mattyIceman

From the desk of player agent MattyIce I've been representing James Rose since he signed on with the Mexico City Kings in season 71. Do you think that's the only time I had anything to do with him? Think again... I've actually been representing him since his second season, playing for the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL. It was his draft year, so I opted to try and get him proper representation before his name got called. I helped him develop his game and made him attend training camps to improve quicker so he could be ready to play professional. His name wasn't called during his second year, but his third season he made some drastic improvements to his game. He was well on his way to get drafted pretty high, but the COVID19 pandemic hit and the season was cancelled. He looked for alternative leagues to play for in the meantime, I found him a spot playing for Mexico City. He expressed his interest to stay in the league as it seemed magically unaffected by the global situation. He could travel worldwide, mingle with just about anyone and get paid very handsomely. He waived his right to be drafted into the NHL during his first season. So what does this have to do with me, you ask? I've been scouting talent from the ages of 11 years old to as high as 17 years old to look for a new player to represent once Rose retires. Since we travel together sometimes to destinations around the world, I take a peek here and there at the minor hockey programs. When I see a good program or team, I begin to focus. I've noticed some players with some exceptional talents. I can list a few players that I've scouted and taken a liking to. Some are specialists with awesome potential abilities, some are very well-rounded players with no real strengths or weaknesses, and some are project players. I'll include some NHL comparables for good measure. 1. Sonata Diamante - C - Playmaker He's a tall 16 year old kid with lightning speed and quick hands for his age. He's of Japanese natonality with Italian descent, so it's an odd combination. I don't know how that happened, I won't ask either. For now he has a lanky frame and needs work with his faceoff and scoring ability. Comparable: Mikko Rantanen 2. Wandamian Crucifixplate - G - Hybrid Style 14 year old Irish kid that plays with some heart. Well-rounded ability to see plays develop well. Comparable: John Gibson 3. Rickyticky Bobbywobbin - LW - Two Way Forward 12 year old kid with some size. From USA, has a good chance to play in University someday. Keeping a close eye on this kid. Comparable: TJ Oshie 4. Dadood Frumcheers - LW - Two Way Forward 15 year old from USA again, I know his father runs a bar and is a major hockey fan. Dadood is well raised and may take over the family bar business if he doesn't get into a development program. Comparable: Jake Virtanen 5. David Krappenschitz - D - Defensive minded Hailing from Hungary, this 15 year old teen has excellent vision in his own end and can make a great first pass to exit the defensive zone. Needs to work on his skating tremendously. Comparable: Michael Matheson 6. Irish O'African - D - Two Way Dman Neither Irish or African, this young 11 year best people skates well, passes well and sees the ice very well. His main issue is getting on the scoresheet. Comparable: Sami Vatanen 7. Cowabunga Peppermill - RW - Sniper This 15 year old kid from Australia can snipe very well. His skating is lacking and has tendency to hog the puck and try to dangle around opponents, without much success. A project player by definition. Comparable: Jonathan Drouin 8. Ditty Doodat - LW - Playmaker He has some serious hands and playmaking ability. This 13 year old Canadian would be comparable to Patrick Kane, he just needs to work on his shot and skating. 9. Yanni Van Halen - C - Power Forward Now this 16 year old youngster from Belgium has been developing a solid all around game, producing points and getting involved in the play. He needs all around refinement if he wants to make a career out of hockey. Comparable: Sean Monahan 10. Jabreakit Jubawdit - D - Puck Mover A 14 year old from Lebanon, all he does is spend time chasing pucks in corners, getting physical and passing the puck safely out of the defensive zone. His discipline from being somewhat hot-headed, his shot and his defensive positioning without the puck are lacking. Comparable: Ivan Provorov 11. Bicurious George - C - Sniper Somewhat of shorter stature, this 17 year old from Wales has a great shot and great speed going up and down the ice. His passing ability is fairly decent, his offensive zone awareness is severely lacking, often getting caught out of position. Many of his goals come from weird spots, seemingly entering the net randomly. If he can play center with strategy, he can be quite lethal. Comparable: Brendan Perlini 12. Dick Dump - G - Butterfly style Oh this 14 year old netminder has some moves. He plays alot like Tim Thomas and Dominik Hasek, such that his seemingly random drop-first style makes him make very incredible saves. Due to his smaller stature, Dump has an inconsistency with staying in position. He either comes out too far to challenge shooters, not square to the shooter and leaves gaps and can play too deep in his own net, forcing him to use acrobatics. Well, there's a short list of youngsters I got my eye on. Perhaps I'll release more in another article. Cheers VHL! MattyIce

James Rose London, England Reporters from London Sports Press gather around the locker room to interview the players from the London United. Reporter: James! James! A few questions for you regarding the World Juniors? JR: Yeah, sure. Reporter: You made Assistant Captain this season. How do you think it will affect your play? JR: Well, most of the guys are younger than me now, I've been through alot since the last tournament. I can definitely help out the new guys a bunch. Reporter: You'll be facing some current and past teammates and reuniting with older teammates. How does this dynamic affect your play? JR: Hmm, that's a loaded question. It will be super great to play with Riley Knight Gee again, he's been lights-out great in Houston. Jay Jones is my mate here in London so some familiar faces for sure. The rest of the team will be new faces and that's awesome for everyone to play with top talent. Trivium over there will be playing for Team World, along with former Houston mate Jiggly Gumballs, another former mate Patrik Laine and next years projected starter here Nils Friedriksen are playing for Europe, Krestanovich will be repping USA and Volchenkov returning to my former Team Asia. It sure will be a fun time, taking some jabs and playing for those bragging rights, plus that delicious trophy for sure. Reporter: Team Canada is projected to take home a win. Why do you think that is? JR: GM Dakota Lamb sure assembled a powerful team, so if it's to put extra pressure on us, then I'm always down for elevated challenges. We have to work our asses off to get results, they won't come easily, since the other teams are of top quality as well. Reporter: Thanks for your time James... JR: Always a pleasure, always root for London, always stay United Mentions: @KnightRiley@der meister@TTtheT@JigglyGumballs@PatrikLaine@Boragina@SirRupertBarnes@dlamb@Biggreen10

James Rose will now be answering some questions: (1) We sent Guy Lesieur back to D.C., do you think he will help them turn their season around? He's a real good player, so I certainly believe that. (2) Are you going to stay in touch with Guy or is he now an enemy to you? Yeah I'll stay in touch. If I can find him haha (3) The return in the trade was a conditional 1st round pick. It'll be this offseason if D.C. makes the playoffs, next offseason if they don't. So.. are you a Dragons fan now? I'm a fan of our team. Let's give the fans something to cheer about and play spoiler for the other teams, howbowdat? (4) Who stepped up for us now that our only veteran - and clearly our best player - is gone? Trivium has been banging them in lately. I hope he keeps it up, he's real solid. Jay Jones has been making things easier with his faceoff skills too! (5) Pretend we are getting an extra 1st round pick this season through this trade; what positions do you think your lovely GM picks with both 1st rounders? A forward and a defenseman. Or two forwards. Get this team to be scarier to play against. (6) Who'll be our first player to get over 800 TPE now that we lost our only one? Wow that's a tough one... I'd say me, but I've been wrong in the past haha. This league is always shifting so who knows who's coming and/or going?

I think its 350 TPA and s72 oldest

Another review for another Willie Dredge sig. This one is really, really slick. Nice touch cropping the bottom part with the logo off, and the Gaudreau in the background with the logo swap is points. The Dredge signature layered above with just the right opacity is perfection. I feel like the background is maybe too faded? It feels too far away in the background. Less fade and a touch more color would make the whole graphic pop as a piece, rather than focusing too much on the centerpiece. This is solid 9.5/10 Simple and clean af, very effective!

James Rose London, England Late night, August 5th Around 10 PM Phone buzzes, it's a group message from the GM... Today is a sad day, as one of our original players leaves London. After much thought, we decided to send Guy Lesieur back to the Dragons. As we look to being a force in the future, we got back a draft asset. He will be more useful to a contending team like the Dragons. ...holy shit, not that I'm not surprised, but he was actually traded... I got on the phone with the general manager and discussed what happened. After a productive discussion, I came to accept the fact that this was best for the long-term future of the franchise. I was already pretty tired from having played in three games that day and I was very productive in trying to get good results. The next day, I wasn't so good. We won a game (against Lesieur and the Dragons, ironically), but I was sloppy. It sure showed in that shutout loss against New York. I just have to remember to stay positive. He was the top dog, now the weight is way more on all our shoulders. I'm going to miss having him on our side, he made our transitions to the VHL that much easier to deal with. He was pretty great in practice with us and showed us what's possible for us young guys here. It was a Big Deal, but I can't make that much of a big deal out of the Big Deal, or else it's going to be a big deal. Guy, I'll miss having you around scoring goals @KC15

Thanks for the input! I actually wrote this in two notes on my notepad on my phone, so I didn't even consider using color and font size. The point of the article was to get the idea out of my head and free for anyone to chime in!

(1) 26 games in, we are 6 points behind an even record, and 6 points behind the Malmo Nighthawks. Can we pass them and finish 3rd out of 4 in our division? Anything is possible. We just have to keep working and get results. (2) How's the ambiance in the arena on game nights? Are fans pleased with our performances? Any sighting of hooligans? When we win it's pretty great, when we lose though, it's not like Manchester United falls... yet. Maybe we get to that point someday, when we lose an important game and England drinks itself stupid? (3) Hypothetical situation: Our top player Guy Lesieur is blindsided, a real cheap shot. Who steps up and defends him? We all go. We are UNITED. (4) What food would you not recommend from everything that's available at our home stadium? Don't eat their poutine!!! Its not like home, at all. It does taste like they put beer in their gravy. (5) What would you have done with your life if you didn't become a professional hockey player? Probably a truck driver in Montreal. (6) Rank melons from best to worst: cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon. Watermelon, honeydew, cantaloupe. Easy answer. However, ALL those flavors make delicious e-juice

A few reporters from London's sports press came to visit the rink after yesterday's matches to speak to some of the United's players, here's the segment of the media scrum with defenseman James Rose. Media: Hey James, we want to know your thoughts on how the team's performance after a third of the season. JR: Well, this is an expansion team, so we know it's going to be an uphill battle all season, with a lot of rookies. Theres some veteran presence here, like Lesieur, and he's been showing us how it's done on the ice. Media: Do you think with all the rookies, teams will continue to think of playing London as an easy win? JR: I don't think that at all, we beat Malmo three times already this season. They got us in the last game, but my boy Hylands (member of Malmo Nighthawks) and I keep it real. He's a great player and buddy. If you weren't aware, we played together in Mexico two seasons ago. Media: Do you think there's a bright future for the London United? How close to a championship are you guys? JR: Of course and I'm committed to it 100% I think in a few seasons we'll be playoff bound. The league is always changing. There will be new guys coming here and there and we can piece together a very competitive team very soon. We just have to keep at training and playing at a top level. Media: Thanks for your time, James! JR: Anytime, guys..

You're gonna have to write an article about facing off against London when you join Helsinki next year, kid. Maybe I'll be nice and get you tea and crumpets, or fish and chips... Maybe I'll saran wrap your skate blades before game time ?

Greetings, VHL community! I want to touch on something I had written about previously. WHAT WOULD THE VHL LOOK LIKE IF THE WHOLE LEAGUE WAS RESTRUCTURED? What I had touched on was an idea that swirled around in my head. What if there were 16 VHL teams, each with their own affiliate, and what if there was a Junior League (JVHL) and a league for inactive players/accounts (Divison A). **I will only be speaking from my own perspective and imagination, as I have no right to speak for anyone else. I understand the difficult implications and rules imposed by the Board of Governors and the Commissioners' due process, which would make this a highly improbable scenario or undertaking.** Let's begin by listing the active VHL teams, followed by the VHLM. Some will need to relocate and/or change league altogether. Just this alone would spark confusion and/or dissent/outrage. What I'll include is the current VHL landscape, then an expanded VHL with realignment, finishing with a Junior League and Division A global development setup. Let's begin: NORTH AMERICAN CONFERENCE (why even call them Conferences anyway?) Toronto Legion New York Americans DC Dragons Chicago Phoenix Los Angeles Stars Calgary Wranglers Vancouver Wolves Seattle Bears EUROPEAN CONFERENCE Helsinki Titans Malmo Nighthawks Riga Reign Prague Phantoms HC Davos Dynamo Moscow Menace London United Warsaw Predators Now, for a hypothetical, globally expanded VHL league alignment. VHL team == VHLM affiliate team AMERICAN DIVISION Toronto Legion == Mississauga Hounds New York Americans == Philadephia Reapers DC Dragons == Miami Marauders Chicago Phoenix == Minnesota Storm Los Angeles Stars == Las Vegas Aces Calgary Wranglers == Saskatoon Wild Vancouver Wolves == Yukon Rush Seattle Bears == Houston Bulls As you may have noticed, four teams would require relocation: The San Diego Marlins, Halifax 21st, Mexico City Kings and Ottawa Lynx are to be relocated. Having gone from 12 to 8 teams, I selected the closest proximity affiliations. It's a debatable alignment, the teams I've selected are arbitrary. Now let's get creative and a bit crazy... EURASIAN DIVISION Moscow Menace == Riga Reign Prague Phantoms == HC Davos Dynamo Helsinki Titans == Malmo Nighthawks Kiev (Cossacks) == Warsaw Predators Tokyo (Shogun) == Shanghai (Soul) Sydney (Sharks) == Melbourne (Tribe) Hong Kong (Lions) == Singapore (Tigers) London United == Paris (Revolution) Holy, what the heck just happened?? What's going on here?? Simple, the VHL went GLOBAL. The eight Europe Conference teams are still all here, except four teams moving to the VHLM. Four new VHL franchises make their beginning, with affiliates within proximity. I meant, it's not like we are spending on flights and hotels and dealing with jet-lags over time zones, right? I did go crazy here and I like this look. Let's crunch some (very, very vague) numbers now: Assuming the League is a 12 player-per-team ideology, 32×12=384 signed players. Heck, that's alot of players, correct? Are there even that many created players and agencies? What do the account influx and retention numbers look like? How does the VHL increase the amount of created active players? These would be "basic issues" to be discussed, after all this is hypothetical and nothing is meant to be taken seriously at all. How about that Junior League and Division A stuff I mentioned earlier? Let me get into that, it's pretty simple. All new creates and recreates would enter here for one season, two maximum. Drafted players would become property of a VHL franchise. Inactive for a season, either in Junior or VHL, would become a free agent and be assigned to a Division A team. A VHL franchise may bid for a free agent to fill a need within their franchise with the current VHL rules. Anyway, let's make up some more stuff now: JVHL (Junior) League Six Team Proposal: Northwest Nationals America Squadron Scandinavia Vikings Europe Continentals Russia Red Army Pacific Rising Suns All new creates and recreates would be ASSIGNED to a "junior" team or "development program". Of course, I went GLOBAL hockey markets, because, why not? We can all be from anywhere in the world with an internet connection now can't we? With the idea of PARITY in mind, this is the place where the most tpe can be earned, with the idea of incentivizing fast growth and league promotion. The details are also purely hypothetical, and of course I havent touched all bases. Lastly, the Division A hypothesis. Make up 6 more locations for teams wherever you please here. Drop teams in Cairo, Rome, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, even Bombay. Wherever you please is just fine. All free agents end up assigned to one of these teams. They would be distributed among them equally with parity in mind. I think the VHFL would benefit greatly from this. Extra leagues, more tpe. Simple are that haha. The whole point of this article was just to get out an idea from my head. I know it'll never happen, but to free it from thought into an article means the idea can be commented on in agreement or disagreement, or ignored altogether. Chime in if you like! Cheers VHL community!

Hey this looks really slick, I'm gonna review it! Right off the bat, -1 for no logo swap. Although he plays for Calgary, would have been cool to see a Wranglers logo. The fonts used are just a really nice touch!! Clear, proper color use and that nicely sized diagonal positioning really draw attention to it. That shadow effect behind it really pushes it to the foreground. What a captivating effect! That fading background is very classy, and not too much attention is brought to it, the added detail towards the top and corners add the flavoring to make it that much classier. The red detail could probably have used a companion color, like a more opaque lighter shade of red, or simply white or a shade of grey to break the red and black tone of the signature. Overall, great job! 8.5/10

(1) 13 games in, we are sporting a 5-8-0 record, good for 13th in the whole league. Did you think we'd manage to record 5 wins so fast? Actually, I'm not surprised at all. We're putting in our best efforts right now. (2) Due to an anti-tanking rule, we are forced to play to play a bot goalie named β-LDN G, pronounced BLEEDING, probably. He's actually better than both Park and Jaundice, so no harm done there, but how is it playing with an actual robot? Is it weird in the locker room? Does it shower with you guys? It's pretty cool actually. He doesnt say much. His programming is pretty basic, so he's too fragile to take showers. (3) Who's your favourite S74 Draft prospect and why should we pick him or her? Venus Thightrap, Christian Mingle and Isabella Campbell. We could benefit from being a diverse group. (4) The points leaderboard is currently led by a pair of Los Angeles Stars veteran, Sigard Gunnar and Tyler Barabash Jr. Do you think they'll hold on to it? If not, who passes them and wins the scoring race? If they keep going the way they're going, who knows? My money's on Jet Jaguar though (5) How are we doing better than D.C., what's wrong with them? We're just keeping it simple, maybe they're just complicating things themselves? (6) Not really a question. Recommend me a song I have probably not heard before. TOOL - NO QUARTER

That +57 man...

I totally get all the implications involved, and I get that the M is more regarded as a CHL and not an AHL. I do get also that the indexes would need to be consolidated and simming would be an issue. The idea of having a league for inactives would sure make for interesting VHFL banter due to its random nature! I'm just spitting out what my imagination tells me! Thanks for chiming in!! Cheers bud

The latest season 73 expansion had my imagination whirling... I'll be dropping in a though or two on the VHL structure, and speaking only from a hypothetical point of view in this one. The VHL and VHLM each have their own drafts. Has it been this was since season one? Season two? Season when?? From my own perspective, its a bit weird that a Minor League team gets to draft at all. It isnt even an entry draft. It's a dispersal draft. That for me is a bit strange... but in the grand scheme of how this fine league has operated, it's worked out fine and maintained its longevity. Its main purpose has been to integrate newcomers into the VHL systems and introduce to them long-tenured agencies that are mandated to help them earn TPE and retain players to participate. What if it didnt operate this way... What if there was a Juniors League (JVHL) that the newcomers and recreates played for a season up to 150 TPE, then get drafted by a VHL team when eligible. Then the VHL team would have the freedom to call up and send down players according to max contracts and salary cap with their affiliate VHLM team. Just like the NHL. How about free agent inactive players get their own league as well? Some sort of VHL Division A league? If they chose to return to the community, they could easily reintegrate into the VHL. Just like the NHL can scout outside the league in Europe. How ideal would that be? I could understand the initial index and governance complications, but realigning all the teams would sure make things interesting. 16 VHL teams, 16 VHLM teams, 6 JVHL teams and 6 Division A teams. A global VHL, perhaps that's some wishful thinking there. Or maybe not.... I'll write more soon on what swirls in my imagination. Cheers folks, comment your thoughts if you like!!

Well, theres an untapped Asian market that does have an emergence of rising talent and development programs. I hereby declare a serious candidate for further expansion.... The Tokyo Shogun

Well I see where you got the idea now! Even on this card I'm not a fan of the jersey thingy though.. glad I can help to inspire!

Hey I like this sig, I'll review it too! I absolutely dig the player render, the whole simplistic jersey color scheme and a nice clean logo swap. Very classic and books very neat. The gray background is a nice touch, if it was layered transparent over some kind of out of focus rink setting it would be more impactful. The upper deck, VHLM logo and that signature are all bonus points for me. Give the card a real look-and feel. I do get the idea (judging by above response) that the red detailed square is "jersey fabric", however it does kinda look a bit out of place. I dont get the UD Jersey part either, perhaps enlighten me? What would have made this sig cool is some kind of classic border, and some "draft class" Upper Deck edition, boosting its value in some kind of trading community. Points for imagination. Overall score: 9.5/10 Minus points for the background, no border and the square thingy.

Looks real great! I gotta minus one point for no logo swap. The sweet chopped large font is classic Rockstar. It does hide some of the logo and that's a nice touch since it wasn't swapped. That glass breaking effect is real impactful, like I'll assume this player will be. The red and white background fading to black on the bottom gives somewhat of an aggressive and ominous look. I'm not too crazy about the black and white face, it could have used more color, but that's just my personal taste. This being my first review, this is excellent. Minus one point for the logo swap, this exceeds expectations on all levels. Keep these sigs coming Rockstar, we need this quality. Score: 10.5/10 -1 logo -0.5 black and white face.

Oh boy, where shall I begin? After the rollercoaster expansion and entry drafts, James Rose did find himself in some kind of see-saw limbo. "At first, I had my heart set to play a third season in Houston", said Rose. :Last season, with the team notching only ten wins, I wanted one last shot at a title". Having been drafted by Helsinki in the 3rd round in season 72, he was left unprotected, unknowing to him. He was selected by the London United during the expansion draft. "It was a whirlwind moment!" he exclaimed. "I understood the situation in Helsinki, with many retiring players, it made sense only after the fact that they had to protect their entire VHL roster. I have an opportunity to gain valuable experience now and share a locker room with experienced guys and fresh blood. It really feels like I fit in nicely here. The management team welcomed me and told me I can be a huge part of this new franchise, and I can call London home now. There are no hard feelings for anyone anywhere." With his happy-go-lucky attitude, Rose showed up to training camp recently and impressed the staff, giving him top line minutes and tons of responsibility. "Its a different vibe here" said Rose. "Kinda like a group of misfits trying to find their place in the league. I've taken some "me time" during training camp to visit some landmarks and attractions, like Buckingham palace, Piccadilly circus and the Big Ben. During training camp in Helsinki last season, I wore a jacket, barely understood anyone and drove around in a Subaru, sliding in the snow. While all that was fun, I stayed primarily within the nucleus of the team, learning from the veterans and the systems, trying my best to keep up!! Haha it was a first for me, so I tried to soak it all in. This time around, I know what I'm doing much more clearly." At the moment of this writing, he has recorded two assists in three losses, ranking second in the league in blocked shots. "I think this season will be quite a challenge, but hey I've bounced around to more teams than the two seasons I've been playing in the league." said Rose. "Maybe due to expansion, the league is a more diluted talent pool. I'm craving every chance I get to make a serious name for myself. I get to play against everyone, that's going to make me much better, much quicker!"

So you benefitted by losing out... theres an interesting predicament. I mean its def possible since the VHL is structured to be an 11 player team

Wow, FOUR new teams... This curveball was thrown out somewhere around trade deadline during season 72. Obviously it was discussed by the Board of Governors, and when the news was disclosed, it seemed to be well received by most of the community. The new cities that were granted franchises, their logos and the general managers were all revealed and, much to my personal chagrin, there was still no Montreal team. I mean, it would have been cool to eventually play a road game close to home or have a chance to play there in some future or even be a new player's agent, post-retirement. I only want to discuss from my experience and perspective, then if you choose to chime in, feel free to do so. So I played in Mexico in season 71, then got drafted to VHL Helsinki and VHLM Halifax. Around the 15 game mark, all us draft picks get moved out for assets to Halifax. Sonnet had planned to set up Houston for a winning season in s73, I mean they were last place with a near empty roster, save Riley Knight Gee, who had asked for a trade from Philadelphia to return to Houston. Then came waiver claims Patty Laine, Jiggly Gumballs and Drew Minott and there was this tight chemistry that prevailed. We still sucked hard but the locker room was enjoyable, finishing the season with like ten wins or something. Fast forward to the offseason... Speaking with Jubo from Helsinki briefly, we were told there was a short protection list, and at the time I hadn't done the math for myself. Helsinki had four retirees and a good prospect pool ready for VHL promotion, I still believed I was protected, since I did plan to stay for a third season in the minors and there would be no salary cap implications to the roster. Boy, was I wrong... James Rose was selected in the expansion draft by GM Sir McWolf of the London United. Man was I shocked, but neither in a bad or good way. I mean, my first thoughts were, "Now I understand why Jubo couldn't protect me, and now I have an opportunity to play in the VHL NOW!". Meanwhile, Sonnet got the promotion to be the Commisioner of the VHLM, and rjfryman was anointed Houston GM. So, in the span of one day, I got just bombarded with questions from Houston and London, plus a thorough conversation with Jubo about his Helsinki situation, plus the rollercoaster of everyone going everywhere was such a wild ride. I was still on the fence about graduating up, since I had told rjfryman that I wanted to stick with Riley Knight Gee and attempt VHLM domination, pre-draft. He told me that it's my choice ultimately, and he did say it's his job to prepare us for the big show. I had the same conversation with McWolf and it was the same message. I did decide to pack my bags and make the move to London, since I would get valuable experience and play with, and against, the best, logging solid top minutes and probably get humiliated by the likes of stars like Julius Freeman, Jet Jaguar and such. I do already miss Houston though, although now I'm slightly above that weight class. My own personal journey is just beginning, having attended training camp on the VHLs' 13th birthday. Sonnet made the move to get me, assuming he was setting up for a great s73 in Houston and leaving rjfryman with little to worry about with a potential top defensive pairing. Now it's your turn to chime in if you please: How hard has the expansion hit you and your squad? How far did you speculate into the future of the franchise you're running? Did you make a move you regret? Or are you laughing your ass off because you made moves that benefitted your franchise? Have you lost players you didnt think you would? Did you draft the best available player, or for need? Too lazy to make a word count, but I'm sure it's over 1k Peeple Menshins: @Sonnet @rjfryman @Jubo07 @PatrikLaine @KnightRiley @JigglyGumballs @DreMin15 @gorlab @McWolf

So pretty much every non expansion team can make a run at the Cup? Nice article Patty, you're destined for great things.

(1) Regular season starts tomorrow, predict the score of our first game. 3-1 Loss (2) What song should play when we enter the ice for our home opener? Pneuma - Tool (3) What is your objective for this season? Play some serious minutes, develop a rounded game and defeat all the expansion teams (4) If we could have selected an extra player in the S73 Entry Draft, literally anyone, who would you suggest we add to our roster? Patrik Laine. He has franchise potential (5) This is the expansion era, let's get crazy. Where does the league expand next? Montreal and Rome (6) What was your first favourite video game? Mine was TMNT IV: Turtles in Time on the SNES. I played the heck out of it with my neighbors That's easy. CHRONO TRIGGER or anything from he JRPG Squaresoft era, those were magical times