The Miami Miracle: Replaying The Marauders S74 Cup Victory

[NSG 495]

Well, I like uncapped TPE, so today Imma talk about the Season 74 Founder's Cup! Sure, it's a VHLM Final from 10+ seasons ago, however, it was the first championship I'd ever won in a sim league, and it'd be a long while before I'd win another one, so let's go!

 

Miami was definitely not expected to go anywhere in the playoffs. They had just 2 players close to 70 points, and worse, they were both defenders. Additionally, they'd been outscored by nearly a goal a game that season, on their way to making the playoffs at 32-38-2, just 3 points ahead of the Reapers. Plus, their first opponent, Halifax had just finished up an amazing 64-7-1 season, but Miami shockingly took the first game. 

 

Halifax roared back to take the next 2, but Miami managed another win before Halifax took a 3-2 lead. In Game 6, it looked like the Marauders were on their way out after falling behind 2-1 in the 1st, but with time in the 2nd period ticking down, Sheldon Juniper snuck in a goal to tie it at 2, and after nobody scored in the 3rd, the teams went to overtime, and 9:55 into the OT period, Cabe McJake knocked the puck in to force a Game 7, which was even more fun. Miami took a 3-2 lead in the first period, and after Halifax tied it in the 2nd, Miami stormed back for 2 more goals before Halifax answered with one of their owned, sending Miami into the break up 5-4, on the verge of a monumental upset. Could a 66 point team not only take a 129-point squad to a best of 7 series, but also win? Halifax didn't like that idea, so they scored 7 minutes in to tie it up, but on their 10th power play attempt, Miami scored their 4th power play goal with 2:56 remaining to seal the deal. A random 4th line right winger named Henry Tucker won a faceoff in 9 minutes of ice time. One day he'd be a key piece in 3 VHL Championships, but for now he was an overwhelmed 60-ish TPE rookie.

 

Next up was Western Conference winner Las Vegas, who had 109 points on the season. Miami took the first 3, but the Aces came right back with 3 of their own to set up another Game 7. With the score 3-2 Miami heading into the 3rd period, Las Vegas stressed out Marauders faithful some more by tying it up 9 minutes in. Then, however, the clutch genes came out again, and with 1:37 to go, Juniper scored the go-ahead goal, and Theodore Hoffman got an empty net goal a minute later to finish it off. That Henry Tucker dude got a hit in 7:17 on the ice, and that was it.

 

Last up was the finals, and even though Miami had just beaten the 2 best teams in the league, they were still the worst playoff team. Mississauga was the 3rd best team in the league, with 107 points, so the outgunned Marauders truly had to run the gauntlet to win the Founder's Cup. In Game 1, Miami scored 5 of the first 6 goals to seal the deal, all in just over 1.5 periods. In Game 2, the Marauders had very balanced scoring, with 1 goal per period, and thanks to Rasputin's efforts in the net, the underdogs won 3-1 to take a 2-0 series lead. Game 3 was much more stressful, as a late-ish 3rd period goal by the Hounds forced overtime, but Miami had seen this before, and scored just 5 minutes in to give themselves an opportunity to clinch their first series at home, and thanks to a hat trick by Addison McLaren, they did! This random guy I keep talking about, Henry Tucker, he took a shot and spent a couple minutes in a penalty box. Why the hell do I keep bringing him up?

 

This was my first season in the league, and I happened to land on a team that created magic that year. Looking back, I don't think I've ever seen such a magical season in any sim league I've been, and I'll likely never see something so amazing again. And, ya know, it reminds me of a Taylor Swift song called "Long Live." I'll end the article with a snippet of the lyrics, chew on them.

 

When they gave us our trophies

And we held them up for our town

And the cynics were outraged

Screaming this is absurd

'Cause for a moment, a band of thieves in ripped up jeans

Got to rule the world

 

Long live the walls we crashed through

How the kingdom lights shined just for me and you

I was screaming long live all the magic we made

And bring on all the pretenders, I'm not afraid

Long live all the mountains we moved

I had the time of my life fighting dragons with you

I was screaming long live that look on your face

And bring on all the pretenders

One day, we will be remembered

 

738 words minus the lyrics

 

Only gonna ping @Ricer13 cuz he was my VHLM GM way back when

[Ricer13 2,598]

That was such an incredible run. “The Waiver Warriors” earned so much so fast and we hit our stride right as we got to the playoffs. That was a magical run and one of the most historic. 
 

We had a ton of fun that season.

[Victor 10,563]

RARA