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DELIRIVM · 10-06-2023, 02:39 PM

Today we’re heading back ten seasons to take a look a the complete failure that was the playoffs of the Season 63 Baltimore Platoon. Within this deep dive we will take a look at the players on the team, their overall strength as a team, the high points of the season, and the ultimate lows of the team in the playoffs. Hold on because we’re on for a wild ride.

The Baltimore Platoon of S63 were stacked with top end talent. After having recently acquiring superstar Ryu Jones from a struggling Toronto North Stars squad, the team also had a plethora of talented forwards in Ethan Duncan, a 90-point player that season, Daniil Nikiforov, the scoring leader for the season, and Lord Raiden, a blocking machine at center. As we’ll see later these talented players ended up being the reason that Baltimore had an extremely successful regular season. Acquiring talent, making beneficial trades, and aiming for a very specific window was the focus of the Baltimore Platoon at the time. The GMs and team staff at the time knew that around Season 63 the Platoon would come into their own and they were expecting to not only waltz into the playoff but destroy all comers. But little did they know there was a serious roadblack waiting for them. But we will speak on that a bit more in depth in later in the deep dive.

The regular season went to plan for the Baltimore squad. Blasting through the 66-game season with only 11 losses on the whole. Sporting the deadliest offense in the league with two top lines lighting up the net no matter who was on the other side. The only problem being that the team struggled with two others in the regular season as well. The Buffalo Stampede and the dreaded Hamilton Steelhawks. As the Baltimore Platoon finished off most teams with ease they finished the season 1-3 against the Hamilton Steelhawks and were blown out 2 of the 3 losses. You’d think this would have been early warning signs for the talented Baltimore squad but the endless positivity flowed in the locker room. Beating other teams in Texas, Chicago, and nemesis Tampa Bay in matchups gave the Baltimore team a lot to look forward to, but little did they know their demons would come back to bite them and extinguish any hopes of the gifted core group of players winning a cup in the Charm City.

The playoffs started well enough for the Platoon, taking care of an upstart Wolfpack squad in just 5 games. The initial boost got the team thinking they were going to walk through the rest of the playoffs. Especially with Hamilton struggling more with Philadelphia than the Platoon had with the Wolfpack. The Baltimore team carried their momentum over into the second round where they took out Tampa Bay in six games, including an initial two where they outscored the Cudas by a 12-2 margin. Everything was looking up for the Platoon and like it was right on track. Hamilton had just squeaked by the Buffalo Stampede, a team that Baltimore had handled fairly well in the regular season, and were going to be playing in Baltimore to start the series.

But here is where it all went wrong. Baltimore began the series with a 5-2 victory over the Steelhawks and the confidence was sky high. Before being blanked at home in the next game. The Platoon and their faithful still thought they had a chance to win though as they walked into Hamilton and took a squeaker in OT to go up 2-1 on the Steelhawks. But this is the last time the Platoon would fly high this season. Losing in three consecutive games, including a 6-3 beatdown by the Hamilton squad, the Baltimore Platoon went home and had to watch those boogeymen from Hamilton take it to the Los Angeles Panthers for yet another championship win.

Looking back on the S63 Baltimore Platoon you can’t help but think “what if?” about this squad. They are one of the biggest disappointments in the last 10-20 seasons in the playoffs and it led to the team breaking up soon after. With Ethan Duncan leaving to play for the Winnipeg Jets, Daniil Nikiforov and Karl Krashwagen retiring in the years after, and Ryu Jones stuck on a team that went nowhere for many years. Looking back it was one of the most fun seasons as a player in the Simulation Hockey League—personally. But it was a giant disappointment as well. All you can say is Baltimore Platoof.

*CptSquall* · 10-10-2023, 07:17 PM

Approved.

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