Aihe: Senior Handball NT

So, ashcroft went to a team with lvl facilities, and we missed qualification by 3 goals for.

But! We phased out 2 more 30+ year olds and our team is now strong-ish while still having potential to grow. Hopefully next season's qualification group will be a little less lopsided.

Don't ask me how I did it, because I don't know, but we beat Ukraine, who essentially has an OTR of about 100 more points than us, and advanced to the playoffs for the first time since I (Lenoir) took over and started our rebuild.

Now, don't get too excited, our next game is against Croatia, whom crushed us 32 to 20 in our last game this season. We also came 2 points from winning earlier this season, tho. I think this team performs better when Away, for whatever reason.

And if we do, both Argentina and Belgium are teams we can contend with, so I'll give this game my best!

Well done !

The team put together a very solid effort, alas it wasn't enough to get past this round. If you compare our average age to the rest of the teams in the last 16 though, we're in a really good position for the upcoming seasons (given these players don't end up on deadbeat teams, anyway).

there are few more players that I may phase out, but the main rebuild is now over, and we can focus on getting stronger!

BTW, who wants to bet on who the first (active) canadian player to hit 3000 OR is going to be? My money's on Brian Wicks. Brendon Crook came oh so close, but he won't make it before he runs out of CL (next season will likely be his last before he hits 0)

Didn't make it past the prelims this season, not for a lack of trying. We had a tough group and were unlucky. Our core is younger than most teams at this stage, and the lack of exp is showing a bit. We'll get there next season!

I’m quite sad Crooks wasn’t able to make it to 3000.

Happy to report that, despite a fumble with forgetting to set the roster back to veterans (both with the senior and U19 team), Canada NT has won its first qualifier of the season yesterday

If anyone thinks they have players that should be on the NT, btw, let me know. I have a spreadsheet but sometimes players get lost in the shuffle.

Current contenders for a spot this season are:

Offensive:
Eugene Jemson (26yo RB)
James Tolson (28yo RB)
(it's a toss up. Jemson is younger, but his CL path means he will go 0/6 about the same season as Tolson, and he also recently went to a team without 2 200 OR coach, whereas Tolson is on my team. Both are still 200 points behind McNeill, and there's also Gordie Huntley who is a UB on the team. But McNeill will start to lose points soon)

Axel Huckerby (23yo UW)
Jonathan Baldry (26yo LW)
- the problem with Baldry is that, if he was on the right, he'd be on a path to being better than Lundy, but as things are, he's behind DeLaRossa. And DeLaRossa is like, the #2 player on the team with most potential­ behind Brian Wicks

We have no pivot prospects really worth considering this season. Wallace Walters has such a low CL that he will also likely never replace Greene. Our next best bet is Blair Durkin (23), but for comparison, Christian Sale (20) has almost already caught up to his OR. Sale turned 5/6 at 16 however, so his CL may or may not hinder him a lot.

Defensive:

Philippe Heggs (27yo RW)
Benjamin Seabury (22yo UW)
-There isn't really a need to bring in a new winger atm, Brady Hobbs is a good fit to take over on the left side in a few seasons, but Crook (RW) is not on the decline yet. I'd be tempted to just go with the young blood, but that age gap will take a long climb. I,d have to bite the bullet myself and sell Alain Bouche,r so Seabie can rack up some EXP.

Nickolas Love (23yo LB)
Marlin Sampson (24yo RB)
- there isn't actually a need for an RB, since Hardy is better than Sampson with a year less (and Sampson has been training for much lower amount than I would expect considering the team he is with and his qualities), and we also have Archer on the L up and coming with Bronson Balsilie being a UB.

Bennie Gauvin (25yo P)
- with Cairns 2 years older and a 400 OR gap I don't think it's necessary to bring in a new guy. We still have Humphreys as a backup if needed. Plus, I think Spink (21) will be better in the long run

Goalie:
- Graham Neuert (23yo)
Halliday and Hughes are a good duo, but Halli's CL is already 1/6 so he won't improve for long. Had Banks not been traded to a lesser team it would've been him. The next best thing will be Colby Bowen (21yo). It'll take a while.

So, have at it guys, what do you all think? Anyone else to nominate?

Looks good to me! I don’t have any other players to nominate.

If any one of you guys wants to be senior manager and make me assistant, I can take management of the team back

Whelp! I have sent a mail to that slovakian manager who applied to be senior NT manager 2 days ago and have yet to hear back. :/ There's a lot of grunt work to screw up here, dangit!