JeffD

Las Vegas Aces: Rip the playing card, not hard at all.
 
Malmo Nighthawks: Dumb fuckin bird won’t even be able to attack me one punch to it’s dumb fuckin bird nose and it’s down for the count. Get the barbeque ready for some nice roasted nighthawk breasts and wings. Yum!
 
Prague Phantoms/Philadelphia Reapers: @Josh, @JeffD, and @Jeffie43 can all attest to my absolute stellar ghost hunting skills. I have mastered the art of staying in the van while they did all the work and because this is a ghost hunt I’m allowed to call in my employees while I monitor the action on their gopros. Easiest fight in the world.
 
London United: The mascot for this dumpster team looks like it’s literally just London Bridge. Famously, London Bridge is falling down (falling down, falling down, my fair lady). If I simply bide my time eventually London Bridge will fall down and I will win the fight. Get owned.
 
Koln Express: Fighting a train is very easy. Simply walk 2 feet to the left off of the tracks and tf is it gonna do? Trolly problem it’s ass over to me? Shut the fuck up goofy I could derail the tracks if you give me a couple days
 
Halifax 21st: Another easy fight. What the fuck is it gonna do? Grow legs? Dumb boat gonna die of rust in like 30 years so I win simply by biding my time. Halifax Explosion (good name for a rebrand, think about it commies) 2.0 would definitely expedite my win (because I’d rather fight myself then ever go to Halifax ever so the explosion wouldn’t affect me)
 
San Diego Marlins: Dumb fuckin fish tf it gonna do? Bite my toes? Give me a fishing rod and like 3 weeks of time I’d catch this idiot eventually.
 
Davos Dynamo: This is pretty easy because people like to say that reaching the top of a mountain counts as defeating it. I think if you gave me a year or so dedicated to climbing mountains I could very easily conquer Davos.

New York Americans: Shit logo with no mascot, however, we can all assume the mascot is the average American. Based on these odds, I could very easily win. This would be a different story if I was fighting a Hamilton Canuck, because the average Canadian would be closer to a 50/50, but my pure agility would give me a competitive edge against an American. We are assuming this American does not own a gun because then they win.
 
Toronto Legion: Another dumb fucking bird. This bird looks even weaker than the nighthawk so we’ll be adding them to the barbeque so we can feed the New York American before I fight them (fattening it up).

Missisagua Hounds: What the dog doin? I one punch the dog and then get cancelled on twitter for animal abuse. Whoops.
 
Vasteras Iron Eagles: This is the bird that probably has the best chances of beating me because there's a giant mystery factor of what makes it iron instead of a normal eagle. If the entire thing is iron and it’s still able to fly then this mother fucker has gotta be super strong and could wing flap me to death. So easy to beat the shit out of birds normally though.
 
Houston Bulls: This a cow. The barbeque is getting a little full at this point, however we will throw on some steaks after we defeat them (very easily).

Moscow Menace: Angry santa looks like he’s already on death’s door. I could yank his ugly ass beard right off his face and stuff it down his throat. Take the crown for the rest of my fights so easy.
 
Vancouver Wolves: Honestly bro wolves kinda seem like they rely on pack hunting to fight. One on one, I think my chances are a lot better than what people would think. Couple pokes in the eyes and the tide will turn and I could choke it out on the ground.
 
Geneva Rush: Shit team that should still be in Yukon because theirs never been a fuckin gold rush in the south of Switzerland. Is the mascot a swiss banker? I could beat the absolute shit out of those scumbags.

Miami Marauders: I think I have the agility to outrun and waste the energy of a dumb fucking pirate. This scurvy havin ass better hope he catches me before the syphilis gets him looool
 
Bratislava Watchmen: Famous Slovakian lighthouse keepers, they are probably an old person that retired from the navy or some shit. The Slovakian navy is famous for not having a coastline and probably not existing. I could beat up some stolen valour looking ass old person.

Calgary Wranglers: Fighting the Wranglers really depends on which version of the Calgary logo I am fighting. If I’m able to take on the derp horse, I would very easily take it down in a duel. The current logo, steroid horse, becomes a different story. Being a famously tamed animal, there's a decent chance I could fight it but one good kick and I’m knocked out.

Helsinki Titans: Most people will probably doubt me when I say this but if the mascot has the same tendencies as their team they will underperform and I will be able to take them down due to my insane wits. That big helmet will weigh them down and allow me to win the fight.
 
Mexico City Kings: The draugr is a very common enemy in the dungeons of Skyrim. I have mastered the art of defeating them by stealthing with a bow and arrow before they wake up. I’m kinda worried if it has cold magic because I am not a nord so I don’t have resistance to cold. 

Rome Gladiators: Now THIS is a prize fighter that would give me a challenge! They’d put me in a net and then stab me with a trident that’d be so cool and I’m dead so fast.
 
Stockholm Vikings: A very large Swedish viking would kick the shit out of me probably while completely nude. It’d at least be a very enjoyable experience for me getting my ass kicked by a probably very attractive person.
 
Istanbul Grey Wolves: Yeah I think a Turkish Neo-Nazi could easily take me down. They’ve been studying the blade while I’ve been derailing trains and barbequing nighthawks.
 
Ottawa Lynx: Probably the weakest of the big cats, a lynx would still have an excellent chance at killing the absolute shit at me. Have you guys ever heard what a Lynx sounds like? They fucking scream like absolute banshees. This scream would bait me into thinking I was in a ghost hunt and then I’d be unprepared and it’d kill me while I hold my EMF detector.
 
Saskatoon Wild: Another big cat, however I think the mystery factor once again is a major player in my calculations. Is it a bobcat? Is it ALSO a lynx? A cougar perhaps? Who the fuck knows. That’s why it edges out the Ottawa Lynx.
 
Seattle Bears: This is a mother fucking bear. It looks like a grizzly and grizzlies are famous for being fucking crazy territorial. I am terrified and this bear would kill the shit out of me and not even care 
 
Warsaw Predators: Beating up an old ass catholic priest would be easy Nobody knows what the fuck this dumb fucking animal is but I think the original idea was a wild boar. This pig motherfucker would absolutely destroy me in a heartbeat and then eat my entire body, bones and teeth included. They would never find my body.
 
Riga Reign: This is a mother fucking lion. Thankfully the male lions do not participate in hunts but this dude would just casually knock me and then eat me. I have a slight chance if it’s a LAZY lion that’s lived their entire life in captivity.

Oslo Storm: Isn’t their logo literally Thor? I can beat up the Chris Hemsworth version but the Thor from the myths wouldn’t even look at me. Simple smite and I’m absolutely toasted. At least I’ll die a warrior and he’ll have to drink with me forever in Valhalla. Spending the rest of eternity with me, I think I’d eventually break him mentally. So he would win the fight, but I’d win the war.
 
Chicago Phoenix: This is a mythical bird that is famous for being fucking on fire. This mother fucker would kill me with a big ol’ hug, but I suspect it’d pick me up and drop me like how birds of prey hunt mammals. 
 
D.C. Dragons: Yeah no shot. Another mythical beast, this big ol dude is a fire breathing monster that would roast me in a second before I even get the chance to turn and run.

Los Angeles Stars: LOL yeah I can both not fight in space, and I don’t even have easy access to supermega nuclear bombs, which stars have go off on their surface like 1000 times a second. Not fair, I lose.
 

Thank you for watching my audio podcast.
 

Thanks for the talks @Frank
 
welcome to Chicago @Frank

Thanks for the talks @Frank
 
welcome to Chicago @Frank

Thanks for the talks @Frank
 
welcome to Chicago @Frank

Red Gaming and Baby Bob have both been excellent surprises this season. Very impressed with them.
 
 
As of this Bob is now in third but I definitely think he could take the lead before seasons end - the guy has been on fire.
 
 
I do not think I believe in it but I love it as a genre for a show/movie.
 
 
I think the number of teams the NHL is currently sitting at is very good. They even have some teams they could look to relocate before they decide to expand at all.
 
 
I'm not sure I have a good answer for this one. I think the VHLE system has some fairly major flaws but both leagues also have their merits.
 
 
I am a huge fan of spicy food. I could absolutely crush some hot wings right now.

Greeting readers and welcome back to the power rankings of the S70's VHL teams. Last time we looked at the worst of the worst, the bottom four teams, teams that struggled in every season and were unable to go on any kind of run or nab extra points from being a top three team in goals for, against or differential. Now we're going to take a look at the teams that managed slightly better, team's here that played the full decade fared better in the regular season and managed to grab more extra points. Expansion teams in this ball park actually did very very well and it's definitely an area where the expansion ranking really shows just how good they really were. I have also decided to add in something extra on the stats list to fill in some blank space, I will now have a points stat that simply shows the regular season points earnings plus the bonus points they achieved, I will retroactively add this to part one as well.
 
 

Chicago Phoenix
Record: 262-197-45
Rank: 12th with 724 points
                                                     Goals for: x3                    Conference finals: x2
                                                     Goals against: x1               Cup finals: x0
                                                    Goal differential: x3     Continental Cup: x1
                                                    Victory Cup: x1               Points: 569+155              
 Expansion ranking: 5th with 724 points
Our first team on the list for part two is the S74 expansion Chicago Phoenix, while the team may be 12th when looking at the overall picture the 5th in expansion ranking speaks volumes in how much they managed to accomplish in a short time. As one would expect from most expansion teams their first season was the worst, but it wasn't just bad, it was worst of the decade. 18-51-3, the only time in the S70's that a team failed to secure 20 wins and 40 points. Despite that though it was clear a plan was in place for the team as they jumped up by 26 points the next season and 19 the season after that. Season 75 saw them secure an upset over the Victory cup winning Wranglers in round one and they took the Dragons to seven games in round two. With playoff experience now in hand Chicago had their best regular season in season 76, finishing 49-16-7, they were the best in North America and they finished top three in goals for and differential.
 
They had a dominant run to their one cup win of the decade, only suffering three losses. In round one they beat the Seattle Bears 4-2, round two they swept the Wolves and in the finals they beat their fellow expansion team the Warsaw Predators 4-1. They skated away with 185 points that season. The remaining three seasons saw them stay in the 40 win column, S77 they finished top three in goals for and differential, S78 saw them tie their expansion brethren Warsaw Predators in regular season points at the top of the league with 98. It was more than just that though, they were top three in all goal categories and they beat the Dragons in the first round before being swept in the second. For the final year of the decade the team went out on a fine record with 90 points, no top three's and didn't go anywhere in the playoffs. As stated at the start, the Phoenix were good and outside of their first two seasons in the S70's were a team you had to respect.
 

New York Americans
Record: 329-324-67
Rank: 11th with 745 points
                                                     Goals for: x0                    Conference finals: x1
                                                     Goals against: x1               Cup finals: x0
                                                     Goal differential: x0     Continental Cup: x0
                                                     Victory Cup: x0              Points: 725+20           
 Expansion ranking: 15th with 486 points
After looking at the Phoenix it's a shame to have to jump back to a mediocre team, the New York Americans are another team that seemingly just coasted through the S70's. The main difference here compared to say, the Dynamo, is that New York had better regular seasons and managed to push more games into overtime. They were the Dynamo on a better diet basically. Like H.C. Davos, the Americans were top three in goals against once but unlike Davos they were able to win a round in the playoffs. Season 72 they upset the second place Seattle Bears to move on into round two only to get bested by the Wranglers in a seven game series. Their best record was the only time they achieved 40 wins, 43-23-6 in season 73 put them fifth overall, two seasons later they would bottom out at 21-42-9, dead last in the league. The Americans were a stronger team at the start of the decade as they had 36 or more wins each season topping off at the 43 in S73 as mentioned before, but they dropped pretty hard after that, sitting in the 20 win range the next four seasons before returning to 30 wins in the final two. Their expansion ranking shows just how close they were to H.C. Davos Dynamo, as they finished just four points ahead of them. Many of you knew they'd be close to the bottom and well here they are; sure they managed to finish ahead of the Chicago Phoenix in terms of looking at the full decade but looking at that expansion ranking, there's a ten place and 238 point difference.
 
 
Prague Phantoms
Record: 361-292-67
Rank: 10th with 814 points
                                                     Goals for: x0                    Conference finals: x1
                                                     Goals against: x2               Cup finals: x0
                                                     Goal differential: x0     Continental Cup: x0
                                                     Victory Cup: x0              Points: 789+25           
 Expansion ranking: 10th with 580 points
The Prague Phantoms, a team that has one of my favorite logos in the league, was good through the decade... but never great. Honestly what's the most remarkable thing about this franchise during the S70's was just their consistency, the team finished in the 30 win column nine times and the one time they weren't, they were in the 40 win range. That would be season 76 with a season end record of 45-26-1 to put them fifth in the league that year, and they finished top three in goals against. Surprisingly their worst record came the year prior when they finished 31-34-7 which put them 13th overall, that's pretty special to see, a team jump their worst record of the decade to their best. The problem as I said before however is that while the Phantoms were a respectable team the whole way through, they never had that next level, they finished in the top three in goals against twice for noticeable regular season achievements and only escaped the first round once. That came in Season 78 when they beat the London United 4-1 and lost in the second round to the Warsaw Predators 4-2. To draw a comparison to the NHL, they remind me of the Minnesota Wild, a team that's been good but never great, a team you know is gonna go out in the first round 95% of the time. If there's one final thing I can say about them, they are the first team on this list that played the full decade and finished with more wins than overall looses (361-359) and being 10th in both rankings shows the stable nature of the team.
 

Warsaw Predators
Record: 275-178-51
Rank: 9th with 816 points
                                                    Goals for: x5                    Conference finals: x2
                                                    Goals against: x1               Cup finals: x1
                                                    Goal differential: x4     Continental Cup: x1
                                                    Victory Cup: x2              Points: 601+215           
 Expansion ranking: 2nd with 816 points
Easily the most successful expansion team from those in the S70's, the Warsaw predators blow Los Angeles and the London United out of the water and managed to outshine the Chicago Phoenix by a good margin to. No surprise their worst record was their expansion year, 23-41-8 for 54 points and 14th overall. The following season they jumped to 27-37-8 for 62 points and again 14th overall. In their third season they took a sizeable jump, gaining a record of 40-25-7 and finishing top three in goals for, something they would do for five consecutive seasons. While they had no playoffs luck next season would make up for it, their best record yet of 51-13-8, they were top three in goal differential and went to the finals. They beat the Titans in a close seven game series, beat Moscow in a seven game series as well, it set up a match up between expansion brethren, Chicago vs Warsaw to see who would win the first cup of the S73 expansion teams, of course if you read the first entry on this list than you know Warsaw loses here. Warsaw was not deterred though, as they went 47-21-4 for 98 points, finished top three in all goal categories, win the victory cup and make it out of the first round beating the Phantoms 4-1 before Helsinki beat them in a nail bitter seven game series.
 
The second last season of the decade saw Warsaw make up for their loss two season ago, while their point total was the same as last season the record was different, 44-18-10. For a third straight time they were top three in goal differential and while losing the tiebreaker for the Victory cup in terms of VHL rules, they were tied in points with the Phoenix so I will award it to them anyway. The Predators weren't messing around as they beat the Nighthawks 4-1, Phantoms 4-2 and the Seattle Bears by the same amount. In the final season of the decade Warsaw still impressed, going 43-23-6 and securing top three in goals for for that fifth straight season and goal differential for a fourth straight season. They beat the Riga Reign 4-1 but lost to the Nighthawks in round two 3-4. Three less seasons played, not to mention the usually rough expansion year and Warsaw still managed to get up to ninth place, it's remarkable and to let you all know, they aren't far behind 8th place either. The expansion ranking of second shows you just how dominant they were once you get to season 75; under my system, they managed to have four 100+ point seasons showing just how good they were. I can tell you now the gaps between 3rd to 2nd, and 2nd to 1st are pretty big.
 
And that is a rap for part two! It was super fun to talk about two teams with a good amount of playoff success and two others that merely are where they are because they played fine enough. Next time we will look through 8th to 5th and see a pretty big jump in terms of record, we will be moving into teams that were cup contenders that actually played the full decade, with that said yes, we have already talked about the four expansion teams. Sorry to the fans of those teams but that's just how the cookie crumbles, it's hard to make up for those three seasons they didn't exist for. Until next time, ciao for now!
 
(word count 1831)

I love the game of "how much Cow is willing to give away for a Seattle cap dump"

My last player, a hidden gem I would say retired 6 months ago and I've been away from the league ever since. I contemplated coming back a few times but then realised that I wouldn't have the time to earn a lot. While I can't guarantee to be a max earner (12tpe per week, with media spots), I can guarantee that I will remain active (at least earning every week, I don't know about maxing out). Before I go into the actual article, I have a few people to thank. 
Looking at my notification inbox, I realised a couple of mentions from people I talked to a lot like fishy, Gus and Jeff aka Uncle Lidia. These people have been nothing but amazing when I was developing Xin. 
 
@fishy - They always brought the fun in the Chicago LR. I also remember when they brought up the idea of having pronouns given in the server. They were the pioneer and I looked up to them for being vocal about this change. I'm hoping they're doing well and wish them nothing but the best in their career and life.
 
@Gustav - Always in my mind the degen horny police, chasing people off to horny jail. He has been extremely helpful and Xin even was Taro's teammate in multiple tourneys. Congratulations on the HOF man, so well deserved. Gustav and his build guides are a haven for all rookies so please, if u are new, reach out to him, he doesn't bite. 
 
@JeffD - He gave me my first management job in the league and it was such an honour. I technically still have AGM rights, thanks to inactive Lidia but I have stepped down. He single-handedly brought Chicago to its glory days and I couldn't be more proud of him. Jeff kept me in check when I got mad at Xin for being horrible in the first couple of seasons but now looking back, I don't know why Xin won no awards and I am mad at that now.
 
@Beaviss - I know you're out here in the VHL, somewhere hidden perhaps but i appreciate all the degen streams we got going back then. It really helped me get through some horrible covid lockdown days so thanks a lot man. I hope you and your family is doing well and all the best to you in whatever you may be doing in life right now.
 
Now fast forward to my second player, Babay Shrimp. The name originated from a degen hour game night. Everyone loved it and someone wanted my recreate to have this name so here we are. I'm looking to make a winger that prioritises passing over scoring. That meta has always been pretty much frowned upon but I do wanna see how far it can take a player. This is gonna be a pretty fun experiment! Shrimp set up with a deadly scorer on the same line would make for some crazy goal scoring ability in the major leagues. Along with the passing, I want Shrimp to be fast on the ice since making him agile will hopefully make him pretty unique as a winger in the VHL/E/M. As always, since the dawn of the VHL, defence is a very important attribute. Moreover, with Shrimp being fast, he's able to get back to the D zone and take some shots on behalf of the goalie.
 
Well the league has changed a lot too. With the STHS attributes completely changed, there's gonna be some getting used to. As usual, the portal broke down (for me)...I can't spend my TPE and someone, SOMEONE, needs to fix this (this is now addressed tho). Besides the point, the change seemed to be for the better as I heard from the others so I am all for it.
 
Well, here's the end of my very impromptu media spot about me blabbing. Shrimp has gotten a ton of offers so it's time for him to think about which team he should sign with. For now, I'll see you in...whenever I can write one of these bad boys. 
 
Word count: 682 words, claiming for week ending 17/7

BABAY SHRIMP BABAYYYYYYYYY

#jointhebigfish

It is theme week and I finally have a player again so it is time to talk about who I appreciate within the league. I’ve been in and out of the VHL since the very start almost 15 years ago, and returned to full activity almost exactly three years ago, so I have interacted with a lot of different members from different eras during my time here. I’m not quite sure which direction this article is going to go in yet but let’s see where typing this up takes me. Let’s talk about some of the people I appreciate most in the VHL.
 
@solas - Jean Pierre Camus was my first draft pick as the Chicago Phoenix GM and he, along with most of the core selected in those first couple of seasons, decided to take a flier on me as a general manager and play their entire careers with us. Solas quickly became one of my favourite VHL members while talking to him in our locker room and his personality was definitely a huge part of why those early Chicago locker room days, despite all the losing and lack of players, were bearable. Between his insane Jeopardy knowledge and his willingness to really just talk about anything he is an enormous reason why the Chciago locker room became what it did during the peak years, and I have no doubt in my mind my tenure as Chicago general manager would not have been nearly as enjoyable as it has been if I had no selected his player 7th overall all those season’s ago.
 
@fishy - Mine and fishy’s VHL interactions did not get off to the best of starts way back when I drafted their player, Matty Socks, 22nd overall in S73. It was my first draft as a VHL general manager and while I reached out to players I considered with my top end picks, I had not reached out to fishy before selecting Socks. Of course since then Socks ended up playing his entire career with the Chicago Phoenix, and there are many things that I appreciate about fishy, but the first thing was that they gave me perspective on what it meant to be a general manager and how much even a low effort thing such as reaching out to a prospect, even if they are not one at the top of draft boards, can mean to that person. Ever since then I have made an effort to reach out to a lot more players in draft classes and the positive feedback I have received from doing so has made it completely worth it.
 
@Quik - Although he isn’t around too much anymore Quik is a user that I have always appreciated in the VHL. I first was in leagues with Quik before the VHL was a thing and Scotty was running leagues using a Playstation 2, and we interacted every once in a while. However when I selected Christian Mingle second overall in the S74 draft and had him join the Chicago locker room I knew immediately I had made the right selection. Not only was Quik, with all of his experience throughout the years in the VHL, a great resource for myself as a new general manager, his personality and willingness to bring activity to the Chicago locker room really galvanized that core into the powerhouse it became. Quik would instantly answer any questions I had and would often give me suggestions that would lead to further success for the team, but his biggest contribution was his ability to make friends with everyone on the team and really keep those users together. Quik was the special ingredient that made those Chicago teams what they were and for that I appreciate him and hope he can make a return in the future.
 
@Blazzer - Blazzer is no longer active in the VHL but still comes by the Chicago locker room every once in a while and it is always a nice surprise when she does. My first interactions with Blazzer were when she, Quik and myself would be talking in the VHL general chat early in the mornings and the topic of conversation often turned to Quik’s post-coffee bowel movements. After selecting Quik’s player with the second overall pick in the draft, and knowing how social Blazzer was with Quik and myself, I made it an absolute priority to pick her player, and it may have been one of the best picks I ever could have made. Blazzer soon became my first, and only to date, assistant general manager and was an immense help to me in my role. Someday we will have to play some Valorant if you still do.
 
I guess this just kind of became a Chicago Phoenix appreciation post but honestly it would be kind of hard for it not to be. These four users, all of whom played their entire careers for the Phoenix, made what would normally be a very tough job as a VHL general manager very easy.  While building this early Chicago core I tried to prioritize the members over the players but even I had no idea that this group would become what it did. I am just very happy that through the tough times that the pandemic brought upon us I could have this small group of users that I could pretty much talk to about anything without judgment, and I hope all of them felt the same way. I’m not sure I truly appreciated what we had at the time but if I had not had that locker room to distract me throughout those times of isolation I’m not sure how I would have coped with that terrible situation. The ability to just hop into Discord at any moment and be able to talk about anything was a godsend during those times.
 
Anyway this has kind of dragged on at this point, and I did not expect to write this much so late on a Sunday, but it kind of just happened. There are of course many other members I appreciate for many different reasons, but these were the four that popped into my mind first, and it kind of fit a theme.
 
1039 words - claiming 5/29 and 6/5

Thank you for the continued honor of being the captain of the Phoenix. Let's keep this strong start going!

honoured to be part of the team's captaincy! Let's keep that momentum rolling!

S84 Chicago Phoenix Team Captains 
 
The Chicago Phoenix have reached a new point in our rebuild where we are finally looking to become true contenders. Taking such a young team to the playoffs, which I'm not sure anyone in the league expected, and even having some playoff success took great leadership from our group of captains and for that reason we will be running it back with the same group. Please welcome your returning Chicago Phoenix team captains!
 
Team Captain: Bo Johansson @Shindigs
Alternate Captain: The Board Game Clue On Skates @MubbleFubbles
Alternate Captain: Scotty Sundin @fromtheinside
 
After last season's tremendous success I could not be happier to welcome these three back as our team leaders.

S84 Chicago Phoenix Team Captains 
 
The Chicago Phoenix have reached a new point in our rebuild where we are finally looking to become true contenders. Taking such a young team to the playoffs, which I'm not sure anyone in the league expected, and even having some playoff success took great leadership from our group of captains and for that reason we will be running it back with the same group. Please welcome your returning Chicago Phoenix team captains!
 
Team Captain: Bo Johansson @Shindigs
Alternate Captain: The Board Game Clue On Skates @MubbleFubbles
Alternate Captain: Scotty Sundin @fromtheinside
 
After last season's tremendous success I could not be happier to welcome these three back as our team leaders.

S84 Chicago Phoenix Team Captains 
 
The Chicago Phoenix have reached a new point in our rebuild where we are finally looking to become true contenders. Taking such a young team to the playoffs, which I'm not sure anyone in the league expected, and even having some playoff success took great leadership from our group of captains and for that reason we will be running it back with the same group. Please welcome your returning Chicago Phoenix team captains!
 
Team Captain: Bo Johansson @Shindigs
Alternate Captain: The Board Game Clue On Skates @MubbleFubbles
Alternate Captain: Scotty Sundin @fromtheinside
 
After last season's tremendous success I could not be happier to welcome these three back as our team leaders.

S84 Chicago Phoenix Team Captains 
 
The Chicago Phoenix have reached a new point in our rebuild where we are finally looking to become true contenders. Taking such a young team to the playoffs, which I'm not sure anyone in the league expected, and even having some playoff success took great leadership from our group of captains and for that reason we will be running it back with the same group. Please welcome your returning Chicago Phoenix team captains!
 
Team Captain: Bo Johansson @Shindigs
Alternate Captain: The Board Game Clue On Skates @MubbleFubbles
Alternate Captain: Scotty Sundin @fromtheinside
 
After last season's tremendous success I could not be happier to welcome these three back as our team leaders.

For some it may feel like ages, ago , but for the Chicago Phoenix, their conference semi-final loss still feels like an open wound. If there was any solace in their defeat, it was that the Seattle Bears did in fact go on to capture the the league title. So if you are a glass-half-full kind of person, there's a silver lining in knowing that the club lost to the absolute best the league had to offer. And furthermore, the Phoenix had outperformed their expectations by leaps and bounds. The team was coming off of one of the worst seasons in franchise history, but its young crop of rookie talent arrived and delivered a season full of memories and optimism for the future. As a token of the season's success, defenseman Bo Johansson was voted as rookie of the year which is a nice feather in his cap to start his career.
 
Now the focus shifts to this upcoming season, and fans got their first glimpse of club this week when training camp opened. In the offseason, the Phoenix made a seismic acquisition by trading their first round pick in next year's draft to Prague in exchange for veteran winger Big Bob. Bob will bring some much needed depth up front to Chicago's top-six. With this addition, Chicago should be able to roll two legitimately dangerous scoring lines for opposing teams to have to deal with this season. The other area of need was goaltending, as the spot became open this offseason. As of earlier this week though, Chicago and Prague got together once again and Prague secured a Season 86 second round pick in exchange for Red Gaming. Red Gaming should stabilize the team between the pipes for the time being. 
 
The team has looked sharped during their intra-squad scrimmages and drills thus far. The one problem with the great season they had last year was that now their are definitely higher expectations going forward. While the Phoenix are definitely trending upwards and in the right direction, it's important to note that the team is still not fully complete quite yet. The team lacks some depth that is needed to set them apart from the other bottom-to-mid tier teams in the league. While the European Conference still is largely considered the dominant of the two conferences, some teams in North America continue to make strides as well. Both Vancouver and Los Angeles will be better this season as they continue to rebuild after both being dominant teams for quite a long stretch previously. I could see either of them playing the "Chicago" role this season and potentially surprise some people. Meanwhile, the New York Americans continue to make strides to make their team better as well. 
 
We are only about a week and a half out from puck drop on the new season though, so there's still lots of time to get your tickets for the home opener! We are certainly going to be in store for another exciting season of Chicago Phoenix hockey! See you at the arena!

I am very happy to welcome you to the squad @Big Boband @Birdman. Hoping you two can be part of the come up of this young squad as we look to take this next step!

S84
 
Transaction ID: 5FC36953FH754264F
 
Free Week - Claiming week of 06/26
Doubles Week
5 Uncapped TPE - Claiming week of 06/26

F - Paul Atreides
F - Saku Kotkakoivu
 
@v.2