mattyIceman

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

Kashima Kitsune (Kashima Foxes)

Team Name: Kashima Kitsune
Arena: Yūtoku Ice Arena
Capacity: 7,500

Saga Flag:

 
Kashima City Flag:

Altered Flag:


Alternative Logo:

 
Fox Tail:

Home Logo:

 
Away Logo:

 
Alternative Logo:

 
Concept Logo (Not Used):

Home Jersey:

 
Away Jersey:

 
Alternative Jersey:


Mascot (Yūtoku - Inari) - By @Riley_Couture

Hex Colours:
Main Colour: #006462
Secondary Colour: #e40150
Accent Colour: #FFFFFF

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!

Yeah damn right Riga is our affiliate 

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!

(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

(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..

I have been thinking about making teams a lot recently as it is something i like to do in my spare time. I have had some ideas for teams that i had in another hockey league that recently decided not to start up as everyone bailed out of the the project so i came to the VHL.
 
The idea for the team would be the same as what i'd potentially go forward with if they ever did an expansion here and i was in for a shot of getting a team. I'd want to make the first team to crack the asain market!
 
So i'd like to introduce you to the Hokkaido Diamond Dogs!

Main Logo:

 
Home:


Away:


Alternative:

 
The team is based on the Hokkaido Inu which is an animal that is native to Hokkaido and is know for fighting bears and other various animals such as that. I liked to make a simple colour scheme that reflects the symplistic nature of the logo.
 
We would be playing out of Sapporo as it is one of the main cities in Hokkaido and has a big sports fanbase already there with the Fighters and Consodole Sapporo (Football/Soccer) being based there.
Ice hockey is a sport that would really fit the colder climate of Hokkaido and i think this could be a team that could threive!
 
The patches on the shoulder are one of a dog surrounded by the outline of Hokkaido. The other is the symbol for Hokkaido!

Arm Patch 1:

 
Arm Patch 2:


For those wondering why would you put a team in Hokkaido. I was planning to teach in the Sapporo area back in 2016 and i really got interested in the area and sports there. I have been following sports in Hokkaido ever since. Sadly i have never been there myself yet but it's at the top of my bucket list when i am able to travel again!

This is actually the first league where i have not made my character from the area as they're usually from Sapporo, Japan.
 
Words: 333  

Sapporo Dogs

Team Name: Sapporo Dogs
Arena: Makomanai Sekisui Heim Ice Arena
Capacity: 11,500

Team Logo:
 

Alternative Patches:

 
Alternative (Prefecture Flag):

 
 
Home Jersey:

 
Away Jersey:

 
 
Alternative #1:

 
Alternative #2:



Hex Codes for Colours:

Main Colour: #2f304e
Secondary Colour: #d13a43
Tertiary Colour: #FFFFFF
 

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 ?

MY RETURN TO HOUSTON
By: Patrik Laine
 
INTRODUCTION:
As many of you may remember, I was a part of the Houston Bulls organization during Season 72. I was selected by the Miami Marauders in round 5 of the VHLM draft. This is my story about my return to Houston. Let's begin.
 
CHAPTER 1: ARRIVAL
We were coming off of a close 2-1 loss to the Las Vegas Aces. When I got on the plane, I took a look at who was next on the schedule. I seen it was Houston, and my initial reaction was one of joy. I had played there for a year, made good friends with the locals and it would be nice to see them again. All I could think about was Houston. My former home. Once we landed, the airport security that always used to see me once we landed smiled at me. One of them said "Welcome back to Houston, Laine.". I looked over with a smile and gave them a nod. We hopped on a bus and went to our hotel. I took a shower and then went to bed.
 
CHAPTER 2: DAY OFF
We had a free day in Houston before our game. I woke up early, at 7:30 and was out of the hotel room by 8. Practice was until 9:30. After practice, I went for a 2 hour walk around downtown Houston. Many fans greeted me and asked for autographs as I completed my walk. Of course, I complied. I also stopped at a hockey shop to purchase a little gift for my friend, Houston's starting goaltender Drew Minott. He had always told me how he wanted a certain stick, pads and mask that match well. I picked up a few items I had custom ordered. Those items were the CCM Axis goalie pads, a mask with a custom paint job and the CCM Extreme Flex 4 goalie stick. Both the stick and pads came with a Houston styled paint job and the mask came with a custom paint job that I asked one of my good friends to make. I texted Minott and asked him if he wanted to meet up for lunch at a cafe that we always went to for lunch back when we played in Houston. He shot me a text back and said sure and we decided to meet there at 12:00 PM. I had the stick, pads and mask in my hotel room and would give them to him later. I walked in right at 12 and he was there waiting for me. We sat down and we talked for a bit before we ordered. He was having a great season playing in Houston, while I was scoring lots of points over in Miami. Once our food came, we had lunch. Afterwards, we drove over to his house. I was sure to bring the gear with me in secret and I surprisingly did a good job hiding it. We hung out for a few hours at his house. Around 3:30, I got a text from coach telling me to be at the hotel for 4 PM. Minott offered to drive me but I said I could walk. As I left, I told him I left him a surprise in his garage which was the goalie gear. Not sure how he reacted to it, but hopefully he enjoyed it. I arrived at the hotel at 3:55 and coach and most of the team was there. We hopped on the team bus and drove about an hour down south to Galveston, Texas. We all got to relax on the beach until about 8 PM. It was a lot of fun. We drove back and arrived back in Houston at 9 PM. We went to our hotel rooms and prepared for tomorrow's game.
 
CHAPTER 3: GAME DAY
I woke up at 7, as I do on every game day. I was downstairs eating breakfast by 7:30 and we arrived at the rink at 9 for the morning skate. After the morning skate, I went to that cafe for lunch. I took one of my teammates, Dakota Lamb, with me. He said he enjoyed the food there and the people were nice. It was 3 PM and the game was set to begin at 6. As usual, I arrived at the rink first, making my entrance at 3:30. I went out to the bench and performed my pre-game rituals. I went back to the locker room at 4 and began taping my sticks. All the other guys began to roll in around 4:30. I seemed nervous before the game according to my teammates and of course I was. I went to the equipment room to get my skates sharpened and coach asked me if I had a minute. I told him my skates were being sharpened, so I follow him. He took me into the visitor's coaching office and he told me the following: "Listen, I know your nervous about playing tonight because you are back in Houston. That is all past you now. I want you to go out there and play 60 minutes of your best hockey that you have been giving us all season long. I'm moving you up to 1st line left wing tonight, so show me what you can do. You will be playing on a line with Lamb and Sens." I gave him a nod and said "I won't let you down coach." We went out for warmups at around 5:15. I went out first and I heard a little cheer from the crowd as I went out. Across the ice, Houston came out a few minutes later. I tapped Minott on the pads and stopped to chat with him for a little bit. Then went right back to skating. Houston had a few of my very good friends on their team. Goaltender Drew Minott, Forwards Venus Thightrap and Defender Markus Schauser just to name a few. I skated by Thightrap a little bit later in warmup and gave her a tap on the skates. The next time I skated by, she gave me a tap by and stopped. "So, how is Miami?" she asked. "Good, certainly a bigger responsibility over here in Miami but it has been good to me so far." I replied. "You miss Houston a bit?" she said. "Yeah, Houston is a smaller city and it is a tighter community around here, but Miami has been fun." I replied with a smile. "Well, good luck tonight" she said with a smile. I replied with a small grin "Better keep your head up, I may hit you a few times" and laughed. "Oh, just wait for when I hit you" she laughed. We gave each other a high five and skated our seperate ways. Warmups were finished at about 5:45. We went into the locker room and listened to coach's pregame speech: "Now, I know that was a big loss to Vegas the other night, but that is behind you. We have a special man in this room who is returning to his former home for the first time. Patty played in Houston last year when they were terrible. Now, Houston is good. So, tell everyone Patty, do you want to beat Houston?" he asked. "Yes, let's play 60 minutes of our best hockey and show them Miami is the real deal!" I said. "Good, Now for the starting lines" coach began, "At forward, we will have Patty, Dak and Sens. On defense we will have Howler and Matty and we will have Bacon in net. Let's go boys!" We made our way out onto the ice and I was ready for the puck drop. The referee blew his whistle and down went the puck.
 
CHAPTER 4: MIAMI VS HOUSTON
I wanted to make an impact right away. In the first few minutes, I didn't have a lot of puck time, but that all changed in one singular play. Thightrap had the puck for Houston along the boards and I gave her a nice hip check to take the puck away. I carried the puck into the zone and looked around to where to go with it. I was Andre going across the other side wide open. I fed the puck across and he one timed it perfectly, but Minott robbed him point blank, conveniently wearing the new gear I got him. We stayed on the puck. Andre got it right back on the rebound Minott gave up. He fed it back to Sens who got a shot off, but Schauser blocked it. The puck bounced right to Matty who slapped the rolling puck right into the net for the opening goal. We went to the bench after that shift energized. However, it didn't last long and it was 2-1 Houston going into the second. I started the second period off a little shaky, but around 6 minutes into the second, I had a perfect opportunity. Matty gave me a beautiful one timer pass, just the way we practiced setting them up. I blast it top right, but hit the crossbar and the rebound squirted out. I jumped into the corner to try and find it, but by the time I had tracked the puck down, so had Houston's defence and the puck was cleared out. The rest of the second period was good. I had a few hits and was good with the puck, making good choices but we still trailed 2-1 heading into the third. I told the team during the intermission that we were going to win this game and we would get these two points and they seemed to agree. We went into the third fired up and it showed. I had a pair of shots early. One was blocked and one missed the net, but it was fortunate. Wolf held it in and passed it to Sens, who gave Dak a one timer on a tee and it tied the game. I skated into the group hug and said "WHAT DID I TELL YOU? LET'S GO!". We got another power play with about 6 minutes left and we said that we were going to score here. Dak got a beauty of a shot off the faceoff but just missed. Sens went low and got the goal off of a wraparound to put us up 3-2! We had another power play a few minutes later. I got the puck off of the faceoff. Took a shot and hit the post....again. I quickly hustled to the puck and protected it with my body along the wall. I fed the puck over to Matty who fed it to King. King walked in and shot an absolute bullet shortside on Minott to extend the lead to 4-2. We won our game in Houston by a final score of 4-2. I was relieved. I gave Minott and Venus a wave as I made my way off the ice. They waved back. We went and got our stuff from the hotel and hopped right back on the bus to go to the airport. I looked up to my schedule. Next stop, Minnesota!
 
(1872 words, 9116 characters written by @PatrikLaine)
 
People Mentioned:
 

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!

You mentioned that this is a highly improbable scenario. I agree with that. Still, thank you for taking the time and writing out your thoughts! Awesome content! Please keep it up!

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!

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!

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

Actually, fuck that, I'm claiming this as a Media Spot. I'll do another .com later.

Why do I always write 500+ word .com articles?

MALMO, SWEDEN ­- The year is Season 73. The date is Day 20. Due to a bizarre anti-tanking rule, the London United is forced to dress a bot and play it as their starting goaltender. Career door opener Clayton Park is stuck in his career role. The starter for the first ten games in London's rich history of hockey (S73-S73), Juan Jaundice, has been relegated to scouting duties. He's in the stands, somewhere, supposed to take notes about the game. We all know he won't do it, but no one else is going to hire him as a netminder and he's still on the United's payroll, so they kindly asked him to take notes. Tonight is London's 13th game of the season. They are playing in Malmo against a Nighthawks team that's one year removed from a 26-win season, the worst in the franchise history, even worse than their S67 inaugural season. Everything is pointing towards this being a terrible hockey game. Fans are not really sure what they are doing there. They seem confused. Whatever the final score of the game is, everyone is expecting this to be a lose-lose-lose kind of situation.
 
The clock strikes 7 and the players take the ice. As it did the previous two games, London's bot goalie, officially named β-LDN G, slid to its crease in the most monotous demeanor. Just by looking at it, you understand that these bots were designed to be terrible. They're really only supposed to be better than guys like Park or Jaundice, whose careers have derailed down to this all-time low point where a bot is starting in front of both of them. When the Nighthawks fans see it attempt to skate to the net, only to be helped halfways by fellow androids β-LDN D2 and β-LDN C3, they understand their team possibly have a chance. You hear laughters, you hear joyful screams. The ambiance in Malmo has changed. Suddenly, the fans were hopeful.
 
Oh. How wrong they were.
 
What happened in the next 2 and a half hours could have been the plot of a B-tier Hollywood movie. Fuelled by the rage of being made into a laughingstock by fans of a team that was the laughingstock of the league just a season ago, the London United stood tall together and outshot the opposition 36 to 29. Despite visually not understanding how goalies are supposed to properly stop pucks and not playing along the lines of any known style, β-LDN G stopped each and every one of the 29 pucks directed his way. It was not always pretty. It sometimes even seemed dangerous for the bot and other players around, as his movements and the puck hitting its exoskeleton repeatedly made various liquids spill around its crease, creating the illusion that it was bleeding. Without surprise, the bot netminder was named first star of the game. Not understanding the core concept of it, the goaltender rushed back to the crease, as if duty called once again. β-LDN D2 and β-LDN C3 were once again forced to help it, this time off the ice, as fans of the Nighthawks, confused by the circus that happened before their eyes, chanted "BLEEDING, BLEEDING, BLEEDING!" Maybe they were trying to alert the bot that its oil was still leaking, but all it did was give it a new nickname.
 
Forever an answer to a trivia question, BLEEDING became tonight the first goaltender ever to earn a shutout in the history of the London United. Team management is thinking of retiring his β number after this season, to both honour BLEEDING's efforts tonight, and prevent the league from ever forcing them to start a bot again.

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!!

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!!

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!!