Thunder

Pure Talent!! Nice Job.

Graphic Review Not sure where the problem is? The logo looks great to me. I zoomed in to find anything wrong and I couldn’t. It looks like a logo that has been stitched onto the jersey. Give yourself more credit!! The signature is great. The name at the top left with Bo and Johansson overlapping appears to be intentional, or if not then it was overlooked. The blurred background is blurred enough to make me want to look deeper into the picture to see what is there. And then of course the eyes staring really help to bring the blurred background together so its not an image that is in parts but all flows together. Wish I had talent like that. I’m not sure what you could do to improve this other than playing with the fonts and spacing, but then it comes down to the artists preference. Great Job!! Review score 10/10

Damn good read. Who knew you were this smart? Why didnt you tell me about this sooner. I found it by accident looking around trying to get familiar with the site. Keep it up scurvy.

The battle of the VHLM leaders was action packed and full of hockey excitement. The Western Conference Leaders, Houston Bulls, faced the Eastern Conference Leaders, Philadelphia Reapers in a scoring duel. In the end the Bulls topped the Reapers 6-4. Bulls winger, Ivan Retoslav, scored the first goal 7 seconds into the game on a deflection by Phoebe Bridget’s. The Bulls continued to attack the Reapers goaltender, Red Gaming, and got a 2nd goal off a power play 5 minutes later. D10 was called for hooking which led AirRig GoodBrandSun to catch a free puck off a Hammer Voss shot that missed the net, and GoodBrandSun popped it into the goal to give the Bulls a 2-0 lead. Nine’s goal midway into the period expanded the lead to 3. Adora Happysmile Rainbowfist made a nice pass to Diabetic Cheese, but Cheese lost the puck and Nine retrieved it and took a quick shot on goal getting it by Gaming. Philadelphia got the game back within 2 goals when Chickeli Cholo shot a pass from Budnik Dangle, slipping it by the Bulls goalie, Ali Des Aves. Later in the period, Hammer Voss shot on goal, missed the net and hustled to get the puck back and shot again this time putting it into net. The period ended with the Bulls leading 4-1. The Reapers came back from the first break with an attitude, scoring 3 goals, but it wasnt enough as Houston rebounded with 2 of its own goals to make it 6-4 after 2 periods. Budnik McDangle, Chikeli Cholo, and Bob Chicoine scored for Philadelphia, while Ayomide Ayodele and AirRig GoodBrandSun scored for Houston. The referees were whistle happy in the 2nd period, handing out several minors to both teams. Both teams had solid penalty kills as no goals were scored off the power play in the 2nd, unlike the first period when Houston picked up two of their goals on the PP. A shout out to the goalies, Red Gaming and Ali Des Aves, who stopped all the shots in the 3rd period, giving Des Aves the win. Reapers Chikeli Cholo picked up the 1st Star, AirRig GoodBrandSun was awarded the 2nd Star, and Ammon Tutankhamun earned the 3rd Star. Both teams face off again in game #167, which should be just as exciting.

Podcast Review I have listened to only a few podcasts and I really enjoy them. This was a 30 minute podcast and it went by very quickly. Tate speaks well and at a good pace. There is no doubt that he is honest with his words as the fist topic was heavy. It is so sad to lose a friend and although it was not mentioned how but the discussion of drugs led me to believe that was at least a contributing factor. Later in the podcast Tate answered a question relating to his child and what he would want for his child. I liked the reference to skating. Tate also talked about a variety of life topics, which were once again said with honesty. Tate must have been in the league for a while because he was familiar with several retired players and had no delays explaining things about them. One of them mentioned was the answer to a trivia question, but not that he knew it was a question. Tate also talked about his player, Fuhr, who is a goalie for Mexico City, and is maxed on TPE. It sounds like he looks forward to the draft and will have several TPE to add to his player when he is drafted. I have not researched goalies much, but after listening to this podcast, I plan on checking out the goalies and seeing what they are all about. Right now I only care about one goalie, and that is the goalie who I am playing defense for!! I learned some interesting things about the VHL and who is the favorite right now. I also think that I got a better idea of how things go in the league after listening to this podcast. Tate remembered who was top when he started in VHL and what other teams dominated since he has been in there, so it sounds like there is no dynasty which stays on top for years, which is good. There was discussion about meta, and that went completely over my head so i dont have an opinion on that. Lastly, the singing…. Well I have to congratulate him for having the gonads to sing and I dont anticipate him singing during halftime at any super bowls!! Overall score 8/10

To Claim: Go to https://vhlportal.com/players/playermgmt> Claim Capped > Type > Press Conference 1. While we're still 7th in the standings, we currently rank 4th in the form table over the last 10 games and are 3 points off of being in the top-half of the standings, do you think we can get in the top half before next week's press conference? Piece of cake!! We have Pete Mitchell scoring like crazy, Patty Twist is a machine, and E man has put up good numbers in a week. Doesn’t matter who we play, we are gonna win. I hope!! 2. If there's one thing on the site you would like to get better at doing, what would it be? Figuring out how to get points! I have the basic ones down, but I gotta figure out how to score the trivia points. I think I spent 30 minutes searching for the answer to one of the questions. Got it wrong!! 3. The Superbowl was this weekend just gone, if your player played in the NFL, what position would they play? QB. Played it and know most about that position. 4. We had a close call just recently, nearly losing Patric Twist, how happy are you to still be playing with a player of his quality? Ecstatic! I was shocked to read you had to let him go and was instantly bummed because he’s solid. So good to know he’s staying. Dont let that happen again!! 5. If we were to make it to the finals this season, which team would you like to meet the most in the final andwhy? It doesn’t matter who we play in the finals. I’m new at this and something tells me you have everything dialed in and know what youre doing. We will bring home the trophy. 6. What is the best sandwich filling? Ham, salami, lettuce, pickle, onion, tomato, cheese, with a little splash of oil and vinegar. Can never go wrong with a Port of Sub #4.

The Ice Legend answers questions, leaving Bo Johansson in stitches. Johansson stopped by the Las Vegas Aces arena for the sole purpose of finding some dirt on his teammate, Brian Payne, only to leave with a new appreciation for both Payne and the legend of ice resurfacing, Rico Zamboni. It was rumored that Zamboni sat with Johansson for hours talking about Brian Payne’s start in hockey and it morphed to the VHLM, E, and the L. Zamboni remembers the first time little Brian Payne put on skates and grabbed a stick for his first tiny tot skate and puck lesson at the young age of 3. Brian thought he was skating in the championship as he navigated around the older kids. Zamboni chuckled as he described little Brian’s endurance, or lack thereof, “The kid had a lot of heart but his engine just didn’t go long. That kid had two speeds, full speed and sudden stop. And let me tell ya, when that little kid stopped, he used the wall.” Zamboni reminisced that Brian Payne wasnt even out of diapers and he could skate better than the 8 year old kids on the ice. To which Johansson asked jokingly if Payne was 7 at the time. Zamboni laughed and then reminded Johansson that Brian Payne is one of the toughest kids he’s ever seen skate and he follows him in the VHLE. Johansson agreed that he has seen Payne lay some mean hits on the opponents and hopes that as Payne further develops his skills, goal scoring will be one of them. After about 3 hours of talking hockey, Bo Johansson thanked Mr. Zamboni for taking the time to chat and Rico promised to give Bo some more dirt on Payne when they meet again. Zamboni went back to work resurfacing the practice rink. As he drove his namesake along the ice he turned up his headset to listen to the VHL game between the Seattle Bears and the Warsaw Predators. As the play by play went on, Zamboni recognized nearly all the current players. At 84, his mind is still sharp and his memory quite well. He’s always liked Hulk Hogan’s talent with the puck, both shooting and passing. Hogan didnt disappoint Zamboni during this game as he earned the 2nd star with a goal and 3 assists. Zamboni commented how easy it is for Hogan to get assists when he passes to Vinny Detroit, the 1st star of the night, scoring 3 goals. Zamboni finished the practice rink just before the final buzzer that gave the Bears a 6-3 victory over the Warsaw Predators. Zamboni uses an I-POD to listen to the VHL podcasts, as he only recently got his first cellular phone, a flip phone with no wi-fi capabilities. His favorite podcasts have a little bit of humor and a lot of information. Zamboni takes the information he picks up from the podcasts and passes it along to anyone willing to listen to him. He recommends all players in the league listen to the podcasts as they hold so much value to navigating the forum, building the player, and all sorts of other tidbits. As far as the humor, Zamboni will pause the podcast and laugh out loud as he remembers the discussion. He sometimes wonders what he would sound like on a podcast. Zamboni is an honorary member of the VHL as he has traveled the world resurfacing the ice for many teams, and showing new drivers how to get the ice ready for the talented VHL, E, and M players to show there skills. He volunteers at the Las Vegas Aces facility but accepts opportunities to resurface the ice from multiple GM’s throughout the leagues. He plans on heading to Oslo soon where he wants to see the Oslo Storm goalie, Wumbo in action. After Oslo, Zamboni plans on spending some time in London.

Podcast Review When I started listening to this podcast, I wasnt sure what to expect, and I gotta say you guys are awesome!! The podcast was over 50 minutes and you tied it all into a good learning moments for me, even though for you it was probably more like a sit down and shoot the breeze session. All newbies should listen to the podcast. As a review, here are my highlights. NOHBDY and Sam must know each other quite well as they fed off each other and made sense out of their topics. It was interesting hearing about the new hires and different GM’s, along with a few funny tidbits about trades, etc. The awards topic was interesting, especially when you explained about why the awards were named the way they were, even if you pronounced Nagy wrong! The topic of game reviews was pretty good and you are probably right that most recaps are of VHL games and not VHLM. I am now going to do VHLM recaps. Sam, the pet competition sounds like it could be fun. You must have a fear of spiders by dropping the “F” bomb when you mentioned tarantulas!! I hope we get TPE from this competition!! NOHBDY, the final guest on the podcast had a lot to offer and I continue to learn from this guy. How much time is spent by Spartan doing this league? There is definitely a lot of work that goes into this by several people. This being my first exposure to something like this, I have a lot of interest in all of this and hopefully I will someday have a good understanding so that Spartan and others arent having to write mail telling me how I did it wrong. But, everytime I dicked up, I have been helped and it has been made right. Thanks for presenting what you presented today. It sounded like you had fun doing it and has gotten me more interested in doing a podcast someday. Score 10/10

Game Recap Warsaw Predators v Prague Phantoms Game #142 The Warsaw Predators dropped to 5th place in the European Conference of the VHL today, but not without a good showing from the fan favorite Chicken Wing. Chicken got the crowd roaring right off the puck drop when he five holed the puck underneath the Prague Phantoms goalie, David Davis just 28 seconds into the game. Kisslinger made a nifty saucer pass to Wing after receiving the puck on his stick from Marner. Minutes later Chicken Wing stuck a leg out causing Phantom player Baby Bob to hit the ice on his back but got up complaining to the refs that Wing high sticked his breast. Wing was fried from the call and boiled over spending the next two minutes in the cage. Tempers flared during the first period allowing the Phantoms to take the lead scoring two goals midway through, until Kisslinger tied it up to take it into the 2nd period. Darth Kaprizov scored the only goal in the 2nd period giving the Phantom the lead and what turned out to be the game winner. Warsaw battled hard but couldn’t recover and allowed two more goals in the 3rd period giving the Phantoms a 5-2 victory. All three stars went to the Phantoms, Kaprizov, JaredN Jr, and Its Gucci, respectively. Even with the loss, the Predators team came back on the ice with their heads high for the kids “Skate Night”. The whole team stuck around for over an hour signing autographs, especially Wing, as every kid got a free Chicken Wing jersey. The top defender has always been a crowd pleaser. Warsaw takes on the 5-8-5 Seattle Bears next, while the Phantoms tackle last place Chicago Phoenix in their next contest. Both GM’s are looking for wins. Game Recap 2/2

Lots!! Next week for another 6 TPE!!

$15.00 donation Transaction ID 1609-1815-6855-7301

Rico Zamboni has plenty to about the Las Vegas Aces. Named after the ice resurfacing vehicle Rico rides daily to prepare the ice for the VHlM powerhouse team, led by GM Mubbles Fubbles and AJWllmsn. Rico has been scraping the ice for 35 years, and has developed a relatinship with the players, managers, staff, and even the crowd on game nights. Rico’s electric smile and cheery disposition is only a part of his character. At the prime age of 84, Rico says he will retire when he’s dead. His real name is only known to a few in the front office, and he likes it that way. Over the years, anyone else who may have known his true identity referred him as Rico Zamboni for so long, they have forgotten. For several years, there has never been a mention of his birth name, and everyone just refers to him as Rico. It’s unknown if Rico has any family in Las Vegas, or if he’s ever been married. When asked about his private life, he quickly changes the subject. Its all about the team he says, as he rattles off stats from 25 years ago, showing off his mental acuity. The players enjoy Rico just as much as he enjoys them. Rico is straight with every player and has been around so long the coaches accept his advice with ease. He always seems to know what is going on with every player. He recently sat Hugh Johnson down before a team practice and read him the riot act. “You’re not putting in the effort, kid. What’s going on?” Johnson admitted he could spend more time making the effort, and things looked good as Johnson’s TPE jumped by 6 points giving him an opportunity to get some minutes for a brief set. Johnson scored a goal, but then seemed to have lost interest. Rico thinks Hugh Johnson has other things on his mind right now and is too busy to put in the effort. Rico has been impressed with several Aces players recently. Patric Twist is one of his favorite. He calls the high scoring defenseman one of the best he has seen. “Number 1 pick” is Rico’s prediction, referring to Twist’s status coming up. Rico said Blake MacTavish is a solid winger along with Rustyov Dusterov. He called CDS Leb another superstar winger and looks forward to following his progress in the VHL, but not until Leb takes the Aces to the championship. Rico gave shout outs to several other Aces players during his social hour in the cafeteria, to include Pete MItchell for racking up 4 points in the game against Mexico City. He likes Star’s skating and passing, along with his strong defense and told Jake Thunder to look to the senior d-men for some guidance. He mentioned Quinn Clark as being an up and comer. Rico gave several praises to Aces goalies, Travis Clark and Cory Evans, saying “These two guys are the first on the ice and the last to leave.” Rico Zamboni has no enemies, other than the opposing team, but only while they are playing against the Aces. Once the game is over Rico wishes them all the best. A recent skirmish involving a Bratislava Watchmen defender by the name of Brian Payne left him in stitches. “Fake News” was all he could repeat when he read the post about Payne’s perception of what occurred. Rico retold the story which has since been verified by the Las Vegas Metro Police and hotel security. It was Brian Payne who was inebriated on white claws and chocolate martinis, and if it weren’t for some Las Vegas Aces players stepping up to pull Payne away from an angry group of junior Macarena dancers, Payne would have likely been dancing and singing soprano with the entertainers. Luckily for Payne, he was allowed to catch the next plane back to Slovakia. Rico Zamboni can be seen at all the Aces practices and games, and has offered to answer any questions you may have. Take the opportunity to learn more about Rico Zamboni by replying to this thread with any and all questions. He may reply with humor or he may reply with some stone cold facts, but he will reply.

Game recap - Game #106 Moscow Menace v Toronto Legion The Menace started off quickly with a nice goal coming less than two minutes after the drop of the first puck. Paul Atreides made a nice pass to Hard Markinson, who found Sergei Preobrazhensky (common spelling), on the back door. Sergei deflected the puck into the upper corner leaving Toronto goalie Oskar Lindbergh spread out flat. Wattson Power made it 2-0 on a nice power play goal. Cadmael Ixazaluoh brought Toronto to within 1 early in the 2nd period and Jakob Brozik tied the score on a power play just before the halfway point of the second period, after Hard Markinson was called for hooking. Moscow took over the lead at the 18:20 mark on a power play. The Seabasstard put in his 11th goal of the season on a spectacular Duncan Idaho pass. The Menace lead didnt last long in the 3rd period, as Armani Calamari put in the tying goal. The Legion crowd erupted in protest when Jannik Nylen got called for a controversial holding minor, giving the Menace a power play. Zdeno Chara put in the game winner off the power play to give the Menace the upset victory. The first and third stars were awarded to Toronto, Cadmael Ixazaluoh (1 goal , 2 assists), and Armani Calamari (1 goal 1 assist); while the 2nd star was awarded to the hard hitting Duncan Idaho (2 assists, 12 hits). The 7-7 Moscow Menace travel to HC Davos for their next match, while league leading Vancouver travels to the 10-4 Toronto team next, surely to be a contest. Game recap #1

Press Conference - Week Ending February 13 (Answer all 6 for 2 TPE) To Claim: Go to https://vhlportal.com/ > Player > Manage > Claim Capped > Type > Press Conference 1. With a 6-6-2 record and 7th in the league, what can we do as a team to put us in the top half of the league standings? As a team, we can all contribute to the build up of our players by trying to maximize our TPE. Then we put our faith in the GM and AGM to give us the best chance of winning with the lineups. 2. How has your player performed after the first couple of sims? Im not completely sure. I dont plan on being a scorer and hope to contribute the most with defense and helping with the team getting wins by being solid on D. We have some scoring studs which is great, so Im sure we’re gonna do better. 3. What has been the most exciting part of the beginning of the season so far? Being on the team! I find all of this exciting and look forward to the games and see who won. Then I check the standings and then I check the stats. Then I spend time trying to gain TPE before the next games. Also like checking out other teams and how they do their TPE. I’ve spent a huge amount of time trying to find out how all this gets determined. Whoever created this is a genius! 4. Did you watch the NHL all-star competitions/games this weekend? I loved Zegras' "dodgeball" breakaway challenge goal. Watched the puck shoot on the water for a bit and then watched the semi final and finals the next day. 5. I am currently eating scrambled eggs, what is your favourite type of egg to eat? (Scrambled, over easy, sunny side up, etc.) My favorite is cooked in an iron skillet with bacon grease. Splashing the grease over the top of the egg gets it white and cooked and tastes good!! 6. How was your weekend? Lots of yard work and chores. Put in LED lights in garage and in office. Spent a whole lot of time checking on VHL to see if I could add TPE. Tried to make another graphic, but screwed it up, again!

Jake Thunder +10

I think that I can do a review on this podcast, but I dont want to get out of this window to find out and then never be able to go back into this so I’m doing a podcast review on this so I can earn some TPE. OK, first, I listened to about 30 seconds of a podcast and it was someone getting in their car and driving. I got out of it. Then today i was on discord and saw that you did a podcast so i clicked to get to it. When you first started about BOG being taking a sh…t, I started to laugh and think all podcasts were a joke or something, and figured hell I can do this. But then I got to listen to what you were really talking about and I tried to take notes as fast as I could. I’m going to respond on two or three of your topics, but I gotta say that this podcast was amazing and I’m going to look for more. I learned a lot about this VHL stuff during your podcast. Thanks. Here goes. The bog issue with stacking points and having low tpe in passing but high def and scoring makes so much sense as something that needs fixing. It seems like an easy fix and you hit the highlights of suggestions with keeping points within each other or maxing on certain categories. I wondered how the games were simmed, and I now have somewhat of an idea and want to look into it further. As far as topic #2, new players getting offered spot right away, I can respond only from my experience. I signed up two weeks ago and navigated through the sites and tried earning tpe and dicked up multiple times before the draft. I watched and listened to the draft and was looking forward to being selected. I turned it off to go work out and when I got back home I wasnt drafted but had an offer, and then another, and then a third. It made this thing really enjoyable and gave me a drive to get TPE points and be involved. If I had an offer as soon as I signed in, I’m not sure I would have made much of an effort to dig into this game and try to figure things out. I probably would have looked at it like it was another app game and not challenging. Hope that make sense. Topic #3, career points and challenge points…. It is nice to be able to get extra points doing things, and I agree that making a one time 1000 word review or something in the beginning might not give the proper prospective of the player. I’m sure you all making decisions have some good ideas and can keep us all interested in earning TPE, so please keep fresh ideas coming and make things happen. OK, I’m done with my review. I’m not saying all this cuz you’re my GM!! I wrote this because what you said made a lot of sense and I’m going to listen to other podcasts that hopefully will give me more knowledge. I think this is awesome. If I gotta do a score on your podcast, 10/10. Thanks.

No problem, as long as you stay awake from my white claws

2nd Review by Thunder Game 14 Recap Chicago Phoenix vs Los Angeles Stars The Los Angeles Stars put up some impressive stats in game 14 of the VHL against the Chicago Phoenix. Stars excited the crowd with 79 shots on goal, which is almost unheard of on the ice, with 6 of those in the net, beating the Phoenix 6-2. Henri le Massif put in the first goal on a sweet back hand from a nifty pass by Jan Hlozek. Chicago tied the game a minute later when B-Chi C2 snuck one by the Stars goalie Rara Rasputin, on a power play. The Stars dominated the second period with 3 goals, to include 2 by Tui Sova. Stars shot at the Chicago goalie 35 times in the 2nd period. Chicago looked like they wanted to make a game out of it coming out strong in the 3rd period when Sportsboy57 displayed his stick handling skills stealing the puck and skating on a breakaway towards the ready and steady Rasputin, only to have a tricky toe drag puck lift slide one by a stretched out Rasputin, bringing the crowd to a dull roar. The game stayed at 5-2 until just under 2 minutes remaining when Jan Hlozek deflected the puck into the net. The goal started with Tui Sova who caught the pass master AJ Williams on a back door putting the puck on his stick. Williams faked the shot and slid the puck right to a waiting Hlozek who buried it into the net.

Game 9 Review. Miami Marauders vs San Diego Marlins The Marauders came out shooting, putting in the first goal at the 4:02 mark. San Diego dominated the remaining of the first period scoring 3 goals, making for an exciting game. At the first break, scoring leader Igor Molotov told his line to step it up which proved to be the catalyst to get the Marauders even with the Marlins going into the 3rd period. DJ Fire Dragon kept the puck out of the net giving the Marlins the edge after Justin Adolfsen put in the game winner early in the 3rd. Controversy at the 17:36 mark had the Marlins crowd going as a holding penalty appeared to create a power play for the Marauders, but a simultaneous hooking penalty on the great jr, put the teams at 4 v 4, for the next two minutes leaving only 24 seconds with a full team but the Marauders couldn’t pull it off. The three stars rightfully went to the Marlins. Landon Wolanin picked up the first star, Eric White the second star, and a fan favorite Babushka got the third star. The teams face each other in Miami for game 12. Its sure to be a tough rematch. 1st game review by Thunder

Thx for the advice

First graphic submission after several attempts. Thunder shows off his Las Vegas Aces jersey. Whoever thinks earning 6 tpe for presenting a graphic is easy, they gotta be talented!! This one took multiple attempts, using a variety of software programs only to be unsuccessful. Finally…. Got a photo out of it in Motion, but only to learn the file is too big!! Got it down to 1.2 mb and was able to email myself and send it as a small file to get it below the 354 kb size allowed in this thread. Unless, i did it all wrong!! Open to suggestions. Thx.

Location:Ontario Player:AJ Williams Pronouns:He/Him Posted 1 hour ago Press Conference - Week Ending January 30 (Answer all 6 for 2 TPE) To Claim: Go to https://vhlportal.com/ > Player > Manage > Claim Capped > Type > Press Conference 1. Would you rather: Hold every possible stat record your heart desires but never win a cup, or, win multiple cups being an average player with no records? Let’s win cups. That’s my preference. Individual accolades comes when a team is doing great. Otherwise what point is there to be on a team. 2. How has your week/weekend been? Anything new? Any upcoming plans? Still learning this stuff. Couldn’t figure out how to get a graphic in. Only 315 kb allowed, or something like that. Now I gotta work on a tiny graphic I guess, or make it a link, which is less likely!! Other than that, another busy week at work. 3. What is your favorite genre of music? Easy. Rock. Lynyrd Skynyrd is my all time fav. I listen to other genres but always come back to rock. 4. Another would you rather: Lose an arm or lose a leg? Neither. I know thats the easy way out, but either loss requires adjustment and a frame of mind to overcome the obstacle, and then you have to ask, below knee, through knee, above knee, hand, elbow, shoulder. All this gets factored into a decision. 5. What is your favorite season? I love summer with my birthday and the warm weather. Summer is by far my favorite because of the sun, water, and warmth. So much more to do in the summer. 6. Make up a nickname for our GM, @MubbleFubbles. It doesn't have to be related to him at all. My nickname for him is Big-T since he's constantly drinking tea. Know nothing about him, other than what I’ve read on VHL, and know he’s committed to the team. So I’m giving him the nickname “El Patron”

I like the innovative idea of making it a screen shot as if it were a selfie. It captures the imagination of the viewer and gets the person thinking. My first thought was how easy it would be to do this, but when I tried mimicking the screenshot with a photo on my phone I couldn’t get it. There are two things that stick out to me. The square focus box highlighting the reason for the title of “smile” and the blurred fans. Not sure if you did that or if it was taken that way, but good job!! 9/10

Jake Thunder - Junior Review It’s official, the farm boy from a small town northeast of Portland, Maine, has broken all barriers and is headed to the powerhouse of the VHLM Las Vegas Aces. “My dreams have come true,” said the excited new star to the league, Jake Thunder, as he waived to the group of fans congregated near the gravel parking on Lake St George, in Liberty, where Thunder first learned to skate and play hockey. The fearless defenseman shattered the record book growing up in the minors and majors of youth hockey, earning a spot on the New England Junior Hockey Tournament, which is where he was first noticed by the GM of the Las Vegas Aces, AJ Williams. Thunder impressed the coaches, players, and fans with his speed, defensive prowess, and puck handling. The pass master led the tournament with 21 assists helping to lead his Maine team to the championship. Opponents were held to less than 1 goal a game on account of Jake Thunder’s defensive skills, strong checking, and quick skating. His powerful slap shot got him 4 goals, including the game winner in the semi-finals against the favorite Massachusetts Bruins. “The shot heard around the state,” was the headline following the exciting game that eliminated the Bruins. With seconds left in the game, the puck was stolen from the Harvard bound center star for the Bruins, Lance Fever, catching the Marauders off guard as Ben Cartman, limped to the bench with a lower leg injury, Thunder stepped on the ice as Fever crossed the blue line, and amazed everyone with his speed and determination as he cut off Fever’s approach to the circle, and a quick stick lift followed by a half spin, puck flip and hip check, the puck was now at the toe of Thunder’s stick. Jake saw the Bruins in a line change and took off toward the other end. It was as if time slowed as the crowd counted down anticipating overtime. “Five,” as Thunder crossed his blue line, “Four,” the line change bottled his teammates. “Three,” Jake looked at the goalie standing at the top of the crease. “Two,” he cocked the stick back. “One,” the puck was rocketed off Thunder’s stick and was piercing the air with such force it surprised goalie, Marcus Wall, as he tried to react but failed, and the puck hit the top corner of the net. Dead silence as the goal light lit up and the horn sounded, followed by outrageous shouts and cheering. Game over. The underdog Maine Marauders were in the finals, which they destroyed the Vermont Catamounts 7-0 in the finals. Thunder shows off his new sweater. There is little doubt that the defensive engine will be leading the Aces to many victories and will give the crowd as much excitement with his checking, speed, and defensive prowess. During the interview after learning of being selected, Thunder emphasized that he still has a lot to learn and he hopes the experienced players on the Aces are willing to help him become one of the top defensemen in his new league. When asked where he wants to end up, he replied, “Wherever I’m at, I’m happy to be.” Aces GM expects a lot from Thunder and said he would do everything he could to help Thunder be a major player in the VHLM. 557 words

The truck is packed and loaded, the “For Sale” sign is staked out front, and Jake Thunder is on his way to Las Vegas, to play for the Aces. Thunder was picked up as a free agent following the VHLM draft. Thunder’s wife was ecstatic after hearing the news and wasted no time getting ready for whats to come. Last night’s draft was one to remember for the Thunder home. Jake Thunder and Mrs T sat on the edge of the couch watching eagerly for the new defenseman to be drafted. His hopes diminished as the rounds went by and someone in the room got grumpier as time went on, to the point where Mrs Thunder had enough and went into the other room to read about hockey, but before leaving she reminded Thunder how much he had to learn to get in this league. She said, “Before tonight the only Twitch you knew about was the shaking when your leg jimmies.” No doubt, Thunder has a lot to learn to get better in this league. He’s seen more threads in the past two days than a dress on a fat lady. “Navigating the forum is going to take time,” Thunder told his wife as she re-read the offer from the Aces over and over. “Good job, now don’t F it up,” was all she could say. Thunder wasted no time accepting the offer, which he saw when returning from his evening workout. Aces Asst GM, AJ, approached Thunder with an offer and explained the benefits of going to such an outstanding team. The biggest thing Thunder took out of the first contact was that the team is involved and they expect big things out of every member of the team. AJ was patient as Thunder navigated the site and was finally able to land a #RollTheDice. ESPN 7 showed up and was able to do a quick interview before the Thunders left for Sin City. Thunder was heard saying to the sportscaster, “Its an honor to be selected by such a great organization and I look forward to contributing to the overall success of the team to bring some trophies. This is a top-notch club and their dedication and commitment to the ice resonates professionalism.” Good Luck Thunder!