Season 7 Awards

Before undertaking the tedious task of updating career stats for all the players, I'll wrap up Season 7 with the individual awards!

Scoring Champion: Newsy Lalonde, RW, Victorias

With 19 goals and 18 assists, Lalonde's 37 regular-season points were three more than teammate Cyclone Taylor's total. In just his second season, Lalonde has established himself as the league's premiere offensive player. (Offensive in more ways than one, because his 32 penalty minutes were just four shy of the league lead!)

Forward MVP: Blair Russell, LW, Comets

A star player in earlier seasons, Russell had been pretty quiet over the last couple of years before breaking out with 17 goals (second in the league). That number, combined with his +12 rating (third in the league but first among forwards), tell the story of his superlative two-way game. 

Defenseman MVP: Mike Grant, Comets

Grant suffered an injury early in the first game of the season and missed the next couple of contests. When he came back, he came back with a vengeance. Grant racked up 30 points and posted a +13 rating (second only to teammate and fellow blueliner Lester Patrick at +22), cementing his place in the holy trinity of defensemen alongside fellow trophy winners Cyclone Taylor (five times) and Hod Stuart (once).

Goaltender MVP: Paddy Moran, Bulldogs

Moran paced the circuit with a 2.40 goals-against average and .921 save percentage, almost single-handedly dragging his underperforming team into the postseason. To earn this award, Moran had to outduel four-time winner Bowse Hutton, although Hutton and the Victorias got the last laugh in the playoffs. 

Rookie of the Year: Hap Holmes, G, Bearcats

Holmes edged Thistles winger Jack Darragh to become the first goaltender to win this award. On a first-year team that won only two of its twenty games, Holmes was one of the few bright spots. His .913 save percentage looks exceptional, but it was actually just a few ticks above league average (.910) because expansion diluted the talent pool, resulting in a banner year for netminders. Even so, Holmes was arguably the Cats' best player, and I see nothing but greatness ahead of him.

Playoff MVP: Newsy Lalonde, RW, Victorias

Cyclone Taylor had one more point and a substantially better plus/minus, and Bowse Hutton put up an eye-popping .941 save percentage, but this year's Playoff MVP goes to their teammate Lalonde, who scored a record 9 goals in this postseason, when no one else had more than 5. Though twice injured during the Vics' championship run, Lalonde was a warrior who instilled absolute terror in foes every time he touched the puck.

The City Is Growing!

I haven't posted much about our 3D printer since those earlier warehouse pics because we've been troubleshooting some bed adhesion issues. Now we're using a raft with each print and it's working out very well. Construction of our city continues apace!

Above is a free model that Corvus Games Terrain allows you to download from their site. Why not include a game shop in our town?!

I love this model because it's so versatile. It's a modular design, so you can print and stack as many stories as you like. I'm going to use the same files to create a three-story building next. As you can see, there's an empty rectangular space just above the door and street-level windows; this area is for gluing one of the many signs that were included among the files, so I'll glue different signs onto this building and its future three-story cousin. Plus, the building has internal floors, so you have lots of opportunities for interior play as well!  

And now my favorite: the pizza parlor! I might re-print the roof to try to get better resolution on the letters and numbers on the sign, but for now it's fine. We also have quite a backlog of stuff to print, as Matthew and I went on a bit of a shopping spree on Corvus this morning, purchasing files for more city shops, an industrial building, and a military base. 

Just please don't ask me about how these are going to get painted...

Creighton Cup Finals

Season 7 came to a close with the presentation of the Creighton Cup! And on Canada Day, no less!

Stumbling into Game 1 of the Finals, the discombobulated Comets were no match for the businesslike Victorias and their star winger, Newsy Lalonde. Shrugging off a chorus of boos and taunts from the Comets' hometown faithful, Lalonde recorded his first playoff hat trick and led the Victorias to a 4-1 triumph. The Comets managed to eke out a 3-2 road win in Game 2, setting the stage for one of the wildest and sloppiest playoff contests I've seen in this league. In Game 3, a Joe Hall penalty in the opening minute gave the Vics an early power play. Blair Russell, however, scored a shorthanded goal to stake the Comets to the lead, only for (who else?) Lalonde to tally on the power play mere seconds later. Both teams had scored on their very first shot on goal! Lots of penalties and lots of goals ensued, with the Victorias emerging as 5-2 winners. Remarkably, the road team had won all three games, a trend the Victorias hoped to break as they headed home for Game 4 with the chance to wrap up the franchise's latest title.

Game 4 was at once epic and anticlimactic. Lalonde beat Percy LeSueur just moments into the opening frame, and captain Hobey Baker doubled the Vics' lead around the midpoint. The score remained unchanged until the Comets' George Richardson notched a goal in the closing moments of the second, setting up a final period in which the Comets would need to throw everything they had at netminder Bowse Hutton to get the equalizer. The visitors got an early break when Newsy Lalonde went down with an injury and did not return, but they struggled to get quality chances throughout the third. A late score by Dubbie Bowie restored the Vics' two-goal advantage, and that was that. Riding a 45-save masterpiece from Hutton, the Vics cruised to a 3-1 win and claimed yet another Creighton Cup. 

They deserved it, too. The Victorias went 6-2 in this postseason run, leading all playoff teams with 3.50 goals per game, 1.88 goals against per game, and a +13 goal differential. Check out the special teams: 31.82% on the power play and a mind-boggling 95.24% penalty kill. 

That level of dominance has earned them their fourth title in seven years. They won back-to-back cups in Seasons 1 and 2, then went through a bit of a dry spell, and now have championships in Seasons 6 and 7. Is this the beginning of a new -- or, should I say, "Newsy" -- dynasty? Only time will tell!

Grudge Match

I picked up the wood elves set for Blitz Bowl (technically, it's for Blood Bowl, but the two games use the same miniatures) to see how a pass-focused team plays in comparison to the versatile humans and the run-based dwarves. In today's game, Matthew elected to play the elves, and Nathaniel claimed the dwarves. Although Matthew scored a pretty touchdown in the early going, the dwarves soon caught up and began to grind out points on challenge cards. The game ended with a 14-8 triumph for the dwarves, and in observing the action I learned a great deal that I'll be able to apply to my league once I get through my hockey playoffs.

First Round Report!

The first round is in the books!

As I predicted, the second-place Victorias defeated the third-place Bulldogs in four games. The Dogs were lucky to win the one game that they did, as their entire team -- aside, perhaps, from Gord Roberts -- really underperformed. The Vics, meanwhile, paced all first-round playoff teams with 3.50 goals per game, 2.00 goals against, and a power play that clicked at a robust 30%. Billy McGimsie, Cyclone Taylor, and Hobey Baker led the team with seven points apiece. 

The other matchup was rather more complicated. The Comets cruised to victories in the first two games, needing just one more triumph to reach the finals. The Thistles, their backs to the wall and without injured star Alf Smith, gutted out a gritty 3-2 road win in Game 3. In Game 4, on home ice, they beat Comets netminder Percy LeSueur on their first two shots on goal and never looked back, tying the series with a 5-4 win. The Comets were now on the brink of the greatest playoff collapse in league history. In the do-or-die Game 5, former Playoff MVP Mike Grant gave the Comets an early lead, but the Thistles simply did not quit. Top center Dan Bain was a real thistle in the Comets' side, and his nine points (5 G, 4 A) in five games led all players in the first round. However, third-period goals by Dick Irvin and Grant (again) put the game out of reach, and the Comets hung on for a 5-3 victory and a date with the Vics in the Creighton Cup Finals. 

What to expect in the best-of-five championship? The Comets have a playoff-best 92.86% penalty kill to help neutralize the Vics' elite power play, but otherwise they're a bit of a mess right now and the defending titlists look superior in just about every respect. The biggest disparity, I think, is in goal; Bowse Hutton is locked in, whereas LeSueur started hot but has turned back into a pumpkin over the last three games. On the positive side, rookie winger Shorty Green, a healthy scratch for the first three games, scored in both Game 4 and Game 5, so he'll get another look in the finals. In any case, the Comets will likely need all the help they can get; they may have finished the regular season in first place (and thus will have home-ice advantage), but all that is ancient history now, so I'm picking the Victorias to win in five games.

Free RPG Day Is Today!

It's Free RPG Day! Hope it's a good one!

Free RPG Day 2022

Free RPG Day is coming up on Saturday! It's been quite a few years since I've been able to attend one, but I always had a great time.

Touchdown!

Is it just me, or does it seem like every NFL game reaches a point in the fourth quarter after which defenses evaporate and the teams keep trading scores until the clock runs out? Nathaniel and I got to experience that phenomenon today in our first-ever game of Blitz Bowl. 

I've been waiting for the latest edition of this slimmed-down version of Games Workshop's celebrated Blood Bowl to be released, but with Amy and Matthew enjoying the gifts of Grandfather Nurgle, today seemed as good a day as any to drive up to our semi-local Barnes & Noble and pick up a copy of the soon-to-be-obsolete current edition. This boxed set includes models for humans and dwarves, but also game stats for all the other factions. I'll see if I can pick up the models for another team or two and create my own solo-play league, like with my historical Strat-O-Matic stuff. 

First, of course, I needed to learn how to play the game. Nathaniel and I worked our way through the "drills" that teach the basics of the rules, and then we jumped into our first match. He opted for the fleet-footed humans, leaving me the slow but solid dwarves. I jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after completing some objective cards (one or two points each) and scoring the game's first touchdown (three points). Nathaniel fought his way back and we were running neck-and-neck as time (measured by the deck of objective cards) was running out. Nathaniel pulled into the lead at 12-10. On my penultimate turn, one of my lumbering linemen managed to pick up the ball at midfield and went rumbling, bumbling, stumbling toward the end zone. Nathaniel deployed his forces for a goal-line stand, but, on my last turn, this surprisingly balletic bruiser managed to spin away from the defenders and leap into the end zone. I scored three for the touchdown and another point for completing an objective, so that put me in front 14-12. Nathaniel had just one last turn and needed a touchdown to win or two points' worth of objectives to tie. With half my team off the pitch due to injury, there was a lot of open space for the ol' two-minute drill. Nathaniel managed to run the ball, hand off to another player, and then run again into the end zone on the very last action of his final turn. With that buzzer-beater, the humans came out on top by a 15-14 margin!

Playoff Preview

Our 3D printer has been running virtually non-stop. Based on our experience thus far, I think it's going to be fantastic for printing terrain and buildings, but less so for printing minis. We've now printed four of the generic trooper dudes from my earlier post, and two of them are essentially unusable because the printer somehow messed up the rifle and/or the right arm. 

Anyway, back to hockey! It's playoff time for my historical guys, and Season 7 is the first to feature two full rounds of best-of-five play. Sadly, the Millionaires and the expansion Bearcats are heading home, but the other four teams now have their opening-round playoff assignments.

Comets (1st) vs. Thistles (4th)

It was a magical season for the Comets (11-3-6) and many of their players, four of whom finished in the top ten in points: Blair Russell (third), Mike Grant (fourth), Frank Foyston (fifth), and captain George Richardson (seventh). Behind this elite quartet, the league's all-time goals-scored leader, Frank McGee, notched a dozen tallies. If the team has a weakness, however, it's on the penalty kill. The Comets finished dead last with 70.37%. Their first-round opponent, the Thistles, had an uneven year. They were the only playoff team to finish below .500 (6-8-6) and with a negative goal differential (-5). On the positive side, Alf Smith came alive in the second half and finished with 14 goals and rookie Jack Darragh chipped in 10 of his own. 

Prediction: Comets in four.

Victorias (2nd) vs. Bulldogs (3rd)

The Vics had the league's best goal differential (+19) and absolutely dominated on special teams, pacing the circuit in both power play (24.62%) and penalty kill (92.16% -- the best percentage in league history). They weren't as strong at five-on-five, but stars Newsy Lalonde and Cyclone Taylor finished first and second, respectively, in the scoring race. The Bulldogs, meanwhile, were carried by veteran netminder Paddy Moran, the odds-on favorite to win his first Goaltender MVP trophy after backstopping the team to a league-low 2.40 goals against per game. His fine work covered for down years (relatively speaking) by Gord Roberts and the Dogs' other stars. Journeyman winger Jack Ruttan, a trade deadline acquisition, exceeded expectations by scoring five goals in eight games to close out the regular season.

Prediction: Victorias in four.

First 3D Building!

Behold, our first 3D-printed building! This warehouse features double doors that actually slide open and a removable roof to allow access to the interior. 

Matthew has already claimed it as his hero's lair in our Tales of the Ternion campaign! Next up, we'll be printing a pizza shop. It's not Picnic Pizza, but it will have to suffice!

Hot Off the Presses!

The image isn't great, but Matthew has made a successful test run of our first custom-designed Hero Forge mini that we've printed on our own 3D printer. 

We took what we learned from the Hero Forge sample mini and created a more streamlined figure that requires fewer supports and has fewer skinny appendages that would easily break. I can quickly shave off the stringy filament residue and have this mini ready for painting in no time, in stark contrast to the hour it took me to carve the previous mini out of her plastic scaffolding and then re-assemble her broken parts. 

This generic helmeted trooper will work great for our futuristic Shattered Realm campaigns as well as our current Tales of the Ternion superhero game!

First Mini!

Hero Forge has a couple of sample models that you can download for free and test out on your own 3D printer. Here's our first attempt...

When we loaded the model in our slicer software -- I know, so cyberpunk, right!? -- we saw immediately that in order for the printer to properly build all the stuff that sticks out from the torso, the slicer would need to add extra "support" plastic. The arms, the book, the torch, the sword hilt, the pony tail -- all of it was encased in a kind of plastic scaffolding. This poor adventurer came out looking like she was trapped in some sort of fiendish magical prison.

With my trusty Games Workshop tools, I set about clipping and scraping away the plastic supports as well as the stringy residue left by the printer. In the process, several appendages came off. I glued them all back on, but the whole process was very tedious and, as you can see in the photographs, there's still a fair amount of that leftover filament that I have yet to remove.

For future minis, we'll probably use Hero Forge to design something a lot simpler. It will need to be a straight up-and-down pose with a weapon resting against the shoulder rather than extending perpendicular to the torso. We'll also opt for a closed helmet rather than a face, as the resolution of the printer doesn't seem to support significant facial detail. 

More experiments to come!

Villains of Gotham Beware!

Matthew's first official print job is complete! 

Now, where are all the 28mm minis he promised me?!

Now the real fun begins...

Little plastic dogs are all well and good, but now it's time to get down to business. Here's the start of Matthew's first creation...

The Printer Prints!

And now the 3D printer prints! We were on the phone tonight troubleshooting with my software engineer brother-in-law, and he suggested loading the sample printable files onto a different micro SD card to rule out a faulty card. Nathaniel had another such micro SD, so we tried using that one in the 3D printer -- and it worked! We ended up with a cute little dog that Nathaniel has already claimed. Next up: Matthew is going to design a simple but usable miniature -- something we can bring right into our Tales of the Ternion superhero campaign -- and purchase the STL file so that we can try printing it at home!

Tales of the Ternion

The 3D printer has been something of a bust. Although all the mechanical components are fine -- the motors work as expected and the extruder heats the filament properly -- the printer essentially freezes whenever we initiate a print job. I'm thinking it must be a firmware issue, so I hope the manufacturer's tech support folks can walk us through a potential fix. Otherwise, back to Amazon it goes! 

The boys are pretty disappointed, but the blow was softened a bit by the start of our long-anticipated superhero campaign, Tales of the Ternion. Drawing upon characters and themes from all of my past modern-setting campaigns (superhero and otherwise), I've concocted a fiendishly complex web of mysteries and conspiracies for the boys to unravel. After just a few sessions (rather, "issues"), they're knee-deep in cryptic clues and feeling proud that they've been able to answer a few questions. I think we need to finish up Cursed City before we get too deep in this campaign, but it's been a fun treat over this long weekend!

Our Latest Rabbit Hole

After exhaustive research by their top engineer (Matthew) and with the backing of a wealthy investor (Nathaniel), my kids have purchased a 3D printer. Now they'll be able to print miniatures (with an assist from Hero Forge) for minions, troopers, civilians, and other background characters in our roleplaying games, as well as 3D terrain for our wargames. I'll be sure to share photos of their creations once we receive the printer and get it up and running!

Deadline Deal

The trade deadline has come and gone, and, as I anticipated, the thin talent pool that we're experiencing during this expansion season has resulted in very limited player movement. Just about every team went out and kicked some tires, but there just weren't a lot of great options out there. I always try to be objective and make the best-possible decision for every team, so if a transaction doesn't benefit both clubs, I won't make it. 

As it turned out, just one deal went down. The Bulldogs flipped winger Scotty Davidson to the Bearcats for fellow forward Jack Ruttan. This deal made sense for a lot of reasons. First, the Bulldogs currently sit in third place, just a point behind our co-leaders, the Comets and the Victorias. The Dogs are just about a lock to make the playoffs, but Davidson's frequent penalties (he's second in the league in PIM) are costing his team points in the standings. It's been so bad lately that I've had to bench Davidson in the third period in close games to avoid meltdowns. If the Dogs want to make a deep run in the playoffs, they can't give offensively-oriented teams like the Comets and Vics even more power-play chances. Davidson is just too much of a risk for them. His production is way down this year, as well (12 games, 3 G, 2 A, -6). Coming back to the Dogs is Ruttan, who has played in only six games but still has nearly the same production (2 G, 1 A, -1); moreover, in terms of Strat-O-Matic game stats, Ruttan is in the lowest penalty bracket, whereas Davidson is in the bracket is most likely to trigger a penalty. Why would the Bearcats want Davidson? Well, in this situation they have the opportunity to buy low on a solid player who is vastly superior to internal options like Fred Scanlan and Rusty Crawford. Davidson is an elite skater, and the Cats are the slowest team in the league by far. He also brings a great deal of offensive upside, so a bit of positive regression will provide some dividends for his new team. He'll take more than his share of boneheaded penalties, but the Cats need talent and they're not in contention for a playoff spot this year. Davidson gives them a useful everyday player for next year, or someone they can trade back to an offense-starved contender if need be.

Today Is Free Comic Book Day!

Mosey on over to your friendly local comic book store for some free stuff! You can read all about the FCBD offerings here.

FCBD 2022

Heads up that this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day!

A Plucky Challenger!

We've just rolled -- or, rather, skated -- past the midpoint of Season 7, with all sorts of fun storylines shaping up in this first campaign with a full six-team league. One of those storylines is the sheer dominance of second-year forward Newsy Lalonde of the Victorias. With 12 goals and 7 assists in just 11 games, Lalonde ought to be cruising toward the scoring title and the Forward MVP trophy.

Except, he isn't.

There's another player with 12 goals and 7 assists in 11 games played, but also a league-leading +13 plus/minus rating (compared to Lalonde's pedestrian +1). One might reasonably guess three-time MVP Gord Roberts to be that other player, but Roberts, despite having a fine campaign, is all the way back at tenth in the league in total points as of today. No, Lalonde's plucky challenger is Comets left winger Blair Russell. 

The Comets are loaded with offensive talent, starting with two-time MVP Frank McGee, the league's all-time leader in goals scored. They've also got Dick Irvin, Frank Foyston, and George Richardson, plus high-scoring defenseman Mike Grant, and yet Russell has more goals and points than any of these luminaries. What gives? Well, Russell was a bit of a minor star in earlier seasons, finishing sixth in the scoring race in Season 2 and fifth in Season 3. Since then, Russell hasn't even sniffed the top ten, or even the top twenty. This year, he's on a brand-new line, skating with crafty winger-turned-center Foyston and either Shorty Green or defenseman-turned-forward Joe Hall on the right wing. Their stellar play has propelled the Comets to (currently) second place behind the lordly Vics. 

I can't wait to see if Russell outduels Lalonde by the season's end, or if another challenger emerges to steal their thunder!

It Has a Title Now!

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. 

Holmes Sweet Holmes

The expansion Bearcats came home after losing their third straight game. At 0-4-1, they remained winless on the season. Taking on the Millionaires tonight, however, they were determined to make a better showing in front of their fans. 

Early in the first, winger Rusty Crawford shook off the rust and scored his first goal in three seasons to stake the Bearcats to a 1-0 edge. The scrappy Cats imposed a suffocating neutral-zone trap in an effort to protect this rare lead. Harry Trihey doubled their advantage in the second with a power-play goal. 

Heading into the final frame, the Bearcats were cautiously optimistic about their chances. Just a minute into the third, Dickie Boon flipped a pass to center Harry Hyland, who blasted his first goal of the year to run the lead to 3-0. Moments later, Trihey picked up his second power-play tally of the game. Around the midway point, captain Billy Gilmour scored to put the finishing touches on his team's offensive onslaught.

Rookie goaltender Hap Holmes, meanwhile, was having the best start of his young career. His only blemish was a Frank Rankin goal late in the third that spoiled his shutout bid. Holmes nonetheless stopped 26 of 27 shots, and the Bearcats won for the first time in franchise history, 5-1 over the Millionaires.

At the Quarter Mark

With six teams, the season is now up to 20 games; the teams play each other four times, twice at home and twice on the road. To date, each team has played the other five teams once, meaning we're at the one-quarter mark of the schedule. If the playoffs started today, the Victorias, Comets, Millionaires, and Bulldogs would snag the four spots in the expanded playoff format, while the Thistles and Bearcats would be out. These results aren't much of a surprise, nor is it surprising that Cyclone Taylor currently leads in points (10) and Frank McGee leads in goals (6). 

Nevertheless, Season 7 has provided a few interesting twists thus far. Bulldogs blueliner Frank Patrick finished as runner-up for Rookie of the Year and Defenseman MVP last season, but he's mired in a horrific sophomore slump (0 G, 2 A, -6) that's dragging down his team. This year's most heralded rookie, goalie Hap Holmes of the expansion Bearcats, has struggled tremendously, while winger Jack Darragh (2 G, 4 A, +1) of the Thistles has emerged as the leading candidate for the rookie crown. I thought Holmes might help the Bearcats stay competitive, but at 0-4-1, the Cats are having a historically awful season; they're last in goals per game (1.80), goals against per game (3.40), and goal differential (-8), and second-to-last in both power-play percentage and penalty killing. As for other interesting tidbits, we're seeing a remarkable disparity in penalty calls, as the Millionaires have been shorthanded only six times in five games, while the notoriously rowdy Thistles have sent 23 men to the box over that span. Finally, although I would have put my money on Harry Hyland, Rusty Crawford, and Fred Scanlan of the Bearcats to be the worst five-on-five line in the league (based purely on their stat cards), that dubious distinction goes to Oliver Seibert, Tom Hooper, and Scotty Davidson of the Bulldogs, who are each at -6 and have combined for a measly four points (three of them by Hooper).

Multiverse Mayhem

Don't ask me when we're going to find the time to run it, but I've been cooking up a new campaign for the boys that will link together many of the modern-setting storylines from across the Front Porch multiverse. Starting out as a direct sequel to Earth Commanders -- the first-ever Front Porch campaign from way back in 1988 -- and pulling in key characters and/or themes from The Other World, Cyberwars, and many more, this yet-to-be-titled story will give Matthew and Nathaniel a good foundation in our extensive catalog of non-fantasy campaigns. It's also an opportunity for me to untangle needless complexities and create a clearer narrative throughline from our earliest modern-setting campaign (The Ladder, set in 1895) through the various Cyberwars games of the late twenty-first century. More details to follow as this campaign takes shape, but I'm excited to get into some design work again!

Season 7 Is Underway!

Season 7 began with Duke Keats and Harry Trihey meeting for the opening faceoff between the league's two newest teams. The hometown Millionaires were commencing their fourth season of play, while the visiting Bearcats were suiting up for the very first time. It was truly a memorable contest!

Keats won that opening faceoff, but it was the expansion team that drew first blood. Just moments into the first period, Trihey fired a shot that netminder Hugh Lehman turned aside, but the puck ended up on the stick of defenseman Dickie Boon, who blasted it home for the first goal in franchise history. The Bearcats' lead was short-lived, however, as Millies captain Art Farrell tallied a shorthanded goal a few minutes later. 

The score remained tied into the second period. Lehman was magnificent, and so too was rookie goaltender Hap Holmes of the Bearcats. He stymied a number of high-quality chances until a superb individual effort by former MVP Barney Stanley gave the home team its first lead of the night.

Both teams attacked furiously, but the keepers put on quite a show. As the minutes ticked away in the third, the Bearcats grew desperate. With under three to play, Boon flipped a pass to Ernie Russell, who wired a one-timer past Lehman to tie the game at two. For a moment, it looked like the expansion team might steal a point. Alas for the Bearcats, they'll have to wait at least one more game before they pick up that first point or two; less than a minute after Russell's goal, crafty veteran Harry Watson managed to sneak one past Holmes to give the Millies a 3-2 victory in the season's first game. It was a deflating finish for Holmes and the Bearcats, but there's a lot of hockey left to be played, lads!

Season 7 Preview

The Millionaires host the expansion Bearcats tonight in the first game of Season 7 of my historical hockey league. Below are the three major storylines I'll be following this season!

Bearcats Hit the Ice

The Millionaires joined for Season 4, and now the Bearcats will hit the ice as our sixth and final franchise. All eyes will be on the Bearcats' rookie goaltender, Hap Holmes, whose Strat-O-Matic game stats surpass even the great Bowse Hutton. Holmes should be able to steal some wins for our newest team, but his value as a trade chip is almost incalculable. Teams like the Comets or Thistles might inquire about a deal -- one that would surely rock the very foundations of the league.

A New Victorias Dynasty?

On the heels of the most successful regular season in league history (10-1-5, +21 goal differential) as well as the franchise's third Creighton Cup title, the Victorias remain strong contenders to reach the championship series yet again. On this superstar-heavy team, however, any regression by key players will have an outsized impact on the team's overall performance. A lot will depend on second-year forward Newsy Lalonde and whether he can reproduce his gaudy rookie stats (12 goals, 13 assists, +11, in 16 games).

Expanded Playoffs

In the three seasons since the Millionaires joined the league, the playoff format has involved the first-place team getting an automatic berth in the best-of-five Creighton Cup Finals, and the second- and third-place teams playing a single winner-take-all game for the other spot in the Finals. In all three of those seasons, the wild-card game went to overtime and provided incredible drama. Sadly, the wild card is no more! Going forward, the top four teams will reach the postseason (first place against fourth, second place against third). With more teams involved and two full rounds of best-of-five play, the road to the Creighton Cup has never been more difficult.

Squats Are Back...?

Check this out and draw your own conclusions. Or maybe it's just an elaborate April Fools' joke?

Meet the Bearcats!

Season 7 of my historical Strat-O-Matic hockey league will see the introduction of our second expansion team and sixth team overall, the Bearcats. In preparation, I've conducted the entry draft (where all teams choose from the pool of available players) and the expansion draft (where the Bearcats selected two players from each of the other five teams). I'm pleased to introduce the inaugural Bearcats roster!

• Dickie Boon, D -- Boon was a league-worst -16 last year, but that was more a function of playing on a historically awful Thistles team. Boon will be the Bearcats' go-to offensive defenseman and power-play quarterback.
• Rusty Crawford, F -- Crawford is a valuable defensive forward and solid penalty killer, but he spends way too much time in the box himself.
• Billy Gilmour, F -- The Bearcats' first captain is also their most accomplished offensive player; Gilmour currently ranks 18th all-time in total points (22 goals, 42 assists).
• Hap Holmes, G -- The first overall pick of this year's entry draft is a goaltender with limitless potential. The Bearcats could start him or trade him for a haul of established players.
• Harry Hyland, F / D -- Hyland was a solid +8 with a career high in points (4 goals, 8 assists) playing between Hobey Baker and Dubbie Bowie on the league's best line at five-on-five.
• Harvey Pulford, D -- The well traveled Pulford offers zero offensive contributions but is solid enough in his own end. Fun fact: He's now the first player to have suited up for all six teams!
• Art Ross, D -- Ross is your prototypical stay-at-home D-man. Side note: It's ironic that the NHL's annual award for the scoring title is named for a guy who didn't put up many points.
• Ernie Russell, F -- Hands-down the best skater on this team, Russell recharged his career last season with the Bulldogs. He was third on the team in playoff points (1 goal, 4 assists) as the Dogs made a run to the Finals.
• Jack Ruttan, F -- He's a quiet, no-nonsense player whose contributions might increase with more playing time. 
• Fred Scanlan, F -- Scanlan is a journeyman who can play all three forward positions.
• Harry Trihey, F -- The longtime Comets captain gave up his "C" during Season 6 as he struggled to earn playing time. He had just 9 points (3 goals, 6 assists), but it still good on draws. He'll begin the year as the Bearcats' assistant captain.

According to the stat cards, Holmes is now the best goaltender in this league. He'll need to be: The rest of the roster just isn't very good. For whatever reason, I think the Millionaires ended up with a better team back in Season 4; at the very least, it was a better team offensively. Goaltenders, however, add far more value than any other position, so perhaps the Bearcats can be competitive if Holmes plays up to his potential.

Welcome, Bearcats!

I'd been going around and around with the name of the expansion team that will be joining my historical Strat-O-Matic hockey league next season. As with the other team names in this league, it needs to follow certain criteria: It must be the name of a real-life historical hockey team (amateur or professional), it can't be the name of an existing major-league-level professional team in any sport, it can't be a team that played in the NHL at any point (even under a different name), and it can't be totally off-the-wall or racist.

So where does that leave us? I was leaning toward Aristocrats or Shamrocks, but then I stumbled across a team called the Bearcats, and that seemed pretty cool. Although I reserve the right to change my mind at the last minute, for the time being I'm planning on the Bearcats as the sixth franchise in my hockey league!

Season 7 Awards

Before I say a fond farewell to another season of nineteenth-century baseball, I'll share the awards for this season's top performers!

Position Player MVP: Jake Beckley, Resolutes

Beckley spent four seasons as Cap Anson's understudy, but now that he's the starting first baseman for the Resolutes, I've seen him blossom into a star in his own right. It's fair to say that he carried the Resolutes' offense this year. Beckley led the league in home runs and in extra-base hits overall, and although he's not quite Anson's equal with the glove, he turned in an error-free season. Anson and Canaries left fielder Ed Delahanty (last year's winner) finished second and third, respectively. 

Pitcher MVP: Amos Rusie, Haymakers

It was the year of the reliever. With pitching staffs expanded from four to five, teams could be more aggressive in deploying relief pitchers later in the game. Amos Rusie, the Haymakers' closer, pitched nothing but high-leverage innings and helped his team achieve the best regular season in league history. Rusie went 2-0 with a league-leading five saves and a 1.38 ERA. Teammate Mickey Welch (6-3, 2.54 ERA) was the runner up. 

Playoff MVP: Bobby Wallace, Haymakers

No single player dominated in this postseason, but the Haymakers' shortstop stood out offensively and defensively as a major catalyst for their victory. Wallace hit three triples, drove in four runs, and played flawlessly in the field. Haymakers leadoff man and center fielder Joe Kelley and Resolutes backstop Connie Mack were also considered for this award.

Season 7 Creighton Cup Series, Game 4

A Resolutes win tonight would extend the series to a fifth and final game; a Haymakers win would give the league's most dominant franchise yet another trophy for their hoard. Last year, the Resolutes were in exactly the same situation against the Blue Legs, and back-to-back shutouts by Christy Mathewson and John Clarkson allowed them to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Tonight, would Mathewson turn in a season-saving performance once again as he faced all-time wins leader Cy Young?

This time, there would be no shutout for Mathewson. In the top of the second, Bobby Wallace tripled and then scored moments later on a single by Bid McPhee. The Haymakers' lead was short-lived, however; in the bottom of the frame, Connie Mack doubled home Fred Clarke and John McGraw to give the home team a 2-1 edge. 

The Resolutes' lead didn't last, either. In the top of the third, Joe Kelley singled and stole second. He scored on Cap Anson's booming double. The next inning, Deacon White crushed Mathewson's breaking ball for a solo home run to make it 3-2 for the Haymakers. They extended their advantage in the fifth when Kelley singled, swiped second yet again, and raced home on Sam Thompson's double. 

Down by two runs in the seventh, the Resolutes lifted Mathewson for pinch hitter Jim O'Rourke, but failed to capitalize. Rube Waddell took over in the eighth and tossed two scoreless frames, continuing his masterful postseason performance. 

Young, meanwhile, was cruising. His only blemish was Mack's two-run double back in the second. He sent the Resolutes down in order in the bottom of the eighth, and no manager -- indeed, no force of nature -- could have prevented him from coming out in the ninth to finish the game.

Now three outs away from a championship, the Haymakers made a few defensive adjustments to reduce the chances of a late-game collapse. They pulled iron-gloved slugger Jesse Burkett from left field, moved so-so center fielder Kelley to left, and brought in elite defender Ned Hanlon to patrol center. 

The Resolutes, however, weren't going to relinquish their title without a fight. Clarke singled with one out and hustled to third on Frank Grant's base knock. Now with runners at the corners and only one out, the Resolutes had the tying run on base and the winning run at the plate. 

And the man at the plate just happened to be Old Muggsy himself, John McGraw, last year's winner of the Playoff MVP trophy. McGraw needed to avoid hitting the ball on the ground, as a double play would end the Resolutes' season. Muggsy lofted the ball to right field, allowing Clarke to score on a sacrifice fly. 

Now it was 4-3, but the Resolutes were down to their final out. Grant was like a coiled spring on first, ready to run on contact. Connie Mack stepped up with a chance to be a hero. Mack has absolutely owned Young; in fact, the only home run of his career was a grand slam off of Young a couple of years ago. Young went right after Mack, dialing up his legendary heater. Mack connected but was late on his swing, and the ball screamed toward first. Cap Anson lunged and snagged the liner for the third out.

Game over! The Haymakers are champions again! With titles in Season 2, 3, 5, and 7, they are truly this league's version of the Yankees. Now, all that remains for Season 7 is to hand out the individual awards!

Season 7 Creighton Cup Series, Game 3

The teams split the first two games at the Haymakers' park and then moved to Resolutes territory for Game 3. It was a rematch of Game 1 on the mound, with Mickey Welch for the visitors and John Clarkson for the home team.

Joe Kelley, leading off in the top of the first, greeting Clarkson with a stand-up double. The next batter was Jesse Burkett, who hit a grounder right at first baseman Jake Beckley. In a moment that could only be described as Buckneresque, Beckley let the ball skip right past him. Burkett ended up on second, and Kelley scored easily. Cap Anson then plated Burkett with a single. Sam Thompson doubled, and after four batters the score was already 2-0 with no outs and runners on second and third. Before the inning was over, Roger Bresnahan and Bobby Wallace had also driven in runs to make it 4-0.

Clarkson, none too pleased with that state of affairs, came to bat in the bottom of the second. The league's best-hitting pitcher found the bases full of teammates -- Frank Grant, John McGraw, and Connie Mack, to be precise. He ripped a two-run single to cut the visitors' lead in half.

The teams continued to trade runs. In the top of the third, Haymakers second baseman Bid McPhee drove in Bresnahan with a single to make it 5-2. The Resolutes stormed right back in the bottom of the fourth, with Mack doubling in Grant, and McGraw scoring on groundout by Clarkson. The Haymakers held a scant one-run lead until the sixth, when McPhee tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Burkett.

The Resolutes lifted Clarkson after seven innings. Pinch hitter Jim O'Rourke drew a walk, and his compatriots promptly loaded the bases, but a double play saved Welch from disaster. Taking over for Clarkson was sidearm specialist Joe McGinnity, who ended up pitching two scoreless innings to keep the game within reach for the Resolutes.

Amos Rusie, the Haymakers' star closer, relieved Welch in the eighth. His mission was to record a six-out save. He retired the Resolutes in order in the bottom of the frame, but things got a little more complicated in the ninth. Mack led off with a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Pinch hitter Sol White, however, grounded into a double play. Pete Hill singled to give the Resolutes another chance, but Hughie Jennings lofted a lazy infield fly to third baseman Deacon White, and the game was over.

With a 2-1 series lead, the Haymakers need just one more win to claim their fourth title in seven years!

Gold Box

Oh, come on, you magnificent bastards! Damn you for the countless hours you're about to take from me!

Season 7 Creighton Cup Series, Game 2

With the Haymakers up by a game, the Resolutes were feeling the pressure. Were they sufficiently...resolute? Let's find out!

With Cy Young on the mound for the home team and Christy Mathewson for the visitors, I anticipated a low-scoring game. Things were quiet until the bottom of the second when, with two outs, second baseman Bid McPhee singled, stole second, and scored on Young's sharp single. The Haymakers took an early 1-0 lead.

In the top of the fourth, a triple by Elmer Flick followed immediately by a Jake Beckley double tied the game. Fred Clarke singled to put runners at the corners, but Frank Grant bounced into a double play to end the threat. The Resolutes scored again, however, during their very next turn at bat. John McGraw singled and stole second; two batters later, Mathewson tripled him home. A sacrifice fly from the bat of Hughie Jennings increased the visitors' lead to 3-1.

The Haymakers got one back in the bottom of the frame. Joe Kelley led off with a double, and Big Sam Thompson plated him with a single later in the inning. Now it was 3-2 and the home team was one swing away from tying the game.

The score remained unchanged into the eighth. Happy Jack Chesbro had taken over for Young. He allowed a one-out single to Flick, who promptly swiped second. Beckley, the next batter, continued his torrid play with another base hit. 

As Flick dashed for third, I had to put on my third-base-coach hat and decide whether to wave him home. Time slowed down as I agonized over the decision. Go with my gut? Nah, go with the numbers! In that situation, Flick had an 85% chance of scoring. I'll take those odds any day. I waved Flick home as Thompson unleashed the throw. The play at the plate...

He's OUT!

Unbelievable! Thompson had gunned down Flick with a perfect throw from right, and the score remained 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth. In that half-inning, Thompson and Deacon White singled. With two on and two out, Bobby Wallace tripled to bring them both home. Now it was a 4-3 lead for the hometown Haymakers heading into the ninth.

The Haymakers needed three outs to secure the come-from-behind win, but Chesbro surrendered a leadoff double to Grant. The speedy infielder later scored on a single by Connie Make to tie the game at four. 

Bottom of the ninth! Hard-throwing lefty Rube Waddell relieved Mathewson. Joe Kelley led off with a single. He attempted to steal second, but Mack threw him out with ease. It was a costly out for the Haymakers, as Jesse Burkett followed with a single that might have scored Kelley.

The ninth ended with the score tied. When they passed the tenth, this contest became the longest playoff game in league history. More innings sped by as the teams struggled to break the deadlock. Chesbro and Waddell were magnificent, each striking out more than a batter per inning. 

The next run didn't come until the top of the fourteenth. With two outs, John McGraw -- last year's Playoff MVP -- singled and stole second. He raced home on another single by Mack, easily beating the throw. 5-4 Resolutes! 

In the bottom of the frame, Thompson and Bresnahan reached base with no outs, but Waddell's defense came to his rescue. The game ended 5-4, and now we'll head to the Resolutes' park with the series tied at one!

Season 7 Creighton Cup Series, Game 1

Here we go! The first-place Haymakers hosted Game 1 of this best-of-five series, sending ace Mickey Welch to the mound. The Resolutes countered with two-time Pitcher MVP John Clarkson. 

It was the visiting Resolutes who drew first blood. After a scoreless opening frame, Fred Clarke tripled in the top of the second and scored on a Frank Grant groundout. 

The home team struck back in the bottom of the fourth. Cap Anson led off the inning with a single. Sam Thompson flied out, bringing up catcher Roger Bresnahan. The veteran backstop crushed Clarkson's offering for a two-run homer, giving the Haymakers a 2-1 edge. It was the fourth postseason home run of Bresnahan's career, moving him past teammate Thompson for the most in league history. 

In the top of the fifth, however, the Resolutes struck back with a bomb of their own. With two outs and the bases empty, shortstop Hughie Jennings, certainly not known for his power, hammered a Welch mistake for his first playoff dinger. Now the game was knotted at two runs apiece.

Bresnahan singled to open the bottom of the sixth. With one out, shortstop Bobby Wallace tripled to bring the catcher home. Welch helped his own cause with a run-scoring single a moment later, and heading into the late innings it was 4-2 Haymakers.

Both pitchers cruised through the seventh and eighth. Welch got two quick outs in the top of the ninth, looking to wrap up a complete-game victory. There was a brief moment of drama when Pete Hill hit a long drive that was misplayed by center fielder Joe Kelley, giving the Resolutes a fleeting hope. With the tying run at the plate, Jennings hit a soft liner to Wallace to end the game.

Game 1 goes to the Haymakers! Game 2, also at this venue, will feature Cy Young against Christy Mathewson. I'm already salivating over this match up of all-time greats!

Ripley, Believe It or Not

This weekend, we played a couple of four-player games of Alien: Fate of the Nostromo. The first time around, a few early xenomorph encounters sapped our morale, and one of our objectives was devilishly difficult: getting all the heroes to the workshop, located in a remote corner of the ship. We had three of the four crammed into that room and the fourth just outside in the hallway when my character, Parker, drew a card that booted him immediately to the medbay. A moment later the alien jumped him and, well, that was that. 

For the second game, I swapped Parker for Ripley, the only character we hadn't used yet. I had poo-pooed Ripley earlier, during the two-player games that Nathaniel and I had played the previous weekend, but I quickly discovered Ripley's effectiveness in a session with a larger number of players. 

Games like this one (e.g., Forbidden Island and its sequels, the Pandemic games, etc.) don't scale well above a certain number of players because the game takes its turn after each player, so a lot of nasty stuff can happen in between your turns and you're powerless to prevent it. That's why Ripley is an essential character in larger Alien games -- her ability is to move other characters during her turn. So, for example, if the xenomorph is stalking closer to Matthew's Brett and his turn won't come up fast enough for him to escape, I can use Ripley's actions to move Brett out of harm's way. 

With a whopping five objectives to accomplish, we spread out through the ship, assembled various items, and brought them to the specified locations. After completing the fifth task, we drew the card for our final mission. It turned out be fleeing the Nostromo on the shuttle, like Ripley does at the end of the movie. (Fortunately, in this version, we weren't dealing with a self-destruct sequence on top of that!) 

We had to gather an incinerator, a cat carrier (for Jonesy!), and one coolant tank per crew member and then all convene at the docking bay. It's always tricky to get multiple characters into a location without the alien crashing the party, but Nathaniel's Dallas was armed with the incinerator and shooed the xenomorph away when it was just outside the door to the docking bay. That gave me enough time to have Ripley drop the fourth and final coolant tank, thereby enabling our escape from the ship!

Series Preview

The Haymakers dominated Season 7 from start to finish and have returned to the Creighton Cup Series after missing out last year for the first time in their history. Meanwhile, somebody had to finish in second place, and that distinction went to the Resolutes, who will attempt to defend their franchise's first title against a team that led the circuit in both runs scored (4.58) and runs allowed (3.08) and posted a league-record +36 run differential and .667 winning percentage. Wow!

If the stats above don't paint the picture, I'll sum it up: The Haymakers are...a machine. Their lineup may be a bit topheavy -- with Joe Kelley, Jesse Burkett, Cap Anson, and Sam Thompson in the first four slots -- but every position player on this team is a tough out. On the mound, their pitching is led by screwball specialist Mickey Welch, vying for his second Pitcher MVP trophy, and perennial warhorse Cy Young. Heck, even spot starter Candy "I swear I'm not a porn star" Cummings went 3-1 in four starts. Good luck coming back in the late inning, as well; closer Amos Rusie led the league in saves and is a strong candidate to become the first relief pitcher ever to win Pitcher MVP. How do you beat these guys? Historically, fielding is this team's Achilles' heel, but in Season 7 the Haymakers ranked as the league's best defense. 

The Resolutes are, well, just happy to be here. It was an up-and-down year for the defending champs, who relied heavily on first baseman Jake Beckley, a former Haymakers benchwarmer who has emerged from Anson's shadow to become a middle-of-the-order threat. After the playoffs, he'll likely be rewarded with the Position Player MVP trophy. Beyond Beckley, the Resolutes received significant contributions from leadoff man Pete Hill and the power-and-speed combo of Elmer Flick. If the Resolutes have a path to victory in this series, however, it lies with their pitchers. Co-aces John Clarkson and Christy Mathewson blanked the Blue Legs over the final 18 innings in last year's series, while southpaw swingman Rube Waddell brings triple-digit heat that the Resolutes could deploy in the late innings. 

The season series was 5-3 for the Haymakers, so in theory the Resolutes could win three games in this best-of-five championship. If they do, it will surely rank as the biggest upset in the history of this league.

Another Alien Game!

Wow, there are a lot of tabletop games based on the Alien franchise. My boys and I love this universe, however, so if companies keep makin' 'em, we'll keep buyin' 'em. 

Today we picked up Alien: Fate of the Nostromo. With Amy and Matthew in San Francisco at a swim meet, Nathaniel and I ventured out to Target. I had intended on buying the Gargoyles board game, but we were both intrigued by another take on the Alien mythos, especially since this one gets right back to the roots of this franchise. 

More akin to Forbidden Island and games of that ilk than skirmish games like AVP, this Alien game features virtually no combat. Instead, you move around iconic locations from the Nostromo, gathering resources, accomplishing objectives, and working toward an escape plan, all the while doing your best to avoid the xenomorph. Sometimes you know where it is and can plan accordingly, while other times you only think you know where it is and then it appears exactly where you don't want it to!

On our first try, Nathaniel was Dallas and I was Parker. We had some bad luck on card draws and only managed to win on the last-possible turn when I remembered that Parker had an item that could clear the xenomorph out of our escape path. The second time, I tried Dallas and Nathaniel opted for Lambert, whose ability to see the next encounter card (essentially, the next action taken by the alien) proved to be incredibly useful.

Here's a pic of the game board from early in our second adventure.

And now here's a shot of the game's final turn, when Dallas obliterated the xenomorph with an incinerator unit.

We won that second game handily. When Matthew and Amy get back, we'll try a four-player game. I'm sure Lambert will be among the character choices, and I'd be surprised if Nathaniel didn't want to use her again. And what about Ripley? In our opinion, she's actually the least effective character in the game!

All-Star Break

How is it possible that I'm already through the first half of Season 7? The games sure do go quickly; I can get through a nine-inning game in about a half-hour. Even so, I'm surprised at how fast the season is speeding by. Today I'm pausing for a moment to take stock of where things stand here at the midway point.

Haymakers (8-4, +16 run differential)

The league's perennial powerhouse is pacing the circuit in scoring (4.25 runs per game) and in run prevention (2.92). Cap Anson is having another fine season at the plate (in contention for a possible third Position Player MVP trophy) and Mickey Welch (4-1 in six starts, with a 2.57 ERA) is leading a strong pitching staff.

Resolutes (7-5, +3)

The defending champions have thus far escaped the injury bug that ravaged them last year. Overall, they're having a pretty solid but unspectacular season; their scoring is up (3.50 runs per game, second-best in the league), but they're also giving up more runs (3.25) than last year's pitching-first squad. First baseman Jake Beckley could be a dark horse candidate for Position Player MVP.

Canaries (5-7, -5)

The Birds are showing signs of life after two abysmal seasons. Their hopes and dreams are pinned on second-year phenom Addie Joss, currently the frontrunner for Pitcher MVP; with a 1.93 ERA through five starts, Joss has a shot to beat Welch's 1.61 ERA from Season 4 as the all-time best mark. If the Canaries' offense comes around -- and defending Position Player MVP Ed Delahanty is heating up, along with slugging first baseman Roger Connor -- they could make a late run for a spot in the championship series.

Blue Legs (4-6, -14)

Over the years, the Blue Legs have been known for one thing: Power hitting. So many iconic Blue Legs moments have involved towering home runs from sluggers like Nap Lajoie, Dan Brouthers, and King Kelly. It's ironic, then, that this year's squad has hit zero home runs through the first half (12 games) of the season. Ouch! On the field, they're giving up a league-worst 4.33 runs per game -- a full run per game worse than the next-worst team.

Command Points to the Rescue!

This past weekend, while Matthew was dominating his swim meet -- he finished first overall! -- Nathaniel and I hung out at home and finally had time to dive into the current edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar. He wanted to play the Stormcast Eternals, so I took the Orruks. The starter set did a pretty good job of introducing the rules piecemeal over several small-scale scenarios. In one memorable episode, his line of spear-wielding, golden-armored warriors charged headlong into my ranks, slaughtering half my troops. After a feeble response by the Orruks, they failed their Battleshock test and the entire group fled! It was, needless to say, a rather ignominious way to lose a game! Once we layered in all of the game rules, however, I was able to use command points to keep my panicky greenskins from fleeing. That proved to be decisive in one of our battles, as I was able to hang on long enough to win the game by controlling enough objectives!

Joss Goes Yard

In this young season, the top two pitchers in the league have been veteran Mickey Welch of the Haymakers and Canaries sophomore Addie Joss. Both had pitched complete-game shutouts in their previous starts before squaring off against each other. 

The Haymakers held a slim 2-1 lead in the seventh when Joss came to the plate with two outs and a runner on first. Briefly, I considered pinch hitting for him, but yanking Joss in that scenario would have provided only a marginal chance of scoring a run while removing the Canaries' best pitcher from the game. A sacrifice bunt wasn't an option with two outs, so Joss had the green light to swing away and hope for the best. Now, Addie Joss is no John Clarkson or Al Spalding; in fact, he's one of the three or four worst-hitting pitchers in the league. Imagine my surprise when Joss belted Welch's offering into the left-field stands for a two-run homer! 

It was just the third home run ever hit by a pitcher in this league. John Clarkson of the Resolutes hit the first two back in Season 5. In an odd twist of fate, the pitcher who surrendered the first of Clarkson's bombs was none of than Mickey Welch. 

Oh, and as for the game? That home run was the difference, as the Canaries won 3-2.

Opening Day

Our first game was a rematch of last year's championship series between the Resolutes and Blue Legs. The Legs wasted no time in snapping their pesky 18-inning scoring drought by plating a run against John Clarkson in the top of the first. The Resolutes, however, shelled Old Hoss Radbourn and Al Spalding en route to a 9-4 triumph as they seek to defend their team's first title.

The Canaries hosted the Haymakers in the other game. Slugging third baseman George Davis was injured midway through the contest, which doesn't bode well for the Birds' efforts to rebound after their last-place finish in Season 6. The Haymakers took a 5-0 lead and held off a late rally to win 5-4. All in all, it was a typical Haymakers win -- a workmanlike start from Cy Young, an offense that grinds out quality at-bats, and a save by flamethrowing closer Amos Rusie.

And with that, Season 7 is underway!

Spring Training

Yeah, it's not spring yet, but in the world of my ghostly Field-of-Dreams-esque Strat-O-Matic historical baseball league, it's always springtime. I've completed all offseason transactions for the four teams -- the Blue Legs, Canaries, Haymakers, and Resolutes -- and finalized their rosters, so now it's time to get started with Season 7!

What's on tap this year? Well, the Resolutes are defending their first-ever championship after defeating the Blue Legs in an epic come-from-behind series that ended with back-to-back shutouts by Christy Mathewson and John Clarkson. Indeed, the Resolutes' co-aces blanked the homer-happy Blue Legs over the final eighteen innings of the series. These teams will face each other again on Opening Day, and I'm eager to see if the Blue Legs can recover from last season's collapse. I'm also keeping an eye on the Haymakers, who failed to reach the championship series after five straight appearances (including three titles). And what about the Canaries? They went 8-16 with a league-worst -18 run differential, but there's so much talent on the team that I think they'll experience a bit of positive regression, especially if second-year pitcher Addie Joss continues to build on his strong finish to Season 6.

Play ball!

Death Metal

I'm not an Astra Militarum guy -- that's Matthew's preferred faction -- but I do have a particular fondness for those mask-and-trench-coat-wearing bad-asses, the Death Korps of Krieg. First of all, their regiment sounds like the name of a metal band (side note: Iron Maiden's A Matter of Life and Death is my unofficial soundtrack for the Death Korps). Now I'll finally have the chance to get myself a box of Death Korps troopers -- pre-orders go on sale tomorrow morning!

Season 6 Awards

Not surprisingly, after the best regular season in league history and a dramatic run to claim the Creighton Cup, the Victorias dominated the end-of-year awards.

Scoring Title: Cyclone Taylor, D, Victorias

The flashy defenseman had a career-low 7 goals, but his 21 assists (a single-season record) gave him enough total points to claim this trophy for the fourth time in six seasons. 

Runners Up: Gord Roberts, LW, Bulldogs; Newsy Lalonde, RW, Victorias

Forward MVP: Gord Roberts, LW, Bulldogs

It was a monster season for Roberts, whose 26 points included 18 goals, tied for the most ever in a single season. 9 came on the power play, and he even picked up 2 shorthanders. A +5 rating also demonstrated the strength of his two-way play.

Runners Up: Newsy Lalonde, RW, Victorias; Jimmy Gardner, LW, Millionaires

Defenseman MVP: Cyclone Taylor, Victorias

I might as well call it the Cyclone Taylor Award, as the game's most dominant player has won this trophy five times in six seasons. He led the league in scoring with 28 points, and also led the league in plus/minus with +16, the highest total in history.

Runners Up: Frank Patrick, Bulldogs; Phat Wilson, Victorias

Goaltender MVP: Bowse Hutton, Victorias

Now a four-time winner of this trophy, Hutton was a huge factor in the Vics' otherworldly season in which they lost only twice, regular season and playoffs combined. Hutton posted a 2.06 goals-against average and .935 save percentage, both of which set new records.

Runners Up: Paddy Moran, Bulldogs; Hugh Lehman, Millionaires

Rookie of the Year: Newsy Lalonde, RW, Victorias

What can I say? Even in the strongest rookie class we've ever had, Lalonde ran away with this award. He finished third in the league in total points (12 goals, 13 assists) and seems poised to join the inner circle of the game's truly elite players.

Runners Up: Frank Patrick, D, Bulldogs; Dick Irvin, C, Comets

Playoff MVP: Hobey Baker, RW, Victorias

The Vics' captain had a robust 8 points (4 goals, 4 assists), second only to Taylor's 9. Baker's value, however, is not solely in offensive prowess; he spent much of the series shadowing superstar Gord Roberts, who managed to score just once over the four-game Creighton Cup Finals due in part to Baker's defensive wizardry. 

Runners Up: Tommy Dunderdale, RW, Bulldogs; Cyclone Taylor, D, Victorias

Season 6 Creighton Cup Finals, Game 4

The cup was in the house! The visiting Victorias needed just one more win to claim the ultimate prize. How did it all go down? Buckle up!

Hobey Baker got the Vics on the board in an otherwise quiet first period, and Dubbie Bowie lit the lamp in the second. These two hardy veterans -- Baker the captain, Bowie the assistant captain -- have been with the Vics since the first day of the first season. They've both elevated their game here in the playoffs. As it turned out, however, the 2-0 lead they handed to their team wasn't quite enough.

In the first minute of the third period, sparkplug winger Ernie Russell scored on a pass from Scotty Davidson. Russell has been a key contributor all season for the Dogs, especially with the litany of injuries they've faced, so it was great to see him notch a huge goal in this critical moment. The Bulldogs dominated the third, and nearly knotted the score when Hutton robbed Roberts with a beautiful glove save.

At the three-minute mark, the Dogs put out their best five-man unit: Bruce Stuart flanked by Gord Roberts and Tommy Dunderdale, with Si Griffis and Frank Patrick on defense. Stuart won a key offensive-zone draw and set up Dunderdale for the tying goal. It was Dunderdale's fourth tally of the postseason, tying Baker for the league lead. The home fans leaped out of their seats at the realization that their team would have a chance to win the game in overtime and force a winner-take-all Game 5.

The Vics did everything in their power to end the game in the opening moments of OT. Over a spectacular sequence, Moran made huge saves on high-danger shots by Bowie, Baker, and Cyclone Taylor. Then, late in the overtime period, rookie Newsy Lalonde broke out with Taylor on a two-on-one. Lalonde flipped the puck to Taylor for the shot. I could just hear the play-by-play announcer's voice in my head as the scene unfolded.

"Taylor...for the cup...he scores!"

It was 3-2 for the Vics in overtime, a 3-1 series win that included three straight victories. With that, the Vics claimed their third Creighton Cup and first since Season 2. Whew! Now Season 6 officially comes to a close!

Season 6 Creighton Cup Finals, Game 3

The Vics took care of business on the road and now looked to grab the lead back on home ice. In keeping with the theme of this year's playoffs, the scoring started early. Dubbie Bowie scored on the Vics' very first shot, and then Hobey Baker scored on the second. Two shots, two goals! Paddy Moran did not break, however, and prevented further damage over the rest of the period. In the meantime, Ernie Russell's slick pass led to an Oliver Seibert goal that got the Bulldogs on the board.

The Dogs sought to tie things up in the second. Their task was made all the more difficult as Baker stymied Gord Roberts on every shift. A Billy McGimsie tally gave the Vics a short-lived 3-1 lead, but the Dogs picked up the pace in the second half of the frame. Rookie blueliner Frank Patrick scored his first career playoff goal to get his team within one. The Dogs tied the game moments later when Tommy Dunderdale scored on the power play. Ernie Russell assisted on both, giving him three helpers for the game. 

Just like that, the game was tied and the Bulldogs could start thinking about their second road victory of the series. Marty Walsh, however, had other plans. Early in the third, he notched his second power-play goal of the postseason to put the Vics back on top, 4-3. The Dogs found themselves unable to generate many quality chances as time slipped away. With just over a minute remaining in regulation, Moran trapped the puck to force a whistle. On the ensuing faceoff, Billy McGimsie and Bruce Stuart got tangled up and the puck floated to Newsy Lalonde. The rookie fired a deft shot that beat Moran and sent legions of Victorias fans into a frenzy. Now it was 5-3, and any chance of a Dogs comeback was now gone.

With a 2-1 series edge, the Vics now travel to the Bulldogs' home with a chance to win their third Creighton Cup if they prevail in Game 4.

Should've Played the Lottery Today

During today's futuristic Shattered Realm adventure, I saw something I hadn't seen in over thirty years of gaming: Eight consecutive rolls of a 20 on a d20! Between attack rolls and saving throws, Matthew (four) and Nathaniel (two) combined for six straight 20s. We then paused the game to see if we could keep the streak going. Matthew rolled a 20 and then another one, and only then did the streak end. Matthew calculated that the odds of that streak were 1 in 25,650,000,000!

Season 6 Creighton Cup Finals, Game 2

Game 2 wasn't literally a must-win for the Vics, but it certainly felt that way. Facing the prospect of an 0-2 deficit in this best-of-five series, the Victorias resolved to play a better all-around game.

It certainly didn't start out that way. Moments into the first period, superstar winger Gord Roberts beat Bowse Hutton to stake the hometown Bulldogs to a 1-0 lead. The Vics answered right back, however, on a goal by captain Hobey Baker. Later in the period, the Vics struck for two more quick goals, as Billy McGimsie and rookie phenom Newsy Lalonde both lit the lamp. Cyclone Taylor had assisted on all three goals, and now found himself tied with Roberts for the league lead in playoff points with five. 

A sleepy second period involved little more than a handful of power plays that all came up empty, so the score remained 3-1 for the Vics as we entered the third period. The Bulldogs, as the home team, had the benefit of the last change, so they switched their matchups to keep offensive titans Gord Roberts and Tommy Dunderdale away from the Vics' tenacious defensive forwards, Hobey Baker and Dubbie Bowie. The move paid off quickly as Oliver Seibert scored on a feed from Tom Hooper, now fully recovered from his Game 1 injury. The Dogs were within one, but Bowie scored moments later to restore the two-goal advantage. Baker scored his second of the night shortly thereafter to put the game out of reach. A penalty to Roberts led to a power-play goal by Walsh. When the clock finally put the Dogs out of their misery, the score was 6-2. 

With the series tied at 1-1, we head back to the Vics' arena for Game 3!

Season 6 Creighton Cup Finals, Game 1

They met in the finals in Season 1, when the Victorias claimed the first-ever Creighton Cup. 

They met in the finals in Season 4, when the Bulldogs exorcised their demons to claim the ultimate prize.

Now they meet again!

The league's best rivalry kicked off its latest chapter as the Victorias and Bulldogs clashed in Game 1 of the Creighton Cup Finals. Both goaltenders made strong saves in the first, with Bowse Hutton stopping Scotty Davidson on a great chance and Paddy Moran stonewalling Marty Walsh and Newsy Lalonde. Amidst all the goaltending heroics, Tom Hooper -- the double-overtime hero from the frantic wild-card game -- departed with an injury, forcing the Dogs to juggle their lines for the second straight game. As a result, they never really got going in the opening frame and found themselves in a one-goal hole when Cyclone Taylor scored in the final minute.

The scoring continued in the second. Si Griffis lit the lamp with a long slapshot to tie the game at one apiece, but Taylor restored the Vics' lead a moment later with his second goal of the evening. The Dogs bounced back again, however, on Davidson's tally. The rest of the middle period featured a parade of penalties and power plays, but neither team could manage to get the go-ahead goal. 

With the score 2-2 in the third, the teams traded shots for the first dozen minutes. Then Tommy Dunderdale slipped one past Hutton give the Bulldogs their first lead of the night. Walsh had a great chance to get the equalizer, but Moran was having none of it. The home team threw everything they had at the veteran netminder but couldn't break through, and when the horn sounded, it was 3-2 in favor of the visiting Bulldogs.

The Vics had lost only one of sixteen regular-season contests, but came up short in Game 1. Now they face the unenviable task of tying up the series on the road. If the Dogs can win Game 2 at home, they'll push the mighty Victorias to the brink.

Season 6 Wild-Card Game

The Bulldogs hosted the Comets tonight in a winner-take-all game for the right to face the top-seeded Victorias in the Creighton Cup series!

Less than two minutes into the game, Tommy Dunderdale took a pass from Bulldogs captain Si Griffis and rifled the puck past Comets netminder Percy LeSueur. The Bulldogs had a goal on their very first shot! Midway through the frame, penalties to Frank McGee and Blair Russell gave the Dogs back-to-back power plays, and Bruce Stuart scored on both occasions. It was 3-0 in favor of the Bulldogs and the Comets were reeling, but they managed to escape the first period without any further damage.

The second period was uneventful until the closing moments. The game's trajectory changed in a heartbeat when star defenseman Mike Grant, a former Playoff MVP winner, whipped the puck to Russell, who found a wide-open George Richardson for an easy score. The Comets' new captain -- Harry Trihey resigned his post a couple of weeks ago -- had given his team a jolt of energy before the break. The Dogs, meanwhile, learned that blueliner Jack Laviolette had sustained an injury late in the period that would keep him out of the rest of the game. Gord Roberts, one of the team's best defensive forwards, shifted back to defense to take Laviolette's place.

It was 3-1 in favor of the Bulldogs as we entered the third. The Comets were down by two and finding themselves in a situation that was eerily similar to when the two teams last met a week ago; in that contest, the Comets had rallied from a two-goal deficit to force a tie. Would history repeat itself? Would the Comets stage another third-period rally? 

They sure did. Early in the period, Grant found Dick Irvin in the slot. Irvin managed to get two quick shots on Paddy Moran before the puck caromed back to defenseman Jack Marshall, who threw it on goal and it somehow found its way through the traffic and past Moran's glove. Now it was 3-2 and the Dogs' fans sat in stunned silence.

Their shock turned to outright dismay mere moments later. Who else but Mike Grant would orchestrate another Comets comeback? Grant to Frank Foyston to Dick Irvin to the back of the net. The score was tied at three, and Grant had assisted on all three tallies.

Overtime.

Tensions were high on the Bulldogs bench, and it spilled over onto the ice. Tommy Dunderdale took a bad penalty, forcing Moran to bail him out with some spectacular saves. Then mild-mannered Oliver Seibert went off the box, but the Dogs killed that penalty too. Even so, the Comets dominated play in the overtime period and the Dogs were lucky to escape.

DOUBLE overtime.

I'm an old-school fan of ties, so we have ties aplenty in regular-season games. I only use OT to settle playoff games. Tonight was the first time in postseason history that a game went to double overtime. 

Once again, it was all Comets from the get-go. Grant had the game on his stick but Moran flat-out robbed him. Moments later, it was Foyston with a chance to end it, but his shot vanished into Moran's glove. At that moment, I had to put down the cards and dice and whip out the calculator. Moran had only a 21.16% chance of making both saves on those two consecutive high-danger shots. Wow! The Dogs got some good puck-luck there.

Enter Tom Hooper. The Dogs' second-line left winger was a team-worst -3 in this game and was looking for his shot at redemption. When Gord Roberts started a rush and flipped the puck to Ernie (no relation to Blair) Russell, Hooper crossed the blueline and headed for the left circle. He one-timed Russell's pass and beat a diving LeSueur to the short side. 

Bulldogs win, 4-3, double OT. After squandering a three-goal lead, the Dogs will be moving on to the  best-of-five Creighton Cup Finals against the Victorias. 

As for the Comets, they've now lost the wild-card game two years in a row, both in overtime. In fact, all three wild-card games in league history (for seasons 4, 5, and 6) have gone to overtime. Ever since I expanded the playoffs to three teams after the Millionaires joined the league as our fifth franchise, the wild card has been an exciting way to determine the first-place team's opponent in the finals. 

Sadly, this was the last wild-card game. Next year, after we add our sixth team, I will expand the playoffs to four teams, with two rounds of best-of-five play. Farwell, wild-card game! You certainly went out on a high note!

Season 6 Wrap-Up

With the regular season now in the books, we turn to the playoffs. First, however, I wanted to reflect on a historic Season 6 and some key notes from each of the franchises.

1. Victorias (10-1-5)

It was a return to form for the venerable Vics, who surged to the top of the standings thanks to the slick playmaking of offensive defenseman Cyclone Taylor (7 G, 21 A), who won his fourth scoring title in six years. The bigger story, perhaps, was the wildly successful rookie season of phenom Newsy Lalonde, the first overall pick of the last player draft; Lalonde finished third in the league in both goals (12) and total points (25). The Vics also received stellar netminding from Bowse Hutton, whose 2.06 goals-against average and .935 save percentage set single-season records. All told, it's hardly surprising that this team had a 13-game unbeaten streak, lost just once all year, and posted a +21 goal differential that was the best ever.

2. Bulldogs (9-5-2)

Though ravaged by injuries, the Bulldogs performed admirably, and their +9 goal differential was second only to the Vics' +21. Gord Roberts absolutely dominated with an 18-goal campaign that tied Frank McGee's single-season goal-scoring record, set way back in Season 2. Rookie blueliner Frank Patrick (5 G, 12 A, +8) had an all-around excellent season, giving the Dogs the true number-one defenseman they've lacked all these years.

3. Comets (6-7-3)

This team somehow made the playoffs despite a -11 goal differential and arguably the worst five-on-five play of any team this year. How did they do it? Their power play clicked at a devastating 32.56%, the second-best single-season percentage in history. The Comets received offensive contributions from up and down the lineup, led by ace forward Frank McGee, who electrified crowds en route to finishing second in the league with 16 goals. On a more bittersweet note, Harry Trihey, no longer skilled enough to be an everyday player, handed over his captaincy to quiet star George Richardson.

4. Millionaires (4-8-4)

Last year's Creighton Cup champions tumbled to fourth place, although on the basis of goal differential (-3), they seem to have suffered from bad luck and probably deserved to finish third. Jimmy Gardner (9 G, 15 A) had an MVP-caliber season, and stars like Barney Stanley and Hugh Lehman performed very well, but the Millies got almost nothing from their supporting cast, and their woeful power play (12.96%) was the worst of all time. Moreover, a couple of late-third-period penalties by hotheaded Billy Gilmour turned two potential ties into losses.

5. Thistles (3-11-2)

Three straight postseason appearances came to a screeching halt as the Thistles dropped from first place into the cellar. Along the way, the Thistles racked up the most losses (11) and worst goal differential (-16) in league history. Dan Bain contended for a scoring title (6 G, 16 A) and Alf Smith's 11 goals placed him fourth overall in that category, but there's not much else that can be said. This team just flat-out stunk it up.

Halgrim Eliminated!

We've continued our Cursed City campaign while the boys were off from school and I was enjoying a brief respite from work over the holidays. Today we hit a milestone by eliminating the mighty skeleton Captain Halgrim, one of the chief lieutenants of the vampire lord Radukar. We had battled Halgrim before on many occasions, but like all of Radukar's inner circle, the captain could not be slain permanently without first destroying the phylacteries that contain his life essence. 

In today's mission, we stormed Halgrim's lair with the intent of smashing those phylacteries. Two squads of skeletons stood in our path. While Nathaniel's sturdy dwarf engaged the skeletons on our left flank,  Matthew's sniper quickly eliminated those on our right, clearing a path for my swift swordsman to circle around to the rear of the lair. Nathaniel destroyed one of the three phylacteries while continuing to draw all the remaining enemies, including Halgrim himself, and withstood a spirited attack from the undead defenders. Meanwhile, I smashed the other two phylacteries and, on my next turn, attacked Halgrim from the rear. Using every last trick on my character sheet, I managed to bring down the skeletal warlord in a single round. 

Next up, we'll be seeking the lair of Gorslav the Gravekeeper, my personal favorite of the Cursed City rogue's gallery. In addition to his mastery over all zombies, he wields a huge shovel, which he can use to attack you or literally bury you alive!