This offseason might be a little long. I'll start with the first part of the THL offseason and circle back to it afterward. In the future, offseason posts will become a little more concise.

1975 THL OFFSEASON

The offseason opened with some good news for the Falcons faithful in Sava Side. With Leo Rankin still in a coma and not looking good, his wife Lynette had pushed her case all the way to the federal court level and a judge overturned the previous ruling regarding Barry Boyle. Upon receiving sole ownership of the team in her husband's incapacitated state, Lynette then formed a team of lawyers to push a settlement with Boyle to permanently alter Leo's will should he pass away soon. Boyle fought tooth and nail against it but finally suddenly relented under one condition; that he could take the players he'd drafted with him. He showed proof of contract that indeed showed that Boyle had shrewdly and underhandedly had his rookies sign non-standard agreements that gave him sole power of their contracts, not the team. Unable to get around this, and not understanding Boyle's motive for keeping players, Lynette agreed to the terms and took over current and future possession of the franchise minus Boyle's draft picks. The Falcons Faithful in Yubay rejoiced at the news.

A Huge Announcement in Torland

Immediately after closing the deal with Lynette Rankin, a press conference was announced by Barry Boyle who proceeded to shock the THL by declaring a rival professional hockey league was being formed with play beginning immediately in 1975. It appeared that Boyle had already laid the groundwork for the rival league and teams and owners and venues were already set into place.

THL Offseason to be continued...

Up next: A rival league is introduced


UNITED HOCKEY ALLIANCE – 1975 Introduction


As it became clear after his press conference that Barry Boyle had been angling behind the scenes to create his own league from the start, more details began to emerge on the new league. He named it the United Hockey Alliance (UHA) and had secured franchise fees for eight initial teams from potential owners, including his buddy Bart Alcorn. While the THL had been slow to migrate to the west coast and especially toward the southern regions, Boyle wasted no time in securing contracts with southern cities, including two huge untapped markets in Alko and Bancana, two of the largest metropolitan areas in Torland. Boyle first decided to encroach on THL territory by flattering big money mogul James McKinney in Trowburgh to finance a team and renovate the old Trowburgh Arena. He then moved south into a known growing hockey area in New Dosa and worked out contracts for three new teams in the state, including Dosa City, Prestonburg and the capital district in Vensessor.

Boyle then encroached a little more by getting as close to Yubay as he could with a team in Podangrad which he bookmarked for Bart Alcorn. Heading south, a team for Reto Bay was added to give a natural rival between Bancana and Alko. Boyle had worked so quickly and quietly that nobody in the THL organization even knew about what was happening. The new league and cities announcement was shocking enough to the THL but a second announcement shook them to their core.

The eight cities were officially: Alko, Bancana, Dosa City, Podangrad, Prestonburg, Reto Bay, Trowburgh, and Vensessor.



The Reserve Clause

With already a handful of top-level prospects in hand from the Falcons, Boyle had a series of meetings with players' union president Rod Temple of the Torland Union of Hockey Players (TUHP) (usually colloquially pronounced “tupp”) with an eye toward drastically altering the money landscape in pro hockey. TUHP and Rod Temple had been fighting for player contract reform as the THL ardently adhered to a 'reserve clause' style of roster management, which allowed teams the right to effectively re-sign players back to the team every season automatically. Players were not allowed to switch teams unless traded or released by the team, but even then most teams simply assigned players to their Indy League affiliate rather than outright release. Boyle announced that the UHA would not adhere to the reserve clause and that they would set new records for contract deals. Boyle and the new owners immediately set about luring as many THL players as they could which caused a massive shakeup in Torland professional sports.

Defections / Major Signings

The first huge commitment to the UHA, aside from the players that Boyle had effectively stolen from the Falcons, was former star MVP forward Gary Wisniewski, who obtained a mutual release from Chasonne after they couldn't agree on his team role at an advanced age. Gary Wiz maintained he wanted to play until 40 but the Heralds weren't interested, despite his revival in the '74 playoffs, and agreed to his release. Gary Wiz immediately called the Anchors and asked if he could play for them again but they also declined. Despite some reservations about Barry Boyle, Gary Wiz decided to sign with the UHA.

Longtime Anchors backup goalie Norman Dello also worked out a release, as the Anchors wanted to promote rookie Bo Broadway into the mix. Pioneers forward Tyson Sallee secured a release due to age and Portarra being unwilling to re-sign him.

The bigger shock came when several players contacted Rod Temple and asked for guidance to jump ship to the UHA after being offered record deals by Barry Boyle. Starting with former two-time MVP D Joaquin Outlaw in Kirlow, Neptunes forward Evan Starling, Captains forward Chris Wydra, Glaciers defenseman Trent Wiesman, and Anchors forward Jerry Haake all defected from the THL and committed to record-setting longterm contracts with the UHA. The Anchors were particularly vehemently incensed by the proceedings and immediately filed a lawsuit against Haake which sparked a wave of similar suits by the THL that went all the way to the federal level. Ultimately, an injunction was ruled against the THL which allowed the players to begin play in the UHA.

F Gary Wisniewski (release)
G Norman Dello (release)
D Joaquin Outlaw (defection)
F Evan Starling (defection)
F Bobby Sallee Jr. (Boyle)
F Chris Wydra (defection)
G Chris Daniau (Boyle)
F Rodrigo Redden (Boyle)
F Jerry Razzo (Boyle)
D Trent Wiesman (defection)
F Jerry Haake (defection)
F Tyson Sallee (release)
F Steve Kohanski (defection)

Up next: 1975 UHA Offseason, Draft, and Team Identities

Wow!  Have I missed a lot!  Yay to the Heralds winning the Marcotte Cup!  And what a crazy story, to have an earthquake during a game!  Once again Steel, congrats on another awesome season and great story-telling!

Very interested to see how this rival league story plays out!  The only question is whether they'll ultimately fail like the WHA or if they can stick around long enough to at least merge a merger with the THL!

QCS wrote:

Wow, what an offseason! A rival league with stolen players, encroached territories, and defected stars! This is sure to shake up Torland hockey, even if Boyle eventually gets pushed out by the leagues working together. I assume some kind of merger will occur, although maybe not every team will join.

Obviously I'm using the WHL and NHL as inspiration so I think it will most likely parallel them but I'm also keeping it open in case different storylines develop. So we'll see what happens!

Stickman wrote:

Wow!  Have I missed a lot!  Yay to the Heralds winning the Marcotte Cup!  And what a crazy story, to have an earthquake during a game!  Once again Steel, congrats on another awesome season and great story-telling!
Very interested to see how this rival league story plays out!  The only question is whether they'll ultimately fail like the WHA or if they can stick around long enough to at least merge a merger with the THL!

Thanks man! Good to see you back. Congrats to your Heralds!

I really don't have an endgame yet, so we'll see how the rival league changes things.

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

A rival league sounds exciting! And just out of curiosity, are there some U.S. or Canadian comparisons for these cities at the time, just to get a better picture about the state of the league at this point?

Good question. I have referenced some North American cities in the original write ups to describe them. I also have modern population values but haven't retrograded any of them to what they may have looked like in this time period. I'll do a quick reference guide though with comparisons and populations soon so everyone can keep track.

Alko and Bancana both look great. I really like the color scheme for the Wildcats and the striping from the Kings.

The Kings in particular look fantastic to me!  Really creative to put the crown inside the B instead of on top of it like you'd expect.  While I can't look at the city name of Bancana without getting hungry (the wording being a yellow color doesn't help, lol) I definitely think this is great way to kick off the new UHA in style!

With the Wildcats, I do love the color scheme a lot (Red and orange are one of my favorite sports team color combos).  The logo is mostly pretty good.  Modern, yes, but still pretty good.  However, I would consider a slight redesign on the nose part.   Turn it upside down and well, it's probably a good thing the internet wasn't invented yet, lol.  They'd have a field day with that element!   

Joke aside, it's a pretty solid design too!

Great job as always!   Hey, by the way, if you get time, would you be willing to make a sig with the Heralds logo and championship years on it?