The Bears Rebuild, Part 2

[HenrikZoiderberg 469]

The Successful Rebuild of the Seattle Bears

 

 

With a quarter of the season under their belts, the Seattle Bears currently lead the league in Points, Wins, and Goal Differential, and are poised to be a cup contender once the playoffs arrive. How, after finishing as a lottery team last year, did @Banackock manage to put together a team with this much potential, without making any significant moves between S67 and S68? The secret was in a hard rebuild, and a heavily scouted draft in S67.

 

 

It was shortly after S66. Key Arena was undergoing major renovations to increase its seating capacity. The Bears had already begun selling off a large number of major assets, and Bana knew it was time to strike. A major draft class was up and coming, including slam dunks like 1OA pick Lincon Tate @Tate, 12OA ACL Tear @Quik, and major up and comer 8OA Michael Gary  Scott @Motzaburger. The draft had never looked deeper, and Bana knew it was time to strike. After scouting out the hardest working and most personal skaters, he executed a series of trades, gutting his team in return for eight of what would become twenty of the top players from the  S67 draft year. These eight players would become the new core that the Bears were built around, each posessing a unique set of traits that would lead the team to success.

 

Rayz Funk @Rayzor_7

Position: Goalie

Moniker: Funky Monkey, Ol' Reliable, Champ, The Mountain, Funker

 

 

The second overall pick of the S67 draft, Funk has proven that maybe, just maybe, he should've been taken earlier. After a breakout rookie season where he was named rookie of the year, Funk has carried his momentum into S68 and is showing no signs of slowing down. Despite his diminutive frame, Funk has started the season with an astonishing 12-5-0 record and boasts an 0.922 save percentage. To put this into perspective, this would've been good for 2nd best goalie in terms of save percentage and win rate in the entire S67 season, as a sophomore.  And that number 1 spot had a full veteran team ahead of him. What's the kicker? Funk is only going to get better. As he plays more games in the VHL and the team in front of him matures, its entirely possible we'll see a season where the Bears' #1 goaltender breaks the 2.0 GAA plateau. Let's see Lincon Tate pull that off.

 

Hulk Hogan @HulkHogan

Position: Defense

Moniker: Brother, Brother Brother, Hulkster, Hoger

 

 

Averaging just over one shot per game in his career, the fifth overall Hulkster cares about one thing and one thing only - clobbering fools who get in his way. In his moment of glory, anyone who crosses Hogan will be living in a nightmare and soon be creamed. No one does it better than Hulk Hogan, especially on his skates. On balance, off balance doesn't matter. He's better than you are, yeah, and he's talking to everyone in the Victory Hockey League. He's even talking about the league commissioner, yeah. He's on his way and nothing is going to stop him. Nothing is going to stop him. Even when the cards are stacked against him int he playoffs he'll say it yeah there's no doubt about it he's the cream of the crop!

 

Acyd Burn @Acydburn

Position: Left Wing

Moniker: Captiain, Cap, Trogdor, Burninator, Burner

 

 

The eponymous captain and first line Left Wing of the Bears, Acyd put up an intimidating 22-32-54 ins his rookie season, and is on pace to do more with his second-year seniority. The seventh overall pick in the S67 draft has performed as advertized, and is known for his scorching style of play. He could very well be the first member of this core to hit the thirty goal plateau, but if the trend continues as it has, it doesn't seem like he'll be the last. Look for continued leadership and scoring as Acyd develops into one of the marquis first-liners in the league, and the Bears to continue to top the ranking for years to come. Burn could be the keystone to a dynasty team.

 

Scott Greene @DoktorFunk

Position: Center

Moniker: Jolly Greene Giant, Greene Day, Scotty2Hotty, Greener

 

 

Just look at that filthy lettuce.

 

Henrik Zoiderberg @HenrikZoiderberg

Position: Left Wing

Moniker: The Cretin from Sweden, Zoids, Zoider

 

 

Last season was a wakeup call for Zoiderberg. Despite the fifteenth overall pick dominating the WJC tournament, he missed the player of the tournament award by a hair, then proceeded to fail to meet his points goal of 40 on the season. This year, Zoids is back with a vengeance. After an offseason of heavy training, he arrived at camp bigger, stronger, and meaner. The result of this training has been an on-ice increase of 0.458 PPG in S67 to 0.739 in S68 while maintaining his proven defensive prowess. Given the short sample size, this would still lead to over a quarter point per game's difference across a full season and make Henrik a potential front-runner for most improved player in his sophomore season.  Expect to see 60 points or more from the Bears' second-line winger.

 

Ambrose Stark @Banackock

Position: Defense

Moniker: Amber, Mister Stark, Starker

 

Few knew where the undrafted Stark came from, he seemed to be a gem of the VHLM's development pool, but GM's seemed unwilling to take a chance on the undersized defenseman. Despite not being among the top eighty-five picks in the S67 draft, Stark has proven time and time again that he can make goalies say, "I don't feel so good".

 

Kevin Low @Smarch

Position: Defense

Moniker: Lowball, K-dawg, Lower

 

 

The defensive half of Seattle's top pairing, Low has shown that he can put up the points while maintaining a neutral goal differential. As Low has somehow managed to increase both his offensive output along with improving his defensive game, he's continued to show far more value than his low 31OA would leave a scout to believe. As time goes on, the Lowballer may prove to be Bana's crown jewel of drafting prowess. 

 

Berocka Sundgvist @berocka

Position: Left Wing

Moniker: Bear, Bearo, Bearcock, Sunker

 

 

Known among foes as The Thunder from Down Under, the Bears pentalty minutes leader has shown that despite being a seventeenth overall pick, he's not afraid of getting his silky mitts dirty. 

 

Stay tuned for Part 3!

 

1058 Words

TPE for weeks ending September 29 & October 6

[Smarch 3,196]

I got a view of the construction of the Key Arena this last weekend. It was nuts to see a renovation of a sports arena and how the go about doing it 

[HenrikZoiderberg 469]

9 minutes ago, Smarch said:

I got a view of the construction of the Key Arena this last weekend. It was nuts to see a renovation of a sports arena and how the go about doing it 

 

Didn't they have to keep the ceiling up so they could consider it a renovation instead of a construction project? Seems absolutely nuts. The picture at the top of the article is from the actual renos going on.

[Banackock 8,160]

[Smarch 3,196]

1 hour ago, HenrikZoiderberg said:

 

Didn't they have to keep the ceiling up so they could consider it a renovation instead of a construction project? Seems absolutely nuts. The picture at the top of the article is from the actual renos going on.

Yes everything outside the roof is gone. They have the roof on steel beams now with all the sides gone. It was crazy 

[HenrikZoiderberg 469]

bumping for second week's claim

[ThePerfectNut 563]

Most improved player? You forgot about me buddy. (I miss ya)