The Vancouver Whalers were the ultimate victors in season 56, taking home the four star cup and the presidents trophy in the same season. They truly dominated the league finishing the season with 39 wins, 78 points, the most goals for at 169 and also the least goals against with 101. To anyone following the league this was not a huge surprise. Vancouver had been building towards this season for a long time after being terrible in S53 and S54, in S55 they recovered a bit with an almost 500 record at the end of the season, but all those difficult times paid off in season 56 where their roster was comprised almost entirely of players over 300 TPE with the exception of maybe 3, one of which was the backup goalie. This team was built for a long run and they definitely took it. The team went into the playoffs flying high and it showed with their sweep of the team's long time rival, the Kelowna Knights, but after a few extra days rest they struggled a bit against a strong Carolina Kraken team and that series was dragged out to 7 games. In the finals they managed a hard fought victory against Newfoundland in 6 games and were crowned the champions. I don't expect anyone would be too bothered that they would lose a large number of their players this offseason, especially after securing a cup win, but with the earliest of Vancouver's draft picks traded away to bolster their roster it's unsurprising that they would have a rough off-season. The outlook for this season is no where near as optimistic as it was last time around, the Whalers still have a roster that could get some wins, but they will be a far cry from the 39 win team they were in season 56. Compared to 17 players above 300 TPE last season, this time around they are starting with only 11. They did manage to use their remaining draft picks on a few players that could prove valuable to them in Zayne Rotzbua, Nikolaj Boyle, and Narboza Manyhands. They also acquired Casey Outlaw, Mats LaFleur, and Austin Smith, who all appear to be active and could become unexpected treasures to the team. With the loss of players such as Rotticus Scott and Bryce McMahon, I'm not sure how much steam the Whalers have in them for this season. I expect the team to finish in the middle of the pack this season with around 42 wins out of 66 games. With the change in total games it is a bit harder to compare, last season the team had 39/50 wins, which is about 78%. This season my prediction places them at 64%, which is a substantial step backwards. They will hold their own and have a chance come playoff time if their young players develop well, but they are no longer the favorite to win the presidents trophy or the cup as they were in season 56.


Approved! +5 TPE @DrunkenTeddy