It's that time again of the season where your money ends and you have to get some cash to get up with some weekly trainings at least. So, I will rate each team's performance this season in this media. We have some unexpected surprises and some drops too. However, we will go through league standings (not division or conference) and we will start from the TOP.

Before media starts, there are few things I want to mention. Firstly, I made it in multiple days and standings have changed since that, so it might not be 100 percents accurate, but at least it's close to that. Sorry, I didn't had so many time to make it one day. Second, it's only subjective opinion and it's done mostly to get SHL balance. Enjoy!


I think everyone where okay with an idea that Platoon will be good this season, but did someone expected them to be so good? They definitely have the best possible season this far and there are no way that some of the teams will get the same grade as them or even better. They are just out of the league at this point. I will be surprised if they somehow not bringing home the cup. 40 games and just 5 losses (one of them in overtime). That's what you call a domination.

After all rule changes to give the league ''pArItY'', Steelhawks have still figured out how to keep everything together and they are in the second place in the whole league. Wouldn't rate it better as Platoon, but since they really lost some pieces and are still cup contenders, I have to rate them one plus behind Platoon. Steelhawks have 9 points less than Platoon and one played game more and they are one place behind them. This is just proving how good Platoon is once again.

Syndicate is that team who is always at the TOP 3 spots. Just like Steelhawks, Renegades and Stampede few seasons ago. However, their season is pretty good. Their biggest issues usually starts in Play-Offs, because they are a great regular season team, but Play-Offs are different a bit. I still rate their season as a solid 10, but without any plusses since Platoon is 14 points ahead of them and Steelhawks are above them too. Real fight will start in the Play-Offs and then we will see what they are capable of.

Another 10 and I think it's obvious. Yes, Argonauts have few games more than other teams who are at the top of the standings, but they are still doing fine. I don't think a lot of people thought they will be that high. However, we can see how close each team is in the standings and situation can drastically change, but they are doing very good. Fourth place in the entire league? That's very good for a team who aren't here since the beginning of the league. This is a new era of league and they just joined and doing good!

I want to give them 10 with a plus just because they are exceeding expectations aswell. They are a place behind Argonauts, but hear me out... They have one point less than Argonauts at this point, but have played four games less than them aswell. Their scored/allowed goals ratio is better too. Argonauts has +36, Inferno +52. I have to give them 10 with a plus, because they are just doing good and can even get up to third place if they performs well in last 20+ games.

Since Renegades won a cup in the last season, I think it's obvious that we can't give them higher grade than teams above them. Yes, they are still doing solid. Yes, they are still having the third best scored/allowed goals ratio. And yes, they are still just 2 points behind the third place in this league, but... They just aren't that good as last season and it shows up in standings. If they get back to the third place at least, then we can think about 9+ or 10-, but now it's 9-. And I think they know themselves that they can do better aswell, because that roster is stacked and sky is the limit for them!

I'm always happy to see Toronto North Stars doing well, because I've always had that small want to join them. However, it hasn't happened yet, but who knows. They are doing decent though. Seventh place isn't bad for them and they just have to be ready for Play-Offs, because they struggle sometimes there. They can still end up in third place or be even out of the top 10. This season is very unpredictable at this point, but I can rate their season as a solid 9.

Barracuda is doing just as good as last season, so it's hard to say - it's better? Or worse? Or the same? They are doing well and that's the most important. Look at the standings! They are still searching for a way to surprise this league and I think it might happen soon. However, I can give them a solid 8+ about their season. They can still climb higher since they are between teams who are very close to each other!

Hear me out... The grade isn't based on how high you are in the standings. It's based on how much you have improved and have you lived up to your expectations or not. And if we talk about San Franciso Pride - they deserve 9 for sure. They ended up last season in 14th place and now they are in 9th place in the whole league. They need just 10 points and they will have the same amount of points they had last season. To make it even more interesting - they have 23 games left in regular season. Definitely a good surprise!

I guess it's hard to get a good grade when you are always expected to be very good. Stampede is always a TOP 3 team and it's just weird to see them at 10th place in the league's standings. However, I'm sure they might surprise in the Play-Offs (as always), but now they are doing just fine. I'm sure they aren't happy with the exact situation aswell, because they used to be much stronger. However, it's a solid 7 in their scale.

6th place last season, now in 11th. However, they are still very close to 5th place, because these all teams are so damn thight. They still haven't performed that well as last season, in my opinion. They are doing well, but if we gave Stampede a solid 7, because they have fell down a bit, I'm sure Panthers deserves a 7 too. It might change since there are more than 20 games left, but still. This is how I rate them at this moment.

And we are over more than half of SHL teams. Damn. We are getting closer to the bottom of the league! Forge are doing just the same as last season. Two places below last season's ending place, but there's still time left and they are close to their closest opponents. A lot of stuff can change and since they are kinda new team in SHL and doing similar as last season - I have to respect it. It's a solid 8 from me.

Specters are making a comeback and that's why I have to give them a solid 9. 24 regular season games left this season and they need just six points to beat their last season's points record. A good surprise for a league. It will be hard for them to get higher than 13th place this season, because team above them have 9 points more than them, but if they somehow manage to do that... I will be shocked and this grade might even get a little bit better.

I think that as Dragons player, I can be as subjective as it's possible. We have fell down 6 places and if we will be unlucky - we might even end up in 16th place in the entire league. Izzy stepped down as a GM, we lost multiple good players and the season we thought we could surprise the league - we fell down. I respect all the boys and I'm still fighting for Dragons everytime when there's a need, but I think my boys will understand why I rate this season just as 6 for us. We could've done much better and we hope to make a comeback soon. Sad to see us being that low, but sometimes it happens. However - GO DRAGONS! This is just my subjective opinion about our unsuccessful season this far.

Well, at least we are above Blizzard, right? Haha. Well, it might not end up like this anyway, because fight between Dragons and Blizzard in points are very close. However, they have very similar season to S62 and it's hard to rate it. They haven't improved a lot and haven't gotten any worse either. I can't rate it as a 7 since there isn't huge changes and they are still at the bottom, but it isn't a 6 either. So, let's say it's a 6 with a plus. Beginning of the season looked much better for them, but now it's not so shiny anymore.

Ouch! 9th place in the league last season and now they are in just 16th place. They are just to make Play-Offs. Fight won't be easy. They have some left games in their bag since opponents have played a bit more than them, but it's still a fall for them. I think they might even agree that their season isn't that good as they wanted it to be. Just like my Dragons. I hope teams will take these grades as a motivation and not as a judgement or hate.

You can't really give a higher grade than 6 if team is so low in the standings and last season they had a similar situation. To make it even worse, they are two places lower than last season. However, the good thing is that they have still 22 games left, but this far... It should be a 6. I'm sure that they are sure that they can do much better aswell and this season isn't that good as they wanted it to be.

Wait... You just said you can't give a higher grade than a 6 if team is so low and nothing have changed, but you just gave a 7? What? Yes, I gave a 7 to Patriotes, but hear me out. It's 23 games left for them this season and they need just one single point to have the same amount of points as last season. They have improved! The problem is that they were much more behind those teams higher. Now they are a bit closer to them and I'm sure that next season they can fight for that TOP 15. However, not yet. But they have still performed better than last season.

Still bad - just like the last season. I don't know. It's hard to rate those teams, because I don't want to sound rude, but at the same time - I know that they understands that they've played bad aswell. However, we can see how Rage performed. Since my first player played for Rage back in S30's, I'm sad to see them so low in the standings, but it is what it is. It's hard to give them even a 5-, because it's just tragic.

I wanted to give them 3 in the beginning, because they are in the last place in the league once again and nothing have changed, but I couldn't. Why? Well, they might actually finish above Rage this season if everyhting happens in the right way for them. Plus, they already have more points than last season while there are 23 games left for them. However, they are still doing bad in general. 5 with a minus and a hope they will get better soon!

Short resume: it's very weird to see so many teams having so similar amount of points. For example, Chicago Syndicate has 57 points and are in third place in the league, while Buffalo Stampede has 50 points and are in 10th place in this league. Just seven points between eigth teams in the standings. Bottom looks very weird too and it was hard to analyze it. Such a wow! And it's hard to rate them, but I did. Only subjective opinion, but that's how it looks like! It was hard to rate, because I didn't want to be rude either. Hope it was a decent rate from me!

...

A quick interview with Aumy Jr.

Interviewer: ''Hi, Aumy Jr. Couple of questions about new changes in Calgary. Could you answer to some questions?''
Aumy Jr.: ''Oh. Hi! Yeah, sure, but, please, make it quick!''

Interviewer: ''What's your thoughts about Izzy stepping down as a GM? How it will impact Dragons?''
Aumy Jr.: ''Well, Izzy deserves a rest. He has helped Dragons so much that he hasn't had any time for himself. He is just constantly working and it's not good. I'm very thankful about his help, his trust and about everything he done for me. And I think that whole Dragons roster thinks the same. It's sad to see him stepping down as a GM, but he will still be here as a player. It won't be the same, but we love him and we respect his choice. It's hard to say how it will impact us, but I think we will be okay. We are more like a family and not a team. We stick together and we are strong, so I'm sure we will figure things out!''

Interviewer: ''Was it unexpected for you that Izzy stepped down?''
Aumy Jr.: ''Well, I saw that we are doing worse than we wanted. We wanted this season to be special, but, unfortunately, not always everything happens as you want. I wasn't informed that Izzy will step down and I was shocked a bit. I even messaged him later and said thanks about everything. He and KWally trusted me when I joined and they kinda even got me out of the retirement. So I am very thankful to them. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to work with them as a team head office for very long, but it is what it is. It was unexpected, but I can understand him and I truly respect his choice.''

Interviewer: ''About Dragons... This season... What went wrong?''
Aumy Jr.: ''Well, it's a mistery for us aswell. Something just didn't go as we wanted it to go. Multiple changes too. We will come back stronger, so it's no need to make any excuses or find reasons why we are that low in the standings as we are. We are taking it as a motivation and we will get back stronger. Just wait!''

Interviewer: ''And last, but not least... Are you seeing yourself playing for some other team?''
Aumy Jr.: ''Ohh. It's hard to say. I already had a mistake couple seasons ago when I said I want to play my entire career for Stampede. They dropped me off without looking back and I almost retired. I would love to play for Dragons my entire career what's left, but we will see how things go. It's impossible to predict anything here. I just signed one more year with Dragons and I hope they will extend my contract later on aswell, but we will see. As I said, I would love to spend my entire career in Calgary and hope they will give me a chance to do that!''

Around 2700 words