Just Some Arce Updates

[Arce 755]

It has been relatively quiet on the VHL front, as I outlined very briefly in my Fan590 or VHL.com for you VHL whipper snappers. For those who do not know, I have officially put in my notice to the VHLE Commissioners that this will be my last season in the VHLE as a GM for now. Just for the simple fact I need a break, and just would like to focus on my player. I will get more into that in the VHLE/GM section of this article. I am very happy with where Ronan Lavelle is in terms of point and goal leaders right now. It seems my build is working, and having a guy like Ryan Vidot as a linemate has only helped that. I have my hands in the VHL, and VHLE so where do my teams currently stand?

 

VHL

 

 

Ronan Lavelle is off to a strong start to the season for the DC Dragons. Lavelle is currently second in the league in points with 25, and first in the league in goals with 13. It should come to no one's surprise that linemate Ryan Vidot is amongst the league leaders in assists, 3rd with 15. He also has 22 points, which puts him on the leaderboard overall. Many questions surrounded the Dragons, would they be able to sustain a productive offensive system without Tui Sova who is now retired? Corey Kitson is trying to answer that bell with 12 points in 13 games and Baxter Arcanum has also posted up 10 points. A strong start for Baxter offensively, who is looking to set career highs all over the board. Nezuko has been a very balanced 8 goals, 8 assists for 16 points in 13 games. Historically, Nezuko gets off to a strong start by being the league leader in points, and slowly falls down the board as the season progresses. This time, Nezuko has gotten off to a strong start, but it doesn't look like he may be saving production for the later half of the season hopefully. Newly acquired Jonathan Ori is hoping to end his career with a championship by joining the defending Continental Cup Champions. Ori has been a PPG player with 13, 9 of which being assists. Bubbles Utonium is not playing their best hockey, but this is not unusual for Utonium. Usually as the season progresses, Utonium's play elevates. Despite a .912 save percentage and 3.12 GAA, Utonium still spots a 5-3-1 record. So if you are still winning while not playing your best, that is a winning scenario. DC will flourish when Utonium hits mid-season form. Even so, the DC Dragons still find themselves with a 7-5-1 record with 15 points. They have a game in hand and are currently only 4 points behind the NA Conference leading Calgary Wranglers. Can DC make up the ground? There has been a lot of speculation about them only having 3 defenseman, and running a full offensive assault. It may have worked for Warsaw, but can DC's 3 defensemen step up to make it work? Always got to have faith.

 

VHLE

 

 

Entering my 3rd season as the Vasteras Iron Eagles GM, I decided to call it. We had a championship appearance my first season which we lost in heartbreaking fashion in 6. Then we made it to the semi-finals last season to which our comeback effort was also halted in 6 games. The roster we had in S84 was a lot of fun. I had 3 first round picks, so I was able to lock in some active players. The locker room was fun, very lively after the sims. It was a great group of guys and I felt bad I couldn't pull in enough to get the chip for them. S85 we were still very competitive riding goaltender Matt Murdock, but the activity level took a big dip. There was no active Discord members, so activity has been non-existent. I had to fill in roster voids with inactive players. This is a very bittersweet thing for me. In my opinion, IA fillers are good so even rebuilding teams don't completely tank, and make games competitive, but it becomes a problem if teams have a majority IA players. Which during a rebuild, honestly is better than a bunch of bots getting railed every game. I will still NEVER give IAs more playing time than active members, no matter what league I GM. I made the announcement that I would be rebuilding in S86, and it would also be my final season. I enjoyed my time GMing the E, especially my first. It has been fun, and I see the necessity for it. It was great having Acyd as a Commissioner, he did a really great job. I didn't get to work with Thad and Eno very long, but they are obviously great replacements, and are very hands on which I like a lot. Even with selling, Vasteras has been competitive. We are spotting a 5-6-3 record and are in the last wildcard spot currently. IA wonder Adeline Delle Donne is leading the way with 18 points in 14 games played. VHLE legend Rhys Trenton has posted up 16 points in 12 games with Vasteras as well. Vinny Lecavlier who I want to see thrive has 10 points in 12 games as well. The team will live or die by Ilya Bryzgalov in between the pipes. Bryz has started every game so far, and has a .918 save percentage, and a 3.01 GAA.  I wanted to set up the next GM for success so I went out and got an extra S87 2nd, S87 3rd, and S87 5th. So whoever ends up taking my spot, will be setup with some draft capital. I am really glad I got to be apart of the VHLE experience, and I do hope one day to return to GMing. I believe when I do, I will be interested in returning to GMing the VHLM. It is a lot of work, but I enjoy working with new members and trying to set them up for success.

 

Words: 1,017

Claim for Week Ending: 11/27, 12/4

Edited November 21, 2022 by Arce

[Arce 755]

Claim for week ending in 12/4.