Seattle Battle Cats - NHL18 32nd Expansion Team Franchise

[SeattleBattleCat]

Seattle Battle Cats Season 2021/22
End of March Report


Overall Record 51-20-5
March Record 8-4-2

League Standings - The Race for the Playoffs

Spoiler

Highest Points - Cam Atkinson 70
Highest Goals - Cam Atkinson 34
Highest Assists - Roman Josi 46

Player Stats

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Goalie Stats

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Wrap up:
76 games down with 6 to go and again the Battle Cats are off to the playoffs. Dallas have easily clinched the division title and the Cats hold a 3 point buffer over the Wild. It is astounding the level of competition in the Central. It is not outside the realms of possibility that if a bad run in the last 6 occurs, the Cats could finish as low as a Wild Card Entry.
Nolan Patrick continues a solid run, amassing another 10points in 14 games this month. The young power forward now sits on 40 points (19G,21A) from 69 games - much happier now he is producing.
This month has seen Logan Brown, Samuel Bucek, Nick Suzuki and Nikita Scherbak all play briefly on the 1st line with Patrick & Atkinson. Currently Scherbak appears to be the best fit for that line.

Injuries
Andrew Shaw - Injured March 8th - Groin Injury - Missed 3 games
Steven Crane - Injured 14th March - Mild Concussion - Missed 4 games
Have been relatively lucky with regards to injuries this year. Hopefully that stays the case in and during the playoffs and we can advance further than in the previous 3 seasons.

An AHL Update will follow in the April Report.




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[johnstone1987]

"Battle Cats" is a badass name. I tip my hat to you sir.

I haven't played NHL 18 yet but can you only have 1 Expansion for 32 teams?

[SeattleBattleCat]

Quote: Originally Posted by johnstone1987

"Battle Cats" is a badass name. I tip my hat to you sir. I haven't played NHL 18 yet but can you only have 1 Expansion for 32 teams?

Thanks man, I'm glad someone else likes the name, hope you're enjoying the read.

Yeh you can only have 1 expansion team that is completely created from scratch (a 32nd fictional team), however you can relocate other real teams during the franchise set up and give them new names, redesigned jersey's etc.
I'm not quite sure how it's done but there is a few examples in the "How's your Franchise mode going" thread in the Hockey forum of this site.


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[johnstone1987]

Awesome thx!

[ejf0255]

I just got fired after season one of my Halifax Highlanders. I didn't think that was possible. Went and signed with Buffalo for the next three years. LoL

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[SeattleBattleCat]

Quote: Originally Posted by ejf0255

I just got fired after season one of my Halifax Highlanders. I didn't think that was possible. Went and signed with Buffalo for the next three years. LoL Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

Ouch that's tough man. Hope the stint with Buffalo goes better for you.


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[SeattleBattleCat]

(AHL) Burnaby Aces Season 2021/22
End of Regular Season Report

Overall Record 52-23-7 (2nd North Div)

Division Standings

Spoiler

Leading Points - Niklas Hansson - 105 (1st in AHL)
Leading Goals - Teemu Pulkkinen & Jussi Kultanen - 33
Leading Assists - Niklas Hansson - 95 (1st in AHL)

Player Stats

Spoiler

Wrap up:
A good year for the Burnaby Aces & an incredible year for Niklas Hansson!

Niklas Hanson:

Since picking Hansson up midway through last season as a free agent, he has proved his worth far beyond any expectation prior to signing.
Prior to the end of March this season, Hansson signed a 1 yr 1 way contract to the Cats worth$ 1.1M. With the performance shown here at the Aces, the Cats have decided to put faith in him & he will get a berth in the NHL next year (even though he won't produce as much he has definitely earned a spot).

Rookies:
There is some young talent coming through the Aces currently, however most are possibly a little off from making the NHL in the near future.
Strong performances were put in all year by young guns Hans Koch (Low Elite C), Lucas Helm (Med Top6F LW), Jussi Kultanen (Med Top9F RW), Vladimir Tikhonov (Med Top9F LW) & Ryan Merkley (Med Top6D - played 6 NHL games). Looking forward to these players becoming a big part of the Cats and Aces in years to come.

The Playoffs

The Aces will take on Toronto in the 1st round, best of 5 playoff series. It is with big hope they can make it into the Calder Cup final as they did in 2019/20.



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[SeattleBattleCat]

Seattle Battle Cats Season 2021/22
End Of April / Regular Season Report

Final Overall Record - 56-21-5 (2nd in Central & NHL behind Dallas)
April Record - 5-1-0

League Final Standings:

Spoiler

Highest Point Scorer - Cam Atkinson 73
Most Goals - Cam Atkinson & Andre Burakovsky 35
Most Assists - Roman Josi 49

Overall Player Stats

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Goalies

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Season Wrap up:
The Battle Cats have had a franchise best record with 56 wins for the season which the team should be proud of. Such a good record yet however still trumped by the Dallas Stars, who went 59-20-3 which is very impressive.
The Cats will now face the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the playoffs. If they are able to progress from there they will have to then take on Dallas or Winnipeg. All 3 of these teams have eliminated the Cats over the past 3 years hence the apprehension to think any further past the Conference finals currently. Hopefully our Cats can do it this year.
Consistent Forward Production:
Although the Cats didn't have any outstanding point scorers this season, there was plenty of depth on offer when certain players were on cold streaks.
Nolan Patrick who really frustrated management and coaching midway through the season with what was nearly a 20 game scoreless streak finished with 44 points (21G,23A). Decisions will be made during the offseason season as to whether the Cats are happy to persever with the young Power Forward or whether it is time to move in a different direction & make trade.
The pleasant surprise for the season has been the performance from centre Nick Suzuki with 62 points from 82 games in his 2nd season.
Martin Hanzal and James Van Riemsdyk both had the quietest seasons in their time with the Cats however they remain a solid support wall for the younger forwards who lean on their experience. On the right wing, both Cam Atkinson and Andre Burakovsky lead the team with 35 goals apiece, let's hope the team can rely on open scoring from these 2 in the playoffs.

Solid Defence:
Pairing Roman Josi (91ovr Exact Elite 2way D) and Steven Crane (89ovr Med Elite OFD) together this season has certainly paid off with high production and great defence from both players. The addition of Mathew Dumba from free agency has been a master stroke and he has performed extremely well under the pressure of extra ice time when Crane missed games under multiple injuries.

Goalies:
A huge year from Joonas Korpisalo (89 Med Elite) notching 7 shutouts for the season. What was frustrating to watch during the many simulated games was how many times he gave up the 1st goal of the game on the very first shot of the game! It seemed all too common an occurrence.
Though perhaps the biggest regret was not playing Malcolm Subban (84 Med Starter) enough throughout the season, he is great as back up and really should be a frontline goalie playing 40-50 games himself.


Injuries
Alexander Burmistrov - injured Knee 10th April (last game of regular season) - returning 17th (game 3 of playoffs)

Failed Secondary Owner Goal:

The owner of the Battle Cats isn't impressed even though we have had a franchise record year. I guess as long as we fulfill his primary goal of winning the cup this year my job might be safe?

The Playoff Picture:
The Cats will take on the Minnesota Wild in Round 1 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs Series. Seattle has the home ice advantage in games 1&2.


Projected Lines - Game 1 vs Minnesota in Seattle.
Tyler Bertuzzi comes into the side replacing Burmistrov who will miss at least games 1&2.

Spoiler

Not getting too excited just yet in the playoffs, the last 3 seasons have been lessons in being humble haha.



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