CowboyinAmerica

Inside Gabriel McAllister's VHLM Free Agent Choice He's ruled out Las Vegas, but where does he go from here? Today was a big day for Chicago’s Gabriel McAllister – he officially declared for the Season 56 Draft. But there’s a wrinkle to that, because for the next season, he will be playing in the VHLM, the VHL’s five-team minor league system. And, because of recent changes to the VHLM, there is a new wrinkle. Past Warren agency clients could not choose their first VHLM teams, being automatically assigned to one of the league’s ten teams via a waiver system. Now though, not only are there five teams, but McAllister has his pick of the litter. As of this writing, three of the league’s five teams have reached out, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see the other two do so in due time given McAllister’s high upside through the rest of this season. So what exactly is McAllister looking at when signing with a team? We decided to ask him, in his own words, with a (well, kind of) ranking of his potential destinations. 5. Las Vegas Aces It certainly doesn’t help that the GM was (is?) a dick, particularly to one of the Warren agency’s past teammates and favorite people in Stevo. It also doesn’t help that the co-GM that has seemed to pick up the reigns publicly endorsed that behavior, not to mention him quitting on his own team at the beginning of the season. I might not have been in the league, but don’t think I haven’t seen these things, and that sort of toxic environment isn’t one I’m readily eager to step into. But ultimately, perhaps even more, it comes down to the fact that I hate frontrunning with a passion. So I play the second line on a team that doesn’t need me and get a cheap championship; is that supposed to be fun? Where’s the challenge, the ultimate goal of building and bonding with teammates? I have no ambition to have a championship with an asterisk. I want to earn it. 1d. Yukon Rush Outside of Las Vegas, I honestly see positives and negatives to signing with every other team in the VHLM. With Yukon, it would be the opportunity to explore my own potential from the very beginning. Already, due to the retirement of Fuk D. World and the inactivity of Pastrnak and Aho, I would be the team’s leading scorer from the first day, and might be better able to show potential VHL GMs what I could do. However, despite what I said in the Las Vegas section, it’s not like I don’t want to have an opportunity to win. It does scare me to join a team at the bottom of the standings, and I’m not sure that I could be able to lift the team to a championship myself. Honestly, a lot may depend on Key Perought – if I were to join Yukon, I would need to make sure that Yukon had a goalie that could make up for any other shortcomings. 1c. Ottawa Lynx Joining Ottawa would be all about the people. In a vacuum and based on past VHL experience, Jardy would be the GM I’d be most excited to play for. The VHL GM that drafted my agency’s last player, Hans Wingate, is on the team. And out of any agency in the VHL, it’s actually the Jones agency that the Warren agency has the longest association with. It would be a blast to join this team and help lead fun people to victory. But with that said, similar to perhaps Yukon, there just isn’t much in the cupboard to help me in the beginning phase of my VHLM career to lead a team to a title. In particular the goalie situation worries me – with Perought heading to Yukon, this might just be the worst goalie situation in the league. And while the team does have some established talent, it also happens to be at the same position I play, at left wing. 1b. Saskatoon Wild The first ever VHLM team for the Warren agency, a return to the Wild would mean a return to the same team as the Dollar agency. And pairing myself with the future Legion star Bo Boeser, especially as I would instantly become the second-best offensive star on the team, may be an opportunity that’s too good to pass up. If there’s a team that combines winning and being a star, this is it. It also doesn’t hurt that Saskatoon holds Yukon’s first round pick, and the thought of being on the team for more than one season is appealing. However, would me and Boeser be enough for a title? I’d argue that this team has less offensive talent than Ottawa, and perhaps even Yukon if World is allowed to unretired and come back to form. Outside of Boeser, there also isn’t anyone that the Warren agency has had much contact with previously, including the general manager, and I would be going into the situation more on a whim and a prayer (though some could argue this also could be a positive). 1a. Oslo Storm On its face, I think that this is the best team to take on the Aces in terms of talent. Johnny Styles is one of the best passing centers in the league, Xavier Laflamme is growing into his own as a top winger, and despite what the stats may tell you, Verner Reinholdt might just be the best pure talent in the entire VHLM. Add to that a serviceable, growing and fun teammate in Our Lady of Perpetual Motion, and Oslo would be an excellent landing spot. But similar to the issue with Las Vegas, does Oslo really need a player like me? With Laflamme and Reinholdt established on the wings, I’m not sure I’ll be able to break through and get the playing time I desire. Sitting on the second line wouldn’t showcase my talent to VHL scouts that well, and though it’d be fun to win, I’m looking for more of a balance. Past periods of going missing at random times from the GM worries me as well, as does not actually having a contract offer from the team.

Sexy, I love it, especially the play on the name. And juxtaposed with Solas's (because putting both in my sig right now), have a kick ass heaven and hell thing going on.

That's kick ass. And metal as fuck, because it looks like I'm coming from the gates of Hell to destroy the VHL.

Thanks! Have some time on my hands over this summer, wanted to take a stab at actually creating an offensive player for once.

$20 from me Doubles Doubles +5 Free Week

The Basics Full Name: Gabriel McAllister Position: LW Age: 20 Handedness: Right Height (inches): 5'10” Weight (lbs.): 170 Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois Hailing from the Zach Warren agency that is just coming off a Hall of Fame player in Hans Wingate, it’s clear that all eyes will be on Chicago-born left winger Gabriel McAllister. And indeed, entering the VHLM, McAllister projects as a potential top five pick in the Season 56 VHL Draft. Worthiness, though, is in the eye of the beholder. During his time in high school and briefly at the University of North Dakota, McAllister showed prodigious offensive skill, but his defensive game is lacking. In addition, he hasn’t played against much top flight talent like what he’ll see in the VHLM, let alone in the VHL once he gets there. But despite the limited tape on him so far, scouts have still been able to get a decent feel for what McAllister will be about as a VHL player. Here are some of the strengths and weaknesses they’ve identified thus far: Scoring: Watch Gabriel McAllister for a game or two, and it’s clear what his function in the team is – a do-everything offensive playmaker, particularly when it comes to making shot opportunities. For those who for some reason watch the NHL instead of the VHL, think of a winger in the Patrick Kane mold, who can create his own shot simply by skating through the defense and looking for a hole. Although his passing skill isn’t terrible, it’s clear McAllister would rather shoot if he had his choice. Natural Ease: If there’s something that is a common thread along all Warren agency players, it’s the natural ability that they seem to be able to play with. Of course, this often manifests on the ice – even Karsten Olsen is one of the top point scorers in Bears history – but it also works in the practice facility as well. Often, it seems like McAllister simply doesn’t have to work as hard as others to grow as a player, which can help him even on the weeks where he doesn’t have the drive to put in effort in practice. Longevity: One common thread that has occurred from a recent VHL change to allow agents to have two players at one time is longevity – if you’re bored with a client, well, he can retire early, and the agent can pick up another! For the Warren agency, though, that temptation will never be there. According to reports, the agency will commit to only signing one player at a time, and even if he’s not winning championships, it’s very unlikely McAllister will retire early. Checking: The Mikka Virkkunen Trophy has become somewhat of a punchline for many members in the VHL; it’s rarely ever a goal that players actually aspire to win. For McAllister, though, a Virkkunen or two certainly seems to be in his future. He has no checking ability whatsoever, and due to his small 5’10” frame, he doesn’t really show an inclination to learn any time soon. I wouldn’t be surprised to see McAllister max out his other abilities before going anywhere near checking or strength. Work Ethic: It’s no secret that the Warren agency hasn’t had a VHL player since Hans Wingate retired following Season 50, and even then, Wingate was not practicing at full capacity since roughly the middle of Season 49. Concerns about work ethic is what doomed defenseman Karsten Olsen from not reaching his full potential as well. It’s clear that McAllister will be able to get better quickly if he even puts in a modicum of work, but will he even do that much? Experience: The issue of experience cuts two ways for McAllister. First of all, he simply hasn’t had much time playing organized hockey, just four years of high school and a very short time in college. Even with training ahead of his entrance to the VHLM, it’s clear he’ll be one of the most raw players in the league. Second of all, he’s also not likely to receive much help from the Warren agency. As interesting as it is, McAllister is the first ever player in the agency to enter the draft as a forward, and questions remain about whether the agency will help McAllister practice in a correct way to build a star offensive player.

The Biography of Gabriel McAllister Full Name: Gabriel McAllister Position: LW Age: 20 Handedness: Right Height (inches): 5'10” Weight (lbs.): 170 Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois You would be forgiven if you forgot about Mount Greenwood. Technically a neighborhood in Chicago, the small community on the southwest side of the city couldn’t be further from the bustling metropolis—largely insular, largely conservative, and just about every person you meet has at least some sort of Irish heritage. Chances are, you know your neighbor from Brother Rice, or St. Rita, or Marist, or Mother McCauley, or… well, there aren’t many high schools around that aren’t Catholic, are there? And then there’s this—nobody really ever leaves Mt. Greenwood, at least not if they can help it. Sure, they may work downtown—there’s a higher proportion Chicago police officers and firefighters than anywhere else in the city—but in the end, they’ll be back to home. Gabriel McAllister saw this future. The road was laid out ahead of him. Like many young boys in the neighborhood, Gabriel was a third-generation Irish-American; his grandparents on both sides came to America shortly before the outbreak of World War II. His father Tim was a police officer, and his mother Martha was a nurse at the local hospital. It’s been said that there really wasn’t much special about Gabriel, at least not to the naked eye. He got average grades, he got in a bit of trouble but not too much, and he seemed to be a nice enough looking kid. Maybe he’d join the police force himself, or maybe he’d even be a priest? His life was mapped out by the time he was born, but there was one wrinkle that Jesus, Mary and Joseph decided to throw into the picture. Gabriel was a demon on skates. One for the Kennedy Of course, nobody knew that fact when Gabriel McAllister started at Brother Rice High School in 2009, the all-boys, all-Catholic, all-the-time school on the edge of Mt. Greenwood. He was another face in the crowd; think about the Irish stereotype, with the requisite red hair, short stature and an eye for mischief, and you’ll have Gabriel. At first he had trouble fitting in, but he soon learned the secret: At an all-boys school like Brother Rice, athletics is social currency. He enjoyed playing hockey when the local lakes froze up with his friends, and even though he had never played in an organized league, he thought now may be the time. Brother Rice may excel athletically, but when it comes to hockey, they’re the Seattle Bears of the Chicago Catholic League: a lot more history than any recent success. Sure, the team won the Kennedy Cup—given to the top Chicago Catholic league hockey team each year—in 2001, but ever since Eddie Olczyk graduated back in the mid-80’s, there hadn’t been much to root for. By the time Gabriel came to school, the hockey team was a bit of an afterthought, which makes it more understandable why a guy who had never played competitively like him was actually able to make the team. The first game of Gabriel’s freshman year was a big one, against fellow Mt. Greenwood Catholic school Marist. Of course, Coach McCauley had seen him in practice, and it sure seemed like the kid could fly. But rarely, in the coach’s experience, did that actually translate to the game. After all, as Mike Tyson once said, everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth. Gabriel’s parents in the stands, Tim and Martha, didn’t expect much more. They had never really pushed their son into athletics, but they understood how much he wanted to be successful on the team. It’s just that, well, Chicago had never actually had a VHL team, and nobody around here really cared about the lower league NHL team that hadn’t won anything for a few decades. In the end, it seemed that the only person who had any confidence in Gabriel McAllister was Gabriel McAllister himself. It took 10 minutes into the game before Gabriel received his first shift; he almost tripped jumping the boards. But suddenly, there was the puck on his skate. And there went the first defender, who seemed to be standing in place as Gabriel whizzed by. And there was the second defender, laying out to knock the puck away just a second too late. And there was the goalie’s glove, not nearly quick enough to the top right corner of the goal. And there was Gabriel McAllister, at the bottom of a pile on the ice as he put Brother Rice up 1-0 on his very first shift. Brother Rice won 4-2 that day, and Gabriel ended the game with 2 goals and an assist. But perhaps even more than the win, it was the acceptance in the locker room, and from the coaching staff, that seemed to be his true prize. In fact, it was a stunning realization that perhaps the average kid from the average family on the southwest side of Chicago maybe wasn’t so average after all. Maybe there was something there. Gabriel McAllister certainly didn’t grow much over the remaining four years of high school, and he still was that shaggy red mop for hair with a few freckles, and he never had the best grades or a whole lot of money. But out on the ice, while streaking up the left wing to start a breakaway, none of that matter. Brother Rice would win the Kennedy Cup during his freshman year, and his sophomore. In the all-boys school, Gabriel was suddenly a demigod, incapable of doing wrong as long as the puck kept finding the back of the net. Even a leg injury near the end of his junior season didn’t derail his skyward trajectory for too long. And when he announced that he’d be staying in the Midwest and going to North Dakota to play college hockey, the team sent him off with a rousing pep rally. Gabriel McAllister could do no wrong. A New Start Gabriel McAllister kept fucking up. It might seem obvious that college is a bit harder to acclimate to than high school, but halfway through his first year at North Dakota, he still couldn’t quite get the hang of things. The team kept the playing time very hierarchical; despite scoring 4 goals already in 10 games, he simply couldn’t see the ice. Being far away from home for the first time, away from that Mt. Greenwood community that had so natured him, was even tougher. He wasn’t keeping up with classes that well, and his social life that had so depended on being a sports star in high school was non-existent. For many, this would be the start of an inspirational story. Maybe Gabriel would learn something about himself, or possibly learn the value of hard work. Over time, he would work his way up through the ranks on the team, and learn to connect with people on a personal level rather than fall back on his athletic prowess. Maybe he didn’t have to be that average guy, and would learn to embrace the things that made him above average. Gabriel McAllister did none of that. Instead, he quit. Six months after leaving North Dakota, Gabriel could be found doing construction by day, back on the south side of Chicago. By night, he would play pick-up games of hockey against whoever he could, the dream of playing in an organized fashion near dead. It wouldn’t be entirely accurate to say that he regretted his decision to leave; he was home among family now, after all, and he felt comfortable living in the Mt. Greenwood neighborhood. Perhaps, he though, that preordained life would find him after all, and he would go down in the annals of history as yet another high school star that would never leave the place where he found his fame. And it would have been a perfectly fine life, to be sure, if not a bit average. Except, as what seemed to happen to Gabriel, there was a wrinkle in the plan. Because, you see, part of the Season 52 World Cup was played in Chicago. That meant that a number of VHL personnel, including players, happened to be in the area. One of them was Hans Wingate, a Hall of Fame goalie who now works as an assistant coach with the Toronto Legion’s youth teams. A day before the USA would play Scandinavia, he went in search of a rink and came upon a player, in red hair and freckles, dominating a pick-up game in a way he had never seen. Perhaps it was the providence of the Virgin Mary smiling upon him once again, a reminder that he still had a life of being above average ahead of him, but Gabriel ended up running into Coach Wingate in the parking lot following the pick-up game. At the time, he didn’t think much of it when Wingate gave him his card, and told him to give him a call after the World Cup. He also didn’t think of it much when Wingate then traveled back to Chicago, with his former agent in tow, during the S53 regular season for a private workout. But when the agent, Zach Warren, signed Gabriel on the spot, it started to become real. Now, at the S54 trade deadline, Gabriel McAllister is declaring for the VHLM, and will be a member of the S56 VHL Draft as long as all goes well. That isn’t to say, though, that he doesn’t have hesitations. After all, he tried to leave home once already; he failed miserably. Now, he’s doing so with even more pressure, and the prospect of an actual career to fail. This biography is not yet fully written. It remains to be seen whether Gabriel McAllister can be successful in the VHLM the way that he was in high school, and the way he wasn’t patient enough to achieve in North Dakota. Who knows whether Jesus has another chance in him if Gabriel gives this one up. All he has left to do is hope, play his hardest, and pray.

Let's do this thing.

Player InformationUsername: CowboyinAmericaFull Name: Gabriel McAllisterPosition: LWAge: 20Handedness: RightRecruited By/From: The Church of Latter Day SaintsWould you like an experienced member to mentor you? NahPlayer AttributesTotal Points Earned: 75CK = Checking: 40FG = Fighting: 40DI = Discipline: 40SK = Skating: 70ST = Strength: 40PH = Puck Handling: 55FO = Face Offs: 40PA = Passing: 40SC = Scoring: 70DF = Defense: 40PS = Penalty Shot: 40EX = Experience: 40LD = Leadership: 40OtherJersey Number: 21Height (inches): 70 (5'10")Weight (lbs.): 170Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USAAwardsCareer StatsPlayer MovementPast Players D/RW - Karsten Olsen (843 TPE) G - Hans Wingate (1301 TPE) (HOF)

Ottawa Las Vegas Oslo

3-2 Vegas

Hi. Jobless person here applying

Aces Storm Lynx

3-2 Wild

3-1 Vikings

Dynamo Reign Titans Meute

User Name: CowboyinAmerica EASTERN CONFERENCE (M1) Washington vs (M2) Pittsburgh Winner: Washington # of Games: 6 (A2) Ottawa vs (W1) New York Rangers Winner: Ottawa # of Games: 6 WESTERN CONFERENCE (C3) St. Louis vs (W2) Nashville Winner: Nashville # of Games: 6 (P1) Anaheim vs (P2) Edmonton Winner: Anaheim # of Games: 6

User Name: CowboyinAmerica Cup Winner: Minnesota Wild EASTERN CONFERENCE (M1) Washington vs (W2) Toronto Winner: Washington # of Games: 5 (M2) Pittsburgh vs (M3) Columbus Winner: Pittsburgh # of Games: 6 (A1) Montreal vs (W1) New York Rangers Winner: Montreal # of Games: 6 (A2) Ottawa vs (A3) Boston Winner: Boston # of Games: 6 WESTERN CONFERENCE (C1) Chicago vs (W2) Nashville Winner: Chicago # of Games: 6 (C2) Minnesota vs (C3) St. Louis Winner: Minnesota # of Games: 6 (P1) Anaheim vs (W1) Calgary Winner: Anaheim # of Games: 6 (P2) Edmonton vs (P3) San Jose Winner: San Jose # of Games: 6

Me, not Voss. And I'll keep the TPE in mind, thank you.

In

Claimed

Claimed

Claimed

Claimed

Claimed