Can Seattle do it again?

[AJW 2,200]

The Seattle Bears have secured 2nd place in the NA conference, and still have a chance (a low chance) at taking first place after tonight's sims. We have been a strong team all season after making some big moves in the off-season to free cap space. I really did not know how we would shape up after losing Detroit and Chara, but we have held our own and sit comfortably heading into the playoffs. The big question is though, can Seattle go back to back?

 

In STHS the answer seems to always be maybe. This sim engine can bless you or destroy you whenever it feels like it. I would say the sim engine has been blessing us so far, but it helps to have the talented roster that Seattle has built for S84. Starting with our goaltender, Dusty Wilson. Wilson has been in the system for the Bears for three seasons, drafted at 44th overall in the S82 draft, he has been working his way up to the VHL while struggling to find his way in the minors. He never really had a solid starting position until now and in his rookie season, where he holds a 39-18-5 record with a 0.924 SV%. I would say for a 500 TPE goaltender in his first season, that's pretty damn good. Wilson is now earning 10+ TPE each week and should be Seattle's main guy for a while.

 

For our defence I have to guess we have one of the main cores in the league. Hogan, Steve, Bana, and newly acquired Spyro, all with great builds. Spyro did retire recently at 435 TPA, but the other three defenders can pull his weight for sure. Torq has the least amount of points of the three with 59 in 70 games, amazing for defence. They are great for shot blocking and hitting as well and overall protect our blue line and goaltender to standards.

 

For the forwards now. Like I said earlier I did not know what losing Detroit and Chara would do for us, but apparently we are doing pretty alright without them. Jonathan Ori was picked up this season and seems to be our best playmaker with 56 assists, leading our team. Bushtit was also acquired this season, but is in his earlier stages of his career, so not much has been done except development. The stat I enjoy the most about this team is that we have four forwards with 30+ goals. I am pretty sure there are only four other teams who have done the same. So it is really cool to see that we have a diverse group when it comes to goal scoring.

 

So that is the team but how do we stack up against the league. So we are 2nd in NA and 3rd in the league. We do have a couple losing records this season and unfortunately they are all against top ranked teams:

 

1st. Moscow: 1-3-0
2nd. DC: 1-4-0
4th. Helsinki: 1-3-0
5th. Warsaw: 1-2-1

 

Having losing records against all of the top 5 teams does not bring you confidence I will tell you that! But in the end I have the trust in Bana and the team he has built. We have what we need to win, and playoffs are a whole different story, anything can happen.

[Arce 755]

They certainly could but I am going to kindly ask that they do not, and let someone else have a turn!

[FrostBeard 2,061]

Yes, we can.

[Hogan 1,425]

no