Scurvy

1. Read more 2. Girts Galvins 3. Davos 4. I think Moscow is just a tough team to beat. Lots of playoff experience makes them deadly. 5. eating too much and chilling with family 6. I think it would be pretty busy. Teams are in that window where there either all in or out now.

Its Christmas week and everyone I hope is having a very happy and relaxing holiday. It’s time for another week of some random things going on around the league (in about 500 words). There has been cool events and games and some people I’d like to highlight. So here we go. QUEST FOR 400 HITS: Davos tough guy, Vinny Detoit @dasbootposted earlier this week about his quest to break 400 hits this season. Needing 10 hits in his final game to break it he sadly got 8 (which is still great) ending the season with a massive 398 hits. Add to this he’s scored 30 goals and 209 minutes in the Sin Bin. A remarkable accomplishment that had him first overall in hits- 94 hits more than the #2. Detroit has 2513 hits in his career and should go down on the list as one of the greats at smashing opposing players. Congrats! VANCOUVER CAME TO PLAY The first round of the playoffs is upon us and I think to the surprise of everyone (except Vancouver) they have jumped out to a 3-1 lead over the Calgary Wranglers. The Wranglers are a perennial powerhouse of talent with the likes of Landon Wolanin, Daniel Janser, and Leandro Goncalves up front and Logain Ablar and AirRig GoodBrandSun @Rhynex Entertainmenton the blue line. I still would not count them out as if any team can make a comeback, Calgary can. But kudos to Frank and the Wolves for putting up some great games. SHOUTOUT TO SBA AFFILIATE LEAGUE Well… as if I am not busy enough, I signed up for the Simulation Basketball league and created a point guard. I just wanted to say I am lost as hell navigating that space as I was when I started in the VHL. I am hoping to not suck anytime soon but that is doubtful. Much different set up and for a not so savy computer person I struggle to learn how to complete PT and look at scores. I will say that it is fun and a great group of people, many familiar names from VHL are there too. DAVOS GETTING HOT AT RIGHT TIME Davos had a great season that showed many ups and downs. At many points during the season they were in first place, only to drop to fifth at other points. This is mostly due to the skill of the EU conference as a whole. But with such amazing talent they started the Wildcard round with a chip on their shoulder and rolled through a very good London club 3 games to 0, while only allowing 6 goals. They are facing a nasty Moscow Menace club that has deep playoff experience and know who to compete in the tough games. The series is tied 2-2 going into the Christmas break and I am exicted to see how this series plays out. Tough guy Vinny Detroit is leading the league in points (15) and goals (6). Both teams have exceptional talent in front and blue line and two All-Star level goalies so it can go either way. Best of luck everyone and happy holidays.

With the Christmas break upon us and the playoffs first round underway the Warsaw Predators have seen themselves jump up to a 3-1 series lead on the very deadly Prague Phantoms. After splitting game 1 and 2, Game 3 came out with a bang. Warsaw jumped to an early lead with first period goals by Bob Beach and Zach Kisslinger. That is when things got nasty. Silent assassin Girts Galvins dropped the gloves twice, once with Perry Laperrierre and once with Nils Goldlander. This livened the Phantoms up and after two quick second period goals they tied it up. A later second period goal by Brendan Marner (assisted by Galvins) let the Preds head to the locker room up by 1. Prague tied it up on the third and leading to a climatic overtime where the Galvins sniped a game winner and getting the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Game 4 was more of the same showing Payne and Laperriere trying to get at in the first and some trading of goals. Godlander sniped his fourth of the year in the first giving the Phantoms the lead. Girts Galvins showed why he is a playoff performer notching a goal and assist in the third period. Just like a story book story, Galvins AGAIN won the game in OT at the 1:27 mark! Amazing. Both Goalies should be commended as well with Wumbo making 50 saves in 52 shots and Wallob stopping 39 of 42. 4 points by Galvins in the win. I am sure Prague will make some adjustments and have shown why they deserve to be named as one of the best in the EU conference.

12

Yay

10

9. My fav number

Get it buddy!!! Congrats on such a beast of a player.

1. I hope so. Be nice to finish on top again. 2. Davos! 3. Not surprised really. We have amazing forwards who can put up numbers 4 yeah just a basic Christmas celebration. Family, food, and fun. 5. a Continental CuP!!!! 6. As this is my first player and I’m still majorly confused about depreciation I’ve started to bank now. Hope that’s right!

Howdy

With just a few games left in the season the EU conference is battling it out like crazy with four way run for first between Warsaw, Moscow, Prague, and Davos. The always deadly Moscow Menace are again and again at the top of the standings and have a real shot at winning the division. Amazing goalie in Papa Emeritus, some stud defense, and scoring threats in Nico Pearce and Tomas Sogaard will make Moscow a threat to anyone in the playoffs. Rival Warsaw has been flying offensively lately and in the last few games Wumbo and the D have played well. EU Leading 230 goals the Preds have relied on offense to beat clubs at the expense of D sometimes. The silent assassin, Girts Galvins has erupted on the scene and is a proven playoff performer. Great offense and goalie, the only question is can their defense step up for a deep playoff run. I think so (but I am biased) Prague was the club that I had picked at pre-season to be a real threat in the EU, and I was right. They have been lighting it up lately and are currently tied for 3rd in EU with Davos. Prague is super scary and can compete with any club. Such talent on the front end with Godlander, Kotkakoivu, Fire, Laperriere,and Jason. On D there led by Kovalchuk and Jokinen and in goal they are steady with Wallob. Davos has been super streaky as of late and had some tough losses that bounced them back in the standings a bit. They have been climbing and lowering the standings all season but have always remained in reach for first. With amazing talent all over Davos play is top notch and they have sone serious grit to deal with as well with Vinny Detroit and Jake Thunder. I feel that any of the above four teams could be the EU champ and its awesome to see such competition in the conference. Prediction: EU Cup champ - Warsaw.

Pretty impressive season buddy. Happy for you!!

7

So, another week has passed and there is a lot going on in the league. Some amazing point scorers, a stacked EU conference, a defenseman lighting it up, and a new PIM leader making a name for himself. So, let’s do episode three of Around the league in 500 words. EU CONFERENCE IS INSANE: As of right now, two teams in NA (Chicago and Calgary) are taking off from the rest with some amazing wins and huge numbers. In the EU there are 5 teams vying for playoff berths and probably 2 teams who could win the division. Moscow, Warsaw, Davos, Prague, and London are all making huge win streaks as the season comes close to an end. Most impressive has been Prague as of late. They have been putting lots of goals on the board and are #2 in goals scored in the EU. Excited to see it come down to the wire. Defenseman in race for scoring Title: I make it no secret I always root for the defensive players in the league. I would love to see a D-person with the scoring title once in my career. Bo Johansson @Shindigsis absolutely tearing it up for Chicago this season. He’s in 3rd place overall at 104 points in 68 games, 10 back from Baby Bob for #1. Unless something crazy happens, I don’t see him getting the #1 spot but huge shout out to him for an amazing season. I hope there are many awards for his performance this season and I secretly hope he still loses to Warsaw in the finals. LOL Sophomore Dman showing his toughness: The last two seasons have seen familiar names like Brian Payne and Vinny Detroit at the top of the PIM leader board. This season NY’s monstrous Dman Jared Carter the 2st has knuckled his way to the top and shows no signs of slowing down. He has an amazing 8 fights on the season with 5 fight wins! With 4 games left in the season he has a whopping 239 minutes in the sin bin and 276 hits, which is no small feat for a defenseman. Great season @jaredc7and I hope that Payne and Jared Carter can mix it up sometime, just don’t hurt me! SHOUT OUT VHLE Tough guy! Ok so I normally don’t cover the VHLE or M but I should. I wanted to offer a quick shout to Bratislava Watchman defenseman Womp Womp Womp Womp Womp Womp Jr (yes the name is correct) @AdamEssAdam. The S85 Malmo draftee (18th overall) has racked up 193 PIMs in 68 games and an amazing 300 hits!!! I want to tell him his name absolutely sucks in my effort to praise him but am afraid he might actually make me eat my words. I love giving shout outs to tough guys and thought I’d shed some light on Womp x5 jr. I hope to see him flourish in the VHL next season and maybe someone will knock an letter or two off his name next season so its easier to type!! LOL Until next time

Six down

5 for 5

Yo

Sad to see this one fall through! Would have loved having you with the Preds!!!

Hello

Love ya Frostbeard!!!!! You were always great to me during my time in Bratislava and the leave is lucky to have people like you here !! Best of luck and look forward to more time with you in VHL

3rd

$15 donation 8GT783094T042532C thank you

Love Day 1

So, my insane journey in the VHL for my first gen player started with me staring at the VHL forum on my computer trying to decipher what in the hell I was looking at, hovering over that “Create a Player” bar that seemed to be begging me to click it. I am truly, truly thankful that I finally got the nerve to click that create button and thus, Brian Payne was born. Signed as a free agent on the San Diego Marlins, his story began. However, even after creating this player I found my learning curve only heightened as I navigated the forum and capped vs uncapped TPE and how to earn it. Thankfully, there were other first gens struggling to learn and some veteran help. Our GM JB123 @JB123 was extremely helpful in navigating myself and other first gens in the finer points of the game and how to become beasts, if you put the work in. It was in Season 81 when I discovered (usually after hours of checking other team’s stats and box scores) how many great first gens would be in the S82 draft. Players like @dlamb, @Shindigs, @MubbleFubbles, and others who all had a huge influence throughout my career here in the VHL, VHLE, and VHLM. Also, playing in all three leagues taught me a lot and allowed me to meet some great new people along the way. After an ok season stat wise but great season TPE earning wise in the VHLM I entered the draft. I never thought as a grown man I would be so riveted that I saw at the dinner table with wife and daughter while watching Twitch on my phone to see the draft live. My wife and daughter just shook their heads wondering what could be so great about an imaginary sim machine and a created player. Same thing I wondered before I tentatively clicked that forum button to create Payne. But now I know just how great it is. Sadly, the S82 draft didn’t go how I thought it would. I knew who was going to be the top picks with players like Vasile Lamb, Bo Johansson, Cole Pearce @N0HBDY, and the best named player ever, The Board Game Clue on Skates. But it did hurt to see Payne drop all the way down to #26 to the Warsaw Predators. But I do believe things happen for a reason and no better outcome could have been scripted than me falling the Preds. Payne followed up with the VHLE draft a little better and went #20 overall to the Bratislava Watchman where I feel I learned the most how to build a player from the best student of the game and future Hall of Famer, Bo Johansson (Shindigs). He helped craft Payne into a better defenseman and continues to help me along the way as I ask stupid questions after stupid question to make my player better each and every week. After an early round playoff loss and max TPE earning the whole VHLE season I finally got my call up to the show where fellow S82 draftee Dlamb took me under his wing as I continued to build Payne to contribute to a club full of high TPE studs and rookie phenoms such as fellow S82 draftee Girts Galvins @Girts. Payne was able to raise the Continental Cup in his second year and a Victory cup in his third year. Payne won the Jake Wylde Trophy and Sterling Labatte Trophy in S85 and is hungry for more. So going from a man sitting as his computer hesitant to join this league, to late draft pick, to award winner and champion, this first gen is grateful to everyone who makes this league possible and competes every week to make this such a fun experience for all.