tcookie

that's so good, thank you

Helsinki Titans centre Phillip Rave is pushing his career highs this season, with 46 goals and 96 points with 6 games left to play. Rave's career-bests in those two categories are 48 and 108, respectively, with Malmo in S96. With the league leaders' numbers down a little bit in S98, Rave is also right on the doorstep when it comes to potentially earning some individual hardware - currently 2 goals and 1 point behind Maverick Goncalves of Davos. That makes him a legitimate candidate to take home the Szatkowski and Brooks Trophies, especially if he can get hot in the final 6 games. "Honestly I feel there's still some inconsistency going on in my game - I think I've probably been held off the scoresheet in 5 or 6 of our last 10 games, so... it's been a good season, but I don't feel all that great about being close to the league leader in goals and points. To be completely honest, I feel like I probably should be ahead. It would be nice to have a good finish to the season, for sure. I won't pretend taking home some individual awards wouldn't mean anything, but I'd still trade it all in for a ring at the end of the day. The real games start soon and that's where my focus lies," says Rave.

Boris Tzesar spent five years between the pipes for the Malmo Nighthawks, becoming one of the franchise's all-time goaltending leaders before his retirement. A couple of seasons later, another Tzesar would pull on a Malmo jersey. It wasn't long before he became the toughest guy in Sweden. Drafted 12th overall in the S89 draft, Savaisk Tzesar was never really considered much of a fighter as a prospect. He scored 41 points in 70 games with 119 hits in his VHLM rookie season with Houston, moving on to the San Diego Marlins in S89 where he scored 34 goals, 81 points, and added 184 hits. Altogether, he finished his two-year VHLM career with 121 PIM. He took his game to the VHLE's Cologne Express in S90 and put up 42 points, 59 PIM, and 113 hits in 72 games. He was a 6'3, 210 body who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty on the ice, but as you can see, it was never a focal point to his game - more complimentary physicality. In S91, Savaisk made his Malmo debut. He played a bit of a smaller role on what was an emerging contender as a rookie, with 15 goals, 33 points, 137 hits, and 71 PIM. In S92, he improved to put up 26 goals, 50 points, 162 hits, and 72 PIM. Throughout this time, though he was clearly a talented player and a contributor to Malmo's successes, he sought a way to make a bigger impact on the game. The Nighthawks were a young team with plenty of skill. As S93 progressed, Tzesar made a conscious effort to stand out in another way - supporting his teammates by throwing his body around and finishing checks every chance he could get. The increased physical play did draw the attention (and ire) of his opponents, and Tzesar found himself having to drop the mitts more frequently as it happened, but he acclimated himself well as a fighter. To his credit, the skill element he brought to the game never faltered - Tzesar evolved into a true power forward who blended hands, skill, scoring touch and nastiness to perfection. He began creating space for himself - and teammates - with his physical presence. "I loved everyone on that team," says Helsinki Titans centre Phillip Rave, who spent the first six seasons of his career as Tzesar's teammate. "But the way Savaisk played the game was special. One of those guys that played the right way every night, that you want to go to war with. One of those guys that every night you're happy you're playing on his team and not against him, that's for sure." S94 represented a breakout season for Tzesar, as he scored 44 goals and 90 points while adding 327 hits and 149 PIM. Over his final four seasons, he would post seasonal averages of 39 goals, 84 points, 300 hits, and 156 PIM. "I mean... when a guy can reliably give you 40 goals, 80 points, and 300 hits, what can you say? Of course I want that guy on my team," says Rave. But perhaps the best hockey of Tzesar's career came in the S96 playoffs. The Nighthawks won a wildcard series before being eliminated in the first round in five games. During those 8 games, Tzesar compiled 18 points and 40 hits. Nobody who bested him in either category played fewer than 17 games that post-season. He may have been the best player on the ice every night, but it wasn't enough. It's a playoff run that, simply due to its shortness, will never get the respect it deserves. Had Malmo supported him better, it may have ended up one of the best playoff runs ever. "I understand we earned a bit of a reputation that nobody really wants to have on those Malmo teams," says Rave. "But if there's anyone that doesn't deserve any of the blame for that, it's Savaisk. He played so hard, sacrificed so much, put his body on the line every night. And there he was, second last season of his career... old man was absolutely dominating out there. It's a shame that we couldn't get it done, so many guys deserved better fates. But Savaisk, man, he went out there and did it. We just couldn't do it with him." @Komrad

While the Moscow Menace and HC Davos Dynamo had at one point created a bit of separation between the pack of four teams atop the EU, things have changed considerably over the last 20 games or so. A look at the standings today shows Moscow and Riga tied for first place with 74 points, while Helsinki and Davos are each two points back at 72 points. We have seen some tight battles for positioning at times over the last few years, but this late in the season, having four teams separated by two points is rare and exciting. Not only that, all four teams are between 33 and 35 wins and +47 and +58 goal differentials. It's hard to say who is playing the best hockey of the bunch thus far this season. "It's a position I'm pretty comfortable with given Malmo was always fighting for the top of the EU during my entire career so far. I think we know what we have to do regardless of where we finish in the regular season standings, but it's always nice to put yourselves in the best position possible for the playoffs, so it'll be an exciting finish to the season for sure," says Helsinki centre Phillip Rave, who currently sits second in the league in points (76) and goals (36). "We'll bring our best every night and let the chips fall where they may. As a competitor you love when it's just a couple of good teams going at it, that's the kind of thing we live for."

1) It's late to answer this now, but my answer probably would have been that I can't see much happening because it generally makes the most sense for everyone for those trades to happen in the off-season. It turns out there were a couple moves this week but that's what I would've said without hindsight. 2) Also kind of late to answer this one, but I don't think we needed to do much. Let's go win a cup. 3) He's recently retired so maybe it's cheating, but too bad. Savaisk Tzesar! 4) Definitely. He's the best goalie in the league. It tends to follow save percentage pretty closely though so he'll need a hot streak to catch the leaders there, but he's within striking distance. 5) I'm 1 goal and 3 points off the league lead in those categories, so I'd like to say I think Rave has a shot to win something. 6) That's above my pay grade, probably some TPE giveaways though so that's fun lol

Although the Helsinki Titans have been a little susceptible to penalties over the last week or so, the four-team group atop the EU remains largely in tact. There's a little more separation between the teams involved, but a nine-point gap over half a season is hardly insurmountable. The Titans have cleaned up their game a bit after a blip from around the 20-30 game mark of the season and while the duo of Phillip Rave and Grimgor Ironhide are no longer right at the top of the league scoring charts, they still both place in the top-10. After a down year in Malmo last season, Rave is on pace for his first career 50-goal campaign and second-career 100-point season. "I've said it before and I don't care much about personal stats, but certainly it feels good to be contributing to wins and feel like you're playing near the top of your game. I think I can be a little more consistent. It's been a good half season so far and the guys are ready to battle. Lots of good teams in our conference so we'll have to earn everything."

1) Seems like we've been taking a lot of penalties, that's probably the main thing. 2) Just play better hockey, I have not been part of the penalty issues really, but have had some really big games followed by a few games where I'm not contributing much, if I could be a little more consistent I'm sure that would help 3) Nah I don't think there's too much of that mid-season in the VHL and I don't know if we have much need for one. 4) There are a few, I'd like to play with Tzesar again, that probably stands out the most. 5) Back in Malmo I guess, although they are not a contender so the fit doesn't make much sense. 6) Yeah, I think we can do that.

Competition in the European Conference is heating up as we approach the first-quarter pole of S98. The top-four teams in the EU - Moscow, Davos, Riga, and Helsinki - are a combined 47-10-8 for a .785 points percentage, with none of them having more than 3 regulation losses through 16-17 games. They are four of the top-five teams in the VHL thus far, with only 13-2-1 Toronto being among their ranks from the North American side of the league. Moscow, Davos, and Riga are perennial contenders used to being here, but Helsinki is seeking to break a five-season playoff drought after making several additions to their roster over the off-season. European Conference teams also have eight of the league's top-10 scorers, six of the league's top-10 goal scorers and top-scoring defensemen, and four of the league's top-5 goaltenders (by save percentage) thus far. Although that seems to paint the picture that the European Conference is the stronger of the two, two of the league's weakest teams so far also reside in the EU, which could be skewing stats. Regardless, it is clear there are four teams sitting above the rest of the pack right now in the EU, and it will be a hard-fought battle for playoff positioning as the season goes on.

1) I think it could be Lovstrom based on the stats (6-0 .948 SV%) but he has only played 6 of the 10 games, so maybe I would say Grimgor Ironhide instead... leading the team in scoring, tied with Rave but a huge physical presence as well. 2) More or less what I expected, at least in that I figured we would be one of the top teams in the EU. 3) Similar to my answer to the previous question, I think it will be sustainable in that I think we will stay near the top of the EU. I wouldn't expect us to win 8 out of 10 all season long though. That would be like 57 wins, I could see 50ish. 4) Definitely, I think Lovstrom is pretty much a lock to be in the running for major awards and I could see both Ironhide and Rave being in the mix if things go well. 5) I think it's fine, it's not amazing, but the colours go well together and the logo is pretty simple which I think is a good thing. 6) It would be a lot of work I think, but it would be pretty neat to have.

10 games into the new season, it appears that the off-season moves made by the Helsinki Titans are paying dividends. The Titans started off with a tough 5-1 loss to the Prague Phantoms, but have gone 8-0-1 since, with their second game of the season being a 6-5 shootout loss against the HC Davos Dynamo, followed by an eight-game winning streak. Grimgor Ironhide and Phillip Rave both sit in the top-10 in league scoring, with identical 7 goal, 11 assist stat lines thus far. They have fit together nicely on Helsinki's top line and are putting up big numbers. The Titans are actually 6-0-0 with starting netminder Jorgen Lovstrom in net. Last season's best goalie and most outstanding player, Lovstrom has a .948 SV% and 1.48 GAA while backup Draw Mac is 2-1-1 with a .920 SV% and 3.16 GAA in his VHL rookie season. Mac is unlikely to unseat Lovstrom any time soon but does have legitimate VHL starter potential himself. The Titans went all-in on trying to compete this season with a series of moves that certainly mortgaged their future. Their window to win is now basically this season and next. But if they keep playing like this, they may have a chance to make it all worth the risk.

1) I'm excited, it's a bit different for Rave being on a new team but looking forward to playing meaningful games again and trying to win a cup for Helsinki. 2) Yeah I would think with the team we have, we should end up in the playoffs. 3) Could see us finishing top-3, Davos and Moscow are going to be tough to beat but it could happen. I'd rather beat them in the playoffs than the regular season anyway though... 4) I think Lovstrom was the entire league's MVP last season and I could see it happening again, so him. 5) If anything, a really high-end defenseman but we're right up against the cap as is & probably hard to see one of those moving at the deadline, so not really. I think the team looks pretty good. 6) It's really only playoff success that matters to me especially after my time in Malmo. If we're in the conference finals I'd say we had a good year.

I don't think this is just a VHL BoG thing; I feel like in every sim league I've ever been in there is a tendency to really heavily emphasize the "to their team" part of MVP awards. Usually to the point where it becomes "best player on a mid team" instead of "most valuable player" because tons of value gets ascribed to being the reason a team made the playoffs. I think it's weird that you wouldn't ascribe similar, or more, value to being the reason a team was the best team in the league. But everyone gets to decide what value means to them, and that's part of what makes voting on an award like MVP - and discussing the results - interesting. And often controversial. Lovstrom had a season you could argue was the best goaltending season in 10+ seasons (Summers certainly has some that are right up there). Callahan's season was average-ish for a forward that led the league... and 54% of the voters went that way because of the calibre of their respective teams. I don't think that's precedent-breaking, I think that fits very well with the established precedent - that being on an elite team very nearly implicitly disqualifies you from MVP. I don't think it's intentional, nor the precedent that is trying to be set, but I think it has happened anyway. There are 3 or 4 of the MVP award results from the list you shared that I'd probably switch the recipient of if it were strictly up to me, but it is what it is! And it's good discussion and forum content lol

I'll write Jacob Stone's

For the first time in his VHL career, as Phillip Rave attends training camp, it's not in Malmo. The Helsinki Titans centre has some familiar faces in tow -- the Titans brought in Jorgen Lovstrom, Martin Kemp, and Conference Prince-de-Galles all in separate trades with the Nighthawks too -- but the change in scenery still catches Rave off guard every morning. "It takes some getting used to, it's definitely a weird feeling," says Rave. "I was in training camp with Malmo seven years in a row. It's basically all I've known in my hockey career." "At the end of the day, there aren't very many players who get to spend their whole careers in the same place. It was time for Malmo to move to a different phase, and I'm fortunate they wanted me here. You know, we've got some familiar faces, the whole roster is remade, there's a lot of great players here. They want to win and as an older player with only a few years left, you can't ask for much more from a new team, right? I'm enjoying it. Looking forward to getting back on the ice in some meaningful games."

1) The team is looking awesome, I'm excited to be a part of it for these next couple seasons. 2) Probably the weakest area on the team is defense so I'd go with that I guess. 3) Hopefully Darko stays with it and if he does, could be a pretty good defenseman some day. 4) After the first six seasons of my career in Malmo, a good season can only be defined by playoff success at this point. If we're playing in the EU finals it'll be a good season but the main goal is winning it all. 5) Rave doesn't have much of a track record in the playoffs so far. But the good news is, I can change that and hopefully this season I will. 6) I don't know if I ever go into a season saying I see us winning it all, because any given year there's probably at least 5 or 6 teams that could realistically win it. But I do think we are one of those teams.