PadStack

1. What do you think about the teams performance so far this season? I think we’re doing alright, still a ways to go though 2. Has your player been living up to you expectations so far this season? a little below where I want him production wise 3. Where do you feel the tam needs to improve the most to compete with Mississauga? We need some chemistry, then we’re good 4. Our season series against Miami has been interesting to say the least so far, what do you think the series will end up being? (I'm hoping 7-1) wins all the way out for us 5. We've had a number of players hit career milestones this past week, and others are very close to some big ones, what is your next major milestone? I want 100 points in the season. 6. While we've been battling it out with Miami, the rest of the league has started to take shape, what team has been the biggest surprise so far? miami honestly 7. Do you watch the NHL expansion draft? What do you think of the team chosen? nope, but I’m excited to follow Seattle 8. If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound? yes 9. What's your favourite sport to watch in the summer Olympics? none anymore

1. With the draft now complete we were able to add several key pieces in @ShawnGlade, @Habs fan, @Mattylive3k, @Joe one and @Artyom Suvorov, as well as bring back @LeBron Jamezz! How do you think the draft went for us? Think it went pretty well. These are a lot of good pieces 2. what are your personal goals for this upcoming season? I'd like to win a cup 3. If you could improve our current roster in one place where would it be? Let's say defensive depth 4. With Mississaugua having the draft they did are they the team to beat this season? Nope, we are 5. If you were in the VHL draft, are you excited to be joining a new team as a prospect? For those of you who were already drafted to the VHL how has your experience been as a prospect? yes, looking forward to the new big league club 6. What team in the VHLM is set to surprise everyone this season? I think Yukon. People probably think they will be a lot weaker after losing some high calibre players 7. If you could have anything for dinner what would it be? Tonight? I'd be pretty happy with some pasta 8. Are boneless chicken wings, just nuggets in disguise? No, I've lost this argument from that perspective before. 9. Unpopular opinion: Tea is better than coffee in the morning. This is just false.

happy birthday x2!

I wanted to share my thoughts on the recent VHL draft, as well as my experience versus the first time around. Roll back the clock about 2 years ago, I was finished my rookie season in Ottawa with Joakim and there were a couple of goalies emerging out ou our draft class. I was looking like 2nd out of the class and a pretty sharp drop off after me. No where in my mind was I worried about not getting drafted at all, or worried about falling, eventually a team who was in a position to start a goaltending prospect would pick me up, of that I had no doubt. The draft played out pretty logically, I was the second goalie taken and went in the second round to Davos where I would go on to be a backup for a few seasons, starter for a couple and finish off my career as a backup again. I had no problems with how the entire career went, goalies are in very limited demanad so naturally if you want to be a long time starter you have to put in max effort. Moving along to Miroslav, I wanted to take a similar relaxed earning approach (I would argue I have been doing so, in no way am I a max earner) and enjoy some more team success and participation than what happened with Joakim. I want to win a cup. I didn't get the chance and don't think we ever really got too close to this last go around, and seeing what looked like the same teams at the top and same at the bottom through countless draft rebuild cycles was a difficult pill to swallow. Hell, even if I wanted to leave my hands were pretty tied as a backup goalie. I said I wanted to move to Tsarov and went right back to Joakin lol. For real this time, with Tsarov although I have not been a max earner and have no plans to do so I have been consistent, which I think the VHL needs to value a lot more than spiky max earners when they are looking for players. Granted if you have a shot to get a known quantity in a old user who will be max earning for a long period, and they can be trusted because they have done so before and know what exactly they are signing up for, great! pick them high and early. In our class I felt like we might have had 3 of these users, and a few new ones that should be so highly touted. I was also a first round pick, so that in itself surprised me. Moving on up! The one think I have as a constructive thought is up until the day before the draft I had been scouted by a grand total of 2 teams. Only 2 had reached out. Now, the day before a 3rd team reached out, and then the day of the draft 2 teams reached out, but my sticking point is on those 2 teams, let's be nice and expand it to 3. I know I'm not on the league discord, but please tell me if you think I'm wrong, it's easy enough to reach out via forum PM and the amount of insight you can get I think can be really constructive when you are conducting your draft, Now, some teams were familiar with me, so maybe they didn't want to expend energy to reach out, some didn't have any picks at all until rounds 3 or 4 and maybe they assumed I'd easily be gone by then. I watched a lot of teams who I did not talk to make picks around where I went and can't help but think. I hope they are happy with their picks. I'm very happy to be in Malmo, one of those earlier 2 teams to reach out and looking forward to my final minors season before moving on up to the big leagues!

Well this is exciting, happy birthday!

So the VHL entry draft is coming up this weekend. This is where my player - Miroslav Tsarov, along with all of his classmates of S79 are going to find out where they will be playing - some as early as next season, others like myself will be along after one more seasoning season in the minors, and some may never make the leap, or they might even see the start of the VHLE. There is always excitement around draft time, the unknown potential of where you might belong to in just a few days, are there any other players from your class you are drafted along side? How does the draft overall change from how it was in the VHLM just a few months ago? Who are the big risers, and who has seen their draft stock fall off a cliff - maybe even going from first round pick to not drafted at all? It happens and makes the changes interesting in an armchair GM perspective. I'll hold off on the new beginnings part for the next few weeks I think as I'm already at the word cap before this blurb

1. With the off-season officially beginning, the World Cup and WJC are right around the corner! Are you excited to see these happen? What team are you cheering for? I'm not sure if I was able to make a team, so no, I suppose. I'll sip my Pina Colada on the beach in peace 2. Several members of the Reapers have already been chosen for a WJC team ( @Darth Kaprizov Sr.and @Spaz), with 4 teams left to be named, do you think you'll be on one of them? Maybe if they are of high taste 3. What is your way too early prediction of our final record next season? We will win more games than we lose. 4. In the upcoming draft our earliest pick is in the 3rd round, do you think we should draft the best available player or focus on positional need? Always best player available (not necessarily the pure highest tpe). You can always fill out the roster needs throughout the season 5. What team do you think will be the team to beat next season? What team do you think will be our biggest rival? We will be the team to beat. Whoever wins it all this season. 6. What are your off-season plans for training? Beach workouts, pulling up my class to my mouth, etc 7. Did you watch the Euro finals? What team were you cheering for? I was, I was cheering for Italy because my wife is a fan 8. What is your favourite summer sport? floor hockey! 9. Pudding is an underrated dessert, thoughts? I disagree. Out of all available desserts I can't really imagine a scenario where I'd want pudding over most other things

1. Offseason Day 0 is upon us, what do you think our new management should look to do this offseason to put us in a good spot to compete? Is it? Interesting. I think we should bolster up the d! 2. We obviously had a rough end to last year’s playoff run, what do you think our team needs to avoid this fate? confidence 3. Offseason brings training, but also vacation. Where are you planning to spend this offseason? Bahamas on the beach 4. Rest vs. Training is a big point of every offseason as noted in Question 3, do you focus more on developing new skills or recovering for next season’s grind? At 48 you take all the recovery you can get 5. [IRL/Silly] are you more of a beach person or a lake person or a pool person? Especially with this North American summer, we all need a nice way to cool off! yes. 6. [Silly] If all of the VHL mascots (minors not included) got into a battle to the death, who would emerge victorious? My money is on that Helsinki Titan, though a DC Dragon might be tough to slaytoo. NYA, assuming he’s like captain America. Could probably take down a Titan

It was a sour ending to a strong season for Halifax 21'st and rookie winger Miroslav Tsarov. After being drafted into a pretty strong team last offseason, the finely aged rookie had a lot to look forward to. The spotlight was not going to be on him, he would be able to slowly develop and have a place on the depth of the team, where he could slowly grow into a stronger role on the strong team. Halifax shot out of a cannon quickly becoming a playoff favorite after a few weeks, but then they started to stumble on the home stretch. After the deadline they were left with a tired team who could not beat the same opponents, or could not handily win their games any more. Every game against a competitive team was cheek clenching and nerve wracking. Ultimately the top seeded team lost out in the first round, unable to win a road game and dropping game 7 in overtime. An early, unwanted exit is the way this season will be remembered.

1. Halifax is officially out of the playoffs. How do you feel about the teams performance? Poorly? Should have been a contender 2. What do you feel needs to happen for Halifax to be more successful next season? im not sure, is it rebuild time? 3. What skill do you want to focus on the most this off-season? Why? Offense. Need to pump up my numbers 4. What makes a good locker room guy? someone who is charismatic, smart, and gorgeous 5. Rate your players performance 1-10 in these categories this past season: Scoring, pim, defense, overall 2-2-2-3 6. Where do you plan to train this off-season? With who? back to the Ukraine for me

1: Halifax clinched the playoffs in second place with us facing off against Houston in the first round. What is your mindset when it comes into facing off against the Bulls? How confident are you in this playoff series? I think we have the first series in 4 or 5. 2: What is your players plans this offseason for the summer? Check out my hopeful new vhl team after the draft. 3: What is your favorite drink and food on a hot summer day? some nice hoppy cider 4: Halifax is famous for it's seafood, do you have a favorite kind? If so, what is it? Not a huge fan of shellfish, but nice fish is good any day. 5: Do you enjoy the hot summer weather or prefer the cold winter weather with the hockey season? Summer, it's the offseason and a nice change of pace. 6: Overall, how do you think this season went? Are you happy with your performance? Are you happy with the teams performance? I'm happy, points wise was pretty good, but definitely hoping the team clinched top spot.

forum dm please

1: In three words, describe Halifax's current regular season. Fear Yukon Rush 2: With 55+ games done and only a few more until the end of the season, what regular season accolades have you accomplished this season? Any goals you focused on beating this season or next? I have done nothing of note. You, every stat category in the show hopefully. 3: Halifax has clinched their spot into the Founder's Cup playoffs! However, the lead for 1st place in the VHLM League still remains close. How do you push yourself to win for the end of the season and keep the first place position in our grasp? Margarita machine in the locker room. 4: What kind of hockey games do you genuinely prefer to play, day or night? Night. I like to nap during he day. 5: If the VHL was going to release an annual hockey game with VHLM and VHLE, who on the Halifax roster deserves to be on the cover? Put my face on it if you want to sell copies. 6: What in game adjustments do you think would help the game of hockey? Larger goal posts, lighter sticks, larger pucks? Or do you believe the game is perfect the way it is without adjustments. Removal of the instigator.

1: We are about halfway through the season, what are your thoughts on how the season is going currently? We're doing pretty good! First in the conference, and hope we can ride this momentum to the playoffs 2: If you weren't a hockey player, what would you want to be? An athlete in another sport? A businessman/woman? A coach 3: Who would you say is Halifax's biggest threat currently? Any rivalries you believe are sparking up this season? Yukon 4: What was the funniest thing to happen in the Halifax locker room this season? Every day there seems to be something funny and odd happening 5: After games should we give out our own MVP for the game? If so, what should be the prize? A Halifax championship belt? A Halifax chain or medal? Nah, let's save the hardware for the one trophy that counts 6: Fast forward to your final year in your hockey career, what would you say you enjoyed the most about playing on the Halifax 21st? The playoffs

S78 Theme Week VHLE, has been announced recently, and honestly my thoughts are pretty optimistic about it. First of all the league accomplishes a few things: It allows the VHLM to be a true junior league, where players can grow and enjoy a true juniors experience. Learn the league if they are new, compete against other rookies and not washed up players who were once new themselves, or send down stars who look to enjoy a season at the cap, feasting on weaker opposition before moving up themselves. It accomplishes this by doing a few smaller changes, first it lowers the ceiling for VHLM, making it so players hit cap earlier, and that there is less of a difference between the top players in the league and the bottom, or the new creates. I believe it also puts a cap on who can play in the VHLM of either just 1 season or maybe 2 depending on earning, but I think it's safe to say players will be moved if they go awol. Now, let's get back to the VHLE. A European league for the VHL, slotted right between the VHLM and VHL. This league will be very interesting to watch. It will be a tight league where players of the same draft class will be able to really get to know each other, building bonds and rivalries. It'll extend from the successful VHLM careers of the earners, and will introduce players to each other within locker rooms and really add some excitement to the VHL draft as the players are for the most part going to be going through the same steps, and competing against the same competition. It brings excitement of everyone playing in Europe together before the break away to the VHL, where some will stay on their continent and others will not. One thing I'm pretty interested in is seeing how long it takes for one player to be drafted top 5 in each league season after season, but if we will ever see someone sweep the board, going first at all 3. The question is longevity, will a minor team take someone who will not have longevity, and for the VHLM might not even play for them with a high pick? Moving past specifically the VHLM or VHLE, I think this will have a positive impact on the health of the VHL. Player retention and inactivity is no real surprise to anyone that it isn't great and I do believe this separation will assist folks making the jump, they won't be a fish out of water as bad anymore, and when they do make the jump to the VHL the players will be more suited and ready for VHL as second or third line players. It increases rookies talent levels when they hit the VHL and people being able to see their player contribute pretty well across their first, second leagues for sure, and then making you have a better overall player compared to the rest of the league when you enter the VHL should go a nice way towards reducing player churn from seeing their player produce very poorly in the show.

1: Halifax has recently acquired Blloyoiderson and Pandora from the Ottawa Lynx, how do you welcome your new teammates to the #BOATGANG? with extreme hazing. I’ll grab the paddles and vasoline 2: As a member of the VHLM, what are you the most excited for when it comes to reaching the big leagues of the VHL and the soon to be VHLE? finding out where I’ll be spending my future seasons. 3: As we enter the 6th month of 2021, we are halfway through the year. What have you enjoyed about 2021 so far? my new career 4: What special events for fans should we include for our home games? Bobblehead Night, Free Shirts, etc.? Free voodoo dolls 5: What does your pre-game outfit consist of when entering the arena? a tailored 3 piece suit 6: What do you prefer more? Playing at home with the fans support or playing away games and proving people wrong? I love hearing the fans boo. Whether the home fans hate me or the opponents, give me those boo birds.

Miroslav Tsarov has had one of the more unique career paths out of the players recently drafted in the VHLM for sure. His professional hockey career bagan at the tender age of 15, when he was a full head taller than others from his grade. During a previous article we examined Miroslav’s early career and exposure to the Chernobyl radiation in the reactor meltdown which stunted Miroslav’s height and muscle gain. He was a pretty avid basketball player, and immediately after exposure when his height started rapidly growing he was able to use this new found height to dominate the sport. Unfortunately for him his weight seemingly had a delayed start, but he began gaining a lot of muscle all over his body, dense heavy muscle that began wreaking havoc on his joints, soon he was unable to jump out of the strain it put on his joints and ligaments. Moving from sport to sport Miroslav eventually settled on ice hockey, finding he was able to glide his way around and release some of the strain from impact. This began his skating lessons at 12. He practiced every day, his peers were already years ahead of him, but Miroslav had a ton of raw athletic talent. 3 short years after first learning to skate Miroslav was signed to his first “pro” contract - $50 a week to play with one of the near by junior teams. Not only did Miroslav get to play against higher skilled competition, but it was a under 21 league, meaning that young Miroslav played against men 6 years older than him, even though his imposing figure put these men to shame. Enjoying the Junior life, Miroslav was given free equipment, meals and lodging, so his small salary was actually pretty substantial as none of it needed to be spent to sustain himself. Quickly eclipsing the skill level of this Junior league, Miroslav joined a senior league in Minsk, signing the contract on his 18th birthday. Here the skill level was much higher, and the compensation as well. This is where Miroslav made his home for the next 29 years, settling in Minsk and elevating his game up to the longest serving captain, wearing the C for 12 straight years, and leading the Minks to 4 Championships during that tenure. Contemplating retirement for a few seasons near the end, Miroslav was waiting for his body to start giving out, but he felt and played like someone half his age. It seemed another side effect of the radiation was rapidly slow aging on his body, he was able to keep up with kids younger than his children. Eventually having enough, and really wanting to pursue the top league in the world, Tsarov retired from his lengthy career and declared for the VHL draft, he would be entering the 79 draft as one of the older players (although not the oldest!) after having a very lengthy career already behind him.

The Vatican Crusaders!

Since the draft the Halifax 21st have shot out of a cannon they probably took off the side of their ship. They came out guns a blazing and opened the season with an 11 game win streak to put them on top of the standings for the time being. Mostly following the footsteps of some veteran leadership, Halifax has also seen some key play from some of their recent drafted players. Goaltender Emiko Spector has posted 4 wins in 4 games played in a backing up role, and has a stellar .935 save percentage and 1.75 GAA with a shutout. Extremely good numbers even if they are getting the easier competition they have still faced over 100 shots in those 4 games, so it has not been a cake walk. Fellow S79 draftee Miroslav Tsarov has been finding his game as well. posting 11 points so far in the 16 games played he has been able to add a solid depth scoring on a very high octane team. Looking to make a big leap forward over the course of the season he definitely seems to be settling in and finding his scoring touch early on in this season.

1: Halifax 21st currently rank 1st place in the VHLM after an impressive 11-0-0 start. How did the team celebrate while keeping this hot streak alive? Well this question jinxed it, because we lost the next two games. We celebrated it in sadness. 2: Do you believe in superstitions or traditions? Any important ones you had during the start of the season? Yea, don't talk about a winning streak 3: Say that Halifax was looking to reinvent itself with logo, color, jerseys, everything, What would YOU like to see the team wear and represent? I want to see more seafoam green 4: With the creation of the VHL Europe League entering, what are you the most excited about with it? I have no idea what it is even. Is it like VHLM? 5: Say there is going to be a VHL All-Star Skills Challenge this season, what competition would you like to be put in? Strongman. 6: What is your favorite on the road snack to have while traveling? some good old fashioned colt-45's

Neat article!

What can I say, we had our draft last night. I ended up going 20th overall to Halifax, a team where my only previous interaction has been accepting a contract they offered me last season as a Free Agent, only to find that they were unable to fulfil their side of the bargain by the time I was able to talk about the contract with my agent. It's understandable I suppose, there's a time delay and I'm not very good with new technology and missed any notifications I may have gotten. I ended up signing with Houston, and let me tell you, I loved the city. Success on the ice wasn't super, we lost out in the first round, but I got my first taste. Leading up to the draft I was intrigued by where I would land. I figured there was a good chance I'd me moving out of my apartment, but I thought for sure I would have a conversation with my future team. I had a few very exciting conversations with several teams, but Halifax was not one of them. Color me surprised when I heard my name called on the TV. I had no engagement with them aside from that FA offer. Interesting strategy to say the least, but I'm willing to give my new home a shot and see what we can achieve.

1: Season 78 of the VHLM is starting up in a few days, what are your goals for this season? Just one, sucessful playoff run ending in a cup. 2: Is there other sports you enjoy to play or watch? Or is hockey all day, every day in your life? Hockey All Day. 3: There are only a few Canadian teams in the VHL and the VHLM, if expansion we're to occur would you prefer more Canadian teams to rival against or spread out more around the world? More North American, there are a lot of places to go. 4: Any special hockey rituals you have before a game? Yes, I drink a bottle of Horilka 5: What is one thing you love about your team that you'd be willing to share? I don't know much about them yet. They seem very loud. 6: Name three items you always carry with you while traveling between games. My personal dagger, bottles of Horilka, and my black book

Neat idea

The VHLM seems to be quite the swing league. Teams will load up on one draft class and just go nuts trying to put together the power team for 1 or 2 seasons worth of run. I lived through this with my first incarnation. I was drafted by a draft heavy Ottawa team that was brutalized the season before. They were able to return a few pieces, and draft a bunch of others that were able to maintain at least a few seasons worth of earning, not sure if any of us moved on to great success in the VHL after, but we were a dominant team for a stretch of two seasons in the VHLM. The first season we ran into another power team and lost out, the second season we barely lost a single game all season en route to the cup. It was an awesome experience, but it does suck a little knowing that this is basically my understanding on how teams are pushed to operate in order to have a chance at willing they have to be cycle teams.