This is part three to my SHL History for Dummies series where I take a quick look at each season of the league and figure out who GM'd what team and what everyone's records were that year. The warning in the first part of the series still stands, this might be boring for a lot of you so apologies but I want cash and need to learn.
We are now into the 3rd decade of the SHL. The league remained stable during the last 10 seasons and didn't grow much but started to cement the team names and locations. Will it be the same this next decade? Let's see:
Season 21 to 30
Season 21
League
The league upped the total games played per team by 2 from 50 games to 52 games. This is the first change in the amount of games since S7.
Teams
Calgary Dragons (28-21-3)
Edmonton Blizzard (26-18-8)
Hamilton Steelhawks (30-19-3)
Los Angeles Panthers (26-19-7)
Manhattan Rage (22-25-5)
Minnesota Chiefs (16-32-4) - JayTee takes over GM position from Banjo Kazooie, this is JayTee's 3rd team he has been a GM for (S7 Panthers and S9-S10 Platoon)
The Texas Renegades are the 4th ever team to win back to back championships with their win this season. It is their 3rd championship in franchise history. Minnesota Chiefs double their win total from last season but still manage to trail the rest of the pack. The only team that wasn't really competitive this season. This is the second consecutive year that Jordin FourFour wins best goaltender. It is also the first season in 5 that one of Darian Scherbluk and Chris Partlow didn't win the award for best defender. Interesting that the league added an additional 2 games to the schedule this season without changing the team amount.
The Manhattan Rage finally make it over that last hurdle and win their first ever championship. I also have to point out that the Minnesota Chiefs finally turned things around after having some really bad seasons. Another close season in the standings. Goalie Lauris Prikulis had a great season securing both the league MVP and best goaltender award. The league has really settled at this point with only the occasional GM change.
The New England Wolfpack win their first ever championship. They were an expansion team in S10. Calgary Dragons lagged behind which is a rarity while all the other teams were very close to one another. With a new team winning its first championship back to back and the standings being close, you have to think that the entertainment value is pretty high since everyone feels like they have a shot. Even the top individual awards are all players who have never won before.
The Hamilton Steelhawks win the championship. This is the franchises 2nd championship with their first being back in S11. GM changes are beginning to pick up again, otherwise the league looks to be doing well. Jackson Weekes wins both the MVP and best goaltender award. The league seems to be very defensive friendly with few forwards winning MVP over the last while. Darian Scherbluk returns as best defender after several seasons. This makes him hold the record for most best defender awards with 4.
For the first time since S10, the league expands. Two new teams are added, Portland Admirals and Buffalo Stampede, bringing the total to 14. Games played is also changed back to the 50 games per season.
Teams
Buffalo Stampede (20-24-6) - Founded by Brandon (previously GM of Platoon S4-S5)
Calgary Dragons (29-19-2)
Edmonton Blizzard (27-20-3)
Hamilton Steelhawks (24-22-4)
Los Angeles Panthers (25-20-5)
Manhattan Rage (26-22-2) - Nike is no longer GM leaving Merica as lone GM
Minnesota Chiefs (26-16-8)
New England Wolfpack (21-26-3)
Portland Admirals (17-24-9) - Founded by JumpierPegasus (previously GM of Chiefs S9)
Seattle Riot (28-19-3)
Texas Renegades (25-20-5) - Midas Whale is no longer GM leaving Deener as sole GM
The Winnipeg Jets win the 4th championship in their franchise history and their first one since S19. They seem to spread their championships out more than other teams that win them in bunches. The two new expansion teams struggled a bit but what you expect/hope from a new team. Lauris Prikulis wins his 3rd career best goaltender award.
The Hamilton Steelhawks win their 2nd championship in 3 seasons and their 3rd cup in franchise history (S19 & S24). One of the expansion teams appears to have caught its footing as the Buffalo Stampede finish just below .500 however their expansion sibling the Portland Admirals continue to struggle. Only one GM change as the league expands, pretty good commitment. Colin Schmidt takes home the MVP and best goalie award as the goalies once again prove to be too difficult to contend with.
The Calgary Dragons win the franchises 3rd championship and first one since their back to back wins in S8 and S9. Not much changing in the standings from the previous season, I guess this could be attributed to a lull after an expansion draft. GM positions are becoming a rare commodity with very few seats switching. Nobody seems to want to give up control over their team. Individual awards, this time it is a defender and not a goalie who wins the MVP as Alonzo Garbanzo takes home the top trophy as well as the best defender award.
The Edmonton Blizzard return to championship form as they win their 6th championship (S3, S4, S13, S15, S16, and now S28). The two newest expansion teams really struggled and took steps back. Maybe an indication that the expansion rules were too tough? Or maybe I don't have enough facts to make a proper guess. Either way, the new teams will have to find a way to compete. The league is as stable as a table. Colin Schmidt finds himself a part of the repeat winners club as he gets his 2nd award for best goaltender after winning it in S26.
And the Calgary Dragons are back on top winning the championship. That makes it their 2nd cup in 3 years and 4th as a franchise. The bottom teams are still the bottom teams. They definitely got it harder than the previous expansion teams but that is understandable since the league is on more solid footing than back in S12. One GM replacement this season, that's only 2 new GM's in 4 seasons. That role is on lock down. All new individual award winners and no repeats.
The league remains the same since the expansion in S25.
Teams
Buffalo Stampede (14-34-2)
Calgary Dragons (35-13-2)
Edmonton Blizzard (34-14-2) - Jedi takes over as GM from Teztify who leaves as the GM tied with the most championships at 4 with Leafs4ever (at this point in history)
Hamilton Steelhawks (9-33-8)
Los Angeles Panthers (22-25-3)
Manhattan Rage (30-16-4) - Kez joins Jorec as GM
Minnesota Chiefs (34-15-1)
New England Wolfpack (29-20-1) - Eggy216 replaces prettyburn as GM
Portland Admirals (14-34-2)
Seattle Riot (26-18-6)
Texas Renegades (29-19-2) - Deener is no longer GM leaving Allen as the sole GM
The return of the pack as New England Wolfpack win their 2nd cup. Their last championship was S23. What happened to the Hamilton Steelhawks? Only 9 wins after a 30 win season. Did some players retire or were there big trades? I'm not sure but boy did they struggle. And unfortunately for them it looks like it is difficult to improve as a weaker team. The same teams that have struggled the last 3 to 4 seasons are still at the bottom and aren't seeing any improvement (granted the New England Wolfpack had a down year in S27 and bounced back). The league hasn't lost a bit of its competitiveness since the expansion. On an individual note, Bubba Nuck takes home the double achievement winning both the MVP and award for best defender.
We had some excitement in the league these past 10 seasons. The games per season jumped from 50 to 52 for several seasons before dropping back down to the standard 50. The league expanded for the first time since S10 by adding two new teams to get to a total of 14. What stuck out to me most (as I stated a few times already) is how little turnover there was at the GM position this decade. It's bad for anyone wanting a shot at running a team but it also indicates a pretty well run tight-nit community.
Maybe the biggest knock at this stage is that only three or four teams seem to be winning it lately. A few more different teams in the mix winning it would be nice to see.
High Stick King![[Image: yyo9APg.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/yyo9APg.gif)
![[Image: 65151_s.gif]](https://signavatar.com/65151_s.gif)
![[Image: Tqabyfh.png]](http://i.imgur.com/Tqabyfh.png)
![[Image: OOcGSpM.png]](https://i.imgur.com/OOcGSpM.png)
![[Image: 41373_s.gif]](https://signavatar.com/41373_s.gif)
![[Image: vhY18i8.png]](https://i.imgur.com/vhY18i8.png)
![[Image: 7WSfxIG.png]](https://i.imgur.com/7WSfxIG.png)
![[Image: nBgNUTY.png]](https://i.imgur.com/nBgNUTY.png)
