tcookie

6th and 9th overall seems appropriate for these two, make it happen VHL GMs

1) Malmo! Only Malmo. lol but if I had to pick 3, just based on people I've enjoyed playing with in the past or think I would enjoy playing with, I'd say the other two would be Riga and Calgary. I could say Moscow but I'm not going to because I feel like I can't because of the Malmo ties. Riga was the team that drafted my first gen, so I don't mind talking nicely about a divisional rival as long as it's Riga 2) Meat lovers basically. Adding green olives is good too. 3) Pokemon games, Zelda games, NHL/Madden especially NHL04. Still play a lot of Pokemon and Zelda, but EA kinda sucks and I don't play the sports games very much now --- 1) Have you ever entered Free Agency in the VHL and if so, what was that experience like? If not, why not? 2) If you're already drafted in the VHL: if you were to recreate today, what VHLM team would you play for? If not drafted by a VHL team yet, what VHL team would you most like to be drafted by? 3) What's a "weird" food combination that you think is actually good?

Phillip Rave made his VHL debut with Malmo five seasons ago, and for his entire VHL career, all he’s known is winning - at least in the regular season. The Nighthawks haven’t had a season with fewer than 46 wins or 99 points since, and overall, they sport a record of 248-85-27 over those five seasons. Yet, here we stand - with the VHL semifinals underway and the Nighthawks sitting at home, continuing a streak of post-season futility that is rather incredible, albeit for all the wrong reasons. The Nighthawks did manage to win a playoff series this season - a wildcard series win over a Warsaw team that compiled 57 points during the regular season. Despite carrying a points percentage of .726 since Rave’s first VHL game, Malmo’s playoff record is a confoundingly-abysmal 6-20 over those five seasons. 9 of those losses are in overtime, 13 are by one goal, and 19 are by two goals or less. Unfortunately for the Nighthawks, they all count the same. They’ve been close every single time for five straight seasons, but they’re all first-round exits. It’s mainly for that reason that Rave enters the S97 off-season with a little bit of uncertainty over where he’ll be playing next season. Not of his own doing, necessarily - Rave has been consistent that Malmo is where he wants to be. “I’ve said it several times since I’ve got here and nothing’s changed,” he says. “I’ll be a Nighthawk as long as they’ll have me. But it’s gotta make sense for the team, so we’ll see what direction management wants to take this off-season. At some point in the next little while we’re going to sit down and have that conversation and hopefully everything will be resolved.” Franchise defenseman Jacob Stone - who just so happens to be the franchise leader in assists, points, and shots blocked too - has played his last VHL game. A few other key pillars of the team over these last several seasons - Viktor Jensen, Savaisk Tzesar, Ronald Johnson MacWallace III - have just one season left in their careers. Tzesar, Rave, and Vlad Von Carstein are eligible to become Free Agents in the off-season. The opportunity is there for Malmo to go in whatever direction it wants - they certainly have a roster that can, once again, contend for an EU title and see what happens come playoff time. But they’re also approaching a window where it’s feasible to restart, especially given the playoff results that have plagued this core. The Nighthawks did potentially telegraph their intentions at the trade deadline, when they intended to send a massive trade package including Von Carstein, the now-retired forward Isaac Mclflopper, and several draft picks sent to Toronto for a package centred around star forward Harry Callahan, a two-time 50-goal scorer, three-time 100-point scorer, signed through the end of next season. That would indicate a desire to keep the band together for at least one more kick at the can. But the trade ended up vetoed by the league as it would have put Malmo slightly over the salary cap, and it’s unclear how much things may have changed since then. Coming off a career-best 48 goals and 108 points, Rave will surely be a coveted player for next season no matter what happens. It’s yet another pivotal off-season in Malmo, so stay tuned to see what direction the Nighthawks will choose to go in preparation for S97.

In a tightly-contested battle for positioning in the EU, the Malmo Nighthawks dropped from 2nd to 4th place overnight after losing the final game of the season to the 18-45-9 Prague Phantoms. It was a disappointing way to end the season and forces the Nighthawks to go through the wildcard round, where they will take on the Warsaw Predators. "It's not all bad," says Malmo forward Philip Rave. "It's disappointing that we didn't get the job done in our final game of the season, sure. But I don't think it's a bad thing to play in the wildcard round. Teams play in the wildcard and end up going on long playoff runs all the time. We haven't played in it yet and I mean... look how that's worked out for us." "I think there's something to be said for having the opportunity to build up momentum in a wildcard series, rather than resting and possibly getting rusty with the bye," Rave continued. "Obviously, the thing with that is there's two teams playing that both want to move on, it's not like it's free. But it's a chance to go through some adversity and get on a bit of a run early on and I do think there's value to that. So we're not hanging our heads over not finishing second in the conference, we're ready to go and put forth our best effort, take on Warsaw, and hopefully lay down the foundation for a playoff run. It's overdue."

With 7 games left in S96, Phillip Rave is closing in on a personal milestone. With 97 points in 65 games, he has a pretty good chance to lock up his first career 100-point season. Though Rave's pace has slowed from a hot start where he led the league in goals and points, and he is unlikely to get back to the top of the leaderboards, it has undeniably been a successful season for him. A bit of a hot stick over the season's final games could see him push for 50 goals too as he has 42 right now. "As far as personal accomplishments go it feels good to contribute at the level I can, but as always, my goals are always just focused on getting it done come playoff time. So just going to be working on being the best I've played when it really matters." Malmo has put up a strong second half as a team, now sitting 2nd in the EU with a 45-15-5 record, with a game in hand on Riga and Davos right behind them, as well.

1) I don't know what our current mascot is but I'm sure we could get some kind of cool raven/hawk thing that represents Nighthawks well 2) There's a couple of people I would tell because its a kind of life-changing event and I know 100% they would be able to keep it a secret, but honestly I wouldn't want it becoming super common knowledge because I think it would make a lot of people start treating you differently. 3) The Circle is the only one that really holds my interest watching so I'd go with that. ----- 1) Who do you think will win the Continental Cup this season? 2) Has your player been living up to expectations this season? 3) What has been your favourite moment in your VHL career?

1) probably cheesecake, I dunno why it's just very good lol 2) I think Halifax has a shot 3) McDavid, because he is the best player in the league by far and I think it's always crazy to bet against him --- 1) What has been the biggest surprise for you in the VHL this season? 2) Do you miss the VHLE or is everything better this way? 3) Where would you go on vacation if you could go anywhere?

Phillip Rave has cooled down a bit over the last few weeks, but he's still in the midst of his best VHL season to date, with 36 goals and 71 points through 49 games. "I'd like to find a little more consistency," Rave said. "It's been a good season for the most part but I don't think I've been bringing it quite at the level I can these last few weeks which kind of sucks. The EU is a battleground right now, every game, every point is huge. So it feels a little like letting your team down when you have those off nights. Just need to clean that up a bit." "The guys are playing great, man, they're awesome. As usual. It's such a great team and I know we have a chance to win every night with these guys so that makes it easy. Eases a little pressure too when you know that when you do play poorly, you've got guys who will help you out. I'm excited to see how this last third of the season goes. I think, although I haven't always been at the top of my game, we have been playing very well as a team lately. And that's the main thing."

The VHL has been around for nearly 100 seasons, and every year the entry draft marks the arrival of a slew of new prospects. For tons of young hockey players, draft day is the biggest day of their lives and represents a dream come true. But one VHL draft in particular was even bigger than that. The S75 draft saw a whopping 112 selections made, 32 more than the next closest draft. Selected 106th overall, goaltender Matthew A Sovick Jr. became the latest-selected player to ever play a VHL game, by almost two full rounds worth of picks. So many players came during an S74 recruitment drive that ultimately, the VHL ecosystem as it were couldn't sustain them. There were too many players to reasonably fit in the VHLM, and it ultimately necessitated the creation of the VHLE. The S75 draft had plenty of storylines, with the defender pairing of L and R demanding to be drafted together, and the Riga Reign blowing up their team - risking ending one of the longest playoff streaks in VHL history in the process - in order to take advantage of the loaded draft class to start their rebuild. The Reign would use their first two picks at 7th and 8th overall to select first-gen Miami Marauders teammates Cabe McJake and Addison McLaren before also selecting Dolant Fertitta, Joe Kelly, and Sirkants Klamasteris with their other three first rounders. Riga had five more picks in the top-38, too, and built a core that really should have seen more success than it did. Alas, the Reign rebuild ultimately proved ill-fated, but not for a lack of talent that came out of this draft. L and R did get drafted together, but probably fell short of expectations overall, considering the hefty draft capital committed by the Chicago Phoenix (the 3rd and 5th overall picks). They each played a full eight-season VHL career, though, and did help Chicago win a Continental Cup together in S76. The first overall pick was Pistil Stamen of the Yukon Rush, who went to the LA Stars. Stamen had a bit of a rough go of things to start his career, with 205 points in his first four seasons - but then exploded for four straight 100-point years to conclude his career, with 439 points during that time. Though he didn't end up in the Hall of Fame, he certainly still had a career worth holding the mantle of #1 overall pick in the league's biggest draft ever. Only one of the 112 players picked did make it into the revered Hall of Fame - 9th overall pick Taro Tsujimoto of Davos. Tsujimoto put up 724 points and won a pair of Scotty Campbell trophies during his career, beginning with seasons of 43 and 65 points before a breakout season of 92 points. After that, he scored 86+ points every season of his career. But Tsujimoto did save the best for last - in his 8th and final season, and only one not with Davos - he had an incredible campaign, scoring 53 goals and 139 points. As far down as 38th overall, where Riga got Isau DaMoose, there were players capable of leading a franchise forward available for selection. DaMoose ended his career with 528 points in 504 VHL games. Not a bad use of a third rounder! The S75 draft didn't just change the lives of 112 young hockey players, it completely changed the league, and we may never see another draft like it again.

A very well-earned 1000 TPE, the content you put out is consistently fantastic. Congrats!

1) Rave's been playing great. That said, I DO think he's been held to 1 point over the 3 losses vs. Moscow. It will be important to score against them at some point so I'll need to do my part there. 2) Nope, but yesterday I had a whole family come to my door dressed as Bluey, Bingo, Bandit, and Chilli from Bluey and that is probably my favourite now 3) Lucifer 4) I'm not aware of one within the discord LR; from a hockey context, it's probably some classic non-creative hockey nickname like Raver. 5) I'm generally loyal but I'm also not delusional, some things are a bit too far. I'll try to see everyone's side and I'll defend you if you're on my team, but if you're in the wrong you gotta have that conversation. Generally not out in the open though. 6) I don't know why but it feels like the answer is RJ lol

Although the Malmo Nighthawks find themselves very comfortably in a playoff position as we start to approach the halfway point of S96, they are not in their familiar perch near the top of the EU. Instead, the Moscow Menace have been running away with the league, with an incredible 29-1-2 record through their first 32 games. Malmo, for their part, sit 19-8-3 through 30 games - good for fourth place and 19 points back of Moscow, but also 23 points ahead of fifth-place Warsaw. From a team point of view, the Nighthawks might welcome the opportunity to play in the wildcard round of the playoffs, given how things have gone when they’ve avoided it the past several seasons. That said, there’s a lot of hockey left to play this season and while it will be close to impossible for anyone to track down Moscow, there will be plenty of jockeying for position among Riga, Davos, and Malmo in the second half. The Nighthawks do top the individual leaderboards, however, with defenseman Jacob Stone the league’s highest-scoring defenseman with 45 points through 30 games. Stone is also eighth in the league with 80 blocked shots and has 80 hits as well. Up front, it has been a fantastic start to the season for Phillip Rave, who leads the VHL with 24 goals and has been atop the league points race for most of the season. Now two games behind several VHL teams, Rave has dropped to fifth in the scoring race with 48 points in 30 games, but he’s only four points behind the leader and every player ahead of him has 32 games played.

1) Normal Jacob Stone stuff... 90 points, close to 200 hits and blocks, an individual award or two. He's a beast. 2) Probably Moscow, they're always good and are off to an incredible start this season. 3) I'll say Vancouver, Calgary is a close second. 4) He in fact lives on his own mostly because I haven't given that any thought. But I feel like Rave would be a dog person so perhaps he's looking into adopting a dog. 5) Tzesar hasn't been as productive as usual, but I'm sure he isn't far off, he's too good. I know he'll get back to his normal level soon and it'll make us even more dangerous. 6) That's a crazy question lol, I'll take the bun from Popeyes, spicy chicken from Mary Brown's, toppings from the Wendy's asiago ranch chicken club, and ... I think I gotta go with curly fries from Arby's as the side even though that's copying from the question

That's quite a series of events to go through in such a short span. Sim leagues are pretty great for a bit of a refuge. I'm glad to hear things are starting to get better now!

Phillip Rave has gotten off to a solid start in S96, his 5th season in the VHL. As the Nighthawks sit amongst a mix of contending teams in the European Conference with a 4-1-2 record, Rave has opened the season off with 6 goals in his first 7 games, as well as 4 assists. He has been playing mostly alongside Viktor Jensen and Savaisk Tzesar on the team's first line. The Nighthawks have been a little more up-and-down than they'd have liked, but fortunately have managed to snag points by forcing two of their three losses so far into overtime, including a shootout loss against another of the strong European Conference teams in Moscow. While there is no reason to worry in Malmo, especially this early on, there is still some talk of shaking the lines up a bit to see if they can squeeze a bit more out of this talented lineup. "I've got all the confidence in the world in every member of this team, it doesn't matter much what mix we put out there, I think we can get it done," said Rave. "It's been a decent start to the season, a little sloppy at times, we know we have some things to clean up and we know we can do it."