CowboyinAmerica

Calgary, AB -- With a not-so-stunning victory (seeing as there were over 20 victors) in the VHL's Week 5 VHL Pick 'Em, Calgary goaltender Hans Wingate has reached an important milestone: He has reached 400 TPE. While most of these milestones are nothing more than pretty round numbers, this one actually means something to Wingate. By virtue of former CowboyinAmerica agency defenseman/winger Karsten Olsen finishing with more than 800 TPE, the agency has now had two players surpass 400 TPE. With the VHL changing the rules this past offseason to allow current players to count towards welfare totals, this means that Hans Wingate will be eligible for the highest welfare reward should he ever choose to claim it. But will he? Sources say that it isn't going to happen, at least anytime soon. Certainly, Wingate's work ethic is top notch; he hasn't missed a week of writing since declaring for the VHLM more than two seasons ago. Even more important, though, is his reserves: Donation funds slipped under the table to the VHL have entitled Wingate to three "free weeks," none of which he has decided to cash in on yet. "I'm going to keep trucking for a while; don't see myself using the welfare any time soon," Wingate says. "Still, it's nice to know that it's there if I need it. And I know that for future players from my agency, it surely will come in handy."

Actually I don't think that's as much of an argument this year? Calgary traded for prime players like Rami and Hill, Riga has signed players like Williams, and Helsinki held onto Stokes and Draper for much of the season and still have Harumpf.

Who has the easiest schedule in the race for #1 overall? We’re down to the final 12 games of the season for most teams, and there’s still an important race to be decided. No, of course it’s not the slap fight occurring between Cologne and Stockholm. It’s something that really matters: the race for the No. 1 overall selection (or at least, the position to not drop beyond No. 2 in the lottery). Right now, the Helsinki Titans hold the worst record in the league with 26 points, just as they have for much of the season. However, I wouldn’t say that they are guaranteed to stay in the position. The Calgary Wranglers actually took over worst record duties before winning two straight to take them to 29 points, and the Riga Reign have lost 11 straight in order to stay at 33 points for a long time. Which team will end with the worst record? That depends a lot on the finishing schedule, the final 12 games for each of the three teams. That’s what we’re here to examine. We’ve established a “strength of schedule index” (SOS index) for each of the three teams left. To do so, I grouped the VHL’s teams into three groups, then assigned each of the groups a point value: Group A (3 points): Cologne, Stockholm, Quebec Group B (2 points): Seattle, Toronto, Davos Group C (1 point): New York, Riga, Calgary, Helsinki To compute the SOS index, I took the average of all 12 games that each team has left. Obviously a higher SOS index value means a stronger schedule. 3. Riga Reign SOS index: 2.00 Toughest games: Vikings (x2), Meute (x2), Express Chances for wins: Titans (x2), Americans (x2), Wranglers The Riga Reign’s schedule is interesting in that each of the games are extremely tough, or extremely easy; the Reign only play two games total against the three teams in Group B. Especially given that Riga holds a seven point lead over Helsinki, the Reign may need to lose both games against their conference foes in order to have any shot at the first overall pick. We’ll know soon whether they’re still contenders for that spot, as their next four games are all against teams in Group A or Group B; get no more than two points combined in those games, with a loss against Helsinki on Day 120, and they’ll still have a shot. 2. Calgary Wranglers SOS index: 2.00 Toughest games: Express (x2), Vikings, Meute Chances for wins: Titans (x2), Americans, Reign The Calgary Wranglers have the exact same strength of schedule as the Riga Reign, they just have a slightly more straightforward path of getting there. The Wranglers have four games apiece against teams in Group A, B and C, although two of those Group B games are against the streaking Toronto Legion. The real interesting number for Calgary, though, may be six: Goaltender Hans Wingate is only eligible to play in six of the team’s remaining games, while backup CAL G must also play in six per league rules. RIG G is exactly the same as his backup, so Riga will not be effected by the goalie rule, and Helsinki’s Fedir Okranitz could play out the season if Helsinki does not want to openly Sabres-style tank. 1. Helsinki Titans SOS index: 1.58 Toughest games: Express Chances for wins: Reign (x2), Wranglers (x2), Americans And here you find the only reason this is a remotely entertaining article: The Helsinki Titans have by far the easiest stretch among the bottom teams over their final 12 games. The Titans have already played all of their matches against Stockholm and Quebec this season, and the team only has one more game against Cologne. Meanwhile, the Titans will play Riga and Calgary two times each, likely controlling its own destiny for the worst record in the league. The offense is weaker with Stokes gone, and the defense is weaker with Draper gone, but is that enough to guarantee losses against not only the worst teams, but three games against the slightly-slumping Dynamo as well? Only time will tell, and that time could come very soon, as their next four opponents include each of Riga, Calgary and New York.

For reference for those coming into the thread: If you're doing a lawyer-esque strict read of the Rule Book, the two relevant mentions are: The trade was posted in time, says nothing about acceptances. Still says nothing about acceptances, nor posting, but if you're going to have grounds for a veto this is where you'd do it. Past precedent as Streetlight was mentioning is something completely different, but obviously haven't been around as long as others so can't speak to that. (And I doubt this situation has come up much.) Should it be tightened up for the future? Probably. If two sides agree to a deal and it's within a reasonable timeframe around the Trade Deadline though, I don't see the point of being a stickler about it. But that's just personal opinion.

What is: The first places that will be fucked when the white walkers invade? (Putin beats them back riding an army of bears, of course)

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Winner: Chicago # of Games: 5

Blackhawks got your hockey juices flowing? (Forward please)

Fever traded from Helsinki to Toronto in a deal at the beginning of a Titans rebuild? Totally unprecedented.

I've always thought that if I wanted to be a dick, I'd apply for a VHLM GM position, recreate as a goalie and draft myself, go inactive at 175 TPE and just wreck shit for 9 straight seasons. But I'm not a dick.

Calgary, AB -- Although Hans Wingate has struggled in recent games, looking forward, he felt good about his place in the league. Three of the top goaltenders are retiring after this season, and although many goalies such as Jax Barnstormer, Callum Sinclair and Blake Campbell had a one season lead on Wingate in getting drafted, Wingate's work ethic has put him in a strong position to be a top goalie next year. However, his secure position may be changing. In recent days, three top-level goalies have declared for the Season 45 VHL Draft. And although Ariel Weinstein, Greg Clegane and Sandro Clegane wil have some catching up to do, their presence makes Wingate nervous. "I was hoping to have a bit more separation between myself and the younger goalies," Wingate said. "We're going to have about eight active goalies in the span of five draft classes; nine if Lenny Face or Fedir Okranitz get their stuff together. That's a ridiculous number." For Wingate, however, there is nowhere to look but forward. Given his current pace, Wingate projects to be the third-highest goalie in terms of TPE starting next season. If Waldron gets slammed by old age, he could even be second in terms of raw attributes. "More competition just means I need to work harder," Wingate says. "I want to be the best goalie in the league one day, but getting there means I can't let up, not for a second."

I'm actually gonna be in Vancouver with a friend in two weeks, so if this could be a general "shit to do in Vancouver" thread too, would be appreciative

Three possible Trade Deadline deals This Friday is the VHL Trade Deadline. Wake me up if anything happens. Unlike trade deadlines in other professional leagues, such as the NHL and the NBA, the VHL Trade Deadline often passes with barely a whisper. Of last season’s “trade deadline” deals, all three were actually completed far ahead of time, then not consummated until Day 250: the trades for each of the Gow brothers, and Konstantin Azhishchenkov to New York. It’s very rare that something of note actually happens on deadline day. That’s not to say, however, that it shouldn’t. Stealing generously from Bill Simmons (may he rest in peace), I ran some deals through the VHL Trade Calculator. While one team or another may benefit slightly from these deals, here are three trades that I think would be in the best interest of each franchise. It’s the Season 43 edition of “Who says no?” Trade #1 sends: RW Wolfgang Strauss, D Pablo Escabar sends: C Nicolas Caprivi, D Jakob Linholm Why Seattle does it: The Bears are in a precarious position. Like it or not, the Bears are in win now mode for three key reasons: the pending retirement of Phil Villeneuve, the pending retirement of A.C. Savage, and trading a whole host of picks for James Faraday. And yet, despite going for it all, the Bears still lack firepower, sitting in fourth overall with 133 goals scored on the season. That might not be enough to propel them past Toronto and Szatkowski, let alone Quebec. Losing their first round picks from each of the past two drafts hurts, but Caprivi gives them an instant first line option to pair with Stropko and Faraday in what might instantly be the top first line in the VHL. In the playoffs, a strong first line goes a long way. Why New York does it: Americans GM Chris Miller has loudly proclaimed that this will be a quick rebuild for New York, but might Caprivi be a bit too old? Replacing him with Strauss, while a downgrade in talent, allows New York to hold onto the forward’s services an extra year. The real prize, though, is Escabar. New York is currently bereft at defenseman—Golden Jedtsson is the only young one in the system—and there’s no guarantee of snagging a good one in the Season 44 draft. This trade sets them up on the first defensive line for the future. Trade #2 sends: LW Benjamin Zeptenbergs, COL S44 first, CGY S44 second sends: C Oskars Harumpf Why Toronto does it: The Legion are another team in win-or-go-home mode, but it’s for a slightly different reason than Seattle. Mike Szatkowski Jr. will be retiring at the end of the season, and, to be generous, The Artist Formerly Known As Lenny Face may not be a serviceable replacement in net. Given his contract structure, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jerrick Poole dip out either. Cologne’s first is likely to fall in the 7 to 10 range, and Calgary’s second will be in the 12 to 14 range. Even if they turn around and trade Harumpf in the offseason, it’s certainly worth the price. Why Helsinki does it: Helsinki’s draft pick whoring has had a curious effect on the market: There simply aren’t many pieces left available to rebuilding teams. Helsinki seems to have an eye on Seasons 44 and 45 specifically, but of the current contenders, only Toronto and Davos have a first round pick. While a Davos trade is possible, I believe the Titans would much rather see Harumpf shipped out of the conference. Might as well get something for him while you can; given the fight that is the European Conference, that Cologne pick might even fall as high as number six. Trade #3 sends: D Mason Richardson sends: D Lloyd Light, RW Teuvo Ruutu, C Severin von Karma Why Davos does it: There had to be one crazy trade, right? In the offseason, Davos made a play to be a current contender, shipping off the number one pick in the Season 42 draft, Bismarck Koenig, for Richardson. It’s been a mixed bag. Most people expected more from Richardson than 42 points and 111 hits, given that he has the most TPE for a non-regression player in the league. It’s clear, though, that Davos needs more of a team effort, given how it has faded down the stretch. Richardson to Light is a slight downgrade statistically, but Ruutu and von Karma slot in on the Davos second line right away, and, most importantly, have plenty of time to grow. Why Stockholm does it: The Vikings are in the opposite situation of the Dynamo; they almost have too much talent on the front two lines. Granted, that problem will slightly correct itself with Slaughter’s retirement, but for a team in win now mode, any advantage that it can get is a positive one. The upgrade from Light to Richardson would certainly be worth it, especially given how much Wahl has struggled with a slightly younger defensive corps in front of him. While the young players are tough to give up, Stockholm would likely have to cut someone for cap reasons in Season 45 anyway on its current pace.

Express Bears Meute Vikings

3-1 Toronto

Whoever set that filter, speak now so I can like your post immediately.

I'm super pumped for Calgary-related reasons?

Catch me (and by me meaning Karsten Olsen) if you can

Ooooh, super sexy. I like it lots. Thanks!

I think Wingate now has slight PTSD

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