VHL Notebook #2: Sick Stuff and Malmo Moving Up

[LucyXpher 1,630]

I had a most unpleasant week as I spent the majority of it in bed with some variant of the flu.  From fever to fatigue, my motivation to life was pretty much non-existent for a few days-- not exactly how I had hoped to begin the Year of Our Lord 2025.  Thankfully, it's been over 24 hours since I had a fever last-- which is usually the part of being sick that kills me most-- so I think the worst has passed and I'm ready to attempt to rejoin the living.  I will say, however, that I was pleased to see some decent results with Malmo this week.  We've now won 7 games in a row with an important and challenging matchup tonight against Vancouver, so hopefully we can keep that run going!  

 

Looking at the recent performance of Malmo, there are a few things that stand out to me as surprising and will perhaps be something to consider for future lines-- then again, the current setup seems to be winning us games...  I'm pleased to see my player, Lucy Leitner, is having a strong season so far, and I can't say it's totally unexpected as these should be her prime seasons and filling Jacob Stone's @scoop role from S96 certainly has it's benefits-- if not expectations and shoes to fill.  I will say, however, that it's surprising to me how well Victor Jensen @Advantage has performed so far this season.  Currently with 20 points in 17 games, he's 2nd on Malmo in scoring behind Leitner (22), and ahead of the likes of Tzesar (14) @comrade cat and Rave (14) @tcookie. In his 9th season, Jensen has continued to be a very valuable player for Malmo, even with the 6th most TPA on the team at the moment.  Maybe I shouldn't be surprised with Jensen's output since he officially eclipsed Stone's mark of 648 points for the all-time franchise lead in points with 655 and counting.  With another 22 goals and 42 assists, Jensen could also lead the franchise in those categories as well.  Congratulations are in order, of course!  

 

I would like to see more from Tzesar and Rave, and to be clear, I don't put their lack of output on them per se.  Perhaps it's the lines we have right now that just aren't cutting it, potentially causing them to share points with their linemates, thus reducing their totals?  Or maybe, in Tzesar's case, it's some bad luck in the penalty department so far that has robbed him of opportunities to score.  Whatever the case may be, we will need to find a way to get these players to factor into our offense a bit more.  I've already tried a few line combinations and none have seemed to spark them yet, so maybe it's just bad luck, or worse, Simon being Simon.  On the positive side, I'm very pleased to see how well our VHL rookies are doing!  Narnia Shaw @Dabnad and Bret Weier @Quanack are up to 11 and 6 points respectively, with Weier scoring his first ever VHL goal just last night.  Once again, congratulations are in order!  It's definitely a bright spot to see these players meshing well with the team in the LR and producing in the sims so far. 

 

Jorgen Lovstrom @Pifferfish, our lovely but demanding goaltender, continues to be a huge part of our success as well with a .941 SV%, 1.79 GAA, and 2 shutouts, leading all goaltenders in all three of those categories.  It's certainly promising to see that we have possibly the best goaltender in the league and a defense that seems to help him out a fair bit.  Also, selfishly, I'm especially happy with his play so far since I picked him for my VHFL team.  Speaking of selfishly being happy, let me just say how nice it is to have my own player on the team I'm GMing.  In the past few seasons, I've always felt a bit divided between wanting to be active for my player on Riga while also GMing another team.  Being able to consolidate my activity to one Discord server and follow one team is soooo nice.  We'll see how long it lasts, but for now, I really appreciate not having my attention divided so I can focus in primarily on Malmo.  

 

Anyway, those are a few thoughts for this week! Hopefully we get that win over Vancouver and can keep that streak going.  Oh, and the Sharks are undefeated in 2025, Macklin Celebrini is so much fun to watch, and Yaroslav Askarov may just be my new favorite player. Askarov interviews make me smile almost as much as his play lately.

 

P.S. Congratulations also to @samx on becoming the new head mod!  Sam is one of the best people around and I'm sure she'll excel in this role as she does with most everything.

 

. . .

Edited January 7 by LucyXpher

[samx 1,183]

Hi @LucyXpher

[LucyXpher 1,630]

53 minutes ago, samx said:

Hi @LucyXpher

Hi @samx, you're the best

 

[Oddpurplefly 176]

Hope you are feeling better! And it's great to see Malmo doing well under your reign

[LucyXpher 1,630]

10 minutes ago, Oddpurplefly said:

Hope you are feeling better! And it's great to see Malmo doing well under your reign

Today was a better day, which is promising!