World's Cup lore you've missed

[qripll 502]

    Team World 

By the S94, it's been 24 seasons since Team World has won World Cup gold medals. Newly hired World Cup commissioner Rory was under the pressure as hockey community asked for drill, intrigue and emotions! Team World was incredibly successful in S60 - S70 span: 2 gold medals, 3 silver medals and one bronze medal. 6 straight semifinals. Always on the podium. But dark times have come. Since S72 they have made the finals once but lost it. And won bronze medals in S80. And we can't say Team World was just unlucky due to weak generation. Reylynn Reinhart, Asher Reinhart and Zeedayno Chara were VHL super stars but couldn't succeed with the team. And then Team World disappeared from contender list. Season 94 almost ended , international tournaments were about to start. 

 

     Glorious General Manager 

qripll started his international GM career with Team Europe in S88. It is safe to say that it was a great team to start your path with. They won the WJC back-to-back in S85 and S86 and lost the finals in S87. Despite qripll had a great group of young and promising players, fans expectations were high because they wanted to step on the first place again and take the crown. He made his best to get the chemistry on high level. And built the system around key players. Hard pressure along the rink, high tempo, forecheck and full focus on attack. qripll won gold medals and was hired GM next season to repeat the success. He won back-to-back World Junior Championship (S88, S89). After that, he started looking for a new challenge. 

  S94 GM selections

One week before first games Rory announced International General Managers. 
Canada - Dadam30
USA - Spartan
Western Europe - LucyXpher
Eastern Europe - FrostBeard
Nordic - doomsday
World - qripll

It wouldn't be exaggeration to say that qripll was in a tough spot. Team World were not considered contenders. And he had to handle with more experienced and skilled GMs. However, qripll made the roster that ideally fits his strategic and started working with it. Group stage results weren't that bad as critics expected. However, hockey fans all over the globe could see the definition and rise of qripll's hockey. In Round Robin , Team World faced the best team of the group — Team USA — and absolutely demolished them. USA goalie had to face 42 shots in the first periods! Team World players were incredibly fast and basically better at everything. That was the main reason why World had 14 power plays. Everyone knew - Team World was getting better with every game and by the finals they would be unstoppable. The question was — who could stop them? qripll and company finished 3rd in the group with 5 - 3 - 2 stats. They were going to face Team Eastern Europe in the quarter-finals. 

Long texts ahead. Yaroslav Trunov almost buried Team World dreams. Russian forward did his best to help his team and scored a hat trick. Unfortunately, it was not enough to beat Team World. 5-3. 

In the semifinals, Team Nordic was waiting for his opponent. They finished Round Robin 2nd with the best goals difference. However, Lachlan Summers had his own plans on this matchup. Team Nordic overplayed and Team World with 50 shotson goal. As a result, tremendous goalie performance from Captain Lachlan made the whole crown speechless. He ended the game with .98 SV% and only Jarmo Ruutu could score in the 3rd period. But it was too late. 4-1. 

 

The finals

 

In the finals qripll had to fight with one of the best VHL general manager who was in the lead of Team USA — Spartan. New school vs old school. Fans were thrilled and hyped. For the first time in many years, Team World were so close to the World Cup. 

The game was chaotic and impressively active. Both teams put a lot of efforts in the offensive zones and USA scored first, but 8 minutes later Assistant Captain Grimgor Ironhide scored his 2nd goal in the playoffs.

In the second period, USA took the lead after Rip Wheeler's goal and fans all over the world were wondering "Will qripll find right words in the locker room?", "what will he do to tie the game?". 

At 2:12 Axle Gunner scored beautiful one timer with the pass from Thor Reingaard. 2-2. Best players on the world were fighting for their names on the cup. Team World were extremely energised, but couldn't convert their efforts into a cup winning goal. One second before the whistle, Grimgor Ironhide had a shot attempt. Fans stood up but Olober Syko stopped the luck with a rebound. Regulars finished 2-2. Team World led in shots but it was just a result of their active and aggressive style. "It's coming globe!" The crowd's chanting. 

To be honest, USA deserved to win overtime. Due to high activity, Team World players were exhausted and it was not a good sign. USA finally took the advantage and started playing more aggressive in offensive zone and especially in front of the net. 12 shots against 5 ones from World in overtime. 

At 12:40 Walter Fitzroy Jr, the player who was in a shadow of his teammates, moved puck in Team USA zone and shot. The puck was stopped by Olober Syko but it was retrieved by Phillip Rave for Team World. Another shot by Phillip Rave. Deflect By Severus Targaryen. 

Severus Targaryen scores his the most significant goal. It's the moment, when fans all over the world came on the streets and celebrated the victory. 

Walter Fitzroy Jr, who had the least points along Team World roster started the attack that brought the team gold medals. qripll were confident about every player he invited and players were confident about his game style. They were not afraid of losing. 

After 24 seasons draught, Team World is World Cup Champions. 

This lore is not only about my success as a general manager. It is also about history I've made with this group of people. 

@rory, @kirbithan,  @hylands , @Zetterberg, @Baozi, @Steve, @Moon, @N0HBDY, @Banackock, @Velevra, @FrostBeard, @tcookie.

And as I caught a chance , I would love to thank everyone who is related to this unbelievable run. Everyone had a huge impact on the team and I wish everyone to feel the same emotions!

And yes, so far I have had a 100% win rate on international tournaments. Would love to see whether anyone reached the same results as a GM with minimum 3 tournaments played. 
WJC S88 -   
WJC S89 -  
WC S94 -  

Edited November 10 by qripll

[qripll 502]

1000+ words. 

1/2 claim for 11/17 week ending 

Edited November 10 by qripll