CowboyinAmerica

1) Does your player have a pre-game ritual? What is it? Eating salmon on an English muffin. It's a new tradition, but damn if there isn't some tasty salmon up in the Yukon. Everybody needs a little bit of game fuel. 2) What is your favorite goal song? If I'm scoring, it should be a funeral dirge. Because there's no way in hell that I should ever be scoring goals, and the other team should be ashamed. 3) What kind of mascot would you like to see for the Rush? Ooh, this is a good one. I think a sled dog/husky would make a lot of sense, and be something familiar to the region as well. I now want to design this. 4) Who is your favorite player in the VHL? A defenseman with a lot of assists, not so many goals, and excellent skating ability to block shots. Robert Malenko's been doing that for years, even as he's hopped around teams. 5) What number do you wear and why? Number 11 - it's a reminder of how old I was when I first started playing, and a note that even if others started playing earlier, I still have the talent to catch up. 6) We're a couple weeks in, who would you vote for the C and A's? (1C, 2A) Eller for captain, myself and Draven for A's. That seems to be the way things have broken down in the locker room, makes sense by me.

3-2 Calgary

141 HC Davos Dynamo @ Moscow Menace 142 Toronto Legion @ Malmo Nighthawks 143 Seattle Bears @ Calgary Wranglers 145 Vancouver Wolves @ Helsinki Titans

Flowers +5

Hell yeah, love it!

The mass of defensive talent is fun, should make for some fun battles as we all enter the VHL

And you're doing a good job at it! Also, I'm curious why he needs a rubber ducky.

Yukon -- The good news: Lance Flowers is top ten in defenseman scoring, with an even 20 points in 20 games. The rest of the news could be a good or bad thing, depending on how you're looking at it: Every single one of those points is an assist, and Flowers has exactly zero goals to his name thus far this season. How exactly has this happened? For certain, Flowers has not trained his shot a single ounce since coming to the VHLM, while he's trained prodigiously as a passer. The Rush also have high-powered forwards like Eller and Plunkett to take care of the scoring. Still, one would figure that the second overall pick would luck into at least one goal in 20 games, especially considering he had two in 25 games last year for Halifax, but no dice. "I'm not particularly worried about it, I'll get a deflection or something one day," Flowers said. "What's more important to me is setting up my teammates, and since I'm sixth overall in assists, I think I'm doing a damn good job of that." Local bettors have started to place odds on when he'll score his first goal - the smart money seems to be somewhere between games 31 and 40. The odds of him not scoring at all? That would be a 50-1 bet, not great odds considering his projected ice time.

Beat Minnesota but lose to Houston, just as we all saw coming.

1. That's one way to make my prediction of taking a point off Minnesota I literally just wrote come true. 2. BAHAHAHA GIRTH GOD GOAL

1) Is there a player on the team that you think deserves more recognition for their contributions? I think it's got to be Petrovic so far. His second-best 11 assists and 22 shots blocked have both been impressive, and he's continued to work out well with the team. I think some VHL team is going to be getting a steal with him. 2) Based on the games so far, where do you think Yukon will end up in the standings at the end of the season? I've said all along third or fourth, and while Yukon's early season placement would seem to put them lower, I'm not going to deviate from my prediction quite yet. I do think this is a team poised for a late season run, similar to Halifax last year. 3) What teams do you see in the top 3 of the VHL standings and why? The current top 3 of Toronto, Helsinki and Moscow seems reasonable, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Calgary jumped Moscow due to the former's more experience. 4) If the VHL does expand as some people expect, where would you like to see a new team? Vasteras. I've made my feelings on this well known, it'll never happen, but I do think it's dumb how some automatically dismiss them out of hand when the history of the team (both positive and negative) would make them the single most compelling add you could possibly do. 5) How do you see the couple of upcoming games against Minnesota going? If they've already happened; review them against your expectations. I suppose it's not reasonable to expect too terribly much, huh? Still, I don't think it's going to be a crush - I think Yukon will take at least 1 point in these next two games against it, be it taking them to OT or otherwise. 6) GM/AGM feedback: Is there anything we aren't doing that you'd like to see? Well, this got posted, so that was actually my main point of contention. Otherwise, I think I'm good, just appreciate being a part of the team.

Solarbeam, bitches

Picked up this one, I'll take it. Like seeing Eller get that first star.

1. Is Yukon a competitive team, and if so where should we be prepared to see them in the rankings? Yukon is absolutely a competitive team, but we've still got some room to build. Our team is filled with S68 players, who hopefully will be up near 200 TPE by the time the playoffs roll around. I figure Yukon will be a 3-4 seed, but win it all when they get there. 2. What player stands out the most to you in terms of improvement? A Red Guy has struggled in a few games so far, but he just joined right before the season started. Even in that small time he's grown so much, and I only see him getting more consistent from here. 3. Where does the team stand on offensive/defensive strategy? Is one more important than the other? It's interesting - the team has so much defensive talent, arguably more than any other team. But I do think it's equal between the two, which should serve us well in the playoffs. 4. Who is this team's next VHL designated player? People are sleeping on Frans Eller. I think there's a distinct possibility that he's the first pick in the draft next season because of his combination of work ethic, skill, and the position he plays. Don't be surprised if he makes multiple all-star teams, and quickly. 5. Where does Yukon need improvement? It's just time. We're young, and we'll get there. But until the team gets a few more games and practices in, there's going to be some consistency issues. 6. What has to happen for you to consider this season a success? As a team or personally. It's all about the titles. If the zero goals in 14 games didn't give it away, I'm not about that scoring life. It's much better for me if we win as a team, and I'm excited for the possibility.

Flowers Still a Top Pick? Yukon Territory -- When he originally declared for the VHLM at least season's trade deadline, defenseman Lance Flowers was at the top of the charts for potential Season 68 draft picks. However, less than one season later, some are starting to believe that he might not be as high a pick as originally believed. As it currently, Flowers is indeed one of two players in the upcoming draft above the 200 TPE cap. However, due to a number of different factors, Philadelphia defenseman Condor Adrienne has blown by Flowers in the overall standings. Meanwhile, forwards Eller and Underyew are coming up on Flowers quickly, and other players further down the TPE rankings may show more upside. Does that concern Flowers? Not particularly. He's happy to work on his skills at his own rate, and for the rest, he believe it'll all come out in the wash. "I'm happy with my work so far, and wherever I land in the draft, I'll land," he explained. "Mock drafts are for the blog boys online. Teams know what I'm about, and if I fall down the draft, so be it. I can't make peoples' decisions for them." As it currently stands, Flowers has been an excellent passer and checker, as expected. His 14 assists, 20 shots blocked and 36 hits are all in the top 10 of all VHLM players.

Names: F - Patrick Juhlin D - Leif Rohlin G - Mats Ytter In honor of recent conversations, they're three historic players from popular Swedish hockey team VIK Vasteras HK (Points are for Lance Flowers)

Very much not, in my eyes. But yeah, unless the VHLM was to go global again, it wouldn't be the best fit. I just voted yes for optics purposes.

Flowers +5

Another good team win! 8 power plays are fun

3-2 Moscow

Helsinki Titans Toronto Legion Moscow Menace New York Americans

SCORING HIGHER THAN 40'S FOR CHUMPS

There are a few of us still left on that train (hi @solas), but I doubt it happens. My standing offer was/is that I'd only become a GM if I were allowed to move a team there.

I'm tanking for a higher draft pick. D - Jerry Garcia @TheFlash

(Crosby already taken by Bushito @Sixersfan549)