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North America Conference - “The Big 3”
This season, all the depth has been within
the North American Conference. Not even the
fourth and last place New York Americans
have faired that bad. The Calgary Wranglers
seem to have finally found their sense of direction and appear to be winning a season
earlier then everyone expected them to. This
is a big relief on GM Matt Bentz, who finally
has things going right for him. The big two
though are as many expected in the Toronto
Legion and the Seattle Bears. With the European Conference being as weak as it is, the
Madrid Thunder faltering and the Riga Reign
taking a surprising strangle on the conference, it’s good North America at least is looking very good.
Seattle Bears 31-10-0, 1st Place
The Bears have played 7 more games then
the Legion, but none the less have asserted
themselves in the middle of the season. They
currently have the leading point scorer in the
VHL in Devon De La Soul, the former New
York superstar. De La Soul has 76 points in
41 games played thus far and has shown
no signs of slowing down. Of course, Grimm
Jonsson has had another solid season going
under his belt as well. He has 67 points in
41 games played thus far; 31 of which he
Inside the VHL
has scored by himself. He shares that 67 point
total with two of his other teammates ironically. These being Fayt Leingod and defensive
sensation Emerson Hrynyk. Rookie Markus
Strauss has been frustrated in the early going
with just 17 points in 41 games played. He
has shown great displeasure in his play and
has every right to. Being a Top 3 draft selection and a very over hyped forward, it is very
frustrating. We don’t count out goaltender Alex
Young, who has been in for all of Seattle’s
31 wins thus far and has allowed less than 3
goals a game. As a whole, it will be a great
battle to watch the Bears and Legion fight for
the conference title.
Toronto Legion 26-6-2 2nd Place
The Legion have played the least amount of
games thus far and have played at a great
pace through 34 games. Brandon Rush has
finally made himself as more than a “shadowed player” and leads the team in points
with 64. Supporting him is former Titans teammate, Carl Jacobs, with 58 points of his own.
You can never forget about one of the best
defensemen in the league in David Henman.
Henman not only plays great hockey in the
defensive zone, but he is the best passing defensman currently in the VHL, in my
opinion. He has 41 assists already this season and is among the leaders in that category. Also among the Legion’s elite 6, is
Zak Rawlyk. He and Rush were a young
duo for the Riga Reign quite sometime ago
and now re-united. He has 52 points thus
far, a majority being assists. Similar to that
is Harvey Singh, which was an off-season
acquisition. Then you have one of the more
under rated players in the league, Nicholas
Evans. Evans has 50 points so far and is
quietly producing. He has finally found his
stride and the depth is doing Toronto many
favors. When you have Alexander Sauve on
the blue line with Henman, it only helps.
Although Sauve isn’t producing up to what
he’d like to, he still is one of the best blue
liners in the league. Of course, the current
best goaltender in the league, Tayson Barabash has already recorded 5 shutouts and
is allowing just 2.24 GAA. It seemed like
Barabash wasn’t going very far early in his
career, stuck in New York. But since going
to Toronto, Henman has given him a new
opportunity to shine as a goaltender.
Inside the VHL
Calgary Wranglers 21-17-3 3rd Place
The Calgary Wranglers are a team that many expected to
peak out in Season 18, but have shown they are ready to
be among the elites. Although they lost Wade Wilson to retirement, they still have plenty of options. Mikka Virkkunen is
leading the team in points with 62 in 41 games played. Virkkunen has been great not just on the ice, but in the Calgary
office. Getting Lars Berger from New York was a big move,
and it’s payed off so far. Berger is a perfect fit for Calgary age
wise and skill wise. He has posted up 51 points of his own
thus far. But the rookie everyone has been buzzing about is
Matthew Gunnarsson. He has ridden off his contract struggles
with Calgary and is now all about the organization. He has
posted up 58 points so far and the fans love it; He’s been
both a goal scorer and set up man. You can’t count out one
of the more under rated players though in J.D Stormwall. He
has posted up an impressive campaign in Season 17, with
54 points in 41 games played. Stormwall is finally living up
to his potential, and looks to be a deadly future player for
the Wranglers for sure. This leaves the man, the heart of the
franchise, Demetrjusz Dudek. Dudek was put through a rough
rookie season, but still performed well. This season he has an
impressive 3.06 GAA and a save percentage of .906, with 21
wns already under his belt. For Calgary, Dudek’s progression
is the dependence of the franchise, but no pressure right?
Inside the VHL
As every fan of the
VHL
knows,
the
league has been seeing alot of action in
the past week. We
saw Brett Slobodzian
resign as commissioner; followed by
ex-commissioner Kevin Brooks step up and
take his place. A new
idea was introduced
to the league, and the
plan was to introduce
a concept called the
“Board of Directors”.
This essentially was
a group of about three
members, who would act as policemen on the
site, and ban members when necessary, as
well as close rude and immature topics before they get out of hand. Essentially, these
three individuals would act as a fourth commissioner.
to divide among the four in power, meaning
that there would be no need for the Board
of Directors. As everybody in the league was
excited that Slobo has returned to his position, it also left many people wondering who
would have received the job. Well it appears
as though we may get to find out.
Just yesterday, Kevin Brooks stated to the
league that he was going to resign as a commish with the return of Slobo, and it appears
as though the Board of Directors selection
process has taken off again. With the application process open to the league in its entirety,
we are seeing all sorts of members applying for the position from the leagues veteran
that have been around since season 1, to
members that only joined a month ago, and
everyone in between. We are awaiting the
decision, which is to be made on the day of
Friday, August 13th.
Some names that are favoured for the job
right now are Robert Sharpe, Jon Church, and
Jesus Christ, all veteran and well respected
members in the league. In this writer’s opinThe league seemed very onboard with the ion, the Board of Directors should look like the
idea, however since that idea was announced, “American Idol board, and consist of a dick, and
Brett Slobodzian has publically apologized for push-over, and a black guy, but only time will
abandoning the league, and has returned to tell if that actually happens. We all anticipate
his rank as commissioner. Now with a fourth the result, and know that Brooks will pick
commissioner, it appeared as though the wisely.
workload of the league may be easy enough
VHLM
Proteau Type
VHLM Season
Mid-Season
We are halfway through both the VHL and
VHLM season and the good teams and bad
teams have, by now, distinguished themselves
from the middle of the pack.
2) Ottawa Ice Dogs
They are a very close second, as they have
played three less games and have three less
points. The Ice Dogs have very strong wing
play and are led by MVP candidate Yvan
Schrute, who has 96 points through 38 games.
3) Kolari Panthers
There are three groups of teams in the VHLM,
Put plainly, this team used to suck. However,
and this is how we rank them.
a uniform change and location change later,
they are the third best team in the VHLM.
VHLM vet Erich Schomann mans the net for
he
ood
the team and does a pretty solid job. The
young duo of Syd Drayson and Johnathan
Slade are simply excellent producers. Don’t
count out Kolari in the race for the cup.
T
G
1) Minot Gladiators
Currently sitting pretty with 59 points, they
are facing tough competition. However, under the leadership of young rising star Jardy
Bunclewirth, this team has the best shot at
winning the championship. Aidan Shaw has
been playing well in net, and this team has
the killer trio of veterans we always talk about
that really can dominate a game when they
want to.
Mediocrity
4) Saskatoon Wild
Daisuke Kanou, one of the best VHL prospects
the league has seen in years, is the starting netminder for the Wild, and he has been
VHLM
Proteau Type
playing as well as you could expect, posting a
.912 save percentage in a goal-happy VHLM.
Rising star Greinke is on the team and playing
decently, but the problem for them has been
overall production on offense.
Ouch
7) Vasteras IK J-20
5) Brampton Batallion
They have played eight less games than the
fourth place Wild, and have only three less
points. Still, the presence of Kanou dictates a
higher ranking for the Wild, for at any moment
they have the best VHLM goaltender. What
the Batallion do have is Blade Hunter, who has
82 points in 34 games, a really impressive stat.
He is one of the best players in the VHLM.
Your starting goaltender, David Conford.
Who? That’s where this teams problems
start, and they continue throughout the entire lineup - just a weak team from top to
bottom, a team that has a lot of work to do
to make it back into the upper echelon on
VHLM teams.
8) Bern Royals
With three wins in 35 games, this team is
a weak excuse for a VHLM squad. Sam
Pouza and Chad Murphy are good players,
6) Gothenburg Eagles
but that’s about it for this team. The new
They are one point ahead of the Batallion, but location didn’t help this team at all, as they
have played 8 more games and thus are ranked are now the laughing stock of the VHLM.
lower in our power rankings. Last year’s champions lost most of their players, including star
goaltender Ma’a Nonu. This year’s Eagles are
led by goalie Mattias Backlund and old vets
Gary Da Luz and Mitchell Cross, but have a
lot of work to do to make it back to top form.
VHL
In the Slot
The Social Experiment
The year is 2010, for a lot of people that means
that you are surrounded by different means of
interaction with others. Long gone are the days
of mailing letters and calling people up to keep
in contact. With anything from text messaging, to
facebook status changes, or tweeting, the world
is one giant social network.
For many people, the VHL can mean a lot of
things. For some it is a cool way to pass the
time, for others they see it as a hockey simulation where they can secretly play out their fantasies of being one of the world’s greatest hockey
players. Yet underlying any reason for someone
to enjoy their time in the VHL, is the social aspect that the Victory Hockey League brings to its
members.
Lets not deny it, for all of the people you may
not like, there are a small handful (at least)
that you enjoy discussing current events with.
The VHL offers a place where you can not only
grow your simulated hockey superstar, but you
can also discuss current events, pick-up the occasional life lesion and of course piss around.
Really in a weird and cheesy way this website
can be compared to a family, sometimes it is
dysfunctional but despite all of the petty fighting
and name calling it is a pretty cohesive group
(yeah like I said a cheesy analogy). While you
may not have ever (or likely will ever) meet a
lot these people, they are an online circle of
friends that you interact with on a daily basis.
One can argue that this is one of the stronger
points in this community, and one that could be
used as a negotiation point when trying to recruit
new members. The whole hockey website has
been done to death when recruiting, how about
a community of hockey fans that have a sim
hockey project?
VHL
In the Slot
Now I won’t deny that like in real communities
(or family if you really want to use that analogy),
this virtual one has some “village idiots”, however
we shouldn’t let the few control the many. This is
probably the one reason I don’t surf through as
many threads as I used to. I just don’t care to read
through multiple pages of crap slinging. However
with some discipline measures (something that I
will be discussing in the near future), the league
will be able to clamp down on the attacks and
idiotic arguing in threads between members and
make everything just a little bit more peaceful.
In my eyes (and this may seem strange from
someone that doesn’t post in a lot of threads) is
that the social aspect of the VHL is the biggest
thing this league has going for it. People will come
and go over the lifespan of this project; however I
am sure there will be some bonds that will be carried out beyond the websites termination date. So
to everyone on the site, and for the fallen ones that
no longer frequent the site, here is my shout-out
to you for making this site enjoyable on more than
just a simulated hockey level.
VHL Magazine
Hugh Morris
VHL
In Your Face
Robbie Zimmers
‘in
The
your face’
following content is rated
Reader
Views
discretion is advised.
“M”
for mature.
expressed in this article are strictly of
the author and not the
VHL
Coming in at number three on the list, is the talent of the players playing in the pro’s. Leagues like the NHL and the VHL are
known for their talented players, leagues like the KHL not so
much.
The really good teams in leagues are filled with good players,
playing certain roles. So even if player plays on the third line
and PK, he is still a key player for the team. His job is to shut
down the other teams big guys.
The fourth line is talented for other reasons, the fourth line is
the so called “goons” and they specialize in the agitation aspect
of the game. Most fans think goons are not talented, but they
can chip in a goal/assist here and their, but they can also make
players from the other team take dumb penalties at the wrong
time. This would result in a powerplay for his team, unless the
goon is horrible at what he does and takes a penalty himself.
The first two line as everyone knows is the scoring lines. It’s always good to have a playmaking center among two goal scoring
wingers. These players are very talented because they need to
stay on the puck, keep it in the other teams zone and somehow
get the puck in the back of the net. On a very good team, their
top two lines sometimes seem unstoppable.
Now to defense. Some people think their job is just to shutdown
the other team, not to allow them any chances. Well that is not
entirely true, yes they have to play defense. But now you have
the offensive defenseman who can also jump into the play and
let go a booming shot from the point. The offensive defenseman’s job is more to create scoring chances, then when the
puck goes the other way, they have to hustle and get back. The
defensive defenseman’s job is to make big hits, shut down key
players and basically just play defense. If that means lay your
body down and block a shot, then so be it.
magazine
Now to the goalies. Over the
years, goalies have become
more athletic and agile. They
can make saves that like twenty
years ago, were thought impossible. The goalie is your last line
of defense so if you have a bad
goalie, or a goalie has no confidence then your team is basically screwed. He will always
be thinking, oh i cannot make
this big save. This is why you
need someone that is confident
in net, someone that will not be
rattled by letting a few goals in.
The goalie needs to be able to
bounce back after a bad goal
and a bad game. Very good
teams are built around very good
goalies.
In the end, if you do not have
the depth in talent on your team,
then odds are your team is not
very good. Its is very key for a
team to build with every aspect
of a very good team. Once they
get the key parts for a team,
only then they can compete for a
championship. This has been In
Your Face, if you do not like the
things I say, then get out of my
face.