Spartan

It's ok, I promise not to trade @WentzKneeFan036 for another week at minimum.

We're all part of one big socialist party out here lol

Cheers Wolfie for the talks. Took us hours on end and both of us went delirious at times but happy to get this done! @Beketov, thank you so much for everything you did on the team, and willingness to re-sign even though Vic may have lied just a smidge. At least we got to meet your goal of heading to a new team. @MexicanCow123, you're a fantastic goalie and you'll have a couple more seasons to show it. Go win more trophies!!!

I know that the draft is just around the corner, so I am happy to assist whoever the new hire is with this draft. That includes making a draft board/spreadsheet and scouting! Best of luck to you all, excited to see who will continue the legacy of partying in Vegas!

Couldn't have asked for a better mentor over the past few seasons, and I appreciate your vote of confidence throughout this process. I'll try my best to make you proud . And thanks everyone for the support, excited to see how this goes!

I've learned my lesson but dammit, I still believe

1. Well, I wasn't on the team this past season, but I can understand the frustration of being bounced before you expect it. I know we'll work to get even better this season. 2. I'm definitely going to train with @Mike ,@GRZ and @Philliefan to get to know my fellow defensemen a bit better. Chemistry is super important and we're going to have to get up to speed and meshing with each other as soon as possible. 3. Hell yeah, @omgitshim and Cinnamon Block are folks I looked up to so we gotta celebrate Block's career along with the other fantastic folks retiring. 4. I'll host, why not! Happy to introduce myself to my new teammates, and no better way than to get the offseason started with a nice BBQ. 5. I don't know if its strange since it's pretty common, but I'm allergic to peanuts. Also have an odd sensitivity to apples and cherries, I get some lip swelling when I eat those two. 6. Probably find some random state with a river so I can go kayaking for the day. River kayaking is very peaceful and relaxing.

Knew the time in Moscow was over, but couldn't be more thrilled to help the new age of Moscow by getting dealt for assets. Now that I'm in DC tho, let's go get some wins!

Not applying but happy to help whoever gets hired with the current VHFL calculation excel file if needed, and to continue troubleshooting in the future

can GM

no one made one tho

It's nice to have some support from the community as I try to become a GM at the next level. Happy to have made a positive impact! Good work Berocka, the results for VHL GM's satisfaction amongst users is about what I predicted, as we do have great GM's at all levels. Love this kind of piece, really engages the community.

I can chip in here as well and say that Chris was one of the most dedicated players on Las Vegas as well. His commitment to being one of the best players on the team inspired others, and the results showed on the ice. I've been thrilled to watch his development ever since I drafted him to Vegas, and I'm not surprised that his work is paying off at the next level. I'm proud to call Chris a Las Vegas alumnus, and I hope more players end up like him!

Just dropping in to show interest

it's already over smh

You've been the best GM I could ask for Vic. Even though you never scouted me and just dm'd me 5 minutes before the draft to ask for NYA's draft board, Moscow just always felt like the place I wanted to be and so much of that was because of you. Thanks for drafting me and not trading me to Davos when I sucked. Hopefully you don't send me to Davos in the next week either. Will always appreciate what you've done for me and I'm just glad I got a few seasons to learn about building a defenseman and being a good GM from you. I'll see you around bud, I'm not letting you leave the VHL as long as I'm still here

Thursday, March 4th. After Game 7 of the S76 EU Conference Championships. The Moscow Menace are holding player postgame/exit interviews with the media. Moscow PR: Hello all, Alex is here to answer your questions. He has a short statement and then will take questions. Alex: I'd just like to start off by apologizing. To the team, to management, to the fans. To everyone in this organization, really. I don't think I can express how frustrated I am with what happened today. I let our entire team down when it literally mattered the most and it cost us a chance to go to the finals. When everyone was stepping up to get the win, I just wasn't playing like I usually felt. I don't even remember how it happened, but I just remember thrusting my stick and making contact with someone. The refs tossing me out and just a general blur of how it happened. There really is no explanation or justification for it and as captain, I'm ashamed and disappointed. Reporter: How disappointing is it to have been the closest to a finals appearance as you've been in your four year career, but yet again not make it to the final round? Alex: Yeah, it's just disappointing. I know how much folks have been putting in over the past few seasons. Our stars @Beketov and @Josh just putting in absurd amounts of work, guys who have been around like @Ricer13 working their ass off every single day to try to get to this point and make a finals appearance before retiring. Even before that, guys like Ray @Mr_Hatter and so many others who worked so hard to win a cup and we just couldn't achieve it. But you're right, it's been four years for me here in the VHL now which takes some perspective. But we just haven't been able to get to where we need to be in the playoffs and this season, that's on me. Reporter: This is the second time you guys have won the Victory Cup yet not made the finals. What do you credit to Warsaw getting the edge in the series? Alex: I mean, yeah, second time we've been the best team in the regular season but get eliminated early. I don't really know if there's any one thing to single out. Warsaw has always been a good team, we battled with them all season for first place in the conference and they just clicked when it mattered. I think they have some absurd record of 6-0 in elimination games now this postseason, which deserves major props. Ajay @Hooperorama really took over in some games, he's a really good tender and made big saves when the team needed it. Just wish we could have done more to protect Tonner @MexicanCow123 who we just left out to dry in this postseason and he bailed us out so many times. Reporter: With center Kris Rice retiring, defenseman Roque Davis and winger Ryan @Enorama Schwarz reported to be leaving in free agency and even GM Victor Alfredsson reported to be retiring soon, rumblings around the league are that you may have played your last game for the Menace as the team looks to rebuild. Do you have any thoughts on that? Alex: I don't really know what to say about that, I'm not going to talk about rumors. Victor can talk to you about that if it's relevant. Kris had a great career, Rocky was always looking to be heading back to his hometown after our big push this season. Even Ryan wanted to be part of a cup run and then try to take a leadership role on another team in the future. As for Victor retiring, I don't think it's my place to really comment on that. I think he'll talk about that when he's ready. I don't really want to speculate on rumors right now. But for everyone heading out after this season, I've already spoken with them and I'm just grateful to have been on a team with them during my career. Couldn't have asked for better people to play with and it's been a very fun career so far. Reporter: If this really was your last game, hypothetically, what would you say are some of your best moments on Moscow? Alex: I suppose there are a few. Being able to learn from @fever95 and @Victor as a rookie was a great experience, they really taught me everything I know now. Helped me develop my game and chip in on all areas of the game, they were great mentors to have and I appreciate them a lot. @Telkster was also a fantastic captain and helped me out with my leadership and locker room presence. Rocky coming in was a bit of blessing in a way, as he's a really solid defenseman offensively and helped me become more offensive minded at the pro level. Working with the boy @UnkemptCL4PTP was also fantastic, along with @Kelsier. Young guys in the locker room were always fun to hang around with, keeping me up to date on the slang and stuff the younger folks use these days. Outside that I have to appreciate the time I spent with two of my closest friends on the team, Pietro @okifenoki and Cole @GrittyIsKing09. We all came to Moscow as part of the same draft class so we've always been together from day one. Going to rookie training sessions and camp together, rooming together during road trips. Pietro and I would watch a bunch of NHL games together, especially the Penguins games. He was a pretty big fan of the team and it helped that my dad used to play for them as well. We'd just toss on games and have a beer and order food. Really fun times together. Cole and I would always talk about the management aspect of hockey since he's pretty interested in joining management someday, or just keeping our forums chat active that Victor for some reason loved. He'd always harp about how players would use the forum chat before we had all the new fangled phones that could text each other, so we humored him and used to chat on there a lot when Cole would be assigned to a different room. Cole was really good at that, I'd keep forgetting to reply on there. But those were the small things that I just appreciate now looking back, having those two around for my entire career so far and just getting to have two folks experiencing the same things I would. Those two are like brothers to me at this point. Definitely my favorite part about Moscow and the team along with Vic who's just believed in me since day 1. I'm just working every day to try to make him proud. Reporter: Last question Alex. What has it meant to be a veteran on the team, and above all - the captain? Alex: I mean, it's everything man. There's a legacy of excellence and character left behind by previous captains, especially the man before me in Telky. They're big shoes to walk in. But I was proud to represent my team, on the ice and off of it. Being named captain meant that I had the trust of the team, including the other vets on the team. We honestly had a really good year together, played really well most of the season until these conference finals. It's just been special to have been that wide-eyed kid trying to become a great and now have our younger defensemen and prospects in the pipeline look up to me like I used to look up to Vlad and Oscar. It's just something I'll always appreciate, no matter what happens after this season. I've loved playing in Moscow and I'd love to end my career here.

Congrats Warsaw, great series. Take it all the way folks!

Cheers Beav, won't forget my first day when I hopped in a VC with you where you were stoned as fuck and called me Saturn for the next week. Had a good time with you in vc's and around the league, wishing the best and that you find that passion again. VHL wouldn't be where it is today without you bud.

bust @NickSunderbruch lmfao what you doing baby

We're two great representatives of that statement! We've had a shit ton of opportunities in this league because we've worked for it and kept applying even after we got rejected the first time. We've all been rejected plenty of times, just gotta keep applying for anything and everything.

We've been having a fun discussion and looking back through history since the start of S75 to see if vets are actually taking opportunities from first-gens/newer members. From S75 (or whenever @Hex Universe joined the league) to today, we've recorded 18 hirings to VHL/VHLM GM/AGM positions. We made a nice breakdown of how it shapes up: VHL GM: 1 First-Gen - Hylands 1 Veteran - Ricer (2nd player about to get drafted) VHL AGM: 5 First-Gens - MattyIce, Ledge, Brewins, Selsby, Domg 1 Vet - Poptart VHL GM: 3 First-Gens: Rory, Zetterberg, Thad 2 Vets: ADV, IR VHLM AGM: 6 First-Gens: Hex, Juice, Tina, Selsby x2 (yeesh this man be zooming around), Prout for a brief stint. Total breakdown, from S75 onwards, 15 out of 19 GM/AGM hirings have been First-Gens. I really, really do not think this is cause for concern lol.

The "newer members should get M GM jobs over vets" take is an interesting one, one that I can kinda see both sides of. I think recent hiring history shows that the M has not shied away from hiring first-gens as GM's. Myself, Ricer, Hylands, Thad, Rory and Zetterberg are just a few of the first-gen hires that we've had recently (past 5-6 seasons). At the same time, I don't think a newer member should have some kind of priority over an M job than a veteran user. Being an M GM is not easy, because most of what we do has to retain folks and teach them as well. I don't think it's wise to just be setting M jobs for first-gens and VHL jobs for veterans, because both leagues have vastly different requirements and day to day tasks for the GM's. I don't know if I'd even call the VHLM GM position an entry level job because it's a massive undertaking that gets far less recognition than it does. But I digress. With that being said, I think we should focus more on the AGM positions and getting new members into those positions so that they receive the exposure and experience they can then translate into going for a GM job at either level. I think that's the real entry-level job that we should actively be trying to give to newer users. AGM's directly learn and develop the skills needed to be a GM at the respective level, or even just get some experience in management. At the end of the day though, IR and ADV are active and passionate users who will do very well at their jobs in the M, and I'm looking forward to working with them!

plenty