Hooperorama

Review:

 
Amazing piece, no cap. Liked how you added the logo in the background. Nice use of the text too, S47 and  Marauders.
Really like the way you put the player together too
Overall an amzing graphic

10/10

https://i.imgur.com/6BwQSLz.png 

Tyler Walker + 24 Marshall James Frostbeard + 13 Jacob Tonn + 23 Micah Adrienne + 13 Jeffrey Pines + 14 Grekkark Gyrfalcon + 12 Groovy Dood + 8 Jean Pierre Camus + 12 John Merrick + 14 Dakota Lamb + 20 The Terrible Trivium + 12 Kosmo Kramerev + 12 Patrik Laine + 14 Ajay Krishna + 12 Alec Volchenkov + 12 Wolf Stansson + 6 Oh Sens + 14 Jesper Norberg + 10 Kevin King + 5 Dan Baillie Jr + 16 Matty Socks + 24 Calvin Harvey + 12 Victor Grachev + 16 Jiggly Gumballs + 16 Han Jae Kuk + 14 S Kuchar + 13 Cal Conway + 15 Jeremy Lin + 12 Kirishima Wakaro + 10 Mikeal Keef + 10 Fat palloon + 8 Gary Rush + 4 Rocket + 10 Drew Minott + 10 Jeff Odinson + 8 Vlad Imir + 10 Florent Vericel + 8 Janiina Juutila + 6 Theodore James St Louis + 6 Zachariah Kisslinger + 2 Secel Keller + 10  
@Advantage @FrostBeard @MexicanCow123 @Poptart @rory @Sharkstrong @bigAL @solas @Steve @dlamb @der meister @Mongoose87 @PatrikLaine @Hooperorama @SirRupertBarnes @ahockeyguy @osens @jpsd @IamMOOSE @wcats @fishy @Mrpenguin30 @KaleebtheMighty @JigglyGumballs @Dtayl @S. Kuchar @Shaka @jman9theman9 @Snussu @RStar @UnkemptCL4PTP @G_Rush @Rocket @DreMin15 @GoldGear88 @Big Dee @dart @Jansgasm @Nick Kirkpatrick @Kisslinger @xsjack

Thank you ?. I totally came from GOMHL

Thank you ?. I totally came from GOMHL

Thank you ?. I totally came from GOMHL

I do not think that GAA and record should be considered as a detriment to the awards committee except if it is over 4 GAA lol.
 
GAA and record are more based off of the team results like in real life. A good team will have a starting goalie with a good GAA and record, but a bad team will have a starting goalie with a bad GAA and record and he can't really do nothing about it(Welp most of the time)
 
Poremba really deserves it if he keeps it up.

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of a new season of Under 250: The VHLM Report. In these series, we will be taking a look at the trends and topics from the past week in the VHLM. What twists and turns will our minor league hold? Stay tuned to find out!
 
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! 
 
Ringless | Weekly Review | Talents Behind The Trophies | Top 25: Players 5 to 1
 
The Review
 
As has been the case for much of the season, there are a few sharp divisions in the league this season. There’s a top 7, a pack of 4 competing for the final playoff spot, and a clear bottom feeder. However, as the season begins to move toward the home stretch, there seems to be another division forming between the top 5 and the teams in 6th and 7th. Let’s take a look and see how this has played out to this point.

 
The Saskatoon Wild and Las Vegas Aces have hung in there as competitors thus far, but seem to be proving a slight decline when compared to the top 5. In their second season, the Miami Marauders are currently on the top of the table, but last season’s bottom feeders the Houston Bulls are hot on their tails. The rest of the top tier belongs to the Minnesota Storm, Ottawa Lynx, and San Diego Marlins, three teams with wildly diverging rates of success last season (Minnesota was a top team, Ottawa was a middling playoff contender, and San Diego found themselves near the basement) but who are all within 2 points of each other as of the time of writing. 
 
Just below that, the Mississauga Hounds are on pace to claim the final playoff spot, although there’s a chase pack consisting of the Philadelphia Reapers, Mexico City Kings, and Yukon Rush, in that order. These four teams are 10 points apart, and we’re running out of season so that gap becomes more significant with each passing sim, but it’s not a terribly large gap and any of them could still claim the final spot. Of the four, Yukon had a fairly poor season last time out, whereas the other three have dropped here from relatively higher positions. There is, however, one final team - the Halifax 21st. They’re not yet mathematically eliminated, but they’re essentially out of the race, and have in all likelihood earned a last-place finish. Overall, these standings reflect a fairly similar situation to that of the last edition of Under 250, with the teams mostly in their same positions - the lone exception to that is the Las Vegas Aces, who have gone from firmly in the contenders’ pack to lagging slightly behind with the Saskatoon Wild. 
 
The standings so far have given us a few answers, but also raised a few questions - will the ELO chart answer any of them? Better yet, ELO is a silly thing, let’s not do that. (NOTE: I can’t get the ELO chart to update to the current games - I thought it might be better to acknowledge the elephant in the room than to just not mention it and hope no one noticed.)
 
The Highlights
 
Instead, let’s take an early look at who might be in line for some awards - that ought to be an adequate substitute for the missing ELO chart. This is far enough in the season that things will have separated enough to develop contenders, but not so much that it’s over in most cases. 
 
Let’s start with Top Defenseman because it’s both the most lopsided at the moment and introduces a name we’ll likely see pop up again elsewhere. Riley Knight Gee is having a season for the record books. 30 points clear of the next closest competitor (117 to Matty Socks’ 87) and actually 14 points clear of the highest-scoring forward as well (103, Pietro Angellini). The defence isn’t all about the points, of course, but that’s a hefty lead that’ll be hard to overcome. Additionally, Gee’s plus/minus makes the top 10 list as well at 42, and 133 hits and 82 shot blocks are solid contributions in both those departments as well. 
 
Gee is such a favourite for Top Defenseman that Regular Season MVP may end up going that way as well, depending on how people look at the contributions from teammates Venus Thightrap, Julian Nousiainen, Aloe Dear, and Markus Schauer. Gee is probably still the favourite for this, just because a defenseman with that type of a points lead is unheard of. Angellini should have a decent shot as well, as his contributions to the Marlins far exceed the rest of his own team (Lucifer Olivier Leveque is on 85, but no one else is above 70). If the Reapers steal the final playoff spot, there could be an argument for John Poremba, as they’re clearly not a great team on the offensive end, but his save percentage is so far ahead of the rest of the goalies that he might just drag them into the playoffs anyway. However, they’re probably not a good enough team to merit a contribution to the category even if they do sneak the 8th spot. Arthur Dayne and Jeremy Lin make a fantastic pairing in Ottawa, but it would be hard to pick one and exclude the other - the same could be said of Socks and Dakota Lamb in Miami, although Socks has a decent advantage there. Minnesota has strong contributions down the lineup, pretty much negating their individual chances at MVP. A team on the opposite end compared to Minnesota is Saskatoon, where Jesper Norberg is well ahead of the rest of the team and could have an argument for this award. 
 
Top Goalie, the favourite has to be Poremba - a possible MVP nominee is definitely a strong contender for an individual position award. In fact, the only other two that are really in contention at the moment are Bacon and Ajay Krishna - their cases will be helped if Poremba’s GAA and record are considered a detriment to the awards committee, and if so, Bacon has a GAA edge on Krishna and Krishna has an SV% edge on Bacon. This is no slight on the great seasons of Calvin Harvey, Doug Dimmadome, and quietly Kevin Malone on a much worse team - it’s just that in Harvey and Dimmadome’s cases, their major stats are behind Bacon and Krishna, and Malone is on the dead last team with the record and GAA to match - if SV% proves to be enough to win it on its own, Poremba beats him there. 
 
Two Way Forward is usually a bit harder to define and is often an award where any number of people can win it depending on how the award voters value different stats at the time. This season, however, it seems nearly as cut and dry as the Top Defenseman, as there is a single candidate above 90 points who is also on the top 10 hits list - the aforementioned Arthur Dayne. Jer Lefebvre will likely earn a nomination, but as he’s well behind Dayne in hits, he’d need to make up the difference elsewhere - he’s got 10 plus/minus over Dayne, but is also behind him in points. If the voters lean into plus/minus, Angellini will be in the discussion, as well as Dakota Lamb. 
 
That’s all for this edition of Under 250: The VHLM Review. Thank you all for reading, and stay tuned next week for the inside scoop on all that’s going on in the league. Until next time!
 
@VHLM GM
Players mentioned: @KnightRiley @Bacon @Esso2264 @CrlineDijohn14 @Hooperorama @Mrpenguin30 @Jer_Lefebvre @jpsd @dlamb @Infernal @BladeMaiden @Renomitsu @jman9theman9 @InstantRockstar @fishy @Plate @okochastar @okifenoki

Rat Race
 
All but two of the Minor league teams in the Victory Hockey League have all played in fifty-three games at the time of writing this article. This of course means that there are only nineteen games remaining in the regular season, something that should have VHLM fans around the world excited for what is about to come. The Miami Marauders are currently sitting in first place in the VHLM with a record of 42-9-2, good enough for eight-six points, and a one-point lead for first over the Houston Bulls. While Miami is currently sitting in first place in the league, we wouldn’t say they are sitting comfortably with only a one points lead with lots of hockey remaining, especially with the way the standings have been fluctuating this season. Currently only eight points separate the first place team from the first place team in the VHLM, so the next two weeks should be fun to watch in the minors. Today we will look at some of the teams that are currently vying for the top spot in the VHLMs Seventy-Third season.
 
Miami (42-9-2- 86 Points; Currently 1st Place)

 
Miami currently has nine players on their roster (6 Forwards, 3 Defenseman) that have capped out on their practice hours while in the VHLM (250 Practice Hours). While they have 6 forwards currently on their roster that have capped out on practice hours, it is the team’s defense and goalie position that are currently carrying the team, especially on this thirteen game win streak they are currently on. The team currently has allowed on 102 goals against, which is comes in as an amazing 1.92 goals per game. The teams number one netminder, Bacon, has been playing some amazing hockey for the Marauders over the past week. Currently Bacon finds himself in fifth in the VHLM in save percentage (.895), and first in goals against average with that nice 1.92 GAA. Miami is also currently being led in points by one of their defenseman in Matty Socks. The Fifth Overall draft choice in the Season Seventy—Three VHLM Dispersal Draft currently leads the roster with twenty-seven goals and fifty assist, good enough for seventy-seven points and a six-point lead ahead of centerman Dakota Lamb. With a strong past thirteen games, placing them back in First Place, fans around the VHLM and in the state of Florida are wondering, will Miami be able to hold the lead as we enter the stretch run before the playoffs.
 
Houston Bulls (42-10-1- 85 Points; Currently 2nd Place)

 
Houston has been one of the most consistent teams in the VHLM this season, but despite that they still find themselves currently sitting in second place in the VHLM so far. Houston has had winning streaks of seven games, six games and sixteen games this season, something that would normally put a VHLM well ahead of other teams in the standings, but not this year.  Another abnormally from the season with the Bulls, also has to be the play of their top defenseman Riley Knight Gee, who is currently leading the Bulls and the entire VHLM in points. Gee is currently playing in his second full season with the Bulls, exploding so far with 112 points in the fifty-three games the Bulls have played. Although Gee currently has a fifteen-point lead over Michael Hall from Minnesota in the race for the Ethan Osborne Trophy. With nineteen games remaining, Gee will need to continue to put this best foot forward to take home the award come seasons’ end. Outside the amazing season from Gee, potential First Overall Draft choice in the upcoming VHL Entry Draft, Venus Thightrap, has put together a decent season with the Bulls, with thirty-two goals and fifty-four assists for the season to date. Goaltender Drew Minott has also been doing this best in net for the Bulls, as he is currently tied for first with forty-two wins on the season. Will the Bulls be able to put together another winning streak to knock Miami off the top spot, the next few weeks in the VHLM will let us know.
 
Ottawa (40-11-2- 82 Points; Currently 3rd Place)

 
After a seventy-eight-point performance in Season Seventy-Two, the Lynx are looking to make a bit more noise this season, having already passed the point plateau from last season. The Lynx are currently led offensively by centerman Arthur Dayne, who they picked up in a trade with the Mexico City Kings prior to the beginning of Season Seventy-Three. Dayne currently finds himself in seventh with thirty-eights goals and fourth in the VHLM with points, putting up ninety-one points in the Lynxs’ fifty-three games so far. While the secondary scoring behind Dayne is not where they would like it to be, the Lynx management are pleasantly surprised by the great play by their defenseman and second year goaltender Ajay Krishna. Krishna currently sits in third in the VHLM in wins with forty, third in the VHLM in save percentage with a.900 and second in the league in goals against average with a 2.13. With a second best in the VHLM with 115 goals against this season, the Lynx are banking on Krishna continuing this great play down the stretch and into the playoffs.
Minnesota (39-12-2-80 Points; Currently 4th Place)

 
The pre-season favourites of many that follow the VHLM, the Minnesota Storm currently find themselves in fourth place in the VHLM in Season Seventy-Three. While they are currently in fourth place at this point in the season, they are just six points out of first place, something that is very attainable with nineteen games remaining of the season. Minnesota has been a powerhouse offensively this season as they currently sit second in the league with 228 goals for. Season Seventy-Two draftee Michael Hall has been the best player for the Storm this season, putting up a team and VHLM leading forty-nine goals, alongside his forty-eight assists, good enough for ninety-seven points in the Storms’ fifty-three games this season.  While Hall has been the grease for the Stoms squeaky wheel this season, fellow Season Seventy-Two Draftee Turner McHugh has been a huge cog in the Storm machine as well. McHugh currently finds himself third on the team in points with eighty-one, but his sixty-one assists on the season are good enough for second behind the once in a lifetime season of Riley Knight Gees’, who sits in first in the leagues assist race with eighty-one. With the one-two punch of Hall and McHugh leading the way in Minnesota this season, fans are left pondering if it will be enough to take home the franchises second Founders Cup in four seasons.
San Diego (38-13-2-78 Points, Currently 5th Place)

 
The San Diego Marlins are the last team on our list of potential Founders Cup hopefuls. The Marlins are currently eight points out of first place, finding themselves current in fifth place in the VHLM. The Marlins have had an up and down season for far in Season Seventy-Three, often finding themselves on the right side of games against the other top competitors in the VHLM this season, including recent wins against Minnesota and Houston, but also finding themselves on the wrong side on the scoresheet against teams they should have no problem beating, like the recent 3-2 loss at the hands of the three win Halifax 21sts. San Diego is led offensively by the two headed monster or Pietro Angellini and John Merrick, the teams’ top two centerman. Angellini leads the team in both assists (58) and points (95), while Merrick currently leads the Marlins in goals with forty-two, and sits second to Angellini in points with eighty-eight. After that is where some of the problem lie for the Marlins, as the next closest forward to Merrick in points is VHLM journeyman winger Roadkill Steve, whose sixty-four points puts him fifth on the team in scoring. While the Marlins are not the top scoring team in the VHLM and are having trouble finding secondary scoring, the tandem of Angellini and Merrick have put the Marlins in fourth in the VHLM for goals for. Turning our attention to the blue paint for the Marlins, you will notice that Doug Dimmadome isn’t having quite the year neither himself or the team expected. Dimmadome currently sits seventh in the league in save percentage with a .893 and fourth in the league in goals against average with a 2.41 mark. While neither of the numbers are nothing to write home about, one thing the numbers doesn’t show is the quality of changes his defenseman is giving up in front of him. While the Marlins are giving up just over twenty-two shots a game, many of those shots are coming very high quality areas for the opposing team, leading to high percentage shots. With a lot of work ahead of them in the next nineteen games, fans in San Diego are hoping for the best in the remainder of the regular season, but also as they embark on the road for their first ever Founders Cup Championship.
 
1,508 Words. MS For Aug 17-23, 24-30, Aug 31-Sept 6th

As some of you may have seen, ive gotten really inactive in both VHL and EFL. I love the VHL and wanna stay a part of it, but im one of the leagues youngest, and with school coming up and everything else, I dont know what's happened to me tbh with you all. I might come back some time later in life if I still remember it, but now isnt the time for me. Im just as shocked as everyone else that im writing this, but this 9 month journey with you all must come to an end for now. Goodbye VHL, love yall! ❤️ 

1. Well obviously duh
2. Warsaww, lmao
3. Bro, never heard the team. Light work
4. a championship
5.6 out of 10. Had few good and bad  games
6.
7. Not much tbh

 

damn, 3-0. We are doing gr8 ngl

@Hooperorama
 

Officially the half way point of season 73! My how time flies. We’ve seen a really competitive season, with the top spot in the league still up for grabs. The 1st place team and the seventh placed team are separated by just six points! It’s really anyone’s game at this point. So with this thrilling season reaching its mid way, it’s only fitting that I make predictions on the end of season trophies! Let’s get it under way.

 
Scotty Campbell Trophy- League MVP
 
So the player deemed most valuable to a team. One might look at the top scorers and chose from there. Myself, I’m going with a goalie. For me, it’s A Red Guy taking this one home. It’s New York Americans sit a very close 2nd place in the league, and despite a very talented cast of players, Guy has been their best player. He’s got the most wins, best save percentage and the third best goals against average. He’s also tied for first in shutouts with three! This will be the third year in a row that a goalie has been selected, with Raymond Bernard going last year and Brick Wahl the year prior.
 
Brett Slobodzian Trophy- Most Outstanding Player

The most outstanding. An interesting trophy, as one doesn’t need to have team success to win it. This year it’s going to Sigard Gunnar of the LA Stars. Gunnar is a veteran player, and broke out last year in Calgary scoring a career high 80 points. He hasn’t looked back this year, taking the league by force and has been atop the leaderboard for some time now. He’s got 72 points in just 41 games, and is showing no signs of giving up his title. A bright spot for an other wise bleak year in Hollywood.
 
Alexander Valiq Trophy- Top Offensive Defenseman
 
One thing this league has no shortage of is offensive defencemen. It seems every year a new face is showing up on the leaderboards piling up the points from the blue line. This year though, a tried and true vet will win the Valiq Trophy. Lincoln Tate will take these honours home. The S71 Top Defenceman is no stranger to the hardware, and after points 86 points last year, Tate is on pace for another fantastic season. In his second to last year, he shows no signs of stopping. He’s also on pace to set new highs in hits and shots blocked.

Jake Wylde Trophy- Top Defensive Defenceman
 
This is a tough one. Offensive defenceman are easy. Look for the guy scoring the points. Defensive, on the other hand, is something a bit more. It’s a player who does the little things in their own end, while still contributing offensively. In my opinion, that goes to a guy flying waaaay under the radar, Alex Bridges of Warsaw. Warsaw selected Bridges with their third selection in the expansion draft, and he’s had a large role for them. Not only does he have 46 points in 39 games, he’s got 140 hits and 103 shots blocked, putting him fifth in the latter, and just outside of the top ten in hits.
 
Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy- Top Rookie
 
The future is bright in the VHL. Every year it seems rookies play larger and larger roles on their teams. This year is no different, with several players at or near a point per game in their freshman campaigns. This year, the trophy goes to Lucas Brandt of Moscow. Brandt was the ninth overall selection in the S72 draft, and after a few really successful seasons in the minors, hasn’t missed a beat scoring 22 goals and 41 total points. Just two seasons removed from their championship run, Moscow adding a weapon like Brandt is bad news for the other teams. Moscow remains in the hunt for the league title, being one of those teams mentioned earlier in the top seven.

Scott Boulet Trophy- Top Two-Way Forward
 
So a guy who can not only play offence, but throws the body around and does his part to get the other team away from the puck. Look no further than breakout player 
Chad Magnum of Toronto. Magnum not only has 48 points in 41 games, but he has an astounding 222 hits through the first portion of the season. He’s on pace for nearly 400 hits this year! Just a season 70 player, this young man has already amassed over 1000 career hits and is sure to be a candidate for this trophy for years to come!
 
Dustin Funk Trophy- Most Improved Player

This trophy is usually given to a player who had a massive jump in points. Looking back at the last 5-10 season of winners, generally a player will have a season of 35-40 points better than their previous year. It also tends to be a player who hasn’t previously been a high scorer. For me, this one is a no brainer. Jerry Wang of New York has come out of no where to be the leading scoring forward on a championship contender.  Scoring his career high in points last year with 43, Wang was moved to New York and has flipped the script on his career in his fifth pro season. He has 57 points thus far, and is on pace for 102 points! That would more than double his previous high, besting it 59. If Wang can keep this up, he’s got a historic finish ahead of him.

David Knight Trophy- Top General Manager
 
Another tough one to give out. So many good performances from teams this year. In my opinion, we’ve got the first repeat winner in nearly 30 seasons (Mike Molholt won it in 48/49), Esso Drunkmann of New York. He has assembled a terrifically deep team, and has done so without the aid of high picks. He has made trades to acquire some of their top talent (Burn, Freeman, Wang, etc.) and has kept his team together. He won last year after New York won 38 games and made it to the conference finals in a Cinderella like fashion, losing to Calgary in seven games. This year, they could flirt with 50 wins and are a team built for a deep run. 
 
 
1036 words.
 

Team:
Ottawa Lynx
 
Seasons in VHLM:
Coming soon
 
Overal Record:
Coming soon.
 
Location:
Ottawa, Canada
 
Population:
934,240
 
Arena: 
Canadian Tire Centre
(picture)
 
Seating Capacity: 
17,000
 
Team Jerseys - Home (left) and Away (right)
Coming Soon.

TEAM ASIA WJC ROSTER
United By Hockey
Об'єднаний хокеєм
曲棍球联合
ユナイテッド・バイ・ホッケー
유나이티드 바이 하키
 
Forwards:
Dan Baille Jr. ?? @wcats
Alec Volchenkov ?? @SirRupertBarnes
Oh Sens ?? @osens
Jeremy Lin ?? @jman9theman9
Christian Mingle ?? @Quik
Lee Xin  ?? @Blazzer
Jeffrenomitsu The 3rd ?? @Jeffie43
Ryan Schwarz ?? @Enorama
Luke Thornton ?? @Jtv123 
 
Defense:
Viktor Alexei Kamenov ?? @BigTittySmitty
Victor Grachev ?? @KaleebtheMighty
Han Jae Kuk ?? @Dtayl
Kirishima Wakaro ?? @Snussu
 
Goalers:
Ajay Krishna ?? @Hooperorama
Bacon ?? @Bacon
 
Congratulations to all the players selected!! Here's a link to the discord server: https://discord.gg/XeFY8n9. Bring your best trash talk! To my lovely European mercenaries, you are eligible for Team Asia to make the tournament more balanced. It’s all one landmass anyways!

Hello, and welcome to the first edition of a new season of Under 250: The VHLM Report. In these series, we will be taking a look at the trends and topics from the past week in the VHLM. What twists and turns will our minor league hold? Stay tuned to find out!
 
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! 
 
VHL Weekly | VSN Australia | Ringless | Future Watch EU
 
The Review
 
There hasn’t been a lot of movement within the standings since last week; primarily, the lines have just been further drawn in the sand as to which teams are looking more like competitors. Realistically, we have six teams over 50 points, all of which could be strong competitors come playoffs, with another team at 43 that could prove spoiler to one of our top teams in the postseason. Without further ado, let's check out our standings. 
 

 
Starting in the Eastern Conference, we see that the Miami Marauders maintain their number one position, but only on tiebreakers, as the Ottawa Lynx have equaled their 54 points. Following just behind is the Minnesota Storm, with just one fewer win than the two other teams. These three teams will be battling it out to see who can get the top spot in the Conference, ensuring favourable opposition in the playoffs. Following the Storm, we have the Mississauga Hounds barely ahead of the Philadelphia Reapers, with both teams hovering in a playoff spot around 20 points, as they try to stay ahead of their Western Conference peers. Rounding out the East is the Halifax 21st, whose 5 points is the lowest in the league, with only two wins and an overtime loss in 35 games. 
 
Onto the Western Conference, we now have a new overall leader in the league! The Houston Bulls, on 58 points, have overtaken the Marauders, at least for now, with a strong run of games that saw them go 11-1-0. The Las Vegas Aces come next, followed by the San Diego Marlins; both teams have also been performing well as of late, coming in second and third over the last 12 games played with a 10-1-1 and a 10-2-0 record. The West has been strong over the past week! Following the Marlins we have an interesting team in the Saskatoon Wild, in that the Wild are heads and shoulders above the teams below them, but are significantly behind the teams ahead of them. Since our last update, in which the Wild were tied for second in the West, they have dropped off, going 5-5-2, and are now 8 points behind San Diego. Granted, there is a lot of time left in the season, but one wonders if the Wild will be looking to rebuild sooner rather than later, cutting their losses and moving on with the process. Time will tell; they certainly aren’t out of contention yet this season, as such a balanced top half of the league means anything is possible. The Mexico City Kings, closely followed by the Yukon Rush, round out our standings at 5th and 6th in the conference, respectively, each fighting with the Hounds and Reapers for that final playoff spot thanks to crossover. 
 
This rounds out our review of the standings. Let’s take a look at our ELO charts to see if they paint a clearer picture of the first week of the season:
 

 
As mentioned in the review of the standings, there’s a new leader in town, marked by a significant uptick in the Bulls’ ELO rating by the end of this string of games. There hasn’t been too much movement otherwise; we see Saskatoon’s steady decline over the past 12 games, while the Lynx, Marlins, and Aces have all been steady climbers - although, the Wild still rank ahead of the Aces, despite being lower than them in the standings. In fact, the Aces are probably the most “overrated” team purely from the perspective of the standings, according to our ELO charts. The Storm had a large drop off at the end of the period but still outpace their place in the standings, maintaining their lead over the Lynx despite their worse record. 
 
As mentioned previously, there is a huge gulf between the contenders and non-contenders, with about 250 points between the Aces and the Kings. That being said, despite their current record is worse than their Eastern Conference counterparts, the ELO charts suggest that either the Mexico City Kings or the Yukon Rush will be your final playoff team once all is said and done if their performances continue. 

The Highlights
 
Merrick’s Marlins
 
Leading all skaters in points over the past 12 games, John Merrick of the San Diego Marlins has been leading the line as Marlin’s offence has been unstoppable in recent times, with four of the top six skaters by points. Merrick is number one, as he leads his team in points, having scored 13 goals and assisted 15 times for over a point per game. Merrick is closely followed by defenceman Han Jae Kuk whose fantastic 27 assists for 27 points have propelled him to be tied for assists with Houston’s Riley Knight Gee (who still leads the league in points). Following Han Jae Kuk we have the ever fantastic Roadkill Steve who has scored 16 goals in the past 12 games, the most of any player. The Marlins, should they keep up this output, may prove a dangerous opponent come the postseason. 
 
Poremba in Control
 
Philadelphia’s number one goaltender John Poremba has been absolutely stellar this season. Despite a tough record, sitting at just 10 wins over 35 matches, the American leads the league in SV% with .919, .017 more than second-placed Ajay Krishna, and seems the runaway favourite for this season’s Benoit Devereux Trophy winner, should his performances continue. Poremba has been consistently fantastic, as a goalie needs to be to average nearly a .92 in the M, and despite the second-worst GAA in the league, has been one of the main reasons the Reapers are still in playoff contention. Look to Game 146, in which the Reapers shutout Halifax, for an example of perfect performance from Poremba. Game 160 saw him achieve a .951% against the Yukon Rush in which his 39 saves were vital to the Reapers’ 4-2 victory. Well done John!
 

That’s all for this edition of Under 250: The VHLM Review. Thank you all for reading, and stay tuned next week for the inside scoop on all that’s going on in the league. Until next time!
 
@VHLM GM
Players Mentioned: @Steve, @Dtayl, @KnightRiley, @stevo, @CrlineDijohn14, @Hooperorama
 
 
VSN Writer Mr_Hatter
 

Here is yet another edition to the Game Breakers hockey card collection! In order to better gauge the Potential and Gradings for players, I have discussed with a few people (who I will keep nameless so that all heat for decisions can fall to me and not them too) what category they believe the individual will fall into and the likeliness of them reach said potential at this point in their careers. All Potentials and Grades are subject to change from season to season, and only the select few that are HoF material will eclipse Franchise so don’t get your hopes up too high.

This week we have Scott Greene, easily one of the biggest names for Seattle Bears since he was drafted there in the S67 Draft at 13th overall. Ever since he was called up to the VHL in S67, he put up some crazy numbers and helped lead his team to 3 cups over 5 seasons. From S67 until this point in the season (32 games through S73), he has accumulated 445 regular season points in 467 regular season games (183 of those points are goals with 262 assists). While winning 3 Continental Cups in 5 seasons is already impressive, over those playoff appearances he has played in 66 games and scored 57 postseason points. While only 18 of those points were goals, 2 of those goals were key game winning goals while still earning 39 assists. The most underrated parts of Scott Greene’s play are his cannon of a slap shot that is one of the hardest in the league, but he plays hard in the corners to retrieve the puck for his teammates resulting in many assists and surprisingly hits! He currently has 727 regular season hits while only receiving 390 career PIMs, showing that isn’t a pure enforcer. He also has 136 postseason hits with only 59 postseason PIMs, showing that he is more than willing to go to the harsh areas of the ice on his teammates behalf. It is a shame he has never won any personal awards over his career, but I have a feeling that will change as the league can only ignore an obvious star player like this for so long, and before his career is over he should have some hardware to his name (along side his 3 rings). His Elite grade is well deserved and we all feel that at this point in his career, giving him Exact potential makes sense as this is his 7th season in the VHL. 


@DoktorFunk
 
Grades from highest to lowest will be:
-Franchise
-Elite
-1st Line / Starter *(I said I was going to change it to “Top 6” but I’ve been convinced otherwise to leave it as is.)*
-Average
-Depth / Back-up
-Pylon
 
Potential Stages:
-Exact
-High
-Medium
-Low
 
If you want me to create a card of your player/ goalie then just DM me the render you would like me to use, captaincy, position (if D then let me know if you are a DD or OD) and the jersey number you wear.

Patrik Laine during a Miami Marauders practice on Monday, August 4th, 2020
 
MIAMI - Miami has been rolling this season. So far in 31 games, they have a record of 24-5-2. Good for 50 points and tied for 1st place in the VHL with the Houston Bulls. However, not everything is good in Miami. Patrik Laine knows this all too well. He had a 15 game goalless streak 2 years ago while he was playing with the Winnipeg Jets in the NHL. His inconsistency is coming back. Laine has been goalless in 12 out of his last 15 and pointless in 10 of his last 15.
 
"It f**king sucks, I know the team is winning but when you haven’t been able to do anything to help your team win, it frustrates you.” Said Laine, when asked about the point drought “I don’t blame my teammates or ice time. The team has been playing well and I average 22 minutes a game. This is more of an issue with me not being able to score. Like when we lost our first game to Vegas is when the streak started. We’ve lost only 7 games this year, 2 of them in OT or a shootout. I just feel like if I was scoring, even if it is just a goal or an assist per game, we could have won those games.”
 
Laine had 59 points in 58 games last year for the Houston Bulls. He also led the team in goals, scoring 27 throughout the season. Laine has 34 points in 31 games this year, 14 of them being goals. A majority of those points came in the first 20 games. Laine believes it is just a slump and is optimistic he will bounce back.
 
"You know, we’ve seen before I can get really hot and be scoring at will almost, but I want to be a consistent player. I just want to prove that I can be that go-to player and I haven’t been doing that yet. As you, unfortunately, saw in the one game against Minnesota, when it rains, it pours."
 
Laine was referring to a game from earlier this year, a 3-1 loss to the rival Minnesota Storm where Laine accidentally shot the puck into his own net. The own goal ended up being the game winner.
 

Miami Marauders captain Andre LeBastard comforts Laine after he accidentally shot the puck into his own net for the game-winning goal against the Minnesota Storm
 
"That goal will haunt me for a while. I basically gift-wrapped them 2 points. I was livid after that game, I thought I had lost the game for the team. Going back to the bench for me was hard. As soon as I sat down, LeBastard came over and told me not to worry about it. I was just so hard on myself. I even had a talk with Rice about it after the game. He told me not to worry about it too much and that I would get my mojo back soon.” Laine said when asked about the incident. “My teammates have been playing well. Matty has gone off. Lamb is back producing at a point/game rate. They’ve also been really nice given I haven’t been scoring a lot. I know I just gotta keep playing my game and one day I’ll be right back to my best hockey."
 
 
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Kashima Kitsune (Kashima Foxes)

Team Name: Kashima Kitsune
Arena: Yūtoku Ice Arena
Capacity: 7,500

Saga Flag:

 
Kashima City Flag:

Altered Flag:


Alternative Logo:

 
Fox Tail:

Home Logo:

 
Away Logo:

 
Alternative Logo:

 
Concept Logo (Not Used):

Home Jersey:

 
Away Jersey:

 
Alternative Jersey:


Mascot (Yūtoku - Inari) - By @Riley_Couture

Hex Colours:
Main Colour: #006462
Secondary Colour: #e40150
Accent Colour: #FFFFFF

More Changes Soon Come...