1965 OFFEASON (Part 2)

Before Marcotte's retirement there was an exhaustive search for potential new owners and locations. A handful of candidates stood out the most, with Roddy Paquette leading the way. Paquette, from Rosran, had lived and worked in Kirlow before going international with his transport businesses. A former hockey player who had played in overseas leagues as well as local Indy leagues, Paquette began backing the "Bring Back The Kodiaks!" campaign that the city of Kirlow had been pushing since the unfortunate demise of the original Kodiaks team. With the aged Delba Center demolished, the city struggled to raise enough funds to finish a new center. Paquette decided to help finance the building in hopes of also landing a pro team. The brand new Orchard Center was finished just before the end of the 1964 season and Paquette put up his bid to bring back the Kodiaks. Commissioner Marcotte, long a supporter of hockey in Kirlow, granted him an expansion franchise. Paquette became an instant local hero in Kirlow as the fans sold out the arena's home games before a team had even been assembled. In contrast to the first time, the enraged fan support should help offset building costs and any growing pains the team may have this time around.

Now looking for a second expansion team to round out the league to eight teams, Marcotte had trouble finding a suitable bid. After Harlan Durant moved the Saints to Narva, and deals fell through for potential bids in Trowburgh, Fort Bevin, Lecayne, Quebel, Kavalos, Prestonburg and even for a second team in Portarra, Marcotte was out of ideas. With the instant success of pro hockey in Yubay, several businessmen had banded together to fund a new arena in the Niko side of Yubay for a second team. Construction halted halfway as most of the shareholders bailed, leaving Valenreck native Sterling Aquino holding the bill. Aquino, hearing about Marcotte's troubles, made an offer for the league to finance the remaining half of the stadium and shares, and Aquino would submit a bid and finance a new team if he was guaranteed a golden parachute and no financial loss in the deal if the franchise went under in the first three years. Marcotte, desperate to finalize the expansions and retire, accepted the deal, much to the chagrin of the other owners who were wary of the terms. While Aquino is a respected businessman, they felt that the team was set up to fail from the start and publicly blasted Marcotte and the city of Yubay for allowing it to happen. The city, however, approved their side of the deal, eager to bring in more cash flow into the city. The Glacier Dome, a magnificent structure, was built along the waterside in Candlelight Point and projected to be playable just before the start of the new season. Despite many reservations, the deal was done and Yubay would have a second team, which Aquino named the Glaciers after the new building.

After some delays, both teams unveiled their new identities.

1965 Kirlow Kodiaks: The Kodiaks Are Back!




Quick Facts: 

• City: Kirlow, Lismane
• Nickname: Kodiaks
• Owner: Roddy Paquette
• Head Coach: Sam Bennett
• Home Ice: Orchard Center, Kirlow, LM

About the City:

Much like their sister city in Buffalo, New York, the city of Kirlow is tough, blue-collar, rabid, and fiercely proud of their town. Kirlow's position at the lower point of Cooley Bay and entrance to the western regions of Torland make it a critical junction for supply chains and rail transport. The Delba River is fast-flowing and home to hundreds of tugboats pushing or pulling barges to and from the bay. A major automobile and tractor plant is also located in the town, among other hard-working industries, including one of Torland's famous motorcycle companies. Being home to many engineers from Wingate College, Kirlow is generally well-built and maintained, featuring an excellent road system. The Delba Arena is old however, and the city has been trying to finance a new building with no luck. Cash flow is not strong in the general economy, though the city is nowhere close to going bankrupt. Unlike other cities, Kirlow is general self-sustained and doesn't import much of anything, so while cash is low, the stability and structure of the city make it appealing. The people themselves are well-known rabid fans, especially of their hockey teams, with the whole city nearly shutting down for Wingate games and local independent league games.

About the Identity:

Original identity can be viewed here.

In the first incarnation of the Kodiaks under Bernard Willard, a K-Claw logo was used which became popular, along with an iconic brown/blue/cream combo. Even after the team left town, fan support was still high, with plenty of Kodiaks gear being worn by the city. With the return of the team, new owner Roddy Paquette tried to use as much of the old imagery and style as possible in designing a new look with Zeal Athletics. Zeal decided to go for a throwback classic look, creating a new logo of a standing bear in a hockey sweater with the old K-Claw on it. The bear will be a very unique logo in the league. The brown-cream-blue combo was kept and a new, sleeker striping design introduced as the original chest stripe was removed. The away sweater has a half-yoke and cream socks.


1965 Yubay Glaciers: A New Crosstown Rival In Yubay, the Glaciers Stake Their Claim in Niko Side




Quick Facts:

• City: Yubay, Tamokeva
• Nickname: Glaciers
• Owner: Sterling Aquino
• Head Coach: Merle Sharpe
• Home Ice: Glacier Dome

About the City:

Known as the "Frozen City" for its location in the northwest corner of Torland which receives severe winter weather, the city of Yubay is anything but frozen in their extroverted culture and ideals. It is one of the largest cities in Torland, though not often seen as a true tourist destination, Yubay is a bustling, sprawling port as the gateway to the western Pacific and the Asias. With a deep water harbor in the Yertas Bay, shipping is able to stay active even during the harsh winter months of ice and snow. The city is both large and crowded, with a mish-mash of streets and infrastructure haphazardly placed due to the summer frenzy of construction every year during the sunny months. The city is packed with manufacturers, businesses large and small, factories, warehouses, industrial plants, all utilizing the numerous docks and wharves and modes of transportation. The city is also home to some of Torland's few oil refineries and crude oil businesses who use the seaport as a headquarters for rigs in the Pacific. Yubay has a large Russian and eastern Asian population, and is known as an immigrant-friendly city, though it has also caused the city to be divided into cultural quarters. The Yertas River, coming down from the northern points of the Tamokeva Mountains for which the long west-coast state is named, essentially divides the city in half and creates a natural rivalry and factions within the greater city populace. The eastern half, also known as the Niko Side, is considered more upscale and more wealthy. The western half, known as the Sava Side, is decidedly lower class, with larger dirty businesses and immigrant communities fostering a rougher exterior. Popular mythology is that Sava and Niko, the early settlers of the area, were once friends but had a vicious land dispute and took different sides of the river, never to speak to another again. While the truth of the origin story is in doubt, the difference between the sides of the city are quite stark. Yubay is in constant cultural clash because of it, but are diehard supporters of their city and lands. The economy is strong, even if the city is constantly divided, and people have continued to flock to the area. Hockey is essentially the official sport of the area and strongly followed.

See a Map of Yubay: https://i.imgur.com/gUeSgJg.png

About the Identity:

With the odd arrangement of the new team in Yubay, Marcotte disputed who should be given rights to craft an identity for the team. Aquino had a deal in place with Apex but Marcotte nixed it, citing their share in the stadium and needing to be involved in the complete design. Aquino retorted that it was his team, but then relented and told Marcotte, "Design whatever the hell you want, put 'em in clown suits for all I f****** care. I just want my damn team." Marcotte was stunned by the response but proceeded ahead anyway with his own ideas for a design done by the in-house team for the THL headquarters. They designed a glacier with a script Y inside in the colors of red and teal as co-primaries, paired with Torland cream. Many fans instantly disliked the logo, saying it looked like a soggy pizza slice, while others liked it but not the color scheme.. Eager to be done with the mess though, Marcotte approved it and told the team to quickly design some uniforms to go with it. The team came up with a classic design along with sleeve tips and outlined shoulder yokes that was more well-received and helped smooth some of the rough waters on the reveal, although the uniforms were jokingly referred to as the Glaciers' "Clown Suits" once Aquino's comments were leaked. The fans were won over by Aquino's crusty moxie and embraced supporting their new team on the Niko Side.

Up next: Expansion and Amateur Drafts

C&C most definitely appreciated on the new looks!

Section30 wrote:

Glad to see the Kodiaks are back! I really like the logo and I think it definitely should stay the primary logo, but I don't think it really works on the jersey. I would bring back the claw logo for the jerseys and use the Bear logo as the main logo.

I'm looking forward to the rivalry with the Glaciers, Go Falcons!

Thanks for the feedback! I think you're right. I wanted to put the bear on there for throwback purposes later, but I think we'll definitely see the K-Claw return to the sweater pretty soon.

Stickman wrote:

I definitely agree with Section 30 here, I don't think the bear works entirely well on the jerseys, it blends a bit into the home jersey even with the outline.  That being said, it is a great logo and should definitely stay as the primary logo!

It's awesome to see this team come back!  Brown and blue is an interesting color combination.  My wife and I were just talking about brown jerseys the other day and she mentioned that brown and blue could be a good combo.  Looking at the Kodiaks, I agree with her!

As for the Glaciers, I actually kinda dig the "clown suits" with their "soggy pizza slice" logo!   I was originally going to say it seems a bit early for teal to be in use, (before remembering the Miami Dolphins existed during this time and they used a teal-ish color) but it is a nice jersey overall!   Everything about this team story-wise screams potential disaster financially, but I hope they do well.  Really looking forward to a Falcons-Glaciers rivalry, especially when you consider the owners of the two teams involved.  Aquino and Rankin (who don't hear much from anymore) seem like they've been two of the biggest personalities (out of non-players anyway) introduced so far, so for them to be rival owners from the same city seems destined for awesomeness.

Thanks for the feedback, Stickman. Much appreciated! I've got an idea for the standing bear logo to help complete it more, so I'll post that as a retroactive adjustment if it works. The standing bear will probably become the first team with a shoulder patch logo and the K-Claw become the sweater primary. I definitley am a fan of brown color schemes (except for the actual Browns. I'm a Steelers fan.) so it was fun to tweak a blue that didn't clash with the brown.

I actually like how the Glaciers logo turned out but I couldn't unsee the pizza look when my brother saw it. Ha. I originally was going to use purple for them since purple is the state color in Tamokeva, but I accidentally found that teal color and couldn't resist how it looked. Happy coincidence.

I haven't pushed as many owner storylines, but you've nailed it on the new Yubay rivalry. Rankin has been working hard behind the scenes to build the roster and gain some financial stability and is hoping the fruit of his labor will produce results sooner rather than later. The huge upset of Chasonne moved that timeline forward in a major way. Having seen those results up close and personal, Aquino is definitely looking to make a major splash as well, a real go big or go home attempt, thus his inclusion of the golden parachute if it all goes south. Both teams in Yubay have the potential to really shake things up.

1965 OFFEASON (Part 3)

Expansion Draft

The new-look Kodiaks selected Chasonne's Morton Geary, a 28-year-old first liner forward with a balanced skill set. Choosing second, the brand-new Yubay Glaciers chose respected Port Alrene veteran forward Dalton Causey to lead their new team.

With the newly branded Narva Neptunes making a decision to not place an exception on goalie Reed Darling, the Kodiaks brought him back, as Darling was an original member of the first incarnation of the Kodiaks.

1965 Amateur Player Draft


Before the first league wide amateur draft was to be held, a special vote was made concerning the new franchises to determine draft order. A lottery was held, with the Glaciers winning first overall pick, followed by a lucky bounce for Kirkenport, and then Narva and finally Kirlow. A special addendum to the first round would be added with the Glaciers and Kodiaks choosing again each twice before the start of the second round.

With the draft order sorted out, the league waited with held breath to hear about the decisions of coveted talent Peter Isaksson, an Icelandic forward with incredible scoring ability, and Polish goaltender Ernie Bukowski. The announcement came that Bukowski decided to stay in Poland for at least another year but Isaksson would be on his way. This made the Glaciers choice at #1 a no-brainer, even with Isaksson already 21 years old.

1st Round - 1965

1 - YBG - F Peter Isaksson
An all-world type of talent, Isaksson figures to be the central cog for the Glaciers right away. Quiet guy who leads by play, Isaksson will need to learn how to lead a team but the talent is unquestionable.

2 - KRK - F Keenan Draper
Draper is 23 and already a polished scoring forward. He's not as physical as the Captains would prefer so he'll need to work on his strength to keep up in the pros.

3 - NAR - F Kris Kotulak
Kotulak is young (18) and incredibly raw, but with a year or two to develop through the rocky times, he can be a great top line player.

4 - KIR - D Joaquin Outlaw
A tough, heady player with a penchant for the dramatic, Outlaw is an instant impact player on any team with his energy and relentless style. He can be streaky at times but with the right coaching, an all-star caliber blue liner.

5 - YUB - D Allen Lombardi
Lombardi is a big boy and as tough as they come. Serviceable on offense and destructive on defense, he can lead the top unit by example and skill. Potential all-star.

6 - POR - F Cole Nieto
Nieto is an intriguing prospect as a do-it-all forward and overachiever. His age (27) is a concern but he's built to thrive under pressure and a glue guy on a top line.

7 - PA - F Jerrold Lancaster
Another prospect a bit long in the tooth, Lancaster has plenty of unrealized potential but struggles in the mental game. Tough guy who could be a great 3rd scoring option on a good roster with less pressure.

8 - CHA - F Kurtis Romstadt
Romstadt is a bit of an unknown commodity, a late-bloomer in hockey after starting in baseball and football. Found the ice and showed a natural aptitude for scoring but his skating and hockey IQ are still raw.

With an extended draft to fill out the rosters for the two new teams, both the Glaciers and Kodiaks found enough talent in the late rounds to hopefully be competitive for the new season.


The New Shape of the League Landscape

With the two new expansion teams and the relocation, the landscape of the league is growing and becoming a fixture in Torland and its culture.



Many player names are also becoming household names and developing followings even outside of the hockey circles. Several players have become known by a single name or nickname, such as the Wiz (Gary Wisniewski), Geno (Pasternak), or well-respected surnames, such as Kauffman, O'Reilly, and Haight. With the influx of players into the expanded league, a rush to purchase the sweaters of the fan's favorite players became a big trend in Torland.


- Star denotes THL All-Star, R denotes rookie.

Team Banners

As more fans in Torland and around the world showed their team spirit, all of the teams grew their merchandise lines to facilitate the demand.










(Feel free to use any of these sigs!)

Up next: 1965 Season

As always, C&C appreciated! Thanks for supporting this project and growing league.

Last edited by Steelman (8/21/2019 11:25 pm)

Shocked that the Captains pass up on outlaw and nieto. Seem more their type of play.