CowboyinAmerica

Hah didn't even need to check the game threads. I like it.

Close, but them two goals getting it done

We can sure put up goals in bunches, that's fun

Well, I guess this is where not actually having a goalie is gonna hurt

Winner: Saskatoon Number of games: 6 Total goals scored: 30 Who gets the Cup winning goal? Gabriel McAllister Series leader in points: Gabriel McAllister Series leader in goals: Gabriel McAllister Series leader in assists: Jake Scheel

Damn, a new series. The close battles are much more fun for impartial observers like me.

With the activity of other guys lately and the need for offensive talent, I personally expect you to go lottery. And I figure the production will come in time, it always does.

WELL. That's definitely a game that happened.

A+ name

Part I - Pick em' (Pick the correct winners of all three games for 1 TPE) Game 2 - Quebec City Meute vs. Helsinki Titans: Titans Game 3 - Helsinki Titans vs. Quebec City Meute: Meute Game 4 - Helsinki Titans vs. Quebec City Meute: Titans Part II - Predict the Score (Predict the correct score and winner of this game for 3 TPE) Game 4 - Helsinki Titans vs. Quebec City Meute: 3-2 Titans Part III - Player Predictions (Predict the correct player for each category, 1 TPE for each correct answer) Series leader in points: Black Velvet Series leader in goals: Theo Axelsson Series leader in assists: Black Velvet

This is more what I expected coming in, but now anything can happen in one game...

Hell. Yeah. McAllister picking up where Wingate left off kicking ass in the playoffs. Good job on a close series Ottawa, but now onto the finals!

Too old, he's doing S55 and younger for juniors.

I feel like Velvet's a bit under-reported here - it's the best storyline entering the finals. With a Helsinki win, Velvet becomes the second player ever to win 5 cups, tying Jenkins. Of course that's thanks to being part of Toronto's threepeat, the first of its kind, in case you haven't heard. Also puts Higgins as one of only six members with 8 cups.

Pssh, who needs a goalie with the S54 Saskatoon first line?

Cool, so at least we know what the whining excuse will be early. If there was an update, Las Vegas would have had 7 guys with increased attributes, while Oslo would have 4 (Ying, Aleksei and Forsberg all maxed already.)

It's alright, we're got two more chances.

Saskatoon (AP) -- A little over one month ago, research conducted by @solas revealed the Top 20 TPE earners at the time of the draft, ranging from Mason Richardson's record-setting 348 in Season 40 to Geoff Gartner's 258 in Season 12. At the time, he said it was likely that current Saskatoon winger Gabriel McAllister would reach the top 20 by the time the draft occurred. To that, McAllister said, "Top 20? Why not Top 10!" Indeed, with a little help from the VHL's birthday celebration, McAllister has now broken into the top 10 all-time in draft day TPE, more than a week before the draft is scheduled to occur. By the time this article is published, McAllister will sit at 306 TPE, which would be good for seventh on the all-time list. "I can't say it was exactly a goal; I just wanted to work as hard as I could," McAllister told reporters after a recent playoff win against Ottawa. "I'm happy that my hard work is showing up on the ice, and I'll be excited to take that hard work and apply it wherever I get drafted." Given the Achievement Tracker and team training camp, it's likely that McAllister will be north of 350 TPE by the time Season 56 begins in earnest. He'll likely be a popular pick for Rookie of the Year next season, though he'll have competition from current teammates Daring Do and Ay Ay Ron, the Oslo duo of Mattias Forsberg and Xavier Laflamme, and many others.

Finding McAllister's Right Fit While the VHL Playoffs continue to go forward, the non-playoff teams are left in a bit of a holding pattern. Sure, there are some preparations that are beginning to be made, but there remains one big question: Who will get the first pick in the draft? At this point, it’s likely that left winger Gabriel McAllister will be the first pick, something that becomes even more certain if Ay Ay Ron is automatically assigned to Stockholm or New York via GM Rule as has been floated out there. A couple weeks ago, we talked with McAllister about why he’d like to go to each of the four teams that currently hold lottery picks. But in the lead up to the lottery, today we’re asking a different question: How does McAllister actually fit in with each of the non-playoff teams? Cologne Express Since there isn’t much in the cupboard for the Express, the team can build around McAllister rather than fitting him into preexisting plans. Right winger Birkir Hólm Guðnason, who recently entered the VHLM and is already pledged to Cologne in the Season 57 draft, would help in that regard and give a fearsome one-two punch as early as Season 58. The fifth pick in this year’s draft and Cologne’s S57 first would also presumably be key pieces to the rebuild. But the key is that with McAllister on board, the team would have a lot of flexibility moving forward. Seattle Bears The future of the Bears first line is up in flames – Xavier Laflamme, that is. Laflamme and center Mattias Forsberg have been key to an Oslo Storm resurgence in the VHLM this season, and it’s worthwhile to expect that the duo will take their act to Seattle together and perform in a similar fashion. By the start of Season 56, Laflamme will likely be around 250 TPE and Forsberg around 300, giving both players a solid building block towards Rookie of the Year aspirations. Though Laflamme is a left winger similar to McAllister, one of the two players could easily move to the other side of the ice for an all-rookie first line. Aging, unwanted veterans excepted, nobody would be pushing Laflamme or McAllister for those first line spots, and it’s clear that they would be a pair for years into the future with this Seattle team. Riga Reign McAllister’s fit would be similarly straightforward in Riga: first line left winger, with Fredinamijs Krīgars at center and Slava Aleksei at right wing. Just like in Seattle, both wingers would be entering from the VHLM at the same time and would complement one another in the Rookie of the Year race. Given the growth trajectory of Riga as well, it’s believable that both players would be with the franchise for a long time as well. What might make that fit more interesting, though, is age: Krīgars is a S53 player, and Aleksei is S54. If the Reign snagged McAllister in the draft, would the team want to make trades and try and compete with Helsinki/Davos right away? Especially given the talent that could be available from New York and Stockholm this offseason, it could make sense for McAllister to be pushed down the depth chart in favor of an older star or two up on the first line. Toronto Legion On the surface, McAllister’s fit in Toronto would also seem to be straightforward. You have Boeser at center, Reinholdt on the right wing, and McAllister on the left. It would certainly be a lineup of the future, and it would have more TPE off the top than any other line that McAllister would be on. But there’s one wrinkle that I think could be potentially interesting: Toronto is likely to look to compete right away, and Daring Do is also waiting in the wings to make the jump next season. If Toronto thinks Boeser could hold down the first line scoring again similar to this season, would it make sense to pair Boeser with Reinholdt and Do, then have McAllister be the primary second line playmaker? It would be a way to counter a deep Quebec offense, and signing or trading for veteran players to pair with McAllister would certainly be easy. It’s an interesting thought at least, but one whose conclusion is far away.

I agree wholeheartedly with public voting for All-Stars. I'm totally even fine without a game as you suggest, having the public recognition and naming All-Stars for record-keeping purposes is nice to have though.

One more, no 3-1 curse pretty please

That was a sad finals. That Game 6 and 7 are when karma came to bite Wingate for all the success he had the rest of his career.

I think the key is that if McAllister plays well, we lose. So time to suck for the next six games!

My final one will be when I made the HoF with Wingate. Even though I wasn't here actually at the time it happened, it was cool to see recognition of something I worked extremely had for, and something that was my goal with Wingate specifically at the start of his career. Here's to hoping for more!