Doomsday

I was roleblocked again.

GG London!

Town would have no reason to lie in that situation, so definitely isn't aligned with town.

I was roleblocked last night.

1. Being high at a school is incredibly frowned upon, so no. I also have never done drugs because I know if I would try them, I'd never be able to stop. 2. I have the absolute biggest crush on my wife, she rules. 3. Yours, I love weird questions, especially when I can answer them perfectly straight. 1. You've foolishly been granted the ability to change one aspect of the VHL in any way with no questions asked, what would it be? 2. If you could experience the fictional world of any work of media, what would it be? 3. Have you ever been to a... a Turkish prison?

Inane rambling at Wawa is 100% in character for me.

GG to @rory and the Watchmen, best of luck in the finals!

1. I caught the only one I cared to, which was the Flyers game. Given their track record outdoors, I got exactly what I expected. 2. The Titans are looking to return to the Finals this season to finish the job! 3. Bulls On Parade by Rage Against the Machine. 1. Do you feel there are enough things going on for those who aren't in the playoffs? 2. What type of cheese has the best chance of being weaponized? 3. Favorite rivalry game in any sport?

I pretty much exclusively play EASHL, I've just always enjoyed playing as one player as part of a team with other people to be more fun.

1. I mean, the fifth seed for the Wild Card is a recent addition, and it has led to some memorable moments so far. The format is just fine for now. 2. I will always have a soft spot for the HC Davos Dynamo, as my first home over ten years ago. 3. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Low key the best Batman movie there is, masterful performances from Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil. 1. Do you watch the Super Bowl for the game, the commercials, or the halftime show? 2. What team that is NOT a #1 seed has the best chance at the Continental Cup? 3. What do you think is the most under-represented nation in the VHL?

I'm sorry Lachlan, you didn't deserve that.

Claiming for week of 2/5 - 2/11 Claim 2/2

1. I watched the skills competition and some of the games themselves. I really feel like the 3v3 format has led to some surprisingly competitive and exciting games, easily the most watchable of the All-Star games that the major sports leagues do. 2. By definition, I'm pretty sure it is a soup. 3. I'd love to see a theme centered around the VHL World Cup and other international events! 1. Which VHL team has been the biggest surprise, for better or worse, this season? 2. Do you think any VHL awards need to be renamed? 3. What is something that you feel is missing from hockey video games?

Doom's All-Star Game Think Tank A common fixture in sport leagues around the world, the All-Star Game may be known by different names, but all iterations of it share the same common purpose: bringing the best players in the league together to play a dream game featuring loads of talent and star power, creating a memorable experience for fans and players alike. Often, the game itself tends to be more exciting on paper than it is in reality, as the game itself is most often an exhibition that carries no real benefit to the players, who as a result do not play to 100% of their abilities as to not risk injuries in a meaningless game. For the Victory Hockey League, however, this is not an issue. Injuries do not exist, the players can go all-out to make those dream match-ups on paper a reality. Throughout the league’s history, the All-Star Game has surfaced in a number of different manners, routinely changing, disappearing, and reappearing as the seasons go by. With Theme Week here once again, I’ll be using the opportunity to go over some previous versions of the All-Star Game, some ideas for future All-Star Games, along with how they could work, or perhaps not work at all. The Traditional All-Star Game The most common usage of the All-Star Game has traditionally been a single game, with players from both conferences voted into the game by the league membership. Recently, with the All-Star Game being handled by VSN, at least one player from each team would make the All-Star Game, something that I do not believe existed previously. Another addition made by VSN was the skills competition, with results generated by the player’s attributes and a spreadsheet, clearly using a type of voodoo magic I don’t really understand. This was typically held around the middle of the season, meaning the voting was held based on maybe a quarter of the season’s worth of statistics. When simmed using STHS, it was either held using the same version of the game the VHL itself used, or Version 2, which featured a comically increased amount of goals and fights, leading to some highly entertaining results. Version 2 often featured a best of three series, in which three games were played for three times the amount of comedy on ice. So, in a nutshell, this is the All-Star Game’s base format. However, there is another version of the game which has been seen in the VHL. EA NHL Brings the All-Star Game To Life Sometimes, having game results from STHS can be rather underwhelming. As fast as you can read the results, the experience comes to an end. However, with the use of EA’s NHL franchise, @Beaviss brought the All-Star Game to life. Painstakingly recreating each player and converting their STHS attributes into EA NHL is absolutely time-consuming, and didn’t always play out the best, especially for the goalies. However, the difference in the experience was simply unreal. Beav would stream the game on Twitch, which could be watched live by everyone in the league. Additionally, viewers could interact with both Beaviss and each other using the chat feature, which Beav had set up to be read aloud by a computer voice lady, often to hilarious results. But beyond the visual difference, all the effort that went into this version of the All-Star Game made it more than just something on the calendar to get posted, it turned it into an entire event. Members could tune in and see their player as more than just a name and lines of data, and experience it with the community as a whole. It took so much work, but it made for a wonderful and memorable experience just like an All-Star Game would dream to deliver. 3v3 Tourney? A relatively recent change to the NHL All-Star Game saw the standard 5 on 5 game played between the two conferences (or sometimes North America vs the World) switched up to a 3 on 3 tourney played between the four NHL divisions. Many were unsure of the change, but it quickly became apparent that this was an exciting format for the All-Star Game. Open ice led to a lot of opportunities for the players to show off their skills, with a surprising amount of defense being played as well, leading to competitive games that were incredibly fun to watch. I can’t help but imagine a similar format working well with the VHL, especially considering that it could make the All-Star Game end up being more than just a one and done post. It could even be adapted into a round robin style tournament, with the round robin play determining seeding for the knockout rounds. However, there are some snags here. For starters, I don’t believe 3 on 3 is an option in STHS, which quickly nixes it from the main sim engine of the VHL. The EA NHL game does feature 3 on 3 games, but I am not positive if it would allow you to make a full roster and complete a game involving line changes and all players on the team to eventually take the ice. For that matter, divisions don’t even exist in the VHL, which is a core component of the NHL’s version of the game. At the present time, it doesn’t appear that this is a feasible idea to implement. A Matter of Timing Another element of the game that can be looked at is the timing of the All-Star Game itself. In the NHL, it is generally considered the halfway point of the season, so the statistics that get players selected is from a much smaller sample. Additionally, time passes much faster in the VHL, meaning that there is considerably less time for voters at the halfway point. Theoretically, having the All-Star Game at the end of the season (perhaps in the time just before the playoff sims begin) would allow more time for voters, along with providing a better sample of statistics for voters to decide who the best players in the league were that season, as opposed to those who just had the hottest start. The biggest issue with this, naturally, is that it creates a bit of a crunch for the simmers, who would need to quickly create the All-Star Game rosters and then sim the game(s). Doing the All-Star Game in the off-season, in my opinion, would take away from the other festivities of the off-season, crowding too many different events into the same time and taking away from what is typically a break period for the simmers as well. Overall, I feel like the period of time between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs is the perfect time to have the All-Star Game held, as it ultimately provides more time for every single aspect of it to be as good as possible, along with it being held at a time where it would be the only event in the league while GMs prepare for the playoffs. Making the Selection In the end, the All-Star Game is ultimately about one thing: fun! It’s fun for the players who earn the recognition by being selected, and the presentation and build-up to the game itself can be an entertaining experience for members of the league. Organizing the game in a way where it’s as stress-free and enjoyable for as many people as possible is ideal, as fun is ultimately the driving force behind the All-Star Game, and if it’s not enjoyable, why hold it? As with everything that makes the VHL what it is, it’ll be a community effort to pull off a great All-Star Game, are you up to the challenge?

G - Art Vandelay @Jubis

F - Jimi Jaks @Beketov x2

D - Elias Lampi @Jubis

D - Liv Slater @Beketov x2

S92 Donation Transaction ID: 7KR22847KH498212A Doubles Week 5 Uncapped TPE $1m Player Store

With the crowing of our MVP, Pipo Popa, we have reached the end of Season 91 of the VHLM. But just as quickly as we have wrapped up this season, a new one will be upon us shortly, and along with it, a new batch of hopeful VHL superstars looking to prove that they belong, that they have what it takes to go the distance and show off the skills that got them this far. After some absolutely historic performances this season, they've got some big shoes to fill, but time will tell just how talented these new kids on the block will be. In the words of the immortal Gene Hart, good night and good hockey!