I have been in the SHL for a long time (it has almost been 30 seasons) but I think that I have only ever seen one “dynasty” in the league. This would be the New England Wolfpack who won three Challenge Cups in 4 seasons in S30, S31 and S33. The team was very successful and features a lot of famous names who are now remembered as some of the best players ever.

The Challenge Cup that the Wolfpack won in S30 was their only cup win in 8 seasons. The team had not been performing like they were and had either missed the playoffs or lost in the qualifying round every season since their last cup win. But things were different in S30 when they made a trade and added a goaltender who now has his name in the Hall of Fame.

Jakob Tanner joined them from the Hamilton Steelhawks and made a big difference for the team. They did not blow the regular season away but they had a record that was 29-20-1 and it was enough to get them into the playoffs. Jakob Tanner was a great playoff performer and had won cups for Hamilton before and was confident that the Wolfpack would be able to win if they made it in. They beat the Minnesota Chiefs in the first round and then beat the West Kendall Platoon by 4 games to 2 in the conference finals. The Wolfpack were then in the Challenge Cup finals where they were able to beat the Edmonton Blizzard in a sweep, 4 games to zero. Jakob Tanner won the playoff MVP award and the team was able to celebrate their success.

The Wolfpack were still a young team and had their stars return for the next season, so they were hopeful that they would be able to repeat their success again in S31. S31 was a very strong season for the Wolfpack and they won the president’s trophy for having the most points in the regular season.

Their star players like Nathan Russell, Jasper Clayton and Jakob Tanner were all playing well and the playoffs were just as easy for them in the first round that season when they beat the West Kendall Platoon in the first round again. The conference finals were tough this time and it went to seven games but they were able to beat the Toronto North Stars and then had a repeat finals series against the Edmonton Blizzard. They won this series by 4 games to 1 to achieve another Challenge Cup and evening 26 seasons later we have not seen another back to back cup win.

The last season of success for the dynasty was in S33. They did not have Jakob Tanner this time but they still had their other superstars and they managed to get to the Cup finals once more where this time they beat the Calgary Dragons to win their third cup as a group. Their has not been as successful a team since in my opinion (the Hamilton Steelhawks and Buffalo Stampede have recently come close but not won quite so many). This Wolfpack team was one of the greatest ever and I enjoyed following their dynasty during the time it existed!

543 words.

Approved! +5 TPE @treant