Being the SMJHL I haven't really been able to follow along with the SHL, but one of the more surprising parts of the season was the closeness of the Great Lakes Division. Having bet on Buffalo to stand at the top of the league at the end of the playoffs, their start was leaving me worried that even more money would be lost. The steady rise of the and the tough losses for the defending champions Chicago lowered the gap throughout the season. The dominance of the Hamilton and the surprising play of the Toronto to close the gap compared to last season's standings really put Chicago in a pressured situation to be able to defend their title, and finally ending their chances with an overtime loss to the Manhattan . Funnily enough the entire Great Lakes Division still surpassed all other teams in the Eastern Conference, another surprising feat of the GL.


Out of these two options, I would prefer the immunity. Imagine being able to do absolutely anything on the ice! If you have a large and strong presence on the team, it would not matter if the other team had one extra body on the ice, they would be tied up somewhere on the ice without having any respite. The other players would be able to roam free always having a cherry picker in the offensive zone, ready to pounce on any cleared puck. If the defense would like to play man-on-man it would mean that another player would always be occupied on the ice, and their team's bonus would not be of any benefit.


Tomas has been home for a while, having left the team for the off-season and the World Junior Championships after the second first-round loss in his sophomore season. He looks back on a somewhat disappointing season, just barely surpassing his rookie numbers in the regular season. The playoffs were also a bit of a let-down as he did not produce in accordance with the first line minutes he received. Tomas will take this off-season to work on the smaller aspects of his play, being able to control the puck both standing still and when using speed. A big part of the workout will also be done on the defensive aspects of his play, trying to become better at protecting the own end from the opposition. These improvements will hopefully be able to make Tomas more valuable on the first line and earn his place among the top players on the team for the coming season.


I think that one of the better teams that was not able to reach the final of the SHL is the winner of the regular season, the Texas . One might argue that they have had an "easier" season, not having to play the strong teams in the Great Lakes Division as many times as the runner-up Hamilton from the aforementioned division, but they still have to win game to emerge on top. That is something that can't be overlooked, the have won more games than any other team in the league. They went up against a tough opponent in the semi-finals in the Eastern Conference champion, the , losing on the odd goal for the first two games and then getting blown out in game three. The showed their strength and why they did so well during the regular season to come back in the upcoming three games. Unfortunately they did not make it all the way, losing a game seven to the eventual champions.


I feel like this is the season where Sweden shows their strength and gets back into the fight for the gold. Henrik Lekberg Osterman comes into the tournament with a great season, although the 's performance was a bit disappointing. I am looking forward to seeing him center a line with the scoring phenom Karl Krashwagen, a sure-fire recipe for success. The defensive stalwarts of Magnus Liljeström, Sven Yxskaft, Emilia Bergman and Zlatan Jr. combined for 50 in plus/minus in the regular season and Emilia Bergman having one of the top Corsi for percentages in the entire league. On the backend A Jobin hopes to continue the success of a championship win to the IIHF tournament. Jobin and Kata Vilde combine for 67 wins out of 102 games and 10 shutouts which makes them a great tandem to give Tre Kronor the best possible chance at going as far as the gold medal round.

c) I wouldn't say that any of these teams' branding are among my favorites in the SHL, but between the two of them the clear winner is the Hamilton . I can't really enjoy a logo that is a circle and looks more like a stamp than any team branding. The Hamilton logo is not that much better, but what they lack in the logo they really make up for in the jersey colors. The addition of the golden yellow makes the jerseys pop and the third jersey with the yellow and blue on the black is just perfection!

+2 TPE