East Prevails in Second Round of Interdivision Play

The SHL Eastern Division made its case as the superior division over the last couple of weeks. The season’s second and final round of interdivision play concluded on Tuesday, and the East once again prevailed, going 29-24-3 against the West in their home arenas after going 28-23-5 against them at home in the first half of the season.

“For years now, we have said that the West is no longer the best,” said coach Martin Delorme, whose Quebec Tigres went 5-2-1 in this round. “Now we have the numbers to back it up with evidence.”

For the season, the East finished 57-47-8 in interdivision games, winning approximately 55% of the games. It’s a nice payback for the East after the West won both rounds of interdivision contests last season, in addition to winning the SHL Finals.

Somewhat surprisingly, the results of this round affected the Western Division race more than the East. The Tigres’ 5-2-1 mark allowed them to hold onto first place and the league’s best overall record, but they were barely better than their closest pursuers, the Boston Badgers and Hershey Bliss, each of whom went 5-3-0.

“We’re still within striking distance,” said Badgers coach Kyle Barrow. “We’ve got a dozen games left, and we’ll settle this thing head-to-head on the ice, which is the way it should be. Would we have liked to win one or two more here? Sure. But bottom line, we won more than we lost, and we’ll take that.”

Further down the Eastern standings, the Rhode Island Seekers (4-3-1) held onto the final playoff spot, but finished just slightly better than the Washington Galaxy and Hamilton Pistols (both 4-4-0). The only Eastern team to lose meaningful ground was the last-place Baltimore Longshoremen, who went 2-6-0 in this round and 5-11-0 overall, the only team in the division with a losing record against the West.

Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Growlers finished with the best overall record in this round, going 6-2-0 to surge into first in the Western race. Milwaukee got a significant boost after the Michigan Gray Wolves (3-4-1) and Anchorage Igloos (2-6-0) both stumbled, and the Portland Bleubacks (4-3-1) lost ground as well.

“We’ve taken the lead out of the clubhouse turn!” exalted Growlers coach Rodney Reagle. “We’re coming down the stretch, and we’re riding the prettiest horse in the race. I don’t know a lot about horse racing, but I assume that there’s a beauty contest that’s part of it.”

If the Igloos wind up falling short in their quest to win the West this season, they will likely have their interdivision record to blame. They went 6-10-0 against the East this season, the only one of the four top Western contenders with a losing interdivision record. The Igloos have given up 9 points to Milwaukee, 8 to Portland, and 5 to Michigan in interdivision contests.

“Not the result we wanted by any stretch, but we’ve got to put that behind us and move on,” said Igloos coach Sam Castor. “The good news is, the first two rounds of the playoffs are against the West, and we’ve done great against those guys this year, so I like our chances.”

One bright spot for the West: the last-place Saskatchewan Shockers went 3-4-1 this round, suggesting that they have broken free of their dismal midseason skid. “It’s a small step forward, but any steps forward are good for us,” said Shockers coach Jeffrey Marsh. “We found the rope, and we’re pulling ourselves out of the quicksand.”

Does the East’s superiority in interdivision play presage a potential Finals win, the division’s first since 2020? Delorme, whose Tigres have lost the last two Finals, certainly hopes so.

“I am not opening any champagne based on this,” said the Quebec coach. “But perhaps I will put a bottle in the refrigerator, in case we need it later on.”

2024 SHL Week 13 Transactions

• On Monday, the Baltimore Longshoremen placed LW Vaughn Asperlin on the injured list. Asperlin suffered an upper-body injury during Sunday’s game against Hamilton; the Longshoremen are hopeful that he can return at some point this season. Injuries have limited the sophomore winger to just 33 games this season. To replace Asperlin on the roster, the Longshoremen recalled LW Cameron Leintz from their CHL affiliate in Fargo.
• On Wednesday, the Kansas City Smoke recalled F Mark Clark from their affiliate in Omaha and returned C Mason Alpine to Omaha. With the return of C Darien Picard from injury, the Smoke returned Alpine to the minors and called up Clark. The 37-year-old winger is up for his second stint with the Smoke; he spent two games with Kansas City earlier in the city.
• Also on Wednesday, the Milwaukee Growlers activated LW Zachary Merula from the injured list. Merula was sidelined for 10 games while recuperating from injury. To make room for Merula’s return, the Growlers returned LW Terry Cresson to their CHL affiliate in Indianapolis. Cresson appeared in 14 games for Milwaukee, recording 3 points (1 goal, 2 assists).
• In  one more Wednesday move, the Michigan Gray Wolves activated C Konstantin Sokolov from the injured list. Sokolov missed two weeks while recovering from a lower-body injury. To make room for Sokolov’s return, the Wolves returned C Wilson Grace to their farm team in Cincinnati. Grace appeared in 7 games for Michigan, recording an assist.
• On Saturday, the Boston Badgers activated C Caden Ritz from the injured list. Ritz missed over a month and a half after undergoing surgery for an upper-body injury. To accommodate Ritz’s return, the Badgers reassigned C Marlon Crane to their CHL affiliate in Hartford. Crane appeared in 19 games for Boston, recording no points.
• Also on Saturday, the Smoke placed LW Pascal Royal on the injured list. Royal crashed headfirst into the boards during Saturday’s game against Washington and had to be stretchered off the ice. He is considered a long shot to return this season. To take Royal’s place on the roster, the Smoke called up F Jett Bondar from their affiliate in Omaha. Bondar will make his major-league debut.
• In one additional Saturday move, the Halifax Atlantics – affiliate of the Quebec Tigres – activated D Barrett Forbes from the injured list. To make room for Forbes’ return, the Atlantics released D Luke Boskill.

West’s Top Four Remain Too Close to Call

It’s looking increasing like the Western Division playoff field is set. The gap between fourth and fifth place widened to nine points this week; barring a dramatic shift in the season’s final five weeks, it seems like the Kansas City Smoke, Utah Blizzard, and Saskatchewan Shockers will be left on the outside looking in.

But if the identity of the West’s top four feels certain, the order of that top four is very much up in the air. The standings have been changing on an almost daily basis in recent weeks. At the end of Saturday’s action, just four points separated the top four teams in the division.

“If anyone tells you they know how this division’s going to turn out, they’re either lying or they’re drunk,” said Milwaukee Growlers coach Rodney Reagle. “Maybe both.”

The defending champion Michigan Gray Wolves snuck back into first place this week after a 2-0 shutout of Baltimore on Thursday. A couple of weeks ago, it looked like the division was slipping away from the Wolves after they hit a skid in which they lost 10 of 13.  This week, though, they got back on the right track. As usual, Michigan depending on its defense and goaltending to win games. Starting goalie Dirk Lundquist had struggled during the team’s recent skid, but coach Gilbert McCoyne has kept faith with the veteran netminder. “The Bear is our go-to guy, and that’s not going to change,” said McCoyne. Lundquist rewarded his coach’s faith this week with a pair of shutouts. Offense remains a problem for the Wolves, though; the team is averaging just over 2.4 goals per game. Only Baltimore and Saskatchewan, last in their respective divisions, are scoring fewer goals than Michigan. “We’re not going to be blowing a lot of teams out,” said McCoyne. “As long as we keep winning, though, that’s what matters. When it comes time for the playoffs, they don’t ask how, they ask how many.”

Michigan’s surge knocked the Milwaukee Growlers out of first, at least for the moment. Unlike the Wolves, Milwaukee is doing great offensively; they’re averaging over 3.4 goals a game. LW Troy Chamberlain leads the way with 23 goals, third in the SHL overall. Defensively, they’re no slouches either, allowing just 27.1 shots per game, fourth-fewest in the league. They’ve weathered injuries to a number of their key players without letting it derail them. In terms of many traditional and advanced stats, the Growlers are the West’s most impressive team; however, they’ve proven unable to put away their division competitors. Perhaps even more ominously, they’ve opened the latest round of interdivision ply with back-to-back losses at home against possible Finals opponents. On Thursday, they lost a heartbreaker to the Hershey Bliss 4-3 when D Donald Duckworth scored the game-winner with 28 seconds left in regulation. Then on Saturday, they were blown out 6-2 by the Boston Badgers. “The stats guys tell me that we should be better than we are,” said Reagle. “That’s reassuring, I guess, except that no matter how many times I wave our stat sheet at our opponents and tell them we’re better, they stubbornly insist on playing actual games.”

The Anchorage Igloos popped into first briefly at the beginning of the week, only to slip back the next day. The good news for the Igloos is that goalie Ty Worthington, who had a dreadful first half, is straightening himself out in the second. Since the All-Star Break, Worthington has gone 8-2-0 and his GAA has dropped from 3.02 to 2.66, with his save percentage improving by almost ten points. “The fact that Ty is back on track is the best news we could hope for,” said coach Sam Castor. “When he’s on his game, we’re a much more dangerous team.” The bad news is that Anchorage relies too heavily on star C Jake Frost for the bulk of their offense. Frost’s 24 goals are good for second in the league; however, it’s a huge drop from there to the next-highest Igloos scorers, LWs Jerry Koons and Les Collins with 11 goals apiece. No other Anchorage player has reached double digits in that department.

The Portland Bluebacks sit in fourth, two points behind Anchorage and four behind Michigan. They are the only member of the West’s top four who did not spend any time in first place over the past week. Their scoring attack is even more lopsided than the Igloos’; RW Vince Mango, the league’s leading scorer, and D Rennie Cox are responsible for almost a third of the Bluebacks’ total goal for the season. Also, unlike the other Western competitors, Portland’s defense is merely average they’re allowing 30.2 shots per game, while their 2.72 GAA is ninth in the SHL. They’ve also struggled to compensate for the loss of top-line C Norris Fletcher, who has been sidelined by injury for almost 3 weeks and is expected to return next week. “We’re really looking forward to getting Fletch back in the lineup,” said Bluebacks coach Nick Foster. “Things click a lot better for us offensively when he’s in there.” Even once Fletcher returns, though, the Bluebacks will still have a roster with far less postseason experience than their competitors. If any one of these four teams is going to wilt in the bright lights of a playoff chase, it’s likely to be Portland.

The race to the wire should be a lively one, as all four of these teams will be scrapping for any advantage they can get for the postseason. And considering that three of the four are the most recent Vandy winners, the stakes couldn’t be higher down the stretch. “We know that one or two games might mean the difference between home-ice advantages through the playoffs and starting the first round on the road,” said Frost. “We’ll need to play our best the rest of the way, and we know that the other teams will be doing the same. It’s an exciting and stressful time.”

2024 SHL Week 12 Transactions

• On Monday, the Kansas City Smoke recalled LW Roy Mutz from their CHL affiliate in Omaha and returned C Mason Alpine to Omaha. With C Mike Rivera returning from an injury, the Smoke decided to bring up the 23-year-old Mutz – making his SHL debut – to get some minutes until LW Pascal Royal returns from injury.
• On Wednesday, the Thunder Bay Kestrels – CHL affiliate of the Saskatchewan Shockers – activated LW Darius Ghilezan from the injured list. To make from for Ghilezan’s return, the Kestrels released F Harper Hawking. Hawking appeared in 7 games for Thunder Bay, recording two goals and an assist.
• Thursday was the SHL’s trading deadline. The following transactions occurred at the deadline:
  • The Baltimore Longshoremen traded RW Alberto Fedregotti to the Portland Bluebacks in exchange for minor-league RW Fletcher Queen and a fourth-round draft pick. In related moves, Baltimore recalled RW Rolf Knaufl from their affiliate in Fargo, and Portland demoted F Zeljko Brankovic to their affiliate in Spokane.
  • The Shockers traded D Blake Blacklett to the Washington Galaxy for minor-league D Stieg Lisander. In related moves, Saskatchewan recalled D Roscoe Corbetta from their affiliate in Thunder Bay, and Washington returned D Russ Klemmer to their farm team in Virginia.
  • The Smoke traded RW Adriaen van der Veen to the Galaxy in exchange for F Sidney Archer. In a related move, the Smoke returned F Roy Mutz to their affiliate in Omaha and called up C Mason Alpine from Omaha.
  • The Shockers traded D Buster Kratz to the Michigan Gray Wolves for D Ilya Morozov and a third-round pick. In related moves, Saskatchewan called up D Damir Kriutchkov from their farm team in Thunder Bay, and Michigan demoted D Barrett Snow from their affiliate in Cincinnati.
  • The Shockers traded RW Samson Kucharov to the Quebec Tigres in exchange for RW Bryan Irvin and a third-round pick. In related moves, Saskatchewan recalled F Michael Jennings from Thunder Bay, while Quebec demoted F Billy Knox and signed D Luke Boskill to a short-term contract for their affiliate in Halifax.
  • The Shockers traded D Harald Haakom to the Hershey Bliss for D Dustin Ecklenburg and a second-round pick.
• On Friday, the Fargo Flickertails activated D Colt Mayhem from the injured list. To accommodate his return, Fargo released D Powell Kelmore from his short-term contract. Kelmore appeared in 2 games for the Flickertails, recording an assist.