Season 13 at the Halfway Point

I'm playing through the thirteenth season of my old-timey Strat-O-Matic hockey league, and we have some interesting storylines developing at the midway mark. The reigning Creighton Cup champions, the Millionaires, are comfortably in first place, although not quite as dominant as they were a year ago. They're followed by the Bearcats, who have continued their strong run from the second half of last season; the Cats are the league's best five-on-five team, but they're held back by a power play and penalty kill that are both dead last -- by a lot! -- in the league. The Thistles have climbed into the playoff picture on the strength of all-around improved play, just slightly ahead of the fourth-place Bulldogs, whose offensive woes in last year's playoffs have continued, especially after an injury to Jack Adams temporarily robbed them off their best playmaker. The Victorias and Comets, at fifth and sixth, respectively, are currently outside the playoff picture. Fortunately for the non-playoff teams, there's some amazing talent available in the Season 14 entry draft. The Victorias got started early with their rebuild, shipping five-time Creighton Cup winner Billy McGimsie to the Cats for a talented but penalty-prone young center named Frankie Fredrickson. 

Looking ahead to the end-of-season awards for individual players, the Scoring Championship is shaping up to be a two-way race between Bearcats superstar Joe Malone (5 goals, 9 assists) and last year's titlist, Mickey MacKay (5 goals, 7 assists) of the Millionaires. These two stars are also vying for the Forward MVP trophy, although I'd say the frontrunner is Malone's teammate Didier Pitre, whose 7 goals lead the league. The race for Defenseman MVP is wide open, as no blueliner has yet to distinguish himself from the pack. The Millies' Harry Cameron might pick up a second straight trophy, but Frank Patrick of the Bearcats is tops in the league in plus-minus at +9. A rejuvanted Hod Stuart of the Thistles, the winner way back in Season 3, might also make some noise. In a lackluster year for freshmen, Thistles blueliner Sprague Cleghorn will likely win Rookie of the Year by default. Saving the most striking stats for last, can I just declare that all six starting netminders should share the Goaltender MVP award? Goalies are dominating even more than last season; in fact, the average save percentage for all goaltenders has risen from .908 in Season 11 to .917 in Season 12 to an astounding and utterly unsustainable .931 this season! Hap Holmes of the Bulldogs leads at .942, followed by Riley Hern of the Cats at .936; both men are two-time winners of the Goaltender MVP.