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***luke*** · 02-21-2024, 07:09 AM

Mike Honcho
@InNet

Not quite a S1 original, but Honcho was a S2 player. One of the only ones on this list. Drafted originally 11th OA to the Edmonton Comets(now blizzard). Honcho was one of the first players Edmonton drafted along with Mikey Broomfield. John Falkirk and Richard Metcalf to name a few in the initial post expansion draft. The first goalie for the Edmonton Franchise, Honcho will become a legend. And eventually be the trophy we all know today, the Mike Honcho trophy.

Immediately the Edmonton Comets were one of the best teams in the league. With only 8 teams in the league, Edmonton was able to grab a couple key free agents, drafted well, and their main GM, McDonald had a great player too. In his rookie season Honcho went 28-8-3 with a career high of 9 shutouts and a .938 SV%. Enough to earn an All Star Team, a Ryan Jesster nomination, and his first John McBride win. Losing the Ryan Jesster Award to Jamie Campagiorni.

S3 was another great season for Honcho. Winning 28 games again, with 6 losses and 6 OTL. With another great SV% of .931. He won the John McBride for the 2nd time, and another All Star. On Top of that Honcho won his first Challenge Cup in the league. He also won the Anton Razov award for playoff MVP. Going 8-03-0 he had 2 shutouts and a ridiculous .95 SV% in the playoffs.

S4 was even better than the previous 2 seasons. Going 33-2-4 with 2 shutouts and a .934 SV%. Honcho won everything a goalie could do at that time. Another All Star Team, winning the John McBride for the 3rd time in a row, as well as winning the Mike Honcho award for the first time. He also won his 2nd and final Challenge Cup in the league.

S5 would continue his dominant performance. Even with more goalies in the competition with the S5 expansion, leading to now 8 teams. Honcho went with the stateline of 26-12-6 with 1 shutout. THe least amount of wins in his career, even with 44 games played. He also had another great SV% at that time, with .938 SV%. His 2nd time reaching that SV%, and .one of the top 5 SV% during the dead puck era. With that, Honcho earned a John McBride nomination. His first McBride loss of his career. He won the Mike Honcho award however.

S6 came with a new place. 44 games into the season. With a record of 17-20-7, Honcho was dealt to the Toronto North Stars. Trading Honcho to Toronto, with Edmonton receiving Nick Fisher, 1st, and a 4th round pick. McBride Finished out S6 with Toronto. Going 9-5-0 with a .937 to finish out the season. So in total for the season going 26-25-7 with 3 shutouts and .932 SV%. He was not nominated for the Mcbride for the first time in his career.

S7 he continued to be a good goalie for Toronto. With the 50 game season becoming a standard, Honcho went 33-13-4 with 1 shutout and a .917 SV%. S8 saw Honcho get another McBride nomination. The end of the experimental era, Honcho went 24-17-2 with a .922 SV%. Enough to get his 5th McBride nomination of his career.

S8 offseason to S9 would involve another change in his career. traded for the 2nd time in his career. LAP acquired Mike Honcho from Toronto in exchange for Eddie Fishermann and S9 EDM 2nd.
With the switch to the inflation era, and moving to Los Angeles. Honcho did not benefit greatly from both the inflation era and changing of teams. Going to a mid Los Angeles team, giving up a lot of goals due to the inflation era. His numbers drafted. S9 saw Honcho go 20-16-7 with a .87 SV%. Not great…

S10 Honcho went 21-16-5 with 2 shutouts and an even worse .86 SV%. S11 was his worst season yet . Only going 21-16-4 with no shutouts and a disastrous .85 SV%. This was the last time he would be in Los Angeles. This time as a more minor piece of a trade. LAP traded Zach Dooley, Ideen Fallah, and Mike Honcho to the Edmonton Blizzard in Exchange for S21 1st, S12 2nd and Jackson Spruill.

A couple days later, EDM traded Honcho again. Sending Honcho, a 2nd, and 3 million to Toronto in exchange for Viari Latypov and a S12 2nd round pick.

S12 would be his final season as a starter in the league. Ending with a bang, Honcho went 28-12-4 with 4 shutouts and a .915 SV%. He was nominated for the John McBride for the final time. As well as getting nominated for the Aidan Richan award for most improved player. Ironic of it being his last season as a starter.

With Toronto releasing Honcho in the S13 offseason, WPG picked him up for S13 to be the backup goalie. He would remain the backup goalie for 4 seasons with the Jets. S13-S16. Playing 24 games in total through those 4 seasons. Going 11-6-7 during that time.

With that, Honcho retired from the league. Playing 511 games, with a tantalizing 299 wins, 149 losses and 59 OTL. With 25 shutouts as well, he had a career SV% of .914. He was 1st in wins by a goalie ever. Only getting surpassed by Jason Aitokallio in S26. With 3 McBride wins, another 3 nominated ones. Along with an Anton Razov win, 2 Honcho wins, and 2 Challenge Cups. Honcho was one of the best goalies to do it. Why he wasn't higher? With only 6-12 teams during that time he played. There wasn't much competition as there was in the later seasons. A revolutionary player at that time though, which is well deserving of being #35 on this list.

[Image: KyhiUgr.png]

Troy_McClure03 · 02-21-2024, 09:08 AM

If it isn't Mike Honcho himself

spidey · 02-21-2024, 10:01 AM

Amazing player

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