The Devise Device

[Devise 4,475]

The Devise Device

 

Alright, welcome to first ever edition of The Devise Device. There has been some speculation as to exactly how this article would go, and we'll get into that. But first I'd like to thank the one and only JardyB10, the VHL's best and first-most drunken Saskatchewan simmer. There was some excellent suggestions, but history for the man who named the Pajodcast won out in the end. So how this will go, and continue to go on a weekly basis is I'll be highlighting a talking point suggestion that I receive, and covering that in a bit more detail. I'll follow that by answering five questions chosen at random out of my pool of straight up basic questions. I'll draw them and have them marked on a spreadsheet. Don't worry if your questions do not get covered in this edition, the pool stays filled up with any unused questions, so there is a very high chance I'll get to all your questions eventually. 

 

Talking Point: Make The VHL Exciting?

Do you have any ideas on how to make the VHL exciting? I don't want to come on here if it's the same old shit like posting a sig, doing a 590 and then update. Wash, rinse, repeat. Where's the threads/games/ideas to make the VHL fun and a real time killer? I don't have any great answers(I never do) but making the VHL an entertainment hub and not just a hockey sim would be a great retention and even recruitment tool. I'm tired so my opinions are probably mildly retarded. I also just listened to the latest pajodcast and agree that those who write should be given the same opportunities and encouragement to express themselves just as much as the GFX guys. I for one enjoy reading great content just as much as viewing great GFX submissions and would love to see more writers here submitting things.

I am enjoying my little player break and while I'm obviously still active here and in a couple of LR's, I'll most likely create a new player in the near future. I've been in sim leagues for an incredibly long time and while I think those members who build good-great players via welfare should be commended, it's not something I am willing to do. I have always strived to make elite players and will continue to do so if I am bothering to have an active player. Maybe that's a mistake on my part but despite the possibility of burning out again, I'll be trying to earn every last scrap of available TPE in order to build the most talented player I possibly can. I know you have recommended otherwise in our brief discussions, but I just can't take that route.

 

 Good luck with the new article and I look forward to reading what both yourself and all contributors have to say.

 

Sent By BOOM

 

Thanks for some of your thoughts on this BOOM. I certainly think there has been a growing amount of people who are starting to feel more and more burnt out on the league. I think a lack of excitement plays a factor, as well as often a lack of "fresh" things going on. I think it's honestly a very tough thing to do, because we have existed so long as a league because we are very vigilant about our changes. That is to say, even when we do make league changes we often spend a decent amount of time debating and considering them. We also aren't hesitant to get rid of changes we have made if they aren't working out as intended. See the Super Cup. Which for the record, I was in favor of shelving. It's just one of those things. If you have too much new all the time, a core member base likely will feel too alienated to stick things out. The simple and familiar can be really helpful when you are on limited time, because you don't have to sit down and really think or learn how to engage with the site. It's, as you stated, I know what a media spot is, I know how to update and claim, I know how to post training camp. As much of a grind the whole package turns into, it's how familiar we are with these systems and how easy they are to use that keep us coming back. Getting the most out of your time investment has been a fundamental part of our league for a long time. 

 

That said, there has certainly been a capacity to rely too hard on those principles to our part. We don't want too much constant change in fear of disrupting the league, so sometimes we often leave things the same to the point that they become stagnant. I think it's why now your seeing things like Project Two, like Update Scale changes. There was a sense in the BoG and among the Blue Team that we recognized there was a lack of new things going on to keep people engaged while they were showing up to do the usual things. For me the one thing I felt we always lacked has been focus. Especially as it relates to doing things around the board. We are very individually driven as a league. Sure we are individually driven in groups, but so much in terms of league work and engagement stems from a single person doing something. The Magazine is probably the best example of a community driven project, and it's probably one of our most successful elements. It brings a host of graphics and writing people together and lets them all collaborate and work together on a project. Because of that it's been allowed to exist and remain a staple of our league for a long time. People are willing to step up to the plate and keep it going. Even recently with the whisper of STZ stepping down and being hard on writers, multiple people expressed interest. 

 

So in that regard I think we need to start focusing more in that direction. More community projects, things don't always have to be hockey or league based. Sure throw the odd TPE or other applicable reward in there when it needs to be had. But so many of us on here share other common interests, whether it be gaming, movies, shows, books, various other sports. Sadly as I mentioned so much of this stuff initiates on a individual level, until someone gets the time/motivation to organize this stuff properly, it's hard for it to pick up any steam. Even things that do get organized such as VWF or graphics tournaments often run out of steam, or the person running them lets them fall by the wayside. It's this type of stuff I think that if we came together around a bit more as a community, and were willing to step in when other people have certain time commitments etc would freshen things up. However I think that is why the VHL should step in on a more official capacity with some of this stuff. You saw VWF get it's own forum section, that was a good example. But I do think even a throwaway couple of TPE, some player store cash or other small things could get more bodies involved in some of our side projects, which I think would make things more exciting. 

 

Are you Denise, Devise, or Mr. Power? its confusing (TheBreadMan)

 

My real name is Ryan David Power. I started on this site as Devise22, as Devise was a long time internet handle of mine. I don't even remember how I started getting called Denise, associated with Kendrick in some fashion. I changed my username to Mr. Power because I have been over the "I'm cool I use an internet handle" for ages. However I decided to switch back to Devise (for now) due to the fact that I'm going hard with two players again and wanted to kind of embody that persona a bit more. It's why I've been so engaged, posting a lot more, etc. But after these two players are done I'll probably go back to Mr. Power and stay that way while I build pseudo welfare/expirement players if I stick around. 

 

When making a player, what kind of things do you do before deciding what you want to make? (DaTrifecta)

 

Player making for me often comes at some of the most random times. I usually start thinking about the next player I'm going to make two to three seasons into my original players career. That got changed a bit with the recent Project Two, mostly because I had envisioned making Verner my player. Then Project Two came in, I became GM and realized I could make Verner as my second player and get the goalie for my team. But it all starts with the story for me. Who is this player? What position does he play? Why? I then start building a player build from that. Obviously with our limited options you can only do so much. From there I have always tried to let the narrative be defined by a combination of the story and player I built mixed in with the real, aka the stats and how the player does. In the case of most of my players, often the narrative gets formed by their struggles. See: Laich, Logan. But usually the inspiration of what I'm going to build comes from some hockey player I like or find fascinating. 

 

What sort of questions and comments do you want for this particular piece? (Yes this is a question for your piece, about your piece.) (JardyB10)

 

I'm open to any comments and questions. I got a couple of talking points in and a bunch of questions already, and I'd like to keep feeling it up to keep answering five questions an article. I'll be leaving a list of the number of questions still in the vault at the end. In terms of the types, as I mentioned go nuts. I'll answer personal things and if I'm not too comfortable answering it I'll answer around it ha. The idea is the piece is about feedback and engagement with all the readers/members on the site that want to get involved. I wanted to use the talking point segment to either highlight a members thoughts directly, such as I did this week, or highlight content on the site. My added feedback is just more to try to keep the discussion churning around some of the things people think about the site. But questions can be league related, personal, a question your just randomly curious about. Whatever, if it gets drawn it'll get answered!

 

If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be? (JerichoHombre)

 

Really Hombre? Am I in your world now essay? Anyway, the wonderfully majestic evergreen would be the obvious answer to this question. It grows in winter climates and can become needlessly tall and long, like my paragraphs of text. 

 

Seeing teams like Bratislava having all cpu players seems ridiculous. Could active members be allowed to create a career VHLM player that is capped but never allowed to graduate to the VHL? (HFD)

 

Technically, you could already create a career VHLM player, and I think you'll begin to see a bit more of that happening provided the VHLM stays the same. While I agree that having all CPU players sucks, it's sadly a reality of a smaller league like ours with a divided user base. I have thoughts on that I'll likely save for other editions. However in this specific instance, because Project Two is a thing, people are free to create a scrub second player if they wished, who provided they stopped earning TPE would stay in the VHLM for a career if they wished. 

 

The Current Question Pool: 8 

 

Alright that is it for this weeks edition. I hope you all enjoyed it, and as usual keep sending in thoughts and questions. Like please, I'll keep tagging people if I have to but this piece is all made possible because of you guys and I appreciate it. This is Denise signing off till next week.....

 

 

 

*For Edition 321*

Edited March 1, 2017 by Devise

[STZ 5,288]

Whispers of me stepping down? Sources pls.

[STZ 5,288]

By the way, this was like three pages worth of content. Thanks, but keep that in mind, and don't burn yourself out

[Devise 4,475]

The Devise Device

 

Welcome to another edition of The Devise Device. As per usual this is me talking some of your feedback and thoughts on a weekly basis, and turning that into a talking point. I'll then follow it up by answering three of your guys questions drawn at random. Yes I switched it to three to help keep this article a little more manageable in length. Anyway let's get right into it. 

 

Talking Point: Regular Season Woes?

Regular season sucks. Discuss

Sent By TheBreadMan 

 

Wanted to talk a look at a suggestion from TheBreadMan as despite his recent retirements and how to the point his message is, I think there is something here to talk about. While I don't think I would boil it right down to "the regular season sucks." I feel like that is probably a bit too harsh, especially when you consider we have throughout history had some good regular season battles, whether they be team or individual awards based. We've seen interesting narrative come out of the regular season. So to say it completely sucks without question is going too far. But it's not great either. The majority of the memorable moments I previously mentioned happen in spurts. It really depends on how the pendulum is swinging in regards to competitiveness among teams, where the player pool is at and how balanced that is in terms of position. Even players who try to stat pad on weak teams don't always succeed like we see the Cologne team doing this season. But you can't manufacture memorable stories. I feel like that is probably my biggest issue with the SHL. It feels too forced, like they believe good sim moments happen because people get involved. Sure, they do, but sometimes your going to run into seasons in general where there is a level of predictability. Those lulls make the more shocking or interesting things mean more. And it's more reflective of real sport, as opposed to being a game. 

 

But I digress, the issue at hand here isn't whether or not we should try to manufacture more interesting things in the regular season, it's more how long our regular seasons are. There haven't been many VHL playoffs that haven't featured something exciting. Some surprise team does well, some surprise MVP contender, or even in the modern day teams redefining what we thought a dynasty was. But the regular season even when there is interesting things to talk about drags. Season 53 started officially on February 2nd. We are already a month past that, still have 16 games left which if my math is correct would leave us another week. So over a month per regular season, which doesn't even factor in playoffs and off-season into that. Playoffs can run you another two weeks, and off-season another two. Depending on how things run your talking about sometimes a close to two month turnaround between seasons. I can say that speeding up the regular season has certainly been something the BoG has discussed. It's also been discussed at other spots around the board. I think there is no doubt that it is a smart idea, but the question is how short? 

 

I have previously gone on record of saying that Jardy should just sim one or two more days worth of sims each day. Effectively doubling our speed. But the more I think about it, the more I think a structured, tiered schedule might be the best thing. I'm not implying targeting exact calendar dates for the starts and end of seasons in advance either. More so taking a look at how long we want seasons to run in general, and figure that out with our off-season. I realize the way we do it now allows us to be a bit more reactive, pending if we run into holidays or any other unforseen events. But I think that coming out and officially stating "This is how long regular seasons are" would only be in our benefit. In terms of what that number is, it probably should never be more than a calendar month. That is ultimately just too long for a regular season to continue going on. 

 

Thoughts on goalies in the VHL? Who do you think is most likely to become HoFers? Can include goalies who have yet to be drafted. (Phil)

 

The goalie position in the VHL is probably one of the more interesting stories going. After the era of Wingate an era in which even prominent forwards were more or less on a downswing one had to wonder what the landscape would look like in even 3-4 seasons. Right now it's pretty evident that the pendulum swung more towards forwards as the 40's came to an end. But as we move into the midpoint of the 50's that pendulum is going to swing again. We are going to have a lot of goalies in the VHL. Good ones too if people keep updating. I think Season 55 will be the first season if things keep pace where goalies really take control of the league. As for HoF I think Mist4ke, Holik, Degrath, Moon, even Edwin in Quebec. Despite him only playing back up, if he decides for the last seasons of his career to not play back up his stats may be so godly. I mean for him it'll come down to total games played, but who knows. That is on top of we have goalies coming up from the minors still yet like King. We could be seeing a string of HoF goalies coming on here honestly. 

 

What's your secret for GM'ing? Give the VHL some tips for those who may be interested in getting a job eventually. (Phil)

 

If I were to say I had any secret weapon when it came to GM'ing it would be being in the right place, at the right time. Honestly I truly believe that. I've gotten very lucky, and if you look at my GM record more deeply you'll notice I've also hidden from a lot of the fault that could of went on me. I won't try to take no credit for the work, as obviously I think I've made some key trades and free agent acquisitions but up until this recent New York rebuild I had a history of taking over clubs with enough players to make some noise. I'd then usually acquire talent around them and build winners that way. As for tips to future potential GM's the first tip is to have fun with it. Don't think of it as work. There are times with negotiations where thinks can get a bit stressful and times when your team or players under perform that can be frustrating. But don't let it cloud your judgement. There is a difference between reacting and overreacting for a reason. Lastly I'd say open communication with your team is always key. You don't have to go out of your way to be best friends with all your team, but member management, having that communication with your team can be crucial anywhere from getting good advice when needed or helping to get you free agents. A GM's greatest weapon isn't just himself but the reputation and identity he builds for his team. That can include and extend to the players and members on your team as well. 

 

Why did Draper change his name to not Draper? I don't like it. (TheBreadMan)

 

I honestly have no idea. I'm curious if his real name is actually Will, it may be. But perhaps while we knew him as Draper he was on a hard Mad Men kick and that was really influential to him at the time. Then, as all things do, eventually he had been done watching enough that identifying with Don Draper no longer became a priority of his. One will never know, as I've been told by VHL secret service that we may never directly ask Will about his username change. Sorry.

 

The Current Question Pool: 5 

 

That is it for this week, as usual Question, Talking Points send em to me. I like a full PM inbox. Especially as it relates to questions if you guys really throw a ton in there I won't have to ask for ages. See you next week. 

[Will 4,609]

8 minutes ago, Devise said:

I'm curious if his real name is actually Will, it may be.

 

It is  

[STZ 5,288]

Thanks @Devise love this article series.

[Devise 4,475]

The Devise Device

 

Welcome to edition three of The Devise Device. As usual I'm Denise, or is it Mr. Power I can't actually remember anymore. I should change my username every other week like Trifecta and the rest of the alternative member elitist youth. Sorry I just hate username changes, at least on that frequent of a basis haha. Anyway let's dig into we have a great talking point to cover this week. 

 

Talking Point: The Impact The PT System Has on Retainment? 

Just an idea for you to touch on in the mag... point tasks as a whole in regards to member retainment and a response to this thread in general. Media Spots Outdated? (Check out Higgins poll and thread here)

Sent By Higgins

 

 This is a very interesting poll and subsequent thread that Higgins brought up several weeks ago. I encourage everyone to check it out, as I think there is certainly some contemplation that should be done on our Point Task system. 

 

I think you'd be hard pressed to argue against the complaint that our Point Task system lacks a flexibility that can and has hampered it's full time use. Obviously those who are for it will argue that welfare has put an impact on it, but welfare had to be instituted because of the lack of flexibility our PT system offers. Members who have less time, are less invested in certain aspects of the league, or simply don't have the creative or written drive to do the tasks that are designed around our PT system are many. 

 

Honestly I think part of this is how simplistic our system is. I recognize of course the value of simplicity as it relates to ease of use, but this goes just beyond being stale. The system isn't even designed to leverage or enhance the actual tasks that are built inside of it, maybe with the exception of Graphics but even then most of the community aspects of the graphic making happens in an entirely non PT section of the forum. Recognizing it's outdated is easy, but how do we change it? What do we add? What new tasks? 

 

I think that is part of our problem. We aren't going to invent some crazy new task idea that will suddenly storm the gates. There is nothing wrong with highlighting writing, photoshop, and podcasting skills. It's how we highlight them, how we reward them, and how that translate on the board that I think needs reevaluating. Consider that every PT that gets posted gets buried within a matter of weeks, even days sometimes. Burying that type of stuff I don't think helps get any traction in terms of feedback. Most PT's receive little views or replies. Even the ones that do often are a bit more click bait or involve drama around the boards. It just leads to more people purely engaging with the PT system as a means of earning extra points. Which leads to more meaningless PT's. Which leads to a lack of community around the system in general. Why go to that thread to dig for articles about mostly meaningless things posted just to gain points? 

 

I recognize changing our PT system is probably a great undertaking to some. But I don't think it needs to be that drastic. I think the first steps are probably just forum changes. I mean we should probably just have a Graphic, Writing and Podcast sections on the board. With PT's for those specific things being posted in there. This would also give us a place to have people archive all of their previous work so it's easier to dig up, and stuff isn't getting thrown around at random because of updaters claiming and any delayed feedback.

 

The next step I would say is to get rid of Media Spots all together. There should be two types of writing tasks. One that is free form rewarded soley based on word count as Higgins suggested. This writing should have no league topic requirement. Again, this is for the people who like to write. We've given them a section to post their works, we have welcomed their talents into our community so why not just let them write on our boards for X TPE? Obviously you have to cap it at a certain point, and you could easily put that at 6. The second writing task would be for people who aren't as interested in writing. The people who are doing it for points only. I'd say this should be themed weekly as well, and it can be anything from draft rankings to talk about all star etc. This stuff is obviously harsh league related, but the tasks would be more well defined than a media spot. Think how our Bio and Rookie Profile are defined. I remind everyone too the Bio and the RP are two of the things if you look that most members even new ones do. The theme tasks should certainly look to how specific those instructions are as inspiration. 

 

I've rambled on about this topic long enough, perhaps I'll get into it more but I think some league feedback on it all would be useful. The PT system for better or worse is what we've run for the leagues existence, so changing it will have consequences. But I think it's really tough to ignore how rigid it is. I think it would be safe to consider how something with a bit more options that also highlights our PT creators, writers, and artists has a better retainment impact than what we currently do. 

 

The fuck was up with that deadline deal? (Jericho)

 

Hahaha. Funny that this was the first question drawn. Despite all the talk that it was a pure joke trade, it wasn't. Again I knew there was a chance Robbie would waive even just to go to Cologne. But in reality it was a last minute decision that I thought created a decent spark of drama and interest. I'm just part of that camp that feels the VHL Trade Deadline sucks balls, and that we should allow teams an extra 10% cap saved if they do the deal on deadline day. 

 

If you could bring any member who is gone back, who would you pick and why? (Eaglesfan)

 

Honestly I miss the the rag tag group that I joined briefly on Quebec. We did just get Kyle back, but I mean the rest. Koradek, Squinty, Boragina. I also miss former magazine editors The Funks. All those members were such big deals in my day that seeing that the Pajodcast Crew have become the same equivalent in terms of "veteran" names kind of bums me out in a way. As for why I just think groups are nice. I know some like Kendrick don't like the "Kliq" aspects of it, but seeing a group of members who are friends all enjoy the league together is kind of what this whole thing is about isn't it?

 

What drives you to be a General Manager?  (Trifecta)

 

Multiple things. Another odd thing that this question was random drawn as I just made a post about some of this in the Backup Rule thread. When I first started out I just wanted to win a Championship for New York. They were the team that got me first invested in the league, our former GM at the time Streetlight had a bad luck string of finals appearances but no Cups. First I was going to rebuild NY, then we ended up competing. Ultimately we won in Season 32 and I immediately stepped down. It was honestly a bit too stressful for me at the time, and required a bit more commitment than I was ready for. 

 

My second tenure happened by accident, I would of been perfectly fine being a mentor and leader to Romanes in Cologne but he wanted to step down. So what motivated me then was just getting some wins and pushing that Cologne franchise to it's first cup. I was again blessed with a Cup win, but I again didn't have the real life time to commit to a long rebuild after my initial run. 

 

As for now, I kind of want to cross off my GM bucket list if you will. I want to try to repeat, and this season is going to play a big factor in that. I wanted to take a team with little players and build my own identity. Obviously this New York run has been that. But I also wanted to cultivate a great locker room of members and players for more than just a good couple season run. Which is where I'm currently at and will be probably until the end of Powers career. So to summarize I guess, for me it's about challenging yourself in the position. Don't focus on how much better you are than others, focus on what you would like to experience yourself as a GM, and go for it. It helps to have some sort of vision, but I think it's easy to assume your not qualified if your not overly confident in yourself for the role. Or that it's not for you because of that either. However I honestly didn't really feel confident in my GM abilities to after the Cologne win. Even if you have the mind for it, and the desire, the confidence to drive you forward I think just comes with time. So if any of you are interested in GMing I highly encourage it. Just take the plunge, learn, grow, and enjoy the role. 

 

The Current Question Pool: 13

 

There we are on another very long edition. I decided to keep the questions down to three per week allows me to limit them and keeps STZ from having too much content to edit. I'm down to my last talking point for next week though so I'd love to hear some more long form thoughts to generate a Talking Point on that. Thanks for reading see you next week! 

[Devise 4,475]

The Devise Device

 

Edition Four, you don't need me talking about what this is by now. You get it, you know it, let's do it. (I'm aware this entire sentence is unnecessary if I'm trying to send a message that I'm getting right to the point. But fuck you I like to type.)

 

Talking Point: JardyB10; The Man, The Myth, The Rig

Please write an exposé on JardyB12, include everything you know about him/her.

Gorlab

 

Gorlab wanted it, and so it shall be. Let me tell you all a tale of one of the strangest, drunkest, league officials I've ever known. He lives in a province covered in flat, that when you drive through it makes you want to rip your brain out at how boring it all is. Of course I'm talking about the "well loved" Saskatchewan. I'd love to tell you exactly where he lives in that province, but on top of all the names of places being stupid, I have no idea where he actually lives. He probably mentioned it and I can't recall. Don't believe the names are stupid?  Here is just a taste of some of the stupid names in that province in no ranking order. Adanac, which if you can't spot it is Canada spelt backwards. This pointless little hamlet has a recorded population of two people. Or how about the village population five titled Mantario. Yes, quite literally if you thought Ontario needed the word man in front of it. Even bigger cities, for example the largest city in the province Saskatoon is named after a useless berry. How irrelevant can we get? When people see Canadian stereotypes I blame Saskatchewan. 

 

But despite having been born in the most boring place in the Country, the myth of this legendary man somehow is covered in entertainment. I am of course talking about the one and only JardyB10. The man who upon me first entering the league immediately was responsible for me getting trolled. For those unfamiliar when I first joined the site back in Season 24, Jardy had made an announcement about a Triples Week. Being the newb that I was I of course asked if I was eligible to claim it. I believe the exact quote was something like "Am I eligible to claim? If so I claim." At the time, me still completely unaware there was a word filter on the word claim that changed it to say I like dicks. So my post read as "Am I eligible to I like dicks? If so I like dicks." That would go onto be featured in Jardy's signature for seasons to come. Cementing my place as biggest newb of all time. 

 

This is only one of the many stories I could tell about the best drunken simmer the VHL has ever known. If you've ever had the pleasure of listening to one of his infamous drivecasts, you'd be able to see some real footage of his life. I recall watching him do some sort of farming, although it was mostly driving to a place where he typed on some computers and adjusted some mixtures of stuff. And sat and picked up grain in another machine. I'd recommend checking some of them out if you can find them somewhere, they were rather fascinating. Another area to pay attention to for this man is the frequency for which he posts in the Drunk/High thread. It pretty much is the Jardy thread to a degree, as there was a stretch there where weekends consistently the man would be posting. However in the VHL we do not judge, as I can attest many of us have had weeks or months similar to Jardy in that respect. Let me see what else do I know about the man on a personal level? Oh right, his dog how could I forget about Marley. I don't recall how his we ever came to know of Marley, likely during a drive cast or some other associated event. Long story short, he has a dog named Marley who is dope. Enough said. 

 

But one of the things I have always loved about Jardy, is how when he decides to sit down and take the time he often even puts me to shame when it comes to a long ass post. There are times he feels it's time for him to speak a bit more seriously about something, and almost exclusively he always nails it right on the head. It reads very much like a member who pays attention to a lot going on around here, if he isn't always as vocal about it. For someone whose reputation as a "Admin" on the boards is probably a bit inflated, it's easy to forget that even despite simming work when push comes to shove there is no question that Jardy still has his eyes on what is going on around the league to some degree. 

 

You know that is probably the most fascinating thing about asking me to do this expose. How much it translates into me just talking about how much I know about this person. I mean I obviously know more about his VHL players. I could talk about CAL G, or his oft remembered center Naomi Young. However for Jardy what has always stood up more about him, is well him. Like a lot of members in this community we often look past each others players and look to each other as people. Even as it relates to sim results. Free agency feels more so like "would I fit in with this group of guys" than just "will my player." In many ways an exercise like this I think helps to remind me that the VHL is very much community driven. I could tell you countless things that have nothing to do with the VHL about a lot of members here, and I think that is probably something for us to be a bit proud about. As a final message on this expose and just for Jardy I'll say if you've read this far, pour yourself a drink and enjoy one in honor of one of the longest riggers we've ever known. *cheers* 

 

What is this article even about? (TheBreadman)

 

I probably should of pulled this question from the pool, but whatever. Obviously this was a question directed at the very first edition of this feature. Breadman was expressing his confusion about the format, as it was rather tough for me to explain fully, however a bit easier now that it's full in motion. Although some might say that it's never easy because I'm insanely complicating everything about everything in the VHL. Or nobody might say that. Why I am still talking about this question? Good question. 

 

Why don't you like to keep draft picks? (Trifecta)

 

Hmmm a wise guy eh? Alright then buster, I present the counter question of all questions. Why don't you like to keep players? (Insert gigantic drop the mic imagery here) 

 

Nah but for reals I only like to hold onto draft picks if I know I'm getting something of a sure thing. If you look at my draft record, for the most part your talking either first overall since I've been unfairly lucky, or early first rounders. There is the occasional later pick I've had, and drafted with. I'm not opposed to drafting either. It just depends on the markets. Ultimately I feel that too many GM's over value their own pieces in an effort to try to get the best price available. That strategy can and has worked. However if your team has needs the quicker you go out and get them the more confidence not only the rest of your team has, but also the rest of the league. I think that can play into free agency as well. Sadly picks are usually what it costs to get players from rebuilding teams. The "hockey deal" while it does happen once in a while in the VHL the cycle is more often bidding on players heading to you from rebuilding clubs and using your own draft as well as other trades and free agency to build your team. Lastly I'll say I'm simply more fond of more sure things. If I give up a 2nd for a 400 TPE player, and the person they draft with that second has the potential to be a 400 TPE player then I'm fine with that exchange. Your always taking a chance on a draft pick unless it's a member with enough history or a first gen who looks more like a sure thing. Where as no matter what that 400 TPE player you traded for does, you still get that 400 TPE out of them. 

I said lastly but I want to keep going so to properly finalize I'll say what I think is most important is having some sort of a plan. If your looking at drafting, and that plan involves a lot of what ifs when it comes to players, if your able to make trades to turn some of those what ifs into more sure things I don't see how that is ever a bad thing. Obviously the seasons of players and how many years you get all plays factors. And if your rebuilding or competing. But even as a rebuilding GM as I just went through my first instinct isn't to hang onto all my picks and just draft players. You could build a team that way, but your taking a lot of risks, and putting a lot of investment in a limited draft class at a time when competing teams can be more complete by relying on rookie salary benefits. Something most of us "savvy" GM's have been doing for ages now. 

 

Did you use my question about indian leg wrestling between Jericho and Advantage?  (Gorlab)

 

It has not been drawn yet. So I'll save the question for another edition to leave viewers in suspense. But in an effort to hype it without remaining spoiler free. The answers all seek are covered in doubt. The mere definitions of the contrasting undertones provides a real evolutionary perspective. It will take many eons to truly analyse the capacity, for good or bad of such implications. When I have arrived at an answer, when you know it....it will utterly shake the foundation of your very principles. Hell the core of the very earth we live on will feel it. Upon closer reflection, you'll find the very idea of "catching a fade" shattered, as you come to a harsh realization about it's existence in the first place. You have been warned.....

 

The Current Question Pool: 10

 

Another edition in the tank I appreciate the people who read and have enjoyed this. I still have a decent question pool but like always please keep sending them in. However I HAVE RUN OUT OF TALKING POINTS. SEND MORE YO! Okay that is hyperbole, I technically could come up with some subjects for me to talk about every week. But I genuinely enjoy the challenge of talking about subjects that you guys have on your mind, like truly. I would appreciate any more talking points send my way to bring that back up! Otherwise I'll see everyone again next week! Enjoy the playoffs all!

Edited March 20, 2017 by Devise

[STZ 5,288]

[Devise 4,475]

The Devise Device

 

Five time, five time, five time, five time...you get the picture from here.... Welcome to the fifth edition of the Devise Device, remember to tip your multi's well. 

 

Talking Point: GM Turmoil; Then, Now, Forever

4 GM changes have taken place recently: Davos, Toronto, Riga, Calgary. Were any of these big surprises for you, and who do you think the next to go will be? 

Will (AKA TheArtist Formerly Known As Draper AKA Actually Higgins)

 

We have certainly seen a good number of GM shake ups recently. Although I do kind of feel like that is always happening. It's no secret that the franchises that have the most consistent success have the least amount of GM turnover/turmoil. Teams that go in flux a lot especially if a GM is stepping down when the team isn't at a clearly defined point, can create just too much chaos. It isn't the issue of building a good team, it's building an identity and seeing that team through a peak or it's natural flow based on contracts, players, and overall assets. As a GM really when and how you leave a franchise can have an impact depending on where that franchise is. It's always a better transition if the team already has some clear cut direction. Such as ready to rebuild, or loaded with assets, or basically a contender. It's easier to take over and make sense of that situation. 

 

In regards to these recent step downs, I wasn't overly surprised by any single one of them. I'd say probably the most surprising was Gooning stepping down in Davos. He wasn't able to do much with that franchise, but it always felt like he was just getting started. I don't think he could commit the time that he wanted for it in the long haul, but I think he was the victim of a franchise that really needed a clearer direction than he was able to give it. Which is something I think Smarch is for sure going to be able to do taking over. However Gooning always had this sense that he was going to keep sticking it out, and honestly eventually figure it out. The skills and tools were there. So that is why I was a little surprised by his step down.

 

As for Riga and Calgary, I had insight into both of those step downs to a degree. Both those members were on my team, and I had the sense from talking with Toast that he was feeling burnt out, his life was getting busy and his activity was going down, and he as a member just won back to back Cups. Including his first as GM with Riga in one of those seasons. Him stepping down pretty much came at a right time, and he was able to leave with dignity. So it just made sense. Where as with Pablo, I had talked with him literally days before and he was going through some of his issues. I knew it was only a matter of time until he stepped down, even though I tried my best to encourage him to stick on. But ultimately it's a confidence thing, and as much as I believe that Kesler has the tools to be a good GM in this league, he feared that the hole was too deep for a GM of his skills/time commitment ability. Then there is Dollar and the Toronto situation, where I think everyone knew what was going to go down. Yes Dollar publicly stated that he didn't know if he'd actually want to take the job, but Molholt was stepping down we all saw that, and now Dollar gets to take that team into a natural rebuild with a pretty good future. It was a win win for all parties in that instance, in a situation we all saw coming due to how natural it all fit. Which I think is great, that is ideally how we want GM changes to look like if they aren't involving someone on the team. A member who clearly has a good past relationship with the franchise, and is in a prime position with the team going forward. 

 

Now for predictions on who I think may go next, I don't know. It's tough because Advantage just mentioned he may step down if Stockholm wins on our Pajodcast this week. His ultimate goal for the franchise was to get them a Championship, I think he as well as a lot of us recognized the hard work Boubabi and that team did in the post Stockholm era. Obviously getting them a first championship since moving, despite having some good competitive runs in that time is a good goal to move out on. He'd then leave a future GM in the right position. I also think you could see Greg call it at some point. He's had to retool and be in a tough situation in Cologne for some time, and it almost feels as his extreme loyalty to the franchise has more to do with not wanting to leave the team or the league in a bad spot. I know he had expressed interest in stepping down before, but the lack of candidates interested was an issue. I do think both of these potential step downs really highlight something a few of us have been saying for a while. Yeah sure it's not time to panic. But we keep challenging new members to step up because in some instances us older members are only holding these franchises till people are ready to take them over. We need more people to have that confidence in themselves and say yes, like Dollar did. It really isn't that hard of a job, and I don't think people should let the resumes of some of the current GM's scare them. And I think the new faces we got in these four new GM roles all have the capacity to do very well for themselves. I hope seeing them do some good with these franchises gets a few more people motivated to come out and get involved with it. 

 

Besides earning points and updating, how can new members make themselves noticed to the GMs and get higher on draft lists? (HFD)

 

Contact the GM's yourself. Let them know your interested in their franchises, what your thoughts on the league are so far. And otherwise just show up on the board and participate. Find discussions that fit you and just enjoy the league. A GM is going to show a lot more confidence in a first gen who looks like he's going to end up being a longer term member here than someone who just shows up and treat it like a job. Keep in mind when a first gen falls in a draft it's nothing personal. Especially in the first round. GM's in this league don't get a lot of valuable picks, so every first rounder they take matters. Especially in the Project Two era. As the teams work to restore parity now that we have a few more quality players in every draft, it's the exact time to start showing your presence as a first gen to be messed with. That'll ensure you go higher in the draft, and it'll probably lead to some more engagement in the community, and if you like that sorta thing your sure to get a better overall league experience because of it.  

 

After seeing thebreadman leave for personal reasons, is there a way that members could put their player on hold for a while and come back to resume when ready? I mean I guess you already could, but with seasons lasting as long as they do, if you needed a long break your player loses career time etc.(HFD)

 

I doubt this is something we explore too deeply. It's an unusual idea, and I certainly understand it's use case for members in tough situations personally. But it messes with the competitive flow of the league in too many ways for it to be implemented fairly. Part of the whole "fun" of the league to a lot of people is that you can't control everything. You can earn as much TPE as you want, but your stuck playing in the eight season era that your in. Which means if goalies are better in that era, your scoring stats are down. And vice versa. This would just get manipulated by members who try to save their players career for the most opportune times. Wait three season, go to free agency, put your player on hold 3 seasons and come back still a free agent when the entire team landscape and league is different. Those are too many variables for us to try to deal with to ensure there still is balance. Because if players get more benefit doing that, then what is the benefit for playing your traditional eight seasons? I appreciate the idea, and the sentiment. But I feel like our carry over system more properly rewards the time people have put into the league. The issue is always that some members get very attached to a specific player, be it name or build. But the only way we reward that past activity is with a head start on a new player. 

 

Who are your top four prospects in this draft based off team needs for New York? (Da Trifecta)

 

Based entirely on my own team needs...hmmm. I'd say my top four prospects in this order would be Shawn Gretzky, Aleksei Federov, Fook Yu, and Pablo. It's no secret that I have built mostly through forwards on this, and while the team does need another young defender prospect I had to base my rankings on a bit more than just where we stand as a roster. For cap reasons we are going to need a younger forward to compliment the rest of our five, and I legitimately think Shawn Gretzky is going to be the best player not a goalie out of this draft. I also couple that with the fact that a big part of this NY run for me is building a quality group of members, with some I haven't had the chance to win or play with before. TheLastOlympian falls into that pool as he's always been showing some winning ways on rival clubs against me, such as Riga. From there I decided that the team need on defense and Bana's consistency with regards to activity made him the second best prospect. I think Fook Yu is a beast, and I've had good times with Tfong in this league before. He also has a history with NY and is a HoF machine so. Lastly I went Pablo despite any other TPE issues. He may be higher on my list if his TPE was higher because I've had a blast with Kesler on my team in NY and Quebec the last few runs. 

 

The Current Question Pool: 7

 

That is a wrap this week, as is always the case send me some more questions and talking points if you have the time I do appreciate it. I really want to thank STZ, HFD and Will for getting me some talking points as a ran out. See you all next week after we've crowned a Continental Cup Champion. #PleaseBeNYRepeat

[Devise 4,475]

The Devise Device

 

Well it's been a wild off-season, and since we got a week break on the magazine the last time I wrote this we were headed to Game 7 of the finals. Now with S54 already begun, let's dig into the sixth edition of this feature. 

 

Talking Point: Draftee versus GM's; Who Has The Power?

Should draftees be able to dictate where they get drafted to? For example Robbie saying not to draft him in round 1 or even Kendrick kind of saying he would not be so keen on going to Riga. How much power should a player have over that? HFD

 

This is a pretty loaded question, hence why I decided to turn this into a talking point over adding into the regular question pool. Honestly, I don't really know which side of the fence I stand on here. As a GM, there is nothing more frustrating than running into a situation where you can get a quality member in the draft, but that member makes it known that they would rather not play for you. However I have only had that happen to me on a limited basis. I think some GM's are probably in unfortunate situations where a certain member may not actually fit their needs too well, and these things just get more complicated from that root. 

 

Still I ultimately think I decide with the player in these instances. So I guess you could say I'm pro-choice. Listen, at the end of the day every single member only gets a maximum of eight seasons with their players. How can you honestly expect as a GM, even if your a fantastic GM who builds a good long competitive run, to fit the needs of every single member and player? Your always going to run into a situation where a member reasonably wants to do something different. Or more appropriately something that simply is not a fit with your current team situation. If GM's actually did right by these members, there would be no issues. The problem is a lot of GM's take this stuff personally, or have in the past. You saw examples of this at the last draft.

 

Both myself and Kendrick fell to 9/10 of this draft. Was this a shot by fellow GM's? Maybe. Obviously team need played a factor, but it would be hard not to also see member differences there. Some people perceive Kendrick for example to be so picky that they just don't want to bother. It's a horrible stance to take as a GM, shutting out any member regardless of personal differences. I'm not saying there won't be situations where something simply can't work out, maybe the way you built your team or some of the members on it would clash with another member. But realistically, I think the power balance in this league is fair. GM's are held accountable not just for the decisions they make in a given season, but for the decisions they make in a tenure. Considering how many GM's passed on him as BPA, how likely is Kendrick to take King to those teams when he's eligible to test free agency? 

 

I guess what I'm saying is I don't think GM"s can argue that players try to depreciate their value to fall to an "ideal" situation in a draft. When you combine that with so many GM's making preconceived notions, you get what you get. I never received a PM from Helsinki for example despite me saying publicly that I'd love to play for them. Even after he left Calgary, Kendrick said he felt disappointed that Eagles didn't try to build around him. As a member of that franchise right now I share those sentiments. A big reason members have these "narratives" of only playing for certain people or certain teams is because the GM's of those teams actually show us they have confidence in us as players and members. I can confirm at the end of the S54 draft...I wasn't happy. Not just because I fell to 10, in a draft year, but because a team I was highly interested in joining in Davos chose to pass on me, believing that I would fall to them at 11th in the second round. I'm not going to lie that hurts as a member who has been here this long. Granted I have a history of building less than stellar players, but I went as hard as I could, and continue to do so with Verner. I know Kendrick brings this stuff up all the time but that time of respect and confidence is a two-way street. And at the end of the day GM's have nobody to look at but themselves. The majority of members on this board are reasonable people, and sometimes we want a little love to give some back. Not willing to even pony up and say "I'm confident that your going to build a good player and be a great asset to my team?" Fine. But then don't come complaining we when choose to sign with familiar faces come free agency time when your looking to get over the Cup hump. It's about respect, and I think the S54 draft was very evident that we still have some GM's who don't care about that. As long as that is a factor, you will always see members who remind GM's that the power doesn't truly lie completely on either side come draft time. 

 

Do you prefer lower scoring good defensive hockey games, or higher scoring games? (Eaglesfan)

 

I'm assuming you mean in real life. In the VHL I generally prefer higher scoring games, especially if they are my own team because it often means that the regular season stats will benefit our players/members more. Which is obviously always good. VHL in the playoffs is all about winning, regardless of the score. But in real life, I don't know man. Tough question. I've gotten the same amount of enjoyment out of a 6-5 pond hockey match up as a grueling 2-1 close win. I'd say in general what I prefer in hockey is for people to show up and play. You start to see this as the season winds down, and certain games matter more. But flow is so important. In my mind great flow showcases what makes hockey the greatest sport on the planet. I truly mean that. Watching Pitt vs Toronto the other day, despite my team not being involved, was a joy. That third period especially. The back and forth action, the amount of minutes in between whistles, the high intensity. A hockey game with a high level of flow just exemplifies so many of the sports strengths and assets. I find it can take you away from what team your even cheering for or any of that outside stuff in some cases. You can just enjoy it. That said I'd argue more defensive minded games go defensive by way of intentionally being boring. Especially if it's an away team strategy. Often that leads to a less exciting hockey game overall, even if it has moments. So I may slightly lean more high scoring. 

 

Who would win in an indian leg wrestle between Advantage and Jericho? (Gorlab)

 

Hey I finally pulled this question, well after I answered his second part of this too. The obvious answer to this question is that Advantage would win. No offense to Jericho, but if you've seen these two you will know why I answered this question. It isn't even just a natural size advantage (pun intended) for Chris, it's that Kyle seems like he'd be a very shifty, panic style person in ground grappling situations. Often smaller people feel they have to over emphasize their speed in these type of situations. The problem is that usually leads to too many uncontrolled scrambles, which can often put them in a worse position. As I think Chris would take control of the situation to begin with, I don't know if Kyle would have the patience to let Chris get comfortable before finding the proper time to expend the amount of energy to reverse the situation into his favor. Ergo, Advantage takes this. 

 

If you could pull one player from each team to play for New York, who would it be and why? (Da Trifecta)

 

Wow. Alright, for this question I think the best way for me to do this would be to assume New York has no roster at all. Or a very limited one. That would allow me to pull 9 other players/members to build up who I think is a great team, from only the players who aren't on the roster. This means there is opportunity for some obvious snubs too, so that should be fun. Let's get started. 

 

Calgary: Jacob. It is the only obvious answer. I'll take the boat of other fellow GM's and have zero confidence in my own player. Higgins is a great member, and I'd like to assume with the team I'm able to build from this format that he'd of course stick it out long term. Gives us a goalie for the foreseeable future.

 

Quebec: Fabio Jokinen. I wanted to lean John Locke since my experience playing with Draper is limited, but Ruutu has such a good history with New York, and I generally think he is one of the better all around members on this board. Underrated too. I had such a fantastic time with him as my captain that when I was in NY that I'd be hard pressed not to allow him to take a leadership role on this new format Americans squad. 

 

Seattle: I'll go Aleksei Federov here. Give us a good one two punch on D, and I think despite some bad luck in the playoffs as a team, Bana has a pretty good history with players. Wolf got cut short because of team need, but I think Federov has the potential to be a top defender in this league for sure. 

 

Toronto: Let's keep building from the net out shall we? Roman Sokolov, Jacob is poised to have one of the most legitimate defensive cores in VHL history in front of him with this move. Plus Beketov is a fantastic member. 

 

Cologne: Markus King. We have a new back up goalie rule for a reason, and part of that is security. You can never be sure, especially with Higgins, so taking King at this point means I can play him over Jacob and piss Higgins off enough that he'll welcome a trade when I use him to get more assets. Thinking ahead, because King is going to be the better player in the long run anyway. Shots fired. 

 

Davos: Shawn Gretzky. Easy answer. I haven't taken a single offensive player, center is the most important, I would really love the opportunity to play with this member longer term. Even more; I've been super vocal that I legitimately think that Shawn is going to go down at the end of careers as the best player from this draft. 

 

Helsinki: Theo Axelsson. Obviously got to go with the Pajodcasts consistently most underrated members player. Axelson is a beast, he really is. He's a hit machine, and he'll bring out the best in Gretzky on a roster like this. 

 

Riga: I'm actually going to go Guntis Petenis here. Some other good young prospects on this club, but ultimately I felt that giving us a fourth D is the strongest option here. I also think that hedgehog is a great member, an underrated VHLM GM who will probably go on to be a very underrated VHL gm.

 

Stockholm: Pietro Maximoff. This teams goal is to win now, and win later. Maximoff is a bit on the older side but he helps round out a solid top line of forwards with a great defensive core and a goalie for the future. Plus any excuse I can make to reunite myself with Green to make magic happen again is a bonus. 

 

The Current Question Pool: 6

 

That is it for this week, I could really use some more questions starting to get a little thin. I've got a few great talking points to dig into for the next several weeks. As always I appreciate you guys sending me stuff, so keep those hot PM's coming y'all. Until next week! 

[BOOM 8,435]

Similar to me. I fell to 2nd rd despite many GM's knowing who "HFD" was and being active as usual despite sending GM's a PM about my activity. I get that I am not the level of member I used to be but I think 3 GM's made contact about drafting me. Glad I got to Davos though, I'm going to love helping Smarch turn that team around with Gretz,Pablo etc. I wasn't going any higher in the draft tbh due to talent and requirements of teams 1-10 but getting me renewed and really interested in Rd 2 is a fucking steal, and for someone who is usually modest, that's a sign that maybe another team should have taken a chance. Good read Ryan, these are really interesting.

[STZ 5,288]

Seriously.. way too fucking long lol..

[Devise 4,475]

On 4/12/2017 at 8:24 PM, STZ said:

Seriously.. way too fucking long lol..

 

Sorry. Should I answer less questions per week maybe? I don't know, I'll try to find a way to shorten it. 

[BOOM 8,435]

10 hours ago, Devise said:

 

I'll try to find a way to shorten it. 

 

[Devise 4,475]

The Devise Device

 

Time for the 7th edition of this feature, I'm only going to be pulling two questions this edition to try and milk them out longer because people are already tired of this feature and not sending me anything. Also STZ legitimately wants this to be shorter since I apparently ramble too much, my bad. 

 

Talking Point: Aliases vs Multi's; Why The Difference Matters

Is HFD Boom's multi? That's what rumor on the street is. I've heard this from multiple GMs. Also, in draft questionnaires sent out, HFD/Boom pretty much told every team who asked that he was going inactive and not to draft him. Really it seems like he just wanted to play from Davos. Pretty weak move by Boom or whoever you are. Eaglesfan036 

 

Mr. Trust The Process wanted me to go over the situation with "multi's" that has been going on. More appropriately I should say aliases, since in the last few instances of this we've had members who we know on the site create other accounts to build players with them. However in every instance their original accounts were not engaged in an active player, therefore it's an alias, not a multi. Because they are not manipulating the rules in any regard as to unfairly create more players. 

 

With that said, I think Eagles is taking a way too harsh of stance here, which is ironic coming from a guy who loves to GM as if he's beating to his own drum. The reality is a lot of members want to do that as well. Which sometimes means going as far as creating an alias. I can't speak to the experience myself, because I haven't had the urge to go through that. Part of that for me is because I actually am very into the sense of community we have here. But I totally get it from another members perspective. And yes, the difference between an alias and multi does in fact matter. 

 

While in this specific instance Boom eventually did out himself as HFD, and even go as far as to make some clever jokes about it. I know for a fact that he wasn't manipulating to fall to Davos. He still may retire early. He doesn't know. Remember this is a guy who chose to use an alias for the sole purpose of not having pre-set expectations for his player. He retired his last player early, and has really been off and on again involved in the league on a player basis. Obviously there are those like Eagles who think this stuff is all fake drama, but it's not any drama truthfully. It's members making decisions based on how they want to define and engage with the league. They have the right to experience the league in ways like this, and because they are not breaking any rules I don't see a problem with it at all. Especially when you consider one of Booms biggest issue is people over investing in him as a player, and then he feels he has to live up to those expectations. If he wants to casually enjoy the league, and be drafted as if that is what he is going to do then what is so wrong with that? 

 

Boxers or Briefs? (Eaglesfan)

 

Pulling all the Eagles questions today. For me I lean both. I used to be very adamant that I was only boxers (and silk that that) when I was growing up. But once you start going out to work you recognize briefs are useful from a "I'm going to sweat" perspective. Especially as a pedestrian, I'll say that I have experienced the uncomfortable walk home at the end of a bad day of work from that perspective before. Briefs generally help with that. For those wondering exactly what I'm saying, I'm talking about chafing. As boxers are a little more loose, you get the idea haha. 

 

How psyched are you to launch Pajodcast Media? (Jericho)

 

Since we've already launched it, super psyched! But seriously, yeah deciding to go forward with our Youtube channel was a pretty big deal for me. I recognize we are very late to the party on this craze, but for me it's just a confidence thing. I spent a lot of my life not really having a lot of self confidence, and this community, and just in general doing things and learning and growing has taken me a far way. Being able to do the Pajodcast with a group of friends who I feel very comfortable with, being on camera on the internet feels like nothing to me anymore. More than that I think it gives us a good excuse to engage in some of the more other community orientated things that happen across the internet wide. There is plenty of times Kyle, Chris, and I have said "we should get involved with this" but logistically it just didn't make sense. Now as we built up a Youtube channel, we can pretty much engage in a lot more activities as a natural progression. I'm happy to see so much of the VHL community support us too. It was very nice of the people here to do that. I know many on here enjoy listening to us ramble, but even some that didn't decided to drop positive lines. I hope that the whole project can be beneficial both to us personally and to the VHL in some capacity as well. 

 

The Current Question Pool: 4

 

There you have it, a shorter edition of the Devise Device today. SEND ME MORE QUESTIONS AND TALKING POINTS! (PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE!) I'm serious though, please. Also don't just send me "a question." I wouldn't have to bug anybody if all of you sent me 4+ questions once, because my pool would be so big I could dig into for editions and editions. So spam me a bunch of questions to my inbox, now now now go go go do it do it do it. 

Edited April 18, 2017 by Devise

[BOOM 8,435]

7 hours ago, Devise said:

 

Talking Point: Aliases vs Multi's; Why The Difference Matters

Is HFD Boom's multi? That's what rumor on the street is. I've heard this from multiple GMs. Also, in draft questionnaires sent out, HFD/Boom pretty much told every team who asked that he was going inactive and not to draft him. Really it seems like he just wanted to play from Davos. Pretty weak move by Boom or whoever you are. Eaglesfan036 

 

 

 

I'll have a nice response when this gets posted

[Devise 4,475]

Make it a pajodcast three on the scheduling, mine will also be done tomorrow. (Maybe last one too since everyone hates me and won't send me PM's. #UselessHyperbole :P) 

[BOOM 8,435]

If I had interesting topics, you know I would ask. Between this, der meister and Beketov my brain hurts. I'll try to send something for next week though.

[Devise 4,475]

9 hours ago, BOOM said:

If I had interesting topics, you know I would ask. Between this, der meister and Beketov my brain hurts. I'll try to send something for next week though.

 

It's not weekly. I pull two questions out of an entire pool every week but it's not like I'm asking for questions every week. It only feels that way because people send me 1-2 questions. If everyone just spammed me once with a bunch of questions I'd be golden forever. But I'm probably shelving this feature not enough in my pm inbox to justify it which probably means even when I tag people they don't care probably don't even read the article for most. I don't know though haven't decided, I may burn out what I have for a question pool and talking points and move on.

 

The big issue is people assume it has to be topical, or relevant, or something for me to rant and rave about. I've had just as much writing the silly questions like some of the ones gorlab has asked that I literally just need fun filler just as much as topical things. And because I'm drawing them out of the pool and they stay there until drawn, questions don't have to be so relevant as to be a week. Go broad, go vague, the whole point was to challenge my knowledge on as many topics VHL or otherwise as possible. That and I find it's easier for me to write in this format without burning out as opposed to creating things, and with how busy I've been this has always been the more welcome way for me to write on the VHL. Anyway, rambling done. 

Edited April 27, 2017 by Devise

[BOOM 8,435]

Just post that!

 

Just kidding. How long until you submit?

[Devise 4,475]

1 hour ago, BOOM said:

Just post that!

 

Just kidding. How long until you submit?

 

Later tonight. Finishing caps game then I'm back on the internet streaming for the third time today before I'll get the chance to finish. I've already written the talking point just need to draw and answer two random questions and seal it up. 

[BOOM 8,435]

OK then. I'll make sure I add a few to the questions pool within the next couple of days.

[Devise 4,475]

The Devise Device

 

Hey look, it's the 8th edition of this feature. I'm still surprised I got past three. This week I've got a pretty interesting talking point to cover so lets dig in. 

 

Talking Point: Healthy League Competition; What Is A Good Number of Teams?

Removing 2 VHLM teams has seemingly created even less competition than before; is this simply a fluke of a year where everyone piled onto one team, an issue in the way things were handled, or a sign of a fundamental flaw in the VHLM system as a whole? Beketov

 

I don't want to pile onto the whole remove the VHLM argument, because I think everyone knows there is a group of us who see that this is an inevitability with the way things have gone. Kyle also goes into it even more in his editorial. So instead of just making this about the VHLM as a whole, I think a big part of your question talks about how removing teams created less competition. Which is the exact opposite to what it did, and whether this is a "fluke" year or not. 

 

It doesn't if it is the VHLM or the VHL, it doesn't matter how many nice things we say about GM's or new members, players and GM's want to win. Period. End. You can't change that. Isn't it interesting that if you were to poll most members on here while a lot would say they would love a HoF player or individual success, winning the big team trophy in the playoffs is still such a big deal. The theory of reducing teams to increase competition always sounds great on paper. You take the total pool of players, see how many could fit on each team once the total numbers of teams go down, and that alone looks good. But it almost always fails in execution, unless you had too many teams. For example the VHL could probably be okay with 8 teams with it's current member pool, but I don't know for how many seasons. Given that players can stay eight seasons in the VHL you may get more super teams if we had 8 teams than if we had 10. 

 

A big reason for that is after you go through that theory, the idea consistently gets destroyed in execution. Regardless of how you execute it. The VHLM has a free agent system for recreates and new members. Even when you cap how many of these players a team can get, people are going to the teams that give them the best shot at winning. So if one team had a decent number of draft picks, or already has a solid built team, guess where those players are going to sign? This will continue to happen. Even when we limit draft picks. Too many GM's will see themselves on the outs so they will be looking to trade and get picks or players for the future, and the VHLM as constructed will never be more than 1-3 team league. Not unless we get a severe influx of new members or recreates in a single season. 

 

But as I mentioned above this would happen even if we reduced the VHL as well. A good healthy number of teams and determining what that number isn't just about looking at a total player pool. It's about how the landscape of a league looks currently. Look at our ten team structure in the VHL. Many people would say we have too many teams. Yet, of the four competing teams this season, how much cap space is there to spare? Not much. Yet there is still impact players sitting on lots of other teams than the competing teams. The VHL consistently undergoes ebbs and flows, like any healthy competitive market. It hasn't always been perfect, we have had recruitment and member issues. Yet we've never had one super team. Toronto won 3 cups in a row but barely did it, New York has a shot this season but barely did it. Both of those instances are about teams, GM's, and players performing great at peak times in very critical situations as well. And while the VHL may not be prefect parity, it maintains consistency by having just enough legitimate options for players when it comes to seriously considering having good seasons, and winning. The more options, the more spread out players will be because everyone doesn't think the same. But if it's clear that there are only a few good teams, guess what happens? Players flock to those good teams. It's not rocket science. 

 

Play devil's advocate: Why should we keep the VHLM? (Flyersfan aka Fire Hakstol)

 

This was a good question since I'm a big supporter of removing this, and I'm kinda happy this was the first thing drawn out of the pool. The VHLM has merit and value as an idea, I just think too much time has passed, too many changes have been made, and it doesn't really fit in with our current structure. So it's actually quite hard for me to play devils advocate here. Especially when unlike most I don't have that affinity for seeing the "juinor hockey" experience, or roleplaying that to a degree. I recognize though that, it is in fact a big deal for a lot of people. But that doesn't mean there isn't a system where the VHLM wouldn't work. But it needs to stop being a development league. We would need to lower the number of teams in both leagues and like the old days pair VHLM franchises back with VHL franchises. This would still give us a lower tier league where new members don't get destroyed, but then the salary cap, team size, and the like are the reason players stay down in the system. But at that point you begin tampering with careers season totals, players could wind up down when they want to stay up and that could force trades. All of that is new dynamics. 

 

That is the thing, the VHLM structured now as this CHL development league works in harsh contrast with the VHL, and they have constantly since my entire tenure in this league of Season 24 been two puzzles pieces that don't like to fit together. It's why we got separate sims. I just, I can't. I can't argue that we should keep the VHLM as is without any serious changes. The idea isn't bad, and I think people often see it as an attack on that idea when it's more trying to show people that it has been too long where we keep trying to look at new ways to fit these puzzle pieces together. To my analogy above, they both pivotal pieces of different puzzles. Something eventually has got to give. But I do think there is a world where the name VHLM where it's a minor league to the VHL is something that if people want to keep is worth exploring trying. But I don't think it's the CHL spend a year in the league equivalent we have now. 

 

Has the 2 player system been a success? (Flyersfan)

 

Another good tough question from Flyers here. First of all I still say it's too early to tell if the two player system has been a success. However I think the early grading reports on it are a bit of both. Good and bad. Which often happens with a lot of the ideas, even ones like this that we take time to implement. Look at welfare as another example. Two player wasn't just about adding more players to the pool it was about giving teams variety in terms of competition, because we would be adding variety to the player pool. That has happened. More teams have back up goalies because more prominent members are creating them, players are experimenting a bit more with player builds because they can create a second player. And in general the team make up of VHL is very unique. Helsinki built very much through more of a single draft class and some good trades. Their team make up in terms of age, positional strength, is much different than the other four competing teams this season. Basically you can look at Stockholm, New York, Helsinki and Quebec and see four very different built teams yet if any one of them were to win in the Finals this year would anyone be so shocked? Of course not. Sure it's not a world of parity where we have 6-8 competitive teams and some more races. But I mean we are building back up following some bad recruitment and overall member spells. A big goal of project two was to try to ensure every team has a chance to draft quality players, by increasing the levels of the draft pool. We've seen this the last few drafts. Sure there may not be 15 impact players, but the top 10-12 in a few drafts have looked promising, I mean Kendrick and myself have both fallen to 9/10 this past off-season right? Whether it's rebuilding, competing, or even teams that are rebuilding but trade for lower tier picks from competing teams you have more opportunity to get players out of a draft regardless of position. Especially in that first round. 

 

But the negative of project two has been in my opinion it's impact on the VHLM. I kind of expected to see more players try to stick around in the VHLM longer, but as is the case with a lot of prominent members here, the VHLM is an afterthought. Combine that with the lack of parity and decrease of teams in the VHLM, and you get high end members with carry over in some cases, sticking in the VHLM for a very limited window, and only caring about competing. Sure we added more impact players, to flock to a couple of teams. Honestly I wouldn't be against trying to impose some sort of "age" system if we wanted to try to keep players in the VHLM longer and treat that league more seriously. Then put restrictions on how many players you can have from a certain age bracket, that way you could always have a single player do what happens now. Jump out of the VHLM the moment they can, so basically a season and a half. Then with a second player, they'd have to create a player that has to follow different rules as it relates to the VHLM. But again, our career lengths impact all of these type of decisions, so it's a careful balance. 

 

The Current Question Pool: 10

 

There we are. I tried doing some gif tagging to get some questions, I'm happy to say as my pool went from 4 to 12 this past week I got some. I'm actually fresh out of talking points, although I could easily pull some from a few of the questions I have. I began this article this week not knowing the future of this feature, but I'll keep riding it out until the question pool and talking points are literally gone. So as usual if you have anything you want to send my way do so. Appreciate the feedback and questions from those who did send it though, seriously. Until next week....