Release the Snyder Cut!

I'm super excited that the Snyder Cut of Justice League will finally see the light of day. (That's just a figure of speech -- in typical Zack Snyder fashion, there will be no daylight whatsoever in this film.) How excited? I signed up for HBO Max, the new streaming service where the Snyder Cut will ultimately (sometime next year) be released.

Netflix is the only streaming service I've ever had up to this point, so it's interesting to compare the two. Netflix has all the cool originals like Stranger Things and Lost in Space, but HBO Max has the DC stuff that I love, and Amy and I will finally get the opportunity to watch Game of Thrones. (Yeah, we're pretty late to the party on that one.) In all, HBO Max boasts over 10,000 hours of content, but upon cursory review of the offerings, it seems to me that about 9,000 of those hours are just Police Academy sequels. I kid, I kid. It's actually 9,000 hours of Looney Tunes shorts.

Season 3 Storylines

Cyclone Taylor, Gord Roberts, Frank McGee, and the other luminaries may be struggling -- at least compared to the historic heights of Season 2 -- but there are several narratives of note here at the midway mark of Season 2.

Shining on the Blueline

There's no way Cyclone Taylor is winning a third straight Defenseman MVP award. He's sitting at -5, the worst plus-minus of any skating player in the league. Instead, the award will go either to Hod Stuart (Thistles) or Mike Grant (Comets). Both are having fine seasons. And so too is second-year blueliner Phat Wilson of the Vics, whose +5 rating is tied with the Thistles' Moose Johnson for tops in the league.

Netminders Reign

Goaltenders are faring much better this season than last. None has been better than the Comets' Percy LeSueur, who (despite having the worst Strat-O-Matic game stats of the four goalies in this league) may be on track to break Bowse Hutton's stranglehold on the Goaltender MVP award.

Tommy Tools

Tommy Smith, the first overall pick in this year's draft, is living up to the hype. His five points (3 G, 2 A) in six games are tops among rookies. He's getting time on the power play and might even start a few games as the team's first-line center. The kid is a lock to give the Thistles back-to-back Rookie of the Year winners. 

Rebounds

Some star players have been major disappointments, but we've seen nice rebounds from some of the game's lesser lights. The Bulldogs' Oliver Seibert has four goals already after scoring none in Season 2. Journeyman winger Fred Scanlan has struggled to crack the Vics' lineup in the past, but somehow has three points in just two games, filling in admirably as rookie Barney Stanley has struggled. And as I noted in a previous post, Comets winger George Richardson got off a blazing start, though he hasn't registered a point in three games; even so, he's on track to best his career marks in goals, assists, and points.

Up for Grabs

What about the scoring title and the Forward MVP? Cyclone Taylor and fellow blueliner Hod Stuart lead the league with 10 points, and Mike Grant isn't far behind with 8, but the race is wide open. Frank McGee (9 points), Tommy Phillips (8), and Gord Roberts (8) all have a shot. If one of those guys gets hot, he could claim both awards. If not, the scoring title might well go to a defenseman for the third straight year.

Halfway Point

I'm at the halfway point for Season 3 of my Strat-O-Matic historical hockey league. To be honest, I feel that this campaign has been rather dull thus far. Parity has ruled the day, with a scant two points separating the first-place Victorias from the last-place Thistles. Scoring is way down, with teams currently averaging 2.83 goals per game (compared with 3.27 last season). The steepest decline in offense has come from the game's biggest stars. Cyclone Taylor co-leads the league with 10 points (3 G, 7 A). On pace for 20 points, he would far stupefyingly short of his record 32 points from last season or his 25 points from Season 1. Frank McGee, who notched 18 goals in Season 2 is on pace for 10 this time around. Granted, we're dealing with very small sample sizes (each team has played only six games), but it's weird to see such huge fluctuation in the scoring totals. What was it about Season 2 that resulted in such ridiculous amounts of scoring? Season 3 is much closer to what we saw in Season 1, but somehow feels less compelling. I think I'll scour the stats to find some interesting storylines to mull over.

Stress Case

One of the most interesting mechanics of the Alien RPG is the use of stress dice. As the tension ratchets up, characters obtain stress dice that they add to most rolls. (Alien is a D6 dice-pool game.) On the one hand, the stress dice function like a rush of adrenaline, increasing the character's odds of completing a task successfully; however, if any stress die comes up with a 1, the character freaks out and is forced to make a panic roll to see what happens next. It's impossible to avoid stress dice entirely, but certain rules allow you to minimize the risks of stress and panic, while other mechanics allow you to embrace the chaos and maximize the positive aspects of stress.

I was interested to see how the boys would react to these game rules. Knowing the way they approach other games, I expected Matthew, who will always push the envelope, to favor the use of stress dice, while the risk-averse Nathaniel would avoid stress at all costs. And boy howdy, was I right! 

Project Caliban

With things starting to calm down a bit at work, the boys and I have been able to jump into the Alien RPG. I have two storylines mapped out -- one a brief, Aliens-like tale of colonial marines against overwhelming odds, and the second a more exploration-focused homage to the Prometheus films. I'm leveraging the miniatures and tiles from the AVP game for the first campaign, but I suspect I'll need a bit more variety for the second. I doubt if we'll begin that bit for a couple of months, so at least I have some time to get my stuff together. The first one, at least, is off to a good start after our first couple of sessions. In Project Caliban, the boys are playing fellow privates in a marines unit that has been betrayed by the government of the United Americas. They're finding it genuinely nerve-wracking and stressful. Mission accomplished!

New Edition...

Warhammer 40,000 has a new website, and soon also a new edition. One of the most frustrating aspects of this game (and its parent company) is the constant churn of editions. You buy a bunch of books and then, before you know it, they're all outdated. With the current (for now) 8th Edition, at least the core rules are free. From what I can tell, the rules for the upcoming 9th Edition will also be free, and codexes from the current edition will be compatible with the new one. That's a relief, but the FAQ also states that new codexes will be released for each faction, so only time will tell exactly how useful our current books will be. 

Three Apiece

Each team has now played one game against all the others -- so three games apiece, or a quarter of the regular season. It's been kind of an odd campaign thus far.

The Victorias, in their quest for a threepeat, are a perfect 3-0-0, but all three wins were by the slim margin of a single goal. The other three teams are sitting at 1-2-0, but all having shown flashes of stronger play here and there.

Among individual players, it's been a slow start for three of league's biggest stars -- Cyclone Taylor (2 G, 1 A, -3), Frank McGee (1 G, 1 A, -2), and Gord Roberts (0 G, 2 A, -2). Meanwhile, Hod Stuart (2 G, 4 A, +2) and Hobey Baker (1 G, 5 A, +3) have jumped out to claim a share of first place in the scoring race, but the biggest surprise has been co-leader George Richardson (4 G, 2 A, +4), a second-line winger on the Comets who's now just two goals and four points shy of his career highs.

The funny thing about Richardson is that he almost didn't make the Comets' opening-night lineup. It was down to him or the newly acquired Fred Maxwell, and I opted to insert Richardson alongside Harry Trihey and Jimmy Gardner. Richardson and Gardner both scored in that first game, and theirs quickly became the Comets' best line and arguably the most dominant in the league in the early going. And poor Maxwell is still waiting for his chance to crack the lineup!

Some funnies in a non-funny time

Second Opener

Our two other teams, the Bulldogs and the Victorias, kicked off their seasons with a close contest hosted by the rebuilding Dogs. Late in the first period, Vics rookie Barney Stanley took a penalty on the very first shift of his career. His teammates killed off the penalty, and Stanley made up for his gaffe by scoring his first goal mere seconds after jumping out of the box. It was a cool and memorable moment, and gives Stanley the early edge in the race for Rookie of the Year. The Vics added to their lead in the second period on a goal by Cyclone Taylor, but soon the Bulldogs found their footing. Defenseman Fred Whitcroft blasted one past Bowse Hutton, and then Oliver Seibert tied the game minutes later. It was 2-2 heading into the third, and both goaltenders earned their keep in a frantic twenty minutes of back-and-forth action. The only puck to cross the goal line came from the stick of Frank Rankin midway through the period, although it took a spectacular save from Hutton in the final minute to preserve the Vics' 3-2 win, as Gord Roberts nearly tied the game on a late power play. So far, we've had a pair of 3-2 finishes and some stellar goaltending from all four netminders. Here's hoping the rest of the season lives up to the standard set in the first two games!

Season 3 is Underway!

I kicked off the third season of my Hall of Fame hockey league with the Comets hosting the Thistles. A lot has changed since these two teams squared off in the finals of the mini-tournament I conducted prior to Season 1. The Thistles won that event, but then finished dead last in both Season 1 and Season 2. I've tried to improve them through trades and the draft, and now this Thistles team looks quite different from the one that skated away with the tournament trophy. Only five players remain from that squad: left winger and captain Tommy Phillips, center Dan Bain, and defensemen Hod Stuart, Moose Johnson, and Dickie Boon. How will Season 3 turn out for the revamped Thistles? Just one of many great storylines I'll be following this season!

The Comets, fresh off their run to the championship series, struck first in this contest when George Richardson scored on his own rebound midway through the first. Early in the second, Tommy Phillips tied it up for the Thistles and then scored again moments later to give the visitors a 2-1 edge. Late in the second, Hod Stuart scored on a slapshot from the point. Reeling from this barrage, the Comets tried to get things back on track in the third -- and the headstrong Thistles seemed inclined to oblige by gifting them back-to-back power play opportunities. The Comets converted on the first one when Jimmy Gardner cut in to score from point-blank range. On the ensuing faceoff, Harvey Pulford took down Lester Patrick, resulting in another Comets power play. In the most intense sequence of the game, Thistles rookie and number-one pick Tommy Smith cruised in against Percy LeSueur on a shorthanded breakaway but failed to score. The Comets, likewise, were unable to convert on their remaining chances and the game ended with a 3-2 win for the visiting Thistles. Too soon, however, to say that they've truly turned the corner!

Ice Time

In the early days of hockey, the guys in the starting lineup played almost the entirety of each game. Teams would have a couple of reserve players too, but they saw significant action only if a starter was forced out of a game due to injury. It's a stark contrast to today's NHL, where teams roll four lines and three defensive pairings.

In my pre-NHL Strat-O-Matic league, I've tried to strike a balance between these two extremes. My four teams have no more than a dozen players apiece on their rosters. Through the first two seasons, they've dressed one goaltender, three defensemen, and six forwards for each game. Among the forwards, the starters average about 40 minutes of ice time per game, while the second-line guys are at about 20 minutes per game. The "regular" defensemen average between 30 and 40 minutes each.

Then we have the rovers. Before the NHL, many leagues used a sixth skating player, known as a rover (often the team's best overall player), who had the freedom to float around the ice and look for opportunities to make plays wherever needed. The Strat-O-Matic Hockey game system doesn't include rules for rovers, so I've simulated this historical position using offensively skilled defensemen who get extra playing time. One such defenseman on each team -- Cyclone Taylor (Vics), Mike Grant (Comets), Hod Stuart (Thistles), and Si Griffis (Bulldogs) -- gets double-shifted and is used to quarterback his team's attack. When I was looking at ice times the other day (in preparation for allowing teams to dress four, rather than three, defensemen in the upcoming Season 3), I was flabbergasted to see that my rovers are averaging about 50(!) minutes per game. No wonder Cyclone Taylor and Mike Grant seem to assist on every goal!

A great player staying out on the ice for five-sixths of a game probably isn't out of whack from a historical perspective, but I think I'll make a few changes to ice time for Season 3 and beyond. After all, player usage evolved in real life, so why not also in my simulated league? I'll shoot for reducing the disparity in ice time among defensemen (targeting 40 minutes per game on average, with the rover-type guys getting slightly more and fringey blueliners getting slightly less) and also between the first and second lines for the forwards (targeting an average of 30 minutes per game, but with star players getting a bit more). In terms of the game impact of these changes, we may not see Cyclone Taylor run away with the scoring title again (in fairness, he did miss almost two full games in Season 2 and still finished five points ahead of Frank McGee), but overall I think it will make for a more reasonable distribution of ice time among all the players. That's especially important as I grow the league through the introduction of more players via the draft.

Blockbuster!

Some players will be swapping sweaters before we kick off Season 3! I'll start with a review of the minor deal before moving into the blockbuster.

Victorias trade Fred "Steamer" Maxwell (LW) to the Comets for Phat Wilson (D).
Hard to believe it, but this is the first trade that the Victorias have ever made! With the arrival of Barney Stanley in the draft, Maxwell became a bit redundant. The Vics will miss his speed (as a whole, the Vics aren't exactly a fleet-footed team), but Stanley is hands-down a better player. In exchange for Maxwell, the Vics acquire second-year blueliner Wilson, who gives the defending champs a bit more depth at a position that gets pretty thin after Cyclone Taylor. The Comets, meanwhile, had no spot for Wilson, but Maxwell brings the aforementioned speed, as well as positional versatility (he can play all three forward positions).

Thistles trade Tommy Dunderdale (C/RW) and Paddy Moran (G) to the Bulldogs for Riley Hern (G) and Harvey Pulford (D).
This is the big one. And with all due respect to Moran and Pulford, this trade is really a swap of an elite forward for a talented but enigmatic goaltender. According to the stat cards, Hern should be the second-best goalie in the league, but the actual game results have not been quite so favorable. No matter what, he'll be an improvement over Paddy Moran. Why, then, did the Bulldogs agree to part with Hern? For one thing, Moran's results (especially in Season 2) suggest that he's suffered from some bad luck -- he's not really that bad. More importantly, giving up Hern allowed the Bulldogs to land a top-line forward in Dunderdale. He had a down year in Season 2, but in Season 1 he was a legitimate MVP candidate. The Bulldogs will switch him from center back to his natural position of right wing and then put him on a line with star pivot Bruce Stuart and former MVP Gord Roberts to form an unholy trinity that will run roughshod over opposing defenses. I absolutely cannot wait to see these three in action together. On paper, at least, it's the best line in the league.

Season 3 Draft

Prior to Season 2, I conducted a draft in which the last four old timers with zero games of NHL experience were selected by the teams in my Strat-O-Matic league. For this season's draft, I've rounded up the four Hall of Fame players who have the fewest number of NHL games. The teams selected in inverse order of regular-season points, so the lowly Thistles picked first overall for the second consecutive season.

1. Thistles: Tommy Smith, C
Meet the Anti-Frank McGee. The Comets superstar is all about skating and scoring, and Tommy Smith does everything except skate and score. Smith is an elite defender, a good passer, and (according to the game stats), he'll be the very best faceoff man in the league. In short, he's a toolsy player, and I'm fascinated to see how his skillset will manifest. If the Thistles put him between Alf Smith (his much-older brother) and Tommy Phillips, is he a number-one center? Or does he end up more like Dubbie Bowie -- a solid defensive forward who kills penalties but doesn't add much offensively? Did the Thistles make a mistake in taking this guy with the first overall pick, especially when the two players drafted after him have such clear and obvious value? No matter what, the debut of Tommy Tools (or is it Toolsy Tom?) playing with his feisty brother Alf is going to be a fascinating story to follow in Season 3.

2. Bulldogs: Art Ross, D
This league is thin on steady, stay-at-home defensemen -- especially those who can stay out of the penalty box. (Looking at you, Moose Johnson and George McNamara!) Ross is no wizard with the puck (how ironic, then, that the NHL's annual scoring champion wins a trophy named after this guy!), but he adds depth and penalty-killing acumen to a Bulldogs team that needs serious help on the blueline. Safe, solid pick.

3. Comets: Lester Patrick, D
Ross or Patrick? Patrick or Ross? Lester Patrick's game stats are almost identical to Ross's. If you're looking for defense, you can't go wrong with either one. In Patrick, the Comets have added a true stud to their already impressive squadron of defensemen. Now they can trade a surplus blueliner for more depth at forward.

4. Victorias: Barney Stanley, LW
To my knowledge, this Stanley is unrelated to the cup that shares his name. In game terms, he's a winger with moderate-to-good offensive capabilities, and if he turns into the second coming of Billy Gilmour or Tom Hooper, the Vics will be ecstatic with this pick.

Now that the draft has been completed, the teams will consider trades prior to the start of the season. I suspect there may be a blockbuster involving a Thistles pivot and a goalie...

Expansion Team!

I keep going around and around on the idea of NHL players in my Strat-O-Matic Hall of Fame League. On the one hand, my purpose for the league is to have fun learning about the multitude of hockey stars who played before the advent of the world's premiere modern league. Bringing in bona fide historical NHLers like Georges Vezina and Joe Malone only muddies the waters and takes the emphasis away from dudes like Cyclone Taylor and Alf Smith. On the other hand, the early days of pro hockey involved numerous leagues, some of which existed concurrently with the fledgling NHL. It was not uncommon for players to switch from a rival pro league to the NHL, or vice versa. Players like Lester Patrick (one NHL game), Barney Stanley (one), and Art Ross (three) achieved Hall-of-Fame status on the basis of their careers in these other organizations -- just like Cyclone Taylor and his ilk. It feels wrong to exclude these guys.

As such, starting with the third season of my Strat league, I'm going to stop excluding players who appeared in the NHL. Over the course of a couple of seasons, we'll see the aforementioned Patrick, Stanley, and Ross, along with fellow skating players Jack Laviolette, Harry Hyland, and Tommy Smith, Joe Hall, Rusty Crawford, goaltender Hugh Lehman, and perhaps others down the line.

Once a few more of those gentlemen are in the fold, I'll have enough players for an expansion team! Our little four-team league will add a fifth franchise, most likely for Season 4. In keeping with how I've handled it so far, I'll use the name of a real-life pre-NHL team for this new outfit. To the Victorias, Bulldogs, Comets, and Thistles, we will add...the Millionaires! (Yes, those old team names were pretty lame.) It will be super fun to put together an expansion draft and watch this new team take shape.

But first, I still need to play Season 3; and before that, I need to run a draft and start working some of these guys with a modicum of NHL experience into the league. I'll take the four Hall of Famers with the fewest NHL games and use them as the draft class for the upcoming season.

Career Leaders

Work has been pretty crazy -- just feeling fortunate I still have a job -- but in quieter moments, I enjoy reflecting on the fun I've had so far playing historical Strat-O-Matic Hockey. With two seasons in the books, I can start looking at the all-time leaders in the various statistical categories. Here are some of the totals after two 12-game seasons of play!

Goals

1. Cyclone Taylor (D, Victorias) -- 27
2. Frank McGee (C, Comets) -- 25
3. Gord Roberts (LW, Bulldogs) -- 18
4. Alf Smith (RW, Bulldogs/Thistles) -- 16
5. Bruce Stuart (C, Bulldogs) / Marty Walsh (LW, Victorias) -- 14

Assists

1. Cyclone Taylor (D, Victorias) -- 30
2. Hobey Baker (C, Victorias) -- 27
3. Mike Grant (D, Comets) -- 26
4. Gord Roberts (LW, Bulldogs) / Bruce Stuart (C, Bulldogs) -- 25
5. Tommy Philips (LW, Thistles) / Blair Russell (LW, Comets) -- 23

Points

1. Cyclone Taylor (D, Victorias) -- 57
2. Gord Roberts (LW, Bulldogs) -- 43
3. Frank McGee (C, Comets) -- 42
4. Hobey Baker (C, Victorias) / Bruce Stuart (C, Bulldogs) -- 39
5. Tommy Philips (LW, Thistles) -- 34

Plus/Minus

1. Cyclone Taylor (D, Victorias) -- +14
2. Frank Rankin (RW, Victorias) -- +13
3. Hobey Baker (C, Victorias) -- +12
4. Marty Walsh (LW, Victorias) -- +11
5. George McNamara (D, Victorias) -- +7

Penalty Minutes

1. Moose Johnson (D, Thistles) -- 36
2. Gord Roberts (LW, Bulldogs) -- 34
3. Alf Smith (RW, Bulldogs/Thistles) -- 30
4. George McNamara (D, Victorias) -- 28
5. Ernie Russell (RW, Thistles/Bulldogs) -- 26

Goals Against Average

1. Bowse Hutton (Victorias) -- 2.38
2. Percy LeSueur (Comets) -- 3.04
3. Riley Hern (Bulldogs) -- 3.13
4. Paddy Moran (Thistles) -- 3.67

Save Percentage

1. Bowse Hutton (Victorias) -- .925
2. Percy LeSueur (Comets) -- .908
3. Riley Hern (Bulldogs) -- .904
4. Paddy Moran (Thistles) -- .886