CowboyinAmerica

Usually think joke names are dumb, but this one always got me. RIP.

It's funny because when I created McAllister, I did LW explicitly because there were so many RWs topping the TPE list. But a lot of them fell off and never hit 1500, and the trend has flipped in recent years.

1. If you could be any animal other than human, why would it be a dog? They're not only loyal and constantly happy, but they don't really have many responsibilities and get cared for constantly if you're in the right home. Seems like a good life by me. 2. Best place for Pizza in New Haven, CT. If you are disadvantaged enough not to know the NH pizza scene, who has the best pizza in your opinion. As someone who has been to New Haven and tried pizza there, my answer is definitely... Detroit style. I like a little more heft to my pizza, and while I could pick Chicago (and do love it, having lived 8 years there), I think Detroit style is the best combo of flavor and not being a casserole. 3. Do you spend any time with family history/genealogy? Purposefully no, actually. As someone from a single parent home who hasn't really known anyone from my dad's side, DNA testing could get... sticky, quickly. I'm not particularly interested in that. And while there's been some work done on my mom's side, it's just never really grabbed me. Questions: 1. What's the last book you read, and did you like it? 2. If you could design your ideal goalie helmet, what would you have on it? 3. Spring will be here soon! What's your favorite part of spring?

1) How do you feel about our start to the season thus far? Wish it was a bit better, but I do acknowledge that we're still growing as a team. We're young, there's bound to be hiccups on the way. 2) Do you enjoy Valentine's Day? Have any fun plans? I do! Having it be on a Monday with two working partners limits our options a bit, but we did exchange gifts and go to a local BBQ restaurant we both like. We made it fun. 3) What is your favorite VHL memory? An old school one, and perhaps obscure, but the Season 44 NA Conference finals between Calgary and Quebec. Two teams that truly did not like each other, and seeing the brash favorites fall was fun as someone on the Wranglers. 4) Would you rather have a 75% faceoff record or lead the league in hits (if you were a center) The meta would say faceoff record by a longshot, but I still enjoy my hits. I just think creating a two way player is more fun. 5) What is your favorite icebreaker when meeting someone for the first time? "Where are you from?" I like knowing things about different locations and geographies, and people generally like talking about their hometowns or where they're at. 6) What is your ideal real world first line? Assuming hockey first line? Just three playmakers, let's pass the puck around for 80% possession, baby.

So if I'm reading right, it's fair game for me to answer like 6 correct trivia questions now, then claim 2 a week for the next 3 weeks?

1) With a big trade to finish off off the offseason, we look to secure a big player in @Spartan moving forward. Thoughts on the move? Definitely think it was a good move. We needed more forward talent, not just for this season but into the future when we're competing for championships. Happy to have him! 2) The season has started now, what are your predictions for where we will finish? I think (hope?) we're in the playoffs, though I think in that wild card game is more likely. I'll say we finish fourth, because I think we'll get better as the season goes on. 3) VSN has us at 5th in Europe, do you think that is a fair assessment by our own @Alex? Definitely think it's fair, especially for a team that hasn't been to the playoffs in many seasons. Here's to hoping we take the leap! 4) As a player, what is your personal goal for this season? I just want to be competitive. My success is the team's success, so if we make the playoffs, that's a good season for me personally as well. 5) Speaking of the season starting, we haven't gotten off to the best start. Why is it just a temporary setback, or should we be more concerned? Temporary setback and small sample sizes. Even from the time this question was written, we're back in the mix. I think things will all shake out. 6) Is a hot dog a sandwich? There is only one right answer. Nah. Not everything with bread has to be a sandwich, it can be its own thing. Just let hot dogs be free and live their lives, man.

So I'm one of those who doesn't go into Gen Chat - really a combination of it not being my thing and feeling like I've aged out of it a bit, frankly. But I did want to push back on this point, because I actually really disagree with it. It's an issue that places like Reddit fall into often, where embracing a fully democratized version of moderation will start to self-select your sample towards the extremes. If you have a loud group of people arguing that a GIF shouldn't be a punishable offense, in many cases those who argue that it should be moderated won't care enough to fight the loud voices. They'll simply stop coming. Which makes it seem even more that there's an overwhelming majority, when it's actually just that you've weeded out the other side. And when you get enough of those people who opt out rather than caring to argue, then it gets to be much more of a cliquish view than what you've got right now. That's why there needs to be some other standard to compare against than simply "democracy rules," and IMO from what I've seen the VHL's mods do a solid job at comparing to the existing code.

Xavier Booberry Grows Into Veteran Role On its face, Xavier Booberry is only at the beginning of his second season in the VHL. But that doesn’t take into account a long journey to get to this point: a VHLM MVP season, a championship run in the VHLE with the Vasteras Iron Eagles, and then last year’s rookie campaign that saw the Helsinki Titans take a step forward in the quest to rise from a rebuild. Now, despite his age, Booberry is taking on a more veteran role within the squad – particularly with rookies like Nezuko and Flynn Remy expected to play big roles this season, and countless more Titans prospects due up over the next year or two. “It’s something I’m still adjusting to, but I feel good about it,” Booberry told reporters after the Titans’ first win of the season over Moscow. “I’ve always been the young guy, the hot prospect. But I plan on being in Helsinki a long time, and I want to establish a culture of winning here from day one.” Indeed, one thing that really has bonded the team in this early part of the season is that desire to win – the Titans have talented players who have taken home their fair share of award hardware, but fewer championship trophies. To Booberry, that means getting the team’s mindset going in a common direction. “Yeah, maybe some guys will be taking fewer dollars on the open market, or not playing all the lines they want. I know my stats might not put me among the greats,” Booberry said. “But if that means a trophy – or hell, even multiple trophies? That’s what it’s all for, and I’ll be happy.” The Titans sure look like a team who could contend in the future. Particularly with the recent trade addition of Nico Pearce from Moscow, the Titans could field a full team as soon as next season of young, talented prospects to go along with established stars like Alex Johnston and Jonathan Ori. In particular, Booberry has an eye on guiding the defensive corps, where fellow S80 draftees Remy and Alessandro Nano could soon be joined by VHLE defensemen Milan Dvorak, Calix Pearce and Cameron Elsby. It’s a challenge that Booberry’s eager to take on. “I really believe that a goalie’s only as good as the people in front defending him. And luckily for me, there are a lot of players in our system who will be providing that defense for seasons to come,” Booberry said. “We need to be in sync moving forward, but that’s only going to come with time and practice.” And time is something Booberry has a lot of, with his expectations being to be a top goaltender all the way through retirement following Season 88. Those high expectations can be a burden in the wrong hands, but for now, he’s taking it in stride. “I’m a bit of a perfectionist, but I wouldn’t know any other way to be,” Booberry said. “If you’re not shooting to be the best, then I don’t know what you’re really doing here.”

Game Recap Game 4 Stockholm Vikings vs Oslo Storm After grabbing their first ever VHLE championship last season in dominating fashion, the Stockholm Vikings were ready to ride that momentum into the new year and pick up where they left off. But with a new roster, and facing an Oslo team with something to prove after missing last year's playoffs, the Vikings couldn't quite pull it off. Oslo pulled ahead 3-1 by the end of the second period, with defenseman Calix Pearce displaying his scoring skills early to the tune of two goals. Stockholm was able to rally in the third period though, with two Lochlan Chisholm goals drawing Stockholm even. After the teams traded another goal and got to OT tied, puck possession ended up the difference: Stockholm never got a shot on net as Oslo's Maxwell Mathias put one home just 20 seconds into OT. Final Score: 5, 4 in OT

Game Recap Game 3 Cologne Express vs Vasteras Iron Eagles The start of a new season meant the start of a new era for the Vasteras Iron Eagles, who named a new GM for the first time since becoming a VHLE expansion team in S80. But alas, the warm feelings were not meant to be. The Cologne Express rode a dominant first period to an ultimate 4-2 victory, building up a 3-0 lead in the first 20 minutes on a 17-5 shot advantage. Four different players scored for the Express with Mikhail Kovalchuk grabbing the ultimate game winner, and although Vasteras were able to put two past the wonderfully named Anime Protagonist in the final period, it wasn’t enough for a comeback. Final Score: 4, 2

The Man in the Way of the Threepeat Discussions of meta left aside, the fact remains that the Vancouver Wolves are going for their third straight title. And if they were able to accomplish the feat, that would put them in some very rare company that only includes one other VHL team: the S48-50 Toronto Legion. The Legion played in a league with fewer teams, to be certain, but they also came from unlikely odds - the S47 Legion had the worst record in the league before drafting defenseman Black Velvet and signing goalie Hans Wingate. Constructing the team was the work of GM @Molholt, who was able to put the pieces together to grab three straight in rather dominating fashion. Molholt isn't as active in the VHL as he is in the SBA, but when he's around, the threepeat is a regular topic of conversation. Partially because that is, after all, the only threepeat in VHL history. This year's Wolves are likely the betting favorites to change that, though. With many of their younger forwards not even to regression, goalie Sales still dominant in his final year, and yes, the meta, they will be tough to stop. Looking across the league, they have many challengers in both North America and Europe, including two-time runners up Moscow who are back again. But of course, the most motivated team might be last year's best record in Europe, the Malmo Nighthawks. Because Malmo, similar to Vancouver, has young forwards, but also a goalie in his final season. A goalie who it can be said has some extra motivation to keep Vancouver away from a threepeat: Artem Tretiak, aka Molholt. If I can't be there, a Vancouver/Malmo finals would be a hell of a lot of fun, I gotta say.

1. How many different languages do you speak? Which? English the only one where I'm fluent, but can at least get by with Spanish and speak Russian very poorly (thanks, 1.5 years of study in college) 2. Do you have a favorite pet you've shared your life with? Growing up I always had dogs, but I have two rescue dogs right now that are the first to be mine living on my own - Kit and Hazel. It's a bit different when they're actually yours and you're responsible for them, love them so much. 3. What is your favorite part of your home state, province or region? Why? People always think it's weird when I say my favorite part of Delaware is how close it is to things that aren't Delaware, but it's true: Where I grew up had me less than 3 hours driving from all of NYC, Philly, Baltimore and DC, whenever I wanted. Questions: 1. Who's your VHL Valentine? 2. If you could design your perfect goalie mask, what would you have on it? 3. What's your favorite holiday and why?

Going back further, S71: Hugh Jass, traded after four seasons and retired after six. S70: Iangenere Risteneen, went inactive then retired. S69: Soren Jensen, traded after four seasons, and David O'Quinn, traded after 2.5 seasons. Other than Red Lite (who retired after 5), the last NYA first round pick to last more than 4 seasons with NYA is... Lance Flowers (me) and A Red Guy in S68, who both went 6 in New York before a rebuild. Fun!

Review: 9/10 Good stuff here, really solid, straightforward Q&A. A wide variety of questions there and I think you answered them well, some athlete-speak in there that makes it seem realistic. A few of the answers seemed a bit short, but that happens. Like the last answer in particular, shows some of the player's personality. I liked the presentation of the article as well, bolding the questions and italicizing the answers is always a nice touch. A spelling error here and there, but nothing I'd really dock for. Overall good job, and best of luck next season!

Review: 10/10 Was reading anyway, so why not give it a review? Thought it was an interesting one - can't say I was expecting to read a two paragraph-long aside about arguing with school IT that sim leagues aren't porn sites, but it certainly captured my attention. I thought the presentation worked well, with putting the future projection in green a particularly nice touch. A minor grammar issue here and there - guessing this was written pretty stream-of-conscious - but nothing that really took me out of the article. Great stuff overall, and excited to see how the draft class turns out!

@scoop

F - Vinny Detroit

D - Joe Madison @Girts

G - Thadius Sales @scoop

F - Taro Tsujimoto @Girts

F - Reylynn Reinhart @scoop

D - Hard Markinson @Girts

I'm generally pro-break, sounds like a good plan rather than burning out. Appreciate your work on getting it off the ground, had fun in the first season.

Helsinki -- In the Season 80 Draft, the Helsinki Titans went goalie early, taking Xavier Booberry number one overall. Last season it was offense, with winger Nezuko going first off the board. But this time it was defense on their minds, with not only Ottawa's Milan Dvorak going fifth overall, but his teammate Calix Pearce following him up in the 23rd overall position. Dvorak and Pearce join a young and talented Helsinki defensive corps, which also includes S80 draftees Alessandro Nano and Flynn Remy, and S81 draftees Wattson Power and Cameron Elsby. Although it remains to be seen whether one of those players shifts position or otherwise moves, for Booberry, you can never have enough talented defensemen, particularly ones that he feels he has a good trust with (Dvorak) and who knows Helsinki well (Pearce). "I'm a goalie, of course I want as many strong players protecting me as possible," Booberry said. "And I think I'm going to have talented defensemen in front of me for a long time here in Helsinki, I couldn't be more excited." The Titans also added wingers Bob Chicoine, Luca Accardi and Hockley Mann in subsequent picks, adding to a talented prospect pool that continues to swell. The hope in Helsinki is that they can thread the needle - winning both now and in the future. "I think the playoffs is a more than reasonable goal this season, but I also see championships in our future," Booberry added. "The people we added last night only add to what I see as one of the brightest futures in the VHL."

I'm curious what a nine season goalie career will look like - think you'll be the first since I stayed down in the E and there wasn't one eligible last year. You'll at least probably end up the career leader in goalie starts for a while, which is cool.