DarkSpyro

You’re free to feel that way, but I have felt quite the opposite for a few years now (ever since my first player, seriously this is nothing new lol) It’s probably just a culmination of MANY different examples, such as S89 when a certain someone witnessed a landslide of votes all towards 1 user, and 0 for the other 2 nominees, when it definitely should not have been the case. Also yes, but I figured this entire thread was so what’s the difference lol and no I’m not being anti-anyone, just able to relate to how Plate is feeling right now.

It is pretty much just a biased joke every season and believe me there are many many people who have been screwed over a lot worse. All I can really say is now you know how the league actually is behind the scenes. Sadly when you speak up against any league bias, the league will keep you down and sleight you from more awards in the future. It’s definitely NOT okay but as you’ve just witnessed for yourself; multiple people will gang up on for having an opinion. Welcome to the VHL Edit: Also the voting was sooooo close that it’s hardly a landslide for someone who doesn’t deserve it. In the end it came down to a couple people agreeing over something in the BoG, not the entire committee voting for a single person (been there, it happens.)

Aww respect! Appreciate that then lol I def felt like the backup back then cuz I was drafted after Castle (in the same draft to the same team) and man has just been an absolute legend of a goalie his who career too!

Slight error. ☝ This team was led by Joel Castle. Ash Sparks was the 1-B in the tandem, Castle playing more than half of the games made him the starter (although both goalies performed brilliantly for having a team of bots and the 2 active goalies). Gotta give the props to @animal74 for leading the Rush that season, but for some reason I don’t think that was your intent when you said; Good read otherwise

Over the many seasons of the VHL’s existence, there have been many goaltenders who have made an impact and left us with many enjoyable memories. For many Nighthawks fans, Ash Sparks has been 1 such goalie to the Malmo franchise but this wasn’t always the case. [S85] VHLM Drafted 15th Overall, 2nd Round by Halifax 21st [S86] VHLE Drafted 34th Overall, 5th Round by Geneva Rush [S86] VHL Drafted 6th Overall, 1st Round by Seattle Bears VHLM Stats [S84] Houston Bulls - [S85] Halifax 21st Reg Season GP: 74 W/L/OTL: 40 - 31 - 3 Save%: 0.913 GAA: 2.53 Shutouts: 3 Playoff GP: 6 W/L/OTL: 1 - 3 - 2 Save%: 0.889 GAA: 3.98 Shutouts: 0 Awards: None S84 Houston Bulls - Entry Season (pre-draft eligibility) The Canadian born netminder played his first game back in S84 for the Houston Bulls prior to his draft eligibility. He managed to play in 12 regular season games, sporting a 9-2-1 winning record with a .900 save% and a 2.24 GAA while in the back-up role. He also got a taste of playoff action seeing 2 games when starting goalie “-“ was injured. He managed to win 1 game but sadly fell short in his 2nd appearance, losing that elimination game in OT. A bitter end and a lot to go through as a rookie in the VHLM, but this upset would only forge him in fire just before the upcoming draft. S85: Halifax 21st- VHLM Draft Eligible The S85 draft was a historic event, mostly remembered being the class this an elite group of goaltenders known as “The Heavenly 7”. These 7 goalies were almost close to the cap and showed extreme promise, meaning almost every team would be fortunate enough to have a top goalie for the season. 1 of these “Heavenly 7” goaltenders was none other than Ash Sparks, almost being overlooked in comparison to his peers when he was drafted 7th among them as the 15th overall pick in the 2nd round. Despite that on top of being drafted to a “weaker” team, Ash Sparks had a fantastic season in which he posted great numbers and delivered many impressive performances. He ended the season with a 0.914 save%, a 2.58 GAA, a respectable 4 shutouts, and a record of 31-29-2 during 62 games played. Sparks made it into the playoffs for a 2nd time in a row but yet again he did not find any post-season success. The Halifax 21st were swept in 4, leaving Sparks with an abysmal 0-3-1 record and a bitter end to his time in the VHLM. VHLE Stats [S86] Geneva Rush Reg Season GP: 37 W/L/OTL: 6 - 28 - 1 Save%: 0.929 GAA: 3.73 Shutouts: 1 Awards: 0 S86: Geneva Rush - VHL/E Draft Eligible This season was a rollercoaster for Ash Sparks due to the VHL and the VHLE draft. Being drafted last among the “Heavenly 7” in the VHLE during the 5th round as the 34th overall pick. This meant his time playing in the VHLE was going to be spent as a 1-b goalie behind fellow “Heavenly 7” alumni, Joel Castle, who was drafted earlier by the Geneva Rush in the same draft. Even though the team had no real players on a lacklustre roster, this strong goalie tandem proved to be an elite combination. Sparks showed how underrated he was and the lack of scouting done on him quickly changed. He was then drafted by the Seattle Bears 6th Overall in the 1st round for the VHL draft, higher than all the other “Heavenly 7” goalies. This would place a lot of pressure on him but also give him the nod that he is indeed 1 of the top goalies of his draft class. VHL Stats (ongoing) [S87-88] Seattle Bears - [S89-S91*] Malmo Nighthawks (Currently active on the S92 Malmo Nighthawks) Reg Season GP: 205 W/L/OTL: 101 - 78 - 22 Save%: 0.924 GAA: 2.55 Shutouts: 15 Playoff GP: 5 W/L/OTL: 2 - 2 - 1 Save%: 0.922 GAA: 2.91 Shutouts: 0 Awards: None S87-88: Seattle Bears The first season Ash Sparks entered the big leagues, was by far his worst season to date. The nerves of jumping up into his role in the VHL, mixed with a few traumatic events leading up to it during the off-season, was a recipe for a disastrous entry season for the upcoming netminder. Sparks made 10 appearances during S87 and recorded some poor numbers in those few games. His save% was an 0.889 and he had a 3.51 GAA with a losing record of 4-5-0, which really was not the expect start of such a high draft pick. The following season faired a little better, but not good enough to give any confidence to his GM for playing him more- leaving him seeing the crease only 8 games during his 2nd season. Compared to the previous season, he did much better with a 0.916 save%, a 2.36 GAA, a winning record of 5-3-0, and also got a single shutout for his efforts in goal. Hoping this improvement would give him a chance to make a run at being Seattle’s starter for S89, the GM had already given up on him. The former 6th Overall pick was on the edge of being considered a bust, so it was time for Seattle to move on and recoup what they could for Sparks during the off-season. This nearly made Sparks feel defeated enough to outright retire, but instead he decided to give Malmo a chance and proceed onwards to join his new team. The following trade ensued; Malmo receives: Ash Sparks - G S89 SEA 4th S90 SEA 3rd S91 SEA 2nd S91 SEA 4th Seattle receives: Ilya Bryzgalov - G Rex Wolffe Gregor - D S89-present: Malmo Nighthawks Ash Sparks was longer a member of the organization that drafted him, but his new teammates would welcome him with open arms. His first season as a Nighthawk was his best season in his career to date, playing as if he had something to prove. Over the course of 67 total appearances, he managed a 30-26-8 record which would give a new light and sense of confidence to the young Nighthawks team who had been a struggling franchise for some time. What made this season so impressive was that not only was he playing in his first season on a new team, becoming their full time starter, he had some ridiculously good numbers too! Sparks was top 2 in the league with a 0.931 save%, top 3 in the league with a 2.49 GAA, and led the league comfortably in shutouts with 9 which doubled the next closest goalie. Sparks would become the top goalie for season 89 but even with incredible stats despite not being on a strong team, he would fail to receive a single vote towards any of the awards he was nominated for. This enraged and upset many but sadly in the end, Sparks got screwed over after a godly season. Ash Sparks took a step back the following season due to some injury resulting in only 56 appearances in net for S90. He still managed a 24-23-9 record and had a 2.48 GAA with a .921%, but he only had 2 shutouts this time around. Last season (S91) was a rollercoaster for Sparks. He had a 3-4-1 record, a 0.880 save%, and a GAA that was over 4.50 to start the season. He then proceeded to go on a 10 game winning streak, followed by 2 overtime losses, and then another 10 game winning streak- going absolutely nuts in goal with a 23-4-3 record! As the season started to normalize, Malmo was still near the top of the league in points and would hang on till the end- finally make it to the playoffs. Ash Sparks ended the regular season with a winning record of 38-21-5, a solid 0.923 save%, a decent 2.56 GAA, and 3 more shutouts to his name. While Malmo would give it their best efforts, they came up short in the wildcard round to the Helsinki Titans who would end up losing to the Toronto Legion in the finals. A bittersweet end for S91 but Sparks would end up with a 2-2-1 record in 5 playoff games, earning a 0.922 save% and a 2.91 GAA. As this is being written during the off-season before S92, only time will tell how Ash Sparks will do this season. He may play till the very end, so a final update for his remaining seasons will resume on another article. To be continued.. (1,432 words)

Day 12!

Day 11

Day 10

Day 9

Day 7 ️️️

Day 6!!!

Day 5!!!!!

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2!! ️

Day 1 ️

I performed some Xmas themed metal last year, so I guess I’ll just offer to do that again

Game 411 Recap Riga Reign (1) vs Calgary Wranglers (0) We just witnessed an intense game, where the Calgary Wranglers were hoping to steal a win from the league leading Riga Reign, barely coming up short in a nailing biting 1-0 defeat. With only 20 games of the season remaining, the Wranglers find themselves fighting for a playoff spot and were looking to upset the juggernaut team tonight - but sadly had to walk away after an incredible bout with 0 points. Let’s recap this battle that came down to the 2 warriors between the pipes. 1st Period RIG: 5 shots CGY: 8 shots The game started with the Reign winning the opening face-off but not much else except for winning a 2 minute minor penalty, 5 minutes into the game.. lucky for them that their penalty-kill bailed them out, along side a couple of stellar saves from Henry Tucker Jr. The first 20 minutes of hockey were mostly the Wranglers out-playing the best team in the league, but just could not convert when they had the chance. The game remains scoreless. 2nd Period RIG: 10 shots (15 total) CGY: 10 shots (18 total) The 2nd period was much closer than the 1st, despite Riga getting a full on hat-trick of minor penalties during the first 8 and a half minutes of play. Henry Tucker Jr stood on his skull-and-brain to keep the game scoreless which fuelled the Reign’s offence into heating up. The Wrangler’s Merome Dilson was equal to the task in facing their onslaught, even during the only penalty-kill the Wranglers would have to face this game. With 1:09 remaining in the 2nd period, the Wranglers take to the power play 1 more time- but couldn’t bury 1 home before the buzzer sounds for the 2nd intermission. 3rd Period RIG: 15 shots (30 total) CGY: 5 shots (23 total) The Wranglers would take to the ice with another 51 seconds of power play time to start the 3rd period, but sadly could not capitalize on the momentum. It didn’t take long for the Riga Reign to start dominating the remaining of the 3rd period, but the Calgary Wranglers’ goaltender Merome Dilson began to start the highlight reel show and made some spectacular saves. The Wranglers managed to keep themselves out of the penalty box despite the onslaught, but couldn’t seem to regain any momentum leading to them only having 5 shots on net the whole period, just like the Reign did in the 1st period. Sadly this lack of offence led to 1 too many chances for the top team in the VHL this season, resulting in the Riga Reign finally cracking the code on Merome Dilson just barely over the halfway mark for the 3rd period. Sock Monkey scores the lone goal of the game, assisted by Babay Shrimp and Brian Kowalski. The remainder of the game became a defensive call to action where not many scoring chances were generated from either team, leaving the final score 1-0 in favour of the Riga Reign- finally giving Henry Tucker Jr their 1st shutout of the season and the deserved 1st star of the game.

I’ll probably update this design more in the future but this is where it’s at so far. also… GO NIGHTHAWKS!

It’s finally theme week! It’s been a long time since I’ve written any Media Spots, but I’ll do my best to keep it related to Recruitment. Here’s some ideas that could hopefully not only give us more members, but maybe give them even more of a reason to stay engaged. Gaining new members is always great, but sometimes this hobby isn’t for everyone. We can’t really do much about that, but that’s okay! Sim leagues are very niche, and most members of our community are here for many different reasons. A bunch of people who sign up, have almost no idea what a sim league like this even is. The ability to expressive creativity or even have an imagination here, is a core reason why they stayed. This is the case from my personal experience since I joined the league, and maybe some of you can relate to that while others are here for totally different reasons. No matter what reasons we have for being here, we all accept (for the most part) each other for enjoying the league in our own ways. I joined the league just after the S68 trade deadline, not long after the massive boom of First Gens we got in S66. There was a fairly popular YouTuber who was a part of our community and he promoted the VHL on a few of his videos. This resulted in a couple hundred sign ups, the likes of which the league has never seen again. Sadly he was already on the way out the door by the time it was S70, and was losing activity very quickly only after 2 and a half seasons. Why did someone who was willing to promote our community for free to a massive audience, suddenly leave after such a short time? I hate to break it to you but if you still need this bubble bursted, then you need to go look in the mirror and do some self-reflecting. He left for the same reasons most people end up leaving: League bias. This is probably the biggest culprit to killing members engagement and results in a lot of First Gens leaving with a sour taste. Typically this is usually after being fucked from either an award ceremony, or other members acting stuck up towards them. Not everyone leaves for those reasons, like I said earlier “some people just don’t like the hobby itself” which is understandable. Losing members after a couple seasons is the absolute worst and 9/10 times could have been avoided. Not everyone is going to get along, but there have been times that I’ve seen cliques around here get away with shit that they shouldn’t even be doing. We can’t just ban everyone and I don’t think changing the “old guard” around would do much either, but I believe that there are issues that should be addressed to make this a more welcoming and fair community for anyone and everyone who joins. To end this media spot, I’m just gunna clarify that I’m not saying the community is super toxic or one-sided.. but there are some minor tweaks that can be made with the aforementioned problems. I know for a fact it would have a positive impact on the league’s retention, instead of just advertising more and being left with the exact same issues that we presently face. (560 words)

3 Questions 1. What NHL team do you cheer for the most, and how are they doing this season? 2. What is your favourite player (or goalie) attribute in the VHL? 3. If you could pick a goal song for your player, what would it be?

Claim week 3/3

Much love to everyone in the Nighthawks LR for the vote of confidence! It is an honour to dawn the “C” with such an incredible team, I’m truly grateful~ That being said, let’s bring home the Victory Cup this season Nighthawks!!

Claim week 2/3