tcookie

@youloser1337 @hedgehog337 @RedSus @Ledge and Dairy @Matt thunder thanks guys. Was great being on a team with you all and I hope you do well! Thanks everyone else in Riga too. I had fun there, wish we could've done better. Hope this works out for everyone involved. Now, let's go turn this thing around Toronto...

Well, Riga is struggling still and I have no ideas to write about for VHL.com today and I need to get this update in soon, so hey. I've decided to take a look at my fantasy picks for the year so far.. F - Dakota Lamb (Warsaw) - 14 goals, 41 assists, 55 points, 93 hits, 22 SB I thought Lamb would be more of a goal scorer but he's been the setup man for Aloe Dear and Chris Reynolds instead. Still, can't complain with 55 points in 38 games plus playing pretty physical. Another good season so far for the big-time scorer. F - Taro Tsujimoto (Davos) - 19 goals, 23 assists, 42 points, 154 hits, 20 SB Davos is still struggling, worse than I thought to be honest. I expected that after a step up to 92 points with 234 hits last season, and likely playing a lot as Davos' best player, this would be a big year for Taro. It hasn't been, but still a decent fantasy season thanks to the hits, I think. F - SS Hornet (Toronto) - 17 goals, 24 assists, 41 points, 144 hits, 14 SB I keep picking Hornet in fantasy but I guess Davos and Toronto have been cursed. Another player producing kind of like Taro, near-PPG with a bunch of hits, so not a bad fantasy season but not a great one. D - Latrell Mitchell (New York) - 8 goals, 29 assists, 37 points, 134 hits, 86 SB I was a bit underwhelmed as I looked up the stats, but now I'm realizing that most of the defensemen outscoring him aren't nearly as physical, so there's that. I expected a little more offense, but Mitchell is still a stud. D - L (Chicago) - 11 goals, 24 assists, 35 points, 138 hits, 101 SB L is putting up similar numbers to Mitchell, with couple more goals instead of assists, which is worth more in fantasy so hey. As the last skater I picked for my team this season, I am pretty happy with the production. G - Rara Rasputin (Seattle) - 26-6-3 record, 0 SO, 1148 saves on 1260 shots (0.911 SV%) A little surprised Rasputin hasn't put up any shutouts yet especially on that team. But hey, wins get points so I'll take it. Maybe there are some shutouts to come in the second half of the season. Overall, I feel like I have a bunch of players having fairly good fantasy seasons here but nobody really having a great one. The teams that win are probably going to have some fantasy studs like Aloe Dear, Onde Sandstrom, Christian Mingle, Chris Hylands... I don't feel like this is a league-winning team but maybe with some luck a solid mid-pack finish.

1) I mean it's tough, sometimes. But I know and I think all the guys know we're doing the right things, playing the right way and it's going to work out for us if we stay patient. 2) Zetterstrom 3) It's a sad answer but do we really have a rival right now? Maybe Malmo because we've been fighting them for a playoff spot the last couple of seasons. Maybe Prague because they're the only team we've played in the playoffs with this current group. I think there's a Riga/Helsinki rivalry as hedge says, but I haven't been able to experience it. 4) It looks like how an orange (the fruit) tastes. Does that make sense? I have no idea. 5) I'm not sure. 6) It's probably been like a decade since I read books, but I did love the Harry Potter series when I was in school. I'll say any one of them.

Halfway through another VHL season, the Riga Reign are still waiting for everything to come together. "It sucks," says winger Addison McLaren of the team's struggles for a second consecutive season. "You know, the first year we were all up here we knew it was going to be a challenge, we knew we were a younger team just learning the ropes. Now we have so much talent here and back-to-back seasons we're struggling to even be as good as that first year. It's tough on all of us. We want to be better. We should be better." Yet the Reign sit here again, sixth in the European Conference, three points behind Malmo for the final playoff spot when, at least on paper, they are a top-3 or 4 team in the conference. A couple of seasons ago, Calvin Harvey was the team's saving grace in net. This year, in addition to constant reports that this might be his final VHL season, he's struggled to an 0.903 SV% and has been pulled several times. The Reign have allowed the fourth-most goals in the league. While the play of Cabe McJake (25 goals, 52 points), Linus Zetterstrom (12 goals, 51 points), and Justin Lose (20 goals, 47 points) has provided some glimmer of light for an offense that strugled mightily last year, the Reign are simply not getting enough throughout the lineup. For all of the talent in their lineup, they are a middle-of-the-pack offensive team. Yes, it's been better as of late. But it's the same story as last season for the team's frustrated players and fans, where the Reign never recovered from a slow start, playing slightly better as the season went on but never gaining enough momentum to make a charge up the standings, and ultimately missing the playoffs by a point. McLaren's on pace for a career year of his own, but more by default. He's finally getting top minutes and as a result his production has increased, though at a still fairly disappointing 33 points in 38 games (14 goals). McLaren's third in the VHL in hits with 175, just behind last season's Boulet award winner, Groovy Dood and then a bit further behind Malmo sophomore Druss Deathwalker. Ultimately, though, while the Reign know what they are getting from McLaren and that physicality is part of the deal, it's a third straight season where the offense isn't there and criticisms of McLaren's lofty draft position due to that sometimes-questioned offensive upside are being realized. Are changes coming in Riga? Most of the Reign's top S75 players signed three-year extensions in the off-season, signalling some sort of commitment to continuing to build around them. McJake is the lone exception, having only signed on for one year. But with that group once again struggling, its possible that faith in the core is starting to be shaken. "When I got drafted here, it was somewhere I wanted to spend my entire career and that hasn't changed. But, you have to understand the business side as a player. When you don't perform, at some point, things change. It's up to this group really, we have to either get things going or go through what we went through last season once again," says McLaren. "At some point you can't fault the GM for making moves when something's not working, right? I hate that we're in this position again. We lost some guys from the room that we didn't want to lose at the trade deadline last year and here we are again. We just need to start winning games."

1) It looks pretty cool. 2) Vasteras, although I also really like the Red Wolves. The logo is simple but the colours are very nice. 3) Well, after the last few sims so much for that "trending upwards" ... it's definitely frustrating how we haven't been able to get anything going the last season and a half or so. Hopefully it's coming. 4) Like ham or turkey or chicken or something, bacon and melted cheese and ranch or some sort of spicy sauce I guess. 5) I mean how can you argue with Cabe's answer 6) Colorado

best one IMO

Maybe I was thinking there was a bit more time between the draft and the cutoff. I went back to S73 to check and was thinking probably 4-5 per draft, but I was thinking they'd have a shot if they could get over 300 TPE. And I suppose even then, that's only if you wanted to play in the VHL at a low TPE number. So yeah, fair enough, probably only 1-2 per draft.

I've thought this made a ton of sense since I looked at the rosters at the start of last season, so I think it's pretty cool and exciting, although I always liked the idea of the 8-season clock having been in place since the start of the league as something that was sort of the same about every player's career. Reasoning behind the 9th year makes sense, but it seems like it won't be all that rare to see 9-season players now. This is good for the 270 TPE players to have a place to play without being forced to play tiny minutes, it's good for those teams that don't necessarily have to carve out a role for a 270 TPE player, etc... good for the other players on those teams, too. Makes sense all around I think. I do think the name's a little awkward with the VHL already having teams in European places, but other than that I think this is cool.

L and Rara Rasputin @jRuutu back up

Oh good call... missed that one somehow They're 8th

if it's an easy thing to do, sure. probably won't matter but it's close enough that i'd rather have my vote reflect the one i actually wanted to vote for

I meant to pick 3, picked 4 instead. Lots of really good ones here!

@PandaBearD25 hit 100 TPE a while ago, have not claimed the 1 TPE yet

Around the VHL - Season 78 Preview Edition - May 20th, 2021 In S77, the Warsaw Predators captured the European Conference title and were joined in the top-3 of the overall VHL standings by the Helsinki Titans and London United. Eventually, Helsinki would make it through to the finals before falling to Seattle. It was an off-season of relatively little change in the EU, at least compared to the previous season that had seen teams like Riga, London, and Prague all make big moves to try to vault to contender status while Moscow and Malmo had fire sales of sorts. Only London looks significantly different in terms of the team’s core compared to last season. Today we take a look at the EU Conference teams heading into S78 and their biggest off-season changes, in predicted order of finish. 1st - Forwards: 771.6 (2nd) // Defense: 640.4 (1st) // Goalie: 586.0 (8th) // Grade: 696.9 (1st) Key Addition: RW Gregg Stallion The Predators’ biggest splashes in the off-season were cap-related selling moves, but in signing Stallion as a Free Agent, they added a talented scorer who has spent his entire career to this point in Vancouver, coming off a career-high 40-goal, 92-point season. Stallion will be more of a depth player than he usually was in Vancouver this season, but is a nice add to the Warsaw forward group. Key Deletion: D Latrell Mitchell It was obviously difficult for Warsaw to move Mitchell, who has spent the past 3.5 seasons with the team and became one of the league’s best defensemen. The salary cap necessitated a move and he was sent to New York in exchange for Kaladin Kvothe, 1st, and 3rd round picks as well as an option to swap 2nds in S80. Mitchell will be sorely missed, though the Predators still have a very good blueline. Overview Warsaw posted the league’s best regular season record last year, and also had the league’s best offense with a league-high 291 goals. With a very similar looking team to last season, there isn’t much reason to think they can’t do something similar this year. Led by Aloe Dear and Dakota Lamb up front, Victor Grachev and Chris Hylands on defense, the Predators have one of the best groups of both forwards and defensemen in the EU. Ajay Krishna has been great the past three seasons, but will need to stave off depreciation this year. That’s their one possible weak spot, but Warsaw will be one of the best teams in the EU again this year. 2nd - Forwards: 787.3 (1st) // Defense: 557.0 (5th) // Goalie: 699.0 (4th) // Grade: 695.8 (3rd) Key Addition: G Jacob Carson Carson is only the backup goalie, but there’s not much choice here as the only new face on the pro roster. Carson has actually posted very good numbers over two seasons as a backup with Warsaw, with a career 9-7-2 record and 0.930 SV%. Key Deletion: RW Xavier leFlamant leFlamant left DC for a year to come to Prague, but after one season in the EU he went back to DC as a Free Agent this off-season. His one year overseas resulted in a bit of a drop-off in production from what he had been putting up in DC, but still a respectable 61 points. Prague does have a very deep forward group, so we’ll see what Robert Bouchard and Dan Baillie can do with the increased opportunity. Overview They’re a good all-around team, with arguably the best forward unit in the league led by Thomas Landry II and his 200 points over the past 2 seasons. It’s the final season for both Landry and Jim Bob, so Prague will be looking to send them out on top, and they’ve got the lineup to contend. Defensively, they could use one more top pairing defenseman but they do have a deep group there too and Grekkark Gyrfalcon has proven to be a star netminder since arriving in trade from Malmo in S76. 3rd - Forwards: 656.7 (5th) // Defense: 615.4 (2nd) // Goalie: 975.0 (1st) // Grade: 696.0 (2nd) Key Addition: D Micah Adrienne London saw plenty of big names coming in and out over the past season, and this could easily be General Zod, as well. But Erik Killinger won awards last season, so as the piece coming back in the biggest magnitude trade, Adrienne will be the addition under the biggest magnifying glass. The former 3rd overall pick has been a good-to-great defenseman so far in his VHL career, now London will hope he can take it to yet another level. Key Deletion: D Erik Killinger The United also lost future Hall of Famer Mikko Lahtinen to retirement and D Kasper Kankkunen in a trade. None of those are fun losses, but the biggest immediate impact will be felt in the loss of the defending Wylde and Labatte Trophy winner, Killinger, who had 86 points, 177 hits, and 182 blocked shots last season. Overview They lack the elite forward group of Warsaw and Prague, but still have solid talent throughout the lineup with Julian Nousianen, The Terrible Trivium, Kevin King, and Alec Volchenkov. They’ve also got one of the best goalies in the league in Jacob Tonn, a former Shaw Trophy winner. London finished second in the EU with a 45-24-3 record, and despite changes and big losses, they have come out of it in pretty decent shape and figure to be among the European Conference contenders again. 4th - Forwards: 681.5 (4th) // Defense: 568.9 (4th) // Goalie: 829.0 (2nd) // Grade: 668.6 (4th) Key Addition: D Jan Hlozek The 8th overall pick in S77 moves up to the VHL this season and may be expected to step right into a top-4 role on a team with serious playoff aspirations. Hlozek posted 63 points in 72 games with Miami last season and while he might have expected more, he is a very highly regarded youngster who Riga is happy to have in the lineup this year. Key Deletion: C Ray Sheilds Sheilds rode off into the sun a year earlier than some thought, probably partially due to a disappointing S77 campaign in Riga where he only put up 62 points and the team failed to live up to expectations. Prior to that, Shields had reeled off four straight 85+ point seasons. Sheilds was a true star, and someone that Riga will have trouble replacing. Overview Eager to get last season’s mess behind them, Riga kept together their S75 draft core and have built a good roster once again. It will be up to them to live up to it on paper this time. They have a smaller roster this season than the past two, so there will be more opportunity for players like Justin Lose, Addison McLaren, Cabe McJake, and Isau DaMoose - the Reign are counting on a couple of breakout seasons there. Defensively, they’re similar to Prague with a deep group, just no true superstar, while Calvin Harvey has the talent to be one of the league’s better goalies if he can rebound from a tough S77. 5th - Forwards: 721.7 (3rd) // Defense: 475.4 (7th) // Goalie: 735.0 (3rd) // Grade: 641.8 (5th) Key Addition: D Mikael Keef Keef joins the team as a Free Agent signing after spending four years with the Los Angeles Stars. Last year was his best, as he had 58 points, 185 hits, and 179 blocked shots (also finishing with a positive +/- rating for the first time). With James Rose and Emi Rune outbound, Keef will need to be a contributor. Key Deletion: C Venus Thightrap Of the players the Titans lost, the biggest challenge will be replacing Thightrap’s 41 goals and 93 points. There’s a good forward group here nonetheless, but 90 point players don’t grow on trees. Overview Having developed a reputation as perennial contenders, this year brings some challenges for Helsinki losing Thightrap, Rose, and Rune. That’s a big bite out of a lineup with not much help coming in to replace them, but they’ve still got a very good group of forwards. Valtteri Vaakanainen has consistently been a big-time scorer and will have to lead the way again. We all know what Zamboni Driver can do in net, too, but it will be a matter of how well the defense can hold up especially with the big losses. 6th - Forwards: 476.1 (8th) // Defense: 590.1 (3rd) // Goalie: 670.0 (5th) // Grade: 546.4 (6th) Key Addition: C Luc Tessier They also added Rocket, who’s the better player in the immediate future, but this is a rebuilding squad and Tessier, the 4th overall pick in S78, is going to be a huge piece of the team going forward. Coming off a 78 point VHLM campaign, there will be plenty of minutes for him as a rookie in Davos this year. Key Deletion: RW Vlad Imir There were quite a few faces heading out of Davos in the off-season, though none played particularly huge roles. Imir had spent the previous 3 years with the team, with a career high 17 goals and 37 points coming in S77. Overview Davos seem to always be rebuilding, and here they are again. It’s not all bleak for their future, though, as they have two elite building blocks in Taro Tsujimoto up front (92 points last season) and Reylynn Reinhart on the blueline (S77 2nd overall pick who had 48 points in her rookie season). They’re adding Tessier and David Tavau, two highly regarded prospects from the S78 draft, and Kunibuni UnGuri is developing as a #1 netminder. There is hope for the future with this team, but it’s unlikely this will be the season they get back to the playoffs. 7th - Forwards: 488.5 (7th) // Defense: 492.9 (6th) // Goalie: 654.0 (6th) // Grade: 517.5 (7th) Key Addition: LW Muffbeav Muffbeav instantly becomes the best forward in the Malmo lineup and still has four years left in his VHL career. He’s actually spent most of his career to date as a defenseman, but moving up front will give him a chance to make the most of that 6’5, 215 frame in front of the net. With 71 points last season, Malmo hopes they’ve added a point-per-game or better forward here. Key Deletion: RW Gino DiGiannantonio For Malmo, the real big deletions came at last season’s trade deadline, so DiGiannantonio’s 35 points is the only real asset of consequence that moved on in the summer. The loss opens up playing time for Druss Deathwalker, who only had 17 points in his rookie season but had a whopping 317 hits. Overview Malmo snuck into the playoffs last season despite rebuilding and trading some big names at the trade deadline, so it’s entirely possible they pull off something similar again this year, but on paper they seem to lack enough depth to contend for that 5th spot. This is especially the case if Riga plays more to expectations this time around. Talented youngsters like Brendan Telker and Deathwalker will get the best opportunity of their young careers while Artem Tretiak looks to continue to grow in the starter’s role. 8th - Forwards: 495.7 (6th) // Defense: 348.0 (8th) // Goalie: 610.0 (7th) // Grade: 465.5 (8th) Key Addition: D Hard Markinson The Menace have plenty of young stars up front, including Duncan Idaho, Paul Atreides, Philip Stein, and The Seabasstard. It’s the blueline that needed addressing, and #2 overall pick Hard Markinson figures to be the main piece in the effort to shore that up. Markinson played on the loaded Mississauga team last year and managed to put up 63 points and 198 hits. Key Deletion: C Chad Magnum Chad Magnum retired after a solid eight-year VHL career last season, though only the last 27 games of that were spent with Moscow. In 576 games he put up 187 goals, 452 points, and 2542 hits. A grizzled veteran with grit is always welcomed for a rebuilding team, but truthfully, the Menace didn’t have too much in the way of consequential off-season losses. Overview They’ve got a massive roster that might make playing difficult to find for some players, and they are clearly rebuilding. Relative to the rest of the division, they’re near the bottom in all three position groups. That’s primarily due to inexperience, though, as there are a host of very talented youngsters on this squad. Among the rebuilding squads in the EU, this may be the team set up best for the future with the amount of young talent they have. While they are unlikely to be a factor in the standings this season, it won’t be long. --- The ratings here are weighted averages of the top-6 F, top-4 D and starting goalie. Players Mentioned: @SweatyBeaver @dasboot @DangerGolding @dlamb @Renomitsu @KaleebtheMighty @hylands @Hooperorama @jacobcarson877 @Gaikoku-hito @wcats @jRuutu @Doomsday @Sharkstrong @BarzalGoat @Poptart @Peace @Matt_O @MexicanCow123 @der meister @okochastar @IamMOOSE @SirRupertBarnes @16z @Beketov @Zetterberg @Bojovnik @Mrpenguin30 @tcookie @Eynhallow @youloser1337 @RedSus @BladeMaiden @Emi @MattyIce @Jubo @RStar @Tape-to-Tape @Rocket @KC15 @Ricer13 @GustavMattias @Ahma @Berocka @Big Dee @.sniffuM @animal74 @Telkster @Molholt @pennypenny @STZ @OrbitingDeath @Mr_Hatter @IHateBobNutting @Seabass @Corco

For Addison McLaren, it kind of feels like deja vu, answering questions to the media about how he's worked on his game over the off-season and what's going to be different for him this year. "I think I'm doing all the right things. I'm watching the tape, I'm on the ice practicing every day, hitting the gym. Same thing I told you all last year," he says. So why isn't it working? For a second straight year, McLaren didn't live up to expectations, especially on offense. A popular candidate for the Funk Trophy as the league's Most Improved Player, all he improved was from 18 goals and 37 points to 22 goals and 41 points. Meanwhile, Riga's season went down the tubes early and they never recovered. "Like I said, I think I'm doing all the right things. No point in me worrying about things out of my control. Going to keep going out there, playing hard, doing whatever I can to help this team win games." If McLaren has that high end potential in him that Riga saw when they took him 8th overall, it's going to have to come out this year. He's back on the top line with Cabe McJake and Justin Lose and will be getting all the ice time he can handle this season. Likewise, it's a big year for the Riga organization. While S76 was an early sign of progress before falling off in S77, we're now four seasons on from the big S75 draft that they built the core in. This is when those players start to hit their primes, so this is when the team should be starting to be at its best. Now is the time for McJake, Lose, McLaren, Isau DaMoose, Artair McCloud, Linus Zetterstrom and company to put together a big year and prove GM Benjamin Zeptenbergs' strategy was a good one.

1) I mean... I'm not going to predict anyone other than us at this point in the season. 2) It's still @Ricer13 but hedge is awesome too. I've been super lucky to have been on teams with great GMs for my whole time here. 3) It's gotta be Davos with everything they've gone through. 4) I'd guess it's just related to having uncovered skin on our faces, but who knows. Interesting question. 5) Uh mustard I guess, a bucket of grease sounds horrible, but I mean I'm not signing up for either... 6) @Ledge and Dairy or @Matt thunder ... @RedSus would be good choice too

Transaction ID: 20634860560033562 5 TPE uncapped Doubles Week both for this week

F - Dakota Lamb F - SS Hornet @jRuutu

making up the missed picks above: D - Latrell Mitchell F - Taro Tsujimoto @Jtv123 still up

The Riga Reign had a disappointing S77 made worse by the fact that they had traded their own lottery pick in the S78 draft during the off-season attempt to piece together a contender, but nevertheless they had a decent collection of draft picks and came away with a nice group of young players. 1st round, 10th overall - D Milk Jugs, San Diego Marlins @NerdyCowz Jugs is strong in two main areas; his shot and his defense. He's small (5'5" 140) but still had 16 goals and 39 points as a defenseman in his VHLM rookie year with San Diego, eventually being drafted 8th overall in the VHLM draft to Houston where he'll spend the upcoming season. 1st round, 15th overall - RW Anze Miklavz, Mexico City Kings @McKelvie Miklavz somehow dropped down the board to 15th overall in the VHL draft, despite easily being ranked in the top-10 heading in. That he was still there with Riga's second first round pick certainly helps ease some of the disappointment from not having their own lottery pick, as Miklavz and Jugs represents a pretty solid haul. He had 42 goals and 87 points last season with Mexico City and will play with Jugs next year in the VHLM too after being selected 5th overall by Houston. 2nd round, 32nd overall - G Tobias Reinhart, Mississauga Hounds @Spaz The backup goalie for the Hounds during a dominant regular season, Reinhart went 12-1 with an .865 SV% in 13 games in S77. He is a consistent player and hard worker with some upside and probably would've went a bit higher in the draft if not for the state of the goaltender position around the league. Reinhart will probably be Philadelphia's starter next season. 3rd round, 45th overall - C Pippo Coca, Yukon Rush @pippo A relatively new player to the draft class, Coca stepped in with Yukon and put up 9 goals and 14 points in 28 games. Coca is a good offensive player with good hands, good skating and a good shot. Probably a season or two away from the big leagues, but has shown consistent growth since joining the Rush. 4th round, 53rd overall - D Ron Gorgonzola, Philadelphia Reapers @Ron Gorgonzola Gorgonzola is an old-school defenseman who isn't afraid to hit or fight, kind of similar to current Reign defenseman Jared Carter. He had 13 points and 96 hits in 50 games last season with the Reapers, who were impressed enough by him after picking him up on waivers that they used the 23rd overall pick in the VHLM draft to retain his rights for S78. 4th round, 55th overall - LW Johnny Macintosh, San Diego Marlins @Yemnac Macintosh is a big, well-rounded winger but doesn't have tremendous upside. He played a minimal role with San Diego last season, with 2 goals and 3 points in 72 games. He's a bit of a long shot to make the VHL at this point, but could make it if he can maintain a strong work ethic. 4th round, 56th overall - D Jyuunya Pureya Oneri Desu, San Diego Marlins @Guriinwoodo Oneri Desu is a good athlete that plays a solid shutdown game. Joined very late in the season and only got into 8 games with the Marlins, where he put up 1 assist. Scouts have mentioned that he showed some improvement in the brief time he was in the lineup, so he's got a chance to eventually develop into a decent VHL defenseman down the line.

1) Not really, just working on my game. My first couple seasons haven't gone how I wanted them to so... just doing what I can to change that for both myself and the team. 2) @PandaBearD25 but she isn't super active here, so as for as creating VHL-related graphics goes, @Zetterberg and @Quik 3) The draft has already happened so I'd be cheating but I think as a team we got some solid prospects to add to our team! 4) Currently? Yes, not even close. McDavid has a higher percentage lead on the closest non-teammate this season than Gretzky did in his first 200-point season, for some context... we are seeing something special here. 5) This question requires me to think to come up with a good answer and I don't feel like it at the moment so let's just say the Imperial March lol 6) My computer I guess.

1) Not even a little bit to be honest. Would be different if we had our pick of course but as it was, meh 2) I dunno, off-season can be a little boring, also a nice break though. Just hopefully getting better so we can play better next season. 3) I would've said Helsinki going in, but with the series 3-1 now I'll say Seattle finishes it off. 4) Definitely, really happy to have all of these guys back to make another run. We'll be better this time around. 5) I don't watch that many movies and my mind is currently drawing a blank so I guess I don't really have an answer for this one 6) Yes

I know you later on said not to get hung up on you saying "exact" etc. but I mean... you reiterated it A LOT throughout this paragraph and other times here too. Even if you have softened your stance or initially meant very similar instead of exact, honestly, I disagree. They are covering two very different areas. It does make sense in a scouting report to briefly touch on a player's previous career, so I will give you that there is a small amount of overlap between them. However, one of them is about what kind of player they are and the other is a much more expanded look at a player's previous career than a scouting report requires. I think the amount of overlap is quite small. The nice way for new players to get 10 TPE and the requests to have the career tasks be split up are both solid reasons for it to have been implemented as it is. You can really get someone into the league by providing an opportunity to earn points & expand upon their players' backstory right away. I mean I probably would've stayed either way but it was certainly pretty fun for me to get to write both of those PTs right away. I don't disagree that it would flow better if they were combined into the same task. But I mean... so would a junior review, rookie experience, and veteran experience all combined into one biography type thing, no? Members have actually expressed a desire to have them split up into multiple career PTs. Better to have something that works for the members in general than something that flows better but people don't really want to participate in. Why should they be treated differently than other career PTs? It only really makes sense to suggest it when combined with the similarity point that you go back to in the last line here, which means this isn't really a different point from your initial one. From the perspective that they aren't that similar, having them as two different career PTs worth the same as any other career PT makes sense. Also, what's wrong with working less than a weekly capped task for them? They can be worth more because they are one-off, uncapped writing opportunities. It's not a reason to make them harder or worth less. With a regular media spot, all a person has to do is write 1000 words in an hour and they get 12 TPE and two weeks worth of main PTs covered. How is that all that different than writing 800 words in an hour to get 10 TPE? As for the suggestion of combining them - I don't think it' s necessarily a bad idea I just don't think it really accomplishes anything. Having another tier of career PTs of adds a layer of complication too. Just leave them all the same and make everyone's life easier. Same thing for having them both available but you only choose one. It's fine, there's nothing inherently bad about it, but why? It only serves to take 5 TPE away from a new player, which is exciting to have at the time, and it's not like the 5 extra uncapped TPE is going to matter by the time they're established in the league. It's half a point on a skill from 95-99. I mean ... I am all for some rework of the TPE thing, I think we have too many TPE available and it's too easy for players to get to 99s in attributes and it makes builds kinda boring. But in the grand scheme of things, this feels like a super minor thing that doesn't have an impact in the long-term and just hurts new people in the short term. New people are just learning the league in their first week of joining. You don't need to throw a "write these now or miss out on TPE" thing at them within their first week when they're still trying to figure things out, decide if they want to stick around, etc. Are they going to think getting uncapped TPE is a regular thing? I don't know but I mean I certainly didn't expect to be able to write prospect reports all the time when I joined. I don't see any indication that people think uncapped TPE is everywhere and then becoming annoyed and leaving when they realize it isn't. Seems like a hypothetical situation that rarely if ever has happened in reality. Conversely, again, members have actually expressed a desire to have career PTs split up. So that's supported by something that's actually happened, rather than a hypothetical that we haven't really seen happen since it's been implemented this way. Also ... I really don't think main PTs are any more difficult. Especially with the ability to claim for multiple weeks.

Around the VHL - May 3rd, 2021 - Season 78 Episode 3 It’s the best time of the season, with playoff battles underway as teams vie for the right to hoist the Continental Cup! As the regular season grind came to an end, we saw the Warsaw Predators capture first place overall in the league thanks in large part due to 100-point forwards Aloe Dear (112) and Dakota Lamb (104) as well as #1 defenseman Latrell Mitchell and mid-season acquisition Chris Hylands, who also seamlessly transitioned from forward to wing. Meanwhile, in the North American Conference it was Chicago finishing first, with an extremely balanced attack that featured seven 80-point players and nobody above 93. The NA was a hotly-contested conference with Chicago, Toronto, Seattle, and Los Angeles all finishing within four points of one another, and despite only being 4 points away from winning the division, the Stars had to face off against the Vancouver Wolves in a play-in round. In the EU, Warsaw was joined by London and Helsinki (each of whom finished with enough points to win the North American Conference), while Prague and Malmo finished in the 4 and 5 spots for the play-in series. HC Davos and Riga finished each within a point of Malmo for that final playoff spot and both have to be very disappointed with that result, especially Riga as they loaded up in the off-season only to have to sell again mid-season and were unable to make any sort of noise in Ray Sheilds’ final campaign. Andrew Su of Vancouver captured the league’s scoring title, and appears the early favourite for MVP voting as his 120 points were eight ahead of second-place Aloe Dear and 14 ahead of third-place Groovy Dood. Dakota Lamb, Jim Bob (103), and Onde Sandstrom (102) also turned in 100-point campaigns. Surprisingly, there were no 50-goal scorers this season as Bob led the league with his 48 goals. The league’s top scoring defenseman was Chicago’s Spencer Elsby, with 93 points edging out Tyler Walker of Davos (90), Erik Killinger and Kasper Kankkunen of London (86 each), and Latrell Mitchell of Warsaw (also 86). Walker might be the leading candidate for the Labatte Trophy, though, as he had 290 hits and 165 blocked shots to go along with those 90 points. Elsby and Killinger (among others) are sure to present a strong challenge for that crown. Grekkark Gyrfalcon posted 37 wins and an 0.925 SV% for Prague this year, while Doug Dimmadome had 36 wins and an 0.923 SV% for Los Angeles, making them the two odds-on favourites for the Aidan Shaw Trophy. League wins leader Ajay Krishna (43) might be in the mix, but could be held back by his 0.919 SV%, which was bested by five other starters. Meanwhile, in the rookie scoring race, Moscow’s star young trio of Paul Atreides, Duncan Idaho, and Philip Stein captured the top three spots, with Atreides leading the way in both goals (31) and points (62). Vancouver’s Javad Kamkar was the top-scoring rookie defenseman with 53 points. S77 Playoffs Which brings us to where we are now - the postseason! The Los Angeles Stars are finally in the playoffs and they celebrated with a 3-1 series win over the Vancouver Wolves in the play-in round, winning game one 6-2 and never really looking back. This was the series of Jeffrey Pines, who put up 7 goals and 10 points in the four-game span to lead his team to victory. In the EU play-in round, while Malmo kept the games largely competitive against Prague, it was an expected series sweep by the Phantoms as they outscored Malmo 14-9 and peppered Artem Tretiak with almost 150 shots over the three games. The first semifinal matchup in the North American Conference featured the Stars against the defending champion Chicago Phoenix in a highly-anticipated matchup. Despite a 47-26 edge in shots for Chicago in Game 1, LA netminder Doug Dimmadome held the fort with 44 saves and the Stars got three goals in the 3rd period for a 5-3 win. Game 2 was an evenly matched affair, 4-4 and relatively close in shots after two periods. But even as the Phoenix turned it on in third, with a 19-7 edge in shots in the final frame, the only goal would go to LA thanks to Pekko Viitanen’s 2nd of the playoffs. Dimmadome made 41 saves on 45 shots to again hold his team in it for a 2-0 series lead. Chicago almost returned the favour in Game 3, with Jean-Pierre Camus making 47 saves on 49 shots, but their offense couldn’t get it going and LA won again, 2-1 on John Merrick’s second-period powerplay goal. The Stars would complete the shocking sweep with a 4-3 win in Game 4. The Seattle Bears and Toronto Legion were separated by just two points in the regular season standings, and the way this series played out, you could tell. Game 1 got the series off the right way with a 4OT marathon. By then, Seattle seemed out of gas as Toronto outshot them 10-0 in the 4th OT, ending it on a goal by SS Hornet. Game 2 only went five periods, with Hornet scoring a second straight OT winner early in OT2 to give Toronto a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 went to OT again, this time ended after just 8:02 by Hex Rose to get Seattle back into the series. In Game 4, we had yet another one-goal game. Toronto jumped out to 3-0 and 4-3 leads but the Bears kept clawing back, then got a third-period goal from Marshall James Frostbeard to win 5-4 and even the series. It was back to OT in Game 5, with Seattle again mounting a third-period rally to come back from a 3-1 deficit, then winning on a Frank Funk Jr. OT goal. Five games into the series, we had seen 23 periods of hockey and every game was decided by one goal. Seattle did buck that trend winning Game 6 by a 3-0 score, but what a thrilling and intense series it was - an instant classic that will be remembered for a long time. Prague’s reward for beating Malmo was a date with Warsaw, the heavy cup favourites after the regular season. The Phantoms put up a good fight, winning game one 2-1 and keeping game 2 to a one-goal game as well. Warsaw decided to flex their muscle in Game 3, putting up an absurd 100 shots over 90 minutes of hockey. Huge props to Grekkark Gyrfalcon for stopping 95 of those 100 shots, but Warsaw finally put the winner by him in 2OT to tie the series. The Phantoms never recovered from that one, losing 4-0 the next game and then being put away by Uhtred’s third period goal in Game 5. In the final conference semifinal series, Helsinki got three goals from Vick Fairchild over the first two games to capture 3-2 and 4-2 wins and jump out to an early lead over London. After London rallied back with a game 3 win, the Titans re-asserted themselves by winning Game 4 by a big 5-1 score, led by a 4-point night from Valtteri Vaakanainen. Finding themselves down 2-0 in the third period of Game 5, the United refused to die, scoring four third-period goals to find a 4-3 win and extend the series. But they’d ultimately find themselves knocked out in OT in Game 6 when Magnus Verlander scored to end a tightly-contested, double-overtime thriller. Round 2 of the VHL playoffs featured so many thrilling moments and a lot of tight games and close series’, despite all of them ending before Game 7. It sets up conference final matchups between the Los Angeles Stars and Seattle Bears in the NA, and a familiar one with the Helsinki Titans and Warsaw Predators in the EU. Stay tuned folks, we’re sure to have even more fantastic hockey and memorable moments to come as the S77 playoffs come to a close! --- Players Mentioned: @Renomitsu @dlamb @dasboot @Hylands @Zetterberg @bigAL @Da_Berr @jRuutu @fonziGG @Spence King @Peace @16z @Advantage @Esso2264 @Sharkstrong @Hooperorama @Mr_Hatter @OrbitingDeath @IHateBobNutting @Parriyah9374 @rory @Molholt @Xdjk93 @solas @Steve @McWolf @Hex Universe @Rayzor_7 @FrostBeard @leafsman @Jubo07 @Jbeezy76 @GreenGato

Less than 24 hours ago, Addison McLaren noted that while he hadn't yet heard from the Reign on a contract extension, he was confident they would get something done relatively quickly. Today, McLaren signed a three-year, $12 million extension with the Reign, on the same day the team also announced new contracts for Justin Lose, Linus Zetterstrom, and Cabe McJake, locking up most of the key pieces from their S75 core. There's still some work to be done, but the Reign have managed to get a significant chunk of their off-season handled early on. "I'm super happy to be back here with these guys to give it another go," said McLaren. "Confident things will be different here going forward. It's great to see the other guys feel the same and are sticking around." Though McLaren's first two seasons haven't gone extremely well, the upcoming season might be a make-or-break year for S75's 8th overall pick. With just 40 goals and 78 points through his first two seasons, both player and team are hoping there are better times to come. The three-year deal is perhaps a sign of faith from both sides that things will turn around. McLaren could've headed to Free Agency or signed a short-term deal to give himself an out if the Reign don't play up to expectations again, while the Reign may have taken a short-term deal to alleviate themselves of some risk if McLaren continues to struggle offensively. That wasn't how it played out in negotiations. "They let me know they still have faith in me as a player and I let them know that we're going to turn this thing around. Staying here for three more seasons was an easy decision," said McLaren.