Thunder

This is another episode of Thunder’s wordcast for the podcasting impaired. Episode #4, for those counting. Although, I did get a nudge from Scurvy this week to actually try a podcast, but guess what? NO F-ing way. I still can’t go that route as much as I want to. Even with all the notifications coming in from Twitch to continue the podcast, its not happening this week. In this episode, the discussion will be awards predictions, VHLM, and if there’s time a traffic discussion as usual. The predictions are open and its time to place your winners on paper and lock it for the season, although you are free to edit until the predictions window closes obviously. As usual, I rely on smarter VHL players than I do, as an example, when I first got into the league, it was easy because I copied someone’s predictions, mostly because I didn’t know what I was doing and now that I still don’t know what I’m doing, I should copy a seasoned player, but I’m not. It’s time to put my big boy pants on and go rogue. It appears to be that Vancouver is a fan favorite to take the league this season, and I gotta say, listening to Tate’s latest podcast there is some validity to this prediction. But… when HC Davos wins it all you will wish you jumped on a different bandwagon! That brings me to some players on Davos who you may want to consider filling there names in somewhere, specifically Alex Johnston and Vinny Detroit. Expect Vinny to go ballistic in the playoffs and bring HC Davos to the championship. And regarding Alex, there are plenty of slots his name should be inserted, to include the top manager. Obviously Hard Markinson, Nico Pearce, and Papa Emeritus are likely to win awards, so you can’t go wrong with their names on the list. Some others you want to consider are Bo Johansson, Brian Payne, and Siyan Yasilievich. But hey, if you don’t care about your predictions then completely ignore the first part of this wordcast. Now for those few who have even continued reading this wordcast, you wonder what the hell you’ve been reading… Well, its the wordcast version of podcast controversy! The next controversy to be discussed is coming up with my take on the VHLM this season. With Las Vegas coming off a second cup, they can’t be dismissed as a three-peat. If you know Aces GM, you know that he is meticulous with his research and dissects the team’s performance game by game looking for ways to improve. You can expect the Aces to be in the running again, and for future discussions, you’ll likely see current AGM Top Tiddee 2, become Vegas GM and continue the success of the team considering Tiddee is currently being groomed by Shindigs. Giving praise to Vegas does not mean my prediction is that the Aces three-peat, because quite simply the Mexico City Kings are taking everything this season. GM Cole has done another amazing job picking some good draft selections and adding a couple of players who will dominate. Sorry Shindigs, you’re just not getting another trophy this season! The last discussion on this wordcast episode is traffic. I always get a kick out of Spartan’s podcasts while he’s fighting traffic in Jersey, I gotta try to make this wordcast as close to a podcast as possible, hence the podcast impaired. So lets talk traffic, even though I’m well over the 500 words. Let’s talk about the politeness of being stopped in traffic and someone trying to be nice by motioning for you to cross traffic. Well,,, to really get this you need to close your eyes and visualize two lanes of travel going north and the right lane is stopped. The left lane is open and cars are moving, but the idiot in the right lane motions for the car wanting to cross the two lanes and go south. And naturally, often times the driver crossing assumes the driver motioning for him/her to cross has given consideration to other traffic so the crossing driver steps on the gas. The driver crosses easily in front of the polite driver stopped in the right lane, and then as he/she enters the left lane traveling north, much to his/her surprise, BANG! He/she is T-boned by an unsuspecting traveler minding his own business. Shattered glass everywhere, the airbag deployed and airbag dust is splattered inside the vehicles, bent metal on the roadway and the southbound traffic is slowed. The northbound right lane has now opened up and the polite driver who initially motioned for the vehicle to cross traffic is now moving north in the lane and leaving the scene, onto the next intersection he can start a collision in progress. 811 words

1. Which NHL player wins the Art Ross this No clue. I’m in a pissing contest with the satellite company and refuse to bend and get the sports package until they fix my squabble. 2. What is your favorite CHL (Canadian Hockey League) Team is you favorite? Well, how about WHL - Everett Silvertips. If I have to say CHL, it will be any team playing against the Seattle Thunderbirds. 3. Which sport besides hockey would your player play? Football. Not soccer! 4. Which attribute are you intending on increasing during the season? I need to get defense to 90 and then I will work on the others for a while and then boost defense to 91 or 92 by season end 5. What is your favorite NHL jersey design and which year if you can As a kid, its Boston and only Boston. So I’d say ….. Boston. Doesnt matter the design! 6. Which VHL team has the best logo? Clearly HC Davos 7. Which race do you play in Fantasy games? Huh? 8. What is your favorite genre of a videogame? Intelivision 9. What was your favorite movie when you were a kid? Porky’s

Press Conference Week ending 09/11/2022 (Answer Questions for 2 Capped TPE!) 1. The new season is almost upon us. What would you like to tell your teammates about your player and how do you plan on contributing? 2. Having the top goalie in the league, what do you expect from Jeremy Swayman this season? 3. On a scale of 1-10 (10 being best), where do you rate GM Cole’s drafts, trades, and free agent acquisitions to put Mexico City in the running? 4. Which team do you consider as our biggest rival and how will we fare this season against them? 5. What is your favorite hockey team outside of VHL? 6. What is your favorite pie, and do you add ice cream to it?

G - David Davis @thadthrasher I see you’re drinking 1%. Is that cuz you think you’re fat?

D - Hari Singh Nalwa @frescoelmo up next

F - Ronan Lavelle @thadthrasher “You gonna eat your tots?”

D - Bo Johansson @frescoelmo up next

F - Baby Bob @thadthrasher you’re up. Vote for pedro

F - Alex Johnston @frescoelmo up next

Damn straight

Its time for school shopping and what better place to go than the Juan Ceson Arena Store. As Juan Ceson’s marketing agent, I’m here to report that all Juan Ceson items are on sale. Its a one stop shop for school supplies. I mean, what better could you be doing for your bright eyed new student than having him or her taking the steps of education wearing a Juan Ceson Champion Jersey and sporting a Juan Ceson backpack with the CBBE lunch pail as he/she walks the halls on the first day. If your student is not ready for the bling and flash of the Juan Ceson pro/am attire, just go for the more subtle granimal style of sportswear, with matching shoe wear. And if you’re looking for The Las Vegas Aces star enforcer private collection, you can always contact GM Shindigs for access to the VIP section. It’s well known that Juan Ceson draws numbers to the arena with his eccentric character and involvement in the locker room and he all but guarantees success to the Aces. Shindigs’ bold move by placing Toptiddee as AGM could be a genius move to continue to bring out the best in Juan Ceson. By placing the challenges for Toptiddee to keep Juan Ceson satisfied this season is the true test to determine if Toptiddee is ready to lead the Las Vegas Aces in the future. This article was completed for 2 TPE 244 words

Podcast Review 1 TPE This is a podcast review of Spartan’s latest podcast because I got one trivia question wrong, damn it! Sounds like you had a crappy time after vacation! The beginning of your podcast was typical Spartan form, you provide decent detail of what’s happening in your life. And then you jump right into VHL. Your review of Moscow opened my eyes because I was expecting them to be peaked by now and looking forward to Davos taking over top spot in the conference. I guess it’s a rivalry! You present your GM experience in a common sense approach and explain all your reasons for your team’s ability straightforward and reminded me of the talent on Moscow. As far as the draft, it sounds like you are going in behind the curve but I’m not so sure that you’ll wind up in a bind considering your experience in the league. You’re GM discussion was well done and you kept me interested as you talked about the potential new GM’s and then the progression to becoming a GM. Having the experience you have gives you the pedigree to be able to talk about the applicants with some value. One of the best things about your podcasts is dealing with the Jersey traffic! Cracks me up. Good thing you are doing your podcast when it happens because it probably keeps you from serious road rage. Since this is only a 1 tpe, I’m gonna stop here. The podcast is a great one, as always. I enjoy your podcasts. Score 10/10 259 words

$15.00 Donation Transaction ID: 71962204M4910530N Doubles week 5 Uncapped TPE $1M Player Store Cash

This is episode #3 of Thunder’s Wordcast for the Podcasting Impaired. If you haven’t figured it out by now, its because I am absolutely inept when it comes to creating a podcast so this is my feeble attempt at podcasting. Today’s wordcast may include the following: TPE attributes, Jardy’s podcast, Trivia, and a traffic report. I say “may include” only because I don’t know how long I will be talking (dictating) so some may be left out. Let’s begin. The new week started out with me trying to figure out what I would be discussing on this wordcast for my 6 TPE. Usually I have something figured out sometime on Sunday or when I first wake up Monday, but this one I was a little slow coming up with ideas. Instead of walking the dog for 55 minutes I decided to jump on the tread and got into a 30 minute run titled Swedish House Mafia. I didnt have a clue what it was but I figured it out quickly that it was a band and the run would be listening to their songs. But that doesnt really matter because I have the volume down on the tread and the TV volume turned up to watch Netflix while on the tread. Regardless, it was while I was on the tread that I came up with the first topic to discuss, TPE. Going into this season my goal is to get Thunder’s defense up to 90 and its not looking good considering all the TPE it’s costing. Just looking at the attribute cost and doing some quick calculating in my head, it appears that most of my earned TPE could possibly get Thunder up to 90, but in doing so he’d probably spend most of his time in the penalty box. Defense is in four attributes: PC .24 defense, .18 strength; DC .18 defense, .18 skating; DK .12 defense, .24 puck handling; BC .06 defense, .36 checking. With the current cost, its looking like it would take 21 TPE to increase defense by one, putting it all into PC. As far as DC goes, its 28 TPE cost to bump up D by one. The other two would take well over 40 TPE to bump up just one defensive point. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to get the other two defensive points if it will even be possible this season. Perhaps this will come up in another episode. The next topic in this wordcast is Jardy’s heckling podcast. I try to listen to Jardy every couple of weeks, along with Spartan’s podcast. Other than those two I often pick one just to get the 1 tpe for doing a review. I only have to do that when I get a trivia answer wrong. Jardy’s podcast is usually entertaining and informative. The dude can talk and he does it with ease which must make it smooth for him to do his TPE podcasts. On the latest podcast, Jardy straight up provided some interesting insights into free agency and options the GM’s have to pick up Poopy Peepants. Now, I’m only going to mention his discussion about one team and how I’m so glad that Poopy Peepants didnt get onto that team. That team is Davos, and its not because I wouldn’t want to have Poopy on Davos, but its because in order for Poopy to go to Davos, GM Alex would have probably had to trade away a defenseman and Thunder would have been the likely candidate. No offense Poopy! Thunder likes Davos and doesn’t want to leave. Anyway, the discussion on free agency and salary caps adds to the interest in the VHL and makes it quite entertaining. In addition to that, I’m sure it gives the GM’s more to think about and plan ahead and definitely explains why VHL GM’s need to be groomed and cannot just jump into such an assignment. Good luck Poopy, and please use that latest sign off as your official trademark. “Bye bitch.” Once again, the traffic discussion will not be on this wordcast because I’m getting close to 700 words and I got shit to do. “Later bitch.” 700 words

Bye Bitch!!

Press Conference Week ending 09/04/2022 (Answer Questions for 2 Capped TPE!) 1. Five of you have are currently on the roster. Are you looking forward to the season and will this be your final season with Mexico City? 2. If you were in charge of EA Sports, what changes would you make to NHL 23? 3. How much time do you spend on Discord in the Kings locker room each week? 4. When it comes to attributes, do you plan on putting more into scoring or passing? 5. This is year 16 of the VHL. When did you start and how long do you plan on being involved? 6. What condiments go on a hamburger to make it better? Where is your favorite place to get a hamburger?

1. With the draft being a few days ago, are you excited about Davos’ most recent additions: Karl Pedersen & Brayden Albrecht Solid picks and expect they will be contributing to our many championships coming up. 2. How did your player enjoy their off-season? Well, once the wife found out it was off season, she made a honey-do list so long that all I could do was get my work outs in and start whittling down the list of chores. 3. Which player (Besides you) do you think deserves to be captain this upcoming season? Napoleon Dynamite is my favorite player name. It’s classic. Vote for Napoleon 4. What number does your player plan on wearing this season? #22 5. How many points do you think you will get this season? Somewhere between 75 and 100 6. Are you interested in the new NHL 23 video game? Absolutely not unless they have changed things and I havent heard that they have. NHL 22 is lame and I completely lost interest. 7. If you had to choose a different NHL 23 Cover athlete, who would you choose? Radko Gudas, because he invented the Gudas hip check when he was playing for the Silvertips. 8. What is your favorite YouTube channel? I only look at YouTube when i need to find something and instructions on how to do it. 9. Which (If Any) Hockey Youtubers do you watch? I dont. Should I?

HC Davos has accomplished one of the best transactions for the team this season and will likely put the Dynamo deep into the playoffs. Davos GM, Alex, recently acquired Riga star winger, Alex Johnston, in a fair trade. Johnston was a nemesis against Davos last season to include the playoffs, and almost kept Davos from advancing in the playoffs. Johnston is coming off a stellar performance with the Reign. On offense, he’s an even keeled player contributing an equal number of goals as assists and will likely spark the offense of the goal struggling Dynamo. Offense is not Johnston’s only attribute. His athletic ability gives him a solid advantage in the strength category as he punishes opponents and punished his opponents over 200 times last season. When word came down from management that the team was picking up Alex Johnston, there was a frenzy of excitement on Discord and many comments included predictions of HC Davos making it to the championship. It’s going to happen! 167 words

Hace cuanto tiempo esta en Mexico, Juan. Quieres jugar al hockey en tu nuevo arena? Y, entonces estas El Capitan por Los Reyes de la Ciudad de México, puedes preguntar por todo tu quieres. Pero, Shindigs irá muy triste si tu no regresas a Las Vegas. !Pobre Shindigs! Como se llama su caballito nuevo de la Ciudad de México?

1. Were you happy with your performance in The Regular Season? I was hoping that I contributed more. I was happy we made the playoffs and when we get to the championship this season I will be really happy. 2. Which is your favorite VHLM Team? Since I’m AGM for Mexico City, I’d have to go with the Aces!! 3. Which song motivates you before game time? Freebird 4. Which is one aspect of your game you hope to improve before next season? Defense 5. What do you think of the new VHL Champions, The Warsaw Predators They got lucky they didnt face us in the playoffs and when we play them this season, I’m going after Brian Payne. 6. If Connor McDavid was a VHL player, what do you think his skating Attribute would be? Almost as good as Duncan Idaho. 7. What is the Best Fight Scene in a Movie? When Ellie Mae Clampett kicks the shit out of Jethro Boudine. 8. Who is your favorite Movie Character? Kate Del Castillo. She’s hot. Oops character…. Whatever character Kate Del Castillo is playing! 9. Who is your favorite Actor? Rodney Dangerfield

Welcome to the 2nd episode of Thunder’s podcast for the casting impaired, a written monologue meant to be heard on Twitch podcast, but by someone who has yet to manage to accomplish such a thing. On this episode, the discussion will encompass a couple things. First, I will talk, (write rather) about my recent recruitment efforts while fishing in Alaska. The second topic will be a sensitive discussion about the Warsaw Predators enforcer and my prediction as to what the upcoming season will have in store for Brian Payne. And of course, if there is time, I will finish off with another traffic scenario; however, I’m sure by the end of this podcast, or wordcast as I should call it, no one will be reading it anyway. The recruitment opportunity began last Tuesday when I received a call from my brother that he needed help fishing in Alaska. I wasn’t keen on the idea of leaving five days later to spend some time away from the comfort of my sofa and the convenience of navigating through the VHL forum multiple times a day, to encounter the rough weather and rocking swells on a boat, considering that I’m still recovering from a knee surgery. At any rate I accepted and started packing, but thoughts popped up about being able to complete my TPE earning to continue to build my player. It was then I decided the next wordcast would be covering recruitment, as I tried to recruit on the last fishing trip to BC as well. The first day on the water I sized up the opportunity with the captain of the boat. He is a hockey fan and actually enjoys going to games on occasion, but it didn’t take long to scratch him off the recruitment list since it would be highly unlikely he’d have any time to get on line at all, let alone spend time earning TPE. The three other fishermen on the boat were definitely potential targets until I got to learn a little more about them. After a couple hours of slaying salmon and halibut, while talking to them I discovered that they were probably part owners of an NHL team so I think they would find playing virtual hockey on line beneath them, leaving day one on the boat unsuccessful. On Day two, there were two new targets on the boat and they fit the profile of being potential VHL players. At least my idea of a potential VHL player. The only problem was that we were way too busy to spend any time discussing hockey while hauling in 80 pound ling cod and throwing back 200 pound halibut because of stupid slot laws. That brings me to day three, when the two targets from day two were still on the boat for another day of catching fish. Lucky me, we had caught our limit of salmon, halibut, and rock fish by noon and were headed back to the lodge. I had two hours to discuss VHL hockey and took the opportunity to bring it up. One of the two was definitely out of hearing range as he had been hurling all morning due to sea sickness, but the other one was engaged in the conversation and was interested. Everything fell into place; he worked from home, played video games, and liked hockey. I gave him the VHL address and he may be playing in the next season. All in all, it was a successful trip and other than me getting my TPE done late, things went well. On to topic #2. It’s been a while since I have trash talked Brian Payne and his championship team Warsaw Predators. I figured its time to bring it up again and stir up the rivalry in hopes that eventually Thunder and Payne go toe to toe. In the end, I’m pretty sure that Thunder will go down like a sack of potatoes but it’s going to be fun if and when it does happen. Before I end this wordcast, I’m going to try to stir up some shit and challenge Payne to a season of animosity and rivalry. Bring on the Payne Train because Thunder will shake it up! Due to being well over 500 words, the traffic topic will not be discussed in this wordcast. Stay tuned… 723 words

Press Conference Week ending 08/28/2022 (Answer Questions for 2 Capped TPE!) 1. Mexico City is getting ready for the next season and GM Cole is busy scouting new players. What do you have to say to the new players who might be coming to the team? 2. Were you surprised with Warsaw Predators winning the VHL this season and did you follow the championships? 3. What do you plan to do with your TPE this season and are you focused on moving out of the VHLM? 4. Are you in this coming up draft and if you are, where do you think you will go? Who has interviewed you? 5. Mexico City needs a goalie and defenders. Who do you think Cole should pick first? 6. Would you accept one million pesos (you are on Mexico City), but you would have to give up hockey for life. That includes playing, watching, simulating, and even talking about hockey.

It’s playoffs and since HC Davos didnt was eliminated, I have a gap in my virtual hockey life, so I decided to take a quick trip to Alaska and do some fishing next week. Unlike the last fishing trip to BC, on this trip I will be surrounded by a group of potential hockey players and will be pushing to recruit someone into the league. For whatever reason the last outing seemed like it was a geriatric festival and my quest for bringing someone into the league was limited to only a couple fishermen. I think about half of the group wouldn’t know what a forum is, although I’m not one to talk considering my first computer was the Commodore 64. Here’s the plan. When I get to base camp, I’ll spend about an hour or two listening and learning who’s who and what they are all about. I will have at least 10 potential league players and if I can isolate the one most likely to join, I could probably feed off that one to get others to join as well. This might even be the perfect time because I can show the potential targets, uh players, the VHL and what its all about after a long day fishing, when they are tired and their brain isn’t functioning at 100%. That way if I say something wrong or describe a technical issue, I might sound smarter than I am. The only thing that could put a hamper on my plan is, well there are two things… Bears and No Internet! 263 words

1. Well our season has come to an end, what was a highlight of the season for you? The highlight was before the season started and the GM made some great moves to pick up some stud forwards. It made it exciting to anticipate a great season. 2. What team would you like to see win a Continental Cup the most? HC Davos. Who else? 3. What are your players goals for the offseason? Continue to add TPE 4. Who was our team's MVP during the last season/playoffs? Vinny Detroit. He’s a beast 5. What is one area that we need to focus on this offseason? TPE 6. How have your playoff predictions gone so far? Not so good!

Another week and another failed attempt at a podcast. If anyone is keeping track, I think I am at 5 or 6 weeks in a row, maybe more. You see, I wake up on Monday mornings, and say to myself, “myself, today’s the day to do a podcast.” Well, today I actually made it further in the process than I have thus far, but nevertheless, I failed again. I just cant keep things going on and on talking without stopping. When I stop I either have to keep it or delete it. Every time I end out deleting. That leads me to today’s discussion. This is a podcast for the casting impaired. Who knows, this could be a routine, like all you podcasters. Episode #1, and so on… Today’s podcast for the casting impaired, I will discuss lane travel/road rage, the VHLM Founder’s Cup, free agent Juan Ceson, and the Las Vegas Aces GM Shindigs. If this was a legitimate podcast, it would be at least 15 minutes, but since its for the casting impaired, it will be over 500 words. There’s a legal U-turn for left turning at a major intersection near my house. It is for traffic turning north from the eastbound lane, giving them the option to turn back west to get back to the freeway or the local businesses. The problem arises when the southbound right on red traffic decides to turn west at the same time the U-turners make their moves. It dicks up traffic completely because the idiots making the right turn forget that they must yield, and when they don’t yield, it snarls the left turn traffic and often times causes the signal to turn red with few cars making it through. But, the worst part is the impatient right turners who blast on the horn when the front right turner is actually yielding to the U-turners. The trickiest part is if you are second in line and the number 3 car is doing the honking but the number 1 car thinks its you! Needless to say, there has been a few times of disgruntled drivers waving the middle finger. The next topic is the Founder’s Cup. The Las Vegas Aces wasted no time in taking the cup home for the second year in a row, and doing so with such dominating fashion. Halifax played respectably losing by only 1 goal in three out of the four losses, and losing by 2 goals in the other loss. Yet, the Aces, stacked with talent, never let up and put in the goals needed to get them over the top in each game. Las Vegas has proven once again to be a powerhouse in the VHLM. This leads me to the next topic, the Las Vegas Aces captain, Juan Ceson. If you have followed the Aces, you would know that Juan Ceson is one of the main reasons Las Vegas has won the cup two years in a row. Ceson, is a diminutive figure on the ice who explodes with power and grit and causes havoc to the opponents. His leadership brings dominance and encourages teammates to step up and play beyond their capabilities. For all those GM’s in the VHLM, if you can offer Juan Ceson something more than what Shindigs can offer, you better do it now because he won’t be a free agent for too long. Not only is Juan Ceson the leader on the ice, he’s also the main focus in the locker room, leading to the next topic. If you are ever challenged by Shindigs to play chess, dont accept the challenge. Shindigs knows two, three, four, and five moves ahead. He’s a genius in the VHL, and winning two cups in a row has proven that he is a very good GM. Whether its his drafting players, choosing a team captain, or encouraging players to earn TPE, Shindigs has got it all and does everything effortlessly. He recently opened up the AGM position and although I haven’t seen who it is yet, I’m sure he’s selecting someone who can follow his lead as Retoslav did for two seasons. Whoever it is, will probably learn the ropes from Shindigs and become quite the GM when given the opportunity as a Shindigs protege. There you have it, the podcast for the casting impaired. Episode #1. 730 words