scoop

Jacob Stone - Offensive Vision

I gathered the data for the current predictions from the playoff bracket challenge. There were 53 submissions at the time. The preseason counts are based on the 71 submissions at the beginning of the season, excluding any submissions that did not select any team to win. There were 65 total picks for the NA champion and Continental Cup; there were 64 total picks for EU champion.

Given that we have the ability to see who other people have picked for the playoff bracket challenge, I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the preseason predictions and compare them to the current predictions. As you can see, in the pre-season, people were a bit down on Toronto and Moscow to return to the finals. New York had actually been favored to win the Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy, and they failed to make the playoffs at all. Toronto only garnered 18.5% of the predictions, compared to over 50% of users picking them now. Riga had been favored in the preseason, just barely over Moscow, but the Menace are now heavy favorites. What I find particularly interesting with Moscow is that in the preseason, more people picked them to to win the Continental Cup than the Terence Fong Trophy. While I often will pick different teams just to hedge my bets, I didn't realize that many others do it as well.

I agree with Moscow being the favorites, and Malmo and Riga being split. I am, however, surprised at Toronto being the favorites in North America. Obviously they are the number one seed, but I thought people would be more concerned about Toddly Bobbly now that we are in the playoffs. I actually have Seattle winning over Toronto in my predictions, but Vancouver is my pick to ultimately make it to the finals from North America.

On 9/12/2024 at 8:39 PM, Advantage said:

 

 PRESS CONFERENCE

Week of: September 15th, 2024

Answer these six questions for 2 TPE

 

1. The Nighthawks have finished second place in the European Conference (and in the entire VHL), who was the unsung hero of the team this season?

 

2. Which teams in the VHL could use a total rebrand in your opinion?

 

3. I’ve been really focused on my fantasy football over the last few weeks.  Who is your pick to win the Super Bowl? If you don’t watch American football at all, give me your opinion on Kendrick Lamar being named the half time show performer.

 

4. Can you grow facial hair? If you can, what is your favourite look you’ve ever sported? (I say as someone embarrassed about my chinstrap days)

 

5. Honest prediction…after so many years of troubling playoff runs.  How are we going to do this time?

 

6. Tomorrow I have decided I am going to start taking care of myself better by trying to go on consistent walks and maybe hit the gym up again.  What is one thing you feel like you need to improve upon in your life to reach a certain goal in mind?

1. I'll say Phillip Rave. We had a lot of pretty good goal scorers, but Rave led the team by quite a bit and hasn't really gotten much attention for it at all.

2. New York Americans should become the Yukon Rush. That's my dream. London would be my other top choice. I'm not a fan of red/white/blue as a color scheme. If not both of them changing, at least one of them should. They are kind of redundant.

3. I'll go with a homer pick and say the Vikings, justifying it only with the fact that RJMW said them before I did, and therefore it is a legit pick.

4. Not really. I can grow a goatee I guess, but my facial hair growth on my cheeks is patchy.

5. Honest prediction? We get past Riga and lose to Moscow. We did win 2/3 of those recent games, but they outshot us by quite a bit and I don't think we can afford to need Lovstrom to have a 0.950+ save percentage against them. Then again, if our failed playoff runs have taught me anything it's that we can't trust anything about how the regular season went.

6. I can think of a lot of things. Start working out. Get back into running or at least going for more walks. Particularly, get into a routine with these things. My work even has a fitness center so I have no excuses. I guess I'd say the thing I need to improve on us limiting my screen time at night. I need to treat myself like I'm my own child or something. No screens after 9:30, asleep by 10:30, alarm set for 6. That'll improve my sleep from where it is now, and gives me some extra time in the morning to maybe go for a morning run. Honestly, I should probably aim for more sleep than that, but I think that's probably where I start. I think a better night time routine would do a lot of good for me.

With just a handful of games remaining, three teams still have a shot at the Victory Cup, with the final outcome heavily relying on one game between the Malmo Nighthawks and the Moscow Menace. The two teams have been familiar with each other as of late, as they recently had a back-to-back set. Malmo won both contests, despite being heavily outshot in both games, to keep their Victory Cup hopes alive. The combined shot totals in the two games was 106 for Moscow to 64 for Malmo. Nighthawk netminder Jorgen Lovstrom let in just two goals as the Malmo penalty kill unit thwarted all 17 Moscow power plays. With victories by scores of 2-0 and 5-2, the Nighthawks paved the way for another meaningful game as both teams took care of business in their next game.

The Menace are currently in first place with 104 points. Malmo is just behind them at 103, while Riga, at 102, is still not out of the race. The game between Moscow and Malmo does not 100% determine the Victory Cup winner, because both teams will still have one game left to play after, but they both play last place Prague. Obviously the Phantoms could play spoiler, but the odds are highly in favor of both Moscow and Malmo winning their final game.

1. If Malmo wins in regulation, the Nighthawks will finish in first place (assuming they beat Prague)
2. If Malmo wins in overtime/shootout, the Menace will finish in first place (assuming they beat Prague)
3. If Moscow wins, the Menace will finish in first place regardless of the outcome of any other game.

As noted, the Moscow/Malmo will not immediately determine who wins the Victory Cup. While a Moscow win would clinch it for the Menace, scenarios one and two as listed above still rely on a team beating Prague. In a situation where Malmo beats Moscow, if one of them beats Prague while the other doesn't, then the team that beat the Phantoms would finish in first. Both of them losing to Prague is the only way in which Riga will come out on top.

For Riga to win the Victory Cup, all of the following would have to happen:

1. Riga wins their final two games (Calgary and Toronto)
2. Malmo wins against Moscow
3. Malmo and Moscow both lose to Prague

If you were wondering about the Legion, they are out of the Victory Cup race. They can get to 105 points if they win their final three, which would at best put them in a tie for first place (because one of Moscow or Malmo will have to win their matchup). Toronto would lose the tiebreaker to the other contending teams.

For Malmo, winning the Victory Cup would give them three in the last four seasons. They have proven, however, that regular season success does not always carry over to the post-season. Moscow from a season ago really accentuate that point, as they had the worst record among playoff teams but went on to win the Continental Cup.

The regular season is approaching its end, so Malmo's recent slump may seemingly have knocked them out of contention for the Victory Cup and the first seed in Europe. With eight games to play, they now trail Moscow by seven points and Riga by five points. Despite how hard it has been to gain any ground on them even when Malmo had been playing well, there is still a chance that they can make up this ground. The remaining schedules of the top teams in the league could allow for some big swings in the standings.

Malmo and Moscow have three matchups remaining. If the Nighthawks want to have a shot at leading the standings, they will likely need to win all of those. That would close the gap between the two teams, and then it would depend on how they play in the rest of their games. If Moscow takes even one of those games, it will be tough for the Nighthawks to finish ahead of them. As for Riga, they have some tough games remaining in a Moscow matchup and two games against Toronto.

It will take some stars aligning for Malmo to climb back to the top, but the opportunity is there. They need to beat Moscow, and get some help from North American teams against Riga and Toronto.

Out of 13 VHFL groups this season, four are currently being led by a member of the Malmo Nighthawks. Three other team members are also participating in the VHFL, with all of them in the top three of their respective group. Looking at the historical performances in the fantasy games, it's not really a surprise to see these Nighthawks faring so well this season. Most of them regularly place in the top half, but for them to hold the lead in four groups is quite impressive. So while the Nighthawks have been struggling a bit as of late, I'm going to take a moment to celebrate the success that we are having in the VHFL.

@KaleebtheMighty currently has the second highest scoring team across all groups. While I don't necessarily think comparing teams from group to group is all that meaningful, because a bad drafter or two can drastically inflate someone else's score, Kaleeb still made several really good picks in what is the fifth highest scoring group. Somehow, his group allowed him to get Axle Gunner, Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage, and Jacob Stone. Those are the three best fantasy players, and he got them all.

@Pifferfish is someone who was very confident in his VHFL scouting in our locker room, and with the results they have had, the confidence is warranted. Pifferfish's previous fantasy success has come more from Super Coach than the VHFL, but this season will bring up the average placement. They were wrong about Owen Lazaro, who they expected would have a better season, but the rest of their picks were hits.

@scoop (that's me!) is unsurprisingly leading his group. I made the right call taking Canet du Bocage first overall rather than Stone, as much as I always want to take my own player. The mistake was in thinking that my group might somehow let Stone fall to me at the 12th pick. I definitely made some poor picks, particularly with my forwards, but luckily my competition also missed out on some big scorers and made some even worse selections.

@RJMW hadn't placed above fourth in a VHFL group since Season 89 when he won his group. He is on track to return to the winner's circle, though unlike those mentioned above, his group is close and he could still potentially fall a place or two. While he does have the lowest score among current group leaders, he is in the fourth highest scoring group. There are no weak teams in his group, which makes his potential first place arguably more impressive than mine or Pifferfish's in two of the lower scoring groups.

@Advantage is in second place in what is the second highest scoring group. He definitely left some points on the board with some of his picks, but he seems to understand the optimal strategy of picking the players who are less likely to flop and are all but guaranteed to at least be good fantasy options. Like many of us, he made the wise decision to trust in the Nighthawks in taking Savaisk Tzesar, whose average draft position was probably lower than it should have been.

@leafsman sits at third in Group 7, which is one of the higher scoring groups. The lack of Malmo representation on the roster is a bit disappointing, and his forwards could be improved by having taken some Nighthawks instead of his other picks, he obviously knows what he is doing. His pick of Guntis Gavilrovs, who was undrafted in six groups, was probably the highlight pick of his draft.

@tcookie is in the same group as Kaleeb, the only two Nighthawks that are competing with each other in the VHFL. That means that tcookie was one of the users who allowed Kaleeb to get the trio of top players. He even picked two other defenders before Kaleeb took either Canet du Bocage or Stone, so it's a wonder how he is in third place in this group. He did do better with his forward selections, however, and the defenders that he did take have been solid fantasy players.

On 9/4/2024 at 7:42 PM, Advantage said:

 

 PRESS CONFERENCE

Week of: September 8th, 2024

Answer these six questions for 2 TPE

 

1. Randy Bobandy is currently just one point shy of the league lead in points, and looks like one of the leading MVP candidates. Do you think he is the likely MVP winner? If not, who is?

 

2. For as long as I have been in the BoG, we hadn’t really looked at international accomplishments. Do you think the Board of Governors should consider International Play more when it comes to deciding Hall of Fame members? 

 

3. The GMOTY (David Knight Trophy) has long been considered a regular season award that doesn’t really weigh playoff success.  Do you think this should change and why or why not?

 

4. Hey look at that, you won a huge Lottery Sweepstakes and are now a multi million dollar winner.  What are you doing with it?

 

5. The Malmo Nighthawks are once again an amazing team, what has @KaleebtheMighty meant to you as a GM (I say as someone who has been really impressed with him my entire stay on the team)?

 

6. What is your go-to place to eat when you don’t feel like cooking?

1. We've been slumping and he's probably fallen too far behind to win it. The fact that he's leading Malmo in points by a wide margin is a point in his favor, as our offense would be much worse without him, but I think voters may not like that he's not primarily a goal scorer. I think right now David Rashford may be the favorite.

2. If anything, I would say that maybe outstanding international accomplishments should be considered to maybe give someone that extra push that they need, but I don't think poor international play should be held against anyone.

3. No, I don't think that should change, but I also don't think standings placement in the regular season should really matter as much as others seem to believe it does either. I know there is the aspect of managing the players that you do have, setting lines and strategies, so if someone does well with a team that on paper looks bad, credit to them. I think even a rebuilding GM should have a shot at the award if they drafted well and made astute trades.

4. Paying off my student loans and mortgage. Depending on how many multiple millions we are talking about, maybe buying a house (currently have a condo). Definitely going to invest a lot of it. I'll definitely be taking a real vacation, because I've never treated myself to anything like that.

5. When I joined this team in Season 88, I told him that I wanted to play with the team for nine seasons. My honest expectation was that we'd be serious contenders beginning around Season 91 through maybe Season 94, peaking in S92/S93. And I would have been fine with that. I would have been okay finishing out the last couple seasons of my career on a non-playoff team, but he has done a great job keeping us competitive longer than I anticipated.

6. Chipotle. It helps that there is one near the stores where I do most of my shopping. Before I moved last year, there was a Chipotle a little over a mile away that I would run to, get a burrito, and eat it while walking home. There was also a burger place about 1.5 miles away that I liked, and would do the same. There's not much that close to me now, but I guess that should mean that I get more running done.

16 minutes ago, Pifferfish said:

Only issue with this scale is at the level of the M, goalies would have a really hard time.

Skaters already have to deal with this, because of hybrid attributes. Roughly speaking, 1 TPE = 0.3 to 0.6 attribute points.

But also, my overall proposal would not be limited to goalies.

The numbers could certainly be tweaked on either scale, but the general idea is that more of the total TPE that it takes to go from 0 to 99 should be shifted to earlier in the build. I don't think it should be linear, but I think the curve is too much where we have it.

I think the update scale needs to be looked at. I would say that it too heavily punishes players at the top

As it stands, it takes 190 TPE for a goalie to improve a single attribute from 0 to 99 (yes, I know goalies start at 35, but those attribute points still matter)

0 to 90 requires 110 TPE

90 to 99 requires 80 TPE

That needs to be evened out a little bit more. 91% of the attribute points cost only 58% of the TPE. I think that's part of the problem, because the difference between 90 and 99 is hardly worth it.

My proposal would look something more like this

35 to 50: 1 TPE

50 to 80: 3 TPE

80 to 99: 5 TPE

0 to 90 requires 155 TPE

90 to 99 requires 45 TPE

Let's say a goalie just evenly distributes TPE into the seven goalie attributes. Here is the difference in builds at various TPA levels

Current update scale

My proposed update scale

no.

As someone who fully intends to create a goalie for the Season 99 draft, I am paying close attention to the goalie count in the VHL. We recently saw the addition of Vladimir Trunov to the Season 96 draft, which brings the total of legitimate goalie prospects in the draft to five. After we saw the retirement of seven starting goalies over the past two off-seasons, the prospect pool is filling right back up. I don't think there will be a shortage of goalies by the time I am being drafted. In fact, we could potentially have a surplus at the time, which could hurt my draft stock and greatly reduce the number of teams that could be interested in drafting me. This is way too early to be trying to predict who will draft me in Season 99, but I'm going to do it anyway.

As mentioned, my next player Evangeline Glover will be part of the Season 99 draft. My intention this time around will be to play a season in the VHLE, so teams that should be looking to draft me have a starter spot open in Season 100. I suppose me being backup for a season could also be in the cards, so I'll expand that a bit to say a team that would have a starter spot open up for me by Season 101 at the latest. So who are those teams that may need a goalie at that time? Obviously, goalies don't always play their full careers with one single team. That's the biggest reason why this is way too early to be trying to predict this. Yes, Los Angeles has Roger Eagles now, and his career could go as late as Season 103. But Los Angeles may not have the supporting cast to be good in Season 100, so maybe Eagles will not be on the team at that time. For a VHL.com article, I'm not going to try to predict the entire scope of the VHL, so for the most part, I'm just going to be assuming goalies stay where they are. Again, if a team won't have me starting by S101, they're almost certainly out of consideration. An S93 player who plays a full career would play their final season in S101, so in theory, the perfect timeline for a team would be to have an S91 goalie who retires after S99, and then I take over. I think teams with an S90 or S92 goalie also make sense, as one could simply have a gap year or, again, I could end up being backup my first season. So to make things simple, I'm going to narrow things down and say the team that will most likely draft me will be one that has a starter from S90 to S92.

Los Angeles, Calgary, Vancouver, Helsinki, Warsaw, D.C., Malmo, and Davos all have goalies that are more recent than S94. London and Prague will both likely draft a goalie in S96.

That narrows things down to the following six teams: Seattle, Toronto, Moscow, Riga, New York, Chicago

From these six, I'm going to cut Seattle, Toronto, and New York from being the most likely. Seattle is the only team among these has has an S92 goalie, which would mean if they finished their career there, then I would have to backup in my rookie season. That's not why I'm cutting them, however. I actually think there's a chance that Seattle at some point trades Costanzov away to replace him with a younger model when he gets to be too expensive. As for Toronto, while they do have an S91 goalie in Toddly Bobbly, but they are not exactly the most reliable. Toronto will probably look to add a goalie prospect before I'm drafted. Alternatively, Toronto may trade for New York's WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW, in which case the timeline for the Legion and me could line up. If that happens, then New York is the team that will likely need to find a goalie before my draft. Because I could see things going either way and I need to cross teams off my list, they are gone.

That leaves Moscow, Riga, and Chicago

With Chicago have an S90 goalie while Moscow and Riga each have an S91 goalie, it will make more sense for them to try to potentially draft someone like Vladimir Trunov in the S96 draft, though it may be a little early. If Trunov takes until S98 to reach the VHL, they could backup Artyomov in their first season and then take over as starter in S99. I could see Moscow or Riga drafting RicerFourteen as someone who would likely take several seasons in the minors before reaching the VHL. Looking at the draft picks that each of those two teams has, I think Riga is more likely to be in position to draft them. At this point in time, I will predict that Evangeline Glover goes to the Moscow Menace New York Americans. That's just what feels right, ignore everything else.

1 minute ago, rory said:

Nice try stz I’ve decided we’re winning it all 

Analfist was the problem all along

With a third of the regular season still to go, there is plenty of time left before the playoffs begin. I am going to look ahead to the post-season for my theme week article anyway, as I take a look at the first year players featured on playoff rosters. Obviously the playoff teams are not set, but realistically the only thing that could change is New York taking a spot, but that does not matter because neither of their rookies would make this list anyway. That being said, let's get to what this list is about. I'm going to highlight who I believe can be the most impactful rookies in the playoffs. This is not strictly a ranking of the best rookies; I will also be taking into consideration how important these rookies are to their respective teams.

5. G Jørgen Løvstrøm, Malmo Nighthawks @Pifferfish

Taking the fifth spot is Jørgen Løvstrøm of the Nighthawks, who is part of a goalie tandem along side Karl Herzlich. Given the situation, it's hard to put Løvstrøm higher on the list. It is not even guaranteed that he gets any starts in the playoffs. It will be interesting to see how Malmo manages the goaltender question during the playoffs, but if we look at the recent play, Løvstrøm could very well be on his way to earning the starting job for the post-season. Herzlich started the season stronger, but has seen his numbers drop. Løvstrøm meanwhile has improved since his early struggles to the point where the two have very similar stats.

4. LW Maverick Goncalves, Moscow Menace @leandrofg

The Season 94 first overall pick Maverick Goncalves is next on the list, and as probably the best rookie in the league, you may think this is too low. Had Moscow not just acquired Snu.bbed Analfist, Goncalves may have been higher on the list. It's not that I think his output will decrease, but I think the team will not rely on him as much. Undoubtedly he is still important to the team. He leads the team in hits and is third in goals, but with Analfist now around, I think Moscow could survive even if Goncalves struggles. He is good, but there are four other forwards on the roster who are noticeably more skilled players at the moment.

3. D Jillian Woods, Moscow Menace @jacobcarson877

Even if Goncalves is a better player than Jillian Woods (which is a debate in itself), I do believe that Woods is more important for Moscow right now. Goncalves will have his time to shine in the future, but there will be a spotlight on Woods in the playoffs. However, this placing is less about the contributions that Woods could make, but rather the negative impact that a poor performance from her could have. She is Moscow's second-best defender, so they will need her to play well when Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage is resting. As a true defender, her contributions are not as evident, but that does not mean they are not important.

2. D Felicia Hardy, HC Davos Dynamo @JCarson

It can be easy to forget, but the European playoffs are not just Riga, Malmo, and Moscow. The Dynamo will be there, and they will have just as much of an opportunity to win as any of the three teams above them. For that to happen, though, they will need some players to step up. Felicia Hardy will have every opportunity to be on of those players to lead the team. She is similar to Woods in that she is not going to carry the team offensively, but with her defense and physical play, she could potentially shut down opposing offenses.

1. G Aleksanteri Kaskiniemi-Kekkonen, HC Davos Dynamo @Snussu

Aleksanteri Kaskiniemi-Kekkonen is one of several rookie goalies this season, but most of them will not be playing in the playoffs. Unlike Malmo with Løvstrøm and Herzlich, Davos does not have a second goalie on the roster to limit Kaskiniemi-Kekkonen's importance to the team. He is their starter, no question, and the team will rely on him in the playoffs. His stats in his first year can give fans hope for the playoffs, but the playoffs will be a different beast. The Dynamo have been one of the best defensive teams because of, not in spite of AKK. For them to succeed in the playoffs, they will need him to rise to the occasion against the powerhouse offenses of the European Conference.

On 8/27/2024 at 9:01 PM, Advantage said:

  PRESS CONFERENCE

Week of: September 1, 2024

Answer these six questions for 2 TPE

 

1. If you had to predict the MVP at this juncture, who would it be?

2. What netminder, now that some of the leagues greats have retired, has taken the forefront and is your current pick to win Top Goalie?

3. The VHL Theme Week was announced recently and it is all about rookies.  Next season, you are in charge…what would the topic be for theme week?

4. I am currently sitting in my new apartment in horrifyingly awful heat…what luxury do you think you couldn’t live without? (No pets or anything like that)

5. Which NHL player does your VHL player emulate the best and why?

6. Which is your favourite season of the year and why?

1. This is really tough, but it does seem like to win it you have to really stand out on your team. I know they aren't a playoff team right now, but honestly W. W. from New York could be the top candidate if they can improve their save percentage a bit and the Americans climb up the standings. New York's offense is atrocious, and while the play of their defense is also a big part of the reason that they allow the fewest goals, W. W. has been far and away the best player on this team. So while I think W. W. will not get much attention for Most Outstanding, I think they could be a top MVP candidate.

2. W. W. for sure. I predicted Merome Dilson at the beginning of the season, but I seem to have gotten that wrong. Olober Syko has underperformed but I think they should become a perennial candidate for Top Goalie.

3. Family.

4. Indoor plumbing

5. Look, I had to Google "top NHL defensemen" and I recognized like four of the names, if that tells you anything about my NHL knowledge. So to say who my VHL player emulates would be impossible. But the article I found had Cale Makar as number one on the list so obviously I'm going to say Cale Makar.

6. Summer is too hot. Winter is too cold. Spring is too wet. Fall is perfect. Obviously to say it's perfect is an exaggeration, but it's the best time of the year, and it's not particularly close in my mind.

On 8/20/2024 at 7:33 PM, Advantage said:

 PRESS CONFERENCE

Week of: August 25th, 2024

Answer these six questions for 2 TPE

 

1. As of me writing this question, we have won five in a row and currently have the best goal differential in the league! Who has been the driving factor (if there is one) in us having such a strong run of late?

 

2. How do you feel about your player's season so far?

 

3. What is one goal you have left for your player to accomplish in the VHL?

 

4. The EU Conference currently has the three best teams in the league in Moscow, ourselves and Riga. In what order do you see these three teams finishing?

 

5. As a member of the BOG, I often hear about issues people have after they have built up for quite some time.  What is something that our league can do better to help your experience? If nothing, what is one thing you would add?

 

6. As most of you know from the Discord, I had a pretty momentous happen this week.  What is one memory you have from your life that will stick with you as a positive one for quite some time?

1. Thinking back to that run, that was probably my high point in the season. Herzlich was also playing out of his mind at the time as well, so I'd say the two of us. Looking at our recent games now, Randy Bobandy and Philip Rave have been doing really well. Martin Kemp scored a hat trick in a big win against a scorching hot Moscow as well. We have so many guys who can step up on any night, and I think that's how we've been able to play so well as of late and have the best goal differential in the league.

2. It's been my best yet, for sure, and I'd say it's giving me hope that maybe I could have a chance at the Hall of Fame. I think I'll have to get back to where I was before my recent slump, of sorts, and finish the season strong enough to win some hardware. My Hall of Fame aspirations will definitely rely on me having another season like this in my final year as well.

3. As much as much teammates want to win a Continental Cup, I'm going to say I want to win Playoff MVP. Of course, I want it to come with a Continental Cup, but being the driving force behind a championship for the team that I have spent my entire career with would mean so much to me.

4. Our recent wins over Moscw and Riga have given me the confidence that we can finish in first. We have the most games remaining against the bottom five teams in the league, which will help for sure. Moscow had been looking like the best team in the league for a bit, and they still could be, but losses to us and Riga have tightened the race. I still think they will finish second, and that leaves Riga in third.

5. To be honest, I'm not as invested in the VHL as I have been in the past to actually care as much. That being said, and maybe this is just me not being as involved, but I'm not really sure what the BOG does nowadays other than league voting. I have no clue who is on the BOG, though I'd hope there is a list of the members somewhere out there if I were curious. Actually, I did find a list, but it appears to be outdated, considering it includes people who haven't been online since 2022. Actually, I do think I've come across some rules that seem to be outdated as well, so maybe if it is within the purview of the BOG, just keeping things a little more up-to-date would be nice.

6. It pales in comparison, but seeing Motion City Soundtrack, my favorite band, in concert back in early 2020 was one of my fondest memories in a long while. I'm not an avid concert-goer, so back in 2016 when they were having a farewell tour which could have been their last (though it turned out to just be a hiatus), I did not go and see them. I thought about it, but I don't really treat myself often enough. Not seeing them was a big regret of mine, so when they announced a reunion tour, I decided I would definitely go, and it was amazing.

As much as you can make of Malmo's post-season failures over the past few seasons, the current generation of Nighthawks have undoubtedly been a great regular season team. In fact, to say they have been one of the best of recent history would be a bit of an understatement. Their greatness has a chance to reach a level not seen in nearly 40 seasons. Of course, if you ask them, they would likely trade it for some playoff success, but that's not how the world works. They will have to live with what they have, and their regular season success can serve as a bit of a consolation even if its significance will be lost to time. If anything, what will be remembered about the Nighthawks of the 90's is the contrast between their performance in the regular season and the post-season. Still, that doesn't mean we can't take the time to acknowledge how good this team has been.

The construction of the current generation of Nighthawks began in Season 88 with the acquisition of Jacob Stone. Over the next several season, the pieces started coming into place. While they were never as bad as the bad teams of today, it was not until Season 91 that the Stone-era Nighthawks had a winning record. They finished that season with 95 points, a mark which has been topped each season since. In the following two seasons, they won back-to-back Victory Cups with 110 and 106 points. Add in their 99-point Season 94 and you've got a team that put up 410 points over four seasons. Not many teams have averaged 100 points-per-season over four seasons in the current 16-team layout of the VHL. Only one (the 80's Menace), has averaged that over five seasons.

This season, the Nighthawks have a 25-8-4 record for 54 points. This puts them on pace for 105 points, which is certainly enough to put their five-season average in the triple digits. It would also give them a better five-season total than Moscow's best. The Menace had a 242-93-25 regular season record from Season 80 to Season 84. (Like the present-day Nighthawks, they too failed to win any Continental Cups, but they at least made it to the finals in four of those five seasons before losing.) If the Nighthawks this season can finish with at least 100 points, they would top that record from Moscow, which would give them the best five-season record (excluding playoffs) since Helsinki had 519 points from Season 53 to Season 57.

Malmo good

2 hours ago, Victor said:

Wonder what the longest previous streak was. I know there was a point all 8 original franchises won in 8 successive seasons (would have been including S26 Vasteras and S32 New York) but then we got some dynasties after Quebec and Cologne came in which would have ruined it.

 

So might already be in record setting territory.

The longest was 9, and it was just previously from 84 to 91. Chicago ruined it by winning in 92, but it didn't set things back too far.

I am a fan of parity. I think many others are as well. Who wants to see the same time win over and over? (The obvious exception, of course, is if it is their own team.) The recent VHL champions do demonstrate that we have had a healthy dose of parity as of late. Twelve seasons have passed since Vancouver won three straight Continental Cups from Season 80 through Season 82, and in those twelve seasons, only two teams have won multiple championships. With the league having been at 16 teams for over 20 seasons now, it is harder for teams to dominate the way that Seattle did when they won it all in four of six (or, stretching it out, five of ten) seasons. While the additional competition does make it harder for teams to win several championships in a short span, it also makes it harder for teams to win even once. Four teams (New York, Helsinki, Riga, and Los Angeles) have not won a single Cup in the 16-team era.

This doesn't mean that we can't dream for a 16-season stretch in which every team wins exactly one championship. Okay, so that kind of stretch may seem a bit farfetched, considering things have to line up very perfectly, and with the unpredictability of the playoffs, it would be very unlikely (though the unpredictability may actually help in this cause just as much as it could hinder it). Currently, we have nine unique champions, beginning with Vancouver in Season 86. This is tied for the longest string of unique champions in VHL history, overlapping with the S84 through S91 run which was the first to reach nine.

To extend the streak, we just need to see one of seven specific teams win this season. Those seven teams are Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Helsinki, Malmo, Riga, and Warsaw. Of those European teams, three are almost certainly going to make the playoffs (Malmo, Riga, and Warsaw). The North American Conference is looking more like a six-team race, meaning we might see only one of Chicago and New York in the post-season (Los Angeles will not make it. With the playoff field looking to have four or five teams for whom a Continental Cup would mean ten champions in ten seasons, it would seem to be close to a 50/50 chance.

On 8/12/2024 at 12:28 AM, Advantage said:

 PRESS CONFERENCE

Week of: August 18th, 2024

Answer these six questions for 2 TPE

 

1. We are having an up-and-down season thus far.  Despite it being so early in the season, what are we not doing well enough, that we must, if we are to climb the standings?

 

2. Who do you think will lead the Malmo Nighthawks in points this season?

 

3. If you could create a new team in any league, what would the team name be and in what league would it be in?

 

4. The Olympics just ended....if your player could compete in any Summer Olympics event, which one would it be?

 

5. We have a lot of great players and people on our team. Give a shoutout to someone on the team who you either feel doesn't get enough credit or attention, or has really impacted your time on Malmo in a positive way!

 

6. Zombie apocalypse has taken over the world and you are being forced out of your house, what three items would you grab before heading out on your own?

1. I don't have the stats to back this up, but it feels like in several of our losses, we've blown leads that we had in the third period. And our record in overtime games is not good. We need to be better in these clutch situations.

2. I believe that everyone on the team could do well, but above all else I believe in myself. I think that I could lead the VHL in points.

3. The obvious answer is to bring back the Yukon Rush, though I would say put them in the VHL rather than let the VHLM have them again. Beyond the low-hanging fruit, I'd make the Anchorage Owls in the VHLM. When I originally made the Yukon Rush, this was actually my other top option.

4. Well, I suppose playing field hockey makes enough sense.

5. I feel like it's really most of the team. After a few people above me said Tzesar, I probably need to go with someone else, and after last season he has definitely gotten people to take notice. I'm going to say RJ. He's been a consistent contributor the last few seasons. He's actually third on the team in points, since his rookie season.

6. My cat, my car, and my phone.

Something that did with my current player, and plan to do with my future players, is make a "Draft Collection" where I make a graphic for my player for every VHL team leading up to being drafted.

13 hours ago, Alex said:

4th - Malmo Nighthawks

Record - 3-2-1

Current Place in Standings - 5th

Projected Finish - 3rd

Forward Rank - 1st

Defense Rank - 10th

Goaltending Rank - 8th

Overall - 6th

Standout Player - Karl Herzlich @LastGoon007

 

To be blunt Malmo is a very interesting team this season, for many seasons they were a top defensive team which helped everyone find more success throughout the lineup and minimized scoring chances against. While they do still have a top defenseman, there is considerable concern as their shots against have skyrocketed compared to previous seasons. We will likely see a trade to improve the blue line in short order.

Our shots against have actually decreased.

S92: 32.14

S93: 32.56

S94: 32.33

S95: 31.63

To be fair, though, that's only because we've played Helsinki in 3 of our 8 games thus far. They are the only team we've held below that average. We are also ranked 6th in shots against compared to 2nd in each of the past three seasons, so relatively speaking, we are doing worse in that regard.

Eight games into the season, the Malmo Nighthawks have been struggling to score. Their 2.5 goals per game has them ranked 13th in the league, which is not a great look for a championship hopeful. It has actually been worse than it looks, as seven of their 20 goals came in just one game against the Helsinki Titans, and outside of that lone outburst they have averaged fewer than two goals per game. Despite this, they have a 4-3-1 record at this point, largely due to the fact that they have allowed the second fewest goals. The scoring leader for the team thus far has been newcomer Martin Kemp, with five goals. On the flip side, last season's team leader Savaisk Tzesar has been particularly quiet. After scoring 44 goals in Season 94, he has just one through the first eight contests.

All hope is not lost for the season, however. Not only is eight games a small sample size, but also the Nighthawks have the third most shots on goal with 46 per game. As a team, they have a shot percentage of 5.43%, which is easily the worst in the league. Tzesar has been a standout in this category, as his single goal comes despite having 53 shots on net. I could simply say that I expect the shot percentage to rise closer to the league average of 8.07%, I do recognize as well that the eight-game sample size also pertains to the shot attempts that teams have taken. Maybe Malmo will not remain third in that regard, but the roster is definitely good enough to do so.