Good Morning STAR GANG. It is I, your Keyboard Warrior, here to bring you the day that was in the Simulation Hockey League. The Toronto North Stars have two visitors this sim, the Seattle Argonauts and the Minnesota Monarchs, before they head to New Orleans to take on the Spectors. The North Stars find themselves in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, just behind their Great Lakes rivals in the Hamilton Steelhawks, the Chicago Syndicate, and the Buffalo Stampede. With a record of Sixteen, five, and two, the North Stars sit at thirty-five points, just one back from the Buffalo Stampede. Today, the North Stars hope to earn six points and leapfrog the Stampede to put themselves in a playoff position.

Once again, the Great Lakes Division is proving to be a slaughter-house where the best talent in the league are tearing at each other to not be left out of the playoffs. The North Stars expected this situation, and have been here before. This young and hungry team will be looking to continue the success they had last season, and to do that, depth players like Luffy Richard will need to up their game. Mostly just my roommate. Come on Luffy, do something!

The first game saw the Argonauts bring their ships to our snowy shores where they were defeated in noble combat by our beloved North Stars four to zero. The North Stars outshot theur opponent thirty-six to twenty. Hits were even at twenty-four apiece, with the North Stars giving up the puck twice as much at eight. What a great win to start off the sim! Luffy Richard was a plus-one with one assist, his sixth of the season, and added a blocked shot for good measure. Hopefully, he and the North Stars can continue this excellent play for the next game.

The next game which, of course, has the Minnesota Monarchs coming into Toronto to try and spoil the sim for our boys in blue, which they have done in spectacular fashion, taking this game six to four. Shots were thirty-seven to thirty-three in favor of the North Stars, but hits go to the Monarchs nineteen to thirteen. Luffy Richard had a hit, and that is the nicest thing I can say about my roommate as he looked helpless out there on the ice. It is going to be a rough flight down to New Orleans. 

The third, and final game of the sim for Toronto, was a much cleaner affair as they took the game three to zero. The shots were lopsided in favor of the North Stars forty-seven to twenty-one. That is the kind of dominance we like to see out of our beloved North Stars. Hits were on New Orlean's side twenty-three to sixteen. Luffy Richard did nothing of note as he did his best to be defensively reliable. He had a takeaway, a blocked shot, and a hit showing that he is willing to put his body on the line for his team. Now what his team needs to see is some consistency.

Four points out of six is a good day, but with the North Stars still on the outside, those two lost points will be weighing heavily on the minds of the North Star players who have fighting tooth and nail for another chance to compete for a cup. I know they would like to see Axel win one before he retires, and with the threat of the expansion draft in the distance, next season's North Stars could look very different. 

Until next time,

Shine on!

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