On the eve of my third player being drafted into the VHLM....

[BarzalGoat 728]

On the eve of my third player being drafted into the VHLM, and of course the 14th (!!!) birthday of the VHL, I thought I’d give my thoughts as a member who joined at the eve of what would be the single greatest recruitment drive in the history of the VHL. I’m of course going to do this in the most boring way possible, that is describe my career arc over three players, what I do to keep things light and fun, and of course some of the lessons I’ve learned along the way.

 

So let’s start where it all began, with my first player Dan Montgomery. I had first heard about the VHL by browning the r/NewYorkIslanders subreddit and seeing a post from Spade18. What first interested me about the league was how it seemed to let you control your player’s narrative as well as their skillset. It was the EA Sports NHL create a player mode we never actually had, and it didn’t even matter that I was horrible at the video game on the forum. So one night in June, I created an account, struggling for anonymity among a well establish community I tried thinking of a provocative username which would assert my Isles fandom, but also be unique, and that’s how I became BarzalGoat. So next I put together my name, Dan, and a random pitcher for the New York Yankees’ last name, Jordan Montgomery, and made my first player Dan Montgomery. Dan was pretty solid in his career, he started as a Forward, switched to a defensemen, and I got to know some community members high and low, old and new, as a career member of the Helsinki Titans. I of course also had a couple of formative years trading draft picks nonstop as General Manager of the Yukon Rush, but when all the dust settled, I won a Valiq, All-VHL 1st team, and most memorably a Continental Cup! Those years in Helsinki were fun, but as real life started heating up I became less and less active…. Then when it was time to retire I wasn’t sure I would recreate until some positive words of encouragement from some familiar faces in discord convinced me to create my next player….

 

Xavier leFlamant never found nearly as much success as Dan Montgomery did, but boy did I have more fun with it this time. The Flamingo from Martinique never represented team World, and I hardly remember those VHLM seasons (sorry Philly), but DC quickly became a home for X. With a new flair and style that I’d never had before with Monty, X became a character, and I felt myself growing as a league member again for the first time in a while. With X I started doing point tasks both career and weekly again, and became more than a welfare player. X even had some great linemates in DC, some great friends, and a great coaching staff of course. Deciding to leave in Free Agency was new for me, and I did it 3 times, only actually leaving DC for a single season. I tried several times to chat with other free agent players and bring them to DC with me, although that never worked, and it really felt like I had become a part of the community again. So even though I never won any individual or team awards with X, I’d say his career was definitely more successful than Monty’s, and well X never missed the playoffs either.

 

Which brings us to Sven Eightnine, my current player. Due to the fun I had with X I decided to get back into management and now with Sam, I’m AGM of the Halifax 21sts, a team I remember losing players to in expansion when I was GM of the Rush and they were Shawn’s new project. I look forward to taking the fun in the VHL I found with X, as well as the success I found with Monty, putting it all together, and who knows, maybe even making the Hall of Fame this time around.