TheNeonShaman

SAN DIEGO MARLINS PRESS CONFERENCE Week Ending 1/9/2022 Answer 3 questions for 1 capped TPE, all 6 for 2. 1. We won round one! How is everyone feeling going into round two? 2. How do you feel about your player's performance in the first round? 3. Do you think Ottawa will be the biggest challenge for any team this playoffs? 4.After the first round win media saw the whole team packing into Tavish DeGroot's house and a huge party ensued, how was everyone's experience there? 5. Questions from the NHL, does Edmonton make the playoffs and does Pittsburgh stop winning? 6. What is your favorite movie? Let’s Go Marlins! @ErictheFish@Johnny_HX@Jordan Messier@CSkams15@Laflamme@COLLINz@boatsinking123@EMoney002@Dom@fromtheinside@MubbleFubbles@Jake Sumner@Charlie22@pepsimarble@Scurvy@lemonan@Underclass_Hero@Ekky@rory@fishy@dustywilson22

Stunning graphic here. The orange as the background was a risk with the orange jersey but you make it work perfectly. That little glow in the stroke around Reinhart is such a nice touch. The logo swap is seamless and the text you used works beautifully. I love everything about this graphic! 10/10

I'm in love with this graphic. It's super vibrant and all the colors on the players jump out at you. The goalie pads are a nice touch too. I've got a bit of criticism which really is just kind of nitpicking. For me it's kind of weird that the text is red and yellow, seeing as Philly's main colors are teal. I do understand that they match the red and yellow on the jerseys but maybe the teal would match a bit better. The background is the other thing as it's kind of bland. Also next time maybe apply stroke and/or drop shadow to the players so they blend and pop with the background better. Like I said that's just nitpicking and I'm giving this graphic a great 8.5/10.

*Joe Smith is sitting across from Donny Carter on a news show* Smith: Welcome back to the show Donny! How have things been? Carter: Well Joe it's great to be here. It's pretty tough to miss the playoffs and while I'd like to say our young depth will carry the team next year, I think our rebuild might take a bit more time than that. Smith: Looking at personal success however, you really did shine. 19 goals and 30 assists in 72 games, you put up a great rookie season! Carter: Yeah I mean I just played my game and came to the rink ready to play and I got some good puck luck this season. I think my vision improved a lot and that's helped for the apples, I was hoping to hit 20 but 19 is still something I'm really proud of. My goal for next season is to have a better shot, I saw a stat on twitter that said my shooting percentage this season was 8% so if I can convert a bit more on the chances I get then maybe I'll have a bigger impact. Smith: Well Donny it was extremely fun watching you and the Reign this season, you had some truly electric moments. Heading into a contract year next year what do you have for goals? Carter: I mean we haven't really even gotten to the offseason yet. All I know is you'll be seeing a very different Riga roster next season. I'm hoping to get a shot on the top line and I think a great thing to shoot for is to lead the team in assists. Obviously it's major league players so I probably can get outpaced. Maybe just getting point per game next season is what I want to go for. Smith: I'm sure I share all our viewers opinion when I say we are excited to see you play next season Donny! Carter: Thanks for having me on the show Joe. Smith: The pleasure is all mine. *cut to black* For Week 1/9 Word Count : 341

3rd Claim - Week of 1/9/22

2nd Claim - Week of 1/2/22

1. I'm blown away by how well I've done, so I'm very happy. 2. Not in particular but I'm definitely watching how my boy Fabian Lysell does because I'm a huge Bruins fan. 3. Very fun and nice to get a break. 4. 2011 Stanley Cup Finals. 5. It really hasn't done much. 6. I think by the time I finish this career I'll have an opinion on that but for now I really don't know.

Review: It's a really nice looking graphic off the cuff, the text is very nice and all the effects work nicely. Where it could use the work is that is still has the Dallas Stars 2nd logo on the shoulder and the effect that makes the ref all distorted is kind of weird. I do really like this graphic however and think it has some good potential. 8 / 10

SAN DIEGO MARLINS PRESS CONFERENCE Week Ending December 26th, 2021 Answer 3 questions for 1 TPE, 6 questions for 2 TPE. Just message here or on discord if you have questions about this or claiming it. 1. How do you feel about the team now that Scotty and Igor in the locker room now? 2. What's your favorite Christmas tradition (or if you don't celebrate it what's your favorite tradition around this time?) 3. How are you spending the holiday break? 4. Are you excited for 2022? 5. Thoughts on the frontrunners to get Chychrun being the Flames and Bruins? 6. Would you rather play tic tac toe or rock paper scissors to win a million dollars?

Doubles Week Claim

Part 1 Here: https://vhlforum.com/topic/113732-phi-hou-s79-donny-carter-trade-tree-part-1/ Houston Side Now to look at a side where Houston got more in the original deal and both GMs respectively played their cards very carefully. There is much less trading on this side and instead of branches ending simply they usually are just connecting to the other side. However, Houston comes out with a lot from this trade, and while they didn't get as many games out of the players the Bulls traded for, the quality of player may very well be better. Let's dive into the Houston end of the trade tree. First off the two branches that haven't changed and Houston still has Charlie @Bigchuck01 and Ayomide Ayodele @KingOercy are still on the team and performing very well for Houston this season. We will see what happens with them and if they get traded or not. Now to get into the nitty gritty and review this first trade that sees the S81 PHI 2nd moved in quite a package. It joins Alex theGreat @Alex Thegreat , Ali Des Aves, and a S81 5th and goes to Philadelphia for Connor Wilson @LeBron Jamezz and a S82 5th. Wilson had a great 80 points in 59 games with Houston that season, then he moved up to the VHLE. A very good rental, however it might have cost them a bit much. Trade Grade: C+. Houston got a good player but gave up an absolute ton of assets to get him. Going back to the original trade, which we'll do a lot, the S80 PHI 4th along with a 1st and a 2nd get traded to Yukon for a 1st and 2 2nds. The MIS 1st turns into Biggie Cheese @a_Ferk and with the LVA 2nd is used to draft Cameron Elsby @Spence King. Both of these guys stay in Houston for the rest of their careers in the VHLM until they graduated to the VHLE. All three draft picks Houston gave Yukon played for them until they graduated to the VHLE. Trade Grade: A-. Houston got better picks out of this and also got very good production from Cheese and Elsby. Going deeper into this branch we see Houston trade the Miami 2nd they had received to Minnesota for a whole bunch of assets. First is Oskar Kiprusoff who unfortunately retired. Then they got two draft picks, both of them got traded. The first is a S81 3rd, and this trade actually connects to an exact trade in the Philadelphia trade tree where Philly gets the 3rd and drafts Kawaii. On the Houston side they get Ali Des Aves and some picks. The Bulls held onto the 6th and the 4th rounder is gonna be used in another trade that I will come back to later. Aves has been alright in a primarily backup role, however with a save percentage of 0.879 there is a lot of room for improvement. Trade Grades: MIA 2nd: C+. Got a bunch of assets but traded them all and one retired. MIN 3rd: C-. The best piece in the trade was the 3rd sent to Philly, after that Aves is a nice piece that just hasn't worked out and that Houston already had and just got back. Now the 3 team trade from the Houston side has happened, taking the S82 YUK 4th, S82 MIN 5th, and S82 PHI 5th from previous trades along with Jarno Lappi, a 2nd, a 3rd, and a 7th, and packages all of that to get Alessio Simeoni @Alesime, Frederic Salo, Connor Johnson @MrMonkey , a S83 4th, and a S82 7th. While it looks like a lot to give up, these pieces were definitely worth it. Simeoni has been a solid depth piece for Houston who is just below point per game, Salo is over a point per game and has been incredibly good for them. Johnson has been a ridiculously good piece for them and is well over a point per game as a defenseman. Trade Grade: A-. The Bulls gave up a lot, but it is definitely paying off for them in all the pieces they got and the things they gave up didn't even really hurt them that much. Back to a new branch again and this time we see the 6th rounder from Philadelphia packaged in a pretty small trade with a S82 5th to go to Mexico City for a 5th. Nothing special about this trade. Trade Grade: C-. Giving up two picks and getting one is tough, even if you are trading up, the trade still is better for the other team. Next trade here is part of the Cole Pearce 3 team deal but this time from the Houston perspective. They take Dylan Dubnyk @ThatsGreissy and send him to Saskatoon and then get A.H.R. from Philly. It's a strange deal from the Saskatoon side but for Houston they get a solid player and give up a goaltender who wasn't putting up great numbers despite winning most games. Trade Grade: B. It's a decent hockey trade. More on the side of Houston in value definitely. The final branch of the tree is here! There's a lot of go over in this chunk so a bit of a speed round here. First up Houston takes the S81 Philadelphia 5th and puts it with a S81 2nd and a S82 1st to go to Philly for Ron Gorgonzola @Ron Gorgonzola, a S82 2nd, and a S82 4th. That 4th doesn't stay in Houston long however, and is traded with Adeline Delle Donne @Dtayl, CDS Leb @CDS_Leb, and Cooper Skambraks @CSkams15 to Las Vegas for a S82 1st, S82 3rd, and a S81 1st that is then put with a S81 6th and sent to Halifax for a S81 3rd, S82 1st, and a S82 3rd. There's a lot of moving pieces in this branch, and it will actually end the tree with one last trade. But first time to review all these trades. Trade Grades: Picks to PHI: C. Getting a 4th is better than a 5th, the 2nds match up, but then Gorgonzola is supposed to match up with the 1st and that just doesn't make sense to me. They didn't have a great tenure in Houston, putting up 52 points in 72 games. Their impact wasn't completely lost as Gorgonzola was a very good physical presence for the Bulls. Not enough to justify giving up a 1st for him however. 4th + Players: C. Delle Donne, Leb, and Skambraks combined were over a point per game in over 100 games for Vegas and they still have the 4th. As of now those picks haven't been used yet but the value gained in those players is a lot to give up for just two 1sts and a 3rd. 1st + 6th: A+. Somehow a 1st and a 6th turns into a 1st and two 3rds. Amazing value here for Houston and there is always amazing players waiting in the third round. The final trade to go over is something seen now from the Houston side of things, when they get Juha Jarvinen from Philadelphia. Houston pays a S82 3rd, Red Gaming, and a S83 4th (which they got back in the massive 3 team deal earlier) for Juha Jarvinen and a S83 6th. Even though Red Gaming has been decent for Philly, it's nowhere close to the impact Juha Jarvinen has had for Houston. Jarvinen has a 0.910 sv% in 38 games and has 28 wins in that span. Only 8 regulation losses. That is ridiculous for a goalie, he has won about 75% of games played with the Bulls. Definitely a main reason for their success this season. Trade Grade: A+. Getting a starting goalie who has contributed a lot to their success this season for a backup and some picks is insane value. Great trade to end it off. Final Houston Statistics: From the trade the Houston Bulls had 15 players play a total of 669 games for them, the skaters scored 262 goals and 750 points. Goalies put up an average save percentage of 0.890 in 59 games played and have 39 wins. Some of the players on the team also helped for some playoff action and they got a total of 30 playoff games played with 25 points. The skaters here have over a point per game and the goalies have an alright save percentage between them, though Jarvinen is carrying those numbers. Final Thoughts Looking at the stats for each team, shows how Philadelphia got the quantity of skaters, which gives them more games played. However the skaters on the Houston side have gotten almost 150 more points than the Philly skaters. It's insane the value Houston got out of all of their players. For the goalies Houston also got more value, though Cole Pearce hasn't had a huge sample size, Jarvinen is currently heavily outplaying him. As for GM styles I can only really analyze @Alexbecause he was Philly's GM the whole time (Alex maybe this can help you or maybe I'm just spitting out crap take it how you will). It's obvious that he trades a lot. Now I think where Houston pulls ahead in this trade tree is looking at the quality of skaters they get. Through all of his trading Alex has 10 players still on the team and Houston has 9 from the trade tree. Houston made 7 less trades and got 5 less players and still has 9 players on the active roster compared to Philly's 18 trades, 5 more players than them, and having 10 players remaining on the active roster. This kinda shows how all the trades that Alex made weren't entirely needed. Jarvinen was an amazing goalie who is playing very well and he got traded and eventually replaced with Cole Pearce who hasn't been amazing for Philadelphia. I think while the quantity of trades is on Philadelphia's side, Houston got the quality for their side of the tree and that's why I'm gonna say they won this deal. Word Count: 1671 For Weeks Of: 1/23, 1/30, 2/6

*DISCLAIMER - Stats are all from after sims on 12/22/21, also the trade grades are a lot my opinion so just take them with a grain of salt* Well this trade was big. Let me set the scene for you. In season 79 of the VHLM, the Houston Bulls were bad. They had 6 players on the team and the bots were not helping. 3 of these six players were Donny Carter @TheNeonShaman, Drakon Zabastovka @DarkSpyro, and Sting Chameleon @Hybrid1486. Houston GM at the time @rjfryman decided to blow the team up and restart. This put all of the players on the trade block and Philadelphia GM @Alex came calling. The original trade was as follows: The significance of this trade right off the bat was Philly making a big push for the playoffs. All three players fit in perfectly with Carter and Zabastovka in particular taking off and helping the Reapers clinch a playoff spot. Unfortunately they are wiped off the map by Mexico City in a four game sweep. Houston acquired a ton of draft picks which would be perfect for a rebuild, this is also made more interesting because after S80 Houston gets a new GM. Philly never changes GM so we are really able to break down his style of GMing a bit, sorry Alex but you may be made a bit ineffective after this breakdown. Now without further ado here is the amazing work of art that is this trade tree: Yeah it's a lot and I will be going over each branch separately as best I can. Just to make the colors make sense here is the color code: Now let's analyze! Philadelphia Side To start, Carter and Zabastovka move up to the VHLE after S79 which ends their branches very simply. However, Alex likes to trade a lot and he decides to trade Chameleon. That one trade sets off an insane trading frenzy that in the end counts up to 17 other trades in the Sting Chameleon branch. That is more trades than all 6 branches of the Houston side had combined. Because all the branches come off of that one trade we are gonna have to break it down a bit more. To start, the Sting Chameleon trade sends him and a S80 6th rounder to Yukon for 3 picks, one in each of the next 3 drafts. Get used to seeing that S82 YUK 4th because even though Yukon isn't in this league anymore, that pick is in so much of this trade tree it's not even funny. With the S80 YUK 5th Philadelphia selects Mikael Mursu, who plays a full season before retiring. The S81 YUK will not be used by Philly and is packaged with a S80 2nd and sent to Halifax for some picks. Of these picks only one is not traded so we can discuss that one. The S81 HFX 4th was kept by Philadelphia and used to draft defenseman Seymour Butts @Squidward2. Butts is over half a point per game this year as a defenseman and has been a very good depth defenseman for them. Trade Grades: Chameleon + 6th: B+. Chameleon was bordering inactivity at the time so getting value in a 1st and some depth picks is very good value. S81 1st + S80 2nd: B. A 1st for a 1st and a 2nd for two 4ths is how it breaks down. Decent value can be gotten in the 4th so this trade definitely is very equal. Starting these branches we have now drafted Hulk Hogan 2 @FonziGG going to Yukon with Shawn Glade V for a S82 1st and S80 4th. Philly made quick work of trading that 4th and sent it to Ottawa for a 5th and a S82 4th. That 5th then is partnered with the 4th they got earlier in the tree and sent to Houston. This trade here is one of the most important ones on the entire tree. It has Philadelphia get a S80 4th and 5th, but with that 4th they select Mason Jones @Masu Chan. Currently two seasons later Jones is the captain and AGM of Philly and a Riga Reign prospect. They are over a point per game in over 100 games with the Reapers. That one pick could be the best GMing on this entire trade tree, but that is definitely debatable. Trade Grades: 1st + Glade V: C-. Off the cuff it doesn't seem too bad seeing Glade V retire early the next season, but they were trading a player in Hulk Hogan 2 who then scored 100 points that season for a first that did eventually produce value down the branch, but never did on it's own. 4th for picks: B. Nothing super special here but turning one pick into two is a win. 4th + 5th swap: A+. I don't know how you could get so much value out of a 4th and 5th but Philly did. Those two traded picks unfortunately for Houston turned into retired players. One of Philly's picks was the discussed Mason Jones and then the other started a long branch of trading that gets Philly a lot of value. Continuing with those branches the Ottawa 4th is packaged with a Houston 5th and sent to Vegas for a S82 2nd and a S81 4th which is then almost immediately sent to San Diego for a 3rd and a 5th. It's an uneventful section of draft pick swapping that does continue, however Philadelphia gets some nice pieces out of it and Dylan Powers @dpowers49 has been a decent depth piece who's now turning into a top forward for the Reapers. Trade Grades: 5th + S82 4th: A-. This one confuses me everytime I look at it. I'm not sure how Philadelphia turned two mid round picks into a 2nd and a 4th. W for them just doesn't make a ton of sense. 4ths: B. Solid trade that got some value in the 3rd and trade value in the 5th. However those two fourths did turn into very good players. The string continues and actually ends with a bigger trade. The S81 5th acquired from San Diego is flipped back to the Marlins for a S81 7th and a S83 5th. That 5th is then instantly sent to Halifax for a 6th and a 7th that season. That 6th somehow turns into Juha Jarvinen @Collusion, a top tier goalie that everyone expected to be in the VHLE I guess because at 200 tpe he dropped to the 6th round. Philly took a risk and it turned into a reward when he started for them this season. So then it's even crazier that they trade him with a S83 6th to Houston, and somehow get even more value. The Reapers get Red Gaming @Lilpfigher, another goalie who was in high 80s and now is approaching 120 tpe. He will most likely be their starter next year, and they got two good picks with him too. Trade Grades: 5th: B-. Very basic trade. Philly still wins because two picks are better than one. 5th again: A. Got insane value from that 6th they got back. Jarvinen: C+. Originally this trade was an A from me but then looking at how amazing Jarvinen has been this season it's rough to not get a 1st back for him. Moving back over to the returns of the Hogan/Glade V trade, the S82 YUK 1st turned a very nice profit for the Reapers. In a 3 team deal the 1st and a S83 3rd turned into a S82 Saskatoon 1st and a S81 4th. With that fourth the Reapers drafted Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist @AostheGreat. Then after 30 games of production, Rainbowfist was traded in another 3 team deal that saw the Reapers pay barely anything to get Cole Pearce @N0HBDY, who was the number 1 overall pick in S81 and a 200 tpe goaltender. Trade Grades: 1st + 3rd: C+. It's decent. Could have probably drafted someone better in the 3rd round but still got value. Rainbowfist + 5th: A+. Gave up almost nothing and got a start goalie. I'm not even sure how three teams signed off on this. Philadelphia made out like bandits. Now if you remember that Yukon 4th from the original Sting Chameleon trade, it's about to cause a lot of chaos. First it gets sent with goalie Ali Des Aves @ViprVipe and a 6th to Houston for a 3rd and a 7th. The third turns into Ipo Kawaii @Thatsurfdude. Kawaii is playing their first season on the team and definitely making an impact. The 7th gets added to one of the most chaotic trades this year, a three team mega deal between Houston, Saskatoon, and Houston. Philly gives back the S83 Houston 4th they got earlier in the deal that sent Juha Jarvinen to Houston, along with Fredric Salo @Infernal(Sorry I spelled your name wrong on the spreadsheet) to Houston. In return Saskatoon sends them a S82 3rd and Houston gives them Jarno Lappi @aksuko, a 5th rounder, and the S82 Yukon 4th rounder right back. Now to talk about the final few trades on the Philly side where we see that 4th and 5th move around. Trade Grades: Aves: C+. A good trade. Kawaii is likely to be a star next season but Aves also is looking like a very good goalie for next year. 3 Team Deal: B. Breaking it down, Frederic Salo turns into Jarno Lappi who helps out defense, tpe difference kind of tough there for this year, but next year will be good. A 4th and a 7th becomes a 3rd, 4th, and 5th. That's pretty even. Now going back down the other branch to see where lolo ended up. They got flipped for a 6th after the draft and then that 6th got put in a pretty big recent trade. This trade sees Kyou Fujibayashi @Azorochi, Robbie Robbie @Robbie the Robbie, the 5th they got in the 3 team deal, and that Miami 6th for Rusty Cannon @Advantage, a very high tpe defenseman. Both players from Philly are under 90 tpe so this deal actually looks pretty good for Philly, who really didn't need to pay that much. Trade Grade: A. Gave up very little for the great defenseman they got back. Now for Philly's final trade (so far) we have the S82 YUK 4th back again for more chaos. It's joined by Drew Essen @Drew Essen (drafted with the 7th that Philly acquired in the trade that also got them Juha Jarvinen), and a S83 1st and 4th. For all these assets the Reapers get a ton of value in Alexsei Volchenko @Austin2997 and the big piece Nagy Al @bigAL. Al is the best he can be and because Philly gave up a first that evens the trade out. Trade Grade: B. An extremely even trade, you can't say Philly won it but they definitely got their money's worth. I spoke too soon. Alex decided to not only make a deadline deal but to make sure it extended the trade tree to torture me. Definitely his words and not mine. Anyways this trade sees the recently acquired Volchenko joined by Sean Murphy @Abraham Lincoln and a S83 1st rounder, and Philly gets Weenuk Warrior and a conditional S83 4th. The condition for that pick to go through is Alexsei Volchenko has to update every week for the rest of the season. Trade Grade: B-. It's a good deadline rental with a pretty steep price to pay for a player who will play like 20 games for the team. Final Philly Statistics: From the trade the Philadelphia Reapers had 20 players play a total of 807 games for them, the skaters scored 221 goals and 609 points. Goalies put up an average save percentage of 0.894 in 44 games played and have 21 wins. Some of the players on the team also helped for a playoff run and they got a total of 32 games played with 14 points. Amazing amount of games played for the team and a decent amount of points, though the goalies have struggled a bit. Part 2 Here: https://vhlforum.com/topic/113733-phi-hou-s79-donny-carter-trade-tree-part-2/ Word Count: 2024 For Weeks Of: 12/26, 1/2, 1/9, 1/16

Merry Christmas

1. Yes definitely! Doing a yankee swap tonight so that should be fun. 2. To be honest I think this year making the playoffs is a nice goal to have, next year is gonna be when we really start to shine and hopefully we can bring up our young guys and go for it. We do need consistency though. 3. I don't remember what I was thinking in the offseason too well but I know I didn't think Davos would be this good. 4. Oh definitely this season is being very speedy. 5. Yes 100%. Use the time they put aside for Olympics to make up games postponed due to COVID. 6. Yes, no doubt in my mind.

Review: Pretty clean graphic here. The text is minimalistic but also very good and it fits well. The logo swap is kind of tough on the jersey, though on the pants you did a great job there. Probably just try to blend the logo to the jersey more in some way. Also the shoulder pads still have NHL team logos. Other than that to be honest this is a very nice graphic and you can easily improve on your next one! 6.5/10

Go Riga

Dang it

Gonna slide in here no big deal not making a scene.

Yo

Hello

Happy birthday!

SAN DIEGO MARLINS PRESS CONFERENCE Week Ending December 19th, 2021 Answer 3 questions for 1 TPE, 6 questions for 2 TPE. Just message here or on discord if you have questions about this or claiming it. 1. How do you feel about the team's performance coming into the trade deadline? 2. How do you feel about your player's performance coming into the trade deadline? 3. What is the best post game meal? 4. Johnny Xavier was seen being swarmed by women after a recent win. Thoughts? (and Johnny when you answer this what happened?) 5. Whatever NHL team you cheer for, how do you feel about their play recently? 6. What is your dream VHL team to play for?

Go bruins

Honk

1. A bit. 2. I think it should be a bit more balanced because it makes it so people only go for scoring instead of other types of builds. 3. If we are trying to make the playoffs it'll be one heck of a close battle, but we aren't losing a ton which is always nice. 4. If it's the right thing to do it's the right thing to do, I'm not a huge baseball guy. 5. 69. 6. Nah that's fine get your sleep bro, I haven't even noticed you being inactive also. 7. Mary Moose, Kiss Hedgehog, Kill Wolf (sorry bro)