My Year as GM

[McLovin 470]

My Year as GM

 

*I JUST GOTTA PREFACE THIS BEFORE ASSUMPTIONS ARISE, THIS IS NOT A RESIGNATION, MERELY A REFLECTION OF THE TIME I'VE SPENT AS GM OF THE ACES*

 

It's been a little over a year now since I was made GM of the Las Vegas Aces, and a helluva lot has happened in that time, both on the VHL as well as in my own personal life, and I think a reflection is worthy of a media spot as we near the end of my almost 6 seasons so far as GM in the VHL.

 

I gotta start just by saying, I absolutely adore this website. I don't even remember how I discovered it back in 2019, but I was hooked almost immediately. Jumped on board with the all star Reapers mid way through their cup run, won a cup before I was ever even drafted to a team, carried that momentum into my first season in the pros where I won with another elite team in the Vancouver Wolves. It's safe to say I had a pretty easy ride my first couple of seasons, especially considering my first player was so bad and could barely put points together

 

About halfway through my first players career, I got traded to Helsinki, and my true love for the website and community started. Being on a team with such an involved GM as Jubo, it made me want to excel at everything I did in the league, for him and my teammates, and I'm happy that after it all, I gave it my all and have a fun first career to look back on. I'll still never forget my series winning goal I scored in Vancouver to send the Wolves to the Conference Final in my first year. Honestly might've been the best single highlight I've had, of ANY of my players.

 

I took a break from the website right before covid started (I promise I didn't know it was coming, maybe :P) and did not really update my second player at all once he was in the pros. Ironically enough, my second player actually had a better career than my first somehow, despite being like 400 TPA less skilled and a defenseman! About two or so years would pass before I returned to the VHL full time, and by that point I was going through some things in my life and needed a distraction. I remembered this funny little website I used to make hockey players on back in the day, and I thought to myself "Huh, I wonder if they're still up and running?" You can imagine my excitement when I logged back in for the first time in years, and saw that next to nothing had changed about the website I loved so much back in my late teens. I immediately created a new player, and hopped on the first team that would take me, it just so happened that that team was the Las Vegas Aces.

 

@Blazzer was an incredible mentor to help me get me off the ground and acclimated with all the new things the VHL had to offer. When I first played, there was no E, half the teams in the VHL pros didn't exist, and I was unfamiliar with all but a handful of people I recognized from back in the day. So I'd just like to start this little segment/paragraph by thanking Blazzer, as well as @Jubo and @BladeMaiden for all they did to help me get to this point. Without y'all, I definitely wouldn't have gotten as into the website as I have, and I hope wherever y'all are, y'all are well

 

I became Blazzer's AGM around the start of S89, and I picked up pretty much right where I left off in terms of what I did during my AGM run in Helsinki. With the M being much more different in day to day running compared to the pros however, it was a bit of a learning curve. I leaned heavy on the scouting, made a whole google doc and all for the draft class and wanted to show that I'd be a good addition to the team. As fate would have it, Blazzer was resigning that offseason, leaving me as the only one left on the team (as most of our players had either moved up or didn't exist to begin with LMAO) I had applied for a ton of positions prior to Las Vegas, but whether it be my lack of experience or consistent forum activity, I wasn't picked for those positions. Honestly, I'm glad in hindsight I wasn't, cause I wouldn't have ended up in the spot I am now had I been. Y'all have seen it, so I won't go into explicit detail, but more times than not as GM, I've been able to field a pretty halfway competitive team for the regular season. I just need to figure out how to make a playoff team! All being said, having been the GM of this team over the last year now has been fantastic, and I've met some absolutely wonderful people who I consider close friends at this point. 

 

 

This has turned into way longer of a yap than I had intended, so lemme wrap this all up with what I got planned for the future.

 

I still absolutely want to be a GM, whether that be in the M, or for like the Titans or Wolves in the pros, doesn't matter to me. Being able to help players grow their players and love the website and community as I have has always been my priority, and I like to think I've done a pretty decent job of that so far. My lack of a single win in the Founder's Cup finals in both my appearances stings a bit, but if I get approved to become Helsinki's GM here in a few weeks, I'll have ended my career with the Aces on a happy note. I did everything I wanted to more or less, and opening the door for someone to take over the runnings of the team is more than fine by me!

 

I'm not entirely sure what the future entails for me long term. Yes, I'm still gonna keep making players and yes, should I be blessed enough, I'll keep GMing teams so long as the league will have me doing so. VSN is also been on my mind, and we've been cooking up some nice things that y'all will get to see soon, so stay tuned! Overall, I've become very grateful for my time in the VHL, and I'm looking forward to the next chapter in my career here! Thank y'all for reading this if you got this far, I appreciate you!

 

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Edited September 26 by McLovin

[Gustav 6,469]

I'm a big fan of GMs who want to keep being GMs. Props for staying on with Vegas as long as you have and never giving us anything to worry about!

[jacobcarson877 2,563]

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