The All-Time Hockey League - Page 2

reverist · 08-30-2020, 10:27 PM

One last addition to the last post: Gretzky has now won back-to-back MVPs!

Season 3 is underway (or at least the pre-season) with the addition of two expansion franchises, the Winnipeg 20s and the Houston 30s. The names are the only thing connecting the teams to the theme, which has been all kinds of messed up due to some trading and the expansion draft. I allowed teams to lose a max of five players, and protect 14. There were 12 rounds (I required the teams to pick up the rest from free agency and minors), and we lost Sergei Zubov, Mike Modano, Pavel Bure, and two fictional players (one of whom was our 18-year-old 2nd round draft choice, thank you very much). We picked up Theo Fleury and Nathan MacKinnon in the entry draft, though, and feel good about them.

The following historical players were added as 17-year-olds in juniors: Matt Barzal, Rod Brind'Amour, Curtis Joseph, Toe Blake, Joe Malone, Adam Foote, Ed Jovanovski, Vincent Damphousse, Adam Graves, and Claude Lemieux.

I am trying to get in a mix, but mostly right now adding slowly most of the rosters off the 1996 World Cup teams. I expect to keep adding 10-12 players per season, and after a few more (4 more?) doing our final expansion to round out the league at 10 teams. Currently, the league went from six teams and 60 games to eight teams, two divisions, and 68 games. The divisions are separated by Canada and UK and the US, four teams each. You play your own division rivals 12 times each (in the old format, you played everyone 12 times each), and the alternate division eight times each, for a grand total of 68 games. The playoffs also now include 6 of 8 teams, three from each division. Should be fun!

reverist · 09-05-2020, 11:10 AM

It's the end of Season 3 for the ATHL, and what an eventful season it was. First, Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles 80s captured the league's MVP award for the third consecutive year. Additionally, the Ottawa 90s (my team!) Mario Lemieux led the league in scoring for the third consecutive season, snagging a new record 50 goals and 61 assists (second to Bobby Orr's record-breaking 64 assists) for 111 points, while missing 3 games due to injury.

While our 90s squad led the new Canada and UK Division for most of the season, a late surge (and faltering from us) from the Toronto 60s put us in second place. With the new playoff format, we faced the London 10s in a rematch of the finals from Season 1. Same outcome, as they passed us by. The 10s eventually went on to play the Seattle 70s in the ATHL Cup Finals, where the 70s won for the first time ever! The ATHL has had a different champion each season, and the expanded playoff format likely helped them with this.

The minors saw Bonnie Lake Night Train (the 70s minor-league affiliate) capture their third-consecutive championship. Maybe their development should be looked at, after all?!

The JHL (Junior Hockey League) just saw the Portland Winterhawks capture their second Memorial Cup Trophy in three seasons over the San Francisco Liberty. There are some seriously good prospects in the wings waiting to be drafted.

Finally, both Brett Hull and Teemu Selanne have been unhappy with their roles, and refuse to negotiate to extend their contracts, preferring to test free agency. It should be fun!

reverist · 09-05-2020, 03:27 PM

I've reached Aug 1 of Season 4! The draft went well, and we signed several draftees from this year and last. Of note is that we have not signed draftees (from season 2 and 3, respectively) Ron Hextall and John Vanbiesbrouck. We also had previously signed Marty Turco. Perhaps two out of those three might be useful in a trade to obtain another draft selection.

As expected, we did lose Hull and Selanne to free agency. Selanne signed for just over $4 mil a season with the Winnipeg 20s, but Hull's move confuses me. He signed for $1.1 mil with the Toronto 60s on a two-way deal, then was promptly assigned to the minors. If he'd stayed with us, he was likely going to be playing on the 4th line, but he'd be in the ATHL at least.

I was hoping to sign John LeClair, someone we had lost via a trade earlier, but he wouldn't sign a two-way deal. I'd say right now our 90s squad looks to be the second-best team on paper, trailing only our developing rival, the London 10s.

Super Mario is still here and the Great One is still with the 80s, so it'll be a great showdown whenever they do play, and a great scoring race!

reverist · 09-05-2020, 05:53 PM

Of course, I forgot to name the new historical players added to the game on July 1 as 17-year-olds to the juniors (JHL): Newsy Lalonde, Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl, Eric Desjardins, Trevor Linden, Keith Primeau, Pat Verbeek, Pat LaFontaine, Vladislav Tretiak, Bobby Holik, Josef Beranek, and Roman Hamrlik. May their development go well (especially for Keith Primeau, whom the game seems to hate

).

reverist · 09-15-2020, 01:22 PM

It's the end of season 4, as we know it. And I feel....not as good as I would like. The Ottawa 90s made the semifinals after a second-place finish in the UK and Canada division, despite Super Mario missing a good 15 games due to injury. However, we went down hard to the London 10s, who in turn lost to the LA 80s. So congrats, 80s, on becoming the first to win two titles!

For the first time, we had a regular-season MVP other than Wayne Gretzky, and it was Seattle 70s defenseman Bobby Orr. Similarly, the most points did not belong to Mario Lemieux, but to Sydney Crosby of the 10s. Here's some screenshots of all the awards:

reverist · 09-15-2020, 01:26 PM

As you can see from the above, it was a great year for Luongo.

In the minors, we finally crowned a new champion in the New York 2000s affiliate Miller Place, NY. They became just the second champion in league history! In the JHL, Tretiak shone as the San Francisco Liberty's netminder. He backstopped them to their first-ever title over the defending-champion Portland Winterhawks in the Memorial Cup Final.

reverist · 09-15-2020, 01:34 PM

In the draft going into season 5, we picked up Joe Malone, which was nice. Additionally, we either re-signed or traded away all expiring contracts. We lost Peter Forsberg, sadly--as he had made it clear he was going to test free agency. He signed with the Houston 30s at 4.2 mil a year, which is something I was prepared to give him. Instead, we traded him for a draft pick.

We signed Dave Babych in free agency to a three-year-deal for about the same amount. He should bring that nice defensive presence, giving us that good positioning and hard work to go along with Scott Stevens. Not that we're pairing them together.

Finally, here are the players we added for season 5 juniors, as 17-year-olds: Valeri Bure, Robert Lang, Saku Koivu, Eddie Shore, Doug Bentley, Max Bentley, Jere Lehtinen, Jyrki Lumme, Teppo Numminen, Jeremy Roenick, Eric Staal.

09-05-2020, 11:10 AM	#22
reverist Major Leagues Join Date: May 2020 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 312	End of Season 3 It's the end of Season 3 for the ATHL, and what an eventful season it was. First, Wayne Gretzky of the Los Angeles 80s captured the league's MVP award for the third consecutive year. Additionally, the Ottawa 90s (my team!) Mario Lemieux led the league in scoring for the third consecutive season, snagging a new record 50 goals and 61 assists (second to Bobby Orr's record-breaking 64 assists) for 111 points, while missing 3 games due to injury. While our 90s squad led the new Canada and UK Division for most of the season, a late surge (and faltering from us) from the Toronto 60s put us in second place. With the new playoff format, we faced the London 10s in a rematch of the finals from Season 1. Same outcome, as they passed us by. The 10s eventually went on to play the Seattle 70s in the ATHL Cup Finals, where the 70s won for the first time ever! The ATHL has had a different champion each season, and the expanded playoff format likely helped them with this. The minors saw Bonnie Lake Night Train (the 70s minor-league affiliate) capture their third-consecutive championship. Maybe their development should be looked at, after all?! The JHL (Junior Hockey League) just saw the Portland Winterhawks capture their second Memorial Cup Trophy in three seasons over the San Francisco Liberty. There are some seriously good prospects in the wings waiting to be drafted. Finally, both Brett Hull and Teemu Selanne have been unhappy with their roles, and refuse to negotiate to extend their contracts, preferring to test free agency. It should be fun! Attached Images

09-05-2020, 03:27 PM	#23
reverist Major Leagues Join Date: May 2020 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 312	Season 4 Start I've reached Aug 1 of Season 4! The draft went well, and we signed several draftees from this year and last. Of note is that we have not signed draftees (from season 2 and 3, respectively) Ron Hextall and John Vanbiesbrouck. We also had previously signed Marty Turco. Perhaps two out of those three might be useful in a trade to obtain another draft selection. As expected, we did lose Hull and Selanne to free agency. Selanne signed for just over $4 mil a season with the Winnipeg 20s, but Hull's move confuses me. He signed for $1.1 mil with the Toronto 60s on a two-way deal, then was promptly assigned to the minors. If he'd stayed with us, he was likely going to be playing on the 4th line, but he'd be in the ATHL at least. I was hoping to sign John LeClair, someone we had lost via a trade earlier, but he wouldn't sign a two-way deal. I'd say right now our 90s squad looks to be the second-best team on paper, trailing only our developing rival, the London 10s. Super Mario is still here and the Great One is still with the 80s, so it'll be a great showdown whenever they do play, and a great scoring race!

09-15-2020, 01:22 PM	#25
reverist Major Leagues Join Date: May 2020 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 312	End of Season 4 It's the end of season 4, as we know it. And I feel....not as good as I would like. The Ottawa 90s made the semifinals after a second-place finish in the UK and Canada division, despite Super Mario missing a good 15 games due to injury. However, we went down hard to the London 10s, who in turn lost to the LA 80s. So congrats, 80s, on becoming the first to win two titles! For the first time, we had a regular-season MVP other than Wayne Gretzky, and it was Seattle 70s defenseman Bobby Orr. Similarly, the most points did not belong to Mario Lemieux, but to Sydney Crosby of the 10s. Here's some screenshots of all the awards: Attached Images

09-15-2020, 01:34 PM	#27
reverist Major Leagues Join Date: May 2020 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 312	Season 5 In the draft going into season 5, we picked up Joe Malone, which was nice. Additionally, we either re-signed or traded away all expiring contracts. We lost Peter Forsberg, sadly--as he had made it clear he was going to test free agency. He signed with the Houston 30s at 4.2 mil a year, which is something I was prepared to give him. Instead, we traded him for a draft pick. We signed Dave Babych in free agency to a three-year-deal for about the same amount. He should bring that nice defensive presence, giving us that good positioning and hard work to go along with Scott Stevens. Not that we're pairing them together. Finally, here are the players we added for season 5 juniors, as 17-year-olds: Valeri Bure, Robert Lang, Saku Koivu, Eddie Shore, Doug Bentley, Max Bentley, Jere Lehtinen, Jyrki Lumme, Teppo Numminen, Jeremy Roenick, Eric Staal.

08-30-2020, 10:27 PM	#21
reverist Major Leagues Join Date: May 2020 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 312	One last addition to the last post: Gretzky has now won back-to-back MVPs! Season 3 is underway (or at least the pre-season) with the addition of two expansion franchises, the Winnipeg 20s and the Houston 30s. The names are the only thing connecting the teams to the theme, which has been all kinds of messed up due to some trading and the expansion draft. I allowed teams to lose a max of five players, and protect 14. There were 12 rounds (I required the teams to pick up the rest from free agency and minors), and we lost Sergei Zubov, Mike Modano, Pavel Bure, and two fictional players (one of whom was our 18-year-old 2nd round draft choice, thank you very much). We picked up Theo Fleury and Nathan MacKinnon in the entry draft, though, and feel good about them. The following historical players were added as 17-year-olds in juniors: Matt Barzal, Rod Brind'Amour, Curtis Joseph, Toe Blake, Joe Malone, Adam Foote, Ed Jovanovski, Vincent Damphousse, Adam Graves, and Claude Lemieux. I am trying to get in a mix, but mostly right now adding slowly most of the rosters off the 1996 World Cup teams. I expect to keep adding 10-12 players per season, and after a few more (4 more?) doing our final expansion to round out the league at 10 teams. Currently, the league went from six teams and 60 games to eight teams, two divisions, and 68 games. The divisions are separated by Canada and UK and the US, four teams each. You play your own division rivals 12 times each (in the old format, you played everyone 12 times each), and the alternate division eight times each, for a grand total of 68 games. The playoffs also now include 6 of 8 teams, three from each division. Should be fun!

09-05-2020, 05:53 PM	#24
reverist Major Leagues Join Date: May 2020 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 312	Of course, I forgot to name the new historical players added to the game on July 1 as 17-year-olds to the juniors (JHL): Newsy Lalonde, Taylor Hall, Leon Draisaitl, Eric Desjardins, Trevor Linden, Keith Primeau, Pat Verbeek, Pat LaFontaine, Vladislav Tretiak, Bobby Holik, Josef Beranek, and Roman Hamrlik. May their development go well (especially for Keith Primeau, whom the game seems to hate ).

09-15-2020, 01:26 PM	#26
reverist Major Leagues Join Date: May 2020 Location: Murfreesboro, TN Posts: 312	As you can see from the above, it was a great year for Luongo. In the minors, we finally crowned a new champion in the New York 2000s affiliate Miller Place, NY. They became just the second champion in league history! In the JHL, Tretiak shone as the San Francisco Liberty's netminder. He backstopped them to their first-ever title over the defending-champion Portland Winterhawks in the Memorial Cup Final.