VattghernCZ

A lot has been said about the Vancouver Wolves's moves last offseason, by me and others. To keep it short, after a 45-21-6 season, the perennial playoff team traded away their core of alt captain Dogwood Maple @dogwoodmaple (C, 72GP-32G-40A-72P), Oreo McFleury @JB123 (RW, 72GP-27G-41A-68P), captain Pierre Emile Bouchard @Gaikoku-hito (D, 72GP-15G-64A-79P) and alt captain Wann Kerr (C, 72GP-41G-48A-89P) to kickstart their rebuild. While it's too early to evaluate how the trade turned out for all sides, let's look how the ex-Wolves are doing right now. Oreo McFleury (64GP-22G-27A-49P) – Calgary Wranglers The Wranglers are going through the post-Janser rebuild, it's not surprising they're not doing the best with 26-28-10 record good for 5th place in the North American Conference. At this point of the season, no Calgary player has reached 30 goals or 60 points. Their fantastic goaltending and very good defense are keeping them somewhat afloat, but the overall lack of scoring throughout the whole lineup (2nd worst GF in the league) is slowing them down. Naturally, McFleury isn't having a great season, playing on the right wing of second line with Rip Wheeler and rookie Raimo Tuominen, and getting minutes on scondary powerplay units and primary penalty killing units. Oreo's 22 goals are 4th highest on the team as well as his 49 points, and his 27 assists are 3rd on the team. While there's still chance for McFleury to reach or even beat last season's 27 goals, or even his career high 28, it's hard to imagine him finishing the season with more than last year's 68 points. However, watch him start to flourish in the upcoming two or three seasons, when he's a crucial part of the future Wranglers core. Dogwood Maple (64GP-27G-30A-57P) – HC Davos Dynamo For Maple, being traded to Davos had to be one of the most infuriating moments of his career, but it's the tough side of the business. A season before the deal was done, the Wolves had been getting over the disappointment of losing to Davos in the Continental Cup finals thanks to the god-like performance of Lachlan Summers in the Dynamo net. If there ever was any frustration in Maple, he never let it be known publically and handled the whole thing as a true professional. Davos is a stacked team, leading the whole league with 97 points and 45-12-7 record. After spending many season as the Wolves' top line center, he was delegated to the second line in Dynamo, playing behind superstar center Leandro Goncalves (103 points in 64 games). Being demoted to the second line brought a little dip in Maple's offensive production (27 goals are 4th on the team, 30A are 8th, 57P are 5th), but it allowed his two-way ability to shine. At this moment, Davos is the best defensive team in the league, and Maple leads the forward core with 37 blocked shots, and is second among forwards with 195 hits. While not having great season individually, Dogwood is playing a crucial role on an elite team, don't be surprised if he is the most successful player out of these four in the Cup department when all is said and done. Pierre Emile Bouchard (64GP-13G-65A-78P) – Helsinki Titans In a way, you can say the things went exactly the opposite way for Bouchard to how they went for Maple. While Helsinki are a middle of the pack team with 35-25-4 record good for 5th place in the European Conference, Bouchard is having a fantastic season that could very well end up being his best one offensively, in assists and points department. His place is on the first defensive pair and the top powerplay units, where he quarterbacks the unit with star forwards Landon Wolanin and Daryl Dixon up front. Supporting this dynamic duo has helped Bouchard to log 65 assists, which is the 4th highest total in the league. It also puts him on pace for 73 assists and 88 points, which would break his career high in assists (69A in S87) and tie his career high in points (88P in S87). While being the 3rd highest scoring player on the team (and needless to say, the top assists guy), he's also second among Titans defenders in hits and third in blocked shots. His last season in the league is also crucial for Helsinki because of his experience, as he's mentoring their future no. 1 defenseman YaBoi Oven. Wann Kerr (65GP-41G-45A-86P) – London United Straight after finishing the S90 as the Wolves' top scorer, goal scorer and MVP, Kerr jump in London to center the first line with Leonard Triller and Molly the Cat. This line could make a solid case for a claim to being the best line in the league right now, as they have combined for 106 goals so far this season. Leonard Triller leads the league with 71 assists, Molly the Cat is tied for 4th highest goal total in the league with 45, with Kerr trailing slightly behind, tied for 6th place with 41 goals. Kerr himself has just tied his career high in goals with 41, and is 3 assists and 3 points away from tying respective career highs (45A and 89P in S90). While he dialed down the physicallity just a notch compared to last season (242 hits in S90), he still leads the whole team with 178 hits while only earning 54 minor penalty minutes to go with a single major penalty. He's also leading the forward core with 32 blocked shots, which is on par with the last two seasons. London is tied with Davos for the fewest goals allowed while having played one game more than Dynamo, but the lack of secondary scoring is currently keeping them in 4th place in the European Conference with 41-17-7 record. And how are the Wolves looking? Bad. Well, at least now. The major pieces they decided to keep and build around - $nubbed Analfist and Liv Slater – are both developing great, and the draft capital earned from trading away their former core allowed them to draft their future starting goaltender Dalkr Vidarsson and a very hopful crop of prospects highlighted by power forward Nico Belique.

Art Vandelay

The trade deadline is behind us, and the West is still as much of a bloodbath as it has been for the last few weeks. Here's another press conference, finally done in a timely manner! Feel free to answer 3 questions for 1 capped TPE, or all 6 questions for 2 capped TPE. 1. We're still 3 points behind the second place LVA and 4 points behind division leading SSK. Can we get past at least one of them this week? 2. Us, LVA and SSK are the only teams to significantly imorove their team via trades. Which team came out of the deadline the strongest? 3. There should be a few re-creates joining the M, what's the biggest selling point of joining the Houston Bulls rather than other teams? 4. Do you prefer advancing right to the playoffs after having a few days off, or would you rather go through the wild card round to stay sharp? 5. How majestic playoff beard can your player grow? 6. Has it already snowed this Autumn where you live? @STZ @DDZ_44 @Jamomayo @Syzygy @sportexperts show @mattyIceman @Dee @axtron @wcats @Girts @Arce @npuBeT

Okay, I solemnly swear I'll go back to posting these on Mondays next week. Anyway, over half of the season is behind us, and quite a ride it has been, up, up, up, and...checks notes...oh. Feel free to answer 3 questions for 1 capped TPE or all 6 questions for 2 capped TPE. 1. A few not great sims, and we've come back down to earth, currently occupying 3rd division spot. Is this the team we are, or just a bad stretch? 2. We had a few newly created players joining the squad, what do you think made them interested in joining Houston? Are we the hotspot for new guys? 3. With the trade deadline approaching very quickly, are there any particular moves you'd like to see the management doing? Any weakness to address? 4. We're over halfway through the season, who has been our MVP so far, in your opinion? 5. Halfway through the season is also a great time to project - who do you think will lead the team in points in the end? 6. Do you support NHL reaching out to fans worldwide with events like the Global Series, or would you prefer the teams to stay in NA and focus on playing? @STZ @DDZ_44 @Jamomayo @Syzygy @sportexperts show @mattyIceman @Dee @axtron @wcats @Girts @Arce @npuBeT

Wanker the Dragon Slayer

When you look at a hockey forward who's 5'9'' and weighs in at just below 190lbs, power forward is probably not the first player archetype to come to your mind. Such players tend to rely on their skating, puck skills and hockey sense to succeed. This can not be said about Wann Kerr, an undersized Czech center for whom physicality became one of the biggest keys to success. It's not a coincidence that his first ever 40-goal season was also the first season he recorded over 240 hits. Kerr is not your prototypical undersized player. Despite his smaller frame, he's arguably among the strongest players in the league. „Of course we knew (Kerr) is a strong guy,“ said Ronnie Read, London United conditioning coach. „But I don't think anyone expected him to come into the training camp and excel in every strength exercise. He's one of the strongest athletes I've ever worked with.“ And we can see Kerr using his strength in every shift. Whether it's battling in along the boards, in the corners or in the crease, or laying a hit on an opponent. And once again, he's well on track to record over 200 hits and over 40 goals. „I mean, what else do you want me to do,“ said Kerr in an interview. „I play with Lenny (Triller), a world class distributor, and Molly (the Cat) who's never scored less than 30 goals in a season. No one wants my clumsy a** to get in their way. The best thing I can do is to roll my sleeves up and get dirty getting them the puck and creating space for them.“ And this formula seems to work, as all Kerr, Triller and Molly the Cat are on track for the best individual season of their career.

Two days later than usually, but hey, better late than never! The trade also gave me free material for questions, so...sorry not sorry for the delay? 1. We were 9-1-0 when I posted last week's press conference. We're 21-5-2 now, still leading the league. Are you concerned seeing us slowing down a bit? 2. A trade with the Kings came through, as we acquired Nico Belique, Arne Holmquist and a 3rd rounder for a 1st and a 2nd. 3. Do you see us making another trade(s) before or at the deadline, or are we set? 4. Belique has reached the M TPA cap and Holmquist is very close to the cap as well. Aren't there too many chefs in the kitchen now? 5. There's no US born player on our team. Does your player care for the upcoming Thanksgiving? Are they gonna celebrate it despite the schedule being ruthless? 6. Jay Woodcroft has been released by the Oilers. Do you think it was a step in the right direction? Can you see more major changes coming soon? @STZ @DDZ_44 @Syzygy @sportexperts show @mattyIceman @Dee @axtron @wcats @Girts @Arce @npuBeT

After GM @Frank called in an orbital airstrike with Tsar Bomba on Vancouver and traded away three 1000+ TPA players - captain and the face of the franchise Pierre Emile Bouchard, and his alternates Dogwood Maple and Wann Kerr - to start off the team's rebuild, expectations on the Wolves for S91 were not high. The main focus in this season and the upcoming one is development and strong drafting to start pushing for the Cup again around S94. The Wolves' 6-10-0 record is about what was expected. The prospects are having strong seasons in the minor leagues, while on the VHL level young budding stars $nubbed Analfist and Liv Slater are both on track to have career seasons now that they log more ice time in every situation than ever before. All in all, Frank has to be content with how the first step of his rebuild has been working out. While Frank's assistant @Gaikoku-hito has been on board with him more often than not, some frustration has been showing in him, leading to a heated speech after 3 losses in row, which ended with a somewhat controversial quote: Now don't get me wrong, I like guillotines as much as anyone, they're eerily beautiful and fascinating. But in my personal opinion, capital punishment is not the best way to go about motivating a roster as depleted as the current Wolves team is. Paycuts? Public shaming with a little torture sprinkled in? Why not. But taking the "roster cut" this literally may not be the best long-term solution for the rebuild.

Even this version of Ukraine Wayne plays for the Preds, of course

My pick for Dustin Funk, now go and get yourself a 50G 110P season buddy! Eagles and Big Bog are gonna do great things!

And Kerr was a part of it, went soft on ya this time! Jk, great accomplishment, congrats

First few sims behind us, and what a start this has been! Hopefully a sign of the things to come? Anyway, I'm tired as hell after moving my friend's apartment for half the day, so without further useless blabbering, here's another press conference for you guys in case you were missing some TPE! Feel free to answer 3 questions for 1 capped TPE or all 6 questions for 2 capped TPE. Also please let me know if you prefer the plain text pressers or if you'd be okay with me only using the gfx version, hopefully it's legible enough. 1. We're off to a dominant 9-1-0 start. If you were to highlight a standout performance making this impressive start possible, what would it be? 2. Such a strong stretch always brings the same question - to what degree is this pace sustainable? 3. How about your player, are you happy with their performance so far? Are there areas of their game you're looking to improve? 4. Are there any particular matchups you're excited to see, whether it's our game or a game completely unrelated to the Bulls? 5. What's your player's favourite thing to do on evenings off as the days are getting shorter in Autumn? 6. How many wins will San Jose Sharks finish the season with? Are you looking forward to them getting shafted in the draft lottery? @STZ @DDZ_44 @sportexperts show @mattyIceman @Dee @wcats @Girts @Arce @npuBeT

Gloomy, foggy morning here. That's the stuff to listen to

Vancouver and Seattle going into the rebuild at the same time...can't wait to watch the next wave of rivalry, should be great!

Keeping with the theme of music not for everyone, I discovered this lovely band a few months ago

Pre-season press conference for week ending 11/5 New season, new team, new hopes, new dreams, new goals, new this, new that, just get this thing started already! Since one of the shiny new things on the team is yours truly, and since there's not much to talk about in the offseason, let me use this opportunity to get to know this team a bit. Feel free to answer 3 questions for 1 capped TPE or all 6 questions for 2 capped TPE. 1. Let's start with a boring, basic introduce yourself: who's your player, and what type of a player they are? And what type of a player do you build them to become? 2. Speaking of your player, what role do you expect them to play in the upcoming season? 3. Are you a new Bulls player, or were you a part of the team last season? Do you have any history with Houston, whether with your current player, or with one of your retired players? 4. Since their inception in S65, the Bulls have been a strong regular season team, only missing the postseason 9 times and winning the Prime Minister Cup three times. After missing the playoffs in season 90, do you think the team is ready to step back into the Founders Cup race? Where do you expect us to finish? 5. How about your player? What are your expectations on them stats-wise? Do you aspire to win an individual award with them? 6. Team captains have already been announced. What do you think of the leadership group? Do you have a history with any of the captains? What do you expect from them? If you're one of the captains, how are you planning to lead the team? @STZ @DDZ_44 @sportexperts show @mattyIceman @Dee @wcats @Girts @Arce @npuBeT

Claim 2/2

Game 29: The last game of round robin betwen Team Nordic and Team Western Europe was a great example of how a hot goaltender can win you a game, and you can't do a thing about it. SInce the beginning, Team Nordic looked dominant on the ice. They started the game with 16 shots in the first round, but only $nubbed Analfist was their only shooter as Ash Sparks in the W.E. net stood on his head. In the second period, Nordics added another 19 shots and Ash Sparks made another 19 saves, while his team scored once on powerplay as Sunglasses Joyo made it a tied game. Last period of the regulation brought more of the same - 16 shots but no goals for Nordics, 5 shots and no goals for Westerners. The overtime perion didn't take long, as John Jameson scored only 8 seconds in to seal the deal and earn a win for Team Western Europe. The first star of the game was Ash Sparks, the Team Western Europe goaltender, and it wasn't even close - he made 50 saves on 51 shots for .980 SV%.

„Man means, life changes“, says a Czech proverb. Even though its original version was „man means, God changes“, the version with „life“ is more common. Maybe the fact Czechia is one of the least religious countries in the world has something to do with it. Whatever version you prefer, the meaning is still the same – sometimes, things just don't go the way they have been planned, and they can change minute to minute. The last offseason, Wann Kerr, one of the top Czech players in the VHL, certainly could relate to this proverb. After spending all 288 games of his professional career in Vancouver on a team that hasn't missed playoff once in that span, won a Victory Cup and appeared in a Continental Cup finals, the Wolves brass decided for a rebuild. And Kerr was one of the pieces that were moved as a part of it. Right now, Kerr is enjoying a day off after finishing round robin of the World Cup, where his Eastern European team absolutely dominated and won 7 out of 10 total games, with Kerr being the top goal scorer and point scorer of the whole tournament. One of our reporters took the trip from Prague to Berlin, where Wann agreed to meet up in a café for a few words, so Czech fans can catch up with his life and what's going on. Hello Wann, long time no see. So, how have things been? Yea, I can't even remember the last time we talked, it's been hard keeping up with Czech fans while living in Canada. I haven't really had much time for social mdia and stuff like that, and it's refreshing to hear someone speaking Czech after such a long time. Yea, things have been great actually. I'm trying to handle the still somewhat new role of a husband and an adoptive father while playing professional sport, but I like keeping myself busy. Yea, things have been good. Great to hear! I guess the good vibes translate to your on-ice performance. Since the last time we spoke, you took the league by storm by being the top goal and point scorer in the S89 playoffs, then scoring 41 goals in S90, and now you're leaving quite an impression at the World Cup. What has changed in your game that allowed you to break out as one of the may I say best forwards in the league? (Laughs) One of the best forwards, thanks. Hard to say, I think a big chunk of that was playing with Nico Pearce in S89, he was always there to cover for my stupid mistakes and that really helped my confidence. It was the biggest thing, for sure, the confidence. Then I spend the whole S89/90 offseason studying the tape on mostly John Jameson, really trying to model my game after him, especially the off-puck habits and the way he uses his physicality. I think he's the best forward in the league right now, so obviously he's the player I want to study. It has made me more effective in gaining possession for our team, and good things happen when we have the puck. Yea, I think it really comes down to playing with guts and intensity, and of course having as great of linemates as I've been gifted helps. Whether it's Oreo (McFleury) $nubbed (Analfist) or Girts (Galvins) in Vancouver, or Big Bog (Yaroslav Bogatyrev) or Henry (Eagles) now at World Cup, they're all guys who can just make you look better. But now, there will be new teammates for you to build chemistry with. So let's address the main thing – your trade to London. How did it go? Well, when I saw Doggy (Dogwood Maple), McFlower (Oreo McFleury) and Bouchy (Pierre Emile Bouchard) traded on top of Girts (Galvins), Hockley (Mann) and of course the one and only Payne (Brian Payne) retiring, I had the feeling I might have had played my last game as a Wolf. We had a long, long conversation with Frank, talking life and business while having some beers. He explained his point of view, and we decided it's the best move for both the Wolves' rebuild and my career to accept the London's trade offer. So I waived the NTC and it was a done deal. No hard feelings on either side. So what are your first impressions on London? Will it be a change for you to play closer to home? Closer to home? My home is in Vancouver, my wife stayed there with the kid, I don't think it's good for a child to move so often. They're staying on Bowen Island. I'm renting a nice cozy home on the outskirts of London, it's nice here. Especially the food here is great. You know Mei Mei? It's a Singapore restaurant run by Auntie Liz, I highly recommend their nasi lemak! But I guess you're asking about the team. Yea, really chill, laid back atmosphere in the LR. We all want to and expect to win, and certainly have the team to do so. I'm excited for the next season. I hope I'll be able to hold my end of the bargain and do what I can to help them forget they've paid two first round picks for Braun and I. And hopefully, it will be two 16th overall picks. So you're now fully on board with the United? No playing favourites for the team that drafted you? Oh absolutely. You know I've always given my all for the team on the front of my jersey. I don't care whether it's Vancouver, or Maple and his Davos, or Bouchy and his Helsinki, or Oreo and his Calgary – they're against us now. We might exchange some friendly words before the game or during the intermissions, but we're not teammates anymore. If they're carrying the puck through the center of the ice, I'm bodychecking them. If they play dirty, I'm dropping gloves. Always loyal to your team, love it. So what are your expectations for the next season, both individually and as a team? Well, I'll do my best to try to replace the retired Igor Molotov for the team. I think that's what expected from me. That's a hard task, but I'm always up for a challenge. London is full of technically really great players with strong two-way game, I think I'll take it on myself to be more of a blue collar physical presence. I know I'm not the biggest guy around, but working along the board, in the corners and in front of the net are probably the strongest areas of my game. I think I could mesh well with the forward core, and it could help our teams. I think our offense is as good as any team's, and we've got one of the best goaltenders in the league. Yea, I think we're serious contenders, and will be ones for the years to come. I definitely wish you good luck next season, I hope you will be as successful in London as you were in Vancouver. Thank you, thank you. I have to go now, we have a voluntary skating in a moment, so I'll try to stay sharp, and I hope to speak with you soon!