CowboyinAmerica

Yay! A good choice, and glad these are happening again.

All of these close games, but can't quite get it done

First goal! Weeeeeee

100 Helsinki Titans @ Calgary Wranglers 101 Malmo Nighthawks @ Vancouver Wolves 102 HC Davos Dynamo @ Prague Phantoms 103 Riga Reign @ Toronto Legion

3-2 Helsinki

Hell yeah! Offense really seems to be clicking

1. How has the team and/or the league been for you so far? It's been great! I love New York and the team locker room, and it's been fun being part of such a young group building towards something. Plus, we have a few wins! 2. If you could start your player over, what would you change? I probably should have added to Scoring in the VHLM and picked up a few more goals. But in general, I like where I'm at right now. 3. How do you feel about your own performance this early in the season? Actually a bit better than I thought? A handful of assists is great, but being top ten in both hits and shots blocked is even better. Exactly what I wanted to achieve early on. 4. We have played a handful of games so far, do you think we're performing over or under expectations? I'd say pretty accurate to where we'd expect. Playing D.C. a few times helps with the record, but picking up random wins like the recent one over Seattle was exactly what I'd hoped we'd do this season. 5. At the end of the season, if eligible and not under contract, would you retire and re-create a new player? Nope. But not only saying that because I'm young - I just don't see the point of retiring early. I always want to go eight seasons with my players. 10. We have a promising roster that should be good in the future, do you agree? I'm curious who, answering presumably as a New York player, would put no. But with that said, yes, I agree.

A+ name, I'm a sucker for puns

Oof. Well, I'll take a point at least.

When I first got into the New York locker room, one of Esso's first requests was a normal one: PM him what number I wanted on the team. The addendum though actually caught me a bit off guard, even if it shouldn't have: "Make sure it's not a number that's retired." According to the Team Announcements forum, the last jersey retirement occurred more than a calendar year ago: Helsinki and Higgins retiring Ay Ay Ron's number for Boubabi. In other words, long enough ago that Boubabi has been banned, unbanned, and Higgins inactive then active again since then. The last jersey retirement for the Meute was S56, the Legion S53, the Americans S52, the Reign S45. Both the Vikings and the Express - two teams that haven't existed in 10+ seasons - have retired jerseys more recently than the Dynamo (S41!) or the Wranglers (S36?!?). The Bears have absolutely nothing; the team's "Hall of Fame" has had one old player and question marks for 10 seasons. One of the main reasons I stick around the VHL in particular is because of the history of the place. And while the Hall of Fame is the best place to commemorate that history, I'd argue that retired numbers are the second best - they demonstrate the long-standing history of many of these teams, and the unique players that were a part of franchises that may not have been good enough for the HoF proper. Players that are 6-8 good, active seasons on one team should be awarded, in my opinion. So, I'd like to see not only numbers (why were they removed from player creation?) but number retirements become more of a thing again. It wouldn't be too much work from GMs - just a bit of understanding of a team's history, as well as a quik photoshop job from someone on the team. I think it'd be a time investment well worth the effort.

+5 Flowers

Win would've been nice, but LeGrande continuing to do work is sweet

D - Sven Hitz @.sniffuM

Think that puts it back to @Juddy since McWolf picked his goalie to finish the team.

3-2 Vancouver

43 Toronto Legion @ Vancouver Wolves 44 Calgary Wranglers @ D.C. Dragons 45 Riga Reign @ Helsinki Titans 46 New York Americans @ Seattle Bears

Git gud @Esso2264

D - Piotr Jerwa @Juddy

F - Randoms @.sniffuM

F Dan Wilinsky @Juddy

G Brick Wahl @.sniffuM

Julian Borwinn @Juddy

I'm in

Manhattan, NY -- It was a Big Night in the Big Apple: The New York Americans franchise has been down on its luck in recent years, but is hoping to change its fortunes with a whopping 12 players added to the franchise pool in last night's VHL Draft. Among those players were four first round draft picks and six of the 16 draft selections, led by second overall pick defenseman Lance Flowers. Speaking with the media in the VHL Draft room directly following his selection, Flowers seemed excited by the prospect of going to New York, even if he didn't yet know who his teammates would be. "It's the biggest market in the league, a franchise that is building towards something great, and there's a good chance I'll see top minutes right away. What's not to love?" Flowers said. "I had a feeling I'd end up in New York, and right now, there's no place I'd rather be." Those feelings were compounded as the first round continued. New York's next two picks happened to be Yukon teammates of Flowers' in Frans Eller and A Red Guy, two players that contributed mightily to the junior team's successes. That was followed by fellow defenseman Frederik Elmebeck in the first round; Owen Nolan, Micha Sage and Aamon Grim in the second round; and Ryo Yamazuki II and Jaxon Walker. The first six draftees will be up in the VHL as rookies this season, while the other three are poised to be top VHLM contributors. What it all adds up to is a team that may not be overly competitive this season, but should be seen as a top competitor in the years to come. "Have you seen our squad?" Flowers said later that night, after the draft concluded. "We're coming for the VHL, and it's going to be pretty. We may be young now, but you'll look back on this draft as a turning point in a few years."

Flowers +5