Vladimir Pavlov may have been a complete and utter disappointment but he still got me some VHL firsts

[Victor 11,043]

Vladimir Pavlov may have been an utter disappointment until this season, performing like a 400 TPE defenceman for approximately 80% of his career, but he still ticked off a few more boxes in my quest to leave the VHL having achieved everything there is.

 

1. He won the Founder's Cup: I really should have known it was a bad sign that I had finally won the VHLM championship on the seventh time of asking, especially having done it in the dirtiest way by playing 0 minutes on a stacked Minnesota team. But nonetheless it finally happened and probably won't again for a while given I'm on a playoff bubble team now with Rasputin and who knows when the next player will be.

 

2. He made the Triple Gold Club: I think I won a gold medal with most of my previous players, and have definitely won a cup with all of them (even Pavlov didn't fuck that one up), but the aforementioned lack of VHLM success meant the Triple Gold Club had never been a possibility before. In S70, I managed to cross that one off the bucket list, with a double of Continental Cup with Moscow and then gold with Team World. It was doubly glorious as Pavlov had so foolishly been left off the World Cup roster in the previous tournament.

 

3. He made a position change: I actually really dislike the idea of position changes and have never done it before, sticking at either center or defence when I have made skaters before. Even with Pavlov I made sure it was something that happened before VHL graduation so that I could at least spend my entire VHL career in one position. Nonetheless, it's something that Pavlov did, which is a bit of a shame as he was really coming into his own as a center while defence is the worst position in the league. The sacrifices you have to make as GM.

 

4. He played out a full career with one team: Another first, now that I know I won't trade him this season, is that Pavlov played his full career with hometown team Moscow. I believe the closest I came to this before is with my very first player, fittingly also not a Hall of Famer, who spent 5 of 6 seasons with New York. That's pretty nice, a cool feature of the modern VHL where I have been able to replenish the ageing Moscow core without going through a full rebuild and therefore some of the younger players of the S70 cup winning team have been able to stick around til now.

 

I guess it's good to be able to find some silver linings even in what was a pretty disappointing 1,400 TPE spent. The real vindication of Pavlov's career has been being part of a fun and unforgettable expansion team which managed to scale the very heights of the VHL and therefore has been hugely enjoyable from a GM perspective. It will be curious to see if I can sneak him onto a HOF ballot depending on how the rest of S74 to go, but he really won't make it I don't think. Which is a shame as that was a nice streak to have but it's not like I spoiled a 100% record. Plus, those first are still cool. Fuck you Vladimir Pavlov.

[Advantage 2,920]

Scrub

[Victor 11,043]

4 minutes ago, Advantage said:

Scrub

Bigger than Malmo

[Advantage 2,920]

7 minutes ago, Victor said:

Bigger than Malmo

True.  Bigger scrub than Malmo

[Beketov 9,140]

1 hour ago, Victor said:

He made the Triple Gold Club

I took forever to get this but at least I managed to do it before you.

[Plate 386]

Review

Pavlov is doing well in fantasy so at least you have that going for you. The article is super nice and easy flowing. It seems like you also ordered the list in relation to their completion with Pavlov's career. That's a nice touch and I appreciate it. 1,400 TPE is a lot to spend on a player. Defense is just one of those positions every team can always use more of. Honestly, the only thing that I can say (which is personal preference) would be to end your headers with a period instead of the semi colon. Example, 

1. My player did this thing. Now continue on as normal.

 

10/10 pre-S74 was a bust (jokes)