tcookie

Transaction ID: 77185952FW8258152 $10 5 Uncapped TPE Doubles Week

So, so good! Captivating writing and I love the dialogue - realistic-sounding dialogue is so hard to get right and I think you nailed it. This is one of my favourite pieces of writing I've read on here, well done! And welcome to the league!

After finishing the world juniors round robin 8-1-1, good for first place in the tournament heading into the medal round, Team Europe let their guard down at the most important time. Despite boasting a 39-31 edge in shots, the European squad could not solve Olober Syko, who made 38 saves on 39 shots for Team USA and led them to a 2-1 upset victory. The Americans had earlier defeated Team Canada in the wildcard game to earn a chance to play Europe. USA's Chris Sanzone scored both goals to help lift an elated American squad into the gold medal game. Expectations were high coming into the tournament, as the Europeans have owned the event recently. They had appeared in the past six gold medal games going back to S85, and won five of those six, including the last three in a row. Unfortunately for this group of players, they will be a part of history for the wrong reasons as those streaks have come to an end. "It's never what you set out for; obviously we have had a lot of success at this tournament recently and you come here with an expectation to win, not to play for bronze. But full credit to those guys, they played hard and their goalie stood on his head and they took advantage of their opportunities when they came. They played a great game, they earned it, but yeah it always hurts to lose that chance to play for gold," said Europe centre Phillip Rave after the loss.

let's do this

Phillip Rave took the ice today at Malmo Nighthawks training camp, for the first time attending camp with an expectation of making the VHL team ahead of him. But it will, Rave hopes, be a brief stay at training camp this year, as the S92 World Junior Championships are set to take place this week in Geneva, Switzerland. With rosters to be announced shortly, Rave is anxiously hoping he gets the call to represent Team Europe. "It's a great opportunity, great event and Geneva is beautiful so I'd love to be there, obviously," says Rave. "I think we'd have a pretty good team, though obviously, that makes the competition to make it even stiffer, so... who knows. Ultimately that's up to the GM to pick the roster, and I don't want to worry too much about something that's out of my control. But yeah - it would be pretty cool." Rave's VHL career may have appeared a bit of a longshot two years ago when he signed with the San Diego Marlins with limited organized hockey experience in his lifetime, but he appears on the cusp of making it a reality. A trip to the world juniors would make a nice, neatly-wrapped bow on top of Rave's pre-VHL career.

claim week 2/2

Nighthawks Prepare for S92 S92 Malmo squad characterized by young players ready to break out The Malmo Nighthawks had high hopes for the S91 season, but saw them crashing to a halt in the wildcard round of the playoffs as the upstart Helsinki Titans took them down in five games. It wasn’t supposed to be that way; the Nighthawks were by all accounts a great team on paper and in contention for 1st in the EU much of the year. They were held back by inconsistency in a season full of both high highs (a pair of ten-game winning streaks) and low lows (finishing 4th in the EU and losing in the wildcard round). Entering S92, what will the Nighthawks be like this time around? There’s plenty of young talent in Malmo: the Nighthawks drafted defenseman Jacob Stone 5th overall in S88, then had three first-round picks in S89 to build a solid foundation. With those picks, they selected centres Viktor Jensen (1st overall) and Ronald Johnson MacWilliam (7th overall), as well as winger Savaisk Tzesar (12th overall). Add to that a high S90 first-rounder in defenseman Jebediah Big Ol Doinks in Amish and you have a pretty good core of players from the S88-S90 draft classes. Last season, the Nighthawks were built to contend. They scored a huge prize when they signed forward Yaroslav Bogatyrev in Free Agency, and they brought in arguably the league’s best defenseman, Skor McFleury, too. After failing to make waves last year, though, McFleury’s contract expired and he was shipped to Calgary in a sign-and-trade as he was expected to depart in Free Agency. Yaroslav Trunov, a Malmo-lifer who played five years with the team after being selected 6th overall in S87, found himself sent off to Chicago. The Nighthawks aren’t rebuilding, but perhaps building around their strengths a little. With Henry Eagles and Bogatyrev in the fold, they will surely be competitive again this season. But with McFleury and Trunov out and newcomers Conference Prince-de-Galles (S90) and Phillip Rave (S91) replacing them, the Nighthawks’ lineup appears more focused around that S88-S90 class of players. As they develop - Jensen and Stone are prime candidates to break out this year, and MacWilliam, Tzesar, and Rave are probably not far off - there will be plenty of talent in Malmo peaking as Eagles and Bogatyrev play their final couple of seasons. The Nighthawks feel that’s the right mix. And while they will surely miss McFleury and Trunov, they do have another year of development from their key players, especially Stone and Jensen, coming into S91. So there is no shortage of belief in Malmo that they can contend this year. “I think we’ve got another great group of players in Malmo. We’ve recently found success and I believe bringing back the big players we needed while also getting some help from our new players will drive us forward. The EU conference will be competitive but Malmo should make a name for itself this season,” forecast Malmo GM Christopher James when asked about the upcoming season. Bogatyrev, Eagles, and Jensen will be counted on to lead the offense. Eagles set career highs with 42 goals and 96 points last season, and Bogatyrev completed a seamless transition from Seattle by putting up 40 goals and 82 points of his own. Down the middle, Jensen put up 75 points in 72 games for the best season of his VHL career. With the weapons around him, he’ll surely continue to improve entering his fourth VHL season. The former #1 overall pick continues to flash more and more signs of the dominant player he was expected to develop into at the S89 draft. There’s little doubt that franchise-changing impact is not far away. MacWallace and Tzesar had 34 and 33-point rookie seasons, respectively, but with a full year of development behind them, they’ll feature more prominently in the attack this year, backing up that formidable trio of top-end talent. Entering season five of his VHL career - a common time for VHL players to take a step forward from good to great - defenseman Jacob Stone is Malmo’s stalwart and after posting 69 points, 191 hits, and 175 blocked shots last year, the do-it-all defender is going to be key to Malmo’s efforts this year. Replacing Skor McFleury is a nearly-impossible task, but Stone is a good bet to give it a run. The younger McFleury, Reese, remains on Malmo’s back end and, with Big Ol Doinks in Amish, gives Malmo an effective 2-3 punch - though both will probably need to add some more physicality to their game to continue to grow their defense at the VHL level. Ash Sparks returns between the pipes for another year after going 38-21-5 with an 0.923 SV% and 2.56 GAA (with 3 shutouts) last season. Sparks has been fairly successful since coming to Malmo, sporting an 0.926 SV% over three seasons. The Nighthawks will need quality goaltending in a very competitive European Conference this season, so Sparks will need to be at the top of his game. By and large, Malmo’s season this year will come down to whether or not their young players can step up to the plate and deliver on their promise. This is a team that has the potential to do great things, but they have some difficult losses to overcome on their off-season slate. If the strong collection of young talent assembled here has it in them to, collectively, make up for the departures of McFleury and Trunov, we could see a big year out of the Nighthawks. Rave, for his part, can’t wait to get on the ice. While he won’t play the biggest role in the team’s offense out of the gate, his work ethic has shone through over the off-season and his excitement for the game and desire to make an impact can’t be overstated. “I think we’ve got a great group of guys here, a lot of guys that are hungry to take that next step. Obviously, I never got to play with Skor or with Trunov and those guys are great… Skor is probably on track to the Hall of Fame one day, and you don’t just replace those guys overnight. But man, we’ve got talent here, you know? I know these guys can do it and I know Henry (Eagles) and Boga (Bogatyrev) have a lot left in them. I’m really excited to play with those guys, to get on the ice with this team and show the VHL what we’ve got.” --- 1076 words, for this week & next. @Advantage@Greg_Di@Bojovnik@RJMW@comrade cat@UnkemptCL4PTP@hylands@Spaz@scoop@DarkSpyro@KaleebtheMighty

I was bored today, so we got this done fast lol

Ronan Lavelle - Class of S91 Position: Left Wing Height: 5-foot-11 Weight: 190 lbs. Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland VHL Draft: S82 - 1st round (7th overall) - DC Dragons Username: @Arce Career Awards Dustin Funk Trophy (Most Improved Player) S84 Daisuke Kanou Trophy (Playoff MVP): S85 Mike Szatkowski Trophy (Most Points): S88, S89 Brett Slobodzian Trophy (Most Outstanding Player): S88 Kevin Brooks Trophy (Most Goals): S89 ------------------------------ Continental Cup: S85 - DC Victory Cup: S89 - MOS ------------------------------ First Team All-VHL: S88, S89 Second Team All-VHL: S84, S85, S90 The S82 VHL draft was loaded with talent. It was a deep draft at the time, and it still is when you look back on it: 10 of the first-round picks in S82 eclipsed the 1000 TPE mark, several of those by a huge margin. Not only was it full of talented players, it was loaded with players brought to the VHL by well-known agencies. Ronan Lavelle was a return to the VHL for @Arce after quite a bit of time away from the league. On draft day, he was ranked 15th in the class in TPE. The DC Dragons took the plunge with the #7 pick in the draft, and here, ten seasons later, do they ever look like geniuses for doing so. Growing up a two-sport athlete in Dublin, Lavelle played both soccer and hockey early in his career. He was a bit of a prodigy in hockey, leading to his family moving to Canada seeking a higher level of competition. Lavelle’s career flourished with the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires before he committed to the VHL and signed with the Mexico City Kings. What followed next was history. S81 - VHLM (Mexico City) 72 GP | 42 G | 41 A | 83 PTS | 38 PIM | -35 | 345 SOG | 127 HIT | 38 SB Playoffs: 4 GP | 0 G | 4 A | 4 PTS | 2 PIM | -3 | 28 SOG | 8 HIT | 1 SB Lavelle acclimatized quickly to the VHLM, stepping into a big role with the Kings. They weren’t a particularly great team, but Lavelle gave them a chance to win every night with his dynamic offensive play and certainly caught the eyes of VHL scouts. Lavelle finished the season with 42 goals (8th in the VHLM) and 83 points (18th), far and away leading his team in both categories. The Kings finished the season 23-47-2, however, and while they claimed the last playoff spot, they were swept aside quickly by the league’s best team and eventual champion Ottawa Lynx. Lavelle put up 4 points in 4 playoff games, and he would go on to be selected 7th overall by the DC Dragons in the VHL Draft. S82 - VHLE (Geneva) 72 GP | 49 G | 52 A | 101 PTS | 34 PIM | +23 | 483 SOG | 72 HIT | 21 SB Playoffs: Did Not Qualify Lavelle was also selected 9th overall by the Geneva Rush in the VHLE Draft, and headed off to Switzerland to spend a year in the relatively new European league. Here, he gave everyone a glimpse of what was to come, taking his game to even another level over what he showed in Mexico. Lavelle was the best player on the ice most nights and led the E in goals (49), points (101), and shots on goal (483) in a dominant season that saw him capture the league’s MVP award - an award which today bears his own name, the Ronan Lavelle Trophy. Somehow, despite Lavelle’s best efforts, the Rush failed to qualify for the playoffs as their 34-35-3 record came up 13 points short… but Lavelle’s status as a high-end VHL prospect was firmly cemented. S83 - DC Dragons 72 GP | 13 G | 27 A | 40 PTS | 15 PIM | +6 | 206 SOG | 46 HIT | 13 SB Playoffs: 3 GP | 2 G | 1 A | 3 PTS | 0 PIM | -3 | 7 SOG | 1 HIT | 0 SB As a lot of the S82 draft class moved up to the big leagues for S83, Lavelle hoped to hit the ground running with DC. The Dragons were a middling team with a lot of good young talent but little depth, and they offered plenty of opportunity for a young Lavelle, who played all year on the team’s first line and averaged more than 29:30 of ice time per game. However, the success didn’t come immediately and Lavelle struggled his way to a 13 goal, 40 point rookie campaign. Rookie scoring leader The Board Game Clue on Skates more than doubled up on Lavelle’s point total. Then, the Dragons were swept out of the North American Conference wildcard round by the Chicago Phoenix. It was a bit of a rough start to his career, but one that would quickly be erased. S84 - DC Dragons 72 GP | 38 G | 60 A | 98 PTS | 19 PIM | +41 | 447 SOG | 40 HIT | 20 SB Playoffs: 9 GP | 4 G | 6 A | 10 PTS | 0 PIM | -3 | 41 SOG | 7 HIT | 4 SB With another year of improvement from Lavelle, Tui Sova, Bubbles Utonium, and the seismic addition of Duncan Idaho over the off-season, the DC Dragons were a new team in S84, and Lavelle announced himself to the VHL in a big way. Idaho would lead the VHL in scoring in S84 with 122 points, and playing alongside him, Lavelle jumped from 40 points to 98, capturing the Dustin Funk Trophy as the VHL’s Most Improved Player and landing himself inside the league’s top-10 in scoring - a position he would find himself getting used to throughout his career. The Dragons improved from a wildcard team to leading the NA with a 48-19-5 record. Unfortunately, after making quick work of Calgary in the first round, they ran into a Seattle Bears team that had all the answers and went out in five games in the NA Conference Finals. However, the foundation had been laid for success in DC. S85 - DC Dragons 72 GP | 46 G | 52 A | 98 PTS | 96 PIM | +30 | 512 SOG | 275 HIT | 34 SB Playoffs: 18 GP | 12 G | 14 A | 26 PTS | 22 PIM | +9 | 134 SOG | 83 HIT | 12 SB With Idaho gone in S85, Lavelle was officially the star of the show in DC and he came through with another top-10 finish in league scoring (6th), posting his second-straight 98-point season and reaching a career high in goals with 46. Lavelle further incorporated a more physical side to his game - something he had shied away from a bit in his early years - and tallied 275 hits to go along with that offensive production. The Dragons, with a weaker roster and worse regular season record, entered the playoffs as underdogs. But the experience their core players had gained shone through. With Lavelle leading the charge, the Dragons marched through the Vancouver Wolves and Chicago Phoenix to find themselves head-to-head with the Moscow Menace in the finals. They dispatched Moscow in five games, earning Lavelle his first Continental Cup, and the Daisuke Kanou Trophy as Playoff MVP along with it. S86 - DC Dragons 72 GP | 51 G | 43 A | 94 PTS | 121 PIM | +6 | 558 SOG | 304 HIT | 34 SB Playoffs: 7 GP | 9 G | 5 A | 14 PTS | 22 PIM | -2 | 65 SOG | 28 HIT | 3 SB The Dragons found themselves down another superstar in S86 as defenseman Tui Sova would move on, and it left a significant hole on the blueline, but the Dragons found themselves in the mix in the North American Conference once again. Establishing a new career high with 51 goals while adding 304 hits, eclipsing the 90-point mark for a third-straight season, Lavelle did everything in his power to keep the Dragons competitive. He dug in and attempted to drag the Dragons through the first round with a 9-goal, 14-point effort in their playoff series against the Chicago Phoenix, but it wasn’t meant to be; the Phoenix lost in seven games. Despite only playing 7 games, Lavelle finished eighth in the league in playoff goals. With their competitive window seemingly behind them, the Dragons made the difficult decision to move on from their franchise player and start a rebuild. Lavelle was traded to the Moscow Menace for Robert Wilk and a draft pick. S87 - Moscow 72 GP | 40 G | 50 A | 90 PTS | 120 PIM | +6 | 582 SOG | 202 HIT | 48 SB Playoffs: 6 GP | 4 G | 3 A | 7 PTS | 2 PIM | -2 | 41 SOG | 11 HIT | 2 SB Lavelle stepped onto a stacked team in Moscow that featured the likes of Nico Pearce, Tomas Sogaard, Hammar Voss, and AK92 Wit da Hoodie. Unfortunately for them, Lavelle experienced a bit of a lull in production, at least by his own lofty standards. Though he did put up a fourth-straight 90-point season, S87 would mark the second-lowest scoring season of Lavelle’s career. Though favoured on paper heading into a playoff series against Malmo, the Menace couldn’t get on track and were eliminated in six games. Even though the start of the Ronan Lavelle era in Moscow didn’t go quite as planned, there were very good things in store… S88 - Moscow 72 GP | 38 G | 71 A | 109 PTS | 101 PIM | +29 | 497 SOG | 199 HIT | 41 SB Playoffs: 7 GP | 4 G | 7 A | 11 PTS | 2 PIM | -2 | 60 SOG | 18 HIT | 2 SB S88 marked the season where Lavelle would go from one of the best offensive players in the VHL to the best offensive player in the VHL. Playing the role of playmaker to teammate Tomas Sogaard’s sniper, Lavelle reached career highs in assist (71) and points (109), finishing third in assists and capturing the Mike Szatkowski Trophy as the league’s scoring champ. Lavelle was one of just three players to eclipse the 100-point mark, and he helped Sogaard become the league’s only 50-goal scorer (51) on the season. Lavelle would also add the Brett Slobodzian Trophy as the league’s Most Outstanding Player to his trophy case following the season. The Menace entered the post-season eager to wipe last season’s disappointment off the map. Alas, despite 11 points in 7 games from Lavelle, the HC Davos Dynamo would send Moscow to a second-straight early exit. S89 - Moscow 72 GP | 56 G | 59 A | 115 PTS | 125 PIM | +31 | 616 SOG | 202 HIT | 60 SB Playoffs: 6 GP | 4 G | 4 A | 8 PTS | 8 PIM | +0 | 41 SOG | 18 HIT | 7 SB Entering S89, it was now-or-never for the Menace. With two seasons left in Lavelle’s career and the additions of Jason up front, Deron Nesbitt on the blueline, and Clueless Wallob in net, the Menace were loaded up. Lavelle delivered the finest season of a Hall-of-Fame career, setting career highs with 56 goals and 11 5 points. That earned him back-to-back Szatkowski Trophies while also earning him the Kevin Brooks Trophy for leading the league in goals. Although he narrowly missed out on adding Campbell and Szatkowski Trophies to his resume in the brilliant campaign, Lavelle was clearly driving the bus for the VHL’s best team. Moscow went 50-18-4 to capture the Victory Cup, entering the playoffs as heavy favourites against Prague. But the unthinkable happened: the Menace held a 2-1 series lead before seeing the Phantoms win three straight to take series. Moscow outscored Prague 17-16 in the series, but were unable to take home the win. Lavelle put up a team-high 8 points in the series, but it wasn’t enough. After another disappointing post-season, the Menace decided to enter a rebuild of their own, and Lavelle was shipped alongside Sogaard to the Toronto Legion in exchange for Alexander Stroheim, Timothy Swearingen, and three draft picks. S90 - Toronto 72 GP | 40 G | 55 A | 95 PTS | 89 PIM | +26 | 510 SOG | 205 HIT | 53 SB Playoffs: 14 GP | 5 G | 11 A | 16 PTS | 37 PIM | +0 | 74 SOG | 46 HIT | 5 SB Lavelle delivered all that you would expect of him in his final VHL season, bringing every bit of that veteran leadership and high-scoring talent to his new team in Toronto. With 40 goals and 95 points, Lavelle racked up another top-10 finish in the scoring race and a seventh-straight 90-point campaign, something unheard of in recent VHL history. The Legion completed a worst-to-first turnaround in the North American Conference, going from 26-37-9 in S89 to 45-14-13 in S90, and Lavelle led the way as he so often did - he leading his team in scoring for the fifth time in his career. The Legion took a back-and-forth series with the Vancouver Wolves in seven games to book a ticket to the North American Conference finals, where another back-and-forth series with the Los Angeles Stars would see the Legion sent home, ending Lavelle’s historic career. Lavelle led the Legion in playoff scoring, too, adding 16 points in their 14-game playoff run. It was another remarkable accomplishment: Lavelle’s team’s made the playoffs every year of his career, and he never finished a post-season with less than a point-per-game scoring average. It wasn’t a Continental Cup. But Lavelle’s career was, nevertheless, an incredible ride. Career Totals 576 GP | 322 G | 417 A | 739 PTS | 686 PIM | +175 | 3928 SOG | 1473 HIT | 303 SB Playoffs: 70 GP | 44 G | 51 A | 95 PTS | 93 PIM | -3 | 463 SOG | 212 HIT | 37 SB Throughout his career, Lavelle was a dominant offensive force. It’s not to say he wasn’t great at both ends - he certainly was - but his calling card was being a highly consistent, highly productive scoring machine. After a slow rookie season, Lavelle never scored below 38 goals or 90 points in a season. He finishes his career second all-time in points in the VHL’s hybrid attribute era. Lavelle was an immediate sensation in the VHLM and VHLE and quickly became one at the VHL level, too. Although at times his teams failed to get it done in the playoffs, it’s through no fault of Lavelle’s, who can lay claim to a playoff streak spanning his entire career, in which he scored 95 points in 70 games and never had a single post-season run below a point-per-game. He captured 6 individual awards and won back-to-back scoring titles. Lavelle has a legitimate argument for being the greatest player of the VHL’s hybrid era, and his truly brilliant career is now capped off with a very deserving induction into the Hall of Fame.

Phillip Rave - Rookie Experience Rave taking a face-off for the Cologne Express It was near the beginning of an ultimately successful post-season run with the Cologne Express that Phillip Rave got the good news, a phone call from the Malmo Nighthawks organization indicating that he was in the organization's plans for S92. While he kept his focus on his business in the VHLE and the Express would go on to win a Renaissance Cup, there was a weight lifted off of Rave's shoulders when he learned the opportunity to play in the VHL would be awaiting him at the end of next season's training camp. "It validated all the work I put in over the season, for sure," says Rave. "I felt like my game had come a long way. It was nice to know Malmo felt that way about it too. I can't wait to just get out there and prove them right." Rave was selected 17th overall in the S91 draft. A raw and relatively unknown prospect with high upside at the time, Rave's development has gone well over the last season. It seems likely that if the draft were re-done today, he would go in the 10-12 range. In the Nighthawks, Rave joins a team that was one of a cluster of European Conference teams that had established themselves as contenders last year. However, in getting slightly younger this year, the Nighthawks might drop off slightly. Yaroslav Trunov has been shipped to Chicago to make room for Rave coming up, and it seems as though Skor McFleury, an MVP candidate and probably the VHL's best defenseman, will be moving on in S92. Make no mistake, though, the Nighthawks do still have a very good roster, and they are perhaps built to have a longer contention window with the changes to the roster. To that end, Rave's goals - as they were in Cologne last season - are primarly team-oriented. "It's never about the numbers for me. I scored 13 points in 72 games last year but at the end of the day, we won the Renaissance Cup and that's all that matters. Obviously, if I come up to the VHL level and score 13 points in 72 games... that's a different story. That would mean I'm not doing my job, not contributing to helping my team win games. But I'm all about the team success and just taking care of the little things that put us in a position to win games," Rave explains. "I want to win. I've been fortunate to play in the finals both of my years in the VHL system so far, and I don't intend for that to stop next season. That's my goal - to help this team get to the playoffs and go on a playoff run." Though he's a natural centre, it seems unlikely Rave will debut there. With highly-regarded S89 draft picks Viktor Jensen and Ronald Johnson MacWallace III already established down the middle for Malmo, it would seem to make the most sense for Rave to start out on the wing, where he has taken plenty of reps in off-season team activities. While providing a little less space to work with for his power game, Rave is a natural fit on the wing with his nasty shot and hands and will still be able to be a force along the boards and in front of the net. In the long-term, Rave does hope to find a home at his natural position in the VHL - but he will need to develop his face-off skills and his range on the ice. Starting out on the wing will allow Rave to build those skills without the pressure of doing so alongside taking a huge step up in competition.

Very interesting little article - and dang, Eno really set a high bar with Kastelic.

After a season in the VHLE in which Phillip Rave experienced huge team success but minimal individual success, there were some question marks as to whether or not Rave was ready to make the jump to the VHL for S92. With just 13 points in 72 games for Cologne, it was unclear if the step up in competition would be too big or not. A second VHLE season to play a bigger role and build up his confidence seemed to be on the table for Rave based on his level of production. The Malmo Nighthawks, however, recently shipped out forward Yaroslav Trunov to Chicago, opening up a roster spot up front, and through conversation with the team, it certainly sounds as though Rave will be wearing Malmo colours next season. For Rave, this has always been the goal and he feels he has done enough to earn that opportunity. "I didn't play a ton in Cologne last year; we had a deep team and I started a little far down the depth chart, it was what it was. I feel like my game personally came a long way... the stats were never something I was worried about, especially with the success we had, obviously winning a Renaissance Cup. It was a season I'll always remember, for sure, but I feel ready for the VHL. I think I'm capable of playing at that level."

Looks like I'm gonna need a different strategy next year lol

I'll take one, if the new ones are all up for grabs I'll take Lavelle

Throughout the 91-season history of the VHL, three-peats have not been a particularly common occurrence. The S48-S50 Toronto Legion & S80-S82 Vancouver Wolves have attained the feat at the VHL level, and it's never been done in the VHLM. As of yesterday, you can add one more team to that list, the first at the VHLE level, with the Cologne Express capturing a third consecutive Renaissance Cup with a five-game series win over Vasteras. What figured to be a close matchup on paper was turned on its head by the play of Express netminder Clark, who simply doesn't miss in the post-season. Clark posted an 8-1 record with a 1.55 GAA and .951 SV% in the playoffs and is quite likely going to take home a third Playoff MVP award in three seasons. Last year, Clark went 8-2-2 with a 2.28 GAA and .938 SV%. This time around, he took his game even one level higher. Across his VHLM and VHLE career so far, Clark has a ridiculous 28-6-2 record. The Express dropped the opening game of the Renaissance Cup finals, but came back with a vengeance to win the next four and capture the title. Joshua Schwarzer's team-high 5th goal of the playoffs marked the OT winner that sent Cologne into a frenzy. In a league with high player turnover like the VHLE, such a run is incredibly impressive and also unlikely. Each succeeding year, keeping the run going only gets more difficult as teams are built for short contention windows and players move on to the next stage of their careers frequently. This is partly why the three-peat has never been seen in the VHLM, and those at the helm of the Express during this run deserve a ton of credit. Next up for them will be trying to figure out a way to run it back for an unheard of 4th win in a row.

Claim for week 3/3

CHOO CHOO GG Vasteras

Never got to play for you in Calgary but I will always fondly remember the Miami days and the impact you had on all of us S75s that came in at once. You're an awesome GM, thanks for everything and enjoy the break!

happy birthday Josh