JeffD

Hoooooooly hyperbole

Managing this team has been a treat all the way from working with league management on the expansion concept way back at the start of the pandemic to winning a championship in season 76, and all the ups and downs before and since then. Overall, I think the Chicago Phoenix have been a success. While my activity has been called into question throughout my tenure, some as a bit of an inside joke, others in a more assholeish way, I think many of my longer-term players will agree that I have been dedicated to trying to build a winner here in Chicago, and we have managed to make the playoffs in 12 of our 16 seasons since we came into the league. While it would have been nice to have been able to have brought more than one cup to Chicago the playoffs are a fickle beast and while we have been close, I was never able to secure one with this second core. Now to thank some specific people. @solas – my first ever draft pick with Chicago and a career player for the Phoenix. Camus was a legend and you are among my favourite members here @fishy – while our time together got off to a rocky start when I drafted Matty Socks without scouting, I think it ended up being a fun adventure with that first core @Blazzer – my first AGM and another career long Chicago Phoenix player – I know you hated how Lee Xin played but I hope our conversations in the locker room and early morning gen chat made your early time in the league enjoyable @Quik – Thanks for trusting me with Christian Mingle and sticking out your career in Chicago – glad we could get a cup out of it – hope all is well @MubbleFubbles – Thank you for spending as long as you did in Chicago. Our chats on player builds and roster construction were always very enjoyable and I wish you all the best with this player and any in the future @Shindigs – I hope everything is good with you – we talked a ton while you were here and I am sad we could not win a cup together, but I learned a lot from you on new builds with the hybrid attributes. Hope to see you around again soon! @fromtheinside – So glad you chose to spend your career in Chicago with Sundin. Once again sad we couldn’t win a cup together but I hope I provided you with a fun place to play out your career @Subject056 - I know you are a fairly new member of the Phoenix and we haven't talked a ton but whichever member gets to take over as a general manager for the Phoenix has a great member and player to build around as their cornerstone. I hope you can carry Chicago back to glory in the near future! To the plethora of other players who have played in the red and orange since our inception I would like to thank each and every one of you for your time here, whether you got here through trade, free agency, the draft or other means. I hope I gave you a locker room and team where you could have fun while I tried to build a winning team with a good enviroment. Outside of that I would like to thank all the other general managers who put up with me in my role. I have issues responding to DMs, as has been brought up a few times, but that was never anything personal. That issue extends to my personal and work life as well and is something I am trying to work on. I truly did enjoy talking to most of you and you made the role a fun one to work in. I hope to stick around the VHL in some capacity as I have been here on and off since its creation sixteen seasons ago but it is time for me to hand the reins over to someone who can dedicate the time needed to build Chicago back into a championship caliber team. tl;dr it is time for me to admit I am inactive and I’m going to retire

Chicago could not be happier to have @Subject056, @AColdCanadian and @WithARevelYellin the organization. We have high hopes for them!

We have run the same captaincy group here in Chicago the past couple of seasons but with some new roster turnover and some other changes in circumstance we are proud to announce a new group to lead the team on a deep run in season 88! Team Captain: The Board Game Clue on Skates @MubbleFubbles Assistant Captain: Scotty Sundin @fromtheinside Assistant Captain: Wattson Power @Tape-to-Tape I'd like to welcome those new to their roles and cannot wait to see the S88 version of the Chicago Phoenix hit the ice!

What are picks anyway? Good talks @FrostBeard. Not sure we could have asked for a more mismatched schedule but we got it done. Welcome to the squad @Enorama, @Nykonax and @wcats. Let's try and make a run.

Thanks for the three seasons in Chicago @N0HBDY. Unfortunately we couldn't lock down a cup but that is the way things go. Good luck!

100%

A player I signed in free agency is listed at $1 million and needs to be adjusted and another hasn’t accepted a contract we agreed on yesterday yet.

We do not have $5 million in cap space, we have $3 million, and it’s already been spoken for.

Hits have to be the most overrated forward stat

Nah it isn't but keep being a petty dick

Welcome to Chicago @Tape-to-Tapeand @Futch! Can't wait to get you guys in the lineup to make a run.

Welcome to the squad @samthemancub! Glad to have you aboard!

Welcome to the squad @Lazarus ! Very excited to have you along for our playoff push!

D- Bo Johansson @Dom

F - Baby Bob @Alex

D - Tui Sova @Dom

Exactly. Get someone making decisions and they essentially have their choice of which direction to take this team.

Imagine that... a GM goes missing for unknown reasons and a team's roster suffers greatly because of it. The team has pieces to either build a new roster around or move into a rebuild by moving assets out for high picks if they choose to. I'd argue Helsinki is a great place for a new GM to land and decide which direction they want to take it.

No.

All you need for a successful rebuild is to use your picks well. Chicago had picks and zero players a few seasons ago and the turnaround is going pretty well. If they had traded their picks coming up there may be cause for concern, as it stands they have their own picks and some additional ones.

Yes at this point it is likely that Helsinki will have to enter a rebuild, which isn't the end of the world.