Daniel Janser

Callum was on his way back home from practice. The heavens have opened and it rained, fit to float an ark. When he drove through the forest leading to his adobe, he noticed a stalled car in the dark. He pulled over in order to check on the driver. He knocked on the driver side window and an elderly lady rolled it down. 'Ma'am, are you okay?' 'Yes, dear. I just have a flat tire and unfortunately my cell phone has run out of batteries. Would you lend me yours so I can call the towing company?' 'Ma'am, if you have a spare tire, I can change it for you.' 'In that pouring rain? I could possibly not accept such a favour from you.' 'I insist ma'am. It is my pleasure to help you out. Just stay put while I jack up your car. I just go fetch my headlamp, as it is rather dark.' So Callum jacked up the car, removed the flat tire and put the spare one on, all the while merrily chatting with the lady. She then asked: 'Son, how can you be so happy while changing some stranger's tire in this deluge?' 'Why ma'am would the weather change if I was grumpy and miserable?' The lady smiled and said: 'No. No it would not.' 'So what purpose would it serve then to be sad about something I cannot change? My Dad always told me to accept what I cannot change, and to change what I can to the better. So by replacing your tire, I change something for the better. And the work goes smoother with a smile on my lips.' 'Your father raised you well and he must be proud of you.' 'I will let him know next time I speak to him. So you are set to go. May I suggest to go to the next gas station and replace the tire with a new one? It looked a little old and worse for wear when I put it on, but it should take you safely into town. God speed.' 'But I do not even know your name and I wanted to make it up to you.' 'There is no need ma'am. But if you want to do something in my stead, please offer whatever help you can to others in need. That is reward enough for me, if any was needed. I will drive behind you now, to make sure you get safely into town.' Later, when he drove back to his lodgings, he was already planning what needs to be done on the taxidermist's house next.

I am neither, it just to me gives the wrong message. If everyone is welcome, why point out a specific demographic? Isn't it more inclusive to just do not say/advertise anything and just treat everyone the same (within reason obviously)? In my opinion a default state does not need to be advertised. Inclusivity is the default state of the VHL and hence does not need to be advertised. After all, you do not have a sign next to a lake which states that same contains liquid water (well in the US you might do that ;)) Or another example: If a parking spot is labeled with the wheelchair sign, is someone ablebodied free to park their without consequences? Or are able bodied people just suffering from 'acknowledgement issues' as well, for the feeling to not be welcome at such a parking spot?

Take my hand and we'll make it, I swear

Normally those flags are territorial, i.e. hoisted in the country they represent. There are even laws in place which regulates which flags can be raised as well as when and how. Having said that, National flags to me are different from 'ideological' (for the lack of a better word) flags (even though they can intersect sometimes). Other times if you are an expat for example and raise your flag in a foreign country, everyone under this flag identifies with same (but not the neighbours). If the VHL (which I am part of) flies the LGBTQIA+++ flag, which I do not identify with (but nonetheless accept other peoples preferences), it can create a disconnect with the community you consider yourself a part of.

Okay my controversial take on this: Which colour of this LGBTQIA+++ rainbow stands for the 'straight' people? If there is none, would that not suggest (and I know this not to be true) that rainbow people are explicitly welcome, but we do not extend the same courtesy to 'straight' people? Does it not signal exclusivity rather than inclusivity if (perceptibly) the red carpet is rolled out for one demographic, but the others are not mentioned? If you see a restaurant or a shop with a sign 'Swiss welcome', and you happen to be not Swiss, do you feel welcomed? I think our community is welcoming any kind of people from all walks of live, don't get me wrong, but we are with or without (virtue)-signalling it by a flag, which only represents a minority of people. EDIT: Having said that, I am with Beketov on 'blind-sided' take, i.e. I did not realize that the VHL logo was rainbow coloured, until Ruutu brought it up.

We had lunch the other day and he said he won't for the time being as he is very busy in his job.

The unsung heroes of the VHL It is theme week again and this season it is all about being 'FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY'. Instead of picking a specific player, I will go with a whole branch of invaluable players in any given team. The depth defencemen. They hardly ever win any individual hardware, as there is always the one token star defender, orchestrating the powerplay and making fancy end-to-end transitions. While the stay at home defender anchors the defence and shoulders the heavy burden to make their own ice an interdiction zone. Checking, shutting down plays, checking, blocking shots, checking and digging out pucks in the corner is their bread and butter. They generally play hurt, are underpaid and overworked, yet they never complain as they are happy to be a part of the big show, realizing that they are, due to their limited talent, replacable. But are they? As @JCarson mentioned in one of his many read-worthy articles (link below), the defensive defencemen are the working horses of any championship team. They may go below the radar of most of the broad public, as their offensive stats are in general nothing to write home about. Alas the coaching staff know exactly, that a good offense wins the league, but a solid defence wins you cups. I will of course use the example of my younger brother for convenience's sake, but feel free to enter the name of a stay at home defender of your personal preference. (Thanks to @Ricer13 for this amazing sig) Marcel managed to backstop two franchises to a Continental Cups in a relatively short five year VHL stint. One was with a franchise, who was bound for glory as they were dominant in the NA conference for a while. But the second one, he took a team on his broad shoulders, who never won a playoff series before and carried them right through the goal line. One could argue that the second cup was even more impressive than the first one. He never had a negative +/- at the end of a season and was around half a point per game. He was a little above one hit per game but where his bodywork really showed was in the shots blocked. Almost twice per match he got hit by a fast travelling hard rubber disc. And yet he would never get an individual award nor likely get to be introduced in to the Holy Hall of Fame. And this is the fate of many hard working, yet offensively limited backs, who can be relied on on holding down the fort, when everyone else in the line has momentarily forgotten how 'back checking' is spelled. They are the ones helping the netminder out, when there is a 3-1 break away, when people change lines in the most inopportune time, or generally the shit hits the fan. They get the blame if despite their best (and sometimes heroic) efforts, the other team is successfull. Behind closed doors, their names are given, if forwards are asked, who they do not like to play against. It is the number five and six defenders, who hound the forwards down, constantly breathing down the neck of the opposing star players as soon as they enter their territory. They make the stay in the defensive end as nightmarish as they can get away with it (and sometimes beyond). And aspiring goal scorer better keep their heads up when they get into the danger zone. Because these hard men and women take no prisoners and there is nothing these fearless warriors like more than to show a stuck-up poster boy or girl, who's boss.

Thanks for the review, I always appreciate feedback on my articles to make me a better writer. As to your justified question about the title graphic: This is my second player (my first one was Daniel Janser). My brother and I joined the league together back in S80 and I soon started to write a series of articles under the label of 'a tale of two Brothers' which were of course Marcel and Daniel Janser. And back then the graphic matched the protagonists. However, the brothers retired in S89 and I roleplay it that they are hockey pundits writing for the news paper (in real life, I cannot do graphics and Leandrofg, who made this amazing 'letterhead', is very occupied with RL events).

1. Not at all. We have a well balanced squad, with most of the players regularly updating. If we can sustain that we are golden. 2. The dice finally following for us I would say. Sometimes you lose games for no reason (well except Simon T.) 3. I do not think that I have. Need to do this asap. 4. His physical play is amongst the best in the league. 5. I go to both places, but like the fries better at BK. So BK it is. 6. I prefer winter, as I can deal better with the cold than with the heat.

Graphic courtesy of Leandrofg The Saskatoon Wild have played 36 games and show a 22-10-4 record for their efforts. This is good enough for third place in the Western Conference and fifth in the league. For a stretch of ten games the Wild were unbeatable, however the last couple of games were a mixed bag, with losses following wins and vice versa. Janser has developed into a defensive Behemoth, being in the top three for checking and time spent in the penalty box alike. We will look into the last game Saskatoon played. 2-4 In a clash for the second place in the Western Conference, the Saskatoon Wild met the Las Vegas Aces. The Saskatchewan franchise bested the Nevada based team 2-4. Neelson with a double-take won the first period for the Wild. Jec then raised the stakes with his marker for the 3-0 lead. Eight seconds later, the Aces cut down the advantage to two goals again. In the final period, Las Vegas scored a goal early on and were looking for the equalizer, before Schwarzer (who has been phenomenal since their trade to the Wild) delivered the dagger with less than two minutes to play. Not enough time for the US equipe to turn the tides again. The three stars were awarded to Neelson (2g/1a), DingDong (0g/2a) and Janser (0g/1a). In Saskatoon's crease, Reed (.905) showed Vidarsson (.862) how it is done. The Saskatoon's rather meagre eploit on the power play (0/2) was backed up by an immaculate performance of the penalty kill units (5/5). Callum left the ice with a 0g, 1a, +1, 4 hits and 3sb Our correspondent Jean-Luc Lieuxperroux was able to meet with the Calgary native after the match for some comments. JLL: 'Callum, half a season is through and Saskatoon is holding on to a playoff spot. Are you happy with the standing?' CGY: 'Well, it is certainly a good thing to be in the race for the post-season. But we are not where we wanted to be yet. We expected to be ahead of Miami at least, due to their stretched out defence, however somehow they manage to win games. We also have to look at our own game. Our special units are not cutting it, power play as well as box play is eighth of the league, which does not match our standards.' JLL: 'But that does mean that most of your goals come from even strength which is the majority of time spent in a game.' CGY: 'You are not wrong there. However, if you are given a chance to act with one player more, you need to convert about 25% of those chances. This could tip the scales in your favour in a tight match. The same is true for the penalty killing, just inverse. One should be able to kill off 80% of the opposition's power play, if you want to see long term success. Otherwise you will end up losing games, which you would normally tie or even win, when you take some penalties. Having said that our PK is at 82.95%, which would normally be decent. Alas this season seven teams are even better than that, with Mississauga at the top with almost a 9/10 success rate on the short handed play. On the flip side, Miami has the strongest power play, converting one out of five opportunities, whereas we managed only a success rate of 15.15% on the man advantage.' JLL: 'So it seems everyone is very close on those metrics.' CGY: 'That is indeed the case. It is details which win you matches and/or Cups, though.' JLL: 'Are you happy with your individual performance so far?' CGY: 'I could do with taking less penalties, but I suppose my physical play style is detrimental to the statistics. On the other hand, my production is better than I anticipated and Rin and I close the door most of the times. So overall I am not unhappy with my first full season, but there are a lot of areas where I need to improve. Take my skating for example. It will not stand the test in any higher league and is certainly something I will work on.' JLL: 'Thanks for these insights, and good luck for the rest of the season.' CGY: 'Thanks for having me.' Here are Callum's stats for the season: 36gp, 6g, 15a, 21pts, +14, 54 PIM, 122 hits, 50sb, 1gwg, 1ppg, 2 First Stars distinctions We will revert with news on the Swiss back in due course. In the meantime, why not reading some of the previous articles linked below? https://vhlforum.com/topic/137991-cgy-janser-scouting-report/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/137981-callum-gareth-gary-yannick-jansers-rocky-road-to-professional-icehockey-a-biography/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/139981-the-cgy-janser-story-part-i-draft-day-first-matches/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/140256-cgy-janser-finding-a-new-home/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/140297-the-cgy-janser-story-part-ii-one-fourth-over-a-fellow-draftee-analysis/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/140374-cgy-janser-putting-in-the-elbow-grease/ GM 170: Las Vegas Aces vs. Saskatoon Wild (vhlportal.com)

Hey Cookie, So SelonianViking (aka @FrostBeard) finally made you join this cult community. Now you have to only pick a franchise you want to play for. Frosty is with the Mississauga Hounds, I play for the Saskatoon Wild. But I think there are amazing people at the helm/in the locker room everywhere, so choose to your heart's content. If you need help, just let me know. I am happy to get you started... Welcome to the show, Daniel EDIT: Oh I have just noticed that you have already declared for Mexico. Otis is a good person, I know him from the Calgary LR

@vincentlg2007

Probably the one of your works I like the best. Not necessarily because of skill (as you display same on every piece I have seen so far). But for the sheer originality to take a member's obsession with love for an animal and turn it into a hilarious piece of art.

Did I not predict that? https://vhlforum.com/topic/139968-trade-bait/?do=findComment&comment=996808

your players get points depending on their performance in the sims

Alread closed now keep your eyes peeled for the S91 edition. Sorry

It was an exhausting practice and Callum had the impression he did not improve during the passing drill. Maybe his dad could fix him up with one of the most prolific passers of his generation, Bo Johansson. The dude was dishing pucks left, right and center. But this is a topic for next off-season. There are more urgent issues to tackle. He noted that the front porch of the house he is living in has some rotten boards and it won't do to break an ankle by stepping through one of these. So he will get to the local lumber yard and get some 2x4s for the deck. Being a maritime engineer, he prefers teak, but any sturdy hardwood will do. And while he is at it, the garden shed needs some roofing, so he will get shingles to replace the broken ones. Luckily, the roof mat is still water tight. He hates working with tar, he always makes a mess and ruins the respective clothing. He is so glad that he did not buy some tiny car as he intended, but acquired his trusty, spacious Ford pick up truck. He named her 'Eilidh', after a distant cousin of his, on which he may or may not have had a crush. And after the sun sets, he will have a look at the ideas his gramps has had for upgrading his yacht, the 'Chancer'. Let's find out whether the old man is being realistic or whether he is outright delusional (or anything in between for that matter). Yes, Callum has his work cut out for him for today, but he does not want it any other way.

And here I thought you will showcase same much played, somewhat incomplete Clue The Board Game (with or without skates).

1. not as good as expected, but we will get there. 2. I think within what could be expected of a stay at home defender. 3. I never thought of that. I think someone who is active and performs reasonably well. 4. Just our struggle at the beginning of the season. 5. Ireland would be nice or Scotland. 6. As I do not follow a diet, every meal is a cheat meal (or none, depending how you look at it).

yeah I only went with the player list on the portal, thanks for pointing out will correct it.

Graphic courtesy of Leandrofg Callum has played twenty games in the S90 for the Saskatoon Wild. The Canadian team is still behind expectations and made some moves to round out the roster. The Swiss defender looks like on track to repeat his production so far. He even has a game winning goal to his name already, which he was not able to do last season. However, his more notable progress he has made is in his defensive abilities with more hits, better +/- and more PIM. This is not very surprising, considering the extra sessions he has had with Phil 'The Rock' Johnson during the offseason. In the interim, Callum has found a new home some 25 minutes outside Saskatoon. He has bought a car as well and is planning to do some renovation on the taxidermist's home he is sitting during their absence. We also will look at one of the Calgary native's strongest competition for the number 1 spot in the upcoming S91 entry draft: Grimgor Ironhide. Grimgor is rocking the league with Mississauga. He is leader in goals, assists and obviously points. It should not come as a surprise that he is in the forefront of shots taken, +/- rating, game winning goals as well as hattricks and is top five in hitting to boot. The question is: what is this player not able to do? Well, from reliable sources around the brass in Mississauga we hear that Grimgor is a locker room pest. Figuratively and literally. His demeanour is... rough on the edges we have been assured (in other words, his communication is conducted at the noise level of a starting fighter jet) and his mood is inconsistent (which means it swivels from irritated to outright killing spree). We also hear that his foul breath is one of the reasons why no-one on the team is getting closer than three feet. His body odour is fit to melt stainless steel. One of the players (who for obvious reasons wishes to remain anonymous) has been quoted with: 'I do not believe that Grimgor's iron hide has been voluntarily been touched by water since he was a little green spore in the Badlands.' This still does not take away from the indisputable talent of the Black Ork chieftain, and we could see a rebuilding team taking on the power forward as a first overall choice. Other candidates are Greenland forward Thor Reingaard, Manx defender Sunset Moth and Center Spanish Moon Moth (the latter two have already played with Janser in Mississauga last season). These three players have all chosen to play in the VHLE (Vasteras for Reingaard and Bratislava for the Moths). All of the above vy for the number one spot in the upcoming draft. Other realistic top picks include San Diego's Leif Reingaard, Mississauga's Toby Kadachi, Miami's Lionel Collberg, Callum's team mate in Saskatoon Joshua Schwarzer and Mina, who earns their pay in Mexico City. Cal-Gary's stats are as follows: 20gp, 4g, 6a, 10pts, +6, 26 PIM, 62 hits, 22sb, 1gwg We will follow up with news as soon as same are available. https://vhlforum.com/topic/137991-cgy-janser-scouting-report/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/137981-callum-gareth-gary-yannick-jansers-rocky-road-to-professional-icehockey-a-biography/ https://vhlforum.com/topic/140256-cgy-janser-finding-a-new-home/

I like vintage pickups and muscle cars. It is unreasonable, they are fuel guzzlers and inferior in many ways to European cars. But I still like them.

@FTK