scoop

2-1 Express

Legion Vikings Express Dynamo

Y'all missed your chance to get me.

Of the 13 games the Vikings have left to play, six of them are against New York. With their roster depleted, New York should be a team that we can beat. And a team that we should be able to score goals against. Theoretically, anyway. Right now, I'm sitting at 26 goals and 41 points. I'm not really happy with where I'm at, but I see brighter times ahead so it's whatever I guess. Plus these games against New York could salvage the season a bit. Honestly, I'm expecting big games for me. But with expectations come disappointment, so maybe I should temper them. Really though, even with just 26 goals through 59 games, I'm hoping AT BEST that I can somehow reach 40 goals for the season. That'd take 14 more in 13 games, certainly a much higher pace than what I'm scoring at right now.

Deadline Passed, Maxwell Remains a Viking With the passing of the trade deadline on Saturday night, nothing has changed. While some depth players had been moved to competing teams a few days prior, as well as the expected Edwin Reencarnacion to Toronto deal, no major shakeups happened on deadline day. There were, however ultimately insignificant, rumors of discussions between Stockholm and multiple other teams regarding Diana Maxwell. Maxwell, the S50 1st overall pick, may not seem like someone that the Vikings would want to trade early in their rebuild, but she has been visibly frustrated with how the season has been playing out. While Stockholm was not thought to be a competitor this season by any stretch of imagination, no one on the team envisioned themselves playing as poorly as they have. Maxwell is certainly one of the leaders on the team and would likely be performing better on another roster. As a player who is still developing, she would not have had the impact that an acquisition such as Reencarnacion has made, but her value lies in what she could provide for the future, as well as some depth this season for a competing team. Diana Maxwell leads the VIkings with 26 goals, giving her nearly 40% of Stockholm's scores. Teams that could have been in talks with the Vikings include those who are slightly ahead of Stockholm in their rebuilding phase, but are still young enough that Maxwell fits into their core; the three that most fit the bill would be Calgary, Seattle, and Helsinki. These teams are all fringe playoff teams; Calgary and Seattle had been competing for the third seed in North America, a spot which the Wranglers seem to be gaining grip of. Helsinki is in a battle with Riga for Europe's final playoff spot. However, as noted, the main value in trading for Maxwell is in her future, so even if she hadn't made the difference in getting to or advancing through the playoffs, any of these teams could have benefited from adding her. One factor that likely kept Maxwell in Stockholm is her price tag. The deal would likely have had to begin with a Season 52 1st round pick, which would rule out Calgary as a potential trade partner. But even with the strength of the S52 draft, the Vikings would have sought more: from Seattle, another S52 1st round pick; from Helsinki, Asher Donovan. While it is believed that the Vikings were in talks about dealing their star forward, there was certainly no eagerness to make it happen. It's likely that any discussion was them testing the waters on what they could get, while potentially putting Maxwell in a situation where she can compete as soon as possible. In holding on to Maxwell, GM Christopher Miller is making a bet on his team's future. He is aware that Maxwell expects to be competitive sooner in her career rather than later, and if the team can get there by the time she hits the open market, they'll lose her for nothing. With regards to the future, the Vikings are not in a terrible spot. They have prospects developing in the VHLM and they have plenty of cap space to potentially make a splash in free agency next season. Perhaps Miller is confident in how things will go. With a couple seasons yet to go before she could potentially become a free agent, the Vikings should have the necessary time to develop into a top team behind Maxwell.

look at this funnyman he's got the jokes

Predict the score of the following game or else 279 Brampton Blades vs Moscow Red Wolves

Guess the winners 276 Saskatoon Wild vs Brampton Blades 277 Ottawa Lynx vs Bern Royals 278 Bratislava Watchmen vs Oslo Storm

4-1 Yukon No winners

Brampton Ottawa Bern 1 TPE for @linsangeles @YEAH!stlemania @jRuutu

@Higgins is still in the bottom half, but @Draper has climbed up to 5th at the moment. I'm in first, with @CowboyinAmerica, @Victor, and @ADwyer87 ranking 2nd through 4th. I'm going to add in goalie stats (which will undoubtedly move me down behind several people) and update the spreadsheet in the first post so you guys can see what things are looking like.

I'm not actually surprised I tricked you all.

Bears 4 Amercs 0

Dynamo Bears Meute Legion

I am surprised

fuckin' right 2 assists tho wtf? should be 2 more goals

No podcast from me this week, because I didn't get one done when I had the time. I wasn't planning on doing another VHFL podcast because it does get kind of stale doing those each week, though I did update the stats and standings in my spreadsheet. I was in first at the time. This was a few days ago. I was thinking about doing a podcast and I had a few things I was going to ramble about, but I just found myself being lazy. And really, what's the point of putting in that tiny bit of extra effort that a podcast takes over a VHL.com article, all in the name of one extra TPE, when earning TPE like crazy doesn't even equal success? But that's just me bitching again about how shitty this season is going for Stockholm. No, I'm not expecting wins, but I'm not expecting to be shut out in 30% of our games either. I shouldn't have to get excited when we score multiple goals in a single sim, let alone a single game. Super frustrating. But whatever, I gotta go to work now.

Is Diana Maxwell a Bust? Certainly it is too early to answer the question, but so far, Diana Maxwell has not achieved any of her goals. First, down in the VHLM, she had high hopes for winning a Founder's Cup. That never happened. The second goal in her short career was to win rookie of the year. While the season is not yet over, it's not looking good for her in that regard. With just 31 points through 46 games, she isn't having nearly the season she expected. Before ever even playing a VHLM game, she had set very high career goals for herself, which includes multiple championships and MVP trophies en route to a Hall of Fame induction. Despite this slow start, she remains confident that she will achieve the greatness she promised. "I have no reason to think I can't still accomplish what I set out to do. This is just one season. My first season. I'm still putting in all the effort to improve myself, but right now I'm competing against older, more developed players. Plus my team isn't really complete, you know? Next season we still begin to take shape. We'll have guys coming up from the VHLM, maybe make a play for some free agents. I doubt if I'll be good enough to win MVP by next season, but I think it's too early to rule out a championship. Do I expect it? No. But don't rule it out." The Stockholm Vikings are currently the worst team in the league, and it starts with their offense, the exact area where Maxwell is expected to excel. They have a 4-38-4 record, and have scored just 48 goals in those 46 games. While scoring far fewer goals than any other team (Calgary, the next worst, has 91 goals), the Vikings have also allowed a league-leading 151. With just 12 points in the standings, they trail the 9th-place Americans by 24 points. Despite the abysmal season, the notion that Stockholm could be competing for the Cup as soon as next season may actually be more than just a pipe dream. While not top prospects, the Vikings have four VHLM players who could potentially be up in the VHL next season: forward Jack Kraken, and defensemen Nikki Kissanen, Elijah Dotran, and Misha Tobolsk. Adding these players to the roster will help out the likes of Maxwell, Essian Ravenwing, and Atticus Von Braxton IV, who are struggling to carry the load at the moment. If the Vikings are to seriously compete as soon as next season, though, they will have to be big players in free agency. With several big names out there, and a lot of cap space to work with, the Vikings could make a splash. They have a solid roster base of young players, but they need to acquire veterans to really show them the way. If the majority of the upcoming free agents do hit the market, it will be a hotly contested period. Given their current setup, Stockholm could be an ideal location when the time comes. If they can lure in some of the big names, Maxwell and the Vikings could be up there at the top in Season 51.

how many time did he poop on the floor

Try to pick the winners. 229 Brampton Blades vs Bratislava Watchmen 230 Moscow Red Wolves vs Ottawa Lynx 232 Bern Royals vs Oslo Storm

Predict the score of the following game. 231 Saskatoon Wild vs Yukon Rush

Brampton Oslo Yukon Nowinners.

4-0 Moscow was the score. No TPE for you.

Finally a game where we score a decent amount of goals.. But I still have none of them

Well, we had a lead, anyway.