Dear Diary...

Today, for the first time ever, one of my kids knew an obscure bit of superhero lore that I did not. Nathaniel brought up a character called Dogwelder (yes, that's right) and when I said that I had never heard of such a character and it could not possibly be from DC or Marvel, Nathaniel showed me that Dogwelder is indeed a superhero from DC. Still have no idea how he knew it, but he knew it!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBAAAAAAL?!?!?

Yes. Yes I am.

Season 3 of my Blitz Bowl league commences this weekend with the human Reavers defending their Season 2 title against the dwarf Giants, the elf Avengers, the halfling Grasshuggers, and the brand-new Champions, a team made up of various types of undead. With five franchises now in the league, each team will play a total of 16 regular-season games (up from 12 in Season 2 and 8 in Season 1). In a change from the past two seasons, we'll add a Wild Card round to the playoffs. The first-place team will get a bye into the championship game, and then the second- and third-place teams will have a play-in game to see who joins them. Will we see the Reavers and Giants battle in the title game for the third season in a row, or will another team crash the party?

Season 8 Awards

Time to put my hockey stuff away and get ready for some Blitz Bowl football. But first, the awards! The lowly Thistles and the middling Millionaires failed to claim any individual trophies, but the other four teams are represented in the list below.

Scoring Champion: Cyclone Taylor, D, Victorias
Taylor set a single-season record with 41 points (12 goals, 29 assists) and beat runner-up Frank McGee by eight points to claim yet another scoring title. There's just no stopping the greatest player in league history.

Forward MVP: Frank McGee, LW, Comets
McGee, the league's all-time leader in goals scored, broke Newsy Lalonde's record of 19 goals in a season (set just last year) with 21. The one-eyed wonder had 33 total points to lead all forwards, although Lalonde was right behind him with 31 and had a much better plus-minus (+9 vs. McGee's -5). I really agonized over which star should get this trophy, but at the end of the day, a forward's job is to score goals, and this year McGee bested Lalonde in that category 21 to 14. McGee now has three Forward MVPs, moving him into a tie with the Bulldogs' Gord Roberts for the most of any forward.

Defenseman MVP: Cyclone Taylor, Victorias

Taylor really is the best in the business, as evinced by his sixth Defenseman MVP trophy in eight seasons. Not only did he rack up a record 41 points, he led the league in plus-minus at +16, which was six better than any other defenseman. A rejuvenated Graham Drinkwater of the Bearcats and Taylor's steady teammate Phat Wilson also received consideration, but how do you not give this award to Taylor? We might as well name the award after him.

Goaltender MVP: Hap Holmes, Bearcats

Holmes dueled runner-up Bowse Hutton of the Vics all season, and while Hutton had a slightly better goals-against average (1.95 vs. Holmes's 2.00), Holmes, more importantly, led all goalies in save percentage with .936 vs. Hutton's .931. Needless to say, this was a very close call, but Holmes got bonus points for pulling his mediocre Bearcats team all the way from dead last to second place.

Rookie of the Year: Joe Malone, LW, Bearcats

Speaking of that mediocre Bearcats team, Malone certainly did his share, as well, to get the Cats into the playoffs. Phantom Joe scored a new rookie record of 14 goals, and his 24 points put him sixth overall in the league in scoring. I see great things ahead for Malone, who will likely challenge for Scoring Championships and Forward MVPs in the years to come.

Playoff MVP: Tommy Dunderdale, RW, Bulldogs

Gord Roberts led the league in playoff goals with eight, but his series-ending injury robbed him of the opportunity to add a Playoff MVP to his sizable collection of trophies. Instead, his teammate and linemate Tommy Dunderdale claims this award, as Dunderdale led the league in playoff points (6 goals, 8 assists), and scored some clutch goals in both series, most notably the pivotal overtime goal in Game 3 of the Dogs' first-round matchup against the Bearcats.

Victorias Dethroned!

The dynasty is over! There will be no threepeat for the Victorias! In the Creighton Cup Finals for Season 8, the Bulldogs upset the Vics to claim their second title in franchise history. 

In Game 1 of this best-of-five series, the Bulldogs scratched and clawed their way to a gritty 3-2 triumph on the road. The Vics needed a road win of their own to knot the series at a game apiece, but that didn't happen. Star winger Tommy Dunderdale scored twice -- on the game's first two shots on goal, no less -- to set the tone for a 5-2 Bulldogs win. The defending champs came home in Game 3 needing a win to stay alive. They got some good fortune in the second period when the Dogs' best player, Gord Roberts, took a nasty spill and departed; he was soon ruled out for a potential Game 4, as well. Regulation ended with the game tied at two. In overtime, hotheaded superstar Newsy Lalonde took a bad penalty; while the Vics' fans held their breath, Lalonde's teammates killed the penalty without allowing a single shot. There was no better way for Lalonde to show his appreciation than to snap home the game-winning goal! Thanks to Lalonde's overtime heroics, the Vics had an opportunity to keep the series going. The Bulldogs hosted Game 4, without Roberts, and sought to claim the cup on home ice. The contest was tied at two in the third when the Dogs' top-line center, Bruce Stuart, flung the puck on goal from long range; in game terms, the shot had only a 5% chance of eluding goaltender Bowse Hutton, but the d20 roll landed on a "1", meaning that Stuart had scored a miraculous goal. The Vics threw everything they had at Paddy Moran in the closing moments, but Moran held the line and, at the final buzzer, the Bulldogs celebrated their Creighton Cup championship!

Cup Finals!

We'll finish up a record-setting Season 8 with another showdown for the Creighton Cup! 

In the first round of the playoffs, the Victorias/Millionaires matchup featured the best goaltending of any playoff series in league history. In Game 1, Bowse Hutton led the Vics to a 3-0 shutout, but Riley Hern returned the favor by blanking the Vics 1-0 in Game 2. The defending champs stormed back to win the next two games by scores of 3-2 and 2-1 to claim the series, but Millies netminder Hern may well have exorcised his playoff demons despite the losses, as he put up incredible numbers: a 2.00 goals-against average and .944 save percentage. Hutton, meanwhile, jumps to the front of the line for Playoff MVP with a 1.00 GAA and .962 save percentage.

The other series featured the second-year Bearcats in their inaugural postseason appearance against the grizzled veterans of the Bulldogs. Although the Bearcats were favored and opened the series at home, they were stunned by the Dogs in Game 1 by a 5-3 margin. The Cats rallied from two goals down to win the second game 3-2, and took the lead three times in Game 3 only for the Dogs to tie it up and then finally win 4-3 in overtime on a goal by Tommy Dunderdale. In Game 4, with their backs against the wall, the Cats folded as the Bulldogs thumped them 4-0, with Paddy Moran notching a shutout victory. 

So, for the fourth time in eight seasons, the dance card for the finals will be Victorias against Bulldogs -- the absolute best rivalry in this league. The Vics are in search of their third consecutive title (and fifth overall!), but their first-round performance against the Millies was not exactly overwhelming. Moreover, reliable left winger Marty Walsh will miss the first game of the championship series with an injury, depleting the Vics' firepower. The Dogs, meanwhile, have firepower to spare, with a league-leading 15 goals in the first round. Gord Roberts (5 goals, 2 assists) and Tommy Dunderdale (3 goals, 4 assists) are pacing the circuit in playoff points. 

Will it be a threepeat for the Vics, or will their dynasty end here?

OGL Update

Wizards of the Coast is in the process of rolling out seismic changes to their Open Game License (OGL), and it's been the biggest story in gaming over the last few days. Now WotC has come out with some revisions to those controversial changes. You can find their statement here. It's, well, it's not really that much of an improvement over the initial draft that was leaked.

Near Year, New Games!

Lots of great game stuff on tap for us here in early 2023. I need to challenge the boys to a rematch of Conquest of Nerath after they crushed my evil empires last week, and Nathaniel and I are both itching to get started with the Game of Thrones board game (although the real question is whether we can get Amy and Matthew interested). Both boys got lots of Warhammer stuff for Christmas (the new Astra Militarum boxed set for Matthew and the Warhammer: The Horus Heresy core set for Nathaniel) that still needs to be put together. On the RPG front, I'm almost ready to get the boys into a full-scale Doctor Who campaign using the Doctor Who Exterminate! wargame miniatures and a hodgepodge of other minis and maps. On top of all that, my niece and nephew are interested in joining us for some D&D, so I'll be creating a new campaign set in the Druid Cycle world. I guess I really won't have time to finish panting all those 3D-printed buildings...

Happy New Year!

Lots of great game-related stuff to look forward to in 2023! Tops on my list is the D&D movie! Time to start counting down the days to the March 31 release!