Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, simulation hockey fans of all ages. Your favorite junior hockey fighting media is back after a one season hiatus! S75 has not yet concluded, but I just could not contain myself any longer. Presenting the S75 edition of the SMJHL Fight Club! Those of you who are long time fans of Fight Club may be a little disappointed to see there have been only 14 fights this year in the J. The inaugural edition of Fight Club in S73 featured 31 total fights! Last season, S74, fighting was down overall. I counted only 21 total fights. Are you a player in the SMJHL? We need your help! Its players like you that need to drop your gloves and deliver some uppercuts to your least favorite opponent. Only you can save SMJHL Fight Club, by agitating and beating the snot out of the rest of the junior league. There are still 4 sims left! Let’s get those fight numbers back to S73 levels! I’ve heard SHL GM’s are calling this league soft! Prove them wrong!

LINK to S73 SMJHL FIGHT CLUB

A lot can change in 3 seasons in the SMJHL. Some of our beloved fighters from the S73 Fight Club have graduated to the big leagues and are no longer plastering the ice with opponents’ teeth and gore. Since we took a season off, let’s look at who some of the heavy weights are coming into S75 in the SMJHL.

1. Bog Damsel 
Fight Record 5-2
Back in S73, you were on your BEST behavior when facing the Scarecrows. Taking a run at one of their players or playing with a little too much grit in your game may have booked you an appointment with Damsel. One of the two players to beat Damsel is no longer playing the J, but Newton Campbel is still skating for the Yukon Malamutes. Will we see a rematch this season? Damsel is sporting new colors this time around, having joined the topflight Quebec City Citadelles. This makes a lot of sense as QCC sports many young offensively gifted stars who could use some insurance from a

2. Valerija Serapin 
Fight Record: 3-0
Serapin went undefeated in S73, and not just a lucky one and done fight record. Three fights, let alone three wins, is more than most players see in their whole career. Adding to their record here in S75 will really cement them as an all-time Champ in the Fight Club.

3. Richard Thomson 
Fight Record: 2-0
With the departure of Bog Damsel, the Scarecrows were in need of a new goon to keep opponents in check. Thomson put up two wins in S74 while the Fight Club was on hiatus. It seems to be part of the STL identity to have an enforcer willing to drop the gloves. I’m sure it helps their young core play with some more freedom knowing Thomson is on the ice to protect them.



Rookie Spotlight
Jordan Bamford & Chopper Donquixote
Last edition of the fight club featured a “Bloodiest Game” award for the game with the most carnage, however this season there were sadly no such candidates. Im holding out hope we have a lot of activity in the remaining sims this week, but instead I thought I would shine a light on an exciting development in Nevada. NBB has been fighting everyone and their mother apparently with 5 fights so far this season. No one on the team has managed more than 1 fight themselves, but Bamford and Donquixote seem to be leading this goon renaissance. Bamford has a stunning 20 Fighting rating and Donquixote scores a 14 at the moment, good enough to tie for 2nd highest in the J. Im sure these two will be featured again in future Fight Clubs. Who else will answer the call against these Nevada terrors?


Best fight
vs 11/8/2041
Valeria Serapin defeats Bog Damsel
Result QCC 5-3
This is quite literally the fight that cemented me finishing this media piece. This is like Merriweather vs Pacquiao. The kind of fight sim hockey fans dream about and do a fake write up of how the fight may have gone. Coming into this fight Serapin and Damsel have a combined 10 FIGHTS already in their careers. Both teams are at the top of the league, with COL making the 4 Star Cup Finals last year and QCC holding the best record in the regular season. This fight was actually the first one of S75! So, neither team really could say who was the “better team” this early in the season. Everyone knew this could be a potential finals matchup though. The third period had just gotten underway, and COL sophomore center Charlie Slurpee had just tied the game at 3 apiece to the boos of the Quebec home crowd.  A strong hit by Shadow Fenix on Citadelles blueliner Supah Dupah flipped the switch for Bog Damsel. They quickly made their way towards Fenix looking to extract some revenge for the hard hit. Serapin had been paying attention since the sound of the check rumbled across the ice, and quickly made strides to intercept the Quebec player. The noise of the crowd rose to deafening levels, anticipating the chaos that would ensue. Both players acknowledged one another, dropped their gloves, and began circling each other. They knew the other player wasn’t going to make a mistake here, and this conflict wouldn’t be solved quickly. As soon as the skaters were within each other’s reach, there was no turning back. Fists flew as each fighter tried to use their strength to throw the other fighter off balance. Bog Damsel was the first to change tactics and try to use their hand clutching Serapin’s jersey to leverage them off balance, hoping for an opening. But Serapin had also been waiting for any sign of a change in the opponent’s rhythmic blows. Serapin spun to the right and leaned back, pulling Bog Damsel several steps forward and diverting attention to staying upright. Valerija put everything she had into a blow aimed at Damsel’s face as they stooped to gain their balance. But Damsel is an experience fighter and has a sixth sense about any fists coming their way. Damsel got a hand up just in time to absorb some of Serapin’s KO punch, but the blow was strong enough to still connect with the Citadelle’s vulnerable face. Even as they were receiving a hit, Bog Damsel had already begun letting go of Serapin’s jersey to throw a surprise left. The blow caught a surprised Serapin, but also sent Damsel wobbling forward. Serapin began lurching forward right into the collapsing Damsel. As each fighter gained some semblance of awareness, Valerija landed two last underhand punches into Bog Damsel as each player collapsed to the ice with the Raptor victorious. The crowd cheered Damsel’s efforts loudly, despite them ending up on the bottom of the pile. 


Honorable
vs 11/18/2041
Sergey Ivanov vs Dwayne Swanson results in DRAW
Result NBB 6-5
This was a neck and neck fight that ended in a draw between the Battleborn and Timber. Both teams are no strangers to the Fight Club. NEV was this year’s certified Most Ornery Hockey Club with 5 fights to their roster. The MET were also no angels with 3 fights recorded as well. This fight came in a close game only decided by a single goal. My guess is both of these players and both teams would still toss the gloves in this situation, no matter the score.


PUT THE TEAM ON MY BACK
  vs 11/24/2041
Andy Lammers defeats Jordan Thompson
Result MET 11-1
The poor VAN Whalers are having a tough season, and MET was eagerly capitalizing on it by piling on the goals. Lammers had already notched a win earlier this season, and salvaged a bit of his team’s honor by beating Thompson bloody. Even when your team has a bad night of hockey, you can still have a good night in the Fight Club. 


CHAMPION
Valerija Serapin   @Will3
This is always a tough decision to make as it’s not as if there is a transitive title that moves from one fight to another. Except, this year there is! The S73 champion Bog Damsel lost the first fight of the year to Valerija Serapin. Bog Damsel never even dropped the gloves in S74, so you could argue they were still Champion when they fought Serapin! Even if this wasn’t the case, I still think I would have to go Serapin here. Andy Lammers makes a great case for themselves with the only 2 W’s for the year. However the fighting records involved in that Serapin vs Damsel matchup may never be matched. In the games remaining this season, VAN does not face COL sadly. Perhaps Lammers can throw down with Bog Damsel in the 2 games between QCC and VAN remaining? But for now I am proud to bestow the title of SMJHL Fight Club Champion to Valerija Serapin.

Final Observations
In a somewhat startling fact, the team of the player who WON the fight went on to LOSE the game 77% of the time. I wish there was a way to determine who was the instigator rather than just the winner of the fight, since that would give a little more weight to things. But as it stands now, if your team is winning, DON’T fight. If your team is losing, may as well fight? This logic is not sound, but this has been an entire article about fighting in FHM. You brought this on yourself!
I will provide an update post should any more fights occur through the rest of the season. Good luck everyone!

WC: 1619

Lammers is 2-0 so far, undefeated in his young career - just saying...

i hate the fact that i haven’t fought anyone ever in my career

 

Glad to see I am building my character the right way