pugsood

1. We are currently hanging on to the top spot overall in the VHL but a few teams are close behind. Can we hold on and capture our first Victory Cup since S67? I sure as fuck hope so. Been more of a slog the 2nd half of the year but I feel like we'll get back to what we were doing and hoist the cup this year. 2. We're on pace to have our best offensive season since S81 (279 GF). How many goals will we have by the end of the season? No earthly idea, let's go with 282 3. Which do you think will happen first in the VHL: The next 70-goal scorer or 100-assist scorer? 100 assist scorer. 100 is a cooler number. 4. If Toronto used a third color to accent the double blue jerseys, what color do you think would look good? Yellow! LFG 5. Diego Machado is on pace to become Toronto's first 50-goal scorer since Paul Atreides in S83. Will he make it and how many goals will he end up with? He will, and he'll blow through it, getting to 55 goals and doing the damn thing. 6. Which NHL playoff matchup intrigues you the most? Which matchup could you care less about? Boston Toronto should be a good one. Don't much care for Florida and Tampa.

1. With five 20-goal scorers already (Machado, Jaks, Atlas, Lattimer, Callahan), who do you think will be the first Legion to hit 50 in ten seasons? It probably won't be me, but I think I'll help my teammates get tot his. My money is on Machado. 2. Which team in the three leagues do you think needs a name change most? We have some generic names like 'Wild' etc. Anything generic, let's rip 'em out. 3. If you could pick an expansion city for each VHL Conference (North American and European), what would be your choices? NA: Raleigh. Europe: Vienna. 4. What were your thoughts on the league's Unfortunate Announcement? That shit was crazy. But there are a lot of bad actors online and also a lot of people who act out of desperation. Need more checks and balances across the board. 5. How you feel about your performance so far this season? I feel a lot better lately; slow start, but I and we (the team!) are coming out strong! 6. What is your favorite Easter candy? anything chocolate. high cholesterol.

1. We are hanging near the top of the conference despite being in the lower half of goal scoring. What do we need to do to score more? Lattimer got off to a slow start but the last game was his best game so far. I think I'm turning the corner and that should unlock more opportunities for our offense to hum. 2. Walter Fitzroy Jr @Moon is tied for the league lead in assists. Do you think he'll have a shot at the Beketov Trophy (Most Assists)? definitely. we've got more firepower to give him. 3. How would you rate your start to the season? Not good. I think I've sucked. It's been depressing not being in the box score or feeling like I'm contributing. 4. Rookie goalie Toddly Bobbly @ToddlyBobbly has stepped right in and is 1-1 in his first two VHL starts. What do you think of his performance so far? So far so good. Improving each week. That's what you want to see out of a rookie. 5. Do you like the Team Awards? Is there an award you would like to see added/removed? I didn't have time to vote on them this time around but I also personally don't see much utility in them. 6. What NHL playoff match up would you most like to see? Edmonton - Rangers?

1. What trophy do you think is missing from the VHL Awards? Player who looks best without their shirt off. Sadly it won't be me 2. Which team will win World Cup gold? Russia. Stacked left and right. I have no idea if they're in the world cup but let's go with them. 3. How would you design a Legion third jersey? I'd almost make the Legion look like the Sentinels in Xmen Days of Future Past. Those shits looked awesome 4. If you could change the overtime/shootout format, what would you do? I think the format is good as it stands! 5. What is your least favorite part of off-season training? Just not knowing the schedule and what happens when, when I should be paying attention and what not. That's on me though, not the league. 6. What book/movie have you read/watched recently that you would recommend to your teammates? The Sound of Metal was really good.

I've been asked countless times by friends, family, and teammates how Steve Lattimer is spending his offseason. Well, let me tell you what I've been up to, friends! Since the offseason began, I've: Spent a ton of time with my 3 dogs, all of whom are affectionate and can't get enough affection from their parents. I've made a concerted effort to spend dedicated time each night just sitting with them and letting them share the same space as me. It's been really calming and enjoyable just to love on them. I've traveled a decent bit for a variety of reasons. I've headed to Nashville most recently for 4 days, taking some meetings, meeting up with friends, enjoying some amazing food (1230 Club, Halls Chophouse and more). I've been to some events, including a Journey and Toto concert which was awesome. Journey brings it. If you haven't seen them, go check out their tour dates. What I'm doing the rest of the offseason: Working on a few entrepreneurial things Heading to New York City for a few days with the girlfriend and to go see some old friends and just enjoy the city Watch March Madness and enjoy the shit out of these conference tournaments and then the Big Dance. And of course, get ready for the season!

Steve Lattimer recaps his impressions and experiences from this past season, his first full time with the Toronto Legion. Interview conducted by Joel Smith Stevens, beat writer for the Toronto local newspaper. Smith: What was the locker room experience like for you this season? Lattimer: It was awesome. I felt like people were active, and even though I wasn't as much, I was engaged on my own terms by my GM, coaches, and teammates. I was more proactive in this locker room than any previous ones I was in, and it was a reflection of the people up and down the roster and front office. Smith: You made the playoffs for the first time in your career. How important or unimportant was that to you? Lattimer: It meant everything to me. I was dying to make the playoffs, to be relevant in some way, shape or form in the postseason. It just means more, knowing you are going to be checking in day and day out to see how your team is performing and what, if anything, you did to contribute to your team's success during the most important time of year. Smith: How would you evaluate your performance in the postseason? Lattimer: Objectively I think I did pretty good based on the stats I put up, scoring goals, even a game winner which was a career first. But ultimately we squandered home ice advantage and the season ended with a sour taste in my mouth, so ultimately it's an F. I want a championship, and we came short of that goal, which means this is like a pass or fail, not a letter grade. Smith: You just re signed with Toronto. Why did you do that? Lattimer: It's really quite plain and simple. They wanted me back. They engaged me very early in the process to gauge how happy or unhappy I was playing in Toronto. I told them if they wanted me, they got me. I'm committed. I feel an emotional connection to this team, this franchise, this town. I want to be a part of history if we can climb the mountain top this upcoming season. I think we have all the pieces to do so. And at the end of the day, it's not purely just about winning and losing. I want to win with the right guys, guys i care about, a franchise I care about. I'm not a mercenary. The sweet taste of victory is that much sweeter when you're winning with guys you truly enjoy. That's how I'm built. Smith: How much longer are you going to play? Lattimer: I don't really know how regression works in this league but I imagine it's coming for me soon. I think I'll play for as long as I'm a starting caliber player for Toronto and or whoever wants to have me on their team. Beyond that, I'm not sure I'll have interest if I'm not on a competitive team and able to hold my own, if that makes sense.

We fell short of our goal but it was a good season! What accomplishment (team or individual) are you most proud of this season? I'm proud of making the playoffs. Sounds basic but it was very big for me personally. 2. What grade would you give your playoff (A-F)? A. I think I did pretty well and contributed to us winning. A- though because ultimtaely we did not win it all. 3. What skill are you going to work on in the off-season? Whatever my coaches tell me to! 4. What is an individual goal you are setting for yourself for S93? All star? and above all else, champion. 5. With our returning forward core and Bob, Fitzroy and Castle all back how many points do you think we can get next season? Champion. We're on the doorstep. 6. You have a ticket to anywhere for a week to escape winter. Where are you going? If all expenses were paid? Maldives? Grand Cayman?

. Here we are! Back in the Conference Final for the third straight season! How many games will the series go? 6 games. Toronto closes out at home. Everyone gets drunk afterwards. 2. What has been your favorite memory of this playoff run so far? Getting the game winner in one of the games last series. I want to earn my keep, and think I did in that moment. 3. Who has been our playoff MVP so far? No one. Everyone. We're all stepping up. 4. If we make it to the Final, who would you prefer to play - London United or Helsinki Titans? It doesn't matter. Want to play the best and beat the best, but not get too far ahead of ourselves. Task at hand is all that matters. 5. Do you have any routines or superstitions that you're following during the playoffs? Wear my wristband and pads the exact same way and dress the exact same process. 6. Which is your breakfast cereal of choice? Granola with raisins. Amazing.

My 200+ word musing. Valentine's Day. What a weird day. Glad that my partner doesn't give two shits about this day other than us having dinner together and watching whatever show we're binging. Grateful for that. Funnest Valentine's i've ever had was years ago when I got invited to crash a 'Galentine's Day' dinner, ended up getting borderline blackout drunk and going home with the girl who invited me. Good shit. Lattimer is pumped for the playoffs. Really pumped. Postseason hockey, postseason anything just means reasons to get amped up. I think we're going to make a run. Hit 30 goals for the 2nd straight season i think? I don't know what that means in any context other than I think I'm producing for the squads I play for and hope to continue that. For those who are looking for good gifts on Valentine's Day for your partners - don't do anything cheesy. I did that once before and I'm still embarrassed by buying some corny ass shit and I never even gave the person the thing I bought. Don't do it. Thought certainly counts, man keep tabs on any little thing your partner says that might be inspiration for a gift or experiential idea. I have found that people like getting surprised at work becuase it's a public display of affection, so flowers at an office is a good thing in my opinion. Especially if it's a teacher. Fuck i should have done this. PLAYOFFS

1. We will be playing the New York Americans in a play-in series. We were 2-4 against them. What do we have to do to beat them? Just step our game up. We're capable. We're rested. We're ready. Our series win is fucking inevitable. 2. Our captain Mac Atlas @v.2 scored his 200th goal in Legion blue for 10th all-time. In three more seasons, how many more can he score? he'll get to 300 goals for sure. Guy has a julio franco sized dong. 3. Who will score our first goal of the playoffs? Lattimer. I'm going to announce my presence with authority and help us get off to a good start and support my team. 4. With Evan Bihler playing so well, do you think he should start in net for the playoffs? Always ride the hot hand in hockey, always. 5. Finish this Valentine's Day card: Roses are red, the Legion are blue... the americans suck donkey dick, and so do you 6. Which teams do you think will make the next big trade in the NHL? I have no earthly idea, hopefully not the Capitals though.

Well damn, it's been quite a ride the past number of months for Steve Lattimer. I've had a chance to reflect on my latest series of experiences in the VHL and thought I'd share so that no one can read this but I can earn. It was a rough and bumpy process transitioning from my last team to Toronto. The previous GM was frankly just not good to me, and despite his rash of excuses and insults, at the end of the day he acknowledged that he dropped the ball. It didn't make things any easier for me but at least he acknowledged that the experience wasn't a positive one and was gracious enough to fulfill my request to get traded, which i greatly appreciated, so water under the bridge as far as I'm concerned. That experience led me to being connected to Toronto, and admittedly it's been a really really positive experience. Why? The reasons are many. Animal - he's been a heck of a communicator with me to help me earn and support my team. Granted it's not the level of Jansen, because he set the bar so high that I don't think anyone could meet it, but I think if you were to ask animal, he'd tell you that the partnership and relationship has worked. I've been more excited to contribute to a team than perhaps at any other time in my VHL journey. I now check the games every single day to see what our results are (the discord bot helps), and see how we've done, how Lattimer has done, etc. I now even check the Legion locker room because there's active dialogue about our results and where we are in the standings, what's coming up on the schedule, etc. I really care about what's going on and feel like Steve Lattimer is part of something. I want this team to win and I want Lattimer to help them do that. Even going into the playoffs, I have a better grip of where we are and who we need to leapfrog in order to better situate ourselves. Once upon a time I wouldn't even have a clue if we were currently in the middle of the season or out of season or nearing any sort of deadline, playoffs, etc. I'm basically much more 'active' even if I overall don't earn as much as I once did (again this is really just Jansen having been so ungodly effective in making/helping me earn, including doing trivia every single week. All in all I'm very excited to be a part of Toronto, and while I have no idea what Lattimer's future is with the franchise, I can say confidently that it's been a great experience and one I'm grateful to have had. Moving forward, I'll be continuing to earn and staying active with animal and being in the discord (case in point, I normally don't even really look at the discord locker rooms of other teams). Here's to hoping Toronto can make a run this season! Excited.

1. We're six points back of D.C. for third in the conference. Can we catch them with 11 games left in the season? We definitely can. We're starting to cook mofackles. 2. Our sophomore forwards (Callahan and Machado) have matched their goal totals from last season and set new highs in points. What has impressed you most about each one's progress this season? Persistence. We've had some ups and downs this season but they've kept their heads up and kept playing hard and earning. 3. Bobby Bob needs 11 assists in the last 11 games to become only the third Legion player to reach 60 assists in the last 10 season. Will he reach it? He probably won't but that's because our team is quite balanced. 4. Will one of our goalies get another shutout this season? We definitely will. Our goalies have huge dongs. 5. Do you have an embarrassing Valentine's Day story? I remember buying some stupid gift in college for a girl and i never gave it to her. It was super lame, like some heart locket or some shit. 6. Who is your pick to win the Super Bowl - Chiefs or 49ers? Chiefs even though if both teams crash on the team buses and die beforehand i think that'd be the best outcome.

All-Star. A phrase that is iconic across the entireity of the United States, Canada, and the world. Used as an adjective, a noun, a descriptor, a qualifier, you name it. It influences hall of fame voting, people's perceptions of how good someone is at a particular sport. It's loaded to the max. And it's something Steve Lattimer has aspired to for a very long time. He's never really heard his name called in that kind of rarified air, celebrated among his peers, above his peers in some respects. And while he respects all of his colleagues, peers, competitors, he's definitely not here just for shits and giggles. He's here to win, and to achieve the accolades that come with winning. Like an all-star recognition. While Lattimer is unaware of the current constructs of all star fesitivities, by far the model I am most interested in as a format is a set of countries against other countries. I think US vs. The World is a cop out though. It undermines just how good the rest of the world is at hockey (and many other sports for that matter). So I would change the entire format of an all star hockey festivity to a couple of different things. 1) Maintaining a skills competition and a hardest slapshot competition as well. These seem to be fan favorites. 2) Speaking of fan favorites, similar to that part of the movie The Dilemma, give the fans a chance to participate, but with the players coaching them in a fun, sort of jokey way. Think there are a ton of things that could work, ranging from sliding the puck all the way down the ice to a 1 vs. 1 between 'fans' (who know how to skate at least). 3) Making the game matter, the winning country gets some sort of financial compensation similar to NBA's in-season tournament (but the money would have to matter). 4) Could change format entirely to 4 on 4 per country, 8 minute periods. Or 3 on 3, half ice, defenses have to clear, same thing in terms of clearing, but also Elam ending so no one can just play keepaway 5) One of the more popular tournaments on the PGA Tour is the event where players play with their children, like Tiger Woods playing with his son. There has to be a way to bring that into the competition, and even if it's just sponsoring a kid from the local town where the player's franchise is located, there's something to this that would captivate people's attention. 6) No oen cares about the rising stars game, so forget about putting them on the ice together, have them do fan engagement, make the fans feel more connected to the next generation of great hockey players who they may not have evne heard of yet. Those are some ideas. So yeah, no idea how any of this can be applied to VHL but I rely on the powers that be to figure that out, and the creators of the simulation = )

1. What do you think of the move to bring in Lattimer and Caufield Jr? I mean I'm Lattimer, so I think this is a huge W, haha. In all honestly, I'm pumped to be here and playing for a team that I think values me as a player and as a person. 2. What grade do you give your performance this season so far? B. I think the proof will be on how I perform on a real contender. I'm excited for the opportunity to contribute however the team needs and wants me to. 3. We currently sit at 11-11-2 with an uncharacteristic -9 goal differential. What not working for us? I think it's just a malaise. The trades will infuse life and energy into our team and into our skates. 4. Do you think we're suffering from Cup hangover? I hope not! It's to be expected but perhaps that's thy the midseason trades were so important. Never settle for what's already in the rear view. 5. What song/album do you have on repeat right now? Swept Away by Avett Brothers 6. What is your best story about 40 degrees C (104 F) or -40 C (-40 F)? There are no good stories other than playing a doubleheader in baseball in 104 temp.

Thanks for all the help/support