1974 TYHDA National Festival


The regions meet again in a competition that has never seen more talent, and this was proven the first day when rematches of regional final competitions were showcased. The first game was all Tamokeva, with the Ambassadors and the Penguins playing for the third consecutive time. The break gave Yubay’s William Schreiber enough time to recover from his injury, but the rust set in. A game that showed off scoring talent ended in a tie, Hyletville Penguins 2 and Yubay Ambassadors 2. The rematch between the Galapetra teams was a little more surprising, with only one goal between two teams with plenty of offensive ability. Jonathan Walker would be the only one to find his way to the net as the Vorackberg Herd once again took care of Honey Whale Hockey Club, this time with a 1-0 score. 

Day two fans got to enjoy some cross region action that showed how the youth leagues stacked up. It started with both champions trading heavy blows and a couple goals. Hyletville and Vorackberg had a similar style of play but the Herd’s scoring touch got them the 2-1 win over the Penguins. The later game showed the same score as the first, but the win went to the other region. Yubay and HWHC played evenly all game, but a third period push gave Vince Romano the opportunity to put it away for the Ambassadors. They would end the day with a 2-1 win, setting up for another wild finish for that final spot in the national title game. 

The final day had three teams desperate, and the Herd wondering who they would meet in the grand finale. Although they were already through, Vorackberg decided to put more pressure on Yubay by taking away their control of whether or not they would be in the finals with a 5-1 thrashing that is not normally seen at the festival. This left it up to the Penguins who needed to beat HWHC by a few goals to move on. While HWHC had no chance at this point they decided to go out with a bang, putting 4 past the Penguins goalie. With all four goals in the game, HWHC defenseman Zach Tackett made sure to leave his mark in his final appearance, being the first ever defenseman to score this many in a single game at the festival. The final score was 4-1, and the national final would be the Vorackberg Herd versus the Yubay Ambassadors.


1974 TYHDA National Finals
 

The final between the Vorackberg Herd and the Yubay Ambassadors was one that had potential to show what it looked like when the most potent offense in the league went against a goalie that was known to stump the opponents, but Schreiber’s injury had gotten to him during the round robin. Instead we would see the young gun in net for Yubay again, and the Herd saw it as no goalie in net. This was the wrong thing to do, giving the Ambassadors an opportunity to capitalize on the Herd’s risky offense, going up by 2 in the first. 

The Herd would recover for a second early in the second with a quick break that led to a goal making it 2-1. The response from the Ambassadors was forceful, demanding the game with a pair of goals from Vince Ramano and Dirk McKenna. Luckily, a scramble that caught the Ambassadors off guard would end the period with an unlikely breakaway for Herd defender Mark Yont who cut to the chase with a slap shot from the hash marks that ripped past the goalies blocker. This ended the period with the Ambassadors up 4-2. 

The mountain for the Herd would be steep to climb, but Galapatra teams would know not to let off the gas when leading Vorackberg, unfortunately the Ambassadors were not a Galapetra team. Jonathan Walker would come out in the third with THL caliber play, scoring two in the first five minutes of the period tying the game and resulting in a Yubay timeout. The Ambassadors managed to collect themselves, and a wrist shot from the slot would put Yubay back ahead with 5 minutes remaining. The game was not over, with a sixth man to defend on the ice the Ambassadors found their defense pushed to the limit. The amount of physical play and shots on net fueled by desperation made the solid Yubay team crack, resulting in a standing ovation from the fans to celebrate Walker’s third goal of the period, an accomplishment that the Vorackberg coaching staff couldn’t even believe. This would tie the game at 5 and force the two teams who already gave everything they had to overtime. 

The cautious play of the opponents would draw the game to a second overtime, and the exhaustion would bring it to a third. The journey had been long for both teams, and after 100 minutes of hockey the tanks were empty, but if we look back we know one player ages like a fine wine when it comes to performance in a game. Walker proved it in the regional final and he had already proved it in the third period of this game, but his team needed him once more. With 13 minutes left in the third overtime, Walker would step on the TYHDA ice for the final time, taking the place of a late backchecker into the Herd zone. Walker would wait a second for the puck to move up to the Ambassadors point player, lifting his stick before the defender could catch the puck, causing it to sail by into the neutral zone. This set up a race for the puck that the defender never had a chance to compete in, and within seconds Walker was scorching into the Yubay defensive zone. This quick flash of brilliance would be ended with Walker cutting across the crease with so much speed that the Ambassador goalie was still hugging the far post as Walker tucked the puck into the other side between the goalie’s skate and post.  

The Herd had won the most electric game in the TYHDA’s young history by a score of 6-5 over the Yubay Ambassadors. Roses flew onto the ice as the massive Herd players flew over the boards. Vorackberg had witnessed the development of an unbelievable team over the past three years as well as a truly spectacular player that burned the moment into Herd history with him raising the plate above his head and holding a rose in his mouth. Today, Walker has a statue of this moment placed outside of the Herd’s ice rink with a plaque that simply says “Jonathan “Ferdinand” Walker, a bull among boys”.
 

Last edited by Thehealthiestscratch (4/27/2020 2:41 pm)

What an incredible finish to the season!  Especially for Jonathan Walker! That was a great write up. Nice job.

1975 Identity Updates 

Both changes this offseason will be in Portarra, where the Cooley Bay Blur will add some motion to their stagnant look, and the Portarra Harps embrace the name forced on them. We will start with Cooley Bay. 

Cooley Bay Blur 

Logo
Everything changes this year for Cooley Bay, even their shades of blue and silver, the blue becoming darker and silver getting lighter. The new logo is meant to blend classic, bold lettering that is seen from colleges with tapering out of an open ended “B” to create movement similar to a gust of wind. In the middle bar of the “B” the word “COOLEY” is displayed, cutting the “BAY” because the team felt it be a lot to cram in the small area, letting the outline gust on the “B” represent the rest of the team’s name.  



Primary and Clash Jersey
The two jerseys continue the club’s belief in only using their blue and silver, having the two jerseys be identical and switching the colors to create a light and a dark option. The striping has changed for the Blur from one that was meant to mimic waves to a more traditional style that's intent is to carry the heavy, bold strokes of the logo to the jersey. The addition of a new number font that blends hard edges with a round style is used to compliment their logo. The last change is the demotion of the previous primary logo, being moved to secondary status and utilized on the shoulders of their new threads. 

Tell me what you think!

I'm a big fan of both of these identity updates. The new Cooley Bay logo reminds me of a better, bolder Red Wings logo that is simple and shows a lot of movement to compliment the name. It's a much stronger look for the Blur while maintaining their unique color scheme.

I love the new Harps scheme and logo. Major props to that Harps employee for pulling off that heist to stick it to Honey Whale. It's a fantastic new color scheme as well.

Nice work!

Steelman wrote:

I'm a big fan of both of these identity updates. The new Cooley Bay logo reminds me of a better, bolder Red Wings logo that is simple and shows a lot of movement to compliment the name. It's a much stronger look for the Blur while maintaining their unique color scheme.

I love the new Harps scheme and logo. Major props to that Harps employee for pulling off that heist to stick it to Honey Whale. It's a fantastic new color scheme as well.

Nice work!

Section30 wrote:

The Harps look incredible, love the color combo and the unique logo.

Thanks you guys! Sometimes I feel like I am presenting to a tiny crowd, but the support means a lot. Kind of like real junior hockey! Haha