This season was better than I could've possibly imagined. It didn't start off great, I was expecting to be apart of a strong top 3 group with Friedland and Hutton, but with Hutton leaving to the big leagues unexpectedly it came down to one 'super pairing' to hopefully pave the way. With that much pressure on a single line I was concerned that production would fall off or stagnate, especially with a lot of the prolific scorers of years prior, such as Wagner, Knight, Dakari, etc. also continuing with their careers. Instead, Foley ended up leading all defensemen in points, and to my knowledge is being discussed for league MVP and has recieved vtoes for the Raymond Lindsay which is... wow. Even though it's an outside shot to even be top 3 in those categories, going from being a surprise 3rd place nom for the Agante last year to a potential MVP candidate is totally unexpected. I give all of the credit to 7 and Overdoo and how they have built the team, and for putting Foley in a position to succeed--or maybe a recognition Foley and Friedland would be necessary parts of a successful team. Either way, being credites as a 'big part' of a team making it to 1st in the east feels great. As for next year, I feel like 40+ points is off the table. In all reality I'm setting my sights on getting 10-15 points while doing better than a -10 on the +/- scale, alongside an average corsi rating. Really, I'm going to be in Edmonton to help ease the load on the strong top 4, with almost twice as much TPE as the previous bottom pairing combined.



I believe it has to be New Orleans over Hamilton. First off, the second round was intense with 2 game 7's (tell me if you've heard that one before) which sealed New Orelans getting to the finals for the 2nd time in franchise history, while Hamilton, the big bad of the most recent years, was getting a shot of being a greater dynasty with 3 cups in 4 years. The build up was insane and the way it went down was even crazier. It was a sweep, when everyone was figuring Hamilton had New Orleans dead to rights. That itself is crazy. Then you factor in the way the series ended. Game 4, with the chance to seal it. And you got an instantly legendary moment, not only was there a last minute comeback, but it was followed up by a MvdH OT winner to seal the deal for New Orleans first cup in franchise history.

Then came the craziness of it all--something everyone has to remember. The cup-clinching, overtime goal scorer, Mitchell van der Heidjen was traded before the celebrations were even done. Everyone knows Blues is going to be an amazing player and seeing the trade after a career defining moment is understandably insane. And the team selling off major assets for that was New England, a perennial contender with the leading TPE earner in the entire league? The sequence of events following NOLA's cup win sets the tone for possibly the next decade of SHL hockey, with teams buying big off of New England, while they prepare to retool for the S60's with a franchise centre. It may veer away from the most memorable "series" itself, but it's the most memorable day-of-winning for me, personally.



12 teams. Thunderdome style. It's pretty weak that the top teams don't get to play. They need something meaningful. That's where you get the alternative-12-team-elite-playoff-structure-bid. 1v4 and 2v3 on each sides while the 5 and 6 seeds get byes (they worked hard to get where they are). For example, you have Hamilton - Buffalo, Chicago - Manhattan round 1 What's more exciting than sick matchups like that?? Then you get to round 2, where you will have the round 1 'conference' winners face off against each other while the 5 and 6 seeds have their own inter-conference elimination tournament. So for example we could see

Hamilton - Manhattan
Calgary - Edmonton

Atlanta - Winnipeg
New Orleans - New England

With this format the games are guaranteed to be very close on both sides! No more blowout series, now you only have the most exciting series each round. Wins all around, fellas. Then you get into the conference finals. This is where everything is reseeded. Now, for instance, Hamilton, Calgary, Winnipeg, and New England are all considered equal and are seeded against each other, so you would see HAM - WIN, CGY - NEW series. Very exciting stuff! Creates brand new matchups you wouldn't see under any other seeding format. Then it's a straight up finals after that. I know you asked for the "worst" 12 seed format but I think mine has some great merits and should be considered to create fun and exciting seeding scenarios.



Banff, Alberta, Canada, or Lake Louise. Both of them are famous for bomb ass hotels, and there are many options for activities, as well as out door rinks located very nearby. The most discernable issue would be a lack of practice ice, however there could be modifcations to the bubble plan with a joint bubble proposal, where the initial series take place in a large city such as Calgary, before shifting to Lake Louise or Banff. The Banff National Hotel is absolutely magnificent, and you just need to look at a picture of Lake Louise to understand the draw to staying, and playing there. The built in amenities at the hotels--hot tubs, pools, buffets, space for activities, is enough for any one team to have fun in. So for Lake Louise and Banff, the hotels themselves are massive draws, as well as the scenery. Then you have what separates the two: the surrounding city. Lake Louise is just Lake Louise so that cuts into realism, but Banff has quaint feel to it that is befitting of preparation for games, as well as late night shenanigans that get you arrested. A modified bubble would also work with the entirety of Banff outside of the intersecting highway being blocked off from being accessible for non-residents/SHL players, making it easy for them to walk around and get Earls, Tim Hortons, or any of the other restuarants nearby. Really, Banff is just very fun and the hikes are gorgeous. The players would love it, and so would their families. It just makes sense.




I think it's gotta be Anchorage. Realistically, I love Carolina and am committed to them, but they played well above their heads all season given the pure quantity of rookies coming onto the team, alongside inactives filling holes. Anchorage though, almost all of their players are capped. Everyone outside of their EBUG and Gervais from before S56 are at 425 TPE or within 5 of that mark. That's 11 capped players, including their starter who was up for league MVP last year. Then you have all of their S56 players at cap, and the rest of their S57's rounding out solid depth as they earn towards the 300's. Pretty much their entire d-core is at 425. They have all of the makings of a championship team but it feels as though they weren't able to capitalize on how stacked they were--I really don't see a massive difference between what they, and Carolina of S54 did with their Four Star Cup victory. Top 5 of 425 d-men, 1 350 d-man (better than what Carolina had), extreme top end offensive talent on par with what Carolina had. Goalies at 425 are potentiall a wash but Ace is a wizard with what he has done with Eller so it could go either way. And that's not to say Newfoundland isn't good, but back to back seasons with this core of strong players without any tangible success is insane to me. They were the 3rd best regular season team and didn't have to face either of the top 2 seeds to reach the finals and failed to do so. I just can't believe they weren't able to make it work.


Bababooey