youloser1337

1. We just gotta have clean hockey going forward. Can't let any points slip away. 2. Amazing Race. I would probably win it. Just need a partner. 3. Bobo is amazing so I think it will be a long run. 4. I feel like this is a trap so I'm going to say Riga just so I don't get traded. 5. Don't count out the underdogs. 6. Koalas

Claiming week 2

Another week has gone by in the VHL and the landscape of the Riga Reign has just been rocked. There was a major trade that brought in new players that include: D - Guy Sasakamoose, D - Oskar Lagesson and F - Ray Sheilds. This is a huge playoff push towards the end of the season. The GM of the Riga Reign don’t seem to be done with trading either. Keep an eye on Riga for a major playoff push at the end here. With the addition of Sheilds, is Lose’s role on the team diminished? A quick look at the team and we see no change in position for Lose. He is unfortunately still on the second line. Although he has found some luck with points in the past few games. Since the trade went through on Wed he has 4 - 5 - 9 with a +/- 4. This is a major improvement since the start of the season. He seems to have finally hit his stride and is making better decisions too. Lets see if Lose can get back into the rookie scoring picture and keep his promise that he made before the season.

Boy do I have the article for you:

Claiming Week 1

This week is all about player vacations and oh boy do I have a doozy for you. Most of you will probably not know that I am a roller coaster enthusiast. I would love to go on every roller coaster I can. With the season I could get to some incredible parks for a mini vacation or day-cation as most people call them. I will be splitting the vacations from each conference since there are a lot of North American parks I would love to go to and in Europe too. I will go team by team and showcase parks that would be great vacation destinations. By the end of this I believe you would have a copious amount of vacation destinations to plan out an epic vacation. North America: I’m going to cheat and bunch together the Canadian teams into one post since there aren't as many parks in Canada versus the United States. I’m also going to include Seattle here too. There are three main parks that I would love to go to, but to not bore you I will only go over one and that is Canada’s Wonderland. Canada’s Wonderland Coaster Count: 17 Main Attractions: Leviathan Yukon Striker Canada’s Wonderland is a part of the Cedar Fair chain and has been heavily invested in the past few years with mega additions of Leviathan (the first B&M Giga coaster) and Yukon Striker (B&M Dive Machine). This would be a great vacation spot since it is in Vaughan, Ontario which is near the Toronto area. This would be a must visit park for me and a great vacation spot in the north of the border. Chicago is an interesting vacation destination. Chicago is already an incredible city where you could just explore the city, but there is a theme park that I’m itching to get to and that is Six Flags Great America. Six Flags Great America Coaster Count: 15 Main Attractions: Maxx Force Goliath X-Flight Six Flags Great America is a very unique park since it has a lot of coaster models not present at other parks in the Six Flags chain. Six Flags saw a lot of potential for the Chicago area so they invested in top tier attractions to bring guests in, including me. This has top of the line attractions with new coasters coming every few years. The past few years brought in X-Flight (the chains only B&M Wing Coaster), Goliath (a ground up RMC coaster) and Maxx Force (a S&S air launch coaster). Maxx Force is one of my bucket list coasters actually. Maybe after a practice before or after a Chicago game I can go and sneak a few rides. The nation’s capital is a perfect vacation spot with some great museums, parks and restaurants. Two parks are nearby DC and these include Six Flags America and Kings Dominion. Six Flags America is the chain's neglected park so I won’t go too in depth compared to Kings Dominion. Six Flags America Coaster Count: 9 Main Attractions: Joker’s Jinx Superman: Ride of Steel You know a park is bad when a Premier Spaghetti bowl, Joker’s Jinx, is one of your main attractions. The park is not well received but still has some great coasters to warrant a vacation in DC. Superman: Ride of Steel (Intamin Hyper Coaster) is a unique ride in the park. This would be a great quick trip before heading to the main event of DC, Kings Dominion. Kings Dominion Coaster Count: 12 Main Attractions: Intimidator 305 Twisted Timbers Oh man this is the ideal vacation destination for a roller coaster enthusiast like myself. Kings Dominion has an insane lineup of coasters. This includes one of the most intense coasters in the world Intimidator 305 (Intamin Giga Coaster) and the newly converted Twisted Timbers (RMC Conversion). I’ve heard that because I305 is so intense that it almost never has a line. This is 1000% one of my bucket list coasters and parks to get to. (RIP Volcano) I could write a whole page on LA amusement parks since there are so many… and I will. LA is the ideal vacation spot for more than a week. Of course it would be very expensive, but the amount of incredible amusement parks is insane. You have Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knott’s Berry Farm. Buckle up because this is going to be a long one. Disneyland / Disney California Adventure Coaster Count: 4 (DL) / 2 (DCA) Main Attractions: Incredicoaster Matterhorn Bobsleds What can I say about Disney. What they lack in coasters they make up for in immersive theming. There is no park that does it better than a Disney park. This is a great place to go with a family since there are so many rides and activities for kids. I meshed DL and DCA together since they are still Disney but under two different gates. Incredicoaster (Intamin Launch) was recently renovated to include the Incredibles to the theme and is the main staple of the park. Matterhorn Bobsleds (Arrow Sit Down) is actually the first steel tube coasters to be made. This is a famous coaster and a bucket list ride just for history alone. Universal Studios Hollywood Coaster Count: 2 Main Attraction: Studio Tour The Wizarding World of Harry Potter Universal Studios Hollywood is not as coaster heavy on the list of vacation spots, but they do have some amazing rides to make up for it. The centerpiece of the park would have to be the studio tour and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Universal paid a pretty penny to WB to get the rights to Harry Potter and ran with it. They made an immersive experience to put you in the Harry Potter world. This is a great vacation spot for all the movie lovers and Harry Potter fans. Six Flags Magic Mountain Coaster Count: 19 Main Attractions: X2 Twisted Colossus Tatsu Here is the enthusiast dream park. MM has the most coasters in the world and is the star park in the Six Flags chain. It has a very unique X2 (Arrow 4D) which is only one of 3 built in the world. Twisted Colossus (RMC Conversion) was rebuilt after the old Colossus was closed down which you might recognize from the show Step by Step intro. Twisted Colossus is also a dueling coaster but on one track. When you finish your ride on one side you actually switch sides without getting off and complete the other side of the course. Tatsu (B&M Flying) is the longest and most intense flying experience in North America. There are still so many unique and amazing coasters that I didn’t even include in the main attractions! This is a multi day park experience for a vacation, but it is worth it. This is a must visit park for thrill seekers. Knott’s Berry Farm Coaster Count: 10 Main Attractions: GhostRider HangTime Xcelerator Knott’s is another park in the Cedar Fair chain and is one of the more loved parks in the chain. With main additions of Xcelerator (First Intamin Hydraulic Accelerator) and GhostRider (CCI Wooden). GhostRider was built in 1998 but was re-tracked and made smoother to make it a more pleasant experience making it one of the top coasters in the park. The newest coaster to the park, HangTime (Getstlauer Infinity), takes up the spot where the now removed Boomerang once stood. It’s a compact but thrilling ride. This is a great park where you can spend a day and get some great rides and some awesome food too! Since I’m from New York I know all of the good vacation spots. The only thing is that they aren’t in New York. I’m going to cheat once again and include some parks that are near NY but not in NY. I’m only going to cover Six Flags Great Adventure and Hersheypark. Six Flags Great Adventure Coaster Count: 12 Main Attractions: El Toro & Kingda Ka (The Money Shot) Nitro Great Adventure is my home park. I’ve been going here since I was a kid and I love it. Because it is so close to the NYC / NJ metro area, Six Flags wanted to build up the park to attract guests. It has the best wooden coaster in the world in my opinion with El Toro (Intamin Pre-Fab) and an airtime machine with Nitro (B&M Hyper). Kingda Ka (Intamin Hydraulic Accelerator) is always intimidating when you ride by being the world's tallest coaster and 2nd fastest coaster in the world. While it doesn’t have the biggest lineup of coasters, it does have a few surprise hits that make it a must visit park. It also is a great park to visit with family since they have a few kids areas and family attractions. This is the perfect day trip park since it is only maybe 2 hours away from where I used to live on Long Island. Cross a few bridges, get on the NJ turnpike and get some WaWa (yes that’s a real thing). Leave early in the morning and come back late at night. Try to sneak a trip when you are in NY when you get a chance. Hersheypark Coaster Count: 14 Main Attractions: Skyrush Storm Runner Fahrenheit Candymonium Yeah that’s right, 4 main attractions. If I could I would add the whole park. It is a very different vibe when you go to Hershey. It’s a beautiful park with an exquisite coaster lineup. They have two different hyper coasters with an intense, one of the top coasters in the world Skyrush (Intamin Winged Hyper) and a more airtime based hyper with Candymonium (B&M Hyper). They just expanded their front entrance and they included Candymonium as the cherry on top. They have one of the only inverting accelerator coasters with Storm Runner (Intamin Hydraulic Accelerator). They also have a one of a kind vertical lift coaster in Fahrenheit (Intamin Vertical Lift). That’s not even scratching the surface of this diverse lineup. This is a must do vacation spot, hell even do two days to get the full experience since it has a water park mixed in too (free with admission!). Europe Europe is very difficult to plan out as a coaster enthusiast. Europe is already beautiful and has so much culture already that going to an amusement park should be an afterthought. Unfortunately I didn’t find parks in all of the places where there is a VHL team. Here are some European parks that you could visit though. Energylandia - (4 hrs from Warsaw) Coaster Count: 15 Main Attractions: Zadra Hyperion This one is a stretch but I couldn’t leave it out. Energylandia is the fastest growing amusement park in the world. They are getting multiple new coasters in a few years. They have gotten a new coaster every year since they opened. This is a destination park that needs multiple days just to get to everything. Zadria (RMC Groundup) is one of the top coasters in the world and was actually built a year early. They finished construction and testing so fast that they actually pushed up the opening from 2020 to 2019. Also at the park is the Hyperion (Intamin Winged Hyper) which was voted by the guests at the park. The vote was between Intamin and Vekoma. There is no stopping for expansion it seems as they are building new coasters for the 2021 season and the 2022 season. This is a bucket list park for anyone who wants a good mix of thrills and family coasters. Linnanmäki Coaster Count: 8 Main Attractions: Kirnu Taiga I’ll be honest, I have no idea what Linnanmäki is, but they have some top tier attractions over there. Located in Helsinki, Linnanmäki has a great mix of thrills and family attractions. They have recently added Taiga (Intamin LSM Accelerator) which has 4 inversions with a 170ft top hat which is crazy for a small park! They also have a unique ride with Kirnu (Intamin Zacspin). Zacspins are not well known for their comfort, but it seems it fits perfectly with Linnanmäki. This seems like a great place to spend a day for a vacation or even after a practice before or after a game against the Helsinki Titans. Alton Towers (3 hrs from London) Coaster Count: 10 Main Attractions: Smiler Nemesis Wicker Man The first of the two major parks near London is Alton Towers. This park is known for naming their new coaster projects secret weapons. Alton Towers also has a high restriction in that they can’t build over tree height. That didn’t stop them from building world class coasters and world first rides to make a diverse and iconic lineup. Smiler (Gerstlauer Infinity) is a record breaker for the most inversions on a roller coaster with 14! This is all compact into a small footprint that weaves in itself to give a crazy experience. Nemesis (B&M Invert) is also known for its terrain hugging layout. Wicker Man (GCI Wooden) is their newest coaster. They have something for everyone. This is a perfect place to spend all day and get a hotel nearby to get a full day's worth. Thorpe Park (44 mins from London) Coaster Count: 7 Main Attractions: Saw - The Ride Swarm Nemesis Inferno We finally come to Thorpe Park which is an hour away from London. This makes it easy to spend all day and still get back to London before the night is over. They have a bunch of horror themed attractions which is a breath of fresh air. Some of their more notable rides include Saw - The Ride (Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter) and The Swarm (B&M Wing). Nemesis Inferno (B&M Invert), not to be confused with Alton Towers Nemesis, is one of their main attractions in the park too. Since most of the rides are themed to horror franchises I wouldn’t suggest a full family trip. This is still a great day-cation destination if you are staying in London. Conclusion Holy moly I finally finished this beast of a media spot. Overall, the VHL is a grind so far. I wanted to give people the options of some of my favorite vacation spots as a coaster enthusiast so they can relax. You don’t even have to be a coaster enthusiast to enjoy some of these parks as they are all special in their own way. I would love to go to every park on this list, but if I had to choose 3 to go to at the end of the season and when all parks are open I would choose: Six Flags Magic Mountain, Energylandia and Alton Towers. It’s always best when you can go to a park with friends or family, but sometimes you have to go by yourself. I’ve done that many times and it doesn’t feel weird at all. I hope you consider some of these vacation spots when you are planning your vacation at the end of the season. Let me know what parks you are considering! Claiming 4 weeks

1. If we work hard enough I think we can steal that spot from them. 2. What a shake-up. I couldn't care less though. My only focus is Riga. 3. Incredible performance and I think Mikko should be a Hall of Famer for sure. 4. I think we are in a position where prospects could be dealt to improve the current team. I'd hate to be the AGM or GM right now since I wouldn't be able to handle the pressure. 5. Hell yeah! Have to pump up our teammates and its great to see so much amazing talent getting recognized. 8. Islanders. I've been a fan of the highs and lows (mostly lows). Still a fan though.

This week was a roller coaster for Justin Lose. Lose and the Reign are 3 - 6 - 1 in the last 10 games. In a weaker than usual conference, they are only 4 points out of a playoff spot behind the Malmo Nighthawks who are 4 - 5 - 1 in their last 10 games. In those 10 games Lose posted 7 - 4 - 11 with a +/- -5. Lose has finally found a groove to finally get some respectable numbers on the board. Lose is in a weird spot right now that he can score some points but isn’t being defensive on the other side of the ice with a negative +/- rating. Overall Lose has 12 goals, 14 assists for 26 points in 34 games with a +/- rating of -12. It seems from his interview last week he finally regained some motivation. We caught up with Lose after suffering a loss to the Vancouver Wolves. “Can you walk us through today's loss?” “The loss sucks. We played well even though we had 4 shots in the first period but just collapsed in the 2nd. I put part of the blame on myself. I think we all have to be a little tighter defensively in our zone. We gave them too many free chances. The fact that the shot totals were tied is crazy. We had some good looks but their goalie made some great saves. Unfortunately we let Conway down and Harvey went in. Of course we never want to leave our goalies out to dry. Just have to forget this and move on to Chicago next.” “You had a resurgence after your interview came out. What sparked this?” “I give all the credit to the Riga coaching staff. They were working with me this whole week and I felt a lot better about my offensive game. Of course we are still working on the defensive side. Getting some more practice with my teammates also helped out. I’m not 100% happy with my game right now, but it is a step in the right direction.” “What do you want to tell kids or other athletes that are struggling like you did earlier in the season?” “I would say don’t give up. I was terrible at the start of the season. I knew I had to be better to be in the VHL. Of course Riga is rebuilding at the moment, but you are still responsible for everything. I worked with my training staff and my teammates to make it to where I am today. You aren’t alone and you don’t need to face your challenges alone.” While Riga didn’t exactly have the best record this week, Lose did have a good showing in the stars. Lose holds the first star in 3 games! We spoke to Lose about this accomplishment here: [LINK]. Things might not be perfect for Lose but things are going in the right direction if he wants to be a staple of the VHL. Be sure to catch Justin Lose and Riga take the ice in their next game against the Chicago Phoenix!

Justin Lose had a decent week in the points department and hit a few milestones too. For the first time in his VHL career (and even VHLM) Justin Lose scored a hat trick! This accomplishment came in their game against the Calgary Wranglers where he scored his 10th, 11th and 12th goals of the season. All of those goals were on the power play too. We spoke with Lose after that game to get his thoughts on his historic night. “You know this is really special for me and my teammates. They were just as excited about the hat trick as I was. I believe my second goal was even the game winner too. After the 3rd goal someone grabbed the puck for me. It’s hard to believe that I was so harsh on myself a week ago. I truly believe my hard work paid off. Hopefully I can ride this momentum to the next game too.” On top of the hat trick he also had 3 games where he was the first star. One was the hat trick game against the Helsinki Titans and the other two were a 2 goal performance which one was the game winning goal against London United and a good effort in a shootout loss against the Helsinki Titans. Is Justin Lose finally on the right track in his rookie VHL season?

1. I think we can. Just gotta find our groove again. 2. Next season for sure. We can only go up from here. 3. Not great. Kind of just there and not doing much. I think I had one good stretch of games before going silent. 4. Chicken Parm. My go to every game. 5. Just because a game isn't as popular doesn't mean it's dead. 9. No.

Review: This is a nice edit. I really like the background and the jersey logo replacement. The player cutout is mostly clean with some issues in some areas. The visor is cut off at the top. My main gripe is the Canadian flag on the shoulder and also the Flames logo on his shorts / helmet. The flag is just odd for a team that is supposed to be in Minnesota. The small details like the shorts and the helmet could be overlooked though, so I understand those. Overall I think this is a nice graphic. I think with a little bit more time this could be perfect. Great job! Can't wait to see the next one from you. 7.5/10.

Review: This is an interesting piece of work. I can see the similarities that you were going for with the NHL 21 style of art. Personally I feel like it has a lot of noise and makes it unpleasant to look at. It almost seems like its supposed to be 3D. I'm sure this took a lot of effort to do. I'd love to see what other works you can do. Keep up the good work. I'm sure your next piece will be amazing! 7/10!

We have an exclusive interview with Justin Lose after his first few weeks of being a VHL player! Lose requested an interview to share his thoughts about playing in the VHL compared to the VHL. Let's get right to it: Interviewer: Hello Justin! So glad to see you again. This is your first interview with me since you were in the VHLM. Lose: Wow it was that long ago? That's a little crazy. Sorry for not getting around for you, it has been a bit busy with the VHL season during the offseason. I: No worries. Now, how does it feel to be in the VHL compared to the VHLM? L: It's surreal honestly. You work your whole life to be in the VHL and in an instant you are thrown in with the wolves of the VHL. Some of these guys have been here for many seasons, so being a rookie is definitely intimidating. I: How was the transition to the VHL? L: It hasn't been easy. Honestly, I still don't feel comfortable being in the VHL. My teammates are great and all, but sometimes I feel like I don't have the skill like the rest of the league. Some nights I feel like a scapegoat for the team. I: Do you have any idea why the transition has been so rough for you? L: Like I said before I don't think I matchup to the rest of the league very well. My biggest fear was not fitting in and being useless on the team and I'm nervous that those fears are coming into reality. My production hasn't been great, my teammates lost confidence in me and even the GM since he demoted me to the 2nd line. I wouldn't be shocked if I was traded for a bag of pucks at this point. I: What do you think needs to happen to gain your confidence back? L: I'm not sure to be real with you. If you know me, it has been a rough career already for me. I don't think I'll ever be 100% confident with myself. I fear that I'll just be another top 6 forward that doesn't do anything for their team and retire with no awards or trophies. Would I love for that to change? Of course. I want to be the best. I don't think that it will happen anytime soon. I: On that note, I think I will call the interview there. Lose, it has been an honor and I wish you the best of the luck with the rest of the VHL season. Maybe we can meet again at the end of the season and see where you are at. L: That would be great. I'll need all the luck I can get, so thank you. Lose and the Riga Reign are currently 7th in the European Conference and the 3rd worst record in the league with a record of 7-14-2. Lose has a pathetic 4 - 10 -14 points with a +/- -10 in 23 GP. Will the Reign get into a groove and start winning games and will Lose finally be that star player? Keep it locked here for all of Riga's games to find out!

Being demoted again is tough. This seems to be a common thing for Justin Lose. From being placed on the 2nd line with Reapers to being demoted to the 2nd line with Mexico City. He just can't crack that top line with a team. This changed when he joined the Riga squad at the start of the season. After failing to impress and remaining scoreless he was demoted to the 2nd line again. Lose released a statement to the media following the transition: "It's tough. You work so hard in the offseason and you still come up short. I worked all offseason for the chance at the top line and I let everyone down because of it. My production didn't impress anyone and I was demoted to the 2nd line. You want to be the best player on the ice every game. Sometimes you have to step back and look at yourself and see if you really are VHL quality. I've asked myself that a lot these past few games." Justin Lose continues to lose his confidence in this season. Will he turn it around after his bold claims that he will be the RotY at the start of the season? Only Justin Lose can make that happen.

1. We are trending up, I can see us sneaking into the playoffs. 2. Fruit punch. No question about it. 5. The people of Riga are very nice. The views are stunning too. 7. Just signing jerseys after practice. 8. A penguin would be amazing. 9. Fly. No debate.

G - Jaxx Hextall @fromtheinside Final pick hype!

D - Alex Letang @Advantage

D - Spencer Elsby @fromtheinside

F - Valtteri Vaakanainen @Advantage

F - Thomas Landry II @fromtheinside

The Intro - Hopeless The VHL is the dream for many players. Some are naturally talented enough to get to the promised land and some work extra hard to crack the rosters. Hard work pays off and Justin Lose is a great example of this. Midway through season 74 Justin Lose decided he wanted to go to a competitive league after dominating juniors. He was told he would never make it to the VHL. He was berated and bullied for his last name. He was losing hope. Season 74 - Reaping the Rewards To retell Justin Lose's road to the VHL, we must go back to where it started in the VHLM. The Philadelphia Reapers were the only team to take a chance with Justin Lose in season 74. He used this new found motivation to improve his game and produce. He was feeling unbreakable finally. The Reapers gave him hope. Justin Lose was putting up respectable numbers and were winning games but all good things must come to an end. Justin Lose hit his first roadblock in that the Reapers failed to make the playoffs. The competitive spirit was crushed inside Lose. He knew he had to grind even harder to get to the playoffs. Season 75 - Finally King Missing playoffs ignited something in Justin Lose after a few days. He wanted to prove to everyone that he was the next star of the VHL. He worked endlessly to improve and improve he did. Lose was in two drafts for Season 75, the VHLM dispersal draft and the VHL draft. The VHLM draft was up first and he wanted to be on the Reapers again to bring home a ring for the team that gave him his hope back. Those dreams were put out when Mexico City Kings selected him in the second round. Lose didn't know anything about the Kings before that day. All he knew now though, was that it was home. He felt welcomed and at home. The VHL draft was next and he slipped to the the Riga Reign. This angered Lose with how far he fell. He vowed to be the best player from that draft. Riga invited Lose to camp and let him get some VHL camp experience before a full season with the Kings. Boy did that turn out well with an impressive 1st place finish in the VHLM for the Mexico City Kings. Justin Lose felt like a King. Season 75 (cont.) - Darkness in the Playoffs Playoffs were a new experience for Lose in the VHLM. After missing the playoffs, being the 1st seed felt incredible. Round 1 was an easy series against the Halifax 21st by winning 4-1. Lose had an incredible offensive showing in round 1 that he thought he could ease up in round 2 against the Aces. It would prove to be the correct choice as the Kings take care of the Aces 4-1 again. The final round was against his former team in the Reapers. Unfortunately Lose wouldn't be that offensive threat and would lose the series 2-4 which crowned the Reapers the season 75 champs. This brought Lose down and even affected his performance in the WJC where the USA failed to medal. Lose was beginning a downward spiral again. Season 76 and Beyond - Home. Riga was the new home for Lose. He finally made it to the VHL. He finally proved all the naysayers wrong. Out of the darkness and into the light, Justin Lose was motivated again to perform for Riga. He wasn't done though, he doesn't want to only make the VHL and scrape by. He had expectations for himself. This includes: - Wants to prove that he is a star on the team - Wants to put up 25 goals this season - Wants 60 total points this season - Would love to be in the playoffs Of course none of those are impossible, but they are still difficult. He is going to have to put in extra work to prove to the GM that he belongs here and wants that 1st line position. Conclusion In the end, this is a culmination of all the hard work that Justin Lose has done in the past seasons. His road to the VHL may be on course, but coast when you could step on the gas. The VHLM is in the past and his time in Philadelphia and Mexico City would be a pivotal step in the development of Justin Lose. His reign in the VHL is just beginning. Get ready VHL, here comes Justin Lose.

Review: Wow. This is incredible and unique. I love the style and the behind the scene look for the offseason for the Bulls. I can't wait to read the next one and see what you come up with next. 10/10!

You know how in NHL 21 be a pro mode right before your first game in the NHL there is a cutscene of you taking in the moment? That's basically what happened today with me in the VHL. Props to my teammates for letting me have my moment there. I didn't expect to be here and just taking in the sights and sounds of my first game is unreal. Of course if you fast forward and see that I lost that and the next game... it kind of takes you out of that moment. Let's not get there... yet I guess. When I first got to Riga, it was post bronze medal game in the WJC, which I failed to medal in. I didn't get a chance to really let it sink in where I was needed for training camp the next day. The culture shock I had when I got here was insane too. I still don't know anyone or where anything is. I'm usually a lone wolf and I think it might come back to haunt me in my time in Riga. During the downtime in Mexico City I scouted some apartments in Riga so I don't have to worry about it in the future. I'm so glad I did. Being able to get to my apartment on the first day and just relax was a blessing. For a moment I finally found some zen and put all my failures aside from the past few weeks. Training camp was a nice change of pace for me. I knew what to expect because Riga invited me to their camp last season to get used to it and get me ready for the upcoming VHLM season. That little boost really gave me confidence and I think it showed in my performance with Mexico City. The coaching staff and teammates were all very welcoming to me. I even got a nice chat with the GM who drafted me. We were both excited that I finally made it to the VHL. It was kind of refreshing to see all the rookies so I wouldn't be the only target for rookie hazing. We had a few scrimmages and I did well. I was excited to see where I was placed in the lineup. I feel like I have a lot to prove. Game day was a roller coaster of emotions for me. At first my parents called and told me they were super excited to watch me play. They said they couldn't get tickets but when Riga faces NY they would be there to watch in person. The bus ride over to the arena was also a big shock for me. The thoughts of under performing rang through my head. I didn't want those demons getting to me so I followed my ritual and put my music on. I wanted to be the lone wolf again after the game. I knew I let the team and the fans down for not producing in my first game. The demons were back and I needed to escape. Luckily a few of my teammates calmed me down and reminded me once I get one, it gets much easier. That first point and first goal are key milestones that every player has when they make it to the VHL. Usually you want it in the first few games so that the pressure is off of you. That was a quick look of my first few days in Riga. Hopefully in the future I can be a bit more positive and have a few goals and points by then. My main goal is the cup and my side quest is the rookie title. I believe I have the skill to get there. I know we have a great team this year!