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sarmo · 02-14-2017, 01:19 AM

The squad saw another end to their season in the first round; making that 4 first round eliminations in a row- which has started to become a trend in Minnesota for the veterans. Trading away their future for veterans to take a shot at contending obviously did not seem to work over the past few seasons, resulting in the team slowing down from regression and lack of motivation. The only way to describe the Chiefs past few season would be "mediocre."

Along with the losses and the low drive came rumors or "records" of an internal conflicts or a case of a dead locker room. The drama continued in the Chiefs system as players started retiring, which left the stars of the team responsible to do everything they can to get the dub. Guys like Garbanzo, Flacko and Anderson where held responsible of a very liable squad and did everything they could to get their team through a rough season. The team fell apart fully after a loss in game 7 as Lord Pretty Flacko posted up a natural hatty, doing everything he can in a losing battle against a stacked New England squad.

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Flacko clearly frustrated after scoring a natural hatty in game 7

Season 32 Record: 23-24-3 (4th in the Eastern Conference)

Key roster additions:

Eero Hämäläinen
Lochlann O'Rourke
Samee Iqbal
Terrance Nova
Noctis Caelum
Derrick Glover

Key roster losses:

Michael Gerrard
Chernika Banananov
Griffin Simons

Key front office changes:

Baelor Swift became official general manager of the Chiefs moving forward to a brighter, fresher future this offseason after another successful draft. ArGarBarGar stepped down to co-gm by Baelor's side to put his focus more on staying on top of regression. As the regular season comes around the corner, the captain and alternatives have been announced recently. The vulnerable team has shifted to relaying on young blood... and so came the much needed opinions of fresh new players out the juniors; all showing the drive to compete in the locker room, practice and gym. Robert Anderson has been the team's best player the past few season, he is the Chiefs' veteran leader and the reason why he will be wearing the C on his chest. Behind Anderson's leadership role, young Samee Iqbal and Terrance Nova are going to be the alternatives. Not very surprising choices as both Iqbal and Nova being drafted in the first round a season ago and along with Glover being drafted in the 2nd round, Chiefs fans knew this was a start of a new era.

All the young players who were recently brought into the Chiefs system this offseason and last have said to be working on their chemistry, holding player meetings, workouts and staying in contact through out the long offseason, in which players usually take time off their profession to relax with the family. It has been a very busy time for the Chiefs, as they anticipate for a season in which probably will not be their best in seasons to come; seeing all the talent is still raw and a little undeveloped... but they still look like a solid group already from the players to the management... they have gelled quickly in the locker room and they played well in the preseason... with 4 Chiefs' rookies leading the league in rookie scoring (Derrick Glover, Terrance Nova, Lochlann O'Rourke, Samee Iqbal, in that order). It finally looks like there might be better days in Minnesota.

Lets look at the key players on this roster:

Lord Pretty Flacko

Flacko scored the most goals in the entire league last season, with 36. He ended up second in points in the regular season and proved what he can do in the playoffs. He will be the player to watch by the fans and the opposing team from the opening faceoff to the the last seconds of the game. Flacko is a top 5 player in this league and can carry a team but this is a different team than the last few seasons, so it well be interesting to see how chemistry plays out for Flacko with the young guys who are ready to soak up the talent.

Flacko had a pretty good offseason, winning gold for Germany in the IIHF tournament. He should be on point with his abilities and legs going into the regular season after a solid preseason. We would not be surprised to see him with a point per game season with a young playmaker like Iqbal by his side feeding him sauces.

Alonzo Garbanzo

A top 3 player at his position, Garbanzo's value on this team is priceless as he is their go to guy defensively and he is simply a one of a kind leader. It would be weird if Garbanzo does not win some kind of trophy this season with a defenseman of his ability. Playing along side rookie Caelum, he will have the room to produce his usual output, so you can expect him to hit atleast 45 points next season, while shutting down the opponents top scorers with his usual finesse defensive plays.

Robert Anderson

Captain Robert Anderson is a consistent and reliable goalie. He is a loyal guy that deserves more than he is getting right now. Robert will have his usual elite performance and expects help from the young rookies in front of the net. The Minnesota Chiefs could sneak into the playoffs somehow with him as the anchor of the team. He is a fairly under appreciated goalie that has been around for quite sometime, but he will be tested this season down to his abilities as the defensive depth in front of him looks a little thin.

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Anderson looked on point this preseason as usual

Projected forward lines:

LW - C - RW
Pretty Flacko - Iqbal - Nova
O'Rourke - Glover - Howard
Pretty Flacko - Feist - Dastardly
Nerokov - Iqbal - Harper

The emphasis on offense would obviously be Flacko, the first line and second line are going to leaned upon a lot to produce offense and win the squad games as well. The question is the bottom lines but while the season draws closer- Chiefs have managed to draft their way to having a decent core with raw potential for the moment.

Lochlann O'Rourke

A left wing sniper out of Halifax Raiders is likely to skip his sophomore season in the juniors along with fellow draftee Eero Hämäläinen. Both were finalized onto the roster after a strong training camp showing. O'Rourke had a successful season with the Raiders as a quick skating and puckhandling goal scorer, a combination which creates superstars in the big league. He has strong interest in playing in the SHL, with his upside being a top six elite scorer if developed well. As young as he is, he thinks he is ready to take the big step and the Chiefs have no complaint about that, why would they?

Derrick Glover

He has a lot to prove after being dropped to 12th overall in the SHL Entry Draft. After a good start to his junior career, Glover signed a contract with the Chiefs knowing he will probably center the 2nd line behind Iqbal. The big center will be turning a new page in his career after leading the Miltia in points in the regular season and their short playoff run. Glover is a pass first, gritty two way player that has a fine scoring touch. He is big and powerful and will be a top six forward in the SHL because he is a very balanced player that can do a little bit of everything.. we might even see him split time in the future between the first and second line. This underrated centerman is poised to having a big rookie season that could turn major heads.

Samee Iqbal

Usually player that can break out easily or have a natural learning curve set their goals high and reach them: they come very young, usually they have already have shown signs of dominance and/or progression during the first and second season, and they have known to switch their game to the next level come playoff time. The Samee Iqbal could be said to reach those standards-

Iqbal is a high caliber playmaking center who is leaning for an opportunity for a big season as he’s expected to center the Chiefs first line; between Flacko and Nova. While it is highly unlikely that he will be on top of the leaderboards like he was in the juniors, it’s not unrealistic to to predict he could be rookie of the season playing along side a top scorer like Flacko- after all, he did help Alex Light get the most goals in the season.. easily making him the top facilitator in his draft class. Very underrated like a lot of the Chiefs prospects, Iqbal is determined to be a leader of this team and has been reported of being very enthusiastic in team meetings. Considering that everything goes smoothly, we can expect Samee to stay on the first line for the majority of this season.

Terrance Nova

The Texas right wing sniper played defense on the Detroit Falcons last season and lead the league in points in the playoffs with 14 assists and 5 goals in 15 games while helping his team get to the finals only to get swept by Iqbal's Knights . He was also 2nd behind his linemate, Sinikka, in blocked shots, both becoming the top 2 shot blockers in the playoffs. In the regular season he was a top 5 defenseman with 40 points and 67 shots blocked, leading his team with a +10.

Nova is not known to be a pass first guy but rather as a versatile player that can do both shoot and pass with finesse, which is an uncommon thing in this era of the SHL. His junior career consisted of 19 goals and 41 assists in 80 regular season games, 7 goals 19 assists in 28 playoff games, splitting between forward and defense in the two seasons. His first season, he played forward and put up 8 goals 12 assists in 15 and a half minutes a game. He is a player who can puck handle very smoothly, with the ability to use his linemates to help generate offense and endure heavy minutes, becoming very useful down the stretch as he is known to show up in clutch situations. Terrance Nova will have an interesting rookie season forsure.

Nova, Iqbal and Glover already had a reserved spot since before last season when they were drafted by the Chiefs; deciding to come up after spending their second season in the juniors to develop their game a little more. Things went very well for all three so now they are going to be the guys that will have to bring the offense every game. They were reported of being "impressive" in training camp and scrimmage, said to be looking really good with their passing, moved well without the puck and have taken their game to the next level.

Reginald Howard and Eugene Feist

Two seasoned but still considerably young role playing forwards that know how to find the back of the net, also known for doing the little things every team needs like playing big in the corners and crashing the net. Sometimes it is not just about the statistics, it is about how many games you can win and these guys will make it easier for the team to get the dub by playing as grinders.

Projected Defense Pairings:

Garbanzo - Caelum
Hamalainen - Maatta
Garbanzo - Hamalainen

Garbanzo spent 26:43 minutes per game on the ice last season which was only 11th in the league but led the league in blocked shots with 97, having 12 more than the guy at 2nd place. His minutes will definitely go up playing alongside some good rookies for now and he will be carrying the team defensively. Everyone will be expecting Alonzo to have a big season and he will have a lot more space and opportunities this season to put up Allstar numbers.

Eero Hamalainen

A high priority pick in this junior draft and the SHL draft, Hamalainen has been given green light right after being drafted and is expected to carry some of the weight on defense.. He is a quality scoring defenseman, a quarterback on the powerplay with high upside and a powerful shooting touch. Going tenth overall, the Chiefs are confident going forward with him on the 2nd pairing. We will see him on the powerplay a lot, as he had a lot of success with that on the Whalers- scoring 7 goals in the season on the man advantage. With the potential to be a top 4 defenseman in this league, we might just see him thrive on the second pairing. The management might even find a player to pair him with before the trade deadline.

Noctis Caelum

The two way defenseman led the Prince George Firebirds in points with 37 last season and was easily their best defenseman.. it would be nice to see him translate those stats into the SHL at a very young age. He was 10th in rookie scoring in the preseason, as a defenseman that is impressive because he was the only defenseman in the top 10 rookie scoring other than Toivo Kosonen. He smooth two way defenseman with fine passing skills, takes good care of the puck in his zone, he is good at long breakout passes, has a strong shot and is pretty well rounded for a rookie. He will be getting first line minutes and enough time to develop nicely, Minnesota had found their man to fill in that 1st line paring with Alonza when they acquired Noctis Caelum. He will be a big part of the defensive core and will be looking at Garbanzo to mentor him throughout the season. They will need him in every strategic switch or key situations and have set the bar real high for the young player; he is expected to be a very reliable defenseman with a lot of load to carry from here on out.

You can expect the Chiefs to crowd the blueline in the future but for now they'll be relying on their rookies to develop into the high ceiling potential players they are projected to be. Caelum and Hamalainen are 2nd and 3rd on the Chiefs defensive depth chart so they will be expected to have even bigger roles in the future.

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Noctis Caelum is an underrated defenseman with a mean two way game.

The "On-call" line

Aaron Crawford was brought into the system in the recent SHL draft for help on defense. While he is not yet ready for the SHL, he was a key piece to the Detroit's playoff run last season. The young defenseman from UK might only see some ice time in the SHL this season if we see a heavy performance spurt late in the regular season. His defensive awareness is pretty sound already, but he will need more conditioning to crack the top six this season.

On forward, if the bottom lines are struggling and need some help later this season, they will be calling up either Halfdan Thorstein or Yuriy Starkonov. Both guys are primarily right wingers that can also play on the left side.

Halfdan Thorstein is a very well balanced and smart winger that will spend the season on the Knights. He can easily be a call up option later on this season; the lack of depth in bottom six can force the Chiefs hand if he finds early success in the juniors. Not man players can pass and shoot with finesse like him and due to his rare offensive versatility, Thorstein can be labeled as the organization's top rookie in the system and the next player to be called up.

Meanwhile, Yuriy Starkonov will be another depth forward that probably will not see SHL minutes this season but nevertheless, he is an interesting prospect because he is a fast skating, hard hitting, playmaking winger.. something the Chiefs very well lack. Yuriy's speed, grit and knack of finding the open man playing along the boards should easily find him a spot on the roster in the future. Although, fans will have to follow up with this unique talent playing on the Vancouver Whalers' top 6 for one more season.

Season Outlook:

The Banananov trade and retirements of few key veterans changes the style of the roster and a hard team to predict going into this season. Only the big three are still here which is good news but there will be a lot more pressure on Flacko, Garbanzo and Anderson and they will have to be consistent all season long.

Flacko will be the offensive spark of the team, and while he is not a playmaker, we will see him play with more patience around the young guys who will be looking up to him. We might also see Derrick Glover with a run for rookie of the season along with his rookie teammates right behind him in this new system.

Garbanzo and Anderson will have to rebound from past playoff failures and take advantage of this fresh start to become the veteran stars their team. Terrance Nova is considered one of the Chiefs' top rookies and we might just see him develop into a game breaking forward in front of our very eyes later in the season, especially if we see the team make the playoffs.. a scenario which is ideal for all the rookies and their development. The young defensive core will get the minutes they need to reach their ceiling potential... There are a lot of stuff for the fans to look forward to as the puck drop goes down tomorrow evening with their first game at home against the Stars!

Chiefs season 33 predictions

Regular season record: 23-20-7 (4th in the Eastern Conference)

Playoffs: Wins every round in game seven including a reverse sweep against the Calgary Dragons in the Challenge Cup Finals to win their first cup in almost 20 seasons.

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3019 Words

Allen · 02-14-2017, 08:54 AM

Oh shit. Sar out here.

ArGarBarGar · 02-14-2017, 11:14 AM

Got damn

Alonzo Garbanzo Final Tallies (Among Defensemen):
2nd in Goals (208), All-Time Assists Leader (765)*, All-Time Points Leader (973), 3rd in Hits (2587), All-Time Blocked Shots Leader (1882)*
*All-Time Leader Among All Skaters
Player Profile | Update Thread
[Image: IeEV7Iv.png]

sarmo · 02-14-2017, 02:06 PM

Quote:Originally posted by ArGarBarGar@Feb 14 2017, 09:14 AM
Got damn

Gotta make da $$$ somehow Wink

XLeafer · 02-14-2017, 02:10 PM

Of course you'd say they'll win the cup.

ArGarBarGar · 02-14-2017, 04:41 PM

Quote:Originally posted by XLeafer@Feb 14 2017, 01:10 PM
Of course you'd say they'll win the cup.

Who are you to stop us, eh?

Alonzo Garbanzo Final Tallies (Among Defensemen):
2nd in Goals (208), All-Time Assists Leader (765)*, All-Time Points Leader (973), 3rd in Hits (2587), All-Time Blocked Shots Leader (1882)*
*All-Time Leader Among All Skaters
Player Profile | Update Thread
[Image: IeEV7Iv.png]

XLeafer · 02-14-2017, 06:21 PM

Quote:Originally posted by ArGarBarGar@Feb 14 2017, 03:41 PM

Who are you to stop us, eh?

not stopping anyone

sarmo · 02-14-2017, 06:43 PM

Quote:Originally posted by XLeafer@Feb 14 2017, 04:21 PM

not stopping anyone

Atta boy

sash · 02-14-2017, 06:45 PM

spooked · 02-14-2017, 06:45 PM

THIS GUY.

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