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Claiming Week 3 of 3

On 4/9/2023 at 12:46 PM, Triller said:

 

HOUSTON BULLS PRESSER!

Hello and welcome fellow Bulls to this weeks presser!  I am hoping to get to know you and your players and what your thoughts are on the season as we go!  Be sure to give me more than couple word answers as I love to read and also to appease our updater overlords!

Answer three questions for 1 capped TPE or all six for 2 capped TPE!
For the Week Ending Apr 16th, here are your questions!

 

1.  Where do you think our teams biggest weak spot is?

2.  What do you think makes a good VHLM team?

3.  What are your goals for your player, team success, individual accolades, both, Hall of Fame?

4.  What do you think of the Houston Bulls logo?

5.  Are you or your player a smack talker?

6.  What do you think of all the talk of AI generated art and media?

Thank you to everyone who participate in these pressers!  I always appreciated reading your answers!

 

Let's Go Bulls!

1. We have a lot of holes.  Up front is probably the biggest one.

2. Great balance and depth.  

3. Would love HOF and individual success, but team is most important for me. I want cups.

4. Pretty good.  I like most of them.  While it's not my fav in VHLM its prob middle of the pack.

5. No not really.  More quiet than anything else.

6. Uhhhhh..honestly cant say I keep up with it.

Claiming Week 2 of 3

Jensen Off to Solid Start Through First Eight Games

Viktor Jensen has a sizable amount of expectations around the potential season he could have, coming off being selected second overall by the Houston Bulls.  He has found himself down the middle on the top line for the Bulls, and is currently tied for the team lead in points with nine, while scoring a surprisingly impressive five goals for someone who is widely considered more of a playmaker.  It has been a bit of a common occurrence lately to see Jensen improving on a new aspect of his game with a lot of development being seen on his shooting, playmaking and puckhandling while adding another element of speed to his game over the last off-season.

"We saw all the improvement he had shown as a member of the Brigade in the Junior Showcase Tournament.  I'm not surprised whatsoever to see him producing and it's nice to see the results being shown against some pretty impressive teams.  I am surprised to see him scoring as much as he has been, as his puck-moving his always been the calling card, but it seems clear from this start and the way he was scoring goals in the JST, that Viktor has been focusing on being a better sniper and has made some pretty incredible steps. - Anonymous VHL Scout

Jensen will hope to continue his progression as the Bulls continue their season.  It will be interesting to see if he can ramp the production up as they face some likely lesser teams as the season moves on.  He may need to if he wants to win the battle to be selected first overall in the VHL Draft.  Granted, this does not seem to be a concern for Jensen.  "I don't really care what pick I get selected at.  I am just focused on improving my game and helping this team win."

VHL Trade Wars: Edition 3 (Season 60)

This is the third edition of VHL Trade Wars as we will once again look at two trades that happened in Season 60 (the last two prior to the off-season).  Last edition we saw players of the caliber of a Lukas Muller and Vern Reinholdt being traded around, while picks acquired were used to take steals like Mikka Pajari.  This edition will be a little less laced with major talents or picks that were used to acquire future huge pieces that would play in the VHL, but still features a couple players that put in some solid time in the VHL. 

Just in case you aren’t as familiar with how I typically have ran these, I choose this timeline (starting in Season 60) as there is far more information regarding the seasons that would take place after this point due to the portal and how it tracks everything.  My typical focus is more on the face value of a deal as opposed to future moves that were made off of these since I will looking at them down the line anyway.  That being said, as you will see in this article, part of my verdict isn’t always as simple as looking at the names and the stats in the deal.  Sometimes, there are reasons to move a player like needing to create cap room or giving a guy a chance to go for a Continental Cup in a bigger role.  Perhaps that was a little bit of foreshadowing? Stay tuned and you will see.

Once again, feel free to respond with any opinions or critiques of the article as I know some of you may be a bit more familiar with the stakes of some of these transactions.  With that being said, lets get to the moves!

SEASON 60

To CGY 

Xander Finn @Jericho

To RIG 

S61 CGY 4th Round Pick (N/A)

S62 CGY 3rd (Jack Stucky) @stucky71

GM's: @Bushito (CGY), @hedgehog337 (RIG)

Date:  May 14th, 2018

Oh look, more friends…this trade saw the Wranglers acquire Xander Finn, a former 100 point player that was in the final season of his career and was eyeing the Continental Cup which he had never had the opportunity to win before.  Finn started his VHL career as a member of the Stockholm Vikings (Not the VHLE version) where he would play his first three seasons and found continued growth and development, reaching 90 points in Season 55.  The next season saw him off to Toronto for what would be the best season of his career; a mesmerizing 109 point and 131 hit campaign that saw the young center record what would become career highs in goals, assists and points.  Finn actually became far more of a depth piece after his first few seasons in the league, but had a pretty impressive offensive career recording 538 career points in 576 games and was even a pretty physical presence throughout with over 1400 hits.  This trade saw Finn joining the Wranglers for the rest of the season in what would be his last.  He finished his season with a solid 59 points in 72 games and went on to be pretty productive in the playoffs with 7 points and 28 hits in 9 games.  While he would fall short of winning the Continental Cup, he gave the Wranglers some really solid minutes for the rest of the year.

Riga acquired a third round pick that was used to select Jack Stucky, a player that sadly never made it past two seasons in the VHLM.  Recording 77 points in 137 career VHLM games over those two seasons, Stucky would choose to move on from professional hockey, with no specific reason sighted.  Much speculation has been made on whether or not there was a falling out with a teammate or some kind of health issue that prevented him from continuing to play, but it seems that we may never know.  Stucky has since stayed out of the public eye and hasn’t been seen in quite some time.  The fourth round pick the Riga Reign would acquire would end up being a rather useless addition as the draft never made it to a fourth round in the end.  Not exactly what they probably hoped would come out of those two picks, but ultimately the move was sending a depth player in his last year to a team that had perhaps a chance to use him in a better role and in a spot where he could potentially win a Continental Cup.  So while value wise, this is a pretty obvious one, cheers to the Reign for making a good move by Mr. Finn.

Verdict: Winner – Bushito (Calgary) – It has to be right? Finn actually ended up being a good piece for the rest of the season and had a very productive playoffs for the Wranglers.  He may have only been there for the rest of that season, but he was traded for a player who played two seasons in the VHLM and then retired, and a pick that wasn’t used as there was no fourth round.  Riga did a necessary move that I would have made myself had I been GM, but good on the Wranglers for getting a valuable rental for next to nothing.

SEASON 60

To QUE 

S61 SEA 5th Round Pick (N/A)

D – Matthieu Bourdon @Lunaro

To SEA 

S61 QUE 5th Round Pick (N/A)

Date: May 14th, 2016

This second trade is actually an interesting one as it was done as part of a three team deal that included the previous trade we looked at involving Vern Reinholdt in the previous edition of VHL Trade Wars.  The Seattle Bears were looking to move off of some cap space in order to bring Reinholdt in, and therefore used this deal to help with that, sending Matthieu Bourdon and a pick to the Quebec City Meute, in exchange for a pick of their own. 

Bourdon was a depth defenseman that was in just their fourth year in the league.  They had previously been a member of Quebec City back in Season 58 and would spend three seasons there in total (along with time with the Seattle Bears, Riga Reign and New York Americans).  While certainly Bourdon never moved the needle for any of their teams in a major way, constantly finding themselves on basement dwelling teams, they did actually have a pretty respectable overall career.  Bourdon, who played a pretty impressive 504 career VHL games, finished with 307 career points and 1261 blocked shots, showing a knack for getting their body in the line of fire while doing what they could to help out offensively.  Perhaps their best overall season came in Season 62, with the New York Americans, where they finished with 69 points, 119 hits and 250 blocked shots in 72 games.  The fifth round pick that accompanied Bourdon in this trade ended up being nothing as the draft didn’t end up going long enough for that pick to be made.

Verdict: Winner – Beaviss (Quebec) - There isn’t too much sense talking about the return given the pick that Seattle acquired was never used as the draft didn’t end up going five rounds, but this was simply a cap space move.  With that being said, I judge things purely on the value of the pieces going back and forth, and Bourdon was the only thing of value in this deal.  That being said, obviously one has to acknowledge that Seattle was doing this to clear cap space.  It’s just a shame that what they acquired wasn’t even like a late round pick on a lesser prospect where they could have went for the steal.  That being said, Bourdon actually played a depth role on that mediocre team for another season so ultimately, I am going to give the “win” to Beaviss and the Meute.

---

As a little bit of an ending here for this article, I want to add that this will be the end of the Season 60 Transactions.  Next up will be the Season 60 off-season deals which will see a much more significant number of deals and a lot of higher quality being exchanged.  This may mean some articles will have more or less deals just so I don’t drag the articles on too much as I go through out very lengthy transaction log.  Due to this, I will also be looking for any advice you guys may have on how I can improve these articles.  I try to do what I can in terms of research and coming up with fairly detailed content, but I have also been considering doing interviews with some of the GM’s that may still be around, for some of the more significant moves.  Time will tell if adding something like that is necessary or not given the amount of time that has passed since some of these moves, but I’m just spitballing.  Hope you all enjoyed and got some insight out of this edition of the VHL Trade Wars, and we will see you in a couple more weeks where we will enter into the Season 61 Off-Season.

1502 Words (Claiming Week 1 of 3)

On 4/2/2023 at 12:30 PM, Triller said:

 

HOUSTON BULLS PRESSER!

Hello and welcome fellow Bulls to this weeks presser!  I am hoping to get to know you and your players and what your thoughts are on the season as we go!  Be sure to give me more than couple word answers as I love to read and also to appease our updater overlords!

Answer three questions for 1 capped TPE or all six for 2 capped TPE!
For the Week Ending Apr 9th, here are your questions!

 

1.  What do you think of the Bulls starting roster for this season?

2.  Did you play in any off-season tournaments?

3.  What stats are you most focused on for your player?

4.  Where do you think we will land in the standings this season and why?

5.  How did you come up with your player name?

6.  Where are you from?  No address required!

Thank you to everyone who participated in these pressers this season.  I always appreciated reading your answers!

 

Let's Go Bulls!

1. I think it's pretty solid.  I'm hoping with consistent improvement as the season goes on we can start to translate a good team on paper into some great results.

2. I did.  Won as a member of the Brigade in the JST and had a pretty good showing.  Nice to see the skillset at work.

3. Right now, points and faceoffs.  But more importantly, I am focused on Wins.

4. I am optimistic we will be a top-3 team.  I think we have some really good talent and experienced players in the right places and it will just take a little gelling for us.

5. To be honest, don't really have an explanation.  The ideas just come to me.  Decided to be a little different on first name to differ from @Victor

6. Born in Kingston (just in the hospital though)..Raised in Trenton, Ontario.  Have lived in Peterborough (University and College) and Ottawa (2 years) and now living close to home in Belleville, Ontario.

G - Clueless Wallob

12 hours ago, diamond_ace said:

Re: section 1

 

I've always deferred to Karl Popper's Paradox of Tolerance on that one. True tolerance must necessarily exclude tolerating the intolerant, because intolerant ideas will eventually tear down tolerant ones and take over if allowed to take root. I'm firmly on the side that bigotry and hate are 100% to be kept out of the community, even if it means we go against the purest form of "free speech" in doing so. We're an independent community, not beholden to anything larger than that. A city might legally have to allow a permit for a neo nazi rally for example, since they're an extension of the government - we don't have to do anything of the sort. 

Not to pile it on but this pretty much sums it up.

For the most part I have appreciated how the league deals with these things lately, while there was certainly a time where I felt we fell short.

D - Callum Murray

F - Girts Galvins

@MubbleFubbles

Yeah I'm not sure technically when but I first became active in 2010 and had a player probably in 2008 when I was mainly in football leagues.

@MubbleFubbles  You up boo.

Alright, to catch this party up. 

F - Landon Wolanin (CGY)

F - Daniel Janser (CGY)

D - Pierre Emile Bouchard (VAN)

Hey thanks for the add.  As soon as I get home from work ill make these 3 picks!

Add me on, I missed it!

Jensen Prepping for Houston; Performing Strong for Brigade

With the Second Overall Pick, the Houston Bulls are proud to select Viktor Jensen, a Center from Lillehammer, Norway.  With that, potentially one of the first surprises of the draft had taken place, with Viktor Jensen jumping up about four or five spots based on recent projections.  Though I suppose it isn't the most surprising jump given how his off-season has started, playing in the Junior Showcase Tournament.  As a member of the Brigade, Jensen has really played well after a tough start for the young center.  At the fourteen game mark, Viktor Jensen had a reasonable but unspectacular nine points on a struggling Brigade team that was in last place.  However, as the tournament went on, the Brigade started to become a complete powerhouse, finishing 17-9-4 and in the Playoffs.  Jensen picked up the pace too, finishing with 23 points over the remaining 18 games, for a total of 32 points in 30 games.

"He really stepped up for his team, as did quite a few of their top dogs.  The offensive prowess he possesses along with the potential defensive acumen and intelligence on the draws, certainly makes him a candidate to be quite a high potential prospect in the future.  For now he is certainly a bit raw, but is showing off quite well against the top players in his age group and older." - Anonymous VHL Scout

Jensen, while certainly busy with the JST, has still mainly had his focus on getting himself ready for the upcoming season.  "I was really honoured to be selected by the Bulls in the VHLM Dispersal Draft, and after having a lot of conversations with some of the management team there, I really know what I need to focus on to get ready for the upcoming seasons.  So focusing on improving my game in my own end and being aggressive offensively is what I am doing to try and better myself in preparation for the upcoming season."  Jensen, who had a decent showing in limited action for the Mississauga Hounds last season, will look to finish his Junior Showcase Tournament on a high as they prepare for the playoffs upcoming this week.  In the meantime, we will see how much he can improve and if he and the rest of the Bulls squad can bring this team to a Founders Cup next season.

On 12/26/2020 at 2:39 PM, thadthrasher said:

 

1. What excites you the most about the VHL?
2. Do you have a specific team you would like to play for? Are you playing for that team now?
3. Everyone has a pre-game ritual. What is yours?
4. Is there any music you listen to to pump you up for a game? Do you have a playlist?
5. If there was any other sport you could play what would it be?
6. What's the worst hockey-related injury your player has endured?

1. The chance to join a team in pursuit of the Continental Cup.

2. No not really.  No one too specific.  Just whoever fits the same ideals I share.

3. More just sitting in silence with some meditation pre game.

4. Just some soft rock typically.

5. Baseball 100%.  Technically my favorite sport.

6. Concussions multiple times in junior hockey.

Claiming Week 3/3

Spin That Wheel: Mini Biography - Edition 4

Well I certainly wasn't expecting to spin the wheel and land on one of my best friends, but alas that is where the RPG of this series came into effect.  The first wheel sent us along the path to the Season 78 Draft, one that contained heavy hitters like Hard Markinson, Tui Sova and many more.  And who would I manage to land on with the second wheel? With the 43rd overall pick...G - ANIME PROTAGONIST (392 TPE).  This is an interesting one as for those that do not know, I am very close with this agency, as they were the Best Man at my actual wedding this past September.  It's also interesting because he is the first player that I have profiled that did not make the VHL! With that being said, he had a pretty long career so there is still some good sizable content to cover with Mr. Protagonist.

Anime was a bit of a journeyman in the VHLM, playing on three different teams over four overall seasons.  His career started with the Saskatoon Wild where he was signed after the deadline and won all three games that he started for them.  He used that momentum to earn a spot as the starter of the San Diego Marlins the very next year, and won 37 games, albeit with pretty mediocre results in save percentage (.873), as he struggled at times when pressured more by some of the more talented teams in the minors.  Finishing his career on a mediocre Aces club that saw the young goaltender record a less-than-stellar 32-74-8 record, but did see notable improvements in his overall play, despite the higher rubber counts.  After this adventure of a VHLM career that saw him start 189 regular season games and 14 playoff games, he would move on to Cologne of the VHLE, after being selected with the 72nd overall pick in Season 80.  

It was Anime's time in Cologne that he is certainly most known for.  Playing for the Season 80 Express in a backup role, Protagonist shined with a 5-3 record, a .945 Save Percentage and a 2.26 GAA.  These numbers were night and day from his tumultuous time in the minors.  He would play five total seasons for the Express, registering an impressive 96-40-16 record over 165 games, and adding a .923 Save Percentage and 2.78 GAA.  His playoff showings were pretty decent as well, with a 8-9-3 record and a .927 Save Percentage and 3.16 GAA, showing that despite facing higher-level competition, Anime kept the Express in games despite the rest of the team perhaps not always doing the same.  Unfortunately for Mr. Protagonist, that also meant that he never did win it all, which is ironic given the name, but unsurprising given him always seemingly being on good but not great teams.  He should be remembered though as a consistent goaltender that guided the Express franchise for the majority of his career.

TAG: @Jericho

On 2/18/2023 at 12:36 AM, AJW said:

PRESS CONFERENCE TO ANSWER
 

I feel this thread needs a newer press conference to answer, so feel free to answer these 6 questions for 2 TPE

 

1. How are you enjoying your player’s experience in the VHLM? What positives and negatives have you experienced?

 

2. What team do you play for? What is your favourite thing about your team?

 

3. If you could add a team to the VHLM, where would this team be located and what would their mascot be?

 

4. How is your player’s performance this season? Underperforming to your standards? Over performing?

 

5. What team do you want to be drafted to in the VHL? If you don’t have a preference, what would you want your future VHL GM to know about you?

 

6. Tell me your dream vacation! I’ve always wanted to visit Hawaii, something an island in the middle of nowhere makes me happy.

1. It's been okay.  Been a while since I've been a part of the league so I have to get used to some new changes.  I think the biggest pros are more site related and there was some good members on the Hounds.  Negative though is I still feel the engagement levels are lacking a bit.  Even as an upcoming draftee there has been very little interaction with upcoming GMs.  

2. I currently don't play for anyone but played for Mississauga down the stretch this season.  I like the colours and the GM was good while I was there.

3. I'd go local for me and go Belleville Bulls.

4. Underperformed a bit for my expectations but this early on, its not really an important measuring stick.  I thought my player did a good job on the dot and seemed to generate offense more as the games went on so it was an encouraging sign.

5. No preference.  Tough one to answer since most are at least familiar with me but I'd say that despite not being a very vocal member of a LR, I'm always reading and am easy to interact with through dm as opposed to the group setting as I usually mute group chats just cause I use my phone for work too.

6. Italy and to do it right.  Visit several areas for a couple weeks.  Hawaii is another though 100%.

Fuhr tied 2 other goalies for best Save% and was just 0.02 ahead in GAA.

For me, that's not enough dominance compared to peers so I lean to Marner myself.

And yes while Marner only won the scoring title by two points, his physical dominance compared to those in his offensive results range is decently impressive.  I feel like with goalie, being there are only a dozen or so potential winners, having comparable numbers to multiple other goalies isn't a great look for this award.

Claiming Week 2

Transaction ID: 7U70605431512224M

Doubles

1 Mil

5 Uncapped

Spin That Wheel: Mini Biography - Edition 3

After analyzing the career of Roger Sterling last week, we will be looking at more of a depth player that nearly went undrafted during the Season 77 Draft, yet still went on to play 4 seasons in the VHL, all as a member of the Vancouver Wolves.  With the 61st pick in the Season 77 Draft, we will be looking at the career of...LW - Ryan Li (446 TPE).  Li was a well-traveled player who truly played all around the world, representing Philadelphia, Houston, Istanbul and Vancouver.  While his resume isn't on the same level of the two players we have already examined, Li is a unique perspective into the growth of the league, being part of the VHLM, VHLE and VHL.  

Li showed tremendous growth and development over his time in the VHLM.  After just tallying up 18 points in his rookie season, he grew to 41 points the next year while more than doubling his shots total.  It wasn't till his third season though where Li really started to show off his talent.  That year saw Li dominate to the tune of 36 goals and 90 points to go along with an impressive 153 hits. It wasn't until the VHLE though, as a member of Istanbul, where Ryan Li really made a name for himself.  Despite playing four seasons in the VHL, Li's legacy is clearly all about his time in the VHLE, that saw the winger record 89 goals and 191 points, to go along with 601 hits and just 214 PIM in 144 games.  He was an absolute force and scored a remarkable 15 game-winning-goals during those two seasons.  He only played the one season in the VHLM but made the most of it with 6 goals, 14 points and 37 hits in 7 playoff games.

Li had the job of being a depth talent playing up in the lineup on a bad team, which gave him a fair amount of opportunity but also left him exposed against some of the best players in the Victory Hockey League.  He ultimately played four seasons on Vancouver and did his thing wtih 130 points and 522 hits in 288 games and was a -121 rating over his career.  

TAG:  @Ryan Li

On 3/15/2023 at 3:11 PM, Hogan said:

1. Sadly we lost in the playoffs, what do you think went wrong?

2. What will your player be doing this offseason?

3. What's next for you in the VHL?

4. What does your player eat before every game?

5. What do your teammates think about this pre-game meal?

6. Would you ever have any interest in getting a job in the VHL, ex. GM ,AGM, Updater etc. If you already have/had one, would you be interested in getting another?

1. I think that ultimately we were far too inconsistent during a lot of our games.  If we had put together a full 60 minutes, I really think we take that series.  That being said, after that first game it seemed like they really dictated the pace.

2. Jensen will just be prepping for the VHLM Dispersal Draft and looking to improve his game and take it to the next level.

3. As a member, I just want to enjoy the league with minimal responsibility.  I enjoy still being able to share my opinion and help out where I can in the Board of Governors, but other than that, I have no desire to do anything other than be active as a player and hopefully win some Continental Cups.

4. Chicken, rice and a salad.  Nothing better in Viktor's mind.

5. I imagine they think it's bland.  Some of the guys go full tilt with steak and eggs and stuff like that.  I prefer to keep it fairly simple, basic and routine.

6. Not anymore no.  I think that time in the league for me is over.