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ZodiacEXE · 05-16-2024, 03:10 PM

S60 marked the most recent expansion of the main SHL league. The Chicago Syndicate moved to the Western Conference to accommodate two new Eastern Conference teams: the Montreal Patriotes and the Philadelphia Forge. The story of these teams are very different, but before we get into comparisons, let's first dive into the measurable history of each team starting with the Forge.

Philadelphia entered the league in S60, using their expansion draft to field a middle-of-the-road team. They tallied 63 points on debut, enough to get above the 8-team cut line. They made a decent showing, taking two games off Baltimore, but ultimately were eliminated in the first round. The next few seasons were similar, hovering around the 5-7 seed but not being able to force an upset. Aside from one hiccup in S66 though, the team was on a steady upward trajectory. S68 was the first time the Forge entered the first round as the favored team. They finished 4th in the East with 90 points and came up against Manhattan. It wasn't ever going to be a landslide victory-- the Rage scored 84 points through the season, but it was expected to be competitive. Unfortunately for Philly, the Rage went on a tear through the playoffs that year and made it all the way to the finals. A truly good regular season had been earned, but no playoff success.

That looked to be the case entering the S69 playoffs too, with expansion rival Montreal leading the East with 101 points and Philadelphia scrapping for 3rd. However, the Forge took inspiration from their first round opponent and defeated Manhattan in the same 5-game fashion-- their first playoff series win. Then a series against 2-seed Atlanta went the distance in Philly's favor. With New England upsetting the favored Montreal, Philadelphia cruised to a sweep in the conference finals to advance to the Challenge Cup finals against West champion Winnipeg. It took 5 games for the Philadelphia Forge to go from playoff strugglers to Challenge Cup champions.

In the seasons since, Philadelphia haven't tallied less than 80 points during the season, they haven't missed the playoffs, and they haven't been eliminated in the first round. Their approach to start slow and build to be a perennial playoff team paid off with a cup, and though this season ended in the 2nd round they threatened it again for 6 seasons after.

The Montreal Patriotes have had a much wider range of results. They accepted a less competitive team from the start and aimed to build a world-class team with their prospect picks. It took them 5 seasons to get their head above the playoff cutline with 50 points, though it ended in a sweep to the Steelhawks. After an uninspiring S65, the Patriotes were ready. 83 points was good enough for the 3-seed in the East, ahead of the gradually building Forge. A 6-game loss to Toronto game way to a run next season, reaching the conference finals but falling to Mahattan. S69 was their best year to that point, with Montreal leading the East. Unfortunately for them, a competitive top 4 knocked them out in Round 2. S71 was the same in points, but worse in the playoffs as they would be upset by the Stampede in the first round. In the last hurrah of this Patriotes squad, a 93 point season ended in an all-too-familiar 2nd round loss to the Wolfpack. Then, collapse.

22 points in S73 and 11 in S74. Montreal blew up the house and committed to a massive rebuild. S75 was the worst season of any team in the 66-game era, recording 6 points and an FHM era worst -405 goal differential. Their most recent season is the best of the rebuild thus far, though it's still only 32 points and no playoff appearance.

These rivals took two completely different approaches to building a competitive team. Philadelphia put solid piece in play from the get-go and slowly built to great heights from there while Montreal bet on the young prospects. Philadelphia continues their perfect playoff streak to this day, with a round 2 loss to the Platoon being their shortest run in 8 years, while Montreal chose to fold and start from scratch. While the Forge have a cup to show for their methods, the Patriotes aren't wrong for embracing the cycle of rebuilding and competing. And personally, I look forward to these two finally meeting in the playoffs one day.

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*CptSquall* · 05-26-2024, 12:38 PM

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