Vat

What a Christmas season. I'm always amazed by the generosity of our community. Nicely done to everyone who donated, and thanks for the participation and attention from those that were unable to. The results from the charity drive are amazing.
 
The last loose end to tie up is the 12 Days of Christmas Raffle. Every day, you dutifully logged in, said hello, and got entered into the grand raffle.
 
As explained in the rules, we've got a lot of winners:
I used Google's Random Number Generator to pull a number of Josh's crazy spreadsheet that organized all the entries. You can view the streams here, here, and here if you don't believe me, but don't waste 15 mins of your life watching and listening to me fumbling around a spreadsheet.
 
So, here are the winners!
 
Tier 1:
You win:
 
Tier 2:
You win:
 
Tier 3:
You win:
 
Tier 4: THE GRAND CHAMPION
You win:
 
Thanks to everyone who participated. The 12 Days raffle is always my favourite because it's an "activity" check of sorts. We had 186 unique users participate in this bonanza. That's fantastic, what a big number. I'm proud of you, proud of us, and happy for all the winners.
 
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Good Riddance 2021, let's all have a great 2022 ✌️ 

Talks of scoring 100 points had been going since the beginning of the season.  Calgary star gustisav Nasherov was destined to produce tons of points this season for the cup chasing Wranglers.  Game after game he slowly inched closer to the destined goal.  With only 2 games left of the season he needed to score 5 to end up with 100 points.  First game was against London united.  the game ended 4-3 to calgary and Nasherov scored 2.  97 points, 1 game.  He needed to score 3 against Chicago.  Things were looking bright after the first period, after 1 assist and 1 goal he only needed to score one point in 40 minutes to achieve the goal.  2nd period was horrible by Nasherov, he couldn't be found on the ice and many Wranglers fans were wondering if the goal was too far away from his reach.  walking into the locker room after the 2nd period he spotted a well known face.  His sister was there to watch him score 100 in the last regular season game.  She had a sign that cheered nasherov on so much that he no matter what would not leave the third period without breaking his point record.  No matter what.  Going into the third period Nasherov was so fired up that you could see the flame in his eyes staring down the ice looking straight at the opposing team's goal, he had one thought in mind "SCORE".  Only 5 minutes in he gets a chance, with a beautiful pass from Erlantz Jokinen e was through on goal, all by himself.  The only thing standing between him and 100 points was a goalie.  What should he do? Deke the goalie? wait for his teammate to get an easy assist? No, we stopped right in his tracks, winded up his stick, it was almost like time froze, his stick was in the air for what seemed like an eternity, then he shot.  The puck was flying so fast that the goalie had no time to react.  Bardown the puck was in the goal.  The fans went absolutely crazy, no one was sitting except of course the Chicago fans.  Nasherov's dream was complete, he had scored 100 points in a single season, he could not believe himself, his head was empty and lost for words, he couldn't think only move.  Thus he threw his gloves into the stands and threw the most ferocious scream he ever had screamt.  He had a feeling of being complete.  Nothing could compare to what he felt that game and moment, it was angel like and if a heaven existed then that feeling would be the pinnacle of how happy you could ever be in heaven.  Even when he had not scored a hattrick hats were flying from the stands. All of them had the meaning "Nasherov 100" on them.  Unluckily he scored a hattrick 10 minutes later so there were no hats thrown but he couldn't care less because his dream was complete. 

Review:
 
I really like this one!  the coloring and effect usage is my favorite by far.  it's well used and I can't complain by one millimeter (0.0393700787 inches)! The name is also very cool and well made.  it is top-notch and i can't remember the last time i saw such a well made letter combination.  Having 2 renders is also a thing I really like about this.  It's unique and i can't complain at all!  Overall I really like it 9/10

1. Rather chilled, fine dining with the family, but nothing out of the ordinary.
2. I hope we do not repeat the regular season experience where we lost ten or so in a row after a winning streak. But I think we will carry on, I cannot see a reason why not. @Vatseems to be on a mission.
3. If you want to win the cup you need to beat all the other teams. It doesn't matter who we will play. 'My' IRL Club had their nemesis as the first opponent in the playoffs and it was the hardest series of them all. Once we beat them, it was a downhill race for us.
4. 69 points total, do I need to say more?
5. I do not put expectations on other players, (though I am disappointed that @Phil got soft and did not reach 400 hits)
6. Everything to be honest... well except that @WranglersSuck dragged me into an other forum based league... damn you Ricer!
7. Getting that STHS luck.
8. I did not look into this, but I would assume that the increase of meta players may contribute to that.
9. I think we need help/replacement in the forward as well as in the defence department, with some players approaching retirement age. And I am the only prospect skater who is not a multi or a rather slow earner.
10. No, I have not (or not sufficiently to make a statement).
11. not much; watched 'Dinner for one' and fired some fireworks, my wife had to work that night, so not too much going on...
12. to have no resolution. Since I did not take one, it is mission accomplished already and I can rest on my laurels for the remainder of the year.

CALGARY WRANGLERS PRESS CONFERENCE WEEK ENDING 12/21
 
 
 
1.) Your VHL player is going on a Christmas break. What is your player doing for the holidays?
 
Celebrating Christmas of course
 
2.) What are YOUR plans for the holidays?
 
Celebrating Christmas
 
3.) Despite having a contending roster over the last few seasons, what has been holding Calgary back from performing like one? 
 
Idk feels like it's a hill that we have to overcome, once we do it we will be rolling
 
4.) If someone were to make a player card for you, what render would you choose and why?
 
no idea lol
 
5.) What is your favourite part about the holiday season?
 
Celebrating Christmas
 
6.) Choose a teammate, tag them
 
@Daniel Janser 
 
European cool dude
and give them a shoutout about why you appreciate them!

You also get a bit more if you donated in the Christmas drive! And you get to watch Beketov stream Zoo Tycoon in the new year.

Boy I can hear the negative reactions already....
 
I just wanted to throw a quick announcement out there in advance so that everyone doesn't get surprised by it. Our @Simmer team obviously works very hard all year to give the league nearly daily sims between the regular season, playoffs, and off season tournaments. There is a bit of time off here and there but for the most part it's a daily thing. We were hoping that playoffs would line up well with Christmas again like they did last year and provide us with an easy excuse to have a couple of days off for the holidays but sadly no dice this time around. For that reason we have decided that sims will be halted from tomorrow, December 24th, to resume on Monday, December 27th.
 
I know it is inconvenient to have 3 days without sims but as we frequently remind our members the simmers are not robots and need time as well so a holiday break is the least we can do. So enjoy the sims today, embrace a few days with family and friends (if possible, stupid covid) and we'll see you all on the 27th for more Regular Season action in the 3 leagues.
 
Thank You and Happy Holidays,
@Commissioner

Review:
 
For a first graphic this is absolutely amazing! Looks like you have had tons of experience before.  The colors fit very well except for the yellow stripes on the jersey, other than that there's not much to complain about.  A small thing is that I would've liked it if the text was incased in a box like the 3 other images are, other than that this is amazing! 8/10

Did I hear Sweden? I'm your new friend.

In Sweden you get the added bonus of arctic winter. Read: about 14 seconds of sunlight per day.

12 Days of Christmas: Day Eight
 

 
Post in this thread to receive one (1) entry into the Tier 3 Holiday Raffle.
 
In addition! As it is everyone's favorite time of year, my birthday, I'll allow you all to have 1 uncapped TPE to celebrate with. There is no requirement to post in this thread to claim as it will still lock tomorrow morning as per usual but all claims need to be made this week (ending 12/19). @Members 
 
To claim, claim as Uncapped > Other > Other, with the description "Happy Birthday Josh!"
 

Happy birthday!

Congrats on the one year bud. Had a blast playing minecraft with you! Hope we can do it again soon  

Crazy to think that in a little more than a month I have been here for an entire year, something I thought I would never do. When I first joined the vhl I thought it was something that I would quit in a month or two but no, soon it's one year and I could not be happier with all the memories I've made, the friends and all the fun times I've had here. On my 1 year anniversary day I will drop a fun little text about it and hopefully be able to summarize it for people who don't know me too well, or people who have been my friend for a while and just want to catch up with what has happened to me and my player throughout an entire year. For some people a year doesn't sound like it is much like people who have been here since 2007 (!?!?) But for me it's something to celebrate so why not.
 

Doing anything for one year is absolutely a big deal! Cheers dude, we’re happy to have you. See you on the chess board soon  

Crazy to think that in a little more than a month I have been here for an entire year, something I thought I would never do. When I first joined the vhl I thought it was something that I would quit in a month or two but no, soon it's one year and I could not be happier with all the memories I've made, the friends and all the fun times I've had here. On my 1 year anniversary day I will drop a fun little text about it and hopefully be able to summarize it for people who don't know me too well, or people who have been my friend for a while and just want to catch up with what has happened to me and my player throughout an entire year. For some people a year doesn't sound like it is much like people who have been here since 2007 (!?!?) But for me it's something to celebrate so why not.
 

1. a few changes in strategy might do the trick but our players are getting chances just not converting! They can turn this around!
 
2. Perry likes to spend these times making sure the younger players spirits are high! Take them away from the rink do other things away from hockey! Once you start overthinking itll get worse.
 
3. Their jersey their choice  but it’s tough to see cause they deserve better as a fan base, we need to do better.
 
4. Nasherov, maybe underrated coming into the season but no longer! He has been absolutely fire all season long! Consistency is key!!
 
5. Perry will be retired hopefully laying on a beach for a season or two and then get into management with the wrangles organization.
 
6. Smokey, cause it sounds cool and spooky. 

NAHSEROV!!! We back, with another interview coming your way
 
How do you feel about your season so far?
 
It feels good! I have been having some nights where I get up to 4 (?!?!) Points in one game, such numbers are absurd for me and I really enjoy scoring so many points for my team as an act of appreciation. Although I have been quite inconsistent. Sometimes I have games like that and other times it feels like I am unheard of, I would much rather like to be consistent and spread out my point production through several games to keep a flow going. If you have such a flow you can beat even the strongest teams. It also grants the team a boost in moral, if you are consistently putting up point after point after each game they will also get motivated to put up points and help the team, it creates an awesome presence in the team and makes us play better than we would have otherwise. It also looks nice on the stat papers which gives me a little extra confidence which you never ever can complain about, because if you Believe that you can and will do something then you will most likely do it which is a fun little life hack.  
 
How do you feel playing for the Calgary Wranglers now?
 
It feels great, my new teammates are super loving and we're very welcoming when i got here. The team is also really trying to perform their best at all times, even if we have had a bad game or are under by a goal or two we also try to bounce back to play how good we actually are, because we all share one thing in common. We have losing. I'm pretty sure everyone hates losing but we want to do something about it, instead of being sad about losing we try to improve and analyze our game to find out what we did wrong and what we could do better. When we do that we make each other want to win even more. Because who wants to be the only one not working hard to achieve what the whole team wants to accomplish, because everyone works hard on how to become better they also get so much more analytical during practices trying to imagine what they look like from a birdseye view, and after that they can try to visualize or think out what they need to improve or what they could've done better in said situation. It takes time to learn a skill like that but once you do you can improve your game by miles and become the best you, and when we do that we win which is a thing every team should want to do. Winning is the best thing that can happen in a sport and training hard to achieve such goals and later achieve them is super satisfying.
 
Thanks for the long answers Nasherov, good bye!!
 
Thanks bye!
 

Happy Birthday Me! 
 

12 Days of Christmas: Day One
 

 
Post in this thread to receive one (1) entry into the Tier 1 Holiday Raffle.

Woooooo, 2021 is almost over. Finally. Let's celebrate the holiday season all together as a VHL community.
A quick glance at the Season Schedule will show you that Theme Week is supposed to be coming up soon, but let's scrap that and do Theme Month. We've got our 12 Days of Christmas and Holiday Charity Auction, plus lots of other fun events coming up.
 
This year, we've chosen The Red Cross Canada / USA as our league-supported charity. As always, you are free to donate your funds to any registered charity anywhere in the world and count it towards the auction and our total numbers. 100% of the money raised by the league will be donated to the two organizations, and the VHL will not take any cut.
 
In addition to the Charity Auction, we will also kick off our Donation Drive and 12 Days of Christmas. How will it all work? Essentially the same as last year, but here are the exact details for each portion of our holiday season for 2021:
 
Charity Drive: December 9th - 19th
Starting right now, members can begin donating. Whether you do so through the league, by donating HERE, privately to either organization, or any charitable foundation of your choosing (receipt proof required for donations made outside the league), it will all count towards the overall contribution from the league.
 
From that overall contribution, the league will match donations up to $500 CAD, and add that to the donations through the league, splitting the total contribution (money donated through the league + the league contribution) equally to both organizations.
 
Please post all confirmations of donation, including Paypals through the league, auction wins, and private donations to THIS THREAD. Any donation of $5 CAD, or more, will result in an automatic personal reward of 2 Uncapped TPE + a Full Free Week (12 Capped TPE), as well as an entry to each of the first 3 tiers of the 12 Days of Christmas Raffle.
 
New this season as well we will be accepting blood donations in the charity drive. Blood is in high demand all year round, but especially at this time. Give the gift of life to someone. If you schedule and follow through with an appointment to donate blood that will count the same as a $5 donation and have the same rewards outlined above and below. For proof just post a photo from during your donation, it doesn’t need to include your face if you don’t want it to, a shot of the machine or your arm or whatever is fine, we’ll take your word for it.
 
As this is the season of giving, members may also donate on behalf of one other user.
 
Holiday Charity Auction: December 10th-17th
Full contest rules are available here. Go buy something fun offered up by our community members. Auction wins will count as personal donations for the purpose of individual rewards.
 
There's lots of great items up for auction this year. Some are individual items, some are whole-team efforts, but all are fun things that you want to win.
 
12 Days of Christmas: December 10th - 21th
This year’s 12 Days of Christmas will be similar to last year’s, where there will be a daily thread to claim “tickets” into our final raffle, which will be drawn on a live stream. For this raffle, there will be 4 tiers of prizes, with each day contributing to your entry into each tier, as follows:
 
Dec. 10 - 12: Post in the corresponding thread each day for an entry into the Tier 1 raffle (1 ticket gained per day)
Dec. 13 - 15: Post in the corresponding thread each day for an entry into the Tier 2 raffle (1 ticket gained per day)
Dec. 16 - 18: Post in the corresponding thread each day for an entry into the Tier 3 raffle (1 ticket gained per day)
Dec. 19 - 21: Post in the corresponding thread each day for an entry into the Tier 4 raffle (1 ticket gained per day)
 
Number of Winners per tier:
Tier 1: 10 Winners
Tier 2: 5 Winners
Tier 3: 3 Winners
Tier 4: 1 Winner

Drunk Birb Holiday Charity Stream: December 18th @ 2PM EST
Resident VHL Streamer/Eggnog aficionado @Esso2264  will be doing a live gaming stream on Saturday, December 18th, where all proceeds will be donated/added to the overall league tally. The party starts at 2pm EST and ends at his funeral.
 
Rewards and Donation Milestones
As previously mentioned, there will be personal rewards to those who participate in the charity drive / holiday auction, as well as milestones to hit that will result in rewards for the community as a whole!
 
$5 Donation / Auction Win: 2 Uncapped TPE + Full Free Week (12 Capped TPE) + 1 Ticket to Tiers 1-3 of the 12DoC Raffle
$500 Community Donations: 2 Uncapped TPE for Everyone 
$1000 Community Donations: 4 Uncapped TPE for Everyone
$2000 Community Donations: PT Doubles Week for Everyone
$3000 Community Donations: 8 Uncapped TPE for Everyone PLUS a @Beketov Zoo Tycoon 2 Ultimate Stream
**Disclaimer: Rewards may only be applied to players created on, or before, December 25th, 2021**
 
Let's do this @Members!

Basically, part of it was that Victor didn't want to do it anymore. Also, trivia answer sharing has become extremely common, with one or two people's work getting passed around to 90% of the community. There was no point in keeping it in its current format.
 
There have been discussions as to how to bring it back, and the best solution seems to be to put it on the portal in a question bank and give each person two random questions. This would prevent someone from having to run trivia manually, and would also give each person a different set of questions, to limit answer sharing.
 
However, putting trivia on the portal will take time, and the portal developers have other projects and tasks on their hands with more urgency and attention needed. It will be some time before trivia comes back, in my opinion.

Review: 
 
I haven't seen a banner looking sig made in a while.  I really love this one as it is unique in a good way.  The colors fit accordingly and white so sides makes it 5X better.  The text is also well put together.  It's is well colored and match with the background.  Really good sig! 8.5/10

Seriously, it's been gone for a long while and I still have not found a post about it on the forums with a concrete answer to why it isn't running anymore. It is fun tpe and it benefits anyone. Let's say the main organizer can't do it anymore. I am sure there are still plenty of people who have the knowledge and time to pull off such projects, it also promotes asking people for help as sometimes when you can't find the right path to the answer one or more people can help lead you down the right path. It is a community project and promotes forum and discord activity more than for example writing these kinds of vhl articles. It is also a very fun way to learn about the VHL history if you are a new member who is trying to figure what happened before joining and in the early 2007 days

Seriously, it's been gone for a long while and I still have not found a post about it on the forums with a concrete answer to why it isn't running anymore. It is fun tpe and it benefits anyone. Let's say the main organizer can't do it anymore. I am sure there are still plenty of people who have the knowledge and time to pull off such projects, it also promotes asking people for help as sometimes when you can't find the right path to the answer one or more people can help lead you down the right path. It is a community project and promotes forum and discord activity more than for example writing these kinds of vhl articles. It is also a very fun way to learn about the VHL history if you are a new member who is trying to figure what happened before joining and in the early 2007 days