The Edmonton Blizzard have a serious lack of defensive depth compared to Calgary's surplus of 600-700 TPE young defenseman. Their top pairing of Tor Tuck and Brady McIntyre is absolutely elite and solid, but beyond that they have an aging Sven Brokstad, and Karlstraße Scholz, who just isn't quite ready to be a top tier defender yet. Those two are still quite decent second pairing defensemen, but their third pairing is under 500 TPE, which is probably going to hurt against powerhouse offensive clubs quite a bit. Forwards such as Mike Izzy and Shooter McGavin could run circles around that third pairing, and that's a weakness the Dragons want to exploit.

I think the Calgary Dragons have a managerial advantage after being in the finals last year; they know what it takes to triumph against adversity and find the winning strategies against the best opponents. I think their GM came away with a lot of experience and will be looking to roll out similar strategies this year, and if history repeats itself, that'll be quite good for them.


Willy Mack has a ton of TPE and is widely considered a steal, but did not eclipse the 30 point mark in the regular season. He needs to show his potential and put his honed talents to good work for the Edmonton Blizzard to win, because they will need a ton of scoring to advance. He has the skills, with 99 Scoring, he just needs it to show on the ice.

Every year, people laugh at the regressing goalie situation in Toronto, but they are blessed by the STHS gods it seems. Somehow, McFadden outperforms some 1000+ TPE goalies in the regular season, but on paper he is the worst starter in the league stats and TPE wise. Buffalo should have an advantage in that department, although Cedric Robinson has gone a bit inactive, he is at over 700 TPE so he has nearly double what McFadden does. McFadden and Robinson had equal save percentages with .907 in the regular season though so it's up in the air whether STHS will finally punish Toronto.


I think Bobby Sharp for the Buffalo Stampede is developing extremely well and could flourish under the bright lights. He had a quiet 21 point outing, but he had a very higher shooting percentage, so he's quite an efficient player. If given a bit more ice time, we could witness a playoffs break out; I think he absolutely has the potential to score a ton of goals and break down Toronto's defense.


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I see the Buffalo Stampede making quick work of the Toronto North Stars, as I believe their goalie woes will finally catch up to them, and Mikhail Lokitonov cannot singlehandedly carry his team to the next round despite his immense skill level. I think the Stampede will either earn a sweep, or if Lokitonov has a very magical night, perhaps 5 games, but I don't see this one being a contest or going the distance.


Mikhail Lokitonov must be giving the Buffalo Stampede nightmares after another campaign over a point per game pace. He's one of the most talented scorers in his generation of players, and having to deal with containing him won't be an easy task. Buffalo's GM is likely struggling to figure out what game plan to roll out against Lokitonov and knows that whatever he decides may be futile; Lokitonov is just that good.

I think Calgary can match up well against either one of those teams since they have so much depth at every position, as well as prior experience from their deep run last year. Calgary does not care about regular season performance or the odds, they just know their skill level and they try to execute their game plan to perfection.


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I'm going to the Blizzard's stadium and wearing Willy Mack's jersey because he's always been very amicable to me. He's one of the last remaining players from our S44 draft class and I want to support him as he and I have been battling for the TPE lead of the class for a long time; we both push each other to be better and hope each other does well in our respective careers.