LucyXpher

I actually did one up just like you're describing with the baby blue and Halifax lettering! I'll have to dig it up for an alternate maybe!

There's no doubt that S95 was a challenging one for the Halifax 21st. Finishing 4th in the Eastern Conference and 6th overall in the league meant that the team managed to make the playoffs, though they were a little out of touch with the league leaders. With 71 points, it was a respectable showing, all things considered. After a dominant run of form in S94 that saw the team produce their 2nd best regular season ever, S95 was a step back-- and for good reason as all but one player from the S94 roster graduated to the VHLE. With limited draft selections and a bare roster, any success Halifax had this season is owed entirely to the players who consistently put their best foot forward and willed the team to victory. Identifying those key contributors was much easier on a team with fewer players, though it doesn't diminish their contributions in the slightest-- in fact, they're all the more valuable without the insulation of a full team. This is an opportunity to acknowledge those players for their efforts and to appreciate the silver linings of S95. The Most Improved Player: This award is for the player who makes the most significant individual improvement over the course of a single season. This season's most improved player was selected in the 4th round of the S95 VHLM dispersal draft at only 32 TPE. By the end of the season they were up to 93. I think sometimes it's underappreciated how much goes into learning the league and how difficult it can be to be thrown in with only 32 TPE while some recreates turn up with 100+. In spite of that, this player finished with a remarkable 69 points in 72 games, which was the 2nd highest point total on the team. In the playoffs, they led the team with 6 points in 5 games against the eventual Founder's Cup champion Reapers. The perseverance of this player through a challenging season in Halifax to continue earning and building up consistently was commendable, and those qualities earned them the captaincy as the season went on. This player was also active in our locker room more than most and I'm excited to see how they continue to grow in the league in S96! The Leadership Award: This award is presented to the player who demonstrates qualities of leadership and teamwork throughout the season, building up their teammates in the locker room, posting quality team-related content on the forum, and leading by example through individual dedication and consistency. Though they joined the team later in the season, the two players that will share this award brought a ton of fun and enthusiasm to the locker room and really gave it life after a difficult trade deadline that saw two of the team's best players shipped out for draft picks. With a playoff berth in the balance, this dynamic duo brought their A game and some exceptional attitude to the locker room. On top of that, their contributions on the forum and in press conferences were hilarious and always something to look forward to. Even as the team got into the playoffs and ice time was limited, these two kept their heads up and continued to bring positive vibes to the team. Now joining forces on the San Diego Marlins for S96, they will be greatly missed for their exceptional leadership and locker room presence. The Jacob Richard Award (Top Defender): Jacob Richard holds the franchise's single season assists record with 97 in S80. He finished that season with 141 total points which is the also the highest mark by a Halifax 21st defender in a single season. This award is presented to the defender who demonstrates excellence at their position, contributing to the team's success through a strong well-rounded game. The team's top defenseman in S95 was a bona-fide minute muncher-- a player who could be used in any situation and who could be relied upon to stay stalwart defensively, while also jumping up in the rush and contributing to the offense. With 1988 minutes played, he ranked 2nd on the team in this category while racking up an impressive total of 152 shots blocked, good for the team lead by 100! This player also dished out 155 hits, making his physical presence known across the ice. His 23 goals and 39 assists for 62 points in 72 games ranked him 1st among all Halifax defenders this season and 3rd overall in team scoring. The Bryn Yrwy Award (Top Forward): Named in honor of Bryn Yrwy, the franchise's all-time leading scorer with 405 points in 288 games with the Halifax 21st, this award recognizes the team's top offensive player. Yrwy also holds the franchise single season points record with 167, and goals with 76-- both in Season 80. Like the Jacob Richard award for defenders, it is presented to the player who plays the strongest and most consistent all-round game at the forward position, contributing to the offensive and defensive success of the team. This season's winner scored the 2nd most points on the team, but was only beaten out by 1 point for the team scoring lead. With 0.73 points/20, they led all Halifax forwards in scoring efficiency while also collecting 45 blocks and 179 hits. This player was all over the score sheet for the 21st from the drop of the puck and made great strides to progress as the season went on. He finished the season in a 3 way tie for the team lead with 29 goals and recorded 40 assists in a rookie season that has him primed to do great things in the VHL. The Anton Edvin Award: Anton Edvin is the Halifax 21st franchise leader in games played with 426-- 138 more than the next highest games played mark. This award honours a player who has played parts of at least two seasons with the franchise and has exhibited a high level of play throughout their time with the team. Though this player didn't finish the season with the team, his impact on the 21st's season was undeniable. Having played for the 21st for a short stint in S93, this player signed in the offseason to rejoin the team for S95 and was the team's starting netminder through the first 40 games. In those games he recorded a solid 22-17-1 record with a .923 SV%, a 1.92 GAA, and 6 shutouts! He was dealt to the Mississauga Hounds at the trade deadline, but was the league's top goaltender at that point in the season, leading in multiple categories. Though the decision to trade him was a difficult one, it ultimately gave him the best chance to chase a Founder's Cup and helped the 21st recover some much needed assets to be used in the S96 draft. Season 95 SuperSailor: This award is like the weekly SuperSailor honor, but is presented to a player who best exhibits SuperSailor qualities throughout the full campaign. A SuperSailor is involved not only in the locker room as a good teammate, but also on the forums as an ambassador for the team, and also demonstrates effective play on the ice. There's no denying that S95 was a difficult season for the 21st. After 105 points in S93 and 121 points in S94, the team's 71 point showing in S95 paled in comparison. That being said, it was still a respectable showing for a team that was left bare after graduating nearly the whole roster at the end of S94. The fact that the team made the playoffs and still managed a regular season record near .500 is a silver lining that the 21st will cling to. The Season 95 SuperSailor also established himself as a bright spot in the Halifax locker room and on the ice. With impressive rookie point totals and positive contributions around the team. This player deserves a ton of commendation for their effort and persistence through a challenging season and for their clutch performances down the stretch and into the playoffs. Their positive attitude, work ethic, and consistency were certainly noticed and worthy of recognition. ༻❁༺ As with all awards in every season, there are players who probably deserved acknowledgement but didn't receive it. Congratulations to all of our Halifax 21st players for making S95 a fun season, even if the game results left something to be desired. A special honorable mention needs to be given to our 5 waiver players from this past season as well. Though most of them didn't play enough to warrant recognition with a team award, their contributions were no less important down the stretch and it was an honor to have you all choose to play for Halifax this past season! As the S96 draft concluded yesterday, a new crop of talent is fresh off the boat in Halifax, ready to make an impact. S96 offers hopeful new horizons for the 21st and I, for one, can't wait to move forward! LucyXpher 10/13/2024 1500+ words

Awesome bio! I love all the background you gave your player, including his junior career and journey through the Liiga.

I love it!!! Welcome to the BOAT GANG!

This is incredible like everything else I've seen from you so far! So glad to have you join Halifax!

@mattyIceman Thanks for the chats! Best of luck in the draft tonight!

Welcome to my offseason ramble where I look back on the last season (or two) and how things have gone for me in the VHL as a player and as a manager. S94 I don’t want to talk about S94… the way it ended at least. With the Halifax 21st, we had an incredible team and a dominant regular season. After a run to the finals, though, we managed to lose again to the Saskatoon Wild in 6 games, missing yet another opportunity to claim the franchise’s first Founder’s Cup. That last week of the playoffs that season also coincided with a short hospital stay that kinda pulled me out of commission during those last few sims and put a finer point on an already crushing defeat. Losing in a sim league shouldn’t be a big deal, and it isn’t in the grand scheme, but it certainly does sting when you want nothing more than to celebrate with the teammates you’ve gotten to know over the past two months. The sim results in and of themselves ultimately aren’t that deep and Simon is a menace, we know this-- though I'd be lying if I said the unfortunate conclusion of our playoff run, a finals loss after a promising season, and personal health complications didn't leave a sour taste in my mouth about S94. But that’s how it goes sometimes and the bitter defeats only make the victories that much sweeter. On the health front, things are much better now and I'm relieved to be basically back to 100% in time for what should be my last year of college. S95 S95 was my player’s 2nd VHL season playing for the Riga Reign and we won the Continental Cup! I honestly had no expectation that my player would be part of a championship team so early on, and so much of the team’s success is owed to @Lemorse7 putting together such an incredible roster. I’ll say more about this team in another article I’m hoping to get around to soon, but I loved the hype in the locker room every day as we got closer and closer to the goal. I'm already excited to see what we can do next season with a few new faces! This win for my player really did a lot for my spirits after a tough season for Halifax in S95. After the dominant S94 campaign that ended miserably, we lost all but one player on our roster to the VHLE and were left to draft new players to fill out the team. Having gone pretty much all-in the previous season, the cupboards were a little bare as far as early round picks, though we did have a bunch of 4th and 5th rounders. I had hoped we would have a deeper draft with the ad that went out near the end of the season, but it didn’t work out quite as well as I was anticipating. That said, we still managed to select four players who stayed active and contributing for the duration of the season and were lucky to have a capped goalie come back from inactivity to help as well. We were also blessed with five incredible waiver players in S95 that helped us make the playoffs and give the eventual Founder’s Cup champions a bit of fight in the first round. We’ve lost to the eventual champions in three consecutive seasons now. I’m going to choose to feel good about that and take comfort in the fact that we beat Philly more times in the playoffs than their finals opponents. We take what we can get around here. This off-season, I’ve had a ton of fun interviewing players for the upcoming M draft and I have high hopes that this is going to be a good one for us. I'm also excited for what the VHLE’s dissolution means for the M. We should get more time with players now as the cap increases to 400 TPE. That means more options for team building and, most importantly, more opportunities to build relationships with players before they move up to the next league. On top of that, I'm looking forward to the chance to prepare players to go directly to the VHL. I think sometimes the VHLE could be a development killer as players were bounced to a new team, sometimes losing momentum as they had to build new rapport with a new GM and teammates. While I enjoyed my one season in the VHLE personally, I would have much rather spent another season on the Houston Bulls with teammates I had gotten to know and a GM that I came to trust as a new player. And maybe it didn’t affect my player development a whole lot, but I’ve seen the drop off in players that have left Halifax and other M teams. I'm not sure that so much change is good for players who are still getting to know their way around. With the ultimate goal being the VHL, having only one development league makes way more sense so that players have stability and continuity early on. There’s lots to look forward to for S96 and I could ramble on for another thousand words, but I think I’ve accomplished what I set out to do, reflecting on the past couple of seasons. I probably won’t be claiming this for TPE anyway. I do have other things I plan to write before the next season is underway so I’ll save some words for those. ──•~❉᯽❉~•── LucyXpher 10/06/2024 - 800+ words

4. I will care... for what that's worth

I'm still confused, what do the Benedicts have to do with us being friends? I don't even know the Benedicts... This was so funny to read! I'm gonna love seeing more of these as you guys continue playing together

And here I thought the VHL installed new air fresheners

@Oddpurplefly

lol probably too late for that honestly @K4L3B Best of luck in San Diego this season, I really appreciated having you on Halifax last season and you were an important part of our team!

Skilton, probably

September 23rd

Thanks again for the easy talks @Mysterious_Fish. I'm always happy to facilitate a family reunion! @TheHockey_pro Thanks for a great season in Halifax and best of luck with the Marlins! @Xhekajsleftankle Welcome to Halifax! Can't wait to get you in the locker room and looking forward to a fun season!

rip nathan

Thanks for the chats and an easy trade process @Mysterious_Fish! Best of luck at 4th OA!

Amazing!!! Thanks for doing these as always @Triller! You do incredible work and it brings so much life to the league! What a great team we had in Riga this season! I'm so proud to share my first VHL trophy with such great teammates, you guys are the best!

Transaction ID: 95247562VE887281B $1M Player Store Cash 5 TPE Uncapped Doubles Week

1. I genuinely thought the finals would be a closer series, but the Reapers were just too good! Crazy that despite getting swept in the finals, Vegas still had the fewest goals against of all playoff teams! Super strong defensively and in goal, but not much for scoring when it mattered most. 2. Oh, I was following my player in the VHL very closely as my team, Riga, won the Continental Cup!!! I honestly never expected to win one so soon in my player career (only 2nd season) but I'm so happy with our team this season and our GM @Lemorse7 did an incredible job building the team to compete the last two seasons and we could be competitive again next season! 3. Um... hmm... that's a good question. Despite being the Halifax GM, I don't know the good spots in the city too well. How about we have our reunion at the arena? You all can bag skate because it'll be good for you 4. Oh if I was league commissioner, let me tell you, I'd have all kinds of changes! I think the VHLM GMs and Commissioners are tired of hearing my ideas tbh How about double job pay for all GMs? And triple for commissioners. 5. Ooh, these questions are tough. Probably Daniil Guschin on the Sharks. He's looked really good offensively and may have a shot at making the Sharks. Though I'm not sure about his defensive game as much. I guess we'll see if the GOOSE IS LOOSE! 6. Sharks, duh... Added Celebrini, Dickinson (to prospect pool), Askarov, Toffoli, Walman, Goodrow, Will Smith coming to NHL. They're gonna be way more fun to watch this season... not sure if they'll win many more games though.

Thanks to everyone who applied and showed interest in being a GM for this season's tournament! Without further ado, here are the general managers that will be leading each country: Canada USA Europe World Asia Congratulations to all of our GMs! Please join the WJC Discord as soon as you can so that we can start the team selection process and get games going shortly after! WJC Discord: https://discord.gg/eXX88sk7

Thanks for the quick and fair talks @Grape! Best of luck with the draft!