Aimee

They may be from different draft classes and have not faced off on the ice yet, but these two friends have a rivalry stemming back to their starts in the VHLM. Jesse Teno of the S85 draft class who started their career with the Saskatoon Wild. Lachlan Summers of the S86 draft class who started his career with the San Diego Marlins. These two friends are just itching for their moment to face off against one another and many are wondering if that chance will come this season. From the start, this was always a friendly rivalry. Jesse and Lachlan met while Lachlan was working his way through the M with the Marlins and when Jesse was up in the E with Cologne. They hit it off and became close friends, supporting each other since meeting. It also probably doesn’t hurt that both are members of the LGBTQ+ community with Jesse identifying as non-binary and Lachlan identifying as gay. Both are also out and proud with who they are and since the LGBTQ+ community in professional sports always seems to be small or hidden, it wouldn’t be surprising if this was one of the things that brought these two friends together. The two times they have been on opposite benches, the only time that they shared the ice was during warmups but even then, you could see the friendship between them. So, since we can’t see how they have done up against one another, let’s compare their numbers from over the last three seasons that both have been in the league. Jesse Teno was drafted by the Saskatoon Wild for the S84 season where they dragged their team into the playoffs with a 22-47-2 record, 0.904 save percentage, 3.2 goals against average, and 5 shutouts. Lachlan Summers was picked up off of waivers and then drafted by the San Diego Marlins in S84 and S85 respectively. In S85, with his first full season, Lachlan put up an impressive record of 34-30-8, 0.916 save percentage, 2.57 goals against average, and 4 shutouts. Both Teno and Summers were also the first first -gens of their class to become eligible for the VHLE draft. Speaking of the E, Teno was drafted by Cologne for S85 and ended the season with a much more impressive 29-12-5, 0.93 save percentage, 2.08 goals against average, and 4 shutouts. The following season, Summers dipped a bit in his record with 27-28-9, 0.922 save percentage, 2.74 goals against average, and 3 shutouts. As both also moved on to the VHL big leagues after only spending one season in both the M and the E, Teno and Summers were ready for their rookie seasons. Teno ended that season with a 7-3-1 record, 0.923 save percentage, 2.43 goals against average, and 1 shutout. Summers, who is currently in his rookie season, at the time of this media spot has an incredible 5-0-1 record, 0.938 save percentage, 1.44 goals against average and 1 shutout. At this point, London and Davos have only faced off twice so far this season and neither game was headed up by Summers. But with four games between these teams left in the backend of the season, both Teno and Summers are hoping they will get their chance to finally meet on the ice. (also see @kirbithan's amazing work that inspired me to write this in the middle of a work day: 547 words for week ending 2/19/2023

This season is just getting worse and worse. Jesse has dropped to a barely winning record of 20-17-4 and their save percentage is a (comparatively) gloomy 0.918. Goals against has also risen to 2.86 and it’s just depressing to look at. What sucks the most is that they keep letting in so many goals on not many shots which has been dragging the save percentage down. I mean, Jesse let in 7 in the last game. What the hell. I know I’m still an under 800 TPE goalie playing against super veterans but this is just sad. But I guess it’s par for the course. Also, I’m one week of TPE away from 800 so that’s pretty cool. Still need to find some time to write my media spot for theme week but I already know what it is, just have to sit down and do it. Hopefully things start looking up soon. 153 words for week ending 2/19/2023

Absolutely badass as always!

Is it really Monday already?? 1. It's been rough, guys. How are you doing? 2. The season is half over. Think we can pull it back in the next few weeks? 3. If you could grab us any player before the trade deadline, who would it be? 4. Have you managed to hit any goals that you set for your player yet this season? And if not, how close are you? 5. What VHL/M/E team has your favorite logo? 6. The Big Game was this weekend! Are you chopping in victory, rioting in anger on greased polls, or don't really care?

Great listen and if you decided to keep doing podcasts, I’d keep listening. Was a fun listen and I really liked hearing your perspective on the league and the TPE cut offs. Hearing you talk about the Marlins gave some great insight as to how you think as a GM and hearing your take on the state of the rookie season was interesting. Mic cuts aside, I think this was a well-produced podcast and I hope you can get a few notes for an opening. 10/10 would recommend

For the longest time I sat in 7th and in the last few weeks I finally passed NSG and Acyd. I'm also the highest ranked first gen in my class. *toot toot* lol

What has Jesse Teno been up to this past week? Not a whole lot, to be honest. Still just barely holding onto a winning record and not having the greatest of games. Nothing spectacular but, as everyone keeps pointing out, it’s just their second season and it’s going to take time to be as good as the well-seasoned veterans. I just hope that seasoning comes with a bit more than salt and pepper next time around. As for my life in the VHL, it’s been pretty dead too. Work has kept me busy but I have managed to make content and keep up my TPE earnings. Depending on when I make claims and when the updaters approve, I keep shifting between 5th and 7th for TPE in my class. But I think I can safely say that at the end of the each week, I’m probably in 5th once all is said and done. 154 words for week ending 2/12/2023

You know the drill! 1. After our great start this season, we seem to be in a struggle funk. How are you feeling about that? 2. Any thoughts on how we can try and improve to where we started? 3. How has weekly claiming been for you? Created any interesting content lately? 4. Any thoughts on the NHL All Star weekend that just passed? Do you think your team was well represented? 5. If we were to give out a Starfish for the whole season up until now, who would it be and why? 6. If your player could be sponsored by any company, who would you want it to be?

Well I’ve been MIA from the VHL for a few days and I swear it feels like weeks since I last did anything of real substance here; including following discussions on discord. So let me list what I can think of between my work load that I’ve missed or have been running behind in. @kirbithan made me a graphic for my sig and I have yet to add it because I was struggling with the imgur and download trick and honestly did not have the time to figure it out so the usable one is just sitting in my DMs waiting to be used. As of my last check, I have the 9th worst VHFL team. Quite depressing if you ask me. Hopefully things pick up but honestly, I’m not too sure. I’m really getting my ass kicked in Fantasy this season. I have yet to find the time to do the press conference for the Marlins or the Starfish of the Sim for the last few days and I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do for my media spot this week. (Never mind this turned into my MS without me even meaning to). Apparently I’m in the running for the All Star Game European team??? I mean, we know I won’t win but holy shit I’m honestly surprised I was even considered. The voting is not going my way but again, just being considered really means a lot. So thank you to whoever voted for Jesse! I grabbed some trivia and had to guess both because I just didn’t have the time or energy to go searching for really obscure questions. Got one correct on my guess though! I didn’t know affiliations were a thing outside of the other sim leagues? Not even sure if it means the same thing or not. I honestly have not checked in with the Marlins or London overall to see how we’re doing. Work really just has been that busy. All I know is that Jesse is maintaining a winning record with 2 shutouts. But I also am sure that my stats are not top 5 numbers. Normally I browse through the new forum content once or twice a day and I haven’t scrolled through the page in at least a week. On a personal note, my fiancé and I have booked a venue, photographer, and florist for the wedding. She also found her dress and I have an appointment with a tailor in Brooklyn next month to discuss my custom suit. The only things left to do at this point until the summer are to book the hotel block and find a DJ. For those who don’t know I work in taxes and accounting so basically from January 1 to April 15th I am just going, going, gone. Which means my production and my social life on here will be down to what it takes to just max earn each week and get by. And it looks like I somehow managed to make a media spot out of a .com article. Till next time. 516 words for week ending 2/12/2023

I’m here today with Jesse Teno after the first week of the season. With this week’s games kicking off tonight, I thought I would check in with the sophomore goalie and see how they are doing. “Jesse, good to see you again. This week has been an interesting one. How do you feel overall?” “I feel alright. Overall a winning record but the losses have started to pile on lately. Slowly creeping up on me. But I know I’m playing against some serious veterans on the other side of the ice so I just have to keep pushing.” “Through the first 12 games of the season, it looks like you take an average of about 34 shots a night. Does it ever feel like that?” “Always feels like more, to be honest [laughs]. I know that first game against Malmo we were on a serious shooting spree and kept them down, but it seems to have evened out a bit for the most part. I know the team is always working hard to get those shots on goal. But we also know the other teams are working just as hard. So if I see 40 plus on any night it doesn’t shock me.” “You’re currently sitting in 7th among goalies for both total wins and total losses. Not a bad place to be in the VHL at the moment.” “No, I suppose not. I know I’m still figuring out my way among these giants of players but I’m happy to just know that I’m managing a half-decent record.” “You’re also sitting at no shutouts. Hoping to get one soon?” “Always! Getting a shutout is always such an incredible feeling, especially at this level of play. The pace is just so much faster and the players have some serious heat behind their shots. I’m not too shocked to not have accomplished it yet.” “What do you think you need to work on going forward in order to keep your record above .500?” “I really need to work on stopping those pucks, I think is what the fans would say. But for now, I’m not too disappointed in my personal play. Are there some areas that need fine tuning? Yes. I think my glove is definitely a weak spot so I need to work on improving that for sure. I’ve been spending time on my speed within the crease but maybe I need to shift gears for a little bit and see where that takes me.” “One last questions before I let you go about your day; you finally saw your friend Lachlan Summers on the ice. How did that feel?” “Oh it felt great! To see him come up into the VHL right behind me just makes me a really proud friend. We still haven’t had our chance to play against each other but getting to catch up with him during warm ups and seeing him on the bench just made me really happy. It’s always nice to see a familiar face on the other side.” 505 words for week ending 2/5/2023

Happy to provide the inspo!

Good Monday Morning Marlins! Answer 3 for 1 TPE or 6 for 2 TPE 1. How do you feel after your first week of the season? 2. Anything specific you want to work to improve on? 3. How do you feel about your TPE earnings this season? 4. If you could give any one player a free week of TPE, who would it be? 5. What's your player's favorite pre-game meal? 6. Do anything fun this past weekend?

After the first week of season 87, Jesse Teno is currently sitting at a 7-4-0 record with a save percentage of .927 and a goals against average of 2.42. Though 11 games, which are the same number of games Teno played last season as a backup, they are pretty in-line with where they ended. It would seem, strictly comparing the stats after 11 games, that Teno has not seem much improvement over the off-season. “I won’t lie, it doesn’t feel great to know that I’m pretty much where I left off. I’m just hoping that for the rest of the season I can show some improvement in my game. Hell, last season I at least had a shut-out by this many games played.” We hope that the near identical stats don’t keep Jesse from having faith in themselves. Hopefully after another week, this sophomore season goalie will show some improvement. 150 words for week ending 2/5/2023

Applying!

As a first gen who tried to rely on the welcome message to learn, yes. I think things need updating and expansion of definitions and abbreviations.

Then a rivalry we shall have!

500 words. For 6 TPE. Is it worth it? Some would say no and that’s why so many people either create a graphic or just don’t submit a media spot. And it’s why I’m struggling to get one out during one of the busiest weeks of work this month. I don’t know what to talk about outside of “woo Jesse is 2-0-0 to start the season!”. But how many times do I dip into my player record for forum content? Like a lot. A whole lot. I’m sure the majority of my content mentions win/loss records and the usual stats to join it. Not only have I been so busy with work that it’s Wednesday night and I’m sitting here trying to force out a media spot while my fiance attempts to find us plates and serve wear to put on our wedding registry, I have also been so busy that I feel like I’m out of the loop with a lot that has been going on in the VHL both in the forum and on discord. Only today have I really had some down time to sit and chat with people or check in on the recent content feed. But back to the matter at hand: how hard it is to write 500 words for 6 TPE when you either have nothing to talk about or you’re just drawing blanks on ideas. All week I’ve been trying to figure out what I could bang out before the end of the week and I still have nothing. Nothing, I tell you. Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Nunca. Efes. I can start to see why some people stop creating content. Not necessarily from burn out but more of a drain on a creative mind. Except a few times here or there, I’ve always found it easy to pick something to write about and then stretch it out to 500 words or more. But for those times when I have nothing, it worries me that I’ll never have anything come up again. I don’t want to stop creating and I don’t want to stop writing. But I don’t address drama and I don’t have as active a player as some who can write about their exploits within the world of the VHL or interactions with team mates. Which is a little sad sometimes. I do wish I was more personally social so that I could form these relationships with other members. The only exception seems to be @kirbithan. And while we don’t chat all that much, I think it’s fun that we’ve naturally created this ‘rivalry’ between our players simply based on how we both worked our first gen butts off during our first season in the VHLM as goalies. And would you look at that, coming around to 500 words because I decided to ramble a bit. I do wish there had been more cohesion to it and this is probably one of my worst media spots to date but I think it’s okay to have a few bad ones once in a while when the juices aren’t flowing and the level of exhaustion is just too high. Also thanks to @jacobcarson877 for the idea. 535 words for week ending 1/29/2023

The new season starts tonight and Jesse Teno is in the United’s locker room getting ready for their first start as a starter goalie for the VHL. “How are you feeling right now?” “Nervous, to be honest. I know I’ve been a starter before and I did play a few games last season but this is a whole new level that I never thought would come. Hopefully I don’t completely crumble under the pressure tonight. I just need to get passed the first game and I think it’ll be okay.” Jesse only had time for a quick interview before they had to continue getting ready. As a reminder, Jesse had their rookie season last year and played only 11 games, going 7-3-1. Not terrible numbers for a rookie but certainly not top tier. We only hope that Jesse can shake off the nerves and be an amazing goalie for London. 150 words for week ending 1/29/2023

Excellent choices all around! Congrats to everyone! LETS GO MARLINS!

I had a sort of middle ground experience wherein I got dropped into a wholly inactive team with a GM who was barely there and I was so beyond confused. I also knew no one in the league and didn't know where to start beyond what the welcome DMs linked to. And even with those I was confused because I didn't understand the lingo or concept of a sim league. Thankfully I took it upon myself to join the Discord and took up @Shindigs on his offer to ask him questions. He ended up becoming my main source of learning for my first month at least. Even now I'll still pop into our DM and ask him a question if I'm really confused with something or need clarification. But yes, as a fellow first-gen who is highly active, I think there is a lot that can be done to make sure more new members end up like us.

That really sucks to hear and I'm sorry you've been struggling with all of it. I hope you know you can always come and rant to me if you ever need someone to vent to.