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Sizz · 03-30-2023, 05:33 PM

Last year in SHL season 69, the Philadelphia Forge were crowned champions after a successful regular season and superb run in the playoffs. They weren't the favorites going into the playoffs but were able to do what all great teams do and put it all together when it counted the most. We're going to take a look into Philadelphia's chances at a repeat for glory in the top tier of SHL hockey with a position by position breakdown of the roster for season 70.
Let it be known to the reader that this article is comparing TPE totals at season's end of season 69 with totals only 11 games into season 70 so some TPE gains can be expected after publication.

Left Wing

Igor Victory is in his 13th season in the SHL and is currently sitting at 1260 TPE and ended season 69 at over 1400. Regression is definitely setting in but we can reasonably expect a solid year from Victory.
Walton Stromberg is unfortunately getting hit hard by the regression bug in his 13th SHL season with an over 200 TPE regression. 1584 -> 1367
Pihl is following in his fellow left wingers' shoes and starting to show legitimate signs of regression this year as opposed to last. 1608 -> 1428

Overall this group of players are all starting to show their age but can reasonably still put up points despite that.
Season 69 Total TPE: 4604 -> Season 70 Total TPE: 4055 NET LOSS IN TPE

Center

Red Kirkby is heading into only his 5th year in the SHL and is still on the up and up.
Ricky Koivu is starting just his 4th year here in the big leagues and, while still quite a raw talent, should show definite improvement as opposed to last season where he played RW.
All-Bran is the most experienced of the bunch here and is only really just starting to show signs of age.

Connor Snooks left Philly for Edmonton in the offseason and made way for Ricky Koivu. If those skates are easily filled by the youngster remains to be seen but this is a group filled with both raw, young talent and experience.
Season 69 Total TPE: 5101 -> Season 70 Total TPE: 4867 MINIMAL LOSS IN TPE

Right Wing

Graj Virrok is making the unusual switch from Right Defenseman to Right Wing in just his third season in the league.
Cale Salad - This is Salad's inaugural season here in the big time and he's hoping to put his mark on this returning championship team.
Nibbles the Squirrel is in just his 2nd season here and will be hoping to improve upon his near 20 goal season.

Graj is taking First-Name Last-Name's spot as he was long past retirement last season having gone through some heavy regression over the previous seasons. In general though, this is one of if not the most inexperienced group(s) on the team but even so, they've made a net gain in TPE and will only get stronger in the seasons to come.
Season 69 Total TPE: 2828 -> Season 70 Total TPE: 3299 NET GAIN IN TPE

Left Defense

San-sam Emerson is really heading into the prime of his career this season in his 6th year in the league.
Antonio Flusso is coming into his second season here in the SHL and will certainly hope to build on last year's solid performance.
Nathaniel Barca is the sole SHL rookie in the back pairings this season and is certainly hoping to prove his mettle in the big leagues.

Overall this is a youthful group albeit a generally inexperienced group. The loss of Luc Blouin from the group hinders their totals but Philadelphia will pair these young talents with more experienced counterparts on the right side.
Season 69 Total TPE: 4285 -> Season 70 Total TPE: 3537 NET LOSS IN TPE

Right Defense

Lenny Hawk completes Philadelphia's top D pairing together with Emerson and they will prove a mighty back line for the Forge.
Hans Graf is only just starting to see the beginnings of regression this season and should, by season's end, be close to last year's total in TPE.
Luc Blouin is starting to show signs of his age at this point with a roughly 200 point drop-off. Experience on the ice and smart decisions will have to make up for youthful energy.

In general, this group is more experienced than last year with a roughly 600 TPE net gain and more to come once they start to gel this season.
Season 69 Total TPE: 4232 -> Season 70 Total TPE: 4829 NET GAIN IN TPE

Goalies

BASE PACK and Scoochie Stratton make up the goalie duo with PACK getting the obvious nod as starting goalie this season. We have yet to see PACK's ceiling but unfortunately for Philadelphia, Stratton's best years are clearly behind him at this point. The Forge will most likely not see 14 wins in his back up appearances this season so PACK will definitely need to make up for some of those lost TPE.
Season 69 Total TPE: 1771 -> Season 70 Total TPE: 1711 MINIMAL LOSS IN TPE

In the 6 groups of players, 2 show signs of clear regression (LW & LD), 2 have slight regression but should through the season's TPE gains be at or near last year's end totals (C & G) and 2 show signs of clear improvement. All in all, we should see a very competitive Philadelphia team and considering the start to this season of 8W - 3L and a +18 GD, this writer thinks there's every chance the Forge will make the playoffs. Whether or not they still have the same magic in them as last season remains to be seen.

***golden_apricot*** · 03-30-2023, 05:54 PM

Good writeup. One thing you forgot to mention is that Red Kirkby eats paste. Should result in a massive loss in tpe but the league is weak and won't enforce tpe deletion from paste eaters.

***Acsolap*** · 03-30-2023, 05:55 PM

Nice write up mate.

As far as I can tell the league desires we go back to back Towel

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*gurbs* · 03-30-2023, 06:08 PM

Nice write up! Although First-Name Last-Name would argue the “long past retirement last season having gone through some heavy regression over the previous seasons” line :kek:

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