A Dream Made Reality: A Halifax Aces Expansion Dynasty

[Edmontonoilersfan70]

A Dream Made Reality: A Halifax Aces Dynasty!

Platform: Playstation3
Game: NHL14
Sliders: Al Tito's Sliders

Rules

1. All games throughout the season will be played manually.
2. All trades must be realistic.
3. A maximum of four first round picks and/or three second round picks can be attained per year for each draft.
4. I must have at least three picks in the top three rounds of each draft.
5. Rival teams cannot be traded with.
6. Injuries will be on throughout the year.
7. GM Firing will be off.
8. Only three waiver pickups are allowed per season.
9. Trade difficulty will be on hard.
10. I am using my own custom rosters, where many prospects and NHL players will have their potential and ratings altered. A few players have been created, such as Draft Eligible players like Thatcher Demko, Noah Hanifin, and Jack Eichel. Top prospects Andrei Vasilevski, Mark Jankowski, and Mike Matheson have also been created for their respective teams. Many draft eligible prospects have been edited to be more NHL Ready and to try to mirror the real life drafts as realistically as possible.

[Edmontonoilersfan70]

Buffalo Sabres Relocated to Canada, Fantasy Draft Announced!

Billionaire Ron Joyce has decided to purchase the Buffalo Sabres and relocate them to Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Bettman Stuns Hockey World in Press Conference

Halifax, Nova Scotia- Today, just one month after the 2013 National Hockey League Entry Draft, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made an announcement that shocked the hockey world. In a press conference earlier today, Bettman announced that Ron Joyce, billionaire and co-founder of Tim Hortons, had purchased the Buffalo Sabres.

The Sabres are to be moved to Halifax, Nova Scotia, where the team will be renamed the Halifax Aces. The National Hockey League approved of the move, as many Buffalo fans were discontent with the way the team was heading and the National Hockey League was losing money. Ron Joyce, who grew up in Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, has hired little known Christian Klapak to be the General Manager for his team and to handle all hockey operations, including the hiring of their first ever coach.

Klapak's job doesn't just involve hiring the franchise's first coach, however. Gary Bettman also made an announcement that stunned hockey fans everywhere, as it was determined by the National Hockey League that a Fantasy Draft will be issued for the league. Each team will be given a random spot in the draft, which will be run similar to a National Hockey League Entry Draft, although the order of the draft will be flipped every round to ensure fair drafting to each National Hockey League team.

The Fantasy Draft is to occur on August 1st 2013, and, unlike previous expansion drafts, no player can be protected. The Fantasy Draft will include every single player and prospect of each National Hockey League team. Bettman also announced that Halifax will not be participating in the National Hockey League 2013-2014 Regular Season, as they are a new franchise that is just getting its feet wet. Their first round draft selection at the 2014 Entry Draft will be randomly selected by a lottery system, yet the Halifax Aces will be participating in the first ever National Hockey League Fantasy Draft.

The Aces will also be allowed to trade any players away over the course of the season to any team they wish, and they are expected to begin their franchise at the beginning of the 2014-2015 Regular Season.

[Courtroom]

already love this thread, im from nova scotia lol so gonna be following close

[Edmontonoilersfan70]

Thanks for following! I've been out there two or three times (I'm from Ontario) and it's absolutely beautiful. Hope you don't judge some of my moves too hard

[bthomp05]

Great setup, will be following.

[Edmontonoilersfan70]

Thanks bthomp! Hopefully the draft update will be posted later today!

[bthomp05]

Quote: Originally Posted by Edmontonoilersfan70

Thanks bthomp! Hopefully the draft update will be posted later today!

Can't wait.

[Edmontonoilersfan70]

Halifax Wins Draft Lottery, Select Crosby!

The Halifax Aces selected hometown boy Sidney Crosby with the first overall pick in the National Hockey League fantasy draft.

Crosby and Mackinnon Highlight Halifax's Epic Fantasy Draft

Halifax, Nova Scotia- The Halifax Aces managed to win the National Hockey League fantasy draft lottery and made a slam-dunk pick, selecting Halifax native Sidney Crosby first overall. Crosby isn't the only player the Halifax Aces took that is familiar with Nova Scotia, as General Manager Klapak opted to take many players familiar the eastern province including Nathan Mackinnon, Jonathan Drouin and Zachary Fucale. Owner Ron Joyce and General Manager Christian Klapak are quite impressed with the QMJHL's Halifax Mooseheads feeder system, and look highly upon the hometown prospects it has produced such as Mackinnon.

The Halifax Aces selected Centre Sidney Crosby with the first overall pick to no ones surprise, as it seems to be a perfect fit; Crosby is from Halifax, and now the Aces have the superstar they need to get their legs under them and to attract crowds. Halifax General Manager Christian Klapak then decided to target many young NHL players and prospects with his remaining 31 picks. In the second round Klapak selected yet another Halifax native, Nathan Mackinnon. Klapak then wasted no time selecting American shootout sensation T.J. Oshie in the third round of the fantasy draft. The Aces then chose to target defensemen, selecting Michael Del Zotto in the fourth round, Matt Niskanen in the fifth round, and Nick Leddy in the sixth round. Halifax then opted to take high ceiling prospect Jonathan Drouin with its seventh round pick, which many experts are considering an absolute steal at the round in the draft. For the rest of the Halifax Aces fantasy draft picks see the list below.

Many teams around the National Hockey League impressed at the fantasy draft today, including the new expansion team the Halifax Aces. While the Aces targeted many young prospects around the league, many other teams decided to take a different drafting scheme and new route to their franchise. Each team’s top player and prospect will be mentioned below.

The Anaheim Ducks drafted the cornerstone of their franchise in star goaltender Pekka Rinne and also snapped up top prospect Zack Kassian while the Boston Bruins opted to take their old captain and mammoth sized defensemen Zdeno Chara. The Bruins’ top selected in the draft was defensemen Justin Faulk. the Calgary Flames turned their franchise around by selecting John Tavares and bringing in top prospect Adam Larsson. The Carolina Hurricanes managed to grab American sniper Patrick Kane and also were able to select right wing prospect Nicklas Jensen. The Chicago Blackhawks targeted Tuukka Rask in the first round of the fantasy draft and waiter later to draft their top prospect Mark Jankowski. Nicklas Backstrom as well as young defensemen Derrick Pouliot were drafted by the Colorado Avalanche while the Columbus Blue Jackets managed to stake out Claude Giroux and Mikael Granlund. The Dallas Stars wasted no time selecting Alex Pietrangelo and bringing in power forward prospect Carter Ashton. The Detroit Red Wins found a suitable replacement for Pavel Datsyuk by bringing in Jonathan Toews, and also managed to steal playmaker Evgeny Kuznetsov in the later rounds. Edmonton managed to go from rebuilding to contender as they were lucky enough to pick up Evgeni Malkin and top prospect Nikita Kucherov. Florida is once again a sunshine state, as they managed to pick up all-star defensemen Drew Doughty and goaltending prospect Philipp Grubauer. The Los Angeles Kings totally rebuilt their team by selecting young forward Jamie Benn and a top defensive prospect in Darnell Nurse. The Minnesota Wild made the Montreal Canadiens their long-time rival when they selected goaltender Carey Price just one pick before theirs. The Wild also selected power forward Chris Kreider much to the New York Ranger’s dismay. The Montreal Canadiens, with Carey Price off the board, opted to select their star defensemen P.K. Subban much to the pleasure of their fans. Montreal also may have replaced the void Carey Price left by adding the best goaltending prospect in hockey, John Gibson. The Nashville Predators look to continue to be a well defensive team as they selected Erik Karlsson in the first round of the entry draft and also managed to grab a cornerstone prospect in Alex Galchenyuk. The New Jersey Devils effectively replaced Martin Brodeur’s legacy by adding Jonathan Quick in net while they also picked up Andrey Pedan as their top prospect. The New York Islanders were lucky enough to snag up Steven Stamkos with the fourth overall selection in the fantasy draft while they also bolstered their defense in the future by grabbing Samuel Morin. The New York Rangers proved themselves as no slouch either in the draft by selecting centre Matt Duchene and top prospect Oscar Dansk, who they figure will eventually be able to replace King Henrik. The Ottawa Senators lessened the blow of losing Karlsson by adding a top two defensemen in Duncan Keith, as well as selecting centre prospect J.T. Miller. The Philadelphia Flyers grabbed much heralded Anze Kopitar, while also managing to take American prospect Mike Matheson. The National Hockey League may have pulled some strings for the Arizona Coyotes as they were able to select both Corey Perry and Jonathan Huberdeau in what is likely to be a deadly line for the future. While the Pittsburgh Penguins watched the Halifax Aces select Sidney Crosby first overall, they were able to grab their own superstar in Pavel Datsyuk for a steal at twelfth overall. The Penguins also selected their top prospect in defensemen Jacob Trouba. The San Jose Sharks look to continue their rebuild plans as they started fresh by selecting left wing sniper Taylor Hall and a great young gun in Brayden Schenn. The St. Louis Blues also managed to continue to be an excellent defensive team when they picked Shea Weber and young goaltender Robin Lehner. Dark times may be ahead in Tampa Bay as they walked away with Max Pacioretty as their top player from the fantasy draft. The Bolts did manage to select centre Sean Couturier, however. The Toronto Maple Leafs made headlines when they selected defensemen Ryan Suter in the first round and when they took a chance on Russian Nail Yakupov. The Vancouver Canucks stuck to their plan to get a lot younger by walking away from the draft with defensemen Ryan Mcdonagh and Olli Maata. Washington’s fans were cheering in the streets when they selected Alex Ovechkin third overall and had yet another reason to cheer when they selected what could be a franchise defensemen in Seth Jones. Winnipeg also faired quite well as they managed to select a deadly one-two punch in Ryan Getzlaf and young forward Nazem Kadri. Many believe that the Aces may have had the worst fantasy draft, as they have a cupboard full of prospects but very little seasoned National Hockey League players. Will this young team play its rookies and falter? Or will they make moves in free agency to bring in veteran talent to eventually be able to teach the young guns in the 2014-2015 season?

NHL Fantasy Draft - Halifax Aces Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	Ht	Wt
1st Round	Halifax Aces	Sidney Crosby	C	5' 11"	200 lbs
2nd Round	Halifax Aces	Nathan Mackinnon	C	6' 0"	182 lbs
3rd Round	Halifax Aces	T.J. Oshie	RW	5' 11"	189 lbs
4th Round	Halifax Aces	Michael Del Zotto	D	6' 0"	195 lbs
5th Round	Halifax Aces	Matt Niskanen	D	6' 0"	204 lbs
6th Round	Halifax Aces	Nick Leddy	D	5' 11"	180 lbs
7th Round	Halifax Aces	Jonathan Drouin	C	5' 11"	195 lbs
8th Round	Halifax Aces	Dougie Hamilton	D	6' 5"	212 lbs
9th Round	Halifax Aces	Beau Bennett	LW	6' 2"	195 lbs
10th Round	Halifax Aces	Jaromir Jagr	RW	6' 3"	230 lbs
11th Round	Halifax Aces	Ryan Ellis	D	5' 10"	175 lbs
12th Round	Halifax Aces	Peter Mrazek	G	6' 1"	184 lbs
13th Round	Halifax Aces	Devante Smith-Pelley	RW	6' 0"	222 lbs
14th Round	Halifax Aces	Kerby Rychel	LW	6' 1"	205 lbs
15th Round	Halifax Aces	Anthony Mantha	LW	6'5"	204 lbs
16th Round	Halifax Aces	Sami Vatanen	D	5' 10"	183 lbs
17th Round	Halifax Aces	Daniel Alfredsson	RW	5' 11"	205 lbs
18th Round	Halifax Aces	Curtis Lazar	C	6' 0"	190 lbs
19th Round	Halifax Aces	Zachary Fucale	G	6' 1"	176 lbs
20th Round	Halifax Aces	Dmitrij Jaskin	RW	6' 2"	196 lbs
21st Round	Halifax Aces	Mathew Dumba	D	6' 0"	183 lbs
22nd Round	Halifax Aces	Mark Visentin	G	6' 2"	192 lbs
23rd Round	Halifax Aces	Oliver Bjorkstrand	RW	6' 0"	169 lbs
24th Round	Halifax Aces	Damon Severson	D	6' 2"	210 lbs
25th Round	Halifax Aces	Radek Faksa	C	6' 3"	210 lbs
26th Round	Halifax Aces	Calle Jarnkrok	C	6' 0"	176 lbs
27th Round	Halifax Aces	Chris Bigras	D	6' 1"	186 lbs
28th Round	Halifax Aces	Jordan Subban	D	5'9"	175 lbs
29th Round	Halifax Aces	Hal Gill	D	6' 7"	250 lbs
30th Round	Halifax Aces	Gregory Campbell	C	6'0"	197 lbs

31st Round: Jeff Halpern (6’ 0” 198 lbs)
32nd Round: Mattias Tedenby (5’ 10” 175 lbs)