Quote:6. Team History.

I mean we really don't have a lot of history to go off of do we? The Highlanders have been in existence for exactly two seasons. In their first season, they finishes third from the bottom in the league. While they were still respectable, winning over a third of their games, the real bar of measurement was how they compared to San Diego. And they finishes below San Diego overall so it looked like they had lost the expansion race. They were also bounced from the playoffs by Carolina in six games. The second season tells a much different story though. The finished well above San Diego, winning over half their games and managed to finish fourth in a very competitive Southern Conference. But the real accomplishment was in the playoffs. They ousted Colorado and Carolina in short order before eliminating regular season leaders Maine in the conference finals. Unfortunately the storybook ending was not a happy one for them as Vancouver managed to win the Cup in six games. Still, while Ottawa's history is brief, it's an impressive one. What's the blueprint? We are still figuring that out but the GMs appear to look for one thing above everything else and that is cohesion. If they players are buying in, that's half the battle right there. Whether this success continues in their third season remains to be seen but after another successful draft, it's hard to see them slowing down too much. I think teams could do worse than to adopt Ottawa's blueprint.

254 words

5/16 TPE

Quote:7. Winner Winner Chicken.

It's hard to say that Vancouver were the best team. The finished second in the Northern Conference and sixth overall. They seemed to sail through the playoffs going 12-1 on their road to the finals. They handled Ottawa with a little difficulty as the Highlanders managed to stretch it to six games and avoid a total shutout. So just based on their regular season, I don't think they were the best team. But that makes it more impressive honestly. I don't think anyone was sleeping on them, and as a Highlander myself I was not looking forward to the series. While their conference lagged behind the Southern conference for the most part, it doesn't make their accomplishments any less impressive. They did the task that was put in front of them and handled their business. It was a well deserved win. I'm not taking anything away from the Whalers at all, I think it's pretty boring then the "best" regular season team sleepwalks to a final. Vancouver certainly weren't that. They turned it on when it mattered and no one had an answer. There's definitely more to this than stats, that's why we play the games after all. They had a dominant playoff run.

204 words

9/16 TPE

Quote:14. R&R.

I took a bit of a break the last week or two. I barely paid attention to the draft last week which ended up being a bit of a surprise anyway. I just got back from vacation yesterday so I guess it's time to prepare for another season. I definitely feel like I've done all I can for Ottawa and just have to let the chips fall where they may now. It's nice to be disconnected for a little bit so it doesn't feel like one things is taking up too much of your time. Hanging out with the family is a good way to decompress.

104 words

11/16 TPE

Quote:16. Goals.

My goals for this player are minimal. I never had a desire or interest to go in the Hall of Fame. With previous players, I would get discouraged quick if I fell behind in the TPE race, missing a PT or two. So I'd just pack it in and struggle to remain active. This time around I just don't really care. My best player only ever make it to 1700 TPE and he did just fine so I am not losing sleep over how much or little Worley accomplishes. I'll still do my best of course, and I won't be lazy. But I'm not getting caught up in anything else. The only thing I would like to do is be a part of a few more finals, hopefully win a few. I managed to be a part of the Four Star Cup Finals in my rookie season so at least that's off to a good start.

156 words

14/16 TPE

Quote:18. Milestones.

Claim - +2 TPE

16/16 TPE