JCarson

Article Review - This article looks at two top players in the league and potentially comes down to the conclusion that depreciation doesn't matter. If planned properly, if proper allocation of resources occur it can be a minimal impact. I think this is the conclusion, or maybe the writer just wanted to compliment 2 friends for having great player builds. Either way it was well articulated and easy to ready, relevant to the community at large. I give it a 9/10, basically an irrelevant ranking but that is how reviews go.

Do you know? I have heard a few comments on the statistics that are available to players. But I am not sure all players are aware that the index provides additional statistics that many might find interesting. First, how do you find the index statistics? If you go to the web site, the same place you apply your TPE to your player you will find in the top menu a selection for the index. Choose the current index (although there are archived versions, and you can look at statistics for prior seasons also). Once you have done that go to Pro League in the top menu and choose either All Player Stats or All Goalies Stats depending on the type of player you want to look at. I am going to discuss the All-Player Stats a little further as I manage a Forward. Once you get into Statistics you can see that the standard options are available, including Goals, Assists, Points, and you also have a couple extra options like Shots. However, if you hit the button that says Show or Hide Columns, you will find there are several options you do not typically see. Take some time to go through the other stats to see what information about your player you can find out. You may realize that everything you thought about your player is untrue or find supporting evidence that your player build is better than you first thought. The system has more available than is on the surface. Look and see what your player is doing.

In doing my analysis of why Molly the Cat isn’t scoring my first review will be to look at shots. The analysis will look at several factors including Shooting %, number of shots on net, Own shots blocked and missed the net and lastly total shots taken. I will elaborate on why each is an important consideration and what the statistical measures indicate. For consideration I will review the top 50-point getters in the league of which Molly the Cat is currently not a part of that group. Hopefully by looking at this group overall it will explain why Molly the Cat is not included in that group. Molly the Cat for reference currently sits 67th in points, but only 3 points out of 50th position. Noting Molly also has a game at hand on most players above 50th in points. Shooting % - potentially one of the most obvious statistics to look at, as this is the number of goals you have divided by the shots you take that hit the net. It is a measure of accuracy related to scoring. Looking at the top 50-point achievers there is a wide variation in this category. The minimum is 3.15% held by Pete Mitchell, who is number 36 for point getters. Pete relies heavily on assists to be part of this group. The maximum is 14.13% held by Brian Kowalski who is number 22 on the list and is split evenly between goals and assists, having 13 of each. With the average SHT% being 8.62, and Molly the Cat sitting at 6.87%, they are closer to the lower end of the group. Improved accuracy related to goals for shots on net could improve Molly the Cat’s performance. Number of Shots on Net – again a more obvious statistic, it only goes to suggest that if a player maintains shooting % and increases shots they will naturally score more goals. Looking at the top 50 players the average shots are 113.88, with the minimum being 41 and the maximum being 177. The minimum is held by Bobby Bob and the maximum is held by Jason. Molly the Cat currently has 131 shots so is above average in relation to the Top 50 comparator group. Obviously more shots mean more chances to score but Molly the Cat is not lacking in this area and so this should not be the issue causing the scoring problem. Shots Taken but not getting to the Net – The index records two statistics that allow for analysis in these areas, they are Own shots Blocked and Own Shots missed the Net. For now, I will look at these together in a statistic I call Shots Taken but not getting to the Net. In the top 50 players, the minimum is 47 and the maximum 182, with the average 112.98. Lloyd Braun leads this category with only 47 missed shots and Jason trails this category with 183 missed shot attempts. Molly the Cat currently has 147 missed shot attempts. This could be a partial explanation of why they have reduced goals this season. However, I want to go a step further to determine if the missed shots are a result of strong defensive coverage or from poor accuracy. Breaking the statistic down to look at Own Shots Blocked The average top 50-point getter has 33.02 shots blocked with the maximum being 52. Molly the Cat has had 43 shots blocked. This might suggest that teams are playing Molly the Cat more defensively than other players. This is something to continue watching to see the overall impact of these over a season. Total Shots Taken – This is Shots that hit the net + Shots taken but do not hit the net. Potentially better described as Shot Attempts. The average player in the Top 50 Point getters has 226.86 Shot attempts and an average goal per shot attempt of 4.3%. This ranges from the lowest being 95 shot attempts to a maximum of 359 shot attempts. Molly the Cat sits at 278 which is well above the average so this should not be a factor in Molly the Cat’s decreased production. Lastly, I want to look at shot accuracy or how many of the shots taken hit the net. The average shot accuracy in the Top 50 group is 50.18%. With the maximum being 57.34% and the minimum being 40.91%. To note Elias Lampi holds the maximum accuracy and Alfred Champaigne holds the minimum accuracy. Moly the Cat sits at 47.12% so is significantly below average. In conclusion Molly the Cat is suffering issues with accuracy in two regards. The first is with how many shots are getting to the net, the second is shot placement once it gets to the net as SHT% is low. I will continue to monitor this to see how it changes over the season. Noting that this analysis was completed On Saturday Sep 2, prior to Sims being run. Most teams had played 22 games, a couple, like London, had only played 21.

Welcome to our next press conference for the week ending September 3 2023 Just a reminder that one word answers are not allowed, even if the question can be answered that way. Think of this as an end of game press conference with your player, you aren't going to be invited back if you don't say anything. So let's begin: 1) Tell me one thing your player is working on in practice this week? 2) Why do you think we are struggling with scoring? 3) Is there a question you have always wanted to ask Jacob but haven't, what is that question? 4) As Captain I don't do much, is there something I could do that would help you improve, what is it? 5) You are put in charge of buying welcome gifts for our new teammates, what do you buy and why? If you are a new teammate what do you hope to get and why? 6) VHL Discord general chat, do you spend time there, do you talk or do you just watch, why? If you don't go to general chat wat is stopping you?

Article Review: Goalies tend to take losing streaks hard, even when it isn't their fault. You can feel that struggle in this article, a goalie that has had an amazing defensive career looking at a small sample size of games and feeling angst regarding the outcome. The humility on display as they look only to themselves, yet a quick glance at the games can tell you the problem isn't in net but on the rest of the ice. The rest of the team needs to step up and provide the support this goalie deserves and in turn they will see this goalie shine in net. I give this article a 8/10. Stop being so hard on yourself.

Article Review: The frustration of moving to a new team can be felt within this story. You want to be successful, you want to contribute but you don't quite fit in. Put that on top of leaving a team you have worked with for your entire career, a core group of players who have always been there and it can be understandable. It may be a struggle now but I expect that we are going to see a great season from Wolanin, he will mesh with his new line mates and they will show how good this player really is. Until then we wait and see. I give this article a 9/10.

Season 90, An interview with Molly the Cat Molly the Cat, thank you for sitting with us again. It is a warm but rainy afternoon here in London, tonight you will play your first game against the North American Conference, against the Chicago Pheonix. At that point you will be 10 games into the season. Can you tell me how your first few games have felt using your new equipment? I felt good the first few games. I feel that the changes and customizations that we made to my equipment have allowed me to pick up my game. I feel more fluid on the ice, like I can move quicker, my turns are crisper. The puck release on my stick is something I am still working on, looking to find a greater degree of control but I do know that I am getting more power on my slap shot than I did previously. Molly the Cat let us explore that topic a little further. I have watched your first few games, and it looks like there have been some missed opportunities. They come down to 2 areas. The first is your interaction with your linemates. There have been several passing opportunities off paced, and the puck has ended behind you. Second, you have several shots that missed the net. Can you elaborate on these observations? I can’t disagree with your observations. We are all adjusting, after several years you get in the groove and know what is going to happen with a player, you change things just slightly and it can throw off that rhythm. I’m moving faster on the ice and sometimes those passing the puck can’t adjust. We are working on it in practice so that it will work itself out. As for my shot, it has been a little more erratic than normal. I have put a little extra flex in the stick this year, I am gaining some power as a result. Right now, they are clocking my shot between 1 and 2 km/hour faster than my average shot last year. However, I am also getting a little more lift than I have been used to. I have been spending a significant amount of time during practice working on targeting. I expect it will be under control very soon. Once we work through both those issues, I expect to see my production start to increase. I have a good feeling about this season. Molly the Cat, I have heard rumor that London United is going to shift some of their lines around for the next few games. Can you comment on that? We practice several line combinations during practice in case we need to make changes on the fly. So, I don’t know exactly what rumor you have heard. That said, you may see a few different line combinations over the next few games to see if shaking things up can cause an offensive spark. They won’t be anything new to us, as I noted we have been practicing some varying line combinations just for this sort of situation.

Defense is great but Scoring matters. May sound obvious, you can’t win if you don’t score. The very basis of any competitive game. Now don’t get me wrong, I still believe it is defense that wins championships. The ability to limit your opponents to a minimum of opportunities and then, even in those instances, take those away from them as well. Yet for some reason London United have struggled with this extremely basic tenant of the game. Some would come out and argue it is because they lack the talent to score. I don’t agree with that argument as you can look at other teams who have weaker forward cores and they are still scoring. So, what is it? What could it be? I don’t have an answer, but over the season I do plan to do some analysis to try and produce an answer, and hopefully a solution. I hope this will be a running series of analysis looking at what makes up the best scoring teams and what differentiates them from the worst scoring teams. The first part of the analysis will be creating a methodology, a framework to look at the problem and the potential solutions. It will encompass the basic assumptions and even a look at the random variables, or better described less understood variables that make up the system we work within. We will see what comes of this and hopefully finally we will have an answer to the questions of why London is struggling with scoring.

Your math is off, we play 72 games and you have 64 accounted for unless you are suggesting the other 8 are the bot which would make London's final 48-18-6

So season 90 begins, we will have a predictions Press Conference Please predict the following for our team 1) Who on London scores the most goals 2) Who on London has the most assists 3) Over under, does Jesse Teno get 36 wins 4) What is the record of our back up goalie this season 5) How many Overtime losses do we have this year 6) How many player awards does London earn in season 90 Bonus question - what will be our regular season record for season 90

Article Review: It has been a fun experience to share the continued exploits of the Janser brothers over the last few seasons. The quality of the writing only adds to the depth of character expressed about both players. It will be sad to see the likes of Marcel and Daniel pass on to another era but it will also be nice to see a new beginning. Hopefully we get to see and experience a new generation of Janser players make their way through the league and can share their story. Hopefully we can experience some excitement, yet if we get a player who can again make the defensive end as entertaining as paint drying then we will have another player who should win the Continental Cup repeatedly. 10/10, enjoy retirement Daniel and Marcel, your contribution to the VHL will not be forgotten.

Article Review: Well written, this is heartfelt and sincere. Any player having a long standing career within a city can empathize with this article. Good luck on your journey, Calgary is not going to be the same without strong leadership that it has had for the last number of seasons. The quality of this article gives mixed emptions, typically I want to encourage writer in their pursuit of such great work, yet in this instance that would be bitter as the heartache required to hit this depth shouldn't be experienced regularly. Enjoy the remainder of your career, it may never feel like home but it can still be enjoyable. Article gets a 10/10

Point Tasks I think I have at least on one occasion suggested that it might be useful to add additional point tasks so that people can have some variation. I have some wacky ideas that could provide some lighthearted and fun additional ways to earn TPE. Write an uplifting and positive story about someone in the league, tell what they did and why it made your life better. Could replace an article, must be 150 words long Submit a piece of artwork, could be original, could be something you got from somewhere else like a coloring book drawing or a point by numbers. Could replace a media spot for the week. A picture photo album of at least 10 pictures, (no people) and must be themed but does not require any explanation. Would replace a media spot. Karaoke – pick a song, record yourself singing it and post it to the forum for everyone to enjoy, replaces a media spot. You get double week if it is an original song and is at least 2:30 minutes long. Stand up routine, tell a joke set, make people laugh, do a roast session for one of the players (not the forum member but the actual hockey player) Come on you all know you want to attend the retirement gala and roast Daniel Janser.

Molly the Cat has a written statement they would like to read. Questions from the press will be taken after the announcement. Thank you for coming today, I am proud to announce a joint venture between myself and Bauer Canada, one of the best hockey equipment manufacturers. The goal of this joint venture is to produce a line of high-end profession grade hockey equipment but to do it at an affordable price such that anyone can afford to play hockey well. As part of this new initiative, I am going to be completely changing my gear this year to this new line. If you look to the screen to your left, you will see some footage of some recent on-ice trials I conducted in the new equipment. I can testify that the support and comfort I experienced in this equipment are fantastic. I want you to pay attention to a couple of things that may not be self-evident from just watching the screen. The Skates are based on the Bauer Supreme M5 edition but have been redesigned with a slightly higher back for added ankle protection and come with a 2-inch longer blade. After significant research, development and testing it was determined that the slightly longer blade provides greater ice contact which allows for improved maneuverability and speed. During numerous testing runs I was able to increase my top speed on straight aways by 2 km/hour, increase my speed during backwards skating by 0.5 km/hour and most importantly allow for an increase of 5 km/hour on turns. Those numbers may not seem like a lot but in the highly competitive VHL those who win and those who do not are often determined by inches. The new stick I will be using is designed based on Bauer’s AG5NT stick technology. It is a lightweight but durable composite stick designed to be fully customizable to the player. The typical AG5NT comes with the option of 5 blade structures designed to fit with a variety of playing styles and positional needs. In addition to those blade styles the New Bauer AG6NT will provide 2 additional blade styles, one designed for players who have a strong net front presence, who like a stick more designed to control tips up close and another stick designed for those taking faceoffs. Secondly, the new AG6NT is designed to have more flex options. The standard AG5NT comes with flex ratings of 55 and 65, the new AG6NT will allow for flex ratings of 60 and 70 and a more customized shot experience. Lastly the helmet is designed to provide added protection to the head region but does that with reduce straps. We all know that many hockey players do not wear their helmet correctly and tend to allow their chin strap to hang loose, done up to meet the VHL requirement but not in any way providing the protection required to improve safety. The new helmet is designed to improve comfort, and better fit to the players head, while eliminating the need for a chin strap. We worked extensively with the league and the president of player safety and are proud to announce that the VHL will be allowing the innovative design starting in season 90, as our research shows it provides improved head protection over the traditional design with the loose chin straps that many players employ. Thank you for taking this time to come down for this announcement, I look forward to season 90 and using this new equipment on the ice. As part of this launch, I will be providing 100 sets of equipment to young hockey players in Canada.

It is Sunday again so here is the Press Conference for the week. 1) During Season 90, how many Bot goals will London United have? 2) Our back up will more than likely only play the 8 required games, what will their record look like at the end of the season? 3) If you were required to sacrifice one of our non-VHL ready prospects to Simon, who would it be? 4) In reviewing our prospect pool, which prospect looks the most promising? 5) If you were being traded, which team would you want to go to? 6) We are having a team potluck the day before season 90 starts, wat is your player bringing?

Article review: Any article that starts by praising Jesse Teno is an article that I am going to give a great review to. 10/10 lets just put it out there. Having been a teammate of Teno for multiple seasons it is quite obvious that they are a top tier talent. What is more impressive is their dedication to the locker room and their teammates. Aimkin/Teno is a plus for this league no matter where they are playing. For those of you who will be doing your prediction choices soon, learn to write this name as they are going to be in strong contention for every goalie award there is.

Article Review: For an opinion article it wasn't that bad, not enough analytical review to provide any sort of objective proof on their ranking but again it is an opinion piece so what can we really ask for. Oddly enough I don't argue much in the ranking so maybe the author has some inherent ability to measure talent or I could be as clueless as they are. Only a full season will tell how things go. I give this article a 7/10 as purely a subjective measure to a subjective article. I don't see where you have done an article on the North American conference but I may have missed it. Would be interested in seeing how you would rank those teams based on the significant changes that have gone on.

Pre-Season interview with Molly the Cat Molly the Cat, season 90 of the VHL will be starting shortly, how do you feel being in the league at this milestone moment? It is an honor to play in such a fantastic league, playing with some of the best hockey players ever to have laced up the skates. To have my name on the Continental Cup among legends is something I will never forget. Yet now we sit facing another milestone, 90 seasons. I don’t expect that when the first season of the VHL was played those General Managers, Players, and Fans expected to ever see this day. The longevity of the League stands as a testament of how exceptional it is. Season 90 will be a celebration for so many reasons, and I know that every player I have spoken to is ecstatic about being a part of it. Molly the Cat, any predictions about the upcoming seasons personally? As usual I am going to go out each night and do my best. Going to strive to lead the London United to a winning season, one that we can be proud of. There has been a notable change in the league since last season and we are going to show that we can rise to the occasion. London United is positioned to take advantage of the significant roster moves that have gone on. We look forward to going out and showing our fans a strong defensive but also impressive offensive hockey game. Molly the Cat let us talk about the returning members of the team. Tell me how do you feel about those coming back again this year? The team's veterans are an excellent group of individuals; we have top talent who have earned some significant awards over the years. For example, you have Leonard Triller and Jesse Teno who both had amazing runs in our championship year. Both taking notable awards, and both being well deserving. What you may not know is that we have some veteran players who work hard with the younger players, teaching them not only skills, systems and plays but also how to be great citizens and people. I may be captain of the London United but there are so many excellent individuals who pour their lives into this league that deserve significantly more credit than they ever receive. Molly the Cat, can you tell me about the new additions to the London United? I am not sure exactly what I can say now. I have had brief conversations with each of them and they are excited to join the team and play this season. That said I have been out of town for most of the offseason between some family obligations and an off-season tournament I haven’t had the chance to meet any of them face to face yet. Once we get together, I expect I will find the usual, they will be young, excited, and full of passion. We will take that and mold it into some of the best VHL careers we can. London United has some of the most advanced training facilities in the league and we have the talent and leadership in this organization to assist any player who wants to do well to excel. If they put the work in, we can get them there.

Depreciation Sucks Okay so I will admit I am not saying anything new here. Anyone who has been around long enough knows that when you hit a certain point you must contend with depreciation, and there is no simpler way of putting it than depreciation sucks. As a first-generation player I am having to deal with it this offseason for the first time. Lucky for me, my General Manager was on my case for about a season and a half to make sure I banked enough TPE to offset the impact of depreciation. He has also been on my case to save my salary to buy depreciation fighters for my last 2 seasons. From what I am being told, as much as depreciation sucks the first year you experience it. It sucks even more in future years, or do I am told. This year I lost 160 TPE to depreciation. 160 hard earned TPE gone in an instance. I am going to say it again for emphasis, Depreciation sucks. Whoever decided that the annual rate of degradation for a player needs to be so high, they are wrong. Yes, I do not think the concept is wrong in its existence but wrong in the execution. players need to stop growing significantly each year at some point but to be forces to save all TPE for 3+ seasons just to not diminish in capacity seems like a little much. It works out that for half your VHL career you are doing point tasks to get better and for the other half you are doing point tasks to not get worse. Depreciation sucks

It is Sunday so time for a new press conference 1) My wife just made chocolate chip cookies, what is your favorite type of cookie? 2) It also happened to be chore day, what chore do you hate doing the most? 3) London had 79 points in season 89, will they have more or less in season 90? 4) Which player retirement is going to impact the team the most in season 90? 5) Are you a cat or dog person? 6) If you had the ability to eliminate one food from existence what would it be?

Article Review: It is always an interesting read when a star player in the league moves teams. The power shift that occurs send ripples out that have to be addressed. Yet there is something different about this one, a defensive giant moving, providing a spark to a new team. Will this result in a change in the structure of the North Amercan conference or is this just show and nothing will come about from it. Season 90 is shaping up to be good. Waiting for it. I give this article a 8/10, I just hate the articles that it is difficult to read as the words are dark on dark.

Article review: A great article discussing the shared experience between two friends and two excellent competitors. These two will dominate this league for years to come. Would love to see the comparison of these two careers over the next few seasons. I expect that we will see many more awards given to each of them as they lead their teams to future glory. Keep it up the fans of the league needs such talent to keep them excited. Player rivalries are a great source of that. I give this article a 9/10

Season 89 in the VHL has come to a close, and the HC Davos Dynamo are the Continental Cup Champions. First, I want to congratulate them on their success; it is well deserved. Again, the award goes to the European conference. Some may be surprised by that, but this reporter and analyst is not surprised at all. Let me discuss my theory as to why the European conference is positioned to win even more Continental Cups in the future The shift in power in the league has been coming for a while, although many people including most analysts spend their time looking at the offensive side of the game it is my opinion that the real power comes from the defensive side of the game, and no one exemplifies defensive play like the goaltenders of the league. I agree that it is sometimes hard to see when a strong goalie exists but gets overwhelmed within a series by high flying offense but very few teams win the Continental Cup without a strong goalie backing them up. Take for example the Season 87 Playoffs. Oscar Lindbergh played an exceptional playoff series, posting a 2.06 goals-against average yet goes overlooked in the series because the offensive lines boasting talent like Landon Wolanin, Phil Strasmore, Daniel Janser, Leandro Goncalves, and AirRig GoodBrandSun, who dominated the offensive charts. Excellent goaltending, forgotten by the score sheet. Looking at the last 2 seasons we can see that the teams that won the VHL Continental Cup have been structured around a young exceptional goaltender. In season 88 that was London United goaltender Jesse Teno. During the regular season Teno was good but not exceptional by any means. Yet all they needed to do was get to the playoffs, now this is where Teno came to show what they were capable of. In 23 games played Teno lost only 6 and boasted a spectacular 0.949 Save % and a 1.92 Goals against average, which included 4 shut outs with a total of 913 shots against. In season 89 we saw another young goaltender step up for their team. HC Davos goalie Lachlan Summers. In a 16-game playoff run Lachlan Summers boasted a 0.937 Save % and a 2.47 Goals against Average. Now this outing was not as strong as Teno’s the year prior but still was magnificent in its own way. It would not surprise me if we saw another goalie pick up playoff MVP this year. To be honest the forwards did not do anything exceptional. These two powerhouse goalies still have plenty of career left, and I expect we will see them be a driving force over the next few seasons in the European conference. Goaltending can be overlooked by many in the league who are trying to build an offensive powerhouse team, but I still contend that the goalies of the league are the true stars. We will see what unfolds over the next few seasons, as the league shifts and a new batch of VHL stars emerge.

We are full into summer in the Niagara Region of Ontario Canada and that can only mean one thing. Okay maybe we can’t say one thing as it is prime construction season, tourist season and bug season. Yet for Molly the Cat who grew up in Niagara it is produce season. For Niagara residents the region is a cornucopia or fabulous produce. Farmstands line the rural streets offering such delicacies as corn, tomatoes, peppers of every size shape and color imaginable, garlic, zucchini, and much more. But it is the fruit production in Niagara that sets it apart from many other areas. Niagara is known for its tender fruit like peaches, plums, nectarines, and apricots. It also boasts apples, pears and cherries. Yet in amongst all that is Niagara’s crowning achievement, grapes. A major wine producing area of North America Niagara boasts some fabulous vineyards and is the home to the original ice wine production. So, it is days like today, a rainy dreary London day that Molly the Cat stops to think about home, to think about the wonderful sights, sounds and flavors of the Niagara Region. It makes Molly the Cat a little homesick. Maybe soon they will get to travel back and enjoy a little bit of home once again.

Okay so we are going to go a little off the beaten track for this one. 1) Provide a link to a recipe for a food you like? 2)Provide a picture of your favorite cartoon character? 3) What is your favorite unhealthy snack food? 4) Where was the last place you went on vacation, would you recommend it? 5) What food makes you the most gaseous? 6) Can you parallel park?