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Keygan · 05-15-2020, 11:26 PM

S49 Challenge Cup Champions:
Edmonton Blizzard

Five short seasons ago the Edmonton Blizzard blew the doors wide open on what maybe be one of the biggest Cinderella stories in their franchise history. A team that had no business making the playoffs really sporting a negative four goal differential with a record of only 26 - 22 - 2 good for 8th best record in the league, third worst of all playoff teams by a slight margin. As a manager of the team at the time it was one of those moments that was truly surreal as each and every series win was a bit of a "Well how much better could this get? We surely can not keep winning." but winning is surely what we continued on doing.

The Offseason leading up

We had lost a lot of fire power leading up to the 49th season of the Simulated Hockey League, but we were not yet ready to lay down and retool so we went to the trade market to see how we could bolster our roster prior to making another playoff run. This led to the first of many trades..

Platoon

West Kendall receives: Platoon

Dean Colt III
Raphael D'Alcott

Edmonton Blizzard receives:

Artemi Berezin
Season 51 West Kendall Platoon 2nd round draft pick

Colt was currently playing on our third line as a long time friend of D'Alcott ( @Mac @KenitohMenara ) a recently drafted prospect who was making waves in the minor leagues for the Armada and as a sign of good faith after discussing it with both players we decided to trade them as a package as they had expressed a very clear desire to stay as a group to West Kendall in order for a slightly more experience veteran in the form of Artemi Berezin ( @drodger91 ) long time friend of then manager Connor Tanner.

After the transaction had been made public Co-Manager Tommy Salami ( @tommysalami ) took to the podium to give the highest of praises to both D'Alcott and Colt for their time in Edmonton saying this:

"I would like to accept the offer and it has been a pleasure discussing the deal with both Jon and the entire West Kendall Platoon front office.

We really did not want to let go either of these two players, but given the aging core of our roster we have decided we need to focus primarily on winning now. Good luck to Dean Colt & Raphael D'Alcott in West Kendall. I know you're going to make us regret this trade in the future."

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There was little time between this trade and the trade that followed closely after, as mere hours later another trade rumour was hitting the tabloids, this time for long time Buffalo Stampede forward TJ Bayley but soon that rumour was no longer a rumour, but instead fact as the Edmonton Blizzard took to the airwaves to announce their second deal of the day.

Buffalo Stampede receive:

Season 52 West Kendall Platoon 2nd round draft pick

Edmonton Blizzard receive:

TJ Bayley

A former elite forward for the Buffalo Stampede was starting to battle father time and was not doing too well at it, coupled with a major logjam at the forward position for the Buffalo Stampede forced them into a position where they needed to deal a player of Bayley's stature in order to fulfill the necessary ice time for their prospects on their way to the big show to develop.

Current and long time Buffalo Stampede manager Lee Out took to the press to release this statement after the confirmation of the transaction:

"A very similar situation to our recent Kevin Hamilton trade with Chicago... We have reached a point in our development process where we have a major logjam at our forward position and we do not see the benefits in forcing long time veteran players to be on the 4th line. TJ Bayley was a massive part of the Buffalo rebuild and an absolute playoff hero during our Challenge Cup runs in both the 46th and 48th seasons of the Simulated Hockey League. I wish we could keep him with us until the end of his career but his player is aging and we do not have the playing time to keep him and keep everyone else happy. Best of luck with Edmonton, Bayley! I am absolutely sure you will be their silver bullet come playoff time."

Little did Mr. Out know that TJ Bayley was absolutely going to be Edmonton silver bullet as he had always been for Buffalo in seasons past, but alas the Blizzard still were not comfortable with their roster at that point and decided to continue ringing the phones of multiple managers around the league in order to solidify the roster they currently had and that is where the most surprising deal of the offseason happened.

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Just as soon as Berezin was acquired he was shipped off in a new deal to acquire veteran superstar Terrance Nova in a sign a trade deal with the Minnesota Chiefs. The career long Chief had been placed on the block that offseason to his own surprise and when the opportunity arose the savvy management knew he was a difference maker on the ice for any team, and that they would much rather have him on the ice for them than someone else, especially not another contender.

Chiefs

Minnesota Chiefs receive: Chiefs

Artemi Berezin
Season 50 Edmonton Blizzard 2nd round pick

Edmonton Blizzard receive:

Terrance Nova

Terrance Nova then on stage while receiving his new Edmonton Blizzard jersey also made an announcement

"I will be signing a three year, fifteen million dollar extension with the Edmonton Blizzard as I continue to pursue another Challenge Cup."

The Blizzard management and fans were ecstatic, as a player of Nova's ( @sarmo )caliber could easily be the difference in any game seven.

The Chiefs management had this to say:

"With this trade, it's another big piece of the Chiefs recent history that goes out. It's been a pleasure having you with the team for all those seasons as a player and a coach but I think I found you a nice home to continue your chase for another cup while we continue our rebuild. Thank you Terrence."

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Knowing how far the roster had come at this point the Blizzard knew they had to address their final weak spot after the departure of long time defensemen Connor Tanner, this then led them to defensive stalwart Jordan Von Matt from the Toronto North Stars, in a deal that was as follows:

Stars

Toronto North Stars receive: Stars

Season 51 Edmonton Blizzard 1st round pick
Season 50 Buffalo Stampede or Edmonton Blizzard 3rd round draft pick (Dependant on their respective standings position)

Edmonton Blizzard receive:

Jordan Von Matt

A defensive upgrade for the weaker than normal Edmonton Blizzard defensive core was paramount to their success in the playoffs and the Blizzard had always been known for an incredible set of defensemen.

Jordan Von Matt ( @JVMjrDOT ) was an incredible addition to the locker room and the ice as a fourth defensemen and pulled his weight without a doubt, under contract for multiple more years was what gave the Blizzard front office the willingness to pay the price of a first.

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And with that the Edmonton Blizzard had solidified their roster for the regular season it was do or die time as they had spent multiple picks and even a couple of prospects in order to bolster their roster depth in a win-now situation.

The Regular Season

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An absolutely abysmal showing by the recently bolstered Edmonton roster performed lacklusterly to say the least, raddling off a 26 - 22 - 2 record accruing 54 points on their way to a fourth place finish in the conference was not exactly what the management had predicted going forward when the regular season began, but alas they were ready to make the most of it and with one of the best goaltenders of all time Tommy Tuck ( @Muford ) on their side, really anything would be possible going forward.

Significant stats:

The Edmonton Blizzard had zero issues scoring goals with a 3.36 goals per game average but their defense and goaltending was one of the worst in the league allowing an average of 3.44 goals per game, leaving them with a very unsightly 97.67% Goals For and Against percentage.

Neither of the powerplay or penalty kill were anything special for the Edmonton Blizzard, placing 7th and 11th respectively good for an 11th overall ranking when combined.

While they were scoring goals, it was not because of an onslaught of shots as both their shots for and against ranked 10th in the league with 31.80 shots for and 32.22 shots against per game.

One spot the Blizzard were quite effective though was their discipline, only amassing 6.58 penalty minutes per game, 3rd in the league but it was seemingly due to a lack of physicality as a whole as they were ranked 13th in the league for hits per game at 18.32.

They were especially proficient at the faceoff circle finishing second in the league at a 52.54% clip.

Regular season statistics:

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A rather underwhelming season as a whole, one three members of the team contributed a positive plus minus rating, leading many to believe this team was a pretender come playoffs and would not find success against these others teams, but then when the games mattered something clicked for these players and they began an absolute tirade on their way to the finals.

The Playoffs:

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Seeing a wild card win the playoffs had become somewhat common place after Buffalo had done the same in the 48th season of the league, but Edmonton had quite the journey in order to make it as far as they had.

Los Angeles

To start the playoffs off the Edmonton Blizzard had to face off against the 5th seeded Los Angeles Panthers in a best of seven match up that saw the Edmonton Blizzard ultimately take the set by a finale of 4 - 2, though the wins and losses do not accurately how close this series was at the end of it all.

Game 1: 6 - 4 Los Angeles Panthers

Game 2: 4 - 3 Edmonton Blizzard*

Game 3: 3 - 1 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 4: 5 - 3 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 5: 5 - 2 Los Angeles Panthers

Game 6: 2 - 1 Edmonton Blizzard

The lone overtime game win was a result of recently acquired defensemen Jordan Von Matt off the pass of Willy Mack, a rookie from the season 45 dream team who had developed into a lethal scorer at this point in his career.

TJ Bayley notched his third goal of the series in that deciding game six and it was enough to propel the Edmonton Blizzard to the true first round of the playoffs.

A somewhat lopsided affair in terms of results was not actually as lopsided as it may have seemed, as one goal either-way was the only difference maker for either team in this matchup.

Calgary Dragons

A classic battle of Alberta, as it seems these two teams always find eachother in the playoffs whether it be the first round of the Western Conference finals these two teams seem to always be meeting up in the playoffs every year and a battle to the death had become the normal for these two teams, and thankfully for the fans this matchup was no exception.

Game 1: 3 - 0 Calgary Dragons

Game 2: 5 - 3 Calgary Dragons

Game 3: 7 - 4 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 4: 5 - 3 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 5: 5 - 0 Calgary Dragons

Game 6: 7 - 5 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 7: 4 - 2 Edmonton Blizzard

When we said earlier than Willy Mack ( @Mack ) had become a lethal scorer at this point in his career we were not joking as he scored his 6th, 7th and 8th goals of the post season in a game 6 barn burner. An absolute electric performance from the winger is all it took in order to carry the momentum into a convincing 4 - 2 win over the Dragons in 7 games, as again recent acquisition Jordan Von Matt scored both the game-winning and coffin sealing goals in game seven to record his third and fourth goals of the post season.

New Orleans

The expansion team cluttered with ex-Edmonton talent was our next opponent in what was turning out to be an absolutely unreal playoff run, coming off of a 4 - 1 series win over the Winnipeg Jets, the New Orleans Specters looked ready to roll the Blizzard out of the arena, but as you will see in a moment that was not quite what ended up occuring.

Game 1: 5 - 3 New Orleans Specters

Game 2: 5 - 2 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 3: 5 - 4 New Orleans Specters*

Game 4: 3 - 1 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 5: 5 - 1 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 6: 3 - 1 Edmonton Blizzard

After losing game three in overtime off the stick of Michael Fox the Edmonton Blizzard and Tommy Tuck especially seemed to have a fire lit under their asses because they came out ready to play from that point on, winning the next three games by a combined score of 11 - 3 with Hercules Rockefeller ( @Leafs4ever ) and James Truong ( @James Truong ) leading the way on offense those final three games of the series, while Tommy Tuck absolutely stood on his head the entire time. Momentum is a real thing ladies and gentlemen and the Blizzard were rolling right on into their series with the New England Wolfpack.

New England

The team we wound up playing in the finals was none other than the team which now houses our former Co-General manager in Erik Chisling ( @Ace ) and in what may go done as the most criminal stolen series in the history of the league, the wild card Edmonton Blizzard would take on none other than the near President Trophy winning New England Wolfpack in what many anticipated would be a blood bath in favour of the Wolfpack turned into something cruel and twisted.

Game 1: 5 - 3 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 2: 4 - 1 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 3: 7 - 0 Edmonton Blizzard

Game 4: 4 - 3 Edmonton Blizzard

If you showed me scores and did not tell me who won other than that the same team won every match, I would have guessed New England a majority of the time, but in his cruel and fickle way, Simon T had seemingly blessed the Edmonton Blizzard in this series. The dagger in the coffin killing the majority of hope the Wolfpack had less coming off the back of a four point game by Tor Tuck ( @ErM ) on the way to a 7 - 0 victory and 3 - 0 series lead. The Challenge Cup winning goal coming off the stick of Terrance Nova, the pre-season addition at forward with a little over 90 seconds left to play.

The Statistics:

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A fair balance scoring sheet with eventual Anton Razov winner Hercules Rockefeller leading the way with 25 points ( 12 goals, 13 assists ) in 23 games played. The most notable player from this sheet that may come as a surprise to many though is the impact fresh rookie draftee FR Finn-Rhys ( @FinnRhys ) had on that offense. To come into the Simulated Hockey League for the first time and put up 7 points as a freshman player is absolutely astounding and the impact he had on the ice can not be understated.

In Conclusion:

In conclusion? A team that absolutely had no business winning the Challenge Cup managed to do just that in season 49. I love that we were able to bring home a second cup for both Cory Knouse ( @ckroyal92 ) and Teddy Cuddles ( @cpetrella ) before they officially retired. It was really special moment for me to win my second cup as a manager.