The VHL Wants YOU!!?

[TheFlash 317]

 

Wow, a chance to write a letter to potential VHL newbies! There’s a lot to cover, no doubt. Not exactly the easiest thing to explain, but let me try and break it down for you! 
 

Oh, what am I doing on my phone, you say? Just the coolest thing on the web. Well, maybe not, but it’s pretty damn close! It’s what’s called a “sim league”. You’ve played 2k MyPlayer right? NHL Be A Pro? Well, it’s a lot like that. You create a player, you choose the position, name, height, etc. and then join a team! You start out with 30 TPE (Total Points Earned, we’ll get to that soon) and add those on to better your player. Then, each week, you get a chance to earn more TPE by writing articles, graphics, podcasts, that kind of thing, and watch as your player grows from a nobody to a star! You spend eight “seasons” (they last about 2 months each) playing for a team, growing your player and working to become one of the best! Each season has a playoffs, a world juniors, and there’s even a World Cup! Quite a bit goes on..

 

Let me tell you a few things I like, get a bit more specific.

 

Watching your player grow;

 

As I mentioned, you start out with a measly 30 tpe. It’s very intimidating at first, seeing players who have a ton of points (over 1000!) but you close the gap quick. At first your player is barely doing anything, then after a few weeks of earning some Tpe (which takes about 10 minutes a week to earn near the maximum, very easy!) you start to contribute to your team. Before you know it, you’re over 100 and you’re one of the top players on your team. Of course, you start in the minors which makes the competition around you a bit more on par with your low numbers, but by your second season, you’re nearly capped and ready for one the most exciting times in your VHL career! One of the cooler things about the league is that it’s ran on what’s known as STHS, or Simon T for short. Way back in the day, it was all ran on actual video game consoles, but when that become too hard to get people to commit to hours upon hours of inputting players one by one and simulating each week, they switched over to this computer program. With a click of a button, the simulator sims games and puts up detailed box scores. It may seem boring to not be able to see your player physically, but it becomes really gratifying to scroll down that scoresheet and see your players name on it.

 

THE DRAFT!!

 

For me, I’ve been drafted twice into the VHL, and each time it’s just as cool. Every player gets a “draft season” (for my current player, I’m S72). That’s the entry draft that your player will be put into. Normally, this will be after your second season in the minors but it all depends on when you join. You know the draft is coming, so you work extra hard to earn and make sure you go as high as possible. If you’re lucky, you’ll get the chance to be a top pick. It’s a cool feeling to see your player come up in mock drafts and draft rankings that you see around the league. You put a lot of time and effort into your player, and it’s nice to see it paying off. Finally, draft night! The draft is streamed on Twitch, and through the power of Excel (I think?) a pretty cool draft board is put up, and you can follow along with your fellow VHLers to see where you get chosen. 
 

The Community

 

One of the other things that I love about the VHL, is the community that’s involved with the league. I’ve been a member of the league for a long time (my first time here was over ten years ago!) and I’ve left a few times. Though even though I’ve left, something has always brought me back. One of the major factors is the people involved with the league. People that are complete strangers who live all over the world. But those people become friends to you, they become people that you chat with on discord late at night, about all manner of things! I’ve been apart of a few locker rooms that have been like that. You get to know each other and you have these conversations that transcend sim hockey and become more. And you probably don’t even know the persons name! But you enjoy chatting all the same.

 

You Get Really Invested!

 

So, you’re probably thinking, “well, why would I care about a fake player on a simulator?”. To that I would say, just give it a chance! I may have said the same thing once upon a time. Now, there are times when logging in and checking the scores of the day is something I really look forward to. When your team gets involved in that playoff race (like my team currently is) you can’t wait to see the sims posted and check the scores. You’re checking not only your team, but the teams around you and you’re calculating the games left and how much of a chance your team stands. It’s something that truly becomes almost a real sport to you, a real obsession. 
 

So, in closing, those are just a few reasons why the VHL is a great place and why I’d recommend it. If you’re a sports person, and you want that bit of extra sports on the side then it is indeed the spot for you. If you enjoy joining a welcoming community and think what I said above applies to you, than you should give the VHL a shot! Especially in these quarantine times, it’s a great reprieve from the real world to be able to log in, even just a few times a day, and check up on your team and teammates!

 

1014 words. Claiming for week of 4/26 and   5/3

Edited April 20, 2020 by TheFlash

[TheFlash 317]

Claim # 2/2

[Victor 11,043]

On 4/20/2020 at 9:52 PM, TheFlash said:

my first time here was over ten years ago!

wait I knew your name sounded familiar. Are you one of the missing names on this list perhaps: https://vhlforum.com/topic/81312-founders-cups-by-player-and-by-member/

 

 

Or who were your players? Jog my memory. For some reason Franz Lindemann comes to mind but I might be making that up.

[TheFlash 317]

26 minutes ago, Victor said:

wait I knew your name sounded familiar. Are you one of the missing names on this list perhaps: https://vhlforum.com/topic/81312-founders-cups-by-player-and-by-member/

 

 

Or who were your players? Jog my memory. For some reason Franz Lindemann comes to mind but I might be making that up.

I don’t recognize any of the names on that list (although Bob Toskala was Leafssteen, he and I joined together. Still know him irl).

 

One player I had was Paul Ready I believe. Was on the Minot Gladiators, have always remembered that. Not sure the season