SweatyBeaver

“2011 was honestly the best year.” Vancouver Wolves forward Gregg Stallion told a friend at a downtown Vancouver coffee shop. Stallion was referring to his eighth-grade school year where he made many cherished memories and lifelong friends, however upon hearing those words the coffee shop became eerily quiet.
 
 
Stallion continued talking to his friend while completely oblivious to the tension filled coffee shop. “I got to see the Bruins and it was incredible, they were my favourite.” Stallion said referring to an amazing field trip to the Brussels Zoo where Stallion saw many kinds of bears, which he called Bruins.
 
 
“The twins sure were unbearable though, I am glad they lost.” Stallion again said speaking about the Winchusky twins that Stallion had won a bet against in eighth grade. At that point many of the customers began hissing and yelling unintelligibly. 
 
 
The tension in the coffee shop was filled to maximum as the customers were once again filled with the anger that they had been filled with a decade ago. A large tattooed man slowly walked towards Stallion and stood over him, cracking his knuckles while listening to the oblivious Stallion continue his conversation. “To be honest, every time I heard Chelsea Dagger I was in love.” That statement was the straw the broke the camels back as the man let out a guttural scream and then literally attempted to break Stallion’s back knocking Stallion unconscious in the process. Had the man asked he would have found out the Chelsea Dagger was Stallion’s grade eight crush who had an incredible singing voice, but the damage was done.
 
 
Soon people were screaming and smashing the windows of the coffee shop and poured out onto the street to flip cars over, light small businesses on fire and make out in the middle of the street. Much of the Vancouver populace was filled with the uncontrollable desire to join in as well and soon the entire city was rioting for no reason other than a misunderstanding that reopened wounds that had never healed.
 
 
“Last time we said that the rioting was the fault of visitors, but…I guess rioting is just in the DNA of Vancouver.” A local rioter said before being tackled and pepper sprayed by the RCMP.
 
 
Stallion awoke hours later to find millions of dollars in property damage around him, police everywhere and thousands of ‘Riot Challenge’ videos on TikTok that the people surely will regret within a day. "Vancouver is a weird place" he muttered to himself before paying for his coffee and leaving the smoldering wreckage of the coffee shop.
 
 
 

(The team as of making, sorry to free agents I miss)

Love to see my S71 Bulls team mates taking all of the awards ?

Love to see my S71 Bulls team mates taking all of the awards ?

The quiet morning in Brussels was quickly interrupted by a the sounds of an ambulance racing through the streets and towards to local bar ‘The Saturated Camel.’ “He’s been down here for days!” Lincoln Moritz, the owner told the paramedics as he ushered them into the basement. “I don’t know how I didn’t notice him but I think he was hiding and spent an entire night drinking my whisky supply. The concerned paramedics rounded the corner only to breath out a sigh of relief and let out a chuckle. “Oh, its just Gregg, leave him alone he will be back to normal eventually.”
 
 
It appears that Mr. Stallion after finishing his latest VHL season had quite the night at ‘The Saturated Camel.’ Forensic scientists have estimated that he has been in his comatose state for about a week with no signs of awakening soon. “He is a medical marvel.” Dr. Francis ‘Aspirin’ Glibb told his group of medical students as they used Stallion’s sprawled out body to simulate caring for a comatose patient.
 
 
Stallion had hoped to spend the offseason in intensive training to prepare for his sophomore VHL season but as soon as he entered the Camel it became clear that he would rather have a night drinking 4x the livable alcohol dosage than actually practice. Stallion’s Vancouver Wolves teammates were a little mad about his lack of commitment but ultimately they didn’t blame him and were instead hoping that he would wake up before the next season started.
 
-Marc Legrosse, The Belgian Bugle
280 Words

"How come [Beaviss] is such a good GM? It isn't fair TBH." This is a quote I made last night, after Vancouver General Manager @Beaviss managed to swindle a certain London GM and later an unspecified Prague GM out of their 3rd and 4th overall picks respectively. Seriously, all bias aside, I think Vancouver won both of these trades and I think that will show in the future. With these two picks, not only did Beaviss draft two great players, but also two awesome people to have in the locker room, in Emi Rune and Venus Thightrap. Later in the draft one of the picks received in the London trade was used to as a piece to trade up to 19th. In the 19th slot Vancouver took Riley Couture to complete the duo with Emi Rune.
 
In the end maybe Vancouver did have a really great draft and Beaviss is a great GM... or maybe its like @SweatyBeaver said and I'm just looking for first line minutes. I guess that's up to everyone else to decide.
 
176 words
 

Marc LeGros, The Belgian Bugle
It was a season to remember for Gregg Stallion as he embarked on his rookie campaign with the Vancouver Wolves. As with most rookies entering the big leagues there was a lot of ups and downs and opportunities for Stallion to learn from amazing players and grow in his confidence as he looks towards his sophomore season. But how was Stallion’s rookie season actually? Let’s spend some time diving into the statistics and discovering how effective the young rookie was in his first season.
 
 
Offensive Stats
It is worth noting that Stallion ended up entering the VHL at the perfect time with the new expansion making the quality of opposition less as the top players were spread a bit wider making it so that teams had to rely on their weaker players a bit more. Despite that Stallion had a very respectable season offensively for his rookie season. It is not going to rewrite the history books but it shows a clear upside. 28 goals and 23 assists for 51 points was Stallion’s final tally for the season. Stallion averaged 0.71 points per game with 0.39 goals per game and 0.32 assists a game. This pace isn’t rewriting any record books but its shows a clear upside and potential for the young sniper who should easily pass the 30 goal mark next season. The Wolves scored 243 goals over the season and Stallion was a part of just 21% of those goals, statistically helping his team is something that Stallion is committing himself to get better at this next season
 
 
Secondary Offensive Stats
Stallion was given a great opportunity to prove himself on the 2nd powerplay unit this season and was able to display his clutch scoring upside to ensure his team always had the best chance to score on the man advantage. Just over a third of Stallion’s goals were scored on the powerplay showing a serious potential to be a powerplay beast as early as next season. Stallion also recorded 5 game winning goals for the Wolves as well as a shorthanded tally showing that his offensive prowess is not just limited to even strength or powerplay ice time. Special teams play is the easy highlight of Stallion’s rookie season and it will be interesting to see if he his given more opportunities on special teams next season.
 
 
Miscellaneous Stats
It is easy to just look at a players offensive stats and use that as a baseline of the players effectiveness for his team. But often times the other stats show what kind of player is truly on the ice for the entire game and not just when the puck goes in the middle. For being an offense first player it is impressive to see that Stallion was not afraid to use his body to help give his team the edge. 40 hits and 21 blocked shots is not about to send the world on notice but for a rookie playing against men much bigger than him it shows a selflessness that Stallion was willing to put his body at risk to give his team an edge. Stallion fired 247 shots (3.4 shots per game) on net this season giving him an impressive shooting percentage with 11.3% of his shots on net becoming goals. Unfortunately not everything about Stallion’s game this season could be classified as a good start. Most notably is the -1 that he ended the season with. While the Wolves were not near the top of the standings they had a +30 goal differential, yet Stallion was the only player to finish the season with a negative plus/minus. Defensive play has always been his weakness but that cannot be an excuse in the VHL. Look for Stallion to put a lot of focus into his defensive game the off season.
 
 
Playoffs
The playoffs is what the entire season leads towards, someone could have the greatest offensive season but if it doesn’t translate into the off season it is all for naught. Stallion’s playoff performance was a bit lacking to put it politely. It was clear watching the games that something was off with Stallion and as the series went on he became more and more frustrated and ultimately ended the series as the only Wolf to not record a point. This was not for lack of trying as Stallion recorded 4.2 shots per game but his scoring touch had evaporated. It is a rough note to end his rookie season but hopefully Stallion learns from this and it humbles him to be a better player next season for his team.
 
Expectations for Next Season
So where does Stallion go from here? It is obvious that he has a lot of potential and a great scoring touch but in order to go from a good player to a great player there are several areas of his game that Stallion will have to grow in. Pretty soon when Wolves veterans Louth and Tocco retire Stallion will be looked at by the Wolves team to take the step to a top line player. Fortunately for Stallion it is likely that he will be playing with Andrew Su for his entire career. Stallion had instant chemistry will the skilled playmaker and when they were separated Stallion’s offensive game suffered greatly. Su is the kind of player that makes those around him better and a full 72 games with Su would undoubtedly allow Stallion to reach a new level in his VHL career. Stallion will be looked on to be a key part of a rapidly rebuilding Wolves team that has been loading up on early round prospects. If the Wolves are to have any success Stallion is going to have to prove himself and take the next step offensively and especially defensively.
 
The narrative of a players career is not decided by their rookie season alone, but a player potential can be clearly anticipated from seeing their rookie campaign. It appears that Stallion will be strong special teams goal scorer for the Wolves but the question remains to see if Stallion can take the next step in all aspects of his game in the VHL.
 
(1,046 Words)

Marc LeGros, The Belgian Bugle
It was a season to remember for Gregg Stallion as he embarked on his rookie campaign with the Vancouver Wolves. As with most rookies entering the big leagues there was a lot of ups and downs and opportunities for Stallion to learn from amazing players and grow in his confidence as he looks towards his sophomore season. But how was Stallion’s rookie season actually? Let’s spend some time diving into the statistics and discovering how effective the young rookie was in his first season.
 
 
Offensive Stats
It is worth noting that Stallion ended up entering the VHL at the perfect time with the new expansion making the quality of opposition less as the top players were spread a bit wider making it so that teams had to rely on their weaker players a bit more. Despite that Stallion had a very respectable season offensively for his rookie season. It is not going to rewrite the history books but it shows a clear upside. 28 goals and 23 assists for 51 points was Stallion’s final tally for the season. Stallion averaged 0.71 points per game with 0.39 goals per game and 0.32 assists a game. This pace isn’t rewriting any record books but its shows a clear upside and potential for the young sniper who should easily pass the 30 goal mark next season. The Wolves scored 243 goals over the season and Stallion was a part of just 21% of those goals, statistically helping his team is something that Stallion is committing himself to get better at this next season
 
 
Secondary Offensive Stats
Stallion was given a great opportunity to prove himself on the 2nd powerplay unit this season and was able to display his clutch scoring upside to ensure his team always had the best chance to score on the man advantage. Just over a third of Stallion’s goals were scored on the powerplay showing a serious potential to be a powerplay beast as early as next season. Stallion also recorded 5 game winning goals for the Wolves as well as a shorthanded tally showing that his offensive prowess is not just limited to even strength or powerplay ice time. Special teams play is the easy highlight of Stallion’s rookie season and it will be interesting to see if he his given more opportunities on special teams next season.
 
 
Miscellaneous Stats
It is easy to just look at a players offensive stats and use that as a baseline of the players effectiveness for his team. But often times the other stats show what kind of player is truly on the ice for the entire game and not just when the puck goes in the middle. For being an offense first player it is impressive to see that Stallion was not afraid to use his body to help give his team the edge. 40 hits and 21 blocked shots is not about to send the world on notice but for a rookie playing against men much bigger than him it shows a selflessness that Stallion was willing to put his body at risk to give his team an edge. Stallion fired 247 shots (3.4 shots per game) on net this season giving him an impressive shooting percentage with 11.3% of his shots on net becoming goals. Unfortunately not everything about Stallion’s game this season could be classified as a good start. Most notably is the -1 that he ended the season with. While the Wolves were not near the top of the standings they had a +30 goal differential, yet Stallion was the only player to finish the season with a negative plus/minus. Defensive play has always been his weakness but that cannot be an excuse in the VHL. Look for Stallion to put a lot of focus into his defensive game the off season.
 
 
Playoffs
The playoffs is what the entire season leads towards, someone could have the greatest offensive season but if it doesn’t translate into the off season it is all for naught. Stallion’s playoff performance was a bit lacking to put it politely. It was clear watching the games that something was off with Stallion and as the series went on he became more and more frustrated and ultimately ended the series as the only Wolf to not record a point. This was not for lack of trying as Stallion recorded 4.2 shots per game but his scoring touch had evaporated. It is a rough note to end his rookie season but hopefully Stallion learns from this and it humbles him to be a better player next season for his team.
 
Expectations for Next Season
So where does Stallion go from here? It is obvious that he has a lot of potential and a great scoring touch but in order to go from a good player to a great player there are several areas of his game that Stallion will have to grow in. Pretty soon when Wolves veterans Louth and Tocco retire Stallion will be looked at by the Wolves team to take the step to a top line player. Fortunately for Stallion it is likely that he will be playing with Andrew Su for his entire career. Stallion had instant chemistry will the skilled playmaker and when they were separated Stallion’s offensive game suffered greatly. Su is the kind of player that makes those around him better and a full 72 games with Su would undoubtedly allow Stallion to reach a new level in his VHL career. Stallion will be looked on to be a key part of a rapidly rebuilding Wolves team that has been loading up on early round prospects. If the Wolves are to have any success Stallion is going to have to prove himself and take the next step offensively and especially defensively.
 
The narrative of a players career is not decided by their rookie season alone, but a player potential can be clearly anticipated from seeing their rookie campaign. It appears that Stallion will be strong special teams goal scorer for the Wolves but the question remains to see if Stallion can take the next step in all aspects of his game in the VHL.
 
(1,046 Words)

1) We're nearing the season... Do you think we make the playoffs?
   We have definitely been picking up a lot of momentum, at this point I think we could maybe pull it off!
2) Do you think the trade of Jungkok helped us?
    Jung was a great teammate but they took too many penalties and forced us onto the PK way too much
3) What do we need to build on next season?
    Probably continue to be stronger defensively, though we can score a lot we also do let a lot of goals in 
4) Are you excited for the future of the team?
    Oh yeah, we have a lot of great rookies and sophomores and our prospect pipeline is going to assist us further
5) Have you met your goals for the season?
    100% I wanted to be a sniper for this team and getting 25 goals in 60 games is a great start for my career
6) We've had a up and down season but what has been your highlight so far?
     Definitely getting my first ever VHL hat trick the other day, I will never forget that

“I have always wanted to be unique in everything that I did.” Stallion told reporters on a Vancouver pier from his boat. “So when I heard about the controversy involving the aquarium here and how they were not able to keep whales and dolphins because that’s considered ‘inhumane’ I decided to do something for those poor creatures." In one hand Stallion held a bottle of Whiskey and in his other he had a massive leash that went off the side of the boat and descended into the depths of the water.
 
 
The Vancouver aquarium had originally planned on releasing the animals back into the ocean, but when they realized they could make a big profit by selling these animals for private use they quickly jumped on the opportunity much to the annoyance of PETA and other protesters. Many rich moguls quickly jumped at the opportunity to have a pet whale or dolphin and within minutes nearly all of the animals had been released from the horrible aquarium conditions to far worse conditions in the homes of the 1%.
 
 
All that was left was a beluga whale who had lost both of its fins in a tragic accident when it was a child and accidentally put into the shark tank instead of the Beluga one. The aquarium had rather cruelly decided to name him Stubbs but for some reason no one wanted to adopt Stubbs. That was until Gregg Stallion caught wind of Stubbs and his inspirational story.
 
 
“It brought me to tears to read about what Stubbs had overcome in his life. Learning to swim without fins, I couldn’t imagine, I just want to give him a safe home where he wont have to live in fear of the tragedy happening again.” Stallion told the reporters while tossing some fish over to his side for Stubbs to chow down on.
 
 
On the other side of the bay a group of protesters were chanting and accusing Stallion of animal cruelty. “If only Stubbs could speak, he’d say how happy he was with me.” Stallion said smiling with pride at his humanitarian side. He drove away on his boat with Stubbs by his side, of the places that Stubbs could have went it definitely could have been worse.
 

“I have always wanted to be unique in everything that I did.” Stallion told reporters on a Vancouver pier from his boat. “So when I heard about the controversy involving the aquarium here and how they were not able to keep whales and dolphins because that’s considered ‘inhumane’ I decided to do something for those poor creatures." In one hand Stallion held a bottle of Whiskey and in his other he had a massive leash that went off the side of the boat and descended into the depths of the water.
 
 
The Vancouver aquarium had originally planned on releasing the animals back into the ocean, but when they realized they could make a big profit by selling these animals for private use they quickly jumped on the opportunity much to the annoyance of PETA and other protesters. Many rich moguls quickly jumped at the opportunity to have a pet whale or dolphin and within minutes nearly all of the animals had been released from the horrible aquarium conditions to far worse conditions in the homes of the 1%.
 
 
All that was left was a beluga whale who had lost both of its fins in a tragic accident when it was a child and accidentally put into the shark tank instead of the Beluga one. The aquarium had rather cruelly decided to name him Stubbs but for some reason no one wanted to adopt Stubbs. That was until Gregg Stallion caught wind of Stubbs and his inspirational story.
 
 
“It brought me to tears to read about what Stubbs had overcome in his life. Learning to swim without fins, I couldn’t imagine, I just want to give him a safe home where he wont have to live in fear of the tragedy happening again.” Stallion told the reporters while tossing some fish over to his side for Stubbs to chow down on.
 
 
On the other side of the bay a group of protesters were chanting and accusing Stallion of animal cruelty. “If only Stubbs could speak, he’d say how happy he was with me.” Stallion said smiling with pride at his humanitarian side. He drove away on his boat with Stubbs by his side, of the places that Stubbs could have went it definitely could have been worse.
 

“I have always wanted to be unique in everything that I did.” Stallion told reporters on a Vancouver pier from his boat. “So when I heard about the controversy involving the aquarium here and how they were not able to keep whales and dolphins because that’s considered ‘inhumane’ I decided to do something for those poor creatures." In one hand Stallion held a bottle of Whiskey and in his other he had a massive leash that went off the side of the boat and descended into the depths of the water.
 
 
The Vancouver aquarium had originally planned on releasing the animals back into the ocean, but when they realized they could make a big profit by selling these animals for private use they quickly jumped on the opportunity much to the annoyance of PETA and other protesters. Many rich moguls quickly jumped at the opportunity to have a pet whale or dolphin and within minutes nearly all of the animals had been released from the horrible aquarium conditions to far worse conditions in the homes of the 1%.
 
 
All that was left was a beluga whale who had lost both of its fins in a tragic accident when it was a child and accidentally put into the shark tank instead of the Beluga one. The aquarium had rather cruelly decided to name him Stubbs but for some reason no one wanted to adopt Stubbs. That was until Gregg Stallion caught wind of Stubbs and his inspirational story.
 
 
“It brought me to tears to read about what Stubbs had overcome in his life. Learning to swim without fins, I couldn’t imagine, I just want to give him a safe home where he wont have to live in fear of the tragedy happening again.” Stallion told the reporters while tossing some fish over to his side for Stubbs to chow down on.
 
 
On the other side of the bay a group of protesters were chanting and accusing Stallion of animal cruelty. “If only Stubbs could speak, he’d say how happy he was with me.” Stallion said smiling with pride at his humanitarian side. He drove away on his boat with Stubbs by his side, of the places that Stubbs could have went it definitely could have been worse.
 

“I have always wanted to be unique in everything that I did.” Stallion told reporters on a Vancouver pier from his boat. “So when I heard about the controversy involving the aquarium here and how they were not able to keep whales and dolphins because that’s considered ‘inhumane’ I decided to do something for those poor creatures." In one hand Stallion held a bottle of Whiskey and in his other he had a massive leash that went off the side of the boat and descended into the depths of the water.
 
 
The Vancouver aquarium had originally planned on releasing the animals back into the ocean, but when they realized they could make a big profit by selling these animals for private use they quickly jumped on the opportunity much to the annoyance of PETA and other protesters. Many rich moguls quickly jumped at the opportunity to have a pet whale or dolphin and within minutes nearly all of the animals had been released from the horrible aquarium conditions to far worse conditions in the homes of the 1%.
 
 
All that was left was a beluga whale who had lost both of its fins in a tragic accident when it was a child and accidentally put into the shark tank instead of the Beluga one. The aquarium had rather cruelly decided to name him Stubbs but for some reason no one wanted to adopt Stubbs. That was until Gregg Stallion caught wind of Stubbs and his inspirational story.
 
 
“It brought me to tears to read about what Stubbs had overcome in his life. Learning to swim without fins, I couldn’t imagine, I just want to give him a safe home where he wont have to live in fear of the tragedy happening again.” Stallion told the reporters while tossing some fish over to his side for Stubbs to chow down on.
 
 
On the other side of the bay a group of protesters were chanting and accusing Stallion of animal cruelty. “If only Stubbs could speak, he’d say how happy he was with me.” Stallion said smiling with pride at his humanitarian side. He drove away on his boat with Stubbs by his side, of the places that Stubbs could have went it definitely could have been worse.
 

Marc LeGros, The Belgian Bugle
 
Vancouver Wolves forward Gregg Stallion was thrilled to have a weekend off in his rookie season. He had originally planned to just sit back and relax in his cramped apartment that he spent half of his yearly salary living in. But after hearing Wolves gm Keaton Louth never stop talking about the beauty of Vancouver Island and specifically Victoria and how it was so much better than the city of Vancouver Stallion’s interests were piqued. So early on Saturday morning Stallion rode out to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal and boarded the 7:30am ferry to spend the weekend enjoying all of the things to see and do in Victoria.
 
Unfortunately for Stallion and the rest of the people aboard the Queen of Victoria this was not going to be simple ferry ride to Swartz bay. At approximately 8:05am when the Queen of Victoria was between Galiano Island and Mayne Island a fleet of sailboats emerged from behind the rocks in the narrow strait and began to quickly surround the ferry. The flagship ‘Seas the Day’ floated to the the bow of the Ferry. A man in a tattered pink polo shirt and khaki shorts stepped to the front of his awfully named sailboat and began to speak into a megaphone. “My name is Wesley Higgington the Third and we are the Fortune 500 Yacht Club Pirates.” The other predominantly white businessmen on the other yachts began to politely clap at hearing their gang introduced.
 
Several harpoons shot into the hull of the Queen of Victoria causing the ferry to be stuck and at the mercy of the Fortune 500Yacht Club Pirates. The white collar terrors of the sea began to clamber up this ropes and boarded the ferry that was at their mercy. The Queen of Victoria’s captain was quickly captured and brought in front of Wesley Higgington the Third. “Why are you doing this?” The worried captain asked the pirates that had taken over his ship. The Pirates brought out a projector and began to share information the only way that their white collar selves knew how to and presented a finely crafted powerpoint that they had an intern make. The powerpoint clearly illustrated through graphs and spreadsheets that they were a yacht club out of Yacht Haven on San Juan Island located on the American side of the Canadian-American Pacific border. Before the border between the two countries had closed the Yacht Club had decided to sail over to the Canadian side of the border to enjoy a day of deep sea fishing. Unfortunately for them the border was shut during their trip and because they had illegally entered Canada they were not allowed to return to America nor go on land in Canada. “We have been stranded here for months, forced to eat peasant food, like bass.” Wesley summarized. The other businessmen booed and hissed. “We are taking this ferry and using it to smuggle ourselves onto land and to find a 5 star resort for us to recover at.”
 
The Queen of Victoria’s captain was in disbelief at what he was hearing, the elite 1% of the American west coast had taken over his ship and he was at their mercy. “You can’t do this!” He stammered looking around at the displeased pirates who were sunburned and wearing worn out clothing. “I-I’m the captain of this sh-” Wesley quickly placed his hand over the mouth of the Captain. “Look at me! I am the captain now” Wesley looked back at his colleagues who gave him thumbs up to continue. “This is my ship, I am the captain!” Wesley thought he was being original and creative with his speech and felt a great deal of pride in it.
 
In the passenger section of the ship Gregg Stallion along with the rest of the passengers and crew were getting guided into the front of the ship. Stallion had spent the last couple of nights rewatching the die hard movies and being in a situation like this made him feel the urge to become an action hero and save the passengers and crew from the Fortune 500 Pirates. As they passed by the kitchen areas Stallion snuck to the side of the group and subtly dived behind a bush out of view of the entitled pirates. One of the Pirates, Chad “The Codfather” Jefferson saw something move behind the group and stopped as the group left him. The Codfather was brandishing a filleting knife as he looked through the bushes that surrounded the kitchen area. “Here fishy fishy..” He growled as Stallion tried to get around behind him. As the Codfather was getting closer Stallion made a risky move and dove into the kitchen that had been vacated.
 
“Gotcha!” The Codfather yelled as he chased after Stallion into the kitchen. Stallion quickly looked around the kitchen and spotted that the deep fryer was still boiling. He grabbed a metal bowl and filled it with the boiling oil. When the Codfather triumphantly burst into the kitchen he was shocked to see Stallion standing in front of him holding a metal. “Looks like fried cod is on the menu tonight.” Stallion said embracing his inner action hero. He threw the bowl of boiling oil into the face of the Codfather and what happened to the Codfather is far too explicit and disturbing to be in a family article like this.
 
Stallion crawled up into the air ducts of the ferry and began to methodically ambush and incapacitate some of the worlds most successful business moguls as he worked to free the ship from the grasp. Stallion’s face was covered with grease and his shirt was torn and soaked in sweat. He knew that in order to ultimately save the day he had to take down the captain of the Fortune 500 Pirates in order to free the ferry that was at the mercy of the desperate businessmen.
 
Stallion slowly crawled his ways through the ducts until he heard the unmistakable sound of idle corporate chatter as the pirates discussed their stock portfolios and how lame it was having to give employees raises. Wesley was standing in the middle of that group wearing a captains hat and showing some of his friends pictures from his last fishing trip. Stallion was not much of a fighter but he was a hockey player. Stallion burst from the air ducts and stylishly landed in front of Wesley and his other colleagues. “The only thing that you are catching today, is my fist in your face.” Stallion smiled at how cool that sounded and he was sure that the Pirates were very intimidated.
 
Stallion immediately rushed to the pirates and delivered a solid shoulder check to the face of an unfortunate CEO. The other pirates charged towards Stallion while Wesley backed away from the commotion. Stallion proceeded hip check one of the pirates over the ledge and off the ferry and then grabbed a near by broom and cross checked the other businessmen in the face. Wesley grabbed another broom and assumed a fencing pose. “You don’t stand a chance, I go fencing everyday, it is great exercise.” Stallion glared at Wesley as the two opponents squared each other up. Wesley made the first lunge as he poked his broom gently towards Stallion. Stallion, however had opted for a slap shot to Wesley’s face and hit him clean across the jaw sending a couple of his teeth spilling to the deck as he flew back towards the railing and over it. He screamed as he fell off the ferry and in quite frankly a miraculous coincidence a humpback whale had jumped out of the water and ended up swallowing Wesley whole and conveniently sunk half of the hostile sailboats.
 
The remaining pirates fled and dove off of the ship into the ocean leaving Stallion victorious and the Queen of Victoria free. The ferry ended up completing its route and Stallion got to enjoy the day in the beautiful city of Victoria and began to try and sell his story to movie producers to star in a die hard spin off movie.
 
1300 words

Marc LeGros, The Belgian Bugle
 
Vancouver Wolves forward Gregg Stallion was thrilled to have a weekend off in his rookie season. He had originally planned to just sit back and relax in his cramped apartment that he spent half of his yearly salary living in. But after hearing Wolves gm Keaton Louth never stop talking about the beauty of Vancouver Island and specifically Victoria and how it was so much better than the city of Vancouver Stallion’s interests were piqued. So early on Saturday morning Stallion rode out to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal and boarded the 7:30am ferry to spend the weekend enjoying all of the things to see and do in Victoria.
 
Unfortunately for Stallion and the rest of the people aboard the Queen of Victoria this was not going to be simple ferry ride to Swartz bay. At approximately 8:05am when the Queen of Victoria was between Galiano Island and Mayne Island a fleet of sailboats emerged from behind the rocks in the narrow strait and began to quickly surround the ferry. The flagship ‘Seas the Day’ floated to the the bow of the Ferry. A man in a tattered pink polo shirt and khaki shorts stepped to the front of his awfully named sailboat and began to speak into a megaphone. “My name is Wesley Higgington the Third and we are the Fortune 500 Yacht Club Pirates.” The other predominantly white businessmen on the other yachts began to politely clap at hearing their gang introduced.
 
Several harpoons shot into the hull of the Queen of Victoria causing the ferry to be stuck and at the mercy of the Fortune 500Yacht Club Pirates. The white collar terrors of the sea began to clamber up this ropes and boarded the ferry that was at their mercy. The Queen of Victoria’s captain was quickly captured and brought in front of Wesley Higgington the Third. “Why are you doing this?” The worried captain asked the pirates that had taken over his ship. The Pirates brought out a projector and began to share information the only way that their white collar selves knew how to and presented a finely crafted powerpoint that they had an intern make. The powerpoint clearly illustrated through graphs and spreadsheets that they were a yacht club out of Yacht Haven on San Juan Island located on the American side of the Canadian-American Pacific border. Before the border between the two countries had closed the Yacht Club had decided to sail over to the Canadian side of the border to enjoy a day of deep sea fishing. Unfortunately for them the border was shut during their trip and because they had illegally entered Canada they were not allowed to return to America nor go on land in Canada. “We have been stranded here for months, forced to eat peasant food, like bass.” Wesley summarized. The other businessmen booed and hissed. “We are taking this ferry and using it to smuggle ourselves onto land and to find a 5 star resort for us to recover at.”
 
The Queen of Victoria’s captain was in disbelief at what he was hearing, the elite 1% of the American west coast had taken over his ship and he was at their mercy. “You can’t do this!” He stammered looking around at the displeased pirates who were sunburned and wearing worn out clothing. “I-I’m the captain of this sh-” Wesley quickly placed his hand over the mouth of the Captain. “Look at me! I am the captain now” Wesley looked back at his colleagues who gave him thumbs up to continue. “This is my ship, I am the captain!” Wesley thought he was being original and creative with his speech and felt a great deal of pride in it.
 
In the passenger section of the ship Gregg Stallion along with the rest of the passengers and crew were getting guided into the front of the ship. Stallion had spent the last couple of nights rewatching the die hard movies and being in a situation like this made him feel the urge to become an action hero and save the passengers and crew from the Fortune 500 Pirates. As they passed by the kitchen areas Stallion snuck to the side of the group and subtly dived behind a bush out of view of the entitled pirates. One of the Pirates, Chad “The Codfather” Jefferson saw something move behind the group and stopped as the group left him. The Codfather was brandishing a filleting knife as he looked through the bushes that surrounded the kitchen area. “Here fishy fishy..” He growled as Stallion tried to get around behind him. As the Codfather was getting closer Stallion made a risky move and dove into the kitchen that had been vacated.
 
“Gotcha!” The Codfather yelled as he chased after Stallion into the kitchen. Stallion quickly looked around the kitchen and spotted that the deep fryer was still boiling. He grabbed a metal bowl and filled it with the boiling oil. When the Codfather triumphantly burst into the kitchen he was shocked to see Stallion standing in front of him holding a metal. “Looks like fried cod is on the menu tonight.” Stallion said embracing his inner action hero. He threw the bowl of boiling oil into the face of the Codfather and what happened to the Codfather is far too explicit and disturbing to be in a family article like this.
 
Stallion crawled up into the air ducts of the ferry and began to methodically ambush and incapacitate some of the worlds most successful business moguls as he worked to free the ship from the grasp. Stallion’s face was covered with grease and his shirt was torn and soaked in sweat. He knew that in order to ultimately save the day he had to take down the captain of the Fortune 500 Pirates in order to free the ferry that was at the mercy of the desperate businessmen.
 
Stallion slowly crawled his ways through the ducts until he heard the unmistakable sound of idle corporate chatter as the pirates discussed their stock portfolios and how lame it was having to give employees raises. Wesley was standing in the middle of that group wearing a captains hat and showing some of his friends pictures from his last fishing trip. Stallion was not much of a fighter but he was a hockey player. Stallion burst from the air ducts and stylishly landed in front of Wesley and his other colleagues. “The only thing that you are catching today, is my fist in your face.” Stallion smiled at how cool that sounded and he was sure that the Pirates were very intimidated.
 
Stallion immediately rushed to the pirates and delivered a solid shoulder check to the face of an unfortunate CEO. The other pirates charged towards Stallion while Wesley backed away from the commotion. Stallion proceeded hip check one of the pirates over the ledge and off the ferry and then grabbed a near by broom and cross checked the other businessmen in the face. Wesley grabbed another broom and assumed a fencing pose. “You don’t stand a chance, I go fencing everyday, it is great exercise.” Stallion glared at Wesley as the two opponents squared each other up. Wesley made the first lunge as he poked his broom gently towards Stallion. Stallion, however had opted for a slap shot to Wesley’s face and hit him clean across the jaw sending a couple of his teeth spilling to the deck as he flew back towards the railing and over it. He screamed as he fell off the ferry and in quite frankly a miraculous coincidence a humpback whale had jumped out of the water and ended up swallowing Wesley whole and conveniently sunk half of the hostile sailboats.
 
The remaining pirates fled and dove off of the ship into the ocean leaving Stallion victorious and the Queen of Victoria free. The ferry ended up completing its route and Stallion got to enjoy the day in the beautiful city of Victoria and began to try and sell his story to movie producers to star in a die hard spin off movie.
 
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In today's article i'd like to explain some of the things behind the Sapporo Dogs and why everything has been made the way it had been in the remake.

So first of all let's start with some history of Hokkaido as that ties very much into the Sapporo Dogs.
 

 
The thing above is the flag of Hokkaido. The colours in the flag are the same as that of my hockey team. The reason for this that they all have a representation and a meaning.

First off the dark blue is a reference to Hokkaido's Sea and sky. I thought it would be a good base for a main colour of the team as it is different to what is usually found within hockey for the usage of blue which are usually a lot lighter.

Next the red is a representation of the people of Hokkaido's energy i thought it would be a good accent colour for the jeresy.

Then we have the white, this represents the snow and light. Hokkaido is the most northern part of Hokkaido so it is a lot colder than the rest of Japan even more so in the winter months.

We finally have the acutally 7 Pointed star which does have a meaning which is the development and hope for the future of Hokkaido.

Now we've gone over that i should explain why Sapporo. First of all Hokkaido is only the Home to 5.281 million due to the size of the area it is relatively small to the rest of Japan. Tokyo on it's own has 9.273 Million people. So i had to look into where the place with the most people is. That is Sapporo who have 1.952 Million people that live in the area and as a result it is one of the biggest cities in Hokkaido. I then started to look into local sports teams for the area in real life. They have a baseball team (The Hokkaido Fighters) and A football team (Consdole Sapporo). They didn't have a hockey team in the area. Hokkaido is one of the biggest areas in Japan to produce hockey players too and i found this a bit confusing.

So then looked into the local transport into the area and i know that they have a Shinkansen that currently only goes to the very beginning of Hokkaido. However, it is expected to expand by 2025 to the city of Sapporo. I thought that due to this then the idea was perfect really. It had good reliable connections to other parts of the country and was a large enough area to be able to support the team.


Now we get onto the logo. The logo is a dog but more importantly it is a Hokkaido Inu/Dog, these dogs can be found as home pets and in the while.
The dogs are known for being very loyal and they're small and calm usually but if someone threatens they're willing to fight things way larger than them and don't have fear against big threats.
I thought this was the perfect way to represent the team that i was trying to make due to the fact when you're an expansion you're the underdog fighting the more established opponents so i though it would be a good idea. (Image below of a Hokkaido Inu)
 

 

Now, we get onto the Jerseys.

First let's look at the home jersey again.



So quickly to touch on this one i thought the best thing to do here with the colours would be pay homage to one of my favourite baseball teams! The Hokkaido Fighters. They had a jersey that was in a very similar colour scheme! This jersey also shows where the idea for a Hokkaido patch comes from too! It's one that i think is really nice in the way it was designed,
 

 
Now onto the Away Jersey!
 

 

This design was all me. I looked at the home jeresy and decided to make some changes. The socks in this one is something i really liked. I thought let's make it so there is a brake in the colours and that when we swap back to the white in the socks. I thought it would be an interesting idea and i really like how this one turned out. One thing you might notice is that i changed how the patch for the Hokkaido flag is on the shoulders. This is due to the fact it would have not shown up otherwise. I thought swap it and it still holds the same message.
 
Finally, we get onto the 3rd jerseys!
 

 
This 3rd Jersey is once again a reference to 2 different Jersey's by the Hokkaido fighters. First the overall design in a reference to this jeresy.



 
 
I cannot find a good image of the jersey but you can see ideas behind my design however. I was not looking at the actual jersey so all these things have been accidental. I was doing them by memory. Next is an example of the letter and why i did it.



 
The fighters used to have something very simple like this as there logo and i thought it wouldn't look good so i decided to do it like the rangers and the bolts who had done it before. I think it turned out well. The reason i still did the Dog version is so that i can alterate between the two.

So as you can see there was a lot of thought behind why i did everything with this team and nothing was left to chance. I think it has been one of my best i have made. However, i would like to quickly bring up my first design and why i used the bright cyan.
 


This is the flag for the sports association of Hokkaido so i thought i'd use these and go ahead with that. I also made a similar team in NHL 17 a few seasons ago!

Anyways that is everything!

And now for what you've been waiting for! What is my next project!

At the moment i haven't decided everything yet than it would be a minor league team as an affiliation kinda to this team.

Below is the mascot that @Riley_Couture created!  (Yutoku - Inari)
 

 
 
I'm going to make a bubblegum colour scheme. I'm interested to see if i can get it work. I am going to try my hardest!

The team will be based Kashima in the Saga Prefecture!

(Saga Prefecture Flag)
 

(Kashima Flag)

 
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The Class of S73: The Sky is the Limit
 
 
The transition from VHLM player to a rookie in the VHL is quite possibly the hardest transition to make in all of sports. Young players with approximately 250-400 TPE are thrust into a league with players who on average possess 800-1000 TPE, and these aren’t even close to the top TPE that the top players have. For rookies it takes a perfect storm to actually have an impact in their rookie season. They need the top line minutes that only bottom feeder teams can offer but also need great line mates who can elevate them and help to boost some of their stats. It is worth noting that due to the leagues expansion the average TPE in the league has went down as 4 new teams have been added.
 
 S71-S72: The Bar is Set

Last years VHL rookie class was an oddity to say the least. SS Hornet had the most points among S72 rookies with 47 points, while only two other rookies made it over the 40 point mark (Pengu (43) & Vladimir Shaposhnikov (40).) The prior season showcased a far greater point total among the rookies, lead by Roque Davis who had an amazing rookie total of 69 points as a defender followed by Erik Killinger and Ola Vikingstad who both managed to just get over 50 points. A rookie season is not indicative of a players overall VHL career but the better a rookie can do in the VHL with a low TPE only raises their ceiling as they earn more TPE throughout their career.
 
 
 
S73: On Pace for Greatness
 
While 12 games may only be a small sample size several rookies have already started to break out of the pack and turn heads, especially in contrast to last years significantly lower rookie totals. As of now Chris Hylands and Mickey Dickson of the Malmo Nighthawks are having an amazing start to their rookie season. They have 14 points and 13 points respectively in the young season putting them on pace for 84 points and 78 points. That is an astronomical total in contrast to the previous rookie leaders with 47 and 69 points. In fact the 3rd rookie in point totals is also on a better pace than the previous 2 rookie leaders.
 
 The contrast between S72 and S73 rookie is absolutely insane. As of right now each of the players in the top 10 of rookie scoring is on a better pace than SS Hornet’s rookie leading point totals. Even if only half of those players kept up their pace that is still 5 players who are surpassing last years point totals. This is an extremely exciting rookie class, many prominent names and surefire future stars such as the Menace’s Lucas Brandt and Alex Letang and also all of the first round picks of this last draft that are playing in the VHL right now. VHL fans should be excited about this draft class, I am sure that many future stars and even hall of famers will come from this group that has already started up on an amazing pace in only 12 games. These rookies are without a doubt reaping the benefits of the leagues big expansion and being thrust into the limelight on teams that are a lot thinner on depth now. 3 of the top 5 in rookie scoring for this season are on expansion teams and making the most of their opportunity on their young teams. The sky is the limit for the S73 rookie class.
 
580 Words

The weekly reviews are always so good! Excited to read them as the season continues.

wow, i didn't know that Vancouver could made  such a good beer, and know i'm surprised.
i will give you a 10/10 only if you visit me in las vegas and you make me try it ;).

The weekly reviews are always so good! Excited to read them as the season continues.

Welcome to the first edition of VSN’s S73 Weekly recap (Games 1-126).  We’ll cover a host of things in this recap each week including highlights of important VSN happenings, three stars of the week, power rankings, rookie profiles, and anything else of importance.
 
Speaking of other VSN content, make sure to check out the other great work from the greater VSN family! Here are a few handy links to check out, from our weekly podcasts to in-depth history articles, scouting reports, and more!
Top 25: #5 - #1 | S73 Season Preview | VHL Awards | VHLM Awards
 
Recap
Before I get into the real recap, I would just like to take a second to welcome @PatrikLaine to the VSN family, he will be working with me each week to bring the VHL Weekly to your screen. We also have new release time for the article. Instead of the usual Sunday release, we will now be aiming for a mid-week release. Lastly, after reviewing how last season went, we have decided to change up our power rankings format. No longer will we be ranking each conference, but we will have an overall Top 8 that dynamically changes based on weekly performance. With those formalities of the way, let’s take a look at this week’s action!
 
We’ve had a whirlwind start to this expansion season, and our goalies are feeling the full effect as scoring seems to be on the rise, with 19 hat tricks and only 7 shutouts in the first week. We have rookies scoring at an increased rate, and some new stars are emerging as the old guard ages and gets ready for retirement. There are numerous players poised to be on point per game pace this season, and I would hate to be a goalie in this new era. Who knows if this will keep up as the season goes on, but it’s looking like we might be out of the dead puck era that has plagued the league as of late.
 
3-Stars
 
First Star
Sigard Gunnar (LAS) - 14 G, 18 A, 2 Hat Tricks
Second Star
Greg Eagles (RIG) - 0.943 SV%, 1.58 GAA, 7 wins
Third Star
Lincoln Tate (RIG) - 1 G, 23 A, 28 SB
 
Power Rankings
Players featured on this week’s Power Rankings are Acyd Burn of the New York Americans, Ben Hafkey of the Helsinki Titans, and General Zod of the Calgary Wranglers

We have the wonderful @Pengu to thank for this season's amazing power rankings graphic
 
This season is off to a surprising start, and no one could have predicted these power rankings. Finishing in 1st in this week’s rankings are the New York Americans, who rode a fast start to the season to a 13-2-1 record and 1st place in the VHL. Not too far behind in 2nd place are the red-hot Helsinki Titans. Helsinki starts the season with a 5-5 start but has won 6 in a row thanks to great performances from goalies Zamboni Driver and Samuel Ross. Next up in 3rd place are the Calgary Wranglers, who just like the Titans, rode 6 straight wins to end the week in 3rd place after a bad start. Coming up in 4th are the defending Continental Cup Champions in the Riga Reign, who despite only sporting a 10-6 record, have been getting excellent performances from goaltender Greg Eagles. In 11 games this week, Eagles won 7 games and had an 1.58 goals-against average to go along with a 0.943 save percentage through all 11 games. Up next in 5th is HC Davos, who started the season off strong with a 9-4-3 record this week. Our 6th place finisher this week is the Vancouver Wolves, who had an 8-6-2 record this week and have had a breakout rookie in Gregg Stallion. In 16 games this week, Stallion had 4 goals and 7 assists for the Wolves. The Seattle Bears finished this week in our 7th spot. Seattle started the season off strong with a 9-4 start, but have started to skid recently, losing 3 in a row to end the week. Concluding our list are the Prague Phantoms. The Phantoms started the week with a disappointed 6-7 record, but they have since won 3 in a row. I see them moving up into the top 6 next week. This first week was full of surprises and one can only wonder what else will happen as the week continues.
 
Notable Games
 
 Game 1: New York Americans vs Calgary Wranglers
We didn’t have to wait long this year to get a great game, and we would get our first goal of the season early. Hugh Jass would put one in the back of the net for the Americans just 1:52 into the game. New York would extend their lead to 2 on a late goal by Owen Nolan. It was 2-0 New York after 1. New York wasted no time extending the lead again. A power-play goal from Lance Flowers just 1:15 into the second would make it 3-0. However, Calgary would respond quickly as just 2:25 later, they would get a power-play goal of their own from Latrell Mitchell to cut the lead to 2. The rest of the game was about New York’s goaltender, A Red Guy. New York wanted to sit on their lead the rest of the game and it was evident by the shot totals. After Calgary’s first goal, New York was outshot 43-11. Red Guy would stop all 43 of Calgary’s shots in the final 36 minutes to preserve a win for New York.
 
Game 65: Helsinki Titans vs Riga Reign
Our second notable game is a clash between Helsinki and the defending champs in the Riga Reign. It didn’t take long for Riga to open the scoring, getting a goal from Codrick Past just 1:41 into the first. Despite this early setback, Helsinki would strike back late in the first on a goal from Valtteri Vaakanainen with just 49 seconds left in the first period. It wouldn’t take long for Riga to regain the lead in the second as Guy Saskamoose would score just 2:34 into the second to put Riga in front 2-1. Right after that goal, tensions between the two teams rose and we saw a fight between Phil Marleau and Jim Bob. The fight ultimately ended in a draw. After this point, it was all Riga the rest of the game. Across the last 2 periods, Riga would score 4 more goals after that fight, getting them from Shush Nyko, Patrik Tallinder, Lincoln Tate and Codrick Past’s second of the game would wrap up a 6-1 win for the defending champs. Even though Riga dominated with a 6-1 victory, the final shots were 35-35. Riga just made the most of their opportunities and pulled away from Helsinki early in the third.
 
Game 68: Los Angeles Stars vs HC Davos Dynamo
Our final game this week brings us to a showdown between HC Davos and the upstart Los Angeles Stars. Davos would jump out early, gaining a 3-0 lead just 12:24 into the game on a goal from Robin Winters and a pair of goals from Soren Jensen. However, LA would score 2 goals in 1:14 just a few minutes later to cut the lead to 3-2, receiving goals from Nate Wright and Markus Nygren. However, Davos would put an end to the late period surge from LA, with Fernando Jokinen scoring with just 1:16 left in the first to stretch Davo’s lead to 4-2. Davos came about battling to begin the second, leading in the shot department 11-6 in that period. Their determination would pay off early as Soren Jensen would pot his hat trick goal just 4:06 into the second to restore Davo’s 3 goal lead, making it 5-2. LA would get one in the middle of the second from rookie Jeffrey Pines to cut the lead to 5-3. The lead would be extended back to 3 just 4:17 later on Soren Jensen’s 4th goal of the game. He was having a night to remember and this would put his club up 6-3. LA wasn’t finished and just 1:35 later, Tyler Barabash Jr would score on a great breakaway feed from Sigard Gunnar to cut the lead to 2 again. We would head into the 3rd with the score being 6-4 in favour of Davos. The third was very quiet after the first two periods. Both goalies stood strong in net, stopping every shot in the 3rd as Davos would win a wild one over the LA Stars 6-4. Soren Jensen had a night to remember, scoring 4 goals in the win.
 
Events of the Week
 
Fights
Game 1 - Kris Rice and Owen Nolan fight The first game of Season 73, was a rematch of last season’s North American Conference Finals, and there was still bad blood between these two teams. Towards the end of this one, with about 5 minutes to play a fight broke out between Owen Nolan and Kris Rice. The fight was pretty even with both players landing some punches, and it ended as a draw. However, being the instigator, Nolan was sent for an early bath by the referees. Game 10 - Mac Hooper vs. Alex Pearson As the game progressed, and tensions grew higher and higher between these two teams, a fight broke out between Mac Hooper and Alex Pearson. Perhaps Hooper was taking out all of his frustration on Pearson’s face because he wound up as the clear winner, and both men were sent to the dressing rooms as there were less than 5 minutes to play. Game 13 - Micheal Gary Scott ejected It’s tough to pinpoint just exactly what set Micheal Gary Scott off here. Perhaps feeling the pressure of a tie game, Scott went on an expletive-filled tirade, directed at one of the referees. At first, it seemed like he just had a complaint to make, but after the yelling continued for well over a minute, the refs had seen enough and Scott was ejected from the game and given a major penalty for Abuse of Officials. Game 56 - Lewis Dawson vs. Scotty BigShotty This game was the start of 4 in a row between these two division rivals, and the tone was set by these two heavyweights midway through the first game. It was Lewis Dawson who had the upper hand on Scotty BigShotty and he was able to land some nice shots and eventually send Scotty tumbling to the ice. Game 111 - Owen Nolan vs. Benny Graves This was actually Nolan’s 3rd fight of the week, but the 2nd that is featured this week. After falling behind in the 1st period, Benny Graves decided to try and swing some momentum his way by picking a fight with Nolan. However, he met his match and the Americans rallied behind that fight and marched on to a 5-2 victory. Game 121 - Mikko Lahtinen vs. Andrew Su Last year’s most improved player, Mikko Lahtinen was ejected after this fight for instigating, and he even took the loss on this one as well. This fight happened less than 2 minutes into the game and set the tone for a game that was extremely close and really could have gone either way.  
Hat-Tricks
 
Game 7 - Jeff Blaze Our first hat trick of the season goes to a rookie! In his first game in the big leagues, Jeff Blaze defied all expectation and scored a marvellous hat trick that announced his arrival to the league with a splash. He will be thrilled to have hit the ground running. Game 8 - Ray Sheilds On the same night, Malmo’s off-season acquisition made an instant impact by notching a hat trick in his first game for the club. He scored 3 goals which would’ve won the game single-handedly for Malmo, but he was also the lone assist on their other goal. Game 21 - Sigard Gunnar A player who was selected in the expansion draft by the Los Angeles Stars, they must be ecstatic with the production of Sigard Gunnar early on. He notched his first hat trick of the season against the Toronto Legion, and his 3rd ended up being the game-winner. Game 34 - Scott Greene The veteran Seattle forward Scott Greene had a phenomenal outing against the Chicago Phoenix and scored a hat trick in a 6-1 victory. His 2nd and 3rd goals were scored only 23 seconds apart in the 3rd period which all but confirmed Seattle’s victory. Game 44 - Valtteri Vaakanainen This game between conference rivals and playoff hopefuls was just what we expected. A close-fought battle all throughout but Valtteri Vaakanainen stood out among the rest because of his hat trick that propelled Helsinki to an important win. His goal just 6 seconds into the 2nd period proved to be the game-winner as well. Game 46  - Damien Wolfe Damien Wolfe has earned himself the honour of scoring Warsaw’s first franchise hat trick. The Warsaw forward had a solid outing against the Moscow Menace in this one, and Wolfe did everything he could and more to help catapult the Predators to a 5-2 victory. Game 54 - Raleigh Ritchie This game was all offence from both teams. In this 8-5 D.C. victory, Raleigh Ritchie found himself all over the scoresheet and topped off a great night with a hat trick to boot. He will be looking to build upon this and hopefully have a breakout season for the Dragons. Game 55 - Sigard Gunnar & Jerry Wang This is Gunnar’s second hatty of the week. The LA man is absolutely tearing it up for his new team and turning heads all around the league. This hat trick helped Los Angeles hand the undefeated at the time, New York Americans, their first loss of the season. The very same game had a hat trick from the Americans themselves. Jerry Wang notched 3 tallies of his own to match the Stars, but it just wasn’t enough to get them the win. What an offensive performance shown by both of these players in this one. Game 62 - Adam Syreck Another rookie scored the first hat trick of his career, and this time it was Adam Syreck of the Chicago Phoenix. This one will also go down as the first in franchise history so Syreck will be ecstatic about that. He helped his team to a well-earned victory over last season’s finalists, the Calgary Wranglers. Game 64 - Condor Adrienne & Ray Sheilds Who knows what was said before these two before the game, but they must’ve had money on who would score more. We had a pair of hat tricks from the Malmo men in a 6-2 win over Warsaw. Condor Adrienne had a hat trick of his own before Sheilds decided he had seen enough and went out and scored his own! What a show these two put on, and all fans of Malmo will have left the arena happy. Game 68 - Soren Jensen Jensen scored his first hat trick for HC Davos after being traded in the off-season due to cap restraints. He actually had 4 goals in this game, and his General Manager will be happy that he is proving to be an effective acquisition. This game will hopefully be just a taste of what’s to come from Soren Jensen in an HC Davos sweater. Game 86 - Uhtred Seattle finds themselves with another hat trick, and this time it comes from Uhtred. He helped sparked a magnificent comeback from the Bears as they stormed back from a 5-1 deficit in the 3rd period, to come out on top as 6-5 winners. Uhtred completed his hat trick with two key goals in the final frame and the team was able to rally behind that and come up with a winner with less than 2 minutes to play. Game 103 - Thomas Landry II & Boris the Forest Another game with duelling hat tricks, and what a game it was! Thomas Landry II opened the scoring for Prague and potted another goal before the 1st period had ended. The Phantoms actually had a 4-1 lead and things looked to be over already. However, up steps Boris the Forest, who had his own idea for how things should be going. He scored 3 goals in the 3rd and Landry actually completed his hat trick in the middle of Forest’s scoring spree, but the hat trick from Boris was enough to lift D.C. to a 6-5 comeback victory in this action-packed game. Game 104 - Jerry Wang Another player who found himself with two hat tricks in the first week. This time it’s Jerry Wang of the New York Americans. He got off to a quick start in this game, scoring two goals in the 1st period. It wasn’t until midway through the 3rd where he was able to complete the hat trick. The Americans absolutely exploded offensively in this one, with 68 shots on target and coming out with a 6-2 win. Game 114 - Kris Rice In this victory over the Legion, Calgary Wranglers forward Kris Rice found his name on the scoresheet 3 times. Two early goals in the 1st period for Rice helped set the tone for Calgary and they kept that rolling all throughout the game. Rice was able to notch his 3rd tally early on in the 3rd period and helped to send Calgary fans home happy. Game 116 - Jerry Garcia Davos fans will be thrilled to see Jerry Garcia score his first hat trick of the season. In this close game against the Seattle Bears, Garcia was the star of the show. He helped break the deadlock in the 3rd period between the two teams, and he was able to complete the hat trick on an empty net after some unselfish play from his fellow teammates.  
Shutouts
Game 14 - D.C. Dragons vs. Toronto Legion Our first shutout of the season was awarded to Jaxx Hextall of the Toronto Legion who is looking to have a breakout season this year. Only 15 saves in this one, but that doesn’t make it any less valuable than any other shutout. Jaxx will be happy to have started off his season in excellent fashion as this shutout came in only the Legion’s second game of the year. Game 36 - New York Americans vs. D.C. Dragons New York and A Red Guy pick up their first shutout of the campaign, coincidentally also against the Dragons. ARG is coming up on the tail end of his career and has shown early on that he will be among the top candidates for an Aidan Shaw trophy come the end of the year. He made a solid 26 saves in his first shutout of the season and will surely be looking to pick up more as the season progresses. Game 67 - Toronto Legion vs. London United Jaxx Hextall finds himself with another shutout in this phenomenal performance against the new boys in town, the London United. This one was truly earned by Jaxx, as London peppered him with 35 shots, but he stood tall and had an answer for everything. Some help from the forwards allowed Toronto to run out as 3-0 winners in this one. Game 84 - D.C. Dragons vs. Calgary Wranglers In bizarre fashion, we have 3 separate goalies who picked up their first shutout of the season against the D.C. Dragons. Jacques Lafontaine is the most recent addition to the list, as he stopped 13 shots en route to a 3-0 victory. He didn’t see a lot of rubber but that can sometimes work against goalies, but Jacques did not let it phase him. Game 97 - Seattle Bears vs. D.C. Dragons The Dragons must feel like some kind of sick joke is being played on them, but that is not the case. Rayz Funk finds himself among one of four goalies to earn their first shutout of the season against the D.C. Dragons. This one wasn’t a show-stealer from Funk, but a solid 16 save performance is exactly what he will need to kickstart his season. Game 102 - Malmo Nighthawks vs. London United Similar to last season, we have an emergency backup picking up a shutout victory. This is a weird one, as this is actually London’s first-ever franchise shutout. The emergency backup here is a bank teller by day and backup goalie by night, and he managed to stifle the leading scorer in the league and last season’s top point scorer as well. What a performance from the backup, he will go down in London United history, that’s for sure. Game 123 - D.C. Dragons vs. Seattle Bears Our final shutout of the week finally goes to Stone Wolski of the D.C. Dragons. After being shutout 4 times of their own throughout the week, Wolski had seen enough and stopped 40 shots in what will probably go down as one of the best individual performances of the entire season! Seattle did everything they possibly could to put one past Wolski but he rose to the occasion every time.  
Rookie Spotlight

@Pengu again with another amazing banner.
 
Just because you are a mid to late-round pick, doesn’t mean you can’t play better than a higher pick. This is especially true for Mickey Dickson, a former 2nd round pick from the S71 draft says that draft position doesn’t ultimately reflect how good a player is. “I want to show people that even though I am a lower round pick, I can produce points and have a positive impact on the team I play for” After 3 years in the VHLM, Dickson is ready for his first pro season.
 
Dickson, currently playing on the Malmo Nighthawks, has 3 goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 11 games so far. When asked about the totals, Dickson said he could never have imagined this. “I wasn’t expecting to be above 20 points this season, and I’m already at 13 in 11 games. I have a point per game and even though it is early, I have been able to put effort into my game to start my rookie year off so well.”
 
Dickson spent his first three professional seasons playing in the VHLM for Minnesota, Mexico and Yukon. He put up 187 points in 214 VHLM games and 32 points in 32 playoff games. He is often remembered for being one of the VHLM’s best performers in the clutch.
 
When asked about Malmo’s early successes, Dickson says there is still a lot ahead. “I think we have played extremely well so far. Better than I certainly expected and better than I think a lot of people expected. I do think we will make it to the playoffs, however, I do not know that we will make it past the first round but if we do I don't expect us to go further than the second round. I think next season will be our season to really go deep.”
 
Dickson says he still believes he can be a big player for Malmo all season long. “You always want to win and help your team. It's easy to want to play well when you have a great team and management behind you. You want to win for the guys you are working with or for. I want to be able to contribute to my team and help us win games and the only way to do that is to play my best.”
 
However, the most underrated part of Dickson’s game is his 200-foot aspect. Throughout his VHLM Career, he was always a plus and had a career Plus/Minus rating of 79 in the VHLM. He also had the defensive skills to stand up and play against the VHLM’s best lines. It is currently looking like Malmo is a contender for the S73 Continental Cup, and I can certainly say that Dickson will be a big part of Malmo’s push for a championship.
 
 
 

If there is one thing that the grander populace knows about Gregg Stallion its that he loves his alcoholic substances. “At first I was kinda dissapointed to go to Vancouver, they didn’t have a bar scene like I had in Houston and Vegas.” However, upon entering Vancouver Stallion discovered the craft beer scene.
 
 
“Literally everyone here is making their own beer! They get to drink beer and actually make money doing it!” Stallion said after he met about 30 people in his first half hour in Vancouver who were quick to tell them about their craft brewery. “Apparently this is a big thing in British Columbia, you either have a grow-op or make your own beer…this place is wonderful.” Stallion said after exiting the local liquor store with several bottles of craft beer complete with homemade stickers on the side that really should have tipped him off to the fact that none of the craft beer was actually very good.
 
 
Stallion was giddy to try some of the craft beer that everyone would bring up in conversation with him. He eagerly took a sip and then his face grimaced, this followed as he sipped several more of the craft beers before he let out a deep sigh and tossed them in the trash. “Why is everyone’s craft beer trash?” Stallion said to himself as he chugged mouthwash to get the awful taste of the craft beer out of his mouth. “I would be ashamed if I made this, why does everyone feel like they need to drop the fact that they make craft beer into every conversation they have in this place.” Stallion said looking out his window realizing that he was stuck in this land of awful craft beers.
 
 
Stallion then went to call Vancouver Wolves gm Keaton Louth to request a trade out of this craft beer haven he was stuck in. “I couldn’t get a word in! All he wanted to talk about was the fact that he was trying to get into making craft beer! What is this place!” Stallion said gesturing towards Vancouver and the wider lower mainland.
 
 
At the time of writing Stallion has decided that he could actually make better craft beer than everyone else and is working on his own brand of “The Belgian’s Bestest Brew.” Which he assures is the best craft beer around and he encourages everyone reading this piece to go out to their local liquor store and buy a 12 pack of it. It is clear that Stallion is going to fit in just fine in Vancouver.
 
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