Stickman wrote:

Bucks: Well, this definitely is a unique team for sure!  Larry Lamb sounds like he'll be an entertaining owner to say the least!  Honestly, with the Bucks competing against the Bancana Kings for supremacy of the market, this embracing of their weirdness isn't a terrible strategy.  The fans certainly have welcomed the weird, given the pancake throwing, finally giving us the THL's version of the octopus throwing that Red Wings fans do, (kind of a waste of good food, IMO). 

As for the logo design, I like it!  I definitely believe this is the strangest logo this series has brought us, but it definitely fits a "80's Horror Movie" feel.  The "pancake" yellow circle could be a full moon, the buck with his "Jason" mask being the psycho killer.   And, I don't know if this was intentional or not, the A in the back.  It looks normal at first, but then I saw the buck's antlers with it.  Now I see the A having "evil hands", which I can't unsee anymore.  Yet, even THAT fits the "80's Horror Movie" style that this team has!   This team will definitely be one to watch!

Crusaders: Hey, the Nordiques found a way to get into the THL!  Lol, jk.  Quebel has a fun backstory to it, which was a nice read.  As they are a small market team, it'll be interesting to see if the Crusaders can survive against all the big boys of the THL.  Their hard hitting strategy is a good one to start.  The uniform is very nice, logo's fine, although I never saw the Q until you mentioned it in their description.  Still having a hard time seeing it, and since the hockey stick is being used, I'm not sure there's a way to get this to ever more clearly be a Q.  IMO, this team might have to abandon that plan down the road, which wouldn't be too bad, as the Crusader theme certainly seems like one that could have several design possibilities!

Overall, really good job as always with the jerseys!  Definitely got some interesting teams added to the fold!  Speaking of folding, it appears my Wolves finally folded in the UHA.  It was bound to happen eventually, but I still remember them fondly for their ineptitude! 

Thanks Mr. Sticks, always appreciate your feedback! I think Q is a veeeery loose one that didn't totally translate into the design but I liked it enough to keep it. I definitely have some themed ideas for them down the road.

The Wolves might have been the most unlucky team out of the UHA. I'll miss those lavender sweaters.

Dan O'Mac wrote:

I really like the Quebel look. I was waiting to hear why the stick of the hockey stick was an obelisk. And, like Stickman, I didn't see the "Q" in the logo until it was pointed out, and even then, it's tough to see.

As far as Abrieden, I really like the look. I think with the "A" behind the mask/antlers, it's a little cluttered. I can see them having an OG Mighty Ducks style mask with antlers in their future.

All in all, two good looks.

Thanks Mr. O'Mac. I know Abrieden is a little cluttered but part of it was purposeful, emulating the Jets and Islanders of that era. The oblelisk for Quebel is more a subtle nod at medieval imagery and the crusader sword motif that will most likely proceed this look.

Rugrat wrote:

Both teams look amazing! The Bucks are now my second favorite team now, behind Kirlow

Thanks! I'll have some sigs up for the two new teams today. If you want a combo sig like S30 did for some of his MAHL teams, I can do that too.

ThisIsFine wrote:

Quebel gonna relocate to Colrada.

Haha, we shall see! (Pakola or New Dosa might be the most similar to Colorado, though neither have a large high elevation city)

QCS wrote:

Glad to see Abrieden got a team! It looks good, I'd like to see the logo decluttered a bit, however. Quebel also looks great! I hope both teams find some success. Not surprised to see the Wolves fold, however.

Thanks! Decluttering will happen over time, I wanted to try to get that turn of the decade look that combined too many things.

Section30 wrote:

Both the Bucks and Crusaders look great, love the logo for Abrieden and the colors for Quebel

Much appreciated!

MyTeamIsDr.Pepper wrote:

Good job on both expansion teams. The logo for the Bucks is a bit weird but it works, will be interesting to see how it evolves over time. Actually I can say that for both teams, the Golden Knights and Nordiques love child, or the Crusaders, has a really great logo, the Q is a bit off but just like with the Bucks, It'll be interesting how the design evolves over time, I wouldn't be surprised to see sword imagery come in to play in the 90's if the team can stick around long enough.

Thanks! Yeah, you've already touched on future designs. I have plenty of alternate logo ideas for these teams so once redesigning comes into play I think I'll some options. I'm not sure teams really spent as much time as they do now on crafting the perfect identity when launching so I wanted to leave lots of room for growth.
 

Yeah give me a Bucks-Kodiaks comdo sig

1979 THL Offseason Cont'd

Notable Retirements

Don Giordano, the venerable 78-year-old Captain of the Isle, announced that he would be retiring following the 1979 season and his son Don Jr. would be taking over team operations. They will run the team jointly for 1979 to allow Junior to get a hang of the ropes.

Von Wentz, a future Hall of Fame goaltender retired at 38 years old and 19 THL seasons for four teams. As a longtime member of the Yubay Falcons, Wentz collected 3 Cups and was a 4-time Best Goalie winner. He won another Cup during a two-year stint with Chasonne and finished his career in Guilden. Wentz was known as one of the best goalies of his era and a strong leader, even sporting the C on his chest in Yubay which is typically unusual for goaltenders. He saw 5 All-Star appearances and was the 1965 Finals MVP for his unforgettable playoff run where he did not allow a single goal in 4 games against the Heralds and only 3 goals in a 6-game Finals series against the Whales for his first Cup.

THL Hall of Fame Class of '79

Following the two-year cycle format, this season's inductee is former Heralds and Anchors forward Lou D'Angelo who was elected in his first year of eligibility. 

Coaching Carousel

The new Abrieden Bucks hired former longtime Heralds GM Jasper Brannon to run the team. Brannon helped Chasonne win a Cup. He hired former Captains AC Trent Everett to helm the team and young Fred Campbell was hired to be his assistant. The Captains hired Arthur Cohen to replace Trent Everett as their AC.

Over in Quebel, Conti hired Ed Woodley to run team operations. Ted Weathers, a former Monmount High School and Indy League hockey coach was hired as head coach. Former Guilden AC Rick Heckman was brought in to fill the AC role.

1979 Expansion Draft

Current teams were given 7 exceptions to be placed on their eligible players. Each team must have one player chosen by an expansion team for a total of 7 players for each expansion team. Quebel won a coin flip to choose first. The Crusaders picked Whales forward Walt Gulbrandsen. The Bucks selected Captains forward Pete Wyman for their first pick. Among other notable players selected, the Crusaders took Neptunes goalie Damon Semkos, Chasonne vet F Kurtis Romstadt, Anchors defenseman Robert Sudbrock, and Pioneers F Billy Stamper. Notable players chosen by the Bucks included former Glaciers F Earnest Schultz, Kodiaks F Freddy Hoffmeyer, Falcons young defenseman Nolan Kaminski, and former Captains and Herons goalie Scott Fitchette.

Player Trades & Signings

The Bucks traded their 1980 2nd-Round pick to the Kodiaks for veteran defenseman Albert Golatt.

Narva traded prospect goalie Steve Kitchens and their 1979 2nd-Round pick to Kavalos for veteran goalie Jesse Gaskins who was on an Indy League contract.

1979 THL Amateur Player Draft

The last two finishers from the 1978 season were put into a lottery with the two expansion teams to determine the draft order of the Top 4. Chasonne got lucky with a bounce for 1st overall, followed by Abrieden, Quebel, and Guilden. The rest of the order would follow by season standing, beginning with Lecayne with the 5th pick.

1979 1st-Round

1 – CHA – F Gian Guiliano
The clear choice for best overall prospect is Guiliano, a young phenom from Taiver who played his high school hockey in Canada. He's a brilliant center with a high level of scoring acumen. He's still very young and needs to grow into his body and the physical aspect of pro hockey.

2 – ABR – F David Suvak (Hungary)
The Hungarian-born Suvak is Abrieden's first ever draft choice. Suvak is a natural power forward and should be able to step in and lead a young team right away. Some are concerned with the language barrier, as Suvak's English isn't known to be very good.

3 – QUE – D Bram Vandergert (Holland)
The Crusaders chose Dutch defenseman Vandergert with their first selection as a franchise. Vandergert is known to be a tenacious player with a quiet lead-by-example style that should mesh well in Quebel.

4 – GLD – G “Large” Arlie Lozano
The Barbarians are ecstatic that Lozano fell to them as the team is desperate for net help and Lozano is a unique talent. “Large” Arlie is 6'0” and weighs a whopping 268lbs. He's more than just a big body and personality though, as Lozano has nice vision in the net.

5 – LEC – D Buster Irizzary
The Saints had a tough choice at #5 with the next tier of talent. Many thought they'd bring in a goalie with Reed Darling 37 years old but they liked Irizzary better. He's a blue collar tough guy on the blue line.

6 – PTP – F Elisha Nadeau
The Pioneers have been quietly rebuilding their roster around Jonathan Walker since Geno Pasternak's departure and the swift Nadeau will be a nice building block for the top line.

7 – TRO – G Jonah Urban
The Herons have also quietly been building a talented young roster and Urban should fit nicely into Trowburgh's goalie rotation with Brenden Ruske. 

8 – YUB – F Fabian Fryer
Fryer is a nice pick for the Falcons who are trying to surround Geno Pasternak with as much speed as possible during his waning years. Fryer fits the bill as a speedy winger with a nice scoring touch.

9 – KRK – G Joseph Blunt
The Captains are at a crossroads with an aging roster and little help in the pipeline. Blunt is a nice talent though not spectacular in any area. Blunt can sit behind Gerry McKnight and learn the ropes.

10 – YBG – F Jarrett Falk
The Glaciers have a log-jammed roster with championship talent but underachieving depth. Falk can soak up a lot of minutes on the wing of the second line.

11 – KAV – D Derick Meade
12 – FTB – F Fletcher Phelan
13 – KIR – F Andrew Lomax (Y)
14 – POR – D Eli Priestly
15 – NAR – D Dirk McKenna (Y)
16 – PA – D Ed Mackey

(Y denotes Youth League player)

During the draft, two trades were made. Lecayne traded the 21st overall pick to Trowburgh for F Tim Baughman and the 23rd overall pick. The Falcons and Crusaders made an interesting swap, with F Tim Hedges and the 24th overall pick going to Quebel who sent their 1980 and 1981 second round picks in exchange.

In a flurry of trades after the draft, second round picks continued to be thrown around like candy.

The Bucks traded their 1981 2nd round pick to Chasonne for veteran defenseman Lloyd Singleton. The Captains traded their 1980 2nd round pick to Kavalos for F Eli Cloud. The Rockets traded their 1980 2nd round pick to the Glaciers for F Darren Lambert. The Barbarians traded their 1980 2nd round pick to the Whales for displaced D Erik Patriksson.

Team Identity Changes

1979 Chasonne Heralds


Previous Set: 1974-1978 Chasonne Heralds Identity

The Heralds made a surprise entry for changes by completely overhauling their entire set as owner Jack Elam is envisioning a new era in Heralds hockey, especially with Gian Guiliano on the squad. Elam said he'd been working on the project for the past two seasons and was excited to finally unveil them. The new look brings a new color as the Symphonic Blue gives way to a new Royal Blue that is much bolder. The original logo with the banner returns in the new blue-white-gold combo. The original numbers also return in a flat look. Both sets feature detailed striping, outlined contrasting shoulder yokes, royal blue pants with thin stripes, and gold collars.

Here are the 1979 sig updates:





A look at the hockey landscape in Torland as of 1979:


Here's a map of professional hockey teams across Torland in 1979. White circles are THL franchises and black circles are UHA teams. The THL has progressed to 16 teams while the UHA has regressed to just 6 teams. 1979-1980 will be crucial for the success of the UHA. Four metro markets have at least two local teams, while the Bancana-Abrieden metro is saturated with three teams now.

C&C much appreciated! 

Good luck, Junior, and props to Von Wentz on an amazing career. I can't wait for the Falcons to raise #33 to its rightful place in the Yertas Arena rafters, and I know for a fact that the Hall of Fame will be calling his name very soon. I would also like to congratulate Lou D'Angelo on becoming the eleventh person to go into the Hall of Fame - and, yes, I have been keeping count.

And on behalf of all of my fellow Kirk Boys - thank you, Don G, for all of your tireless service to the Kirkenport Captains hockey club, to the City of Kirkenport, to the Isle of Kirk, to the State of the Alrene Isles, and to the Republic of Torland. (Is that the right name?) Running a sports team, let alone a major league sports team, is a thankless job, and he has done a fine job these last 19 years. The Isle will always cherish the 3 Marcotte Cups we have won over the last 19 years, and I hope retirement treats him well.

Chasonne Heralds new set looks classy, got the right numbers of stripes for both arms and hem, and the colours are excellent it fits with the logo nicely. Nice work.