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The song of the playoff for this season’s SHL Challenge Cup run is Down With the Sickness. I’m not entirely sure why that is the song that the league chose, considering there are hundreds of millions of other songs out there in the universe that probably would have been better suited for this exact purpose, but here we are. The song isn’t all that applicable to hockey or the playoff, but it definitely has that violent vibe that perhaps we get from the game when the stakes are this high? It’s probably better served as a pre-game skate song rather than the “song of the playoffs” but I am not in charge of the league executive office. Fans will find themselves singing along, because that goofy intro vocal riff is very catchy and everyone knows it. But, it’s not likely to be the song that gets butts in seats or eyeballs on the television coverage. It’s just an interesting choice, but we’ll live with it this season.


The best SHL team that did NOT make it to, or win the Challenge Cup this season is the Chicago Syndicate. Why, you might ask? Well, because the Syndicate is just a scrappy bunch who won't seem to go away. They have talent from top to bottom that is up there with some of the best in the league. And while the aging core has seemed to get older year over year, the truth is that most would have expected their demise from playoff relevance a few seasons ago. Yet, they are still holding on. Likely due to really great goaltending from Smith, and the occasional injection of youth into the lineup. If there's one thing that you can say about Chicago, is that they have been creative with finding ways to continue to increase the quality of their roster despite the retirements and regression of their group. Some skillful trading without compromising future draft capital. And when you look at it, Chicago has also been really solid on the draft front. Getting good late round value, nailing those first round picks, and generally just being really solid on draft day. So that is the reason that Chicago deserved to win it all. Old players, new players, good coaching and management leads to success. These other teams are fine but they are no Chicago.


It’s not the players that get really weird during our playoff runs in Chicago, but instead the coaching and management staff that really freak me out. In fact, this past season, our Assistant General Manager Jordan Nugent Hall was found out by one of the executive assistants in the front office. Nugent Hall walked by her desk and she caught a really spicy scent. Well, it turns out that Nugent Hall had caught on to a winning streak post-game meal. He was eating spicy curry after every Chicago playoff win. And normally, a little bit of curry wouldn’t be too bad. But he was having heaps of it every night. The assistant said that she could smell the peppers and spices coming out of his pores. He was literally sweating spicy sweat from all of that spice that he was taking in on game day evenings. Eventually though, the superstition was not enough to carry the Syndicate to the Challenge Cup.


The playoffs had a few surprises this year, which I’m sure is refreshing for a lot of folks around the league. However, I have felt like since Hamilton wrapped up their stretch of winning consistently, the league has had quite a bit of variety in the playoff the last few seasons. With Seattle becoming a mainstay in the late rounds, Chicago and Buffalo still hanging around the conference championship areas, and Atlanta finally getting their time to shine; it has been a good balance of both new and old guard teams finding their way. Manhattan making the finals this year was a surprise for quite a lot of folks. Its good to have new, fresh blood making waves and I’m sure that FHM 8 had something to do with that injection the last two seasons. We’re all still learning and growing and that’s good for the league.



@SDCore thank you for continuing to be a great friend and GM for all of my seasons in Chicago. You may not have wanted to draft my sorry ass, but I hope that I made you guys proud. From our time together in the Berserkers LR to these last few weeks of you as my GM, you have been such an integral part of my return to the SHL and for that I am appreciative. You deserve all the accolades and recognition you get throughout the league and we are glad to have had you as our leader. Enjoy some more time with your family and less focus on virtual hockey. Thank you.