KESLER UNFILTERED

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 247

 

 

Down – The Toronto Legion, after a very very disappointing season where they went all in they know find themselves without a goaltender and a team. After the playoffs ended Sachimo Zoidberg was appointed the new General Manager of the Toronto Legion. Tylar Edgar has a solid run as GM, after taking over while the team was still very young and going for a cup and eventually winning one to rebuilding and going for another cup run that just ended. Zoidberg is taking over in a very good spot for him to start the rebuild off in Toronto and to build his team from the ground up. Toronto has already moved star center Tyler Cote and Jackson Miller to the Calgary Wranglers. More trades are expected to happen this off-season as well as throughout the season.

 

Up – This off-seasons free agency. Yes this off-season may actually be a fun one! Last season not a lot went on when it came it free agency. There were players worth going for such as Jerrick Poole, Bennett Wahl and Niklas Kurri. Poole was probably the best player to hit the open market in recent seasons. This season free agency as of right now will be a good. There are no elite players or even players of such calibre as Poole but there are some young stars who could become elite players. There is also a lot of depth in this class of such as Chris Raymond, Mario De Rossi, Miklas Kurri and others. Some hot names in this class are Jacub Rhinehart who is fresh of a rookie contract and was a big part of the Bears cup win. Rift Pajodcast may also be a name that teams want to go for, Pajodcast was also the Seattle squad that won the cup, and he is one of the highest TPE players in this free agency and could potentially be a number one center or a solid second liner depending where he goes. Niklas Karlsson is one of the few defensemen available, he has just won a cup and is entering into his prime.

 

Down – After the amazing run that the Seattle Bears had, the adversity that they faced and all that they did. You know who got screwed over by them winning the cup? All the people that predicted the Vikings to win or the Express pretty much got no TPE from it. The bears for most were probably expected to lose in the first round to the Legion in a competitive five or six game series, well Seattle proved everybody wrong with those predictions. In the conference finals the Bears were probably expected to lose again in a competitive five or six game series but once again they proved they have more than that. In the first two rounds the Bears only lost one game and that’s including a sweep over the Legion. Now who expected that? I am almost certain that not even Seattle predicted to do this. In the finals the same thing happened and once again all the people who predicted against the Bears lost out.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 249

 

 

Up – Brock Waldron. After spending five seasons as the starting net minder for the Quebec City Meute, Waldron was dealt in a three way deal to the Cologne Express. Waldron had three forty three plus win seasons and four thirty three win plus seasons. Brock is now moving onto the next chapter of his career, with two seasons left he will give the Express a good chance for them and him to win a championship. Brock has made the playoffs the last four seasons and has one game seven final under his belt, ironically that loss was against the Express. In his first six games in Cologne his record holds four wins, one loss and an overtime loss. He has a point nine forty four save percentage that puts him second in the league and has a league leading goals against average sitting at a one point three. It appears Waldron has had a resurgence of activity in the league and maybe can finally be a top goaltender in the VHL on the Express squad.

 

Down – Who said being bad is a good thing? Well for teams that are in a rebuild being bad does pay off eventually, especially if you are bad at the right times and for a long enough time. Helsinki owns five first rounds picks in the upcoming season forty five draft, yes five firsts. Without a future goaltender for the future, General Manager William Shaw will be taking one of the big three in net to solidify his future in the crease. The worst part of Helsinki owning five firsts is there is a very very good chance of three of them being lotto picks. They could also be in on both defensemen such as Phill Hamilton or Biggu Kyanonor both. Due to the GM rule Helsinki will be acquiring Aleksi Koponen who will more than likely best drafts in many seasons by one team. With all there picks combined with the amount of talent in this draft, the Titans will certainly not be at the bottom by the start of next season.

 

Up – From one rebuilding team to another. Actually I guess you can’t really say that about the Wranglers now can you? The team has six wins in seven games, good enough for first in the VHL, they are third in goals for but have only allowed ten goals in the seven games. That is the lowest in the league and with their very very young defensive core, how are they doing it? One man that may have something to do with there low goals against is Hans Wingate. Wingate has a point nine four seven save percentage to go along with a one point four three goals against average. This young goaltender is playing incredibly right now. The Wranglers made some big moves in the off-season and are expected to also make some during the season. They drafted with the second overall pick Kerkko Hyvarinen who more than likely one day will be one of the best defensemen in the league. Due to the GM rule they also brought in Tim TebowGow as another piece for the future to go along with Hyvarinen. In a trade with the Toronto Legion, Calgary acquired Tyler Cote and Jackson Miller, after a failed competing season by the Legion and left without a goaltender for season fort four the Legion had no choice but to rebuild. The Wranglers were just about to leave there rebuild so they were perfect trading partners.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 151

 

 

Down – Yes it is that time of the season where the trade deadline is upon us. The deadline is on July thirty first and ten o’clock eastern standard time. This trade will more than likely not be that exciting as the deals that may take place (or at least one of them) has been leaked to the VHL. This trade was negotiated back in the off-season between two GMs, since then one of the GMs decided to resign as GM and give it up to somebody else because he was bored with the position. Well the replacement GM has decided that the team he took over was getting the worse end of the deal so he decided to decline the original deal and work something else out. In this happening the trade got leaked. It was something like Jerrick Poole and Shadhu Rathod Jr. being sent from the Legion to the Vikings for a young player plus something else. So now that the deal has been re-worked most of the VHL knows about this deal and that will make it for a very un-exciting announcement. Even though these are some good players being traded it will not be the same as nobody other then who is involved knowing about the deal.

 

Up – The two former first overall picks; Thomas O’Malley and Bismarck Koenig make up two thirds of the Cologne Express first line. Both players are considered elite players in the league and both are still either young or in their prime. This season the combo has put up a hundred and sixty one points (Thomas has eighty two to Bismarcks seventy nine). O’Malley and Koenig are one and two in the league in goals and in points. With a team with few stars Koenig and O’Malley are certainly flourishing on the top line for the Express. There is not much depth scoring on the Express, no one other than the top offensive line is over a point per game. This may be due to having young or inexperienced players such as Humbert, Jeltz, and Boomgarden. If the Express are going to do some damage in the playoffs they will need there two studs to really show up.

 

Down – The Calgary Wranglers, a team that has all of a sudden become a contender in the North American conference. With a very very young team they jumped out of the gates at the beginning of the season and were ahead of the Meute and even lead the league in points for a bit of time. But after making a very good trade that brought in two rentals they have started to tail off a bit. It could be there inexperience showing or maybe there just getting tired because of the great start they did have. Right now they are ten points back of the league leading Stockholm Vikings and are nine points behind the conference leading Quebec City Meute. The Wranglers do have something going for them though, they have allowed the second lowest goals against this season, a huge credit goes out to their goaltender Hans Wingate. Wingate is leading the league in save percentage and is top three in goals against average. With the Wranglers very young defensive core you can bet Wingate is taking a lot of shots but is still finding ways to win games for the red and black.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 252

 

 

Up – The Quebec City Meute after having a slow start have started heating up as of late. The Muete at one point in the season were behind the Wranglers and were only in fourth or fifth in the overall standings.  Now after some time being in first overall the Express have caught up and are currently tied with their expansion rivals for first place. The Meute for a large part of the season were first in goals for and still are but are tied with the Express. There defensive game is very solid but not one of the best, but they have the second highest goal differential. Another thing the Meute has going for them is they have played there backup goaltender the most out of any competing team. This is going to be a plus as the season comes to a close as other teams will need to count on their backups to win some games. The Meute also pulled off some deadline deals bringing in Brady Stropko and King Czar lll. These are certainly upgrades over the two sent out; Brandon Holmes and Wolgang Strauss. Czar was having a stellar season on the Bears as one of their top defenders and Stropko was also tearing it up on the Bears, Stropko all season long has been one of the top point producers in the league.

 

Down – Brady Stropko found himself has one of the best players on the market come around deadline time. He was dealt to the Quebec City Muete where he would join fellow teammate Niklaus Mikaelson. Brady Stropko was absolute fire on the Seattle Bears squad, now joining a team that was already doing well. Will Stropko add to the Meutes goal scoring or effect the chemistry? So far it is hard to tell. Stropko was average a point and a half per game on the Bears, now on the Meute he only has nine points in nine games. Certainly not horrible but his scoring is down by half a point. He was also average just over three and a half hits per game on the Bears, on the Meute who have Wylde, Wolf and Thomassen who are all over a hundred hits it seems Stropko has also picked up his hitting game. He is averaging three and three fourths hits per game on the Meute team. So it seems Stropko has upped his physicality and is adding his own scoring touch to the already high flying Quebec team, also to add Stropko had a hat-trick within just a few games of coming to Quebec.

 

Up – Jerrick Poole was one of the players dealt at the deadline from the Toronto Legion to the Stockholm Vikings. Along with Rathod Jr and Stokes, Poole was looking to seriously up his game for the Vikings and looking to win them there first cup these playoffs. All three players traded were having down seasons, Rathod having the best with forty five points in fifty games. Jerrick Poole is a solidified top pairing defensemen in the VHL who is right in his prime. His defensive partner for the rest of his career (assuming he re-signs) will be Lloyd Light. Since joining the club Poole has upped his game from a point eight point per game to a point per game. This is not a very big jump but certainly a jump for the blue liner. Poole has had some underwhelming seasons on the Toronto Legion. He has only been point per game twice in his four seasons and has a chance of not hitting that again this season. But going forward Poole will have all the chances he needs to become an elite defensemen on the Vikings blue line.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 253

 

 

Up – First round excitement! At least in the European conference. The Cologne Express squeaked out first place in Europe by only point over the Stockholm Vikings. So now the Vikings have a very tough task ahead of them, facing off against the HC Davos Dynamo. Davos did not have an amazing season but did not have a bad season by any means. They finished with forty seven wins (fifth in the league) and finished with ninety nine points (fifth once again). The Dynamo and the Vikings are pretty similar, though the Vikings have the elite talent up front in Slaughter and Karnage, the Dynamo have the rock on the backend in Richardson. There goaltending is very similar, both have young goalkeepers in Blake Campbell in Stockholm and Callum Sinclair in Davos. Both teams have fit six forwards under there cap like five other playoff teams except the team that finished in first, the Quebec City Meute. This series is going to be a good one, Davos may lack overall star power but they can keep the puck out of there net and the Vikings have the stars but lack experience. This series will probably go the distance but will probably all boil down to which young goaltender can play under the light the best. Campbell has never played a playoff game in the VHL and Sinclair has little experience.

 

Down – In Europe the first round is going to be super super competitive. In the North American conference it is going to be the opposite. On one hand there is a team that is going in for a cup run and has moved a lot of assets to make this run happen, in the other hand you have a team that is rebuilding and did not really want to make the playoffs. But ended up there due to the lack of competitiveness in the North American conference. This is almost a David verse Goliath type story line, the Americans; a rebuilding team with not a lot of older players matchup against the Wranglers; a team that is young but has some older talent that makes them a strong team. 

 

Up – The amount of goal scoring in the VHL this past season was crazy. After the big three goaltenders of Martin Brookside, Mike Szatkowski Jr. and Brick Wahl all departing the league the scoring should have arose. There were eleven players that finished with above a hundred points in the league, those eleven coming from five different teams. Then there were another ten players then had between eighty points and a hundred. Goalies were getting lit up all season long, there were a lot high scoring games due to the superstars waking up and the lack of older goaltenders. Having only one goaltender older then season forty one made sure that there would be no elite goalies in the league this season. But some goaltenders did perform well such as Niklaus Mikaelson, Hans Wingate, and Blake Campbell. All future superstars that are slowly entering the prime of there careers.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 255

 

 

Up – It’s that time again! The Super Cup is upon us for the fourth time ever in league history. After being started in season thirty-five we have seen it come up every three seasons. The Super Cup is something nothing has been seen before in league history. Ever player that is eligible is put into a draft and are drafted my agents that have their own players on them and are GMs. So every team has their own player, the draft rankings are put into lottery. The obvious stars that are going to go at the start are players like Thomas O’Malley, Mason Richardson and Lord Kanage. This has always been a fun event for the league, it gives players different teammates to play with and to get to know. It gives new agents a chance to learn what it takes to GM a winning team. That is why this was recreated, just a fun time for everyone to get to know each other a little more and to get away from the norm.

 

Down – Arguably the two best teams in the league, the Stockholm Vikings and the Quebec City Meute. Stockholm had a very tough time against the Dynamo in the first round of the playoffs, pushing it to a tough seven games the Vikings squeaked out the series win. Heading into the second round it was the Vikings against the Express in Europe, and Quebec versus Calgary in North America. After the fourth game in both series the once thought two best teams in the league Quebec was down three wins to there one and Stockholm was the same. The Meute had won the first game but after that they dropped three straight that instantly put them in the hole. Also like the Muete the Vikings won the first game then dropped three straight. In game in the Muete-Wranglers series it was all but over for the Meute in the first twenty, letting in four goals in the first period. The Meute could only muster up eighteen shots compared to the Wranglers almost hitting fifty, they would lose six to nothing. For a team that had an incredible regular season they really did breakdown come playoff time. In the European series the Vikings would come back and win two straight to take it to a seventh game. In game seven Cologne clutched up and scored two goals and got a stellar performance from Waldron. For both this season was a disappointing season, both wanted that cup so badly.

 

Up – The old are returning. It seems that as of late a lot of older members are coming back to the site. Scotty, a legend in the early years of the league recently has made a player and will be in the draft upcoming. Frescoelmo is another member who has returned, after taking some time away from the league he has made a player that will be going into the season forty-six draft class. So why is it that older members are coming back all of a sudden? Well most of the credit goes to the recruitment crew and what they have done. Bringing in new members while bringing in older returning members can only make the league a better place.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 256

 

 

Ups and Downs: Draft Edition

 

Up – Ariel Weinstein has risen up the rankings and now is most definitely either the third or fourth best player in the season forty-five draft. Weinstein was at the start of the season ahead of the Clegane brothers but has fallen behind in training hours to Greg Clegane. Although Ariel is behind Greg in training hours Ariel will still become an elite starter in the league, with already a lot of training hours come draft day Weintein could have an impressive rookie campaign on whatever team he is drafted by. 

 

Up – Bubba Nuck is the first player in the VHL from the NUCK agency, he has lately emerged as a solidified first round pick in this draft class. Starting off Bubba Buck wasn’t really considered a top pick by any means but as the season went along Nuck gained some traction. There are the clear number one and two defensemen on the board in Phil Hamilton and Biggu Kyanon. Both have agents that are respected and known in this league. Bubba Nuck will no doubt be a Hamilton or Kyanon but will be a great pick whoever decided to later on in the first round.

 

Up – Ryan Price, much like Nuck, Price is the first player in the VHL representing his agency. Also much like Nuck Price is at a position where there are great players with great agencies ahead of him. Price is a goaltender and is going to have his work cut out for him being behind the Clegane brothers and behind Weinstein. But Price will not go undrafted, his work ethic has been good, he has a pretty decent amount of training hours so far. This makes him for sure a late first round pick by a team like Seattle or Toronto who do not have goaltenders for the future.

 

Up – It seems to be a reoccurring theme now that first generation players are not too far behind that of players that have had agents with past players in the league. Evgeny Nezhmetdinov is another example of this. Because this draft is so back end deep there are no forwards with agents with past players that are even considered to be a first rounder. But Nezhmetdinov the first generation player is, he leads all forwards in training hours by a large margin. He has shown that he can put up training hours on a weekly basis and stick with it. He is even ahead of Sandro Clegane in training hours, he is fifth in that regard but will probably slide down to maybe sixth or seventh in the draft because teams needs are different.

 

Down – Sandro Clegane, when him and his brother Greg announced they could be eligible for the season forty-five draft him and his brother were neck and neck in training hours. After the VHLM season wrapped up it appears one brother is clearly better than the other. Sandro has tailed off quite a bit, he find himself at half the training hours of his brother (from what the latest scouting report says). Sandro still has a credible agency so he could still be a top five pick for a team that needs a goaltender. 

 

Down – Maxime Wright, after starting off very strong and earning a lot of training hours early. Wright was in the top ten of training hours and was climbing, he was looking like a sure fire first rounder. With an agent that has made good players in the past he was looking like a good pick. But Maxime decided his time in the VHLM and VHL was over, he decided to retire for no apparent reason. Since then he has stopped training and has fallen down on the scouting list.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 257

 

 

Ups and Downs – Off-season Edition

 

Down – The Stockholm Vikings, after some very very strong seasons competing the Stockholm Vikings were very much so losers this past off-season. When you lose a number one center men like Tom Slaughter you are a loser. Tom Slaughter recently retired and signed a one day contract with the team he spent the majority of his career on, the New York Americans. The Vikings even after losing Slaughter were still very much so over the cap. At draft time they sent out Tyson Stokes and former fifth overall pick Francis York Morgan for ninth overall in the season forty-five draft and a second round pick in season forty seven. Not exactly the best return but for being a tight spot they did not do bad. Now heading into the season they have only have four forwards and three defensemen under contract. They are missing a pair of forwards and a defenseman. Considering teams like Riga and Helsinki have improved by a ton Stockholm find themselves in a tough spot.

 

Up – The Helsinki Titans, talking about a crazy off-season. The Titans in one trade instantly went from a bottom feeder to a cup contender. Acquiring Thomas O’Malley and Christoph Klose in a trade that sent away three first round picks, one of them being third overall in season forty five. There off-season was not ever there, Mr. Shaw acquired Brady Stropko for eleventh overall to add some fire power to their team. Somehow after trading away four draft picks Helsinki still had first and second overall in the draft where they took Phil Hamilton and Greg Clegane. There future starting goaltender and future number one defensemen. Certainly both elite picks at one and two, they also added Aleksi Koponen who came in via the general manager rule. Koponen has the likes of being a Tom Slaughter type with his strong passing game. The off-season before Helsinki drafted Marcel Faux third overall, he was sent down to fine tune his game for another season in the VHLM. Well he has been called up and now Helsinki sure does have one strong team. They could potentially contend for a cup but having a rookie goaltender and having a young inexperienced defensive core could cost them.

 

Up – The Cologne Express, Ryan Power is the current general manager of the team and he has been GM of other teams in the past. He has built up a rep of not rebuilding and just trading picks for players instead of drafting and building a team that way. Well after some recent cup run fails Mr. Power decided it was time for a sort of re-tool where he sent out franchise centerman Thomas O’Malley. The team used there picks on Sandro Clegane and Evgeny Nezhmetdinov at fourth and sixth overall. Bringing in two core pieces to add to Thaddeus Humbert and Gifford Shock. Cologne is certainly doing an unconventional re-tool or rebuild. Usually you trade your players for picks and try to tank for a few seasons to bring in some good young talent. Well Cologne is sort of doing that, but also trying to compete. Mr. Power has an elite goalie in net in Brock Waldron and has brought in some good talent like Gifford Shock and Jackson Miller for relatively cheap prices. Cologne has certainly made some good moves that have given them a solid young core of players.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 258

 

 

Up – Goaltending. The past few seasons have been weak ones for goaltenders in the league. But now that all these young amazing talents have been hitting the VHL it is going to make the league stronger and force less goals. Four out of the six playoff teams right now all of a starting goaltender that is younger then season forty three (including players from season forty three). Theleague leading Helsinki Titans have rookie net minder Greg Clegane as there starter, he has eight wins in ten games and is in second for both goals against average and save percentage. Clegane is only behind Hans Wingate in stats, but Wingates team the Wranglers is behind the Titans in the overall standings. Wingate has seemed to take over as the number one goaltender in the VHL. Last season Wingate was a huge part of why Calgary was so good and that resulted in him winning the Aidan Shaw trophy. Bernie Gow is another young goalie on a competing team, Riga after a long rebuild is coming out of there rebuild hot. Acquiring some good talent in the off-season and improving their young core. Riga will be contesting Helsinki all season long, the battle will be in net. Gow is a season older then Clegane but does not have the edge in training hours. The final young starting goalie is Ariel Weinstein, former third overall pick of the Quebec City Meute. Weinstein has played all eleven games this season and is sitting at a record with five wins, five losses and an overtime loss. Certainly not a terrible record with Quebec being in a rebuild.  

 

Down – The Super Cup. It seems every time this thing comes around people are excited about it, but when it is happening not that many people pay attention to it. It was hosted by Phil who made it very interesting with the predictions, life draft and the closing ceremonies. But it just seems like people are not that intrigued by the super cup anymore. The first off-season it happened many people were excited but since then the activity for the event has been on a downwards spiral. Is it time that the league takes a step back and removes the super cup from the rotation? Maybe. 

 

Up – Recruitment. Season forty five was hyped as being a great draft with a lot of high end talent in it. Well now that we are moving onto season forty six how well this upcoming draft compares to the excellent one we just had? Well as of last updated season forty six has over thirty draftees and more than twenty four of them have had some sort of training. So right now the draft is going to have at least three rounds. To compare this draft to season forty five right now in terms of the amount of players would be correct. Season forty five had about three rounds of legitimate players. Season forty six may be missing the big name player agents but certainly has some good depth to it. Right now there are fourteen players with at least fifty training hours. This draft is certainly looking quite good right now with still some time for players to enter it.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 259

 

 

Up – The Cologne Express. After making some very questionable moves during the off-season the Express find themselves right where they want to be. In a playoff position, there may not be a huge gap between second/third in the conference and last place but having a lead now could make a difference towards the end of the season. The Dynamo and Vikings are having tough times finding their full stride, the Vikings are thirteen and thirteen (counting OT losses as regular losses) and the Dynamo are only two games above five hundred (including OT losses as regular losses again). The Express are tied for fourth in goals for in the league, and are third in goals against and have only allowed in two more goals then the team with the lowest goals against, the Helsinki Titans. Some of the Express’s success can be contributed to veteran goalkeeper Brock Waldron, Waldron has fourteen wins, seven losses and five over time losses. He is second in save percentage in the league with a point nine twenty and is the league leader in goals against average at a two point zero five. The Express were heavily scrutinized for dealing a first round pick for Gifford Shock, some may say well Shock is a good young player, some may say he is only one season away from regression and does not have a whole lot of TPE and is a semi active at best. Well he is proving everybody wrong, Shock is playing on Colognes first line playing big minutes against all the other big centrmen in the league.  He has managed to put up forty points in twenty six games, if he keeps this pace up this could easily be his best season in the VHL.

 

Down – The New York Americans. The Americans have been in a rebuild for some time now and it seems like they finally have a good enough team to potentially challenge that of the Wranglers and the European conference. This past off-season they had a strong draft after Biggu Kyanon dropped into their lap at the fifth overall pick. Some said he was easily the third best talent in the draft but due to positional needs he dropped. Before the draft they picked up Niklaus Mikaelson who was a major upgrade in net over Jax Barnstormer who would eventually retire after finding out he was traded. But after acquiring an elite goalkeeper in Mikaelson the Americans have really not improved that much. They have fourteen wins, ten losses and two over time losses which puts then just above the rebuilding Quebec City Meute in the standings. New York has scored the second lowest goals for out of all playoff teams, and has allowed the second most goals out of all playoff teams. New York seems to be very average as of right now, to compare them to the Meute. The Meute have one less point in the same amount of games and have more goals then the Americans and they are doing that with a very crippled offense that is mainly built of second liners. The Meute have also allowed only four more goals then the Americans and there is a massive difference in goaltenders. The one thing that the Americans have going for them is they are in a weak North American conference and have some cap space for a potential deadline deal.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 260

 

 

Down – Jim Gow just a little while back stepped down as a VHL General Manager and just as a couple of days ago has decided to step down at another high ranking position.  Mr. Gow had a lot on his plate when it came to the VHL, being a General Manager, a Commish and being part of the Board of Governors. Jim passed on his General Manager Job to an experienced Steve Smeall. When Jim announced he was stepping down from his GM Job there was a replacement ready to take over. Jim recently decided to step down as a Commissioner in the league, with only three Commissioners (including Jim) after him stepping down this only leaves two. Mitch Higgins and William Shaw, the workload is going to be put on them even more so now that there are only two of them. This leaves a hole for maybe another member of the league to take over. Being a Commissioner is a big job with a lot of responsibility and work. We have seen multiple Commissioners step down in the past few seasons, will Mr. Shaw and Higgins find another suitable candidate or take up more work as a Commissioner?

 

Up – The New York Americans. Last week this article involved the New York Americans as a Down. Well since last week the New York Americans have certainly been on fire. The Americans went from barely being ahead of the rebuilding Quebec City Meute to passing the cup favorite Wranglers to acquire first overall in the North American Conference. The Americans in there last ten games have eight wins with only two losses and are currently riding a five game win streak. All five of those wins came against playoff teams, beating the Wranglers twice, the Express twice and beating the Meute once. It seems like the whole team is doing there share too, Mikaelson has started playing well as of late, Kurri on the second line is leading the team in points as a depth player, and they are getting contributions from there stars like Caprivi and Delicious. 

 

Down – The Stockholm Vikings. It seems that maybe, just maybe the Vikings run of having a good team mixed with young and older players run may have come to an end. The Vikings find themselves as the seventh place team in the entire VHL, right now the Vikings are in a tough position that sees the seven points out of a playoff spot. They are having troubles scoring due to their lack of depth and are having troubles letting in goals because of their goalkeeping. Blake Campbell could be one of the reasons why the Vikings are not in a playoff spot. But it could also be blamed on the fact that the Vikings can only afford to ice seven players on the ice each game plus there goaltender. There forward group consists of one line plus an extra, they do have three quality defensemen but playing there four forwards for most of the game leaves them tired. It is most definitely a casualty to see such a good team in the past have to make certain moves to stay under the cap.

[eaglesfan036 4,603]

Jardy is a commy

[Will 4,660]

Jardy is a commy

 

Technically but he calls himself an administrator these days.

[eaglesfan036 4,603]

Rigges

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 261

 

 

Up – The HC Davos Dynamo. Just a couple of weeks ago the Dynamo found themselves in a very very tough position. The Dynamo were fighting to stay relevant in the European conference as the Titans, Express and Reign were taking off while the Dynamo and Vikings were slowly falling behind. Since then the Dynamo have turned their season round, in there last ten games they have eight wins, one loss and one overtime loss. They have also won their last eight straight beating teams like the Wranglers, Vikings and Titans. Some key contributors from the Dynamo have been veterans Devin Sundberg who is leading the team in points and James Faraday. There goaltending has not been stellar, but it has been good, Sinclair is in the better half of the league for goals against average and save percentage. DAV G has also been a good relief as he has won all five games. Two thirds of the way through the season the Dynamo they have themselves in a very good position. Unless they crumble towards the end the Dynamo will certainly be making the playoffs.

 

Down – I guess with ones teams gain, there is a team with loss. The Riga Reign was on the opposite side of the spectrum to the Dynamo. The Reign with their newly built roster was having an excellent season until as of late. Everything seems to be going perfectly for them, with their newly acquired star power and new General Manager the Reign were comfortably in second place in the very tough European conference. After a shaky last six games that saw them go three and three the Dynamo have moved up to second in the European conference and are now sitting one point above the Reign. The Reign now only have a four point spread between them and the team sitting just outside the playoffs, the Cologne Express. One of the biggest acquisitions in the off-season for the Reign was bringing in all-star Aksel Thomassen to be there guy. They also acquired his long time forward partner Milos Denis, these two are used to putting up huge numbers. Well Thomassen for the first time since his rookie season is not even in the top ten for points in the league and Denis is nine points below a point per game. These two will need to get clicking again for the Reign to remain in a playoff spot. 

 

Up – The trade deadline is just around the corner. The deadline is usually a pretty boring time that has maybe a couple deals that send rentals to playoff bound teams for picks. This will more than likely happen this season as we see a couple of veterans on weaker teams that could be very useful for a team gearing up for a long playoff run. Something that also comes with the trade deadline is players retiring and new players being created. A few people have announced that they will be retiring come deadline time. Creating a player at the deadline gives you a slight advantage as you have a longer time to accumulate practice time. It should be a fairly exciting time for most GMs in the VHL and VHLM, or will it be another boring off-season like we have seen in the past?

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 262

 

 

Up – The rookie race this season sure is a good one. A lot of talk about the season forty-five draft was before it happened. Now almost a season later it is clear it was a good one, with the huge influx of players making it straight from the VHLM to the VHL from the season forty-five draft it has made this rookie race a good one. Max Molholt a non-drafted winger for the Toronto Legion is having an amazing rookie campaign. Leading all rookies in scoring and is sixth in goals in the league puts him as a top candidate for the rookie of the year award. Another rookie up front who is having an excellent season is Aleksi Koponen. Koponen like Molholt is undrafted and is also having a stellar rookie season. Koponen finds himself six points back of Molholt with seventy nine. Koponen seems to be quite the setup man as he is sixth in assists in the league with fifty eight. These two forwards may be impressing as very good young talents, the most impressive is Greg Clegane. Going from a VHLM starter to a VHL elite starter is a very tough job. But Greg has handled it very well, his point nine nineteen save percentage is good enough for second in the league. He is leading the league in goals against average at a two point eleven. Clegane has a great shot at winning the rookie of the year, but also has an excellent shot at winning the shaw.

 

Down – What is it with teams going up and down this season? The Cologne Express were on the up and up and then were down in the dumps and now there doing well again. The Dynamo were down then up and are now finding themselves in a very bad spot. The Dynamo were on an excellent tear through the VHL just a little while ago, since then in there last ten games they have only won two games and the rest are losses.  Before their most recent win they dropped seven games in a row, which is their worst stretch of games all season long. One positive for the Dynamo is that they have made sure to have played all there backup games by now. The team that they are battling the third place spot for, the Cologne Express have not played there backup goalie at all this season. As the season is winding down they will need to get there backup goalie games, this may cost the Express there slight lead and playoff spot.

 

Up – The number one and two scorers in the league, Thomas O’Malley and Bismarck Koenig. Both of these guys since the season has started have been right around the top of the league leading scoring race. Something very similar about these players are last off-season both left the team they played season forty-four on and found new teams for season forty-five. They also just happened to be teammates in season forty-four on the Cologne Express. They were even line mates. Thomas O’Malley was traded from the team that drafted him, the Cologne Express to the Titans that gave the Express a perfect package to rebuild off of. Bismarck Koenig decided to part ways with the Express and leave via free agency and head to the team fresh of a continental cup, the Calgary Wranglers. O’Malley is leading the league in points with a hundred and four, he sits in third for assists and fourth for goals. Koenig is sitting at exactly a hundred points , he is only one goal behind the league leading forty six and he sits in seventh for assists

[Molholt 2,185]

 

Mag Number 262

 

 

Up – The rookie race this season sure is a good one. A lot of talk about the S45 draft took place before it happened. Now, almost a season later, it is clear that it was a good one. The huge influx of players who made it straight from the VHLM to the VHL from the S45 draft it has made this rookie race exciting. Max Molholt, an undrafted winger for the Toronto Legion, is having an amazing rookie campaign. He is leading all rookies in scoring and is sixth in goals in the league, which puts him as a top candidate for the rookie of the year award. Another rookie up front who is having an excellent season is Aleksi Koponen. Koponen, like Molholt, was undrafted and is also having a stellar rookie season. Koponen finds himself six points back of Molholt with seventy-nine. Koponen seems to be quite the setup man, as he is sixth in assists in the league with fifty eight. These two forwards may be impressing as very good young talents, but the most impressive is Greg Clegane. Going from a VHLM starter to a VHL elite starter is a very tough job. But Greg has handled it very well, his 0.919 save percentage is good enough for second in the league. He is leading the league in goals against average at 2.11. Clegane has a great shot at winning the rookie of the year and also has an excellent shot at winning the Shaw Trophy.

 

Down – What is it with teams going up and down this season? The Cologne Express were on the up and up, then were down in the dumps and now they're doing well again. The Dynamo were down, then up and are now finding themselves in a very bad spot. The Dynamo were on an excellent tear through the VHL just a little while ago. Since then, in their last ten games, they have only won two games, with the rest being losses. Before their most recent win, they dropped seven games in a row, which is their worst stretch of games all season long. One positive for the Dynamo is that they have made sure to have played all their backup goalie games by now. The team that they are battling the third place spot for, the Cologne Express, have not played their backup goalie at all this season. As the season is winding down they will need to get their backup goalie some playing time and this may cost the Express their slight lead and playoff spot.

 

Up – The number one and two scorers in the league, Thomas O’Malley and Bismarck Koenig. Both of these guys, since the season has started, have been right around the top of the league leading scoring race. Something very similar about these players is that last off-season both of them left the team they played S44 on and found new teams for S45. They also just happened to be teammates in S44, on the Cologne Express. They were even line mates for that season. Thomas O’Malley was traded from the team that drafted him, the Cologne Express, to the Titans, which gave the Express a perfect package to rebuild off of. Bismarck Koenig decided to part ways with the Express, leaving via free agency and heading to the team fresh off of a Continental Cup, the Calgary Wranglers. O’Malley is leading the league in points with one hundred and four. He sits in third for assists and fourth for goals. Koenig is sitting at exactly one hundred points, is only one goal behind the league leading forty-six and he sits in seventh for assists.

 

 

My edits.

 

Also: http://www.wikihow.com/Use-There,-Their-and-They're

 

[eaglesfan036 4,603]

Fesler:

 

they're = they are. As in they're going to the store.

their = what you use with people. I am going to their store

there = what you use with no people. I am going to the store over there.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 263

 

Up – The New York Americans. After trailing behind the Calgary Wranglers all season long, towards the end of the season around the deadline they really improved there game. Finishing the season with a 7 and 3 record certainly helped push themselves above the Wranglers in the standings. Calgary barely finished the season above five hundred having 5 wins, 4 losses and 1 overtime loss. Now that the Americans have the first round bye they can sit back and see what Calgary does against the Meute squad. Though that series may be a quick one it gives the Americans some time to relax and prepare for the tough conference finals ahead of them. The Americans are looking like a scary team, with one of the longest depth charts up front and on the back end they don’t really need a whole lot of star power. With all their depth they are looking good, but one of the biggest factors for them is there goaltender. Having arguably one of the best in Niklaus Mikaelson makes there team a very tough competitor.

Down – The Quebec City Meute. The last four seasons before season 45 the Quebec has posted an impressive 110 points or more. In the season before the streak was started they only were able to record 99 points. This season the Meute were only able to muster up a measly 70 points, they will still be heading to the post season for the fifth time in a row which is a very impressive run. Although it was not a competing season for the Meute they capitalized on the weak North American conference. Also not owning their own season forty six first rounder made it an easy decision to make a little playoff run with the depth players they had on the roster. The Meute will likely fall off even more next season unless they can acquire some true talents around the pieces like Morgan and Weinstein. 

Up – The lottery pick owners (Seattle and Toronto). Some GMs say it is very very difficult to acquire lottery picks unless you are trading one at the draft for a large amount. Somehow both the Seattle Bears and the Toronto Legion were able to acquire a lotto pick each that was not their own. The Bears lucked out and acquired the Express first round pick for S46 a couple seasons ago when they traded away star goaltender Niklaus Mikaelson to the Meute who had just acquired the pick from Cologne. Cologne will surely not be happy about this trade as they gave up a lotto pick for goalkeeper Brock Waldron who has hung the skates up. Cologne was in a fight all season long for a playoff spot but could not clutch up towards the end. The Legion acquired there lotto pick from the Vikings in a crazy scenario but in the end they acquired it. Toronto was certainly happy that the Vikings ran into serious cap problems and had to run the smallest roster in the league last season. In doing so the Vikings finished dead last in the European conference and gave away a lotto pick. 

 

[Molholt 2,185]

Learn the difference between there and their. It is one of the first things they teach you.

[eaglesfan036 4,603]

Learn the difference between there and their. It is one of the first things they teach you.

Fesler:

 

they're = they are. As in they're going to the store.

their = what you use with people. I am going to their store

there = what you use with no people. I am going to the store over there.

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 264

Down – The Riga Reign. Last off-season the Reign were determined to get better, after having a bad season 44 they were ready to improve here team and start trying to compete. Well they started off by trading 3rd overall (a pick they had just acquires for 4th overall) for a package that consisted of one of the best center men in the league, Aksel Thomassen. They also acquired Thomasson’s line mate Milos Denis and a second round pick. They also made some moves to bring in some solid role players like Jack Kowalski and Kurtis Hunter. These moves most certainly bolstered the Riga roster, with younger players like Bernie Gow and Bronson Faux ready to take the next step this team was ready to compete. After a strong regular season that finished them in second in the tough European conference some had Riga was possible favorites for the cup. The Reign found themselves up against the Dynamo, a team that only finished one point behind the Reign in the regular season. This series was expected to go the distance with the two teams being so similar. After losing the first game in overtime, the Reign could not muster up anything against the Dynamo. Riga was swept due to not being able to put the puck in the net and the inability to score, they only put up 8 goals to the Dynamos 14.

Up – Toronto. After some disappointing seasons in Toronto it seems as if they are finally at the point to start acquiring some talent. The draft lottery happened and Toronto owned two of the picks in the lottery (with Seattle owning the other two). Toronto came out on top as the won the lottery and acquired the first overall pick and the third overall pick. Toronto also owned Quebec’s season 46 pick so Toronto has 1st, 3rd, and 5th overall in the draft as of right now.  In this draft there is a clear number one pick and maybe a clear number two but after that there are questions as to who will go where. Toronto will most likely be eyeing Zack Perechkin as their franchise winger and with the third overall pick will be interested in taking a defenseman, depending on who is at that pick either Hackett or Hamilton will both be great options for the Legion General Manager. 

Down – The quickness of the playoffs. It seems everyone waits for the playoffs to come around then they come and go so quickly. This season it seems it is happening a little too quickly. The North American and the European first round series both ended in a short four games. In North America a short series was expected with the cup favorite Wranglers going up against the worst playoff team, the Meute. But in the European conference it was a series that was expected to not be short at all. Both teams were very similarly built with a combination of young players and older veterans. Both the Dynamo and Reign had young goaltenders so it was expected to have gone either way. But it was not like expected and the Dynamo swept the Reign, though that is not the whole story cause each game was close it was a short series. Now into the semi-finals the Americans were down 3 games to 0 to the Wranglers but have won game 4 and now we are waiting for game 6 to happen. In the European conference it is the same thing, the Titans are up 3 games to 1 over the Dynamo. It seems once teams get momentum they just keep going and don’t stop, this is resulting and may result in one of the shortest playoffs the VHL has ever seen. 

 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Article 265

Up – The Cologne Express. After a disappointing finish to last season the Express found themselves without an identity. They had just lost two huge pieces to their team, their veteran goalkeeper in Brock Waldron and Nicklas Karlsson who was a Labatte trophy candidate. One of the biggest changes that happened in Cologne this past off-season was a change in the front office. The Devise agency decided to step down as GM of the Express after a stint which lasted 4 seasons. The Greg agency will be taking over as GM, this agency has had tones of past experience so that made him a great candidate to take over. Since taking over Greg has made a few trades to fill out the roster, most notable was bringing in Rami Jacobsen. Cologne also took part in one of the biggest moves of the off-season, Cologne sent away young defensemen Thaddeus Humbert and once prized Gifford Shock for Tyson Stokes, a first and a second. Unfortunately Cologne does not own there S47 first round selection so with a mix of young and older members they are trying everything to make the playoffs. They may not be in right now but only sit a total of 2 points back of the Davos Dynamo who are having a less than stellar season so far.

Down – The Stockolm Vikings. One of the major losers this past off-season, Stockholm entered the S45 off-season with disappointment after not making the playoffs. Stockholm had loads of cap and with a strong free agent class it was almost the perfect scenario for the Vikings. But this was not the case, after missing out on some top tier free agents such as James Faraday and Bismarck Koenig. Stockholm was not in a strong position to resign Blake Campbell who was there starting goaltender. After not locking up one of the big free agents Campbell decided to head elsewhere, he decided on heading to the New York Americans who desperately needed a goalkeeper. Stockholm has a decent roster but is missing a goaltender, every single one of their players has over 500 training hours but clearly that will not fill the massive void in net. Stockholm is in last place in the league, even worse than the terrible Seattle Bears. The only thing Stockholm has forward to look to is that they will be in the run for a first overall pick.

Up – The Toronto Legion. After quite a lengthy rebuild that is still happening the Toronto Legion may have finally found an identity and are certainly looking like a team with one of the brightest futures. Toronto had a stellar draft with all there picks, critics were wondering if they made the right decisions on draft day and it looks like out of the rookies that made the squad they are proving Toronto made the right ones. Out of their first 6 picks in the S46 draft, only two players made the Legion, as much as 5 probably could have made it but decided to go back down to the minors for another season. The two that made the Legion are Zach Pereckin which came as no surprise as he was the first overall pick with the highest amount of training hours. The second player that made the team came as somewhat of a surprise as World B Free made the Legion. Pereckin is starting his VHL career off hot with 23 points in 14 games. He leads all rookies in points and is tied for first in goals scored by a rookie. World B Free is sitting in second for rookie scoring and has the rookie leading 18 assists. With the key contributions from Pereckin, Molholt and Roy lll Toronto finds themselves in third in North American conference. 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 266

 

Up – Callum Sinclair. Sinclair since joining the league back in season 42 has always been a mid-tier goaltender who has been a rock in the Dynamo net, he is now in his fifth VHL season and is really showing that he has greatly improved into one of the better netminders in the league. The Dynamo are not having a great showing offensively so they have counted on Sinclair for wins this season. The Dynamo barely find themselves in a playoffs spot with the Cologne Express right behind them. Because of Sinclair’s incredible play Davos has slowed the least amount of goals in the VHL. Sinclair leads the league in save percentage with a .922 and also leads in goals against average with a 1.88 (the only goaltender below a 2.00) and is also tied for first in shutouts with 4 with Ariel Weinstein of the Quebec City Meute. Sinclair is also third in wins behind Hans Wingate (19) and Bernie Gow (20), it is clear Sinclair is among the elite for goaltenders in the league but can he hold these stats for the rest of the season or is he just off to a strong start?

Up – Thomas O’Malley. It was known on the season 40 draft day that Thomas O’Malley was going to be the best forward from that draft class, GMs knew what kind of player O’Malley would be and what he would become. O’Malley brings leadership, loyalty and pure raw talent to an organization, since being drafted O’Malley has been a stud every season he has been in the league. Four times has O’Malley surpassed a 110 points and he still has one more season after this current season to maybe do it another two times. As usually O’Malley is right up there at the top of the league in scoring, he is the only non-Toronto Legion in the top three. O’Malley is sitting in second in goals with 21 through 26 games and O’Malley is currently riding a 10 game point streak. Last season the Titans came out of there rebuild stronger than ever and eventually there great run led to a cup win, this season the Titans look to be right back on track to repeat and are being led by the veteran O’Malley. Currently the Titans are only two points back of the league leading Riga Reign who have 40 points.

Up – The Riga Reign. Despite this team only having two legitimate defensemen this team has been on a tear since the season started. Riga leads the league in points with 40 but only has a two point lead over two teams (Helsinki and Calgary). Riga was looking very powerful offensively with the addition of James Faraday as there number one winger and already having two powerful centers in Aksel Thomassen and Bronson Faux it was clear Riga would put up huge numbers offensively. But this has not exactly been the tail of the story, Riga is second in goals for in the league but only sits on goal for ahead both the Americans and the Titans. On the backend there were concerns for the Reign with only having two defensemen and having a young goalkeeper in Bernie Gow.  But they have overcome this and just happen to be the best defensive team in the league not counting the Dynamo. Bernie Gow and the make shift defensive core has been doing the job. Gow has been doing his job stopping the puck, he lets in an average of just over 2 goals a game (2.10) and is leading the league in wins.  

 

[Kesler 1,514]

Mag Number 267

Down – The Quebec City Muete. What is up these guys? Quebec was a major competitor from around season 41 to season 44. After rebuilding in the season 44 off-season, they still managed to make the playoffs in a weak North American conference in season 45 and now after an uneventful off-season where Quebec did literally nothing they are sitting on the fence between being in and out of the playoffs. Quebec has a few nice pieces on their current roster that consist of young star goaltender Ariel Weinstein who despite playing well this season has had little to no support. Francis York Morgan is growing into one of the most elite and best defensemen in the league despite also having little to no support and Benjamin Zeptenbergs who seems to have found his groove while in Quebec and has been playing excellent. Quebec has made it clear they do not want to win and that a lottery pick would do them much better than a short playoff run. Quebec has two firsts round picks in this upcoming draft and has top prospect Tom Lincoln locked up to make the VHL next season. Quebec will have to do much worse to be worse than Toronto or even Stockholm to finish in that second last place in the VHL. It should help that they released a whole line of depth players that were helping them win some games. Quebec in their last 10 has been unfortunate (or fortunate in their case) to have won 2 games in regulation but the overtime loss points seem to be helping them out.

Up – The recruitment in the VHL. Over the years acquiring new members to the VHL is a key role in growing the league and allows for things such as expansion to happen. Well over the past whole lot of season recruitment has been there but really hasn’t, new members joining the league has slowed down quite a bit over the last few seasons. So the recruitment crew has been overhauled and are now recruiting more than ever. An abundance of members that used to be here are being brought back and new members are also joining because of the recruitment crew. The reason why recruitment needed to be amped up was because the Season 47 draft class was not looking too strong at the beginning of the season. The season 47 draft class currently holds 16 players which is not a lot but is continually growing because of the recruitment which is a very good thing for the draft and the league. 5 members have been either brought back or have been recruited on a first time basis within the last 2 weeks, this is a significant number considering there are only around 20 people on at a time and that draft classes only usually have between 20 and 40 people. The Season 47 draft class is still looking weaker than normal but is building up some depth, this draft has some players that have agents who have had terrific players here in the past and are looking to maybe do the same with their new player. Although with all the new players coming in they will still need to do a lot to catch up to the no doubtable  first overall pick in John Sleeman but not everybody can be a John Sleeman.