A wait well worth it for Kirlow, the Kodiaks finally top the league.

Congrats to Kirlow on winning their first cup, and I definitely prefer them winning it over the Whales. Interested to see what the 90’s brings to the THL.

What If It Does Matter wrote:

and to whichever team decides to switch to teal and purple this offseason

The G wrote:

Interested to see what the 90’s brings to the THL.

FC wrote:

I'm expecting a multitude of zany designs for various teams in this league, at this time period.

'91 will be relatively quiet while the league awaits the new uniform manufacturer, but '92 is gonna get krunk. I can confirm at least one team will be switching to purple and teal in '92.

Stickman wrote:

Alright!  Go Rapid Bears!  Nice to see them finally win the big one!  Totally forgot how good they were back in the 70s, 4 finals appearances is quite the accomplishment!  I can only imagine that everyone outside of Portarra was rooting for Kirlow here.

Can't wait to see the zaniness of the 90s!  

A look back at those 70's Kodiaks is quite wild too. Just looking at their Cup appearance years...

1972: They were the 5th-best team overall, 4th in scoring, 5th in defense. Their only All-Star was Pascal Brink, an undersized forward. '72 was the expansion year where the playoff field expanded from 4 to 8. They beat Chasonne (in 7) and Narva (in 5) to get to the Cup before running into the magical year of goalie Ferdy Haight and the Port Alrene Anchors. Haight won MVP that year and had posted FOUR straight shutouts to come back from down 0-3 against Kirkenport to reach the finals. He was a monster that season. In a very low-scoring series, Kirlow lost game 5 in overtime.

1973: They came back the next season and won the Hatch as the best team in the league but ran into a juggernaut in Kirkenport that had Keenan Draper and Gerry McKnight win best player hardware, not to mention Lauri Rikard nearly reaching his peak MVP years. The Kodiaks did have two All-Stars that year with Brink and Carey Waggoners. But Kirlow lost games 1 and 6 in overtime, as Draper basically won that series himself for Kirk in a historic performance.

Kirlow wins the Hatch in '74 but gets upset by Chasonne in the first round in 7 games, who would go on to win the Cup. Remember the Earthquake Game? They win the Hatch again in '75 and lose G7 in OT against the Falcons in the semi-finals. In '76 they won the Hatch again and got bulldozed in the first round by Narva who would go on to win the Cup.

1977: Kirlow finished third in the division and had zero All-Stars. They upset Kavalos in round one and scored a major upset against the heavily favored Neptunes in the semi-finals to reach their third Cup appearance. They were swept by the Glaciers but lost games 2 and 3 in overtime...

In '78 Brink returns to the All-Star selection but Kirlow loses a tough 7-game series against Kavalos.

1979: The Kodiaks squeeze into the playoffs as the last seed and march into Yubay and upset the #1 Falcons (Geno won MVP and Best Forward that year...), and then proceed to upset the Neptunes in four games. They meet the Fort Bevin Rockets in the finals, and barely actually win Game 1 in double overtime as Geoff Thatchkin played out of his mind in the net that series, along with future legend Pat Ossola. The series wasn't as close as the others but they also lost Game 5 in OT.

Basically Pascal Brink carried that team on his back most of the time, except for two good years of Carey Waggoners. Their starting goalie for the first two appearances was Greg Kannell. (Brian Mahaffey got called up in '73 I believe but wasn't the starter) Forward Freddy Hoffmeyer was a popular player (and later captain of the Abrieden Bucks) but never an All-Star. Defense Jerry O'Reilly made an All-Star appearance in '74 but otherwise had a solid if not spectacular career. Basically those 70's Kodiaks were a classic lunch pail blue collar team with very few big names and probably outperformed their talent every season. Sam Bennett was a good coach though, and probably deserved to win a Cup for his efforts. He did win Best Coach three times. He later got saddled with a bad Anchors team in the mid-80's and then later an even worse Glaciers team before he retired in '89.

1991 OFFSEASON

League News

With the expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Pete Byrd and the THL owners met in Trowburgh to work out a new contract with TUHP's Rod Temple. Byrd wanted the new CBA to bring in more TV revenue with more televised games and greater playoff coverage. He also pushed for a longer agreement to cover the decade and recommended two rounds of expansion as well as incentives for teams to consider moving east into new territory.

The new CBA went fairly smoothly with the main takeaways being a round of expansion in 1992 for two teams and another round to be set for 1998 or 1999 depending on league finances. The league would have an expansion council before the end of the offseason to give teams more time for preparation for a 1992 expansion draft.

Additionally, Byrd announced that the league had consolidated their uniform and merchandise manufacturing and awarded the contract to Elite Vision, an apparel company owned by Ben Marcotte, grandson of league founder Rey Marcotte. Despite cries of nepotism, Elite Vision, based out of Trowburgh, had secured the deal due to an excellent pitch of a whole new uniform system and multiple manufacturing facilities in Torland to keep up with demand. The brand new Prime Hockey System figures to revolutionize the sport and drive sales into new stratospheres. A design team led by creative director Jake Steele will spearhead transforming each franchise to fit the new system and raise the bar on cutting edge designs.

Hall of Fame Class of 1991

Two players were inducted into the Hall of Fame Class of 1991.

Pascal Brink, forward, Kirlow Kodiaks
Joaquin Outlaw, defenseman, Kirlow Kodiaks, Yubay Glaciers

Notable Retirements

Former Heralds and longtime Pioneers head coach Ted Gooden retired at 71 after 19 years of pro coaching. Gooden led Chasonne to a title in 1974. He also led the Pioneers to a pair of Cup appearances and was named Best Coach in 1980.

Earnest Schultz retired after a 19-year career between the Glaciers and Bucks. The big forward was the captain for the Bucks, a role he acquired in 1987 after being selected by them in the 19 expansion draft. He was originally drafted by the Glaciers in 1972 where he spent 7 seasons and won a Cup. Schultz was also an All-Star in 1985 for Abrieden.

Coaching Carousel

The carousel got into motion quickly as several teams made moves. The Falcons and Blaine Burchette mutually agreed to part ways after 20 years together while owner Dwight Dietrich fired GM Dave McEwen and AC Kris Fitts. The Heralds also cleaned house, firing 3-time Cup winner Kip Weller and GM Mac Russo. The Snappers fired HC Owen Zimmerman.

Dosa City signed Burchette to coach the team and brought in Mac Russo to be GM. The Falcons hired Weller and former Bucks AC Fred Campbell to their staff, along with Rusty Sykes to GM the team. The Heralds brought in Zimmerman and Fitts to their staff and Ulysess Weddle to be GM. The Pioneers promoted Burt Wentz to be interim head coach and hired Toledo to the staff.

Notable Free Agents

The Swans kicked off free agency by signing former Pioneers F Elisha Nadeau to a 3-year deal. The Barbarians signed goalie Joseph Blunt to a 2-year deal. The Whales signed former Neptunes F Rod Longo to a 3-year deal.

Former Herons forward Calvin Strozewski signed a 3-year deal with Bancana. Another former Heron, F Kenny Stokes, signed a 2-year deal with Kirlow.

Player Trades & Signings

The Herons traded goalie Jonah Urban to the Snappers for G Teddy Gruber and their '91 1st-round pick. Dosa City also sent their 2nd-round pick and F Quinton Sluitter to the Blazers for defenseman Fred Duckett.

With new management in town, the Heralds let it be known they were shopping F Gian Guiliano. The Snappers wanted to make it work but with their Urban trade they didn't have the resources. The Wizards came into play, offering players and picks. They sent their 1991 1st-round pick, F Jeremi Jogoda, and F Ronnie Curtis for Guiliano. The Heralds turned around and offered a bunch of picks to Sina for the 1st-overall pick but they were turned down. They sent D Johnnie Shipley and three first round picks to Abrieden for their 2nd-overall pick.

Priestley signed a new 3-year deal with the Whales, while Eric Caparros couldn't come to a longterm agreement and signed a 1-year deal. The Kodiaks re-signed Max Kopecky to a 1-year deal.

1991 Amateur Player Draft

With a flurry of trades, the draft order was all over the map but the prospect pool was a good one.

1 – SIN – F Patrick Quinn
Quinn is a young phenom in the making. He does everything well, has elite vision and speed, is a potent scorer and is a great leader. He will take over the hapless Serpents and give them some respect.

2 – CHA (via ABR) – F Fredric Perrault
The Heralds traded the farm for Perrault who is decidedly the second-best prospect in the pool and a very good player himself. He does lack some toughness and it will remain to be if he's worth it.

3 – PRE – D Gregor Jansson (Sweden)
This pick was tailor-made for the Blazers, who are focusing on defense after losing Duckett.

4 – FTB – F Kory Damron
The Rockets had a tough choice with the direction of their franchise but chose Damron who is a skilled passer.

5 – YUB – F Paul Tudor
The Falcons get some toughness in the Romanian Tudor who is an excellent winger.

6 – PTP – D Denny Van Horn
In a defensive heavy draft, the Pioneers select their man in Van Horn who is a skilled passer.

7 – YBG – D Henry White
The Glaciers like White's vision from the blue line.

8 – TRO – F Brian Zaragoza
The Herons have needs everywhere on an aging roster but Zaragoza is a fast forward who can score.

9 – ABR (via CHA) – D Gale Muncy
The Bucks grab a falling hometown kid in Muncy who is talented but still green between the ears.

10 – PA – D Vinny Lozano
The Anchors take Lozano who is the younger brother of Wizards goalie Arlie.

11 – TRO (via DC) – G Mike Sargent
12 – NAR – F Norris Locklear
13 – QUE – F Roland Gorman
14 – KUR – G Emil Boivin
15 – ABR (via CHA & ALK) – F Alec Gage
16 – AKB – D Jude Kilgore
17 – POR – F Ilya Kovacevic
18 – KRK – F Nic Lengyel
19 – KAV – D Pasquale Linton
20 – VEN – D Ron Waldrop
21 – ABR (via KIR & CHA) – F Mo Burge
22 – BAN – D Ivan Boesch

1991 Team Identity Changes

No teams made any identity changes in anticipation of the new uniform manufacturer set to begin in 1992. The league even cut costs by scheduling only one Hockey on the Mount game with a matchup between the Anchors and Whales and even decided to reuse their 1988 winter duds.

C&C always appreciated! No extra graphics on this offseason as I'll be redesigning most of the presentation to go with the new uniform template for 1992.

Up next: 1991 Season