Halifax 21st: A ShawnGlade story

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

I'm not eligible for the theme week appreciation post bonus, but in true appreciation spirit, I don't need an incentive to talk wonderfully about my baby, the Halifax 21st.

 

When I first joined the VHL way back in the early S60s which feels ancient now I didn't know the hell I was doing. Older members can remember a time like this, and I had just joined when we still updated manually in team forums, when the "OG Teams" were the new kids on the block, and when the Vancouver Wolves (and @Beaviss) were a meme for choking every season. I joined the Yukon Rush for that playoff run just a few days after joining, and we actually lost in the finals due to some questionable manager decisions, but it is what it is. I remember there were talks about an expansion franchise joining the VHLM. AT the time there were only 6 teams in the league which today seems outrageous, but I guess that's why the league needed an expansion. They were looking for a management team for this new team and I since I was an ambitious whippersnapper, I thought, "I'll throw my name out." After a few days, @Smarch was named GM, and his first order of business was naming me as AGM, which came as a complete shock, but I welcomed the role with open arms and an eagerness to learn. EXCEPT, Smarch's second action as GM was to resign, handing the reigns over to me. I was shocked, but also super excited. After I had taken over as GM, the commissioners had reached out to me and asked where I thought the team should be located, since they didn't have a city or name picked, they just knew they wanted to add a team. I got this list of 5 cities and immediately, one stuck out to me more than any of them. Now I've always had a deep connection to Halifax, despite being an American citizen and never being outside the country. I have family from there, and I've always been a true Mooseheads fan because of Nathan MacKinnon. It's really the only Canadian city I am a true fan of, so it was an easy choice. I submitted my vote and sure enough, Halifax was chosen as the next VHLM franchise.

 

I tried to model a lot of what VGK did that inaugural season, seeing as this was in 2018 and the Golden Knights had just had their cinderella run to the finals that calendar year, and I figured it would be a fun immersion to real world events. This was when team's still had locker rooms and season threads, so I named ours "The Golden Misfits" because like the NHL, we also had an expansion draft (although the best I got was a 4th round pick). To my surprise, we dominated early season, which gave me a lot of confidence. I also did my best to be a likable figure as GM, making funny waiver claim posts to new members which got us a lot of free agents, so many so that we had active 4th liners with over 100 TPE, which I'm sure the BOGs would explode with rage seeing that happen today. That S82 squad was special in a few ways, my favorite VHL memory also occurred because of this team. This member is no longer active so I don't feel bad laughing about this, but I once got the league's top forward (and eventual MVP/point leader) and a top 2 dman, for an inactive player and a 5th rounder. The trade was so lopsided that it got veto'd because the commish thought we were colluding, but once it was found out I fleece'd him outright, this poor GM was made to sit down with commish and have a chat about proper player value. Anyways, that team was star studded, had so many name of people who went on to be so much more on this site. @ColeMrtz @McWolf  @Peace @Baozi , just to name a few of the big names on that team. It was insane, and after finishing first in the league convincingly, we got swept in the Finals. Oof.

 

S83 was different. Not nearly as good, but still a force to be reckoned with and a third place finish to bring us to the conference finals that season. I did well enough to earn a promotion to the VHL which I actually almost declined because Halifax was my baby, it was me, I hadn't know anything that wasn't the 21st. But I chose to take the promotion, but I only agreed if I could choose the next GM, which was strange at the time, but I was allowed to and chose McWolf as my successor which I believe was his first job on the site, so you're welcome McWolf ;). I came back to Hally a few seasons later, this time in a comeback-gone-wrong attempt with another player. I AGM'd for @Dil who I did not like at all, but he grew on me and he was willing to put our differences aside and let me help manage my baby, and so I decided to be an adult about it and just work as friends, so I apologized yada yada we kissed whatever. We had different philosophies on managing the team, and a bit of lazyness on my part led to dil firing me which I was a bit salty about but I couldn't really be mad about. That was the last time I had every been part of the management for Halifax.

 

Truthfully I'd love to run the team again someday. I know VHLM GMs can be a carousel at times, but I won't hold my breath. There are others more deserving than me, and the way to grow the league is to give other, newer members a shot. I've posted a few times in the discord that despite whichever teams I've been on, and whichever people I've managed, I still wear my Halifax 21st hoodie out in public, it's cozy.

 

1,012 words

Week ending 6/5

Week ending 6/12

[McWolf 3,115]

19 minutes ago, ShawnGlade said:

Anyways, that team was star studded, had so many name of people who went on to be so much more on this site. @ColeMrtz @McWolf  @Peace @Baozi , just to name a few of the big names on that team. It was insane, and after finishing first in the league convincingly, we got swept in the Finals. Oof.

I was on the other team lmao

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

35 minutes ago, McWolf said:

I was on the other team lmao

In that case I hate you for killing our cinderella run

[Dil 1,757]

1 hour ago, ShawnGlade said:

yada yada we kissed whatever

Tf bro you weren’t supposed to share that

[ShawnGlade 1,010]

23 hours ago, Dil said:

Tf bro you weren’t supposed to share that