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Muerto · 09-21-2020, 09:20 AM

The long reign of Edmonton and Calgary is over - neither of these teams will finish the season atop the Northwest Division standings

While I truly wish this would be true, I think it is incorrect. Calgary's roster has the best depth and best goaltender in the NW division still, and I think they should easily finish atop the division. I do think Edmonton will make playoffs, but their depth has suffered for this season at least and the gap between them and the other teams should narrow so that there is a real battle for 2nd place.

Cyanide · 09-21-2020, 09:27 AM

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The Nevada Battleborn will win the Four Star Cup

I think this is possible due to the fact that the team will still have stellar goaltending from Weaver and Wawazat, along with a stellar defense. The offense is much improved, so there is a legitimate shot at a championship.

Credit to Wasty
[Image: wolfpack3.png]

Credit to Sulovilen

***Rangerjase*** · 09-21-2020, 09:29 AM

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Someone from the S53 draft class will win rookie of the year

What a wonderful opportunity to talk about myself, Zoltan Topalo. Premier LW and ACTUAL SHL PLAYER on the Tampa Bay Barracuda.

. Mind you, I did not vote for myself as rookie of the year, but I believe that I can be the chosen one. At the moment, Tampa's core is still young and we have a few more seasons till we have a full and active roster. I think Zoltan has a good shot as a S53 player to make ROTY. Without the outstanding forward depth compared to other teams at the moment, this gives Zoltan the opportunity to play some increased minutes compared to some of the other S53 Rookies joining the ranks of the SHL. May lord Zoltan have mercy on the SHL goaltenders souls.

lancedjack · 09-21-2020, 09:32 AM

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The winner of the McBride Award (top goaltender) will come from the Atlantic Division

Oh come on who guessed this? Look at this way, the Atlantic Ocean covers 20% of the Earths surface. 20%?! That's absolutely nothing. Meanwhile the CHAD Pacific Ocean is more than double the size of the Atlantic ocean. Imagine covering only 20% of a goal? You'd be terrible, not even remotely worthwhile. Coverage percentage therefore means that the top goaltender will come from the Pacific Division.

kikish18 · 09-21-2020, 09:37 AM

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The long reign of Edmonton and Calgary is over - neither of these teams will finish the season atop the Northwest Division standings

You gotta be kidding. Expansion team in their conference. No beef at all for expansion teams but on sim league I think You can't make team like Vegas Golden Knights. They will be feeding Calgary and Edmonton for at least 3 seasons. I don't see signs for decline of being atop of standings!

***Chevy*** · 09-21-2020, 09:38 AM

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There will be no major scandals during the season

BOLD. While human error is a factor in all things, especially here in the SHL, minor penalties and things are bound to happen. I don't think we could call it an SHL season without some sort of hiccup. With new regulations in place on things, and backup "checks" for various GM/Updater/<insertwhatevertaskhere>, I think we might be able to avoid a serious, league upending scandal.

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mastersheep · 09-21-2020, 09:38 AM

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Someone from the S53 draft class will win rookie of the year

This is a bold prediction? There are several members of the S53 class joining the league for the first time and I’d be shocked if one of them doesn’t win the Jesster. The players in the S54 draft class just don’t have the TPE to be high in the lineup that many of the S53 members do. Let’s take a look at the front runners who will get a lot of icetime:

Steve Harrington will likely take a spot on Buffalo’s second line and with Buffalo’s depth, he should rack up the points especially assists with his 17 passing rating playing with either Bobby Sharp or Matt Kholin, both top players in the league.

Ethan Duncan starts on Baltimore’s second line, but is very likely to move to the top line during the season as he passes an inactive Nickolas Klaus in TPE and stamina. The only question is how well will he put up points and how much does the awards committee value players that have an all-round game rather than just points like the next player.

A week ago, I would have said Rocco Berni was a shoe-in for should be the Monarchs’ between Collin Gibbles and Mike Mayfield. Now after the Mayfield acquisition and her increasing faceoffs to 13, I’m fairly certain she is moving to center and will knock Berni back to the second line.

A couple of weeks ago I probably would have said Jimmy Wagner would not be a front runner, but after a significant change to the team makeup, he debuts as a highly physical and speedy winger who will have two 1000+ TPE players to play with on what I’m guessing will be the second line and plenty of special teams work.

Honorable mentions:
Ambacas Cuddles is Tampa’s top defenseman in TPE so he will eat a lot of minutes and make an impact immediately. However, this is Tampa and their top player had 29 points at forward and they are in a similar situation this season and awards tend to not favor defense.

Valentin Kalashnikov has an outside shot starting on Baltimore’s top pairing, but his build is very defensive and again awards committees tend to overlook defense to begin with.

Sven Svenson is a scoring winger who should start fairly high in San Francisco’s lineup and starting alongside at least one 1000+ TPE player should do him well, but I’m not certain it’s quite enough to put him in contention at the moment.

In summary, I probably snubbed a fair number of players, but ice time has really been a big factor in the past and I don’t think many of the players I left out are going to get that in their rookie season.

***hhh81*** · 09-21-2020, 09:40 AM

Let's freaking go, DO IT ALL FOR FUNSIES.

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Tampa Bay will not finish with the worst record this season - San Francisco will

Buy buy buy. I like Henrik, I think he's gonna do a great job. They don't have a chance of being competitive this season, and they seem to accept that. I think SFP will win the Toilet Bowl ™ this season with the worst record. I don't think they'll go 0-50-0, but the Pride as under in casino is a lock bet.

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The Toronto North Stars will finish with fewer points than the Seattle Argonauts

It's definitely possible--Poor Toronto will get slammed by playing so many games against HAM/BUF/CHI, and the losses on defense have set them back another step or two. Meanwhile Seattle has a very strong defense and not much else. It's hard to say if SEA will contend for the playoffs, but I think they'll be much closer than the North Stars will be, due to the divisions they play in.

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Neither expansion team will make the playoffs

Sell! Top three teams in the Atlantic will make the playoffs. TBB ain't there yet, and BAP is gonna be not good. ATL should walk to the 3rd seed (and at least likely 6-7th overall) in the conference. Seattle could make the playoffs; the West is a mess. I don't know that we will, but smart GMs and a strong defense can work wonders. In the end, I think they'll be one of the last teams out, but have a really good future foundation to build from.

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Chicago will win the President's Trophy

Nope. I don't think Chicago can surpass Buffalo or Hamilton. I wouldn't buy them winning their division, so I don't buy them winning the President's Trophy. I do think they could do some damage in this playoff structure (whoever ends up in the West bracket is gonna cause the league some stress).

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Texas will be the top team in the Western Conference

It's not impossible! I think SFP is fully out, MIN is another season or two away from seriously contending, SEA's forwards are not strong enough to be that good (they could make the playoffs), and LAP is in a strange middle ground rebuild. EDM and NOLA lost a ton of depth, so I don't expect either of them to win the conference. That leaves TEX, WPG, and CGY. I think, even though CGY is old as poop, they still have enough to win the conference. I wouldn't be shocked if WPG or TEX pulled it out. For now, I'm selling, but it's not as crazy as you might think.

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The winner of the McBride Award (top goaltender) will come from the Atlantic Division

Maybe? I don't think there's a clear #1 for this award going into the season. Tactics will play a big part on this one. I imagine Eller and Larson will be in the mix again, and Beibitzhanov could easily get a nom for Most Improved in his first year as starter for the expansion Inferno. Beyond that, I don't think I'm comfortable saying the McBride goes to an Atlantic team next season. Could happen, but not sure enough for me to mark it down.

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New Orleans will see a significant decline and barely make the playoffs

I'm 50/50 on this one. It's hard to argue a team that lost their starting goalie, an entire defensive pair, and 4 of their top 9 forwards from last year's team is still a strong contender. I think they are still a lock for the playoffs (largely because only one of LAP/SFP/TEX/NOLA can miss the playoffs. NOLA is still better than LAP and SFP. It comes down to if TEX can take another step and win the division or if NOLA will have enough left in the tank to hold on for another division title. It's not likely NOLA will drop enough to be on the cusp of missing the playoffs, but I also don't think their current roster is deep enough to make another deep run.

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The long reign of Edmonton and Calgary is over - neither of these teams will finish the season atop the Northwest Division standings

It's possible Winnipeg can pass them, but I still think Calgary takes that division and the Western Conference. Edmonton's lost a good amount from last year's team, so i don't see them repeating as division champs. Seattle doesn't have the goaltending or forwards to do that well the first season out, and Minnesota's defense will hold them back from contending.

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Neither Buffalo nor Hamilton will make the Challenge Cup finals

Pass. I think one of the most likely outcomes would be a Buffalo-Hamilton Challenge Cup finals, due to how the playoffs work. Whichever of these teams don't win the Great Lakes will be 5th seed at best in the playoffs, and could easily (and most likely) dispatch their wild card matchup and land in the Western bracket.

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There will be no major scandals during the season

Pass. There's no such thing as a scandalless season.

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Monkey D Luffy, extra TPE and all, will have a worse season than he did in S55

Doubt. I think we'll see the truly dominant performance for 50 games we didn't get last year. Luffy was the best player in the world for a time, but wilted down the stretch to lose the scoring title. Despite some losses, Buffalo's forward group is still dangerous as ever with three top end prospects complementing their veteran group. He'll play with a 2k center (either Matt Kholin or Bobby Sharp) and then a complementary piece, likely Hippo Passamus or Aron Hernadivic.

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Someone from the S53 draft class will win rookie of the year

This seems safe.

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The Nevada Battleborn will win the Four Star Cup

That's a no, dog. Maine/Anchorage/Vancouver look real strong, and even with the projection of their second year players, I don't think Nevada can push through their division to get a first round bye. THey're probably another season or two away.

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The Detroit Falcons will return to dominance and be a top 3 team in the SMJHL regular season

Sell. Detroit is in for another season of the murky meh's. With the last of the S53 class graduated, Detroit has to retool. They will likely look much better in S57, but for this season it's hard to see them division winners, much less being top 3 in the league.

***Citizen of Adraa*** · 09-21-2020, 09:45 AM

The Nevada Battleborn will win the Four Star Cup

As it's hockey, I am not going to say 0%. But, I think that this is not yet the season. Nevada has a lot of TPE going for them and will have a good season this time around, but I am not expecting them to be a cup level team, considering that the majority of their roster are S56 players, so you are lacking a bunch of the 425 cap players teams like Anchorage, Vancouver, Maine, Colorado and others do have ready to go right now. Next season though, yeah, Nevada could and probably should be looking to go deep.

soulja · 09-21-2020, 10:08 AM

Tampa Bay will not finish with the worst record this season - San Francisco will

This couldn't be any further from the truth. Tampa bay still has a horrible roster. It will take them couple of seasons to compete. Just the goalie difference between the two teams is enough to favor the Pride over the Barracuda.

Loganjj21 · 09-21-2020, 10:16 AM

Texas will win the western conference because they are finally back on the come up and are a team to be feared , they have some great scorers on that teams and this is their year to make a push for a cup

dylanjj37 · 09-21-2020, 10:17 AM

Monkey D Luffy, extra TPE and all, will have a worse season than he did in S55

Monkey D Luffy is the best player to ever play in the SHL and anyone who disagrees is wrong. He keeps getting better and there is no way that he won't improve on S55, especially with all his extra TPE.

*CptSquall* · 09-21-2020, 10:23 AM

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There will be no major scandals during the season

I dont know why but it feels like there is always at least one thing. Be it outright illegal or just in poor taste. The inevitable shitstorm is what some users live for.

Wearingabear · 09-21-2020, 10:24 AM

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The Nevada Battleborn will win the Four Star Cup

This is a very bold outlook on the season, and ultimately wrong.

First and foremost, they finished last year with a 10-36-4 (24 points), literally worst in the league. Now, obviously since all teams make the playoffs, and the sim gods can be treacherous at times, all things are up in the air. So go ahead to the playoffs, first round against Knights

and guess what happened, they got swept.

The goal tending in that series had a combined GAA of 4.305, let it 17 goals in 4 games. Only 4 players on that team actually had a positive +/- in the series.

Now looking ahead to this season, NBB had a decent draft, all things considered, but those players aren't going to be big enough difference makers in their rookie years. Not when you're up against teams like ANC, who has 5 425 capped D starting the season, versus the 2 425 capped players that NBB has going in.

In the end, I want some of whatever this person is smoking, at best NBB will make it past the "first round", or whatever it's being called, in the playoffs. I find it highly unlikely that NBB will win the 4 ****

***BadWolf*** · 09-21-2020, 10:26 AM

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There will be no major scandals during the season

Do you know what site this is? The SHL... The Scandal Hockey League. Of course there will be a scandal. I would be worried if there wasn’t.

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