Season 13 Creighton Cup

The Season 13 semifinals were pretty shocking! I didn't expect both series to end in sweeps or for both series to have such lopsided goal differentials. I was pretty excited, though, for the Creighton Cup finals matchup. This was the first time that the finals did not include one of the league's First Four teams (Bulldogs, Comets, Thistles, Victorias). Instead, it was a battle of expansion teams!

The semifinals also teed up some interesting themes that I wanted to monitor in the finals. The Bearcats' power play came to life (33.33%) after finishing dead last in the regular season (10.00%), and it was a major contributing factor to the Cats' upset win over the Bulldogs. So too was goaltending. Crusty veteran Riley Hern outdueled superstar Hap Holmes, finishing with an astounding .973 save percentage! For the Millionaires, Georges Vezina was almost as impressive at .961. Vezina's heroics, in fact, masked some of the Millies' first-round shortcomings: They failed to score a power-play goal after finishing first in that statistic during the regular season (24.07%), and the only player to score more than one goal in the opening round was defenseman Harry Cameron (4).

Who won the ultimate prize? See below for the recap!

• Game 1: The first-place Millionaires started the series at home against the third-place Bearcats. In the first, Joe Malone got the visitors rolling with a goal less than two minutes into the game. The Cats outshot the Millies 18-7 in the first period, dominating the time of possession just as they did against the Dogs in the last round. Scotty Davidson's power-play goal in the second made it 2-0 for the Cats. The Millies finally struck back in the third, on back-to-back goals by Mickey MacKay and Frank Foyston; in that sequence, Cats goalie Riley Hern gave up as many goals in three minutes as he did in three full games against the Bulldogs! There was no further scoring in regulation, nor in the first overtime. In double overtime, Malone tallied his second of the game to win it for the upstart Bearcats. 
• Game 2: The Cats came home with a chance to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. After a scoreless first, the game really opened up in the second period. Jimmy Gardner -- the former  Millies captain who lost even his roster spot late in the regular season due to lack of production and undisciplined play -- cracked the lineup for the first time in the postseason and scored his team's first goal. That lead was quickly erased by Joe Malone, however, but then restored by new Millies captain Harry "Rat" Westwick. The score was 2-1 at the end of the second. Billy McGimsie tied it early in the third, and then Bruce Stuart gave the Cats their first lead with a power-play tally. George Hay got the equalizer for the Millies, so it was 3-3 heading into the final few minutes of regular time. Star blueliner Harry Cameron continued his scorching postseason with his fifth goal of the playoffs, sealing a 4-3 win for the visiting Millionaires and tying the series at one game apiece.
• Game 3: The Millies were home for the third game, but as with Game 1, found themselves in an early hole. The Cats held a huge advantage in time of possession and peppered Georges Vezina with shots until defenseman Frank Patrick -- brother of Millies defenseman Lester Patrick -- got one past Vezina. That goal was followed shortly thereafter by a Billy McGimsie lamp-lighter. The Cats took a 2-0 lead into the second frame, in which there was no scoring. A desperate Millionaires team made a strong push in the third. Frank Foyston got them on the board, but McGimsie's second of the game restored the Cats' two-goal lead. Mickey MacKay scored on the power play to make it 3-2, but the clock ran out before they could get the equalizer. 
• Game 4: With a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five series, the Cats had a chance to win the first Creighton Cup in franchise history on home ice -- of course, up to this point, the road team had won every game in the finals. In the first, defensemen Frank Patrick and Harry Cameron traded early goals in a 1-1 contest that quickly became 3-1 after linemates Didier Pitre and Joe Malone scored for the Cats. The Millies suffered a tough blow in the second when Bruce Stuart made it 4-1 in front of the Cats' ecstatic home fans. Although Barney Stanley got one back for the defending champs, they still trailed 4-2 going into the third. Malone and Stanley each scored their second goals of the game, both on the power play, in the third period. The end result was a 5-3 series-clinching victory for the Bearcats. 

It's the first-ever Creighton Cup for the Bearcats and their transcendent superstar Joe Malone, who edged the Millies' Harry Cameron for the Playoff MVP trophy. Classy veterans Billy McGimsie and Fred Maxwell earned the sixth championships of their respective careers, after racking up five with the Victorias in years past. That's all for now! Season 13 is in the books.

Just When I Thought I Was Out...

 ...they pull me back in! It looked like Lumibricks (nee Funwhole) was wrapping up their cyberpunk line, but some new sets have dropped! I've supplemented the construction of my super-cool city of Vesper with sets from the steampunk and inner-city lines, but now it's back to straight-up cyberpunk to round out the city before staging the first campaign here.

32 Wolf Man

We're getting close to the end of this phase of the boys' Shattered Realm campaign, in which their high-level characters are undertaking a mission to help save the Druid Cycle world from a multiverse-level threat. In the penultimate combat of this storyline, the heroes needed to crash an evil queen's military rally, rescue some hostages before they could be executed, and obtain the magic item neeed for them to help their compatriots in the Druid Cycle world. Matthew's elf rogue manage to shoot the queen with his bow in the first round of combat, but the real challenge was saving the hostages, who were out in the open in the middle of the town square with enemy soldiers closing in on them from all directions. 

Enter...32 Wolf Man!

Nathaniel has long been toying with combat tactics focused on conjuring large numbers of creatures. He's been referring to this idea as "32 Wolf Man," because, using a ninth-level spell, he could conjure a ridiculous 32 wolves at once. And that's exactly what he did in this situation. Wildshaped into an earth elemental, Nathaniel's druid burrowed under the town square, popped up from below ground, and conjured this army of wolves around the helpless hostages. Now forced to hack their way through these two fill rings of celestial beasts, the enemy soldiers were delayed long enough for the heroes to figure out an exit strategy in which they retrieved the magic item from the queen's body and got away with as many of the hostages as they could.

Season 13 Playoffs

The Victorias and Comets franchises have won seven Creighton Cups between them, but they're sitting out this postseason. While they dream of drafting exciting young talent to rebuild for next year, the other four franchises were locking horns in the playoffs. Here's the recap of Round 1!

Semifinal 1: Millionaires (1st) vs. Thistles (4th)

• Game 1: Who notched the first goal of the Season 13 playoffs? Mickey MacKay, Jack Adams, Gord Roberts? Nope, the first tally was a fluky bounce on a shot by Millionaires blueliner Lester Patrick, who had zero goals during the regular season (and a measly two assists). Aging veteran Frank Rankin then scored to give the Millies a 2-0 edge. Early in the second period, Thistles superstar Alf Smith scored to make it 2-1, but Millies icon Barney Stanley restored the two-goal lead late in the frame. MacKay picked up an insurance goal midway through the third. Jack Walker scored late to bring the Thistles within two, but the game ended with a 4-2 victory for the defending Creighton Cup champs.
• Game 2: No jitters on the road for the Millionaires. They scored four times in the first period, ending the frame with a 4-0 lead over the shellshocked Thistles. Harry Westwick scored once, and star defenseman Harry Cameron notched his first playoff hat trick. Hod Stuart got the home team on the board in the second, but there was no further scoring, so the Millionaires left town with a 4-1 victory and a 2-0 series lead.
• Game 3: The Millies came home with a chance to clinch a spot in the Creighton Cup finals. There was no scoring in the first period, which featured some incredible goaltending from the Millies' Georges Vezina (the reigning Playoff MVP) and the Thistles' Hugh Lehman (himself a two-time winner of that aforementioned award). Rookie blueliner Sprague Cleghorn got his first-ever playoff goal to stake the Thistles to a 1-0 lead in the second. By the third period, the Millies were feeling some pressure; they were trailing, and they hadn't scored since the first period of Game 1 -- a stretch of four straight periods. The red-hot Cameron, however, came to the rescue and tied the game. In overtime, the Millies failed to convert on a power play, but sophomore winger George Hay scored moments later to give his team a 2-1 win and a series sweep. 

Semifinal 2: Bulldogs (2nd) vs. Bearcats (3rd)

• Game 1: The Bulldogs, the league's most-penalized team this year, started this series off with some seriously undisciplined play -- three penalties in the first ten minutes of the first period. With the league's worst penalty killing, the Dogs were playing with fire, but managed to kill off all three infractions. Outshot 10-2 in the early going, the Dogs struck first on a goal by Harry Trihey. Shortly thereafter, superstar goaltender Hap Holmes preserved the home team's slim lead with a highlight-reel save on a Scotty Davidson breakaway. In the second period, the Cats finally connected on the power play with a goal by Bruce Stuart. With the score knotted at 1-1 in the third, Joe Malone beat Holmes to give the Cats a 2-1 advantage. At this points, the Bearcats were outshooting the Bulldogs by more than a two-to-one margin, so the Dogs were lucky to be trailing by just a single goal. All hopes were dashed, however, when Stuart scored another power-play goal, driving a dagger into the heart of the team that had traded him for Holmes after Season 11. The final was 3-1 for the visiting Bearcats in a huge upset.
• Game 2: Penalties were devastating for the Bulldogs in Game 1. Could the Dogs maintain their composure in Game 2 on the road? Things got off to a rocky start for them in the first when the Cats' Billy McGimsie (acquired in a midseason trade with the Victorias) scored, followed shortly thereafter by defenseman Dickie Boon. In the second, Scotty Davidson extended the Cats' lead to 3-0 with a power-play goal. Moose Johnson, in a vain attempt to atone for his many penalties in the series, scored to bring the Dogs within two, but it was all Cats after that. Didier Pitre made it 4-1, and then Davidson scored again in the third to extend the Cats' lead to 5-1. Needless to say, superstar Bulldogs goaltender Hap Holmes had a bit of an off-day.
• Game 3: Up 2-0 in the series, the underdog Cats ("undercats"?) attempted to finish off the series on the road. They got some early momentum in the first when Dickie Boon scored on the power play after yet another careless penalty by Moose Johnson. Late in the second period, veteran speedster Fred "Steamer" Maxwell (who has suited up for more playoff games than anyone in league history) scored to make it 2-0 for the Cats. With their season hanging in the balance and one period to make up the deficit, the Bulldogs needed to come out strong in the third period. They didn't. Holmes was magnificent and finished with 34 saves, many of them spectacular, but his team let him down. The Cats' Riley Hern picked up the second playoff shutout of his career as the game ended 2-0.

Next up: The Season 13 Creighton Cup championship series with the Millionaires against the Bearcats! (And for the Bulldogs? An offseason of humiliation and finger-pointing after scoring just two goals in the Bearcats' three-game sweep.)

Secret Identities

Foxy Shazam was live in Reno tonight, and you'd better believe I was rocking out right up front!

They sure sound a lot like Clark Kent's favorite band. Hey, did I just discover the secret identity of the Mighty Crabjoys?!

FCBD 2026

Today is Free Comic Book Day!

Season 13 Highlights

Season 13 was exciting down to the very last game, which the Millionaires won to secure their second consecutive regular-season pennant (and thus home-ice advantage throughout the playoffs), denying the Bulldogs their first-ever pennant in the process. It was a frantic second half for the Millies (the reigning Creighton Cup champions), whose midseason swoon resulted in Jimmy Gardner being stripped of his captaincy as well as his roster spot, and Harry "Rat" Westwick taking over as captain. The Millies needed several late-game goals to salvage enough wins and ties to sneak ahead of the Bulldogs, who look like the league's strongest team (with a league-best +11 goal differential). I thought the Dogs would claim first place in the end, but the Millies' Mickey MacKay really elevated his play over the last few games and ended up winning the Scoring Championship (12 goals, 18 assists) for the second year in a row. MacKay also won the Forward MVP, edging out Bearcats superstar Joe Malone (last year's winner) and the Bulldogs' Jack Adams, who managed to rack up 22 points despite missing a decent chunk of the season due to injury. For the blueliners, stalwart veteran Hod Stuart captured his second Defenseman MVP trophy a full ten seasons after winning it for the first time; he delivered an impressive mix of offense and defense (7 goals, 11 assists, +8) to beat the Bulldogs' Moose Johnson (a league-leading +16) and defending trophy winner Harry Cameron of the Millies. Stuart's teammate Sprague Cleghorn won Rookie of the Year, becoming only the second blueliner ever to win that award. The season's most dominant performance, however, belonged to the Bulldogs' Hap Holmes, who claimed his third Goaltender MVP trophy after posting a 1.75 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage, which was the highest single-season save percentage in league history.