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Symmetrik · 10-21-2021, 09:39 PM

Way back ahead of the season 33 draft, I wrote an article called "5 Best/Worst SHL Destinations for S33 Draftees" where I polled all my fellow draftees for their Top 5 and Bottom 5 draft destinations. There were only 14 teams back then, so it covered most. I also included my own rankings, and it turned out to generate a pretty good response, with 7 pages of comments. It turns out when you poll a bunch of people for their least favourite destinations, the people from those least favourite destinations usually have some things to say about it. So I figured, why not do it again? Surely nothing will go wrong.

So for those who don't remember that article from S33 (which is everyone) (including me), how it worked was that I created a google form (I think, that's what I did this time though), sent it out in the draftee discord, and then once I got enough responses, I collected the data, and assigned a scale of 5/4/3/2/1 points for the favourite destinations, and then negative values of the same for the least favourite teams. I then summed the total points on either side, and the difference between them was the final score. Then I ranked teams by final score, and ties were broken by who had more points positive points.

I received 15 responses from the prospects, including my own, and got some pretty interesting responses. One thing that is different compared to S33 is that we have 6 more teams, so the point ended up spread around quite a bit more in the middle.

Top 5 Destinations
Team Name (Total Points For - Total Points Against = Total Points; Total Votes For/Total Votes Against)

[Image: LosAngeles-min.png]

5. Los Angeles Panthers (15 - 7 = 8; 4/3)
Despite what I would consider a pretty quiet scouting period, the Panthers rank pretty highly among rookies, coming in as the #5 destination. I say it's been a quiet period, sharing the rookie discord as we all try to find ourselves a decent mock draft, I haven't seen much mention from players of LAP showing interest. Considering they have the #8 pick, the Panthers are sitting in a pretty good spot to find themselves one of the 4 players who want them. They even received a vote as someone's #1 destination. LAP is coming off a 1st round playoff exit with a pretty decent amount of youth. The team looks like they can be a competitor soon, and often, so they get a favourable look from draftees.

[Image: Baltimore-min.png]

4. Baltimore Platoon (12 - 0 = 12; 3/0)
The Baltimore Platoon come in at #4 on the list of favourable destination, and they are the only team to appear in the bottom 5 on 0 of the responses. While they didn't receive a pile of favourable votes, they got enough and the lack of votes against shows that many prospects consider them in the top middle of their destinations. The Platoon are coming off a solid 3rd round showing where they even took a couple of games away from Hamilton. They are, however, another team that I feel hasn't made a huge impact in the scouting. Unfortunately for the rookies, that's probably because they don't have a 1st round pick and their first pick isn't until 60th overall. But hey, they've made a good impact on the draftees. They've got a really strong roster based on a lot of mid S50's players, and that should leave them competitive for a while, probably giving prospect good hopes for their future success.

[Image: Calgary-min.png]

3. Calgary Dragons (25 - 13 = 12; 8/3)
As mentioned, the tiebreakers are points for - Calgary racked up quite a few for, but did lose some and that left them tied with Baltimore. The Dragons are a solid team, and have been for as long as I've been paying attention (and I've been paying attention for at least 20 of the last 30 seasons). They also have probably the most media passionate team - and I mean actual media, not the articles we write here. Dragons.TV, the signing threads, the Dragons Board Highlights, all of it. Look at @~~Mike Izzy~~'s post history, and see what I mean. The Dragons branding is off the charts. The brand off the ice and it's success on the ice, along with the pedigree left behind by former GM Esa, the Dragons have a ton of appeal to prospects. It's an in your face name that backs it up. They have a mid 1st round pick in this draft and I know there's been some mentions of the Dragons name, so one of these 8 prospects might just feel very lucky on draft day.

[Image: Atlanta-min.png]

2. Atlanta Inferno (23 - 4 = 19; 7/1)
The unique thing here about the Inferno, is that the other 3 teams mentioned all existed back when I did this list (Baltimore was located in West Kendall). The Inferno didn't. Created in S56, the Inferno have made quite a name for themselves already to find them 2nd in preference among draftees. I haven't actually heard much from them in terms of scouting (personally I've heard none, but I mean the rookies as a whole) other than we have a pretty solid idea of who they'll pick when their 9th overall selection comes up on the clock. They did get swept in the first round of the playoffs - at least they made it - but their team is loaded with a lot of S40s players, so how that success translates to success during the prime of our draftees' career is up in the air. Still, hasn't stopped a lot of people considering it a top destination. Not the top, though.

[Image: Montreal-min.png]

1. Montreal Patriotes (30 - 2 = 28; 9/1)
Turns out, it wasn't so unique that thing about Atlanta. Honestly this is actually a pretty big surprise but I think @Inf1d3l and crew are ecstatic to hear it. An expansion team that has played just 2 seasons of hockey and finished close to the bottom in both, had their GMs leave after just the 2 seasons probably wasn't looking like a team many would be excited about. If the GM is quitting so soon, is the team quitting? It doesn't instill a lot of confidence for those on the outside. Which goes to show the great job the new GMs have done in making Montreal look exciting to prospects. Sitting with the #7 pick, they are guaranteed to have someone who considers them a top 5 team available. Will they pick one of them? I mean, who knows, since this was all done anonymously. I'd say the chances are pretty good that the #7 pick finds someone who really wants to be in Montreal. They also pick at #18, so maybe even 2. This should be seen as a great sign for the young team coming off quite a bit of negative news.

Bottom 5 Destinations
Now we get to the often controversial part. No one likes to be told that they're at the bottom.

16. Texas Renegades (10 - 17 = -7; 4/4)
Texas is coming off a finals appearance in which they got swept by Hamilton. You would think that would give them a boost in terms of favourability, but apparently not. Personally, I think their scouting turned quite a few rookies off. I heard multiple people say that Texas reached out to scout, draftee responded, and then heard nothing again. It was the same thing that happened to me, and though it didn't really move my opinion of them, I can definitely see how for some, especially first gens, it would be a big turn off. On the bright side for Texas they did still get 10 points for and an even number of votes each way, so it's not all bad, just a little polarizing.

17. New Orleans Spectres (4 - 13 = -9; 2/4)
This is actually a massive surprise, because 10 seasons ago I probably would have told you that you were insane if you told me New Orleans was outside the top 5 favoured teams, let alone in the bottom 5. I'm not sure what it is for New Orleans that has actively turned people off, maybe a lack of draft interest as they don't pick until 28, but the same thing would have applied to Baltimore. I haven't heard many draftees talk about them, but what has changed their perception so much in the last decade, I'm not sure. Maybe recent results are a turn-off (3 straight season of less than 15 wins), but we also saw an expansion team with 2 seasons of 20 wins as the most favourable destination. Either way, Joe certainly won't like seeing this perception of his team amongst prospects.

18. Buffalo Stampede (9 - 22 = -13; 2/6)
Buffalo has earned a bit of a reputation as a meme team, but also they have a reputation of being a hyper successful team. The FHM era more than any STHS stretch has had a distinct lack of parity, and Buffalo is one of the ones at the top. Several 50 win seasons, 40 wins in 50 game seasons. They lost out in the playoffs to perpetual rival Hamilton, but that didn't turn any favours. They have the 6th overall pick thanks to Minnesota, and perhaps this negative perception could pose some concerns for them. Considering their high pick position and tons of scrutiny over a mock draft, draftees hearing basically complete radio silence from Buffalo as most have isn't great. Maybe that's part of their problem. Or maybe they'll have to do some pretty hard digging to find those few players who want to be there. 9 positive points from 2 votes is pretty good though - the only way to achieve that means someone considers Buffalo their #1 destination, and someone else had them #2.

19. Minnesota Monarchs (0 - 18 = -18; 0/7)
Oh Minnesota. Poor Minnesota. The only team to receive 0 positive votes, it's not a great outlook for a team who got swept in round 1, has no pick until 26, and has basically no draftees on their side right now. You know, in S33 I ripped on Minnesota so I feel bad for them to still be here. Back then they were the Chiefs and not the Monarchs, but still, aside from changing the name you hope a team can at least build a brand. They've got a ways to go to build up any kind of positive rep with future prospects. Unfortunately they do have to make a pick at #26 and with no one putting them even in the top 5... eek.

20. Hamilton Steelhawks (6 - 45 = -39; 2/10)
Ok so... I mean. Um. The reigning Challenge Cup Champions, most prospects hate them. In either question, no team appeared in 10 ballots except Hamilton, and it was bottom 5. They received a whopping 8 last place votes. They've certainly built up a reputation - probably thanks to winning 5 of the last 11 cups. It also probably doesn't help that many people - draftees included - feel like Hamilton is Head Office's favourite child. I can't say i was surprised to see Hamilton at the bottom of the list - they were at the bottom of mine - and I can't say I didn't smile when I saw the graph for their results. They've got the 20th pick, so they better hope they can find those few prospects who put them at 3rd favourite.

The Rest
6. Manhattan Rage - (9 - 2 = 7; 4/2) - Good news for the team with #1 overall
7. Edmonton Blizzard - (7 - 1 = 8; 2/1)
8. Toronto North Stars - (11 - 6 = 5; 3/3)
9. New England Wolfpack - (9 - 4 = 5; 3/2)
10. San Francisco Pride - (14 - 11 = 3; 5/3)
11. Seattle Argonauts - (8 - 9 = -1; 3/2)
12. Winnipeg Aurora - (17 - 20 = -3; 5/6) - Not ideal for a team with 5 1st round picks, but at least 5 people rank them in their top 5. Enough for all their picks Tongue

13. Chicago Syndicate - (6 - 10 = -4; 2/4)
14. Philadelphia Forge - (2 - 7 = -5; 2/4)
15. Tampa Bay Barracuda - (3 - 9 = -6; 1/5)

There's some pretty interesting comparisons to S33 - almost exactly 30 seasons, oops. Calgary and Baltimore (then West Kendall) both appeared in the top 5, and in a stark parallel, West Kendall also received 0 votes in the bottom 5, like Baltimore did this time. Portland, the team which is now San Francisco, placed 2nd, but in their fall from grace had to be relocated not too long after that, and sit at 10th in the rankings now. On the other side, Texas and Minnesota both appeared in the bottom 5 back then, and still are in the bottom 5 here in S62. Manhattan has been able to turn things around, fortunate for them, to go from dead last in S33 with 0 top 5 votes, to just outside the top 5 this time.

I won't do a whole 20 team personal rankings - I couldn't separate all 20, to be honest - it's not quite the same as when I was a first gen. You would think recreates care more about where they go, but I don't necessarily think that's true. I cared way more about ranking all 14 teams in order back as a first gen than I do here and now. But, I'll give my own opinions (I'll take the heat from my bottom 5 teams rather than letting all the rookies take flak for a survey I did) (even though it's anonymous).

1.

Buffalo Stampede - Yeah, I was that 1 1st place vote. I won't say I was robbed, but like, my first player back in S33 was super close to going to Buffalo. @Tomen "drafted" me to Prince George in the SMJHL (he told the GMs to pick me at 38), and was trying hard to get me to Buffalo, but a trade request for pick #10 was ignored by Minnesota, and Toronto then picked me at 11th. I still believe that Minnesota ignored that trade offer because I talked so poorly about them in that S33 Draft Destinations. But also, current day, I'm the GM of the Buffalo Surge in the PBE, I'm a fan of the Buffalo Sabres (82-0-0 let's go baby), so I'm all for the #OneBuffalo.

2. Stars

Toronto North Stars - Like I just mentioned, after Buffalo couldn't trade for me, Toronto ended up picking me at 11th overall. My player went on to play his entire career in Toronto, tied the points record, won a cup, made the HoF, and I was the GM. I drafted the previous 2 GMs in @Nobody and @ml002 back in S39 (legendary draft, not to brag, but I got like 8 really good players). Even though ml didn't draft me last time I will ignore that. How poetic it would be for Chris York to be drafted 38th by Prince George, then 11th by Toronto, for Christian Kinsinger now to be drafted 34th by Kelowna and then 11th by Toronto. Small sample size but I'm just saying Toronto drafting me 11th overall has led to some good results.

3. Patriotes

Montreal Partiotes - If this was the NHL this top 3 would be kinda stupid ngl. 3 atlantic teams, etc. As is shown by the overall rankings, Inf1d3l and co have done a great job at making Montreal an interesting place. As a recreate, you think established reputations with teams, but Montreal has basically never existed when I've had a player and they still rank very highly. I've known Inf1d3l quite a bit, we were both in a GM league run by Wasty back in the day (good old PHL... I actually still miss my players there I was putting together a team I loved), and he was on Manhattan back at the start of Veccelli's career.

4. Aurora

Winnipeg Aurora - Ok hear me out for a second. [Image: symmetrikal-rev-5May-01.jpg?width=494&height=494]

I made this team called the Winnipeg Aurora for the PBE Online, a GM league using OOTP with people from the PBE. This was like, the cheap $5 logo I could get because I didn't want to spend a lot of money on that side league. But as they say, great minds think a like. I really wasn't a fan of it being Winnipeg Jets in the SHL so I'm super glad they made the change.

5. Forge

Philadelphia Forge - To be honest, it was actually quite a challenge to pick a 5th in my top 5. Outside of those top 4, I didn't feel like anyone had really "wowed" me. Trying to separate like 5 from 16 was a challenge, there wasn't a whole lot of standouts. I've always had a soft spot for the Flyers in the NHL, and I really like colours and branding and thank FUCK it's not a red white and blue Philly team, so I think it would be pretty sweet to see Kinsinger don that Forge jersey.

16.

Tampa Bay Barracuda - Like I said, it was hard to really distinguish between 5 and 16. But overall I'm not really a huge fan of the pink, I'm not a huge fan of Tampa Bay, and I really do hate fish. That's why I made my PBE team a bear logo. They kill fish. (note: not actually true, it's a panda bear and it's dope). But basically nothing about the team itself has made an impact on me, and so it really came down to the brand and everything, and I don't really like the Tampa brand.

17. Monarchs

Minnesota Monarch - Eeeh uh sorry Minny. Kind of kicking a guy while he's down, but I mean as I mentioned in my blurb about Buffalo, I believe the Minnesota of old screwed me out of playing in Buffalo (if that had happened, WBF may very well be GM of Toronto now instead - that's a whole other story though, if you want details ask in the comments) and there was a whole thing going on, I wasn't a huge fan of a lot of the Minnesota players, and there was definitely a dislike there. It's a totally different team of people there now but it's still like... Minny? Ick. When they signed Veccelli as an IFA in his last season, I considered fighting it on the grounds that I hadn't been tagged at the start of bidding (in which case I could have opted out of bidding and signed as an active FA - it's in the rules). I decided not to and let Minnesota keep him, my first step in trying to not dislike Minnesota. Also, I could pocket 5 mil for Kinsinger in doing so, so.

18.

Chicago Syndicate - I actually just hate Chicago teams. I don't why people have an obsession with Chicago, I don't know why people like Chicago. Someone always has a hard on for making a Chicago team in sim leagues. I just don't like Chicago. Nothing to do with anyone on the Syndicate. Put this team in like, Milwaukee, totally different story. This is the only team in my bottom 5 that didn't exist at all back in S33 when I first started.

19. pride

San Francisco Pride - I mean, nothing really against the Pride. They were never anything spectacular to me, and they were the ones who drafted Veccelli. Of course, they then also traded Veccelli without a real reason I would say. I went on to win a cup in Manhattan in my rookie season so, whatever dude, but like, I just have no real desire to go back.

20

Hamilton Steelhawks - Did anyone really expect anything different here? In S33 I actually ranked Hamilton #6 of 14. But then Hamilton got annoying players, Hallsy was by far and away the most annoying GM to try and deal with, and Hamilton got more annoying, and then Hamilton started breaking rules and getting away with it for basically nothing. Hamilton exploited STHS and were going to continue hiding it to try and cheese championships out of it. We literally had to almost emergency stop STHS and switch to FHM before anything was ready for it. It kicked it into overdrive for getting the switch to FHM done and we had all kinds of wonky stop gap rules to prevent this exploit. Then just last offseason I'm sure we all remember Hamilton fucking up and screwing themselves by clear cut definition in the rule book. But nope we can't have that, so the owners stepped in before HO even made a ruling about it, and ruled that Hamilton could post their contracts after the deadline and it was fine. No thank you.

Just because you aren't #1 doesn't mean I wouldn't go there. Much like before, I'll play basically anywhere if you can sell me on it, except Hamilton. As always GMs please feel free to reach out and get in touch if even if you are ranked from #2-19.

Good luck to everyone in the draft!