Garrett

Excited to get started @JeffD!

Good dealing with you @fonziGG
 
Welcome to the squad @Garrett! Hope to get your VHL career going here in Chicago!

I've done redraft articles in the past and enjoyed them--in fact, I've enjoyed draft-related articles quite a bit in general. My GM-ness kind of takes me out of the world of writing about the current draft or doing a mock, but redrafts are always an option and for that reason I'll be going 10 seasons back from the upcoming VHL entry draft and looking at Season 69.
 
I don't have the best memory of what VHL roster needs were back in the day, so I'll be making my best educated guesses based on my impressions of team rosters in the S69 index--not that that makes a huge difference in many cases. Off to the drafting--I hope you enjoy!
 
 
ROUND 1
 
 
1. Benny Graves 
347 TPE | C | @STZ | Original Draft Spot: 2
Original Pick: Cinnamon Block
 
Graves came into the draft as the highest-TPE player available, and many had him down as #1 in their mocks. As a team that was still new, Prague had needs just about everywhere, and though their decision to pick Block here probably would have held up in an argument had I chosen to confirm it here, I'm going with Graves based on personal preference. Both Graves and Block had spectacular careers in which they committed long-term to the team that picked them, with both surpassing 500 points (and Graves in fact reaching 598) and seeing themselves among the league's best at their respective positions. But with top-end forwards generally more in demand, I've decided to put Graves first...especially since Prague's roster in S69 suggests that they were still building from the ground up.
 
 
2. Cinnamon Block 
306 TPE | D | @omgitshim | Original Draft Spot: 1
Original Pick: Benny Graves
 
As one might gather from reading the description I gave Graves, it's fairly obvious that I would put Block in the #2 spot. Block had a somewhat underrated career, spending 7 seasons in Prague before moving to DC for his last. Had he started rather than finished in DC, though, the Dragons would have had themselves a defender who cracked 500 points, 1,500 hits, and 1,000 SB, finishing multiple seasons in contention for individual awards and setting them up with a top-tier player for the long term.
 
 
3. Kris Rice 
188 TPE | RW | @Ricer13 | Original Draft Spot: 11
Original Pick: Guy Sasakamoose
 
With the 11th pick in the draft, the Calgary Wranglers picked up Rice, then a pass-first winger out of Mississauga. Here, he moves up to #3 in the redraft, based on another underrated career blessed by consistently high-level play after a switch to a scoring build. Over seven seasons, Rice played for three teams, breaking point-per-game pace five times and even going above 100 twice. Had he begun his development at the deadline of S67, it's difficult to imagine anything less than this spot on the list, as he only really needed one big-league season to catch on and presumably could have gone up earlier and done more in a career that already had 543 points.
 
 
4. Patrik Tallinder 
201 TPE | LW | @Patrik Tallinder | Original Draft Spot: 10
Original Pick: Soren Jensen
 
Tallinder, another product of the Hounds, came into the big-league draft as a pure scoring winger, and stayed that way for his entire career. It's a bit of a tossup as to whether Rice or Tallinder ended up doing better in the VHL--though Rice had more of a consistent career and one more season that I'd classify as legitimately "good", Tallinder at his most highly productive (including a 127-point Szatkowski-winning S74 campaign) was dominant. I've got him one spot lower on this list because he took slightly longer to catch on, but outside of that it's hard to argue that one should be clearly above the other. All in all, Tallinder came up with 530 points for his career, 242 of which were goals. 
 
 
5. RJ Jubis 
212 TPE | LW | @Jubis | Original Draft Spot: 5
Original Pick: RJ Jubis
 
I learned a couple things about Jubis from his portal page. First, he had a dreadful first season, only seeing 11 points in what I assume was a rookie season with a crowded roster. Second, he switched to defense in his last season--which I do vaguely recall--and rerolled his build to a passing style. For these reasons, I have him above Guy Lesieur, who finished 20 points ahead in an otherwise similar career. Career highlights for Jubis include a 100-point season in S73 that marked the second of three consecutive 80-point campaigns and a full 8-season career with Calgary which saw his agent become the team's GM, all part of a 520-point career which put the Wranglers atop the standings twice.
 
 
6. Guy Lesieur 
208 TPE | RW | @KC15 | Original Draft Spot: 6
Original Pick: Guy Lesieur
 
I must admit that it's quite difficult to rationalize these rankings when so many players from this class put up similar numbers for their careers, and Lesieur is no exception. I'll also admit that I had no idea that his career numbers were on par with the likes of everyone else from 3-5--his career was just followed with less public hype than the rest, I suppose, because although I remember him being good, I don't remember any sort of big "wow" factor (even though it was just as deserved as it would have been for anyone else). A potential lack of such a thing is supported by his numbers being on the lower end for the first half of his career--as it took until S73 to break 60 points--but his last four seasons were great, with 90 being broken three times (in fact, 66% of his career points came in the second half of his career). He still finishes below players like Rice and Tallinder if career lengths are normalized to seven seasons, but there was quite a bit to like.
 
 
7. Guy Sasakamoose 
245 TPE | D | @Cxsquared | Original Draft Spot: 3
Original Pick: Ben Storm
 
Though we've seen some picks that perhaps could have been better, here's our first that was certainly one the GM would like to have back. Storm was a highly active and motivated player who disappeared clean off the face of VHL Earth shortly after the draft, while Sasakamoose--originally picked 3rd overall--falls here in the redraft after a strong career spent on Riga's blue line. Ironically, our first three Riga picks were all Riga picks in the actual draft, so nothing's changed yet--and from that we can safely assume that Sasakamoose would have had a career that shaped up in just about the same way--which is quite a good thing for anyone familiar with how it went. Starting off slower, as many careers do, his most dominant seasons were from S73-S75, where he topped 80 points twice and 70 points in all three. On top of this, his defensive play was solid as he broke 1,100 SB for his career, an underrated number that isn't brought up nearly enough among defenders. Overall, he finished with 462 points in a career mostly spent with Riga but including a productive stint in Malmo.
 
 
8. Jimmy Spyro 
111 TPE | G | @DarkSpyro | Original Draft Spot: 18
Original Pick: Erik Summers
 
At the time of the draft, Spyro was a mostly unknown player, but he would end up blossoming in activity and productivity in the seasons to come. Originally going in the second round to Vancouver, he would prove to be the only truly serviceable goalie in the class at a time when career Titan Alexander Pepper's career was starting to wind down. Though Spyro's career was somewhat limited by two seasons spent as a backup and one down in the minors, he still managed to compile a record of 186-116-33 throughout six seasons as a starter and lead the Wolves to a championship in S74. That's about all that could be asked of anyone in net, and as such, the Titans would have been very happy to select him here as a very solid future investment.
 
 
9. Erik Summers 
217 TPE | D | @Erik Summers | Original Draft Spot: 8
Original Pick: Hiroshi Okada
 
I remembered coming into this that Summers had a few very good seasons, and looking at his numbers, that would be a correct statement--he got off to one of the hottest starts out of anyone in the class, winning Top Rookie in S70 and even winning the Beketov in S71, where he put up 63 assists and a career high in SB. From there, he would go on to break 60 assists (and 80 points!) three times, both very impressive marks for a defender. Overall, he would finish his career with 448 points, and would very likely be higher up on this list had he stayed active--after a while, he ended up dropping off, and as a consequence was hit hard with depreciation and found himself unable to keep up with his early-career pace later on. Overall, he still had some very productive time in the VHL, and comes out as a first-rounder with some significance.
 
 
10. Soren Jensen 
337 TPE | LW | @Velevra   | Original Draft Spot: 4
Original Pick: Patrik Tallinder
 
STHS can work in curious ways, and Jensen is no exception to that rule. Coming in second in the class in TPE, and max earning for most of his career, Jensen consistently underperformed in relation to what was expected of him for most of his career. And, of course, by "underperformed" I do mean that he put up OK numbers...he just wasn't special. Part of Jensen's particular "player isn't simming well" curse came from a certain "team isn't simming well" curse that he also dealt with for just about his entire career, spent between New York and Davos. He would have two notable seasons in S74 and S75 with Davos, in one of which he would break 40 goals and 80 points, but he simply wasn't dominant in the way that he would have been expected to be at his skill level, playing a full 8 seasons up and having 462 points to show for it. All in all, not a bad player, but one which was fairly consistently outperformed by some others.
 
 
11. Hiroshi Okada 
253 TPE | C | @enigmatic | Original Draft Spot: 9
Original Pick: Kris Rice
 
The Wranglers were very forward-heavy in this draft, Okada included, albeit two spots ahead of this at #9. It's easy to imagine a more productive start to Okada's career elsewhere, as S69 to halfway through S71, where Okada was moved out to Helsinki, only had 63 points to talk about. Ironically, Okada's production picked up after eni's activity dropped off into mostly welfare territory, as S72-S75 with Helsinki saw just about point-per-game pace (including 79 in S73 and 80 in S74). While never a star, teams knew what they were getting with Okada, who proved to be a fairly consistent all-around player capable of generating solid numbers.
 
 
12. Griff Manzer 
93 TPE | D | @Garsh | Original Draft Spot: 23
Original Pick: David OQuinn
 
The last spot of the first round goes to someone who was originally almost the last pick of the second round in Manzer, who if I remember correctly had just joined the league Discord server around the time of the draft. He's since emerged as a consistent earner and one of the league's more active voices, so it's no surprise at all that he managed to climb up the rankings in our redraft. Spending 7 seasons up in the big leagues, his last four seasons (much like Okada's) were very much a mark of consistency as he finished between 63 and 68 points in each. Had he played one more season up, and produced at that level during it, he would have finished up his career just short of both 400 points and 1,000 SB, not bad numbers at all for a defenseman. In total, his 334 points, +73, and 1,056 hits finished him up as a respectable player worthy of any roster.
 
 
ROUND 2
 
 
13. Oskar Lagesson 
135 TPE | D | @fever95 | Original Draft Spot: 21
Original Pick: Will Clarke
 
Lagesson, whose agent is and was a noted sim league vet, came into the draft as a mostly-welfare defenseman and stayed that way for the grand majority of his career. That's not to say that he couldn't contribute, though--over a 7-season career, he broke 50 points three times and finished with over 1,300 hits. Though Lagesson would only break 60 points once, he put up respectable defensive numbers and provided valuable depth for Moscow for six seasons before finishing up his career in Riga and Malmo.
 
 
14. Markus Nygren 
137 TPE | LW | @Devise| Original Draft Spot: 15
Original Pick: Solomon Crawford
 
I wasn't quite sure where to put Nygren here. Towards the end of his career, he ended up being one of the more recognizable faces of the LA Stars, and he put up bigger numbers than players like Lagesson, totaling 319 points over 7 seasons (including 80 points in S73). He was even a very good physical player, becoming one of very few these days to break the 2,000-hit mark. A downside to all those hits, though, was a lot of penalty minutes--though he'd break 2,000 hits, Nygren would also break 1,000 PIM, including one season with 200. Here, he goes to Prague, who find themselves a respectable player who was an asset so long as he could stay out of the box.
 
 
15. David OQuinn 
192 TPE | D | @David O'Quinn | Original Draft Spot: 12
Original Pick: Markus Nygren
 
Coming into the draft, OQuinn looked like a very promising prospect as both a player and a member--for a brief time, he was one of the league's more active players and members, something which brought him onto New York at the end of the first round of the draft. After a while, though, he began to fall off into welfare territory as he was moved to Vancouver and then to Davos. While he didn't end up reaching the high ceiling he had coming in, he still managed to hold down a top-2 spot on the Davos roster for three seasons, with his most impressive season being his last in S74--which brought about 59 points and 170 SB.
 

16. Kristopher McDagg 
81 TPE | LW | @Wolverine | Original Draft Spot: 26
Original Pick: Shush Nyko
 
This pick annoyed me to write because I only came across McDagg's name when I was almost done with the draft...and then had to spend a little time figuring out where he'd fit in and rearranging some things to make it happen. Originally drafted by Davos, McDagg was moved out early on in his career and spent a couple seasons in the minors. His career was short, only spanning four seasons, but those four seasons were productive--he would break 50 points three times and 60 points twice as a steal for Toronto.
 
17. Fernando Jokinen 
164 TPE | D | @Ahma | Original Draft Spot: 17
Original Pick: Fernando Jokinen
 
The new and impressionable members among us might see Jokinen at 17 as a surprise--he clearly outperformed the career numbers of many others ahead of him, including players at his position like Lagesson and OQuinn. And, of course, that's correct, and were this article written purely based on numbers, this pick would be different. It is, however, difficult to ignore certain circumstances which led this pick to go this way in the first place--and which would very likely cause it to go the same in a true redraft.
 
18. Nicolas Fomba 
80 TPE | G | @efiug | Original Draft Spot: 28
Original Pick: Jimmy Spyro
 
In many cases in our redraft, I see the redrafted pick as an improvement--and I'd like to think others here would agree with that. Here it is most decidedly not that, but only because Spyro's career went the way it did after a bit of spectacular earning on his part. That's not to say Fomba isn't worthy of this spot, though--the Wolves were looking for a goaltender, and while they wouldn't have gotten one to save the franchise with this pick, they would have picked up a dependable earner who eventually became one of the league's premier backups, even making his way into the starting role for Warsaw's inaugural season. Overall, Fomba would go 33-46-8 for his career, with a SV% of .904--not terrible at all for a player who spent the majority of his starts on a new expansion franchise.
 
19. Gary Tarantino 
81 TPE | RW | @Garrett | Original Draft Spot: 27
Original Pick: Blacker Velvet
 
Though Tarantino would come into the draft as a relatively unknown welfare player, his selection 8 spots back of his placement in our redraft would turn out to be a steal. He would never quite pan out in Helsinki or Calgary, where on both teams he was buried on the roster to start his career in S71, but after being moved to Prague in S72, he would blossom as a player. His best season would be a 66-point effort in S73, something which would be considered very impressive for any third-rounder. These days, Gary Tarantino II is set to make his way up to the VHL in the system of the Vancouver Wolves, after a selection in the second round of S77.
 
 
20. Shush Nyko 
124 TPE | LW | @SDCore | Original Draft Spot: 16
Original Pick: Daldo
 
At this point in the draft, I'd say we start to move into lesser-known players, but Shush Nyko was, for obvious reasons, one of the more well-known names of the draft when he first came around. Originally drafted by Riga, Nyko would spend his entire career there. There's not much that could have been done to find the perfect player at this point in the redraft, but the well-named Shush Nyko is a good example of a player who was able to fill a depth role in his team nonetheless--from S71-75, Nyko (or is it Shush?) would put up 162 points in total, with a career-high 51 in S73.
 
 
21. Will Clarke 
173 TPE | D | @Will | Original Draft Spot: 13
Original Pick: Oskar Lagesson
 
Clarke came into the draft with reasonably high expectations--he was at the time a semi-consistent auto-12 with an agent who had done more for the league than most other members can even dream of doing. This wouldn't hold up in the long run, though, as his earning would prove to be spotty at best and Clarke lacked the ability to put up big numbers on either end of the ice. Surprisingly, this was not a reflection of his team's results, as he would play for Moscow, Seattle, and Malmo from S70-72 and win the Cup in each of them.
 
 
22. Solomon Crawford 
181 TPE | G | @AW13 | Original Draft Spot: 14
Original Pick: Richard Fitzwell
 
I feel that I'm underrating Crawford a bit here, but that's due in large part to the fact that I had Helsinki picking up Spyro earlier and Moscow was seeing the rise of future star Raymond Bernard at the time...so neither team really needed a goaler. There is a case to be made for Fomba and Crawford to be switched, too--Crawford reached a higher TPE level--but Fomba managed to start for one season while Crawford was at best a backup who was given some extra starts from time to time. Crawford's numbers were also slightly less impressive--30-53-15 with a .900--but he still earned 429 TPE in his career and spent parts of four seasons with Malmo and Prague appearing in 20 or more games. Though he wouldn't have been the solution to what was at the time an impending retirement for Kallis Kriketers, he would have likely helped Riga bridge the gap, and for that reason he ends up being a steal in this redraft.
 
 
23. Milos Slavik 
117 TPE | LW | @Frank | Original Draft Spot: 25
Original Pick: Griff Manzer
 
I was surprised to have Slavik move up from his original draft spot, as he would go inactive shortly after moving up to the VHL. With that said, he still managed to earn a good bit past the cutoff, and as such a player, was able to make his way around the league on a few rosters as a depth piece or a roster filler (back when teams wanted roster filler even a little bit). Slavik's career would span S70-74, moving around four different teams and reaching a career high of 47 points in S73 with Chicago.
 
 
24. Daldo 
151 TPE | D | @Harpskii | Original Draft Spot: 20
Original Pick: Kevin Reegsman
 
Though Daldo would break 500 TPE, they weren't a player who was able to make a lasting impact anywhere. After spending two seasons down, Daldo would end up playing three underachieving seasons in Helsinki before moving to Toronto for S74, where their best season (51 points) would manifest. It would seem that things were looking up at that point, but depreciation would hit a newly-inactive Daldo hard prior to S75 and their role would then be very limited across three teams over two seasons before retirement. Still, though, was Daldo worth it, and could Daldo filled a role when called upon? S74 was certainly a bright spot, and 7 power-play goals then as a defenseman was something to look at.
 
 
There are two rounds, and as you may have guessed...there's not really room for a third. Read this one, have fun reading it, then get yourself ready for the real draft on Sunday!
 
 
3,633 words

@MexicanCow123 @TownBizness @Craig @Shiny @osens  @Zetterberg  @JetsFan81 @Garrett @v.2 @TheTiptonKing @diamond_ace  @ColeMrtz @Vkobe-v @Spaz

1) Been really pleased with our performance so far. We have nowhere to go but up.
2) For sure. He’s been great so far.
3) It was a great hire.
4) If we continue to implement our game plan the way we have each night, the wins will keep coming.
5) Edmonton getting swept and Washington losing 4 straight.
6) Playing golf.

1) Been really pleased with our performance so far. We have nowhere to go but up.
2) For sure. He’s been great so far.
3) It was a great hire.
4) If we continue to implement our game plan the way we have each night, the wins will keep coming.
5) Edmonton getting swept and Washington losing 4 straight.
6) Playing golf.

Dear Fellow Americans and all WJC Fans
 
It is my honor to be the GM of such a great team and country, although the past hasn't been kind to us it is my ultimate goal to get the best out of Team USA this year and give us a shot at GOLD.
@thadthrasher and myself are proud to announce the Team USA squad for this season WJC!
 
Without further ado, your S77 USA WJC squad!!!
 
 
 
Everyone please join the WJC discord with this link: https://discord.gg/YVKrmYAU
 
Please DM me or tag me once you join so I can assign your roles to Team USA and we can talk about all the fun details!
 
THANK YOU!
 
 
 

1) Matt Cooke, for ending Marc Savard’s career.
2) I would say serious in the NHL, NFL, and pro golf. Everything else I pay attention to but not as closely as the first three. 
3) Pizza, especially square slices. Or anything with buffalo chicken.
5) 6-2-1.
6) Spread out.
7) Yes.

1) I think we can finish in a playoff spot.
2) Low.
3) I've been racking up the assists this year, I've been having fun trying to get to 50.
4) I don't have a job in the league.
6) Pastrami.
7) How can you have a least favorite?!

1) It’s always very gloomy here.
2) We are home to the spiedie sandwich - only place in the US you can get it.
4) I like to play FPS games like Overwatch and COD.
5) Probably lacrosse.
6) I do own a car but I wouldn’t consider myself a car person.
7) I’m getting my second dose next week!

Coming into the S77 VHL Draft, Prague only had one single pick, 43rd overall in the 3rd round, so it was always going to get a bit interesting in terms of who we could manage to get and who we couldn't. It was perhaps a bit ironic that this draft in particular was the one we barely had any picks in, given that there were so many Prague alumni with their recreates in it. That Dude @Cornholio, Druss Deathwalker @animal74, Brussels Sprout @Liberty_Cabbage, and Gary Tarantino @Garrett, were all guys who we greatly enjoyed having on the team and would have definitely preferred to bring back, had circumstances gone in a direction as to allow it, but ultimately I'm still happy with the trade that netted us Grekkark Gyrfalcon @Sharkstrong even if it took away the opportunities on bringing back some of these guys. It was pretty interesting though seeing the mid first round to the early second full of members of the Phamily, and I hope these guys all enjoy their new locations. Honestly, given the way a few of them fell, I'd thrown the idea around in our strategy area of potentially trading into the draft to pick one up, but never ended up pulling the trigger - mostly because work was particularly busy and I couldn't guarantee being able to take the time away to fully negotiate a deal with anyone, but still. All of these guys are 100% welcome in Prague at any time and they know that. That's simply the way the Phamily works - for that matter, Animal is still doing the team awards, despite no longer being on the team, and it's probably one of my favorite little personal touches that Prague offers despite being done by a now former member.

A few hours before draft night, I took a look through all the VHLM Discords (the perks of being one of the guys running the thing after all) to see what I could find in terms of activity from the type of players who were likely to be around at 43. At first, I did have one specific target, Baldur Poulsen @GlowyGoat who at that stage would have been more of a locker room presence type of player than one that would necessarily be a huge help for us on the ice. Still, Glowy is a great person to have around, and so I wanted to try to make that happen. Unfortunately, I'd gotten word from my AGM Dominic Gobeil @Domg5 that he speculated Malmo at 40 might be looking that way, and my source ended up being correct on that front.
 
I found a few players just down the draft list that I'd also seen in their respective discords, and added Raphael Sonier @raphaelsonier9815 and Raihan Heavems @RstortonYT in particular to my list (and had I not gone with the guy I did, these two were the next targets) but there was one message in particular that intrigued me. "Appreciate the heads up, but sticking to the basics is just temporary until I'm not stressed with school and also learn the league in more detail. I would definitely do more in the future!" This was found in the Houston discord, and it came from a guy that perhaps on paper would have been maybe half a round later, Nicholas Mariani @Mistxh J. A guy who is active already, but who plans to increase that as time goes on, and just needs to learn the league? I was immediately sold. After all, where better for a member to learn the league than on the team with both VHLM commissioners? I'm confident Mariani will significantly outperform his 43rd overall selection. In fact, while he was somewhere in the early to mid 50s TPE-wise on draft night, just over the last few days he's climbed to 47th.
 
Shortly thereafter, it was time to turn our attention to free agency. We had Jungkok @tfong that was set to test the market, although we were considered to have a fair chance of retaining him as a fairly contending team. Ultimately, it did not work out that way, and while it's unfortunate to see him go, it's hard for a guy looking to compete for cups to turn down an offer from the team that most recently won it, which is where Jungkok ended up. This left us with 7 million in cap and the rest of the market to play with. Obviously, an attempt was made to go after Venus Thightrap @BladeMaiden as well - similarly to the people mentioned in the first paragraph, Blade and any of her players will always be welcome in Prague. This time, it wasn't to be - my work schedule for the Saturday in which FA opened got changed to 7 PM-3 AM, so I didn't wake up until 6 PM, by which time she'd already signed with Helsinki (I'd talked briefly with her the day before though, when FA talks were open but signings were not). This narrowed our focus onto two players, Xavier LeFlamant @BarzalGoat and Brian Strong Jr @Wheaties.
 
Both guys I added to the discord, let them talk with the team for a bit, created a role for FA with basically the same perms as the Players role, and let the guys get down to the business of swaying them to our side. The plan was to offer on both players, and if we got one, to then put in an inactive claim on Hugh Jass which combined would take up most of our cap space. While it seemed stressful at the time, and I could never be 100% sure of where either guy would go until they signed, I'm ultimately not sure how close it was in the end for either guy. Barzy took to our discord like he was meant to be there the whole time, immediately meshing with the guys as though he was a long lost member of the Phamily. Given we could match the few things he had a preference for, he agreed to sign fairly early for us, which solidified the plans a bit and most importantly, it removed the possibility of a complete strikeout. Given we'd lost Jungkok, getting LeFlamant was a major relief in my mind.
 
Then the focus turned to Strong. He'd already been talking with us a little during the talking period, but went out the first night FA was open and wasn't around quite as much as Barzy initially. Still, Wheaties is a guy I go back some way with, having been on his Miami Neptune in EFL for a while with one of my old players (not my shiny new auto 12s, but a guy I had to do work for and ultimately didn't most of the time) plus was just generally aware of him anyway and got along well. There's also a few other guys on the team (the aforementioned Shark, as well as @Doomsday) that know Wheaties and could make it a place of familiarity. At this point, FA largely became a series of if-then statements: IF Strong : THEN Done - IF Not Strong : THEN IA claim on Jass. It never came down to that though, as Strong also signed on with us and while admittedly landing both does fill up the forwards a bit, it still makes us a much stronger team than we were, which is saying a lot because we were already in a pretty good spot. Definitely happy to bring Wheaties on board and the even nicer part is he's still a pretty young player as a season 74 draftee, so potentially he fits in well with the whole extended window, both pre and post the Landry timeline.
 
This whole thing turns our arguably weakest area from last season, centers, into a position of strength. We now have four players with a developed FO attribute as both FAs have done so (Strong may want to bump his up a little, as he's at 70 compared to Bouchard's 75, LeFlamant's 77, and Landry's 85) and can actually move people about the lines a bit more freely and look for matchups rather than having the center availability largely dictate things for us. Also, and this appears to be somewhat of a footnote because it didn't require any separate transactional work over the last few days, but it's certainly much more important than just the brief mention at the end: we are set to see the debut of hard working winger Braxton Hunter @dshervill. He's given everything he's had to the Saskatoon Wild program in the VHLM, and it's time for him to take a step up the pipeline and crack the opening day roster. He deserves every bit of this chance and will surely be a key part of the Phantoms going forward. It's especially impressive that a guy who was in somewhat of the dregs of his draft, at 72 overall, has kept such consistent work over the seasons and now finds himself on the Phantoms roster proper.
 
1504 words
 

1) Honestly, yes. Congrats to Mexico City.
2) I knew the series would be close.
3) Hopefully the US.
5) I was not, maybe next year!
6) Team chemistry.
8- A Bruin.

1) 4-1 in our favor
2) I'm confident our D corp can shut him down.
3) They have a couple guys that can light it up, but its nothing we can't handle.
4) Rivalries are always fun. Those games are more exciting for me.
6) I think home ice still matters. You get used to spots where the puck bounces and that can be important.
7) I think we have a good chance. 

1) Boston. I've been a fan since they first signed Chara. I've grown up watching that main core and I'm sad it's starting to come to an end with those guys. But the Bruins have some great younger players in place for a new core; guys like McAvoy and Pasta will be around for a while.
2) Golf is my main sport but hockey is a very close second.
3) Maybe soccer? 
4) Not necessarily a rule, but offsides challenges suck, especially after a play has been in the zone for over 30 seconds. 
5) I don't mind them but it will be nice to get to see the Bruins play every team again. I always like seeing the Western Conference teams since I don't know as much about them as I do the Eastern teams. I've seen the Bruins play Vancouver, the Avs and Calgary and those games are always more exciting to me.
7) Probably dinner.

1) Chocolate maybe?
2) Just relaxing and watching hockey.
3) Blocking a shot.
4) Hippos seem like they chill most of the day, I'll say a hippo.
6) I don't think any team worries me. That's not a dig at anyone, but any team can be beat on any day. We as a group just need to stay on top of our games and remain focused. We've proven to be successful this season and to me it's best to stay focused on one game at a time.
7) Either a turnover to lose us the Cup or getting a skate to my body.

1) Jankowski and Telker.
2) Logan Moore.
3) Yes.
4) Thomas King.
5) 2.
6) Hoist the cup first for sure.
7) Some sort of dog named Zeus, Jupiter, or Thor.

1) I'm not really sure, a few guys could take that crown.
2) Almonds or tortilla chips.
3) Really proud of this team so far. We're only getting better.
4) Like I said, we're only getting better. We've come out guns blazing and it's only up from here on out.
5) From my first handful of games here I think our captains have been great. Couldn't be happier for them.
6) Prague.

We held a vote over the last week or so to determine who would be wearing letters on their jersey's this season and be relied on to provide leadership for this young squad. 
 
The Prague Phantoms are proud to announce that Thomas Landry II will be our team's next captain as he won the vote by a landslide as received a nod (11votes) from almost every single player who voted. Serving as Landry's assistant captains will be Dan Baillie Jr. (4votes) and Riley Knight Gee (4votes). 
 
Thank you to all the players who have voted, and congratulations to this years leadership team!
 
Go Phantoms Go!
 
@Doomsday@KnightRiley @wcats

1) I’m curious to see how a hockey-based battle royale would work.
2) Light blue.
3) 8.
4) Not any shows that inspired me, but I do like watching Letterkenny #FERDA
5) I have a German short-haired pointer.
6) Sure, why not.
7) Maybe The Bergeron, since Patrice Bergeron is my favorite player.

Much love to you man. Glad we got to raise a Cup in Saskatoon and play in the Show together.

Good luck, Gary!

Gary Tarantino II has accepted Halifax's offer.

Ondrej Ohradka Retires
 
 
A press conference was called to announce that S68 draftee Ondrej Ohradka is retiring.
 
Ohradka read from a prepared statement:
 
Thank you to everyone for coming. Today, I am announcing my retirement from the VHL. I just wanted to take the time to thank some people who helped me in my career and some of the friends who I’ve met along the way.
 
First, I would like to thank the four organizations that I had the pleasure of playing for: the Minnesota Storm , the Saskatoon Wild , the Calgary Wranglers  and especially the Prague Phantoms . I would like to thank the management who either drafted me or traded for me and took a chance on a “first-gen”: @Rayzor_7, @Peace, @Bushito, & @diamond_ace . Of course, I need to mention that Elmebeck was the AGM of the Wild and I had the opportunity to have some Discord chats with him before he left us. He had an impact on me and I will not forget his kindness. R.I.P.
 
I’ve met and have conversed with lots of great people along the way but I wanted to especially say thanks to @Victor and @a_Ferk
 
Thanks to the VSN staff for taking a chance on me. You’ve all been great to work with and I look forward to writing more great content with you!
 
Then there are all the fantastic teammates who have shared a part in my career and I’d like to acknowledge as many as I can.
 
From my Wild days: Kristopher McDagg @Viperxhawks19, David O'Quinn @David O'Quinn, Killy Foilen @Aye my name jeff, Damien Wolfe @Laflamme, Erik Killinger @Peace, Uhtred @leafsman
 
My Wrangler mates (and some former Wild mates). Albeit a brief stay, thanks for making it a memorable one!: Charlie Paddywagon @DMaximus, Sigard Gunnar @Big Mac, Kris Rice @Ricer13, Hiroshi Okada @enigmatic, Tyler Barabash Jr, Brady Stropko Jr @Bushito, Jordan Tonn @MexicanCow123, JB Rift @Devise, RJ Jubis @Jubis, Edwin THE Encarnacion @Tagger, Mikko Lahtinen @Beketov, Jacques Lafontaine @SlapshotDragon
 
And finally, my Phamily – the Prague Phantoms. Thanks for making this career so enjoyable in spite of our lack of team success. It has been a pleasure to battle and party with you on and off the ice: Gert B Frobe @NumberJ5, Blake Laughton @Grape, Joel Ylonen @Esso2264, Virgil Ligriv @MMFLEX, Roll Fizzlebeef @TacticalHammer , John Poremba @CrlineDijohn14, Pengu @Pengu, Nicolas Fomba @efiug, Cody Smith @cody73, Solomon Crawford @AW13, Ben McGirr @cartoes, Jacob Perry @Liberty_Cabbage, Zachariah Kisslinger @Zach Kisslinger, John LeClair II @flyersfan1453, Riley Knight Gee @KnightRiley, Dan Baillie Jr @wcats, Woody McPine @HearnNation67, Kefka Palazzo, Dagmar Havlova @diamond_ace , Brick Wahl @BladeMaiden, Alex Pearson @Jayrad28, Gary Tarantino @Garrett, Cinnamon Block @omgitshim, Wolf Stansson Jr @Cornholio, Seabass Perrin @Seabass, & Thomas Landry II @Doomsday.
 
See you on the ice soon and Merry Christmas!
 
The native of Trencin, Slovakia began his career as a Founder’s Cup winner with the S69 Saskatoon Wild and had one trip to the Continental Cup Finals in his rookie season with the S70 Calgary Wranglers which ended in a six-game defeat to the Moscow Menace. He also was a part of two first round losses with the Prague Phantoms in S71 and S74. Although no major awards bear his name, he has won many team awards with the Saskatoon Wild and Prague Phantoms. And up until the last part of this season, Ohradka was the Wild’s all-time leader in career goals and game-winning goals and currently holds the Phantoms’ single-season goals record with 35. He will end his career in the Top-5 of many Prague statistical categories including third in all-time goals even though he played less than six full seasons there. After being a 4th round pick and having underwhelming rookie and sophomore years in the height of the dead-puck era, Ohradka will finish his career with four consecutive seasons of 26+ goals and 50+ points. He was also an assistant captain of the Phantoms for the first and only time in his final season. He finishes with 977 TPE.

Player Information
Username: Garrett
Player Name: Gary Tarantino II
Recruited From: Returning
Age: 23
Position: RW
Height: 73 in.
Weight: 190 lbs.
Birthplace: United States of America

Player Page
@VHLM GM

Player Information
Username: Garrett
Player Name: Gary Tarantino II
Recruited From: Returning
Age: 23
Position: RW
Height: 73 in.
Weight: 190 lbs.
Birthplace: United States of America

Player Page
@VHLM GM