scoop

After writing all this I thought I should just post it as a media spot but it's pretty low-quality. The presentation I feel is on point, though. But the questions mostly led to a lot of reminiscing so I was able to ramble, which really adds to that word count.

Hey buddy just earlier YouTube recommended a video of "Big Al 2018 LLWS Highlights" to me for some reason is that you? Are you a 14-year old who was in the 2018 Little League World Series for New Jersey, who introduced yourself by saying that you hit dingers? Because if so, the highlights video did not show you hitting any dingers, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and just assume it was the increased level of competition and that you do actually hit dingers. Good luck in your future career. Just to clarify I don't actually believe that was you but what if though?

Hey, did I just write over 1k words for a press conference for 2 TPE? Yes, I did. Have I even done a point task yet this week? No, I haven't.

Hello there. Back in my day, we used to make purchases on the forum; things were less convenient like that. Now I'm back and adjusting to this change. My first couple purchases were some First Gen store items, for which I am eligible as I have been gone long enough. After I submitted my purchases, I had no idea how to know if they were approved. Well, it was easy enough to know when my 5 TPE purchase was done, because it showed up on my update log. The doubles week, however, I had no idea. In fact, For weeks, I thought it had been getting ignored. Or I thought perhaps I hadn't actually purchased it yet. I thought this in part because the player store showed I had $1 million to spend. I thought I should have been at nothing, with that million supposed to have been spent on my doubles week. I made $1.5 million from my Mexico City contract, and that's how much I had spent. So for a long time, I kept checking the player store to wait and see for it to go down to $0 to know that my purchase had been approved. The other day, I was looking at my player page, and I noticed the finances tab. I looked in there and found not only where it shows my purchases, the the reason I still had a million to spend. I completely forgot about my donation, which meant I had earned $2.5 million total. I'm sorry if you read this.

i'm in

PLEASE ASK ME QUESTIONS

Yes and I was very instrumental in your eventual VHL legend status.

Yeah, I did actually find somewhere that you said that you were going to be recreating. As far as me or you in the draft goes, I think GM's could see you as a more sure thing to at least be a serviceable, active VHL player. People who are aware of how my most recent three players turned out may (justifiably) be wary of drafting me even if I max out all the way from now until the draft. Samuel Gate turned out decent, even winning best defenseman in his final season, but I was only active with him until the end of his second season. My two players since then, I went inactive before the draft even, so maybe if I make it that far people will have a little more trust in me. Based on what you're saying though, I definitely think the ceiling will be higher for me, though based on the evidence there is definitely a chance I don't reach that potential.

Oh, wow I'm an idiot yeah Josh is a GM too. Though I actually didn't realize the GM claim rule was abolished; I checked the rule book specifically to see but it hasn't been updated.

So there I was in need of a topic to write about, not wanting to focus on myself again. Then I go and read a thread where people are badmouthing the career point tasks. Now, I'm not going to say they are perfect, but I personally hated writing biographies, so maybe that's just why I prefer what we have now. I saw a lot of people talking about how the Junior Review and Prospect Scouting Report are too similar, but honestly, I think they are fine. Maybe the Junior Review should be tweaked into something more like a backstory article, which is essentially how I view it anyway. This article is supposed to cover time before joining the VHLM. The Prospect Scouting Report is used to focus on their VHLM career and draft outlook. It's two different periods of time in a player's life. Yeah, they are similar periods of their life, but that's why I think maybe just changing up the Junior Review guidelines and calling it something else. I guess you could look at it as removing the Junior Review and replacing it with something else, as some people are suggesting, but however you want to look at it, I think it's a small change that could be made. I think the Junior Review should be changed into something that is a little more broad. Don't tell people to focus on their pre-VHLM career; just tell them to focus on their life before the VHLM. I always thought it was silly writing a biography any time before late in a player's career. Whatever we turn the Junior Review into, it should be more like what the biography was. A backstory to the player. Make up whatever story you want. Maybe you just want to focus on college/junior hockey, whatever. That's fine. Maybe you want to focus on your player's childhood. That's fine too! It's the first career point task people are theoretically going to be doing, so let them have a little freedom. Just call it Player Backstory.

1. With the off-season ongoing, are you looking forward to next year? I'm looking forward to actually getting to show off my skills. This year, I played two games. I also had very little time to catch my skills up to the level of even an average player in the minors. I've had a lot of time now to improve, and next season I should come out of the gate a lot better than I was in those two games. Over the course of the season, I expect to drastically improve as well, and that growth should lead to a huge increase in my draft stock. 2. What kind of goals have you set out for next year? I haven't really thought about this much, and it is really still hard to say where I stack up with other players in the league. That being said, I'll somewhat arbitrarily say I'd like to score 20 goals. I'm more concerned with making the playoffs. My primary goal is simply to improve my skills, though, and this will be the thing I have the most control over. I'd like to continue getting 12 capped TPE per week and to really prove myself. 3. What was your favourite place to hang out in Mexico City? Given that I wasn't there for long, I didn't get to spend much time exploring. I did definitely enjoy my time checking out my teammates favorite bars though. 4. Thoughts on the new logo? I think it looks sick. It definitely pops more than the old logo. The yellow being more prominent in this logo is definitely a good change in my eyes. 5. Where do you think you'll go in your draft(s) this off-season? Honestly, it's really tough to say. Different GM's in the VHLM can value different things. A team that isn't competing this season might prefer to pick someone they think will be with them for two seasons. There are also players who I don't know whether they are going to be in the minors again or going up to the VHL. And there can still be recreates. All things considered, I'm predicting myself to go maybe in the 22 to 26 range. Late second or early third. 6. Who is taking the Playoffs? I had been predicting Helsinki, but Seattle is up 3-1 at this point. I'm think I'm feeling a comeback though, so I'll stick with my original thought. Didn't actually think it was going to seven, but it'll have to be if I'm right. Then again, I had also thought the Hounds were going to easily take the Founder's Cup.

this reminded me to say happy birthday to my niece, thanks

Learning a lot today, huh.

With the Pre Draft Live S79 Class Rankings having begun, now seems like a good time to take a look at just how high I could potentially be drafted. Given how my last two players turned out, I think it would be fair to say that the floor on Taylor Mourning is relatively low. Neither Justin Rushmore nor Izzy Valencia made it into the VHL, as I went inactive with both of them before even being drafted (resulting in them both being picked in the 40's). Prior to those two, however, I had recently produced Samuel Gate, the second overall pick in the S61 draft, taken behind some guy named Matt Thompson. In terms of earning TPE, I did get off to a great start with Gate, however after just a couple seasons, I went inactive. My recent history will definitely hamper my draft stock, even if I continue earning the max TPE leading up to the draft. This draft class does not seem to be packed with surefire prospects, which definitely bodes well for my chances of being picked high. Tyler Reinhart and Papa Emeritus are currently the only two superstar draftees. Reinhart, as a fellow right wing, will almost assuredly be drafted ahead of me, so I have no illusions that I could be the first overall pick. Other than Reinhart, however, things are very interesting at the top of the class. Emeritus is a goalie, and could possibly just not be something the teams making the first few selections need at all. Jardy is in a similar situation to me with Poopy Peepants, though his absence has been longer than mine; I have had multiple failed players since he was last around with Dragon McDragon, so I would say his reputation has not taken as big of a hit as mine. Peepants is a defenseman as well, so positional need could play a role in which one of us is selected first. Reinhart, Emeritus, Peepants, and my Taylor Mourning are the only draftees who earned 12 capped TPE in the first week, which says something about the lack of depth at the top of the draft. All things considered, I do think I could potentially be picked second overall if one of the top teams picking does not need a goalie and prefers Mourning to Peepants for whatever reason that might be. Along with those three, however, there are other players who could possibly be selected over me even if I continue earning double digit capped TPE as I expect to. Miroslav Tsarov, PadStack's recreate, is currently third in TPE in the draft class. Based on his history, however, I would say Tsarov's ceiling is lower than Mourning's. Spade18 is back with Deagus Rust, though he has not done much yet to prove he is going to make a top-notch player like myself and Jardy have. It is early, though, so we will still see. At this point in time, I think most would say Mourning is the better prospect, but no one needs to make that decision anytime soon. Truthfully, I think if I stay as active as I plan to, these are the only other players who might be selected ahead of me, and even then I give it fairly low odds. There is of course potential for someone else to pick it up and for my recent reputation to outweigh my former glory, but I wouldn't put money on it. If there would be someone, though, DeAndre Hollywood could be a potential candidate. One other thing that needs to be taken into consideration, however, is pre-season recreates. I could potentially have a TPE advantage over most recreates, even with the TPE for late joiners being a thing now (something which I am pleased to see). However, a TPE advantage might not be enough. Let's take a look at some of the members who may recreate in the pre-season (keeping in mind that I don't really know much about what others are going to do). As far as S70 players go, there are three currently playing in the VHL: Jaxx Hextall, Odin Omdahl, and Chad Magnum. Traditionally, someone in their final season would retire and recreate at the deadline, assuming they were planning on recreating at all. Corco is not active with Magnum, so that explains that. ROOKIE745 had it in mind to continue earning TPE with Hextall until the bitter end, even though Toronto has been knocked out of the playoffs, so I am expecting a recreate out of him. zepheter is an interesting case, because he doesn't earn max TPE, but he is still earning some with Omdahl. Even if he does recreate, I would put him in a similar class to PadStack where they get somewhere around 8 capped TPE per week consistently. Ohmdahl did have potential to be better, however, so I think zepheter is more of a threat to my draft position if he does recreate, which given his recent activity I would say is possible. It gets a lot more difficult to anticipate pre-season recreate when you are talking about players who have one season left. Before the TPE for late joiners was a thing, retiring at the deadline gave you more of an advantage. That doesn't mean everyone is going to re-create at pre-season, but the excitement that comes with a new player could entice some people to create now rather than at the next trade deadline. I'm not going to bother looking at the potential for players from S72 or later to be recreating, but it is a possibility. From S71, though, I think if any of Josh, Peace, jRuutu, Doomsday, and DollarAndADream recreating would immediately lower my projection (with the possible exception of Peace, as him being a GM could result in him being claimed with a pick later in the first round). I think I could potentially be picked ahead of leafsman, but I'd give him the edge. BarzalGoat, Nykonax, HearnNation67, and Dil are the only others I feel I have to worry about, and they appear to primarily be welfare players that don't take advantage of all the supplemental point tasks available, so they don't scare me too much. All things considered, looking at who is already in the draft and who might yet join, I'm going to make a much to early prediction and say Taylor Mourning will be picked eighth overall. To give myself a better chance of being correct, I'd give it a range of seven to nine. Of course, it does depend on a lot of things that I just don't know right now, primarily who might be recreating in the pre-season and which teams are picking in the middle of the first round. One GM could feel more confident in my return being legitimate than another, and I think that could be a big factor in me potentially falling a couple more spots than I expect to. Ultimately, I'm not too concerned with it, but it is fun to project. That being said, I don't plan on looking into it any more until we are much closer to my draft. 1191 words, claiming for weeks ending 5/2 and 5/9

Then it's a good thing I don't care about what you think.

Yeah, well, you weren't. IDIOT

Bruh I was here not that long ago. I earned like 100 TPE on a player in the S72 draft. And I lurk enough to know the team names. And they may have even been in Vancouver when I was active with Samuel Gate. Hell, I think I might have played for them. Just checked; I was literally on the team when they moved. Wow okay actually I wasn't active with Gate at that time, though. I only earned TPE on him through two seasons and still finished with 610. Forgot I was TPE whoring with him early on, but now I'm remembering that race that I had with Beketov when I think at the time I was always saying I wasn't sure I'd be too active. But my point still stands, that I had a player when they moved to Vancouver and obviously I would have checked out Gate's career whenever I periodically popped in so of course I knew about Vancouver.

In my completely unbiased opinion, who the hell are these guys it's weird coming back and not recognizing any player names.

I could literally go anywhere. I care so little for how the playoffs turn out that I find more interest in trying to guess where and when I will be selected in the VHLM draft when I could probably just as likely go 17th overall as 43rd. That's probably not true. I haven't actually looked yet. The first step is looking at the players who will definitely go ahead of me. Sova Miklavz Jugs Johnston Iwasawa Greiss Reinhart Emeritus ... Okay, this was a bad idea. I'm not writing a media spot here. I'm not doing scout work. Let's just estimate that I'm drafted between 19th and 27th. Does that seem fair? I have no idea. Let's roll with it. So who has all those picks? 2.7 MIN Minnesota 2.8 SSK Philadelphia 2.9 LVA Ottawa 2.10 HFX Halifax 2.11 MIA San Diego 2.12 MIS Yukon 3.1 MEX Mexico City 3.2 PHI Philadelphia 3.3 YUK Yukon Minnesota, Philadelphia, Ottawa, Halifax, San Diego, Yukon, or Mexico City. One of those teams will definitely draft me; the evidence is irrefutable. Most of them didn't even exist the last time I was really active. Do I care who drafts me? Not really. There are a couple teams I may favor over some others for sentimental reasons, but new teams can also be fun. Also, I don't know people around here anymore. Nothing is the same. The world is changing. Now give me my two TPE.

1. Now that our season has officially ended, describe your overall experience with the kings (what you liked and disliked) I liked that they paid me money. I only played two games with the team, since I created at the deadline and took several days before signing. This season meant next to nothing for me, not that I had any negative experience with it. 2. Even though we didn’t make playoffs, we still get to watch. Who do you think is gonna take it all? Well, the easy answer is Mississauga, so I'm going to go with Mississauga. The only team that really put up much of a fight against them in the regular season was Saskatoon, and they fell in the first round. Their roster is absolutely stacked, and I'd bet they don't lose more than two more games in the playoffs. 3. Who do you feel has been the most improved player on our team? What did they improve? I wasn't here for more of the season, so I had to do some research, and what I've found suggests Tui Sova is the answer. I just looked at the players who were with the team all season, and Sova went from scoring 3 goals and 6 assists in the first 16 games to scoring 11 goals and 13 assists in the final 16. The team improved as a whole, but Sova's scoring ability looks like it was the highlight of that growth. 4. What are your plans for the offseason? Train. Get acquainted with whichever team picks me in the VHLM draft. Just working overall on getting my key attributes up to 70. Obviously just in the off-season I won't get many of them that high, so I'll be focusing on puck handling and defense for the time being. 5. Do you plan on staying in the VHLM or are you heading to the big league? Where are you hoping to go? I will certainly be back in the VHLM, though not necessarily with the Kings. Technically I'm already not on the team anymore. I wouldn't hate coming back here, though just because I played a couple games here doesn't make me feel like I'm more tied to this team than anywhere else, but I'm not opposed to it. 6. What is one thing you would recommend to new players joining the league in your specific position? Don't ignore defense as an attribute even if you want to focus on being a pure offensive player. I suppose when you start out, maybe it doesn't have to be the first thing you'd focus on, but I would never put any attribute above 70 before getting defense there as well.

Traitor!

You still repping the GIMP train dude?

Growing up in northern Minnesota, Taylor Mourning was exposed to hockey from a young age. He has been skating pretty much ever since he could walk. He and his older brothers would be on the ice for hours every day. Early on, it was clear that he had a knack for the sport, and he has shown that at every stage of his development. Looking at Taylor, he was one of the larger kids out there on the ice during his time at Duluth East High School, and he used that to his advantage. He played a physical game, but this was not what teams feared the most. He had a keen sense for putting the put in the net. He graduated from high school with the school record in goals scored with some reasonable number for a high school hockey record. He was recruited by several schools in the area, but ultimately chose to stay near home and attend the University of Minnesota-Duluth and join the Bulldogs. Taylor pretty much peaked in terms of height by the time he was a freshman in college, but his body continued to fill out over the years. While he was not entirely outclassed when he started college, he found himself unable to dominate in the same way he did during high school. He played in every game during all four years with the Bulldogs, but it wasn't until the latter half that he began to shine. He led the team in goals in his final two college seasons with 15 and 18 during his junior and senior years, respectively. He won back-to-back NCAA tournaments with the Bulldogs in those seasons, whether or not that contradicts with the story anyone else has made for their player. He developed into a leader on and off the ice, being named captain in his final year. He finished his college career with 43 goals and 111 points. He had long had a goal of playing professional hockey when he was done with school. During his junior year, he made the decision to pursue a career in the Victory Hockey League rather than the more traditional NHL path. He declared for the Season 79 VHL Entry Draft, and was promptly picked up by the Mexico City Kings for the remainder of the S77 VHLM season. While he only played in two games with the team before the season was over, the brief introduction to the league and the practice time with the team is not completely useless. He will be in the S78 VHLM Dispersal Draft, and will then spend the year with a team developing en route to his VHL draft day.

1. What brought you to the VHL? About 12 years ago, a user by the name of Laker12 convinced me to join the VHL. I already knew of its existence, and I had (apparently, but not to my memory at the time) made a player a couple years earlier but did not earn any TPE with them. I haven't really been active for a couple years, but I pop in to check how things are going every once in a while. A few weeks ago, I saw some articles about the Top 75 players in VHL history, and it got me wanting to make another player. I don't know that I'll make another player who is on a list like that (my last fully active player, Diana Maxwell, was somewhere in the 50's), but just reading through it all, seeing some old names and some new ones that I don't recognize filled me with nostalgia and a desire to make another comeback attempt. 2. What are you most excited about? I'm pumped to see the VHL at 16 teams. Back when I was last around, I remember the league having to drop from 10 to 8 teams. Things were not looking great. Obviously things have been going well for there to now be twice as many teams, and I think it's crazy. I'm really excited to see the flow of the league, the competitive cycle of teams now with there being so many more. 3. Are you modeling your player after anyone? Eh, not really. I'm probably going to be build him very similar to how I built Diana Maxwell, but maybe add to checking earlier on. I think my physical build is bigger with Taylor Mourning. I'm still planning to play more as a goal scorer than a playmaker, but I'm thinking this will be my first real physical forward. 4. How are you feeling after making an account and a player? I'm not as into it as I was several weeks ago when I first popped back in and decided to make a player, but I've had a busy week. Now that it's the weekend and I have some time to actually be on the site, I am again thinking about the future of my player. I was actually taking a week off between jobs when I first decided to make another player, so I had a lot of free time. Now that I've started my job, and have less time than before due to a longer commute, after making my player I left him somewhat stagnant for a while. While at my peak activity, I would be on the VHL daily, I feel like now it's going to be something that I really only have maybe a handful of minutes every day to check scores and then spend some weekend time to earn my points. 5. What is your favorite NHL team? The Minnesota Wild. I've lived in Minnesota almost my entire life, so it's natural. I'm not as big of a hockey fan as one might think someone from Minnesota would be, but I do like the Wild. 6. Is this your first time in a sim league? Not even close.

Thanks!