WSJ Thoughts on Expansion Locations/Brands

[Cornholio 182]

Icelandic defenseman Wolf Stansson Jr. had some thoughts to share with us regarding the upcoming VHL expansion where the majors will expand from its current 10-team format to a 12-team format, a first in league history. This is exciting times for a whole bunch of reasons - new teams, new history, possibly two more teams for well-established VHL teams to beat up on, as well as a whole bunch of vacant playing spots. This is great news especially for the S68 Draft Class who are hopeful of attaining immediate playing time from the get-go, and Wolf Stansson, Jr. is one of them. 

 

"Expansion is very exciting for everybody. There is hope for WSJ to make it into the VHL and get a lot of playing time. No offense, but this guy is not interested at all in sitting on the bench and learning the ropes. I'm a firm believer in the saying, "Experience is the best teacher," or something like that. You want to get better, you've got to be on the rink playing - taking shots from seasoned players, trying to defend and keep up with them. That's how you get better, not by sitting on the bench jotting down notes or checking out babes in the stands. Yes, that does happen when you're bored on the bench. 

 

Anyways, I do have some thoughts on expansion and where the two new teams could be at. I've had that talks with some guys on the Rush team and I'm sure that everybody is buzzing about this. Here's my guesses on where the teams should be if it was ultimately up to me."

 

 

Iceland Vikings

 

Two new teams means that one team would be based in North America purely based on the demographics in the VHL right now with the second being a wild card, most likely in Europe to maintain the balance of NA/EU teams in the VHL for travel purposes. I'll start with the wild card option 'cause why not? Iceland is a growing hockey country and they are starting to produce more VHL/VHLM players over the last few seasons. They're technically a part of Europe so that works. It would make for some great travel plans for North American VHL franchises playing overseas - they could break up their trip by starting off with Iceland before moving on to the mainland or bookending their Europe trip with a detour to Iceland before returning home. 

 

These jersey proofs were obtained from the Junior Goodwill Games where Wolf Stansson Jr. and his father was a part of -- the jersey has proved to be a fan favorite in the entire country. And that was just for a tournament. Imagine if you had a full scale VHL franchise in that area? Oh man, the Icelandic people would go all-out in their support and devotion for the Vikings. This franchise would also be fully devoted to obtaining all of the available Icelandic hockey talents and further strengthening the home rink advantage and feeding off the frenzy of the fans. Why not? 

 

Kansas City Outlaws

The North American expansion franchise was a tough one. You've got teams in the northwest (Seattle, Calgary, Vancouver), and then you've got two team in the East (New York & Toronto). One could go down the path of putting another team in the East -- I opted to deposit this new expansion team right in the middle of the mainland United States of America. Kansas City is perfectly defined as the middle location of the mainland USA, so this would work. This city doesn't have a franchise in the VHL/VHLM and the closest team would be Minnesota of the VHLM or Houston, so that works in terms of avoiding overlapping territories. 

 

This logo was obtained from Google Search and apparently this was once a UHL hockey franchise that folded. So there wouldn't be too much of an issue obtaining rights for this logo. Kansas City is a growing hockey town with a successful women's hockey team -- what a better way to bookend the successful women's team and strengthen the roots of hockey in the Great Plains than to have a VHL franchise here? This team would be 100% physical, dishing out hits and clearing the rink of bodies to the excitement of KC fans! Who cares if they win or lose - as long as you out-hit the opponents, all good! 

 

 

[Sullvino 289]

Iceland Vikings would be siiiick 

[Elmebeck 378]

Q: What do a divorce in Alabama, a tornado in Kansas, and a hurricane in Florida have in common?
A: Somebody's fixin' to lose them a trailer.