AIM-11

When did we change to the Boston Bruins fan club?

This post made my processors jiggle.

Cool beans.

So, just to clarify. I don't have to do anything at all, and all of the old folks who actually know the history of the league will do a bunch of work. Then I get free TPE?

Seriously though. After being a parent for almost 10 years now. Spend time. I figure I've only got another couple years left before my daughter no longer thinks I'm awesome and switches over to 'I hate you' mode. We eat supper together every night, and I spend a lot of time with my kids in the evenings and weekends. I am on the ice for speedskating with them, take them hiking, and attend as many of their events as possible with work. Before I know it they will be moved out and have lives of their own. This is the only real time I will have to instill values in them.

Okay so I was wrong. You guys are clueless...lol

9 year old and a 6 year old. Parenting is the toughest but best job around!

So no serious suggestions then? Some of you guys should have some excellent suggestions here I would think.

Thanks, I had no idea.

Seriously? That rarely works in Version 2. Is it viable in Version 1?

Greetings STHS Gurus. My experience for years now has been in Version 2 of the STHS sim, particularly at the GM level, where I have been able to win Championships with subpar rosters using my skills settings lines and strategies. Version 1 is not something I have had to use in a really long time and my line setting skills are pretty rusty currently. I know that some of you guys are stellar at setting lines in Verison 1 and I was hoping I could use the VHL Hive Mind to give me some tips on how to set my lines. I am the Edmonton Oilers in this league and my roster is here: http://echl.simhl.net/pro_roster.php?team=9 My team is nothing special as it was a total mess when I took it over this summer. I have been able to add a number of decent pieces during free agency, and I feel like I should be able to get some decent results out it now. I would be interested in any kind of feedback people might have based on the current roster. Thanks in advance!

Is It Time to Start Pushing Forward to Version 2 of STHS The VHL has long been known for its ability to be flexible and make changes when it makes sense to do so. Filled with a high number of creative and tech-savvy individuals, the VHL has never shied away from making the tough decisions that were required to push forward with progress in the league. The one big exception to this is the unwillingness to move to the newest version of the STHS Simulator - Version 2. Making a huge change in the sim version is not something to be taken lightly, and thus far it has been communicated that there are too many issues around version two, to seriously consider the move. The Board of Governors last word on this issue was: So that's that then right? Perhaps. However, let's take a step back to reconsider. The Pros 1) Advancing to Version 2 would create much more diversity in player types and builds. Three new stats would be introduced with the newest version of the sim in place. Endurance, Durability, and Penalty Shots would all allow for a much deeper and broader selection of player types that could be built in the VHL. With more places for points to be spread out it would allow for a larger spread in the types of players that would exist in the league. Diversity is a great thing! 2) Advancing to Version 2 would challenge GMs with new strategies and tactics. Many of the GMs here in the league seem to have running a team and setting lines down to an art. Version 1, from what I understand, has less depth to the decisions that need to be made by the GM. Ice time, team strategies, and less positional flexibility not only handcuff GMs in the decisions they can make, but also remove some of the potentially fun GM aspects that are available in Version 2. The Cons 1) There would be a shift in the types of stats and games that the league would see. For many people this is too big of an issue to even consider moving forward to Version 2. The newest version has a touch more randomness, more variation due to GM decisions, and would be near impossible to recreate the types of seasons that the VHL is used to having statistically. Old records, historical stats, and past seasons would be relegated to the history books as "Pre-V2". For some people this is simply unacceptable. 2) Greater GM involvement may lessen the role that players have in determining their own success. While giving GMs more of a role in selecting line, devising ice time strategies, and determining linemates, it could mean a lessening of the amount of power that the player has in controlling their own fate. One advantage to having less flexibility at the GM level is that the players have a bit more control over how well they do, by focusing on a few specific stats that will always be important in the sim. If there are less stats, and less decision outside of their control, then the players have a bit more power. So Why Bother? The old adage, "Don't fix what ain't broke", could easily apply here. No one can blame the league for simply staying put with a formula that has operated for 40 seasons with considerable success. Obviously the fear of minimizing VHL History is a real issue for many people, but it could also be seen as a chance to turn the page to a new chapter in VHL History. It is unlikely we will ever see someone score 50 goals in 39 games in the NHL ever again. The rules have changed, the players have improved, and goalies actually stop shots now. However, even though the statistics and records are different these days, the NHL is a wonderful league with great personalities and it is constantly creating its own new history. The VHL need not fear a new step towards Version 2. It could be exactly what is required to bump up interest even more beyond the levels they are at today!

In a recent game in Oslo, a fan was injured by a puck that missed some of the back netting, bounced off of a girder high up in the stands and then landed on an infant who was brought to the game. Startled by the falling puck, the infant cried and the man holding the infant, who was doing so because his wife was going pee, yelled. His yell startled the little boy next to him who was holding his dad's beer and the boy spilled the beer on an extremely fat man in the row in front of him. The man turned around to fight the boy but due to his obesity related heart condition he suffered a heart attack and fell backward onto the row below him and crushed an old lady's cat who had been smuggled into the arena. As a result of this awkward tragedy, the VHLM has put forth a few new safety proposals for games. 1) Personal bubble wrap for all patrons 2) Virtual pucks instead of real pucks. 3) Players will now stay at home and sim all games on the internet. 4) Fat fans will need to pass through a special doorway that will entrap them if they weigh too much and send them sliding to the basement where they will be trapped until the end of the game. 5) Pets will be allowed, but only if they wear fan clothing. Hopefully these new changes will make for an improved safety level for all patrons of the game, should they come to pass.

Based on my robotic web scraping spiders analyzing data for the past 3 hours, I can say with 89% certainty that you would do well with sex toys for soccer moms.

How did I get 0 points in that game? My scoring button must be stuck. Recalibrating . . .

I was told Russian Machine Never Breaks.

The current teams don't even have full rosters. Expansion seems like a strange option. Probably just looking for ice girls.

New VHL Members Face Uphill Battle when Trying to Wade Through 40 Seasons of History One of the biggest challenges that face new VHL members, is finding a way to access and use old historical data in their Media Reports. A big advantage to using Graphics as a Point Task for the Week is that, while they take a very specific skill set to carry out, they rarely require in-depth historical research. On the flip side, being able to to write a well-researched Historical Media Article can be a real challenge for new members. Recently, I attempted to write an Historical Article on some players from Seasons 11 and older. This turned out to be a struggle as the old website was littered with broken links that led nowhere, or lists of players names that I had no connection to as well as no understanding of who they were. In the end I gave up on the task, and forfeited the chance to make double TPE for the week. A shame, though an experience that I am sure I was not alone in. The question then becomes, 'What can we do to help new members in this area?' The biggest thing that could be done would be to create, and organize, a dedicated Historical area in the forums. This already exists, to a degree, with the VHL Hall of Fame, as well as access to the old website, and Links to older seasons. For that, the VHL should be applauded. However, as someone who has had a couple players here in the past, but never really been connected to the larger community of players, it can be a real struggle finding ways to connect the dots with all of the older data that is kicking around. There are a couple possible ways to improve this. 1) Create a Forum space entitled 'Historical Data' This area in the Forums would take some work to set up. The Links that already exist would need to be checked and confirmed that they exist. For those that don't, it would be helpful to create a little Write-up on the specific Season with key highlights, or important players. This way, new members would have a way to quickly, and easily, check to see the bullet points of VHL History. 2) More of a focus could be placed on pointing new players towards the older data When a new member signs up, the focus of their Articles is almost always about themselves. This is not a bad thing in and of itself, as it allows new players the chance to sink their teeth into what the league offers, and how to find their place in it. Inevitably, there comes a time when narcissistic writing begins to wear on a person, and they will want to start looking elsewhere for their writing muse. A document, or a video, that clearly laid out how to do VHL Historical Research, would be an invaluable resource for new members who are struggling to find ideas for Articles. This would take some serious work, but could go a long way towards keeping new members connected to the league. New members are tiny little fish in an ocean of 40 VHL seasons worth of history and inside jokes. Feeling like you don't understand the lingo, or the history, is a normal part of joining any new community, but if we can find ways to ease that feeeling, we can go a long way towards keeping out newer members connected to the community for a much longer period.

Though China and Switzerland have had very little to do with one another historically, the times appear to be changing, thanks in part, to the VHLM. The VHL Minor League team based out of Brampton, has come screaming out of the gates with an impressive start, and the top line duo of AIM-11 and Yannik Zug, has been a big part of that. Right Winger Mikko Koskinen has also been a massive part of that top line. The Chinese Hockey Robot, and the Swiss Winger have been seen spending more time in public lately. The Mirage Bar and Lounge reports that AIM-11 and Zug have been racking up exceptionally high bar tabs over the past week as they celebrate their winning ways together after the games. While Zug seems to enjoy the hookah's available at the Lounge, AIM-11 is more partial to cracking the code in the VLT's that are available for patron use at the lounge. Zug has been quite the hit with the ladies in Brampton, even the ones that have all of their teeth! As for AIM-11, rumour has it he has been getting a little bit of attention from IBM's new female voiced supercomputer - ISABELLA - and the Manitoba Papparazzi have been doing their best to catch the two of them together. The results of all of this great teamwork between these two players is that Delegates from both China and Switzerland, have been working closely together to try and connect the banking and computing industries in the two countries. One delegate from Beijing commented: "If our robot and Swiss player can play so nice with each other, we think we can work closely with the Swiss government to try and come up with an incredibly well done Computerized Banking Service." While the connection between hockey and foreign relations seems an odd one, it appears to be enough for the two countries.

3-1 Americans

Muete Eagles Legion Reign

The month where all the cool kids dress up and get hammered at parties even though they make fun of people dressing up at Comic-cons etc. I like to call it Hypocrytober

Can players collect cards? Can they purchase packs of cards? Can they trade cards with other people? Did you read the entire article?

Is there a future in VHL Trading Cards? The early 1990s saw a massive explosion in the trading card industry. Tears were shed over Pat Falloon Upper Deck hockey cards, while fists were thrown over Jose Canseco Dream Team cardboard. The glory days of O-Pee-Chee cranking out print runs of 10,000 or more cards made those years some of the most memorable in sports card collecting. The result, much to the dismay of everyone sitting on complete sets of Pro Set, is home after home filled with worthless collections of cards that were purchased for way too much money. That being said, there is something to be said for the smell of a piece of bubble gum tucked neatly between a checklist and a Martin Brodeur Rookie Card. Finally, trading for that last card to complete your collection, or pulling that super rare foiled Stanley Cup card, injects the human body with hormones that are similar to cocaine. Is there a way for us to create that same excitement here in the VHL? The Possibilities Imagine, for a moment, VHL-themed digital cards that could be collected by VHL members each week. With a simple post in a 'VHL Trading Card' thread, a member would receive their digital pack of cards and hope to complete their Season 40 Toronto Legion list, or possibly pick up a complete set of 'VHL Greats'. Using a random number generator, some creativity, and some of the league's superb digital art skills, the VHL could create a line of Digital Hockey Cards that could be collected, traded, and tracked. Completing an entire set would take serious dedication, perhaps even involving spending salary money on buying new packs of Digital Cards, instead of upgrading their own player with that money. Tack on a little bit of luck, as well as some great negotiating skills to try and make trades to get what you need, and this could become an obsession for some people who love this sort of thing. One of the great things about this idea is that there are now an almost endless line of players, teams, stats, and card ideas that could be created if the idea were put into place. Fusing together the excitement of card collecting, with the creativity of VHL members woud create a new league activity that could get people really excited! The Challenges There are a few massive hurdles to pulling off an ambitious project such as this. First, being able to create hockey cards of every VHL player (not to mention every VHLM player) is a huge undertaking. Even just creating cards for every ACTIVE VHL player would be a big task in and of itself. The "sets" would need to contain enough cards to make collecting them all a real challenge, and doing that would be a burden for the more graphically oriented members of the league. Add on past season, current VHLM members, and any other ideas that are out there, and we're talking about the potential for hundreds of cards at the outset, with a possibility of that each and every season. There would need to be some incredibly talented and ambitious people to make it happen. The second big challenge would be the fact that much of the old data is either inaccessible, or difficult to navigate through. I had originally intended this article to be an historical point task for double points this week, but after hitting broken links, dropbox accounts that led nowhere, and other similar difficulties, I was finally forced to give up on the idea. Gaining access to old stats is a challenge even for the old farts in this league, and basically out of the question for newer people, or people who were not around in the old days. Conclusion While I personally would LOVE the collector aspect of this idea, I also could not create a graphic if there was a gun pointed at my head. This idea has some potential, but would likely be too difficult to pull off even if the end result was amazing. However, I am open to being proven wrong.

As the next VHLM season begins to rub the offseason sleep out of its eyes, the beast that is the Brampton Blades hockey club is starting to also arise. GM Tfong had relatively little work with at the draft and the Blades are not exactly filled with all star prospects at this point in time. However, they do boast a few solid players. First, right winger Mikko Koskinen. Koskinen played for the Blades last season and the rookie posted 11 points in 31 games, but also boasted a strong +25 on the season. Koskinen is emerging as a strong scorer and skater and will be doing some serious hefth lifitng for the team this season. Taking the spot as robotic pivot on the team's second line will be AIM-11 - who will be hoping to have a strong full season with the team as he continues to work on his own skating as well as training hard to become a top faceoff man in the league. A trio of later round draft picks are also going to be pushing for some minutes on as the team as Goaltender Kristers Duagavins, winger Yannik Zug and defenseman Jack Harkness, are all just starting their training and the jury is out as to their future in the league. Fan of the Blades know that this year is mostly a development year and expectations are low. GM Tfong is hoping to develop a strong work ethic among his players and graduate several of them to the big leagues in the future. If the team can get extraordinarily lucky and make the playoffs then that is simply a bonus!