PT 1:
My player would definitely be eligible for the grizzled veterans team. In considering who else would be there with me, I have to consider the style of eligibility. Right now in the sister league, the NHL, Jaromir Jagr is not on an active roster, but as recently as 2018 he was lacing up for the Calgary Flames. In 2018, he was certainly the quintessential "grizzled vet" but I don't know if he was in the top 20 best grizzled vets on account of him being too grizzled and too vet. For the sake of this PT, I'll argue that he should be on that team, even if just a mascot alone. Plus everyone knows his name will sell a few more jerseys and tickets. with that in mind, I'll be judging anyone in the 15% or higher regression tier as "grizzled".
My top selection is Tony Pepperoni. The man has played at a high level since s43 and has won accolades deep into regression.
Also making the list: Slip McScruff - the shot blocking extraordinaire, Cassius Darrow - the balanced blue liner, and Otis B. Driftwood - the man with 1 million hits.

The practices are pretty laid back because we all know that we can't get much better. Darrow is a workhorse, though. A lot of time is committed to stretching. Most of us like to skate, learn each other's tendencies, and then grab beers.

PT 2:
As an old head, i'm more obsessed with the Edmonton young guns. I'm biased because I consider everyone younger than me a young gun. Jean Paul Boivin has just retired, but he's still on my list up-and-comers.
During warm-ups Julio does slow laps, lobbing in wristers from the blue line while eyeing the opposite end of the sheet for interesting players. there are no immediate rivals on the other end, but Pasta the Turtle is a friend from Edmonton. Julio would do some stretches near center ice to invite Pasta to come over and slap his knee/shin pad as a sign of respect, or perhaps the other way around. If he stopped to chat with me, we would joke about how Tater didn't make the team because Julio has been such dead weight all season and slowed down tater's line, and how Julio is only there on reputation.

PT 3:
its a good growth moment for the team. in the locker room we're immediately disappointed, but in seeing that a bunch of oldheads can still put in that effort to get the work done, than we definitely can too. our roster is all older players, many of which will be in the hall of fame. If members of our roster truly deserve to be in the hall, then they need to be able to put in that effort and showcase their abilities now, against the names and legends that are already there.
Captain (Pepperoni, maybe?) waits in the hallway and tells the coaches that he'd like a word with the team before the coaches have at them. Tony speaks on accountability and finishing the job. This tournament isn't about statistics, it is about pride and legacy, and the current effort shown is not enough to accomplish either.
The coaches come in post-talk and nod. the veterans crack a few less beers on the bus ride back to the hotel.

PT 4:
Grizzled vets beat the up and comers. It wasn't pretty, but we got it done. Despite playing them before, some of the lazier players on the roster didn't make a lot of adjustments to their play style. The up and comers are fast, exciting, and good for growing the game (and word count of this PT). The new generation seems different than the other ones. They stay in and play video games instead of going out the night before games. It is a time-honored tradition in the hockey community to abuse your body with booze, cigs, and poor sleep before big games, but these kids just watch game film, rest, and eat balanced meals.
The game is won with careful passing and game awareness, not with speed. A little bit of old-man strength is present, but really its an extensive knowledge of the game and pride that elevates these old heads past the young guns.
Toko got a helper, but it was a secondary assist at the end of a shift. Not too exciting.

PT 5:
i was going to write about how Harry Carpet saved it for team grizzled vets, but Carpet is still killing it and might in fact be "saving it" for the super star team. Scrolling through the index and I see that there are a handful of players that I had thought were going to be "grizzled vets" but are still performing at a "super star" level, namely Cassius Darrow, Theo Morgan, Monkey D Luffy, and the entire Syndicate roster (sorry Jess. too superstar to play with us).

Eko Van Otter, Corey Kennedy, Gabe Johnson, Dick Clapper, Matt Kholin, Esa Parmborg, Brennan Kennedy, and Tony Pepperoni all play well. These were players who learned to ignore tokolosh and wagstrom clapping their sticks, looking for outside one-timers. these players have coached and managed and learned to utilize sub 1800 builds, while the latter just grinded so that they could coast and ask the former for build advice. super stars win and the loss is shouldered by the whole team, because they are professionals, but everyone knows that it was julio's fault.

In my index clicking, I see that the league only had 4 fights this season. fucking soft.