tcookie
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1) Honestly about the same. After my hot start I had hoped to sustain it a little better, but I figured somewhere around PPG or slightly above was a good target for this year and that's where I am. 2) Detroit 3) I've never gotten to play a season as a player with @Ricer13 and still would like to get to do that at some point, just because of the fond memories of the season I joined the league in Miami with him as GM. One of these days! --- 1) Who do you think is the VHL MVP so far this season? 2) It's a playoff game 7 and your starting goalie goes down, but fortunately you can pick any other VHL starting goalie to fill in that night... who are you picking? 3) What's your favourite pre-game meal?
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In the midst of an incredible battle for first place in the European Conference, where first-through-fifth place are separated by a total of three points, Phillip Rave's breakout season has continued for the Malmo Nighthawks. Although Rave isn't scoring at quite the pace he was to start the year, he has maintained a better-than-PPG average with 27 goals and 57 points in 53 games. The Nighthawks have five players at the PPG mark, and forward Savaisk Tzesar is not far behind, giving them a very balanced attack. "It's obviously always nice to contribute, so I'm happy I've been able to produce. It feels like the work I've been putting in is paying off on the ice, which is always a great feeling," says Rave. "Obviously with the state of the EU right now, you need to be on top of your game every night. You lose a game or two and you can drop from first place to fifth. It seems like the five playoff teams are settled, but the positioning matters. And I think our whole team, myself included, can be a little better with that consistency aspect." While Rave likely had a chance at one point to take home the Dustin Funk Trophy, as his production has slightly tailed off it's beginning to look like there are other, more impressive candidates. Still, it's a marked improvement from year one for Rave, and the Nighthawks have to be feeling like they have a future star on their hands.
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Malmo Nighthawks Team Press Conference
tcookie replied to KaleebtheMighty's topic in Team Press Conferences
1) Honestly looks like the top-5 EU teams could end up in almost any order at this point, but I think we'll pull it out and end up 1st or 2nd! 2) I thought Calgary would be a lot better than they are. 3) Winning the Continental Cup this year 4) Sparks has stood on his head a few times. I think there was a game we beat Calgary(?) despite being outshot like 60-30, so I'll go with that one. 6) PC 7) Honestly probably Halifax, even though "21st" sounds a bit awkward. It has a strong meaning & connection to the area, and being for a VHLM team (ie. the entry point to the VHL) it has another layer of meaning to it there. Malmo, Prague, and Riga are my favourites in the VHL. -
It's theme week in the VHL, and this season's theme is "rebrand". In recent years, rebranding has been rare for VHL teams, but rebranding can be an exciting time for a team, especially if they really nail the new look. There seems to be a lot of picking on the low-hanging fruit in the London United and to a lesser extent, the New York Americans, so I decided to look at some other teams. Overall, I think the VHL branding as a whole is actually quite strong, so don't take this too seriously! Seattle Bears I don't have anything in particular against the branding of the Bears, I don't think they are in dire need of a rebrand or anything like that. There's nothing I find inherently bad about the Bears' branding, rather, I just find it a little bit plain. Varying shades of red/blue, like their primary colour maroon, are way overdone in professional sports as a whole and the name "Bears" is pretty generic. Seattle is sometimes known as the "Emerald City" for its year-round greenery, and I love seeing a pop of green in a teams' colours. Calling the team the Seattle Emeralds and featuring a prominent green/white colour scheme, maybe with black, silver, or teal as an accent colour as well, would provide a unique, sharp colour scheme and also give the team a name with strong ties to the area. However, there is a lot of history associated with the Seattle Bears name in the VHL. They are a team that as been around since S1 and have won more Continental Cups than any other franchise in VHL history. Although none of that is erased with a name change, it still creates a situation where rebranding is unlikely. Los Angeles Stars This is another team where the branding just feels a little bit generic, probably because of the name "Stars", which admittedly is a little unfair because the connection with the name "stars" and LA actually makes a lot of sense. The colour scheme lacks any real, well, colour. There's a big city a little further south in California that recently lost its football team and is pretty empty in the way of major professional sports right now, so they could be very open to supporting a VHL team in the area... I'm talking about San Diego, of course. I think we can move the Stars to San Diego and call them the San Diego Pandas! After all, (almost) everyone loves pandas. Think of all the merchandising opportunities! The San Diego zoo was one of the more famous places to see pandas in North America until they returned them to China in 2019, but recent developments indicate that San Diego is likely on the way to getting their pandas back. Of course, we can't do much about the "boring" black/white colour scheme with this team name, but a little pop of colour - replacing the silver accent colour with a bamboo-green accent - could go a long way in making the uniforms a little more interesting.
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I would probably care a lot more about the international tournaments if teams were actually just international teams representing one country, and teams that qualify for any given tournament were picked based on the number of eligible players they had or something. But that would mean completely leaving some people out, some teams being completely outclassed, etc... so I definitely get it. I created a guy from Lichtenstein so I'd never get to participate (short of trying to get a bunch of other people to create Lichtensteiners too). It just doesn't really feel like international play to me so it may as well be just another off-season tournament variant.
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With the VHL season just across its halfway point, there is no shortage of jockeying for position in a jam-packed European Conference. The Moscow Menace lead the EU with a 26-9-3 record for 55 points, but it's about as tenuous a grip on first as you can find, with second-through-fourth each having 52 points themselves. Malmo has a game in hand with a 24-9-4 record while the Prague Phantoms and London United are each 24-10-4. While all teams are very tightly-grouped in the standings, there are big playoff implications at play for this group depending on the order of finish, since whoever finishes 4th will have to play an extra playoff series against the 5th-place team in the conference. Home ice matters too, but getting to avoid the wildcard round is an extra benefit. None of these teams want to get that extra wear on them at the toughest time of the year. We are set up for a very interesting second half of the season in the EU as all four teams have strong teams and legitimate Cup aspirations. It's rare to see a conference with four powerhouse teams so closely grouped for an entire season. Will anyone be able to separate themselves from the group to claim top spot, or will this be a heated battle that keeps fans on the edge of their seats right down to the season's final game?
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@hedgehog337 you took a shot on me as a first gen in that stacked S75 draft, made me the 8th overall pick... I wish that had ended better for both McLaren and for Riga, but it was still fun times there with that crew and I appreciated your willingness to give me a shot. Appreciated the way you handled it when the team didn't do as well as we should have and you had to make some changes, too. you're a VHL legend man, one heck of a run as Riga's GM here. Best of luck in whatever comes next for ya and I hope we still see you around once in a while
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1) I'd like to see something that competes better with the value of just saving money for regression fighters. But besides that, what can you do besides give TPE that's actually enticing? It's a tricky situation and I don't really have any great ideas myself 2) It'd take more than just underperforming. I'd have to be *really* bad or not like the team situation or something that is causing it to be very not fun to continue my career. I don't really feel any pressure to go 8 seasons if I'm not having fun, but just underperforming a bit isn't enough to bother me 3) That's a lot of pressure lol, and I don't listen much to full albums anymore, but I do remember being a big fan of Rise Against - Appeal to Reason --- 1) LA is off to a 1-36 start, how many games do they win this season? 2) Where would you go for your dream vacation? 3) Do you follow sports outside of the "big 4" in north america (NHL MLB NFL NBA)? if so, what's your favourite?
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Malmo forward Phillip Rave is off to a hot start in S93, with 18 goals and 35 points in the first 28 games of the season. He surpassed his rookie season's total of 16 goals in Malmo's 26th game, and he's not far from eclipsing the rookie year's point total, too. Rave is on pace for 46 goals, 90 points, and 444 shots on goal - numbers that would be a huge improvement on the 16 goals, 41 points, and 252 shots he compiled in his rookie campaign and would surely leave him a candidate for the Dustin Funk award at season's end. Meanwhile, the Nighthawks are 19-6-3, sitting within a clump of teams in the top-5 in the VHL standings. They are tied with the London United and one point behind Moscow for tops in the EU, but have a game in hand on both teams. On a 6-game winning streak, both the Nighthawks and Rave will look to continue their strong play against Prague later today.
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Claim week 2/2
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Thank you! It was fun to write something a little more creative for this one!
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It’s March 7, 2021, and a just-turned 21-year-old Lichtensteiner stands atop the slopes of Austria’s Saalbach-Hinterglemm. He’s the second-youngest skier in the field today, and he has a chance to do something remarkable. He steadies himself in the starting gates and prepares to receive the countdown. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath of the crisp, cold air and envisions the line he wants to take… and then it’s time. Out of the gate, the start feels smooth, controlled, perfect… everything is going according to plan. He’s confident and sharp in his turns, gathering speed, and staying precisely on the line he wants. He doesn’t know it yet, but the pace he’s on in the top half of the course would give him a silver medal time and a spot in the 2022 Winter Olympic games. He may not know it's a silver-medal pace, but he does know that this run feels pretty darn good. His mind wanders a little, feeling what it might be like to ski in Beijing, and - no! His left ski cuts out too far on a turn. He recovers to stay on his feet, but the next turn is no better and produces a huge, pronounced wobble. He doesn't fall, which is probably good for his knees, but... it can't save his time. One lapse in focus… it’s over. He’s already distraught as he crosses the finish line, unable to fight off the tears welling up in his eyes. The announcer calls out, “Phillip Rave, time of 1:27.49. 22nd position out of 27 skiiers,” but he doesn’t hear. He doesn’t need to. He already knows. By the end of the event, he’s 36th. A few months earlier, Rave was the talk of the skiing world. 20-year-olds don’t ski in world cup events very often, and while Rave was very much a super-G specialist, he’d captured two top-five finishes in the season’s first three super-G events by posting blazing-fast times of 1:02.04 at Val-d'Isère (4th) and 2:27.51 (5th) at Alta Badia. Just for reference, 2021 World Cup Champion Alexis Pinturault won Alta Badia with 2:27.19. The most dominant skier of the next three seasons, Marco Odermatt, finished fourth with 2:27.47. You see, four years ago, Phillip Rave had very different aspirations for his life - and he was right on the cusp of making his dreams come true. But after that hot start, he struggled badly for the rest of the 2020-21 season, culminating in his worst finish of the season at Saalbach-Hinterglemm, and the barriers to Rave’s success were now on the mental side. He was starting to become resigned to defeat, to feel like he would simply never be able to grab the opportunity that was right in front of him. Now, every race was just a disappointment - another failure to earn that Olympic qualification berth that had become his life's sole mission. Rave did have one last shot at qualifying for the 2022 Olympics. It would have taken the ride of his life at Lenzerheide, Switzerland, eleven days later. He never left the gate that day, as fog and heavy snowfall forced the FIS to cancel the race. Rave raced in his second career world cup giant slalom event a couple of days later at Lenzerheide, though by then, he had no chance to qualify for the Olympics anyway. He crashed out of the race halfway through, and he’d never ski competitively again. Today, Rave says some combination of being burnt out and not really knowing how to handle expectations contributed to his demise as a skier. “I mean… yeah, I was good - I’m not gonna sit here and tell you I wasn’t,” he laughs. “I had some results that, looking back, are pretty unbelievable for someone my age. I started that season off skiing so well in the super-G and I started hearing my name… people talking about me all the time. I just didn’t know how to handle it. I wanted to be great so badly. I wanted to compete at the Olympics so badly… and I just put so much pressure on myself. I couldn’t handle it… and everything fell apart. I was terrible for the last four months of that season, and by the end of it, I felt like I hated the sport I’d loved my whole life.” Rave took what was planned to be a brief mental break from skiing and got back on the skating rink, instead. Oh, did we mention he was a world-class speed skater in his youth, too? This time, it wasn’t speed skating, though. Rave was taking a more serious interest in hockey. But come on - a world cup skier switching careers and actually succeeding at playing professional hockey at the highest level? Even for someone with the natural athletic gifts that Rave has, that was preposterous. In just a few years, the progress that he has made is remarkable - or probably more accurately, unprecedented. There was about six months of training and a season spent with a semi-pro team in Austria - where Rave occasionally looked like the best player the league had ever seen and also occasionally looked like he’d never played a game of hockey before in his life; a fascinating combination of athleticism, talent, and baffling inexperience. He showed enough, improved consistently enough, over that time frame to earn himself a look from the VHLM’s San Diego Marlins. And the more Rave played, the more he looked like he belonged. Just two levels away from professional hockey’s highest tier - the VHL - Rave was excellent, stepping right into the lineup of the VHLM’s best team and putting up 76 points in 72 games. He was drafted by the VHL’s Malmo Nighthawks 17th overall in the S91 draft. He was picked even higher - 9th overall - by the Cologne Express in the VHLE draft, and he would spend a year there further refining his skills, albeit playing much less than he did in San Diego while focusing on learning the game more and developing his overall skillset. And now, if you go to a hockey game some 1500km north of the slopes upon which he posted his best-ever finish in world cup skiing in Val-d'Isère, you can watch Phillip Rave take the ice in a Malmo Nighthawks jersey. 12 games into his second VHL season, Rave has 8 goals and 16 points. Not too shabby. He now understands the game. He takes advantage of his athleticism and powerful skating stride to protect the puck, to find open space, to fend off defenders in front of the net. Rave isn’t physical, but he’s kind of a power forward anyway. And he’s very, very good at it. “I’m the kind of person that… when I set my mind to something, I put every fiber of my being into it,” says Rave. “That’s why what happened with skiing was so hard on me. That was my life on those slopes. That’s why not qualifying destroyed me. That’s why my “break” turned into this. It’s not always a blessing… there was simply no way I could be that hard on myself and continue skiing. It would have been terrible for my mental health. But… it’s helped me pick things up quickly my whole life. It’s certainly helped me with hockey. My life for… basically 3 years straight was, ‘how do I get better at hockey?’ I watched so much film, read, practiced… it was an obsession.” He smiles and adds, “I guess it’s worked out for me.” Phillip Rave seemed destined to reach the highest level of competition in his chosen sport. And through his dedication, perseverance, and natural athletic ability, he has found a way to get there after all. Just what we expected. Well… almost. We didn't expect the skates. --- 1300ish words, this week and next
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The Malmo Nighthawks got off to a hot start this season, sporting a 6-1-0 record through 7 games, but have suffered a recent lapse in play that leaves them in the middle of the pack in the VHL standings. The Nighthawks have lost 4 of 5 including allowing 1-10-1 Davos to claim their only win of the season, 3-2 in a shootout, earlier today. Sophomore centre Phillip Rave, who has personally had a successful start to the season with 8 goals and 16 points in the first 12 games, didn't seem particularly fazed by the recent slip-up. He did acknowledge that they can't let it continue, though. "We had a cold spell at the start of last year, and a pretty up-and-down first half of the season... then we really got it going. So hey, it's early, I'm not going to read too much into this. But obviously, losing 4 out of 5, not something you ever like to see. So it's far from panic time, I still completely believe in this group of guys but yeah obviously we need to get this thing turned around. Need to start playing the right way." Ten of the VHL's 16 teams are group within a 4-point gap (12 to 16 points) thus far, so that "middle of the pack" is pretty competitive right now, and every point counts. Positioning in the standings can be huge come playoff time, and the Nighthawks still have aspirations of a second-consecutive Victory Cup. We'll see if they can right the ship as they get back on the ice tomorrow for a rematch against Davos.
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I think it would be completely fair to allow anyone to submit a makeup PT for one that's declined within something like 48 hours, rather than just ending the week on them. Also, although I do completely agree with whoever declined your update, I don't quite understand why the "similar" one was ever allowed through either, so... totally valid complaint lol
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During the S93 off-season, the Malmo Nighthawks made a trio of key acquisitions that should help extend the team's competitive window. Two of those pickups will feature in their opening-night lineup, with Gregger McKeggegger jumping right into the lineup to replace Henry Eagles, now in Seattle due to salary cap constraints. Acquired in a three-way trade with Riga and Prague that saw a number of draft picks shuffled around, McKeggegger is a former first-round pick who has 96 points over the past two seasons with Riga. He's a 6'5, 205 pound forward who's main weakness is skating but is strong on the puck with a good shot, and he is terrific in his own end of the ice. The Nighthawks also picked up Eric Queefson, who will fill the spot vacated by the departing Jebediah Big Ol Doinks in Amish. The second overall pick in S89, Queefson put up 49 points in 72 games with LA last season. He is a talented two-way defensemen, but Malmo will be his fourth team in five VHL seasons. The Nighthawks are hoping this will be a more permanent place for him. The third acquisition will have to wait a year to make his Malmo debut, but Jorgen Lovstrom is the likely goalie of the future in Malmo. With captain Ash Sparks on the back nine of his career, likely two seasons away from retirement, the Nighthawks have also been seeking the eventual heir to the throne between the pipes. Having spent a lot of draft capital on goalies over the past few seasons - beginning with Karl Herzlich in S89, who will finally make his VHL debut as Sparks' backup this year - then Shaunca in the third round of S91 and Olafur Gunnleifsson in the first round of S92, both of whom have stagnated in development - the club hopes to have finally locked down the position with the selection of Lovstrom 7th overall in the S93 draft. The S93 draft had three talented netminders, of whom Lovstrom was clearly the head of the class. Lovstrom was simply dominant in S92 in the VHLM, going 48-8-4 with a .918 SV% and capturing the Benoit Devereux, Mitch Higgins, and Skylar Rift Trophies as the VHLM's Top Goalie, MVP, and Playoff MVP.
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Huge First Gen Influx Has S93 Draft Looking Very Deep
tcookie replied to tcookie's topic in Media Spots
Claim week 4/4 -
Yes, that question is terrible lol. I got it by looking up the four players that were options and picking the one that looked like their stats might actually be worth winning the Matt Bentz Trophy. I ended up being right, but obviously with the portal only showing one winner, it's extremely misleading, and guessing from stats who maybe should have won an award is also a terrible way to award TPE for trivia
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Awesome article, really well-written
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1) I really want to say Chicago but I'm having a hard time seeing myself cheer for Vegas over Chicago in a playoff series, so I guess that means it's actually Vegas. In any case, those are the bottom two by a mile. 2) Cold ones especially iced tea 3) Honestly barely watched movies as a kid, I didn't like committing that much time to sitting and only watching lol. Guess I watched most Disney movies around that time though so let's go with Lion King --- 1) Is Auston Matthews going to score 70 goals this season? 2) Which VHL player has the best shot at scoring 70 goals this season? 3)Team trip to Taco Bell, what are you ordering?
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The Malmo Nighthawks will be saying goodbye to forward Henry Eagles after all, as the league's salary cap left them unable to offer Eagles an extension for the upcoming season. Eagles signed a one-year deal with the Seattle Bears to finish off his career. The Nighthawks have $3.5 million in remaining cap space, but Eagles' status in the league meant he would have been due a minimum of $4.5 million salary this year. As a result, the Nighthawks will have to hit the trade or free agent market to pick up a 6th forward to fill out their lineup for S93. Coming over to Malmo in S90, Eagles spent three years with the team, posting 109 goals and 229 points in 216 games. Eagles was originally darfted 1st overall in S85 and immediately made the jump to the VHL with Vancouver, so this upcoming season will be his 9th VHL campaign. "It was a privilege to get to play with and learn from someone with Eagles' talent and experience last year," said Malmo forward Phillip Rave. "Obviously any time you can play a nine-year career in the VHL, probably finish up better than a point-per-game for that career, you did something right and all of us young guys can learn a thing or two from someone like that. We will definitely miss him here, it's always hard to replace that level of player."
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I've been to Halifax twice and love it there, and having been to Pier 21 myself, always thought that Halifax 21st was some of the best branding in the VHL. Though I can see how it's a weird name for anyone who doesn't get it, I think once you do, it's brilliant. Congrats on the new GM role - I think as a pretty new member who picked things up very quickly yourself, you have a lot to offer new members who sign in the M. Best of luck!
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Huge First Gen Influx Has S93 Draft Looking Very Deep
tcookie replied to tcookie's topic in Media Spots
Claim week 3/4 -
Despite a disappointing playoff run, the Malmo Nighthawks appear poised to more-or-less run it back next season after claiming the Victory Cup in S92. They did say goodbye to defenseman Jebediah Big ol Doinks in Amish, completing a pair of off-season trades that saw him head to New York and in return, defenseman Eric Queefson come in from Los Angeles. The Nighthawks will be banking on improvement from young players like third-year pros Savaisk Tzesar and Ronald Johnson MacWallace III, as well as second-year Phillip Rave, while last season's leading scorer Viktor Jensen is seeking a breakout year after threatening to post 100 points last season. With minimal changes, the Nighthawks believe they can contend for a repeat Victory Cup win and a more successful playoff run this time around. In the S93 draft, the Nighthawks spent their first round pick on a goalie once again, searching for their netminder of the future once Ash Sparks retires. They selected Jorgen Lovstrom, who went 48-8-4 with a .918 SV% for the Philadelphia Reapers last season. Lovstrom was the top goalie prospect available in the S93 draft. In the later rounds, the Nighthawks picked up forward prospects Ocean Codoller and Caleb Nowell, who both have shown some progression over the course of their S92 VHLM seasons and if that continues, both could play in the VHL in a couple of seasons.
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1) Definitely a night owl. 2) Nope, pretty rarely. Trying to get better at not skipping it though. 3) It's probably Reese Puffs actually but Cinnamon Toast Crunch is awesome too. 1) What's your favourite VHL experience so far? 2) Do you have any career goals for your current VHL player? 3) What is your favourite sports team (any sport)?
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Huge First Gen Influx Has S93 Draft Looking Very Deep
tcookie replied to tcookie's topic in Media Spots
Claim week 2/4