Subject: I.1

good game for you. sucked for me.

I just realized that after 13 games, I have the worst defense in the league. wow.

#14 Mandarin Oranges
big wins - RED WINGS
big transfers - none

The Oranges have returned to I.1 and found it tougher than II.4 by a fair margin. I had them picked for about 12-16 and they're on pace

#13 Eagle River Bulldogs
big wins - Americans, Irresistable Force
big transfers - none

The Bulldogs are an exciting new team and have pulled off some unlikely upsets. I had them picked for 12-16 initially but now I think they might sneak up to 10 or so, but still probably a bit out of the playoffs.

#12 STL Saints
big wins - Hellraisers
big transfers - none big, but lots of mid-range guys

The Saints are having a bit of a down start mainly because of a change at goalie. They've been inconsistent - when they're good, they're very good, when they're bad they're VERY bad but when they get some chemistry and XP for the new goalie they should be OK. I'm still looking for 8-12 for them.

#11 Philadelphia WarMachine
big wins - RED WINGS, Mountain Yetis
big transfers - none

I had the WarMachine pegged at 12-16 and they've been slightly better than that so far. Flyersjunkie has proven pretty adept at picking tactics and I'm going to say now they should end up in the 10-12 range.

#10 Vowelrifics
big wins - Mountain Yetis, Miami Rage, tied the Hellraisers and Psychos
big transfers - Slávek Baďura

The Vowelrifics got off to a very slow start due at least partly to camps and they're just starting to move up now. At the beginning of the year I thought they'd end up around 4-8 and I still think they'll get there. Their big investment hasn't played yet but Badura looks to be a future star. Eeoulio has been busy on the market in other areas as well and seems to be trying to make some money on player investments.

#9 Americans
big wins - RED WINGS, Vowelrifics
big transfers - none

The Americans also got off to a slow start this year and are starting to pick it up now. With potentially one of the best goalies in the league it'd be surprising if they stay out of the playoffs for long, but time constraints on Bruinsfan has caused some inactivity for him and made the Americans a victim of a bad tactic more often than anyone other than the Jags or Capitol Hillers. I still think they finish 4-6 though.

#8 Africville Sea-Sides
big wins - Irresistable Force, Psychos, Miami Rage
big transfers - nothing huge

A solid 37 OR the Sea-Sides have proven to be a pleasant surprise for me. I had them in about the 10-14 range and so far they've overacheived. I think they will finish up arount 8-10 now.

#7 Mountain Yetis
big wins - High Hitterz, Swamp Foxes, Americans, tied the Hellraisers
big transfers - none

The Yetis are historically a tough team - I've faced them in the National Cup before they hit I.1 and they've always been good. I had them penciled in around 4-8 and so far so good.

#6 N.(c).New York Hellraisers
big wins - beat the Sea-Sides, tied the Yetis and Vowelrifics
big transfers - bought Sviataslau Galkouski and sold off quite a few mid-range guys

The Hellraisers have been resurgent this year, performing quite well through the 1/3 point. The biggest transfer for them, though, might not be Sviataslau Galkouski who has performed well to this point but the fact that team captain Graham Boston did NOT get sold when he was on the market for $35,000,000 last week. I would have had them mid-pack at the beginning of the year but now I'd say they'll keep around the 6-8 range and make the playoffs.

#5 - The Psychos
big wins - Swamp Foxes, Americans, RED WINGS, tied the Vowelrifics
big transfers - none

The Psychos are a perennial power and I had slotted them in the 3-5 range. They're right on track so far, though they might want to start training some technique at some point as they've been penalized a TON.

#4 - Miami Rage
big wins - Mountain Yetis, High Hitterz, tied the Swamp Foxes
big transfers - bought Alexey Grushin

The Rage go about things a bit differently than everyone else - they are built primarily through the market instead of internally and as such they perpetually seem a bit inconsistent (which I view as the result of low line chemistry). That being said, though, they have some top-level talent now and though their facilities lag the rest of the league they should stay competitive thoughout the year.

#3 Swamp Foxes
big wins - RED WINGS, Vowelrifics, tied the Miami Rage
big transfers - none

The Swamp Foxes have played very well so far though they have benefitted from a bit of a light schedule. Still, though, they have a great goalie and their 41 OR puts them in the 4-5 range of the league and they'll probably end up the year with a home matchup in the 1st round.

#2 - High Hitterz
big wins - RED WINGS, Vowelrifics
big transfers - none

The Hitterz have also had a slightly light schedule so far, but they've been dominant in many of their games. They have had more PP chances and fewer PK's for most of the year and they've been able to outperform their 37 OR rating. Darryl Chen and Gerald Rubin are two huge stars for both the Hitterz and Team USA and with them the Hitterz should end up no worst than 6th.

#1 Irresistable Force
big wins - RED WINGS, Psychos, Hellraisers, Americans, Vowelrifics, Mountain Yetis
big transfers - bought Albín Modranský and Jerome Guerra

The Force have been playing good hockey, though they aren't being as consistent or as dominant as in years past. They will go out one day and beat up on a playoff team and the next day lose to someone who might have to play a relegation game this year. It's been said that the higher the skill values of each player the greater the relative swing you see from day to day when someone has a 'good' or 'bad' game and that does seem to be happening with the Force lineup.

Said GM Leggman "I believe we're well positioned to capitalize on the training bonus from the national teams to keep even some of our older guys improving well throughout this season. We're going to be tough to beat this year. Unfortunately, we haven't had much luck finding new prospects from the sporting academy, so we're trying now to build up our youth from the market, which is expensive to say the least"

The Force have been trying to integrate some youngsters when opportunity arises due to injuries, but in all with the ages and CL's of the core of this team it seems like the window will close on the Force in another 2 to 3 seasons unless they get lucky with the SA or unless their three-story multifunctional structure (currently about 1/2 done) will bring in enough revenues to allow them to hit the market hard to bring in some future stars.

Leggman! What fun write ups, thanks a bunch It's funny how much of what you wrote I had considered at some level but yet reading it presented like that gave it a different touch. Well done.

Yeah for real great write up, I might start doing some media for the league in my own way too. I love being the market man that I am Especially when it takes like 50 days to upgrade the SA lol

Well done.

This is ridiculous. Waldo just came back from injury and now is out again for 10 more days. What luck is this?

Don't rush him back!

that sucks.

Didn't. I let him heal properly.

I was joking - pretending to be my ex nemisis flyersfan.

Go cheat and buy injured players like other guys are doing.

I would say build up your med facility but what's the point, really? you're going to have about the same number of guys injured anyway so med facility is pretty pointless. So is maintenance facility until you have tons of other stuff to pay off for that matter...

GG Red Wings, I was hoping I could take a win but I can't seem to beat your team