AGM's Corner #1

[bigAL 2,176]

There’s no real job description, manual, or instructions on how to be a Assistant General Manager in the VHLM. By the end of this article, there still won’t be a real job description, manual, or instructions on how to be an Assistant General Manager, but I’m out of the loop on the VHL over the summer and need to whip up a few hundred words, so I’ll try.
There is no perfect personality or style for AGMing. Each team, General Manager, and locker room has their own unique strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats – and an AGM must be chosen carefully to fit the situation at hand.

For example: bigAL got brought on to the Miami Marauders management team ahead of their inaugural draft in S72. Kris Rice, the real General Manager of the Year S72, had a blank slate ahead of him. He’s been around the block in the VHL, but was stepping into his first GM job. Ricer has a strong sense of his skills: he’s a people person, an active Discord user, and a brilliant hockey management mind. Really, he’s such a superstar that he doesn’t necessarily need an AGM. bigAL brought computer skills and information management to the table, and quickly impressed his boss with powerful Excel spreadsheets and an eye for scouting unproven VHLM waiver players. These skills aren’t flashy, but helped make Miami’s inaugural season one to remember.

The only unofficially-standardized task of the AGM across both leagues is the posting of the press conference. In most franchises, the AGM asks all six weekly press conference questions. This helps to take some weekly (sometimes menial) tasks off the plate of the GM. But, don’t think the press conference is busy-work that the big boss doesn’t want to do. In my mind, asking the team the presser questions each week is how I earn my keep as an AGM. Each week, I earn 2 capped TPE for asking those questions – that’s the same pay as Ricer gets for being the Miami General Manager. The press conference is an invaluable tool for AGMs looking to reap some tangible benefits from their position. Every AGM, whether they’re a graphics guru or a gooder word maker should strive to post six good questions each week.

Beyond this “mandatory” task, the role of the AGM is completely up to the personalities involved. To bring value to their franchise, the AGM has to complement the skills the GM already has and fill in the gaps where the GM can’t/doesn’t want to do things. The General Manager and the Assistant will discuss the things they like to do, want to do, and don’t want to do, and find ways they can pool their skills and resources to help the team best.

Our league has a diverse group of AGMs. We have the outgoing social locker room leaders who are the emotional leaders of the team, like Hatter in Minnesota; there’s the goofball AGMs who like to keep things light and fun in the room like Twists; and the T-Swift-thirsty managers like Viper in San Diego. There’s also the shadowy AGMs who do their best work behind the scenes, like Selsby of the Philadelphia Reapers was before he had to step away. Unbeknownst to many in the league, Selsby was authorized to negotiate trades at the S72 trade deadline, and worked the phones hard for his GM.

Perhaps the most exciting group of AGMs are the rookie managers. These hot up-and-comers, like Ferk in Saskatoon, Zetterberg in Yukon, Moose in San Diego, and Laine in Houston, have the opportunity to carve out a niche for themselves. I’m sure next time this how-to-AGM column gets written, these four will be superstars worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Hatter, Twists, Selsby, Viper and the other VHLM AGM staples.

Until then, & VHLMers!