LucyXpher

HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THE MALMO GREEN?!!? The wordmark might be unnecessary, but the GREEN?! smh... Warsaw needs a new name more than it needs a new logo Super fun podcast though, great job! And nice to hear Dyl on there too!

He would never murder my shoes tho...

New shoes will make anyone feel better. RIP my shoes

January 8, 2025 - Malmo, Sweden It's a brisk January evening, about 7:30 pm, as I clomp up the steps of the Malmo Arena. Tonight, the Nighthawks' 11 game win streak will take on the Calgary Wranglers and their 9 game run. It's must see hockey and I couldn't possibly miss it-- not that that was ever really a possibility as I was here first on assignment to follow up with Lucy Leitner. Now in her fourth VHL season, the smooth-skating blueliner from Houston, by way of Calgary, found herself on the move this past offseason. After a strong start to her career with the Reign in Riga, which included a Continental Cup victory in S95, Leitner was shipped out to Malmo in exchange for two first round picks. With the retirement of franchise defenseman, Jacob Stone @scoop, the Nighthawks were in need of a puck-mover on the back end who could at least attempt to fill those very large shoes. Indeed, it was an offseason of change for the Nighthawks as their longtime GM, @KaleebtheMighty, also stepped down, making way for Lexie Leitner to earn the promotion from Halifax in the VHLM. So, as fate would have it, a Leitner traded for a Leitner and, so far, the shoe seems to fit. After one season in Houston with the Bulls and another season in Vasteras with the Iron Eagles, Lucy Leitner made her VHL debut in S94. In that first season, although she never did come close to a top rookie nomination, she managed a respectable 53 point season with 10 goals and 43 assists and a +17 rating. Of course, this was only the beginning for Leitner and she would go on to have a standout sophomore season with 18 goals and 68 assists for 86 points. In the playoffs, Leitner continued her impressive play and helped the Reign clinch the Continental Cup with 20 points in 17 games and a +10 rating. Following this early career Cup victory, there was some hope that Leitner might take another step and improve on her 86 point campaign, but in S96 it was not meant to be. Sharing time and opportunity with retiring veteran defenseman, Mark Calaway @Beketov, Leitner's point production took a slight step back in S96 as she managed 79 in total. Her 21 goals that season, however, were a new career high, as was her +34 rating and 286 shots. With 6 game winning goals that season, Lucy also showed a clutch factor that had not appeared in her game to this point. In the playoffs, though the Reign were eliminated in their first round series, Leitner managed 6 points and another 2 game winning goals in those 7 games. With the Reign looking to shuffle the deck for S97, Lucy Leitner found herself available for trade, and it was her evil twin sister (or is it cousin?) who came calling on behalf of the Malmo Nighthawks. Look, the familial relationship between Lucy and Lexie is foggy at best. Are they even related? I'm really not sure, but that's a topic for another time. With Malmo looking to bolster their lineup for one last real kick at the proverbial can, the addition of Lucy on the blueline really helped solidify the team as a true contender. And who knows, maybe this is the year they actually win a playoff series... At the time of writing, Malmo is currently first in the VHL with 33 points in 21 games and holds a game in hand on their closest competitors. The team's +31 rating also represents the highest mark in the league and the team's 42 goals against is the lowest by 9! So far, the Malmo defense and goaltending has really been coming through and the forward lines have been showing more life as of late. I find my seat amid the sea of green and the Malmo faithful. Chanted songs are already beginning to echo throughout the arena, even with 15 minutes until puck drop. There's truly something different and special about European hockey fans. As the clock ticks down and approaches zero, the Nighthawks are welcomed onto the ice by a raucous crowd and a boisterous arena announcement. A lime green spotlight pans across the players as the names of the starting lineup are called aloud. Hearing her name, Lucy skates a tight circle and offers a polite wave to the crowd. The arena rumbles with the stomping of feet, cheers, chants, and applause. "There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl's complexion." - Audrey Hepburn Prior to the game, I had a chance to catch up with Lucy yet again. Of course the trade and move to Malmo was something that had me curious, but entering into the prime of her career, I had questions about the expectations she sets for herself, what she hopes to accomplish over the coming seasons, and perhaps even some reflection on the path she took to reach this point. It was late morning as I exited the cab and made my way to the entrance of an upscale apartment complex. Finding the keypad near the entrance, I buzzed up to Lucy's suite and she gave me entrance to the building. When I reached her door, I knocked softly and was greeted warmly a moment later. As I entered her place, I was struck immediately by the exuberant brightness. Large windows on the outward facing wall flooded the loft apartment with natural light. It was beautiful-- and I said so! Making our way into the living room area, Lucy offered me a seat and a beverage, hot or cold. I opted for a warm tea to offset the January chill and reclined on a sofa near the fireplace. Lucy joined me a few moments later and we soon began our chat. What stood out to me, perhaps more than anything, was how Lucy had grown up over the past four seasons. Thinking back to my first interview with her, fresh out of the Alberta cold, this version of Lucy carried herself with much more poise and confidence. No longer was she an unproven rookie in the VHL, but a known quantity, a player with expectations thrust upon her and a standard to match or exceed. Perhaps when a person feels the weight of such expectations on their shoulders, they carry themselves in a manner that reflects this invisible burden. "Lucy, I appreciate you having me here and taking the time to chat again. It's been a while, but I always look forward to our talks!" "Of course! I've always got time for you." "So, I wanted to ask you about the trade to Malmo, but before we get there, maybe you could just tell me in your own words how you felt your time in Riga went. Did you meet your own expectations? And if you could change anything about those first three seasons, what would it be?" "Okay, well, let me start with what I would change-- absolutely nothing! I enjoyed every minute of my time in Riga and I really wanted to play there for my whole career, truly. Everyone there, from management to my teammates, really made me feel welcome and I couldn't have asked for a better place to begin my career. I think I've always set a pretty high bar for myself in terms of practice and performance, so of course there are things that, looking back, I feel I could have done better. But, I mean, we won a Cup in my second season-- which is basically the ultimate goal I have for myself and my team every season-- so I really can't complain about what we achieved as a team, or even about what I achieved personally." "What specifically do you wish you might have done better? Do you have anything in mind?" "I can't lie, I do wish I had performed a little better in my rookie season. Obviously, the VHL is the best league and it's not easy to come in and play at a high level, but I don't like to settle for good enough and maybe there was more I could have done individually to help our team that season. Also, last season was fine, but realistically I feel like I didn't quite meet my personal goals. So that's something I'm really pushing to improve on this season." "Did you ever feel any outside pressure, especially early on, to achieve a certain level of play?" "Well, I guess there's a certain level of pressure that comes with being a top three pick in a draft, though it's not really said out loud by anyone. But I personally felt that it was important to try and live up to that, you know? Like, I guess I had something to prove. I felt like I had to keep pace with Antonia and Gianfranco who were both drafted ahead of me and I didn't want there to be any questions about my draft position-- not that it's the be-all-end-all or anything. As far as teammates and management, I mean, like I said, everyone was always supportive and there was never any more pressure than I could handle at the time, I feel." "And so, what would you say to other young players breaking into the league about how to manage those pressures?" "Well, I guess I'd say the motivation needs to come from within first and foremost. I think it's easy to drown in pressure if you feel it comes more from the outside than from the inside. Life is just like that, you know, there's always going to be people holding you to a standard or pressuring you to do better in some way. It's probably not always fair, but I just think if you set a higher standard for yourself first and foremost, anybody else's expectations are really kind of insignificant. At the end of the day, the only person who needs to be truly satisfied with you is you." "What was the most difficult part of your first season in the VHL?" "Oh, definitely the physicality! Players are bigger, faster, stronger, and just play a much more physically demanding game. I don't think I really expected that or was prepared enough for that, looking back, so that was definitely something I needed to get used to quickly." "That's fair. I was looking at your stats and I think you only had like 19 hits or something that season." "Haha, yep, that sounds right! I definitely got pushed around a bit at first." "So your second season was, probably, your best season to date in terms of personal and team performance. I know we talked a bit about it before, but maybe just take me through your thoughts on that season and the Cup win again." "Well, personally, I was glad to take a big step forward in S95. After my rookie season which was kinda challenging, I really wanted to prove that I belonged in this league and to push for more team success. Management did an incredible job of putting together a competitive team that season, so it was really easy to settle in and play at a high level with such amazing teammates. And, like I said, winning the Cup was the ultimate goal, so I couldn't be more happy with that!" "You had a fantastic run in the playoffs that season with 20 points in 17 games. Is that something you value highly-- the playoff production when it matters most?" "Absolutely! It's great to have a solid regular season, but if you can't get up for playoff games, then it really doesn't matter much in the end. I hope that's something I can be counted on for in the future and it's something I put a lot of value in!" "So speaking of playoffs, you're now a member of the Malmo Nighthawks, a team that has struggled to win a first round matchup for a while now. Firstly, how did you feel about the trade, and what are your expectations for this season with your new team?" "I couldn't be more happy with the landing spot, honestly. Obviously, it's a little bittersweet since I loved Riga and I had no intention of leaving, but when I got the call from Lexie letting me know that Malmo had just acquired me, my reaction was excitement more than anything. Malmo has had an amazing team for a long time and I couldn't be more thrilled to play with the players we have here now. As for expectations, I mean, you know me, it's Cup or bust! But actually, as long as I'm playing, that's the ultimate goal every season and I'm really excited that we have a competitive team right now that could really challenge for it in the playoffs." "Have you thought about how you might help the team overcome the 'first round curse'?" "Honestly, I don't believe in curses. It's all just coincidence, bad luck, or whatever. I think our team is great and there's no reason we can't win a round and go furth this time. Plus, we have a lot of veteran leadership on this team so I think that will really be an advantage for us in the postseason. Like, Jensen @Advantage is a Malmo legend, and RJ @RJMW, and Tzesar @comrade cat, and Rave @tcookie-- and I think we have the best goalie in the league @Pifferfish, so yeah, I like our chances alot." "Well, I hope you do find a way to break the 'curse'. It's probably due for this team. Do you put any stock in the idea of being in your 'prime seasons' now? And do you feel any extra pressure, either internally or externally to step into the limelight and find another level?" "I don't know about the idea of prime seasons, but I do expect to be better this season. I mean, every season is a new opportunity to improve so it's not really any different for me that way. But sure, like naturally these should probably be some of my best seasons so I definitely put pressure on myself to live up to that." "How do you find that next level? And how to you remain consistent at such a high level?" "I think it's all down to personal motivation like I was talking about before. If you have it, it's not hard to get up for games or practices. But it kinda has to be an every day thing, you know, and just not settling for good enough-- which is a real temptation by the way! Like, it's easy to say I've kinda made it so I can just chill now, but I've still got so much that I want to achieve so there's still plenty of work to do!" "Do you have any desire to win any individual accolades like trophies or potentially an induction into the Hall of Fame?" "I really try not to think about those things, really. It just can't be the goal for me. Like, if I win some trophies personally, that would be a great honor, but my main objective is playing to win as a team. I'd much rather win another Cup than win all the personal trophies. As for Hall of Fame, it's way too early to even think about that haha. That's for whoever decides that to decide down the road, and honestly, there's a lot of great players who are already in, who are eligible, and who will be eligible, so it's not really something I concern myself with. It would be an amazing honor, but yeah, maybe I'll think about that more when I retire someday." "That's a pretty grounded response, but have you ever felt the limelight might get to your head? Is there a danger of that for you?" "I think it's a danger for everyone, I mean we all have a limited amount of time to prove ourselves and we want to make the most of it. But I guess the way I handle it is just staying grounded in the day-to-day. I can change things here and now, besides that, everything else is just noise. So yeah, I set goals for myself-- sometimes really high goals-- but it's the everyday work that gets you there, I guess." "No, that seems really sensible! Well, let me just say, I'm ecstatic to see how you fair with your new team. I think you look great in lime green by the way!" "Haha, thanks! I think so too!" "Thanks for taking the time to do this interview and all the best with this season. Hopefully we can chat again soon." "Definitely, thank you!" ༺ . . . ༻ "All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances..." - Shakespeare (As You Like It) With the players introduced, the white arena lights flare up, burning away the shadows, setting the stage for the evening's game. Amid the magnificent sea of green and the chants reverberating through the arena, Lucy takes her place at the edge of the center ice circle. Before her, the ice within the circle is tinged with the green glow of a spotlight, only a step away... ༺ 𖤍 ༻ LucyXpher - 2800+ words

He may be old, but he is exceedingly wise-- smarts beats skills! What an absolute Malmo legend!

It's been super fun seeing my player grow this past year-- exactly one year today! I'm excited for another year and to see what my player can accomplish next! ༺⛧𖤍⛧༻

Today was a better day, which is promising!

Hi @samx, you're the best

I had a most unpleasant week as I spent the majority of it in bed with some variant of the flu. From fever to fatigue, my motivation to life was pretty much non-existent for a few days-- not exactly how I had hoped to begin the Year of Our Lord 2025. Thankfully, it's been over 24 hours since I had a fever last-- which is usually the part of being sick that kills me most-- so I think the worst has passed and I'm ready to attempt to rejoin the living. I will say, however, that I was pleased to see some decent results with Malmo this week. We've now won 7 games in a row with an important and challenging matchup tonight against Vancouver, so hopefully we can keep that run going! Looking at the recent performance of Malmo, there are a few things that stand out to me as surprising and will perhaps be something to consider for future lines-- then again, the current setup seems to be winning us games... I'm pleased to see my player, Lucy Leitner, is having a strong season so far, and I can't say it's totally unexpected as these should be her prime seasons and filling Jacob Stone's @scoop role from S96 certainly has it's benefits-- if not expectations and shoes to fill. I will say, however, that it's surprising to me how well Victor Jensen @Advantage has performed so far this season. Currently with 20 points in 17 games, he's 2nd on Malmo in scoring behind Leitner (22), and ahead of the likes of Tzesar (14) @comrade cat and Rave (14) @tcookie. In his 9th season, Jensen has continued to be a very valuable player for Malmo, even with the 6th most TPA on the team at the moment. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised with Jensen's output since he officially eclipsed Stone's mark of 648 points for the all-time franchise lead in points with 655 and counting. With another 22 goals and 42 assists, Jensen could also lead the franchise in those categories as well. Congratulations are in order, of course! I would like to see more from Tzesar and Rave, and to be clear, I don't put their lack of output on them per se. Perhaps it's the lines we have right now that just aren't cutting it, potentially causing them to share points with their linemates, thus reducing their totals? Or maybe, in Tzesar's case, it's some bad luck in the penalty department so far that has robbed him of opportunities to score. Whatever the case may be, we will need to find a way to get these players to factor into our offense a bit more. I've already tried a few line combinations and none have seemed to spark them yet, so maybe it's just bad luck, or worse, Simon being Simon. On the positive side, I'm very pleased to see how well our VHL rookies are doing! Narnia Shaw @Dabnad and Bret Weier @Quanack are up to 11 and 6 points respectively, with Weier scoring his first ever VHL goal just last night. Once again, congratulations are in order! It's definitely a bright spot to see these players meshing well with the team in the LR and producing in the sims so far. Jorgen Lovstrom @Pifferfish, our lovely but demanding goaltender, continues to be a huge part of our success as well with a .941 SV%, 1.79 GAA, and 2 shutouts, leading all goaltenders in all three of those categories. It's certainly promising to see that we have possibly the best goaltender in the league and a defense that seems to help him out a fair bit. Also, selfishly, I'm especially happy with his play so far since I picked him for my VHFL team. Speaking of selfishly being happy, let me just say how nice it is to have my own player on the team I'm GMing. In the past few seasons, I've always felt a bit divided between wanting to be active for my player on Riga while also GMing another team. Being able to consolidate my activity to one Discord server and follow one team is soooo nice. We'll see how long it lasts, but for now, I really appreciate not having my attention divided so I can focus in primarily on Malmo. Anyway, those are a few thoughts for this week! Hopefully we get that win over Vancouver and can keep that streak going. Oh, and the Sharks are undefeated in 2025, Macklin Celebrini is so much fun to watch, and Yaroslav Askarov may just be my new favorite player. Askarov interviews make me smile almost as much as his play lately. P.S. Congratulations also to @samx on becoming the new head mod! Sam is one of the best people around and I'm sure she'll excel in this role as she does with most everything. . . .

Since I won't be writing SuperSailor entries anymore, I needed (wanted) to start another series of VHL.com articles where I could ramble about random VHL stuff and earn a few TPE in the process. Unlike the SuperSailor series, this entries can be much broader in scope-- which is a little freeing to be honest as there's a lot going on around this community and the two leagues that I'd love to say a few words about here and there. S97 just kicked off and the new year is right around the corner, which means I'm coming up on a full year in the VHL community (January 7th). It honestly doesn't feel like it's been a year and I've had alot of fun following sims, meeting new people on the forum and Discord, creating and building my player, managing the Halifax 21st and now the Malmo Nighthawks, and just generally having a fun passtime project to come back to amid the grind of life. I'm really happy to see that Halifax is off to a good start so far this season and I'm impressed with the moves that @rory has made through the draft and in trades to fill out the lineup. The forward group looks amazing and I had been wondering how the defense would come together since there were only a couple returning players at that position. I think San Diego is probably still the favorite to win the VHLM this season, but I really do think Halifax has a chance to make some noise in the regular season and/or playoffs. As much as I would have wanted to win the team's first ever Founder's Cup, I'll be cheering for Halifax this season and every season until it happens-- it's WAY overdue. It's also really gratifying to see how well the individual players on Halifax are doing so far, and how they've improved over the offseason. Pelayo Bolivar @SMYLS4 is currently tied for the league lead in points and has a real chance to potentially get some award nominations this season, and Ty Duke @TheDuke is only one point behind. Both of those players should push to 400 TPE by the end of the season and that will make Halifax very scary offensively with the likes of Inker Belle @WildfireMicro, Xhekajs middletoe @Xhekajsleftankle, Steven Nichols @SlyDigi, and Hater Tottingham @Trunkxolotl all on that team as well. I am also happy that I have some continuity with Xhektoe and Duke as they're both Malmo prospects now (via trade), so I have another reason (excuse) to be invested in Halifax's success this season. In Malmo, we dropped a close opening game against Davos, 2-1, but we did run into some penalty trouble and I'm hoping it's not a trend since the same thing happened against Prague-- a team we should probably beat-- resulting in our second loss. But I'm encouraged by our 3-2 record, +5 goal differential, and the fact that our players have generally been producing well so far. There's definitely a bit more nuance to line combinations in the VHL with TPA differences being so much greater than they are in the M, and I'm hoping we can quickly find some winning combinations since this is definitely an all-in season for us. Jorgen Lovstrom @Pifferfish has also started strong-- aside from his game against Prague-- and we'll really need him to be solid if we're going to take games off of teams like Vancouver, Moscow, and Davos throughout the season. Just on a personal note, I always hate transitioning into new roles, places, or jobs. I like stability and continuity, and it stresses me out having to learn new things because I set a pretty high standard for myself. Taking over Malmo and the job as VSN Head has been a fair bit to work through this offseason-- thankfully it was a long one and I had some time off! Going into the new year, I'm hoping to settle into these roles a bit more as I'm excited and happy to be doing both, I just can't wait to get past the "being new" part. Thankfully, there's a lot of great people around who have been answering questions and making those transitions as stress free as possible! And that's about it for this entry. Again, this isn't meant to be super formal or anything, just a way to express a few VHL related thoughts-- but if anyone wants me to comment on anything or answer random questions, feel free to post below and maybe I'll pick it up next time. . . .

3. Well, I found the VHL on January 7th of 2024 and it's been a super fun passtime for me this whole year so it's up there in terms of new things in 2024. Recently I got back from Canada where I was able to visit with some friends I hadn't seen in a long time, so that was probably the highlight of my year tbh. 4. I have a board games night already planned for new years which usually involves good friends and many drinks so I'm looking forward to that! 6. I think Vancouver is looking like one of the teams to beat this season and will have a great shot at repeating this season-- as long as they don't win the Victory Cup! 7. Well, since the cat's out of the back already, I'm in possession of Logan Ninefingers' lost tenth finger-- which was lost during a game when it got sliced off by a skate. It's been a good luck charm ever since S95 when I won the Continental Cup with Riga and I wear it around my neck like a rabbit's foot for every game. 8. I would probably buy some real estate-- ideally at least two properties. I could live in one and rent the other to help cover monthly expenses... or I could just go on a shopping spree and buy a boatload of stuff I really don't need 9. I currently do not have any pets-- BUT I REEAALLLY want to get a cat! So as soon as it makes sense, that's what I'm doing Also, idk why there was a late night show theme for this PC, it just happened...

Malmo Nighthawks S97 Captains: C - Philip Rave @tcookie Drafted in S91, Rave has been a Nighthawk for five seasons now and just this past offseason signed an extension with the team that will take him to retirement. In the locker room, he embodies all the qualities a team would want in a leader-- enthusiasm, commitment, leading by example-- and on the ice, Rave is set to be one of the team's top players. A - Savaisk Tzesar @comrade cat Entering his last season before retirement, Savaisk Tzesar has been a career Nighthawk and has been steadily climbing the franchise leaderboards in a few key categories. Tzesar, like Rave, brings a high level of skill to the team's forward group and has a unique love and passion for the team. If the team is going to have success this season, Tzesar will certainly be a huge part of it. A - Viktor Jensen @Advantage Another career Nighthawk, Jensen enters this season as the longest tenured player with 8 full seasons in Malmo! With this wealth of experience, he will be relied upon as a leader in the locker room to help inspire new teammates and prospects. On the ice, Jensen is coming off of a career season with 102 points and will want to prove that he's still got it, even in his 9th VHL season! Congratulations to our S97 leadership group! ༺⛧𖤍⛧༻

I’m excited! It should be a fun season! Best of luck

@Scurvy F - Logan Ninefingers F - Riley Martin F - Antonia Bucatini D - Callum Gary Yannick Janser D - Bollos de Trueno G - Soju @Dabnad F - Savaisk Tzesar F - Spanish Moon Moth F - Toby Kadachi D - YaBoi Oven D - Leif Reingaard G - Spider Panda @Velevra F - Grimgor Ironhide F - George Richmond F - Maverick Goncalves D - Obuz Schneider Canet du Bocage D - Guntis Gavilrovs G - Ryan Artyomov @Jason 2.0 F - Severus Targaryen F - Jebediah Big Ol Doinks in Amish F - Joshua Schwarzer D - Tommy Sleeves D - DB IV G - Red Panda @Mysterious_Fish F - Thor Reingaard F - Eric White Jr F - David Rashford D - Jillian Woods D - Ahsoka Tano G - WWWWWWWWWWWW WWWWWWWWWWWW @LucyXpher F - Harry Callahan F - Phillip Rave F - Axle Gunner D - Lucy Leitner D - Felicia Hardy G - Jorgen Lovstrom

2. It has to be eggnog, which is basically the only actual Christmas beverage-- but it must be consumed in moderate amounts! Too much eggnog is no bueno! 3. It does not usually snow here in Houston for Christmas. Maybe like once every 20 years, but we're much more likely to have a wet Christmas than a white Christmas. This year, it's been very warm and I'm not sure how I feel about it... 4. Wait, Santa's not real?!? Christmas is ruined forever... 5. I'm definitely a gift giver. Every year I need to be the first person to give my gifts to family and friends. It makes me feel weird opening my gifts first and I take my Christmas shopping very seriously 9. Elf. I've seen that movie wayyy too many times. 10. For me it's "Baby It's Cold Outside". I always find myself humming it around this time of year-- even if it isn't actually cold outside...