CowboyinAmerica

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.

Davos -- Entering the season, many pundits had big expectations for a certain center in Davos. There might have been some ideas about MVP bandied about, or at least a high point total and an all-VHL team. Especially for a strong Davos team, many anticipated there would be a breakout star. Of course, many of those pundits were looking at Antonia Bucatini. But they may have had the wrong Davos center. Through the first quarter of the season, fourth-year forward Johnny Tsunami has exploded onto the scene. Through 18 games, Tsunami leads the entire VHL with 35 points (3 clear of linemate Mina) and 18 goals (2 clear of former linemate Forum Content). Add in his 6 power play goals and 3 game winners, and Tsunami is major reason Davos has started out 13-2-2 and sits in second in Europe. So how does Bucatini feel about Tsunami's rise? She couldn't feel more proud. "You have to understand, I remember when this kid came in a rookie, talking about 'Let's do this hockey, brah,'" Bucatini said. "Seeing him now lead the league in scoring? Not gonna lie, I feel like a proud mama a bit." Bucatini isn't a slouch either, sitting tied for fifth in the VHL with 28 points. Between the two, Bucatini feels big things are ahead for Davos. "There are some teams out there with only one powerful scoring line and not much else. That's clearly not us," Bucatini added. "You can't hide, you're going to have to face either me or Johnny at all times. And that's a powerful thing to have as we want to make some playoff noise this season."

1. I’m currently reporting to everyone from Las Vegas, Nevada, where I’ll be vacationing until tomorrow! This begs the question, out of all VHL/M cities, which one would you most like to visit IRL? Aww, is this excluding Rome from the VHLE? It's probably something in Europe - I've heard good things about Prague honestly, and never been to Eastern Europe so I'm picking that. (I realized a bit ago that I've been to every North American VHL city if you count my layover in Calgary, so that's pretty sweet.) 2. We’re off to a rocketing 9-0-1 start as of Monday, March 17th! Did this dominance come as a pleasant surprise? Not particularly. Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked with a 10-0 start, because that Warsaw game was dumb. I think we've got the team to succeed here. 3. Between the NA and EU, which conference do you expect to be stronger this season? NA will have more playoff-ready teams, and I think most will say that. But I do think the top of Europe will be stronger, particularly Davos and Moscow. 4. What is your favorite active player name in the VHL currently, if you have one? I was reading The First Law series about the same time I recreated, so Logen Ninefingers made me very happy. 6. What do you think the Utah Hockey Club’s mascot will be? C'mon Yeti. You don't need that trademark, there would be no confusion there with random mugs. There's even a brand deal in it! Just go for it. 7. As it is St. Patrick’s Day, are you wearing green? If you are answering after Monday, did you wear green that day? I'm not today, but I spent Saturday drinking alcoholic shamrock shakes at a local bar so that's my contribution to St. Paddy's Day this year. \

I've had players in the VHL for 45 seasons including this one. Which has equaled 24 seasons on Seattle and Davos alone... and 21 for everybody else combined (Cologne, Calgary, Riga, Toronto, New York, D.C., Helsinki). So I've got one NA and one EU team to be connected to, which is nice.

1. There has been some discourse on certain VHL awards. Do you think the Slobodzian (Most Outstanding Player) and the Campbell (Most Valuable Player) trophies should overlap? I like having both, I think it's interesting seeing the differences between the BOG and the public voting. As somebody who has felt FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY (edit: goddammit) for awards in the past, I still felt the argument was kind of dumb honestly. Of course "valuable" is subjective, that's part of what makes the voting interesting and fun. 2. What is your main goal as a player or member for S98? It's all about the title. I think Davos has the team to win it all this year, and after getting so close so many times, I really want this to be the year we get over the hump. 3. Did you sign up for VHFL? I did. Only four picks in, but I got Bucatini on my team so of course I'm going to win it all. (I hope.) 4. Getting to 100 seasons in a sim league is a tremendous feat. What do you think has been the most important factor to the VHL’s longevity? Good vibes. I'm serious, actually. In the early years a lot of leagues would have torn themselves apart through in-fighting, but the VHL never fell to that. Then, being a fun atmosphere helps bring in a constant stream of new people, which is helpful over the years. 7. If you watch F1, who do you think will win the Australian Grand Prix? If it's rigged, it's Hamilton in his first race at Ferrari. If it's slightly less rigged, it's Piastri at home. And either way... I could see those two being favorites which would be fun. 8. Do you prefer rainy weather or sunny weather? Sunny all the way. In fact, I'd much rather it be sunny and below freezing than like 50 degrees F and raining. I can always bundle up, just let me outside and not be wet.

No new member looking for awards in the future is going to assume they should look at predictions payouts instead of the post literally titled "VHL Awards". It's really not that hard to edit it in after the fact.

Claim 4

Davos, Switzerland -- Take a tour of the HC Davos Dynamo facilities this offseason, and you might feel a different vibe. The last couple of seasons, the Dynamo were a young team on the rise, with some freewheeling sensibilities and an air of youthfulness around them. They were building something, they knew it, and were aware it would take time to get to the mountaintop. But this offseason, the message is clear: They're at the mountaintop. The time to start winning is now. "Yeah, I think we've started to feel like we not only can compete, but we should actively be considered among the favorites," said center Antonia Bucatini. "We're not the cute upstarts anymore. We're one of the big bads now." That pressure is particularly astute for Bucatini, who is moving into her fifth season - and thus, the back half of what is expected to be an eight season VHL career. Bucatini has been to the playoffs three times, and the finals once, but knows that this season is when the clock truly starts to tick towards retirement. "I'm very much in my prime, and I'm feeling some pressure to perform," Bucatini added. "We all are, really. But it's like they say, pressure can either break you or make diamonds. And it's my expectation to have a very sparkly ring on my hand at the end of the season."

And that's why you get a NTC kids I'LL NEVER DIIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEE

1. Thoughts on Davos’ first round picks: Gingy and Sidney Sheppard? Amazing. Think we absolutely destroyed the draft, and I'm really excited for the future of this franchise. 2. What are you most looking forward to at the start of the season? The past few seasons I thought we were one of the contenders, but did always see teams better than us. This season - I'm not sure if that's true. I think we should be EU favorites. It'll be exciting to see if that comes true. 3. What is your one bold prediction for S98? Whoeever finishes first in the EU will have double the regular season points of their first playoff opponent (the 4/5 wild card winner). 4. Predict how many recreates we’ll get for the big S100! I'm guessing a decent amount. Was a bit surprised to see S100 firsts get traded this offseason, because I think they're going to be an extremely hot commodity. 5. Do you prefer VHFL or Super Coach? I think VHFL is more interesting, but I probably prefer Super Coach more because I like setting it and being done rather than consistently needing to check. 6. Are you in any other sim leagues that you may want to recommend? I feel like the SBA and VHL used to have more cross-over in the past than they do now. But I'm still enjoying my time over there, and affiliate PT access is a big boon.

Claim 3

My thoughts are less the team side and more the player side: I'm a bit worried about the chilling effect on max earners. It's already tough for some in the back half of their career to find a landing spot with the current cap, take the end of Merome Dilson's career for example. If this was applied to this season, take a look at Vancouver's roster and you're probably seeing someone like Wayne Gretzky ending up on a non-competitive team for the prime of their career for cap reasons, just because they're slightly older and slightly more expensive than other up-and-coming players. That isn't super fun. Adding a 1000 TPA player to like D.C. right now isn't magically going to make them a top team, and I think it's either going to lead to some disgruntled max players, or perhaps people dedicing being a max player isn't really worth it anyway (which would really be bad for the league and stifle overall activity).

I really appreciate you putting this together! Any help for new players coming in is certainly welcomed, really think this is great. My only thought at a glance is that while I tend to go a bit more min-max with my players anyway, I'd suggest doing that with Scoring and Passing in particular. The rule of thumb I've always heard is that you ideally want about 10 points or more difference between SC and PA in the sim, otherwise the sim locks up a bit in trying to determine which one to do. While that's tougher with a 200 TPA build where you're just trying to get attributes up, I think it'd be more achievable with a 400 TPA build, and some of those are real close in PA and SC. Without specific numbers on the hybrid attributes, I might actually suggest less OV and more either passing or scoring-centric attributes depending on build, especially for SC on the Offensive defenseman-shooter and the two power forward builds.

Davos, Switzerland -- Since being taken with the first pick of the Season 93 VHL Draft, Antonia Bucatini has bled purple for Davos. She was on the first line since seemingly day one for the rebuilding team, put up great numbers as the team progressively worked its way to the finals in Season 96, and seemed to be a centerpoint of the future for the squad as it builds towards its next generation. Now, what was assumed is now all but official: Antonia Bucatini is set to be a Davos lifer. The forward recently signed a three-year extension through Season 101, which would take her through the next four seasons until her assumed retirement. The deal also comes with a full no trade clause through the life of the deal, not that a trade would be expected anyway with Davos set to contend over the life of the contract. For Bucatini, the extension gives her a chance to do what she always wanted: be a club legend. "I've felt at home in Davos since day one, and I'm glad they feel the same," Bucatini said in a press conference announcing the deal. "My teammates, this club, these fans - this is where I belong." The deal also creates the opportunity for Bucatini to set some records. Notably, with 23 goals and 54 points in Davos' playoff games the past three seasons, Bucatini already sits top ten in team history in both categories. With a few more playoff runs, first in both goals (42) and points (109) wouldn't be inconceivable. But for now, she's simply focused on the Cup. "I'm in the prime of my career with some good runs ahead," she added. "It's great to have the contract stuff behind me, because now I can focus on giving my all on the ice."

2. Where would your player’s dream vacation destination be? Growing up in Italy, there aren't too many more beautiful destinations that I haven't seen already. But with that said - get me off the grid to somewhere in the south Pacific like Fiji. Everybody's gotta get away sometime. 3. Who is your player’s render for graphics, if you have one? Have been going with Taylor Heise of PWHL Minnesota (not sure how I feel about the name Frost yet). Which has worked out well, considering she's top ten in the league in points. 4. In your opinion, do you believe GMs should have rights to their own player (ex. Alex having the priority to be able to have his player, Deadpanda, on Davos)? I could go either way. It used to be tied that way, but I think some GMs didn't like it because they felt rather trapped in their experience. So ultimately I'd just prefer whatever makes GMs happy. 5. The ProAm teams this offseason are: the Flora Vista Foxes, Winnipeg Wheelbarrows, Baie-Comeau Beavers, Pompeii Sour Grapes, and the Hartford Whalers. Which team name do you like the best? Knowing absolutely nothing else, the Sour Grapes is legit. Add in the Italy connection with wine, and it obviously being a hot location, I'm all for it. 6. Did you watch the Four Nations finale? I did while on a plane! And it was fun when I noticed a bunch of other people watching the same... though less fun when the plane landed and the stream cut off with 5 minutes left in regulation. 7. Do you have any plans for this upcoming weekend? Not sure I've mentioned it much here, but I'm a season ticket holder for the local MLS team, Minnesota United. The home opener is on Saturday, and while it'll be cold for now, I'm excited to get some live soccer back in my life.

S98 Donation Transaction ID: 0PD69754JM568334M Doubles Week (Claiming week of 3/2) 5 uncapped TPE (Claiming week of 3/2) 1M Player Store