A Season in Review: Chicago Phoenix

[badcolethetitan 801]

A Season in Review: Chicago Phoenix

 

 

Expectations coming into the season

 

Coming into the S93 season, expectations were set high. The team was hungry for playoff hockey and the expectations were in some way or another, to reach the post-season. It didn't matter if we were 1st or 5th, just somehow get in and play meaningful hockey. Now, keep in mind, this was at the beginning of the season before a bunch of teams decided to buy. Realistically, I thought we would end up being around 7th in the conference, better than LA, but battling with VAN/SEA for the last spot. However, that's obviously not what happened. The expectation was the post-season, and we ended up making it, even though NA was not the best this season. A 29-33-10 record nets us a playoff appearance, despite not even securing 30 wins on the year. Calgary was able to pick up 31, but us heading to overtime multiple times, securing extra points was the difference maker. On top of that, Chicago ended up going 4-1-0 against Calgary this season, which is a big reason why we made it in, including a 5-1 win against Calgary on the last day. In all seriousness, we got lucky. We should've never made it over a Calgary team that on paper, is way better than our team, but we did, and we're here. Chicago has always found a way to play better than what they are on paper, which is good when you're trying to compete, but not the best when you're rebuilding.

 

Where we're at now

 

Well, we're here. We're in the post-season and it's time to create some chaos. Am I expecting us to win the cup? No, I'm realistic. I wanted to make the playoffs as a stretch, and it happened. Our goal is to try to make things unconventional. We want to make noise and make things difficult for the New York Americans. Do I think we will win? Possibly. We went 2-4-1 during the regular season against NYA, so we can beat them, but that only puts us at a ~28% chance to win the series. We could potentially roll the 28%, but I just want to make life difficult for them. Make them earn the victory. I truly believe we're finally turning a chapter for Chicago and this off-season is going to be the busiest off-season under my tenure in Chicago. Last season was supposed to be busy, but with deals falling through, it just didn't happen. Now with a chance to compete in the post-season, and our young core starting to develop, it can hopefully attract more players to the city. First though, we've got NYA and we'll do our best to take them down!

 

What's the plan for the future?

 

For the future, we'll be looking to compete for a while. I think with our core starting to develop, we're only going to be getting better. We've got pieces in place to the point where we can start supplementing those pieces and picking up some other stars to help aid the core. I'm excited moving forward and I think we can finally start making noise, starting next season.