One of the big surprises to me this season was just how good the Toronto North Stars turned out to be. While I did figure they would be taking a big step forward, I did not think they would end up third in the league this season. The whole team played very well all season, led by recent acquisition Adam Barron, and they cruised all season to a very impressive second place finish in the insanely competitive Great Lakes division and made the playoffs for the first time in the FHM era. Not only did they make it to the playoffs, but they also made a great run, beating a surprisingly scrappy San Francisco Pride team, and continuing to beat a veteran Manhattan Rage on their way to the semi finals. It was a very impressive, even though they lost to a much more experienced Buffalo team once they made it there (suck it @notoriousTRON )

I feel like both choices are very good, but having a sixth skater at all times seems so good. Even though the other team is immune to penalties, offsides, and icing, the extra skater makes it all worth it. If you take a penalty, it goes to five on five play, which is just fine. You can have an extra guy whos job is to aggressively chase the puck in the defensive zone while still playing man on man, or have a guy parked in front of the net at all times (A job I am sure @hockeyiscool would love to have). The tactical possibilities are endless, and should make for some very entertaining hockey.


In my mind, there are a couple players on Buffalo who would be hall of fame locks right now, and a couple more who need to continue their recent trajectories. Elizabeth Doyle is the most obvious one to me. With an absurdly stacked trophy case, including two Honchos, a Razov, a Jesster, two McBrides and another nomination, along with likely a couple more awards on the way this season, like a possible MVP. Not to mention a few goalie records, like most wins for a rookie goalie and the record for most shutouts in a single season. I don’t see any way where she doesn’t make the Hall of Fame at the rate she is going. Buffalo has a couple of skaters I could see making the hall one day. Monkey D. Luffy and Alexander Selich both have a decent shot in my mind. Each of them have been backbones of the Stampede for a while, and are still going strong. Both of them have picked up a couple awards along the way, and I could see both of them in the Hall if they pick up another trophy or cup along the way.


The Buffalo Stampede have made it to the finals, and I plan on continuing doing what I am good at to help us beat the Hamilton Steelhawks. Alexander Roach is best suited for a defensive game, shutting down the top forwards of the opposition, and setting up his team mates in the offensive zone. While his skating is not the best, he makes up for it with his sharp mind and ability to read what is going on and make the correct adjustment to shut it down. Roach has also shown a brand new offensive side of his game recently, recording his first SHL hat trick towards the end of the season, and leading the Stampede in playoff goals at the time of this writing. As long as Roach is able to play shutdown defense, chip in a little bit on offense, and stay out of the penalty box, the Stampede have a good chance of bringing home another Challenge Cup.


The Kelowna Knights were probably the best team from the SMJHL to not make the finals. It is the consequence of the current playoff system where the one and two seeds play in the semis, but they are almost definitely better than any other team on the opposite side of the bracket. They lost in the semis to the Quebec City Citadelles, who were in the same situation last season of being the best team to miss the finals. It sucks to be the Laurifer Trophy winning team and miss out on the finals, trust me I know, but sometimes that is how it goes.


I would just like to take a minute to thank all of my Buffalo teammates for being amazing people. It took me a little bit to connect with some of the locker room, but I couldn't ask for a better group of people to hang out with every day. Thanks for everything so far, and let's win a few more cups before it's all over! @WannabeFinn@Tomen@fishy@TnlAstatine@Ferda@Lime@Kalakar@Zombiewolf@Mayuu@Nerio@Renomitsu@Evok@ByrdeMan@Grum@5ympathies