courtjestr19

A few months ago, I had a kind of middling pitcher in the Professional Baseball Experience, or PBE sim league. Somehow some other leagues came up in discussion in the LR, and I asked my teammate @Ricer13 what he thought about the simulation hockey leagues. Fast forward a few months after I created a hulking Finnish monstrosity that I named after the game I both most enjoyed and was abjectly completely overmatched in. StarCraft never came naturally to me—I couldn’t click the buttons fast enough, I never got the hang of building fast, and although I played Protoss regularly, the thing I most remember about the game is the frantic plea from the game to my developing middle school brain: “YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS.” I probably constructed some additional pylons to little avail back then, but perhaps it was more prophetic than that. I have now constructed Additional Pylons. After a brief end-of-season hangout in S97 of Miami, Pylons went 5th overall to the Houston Bulls in a bold move by @SMYLS4 to move up. The move, like so many in the S98 season, went exactly according to plan. Pylons would become a 4th member of an utterly fearsome defense that included Feka Ohi Kau, Jack Jack, and Dog Jagr—all of whom had TPE counts above 300 to start the season and were essentially maxed by the end. This crew of blueliners led a historic Houston repo team that gave up fewer than 10 shots on goal several times during the regular season. The rest for the Bulls is, of course, history, as they stormed to the Cup on strength, balance, and immaculate goaltending by Bartholomew Lorequavius, who rightfully had his number retired by the Bulls in the offseason. I knew that I’d be moving on to another team as the Bulls had to retool after going all in, but I’m grateful to my brother @SMYLS4 for sending me to Las Vegas. We haven’t even played any games yet, but the activity and people in the LV LR are second to none. It feels like I’ve been there in the best way possible— @sadie and @Big_Dyl are running a real tight ship and have built not only a roster, but a crew that is ready to DO IT FOR HIM. The vibes are indeed immaculate, and I think all of us are pumped to get this team on the ice. Now, I’ve skipped one major event here. To preface this specifically, I’ve had a rough few weeks. From grading about 130 exams to finish out a semester to getting pretty terribly sick to the point where I was coughing myself awake nightly, I found a lot of solace in doing league tasks. In how many places are people rewarded while enjoying some amateur photoshopping of cool hockey graphics? We get TPE to e.g. dig into the lore of the league and find out what goalie had the most career PIM? That’s hilarious. In all of it is creativity in a way that fits what you like. Obviously, this is my first-gen create and I’m getting to know the league, but this is doing fun tasks with a rewards system. What I was not prepared for, however, was the VHL draft. The chaos of marbles and the realization that I had been drafted first overall after a really fantastic talk with @badcolethetitan was surreal. I was half-[eating dinner with my wife and two young kids] and half-[watching the draft] when the first pick was entered. Before the pick, I had mentioned to a couple folks that I was kind of worried that I didn’t hear from many teams and didn’t have high hopes for my player. When it came out—first in chat, iirc—and then on screen, I went from eating and being a dingus to actually just going red and freezing up. I had heard first-gens almost never go first, so I had no sights on the pick, but Chicago was extremely high on my list of teams. My 6yo daughter asked me, “Dad, what happened?” and I think all I managed to say was, “I just got picked… first. My player just got picked… first?!” She lit up in a humongous smile and just yelled, “YEAHHHH DAD!!!” and my entire family all jumped up and down. I… didn’t think I’d ever have a reason to experience something quite like that. Probably forever I will be grateful, humbled, and will want to make good on that decision that gave, really, my whole family such immense joy on a miscellaneous May evening. So, to the stream team that covered the draft, thank you for creating a fun, hilarious atmosphere. The marbles interjections were outstanding. To the GMs, thank you for the work you put in to keep users having fun in team LRs. But to the league, thanks for being a new community that I have really loved interacting with. I’m happy to be here, and I can’t wait for the new season. WC:833.

1. We have the best LR in the league right now because of this sudden influx of absolutely gut-splittingly hilarious people. This team is outrageous and has to be up there in terms of talent to boot. We're primed for a run. LFG. 2. I am having the best time ever. Honestly with the minors draft folks coming in yesterday it was like, stud after stud. I'm thrilled. @sadie cooked big time. 3. MY OPTIMISM REMAINS UNBRIDLED 4. Agreed with the above. I think it's Brazilian Steakhouse though, like Fogo de Chao? I'm gonna be here waiting for the picanha. 5. I'll take Seven Nation Army thank you very much 6. We do it for HIM

Dear Houston, You hear about things being bigger in Texas but it always seemed to be about literal size. After moving to Houston after the VHLM draft, I got to the locker room at the beginning of S98, cracked some jokes with a grizzly veteran netminder, and set sail on an unforgettable journey. The other defenders, Ohi Kau and Jack Jack (and shortly after, Jagr) real veterans of the trade, took me under their wing. I learned to skate through pressure, to focus on possession, make accurate passes, and keep the puck on our sticks only. We drilled keep-away, with the sole mission of giving up as few of shots as we could, every day. And you know what? We did just that. Our squad gave up fewer than ten shots a handful of times this season because we hustled. We were crafty, stingy, and got in the way. We’re not letting Bart back there take those shots. And the offense! These guys—Bridges, Gingy, Hunter, and later, Copia—couldn’t be stopped. They’d chuck shot after shot at the opposing net, relentlessly. It was a clinic. But all of the winning ways, the deep run into the playoffs, taking down a talented Halifax team—-nothing could have prepared me for what I’d really take away from the team. That biggest thing in Texas was the humongous appreciation for the people I got to share this magical season with. In particular, SMYLS and DrDoof: you both are top-notch. I’m grateful for you believing in our team enough to really fully go for it this last season, and even though I’m now relocated to a wonderful group of people in Vegas, I greatly look forward to crossing paths in the future in tourneys, etc. Houston, we have no problem. Loved my time here and I will cheer for you all from afar (as long as I’m not playing you!) ~~Additional Pylons WC: 300+

Transaction ID: 97E99646ES527354U 5 Uncapped TPE Doubles Week $1M

Oh man, first presser with LVA! 1. Honestly it's the people so far. Everyone I've gotten a chance to interact with meaningfully has been wonderful. I loved my time in Houston and am excited to get going with the folks here in Vegas! 2. Oh heck yeah, I want my buddy @pboomg on the Aces. 3. First, I'm looking forward to the majors draft. This is my first time being drafted to the majors, which itself is really exciting. But past that, I'm very pumped for this upcoming season. We're going to be competitive and this should be a fun bunch in the LR. 4. I've been embracing my millennial alt rock-loving self lately. Shimmer by Fuel, Monster by Paramore, Like a Stone by Audioslave, Linkin Park's revival The Emptiness Machine, among others. 5. Can Florida ¿not? win again? lol 6. Get the ads off the jerseys. I mean, I guess if I get a jersey I can just remove it myself, but I just want fewer ads in life.

This is a cool thread. I’m a college professor in mechanical engineering at a big R1 university! I teach and do research; my group works in understanding the mechanics of soft matter when exposed to really fast energies like ultrasound or lasers. Ngl, love nearly every part of my job, but the people are the best part.

The Houston Bulls and the Halifax 21st have played to a chippy draw in the first four games of the Minors championship. Games 1 and 2 in Houston saw a split, with an uneven distribution of PIM going against the Bulls (12 to 6) in their win and then sharply against Halifax in their sequel win (22 to 6!). Neither of these teams wants to be playing down a man in a set in which we expect the cooler heads to prevail. Game 3 saw an angry Alex Bridges IV sent off for butt-ending (the fist to forearm call from the ref is one of the funniest in sports, including the American football safety call), and the 21st took the advantage 2-1 in the series as the result of an undisciplined 29 PIM for the seeing-red Bulls. The Bulls were not to be denied a second time on the road, however. After a goal by Igor Sokolov put the 21st in front of G4, the Bulls' Robin Sierra and Feka Ohi Kau (angling for some more MVP consideration) held the 21st to task after they couldn't stay out of the power play. The Bulls converted two out of five to equalize the series. And now we have G5. Will the Bulls control their emotions? WC:214

1. David Tennant. I think between his being the tenth Doctor and being a good combination of insightful and unhinged makes him a good fit! 2. I said it before, I'll say it again. Edmonton has some fight, and I feel like they still have a shot. 3. Gotta say forward here; games are won by the offense and lost by the defense. HoF forwards have to be able to do it all! Questions 1. Is a hotdog a sandwich by your definition? 2. If you were to give one piece of advice to yourself from the past creating a first-gen player, what would you say? 3. What's the longest number of hours you've had to stay up, consecutively?

The Houston Bulls have moved onto the next round after scoring a whopping 17 goals versus 3 against, vanquishing the Lynx in a 4-game series that proved to have too much firepower against the Capitol Cats. Incredibly, Houston's balanced scoring continued with aplomb, with six different players scoring 5 or more points in the set (many of those coming in an 8-1 shellacking in the final game). Bartholomew Lorequavius had a solid showing over the set as has been the case all season, turning away 95.6% of the 68 shots he faced in the series. The defense again got in between Bart and the offensive players successfully, stopping 22 shots of their own. While it's impossible to pick a single player as the best of what was a balanced team effort, Additional Pylons had a really successful two-way series, going +5, registering two goals (on 22% shooting) and three helpers, only spending two minutes in the box, and played tough on defense with an added 8 hits and 3 shots blocked. As the fourth-best defender on the Bulls by TPE and as a dude built to get in the way, the big offensive showing of the hulking Finn was perhaps unexpected and the bow on top of a fabulous Houston first round. On to the next! (WC:212)

Headstander supreme, Bartholomew Lorequavius @jaypc8237

1. Nothing is going to make me more confident in this team than who we already have in our LR. We scored 8 goals in the clincher. 2. Right now, no, or at least, there's no obvious projection for anyone to come close. Ovi was the guy for so long. 900 goals is just a ridiculous number—just consider what it takes to average 45 goals per season over two decades. With the game getting faster and fewer guys are relied on for as long of shifts, it just seems hard to project any one guy to do it in this generation at least. 3. I have not been here long enough to have a good idea of what to do fwiw, but I think it would be cool to have some more twitch streams. The drafts are super cool this way; it'd be great to have some mechanism for live-streamed things (maybe something like free agency/winter meetings? idk). 4. Edmonton. Dk why, just have a feeling. 5. Yes. The shrug ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 6. I have two kids so we set up Easter eggs all over the house. Best thing I did was keep hiding more eggs in my 3yo's boot every time he walked away so he kept checking the boot all day lol

Ah man, this is the best Smarch weather! Appreciate the kind words, my friend. I'm very excited for this draft!!

1. If Bart @jaypc8237 doesn't get all of the awards for goalies imma have several strong words for folks. This is a season for the ages. I'd love our D-line to get awarded significantly too, as we're still on pace to give up the fewest goals in a VHLM season. 2. Yeah I do, and my team (the Knicks) have to face my local team (the Pistons), which I am both excited about and kind of dreading. I think the Celtics are going to win because it ends up being the teams I least like that do well, lol. 3. I get to make nonsense graphics and get credit for them. This is a dream job. Not gonna complain about a league where I actually get rewarded for this effort. 4. Alt rock music by strong female leads. Paramore, Evanescence, now Linkin Park! (RIP Chester though :(. Loved that guy) 5. Yeah, that was nonsense. Seemed to be a line issue, and somehow our otherwise strong offense put up ± of -2 vs. SDM, bizarrely. They had our number that game, dk why. We'll bounce back, especially since I just updated . 6. Oh man, I loved playing dek hockey and wiffleball in high school. My best memory was pitching a wiffleball game in a tournament where I threw 6IP and struck out all 18 outs, only giving up one hit (which was lined straight off of my sternum, and flew about 40 feet, lol). We won the game on a walkoff in the bottom of the 6th. It was amazing.

this is SICK

@Ricer13 I just hit 250 TPE!

I’m thrilled to have heard the name before seeing that it was your create lolol welcome to VHL pboomg!

1. I think we will be able to hang on to this lead for sure. We just had an influx of S100 creates today which will even improve our team over our previous bot lines. We're not just good right now, we're scary good. Gotta keep updating and putting in the TPE but you can't ask more from a regular season performance so far. 2. Kinda, though I haven't watched as much this year as in prior years. I did have Houston winning it all in my bracket (which was not a popular pick) so I mean, here's to hoping! 3. This is my first create and I'm even just excited for S99, no less S100. Of course for any sim league to survive so long there has to be broad engagement, and that folks are already turning out to create for S100 is definitely pretty cool. I'm looking forward to playing alongside those creates in that season, definitely. 4. I always liked playing handball (not Euro-style, though I like that too), which for us was with a kickball-style ball. 5. Yeah---we have some experienced users that just recreated, which is definitely exciting. I'm not sure I know anyone well enough to say I'm super excited, but I did see that dil has like 6 cups to their players so that's pretty sick. 6. New Zealand, without a doubt. Beautiful country, even better people. I loved just being outdoors the whole time while there.

I’m not sure I can say that my create, Additional Pylons, will be able to put up the gaudy numbers he has in his Houston Bulls rookie season, but I can commit him to the following. First, Additional Pylons’s calling card will be his defense. Built like a true defensive defenseman, the kind of guys I’m trying to build my player around are hard-nosed NHL blueliners like Drew Doughty and Ryan Suter. These guys were the lifeblood lock-down guys of strong Kings and Wild teams, respectively, and that’s who I envision Pylons to grow into over time, likely with a bit more scoring thrown in eventually. Even now in Houston, his stats kind of emulate these two. For example: Pylons (S99), scaled to 82 gm: 14 G, 38 A, 58 +/-, 8.75 SHT%, 35 PIM, Doughty (15-16): 14 G, 37 A, 24 +/-, 7.1 SHT%, 52 PIM. Second, Pylons will consistently put in the work. So far in the VHL, I’ve been a max earner. My plan is to max earn throughout my entire career. I’m a graphics guy and did two of the recent major article graphics (which, not gonna lie, was pretty sick to see on the front page). I want to try and get as high up in TPE as I possibly can in my first season, and eventually want to proudly draft Pylons to my own Victory Hockey Fantasy League team. Side note: I just did this for the first time with my pitcher in the PBE (Andy Beans), and this is how I knew I finally made it . Third, I strive to be active and positive in the team locker room Discord. My brief time in Miami and my current home in Houston have been awesome places to hang out, and my goal with my virtual player is to contribute much more than virtual shots blocked and virtual +/-. I’m thrilled with the community aspect of the VHL so far, and if the conversations I had with the minors GMs in my first draft experience are any indication of the people here, I really am very excited to be brought on to a majors squad in the future. My philosophy in my two sim leagues to date has been to put in effort into both being a welcoming person in the locker room while being the best user/earner I can be. Look forward to seeing wherever Pylons ends up, but mostly, I’m just happy to be here so far. In the meantime, we have a Cup to chase in Houston! Let’s Go Bulls! WC: 429

(Note this is my Theme Week submission!)

1. Heck yeah I'm going to complete a theme week PT! My render is Zdeno Chara, who has some excellently bloody pictures out in the cosmos. Gonna cook this week, can't wait. 2. Let's Go Mets! Yeah, I'm a big Mets fan and already can't get enough of the Soto Shuffle (after hating it for years). Used to be a brutal team to root for but with the new ownership things finally look bright! We had a great season last year with a deep playoff run so here's to making some noise again! 3. If Bart keeps standing on his head and the defense blocks shots, we can beat anybody. We certainly have a bone to pick with Philly and should return the favor of their win a couple weeks ago. 4. Good question—to be honest, I'm not sure. I always go back to watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but if we're talking watching a movie with my kids, I have to mention Ratatouille. As a classic SciFi action movie, I'll also take The Matrix. 5. Heck yeah we do. We're just getting started. We're straight outta the the Prohibition Era: no shots allowed 6. Pylons is a gentle giant off the ice. If anything he'd want to have a deal with a charity, not a product. So I'd say he'd want to work with a youth mental health charity.

I haven't been around the VHLM very long, but I think we might be witnessing something crazy out of a defense in Houston right now. Since taking one on the chin in Philadelphia, Houston's defense seems to have taken the giving up of 33 shots personally, as subsequent games have just exhibited lockdown defense by the Bulls. In fact, the first game was just marked by the defense putting their bodies on the line for Bart Lorequavius with a total of 11 blocked shots and another 15 turned away by the netminder. The games since have gone like this: W 1-0 vs. SASK, 15 shots allowed, 11 (!) SB SOW 3-2 @ LVA, 16 shots allowed, 6 SB W 6-2 vs. MIA, 23 shots allowed, 5 SB W 1-0 vs. LVA, 11 shots allowed, 3 SB W 5-1 vs. MIA, 10 shots allowed, 3 SB W 1-0 vs. HAL, 13 shots allowed, 4 SB W 3-0 @ MIA, 21 shots allowed, 6 SB W 1-0 vs. LVA, 9 shots allowed (!), 4 SB W 2-0 @ LVA, 7 shots allowed (!!), 1 SB That's an average of only 12.5 shots per game reaching Bart, who has exceeded the task with clockwork-like regularity. With only 1 shot allowed in the last 71 attempts, Bart's 98.6 SV% and ridiculous run of 5 shutouts in 6 games is wild and awe-inspiring. If Houston is planning on a deep run in the playoffs---certainly the goal in the clubhouse---they were witness to Las Vegas's run to the Cup via a stout defensive effort and have put on a clinic this season in their own effort. And a clinic is has been! WC:270