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- - WHA Revival (https://forums.ootpdevelopments.com//showthread.php?t=293458)

What if the WHA came back?

The league will start in the 2018-19 season with 8 teams in Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Quebec City, Albany, Worcester, Hamilton, and Indianapolis. There are no divisions, nor are there any conferences. Just 8 teams, and that's it (for now).

The 8 teams:

Baltimore Blades
https://i.gyazo.com/416e1ed5bc9ea640...840439fdec.png
This team never really got a chance to exist in the WHA... until now. They will play in the Royal Farms Arena.

Cincinnati Stingers
https://i.gyazo.com/aeb05cf06c43d922...dce4cd1465.png
This team however, did exist from 1975 to the end of the old WHA in 1979. However, they didn't get to enter into the NHL when the merger happened. 38 years later, they're back! They'll play their home games in the US Bank Arena, where the old franchise played.

Cleveland Cardinals
https://i.gyazo.com/951dd768fca35d2a...54c9d416d4.png
This is yet another market that had an old WHA team. I chose not to revive the Crusaders name, but instead went on and named this team the Cardinals, because the cardinal is the state bird of Ohio. They'll play their home games at Quicken Loans Arena in downtown Cleveland.

Hamilton Panthers
https://i.gyazo.com/6c1774e644052cce...07a6e14975.png
Finally, a market the old WHA didn't tap into. The Hamilton Panthers will play their home games at FirstOntario Center in downtown Hamilton, sharing the venue with the Bulldogs of the OHL.

Albany Knights
https://i.gyazo.com/f4d42951dd78f1bb...51819d7d0d.png
Albany hasn't had a hockey team since Devils left for Binghamton before the 2017-18 AHL season. But now, hockey has come back to the capital of New York! They'll play their home games at Times Union Center in downtown Albany.

Indianapolis Racers
https://i.gyazo.com/0e204b7f45eb3810...3210682f70.png
The team that started Wayne Gretzky has been resurrected! They're even using the original logo. Unfortunately, their original arena was demolished in 2001, so it's not a 100% resurrection. They'll play their home games at the new Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

Quebec City Polar Bears
https://i.gyazo.com/ec0c85e44b6d0333...39a4961a48.png
Finally the Videotron Centre has a tenant that might fill more than 1000 seats!

Worcester Bobcats
https://i.gyazo.com/c1ce4c0c5032b94d...43e0b54a63.png
And lastly, WHA hockey is back in New England. But unfortunately, the Whalers aren't coming back. Instead, New England's WHA team will be placed in Worcester, the 2nd largest city in Massachusetts. They'll play their home games at the DCU Center.

Look forward to following this.

I was going to sim the initial draft, but the game decided to completely skip over that, and preseason. So instead, here's the standings at the trading deadline!

https://i.gyazo.com/ddf964e7892e58f9...04c169c41c.png

And to follow that up, here are the final regular season standings!
https://i.gyazo.com/468813eb2ab03117...452721a946.png

And also the round 1 playoff matchups
https://i.gyazo.com/c8fb74d860c3e55a...8a455bddd8.png

Quote:

Originally Posted by WingaDinga (Post 4376993)

I was going to sim the initial draft, but the game decided to completely skip over that, and preseason. So instead, here's the standings at the trading deadline!

In the game setup/options menu, make sure to check the “sim day by day” box.

Round 1 results:
https://i.gyazo.com/242f6bed17514265...d18b16bae5.png

Albany vs Cincinnati. The two best teams in the league. Definitely going to be a close one.

who is in the league? Real players, fictional? We need context!

Quote:

Originally Posted by George_Bell (Post 4377088)

who is in the league? Real players, fictional? We need context!

Fictional players.

The Albany Knights have won the National Cup!
https://i.gyazo.com/45a1a0dbd10f0857...8b2c514b93.png

I decided to go with the National Cup because Avco was bought out around 20 years ago and renamed.

Next will be the awards

FIRST ROUND PICKS:

With the first pick, the Hamilton Panthers selected American Albert Straley.
With the second pick, the Cleveland Cardinals selected Canadian Andrew Soucy
With the third pick, the Baltimore Blades selected American Jonathan McGinn
With the fourth pick, the Worcester Bobcats selected American Jack Sturgill
With the fifth pick, the Indianapolis Racers selected Lithuanian Rimvydas Petrauskas
With the sixth pick, the Quebec City Polar Bears selected Russian Kirill Romantsev
With the seventh pick, the Cincinnati Stingers selected Canadian Jordan Nicholson
With the eighth pick, the Albany Knights selected American Jack Wells.
https://i.gyazo.com/8660cc5c8b13e081...557541aba1.png

https://img00.deviantart.net/c198/i/...er-d9b8ls5.png

6/26/20, 1 PM PST

The WHA and the owner of the Portland Winterhawks, Bill Gallacher held a press conference at the Moda Center in Portland OR. There have been rumors since February about the WHA possibly putting an expansion team in Portland, Oregon, and many people speculated that this conference will be about the rumors of a new expansion team. They were right.

Both the WHA and Gallacher announced that an expansion team based in Portland, Oregon will start operations in the 2019-20 season. No name or logo has been announced yet, but that announcement will come sometime around mid-July according to Gallacher.

The locals around the Portland area were excited to hear that a professional hockey team was coming to town. One resident said "The new hockey team will positively impact the hockey culture in Portland. Usually our only option was the Winterhawks. Now we have an alternative, and choices are something I like".

The Portland WHA team will play home games at the Moda Center in downtown Portland.

More expansion?

After the announcement that a WHA team was coming to Portland, more rumors started going around about other cities that have bid for WHA teams.

According to these rumors, Sacramento, San Diego, Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco have placed a bid for a WHA expansion franchise. Eugene Melnyk was rumored to have placed a bid for a team in Ottawa, but he denied having any involvement with the WHA.

7/20/20, noon PST

Gallacher has announced the name and logo for his new WHA team.

Introducing, the Portland Lumberjacks!

https://i.gyazo.com/5a1b907b7077af79...dc532dd7d3.png
credit to Tyler Rodgers for the logo

WHA taking a look at another expansion team?

10/17/20, 3 PM EST

After announcing a 9th team, the WHA is apparently considering another expansion team to make the league even at 10 teams. Rumors are going around that the California bay area could possibly be home to the WHA's 10th team after an image leaked on the internet showing what appears to be Joe Lacob, owner of the Golden State Warriors, having a meeting with the WHA's board of directors. If rumors are correct, the team would likely play in San Francisco's new arena, the Chase Center.

STANDINGS AS OF THE TRADING DEADLINE (2/1/20)
https://i.gyazo.com/97f327ff50729bbe...1995e349c7.png

2/1/20, 7 PM EST

The rumors have been confirmed. A WHA team is coming to San Francisco. The team will be owned by Joe Lacob, and they will play in the brand new Chase Center. Team name and logos will be unveiled on June 1st.

EDIT: 4/11/20, unknown time

While simming through to the end of the regular season, I got a job offer from Portland as GM. I of course declined, because I'm not controlling a team in this simulation. This team is so entertaining to follow. They're setting records for ineptitude. Some might never be broken.

Aside from unleashing my inner UrinatingTree, Portland fired their GM Matt Gartman and replaced him with Keith Allen.
https://i.gyazo.com/50f5f424ed049fb1...3c8e7e9cb8.png
https://i.gyazo.com/c6580e1dd895a6b1...c53954d876.png

ROUND 1 RESULTS:
https://i.gyazo.com/44ffb20308b6415a...a47cd48e1c.png

Yet again the finals are between the top 2 teams in the league.