Green's articles

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 11/18-11/24

 

Prospect Watch: Sami Kravinen

 

From superstar to nobody; that is the current life of Sami Kravinen. Kravinen was the best defenseman in his previous league, the semi-professional PHL. In this week’s edition of Prospect Watch we take a look at Kravinen.  We will find out where he came from and how will he do with the transition to professional hockey.

Sami Kravinen is used to being a hero, coming from a league where he was two-time winner of the defenseman of the year trophy he sees himself as the next coming of the great ones like Bobby Orr. The Finnish defenseman however has the statistics to proof his greatness. When he entered the PHL he was on one of the worst teams from the league, yet he did manage to be that important for his team that he ended up being the Lidstrom winner, the trophy for best defenseman of the year.  While he was no point per game player, he racked up a fair amount of points, average more than four hits and two shots blocked a night you can say he was a great force on the ice.

His team improved when he got better himself as well and he got more in control of his offensive game. In only his second season he managed to score 118 points in only 80 games played, while still remaining a similar amount of hits, blocks and takeaways. Kravinen had outgrown the league and looked for a new challenge; it was time for professional hockey.

 

When his league went into hibernation mode, it was the worldwide Victory Hockey League that caught his eye. That would become his new goal, to become the best defenseman in this league. Kravinen is a known warrior; he will not stop until he achieves his goals and knows he needs to take it one step in a time. In order to get to the VHL he had however go to through the VHLM. A league where the strong will be separated from the weak. Only the best hockey players will remain and make the jump to the pros.

 

This season Kravinen is showing his worth for the Brampton Blades who he was the second waiver claim of the season for after they also had acquired Right Wing Damon Tyrael. Joining the Blades after they already played 12 games in the season was a bit hard for the Fin. He suddenly realizes he is not even remotely as good as he thought he was when matched up versus other talents that reside in the VHLM. His statistics compared to the old league have fallen down; he is no longer a point per game player, no longer blocking and hitting at his old pace, Kravinen is just one of the guys now instead of the superstar he was with his old team the Boston Fighting Irish.

 

 

Kravinen is however determined to improve and work towards being one of the best. The odds are always there he doesn’t pan out, but with the right motivation and mind set, Sami Kravinen might as well be the surprise pick of the Season 36 VHL and VHLM drafts. Keep an eye out for Kravinen, the potential is there. Once his adjustment period has ended, look for him to become one of the prime defenseman in the VHL.

 

Words :555

 

 

 

 

 

Player render to use for Kravinen:   Hagelin

 

 

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Editorial note:

If you are interested in seeing your player in Prospect Watch. Send Green a message on the forum with your players backstory. What makes him so special and why does he deserve a spot in prospect watch. Looking forward to all of your replies.

Edited November 20, 2013 by Green

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Second article for the next edition:

 

 

The Twelve Days of VHLM Christmas

 

Another year has gone by in the VHLM and while the preparations for Season 36 still have to start we are having a small holiday break. For this Christmas we will be looking back at twelve events that happened this year in the VHLM.

 

1 Goal Total

One of the latest additions to the VHLM was waiver claim Jihoon Park who got claimed by the Turku Outlaws. In his first 15 games he managed to score just 1 goal. Park will be entering the VHLM draft next season and hopes that his production will increase next year.

 

 

2 Seasons in the VHLM

The most physical player in the VHLM this year will likely be Brennan McQueen. McQueen has had two years now in the VHLM and will be suiting up for Riga Reign in the VHL next year. In these two years McQueen almost dished out 600 hits total, so the players in the VHL can consider to be warned for this heavy weight.

 

 

3 Goals a game

Unlike many people expected Xin Xie Xiao did not claim the top goal scorer award for the VHLM, that honor would go to Boone Cassidy. What Triple-X did get is the most hat tricks this season. In ten games total he managed to score at least three goals. Which is four more than Cassidy had managed. Hats off for Xin Xie Xiao.

 

 

4 Play off losses

The Bern Royals managed to get the third playoff seed in the European Conference. However their playoff adventure did not last long. After six games they had only won two versus the Oslo Storm. Vasteras managed to claim the first seed in Europe, however after six games they went out the same way as the Royals did, making the Storm advance to the finals.

 

 

5 Claims of Turku

It was a lost season for the Turku Outlaws. After 72 games they only got to fifteen wins, the least in the league. During the season they tried to turn the ship around by claiming five players from waivers. The addition of Knight, Charmander, Kricket, Hallmstrom and Park did not help however. They will still have the best odds in the upcoming lottery for Season 36.

 

 

6 Championships of Ice Dogs

The champion this year became the Ottawa Lynx. This is the seventh cup in the history of the franchise, but only the first as the Lynx. The previous six cups were won as the Ice Dogs in seasons 2,6,12,17,21 and 23.

 

 

7 Point difference ( Brampton vs Wild playoff race)

Most of the playoff spots were set in stone pretty early in the season, the last spot however was exciting until the end. Only a few games before the season ended the Saskatoon Wild clinched that last playoff spot in favor of the Brampton Blades who were seven points behind them.

 

 

8 Weeks of Practice

It must be the luckiest time of the season to be a prospect now. Due to delays in the season the practice facility doors are still open. Normally they close after eight weeks of practice, we are now at week ten however and they are still going. The prospects won’t complain and try their hardest to improve to make an impact next year.

 

 

9 Shutouts total

Even though he will retire from professional hockey, goaltender Que Cumberbatch was the backbone of the Minot Gladiators this season. The goaltender was good for a total of nine shutouts. The Gladiators ended the season with a twelve game winning streak. Seeing Cumberbatch only got 1 shutout during that period you can see how important he was during the rest of the season in Minot.

 

 

10 plus/minus managed

While the best plus/minus rating in the playoffs were from the Saskatoon players, the champion had two players who also had two players with a rating of plus 10.  One of them is defenseman Connor Low. Low was an important part of the succes of his team and will also be on the consideration of being the most valuable player of the play-offs. Like McQueen it is also his final goodbye to the VHLM and he will be suiting up in the VHL next season.

 

 

11 goals scored

In the top ten of centers (in terms of points), the eleven goals of Rhys Heyward-Jones are the least by any center. This makes Heyward-Jones one of the premier playmakers of the VHLM. It will have to be seen how this will go in the future, because despite his player agent checking into the new site, he had not realized he still had a player. Let’s hope for Heyward-Jones that his agent will regain his concience.

 

 

12 Losses only

Twelve losses, in a whole regular season. This is a feat that can be only be achieved by the greatest teams in the league. The Ottawa Lynx are one of these teams and they deserved the championship this year. With sixty wins, 8 losses and 4 overtime losses they were the team to beat this year.

 

 

From everyone who works with the VHLM Magazine we want to wish you happy holidays and we hope to see all of you again in Season 36 of the VHLM.  

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

And a recent article for a new edition:

 

 

 

Bratislava: Road To The Championship

 

It might be premature to already announce the winners of Season 36 in the VHLM but this year there is one team playing on a whole different level. After twelve games in the season the Watchmen are still undefeated and it looks like no one can stop them in their conquest of obtaining their second Founder’s Cup in the short history of the franchise. If they manage to indeed claim the cup as theirs they will step in the footsteps of the Yukon Rush; the other expansion franchise who managed cup victories in Seasons 31 and 34. A victory for the Watchmen will also mean that the expansion teams won in four of the six seasons they participated in, putting a big slap in the face of the existing franchises.

 

 

The reason these franchises do so well is that they are in the hands of competent managers who exactly know what they are doing and they follow their plans. Take Bratislava for instance, after their last cup victory they immediately started their rebuild and missed out on the playoffs for two years straight. In these years they managed to acquire some picks for last season’s draft. With one of the most recent trades they added the first round pick of the Brampton Blades for a first round pick of next season. With them likely taking it all this year, they basically flipped a 4^th overall pick for a 10^th overall. The Blades were in no spot to compete this year, so they happily took this trade. From a Watchmen perspective this trade shows why they are in solid hands. The 4^th overall pick was added to the first three picks that were already theirs and they could select: Slaeter Fjorsstrom, Tom Slaughter, Martin Brookside and Phil Villeneuve with their picks. Four players that all are likely of having a great career in the VHL.

 

 

With the remaining picks they also selected Kai Randall, Remy Deveraux and Andrew Jackson Jihad, not the most well known players but certainly players who can bring something extra to the championship caliber team that they already have. Due to the enormous depth chart a second rounder like Randall is actually only playing 4^th line minutes, that’s how stacked the team is. Next to draftees Bratislava also brought in two new faces through trades: David Januzaj, a client of one of the famous Knight brothers and Vincenzo Valentini a solid depth guy on their lower forward lines. Valentini currently plays third line minutes but does lead the Watchmen in both goals and points. In addition to this, he only played one minute on the power play. This shows that the Watchmen are dangerous on all levels.

 

 

The additions have certainly paid off for the Watchmen, their season started with one shoot-out victory. The rest of the victories were all victories that happened in sixty minutes of hockey. This season might not be the most exciting season in the VHLM with them being a powerhouse, but there is always an outside chance that something goes wrong for them once the playoffs are here.

 

Stay tuned and watch the VHLM closely to see how the Bratislava Watchmen fairytale will continue this season.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 18:

 

 

Waiver Motivation

The last weeks we have noticed a horrible trend continuing in the VHLM. Teams were not picking up players through the waiver wire because they were tanking. Tanking is a term teams usually try to restrain from due to the negative impact it can have towards your players and fans. Usually the teams are better off calling themselves “less fortunate”.

 

There are always exceptions, managers that come out in public saying they don’t need new players since they are trying to lose in order to gain some high draft picks. When a manager came out in the open with his intentions to tank a line was crossed. The manager did not want to use his waiver claims in order to upgrade his team, since it would improve his chances to win. For the commissioner this was unacceptable behavior; a solution needed to be found.

 

When you ask a VHL player what they think the VHLM should be there is one answer that pops up a lot; a place to learn the game and improve your player so he gets ready for the big leagues. Looking at the last years this has not been the focus for some managers. While it is impossible to judge which managers did make efforts in getting people (both on their team and on the waiver wire) active, it remains to be seen how many times these efforts have been made.

 

It was time to wake up the general managers of the VHLM, it needed to be said out in public that the league is not only made for winning a championship. The most important factor should always remain keeping the players active and helping them grow. In order to achieve that goal there has been a change that should be positive for the general managers in terms of owning TPE. For every player that they have either drafted or claimed from waivers they get 1 TPE for every 50 TPE gained by these prospects. So far this new policy has resulted in two managers receiving points for their efforts, while it remains to be seen if they are the true reason that the players reach the point, it at least gives them an incentive to be active and talk to their players. Nothing is so bad for a new player to not see any locker room activity and feeling like there is nothing going on.

 

Let’s hope these changes will have a positive effect on keeping new prospects active, I hope to be able to see more first generation players going after the first-gen record. So managers, talk to your players, create a social environment for them and help them doing their weekly point tasks. This is the only way we can keep the new blood in the league and that alone would be worth more than the 1 TPE you gain for it (although it is a nice bonus)

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 19:

 

 

Olynick Rising Towards The Top

 

The last year has seen a great influx of goalies with great potential to the league. We saw Martin Brookside make his debut last year for the Oslo Storm as a waiver pick-up, this year he has been dominating the league with the Bratislava Watchmen. In his shadow there are some new goaltenders showing up. Santeri Heikelä had made his debut in the VHL Super Cup, but after one win and four losses afterwards his confidence had been shattered and he has been absent from training. Kimmi Salo was waiver claimed by the Oslo Storm this year, despite not getting much defensive support he posts a good save percentage, but he cannot seem to take his team to victory yet. The real gem between this year’s goaltenders seems to be Blaine Olynick. 

Olynick is a player from the AwfulHomesick Player Agency who has a history with the VHL. Over thirty seasons ago they represented former Team Canada member Alex Staal. After Staal his career ended the agency disappeared from the world until they found a new talent that could become good enough to enter the VHL. With the discovery of Blaine Olynick, a Toronto native they have found a goaltender that can be described as the next big thing. In the juniors he shattered all the records into oblivion. It was only a matter of time until Olynick would make the step towards professional hockey.

 

 

This season, that time has finally come. After declaring himself eligible for the VHLM draft he got selected by the Bern Royals with the fifth overall selection. The fact that he was selected by the Bern Royals was a highlight for Olynick, whose idol also played for that franchise. When being asked about who he modeled his game after he just had to mention the current goaltender of the Toronto Legion: Remy LeBeau. The press took this detail to heart and they are all looking at Olynick as the goaltender to step in his footsteps once his active career comes to an end.

 

 

Olynick actually might have the advantage when their statistics are compared. Currently Olynick has posted a save percentage of almost 89 percent and a goals ahead average of 2.69. Comparing that to LeBeau who had a percentage just above 88 percent but let the puck in more than three times a game at average, almost one goal against per game more than Olynick does.

Journalist recently have asked Olynick how he sees his career and he sees some great openings in the future in cities like Cologne, Quebec and Toronto, to take over the reins of their current goaltenders once they hang up their helmet and go into retirement. Despite shattering all the junior goaltender records the young goalie stays with both feet on the ground when people compare him to one of the current greats. If I could be half as good for him, I would already be happy. It’s just one of the quotes that Olynick has given out in interviews lately. There is one remark though, that shows he is indeed motivated and destined for greatness. In his latest interview he looked in the camera with a fire sparkling in his eye and then he said the magic words: “I am the next Remy LeBeau”.

 

 

Blaine Olynick is motivated on his quest to become a starting goaltender in the VHL and there are hardly any people who doubt him. It will be interesting to see where his career will take him, but if he wants to follow up on his words, he has got some great work ahead of him. It’s time to rise to the top.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Episode 20 - Looking Out For Number One

The fight for the number one overall spot

 

Looking Out For Number One

 

The deadline for registration for the Season 37 VHL draft is nearing rapidly. When the trade deadline of the VHL has passed there will be no new prospects who can declare themselves eligible for the draft. This usually is not a bad thing, because generally the prospects that join later in the season need more time to develop accordingly. Most of the prospects who are joining the 37^th entry draft will remain in the VHLM next season, but this does not stop them from trying to achieve being a high pick in this year’s draft.

 

 

The battle for number one has been ongoing for a while and it will likely depend on the positional need of the team selecting first overall to see which player goes where. Will they be looking for additional offense then Tom Slaughter will be the likely number one overall pick. The left wing doesn’t excel in a particular area yet, and will likely become a force to be reckoned with into the years to come.

 

On the other hand there is defenseman Slaeter Fjorstrom who follows him closely in terms of development. Fjorstrom looks like he is developing into a two-way defenseman, but with his current training regime he looks like he will be a true asset on the power play as a great puck mover. With his build he looks like to be the biggest competition for current rookie Connor Low as the greatest defenseman of the upcoming six or seven years.

 

Slaughter for now seems to be heading into the draft as the most likely number one, but this season has proven that both number one and number two are looking to be “can’t miss” prospects.  However none of them can celebrate just yet, there is one prospect that has recently caught a lot of attention from the scouts and due to his exceptional talent he is entering the draft one season earlier as expected. This prospect is Logan Laich and is related to Brooks Laich of the Washington Capitals. Coming from a hockey family who is well known in the world, the eyes of the scouts caught on as soon as he mentioned to the media that he would be looking to go professional.

 

Laich plays the same position as Slaughter, while Slaughter seems to be further in his development he is no longer guaranteed of being the first forward picked. Logan Laich addressed the media recently in which he announced that he was looking for a team where he could spend his whole career. After his agent said goodbye to his former client Skylar Rift it is known that the player agency can use some positive vibes in the hockey world, as several managers still see Skylar Rift as a goaltender that only did things for himself and not for his teams. With a guy like Laich they are starting their new charm offensive.

Definitely a dark horse in the draft, but also a rather secure pick Laich hopes to be a shock selection when draft day finally comes. It will be interesting to see how all events will unfold once the draft lottery has held. The future for the three players is still in jeopardy, but all are looking at that number one spot for now and hope to have their names called first.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Episode 21:

 

Queens of the VHLM

 

People always seem to think hockey is a men’s world. Due to that fact alone you will only find male players in leagues like the NHL. In times of equality between genders the VHL and VHLM leauges provide a great first step in making hockey accessible for women as well. Despite it still being a man’s world the mixed gender approach seems to be working out. We already had Naomi Young go as high as third overall in the Season 34 VHLM draft and go one position higher in the Season 35 VHL draft.

In the year that Naomi Young was drafted, she wasn’t the only female to go. Queen Latifa followed in her shadow going 13^th overall and 14^th overall in her respective draft years. When Young and Latifa joined the VHLM they joined Eliana Ben-Lev who had been the only female player in the VHLM in years. While Ben-Lev had her shot at the VHL level and had to take a step back, she made sure the ways were open for more females to enter the world of the Victory Hockey League.

 

While Naomi Young has established herself on a VHL level, Ben-Lev and Latifa are still in the VHLM and truth to be told, they are the ones that are toying around with the men instead. Whenever a game is on the line you can count on them to finish the game off. For the Bern Royals Ben-Lev has played an important part and scored the most game winning goals on the team. Eleven of her fourty-nine goals have been game winners, beating teammates Earl Parker (eight) and Matt Rielly and Razzle Dazzle with both five goals. While she doesn’t lead her team in points (but has a respective amount of 111 points) the importance to the Royals success cannot be denied. Being the second best team currently she already made sure she will have an appearance in this seasons playoffs.

 

For Queen Latifa the play-offs are in her reach as well, while they have not qualified yet they are very close to getting in. After making sure her old team the Minot Gladiators got into the play-offs (without even having a goalie) the Gladiators have decided this was not their year and they traded both Queen Latifa as defenseman Gabrial Johnson to the number two in the conference: the Yukon Rush. The competition for the Yukon Rush currently is 17 points back. Queen Latifa is the best player the Rush currently has in their lineup but she has troubles warming up. All of her ten game winning goals so far have been with the Gladiators so we only have to wait what happens now that she is on the Rush.  Offensively she is up there with some of the success stories of this year. She is in the top 3 in several categories: goals, shots, points per twenty minutes, game winning goals, game tying goals and she even leads the league in hat tricks.

 

 Most of the VHLM players can’t keep their hands off her though as she is also second in most hits taken. Due to Latifa’s offensive success the male players want to show their manliness with hitting her, they do not like losing their glory to a female player. For Latifa this might be her last season in the VHLM as she has made it clear that she wanted to move to the VHL as soon as next season. If she hits the right amount of training hours she will end up with the Toronto Legion.

For Eliana Ben-Lev that window had already closed, she will not manage the amount of training hours required while she is entering the last year of her career. While not playing a role in the big leagues, she was one of the first to open the way for talent like Young and Latifa.

 

Let’s hope we will see more young women follow in their footsteps; the future queens of the VHLM.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Episode 22:

 

Россия хочет команду
(Russia wants a team)

 

With the emergence of the Kontinental Hockey League years ago, the Russian Federation got a great hockey league of their own. Even though this league pays a lot to the Russian young stars to stay and play for one of their teams their talent still seems to go overseas. The North American Junior leagues are a stepping stone to the NHL, but lately there have been some great talents making the move to the VHLM, the stepping stone towards the VHL. Amongst them are Andrey Zadorov and Konstantin Azhishchenkov.

 

In order to counter the departing of the prospects, the Ice Hockey Federation of Russia (IHFoR) has contacted the VHL about possibilities to place a VHL team there. While their initial offer was immediately declined, they did mention that there might be a possible opening on the VHLM level. Rumor has it that one of the existing franchises is looking for relocation in order to draw more fans to the stadium. The Russians definitely have ears for this and are seeing what can be done.  Vladislav Tretiak, president of the IHFoR had the following to say about it:

 

“If talents want to play for other leagues, that’s okay. We want them to play in Russia for as long as possible to control their development. Better development means better skaters for Russia at the Olympics. If we can get a VHLM team, we can develop our prospects there. This is good for Russia”

 

While Tretiak announced these words it seems that the Board of Directors of the VHLM is definitely interested in their proposal. It is likely that there is a lot of money involved in the transaction of giving Russia a team of their own. Money makes the world go round and the league could definitely use the money in order to upgrade the leagues head office and increase facilities for all VHLM teams, giving the league a more professional look.

As far as locations go, cities rumored to be a potential location are Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Kazan. These three locations are being investigated which will be the best location for a potential move. Once people have settled on a location there will only be one remaining question: “Which VHLM franchise will make the move?” Due to the fact that Russia will be part of the European conference there are only a few options left:  Bratislava, who entered the league on the latest expansion and has been successful ever since; Bern who is a logical farm team of HC Davos Dynamo are both unlikely options. So it looks that one of the Scandinavian franchises will be on the move, Vasteras of Sweden, Oslo of Norway and Turku of Finland. Out of the three the most logical move would be to move Vasteras, especially due to the fact that the city currently owns two teams that have to play in the same arena.  

 

The Baby Eagles who are currently third in the European Conference could be playing their last play-off series of their long history. Will they be sacrificed for the big money that the IHFoR is throwing at the VHLM? If a move happens it will likely be after this season, so stay tuned for more information.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 23: Stepping Stone

 

Stepping Stone

 

For many years the VHLM existed as the premier place to get prospects VHL ready. Make sure they train enough so they can endure the physical play of the VHL and actually contribute on the score sheet. Almost all the players that are now in the Hall of Fame once played in the VHLM. Lately there has been a major change in the league, making the VHLM more than a stepping stone for players.

 

This season the league has introduced assistant managers for the teams. These assistant managers are brought in as students; learn all the ins and outs of team management in the hopes of one day being able to take over a team of their own. Since it usually were the well known persons getting the GM jobs the assistant general manager introduction has brought some more charm to the VHLM. Players who want to play a big part in the VHL can now improve their name and draft stock by helping the junior managers out to do their thing. This should in return help out the current managers who can delegate certain tasks to their assistant managers.

 

The learning school that the VHLM is supposed to be is taking a big step forward with the introduction. The assistants come from a lot of possible classes. Players that have returned from a long hibernation as Blaine Olynick; retired players with great careers like Vladimir Boomchenko but also new kids on the block as Konstantin Jaroslav Azhishchenkov, who made his VHLM debut this year. It is interesting to see what this system will do to the activity of prospects, but one can only assume it becomes less likely for the prospects to lose interest. We managed to get hold of Azhishchenkov to tell us about the new program and what it has done for him.

 

“Being an assistant manager is really important, my goal is to become a general manager of a team and learning the ways of GM’ing from an experienced manager gives you a way to ask all you want. It is better to ask the questions now, so you don’t have them when you take full control of a team. I have learned many things so far and most importantly that is important to be super active to stay on top of things. Make sure your players develop and remain active. The one thing that I feel that is going to be tough is setting up the lines in the sim, but that’s a great learning point for the future”.

 

The three mentioned aren’t the only new managers to get an assistant job; every team is now looking out for assistants to improve the quality of the league. This is the most important part of it all; the past has proven that it can be considered one of the hard things; keeping new players active in the league. This system has already brought up appreciating comments from those appointed and when we look at the enthusiasm that Azhischenkov showed, this program is bound to lead to greatness. It will be nice to see which assistants will make it to the bigger teams in matter of seasons. The early success is there, now it’s just time to take it to the next level when spots open up.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 24: Graduating Draftees

 

Graduating draftees

 

The downside of being a development league like the VHLM is that every year you have to say goodbye to your major stars. Each year the new prospects will get drafted before they return to their VHLM teams for some more seasoning.  Eventually the players will make such an impact that they are ready for the next step in their careers. The VHL is at their horizon and while the season came to an end, so did their time in the VHLM.

 

We are taking a look at the drafted players who will move up to the VHL next season. The first we will cover is goaltender Martin Brookside. Brookside wasn’t technically drafted since he automatically went to Calgary due to the relation he had with their general manager. Each manager in the VHL is entitled to hold one franchise player and Jason Glasser has decided to go with the next great goalie of the future. Brookside will try to steal the job from current goalie Rock Star who made an excellent impression this season in a game where he almost stopped 100 shots total. If Brookside leaves an excellent impression during the Wranglers training camp it might be possible that Rock Star wouldn’t even be offered a new contract. For the forwards in the VHLM it is a relief to see him go. Brookside shattered all goaltending stats last season totaling 18 shutouts, a save percentage of 0.924 and a goals against average of 1.41.

 

The team at the bottom of the European conference is also receiving immediate help on their roster. Phil Villeneuve is a defenseman that will also be making the jump. The Riga Reign only had one defenseman on their roster last season, Dan Tremblay, who was acquired in trade from the Toronto Legion. Villeneuve will now make the jump in order to improve their defensive corps.  Villeneuve was in the top three of scoring for the Bratislava Watchmen who rampaged all over the VHLM last season. With a 102 point season he was only three points behind David Januzaj who lead the team in scoring. Next to his great point total he was also the second in hits past season, showing that the Reign will get more body on the ice as well so that Brennan McQueen hasn’t do all the hitting for that team.  Depending on who they will draft, you can see Villeneuve on either the first or second defensive pairing, logging major minutes for Riga.

 

Villeneuve was not the only defenseman who is guaranteed to make the roster of a VHL team next season. Russian Andrey Zadorov will join the New York Americans roster in the upcoming season. The Americans just came off a miracle season. A season which was devoted to rebuilding the franchise, they almost sneaked in the playoffs. For next year they want to make sure it happens and they have already made it known that Zadorov would be added to next year’s roster. While not as offensively gifted as his Watchmen defenseman who is joining the Reign, Zadorov is the overall more talented player.  Zadorov will play a defensive role for the Americans, supporting current rookie Connor Low who looks to be heading towards his trophy of ‘Rookie of the Year’. The New York Americans are happy to see how well he developed last season and think he is indeed ready to start next to Low on the first line. Adding Zadorov to the team must also be a relief for goaltender Brick Wahl, who gets some more support in front of him.

 

While above three players are already guaranteed a spot on their teams for next season. There is one more player that we can see making the jump. Defenseman Sami Kravinen is the only VHLM player who did not play for Bratislava last season who will likely make the jump. He is still working on his skill and training, but should be ready to make the cut at the Vasteras Iron Eagles training camp next season. Kravinen is second in the league in shots blocked, next to logging top 10 positions for most hits and minutes for the Oslo Storm. If he indeed manages to get a roster spot, it will be a tough battle for minutes. The Iron Eagles are stacked on defense so far and Kravinen would look to be the sixth defenseman on the depth chart. While it fully being possible that a more offensively defenseman like Lauris Prikkulis could make the switch to forward to increase the ice time for Kravinen. It might be a good idea for him to stay in the VHLM for another year, but it all depends on him at the moment if he works hard enough to also enter the VHL.

 

The mentioned players will be battling each other to contend for rookie of the year in the 37^th VHL season. A race they will have to hold with soon to be drafted players like Slaeter Fjorsstrom, Tom Slaughter and possibly Logan Laich who are the likely top 3 picks of the incoming draft. The VHLM will miss all these players but wishes them all the best for the rest of their careers. Them leaving rises an opportunity for players like Kai Randal and Konstantin Azhischenkov to step up and become the next ones working towards the VHL. It’s a never ending carrousel of prospects and that’s what makes the VHLM such a great league to follow.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Individual Success

 

 

The Bratislava Watchmen did what was expected from them. After a glorious regular season they were the main contender for achieving a victory in the Founder’s Cup. They did not disappoint and despite a two game comeback by the Yukon Rush they managed to win the second title in the history of the franchise. With the season coming to an end it also becomes time to honor the individual players who have contributed on the ice last season. The awards will be handed out to the players who deserved them the most; but who is in the race for which trophy? Let’s take a look at this year contestants.

 

The trophy or the most valuable player of the regular season is the Sakic trophy. The Bern Royals have been competitive this year and most of their stride has been laid out by both left wing Earl Parker and defenseman Matt Rielly. This duo combined for more as 300 points this year. Due to the Watchmen being such a stacked team it however was not enough to get Bern into the finals. Without Parker and Rielly Bern’s season would likely have looked very different. The favorite for the Sakic Trophy is Martin Brookside. The young goaltender posted a grand total of 18 shutouts and posted a VHL worthy save percentages and a goals against average that has rarely been seen before. Outsider for the trophy would be Vasteras left wing Boone Cassidy. With 136 points on a below average team he made sure that the Baby Eagles made it to the playoffs. They had to let Bern pass them on the way to the conference finals, but Cassidy showed off his talent and was definitely the most important player on his team.

 

 

Another most valuable player trophy is the Esposito one, this time it is for the Playoff MVP. Even though his numbers are lower as in the regular season it is again Martin Brookside who is making an appearance here. Posting only two losses on his way to the cup he was good for a .910 save average and an average goals ahead of 1.68. While he was important for the team, it might be one of his teammates taking this trophy home. Defenseman Slaeter Fjorsstrom was a true force in the playoffs and he scored five goals from the blue line, add ten assists in the mix and you have a solid playoff contributor. While she is a possible outsider due to her team not winning the trophy, Queen Latifa as Playoff MVP would make a lot of sense. In all the games that the Yukon Rush played Latifa was almost guaranteed to score as she posted 18 goals in just 16 games.
 

It is looking to be Brookside’s year when we are looking at the awards. The Sawchuk Award which is given to the top goaltender of the league is one that cannot escape from his hands. While he has decent opponents in future first round picks Blaine Olynick and Kimmo Salo. His numbers are simply too good to be ignored. While this must be the most one-sided trophy ever, people cannot forget the achievements of the other two goalies. Both had outstanding rookie seasons and Olynick even lead his team with a 52-12-0 record with him in net, exactly the reason why he is considered to be the top goaltender of the S37 Draft.

 

 

Luckily not all awards feature goaltenders so the next three awards won’t have Brookside competing for them. The Bourque Trophy for the best defense in the league has four players who are considered favorites for the title. The Bern Royals have two players in the mix with Razzle Dazzle and Matt Rielly. While Rielly has the best offensive stats, Dazzle was the more physical player with almost two times as much hits. The hardest hitting defenseman in the mix is Phil Villeneuve of the Bratislava Watchmen. With 220 hits he had the biggest physical presence on the ice but also made sure he left his mark on the scoreboard with more than 100 points. The most shots blocked were by Triton Jackson of Vasteras. Also scoring a 120 points these defenseman would all almost be considered as forwards. They are all just that good. This will be one of the harder awards to predict.

 

 

The last award that will go to a player is the Yzerman Trophy for the best two way forward. And every single one of them was hit more than he dished out hits himself. The one closest to a positive ratio is Bratislava’s Tom Slaughter. With a rating of +42 he was very responsible in his own end, but he wasn’t most of the defensive ones in this class. Minot Gladiators have Aelred Leskowski in the mix, he out scored, out hitted and mostly out blocked the Bratislava forward. With his 212 hits and 43 shots blocked he was certainly one of the more defensive players who have a shot at winning this. Earl Parker who usually is seen as a pure scoring forward is in the mix due to his excellent offensive numbers, but wasn’t showing much defensively with the least shots blocked out of these four. Matthew Mira of the Turku Outlaws is the middle man in the voting’s, not excelling offensively and outclassed defensively he won’t have what it takes to win it. This award will be Leskowski’s award to lose.

 

The last award that will be given out will be the Ken Holland Trophy. Austin Gow of the Yukon Rush, Tyler Barabash of the Bern Royals and Vince Wong of the Bratislava Watchmen are the general managers who are aiming to be crowned the top GM of Season 36. Front runner for this award will be no one else but Vince Wong. Despite great performances and a nice late season push from Yukon and a Bern team that tried to give Bratislava some opposition in Europe, Vince Wong is the clear favorite. He built an excellent team which in all honesty could not lose these playoffs. His hockey sense and insights did not go unnoticed as Wong has been contracted to step into the shoes of Mitch Higgins who retired as general manager off the Helsinki Titans.

 

 

Interested in who won which awards? Keep reading as the winners will be described further in the magazine.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 26: Outsider Role For Outlaws

 

The Turku Outlaws went from a bottom feeder last season to being a contestant for the Founder’s Cup in Season 37. This is quite a change for the franchise formerly known as the Kolari Panthers. For the first time in years they are looking to compete again. What has changed since John McBride moved the franchise to Turku?

 

The biggest change that happened after the move was that the team would be built with an actual vision. From the start of his tenure as General Manager John McBride had his eyes set on Season 37. All his moves were done with this season in minds. He shipped off the remaining players he had to teams that wanted to content in the previous seasons in order to stock up on draft picks.  This got him to a total of three first round picks, six second round picks and five third round picks. Enough to build a roster full of people able to compete for the cup.

 

His first round picks were good enough to become the second, fifth and sixth overall pick, shy of a spot of the number one selection the Rush missed out on selecting goalie Kimmo Salo. This was a big blow for the Outlaws since a goalie like Salo or Olynick (who was drafted fifth overall by Bern last season) in net could have made all the difference. To make up for this difference they were able to sign Fernando Pergher as a free agent. In a competition with Minot and Ottawa they finally secured his services although it did cost them their entire budget. While Pergher is by no means a star goalie, he was a much needed signing for Turku since their season could have gone wrong quickly without a goaltender in their lineup.

 

The second overall pick, which was Turku’s own, was used for up-and-coming defenseman Jack Wylde. While he realistically will only be with the Outlaw for a season he is a solid addition in their back-end to help out their less talented goalie. Wylde will get help at the back-end from fifth overall pick Vojzeck Svoboda who was selected with Saskatoon’s first round pick. Despite getting an elite level defender for this year, it remains to be seen of the cost of this trade is worth it in the end. One of the players sent away by the Outlaw was Johan Hallstrom who now is playing for the Oslo Storm. Hallstrom is a scoring winger and has a grand total of 173 practice points. Due to him being just below the training cap he could have been a weapon of mass destruction for the team.

 

The last draft pick they selected in the first round was with a pick that originally belong to Vasteras (who are now known as the Moscow Red Wolves).  With this selection they added Travis Boychuk, a prospect of the Calgary Wranglers that is going to need to step up his game and lead the Turku offense to victory. In the second round of the draft the Outlaws added six players in a row to strengthen their squad some more. Players like Dexter Morgan, Mikael Svensson and Kristoffer Ruud were added to the lineup. Due to the enormous amount of draft picks the Outlaws managed to put a more than average squad on the ice. This was a setback for some of their prospects who were looking for more playing time. John McBride knew there was only one thing to do; he needed to find a place for the active player to grow into a role where he has to carry his team on his back. Percy Miller was traded to Moscow for two third round picks, not too bad for a selection that they only paid a fourth round pick for. Next to adding players by drafting them, they also managed to snag Vincenzo Valentini from the Bratislava Watchmen. Valentini came from a cup winning team so he has the needed experience to guide Turku into the future.

 

It looks like McBride is building a solid team and despite the results early in the season it could be a team that grows while the season passes. If all their players stay active and keep updating, the Outlaws might be causing an upset later this season, consider them as one of the outsiders for the championship this year.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 27:

 

Yu Kon Do It

Rushing towards another championship.

 

Expansion teams are usually not the teams that compete right off the bat; in the VHLM there was an exception to that rule, the Yukon Rush. Straight after their entry in the league they managed to win their first championship.

After two seasons of not winning anything, it was time for their second title. The two years of silence are past behind them again and if the same structure will be followed it should mean that the Yukon Rush win their third title in only their seventh season in the league. The expansion teams have made it a habit to take atleast one title every three seasons, the European expansion team Bratislava Watchmen started with two seasons of nothing before their first cup and after another two years they got their second title last season, leaving only 1 title for the pre-expansion teams every three years if this cycle continues.

In order of it to continue the Rush fans are counting on General Manager Austin Gow to lead this team to victory. He has put together the best possible squad he could. In net he has the future of the Helsinki Titans: Kimmo Salo. Salo is one of the two best goalies in the league right now, sharing this honor with Blaine Olynick.  Due to goalies being scarce at the moment they used their first overall pick in order to select him and this has been a vital decision for the Rush. It looks like the team has a perfect mix of routine and talent. Currently leading the team in points is VHLM veteran Jeevan Samuelsson. The career VHLM player has been a wrecking ball in the league and year after year he is on the ballot for several awards, despite not showing up to practices. While being in the last years of his careers he hopes to add atleast one more championship to his resume. On the other hand the Rush also has talented rookies, take the new Russian phenomenal player Konstantin Azhischenkov. Last year he was a big unknown in the league, but his skills were noticed by many and he ended up being drafted as a top 5 pick into the VHL. This year he will join the Yukon Rush to center their first line. On this line he is partnered with Queen Latifa, who the Rush acquired for last year’s playoff push and Bennett Wahl, a Toronto Legion prospect.

 

 

The depth continues as on the second line we find the before mentioned Jeevan Samuelsson who has another top 10 pick on his side in Lars Strummer and last seasons cup winner Kai Randal on their left side. Randal has also broke the 100 training hours now and is finally looking to become the player he could become. For defense we can see a similar situation, the top 4 here is also pretty stacked. Triton Jackson of the Vasteras Iron Eagles is not deemed VHL ready yet and he is the leader of this defensive corpse and a mentor for Don Draper who was a recent entry in the league and managed to get picked in the top 10 of the VHLM draft. Seattle prospect Gabrial Johnson is standing still in his development but still remains an excellent defender for a VHLM team, he is paired together with Frédérik Ernst, a natural born center who is being used as defenseman.

 

 

The Rush started the season with a false start against the Moscow Red Wolves. Losing a game versus a team that will likely miss the playoffs was something that woke them up. They realized that they had to focus in order to go for their third cup in franchise history. The wake up call did help because at the moment of writing the Yukon Rush are on a 16 game winning streak, not losing a single game after that one loss.

 

 

We believe the Yukon Rush can indeed do it to keep the circle of expansion team victories alive. It is going to be interesting to see which team can try to stop them, despite the odds, the best team does not always win so it is going to be a nice battle until the end.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 28:

 

Percy Miller: The New Bad Boy of Hockey

 

“If you having hockey problems I feel bad for you son, I’ve got 99 problems but my attitude ain’t one.” This might just be one of the quotes coming out of Percy Millers mouth. Upon his entry in the VHLM he has made quite an appearance and he has made sure people would not forget about him easily. While he joined in the end of a season things took a while before he could get started. A long week without training, practices or any action in general for a new recruit he was bored very fast. This boredom caused for him to start his own revolution; one dedicated to make the league better for new members. While his methods might be questioned by many, for a bad boy he had his heart on the right spot. He cared about the future of the league.  

 

While trying to get to know more about the upcoming events he got into an argument with Slaeter Fjorsstrom in his first week in the league, name calling happened but it all sorted out in the end. Later he launched a full out assault on the people with a job in the league about not getting the updated attributes in the sim, a thing which putted him at the same level as the CPU players on the teams. While he already had achieved some points, he wanted to be sure to reap the benefits out of it and actually perform on the ice. Loads of arguments ensured and people were afraid things would really escalate at a point, but the players were indeed updated: the Percy Miller effect had happened.

 

It wasn’t the last time that Percy Miller made it to the national media, so in a way, he is promoting the VHLM; a league that doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. After being drafted by the Turku Outlaws he was found only playing around eight minutes a night on a stacked Turku team. While he could have settled for a minor role and try to help Turku win the title as a depth player, he wanted to be in the spotlights and there for he requested a trade so he would get more minutes (and a bigger chance to play himself in the spotlight for awards and a rising draft stock). He was traded to the Moscow Red Wolves, a team which is basically out of play-off contention and is sitting at the bottom of the European Conference. For Miller personally the move was a very welcomed one and despite being on a losing team he is showing some great hockey skills to the world. After three games without a point for Turku he has developed himself in a point per game player for the Red Wolves. Scoring 46 points in 40 games he has been a welcome addition to the struggling Moscow squad.

 

While his attitude might be questioned by some and he might be a player that you need to handle with your gloves on. Percy Miller is certainly showing signs of developing in a great player in the VHLM. Look for him to blow up next year while he will try to get himself ready to play in the VHL. It’s a long road to glory, but a bad boy like him will find a way to fight himself through for honor and victory.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 29:
The Rise And Rise of Don Draper

 

The last time we had two first time players took the league by storm were when Ethan Osborne in Season 30 and Remy LeBeau in Season 31 entered the VHL. Ever since there have been great players; but none with the work ethic these two showed. On the first generation all-time rankings they quickly rose to being the numbers one and two on the list with both surpassing Daniel Braxton this season.

 

It is almost a decade ago that these two entered the league and ever since the league has been looking for great players to start their careers in the Victory Hockey League. Anatoli Zhumbayev was the only one so far who got close to the two superstars. Last season we had Konstantin Azhishchenkov and now there is another first generation player who could be a potential suitor to be labeled as the next superstar: Don Draper.

 

Little was known about Draper the second he entered the league, yet he was surrounded by a big buzz. Everywhere he entered it felt like he had hordes of screaming girls behind him.  The road to success did not come easy for Draper, between practices and games he also had to suit up for work in order to being able to pay for his expenses. After two years of working hard while playing in the juniors he decided to make the jump to professional hockey and he signed up for the VHLM draft.

 

He was a self-made man entering the world of hockey and while he had less practice hours then others, he was selected early in the draft by the Yukon Rush, 10th overall, way before players that were way more known as Leo Tesla for example. With the Yukon Rush Draper was partnered with the before mentioned Azhishchenkov giving the team two of the most talented new players.

Being on a talented team certainly has done Draper good, while he  can rely on players like Kimmo Salo and Triton Jackson around him on the defensive side of the ice he can also focus on the off-ice business. Draper is trying his hardest to get his name known around the VHL and is looking to see where he can make a good addition for the league in terms of the job department. Whether it is as a manager or as a cover artist for the magazine, Draper shows he is not too lazy to work and he is on the verge of breaking through towards the VHL.

 

While he likely will have one more season in the VHL, people are expecting him to be an early selection in the S38 draft of the Victory Hockey League. Everybody seems to be wanting a piece of Draper and with his work ethic this is something that only will get worse as time goes by. Even team night’s out at the bar do not seem to be hurting his draft stock, the mad men of Yukon will not be held back by anyone but himself. He is rising on the draft rankings, and he will keep on rising over those with higher practice hours. It isn’t all about current skill but also long term potential and for Draper, this seems to be uncapped.

 

The rise of Don Draper has started and it looks unstoppable for the Yukon Rush defenseman. He truly proven to be an excellent selection by general manager Austin Gow.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 30:

World Peace En Route To Cologne

 

It only has been a short while ago when people thought Ron World Peace would never make it to the VHL. Shortly after reaching a hundred practice hours, World Peace was giving signs to the media that he was thinking off quitting. The sport might have been too hard for him to continue and the towel was almost thrown; it seemed like he was done. A few weeks later it seems like a world of difference, World Peace is now lighting up the VHLM and has already gotten the call from the Cologne Express that he is expected to suit up for them during Season 38.

 

World Peace has been exceptional this season and he has the third most goals in the league; the most for defenseman. With assists it's even better since here he has the second most in the league, behind David Januzaj who has the most points in the VHLM. While he has registered 185 points so far it does not come as a surprise this will be the last season he will play in the league. With his impressive point totals he almost surpassed the two points per period of ice time. When you realize he also has the most penalty minutes in the league (which is weird if your name is World Peace) then you can only wonder what would have happened if he had not been in the box so far, he could have definitely put up a challenge to compete with Januzaj.

Also on the defensive side of the game World Peace is making a name for himself, while being in the top 10 for shots blocked, he is also leading the league in the hits department, where he is going head-to-head with Penis Hudson. All of these achievements have been made without even being in the top 10 of minutes played in the league, this shows how much of a stud World Peace has proven to be. Who would have expected this from a guy who had his draft stock fall like a brick on draft day, where he ended up going 12th overall, some managers should be wondering how they managed to miss out on him after he was a top 5 prospect for most of his rookie season in the VHLM.

 

The last to laugh is World Peace though, as with being a late selection his team also had the chance to pick up players like Blaine Olynick to replace Evgeni Chekhov and other talent Lars Strummer, who might be just over the training requirement for the VHL as well.

 

Cologne picked up a nice core of youth for the future and have some more picks to add more talent in the upcoming draft to get a support cast around World Peace. If he continues to develop, he might be the next big guy in Cologne. They won't have to worry about his loyalty as Ron does look happy with the Express and this might be the biggest reason why he has stepped up his game.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 31:

 

Rewards for your performance.

 

The regular VHLM season has ended and the playoffs have started. An exciting time for the players that made it so far, but for others it was an early end to the season. What all players do have in common though is a reward for their performance during the regular season. This performance bonus is called the achievement tracker and is only available for VHLM players.

 

 

The VHLM Achievement Tracker was brought to life to give the prospects in the league a chance to play catch-up with the VHL players to decrease the difference in TPE between them. While it is limited to 20 points per season, they get a nice boost for it to improve their chances to make it to the VHL. In order to be eligible for this performance bonus you do need to be active though. Active enough to make a claim of your own in the designated forum topic. When you have not done this yet it might be wise to get it in as soon as possible, as it only lasts until the end of the VHL Playoffs.

 

 

How does the achievement tracker exactly work? Each position has their own set of rules of how your performance is judged. As goalie you don’t have to worry about what is your best choice since you automatically qualify for all categories in order to get your points.  After you put in your name in the thread, you will get 1 TPE per 5 wins, 5 TPE if you started 40 games, 5 TPE if your save percentage is above .900 (and 2 TPE if you are below that) and 3 TPE per shutout. This counts until a maximum of 20 points.

 

 

When you are a defenseman or a forward, you have to check for yourself what choices would be best. When looking at the defensive stats you get 1 TPE per 5 goals, 1 TPE per 10 assists, 1 TPE per 7 points, 1 TPE per 30 hits,  1 TPE per 20 blocks, 1 TPE per 6 plus/minus rating and 2 TPE per  fight.

 

When we look at the possibilities for Triton Jackson you notice the following options:

 

Goals: 24 (4 TPE)
Assists: 70 (7 TPE)
Points: 94 (13 TPE)
Hits: 165 (5 TPE)
Shots Blocked: 98 (4 TPE)
Plus/Minus: 96 (16 TPE)
Fights: 0 (0 TPE)

 

 

As you can see he had a great season and it is easy for him to get the maximum of 20 points, by selecting his best options plus/minus and points he ends up on 29 TPE on total; which is automatically the maximum of 20 TPE he would gain.

For forwards the ratings are slightly different. Due to usually being on the score sheet more (while defenseman like World Peace and Januzaj dominated the league this year) there is a harsher way of judging the forwards. They get 1 TPE per 10 goals, 1 TPE per 12 assists, 1 TPE 10 for points, 1 TPE for 30 hits, 1 TPE for 15 Shot Blocks, 1 TPE per 6 plus/minus rating and also 2 TPE per fight.

 

To give a comparison of how a forward would have to choice we take a look at Jakub Linholm of the Minot Gladiators.

 

Goals: 63 (6 TPE)
Assists: 66 (5 TPE)
Points: 129 (12 TPE)
Hits: 97 (3 TPE)
Shots Blocked: 24 (1 TPE)
Plus/Minus: 39 (6 TPE)
Fights: 1 (2 TPE)

While scoring more points during the season, you see Linholm won’t be able to get the maximum like Jackson did. In his case he selects points and one of plus/minus of goals for an acceptable total of 18 TPE he would gain. Seeing it is free TPE for every S38 or earlier draftee in the VHLM, you would miss out on a chance of acquiring these points. If you have not done it yet you and are not sure what to do, feel free to ask others to help out before this opportunity goes to waste.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 32:

 

Two in a row for Randal?
 

It has happened before that there are players that win multiple cups in a row; usually however it happens because there is a team that dominates for multiple seasons. Not this year though; the Yukon Rush are currently heading into the cup finals after defeating the Minot Gladiators in a four game sweep (right after the Gladiators performed a sweep of their own in the round before).

 

One player on their roster is looking forward to the finals a lot. He knows what it is like to hold that VHLM cup above your head and scream your lungs out of enjoyment. His name is Kai Randal, left winger of the Yukon Rush and prospect of the Cologne Express. Last season Randal was part of another unstoppable team, the Bratislava Watchmen had players like Fjorstrom and Brookside on the roster went to win the cup after beating the Yukon Rush in six games. The same Yukon Rush that now is in the finals again with Kai Randal on their side. His former team is nowhere to be seen, so he will most likely be one of the few players on the roster to have a shot at a second cup in just as many seasons.

 

Kai Randal is slowly developing and at his current pace he might have one more season to go in the VHLM before getting the call. In Season 36 he was good for 37 points in 72 games for the Watchmen. After he won the cup and got traded to the Rush he developed himself into a first line player for the Rush. Last season he managed to almost improve himself to a point per game to nearly double his old point total. While he is nowhere near the point total of his line mate Johan Hallstrom he showed signs that he was willing to learn and he will get closer to the VHL if he keeps up the good work. Next season he is expected to take on a leading role for the team to become a mentor for the new draftees. His work ethic on the ice is great, however it could be a lot better if he would attend all the practice events. He is one of the players that had his stock drop on draft day last year falling into the laps of the Cologne Express who picked up other talented players as well.

 

It is a slow way to the top for Randal, but not one he will complain about. His time in the VHLM is currently treading him very well with a chance for a second cup in a row. Two cups in two years would be a great start of his hockey career, since people seem to forget at times that Randal hasn’t even been skating for that long. The Asian player is already becoming a star in his whole continent, since there are not many hockey players around he is reaching worldwide fame without even having played a single minute on the highest level. We can’t predict what will happen if Randal will indeed lift his second cup over his head, but we do expect a lot of jersey sales for the Yukon Rush out of Asia.

 

We hope to see a lot more of Randal over the years and let’s hope he will indeed make the step into the big leagues soon. A second cup in the VHLM sounds great, but he still should be aiming a bit higher. And let’s be honest here, there won’t be much better than to see him win the first Continental Cup in history of the Cologne Express once he got the call up.

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 33:

 

Travis Boychuk - The Hope of a Nation

 

Travis Boychuck will likely make the roster of the Calgary Wranglers next season. After being selected in last year's VHL Draft their management believes he has made sufficient progress to help out the Wranglers put a better record in the books as last season. Travis Boychuck is a man with a mission, in a time of crisis in his country about possession of certain territories he wants to put a smile on the faces of his fellow Ukrainians and moving to the VHL will be a large part of that.

 

While hockey might not be the greatest sport in Ukraine (soccer is currently) it is still an important part of their daily lives and they do take great pride in their countries success. So they were already proud of him when he made it to the VHLM playoffs with his team, the Turku Outlaws. Unfortunately after winning in the first round versus the Bratislava Watchmen in five games they got outclassed by the Bern Royals who were the best team in the European conference this year.

 

While Turku has a good chance to build on this success for a shot at the cup next year it might be without Boychuck as he is nearing the maximum allowed training to remain in the VHLM. The rumor has made sure that there are many of his countryman are planning a trip to Calgary next season to see him in action; although it is more likely that most of them will visit Riga when the Wranglers pay them a visit. Expect a lot of blue and yellow in these stadiums as Boychuck is export product number one when it comes to hockey.

 

In the playoffs Travis was good for a single goal and nine more assists in the 11 games that Turku played. Unfortunately for them a worse performance (all be it against better teams) then the regular season where he managed to score more as a point per game. A true playmaking center usually thrives from having a scoring winner but unfortunately that was just what his team lacked. The three top point getters of his team all were defenseman. Svoboda, Vlasis and Wylde all outscored Boychuck by a wide margin.

In Calgary however it looks like he has to become the weapon of mass destruction to get his team some wins. While they have a solid goalie prospect in Martin Brookside; they lack the depth in great players and Boychuck has to be the spark that ignites the lesser skilled players around him. Hopefully for him the Wranglers might be able to get a scoring winner in the draft like Bruno Wolf, since they really need that extra firepower in their strides to become a powerhouse once again.

 

Travis Boychuck might have gone under the radar for many, but he is set on making his country pride and make them forget (even if it's only for a short second) about all the misery that is going on right now. 

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Edition 34: The Eight Virtues Of Yamazaki

 

 

The Eight Virtues Of Yamazaki

 

The Victory Hockey League is not a new place for players whose origin lies outside of the usual hockey countries; most recently we have seen the resurgence of Asian players like Xin Xie Xiao and Keji Toriyama. Great players, but with the recent discovery of Koji Yamazaki there might have been a discovery of one of the greatest talents of his era. Yamazaki is definitely not your average hockey player and leads a very disciplined life. No partying or getting wasted at college, but he lives his life according to the eight virtues of Bushido; the samurai code.

 

The virtues are justice, courage, mercy, politeness, honesty, honor, loyalty and self-control and are exactly the points that will make sure Koji can make the transition to hockey player. When Koji was still in his early days he saw hockey on TV and was fascinated by the whole ‘soccer on ice’ concept and that checking and fighting were an actual part of the game. Intrigued by the concept he set himself the goal of learning this game himself and be part of his country’s greatest players. Yamazaki can be considered a punctual player, he will never miss a training or a deadline. The Japanese have a fear of running late and that makes him very wary of anything that could go wrong.

 

With the help of Bushido he can make sure he will achieve his goal. Those who do great things will eventually be rewarded for it. To serve justice is one of the important factors for Yamazaki. He also shows great courage when he is on the ice. He will go after every puck in every corner, with or without an opponent nearby, he knows he has to reach the puck first to hold possession for his team. Although when he does arrive late and hits a guy into the boards, he will show mercy afterward and help him up. There is no need to hit an opponent when he is already down. When it comes down to his ways of communication he believes that he will get the most done if he remains polite. Politeness towards the referees, his teammates, his opponents and his coaches make him a player who people love to see on the ice. Due to him being so polite, they also believe every word he says. If a bad call is made on the ice, he makes sure he says the truth about the actions even if it would hurt his team. This does not make him a bad teammate, as he is just following his samurai code. He plays for honor,  but not just for himself; he mostly honors the logo up front. He knows how big of an impact the game of hockey has around the world and he is honored to be able to represent one of the greatest teams.

 

The last two of the virtues who remained unnamed were loyalty and self-control. Due to his self control he will be a likely competitor to a most sportsmanship award in the future. You will not catch him dropping the gloves when he is taunted by an opponent. He loves to fight but he saves his fight for when he trains in his dojo. The last remaining virtue is the one that will sound like an angel singing for the ears of the general managers. Due to him following the code he has spoken the intention of becoming a part of a franchise for as long as his services are required. The code will be honored by Koji Yamazaki and therefore we feel like he is one of the greatest things that came out of Asia since a long time.

 

 

 

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]

Opening Day

 

Last season the Bern Royals fell short in the finals versus the Yukon Rush. For the Rush it was their third title in their seven years of existence. The Bern Franchise on the other hand is already waiting since Season 20 to get another cup. After losing Blaine Olynick to the Cologne Express they are having problems in net again for this season, most likely destroying their chances to get towards their desire to win a cup. They added players like Aaron Hartley, Alex Vaklav and Jordan Cousins through the later rounds of the draft. Despite the fact that they might not have an actually goalie at the moment they did get the honor of opening this year’s VHLM season. They did so in a visit to the Saskatoon Wild.

 

The Saskatoon Wild was more successful in the draft. They managed to acquire the talents of Mikkel Boomgaarden and Light Bokan early in the draft, long  before the Royals were on the board due to the trading away of their picks. Boomgaarden is the highest touted prospect on their roster and is one of the leading candidates to go first overall in the next VHL season. He does have fierce competition there with it being a deep draft class.

 

But enough introduction, let’s check in what we all came to read about, the opening of the VHLM season. The Bern Royals are first on the ice and the player to watch this season will definitely be Azi Ali for them. The player has already announced this will be his last VHLM season and that he will be looking into moving to the big leagues after the season.  While the Royals are shooting at their unknown goalie as a warm up, the announcement comes that the home team, the Saskatoon Wild are coming on the ice.

 

The crowd goes into a deep roar, as if it was full of savage creatures on the stands. The time they had waited for a long time is finally there, the opening of Season 38. The big names for Saskatoon this year will definitely be Mikkel Boomgaarden and Lights Bokan, the defensive duo of the Wild. But they also have acquired the rights to Devin Sundberg, although he was not yet eligible for the opening game.

 

The game turned out to be a great show for both sides. The Bern Royals showed that they have not yet forgotten last season and they made sure they were on their best offensive game. This resulted in a total of 20 shots during the first period. Alex Vaklav also showed his skills when he netted a pass of Rocky West, giving the Royals a 1-0 lead. The Wild only needed about thirty seconds to respond when the Unknown Player defeated the Unknown Goalie. While the Wild were hardly on the offense with just eight shots total in the first period they still managed to grab the lead when Lights Bokan scored his first goal of the season on the power play. The Royals’ Kristian Stormborn made sure they could rest up while it was an equal game.

In the second period it was more of the same. Bern dominated offensively (shot totals 17-9) and scored twice. Another goal for Kristian Stormborn and also the first one for Henrik Hedman. Feel good story of the night would be for the Unknown Players of the Saskatoon Wild though, as they scored another two goals. Nobody knows who they are, but they sure put themselves in the spotlight tonight.

 

In the third period both teams unleashed the most shots of their evenings, Wild had a total of 12 shots while the Royals got to 26. It turned out this would be the lowest scoring period of the evening though, with both just getting one goal. The Royals celebrated an early goal by Kristian Stormborn who got his hat trick while Mikkel Boomgaarden also got his first goal to get the teams at five each. In overtime there were no goals so the crowd got the ending they were hoping for; a penalty shootout.

While Azi Ali missed the first chance for the Royals the Wild made sure they did get on the board with their first attempt. Tobias Funke buried it behind the Bern goaltender. In order to stay in the game the Royals relied on Earl Parker to tied up the game. From the six penalty shots that followed none went in. On the tenth penalty shot of the evening it was Mikkel Boomgaarden who justified his drafting position as he scored the final goal of the evening, giving the Saskatoon Wild a shock defeat over the Bern Royals.

 

The crowd got a great first game of the season, this will proof to be an entertaining season in the VHLM. It will be exciting to follow, so tune back to the VHLM Magazine for all VHLM related information during the season.