JigglyGumballs

Claiming capped part next week

So as you all know, I like pain. To the point where it's safe to say that I have masochistic tendencies. I actively try to get people to bonk me in the head for stupid reasons. I'm pretty sure there's a discord channel and thunderdome thread for people to bonk me, and I GM the Las Vegas Aces who has done nothing but lose the past 10 or so games. So why am I saying this? Well as I have expressed time and time again, my current and only player so far in the VHL has a passing build. What does that have to do with what I said earlier? Well I like pain and passing builds are somewhat pain. Well somewhat because it really depends. So far I've had a solid career with my player. Passing defensemen are pretty okay. Obviously they don't tend to put up hall of fame numbers, and unless you foster a more defensive defenseman style of play, you're basically dead on the water. From my experience at least. So what if. WHAT IF, I chose scoring over passing? What if I had more scoring than I did passing? What if instead of 90 PA and 80 SC, I had something more of 95 SC and 70 PA? Well in this edition of theme week, lemme show you what I think might be different. Well first and most obviously, offensive production would probably go up. If the rest of my current build stayed mostly the same, with maybe some more on CK or ST along with the proposed 95 SC and 70 PA earlier, I think offensive production would definitely go up. At least, you could see good ol' Jiggly Gumballs be putting up point per game numbers. As his current ice time and pairing with none other than Roque Davis would surely provide enough opportunities to have a point per game season. At most, you could see a scoring build Jiggs could possibly be compared to a player like Alex Letang (@Spartan). Another good comparison would be Latrell Mitchell (@dasboot) or the aforementioned Roque Davis (@Josh). Does that mean that Jiggs could be a hall of famer if he had a scoring build? Probably not. The thing is, a scoring build on a defenseman will give you the same or even more assists than a passing build. So in a way, it defeats the purpose of having that much passing if you're probably getting more following the meta. However, it does mean that Jiggs will likely have a lot more offensive success if he did have scoring. What about defense? Well it's likely gonna be a tad bit less, albeit still around the same range in terms of defensive numbers. Being a more defensive defenseman for passing Jiggs is a bit of a necessity in case the passing build didn't work. Would that still be the same for scoring Jiggs? Probably not. The reasoning for a heavy checking build will probably be more on just the simple desire to hit people. And because of the increased offensive production. I honestly think that the defensive numbers will take a hit. Just a bit though, not much. So if given the option to go back in the past to tell myself to go for a scoring build, would I do it? Well. Yes. If I had known I'd be getting just as many, if not more assists if I went scoring instead of passing, of course I'd fucking change it. Though in the end, I think I'm fine with how Jiggs turned out. That or it's just me being masochistic I don't know anymore. (608 Words)

Hey there @Nik! Welcome to the VHL! I'm JigglyGumballs, GM of the Las Vegas Aces! We're a team that prides ourselves on helping out new players and developing them into potential stars! We'd like to offer you 4th line minutes, and although the odds may be against us, we're willing to risk it all and make some noise! If you have any questions or need any help, just PM me on the forums or DM me on discord at En1GmA#5695! In Sin City, the stakes are always high. So I ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you think you have the spirit of a gambler within you? If so, quote this post and reply with "Going all in!" Good luck, and may the odds always be in your favor. Jiggs Las Vegas GM

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN FOLKS

Hey there @Battlepopcorn! Welcome to the VHL! I'm JigglyGumballs, GM of the Las Vegas Aces! We're a team that prides ourselves on helping out new players and developing them into potential stars! We'd like to offer you 4th line minutes, and although the odds may be against us, we're willing to risk it all and make some noise! If you have any questions or need any help, just PM me on the forums or DM me on discord at En1GmA#5695! In Sin City, the stakes are always high. So I ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you think you have the spirit of a gambler within you? If so, quote this post and reply with "Going all in!" Good luck, and may the odds always be in your favor. Jiggs Las Vegas GM

Hey there @Piranhas! Welcome to the VHL! I'm JigglyGumballs, GM of the Las Vegas Aces! We're a team that prides ourselves on helping out new players and developing them into potential stars! We'd like to offer you 4th line minutes, and although the odds may be against us, we're willing to risk it all and make some noise! If you have any questions or need any help, just PM me on the forums or DM me on discord at En1GmA#5695! In Sin City, the stakes are always high. So I ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you think you have the spirit of a gambler within you? If so, quote this post and reply with "Going all in!" Good luck, and may the odds always be in your favor. Jiggs Las Vegas GM

Claiming week (2/2)

Smh do that during the trade deadline, not here

Wait there's a 13th?

Aww the fun is just getting started lol

Anything to back up our bois RJ and Hex

Hey there @Sylvain Racette! Welcome to the VHL! I'm JigglyGumballs, GM of the Las Vegas Aces! We're a team that prides ourselves on helping out new players and developing them into potential stars! We'd like to offer you 3rd line minutes, and although the odds may be against us, we're willing to risk it all and make some noise! If you have any questions or need any help, just PM me on the forums or DM me on discord at En1GmA#5695! In Sin City, the stakes are always high. So I ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you think you have the spirit of a gambler within you? If so, quote this post and reply with "Going all in!" Good luck, and may the odds always be in your favor. Jiggs Las Vegas GM

@thadthrasher I think I have an idea as to how convos went lol. Joking aside, I'm gonna put some input on this. Hex was and is one of the most enthusiastic members here in the VHL. I was his AGM when I first joined and he was honestly one of the greatest first-gens I've had the pleasure of being an AGM of. I still remember the times he would calculate how much TPE he'll have by the end of the season in Vegas. The amount of times we joked about him stealing my job. Now I don't exactly know what happened this past while, but all I can say is that shit happens. Stuff happens outside of life and sometimes you gotta prioritize things. RJ on the other hand. Well I wouldn't be a GM without him. If you actually take the time to talk to him, he'll not only be willing to help you when he has the time to, but he'll go above and beyond in order to help you in the VHL. That's from my experience at least. Again shit happens, people have jobs and personal lives. Not everyone has the time to maintain activity in an LR. Heck I've struggled to do so this season as well with school being a pain. Should I have done better to promote LR activity? Yes. Definitely. However, the problem is that I simply don't have the time to. What I'm trying to say is that I have a shit ton of respect to both RJ and Hex. I owe a lot to both of them as to where I am now. I understand that things sometimes aren't the way they are, and you have every right to ask for a change of scenery. However, I don't like the idea of dragging down the names of people I genuinely respect and have very high praise for and I sure do hope, as Thad as said, that you made them aware of this article before you lowkey diss them. Yes it's managements job to foster an active environment, but the players actually participating in activity is as equally important. Plus RJ just got back from a small break and this happens smh.

1. From my time here. Yes actually 2. I would say just the sheer enthusiasm. Something about a guy really invested in something, whether VHL or something else, just really helps keep a LR active. 3. Hmm. Bauer? I don't really have a specific brand to go to but if I have to chose, I'd say Bauer 4. Hmmm... Cody Ceci 5. Realistically, I'd say defense wins championships, but for the VHL, outscoring the living shit out of your opponent tends to work well. So yeah I'll go with the former. 6. Number 7 is a number I have quite a bit of faith in. Dunno why though. Maybe because I'm the GM of Las Vegas but meh.

Awesome! Welcome to the team! I'll send your contract in shortly

Hey there @BeastTakeover! Welcome to the VHL! I'm JigglyGumballs, GM of the Las Vegas Aces! Unfortunately I currently don't have access to a computer so this waiver offer is a little bit different. However, we're a team that prides ourselves on helping out new players and developing them into potential stars! We'd like to offer you 3rd line minutes, and although the odds may be against us, we're willing to risk it all and make some noise! If you have any questions or need any help, just PM me on the forums or DM me on discord at En1GmA#5695! In Sin City, the stakes are always high. So I ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you think you have the spirit of a gambler within you? If so, quote this post and reply with "Going all in!" Good luck, and may the odds always be in your favor. Jiggs Las Vegas GM

Ooo boy this is giving me memories of when I tried to actually contribute to the VHL twitter account. Joking aside, I'm all for this ngl. There were talks about potentially being more active on Instagram and more so Twitter in hopes of potentially using it as a form of recruitment. Reddit was honestly a good place to recruit until certain circumstances happened. Though yeah a better social media presence is much appreciated. Problem is that burnout happens way too often. As those who want to try and run VHL social media often are doing other things in both irl and in the VHL.

Claiming week (1/2)

So because I can't milk the ever loving shit of a previous article anymore (at least I think I do), why not make another one? So for this week I wanna dive back into my personal experience and insights on GMing/AGMing by taking a look at how I scout for players. It's no secret that I tend to share what I do in the VHL. Whether if it was when I was an AGM or now, I tend to just provide insights based on mostly my own experience. Why do I do it? I really don't know. I just need TPE lol. If I can think of a reason, I think it's just interesting to see how a GM goes through things. I can guarantee that there's some things behind the scenes that the GMs do. And franky, showing a tiny bit of the behind the scenes stuff is honestly quite interesting to any other member. At least that's how I see it. I also hope that by showing a bit more on what happens every now and then behind the scenes, it'll help inspire(?) some of the newer people to take up GMing one day. Not actually sure if this is what you call the right process of inspiring people to be interested in running a team in the VHL, but hey some information might come in handy the next time you're applying for a job in the VHL. So yeah, let's just get on with it. So unless you're the VSN, which their draft ranking is often suited for the VHL instead of the VHLM, I don't really start scouting until closer to the trade deadline. At latest near the end of the season. Why? Well first, scouting does take a bit of time, and because I have a personal life, I may want to take time in scouting. Secondly, by starting your scouting by the trade deadline, you allow yourself to get familiar with those in the top 3 or so rounds in the draft. As they tend to be much more easier to see if they're going to be good come the draft. Allowing you to spend more time sorting out the inactives and/or hidden gems in the later rounds. In all honesty, you're going to spend the most time scouting the later rounds in the VHLM. As for the actual scouting, I first take a look at the draft board. Sometimes its in the portal, or in a google sheet (when I was an AGM because I'm brain dead on setting up on my own draft board), but what I would do is look up the draft board, and look at where some players are relative to where I think my picks would be. It's a rough way to narrow my search. As it's more likely that inactives will definitely cause the active players you're scouting for to move up in draft rankings. However, narrowing your search does help in either finding someone who you can take, or whether or not you're confident to make a reach of a pick/move up in the draft. Next is actually taking a look at the player's page. Through that page you can get a look at how they've earned TPE over time. I'm pretty sure this is the most obvious part of scouting. Sometimes if you did do your scouting early, you can track their TPE growth over time. I wanna make sure that, especially in the later rounds, you're NOT looking for max earners. As they're likely all in the first round or so. Most people tend to be clickers, or those who just claim practice facility and welfare. And that's okay. Remember that the VHL is a hobby for most, and only those who are truly invested in the league will put in the work. Those guys are often already in the top rounds anyways. The main priorities are getting someone who will still earn and be a good fit for your team and finding someone who you think will be a good locker room presence. Anyways, regarding people who you think will be a good presence in the locker room, you next check their profile on the forum. See what they've done in the VHL. Most of the time you won't be able to find much if you're looking for gems, but getting a good look at their profile, and taking a better look at when they were last online, you will definitely get a better impression of the player. At this point, you've narrowed down your search to a few players who you have the most confidence in. This is where you reach out to them, send them a couple of questions and hope for a response. Even with those who you might choose if the others are no longer available, reach out to them. A good chunk of the time, especially if the player created during playoffs/offseason, they just don't know what to do. So reaching out to them is the best way to determine if they're going to be active or not. The VSN doesn't really reach out to a bunch of 50 TPE players, but this form of scouting is more so from a GMing perspective. Once you've reached out to the player, and they've responded. Try and keep the conversation going. This again is more suited for players who created in the postseason, but it does help keep their interest in the league. To remind you, a VHLM GM's job is to retain new players and help them pave the road for a full 8 season career. Creating in the post season is honestly the worst time. Teams can't get you in the lineup, and you have to wait for draft before you have any idea in what you're doing. Because of that, it's key that you reach out to them and keep their interest in the league. Invite them to your LR, give them help in how to earn TPE, anything to keep them interested. One thing for certain that you have to make clear when reaching out for them, is that you cannot guarantee that you're going to draft them. Anything can happen, but it's good to just be there when they need help getting settled. I can say for certain that peeps like @Ledge_and_Dairy, @Crstats23, and @Rhynex Entertainment were all late round picks and are now doing pretty good in the VHL. So putting in the effort of reaching out to players, and giving them the incentive to be active in the league works out. So yeah. That's how I would scout in drafts. I know I went off in a bit of a tangent in terms of "muh GM duties" and stuff, but yeah. I hope this helps for anyone looking for a job in GMing in some way. Maybe it can help you get hired. I also want to clarify that I'm not a perfect GM. If anything, my first few trades during this last draft is a testament to the fact that I still have much to learn. Heck all of my trades is basically a testament to my GM noobness. Anyways, hope you enjoy this long read or so. I'll see y'all the next time I need TPE. (1219 words)

Hey there @Pavel Halischuk! Welcome to the VHL! I'm JigglyGumballs, GM of the Las Vegas Aces! We're a team that prides ourselves on helping out new players and developing them into potential stars! We'd like to offer you our Backup Position, and although the odds may be against us, we're willing to risk it all and make some noise! If you have any questions or need any help, just PM me on the forums or DM me on discord at En1GmA#5695! In Sin City, the stakes are always high. So I ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you think you have the spirit of a gambler within you? If so, quote this post and reply with "Going all in!" Good luck, and may the odds always be in your favor. Jiggs Las Vegas GM

Hey there @BostonBruinsFan1806! Welcome to the VHL! I'm JigglyGumballs, GM of the Las Vegas Aces! We're a team that prides ourselves on helping out new players and developing them into potential stars! We'd like to offer you our Backup Position, and although the odds may be against us, we're willing to risk it all and make some noise! If you have any questions or need any help, just PM me on the forums or DM me on discord at En1GmA#5695! In Sin City, the stakes are always high. So I ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you think you have the spirit of a gambler within you? If so, quote this post and reply with "Going all in!" Good luck, and may the odds always be in your favor. Jiggs Las Vegas GM

Hey there @pippo! Welcome to the VHL! I'm JigglyGumballs, GM of the Las Vegas Aces! We're a team that prides ourselves on helping out new players and developing them into potential stars! We'd like to offer you 3rd line minutes, and although the odds may be against us, we're willing to risk it all and make some noise! If you have any questions or need any help, just PM me on the forums or DM me on discord at En1GmA#5695! In Sin City, the stakes are always high. So I ask you, are you feeling lucky? Do you think you have the spirit of a gambler within you? If so, quote this post and reply with "Going all in!" Good luck, and may the odds always be in your favor. Jiggs Las Vegas GM