Hamilton Pistols
During much of the first half of the 2021 season, it looked as though the Pistols’ bid for a three-peat was going badly awry. They lost star RW Claude Lafayette to a car accident in the second week of the season, and then struggled to stay around the .500 mark for over a month. But they heated up in the second half, taking another division title before running out of gas against Anchorage in the Finals. The secret to their success, as usual: a league-best offense paired with goalie Lasse Koskinen turning aside enough shots to compensate for a mediocre defense. All the key pieces are back in place for 2022. The Pistols’ top scoring trio of LW Steven Alexander, C Calvin Frye, and LW Magnus Gunnarson remains in place, as does Koskinen at the other end. Lafayette is back, although no one knows for sure how his year off has impacted him. GM Marcel LaClaire did his usual shuffling of low-cost veteran to fill holes on the bottom six, with C Mike Rivera and F Charlie Brooks replacing C Marco Venezio and Fs Kelvin Starkey and Phil Miller. Barring calamity, the Pistols are certain to make the postseason again, especially with the expanded eight-team field. They’re also a strong Vandy candidate – but with the East getting stronger every year, and the West boasting several quality contenders as well, another title is anything but a certainty.
Boston Badgers
Last season, the Badgers loaded up on veterans – elite but older players who had been salary-cap casualties with their former teams. Dubbing themselves “The Expendables,” the gray heads led Boston to its first-ever playoff berth. They decided to return virtually the same roster this time around, and they should have the horses to repeat their postseason trip. The ferocious defense that limited opponents to just 27.3 shots per game – second lowest in the league – should be just as dangerous again. But can you hear the clock ticking? Several of the team’s key contributors – LW Casey Thurman, C Warren Marlow, RW Gordon Lunsford, Ds Matt Cherner and Ted Keefe, G Roger Orion – are on the wrong side of 30. Most of them have shown few signs of slippage, but this roster could go wrong quickly if everyone gets hurt or old at once. They have some young players on the rise –C Alain Beauchesne is the reigning MVP, and LW Lix Darnholm and RW Levi Rudyard show promise – but they can’t carry the team without the veterans’ help. Ironically, the one veteran they did lose in the offseason could come back to bite them. Backup netminder Riley Lattimore turned in a brilliant season at age 35; his strength helped to mask Orion’s decline. Boston let Lattimore go in favor of Brooks Copeland, who spent all of last year in the minors posting underwhelming numbers. Whether Copeland and Orion can deliver between the pipes – and whether The Expendables can continue to defy Father Time – will determine whether the Badgers make a run at the Vandy or flame out in the first round.
Hershey Bliss
Last season was a real roller coaster in Chocolate City. They got off to a dismal start that cost longtime coach Chip Barber his job. They made a stunning mid-season hire, bringing in Ron Wright to replace Barber. With Wright’s firm hand on the tiller, the Bliss surged toward the top of the standings, only to wilt in the final weeks of the season and narrowly miss the playoffs. In the offseason, Wright made the surprising decision to return for another season behind the bench; perhaps he was excited to see what he could do in a full season with such a talented roster. Hershey’s core remains intact, and just like last season, they’re rolling the dice on a veteran forward widely regarded as over the hill after a down season. Last year, C Cliff Derringer looked reborn and produced a surprising offensive spark. This time, they’ve picked up RW Elliott Pepper, coming off a career-worst season at age 34. If Pepper can rediscover his 20-goal, 50-plus-point form, the Bliss could have a potentially lethal attack. If Pepper stumbles, then highly-touted prospect Dino Carlucci, making the big club after dominating in the CHL last year, may step in and fill his skates. They’re relying on a young goalie tandem, but they have promise; Nash Gould has played well enough to lock down the starting job at 21, while rookie Hobie Sanford has been a well-liked in the organization for years. On paper, Hershey is the best-balanced club in the East… but the whole always seems a bit less than the sum of its parts with this group. Maybe that’s because their offense is infamous for favoring shot quantity over quality, racking up chances in bulk but lacking the grit to generate real traffic in front of the net and generate the greasy goals that other teams seem to get. If any coach can coax them into doing the dirty work that champions need, it’s Wright; will his guidance be enough to help the Bliss find the next level?
Quebec Tigres
The expanded playoff field is a boon for the Tigres. Under the old four-team format, Quebec in its present form would almost certainly miss the postseason for a fourth straight season; in an eight-team field, on the other hand, they’re heavily favored to make it in. But how far can they go? The Tigres’ basic formula is the same as ever: hope that a ferocious, smothering defense (27.2 shots per game last year, stingiest in the league) and quality goaltending from Riki Tiktuunen (2.60 GAA, second in the league) can overcome a slow, plodding offense (2.8 goals on 29.5 shots per game, third-worst). That combination of factors will no doubt make Quebec a tough playoff opponent, or at least a pesky one. But ever since their Cinderella run to the Finals in 2018, the Tigres have seemed like they’re missing that certain something that would make them a serious contender. In 2020, winger Rupert MacDiarmid had a breakout season that suggested he might provide the secondary scoring Quebec needs so desperately, but he regressed last season. D Serge Rimbaud has shown considerable promise as a two-way force, but can he really unlock their sluggish offense? It would help if Tiktuunen could level up his game and re-enter the conversation about the league’s top netminders; he was solid last season, but a clear level below rivals like Koskinen and Ty Worthington. Coach Martin Delorme was hailed as a hero in his home province during that ’18 Finals run, but he hasn’t been able to produce a second act; it seems like his seat might start to get warm if the Tigres can’t find another gear. RW Stephane Mirac is in his prime; it would be a shame to waste another year in the land of “pretty good.” That said, ask any Eastern coach or player (off the record), and they’ll tell you Quebec is the team no one wants to face in the playoffs.
New York Night
It’s been clear for a while that this roster needed a shakeup. And they got it. GM Jay McKay, never one to shy away from a big move, shocked many around the league by leaving RW Rick “The Stick” Nelson unprotected in the expansion draft, where he was snapped up by Baltimore. The change had ripple effects throughout the roster; RW Ivan “Trainwreck” Trujwirnek finally gets bumped up to the top line (with free agent Noah Daniels taking his old spot on the second line). In recent years, New York has quietly assembled a cadre of intriguing young players, including Cs Norris Fletcher and Lloyd Banjax, LW Jamie Campbell, and Ds Rocky Winkle, Sergei Trefilov, and Sam Calhoun. But even with Nelson’s enormous ego and shot-hog tendencies subtracted from the equation, this still feels like a team that’s betwixt and between. Last year, their offense was middle-of-the-pack, while their defense was as dismal as ever; there’s a good chance that this season produces the same result. As long as LW Chase Winchester and C Brock Manning continue to command major ice time, the Night’s defense will likely remain shoddy, no matter how many young guys McKay puts around them. And the goaltending tandem of Sherman Carter and “Jersey Mike” Ross, while respectable, isn’t going to be enough to stop the constant barrage of shots headed their way. If the Night can improve on their abysmal special-team performance last year (dead last on the penalty kill, which wasn’t a surprise; tenth on the power play, which was), that would help. But even with Nelson gone, this team still needs another big trade to mix things up. If anyone can do that, McKay can… but how? Winchester’s too old to be worth much, and Manning’s likely too expensive to swing a midseason deal and get fair value. The ever-clever GM will surely try to find a way, but until he does, continue to expect mediocre hockey and increasingly angry home crowds.
Washington Galaxy
The rebuild continues for another season in the nation’s capital. For the first time since it began, though, things are starting to look up. Coach Nick Foster was a surprisingly good fit for the young roster, instilling a fighting spirit in them that seemed utterly lacking under previous boss Peter James. As a symbol of their commitment, they led the league in blocks by a healthy margin, averaging 17.2 per game. Of course, that was in part because they allowed so many shot attempts (67.3 per game, most in the league by a lot). But in spite of a roster in constant flux and short on proven talent, Foster managed to mold an identity out of the Galaxy. Can they build on that this season? Defensively, Washington adds veteran Tuomas Nurmi to provide some leadership to a promising young group. In net, they’ll look to Kelvin White – who looked good after a midseason trade from Milwaukee – to show continued growth, with rookie Duane Waggoner serving as his understudy. So far, not bad. But the offense, which generated a league-worst 2.5 goals per game, is arguably the area most in need of help. It doesn’t help that they shipped out their third-leading scorer, veteran C Harvey Bellmore (although they used the draft pick they received in return to grab promising young winger Hayden Starnes, and they had Konstantin Sokolov waiting in the wings for fill the open center slot). They could really use one or two of their young forwards – maybe LWs Heath Forbert (last year’s top pick) and Alan Youngman, or C Tucker Barnhill – to step up offensively and become a real scoring threat. The Galaxy also need to make a decision on RW Jefferson McNeely. The longtime star remains the team top scorer, but his disinterest in playing on a rebuilding team has become increasingly apparent. He seems like a prime candidate to be dealt, but his high price tag and age (33) make him hard to move for a decent return. GM Wilson Shuster will no doubt explore his options, but count on another long season. At least they probably won’t finish last this time, thanks to expansion.
Baltimore Longshoremen
Speaking of expansion, meet Washington’s new rival, both geographically and at the bottom of the standings. GM Ace Adams, who used to be in charge in Washington, would surely love to finish ahead of his former employer. With the talent on hand, though, it doesn’t seem likely. Like most expansion teams, the Longshoremen focused on assembling a young team, and they succeeded; only three projected starters are over the age of 25. On both sides of the puck, however, Baltimore doesn’t have the talent to compete. Their forward ranks are largely composed of bottom-six grinders, while their defense is a collection of second- and third-pairing guys, and their goalies would almost certainly be backups anywhere else. Granted, there are some intriguing players in the bunch. For instance, their top draft pick, C Jasper Stevenson, looks like he could blossom into a top-liner someday. And of course, there’s Nelson. Adams took a big swing in plucking him from the Night. For much of the offseason, that swing looked like a strikeout, as Nelson held out and threatened to retire if he was not traded. But he did come to camp, if reluctantly, and seems likely to provide what little scoring spark the Longshoreman will have this season. But Nelson doesn’t exactly seem like the sort to mentor young players, and it doesn’t seem optimally conducive to the growth of Baltimore’s forward corps for them to stand around watching Nelson fire shot after shot. On the bright side, the winger gives fans at Harborside Arena something to cheer for, and he gives an otherwise anonymous team some identity. Whether or not that’s a positive identity… well, that remains to be seen.
Projected Finish:
- Hamilton
- Hershey
- Boston
- Quebec
- New York
- Washington
- Baltimore
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