So, things didn't really go the way I thought they were going to go the last time I wrote a deep dive.

I was SURE that the Whalers bad start to the season was simply bad luck, and that the sim gods would grace us again as the season went on. For anyone paying attention to the SMJHL this season, you can clearly see that the sim gods did not, in fact, bless us.

So in the spirit of the Whalers season, I'm going to do a deep dive into the worst seasons in SMJHL history. We're going to rank the top 5 worst performing teams, starting at 5 and going all the way to the current worst team in history. For added clarity, please note that historical team information beyond their W-L record (historical being prior to S53) is incredibly difficult to find, and as such, I do not have player information available to me at the time of this writing for seasons prior to S53. If anyone has this information, please feel free to comment below and give us those historical stats!

Strap in folks, because shit is about to get depressing.




5) S63 Vancouver Whalers

• Starting our list off is none other than the S63 Vancouver Whalers, who posted a record of 13-53-0 and 26 points total. Right off the hop, 0 OT losses is a crazy number to end with through 66 games. In fact, not only did they not lose in OT, they only had 2 games ALL SEASON that went to OT, both times ending in a shootout (in which the Whalers were victorious). They're the only team on this list with 0 OT losses, and the only team in the top 25 worst single season records without an OT loss. Maybe if a few of those 53 losses were in OT, we wouldn't be seeing them on this list. But alas, they have been cemented here, for now anyways. The S79 Whalers are on pace to bump their S63 season right out of the top 5, so small wins I guess?
  
• BEST PLAYERS: C Elvis Alexander (36 pts in 66GP, -40), RD Backup Goaltender (29 pts in 66GP, -57)
  

4) 5 WAY TIE: S60 Nevada Battleborn , S55 Nevada Battleborn , S63 St. Louis Scarecrows  , S54 Vancouver Whalers  , S27 Prince George Firebirds (currently the Anchorage Armada)

• With a grand total of 24 points on their seasons, these 5 teams have cemented their legacies as the 4th worst teams in SMJHL history. The "best" of these 5 belongs to the S60 Battleborn (11-53-2), the S27 Firebirds (11-37-2), and the S54 Whalers (11-37-2), who all managed to nab 11 wins on their seasons. Showing of the power of OT wins, however, is the S55 Battleborn (10-36-4) and the S63 Scarecrows (8-50-8), who tied the league's 4th worst record of all time on the back of their OT wins. This entry also marks the second appearance of Vancouver on this list, as well as 2 appearances by Nevada. We also get our first team lost to history, as the beloved Prince George Firebirds are no longer with us, having been relocated to Alaska in S42. We also get our first team with single digits wins on the season, thanks to our wonderful friends over in St. Louis.
  
• BEST PLAYERS:  
  • S54 LW William Hartmann (24 pts in 50GP, -13)
    
  • S63 LW Jalal ad Din Afinogenov (36 pts in 66GP, -28)
    
  • S60 LW Jimmy Larkin-Conway (52 pts in 66GP, -20)
    
  • S55 LW Zelma Zuntnere (25 pts in 50GP, -17)
    

3) 2 WAY TIE: S40 Prince George Firebirds (currently the Anchorage Armada) , S11 Kelowna Knights 

• Alas, the 2 teams in the 23pt category's info aside from their W-L record is lost to me at this moment. The S40 Prince George Firebirds finished their season with a wonderful 9-36-5 record, after a 13 season run from the previous entry that saw them hit a high of 33 wins once. 2 seasons after this historically bad season, they were relocated to Alaska, so who's to say that this didn't play a part in their relocation? Our friends over in Kelowna, however, are one of the longest tenured franchises in the SMJHL, so its no surprised that they've put up a couple of stinker seasons over 79 seasons in the SMJHL. Kelowna finished S11 with a beautiful 10-27-3 record, which was an ABSOLUTE improvement over their previous season, and you're about to see why.
  

2) S62 Detroit Falcons  

• Our boys and girls over in Detroit finished S62 with a beautiful 5-55-6 record, giving them a grand total of 16 points on the season. Honestly, looking over the stats, it's difficult to understand why the sim hated them. Sure, none of their players had a statistically impressive season by SMJHL standards, but surely this team was more than capable of nabbing more that 5 wins? I don't know, clearly the sim gods work in mysterious ways. Thankfully, they managed to nab those extra points to keep them off of the worst in SMJHL history, and as such, this season will be lost to time.
  
• BEST PLAYERS: RW Akashi SixNine Jr (37 pts in 66GP, -54), C Monsieur Pingy Pingu Lunga Gumba, Esq. (31 pts in 66GP, -40)  
  

1) S10 Kelowna Knights 

• That's right, kids. The S10 Kelowna Knights have a stranglehold on the worst season in SMJHL history. Finishing with a wonderful 5-31-4 record and just 14 points on the season, the Knights of S10 stand above the rest (or below, depends on what angle you're looking at it from). Unfortunately, I can't find player stats for our wonderful friends here, so I can't begin to tell you what went wrong with their season. All I can tell you is that I'm almost 100% positive a historic franchise like Kelowna would LOVE this part of history to be lost to time, so you're welcome for calling attention back to it. Fortunately for them, they've since gone on to become mainstays in the SMJHL, and I'm sure their cup wins drown the sour taste of this season out of their mouths.
  

And there's our list! Do the S79 Whalers have what it takes to claim the throne from Kelowna? Who knows? What I do know is that they're certainly on pace for it, so I'll be watching closely and prepping the parade in the meantime. Hopefully everyone's got fun plans for this evening, try and take the edge off of reading this Hall of Shame post. I've already consumed my entire bottle of vodka while writing this, so I'm going to take a walk to the liquor store and reup so I can drown this out of my mind.





(1220 words)

Hans Gronlund | LD | Vancouver Whalers (S79 Waiver Claim) | Seattle Argonauts (S80 Pick 7)
Height: 6'5"
Weight: 227lbs
Number: 65
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SMJHL Regular Season:
S79 Vancouver Whalers | 62 GP | 0 G | 11 A | 11 P | -76 | 34 PIM | 85 H | 173 BLK
S80 Vancouver Whalers | 66 GP | 13 G | 23 A | 36 P | -25 | 57 PIM | 85 H | 176 BLK

Approved @LGRW613 I rechecked and it's different enough to pass muster. Please do edit it to focus more on the review of previous seasons.