Nike


Rebuilds are never easy. And even more so in a league where everyone is fighting to get to the top. However, there are plenty of ways to remain competitive season after season with the right mix of good drafting, strong talent management and more than anything, consistency across your roster. It is really easy to find good people in your leadership group. It is really hard to get them to stay. Edmonton has found success in getting a strong management group that has a vision for how they want to build the organization and sticking to that plan. While it hasn’t been an easy road, Edmonton has absolutely shown some of the younger teams that there is a way to the top of the mountain. You have to find the right group of leaders, stick to the plan, and always be looking for a trade or a draft pick that is going to make you better in the long run. That’s why the Blizzard are now sitting at the top of the SHL universe.


The Edmonton Blizzard managed to take the Challenge Cup in an absolutely nail biting 7 game series with the Forge. After swiftly taking care of the Specters, Panthers and Winnipeg, it was expected that the Blizzard were going to be fairly well rested. On the other hand, it was not like the Forge had a terribly challenging road to the finals themselves. In fact, the Forge played exactly the same number of games as the Blizzard en route to the final. It is without a doubt that the magic of game 7 was the best part of the series. A 4-3 final in game 7 with the GWG coming late in the third period is just one of those stories that you expect the people of Edmonton to be telling for generations.