Couch Potato to Record Holder

[Trunkxolotl 173]

From Couch Potato to Record Holder - The Tater Tot Interview

Conducted by his estranged cousin: Tater Tottingham

 

Hello there and welcome to Couch Potatoes, where I, Tater Tottingham interview the person who helped get me into hockey, my cousin Tater Tot. Now for those of you who don't know, Tater Tot is a former goalie of the VHL, debuting with the team that drafted him the Vancouver Wolves in Season 77 while going on to play with three other teams including London United, Warsaw Predators and finally the Los Angeles Stars where he retired in Season 83. Over those years he put up a .915 save percentage, and a somewhat respectable 3.84 GAA considering the high-scoring era he played in- and the notoriously bad teams he played for. Which brings us to the main topic of our interview today, with the recent 15th birthday of the VHL I decided to find out about the odd, record breaking season Tot had- where he faced nearly FOUR THOUSAND shots over 65 games for an average of SIXTY ONE shots PER game.

 

Tot: "Why are you bringing up these memories for me?"

 

Shush old man, it's not your turn to talk yet. Anyways, thank you for joining me-

 

Tot: "You didn't give me a choice..."

 

...And hopefully my questions won't bring up any trauma. So I guess the first easy question is: What do you remember from that year?

 

Tot: "Well, I remember it was my last year in London- things weren't exactly going that well, but it was my third full year with them so I was pretty comfortable and content with the team. That said, nothing really could of prepared me for the onslaught of pucks I faced game in and game out. Of course the game against the Stars sticks out too. 92 shots against I think it was? We lost 6-1, and I remember being so annoyed I took a slashing penalty in the third- which they scored on of course. I'd have nightmares of pucks flying at me, my defenders unconscious on the ice from blocking so many shots. I'd wake up in cold sweats."
 

...And that's why I'm not a goalie, but that is a fantastic Segway into my next question: Did you know that London also set the record for shot's blocked that season as well with 1272?

 

Tot: "Those players in front of me were troopers. Though I think once we all kind of realized I was closing in on the VHL record they started letting some muffins past. It was kind of funny to be honest. We were so bad that it was like this one thing we all banded around and focused on. Helped keep the team's spirit high when the season was at it's worse."

 

Well keeping on the track of sweet and wholesome, I know you and Henry Tucker were both drafted by the same VHL and VHLM team, and also came up to the big leagues the same year, while this past season both his son and I were also to the same VHLM team-

 

Tot: "Are you winning?"

 

...yes. Anyways, I was just wondering do you think you had any influence on Tucker Jr becoming a goalie like his father's friend, and do you have any advice for us in the upcoming playoffs and drafts?

 

Tot: "I mean, I'd like to think I had some influence on it but truth be told Tucker got to play in front of a lot better goalies then I did- not to mention he was lucky enough to stay with Vancouver through their dominant run. As for advice.. Well for Tucker Jr I would tell him to make sure he lets his defense know how much he appreciates them-"

 

Yeah, can confirm that's important.

 

Tot: "...so that's how that feels. Anyways, I was also going to say that my advice to you is somewhat similar. If you make a mistake, wither your goalie bails you out for it or not- make sure you apologize. Also don't do drugs, you wouldn't want to end up baked.

 

...

 

Tot: "..."

 

...Alright well thank you for your time and I'll let you get back to retirement and enjoying the life of being a couch potato. Any final words?

 

Tot: "Haters gonna hate, Potatoes gonna potate."

 

I hate you, but thank you for you time, and for my dear readers if you're interested in any other of the VHL's surprising records, you can find a link to them here as well as a link to Tater Tot's career stats here.

 

 

[NSG 498]

On 7/31/2022 at 12:11 PM, Trunkxolotl said:

Tot: "Haters gonna hate, Potatoes gonna potate."

 Taylor Swift reference

[der meister 3,187]

The self-interview approach to media is always very hit and miss to me, but this reads well and has a good flow to it, which I certainly appreciate. Also want to give you marks for having different colored text for the speakers - something I do myself - because it makes it much easier to read and also breathes a little life into it. I don't listen to Taylor Swift - I'm not sure I've ever heard a single song - so I'll have to take NSG's word for it. 10/10

[animal74 1,808]

On 8/5/2022 at 7:16 PM, NSG said:

 Taylor Swift reference

Tater Tot had to shake off all those pucks...

[NSG 498]

On 8/6/2022 at 12:36 PM, der meister said:

I don't listen to Taylor Swift - I'm not sure I've ever heard a single song - so I'll have to take NSG's word for it. 10/10

Yeah it's a reference to Shake It Off

[Trunkxolotl 173]

1 hour ago, NSG said:

Yeah it's a reference to Shake It Off

I don't know how to tell you this but "Hater's going to hate" was a saying LOOOOOOOOOOONG before TSwift

[NSG 498]

3 hours ago, Trunkxolotl said:

I don't know how to tell you this but "Hater's going to hate" was a saying LOOOOOOOOOOONG before TSwift

Yeah ik

 

Everything comes back to Taylor Swift tho

[NSG 498]

3 minutes ago, NSG said:

Yeah ik

 

Everything comes back to Taylor Swift tho (at least for very big Taylor Swift fan me)