bigAL

Yoooo here we go, WJC season is officially ON! I was going to make a Team Greenland joke but then went and double checked everyone's nationality - we have a super diverse team here. So many Pacific Islanders. So many cool stories. Team World is always a lot of fun, and this year looks great.

Wow that 223 is awesome, nicely done Justin!

That’s a spicy jersey, I love that you’re switching it up in a meaningful way.

WOW what a roster!!11!!!!

The prophecy has been fulfilled The three best S73 FORWARDS are finally together

That’s not how this works, this for a minus ten and not a plus ten. I’ll dm you.

Yesssss guy! Great pick, congrats Wolf.

@Jim Kovtrash post here what stat you want recalled

Damn Warsaw is bouncing back with a VENGENCE

Due to life (ugh, just the worst), JHatty has stepped down. On short notice, we needed a vet to step in and make things happen quickly. We’re very thankful for @Zetterberg for taking over the reins of Team USA for the rest of the tournament.

quit being so damn good then

The off-season is such an exciting time. The WJC is in full swing (behind the scenes). Now that we have GMs hired, RJ and I are working hard to help them get ready to be kickass GMs. At the moment, they are hard at work drafting their rosters. It’s tough job to put together a team from scratch. Even VHL GMs don’t get to do that! When building their team, GMs have to consider both the player and the person, and there’s lots of rules about each. The person has to be actively active. This is sometimes a problem because oftentimes the career VHLMer with the high TPE is someone who clicks the button every now and then, and tears up the minor league over five seasons there. That’s not quite the person we’re looking for in our big energy, hyped off-season tourney. Clickers are not penalized by any stretch, but we have strict eligibility rules about picking only active players. Choosing the spreadsheet players is the fun part. You have to consider so much more than just TPA (TPE is bad, dontchyano). These GMs are scouting player builds hard, dreaming up synergies to create optimal lines. With a 9-4-2 roster, there’s plenty of line juggling that can be done to squeeze out every last bit of talent on a roster. It’s a fun exciting time, and I hope you’ll come along for the ride. The WJC starts two days after the Continental Cup is awarded!

Holy fuck. I didn’t follow the M close enough this season and that is unbelievable. Nicely done.

I’ve learned my computer can play Minecraft but I cannot.

I know every team thinks they're good (they're not) but in DC we've legitimately built contenders year after year after year. This year was supposed to be a one-last-shot kind of season, but that just fizzled out in 6 games thanks to the Scottsdale Illinoises. It's a crying shame DC hasn't won a cup yet. We got close! S75 saw a run all the way to the Finals, but unfortunately they don't give out silver medals in the VHL. We had an 8-season franchise goalie in Stone Wolski. He was the kinda tendie who could steal games for us, a max earner vet of the league, and a guy just full of positive energy. @DollarAndADream got us closer to greatness season after season after season. Obviously Groovy Dood was the franchise forward, taken first overall in S73, but no need to toot my own horn. The guy was always sniffing the individual leaderboards, and finally, won a trophy last season. The Boulet isn't a flashy one, but it's mine so it's the best trophy ever. We had a great supporting cast up front. Eno does a great job of bringing in folks from other leagues who claim big affiliate bucks, so they always rotated in and out of the lineup. This year's big addition was Brian Strong Jr @Wheaties who held down that 1C role beautifully. Of course, my man Xavier LaFlammant gets his own paragraph. Hell yeah X. Early in Groovy's career, he and X were inseparable as a tag team on and off the ice. It's telling that the one season X didn't play for DC we went to the Finals, but that's okay, we were happy to welcome him back in S76. He tried free agency, realized the grass is only greener on the other side because it's full of shit, and came back immediately. We still appreciates you @BarzalGoat. The D-corp was always our weakest link, and Eno spent every season bringing in and shipping out defenders. The latest, biggest splash was snagging Alex Letang, the unbelievably offensive defenceman. He put up so many multi-point games it was wild. Still though, even the world-renowed @Spartan couldn't put us over the top. Oh well, shit happens, Simon giveth and Simon taketh away. GMENO @Enorama already has big plans for this offseason. The Dragons never sleep. The S79 ones will be breathing

Yeaaaaah X gonna give it! edit shit X retired, you need a new nickname now

Nothing drives me more nuts. Like, seriously, why do you hate mobile users??!!??!!???!!

classic Groovy Dood, just completely invisible on the scoresheet also wat, thanks for the random shoutout?

Another year of playoffs means another VHL World Junior Championship tournament is right around the corner! The first job of the commissioners every season is to hire the GMs. My job is pretty sweet, I love it, and I’d never complain about it, but shit do I hate the hiring process. The VHL community has grown so much in the S70s in terms of both quantity and quality of members. The people we have joining our little ol’ forum are engaged, enthusiastic, and eager to help out in any way they can. It’s a shame that there’s so few management jobs, because we have a very deep pool of eligible candidates. RJ and I are fortunate that we have five GM spots to fill and not just one, because I cannot imagine the stress of hiring one single VHLM GM. One job of the WJC is to create opportunities for members to get their feet wet in the management side of the game. We talk a lot about how VHLM AGM is the entry-level job in management, but truthfully, even that is a prestigious and hard-to-come-by position these days. Every year, we get to five people their “first big break” as managers. The WJC is a place for rookies to learn the ropes of managing, to use their skills to hype the hell out of a team, and to show off to the world why they are the next great VHLM GM. For some, that payoff comes immediately (see: Thad and Kaleeb getting hired as VHLM GM right after the tournaments finished in S75 and 76; our S77 crew is inching closer to getting jobs); for others the WJC opens the door enough for an experienced manager to take a shot on them as AGMs; and another group yet come into the tournament as AGMs proving that they’re ready to take over a team of their own. Whatever their experience, the WJC is a key milestone on the path to a VHL/M GM position. With all that being said, let’s see who gets the honour and the responsibility to select, manage, and hype the five WJC teams this season. In reverse order of last year’s standings, here are our GM picks: --------------------- TEAM CANADA: The Perpetual Underdog The "hOcKeY nAtiOn" has been so terrible at this tournament over the last many, many years that the pundits have officially slapped the UNDERDOG label on them. Now that Team Asia is good, the tournament needs a new laughingstock and unfortunately for the Canadians, that's you. Can this be the year they rewrite their story? That'll be up to their new leader. Coming in with expectations low, a big ol bag of All Dressed Chips on their shoulder, and ready to make some noise, the new GM: --------------------- Team USA There's a reason they don't call it North Canada The Americans are coming in hot off a strong moral victory in S77. As is customary these days, Canada and USA often faceoff in the quarter-finals. This game is the most important emotionally to these two teams, and Team USA has taken the latest round. Can they keep it up and assert their dominance over the continent? Do they have a shot at crossing the pond and taking on the rest of the world? Only one person knows, your new GM, --------------------- Team Asia: From Zero to Hero Team Asia is back, baby. They've been on a roll here with medals in the last two tournaments. A silver in S76 plus a bronze in S77 means that they're looking to complete the podium with a big gold in S78. GMs are taking notice, and everyone wants to run the Asian squad. But, only one person can, and it's: --------------------- Team World: The Best of the Rest Team EverywhereElse is always a force to be reckoned with. Buoyed by the recent ascension of Greenland as a hockey country, World has been consistency competitive every season. They've often battled in the finals, but came up just short with a silver last season. The expectation here is always Gold or Bust, which makes last season a disappointment. Can this season bring Team World back to its golden age? Only this person can make that happen, the new GM: --------------------- Team Europe: The real champagne, not just sparkling white What is there to say about Team Europe that hasn't been written in the history books already? They are a model franchise at the WJC, and are always at the top of both the Power Rankings and the podium. Last year was no exception - World put up a good fight, but it was Europe's tournament from the very beginning. Can they keep up their winning ways this year? It's up to this new GM: --------------------- And there you have it folks. The Continental Cup Finals are starting soon, which means our offseason tournament is starting soon. These are the people who will be making this tournament happen. In the coming days, they will be hard at work selecting rosters, inviting teams into the LRs, and getting hype for the juniors. Check out the eligibility criteria below to see if you might be on the list, or wait for the player list to come out soon. Expect rosters to be named before the end of playoffs, and sims to start two days after the Cup is awarded. See you then! Player eligibility rules: Players S78 and newer are all eligible Players S77 and older must be below 350 TPE to be eligible Any player beyond 350 TPE will (probably) be rolled back to their 350 build Players are not guaranteed to play for their national team. Team Asia and Team World are historically understaffed and have the option to pull comparable players from Canada, USA, and Europe to ensure competitive balance. Rosters are 9-4-2.

Pc go bye bye and my new iPad is the most intense computer I have, but my old MacBook should be able to pull it off with Eno’s link. We’ll find out today, let’s gooooo!

Anyone know if the iOS version can play on custom servers?

You’re in your absolute prime - kick ass in your 4th and 5th season before the aches and pains of old man regression kick in!

I’m happy you’re happy Hex! It can be really confusing to have feelings for someone one day and not the next and again the next day. It’s easy to feel like you're the problem, like there’s something wrong with you. Then you just beat the hell out of yourself for not being a good partner, or cut yourself off from love and friends because, or just start to hate yourself for not being “normal”. When you can notice those things AND learn that there’s a scientific word for it, it’s such a powerful validation that you’re not completely and utterly fucked up, even though that’s what your brain’s been telling you. Once you know how you work, you can own that identity and not be ashamed of yourself. You can explain yourself to partners, you can go easy on yourself on days where things aren’t going the way you want them to, and just be happy with what comes your way each day instead of stressing about what isn’t happening. I hadn’t heard those terms before, but I’m glad they exist because they help you explain you. As one of my kids would say, there’s lots of different kinds of people in the Alphabet Mafia (that’s what they call LGBTQ+ and it cracks me up every time)