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With the thrilling and historic conclusion of the VHL's 50th season, attention now turns to the World Cup where teams from around the globe will attempt to claim international glory by claiming the elusive gold medal. With Europe, Canada and the World teams favored to fill the Gold, Silver and Bronze medal spots, fans of the remaining teams such as Scandinavia, the Mercenaries and Team USA will just be looking for good performances from their favorite players. With hockey powerhouse USA once again looking unlikely to cause much trouble for the top teams, they will be hoping to use the tournament to develop the roster and gain experience for future international campaigns. Two key players for the future look to be goalie Apollo Skye and Kai Roberts pictured above, who will look to keep the team competitive against their more fancied rivals.

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With Season 51 now underway, it's that time when VHL fans look back at the offseason and discuss the winners and losers. The biggest news was Calgary's acquisition of four of the flashiest free agents available, and the chances of the Wranglers suddenly leaping to domination of the North American Conference. Elite talent now wears the Calgary jersey, with Unassisted, Aleksi Koponen, Black Velvet and Tyson Kohler all agreeing to terms with GM Austin Gow(pictured above) and instantly turning the Western Canadian franchise into favorites for the Season 51 Continental Cup. Along with the probability of Calgary players sweeping the majority of S51 awards, GM Austin Gow will obviously be in contention for the David Knight Trophy as the VHL's top executive.

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After a disastrous off-season that saw the Helsinki Titans make zero moves to strengthen the roster via Free Agency, and the draft lotto once again rear it's ugly head, comes even further bad news for the once proud Finnish franchise. GM Daniel Anderson has decided to abandon ship and leave the club without a manager to make lineups or strategy changes since pre-season began. Several marquee players such as Shayne Gow, Asher Donavan and Thor Odinsson have expressed concern over the lack of applicants and are left wondering if the Titans will even attempt to compete when a new GM is eventually named, or if the team will be dismantled via trades and a full rebuild started instead. Any new GM will be required to make tough decisions, and Odinsson especially, wonders if any possible applicants have the courage needed to dig the Titans out of the hole they currently find themselves in.

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We are almost at the half-way point of the season and the preseason expected dominance of the Calgary Wranglers is evident on the leader boards. Of the top 10 point scorers, Calgary has 4 players(Koponen-pictured, Kohler, Velvet and Unassisted) in the group displaying their sheer dominance of the VHL this season. Koponen's 65 points through 34 games puts him on pace for an incredible 137 point season and those who may have chosen him as the favorite for the Szatkowski Trophy will certainly be smiling and willing him on to continue his scoring pace this season.

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After the Stockholm Vikings decided to start from the ground up, two of the VHL's brightest young stars were traded to the New York Americans for 5 first and second round picks. Both Diana Maxwell and Essian Ravenwing, pictured above, were expected to shine as the offensive leaders of the proud Americans team, but after 45 games this simply hasn't been the case. With a measly 26 and 22 points respectively(yes, a combined 48 points) past the midway point, questions are being asked about the true talent levels of the two young forwards and whether or not the Americans would have been better off keeping those picks for potentially strong drafts starting with S52. Here at VHL.com we believe that their talent and work ethic will eventually win through and production will rise, but the famously hard to please New York fans are growing increasingly impatient.

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When you talk about Boulet favorites this season, one name stands out above the rest of the so-called candidates. Toronto's Zach Parechkin has been on fire for the Legion in S51, amassing 102 points(51 G 51A) through 56 games and leading the VHL in hits with 329, a mere 74 ahead of Helsinki's Asher Donovan. His shot percentage of 12.59% is also terrific considering his overall lead in the point scoring standings. His accuracy is a point of envy among his forward peers. His partnership with fellow offensive powerhouse, Max Molholt has also paid dividends, with the pair accumulating 26 GWG's between them and making the Toronto Legion a particularly difficult team to defeat this season.

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The Season 51 VHL Allstar game was played yesterday, with Team Cocaine emerging narrow winners, in a shootout with Team Der Meister. The 6-5 result was sealed by the games 1st Star, Max Molholt who slid a shot past Atticus von Braxton with the 6th shot of the shootout. In fact all 3 stars were provided by Team Cocaine, with both Tom Lincoln and Tyson Kohler also making great contributions in the victory and assuring even more bragging rights for Team Cocaine who seemed very vocal with the trash talk before the puck was dropped.

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Congratulations to the New York Americans on their S52 Lottery win, giving them the chance to select first overall in next seasons draft. New York edged out Stockholm and Quebec respectively, and reports suggest that GM Ryan Power has already been in contact with the likely #1 selection, Phil Shankly. The Americans would love a winger with the talent of Shankly to complement and assist in the continuing development of both Diana Maxwell and Essian Ravenwing, both who have been disappointing after promising VHLM performances prior to entering the VHL. The disappointment on the face of Vikings GM Chris Miller after missing out on #1 was clearly evident, but there are multiple players available that will surely see the Stockholm franchise start to rebuild for future success.

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After dominating(and dividing opinions due to their Free Agency shenanigans) the VHL regular season, the Calgary Wranglers have dramatically been eliminated in the playoffs by the Toronto Legion..who simply won't die. The Wranglers kept the games close, with the exception of a 4-0 defeat, but Toronto's playoff experience showed with their clutch play when it mattered. It remains to be seen whether Calgary can keep the core of this roster, or whether the majority of one-season deals such as Koponen, Unassisted, Kohler and Velvet decide to jump ship in search of the prize they sought when S51 began. GM's will find themselves in a bidding frenzy if these names hit the market this off-season.

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The Season 52 VHL Entry Draft was held yesterday, and to absolutely no-ones surprise the New York Americans selected RW Phil Shankly with the 1st overall pick. Shankly will bring a physical presence as well as offensive talent to an Americans roster that struggled to score in S51. With Essian Ravenwing and Diana Maxwell already in place, the newest American will provide a vital cog in the arsenal of the New York franchise. The top 5 selections were rounded out by Stockholm who selected outstanding young netminder, Rhett Degrath, Quebec chose Fabio Jokinen(Defenseman), Helsinki selected RW Daryl Dortch and with pick number 5, the Vikings picked Lee King Snatch(Defenseman). We wish all the new draftees the very best and hope they enjoy productive and successful VHL careers.

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Although it is in the weaker of the two Conferences, Cologne's achievements so far this season are still impressive. With an 11-1 record they are edging out their North American rivals, the Seattle Bears(10-2) and are already establishing a handy lead over the more fancied Riga Reign in the European Conference. Led by Jon Sleeman, Niels Skovgaard and Max von Hollatchaboi the Express have been on a tear offensively,scoring 49 goals in 12 games this season. Dmitri Dadonov in goal has also been stellar, winning 11 games and having a .943 save percentage.

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Besides some magnificent hockey being played this week in the VHL, came the news that the Stockholm Vikings' greatest player had his jersey retired in a special ceremony on Saturday. Talented forward, Lord Karnage who amassed over 800 points(769 with the Vikings) and won the coveted Boulet Trophy 4 times brought Stockholm to the attention of VHL fans everywhere. He is the team's all-time leader in Games Played, Goals, Assists, Points, Plus/Minus, PIM, Hits and GWG, and probably deserved more silverware during his time with Stockholm. Regardless, he is amongst the VHL's elite players and is proof that a terrific work ethic and determination can provide players with a stepping stone to success.