Last few seasons have been pretty interesting, but without any big plot-twists, am I right? We've seen Hamilton Steelhawks, Buffalo Stampede and Texas Renegades at the top. Will there be any new contender anytime soon? And is SHL Finals even interesting anymore?

Hamilton Steelhawks and Buffalo Stampede are like Lebron James - just in SHL. And let me tell why... First of all, I don't like Lebron James, but you have to give props where they are deserved. Lebron has many Finals appearances in NBA and has dominated league for multiple decades. And these two teams are doing the same team.

Fun fact: in last 9 seasons, there hasn't been Play-Offs where Hamilton Steelhawks or Buffalo Stampede doesn't make Finals. They have 6 of last 9 Challenge Cups - 4 for Steelhawks, 2 for Stampede. Both of these two teams have met in Finals twice in this time period aswell - both times Steelhawks won.

Of course, there are few miracle teams who pop up and makes Finals to surprise the entire league, but this team always fells down fast. We've seen New Orleans Specters in S54 winning Challenge Cup and then falling down at their lowest. Similar story with Edmonton Blizzard. Only Toronto North Stars, Chicago Syndicate and now Baltimore Platoon are teams who are fighting to change the look of Finals.

To make it clear, these last Finals haven't even been very interesting either. I wrote down last 9 Finals and you can see - 2 series ended with a sweep, 4 series ended in five games, one of them ended in six games and only two went to game seven. Series ends pretty quick and Finals isn't that interesting anymore. We rarely see new teams in Finals. Of course, it's not bad for me, since my player plays for Buffalo Stampede, but it might be interesting for others who haven't seen Finals in many seasons.

S53 - Steelhawks wins 4-2 versus Blizzard
S54 - Specters wins 4-0 versus Steelhawks
S55 - Stampede wins 4-3 versus Specters
S56 - Steelhawks wins 4-1 versus Stampede
S57 - Syndicate wins 4-1 versus Steelhawks
S58 - Steelhawks wins 4-1 versus Stampede
S59 - Renegades wins 4-1 versus Stampede
S60 - Stampede wins 4-3 versus Syndicate (comeback from 1-3)
S61 - Steelhawks wins 4-0 versus Renegades

To make it even more interesting, Steelhawks won S51 Finals aswell. That means, Stampede and Steelhawks era technically started exactly 10 seasons ago - in S51.

To make this media a bit more interesting, I thought about making small tear of teams in Play-Offs. Like a list of teams - which teams are pretty obvious to make Finals, which one is probably not making it this far and which one won't even make Finals. Just reminding that this is my personal opinion which is based on last ten seasons. If there were a hard choice to make, I did it based on last few seasons not entire ten. Last few seasons are more important, in my opinion.


Can some of these teams make a serious jump and get to Finals? Will something change in S62? To be fair, I think that next season we will see Stampede or Steelhawks in Finals once again. I think that even both of these teams can meet each other in these Finals. Hopefully, Stampede will make it (egoistic, right?). Finals should be interesting.

Is these type of Finals good or bad for league? Is it making rivalry even more interesting or is it destroying the interest for players who can't get this far? Will Steelhawks and Stampede continue to dominate the league? And if it yes - will it somehow affect activity from new members?

Plenty questions and everyone wants to hear their own response. My opinion? These both franchises will keep being dominant as long as their head office stays the same. There's a reason why these two teams are arguably the best two franchises in the entire SHL. They know what they are doing. There are high chances that these two teams might meet once again next season in Finals. It's not just last 9 seasons... You have to understand that in total of 61 seasons, Steelhawks won Challenge Cup 8 times, but Stampede 4 times. It's almost 20% of total cups. Not even talking just about Finals appearances.

The question is - when there will be a third time who can fight with these two teams in a long term? Okay, there are Texas Renegades and Chicago Syndicate who sometimes shows up to surprise and get to Finals, but that's pretty much it. Baltimore Platoon and Texas Renegades are doing pretty solid lately. Are they able to surprise in the future too? Or is it time for Tampa Bay Barracuda finally to shine? They were fifth seed in the entire league this season, by the way. Or will there be someone else finally? Who knows.

Short resume: I think that this rivalry and these Finals are interesting, but just for people who follow this rivalry and plays for these exact teams. That's why I enjoy it - because my player is a defender for Stampede. Is it interesting for others? I don't know. It's very individual and you might tell me your opinion to understand.

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