Prompt 2- With the trade deadline coming up in a couple of days I think the Chicago Syndicate are in an extremely good spot two thirds into the season. The team has arguably the best player in the SHL right now with star forward and goal leader Ryuuji Minamino. In addition, the team is currently in first place in the entire SHL with only four regulation losses so far in forty eight games to give them eight four points. To put that stat into perspective the next best team in the western conference is ten points back of Chicago. The team also has the best goal differential in the league and the fewest goals against showing their defensive strength. Chicago’s core is at their peak right now in terms of their development and I would expect with a first place finish and home ice throughout the playoffs should set themselves up well for a long run. With the way things have been going there is no need to make any trades to not mess with the team chemistry and success.
The Superstars approached the game with confidence. JURT lives for these moments: offense wins games, but defense wins championships. His role for that whole game was going to be a shutdown one, as always, but it was going to be extra tough considering the people on the Grizzled vets. His friends and mentors Cassius Darrow and Corey Kennedy were on the other team, ready to make his life hell with their calm play at the blue line in the offensive zone. Even worse, his fiancee Gunnar Söderberg was the one he would have to keep an eye of most of the game.
The game goes well. It's a nail biter from start to finish and the Grizzled Vets came real close to winning the game in overtime when Ryan Shepard hit the post twice in a row. His Chicago teammate Ryuuji Minamino then picked up the puck and went coast-to-coast to snipe one and seal the deal.
JKortesi81 SHL GM
S32, S40, S42, S45 Challenge Cup Champion
With the playoffs around the corner, the New Orleans Specters find themselves in a terrible position: 22 points out of a playoff spot. We’re 14-37-3 after 54 games. Somehow, despite improving in TPE and adding a stud Defenseman, we’re behind our pace last season where we ended up 26-37-3. This was supposed to be a season of improvement, but we couldn’t find the magic. So needless to say, we’re not going to be facing anyone in the playoffs, again. I’m still hopeful for the future, but this is a little bit of a bummer. As for the upcoming trade deadline, there isn’t a point to adding to this group. We have youngsters growing and very few regression players. As for the league as a whole, i doubt we’ll see much movement. It’s getting harder to see trades happening since most spend to the cap if they’re contenders, and they won’t send anyone to like, Winnipeg. (155)
With the trade deadline coming up, its pretty obvious how this season is going to play out. Nevada doesn't need any trades and it doesn't really matter who is making the playoffs, because Nevada is about to dominate for the rest of the season. Easy. Nevada is the best team in the league and it isn't even close and in the second half of the season, they're going to prove it in monstrous fashion as they pave their way to the playoffs for the easiest four star cup in the history of the league. Nevada is led by the moose, the penguin, and a Willie and nobody is getting in their way. Everything up until now has been a fluke as the team has gotten their legs under them and gotten some synergy together after playing with each other. From this moment on its nothing but wins, nothing but pontos and I can't wait to see it play out.
I did expect San Francisco to do better than they are performing now. In the tests I did in the pre-season we should have been running away with the division and even threatening to win the Challenge Cup. Of course I should've known not to trust the auto lines in the pre-season or the coaching staff that Calgary has. San Fran is in a bit of trouble right now and if I were responsible for the team I may be looking to trade for one more key piece on defense to really get this team to the top. Looking at my own player though, Klompus is right at home in San Fran alongside Sven and HLO. He's over point per game now and is looking like he will be a real threat next season as well. It will certainly be interesting to see how he fairs in his first post-season of his SHL career. If he can keep up the momentum I see him being the Steve Harrington of S63. Not biased.
11-30-2021, 09:10 PM(This post was last modified: 11-30-2021, 09:11 PM by hhh81.)
Prompt 1
After the heartbreaking rout by the hall of fame team, the Grizzled Vets were hellbent to get a win and show they were better than their last game. In the first matchup with Team Up-and-Comers, the vets put on a clinic. Several days of backbreaking practices led by former teammate turned assistant coach Gunnar Soderberg had the team locked in to make a statement… and did they ever.
After two periods, they led 5-1, with a pair of goals from Julio Tokolosh and three first-period assists for Los Angeles’ Jimmy Slothface. The Up-and-Comers achieved a total of 3 shots on goal in the third period, as Team Grizzled Vets staked out a 7-1 victory with an impressive 43-18 difference in shots. Mat Smith started the game, but it was Jon St. Ark who was asked to step in and survive the third period rush from the old heads. Tokolosh finished with 5 shots on goal, 2 goals, and an impressive blocked shot off the knee late in the 3rd period to take the air out of the up-and-comers.
While only recording a single goal (a Scarn tally from Wilson and Corey Kennedy) this time, the HAM line of Scarn, Morgan, and Wilson kept the pressure on all game, tiring the younger defenders out. Corey Kennedy was a man on fire, finishing the game with 23:11 TOI, 9 shots on goal, two points, 3 hits, and a +4 rating. Up and down the lineup, the Grizzled Vets played strong team defense with insane pressure. While only on the ice for 16:33, Cassius Darrow played over a minute on the penalty kill and had 2 takeaways (both against Seattle teammates Kermit Murphy and Vaseline Podcalzone) and 4 blocked shots.
Heading into the championship game, the Grizzled Vets look as strong as they ever have. I pity the fools that have the next game.
Thank you karey, OrbitingDeath Ragnar, and sköldpaddor for sigs!
Frankly? I don't think Buffalo plans on making big moves in free agency. There are very few options for us in terms of cap, and we already have a few very low rated players (Chet Hillier, Sergei Potvinov) who were specifically selected for their semi-activity to be able to fit underneath the cap. They're serviceable players, don't get me wrong, but they can also be confused for SMJHL players. I'm glad they're doing well within Buffalo, but I think there needs to be a clear understanding that Buffalo doesn't really have room for moves. In terms of who we'll face, I suspect it would have been Atlanta with a more normal playoff format, as Toronto and Manhattan are a far cry (in opposite directions) from where they are currently. It's still certainly possible with ten games left, however, that either of Baltimore or Hamilton overtake us as the #1 seed in the East, in which case we'd get matched up against Toronto or New England (some more Northeast Division fun!) anyways. I'm not terribly concerned about who we face in the first round at the moment, however, as we need to make sure we're in good position to make a run by getting as high a seed as possible.
Also claiming this for WSBL. Please note that my username here (Renomitsu) is different than my WSBL one (Dogmatist).
I don't foresee any major moves from LAP. The team has been rolling of late after a rough start and the team is still on the young side so the real championship window is hopefully in the upcoming seasons. New additions are always fun I just don't think it's the right time. Perhaps in the offseason when things are a little more flexible. LAP also doesn't have the most draft capital. That shouldn't be an issue since no moves should be expected this deadline. Winning the division will be super nice for playoffs but not dire since the next best team is calgary and they will win or come in 2nd with 3 and 4 being SFP and SEA which are relatively equal teams. The seeding would be nice though. Hopefully this year will be the year that LAP breaks the first round curse of late. That is getting very tiresome to not advance beyond the first round in 4 consecutive seasons.
12-01-2021, 01:27 AM(This post was last modified: 12-01-2021, 01:27 AM by Dextaria.)
Prompt 1
The Grizzled Vets who have proven they can win and have the experience versus the new age of dominant players in the league, the Superstars. It was quite the match as you expected as the Superstars and Grizzled Vets both came out cautious of the other, making the smart plays throughout the 1st period with the score 0-0. The goalies are making spectacular saves as Sato watches from the bench this important game (he is the 7th defenseman). The referees have been good in not intervening, but in the 2nd period the Superstars take a blatant hooking penalty which put the Grizzled Vets on the powerplay. It turned out to be a bad move for the Superstars as Theo Morgan scores on the powerplay for the Grizzled Vets to put the Superstars down 0-1. The rest of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd was pretty much the same as the 1st with limited scoring chances from both teams, but with the minutes dying down the Superstars get desperate. They pull their goalie to put an extra-attacker on the ice. With 2 minutes left and an empty net, it is none other than Ryuuji Minamino who ties the game! The teams enter overtime 1-1 with shots on both ends of the ice, but the Grizzled Vets finally make a mistake which springs the speedy Jimmy Wagner on a breakaway. He dekes and he scores! The Superstars win the nailbiter!
The team hops off the bench to pile on Jimmy Wagner for his spectacular goal to send their team off to the next round! The players sing and cheer all the way back to the locker room where they are hyped and ready for the next game. The coach enters congratulating the team and telling them to celebrate, but not to forget that there's still the next game.
PROMPT 2- If you don't understand the previous prompt or that one doesn't sound fun to write about, try this prompt.
Written Task: About two thirds through the season, and the trade deadline is coming up. Talk about the end of the season, and how you think it'll go for your team/the league. Any big trades your team needs to make? How is the playoff picture stacking up? Who do you think you'll face? (150+words)
The Great Falls Grizzlies are working hard to prepare for the playoffs. As the Trade Deadline passed, the team management decided not to make any moves. The team has been playing well recently, so it didn't make sense to risk disrupting the chemistry the lines have been developing. We are still in a growth mode as a team, this is neither a tank season nor necessarily a go for it season, so holding onto the players we currently have, as well as retaining the draft picks we possess is vital to the continued development. We're only in our second season of existence, and we are doing alright as an expansion team. At the time I write this, there are a dozen or so games to go and we're at 30 wins, so we are on pace to hit our goal of 35+ wins on the season. We didn't have to worry about missing the playoffs, we know we will be in but we want to be playing our best hockey as we hit the end of the season. We are in a real battle with Nevada for second place in our division which could proof vital for home ice advantage in the first round. We think we are a team that can play against anyone, some recent wins against top teams has us feeling confident in ourselves, and we know there's no reason we can't be a Cinderella team on the way to the 4 Star Cup!
Dirty Boots is still grinding down in the SMJHL with the Detroit Falcons who have managed to pull out just a couple wins on the season but have mostly just continued their losing streak. At this point it's not likely the Falcons will make any big trades leading up to the trade deadline that would benefit the team. It's possible that theyay get approached with an offer for an inactive player that may fill a roster spot on another team that needs just a slight adjustment in which the Falcons can ask for picks coming back which would make for a top prospect in the next upcoming SMJHL entry draft. The Falcons already have some extra picks after trading away the 1st overall at the last season's entry draft so it's likely that next season they will have lots of talent on the ice. If the Falcons are in the playoffs this season they will likely be facing the strongest team which will likely knock them out rather easily. Hopefully the Falcons can give them a scare for a game or two instead of making it too easy.
With the trade deadline approaching I have to believe that Fuzz & Co will make a move to at least secure 1 more vet for our run. We've had really good puck luck in the last week and have taken over our division, but we are still seemingly weaker than the other big boys of the league. We need another vet that has built off of the meta of SHL to really help us out in that regard. Its unfortunate that this is necessary, but without another strong body on the ice with us, i dont see us winning the cup. I can only assume that our window is closing soon as some of our vets are starting to hit regression pretty hard and dont have many more seasons left in them as an elite player. If we dont make a move before trade deadline, then i have to believe that our wonderful GM in LA has been planning for the next few seasons on how to improve where we are currently sitting. Sitting on top of our division feels great, but it wont be worth a pile of beans if we cant go the distance in the playoffs: