Round 1 Recap

We're all set for the Season 9 Creighton Cup Finals! The first-place Victorias will take on the second-place Thistles in the best-of-five championship series. How did we get here? Round 1 recap below!

Victorias over Bulldogs, 3-0

Yes, it was a sweep, but it wasn't as easy as it looks. In Game 1, Newsy Lalonde picked up a hat trick, only for the Dogs' Tommy Dunderdale to score twice in the third period to tie the game at three. Lalonde then ripped his fourth of the game in overtime to give the Vics a crucial series-opening win. Game 2 was also close, with the Bulldogs again scoring twice in the third, but this time coming up just short. Hobey Baker notched four points (2 goals, 2 assists) in that one. Only in the third and final game did the Victorias earn a decisive win, skating to an easy 4-1 triumph.

Thistles over Comets, 3-2

This was, hands down, the most entertaining and exciting postseason series I've ever played, in any sport, in any medium. The Comets and Thistles are both run-and-gun teams with questionable goaltending, so no lead was every truly safe. In Game 1, the Comets' Frank Foyston racked up four points (1 goal, 3 assists) as the visitors seemed destined for an upset win, until Thistles rookie Didier Pitre scored in the final two minutes to force overtime. A Thistles penalty brought a stunned silence to the hometown crowd, but captain Tommy Phillips ended the game with a thrilling shorthanded goal. The final score was 6-5 for the Thistles, but Game 2 would feature even more scoring. Pitre had four points (2 goals, 2 assists), but the Comets twice overcame two-goal deficits to stay in the game. Former MVP Blair Russell tied the game in the closing seconds, setting up another overtime contest. This time, defenseman Mike Grant tallied the sudden-death winner in a wild 7-6 triumph for the Comets. The Thistles pulled away late in Game 3 to win 4-1, but star winger Alf Smith left with an injury and missed Game 4 as well. That fourth game was do-or-die time for the Comets, who were now facing elimination. Both teams held leads, but the score was tied at three in the third period until Foyston scored late in the frame to give the Comets a season-saving win. Back at home for a decisive Game 5, the Thistles found themselves in an early hole before righting the ship and taking a lead they wouldn't relinquish, clinching the series with a 4-2 win behind two goals from Playoff MVP frontrunner Jack Darragh. Home-ice advantage was critical in this series, as the home team won every game. 

On to the Cup Finals!

Retail Therapy

Although I'm not a big video game guy, comparatively speaking, I've always been a fan of handheld systems -- most recently the PlayStation Portable (PSP), but going back to the GameBoy Advance SP and even the ahead-of-its-time Atari Lynx. 

I've had a hankering lately for portable game action, and today's "freemium" style of mobile device gaming just kind of annoys me, even when the games are D&D or Warhammer or DC or some other brand I would otherwise be interested in. As such, my hope was to find a high-quality, modern handheld platform that plays retro games. Given that work is just, well, ugh these days, I decided on a bit of retail therapy and ordered the Evercade XP. Super excited to revisit some classic games from my childhood!

Sheer Dominance

Cyclone Taylor may be the best overall player in the nine-season history of my Strat-O-Matic hockey league, but for sheer offensive dominance, Taylor's teammate Newsy Lalonde might just take the cake. Now with four seasons under his belt, Lalonde is second to Taylor in career points per game and second to Frank McGee in career goals per game. He won numerous awards over his first three campaigns, and this year, he had a shot to capture a scoring title and/or Forward MVP trophy until an injury derailed his season. 

Fortunately for the Vics, Lalonde was healthy in time for the playoffs and got things started off with a bang. In the first game of the opening-round series against the defending-champion Bulldogs, he scored a natural hat trick, only to watch his teammates squander a 3-1 third-period lead. No matter. In overtime, Lalonde scored again, delivering the first four-goal game in playoff history.

Playoff Preview

At long last, the playoffs for Season 9 are here! A quick preview of the first-round action...

Victorias (1st) vs. Bulldogs (4th)
Wait, the Vics finished in first place?! Shocker! Once again, the league's most successful franchise cakewalked through the regular season, pacing the circuit in goals per game (3.25), goals against per game (2.25), and goal differential (+20). Led by Forward MVP candidate Hobey Baker, this team was dominant at five-on-five hockey, but special teams could be their undoing in the postseason: they were middle-of-the-pack in penalty killing and dead last in power play. The Vics will take on the Bulldogs, the team that dethroned them in the Creighton Cup Finals last year. The Dogs finished with a +1 differential despite being the only playoff team to have a sub-.500 record (6-7-7). They were carried by the dominant top line of Bruce Stuart, Gord Roberts, and Tommy Dunderdale, as well as Defenseman MVP frontrunner Si Griffis.

Thistles (2nd) vs. Comets (3rd)
The Thistles missed the playoffs last year but turned things around here in Season 9. I suspect some of their success was the result of luck, however, as their gaudy 8-4-8 record is undercut by a middling +1 goal differential. But with the league's best power play and legions of attacking forwards (including star rookie Didier Pitre), the Thistles can run and gun with anybody. They'll need to be at their best to defeat the Comets, who came on strong as the league's hottest team in the second half. The turning point for the Comets was bringing back former franchise icon Billy Gilmour, who played at an MVP pace once he cracked the lineup midway through the year. 

900

After adding a couple of new NPCs to flesh out one of the world's major organizations, my Druid Cycle spreadsheet now sits at an even 900 named characters. It's kind of fun to filter the list by location, affiliation, time period, etc. How many cultists of Deimos & Phobos are active in the Imperial Palace of Troya Nova right now? Wow, more I would have thought...

A New Millennium

I had the opportunity to pass through my beloved Rochester last week and, needless to say, I planned to swing by Millennium Games -- aka the greatest game store in the history of humankind. However, I experienced a moment of panic when I saw that Millennium's familiar storefront was empty! I soon realized that the store had moved to a new location (1125 Jefferson Road, for those who know the city), which is bigger and better than either of their previous locations in that little Henrietta Townline Plaza off of West Henrietta. Millennium continues to impress me with every visit. They're a true gem of the gaming community!

Milestones

I ran my first campaign -- Earth Commanders, a superhero game using the Champions rules -- back in the summer of 1988. Although I don't have the specific start date, it was sometime after school ended, so maybe right about this time of year. Today's as good a day as any to celebrate thirty-five years of gamemastering Front Porch campaigns. I'm grateful to all the players who've joined me on this journey and shared their boundless imaginations to bring these games to life. Here's to 35 more years (at least!) of roleplaying fun!

There are a couple more milestones in 2023 that are also well worth mentioning. It's a big year for the Druid Cycle setting. Although, technically, I created this world in 1991 for the Fate of the Grand Duchy campaign (marking the first appearance of Tim W's Lwcus, one of the most important Front Porch characters of all time!), that storyline took place in the early history of the Druid Cycle world. The first campaign set in the "current" time period started in 1993 -- thirty years ago! -- with the rise of Jason's paladin Sir Roberts and Scott's cleric Stalker. If we skip ahead five more years, to 1998, we come to another milestone: the introduction of Tim W's wizard Cathbad and Kevin's cleric Senchan, who both helped shape the course of world events. A big shout-out to Scott and Jason on the thirtieth anniversary of their iconic characters, and likewise to Tim and Kevin on the twenty-fifth anniversary of theirs!

It's fitting, then, that 2023 is the year I brought my kids into the Druid Cycle setting. Why did I wait so long? Well, when the boys started playing D&D six years ago, I used my Shattered Realm setting for something a bit smaller and less complex than the Druid Cycle world, and they grew to love their characters so much that we just kept going in that world. Now I feel the time is right to get them into the big leagues, so to speak. Their first introduction to my largest campaign setting came a couple of months ago when we started an online campaign with their older cousins in Chicago. However, I have something special up my sleeve just for Matthew and Nathaniel: a second game in this world that will be a true sequel to the original 1993 Druid Cycle campaign. As the late lamented Sir Roberts might say, "Bring it on!"