Phil

Happy Easter

I'm hard.

Hockey players have something we plebs call feelings and emotions. However, they experience it slightly different than us. Villenueve today was seen in the Plug Room alone dancing and singing his heart out to a number of songs. He spent countless hours disco-style dancing to 90s and early 2000s rock songs such as Last Train Home by the Prophets, Semi-Charmed Life by Third-Eye Blind, Mr Jones by the Counting Crows etc. When he finally exited his man-cave he was apprehended by a reporter (me!) and asked if this was a coping mechanism for the stress of being a professional hockey player. All he did was look at me silently for a moment and then burst out laughing. He laughed for a good couple minutes and walked away singing Summer of '69. I never did get the answer as to whether this was a coping mechanism he has, but whatever it is, it seems to produce one of the smile-iest faces walking on planet earth. From what I can gather, it would be beneficial to everyone to sometimes take a moment out of their lives to just enjoy themselves - to relieve stress or not, because in the great words of Snoopy:

'MURICA!!!!!!!!!! iMEAN.... LATIVA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Shoulder Dislocation" Months ago, the VHL Medical Association in co-operation with the brilliance that is Mr Knight's writing style, published an article on Skater's Knee. This article warns players, trainers, and coaches about the potential harm that poor movement patterns can cause to ones knees - specifically if you have a dynamic or status valgus knee (or a higher Q-angle than the normal 10-12% range). It was made accessible to the entire VHL community and you can find the article here. The most recent article published by the Medical Association was looking at shoulder injuries in VHL players. Below is an excerpt from it: This article has two sets of audiences - the medical and the general populations. Due to this, the way in which the article is written is not completely one of a professional style but the information is presented in more 'lay' terms. It can be beneficial for the general populace to comprehend the material and use the knowledge in sports settings to help prevent injury or improper first response. The first thing we must dispel is the myth of the 'shoulder joint' The shoulder is not a joint! It is a region of the body. It is compromised of three joints: the sterno-clavicular, the acromio-clavicular, and the glenero-humeral joints. It has 3 bones: The clavicle (collar bone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone). This is as basic as we can state due to word limits. Since sports injuries, especially contact ones such as ice hockey, generally involve more acute trauma injuries, these are the ones we shall be focusing on. "Dislocated Shoulder" Once again, we must remind you that the shoulder is but a region of your body and therefore this injury is a slang term. The correct term is Gleno-Humeral Dislocation (GHD). This requires a failure of at least one of the joint's stabilizers. Our research team performed a study on Victory Hockey League players with shoulder injuries to determine which stabilizers fail more often. The results are below. Odin Tordahl, Niklas Valiq, Zack Sound, Jamie Shelter, Matt Bentley, and Teemu Lehtinen's GHD were caused by a Bankart lesion, or a glenoid labrum failure. Kameron Taylor, Robin Gow, and Ethan Osbourne's were caused by a torn IGHL (Inferior Gleno-Humeral Ligament), and Wesley Kellinger and Tom Slaughter's were caused by a muscle tear of one of the rotator cuffs, the subscapularis. In summary, this means that~66% of GHD is caused by the glenoid labrum, ~25% by a torn IGHL, and ~15% by a tore subscapularis. But how can coaches and trainers identify it? The most obvious sign is that of a "squared off" shoulder. One shoulder looks as if it is drooping and there is no roundness to the shape. This is such a commonality in hockey because of the high forces being applied while checking (giving or receiving ). If the player demonstrates pain and an inability to move along with this, suspect an AGHD. So what can trainers and coach do immediately? The first thing you do is assess the neurovascular status of the player. If the Axillary nerves are damage (they demonstrate numbness in the deltoids and/or the skin) it is an immediate 911 call. Once nerves die - they will most likely never recover. You may also attempt Stimson's position to pop it back in place. If you or the player is not comfortable with this, then they may keep it in a comfortable position until they see an MD Tordahl in Stimson's Position The last thing to be said about this is that once the player has 'dislocated their shoulder' it is more likely that they will do it again. The Gleno-humeral joint is the most unstable joint in the body and has no bony stabilizers at all. It relies on the rotator cuffs predominantly to provide stability. Therefore it is imperative that VHL hockey players strengthen these muscles to try to prevent this injury. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZQCilq4j0s The article goes on to explain Separated Shoulders, Rotator Cuff injuries, and fractures but we do not have space to show you here. This snippet has given VHL trainers some fantastic insights into how they should be designing their training programs to prevent shoulder injuries. Based on the fact that 11 VHL players recently all have the same injury, it would be wise to use this information to their advantage.

User Name: ssdd911 Cup Winner: Chicago Blackhawks EASTERN CONFERENCE (1) Boston vs (4) Detroit Winner: Boston # of Games: 6 (2) New York vs (3) Philadelphia Winner: Philadelphia # of Games: 7 (1) Pittsburgh vs (4) Columbus Winner: Pittsburgh # of Games: 5 (2) Tampa Bay vs (3) Montreal Winner: Tampa Bay # of Games: 6 WESTERN CONFERENCE (1) Anaheim vs (4) Dallas Winner: Anaheim # of Games: 5 (2) San Jose vs (3) Los Angeles Winner: San Jose # of Games: 7 (1) Colorado vs (4) Minnesota Winner: Colorado # of Games: 5 (2) St. Louis vs (3) Chiacgo Winner: Chicago # of Games: 6

approved

I graded for free for a bit once. DY-NO-MITE.

Fantastic job on the layout of this. It looks terrific

the pay is 1:4 now? holy shitballs, I remember having to grade double than for one!

^^^^^ that is brilliant.

Riga Adopts "Pyramid of Success" John Robert Wooden (1910-2010), as the vast majority of you should know, was an American basketball player and coach. Nicknamed the "Wizard of Westwood". as head coach at UCLA he won 10 national championships in a 12-year period. Seven of these were consecutive - an unprecedented feat. Within this period, his teams won a record 88 straight games. He was named national coach of the year 6 times. One of the most revered coaches in the history of sports, Wooden was beloved by his former players. among them Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton. Wooden was renowned for his short, simple inspirational message, including his "Pyramid of Success". These often were directed at how to be successful in life as well as in basketball. Below is a diagram of his model. I would go into detail in discussing it but I do not have the length to do it here. If you want any more information on him, feel free to PM me. "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming" Inspiring players is possibly, single-handedly, the most effective way to get your players to perform By highlighting simple concepts such as faith, ambition, fight, or adaptability, Wooden was able to get his players to come together and play phenomenally. Mike Szatkowski has seemingly adopted this type of model and coaching style to try to give Riga another few Continental Cups. The Reign have not won a Cup since Season 33 and then before that Season 16, and they only hold 3 Cups to their name. Coach Szatkowski is on the verge of something big here in Riga and it is the Wooden-esque things he is saying to make the fans and players believe in him and the city and, more importantly, in themselves. During an open practice session, for example, where the media and fans could observe there team in training, Mike brought the lads together at center ice. This was after a few poor executions of drills and overall lethargic energy levels. They all took a knee, leaning on their sticks across their thigh. Szatkowski eyed them all, and then told them to get up. He told a deep breath, and spoke: "We aren't where we should be right now - in the middle of the ice. *Pause* We should be battling for pucks in the corner, or darting from here to the hash marks to receive a cross-ice pass. So why are we here?" The players, some hanging there head, said nothing. They've been through this before - a screaming lecture of laziness from a coach. Welcome to Junior hockey, welcome to Pro hockey. "We are here together, because we've lost sight of our goal. Our goal, gentlemen, is improvement. Yea, so what if you f***ed up during a drill, or caught an edge during a game. So what if you got laid out because you forgot to keep your head up. That happens sometimes. Don't let that sh** get you down. As long as you try your best, you are never a failure. That is, unless you blame others. So we are struggling a bit in the standings at the moment. That's going to happen, we have a very young team. Young, but talented as hell. Remember men, goals achieved with little effort are seldom worthwhile or lasting. We want that Cup and goddammit we are going to fight for it. And the best way to improve the team..... is to improve ourselves. So what are you going to do to improve the team? Are you going to half-heartedly perform a drill? Even if you happen to be the best on the team in a particular skill.. if you don't give it your all in the drills you do with your practice partner, they'll have a hard time improving, and you certainly won't. We are working together towards an individual and a collective goal. Let's not forget that. Okay boys let's go." The impact those words had on the players was remarkable. In fact, they won the next 4 games and are back in the play-off race. A team that no one suspected of making the playoffs. Szatowski has told me that he keeps a poster of Wooden's Pyramid of Success up in the lockerroom. Before a game or practice every player taps a different box and screams it out as they head for the ice. It keeps them in the right frame of mind. How "Successful" this will turn out to be remains unclear, but I think what we witnessed on the ice in Riga is the most inspirational pep-talk since Tony D'Amato's - that's pretty impressive. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b7bgtu2O4E

SEND VILLENEUVE'S NOOB ASS BACK TO THE MINORS

I finally won a Founder's Cup with Villeneuve (ofc while I was inactive) so... what else is there? I agree with Molholt. It was always more about my draft stock and seeing if I could be picked ahead of Sterling and Knight.

lol play on words is play on words

haha nope, just spurred on by one : D

It's the story of a VHL Player's values. VHL players are more than just the stats they produce. Everyone of them are individuals who happen to have an exceptional gift, however that does not necessarily mean that they are egotistical and believe themselves "above" the common-folk. Little told are stories / Media Spots that exemplify the humanistic side of the VHL. Villeneuve's experience coming to Riga, and even being drafted into the biggest International Hockey League in the world, has not changed the values he has had since childhood. Not everything in the sports literature are stats and reviews of games.

A Blog Rant Part ii ....Then rage overtook me. I jerked to an upright position and start to shout after the kid but only managed to start choking on an un-chewed bit of beef. I coughed and spluttered for about half a minute while the proprietor of the place gave me an unconvincing pat on the back. Once I resumed my normal breathing pattern, I gave him the thumbs up and shot out of the store. I grabbed the garbage and bolted after the punk. I caught up with him easily and tapped him hard on the top of the shoulder. He abruptly turned to see what that was and was greeted by a face full of garbage. "Dropped something?" I asked in my most innocent voice, with only slight undertones of murder attached, the way a pedophile would give candy to a baby. The punk took half a step away, leaning back and gave a disapproving half smirk and turned to walk on. "Do you live here?" I asked, still holding the garbage and walking beside him. "Do you throw things on the floor in your room?" The kid nodded. "And someone else, perhaps your mother, picks it up for you?" The kid nodded. "Oh, oh she does, does she? And tell me," I said, getting more agitated, "Do you throw garbage on the floor of your kitchen?" The kid nodded. "So you just throw everything down wherever you feel like it because someone else will pick it up for you, do you?" (The kid nodded). "Well tell me, do you flush after you've taken a SHIT?" The kid stared blankly at me. "...Or do you expect that to be done for you? Is that too taxing on your sad little frame, to push a button to make the shit disappear?" The kid stared blankly at me. "...Or do you even bother walking all the way to the bathroom? Do you just take a shit in the middle of the living room and leave it there for mummy to clean up? Do you walk around with a fucking roll of toilet paper hoping that someone else will wipe your ass for you? Throwing your shit around, at home or out on the streets is unacceptable and you should learn some goddamn decency and respect for the place you are in. Show some fucking pride in your city. Or have you none? Because that's terrorist talk and don't get me started on that..." I took a deep breath in, glowering down at the punk. He seemed unsure what to make of the situation. It reminded me of disciplining a dog. That awkward moment after you tell it what to do and it knows it's suppose to do something, it's just not sure what. I took the opportunity and put the garbage in his hand and pointed to the bin. Staring blankly, he walked over and placed it in the trash. He turned around to look at me, but I was already gone. He looked through the other pedestrians trying to figure out what had happened, bobbing his head around to get a glimpse of me, but could see nothing. I know this because I darted into the nearest store, an ice-cream parlour, and watched his reaction from afar. I don't know whether he'll litter again, for I am not aware of the impact that lectures from a complete stranger have on an individual, but I do know that I can't stand by idly while I watch someone litter a city and am a part of. Riga is a beautiful place and I would love for it to stay that way. Although, I thought, licking the ice cream I just ordered, it just occurred to me that my speech could have been much more effective if I knew Latvian. Screaming at someone in foreign language is hardly a good way to get my point across. Oh well, you can't blame me for trying. *Editor's note: Yes, this is very semi-auto-biographical. This happened today at The Pita-Q in downtown Toronto by The University of Toronto, going from the gym to my class. Some of it was slightly exaggerated here.

A Blog Rant Part i It has been a while since I've practiced my hand at writing. I used to do a massive amount when I was young. I wrote many short stories and read them to my brother long ago. I enjoy writing. I've started 3 novels and never gotten passed the 30-page mark. Later, in my teens, I tried writing for a sports journal, documenting the goings on in the British Hockey League and reporting on the games. That penmanship has been replaced by 'stickmanship'. Now I mainly practice my hand at stick handling and puck movement; quick flowing hands with more wrist movements. However, I sit before you today to give a rant in a blog version. It's all I can do to not punch a baby in the face with a seagull scrotum. Let me explain: I show immense pride in the city I grew up in, Torquay. I did 50 hours more community service than was required of my school just because it gave me pleasure to make my hometown just that much better. In pursuit of my career, I had to not only move cities, but countries. I currently play for Riga Reign - stationed, quite expectedly, in the middle of the capital of Latvia. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrCPEqDiXik At first I thought, Oh great! The center of Viking trade routes. I hope I don't get raped with a helmet horn. But then I got there. It is a magnificent place. Beautiful architecture and scenery everywhere you look. It's got the majestic Daugava River running through the heart of the city - much like the Thames through London. Everybody smiles as they walk around and there's a good sense of community among the people here. Knowing that I've signed a 3-year deal here and will be calling this place home for that period of time, makes me glad. Clearly, I've already established some emotional attachment to the place, or maybe it's just my moral values kicking and my reaction would have been the same regardless of where I was stationed in the world. I had just come from my power-lifting session at the gym and realized that I had not eaten anything since breakfast, 7 hours ago. I glanced down at my watch which informed me of the fact that I had two hours before I needed to hit the ice for an evening skate. Still new to the city, I have yet to uncover many of its secrets. However, last week I did find this fantastic shawarma place. I bee-lined for it and soon enough was sitting down at the table ledge eating a beef shawarma and looking out on the city of Riga and the pedestrians passing by. There are some very interesting types of people that flutter by. A few men in business suits, some women that look like prostitutes on break, a vagrant leaning against a convenient store's wall, school kids walking home, etc. I was very content eating and people watching. Then I saw this kid (he couldn't have been older than 12 or 13) walking by, presumably on his way home from school, eating a slice of pizza. I watch him as he nonchalantly drops the take-out package of the pizza to the ground and slinks on. This happened right in front of me, only a window and the railings from the closed patio between me and the garbage. At first I stared at it, looking hard to see if I have finally discovered I am Superman, waiting for my x-ray vision to turn off and the garbage bin materialized around the garbage. Alas it did not. Still, I could always hope that one day, somehow... maybe.....

Villeneuve - 4TPE

HIGHEST +/- ON THE TEAM THAT GAME! HELL YA. IM ON FI-A. WATCH OUT FOR THAT ICE LADIES, IT'S GONNA MELT

7:57 of 2nd period - Icing by Phil Villeneuve. My second

2:41 of 1st period - CAL C1 is hit by Phil Villeneuve and loses puck. My first piece of action in the VHL

i'LL list a few of my favourites, Most of you have probably only heard of half of them. Linkin Park R.E.M. Neil Haldstead/Mojave 3 Aimee Mann Dream Theatre Ian McNabb Rise Against Radiohead/Thom Yorke Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler I have a huge variety of music I listen to. It's nice.