Advantage

I put some words in too.

Hi Peeps!
 
I want to thank everyone here in New York for a great time here, we won together and we lost together, and most importantly we grew together.
 
It was not an easy decision to leave here, but at least temporarily for the next season I will be in a new home. I don't know what the future holds for me after next season but know this that this isn't good bye. New York was my first NA team and remains a core destination for me (same as Davos in EU).
 
I appreciate @YEAH!stlemania patience in this matter, I know this doesn't make your job any better. But I believe you have been developing into a strong GM and I believe you this will not change your ability to be a good GM.
 
I want to thank ADV for orginally bringing me onboard in New York, it has been a great time and I have enjoyed our environment very much so.
 
See you guys later and thanks!

Yeah I agree with Sterling here. We've made a bunch of changes to attack the "inflation" concept and we put that to bed in my honest opinion. 
 
While I do think there is a legitimate argument that the difference between welfare and PT is a little too close. Especially with those members earning 4 per week. I also think there is a level of, I don't want to say butthurt, but how about lazyness from the members who are meant to represent our top tier of elite/upper tier players. I don't want to name any names, since it isn't a specific accusation on one person. I just notice a lot of people making posts about issues with the welfare system who don't do all the little extra things capped and non capped to put them over the edge. 
 
I mean if you think about it, guys like Smarch and Sterling and Kendrick and the like earn more than 4 TPE per week, they don't just earn welfare. They do league jobs, contribute all over the place etc. But if you were as active as those type of members were in their primes? I mean recruitment, all the extra side things you can do league jobs etc. Then your going to earn more TPE than them, and it will make an impact. The majority of top tier VHL players through history were the higher end TPE earners in their respective seasons/careers/era's. Some weren't, but the majority were. 
 
Which brings me to another whole issue with this. It just comes off like I said a bit lazy, because these people then argue for us to change the rules so that not only do we reduce the effectiveness of welfare players, despite the fact that many of the welfare members contribute in some cases more than someone doing a point task. A decision I might add that we know for sure is going to make us lose some key older members here. They have flat come out and said so. 
 
I hate to tie this in to another random rant, but you hear a lot on the forums both jokey and otherwise about the BoG being some "old boys club." I know it's somewhat of a joke and somewhat serious, depending on who your talking with. But it baffles me how people criticize the BoG for being involved in the league when for most all of the BoG members we pretty much were leaders or prime contributes during our primes. I don't just mean by doing league jobs and other things either. How often were core members of our era's the Booms, the Phils, posting in every fantasy thread, posting in as many active discussion as possible, responding to media spots. I mean I remember the crazy feedback and even doing a live podcast that had people tuning in live. I guess I'm just saying it's rather silly that we get so much flack from members when we at times have helped keep this league alive. A lot more members could be doing some more leading around the boards that are the more prominent stars/players/members of today's era imo. 

I don't know guys...is O'Malley really first ballot material?

Players to win 2 Kanou's:
- Scotty Campbell
- Sterling Labatte
- Alexander Chershenko
 
Goalies to win 2 Kanou's:
- Daisuke Kanou (won 3)
- Brick Wahl
 
 

I am just taking Advantage of the opportunity.

Its not all the time I get to write an article for a friend here in the Victory Hockey League, but this week it is all about Mr. Ryan Power and his time in the league thus far.  He paid for this so while I try not to kiss his ass too much, I may have to make some exceptions here.  Hard to believe that at what time Mr. Power was not a member of this league.  I believe I was here almost eight seasons before he signed up and created his first player, and there was even a time that I was not a big fan of him.  He was my GM when I had Sullivan and I wasn't really sure what to think.  I actually thought he was a kid and was surprised to find out that he was three years older than myself.  Eventually, he wasn't my GM and we proceeded to become friends but also rivals as we both GM'd in the VHLM.  He was pretty good but I took advantage of him on a few trades.  With that being said, as we all know his true calling in the VHL was his GM'ing at the higher level.  He was great at it and I do believe that had he managed for longer, he could go down as one of the best.  With that being said, I want to talk about his players for a little bit and focus a little less on him for a few paragraphs.
 
Rauno Pajari was the eighth overall pick by the Riga Reign in the Season Twenty-Four Draft.  While he would get overlooked by fellow draftees like Daniel Braxton, Nikolai Lebedev and even by the likes of Jarppi Leppala, Genghis Khan, Dougie Daniels and Gunnar Axelson.  However, it would be the agent of Pajari that would become the most influential member on this league by the end of Rauno's career.  Pajari would never in a Continental Cup in his career and he never won any individual awards.  He was a one-time all-star who recorded 356 points in 360 games and was a +121.  With that being said, Rauno Pajari was the opening player in the agency of Mr. Power's and would lead him on to greater things in his career.  While he fell short of some of his goals in his five year VHL career, there were future opportunities to accomplish these goals that he would take advantage of.
 
Skylar Rift was the second player in Power's agency and the goalie was immediately ushered in under a new era of goaltenders that included Remy LeBeau and Tuomas Tukio.  Rift had an elite start to his career as he was the starting goaltender when the New York Americans would finally break their curse after years of disappointment.  On top of winning the cup in his rookie year, Rift would also take home the Christian Stolzschweiger Trophy with a 40-18-6 record, 2.35 goals against average and .912 save percentage.  Skylar Rift would become the seventh goaltender to win the trophy and in the same off-season would be traded for future Hall of Fame defenseman, Ryan Sullivan.  Rift would play one season on Calgary before moving onto Quebec and finding the majority of his success there.  Rift would finish with a 221-75-22 record, a 2.12 goals against average and a .923 save percentage.  More importantly, Rift would finish his career with two Continental Cup victories (one with New York and one with Quebec) to go along with his Stolzschweiger Trophy, a Daisuke Kanou Trophy (for Playoff MVP) and an Aidan Shaw Trophy (for Top Goalie).  The accomplishments he would never reach with Rauno Pajari, Mr. Power would achieve them with Skylar Rift and it was here where the Power Agency really started to gain momentum.
 
Logan Laich was the third player of the Power Agency and he would come sooner than expected when Power decided to retire Rift early and push to help develop a physical leader that scores almost exclusively goals.  Sadly for Power, Laich would become more of a joke during his long career in the Victory Hockey League.  It started slowly with a tough first couple of seasons with New York and would continue with some under performing years on the Cologne Express.  It isn't that Rift couldn't score goals or be physical.  In fact, that is probably what he was best at.  He would finish his career with 172 goals and 351 points to go along with 1900 hits in 504 Victory Hockey League games.  Laich would simply never develop the offensive firepower needed to become a true two-way physical player.  The one year he would make the all-star team (and probably the one where he had his most success) was as a defender after deciding to switch towards the defensive side of the ice.  Unfortunately it does not seem that Laich was what Power was hoping for and unfortunately he never really reached the impressive goal total or even the two-way goals that he aspired for.
 
It seemed that Logan Laich drained some of Mr. Power's interest in the Victory Hockey League.  Thaddeus Humbert has been a solid defensive defender through most of his career, but he has never really shown himself to be anything but a solid defender that can chip in here and there offensively.  Up until this past year, he has recorded 170 points in 360 games with 144 hits and 369 blocked shots.  These are nothing to write home about and that is part of the reason the Americans decided to convert Humbert to center where he can show off his playmaking and defensive skills alongside the likes of Edwin Reencarnacion and Freedom McJustice.  As a center in his first year, Humbert recorded 45 points and a 60.38 FO%.  Additionally, he also did not take a single penalty which makes him a prime candidate to win the Mikka Virkkunen Trophy.  While Thaddeus is starting at a new position and really hasn't had a great start to his career, it does seem that he is trending up and that is a great sign for the Americans and the Power Agency going forward.
 
While I can talk about all four players Mr. Power has created, his real contributions to this league are not from his players.  He could finish with zero Hall of Famers and he is still an absolute lock to make the Hall of Fame as a builder.  He has been arguably the most involved member of the Board of Governors over the last decade and has been looked at as a leader in these league for quite some time.  Ryan is one of the league's better posters, and someone who represents everything that is great about our community.  He has also been one of the most successful General Managers ever with three David Knight Trophies which ties him with the likes of Mike Szatkowski, Jason Glasser and Christopher Miller for the most ever.  He is someone who the league should admire and while not all of his players have had the most success, the league has been bettered thanks to Power's impact on the league outside of the sim.

0 Goals Scored in Game Six, Devise blames AVB IV.
 
What a douche

Exams done and moved out.  Will be nice to be around here more
 
Also, excited to not be taking that GM job @YEAH!stlemania and look forward to playing here as long as I can.

This 'By the Numbers' edition will look at the Seattle Bears and New York Americans series (as the European Conference first round has been completed) and see which three players are making a difference and need to play well in order for their team to win.  
 
.867 - Atticus Von Braxton IV (NYA) has made a difference in the wrong way so far in this series.  The rookie goaltender who had such an excellent season for the Americans, has really slipped in the first four games of this series, as he shows off his terrible .867 save percentage and mediocre 2.50 goals against average.  The Americans have a team with some great forwards and defenders with tons of experience and history showing them as top performers.  However, the one question going into the season was whether or not Atticus Von Braxton IV would be able to replace last year's Shaw Trophy winner, Blake Campbell.  While he performed admirably in the season, no one will remember his good play if he doesn't step it up in the playoffs, and help propel New York to the next round.
 
5 - Jeff Hamilton (SEA) is the leader of the Seattle Bears and he has proved to be quite the handful for the Americans through the first four games.  With two goals and three assists, Hamilton leads the Bears in points as a defenseman, while also playing excellent in his own end and blocking just shy of a dozen shots thus far.  Hamilton is the newest player of agent Jeff "Sterling James, and he is poised to become a Hall of Fame player with his season last year, this year and now a potential long playoff run if he can keep up his great pace.  While he is not flashy or overly physical, Hamilton emulates many of the same characteristics that the likes of Sterling Labatte did in the past, and that could lend very favorably towards the chances of the Bears.
 
6 - Jorma Ruutu (NYA) is a guy that often gets overlooked on a team with players of the caliber of Edwin Reencarnacion, Freedom McJustice and Biggu Kyanon.  However, the captain of the New York Americans has been an absolute threat so far in the first four games.  With three goals, three assists and seventeen hits, there has not been a more effective player for either team thus far.  This is uplifting news for Ruutu who was expecting to have another elite level year but struggled to produce at a clip that would satisfy his expectations (36 goals, 75 points in 72 games).  While there is a lot of time left in this series for other players to step up on New York, their captain has led the charge and may be their key offensive player if they want to win this series against Seattle.
 
 
 
 

Exams done and moved out.  Will be nice to be around here more
 
Also, excited to not be taking that GM job @YEAH!stlemania and look forward to playing here as long as I can.

Exams done and moved out.  Will be nice to be around here more
 
Also, excited to not be taking that GM job @YEAH!stlemania and look forward to playing here as long as I can.

How many Hendersons is the VHL gonna kill?!

Yeah ill get one in.  Been doing PTs and stuff but just havent been able to be around the last week or so with projects and Easter.

Yeah ill get one in.  Been doing PTs and stuff but just havent been able to be around the last week or so with projects and Easter.

Shocked by how offensive the start of the season has been? Same.  We aren't too far into the year now but there are twenty-nine players who are at least a point-per-game this season, and yet the goalies have also returned to form.  This week's edition will look at the forward, defender and goalie who have stuck out the most so far.
 
16 - Max Molholt is once again proving that he is one of the best scorers in the Victory Hockey League.  The Legion forward currently leads the league in goals with sixteen in sixteen games and also finds himself tied for second in points.  Molholt is well surrounded this year with the likes of Zach Parechkin, Francis York Morgan, LeAndre St. Pierre and Benjamin Zeptenbergs having tremendous starts to their campaign.  The Legion currently find themselves in first place with a 14-1-1 record and a league best sixty-five goals.  Is it sustainable? Probably not.  However, it isn't like they've only played bad teams either.  They have already played six games vs. New York and accumulated a 4-1-1 record against them.  Although, we do expect Toronto to start falling back to earth offensively as they have combined for forty-two goals in eight games versus Calgary and Quebec.  Can't expect this to last as they move through this season, but their series against New York shows us that they are for real and Molholt is a huge reason why.
 
23 - While Francis York Morgan may be the favourite to win the Sterling Labatte Trophy, I find Joel Jarvi's start to the season more impressive.  He is just three points back of Morgan and still finds himself as one of the best shot blockers in the entire league.  Often the best offensive players struggle to block shots because they are on better teams who possess the puck all the time, but Joel Jarvi defied those odds last year with a great two-way performance. Once again, we are seeing him off to a campaign like that with a pace of 103 points and 171 blocked shots.  He may very well have a difficult time keeping that pace up, as there are not a lot of significant threats surrounding him.  However, they have faced good teams and bad and while they have not played New York or Toronto, they also have not had to face the lowly Wranglers.  All in all, I expect Jarvi to be somewhere around 90 points and 150 blocked shots at the end of the year, and that very well may be enough for a Labatte Trophy.
 
.938 - Who would have thought that Atticus Von Braxton IV would have such a great start to the season? The goalie has a 4-2-2 record with a .938 save percentage and 1.71 goals-against-average so far this season.  What is perhaps the most impressive aspect, is that most of the games he has played have been against Toronto, who lead the league in goals and points.  His play has really helped solidify New York as they look to successfully defend their Continental Cup victory from last season.  While we certainly do not expect Von Braxton to keep this pace up, it is pretty surprising to see how well he has done this year.  You have to assume he will be strong against weaker teams so to get six games out of the way against Toronto, and still keep a save percentage of almost .940, that is very impressive.  While he didn't really receive much buzz for the Top Rookie Trophy, you have to believe he is in the conversation with the likes of Black Velvet and Unassisted, with how well he has started this season.

Shocked by how offensive the start of the season has been? Same.  We aren't too far into the year now but there are twenty-nine players who are at least a point-per-game this season, and yet the goalies have also returned to form.  This week's edition will look at the forward, defender and goalie who have stuck out the most so far.
 
16 - Max Molholt is once again proving that he is one of the best scorers in the Victory Hockey League.  The Legion forward currently leads the league in goals with sixteen in sixteen games and also finds himself tied for second in points.  Molholt is well surrounded this year with the likes of Zach Parechkin, Francis York Morgan, LeAndre St. Pierre and Benjamin Zeptenbergs having tremendous starts to their campaign.  The Legion currently find themselves in first place with a 14-1-1 record and a league best sixty-five goals.  Is it sustainable? Probably not.  However, it isn't like they've only played bad teams either.  They have already played six games vs. New York and accumulated a 4-1-1 record against them.  Although, we do expect Toronto to start falling back to earth offensively as they have combined for forty-two goals in eight games versus Calgary and Quebec.  Can't expect this to last as they move through this season, but their series against New York shows us that they are for real and Molholt is a huge reason why.
 
23 - While Francis York Morgan may be the favourite to win the Sterling Labatte Trophy, I find Joel Jarvi's start to the season more impressive.  He is just three points back of Morgan and still finds himself as one of the best shot blockers in the entire league.  Often the best offensive players struggle to block shots because they are on better teams who possess the puck all the time, but Joel Jarvi defied those odds last year with a great two-way performance. Once again, we are seeing him off to a campaign like that with a pace of 103 points and 171 blocked shots.  He may very well have a difficult time keeping that pace up, as there are not a lot of significant threats surrounding him.  However, they have faced good teams and bad and while they have not played New York or Toronto, they also have not had to face the lowly Wranglers.  All in all, I expect Jarvi to be somewhere around 90 points and 150 blocked shots at the end of the year, and that very well may be enough for a Labatte Trophy.
 
.938 - Who would have thought that Atticus Von Braxton IV would have such a great start to the season? The goalie has a 4-2-2 record with a .938 save percentage and 1.71 goals-against-average so far this season.  What is perhaps the most impressive aspect, is that most of the games he has played have been against Toronto, who lead the league in goals and points.  His play has really helped solidify New York as they look to successfully defend their Continental Cup victory from last season.  While we certainly do not expect Von Braxton to keep this pace up, it is pretty surprising to see how well he has done this year.  You have to assume he will be strong against weaker teams so to get six games out of the way against Toronto, and still keep a save percentage of almost .940, that is very impressive.  While he didn't really receive much buzz for the Top Rookie Trophy, you have to believe he is in the conversation with the likes of Black Velvet and Unassisted, with how well he has started this season.

Do you mean 280?
 
I'll do Devise's

2 Straight Playoff MVP and Top Goalie! Good way to go out.  (Although I do not believe I should have won Playoff MVP)  

Well, I walked away with the Aidan Shaw for VHL and Top GM for VHLM. Guess it was a good year and way to potentially end Campbell's career.

Well given I questioned the Playoff MVP voting for VHL last year for similar reasons, I think it would be rather hypocritical not to do so here.
 
I'm thankful I won...just wouldn't have been me that I voted for.

2 VHLM Playoff MVP's and 2 VHLM Top Goalie's.
 
Geez..I could get used to this.  I need to do that in the VHL now.

2 Straight Playoff MVP and Top Goalie! Good way to go out.  (Although I do not believe I should have won Playoff MVP)  

I previously predicted who I thought would win MVP, Top Defenseman, Top Goalie and Playoff MVP.  Now that the season has finished and the award ballots are soon to be distributed, I want to take a look at who is likely to win some of the awards that people forget about.  Top Rookie, Top Two-Way Forward and Most Improved will be the three awards that I will look at this week.
 
67 – Top Rookie Prediction: Joel Jarvi (COL) – As a rookie defender, you are not necessarily expected to contribute more than a decent amount of points and perhaps some good physical and defensive statistics.  It can be a difficult transition, but it is one that Joel Jarvi made quite easily this season.  The rookie defender recorded 67 points (to lead all rookies) and 44 hits to go along with his very impressive 139 blocked shots.  While Jarvi is not necessarily the most physical defender, he was the most productive rookie offensively and also was one of the best shot blockers in the league.  While Tom Lincoln and LeAndre St. Pierre should provide some good competition due to their similarly solid offensive campaigns, it will be the strong defensive statistics that should get Jarvi the award.
 
331 – Top Two-Way Forward Prediction: Lord Karnage (STO) – This, to me, is one of the biggest no brainers of this year’s awards.  While Simon Valmount has received a lot of recognition due to his 406 hits, his weaker offensive campaign that concluded with just 64 points could really hold him back.  While we do feel he may have been the best defensive forward this season, Karnage’s combination of 331 hits (good for second among forwards) and 112 points (the best of all candidates) should give him the edge in voting.  It shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given that Karnage has won this award three consecutive years.  If he does win the Boulet Trophy for the fourth straight year, he will join David Smalling as the only players to ever do so in four consecutive seasons.  Additionally, he would join Smalling and Jenkins as the only players to ever win the award four times.  This will set up Karnage for a prime opportunity to win what would be a record fifth straight Boulet Trophy in season forty-eight.
 
81 – Most Improved Player Prediction: Jeff Hamilton (SEA) – This is another easy pick for me.  While there are other solid candidates like Phil Hamilton and Ariel Weinstein, Jeff Hamilton is the player that clearly demonstrated the most improvement from the season before.  Not only did he improve by forty-one points (40->81), but he also went from a -79 to a +8, and even improved his shot block total by twenty-four, despite being on a far better team.  More importantly, Jeff Hamilton went from a struggling young player to a candidate for the Sterling Labatte Trophy.  This is what the award should show; a player that has broken out into a star and one that will get a lot of award recognition for years to come.
 

Yeah it was a pretty healthy discussion.  Was a lot of miscommunication between some members in it so it was good to hash some of it out at least.
 
Then Sterling comes in with "banned" and we all shut up cause we have to pretend he is still relevant (I hope he can see this).