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Huck24 · 09-08-2020, 11:31 AM

With our 2 latest expansion teams joining the SHL this offseason, they will be selecting their first ever SHL entry draft players from the SMJHL. Pretty exciting times for the GMs and the players who will be the first to ever be selected for these franchises.

This got me thinking about the previous expansion teams. What players did they select with their first picks? How did those players turn out? I’m going to dive deeper into that soon, but I first wanted to actually look back and see how the make-up of the league came about. I have only been around for a few seasons myself, so this is my first expansion experience, I wanted to see when all of the other teams were introduced. So looking back through the SHL history (sorry for everyone who already knows all of this, I figured there is at least a few people like me who didn’t really know any of this), I saw that the SHL had an original 6, kind of like another hockey league I can think of. These six original teams were:

Hamilton Steelhawks
Toronto North Stars (originally known as the Toronto Stars)
Winnipeg Jets
Tampa Bay Barracudas (originally the Wisconsin Monarchs, then the Vancouver Ice Wolves, then the Vancouver Nigthmare, then the Las Vegas Kings and then the Seattle Riot)
Baltimore Platoon (originally the West Kendall Platoon)
Calgary Dragons

These six teams squared off against each in the inaugural SHL season, but at the end of that season, the league decided to expand, adding two more teams into the fold. These teams were

Manhattan Rage
Edmonton Blizzard (originally named the Edmonton Comets)

Three seasons after the league introduced the 7th and 8th SHL teams, they decided once again to expand by two more teams, for a total of 10 teams. The new additions were:

Los Angles Panthers
Minnesota Chiefs

The league went on for 5 seasons with this 10 team format, until S25 when they once again welcomed in 2 new teams with:

New England Wolfpack (originally the Buffalo Thunder, then the Tampa Bay Hydras, then the Hartford Hydras)
Texas Renegades

Fast forward 15 more seasons, S25 saw the introduction of the two newest franchises:

Buffalo Stampede
San Francisco Pride (originally known as the Portland Admirals)

The SHL moved along for over 20 seasons with these 14 franchises, it was not until S46 that another round of expansion occurred:

New Orleans Specters
Chicago Syndicate

Now, ten seasons on, the SHL will be adding two more teams to the fold with:

Seattle Argonauts
Atlanta Inferno

Now with that out of the way, let’s see who these expansion teams selected with their first few picks in their histories, I’ve only looked at the first 2 rounds for each team, I’m sure I may have missed a few gems that got picked after the 2nd round, but I can only do so much! So without further ado, here are the players selected the expansion teams selected and how it turned out for them and the players that were selected.

S2

MAN

2nd overall pick – Jamie Campagiori
The first ever expansion player selected in the SHL only played one season with the team that drafted him. In Campagiori’s 11 seasons in the SHL, he played in 519 games for the Manhattan, Toronto, Los Angles and Baltimore / West Kendall. He recorded 148 points (77g, 71a).

15th overall pick – Jarrod Kinderly
Manhattan’s 2nd pick of their expansion year didn’t work out all the great for them. Kinderly’s only season in the SHL was in S4, in which he appeared in 40 games, scoring 7 goals and 7 assists.

EDM

7th overall pick – Mikey Broomfield
With Edmonton’s first pick, they selected Mikey Broomfield. Mikey played in 8 SHL seasons for 4 different teams over his career. The teams were Edmonton, Hamilton, West Kendall / Baltimore and Toronto. In 383 games, Broomfield scored 42 goals and had 103 helpers. He has two Challenge Cups to his name, raising the trophy in S2 and S3 with Edmonton.

11th overall pick – John Falkirk
John spent 6 seasons in the SHL, with Toronto and a short stint in Hamilton. He played 286 games, scoring 94 times and getting 154 assists. Although Falkirk did not win any individual awards or be a part of a Challenge Cup winning team, the Hall of Fame came calling for his contributions to the SHL in S11.

13th overall pick – Mike Honcho
Our first goalie selected, Honcho played 14 seasons in the SHL, his time was spilt between Edmonton, Toronto, Los Angles and Winninpeg. In the 471 games he played in the league, Honcho had a record of 271 – 141 – 56 and 16 shutouts. Honcho helped Edmonton along the way a Challenge Cups in S3. Honcho won the John McBride trophy 3 times (nominated another 2 times), the aptly named Mike Honcho trophy twice, the Anton Razov. All of this solidified Mike’s call to the Hall of Fame in S20.

19th overall pick – Richard Metcalf
With Edmonton’s final pick of the draft, Richard Metcalf was selected. He spent one season with Edmonton, then moved onto Toronto, where he played for only 3 more seasons. In the 175 games he appeared in, Metcalf scored 50 goals and added another 50 assists. Richard was also a part of the S3 Challenge Cup team for Edmonton.

S5

LAP

6th overall pick – Eddie Fischermann
With LA’s first every draft selection, they selected goalie, Eddie Fischermann. Eddie was called up immediately and played 4 seasons with the Panthers before moving to Toronto, then West Kendall / Baltimore and then Manhattan to finish off his 12 season career. In 309 games, Eddie had a 127 – 137 – 37 record with 10 shutouts. Fischermann was part of the S6 Challenge Cup winning LAP squad.

13th overall pick – Erik Chisling
Erick Chisling played 7 seasons in the SHL, his first with the team that drafted him, then 3 in Manhattan followed by another 3 in Calgary. In 354 games played, Chisling scored 50 goals and 169 assists. Along with 859 hits and 510 PIMs. He also was part of the S9 Challenge Cup championship Calgary Dragons team. Chisling won the Scott Stevens award twice and was nominated another time in his short career, which got him the nod into the Hall of Fame in S12.

MIN

4th overall pick – Brodie Witzel
The 4th overall pick in the S5 draft was Brodie Witzel. Witzel played 5 seasons with Minnesota before joining Hamilton for the final 3 seasons of his career. In the 403 games he laced the skates up for, Brodie scored 166 goals and had 256 points. Witzel is the first player in this list to have over a point per game. His best season was his first with Hamilton where he recorded 78 points. The next season,
S11, Witzel won the Challenge Cup with Hamilton. In S20, Witzel was voted into the Hall of Fame with a full trophy cabinet, winning the Ron Mexico (and another Mexico nomination), Jeff Dar, Sarmad Khan and Anton Razov trophies throughout his career. There is also an SMJHL award named after Brodie.

14th overall – Kyle Derringer
Derringer was Minnisota’s second pick of the draft, he did have a very long career though, only playing 3 seasons, all with Minnesota, scoring 4 goals and 49 assists in the 154 games that he played in.

S10

NEW

2nd overall pick – Ivo Willems
New England (Hartford at the time) selected Ivo Willems with the 2nd overall pick in the S10 draft. Ivo had a very long career in the SHL spanning 18 seasons, playing in Hartford, Manhattan, Edmonton, Hamilton as well as West Kendall / Baltimore. In the 943 games he played in, he scored 356 goals and 418 assists. Ivo best season was his second in the SHL, scoring 77 points. He never quite matched that again, but he did have three other seasons where he got 50 points or more. Ivo was able to win the Challenge Cup once in his career, in S15 while with Edmonton. Named to 3 2nd all-star teams and 1 3rd all-star team as well as a Ryan Jester and Jay McDonald trophy wins, ushered Ivo into the Hall of Fame in S30.

17th overall pick – Corey Tripp
Tripp was drafted by the Hartford / NEW expansion team, but he never actually played a game with them. His fist SHL game came in S10 with the Hamilton Steelhawks. He played 7 seasons with them before moving over to Calgary for another 6 seasons. In the 13 seasons Tripp played in, he dressed for 556 games, scoring 105 goals and 114 assists. He was able to raise the Cup with Hamilton in S11, his first full season in the SHL.

TEX

3rd overall – Drizzy Drake
Texas used their first ever pick on Drizzy Drake. Drake only played one season with Texas, before moving to Calgary, then Toronto, Seattle / Tampa Bay, Manhattan and finally Portland / San Francisco. After 17 seasons, 828 games, 98 goals, 336 assists and 1057 hits. Drake won the Challenge Cup once in his career, in S18 with the Seattle Riot / Tampa Bay Barracudas.

18th overall – Markus Dahl
Markus Dahl is another expansion draftee who has a relatively short SHL carerr. Only playing in 5 seasons, sharing time between Texas, Edmonton and Hamilton. Appearing in 251 games, Dahl scored 70 goals and added 91 assists. He did however win one Challenge Cup, with Edmonton in S13.

S25

BUF

3rd overall pick – Robb Wind
Robb Wind was Buffalo’s first pick of the franchise, Wind spent 9 seasons in Buffalo and then another 4 seasons playing for Toronto. In 650 games, Wind scored 166 goals and 179 assists. The most interesting stat that I noticed for Robb, was that he only had one season in which he finished with a positive + / - rating. He finished his career with a -125. Wind has one Challenge Cup win to his name, winning it while he was in Toronto.

23rd overall pick – DJ Stanley
Buffalo’s second pick was DJ Stanley. Stanley only played two seasons in the SHL, his first in S25 and then in S27. In the 100 games he appeared in, DJ only tallied 3 goals and 1 assist, all of which coming in S27.

SFP

17th overall pick – Nikolaus Scholz
Portland / San Francisco only had one pick in the first two rounds, with the 17th overall pick they selected Nikolaus Scholz. Scholz spent three seasons with the franchise, before moving to Edmonton to play 18 more seasons, for a total of 21 SHL seasons, the most of any player we’ve looked at here. Scholz played over 1000 games (1050) scoring 302 goals and 508 assists. The number that jumps out the most to me is his minutes played with 23, 320 minutes. In Scholz’s crazy long career, he won 2 Challenge Cups with Edmonton, the 2nd coming in his final season (S45) in the SHL, a very nice send off for this 21 season veteran. Scholz was entered into the Hall of Fame in S50 due to his amazing career and his league MVP win.

S46

NOLA

6th overall – Jimmy Slothface
With New Orleans first ever pick, they selected Jimmy Slothface. Slothface got the call up to New Orleans in S48. He has been a integral piece of the Specters team since then. Playing in 450 games in the SHL, Jimmy has scored 155 goals and 202 assists. This past season (S55) Jimmy had his first season with over a point per game, with 22 goals and 42 assists. Slothface was raised the Challenge Cup with NOLA in S54

20th overall – Michael Fox
Michael Fox, like his fellow draft team mate, made his appearance in the big leagues in S48. Fox has been a very productive member of the team since then, scoring 114 goals and adding 180 assists. Again, like his team mate Sloth face, he has held the Challenge Cup once, alongside his draft partner in S54.

CHI

21st overall – Kit Smeb
Kit Smeb was Chicago’s first selection and joined the team in S47. Smeb played up until S54 for Chicago, calling it a career after S54. In 450 games, Kit scored 99 goals and had 159 assists. Chicago is still looking for their first Challenge Cup win, so Kit Smeb retired without a Challenge Cup win.

26th overall – Eva Lykke Aparjode
With their second pick, the Chicago Syndicate selected Eva Lykke Aparjode. This is the one and only pick from the ones I’ve looked at the never actually played a game in the SHL. So, this is the only real total bust of all the picks we’ve looked at.

31st overall – Daniel Smeb
The second Smeb selected in this draft was Daniel. He immediately got the call to join the Syndicate in S46 and has been a mainstay for the team and the league ever since. In 550 SHL games, Daniel Smeb has scored 180 goals and has 300 assists. The past two seasons, Daniel has had tremendous numbers, both times scoring over 70 points on the season (70 and 72). Daniel and his Chicago team mates are still looking for their first Challenge Cup win.

So, there you have it. This turned out to be a lot more work and a lot longer than I thought it would, but I found it all very interesting and if you’ve read all the way to here, I hope you found it interesting
as well! Just a quick recap of the highlights for anyone who cares:

- The highest an expansion team has ever selected in 2nd overall – Portland / New England with Ivo Willems
- The most picks by and expansion team in the first two rounds – Edmonton Comets / Blizzard with 4 picks in rounds 1 and 2
- Of the players selected, Nikolaus Scholz had the longest playing career, playing for 21 seasons. On the flip slide of that, other than Eva Lykke Aparjode, Jarrod Kinderly played the least amount of
games in the SHL, only appearing in 40 games.
- There are still 3 players who are currently playing in the SHL, Jimmy Slothface, Michael Fox and Daniel Smeb.
- Of all of the players that were highlighted here, there are 6 players who have been entered in the Hall of Fame, we will have to wait and see if the 3 players mentioned above will eventually get the call.
- Players selected by expansion teams have won 16 Challenge Cups
- For all of the players listed, only a handful of players stuck with the expansion team that they were drafted by. Buy my count, one three players have done this, one being a player who only player one season in the SHL. However, the three players still playing today in the SHL, and they areall still are playing for the teams they were selected by.

Good luck to all of this season’s draftees, I hope that you all land in a spot that can help your players career grow in the SHL. Whether it be to Atlanta or Seattle, or one of the other already established SHL teams, I can’t wait to see you all make the jump to the big leagues!

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