The One Where We Talk About Gustav Mattias, My Spending Habits and Draftees With Rising Stock

[MubbleFubbles 1,290]

The Best Singular Game Finals Performance Of All Time?

 

Can we talk for a second about Gustav Mattias? Not the VHLM Commissioner to be clear but the Seattle Bears forward and PP Defenseman who just casually decided to have one of the best Finals games in recent memory during Seattle Bears victorious finals campaign over London United. In Game 1, Seattle Bears started off the series with a 5-2 victory and a lot of that is thanks to Gustav Mattias who played a contribution in all 5 goals, getting 2 goals and 3 assists. This was the first time since the Season 84 Finals between the Bears and the Warsaw Predators that a 5 point game has been recorded in the Finals (where both Max Torq and Hari Singh Nalwa got 5 point games). What made the performance from Mattias so special though was just how little time they were on the ice for, as they managed to accrue all 5 points in just 15 total minutes of ice time! I’ve not gone any further back than Season 84, but that has to be one of, if not the, best minute-for-minute Finals performances of all time. What’s even better for Mattias is that they went on to have an even more meaningful contribution in Game 7, where Mattias scored the game-winning goal, assisted by the two longest serving members of the Bears team, SEA-D3 and SEA-D1.

 

Donations

 

I just donated $15 for the upcoming season and I was kind of curious as to how much I’ve actually donated over the course of my time here in the VHL (excluding Charity Donations). Now it’s a bit difficult to figure out the exact amount that I’ve donated given that we actually changed currency in 2019 and my donations go all the way back to 2013, but just looking at raw dollar count, I’ve apparently donated $875 to the VHL over the course of my stay here. That was a lot more than I’d expected, I thought it would have perhaps been closer to the $500 range so it came as a surprise that it was that high. I think it does show though that donations don’t necessarily equal success, as one HOF player for $875 isn’t exactly a great conversion rate haha!

 

Draft Talk

 

LA lost their 17th overall pick in the VHL Draft after failing to comply properly with the backup goalie rules and honestly, that’s a huge loss for them. Why? Well guess how many players max-capped this week just gone? That’s right, 17 (although this likely increases to 20 once claims for Maple Dogwood, Lazlo Holmes and Tommy Shelby are approved). The lottery hit is fairly irrelevant as LA won’t mind which of Leandro or Jacob they get, but missing out on a potential max earner is a huge loss, but one that they ultimately deserved for prioritising BOTs over active members of the VHL. 

 

Here’s a quick look at the six players whose stock is increasing the most heading into the draft (the figure in brackets is how much higher their average capped TPE over the last three weeks is than their career average capped TPE):

 

6 - THE MIGHTY ICE WIZARD - (+2.52)

THE MIGHTY ICE WIZARD will be a very interesting player to keep an eye on in this draft. Only two teams appear to have a desperate need for a goalie as things stand (LA and London) but a few teams could look at the ICE WIZARD max capping over the last two weeks and consider that an improvement on their currently planned prospect for the future. 

 

5 - LaClapbomb Hitstick IV (+2.64)

LaClapbomb currently sits 37th in total TPE in this draft class, but that position could be a little deceiving as they’ve been active every week since joining the league and, now that they’ve got a more consistent hand at claiming welfare, have seen sharp gains in their capped TPE. Being 1 of 29 players who have averaged more than 4 capped TPE in the last 3 weeks, Hitstick could well find themselves sneaking into a second round selection.

 

4 - Eugene Ryanheart (+2.67)

Ryanheart had always been in the very solid 6-9 capped TPE range since joining the league, but they’ve exploded in the last three weeks with two max capped weeks and one 11 capped TPE week. It may not be enough to break into the first round as this is an incredibly top heavy draft with a lot of max earners, but this surge has essentially secured themselves a early-second round selection.

 

3 - kevin johnathen (+3.07)

The best player from Costa Rica that the league has ever seen is becoming even better thanks to their last two weeks of earning which both hit the TPE cap. The Marlins AGM is currently in an interesting situation of being a far better earner than any of the defenseman with less TPE than them, but currently not being able to gain on any of the six defenseman ahead of them. I think players like johnathen are a good example of why London were so comfortable trading out of the first for a high second, because they can see how much talent there is potentially available at the top end of the second round.

 

2 - Nikita Yolishev (+3.40)

I think if there’s a player on this list who could yet sneak into the first round, I think it could well be Nikita Yolishev. Their earnings were hurt early on by a one week TPE ban but since then Yolishev has gone above and beyond to make up for that, especially in the last three weeks where they have hit the TPE cap in each week. Based on their TPE, it looks like they will be the only player on this list playing in the VHLE next season, so it will be interesting to see how their development compares to the rest of the players on this list.

 

1 - Dorji Khan (+5.57)

Dorji Khan joined the league at the trade deadline, but their 5.43 average capped TPE over the course of their career to date is not a fair reflection on their current earnings. Khan did not earn capped TPE over their first four weeks in the league, but they flipped the script recently recording over 10 capped TPE in each of their last four weeks. They may not be quite at the total TPE of a Yolishev or a Ryanheart, but over the last few weeks they have definitely proven they can be as good of an earner as they are.
 

[Victor 10,949]

The CAD to GBP rate is always a pleasant surprise for donations.

[MubbleFubbles 1,290]

This was 1100 words, so here's week 2's claim