The VHLE IS BROKEN (and I can fix it)

[BarzalGoat 728]

The Part Where I complain:

Friends, rivals, competitors, and colleagues, I come to you today as a VHLE General Manger entering my second season, and I am PISSED. The way that the current talent shortage has manifested itself in the VHL this season is to take all of the remotely good players from VHLE rosters. This is one thing if they were taken at the end of the previous season, or even the night before the draft, but no, they are still being called up to the VHL and removed from the VHLE TODAY, the day the season BEGINS! How are myself and my fellow General Mangers in the VHLE supposed to field an active, competitive, and fun locker room when we can't even predict whether our players will be on our rosters as soon as the DAY OF THE SEASON OPENER. The thing is, the VHL General Managers who are taking these players are in large part adding these lower than 400 TPE players, in some cases lower than 300, to play actual vital roles on their team.... holes that are there due to some mistake that GM made, that we as the VHLE have to pay for.

 

The Part where I show you what I mean:

So anybody can complain, so let's show you exactly what I mean. 

VHL Team A : 1 player above 500 tpe on the roster; 2 players below 350 tpe

VHL Team B : 1 player above 450 tpe; 5 players below 305 TPE, no goalie

VHL Team C : 1 player above 500 tpe; 2  players below 255 tpe; 3 other players below 400 tpe

(and this is just in one conference)

Meanwhile this is the Stockholm roster, a VHLE team which cannot have any players over 400 TPE:

This team's only weakness is goalie, and their D core could stack up against any VHL team I mentioned above.

 

Frankly, my VHLE team from last year which came in 2nd place in the regular season standings would have beaten any of these teams in a best of 7 series, and I think Stockholm would've beaten any of them too. This is the root of the problem, because the VHL is the main product of the league, they deserve the best players, best resources, and then the best chance to compete. The thing is, we have this middle league now, the VHLE, where teams have plenty of active players, players invested in the league, players who are confused why it seems like the league acts like they don't exist! I've spoken to players that didn't know they were being called up by their GM, players who given the option would've stayed down in the VHLE, players who for the first time ever were getting a chance to see their player among the top scorers in the league! The VHLE is fun for players who otherwise would not have had this opportunity, it's what a competitive lower level league looks like, and it is largely getting ignored by the BOG and the blues for fundamental problems that have existed since day 1 which need to be fixed IMMEDIATELY.

 

The Part where I propose my solution:

Anyone can write a media spot complaining about the league, and anyone can demand changes, but here's my solution: RELEGATION. Yes, I know it, can be scary, but I believe that relegation is the ultimate solution for these problems, and it would involve the VHL swallowing the VHLE. 

 

By implementing relegation there would be legitimate punishment for VHL teams that try to tank, because they would of course then have to go play in the VHLE, which clearly none of them want to do. The VHLE in its first season would get end of the round draft picks in the regular VHL draft, and then thereafter would get entered into the draft lottery with all of the other lottery eligible teams with a medium chance at getting a good pick. This way the VHLE teams have a legitimate chance to compete their way out of the lower division of the league, and into the VHL. We would see 2 VHL teams go down to the E every season based on losers of the draft lottery tournament, and 2 VHLE teams go up to the VHL, based on which two teams are in the finals, winner picks which conference to join if there is an option. 

 

This also will most importantly give a punishment to bad GM's who aren't maintaining their roster by drafting fresh talent, and also make it near impossible to tank, which will ruin player experience. At the end of the day, this will increase competitiveness, team unity, and again make a better player experience. This of course will reward VHLE GM's who work their butts off for their team by rewarding them with what all of the lower tier GM's really want, a chance to run a VHL team. 

 

I don't have all of the answers here, the TPE cap would need to be something we figure out, trading between the leagues would need to be figured out, etc, but I think this is the ultimate solution to the problems we have in the VHLE, and I finally took the time to write it out on a day where I was VERY FRUSTRATED to feel like my season was over before it even started by losing 2 of the cornerstones of my roster.

 

Anyways, I haven't written something this long in a very, very , very long time (3 years IRL????), so you know I must feel strongly about this. I would appreciate you all to have constructive thoughts in the comments, tell me what you like, dislike about the idea if you made it this far. Point out problems this creates, point out problems this solved that I might've missed! Overall, I am a big fan of this league, all of these leagues, and want us to retain members, amaze new members, and keep everyone as competitive and happy as possible.

 

Word count: 1002!!!! so 2 weeks to claim it

 

EDIT:

 

To clarify, to start the VHLE would have to relinquish their players rights if a VHL team has them, but can keep players "on loan" until the VHL wants them. This way when they enter the VHL draft the VHLE teams can slowly start to acquire rights to their own players. This way the VHLE teams will not be as strong for the first couple of seasons, but then catch up to skill tier of the VHL over time while VHL teams fall out of favor.

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by BarzalGoat
EDIT:

[Ahma 1,428]

Relegation!? Oh God no!

[BarzalGoat 728]

I've been complaining about the VHLE being broken to Acyd, the other GM's, and Spartan for like weeks? months? so I would HAPPILY join a BOG discussion to plead my case

[Hybrid1486 577]

Also, players who are under contract to a VHLE team that gets promoted and another VHL team that doesn't get relegated

 

But I agree, I love coming on and not posting and seeing my player actually play well in the VHLE as opposed to being a third-pairing defenseman doing next to nothing in the VHL proper.

[Daniel Janser 2,165]

@BarzalGoat I can understand your frustration. I would go for a less radical approach though.

 

How about that call ups need to be done prior the VHL/E draft? I mean, at that point in time VHL GM's should have an idea what their roster will look like and where they need to plug holes in their roster, as well as which competitive earners are available to fill in these needs immediately. Once that time bar has fallen, no call ups will be possible anymore and a team will have to play with the players the already have and/or can acquire through FA or trades. I mean there is no reason to be able to call up players mid-season anyway, as there are no LTIR that I know of in the VHL where you need to replace a netminder in a jiffy-

 

I agree that if VHL GMs have made bad decisions, it should not be the VHLE GM to suffer from such shortcomings... 

[BarzalGoat 728]

2 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said:

How about that call ups need to be done prior the VHL/E draft? I mean, at that point in time VHL GM's should have an idea what their roster will look like and where they need to plug holes in their roster, as well as which competitive earners are available to fill in these needs immediately. Once that time bar has fallen, no call ups will be possible anymore and a team will have to play with the players the already have and/or can acquire through FA or trades. I mean there is no reason to be able to call up players mid-season anyway, as there are no LTIR that I know of in the VHL where you need to replace a netminder in a jiffy-

 

We've asked for that this year, and they were just like "no it's ok, the VHL is the main product of the league so they can do what they want". They also stole our draft date and we had to adjust with like 1 days notice, which wasn't their fault. i would guess we've lost something like 10-15 players to the VHL since the draft.

[BarzalGoat 728]

6 minutes ago, Hybrid1486 said:

Also, players who are under contract to a VHLE team that gets promoted and another VHL team that doesn't get relegated

 

But I agree, I love coming on and not posting and seeing my player actually play well in the VHLE as opposed to being a third-pairing defenseman doing next to nothing in the VHL proper.

Basically to start the VHLE would have to relinquish their players rights if a VHL team has them, but can keep players "on loan" until the VHL wants them. This way when they enter the VHL draft the VHLE teams can slowly start to acquire rights to their own players. 

[Ahma 1,428]

I'll draw a comparison for you. How would you like to see, say, Detroit Red Wings or NY Rangers, relegated to a lower league? Purely insane idea.

[hedgehog337 3,483]

wasnt vhle being treated as the place where all these 350-400 tpe clickers and rookies can get more playing time and not more than that in the first place

 

 

[Daniel Janser 2,165]

6 minutes ago, hedgehog337 said:

wasnt vhle being treated as the place where all these 350-400 tpe clickers and rookies can get more playing time and not more than that in the first place

 

 

I think it was more for those poor souls with just 250 TPE coming in the big league and get steam rolled by the Ryan Kastelic's with 1000+ TPE... but yeah, I get your point

[BarzalGoat 728]

6 minutes ago, hedgehog337 said:

wasnt vhle being treated as the place where all these 350-400 tpe clickers and rookies can get more playing time and not more than that in the first place

 

 

The way the VHLE currently is configured is unfair to the players and GM's, I'm no longer able to field an entire team bc the VHL keeps calling up all of my players after the draft and free agency. If it's just a place for clickers why even bother having GM's, why have a playoffs, why have competition, why have discord locker rooms. Sounds like you're afraid of competition? 

[InstantRockstar 1,243]

10 minutes ago, hedgehog337 said:

wasnt vhle being treated as the place where all these 350-400 tpe clickers and rookies can get more playing time and not more than that in the first place

 

 

it is, but when the VHL GM's take guys <300 TPE from us and our rosters are already scarce, it just becomes a problem of having both the leagues functioning when some teams now in the E can't even roster a good enough team or even a close to full team. While the cut-off and such is great, and the call-up cut-off is also great, it's not helpful when we lose a bunch of OUR key players that would play prime roles in OUR league, to the VHL GM's to play them 5 mins a night and have the players be less than satisfied... 

[hedgehog337 3,483]

4 minutes ago, BarzalGoat said:

Sounds like you're afraid of competition? 

 

What? I was just telling how it was, idc about competition or not

 

anyways, it's also up to player if he wants to stay in E or not in case of 350 or higher?

[BarzalGoat 728]

1 minute ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

What? I was just telling how it was, idc about competition or not

 

anyways, it's also up to player if he wants to stay in E or not in case of 350 or higher?

Unless they're IA, yes. But we unfortunately rely on those players because our player pool is the smallest of any league. As IR said, we shouldn't have to worry about losing <300 tpe players the day the season is supposed to start

[hedgehog337 3,483]

3 minutes ago, InstantRockstar said:

it is, but when the VHL GM's take guys <300 TPE from us and our rosters are already scarce, it just becomes a problem of having both the leagues functioning when some teams now in the E can't even roster a good enough team or even a close to full team. While the cut-off and such is great, and the call-up cut-off is also great, it's not helpful when we lose a bunch of OUR key players that would play prime roles in OUR league, to the VHL GM's to play them 5 mins a night and have the players be less than satisfied... 

 

so it appears that VHL rosters are becoming scarce as well...doesn't seem like a VHL GM problem at all. Esp when we still have that roster minimum for rebuilding teams in place

[Daniel Janser 2,165]

4 minutes ago, BarzalGoat said:

Unless they're IA, yes. But we unfortunately rely on those players because our player pool is the smallest of any league. As IR said, we shouldn't have to worry about losing <300 tpe players the day the season is supposed to start

The rulebook even says so, unless I misinterpret the rules of course (relevant clauses marked in red):
 

2.10 - VHLM TPE Eligibility

• Players are eligible to play in the VHLM if they are at or under 200 TPE at the finance cutoff for the current season.
• Once a player has earned 201 TPE, they will no longer be eligible to play in the VHLM, and will automatically be called up to the VHLE, at the start the next season.

 

2.11 - VHLE TPE Eligibility

• Players are eligible to play in the VHLE if they are:
  • At or below 400 TPE at the finance cutoff for the current season.
  • At a minimum of 201 TPE by the start of the season.
• Once a player has earned 401 TPE, they will no longer be eligible to play in the VHLE, and will automatically be called up to the VHL, at the start the next season.

 

2.12 - VHL TPE Floor

• Players are eligible to play in the VHL if they are above 350 TPE by the start of the current season. 

 

 

7 – CALL-UPS AND SEND-DOWNS

 

7.2 - VHL Call-ups

Any eligible player may be called up by their VHL team during the off-season. No call-ups may take place during the season. Refer to Section 2 for eligibility.

 

 

 

Edited February 1, 2022 by Daniel Janser

[InstantRockstar 1,243]

Just now, hedgehog337 said:

 

so it appears that VHL rosters are becoming scarce as well...doesn't seem like a VHL GM problem at all. Esp when we still have that roster minimum for rebuilding teams in place

I think the problem is becoming HOW the call-ups are being handled vs the actual call-ups though. This league has always been, especially in this 'era' we're in, about retainment, player satisfaction, user enjoyment, etc, but it's becoming more and more clear, that's not the case with this stuff. 

 

The amount of times I've been DM'd about my players, and even other users I know on other teams being completely blindsided by a call-up when they had NO desires or expectations or communications of being called up, is wild to me. I would expect at ANY level, whether its me as an E GM, or the VHL GM's at their level, would be COMMUNICATING with their prospects and players to SEE how they feel and what THEY want to do. 

 

I've had multiple players for instance tell me they want to remain in the VHLM while being a VHLE GM, and I've respected their wishes despite what they could do for my roster so that they can have enjoyment where they find the enjoyment, but what I'm seeing now is that other GM's at the pro level simply... aren't doing even that anymore. 

 

I don't think call-ups are bad at all, in fact, as a GM, we're entitled to them, but where I feel like we're letting down our users & players, is by completely blindsiding them and failing to do something so simple as communicate with them PRIOR to making those decisions. 

 

We're all about the player retainment, satisfaction, etc, and that is a BIG part of it. Users should NOT be finding out they are being called up from a portal notification and not so much as a simple two second DM from their pro GM to see how they feel about coming up and what THEY want to do. 

 

Hopefully that makes sense, and I'm not trying to start an argument, so I apologize if it comes across that way, the internet is not easy to set emotions I am not mad or anything, just gonna put this disclaimer here. 

[BarzalGoat 728]

3 minutes ago, Daniel Janser said:

• Players are eligible to play in the VHL if they are above 350 TPE by the start of the current season. 

 

unfortunately the players being called up are pre-s80, so this doesn't apply to them

[BarzalGoat 728]

24 minutes ago, Ahma said:

I'll draw a comparison for you. How would you like to see, say, Detroit Red Wings or NY Rangers, relegated to a lower league? Purely insane idea.

Idk both of those teams have a lot of wins right now, wouldn't make sense. Maybe the Coyotes? They could fill an AHL arena (maybe). This isn't the NHL dude, get off your high horse

[Victor 10,937]

Damn I've only been gone like a week.

[hedgehog337 3,483]

3 minutes ago, InstantRockstar said:

Hopefully that makes sense, and I'm not trying to start an argument, so I apologize if it comes across that way, the internet is not easy to set emotions I am not mad or anything, just gonna put this disclaimer here.

 

Lol I see no harm in this message.

 

I usually message players somewhere at playoffs or so about call up or staying down so I have an idea about the next season roster. If he wants to go up, he will be up. If not, coll then, stay down. Tbh I have no idea who was calling up players with no notice so I have no say in this.

[Daniel Janser 2,165]

4 minutes ago, BarzalGoat said:

unfortunately the players being called up are pre-s80, so this doesn't apply to them

How do they have the rights for these players then?

 

[BarzalGoat 728]

1 minute ago, Daniel Janser said:

How do they have the rights for these players then?

 

Literally, a player was made a VHL Free Agent that was on my roster bc they went inactive, and then a VHL team signed them, this was yesterday

[BarzalGoat 728]

2 minutes ago, hedgehog337 said:

usually message players somewhere at playoffs

If this was the case for all of your fellow GM's I wouldn't have had to make this post unfortunately

[InstantRockstar 1,243]

1 minute ago, hedgehog337 said:

 

Lol I see no harm in this message.

 

I usually message players somewhere at playoffs or so about call up or staying down so I have an idea about the next season roster. If he wants to go up, he will be up. If not, coll then, stay down. Tbh I have no idea who was calling up players with no notice so I have no say in this.

Yeah it’s not yourself to my knowledge but I know numerous players and GMs HAVE done this and it’s just surprising and more so troubling. These users and their players seem to be enjoying the E, they’ve built rapport with their team, expressed their desires to stay with the team, etc only to find out via a forum notification that they were called up. No communication from their GM then they come to me upset and blindsided because they never knew it was happening and wanted to stay down…