scoop

It was Toledo, Spain. They were Avangard/Davos' minor league team.

I really like looking at the history of the VHL, previously holding the self-assigned title of VHL Junior Historian, so I've decided to write a series of articles that will allow me to take a look back at the past. Luckily, there are a lot of resources out there (some of which I have helped put together) for people who want to dig into historical topics, so the research end won't be too time consuming. The articles I'm going to write will be about which users are most representative of various World Cup teams, based mostly on the medals that they have earned throughout all of their players careers. I'd be surprised if this topic has not been touched before, but it's nothing that I've ever really looked into. I can say right now that there are several members who have won 7+ medals with the same team and none elsewhere. Certain members have definitely been more committed to a single nation or region than others, and honestly, I think people who have been around a while won't be too surprised by those names. I won't strictly be looking at players who have only won medals with a single World Cup team.

1. We've started the season 9-4-0. What do you think about our record? We started out slow, losing three of our first four games, with the Lynx being the one team of those three we should have definitely beaten. We've both won and lost against good teams, but I do think I would have expected our record to be a bit better at this point. I think we'll be higher than third in the standings by the time the season ends, so we've got some work to do. 2. Would you consider us a serious cup contender? Absolutely, though it's not going to be easy. I mean, we've shown that we can beat Halifax and Minnesota, the other top teams in the conference, and we're doing all of this with me playing just over 10 minutes per game. I really do think we are underperforming right now, and it's just a matter of figuring out the best lines before we really start to click. 3. The Yukon rush and @Juice have declared war on us? What do you think of this potential rivalry? I don't want to hate the Rush, because I was the team founder way back in S31, but they knew how badly I wanted to play for them, and sure they needed a center when they picked Numminen, but it still stings a bit. Now not only do I want to see them lose, I want it to be by our hands. 4. Other than the Yukon Rush, who would you consider our biggest rival? I think I'd say Halifax, even though I think Minnesota is the better team. We just handed Halifax their first loss of the season after starting 11-0, so they surely will want to get us back for that. 5. We have a handful of players who are above a point per game including Genghis Khan @caltroit_red_flames who's tied for the league lead in points and Alex Johnston @Alex_J32 who's leading the league in goals. Are you happy with your players performance so far this season? Not one bit, and I think part of the fault lies on the GM who has me playing on literally just one line. It's the VHLM so I don't really care enough to say anything, but I think I definitely deserve more minutes. 8. Peanut butter or Nutella and why? Peanut butter of course. I've loved peanut butter ever since I was a kid, and I don't really care much for Nutella. Peanut butter is also healthier I'm pretty sure, so it's really no contest for me.

Toledo Scorpions anyone?

me good

This is very likely true.

You can say it'll be competitive all you want, but the nature of the E will likely be be exactly the same as the M. Teams lose their best players every season, so there's no sense in keeping good players if your team isn't going to make the playoffs. So the bottom teams will sell, accumulate picks, and we'll just have that same cycle.

I propose that the VHLE teams are re-drafted every season. It's fresh, it's exciting. Teams won't be managed in the same exact way as VHLM teams where the GM's have to be thinking about who is going to graduate and drafting based on that. The number of teams could be adjusted each season based on how many players are at that stage of their career. I would also propose that teams can't trade draft picks, so there's no tanking one year to stockpile picks. Honestly, maybe no transactions at all.

It's finished you can read it now!!

whoops I didn't mean to post this yet

I'll go back and read the announcement in full a bit later, but as I was out for a walk earlier, I was thinking about this. First thing I have to say is that given that players are now likely going to take a bit longer to get into the VHL, I personally think this is a great time to increase career lengths. This is something that I have advocated for in the past, with depreciation for players getting much harsher past eight seasons. Instead of just increasing by 2% more each season, I think I suggested something like it going 5/7/9/13/19/27% after the 5th/6th/7th/8th/9th/10th seasons. Add on to that I think disallowing banking going into the 10th season and beyond. Discourage people from playing those extra seasons, but allow it if people just want to. Though I guess maybe this would just add to the problem of too many players. I don't know. Another idea I had in my mind was regarding the format of the VHLE. The idea of basically another minor league, where it's just worse players on their way to the big leagues seems a little lame. It's just another league with teams where players come and go, come and go. That being said, I think it would be cool if maybe every season, at the beginning, the teams are re-drafted. Something new, something fresh. Players aren't likely to spend more than a season or two in this league anyway, so just re-draft everything every season. Don't allow trades, don't allow players to move up from the VHLM to the VHLE.

D - Jolly Greene Giant G - Sirkants Klamasteris @Prout

F - Onde Sandstrom D - Roque Davis @Prout

+10 Taylor Mourning

1. With the draft we have a completely new look team. How do you think the draft went for the team? I think the draft went really well. I think getting an elite talent at forward was important, so Johnston, while already being the obvious selection given his ties to the team, fit a need. Drafting Tobias Reinhart when we did was very crucial. After another elite forward and goalie, it was all about depth. The only thing I think we're missing is maybe one more defenseman, but we acquired a lot of forward depth in the draft. 2. Do you have any goals for your player this season? I don't really have any goals as far as stats go. Starting the season where I am at in my development relative to others, I know that I'm not going to be making the biggest impact out there. I'd like to continue to put in the max practice every week, and play my role for the team and hopefully we can do well in the playoffs. 3. If you could have a goal song for your player, what would it be? Rather than overthink this too much, I think I'd just go with my favorite song, Perfect Teeth by Motion City Soundtrack. 4. How do you think our team will do this season? We'll make the playoffs for sure, I'm fairly confident about that. There are some good teams out there, though. I do believe we'll have a shot at winning by the time the playoffs come around, but I don't think we'll be favorites in our conference. Obviously I'd like to be able to say we will win, but I'm a realist. We'll have a shot, for sure, but I'm not going to get too confident. 7. What team is your pick to win the Stanley Cup playoffs in the NHL? Did your favourite team make it? I hate to say the Avalanche, so I won't. Instead I'll be a homer and say the Wild. I picked them for the NHL Playoff Bracket Challenge (as I have every season they've made the playoffs). I believe! 9. Controversial opinion: Pineapple does not belong on pizzas, why or why not? I'm not a huge fan of pineapple in general, so I'm not going to have it on my pizza. I don't care what other people do, though. I'm not going to be one of those people who says pineapple doesn't belong on pizza, though I won't eat it. Just let people like what they like.

Transaction ID: 20631582532543014 $1M Player Store Cash 5 TPE Uncapped Doubles Week

F - Thomas Landry II F - SS Hornet @Prout

Nah man it was definitely a thread and it was definitely you. Or maybe it wasn't you.

I'm pretty sure I wasn't patient and tried to make the purchase like three times but okay :L

I swear I wasn't planning on doing this. I didn't want to. I was going to write about one of the drafts this week, but now I'm not. You can blame @Wolverine for his press conference questions making me think of the past. A lot of people in the league nowadays don't know who I am, though, so I'm going to write about my time in the VHL. I will get to have the joy of reminiscing (though some of the memories won't exactly be fun ones), and the people who don't know me can learn about my past. The next media spot I write won't be all about me, I promise. Honestly though, this article won't be all about me, just past times in the VHL that include me. The hype behind the S12 draft I created my first player during S11 before the trade deadline, so I was a part of the S12 VHL Entry Draft. I was still fresh in the league, not knowing many people. I was earning my points for the most part, but I still was not really involved. Most things I wrote were about me because I was not paying much attention to the things around me (I swear it's not always about me!). I do remember, though, that people were really hyped about this draft, and it had very little to do with me. I think overall it was an average draft for the time, certainly not low tier (looking at you, S9/13/15). Just to give you guys something to think about as far as TPE inflation goes and how far the league has come in terms of player base, I was drafted eighth overall with 82 TPE. At the top of the draft, though, there were three superstar-potential players in Matt Bailey, Devon De La Soul, and Geoff Gartner. The race between these big three was apparently something special back then, so special that the league did something different for the draft: a live podcast. I don't know if had been done before in the league, and I would guess that it has been done since, but I think it was pretty memorable. If I recall correctly, I didn't even get to listen to it live, so I tried to avoid finding out what went down so I could listen to it later without knowing. Ultimately, it was Bailey who was the first overall selection, after which @Quik was named the new GM of the Helsinki Titans. Maybe it was just my ignorance, but I'm pretty sure this was a well-kept secret going into the draft. In the end, Bailey was definitely the right pick, as De La Soul and Gartner, while not being bad players by any means, did not live up to the pre-draft hype. Hey, this paragraph wasn't even about me! Getting used to disappointment Back in the S20's, I was the GM of the New York Americans. This was my second stint in charge of the team, with the first lasting just a couple seasons in the late teens. At the time, the franchise was regarded as one of the worst on the league, but I was determined to do a better job than the first time and change the perception of the team. I took over in S22, created my goalie Benjamin Glover for the S24 class at the deadline, and by the time he was a rookie, the team was looking prepped for the future. Really, the team was set up for the present as well. With Jukka Hakkinen, the first draft pick I made back in S18, still on the team leading the way, we were set to be a playoff team even with all the young guys we had. Although we were going to be underdogs for sure, I made some deals at the deadline to try to give us a shot in the playoffs, and while it didn't pay off, I didn't give up much. As I said, the team was set up pretty well going forward. While Hakkinen, along with other American vets Keon Henderson and Fantastic McAwesome, did not have much time left, we had developing players to take their place while also still making relevant draft picks along the way. If I told you that Glover ultimately became the first player to make the playoffs eight times with the same team, you might think I did a good job with New York. When it comes down to it, though, my time as GM was filled with major disappointment. In S25, we made it to the finals, coming off of a sweep of a Toronto team that had some damn good players. We proceeded to lose in five games, leaving Hakkinen cupless in his career. He was the first player to spend a full eight-season career with the team, so I desperately wanted to win it that season. The following season, we helped Vasteras end their historic cup drought by losing to them in the finals, again in five games. In Season 27, we lost to the Titans, but this time we at least took two games. We made it to a record-setting fourth straight finals in Season 28, where we lost to the rival Seattle Bears. We lost a record-setting fourth straight finals. It was miserable. I had one more season as GM, in which we didn't make the finals. In S30, I passed the torch on to @Devise, who I would argue did a much better job than I did. I think he, and @Advantage who followed him, do like to give me some credit for laying the groundwork for the turnaround of the franchise, and I wouldn't say I completely failed in that regard, but ultimately I never won a cup as GM. Glover's career was still going on when I stepped down though, so at least he had a shot. In S31, his final season, we were up 3-1 in the finals against Davos. This was it. I was finally going to win that cup with New York. No. Just kidding. We lost three consecutive games to blow it. Keep in mind, around this time, I was a sad college student racking up debt to pay for an education when I had no clue what I wanted to do in life. The VHL meant so much to me because I didn't really have much else going on in my life. That's why I put so much into the VHL, because it's what I had; and season after season ended with disappointment. It was heartbreaking. Oh, and the first season after Glover's career ended, the Americans won the Cup. My early writings That doesn't seem like a good note to end on, so let's go back to my VHL beginnings again for something a little more lighthearted. When I first started, I had no idea what to write about, so I decided to make up a story about my own player, Fayt Leingod. I don't know what compelled me to write about what I did, but for some reason, I opted to write about him setting a pogo stick record. This is one of those things that just sticks in my brain. I'll never forget that I wrote that. I even looked up the record and made sure to pick a higher number of bounces or a longer amount of time, whatever record he supposedly set. Thinking back on it now, it seems like such a bizarre thing to decide to write about. I don't recall being fascinated with pogo sticking as a teen or anything like that. This was a media spot as well, so not even just a 200-word bullshit Fan590, give-me-a-single-TPE kind of article. No, someone had to read and grade that on a scale of 1-6. There's some VHL throwbacks for you: 200 words, Fan590, single TPE, grading. A few seasons into my time in the VHL, there was a Fan590 article that I do specifically remember writing. It was about Sean Costello and Brandon Lapham, two players in the VHL at the time. What was significant about this article is that I only wrote a few sentences for like 40 or 50 words, and then copied and pasted it several times. That's really all I remember about it, but I did that once. I have no idea why. It's not like a Fan590 article was difficult to write. It might have been something where I made it cyclical, so it kind of made sense but was obviously jibberish, or maybe I just wanted to see if someone would catch it. I think it got zero comments and I was never caught. There's no proof of it ever happening so you can't punish me for it now. While a lot of people still around will remember my reign as GM of the Americans and the success and failure that came along with it, and the fun of the Season 12 draft is certainly at least remembered by Quik, probably @Victor, and potentially others, I doubt anyone knew about Leingod's pogo stick record or my illegal Fan590. Now you do. There is at least one of you out there who read this. I know it to be true. 1546 words, claiming for weeks ending 5/16, 5/23, 5/30

Which is silly because Wolverine isn't even my favorite of the X-Men.