CowboyinAmerica

1. We face Moscow once again! Predictions for series length? If you’re answering after the series is over, did we advance? First line Tsunami = Sweep... wait, we're sweeping anyway. LET'S DO THIS DAVOS. 2. Who do you believe the NA champion will be? Naturally, wild card teams are better than anybody else, so this is finally the year that New York puts it all together. 3. How would you rate your player’s individual performance in the wildcard round against London? I'll give a B+. The win is the most important thing so that's a positive, Bucatini wasn't a game changer but 4 points in 4 games ain't bad. 4. In your opinion, what makes a good player name? I tend towards the more realistic names, but also realize this is a sim league for fun. So something that toes the line between being an actual name, but having a bit of fun with it as well. 5. What is your favorite point task to do in the VHL? I'm a writer by trade and that's always what's drawn me to point task leagues anyway. So to me, there's nothing better than a really good investigative article. 7. In a Game 7 shootout situation, which active VHL starting goalie would you want in net for you? I want somebody with completely irrational confidence that their team is going to win in spite of what all logic may say. With that in mind, Lovstrom.

Davos -- The Wild Card round is now in the books, and for HC Davos Dynamo, the series went about as expected. The Dynamo dispatched the upstart London United in four games, taking Games 3 and 4 to close the series following London goalie Chazz Michael Michaels' spectacular Game 2 shutout. The Dynamo were able to take the series through a full team effort - four players (Antonia Bucatini, Gianfranco del Rocco, David Pastanap and Mina) scored exactly four points in the four games, while Johnny Tsunami (three points) and Sunset Moth (two points) weren't far behind. To Bucatini, the spread out scoring was indicative of the team's greatest strength: depth. "We've had different players step up at different times, and I think we showed that against London," Bucatini said. "And that's good, because we'll need everybody bought in moving forward." Indeed, Davos now faces off against top-seeded Moscow in the quarterfinals, a rematch of last year's 2-3 series that saw Moscow win in seven games. But this isn't the first time these teams have faced off with these seeds either - in Season 95, Davos scored a massive upset as the four seed. Can that sort of upset happen once again? Despite the seeds, Bucatini believes this should be anybody's series. "It's even in my mind. Forget the regular season, this will be a fight," Bucatini added. "I really want to start off strong, to not give Moscow an inch. I wouldn't call us the favorites, but do we have a chance? Absolutely, we've got a squad here to compete with anybody."

Davos -- Entering the season, HC Davos Dynamo were widely considered to be in the upper tier of VHL teams. And for much of the season, they lived up to that billing. FOr a very brief spell around the one-third mark of the season, they even held the best record in the entire VHL. But as sometimes tends to happen, things began to break wrong for the Dynamo near the halfway mark. Pucks that once were finding the back of the net were now being stopped. Line changes made problems go from bad to worse. And suddenly, with just five games left to play, the Dynamo find themselves in fourth - and in the wild card spot - in a tough European Conference. "We didn't fall here because of lack of effort. We've tried just about everything to get going again," noted center Antonia Bucatini. "But that early season magic we had seems to have been lost a bit." To be fair, at 86 points the Dynamo still have the sixth-best record in the VHL. And, due to a tight top of the conference, the Dynamo are only 4 points behind third and 12 points behind first - meaning they still have time to escape their current position. But will it happen? Three games against the top of the North America Conference (Toronto and Seattle x2) loom large, as does a final day matchup against the currently second-seeded Titans. "It's make or break, we know we have to win those games," Bucatini added. "To be a real contender, you have to be able to beat the tough teams. But this is a squad that has gone far in the playoffs before, let's see if we can do it again."

1. We’re at the final stretch of the regular season! How do you feel about Davos’ performance over the course of S98? Can we switch conference? I'm tired of this stuff where we're like 5th or 6th overall, but 4th in the conference. We've faltered a bit down the stretch, but still think we have a team that can make noise in the playoffs. 2. How many players do you think the S100 class will end with? I'll say more than 64, but that's just because I want to see 4ths actually mean something for once. YOU LAUGHED, BUT LOOK WHO'S LAUGHING NOW. 3. How is your team performing in VHFL and/or Super Coach if you participated? Hadn't checked but apparently I'm fourth overall in Super Coach, which is pretty sweet. Second in my VHFL group which I'll take too. 4. Does your player shoot left or right-handed? If you’re a goalie, what is their glove side? Ambidexterous. What, you say that doesn't make sense? I'm sorry, let me go consult with my fellow VHL players Boner and WWWWWW WWWWWWW about what makes sense. 6. Did your favorite NHL team clinch a playoff spot? It would take a hell of a collapse for the Wild not to make it at this point. Which, because it's Minnesota sports, will now undoubtedly happen. 7. What do you believe is the most physically demanding and difficult sport to play? Shout out to rugby. I knew some women's rugby players when I was in high school and let me tell you, both insanely fit and very much did not want to mess with them.

Claim 3

Oh that's a throwback, welcome back!

Well, out of all the S100 recreates can honestly say I didn't see this one coming. Hope you stick around! I think your most recent players were technically a different account/username? So that might trip the system up, but yeah you're due carryover that someone can probably add manually.

1. There has been some debate over theme week these past few days. Do you believe anything about it should be changed? It's fine. Anything that encourages more engagement is good in my book, and there's been so many at this point, I have no problem with whatever themes. 2. Who is your favorite all-time VHL “tough guy?” Shout-out to Molholt's A.C. Savage - creates a fighting-centric forward, inexplicably wins a dumb title in S43 with the Bears, and retires on the spot. That's the life. 3. We are about 20 games away from the end of the regular season and the battle between the top 4 in the EU is close. How would you rate Davos’ chances to sit at the top? It's tough, just because there are so many teams fighting for it. I'll give it the old 25% chance. 5. If you could only dump all your TPE into one attribute, what would it be? One day we're going to prove the Leadership meta. Today isn't that day, but props to Miner VHL for going for it. 6. The S100 recreates are pouring in! Do any player names stick out to you yet? I tend to like the more realistic names anyway, so in a long line of Miller players, happy to see Mia Miller from Advantage. 7. Where was the last place you traveled to? Was in DC then NYC for work a few weeks ago, will be in Vancouver next week. Just knocking out all the VHL team locations here.

1500+ words, claiming in VHL and SBA for the weeks ending: 4/6 4/13 4/20

Tough Guy: Gabriel McAllister's 461 Hits You know what they say: Records are meant to be broken. But that often doesn’t hold true in the VHL. Scotty Campbell still dominates the goals and points records from early on in the VHL’s lifespan. Few teams will ever touch Vancouver’s highs during the meta days of the late ‘70s. And it’s unlikely that we’ll ever see as many goalie shutouts as the early ‘50s days of the two player era. Indeed, in the vein of Tough Guys, the VHL record for Hits in a regular season might also never be broken. That record was set in Season 61 by then-Davos forward Gabriel McAllister, created by yours truly. Ultimately a Hall of Famer and named a Top 5 player all-time in the VHL's Season 75 countdown, McAllister’s 461 hits far outpaced the previous record of 441 set by Seattle forward Simon Valmount in Season 49, which itself had topped Tukka Reikkinen’s 430 from Season 30. (And yes, I partially just mention that to note Valmount, an Ahma player who didn’t play exclusively for Davos.) But look at the record books, and it’s still McAllister, Valmount and Reikkinen near the top. In fact, since McAllister set the record in Season 61, the most hits that any player’s had in a single season was Phil Marleau’s 418 in Season 74, good for just eighth all-time. Even Tommy Sleeves, the current VHL hit king, has topped out at just 411 in one season - only 14th all-time. So what gives with McAllister’s record? Here’s a few fun facts about this particular Tough Guy’s big hit season. 1. McAllister wasn’t supposed to be a hitter When I created McAllister, I had one goal in mind, and it was, well, goals. Early writings on McAllister paint the picture of a pure sniper out on the wing, somebody who was supposed to play off of a strong center and put the puck in the net. And if there’s one thing I specifically didn’t want McAllister to do, it was to be a bruiser. In fact, take a look at his rookie profile and you notice something very odd below the (now broken linked) weaknesses section: And know what? That was true! Take a look at his stats, and you’ll see that McAllister had 87 hits in his first season, but that was a function of being basically the only active player on a rebuilding Seattle team. His second season, he only had 19 hits the entire season, obviously a very low total for a 93 point player. It wasn’t until his third season that his hit totals started to creep up. Candidly, that’s largely a function of running out of things to update, especially in an era with a different update scale and the points per week cap increasing to 12 right in the middle of his career. But at the same time, I started to see a new path towards awards and, frankly, fun. 2. From zero to 60 Once McAllister started hitting, though, he didn’t let up. Between seasons three and eight, McAllister never had less than 244 hits in a single season. And between his sixth season, when he set the record, and the end of his career, he never had less than 326 hits in a single season. For the final six seasons of his career, McAllister averaged 329 hits per season. That’s a wild total for somebody who had 106 hits total in his first two seasons. And that also makes the all-time record books a bit wonky. Because even with those first two seasons a wash, McAllister still ended with 2079 total career hits - good for 33rd on the all-time list. If he had averaged 329 hits per season over the life of his career, that would give him 2632 hits, which would exactly tie Lord Karnage for 10th all-time. 3. MVP caliber These days, VHL hit merchants tend to be of the Tommy Sleeves mold - out there for hits and not much else. But that’s not the case for McAllister: In fact, the season he set the hits record, McAllister also won his second MVP! That MVP win is actually one of the more controversial MVP wins in history, given that McAllister only finished with 99 points, which was not the highest point total that season. But a little context helps with both the award and the hits total. After spending five seasons helping revitalize the Seattle franchise (giving Bana his first title in the process), McAllister was traded to Davos before the S61 season. In Davos, he joined a team that was middle of the road, barely squeaking into the playoffs in 5th out of 8 teams with 75 points. McAllister was really the team’s only addition and was expected to make a big difference. And make a difference McAllister did. McAllister’s 99 points were 22 more than any of his teammates - forwards Joseph Bassolino and The Charm tied at 77, while no other teammate had more than 61. McAllister’s 461 hits, meanwhile, represented 33% of the team’s total that season, as only one other teammate (Noel Roux, 301) topped 150 hits. Behind McAllister’s play, the Dynamo jumped up to 103 points and third place in a tough top half of the VHL. So while he didn’t have the highest point total in the league, the lack of help and McAllister dragging Davos to the top gave him an MVP nod. 4. … and finals MVP caliber But it wasn’t only the regular season MVP - Davos won the title that year! It was once again McAllister that paved the way, helping Davos win two seven-game series against the second-seeded Titans and first-seeded Wranglers. In those 14 games, McAllister finished with 12 goals and 11 assists - and crucially, a whopping 87 hits - en route to Davos taking the title. For his efforts, McAllister was awarded with his second Kanou Trophy for Playoff MVP, one of the very few recipients of two Playoff MVPs with two different teams. This run would cement McAllister as a Davos legend for a number of years. In fact, this S61 title would be the last one that Davos would win until much later, when the streak was finally broken by the S89 Davos team. And even in just two seasons played for the squad, McAllister still sits in the top 25 of all-time Davos regular season hits (787, 20th), playoff hits (115, 14th) and playoff goals (18, T-13th), as well as Top 50 in regular season goals (101, 41st). 5. There’s an influence on Bucatini While I don’t think Bucatini or anybody else will be touching 461 hits any time soon, McAllister has certainly had an influence on Bucatini, only my second created forward after McAllister. Much like McAllister, I went into Bucatini’s career mostly wanting to be a playmaker, envisioning a smaller center out of Italy who would spend her time on the ice skating and puck handling with the best of them. But also like McAllister, I abandoned those plans rather early into her career, morphing her into more of the hitter she is today. Although I was originally shooting for sportsmanship awards with McAllister, he somehow ended up winning three Boulet Trophies for best two-way forward. Similarly, Bucatini was a finalist for the Boulet Trophy last season, probably is on the shortlist once again this season, and probably will be up there for the remainder of her career. While I don’t think Bucatini will achieve McAllister’s hits heights or awards shelf, in large part because the competition in the VHL is much deeper today than it was in the ‘50s and ‘60s, the same trajectory is there. And honestly, when it gets down to it, I think that’s because I’m drawn to creating bashy players. I never played organized hockey myself, but when I’d play street hockey or on video games with friends, I always tended towards a more physical style. That’s what appeals to me for my created players as well, perhaps even more so when the meta is going away from hitting to try and reduce penalty minutes as much as possible. Forget metas, I just want to hit somebody. Gabriel McAllister was a definite Tough Guy who wasn’t supposed to be a Tough Guy, but did very well at that role anyway. Perhaps it makes sense that a player canonically from the south side of Chicago was forced into that role. I’m glad he was, because most hits in a season is a fun record to have, and I selfishly hope nobody ever breaks it. But at the same time, I hope people keep trying, because hits are fun. And as McAllister’s S61 and career proves, you can be a Tough Guy and a Top Guy at the same time.

Davos -- At the beginning of the season, many observers expected two wildly different conferences. North America was expected to be an absolute brawl, with five-plus teams capable of winning the title all battling at the top of the standings. Europe, meanwhile, was expected to be more of a mixed bag, with off-season transactions in Helsinki, Prague and Riga resulting in unknown results against the Moscow and Davos top of the conference. In reality, the two conferences are indeed different - just not in the way many expected. North America has seen Toronto run away from the top with 65 points in 44 games. Europe, however, has four teams between 60-65 points, with Helsinki and Riga hot on Moscow and Davos' heels. To Davos center Antonia Bucatini, the EU race has been unexpected, but welcome. "I'll admit, I didn't expect Helsinki and Riga to play as well as they have. I honestly would've predicted Prague to be in third. But either way, I'm impressed," Bucatini told the press after a recent practice. "They're keeping us on our toes, and I'm not one to back down from the competition." With about 40% of the season left to go, this battle is set to continue far beyond the trade deadline and into the playoffs. And just like last year, where it was Malmo in the top four instead of Helsinki, the EU semifinals are likely to be a brutal affair. Even with tough playoff matchups ahead though, Bucatini is confident. "I've always thought this year was a year we should compete for the championship. Nothing has changed," Bucatini added. "No matter who our playoff opponent is, we're going to bring it. Iron sharpens iron."

1. Happy Theme Week! Thoughts on the theme: tough guys? "What, you asking me if I have thoughts on theme? Who are you, asking me about tough guys? Get outta here." - A tough guy 2. What kind of prank would your player pull on April Fool’s Day? I'm not big on pranks that actually get people angry, just some harmless fun. Some pasta noodles in the skate maybe, or blasting some Italian opera over the PA. 3. What stick tape color does your player use? Been going with the red - it's a color that stands out, represents some of the Italian for Bucatini, and none of the other Euro teams are red anyway so I'm not repping a rival. 5. The VHL turns 18 this summer! What season did you join the league in? Season 33, which seems forever ago at this point. Means I've been here about two-thirds of its lifespan, which is wild. 6. Who do you predict will win the Victory Cup now that we are halfway through the regular season? I really thought N.A. would be the stronger conference, but it looks like Toronto's running away with it over there. I expect that to continue and they get the Cup. 7. Do you have a lucky number? If so, what is it? 8 has always been a big one for me, don't know if it's lucky but it's what I usually go for when asked to pick a random number for something.

Davos -- Through the first third of the season, not much attention has been paid to Davos' Antonia Bucatini. And that's for very good reasons: the emergence of Johnny Tsunami and Mina have been spectacular, with the former leading the VHL in points and goals and the latter leading the VHL in assists. The second line in Davos has performed extremely well. But that doesn't mean Bucatini has been a slouch. Bolstered by a hot start to the season, Bucatini sits at 39 points through 27 games, good for seventh in the entire VHL. Her 15 goals and 24 assists are largely in line with her recent averages, and overall, she's happy about her play so far. "I'm fine with the spotlight off me, I'll just be over here contributing," Bucatini said. "Consistency equals winning, and winning is the main thing I want for Davos. So I'm good." There is one personal goal that Bucatini has identified however: 100 points. It's a milestone that she reached for the first time last season and would like to top again. At her current pace, Bucatini would finish the season at 104 points - meaning she'll need to maintain this scoring pace for the rest of the season. Bucatini doesn't see that as a problem, however. And a big part of the reason is the talent around her: "We need to get Gianfranco [Del Rocco] going, get Felicia [Hardy] going. And I think that's going to happen sooner rather than later," Bucatini added. "When they do, watch out. I think we'll be unstoppable."

1. As we are still off to a strong start, what is the key to Davos’ success in S98? We're all just riding the Tsunami wave, and it's a great ride brah. Seriously though, our offense would be spectacular. 2. Which team do you predict will be our biggest rival this season? I know Riga is up there in the standings with us, but I'm still saying Moscow. That's who we have to get through to win the title IMO. 3. Yesterday, we were almost graced by a goalie fight between Jeremy Swayman and Darcy Kuemper— should there be goalie fights implemented in the VHL? If there are, I'm recreating as goalie and putting all of my points into Fighting. Don't tempt me. 5. When scouting prospects, especially first-gens, what is the most important attribute to look for? Consistency. I've seen way to many players seem really active and engaged, but fall off in season two or three. Someone consistently earning 12, even while quiet, means a lot more to me than holding 37 league jobs that will burn them out. 6. If your player was an animal, what would they be? A lynx: cute, lithe, but still absolutely a predator if you get too close. 8. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, or Tekken? Off the board: Soul Calibur. That's the fighting game I always played growing up, it was recently on sale for about $10 on Xbox recently and I had fun revisiting.

Love it! Thank you, that's awesome.