Tagger

As a few of you will have seen, I have recently been using my VHL.com article spots to rank players by TPE based on what draft pick they were selected with. The ultimate aim of this is for us to end up with a comprehensive all-time TPE list, but for that happen we need to look into how players have done who weren’t selected in the draft. While there are probably some decent undrafted players that have played in the VHL, I am talking about GM recreates that forgo the draft to be automatically allocated to their own team’s roster. While it’s not necessary for a GM to make a terrific player himself to achieve success, it can certainly give his team a boost and, when their career winds down, a valuable trade asset. So, without further ado, let’s analyse these players:
 
Note: Bold indicates players who are still active. An asterisk is used to indicate that a draft pick was forfeited to bring them in through the GM Rule.
 
CALGARY
 

 
If you’ll allow me to use an NFL comparison for the Calgary Wranglers, they remind me a lot of the Pittsburgh Steelers as both teams will keep around their non-playing personnel for the long haul rather than chop-and-change at the first signs of trouble. With only six GMs in 45 seasons, the Calgary Wranglers have had the least number of GMs out of all of the inaugural teams and are also the only inaugural team to have more GM recreate players than GMs. It’s quite a group of players as well, with 3 Hall of Famers and two players over 900 TPE along with the highly promising Tim TebowGow at nearly 400 TPE in just his second season. The only real disappointment on the list would be Pavel Kurakov, a player who came from the same agency as Hall of Famer Scott Boulet, who went inactive about six months into his career before subsequently retiring another year later.
 
NEW YORK
 

 
It’s easy to see the correlation between New York Americans success on the ice and their GM’s success with their players. Starting off with then league simmer Brett Noiles as their inaugural GM player (who went inactive after about two seasons and retired another season later) and followed by Robin Banks (who was represented by Robbie Zimmers), it was only when they reached their third GM rule player Brandon Azevedo in Season 11 that they started to make the playoffs with any sort of regularity. Lars Berger was the fourth player to make the team via the GM rule but, like CAL G with Calgary, left the team before making a professional appearance. Benjamin Glover was the Americans highest earning GM recreate and that showed in the Americans results, with the Americans making the playoffs in each of the eleven seasons following Glover’s entrance, with the streak also lasting through fellow goalie Skyler Rift’s tenure with the Americans. The Americans elected to continue with appointing goalies through the GM rule, with Brick Wahl being the team’s third consecutive goalie brought in through the rule and subsequently became the team’s most winningest GM rule player with two continental cups. Chris Miller, the GM representing Brick Wahl, also became the first New York GM to hire two players through the GM rule when he brought defenseman Benjamin Dupont onto the team in Season 44.
 
QUEBEC CITY
 

 
The Meute may be in their 15th season as a VHL franchise, but they’ve managed to avoid the same earlier mistakes that some of the inaugural VHL franchises suffered in their earlier years and have only had three general managers to date. With inaugural general manager Pavel Koradek bringing in Alexander Valiq (a player who was drafted the season before the Meute’s induction) as his franchise player, the team didn’t have to bring in their first player with the GM rule until Season 39 when Frank Chadwick brought in Aksel Thomassen. Thomassen has been a highly successful player for the Meute, as he has earned over 1000 TPE and led the league in points in both Season 41 and Season 42. Thomassen was moved to the Reign this season to help the Meute through their rebuilding process, but that also opens the door for current GM Clinton Chevy to bring in his own player through the GM rule once his current client Bruno Wolf retires at the end of the season.
 
SEATTLE
 

 
Seattle are one of the few franchises that have never had to suffer with being stuck with a bad player being brought in by the GM Rule, somewhat surprising given the multiple-season saga that surrounded their GM from the end of Season 39 to the start of Season 43. While they haven’t had bad players brought in via the GM rule though, they don’t quite have the history that some of the other VHL franchises have had in bringing in elite talent, as Joey Kendrick is the sole Hall of Famer from the eight players brought in via the GM Rule (Kendrick is also the highest TPE earning inaugural GM). Although there have been several Hall of Fame ballot votes in the past for the Bears’ highest TPE earning GM rule player Felix Peters, he actually ranks as the lowest TPE player out of all of those brought in via the GM Rule who lead their team in TPE.
 
TORONTO
 

 
With a VHL record sixteen different GM stints, you would perhaps assume that Toronto would have been one of the main beneficiaries of the GM rule. As it turns out though, they have had just as many players brought in through the rule as the Wranglers, the inaugural team with the least amount of GM stints. Although Aidan Alexander didn’t last long in the role of GM, he did manage to record the second most TPE of all the GMs. Michael Joseph is one of four players from player agent Mike Szatkowski to join a team through the GM rule although, unfortunately for Toronto, Joseph was easily the least successful of the four. The big standout here is Ed Grr, a Season 40 player who failed to put up more than 250 TPE in an era where TPE is much easier to come by than in the league’s early goings. Considering his initial plan was to introduce VHLM goalie Lenny Face as their next player brought in through the GM rule, it’s probably for the best that he stepped down as GM. Then again, it’s not like his plan would have turned out any worse than Sachimo Zoidberg’s… 
 
Special Thanks to Victor for his help with finding the older GM Rule players

A Self Reflection on 60 Seasons in the VHL
 
For those that do not know, this was my sixtieth season in the Victory Hockey League.  Normally, I sit here and do a VSN article on the BOG or potentially a podcast with friends, but with there being limited to report on behind the scenes, and friends celebrating Easter, I choose to reflect instead.  I haven’t always been someone that was all that well known around these leagues, with me generally being more of a football sim-leaguer for much of my time prior to VHL.  
 
That being said, after being selected in the second round of the famously stacked Season 18 Draft, I had a short spell of inactivity that led to me being traded about a half a season into my second campaign with Gothenburg.  After being traded by the Riga Reign, I was contacted immediately by @Kendrick, the GM of the Helsinki Titans, and he was able to get me back to the league.  That player would then go on to break a VHL record that still hasn’t been topped, with 98 assists being recorded in his rookie season.  Michael Angelo would go down as my first player in the VHL and he ended up being someone that won Rookie of the Year, broke records, won a Continental Cup and even had his number retired by Helsinki at the end of his career.
 
It was a pretty good start for me and I really hit it out of the park with my next two in Ryan Sullivan and Brick Wahl, my only two VHL Hall of Fame players.  Honestly though, I could talk about any of the eleven players I have created in the Victory Hockey League, but the league has been so much more than that for me.
 
To start, it still is one of the main reasons I did not do so well in University.  Not to say that isn’t my fault, but the Victory Hockey League suckered me in and took a lot of time out of me….and I don’t regret that whatsoever.  I love this league and it has meant so much to me over the last eleven years.  It’s crazy to be turning thirty this year and seeing so many young kids now experiencing this league just like I did when I was still in my teenage years.  I’m sure that’s a sentiment that other long-time members of this league can share.  Heck, old geezers like @Beketov and Kendrick have been here since day one.  We have even seen members from the old days like @McKelvie and @v.2 return and get to experience this league all over again, but a much more updated and modern version focused on making this league simplistic and streamlined.  
 
I’m writing this to you, completely blazed out of my mind, not entirely sure what I’m trying to say...but with the complete interest in sharing with all of you what this league has meant to me, and why I hope it continues to change people’s lives for the better.  I have talked to members who have said it’s helped their writing ability, their creativity, launched them into graphics creation, scratched that itch when they're bored and even, in the case of me, be that friend when you feel lonely on a Saturday evening.  
 
One of the best examples is the friends I have made here.  For those that don’t know, I am getting married in September of 2022 (just recently booked the venue!) and I have three amazing guys standing off to the side for it.  One will be @Jericho, who has been one of my closest friends since we met several years ago, and someone who is easily one of the most loyal friends you could have.  Another is @Devise, who to this day is probably the friend I have the most in common with, from hockey to mma to wrestling to even movies and video games.  And another will be my good friend @duckberg32 who I go the furthest back with, being a regular football leaguer himself, but also someone I have reconnected with since Jericho’s wedding a couple of years ago.  I met all three of these guys over the course of time in these leagues, with two of them coming directly from it.  I have met many other people that I would call my friend or at least someone I can confide in whenever I need to.  People like @BOOM, @Banackock, @diamond_ace , @Tagger, @Phil, @STZ and @GustavMattias.  I very much am an example of someone who grew closer to some of his sim league friends than the ones he had in real life, but I found they were the most loyal of all at times.  
 
This league loves to challenge and I’ve honestly experienced that recently.  I had the option of teams to GM in the VHLM and chose the one I thought would be the hardest to rebuild, and at times I regret that decision.  Being in a situation with no picks and no players can be pretty hard to process, but honestly it has been a fun challenge and one that I think I will grow from.  That’s the awesome thing about this league.  I have spent over thirty-five seasons in this league as a GM in either the VHL or the VHLM; I was a long-time member of a VHL Magazine; a former VHLM Commissioner and finally, a long-time Board of Governors member, yet I still learn new things all the time.
 
There was a time only about thirty seasons ago where I thought the league was on the verge of dying, but now I can honestly say we are the healthiest we have ever been.  We recently brought in dozens of players from a Youtube Advertisement from a pretty popular streamer and have continued to develop the league with expansions all over the place in the last decade.  And while this certainly came off a little gushy, this league is still the one consistent thing in my life over the last eleven years.  For that, I hope the league lasts forever, even if there comes a time where I can’t be a participant in it any longer.  For now though, I look forward to my next player and another eleven years.

My thoughts on transparency in sims: Yes, absolutely. We've got the technology, let's do our best to eliminate any doubts about the simming process.
 
My thoughts on the accusations: I'll admit, I have my suspicions, and it's not based just on Beketov winning awards. Just focusing on awards provides no real context because, at the end of the day, Beketov is a member who earns a lot of TPE and has proven before he started simming that he's capable of making players that win awards. Typically before he started simming, Thompson was winning awards solely down to the ridiculous number of shots he was putting up. I seem to remember one season (probably Season 62), where he had over 800 shots and let's face it, if you have that many shots, you're going to score a lot of goals regardless of how many go in. 
 
My suspicions focus on those seasons where he didn't have a high volume of shots, yet still managed to find himself very near the top, if not at the top. The two main examples of this are Season 68 and Season 72. 
 
Season 68 was Thompson's final season in the league and he was after goals, that much was apparent. But in reality, Malmo was not a team that was able to give Thompson the volume of shots that he'd had previously, as he was all the way down in 17th in total shots, and had over 100 shots less than the top three players in shots. Regardless, Thompson did the incredibly improbable and managed to record an 18.75% shooting percentage and take home the goal-scoring title comfortably. How incredibly improbable was this? Well, prior to this season, the previous shooting percentage record for a player who was in the Top 50 in points was 16.02% (Lars Berger), and that was set all the way back in Season 20, so to not only break a record that stood for that long, but to also break it in such convincing fashion was unfathomable really.
 
The anomalies carry over to the Nighthawks as a team who collectively struggled to shoot (2nd lowest shot totals in the league) and weren't exactly playing elite defense (mid-table in shots against, but were only 30 shots off of having the third most shots allowed in the league whereas they conceded 100 shots more than the Seattle Bears, who were the other team in the mid-table of shots against). Along with that, they didn't have a particularly standout season from their goalie Michael Johnson, whose .917% was average for a goalie that season. Yet they still won the Victory Cup despite having over 150 less shots for than shots against, making them the only Victory Cup winning team in the trackable indexes to win the Victory Cup despite having a lower number of shots than the number of shots they faced. Along with that, they actually had the highest point differential in the league, despite the fact they were the third worst team in the league in shot differential. 
 
There isn't as much to Season 72 as Season 68, but it was another instance of Beketov's player (this time Lahtinen) defying the odds that no other player that I can recall has ever really challenged by getting close to the Brooks trophy without having the shot totals to realistically think about competing. This time Lahtinen was way further down in the shooting rankings, all the way down in 49th in total shots, yet somehow managed to finish second in goals. For the second time in three seasons of Beketov simming a season with a player on the first two lines of a team, Beketov's player (and a different one at that) broke Lars Berger's 16.02% shooting percentage mentioned earlier with a 17.45% shooting percentage. Again, not just scraping over the record, but a sizeable leap over it. 
 
This is just my stats in an easy to compile area.

 
Again, the fact that Beketov is winning awards isn't a reason to suspect questionable sims, but looking at the anomalies that have cropped up in these sims do make me question the validity of them for the first time in 40-odd seasons. 

My thoughts on transparency in sims: Yes, absolutely. We've got the technology, let's do our best to eliminate any doubts about the simming process.
 
My thoughts on the accusations: I'll admit, I have my suspicions, and it's not based just on Beketov winning awards. Just focusing on awards provides no real context because, at the end of the day, Beketov is a member who earns a lot of TPE and has proven before he started simming that he's capable of making players that win awards. Typically before he started simming, Thompson was winning awards solely down to the ridiculous number of shots he was putting up. I seem to remember one season (probably Season 62), where he had over 800 shots and let's face it, if you have that many shots, you're going to score a lot of goals regardless of how many go in. 
 
My suspicions focus on those seasons where he didn't have a high volume of shots, yet still managed to find himself very near the top, if not at the top. The two main examples of this are Season 68 and Season 72. 
 
Season 68 was Thompson's final season in the league and he was after goals, that much was apparent. But in reality, Malmo was not a team that was able to give Thompson the volume of shots that he'd had previously, as he was all the way down in 17th in total shots, and had over 100 shots less than the top three players in shots. Regardless, Thompson did the incredibly improbable and managed to record an 18.75% shooting percentage and take home the goal-scoring title comfortably. How incredibly improbable was this? Well, prior to this season, the previous shooting percentage record for a player who was in the Top 50 in points was 16.02% (Lars Berger), and that was set all the way back in Season 20, so to not only break a record that stood for that long, but to also break it in such convincing fashion was unfathomable really.
 
The anomalies carry over to the Nighthawks as a team who collectively struggled to shoot (2nd lowest shot totals in the league) and weren't exactly playing elite defense (mid-table in shots against, but were only 30 shots off of having the third most shots allowed in the league whereas they conceded 100 shots more than the Seattle Bears, who were the other team in the mid-table of shots against). Along with that, they didn't have a particularly standout season from their goalie Michael Johnson, whose .917% was average for a goalie that season. Yet they still won the Victory Cup despite having over 150 less shots for than shots against, making them the only Victory Cup winning team in the trackable indexes to win the Victory Cup despite having a lower number of shots than the number of shots they faced. Along with that, they actually had the highest point differential in the league, despite the fact they were the third worst team in the league in shot differential. 
 
There isn't as much to Season 72 as Season 68, but it was another instance of Beketov's player (this time Lahtinen) defying the odds that no other player that I can recall has ever really challenged by getting close to the Brooks trophy without having the shot totals to realistically think about competing. This time Lahtinen was way further down in the shooting rankings, all the way down in 49th in total shots, yet somehow managed to finish second in goals. For the second time in three seasons of Beketov simming a season with a player on the first two lines of a team, Beketov's player (and a different one at that) broke Lars Berger's 16.02% shooting percentage mentioned earlier with a 17.45% shooting percentage. Again, not just scraping over the record, but a sizeable leap over it. 
 
This is just my stats in an easy to compile area.

 
Again, the fact that Beketov is winning awards isn't a reason to suspect questionable sims, but looking at the anomalies that have cropped up in these sims do make me question the validity of them for the first time in 40-odd seasons. 

My thoughts on transparency in sims: Yes, absolutely. We've got the technology, let's do our best to eliminate any doubts about the simming process.
 
My thoughts on the accusations: I'll admit, I have my suspicions, and it's not based just on Beketov winning awards. Just focusing on awards provides no real context because, at the end of the day, Beketov is a member who earns a lot of TPE and has proven before he started simming that he's capable of making players that win awards. Typically before he started simming, Thompson was winning awards solely down to the ridiculous number of shots he was putting up. I seem to remember one season (probably Season 62), where he had over 800 shots and let's face it, if you have that many shots, you're going to score a lot of goals regardless of how many go in. 
 
My suspicions focus on those seasons where he didn't have a high volume of shots, yet still managed to find himself very near the top, if not at the top. The two main examples of this are Season 68 and Season 72. 
 
Season 68 was Thompson's final season in the league and he was after goals, that much was apparent. But in reality, Malmo was not a team that was able to give Thompson the volume of shots that he'd had previously, as he was all the way down in 17th in total shots, and had over 100 shots less than the top three players in shots. Regardless, Thompson did the incredibly improbable and managed to record an 18.75% shooting percentage and take home the goal-scoring title comfortably. How incredibly improbable was this? Well, prior to this season, the previous shooting percentage record for a player who was in the Top 50 in points was 16.02% (Lars Berger), and that was set all the way back in Season 20, so to not only break a record that stood for that long, but to also break it in such convincing fashion was unfathomable really.
 
The anomalies carry over to the Nighthawks as a team who collectively struggled to shoot (2nd lowest shot totals in the league) and weren't exactly playing elite defense (mid-table in shots against, but were only 30 shots off of having the third most shots allowed in the league whereas they conceded 100 shots more than the Seattle Bears, who were the other team in the mid-table of shots against). Along with that, they didn't have a particularly standout season from their goalie Michael Johnson, whose .917% was average for a goalie that season. Yet they still won the Victory Cup despite having over 150 less shots for than shots against, making them the only Victory Cup winning team in the trackable indexes to win the Victory Cup despite having a lower number of shots than the number of shots they faced. Along with that, they actually had the highest point differential in the league, despite the fact they were the third worst team in the league in shot differential. 
 
There isn't as much to Season 72 as Season 68, but it was another instance of Beketov's player (this time Lahtinen) defying the odds that no other player that I can recall has ever really challenged by getting close to the Brooks trophy without having the shot totals to realistically think about competing. This time Lahtinen was way further down in the shooting rankings, all the way down in 49th in total shots, yet somehow managed to finish second in goals. For the second time in three seasons of Beketov simming a season with a player on the first two lines of a team, Beketov's player (and a different one at that) broke Lars Berger's 16.02% shooting percentage mentioned earlier with a 17.45% shooting percentage. Again, not just scraping over the record, but a sizeable leap over it. 
 
This is just my stats in an easy to compile area.

 
Again, the fact that Beketov is winning awards isn't a reason to suspect questionable sims, but looking at the anomalies that have cropped up in these sims do make me question the validity of them for the first time in 40-odd seasons. 

My thoughts on transparency in sims: Yes, absolutely. We've got the technology, let's do our best to eliminate any doubts about the simming process.
 
My thoughts on the accusations: I'll admit, I have my suspicions, and it's not based just on Beketov winning awards. Just focusing on awards provides no real context because, at the end of the day, Beketov is a member who earns a lot of TPE and has proven before he started simming that he's capable of making players that win awards. Typically before he started simming, Thompson was winning awards solely down to the ridiculous number of shots he was putting up. I seem to remember one season (probably Season 62), where he had over 800 shots and let's face it, if you have that many shots, you're going to score a lot of goals regardless of how many go in. 
 
My suspicions focus on those seasons where he didn't have a high volume of shots, yet still managed to find himself very near the top, if not at the top. The two main examples of this are Season 68 and Season 72. 
 
Season 68 was Thompson's final season in the league and he was after goals, that much was apparent. But in reality, Malmo was not a team that was able to give Thompson the volume of shots that he'd had previously, as he was all the way down in 17th in total shots, and had over 100 shots less than the top three players in shots. Regardless, Thompson did the incredibly improbable and managed to record an 18.75% shooting percentage and take home the goal-scoring title comfortably. How incredibly improbable was this? Well, prior to this season, the previous shooting percentage record for a player who was in the Top 50 in points was 16.02% (Lars Berger), and that was set all the way back in Season 20, so to not only break a record that stood for that long, but to also break it in such convincing fashion was unfathomable really.
 
The anomalies carry over to the Nighthawks as a team who collectively struggled to shoot (2nd lowest shot totals in the league) and weren't exactly playing elite defense (mid-table in shots against, but were only 30 shots off of having the third most shots allowed in the league whereas they conceded 100 shots more than the Seattle Bears, who were the other team in the mid-table of shots against). Along with that, they didn't have a particularly standout season from their goalie Michael Johnson, whose .917% was average for a goalie that season. Yet they still won the Victory Cup despite having over 150 less shots for than shots against, making them the only Victory Cup winning team in the trackable indexes to win the Victory Cup despite having a lower number of shots than the number of shots they faced. Along with that, they actually had the highest point differential in the league, despite the fact they were the third worst team in the league in shot differential. 
 
There isn't as much to Season 72 as Season 68, but it was another instance of Beketov's player (this time Lahtinen) defying the odds that no other player that I can recall has ever really challenged by getting close to the Brooks trophy without having the shot totals to realistically think about competing. This time Lahtinen was way further down in the shooting rankings, all the way down in 49th in total shots, yet somehow managed to finish second in goals. For the second time in three seasons of Beketov simming a season with a player on the first two lines of a team, Beketov's player (and a different one at that) broke Lars Berger's 16.02% shooting percentage mentioned earlier with a 17.45% shooting percentage. Again, not just scraping over the record, but a sizeable leap over it. 
 
This is just my stats in an easy to compile area.

 
Again, the fact that Beketov is winning awards isn't a reason to suspect questionable sims, but looking at the anomalies that have cropped up in these sims do make me question the validity of them for the first time in 40-odd seasons. 

My thoughts on transparency in sims: Yes, absolutely. We've got the technology, let's do our best to eliminate any doubts about the simming process.
 
My thoughts on the accusations: I'll admit, I have my suspicions, and it's not based just on Beketov winning awards. Just focusing on awards provides no real context because, at the end of the day, Beketov is a member who earns a lot of TPE and has proven before he started simming that he's capable of making players that win awards. Typically before he started simming, Thompson was winning awards solely down to the ridiculous number of shots he was putting up. I seem to remember one season (probably Season 62), where he had over 800 shots and let's face it, if you have that many shots, you're going to score a lot of goals regardless of how many go in. 
 
My suspicions focus on those seasons where he didn't have a high volume of shots, yet still managed to find himself very near the top, if not at the top. The two main examples of this are Season 68 and Season 72. 
 
Season 68 was Thompson's final season in the league and he was after goals, that much was apparent. But in reality, Malmo was not a team that was able to give Thompson the volume of shots that he'd had previously, as he was all the way down in 17th in total shots, and had over 100 shots less than the top three players in shots. Regardless, Thompson did the incredibly improbable and managed to record an 18.75% shooting percentage and take home the goal-scoring title comfortably. How incredibly improbable was this? Well, prior to this season, the previous shooting percentage record for a player who was in the Top 50 in points was 16.02% (Lars Berger), and that was set all the way back in Season 20, so to not only break a record that stood for that long, but to also break it in such convincing fashion was unfathomable really.
 
The anomalies carry over to the Nighthawks as a team who collectively struggled to shoot (2nd lowest shot totals in the league) and weren't exactly playing elite defense (mid-table in shots against, but were only 30 shots off of having the third most shots allowed in the league whereas they conceded 100 shots more than the Seattle Bears, who were the other team in the mid-table of shots against). Along with that, they didn't have a particularly standout season from their goalie Michael Johnson, whose .917% was average for a goalie that season. Yet they still won the Victory Cup despite having over 150 less shots for than shots against, making them the only Victory Cup winning team in the trackable indexes to win the Victory Cup despite having a lower number of shots than the number of shots they faced. Along with that, they actually had the highest point differential in the league, despite the fact they were the third worst team in the league in shot differential. 
 
There isn't as much to Season 72 as Season 68, but it was another instance of Beketov's player (this time Lahtinen) defying the odds that no other player that I can recall has ever really challenged by getting close to the Brooks trophy without having the shot totals to realistically think about competing. This time Lahtinen was way further down in the shooting rankings, all the way down in 49th in total shots, yet somehow managed to finish second in goals. For the second time in three seasons of Beketov simming a season with a player on the first two lines of a team, Beketov's player (and a different one at that) broke Lars Berger's 16.02% shooting percentage mentioned earlier with a 17.45% shooting percentage. Again, not just scraping over the record, but a sizeable leap over it. 
 
This is just my stats in an easy to compile area.

 
Again, the fact that Beketov is winning awards isn't a reason to suspect questionable sims, but looking at the anomalies that have cropped up in these sims do make me question the validity of them for the first time in 40-odd seasons. 

My thoughts on transparency in sims: Yes, absolutely. We've got the technology, let's do our best to eliminate any doubts about the simming process.
 
My thoughts on the accusations: I'll admit, I have my suspicions, and it's not based just on Beketov winning awards. Just focusing on awards provides no real context because, at the end of the day, Beketov is a member who earns a lot of TPE and has proven before he started simming that he's capable of making players that win awards. Typically before he started simming, Thompson was winning awards solely down to the ridiculous number of shots he was putting up. I seem to remember one season (probably Season 62), where he had over 800 shots and let's face it, if you have that many shots, you're going to score a lot of goals regardless of how many go in. 
 
My suspicions focus on those seasons where he didn't have a high volume of shots, yet still managed to find himself very near the top, if not at the top. The two main examples of this are Season 68 and Season 72. 
 
Season 68 was Thompson's final season in the league and he was after goals, that much was apparent. But in reality, Malmo was not a team that was able to give Thompson the volume of shots that he'd had previously, as he was all the way down in 17th in total shots, and had over 100 shots less than the top three players in shots. Regardless, Thompson did the incredibly improbable and managed to record an 18.75% shooting percentage and take home the goal-scoring title comfortably. How incredibly improbable was this? Well, prior to this season, the previous shooting percentage record for a player who was in the Top 50 in points was 16.02% (Lars Berger), and that was set all the way back in Season 20, so to not only break a record that stood for that long, but to also break it in such convincing fashion was unfathomable really.
 
The anomalies carry over to the Nighthawks as a team who collectively struggled to shoot (2nd lowest shot totals in the league) and weren't exactly playing elite defense (mid-table in shots against, but were only 30 shots off of having the third most shots allowed in the league whereas they conceded 100 shots more than the Seattle Bears, who were the other team in the mid-table of shots against). Along with that, they didn't have a particularly standout season from their goalie Michael Johnson, whose .917% was average for a goalie that season. Yet they still won the Victory Cup despite having over 150 less shots for than shots against, making them the only Victory Cup winning team in the trackable indexes to win the Victory Cup despite having a lower number of shots than the number of shots they faced. Along with that, they actually had the highest point differential in the league, despite the fact they were the third worst team in the league in shot differential. 
 
There isn't as much to Season 72 as Season 68, but it was another instance of Beketov's player (this time Lahtinen) defying the odds that no other player that I can recall has ever really challenged by getting close to the Brooks trophy without having the shot totals to realistically think about competing. This time Lahtinen was way further down in the shooting rankings, all the way down in 49th in total shots, yet somehow managed to finish second in goals. For the second time in three seasons of Beketov simming a season with a player on the first two lines of a team, Beketov's player (and a different one at that) broke Lars Berger's 16.02% shooting percentage mentioned earlier with a 17.45% shooting percentage. Again, not just scraping over the record, but a sizeable leap over it. 
 
This is just my stats in an easy to compile area.

 
Again, the fact that Beketov is winning awards isn't a reason to suspect questionable sims, but looking at the anomalies that have cropped up in these sims do make me question the validity of them for the first time in 40-odd seasons. 

My thoughts on transparency in sims: Yes, absolutely. We've got the technology, let's do our best to eliminate any doubts about the simming process.
 
My thoughts on the accusations: I'll admit, I have my suspicions, and it's not based just on Beketov winning awards. Just focusing on awards provides no real context because, at the end of the day, Beketov is a member who earns a lot of TPE and has proven before he started simming that he's capable of making players that win awards. Typically before he started simming, Thompson was winning awards solely down to the ridiculous number of shots he was putting up. I seem to remember one season (probably Season 62), where he had over 800 shots and let's face it, if you have that many shots, you're going to score a lot of goals regardless of how many go in. 
 
My suspicions focus on those seasons where he didn't have a high volume of shots, yet still managed to find himself very near the top, if not at the top. The two main examples of this are Season 68 and Season 72. 
 
Season 68 was Thompson's final season in the league and he was after goals, that much was apparent. But in reality, Malmo was not a team that was able to give Thompson the volume of shots that he'd had previously, as he was all the way down in 17th in total shots, and had over 100 shots less than the top three players in shots. Regardless, Thompson did the incredibly improbable and managed to record an 18.75% shooting percentage and take home the goal-scoring title comfortably. How incredibly improbable was this? Well, prior to this season, the previous shooting percentage record for a player who was in the Top 50 in points was 16.02% (Lars Berger), and that was set all the way back in Season 20, so to not only break a record that stood for that long, but to also break it in such convincing fashion was unfathomable really.
 
The anomalies carry over to the Nighthawks as a team who collectively struggled to shoot (2nd lowest shot totals in the league) and weren't exactly playing elite defense (mid-table in shots against, but were only 30 shots off of having the third most shots allowed in the league whereas they conceded 100 shots more than the Seattle Bears, who were the other team in the mid-table of shots against). Along with that, they didn't have a particularly standout season from their goalie Michael Johnson, whose .917% was average for a goalie that season. Yet they still won the Victory Cup despite having over 150 less shots for than shots against, making them the only Victory Cup winning team in the trackable indexes to win the Victory Cup despite having a lower number of shots than the number of shots they faced. Along with that, they actually had the highest point differential in the league, despite the fact they were the third worst team in the league in shot differential. 
 
There isn't as much to Season 72 as Season 68, but it was another instance of Beketov's player (this time Lahtinen) defying the odds that no other player that I can recall has ever really challenged by getting close to the Brooks trophy without having the shot totals to realistically think about competing. This time Lahtinen was way further down in the shooting rankings, all the way down in 49th in total shots, yet somehow managed to finish second in goals. For the second time in three seasons of Beketov simming a season with a player on the first two lines of a team, Beketov's player (and a different one at that) broke Lars Berger's 16.02% shooting percentage mentioned earlier with a 17.45% shooting percentage. Again, not just scraping over the record, but a sizeable leap over it. 
 
This is just my stats in an easy to compile area.

 
Again, the fact that Beketov is winning awards isn't a reason to suspect questionable sims, but looking at the anomalies that have cropped up in these sims do make me question the validity of them for the first time in 40-odd seasons. 

I want to say right at the top of this one that what I'm about to write here might seem like I'm calling people out. I'm not--I'm calling out a situation which enables people to do things a certain way. In fact, I actually really like the people who are involved with this, so I'm hoping this is in no way seen as a personal shot.
 
Right up through S75, GMs were allowed to give up a first-round pick to select their own player. Eventually, this rule got yeeted when every GM went and made their first-round picks as late as possible, usually landing a player who belonged in the early first round at 11 or 12 (and later on, 15 or 16). I wasn't fully in support of removing it, but wasn't super against seeing it get removed as it was clear that the intent of the rule was being played with in a way that wasn't exactly what the league wanted or needed. Some GMs, given the timing of the rule change, were--understandably--upset that it happened, especially if they weren't allowed to do the same for their own players after watching three GM players (Taro included) go in the last draft.
 
And that is what it is. After a bit of looking into the specifics (it was made clear that attempts to dodge the rule by manipulating one's own draft stock or whatever else wouldn't be tolerated), eventually it was accepted by all, for better or for worse, and we moved on from it. The thing is...since that happened, we've seen one GM not recreate--and other GMs have strongly hinted that they would do the same, because not being able to select one's own player is seen as hurting one's own team. And that's not even necessarily incorrect. If you're not guaranteed to have your own player, then sure, you might end up being an asset for a rival. I wouldn't be surprised if a few seasons from now we had multiple GMs without players, because I've seen enough talk to know that more GMs plan to do this than just one who happens to be the first.
 
If you feel strongly enough that that's hurting your team enough that you shouldn't have a player, that's your opinion. I'm not even disagreeing from a purely objective standpoint. But just like picking your own player as late as possible is against the intent of the rule, isn't not having a player in the first place against the intent of the lack of a rule? It bothers me more that that's even seen as an option than that the previous rule was being bent a little. It really, really, needs to not be an option.
 
GMs should be required to always have a player. And attempting to get that player on your own team by tanking your own stock, threatening to retire early or stop earning, or whatever else should be expressly prohibited. A GM is someone who is supposed to be a meaningful contributor to the entire league including their team, not just someone who shuffles around players on a team and does nothing else. Of course, I'm not trying to say that this is happening in any of the real situations I'm hinting at, but in theory a GM without a player could get by as someone entirely inactive who checks in every once in a while to look at the roster. Having a player, generating content, and contributing to the entire community is something that this league needs and deserves from its GMs. Someone who runs a team needs to be active, and purposely reducing one's own activity to avoid being a part of any other team is something that the rules need to stand against.

Edwin THE Encarnacion - Protect Scoring

Edwin THE Encarnacion - Protect Scoring

9th Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards – S74
Another exciting regular season has come to a close. That means we can dole out some regular season awards! Welcome everyone to the 9th Annual Unofficial VHL Regular Season Awards honoring S74! Thank you to everyone that reads this. I’m always looking for new award ideas. Please keep the award suggestions coming!
 
These awards have been created by me. There is no voting process and they are not officially recognized by the VHL Board of Governors. I wrote descriptions for most of these award names in the original award post. Let’s get things underway!
 
 
The Pylon Award (worst +/- rating) – Jay Jones @TTtheT 
 
What a difference a year makes. With all the expansion teams, last season was a disaster for this category. Things were much more normalized this season. Our winner, Jay Jones took home the award with a -38, an improvement on his -44 from a season ago and a massive improvement from the winning total of -74 from last season.
 
Previous Pylon Award Winners:
Season
Player
+ / -
S73
Balentine Kidd
-74
S72
Jack Feriancek
-59
S71
John Madden
-43
S70
Bert Meyers
-45
S69
Basaraba Moose
-57
S68
Sven Hitz
-58
S67
Piotr Jerwa and Nethila Dissanayake
-34
S66
Bryce Zhields
-49
 
 
 
The Gandhi Award (least penalty minutes, min 1,000 minutes played) – Uhtred  @leafsman  
 
Uhtred lost this award last season thanks to a tiebreaker. Never one to be denied, Uhtred came roaring back to record only 2 PIM in 2,132 minutes played. He won in a tie-breaker over Tyler Walker @Advantage, who had 2 PIM in 1,943 minutes played.
 
Previous Gandhi Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
Minutes Played
S73
Joseph Gainer
2
2106
S72
Jared Spaz
2
1106
S71
Soren Jensen
4
2016
S70
Denver Wolfe
2
1988
S69
Hugh Chan
4
2050
S68
Jack Lynch
0
1473
S67
Diljodh Starload
0
2091
S66
Beau Buefordsson
0
1939
 
 
The Major2 Award (most major penalties) - Gary Tarantino @Garrett   
 
I feel like every award show will face a crisis at some point. This award show encountered it here. Sure, it sounds like a great idea to make an award for the player who gets the most major penalties. And sure, it might work great for a season or two when there’s a clear-cut winner. But how do you handle a situation when there’s a tie? Of course we’ve encountered ties in many other categories, sometimes there’s a reasonable tiebreaker, other times we give it to co-winners. I struggled with the tie breaker in this category. Should the tie breaker be most penalty minutes because they like penalties or should it be least penalty minutes, meaning a greater % of their penalties were major penalties? I went with the later. Congrats to Gary Tarantino who took home the award over Kristopher McDagg @Viperxhawks19. Tarantino recorded 10 major penalties but only had 74 total penalty minutes. McDagg lost the tie breaker with 118 PIM.
 
 
Previous Major2 Award Winners:
Season
Player
Major Penalties
S73
Mickey Dickson
7
S72
Mikko Lahtinen
9
 
 
 
 
The Timex Award (received most hits) – Mikko Lahtinen @Beketov  
 
Mikko was hit 321 times this season, topping perennial favorite @Beaviss’s player Brock Louth by 17 hits.
 
Previous Timex Award Winners:
Season
Player
Hits Taken
S73
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
310
S72
Anthony Matthews
274
S71
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
274
S70
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
282
S69
John Madden
357
S68
Mikko Aaltonen
297
S67
Rauno Palo
302
S66
Beau Louth
300
 
 
The John Wayne Award (most shots on goal) - Patrik Tallinder @Patrik Tallinder 
 
I think Tallinder had the number 532 circled on his dream board. He was the runner up to this award last season and watched Sigard Gunnar take it home with 531 shots. Tallinder hit his goal of 532 shot on the nose and wins the award!
 
Previous John Wayne Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Taken
S73
Sigard Gunnar
531
S72
Jet Jaguar
425
S71
Scott Greene
402
S70
Juilius Freeman
453
S69
Juilius Freeman
452
S68
Rylan Peace
466
S67
Matt Thompson
495
S66
Shane Mars
533
 
 
 
The “Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots blocked) - Ray Sheilds @Zetterberg 
 
You don’t need to look much beyond Ray’s sub 8% shooting percentage to understand how he could win this award. Sheilds took home the award getting 157 of his shots blocked.
 
Previous HtBotB Award Winners:
Season
Player
Own Shots Blocked
S73
Brock Louth
164
S72
Henrik Zoiderberg
122
S71
Guy LeGrande
122
S70
Shawnomir Jagr
129
S69
Julian Borwinn
136
S68
Rylan Peace
144
S67
Beau Louth
153
S66
Oyorra Arroyo
142
 
 
 
The “Can’t Hit the Broadside of the Barn” Award (most own shots missed) – Brock Louth @Beaviss 
 
Brock concludes his career with back-to-back overwhelming victories in this category. He set the new all-time record with 429 shots missed. Last season he won this award by 50 shots, this season was a slightly less, but still massive 46 shots.
 
Previous CHtBotB Award Winners:
Player
Season
Shots Missed
S73
Brock Louth
425
S72
RJ Jubis
299
S71
Guy LeGrande
299
S70
Juilius Freeman
343
S69
Elias Dahlberg
320
S68
Rylan Peace
351
S67
Beau Louth
364
S66
Roctrion King
372
 
 
 
The New Shin Pads Award (most blocked shots) – Matty Socks @fishy 
 
Rookie Matty Socks burst onto the scene this season and wins this award with 181 shots blocked, 3 more than last season’s winner, Alex Bridges @Alex Bridges and London United’s James Rose @MattyIce
 
Previous New Shin Pads Award Winners:
Season
Player
Shots Blocked
S73
Alex Bridges
194
S72
Condor Adrienne
188
S71
Aron Nielsen
153
S70
Guillaume Fontenette
145
S69
Guillaume Fontenette
166
S68
Seabass Perrin
207
S67
Piotr Jerwa
170
S66
Lando Baxter
189
 
 
The Tired Legs Award (most minutes played) - Guy Lesieur @KC15  
Guy played a total of 2,279 minutes this season averaging 31.67 minutes per game.
 
Previous Tired Legs Award Winners:
Season
Player
Minutes Played
S73
Alex Bridges
2401
S72
Condor Adrienne and Zyrok12
2227
S71
Juilius Freeman
2189
S70
Juilius Freeman
2164
S69
John Madden
2259
S68
Mikko Aaltonen
2290
S67
Shawn Glade
2226
S66
Robert Malenko
2324
 
 
 
The Snap! Award (most power play minutes) - Micheal Gary Scott @Motzaburger  
 
There’s been some recent debate in Discord on how to pronounce Micheal when it’s spelled like that. I’ll let the scholars debate and decide that one. Regardless, Micheal reclaims this award with 378 minutes on the powerplay.
 
Previous Snap! Award Winners:
Season
Player
PP Minutes
S73
Hulk Hogan
356
S72
Micheal Gary Scott
340
S71
Juilius Freeman
364
S70
Juilius Freeman
372
S69
Elias Dahlberg
368
S68
Joseph McWolf
351
S67
Beau Louth
437
S66
Jake Davis
412
 
 
 
The 1 vs. 100 Award (most time on penalty kill) - Edwin THE Encarnacion @Tagger  
 
Edwin wins this award over a trio of Prague players. His 344 penalty kill minutes is enough to earn him the trophy.
               
Previous 1 vs. 100 Award Winners:
Season
Player
PK Minutes
S73
Tyler Walker
390
S72
Cody Smith
356
S71
Jacob Perry
344
S70
Jacob Perry
380
S69
Wolf Stansson Jr
328
S68
Jack Lynch
353
S67
Aron Nielsen
374
S66
Lew Bronstein
352
 
 
 
The Sean Archer Award (highest face-off win %) - Brock Louth @Beaviss 
 
A Beaviss favorite, Brock wins him the award with an all-time high 63.72 faceoff winning percentage. Amazing!
               
Previous Sean Archer Award Winners:
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S73
Brock Louth
62.14%
S72
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
62.35%
S71
Jet Jaguar
61.84%
S70
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
60.78%
S69
Rauno Palo
59.45%
S68
Podrick Cast
62.56%
S67
Beau Louth
63.09%
S66
Rauno Palo
63.10%
 
 
The Castor Troy Award (lowest face-off win %, min 1,000 faceoffs) - Kefka Palazzo @diamond_ace  
 
Kefka is listed as a right winger. They probably should have stayed that way. They only won 32.26% of their 1,370 faceoffs.
               
Previous Castor Troy Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Face Off Pct
S73
Thorny Underyew
35.48%
S72
Richard Penisson
38.13%
S71
Zeno Miniti
42.07%
S70
Zeno Miniti
42.07%
S69
Zeno Miniti
32.27%
S68
Gritty
36.31%
S67
Gucci Garrop
35.07%
S66
Bryce Zhields
30%
 
 
 
The Triple Deke Award (most penalty shot goals) - Benny Graves @STZ  
 
6 was the magic number for this category for a while. Benny did it one better this season and won the award with 7 penalty shot goals.
               
Previous Triple Deke Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Penalty Shot Goals
S73
Codrick Past
5
S72
Sigard Gunnar
6
S71
Sigard Gunnar
6
S70
Owen Nolan
6
S69
Owen Nolan
6
S68
Jorgon Weyed
6
S67
Veran Dragomir
8
S66
Leph Twinger
5
 
 
 
The Rocky Award (most fights won) – Kristopher McDagg @Viperxhawks19  
 
The threepeat for McDagg has to put him in the conversation for best fighter in the history of the VHL. McDagg went 6-0-4 in fights this season.
               
Previous Rocky Award Winners:
Season
Player
Fights Won
S73
Kristopher McDagg
4
S72
Kristopher McDagg
2
S71
Owen Nolan
3
S70
RJ Jubis and Ambrose Stark
2
S69
Edward Vigneault
4
S68
Tyler Barabash Jr
2
S67
ACL TEAR
6
S66
Ryuu Crimson
4
 
 
 
The Glass Joe Award (most fights lost) – Lee Xin @Blazzer  
 
Xin lost 5 fights this season. On the plus side, they did win one fight. I hope that win helps them in the future.
               
Previous Glass Joe Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Fights Lost
S73
Mickey Dickson
3
S72
Roll Fizzlebeef
3
S71
Benny Graves and John Madden
3
S70
Walter Clements
3
S69
Rusty Shackleford
5
S68
Podrick Cast and Jordan Tonn
2
S67
Kronos Bailey and Hunter Hearst Helmsley
4
S66
Rauno Palo
3
 
 
 
The Stars Award (most stars won) – Mikko Lahtinen @Beketov  
 
Mikko’s award win with 32 total stars is impressive. What’s more impressive is that 20 of those 32 stars were 1st stars. The 32 stars ties the all-time high mark set by another player Beketov might be familiar with, Matt Thompson.
               
Previous Stars Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Total Stars
S73
Sigard Gunnar
30
S72
Julius Freeman
25
S71
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
28
S70
Randoms
25
S69
Julian Borwinn
27
S68
Matt Thompson
32
S67
Rauno Palo
25
S66
Matt Thompson
28
 
 
 
The “Always a Bridesmaid” Award (most stars without winning 1st star) – Richard Penisson @bluesfan55  
 
Dick won 12 stars without ever winning the top star.
               
Previous Bridesmaid Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Stars
S73
Spencer Elsby
8
S72
Lewis Dawson
13
S71
Condor Adrienne
12
S70
Luciano Valentino
6
S69
Tzuyu
12
S68
Zeno Miniti
9
S67
Dan Baillie
13
S66
Mikka Pajari
7
 
 
The Biggest Backpack Award (player with the largest difference in points from the rest of their team) - Patrik Tallinder @Patrik Tallinder  
 
Tallinder’s sensational season was enough to win him this award as well. His 127 points was 27 more than his closest teammate, Kyl Oferson @Nykonax .
           
Previous Backpack Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Point Difference from nearest teammate
S73
Hunter Hearst Helmsley
27
S72
Benny Graves
13
S71
Roque Davis
20
S70
Julian Borwinn
22
S69
John Madden
28
S68
Mikko Aaltonen
28
S67
Podrick Cast
23
 
 
 
The Anniversary Award (rank in total points matches season number) - Pengu @Pengu 
 
 
Pengu finished 74th in total points with 64 points. Congratulations!
 
Previous Anniversary Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Points
S73
Charlie Paddywagon
63
S72
Ondrej Ohradka
51
S71
Elasmobranch Fish
46
S70
Orion Slade
44
 
 
 
 
The Egghshell Award (goalie with most overtime losses) - Greg Eagles @Greg_Di  
 
Greg led the league with 10 overtime games lost.
 
Previous Eggshell Award Winners:
 
Season
Player
Overtime Games Lost
S73
Raymond Bernard
9
S72
Michael Johnson
9
S71
Jaxx Hextall
11
 
 
 
The Jason Voorhees Award (most PIM by a Goalie) - Ajay Krishna @Hooperorama 
 
Shortly after creating this category, I thought it was going to be a bust. Basically all the goalies get a couple of penalties each year, but nothing exciting. I’m so glad I was wrong, we now have back-to-back seasons with goalies getting game misconducts! I will happily reward them for their efforts. Last season Rayz Funk @Rayzor_7 won the award with a game misconduct for abuse of official. Ajay decided to one up him with an attempt to injure game misconduct penalty in this game against London.
 
Previous Jason Voorhees Award Winners:
Season
Player
PIM
S73
Rayz Funk
27
S72
A Red Guy
12
S71
Greg Eagles
10
 
 
The Poke Check Award (highest % of penalty shots stopped, min 10 penalty shots against) - Jacques Lafontaine @SlapshotDragon  
 
Jacques stopped all but 2 of the 14 penalty shots against him which is 85.70%. Shout out to Jean Pierre Camus @solas who had a higher percentage but faced less than 10 shots, disqualifying him from eligibility.
 
Previous Poke Check Award Winners:
Season
Player
Penalty Shots Stopped
S73
Stone Wolski
87.00%
S72
Virgil Ligriv
83.30%
S71
Greg Eagles
79.30%
 
 
 
That wraps it up for this season! Another year, another successful award ceremony! Congratulations and/or condolences to all the winners! As always, please provide any suggestions, insights, or thoughts in the comments. Thank you all for reading and continuing to make this a successful column!
 

@Josh

@Josh

If you're looking for eight minutes of well-researched material then by god is this not the place for that.

The most uneducated rambling you'll hear about the VHL this millennium.
 

After seeing a more modern take on the New York Americans dream team earlier this week from @TheFlash, I decided to explore it further than what the Portals All-Time Statistics tell us. I spent a significant amount of my time in the VHL on the New York Americans with players like Ryan Sullivan, Brick Wahl, Benjamin Dupont, Atticus von Braxton IV and Ryan Sullivan Jr all spending time on the team.  I also was the GM for a significant amount of time (14 seasons) which saw us win 2 Continental Cups and create a dynasty that has been matched by few.
 
With that being said, I wanted to construct my dream team by doing more than just picking the best players to ever play for NY.  I considered the impact the players made for the team which of course means that length of time on the team does matter.  Although, there are still a few players who despite playing only for a couple of seasons in New York, were incredibly impactful while playing there.
 
The Team
Jukka Hakkinen - Tom Slaughter - Edwin Reencarnacion
Diana Maxwell - Unassisted - Odin Tordahl
Tukka Reikkinen - Grimm Jonsson - Xin Xie Xiao
Brandon Azevedo - Essian Ravenwing - Brandon Best
 
Conner Low - Daniel Braxton
Bobby Digital - Joseph McWolf
Lance Flowers - David Night
 
Brick Wahl
Benjamin Glover
 
FORWARDS
1st Line: Jukka Hakkinen - Tom Slaughter - Edwin Reencarnacion
My first line sees the dynasty's main pivot, one of the teams best two way players ever and the player who basically holds almost every offensive record on the team.  All three of these players are represented in the VHL Hall of Fame and have all had their number retired in the past.  Hakkinen is the all-time leading scorer in team history with 775 points in 576 games and was a 4x All-Star despite playing on a number of weaker teams.  Slaughter was the teams top center on their dynasty team of the thirties and forties, and with 607 points in 6 seasons, he was an elite threat at all times in the blue, red and white. Finally, Edwin Reencarnacion in over seven seasons, was a dynamite two way threat who led the league in goals twice, points once, was MVP once, Playoff MVP once, Most Outstanding Player once and also was Top Two-Way forward once.  He basically did what Xin Xie Xiao did but with the award cabinet.
@James @sterling @Tagger
 
2nd Line: Diana Maxwell - Unassisted - Odin Tordahl
Another trio of VHL Hall of Fame talents, these three make up the second line on this dream team of New York Americans.  Diana Maxwell only played five of his eight seasons on New York, tallying up 229 goals, 266 assists and 495 points in 360 games.  He led the league in goals and points twice during this time, while also being voted Playoff MVP in one of his two Continental Cup wins with the Americans.  Unassisted only spent four years on the team but was arguably the leagues best player during this run.  He would record 485 points in 288 games on New York, while also winning two Continental Cups, MVP, MOP and Playoff MVP during this time.  Finally, Odin Tordahl was the ace of New York for four seasons after being traded from the Davos Dynamo.  Recording 485 points and 827 hits in 288 games, Odin Tordahl had one of the best four season stretches in league history.  Tordahl led the league in points three times, goals two times and assists once.  He was named MVP once, Player MVP once and was also Top Leader once too.
@scoop @STZ @BOOM™
 
3rd Line: Tukka Reikkinen - Grimm Jonsson - Xin Xie Xiao
This is the third straight line with a trio of Hall of Famers, with this one representing three different eras in VHL History.  Reikkinen played on the curse team that eventually finally ended it in Season 32.  Jonsson played in the unrecorded era of the teams history which was quite tumultuous at times.  Finally, Xiao played on the Advantage era team that was a consistent threat.  Tukka was voted MVP, Players MVP, Top Two-Way Forward and Playoff MVP while also leading the league in goals and assists during his time on the Americans.  While his time in Vasteras built his legacy, the success he found in New York completed it.  Grimm Jonsson was considered the second coming of Scotty Campbell to some but due to most of his major achievements happening post-New York, he only finds himself on the third line.  Nevertheless, he was a stalwart and an amazing leader for the team for quite some time.  Finally, Xin Xie Xiao was unable to win MVP or any award like that while on New York, but he was able to take home a Top Two Way Forward award while finishing his time in New York with the second most goals in team history and winning two Continental Cups along the way.
@.sniffuM @sterling @tfong
 
4th Line: Brandon Azevedo - Essian Ravenwing - Brandon Best
This is the first line without a trio of HOFers, and in fact has none.  Azevedo had 419 points in 360 games but it was his Playoff MVP in their Continental Cup win and his top Two-Way Forward that get him on this list for me. After all, how can you not include someone who is considered the savior of the Short Bus Era. Essian Ravenwing was in tight with Connor Evans for me, but I ultimately went with Essian here.  Ravenwing played five seasons in New York and was a top talent for four of them, resulting in over 400 points, two Continental Cups and two Most Sportsmanlike Trophies.  Finally, Brandon Best was a last second add and was close in contention with Jorma Ruutu.  Best had 441 points in 348 games and was a three time All Star back in the first decade of the league.
@Brandon @der meister @Brandon
 
DEFENDERS
1st Pair: Conner Low - Daniel Braxton
Two of the greatest defensemen in league history.  Low played seven seasons on the Americans, winning five Top Defender Awards and leading the league in assists three times to go along with two Continental Cups.  Braxton unfortunately would never win a Continental Cup, but he was a four-time Top Defender winner and was named Most Outstanding Player on two occasions.  While there is an argument for a few other defenders, these guys played for a combined fourteen seasons in New York and are two of the best to ever hit the ice.
@Smarch @Jericho
 
2nd Pair: Bobby Digital - Joseph McWolf
Bobby Digital was a bit of a legend, partially for his lack of goal-scoring prowess and also because he was an absolute stud defender while playing for the New York Americans.  While he won't go toe-to-toe with the likes of Ryan Sullivan or Matt Bentley for his career, he was one of the teams stalwarts for seven seasons and saw him lead the league in assists once and record 39 points, 98 hits and 61 blocked shots in back-to-back cup wins for the team.  McWolf is a more recent retiree but was one of the teams biggest faces of the franchise, before eventually moving on to teams like Riga and Malmo.  He would play five total seasons for the team, winning one Top Defender Trophy and being one of the best well-rounded players during his time on the Americans.
@gorlab @McWolf
 
3rd Pair: Lance Flowers - David Night
This is one of the weirdest combinations on the team with a still active player and the teams first superstar teaming up.  Lance Flowers has been the face of the team for the past decade, playing six seasons on the team before recently becoming a member of the DC Dragons.  Flowers has twice been named the leagues Top Defensive Defenseman and has still recorded 340 points over the six seasons.  Night, on the other hand, was inducted into the VHL Hall of Fame in Season 17 and was a member of the teams previous location in Hamilton, going all the way back to Season 1.  He was named the leagues Top Defender in Season 2, beating the likes of Sterling Labatte for the award that would later be named after him.  Finishing his time with 366 points in 360 games, Night would make the All Star Team four times while playing for New York.
@CowboyinAmerica @Knight
 
GOALTENDERS
Goaltenders: Brick Wahl - Benjamin Glover
While deciding who should be the starter is a bit difficult, there is no doubting the two goalies that should feature here.  I give Wahl the starting job because while his regular season statistics are not as impressive as Glover, Wahl was the backbone behind two Continental Cup wins that saw him win Playoff MVP twice and garner him the reputation as one of the best Playoff goaltenders of all time.  Glover, on the other hand, was tremendous in the regular season winning Top Goaltender twice, League MVP once and was an All Star in all eight seasons he played.  Unfortunately, he received a bit of a negative reputation for his playoff performances that saw the Americans lose in the finals for four consecutive seasons.  His overall resume though is undeniable and he made the Hall of Fame for a reason.
@Advantage @scoop
 
Honorable Mentions: Connor Evans
He was certainly considered over Ravenwing, as the leagues best 2nd line center had a tremendous career with New York.  Evans would play four seasons for the Americans and record 419 points in 288 games on one of the leagues top dynasties ever.
@Tyler
 
Honorable Mentions: Tom Lincoln
I know Lincoln best for his time on Quebec and perhaps that's what keeps him off my actual team.  However, I can't deny the impact he had in his three seasons on the Americans.  Lincoln would record 342 points in 216 games while winning two Continental Cups in the three season run.
@Kesler
 
Honorable Mentions: Sergei Komarov
Komarov was another forward I considered for this list.  Komarov spent five seasons on the Americans, recording 400 points and 1326 hits in 360 games.  He didn't take home any individual hardware and was able to only get a Victory Cup from a team perspective, but his statistical achievements speak for themselves.
@Gooningitup
 
Honorable Mentions: Jorma Ruutu
With around 500 points and 1200 hits for the Americans, there is a pretty good argument that Ruutu should be on the team.  Unfortunately, I couldn't find a place for him with the right wing position being a bit stacked, but did heavily consider him over Best.
@jRuutu
 
Honorable Mentions: Ryan Sullivan
One of the greatest defenders of all-time and widely considered one of the two best alongside Conner Low (and perhaps Smitty now as well).  He has an argument to be on this with him winning Top Defender twice and leading in assists once while on the Americans, but is ultimately left off since he only played two seasons on New York and was unable to bring home a Continental Cup in that time.
@Advantage
 
Honorable Mentions: Matt Bentley
Matt Bentley, unlike Sullivan, was able to take a Continental Cup home in his brief run with New York.  However, like Sullivan he would win two Top Defender Trophies and is ultimately left off the team for only playing a couple of seasons on the team, while the others on this team spent at least five seasons impacting the squad.
@Victor
 
Honorable Mentions: Japinder Singh
Like the two above, Singh is another Hall of Fame defender that spent a brief part of his career on the Americans.  Singh played just 216 games on New York but recorded 279 points, 556 hits and 643 blocked shots during his time there.
@8Ovechkin8
 
Honorable Mentions: Casey Jones
The final skater featured here is Casey Jones for his five years on New York.  Jones recorded 370 points and 732 blocked shots over the 360 games he played on the team.  Jones was able to win Top Defender once and Top Leader twice during this run.
@der meister
 
Honorable Mentions: A Red Guy
I debated putting Trikamaki on this list, but ultimately ill stick with A Red Guy here.  ARG played all six seasons of his career on the Americans, winning 191 games and finishing his career with a .918 save percentage.  He would win one MVP trophy, one Top Goalie Trophy and one Most Improved Trophy during his career with New York.
@.sniffuM
 

Since this is theme week (even though it's almost over at the time I'm posting this) I’ve decided to take my format of the greatest players from each country and use it for an all-time dream team to form in my opinion the greatest lineup in history. It’ll consist of 3 forwards, 2 defenseman and a goaltender. 
 
There’s plenty of good options to pick from and there are some better players but I also took playstyle into consideration to imagine how much chemistry they would have with each other. For example a line of the 3 best goal scorers in history may not be effective if they can’t set each other up for plays and rely solely on their individual goal scoring. Same thing on defense. Having two offensive-defensemen paired together wouldn’t be the best for a full 200 ft game. 
 
Now with that out of the way let’s get into it!
 
F - Scotty Campbell 630 TPE (HOF) @scotty
I think to absolutely no-one's surprise we have Scotty Campbell up first for forwards. In 577 career games Campbell put up 600 goals and 639 assists for an astounding 1239 points. As of S73 Campbell is the only player to ever surpass the elusive 1,000 point mark and he blew past it. He’s the only player to score more than a goal per game as well as one of two players to record more than an assist per game. He’s a three-time league MVP, two-time playoff MVP, four-time leading goal scorer, two-time assist leader, led the league in points five times, and won the Continental Cup four times in his career. It’s safe to say that Campbell was essentially the Wayne Gretzky of the VHL. I highly doubt we’ll ever see talent like that in the VHL ever again. Let alone even get close to that amazing feat of 1,000 career points. In the history of the VHL there were only four other players to even surpass 900 points and three of those guys have trophies named after them such as Mike Szatkowski, Kevin Brooks, and Christian Stolzchweiger. 
 
F - Gabriel McAllister 1248 TPE (HOF) @CowboyinAmerica
Up next on this list I decided to choose Gabriel McAllister. Although you may argue there are better forwards I could’ve put here instead of McAllister. I opted to go with him because I felt his physical presence alongside his offensive ability would be a great asset. In 576 games played he managed to put up 397 goals and 429 assists for 826 points. He also had a little over 2,000 hits in his career and ranks 18th in points all time as well as 21st in hits out of all skaters. He’s a three-time Scotty Campbell Trophy winner, three-time Scott Boulet Trophy winner, two-time Mike Szatkowski Trophy winner, Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy winner, two-time Brett Slobodzian Trophy winner, two-time Daisuke Kanou Trophy winner, as well as a two-time Continental Cup Champion. With a trophy case the size of his there’s no real surprise he’s one of the greatest power forwards of all-time.
 
F - Matt Thompson 1571 TPE (HOF) @Beketov
For the third and final forward of this list I decided to go with Matt Thompson. Thompson was a fantastic goal scorer in VHL history ranking fourth all-time. That goal scoring capability paired with his physical presence having over 1800 hits in his career was a must-have for me on this dream team. In 576 career games Thompson put up 422 goals and 403 assists for 825 points which puts him tied at 19th for all-time points. Not to be outdone by his linemates Thompson collected quite the individual accolades as well. In his career he was a three-time Kevin Brooks Trophy winner, Scotty Campbell Trophy winner, two-time Brett Slobodzian Trophy winner, two-time Mike Szatkowski Trophy winner, four-time Scott Boulet Trophy winner, Dustin Funk Trophy win and to top it all off he managed to capture a Continental Cup.

 
With such highly decorated forwards that can clearly put the puck in the net whenever they feel like alongside laying out anyone who gets in their way. You could argue two of those players who surpassed 900 points should be on this line instead of McAllister and Thompson and that very well could be a highly productive line offensively. In my thought process though being more defensively minded I opted to go with a more well rounded team rather than pure offensive power.
 
Alright, well let’s move onto defenseman now and see what more superstars await.

 
D - Sterling Labatte 755 TPE (HOF) @sterling
Now we move onto Defenseman. First up we have arguably the best defenseman of all-time, Sterling Labatte. This hall-of-famer played in 9 seasons, played 648 games to put up 210 goals and 562 assists for 772 points which is the most out of any defenseman in the entire history of the league. He’s also tied for second for most played games and third in assists all-time out of all skaters. He won multiple individual trophies in his career including, league’s top defenseman three times, two-time playoff MVP, two-time top leader, as well as a 5 time all-star. He also won the Continental Cup 3 times with the Calgary Wranglers. He was on Team Canada multiple times in his career and won 2 bronze medals along with a gold. He was a first ballot hall-of-famer and even has the league’s top defenseman trophy named after him. In my mind if you’re looking at a dream team it has to include one of the all-time greats, Sterling Labatte.
 
D - Edwin Encarnacion 710 TPE @Tagger
Onto the second defenseman we have Edwin Encarnacion who is the only player on this team not in the Hall-of-Fame. Why would I choose a player who didn’t have a Hall-of-Fame career you may ask? Well let me tell you. Encarnacion wasn’t the best offensive guy out there recording 85 goals and 260 assists for 345 points in 578 games. He does however lead the league in hits for defenseman and is second for shots blocked out of all skaters. Even though his stats are low, having him alongside Labatte would be one of the best defensive pairings of all-time. The offensive dynamo that is Labatte combined with the physical and defensive presence of Encarnacion would be an unstoppable force on the blue line as well as in their own zone.
 
Now with the skaters addressed we move on to arguably the most important position on the ice. The Goalie. A goalie can steal wins for you on a hot night or be a big factor in falling short. There’s a lot of pressure on these guys on a nightly basis to perform well especially in the playoffs. Good thing this team has one of the greatest goaltenders of all time to really secure a victory in any game they would ever hypothetically play. 
 
G - Greg Clegane 908 TPE (HOF) @Victor
For my goalie choice I decided to go with Hall-of-Famer Greg Clegane. In 513 games played he had a 364-114-35 record with an astonishing 93 shutouts along with a career .926SV% and 1.80GAA. While you could argue there are goalies with better raw skill but Clegane leads the league in wins, GAA, and shutouts all-time. He’s third all-time in SV% out of goalies who have played more than 400 games. In his career he won 2 Continental Cups, both with Helsinki. He also won the Scotty Campbell Trophy for league MVP, Aidan Shaw Trophy for league’s Top Goalie, as well as the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy for Top Rookie. In his career he also won a Gold Medal as well as a Silver Medal with who i believe to be World/Europe. There’s no doubt in my mind that he’s the best goalie in history so it’s a no brainer to have him on the team but I could see some solid arguments made for Toumas Tukio. Although if you compare the two side-by-side I’d have to give the edge to Clegane. It’s a tough role to have but clearly Clegane rose to the challenge when the opportunity presented itself. 

 
All in all I feel as though these players would mesh well together and would sacrifice the body on a nightly basis to block shots, passes, etc. It would be an unbelievable group of skaters to witness play. On top of all of their spectacular individual ability the chemistry I feel would come naturally as they all have their own roles to play and wouldn’t be fighting each other such as if you had just 5 pure goal scorers out there. The healthy blend of offensive upside paired with the defensive ability of Encarnacion as well as Scott Boulet Trophy winners Thompson and McAllister they’d be unstoppable. Even just having two of these guys on any roster would be enough to make them into an immediate cup contender let alone all of them together. To top it all off if a shot ever got through you have the winningest goaltender of all-time to stop what’s left. I’d love to see this team just play one game against someone else’s group of dream team talent. 
 
That’s all I have for today. Thanks for checking out my Dream Team and be sure to let me know if you agree with my logic or if you feel there are better players out there. Until next time!
 
 

1564 words

I am ok with this performance
 
 

The most uneducated rambling you'll hear about the VHL this millennium.
 

S74 CALGARY WRANGLERS CAPTAINS

 
C- Sigard Gunnar S68
 @Big Mac
The former Wranglers Captain has returned home after being scooped up in the expansion draft. He had previously played 5 full seasons for the Wranglers. He looks to lead the Calgary  Wranglers to its first cup win since S62. 
 
A- Scott Greene S67 @DoktorFunk
Recently arrived in a trade that saw Calgary and Seattle trade each its S73 captains. Greene is a decorated veteran,who has won 4x Cups in his career. His experience and knowledge makes him someone this team is proud to have with an "A" on his jersey. 
 
A- EDWIN THE ENCARNACION  S70
@Tagger
Encarnacion is going into his 5th straight season wearing the Wranglers jersey. So this seems maybe overdue. Calgary's best player is not the most outspoken person. If you need help he is there. He tends to try to lead this team by his fantastic play on the ice and we have seen plenty of that over the last few seasons. 
 
 
CONGRATS ?  TO THE S74 WRANGLERS CAPTAINS ? 
 
A Second shoutout to our new AGM  @LatinViking who has been a great fit ?
 

He got his Builder article so now all possibilities are open.

So with the theme week being about future players, I’ll use this article to talk about the plans that I have for my next player. Just a pre-warning though to take this article with a grain of salt as I “committed” to several different player ideas for my current player before I went with Edwin THE Encarnacion. Said ideas included the Sentient 120 page A5 Notepad (a notepad who wound up being signed to a hockey team with all my media being done in the form of Amazon Reviews), Pcmeavjis N (what was going to be my second attempt at a random player after the underwhelming Aackckqz Ky) and Russias Greatest Love Machine (an ode to the Boney M song Rasputin which is a certified banger and yes I know there should be an apostrophe but 30 character limit). However, I feel pretty confident that, if I am to make a player after THE Encarnacion, this is the direction that I would go with it.
 
-----------------------
 
Edwin THE Encarnacion will be the final Encarnacion
 
It’s been a hell of a run which has seen five players spanning over half of the league’s existence share a name and backstory, but as the title of this media states, Edwin THE Encarnacion will be the player that closes the book on the Encarnacion saga. While I’ve enjoyed the different paths each of the Encarnacion’s  have taken, whether it be Encarnacion’s PIM obsession, Threencarnacion’s all-time leading save percentage as the world’s greatest backup goalie or Reencarnacion and Preencarnacion being actually very good, but I think it’s time to move away to a new story now. Hopefully the transition will be more like when the Killzone developers went and made Horizon: Zero Dawn rather than when the Mass Effect crew went and made Anthem.
 
This player will not have any carryover
 
This might sound a bit odd given that my player currently has more than enough TPE even now to warrant a boatload of carryover but it will make more sense once you continue on into the article. On this topic though, this will make this player my first player to start with 30 TPE (if I create later, I’ll be forgoing any catch-up PT allowance) when I’ve had the option to use carryover available to me. It will certainly be a challenge to get out of the VHLM when I’m essentially starting from scratch, but I think this is the least of my worries given the next point…
 
I will not earn any TPE until after my VHL Draft
 
Yep, I’m going to be starting my eight seasons of eligibility with the base 30 TPE and see how high I quickly I can climb up into the VHL and whether I can make a legitimate challenge for awards given my starting point. I took the influence of this from the league’s former simmer and HOF builder JardyB10 and his first player Jardy Bunclewirth. Bunclewirth was selected in the third and final round of the Season 16 VHL Draft with only 12 TPE to his name (for comparison, the leading TPE player in that draft class had 191 TPE) but overcame the odds and wound up winning three continental cups along with being inducted into the Hall of Fame for players. Given that this was in a very different era of the VHL (one that had only half of the number of teams that we currently possess), I’m interested to see if I can even come close to repeating the same feats that Jardy achieved with Bunclewirth. But what about my VHLM team that selects me? Will I be screwing them over? Well no, because…
 
I will not be signing with a VHLM team until after the VHL Draft
 
So as to not screw over any of the teams in the VHLM, I will not be signing a contract offer with a VHLM team until after I have granted myself the ability to earn TPE. I’ll still be spending plenty of time down in the VHLM I imagine (especially given the current 250 TPE cap for the VHLM as opposed to the 200 and 175 I had to overtake with my previous players) so it won’t be like I’m ignoring the VHLM, I’ll just be there at a different point of my career than the norm. But the player will be evident by my member name right? Well…
 
This player will not be created under the Tagger username
 
Yep, just like Persona 5’s battle theme Last Surprise says:
 
I’m going undercover with a completely new username with zero rep ready to take the league by storm! I wonder how easy it will be for people to catch on to which username and player will be mine, but I figure I may as well bring an element of surprise to the mix. Hell, maybe a GM will super-sleuth it like a Town of Salem game and take a punt on a player in the final round of the draft that they believe is mine rather than waiting for Free Agency to snap me up?
 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
Obviously these are all a ways off as I’ll definitely be playing eight seasons with THE Encarnacion (so creation would be trade deadline of Season 77 at the earliest) and there’s no guarantee that I make this player immediately after THE Encarnacion, but this certainly gives me a challenge to look forward to!

So with the theme week being about future players, I’ll use this article to talk about the plans that I have for my next player. Just a pre-warning though to take this article with a grain of salt as I “committed” to several different player ideas for my current player before I went with Edwin THE Encarnacion. Said ideas included the Sentient 120 page A5 Notepad (a notepad who wound up being signed to a hockey team with all my media being done in the form of Amazon Reviews), Pcmeavjis N (what was going to be my second attempt at a random player after the underwhelming Aackckqz Ky) and Russias Greatest Love Machine (an ode to the Boney M song Rasputin which is a certified banger and yes I know there should be an apostrophe but 30 character limit). However, I feel pretty confident that, if I am to make a player after THE Encarnacion, this is the direction that I would go with it.
 
-----------------------
 
Edwin THE Encarnacion will be the final Encarnacion
 
It’s been a hell of a run which has seen five players spanning over half of the league’s existence share a name and backstory, but as the title of this media states, Edwin THE Encarnacion will be the player that closes the book on the Encarnacion saga. While I’ve enjoyed the different paths each of the Encarnacion’s  have taken, whether it be Encarnacion’s PIM obsession, Threencarnacion’s all-time leading save percentage as the world’s greatest backup goalie or Reencarnacion and Preencarnacion being actually very good, but I think it’s time to move away to a new story now. Hopefully the transition will be more like when the Killzone developers went and made Horizon: Zero Dawn rather than when the Mass Effect crew went and made Anthem.
 
This player will not have any carryover
 
This might sound a bit odd given that my player currently has more than enough TPE even now to warrant a boatload of carryover but it will make more sense once you continue on into the article. On this topic though, this will make this player my first player to start with 30 TPE (if I create later, I’ll be forgoing any catch-up PT allowance) when I’ve had the option to use carryover available to me. It will certainly be a challenge to get out of the VHLM when I’m essentially starting from scratch, but I think this is the least of my worries given the next point…
 
I will not earn any TPE until after my VHL Draft
 
Yep, I’m going to be starting my eight seasons of eligibility with the base 30 TPE and see how high I quickly I can climb up into the VHL and whether I can make a legitimate challenge for awards given my starting point. I took the influence of this from the league’s former simmer and HOF builder JardyB10 and his first player Jardy Bunclewirth. Bunclewirth was selected in the third and final round of the Season 16 VHL Draft with only 12 TPE to his name (for comparison, the leading TPE player in that draft class had 191 TPE) but overcame the odds and wound up winning three continental cups along with being inducted into the Hall of Fame for players. Given that this was in a very different era of the VHL (one that had only half of the number of teams that we currently possess), I’m interested to see if I can even come close to repeating the same feats that Jardy achieved with Bunclewirth. But what about my VHLM team that selects me? Will I be screwing them over? Well no, because…
 
I will not be signing with a VHLM team until after the VHL Draft
 
So as to not screw over any of the teams in the VHLM, I will not be signing a contract offer with a VHLM team until after I have granted myself the ability to earn TPE. I’ll still be spending plenty of time down in the VHLM I imagine (especially given the current 250 TPE cap for the VHLM as opposed to the 200 and 175 I had to overtake with my previous players) so it won’t be like I’m ignoring the VHLM, I’ll just be there at a different point of my career than the norm. But the player will be evident by my member name right? Well…
 
This player will not be created under the Tagger username
 
Yep, just like Persona 5’s battle theme Last Surprise says:
 
I’m going undercover with a completely new username with zero rep ready to take the league by storm! I wonder how easy it will be for people to catch on to which username and player will be mine, but I figure I may as well bring an element of surprise to the mix. Hell, maybe a GM will super-sleuth it like a Town of Salem game and take a punt on a player in the final round of the draft that they believe is mine rather than waiting for Free Agency to snap me up?
 
-------------------------------------------------------
 
Obviously these are all a ways off as I’ll definitely be playing eight seasons with THE Encarnacion (so creation would be trade deadline of Season 77 at the earliest) and there’s no guarantee that I make this player immediately after THE Encarnacion, but this certainly gives me a challenge to look forward to!