KC15

I'll give it another whirl.

What are your plans for the offseason? Early on I went home to France to see my family, but I only spent the first part of the off-season abroad. I wanted to get back to Las Vegas to work with the coaches and improve my game. What areas are you going to improve on before the start of next season? I've gotten my SC and DF up to 80 - some of that DF here in the off-season already. Now I want to work my SK and PH up to 80 as well. Don't think I'll get there before the season starts, but I'll get as close as I can. Halloween’s just went by. What is your biggest fear? My biggest fear is letting down my team. I can wake up in a cold sweat sometimes thinking we've made the finals and I haven't scored a single goal. What did you dress up like for Halloween? I dressed up as a Houston Bulls winger. Can't think of anything more frightening. Oh, I thought the idea is to dress up as the thing you are most scared you might become. lol Are there any kinds of questions you would like to have on future press conferences? More hockey, or more personal? I really like the current mix - some of both. None of us are just hockey players, but all of us are hockey players at our core. Did you play any other sports growing up to help you you hockey ability? Like most kids in France, I played an awful lot of football growing up - soccer for the Yanks in the audience. Some similar strats with crossing passes to waiting snipers and the conditioning required is definitely similar across both sports.

The finals have concluded for both the VHML and VHL and congratulations are due both the Houston Bulls and Seattle Bears for their hard-won victories. It is every VHL player’s most fervent dream to hoist the Cup for their team. Enjoying these finals, somewhat enviously, from the stands instead of the ice where he longs to be, Guy Lesieur has really been reflecting on where he might land in the upcoming draft. Fortunately for fans of Lesieur and the Las Vegas Aces, VSN reporter Charlie Parker caught up with the juniors star right winger to talk about Lesieur’s hopes for the future. Parker: Thanks for giving us some time to share your thoughts on the upcoming draft. What are your hopes for the upcoming draft? Have your eye on any particular team? Lesieur: You know, Charlie, I’ll just be happy to be drafted by any VHL team. It’s every junior’s dream to find a VHL team willing to take a chance on them. Parker: Yes. I’m sure you will do your best wherever you start your career. But surely you have a team or two in mind? Lesieur: I’m afraid this is going to get me in trouble with the other teams and I do mean what I said – I’ll play my heart out for anyone willing to give me a chance. But I don’t want to be that player than only gives the “safe” answers. Later, when fans hear me say, “This is where I always wanted to play”, if it’s true, I want them to know that it’s the truth. If not, they’ll be able to believe me when I say, “no, it wasn’t my first choice, but now that I’m here and have played in front of these people, I couldn’t be happier.” Parker: (eagerly) So, tell us. Where are you hoping to go? Lesieur: When I saw those Bears lifting the Cup, I saw myself out there. Only I wasn’t wearing a Bears sweater. Parker: Who’s then? Lesieur: I saw myself in the red, gold, and black of the D.C. Dragons. Parker: (incredulously) The last place Dragons? An expansion team with a long road ahead of them to compete with the big boys? Lesieur: (indignantly) Last place for now – in our very first season! Parker: “Our”? Lesieur: (fumbling) I mean their, their first season. I mean, their – or our – heck, I don’t know. I just feel like I’m a Dragon already. Let’s put it this way, I’m a Las Vegas Ace – and a Dragon until some other VHL team calls my name on draft day. That’s just the way I feel. Parker: Why? Why the Dragons? Lesieur: Easy. The people. Starting with management. I’ve had such good talks with both the GM @Enorama and AGM @McWolf. They really treated me so well. Talking about my juniors career and how I might continue to build on my game. I’ll be clear, they gave me no promises of drafting me. They were just doing a routine scouting as others have done and I appreciate all of the contact I’ve had with VHL management, but I just felt early on in the conversation that this is a management team that I could play under for a long time. I’m not one that likes to hop from team to team. Especially when I hit the VHL level – and I could see a long career playing under Eno and Mac. Then there’s the guys already in the Locker Room. When I read the article about Mikko Aaltonen’s @GRZ recent five-year extension, I was so impressed. His way of describing the organization, the city, and the fans – it felt like he was talking for me. If that is who management gave the captain’s C to and that’s the way he’s handling it, sign me up! And then there’s the fans of D.C. They are such great students and lovers of the game of hockey and they are there every night in record numbers to see their Dragons take the ice. Ok, it’s rough starting a new team and they only won 20 games – trailing Prague by 12 points to come in dead last in the league. But did the fans give up on this team, NO! And we won’t give up on them either. We are bringing a Cup to this great city!!! Parker: (smiling) “We.” (seriously) You know, I want to thank you again for your time – and for your being real with us sharing how you really feel instead of just giving the standard, “I’ll be happy just to be drafted” answer. Any final thoughts? Lesieur: (also smiling) Well, I will be happy just to be drafted. But I’ll be happier still to be drafted by D.C. When I take the ice for the very first time in the VHL, I hope I’ll be wearing a D.C. Dragons sweater. I want to be a part of the rise of this excellent organization and then one day help it win the ultimate prize – the Continental Cup!

This is exactly why I'd love to go to D.C. in the upcoming VHL draft. I have found both GMs @Enorama and @McWolf just a joy to be around and I am all-in on their vision for the future of the Dragons. I'm sure that I could be happy a lot of other places and will give 100% wherever I go, but in my heart, there is a hope that I hear D.C. calling my name on draft day.

I had a name change from KC Philip to KC15. I see my name down for KC Philip 6, KC15 5. So should that be 11 and I claim 6 TPE?

Congratulations Motza! And thanks to Nyko for taking a chance on me in the draft. Mexico City my first team in the VHL world.

Malmo seattle malmo 4-3 Malmo Points: Matt Materazo Goals: Matt Thompson Assists: Acyd Burn PIM: Hulk Hogan Series winning goal: Matt Thompson

With the playoffs over for Guy Lesieur and the Las Vegas Aces, it’s time to look forward to the upcoming draft. Lesieur welcomes all scouting inquiries, but was very flattered to be approached already by two different teams. Two different teams on two ends of the power spectrum. The second team to reach out to the Las Vegas Aces RW was the Riga Reign. Riga is a strong team and being drafted by the Reign would ensure some playoff hockey as soon as Lesieur cracked into the VHL. Riga lost out in the second round 4-1, but next year could be a run all the way to the Cup. Not so likely for the first team that reached out to the French Flash, Guy Lesieur – the D.C. Dragons. The Dragons have just finished up their first year in the VHL and not surprisingly did not make the playoffs. The future looks bright for the team born in the nation’s capital though and Lesieur was beyond impressed with the GM and AGM who both took the time to chat with Lesieur about his professional hopes and dreams - @Enorama and @McWolf The great conversation with management and the prospect of helping to build a dynasty in a city where there was so recently no hockey at all have Lesieur cautiously hopeful that perhaps he’ll sooner rather than later be wearing the red, gold, and black of the Dragons of D.C.

A playoff experience in my very first season in the VHLM! After the trade from Mexico City to Las Vegas a playoff birth was a foregone conclusion though my old team, the Kings, also made a brief appearance. Lesieur’s hopes were riding high since we came in to the playoffs with the second best record in the league and were led by the incredible tandem of Tates and Graves who scored 149 and 143 points respectively for the Aces during the regular season. But the first two games should have been seen as a sign of things to come. Las Vegas only edged San Diego by one goal (7-6) in the first game and were shut down 2-1 in the second game. This was going to be a series! Turns out only the final game of the series was decided by more than one goal and the Aces barely made it by the Marlins 4 games to 2. Next up – the Yukon Rush. If we thought the Marlins played us tough, that was nothing next to the Yukon series. Give credit where it’s due – the Yukon Rush shut down the pride of our team, our offense, allowing only 7 goals in 5 games which included one shutout win for Yukon. Yukon only scored 11 goals of their own, but that was ample to take the series 4 games to 1. Each game was close, but all but one of them ended with Yukon on top and so off they go to play the number one seed Houston Bulls for all the marbles. How did Guy Lesieur perform personally in this series? When the stars of the team are getting extra attention from opposing D-men, it’s up to the 2nd and 3rd lines to pick up the slack. Lesieur is on the second line with Center George Washington and Left Winger David Wallace. Well, I’m not calling out my linemates, because Lesieur’s performance was the most disappointing of all, but whereas our top line was able to score 20 goals and 23 assists throughout our playoff run, the second line only managed 9 goals and 15 assists. No one expects the 2nd line to keep up with Tates, Graves, and Foilen, but to score less than half as many goals is just not going to get it done. A closer look reveals a glaring weakness in Lesieur’s game – at least during the playoffs. Being the sniper of his line, he does tend to get the bulk of the opportunities. This was true during the playoff run as well. Lesieur had 46 shots to Wallace’s 33 and Washington’s 27, however Lesieur’s efficiency was the lowest. Guy was only able to hit the back of the net with 6.5% of his shots. 6.5%! Actually, a look back at he regular season shows that this was more a case of choking in the playoffs rather than an overall flaw in his game. Through the regular season, Lesieur was able to connect on 13.7% of his shots – almost exactly double that of his playoff performance. Had he been able to double his efficiency in the playoffs, there would have been at least 3 more goals and with all the one-goal games the Aces played, who knows where they’d be right now. But there is only so much time for looking back. Time to move forward, redouble training and practice efforts and get ready to make a new charge for the Cup in S69!

1. Who is the Aces MVP this year? How can you choose between Tates and Graves - what a tandom with 149 and 143 points each! 2. We face the Marlins in round one- do you like our chances? Yes, of course, I know we already won. 3. How has the season been for you? Have you enjoyed your time in Vegas? I've enjoyed it a lot. GM and teammates are great and LR is lit! 4. Did your player satisfy your expectations? Or did they underperform? Did really well in Mexico City. Plateaued some here in Las Vegas, but just earning my way through it. 5. Most of you guys are going to the VHL next year. What team do you want to play for/are you excited to play for your VHL team if you were already drafted? I'm excited for the draft, but expect to stay here in Las Vegas for the coming year. Though team needs may change that. I've spoken with D.C. and could really get on board helping an expansion franchise get rolling, but I'm having some talks with Riga as well that have me interested. I'm sure I'll land in a good spot. 6. At the end of the year, we have a team awards show. Besides the obvious awards, what weird awards do you want to be given out? Best able to keep "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas".

Guy Lesieur was so over-the-moon pumped up to be playing in his first ever VHLM playoff game. Guy had been traded during the season and though it was hard to leave teammates behind, it did improve his chances of going deep in his first playoff experience. Mexico City finished 32-37-3 while Las Vegas ended at 49-18-5 and were the number two seed. The Aces were scheduled to open the playoffs at home against the San Diego Marlins. With butterflies in his stomach, Lesieur suited up for the game. Two thoughts raced through his mind: 1) do something positive for your team; just do something positive, and 2) don’t screw it up! It didn’t take long for the first thought to come to fruition. On the Aces’ first power play, Lesieur took a crisp pass from D-man Tony Bolonee at the red line to start the charge. Lesieur took the puck himself deep into the zone, but was forced behind the net by a nagging defense. But just as Lesieur was about to dump it back to Bolonee to set up the play, he saw center George Washington break free for a moment in the slot. A quik wrister to Washington who one-timed it perfectly and the puck was in the back of the net to put the Aces up 1-0 at just 7:51. That goal turned out to be the difference maker as the Marlins and Aces traded 3 goals each in both the 2nd and 3rd periods. Aces win 7-6! In spite of taking 2 penalties in the third, Guy’s first playoff experience was one to be cherished forever.

1) How many goals do you think you will end the season with this year? I guess I'm getting to these questions just a tad late as the regular season is over and I know I ended with 31goals. 2) How many assists do you predict to end the season with? I had 29 assists for a very balanced offensive effort. 3) Did you perform up to your expectations this regular season? Absolutely. Had no idea Lesieur would be this good. However, really slowed down when I moved to the Aces which was a bit of a disappointment. Might be turning that around just in time for the playoffs. 4) What place will Las Vegas finish this year? (1st,2nd 3rd?) We came in 2nd in the regular season, but I'm predicting a first place finish in the playoffs! 5) What team do you see as the Dark Horse in this years upcoming playoffs in the VHLM? Maybe the Yukon Rush. Their goal differential is pretty darn good for a 5th place team and if their goalie plays out of his/her head and the offense gets some timely goals, who knows? 6) How many times do you work out per week during the regular season? Pretty much every day.

Fair enough!

Note: Had already written my Media Spot for week ending 10/20 so per forum instructions, will claim this in following week, but with double media payout for the history theme week event. Who is Better: The Las Vegas Aces of S68 or S64? The Las Vegas Aces have had a great S68. They finished the year only 7 points behind the Houston Bulls to finish second in the league and just barely miss winning thePrime Minister’s Cup. But how does this team compare with the last “great” Las Vegas team – the S64 Aces who won both the Prime Minister’s Cup for best regular season record and the Founder’s Cup for coming out the top team in an always tough playoff bout? Expansion Expansion will make this a difficult comparison – the league has almost doubled in these short 5 seasons going from 6 teams to 11. This could mean a dilluted league in S68 or it could be a sign of an overall weaker league in S64 with not enough talent to go around to even the 6 existing teams. But laying all that aside, here are some interesting comparisons. Overall Points In terms of overall points, it’s fairly even, however, that S64 team does edge out us S68 Aces 111 points to 103 with all the difference being the 4 extra wins for the S64 Aces (both teams had 5 OTL). Goal Differential But that doesn’t tell all the story. Actually, the S64 team has another edge. They both scored more goals (316-383) and gave up fewer goals (164-190) than their S68 “rivals”. This gives the S64 team an incredible 152 goal differential vs. the seemingly paltry in comparison 93 for the S68 Aces. As a further proof of their dominance, the S64 Aces’ differential was approximately 150% better than their next best opponents’ - the Halifax 21st with a 98 goal differential, whereas the one and two teams in S68 practically performed exactly equal (89 vs. 93). Individual Dominance The above comparisons have been based on overall team performance on both offense and defense, but how do the two teams compare in terms of individual stars. Did one or the other team get carried by one or two stars? Offense In S64, the Aces had 2 of the top 5 points earners and 2 of the top 5 goal scorers. Nathan N was the top point getter and second in goals (113/49), whereas Eric Parker was the 4th top points earner with 102 while Connor McDavid scored 43 goals – good enough for 4th best. This means that there were 3 different Aces who topped the offensive charts in S64, whereas in S68 just two players dominated. And dominate they did! Jeff Tates and Benny Graves were #1 and #2 in both points and goals. Tates had 71 goals and 149 points while Graves had 66 goals and 143 points. What a dynamic duo! Perhaps there was a little more depth in S64, but the Tates/Graves tandem blows the S64 boys out of the water for fire power. Both Tates and Graves had at least 30 points more than the best earner in S64 and 17 goals more than the top goal scorer. Defense The vastly superior goal differential in S64 already suggests that the D was better in S64, but another indication is a comparison of the top goalies for the two seasons. In S64, the Aces had the 3rd best goalie in terms of save percentage (.893). In S68, the Las Vegas goalie does not even qualify in the top 5. In fact, the 5th best save percentage in S68 was .864 and so the Aces’ S68 goalie would fall much shorter of the S64 goalie, Joe Nixon. Conclusions As stated at the outset, it is always hard to compare teams across the years. Perhaps the better question is in the present. How will this Las Vegas Aces team do in its playoff run? The question seems to be – will the powerful duo of Tates and Graves be able to continue to score at their blistering pace and offset the more average defense or will the sharp falloff in production after Tates/Graves and the lack of a stand-on-your-head goalie prove their undoing? In the playoffs, anything can happen. Goalies can get hot. Second line forwards can play like MVPs. Defensemen can rise up with a crushing set of hits and timely goals. Buckle up everyone – the race to the Cup is on!

Made 150 TPE Signature Template Name: Guy Lesieur Team: Las Vegas Aces Player Number: 3 Render Choice: Guy Lafleur Are you S69?: Yes

Review: Crisp analysis and some real gems in here. I particularly liked, "...father of classic liberalism John Locke".

Review: Wow. Scathing. It's well-written and easy to follow. Trouble is I don't have enough history or knowledge to know who is right or wrong in all of this.

Review: To be honest, this was just really tough to get through. The spelling and grammatical mistakes are just too numerous and egregious to get through. If the user is a non-native English speaker, my apologies. Your English is much better than my ________.

Review: Full credit for the amount of work this took to put together and definitely deserving of the double TPE for history theme. But as an article, not as interesting. If you are going to make a point that it is worth tanking to win a cup, it would be more interesting to track one or more of these teams to see if they ended up here because of a Cup run or rose from here to do the same.

Review: Nice job on a top of the draft review. Interesting to see how well first rounders turn out. More booms than busts perhaps reinforcing the idea that getting and retaining good draft picks is a must.

Review: Fun idea. Fun read. Taking the pbp of the game and putting flesh around it really worked. The formatting and graphics made it just that much easier to read.

Review: I love the idea of a comparison between two generations of Wahl's. It might just be me, but the numerous typos and misspellings were a distraction. Also, some formatting into paragraphs would make this much easier to read. A Wahl of text is difficult. [Groan]

1. Where was your first sim experience - here in the VHL or elsewhere? 2. Have you ever lived in San Franisco? 3. Have you ever followed the Grateful Dead as a Dead Head? 4. Does either the player or the GM play the guitar? 5. How much longer do you expect Jerry the player to play? 6. Does Jerry the GM favor offense, defense or a blend? 7. Would Jerry the GM prefer a known quantity who earns about half the possible TPE in a season or a second round draft pick? 8. Apart from entering the Hall of Fame, what would Jerry the player's ultimate goal be? 9. Is there a favorite VHL player that Jerry would like to play with on his line that he has not already? 10. How does each (player and GM) feel about the shoot out rules for deciding the winner of a tied game?

Guy Lesieur is enjoying his new team, city, GM and teammates, but is not as happy about how the move has affected his output. Maybe it’s just that the chemistry is off. After all, it takes some time to learn the moves and preferences of your line mates. But it certainly seems like a real issue and Lesieur hopes to solve the riddle soon, because he knows what he can do and he also knows that he was brought over in a trade to give the Aces that little extra jolt of offense in an already strong attack in hopes that it would put them over the top for a deep run in the playoffs. Lesieur plays on a line with Washington, a pass first center and Wallace on the other wing. It seems best to compare the two wings. Even after a dry spell, Lesieur has nearly twice as many goals as Wallace (28 to 15), but not in Las Vegas. Regardless of the fact that Lesieur’s scoring percentage is almost double that of Wallace’s (14.14% to 7.61%), over the last 5 games, which is typical of Lesieur’s time in Las Vegas, Wallace has 15 shots vs. only 9 for Lesieur. Wallace has just the one goal vs. Lesieur’s goose egg, along with 3 assists. One has to believe that if Lesieur tee’d up at least as much as Wallace, the line would be more productive. Lesieur is working on his SC to make that happen.

The strangest thing happened to me just recently. It’s something that has happened to countless sim leaguers before me and will happen to countless sim leaguers after me, but had never happened to me. My GM, @nykonax came to me and informed me that he had a trade offer from the Las Vegas Aces for me. They were willing to give up a 1st rounder and a 4th rounder in the next draft for me and my player, Guy Lesieur. Las Vegas is a strong team. They currently have 63 points and are only sitting behind the 1st place Houston Bulls by 4 points. It is clear what is being contemplated – the Aces are giving up some future picks in hopes of capturing a Cup now. It is funny in a way. When I began my time in sim leagues, I completely understood that trades were a reality and were often a good thing – in fact the best trades always are a good thing – for both teams and for the player as well. But up to this point, I had played for 5 seasons going into six as both player and GM in the PBE and had never been traded and had never traded an active player for another. And yet here it was – my player, Guy Lesieur, as the center piece in a trade. I was approached by my GM with the question of how this sat with me? Was I ok with the trade or would I prefer to stay on the Mexico City Kings? I do believe that I could have asked not to be traded and that would have been honored. And I considered it, that’s for sure. After all, I was drafted with two friends from the PBE and enjoyed playing with them. I enjoyed the interaction with my teammates in the LR. I enjoyed how I was treated by my GM @nykonax. But, trades are part and parcel of the world of sports and so I decided to let things run however the two GMs worked it out. And so I landed in Las Vegas – a Cup contender. I went from a middle of the pack team to a team on the cusp of greatness. Second line on each team, but what a difference. Yet, I didn’t know anyone on the team. Guy walks into the LR and immediately starts getting crap from one of the player before he even opened his mouth. Couldn’t have made an enemy yet! Others in the LR room lept to Guy’s defense a bit bewildered by the early treatment of the trade acquisition, but it turns out it was all in fun. The first guy is just one of the edgy guys and decided to let that out a little too soon. But other than to note that it happened, Guy isn’t one to let it bother him or hold on to any negative feelings. Instead, he’s too busy trying to improve his game so he can validate the confidence that the GM and coaching staff placed in him to help put an already great team over the top. So, Guy Lesieur wishes his erstwhile teammates in Mexico City a fond farewell, but is eager to embrace his new teammates and make a run for the Cup! Even if he isn’t completely comfortable yet.