Wow, sooooo close for the Peacocks. Even though the Unions were the heavy favorite, I'm glad the Peacocks didn't give them an easy time! 

Here's the 1969 offseason!

Entry Draft:

It was a simple draft this year, nothing too crazy. 7 rounds, but I'll cover the first here:

1 - SOL - C Ramandeep Sandu
2 - NEW - RW Jared Warshawski
3 - VER - C Dave McCain
4 - HOK - RD Aleksandr Ibragimov
5 - GEO - LD Dominik Tomasek
6 - AOI - C Robert Zapletal

The consensus is that Vertlac and Hokkyo got the most KLH-ready prospects, but Warshawski and Irabgimov show the most potential. 

Free Agency:

Aoishi star goalie Les Kilgore has resigned for 4 years, worth $4.48 million per year. The 28-year-old hopes to help the Unions repeat their championship.

Peacocks center Brian Nielsen reach an agreement with Georgeville to remain for another year. Nielsen expressed discontent with his role but was able to come to terms for one more year. They hope to compete for a championship this year after coming up just short last season.

Trades:

The Bullets and Explorers swapped players, with Hokkyo sending 36-year-old RW Jim Milton to Newton for 28-year-old goalie Topias Varakas. This should help the Bullets shore up their goaltending after sending Chris Burns to the Flames in a mid-season deal. Burns ended up winning goalie of the year in Sol, so Hokkyo is looking for ways to help their team out.

No identity changes were made in the offseason, but Masaru Kurosawa and Commissioner Takahiro Carter elaborated on a few things in the post-finals press conference.

According to Kurosawa, the deal that was reached with the RIBF included an agreement to not expand to cities in which the RIBF had a footprint for 15 years without approval from RIBF Commissioner Ishimoto Aoyama. However, this does not include the cities lined up for the RIBF's 1971 expansion, as clarified by Carter. He also stated that the KLH has no plans for expansion at the moment, and is simply focused on making the teams work in the cities they're currently in. 

NEXT: 1969-70 Season

Rugrat wrote:

Nice trade for my Bullets getting a little younger here. Here’s we can win it all next year

They're looking to improve, but fans are questioning the Burns trade, especially after he won Goalie of the Year.

1969-70 Season:



Vertlac leaped from fourth to first this year, thanks to the brilliant play of Jeremy Widdess, the consensus best player in the league this year. He was the leading scorer with 26 goals and 24 assists, good for 50 points, also the most in the league. Supporting him in the net where two excellent goalies, Gim Gu and Eric Andersson, who had the best and second-best goals against average in the league. 

Behind them were the Peacocks, who had the same record but lost the tiebreaker on goal differential. They were led once again by Leonid Yezhov, by far the best defenseman in the league. Center Brian Nielsen and goalie Jesse Plourde were also essential in getting Georgeville back to the Finals. 

Newton slightly improved from last year, but because Hokkyo suffered a bit they were able to come in third this season. LD Henry Perkins became the first Explorer to make an All-League team, though it's Second-Team. He was acquired from the Bullets in a mid-season trade for Kayle Cash. Not much else to say about Newton, they had a so-so year.

On the decline were the Bullets, who suffered without the outstanding goalie play of Chris Burns. After dealing Perkins to the Explorers, the Bullets relied on the contributions of Bill Marcker, Carlos Ortega, and Per Fransen to even get them through the season. 

Down at the bottom were the Unions, who were struggling. Les Kilgore was injured throughout the season and couldn't reach his levels of expertise from last year. Bill Sanderson and Luka Dimc were excellent this season but it wasn't enough as Aoishi found itself in 5th.

Yet again, Sol was in last. Without a solid defense line in front of him, goalie Chris Burns was not nearly as good this year, and the Flames had yet again the worst differential in the league. Bret Tiptoft regressed this year, and it showed as the Sol offense crawled to a halt in their games.

All-League Teams:


Georgeville will be returning to the Kurosawa Cup Finals, but this time will face off against the Vertlac Lumberjacks. In their season series, they split games 6-6. This should be a very good, with an overachieving Peacocks squad taking on the big market powerhouse down the road from them. The "Columbia Championship", as it's been called, is bound to be a good series!

NEXT: 1970 Kurosawa Cup Playoffs

Aw dang it Bullets! Hopefully we can get there eventully

ANDY! wrote:

Let's win it this time, peacocks!

Hopefully the Peacocks can perform slightly better than last year, this Lumberjacks team shouldn't be as good as the Unions were.

Rugrat wrote:

Aw dang it Bullets! Hopefully we can get there eventully

The Bullets have some potential, they just need to get themselves over the hump.

Steelman wrote:

Well, that's a bad way to follow up a championship. 

Yeah, I'm not quite sure why the Unions were so bad this year. Kilgore getting injured certainly didn't help, but they must've been hit with more injuries than I noticed.

1970 Kurosawa Cup Finals:



It was closer than the series score will say, but Vertlac comes out on top this year.

Game 1 - VER 2, GEO 0 - Georgeville just couldn't get an offense going as Vertlac takes game 1. VER 1-0

Game 2 - VER 2, GEO 1 (2OT) - The first of three straight OT games, the Peacocks had a 1-0 lead going into the 3rd period, but 11 minutes in Maxwell Cleveland tied it up before both teams stood firm in OT1. The second OT would be a different story as after 15 minutes Michael Clairmont sealed it for Vertlac. VER 2-0

Game 3 - VER 2, GEO 1 (OT) - Heading to Georgeville, the Peacocks desperately needed a win. They wouldn't get it as both teams' stars scored in the 2nd, Brian Nielsen for Georgeville and Jeremy Widdess for Vertlac. This time OT was quick as only 2:40 in Rodger O'Branagan sealed the deal. VER 3-0

Game 4 - GEO 3, VER 2 (OT) - With their backs against the wall the Peacocks squeaked out a win at home. Brian Nielsen tied it 2-2 in the 3rd before Leonid Yezhov sent an excellent pass to Augusts Ozolins for the win.

Game 5 - VER 2, GEO 1 - Back in Vertlac, the Peacocks couldn't do anything as the Lumberjacks just took over. Marcos Guevara scored what would be the winning goal in the 2nd period and the Peacocks just couldn't recover. VER 4-1

YOUR 1970 KUROSAWA CUP CHAMPIONS ARE: THE VERTLAC LUMBERJACKS!

Awards:



Aoishi winger Bill Sanderson took home MVP honors this year, Explorers defenseman Riley Cunningham was named rookie of the year, Korean star Gim Gu took home the goalie award, Leonid Yezhov repeated as defenseman of the year, and Oscar Mattisson grabbed the playoff MVP award. 

Yet another season in the books, with the Peacocks coming up just short once again. They have tons of talent, the 'Jacks just matched up better with them it seems. 

NEXT: 1970 Offseason