Beketov

Week of: May 28-June 3 Questions Asked: Slipher (x3), Cast (x2) Answers

1. Assuming nothing changes via trades we have the draft order: Seattle, Riga, Quebec. Final predictions, who gets who? 2. Oslo didn’t decide to show up in games 5 and 6 it seems. What do you think happened?

1. Assuming you keep up your early activity, you could be a favourite to go early in Season 62. Do you think you would be worthy? 2. Based on the absolute lack of knowledge you have right now, who takes the Founder’s Cup this season / next season? 3. If you were to pick one other former member to come back and join your draft class, who would it be?

Well that really depends how well STHS wants to work with me. If my last two players are any indication I’ll play well sometimes and completely disappear other teams. I’ve also never managed to have a good rookie season with any of my players so I don’t have any kind of insane expectations. I would hope to hit at least 30 goals and 50 points but I don’t think that’s necessarily going to happen. It has it’s moments. Some days it’s an amazing job that feels ridiculously rewarding and other days it feels like I’m a babysitter dealing with whiny children. For the most part things have been going well though so I can’t complain. I feel like Will and I are making a lot of good changes for the league and things are turning around quite a lot from when I came in. Ah, my half brother Rocky? He’s kinda a prick but I’d be willing to play with him so long as he doesn’t steal the puck from my too often; or is he playing in net these days?

Well technically Toronto won the lottery.

Welcome to the VHL, why₀! We're happy to have you. You should have received a PM with some more detailed information, but to get started quickly you will want to head over to the create-a-player forum. Once you're there, create a player by starting a new topic and pasting in one of the following templates (completed): Skater Template Goalie Template Once that's done, VHLM General Managers will be in touch with you about joining their teams. In the meantime, please feel free to ask any questions you have here or in your create-a-player thread. We're happy to have you in the community and we hope you stick around!

Welcome to the VHL, ajbonanni! We're happy to have you. You should have received a PM with some more detailed information, but to get started quickly you will want to head over to the create-a-player forum. Once you're there, create a player by starting a new topic and pasting in one of the following templates (completed): Skater Template Goalie Template Once that's done, VHLM General Managers will be in touch with you about joining their teams. In the meantime, please feel free to ask any questions you have here or in your create-a-player thread. We're happy to have you in the community and we hope you stick around!

I’ve never played for Quebec (my only team left if you count previous versions of teams) so it could be very interesting for both of us; assuming you and @street go ahead of me anyway.

Welcome to the VHL, Exovive! We're happy to have you. You should have received a PM with some more detailed information, but to get started quickly you will want to head over to the create-a-player forum. Once you're there, create a player by starting a new topic and pasting in one of the following templates (completed): Skater Template Goalie Template Once that's done, VHLM General Managers will be in touch with you about joining their teams. In the meantime, please feel free to ask any questions you have here or in your create-a-player thread. We're happy to have you in the community and we hope you stick around!

Even got a custom thumbnail! Mostly because all the options gave away the winner but still.

After blowing out the Oslo Storm in Games 5 and 6 of their series the Ottawa Lynx; a team few expected to see here late in the season, are moving on to the Founder’s Cup Final. Their opponent, a team everyone expected to see in this position: The Saskatoon Wild. While the Wild had a rough start to the season, a GM change turned out to be exactly what the strong team of veteran VHLM players needed to quickly turn their season around. This turnaround included several wins against the Lynx, a fact many believe is an indication for the series to come. The Lynx, however, seem to disagree. Forward Matt Thompson had this to say, “People are counting us out already, we know that. But really, I think many were counting us out against Oslo and we beat them; what’s to say we can’t do it again? Saskatoon is a strong team, they have been all year and there is no doubt about it. They are older than us for sure but that doesn’t automatically mean they are better. We’re going into this series ready to fight our asses off every night so the Wild better believe we aren’t just going to roll over and die. I’ve tasted Founder’s cup glory, as have a few of my teammates, and I want another taste. We’re rolling into Saskatoon looking to take a bite out of the Wild." Will the Lynx be able to topple the giants of the league that everyone expected, from the draft, to walk away with this season? We’ll have to wait and find out. They are definitely the underdogs going in but they refuse to think of themselves that way.

5

Matt “Tommy Gun” Thompson was born to play hockey. From a young age he proved himself an able skater with a shot that goalies in all age groups feared. For this reason it wasn’t uncommon for the young player from Vancouver to be pushed continually up age brackets, playing sometimes against people 2-3 years older than him. They were often bigger and stronger but catching up the Thompson would prove incredibly challenging, stopping him would prove nearly impossible. In his single Midget AAA season with the Fraser Valley Thunderbirds Thompson scored 132 points, 87 of which were goals, propelling him into the WHL draft spotlight. At 16 Thompson was selected in the draft by the Medicine Hat Tigers and would find the first level of competition that was capable of giving him a challenge. Opponents were faster, goalies were more agile. Speed and shot power no longer enough on their own Thompson bulked up and learned to play more defensively. His stats dropped from their Triple A levels but Thompson was still able to produce at a point per game level leading toward the NHL draft. Unfortunately disaster struck in his final playoff game with the Tigers. Thompson went knee on knee with an opposing player and was severely injured. Reconditioning proved fruitless and doctors believe the once great star may never be able to lace up skates again. Scared away by this, no NHL teams decided to take a risk on the 18 year old and he went undrafted. Determined to prove everyone wrong, Thompson decided to sign a short-term contract with the Yukon Rush of the VHL; a strong team on course for the Founder’s Cup. While the team did capture the cup and Thompson did receive a ring for it, his conditioning hardly improved. His ice time was low to help out his knee and he scored no points until late in the playoffs. With his Founder’s Cup secured Thompson went hard during the off-season and made sure his knee was ready when the following season rolled around. Drafted 7th overall by the Ottawa Lynx Thompson stormed onto the ice and quickly became a dominant force once again; become a leader on and off the ice for the Lynx. Unfortunately his knee would flare up once again and slow his point production near the midway point of the season but the Lynx would still perform at a high level; bringing Thompson to his 2nd Founder’s Cup final where they await game 1 against the Saskatoon Wild. Pros Shot It’s undeniable that Thompson’s main strength is his shot. He’s a natural born goal scorer who focusses on putting the puck in the back of the net as frequently as possible. His scoring ability is easily the main focus of his game and has made Thompson a danger to opposing goaltenders from anywhere on the ice. Speed If Thompson isn’t in a position to score you better watch out because he can get into one very quickly. Thompson is surprisingly fast for his size and his capable of bursting through defense faster than they can realize what’s happening. This ability makes it far easier for him to get into advantageous positions on the ice as well as get back quickly in the event his shot doesn’t land as expected. Defense While not known for his defensive play, Thompson does not ignore it. His size makes him dangerous and he is willing to play the body in the corners when necessary in order to get the puck. He may not be the guy likely to dive in front of a shot for the block but he’ll make opponents pay if they think they can easily get around him. If they don’t end up on the ice, they certainly won’t have the puck the next time they look down. Cons Conditioning Thompson’s knee remains a point of question. While his agency claims the knee is no longer a concern the fact remains that it does appear to flare up on occasion which can have odd consequences to Thompson’s reliability. One game he could score you 5 points and the next he’ll do nothing. If Thompson can get his knee injury under control the consistency is likely to come but until then he may be hit or miss. Playmaking Thompson was born to shoot, not to pass, and it shows. While he can pass and does get assists; most of those assists come from tip ins. Thompson can be a rather selfish player with the puck and will definitely choose to shoot before he chooses to pass in most situations. In a sniper dominated league like the VHL this could work out well but it could also destroy potential line chemistry if Thompson refuses to relinquish the puck. Ego Thompson’s ego on occasion can be one of his biggest strengths but more often than not it simply gets in the way. He believes he is a better player than his stats indicate which means he’s often harder on himself than he needs to be. This gets in the way of his play as he gets desperate to prove himself. Thompson will need a wakeup call and quickly if he wants to understand how to work well on a team in the VHL.

S61 VHL Draft Lottery Tuesday, May 29th, 6AM EST Results VHL DRAFT ORDER 1st - (From Toronto) 2nd - 3rd - 4th - ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Chance to Win the 1st Overall Pick (From Toronto) - 25% - 25% - 25% - 25% Chance to Win the 2nd Overall Pick (From Toronto) - 75% - 8.33% - 8.33% - 8.33% ------------------------------------------------------------------------ General Managers - @Banackock - @Beaviss - @hedgehog337 - @Tyler

Nah, I’ve done the bust thing already, I’m good. I rather think I’m due for another HoFer. My Update page is now also up to 61 TPE not applied so...yeah, that’ll help haha

Welcome to the VHL, TStach14! We're happy to have you. You should have received a PM with some more detailed information, but to get started quickly you will want to head over to the create-a-player forum. Once you're there, create a player by starting a new topic and pasting in one of the following templates (completed): Skater Template Goalie Template Once that's done, VHLM General Managers will be in touch with you about joining their teams. In the meantime, please feel free to ask any questions you have here or in your create-a-player thread. We're happy to have you in the community and we hope you stick around!

I haven’t so much “slowed down” as “was busy so didn’t update the last two weeks until this morning”. I missed 4 TPE last week but that’s it.

Apparently. I was expecting far more of a fight. You deserved far more of a fight.

Not sure which one is supposed to be which but this is the same link as game 5. Edit: Fixed the link for you. Good series Oslo, you held on. these last two games were really not as close as they should have been.

Big game for everyone, nice to finally get some playoff points.

I kinda like the realism of it. Making team Canada for the real World Cup is much harder than making team Sweden for example; it makes sense. To have Canadians randomly playing for Western Europe or something would just be weird. Especially since we already have the Merc team for those who don't make their actual national team.

Yeah, every WC is like that. It’s the reward / curse for picking Canada or the US. On the one hand you are nearly always guaranteed to medal BUT you need to make the team first which is much harder than other places because of the amount of talent.

Way behind on reading this but I agree that change is iffy at best IMO. Was brought up partly as a response to fewer PT's being done but doesn't fix that problem at all as it allows people to post less and get the same amount out of it. Where's the benefit there? If GFX guys make a wallpaper instead of a sig they don't get any extra (it's a bigger canvas after all) and if I record a 1 hour podcast instead of a 20 minute one I can't claim it for 3 weeks. So writing guys are getting a benefit no one else gets while also hurting the league's posting in the process. I think changes need to be made to the league but this one was kinda a "if it ain't broke" kinda fix. There really was nothing wrong with having MS' broken down into multiple parts of they were long. You get the same content and it's posted more frequently. We did used to have a rubric back when it wasn't auto-6. However there's nothing stopping you from still using one if you'd prefer to do your reviews in that manner. I mean the numbers would basically mean nothing but if it's an easier way for you to lay out your ideas than that's totally fine.