Planetary (GO!)

[McWolf 3,115]

New week, new bullet point list of random things I noted since my return and just general observations about the league.

 

- Are the Prague Phantoms now the only active team without a Continental Cup, now that the London United won this past season? After my time in London, I had a feeling Prague would get one before us. I tried hard, barely even made the playoffs and left the team in a terrible state for my successor. I'm glad @jacobcarson877 was able to turn the ship around and get it done.

 

- What the hell is up with the New York Americans? I don't mean any disrespect to any of their recent GMs, some of them put some great teams together, but it always looks like the team sims like a garbage fire. People on Discord were celebrating them reaching the second round of the playoffs. They haven't won a Continental Cup since I joined 5 years ago, I think. I'm going to guess they hold the longest active championship drought, and it might as well be one of the longest in league history. Fact check me, someone?

 

- I just remembered about the L.A. Stars. They haven't won either, I think. They had some good teams for a bit, it's a shame. Oh well, I guess it's a race between Prague and L.A. to see which doesn't become the last one to win. Or maybe New York beats them to the punch and they don't have the longest cup drought anymore. Or I mean, at this point, Davos probably has a longer drought than Prague, if we consider Prague and L.A.'s droughts starting at the start of their respective history. Maybe Toronto has a longer drought too in that case. And Riga. And a bunch others. All the droughts are longer now that only 1 out of 16 teams win every year. Crazy.

 

- I just don't get the obsession with Groenland. That's the whole point. What's next? Antarctica? Geography nerds.

 

- I don't get the obsession with the Yukon Rush. @BarzalGoat and I have known for over 5 years now that THERE IS NO RUSH. And now they're actually gone. Good.

 

- Despite all the talk about the VHLE being inactive and dead and boring, I'm actually excited to join it next season. More than I was excited to join the VHLM this season, to be honest. The VHLM is more tailored towards first-generation players, for them to slowly learn the ropes. And the VHLE is more built to accomodate the low earners that never got offers in the VHL. The passage through both leagues sometimes feel like a chore for a max earner. The goal is always to get to the VHL quick and make your mark there. But at least the VHLE is somewhat competitive. It's less about the experience. And if the LRs are as dead as they say they are, hey at least I'm getting some one-on-one time with a new GM.

 

- I like the offseason. New hirings in Chicago, gonna be interesting to see who they pick. Lots of interesting candidates have applied. Then there were a couple more people stepping down. Houston I think was one of them. The GM shuffle every offseason is always a fun time. I love seeing who steps up and progresses in their VHL journey. The whole thing usually opens some AGM spots here and there too. Which I might be looking into at some point. Maybe not this season. It'll probably depend what spots open up. I might let myself be tempted by it if it feels like the right fit for me.

 

 

(Danger Days is the best My Chemical Romance album)

[vincentlg2007 498]

1 hour ago, McWolf said:

- I just don't get the obsession with Groenland. That's the whole point. What's next? Antarctica? Geography nerds.

 

- I don't get the obsession with the Yukon Rush. @BarzalGoat and I have known for over 5 years now that THERE IS NO RUSH. And now they're actually gone. Good.

Don’t think @Zetterberg will like this part lmao but I most say that I totally agree with you there

[Zetterberg 863]

1 hour ago, McWolf said:

- I just don't get the obsession with Groenland. That's the whole point. What's next? Antarctica? Geography nerds.

It’s Greenland

 

1 hour ago, McWolf said:

 

- I don't get the obsession with the Yukon Rush. @BarzalGoat and I have known for over 5 years now that THERE IS NO RUSH. And now they're actually gone. Good.

Storied franchise with big fan base just suddenly dead for a bootleg VHLE version which then also died. Yukon never should have left the M, there was an uproar when it happened. Now it’s getting traction again cause it’s last remnant just got booted.

[fromtheinside 1,290]

Nice writeup McWolf

 

Only contention is the Yukon bit. Were you part of that conversation in the BoG when Yukon basically was Thanos snapped out of existence?  I know Bek was. But I couldn't remember who else was responsible for literally speedrunning the process of yeeting Yukon and Minnesota. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like that decision was way too expedited, and all to serve as a means of propping up the E. And now look, back down to six teams. It's cool that you don't feel that its relevant, but a lot of people cared about the Yukon Rush. 

 

Not trying to sound overly negative, the rest of the writeup was great. 

[McWolf 3,115]

9 minutes ago, fromtheinside said:

Nice writeup McWolf

 

Only contention is the Yukon bit. Were you part of that conversation in the BoG when Yukon basically was Thanos snapped out of existence?  I know Bek was. But I couldn't remember who else was responsible for literally speedrunning the process of yeeting Yukon and Minnesota. It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I feel like that decision was way too expedited, and all to serve as a means of propping up the E. And now look, back down to six teams. It's cool that you don't feel that its relevant, but a lot of people cared about the Yukon Rush. 

 

Not trying to sound overly negative, the rest of the writeup was great. 

 

I was VHLM commissioner at that time. The addition of the E made sense, and the numbers backed up a 2 team contraction in the M to go along with it. And the M has actually worked fairly well with 10 teams, so I guess that part of the maths checks out.

 

Minnesota was the easy first pick. There was a time when they were the only European team in the VHLM. They moved to Minnesota to consolidate the M as a North American team. Then moved back to Oslo when we needed to get more teams in Europe again. As for Yukon, I don't remember the exact circumstances. I feel no one in the BOG felt strongly about it being in Yukon, and it had the more generic name and logo that made it easier to relocate without having to completely rebrand. I'm sure a bunch of people would have rather seen the Halifax 21st go away, but that team identity only makes sense in Halifax. If you contract them, you have to get another brand new team for the E. Relocating the Rush was only a matter of picking a new city for it.

 

I may sound happy that they are gone. I'm not actually happy. I just love bringing back the old THERE IS NO RUSH meme, and it's even more relevant now than it ever was, as painful as it may be to some. I guess my whole vibe is that I don't get the obsession with it. I lost the team I associated with when I first joined to. It moved. I got over it. But it feels like the bring back Yukon movement has literally never stopped. It's ok to be sad about it for a bit, but it shouldn't make anyone that miserable.

[McWolf 3,115]

Contraction always sucks, period.

[Zetterberg 863]

6 hours ago, McWolf said:

But it feels like the bring back Yukon movement has literally never stopped

I mean that should say something