DreMin15

Claiming Week Three

Well, Istanbul is modern-day Constantinople. It’s like calling New York “New Amsterdam”

The Istanbul Janissaries? Yes! It might seem like a very niche idea that not many would know, but when you look at history, it makes sense. First of all, let's explain why Istanbul. Well, Istanbul was the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Beginning in 1299 CE, it lasted until the end of the First World War, the Ottoman Empire was one of the most expansive and impressive Empires in history. At it's peak, it spanned from Northwest Africa, to nearly the south-western border of modern day Russia. Now the explanation of "Janissaries". A Janissary was a member of one of the most elite Ottoman military groups, and one of the most legendary military units of all time, The Janissaries. Now, the story of a Janissary might be a little... strange. Typically taken at a young age from their families under Ottoman rule, young Christian boys were taken and trained from an early age, until their late teens, in a move not unlike the Spartans that came millennia before them. Janissaries were often used as the elite soldiers that often guarded the Sultan in both peace and war times, and were revered across the Islamic and Christian worlds. However, as armies began to modernize, Janissaries became less and less about being an elite military force, and more about having the title of Janissary and the socio-political power it gave you. However, I intend for the depiction to be of the Janissary at his height. So in the end. Janissaries are often foreign children trained to be soldiers to work for the Ottoman Empire. Seems a lot like how literally any hockey team in Europe is run half the time.

Seems like a really cool idea for a VHLE logo. I feel like the fire might be a bit of a bad idea though. Makes me think of either Nero's burning of Rome, or the Sacking of Rome that led to the eventual downfall of the Roman Empire. Other than that, though, seems like a good idea. Maybe an alternate with a purple and gold SPQR would be a good idea as well. 7/100

1. I'm not going to give my thoughts in order to avoid jinxing it. 2. Yes. 3. We're working together as a team, we've all bought into the gameplan. 4. Looking forward to it. 5. Maybe a season in the E, we'll see what the future holds. 6. Mint Chocolate Chip. 7. PubG

https://imgur.com/7j6H15Z

Claiming Week two

I made that at 1:30 AM and it really shows.

1. Just sticking to our game plan. Keep practicing and working together. 2. Hey... that's pretty good! Definitely can't hurt our team. 3. For sure. Guy has loads of potential and I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do. 4. Absolutely. I've never put as much faith in my goaltenders as these guys. 7. Classic, ribs and mashed potatoes with grilled asparagus. 8. I was at work. It fucking SUUUUUUUCKED.

S-D-P: The Steve Dangle Podcast, with your Hosts, Steve Dangle, Adam Wylde, and Jesse Blake! Adam: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another episode of the Steve Dangle Podcast! Today, we have a very, very special guest. Jesse, would you introduce him? Jesse: Absolutely. Currently of the Minnesota Storm, known as a defensive-minded defenseman, Mr. Jannik Nylen. Thank you for coming on. Jannik: No, the honor is mine. I've been a fan for a long time. So when I got a message from Jesse a few days ago asking me to come on, I dedcided why no- Steve: WHY NOT? Jannik: What he said. Adam: So how's it going? Liking Minnesota so far? Jannik: Minnesota has been great. I'm loving the weather, it reminds me a lot of home. And the team has been great as well. I'm certainly enjoying my time here. Jesse: How has it been on the Storm so far? Any interesting or funny stories? Jannik: I've been loving it. The transition period was a little iffy, but thankfully my buddy from Vegas, Zarek Kazcka, was already there. Kazzy, well Kazzy was a huge help. Funny enough, he actually introduced me to my now defensive partner, Jocke Jockesson. Steve: Sorry to interrupt, but I was curious. What do you think is clicking this season that has drastically changed since last year? Jannik: I think that I just worked a lot on my offensive skill. I think that my defensive play last year was good, so I decided to stop being a liability with the puck. And hell, I'd argue that it's worked well so far. Also, while I'm discussing skills, I have an interesting stat. Steve, you'll love this, but I was working on my checking this offseason as well. Do you wanna guess how many checks I have this year? Steve: I have a feeling that you're making a reference. Please don't say 67. Jannik: Stephen G. Dangle, how low is your opinion of me? I just wanted to let you know that I have 69 hits this year. Steve: Inhales NICE! Adam: That's awesome. Though speaking of development and such, what do you think is the main difference between this year and last year? Jannik: I really just think, and I don't want this taken the wrong way because I love the guys who were with me on last year's Vegas team, but I just think that our team in Minnesota is better. It also helps that I'm better. Getting better ice time. More powerplay time as well as penalty kill time. I've been given more responsibility, and I'd like to think that I'm striving under it. Though if I would have to say my main downfall is that I take too many penalties. Jesse: What do you think it is that contributes to you taking more penalties? Jannik: I think that I just let my emotions get the better of me. For example, the other day I let an opponent get past me, causing a 2-on-1. I panicked and slashed him trying to get the puck off his stick. I'm definitely working on it, but it's my main downfall. Steve: I can't say that I watch every game of you guys, but the ones that I do see, I notice that you guys really mesh well together, no matter who is on the ice. What is it that makes the machine run well, per se? Jannik: I think it's just that we all have a lot of trust in each other. Every day we take different line and combination pairings for scrims, so you get to know everyone and how they play. Like, for example, I know that I can often find Gary Tarantino in the slot. Or that I can trust Miks Sunish to cover for whoever my partner is if they jump up on the rush. You learn the way each other play, and that's a tremendous benefit to our team. Obviously, though, that makes it difficult to add new players to our roster. It's a pretty difficult adjustment for both them and us, we have to learn how they play, and they have to learn how an entire team's worth of individuals play. Jesse: So how are you feeling about the future? Heard from the GM in DC about getting a call-up this year or next year? Jannik: Well, everyone wants to be up in the VHL, obviously. It's all that you dream about as a kid. But I think that as I have learned how the system works, that right now I would not be a good fit on a VHL roster. I would get eaten alive. I still have a ways to go until I think I would be ready, so for now I want to finish out this season in the M. Try to get a championship. I know our team can do that. As for next season? That's not my call, though I have a feeling I might be ready by then. Steve: Have you had any weird fan interactions? Jannik: Aside from you, Steve? Only a handful comes to mind. Literally the day I flew in to St. Paul for the post-trade press conference, I was walking down the road going to some small sandwich shop. A guy pulls me into an alley, knife out, and "politely" asks me for my money. Adam: Holy shit, you got mugged on your first day??? Jannik: Well, that's the weird thing. As soon as the guy got a good look at my face, he froze up. As soon as I saw the recognition in his eyes, so he lets me off and apologizes and runs away. I obviously call the police and file a report then the officers get there, but not much else I can do. Here's the weird part though. First regular season game, I arrive 5 hours early to the arena. Bit of a superstition for me. Anyways, I get out and give my keys to the valet. I look at this guy. You know who he is? Steve: NO WAY. NO GODDAMN WAY! Jannik: It's the fucking guy who mugged me! Getting ready to take my keys and get into my car, MY CAR, and drive it somewhere else. You better believe I called the police. Adam: That is so ridiculous! That's gotta be a top 10 hockey story all-time. What are the odds of that?! Jesse: Sorry to interrupt, but if we want to do a presser, we need to get to it. THE PRESSER, S-D-P! Jesse: Our first question, a very popular one it seems, is from DomskiesMinne. He says "How do you pronounce your name, just so that we have it from the source?" Jannik: This is a thing that has kind of annoyed me these past couple years. For the official record, it is "Yah-nihk Knee-lehn". "J" pronounced as a "Y", like in "Joel Armia". Adam: If you don't mind me reading this one out, Jesse, here's the next one. From StormFan72. They ask "Do you have a pre-game routine/superstition, and if so what is it?" Jannik: Yeah, I mentioned the first part earlier. I arrive 5 hours before the game every gameday. Use the stationary bike for an hour, listening to a podcast. Usually, when available, the No-Longer Panago Pizza Steve Dangle Podcast. My pre-game "meal" consists of a Granny Smith apple cut into slices with peanut butter. Very light on the stomach, but fills you up nicely. I also subscribe to the "Last person off the ice" ordeal. Jesse: Steve, you can take this one. Steve: From SDPArtifacts. Is a tennis ball green or yellow? Jannik: Okay, I've been waiting years to give my take on this one. Regulation tennis balls, are in fact green. Adam: How can you argue with literally one of the best tennis players of all time's opinion on this? Jannik: BECAUSE HE'S WRONG! Steve: HE IS NOT WRONG. HE IS AN EXPERT ON THE TOPIC. IF A LEGENDARY TENNIS PLAYER SAYS THAT A TENNIS BALL IS YELLOW, THEN IT BETTER DAMN WELL BE KNOW IT'S YELLOW. Jannik: You cannot trick me with your Toronto conspiracy bullshit, Steve! I know that tennis balls are green because I have eyes! I can see that they're green! Jesse: Look at this picture. Tell me that this tennis ball is green, and not in fact yellow. Jannik: I will not bow down to you, Mr. Blake. I know what I know, you cannot change my mind. Let's move on. Jesse: From MarkStraighton93. "If you could choose between being in the hall of fame, or winning a championship, which would you choose and why?" Jannik: No question, championship. I don't really put much stock into the Hall. All that matters to me is my name on that trophy, and our logo on a really shiny, really expensive ring that at least two of us are going to sell to a pawn shop in 20 years for $70 for drugs. Adam: Well, that got a little dark. Unfortunately, we have to end it on that dark note. Thank you again Jannik for coming on, and we hope to have you on again sometime in the future. Jannik: Thanks guys, I'm fully down to come back on whenever. 1,547 words.

1. We've been killing it. Everything has been clicking for us. 2. Absolutely, he's been incredible this season. 3. I don't really know the guy, but everyone deserves a shot, so I'm looking forward to what he can do. 4. I don't wanna jinx us (Like Ryan O'Reilley did), so I'm just going to say maybe. 5. Connor McDavid not demanding a trade right after the sweep happened. 6. Probably video games or cooking.

First sig attempt, be gentle lol

Transaction ID: 20631381369833771 5 Uncapped TPE $1M Player Store Cash Doubles Week

Transcribed from Århus Stiftstidende , a Danish Sports News Outlet Reporter: Hello everyone, welcome to a very special interview. Today, we have local sports star Jannik Nylen (Yah-nik Knee-lehn), now a player for the Minnesota Storm and prospect for the D.C Dragons. How does it feel to finally know where your VHL career will begin? Nylen: Well, it feels good. I was pretty anxious during the draft. I had taken interviews for multiple teams so every time a pick of theirs came up, I got excited. Reporter: Is there a special feeling when you see a team not only trade in order to pick you, but shower praises while they're doing it? Nylen: Yeah, it was definitely a special feeling. When I heard Eno start to talk about him planning on picking a guy he had wanted to take almost 10 picks earlier, I knew he was talking about me. He had mentioned that he was considering taking me at 17, so hearing that he traded for me was an amazing feeling. Reporter: On the other hand, you yourself were traded for a pick in a draft. Was there any communication between you and the manager before or during it happening? Nylen: I didn't hear anything about it before hand. I was in the middle of practicing my backwards skating when our skating coach told me I had a phone call. Jiggs was letting me know that he knew the Aces probably weren't going to be great this next season, so he wanted to send me to a team that I could win on before I left the M behind. It was just a bonus that he managed to pick up a great player with the pick I got traded for. Reporter: How do you feel about being traded to the Storm? Are you excited for what you can do for the team? Nylen: I'm definitely excited. So far it's looking like my buddy from Vegas, Zarek Kazcka, is going to be my defensive partner, so I'm really excited to have some sort of familiarity in the locker room. They seem like a great group of folks there and I'm really excited. Reporter: We heard that you were a part of the Patrick Laine off-season tournament. How has that been? Nylen: It's been great fun. I know one of the guys who was in the very first season of it. A guy named Drew Minott, played a little in the VHL but had a career ending injury, sadly. He said it was very rough around the edges back then, it's been cleaned up much more since then. I'm having a great time, It's nice to have something to do in the offseason. Reporter: Last question that we have time for, where do you think you'll be trying to improve the most in your game? Nylen: I think I'm going to try to not be as much of an offensive liability. I also need to get better at not taking penalties. It's a serious flaw in my game that cost my teams games in the past. Reporter: Thank you for your time, and good luck this season. Nylen: Thank you! 529 Words

@Jakefufu

Yooooooooooooo

1. Don’t forget to claim practice 2. Yes. 3. Gives me something to look forward to. 4. The absolute shitbeating defensive defensemen get 5. Making my player better and gaining recognition. 6. I’m pretty excited to get drafted, really looking forward to it. 7. Growing that tpe bb

1. Okay, but we could have done better. 2. I don't know if we can do anything else other than keep getting our numbers up. 3. We made a good playoff run, shame we didn't get the cup. 4. STOP TRADING YOUR PICKS ASSHOLE 5. Yeah 6. Win that cup, that's the only way we can improve.