JigglyGumballs

I'm not putting this in a media spot since I don't want to claim this for TPE as it would feel wrong to do so. Before the VHL draft started, the VHL awards were given out. It honors the members for their accomplishments in the previous season. There is one trophy that is very special though. It's given out to a community member for their efforts during the season. That trophy is the Fredrik Elmebeck Memorial Trophy. It was named after a member who passed away but made a huge impact, Elmebeck. To receive this trophy members would nominate someone who they thought would be the best candidate for this trophy. A private vote decides who gets the trophy in the end.
 
To my shock, I was nominated for this trophy. At the time I didn't really think I would win nor did I think I would even be nominated. I got some DMs from people saying they voted for me but I didn't think it would be enough to be considered. I was told by @Alex_J32 that I could message @Victor about the nominations I got. Keep in mind I only had gotten a few DMs from people, so I only expected that many to come in. What I got made me very emotional.
 
"work mans put into fantasy"
 
"I am nominating Youloser cause he has shown really great work ethic and really tries to help anyone whenever he can!"
 
"Welcoming new members in during the season and his AGMing work in Minnesota"
 
"They worked really hard as an AGM. They have taken on more roles including vhlm predictions. Especially when the couser ad came out he was huge in helping players get acclimated and giving out tons of information about it."
 
"genuine (but not obnoxious or overbearing) interest in helping helping new members, https://vhlforum.com/topic/106463-finally-donating/"
 
"youloser has shown tremendous passion in his role as agm for the minnesota storm. he goes above and beyond for the new members of the league. he is also running the juniors showcase tournament for new members. on top of that he donated $600 evenly split between an animal shelter and the american cancer society. i think youloser is a phenomenal example for new members of the leauge to look up to."
 
"Not only has he taken over both the VHLM and VHL fantasy zone jobs, but he has also worked to change them for the better. He is also very involved in the Junior Showcase tournament, one of the greatest ideas for the VHL I have ever seen. He's a fantastic guy, super passionate towards the league, and is one of the quickest to respond to waiver players with a contract."
 
"He's done a lot this season in terms of being an AGM and overall in general as a member of the community."
 
I won't say who sent those in, mainly because Victor didn't tell me, so if you wish to remain anonymous I'm okay with that. When I received that barrage of messages from Victor, I had to step away for a bit.
 
So how did we get to this point? To go from the unknown to the Elmebeck Trophy winner. First off, yes my actual name is Justin. I don’t care if you call me loser or Justin. Both are just fine to me. It started in October 2020 when I first joined. That Thrasher ad really must have been gold as Season 75 was a big creation season. Justin Lose was born and I was picked up by Philly. That Philly discord locker room was very exciting to be in. Lots of activity and super awesome people too. I was a newb but was helped along the way by @DMaximus . I owe a lot of my early motivation success to him. Tangent time, I believe that I am who I am today thanks to DMaximus. Not only did he help me through the 50 questions that every new player goes through, but he was also super supportive of me. Looking through those DMs on discord is like looking in a mirror with @Moon_50. More on Moon later though.
 
Fast forward to the VHLM draft and getting drafted by the Mexico City Kings. Of course, I get a positive message from DMaximus congratulating me on getting drafted. My time in Mexico City was a blast. Having @hylands and @rory in the locker room was so much fun. Lots of MEXICOO in the morning and who could forget ElHeuvo.gif through our cup run? DMaximus might have been my first motivation boost, but the dynamic duo of Rory and Hylands made me super motivated to keep earning for that cup. I think that was the most fun I had in a discord locker room. I cherish that playoff run locker room environment. Losing the cup was a bummer but moving up to the VHL to Riga was on the horizon.
 
My time in Riga can easily be described as unique. The biggest highlight is @hedgehog337 complaining about Simon when things don’t go our way. A joke that never gets old! My motivation was dwindling at this point as I’ve been max earning for most of my career. I knew I had to find new motivation to have fun again. My motivation almost shifted from being a 12 TPE a week player into being a GM / AGM. In May 2021 I was given a GM role in the Victory ProAm offseason league. A fun tournament that gives people the experience of being a GM / AGM that can be used for the VHL. A huge thank you to @Ledge and Dairy, @Laine, @MexicanCow123, @Ricer13, and @Zetterberg for allowing me to be a GM and ledge for being my AGM / guide to using STHS. Not gonna lie I did horrible but I knew this was going to be something I loved to do. It became my mission to become a GM in the VHL.
 
At this time I think I wasn’t really talking in the VHL discord as much. Maybe the usual VHL sim ping jokes or asking dumb questions. A few AGM positions opened in the VHLM though. This was my first chance of achieving my goals. Rory was my first chance with Halifax. Although I didn’t get the position, Rory sent me a nice message giving me the confidence to keep going. Along came the AGM position in Minnesota. Laine messaged me an application and I answered it as usual. I get a ping on discord for a DM conversation with Laine. He said that I got the position. Funny enough after I got the AGM position in Minnesota I got another application for the Las Vegas Aces AGM position. This was my first taste of getting to help people in the VHLM. Something I wanted to do after DMaximus being my “mentor” in a way. I wanted to pay it forward.
 
Switching gears a bit, in my time with Riga, we were desperate to go to the playoffs in Season 78. @DoktorFunk was traded for during the season and brought up the offer that if we make playoffs they would donate money to charity. (Yup, it was all his idea originally. 100% of the credit goes to him for the idea.) I joined in on this to possibly give us some magic to make the playoffs, spoiler alert we didn’t. That stuck in my mind though. In season 79 I decided that I would actually donate money to charity. I used my bowling league scores as my benchmark for how much I would give. It was a good night as I believe I bowled somewhere in the 500 series range. A few weeks passed and I was setting up the charities. At the time I thought I would just split it 50/50 with ~$250 going to each charity. It was then decided that I would just give $300 each to keep it clean and even. I also chose two charities that were close to me. American Cancer Society and the North Shore Animal League. Both had huge impacts on my life that I covered in my reveal post, so I won’t go over it again here. I didn’t do it for likes or attention. I just wanted to, “put my money where my mouth is” and donate. Something that you will come to learn about me is that I love to give more than receive.
 
Going back to Minnesota, it was a blast to work with Laine. He wanted to give me all the tools to succeed in the league and allowed me to do more and more tasks as we moved through the season. He always said it was his goal to get me a higher position in the league. After a close run in the Season 78 playoffs, we turned to scouting for next season. After going all-in we didn’t have much in the draft, so we would have to rely on the waivers [FORSHADOWING]!! My role in the league was also shifting with the addition of VHLM Fantasy Zone being managed by myself.
 
A huge shoutout to @16z, @Domg5, @bigAL for allowing me to run the VHLM fantasy when 16z stepped down from that role. In season 79 I was approached to run the VHL fantasy as well with Domg getting the Yukon GM role as he wanted to focus all his energy on GMing. Going from a nobody to AGM to getting 2 paying jobs was a roller coaster for sure. Alongside getting to run both came a way to breathe new life into it. Working with AL to get more people involved was interesting. Changing the format was supposed to make it more fun and easier for everyone. Of course, nothing is perfect. Now I’m comfortable doing Fantasy and even got to do my own fantasy bracket challenge with A LOT of help from @Spartan (yes another ping for this!). This is only the start by the way. That bracket challenge is coming back 100% too.
 
In season 79 was the birth of the waiver warriors. Myself, @Alex_J32, and @JB123were always on top of new signings on the create a player page. It was a friendly competition and was very fun all season. A new Thrash ad came out and a new batch of players came in. What happened next really shaped me and why I love the VHLM. A new member by the name of @Moon_50 joined the forum. Luckily for me, I was able to snag him for Minnesota. Looking back at the DMs I sent DMaximus and what Moon sent me is scarily similar. Moon was my first “project” to get him set up in the league. Reminding him to claim stuff, doing tasks, career tasks. I was worried that I was going to burn him out with all the information I was dropping on him. He took it with stride though. Early on he expressed his interest in being a GM / AGM in the future which took me by surprise. He just joined the league and is already motivated to be a GM. All the energy I was putting into Moon was replicated for all the waivers I was getting for Minnesota. I was even accommodating the forum-only players by putting out a weekly newsletter almost of all the tasks for the week. A few people took notice of this.
 
The Adam Crouser ad finally hit. Oh boy, that scramble when it was posted and all the creations happened. The panic of realizing that playoffs was starting and we couldn’t pick up anyone on the team also hit me. I knew I wanted to help out the players and post on everyone who created. I didn’t want anyone who created to have 0 replies because playoffs started. I remember playing Borderlands 2 with my friend and having to stop every 2 minutes to post a welcome message on a player post. Domg was a hero and came up with the Junior Showcase tournament which was supposed to help retain the players who created. I was asked to be a GM alongside Z, JB, and Alex.
 
At the same time as the Junior Showcase tournament was starting, VHLE GM positions were posted which opened a lot of VHLM GM positions. With the encouragement of Laine, I posted for a VHLM GM job. Getting a discord message from @diamond_ace  dropping subtle hints that I was a “when” not “if” for a GM position was insane to me. It got me excited about being a VHLM GM. Myself and Moon were still chatting about stuff and that’s when it hit me to bring him in for my AGM. I couldn’t tell him 100% so I used the Junior Showcase tournament as his trial run. Not only did he absolutely kill it but it made me super confident in making him my AGM. I saw myself in him when he was drafting and helping out the new players that were coming into the league. Making him my AGM in Mexico City was a no-brainer and I think all the GMs knew I was going to choose him. 
 
To wrap this novel up, I just wanted to thank everyone who supported me to this point. I want you all to know how much you guys mean to my life. I was a bored guy looking for something to do when I found the VHL. It makes me super excited about the future too. To think I didn’t even see a future for myself. A few years ago I was at my worst with depression. 2 years after graduating from college and not getting a job I was bad. I felt worthless and thought I had no future. Honestly, I thought about suicide since I was a waste. Bless my sister who caught on to the warning signs and got me to therapy. Without her, I don’t think I’d be here writing this. Things are looking up and now I’m doing great. Being the Mexico City Kings GM is just the cherry on top.
 
To the past players who I managed, I hope you all have a great experience and I hope you will join the Kings in the future when you recreate.
 
To the current players, I hope I’m doing my job and making you feel comfortable in the league. I want to make sure you are welcomed and that I give you my all.
 
To the future players, you aren’t getting a GM who wants to win. You are going to be getting a friend who wants to see you succeed not only in the VHLM but in the VHLE or VHL. I want you to be comfortable and have the best time in the VHLM win or lose!
 
Getting the Elmebeck trophy was only validation that I’m in the right place. It might have seemed like a small nod to my activity for the season but to me it means everything. I already told Diamond_Ace that the VHLM was my home. I was even approached to be recommended for a VHL GM position but turned it down. 
 
As I cry writing this, thank you to each and every one of you. ❤️ 
 
TL;DR:
 
I’m sorry that this is a novel but the VHL community is the best and I feel at home here. I cried a bit when I got nominated and when I won. I feel honored and I want to continue being a help to VHLM players forever. If I could thank everyone in the community who voted for me I would if I knew who did.

I don't even know what to say right now. Hearing this news is honestly very shocking to me. Especially since Emi was the very first AGM I've hired. Emi had always been a great community member. Someone who I respected a lot and shared a decent amount of common interests in. During her time in Vegas, she did her best trying to give players a weekly presser and maintain some activity despite her troubles with her health. So my deepest condolences go to Dren and Emi's family. I know I didn't know her personally. I still want to pay my respects to an amazing person.
 
Rest in peace Emi ❤️

I don't even know what to say right now. Hearing this news is honestly very shocking to me. Especially since Emi was the very first AGM I've hired. Emi had always been a great community member. Someone who I respected a lot and shared a decent amount of common interests in. During her time in Vegas, she did her best trying to give players a weekly presser and maintain some activity despite her troubles with her health. So my deepest condolences go to Dren and Emi's family. I know I didn't know her personally. I still want to pay my respects to an amazing person.
 
Rest in peace Emi ❤️

I don't even know what to say right now. Hearing this news is honestly very shocking to me. Especially since Emi was the very first AGM I've hired. Emi had always been a great community member. Someone who I respected a lot and shared a decent amount of common interests in. During her time in Vegas, she did her best trying to give players a weekly presser and maintain some activity despite her troubles with her health. So my deepest condolences go to Dren and Emi's family. I know I didn't know her personally. I still want to pay my respects to an amazing person.
 
Rest in peace Emi ❤️

I'm saddened to share with you all that Emi, former LVA AGM and the user behind Emi Rune and Emiko Spector passed away last night due to cancer at the age of 26. I don't really know if it's my place to share, but I don't know who else would. The official post went up in the PBE where she was most active, serving as rookie mentor head and also Co-GM'ing/GM'ing teams as well. Find that here.
 
Here in the VHL, Emi was known for her podcast, Rune Rambles, with her partner, Dren (Lilith Lunar). I've had nothing but good experiences communicating with both her and Dren, and others can attest that they were both very kind people who were passionate enough to spend time in our community despite the issues they had to deal with. My condolences go out to Dren and Emi's family during this time. 
 
Rest in peace, Emi.
 
Tfong: linking post with additional info for the memorial.
 
 

I was looking at the roster lists and saw a bunch of names who signed or were left in a good situation to finally have a breakout season. Here's my list! 
 
 
TWD Jiggly Gumballs 
@JigglyGumballs
 
     Now this player didn't disappoint the scouts when drafted because of great consistency and they have had a pretty good career but in their last season playing with a solid D.C. club on a top line we should see improvements in all areas, not to mention having a partner like Kristof Welch to boost things it looks like Gumballs could have a point per game. Also the Dragons lack on defense so that makes him a go to man on both sides of the ice as well as a decent fantasy player.
 
 
TWF Henry Tucker 
@NSG88
 
     This season we saw a Vancouver draft pick who continued to grind and finally found themselves on top of the roster sheet with over a point per game already. His attributes are in check, he has good linemates and is in a position to strengthen some of the many Wolves prospects, it's still early in his career and he has already proved himself last season but I think he has plenty of tricks left in the bag to move the Wolves rebuild faster and motivate future prospects to be stars. Probably one of the biggest steals in this years VHFL.
 
 
TWD Greg Eagles 
@Greg_Di
 
     Despite not really making a huge impact in the past handful of seasons I think Eagles has finally optimized himself and grinded it out long enough during the rebuild seasons to put himself on the list as a great defender. He's part of a supreme group of players who are also bound to break out of the box and not only will he be a great defender but he could go home with some awards. Solid selection of you are looking for a defender late in the draft.
 
 
TWF Magnus Verlander
@Jbeezy76
 
     One of our oldest player on this list and had a good run early in his career.. it looks like he will be in a great spot to takeover and help the youngsters develop while logging some good ice-time during his prime. Never above 50 points but after the grind it looks like he'll be the player to pass to now. Actually a nice VHFL pick but since his team mostly physical and isn't one of the best in that area I would steer away from picking him.
 
 
OFD Jan Hlozek
@Bojovnik
 
     Perfect example of getting drafted to the right team at the right time should only give Jlozekk the experience he needs to perform at highest on a team with a plethora of talents, playing beside established playmaking defender Zetterstrom. We have seen some decent numbers from him in Riga but look out for even more goals out of him which will make him one of the best and should keep up with forwards. Not a good pick because of the lack of physicality and a solid top six that will take those but because of their talent gives another reason why I think he WILL become a household name.
 
TWF Frank Funk Jr.
@Rayzor_7
 
     Seeing the Bear sell the last pieces they had to compete this season it was a prime chance for rookies and up and comers like Funk Jr. to ride a wave and potentially become the next superstar talent. He has always been a solid performer playing in replacement roles but with a depleted roster and a spot at the top of the depth chart I believe he is going to shock a lot of goaltenders. If he had a little more TPE he would be a perfect pick but as of right now I wouldn't pick him in Fantasy but look out for him in the seasons to come.
 
OFD Nathan Powers
@JB123
 
     As of right now his numbers aren't jumping off my screen but I see a solid supporting season from him paying beside a monster Battrestrom. He has had his chances seasons before playing for Prague and now finds himself in a leading role everytime the Phantoms want to get back in the game or grab the lead. Without high checking he could be an alright last pick if in need of a defender for fantasy league.
 
TWF Addison McClaren
@tcookie
 
     Third team in almost a full career with a ton of potential behind their stick will finally get the opportunity and be one of the legends who helped bring Davos to the top of the standings, although it doesn't look that way now. A good indicator was last season when McClaren almost put up a point a game after being traded but has never reached the 50 point mark. Right they are playing okay but should be a consistent point earner for VHFL all season.
 
807 words.. oops
 

Hi everyone. McWolf here with a couple of announcements.
 
 
1 - Revamped Rulebook
Since I was hired as VHLM Commissioner last offseason, I decided that my first big project would be to re-organize the rulebook. Most of the information that we needed to function was in it already, but it was necessarily easy to find or understand. There were years and years of changes added on top of each others until it felt like the whole thing was held together by duct tape and the hope that we wouldn't need to look for stuff in it too often. So I did revamp the whole thing tonight. Copied the format from the VHL rulebook, and also copied some parts from it, in cases where our rules are similar and inconsistent wording would be confusing more than anything else. One more thing that I also didn't like about the rulebook was that there no traces of the changes that happened in it over the years, so I'll do my best to keep that updated when we do make change some rules in the future.
 
VHLM Rulebook.
 
 
2 - Double shifting
In an nth attempt to make sure everyone follows the VHLM Prime Directive, which is that the development and retention of new member should prevail over competition, we have decided to limit double shifting. The new rules appear in sections 2.1 and 2.2.
 
 
In the past, teams were encouraged to make offers to waivers until they reached a certain amount of players. While it was mostly successful, it was tough to have all 12 teams follow suite. Most times, the result was that the teams that were the best at recruiting were actually at a disadvantage over the others, because they were filling their 3rd and 4th lines with newly-created, low-TPE, players, while some teams that were half-assing recruitment were coasting with 2 top tier lines repeated onto the two bottom lines. Trying to track down which GM offered to which player to see if they made a genuine effort to recruit new players or not was more often than not a mess, so we decided to give an incentive to teams that recruited better. With double shifting being disallowed (except for lines 3 and 4), teams that have less than 9 forwards and 6 defensemen will be forced to play 0 TPE bots - over which even newly-created, low-TPE, players would be an upgrade.
 
 
3 - Inactive Players Coming Back To Activity
We had a situation last season, where a player was released after they went inactive for the required 3 weeks, only to come back and sign with a different team. To prevent players from using inactivity as a weapon to change team as they see fit, and to penalize the team that sign or acquired the player in the first place, we are going to allow the teams releasing inactive players a priority claim if they do come back to activity.
 
 
 
4 - Conditional Trades
The rulebook previously said that conditional trades weren't allowed, though they had been for a couple of seasons, under the condition that the general managers would keep track of the conditions themselves. Well, starting now, we're adopting the VHL way and allowing them altogether, as long as the condition is set to be resolved before the end of the upcoming offseason.
 
 
 
A couple of other things were slightly changed here and there in the rulebook, but the rest of these changes are pretty much just tiny details and fixes to break in continuity between the rules that have been in place for a long time in the VHL and rules that, for some reasons, were slightly different in the VHLM. It'll make a lot more sense for everyone involved if we keep the details similar when it's possible.
 
 
McWolf
cc: @VHLM Commissioner @VHLM GM

Or at least be on the ballot

I'd love for Z to win too tbh

@Ledge and Dairyhe's all grown up 😭

@Ledge and Dairyhe's all grown up 😭

Hello VHL! It has been a long long time. I am an original member, a S1 expansion draftee and Hall of Fame member. I joined this league so many years ago and checked it multiple times a day for years. I have not been active for years now but still every few months I check out and make sure it’s still running smooth. 
 
I am not sure if I will recreate or not at the moment. The itch to be apart of it again is there but I have recently just started my own business and I am staying pretty busy. I recently quit my full time job to do freelance graphic design fulltime! I owe it all to the VHL. I joined this league with no experience whatsoever with graphics or photoshop at all and through the help of the members in this league I found a passion that they helped me build and develop into a skill I can make a living off of. 
 
I wanted to pop my head in and give away a stock pack to anyone that wants it! I recently uploaded some resources to my website and would love to pass it along to anyone that would find it useful on this site. 
 
DM me on here or preferably on Instagram @BASportDesigns and I’ll get you the link. 

#SIMGANG
 
Hope you're loving your first week of classes ❤️

Come back home @Spartan, Sin City is waiting for you 👀

I'll apply!

should probably add my name to this list

I have nothing to back this up other than just a general feeling, but lately (i.e. the past couple months or so) I've gotten the impression that there's been less activity on the forum. And no, I'm not trying to start a "well back in my day we didn't have Discord" thread, because I wasn't a part of the league during that time and can't logically compare then to now. I'm speaking more in terms of the last couple years versus now. 
 
I know my own activity on Discord and the forums isn't quite what it used to be (and I used to live here, so I'm cool with that), but lately I've clicked on the media spot subforum, or the .com article subforum, and looked for active threads and things I'm interested in commenting on or talking about...and there just isn't much worth reading. Even what is worth reading is largely glossed over--anecdotally, my super in-depth articles (when I care enough to write them) don't generate nearly the amount of engagement that they used to, and that's a problem for just about every other super in-depth article I've seen as well. Graphics threads used to be notorious for being less active in general, but these days they're just as active as article threads, if not outright more active due to a lot of reviewing. And on top of that, there are just fewer threads in general--outside of point tasks and league announcements, do we really even have threads to look at regularly? 
 
Maybe we've seen a bit of a culture shift recently--our member base is larger than it ever has been. Newer members may be a bit put off or intimidated by this as it's now seemingly harder to fit in, older members stick to what (and who) they know and don't mix too much with the others. That might not even be happening at all, but it's a hypothesis I have, backed up anecdotally again by the fact that there's a handful of very active newer members with which I've had little to no interaction whatsoever, even though I doubt either of us wants to avoid the other at all. It's possible that expansion of the community has led to a less personal feel to things, and in turn a less "put yourself out there" type of mindset, but it could also just be a general trend that was accidentally followed--one generally less active week leads to a bit of disengagement, a bit of disengagement leads to another generally less active week, and so on. 
 
I feel like lately all the forum has been is a place to do what we need to do and check out for the week. Hopefully it means much more than that to many of us. I'm not trying to be all anti-Discord boomer here (in fact, I love Discord and think we've gotten along perfectly well with it for quite a while!) and I'm not trying to criticize anyone in particular. I'm not even going to say there's a concrete problem here, or that there's a concrete solution to it. If you care about our community, if you care about our forum, please just think about what you can do to make it a happier, more active, and more welcoming environment when you're finished reading this. It doesn't have to be today, it doesn't have to be right now, but just think of one little thing you can do to go beyond just posting your PTs and running away. 
 
I hope this is NOT a fair criticism, and that I'm simply going insane. If that's not the case, though, get your forum hat on and go make a difference.

hello everyone, it's me, birb. I am here to announce that this current season will be my last one as the GM of the New York Americans. It's been a wild ride in the 12 seasons i've GMed here and i think it's time for me to give the wheel of this ship to someone else. I'd like to thank the good people of the blue to have given me this opportunity back in S67, it was a fullfilling experience. I'm not going anywhere tho, you'll still have my garbage jokes to deal with, just as a player only.
 
okay goodbye
 

 
PS: im still doing the draft stream you cant get rid of me you doofus

TRADE THE PICKS TRUST THE PROCESS
 

TRADE THE PICKS TRUST THE PROCESS
 

Thanks for the great negotiations @JigglyGumballs! Wishing @Kmatt and @Gaudette the best of luck in Vegas!

THE KINGS
I remember being picked up by @Motzaburger in Mexico City during the start of the S71 season, and I recall having no clue what was going on.  Team was pretty bare with actives at the time, Chris Hylands, Pietro Angellini and Matt Sovick were on that team and Jeffrey Pines joined midway through the season as a waiver pickup.  I finished highest in team scoring with 47 points that season, despite not being their best player.  We managed to get 12 wins and 28 points, good enough to finish last place.  Come around draft time, I get selected in the 3rd round by Helsinki, 26th overall.  I also get drafted by the Halifax 21st in the Dispersal Draft in the 2nd round with the 17th pick.
@hylands @okifenoki @matt sovick @rory
 
THE 21ST / THE BULLS
I join @Dil's Halifax 21st squad with Timothy Brown and Viktor Mjers, and we stay there for about 20 games tops, then we all get dealt away because the team was underperforming.  Brown went to Saskatoon, Mjers went to Mexico City and ended up retiring before the draft, while I went to a rebuilding Houston Bulls team.  That team was pretty bare as well, but they acquired through waivers some young rookies that sure made that team alot of fun.  Patrik Laine, Jiggly Gumballs, Riley Knight Gee and goalie Drew Minott lit that fire.  It was since then that I tried my best to train to the max.  We bottomed out again, with an even worse than my previous season.  We had EIGHT wins and 20 points.  Count that.  In 140 games, 20 whole victories.  The Bulls' GM at the time, Sonnet, was stepping down to assume a vacant VHLM commisioner position, so his replacement @rjfryman, was planning a run the previous season.  Seeing Helsinki's deep defensive depth and getting word from @Jubo, I assume I'll stay down to develop and participate in another season with the Bulls, but the VHL was going through a massive expansion with four teams.  I ended up getting selected by the new expansion London United team, so I decided to go up after some serious consideration.  I get to play for Team Asia in World Juniors as well, and I put up 8 points in as many games, but we finish fourth and I don't get any medals.
@a_Ferk @InstantRockstar @Laine @JigglyGumballs @KnightRiley @DreMin15
 
So my VHLM career ended there, here are my stats!

 
THE UNITED
So I join the United, and again, the team is pretty bare.  @McWolf  is a great mentor to me, and he teaches me some pretty important fundamentals to play well in the VHL.  I get to play with VHL rookies The Terrible Trivium and Jay Jones there, Guy Lesieur was selected in the expansion draft as well but he got traded back to DC for 1st round pick mid-season.  I finished with the team lead with 63 points, including 21 goals.  I also ended up tied for 5th in rookie scoring as a defenseman, but got zero Stolschweiger votes.  By this time, I'm a pretty balanced player, but I'm checking a lot more.  Got to represent Team Canada at the World Juniors this time with a pretty good team, but I don't perform nearly as well as last season, and again we don't even get a medal.  We finish near the bottom, as expected for an expansion team.  We do get 23 wins, which is in the middle of the pack for the expansion teams, but no playoffs again.  I haven't played a single playoff game at this point, but I do understand this is first year expansion franchise and we're at the ground floor.  I can only assume we go up from here.
@der meister @TTtheT @KC15
 
I'm named team captain, the first in franchise history!  However, in this season, we finish last in the league.  Not the way I want to begin my captaincy, but 26 wins and 60 points is an improvement though, just not good enough to improve any position in the standings.  Rookies Alec Volchenkov, Julian Nousiainen, Ryan Schwarz, Keith Krestanovich and goalie Nils Friedriksen join the team and we all improve our point totals.  284 games in my VHL and VHLM career and no playoffs still.  I'm beginning to get antsy but the light is seen at the end of the tunnel.
@SirRupertBarnes @okochastar @Enorama @Boragina @Biggreen10
 
In the offseason, I sign a 3 season deal with the United.  S75 saw some big shakeups.  Big trades were being made to improve the team in the short term, and hopefully see our first playoff appearance.  Erik Killinger and Chad Magnum came in from Toronto and Hugh Jass was dealt to us from New York.  Rookies Kasper Kankkunen and goalie Kevin Malone rounded out our young roster and we had our best season yet.  38 wins and 82 points.  I saw some regression after modifying my training regime, I was fed up of taking so many penalties, feeling it cost my team.  I hit alot less, was more focused on my defensive game and fundamentals, as well as trying to create more scoring chances.  I did play deeper in the lineup now since Killinger and Jass were more seasoned vets, but I accepted my role.  We lose out to Moscow in the wildcard round, here's hoping with our core intact we can push harder next season.
@Peace @TheFlash @Corco  @16z @WentzKneeFan036
 
S76 was a weird season.  NOTHING WORKED.  Nothing clicked.  We were abysmal.  26 wins and 64 points, almos a carbon-copy of two seasons earlier.  Ryan Schwarz and Jay Jones were dealt to the Moscow Menace in the offseason for picks that never ended up playing a game for us.  Rookie Nathan Perry was a bright spot for us, as well as veteran Kevin King, who did come join us midway through the season via trade, but his point-per-game help wasn't enough to help us out of the hole we put ourselves in.  Everything just went horribly wrong in this season, and unfortunately, with only one season left on my contract, I'm dealt to Riga for a 1st round pick.  Got to play in my first World Cup with the Mercenaries, and we take everyone by surprise, winning a Gold medal.
@tinafrombobsburgers @IamMOOSE
 
THE REIGN
Honestly, I'm excited to join the Riga Reign.  I've played against them so many times and was impressed with their legacy and their young team, but the previous season they mysteriously tanked hard.  They kinda suffered the same fate as London did, probably the reason they wanted my veteran presence around them, even though I'm beginning to show age and regression.  @hedgehog337 has alot of hopes for this team this season, but we came out of the gates pretty slow and barely improved throughout the season.  I never asked for a trade out of Riga, wanting to show positive character and presence to see things through, but Helsinki pulled the trigger and made a deal to acquire me from Riga for their playoff push.  I only managed to play 38 games for Riga, but I did get 33 points for them.  It was fun getting to play with vets like Ray Sheilds and General Zod, as well as young guns like Cabe McJake, Linus Zetterstrom and Addison McLaren, but it wasn't meant to last apparently.
@Zetterberg @Matt_O @Red @Ledge and Dairy @tcookie
 
THE TITANS
So I'm back to play for the team I was originally drafted by, and reunited with my old pal from my Houston days, Patrik Laine.  In S72, Helsinki did draft Valtteri Vaakanainen and goalie Zamboni Driver as well as myself, so it was cool to meet up with my draftmates at the time.  This roster is pretty stacked and the compete level is high.  In the second half of the season, I get 26 points, but only 3 goals on 100 shots, so it wasn't like I wasn't trying!  I ended the season with 59 points, my second worst production-wise, but it's my second go at the playoffs and at my old age at this point, I felt I had to make the most of it.  We storm through the first round, taking out my former team, the London United in 6 games.  The conference final, we took out Warsaw in 7 games, and I got the winning goal in Game 7.  I'll never forget that goal, it was probably the most iconic goal of my career, and it was the perfect time to score that goal.  We fall to the Seattle Bears in five games in the final, and I thought I'll never get that close again.  My contract is up and there's a GM change in the offseason, so I decide to test free agency for the first time in my aging career.  Had to say farewell to many great players on that team, as it underwent an offseason overhaul.  I had a few teams like Prague, Calgary and Moscow asking for my availability, but I wanted another shot at the Continental Cup.  I was still on the fence about retiring  in the upcoming season or the next, so when the Seattle Bears came calling, I was happy to oblige.
@Tape-to-Tape
 
THE BEARS
@Banackock had put together a formidable pitch to sign me to a one-season deal and make another run to repeat as Cup champs, so I join this very deep team of Cup champs.  They added a disgruntled Kasper Kankkunen, my former teammate from London, who wasn't enjoying his role in London, also added Venus Thightrap, my teammate from Helsinki in free agency.  I'm also reunited with Timothy Brown, my old teammate from Halifax too.  With players like Rara Rasputin, Leo Strauss, Isabella Campbell, Marshall James Frostbeard, Lucifer Olivier Leveque and Hex Rose (not my brother or relative in any way) to name a few, we had the team to repeat.  We finish third in the league with 45 wins and 97 points, so close to winning a Victory Cup.  I also had my most productive season, finally getting over a point per game with 82 points.  I did choose to announce my retirement midseason, feeling the age and realizing I probably wouldn't have the ability to repeat another season of success.  My agent MattyIce already signed his new client Matty Fire and I've made enough money and invested well, so I can retire at my peak.  During the playoffs, I played the best I could, knowing it was my swan song.  I really wanted a Cup, that badly.  We took out Calgary in a long and difficult seven games, they really put up an awesome fight.  Got to play against Nathan Perry, another former teammate from London, so I got to chat with him at the end of game 7 too.  We beat up on Chicago in 4 quick games, but we fell to Warsaw in the final in only 5 games.  I was really tired but still giving it my all that series, I even got the most points on my team to show for it, but it wasn't enough.  I got close twice and that was a real heartbreaker.  I even hoped that I could unwittingly have a shot at a Daisuke Kanou trophy, but I got no votes, but their forwards were elite against us.  I got a second shot at a World Cup medal with the Mercenaries as well, but we didn't get too far.  I just wasn't motivated anymore, I was completely gassed...
@BladeMaiden @Victor @gregreg @FrostBeard @Hex Universe
 
I knew I made the right choice to retire. 
 
After the tournament, I returned to my residence in London for a short while, then headed to my vacation home in the Cayman Islands, which is where I am currently.  It's been a fun career for the most part, I've played against alot of people and made some friends, and if you haven't gotten a mention in here, don't think you've been forgotten.
 
Thanks for everything, but it's time to move on.
 
Here are some more stats that I put up.  I don't think I was a bad 26th overall pick, right?
 


 
2000 words, 4 weeks
Claim 1

@JigglyGumballs
 
 

I'd say Gummy Welches would be a slightly better name. Or worse depending on who's asking

The view of the city on Welch's entry to DC on his flight from Toronto.
 
It's been a long off-season, and without a doubt the most mentally tiring of Kristof Welch's career thus far. With the announcement of wanting to test Free Agency and then ultimately being agreed to be flipped to the D.C. Dragons from the Toronto Legion, the pinball of where his future lies in the league finally settled down now that he has made his way to his new team.
 
Looking towards the season, it was quite obvious that the Dragons would be a team that would push for the playoffs but maybe not make it as far as his old team. However, knowing that he could be the face of change, Welch was prepped for the challenge ahead. Knowing only a few teammates that he's actually spoken to more than once through the league off the bat in Groovy Dood ( @bigAL ), the Captain and star of the D.C. Dragons for his entire career, and Jiggly Gumballs ( @JigglyGumballs ), a no-nonsense physical defenseman who would compliment Welch's offensive game perfectly as a dynamic defensive duo, it was definitely a bit anxious to see how the locker-room would be as well as how the season would go with this team of hardened veterans and only a few players with only a few seasons under their belt (including Welch himself).
 
But looking at the how the 79th VHL Season has gone so far, I think there is a bit of a surprise in the league and in the NA conference. Shifting between 1st and 2nd in the NA conference, the D.C. Dragons are currently sitting at a record of 8-4-6, and although many of those are overtime/shootout losses, they are still one of the only teams in the league so far with a positive Goal Differential. Now with such firepower in the NA conference, this could be not an all season type thing as even the last place New York Americans are only 5 points out of 1st place in the conference, however I'd be firm to believe that the Dragons are not just a flash in the pan.
 
Speaking before-hand of what could be a dominating duo between both Welch and Gumballs, who both in their own right have had solid careers thus far but haven't been exactly dominate in their position, I think matching these two players together have brought the best out of both of their games. Gumballs, both a leader on the ice and in the locker-room right out of the gate joining the team, makes his presence known on the ice his entire career in a Scott Stevens-esque way. Throwing his body around is his game, and has never had less than 150 hits in a season and eclipsed the 200 hit mark twice, but his point totals always came out to be somewhere between a good top-4 and borderline top-2 blueliner with a few 60 points seasons but usually less. However this season, despite it being probably one of the last out of this aging defenseman, Gumballs is finally showing the league his true potential. Already with 20 points in 18 games as well as 53 hits and 33 shot blocks, Gumballs is sitting top-10 in defensemen scoring as well as top 15 in hits for defensemen. It is quite easy to say that D.C. might not near be the team they are currently without him manning the blue line and tossing aside players left and right while still scoring at an above point-per-game level. But alongside Gumballs as a defensive partner on the first pairing, Welch is also experiencing the untapped potential in this original top-5 selection only a few drafts ago. Similar to Gumballs in the sense of having good point total seasons but never really reaching that top defenseman level, Welch has finally put the tools together as a Dragon. Currently second in defensive scoring as well as top-15 in shot-blocks, Welch might be having the breakout season that can only be compared to his fellow former-Legion teammate Gunnar Odinsson ( @BOOM ) in Malmo who is currently torching the league as the best performing player in the league. Welch is currently sitting with a stat-line of 26 points in 18 games (with 8 of those points being goals already as well), with his defensive game still standing strong with 12 hits and 45 shot blocks. Only a quarter of the way through the season, it will be something to keep an eye on if the Jiggly Juice combo continues this performance together.
 
However, despite having a new look blue-line, the Dragons would be nothing without their fearless leader and captain Groovy Dood manning the way yet again. On his way to his 5th consecutive point-per-game season, Dood many not be dominate as of yet this season, but as one of the only stars on the forward core it is great to see that Dood who is also in one of his final seasons still put up great numbers with 24 points in 18 games, 11 of which are goals. And speaking of which, Dood currently sits top-20 in both points and goal totals as well as keeping up his trademarked physical game with 101 hits which sits him at second in the entire league in hits, which goes to show that the Dood has his captaincy for a reason with his all around remarkable game.
 
We asked Welch for a quick summary on his thoughts on how he's fit in with his new team thus far, and he had this to say, "I feel reinvigorated as a player in the league with the Dragons, and I have to give a lot of props to my General Manager @Enorama who took the chance on me despite me announcing that I wanted to test Free Agency. Knowing that he could have had me for free in Free Agency if I choose D.C. then, but still sent a package of picks for me makes me feel more motivated to be a better player for him and the team. I want this team to be a winning team, if not for the myself, but for the veterans like Groovy Dood or Jiggly Gumballs who never got the cup. I love being a Dragon, and I hope this core sticks together."
 
There is still a lot of time left in the season, and the standings and player performances can change on the dime, but the new look Dragons are gelling super well together thus far and time will tell if it will finally be the year the Dragons make a real run for the cup since a heart-breaking defeat back in S75.
 
(1116 words, claiming for 8/1 and 8/8)