diamond_ace

Some big matches going on now! Concacaf: USA are losing to Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 at the moment, but it might not matter since Honduras and Panama are also both losing. Only way USA drops from third is if they lose and either Honduras or Panama wins (not even a draw would do it). Honduras down 2-1 to Mexico, Panama down 1-0 to Costa Rica. If USA gets the third spot, then a draw for Honduras paired with a Panama loss sees them slide into the playoff bid - if both teams do the same, Panama is ahead on goal difference. Conmebol: Argentina up 3-1 on Ecuador. Failing to win could have seen Messi miss out on the World Cup, but looks like they're taking care of business. A win here puts them at least ahead of the loser of Colombia-Peru (1-0 Colombia right now) and ahead of Chile if they lose to Brazil (2-0 Brazil right now). Looking like Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, Argentina for the auto bids, and Chile for the playoff bid (Paraguay can pass Chile with a win and Chile loss, but Paraguay are 0-0 with Venezuela in the 72nd minute).

Activity!

That said I also just thought of a loophole: people who have certain permissions might be able to vote multiple times etc. Not sure what all is true with regards to that, and to be honest I trust many of our power position members not to do it (for example, I know Devise in particular would never even consider doing this, he's just a better person than that), but we certainly know there are some people who would (although many are without permissions) so it would remain to be seen if the vote was accurate on a forum such as this. It's something to consider (and let's keep individual accusations out of it, please).

I think if both sides of the argument can agree to the part in bold, this makes a lot of sense to do, and would keep the issue at bay in the future. As for your initial point, maybe a minimum number of people to support an issue before it becomes brought up for debate? Something like 5 initially vocal members, to narrow down things where it's just 1-2 guys throwing a stink.

Also, I'll put it on record right now I'm voting for Stockholm if it does happen. It makes more sense as a location. I'm simply arguing that it should at least be worthy of finding out where people fall, rather than dismissing it out of hand.

If you're confident Stockholm would win, then you shouldn't be afraid to test that.

But they eventually did. GMing isn't supposed to be easy, and the expansion guys knew what they were getting into. No one argued they didn't have a "hard time" in fact I was arguing that they did. The point was that it's possible to overcome a deficit as a GM. The deficit the expansion teams faced was far greater than the deficit Vasteras would face, were it to come back. Yet they still managed to do it, and are now virtually indistinct from the non-expansion teams. Difficulty of GM simply isn't an argument against seeing where the fan base lies. Again though, I don't actually think Vasteras would win the vote, but in the interest of fairness, it's not hard to just do a vote and see what happens. From there, if I'm proven wrong and the majority actually do want Vasteras, then we should have Vasteras. If the majority want Stockholm, then it ends the pro-Vasteras people's argument because they've had a fair shot, and we don't have to hear about this again.

If the people in the league want Trainy McTrainface then we should arguably have Trainy McTrainface. The league is a game, played by its members, should the members not be the most important thing? (Also, I kind of don't think the vote would move them - I think Stockholm would win it, but a vote would prove exactly where the numbers lie, however that were to turn out. I'm not personally a Vasteras fan, I think Stockholm makes a lot more sense, but if that many people want Vasteras, I think it's in the interest of the league and its continual activity to support its member base). As for starting from behind as a GM: we had two expansion teams. They started massively behind. They're now on about the same playing field as the other teams.

Easy solution: see which option more people prefer across the league. Make a poll, but make sure it's advertised across the boards so as to maximize people casting a vote. Vasteras fans, if you think most people want to go back, that's your chance to prove it. Stockholm fans, if you think a larger and better known destination is the clear winner, then the vote should reflect that. Both sides should be on board this idea, if you each truly believe what you preach.

4-1-2

Stockholm is one of the few EU teams that makes sense, them and Helsinki. Czech Republic, Russia, Slovakia don't have teams but Germany, Switzerland, Latvia do? I mean I'm not advocating for any of those teams to move at this point, but hypothetically if a team were to move, Stockholm would arguably be one of the last choices in the conference

Madrid Thunder was it? Something like that anyway

How have things changed in the last few seasons, how have they stayed the same, and what's your opinion on the changes

Idea: Keep the M as it is, but concurrently, run a 2-team series, a "prospect showcase" of sorts, that is only open to first gens in their first season. I would go for maybe 15-20 games, maybe 2-3 a week, and these teams can go into deeper rosters if necessary and have no cap or anything (but players who are eligible are auto-assigned on an alternating basis). No player would be eligible for this more than once. Only first gens, only their initial season in the league, even if it's only for part of the season (so yes, the rosters would have to be added to throughout the season). Maybe it could be rewarded, such as winning team of the series gets 8 tpe and losing team gets 6 or something like that, or maybe it wouldn't. Either way, it's a new thing for first gens to do only against other first gens without feeling intimidated. The players eligible for this would at the same time be in the M.

Idea: Keep the M as it is, but concurrently, run a 2-team series, a "prospect showcase" of sorts, that is only open to first gens in their first season. I would go for maybe 15-20 games, maybe 2-3 a week, and these teams can go into deeper rosters if necessary and have no cap or anything (but players who are eligible are auto-assigned on an alternating basis). No player would be eligible for this more than once. Only first gens, only their initial season in the league, even if it's only for part of the season (so yes, the rosters would have to be added to throughout the season). Maybe it could be rewarded, such as winning team of the series gets 8 tpe and losing team gets 6 or something like that, or maybe it wouldn't. Either way, it's a new thing for first gens to do only against other first gens without feeling intimidated. The players eligible for this would at the same time be in the M.

Yeah that was the one. There was another guy who just went regular inactive as well

He absolutely was. I had two guys who I picked with 1sts a few seasons after him that busted (I think one turned out to be a multi or something) or I'd have been able to at least mount somewhat of a challenge centered around him, but you lose two high picks for nothing and it just doesn't work out. Glad he could have a decent run with you anyway

Bidding war between you and I believe it was Riga for Boychuk - I got a lot for him but honestly I wish I'd have gotten him a cup

Sounds good to me. Now to rack up those frequent flyer miles going from Vegas to NY back to Vegas all season

Also: I'm double paid for this - 1 TPE for the post, and about $2 in work pay for however long it took to write

I'll have to try these out when I get home. I play Sporcle all the time. At work right now though, I'm lucky the site even works, this internet doesn't like multi-tabbing.

The advantages of coming back at 11:30 on a Sunday - double the chance to do everything while it's still fresh

Vaclav Hrdina, VHL and VHLM eligible free agent, has been offered a contract to join the New York Americans' farm system. The problem is, no one is exactly sure how much money the contract is worth. Initial reports stated that Hrdina would receive the league maximum of $7 million, only for questions to surface about the legality of such a contract if Hrdina would be playing in the VHLM and not on the Americans themselves. Entry level deals are capped at $3 million, but given the length of time Hrdina has been eligible, he no longer qualifies under an entry level deal. However, prime and veteran contracts must apply to the salary cap of the VHL level team owning the rights, so Hrdina's deal, whether it sticks at the $7 million or drops to any other amount, would appear on the cap of the Americans. There is the potential for this to become a loophole, which is why the ruling is not yet out. Hrdina himself has stated that he doesn't care what the final amount is and that he's happy with any deal that fits the rules. He's also signed a $1 million deal with the Las Vegas Aces for his VHLM rights, which is where he intends to play.

I'll sign for $20 and a plush rhino for all I care. If they decide this is a loophole, and they want to close said loophole, it honestly makes no difference to me. 3m, 7m, 0.5m, either way it's for a player that will never be pushing for any records, so the type of TPE maxing that comes with taking extra money isn't necessary. Whatever the blue team decides

This. Sorry Beaviss but I talked to STZ last night about the deal in the bigs and he sent Spade my way for a spot in the M, so we were negotiating this a few hours ago. I don't really care where I play and I'd be open to playing for you at some point, but for right now I have to go with what was negotiated. Spade: Excited to join the Aces, looking forward to bringing some "veteran leadership" if not much in terms of talent just yet