ahockeyguy

Gotta hand it to those Moscowanians, I tried to be cute when I predicted that they would be the ones who miss the playoffs, but in the end, they made it quite comfortably, and now they are playing against us in the first round of playoffs. Every game has been a tight battle so far, one-goal games, and unfortunately for us here in Helsinki, Moscow is leading the series 3-1 right now.
 
I don´t know if there is anything we could have done differently so far as a team, like I said the games have been close, every game has ended 3-2, which is quite interesting as well, but since we are facing a critical game today I thought I try to do everything I can to give us even a little edge. Is there a better place to start than openly sharing what I think about Moscow Menace.
 
You call yourself the ´Menace´, that is odd, when I look at that logo of yours, words like: jolly, Rudolph and chimney come to mind. When I try to say Menace with a Scottish accent, it sounds a little bit like mayonnaise. Moscow Mayonnaise, I like that.  When I see your fans all I can think of is how Adidas is not one of your main sponsors, have you tried asking?
 

 
The home arena and the ice quality is one of the worst ones out there, its year 2020, how about using a zamboni instead of a tractor with wet hay to clean the ice? The arena is full of smoke after each intermission and smells like motor oil. Why do you play only one song in the arena? If you are there for the whole game, you hear: Jock Jams - Are You Ready For This at least 18 times.
 
There is only one door on each bench. Safety nets behind the goals is dozens of see-through shower curtains sewn together. The locker room for visitors is just a tent at the back. The food offered to away team is whatever the bus driver can fish out from the nearby river.  
 
I dislike your team so much, I want to see you lose more than I want to see my team win. I wish worst of luck to you and nobody else. When the puck drops tonight I´m going to run your goalie over, but I´m going to make it look like its an accident, which is not that hard when you think how clumsy I am. If and when we are going to have a solid lead, I´m going to celebrate each goal like we just won the championship. If I score a goal, I´m going to skate past your bench for fist bumps.  
 
I can't wait for tonight, I´m going to grab something to eat now, maybe a big bowl of pasta. Then I´ll go back home for a nap. When I wake up I´m going to watch that movie your organization produced a couple of years ago, The Grinch I think its name is.

Eoin Byrne From Cairlinn Ireland it's just a common fella.
Comming from a small village in the north of ireland, he had to learn to fight from a very young age.
but even then,he would never do it for himself,but to protect others,because he got told, that he shall not raise his fist against his enemies,but instead to protect his family,friends or other folk.
so,that way time passed and Eoin learned the game of Hockey,where he had a strange natural skill to block shots and had the chance to protect his new friends.
When he turned 16,his coaches suggested him to try his luck across the sea, he met some new coaches that came to him asking for him to join a team in a werid land called Miami! where they had a new team and needed someone with his.... skillset to help them win a playoff spot!
and so we did, i'm already a couple days in here. surrounded by new friends (that hopefully don't become rivals) and i'm able to play a great level of hockey on the Penalty Kill squad and with plenty of minutes already!
This lockeroom it's super active,everyone's doing something all day long! who would know?
from the General Manager, to his Assistant, to the Captain, or the other team members,everyone was so friendly towards me (and works hard as hell)
I only hope that if my story (and the draft) moves me elsewhere, people it's as friendly as here. never ever would like to move if that doesn't happens.
for cold I already have the cold and harsh climate of my homeland. the land where the last leprachauns still live and with their magic brings us luck.
I don't expect to be the best player ever. it would be stupid to want that,but to be the best teammate ever, so that way people will come to me and the cold will be no more.
speaking of cold... my biggest friend (and I hope she thinks of me as a rival as well) Emi rune, came from England to play in Saskatoon. so we will face eachother before it all ends. 
and who knows,maybe we will play for the same team in a future,not in the minors,but as two full grown players.
everyone should fear if we two end up on the same defensive line,for I trust her with my life,and so do she.
Great Britain could have a great defensive duo that way (think about it)
but that matters not,for now all that it does matter are the playoffs
we will face minesotta on the first round! and for what i've heard it could go either way!
it's a lot to manage, a lot to understand,learn and focus on.
But I know for fact that these guys can do it.
they can pull it off and I am going to be here to help them archieve it.

 
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Are you ready for the playoffs? This is the question Miami Marauders are asking their die-hard fans. In only their inaugural season, the Miami squad has posted a 29-39-4 record for 62 points. While they were outscored overall 220-269, they simply got better and better as the season went on. Surprisingly, they were better on the road (16-18-2) than they were at home (13-21-2). Throughout the season, Miami boasted a decent PP (21.81%), but needed to do some more work on the PK (77.19%).
 
                Captained by @Andre LeBastard, and assisted by @dlamb and @ahockeyguy, Miami saw highlight wins over Minnesota at different points in the season, including their very first game. @Mongoose87 led all scorers with 29 goals and 77 assists for 106 points. Lamb led the team in goals with 37 (followed by Stansson at 30). The playoffs include the eight best teams in the VHLM, and the first-round matchup Miami will likely have will be with Minnesota. There’s a bit of a rivalry there, as mentioned earlier, since Miami has beaten them more than once. Nevertheless, do not make a mistake here: Minnesota is favored in this series. Only time will tell which team will ultimately prevail. Go Marauders!

Are you ready for the playoffs? This is the question Miami Marauders are asking their die-hard fans. In only their inaugural season, the Miami squad has posted a 29-39-4 record for 62 points. While they were outscored overall 220-269, they simply got better and better as the season went on. Surprisingly, they were better on the road (16-18-2) than they were at home (13-21-2). Throughout the season, Miami boasted a decent PP (21.81%), but needed to do some more work on the PK (77.19%).
 
                Captained by @Andre LeBastard, and assisted by @dlamb and @ahockeyguy, Miami saw highlight wins over Minnesota at different points in the season, including their very first game. @Mongoose87 led all scorers with 29 goals and 77 assists for 106 points. Lamb led the team in goals with 37 (followed by Stansson at 30). The playoffs include the eight best teams in the VHLM, and the first-round matchup Miami will likely have will be with Minnesota. There’s a bit of a rivalry there, as mentioned earlier, since Miami has beaten them more than once. Nevertheless, do not make a mistake here: Minnesota is favored in this series. Only time will tell which team will ultimately prevail. Go Marauders!

What kind of player should Wolf Stansson be? What kind of person should he be? With the drama of the playoffs approaching, these questions are more than simply academic. Stansson has always been a nice, thoughtful guy. In the locker room, he’s as likely to quote Socrates as he is the latest sitcom. Yet there’s not always a welcome for him.
 
               What? In expansion franchise Miami Marauders’ locker room? No, he says. Not there. “They’re some of the best guys I could ever hope to play with, and management is great.” He gets a lot of flack, sometimes from other players, for being European. Not in terms of nationality, but in terms of style of play.
 
               Stansson plays an up-front, in-your-face style as a blue-liner. But it’s an offensive, rather than purely defensive, style. Wolf bristles at the idea he’s an offensive defenseman. “Look at the stats!” he says, aggressively pointing to the air next to him, as if to indicate the league index. “I hit! I block shots!” And he’s right. He does play a two-way game. But all that can be overshadowed by reputation. A reputation that many in hockey think is outdated.
 
               Stansson is trying to decide if he should go out of his way to show his toughness. Pick a fight here, a late hit there. Develop into the bad guy. Collect more teeth than goals. Maybe even punch out his own coach one day. But this is where Stansson the potentially-dirty player runs into Stansson the nice guy. He just isn’t the kind of guy to go around picking fights, slashing opposing forwards, and mouthing off. “I try to let my game do the talking, and play it the right way,” he groans, “But not everybody appreciates that.”
 
               Wolf’s teammates have let him know they appreciate him, and each Marauder stands by the other no matter what. Miami’s sometimes-adversarial relationship with the media (cf. @Andre LeBastard and @osens) doesn’t seem to be coming into play here. He’s genuinely frustrated with the way opponents have treated him. When asked if he really wants to become a goon, a disgrace, even, he responds with words from his father. “Don’t change who you are to get what you want,” Wolf breathes, eyes looking past, out into the distance. “Without this advice, I probably would’ve changed already.”
 
               I ask if Wolf talks to Jan Stansson often. He nods. The elder Stansson has been a fixture in the life of Wolf. He has asked his father if one can change his game and not change who he is. This is where philosophical hockey comes into play. “You can’t change your game without changing who you are,” Wolf recalls Jan saying, “because how you play comes in part from who you are. Only if the two are consistent with each other can you change your play. Otherwise, you will either fail at changing the play or staying true to your basic personality. Perhaps you’ll even fail at both.”
 
               It is his father’s words that keep Wolf going, for now. And, for now, it is his father’s words preventing him from becoming an enforcer, and keep him on the path of playing two-way hockey.

I prefer offensive defense men and teams are always looking for one or two of them to fill out in their roster. Because a lot of forwards focus on scoring goals, making a solid quarterback for a team is generally a good idea. It shouldn't be taboo to want to play an OD. You will have MUCH more fun in the league playing something you WANT, rather than something OTHER people want you to play. 
 
Review
Really unique article. I thought that it was a pretty novelist alteration between what Wolf wants to be and what is expected of him. You did a great job with the imagery in this article. Only point of criticism that I have is to loosen up on the commas. Simple sentences can go a long way. There are times when writers try to introduce many different story elements into a scene and forget about the framework of the words they're using. If that's the only complaint you're getting for an article then it means you're doing a really good job. I'll keep a look out on your posts in the future ;).
 
Grammar: 7.5/10 
Flow: 9/10
Content: 9.5/10

What kind of player should Wolf Stansson be? What kind of person should he be? With the drama of the playoffs approaching, these questions are more than simply academic. Stansson has always been a nice, thoughtful guy. In the locker room, he’s as likely to quote Socrates as he is the latest sitcom. Yet there’s not always a welcome for him.
 
               What? In expansion franchise Miami Marauders’ locker room? No, he says. Not there. “They’re some of the best guys I could ever hope to play with, and management is great.” He gets a lot of flack, sometimes from other players, for being European. Not in terms of nationality, but in terms of style of play.
 
               Stansson plays an up-front, in-your-face style as a blue-liner. But it’s an offensive, rather than purely defensive, style. Wolf bristles at the idea he’s an offensive defenseman. “Look at the stats!” he says, aggressively pointing to the air next to him, as if to indicate the league index. “I hit! I block shots!” And he’s right. He does play a two-way game. But all that can be overshadowed by reputation. A reputation that many in hockey think is outdated.
 
               Stansson is trying to decide if he should go out of his way to show his toughness. Pick a fight here, a late hit there. Develop into the bad guy. Collect more teeth than goals. Maybe even punch out his own coach one day. But this is where Stansson the potentially-dirty player runs into Stansson the nice guy. He just isn’t the kind of guy to go around picking fights, slashing opposing forwards, and mouthing off. “I try to let my game do the talking, and play it the right way,” he groans, “But not everybody appreciates that.”
 
               Wolf’s teammates have let him know they appreciate him, and each Marauder stands by the other no matter what. Miami’s sometimes-adversarial relationship with the media (cf. @Andre LeBastard and @osens) doesn’t seem to be coming into play here. He’s genuinely frustrated with the way opponents have treated him. When asked if he really wants to become a goon, a disgrace, even, he responds with words from his father. “Don’t change who you are to get what you want,” Wolf breathes, eyes looking past, out into the distance. “Without this advice, I probably would’ve changed already.”
 
               I ask if Wolf talks to Jan Stansson often. He nods. The elder Stansson has been a fixture in the life of Wolf. He has asked his father if one can change his game and not change who he is. This is where philosophical hockey comes into play. “You can’t change your game without changing who you are,” Wolf recalls Jan saying, “because how you play comes in part from who you are. Only if the two are consistent with each other can you change your play. Otherwise, you will either fail at changing the play or staying true to your basic personality. Perhaps you’ll even fail at both.”
 
               It is his father’s words that keep Wolf going, for now. And, for now, it is his father’s words preventing him from becoming an enforcer, and keep him on the path of playing two-way hockey.

What kind of player should Wolf Stansson be? What kind of person should he be? With the drama of the playoffs approaching, these questions are more than simply academic. Stansson has always been a nice, thoughtful guy. In the locker room, he’s as likely to quote Socrates as he is the latest sitcom. Yet there’s not always a welcome for him.
 
               What? In expansion franchise Miami Marauders’ locker room? No, he says. Not there. “They’re some of the best guys I could ever hope to play with, and management is great.” He gets a lot of flack, sometimes from other players, for being European. Not in terms of nationality, but in terms of style of play.
 
               Stansson plays an up-front, in-your-face style as a blue-liner. But it’s an offensive, rather than purely defensive, style. Wolf bristles at the idea he’s an offensive defenseman. “Look at the stats!” he says, aggressively pointing to the air next to him, as if to indicate the league index. “I hit! I block shots!” And he’s right. He does play a two-way game. But all that can be overshadowed by reputation. A reputation that many in hockey think is outdated.
 
               Stansson is trying to decide if he should go out of his way to show his toughness. Pick a fight here, a late hit there. Develop into the bad guy. Collect more teeth than goals. Maybe even punch out his own coach one day. But this is where Stansson the potentially-dirty player runs into Stansson the nice guy. He just isn’t the kind of guy to go around picking fights, slashing opposing forwards, and mouthing off. “I try to let my game do the talking, and play it the right way,” he groans, “But not everybody appreciates that.”
 
               Wolf’s teammates have let him know they appreciate him, and each Marauder stands by the other no matter what. Miami’s sometimes-adversarial relationship with the media (cf. @Andre LeBastard and @osens) doesn’t seem to be coming into play here. He’s genuinely frustrated with the way opponents have treated him. When asked if he really wants to become a goon, a disgrace, even, he responds with words from his father. “Don’t change who you are to get what you want,” Wolf breathes, eyes looking past, out into the distance. “Without this advice, I probably would’ve changed already.”
 
               I ask if Wolf talks to Jan Stansson often. He nods. The elder Stansson has been a fixture in the life of Wolf. He has asked his father if one can change his game and not change who he is. This is where philosophical hockey comes into play. “You can’t change your game without changing who you are,” Wolf recalls Jan saying, “because how you play comes in part from who you are. Only if the two are consistent with each other can you change your play. Otherwise, you will either fail at changing the play or staying true to your basic personality. Perhaps you’ll even fail at both.”
 
               It is his father’s words that keep Wolf going, for now. And, for now, it is his father’s words preventing him from becoming an enforcer, and keep him on the path of playing two-way hockey.

Yesss Wolf ? you keep doing you! It’s 2020, and managers and fans are more progressive towards you people than ever before. It shouldn’t be offensive to say you’re an offensive defenceman. 
 
We know the best defence is good offence. If we have the puck, they don’t have the puck. When you play your up-tempo, puck-moving, and activated defence, it’s more effective than the “rough n tumble, stay at home D”.  Hits is a stat you don’t want to rack up, because if you’re always hitting players on the other team who have the puck, it means you don’t have the puck for all that time before the hit. 
 
We’re happy to have you and your boatload of points on the Miami blueline this season!

Thanks @ahockeyguy for the kind words! 
 
Obviously there are too many factors to take into consideration. The methodology doesn't take into account TPE changes, as you stated, and instead just takes a flash point from one specific time and uses that to measure out how good a team should be. Ottawa for example, is playing the "most" out of expectation, but that's because they traded many of their good players early on in the season. You can't take away their efforts from the score that they have now. 
 
If you were to do this again with as much accuracy as you wanted, you would find a player and take their average TPE gains from each week, multiply that by how long the regular season is, and do that for every player. Then you can cap the number at 250 for each player and run a more complex equation to determine the amount of TP that a team would have. You can then follow the same methodology that I used from there to determine how many points a team should have gotten. 
 
In terms of trades, it's really hard to try and figure out what trade will team for what. The markets for players is something completely arbitrary and values are hard to establish. The only thing that I can think of is updating the list every week and running a "power rankings" media spot with it. Set it at a specific time every monday or so. But as you saw, the list of where teams should have been was pretty accurate. For example, Philly was basically spot on. 
 
The issue right now with the methodology is that the wins/losses do not equal out. However, with the way that I did it, each team was within 0.40 of the 33.02 point per tp average. Point per TP is something worth investigating further. It lets us know what teams are allocating their points better than others. It was just a fun little thought experiment that panned out pretty well considering the information that I was given. Just take the list with a grain of salt.
 

What kind of player should Wolf Stansson be? What kind of person should he be? With the drama of the playoffs approaching, these questions are more than simply academic. Stansson has always been a nice, thoughtful guy. In the locker room, he’s as likely to quote Socrates as he is the latest sitcom. Yet there’s not always a welcome for him.
 
               What? In expansion franchise Miami Marauders’ locker room? No, he says. Not there. “They’re some of the best guys I could ever hope to play with, and management is great.” He gets a lot of flack, sometimes from other players, for being European. Not in terms of nationality, but in terms of style of play.
 
               Stansson plays an up-front, in-your-face style as a blue-liner. But it’s an offensive, rather than purely defensive, style. Wolf bristles at the idea he’s an offensive defenseman. “Look at the stats!” he says, aggressively pointing to the air next to him, as if to indicate the league index. “I hit! I block shots!” And he’s right. He does play a two-way game. But all that can be overshadowed by reputation. A reputation that many in hockey think is outdated.
 
               Stansson is trying to decide if he should go out of his way to show his toughness. Pick a fight here, a late hit there. Develop into the bad guy. Collect more teeth than goals. Maybe even punch out his own coach one day. But this is where Stansson the potentially-dirty player runs into Stansson the nice guy. He just isn’t the kind of guy to go around picking fights, slashing opposing forwards, and mouthing off. “I try to let my game do the talking, and play it the right way,” he groans, “But not everybody appreciates that.”
 
               Wolf’s teammates have let him know they appreciate him, and each Marauder stands by the other no matter what. Miami’s sometimes-adversarial relationship with the media (cf. @Andre LeBastard and @osens) doesn’t seem to be coming into play here. He’s genuinely frustrated with the way opponents have treated him. When asked if he really wants to become a goon, a disgrace, even, he responds with words from his father. “Don’t change who you are to get what you want,” Wolf breathes, eyes looking past, out into the distance. “Without this advice, I probably would’ve changed already.”
 
               I ask if Wolf talks to Jan Stansson often. He nods. The elder Stansson has been a fixture in the life of Wolf. He has asked his father if one can change his game and not change who he is. This is where philosophical hockey comes into play. “You can’t change your game without changing who you are,” Wolf recalls Jan saying, “because how you play comes in part from who you are. Only if the two are consistent with each other can you change your play. Otherwise, you will either fail at changing the play or staying true to your basic personality. Perhaps you’ll even fail at both.”
 
               It is his father’s words that keep Wolf going, for now. And, for now, it is his father’s words preventing him from becoming an enforcer, and keep him on the path of playing two-way hockey.

What kind of player should Wolf Stansson be? What kind of person should he be? With the drama of the playoffs approaching, these questions are more than simply academic. Stansson has always been a nice, thoughtful guy. In the locker room, he’s as likely to quote Socrates as he is the latest sitcom. Yet there’s not always a welcome for him.
 
               What? In expansion franchise Miami Marauders’ locker room? No, he says. Not there. “They’re some of the best guys I could ever hope to play with, and management is great.” He gets a lot of flack, sometimes from other players, for being European. Not in terms of nationality, but in terms of style of play.
 
               Stansson plays an up-front, in-your-face style as a blue-liner. But it’s an offensive, rather than purely defensive, style. Wolf bristles at the idea he’s an offensive defenseman. “Look at the stats!” he says, aggressively pointing to the air next to him, as if to indicate the league index. “I hit! I block shots!” And he’s right. He does play a two-way game. But all that can be overshadowed by reputation. A reputation that many in hockey think is outdated.
 
               Stansson is trying to decide if he should go out of his way to show his toughness. Pick a fight here, a late hit there. Develop into the bad guy. Collect more teeth than goals. Maybe even punch out his own coach one day. But this is where Stansson the potentially-dirty player runs into Stansson the nice guy. He just isn’t the kind of guy to go around picking fights, slashing opposing forwards, and mouthing off. “I try to let my game do the talking, and play it the right way,” he groans, “But not everybody appreciates that.”
 
               Wolf’s teammates have let him know they appreciate him, and each Marauder stands by the other no matter what. Miami’s sometimes-adversarial relationship with the media (cf. @Andre LeBastard and @osens) doesn’t seem to be coming into play here. He’s genuinely frustrated with the way opponents have treated him. When asked if he really wants to become a goon, a disgrace, even, he responds with words from his father. “Don’t change who you are to get what you want,” Wolf breathes, eyes looking past, out into the distance. “Without this advice, I probably would’ve changed already.”
 
               I ask if Wolf talks to Jan Stansson often. He nods. The elder Stansson has been a fixture in the life of Wolf. He has asked his father if one can change his game and not change who he is. This is where philosophical hockey comes into play. “You can’t change your game without changing who you are,” Wolf recalls Jan saying, “because how you play comes in part from who you are. Only if the two are consistent with each other can you change your play. Otherwise, you will either fail at changing the play or staying true to your basic personality. Perhaps you’ll even fail at both.”
 
               It is his father’s words that keep Wolf going, for now. And, for now, it is his father’s words preventing him from becoming an enforcer, and keep him on the path of playing two-way hockey.

I love this podcast feel of an article. I missed the first one, but I'll have to check in on these in the future. I liked the questions, and the answers. Both were thorough and generally of real interest. I really enjoyed both the focus on the VHLM (where we are now) and the VHL (where we're going). It felt like both got appropriate coverage. Some minor (but hopefully constructive) criticism would be to check on the punctuation and/or capitalization in the future. That was a very minor distraction from an otherwise-awesome read! Additionally, I have one suggestion: just as you linked to your teammate's prior article, it would be good to link to your prior episode as well. That's it from me! Score: 7.5/10

What goes around comes around. 
 
Hello Hello welcome to the second edition of Wiggles, Wobbles, and Jiggles with your host, the man with a weird name, Jiggly Gumballs. On the previous episode which was the premiere of WWJ, we discussed the reasons as to why the Houston Bulls were losing a lot. Funnily enough afterwards we got some wins. Though this episode isn’t about that. In a recent article by Patrik Laine, I participated in a pre-draft interview. Now I’m here to return the favor. So how are you doing Patty?
 
PL: I'm doing good. I've been developing my skills and I feel confident.
 
That’s great! So first off, a recent mock draft had you projected high in the second round of the VHL draft. I personally thought you were a first rounder but I guess a high second round is close enough. What are your thoughts on this? Do you think you should’ve been projected higher?
 
PL: I think a high second round pick is perfect. Of course I want to increase my draft stock but second round is exactly where I want to be right now.
 
Hmm well anyways, I’m pretty curious as to what VHL team would you want to get drafted to. Adding to that, would you like to be drafted in a team where your other teammates whom you’ve played previously are also drafted there? If so, who would they be? Also just to be fair, I’m excluded from the players you choose. 
 
PL: I would want to go to a team who sees me as a potential star player. If I were to choose, Helsinki and Seattle would be my prime choices. Helsinki is close to friends and family back home in Finland and Seattle is because I am very good friends with their GM. I would want to go a team with Drew Minott. We are great friends and competitors on and off the ice.
 
Well we both know that he’s a great guy. Funny how all three of us rookie’s are pretty good bros together. I know you’ve asked me this in your article, but what made you sign in Houston? I know you have the ability to put up the points and be a great goal scorer in this league. Yet you are playing in a basement team with me. So what made you sign with the Bulls?
 
PL: A lot of teams were offering me third line minutes when I was on waivers. Houston offered me first line minutes right away with premium focus from the coaches and management to turn me into a star player. When I signed, I knew I was jumping into a dumpster fire but I thought it would be the best chance for me to develop as a player and so far it is paying off.
 
I see. So what do you think makes you a great goal scorer? By that I mean, what do you think is the reason why you’re able to put up points? Natural talent? Hard work or dedication? I would mention team support but… well we both know there’s not much of that until recently. On the other side of the spectrum, what do you think is your biggest weakness?
 
PL: Goal scoring is my natural strength. I have a good one timer and wrist shot. I think it is mix of talent and hard work. I work day and night knowing this it what it takes to become a VHL player but also as a good scorer I know when to pass so assists are a good help to my points. My biggest weakness right now has to be my checking. I have a big frame and I haven't been using it to my advantage and I've been working on it over the past few weeks so hopefully I can develop it more over the summer.
 
Natural born scorers are always good. Moving on, can you describe your personality? Who are you as a person and how would you fit in a locker room? Doesn’t matter if it’s in the VHL or in the VHLM, just how would you fit in? Do you also think with your scoring talents, could you possibly be a hall of famer or at least an amazing player sometime soon in perhaps the VHL?
 
PL: I'm a very passionate person with a soft spot. I love making memories with the fans and I enjoy the media attention. I think I would be a locker room leader and push everyone to be their best. I would be fine sitting in a smaller role if it is best for the team. I wouldn't say I could be a hall of famer yet but if I keep working it is a possibility.
 
Possibility eh? Interesting. From what I’ve seen, your assists seem to be coming a lot from the top pairing defense pair of Riley Knight Gee and James Rose. Same goes when they score. Do you think it’s because of your chemistry together?? Or maybe it’s just the structure of how the team plays, with top line with top defensive pairing.
 
PL: Yeah, Gee and Rose feed me the puck really good. Jiggs signed a couple of weeks ago and he has been feeding it pretty good to me for 5 on 5 play and I think our defense will be good heading into next year. There is definitely a chemistry forming here. We all know what to do and put our best foot forward every shift.
 
We both know Houston’s situation in the upcoming VHLM dispersal draft. Houston’s young players including me and you along with Drew Minott will be exposed in the draft. What are your thoughts regarding how Houston will handle this situation. Houston currently has a first rounder from Yukon and three second round picks. Do you think we’ll be able to maintain our core for the next season?
 
PL: I think we may keep some guys but we will lose some as well. I hope I'm picked up by Houston but it is still business and anything can happen so we will see.I think we may keep some guys but we will lose some as well. I hope I'm picked up by Houston but it is still business and anything can happen so we will see.
 
Anyways that’s all we have for now, thank you so much for coming by. I’ve got to say, Patrik’s Picks is a nice show and I actually took your show as inspiration for WWJ. So it’s really nice to have you here. Any closing remarks?
 
PL: Thanks for inviting me. This interview was a lot of fun.
 
It was a lot of fun having you around as well. So that’s this edition of Wiggles, Wobbles, and Jiggles! I’m Jiggly Gumballs and I’ll see ya in the next episode!
 

 
People mentioned: @PatrikLaine @DreMin15 @MattyIce @KnightRiley

It’s normal for teams to be bad. In fact, it’s even okay for there to be bad teams. Teams that don’t do well in the season have opportunity to sell their players to picks and gain spots in the draft. Being bad, in most cases *cough* Halifax *cough*, is temporary.

When I was looking at Houston I was thinking to myself “If Houston wasn’t so bad, what would the league look like?”. I wanted to figure this out with math. So, I made a spreadsheet, put in some numbers, made some formulas, and came out with something neat.
 
I took the TP totals of every team and divided it by the amount of points that team had. If Halifax had 100 points and they had 1000 TP in their roster, then their TP per Point (or TP3) would be 10. I did that with every team, found the average, and then gave or took points away from teams until they were as close to the average as possible.
 
The way I will be showing the results is by giving or taking away wins from teams as they are in the standings now. The team with the least amount of change has played as closest to expectation as possible. I will be going down the list in ascending amount of change from where they are now.
 
Important to note that not all the wins/losses equal out, this is a team by team basis. Let us get into it.  
 
#12
 
#11
 
#10
 
#9
 
#8
 
#7
 
#6
 
#5
 
#4
 
#3
 
#2
 
#1
 
Theoretical Standings
For those of you wondering what the standings would be if each team was playing at their expectations (THIS IS NOT A POWER RANKING). The bracket on the side is the correction you would make to put them where they are actually in the standings;
 
 
This was a fun little experiment to get myself back into the league. If you aren’t aware of where teams are/should be, or you know someone that doesn’t know much about the quality of teams in the league, this might be a good article to help them out. I hope that you guys enjoy this little rabbit hole as much as I did. It would be cool if this was a regular thing.
 
Please let me know in the comments where I went wrong. Just for next time, so that when I do another one of these for the start of next season, I can do a better job. This took a few hours to do and I want to make sure that I do them right. If you have any suggestions feel free to throw them down in the comments as well. Thanks for reading, take care.
 
1503 words.
 

What kind of player should Wolf Stansson be? What kind of person should he be? With the drama of the playoffs approaching, these questions are more than simply academic. Stansson has always been a nice, thoughtful guy. In the locker room, he’s as likely to quote Socrates as he is the latest sitcom. Yet there’s not always a welcome for him.
 
               What? In expansion franchise Miami Marauders’ locker room? No, he says. Not there. “They’re some of the best guys I could ever hope to play with, and management is great.” He gets a lot of flack, sometimes from other players, for being European. Not in terms of nationality, but in terms of style of play.
 
               Stansson plays an up-front, in-your-face style as a blue-liner. But it’s an offensive, rather than purely defensive, style. Wolf bristles at the idea he’s an offensive defenseman. “Look at the stats!” he says, aggressively pointing to the air next to him, as if to indicate the league index. “I hit! I block shots!” And he’s right. He does play a two-way game. But all that can be overshadowed by reputation. A reputation that many in hockey think is outdated.
 
               Stansson is trying to decide if he should go out of his way to show his toughness. Pick a fight here, a late hit there. Develop into the bad guy. Collect more teeth than goals. Maybe even punch out his own coach one day. But this is where Stansson the potentially-dirty player runs into Stansson the nice guy. He just isn’t the kind of guy to go around picking fights, slashing opposing forwards, and mouthing off. “I try to let my game do the talking, and play it the right way,” he groans, “But not everybody appreciates that.”
 
               Wolf’s teammates have let him know they appreciate him, and each Marauder stands by the other no matter what. Miami’s sometimes-adversarial relationship with the media (cf. @Andre LeBastard and @osens) doesn’t seem to be coming into play here. He’s genuinely frustrated with the way opponents have treated him. When asked if he really wants to become a goon, a disgrace, even, he responds with words from his father. “Don’t change who you are to get what you want,” Wolf breathes, eyes looking past, out into the distance. “Without this advice, I probably would’ve changed already.”
 
               I ask if Wolf talks to Jan Stansson often. He nods. The elder Stansson has been a fixture in the life of Wolf. He has asked his father if one can change his game and not change who he is. This is where philosophical hockey comes into play. “You can’t change your game without changing who you are,” Wolf recalls Jan saying, “because how you play comes in part from who you are. Only if the two are consistent with each other can you change your play. Otherwise, you will either fail at changing the play or staying true to your basic personality. Perhaps you’ll even fail at both.”
 
               It is his father’s words that keep Wolf going, for now. And, for now, it is his father’s words preventing him from becoming an enforcer, and keep him on the path of playing two-way hockey.

https://imgur.com/xjyil5z

 
Artist statement:
Wow, that was a project. This thing took me many, many hours - definitely more than it looks like at the end. This was my first time doing a project where I a) had to manually scrape a lot of game data from the index; and b) had to search out multiple people's NHL player renders to do multiple jersey swaps. I had to learn a lot of new skills to make this infographic happen. I enjoyed having a purpose to dig through the gamesheets, which can be daunting if you don't have a purpose to be rummaging in them. The player design was easy once I found the suitable images. The jerseys are inconsistent, but whatever, it's only 2TPE and my first big project. I'm proud of the logo behind the glove on Kosmo, the positioning of the Andre cutout, and the flashy colours of the dlamb. I'm I like the general idea of the piece - the information there is valuable and interesting, but I'm struggling with the colour choice and background design. Any feedback on the design is welcome!

Some of us here have been here for literal years. My first player I made was in S35, so I've been here for 6 years. There's guys here that have been here twice as long as that, plus more. It's pretty interesting.
 
Regarding inactivity, sometimes if you've been here for that long, you just need a break and a reset.

Being somewhat new to the league (only in first season on first created player!), I am always fascinated by the history lessons the ones who have been here for 8-10+ seasons can give, and I like seeing where careers can go, especially with multiple players. That said, this was a great read! There were a couple of things that a newbie just wouldn't be able to understand, even if only because they simply weren't present for the events. For example, what happened with you and inactivity? Was there something that drove you to that? Why was Higgins a lame duck? Questions like these are not essential to understanding your article (hence why I still loved it!), but they provide some needed context for those who are not veterans. It would have helped me understand more. In any case, I look forward to seeing more of your writing! Score, 7/10

I loved this article, especially since my guy plays in the VHLM, and has serious interaction with Dood and Kramerev. I thought the layout of this article was great. It was easy to understand, gave good details on draft position(s), strengths and weaknesses, and I thought had notable things to look for from each player. The one thing I would do differently, plausibly, would be to have an introductory paragraph explaining it was a scouting report on some top players from the VHLM. While your title communicated some of that, it didn't necessarily communicate all of that. Perhaps because I am new--I just didn't know whether I was looking for VHL or VHLM until we jumped right in! Again, thanks for this: I tend to really like history and scouting reports on this site! Score: 9/10

1. I went inactive because I joined after graduating university and then got a bit of a demanding job which took a lot of my free time away. Due to some fortuitous internal role changes at my job, I have some more time again and especially with WFH the VHL is a great daytime distraction for me.
2. Higgins was a great member of this league for a long time but after like 15 seasons as GM he was just burnt out, and didn't want to do it any more. He left the team with me and 1 other active player who retired that season, so i was all alone when Quik got me

Being somewhat new to the league (only in first season on first created player!), I am always fascinated by the history lessons the ones who have been here for 8-10+ seasons can give, and I like seeing where careers can go, especially with multiple players. That said, this was a great read! There were a couple of things that a newbie just wouldn't be able to understand, even if only because they simply weren't present for the events. For example, what happened with you and inactivity? Was there something that drove you to that? Why was Higgins a lame duck? Questions like these are not essential to understanding your article (hence why I still loved it!), but they provide some needed context for those who are not veterans. It would have helped me understand more. In any case, I look forward to seeing more of your writing! Score, 7/10

Jeffrey Pines (Member - @rory)
 
Pines is a winger that plays for Mexico City in the VHLM.  He was selected fourteenth overall in the S72 VHLM Dispersal Draft and is poised to be a top ten pick in the upcoming S73 VHL Entry Draft.  
 
After a tough first season with Mexico City, that saw the winger record just one assist in twenty-two games, the young and talented Canadian has bounced back to record twenty-nine goals and forty-two assists in fifty-two games.  He has also been a steady, though not overwhelming physical presence and a consistent threat with the puck on his stick.
 
This member has set himself up well with a strong build that seems to focus on a two-way playmaking forward.  My only concern is with his skating as it will need drastic improvement to be an effective player once he makes it to the Victory Hockey League.

 
Groovy Dood (Member - @bigAL)
 
One of the more impressive members that I have seen in a while is bigAL.  He has been completely professional and if early indications are correct, many believe he could be a mainstay in the Board of Governors and perhaps even higher up one day.
 
First though, Dood will need to make it to the VHL and show consistent practice.  Thus far, he looks like a potential top ten pick in the VHL Entry Draft, after going twenty-eighth overall in the S72 VHLM Dispersal Draft.  Dood prides his game on his defensive play and possesses a lot of intangible traits like his ability to win faceoffs and take players off the puck.
 
The biggest concern GM’s will have with Dood will be his offense, as he reads as one of the weaker offensive players expected to go in the top two rounds of the next VHL Draft.  Dood has recorded eight goals and thirty-nine points in fifty-two games this season, but has made a positive impact on the power play and in the defensive zone.  
 
This one may be more of a project pick but I have pretty good faith he can pull it all together in due time.

 
Kosmo Kramerev (Member - @Mongoose87)
 
I’ll be honest that unlike the other two I haven’t really seen Mongoose around or at least I haven’t interacted with him.  That being said, this ukrainian veteran of hockey has done nothing but impress this season with the Miami Marauders.
 
Kramerev has recorded seventy-seven points in fifty-two games, despite being on a team that doesn’t rank in the upper echelon of the VHLM.  This is especially impressive considering he is a defenseman, and due to this he sits up there in points with the likes of Tyler Walker, who is projected to be the top pick in the upcoming VHL Draft.
 
Will this mean that Kramerev can make a run for one? Probably not, but his offensive ability definitely should set him up well for the VHL.  The important thing will be whether he can keep developing, and if he can develop into a more well-rounded defender.  As of now though, he looks like another potential top ten pick and he is an intriguing one to watch given his age, nationality and his impressive numbers he has recorded in the minors thus far.

Wolf Stansson is lonely. More specifically, he misses his family. His father moved with him last year to train in the United States, to better prepare himself for the North American style of hockey that is present in the VHL. To be clear, there are European styles present. However, the level of play—both in the VHL and its minor-league affiliate, the VHLM—is so much higher, it takes quite a bit of getting used to. Since Stansson was only 17, his father, Jan Stansson, moved out with him, seemingly across the world.
 
            Since then, Stansson has not seen his mother or two younger siblings—a brother and a sister. They have remained in Iceland and have generally gone about life as usual during this time. “My father spent the year with me. He sacrificed everything so I could not only have an opportunity to play hockey, but also so I could get an education,” Wolf recalls. “He set me up with a private tutor so that I wouldn’t fall behind in my studies.” Pictured below, the Stansson family, about 13-14 years ago

 
            As Wolf alternated timeslots between skates, workouts, and tutoring sessions, Jan always seemed to find time for him. “I made sure he could Skype or FaceTime with his mother and brother and sister,” Jan says, smiling. He suddenly gets serious. “Family is really the most important thing. Not hockey, not this,” he says, gesturing around him at the VHLM workout facility when this initial interview was done. “Wolf loves his family. And if he holds on to that, I will have done my job, no matter what else.”
 
            At the time, this reporter was impressed with the cohesion of the Stansson family, even from so far away. With some distance, that impression has just grown even greater. Why? Because Wolf has emerged as a standout defensive player on a rising Miami Marauders squad in the VHLM. It would be easy—justifiable, even—to forget, for a while, where one has come from. Not to fundamentally change, mind you, but just to be caught up in the hustle and bustle of everyday VHLM life. Not Wolf. Not when he comes from this family. “We raised him better than that,” Jan laughs over a Skype call.
 
            It’s getting later and later in that initial season of Wolf Stansson. The Stansson family are all reunited now, save one: their eldest son. The family generally don’t want to be interviewed, but they all express to me how proud they are of Wolf, and how excited they will be to see him once the season comes to an end. “Do you think Miami will make the playoffs?” I ask. They nod excitedly. A brief comment here and there suggests to me they’re far more than causal observers of the VHLM. They may now and forever be Miami Marauders diehards. One of the children, about 12 or so, says something about Wolf setting records. The mother laughs. Jan explains: “Wolf always said he was going to set records in the VHL, so his younger siblings look up to that. Maybe they take it too seriously,” he said with a smile.
 
            Then again, maybe not. When I relay this to Wolf, he just laughs. “Yeah, that is one of my goals. But it’s OK if I don’t set any records. I just want to be a good teammate, go out there, and win. Every time.” Wolf Stansson misses his family. But he just wants to be away from them a little while longer, to see this season through.

Note: The following was authored by Wolf Stansson. This is his perspective of his teammate, Oh Sens.
 
               I love having @osens [Oh Sens] as my teammate. The man is a workhorse, and doesn’t take any crap from anyone! That’s the kind of fire you need to succeed, in my opinion. Recently, I got a chance to learn more about my teammate—not simply as a hockey player, but as a person. And that is a truly valuable experience. The following is an interview with light editing and commentary.
 
WS: Oh Sens, I love having you as a teammate. You play hard, you have personality, and heart. Tell me, what is it like to play for the expansion Miami Marauders?
OS: Hello, thanks for asking me for an interview, it has been a pleasure to be a part of this historic run with Miami Marauders.
It has been really fun to play for the Miami Marauders. This team is awesome and my teammates are very friendly. I have gotten in some trouble with Miami journalists, but [the] team knows these allegations are fake and I am clean as a blank paper sheet. Team board is really good, they fight for their players and it gives me confidence, that I won't be left on the edge of the cliff stranded without any help.
WS note: It has been an especially awesome pleasure to watch Oh Sens deal with this drama. Contrary to being a locker-room distraction, Sens’ response has been one of galvanization. Say what you will about the Marauders, they band together when the going gets tough.
 
WS: Would it have been better to play for someone else your first season?
WS note: I asked this question because, up until recently,  there has been a lot of losing. We’re all competitors here; no one likes to lose. So it’s a natural enough question: would you like to have been on another team, perhaps one that wins at a bit higher clip than we do?
OS: I wouldn't have grown so much on other teams, because here we have [a] really great GM and AGM. Both of them are really friendly and they will help with everything. I have a feeling I would just feel invisible in other teams. In Miami our board always checks on every player and how they are feeling. A lot of people always are saying that Miami is one of the best places to be in VHLM so I am really happy to be here and I am excited what the future holds for us!
WS note: By this question and response, there was no indication that we were slamming other players, GMs/AGMs, or other teams. We were just in agreement that Miami has been a fun place to be and a great learning experience, if I may extrapolate from what Oh Sens and I conversed about.  
 
WS: What kinds of things do you like? Give us some insight into that personality!
OS: I like a lot of things about sports. I love that everything is unpredictable and exciting. Also I am pretty big gaming fun. Duh, who isn't. Gaming is my place to take a pause from everyday [life].
 
WS: Where do you call home now [in real life]?
OS: I live in Latvia right now.
 
WS: What was your first experience watching hockey, and do you play at all?
OS: I don't remember my first time watching hockey, because I was really young then. But my parents said I knew all of my local team player names so I was really into it.
I don't personally play hockey, closest thing to hockey I have played is floorball, where I was a goalie but that was also on amateur level so nothing serious. Just playing in local gym with some lads.
 
WS note: One thing I absolutely love about theme week is it forced me to learn some basic facts about people—facts that, if I knew them in real life, would be readily apparent, but here, I could theoretically go years and years without ever knowing about Oh Sens. I have never known anyone who lived in Latvia, and so this basic, fundamental question gives me avenues for new questions, and new opportunities to know people outside of my normal circle. I love it!
WS: If you could describe your real-life personality in seven words or less, what would you say?
OS: Pretty ambitious young man who is scared of bullies.
WS note: I know this wasn’t seven words or less, but the fact is it was both insightful and concise—in other words, it met the spirit of the law, if not the letter.
 
WS: Last question: do you think Miami will hold on to that playoff spot?
OS: I would love for Miami to hold that spot in playoffs and I think we have a lot of potential to do it, but this season is not the most important one. This season we are young and up and coming team, we are hungry challengers, but next season we will be ready for something bigger, hopefully winning it all so we can be a part of VHLM history.
 
               So here we have a player who contributes on the ice, who fights for himself and his teammates off of it, and someone who is vulnerable when he needs to be. He wants to do well, to prove to himself and others that he belongs—and yet we see that softer side as well. Time will tell whether he proves himself to the main people who matter—Oh Sens and his loved ones!