Now for the Hatch Division

Alko Barbarians:  The backstory of the Barbarian's having their color scheme being not from the owner's own heritage, but rather his supermodel girlfriend's, is one of the funniest things I've ever seen in AHS, epic stuff!  I like his thinking of black being an "intimidating" color, used to work for the real life Las Vegas Raiders after all!  I'm not quite sold on the logo, it's a generally good idea, but I think having the word Barbarians somewhere inside the crest would help make it clear that it's a Torland hockey team logo instead of just a plain viking styled helmet that could be anything.  Mind, I'm only saying that since they have a crest now, just the helmet by itself would have probably been okay, so I'm probably being a hypocrite, lol.  Still, pretty solid, I like the new look (and that's as someone who really loved their previous identity)!  Their owner alone makes me want to root for these guys!

Alko Wizards: The Wizards have an awesome color scheme, AHS really made me fall in love with maroon/claret and light blue as a color combo, so I've always appreciated it in the THL!  I always liked the logo, that wizard hat creating that slightly awkward looking "A" is classic to me.  Not too much to say, but the Wizards are probably in my top 5 favorite looks, at least top 10.

Dosa City Snappers: Doesn't appear to have changed much at all, but that's a good thing in this case!  I like the greenish teal and gold look that they've rocked for years and the logo is among the THL's best!  I guess the striping and numbers have a slight update, being bolder and simpler, and that works wonderfully for this squad.  Never change, Team Turtle, never change!

Kirlow Kodiaks: The team with the 2nd scariest bear logo out there (besides the nightmare feul Kodiak pancake brand bear.  That thing is awful), the Kodiaks look great as always!  Looks like the brown is "richer" per the post, I assume that means darker?   If so, the slight change works well with the color palatte Kirlow has!  These guys always knew how to make brown work (not always an easy task to be sure!) despite using multiple different secondary colors throughout the years!   Would love to eventually see blue make a comeback to the uniform (maybe a future alternate?), but otherwise, this is one of the THL's strongest identities!

Prestonburg Blazers: That silver is going to take a little getting used to, but I do like that someone in the THL was creative enough to use a non white away jersey!  The sleeve stripings being simplified and both jersey's now having orange collars are wins in my book, looks way better and more cohesive!  That number set is definitely something else, but it stands out at least!  Nice work overall with the Blazers' updates!

Vensessor Swans: It's pretty funny that the team that seems the most adverse to making any changes to the uniform set and instead keeps the classic look going wasn't even one of the THL's original teams!   That being said, I'm glad there's a team out there that won't ever try to fix what ain't broke, because this is still a great identity!  Love it!

The Hatch division definitely stands out with some unique primary colors that you just don't see anyone else in the other divisions have (Kirlow's brown and the Wizards' maroon.  Not to mention Prestonburg being one of only two primary purple teams and nobody else has quite the shade of teal that Dosa City owns).    Very neat group of teams!

Finally, for the Rankin Division

Abrieden Bucks:  Much as I'll always love the Friday the 13th vibes the old logo had, the maturation of Abrieden's logo is a fantastic look!  I like that quilted feel the new buck has, very unique!  The contrast in colors works better now with the navy blue being darker and the yellow being brighter, so that's nice.  I think the gray is nice for outlining the logo and numbers, works better than white and yellow did with the old set.  Yeah, one of the best updates in the THL!

Bancana Kings: Go Banana Kings!  Anyway, considering that this team had a similar color scheme to the Bucks before this year, the updated color scheme was probably neccesary (helps that the HE RONs changed their jerseys colors too).  I like the black and gold here, along with the tie in reasons for why the color change.  The new number font feels like it fits well too.  Not as a huge of a fan of the "Mummy" lines, it's a bit much, but that appears to be the point (actually, if I recall right, I think the HE RON's old logo was Egyptian based, which would actually have been the mummy lines fit in with them better.  Not that I was complaining about what we had).  This is now just a really solid uniform, crazy how just changing colors can make a huge difference in quality sometimes!

Kavalos Electrics: *Chef Kiss*  What a perfect uniform.   That green and yellow jersey is my personal favorite in all of Torland.  The logo is super creative and looks great as always.  I don't think there's one thing I'd change on this set! 

Kurohara Killers: I always forget there's two whale themed teams in the THL.  It's logo is simpler in nature (no hidden puck and hockey stick inside of a smile here!) but I think the orca with a stick logo is pretty charming in and of itself.  The Killers' black and orange is a winning color combo (although I still remember them having yellow and green in the set too at one point!).  It's a pretty basic set, especially for the times, but that works out alright for me! 

Yubay Falcons: The simplification of the Falcons jersey has its pros and cons for me.  For the logo, I like the removal of the Y, the new falcon tail is nice.  However, I think I miss that red circle (I forget if it was a sun? hockey puck?), it was such a good piece to the logo.  I wouldnt' mind seeing them bring that element back someday (and maybe reduce the number of stripes and amount of space that the current bottom part of the jerseys take up).  Still looks good though!  Love the silver away jersey, it's always nice to see a team not just assume they have to stick wtih white as the away jersey color.  The striping being simplied along with the logo does make a lot of sense here.  While not quite my favorite set of updates, I do still think the Falcons look good overall!

Yubay Glaciers: Saving maybe the best update for last!  I always thought the Glaciers looked pretty neat, that teal, red, and cream color combo definitely stood out.  However, the new purple, teal, and white color scheme is wonderful!  I appreciate them keeping the classic logo and just updating the colors there (the polar bear being white definitely makes more sense than it being cream colored).  The new number font is an upgrade too I feel, that rounding matches the roundedness of the roundel logo, (something that I never would have thought to think about until I literally just noticed this now).  This is overall one of the THL's absolute best sets now, awesome job on this one!

Thinking the Rankin division might rank just under the Elam division for best looking division in the THL.  The Electrics and Glaciers look incredible, with the Bucks being very solid too.  Maybe one too many black teams for color diversity, but otherwise, a really good looking set of teams!

Bottom 5 Teams (Which was hard to pick, there's not really 5 teams I dislike, more like honestly just 1 that I'm not fond of, the rest are just not quite as good as the rest!)
#5 Trowburgh HE RONs
#4 Prestonburg Blazers
#3 Narva Neptunes (I do think they look better now though!)
#2 Sina Serpents
#1 Fort Bevin Rockets

Top 5 Teams (Also not easy to pick from, but for a much better reason, there's a ton of great designs overall!)
#5 Portarra Whales
#4 Dosa City Snappers
#3 Vensessor Swans
#2 Yubay Glaciers
#1 Kavalos Electrics

Yes, my own favorite team didn't make the cut (the Heralds didn't miss by much!), a good sign of an outstanding league!  Awesome work overall Steel, can't wait for the season to begin!

Before we proceed with other offseason posts, I discovered this graphic that I had forgotten about. It shows the progression of each team's logos from the beginning. Enjoy!

Steelman wrote:

Mr. Stickman, thank YOU for this amazing feedback as only you could do. I love your thoughts on each team, thank you for taking the time to do the entire league. Very much appreciated!

Anytime Steel!  Oh, and loving the Logos By The Years graphic!   What a fun trip down memory lane!  I always forget how many logos Chasonne has gone through over the years!   They don't keep a look too long, and that's awesome since there are definitely real life teams that switch it up a lot!

This was also nice because I now remember a few truly great logos that I wish could come back someday (Portarra Pioneers first logo is an all-time great and ripe for throwback uniforms!  Yubay Glaciers and their original melty pizza logo!  Anything Lecayne Saints- wonder if that city will ever get a team again-)

1992 Amateur Player Draft

With the Bucks winning the lottery the pundits were astir as the two clearcut favorites were not Abrieden's biggest need, as they badly needed goaltending. With the free agency class being moved to after the draft, it further complicated Abrieden's decision-making as they were in a deep rebuild and it would be tough to attract any good goalies. The Neptunes, holders of the 6th-overall pick, offered young talent Jarkko Bergstrom in a package for the 1st-overall pick. The Bucks thought it over and decided Bergstrom was an excellent choice to build around and pulled the trigger on the deal.

(Trade reposted for clarity) Abrieden gets: G Jarkko Bergstrom, F Ruben Veronda, 1992 2nd-Round (30th) pick, 1993 1st-Round Pick (conditional). Narva gets: 1992 1st-Round (1st) pick Just before the draft began the Sina Serpents traded two first round picks for defenseman Fred Karrick from the Blazers, including their 1992 pick at 18th-overall.



1 – NAR (via ABR) – RW Kevin Kozlosky
Kozlosky is a do-it-all winger with excellent size and speed and a vicious wrist shot. His leadership skills and hockey sense bring many intangibles to the table and he can step in and be a leader from a young age. His game is already at a professional level and should have no problem shouldering heavy minutes as a rookie for Narva.

2 – COB – D Peter Voronin
Voronin is the consummate professional defender, capable of playing shutdown defense and still generating offense through sharp passing. Strong leadership skills should translate to being a cornerstone for the brand new franchise in Cobantle for years to come.

3 – TRO – C Ben Camerlin
Camerlin is an undersized but very talented centerman with great hands and vision from the dot. He projects best as a 2C but he has a strong work ethic and excellent leadership and could develop into a top level player for Trowburgh.

4 – WAT – RW Brian Belgrade
Belgrade has a blistering shot and is a classic power forward with size and decent speed. He plays a heavy style and is dependable. He's a blue collar piece to build a top-six around for the new Dragons.

5 – CHA – G Jeff Seybolt
Seybolt is a highly-touted goalie prospect with excellent vision and technique in the butterfly. He developed a penchant for big saves in big games as a youngster and his calm demeanor rarely gets flustered. Top-5 might be a bit high him but Chasonne feels confident he can develop into a top goalie.

6 – NAR – D Johnny Kapua
The athletic Kapua is a puck-moving defenseman with excellent speed and hands. His defense is a work in progress but he possesses great intangibles and scouts are in love with his smooth skating. Kapua injects instant life into Narva's defense corps.

7 – PTP – CW Phil Pasternak
The eldest son of Hall of Famer Geno Pasternak, Phil is a versatile forward capable of playing center or wing. He's not the fastest or most athletic but his versatility and extremely high hockey IQ combined with his pedigree and leadership makes him a valuable addition in Portarra.

8 – PRE – D Ron Kilchenstein
Kilchenstein is a heady defender, stalwart around the net and a force while patrolling the blue line. Some think his offensive upside is limited at the pro level but his defensive awareness is top shelf and will make an excellent top-paring partner for Gregor Janssen in Prestonburg.

9 – YBG – LW John Amber
Amber is long on potential which has scouts excited but he hasn't put it all together yet. His hockey sense is very green but he's fast and athletic and can help an offense stretch play if he's developed correctly and paired with the right linemates.

10 – FTB – LW Tim Barga
Barga is a tough winger with good size and speed who will forecheck and win puck battles on the boards. He has a hard shot but his hands and vision are still a work in progress.

11 – KUR – C Justin Perry
12 – AKB – RW Mike Marut
13 – PTP (via QUE) – G Alwin Teunissen (Gus Lowe trade)
14 – YUB – C Kirby Hammett
15 – DC – D Anthony Ronto
16 – POR – D Mitch Crenshaw
17 – ALK – LW Paul Rathke
18 – PRE (via SIN) – RW Lukas Graziosi
19 – PA – C David Drace
20 – KAV – LW Frank Langer
21 – VEN – LW Geoff Frazzini
22 – BAN – C George Stawski
23 – KRK – F Dave Mehr
24 – KIR – D Mitch Thaggard

Up next: Free Agency