fromtheinside

WELCOME TO THE VHL! Hello @I dont know what I am doin, first off I think that your username is great, but allow me to introduce myself. I am @fromtheinside, the Assistant GM of the Yukon Rush of the VHLM. We are currently about a third of the way done the regular season and Yukon is 3rd in our conference, and 4th overall in the league. We recently had to release a couple players due to inactivity as per league rules, so we have a couple openings on the team. To start we can only offer you 4th line minutes , but if you work to develop your player, there is most definitely room to move up the depth chart! So, as your name implies, you are new here and there is a ton of information to take in for new players. If you are willing to put in some time and effort, I take pride in working with new players hands-on and teaching them everything they can do to develop the best player possible for themselves. If you commit a bit of time, I can help you get started and have your player going high in next seasons draft when the time comes. Yukon takes pride in being a helpful and new user friendly environment. If this sounds like a place you would like to start out your career, simply hit the Quote button on my post and then reply with #FeelTheRush. This will signify you intend to sign with Yukon. From there, I will DM you and we will send you an entry-level contract and get started. Regardless of where you end up, I wish you all the best in your VHL career. If you ever have any questions or concerns feel free to contact me and I'd be happy to help. Best of luck!

Yukon Press Conference- S76 Week 3 1) The Rush are currently 14-8-2 as we have hit the one third point of the season. This record puts us at 4th overall in the entire league. Do you think we could potentially break into the top 3 or do you think we may drop down a bit? 2) The team unfortunately had to release two players this morning due to inactivity. We lost a 200+ TPE winger and a 130-140 TPE D-man. Do you personally see this as a setback to the team or a personal opportunity to move up the depth chart a bit and get more minutes? 3) While it has been documented that Houston has a great team, in the Eastern Conference the Minnesota Storm has emerged as one of the top teams in the league. We have yet to face them but how do you like our chances going up against Minnesota? 4) Looking forward, where do you see yourself next season? To the players who have been drafted, do you think you will be ready to make the jump to the pros or do you think you will be in Yukon for another season? To the players who have yet to go through the draft, how do you think you will do in the draft? Where are you hoping to be drafted? 5) Outside of VHL, do yo have any personal goals for this year? COVID is still hanging around, are you affected by the pandemic at all and if so how are you managing? 6) This question was asked last season but it is necessary to ask again this season to the new members of the squad. Do you like pineapple on your pizza, why or why not? You will be judged for your answer.

Unsung heroes? Maybe players that don't jump out at you on the scoresheet, but still provides value to their team on or off the ice?

Ayyy love to see you back @jpach Nice work man!

WELCOME TO THE VHL! Hello @Nick the Goalie, thanks for making the decision to sign up to the VHL, your career starts here! I am the Assistant GM of the Yukon Rush and we have gotten off to a great start so far this season. We currently have the 4th best record in the league and we are hoping to make a good run into the playoffs this season. We have a pretty full roster but we currently only have one goalie, and that's where you come in. We would like to offer you the position of backup goalie. We can promise to get you starts sporadically throughout the season and help get your career started before you head into the draft next season. Yukon prides itself on being a player-friendly and helpful environment. We like to bring in new users and help guide them on how to develop their players to become successful. If this sounds appealing, quote my post and reply with #FeelTheRush. Doing so will signify you are willing to sign a contract with Yukon. From there, myself of the GM will send you a DM and help get you set up and sign your entry-level contract. Regardless of who you choose to start your career with, Yukon wishes you the best of luck getting started. If you have any questions about getting started feel free to message me directly and I'd be happy to help. Best of luck Nick!

nice work Abe!

nice work brother, it was a pleasure having you in Yukon!

Review: This is a wild sig, but it's pretty cool. The colors are bright and vivid but they jump out at you and grab your attention. In contrast, the player is pretty plain but that makes him stand out on the flashy background. I like the fonts used too, very unique. The design in the background looks pretty cool too. I feel like the top right could use something more to fill it out a bit, but that's just a small critique, it's great how it is. 8/10, great work!

Review: Love the team choice, nice to see some Yukon players getting some new drip! I love the font and the gold in Yukon, and I like the repeating down the right side of the graphic... it looks really good and player choice was nice too. That Preds jersey goes well with Yukon's colors. Overall I think you did a terrific job. 8/10

We are back with another installment of Under 250 where we dive into the VHLM and bring you stories and breakdowns of everything happening in our minor leagues. Before jumping into it, I recommend you check out some of the other VSN pieces that have been put out recently, there's something for everyone! 75: What Got Us Here | S76 VHLM Power Rankings #1 | S75 Word Juniors Review The Top 75 Players: 50-26 League Outlook The first third of the season is in the books and we already have a pretty clear indication of how this season looks to be shaping up. In the West we have the Bulls as the hands-down favourite and perennial cup contenders...more on them later, but let's just say they are looking primed for a serious playoff run in S76. Besides them, there are two teams worth noting so far in the West. First is Mexico City, who comes as a bit of a surprise to me. They had an excellent S75 which saw them go all in and get all the way to Game 6 of the Founder's Cup finals before falling to the Phantoms. Usually when a team goes all in like that you see them experience some major regression for a season or two. Yes despite this, they are back atop the standings yet again in S76. They lost a decent amount of talent to VHL graduation, but they still retained some major pieces from last season. They currently sit 6 points back of Houston, and have even beaten them once. They made a trade early in the season for high-end defenseman Clinton Giftopoulos to give them a solid 1-2 punch on the defense with fellow blueliner Teppio McBighit. With a stellar up-and-comer in net in Jonathon Bustard and a plethora of weapons up front, the Kings should not be taken lightly. Western Conference Standings The other team I wanted to touch on in the West was the Yukon Rush. Last season was a mixed bag for the Rush. While they had a solid team to be sure, S75 was rife with competition and they just couldn't hang with the elite teams. They decided to sell off some pieces heading into the deadline and while they limped into the playoffs, they were quickly swept by Philly. Back to present, the Rush find themselves in a similar position. They are certainly a decent team and have a lot of positives going for them. An elite goalie, some great forward depth, and some promising defensemen. But will they be able to go toe-to-toe with Houston or Minnesota. So far they've actually managed to take two games from Houston this season. But games now and games come playoff time are two vastly different things. The Rush have started off with a respectable 14-8-2 record. They will look to keep their momentum going as we approach the halfway point of the season. The rest of the teams in the West are firmly in rebuild mode. There are a couple surprises though. In my mind, the Aces are much better than their 5-16-3 record would indicate, and I'm a little shocked they are sitting in basement in the West. On the other hand, the Marlins have really done well for themselves thus far all things considered. Sure, a 7-17-0 record isn't anything to get too excited about, but when Thadthrasher took over the team this offseason he had little-to-no assets and were a lock to be a lottery pick in S77. It's great to see Thad turning his team around so quickly. Eastern Conference Standings Meanwhile out east, it's Minnesota taking the league by storm with a very impressive record of 18-3-3. Season 75 saw the Storm go through a ton of pain, but it seems as though Season 76 will serve as the light at the end of the tunnel. Minny leads the entire league in goals scored with a whopping 122. That is 5.08 goals per game which is absolutely absurd. But it's not only their offense that's been elite, they also have the lowest amount of goals against with 71, which is an average of 2.96. While Minnesota didn't have as flashy as a draft as Houston, nobody can argue it was an effective one. After taking high scoring winger Brendan Telker in the first round, the Storm barraged the draft board, making 8 picks between the second and third rounds. When you make that many picks in the first few rounds, you are bound to hit on a few of them. As it stands now, nobody in the East seems to be up for the challenge of taking down the Storm. The Philadelphia Reapers are sitting in second coming off their Founder's Cup from S75. While their record is certainly strong, I feel like they lack the overall depth to truly compete this season. The same could be said for the rest of the teams in the East, even the Marauders who have themselves a nice 5 game winstreak at the moment. However, it's a long season and if a team can acquire some high-impact waiver players (a la Miami S74), anyone could certainly make a late run. Feature Story The aforementioned Houston Bulls are the team of focus this week. They are the current Vegas favourites to win the Founder's Cup this season, and with good reason. So the question worth diving into is how? How did the Bulls go from a team in S75 who were on the playoff bubble, but ultimately came up short? Well in my mind, there's two reasons. The first is the large number of returnees the Bulls were able to amass from the previous season. A total of 7 players are back from last season, and many of them are key contributors to the team. The other thing that has truly put Houston ahead of the competition was their eye-popping S76 Dispersal draft where they absolutely stole the show. Aside from that, there is also one waiver signing they made early on this season that I believe will be a serious X-factor come playoff time. So, let's take a closer look at what makes the Bulls tick! Returnees: Let's start with the players who were around for some of the struggle last season in Houston. Of the returning players, none have made an impact as large as the Webber brothers have. Jon and Paul, both wingers, have carried their momentum from last year into this season. Playing on a first line with Asher Reinhart, the brothers both have notched 38 points a piece thus far in S76. Together, the 3 of them make for one of the most lethal lines in the league. Along with the brothers, Eddie Dams is also a returning winger who is poised on making an impact with the team again this season. He had a 48 point (26G, 22A) campaign in S75, and is on pace to beat that this season. This is particularly impressive because Dams is doing more with less. The team this year is stacked and Dams minutes are undoubtedly down from last season, so to get that kind of production must make management quite happy. Dams is not the only victim of roster depth either. Vlad Minski and Bradley Senjo are also returnees, and while they are key role players, they have seen their production slip a touch because of the team being so strong overall. On the blueline Jared Carter returns to the club, and while his stats may not jump out at you, his undeniable defensive stability and leadership brings a ton to the Bulls. Last but certainly not least, the Bulls netminder Trent Gibson is back in the saddle for one more season before going pro. He is the bonafide number one in net this season and has already notched 20 wins this season. To recap, the Bulls had a bevy of players back from last season and if you go back and look through all the rosters of other teams, you will see nobody had returnees of this quantity and quality. Draft: The first round of the S76 Dispersal draft was something you truly had to see to believe. Houston picked early and often in the first round and really solidified their team in every way possible. While the fact they made six picks in the first round is impressive enough it its own right, how they pulled it off is even more amazing. They owned picks 1, 3, and 5. They started off by taking center Paul Atreides with their first overall pick. The 2nd overall pick was actually forfeited by Ottawa so the Bulls were back on the clock at pick 3 and took winger Duncan Idaho, who was teammates with Atreides in San Diego in S75. The Bulls had started the draft off strong, but until this point, everything was going as projected. Philly was on clock for pick 4 and that's when business started to pick up. A trade was announced and all of a sudden the Bulls were back on the clock to make their THIRD consecutive pick to start the draft. With that pick, GM rjfryman took his own player recreate Asher Reinhart. Before any other teams had even picked, the Bulls had their top 6 solidified and they had scooped up the top 3 most coveted recreates on the draft board. Up next was pick 5, which shockingly, was property of the Bulls. Having taken care of their offense for the time being, their focus shifted to defense. They went with Javad Kamkar, a great player and teammate and a player I would probably peg as the best first-gen defenseman in this draft class. By pick 6 the Bulls finally decided to let other teams have a chance, but not for long. Pick 7 belonged to Las Vegas but... you guessed it, a trade was incoming. Houston was back on the clock and they took another first-gen blueliner, Rusty Knale. This player is a meat and potatoes kind of player. More of a physical defenseman, his offensive numbers won't catch your eye, but he is a reliable stay at home defender that plays the game with a good amount of grit and toughness. The draft continued and as the first round was winding down, another trade was to be announced. It was the Bulls once more, trading up to make their 6th pick in the round. And like their last two choices, they went with another defender. This time it was European import Germano Henchoz. Before the first round had even ended, the Bulls had already had their entire team core in place. There are teams even now that don't have 4 defenders. Through wheeling and dealing, the Bulls had made their mark on the draft and on the league. Making 5 of the first 6 picks in the draft is a feat that you won't likely see again for a very long time. League rules say you are only allowed to own 3 picks in the first and second rounds, but RJ flexed his high IQ and long-term planning by converting all his assets into a barrage of picks. Quite impressive indeed. Waivers: With their team basically already primed and in position for a deep playoff run, Houston pulled off one more massive move during the first week of the season. Recreates began pouring into the league to open the season, but perhaps the most sought after one was Reylynn Reinhart, a defenseman made by well respected user Ricer. Defense is unquestionably the most sought-after position right now in the M, and many teams hardly have any quality defenders to speak of. Reinhart would have been a slam dunk signing for any of the clubs in the league. Many teams pitched offers to Reinhart, but at the end of the day it was none other than the Houston Bulls who were able to snag her. My initial reaction was one of surprise, as I thought Ricer may opt to take on a role with a team where he would be getting a ton of minutes and dominate statistically. However, Reinhart decided to go with the team that would give her a best shot at a Founder's Cup in what will mostly likely be a one-and-done year in the minors before getting drafted to the pros in S77. By the time playoffs roll around, Reinhart will be a top tier defensemen and undoubtedly make an impact with the Bulls. Looking back, this move really could be what puts the Bulls over the edge come the postseason. So as you can see, this is what happens when everything comes together for a franchise. To truly be a powerhouse you need to get the most of all your assets. Long term planning, trading, drafting, asset management. It all needs to come together in order for a team to truly dominate in such a fashion the way Houston has, and will continue to do in Season 76. That's all for this week, hopefully you enjoyed the recap of the VHLM and the in-depth look at how Houston came to be. Until next time, stay safe out there and take care!

Damn first off, that shit is crazy! Who'd have thought I'd come out of this learning something lol Secondly, if I am a snowflake I guess that literally means I am also toxic. The more you know.

To be fair I did get the China Virus over the holidays, but maybe I was just being a snowflake

nice work my fellow D partner!

I mean you clearly made this post looking to get a reaction and now you're getting it. I have been in the Toronto LR for about a season and a half now and I can confirm that about 90% of the time there you were a constant toxic asshat and a plague of negativity. You originally pointed out "people bragging about scoring a goal in a loss". You entirely miss the point of trying to find positives in defeat and keeping team morale up. This isn't a Toronto-exclusive thing either, you've gained yourself a league-wide reputation and most GM's won't touch you with a 10 foot pole. It's a shame because you earn well and definitely put the time in, but you just can't act like a normal human being so it's all for nothing. If you could have checked your shitty attitude Toronto could have been a solid team going forward, but now here we are. And besides your personal statistics, your lasting memory of this league will be one of a guy who nobody enjoyed having as a teammate, congrats!

this is probably the best writeup I've seen since joining, and there's been some good ones. Amazing job Dooms

solid 2-0 for the boys today. Big shutout for Sovick too... stole us one!

woot i got an OT winner! Dope

Welcome to the VHL! Hello @jpjlovesla, happy to see you've decided to lace up your skates for the first time here in the VHL. I am fromtheinside, Assistant GM of the Yukon Rush. The Rush are off to a great start to their season are are looking to make a solid playoff run. We are currently 4th overall in the league. Our roster is pretty deep top to bottom, but we are still looking for a defenseman or two to fill out our roster. We can currently offer bottom pair minutes to start. But despite starting on the bottom pair, I can help work with you to develop your player quickly. If you work hard we definitely can move you up the depth chart in due time. Yukon prides itself on providing and positive and friendly team Discord and locker room. We especially try to help new users when they get started as there is a ton of information to take in at first, but we are here to help out. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, quote this post and reply with #FeelTheRush to signify you wuold like to sign an entry-level contract with Yukon. From there myself or our GM will get into contact with you to get things started Regardless of what team you choose, we wish you all the best on your journey here in the VHL. If you have any questions about anything feel free to DM me here on the forums. Best of luck Keegan, cheers!

Welcome to the VHL! Hello @Liam, happy to see you've decided to lace up your skates for the first time here in the VHL. I am fromtheinside, Assistant GM of the Yukon Rush. The Rush are off to a great start to their season are are looking to make a solid playoff run. We are currently 4th overall in the league. Our roster is pretty deep top to bottom, but we are still looking for a defenseman or two to fill out our roster. We can currently offer bottom pair minutes to start. But despite starting on the bottom pair, I can help work with you to develop your player quickly. If you work hard we definitely can move you up the depth chart in due time. Yukon prides itself on providing and positive and friendly team Discord and locker room. We especially try to help new users when they get started as there is a ton of information to take in at first, but we are here to help out. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, quote this post and reply with #FeelTheRush to signify you wuold like to sign an entry-level contract with Yukon. From there myself or our GM will get into contact with you to get things started Regardless of what team you choose, we wish you all the best on your journey here in the VHL. If you have any questions about anything feel free to DM me here on the forums. Best of luck Liam, cheers!

1. We recently made pair of trades that sent out John Merrick and Leo Strauss, what are your thoughts on those particular trades and do you think we got back fair value? I think the trades were necessary and although they undeniably set us back a season or two competition wise, I think it is worth the trade off for having a healthier LR and overall experience in Toronto. In terms of value, I think we did great and Smarch has been an amazing addition to the LR also 2. Toronto released a podcast! Have you listened to it yet? Any suggestions on how to improve it? Yes I have heard it lol. I think going forward it would help to have a little bit of a rundown of talking points. It felt like we kept circling back to the same thing over and over. Besides that though I had a blast be on. Going forward though I don't wish to be part of the recording or editing process lol it's very time consuming. 3. Since the trade Toronto is 2-2-2. Is that better than you expected, or do you believe we can get more out of this squad? I think it is right around where I expected. There aren't a ton of "easy games" in the VHL. There will be highs and lows, ebbs and floes. We dealt our best two offensive forwards, so we should expect some recourse. But I think it's a great opportunity for guys like Funk and Callahan Jr to get some opportunities. 4. Do you feel like you can be yourself within our locker room? Dangerous question, I know! I've always felt like I can be myself, I don't think that was ever an issue. It was just more of wading through the toxicity and passive aggressive BS at times. If I felt like I wanted to say something I would. 5. What are your favorite things about Toronto this season? Honestly when I thought of how my career would go, I thought it would be cool to join a team that wasn't super strong but I could join in at a time where I could be part of a young core of players that would eventually make an impact and see success. And I feel like that is happening. It isn't going to happen overnight, but with our D core, Funk, Callahan, Smarch and Hedge in net in future seasons, I think the future could look bright. 6. Toronto management thrives on being transparent within the locker room. Do you have any suggestions on how to improve communication between myself and the LR? Not really I enjoy the communication and transparency. Juice mentioned it in the podcast, but it feels like the whole team is collabing on ideas. Of course you have the final say but it's cool that everyone chimes in with ideas.

, The VHLM Power Rankings are back for another season and the VHLM landscape has changed dramatically since last season. Season 75 playoffs wrapped up and saw the Philadelphia Reapers conquer the Mexico City Kings in 6 games. The Reapers championship was well deserved as they took out both the Kings and the San Diego Marlins, both teams widely considered among the league's very best last season. Congratulations to DMaximus and his Philadelphia Reapers on their second ever Founder's Cup title in franchise history! As we officially close the book on S75, we now jump to the present and things have changed dramatically. It is a vastly different season this time around. The S76 Draft Class while good, was much smaller than the mega draft class of S75, and as a result their seems to be less parity in the league. Last season you had 7-8 super competitive teams and it was a true dogfight during the season. This season is a little different, there is one undeniable powerhouse that reigns above the rest, two or three teams who look to potentially compete, and everyone else is just sort of there, opting to focus their sights on competing in future seasons. So without further ado, let's break it down and see how the teams look this season. Prev: - | Current: 1 The undisputed number one team in the VHLM this season are the Houston Bulls, and it's not really close. In fact, I would say they are a lock to be #1 in the Power Rankings for the entire season. They have built a juggernaut for this season by doing a mixture of things. They had a formidable list returnees from last season to start. On top of that they had a ton of assets in the draft, and Bulls GM rjfryman put on a masterclass in the first round. When it was all said and done and the dust settled, Houston took 5 of the first 6 players taken in the draft. This included the top three coveted recreates and two of the best first-gens to boot. If this wasn't enough, they went on to sign elite recreate Reylynn Reinhart on waivers prior to the start of the season. There are stacked rosters, and then there are the S76 Bulls. They could potentially be a threat to smash some records this season if things go well for them. And if the first week of sims is any indication, they are well on their way. They opened up the season on a massive 11 game win streak and just dropped their first game last night. Asher Reinhart and the Webber brothers have led the way offensively so far, but multiple players have been off to hot starts with 9 players already notching 10 points or more. Prev: - | Current: 2 After a miserable Season 75, the Storm are back and making a surge in Season 76. They brought back a couple bodies from last season including their starting goalie Tater Tot. The bread and butter of the storm's roster came in via the draft though, as the Storm boasted a ton of 2nd and 3rd round picks. Having a ton of picks doesn't always guarantee success though, and credit has to goto Rayzor for hitting on alot of his picks and getting great value by snatching up guys that fell in the draft. Post-draft, Minnesota also made a big trade landing defenseman Logan Moore, who immediately would step in as the leader on the blueline. The Storm have jumped out of the gate red hot and are sporting a 9-1-2 to start the season. Minnesota drafted Brandan Telker, after having him on their roster in S75. The Storm must have liked what they saw in him last season as he is off to a fantastic start with 21 points (11G, 10A). Like the Bulls, Minnesota has gotten a ton of production throughout their entire lineup. Left winger Brian Moreau is one of the aforementioned players who dropped in the draft, and so far Moreau is making the teams who passed on him pay dearly. He leads the team in scoring with 24 points (10G, 14A) and seems poised to have a breakout year. It's still early, but the Storm seem to be in good position to be the team to beat in the Eastern Conference. Prev: - | Current: 3 Coming in somewhat surprisingly at #3 are the Mexico City Kings. When you lead the league in points the prior season, usually in the VHLM that means you went all in for the chance to win a Founder's Cup and the after effects of that usually includes an extensive rebuild. I suppose this is a testament to the great job GM Hylands has done during his tenure. While they lost a handful of great players to the VHL this season, they managed to have some decent returnees. While they didn't have an earth-shattering draft, they did manage to execute a couple of major trades before the season got underway. First they traded for the elite offensive defenseman Clinton Giftopoulos from Halifax in exchange for a 1st and a 3rd round pick next season. Then they turned their focus to offense and snagged Jon Strider from the San Diego Marlins. After 12 contests the Kings are sitting second in the West with a 9-3-0 record. Returning winger Magnus Verlander has set the tone offensively for Mexico City with 24 points (10G, 14A) including an impressive 3 shorthanded goals! When you have a player who can be an a threat on offense even on the penalty kill, you are doing something right and the Kings management has to be thrilled with his play thus far. Speaking of Kings management, the Kings brought on Juice as their new AGM as rory was promoted to GM of the Halifax 21st. Juice is a saavy user with excellent people skills and surely will be an asset to Hylands going forward. Both on and off the ice, the Kings are looking stellar. Prev: - | Current: 4 Yukon opens the season at the 4 spot and are another team in the mix to be competitive this season. Last season the Rush were amongst many of the teams duking it out with playoff aspirations. Midway through the season the Rush made a decision to sell off some players at the deadline to re-focus for this season. Before the draft took place, Yukon struck a deal with Miami that would secure them their goalie for S76. For a 2nd and a 4th they acquired Matthew Sovick Jr. They had a pair of first round picks in the draft and took the elite winger Abe Roque and highly touted recreate MacGruber. Following the draft, they sought to bolster their roster further. They brought back center Jim Allen for another season after signing him to a one year deal in hopes he could solidify their team down the middle. Finally, the Rush inked defender Ernie King to a one year deal to help bolster the blueline. The Rush have gotten out to a mostly positive start at 9-5-0, but they look to improve. Roque has been red hot, scoring 13 goals in 13 games, which is good for third in league scoring. Returnee Michael Scmidt is also off to a great start with 20 points (10G, 10A). While the Rush were frustrated to drop a pair of games to the San Diego Marlins, they can at least hang their hat on the fact that they were able to snap the Bulls' undefeated streak at 11. Prev: - | Current: 5 Much like the Kings, I'm surprised to see the Reapers check in on the Power Rankings in the upper half of the list. Coming off of their S75 Founder's Cup, they are back again with another solid nucleus of players. Their certainly has been no Cup hangover as the Reapers have started strong with a 7-5-1 record. The club does not have much quantity or depth, but their top line on offense is absolutely dominating. Returnees Kjell Nilsson and Thomas King are sitting 1-2 in league scoring with 15 and 14 goals respectively. On defense, the Reapers were able to land big time recreate Nixon Caldwell, who is sure to develop nicely this season and could potentially be a player worth watching this season as we go into the S77 VHLM Dispersal Draft or maybe even the S77 VHL Entry Draft. It's hard to say whether the Reapers will try to compete this season. The Reapers have options but my guess is that DMaximus will be measured in his expectations and perhaps sell off his big guns at the deadline to stock up for the future. Until then though, the Reapers first line barrage makes them dangerous and they are good enough to be in the 5 spot! Prev: - | Current: 6 After a major shakeup this offseason, the 21st is under new leadership this season. Manning the anchor is GM rory. Since coming in, rory has done a nice job throwing together a respectable roster. Their top forwards Phillip Stein, Eeli Rantanen, and Willy Myers all were scooped up in the draft by Halifax and will be relied upon to do most of the heavy lifting this season. The boat gang has also had a decent amount of success acquiring talent off of waivers so far this season. Adding recreates Shawn Glade IV and Joe Madison were great additions, and both players should be reliable to develop their players at a decent rate this season. These rookies will be worth keeping an eye on this season. Halifax also scooped up free agent tender Dexter Vaughn, giving them a two-headed monster situation in the crease. Vaughn will battle Jurgis Kalvelis Blazevicius for ice time in net and the two should provide healthy competiton amongst themselves. Stein has been the team's best forward so far with 29 points (10G, 19A) and Glade has proven to be a solid puck moving defensemen already, with an impressive 14 assists. Halifax has managed to go 6-6 so far this season, and I think they could beat up on some of the weaker teams in the Eastern Conference this season and sneak into the playoffs, much like how they did last season. Prev: - | Current: 7 This one may seem a bit odd at first glance. The Aces have fumbled out the gate and sport an ugly 2-7-3 record which is good for dead last in the West. That being said, I don't expect them to be there for long. Two of these contests were OT losses to the powerhouse Bulls squad. Spartan is a savvy GM that will always find a way to compete. He had key returnees including top tier netminder Aksu Maronen. Up front Angel Wachiure and Andy Nexber are also doubling down for another season before making their jumps to the VHL next season. The Aces also drafted super-sophomore Lenny Sanderson to add to their firepower up front. Post-draft Vegas continued to improve as they signed back defenseman Joakim Lund for another season. Lund was part of the brick wall the Aces had last season on defense. Finally, the Aces made a big time waiver pickup when they secured blueliner Rolf Fizzlebeef Jr who is a highly respected recreate that is expected to make an instant impact for Vegas. The previous mentioned returnees Nexber and Wachiure have been responsible for most of the offense for Vegas thus far with 19 and 17 points respectively. I think that while Vegas is far from a complete team, they are too good to stay at the bottom of the standings. Look for them to bounce back sooner rather than later. Prev: - | Current: 8 The 8 spot is a bit of a shocker to me. I had pegged the Marlins to be amongst the bottom of the league this season. The Marlins were a team last season that went all in to go for a Cup and came up short when they ran into the eventual champs in the semi finals. The Marlins didn't make a pick in the S76 Dispersal Draft until the 7th round. On top of that they only had 4 players returning for this season, mind you they are all good ones, and will definitely be the key to any success the Marlins might have this season. Post-draft the Marlins has 5 players on their roster. The newly formed management team of Thad and Prout definitely had their work cut out for them. Thus far it seems the rookie management duo has been up for the task. They have signed a handful of players off waivers, and that could largely be thanks to the impressive recruitment video the Marlins have deployed on their waiver claims. Additionally, the Marlins signed free agent forward Theodore James St. Louis for this season. St. Louis was one of the best forwards in the entire VHLM last season and is a huge signing for San Diego. They also inked goaltender Darcy Cat to a contract. Although the Marlins are 4-8-0, I think they have a chance to hang around and round up some wins this season. The Marlins may opt to sell their big guns at the trade deadline, but I think they have the firepower to gather up some wins this season if they choose to stay the course. Prev: - | Current: 9 The next couple of teams are fairly close and are pretty much interchangeable. The bottom quarter of the league are all teams I would consider to be in full rebuild mode. While Miami has a decent group of forwards, they just don't have the defense to compete this season. In a lot of ways, this is a league-wide issue. There is a real shortage on quality defensemen right now. This has been supplemented a little bit with most of the recreates rolling d-men, but there are still many teams with less than 4 players on their bluelines. On top of their woes on defense, the Marauders are rolling with netminder ClapbombsRUs. While Clapbombs is a great developing player, he is still a ways away from being a difference maker for a VHLM team. Season 77 could be a huge year for Clapbombs, but for now, with a thin defensive core in front of him, their will be struggles. Phoenix Dawson will be on his victory lap this season before moving up to the Bears next season. Look for him and Alexander The Great to lead the way offensively for Miami. I think these two forwards could both be shipped out for picks come trade deadline, but Ricer loves to compete, so we will see how it goes. Also congrats to tinafrombobsburgers on the promotion to AGM. The brotherly tandem in Miami will be a strong one and I can see these guys doing big things for along time in Miami. Prev: - | Current: 10 The Hounds, much like the Marlins, are under new management this season as Zetterberg and tcookie have teamed up to take the reigns of Mississauga. Despite having a massive arsenal of picks at their disposal for the S76 draft, the rookie management team decided to defer this season and really load up for Season 77. I think this was an intelligent move. They didn't have a ton in terms of returning players for this season, and with a draft pool that wasn't super deep in high end talent, opting to compete next season instead makes a lot of sense. That being said, there are still some interesting players to watch. Recreated player Druss Deathwalker will surely lead the way offensively for the Hounds and I would expect to see him get dealt by the deadline. There are some really good players that could develop into solid players next season for Mississauga. Miks Sunish and Elvis Michael could be key players for them in Season 77. Much like the Marauders, the Hounds are short on defense, but the recent waiver pick up of Kirby Pandora seems like a solid addition and Pandora could be solid player worth watching going forward. In net, Luke Spinelli will look to develop another season and could potentially be the high end guy the Hounds need next season when they are ready to compete. Prev: - | Current: 11 After fielding a playoff-caliber team for many seasons in a row, the Wild were due for an offseason and this is definitely it. After a coming up just short in a 7 game war versus the Aces in the playoffs last season, the Wild are picking up the pieces and in full rebuild mode. The only remnants of last season that remain are Braxton Hunter and Gabriel Johnson. The Wild were unfortunately in a rough spot going into the first week of the season as they were not able to land a starting goalie to play for their squad until late into the week. Luckily they struck a deal with the Hounds that saw them pick up netminder Andrew Bowman. Bowman served as a backup for Yukon last season and he is definitely worthy of getting a shot as a starter in his sophomore season. If the Wild reload for next season, Bowman should be primed to be a major piece of the puzzle for Saskatoon. For now though, the Sasky Boys will have to endure a long and painful season. Like I said before though, they were due. It was quite a feat in itself that the Wild were competitive for as long as they were. Look for Doomsday to deal Hunter and Johnson come trade deadline time. Prev: - | Current: 12 Sadly for Ottawa and their fanbase, this season will be Team Rebuild 2: Electric Boogaloo. Another season ushered in, and unfortunately it's another season at the bottom of the power rankings. The Lynx were in rough shape last season but what made matters worse was they didn't even have their first round pick to reap the benefits. And I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they don't have their 1st round pick for next draft either. Much like last season, they find themselves with only one defensemen to start off the season. That means more "MAXIMUM ICE TIME" ads to be had in waiver claims this season. While they do have a half decent record, don't expect the Lynx to stick around for too long before falling back down to the basement of the Eastern Conference. They do have a solid goalie in Barry Taffe but he could be making the jump to the pros next season. For the meantime it will be rookie watch from here on out as maybe Ottawa will produce another prime rookie like Philip Stein from season 75. That's it for this week everyone. If you made it to the end thanks for reading! It certainly is a different feel in the M this season. There is a steep decline in the bottom half of the league this year. And even then, the teams at the top will have a hard time trying to compete with Houston, who is already pretty much in playoff form. Last season I did the power rankings as a weekly feature because their was so much competition, but I think this season it will be a lot of the same results over and over so I may do them bi-weekly for the remainder of this season just to avoid things getting repetitive and boring for the reader. All the best to all the teams and players in the M. Keep earning and developing! Cheers!

Yukon Press Conference Week 2 1) The Yukon Rush have gotten out to a respectable 7-4 start to the season. Are you happy with how the team has started, why or why not? 2) How have you felt about your individual performance so far in the first set of games? Do you feel like you are performing the way you should be and are you on pace for any goals you set for yourself this season? 3) The Houston Bulls are off to a 10-0 start. They were the undisputed #1 favorites going into this season... how long do you think they will go undefeated for to start the season? 4) Motzaburger was named our team captain last week before the season started. Speaking of burgers, what topping and condiments do you like on your burger. Alternatively do you prefer BK burgers, Mcdonald's burgers, Wendy's burgers or a different burger place not mentioned? 5) Our goalie Matt Sovick Jr has gotten off to a great start for the Rush this season. Who is your favourite real life goalie and why? If you don't watch hockey who is your favourite athlete and why? 6) When you aren't spending time on VHL what do you like to do in your free time?

F- Kyl Oferson Thanks for a painless draft everyone Good luck! @fishy All done!

it was a hell of a ride last season

nice new format !