LucyXpher

Happy Day 8!

Can I do Gustav's article?

fml there it is...

And with the MVP Award decided, it's once again time to say thank you to everyone for another fantastic season in the VHLM! With new league jobs this offseason, we'll see if I'm personally back doing the M awards in S97. Being close to the league as a GM really makes it easy to stay on top of trends and happenings in the league, so doing the M awards was always a natural choice. The VHLM experience is one of the most fun parts of the VHL. Yes, it's a stepping stone to the next level for many GM's and players alike, but it's also one of the most exciting places to be! The exceptional new players, returning players, and enthusiastic managers make it an amazing experience that no one should take for granted. So congratulations to all our award winners tonight and here's to another season of the VHLM in the history books! I've been told I need to drink... --<>-- LucyXpher for VSN 12/18/2024 5100+ words

The Mitch Higgins Trophy Awarded to the player deemed the VHLM's most valuable player during the regular season "This award was renamed from the Sakic Trophy to the Mitch Higgins Trophy in S42. Higgins won the award as part of a legendary Ottawa Ice Dogs team in S23 before leading a notable VHL career and securing at various points the positions of Oslo Storm GM, VHLM commissioner, Helsinki Titans GM, and VHL commissioner" - VHLM Awards Page Here are the nominees: @Webberj Jon Webber III (HFX) - 51 GP, 32-18-1, 0.928 SV%, 1.67 GAA, 8 SO As the top goaltender in the VHLM this season, Webber III backstopped a very fresh and green Halifax squad to an impressive record of 32-18-1 in his 51 games. His goalie numbers were all tops in the league, save for his GAA of 1.67 which ranked 2nd. To achieve this sort of statistical dominance and on-ice success with a team that was in no shape to properly compete in S96 was nothing short of incredible. Comparing Webber III's record of 32-18-1 with the 8-11-2 record of his backup, Chad Powers @Big_Dyl, it's easy to see why Webber was so important to his team. @kirbithan River Harrington (OTT) - 27 G, 58 A, 85 P, +25, 62 PIM, 91 HIT, 80 SB As a defender, River Harrington led all Ottawa Lynx players with 85 points in 72 games-- an impressive achievement considering how much talent this squad had. Harrington finished 7 points ahead of the team's next highest scorer, Petan Jr @sadie, and had the 2nd most assists in the VHLM this season with 58. Harrington ranked 3rd on the Lynx with 80 SB, 2nd in minutes played, 1st in powerplay points with 31, and 1st in points per 20. There's no doubt that Ottawa would certainly be hurting without their top defender this season. @Xflexz Chazz Michael Michaels (MEX) - 49 GP, 25-19-4, 0.923 SV%, 1.93 GAA, 6 SO On the Mexico City Kings, a team that finished 8th in the VHLM in total goals for, Chazz Michael Michaels was the backbone helped the team stand strong and capture 1st in the Western Conference. The Kings certainly didn't have the high end talent of some of the Eastern teams this season, and really relied on their defense and goaltending to carry them. Michaels was the rock that helped keep the Kings in games all season long, and his impressive stat line shows his individual value to the team. And the winner is... --<>--

The Jack Reilly Trophy Awarded to the general manager deemed to be the best in the VHLM "This award was renamed from the Ken Holland Trophy to the Jack Reilly Trophy in S42 to honour the VHLM managing career of later HC Davos Dynamo GM Jack Reilly. Reilly was GM of the Saskatoon Wild for 11 seasons from S18 to S28, winning three Founder's Cups and a record four Top GM awards" - VHLM Awards Page For this award, we have a guest presenter! Here to tell us about our nominees, please welcome the Founder's Cup winning GM of the Mississauga Hounds, @ace_five_! **THE FOLLOWING WRITTEN BY ACE_FIVE_** @Grape Ottawa Lynx 45-24-3 - 93 Points As the runners-up for the Founder’s Cup, it’s hard to argue against the Ottawa Lynx being one of the best teams this season. Led by start tandem River Harrington @kirbithan and Brandon Petan Jr @sadie, the Lynx put on a defensive clinic all season long, allowing only 129 goals against. Just two of their players sported a negative +/- when the playoffs started, but even those were a measly -2 and -6. Grape built this team from the ground up, either drafting or signing 12/13 of their roster players. This is a surefire sign of a top VHLM GM. @LucyXpher Halifax 21st 40-29-3 - 83 Points On paper, this team wasn’t supposed to be good. It was supposed to be a development season with new players and users getting their footing again. Despite that-- and thanks in large part to a monster season from Jon Webber III @Webberj-- the 21st found themselves 5th overall in the VHLM and ahead of every Western Conference team. Much of the credit for the success of this young team can be attributed to their leader and former GM LucyXpher for bringing these players together both on the ice and in the locker room. @mattyIceman Philadelphia Reapers 44-20-8 - 96 Points The reigning Founder’s Cup champions did their absolute best to bring the cup back home to Philly for the second time in as many seasons, winning the Prime Minister’s Trophy but falling just short in the semi-finals to the eventual champions. With the prominent boom-bust cycle of the M, it is difficult to string together successful seasons, but mattyiceman compiled a group of players that made that happen. MVP winger, YNFR @twists, led the team again, scoring 96 points in a league that got much tougher overnight with the VHLE redistribution, and goalie “OCO” @TenIQ backstopped the Reapers to 42 out of their 44 wins. As a team, Philly had a +59 goal differential, meaning every player played a part in this team’s success-- a testament to their GM’s work. @Ricer13 Miami Marauders 40-26-6 - 86 Points Ricer’s Miami squad was about as balanced as they get. Without a clear star, each and every player on this team contributed on both sides of the ice. This team was built to wear opponents down and capitalize on their mistakes, culminating in the 4th best record in the VHLM and finishing just 10 points back of the top-seeded Reapers. Timely trades to acquire Marek Nowaczyk @Chillybro, Boris Bone-Breaker @RileyL, and Jerry Box @barryst, contributed to the success of the Marauders, while simultaneously navigating an unfortunate situation with a multi-player. Poise and composure from Ricer13 meant Miami didn’t have to take their foot off the pedal and rebuild again. **THE FOLLOWING WRITTEN BY LUCYXPHER** Okay, I'm back because Ace and I made a deal to not write about ourselves... so let me tell you a little bit about how he managed his team this season! @ace_five_ Mississauga 43-22-7 - 93 Points Ace rounds out our nominees as the GM of the Founder's Cup winning Mississauga Hounds, who convincingly defeated the Ottawa Lynx in the finals. No stranger to big trades, Ace went out and grabbed the best goalie available in Deadpanda @Alex to backstop their team down the stretch and into the playoffs. While it was certainly a move that carried some risk, it was a risk that paid off in spades for Ace and the Hounds as Deadpanda was helped complete the run and captured the Skylar Rift Trophy as playoff MVP. Ace did an exceptional job building his team to win this season and managed to make the right moves at the right time. While the team will be looking at a bit of a reset in S97, it won't matter much to them as they summitted the league in S96, sending their capped players off to the VHL in style! Interestingly, all five of our Jack Reilly nominees were the GMs of the VHLM's Eastern Conference, and all five represent the top five teams in the overall standings. Has this kind of result ever happened before in either league? That's a question for you trivia afficionados at home... And the winner is... --<>--

The Mat Bentz Trophy Awarded to the player deemed to be the best two-way forward in the VHLM "This award was renamed from the Yzerman Trophy to the Matt Bentz Trophy in S42 to honour the VHLM contributions of Matt Bentz. Well-known for a Hall of Fame VHL career as a potent goal-scorer and long-time Calgary Wranglers GM, Bentz's path to the VHL pinnacle started with an Yzerman Trophy in S8. He repaid the VHLM in full by serving as VHLM commissioner and arguably pioneering the modern interpretation of the role" - VHLM Awards Page Here are the nominees: @FiZi Filip Zinek (MIS) - 34 G, 47 A, 81 P, +17, 58 PIM, 181 HIT, 30 SB Zinek appears as a nominee for an award once again. As the Bentz Trophy winner with Houston in S93, Zinek has a proven track record of being an effective two-way player. Zinek was 7th in the league among forwards with 30 SB, and 2nd with 181 hits. And while he was notably strong on the defensive side of the puck, Zinek also demonstrated potent offensive efficiency with the 4th highest P/20 at 0.83. @Luke033 Kevin OConnor (MIS) - 29 G, 36 A, 65 P, +16, 54 PIM, 163 HIT, 18 SB Traded mid-season from Las Vegas to Mississauga, OConnor proved to be an important part of Mississauga's offense down the stretch and into the playoffs. Though his stat line doesn't quite measure up to Zinek's, he remained among the top two-way forwards in the game and deserving of this nomination! @Starchychaff Anthony Simmons II (LVA) - 34 G, 33 A, 67 P, +8, 30 PIM, 106 HIT, 30 SB Like OConnor, Simmons II was traded mid-season-- to Vegas instead of away from Vegas. Simmons II matches Zinek's shots blocked and goal totals, but comes up short in other key categories. Again, take nothing away from Simmons II who has proved for multiple seasons now that he is a premier 200 foot player in the VHLM. And the winner is... --<>--

The Ryan Sullivan Trophy Awarded to the player deemed to be the top defenseman in the VHLM "This award was renamed from the Bourque Trophy to the Ryan Sullivan Trophy in S42. One of the greatest VHL defencemen of all-time, a three-time recipient of the Sterling Labatte Trophy, Sullivan proved his mettle in the VHLM in S28. In addition to an illustrious career, Sullivan's case was strengthened by his victorious role as Kolari Panthers GM and later becoming VHLM" - VHLM Award Page Here are the nominees: @xsjack Einar Mathiesen (PHI) - 27 G, 60 A, 87 P, +32, 76 PIM, 121 HIT, 75 SB Our Boomchenko winner appears once again as a nominee, this time for best defenseman. Mathiesen's 60 assists and 87 points were the most among all defenders, as was his +32 rating. Mathiesen also showed his physical edge with the most hits out of our nominees with 121, though he did come up short in the shots-blocked category with 75-- still an impressive number. His .89 P/20 was the highest among all defensemen in the VHLM. @OblivionWalker Slava Kovalenko (MIS) - 27 G, 58 A, 85 P, +21, 41 PIM, 69 HIT, 121 SB Kovalenko tied with Harrington and Mathiesen for the league lead in goals by a defender with 27, while finishing 2 points behind Mathiesen, again in a tie with Harrington, with 85 points overall. Playing for the eventual Founder's Cup winners, Kovalenko had a solid +21 rating with 121 shots blocked, which was the 4th most in the league. The only real knock against Kovalenko here is the 69 hits being the least among our nominees. @kirbithan River Harrington (OTT) - 27 G, 58 A, 85 P, +25, 62 PIM, 91 HIT, 80 SB As alluded to above, Harrington had an identical stat line to Kovalenko with 27 goals, 58 assists, and 85 points. After that, however, Harrington's +25 was marginally stronger, while 91 hits and 80 shots blocked round out a very solid stat line. While playing for Ottawa, Harrington was the catalyst for their team's success in the regular season and would go on to have an exceptional playoffs as well. And the winner is... --<>--

The Benoit Devereux Trophy Awarded to the player deemed to be the top goalie in the VHLM "This award was renamed from the Sawchuk Trophy to the Benoit Devereux Trophy in S42 to honour the illustrious career of VHL Hall of Famer Benoit Devereux. The HC Davos Dynamo legend won this trophy in a spectacular S9 campaign with Toledo before becoming the first three-time top goalie in the VHL. He would have been a worthy name for that award if it wasn't for a younger generation to follow and so is at last honoured in this way." - VHLM Awards Page Here are the nominees: @Webberj Jon Webber III (HFX) - 51 GP, 32-18-1, 0.928 SV%, 1.67 GAA, 8 SO A previous winner of the Devereux Trophy in S94, Webber III is up again this season for his incredible play for Halifax. Returning to the VHLM from a stint in the VHLE in S95, Webber III was well prepared to be a top goalie in the league, and backstopped an up-and-coming 21st squad with very little expectations to a 5th overall finish. His 32 wins were the 3rd most in the VHLM, though he played the 8th most games. Webber's .928 SV% and 8 shutouts were 1st in the VHLM, while his GAA of 1.67 was 2nd. @Xflexz Chazz Michael Michaels (MEX) - 49 GP, 25-19-4, 0.923 SV%, 1.93 GAA, 5 SO Michaels backstopped the Mexico City Kings to a 1st place finish in the Western Conference this season and was a big part of his team's defensive dominance. While he certainly had a strong defensive corps in front of him, his .923 SV% ranked 3rd among starters and his winning record certainly speaks for itself. @qripll Vladimir Trunov (OTT) - 52 GP, 33-17-2, 0.915 SV%, 1.60 GAA, 6 SO Playing for one of the league's top teams this season, Trunov was a brick wall in the net. At .915, Trunov's SV% doesn't tell the whole story as his 1.60 GAA was 1st among all goaltenders in the league. While he shared time with Dr Victor von Doom @Garsh, he was the team's clear starter throughout the season and finished among the best in the VHLM in S96. And the winner is... --<>--

The Ethan Osborne Trophy Awarded to the player who leads the VHLM in points at the end of the regular season "This award was renamed from the Dionne Trophy to the Ethan Osborne Trophy in S42 to honour the VHL Hall of Fame career of Ethan Osborne. VHLM MVP and top scorer in S30, he repeated the feat in the VHL in S36, in between founding and managing one of the VHLM's most successful franchises: the Bratislava Watchmen." - VHLM Awards Page And after giving flowers to someone new, we're back to someone old, yet another repeat trophy winner. For the second season in a row, this player captures the Ethan Osborne Trophy as the most prolific point-getter in the VHLM. With 96 points this season, he finished 7 ahead of the next best in the league, which is made all the more impressive by the infusion of VHLE talent into the VHLM. By all accounts, most players found it harder to score in S96, with many taking a step back from their S95 totals. And while his 96 points this season are a step behind his 116 in S95, the result is the same! --<>--

The Vladimir Boomchenko Trophy Awarded to the player who leads the VHLM in assists at the end of the regular season "This award was renamed from the Oates Trophy to the Vladimir Boomchenko Trophy in S42. Boomchenko won this award in S25 and mirrored the achievement in S29 in the VHL. A vocal member of the Riga Reign, Calgary Wranglers, and Cologne Express, Boomchenko also contributed, in a co-GM capacity or as a volunteer, to many VHLM teams and locker rooms, most notably the Yukon Rush and Saskatoon Wild." - VHLM Awards Page There's no repeat winner for the Boomchenko Trophy this season, we have a new winner! This season's assist leader finished with an impressive 60 assists in 72 games while playing for the Philadelphia Reapers. As a defenseman, he was a big part of his team's success at both ends of the rink and was instrumental in getting the puck to the team's other top scorers who could finish the play. With the highest P/20 of any defender at .89, this player also led all defenders in total points this season with 87. --<>--

The Alexander Chershenko Trophy Awarded to the player who leads the VHLM in goals during the regular season "This award was renamed from the Hull Trophy to the Alexander Chershenko Trophy in S42 to honour the career of VHL Hall of Famer Alexander Chershenko. Though trophyless in a respectable VHLM career, Chershenko is one of two three-time winners of this award in the VHL. In addition to this, Chershenko was honoured for his contributions to enhancing the VHLM experience while VHL commissioner." - VHLM Awards Page The S96 Alexander Chershenko Trophy goes to a familiar face, a player who is capturing the honor for the second season in a row! It's no easy feat to win this award even once, but to be the VHLM's top goal scorer in back-to-back season's is very impressive! Though he didn't break the 50 goal plateau this season, he still finished near that milestone with 48 overall and a scorching hot shooting percentage of 12.8%. As was the case last season, our winner once again outpaced the competition by a significant margin and proved comprehensively that was the best goal-scorer in the league. It would really be a shame if he retired... --<>--

And from the team awards we move on to the individual awards, starting with our playoff MVP. The Skylar Rift Trophy Awarded to the player deemed to be the VHLM's most valuable player in the playoffs "This award was renamed from the Esposito Trophy to the Skylar Rift Trophy in S42. Rift epitomised the modern VHL by winning two playoff MVPs, in the inaugural season of VHLM expansion franchise Yukon Rush and leading the expansion Quebec City Meute to their first Continental Cup. In addition to his player achievements, Rift's role as VHLM GM and vocal member of the VHL Board of Governors had significant impact on the VHLM" - VHLM Awards Page Here are the nominees: @FiZi Filip Zinek (MIS) - 10 G, 12 A, 22 P, +7, 26 PIM, 52 HIT, 7 SB Filip Zinek was a two-way force for Mississauga in their Founder's Cup run, potting a league leading 10 goals in his team's 18 games, while adding 12 assists for 22 points-- the 3rd most in the league at the end of the playoffs. His 52 hits were also the 4th most in the playoffs and he pitched in 7 shot blocks and a +7 rating for good measure. @Mr Bohannan Drosmis Sarkanis (OTT) - 9 G, 14 A, 23 P, +6, 16 PIM, 34 HIT, 10 SB Sarkanis led the VHLM in points during the playoffs with 23 in 19 games, tied with teammate River Harrington. His 9 goals were the 2nd most in the playoffs, as were his 14 assists. On a strong Ottawa team, Sarkanis stood out as their top forward and arguably their best player. @Alex Deadpanda (MIS) - 12-4-2, 0.917 SV%, 1.96 GAA, 2 SO For the Founder's Cup champions, Deadpanda followed up a strong S95 playoffs with another exceptional performance in the S96 postseason. This time, he was in a class of his own with 12 playoff wins, a .917 SV%, 1.96 GAA, and 2 shutouts while playing all 18 games for his team. This time, Deadpanda was also on the right side of the final series and helped his team capture the cup in what will likely be his final VHLM season. They say there's no more important position in hockey than goaltending and Deadpanda really showed us why! @kirbithan River Harrington (OTT) - 6 G, 17 A, 23 P, +6, 16 PIM, 31 HIT, 37 SB As the lone defender nominated for this award, Harrington was on par with the league's top scoring forwards-- an impressive feat to be sure! Harrington also led the playoffs in points with 23 and assists with 17. Harrington's 37 shots blocked were also the 3rd most in the VHLM playoffs. While his team didn't capture the ultimate prize, it was certainly an impressive run for the defender who will be moving up to the VHL in S97. And the winner is... --<>--

The Founder's Cup While the Mississauga Hounds might have at one point been the top team in the league, they spent much of S96 chasing down the likes of Ottawa and Philadelphia-- and even for some time, Miami. And while throughout the regular season they seemed to come up 2nd best, this adversity was likely what inspired GM @ace_five_ to go out and make some bold acquisitions leading up to the playoffs, hoping to find that extra ingredient to take them over the top. On November 11th, just before the trade deadline, Mississauga traded forward Ozzy Batty @Ozzy Batty, goaltender Samuel Wazinski @samthemancub, and a 3rd and 4th rounder to Las Vegas for capped goaltender, Deadpanda @Alex, and Kevin OConnor @Luke033. For Mississauga, it was definitely a win-now move as they loaded up for the playoffs, but in the end it managed to pay off! In the first round, Mississauga made short work of Miami in 5 games, before knocking off the defending champions and Prime Minister's Cup winning Reapers in 7 games during the second round. In the finals, Mississauga came up against maybe the strongest team on paper in the Ottawa Lynx, but their depth, firepower, and goaltending would prove too much once again as they would take care of the Lynx in 6 games, clinching the Founder's Cup for the first time since S90. Congratulations to our S96 Founder's Cup winners, the Mississauga Hounds! --<>--