JCarson

Molly the Cat, it is Superbowl Sunday, and a significant amount of North America will be watching. Will you be taking time out of your schedule today to watch the game? I have never been a huge fan of North American Football; it was the fact I grew up in Canada and hockey was the predominant sport. Now that does not mean I have never gone to a Superbowl party, I just tend to go more for the food and friends than I do for the game. Molly the Cat, London United have been struggling as of late, currently sitting 5th in the European conference. Can you provide some insight into what management is doing to address the situation? I have had several conversations with management over the last few days. We have not been able to identify any one aspect of our game that we believe is causing the slump. As such, we will be addressing several areas at the same time. I would expect that you may see a few line changes, we will be adding in some extra practice time and there is also the consideration of permanent player changes. Now I am not trying to start rumors, there is no specific player looking at being traded, and there are no deals being discussed. I am only noting that it is something management will consider, if it will make us a better team. Molly the Cat, what are you doing personally to try and improve game play? As captain of the team, I expect the most from my own game play. I will admit it has been spotty at times over the last week. I need to play a more disciplined game, taking less penalties and spending more time on the ice. I need to trust my teammates to make the proper plays and do what I do best. I need to be positioned in front of the net during 5 on 5 play and I need to be rotating out to the hashmarks on the powerplay. I am a goal scorer; I need to have myself in the best position to do that and trust the others to get the puck to those places. I was doing that well in the beginning of the season. Molly the Cat, you have your first game of the season against the Calgary Wranglers and your friend Landon Wolanin coming up this week. How are you feeling about that? It is always an intense situation playing against Landon, he is a talented player, and good friend. That noted, the rivalry between us pushes each of us to do our best. This may be the push I need to get back to form and start playing some great hockey again. Calgary is doing well this season and it would be nice to see them do well in the playoffs, it would be an interesting series if the finals were London and Calgary. Molly the Cat, thanks for sitting with us this afternoon. Good luck with your games this coming week.

Article review: This article is fairly disjointed (okay really disjointed) and a little off the wall, but again we received that warning before ever reading anything. Honestly I think that more than 1 of the topics could have been expanded to be a full article and would have made this seem more cohesive and structured. Short of a few spots the sentences structure was reasonably well put together and spelling wasn't too bad so everything considered it is a reasonable article even with half of it being done drunk. I'll give the article a 7/10.

Article Review: I can feel for this top tier player being on a team that is just not playing up to the expectations that have been set out for them. Sometimes after doing everything you can to not be the problem you still can't be the reason for success as it is a team game. It is evident that this player takes their leadership role to heart and I expect that Moscow will turn things around before season end. Good luck on the season. This article is fun, well written and provides player depth that adds to the overall story. 9/10 on this article.

Week of Feb 12 2023 1) Which member of the team is most likely to get in trouble with the police? 2) If you were able to ask all of your teammates 1 question they had to answer, wat would you ask? 3) Your player has a minor injury they are playing through, what injury is it and how did they get it? 4) If you could meet any of your teammates in person which teammate would you choose? 5) If you won an all expenses paid trip to any of the VHL/VHLE/VHLM cities which one would you choose and why? 6) Does pineapple belong on pizza? Provide your input to this world wide arguement.

In a prior season I authored an article on fun ideas for theme week and thought that I would mention the topic again. If you had to choose a topic for season 87 Theme week, what would you choose? Noting that you cannot reuse anything that has been done in the last 5 seasons and preference would be that it is something that has never been done before. Here are a few ideas that I came up with: You must choose a mascot for your team, tell us what it is, what you have named it and what role it will have at games. Write a media spot introducing your mascot or produce an image/graphic of your mascot at one of your games. One of the restaurants within your arena wants to create a signature dish that is named after your player. You have been asked to be involved in the creation and naming process. Write a media spot in the form of a radio commercial introducing the new featured dish, provide the name and describe the dish. Or create a magazine advertisement (including graphic) of the new featured menu item and include the tag line or slogan for the dish. Your player was out at the bar with some other teammates on an off day. Unfortunately, another patron recognized your player and started a fight. Even though the police investigation revealed that you were only defending yourself, team management thinks it would be wise if a press release were released showing your remorse for the situation. Write a media spot outlining your team's official position and your official apology. I hope some others will have fun and add ideas to this article.

Today we have the opportunity to sit with Molly the Cat, VHL player and captain of the London United Hockey Club. Molly the Cat, we want to thank you for taking the time to sit with us. I know you are very busy preparing for your upcoming games so I will get directly to our questions. Molly the Cat, you are currently 23 games into the season, you are sitting tied for second in the European conference, and the first-place team is only 1 point ahead of you. Can you give us a quick evaluation of the team’s success so far? We have had a good start to the season. We set out to have a well-rounded offense and that is what we have been able to accomplish. Our scoring has been well balanced. Defensively, Kovalchuk and Nalwa have been a strong anchor on our two lines. They have taken the lead and it has provided us with two competitive line pairings. Now that said, we are looking to pick things up a notch further and may move some people around to see if we can create some added chemistry. With such a strong European Conference there is no room to sit back, we are going to need to push all the way to game 72. Molly the Cat, talking about pushing for every game can you provide some insight on how the team felt having their schedule front loaded towards some tougher teams? Every year somebody has an odd schedule and this year happened to be us. Having our entire season series with the North American Conference leading Vancouver Wolves all occurring in the first 18 games of the season was not something we would have asked for. They are an exceptional team; nobody is going to deny that. We fought hard and were able to take 3 of 4 games. That provided a lot of confidence for us that we hope to carry into other games as we face the other top teams in the league. Molly the Cat, that is enough questions about the team, let us get to your own personal performance and how you are feeling. You started extraordinarily strong this season with a significant goal burst but that has faded in the most recent games. How are you feeling about your performance and your progress towards your goal of a 100-point season? The strong surge at the beginning of the season was a concerted effort to have a great start, something I did not do in Season 86. Unfortunately, in the third period of our game against Seattle I took a stick to the wrist. We ran some tests after the game and there were no fractures, but it has been sore, making some motions difficult to do. The injury up to this point has been undisclosed and I have been playing through it. The good news is that I am feeling much better and expect to be putting up numbers very soon. Even with the injury I was able to keep up a strong pace and have 25 points in our 23 games. I will have to push a little harder if I want to hit 100 points this season, but I believe it will be possible. I tend to have a better second half to the season.

Applying

Article Review: What can you say about this article, it is long, highly opinionated (Season 84 Art Vandelay, he only wishes) and is an extreme waste of anyone's time to read. Now with that being said it is a marvel of historical information and is for the most part well written. The dedication required to complete an article of this nature is tremendous. As much as I am not sure that this article provides any benefit to the community as a whole, is purely opinion and will disappear into the void of media spot history I am giving it a 10/10 because why the hell not.

Article Review: This is a great article for a season start review, well written, has some humor and celebrates some of the best parts of the VHL experience. Having access to the San Diego locker room I can definitely confirm they have a shrine to Simon and almost daily the players pay tribute. Not sure if that is what helped them win the championship last year or not but it has become a ritual of sorts and as long as San Diego keeps winning I doubt it will stop. I am going to need a VHL rule review completed: Are VHLM GM allowed to create cults in their Discord locker rooms? Have fun San Diego, good luck on the season. 9/10 for this article.

Week of Feb 5 2023 1) How do you feel your player is doing so far in the season? 2) We face Vancouver 4 times in our first 18 games, we have already won one game, how many do you expect us to take over the season series? 3) Our starting lines seem to be doing well. That being said do you expect Dil to make line changes before the end of the season? 4) Dil generally agrees to do something stupid if we win the championship, what would be your suggestion for this year? 5) Will Yun Chiang have a career best season? 6) Molly the Cat has set a goal of 50 goals and 100 points on the season, do they succeed? Bonus Question: Do you have any player goals you would like to share?

Okay, I will be the first to admit that the first eight games of any season do not provide enough details to predict how a season will go. There are so many things that can happen in the remaining 64 games. That said, I have also heard it said on more than one occasion that getting a great start to a season helps immensely in having a good season overall. Currently London United sits first in the European Conference with a record of 6-2-0. What is even more impressive with that start is that they are the only team to hand the NA conference leading, Vancouver Wolves a loss. Now we will admit it was a tight battle that was decided in shoot out, but it is a loss none the less. London has an odd season schedule where they will play all four of their games against the powerhouse Vancouver Wolves within the first 18 games and then may not see them until the playoff finals. With London having a great start to the season let us look at how Molly the Cat has played a part in that. Anchoring the second line Molly the Cat has exploded on the score sheet. Currently leading the team in goals with 7 in addition to 4 assists, Molly the Cat sits tied for second league wide for scoring. Molly the Cat attributes her success so far this season to their teammates who have been able to get the puck to them at the most opportune times. Playing with current league leading set up defense person Mikhail Kovalchuk obviously helps. The two combined on five of Molly the Cat’s seven goals. We must see how the season progresses. It is too early to predict anything, but London United and Molly the Cat are off to good starts. To a good season.

I would like to thank JCarson for joining us in this interview. For those of you who do not know JCarson is the manager of Molly the Cat, up and coming VHL star. We invited JCarson to join us to get some of the behind-the-scenes information about Molly the Cat and their interaction with London United. JCarson, you have been working with Molly the Cat since their VHLM season and from what I have heard even before that. Is there anything about Molly the Cat that you can tell us that our readers may not know? I would first like to thank you for having me here. You are correct I have been working with Molly the Cat for some time, they first approached me as they were graduating university and looking to transition to professional hockey. Unfortunately, I am not sure there is anything that I can tell you that your readers do not know. Molly the Cat is what you see, which I find very refreshing. Too many individuals in sports are trying to put on some sort of persona outside of the game, putting on an act to garner more attention and sell more merchandise. Molly the Cat is just themselves; they go out every night to do their best and from what we have seen their best has made them one of the elite players in the game. JCarson, can you tell us about the last negotiations with London United, Molly chose to sign a long-term deal that may have them retire as a London United player. Can you tell us what transpired? London United approached us mid-season to start negotiations, they were eager to sign a deal that would keep Molly the Cat in London long term. I spoke with Molly the Cat, and it was their wish to sign long term as well, to not have constant negotiations being a constant conversation in the background, allow Molly the Cat to focus on hockey. As the two sides agreed on the result, it was easy to broker. JCarson, I would like to ask you about Moly the Cat’s current line assignment. Currently Molly the Cat is playing second line with Jack Hextall and Budnik McDangle, is that having an impact on Molly the Cat’s game? I know the media must find things to talk about to engage the readership but Molly the Cat’s placement on the second line is not meant to be an insult. We had the opportunity to sit with GM Dil before the season and discuss line combinations. Everyone agreed that Yun Chiang and Molly the Cat, both being strong two-way forwards, should be put on two different lines to maximize team performance. From there, it was decided that Chiang would team up with Ivan Retoslav and Matt Avens' veteran presence, and Molly the Cat would take newcomer Budnik McDangle and veteran Jack Hextall. In all honesty there was more of a conversation on how to arrange the defense. Looking at it now, management got it right. By separating, veteran defensive leaders, Mikhail Kovalchuk and Hari Singh Nalwa and making two strong defensive units it has allowed each line to start strong. JCarson, thanks for joining us for this interview, we do apologize that it took so long for us to be able to connect. Your one-of-a-kind insight into Molly the Cat and how they fit into the London United team sheds some light on what we can expect this year. Thank you and we look forward to the next time we can sit and talk.

I fully understand you are joking but in all reality he started a conversation with a player he signed and learned a lot about the players experience. As a community we should be ashamed. This shouldn't be a joking matter. As a London United player I got to see the entire dialogue, what was included above is just a tiny piece of a much larger conversation. What really should be expressed is a thanks to @Diland @Gustav for spending time with this player to start the conversation. I don't expect that the conversation is over but it is at least occurring. As a first Gen I luckily got the other side of the experience. Now fully admit that was because my AGM on my first team was my son and there were and still are many times I corner him in his room, or on discord and ask him a series of questions. (For example about 10 minutes ago I asked how I could find the season 87 award predictions) Sometimes for the second and third time. Anyone who thinks that you can throw the encyclopedia of information about this league to someone once and that they will catch it all is delusional. And if you think answering every question with check the Forum, its all there, is valid you are still delusional. There is no way that anyone unfamiliar with the league is going to find anything they are looking for on the Forum without guidance. Consider this some input from a First Gen player who luckily got the opposite experience.

Clueless Wallob - G

@Ricer13as we are down to our last picks and I am the only one left to choose a Goalie do you mind if I proceed, or would you like me to wait for my actual turn. Let me know

Tavish DeGroot D The Board Game Clue on Skates - F @Ricer13

Artice Review: @aimkin creates a fun amusing story for Jesse Teno, of his quick rise to fame in London and it is well deserved. If we know one thing about @Dilit is that he is a fan of his players. For those that think that this article is just some fun humor you are dead wrong. The Aimkin Fan club is an elite organization and you can join for $1739 per year. If you act now we will waive the sales tax. Just make your payment to the league Donation thread, the kind people at VHL have made arrangements to transfer the funds to the Aimkin fan club. Great article, 10/10 because I choose to.

Article Review: Another great media spot for the Janser's. They are always well written, well organized and well thought out. It would be nice to see more articles like this, the running progression of a player career. It happens with Daniel that we are getting the commentary related to one of the elite players in the league. Now if we could get a similar output from a player that isn't shooting the lights out I think it would make for a very comedic story. Great Work, very fun read. 10/10. Keep it up.

So, I am a first Gen player, I am currently about to start my 5th season. 1 in the VHM, 1 in the VHLE and Season 87 will be my third in the VHL. I am trying to figure out how to identify when I will reach my max build, when I need to start banking TPE to offset depreciation and when I need to start banking player money to purchase the depreciation fighters for my later years. If you assume I am a max earner who also takes part in most opportunities for uncapped TPE (VHLF, Fantasy Zone, etc) and that I donate $15 each season and select the 1 million in extra cash, the doubles week and the 5 uncapped TPE. I am not looking for anyone to do the work for me, I am wondering if anyone has a framework or process, they use. I am hoping that I do not need to recreate the entire process if there is something already established for doing this calculation. If you know of something or have something you are willing to share, please let me know. I expect that within the next season I will need to pay a lot more attention to the details of this, but I do not want to miss out and cause myself issues later. Thanks for any information, advice that you can provide.

Week of Jan 29 2023 1) Are you taking part in the VHFL and if yes, did you choose your own player? 2) If you had to choose 1 player from London United for your VHFL team who would it be? 3) My favorite meal is breakfast, what is your favorite breakfast to have? 4) Do you buy anything with your player store money or do you save it all for later years and depreciation fighters? 5) What is your favorite point task to complete? (Mine is media spots) 6) What is your goal for TPE each week?

VHFL Selection I am in VHFL group 3 with some well-known individuals who have a significant amount of experience in the VHL. It is intimidating but I am holding my own in my selections, now getting to go first and being able to choose the forward who has had the most points the last two seasons does help. Now I will also admit that I thought I did well in picking last year also and it did not turn out to be the bet options when everything settled. The answer is we will see what happens. I still have three picks to complete, and I have a good idea of some options I will consider. However, how well I do at picking players really is not the reason I am writing this article. What I would like to discuss is the odd feeling I have that my player, Molly the Cat, was picked in the 3rd round 5th overall. Now I am not surprised that I was selected, as I have had a good VHL career with London United and I have been able to increase my production each season. Also, the fact I added checking into my player build during the offseason prior to season 86 did add an additional benefit in fantasy scoring. Yet I really do feel that there are so many stronger selections that could have been made before me. So I am left wondering a few things: Am I that clueless in evaluating players that I missed selecting my own player while I was focusing on other players. Is there something that I am missing that I should be considering? What made someone else pick me above the many players I have on my list of forwards that I am planning on targeting before I would ever consider choosing myself. I do understand that the most points by skaters is driven by goals and assists but that the secondary stats of Shots blocked, and Hits are what divide the elite players from the talented players. Should I have more confidence in myself and my build? I must admit I think I have done a decent job with my build. Now I will not take all the credit as I have had some help along the way from GM I have had. I also took the time to look at top players in the league and see how they built and tried to emulate that. I do expect that with the advancement I have made in applying TPE over the offseason and with the changes that London United has made it is a good chance that I may end up competing for a spot in the top ten for points this season. That may sound a little prideful but if I pick up 5-10 more points (this is very doable given my increase in Defense and scoring) and with the retirement of strong players, I really believe that I will be in the race for a top 10 position. Will I get it, I do not know but I will try. And this may be the most confusing thought of all of them. What if my player is the one that provides the points necessary for my opponent to win the top spot. The irony that my player may be my downfall is extremely disturbing. Well, we will have to see how the draft finishes and how the season rolls out to know for sure. Here is to season 87, the year Molly the Cat makes their debut in one of my VHFL pools

@nurxmolly the cat was already chosen by dabnad

I guess I was working on the assumption that all the intelligent individuals that responded above have been working towards the combined option and have not produced a satisfactory answer. To me it came down to the fact we need to understand what our philosophical stance is before we can answer the question of which way do we move from our current position.

AirRig GoodBrandSun D Girts Galvins F @Ricer13

I think this is a a very interesting discussion and one that most people are contributing to find a solution. I however am going to state the obvious as it seams we have 2 differing viewpoints on what the VHL should provide. 1) The author of this article initially definitely falls into the viewpoint that all active player (active being defined as adding at least 1 TPE each week) deserve the right to be on a team and be allowed to play. The rules we have thus should be altered to reflect this. 2) The second group are of the stance that each teams GM should have the right to manage their team as they see fit, as long as they are within the guidelines established and should not be forced to sign players, especially if it would make the team worse overall. If that means that lower earning players do not have a spot, that is acceptable. This is not a rule question but a question on what are the VHL's values regarding how it treats players. I don't know if either viewpoint is better: Option 1 promotes inclusion, supports recruitment of all levels of players. Option 2 promotes competition, encourages freedom of choice and creates a level of value to winning a championship Not sure the BOG have an easy decision.