I am happy to take any questions that people might have about the team or myself
01-12-2019, 05:13 PMkit Wrote: So another expansion candidate recently created a "syndicate" team in another league, why would you feel its okay to steal their branding?
I honestly wasn't aware of this. I can assure you that the brand wasn't stolen from anywhere though and was original. The HO can vouch that I submitted my application early with this brand.
---
01-12-2019, 05:37 PMjRuutu Wrote: How did it feel to get selected to run one of the expansion teams?
Do you have any ideas or philosophies in terms of what kind of hockey Syndicate will be playing?
I like the black and gold, what other colors you had in mind?
1) It was surprised at first but now I'm just really excited! I've been in this league since S11 and it's really cool that I get the opportunity to build up an expansion team. Can't wait for the off-season
2) I've always liked running offensive strategies in STHS so I'm hoping that will translate to an offensive high scoring team! We will obviously have to adapt based on our players but my goal is to eventually always have some of the top scorers in the league on my team!
3) Glad to hear it! Black and Gold was really my first choice but I played around with Black and Red as well. I liked the look but it didn't seem as unique especially when the league has other teams with that colour scheme.
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01-12-2019, 06:49 PMGood_Ole_Kimmy Wrote: Bees?
Egg?
I do like Honey and Eggs!
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01-12-2019, 07:01 PMluketd Wrote: So if you want to tell, are you looking for a co?
What are your 5 season goal
Really like the team location and name btw
Definitely! No one has been selected yet
I actually think if we have a good draft this season we can be a consistent playoff team in 5 seasons! I want to build a team like Esa has done with CGY or like Teztify did with EDM who would very rarely miss the playoffs.
Thanks I appreciate it!
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01-12-2019, 07:11 PMmajesiu Wrote: Is this last season of Luke Atmey? I was doing some expansion draft mocks (in the real slim chance I got selected as expansion GM, well) and it's going to be hard to build a competitive team, but quite easy to build a really strong S40-43 core. What will be your focus in the first two seasons as expansion GM?
What team mentality can we expect from Chicago Syndicate? Crazy active on boards, wheeling and dealing players or slowly building through the draft?
What was the inspiration behind expansion team location and branding?
Are you looking for co-gm? No matter yes or not what qualities do you seek and will you consider just old-time SHL-er like yourself?
What do you think put you over other excellent expansion GMs candidates?
You weren't as active last year as you used to be in the past, at least from relative newcomer (last March) perspective like me. Can you tell more about your SHL past and what you love about the league, that made you stay around for so long? Maybe the biggest thing/role you were doing for the league?
1) Potentially the second to last season but nothing is set in stone. I think he is a good asset. If I get a good offer for him he might finish off his career on a competing team and I will recreate. If not, I'm not opposed to having him play out the season to help us get some wins while I figure out what position our team needs most (so I can recreate as that). 100% agree with you, building up a strong young core will be the way to go.
2) I want to build up through the draft and have a fun chill environment I definitely want to bring in some vocal members! I also do like to make trades but I imagine I won't have that many assets other than picks to start off with so best to start with a careful and slow approach.
3) I'm Canadian so I originally wanted to apply with a Canadian team. However that market is pretty saturated so I starting looking at US locations. Chicago really called to me, big hockey market and past history in this league. After I settled in on the city I wanted a name that had historic significance to the city of Chicago. I obviously thought of the Chicago Hitmen that led me to the Chicago Outfit. I then started playing around with names like the Mafia, the Mob, and of course the Syndicate
4) Yes I am! I want someone who is pretty vocal and respectable. Someone who i can work well with and has the same philosophy as me. I think I will probably have a natural bias towards an old member just since I know more of them better but I am not at all opposed to a new member who I can teach and complements me well!
5) I feel like my history in the league and my well thought application played a role. I have been someone who is very consistent in building up his player as well as in my time in the IIHF. I think the HO felt that I wasn't someone who was just going to abandon ship after a few rough seasons or setbacks. I also am pretty relaxed and level headed which I think are important attributes for an expansion GM.
6) Sure thing! Joined the league in S11 and really fell in love with it. I was a former hockey player and stopped playing once I went to University. The league kinda allowed me to have a simulated player that I was invested in and whose stats I could follow. I kept moving up into higher and higher positions in the league. My favorite was definitely SMJHL commissioner however. Recruitment and retention was pretty abysmal back then and we implemented a lot of things that are still around today to help with it. For example we created "combines" or pretty much the interested prospects thread. We also created the "My first PT" and some walkthroughs. I think stuff like that really helped the league retain new members!
---
01-12-2019, 07:12 PMLeppish Wrote: Why Syndicate? Not a big fan of the name whether it's on a NSHL team or here.
Fair enough! Essentially wanted a Mafia based theme for Chicago due to the Chicago Outfit and the Chicago Hitmen. I felt like "Mafia" and "Mob" were a little too bland. Syndicate sounded cool to me and I liked that it kinda represented what I wanted from my team. A group of players all working together to basically take over the SHL.
I understand though it may not be for everyone
---
01-12-2019, 07:15 PMJSS Wrote: any other team names and locations you thought of before choosing chiraq syndicates?
Looked at Canadian cities first but decided that the US had better markets available. Came down to Philly and Chicago and I ultimately thought the branding for Chicago was better
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01-12-2019, 07:18 PMztevans Wrote: Both you and the other expansion team (to be located and branded later, not that we're waiting or anything Joe) will be entering the league in time to draft players from the S46 SHL Entry Draft. How much scouting have you already done for this massive draft?
A fair bit. Luketd's spreadsheet is super helpful! Right now things are pretty preliminary though and more big picture. For example how many rounds of actives can I expect. What different tiers of prospects are there etc. There are obviously people in this draft I'm interested in but I probably won't start narrowing down specific people just yet
Also have been looking towards the expansion draft to try and get an idea of what our first season team might look like!
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01-12-2019, 08:02 PMSamee Wrote: Solid branding, just kinda weird its on another league.
What's your ideal locker room situation in Chicago? How much will discord activity matter to the organization?
Thanks Samee! Agreed that it's rather unfortunate :(
We definitely want an active LR! I know that was something people had concerns about. As a GM it will be important for me to devlop a good culture. I also want to bring in people who have a good discord presence. So it will definitely matter. However, I wont be against people who aren't the most talkative in discord either. Everyone is on the site for different reasons and I think a good team considers that and develops an environment that everyone can be happy in!
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01-12-2019, 08:05 PMSlashACM Wrote: Need a goalie? :eyes:
Are you scared that your LR might have problems being active since most of the players you have to choose from are IA anyway?
What other significant aspects of Chicago are you going to include in your franchise to make it a true Chicago team? How will you give back to the fans?
Haha why of course! It is a key part of any successful franchise
It's definitely a risk for sure. But I'm honestly so glad that we have a great rookie class coming up! They should bring plenty of energy to the team. I'm also planning to be very active in FA. We will have salary cap space and I plan to use it to bring in some vets who might like the opportunity to be a star on a new team which will also help activity! With STHS even a worse team on paper can have a good run!
The Pizza! Every team dinner will be pizza! I actually love the architecture in Chicago and hope to incorporate it into some future media or potentially alternate logos Good question, I will have to think about it and come up with some team giving back articles!
---
01-12-2019, 08:24 PMDangles13 Wrote: You went through a relatively new process implemented by Head Office where they brought you into a Discord server for an "interview". Can you walk us through what that was like?
What kind of players do you favour when building lines?
If you could have any member as your Co-Gm, past or present, who would you choose?
Sure! I think it was actually good for the HO to have a second round of interviews with the candidates! I was in a channel with all the HO members and they asked me a few questions! I actually kinda expected more questions to be honest. The questions were good though, asking about who I would want as a Co-GM, my discord activity, and my IIHF work. It made sense that the HO would want to address any concerns they had with me before making a decision
I think the SHL is currently pretty heavy in Snipers. 3 snipers on a line isn't really a great combo. So I would say I really like having playmakers and power forwards. They allow you to be more flexible with lines as a GM!
Hmm good question! Probably JNH He really helped me learn the league and then we worked a lot together as Co-gms and Commissioners. We were pretty much always on the same page. He was also super active and well liked! Maybe he will come back and see this and recreate :O
01-12-2019, 05:13 PMkit Wrote: So another expansion candidate recently created a "syndicate" team in another league, why would you feel its okay to steal their branding?
I honestly wasn't aware of this. I can assure you that the brand wasn't stolen from anywhere though and was original. The HO can vouch that I submitted my application early with this brand.
01-12-2019, 05:37 PMjRuutu Wrote: How did it feel to get selected to run one of the expansion teams?
Do you have any ideas or philosophies in terms of what kind of hockey Syndicate will be playing?
I like the black and gold, what other colors you had in mind?
1) It was surprised at first but now I'm just really excited! I've been in this league since S11 and it's really cool that I get the opportunity to build up an expansion team. Can't wait for the off-season
2) I've always liked running offensive strategies in STHS so I'm hoping that will translate to an offensive high scoring team! We will obviously have to adapt based on our players but my goal is to eventually always have some of the top scorers in the league on my team!
3) Glad to hear it! Black and Gold was really my first choice but I played around with Black and Red as well. I liked the look but it didn't seem as unique especially when the league has other teams with that colour scheme.
Is this last season of Luke Atmey? I was doing some expansion draft mocks (in the real slim chance I got selected as expansion GM, well) and it's going to be hard to build a competitive team, but quite easy to build a really strong S40-43 core. What will be your focus in the first two seasons as expansion GM?
What team mentality can we expect from Chicago Syndicate? Crazy active on boards, wheeling and dealing players or slowly building through the draft?
What was the inspiration behind expansion team location and branding?
Are you looking for co-gm? No matter yes or not what qualities do you seek and will you consider just old-time SHL-er like yourself?
What do you think put you over other excellent expansion GMs candidates?
You weren't as active last year as you used to be in the past, at least from relative newcomer (last March) perspective like me. Can you tell more about your SHL past and what you love about the league, that made you stay around for so long? Maybe the biggest thing/role you were doing for the league?
Both you and the other expansion team (to be located and branded later, not that we're waiting or anything Joe) will be entering the league in time to draft players from the S46 SHL Entry Draft. How much scouting have you already done for this massive draft?
01-12-2019, 07:01 PMluketd Wrote: So if you want to tell, are you looking for a co?
What are your 5 season goal
Really like the team location and name btw
Definitely! No one has been selected yet
I actually think if we have a good draft this season we can be a consistent playoff team in 5 seasons! I want to build a team like Esa has done with CGY or like Teztify did with EDM who would very rarely miss the playoffs.
01-12-2019, 07:11 PMmajesiu Wrote: Is this last season of Luke Atmey? I was doing some expansion draft mocks (in the real slim chance I got selected as expansion GM, well) and it's going to be hard to build a competitive team, but quite easy to build a really strong S40-43 core. What will be your focus in the first two seasons as expansion GM?
What team mentality can we expect from Chicago Syndicate? Crazy active on boards, wheeling and dealing players or slowly building through the draft?
What was the inspiration behind expansion team location and branding?
Are you looking for co-gm? No matter yes or not what qualities do you seek and will you consider just old-time SHL-er like yourself?
What do you think put you over other excellent expansion GMs candidates?
You weren't as active last year as you used to be in the past, at least from relative newcomer (last March) perspective like me. Can you tell more about your SHL past and what you love about the league, that made you stay around for so long? Maybe the biggest thing/role you were doing for the league?
1) Potentially the second to last season but nothing is set in stone. I think he is a good asset. If I get a good offer for him he might finish off his career on a competing team and I will recreate. If not, I'm not opposed to having him play out the season to help us get some wins while I figure out what position our team needs most (so I can recreate as that). 100% agree with you, building up a strong young core will be the way to go.
2) I want to build up through the draft and have a fun chill environment I definitely want to bring in some vocal members! I also do like to make trades but I imagine I won't have that many assets other than picks to start off with so best to start with a careful and slow approach.
3) I'm Canadian so I originally wanted to apply with a Canadian team. However that market is pretty saturated so I starting looking at US locations. Chicago really called to me, big hockey market and past history in this league. After I settled in on the city I wanted a name that had historic significance to the city of Chicago. I obviously thought of the Chicago Hitmen that led me to the Chicago Outfit. I then started playing around with names like the Mafia, the Mob, and of course the Syndicate
4) Yes I am! I want someone who is pretty vocal and respectable. Someone who i can work well with and has the same philosophy as me. I think I will probably have a natural bias towards an old member just since I know more of them better but I am not at all opposed to a new member who I can teach and complements me well!
5) I feel like my history in the league and my well thought application played a role. I have been someone who is very consistent in building up his player as well as in my time in the IIHF. I think the HO felt that I wasn't someone who was just going to abandon ship after a few rough seasons or setbacks. I also am pretty relaxed and level headed which I think are important attributes for an expansion GM.
6) Sure thing! Joined the league in S11 and really fell in love with it. I was a former hockey player and stopped playing once I went to University. The league kinda allowed me to have a simulated player that I was invested in and whose stats I could follow. I kept moving up into higher and higher positions in the league. My favorite was definitely SMJHL commissioner however. Recruitment and retention was pretty abysmal back then and we implemented a lot of things that are still around today to help with it. For example we created "combines" or pretty much the interested prospects thread. We also created the "My first PT" and some walkthroughs. I think stuff like that really helped the league retain new members!
01-12-2019, 07:12 PMLeppish Wrote: Why Syndicate? Not a big fan of the name whether it's on a NSHL team or here.
Fair enough! Essentially wanted a Mafia based theme for Chicago due to the Chicago Outfit and the Chicago Hitmen. I felt like "Mafia" and "Mob" were a little too bland. Syndicate sounded cool to me and I liked that it kinda represented what I wanted from my team. A group of players all working together to basically take over the SHL.
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