The End of An Interesting Season

[JigglyGumballs 1,056]

So as some of you who do care know, there's no LVA progress report this season. Why? Well it's because it's gotten repetitive. One big formulaic article at the start of the season, then after four weeks comes another big article with the same formula comes out. Rinse and repeat for the another season then it's just going to be the same shit over and over again. That's why I decided to stop the progress reports as of now. So I can explore new ideas instead of just doing the same thing over and over. It wouldn't be interesting to be the guy who does the same shit every time right? Anyways, this article is going to be more of a story time article. A look back on my thoughts and recollection of this season and what to expect next. This might be long, might not be long, but nevertheless let's get on with it.

 

The Beginning

 

The start of this season was honestly a bit of a milestone season, well for me at least, as I was heading into my third season as an AGM. VHLM AGMs from what I've noticed, tend to not have very long tenures. Some last for only 1-2 seasons before they step down due to mostly personal reasons. So heading into my 3rd, it was honestly interesting for me. I  didn't expect to be an AGM for this long, heading into my 3rd VHLM draft as an AGM. It also felt weird. I remember thinking how fast the seasons go for me to already be in my 3rd season as an AGM, and yet I found myself feeling like I've been a part of Vegas since the start. Another thing of note was Vegas itself. The team after two dominant seasons, was starting to look like it's in decline. Ever since @Spartan took over Vegas, the team has never missed the playoffs season after season. Now, it honestly looked a bit bleak. Playoff hopes were slim, and I remember talking about what to do in this draft. Especially regarding the need of acquiring picks for the future. Which resulted in trading one of our first round picks to Houston for a couple of seconds and a 4th.

 

Post draft, I felt a little better about the team, but I didn't think we were going to make the playoffs with only one defensive line and 2.5 forward lines. We had a goalie in @aksuko though, yet again I felt that playoffs were a bit bleak. There was optimism, but there wasn't much to work with.

 

Early Season Woes

 

Early on in the season, I can remember that we've struggled a lot. Things weren't clicking and every game seemed like an uphill battle. I was honestly expecting it. Our draft seemed to be pretty successful at first glance, however it was just taking a bit of time for things to gel. Especially since only a select handful of our players were capped, or close to that area. My mentality during this time was mostly the same. We're rebuilding, so a loss isn't going to be too big of a deal. Though not having a first round pick was definitely a big handicap. In honesty, not having a first rounder is a bit of a good thing in the long term. Unless you overreach for a player, that first rounder is probably going to stay for one season, and if you wanna contend in the long term in the VHLM, drafting a player who won't cap out after one season will be a much more better situation. Now before you go "Isn't the VHLM all about player retention and not winning cups?" and all that shit. Hear me out. I personally feel like a team that's always contending is a lot better for retaining players in this league. A rebuilding team, is definitely much harder to be active on when you're a new player. Of course that's not always the case, the S72 Houston Bulls rookie gang (which includes me) can attest to that. However, the reputation of a perennial contender plus the amount of activity generated from always making some noise will better help retain players into the VHL. You can debate with me all you want, but it's my personal opinion.

 

Mid-Season Turnaround and Postseason

 

As the season went on, and the players start earning more and more TPE. Things looked brighter. Though with a bit of the rebuild mentality still lingering, we did end up trading @Domino Draws to Minnesota for an couple of picks. Which in hindsight, was honestly justified. We were still losing more games than winning games, so it was more better for us to fully commit to the tank by trading a career LVA player and a capped player to a team that's likely to go far in the playoffs. However, as fate would have it, around the middle of the season, we had a complete turnaround. We started winning games. Now with 11 forwards and 6 defenseman, things were getting better and better. A big win against Houston further boosted our hopes and optimism. It's like Vegas and playoffs were always meant to be. Even if we were rebuilding, we still had hopes that we would sneak in as the 4th seed in our conference. Around the middle of the season, I'm pretty sure Saskatoon was in that position, however near the end of the season, and amazing performances by @Syzygy, @Bouncyelf, @inflastud, and again @aksuko. We ended up forming a considerable lead and a comfortable spot at 4th in the conference. We were able to toss around with the top teams of the league, but we weren't able to actually win games against them. It was a bit of a limbo to me, purgatory if you will. We weren't good enough to beat the better teams of the league, but we were too good to not lose against the bottom of the league. We were in this Goldilocks zone of mediocrity. One question still lingered to me at the time, what will happen in the playoffs? Well the answer to that was to go to the postseason and see.

 

I'll be blunt. We fucking got swept. In the end, we weren't up to the task. We kept Mexico on the edge for a couple of games, but we just weren't able to fully finish with a win. I remember thinking of doing a sort of playoff preview for this week since it was the playoffs, but I got lazy and then we got swept. Now we have this thing which is a good substitute. Right?

 

Conclusion

 

This season was an interesting story. From rebuilding to a surprise, but ultimately short postseason appearance. We were also riding a bit of a waiver warrior wave as most of our defensive core was waivers. Though yet again, the season was now over and all I can do now is look ahead in the future. With the promotion of Hylands into the VHL and an open spot in Mexico, I honestly wonder if I will ever take the helm of a VHLM team in the near future. Nevertheless, there's now one goal to focus on for me, and that is the draft. Vegas needs a big draft to remain in contention, and whether that means more trades or good scouting, it'll definitely be interesting here on out. Just as it was throughout this season. To end this off, I wanna give a big thanks to @Spartan and all of Vegas again for a rather unique little season for me. I really hope we can do much more next season, and finally end the long cup drought this team has been suffering from.

 

(1290 words)

Edited February 28, 2021 by JigglyGumballs

[JigglyGumballs 1,056]

Claiming for week (1/2)

[bigAL 2,176]

8 hours ago, JigglyGumballs said:

So as some of you who do care know, there's no LVA progress report this season. Why? Well it's because it's gotten repetitive. One big formulaic article at the start of the season, then after four weeks comes another big article with the same formula comes out. Rinse and repeat for the another season then it's just going to be the same shit over and over again. That's why I decided to stop the progress reports as of now. So I can explore new ideas instead of just doing the same thing over and over. It

Good for you Jiggs, we're here to have fun and when something you promised to do stops being fun, you should definitely stop doing it. A walk through the season style recap is a great way to change it up. Well done!

[JigglyGumballs 1,056]

Claiming week (2/2)