The Very First

[Gustav 6,407]

My very first recruitment graphic and one of the very first graphics I ever made. I remember being really into putting color gradients over pictures of cities at the time, and I also remember that the text looks the way it does because I pressed random things until it got that way. I then proceeded to ask what I did, so I could hopefully do it again, and learned that this isn't the greatest graphic in the world and that no one else had any idea either.

 

 

Way back in S66, the VHLM expanded--again. I was part of the league's (at the time) historic S66 draft class, which was already given a good amount of room to work with by the addition of Houston and Philadelphia in S65. Heck, I was even part of the very first Houston team, even though that's not something I'll get into here. In S66, the league brought in Mississauga, Mexico City, and San Diego. And it was here that I would get hired, after just one season in the league, to my very first GM job...the very first GM of the Mississauga Hounds.

 

For the next 4-plus seasons, the team would be mine. I grabbed an old Houston teammate of mine in @Radcow as my first AGM, and off we went--the S66 Hounds team alone would feature names like @DoktorFunk, @Rayzor_7, @Hogan, and of course, current Wild GM (and longtime AGM of mine) @Berocka as first-gens. And that's not even mentioning Scottish legend (and VHLM points leader) Callum MacElroy and eventual AGM-of-a-couple-teams Cody Smith. From the very first season, the Hounds were a very special place. 

 

Other first-gens who originally called Mississauga home in my time and built one or more solid careers upon it include @Telkster, @Cxsquared, @Patrik Tallinder, and 4th-round pick @Ricer13 (whose draft slot I initially traded into targeting someone else I didn't realize had been picked. Although, good riddance--I don't even remember who that was because they went IA immediately, and we got Ricer!). And, of course, I have to give an honorary mention to @DarkSpyro, whose career began as a waiver signing in Ottawa but whose activity we watched explode with the Hounds. We'd all come together to create something that was beyond a team and was even almost a community in itself. Our locker room was talked about around the entire league, and that isn't just my own GM bias. Do you know how hard that is to achieve, especially when you're just a VHLM team and no one is supposed to care about you? We did that.

 

Together, we would build up a team that made the playoffs in its very first season, took a step back, and made two very serious runs at the championship in S68 and S69. In fact, we'd make the finals in S69, but lose to a borderline unstoppable Saskatoon team. In a season where I'd banked more mid-late picks than anyone else (a range where I'd typically excelled in drafts previous because I'd scout the absolute heck out of them), it was just our luck that there wasn't a single active to be found outside the first round and a half. Sometimes I wonder what may have changed with a draft class that looked more like the ones before it, but at the end of the day...I can be proud that we made the very first finals appearance in franchise history.

 

But anyway, hello everyone. Perhaps you're wondering why I'm pinging you--this certainly isn't the very first time I've reflected on my time as GM, and it's been almost four real-life years since I ran the Hounds. But since there's a general lack of VHLM awareness, I thought I'd let you (and maybe a lot of others) know...

 

...that for the very first time in franchise history, the Mississauga Hounds are Founder's Cup Champions.

 

You got that right. It took over 4 years to get there, it took a long list of GM changes, and it took a whole lot of hard work through countless rule changes and VHLM stuff, but at long last, the GM who can claim the title is none other than @vincentlg2007, in his very first team management gig. The team is still fighting through it all, wins are still being chased, and in what I can tell you is nothing short of an administrative miracle, the exact same server that I created as a college freshman is still up and running.

 

And isn't it nice to look over the list of Hounds past and imagine what the future might hold for the franchise? Heck, this team just did what I couldn't, even with the names I had. And while I'm generally obligated to be impartial and spent most of the season neither knowing nor caring how the Hounds were doing, seeing the outcome of the Cup still gave me a sense of pride. It's not my team anymore, but it was my very first as a GM and I'll never forget the time I spent there, much like I hope you won't forget the best of your early-VHL experiences.

 

Until next week!

[N0HBDY 1,119]

I'll never forget pitching waivers for that team, a now extinct experience, terrific job @vincentlg2007

[vincentlg2007 498]

Just now, N0HBDY said:

I'll never forget pitching waivers for that team, a now extinct experience, terrific job @vincentlg2007

thanks! I actually did the something ( old waiver pitch ) when I got here because i didn't know I wasn't allowed to anymore. Ultimately got 0/2 either way 

[Daniel Janser 2,169]

1 hour ago, N0HBDY said:

I'll never forget pitching waivers for that team, a now extinct experience, terrific job @vincentlg2007

Tell me about it

 

[DoktorFunk 810]

Bout time! Drinking from my Hounds mug tonight