VattghernCZ

I'd be lying if I said I didn't half-expect it after seeing the notification

Thanks, I love the sort of a dreamy look to it! And of course Fiala and correct spelling

1. I was hoping we would avoid the wild card and could have a few days of rest to take care of some pains and bruises, but Simon decided otherwise. Well what can you do. 2. I wanted to avoid it, I wanted to beat the Bears in the 1st round. This is gonna be series the fans will love. 3. Well, now we know we won't play the Bears in the 1st. Beating the Bears in wild card round will get us so pumped up it doesn't matter who we'll face next. We can beat them. 4. I like our chances. Last season, we got to the finals, why not do it again. Sure, we lost Pearce and Eagles, but Girts and Mann have been cash money, and many of our players have taken another step in their development. I'm confident in our team, and hopefully Kerr can once again play a big part in it. 5. Can't catch the Wanker! No, seriously, I was hoping Payne would get his lead back, it's always cool to see a D-man leading a team in points. And it would be a perfect cherry on top of his illustrous career. At least he re-claimed the team lead in hits. 6. I've heard that one! Would you believe that as an edgy teen, I made one and was using it as a coffee table in my bedroom for some time?

Not my best one, and it's getting worse In my defense, I was really tired

The head...now I see it. Facepalm

@Girts

I've been thinking about trying out a fantasy league for some time, I'm in if there's still a spot!

I apply

It has been an unconvincing season for the Wolves since the start. First the team's top scorers were snakebitten, then the players struggled to find chemistry, and Brian Payne's every-award-in-existence-worthy season and Hockley Mann's strong start were about the only redeeming qualities. They found their groove later in the season and have been playing like a better team in the second half, but those points they should have won earlier are now missed, as the Wolves sit 4th in the division with 40-19-6 record and 86 points with 7 games left, one point shy of the 3rd place LA Stars. Between now and the end of the regular season, Vancouver is facing six different teams - Toronto twice (1-2-0 against them this season), Calgary (4-1-0), New York (4-0-0), Malmö (1-2-0), Riga (1-2-0) and Seattle (3-2-0). Combined, they went 14-9-0 against these teams, and earned 28 out of 46 possible points (61%). On paper, they should earn 8 or 9 points in the last 7 games, finishing the season with 94 or 95 points. Will it be enough to overtake the Stars in standings? The Stars only have 6 games left to play, one against each D.C. (1-2-1), Prague (0-3-0), Seattle (4-1-0), Calgary (2-3-0), Malmö (2-1-0) and Warsaw (3-0-0). The Stars have gone 12-10-1 against these teams, that's 25 points out of 46 possible (54%). If things go the way they have, they are projected to earn 3 or 4 more points, finishing the season with 90 or 91 points. Considering what opponents these teams have to face in the last stretch, and taking into account Wolves having one game in hand, it is very much possible - some might say likely - for Vancouver to finish above LA.

1. I feel like we've been saying goodbye to too many great players lately. So fellas, play like it's your last playoff push and your last playoffs, 'cause it f#cken is! 2. I don't like giving our 1st round opponents free days to rest, I'd prefer us being in that position. 3. Good. I've been waiting for our revenge. Not concerned at all! 4. I've heard Brian Payne is retiring, I don't know if you noticed the rumors about that. 5. I didn't really expect any trades to be honest, we don't really have much trade capital, and the current roster looks pretty much set for the postseason 6. In the long term, I hate to say it but Seattle. Babay Shrimp can be a core piece for them for years to come. Bonus: as a Czech, I think it would be fun to have a management position in Phantoms.

Wann Kerr, Vancouver Wolves center, has been generating quite some buzz in hockey comunity even outside the VHL for a while now. He started the season slowly in the goal department, but was steadily improving and found himself playing hot potato with team lead in goals (and hits) with Brian Payne fairly recently. That was before last two games, where he scored a hattrick in both of them. After the two games, Bim Jenning, the general manager of Vancouver Canucks if the NHL, officially offered Kerr a professional try-out contract and invited him to the Canucks training camp. "He's been on our radar for some time," said Bim. "I think his skillset would fit in our team well, he could be great playing behind Elias. Now that he's dedicated to spend his career in Vancouver, I'm sure he would be interested in playing in the world's best league." "NHL? Sorry, I don't have time to go play in another development league, we're pushing for the Cup now," declined Kerr and hung up on Bim. "We don't need this attitude in our locker room. I doubt he would make the team," said Bim during a press availability and refused to answer any following question about Kerr. Vancouver Wolves fans can surely breathe al ittle easier now, knowing Kerr is dedicated to not leaving the VHL.

S87 was quite a season for the Wolves. Despite some huge departures in the offseason, including their postseason scoring leader and star defenseman Biggie Cheese and team captain Alexandre Leduc, the S86 Continental Cup winners were riding high and were ready to prove they're still one of the league's top teams, despite cap situation and the need to graduate prospect players in the big league forced them to move players they'd undoubtedly prefer to keep around. To replace Leduc and to round out the core 4 forwards, enter star winger Nezuko. Pierre Emile Bouchard, named the team's new captain, was eager to show he's among the best the league has to offer, and an S86 Daisuke Kanou winner Brandt Fuhr was tending the Wolves crease. This team was not planning to slow down, even with a few rookies sprinkled through the lineup. And slow down they did not. They really hit the ground running, and were consistently at or near the top of the standings for pretty much the whole season. The only little hurdle in their way came in the last quarter of the season, when they went 9-6-3. And when the worst quarter of the season is still a winning record, you know you're doing something right. After the regular season was wrapped up, thanks to league's best offense and stellar goaltending Vancouver was the only team to reach 50 wins and triple digits standing points, as they finished with Victory Cup winning 50-16-6 record and 106 points, 9 points ahead of the second place Calgary Wranglers. For Seattle, the regular season went nowhere near as smoothly as for the Vancouver. They were hovering around or slightly under 50% most of the time. The rough road eventually lead the brass to make two huge trades - acquiring two star forwards: Riga's defenseman-turned-winger Tavish DeGroot (49GP 18G 32A 50P with Reign) and D.C.'s winger Vasile Lamb (53GP 33G 31A 64P with Dragons). They joined Hulk Hogan 2 to create a strong forward core surrounded by talented youngsters, which complemented their underrated defense. Both forwards fitted in seamlessly, and carried on scoring above a point-per-game with the Bears, and were the reason Seattle was able to finish the season with a stronger stretch and snatch the final wild card spot with 33-31-8 record (5th in NA Conference, 12th overall). In the wild card round, Seattle faced Chicago Phoenix (36-33-3, 4th in NA, 11th overall) and was able to win the series in game 5 overtime. Playoff series don't get closer than this one. When I first started writing this, I knew the Wolves won 5 out of the 6 games between these teams in the regular season, and seeing the records on top of that, my immediate reaction to Bears eliminating the Wolves was "FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY!". That's what lead me to write this MS. But looking deeper, they were matched much more evenly than I realized. 3 out of the 6 games needed extra time to settle. And after regulation, the things can go any way. While the Bears were the better team on man advantage, ultimately the goaltending and a bit better 5v5 play lead to the Wolves having slightly better goal differential and taking 10 points out of possible 12 - but still allowing Seattle to steal 5 points. The teams were not matched as evenly in the postseason. The Wolves simply played like the better team. They almost doubled the Bears' shot total, and now had a slight upper hand on man advantage. The biggest difference between the teams however was the rate at which they were able to convert their chances. You can't blame a goaltender for series loss, when your defense is lacking that another stellar defender playing behind Bouchard. Fuhr has proven to be better than the .897 SV% would suggest. The Wolves ran into a hot goaltender...and got FISTED ANALLY BY A CIRCUS MONKEY.

Two hattricks for Wanker, not too shabby Go Wolves go!

1. Brian Payne. What a season he's having. I wouldn't be surprised at all if he scored triple digits. And he's doing that on top of being arguably the defensively strongest player on out team. 2. A few days ago I was looking through some stats, and it surprised me Sigma Freud was second on the team in +/- and shot blocks. He's silently been a huge reason why we are (or were when I was looking at stats) a top-5 team in fewest goals against. 3. Subject056 has been an awesome addition to the LR. I can see her claiming this trophy in her first season as a Wolf, and I'm sure some on-ice awards for Liv will come rather sooner than later 4. Payne. Leading the team in scoring, while as I've said being the best defensive D-man, and also the toughest player...Payne is the S90 Wolves. 5. I could potentially see us making a move for a rental winger. Just because Simon doesn't seem to really like our offense at times, even though it looks great on paper. 6. I've already read what it is so... Interesting theme indeed. Honestly, I'm happy I'm not the one who has to come up with these ideas, I'd suck in it. That's my question.

That Kerr guy sounds like quite a dick

@Scurvy

1. As a captain, you need to strive to be the best you can for others to follow. And earning more to make your player better is more valuable to the team than supporting it in fantasy, imo. 2. While this schedule is great for creating short-term rivalries, I'd prefer more balanced schedule. You have to hate your team going cold before a stretch of games against a lesser opponent they should defeat, these points are hard to get back later. 3. Two teams that are strong on the paper - though we are stronger, obviously - but are struggling in the standings, it's gonna be a bloodbath. We're gonna hate it. So will they. 4. It's hard for a D-man to lead league in scoring, but he's leading all defensemen right now, and is in the top 10 in hits. What a menace. I can't see him slowing down. 5. Nah. If you want to be the team's superstar, sign with a rebuilding team. This is about winning. I love the idea of my player being an unsung hero on the second line, the Hischier to your Hughes, the Tavares to your Matthews, the Eriksson Ek to your...well the Wild don't have a no.1 center. 6. Everything! The weather. The atmosphere brought by the long evenings and the colors of the nature. It's the best time of year for fishing and riding a bike. Kids go back to school and the typical tourist-ey places aren't crowded anymore. My favorite music hits different in Autumn. The NHL season starts!

Time really flies, when you’re having a good time, right? It feels like not long ago, when @Shindigs (miss ya, buddy) was giving me The Talk as a part of the S85 VHLM dispersal draft scouting interview. I’m talking about earning and realiatic expectations depending on how I had been earning, jeez. It’s really hard to believe it’s been a whole year. My player, Wann Kerr, is now a 1000+TPA center who’s slowly closing out the first half od his VHL career and I should start thinking about banking TPE to fight depreciation. Kerr being my first gen player, and being a part of the awesome LR @Frank and @Gaikoku-hito have built in Vancouver are arguably the biggest reason Kerr’s transformation from the shy, clueless rookie to one of the better players in the league happened faster than I’ve been realizing. The road so far… Junior review: Prospect scouting report: Rookie experience: S87: Strong rookie season with the Victory Cup winning team (72 GP | 20 G | 24 A | 44 P | +27 | 26 PIM | 32 HIT | 16 SB) It was hard for me to set expectations for Kerr’s rookie season. Not really knowing what to expect, I said I’d like my player to score 20 goals. The S87 Wolves were an absolute powerhouse, with their offense sporting the S86 Cup winning core of Dogwood Maple @dogwoodmaple, Henry Eagles @Greg_Di, Sergey Preobrazhensky @Bulduray_1 and Svatopluk Puk @Otaznik, along with a newly acquired high end winger Nezuko @Baozi. Regularly playing in the right wing position on the second line alongside two 1000+TPA forwards Nezuko and Preobrazhensky, Kerr’s rookie season was much better than I had anticipated. To be honest, I had been losing faith in finishing with 20 goals before the season started as I was looking through rookie season stats of players around the league. Kerr’s teammates were able to let him score twenty on dot, with a team leading 10%+ shooting percentage. S88: Sophomore Slump (72 GP | 17 G | 26 A | 43 P | -14 | 36 PIM | 113 HIT | 25 SB) Nezuko, Preobrazhensky, Puk, all gone. Replaced by a solid veteran Bob Vladovechsenkchushkin @Grape, and two high-ceiling rookies $nubbed Analfist @STZ and Oreo McFleury @JB123, leaving Maple and Eagles the only true gamebreaking forwards on the team. The team offense took a massive hit, as they fell from scoring league-leading 250 goals in S87 to middle-of-the-pack 217 goals in S88. Kerr was moved to center, and playing with much lower TPA players than season prior he showed he still needs help and is not ready to drive his own line yet. His line was regularly being exploited by the opponents, as evident by the negative +/- rating. Even though he made some strides in his two-way game, Kerr’s production was abysmal for most of the season. Precisely until Frank made a move and acquired Kyle Peace @Peace from Toronto. Kerr and Peace formed a strong secondary scoring tandem behind Maple and Eagles, and finished the season hot. Unfortunately, they were not able to carry their momentum into the playoffs, as the Wolves were bested by the Bears for the second straight season. S89: Breakout season (72 GP | 38 G | 46 A | 84 P | +16 | 82 PIM | 134 HIT | 32 SB) „Hey, Wann, you wanted to play with Nico? You’ve got a chance now. Go and f#$&king earn it!“ Maybe it was this text message from Frank what set Kerr on fire. Nico Pearce @Spartan , former Wolves captain, has joined Vancouver once again for one last season of hockey. With Peace and Vladovechsenkchushkin gone, Nico Pearce was exactly the type of winger the team needed. Now, in vast majority of games, Kerr would play with either Pearce or Eagles on one wing, and a Sophomore Stud – Analfist or McFleury – on the other wing. Despite a bit slower start, this definitely was a recipe for success for Kerr, as he really broke out around quarter of the season in. There was even a stretch of dozen or so games where he averaged about 2 points per game, and along with Pearce was borderline dominant in all areas of the ice. Even though he somewhat let the foot off the gas to end the season, the postseason was a true coming out party for him. Vancouver fought their way all the way to the top, where they met their demise in Lachlan Summers @kirbithan. But when all was said and done, Kerr was the most beaten up player, leading the league in hits taken. And yeah, I almost forgot, he was also league’s top scoring forward and a top goal scorer (in a 3-way tie) in the whole postseason. If the Wolves were able to beat Lachlan Summers in the finals, Kerr would undoubtedly be one of the strongest Daisuke Kanou Award cases. S90: No goals, but a lot of on-ice f#$&k you (16 GP | 6 G | 13 A | 19 P | +3 | 37 PIM | 63 HIT | 9 SB) The offseason loss of Nico Pearce (retirement) and Henry Eagles (trade) was always going to be brutal for the team offense. Hockley Mann @Sen amd a former Brooks Award winner Girts Galvins @Girts are both very solid pieces in the last season of their careers, but there’s no doubt it’s a step back compared last season. And the new look Vancouver offense hasn’t been delivering so far. The team’s top forwards Maple, Kerr and Galvins have been especially snakebitten, all converting their shots in career low rate despite being among the team’s most active shooters. Kerr is already breaking the curse, and Galvins and Maple are on the track as well. Not being able to beat goalies clean creates a lot of second chances, so assists have been piling in an uncharacteristic rate, but the frustration from the pucks not going in is really visible in Kerr. He always seems to play pissed off. While fans love Kerr hitting everything that moves, blocking everything that flies his way (he leads the Wolves‘ forwards in hits and shots blocked at the time of writing this) and rubbing it in the opponents‘ face, coaches are definitely not happy with how the penalty minutes are adding up. So, what’s next for Wanker? He’s just hitting his prime. With how he’s been developing, I’m confident sky is the limit for Kerr. I’ve set up three career goals for him: 1) Play at least 504 games for Vancouver. I’d like to play all 576 games here, but ultimately, that’s not just up to me. Kerr’s current contract expires after S92, leaving me with 2 seasons left after that. We’ll see if Kerr is worth an extension by then. 2) Win The Cup with Vancouver. We’ve come oh so close in S89. In the M, Kerr’s Aces lost in semifinals. In the E, his Rome lost in finals. Internationally, Kerr has had some success, winning gold medal in S86 WJC, but this is VHL. We all know what trophy this is about. 3) Win the Boulet. I’m building a two-way center with some physicality. My build goal has gone through many changes, winning Boulet or at least being nominated would be a great validation for me as a wannabe build nerd.

1. Sure, we can beat anyone. If Simon allows that. I don't really think they're a superior team to us. 2. We've got a few players shooting at career low shooting percentage. I think we're playing well, as a team we could have scored 10 more goals with just average puck luck. It's gonna turn, I wouldn't be concerned that much. It's still too early. 3. Kerr is one of the players shooting with career low efficiency, a few more goals would be nice. I'm surprised by the amount of assists, and I'm really happy with the physicality, leading our forwards in hits and blocks. Maybe a few less PIMs would be nice as well 4. That's tough, initially I'd like to say Mann because he's a forward, but damn, Payne is a beast. You know what? I'll be cocky and say it's gonnd be Kerr. 5. I think we can count on 30. He's been even more snakebitten than Kerr, he's gonna break that any minute Now. 6. Fuhr has been solid as usually, we're just allowing too many shots. We need to pressure the opposing puck carriers and force turnovers. Also being a bit more disciplined would help.

R.I.P. Mark Sertich, hope using the photo in a joking manner isn't disrespectful to one of the greatest beauties, and one of the most inspirational human beings in hockey history.

ngl, I'm not really happy with how it turned out, but it's too late in the week and I'm not gonna have enough time to make another graphics or re-do this concept.

1. I can feel it's time for Maple to hit three digits. 48 goals and 56 assists for 104 points. 2. Bouchard will quarterback our elite powerplay and will match his career high of 78 assists along the way. 3. Maple, he will be our MVP and lead the team in both goals and points. 4. For second year in row, it will be McFleury. He will win the Sniper Award while also scoring over 35 goals. 5. It's Simon, you never know, Kerr had 30 minutes in majors last season, with 40 Fighting. But I think the easiest answer is Payne, let's say 190 PIM with 25 being majors. 6. Uh...air? Or time? Like, my future?