Jeez, that bus accident sounds nasty. Hopefully every player recovers nicely.

I see this one being close but I think the Electrics will take it, the Herons have had two long series while Kavalos is on several days of rest after sweeping Quebel. The best part about it? The Falcons didn't make it.

Stickman wrote:

Excellent write up as always, that bus accident situation is pretty nuts!  

I do like the new layout of the playoff write off better this way, looks nice!

You pulled a fast one on me with the Electrics/Pioneers series!  Electrics win that series 4-1 while the scores have the Pioneers winning it 4-3!

Gonna stick with the Herons finally winning their first championship!

Wait, the Herons won a championship already if my memory serves me correctly, but I don't know if it was vacated.

ProsecutorMilesEdgeworth wrote:

Sevsdast wrote:

Stickman wrote:

Excellent write up as always, that bus accident situation is pretty nuts!  

I do like the new layout of the playoff write off better this way, looks nice!

You pulled a fast one on me with the Electrics/Pioneers series!  Electrics win that series 4-1 while the scores have the Pioneers winning it 4-3!

Gonna stick with the Herons finally winning their first championship!

Wait, the Herons won a championship already if my memory serves me correctly, but I don't know if it was vacated.

 
No, there has been a team that started in Trowburgh that have championships, Sava Side’s Falcons immediately jump out to me, they were the Trowburgh Lions, but they didn’t win championships until the Yubay days.

Any behind the scenes on the bus accident? That sounds like a very freak accident that could scare anyone!

Good catch on the scores, I updated them.

The Falcons chose not to carry over their history from the Trowburgh Lions days, mostly because of how bad those seasons were. The Lions are considered a folded team. So this is the Herons first appearance. The UHA's Eagles also had a short run in Trowburgh with no success.

On the bus crash, the simulation shocked me with the Bucks not scoring a single goal, which I found very unlikely given how much they scored in the regular season. It seemed like there had to be more to it than just one guy like David Suvak having a bad series. The Lone Prairie Arena in Fort Bevin is a big brick structure with roadways leading right up to the front entrances so my imagination kind of went from there. It's built into a low hill near town so the roads aren't flat, as they descend toward the lower level entrance, similar to a typical airport. Lots of buses rotate through the area, especially on game day. I was dealing with some brake issues in my truck and was imagining if a loaded bus lost control. Quite a few passengers and pedestrians also sustained major injuries and the LPA will most certainly rework their traffic patterns.

Being a playoff series it seemed logical that the recently announced All-Stars might do some pre-game day events. I'm too sentimental to have anyone die (though that may definitely happen at some point...the THL's Bill Masterson?) but non-game injuries do happen so I flipped a coin to see who would have the most severe injuries. Rundstrom and Suvak being significantly injured definitely changes the trajectory of their franchise which will also be something to monitor.

Congrats Trowburgh on winning their first Cup, always love a series going to 7

1984 OFFSEASON

League News

Reports out of Abrieden on updates of the players injured in the bus crash indicate that forwards David Suvak and Ric Rundstrom will miss the regular season. It is expected that Suvak could be available for the playoffs if the Bucks make it that far but Rundstrom's injuries will keep him out at least until the start of the 1985 season. Rundstrom came out of his coma but his future playing status is still unknown. Goalie Vassily Wuopio is making progress and has been cleared for contact but he will be closely monitored to begin season play and won't make consecutive starts. In Fort Bevin, the news is that F Nigel Flood's fractured ankle is healing and he expects to be ready for the season, even if a limited capacity, while goalie Geoff Thatchkin has made a full recovery.

Notable Retirements

Longtime former Heralds and Falcons goalie Claude Dohms retired after a 19-year career. Dohms most notably had a late-career surge in Yubay where he won Best Goalie in 1981.

Former #1 pick of the Neptunes, defenseman Gav Brankovic retired after 15 seasons with Narva. The big Serbian was a 7-time All-Star and helped lead the Neptunes to win two Marcotte Cups.

Mr. Kodiak, forward Pascal Brink retired after 18 seasons in Kirlow. Drafted 13th overall in 1966 out of Glen Mell, Brink was an undersized, scrappy forward who often carried his team on his back. A 12-time All-Star, Brink also went to the playoffs 12 times and perhaps somewhat infamously was part of Kodiaks squad who lost in the finals four different times. Even though he missed out on a championship, Brink was the captain of the team for more than a decade and considered a very tough player and consummate professional. His #13 sweater will almost certainly be retired, though it remains to be seen how a lack of Cups will affect his resume for the Hall of Fame.

One of my favorite players, enforcer/forward Dan Herzog retired after a 24-year career of smashing heads on the boards. Herzog was team walk-on for the Trowburgh Lions when the league started in 1960. From Canaday, a hotbed of hockey talent in Torland, Herzog wasn't fast, or much of a scorer, or much of anything as a player. He was short, small frame, and skinny. But he was tough as nails and soon found a niche as a checking forward and learned the art of enforcing from Connie Milliken and Alex Harter, both strong hitters themselves. Herzog was a classic journeyman, but always found himself in a key role on every team, often a team leader if never a true captain. He played two years in Trowburgh, and three years in Yubay protecting Geno Pasternak. He was selected by Kirlow in the 1965 expansion draft but traded the next year to the Glaciers where he spent 6 years protecting Peter Isaksson and won two Marcotte Cups. Yubay released him in 1972 and he was signed by Fort Bevin where he spent 5 years protecting Kevin Korycki. He was claimed on waivers by Port Alrene in 1977 and spent 6 years with the Anchors protecting Dimitri Ranko before being added in the expansion draft to the Sina Serpents where he played one final season. Herzog was well-known around the league as being the nicest tough guy you'll ever meet. 

Coaching Carousel

The Whales fired Tom Cunningham and installed Sid Snyder in his place. The Saints fired Scott Baumann who was added to Snyder's staff in Portarra. Lecayne hired Owen Zimmerman to helm the team, while bringing in former Whales staffers Cunningham and Hooper to assistant and GM.

Killers' AC Ron Collins retired and they brought in Don Blackmon from the Saints to replace him.

Player Trades & Signings

A large handful of players opted to enter free agency. Former Heralds F Jack Koeneman, 26, signed a 6-year deal with Fort Bevin. The Pioneers signed former Anchors F Jake Makarski, 28, to a 5-year deal. Combo forward/defenseman Joe Bonder signed a 4-year deal with Guilden.

The Chasonne Heralds heavily courted former Glaciers All-Star goaltender Tim Sagendorf who grew up in Chasonne, pitching him on the idea of winning another Cup in his hometown. Instead, it was a different son of Chasonne, aging goalie Ray Kosobucki in Kavalos who convinced Sagendorf to sign a 4-year deal with the Electrics and take over the reigns. It's a huge coup for Kavalos who not only steal away a top goalie from Chasonne but give themselves a great opportunity to make it back to the Cup.

With Sagendorf officially leaving town, the Glaciers instead pulled the trigger for acquiring assets and traded perennial All-Star F Pekka Jokinen to the Saints for their 1984 1st-round pick (5th-overall) and F Bobby Tripp.

In a surprise, 41-year-old Geno Pasternak signed a 1-year deal as he decided he wanted to continue playing.

1984 Amateur Player Draft

1st-Round

1 – ALK – F Jeremi Jogoda (Poland)
Despite all of the pundits and scouts saying otherwise, new GM Gary Wiz was convinced Jogoda was the next big thing, having played at his own former youth academy. Jogoda is a raw prospect at best but with European tapes hard to find, it was a special reel made available to league scouts that sealed the deal. After the draft, it was revealed that the Whales had pulled off a heist in planting the tape and destroying a tape of Bronkowski that would have shown him to be the far superior prospect. GM Gary Wiz doubled down on his belief in Jogoda however, saying that while Bronkowski is a good player, he was certain that Jogoda had a higher ceiling.

2 – SIN – G Andrei Voronin (Russia)
The Serpents didn't care about all the fuss about Polish forwards, they instead had been locked in from the start on Voronin. The Russian netminder has a big frame and plenty of moxie and can anchor the net for many years for a young team.

3 – POR – F Bill Bronkowski (Poland)
The Whales were ready to trade the farm to Alko in order to select Bronkowski but their ruse in leading the Wizards astray paid off and the big Pole fell to them. “Bronko” is strong and fast and his well-rounded skillset will translate immediately to the THL. The Whales feel they have stolen a generational talent to cap off their rebuild. Time will tell.

4 – KRK – F Davi Martikainen (Finland)
The Captains are rebuilding even if they don't want to admit it but Martikainen is a nice pickup. The talented centerman is much more scoring-inclined than fellow Finn Sam Toivonen who will be able to help mentor the young player.

5 – YBG (via LEC) – D Lars Ljungborg (Sweden)
The trade of Pekka Jokinen and leaving of Tim Sagendorf changes the trajectory of the franchise. The Glaciers want to start rebuilding from the blue line with this blue chip prospect in Ljungborg.

6 – KUR – G Austin Ellis
Ellis isn't an exciting prospect but he has a very high floor and can help solidify Kurohara's rotation of average goalies.

7 – PA – F Jerome Hamilton
The Anchors are feeling the effects of losing so many forwards and reach a little for Hamilton here, who is excellent on the power play.

8 – YBG – G Robby Harmon
Having two first round picks helps offset the recent losses and Harmon is a nice goalie prospect.

9 – GLD – F Buddy Stroud
The Barbarians keep it going after adding Joe Bonder and select Stroud who is a similar player.

10 – KIR – D Josef Seppa
Despite needing forward depth, the Kodiaks couldn't pass up a falling Seppa who is a sneaky good defenseman with scoring ability. He could be a real steal at the tenth pick.

11 – CHA – F Eli Macklin
12 – PRE – F Mike Dove
13 – PTP – D Joe Colburn
14 – NAR – D August Goulet
15 – FTB – D Ward Dunne
16 – VEN – D Adam Yates
17 – BAN – F Aron Sokolov (Bulgaria)
18 – YUB – D Fedrico Savage
19 – QUE – F Osku Vanhanen (Iceland)
20 – ABR – F Ismo Takala (Finland)
21 – KAV – D Keith Kirksey
22 – TRO – F Zack Kolb

After waiting until after the draft, former Kodiaks forward Mark Tegler, 28, signed a 5-year deal with Abrieden in a surprise move. The Bucks decided to hedge their bets with Tegler while Suvak and Rundstrom are out. Some think that the move indicates the injuries are more severe than reported but Suvak only has one year left on his contract and he was being coy on his plans even before the injury. Rundstrom's status is still unknown but if he's able to return to play in '85, he still has 5 years on his contract.

Team Identity Changes

Two teams redesigned their identities.

1984 Portarra Whales



Previous Identity: 1977-1983 Portarra Whales

Welcome to the Squarewhale era! The normally stoic and reserved Whales decided to make their first major change in team history. Steve Duval wanted to usher in a new era of Whales hockey and initiated a full redesign beginning with the logo. The circular shape is kept and the classic tail is swapped for a full body version of Louie the Whale, dubbed "Squarewhale." The color scheme is changed with the navy staying the same and the white being swapped for red and a light gray. The uniforms are redone from scratch, utilizing a diagonal double sleeve striping and a double hem stripe. The single color shoulder yokes from previous eras are kept but a red collar is added. A new number and lettering is added, with a taller more modern rounded style. The away sweater features the secondary color of light gray as the contrast.




1984 Yubay Glaciers


Previous Identity: 1975-1983 Yubay Glaciers

With the departures of some of the big names in the Niko Side, such as Pekka Jokinen and Tim Sagenforf, owner Sterling Aquino decided it was time to introduce a new look for the Glaciers. Apex Hockey designed a new logo using elements from previous logos and focusing on the polar bear mascot. Dubbed the "New Age" polar bear, a polar bear head morphing into a mountain range down to an iceberg with the classic cursive "Y" from the famed "Pizza Slice" logo is printed into the mountainside. Aquino also wanted to honor some of the Native American history in northwestern Tamokeva where Yubay was settled by having the shape being akin to a dreamcatcher. The color scheme is flipped to teal being the primary, red as the secondary, and an updated brighter shade of cream to lighten up the scheme.

The uniforms are completely restyled, featuring a unique upper chest/lower shoulder full-length striping. Doubled striping is added to the hem and socks. Red pants return.




C&C appreciated!