Port Alrene vs Kirlow
This is one that will definitely overshadow the other series taking place these playoffs and will be one that might leave the winning team bruised and tired for the finals. Although entertaining, this is pretty conclusive for me. A player can only carry a team so far before they are stopped. The Wiz and company are the ones that will break down Outlaw and his misfits. There is too much talent on the Anchors that makes me confident that they will show the Teddy Bears a swift first round exit. 4-1

Kirkenport vs Chasonne
The Captains are back in the playoffs showing they mean business with a second place finish from the regular season. The point difference between the teams was only 2 points and it could be said that some still see them as the underdogs when matched against the THL’s playoff sweethearts. Chasonne has had a very inconsistent year and the decision of the series will be heavily affected by which of their teams comes to play. My best guess is that the Kirk Boys can come away with this close tie in 6 games. 4-2

Port Alrene vs Kirkenport
Both of these teams have had great showings during the season, but there is one obvious front runner. The Anchors have a list of all stars that far surpasses the Captains key performers, and have a lot more experience as well. The Kirk Boys will be faulted by their youth, but don’t chalk this up to be a boring series, as one sided as the stats show. I’d like to say Anchors in 7 but with a quick start at home I could also see as low as 5 games. Will hit it in the middle, calling it Anchors in 6. 4-2

Man, what a story. Congrats to Port Alrene on another Cup, and one that they absolutely deserved. Great work on the writing!

For once I got everything pretty close to right....  but unfortunately I got everything pretty  close to right.

1967 OFFSEASON

The offseason started with a retirement that helped a mountain of decisions snowball. The Heralds three-time All-Star goaltender Nat Marchant hung up his skates at 38-years-old. The Kavalos native helped lead Chasonne to 7-straight playoff berths and three Finals appearances, winning two Marcotte Cups. Marchant is a prime nominee for the THL Ring of Honor.

The long-awaited announcement of Ernie Bukowski's entrance to the THL draft finally came and the Yubay Glaciers, with the 1st overall draft choice, had a monumental decision to make. The 18-year-old Polish goaltender is a premier talent, considered one of the top in the world. But the Glaciers were reported to be happy with 2nd-year goalie Keith MacGarvin and rookie Andre Demunyck, instead hoping to acquire more help for the blue line. The draft prospects, however, were thin on the blue line and left the Glaciers in a quandary. They decided to sell the pick to the highest bidder.

The Heralds made a generous offer, but the Neptunes, desperate for help in the net, offered the farm for Bukowski's rights in a blockbuster trade. The Neptunes sent the 2nd overall draft pick, G Greg Kannell, D Carson Damico and their 1st-round pick in 1969 to the Glaciers for the 1st overall draft pick for rights to Bukowski and veteran defenseman Ronny Pugh.

After the trade was agreed upon and sent to the league office, Commissioner Willard adjusted it a few days later and sent the 1969 pick back to Narva, saying it was an abuse of assets. The Heralds complained that the trade should be nullified and teams given a new chance to make offers but Willard denied the request and approved the adjusted trade parameters.

1966 Amateur Player Draft


1st Round – 1966

1 – NAR (via YBG) – G Ernie Bukowski
The highly-touted Polish prospect is lauded as the best in decades, but Narva will have to see immediate results to account for how much they gave up to move up just a single spot to draft him. Bukowski is young, mentally very green and some scouts aren't sure he can live up to the expectations. But the sheer talent level is certainly not in doubt as Buks' natural abilities and vision are off the charts.

2 – YBG (via NAR) – F Ferdinand Hendrix
With no real standout players in the draft pool, the Glaciers went with Hendrix over a defenseman for his nice potential as a true scoring winger.

3 – YUB – F Bernie Sharpe
The Fort Bevin native Sharpe is a balanced talent up front and should fit nicely into the top rotations for Yubay as a third primary option.

4 – POR – D Zachery Guillory
Flashy guy, sometimes does a lot of nothing and over-skates. With refinement, could be a nice scoring defensive option on a second line.

5 – KIR – D Len Lovell
Good player, high IQ, but a slow and cumbersome skater. Could find a niche as a second-liner behind a star player such as Outlaw which is what Kirlow needs.

6 – CHA – D Teodoro Norfleet
Tough guy, great attitude, mediocre talent but can do everything and works extremely hard. Could find success on second line in the right system.

7 – KRK – F Eli Cloud
Don G continued his penchant for light-bodied scorers. Cloud can score but he needs work in all the other areas of hockey.

8 – PA – D Anthony Desmond
Late-bloomer. Virtually no tape on the guy, but flashed in his one year in Indy League. Raw skills and IQ, very boom or bust choice by PA.


Team Identity Changes

1967 Kirlow Kodiaks


The Kodiaks made a minor change, swapping out the standing bear logo and placing the K-Claw logo back on the sweaters instead after the owner complained that he "couldn't tell what in the bloody hell that damn thing" was from his perch in the owner's box. Nothing else was changed as the overall uniform set is very popular in the league.

1967 Chasonne Heralds


Zeal Athletics was busy after Heralds owner Claud Elam saw a new art exhibit and was inspired to change the uniforms of his team. He requested a white home sweater, making the Heralds the first team to feature a white primary sweater. Other team owners complained but Commissioner Willard stated there was no rule against it. Elam also requested a heavy dose of sky blue so Zeal relented on the new away sweater to very mixed reaction from the fans.

C&C appreciated!


Up next: 1967 Season

Another interesting off season!  Kinda odd to see the commissioner self-adjusting a trade, to call that an abuse of assets.  I'd call it an abuse of power personally on the commissioner's end if they can do that.   Narva definitely got saved from their own selves, getting possibly a great goalie at a discounted rate over what they originally were willing to sell for.

Glad the Kodiaks went back to a bear paw logo.  Definite improvement for the jersey.   

I actually like the Heralds sky blue jersey.  It reminds me a bit of the light blue fad that MLB experienced back in the 70s-80s, when half the teams had a light blue alternate jersey at some point.  Very cool!