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seanpizzle99 · 06-01-2023, 08:53 PM

SHL Team Standings History Graphs

Just joining this league recently, I wanted to really dive in and get to know all the teams. Before digging into the rosters, I set out to understand where these teams are at in their journey. I think this process has given me a good baseline to work from.

Starting with the SHL, I looked back at how each team finished in the regular season league standings for the last 20 seasons including who took home the cup. Even without knowing much about the teams roster and turnover, I feel that I now have a slightly better overall knowledge of the teams in the league.

If anyone would like to add their insights it would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps there are some fascinating stories to explain some of the big rises and falls seen with some of the teams.

Link to Full Report (not recommended for mobile users)

S66 saw the Atlanta Inferno jump from 9th to 1st overall in the standings, topping it off with their first Challenge Cup. Even though they haven't been able to repeat that ultimate success since, the Inferno have still remained in the top 5 of the league the last few seasons.

Something happened after S59 to lead the Platoon to become one of the top dogs for the next 5-6 seasons. It is unfortunate that they were not able to bring home a cup during their run of good teams from S60 to S65, because it has been a struggle since.

Baltimore finished 14th last season, up six spots from last place the year prior. Here is to hoping they can continue to rise back amongst the top ranks.

Winning two championships in the past 20 seasons, Buffalo has been a solid team throughout. Only dropping out of the top 10 once during this period. While they haven't had their best finishes as of late. I imagine the Stampede will continue to march forward to continue their winning ways.

Calgary's best finish during this period was when they finished 2nd in S56, after which started a slow gradual decline down to two 16th place seasons in S64 and S65.

Since S65 however, the Dragons have been trending upward making a big jump from S66 to S67. Based on this, I'd expect this team to continue to compete at a high level.

The Syndicate have clearly had a winning culture over the last 20 season. Two cups in S57 and S64, Chicago also only finished outside the top 10 teams in the league once during this time.
There was a moderate downturn in S67, however they look to have begun the recovery to work their way back up to the top.

At the beginning of the seasons observed, Edmonton was in the thick of the teams competing at the top. Notably finishing 2nd in S51 and S55. However from then on, it had been a slow decline to last place in S66.
Not to stay down long, the Blizzard have shown improvement every season since bottoming out. It appears that they are on their way back up.

Six Challenge Cups in a thirteen season span is the most dominant time period seen on this list! Looking from S51 to S63, Hamilton was either winning it all or a serious contender each season.
I'm guessing some key pieces decided to move on after the S63 championship because that was the beginning of the downward slide all the way down hitting bottom in S68.
The last two seasons have shown improvement. Perhaps Hamilton is building back up to return to their former glory.

It wasn't but a few seasons ago that the Panthers were celebrating their S65 championship. Sad to say since then, they have been moving down fast. S70 saw their lowest finish over the last 20 seasons. Hopefully they won't stay long in this trip down in position. Los Angeles now has to re-tool and start another journey back into being one of the teams that is competing for the cup.

In S52 the Rage showed the SHL that even though they didn't finish at the top for the regular season, they could still bring home the hardware.
Manhattan saw some down seasons from S59 to S65. They worked along the bottom of the standings until making a jump back up to 9th in S66. The Rage will hope to keep climbing despite a slightly disappointing finish last season.

Woefully, the Monarchs have had trouble climbing in the standings. Only one top ten finish in the past twenty seasons, and that was before the last expansion.
Minnesota will have to keep the upward trend going from the last three seasons in order to find themselves amongst the contenders.

Starting in S60, the Patriotes didn't take too long to turn themselves into one of the leagues top teams. With finishes in the top five the last two seasons, Montreal could be getting real close to that ultimate prize.

The defending champions are the latest example of a non-top 5 finishing team still winning it all. They have been working their way up to their current status since S65 and looking at their trajectory, I get the feeling that the Wolfpack are not done yet.

The S51 Specters sat atop the league rankings and just a few seasons later, they brought home the S54 Challenge Cup. After winning it all New Orleans started falling, landing in last place S60. Since then however, the trend has been working back up. Hopefully the slight dip the last couple of seasons will give way to a further rise.

Philadelphia started trending up as soon as they came into the league. They won their first title in S69 and finished last season as the top team in standings. The Forge seem to have settled in as one of the best in the league.

The Pride are no strangers to the top of the standings. They have seen some excellent finishes in the past 20, particularly S52 where they jumped from 15th to 1st! San Francisco has seen it's ups and downs in this period. Unfortunately they are most recently down, however their past shows that they won't stay at the bottom for long.

Although there are ups and downs here, the Argonauts have been clearly trending up since they started. Back-to-back Challenge Cups in S67 and S68 cemented their top tier status in the SHL.

The Barracuda had some solid seasons S61 to S65, but then started declining to where we find them today. Tampa Bay will be looking to put themselves back on the upward track.

Playing out of my hometown, the Renegades spent S56 to S64 as serious contenders each season. Texas was able to bring home two Challenge Cups during that span in S59 & S62.
S65 saw a significant fall-off that Texas is starting to find their way back from.

Toronto has cycled up & down a few times in the last 20. Recently they are on the down side with a significant drop S68 to S69 from 4th to 19th. The North Stars are at the bottom looking up, however their past has proven that it is hard to keep them down long.

From the middle of the road, to the bottom in S60, and then all the way up. It seems the Aurora have settled in at the top and will be looking to claim a title during this period of success.

Thanks for reading -Sean Berserkers