Maybe we are looking at different timeframes/scopes here. In my experience some things have definitely gotten much easier/casual and PTs are the prime example imho, it just didn't happen super recently but a while ago and in multiple steps. Way back when (I think before you joined), PTs uses to be around 500 words each, this then got lowered to around 300 words, which is what it was still around in the late S20s. Then the word requirements kept dropping, first to 200 words and then to 150 in the mid S30s. And now we implemented the affiliation system quite recently, so not everyone has to do the 150 words anymore. That is a huge drop in effort that people have to put into their players and something that helps casuals a lot because PTs aren't just for the try-hards anymore, as they used to be.

I'm not a hundred percent sure about the money but afaik, media payouts have fluctuated greatly over the course of the SHLs existence. They used to be super low at the beginning, then got raised multiple times until they were extremely high, then got dialed back a bit again and I think that's where they have been for a long time now. Twitter was one addition that you mentioned and Podcasts actually are another one, they simply didn't used to be a thing a few years ago, or at least doing them wasn't an option yet for most people. And I'd argue that in the beginning their payout was quite excessive, so I think it made sense that it has been lowered since. Sure, if you want +5 trainings every week plus equipment then you still have to put in some work, but that is pretty much the only thing that separates the super-actives from the casuals at this point, so I don't see it as a problem.

There is one thing though that I just realized when looking through this, and which I think is quite remarkable. There used to be so many changes over the first 25 or so seasons of the SHL, changes to the monetary system, the PT-system, update scales, regression scales, expansions etc... But ever since the last big update scale/regression change in the late S20s, things have been virtually the same. It has been almost 20 seasons of pretty much no major systemic changes and it is just crazy for someone like myself to look back how much turmoil and how many changes they were before that compared to after. And I'm not quite sure what to make of that. If you want to see it positively then it could be because we have hit a sweet spot, a point where things generally work quite well and where no drastic changes ares needed. We put a stop to TPE-inflation, have found good reliable recruitment venues and have stable simming, so good job! Or, if you want to see it more negatively, then you could say that we as a league have really failed to evolve, develop and adapt to changing circumstances. Maybe we've gotten lazy or we are too conservative and afraid of change, we have enough sims and shitstorms to keep us busy, but there isn't anything that resembles a vision for the future. As I said, I don't know which interpretation is the right one, but it's quite an interesting question imho that does deserve some further evaluation.

There definitely have been a few changes since I joined the site:
From S32 onwards the cap changed from 35 to 40 and Weekend Funtime was introduced. -> small TPE inflation
From S33 PGS were only available to SMJHL Rookie no longer to send downs limiting the small benefit of staying down.
Dunno when it happened but the changes to PbP's no longer being in every round after game 4 also cut down the TPE of max earner like Toedragon. (You could do multiple per season back then and way more were available compared to now)
Media payment scale changed you no longer have that sweet spot at what was it 2.5k words?
Podcast pay was reduced too.

I am prolly missing some other small changes but these are the ones I was able to remember.

Yes but those are all relatively minor changes compared to completely new update scales, new regression systems or expansion teams entering the leagues, each of which happened at least 2-3 times in the first 25 or so seasons of the leagues existence, and more or less 0 times in the 20 seasons since. Again, I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing, we might have just finally found systems that work. But what I also wanted to point out by this is that for people who joined post-S30, it might be tough to comprehend how different things used to be, and how many radical changes happened in relatively short amounts of times. Ever since the last update scale change, which I think was around S27, we have basically only done fine-tuning.

And for better or worse, I think that does have to do with our sites leadership and the underlying system. We used to have Commishes who ruled almost dictatorial with just a small group of confidants, and they could push through radical changes very quickly - which led to a lot of new things being tried, but also a ton of blunders along the way, most notably the rampant TPE-inflation. Ever since we have abolished that system and replaced it with a more consensus- and compromise-based HO-system, sometimes with a stronger Commish and sometimes with a weaker one, the number of overall decisions and "big picture" changes seems to have gone down considerably. Which, again, isn't necessarily a bad thing because it means that bad ideas can be identified and struck down early on, there are fewer rushed decision and ego trips and so on.

I do think however that leadership-fatigue is a problem here. It was noticeable when I was in HO and it still looks that way from the outside looking in. It seems like the HO is so busy with the day-to-day operations, the shitstorms, suspensions and the negative feedback, that they simply don't have any time or motivation left for big ideas and visions. Correct me if I'm wrong but it feels like for most of the time, HOs are just trying to survive and not screw up too bad, therefore avoiding unnecessary big changes. It is understandable, I myself have noticed that I've become quite conservative when it comes to rule changes and the like, but it's still kinda sad to see this lack of enthusiasm and a big vision and it's sad to see people who obviously care a lot about this league get grinded down and demotivated by the responsibility after a few months in a position of power. Many enthusiastic and engaged members have entered the HO over the last few years, and I don't remember a lot of them having that same kind of energy left after a while in office, which I think points towards a problem with our system as a whole.

This is especially evident when it comes to a topic like expansion. In the past this was a topic that energized people, they tried to figure out and calculate whether expansion is feasible with the current member numbers and if they thought that it was, they got the planning process started, even at the risk of a controversial public discussions that would ensue. Nowadays however the approach seems to be "Ugh, why even bother, seems like a hassle" We have had the numbers to at least explore the idea of expansion for a long time now, and to the HOs credit this process has started recently, but for the longest time people didn't even dare think about it, either because of the perceived risk it carried or because the thought never even entered their mind as they were so busy with all the other things. We used to be much more enthusastic about these kinds of things. Maybe it's a normal part of a league that has been around for such a long time, hell it probably is even a good thing because we seem to have found a good system that works pretty well overall and that shouldn't be ruined through rash decisions, but i'm still somewhat disappointed that we seemed to have lost this ability to think big.

Yes

I agree with your point about HO fatiguing people. It kinda seems from an outsider perspective that each time HO opens it's applications it's the Hunger Games 2.0 and one enthusiastic person volunteers as tribute just to be worn down during their term and kinda like a shadow of their former self. In terms of how much they wanna change things or their general love for the SHL.

Thank you all for the amazing sigs & player cards
 

S31 Eduard Selich  || F || Buffalo Stampede || Peak: 1252
Name: Eduard Selich
Hometown: Fulda, Germany
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 195 lbs
Number: 19
Age: 29
------------------------------------------------------------
Regular Season Career Statistics:
SMJHL:
S30 PGF | GP 50 | G 15 | A 12 | P 27 |  -3 | PIM 8 | HIT 38 | SB 5 |
S31 PGF | GP 50 | G 21 | A 20 | P 41 |  -6 | PIM 18 | HIT 42 | SB 20 |
SHL:
S32 BUF | GP 50 | G 17 | A 19 | P 36 |  +11 | PIM 6 | HIT 54 | SB 13 |
S33 BUF | GP 50 | G 21 | A 25 | P 46 |  +14 | PIM 12 | HIT 44 | SB 21 |
S34 BUF | GP 50 | G 28 | A 35 | P 63 |  +23 | PIM 2 | HIT 3 | SB 22 |
S35 BUF | GP 50 | G 17 | A 17 | P 34 |  -6 | PIM 12 | HIT 13 | SB 17 |
S36 BUF | GP 50 | G 23 | A 24 | P 47 |  +3 | PIM 2 | HIT 37 | SB 15 |
S37 BUF | GP 50 | G 21 | A 27 | P 48 |  +9 | PIM 25 | HIT 74 | SB 15 |
S38 BUF | GP 50 | G 28 | A 27 | P 55 |  +4 | PIM 44 | HIT 42 | SB 12 |
S39 BUF | GP 50 | G 18 | A 21 | P 39 |  +1 | PIM 10 | HIT 48 | SB 23 |
S40 BUF | GP 50 | G 7 | A 15 | P 22 |  -26 | PIM 9 | HIT 48 | SB 11 |
S41 BUF | GP 50 | G 18 | A 17 | P 35 |  +10 | PIM 2 | HIT 5 | SB 11 |
S42 BUF | GP 50 | G 20 | A 21 | P 41 |  +10 | PIM 0 | HIT 5 | SB 10 |
S43 SEA | GP 50 | G 19 | A 19 | P 38 |  +8 | PIM 12 | HIT 47 | SB 7 |
------------------------------------------------------------
Playoff Career Statistic:
SMJHL:
S30 PGF | GP 17 | G 8 | A 13 | P 21 | +7 | PIM 2 | HIT 10 | SB 3 |
S31 PGF | GP 4 | G 0 | A 1 | P 1 | -5 | PIM 0 | HIT 4 | SB 2 |
SHL:
S32 BUF | Did not qualify
S33 BUF | GP 5 | G 4 | A 1 | P 5 | +1 | PIM 0 | HIT 0 | SB 0 |
S34 BUF | Did not qualify
S35 BUF | GP 4 | G 2 | A 2 | P 4 | -3 | PIM 0 | HIT 5 | SB 1 |
S36 BUF | GP 7 | G 6 | A 2 | P 8 | +6 | PIM 2 | HIT 10 | SB 1 |
S37 BUF | GP 7 | G 2 | A 0 | P 2 | -3 | PIM 0 | HIT 12 | SB 0 |
S38 BUF | Did not qualify
S39 BUF | Did not qualify
S40 BUF | Did not qualify
S41 BUF | GP 7 | G 2 | A 1 | P 3 | -4 | PIM 0 | HIT 1 | SB 2 |
S41 BUF | GP 5 | G 1 | A 1 | P 2 | -7 | PIM 0 | HIT 0 | SB 0 |
S43 SEA | GP 6 | G 3 | A 0 | P 3 | -3 | PIM 4 | HIT 7 | SB 2 |
------------------------------------------------------------
IIHF Round Robin Career Statistic:
S30 GER | GP 10 | G 0 | A 0 | P 0 | -4 | PIM 2 | HIT 3 | SB 0 |
S31 GER | GP 10 | G 2 | A 1 | P 3 | +2 | PIM 2 | HIT 4 | SB 1 |
S32 GER | GP 10 | G 5 | A 4 | P 9 | +4 | PIM 0 | HIT 2 | SB 3 |
S33 GER | GP 10 | G 2 | A 1 | P 3 | +4 | PIM 2 | HIT 4 | SB 2 |
S41 GER | GP 10 | G 4 | A 1 | P 5 | -2 | PIM 0 | HIT 0 | SB 1 |
S42 GER | GP 10 | G 1 | A 2 | P 3 | -2 | PIM 0 | HIT 9 | SB 1 |
------------------------------------------------------------
IIHF Medal Round Career Statistic:
S30 GER | GP 1 | G 0 | A 0 | P 0 | +0 | PIM 0 | HIT 0 | SB 0 |
S31 GER | GP 3 | G 0 | A 0 | P 0 | -2 | PIM 0 | HIT 1 | SB 0 |
S32 GER | GP 3 | G 1 | A 2 | P 3 | +4 | PIM 0 | HIT 0 | SB 0 |
S33 GER | GP 1 | G 0 | A 0 | P 0 | -1 | PIM 0 | HIT 1 | SB 0 |
S41 GER | GP 1 | G 0 | A 0 | P 0 | -1 | PIM 0 | HIT 0 | SB 0 |
------------------------------------------------------------
Transactions:
S30 | Drafted #20 in the SMJHL Entry Draft by the Prince George Firebirds
S30 | Signed a 1yr/1.5M deal with  Prince George Firebirds
S31 | Drafted #2 in the SHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Stampede
S31 | Signed a 2yr/2M deal with Buffalo Stampede
S32 | Signed an 23yr/23M extension with Buffalo Stampede
S34 | Contract Adjustment: 3yr/9M deal with Buffalo Stampede
S41 | Signed an 1yr/3M extension with Buffalo Stampede
------------------------------------------------------------
Noteable events:
S30 | Voted Alternate Captain of Prince George Firebirds
S30 | Organized WJC
S30 | Got the call to play for Team Germany
S30 | Won Zach Miller Trophy (Most Dedicated)
S30 | Won Ron Bolt Trophy (Most Sportsmanlike)
S30 | Won Ronan O'Keefe Trophy (Playoff Points Leader)
S30 | Voted S30 PGF Team MVP
S31 | Voted Captain of Prince George Firebirds
S31 | Named Germany Federation Head and won the Silver Medal
S31 | Nominated for Brandon Holmes Trophy (Top Defensive Forward)
S31 | Nominated for Zach Miller Trophy ( Most Dedicated)
S32 | Voted Alternate Captain of Buffalo Stampede
S32 | Nominated for the Ryan Jesster Trophy ( ROTY)
S32 | Named to the SHL All-Rookie Team
S32 | won the Gold Medal with team Germany
S33 | Named Buffalo Stampede Co-GM
S33 | Damien Littleton Trophy Nominee
S33 | Won Lance Uppercut Award
S34 | Named 1st Team All-Star in the SHL
S34 | Damien Littleton Trophy Nominee
S34 | Aidan Richan Trophy Nominee
S42 | Named Buffalo Stampede Co-GM


Otto Selich||GM||GER S31-S34(26-9-2)||BUF(S33-S34,S42-)||1 Gold & 2x Silver
-----------------------------------------------------------
Round Robin Career Statistics:
S31 GER | 6-4-0 | 18 points | #1 seed Group A
S32 GER | 8-1-1 | 22 points | #1 seed Group A
S33 GER | 7-3-0 | 21 points | #1 seed Group A
------------------------------------------------------------
Medal Round Career Statistics:
S31 GER | 2-1-0 | Silver medal | lost to USA in the Gold medal game
S32 GER | 3-0-0 | won Gold Medal
S33 GER | 0-0-1 | lost in Quarterfinals to Finland


S45 Alexander Selich || D || || Colorado Raptors || Peak: 2134
Name: Alexander Selich
Hometown: Fulda, Germany
Height: 6'10"
Weight: 280 lbs
Number: 19
Age: 18
------------------------------------------------------------
Regular Season Career Statistics:
SMJHL:
S43 KEL | GP 9 | G 1 | A 1 | P 2 |  1 | PIM 0 | HIT 4 | SB 0 |
S44 COL | GP 50 | G 12 | A 14 | P 26 |  8 | PIM 4 | HIT 23 | SB 11 |
S45 COL | GP 50 | G 17 | A 16 | P 33 |  2 | PIM 12 | HIT 35 | SB 7 |
------------------------------------------------------------
Playoff Career Statistic:
SMJHL:
S43 KEL | GP 6 | G 1 | A 0 | P 1 | 0 | PIM 2 | HIT 2 | SB 0 |
S44 COL | GP 16 | G 7 | A 5 | P 12 | +3 | PIM 2 | HIT 3 | SB 6 |
------------------------------------------------------------
IIHF Round Robin Career Statistic:
S43 GER | GP 14 | G 0 | A 3 | P 3 | 2 | PIM 4 | HIT 7 | SB 0 |
S44 GER | GP 14 | G 1 | A 1 | P 2 | -10 | PIM 8 | HIT 7 | SB 4 |
------------------------------------------------------------
IIHF Medal Round Career Statistic:
S43 GER | GP 1 | G 0 | A 0 | P 0 | +0 | PIM 0 | HIT 1 | SB 0 |
S44 GER | GP 2 | G 2 | A 1 | P 3 | +1 | PIM 2 | HIT 2 | SB 0 |
Transactions:
S44 | Drafted #1 in the SMJHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Raptors
S44 | Signed a 1yr/3M deal with  Colorado Raptors
S45 | Drafted #22 in the SHL Entry Draft by the Buffalo Stampede
S45 | Signed a 3yr/1M deal with Buffalo Stampede
Noteable events:

3. Buffalo Stampede , Eduard Selich 5 (Maximilian Wachter, Alexis Metzler) at 16:25
5. Buffalo Stampede , Eduard Selich 6 (Steven Stamkos Jr., Brynjar Tusk) at 19:48
8. Buffalo Stampede , Eduard Selich 7 (Brynjar Tusk, Alexis Metzler) at 13:55
9. Buffalo Stampede , Eduard Selich 8 (Anton Fedorov, Mikelis Grundmanis) at 15:12
10. Buffalo Stampede , Eduard Selich 9 (Dickie Pecker) at 19:43 (Empty Net)