S77 was in someways a sunset season for the team. In S74 The Detroit Falcons won the Four Star Cup. Their first in six years at that time. S77 had just one player left from that era and that would be Teemu Salami. Teemu Salami led the Detroit Falcons this year in his 4th season. A career that has seen well over 200 points scored for Detroit and this year he was second on the team just behind Brayden Point with 74 points. It was a sunset season for Detroit because we know with near certainty that Teemu Salami will be joining The Toronto North Stars of The SHL in October of S78 but whether or not The Falcons retain Brayden Point and starting Goalie Anastasia Soderstrom remains to be seen. In S77 Detroit found themselves in the position of being a quality Tier 2 team. Right there with Regina and Nevada sporting a +44 goal differential. Certainly good enough to make Detroit a top 4 team in the league and one worth fearing on the calendar but also not strong enough to get the talk and coverage that The Maine Timber accumulated this season. Still it was a run that saw Detroit as a potential threat to make a run in the playoffs that ultimately fell short.

Detroit's strongest quality this season was its defense. Detroit posted just 190 goals against, which was good for second best in all of The SMJHL. The impressive Blue Line was quarterbacked by Smitty Werbenjaegermanjensen who posted 16 goals and 36 points. That was one of the best performances from the Blue Line this year and should probably lock Smitty into an ALL SMJHL team of some sort. The Blue Line's anchor was rookie Elliot Anderson. Anderson posted a +- of +34 and PDO of 102.9. A particularly strong defensive performance that may see Elliot Anderson get a spot on the coveted ALL Rookie SMJHL Team. And of course in goalie Anastasia Soderstrom who led the SMJHL in save percentage with a .914%.

Every year some big team has to be the team to get upset in the playoffs. There is seemingly never a season where this doesn't happen. This year it just happened to be Detroit. Detroit's first playoff matchup saw them face The Carolina Kraken. The Carolina Kraken in S77 suffered a -8 goal differential. They posted one of the stronger defenses in the league but they had just an anemic offense that couldn't score. Sadly when you face teams like this there is always they chance they will just suffocate you and that's precisely what we saw in the playoffs where The Carolina Kraken smothered the Falcons and took them down 6 games. An extremely disappointing season that saw the owner of Detroit apologize to season ticket holders but the damage is done.

Still in spit of how things may have ended and the challenges before Detroit in the future, there is optimism among younger players. Bas O'Bigbers Jr, who was a 4th round surprise, recently commented "despite the grim ending and the fact that we may lose our top 2 or 3 players next season, I'm hopeful. I know what I can bring to this club and I know that I can get better and I'm just working towards being the best player that I can be." Only the future will tell what happens next.

Bás O'Bigbers [S57] || LW || Edmonton Blizzard || TPE:1633
Age: [S57]
Birthplace: Swords, Ireland
Height: 5'10
Weight: 170
Number: 9
Son of Guts O'Bigbers [S39]
------------------------------------------------------------
Transactions
Drafted in the 1st Round 9th OVA of the S56 SMJHL Draft by the Newfoundland Berserkers
Drafted in the 1st Round 16th OVA of the S57 SHL Draft by the New England Wolfpack
S63 Traded by the New England Wolfpack to the Winnipeg Aurora
S66 Traded by the Winnipeg Aurora to the Edmonton Blizzard
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SMJHL Stats
S56 || NL || GP: 50 || G: 9 || A: 13 || P: 22 || ATOI: 12:19 ||
S57 || NL || GP: 66 || G: 11 || A: 17 || P: 28 || ATOI: 17:44 ||
S58 || NL || GP: 66 || G: 21 || A: 32 || P: 53 || ATOI: 18:20 || "A" ||
S59 || NL || GP: 66 || G: 15 || A: 34 || P: 49 || ATOI: 16:09 || "C" || 
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SHL Stats
S60 || NEW || GP: 66 || G: 21 || A: 29 || P: 50 || ATOI:  ||
S61 || NEW || GP: 66 || G: 24 || A: 22 || P: 46 || ATOI:  ||
S62 || NEW || GP: 66 || G: 25 || A: 27 || P: 52 || ATOI:  ||
S63 || NEW/WPG || GP: 63 || G: 17 || A: 29 || P: 46 || ATOI:  ||
S64 || WPG || GP: 36 || G: 23 || A: 20 || P: 43 || ATOI:  ||
S65 || WPG || GP: 36 || G: 23 || A: 20 || P: 43 || ATOI:  ||
S66 || EDM || GP: 36 || G: 23 || A: 20 || P: 43 || ATOI:  ||
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Trophy Case
Named Assistant Captain of the Newfoundland Berserkers S58
S58 SMJHL All Star
S58 SMJHL 2nd All Star Team
S58 Zack Miller Trophy Winner
Named Captain of the Newfoundland Berserkers S59
S60 Ryan Jesster Trophy Winner
S64 All Star
[/pbl]

Guinness O'Bigbers [S68] || LW || Former Terrible Player || TPE: Low, very low.
Age: [S68]
Birthplace: Swords, Ireland
Height: 5'11
Weight: 200
Number: 9
Son of Guts O'Bigbers [S39]
Brother of Bas O'Bigbers [S39]
------------------------------------------------------------
Transactions
Drafted ?
------------------------------------------------------------
SMJHL Stats
S56 || NL || GP: 50 || G: 9 || A: 13 || P: 22 || ATOI: 12:19 ||
[/pbl]

Bas O'Bigbers Jr. [S68] || C || Detroit Falcons || TPE: Low, very low.
Age: [S78]
Birthplace: Swords, Ireland
Height: 5'11
Weight: 200
Number: 9
Son of Bas O'Bigbers [S57]
Grandson of Guts O'Bigbers [S39]
------------------------------------------------------------
Transactions
Drafted ?
------------------------------------------------------------
SMJHL Stats
S56 || NL || GP: 50 || G: 9 || A: 13 || P: 22 || ATOI: 12:19 ||
[/pbl]

Great season by Detroit. It's unfortunate they were eliminated so quickly. @OVOXO definitely deserves a nomination for rookie of the year!

Great read ! Next year we should be even better! And thanks to both for the shoutout!!

Credit: xjoverax

Approved @Sopath @CptSquall

Tibuk Soonika - G - Tampa Bay Barracuda| Portal Page


Tibuk Soonika Career Stats
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tibuk Soonika SMJHL Career S69 (nice) to S72
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
S69 KEL | 29 GP | 1753 MP | 15 W| 11 L | 3 OTL | 722 SHA | 644 SAV | 78 GA | 2.67 GAA | 4 SO | 0.892 SAV% | 67 GR
S69 Playoffs | 2 GP | 121 MP | 1 W| 0 L | 1 OTL | 49 SHA | 45 SAV | 4 GA | 1.98 GAA | 0 SO | 0.918 SAV% | 74 GR
S70 KEL | 32 GP | 1928 MP | 13 W| 14 L | 5 OTL | 843 SHA | 757 SAV | 86 GA | 2.68 GAA | 2 SO | 0.898 SAV% | 69 GR
S70 Playoffs | 7 GP | 417 MP | 3 W| 4 L | 0 OTL | 210 SHA | 191 SAV | 19 GA | 2.73 GAA | 1 SO | 0.910 SAV% | 74 GR
##AWARD## S70 Matt Lewis-Flood Trophy
S71 KEL | 42 GP | 2329 MP | 11 W| 24 L | 4 OTL | 1484 SHA | 1310 SAV | 174 GA | 4.48 GAA | 0 SO | 0.883 SAV% | 68 GR
S71 Playoffs | 0 GP |
S72 KEL | 41 GP | 2302 MP | 11 W| 27 L | 2 OTL | 1487 SHA | 1307 SAV | 180 GA | 4.69 GAA | 0 SO | 0.879 SAV% | 67 GR
S72 Playoffs | 0 GP |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tibuk Soonika SHL Career S73 to ???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
S73 TBB | 59 GP | 3211MP | 22 W| 31 L | 1 OTL | 2250 SHA | 2013 SAV | 237 GA | 4.43 GAA | 2 SO | 0.895 SAV% | 73GR
S73 Playoffs | 5 GP | 227 MP | 1 W| 4 L | 0 OTL | 188 SHA | 161 SAV | 27 GA | 7.12 GAA | 0 SO | 0.856 SAV% | 56 GR