon. You were extremely dominant this season and you deserve the cup. 
 
Also a big congrats to all the Hounds you did so well to get to the finals.

I voted for longest surname, Werbenjagermanjensen.

I voted for longest surname, Werbenjagermanjensen.

I voted for longest surname, Werbenjagermanjensen.

I like the wording of that. And yeah, I think we have a couple of really good seasons ahead of us.

4th Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S69
Another regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 4th Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards for S69.
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors. I wrote descriptions for most of these award names in the original award post. This year I'm cutting down on that junk and getting straight to business. Without further ado, away we go:
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Basaraba Moose @Toasty 
Basaraba came within 1 of tying Sven’s record from last season, but barely finished ahead with a -57 rating on the year. Basaraba had the lead in this award by a wide margin, the next closest players were at -38.
 
Previous Pylon Award Winners:
S68 – Sven Hitz (-58)
S67 - Piotr Jerwa and Nethila Dissanayake (-34)
S66 - Bryce Zhields (-49)
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes) – Hugh Chan @HughJas_ 
There’s a little bit of controversy with this award this year. While there has never been an official requirement of minutes played to qualify for this award, I now recognize that we need to set it at 1,000 minutes. Because of that ruling, Hugh Chan wins the award with 4 PIM in 2050 minutes played. Honorable mention to Shane Mars who had 0 PIM, but only played 561 minutes.
 
Previous Gandhi Award Winners:
S68 – Jack Lynch (0 PIM, 1473 Minutes Played) 
S67 - Diljodh Starload (0 PIM, 2091 Minutes Played)
S66 - Beau Buefordsson (0 PIM, 1939 Minutes Played)
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – John Madden @Thranduil 
John was hit an astounding 357 times this season, shattering the previous high of 302.
 
Previous Timex Award Winners:
S68 – Mikko Aaltonen (297 hits taken)
S67 – Rauno Palo (302 hits taken)
S66 - Beau Louth (300 hits taken)
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Julius Freeman @rjfryman 
Julius took another step and fired the puck on net 452 times. Barely beating Randoms (448) and Julian Borwinn (447).
 
Previous John Wayne Award Winners:
S68 – Rylan Peace (466 shots)
S67 – Matt Thompson (495 shots)
S66 – Shane Mars (533 shots)
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Julian Borwinn @Jubo07 
Julian had 136 of his shots blocked.
 
Previous HtBotB Award Winners:
S68 – Rylan Peace (144 shots blocked)
S67 - Beau Louth (153 shots blocked)
S66 - Oyorra Arroyo (142 shots blocked)
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) - Elias Dahlberg @Nykonax 
Did the fact that Elias led the league with 320 missed shots factor in to his decision to retire?
 
Previous CHtBotB Award Winners:
S68 – Rylan Peace (351 shots missed)
S67 - Beau Louth (364 shots missed)
S66 – Roctrion King (372 shots missed)
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Guillaume Fontenette @okochastar 
Guillaume takes home fresh new shin pads after blocking 166 shots this season. Last year’s winner, Seabass Perrin finished 2nd with 147 blocked shots.
 
Previous New Shin Pads Award Winners:
S68 – Seabass Perrin (207 shots blocked)
S67 - Piotr Jerwa (170 shots blocked)
S66 - Lando Baxter (189 shots blocked)
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - John Madden @Thranduil 
In back to back years, the minutes played leader is also the most hit player. John averaged 31.38 minutes per game for a total of 2,259 minutes this season.
 
Previous Tired Legs Award Winners:
S68 – Mikko Aaltonen (2,290 minutes)
S67 - Shawn Glade (2,226 minutes)
S66 - Robert Malenko (2,324 minutes)
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Elias Dahlberg @Nykonax 
Elias spent 368 minutes on the power play.
 
Previous Snap! Award Winners:
S68 – Joseph McWolf (351 power play minutes)  
S67 - Beau Louth (437 power play minutes)
S66 - Jake Davis (412 power play minutes)
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Wolf Stansson Jr @Cornholio
Prague occupied the top 4 spots for penalty kill minutes. Wolf led everyone with 328 minutes on the penalty kill.
               
Previous 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
S68 – Jack Lynch (353 minutes)  
S67 - Aron Nielsen (374 minutes)
S66 - Lew Bronstein (352 minutes)
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %) - Rauno Palo @jRuutu
Much like Podrick last year, Rauno ends his career on a high note, winning 59.45% of his face-offs. He barely beat out Joel Ylonen, who had 59.41%.
               
Previous Sean Archer Award Winners:
S68 – Podrick Cast (62.56%)
S67 - Beau Louth (63.09%)
S66 – Rauno Palo (63.10%)
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %) - Zeno Miniti @Zeno
Zeno had a league low 32.27% face-offs won.
               
Previous Castor Troy Award Winners:
S68 – Gritty (36.31%)  
S67 - Gucci Garrop (35.07%)
S66 - Bryce Zhields (30%)
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Owen Nolan @studentized 
Owen scored 6 penalty shot goals out of 11 attempts.
               
Previous Triple Deke Award Winners:
S68 – Jorgon Weyed (6 penalty shot goals)  
S67 - Veran Dragomir (8 penalty shot goals)
S66 - Leph Twinger (5 penalty shot goals)
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) - Edward Vigneault @Patpou22 
Edward won the award with 4 fights won. His fight record was 4-0-2 the season. That gave him the award nod over Hiroshi Okada (4-1-4).
               
Previous Rocky Award Winners:
S68 – Tyler Barabash Jr (2 fights won)  
S67 – ACL TEAR (6 fights won)
S66 - Ryuu Crimson (4 fights won)
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Rusty Shackleford @K1NG LINUS 
Rusty set a new low mark losing 5 fights this season.
               
Previous Glass Joe Award Winners:
S68 – Podrick Cast and Jordan Tonn (2 fights lost)  
S67 - Kronos Bailey and Hunter Hearst Helmsley (4 fights lost)
S66 - Rauno Palo (3 fights lost)
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) - Julian Borwinn @Jubo07 
Julian had 27 total stars awarded to him this season, including a league high 13 1st stars!
               
Previous Stars Award Winners:
S68 – Matt Thompson (32 total stars)   
S67 - Rauno Palo (25 total stars)
S66 - Matt Thompson (28 total stars)
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Tzuyu @tfong  
Tzuyu won 12 stars without winning the 1st star this season.
               
Previous Bridesmaid Award Winners:
S68 – Zeno Miniti (9 stars)  
S67 - Dan Baillie (13 stars)
S66 - Mikka Pajari (7 stars)
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - John Madden @Thranduil 
Are we seeing a pattern here? Last season Mikko Aaltonen won the same 3 awards John Madden won this year. Madden scored 28 more points than his closest teammate, Basaraba Moose.
           
Previous Backpack Award Winners:
S68 – Mikko Aaltonen (28 points more than teammate)      
S67 - Podrick Cast (23 points more than teammate)
 
This concludes the unofficial award ceremony. Thank you to everyone reading. Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! Have a good night!
 
1,172 words, will claim for 2 weeks.

From Noob to Assistant GM
 
      The last little while in the VHL has been a whirlwind for me. I have recently become the Assistant General Manager to the Yukon Rush. Between that and my player currently moving on to the VHLM finals the last few weeks have been exciting. I have only been a part of the VHL for four short months and so much as happened in that time. I want to express what it has been like since the start and how it has led me to be in the position I am in today.
 
The Beginning
 
      In September I was listening to a local podcast in Vancouver. It is a newer podcast called "The Canucks Conversation." The only reason I began listening to this podcast is because the one I used to listened to had come to an end. The Patcast tragically lost a member of its team and so the podcast was ended. #RIPBOTCH. I searched for a new podcast to listen to afterwards and that's when I started listening to The Canucks Conversation. This podcast played an add about a simulation hockey league called VHL Hockey. At first I thought that seemed like a stupid idea and just disregarded the information. As weeks went on, the adds kept popping up so I decided to give it a look. I didn't know where to start and what any of this mumbo jumbo meant but I decided to make a player anyways and see what happens. I stumbled out of the gate trying to navigate through what seemed like an overly complicated website with all these different tasks and ways of building your player. A week or so later the VHLM draft happened and I was taken by the Mississauga Hounds and that's when everything began to change.
 
Time with the Hounds
 
      I want to start off by saying the Hounds Discord LR is one of the best places in the VHL to learn and feel welcome in this league. The social aspect of that group which is lead by @GustavMattias and @Berocka keeps everyone engaged and keeps everyone ACTIVE. It seems no matter who they draft or sign they turn each player that comes into the league into social and active members. In this locker room I learned how to navigate through the VHL forum, was taught different strategies for building your player and what it takes to actually build a team. All valuable lessons that I will take with me into the future. While learning all of this I have also gotten to enjoy being on a successful roster. My first season when I had no clue about anything the Hounds did very well. They finished 4th in the standings which was a franchise record at the time. Despite an early exit in the playoffs the season was a success. My second season with the team was even better. At this point I knew what I was doing when it came to gaining TPE and navigating through the Forums so I was able to enjoy the games a lot more with my team. At first we weren't sure how well we would do but we had plenty of members that continually worked all season long to gain TPE and as the season progressed we became juggernauts. With finishing 2nd in the VHLM, breaking our previous franchise record and now being in the VHLM finals, my time with the Hounds has been a complete success. Its given me the lessons I need to maybe one day become a GM of a VHLM team. 
 
 The Wranglers
 
         After my first season I was drafted by the Calgary Wranglers of the VHL. I spent my next season with the Hounds but I kept in constant contact with the Wranglers Discord LR. I began applying for VHLM AGM positions during this season but was unsuccessful in landing any of them. I then tried for the WJC GM positions but again was passed over. I got some great advice from a few Wranglers members such as @BladeMaiden that motivated me to keep trying and that consistency was key. Another amazing learning experience I had with the team was just recently when the Wranglers started to blow up. A few members had a disagreement which led to a loved member of the team to want to retire. When the team found out about the news chaos ensued. @Bushito came in and handled the situation like an absolute pro. He made the moves necessary to calm the storm and managed to stop the bleeding before things got to far out of control. I haven't even played a game for the Wranglers yet and I have learned so much.
 
Assistant GM
 
      Recently, there were two Assistant General manager positions that opened up and I applied for both. I first applied for the San Diego Marlins Assistant General Manager position. The interview process went great but there were a lot of really good candidates. Ultimately, I was passed on for the position which ended up being a blessing in disguise. I also applied for the AGM position for the Yukon Rush. I thought I had a really good interview with their new General Manager and once the news broke about the hiring of the San Diego Marlins AGM, shortly after the Rush announced me as their AGM. @MexicanCow123 took a chance on me and for that I am forever grateful. I am grateful for opportunity to support him as he rebuilds the Yukon Rush into contenders and future VHLM Champions. Also for the chance to have a good topic to write my media spot about! hahah!
 
      All the past lessons I have learned in the short period of time I have been here I am going to use to hopefully have a successful stint as the Yukon Rush's Assistant General Manager. To all those who have helped me and showed me how fun the VHL really is, Thank you! Now its time to focus on trying to win a Championship with the Mississauga Hounds!!
 
Word Count: 1006

Ooooooh. 

I'll take a 3-1 series lead over a 2-2 tie any day! 

Well, Seattle made it through a very hard first round. A brutal second round and now we find ourselves in the finals. It has been fun to be a part of a team that just keeps pushing. When our top guys fall off, our secondary guys step up. So I think this final series will be a thriller.
 
Something to note about playing on a team. It is a team event and if you play your role well, most likely you will find success. That has been the case here in Seattle. A collective of players that are willing to move around the lineup for the good of the team. It has worked with some surprising results.
 
Of course this is mostly due to our GM. He is open to all input from players and every game is reviewed well. He is playing chess while others are playing checkers. Amazing to be a part of it.
 
Win or lose, this has been the highlight of my career so far. Thank you Seattle and all my team mates.

Another season over, another VHL.com post looking at team TPA growth. The chart compares end of regular season TPAs from S68 to S69.
 


 
Risers:
1) D.C Dragons  (+3157)
D.C edges out Prague as the expansion team with the most growth. Not unexpected at all that they sit at #1 and #2 considering where they came from.
 
2) Prague Phantoms (+2127)
Both expansion teams grew to a point where next year's playoffs are possible. At the end of S69 they sit at 6719 and 6574 respectively.
 
3) Seattle Bears (+1639)
Easily the most impressive growth number. Seattle becomes the first team ever to eclipse 10,000 total team TPA by regular seasons end.
 
4) New York Americans (+1527)
Not far behind, and almost as impressive considering their trades, is NY. Solid drafting starting to pay off with a bunch of S68 guys all sticking together.
 
5) Calgary Wranglers (+1065)
This was the biggest surprise to me personally, just based on my perceptions of the teams. Calgary probably should have made the playoffs this year...
 
6) Malmo Nighthawks (+442)
Another surprise to me. Losing Matt Thompson means a lot of TPA needed to overcome, but they did it.
 
7) Vancouver Wolves (+313)
Second best team in the league and still getting better. Vancouver did a good job.
 
Fallers:
8 ) Riga Reign (-191)
practically no change. When you are already a top team, small change is a good thing.
 
9) Helsinki Titans (-308)
A smaller loss than I expected, but once you rank around 9th, relative loss compared to the rest of the league is more worrying than the absolute loss itself.
 
10) Toronto Legion (-308)
Same number as Helsinki, and same comment applies. Beginning of a decline for these two very good S60's franchises?
 
11) Moscow Menace (-580)
Lot's of change for Moscow. They were the #1 S68 team TPA team, so this loss doesn't hurt as much as it might look.
 
12) HC Davos Dynamo (-4576)
lol
 
VHL as a whole (+4307 => +358 per team)
Is this due to having more members or more TPE handouts? Not sure, but this number doesn't seem too worrying on the inflation front either way, so that's good.
 

1. Well, not to be overconfident, but our team is stellar, so yes
5. Cape Breton! The Cape Breton Screaming Eagles  
6. Heck yeah. Wish it wasn't over though!
7. Enough money to buy me all the games I wanted. Happy me, happy!
8. I went for the Steam Christmas sales. Not otherwise, though.
11. Can't break your resolutions if you keep your expectations so low that you don't have any  

So I personally like how you under the Draft page can see when the last update was made, https://vhlportal.com/teams/drafts/32

I'd love to have that for the team roster view too, would help a lot with lines and keeping on top on players that stop updating for whatever reason.