CowboyinAmerica

Booberry's Headed Back to Houston Going into the VHLM Draft, goaltender Xavier Booberry was curious which city he’d be headed off would he be headed to the frozen north of the Yukon? Or maybe he’d be headed all the way south, to Mexico City? Either way, his ultimate destination seemed to be up in the air, seeing as how only one VHLM team actually reached out before the draft to get to know him. Uncertainty reigned in the Booberry home. In the end, though, he didn’t have to move anywhere at all. Booberry’s VHLM home for Season 79 will be the exact same as his VHLM home for Season 78: Houston. Despite only playing one game for the franchise last season, Houston’s team management clearly liked what they saw in practice. “They felt comfortable with me, and I felt comfortable with them. The Bulls know what they’re getting with me in net,” Booberry said. “I know what it’s going to take to replace van Giersbergen better than maybe anybody else, I know what the fans expect. It’s starting to feel like home here.” Booberry was selected sixth overall in the VHLM Draft, the first goaltender taken. That may surprise some, given that Em Em Flex came into the draft with more practice hours. Flex would be taken 10th to Miami (and S80 goaltender David Davis went right after him to Halifax), setting up a potential rivalry between the players this season. But to hear him tell it, Booberry isn’t super concerned. A big part of the reason is the natural practice caps that the VHLM forces on its players, a cap that both Booberry and Flex are approaching quickly. “The VHLM says I can only have 250 hour in the gym, something about amateurism and all that. That’s their prerogative, but I’m already pretty close as it is? As more and more of us in the draft class get close, it’s going to be an even field anyway.” For Houston, it’s a bit of a gamble to take a goalie that early, especially given some of the offensive talent still on the board. But given returning players like center Cody Lachance and defenseman Drakon Zabastovka, alongside draftees like second round center Omi Aberg, and Houston looks to be gearing up for another long playoff run. Booberry had a front row seat for last year’s run, where the Bulls scored the first round upset of Halifax before falling in round two to Minnesota. But when asked whether he felt Houston could mirror last season’s output, he scoffed at the notion that the second round was the ceiling. “I plan to have one season in the VHLM, and I plan to make it a good one. To me, that means championship or bust,” Booberry said. “Everybody on this team should have the same mentality, in my eyes. I feel good about what I’m seeing out in front of me there on the ice, let’s see if we keep the same intensity into the games.” Indeed, one could call Booberry a Goalie of the Year candidate, or the Houston Bulls a contender. But we won’t know until the games are played. So stay tuned for this Friday, and we’ll see quickly just how well these new-look Houston Bulls avail themselves on the ice.

If Wingate had been drafted #1 to the Americans it would've been all Sullivan Seriously though, definitely a good battle between the two, can't go wrong either way. Also cool to get the HM at #1, crazy to be on the list on two such high picks.

14 years ain't bad at all. Happy birthday!

Review: 10/10 The work you put into this is evident from the jump, and I think you backed up your assertion extremely well. While people can agree or disagree with your ultimate conclusion (I'm personally not sold on hits/PIM being an apples-to-apples comparison that allows for an average to be taken since not all PIMs are a function of hit situations), I appreciate that you put in the calculations to back up your point. The presentation of this one was excellent as well, with well-formatted tables that made all of your stats easy to read. It was a relatively quick read even with all the stats as well, had a good flow to it. Great job overall!

Review: 9/10 Particularly as somebody who has stumped for Vasteras to return for a while, I really enjoyed your unbiased breakdown of the branding here. I found your opinions and parallels that you drew very interesting (I hadn't really seen the USSR connotations before but totally get it), which shows that you really did think about these brands critically. If there's a dock for me, it's that I'm not a huge fan of the all caps for emphasis in places like "EVERYTHING" - it reads to me like someone's shouting those words, and I think italics tends to get the point across a lot better. But that's nitpicking overall, great concept for a series and looking forward to reading more moving forward!

First Dragons title incoming

Hell yeah, this is a big reason I went hard on the updates early and often. Let's win this thing!

Booberry Amped to Find VHLM Home Ely, MN -- It’s been a bit of a road for Xavier Booberry. But now that we’re (presumably) less than a week away from the VHLM Draft, the Minnesota-born netminder says that he’s feeling more excitement than nerves at finding his first true professional home. “This is the part of the process that’s fun, right? The anticipation, the interest, the speculation. Some people might get nervous at this part, but it’s all good vibes over here,” he explained. Part of those good vibes might be because of his vigorous practice schedule thus far. Despite only playing one game in a stint for the Houston Bulls, Booberry’s practice schedule has vaulted him to second among VHLM Draft-eligible goalies, behind only the year-older Em Em Flex. While some teams will be returning goalies from last season, he’s confident that there are enough open slots that he’ll be the starter somewhere next season. “Not every team will be looking at me, I know that. That’s the nature of being a goalie,” Booberry added. “But you have some teams out there like the [Mississauga] Hounds and the [Miami] Marauders that have three firsts and need a goalie. I think the board will break down for me just fine, even if I’m not the first pick or anything.” Booberry reports that he hasn’t had many conversations with VHLM teams yet, but there’s still time before the draft occurs. And wherever he ends up, he has one goal: to win. “Awards and all that are nice, but what I really want is that trophy,” Booberry said. “Houston gave me a taste of playoff success. But now I want it all.”

1. What actor played their character so well that you can’t watch them in any other show or movie without seeing that character? Do you know the name Jack Gleeson? Probably not. Can you picture King Joffrey from Game of Thrones? Bet you can. 2. What is the most fun thing someone could have in their backyard? I got a hammock about two months ago and while that's not everybody's idea of fun, it's been a life changer for me. I know I'm getting old when... 3. If you had to break a vhl record to get paid (good bad or ugly), what record would you try to break? With the nine seasons now in play, I've had half a thought about trying to play all nine and shoot for the goalie wins record. Finding the ideal situation where you could play your rookie year and still win would be tough though. 4. What first world problem do you have? I've got two beautiful dogs that I love very much, but damn if they don't shed everywhere. Really wish I could find the magic formula where I wouldn't be sweeping up hair every week. 5. If the police raided your house right now, what is the most incriminating thing they would find? With a partner who's a pediatrician, the number of medical books about children and supplies like stethoscopes would be... concerning. 6. What would you put inside a personal mental health first aid kit? Does whiskey count? Probably shouldn't, right? Then I'll go a long book, because that helps take my mind off things for a long while if I have the time to do so.

S79 Donation ID: 20693137916307057 Doubles Week 5 Uncapped TPE 1M Player Store Claiming the week ending 7/18/21

I'm in, and can manage or filler

I first read this as "Bond Over Bears" and was expecting a much different article

1. What piece of clothing or accessory can a pro athlete wear that immediately makes you have a bad opinion of them as a person? I don't know about bad person, but anybody who's super dressed up for a post-game interview is hiding something. You just spent 60 minutes on the ice, this isn't a time for Armani. 2. What’s the fullest you’ve ever been before a game? Did you regret it? Games in Chicago are dangerous for me. Have you ever had a Chicago deep dish pizza? It's spectacular - feeling like you're carrying a child in your belly on the ice is not. 3. What franchise do you wish would go out of business? (What is it about them that gets to you?) They have a bunch of history at this point so I wouldn't kick them out, but I've always had a chuckle at the generic nature of the New York Americans. It'd be like having a London Englishmen, or a Montreal Canadiens. (Wait...) 4. What’s the perfect temperature to set the thermostat at in a Locker Room (do ya like it hot or cold?) If your answer to this question isn't 69, which is literally what I keep my thermostat at in real life, then you need to check your sense of humor. 5. Who around you has the worst luck and what should they do to improve it? I know a bunch of Minnesota sports fans in real life, and it doesn't get much worse than that. My suggestion to improve it would be to move away from Minnesota and forget its sports teams existed. 6. If you could fit your whole career into one picture what would it look like?

Excellent stuff, and some great choices. Excited to see the logos and how everything comes together!

In Weaker Talent Pool, Booberry Has a WJC Shot Minnesota -- Given the talent in the U.S. juniors pool, recent VHLM call-up Xavier Booberry wasn’t paying much attention to this season’s World Juniors Championship, figuring he wouldn’t have a shot. When taking a look at Team USA’s roster though, there’s a massive opening at goaltender. Moscow’s Andrew Bowman is just over the practice hours limit; free agent Michael Fletcher is one season too old; Riga’s Matthew A Sovick Jr. is both one season too old and just over the limit. Instead, Team USA’s only eligible goalies are some young guns: upcoming draftees Orion D H Chiester IX and Elijah Mikaelson, and perhaps even Booberry himself. Booberry’s practice pace is already past Mikaelson and is just behind Chiester, so would the team trust such an important position to a player with exactly one VHLM game under his belt? “I know I don’t have the experience, but I do think I have the skill,” Booberry told reporters while working out in his native Minnesota. “I wasn’t expecting to get the call, and if it doesn’t come, I know I’ll have more opportunities. But let’s just say that if there’s any Team USA representatives listening, I’d be more than happy to drop everything and represent the stars and stripes. My phone’s on me.”

Review Grade: 9/10 Straightforward Q&A, but I think it worked well. Particularly before a big game like the Calgary/Seattle Game 7, I could definitely see this being a quick conversation on the ice between a player and a TV sideline person. It even had the normal player platitudes in there ("stick to our game", "one game at a time") that you see all the time in player interviews, which I think makes it fun. I really appreciate the bolding of Interviewer/Madison which makes the article easier to read, though I wouldn't have minded a picture or headline to spruce up the presentation a bit as well. My only other nitpick was just some minor run-on sentences in some of the answers (i.e. "The game before this one is done we can't dwell on the fact that we didn't win."), but that's not a big deal. All in all a solid article here, great job!

Read this one already, so might as well review it in turn. 8/10: I generally like articles that provide strong opinions and speak to topics that everybody's interested in, and you did that in spades here. Some of your opinions I agreed with (I'm not a Stockholm fan) and some of them I didn't (I actually like Rome), but regardless I enjoyed having an article that invited me to actively engage with it. A few minor mark downs here because the “bang out 500 words for TPE” trend rubs me the wrong way when it's stated explicitly - it takes away from the immersion of actually putting an interesting article out for discussion, and instead makes it seem more like a chore that you were trying to finish. I also wouldn't have minded a bit more attention paid to presentation - if you're talking about logos, I'd like to see them! But all in all nothing I can argue with too much here.

Houston, TX -- Xavier Booberry may not have played himself in the VHLM postseason. But the taste he had while a part of the Houston Bulls’ locker room has left him wanting even more. The Houston Bulls entered the VHLM playoffs as massive underdogs to the Halifax 21st, understandable for a 2-7 seeding matchup that Halifax dominated in the regular season. The Bulls, however, were not to be denied. After forcing what some saw already as a miracle Game 7, Houston pulled out an OT stunner in Halifax, winning 6-5 and advancing to the second round. Even with the team’s subsequent loss to Minnesota in the next round, being a part of that upset seems to have energized the young American goaltender. “I came here because I wanted to learn from some of the best, including [goalie Aike] van Giersbergen. I’d say I did that in spades,” Booberry said. “Watching him out there standing on his head against Halifax, picking up wins singlehandedly at some points, I knew that was what I wanted to do.” He’ll get his own chance soon enough – the S79 VHLM Draft is next for Booberry, where he hopes he’ll be the centerpiece of his own winning team. “And if we can get past the semifinals next season? Well, let’s just say I won’t be upset moving even further next year,” he added.

Finland Foxes. That's right, we're claiming the country for this one. (Actually don't hate the idea, tbh. Also generally in favor of a 4/2 or 3/3 split old/new.)

I voted by your rules, but my true vote is Vasteras x3

Houston -- Xavier Booberry recently received his first start in the VHLM, and it was a memorable one. Facing off against the Mexico City Kings, the team right below Booberry’s Houston Bulls in the standings, the newly-signed goaltender was able to pick up the victory. Booberry allowed just three goals on 30 shots, helping lead Houston to a 5-3 win in a tight playoff race. To hear Booberry tell it, the usual nerves for a new player weren’t evident. Instead, he was just ready to get playing. “There’s so much build up to one of these things, with finding a team, signing and training,” Booberry said. “The part where I’m on the ice? That’s natural to me. It felt good to be at home again.” Booberry hasn’t received any more ice time in the games since, with Houston riding starter Aike van Giersbergen as it comes down the stretch in the playoff race. But especially as Houston’s spot at fourth in the West and seventh overall becomes more secure, Booberry’s hoping he can see a couple more games of action. “My goal is to be a starter in the VHLM next season, and nothing prepares you for being The Man quite like playing time,” he added. “But I also know that winning is first and foremost here in Houston. I’m happy to do whatever is needed to help the Bulls win, while learning and growing myself for next season.”

I was beaten down by time

Can I also vote no to all of the above? I like the work that people did on the logos and they look good, but the team names are very blah to me.

Houston, TX -- Xavier Booberry announced today that he has signed his first professional contract: with the Houston Bulls. The goaltender hailing from upstate Minnesota will be a backup in Houston down the stretch, and at his introductory press conference, the youngster sounded excited to be playing for the playoff-bound squad. “The main thing I wanted when looking for a team was a chance to win, and I think we’ve got the team to do that here in Houston,” Booberry said. “If I’m able to get a few games here and there in net, that’s an added bonus. All in all I can’t think of a better situation for me.” Indeed, the team has a link to Booberry’s agency as well – retired defenseman Lance Flowers played with Hall of Famer Julius Freeman, who now helps helm the squad. Due to that past history, Booberry told reporters that he has even more confidence he’s making the right call. “There’s mentors out the wazoo here. You have Freeman, you have [starting goalie] van Giersbergen, you’ve got this great locker room of guys. It’s a learning season for me, and I plan on doing my fair share of listening,” Booberry added. The S80 goalie will be on Houston for the remainder of this season, as well as however long the team lasts in the VHLM playoffs. From there, he will be entered into the Season 79 VHLM Draft, where he will hope to snag a starting spot for a VHLM team next season.

I'm in, let's do it