DAMN, DANIEL. BACK AT IT AGAIN.

[Banackock 7,638]

 

It seems like it was just yesterday, or yester-season rather, that the Seattle Bears were playing for their 3rd shot at the Continental Cup. You quickly blink and get that fresh moment of the boys lifting the cup over their head, the locker room going absolutely fucking nuts and we did it again, and the fans shitting their pants as the boys took home number 3. Fast forward a couple of seasons and we find the bad boy Bears once again fighting their way through the playoffs and into the finals for another shot at the Continental Cup glory. Thinking back now, I don't think any other time was this difficult to dance their way into the finals. If I'm remembering correctly, S68 was the season that was went on the massive win streak after the first round 2-2 tie between us and Toronto. That was a super thrilling season for us and really made us feel on top of the world. It was a little bit ahead of schedule for us but going all the way and winning against Malmo in the finals was a good way to start off the dynasty. For whatever reason, the next one is a little more difficult to remember. I want to say it was 69 against Moscow and while people thought they were gonna stick it to the man, the boys returned to defend their title and did absolutely that. My thoughts, unfortunately, are wrong though. Moscow got pooped on by Riga in the previous round. It was Riga who was supposed to be the hero and beat the team everyone loves to hate. Fortunately for Seattle, unfortunately for Riga, Seattle managed to fight hard and tough against an amazing squad and win the cup in 6 games.

 

Reminiscing is a lot of fun. As me move forward looking back to the good old days, we find Seattle back in the finals again during their S71 run and basically the very minor stuff I said about Moscow above could be applied down here. They won the season before yeah? Had the thought of doing what Seattle was doing and while they admitted to not thinking they had the best odds, something in my gut tells me otherwise. I got the feeling that they thought the cup was theirs to lose and the only thing that stood in their way was a "weaker" Seattle Bears team. One, Two, Three, Four and Five. Series was done. Blink, Blink, Blink, Blink. Bears have won their 3rd Continental Cup in their 4th seasons of play - 5th season with the core of guys that GM Blake Campbell said would bring great success to the team. Now you do a little bit of blinking and Seattle is galloping their way to another chance. Wait, what? Bears gallop? When they win this much, maybe. Unlike the other years though, that Calgary series might have taken a lot out of the Bears right before the big show. Or, maybe it gave them the boost they needed to show Helsinki how it's done? For me, the playoffs have been a big test for the Bears this season and for Helsinki and today's sim could be the icing on the cake. Do remember, though, that that's probably what Calgary was thinking when they went up 3-1 to the Bears. 

 

Inside the VHL bubble, we managed to catch up with Bears GM, Blake Campbell, before today's sims to see what his thoughts have been on his success during this self-proclaimed "dynasty", the season so far, the round vs Calgary and what's happening today. HERE WE GO!

 

The "DYNASTY"

When I first drafted all these guys back in 67, we knew something special was at play. We set ourselves up maybe better than any team has in the past and it's really worked out for us. In fact, we have a theory that it worked out so well, that teams like Vancouver are now getting their feet heavily wet in the process with hopes that they can do what Seattle just did. The question is, can the GM pull off what's required to make things happen? Do they have the pieces that they need to make sure everything falls in place? Does the GM have the intelligence to do it? I think the answer would be yes to most or all of these depending on the day, time of year and weather. For these boys in Seattle, we just knew it was going to be good. I reached out to them before the draft to discuss plans and then once we drafted them all, we immediately got them into the locker room, got the ball rolling on teaching them how we wanted them to be taught, and molding them how we wanted them to be. At the same time, we did all this by allowing them to be the players we drafted. They were fierce. They were strong. They were loyal. At the end of the day, there will not be many better champions than this Seattle Bears team. I remember telling them in the first season, maybe it was the start of the 2nd one, that with a little bit of patience the team would be rolling over other teams in the playoffs and we'd be lifting the championship high over our heads. We didn't think we'd have such a short weight but the surprise was extremely nice. For us, we were extremely ahead of schedule but there's nothing wrong with that. We were getting business started early. This team could not wait for greatness. 

 

The fact that we won the amount of championships we did in the amount of seasons we achieved, it was super special. Getting the 3-P and being able to share that with only one other GM would of been pretty special, maybe even more considering we won the next season and could of made it 4? However, after that loss, the boys weren't really down at all. We picked ourselves up quickly, even though there wasn't much picking up to do, and we focused on the season ahead. One great thing this team has been good at is not allowing the shit show to cloud up our crystal clear toilet bowl. We've had a plan, we stick to the plans or we're always trying and usually being a step or two ahead of what's going on. I know lots try to be and lots probably think they are, Seattle truly was. HONK, HONK on the old horn there, buddy. It's true though. 3 cups in 4 seasons was super amazing. I think the first few were a  little better. The first one the LR went absolutely ape shit. I came on to 300 tags, 300 messages and an LR that was absolutely bonkers. It was amazing. The next 2 were just as special but they went from a "We did it" to proving others we could keep doing so. Close in feeling but that first one you never forget. 

 

Who knows how long this dynasty will continue. We've done a great job at keeping the wheels going and the league is looking better and better everyday (unless you're Chicago). The fact that we're back in the finals again, damn, it's an epic feeling. After that 3rd one, I could of had the thought that this could be it. Enjoy it. Teams up there. Shits changing. League is changing. Everything is always changing around you whether its yours or other teams. Bye, bye cap space (thanks blues). Hell 4 new teams. Crazy shit. Bears back in finals tied 1-1 to the Titans... 4th time in the finals in 6 seasons. Back in the day that was cool. The fact Seattle is doing that now, and even doing it after a big expansion and having 15 other teams in the league during the same dynasty where they've gone 3/5 for Continental Cups, fucking eh.

 

Regular Season

I'm not even going to touch on this one hugely. The season went good. The players did a great job at doing what they needed to do to make things happen. The start, like usual, was a bit shit and Rayz took a little bit to find his form but it seems like we always do and once we do, the ball doesn't stop rolling. It might slow down, but it's tough to stop. The Victory Cup debacle at the end of the season was a little bit fucked and I think it's something that the league REALLY needs to look into. I get it hasn't happened before in 72 seasons, but holy shit my dog, we're trying to be a big time sim league and skate with the big boys, you need to have that shit in the rules or at least in the blue forum. I don't know what's more embarrassing - saying one team won and then changing your minds in the Finals because you fucked up home ice advantage (not really Devise's fault, it was the blues cover up), or was it the fact that I asked immediately after the sim and one of the blues said they'd find the ruling because I didn't see it in the rule book and they literally never came back or reached out to me. Some said GF, some said ROW. I don't care what it is and if it's ROW, that's fine for this season. It's a regular season award. If a team gets excited about that and wants to fight to win it, it's literally all yours. I don't fight over table scraps or a baby deer when I can get the big daddy and have the meat killed by a thousand warriors (just watched the new Mulan. Good shit!).

 

What I will say is that if it's ROW, this is a case where the better team doesn't win. ROW is regulation wins + OT wins. Seattle had the same amount of wins as HSK, same amount of points as HSK. HSK had the better ROW and that's why they maybe won if it is based off ROW. I still get very confused when I listen to the blue team talk about it. I'm sure I'm not alone despite a friendly comment likely to come below. Yet, Seattle was the better team. ROW is the only thing they lost in and yes, Quik, I get it's the rules and I really don't care, but the better team lost and the Victory Cup is for the better team to win. Same wins, Same points, HSK must of won a game or two more in OT than Seattle. Seattle had a much better PP, PK, GF total, GA total, a goal differential that I think was better by 40...thats not some small fucking number. Seattle's goal differential was 82. That's insane. HSK's was 42. Big difference. To me, that alone shows which team playeed stronger. 

 

Like I said, I don't care but am allowed to voice my opinion to see what others think with the pursuit of making the league a better place. Not saying this would be better, or an alternative to ROW is better if it's actually what we use, but discussion always makes things better whether it's for change, understanding or clarification. SUE ME! BUT, better team lost if we use ROW.  

 

Playoff - Minor recap - nothing huge, over 1.8K words

DC

 

DC was a fun series and it was one where we didn't think it would come easy. I surely thought 7 games or a DCD victory before that. Being up 3-1, we felt pretty damn confident in the fact that we needed just 1 more and they needed 3. The odds are pretty good in that case but we just went 3-1, why couldn't they do it now. Once things went 3-2, I thought to myself "here we go". Happily, the round ended the next game for us and we sent them packing. To me, this always should of been what happened. DCD is good, maybe, but not Seattle good to me. Maybe I'm biased. I love the Bears. People know my passion, but this one was for the Bears to lose. Hell of a fight for the Dragons and kudos for actually making the playoffs. As always, we wish them well.

 

CGY was a fucking battle, man. Being down 3-1, thank god for my LR. It was hard to not think we were done. No matter what, Lafountaine would carry them to victory. 60+ shots, we'd score twice and they''d win 3-2. The games were huge and shots always somewhat close, CGY getting a lot too, but Seattle always had a little edge for that stat. Fortunately for CGY, they had the slightly better goalie at the time. 2-0 really sucked ass. 3-1 sucked a lot too. I think it was after the 3-1 sim that Jubis messaged me saying "frustrated yet?" and it was at that very moment that I went from "hey man, whoever loses, beat HSK" to "it's time to teach you a lesson about the eggs, the chickens and when to count them". Rookie mistake. I've sent in probably the most lines out of every GM these playoffs, maybe this season too. I'm not revealing shit, but I did my checks and magic and seen what I saw and did what I did. Even after a W, I was looking, I was sending. I sent. We did. We climbed back. 3-1 went to 3-2. Calgary pooped a very small bit and were praying for the next sim. It was the double sim. I expected CGY to take it. Likely in 6, for sure in 7. Seattle won 6 and you could see CGY freaking. Bears were too. My heart was going so fast! hands shakey. Was nervous for Devise to click the button. He did for G7 and it closed quickly. I thought I seen Seattle score 5 and Devise confirmed it with his quick eyes and said he thought SEA won, but nothing 100%. Sure as shit, Jubis was taught a very important lesson. ROAR! DA BEARZ.

 

2.3K Words

Claiming +6 - > Weeks ending in:

Sept 6

Sept 13

Sept 20

Sept 27

[Victor 10,534]

1 hour ago, Banackock said:

In fact, we have a theory that it worked out so well, that teams like Vancouver are now getting their feet heavily wet in the process with hopes that they can do what Seattle just did.

TIL Bana invented the rebuild.

[Banackock 7,638]

10 minutes ago, Victor said:

TIL Bana invented the rebuild.

Don’t see anyone else ballin as hard 

 

Moscow sleeping giant, NYA DED again after 1 season of fame.

 

Wolves the next beastly animal to rise in the league with the bears. Long live NA! 
 

 

NA NA NA NA NA > EU E-U EW

Edited September 6, 2020 by Banackock

[STZ 5,280]

That’s a lot of words. Thought you could only communicate through .gif tbh

[Banackock 7,638]

Just now, STZ said:

That’s a lot of words. Thought you could only communicate through .gif tbh

As the years go on for VHL, words become harder to find and gifs become easier. 

[Victor 10,534]

7 minutes ago, Banackock said:

As the years go on for VHL, words become harder to find and gifs become easier. 

[Banackock 7,638]

3/4

[Jubis 1,282]

1 hour ago, Banackock said:

1 hour ago, Banackock said:

3/4

 

 

[gorlab 4,321]

seattle = nasty

[NotAVHLM-GM 1,858]