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*Eggcracker* · 04-18-2024, 11:42 AM

A page has turned in the Edmonton Blizzard organization, the season 76 Blizzard roster is completely night and day compared to the seasons past. The team has accomplished a lot in a short span of time with 5 seasons of unparalleled success, winning the president’s trophy in seasons 74 and 75, the Challenge Cup in season 73, and numerous awards and accolades.

With the roster gutted and traded for the future during the off-season, the season 76 roster is a hodgepodge of wily veterans, serviceable journeymen, and discarded spare parts from other teams. There are only 4 players left on the roster from the season 73 cup winning team, the then 3rd line forwards who have now assumed the 1st line role, and the back up goalie to the marvelous Justin Time.

Although this team was not built to win, there have still been signs of life and things to come during the season. The SHL rookie Vyacheslav Shevchenko has been a bright spot on the roster, holding his own after 26 games played with 10 goals, 9 assists, and a minus -1, which is much better than most would have predicted from a rookie on a rebuilding team.

Another bright spot has been Theodore Svatos’ ascent to stardom, after serving his time on the 3rd line with the championship caliber roster, he was given the 1st line role for the rebuild and he has hit the ground running without missing a stride. Leading the team in points with 44 in 25 games (which is also tied for top 10 in the league), it is definitely a bittersweet moment to see the potential unlocked but also knowing that Svatos will be returning to his native Slovakia to tend to personal matters after this season, ending his professional playing career in the SHL.

That is about it in terms of bright spots for this season, aside from the odd win against much better teams. This team is built for the future, and the future is stacked. The pantry has been filled up with prospects galore (more prospects than the team has seen since season 71, for no particular reason). With names like Simo Jaaskelainen, Dwayne Swanson, MattyJ, Alexa Johansen, Matviy Cajabi, Thomas Hudson, and many more coming. These touted prospects will surely be household names in the SHL in the coming seasons.

What GMs HFFO and Eggcracker are looking forward to are the upcoming drafts, specifically season 80. The team has 14 first round draft picks in the next 4 seasons (77-80), with half (7) of them coming in season 80 alone. HFFO has planned ahead in what looks to be a promising draft class, putting almost all the eggs into a lone draft can be risky, but with a stocked pantry already, even if half of the draftees don’t turn out to be top earning caliber players, there will still be more than enough talent to push this team back to the top of the table.

One can say the league definitely does not feel the same without the mainstay Blizzards occupying the top spot in the standings. But the foundations of a new contender have been laid down, there is a plan and a clear vision to get this team back to where they belong. This is the calm before the storm.

557 words

TheOPSquid · 04-18-2024, 11:57 AM

Theodore "Kovalchuk" Svatos

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