Phil

Sass with Stras #13 Treat me like a joke and I'll leave you like it's funny. KnightTime Radio is proud to present an all-new Podcasting series!! Another epic journey in podcasting! Join me for some chill hangs, good vibes. Sass with Stras Podcast Question Thread Songs: Gold - Owl City This is a division of KnightTime Radio. Run Time: 18 minutes

S86 donations: Transaction ID: 8YH07133SA7119739 $1 Million cash Doubles Week 5 uncapped TPE

1. Is it easier to communicate with a dog or a cat? 2. Do you believe in the paranormal? 3. Has anyone ever said anything to you that just creeped you out? 4. Would you rather be a wizard or a psychic? 5. John Taveras is on a tear recently. Plan the parade? 6. Vancouver (Wolves) looking promising for next season? @Tate

As I said in my team's discord channel, it has been a hot minute since I wrote a media spot. I've done some awesome creative writing during my 12 (or 13??) years in this league, however as the years have gone on, I've done less writing and more podcasting. I just find talking for me works better and is easier. However it is nice every once in a while to stretch the imagination muscles and let your fingers tell a story. I wish I could go back to the old forum and find all my original media spots. It's sad to think they've been lost to the ages. But i guess that just leaves more room for the brain to wander. I am sure I have done some creative writing while we have been on this forum. I think I should dig through them - maybe I can read them on a podcast if they were any good. That would be a great podcast section to fill some time and some historical context. Anyway, I wanted to announce that my writing isn't completely dead, nor is my brain, despite the new kid, and figured doing so would be a good way to also get an extra couple of TPE

The Tragedy of the Weekly Cap Strasmore has been quite "active" (as some VHLians would say) since his arrival on the VHL scene. For those that do not know, "activity" in the VHL community is linked with "Practice Hours". Essentially, you are active if you are engaging in numerous hours of practice each week. Though there is a weekly cap on the number of training hours one can accumulate in a week, Strasmore has been hitting it almost every week. "It feels good to put my focus into my training. I always trained hard since High School, but it is different now. I train and play hockey mostly to take my mind off the terrible injury I had when I played football. At first, I did not understand why I was limited with the amount of hours I could practice and train in a week but it was my agent, Phil Knight, who explained it to me. It kind of makes sense now." Tragedy in sports is not solely owned by Strasmore. In fact, the VHL has a very dark spot in the tragedy zone. Not many people know of it, but here's the brief story of what happened to cause us limiting the amount of training one gets in a week: Drugs and alcohol are usually a problem among young athletes, which always stems from addiction. They also do not go super well with sports, especially in a sport where they are played on knives. For the privacy of the family, we will omit the players name, but let's go back to Season 3 of the VHL, where a young upcoming player was not only struggling with addiction problems, but trying to be the best player the game has ever seen. His coaches first noticed problems when they would see him every single day in the gym. It did not matter what time they came in, 9:00am, 7:00am, 5:00am, 4:00am... there he would be, sweating and working out, stretching, doing yoga or meditation, but always practicing. The coach one day after seeing that the young player did not have a lot of energy after the practice, called his captain over to ask him to keep an eye of for him. The captain said he would report back to him at the end of the week. He was asked not to follow to closely, so as it to not be too obvious. At the end of the week, the captain told the coach his findings. The captain said he would always leave the team's gym for the night around 10:00pm, and the young'un would still be doing some workout or meal prep, or other activity. He never seemed to rest. This was alarming to the coach, because as we already said, the player would already be in the gym whenever any of the coaching staff arrived in the morning. The coach asked security to pull the tapes from the gym for the last 2 weeks. What he found was shocking: The player never left the gym, or fitness centre. He never went outside, except once a day where it looked like he changed into running-wear and so it was clear when he came back all sweaty that he had been for a run. He was clearly all-consumed by his training and did nothing else, except when the team's games took place. Digging deeper, he got permission to view tapes from one other VHL's cities hotel they stayed at when they played there. Again, he was always in the fitness centre, which was 24-hours, meditating, working out, practicing. The coach, deeply troubled, called his player into his office the next day to find out why. The player only shrugged it off, saying he was fine, but just working hard and wanting to be the best. His coach warned him that his body needs time to recover, to which the player just told him he knows it but that was what the meditation was for. His coaching staff, his teammates, even the team owner, tried to intervene, but the player wouldn't listen. He showed up to every single game, he was improving, and he passed all his physical and mental acuity tests the league laid out for him. So eventually the coach had to relent. However, 3 months later, with the trade deadline approaching, the player was found dead in the gym by the cleaning staff at 3:02am. The autopsy showed he had died of sudden cardiac trauma. The team and the commissioners all agreed to keep this as quiet as possible out of respect for the family. At that point, the league instituted a strict weekly cap on practice hours. Instead of truly saying why they did so, they had a group of scientists write a peer reviewed article on the impact of the lack of recovery on professional athletes, with the findings including sudden cardiac arrest, shutdown of the body's CNS, and dehydration-related stroke. We still do not really know all the details, but in case you were wondering why there is a limit - if you ask the league, they will say it's just for the players' own safety. But a deeper dive finds it's to protect the players from addiction - addiction to training and as the VHL Community said "TPE whoring". 885 words

This all makes so much sense. Congrats everyone - you will all do fantastically!

Phil Strasmore, having finished his rookie season, has one item on his off-season agenda: Train Hard and Long. The Rookie put up solid defensive stats this season, improving the deeper the season went, but he feels like he is just getting in to the groove of everything and wants to put any critics to rest (in the non-murdery way). Strasmore has already been hitting the gym everyday at 5:00am. Getting out of the playoffs means that he has a little more time during the week to train. His mind is set firmly on the future and he wants to increase his Total Practice Hours in this sport. He's got a ways to go but entering the mid-off season, the big d-man has accumulated over 490 hours, which is good for fifth among his draft class. He wants to be 3rd by the end of his next season, but the guys in front of him are notorious work-horses so catching anyone in front of him will be a huge challenge. He's up for it, as he'll jus put his head down and grind away.

1. What Pickle is Dil in now? 2. Have you ever been to a RoughRiders game? If so, how was it? 3. Did you predict anything correctly that happened this season? 4. Is Davos planning on making any off-season moves? 5. Do you like, dislike, or are ambivalent about the off-season? 6. Will your player win any awards or trophies?

Review: - Nice intro plug for the VHL haha. Yes, if your recruitees get a certain amount of TPE - you get another certain amount - YEah, you never want to compete with voices while you're podcasting or streaming! - I have no idea what electroswing is. - I'm just a teenage dirtbag baby. I remember Wheatus - Ohhh that sounds nice for your honeymoon. Real chill - Exciting times - new baby on the way!! - Laine is on my fantasy team so let's hope he recovers quick-time!! - lol 33. got you beat - I will have to give that song a listen then - ear bones are weird - Enjoy jerking it on the way to the fridge! Audio quality was great. You've got a great voice. Biggest constructive criticism would be the lack of VHL content - you mentioned it in the beginning but that was it. Obviously it has mostly to do with the unrelated questions @Tateasked you, so I will blame him 99% You get the other 1% of the blame though. Regardless it was a great length and a fun listen. Thanks for recording @ctots!!

I would Hasn't yet for me hahah

- hello friend! - love me some classical music. Mussorgski's Night On Bald Mountain is always in my Halloween setlist, for instance! Love the 80s music as well - Tears for Fears, Chicago, Don Henley, Journey, early REM and u2. - Yeah you've mentioned a couple times the Rogan is a dick. Really doesn't surprise me though. I would love to meet Henry Cavil. Love his acting and SEEMS like a great guy. - That's been a pet-peeve of mine for years - trailers. I tend to only ever try to watch teasers! - For me - Always get Leadership to 70 haha - Piano is pog. I still play now and then. I'm still not great but can play any sheet music. - Thank you for the podcast @Tate!!

claim for week ending Oct 30 as well

Well it was a disappointing end to his rookie campaign, but Phil Strasmore believes there is only positives to take away for him personally. ”Yes it is heartbreaking to lose in the fashion we did. I feel really bad for all my teammates and coaches who carried me through my first stint here. They deserve more. However, I really feel like I learned a lot from this season and so I know how I can attack the off season and my sophomore campaign. I have faith in myself and faith in this organization. Great thing are about to happen here. I can feel it.” It is great to see Strasmore have his head screwed on right. It would have been very easy to take this loss hard. After all the big hits he sustains in his football career, you can never know quite what to expect!

1. What’s the best thing you’ve watched on TV lately? 2. what’s the best thing that has happened to you in the VHL lately? 3. losing a Game 7 heartbreaker, how do you react in the off season? 4. is Fuhr tied forever to Vancouver or are you ever planning on testing out free agency? 5. would you steal bread to feed your family? 6. Who’s a person that’s have a hugely positive impact on your life?

Sass with Stras #12 Treat me like a joke and I'll leave you like it's funny. KnightTime Radio is proud to present an all-new Podcasting series!! Another epic journey in podcasting! Join me for some chill hangs, good vibes. Thank you to our question-giver @InstantRockstar Sass with Stras Podcast Question Thread Songs: Edging - Blink 182 Sometime Around Mightnight - The Airborne Toxic Event This is a division of KnightTime Radio. Run Time: 31.5 minutes

You know it

Brooks Brooks.. Kevin Brooks... brooksie. He is one of the true four "founders" of the league. When I entered he was still active and a commissioner. The random memory I have was his member description. Underneath his username and dp, he had a quote "I'm not sad anymore, I'm just tired of this place". I DM'ed him after weeks of looking at it and asked him what it was all about. He told me it was from the Pop Punk Band "The Wonder Years"'s lastest album, a track called My Last Semester. That album became the theme of my summer. I loved it from start to finish and listened to it every day on the bus to work. To this day, I can't hear the song without thinking back to the VHL and Brooks.

Hey all, Inspired by the whole trivia debacle, I started walking down memory lane, ignoring the red lights and traffic. I joined the league back in S16. It was really a long time ago. So much in my life has happened since then. There are random memories I have of many members - most long gone. I'd love a dedicated thread where we came share some together. I'll start (and probably continue) below.

TBH if people are paying attention to the answers in trivia (whether they spend 5 minutes searching a "database" or the forums), we are preserving the history of the league and remembering some great names and stats. The answers and history of the league is completely all over the place. in some threads, on the portal, in other subforums, in random dead excel sheets. It's very hard for new members specifically to navigate and access. Personally I care way more that a member who joined last season knows a name like Greg Clegane, or a builder like Sam Helberg than how they were given/found the information.

Two things were made clear during Strasmore's rookie campaign: He can't score He can actually defend This is great news for Calgary, as almost everyone on the team was popping off this season. While they were all having career years, Strasmore stood back and like a wall, tried to not let anyone through. He had a respectable amount of hits and shots blocks, a fine number of +27, and a shocking 6.3:1 Hits to Hits Taken ratio - one of the best in the league. This young tank is almost immovable, as he was only hit 26 times this season. That's a hit taken every 2.7 games, or once every 160 minutes of game time. Heading into the playoffs, this is going to really test what Strasmore can bring to the team. We expect him to make some smarter plays offensively and produce a few more assists, as well as continue on the defensive end. Almost anything goes in the playoffs so it is very difficult to predict what will happen, but it's all going to start tonight (well not for Calgary, who get to sit out the first round). PLAYOFF HYPE LET'S GOOOOOOO

1. The NHL has started again. Leafs lost their openers against the Habs. Cancel the parade? 2. Quickly do VHL playoffs predictions. Does Calgary have a shot? 3. What is your assessment of the Hybrid Attribute change so far? 4. Would you ever skydive or bungee jump? 5. Which was your favourite player you've created on the VHL? 6. What's your least favourite aspect about where you live?

Phil Strasmore's Rookie Experience Strasmore was taken 3rd overall by the exuberant Calgary Wranglers GM. He worked hard to move up in the draft so he could specifically secure Strasmore. This type of faith instils confidence, but with that also comes immense pressure. Today, we will be looking at Strasmore's rookie campaign (for the regular season), and make predictions on how he will fair in the playoffs, which are expected to start tonight. The Wranglers will sit out the first round after securing the Devon Marlow-Marta Trophy for the first time in 13 seasons. The gritty defenseman was never going to have a stellar Rookie Season. The man, who's older than all the other rookies, is technically still recovering from his career-ending football injury. We expected a bit of a learning curve and so there's no surprise that no one will be talking about him for Rookie of the Year. However, he did steadily improve over the season and he is definitely putting in the work to make it. Only 4 others have more practice hours than he has at the moment, and that gap, he intends to narrow. Now let us assess his performance this season. Strasmore scored just twice this season (once on the powerplay) but he helped out 21 times. We knew he wasn't going to contribute much offensively, so we are focusing on his defensive performance. He was a +27, which was higher than their current star defender, Erlantz Jokinen. This bodes well for the rookie, as it shows his team he is committed to playing a sound defensive game. He also got his body in the way of a lot of pucks and blocked 116 shots, which was third most on the team. Once again we are seeing some key areas of defense that he is performing quite well in. Now we want to focus on hitting separately. His 165 hits is very far from outstanding, but conversely, he only received 26 hits, making his Hits to Hits Taken ratio one of the best in the league at 6.3:1 What does that actually tell us though? It means that he creates over 6 turnover chances for every giveaway chance he gives up. This is such an under-utilized stat in the VHL (and one player agent Phil Knight will not let up about), and it once again goes to show that Strasmore is shaping up to be a stay at home defenseman who's very responsible in his own zone. If Strasmore continues down this same path, it is not out of reach of the possibility that he will will Defensive Defenseman of the year before his career is over. He has been adapted to the just sport and a new style of play and so far doing a bang-up job. The playoffs are a different beast all together, so we can't really make any real statements, however, we will stay that given his poise, the playoffs are were he could really turn out to shine. 496 Words

Last claim - Oct 16 end

I am not sure how it happened, but it seems Calgary are atop of the North American Conference with two games in hand. Last week when I checked the standing we what I thought was a distant third, but with just 9 games left Calgary seem to have turned the jets on and are 1 point clear of the Wolves while playing two games less. What stands out the most is Calgary's offense. They've scored the most goals in the conference - 217 - which is an average of 3.44 per game. What is even better if you are a Calgary fan is that the scoring is coming from everywhere. No one has hit the 100-point mark yet and they have 4 players with 30+ goals. This sharing of the puck shows the immense camaraderie that we've been privy to in the lockeroom and it seems the team has gelled well. The hard part will now be staying focused and getting to the end of the season and gearing for the playoffs. Strasmore's rookie campaign, although not stellar, has been decent. The rook is sitting pretty with 20 points, +26, 150 hits and a team second-best 108 shots blocked.