Deep Dive #2 - Anatomy of a Cup Champion (S67)
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Urq660
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The Seattle Argonauts made history in S67, by winning the first Challenge Cup in the young franchise’s history. Today, we are going to look at the players who brought that first cup to the Pacific North-West. Interestingly, Seattle made their first Challenge Cup Finals the previous season, losing to the other team that came from the S56 Expansion, the Atlanta Inferno! This Seattle team was loaded with a blend of players drafted and developed by the Argonauts and some external ‘big names’ to bolster them. Without further ado….
Goaltenders Willie Miller – The team’s undoubted Franchise goaltender, still playing in his 11th season with the Argonauts, Miller had a solid, if unspectacular regular season, with a Save% of .893 and a GAA of 2.78. Playoff Willie came to play in the ploofs however, putting up a .912 Sv% and reducing that GAA to 2.46. A real brick wall for the team to build upon, Willie was ably backed up by the Greatest Backup Goaltender of All Time ™, one Thor Odinson. Thor has spent a few seasons away from Seattle, returning in S66 and cementing himself as an incredibly able backup to take some off the load off Miller. Defense The split of Defensemen saw them have 4 ‘homegrown’ players and 2 that were already established as elite D-men in the league elsewhere. The homegrown players were 2 players that came from the same Draft Class in S58, Kermit Murphy, froggy son of SHL legend Tig Murphy, and average Scotsman Daryl Urquhart. The other pair were drafted a season apart, Landon Fischermann in S61 and Wendolene Ramsbottom in S62. Murphy is currently seeing out his last season before joining Urquhart in retirement, with the Baltimore Platoon. Fischermann and Ramsbottom are currently leading the rebuild in Seattle, helping to stabilize the (one-eyed) ship while they grow their prospect pool and look to the future. The 2 established stars were Baltimore legend Teddy Murphy and the offensive powerhouse from LA, Jonas Kahnwald. Murphy had made the move from Baltimore in S64, and suffered a similar drop-off in production on moving to the new sim as defensive teammate Urquhart. He was still an incredibly important part of this defense during their run to the Cup. Kahnwald made the jump in Free Agency after a career season in S66, where he put up an incredible 68 Pts (23G, 45A). He would spend 3 seasons with Seatle, before moving on to Chicago, rounding out his career last season back with his beloved Panthers. Forwards Again, a solid mixture of homegrown stars and players brought in. The homegrown stars were the established ‘Big 3’, 2 of which are still 2 of the best players on the team. Captain Vaseline Podcalzone was, and remains, a beeg influence on the team, along with Finnish legend William Salming. At his height, Max Manning was the best player in the league. When it was clear that the window was shut on Seattle, the Alternate Captain was traded to Winnipeg, where he plied his trade for 2 seasons, before moving to Baltimore for this season. So, the ‘outsiders’. Probably the biggest signing was a player at the height of his powers, who heled his team beat Seattle in the Cup Finals the previous season, following an MVP-worthy campaign. Anton Mihailov made the switch for S67 and was incredible. As was another big Signing at Center, Luukas Lilja. Formerly of Calgary, he put up over 100 Pts the previous season with LAP, and did it both seasons he was with Seattle, before his early retirement following the second Cup win. Calvin Hobbes was their 3rd Center, Someone who started his career with New England, but has spent much longer in Seattle, where he is still playing. Liam Slate and Rhys Pritchard were both established Wingers, both brought in a few seasons before the Cup win and very much seen as ‘Seattle guys’. Last, but not least, and arguably even more surprising than the Mihailov and Lilja signings, the player who looked like he was going to be the ultimate 1-team man. J.Wags, Wagbo, the Waginator, all nicknames he never had. Jimmy Wagner, LAP Captain, legend, all round LA Man, made the move and helped the Argonauts win 2 Cups, before heading back to LA. He is seeing out his final season in the league with his beloved Panthers.
chetib
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