harper? I barely know 'er!

seriously, though, glad to see boston finally join the party, and glad to see that they look really nice. I really dig kingston's tower serifs too, so hopefully they can stick around a bit.

1921 MHL Offseason Part 2: Player Movement

It was a particularly busy offseason in the MHL, as two new teams had to start from scratch, while the two withdrawing teams had all their players available to sign. 

However, with reserve clauses in effect, teams needed to decide which of their players they would like to keep, and which would be let go. The first signing of the summer was the Bluebirds re-inking Moses Addison to a 7-year, $82,600 contract. Addison’s numbers weren’t spectacular, but the Bluebirds aren’t short-strapped for cash at all. The Wildcats re-signed Russian centre Vas Lopatin to a 4-year deal, while the newly-relocated Hamilton Steelers signed Robert Andrews and Byron Francis to 6 and 5-year deals, respectively.

After resignings were mostly finished, Teams scrambled to get first pickings at the available stars from Cleveland and Binghamton. The first domino to drop came from the Montreal Greys, who signed winger Joseph Champagne to a 6-year, $63,600 deal. 

People were expecting the next signing to be another big player from the two departing teams, but instead, the Brooklyn Kings shocked the MHL world by signing 19-year old amateur Gerald Washington to a 4-year, $52,000 deal. Washington played in New York’s league for Queens, and put up impressive numbers, especially for a teenager. He is a goal-scoring phenom that will definitely help boost an otherwise dismal Brooklyn team. 

The next big news pieces were the first signings of the two new franchises, Kingston and Boston. Kingston’s first signing was former Binghamton goaltender Kermit Ward. He was one of the top netminders in 20-21, posting a 2.74 GAA and 0.885 SV%. Ward is a native of nearby Perth, ON, and jumped on the chance to play closer to home. Boston’s first signing was a goalie as well, former Montreal Grey Alex Graham. While his stats were a little disappointing in 20-21, he was still seen as a good foundation for the team, instead of having a goalie without any pro experience. Graham had a 3.10 GAA and 0.875 SV% last season.

After these, the big signings came rolling in. the Steelers poached superstar defenseman Johnny Leblanc, who scored 40 goals in 47 games for the Wolves in 20-21. The Buffalo Colts signed a very similar player in Marco Galli, who was the defensive scoring leader for the Bears. After that, the Ottawa Lumbermen came out of nowhere to sign Cleveland centre Tom Robert to the biggest contract of free agency. Robert signed an 8-year, $132,000 contract. Soon after, the Chicago Wildcats made their splash, signing defenseman Harper Reid to a 6-year deal. 

There weren’t too many trades in the off-season. The most notable one was between The Greys and Pittsburgh. The Ints traded winger Paul Washington to the Greys in exchange for winger James Kartey and cash. The Ints were a little financially troubled after 20-21, and this cash consideration helped them feel more secure for the upcoming season.

Recap - Top 10 Signings:

Go Steelers! (Something i thought I’d never say in real life)

1921-22 Regular Season: First Half

The biggest change for the 1921-22 regular season was the true implementation of divisions. The 12 teams were divided into 2 divisions, where each team would play 24 of their 42 games against divisional opponents. The top 3 teams in each division would clinch playoff spots.

Scores from the league’s first games of the season included:
An 11-2 thrashing of the Barons by the hometown Bluebirds,
A tight 2-1 Colts victory against the expansion Sentinels,
An easy 4-0 Kings victory over the Lumbermen,
A surprising 3-0 road victory by the Harpers against the Greys,
A 3-1 victory for the Ints over the Wildcats,
And a fiery 3-1 victory for the Lakers over their rival Steelers.

Like the previous year, the Western Division had an overall better record than the East, although the gap was more closed. The west’s overall record was 65-61-3, while the east was 62-66-1.

In the west, the #1 seed was a surprise, the Buffalo Colts. They were the #1 team overall, and they were an all-around force. They had the #2 offence and #3 defence at the halfway point. However, they did play a higher number of home games compared to other teams, so the second half will definitely be harder for them. The Colts sit at 15-6-1.

Behind the Colts are the Internationals. After a disappointing inaugural campaign, the team seems to be playing much better hockey this year. Their defence has been lights out so far this year, the only team averaging less than 3 goals against per game. A big part of this is goalie Dennis Jones, who makes big saves at big times. The Ints sit at 13-9.

Surprisingly only one point behind second are the upstart Kingston Sentinels. Despite pretty much every projection giving them a hard time, they’ve defied the odds so far. Their offence is still clearly a work in progress, but the goaltending of Kermit Ward has given them a 12-8-1 record through half the season. He’s been spectacular, with an astounding 0.911 SV%, far and away the best in the league.

Another surprise at the halfway point was the Toronto Lakers being outside the playoff picture. They’re still very much in it, though they were expected to be much more like the dominant team they were in 20-21. Outside of the Lakers, the remaining two teams were pretty futile. The Chicago Wildcats don’t look like they’ve improved their skill or play as they sit at 7-14. Lastly, the relocation of the Steelers seems to have taken a toll on them, as they sit at a measly 6-15, including an 0-8 divisional record.

In the east, it was the New York Bluebirds on top, and their record makes them seem WORSE than they actually are. Despite being 14-7, they have both the #1 offence and defence statistically. They’ve scored an average of 4.7 goals per game, while only giving up an average of 2.8. As well, they have all of the league’s top 3 scorers at the halfway point. So yeah, the Bluebirds are a wagon and should be the #1 seed overall by the end of the year.

Sitting 2nd in the east was the other New York team, the Brooklyn Kings. It was a remarkable improvement from their disastrous 14-36 record a year before. Players were contributing, fewer mistakes were being made, and the vibes overall were much better. Despite all this, their record is still only 11-10, so they should still be considered lucky that they’re in the east, as that wouldn’t be good enough to get them a spot in the West.

Holding the final playoff spot were the Montreal Greys. Despite having the lowest-scoring offence in the whole league, they still somehow had a playoff spot. However, credit does have to be given to their defence and goaltending, which made remarkable improvements from the previous year. Particularly goalie Alan Clercius, who rose up from obscurity to become of the MHL’s better goaltenders. They sit at 11-10, behind Brooklyn on tiebreakers.

Just outside the playoff picture are the Ottawa Lumbermen. They’re like a reverse of the Bluebirds this year in that their record should be worse than it is. They sit at 11-11, but have a -17 goal differential, among the lowest in the league. In fifth are the expansion Boston Harpers, who are having a pretty decent year considering they had to start from scratch. They sit at 8-13-1. Last place in the division are the Montreal Barons, who have come crashing down from their great inaugural season. Their offence has been fine, but the defence has been horrendous, already in triple-digit goals against. 


(credit to Scratch for the idea of putting each team's abbreviation next to the logo while the league is still starting up)


League Leaders:

Goals: 
Andrew Moehring (NYB/USA) (21)
Paul Washington (MTG/CAN) (19)
Jacques Barbe (NYB/CAN) (18)

Assists:
Lewis Urban (BRK/CAN) (10)
Ronald Nicholson (BUF/CAN) (9)
Lewis Brown (BRK/CAN) (9)

Points:
Andrew Moehring (NYB/USA) (26)
Jacques Barbe (NYB/CAN) (22)
David Price (NYB/USA) (21)

Save Percentage:
Kermit Ward (KGN/CAN) (0.911)
Alan Clercius (MTG/CAN) (0.901)
Alex Graham (BOS/CAN) (0.896)

Goals Against Average:
Dennis Jones (PIT/CAN) (2.28)
Moses Addison (NYB/USA) (2.30)
Kermit Ward (KGN/CAN) (2.45)

1921-22 Regular Season: Second Half

The second half of the season had some surprises, and movement in the standings.

In the west, it was the Pittsburgh Ints that took the top spot and first-round bye. They didn’t necessarily have any major improvements in their play, but they did play consistently well throughout, while competing teams didn’t. Their defense was the big key to their success, allowing the lowest amount of goals in the league, at 2.86 per game. Dennis Jones also stood tall when the defense had slip-ups. The Ints finished at 26-16, 5 points clear of second.

Finishing second were the Buffalo Colts, who declined sharply in the second half. However, the reasons for this were a little out of their control, as financial problems off the ice resulted in players being unable to play certain games, as they weren’t able to pay their salary for those games. This lead to an 8-12 record across their final 20 games, and a drop from the 1 seed to the 2 seed. Buffalo finished at 23-18-1.

Finishing third by the narrowest of margins were the defending champion Toronto Lakers. They were neck-and-neck with Kingston until the very last day, when a win and Sentinels loss secured them the last spot off the 2nd tiebreaker. Toronto finished at 22-19-1.

Kingston had an amazing inaugural season, but just couldn’t get the job done on the final day of the season. Their defense and goaltending were fantastic, but the offense was just too underwhelming to help them when it mattered. They only scored 126 goals all year, worst in the league. The Sentinels finished at 22-19-1.

The fifth and sixth spots belonged to the Chicago Wildcats and Hamilton Steelers, who both continued their futile play to the end of the year. Barely anything went right for either team, and they took the bottom two spots in the league, by a decent margin. Chicago finished at 13-27-2, while Hamilton finished at 13-28-1.

In the East, it was the New York Bluebirds who found a different gear in the second half. They showed that their 14-7 record at the halfway point made them look worse than they actually were. They finished with over 200 goals, more than 30 over the next-closest team. Their defense was rock-solid too. They won 16 of their last 21 games, and finished with a league-best record of 30-11-1. The Bluebirds are far and away the favourites to win the Abbott Cup.

Finishing in second were the Montreal Greys, who played much more consistently in the second half. Their offense was much better, and the defense and goaltending were solid as they had been in the first half. Paul Washington was a big boost to them, getting them goals when they needed them. The Greys finished at 25-17, clinching home ice for the first round of the playoffs.

Coming in third and snatching the final playoff spot were the Boston Harpers, a major surprise. While they still did finish below 0.500, they had a very good second half for an expansion team, beating out the 3 other Eastern teams for the hotly-contested final spot. Interestingly, despite having the worse record of the two expansion teams, due to conference restrictions, they were the only one that clinched a playoff spot.

The final 3 spots in the east belonged to the Ottawa Lumbermen, the Montreal Barons, and the Brooklyn Kings, respectively. Ottawa fought to the end, but just couldn’t get it done when it counted. Montreal, on the other hand, dug too deep of a hole in the first half to get a playoff spot, despite their strong second half. Brooklyn just fell apart in the second half. They didn’t have any financial problems as an excuse, they just couldn’t do anything well on the ice.



League Leaders:

Goals: 
Andrew Moehring (NYB/USA) (39)
Jacques Barbe (NYB/CAN) (36)
Paul Washington (MTG/CAN) (36)

Assists:
Lewis Urban (NYB/CAN) (20)
Ben Burke (PIT/CAN) (16)
David Price (NYB/USA) (14)

Points:
Andrew Moehring (NYB/USA) (48)
Jacques Barbe (NYB/CAN) (42)
Paul Washington (MTG/CAN) (40)

Save Percentage:
Kermit Ward (KGN/CAN) (0.916)
Alan Clercius (MTG/CAN) (0.911)
Alex Graham (BOS/CAN) (0.900)

Goals Against Average:
Alan Clercius (MTG/CAN) (2.29)
Dennis Jones (PIT/CAN) (2.30)
Kermit Ward (KGN/CAN) (2.34)

Playoff Preview:

W2 - Buffalo Colts vs W3 - Toronto Lakers
Even though Buffalo has home-ice advantage and is the higher seed, their financial troubles in the second half are making them look like the underdogs here. The Lakers are looking to pounce on this opportunity, and they have the playoff experience to do it, having won the Abbott Cup last year.

In terms of head-to-head, Toronto was dominant, winning 4 of the 5 matchups between the two. However, 3 of Toronto’s 4 wins were by a single goal, while Buffalo’s victory was a convincing 4-1 win. However, it doesn’t matter how much you win by, as long as you win. Toronto should be able to close them out like they did in the regular season.

My pick: Toronto wins it in 4, and advances to Pittsburgh.

E2 - Montreal Greys vs E3 - Boston Harpers
A matchup of playoff newbies, this is gonna be a very intriguing series. Neither team’s offense is anything to write home about, but the defense and goaltending from both sides have been good as of late.

Boston won the season series, winning 3 out of 5 games. However, the Greys outscored them 16-14 across those 5 games. They match up pretty evenly, so there doesn’t look like a clear-cut favourite here.

My pick: Boston makes it a tough fight, but the Greys end up taking the series in 5.