wow, what a series, and especially the final game! I love the scene at the end, especially the detail of getting awarded the cup on the train ride home. that's one they'll tell stories about. looking forward to the offseason!

1929 MHL Offseason: On the ice

This free agency was mainly based around teams signing Newark’s former players. Despite the Yellow Jackets being a complete mess, they had many good and promising players teams were waiting to pounce on and sign.

In Boston, The Harpers re-signed young centre Jack Roy. the 21-year-old had 35 points in 80 career MHL games, and will look to be more relied upon as Boston’s centre core ages. The Harpers also re-signed longtime goalie Alex Graham, and two rookies: Ben Richards and Maurice Lefebvre.

In Brooklyn, the Kings re-signed forwards Dan Covington and Isaiah Ryan. Covington is regarded as one of the best two-way forwards in the game, and has 168 goals in 421 career games. Ryan on the other hand had some dynamite seasons, but has struggled to retain his form. He’s still only 24, so he has plenty of time to bounce back. Their two FA signings were depth forwards Garrett Mackenzie and Michael Sutherland.

In Chicago, the Wildcats made the biggest splash of free agency, signing Newark’s Trevor Alrick. while his statline of 46 points in 145 games may not jump out, he was hampered by the total disaster the Yellow Jackets were. With incredible offensive instincts and above-average defense, he should grow to be a force in Chicago, who gave him an 8 year, $189,600 deal. Other moves were re-signing C Alexander Walters, G Jack Boucher, and W John Martin, as well as signing another Newark player, Dorian Chiasson, in FA.

In Detroit, the Guardians made two big moves. First, they re-signed Jack Walker, who they acquired from St. Louis early last season. the 21-year-old was a key contributor in their inaugural year, and is only going to get better. They also signed rookie defenseman Anthony Forton, who is a big, tough customer with no fear. He’ll join a young Guardians d-core looking to get league recognition. Other moves include signing former Toronto sniper Kenneth Moore, and re-signing solid secondary scorer Lewis Brown.

In Indy, the Chauffeurs were the most aggressive team. They gave big contracts to Simon Peters and Jeff Smith, their two young centres with tons of potential. Though Peters had less production than Smith, Indy views him as the team’s cornerstone, and got the bigger deal. They also re-signed 3 depth pieces in Dean Scott, Wesley Kinville and Neville Clarke. For FAs, they signed a decent one in William Breton, as well as Mitchell Carter, the first indigenous player to have a professional contract. 

In Montreal, the Barons didn’t make any major moves. Their re-signings were Jerome Bouchard, now the likely backup goalie, and depth winger Don Choutineau. They also signed 3 rookies: D John Laurence, W Ken Watman, and W Christopher Batesoff. None of the rookies were extremely highly touted, though all should become MHL mainstays.

Staying in Montreal, the Greys’ made few moves, but one of them was big. Ken Lalonde, a key part of their Abbott Cup championship team, was re-signed to a 7-year, $131,600 deal. Entering his 4th year with the team, he has 82 goals and 141 points in 276 career games. Montreal also re-signed longtime winger Luc Knevel, as well as signing C James Pasztor, who was released by Indy. While he’s slowly declining, Pasztor has had an impressive career of his own, with 153 goals and 210 points in 390 career games.

In Nassau County, the newly-renamed Scouts were busy. They signed 2 Newark players: D Eric Fox, and G Marc Friesen. They also signed longtime New York Blue Bird Lewis Urban, who was shockingly released. For re-signings, they locked up C Tom Robert and W Gregory Bailey, both of whom were key offensive contributors. Steady defenseman James Cash and young winger Bradford Russell were also re-upped. 

In Manhattan, the Blue Birds made waves when they released Lewis Urban. He is one of only 3 players from the Birds’ original season, and is the MHL’s all-time leader in assists. For signings, New York only made 2. They re-signed winger Bouse Rogers, and signed young centre Len Charter from Newark. Rogers has been a solid contributor in his 3 seasons so far, and Charter is looking like Urban’s replacement, being 10 years younger and having a similar playstyle. 

In Ottawa, the Lumberjacks focused on re-signing their own players rather than going after FAs. They re-signed 4 players, 2 of which were top 10 deals. W Karl Lucas and C William Robinson both got big deals after breakout seasons in the nation’s capital. W Robert Smith and D Jack O’Connor were also re-upped after good years. 

In Quebec, they opted to more or less keep the same roster as their first year. Their only move was signing American rookie James Whaley, known as a great playmaker. Other than that, everyone remains the same for Les Quebecois, led by veterans such as Michel Brittain and Kevin Bishop. 

In St. Louis, the Centurions focused on rookies. After making their one re-signing with Philip Brown, they picked up 3 young players: C Antoine Tessier, C Albert Becker, and D Ron Jack. Tessier and Becker are both speedy guys with no major flaws in their game, though Becker is more defensive-focused. Jack on the other hand will be one of the biggest players in the league, solid defensively with a booming shot. 

Lastly, the Toronto Lakers made exactly one move in the offseason, replacing #1 goalie Kenneth Oppenheimer with Newark’s Trevor Walker. Considering the state of his team, Walker put up respectable numbers in Newark’s crease, and will hope to improve those behind the Lakers’ solid defense. 

TOP 10 SIGNINGS/ACQUISITIONS OF 1927:



1929-30 MHL Preseason:

The MHL moved the number of games per season up again, going with 62 regular season games this year. However, the divisional format will be back to being round-robin rather than divisional-heavy, with the league having an odd number of teams (and also my sim not letting me do any other option because of the odd number of teams lol) The playoffs will remain in the same format, the top 2 teams in each division facing off in a best-of-3, then a best-of-5 Abbott Cup final.

1929-30 MHL Season: First Half

The 1929-30 season was different yet similar to other past seasons. Some new teams were finally making the right moves, while otheres continued their perennial great play. The removal of division-heavy schedules saw one favoured over the other as well.

Leading the way in the west were the Chicago Wildcats, off to their best start in franchise history. Their offense and defense, while not ranked #1 in the league, are both near the top. However, their play away from home has been their secret weapon, as they’ve gone 13-3 away from Lovely Arena. Players like Dan Vanderbeken and Roy Parent have been among the best in the league offensively, while Ted Harvey has been a welcome addition in net. Chicago sits at 23-9.

In 2nd, but taking a big step back, are the Toronto Lakers. It was a horrible start to the year for them, as they were getting used to playing at the Toronto Garden. They won only 6 of their first 11 games. They’ve gone on a heater since to retain that playoff spot, but they’re lucky to be in the weaker Western division, otherwise they may be on the outside looking in for the first time in their history. Toronto sits at 15-14-1, barely above 0.500.

In 3rd are the Indianapolis Chauffeurs, who have taken their biggest step forward. They’ve been great offensively, with players like Jeff Smith and Lennie Triplett having strong first halves. Their defense and goaltending haven’t been great, but it hasn’t kept them from being out of the playoff picture. With improvements made there, they can absolutely stay in the race for the second Western spot. Indy sits at 15-16-1.

In 4th are the Ottawa Lumberjacks, who continue to be painfully mediocre. Their defense has actually been the best in the West to start, but they’ve gotten unlucky with a few results, and despite having a goal differential better than both Toronto and Indy, they sit below both. They made a big move trading young playmaking centre William Robinson to Boston for older star center Cody Trice, but he’s had a slow start in Ottawa. He and the Jacks will look to improve in the second half, as they sit at 14-16.

The bottom 2 teams in the West are both ones that have taken a step back this year. The Detroit Guardians had a great year for a brand-new expansion team, but has fallen back a little this year. Both offense and defense have statistically been worse, and they’ve only won 1 road game so far. They sit at 7-25-1. In St. Louis, the Centurions have had an even worse fall-off. Their win % has gone down a full 20%, and their offense is worst in the league by a fair margin. Combined with only 2 home wins, it’s been a very rough year so far, as they sit at 6-22-1.

In the East, it was a familiar sight on top, but not one that had happened for a couple of years. The New York Blue Birds were back on top, and second in the league overall. While the old guard was still around and helping out, the new kids were also being a big help, particularly Len Charter and George Green. In net, 30-year-old Moses Addison is having a resurgence, making the Birds’ defense once again one of the best in the league. It’ll be interesting to see how they fare in the second half. New York sits at 21-9-1.

In second are the Nassau Scouts, another team finally making some big steps forward. The Scouts have been solid all-around, particularly within their own division. Their 12-5-1 record within the east gives them the tiebreaker to sit in the 2nd playoff spot for now. Kenneth Paquette’s first full year on the Island has been great, as he’s second in the league in both goals and points. Mike Whitlow has been great in net too, and that has them sitting at 18-10-1.

In third are the Montreal Greys. The reigning champs have actually taken a step forward in terms of record, but the incredible teams of the East have them sitting outside the playoff picture for now. While the Greys’ offense and defense have both been statistically better than Nassau’s their divisional record hasn’t been great, and that has them sitting in third, though that can easily change with how competitive the division is. The Greys sit at 18-10-1.

In 4th are Montreal’s other team, the Barons. They had an amazing start to the year, and were leading the division for a portion of the first half, but they’ve come back down to earth. However, they are still very much alive in the playoff race. They made one trade, giving Darrell Humphrey to Brooklyn for Jean Leclerc, and he’s fit in to the team very nicely. Montreal sits at 17-12, not far behind Nassau or the Greys.

In 5th and 6th are the Brooklyn Kings and Boston Harpers, both having relatively disappointing years. Brooklyn in particular is very disappointing, as their once-great defense is starting to show its age, now ranked among the bottom of the league. However, new additions Hugh Mathieu and Darrell Humphrey will look to help their record become more respectable in the second half, as they sit at 14-19-2. In Boston, the Harpers seem like an anomaly. Their goal differential is in the top half of the league, yet they’re stuck below 0.500. They will look to be luckier and get more results in their favour in the secondhalf. Boston sits at 14-15-1.

Lastly, the Quebecois are building off of a great expansion year, and are doing better this year. While they’re still at the bottom of the East, they are doing far better than either of the bottom two in the West. Rookie C James Whaley has broken out in this first year leading the team in assists, and is top 10 in the league in that category. Combined with the experience of their vets, Quebec looks to be building up something real good. They sit at 12-17-3.



1928-29 Season Leaders (So Far)

1929-30 MHL Season: Second Half

The second half of the year was one with lots of intrigue, and some teams caught fire, some went cold, and a nerve-wracking playoff race persevered to the end of the year. 

Finishing 1st in the West for the first time in their history were the Chicago Wildcats. They broke Toronto’s two-year stranglehold on #1, and pushed through to the end. It wasn’t quite as dominant as the first half, but their star players played amazing. Dan Vanderbeken and Henry Baumgartner were both top 5 in goals, while Roy Parent set an MHL record with 33 assists. While the league changed rules make it easier for players to be awarded the statistic, That shouldn’t discount his playmaking, something the league has never seen before. Chicago finished at 40-22, 1 point back of the overall #1 seed.

Finishing in 2nd for the last spot in the West were the Toronto lakers, who did not make it easy for Chicago to retain 1st. With the way they played to close out the year, you couldn’t imagine it was the same team that won 6 of its first 17. Sylvain Ermengille and Gregory Bekkering created an incredible duo offensively, finishing 2nd and 3rd in the league in points. As well, in the high-offense West, the Lakers had the best defense, the only team there allowing under 2 goals per game. The Lakers finished at 38-23-1, 3 points behind Chicago.

Finishing in 3rd yet far outside the playoffs were the Ottawa Lumberjacks. It was tight at the halfway point, but Toronto caught fire while the rest of the teams in the picture continued their mediocrity. Their big addition of Cody Trice was a dud, only scoring 6 goals and 9 total points in his 38 games after the trade. However, Sam Cruciani continued being one of the league’s underrated stars, finishing in the top 5 in points for the 2nd time in 3 years. Ottawa finished at 29-33.

In 4th were the Indianapolis Chauffeurs, who crashed out of the playoff picture. They struggled with injuries in the second half, with 1C Simon Peters, 2C Jeff Smith, and their best winger Lennie Triplett all missing over 10 games. Combining that with a borderline playoff roster at full strength is not a great way to have success, so they fell pretty hard. The Chauffeurs will look to regroup in 1930-31, as their financial situation is not looking favourable for them at the moment.
Indy finished at 26-34-2.

The bottom 2 teams in the West remained St. Louis and Detroit, though they did both have overall better second halves. The Centurions brought in former Lakers goalie Jerome Bouchard as their new starter, and while it did improve, the remainder of the season was basically just players fighting for spots for next year. In Detroit, the Guardians were a mess off the ice, and owner Hank Stratford had his first public incident. Veteran winger Kenneth Moore disappointed in his first season with the Guardians, and one matchup had Stratford come out onto the bench and scream into his ear. While Moore didn’t retaliate, it resulted in a lot of bad publicity for the club. St. Louis finished at 19-41-2, while Detroit finished dead last at 17-44-1. 

In the East, it was the Montreal Greys who snuck in and finished not just first in the East, but first overall for the first time in their history. Alan Clercius and the defense did their job once again, finishing atop the league in goals against. Their offense also came to play, with players like James Urban, Kenneth Lalonde, William Smith and Chris Clark all lighting the lamp regularly. Having the most well-rounded team in the league paid off huge. Montreal finished at 40-21-1.

Finishing second were the Nassau Scouts, who made the playoffs for the first time in their history. A lot of that was due to Kenneth Paquette, who finished first in both goals (36) and points (58) in his first full season with the team. There were tons of other great offensive performers, such as Harold Henderson and Larry Nelson, who both finished with over 40 points. All in all, the Scouts played incredibly well as a team, and won’t be an easy out in the playoffs. Nassau finished at 39-22-1.

Finishing third were the Montreal Barons. They finished with their best record since 1924, but were not good enough to overtake Nassau. The Barons had some great statistical years from players, but they struggled a ton with injuries. Almost 20% of their entire forwards’ seasons were lost due to injury. One could easily argue that they would be a playoff team without injuries, but that isn’t reality, and in reality they finished 5 points out, at 37-25.

Finishing in 4th New York Bluebirds, who fell off but remained in the playoff race to the end. Their young and generally inexperienced forwards disappointed in the second half, and they finished near the bottom of the league in goals scored despite playing some great defense. In fact, they allowed just 3 more goals than the league’s best defense with the Greys. Moses Addison was fantastic in goal, he couldn’t do everything. Their hot start gave them some hope, but as of right now, the Birds aren’t quite a playoff team again. New York finished at 36-24-2.

Finishing outside the playoff race were the Brooklyn Kings. With the second-oldest roster in the league, Brooklyn saw some regression from the players that had carried them to glory earlier. Paul Anderson and Frank Clercius are team legend, but are getting up there in age and weren’t able to do all the carrying they could do before. Young players like Laurence Antoine, Richard McGrath and Isaiah Ryan all did well offensively, and trade addition Hugh Mathieu fit in perfectly. Defense was their downfall though, and it had them well outside of the playoffs. Brooklyn finished at 30-30-2.

In 6th were the Quebecois, who saw overall improvement from their first year. Their veterans in Michel Brittain and Kevin Bishop did lots of offensive lifting, but their young players were really coming into their own. George Jack led the team in scoring with 33, and young James Whaley led all first-year players in scoring with 32 points. In net, 24-year-old Mathieu Mercier put up respectable numbers. Overall, Quebec is building the foundation of a pretty decent team. They finished at 23-35-4.

Lastly, at the bottom of the East were the Boston Harpers. They had a terrible second half, and that is probably still understating it. They had a stretch early on where they won only 1 of 20 games, taking them from 15-16-1 to 16-34-2. Their offense was average and defense weren’t terribly bad, but they had absolutely no clutch, especially within the division. They went 6-25 against other Eastern teams, a worse divisional record than both teams below them in the overall standings. 



1929-30 Season Leaders



Playoff Predictions:

W1 - Chicago Wildcats vs W2 - Toronto Lakers
Previous Meeting: 1929 Semifinals
Result: Toronto 2-1 Chicago
Series Record: Toronto 2-0 Chicago

Toronto and Chicago meet in the playoffs for the 3rd time in 4 years. Toronto has won both meetings so far, both times needing 3 games to do so. Chicago has home-ice advantage, though that didn’t hamper the Lakers in their first postseason meeting.

The two teams met 5 times in the regular season, and Chicago won 3 out of the 5 meetings. Both teams had easy wins, and there were close matchups as well. It should be a fairly even series overall. Chicago should be favoured with home-ice advantage and being the #1 seed, but Toronto should never be counted out in the playoffs, having made 6 of the 9 Abbott Cups played so far.

My pick: Toronto continues their playoff dominance in this matchup, taking Chicago out in 2 straight. 

E1 - Montreal Greys vs E2 - Nassau Scouts
Previous Meeting: N/A
Result: N/A
Series Record: N/A

In the east, it’s a first-time matchups between two teams that a few years ago would have had people laughing over the thought of this matchup in the playoffs. Both teams have drastically improved recently, and are looking for glory. 

Despite the Greys being the #1 seed overall, Nassau actually won the season series, taking 3 out of 5 meetings. Only 22 goals were scored in those 5 games, so defense is clearly the theme of their matchup. Nassau has a young, dynamic, high-flying offense, while Montreal has an Abbott Cup to show for their suffocating defensive work. Will reputation or a breakout team prevail here?

My pick: Nassau flies past the #1 Greys, winning in 2 straight.

1930 MHL Playoffs: Semifinals

(W1) Chicago WIldcats (40-22) vs (W2) Toronto Lakers (38-23-1)

Two familiar foes faced off yet again in the Western division semifinal. Toronto had the upper hand the previous two times, but Chicago felt different this year, being the #1 Western seed. Their offense was full throttle, a tough storm for anyone to survive. Toronto’s experience had helped them the first two series, but could they go 3 for 3?

Game 1 at Chicago’s Lovely Arena started off even. Both teams got their chances, and the Wildcats’ Trevor Alrick broke the ice. He was alone on a breakaway, and his shot was saved by Trevor Walker, but deflected back off Alrick and in. The home crowd erupted. Less than two minutes later, Harold Mitchell gave them even more to cheer about, as a penalty-killing defensive lapse from Toronto allowed him to walk in on Walker from the boards, and he made no mistake scoring. Toronto had no response to end the period, and Chicago maintained their 2-0 lead. In the second, Toronto had more of the puck. They got chances, but Ted Harvey stood tall in the Chicago net. Eventually, Sylvain Ermengille took a nice pass from John Young and fired it past Harvey in the final minute. In the third, both teams continued getting chances, but the goalies stood tall. Harvey especially was brilliant, preventing Ermengille from tying the game multiple times. As the buzzer went, Chicago celebrated. They had won 2-1, and now needed to win 1 of the next 2 games to advance to their first Abbott Cup.

Game 2 was at the Toronto Garden, a lot smaller that the old Lakeshore Arena. Despite that, the home fans kept the noise level loud. It wasn’t going to be easy for Chicago to pull off the sweep. Toronto started out firing, getting multiple chances early on, including a slick goal from Jean Tardif, which delighted the home crowd. Everything was looking good, but in the dying minutes, Falconer King capitalized on the power play, and it was 1-1 after 20. In the second, Toronto continued their domination, more than doubling Chicago’s shot total. Unfortunately, Ted Harvey was in beast mode, and nothing was going past him. On the other end, Walker didn;t face much, and was fine with what came at him. After 40, the same 1-1 scoreline remained. In the third, Dan Vanderbeken broke the deadlock early, with a thundering shot from distance. However, halfway through, Sylvain Ermengille tied it up again, igniting the arena. However, Chicago would take the lead again off a goal eerily similar to the one that haunted Toronto in Abbott Cup just one year ago. A deflected puck took a weird bounce off the boards and came right to Falconer King, who shot it right past Jerome Bouchard. The home crowd went ballistic, and shouted many obscenities at the referees, though it was perfectly legal. This absolutely deflated the Lakers, and Trevor Alrick sealed the deal with a goal in the final minute. Chicago won 4-2.

This was now two years in a row where Toronto had been eliminated off of a weirdly deflected puck. The home crowd was livid, but weren’t exactly sure who to be angry at. A mob almost started, but police did well to de-escalate quickly. Some arrests were made, but thankfully it didn’t get out of control. Chicago, just like the Montreal Greys a year earlier, were police escorted out of the city as quickly as possible. 

(E1) Montreal Greys (40-21-1) vs (E2) Nassau Scouts (39-22-1)

It was a first-time matchup in the East, between the reigning champion and #1 regular season Montreal Greys, and the upstart Nassau Scouts, in their first-ever postseason. The Greys were heavily favoured in every aspect, but the Scouts had the potential to pull off the upset. Both teams were only two points apart after all.

Game 1 at Victoria Square Stadium saw the home crowd anticipate a victory. In their minds they’d already won, but were just waiting for it to play out. They certainly looked to be right early on, as a 2-on-1 resulted in Chris Clark giving Montreal the series’ first lead. The Greys controlled play from that point, and got more shots, though Mike Whitlow stood tall. Nassau had a very good look from Kenneth Paquette, but his shot clanged against the post. It was 1-0 through 20. In the second, Montreal was even more dominant, and added to their lead, as Clark drove the net again and outwaited Whitlow. On the other end, Alan Clercius wasn’t busy, and the best goalie in the league didn’t think too much about Nassau’s chances. Through 40, it was 2-0 Greys. In the third, Nassau finally got on the board, as Theodore Wood put a loose puck home past Clercius. Their momentum didn’t last for long, as Mike Whitlow made a risky gamble on a loose puck in the slot. He couldn’t get to it, and it was fed to Clark, who completed the hattrick. James Pasztor added a late nail in the coffin, and Montreal took game 1 in front of their home crowd.

Game 2 at Nassau Memorial Arena was in front a rowdy home crowd. They looked forward to seeing their first ever home playoff game, and hoped their home Scouts could force a game 3. The Scouts started on the right foot, but couldn’t beat Clercius with their early flurry of chances. On the other end, Luc Knevel shot from close range went by Whitlow, and Montreal was up 1-0. Before the period ended, Montreal made it 2-0, with James Urban scoring his first of the playoffs on a second chance in front. The second period was fairly uneventful, Montreal seemed to be playing to win rather than expand on their lead. They did well to limit chances, but had few of their own. In the third, it was back to being high-event, though a good portion of the period had no scoring. Tom Robert finally got Nassau on the board with 6 minutes to go, but like in game 1, Montreal responded right away. William Smith struck on the power play, and it was 3-1. Nassau couldn’t get anything to go in the dying minutes, and the home crowd left unhappy. 

Montreal had swept the Scouts, and advanced to the Abbott Cup Final for the second straight year. They become the 4th team to make it in back-to-back years, joining the Toronto Lakers, New York Blue Birds, and the defunct Pittsburgh Internationals.



Abbott Cup Final Preview:

(W1) Chicago Wildcats vs (E1) Montreal Greys
Previous Meeting: None
Result: N/A
Series Record: N/A

It’s a first-time matchup in the Abbott Cup Final, featuring the Chicago Wildcats, who make their first ever appearance in the championship series, and the Montreal Greys, who won it all last year. 

Montreal took the season series 3-2. Both teams won a game 4-1 apiece, while the remaining 3 were all by one goal. It was a tight season series. As for how they match up, it’s the league’s best offense vs the league’s best defense. One of them will prevail one way or another. Will it be Chicago’s superstars lighting it up, or will Montreal’s defense and Alan Clercius shut it down yet again?

My Pick: The Greys get their back-to-back Abbott Cups, overwhelming the Wildcat offense by sweeping them 3-0.