tcookie

1) Couldn't be much better so far! 2) I think we have more players still earning and by playoff time we could have a deeper roster than them. We need to play better against them, even when we beat them it was mostly Syko standing on his head... hopefully we can help him out if it comes down to a playoff series against them. 3) It's neat to see how the lower TPE builds work and be contributors & there is usually such a wide mix in the locker rooms between GM/AGM, recent former players and current players that all want to see the team succeed 4) Lots of year-to-year roster turnover. My first player spent half a season with Miami, then Philly for my second and final VHLM season. This player is probably only going to spend one year in the VHLM anyway but it would be San Diego for one season and then have to go through the draft. You have to either be re-drafted by the same team or just spend a long time in the VHLM for your player to have much stability. But it is part of being a minor league system and the ultimate goal is to move players up into the E and eventually the VHL, so it does make sense. 5) I'm generally not very good at time management or getting started on things even when I want to do them and I'm trying to be a little more focused/cognizant of that 6) I'm very competitive; I want to be one of the league's top players and I want to help my team win.

Dylan Wallace (@Dil) Joined: October 10, 2018 Roles Held: VHLM GM, VHLE GM, VHL GM, BoG, Recruitment Team, Portal Developer Inducted S88 Dylan Wallace, better known as Dil, came to the VHL in late 2018. Throughout a relatively (by Hall-of-Fame builder standards, at least) brief time in the league so far, he has been an incredibly versatile member who has accomplished a lot while filling a wide variety of roles. As you would expect of a Builder inductee, Dil has brought some very successful players to the league. When his third player (defenseman Hari Singh Nalwa) retired at the end of S88, Dil had completed three full careers with players well eclipsing the 1000 TPE mark - all top-10 picks in their respective drafts (including S71 third overall pick Ola Vikingstad) and all of whom experienced success on both individual and team levels. As individual hardware goes, Dil's first player, Diljodh Starload, earned a Chershenko, Beketov, and Valiq award in his career and Nalwa captured a Kanou Trophy - but more importantly, all of his players were key contributors on some very successful teams. Across their careers, they won a Founders Cup, five Victory Cups, and a remarkable six Continental Cups. Of course, his contributions to the league went far beyond just three very good players. Between S70 and S87, Dil spent twelve seasons as a General Manager across all three of the VHL's leagues. He began his management career with a six-year stint at the helm of the VHLM's Halifax 21st. In a notoriously cyclical league, the 21st had begun to establish a consistent pattern of getting into the playoffs and not being much of a threat. In S67, S68, and S69 they were a middle-of-the-road team that went to the second round of the playoffs and in all three seasons, were not much of a match once they got there. When Dil took over, the team was on the edge of collapse, with little behind them in the way of playoff success yet little left in the way of future assets. And so Dil's tenure began guiding the 21st through some lean years, but in S74, they had the squad. The S74 Halifax 21st were an absolute powerhouse. They went 64-7-1 and outscored opponents 316-119 over the course of the regular season, with their 129 point total not being equalled again until S80. Unfortunately for the 21st, they ran into the Miami Marauders, a team that authored a famous Cinderella story and eliminated the 21st in the first round. Still, Dil's work as a general manager was well respected and while his tenure with Halifax ended in S75, he resurfaced as a VHLE GM, taking the reigns of Vasteras in S82. Taking over a team on the heels of a 25-45-2 season, it again looked like Dil would have to maneuver his squad through some lean years and his first season at the helm brought a 23-41-8 campaign. But Dil made a slew of moves over the course of that S82 season, positioning his team to make a run in S83. He acquired several S83 draft picks while also bringing in Bob Vladovechsenkchushkin, Christopher Young, and Maxwell Mathias who would all stay on the team across S82 into S83. Vasteras made the top two picks in the S83 VHLE draft, selecting Leandro Goncalves and Ivan Retoslav. Then, they stormed through the VHLE in S83 to the tune of a 54-15-3 record. Vasteras swept their opening-round matchup before a surprising upset at the hands of the Bratislava Watchmen, but Dil earned the S83 VHLE Top GM Award for his work - and then, a promotion to the VHL when a job opening with the London United arose. Dil stayed with the United until S87, and made two more playoff appearances at the helm of the United. It's not just the hockey-related side of things that Dil has become known for; his behind-the-scenes efforts have also bolstered his resume. Dil served a couple of stints with the recruitment team, and he joined the league BoG in 2021 while also working together with Josh as a league portal developer. Dil's contributions to the portal are perhaps what he has become best known for, helping with several major updates in recent years. To mention some of the very impactful portal changes that Dil was involved in: he helped with the VHL's conversion from standard STHS attributes to hybrid attributes, worked to develop a new iOS/Android league app that included sim notifications, and developed an integration allowing the trivia point task to be done through the portal. Dil was also involved in the behind-the-scenes work to support the league's new VHLM waivers system that helps new players get onto a team quicker and to more easily see accurate information about teams they were considering. The VHL has been around for more than 16 years now, and Dil has been a part of it for a little less than five. Compared to a lot of builder inductees, it's a relatively short time; yet he is a member who has created three very successful players, who has GMed at every level and earned a Top GM award, who has served on the BoG, who has helped the league in its recruitment efforts, and who has helped strengthen user experience by working on portal improvements. Dil is a very deserving addition to the list of prominent VHL members enshrined as builders in the VHL Hall of Fame. --- It was a bit of a challenge writing a builder article as a relatively inexperienced member - thanks to those who I reached out to and were able to help provide any extra insight, and thanks as well to those responsible for how well documented the league's history is overall - I did a lot of digging for this one, but it was generally pretty easy to do research for thanks to that!

One could make the case that the first third of Phillip Rave's first VHLM season has gone better than anyone, himself included, could ever have expected. The San Diego Marlins are off to a 19-3-1 start and are battling it out with the Mississauga Hounds (20-4-0) for first place in the VHLM. Rave, who only joined the team in training camp, has flourished out of the gate. Through 23 games, he has 11 goals, 25 points, 108 shots, sports a +17 rating that ranks just outside the VHLM's top-10, and is the fifth-best face-off man in the league at 58.7%. It's also interesting to note that Rave has played significant minutes on the penalty kill for the Marlins, getting a chance to develop his defensive game that was initially considered quite raw. The Marlins sport an 85.7% PK success rate, so he has adapted to the role quite well. "You want to make plays, to help your team win games and fortunately I guess I've been able to do that a little faster than I would've expected," said Rave. "We've got a lot of talented players and we've been finding ways to win. Aanarsi (Reingaard) has been great to play with, it seems like we've meshed well together on our line. I'm just trying to do the little things right and then you hope you get rewarded from there." The Marlins have only three regulation losses this season, two of which came at the hands of the Hounds, so it was big for them to get their first win over Mississauga this year when the two teams met their last time out. They picked up a 5-2 win despite a 36-22 deficit in shots, owing a lot to stellar netminding from Olober Syko. The Marlins have now won 10 of their last 11 and will hope to keep riding that high as they take on Ottawa and Halifax coming up.

claiming week 2 of 2

I think he's going to be pretty special. As generational prospects go, Bedard is interesting and different because he's not big and he's not fast ... it's intelligence and an absurd shot that allowed him to dominate junior hockey the way he did. When you look at a McDavid or Crosby, they pretty well had everything, especially McDavid. Bedard's skating is above average, it's good, but it's not great, and he's small... so it makes him a little harder to project right away, and yeah it gives him a lower floor, but I do think a lot of people are being overly cautious on it. He more than makes up for it with how quick his hands are and how smart he is. Like, no slight on the other two but the skill and smarts I think are above them at the same age, and the shot very clearly is the best of the three. Intelligence is more important than size and speed, too. So yeah, lower floor, slightly lower confidence level on him stepping in and being great right away... but still quite confident that he will be. I don't think the lack of help in Chicago is going to matter much. Yeah, it creates the opportunity to focus on him defensively without being punished but it also creates the opportunity for everything to run through him. He's going to play a ton from day one, the powerplay is going to run through him from day one, etc. Crosby and OV both pretty handily outscored the next closest teammate in their rookie seasons ... although the Hawks roster may somehow be even more barren ... it shows there is precedent for a player of this calibre to do that without much talent around him. Honestly, his floor is a bit lower than McDavid/Crosby but his ceiling is not something I'm comfortable putting any sort of limit on. It sounds crazy to say maybe he'll score 70 goals in a season one day, but it would've sounded crazy to say McDavid might score 150 points and here we are, so...

1) I am not creative enough for this lol, I'll say something about the draft because I am a draft nerd IRL 2) Instead of the obvious answer of any free uncapped TPE, I'll say HoF articles because they are written in honour of some of the VHL's best players and members 3) I liked the first gen ones when I could buy them... 4) I have a build in mind that is similarly balanced to what I've done so far, but to pick just one, it would be scoring 5) Probably either NHL 04 or Madden 04. Maybe a Pokemon game but I wouldn't be able to pick which. 6) My first player signed mid-season in Miami who were fighting for a playoff spot. There were 4 or 5 of us, all first gens, that signed there at about the same time, were active the rest of the year and ended up helping that team turn into an unlikely Founders Cup champion, and I'll always remember the locker room reactions following some of the big game-7 wins & the sim we won the cup in.

I've got some time this week so I'll give it a go!

As S90 has kicked off in the VHLM, we have seen the Mississauga Hounds and San Diego Marlins shoot to the top of their respective divisions, with the Miami Marauders and Las Vegas Aces hot on their respective heels establishing themselves as the league's top four teams. It's a long season, though, and things can change in a hurry in the M. Let's take a look at how things have gone for each team so far: MISSISSAUGA HOUNDS (9-1-0) The Hounds look like the best team in the VHLM on paper and they have done little to dispel that notion early on, with Grimgor Ironhide being an early front-runner for MVP on league-leading totals of 13 goals and 26 points through 10 games. Obviously, that pace is goging to be tough for anyone to maintain but Ironhide is a high-end prospect for the S91 draft and he is certainly showing why. The Hounds have three capped-out forwards, two very good defensemen and promising S91 prospect Red Panda between the pipes playing to a 2.28 GAA and 0.911 SV% so far. MIAMI MARAUDERS (7-3-1) The Marauders don't have as much high-end talent as the Hounds do, but you'll definitely get to know the names of Oden Bell, Sebastian Thunder, and Lionel Collberg as the year goes on. While a little less heralded, centre Joakim Norden is off to a hot start with 9 goals and 17 points in the season's first 11 games, just ahead of the aforementioned three prospects. Putting together a lineup that surpasses that of the powerhouse Hounds, though, might be a tall ask if they don't see some of the lesser known members of their roster start to improve at a faster pace. Nevertheless, the Marauders should be there at season's end and you never know what could happen in a playoff series. PHILADELPHIA REAPERS (5-6-0) Philadelphia's lineup is headlined by Behrens Minion, a player tracking to be a first-round pick in a deep S91 draft, along with Eno Velvson and Caring Bear. Velvson is currently second in VHLM scoring to Ironhide with 6 goals and 21 points and he's logging big minutes to go along with it. Amir Redzic has proven more than capable between the pipes sporting an 0.917 SV%. The Reapers biggest problem will be a lack of depth, especially on defense. Outside of Kodie Curran, there is nobody in the Reapers' blueline and they are very much a one-line team offensively. If they can not address those problems as the year goes on, they will not be able to challenge the top two teams in the East. OTTAWA LYNX (4-6-1) The Lynx' two best players are members of the VHL's S88 draft class who haven't shown many signs of ever getting out of the M, so it's a bit of a skeleton crew here. They didn't make a pick until #24 in the S90 VHLM draft, so perhaps this is to be expected. Although Lucky Mitts does have 16 points through 11 games, the Lynx are generally lacking in both top-end skill and depth and are very much a team looking to the future. Down the road, Scrungle Bungle, Ivan Ivanov, and Dan Jr. may develop into quality VHLM players and give them a chance to contend. HALIFAX 21st (1-8-2) When you're 1-8-2, things are clearly not going according to plan. The 21st really shouldn't be THIS bad on paper - they have a much, much stronger roster than Ottawa that will probably feature four capped-out players by the time the season ends. Defenseman Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage was a first-round pick in last year's VHL draft and has started the year with 12 points in 11 games. Jeid Rohnson was another S90 VHL draftee with big league upside and he currently leads the 21st with 17 points in 11 games. Theo Allard is a possible S91 first-rounder and has 16 points of his own. So why the 1-8-2 record to start? Their starting netminder has posted an 0.868 SV% and they're far-and-away worst in the VHLM with 54 goals against. They've recently picked up S91 draft prospect Shaunca to take over duties between the pipes, so maybe that will lead to a turn in fortune. SAN DIEGO MARLINS (9-0-1) The Marlins are currently sitting first overall in the VHLM and while they don't look quite as good on paper as Mississauga right now, it's the depth that sets them apart. They have strong returnees in Eric White Jr., Tyrece the beast, Vladimir Kozolov and Factor Lee joined by a host of S91 draftees that give them the chance to have the deepest roster in the league when you project ahead to season's end. For scouts looking to get some tape ahead of the S91 draft, San Diego is the place to be, with two headliner prospects in Leif Reingaard and Olober Syko and several potential second or third-rounders with VHL upside, among whom Aanarsi Reingaard and Phillip Rave have posted the strongest early-season numbers with 15 and 13 points, respectively. LAS VEGAS ACES (8-2-1) The Aces have established themselves as the second-best team in the West so far, a talented group plenty capable of keeping up with the Marlins. When you look at this squad, it's probably not Bric Sheithaus you'd have predicted would be leading the team in scoring so far, but there he is with 17 points. Didier Verhault is a stud on the back end, Quinndillus Whopper is probably a career VHLMer but a pretty good one, but the one potential weakness projecting this team ahead to season's end is that only one player is projected to take a big step forward, netminder Dalkr Vidarsson. SASKATOON WILD (4-4-3) You have to figure the Wild didn't expect to be sitting here with 4 wins through the season's first 11 games. Sporting the VHLM's biggest roster and more than enough high-end talent to be a contender on paper, things simply haven't panned out how they'd hoped. Only three players have more than 8 points and their offense has been very much middle-of-the-pack. Their defense is very strong and they have limited the workload for netminder Joseph Reed, but Reed has struggled to an 0.890 SV%. As you go down the roster, it seems that almost every single player has underperformed offensively. Even worse, their schedule has been devoid of matches against the other VHLM contenders: they have not played Miami and have played just one game against San Diego, Las Vegas, and Mississauga. The Wild should turn things around in the end and maybe contend for the conference, but this start is certainly a big concern. HOUSTON BULLS (4-6-1) The good news for the Houston Bulls is that they have Joshua Schwarzer and Toby Kadachi, two players that will hear their names called relatively early in the S91 VHL draft, and both have played lights-out hockey so far this season. Schwarzer has 20 points and Kadachi has 9 goals, both right up there with the VHLM pace-setters. The bad news is... pretty much everything after that. The Bulls have some S91 VHL prospects that will probably spend another year or two in the VHLM and those players could provide a foundation then, but right now, this is a two-man squad and I'd expect the lack of depth to see them fall to the bottom of the West by the end of the year. MEXICO CITY KINGS (3-6-2) The Kings have a very interesting roster, and one that features a lot of S91 draft talent - perhaps second only to San Diego as a destination for scouts looking to watch the draft class. The Kings have struggled hard out of the gate. Defense pairing Arne Holmquist and Free Gorlab have actually managed to keep their heads above water with a combined 25 points, both sporting a -1 rating on a struggling team. The rest of the lineup hasn't lived up to expectations. The best S91 prospect here is Mina, who has struggled to a -14 ratings but does have 8 points. This doesn't look like a last-place roster, and as they improve as the year goes on, they could be a sleeper when the real season begins. --- 1360 words ish so will claim for a 2nd week next week.

The San Diego Marlins were expected to challenge for a repeat Founders Cup title, and 10 games into S90, things are going according to those expectations. The Marlins lost their first game earlier today after an eight-game winning streak and are still unbeaten in regulation, sporting a VHLM-best 9-0-1 record just ahead of the Eastern Conference's Mississauga Hounds (the two teams face off tomorrow in what should be a great matchup). The Marlins have been led by a balanced offense that has featured scoring from throughout the lineup, with five PPG players including Tyrece the beast (7G, 16P) and Eric White Jr. (8G, 11P) on the first line, Aanarsi Reingaard (7G, 15P) and Phillip Rave (6G, 13P) on the second line, and Factor Lee (1G, 16P) on the back end. Leif Reingaard leads the team in blocked shots with 17 while chipping in 7 points of his own. Meanwhile, Olober Syko has been the VHLM's best netminder early in the season with an 0.925 SV%, 1.49 GAA and 2 shutouts - all league bests - to go along with that 9-0-1 record. With great depth, established VHLM vets and a number of young players (including the aforementioned A. Reingaard, Rave, and Syko) who should continue to improve as the season goes on, the Marlins should be a team to watch all season.

1) We're feeling good of course, any time you can string together a bunch of wins like that, you're right where you want to be as a team so let's keep it going as long as we can. 2) Better than I expected! It's nice to be able to make a difference in games on a contending team at an early stage in my career. I thought it would take a half season or so to come together but it's going great so far. 3) Hey at this point everything is going as well as it possibly can. I expect this team to be a contender for the championship and as for my player, I just want to keep contributing to winning games. 4) I'm thinking the goalie, Syko is a stud between the pipes that gives us a chance to win even when we have an off game. 5) I think we will break it! 6) I'm a nationally competitive five pin bowler

The San Diego Marlins celebrated an S89 Founder's Cup Championship and then immediately got back to work on producing a contending roster for S90, despite some pretty significant losses in their lineup. Five forwards, two defensemen, and their goaltender from the Founders Cup run have moved on this year, but the Marlins have replaced them in short order and pieced together a team that looks to have the pieces to keep them in the hunt once more, hoping to defend their title and capture rare back-to-back Founders Cup titles - a feat accomplished only seven times in the 89-season history of the VHLM. Working with four picks in the first two rounds of the draft, the Marlins ensured that two key players would be back for S90 by selecting Eric White Jr. and Factor Lee at 8th and 15th overall, respectively. They also added two highly-touted S91 VHL prospects when they picked Leif Reingaard and Olober Syko at #9 and #18. The Marlins also added Gustav Mattias in the third round and retained the services of Vladimir Kozlov by picking him in the fourth. That left them with a good start, but it's a remarkable run of success with new signings that has filled out the roster and left them poised to make a run. In the last few days, the Marlins have added Dietrich Reingaard, Aanarsi Reingaard, Phillip Rave, and Hezeus Ohmontegue-Steinhardt X creating a lineup that is both talented and deep. When the season starts in about half a week now, we will get our first look at the new-look Marlins and begin to get an idea of just how serious this squad is at making a push to capture a second straight Founders Cup.

I could get into writing HoF articles again now that I'm back. Do you want me to take Dil's off your hands @Advantage?

Rave Signs With San Diego Marlins Defending Champs Add Lichtenstein-born Forward to Strong S90 Squad Rave addresses a small gathering of media members after signing in San Diego Less than 24 hours after announcing his intention to try out in the VHLM and pursue a VHL career, Phillip Rave has picked a team for the upcoming season. Rave will be eligible for the S91 Entry Draft and in the meantime, he will play S90 with the San Diego Marlins. "It wasn't a decision I came by lightly and there were a couple teams I was really considering," Rave explained to the few media members around for his announcement. "What it came down to was a final recommendation from my agent based on connections he had during his VHL career. I do truly appreciate every team that reached out with interest in taking a chance on me." Rave's agent, Addison McLaren, compiled 163 goals and 397 points in a 504-game VHL career with Riga, Toronto, Davos, and Malmo after being dratfed 8th overall in the S75 Entry Draft. He also captured back-to-back Founders Cup wins as a member of Miami (S74) and Philadelphia (S75). He even shifted from left wing to defense for the final two seasons of his career, and didn't seem to miss a beat. McLaren didn't quite live up to lofty expectations placed upon him when Riga selected him, but he did have a pretty solid VHL career to be proud of, and his experience and insight should be invaluable to a player who is very much lacking in the experience department. "I'm lucky to have the opportunity to learn from a guy like him who's been there before - I know that I'm kind of taking a chance on a hockey career starting this late in my life, and I'll take all the advice I can get," said Rave. McLaren was a tiny, feisty, and smart two-way forward with a lethal shot who struggled a bit with skating for his size and was somewhat easily bumped off the puck, especially early in his career. In that sense, he is nearly a polar opposite to the 6-4, 195 pound Rave, who isn't particularly familiar with the intricacies of a hockey game but is a flawless skater who doesn't like to initiate contact, but is very difficult to separate from the puck. From his playing days, McLaren has connections with former San Diego GM Jacob Carson and the agents of several Marlins players; perhaps most notably serving for a couple of seasons as the Assistant GM of the Mississauga Hounds alongside the agent for Leif Reingaard. He believes that San Diego will be a great environment for Rave to develop in. "What I hope," says McLaren, "is to be able to give him the guidance not only with the financial side of things but with the nuances of the game and help develop that hockey IQ and how to handle playing professional hockey. Phillip is exceptionally talented and the sky's the limit; obviously, he is in a unique situation and a lot of things have to go right for him to have a long career, but he has all the tools he needs." "I just want to get started," said Rave. "I came here at an exciting time and it seems like it's a good team they've got here so, you know, I just want to get back on the ice and win some hockey games, that's always the goal and that's what I'm looking forward to."

Intended for returning players but idc, need them points lol 1. Marlins, your locker room colors have changed. How do you feel repping the S89 Champions role? It feels weird, because I had nothing to do with it - but it's motivating to go out there as defending champions. I am excited to work towards winning another one. 2. What is next for your player? Excited for a full season in San Diego. Hopefully I can make enough of an impression to boost my draft stock for S91, and obviously, hoping to help this team make some noise in the VHLM this year. 3. How do you feel about your players draft destinations? Well, I'm a year out from the draft and just getting acquainted to what's going on in the league right now., but I am happy with where I've ended up for this season. It was down to two teams and the number of people I recognized within the SDM organization helped sway me this way and I'm definitely looking forward to the year. 4. How much will you miss San Diego? If the first little bit is any indication it's definitely an organization I will miss when I take the next steps, but there's a long season ahead of us yet. 5. What is your favorite memory of being here other than winning the cup? I just got here like an hour ago but excited to reunite with some familiar faces! 6. Will Sjin make it to the VHL before recreating?! Yeah sure, he's got this.

The Story of Phillip Rave Rave on the ice in Austria As boom-or-bust prospects in hockey go, recent VHLM declaree Phillip Rave is among the more dramatic examples you will find. The 22-year-old is a physical specimen at 6-foot-4, 195 pounds and has a litany of athletic accolades to his name, yet almost no hockey experience to speak of. He hails from Lichtenstein, a mini-country with a population below 40,000 nestled in between the winter sports havens of Switzerland and Austria. With nothing but three partial seasons of low-level hockey to his name at age 22, Rave is an incredibly raw package of rare talent and athleticism. Let's take a look at his story, and what has led him to pursue a career in the VHL at this point of his life. Phillip Rave was born in 2001 to Maria Meier and Bennett Rave. Bennett was a Canadian hockey player who moved to Switzerland in the early 1990s and played several years in the second-tier Swiss league, settling down and eventually marrying Maria, a Lichtensteiner, and moving to her hometown of Vaduz when he retired in 2000. Phillip was their first child born a year later. For Phillip, winter sports were everywhere growing up, and his first love was skiing. He loved skating too, but for whatever reason, didn't particularly care for the idea of hockey at an early age, instead training in speed skating. For years growing up, Phillip split his time between the mountains and the oval, and in both skiing and short-track speed skating, he was seen as a significant up-and-coming talent. His parents were of the belief that there was no need to focus on a specific sport growing up, so Phillip dabbled in pretty much any winter sport you could think of. He tried cross-country skiing, he tried snowboard cross, and he had brief forays into bobsleigh and curling, too. Through some combination of good genetics, a strong work ethic, and a love for being involved in pretty much anything related to a winter sport, Phillip became an exceptional athlete and he did at least relatively well at all of them. His two favourites, though, were mostly set in stone. Phillip did eventually get around to trying hockey, too. As a 15-year-old with good size for his age and skating ability obviously derived from his speed skating successes, he found a home in the Austrian junior system and, over two seasons, he played 54 games scoring 31 goals and adding 14 assists. Hockey, however, wasn't the sport that captured his heart at this time. He loved watching it, but he wanted to ski. And in 2018, a 17-year-old Rave watched Tina Weirather capture Lichtenstein's first medal in 30 years when she took bronze in the super-G - a monumental moment for the tiny nation that only served to deepen his desire to pursue a skiing career. He turned down the opportunity to advance in Austria's junior hockey programs to become a better skiier. Tina Weirather's super-G bronze medal at Pyeongchang 2018 was a massive national accomplishment for Lichtenstein, and a huge source of inspiration for Phillip Rave When he couldn't get on the slopes, Phillip did continue to train in speed skating, and he qualified for two straight World Junior Speed Skating Championships - winning a pair of bronze medals of his own. Rave was beginning to find the skiing success he so badly desired, too. His preferred event was the super-G and in 2020, he registered his first two top-5 finishes. With a couple more strong finishes early in 2021, Rave found himself with a very real chance to compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics, something that could only have been described as a dream come true when he watched Weirather's run four years earlier. But Phillip's form slumped, perhaps from pressure put on himself to qualify, and he didn't place in the top-10 again in any races leading up to the January 2022 cutoff for qualifying. Phillip narrowly missed out on earning a spot high enough on the FIS points list. He was heartbroken. Needing a bit of a break from skiing after the near-miss, Phillip returned to the skating rink for something to keep him occupied. Now another four inches taller than he was when he last competed in short-track, Phillip found returning to his old speed skating form a little awkward. But he began to play pick-up hockey games with some friends and realized he actually missed the game. When an Austrian semi-pro hockey team held open tryouts in advance of the 2022-23 season, Phillip signed up, and with his size, strength, and skating ability, the team didn't require much convincing to give him a chance to play. He played 34 games with the squad over the '22-23 season, scoring 24 goals and adding 10 assists, alternating between looking clueless on the ice and looking impossible to defend. Yet his game showed growth as the season went on, looking a little more refined, looking a little more dominant. And when Phillip realized how much he was enjoying hockey this time around, he felt it might be time to commit to it. And so, after a summer of training, Phillip Rave declared his intentions to sign with a team in the VHLM - and the first page of one of minor league hockey's more intriguing stories began to unfold.

I've missed this place! It's been probably two years now since I've been able to be around much at all. Life just got real busy all of a sudden towards the end of my first player's career. When I made my second player I was kind of figuring it would be tough to be around much but I wanted to give it a try. Fortunately things have kinda settled down now and I think I can reasonably commit to being active again. It's cool to see so many familiar names still around and I appreciate the warm welcome I've already received when I just created my new player a couple of hours ago. Hope you've all been well - this is a great community and I'm definitely looking forward to getting back into it. Right at the start of a new season is kind of a fun time to join and I'm hoping to find my new team soon. Time for my new player to channel his inner Addison McLaren and help bring someone a VHLM championship

Name: Phillip Rave Position: C / RW Height: 6’4” Weight: 195 lbs. Born: Vaduz, Lichtenstein Background 22-year-old Phillip Rave has recently declared his interest in pursuing a professional hockey career through the VHL system. Rave is certainly a bit of a longshot as a hockey prospect, but he’s also a very intriguing one – a player with very minimal hockey experience at very low levels of competition, but an exceptionally gifted athlete who certainly won’t be lacking in any of the required physical attributes of a hockey player. Born in Lichtenstein, Rave has been heavily involved in winter sports throughout his life. He’s 6-foot-4, 195 lbs. with exceptional lower body strength and has a background in speed skating, skiing, and athletics - including competing twice at the World Junior Speed Skating Championships where he has two bronze medals to his name. As far as a hockey career goes, though, Rave has played two partial seasons in the Austrian junior leagues as a 15- and 16-year-old, before ending a 5-year hiatus from the game playing the second half of last season in an Austrian semi-pro league. There are not very many people who have carved out a pro hockey career out of such limited experience with the game at his age. Scouting Report Watching Rave over the course of a full game, there is no doubt his skating will impress you; there is also no doubt you will witness situations where he simply doesn’t seem to have a grasp on what to do next. Rave’s understanding of systems and the flow of a hockey game is understandably very underdeveloped, and it will need to come a long way if he is serious about one day playing in the VHL. He will further need to learn to use his teammates more effectively and how to handle the puck and incorporate deception into his game to beat defenders. So – if you’re a VHL, VHLM, or VHLE scout, what is there to make you look at this player and think that it’s NOT just a waste of your time? Well, Rave may not be at home on a hockey rink but as a successful speed skater, he is absolutely at home on a skating rink. Rave’s skating immediately jumps off the page: for a 6-4 guy, he can flat out fly with quick, powerful strides and he uses his edges extremely well. He’s got tremendous lower body strength and, surprisingly enough, an innate understanding of how to use that strength to protect the puck. He understands how to create and use his leverage extremely well, and it’s reflected in both his ability to play a powerful game down low while shielding the puck from defenders and in his ability to generate devastating power on his shot. If he rounds out his decision making to compliment how naturally difficult he is to separate from the puck, Rave could be a nightmare to defend against. Overview Today, Rave’s decision making, creativity, and two-way play are nowhere near VHL-calibre and surely make him a liability on the ice, even at a low level like the VHLM, but the gifts are there. The ultimately upside with this player, if everything goes right, is a goal scoring power forward in the mold of a Timo Meier or Chris Kreider – a player who is somewhat physical but not excessively so, who can challenge defenders with his strength and speed in a way that makes it very difficult for the defender to win that battle, and who has the nasty shot to finish plays when he gets the opportunity.

Thanks all! Things finally starting to settle down a bit so I think I'll have time to be active again excited to be back

Player Information Username: tcookie Player Name: Phillip Rave Recruited From: Returning Age: 22 Position: C Height: 76 in. Weight: 195 lbs. Birthplace: Liechtenstein Player Page @VHLM GM

This is awesome! Very creative and effective solution to 1) players being too high rated in general and 2) the 99 SC meta. Very well done!

1) My fiance and I actually don't care much for Valentine's Day, so its pretty much just a regular old evening for us. 2) There are a lot of great people in this league. I've been here longer than half a season but... fromtheinside, fishy, spartan, ricer. you and sam are pretty great too 3) Less than 3 more days before the weekend would be nice lol 4) I've been into sim hockey in general for a while and the idea of being my own player is kind of cool. I also like the community here, even though I'm not as active in it as I used to be... there are a lot of great people that are part of this league. 5) Purdy's hedgehogs but they are super expensive 6) Dark mode and they're fine. It's only bad if you get dark font on dark background or light font on light background by accident, which you have avoided.

1) A little lower than I'd have liked, but not too shabby. 2) The GM's job isn't easy and I think Sam is doing a great job, no complaints here. 3) Yup, and I think it's a pretty lively group! We're doing good on that front. 4) Sorta the VHL since my player is in it, but other than that, not really. I know the VHL teams already and can't really choose at this time so I'm going to answer the second question, I've always liked Miami's logo. 5) I went in to work some OT applying a patch by myself on a stat holiday once. Was supposed to take 2 hours, things went wrong and I ended up being there for around 10. That wasn't much fun. Off the top of my head I'd have to go with that. 6) I was going to say Orlando, but upon reflection, I think St. John's Newfounland is actually further, so that one.