scotty

Deschamps, imo.

It's 7:45 of Maxime Deschamps winning hockey games.

Casilla to Real Madrid, so that'll pretty much quash the De Gea speculation ...for now.

More than I was hoping for, tbh.

dat morale.

Serious question, has anyone updated that extensively in a player recently?

Ultimate niche mode.

Maxime Deschamps is here. And if things work out the way I'd like them too, this will be the start of a solid, albeit very unspectacular VHL career. Deschamps will not be a high scoring forward. Nor will he be a physical bruiser patrolling the wing. With any luck, this player will take the path less travelled in the VHL. The path to a niche career. My three most successful players have taken different shapes (and sizes). Campbell was a high-scoring flashy centre, Tomas Jenskovic was the proverbial two-way defenseman that was emblematic of his era, and I'm assuming every era since. RJ Stafford, an outlier, started as a niche project who was eventually derailed by team needs in Vasteras and converted to a defenseman. With Deschamps, I'd like to finally see the niche role through. What exactly does that mean? A face-off specialist, a player who offers limited offensive skill with exceptional defensive play to make up for it. It's not going to be sexy. Hell, there's a good chance it won't even be that effective, but it's an experiment I'm looking forward to nonetheless. I don't expect to be a high pick in S45. Frankly, as a GM I wouldn't want to take this player high. But if all works out, perhaps Deschamps might find his own niche in VHL history as that awkward build nobody has ever tried before. At least I hope it hasn't been tried ;-)

No carry-over, so Deschamps will take this.

A joyous occasion, indeed.

I DO! ...barely. But I do ;-)

Oh, nice! Beats Maine, I'm sure ;-) Married, no. Engaged, yeah. It's like Degrassi the Next (next) generation here now.

Saskatchewan people are so rude! Oh, hey. <3

WELL HELLO TO YOU, TOO

There can only be one RJ Stafford :-( I think you're missing a few others

It's a party.

Agh, yeah I meant to put Barr.. I think I'm remembering something else that Cornell pulled off similar in nature. So what's the word around the league. Any positions in need? Which countries are weak right now?

That's hilarious, haha. Probably was Cornell's high-point of VHL legacy as well.

LOL. Oh god. That brings back memories.

Does nobody remember RJ Stafford around here?!

Bonjour, VHL! I received an incredibly out-of-the-blue Facebook message from Sharpe yesterday that prompted me to come back and take a look at all of the wonderful things the league has accomplished in light of its eighth (!!!) birthday. Honestly, more than anything, I have to say that I'm rather impressed at all of the work you guys have put into this league to make it what it is today. Without getting overly sentimental, in a lot of ways this is really what we hoped to accomplish when we started this league so many years ago. The way the history of the league has been curated, in large part due to Victor and others, was also awesome to take a look at. With the league now moving into the 40's, it's really cool to see how the league has evolved through each 'generation'. I'm going to avoid writing a novel here, but who knows, perhaps a new player just might be in order.

Reynaud gon' raid After a season of chemistry building in Vasteras, Leon Leitner and Willem Janssen will have the benefit of some additional bonding during the first edition of the VHL’s newly minted Super Cup. The six team tournament was announced earlier this season as a new tournament designed to inject some new life into the league’s off-season schedule which had previously been dotted with the bi-annual VHL World Cup. The Super Cup promises to be a hit with the league’s fanbase as it is essentially any fantasy sports manager’s dream; six teams of the league’s top players realigned to form ‘super’ teams. With fitting fantasy team names that pay homage to the league’s illustrious history, the league is hoping that teams like Pogge Sticks and Maximum Desny create more than just a buzz this off-season. The 16-round snake draft gave each General Manager the type of fresh slate that several of their legitimate VHL management counterparts would kill over. With each team going in with differing strategies, fate would have it that Vasteras’ duo of promising young forwards would wind up landing on the same Super Cup roster. Sergey Brovalenko will be relied on as a key offensive contributor for the Raid. Janssen, the elder statesman of the two, wound up hearing his name called in the fifth round while soon-to-be sophomore centre Leon Leitner would hear his name two rounds later. The team? The Reynaud Raid, of course, a pun playing off the surname of VHL Hall of Famer Patrice Reynaud; one of the greatest defenseman to patrol the blueline in league history. To add to this perfect scenario for the Iron Eagles’ management, The Reynaud Raid also managed to sandwich in the team’s starting goaltender, Eggly Baggelface, into the same roster as the team’s sixth round selection. One would have to think that Vasteras GM Thomas Corcoran is sending a very nice Christmas card to Sebastian Ball for uniting the trio of Iron Eagles in the Super Cup. Seriously, about that Christmas card. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t thrilled about how this played out,” Corcoran said. “I think I better find out Sebastian’s address and send him something nice for this. To have these three kids get an opportunity to play in an event like this, and be on the same team, it’s the perfect situation from our vantage point. Obviously we didn’t have the type of season where they could play in some big situation games so getting this experience at the Super Cup will be invaluable.” While some might be skeptical about taking three young players, especially an unproven young goaltender, Ball’s shrewd draft strategy could pay off as he managed to stockpile three of the league’s premier defensemen (Alexander Valiq (1st), Zack Sound (3rd), Malcom Spud (4th) which should give the squad an interesting dynamic to consider. “I went in with the intention of getting at least a couple top-end defensemen, that was my big goal at the draft,” Ball said. “To get Valiq and Sound, that was big. And then when I saw Spud on the board still with our fourth pick, I felt like those three guys would give us the top defensive corps in the tournament.” With three players that can log heavy minutes on defense, the team’s ultimate fate will lie in its ability to score goals. Second round pick Sergey Brovalenko had only 71 points last season and represents the team’s best offensive threat. Meanwhile Janssen and Leitner are far from proven with a combined three seasons of VHL experience under their belts, so there’s no denying the fact that goal scoring could be a legitmate concern for this team. But it’s a concern that the forwards will embrace. “On paper, you can see the strength of our team is definitely on defense,” Janssen said. “But you know, we’re not going to get hung up on that. We’ve got a lot of talent up front and we’ve got some guys that are hungry to prove themselves on the big stage. I know I’m looking forward to getting out there and showing I can play with anyone in the league and I think the rest of our team will have that same mindset in the tournament.” Will it be successful? We shall see.

TORONTO, Ont. -- The VHL head office has come under scrutiny as the league has been accused of favouritism in its league marketing. The new Christmas themed campaign prominently features the Toronto Legion on pretty much every piece of marketing material associated with the campaign. In the 10-team VHL, this isn't sitting well with some of the league's lesser known franchises. "It's a joke," one VHL President said. "The league clearly has it in for Calgary and Toronto and it makes me sick. Why can't we see our beautiful sweater smeared over everything? Hell, just once I'd be happy to see our brand there." A VHL spokesperson deflected the criticism, saying that the league's marketing materials reflect all 10 member franchises. "The league seeks to equally balance our marketing but there is obviously some fluctuation in that based on star players and the success of a franchise at a given point in time," the spokesperson said. As for our President? "You can tell him that statement is a joke."

TORONTO, Ont. -- The VHL head office has come under scrutiny as the league has been accused of favouritism in its league marketing. The new Christmas themed campaign prominently features the Toronto Legion on pretty much every piece of marketing material associated with the campaign. In the 10-team VHL, this isn't sitting well with some of the league's lesser known franchises. "It's a joke," one VHL President said. "The league clearly has it in for Calgary and Toronto and it makes me sick. Why can't we see our beautiful sweater smeared over everything? Hell, just once I'd be happy to see our brand there." A VHL spokesperson deflected the criticism, saying that the league's marketing materials reflect all 10 member franchises. "The league seeks to equally balance our marketing but there is obviously some fluctuation in that based on star players and the success of a franchise at a given point in time," the spokesperson said. As for our President? "You can tell him that statement is a joke."