AJW

Happy theme week everyone and happy day off of work to me. It’s 2pm in the afternoon and I am already right in the f**kin slot. Sober enough to know what I’m doing and drunk enough to really enjoy doing it. Almost time for another drinkypoo I’m getting low. It’s really time though for me to make some hypothetical trades in the VHL while I have a great buzzaroonie. TRADE 1 To Warsaw: S98 LAS 1st (most likely a top 3 pick) To Prague: Every player on Warsaw’s roster Both these teams suck this season let’s be real, but Warsaw more than Prague. While Prague is looking to finally come out of its hole and also hold this great pick, why not grab a bunch of players instead to fill up the roster and finally put a 6-4-1 on the ice. On the other hand, Warsaw will be without a 6 skater roster which is against the rules. F**k the rules. When you’re at the bottom you can’t go much deeper right? They’ve got four 1st rounders this draft and adding the LAS 1st will give them five… I’m sure if a penalty of losing a pick is thrown at them for having an empty roster they’ll be fine. TRADE 2 To Calgary: Toronto’s entire Defense and goaltending To Toronto: Calgary’s entire Defense and goaltending I just don’t like how MID Toronto’s Defense looks with most defenders in the 700 TPA range. Make a little swaparoo, why not? Both TPA totals are pretty close. Toronto could use some variety to shake things up, it isn’t very appealing to the viewer’s eyes. Calgary can’t lose here, Toronto should take some notes from Calgary they are higher in the standings. TRADE 3 To Seattle: A 6 pack and a “Congratulations on a well done career” To Retirement: GM @Banackock Dude’s been there way too long. Hedge and Bana had a long going GM battle, when Hedge finally kicked the bucket Bana said “lemme really make this record untouchable”. He’s the most winningest GM, he’s done this GMing thing for like 8 years now, how many more cups are needed to get this man out of office. Maybe the value on the trade is a little low and Retirement should throw in a couple j birdies Seattle’s way, but at the end of the day old man Bana needs his pension cheques coming in soon. TRADE 4 To Helsinki: B-MAL G1 To Malmo: S99 MAL 1st Let’s be honest here Helsinki has a goaltending problem. User Tuchy has the lowest TPA of any starting goaltender in the VHL. Helsinki does have Drew Mac as a prospect waiting to come up next season, but that is too long to wait if Helsinki wants to make the playoffs this season. Instead making this trade to give Malmo their 1st back is not only a gentleman’s act, but the right thing to do. B-MAL G1 has 8 games played, 7 wins, a 0.919 SV% and a 2.13 GAA. Helsinki’s goalie?… 50 games played, 11 wins, 0.915 SV%, and a 3.62 GAA. Not to point any fingers, but Helsinki might have a problem in the crease that needs fixing. Alright well I think that’s 500 words. My tin can sounds hollow, time for another.

PRESS CONFERENCE Answer 3 Questions for 1 TPE, or Answer 6 Questions for 2 TPE Week Ending Jan 26 1. This week is theme week! With the submission of a themed Point Task you are able to earn an extra 6 Uncapped TPE... Media, Graphic, Podcast... Do you plan to do a Point Task? What are you planning on making? 2. This week also brings us to this season's Trade Deadline, after Thursday each team won't be able to make any more trades. Do you think Malmo needs to make any trades? Does our roster seem set and ready for playoffs? 3. Trade deadlines are sometimes scary/exciting for players with the thoughts of potentially being shipped away to a new team, new environment, new people. What does your player feel about the possibility of being traded? Are they okay with going somewhere else? Is Malmo the only organization you'd play for? 4. Malmo is still hot halfway through the season! Do you think we have enough fuel in the tank to finish 1st in the league? 5. What has been your favourite part of S97 so far? 6. Sometimes players are just waiting for the season to end and playoffs to start. Are you the type of player who loves playing all 72 regular season games or are you someone who is counting down the days until playoffs? 7. The Malmo Nighthawks are known for our bright green colours as you can see on our logo, we are the only "green" team in the VHL. Do you like our colours/logo? Would you change anything if you could? 8. What colour of tape do you use for your stick? I've always done white tape on the blade and the butt end, have never taped the shaft before, Phil Kessel never influenced me enough. 9. I'm getting tired of winter, I'm not sure if you are too... I would love to book a trip somewhere hot by a beach/ocean. What are some hot destinations you would recommended me to visit? 10. If you could make one animal/insect/fish... etc, go extinct, which one are you choosing? I'm getting rid of those damn mosquitos.

Houston Bulls legend

The Los Angeles Stars are a newer franchise in the VHL joining the league in S73 alongside Chicago, London and Warsaw. Since S73, Los Angeles has been through 3 GMs who have built the team to 40 total playoff wins. That’s an average of less than 2 playoff wins per season since the creation of the franchise. Chicago leads all expansion draft teams with 68 playoff wins, Warsaw follows behind them with 64, and London is in 3rd with 60. Being drafted to the Los Angeles Stars my new goal as a player is to decrease that gap between other expansion teams. I would really like Bubbles LaFleur to see lots of playoff appearances throughout his career while also winning a good handful of games. Bubbles LaFleur will look to enter the VHL next season in S98 and start to make his mark. The Stars still have some work to do though, as a team at the bottom of the barrel in S97 after a very strong S97 draft class, LA does not hold their S98 1st round pick unfortunately. Although, the S97 draft class prospects will be heavily relied on to start building the future of this team, and hopefully with consistency and effort we can all stick around for many seasons to come to finally put Los Angeles back in a competitive state. Personally I would love to play all 8 VHL seasons for LA so hopefully within that time and with my own player’s progression LA can see some good playoff success. I really do think this team can and will be good again in the next few seasons, it may be a grind for my first few though. I just like to remember my previous player, Randy Bobandy, who could’ve gotten drafted to Toronto but instead wanted to play for Seattle. I saw Mac Atlas and Jimi Jaks both drafted to Toronto instead of myself, they both had to struggle through the rebuild that Toronto dealt with, but in the end they both won a cup with the Legion in S91 whereas my player came up empty handed throughout his career. So maybe going through the current struggles in LA will bring a similar reward?

Gotta write this on my phone, computer is being a huge turd! Answer 6 Questions for 2 TPE, Answer 3 Questions for 1 TPE Week Ending Jan 19 1. What are your thoughts on your player so far this season? 2. What are your thoughts on the team so far this season? 3. Who has been our biggest rival in S97? Which team(s) have we had the closest games against? 4. If your player could wear a tinted visor would they wear one? Which colour would they choose to wear? 5. Are you/your player a person who uses a bunch of tape around your shin pads? Or do you just raw dog it? I remember growing up and seeing teammates with giant tape balls in their bag and adding to it after every practice/game! 6. Now that Christmas and New Years is over I’m ready for winter to drift away. What next biggest holiday are you looking forward to? Valentine’s Day? St Patrick’s Day? Easter? 7. Have you been following the NHL this season? Which team do you route for if you have one? Do you follow specific players? 8. The NFL Super Bowl is just around the corner! Whether you’re a football fan or not it’s a very hyped up event. Do you tend to watch the Super Bowl? Do you have a watch party with friends or just watch on your own? 9. I forget if I’ve asked this before, what is the best or worst job you have ever worked for? 10. Malmo is inviting everyone to Lucy’s house because she has a massive backyard outdoor rink with big lights, a heated change room, and boards that go all the way around the rink (disregard the fact that she lives in Texas). You have to bring some type of food or drink, what are you bringing?? I’m bringing a bunch of Tim Hortons hot chocolate and timbits.

Welcome back!!

Thank you to every one who donated this holiday season because as a result the community not only helped many people/organizations, but everyone gets TPE! Nothing feels better than submitting a claim for 12 uncapped TPE. We also all get a PT Doubles Week so that is why I’m sitting on my phone moving my thumbs around for 500 words right now. My player Bubbles LaFleur is thrilled to get all this TPE since he is quickly approaching the VHLM TPE Cap of 400. My first player hit the cap when it was 250, and my second player never hit the cap since he skipped the VHLM and went straight to the VHLE. It’s pretty exciting to be able to hit this cap and bank the rest of my TPE for a fun rookie season in S98 for LA. Los Angeles is a struggle bus right now, but there is an insane amount of young talent about to walk through those doors and I’m so excited to be a part of that. I predict that in about 3 more seasons Los Angeles could be seen as a competitive team once again. Bubbles’ build throughout this last season in the VHLM will finally be complete. I’ve been following a strict build plan since day 1 in the VHLM since I’ve seen this build used before with the 200 TPE Cap and it worked really well: Upgrade only DF/PH/SK. That’s it, that’s the plan. I want to finish with a build that looks like this: DK: 75 SH: 75 PC: 80 DC: 77 SP: 59 PH = 85 DF = 82 SK = 80 ST = 54 I think this build will be a monster by the playoffs. Bubbles has been top 3 all season in the STHS OV stat so I wonder by 400 TPE if this build will be the best or not for OV. San Diego has been playing some good hockey so far backed by our talented goalie Ricky LaFleur, and the insanely deep blue line we have. I’m hoping that we can continue the consistent hockey style and then start to really crank some heads once we’re in the playoffs. Our goaltending and Defense should be elite by then, and with Bek/Peace being top earners our forwards should start to level out. I’ve never won a VHLM Founder’s Cup before, I’ve won a VHLE and VHL championship though, so it would be really cool to win one with Bubbles in his last season before moving up. Going back to talk about LA. It’s pretty sweet to be drafted to the same organization my first player was drafted to. I can see myself and Bubbles staying in LA for an entire career and hopefully Ricky can stick around for the ride too. It’s tough in his situation as Roger Eagles is a talented goaltender, but with time and effort maybe Ricky can show coach that he is the guy to rely on. For Bubbles though, the door is wide open. Unless Los Angeles trades for a top defender, Bubbles should be the number 1 defender in LA for a long time. Mikko Tuomala was also drafted this past offseason to LA and should be an excellent defender to play with. I could see LaFleur and Tuomala paired together right away and not split up for seasons to come. Next season will be so much fun I haven’t had a rookie season in almost ten seasons now. I’ve also never had a defender before, so this whole VHL experience will feel like a new one for me which is so cool. Also thanks again for the PT Doubles Week!

@Velevra is a wizard at every Fantasy Zone

S97 is fully underway with 17 games already played for the Malmo Nighthawks. Currently holding a 12-4-1 record, 2nd in the EU, and on a 7 game win streak, vibes are up all around the team and everything is pretty good so far. @LucyXpher and I really wanted this season to be one last hurrah before our three S89 forwards retire which forces us into a rebuild-or-semi compete situation more than likely. Even with no future draft picks we are confident in making the best of what we can for this team as we now have a good group of four young talents who joined us this past off-season: (Trade occurred Dec 12, TPE totals as of Dec 15 -> Jan 05) S96 (D) Narnia Shaw - Called Up - 389 TPE -> 449 TPE S95 (LW) Bret Weier - Called Up - 362 TPE -> 394 TPE S94 (C) Ty Duke - Stayed Down - 310 TPE -> 344 TPE S96 (RW) Xhekajs middletoe - Stayed Down - 208 TPE -> 265 TPE We are really impressed about these prospects for their already great consistency in earning and we are really hoping to keep them engaged throughout the next few seasons in order to have them become the future of Malmo. Speaking of the future, Malmo does have a lot of talent left if we are forced the card of fully rebuilding, here is what our remaining roster looks like: S91 Philip Rave - 1202 TPA S93 Lucy Leitner - 1181 TPA S93 Jorgen Lovstrom - 955 TPA S90 Martin Kemp - 844 TPA S90 Conference Prince-de-Galles - 740 TPA S92 Vlad Von Carstein - 590 TPA In the end we really do have a good chance of flipping these players for future assets. I would love to bring in some more lower TPE prospects/players and be able to get them back on track of TPE earning if we do rebuild. But who knows, maybe we find a way to keep everyone together and not rebuild? VHL critics will all have their own opinions but I'm not worried about the future of Malmo at all. "But your S99 1st", yeah it might be a good pick that we gave up... it's one pick, womp womp.

PRESS CONFERENCE Answer 3 Questions for 1 TPE or Answer 6 Questions for 2 TPE Week Ending Jan 12 WOULD YOU RATHER EDITION - All Questions are "Would You Rather" 1. Win a VHL championship every season you play but have a terrible stat line, or win an individual award every season but your team never wins a championship cup? 2. Have your player in the VHL Hall of Fame, or have yourself as a builder in the VHL Hall of Fame? 3. Gain 1000 TPE instantly when you create a player (you can skip the VHLM since you're past the 400 TPE cap), or gain 1000 TPE in your 3rd season (around your actual VHL rookie season)? 4. Be able to travel wherever and whenever you want (not time travel, but travel to current places), or be able to touch any book and instantly absorb all knowledge contained? 5. Go back in time to a specific date of your choice, or go into the future of any year except you have no idea what the world will look like? 6. Find a genie in a bottle who grants you three wishes (you cannot wish for unlimited wishes), or be the almighty genie in a bottle (no guarantee anyone will ever find you, you'd just be chilling in your bottle for eternity). 7. Know when you die, or how you die? 8. Gain invisibility powers (can activate it whenever you want), or be able to fly? 9. Travel to the deepest darks of the oceans, or travel anywhere in outer space? 10. If you have to be in a cage for the rest of your life: would you rather be horizontal, or vertical?

@flyersfan345 congrats!

Oh shit! Good eye ill take instead: F - The Phantom of the VHL

@Beketov you don’t need forwards so I’ll make my last pick F - Riley Martin

Review: Loving your card series and this one is a great piece to your collection. It honestly looks like a card you'd find opening up a real life hockey card pack. Only thing I would think to make it look more real is some sort of border around the card that tradition hockey cards have. Besides that, the layers are amazing, the text is simple but perfect, and I really do love the effort you put into the jersey swap as well as the grid + skyline behind the player to bring it all together. This one would definitely go for $20+ on eBay, 10/10.

Game 23: Seattle Bears vs New York Americans Seattle heads to New York for a North American matchup featuring two well built and competitive teams. Both teams can easily be seen as playoff contenders for S97. Although this game was very one sided as the Bears were able to figure out New York's talented goaltender WWW.... with a final score of 6-1, Seattle had full control throughout these 60 minutes after an early 4-1 lead to finish the 1st period. Bears' 2nd line Left Winger Forum Content had themselves a day contributing on 5 out of 6 goals scored, with 2 goals and 3 assists totaling to 5 points. Centreman and line mate The Phantom of the VHL was able to score a goal as well as 3 assists for a 4 point night. The rest of the Bears' scoring was pretty well spread out with only two players not showing up on the score sheet. Seattle came out of this one with a massive win and goaltender Giorgiy Costanzov helped out big time saving 35 of 36 shots on goal.