Ricer13

What is going on with the Mississauga Hounds? We are well into the second half of the VHLM regular season at this point and the Mississauga Hounds aren’t playing their best hockey as of late. They have lost 6 of their last 8 games and few of these games have been against opponents within reach in the standings. Their last loss was a 3-2 shootout loss to the Yukon Rush. They sit one spot ahead of us in the standings and will likely be a first round playoff matchup for the Hounds. These games the Mississauga Hounds can not afford to lose so late in the season. I am not sure if there is turmoil is in the locker room or if the acquiring of so many deadline acquisitions are to blame for the late season struggles but the Hounds only have a few weeks left to put it all together for a strong playoff push. word count : 155

Wow, didn’t know I’d make this list! Thank you

Okay, I haven’t had issues adding them before but I wonder if it’s because this media spot is double the size of my previous ones therefor taking up the space I normally would have used for photos.

Claiming week 1/2.

Wouldn’t let me add photos btw

Welcome Back! Welcome back everyone! It has been a few weeks since I have touched base with everyone on how my season has been going. I took some time to try my hand at reporting. if you haven't checked it out yet, I wrote a midseason breakdown on the Ottawa Lynx. It breaks down where they are at in the standings and what has led them to this point at the midseason. At the end of the regular season i will selecting another VHLM team to break down how their season went. I am open to fan suggestions as to which team they would love to learn more about. After the playoffs I plan on doing another breakdown of the championship team, so look forward to another massive breakdown on the Mississauga hounds hahaha! Now its time to focus on the task at hand, this week I will be touching base on how the Mississauga Hounds are doing and of course breaking down my performance as of late. The breakdown of myself will include three categories and any praise or criticism I have for different areas of my game. The Hounds It was 34 games into the season since the last time I checked in on the Hounds. The Mississauga Hounds have now finished 57 games and are currently sitting fifth place in the standings. With a record of 34-20-3 the Hounds have had an very hot and cold second half of the season. They have broken out on several win streaks but as soon as it looks like they are about to get hot they start off on a losing streak. Finding the consistency in their game during the second half of the season has been a struggle for the hounds and is something they are going to need to fix if they want to do some damage come playoff time. The Hounds are currently being led by a few familiar names as Balentine Kidd and Jerry Wang still lead the team on the offensive side of the ice. Kidd currently holds the team scoring title with 85 points in 57 games, Wang sits only 1 point behind him. Another stand out for the Hounds is Brock Louth on the back end who currently leads all defenseman on the Hounds in goals (30), points (75) , hits (121) and blocked shots (100). Not only does he lead the Hounds in points but leads the entire VHLM in points for defenseman. Another thing to note on is that there have been a lot of new faces added to the team through trades and waivers. A few of these players who include Aleksandra Olsen on the back end, Mikko Lahtinen up front and Aleksandr Aleksandrov in goal. All of our new additions have had a positive impact on this roster at some point since being added to the roster. I think the team gelling together has had its ups and downs since then but I have no doubt the Hounds will have it all figured out before the playoffs begin. Kris Rice Offense My offensive game has been a lot like the Hounds second half of the season, hot and cold. Though my numbers have been steadily increasing throughout the season, with only 23 points in 57 games this tells me I still have a lot of work to do. I have been given the chances to play with top players such as Kidd and Louth but have yet to really grasp the chance to provide more offensively. I have 8 goals and 15 assists so far this season. It is nice to see I am finally starting to provide more of the playmaking ability that I have claimed to have had in the past. throughout the season I will continue to improve on this part of my game so come playoff time I can assist our team in becoming a dominant force in the offensive zone. Defense This is the one aspect of my game I take the most pride in. At the beginning of the season I was sitting pretty consistently at a minus ten rating. As I have had a chance to work on my defensive game throughout the season I have now been in the positives for over half of the season. I am currently sitting at a plus five rating and it only seems to be getting better. This is one aspect of my game ill never stop working on. Defense wins championships and that is the goal at the end of the day. Physicality This aspect of the game is something I never thought I would find when I was a junior player. I always shied away from the physical side of the game and relied solely on my skill and elusiveness to get away from opponents checks. Since settling into a more defensive role this season I slowly adapted to becoming a more physical presence on our team. I am currently second on the team in hits with 90. I currently only trail Brock Louth who has 121 hits so far this season. While having 90 hits and maintaining my discipline has been extremely impressive and important for our teams success. Conclusion To conclude I want to mention how I am going to improve over the final stretch of the season. I am going to be putting a little more focus on my playmaking ability and improving in the offensive zone. When it comes to the playoffs we are going to need more secondary scoring as we go through the grind. Of course I wont let this affect how I play in my own end of the ice. Thanks for stopping in this week to see how things are going. As the seasons roll on and I start writing more material outside of these journal entries I am always open to criticism and ideas of different things I could be doing to improve not only on the ice but off the ice as well with my writing. Until next time.. Go Hounds! Word Count: 1002 Two weeks of Media spots

+10 Kris Rice

1. Today alone, the Hounds made FOUR waiver signings, including our very own league commissioner @Beketov as our second center. Does this put us up in the league's top tier? Why or why not? 1. Yes it does, I am not sure why because I haven’t done enough research. Depth is good, that’s why haha. 2. Which of our new signings will have the largest impact: Lahtinen, Kachur, Aleksandrov, or Olsen? Why? 2.Alexandrov because he’s not afraid of a challenge. 3. If you've been here a while, explain the Hounds experience in 10 words or less. If you haven't, what would you like to know about the Hounds experience? 3. Internal conflict. Hilarious. 4. Mikko Lahtinen needs a place to stay while he's looking for an apartment in Mississauga. Whose house should he stay at, and whose do you recommend he doesn't? 4. He can stay at mine because I probably have the nicest place. Probably shouldn’t stay at any of the newcomers places as it sounds like some might want to fight him. 5. Will your stat line be better or worse for the rest of the season? Why? If you're new, predict your stat line for the rest of the season. 5. better because I’m going to keep improving my player. 10g 18 a 6. What's your favorite NHL team and how do you think they'll do this season? Canucks. Bubble team. Miss playoffs by 6 pts.

Mid-Season Breakdown Featuring The Ottawa Lynx Welcome to the first edition of the team breakdowns. This is where a few times a season I will take a team in either the VHL or VHLM and break down how their season is going. This week I have chosen to write a short piece on the Ottawa Lynx as they currently sit last place in the VHLM. They will be the only team to get a mid-season breakdown this year. At the end of the season I will be featuring another VHLM to give them a breakdown after a full season of work. Stay tuned for that. Let’s start off by breaking down how the Ottawa Lynx are currently doing in the standings. Their Record The Ottawa Lynx currently hold a 7-34-4 record after 45 games this season. They are sitting in last place in the league and are 23 points back of San Diego for the last playoff spot. Needless to say they won’t have a shot at making the playoffs this season. They hold a goal differential of -102 with only 92 goals for and 194 goals against. They by far have the lowest goals for by any team in the VHLM. Let’s take a look as to why that might be. Their Roster Ottawa is clearly a team that is tanking. They currently only have 7 players on their roster. Some of which may not even be active. They currently have no centre’s in their line up and only 2 Defensemen. The rest being filled with Bots I’m assuming. Quite a few of their players have been moved during the season to acquire draft picks. Now let’s break down a few players left on their roster and their statistics so far this season. The Stats The leading scorer for the Lynx is a right winger by the name of Wonona Levantoes. They currently lead their team with a respectable 48 points in 44 games with 26 goals and 22 assists. Wonona carries the bulk of the offense as the next player below sits at only 34 points. Conclusion To conclude, it is very obvious this team is in tank mode. They have traded away the majority of their assets to gain future draft picks. Some of these players include Finnegan Macburn that was sent to Mississauga and and duo of players sent to Minnesota by the names of Anthony Amberback and Cody Parkey. In their last 4 trades alone the Ottawa Lynx have acquired 10 draft picks and are going to make a huge impact in the upcoming drafts. While this team currently sits in the basement patiently waiting for its opportunity to rise once again they must now focus on having a flawless draft to see this plan of theirs through. Thanks you for taking the time to read this breakdown of the Ottawa Lynx. Next week I’ll be back with a journal entry to break down the two weeks that it’ll be for myself Kris Rice and how the Hounds have been doing since my last entry. Come season end I’ll be focusing in on another team to breakdown how their season has gone. Until next time... Word count : 530

Vancouver 3-2

Vancouver Moscow Seattle Toronto

Review: Love the layout of this article. I really like that you quoted each question and answer. The only issue I have is that Halifax is trash, go Hounds!!!!?

Review: There is a lot of good info in here I didn’t know about. I appreciate anyone on this site who takes the time to try and help the rest of the newcomers out. It’s been an overwhelming first month for myself personally and when people like yourself take the time to help like this, it really makes it easier.

Review: -Lots of great info on all of these players. Clearly have done your research. Good use of bolding and paragraph to have good separation throughout the article. -No photos though? It’s pretty easy to throw a random photo in to illustrate it! I recommend them in the future.

Review: Nice breakdown of each draft type. Would have liked a bit more detail on each player you’ve ranked but overall it is well done. Interesting to see a goalie almost crack the top 10!

Review: -The Bio itself was good. Grammatically in some spots it’s a little messy. I am no expert in grammar either but I did notice the long running sentences throughout. -Great use of photos and bold headlines.

Review: I liked how you wrote this from the eyes of a reporter rather than from the player himself. It is very sound and well written material. I do think some more photos to help illustrate the story a bit better would have been good. Overall though - A+

Hello everyone, let me start off by saying welcome to the third edition of my journal entries. The Mississauga Hounds have been playing some fantastic hockey over the last 16 games. The last time I checked in the Hounds were 10-6-2 and were sitting tied for fourth in the standings. Today we are sitting at a 22-10-2 record and still currently in that fourth spot. Going 12-4-0 over the last 16 games the Hounds now only sit 4 points back of the top spot. It’s anybody’s race to the top now and the hounds find themselves right in the thick of it. Now that I’ve briefly gone over how the team has done since my last entry, it is time to reflect on how I performed during this stretch of games. There have been some positives that I will touch on but also some major concerns I have that will need to be addressed. Once these have been addressed I’ll touch on a few miscellaneous statistics and reveal what new feature will added to future entries. Offense The offensive side of the game has completely disappeared from my game over the last 16 games. I have managed 3 points over this stretch scoring 1 goal and adding 2 helpers. This has been an extremely frustrating stretch for my self personally when it comes to the score sheet. I can not seem to keep the puck on my stick and the seams seem to be disappearing faster than normal. Clearly this is one aspect of my game that needs a major overhaul. Defense When the offense is lacking, I have been making up for it by playing extremely sound Defense. I have improved from a minus ten rating to a solid minus one plus/minus. We have a lot of very talented and offensive forwards and Defensemen. The high offensive production we have been getting from players like Balentine Kidd, Jerry Wang, Brock Louth and newcomer Finnegan Macburn, has aloud me to focus on the defensive side of my game. Misc. While the defensive side of the game has been improving so has the physical side. I am currently sitting at 50 hits. Shot Blocking hasn’t been a strong suit of mine. Currently only have 9 shots blocked over 34 games. Things to work on I think it’s time to start helping the Hounds on the scoresheet. We can rely on our top end scoring to carry us to a championship. The depth players which includes myself need to start contributing on both ends of the ice in order to push this team over the edge. We are 4 points away from the top spot in the league and I will do what I can to help this team win. Thanks again for tuning in this week. I have something new I want to be trying next week. I’ll still touch base on how I’m performing and how the team is doing but I’ll also be throwing in a little scouting I’ll be doing on our competition as well. Take care, see you all next week! Word Count:514

10/6: 1. The Hounds committed themselves to buying this week, spending two picks in S70 for defenseman Finnegan MacBurn. Is this a good move? Do we have what it takes to win it all? It was a slightly high price for the player. He is a good talent and will help this team. We have a chance to win it all but the depth needs to pick it up. 2. Speculation about team management has escalated this week, with @GlowyGoat making his nickname "berocka is a racist" and "gustav is a stalinist" on a couple separate occasions. Who's a bigger concern, myself or @berocka? Who gets overthrown first? Neither are a concern to me. If I had to guess I would say Gustav because it seems like there’s been more than one person trying to get you overthrown haha. I personally have no issues with either of you. 3. Which team would the Hounds beat easily in the playoffs? Yukon 4. Which team would you least want us to face in the playoffs? Houston 5. You have to describe hockey to someone unfamiliar with the sport in 10 words or fewer. What do you say? the greatest sport of on earth. 6. Pick any VHL player whose build you'd like to emulate and tell me who it is and why (if you don't know your VHL players, now is the time to do some research!). Ryan Kastelic would be the build I would emulate. I want to be a playmaker and he has his skating, puck handling and passing at 99 overall. Defense also at 99 overall. He’s put a lot of time into that player.

175 Vancouver Wolves @ Riga Reign 176 D.C. Dragons @ New York Americans 177 Toronto Legion @ Helsinki Titans 178 Prague Phantoms @ Malmo Nighthawks

4-2 riga

As a Child Born in Red Deer, Alberta Kris wasn’t introduced to hockey until he was about five years old. Before the age of five his parents experimented. Each season he would play in a different sport to see if there was something he would find interest in. They put him in soccer one season but Kris never seemed to have much interest. He was one of those kids either socializing or chasing butterflies around the field. They tried baseball another season, Kris showed some interest in baseball but only when he got to hit the ball. They continued to try different sports such as basketball, gymnastics and swimming but he never seemed to really enjoy any of it. When Kris was four his family went out tobogganing like they always did during the cold winter days. They had been at the hill for a few hours, his parents were busy getting his younger sister ready to go home. They turn around and Kris was missing. Of course both parents were panicking look all over the hill and around the playground near by but could not find him. His dad caught a glimpse of him out of the corner of his eye. Kris was standing on top of a chunk of ice next to the outdoor rink across the field from the hill. He was watching as the other kids and adults were playing a scrimmage hockey game. His dad ran over to make sure he was okay and to explain to him why he can’t just walk away like that. Kris told his dad he wanted to do what those kids were doing and then continued to watch. Kris’ parents never thought about putting him hockey because of the cost to play. They made the choice to put him in skating lessons to see if he would even enjoy that. After Christmas that winter Kris started to learn how to skate. Weeks went by and he seemed to be excelling at a much faster rate than any other kid. He also continued to ask his parents when he could get a stick and start playing like those kids he saw before. Kris never lost the passion to want to try hockey and as winter ended his parents decided that they would save up for a few months and enrol him in next years season. As the season neared Kris got his first stick and ball. He spent the last few weeks of summer running around the drive way with the stick and ball and trying to shoot at the garage door. Finally the day came where he got to play on the ice for the first time. Minor Hockey Right from the start of his hockey career Kris was passionate and intense. Not long after he first started he was skating faster than any kid in his age group. As each year passed Kris continued to move up the ranks going from Novice B hockey in Red Deer to playing AA hockey in his second year of Atom. After his first year of playing peewee AA Kris was the number 1 ranked forward in Alberta. Kris was never the biggest kid and never was he the smallest. He was always the fastest. His shot continued to progress through his minor hockey years but it was his vision and playmaking abilities that made him stand out from off the rest. He was always six steps ahead of any other kid his age. In his first year of peewee he was moved up to Bantam in the hopes that he could play with kids with a higher skill level than his own and really push him to become a better player. After a few months of adjustment to playing with bigger, older and more skilled kids, Kris began to push his game beyond what any one had expected from him. Kris finished out his minor hockey years continuing to grow as a player each and every year. Not only on the ice but off the ice as well. He would be tested in his final year of Bantam to see what his character was really made of. Tragedy or Triumph? When Kris was playing in Bantam the year he was going to be eligible for the Draft into the juniors, his dad got hurt. He fell from a ladder 20 feet in the air and broke his back. He was paralyzed from the waist down. He couldn’t work anymore and was being paid through workers compensation. This was barely enough to pay the bills let alone pay for Kris to play hockey. Kris devastated that he wouldn’t be able to play in his draft year but his emotions were more fuelled by the fact he almost lost his dad. His parents saw Kris’ selflessness putting his dad and his health before his love for the game. They reached out to friends, family and Red Deer Minor Hockey to exercise any option they could to get Kris to play. The community came together to help one of their own. The funds were raised and Kris was able to play. Junior Kris was taken first overall by his hometown team Red Deer Rebels. Kris was overwhelmed with emotion. He was able to play for his hometown team that he watched since he was a child. The most important thing however is that he was still close enough to his family to be able to continue to help his father manage his new life as a paraplegic. Kris went on to have an extremely successful stint with the Red Deer Rebels which put him on the map to be considered for the VHML draft. He was approached by a few teams but knew that making this next step in his career meant being further from his family. His father explained how proud he was of Kris and how it was now his time to put his dreams first. Reluctantly, Kris declared for the draft. Kris was taken by the Mississauga Hounds and made his way cross country to his new team. He keeps in contact with his family every day since he’s joined the team. A player with immense skill but even stronger character. Word count : 1040

Journal Entry #2 Hello everyone, this is Kris Rice from the Mississauga Hounds back for the second entry of my weekly journal. At the time I am writing this the Mississauga Hounds have completed eighteen games. We are nine games ahead of the last time I checked in. What a turn around it has been for our team. The Hounds are sitting tied for fourth in the standings with Mexico City. We currently hold a respectable 10-6-2 record and are only getting better. The team is currently being led by a trio of offensive dynamos. Balentine Kidd leads the team in goals, assists and points. Jerry Wang tied with Balentine in goals and of course Brock Louth who is right on there heels for the team scoring title. As for myself I am currently 5th on the team in scoring but no where near the level of the gentlemen mentioned above. I have found myself playing as more of a role player through the first few weeks. Similar to last week I will break down the week that was for myself as a player and what I can do to continue to help our surging team succeed. Defense Last week I really harped on how poor my defense had been during the first week of play. I was minus ten over that stretch and not doing my team any favours. Well I’m happy to report that I’m still currently sitting at a minus ten rating. Of course those numbers don’t seem great but over the last nine game stretch I’ve played at a zero plus minus to remain at minus ten.This is a huge step forward in my defensive play. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done but I take pride in my defensive game and it will be an attribute that I will continue to work on. Offence Another area that has improved over the last nine games. After the first week I had one goal and two assists in nine games. After another nine games I am sitting at four goals and 5 assists. This is a six point effort over a span of nine games. It doesn’t show off that I am an elite level scorer but it is showing progress. I do contribute this to the whole team playing better as a unit which is allowing each individual to succeed as well. Miscellaneous Another stat I wanted to touch on were hits. I added another ten hits over the last 9 games. This is a continuing trend of physicality that I take pride in. My discipline has been on point since day one. Over eighteen games I’ve only managed seven minutes in penalty time. Being able to play a physical defensive game and stay disciplined is extremely important. Whats next? As I continue to work on the individual components of my game such as defensive play and contributing on the score sheet, my main goal is to help the team push past where we currently sit in the standings. Over the next few weeks we could be contending for a top three spot and maybe before season end we can lock down the top spot in the league. I will continue to progress and build to be the best that I can be for the Mississauga Hounds. Thanks again to anyone who might be following these threads. Doing these journals helps me keep track of how the team is progressing on a more detailed basis and of course how I am progressing as a player. I will check back in with another report sometime over the next week or two! Salute! Word count: 613

1) The Hounds made a goalie signing this week, picking up Nicolas Fomba (@efiug) as our second goalie. Who wins the battle for Hounds goalie dominance, Fomba or Lukas Schweitzer? 1. Fomba comes in and steals the show. 2) What's your single favorite emoji to drop in Hounds Discord? 2. Drunk bird is everyone’s fav, no? 3) The Hounds have three players in the top 10 in points league-wide. Does this surprise you? 3. I am not surprised. Our top end talent is right there with the best. It us depth guys who need to pick up the pace. 4) Do you think our chances of success are higher or lower than they were at the start of the season? 4. Higher. It’s been a steady climb throughout the first couple weeks and it’ll continue that way. 5) The team starts a tennis tournament, and you can pick one player to be your doubles partner. Who is it? Wang! 6) @fonziGG, general manager of Halifax, knocks on your door with some religious material. Do you let him in? Started ripping into him about the no soliciting sign I have on my door.

Signed up for yahoo 1. No bench players?