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3/17/2023 12:09 am  #911


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0



1991 REGULAR SEASON


Willard Division: In the first week the Whales had a scare with a nasty knee injury to Bill Bronkowski that nearly derailed the season. D Eli Priestley kept them in the hunt until Bronko could return late in the year and squeak into a wildcard spot. Meanwhile the Anchors made good use of it and rose to the top of the division behind great play from Jack Kovak and JoJo Gorka. It was the Sina Serpents who looked like a different squad with rookie #1 pick Patrick Quinn taking control of the leadership and helped them to a team-first playoff berth. Both the Rockets and Pioneers struggled as their teams are aging or rebuilding.

Hatch Division: The Kodiaks picked up where they left off and ran roughshod on the division, notching another title. Stellar play from the whole unit earned them a Louis Trophy for best record as the Romanovs had no trouble behind a sticky defense and tight net play from Rocco LaPlante. The Swans struggled early but came about late behind Ray Parrino to notch the 4-seed. Just behind them, the Wizards adjusted with Gian Guilano and Sam Sebastian finally took off as Alko found enough chemistry to earn a wildcard. The Blazers put up a good fight but faded late as the season was a good showing for some of the young players. The Neptunes showed a major drop-off in talent as their stars have aged or retired. The Herons' rebuild was as expected, finishing in last place while still managing to play exciting hockey.

Elam Division: John Roszak led the league in scoring and earned an MVP trophy as he led the Captains to the division title and the 2-seed. Stingy defense by Len Rutkowski and G Vassily Wuopio kept the other teams at bay. The Snappers, though, made a good showing and surged ahead of the faltering Crusaders and Barbarians to earn a playoff berth behind good play from David Tennfjord and an invigorated D Steven Orban. Quebel disappointed for a second straight season as the forwards suffered too many injuries and scoring was a problem. The Barbarians had trouble winning games even though Frankie Albertelli did his best. The Heralds were expected to be bad and focused on development as top rookie Fredric Perreault looked good in limited action.

Rankin Division: Kings' goalie Manu Harmaajarvi put the division on lockdown as he played a magical season in the net, earning Best Goalie while Pete Lentini and Co did enough to win the division. The Electrics kept pace for most of the season behind lights-out scoring from Denis Lemieux, who has taken the reins from Leo Stendahl, and earned a 9th-straight playoff berth. The young Falcons showed major improvement as Bobby Kozun and Bryan Klein were tough to stop and the Sava Side is becoming exciting again. The Killers saw a huge year from goalie Austin Ellis go to waste as the offense was decimated with injuries and the team missed the playoffs. The Glaciers expected to improve but didn't make much progress as some wonder if head coach Pete Clayton is holding them back. The Bucks played better even with a bad roster but remained the second-worst team in the league as the staff has a lot of work to do to improve the team.



Hockey on the Mount:

A tepid version of HOTM due to budget cuts in anticipation of the '92 acquisition of Elite Vision, the turnout was small but the game ended up being good. The Anchors pulled out a win against a banged up Whales squad without Bronkowski.



Playoff Preview:

Serpents vs Whales
Sina's introduction to the playoffs is a date with the battled-hardened Whales who are finally healthy

Snappers vs Wizards
DC's been pesky all season while the Wizards are finally seeing some chemistry

Kings vs Electrics
These teams know each other well and could make for a long series

Anchors vs Swans
These teams are fairly evenly-matched and the bookmakers are at odds on who is better

Byes: Kodiaks, Captains

C&C always appreciated!
Up next: 1991 playoffs



AHS Admin. Creator of the THLPUCHWHA: Redux and Retroliga.
 

3/17/2023 7:55 am  #912


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0

Sina just decided “I’m done with being mid, time to step up and push in.”




Charlotte Racers (2016 AltHL Champions) St. Louis Explorers (2000 & 2011 AltBowl Champions) Minnesota Giants (2000, 2004, 2006 & 2014 AltBA Champions)
"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor. That is a pepper, of course."
 

3/21/2023 7:40 pm  #913


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0

Well, well.  Sina's in the playoffs, eh?   Stinks that they got a rough first round matchup, but it's still nice to see them make the postseason!

Really loving how clean those HOTM Anchors jerseys are.   I wouldn't mind seeing that more often!   Am I seeing this right?   They have a -44 goal differential?!   Impressive that they got into the playoffs at all!

I'm gonna pick the Kodiaks to repeat as champions with a hard fought win over the Captains.  Can't wait to see how it all plays out!




 

3/23/2023 11:29 pm  #914


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0

ProsecutorMilesEdgeworth wrote:

Sina just decided “I’m done with being mid, time to step up and push in.”

Patrick Quinn looks like the real deal. He immediately supercharged that team and took advantage of the Whales' injuries.

Stickman wrote:

Well, well.  Sina's in the playoffs, eh?   Stinks that they got a rough first round matchup, but it's still nice to see them make the postseason!

Really loving how clean those HOTM Anchors jerseys are.   I wouldn't mind seeing that more often!   Am I seeing this right?   They have a -44 goal differential?!   Impressive that they got into the playoffs at all!

I'm gonna pick the Kodiaks to repeat as champions with a hard fought win over the Captains.  Can't wait to see how it all plays out!

​I think we'll eventually see versions of the HOTM jerseys make their way into part time third sets later in the decade.

So that was a typo, the Anchors were +44. That did make me curious to see if any team had ever won a division title with negative scoring differential. I didn't think it was likely. Wouldn't ya know it, one team did it. The 1984 Chasonne Heralds won a weak Elam Division with a -14 differential. The second-place Crusaders were +3 but won two fewer games.
 



AHS Admin. Creator of the THLPUCHWHA: Redux and Retroliga.
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4/08/2023 7:56 pm  #915


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0

1991 PLAYOFFS



Wildcard Round

7 Sina Serpents vs 10 Portarra Whales
While health was a concern for the Whales, they didn't expect to get pushed around by the Serpents but found themselves in an elimination Game 5 and Patrick Quinn scored the go-ahead goal to shock the Whales. [SIN wins 3-2]

8 Dosa City Snappers vs 9 Alko Wizards
The Wizards dropped two games early and climbed back to tie up the series but the Snappers' newfound scoring prowess found its mark in Game 5 as Tennfjord carried DC to a series win. [DC wins 3-2]




Quarterfinals

1 Kirlow Kodiaks vs 8 Dosa City Snappers
The Snappers were game but the suffocating style from the Kodiaks was too much for DC to handle as Kirlow carried the series in 5 games. [KIR wins 4-1]

2 Kirkenport Captains vs 7 Sina Serpents
The Serps showed a lot of heart, including a pair of OT games but the firepower of the Captains was enough to easily push past Sina. [KRK wins 4-1]

3 Bancana Kings vs 6 Kavalos Electrics
An exciting series between division rivals, it was fast and dramatic from the drop all the way to OT in Game 7 where Pete Lentini found a home for the winner. [BAN wins 4-3]

4 Port Alrene Anchors vs 5 Vensessor Swans
Both teams battled back and forth but it was the Swans who had more of a punch late in the series as Andre Kabbani pitched a shutout in Game 6 to seal it. [VEN wins 4-2]




Semi-Finals

1 Kirlow Kodiaks vs 5 Vensessor Swans
Kabbani opened the series with a magical shutout as the Swans gave the Kodiaks their best shot. Rocco LaPlante had a shutout of his own in Game 3. An OT winner from Rafi won Game 5 for the Kodiaks but Ray Parrino had a hat trick in Game 6 to send it to a Game 7 where the Kodiaks won in a landslide. [KIR wins 4-3]

2 Kirkenport Captains vs 3 Bancana Kings
It looked like the Kirk Boys might cruise but Pete Lentini brought the Kings back into the series to tie it at two. Roszak regrouped the Captains who came back to put away the Kings in six. [KRK wins 4-2]


Up next: The Captains and Kodiaks battle it out for the 32nd Marcotte Cup



AHS Admin. Creator of the THLPUCHWHA: Redux and Retroliga.
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4/08/2023 9:16 pm  #916


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0

Glory to the Boys in Blue! Invoke the spirits of Draper, Rikhard and McKnight. Bring the Cup back to the Mile!


 

4/10/2023 11:35 am  #917


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0

Give Sina a couple years and they will become scary. I can feel it.




Charlotte Racers (2016 AltHL Champions) St. Louis Explorers (2000 & 2011 AltBowl Champions) Minnesota Giants (2000, 2004, 2006 & 2014 AltBA Champions)
"The prosecution is ready, Your Honor. That is a pepper, of course."
 

4/10/2023 12:46 pm  #918


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0

Everyone from ownership to players to supporters who frequent the Midnight Mile knows what it will take to win this series. I don't think Kirlow is ready for the patented grit & goaltending that has won the Kirk Boys championships in the past!

Side note: This is going to be a beautiful matchup visually.

Last edited by Thehealthiestscratch (4/10/2023 12:48 pm)



 

4/10/2023 9:18 pm  #919


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0

1991 Marcotte Cup Championship Finals

1 Kirlow Kodiaks vs 2 Kirkenport Captains

These two teams have been neck and neck all season and collide in a battle for the 32nd Marcotte Cup. The Kodiaks are defending champions, having finally rid themselves of the Cup monkey after losing all their previous appearances. They feature a pair of Russian brothers leading the charge in Rafi and Sami Romanov along with Quincy Ledoux on the top line. Goalie Rocco LaPlante has taken a step up this season and with Max Kopecky and Jan Mikulec patrolling the blue line, it's easy to see why. Kirlow has a deep depth, including free agent signing F Kenny Stokes who is on a line with Lukas Lodwig and Derek Curry.

The Captains are led by John Roszak who just earned his first League MVP trophy for his stellar play and scoring. His top linemates are Davi Martikainen and Eric Jorgensen. The talented Vassily Wuopio mans the net with Dennis Vanderbloem backing him up. Rising defenseman Len Rutkowski is on a top pair with Nick Keltgen who has improved this season. Former Falcon forward Fabian Fryer leads the second line with Mark Freeman.



Game 1: KRK 3 @ KIR 1 – The Captains looked more composed to start out and jumped to a quick lead as Roszak and Fryer scored. Quincy Ledoux got one back in the second period but a Keltgen rebound out it out of reach as the Captains drew first blood in Kirlow.

Game 2: KRK 1 @ KIR 3 – Kirkenport scored first again on a beauty from Martikainen but the Kodiaks refocused themselves and climbed back into it on a shot from Rafi in the second. The third period was dominated by the Kodiaks as Max Kopecky scored and assisted on a goal by Ledoux.

Game 3: KIR 1 @ KRK 0 – Rocco LaPlante performed an acrobatic save early in the first and it set the tone for a slow defensively heavy game as LaPlante kept his scoresheet clean. Kenny Stokes found a home for the winning goal in the third as Wuopio came up just shy of stopping the puck from inching across the line.

Game 4: KIR 3 @ KRK 1 – The Kodiaks this time jumped to the early lead as Ledoux and Rafi Romanov scored each. John Roszak answered with a gorgeous goal of his own but Sami found the scoresheet and put the Kodiaks up 3-1 in the series and the Kirk Boys on the brink.

Game 5: KRK 0 @ KIR 5 – Back at a sold-out Orchard Center, the Kodiaks got off to a hot start as Ledoux scored twice and LaPlante shut down the Kirk attack. Kopecky added one and Lodwig added another as they poured it on. Even third line defenseman Gary Keeling got in on the action with a goal of his own as the Kodiaks were relentless until the final horn as they successfully defended their title with their second-straight Cup win. For his brilliant scoring, F Quincy Ledoux was awarded Series MVP and became just the second player in league history with 5 rings.

1991 Marcotte Cup Champions: Kirlow Kodiaks (2)

Up next: THL 2.0



AHS Admin. Creator of the THLPUCHWHA: Redux and Retroliga.
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4/11/2023 12:30 am  #920


Re: Torland Hockey League: THL 2.0



State of the Series

Introducing THL 2.0

Every creator goes through slumps, me no less. A small break turned into a long pause. Life did life things and the next thing ya know, it’s more than a year later. 17 months to be exact. Now that I’ve finally caught up a bit, it’s time for the next thing in Torland hockey.

Torland has been a labor of love for many years. It feels like a real place and I’ve continued to build lore and history to make it feel even more real. It started as a way to do a sports series, the short-lived TSL baseball series, but morphed into something that I truly love and enjoy. More than an arbitrary backdrop for fictional sports, it became something more real to me. I hope that has come through in the series as it has developed. Every city has its own history and personality which often gets translated through the teams that call it home.

I wanted to take a moment to give some thoughts on where the series is going, which I’ve dubbed THL 2.0, and highlight a few things to expect. Everyone’s support and fandom has meant the world to me as a creator and I truly love seeing people express their delight or dismay when their favorite fictional team does something. Things evolve over time, and the THL has reached that point.

THL 2.0

I have used the THL as a way to work on my logo design, sports design, presentation design, and infographics design. As such, the graphics in the series have definitely evolved over time. I’ve been pretty happy with how the graphics have evolved but I also hit a point where it took forever to do all the graphics for a season. Particularly with uniform templates and playoff infographics.

I created my own uniform template, which many of you already saw revealed in PUCH, the WHA, and Retroliga, so it’s not “new” anymore but it originally started as a way to improve the THL and come up with a more simplistic design that would be easy to use for designs and more easily applied to graphic presentations. That was a big issue with the old template structure, as manipulating it for usage on graphics, particularly generating player jerseys, was very laborious. My new template eliminates most of these issues and is much easier to work with so I’ve been very happy with it. Shoutout to Scratch who helped me during that prototype and design phase.

Infographics are laborious, there’s no simple way around that, but my old templates were especially difficult to use, even after several editions of under-the-hood repairs and fixes that nobody else would ever know about.

The storyline was pointing to 1992 being a pivotal year for the THL, with expansion, and of course, everyone’s favorite wacky 90’s designs. This seemed to coincide with my needs to improve my workflow so I decided to take a look at everything in the series and rebuild it from the ground up. I decided to lean all the way in to a 90’s inspired persona and I am quite pleased with the results. The new presentation will definitely be unique and very colorful.

What to Expect

- Colorful graphics! I have redesigned the entire graphics package from the ground up to fully embrace wild 90’s aesthetics and it’s definitely something. This includes uniform template, team presentations, news post, headers, season standings, season awards, Hockey on the Mount, all-new playoff scores, offseason graphics including THL draft header, signings, trades, retirements, Hall of Fame plaques, banners, championship trophy, roster sheets, Torland National Team, updated THL logo, all-new apparel manufacturer, TV channel sponsor, signatures, and more.

- Every team will get a fully fresh look at their team, logos, uniforms, roster, and other goodies. Elite Vision has a lot to say about each team, even the ones who more or less kept their current duds. This will give every team a fresh start for the new era.

- Finding the right balance of presenting information is tricky but now with 30+ seasons of simulation under my belt, I think everyone is invested in the teams and storylines so I am going to attempt to add a bit more story and info for each team during the season and offseason recaps so you have more to follow. Juggling 24 teams is pretty challenging but there’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes that doesn’t usually get shared so I am looking at finding a way to balance adding a bit more flavor in the future.

- I am launching a one-at-a-time player creation submission for THL 2.0. I’m not ready to include full scouting and such but I thought it might be nice if each fan had an opportunity to submit a player to get drafted and follow their career. I will do my best to make these custom players of at least above average skill so they have a chance at a long career. If/when that player retires or washes out of the league, you may submit a new one. PM or DM me directly with your player details. Include a full name, Torland hometown, position, preferred number, and any general characteristics that you wish to share. Be aware, I’m usually simmed several seasons in advance so you likely won’t see your player enter the league until later in the decade, probably the class of ’98.

Torland Gets a Wiki!

I’m also pleased to announce that Torland now has its own Wiki! This Wiki is self-hosted on my own site. There is a ton of Torland information on there already and I will continue to add details as I can. The THL hub is growing as well. Shoutout to dvdbubba27 for being the main THL curator. Bubba helped get everything organized and updates the Wiki every time a new post drops. I’m super grateful for his help! The Wiki is a work in progress but is now available for the public to enjoy.

https://torlanduniverse.com/wiki/doku.php?id=start

Torland Collegiate Project

I’m also teasing a future announcement regarding Torland collegiate athletics. Torland has a pretty comprehensive collegiate system that hasn’t been fully designed yet and I am planning to open it up to the community to help design identities and such. I have begun simulating the back history through various sports (I started with college basketball) and it’s opening up a lot of new lore and ideas for collegiate sports identities. While this project isn’t quite ready yet, if it’s something you’d be interested in helping write history, brainstorm identities, design stuff for, please let me know and I’ll include you in some of the initial work.

What’s Next?

As always, “next up” will be the 1992 offseason where over the next weeks and months THL 2.0 will be shared one team at a time until we have fully updated the entire league and Torland universe before the 1992 season. This may be a lengthy process but I think everyone will enjoy seeing in-depth looks at the whole league. Also as always, I am open to critique and feedback so please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts and opinions. Some designs will be controversial, because, well, it’s the 90’s. You’ve been warned! Ha.

That being said, I hope everyone enjoys THL 2.0. Buckle up for a fun ride!

- Steel



AHS Admin. Creator of the THLPUCHWHA: Redux and Retroliga.
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