Finally! I get to replace the lesser Bambrick. I am taking rookie sensation Logan Findlay. What he lacks in name coolness he makes up for in being the best available Creston Valley Defenseman. Look out Jerome! Other than that it is business as usual. The standings remain unchanged but continue to tighten.
Everyone shame Justin for having no players with 100PIM! Aside from that no real news, things remain tight and have actually tightened up all through the league. Only about 100 points separate every position with the exception of Jerome's massive lead over second place. I could see there being a few changes in the last month. I am 1 game week away from being able to swap Bambrick, who despite having a great name has been entirely useless all season, only suiting up at the last minute to take away my Wyatt Sorkin Rule pick. So, if the coach of the CV Thunder Cats is reading this, please do not dress Chase Bambrick this weekend. I need this.
A little peak behind the curtain for you guys. As we know I input all of the stats for the games by hand. It can be slightly tedious at times seeing the same names over and over and the same 0/1/4 line on a bunch of guys, so naturally I have to keep myself entertained. Usually this manifests in me taking a special interest in some players. Usually these are the guys who get a lot of PIM because those are the most fun to dig deeper in, but I also seem to find a personal punching bag. Somebody who makes me laugh when I see his name coming up on the scoresheet knowing it'll be beside a 0/0/0 on the rare times these people are even in the lineup. I always take a few seconds to myself to make fun of these players before moving on. usually I'll click on their profile to see if I've missed a trade or something to explain why they are so useless. This year one such player is or (spoiler alert) was Nick's Ryan Fingarson of the CV Rockies. You may remember the name as one of the last 2 guys to not record a single PIM before finally breaking through and getting a minor penalty on November 8th. Sadly for me, this was the last I would see of him. Perhaps after that fated minor penalty the coach finally decided Fingarson was doing more harm than good to the team. Or perhaps his weak little wrists shattered on impact of his first and only crosschecking minor. We will never know. And that brings me to the hardest part of my job....
Nick
As per Wyatt Sorkin Rule 1a
You may select a forward from the Columbia Valley Rockies in place of Ryan Fingarson.
May he fly forever on the eternal wings of pigeons.
Sorry for the sporadic updates, busy holidays and all that, but I should be back on track now brining you your regularly scheduled programming. Goalies fights and goals were the talk of the community over this period in the wider ecosystem that is the dozens of KIJHL fans, but for our more niche purposes we had some excitement in the stats department. Not only did we have a few more guys join the 100 PIM club, but we also had the founding member of the 200 PIM club with David Ander paving that road.
On December 20th Nelson played a game with 15 skaters, are we sure this isn't beer league?
Sorry for the delay, like all the guys on my team I took a little break. Big things are happening though. Although Jerome's lead is pretty large right now, a surging Justin continues to make waves. Unfortunately for all of us these two guys also have reinforcements coming in the way of the Wyatt Sorkin Rules. I have been missing 2 of my best players from the earlier part of the season, so I'm just hoping they come back soon to get me back in the hunt, but at this time it is looking pretty grim for most of us and we may have to prepare ourselves mentally for another Jerome victory.
So on that note Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you except Jerome. Jerome can suck an egg.
Sorry gang I was bitter about my team sucking and didn't want to write about how Jerome is heating up. But I'm back this week because something exciting has happened! A change in the standings has occurred for the first time since week 7. Justin has overtaken Derek for third place and at this rate he will be firmly into second soon as his players he drafted through insider information are actually panning out, unlike James'.
Justin is also able to swap goalie Jack Fairhead for another goalie from Kimberly under WSR (1a)
Jerome had another good week thanks to two of his Golden Rockets leaving the bench to get into a scrum at the end of the 3rd. They both got 10 minutes at the final buzzer and nobody else on either team, so I think he might have paid them. Luckily my boy David Ander stepped up and got 2 honest misconducts in one game, neither for fighting. I've got a team of hard working, blue collar goons that I hope the fans are really identifying with. Not Like Jerome's elitist stat padders.
But I've buried the lead a little bit hear because the impossible has happened again. On Saturday November 29th, with 4 minutes gone in the 3rd period, James' Kieran Kitteringham was called for a holding minor, meaning that every single skater we have drafted this year has at least 2 PIM! We did it. Game #211.
James' Thomas Clark had 40PIM in a game on Saturday against Kamloops, and in Kitteringham got his first points of the year with a goal, 1/0/0 in 13 GP. Those helped along the way to James' first 100+ point week. Unfortunately the standings don't change in his favour as pretty good weeks were had from everyone except for me and Derek, with Jerome having another excellent few days and rewidening the gap between him and I. Managers keep your eyes on the chat, there might be some WS Rule guys coming up.
Wyatt Sorokin Rule sees James add netminder for the Rockets Seth Goodstriker to his roster in place of some other guy who didn't play a single game. Kody had a monster week and Jerome had a pretty poor week, so despite no changes in the standings the race has gotten a lot closer. Justin continues to push and is creeping up on Derek in 3rd place. James is within striking distance of being within striking distance of Nick down at the floor.
The impossible has happened! Saturday night Golden v Columbia Valley with 2:12 left in the 3rd period Ryan Fingarsson took a cross checking minor. Making James' Keiran Kitteringham the last player in the league with no penalties! Somebody boo this man! As we shame James we need to praise Derek for having the first 2 players with 100 PIM thanks to a 31 PIM effort from Merrit Centennial Marshall Wagner who joins Toren Fron on that particular mountain top. No changes to the standings but a brutal week for me and great week for Jerome means the gap has ballooned for now at the top of the table.
The first full month is in the books and it has been a good one. A lot of PIM from most of the league, with the average player already having 27.95 minutes in the bin. Also a really well staffed year so far, there are only a couple guys who are not getting in the lineup regularly with the vast majority in the 9-14 GP range, and you can count on suspensions playing a big role at the lower end of that. We don't have any 20 goal scorers yet but I would'nt be surprised to see one by the end of month 2. I'll do some quick hits here to save me from typing a whole news story.
Levi Astill has finally broken his PIM-less season with a big 14 minute night for a couple stick infractions and a late game misconduct.
On the other end of the penalty spectrum, superstar Toren Fron is the first to break the 100 PIM mark this year with a 24 minute night against Kamloops.
Toren Fron also leads the league with 150 points which is good for a staggering 100.4 PAA or 10 FPPG. What a year he's putting together. At this pace we will be looking at a new GOAT by the end of the year, sorry Janz.
Everyone's favourite Cory Waffles is having a decent year with 2/4/22 in 11 GP. I feel like the goal total is low, there are quite a few 10+ goal guys so far, but I guess all the goose eggs bring that down.
And I'll wrap up with The Wyatt Sorkin Rule as the first full month of the season has come and gone. As we know that brings the number to <1 GP and we have 1 player that fits that description, James' goaltender Evan Leggett of the Golden Rockets. James may now select another goalie from Golden to replace Evan.
If Jerome ends up winning this year this is the week we need to look back on. Huge performances up and down the lineup including a rare shutout (for him) from Austin Siebel of the Revelstoke Grizzlies. Jerome's 111.8 points this week is almost 40 more than the next highest. Just a winner week, no shade from the league on this one just stick taps for Jerome and all his guys.
In other news we are still waiting for our PIM bet to be settled with the same 3 guys refusing to slash someone or even get their stick caught under someone's skates. The most egregious is clearly Kieren Kitteringham of 100 Mile, who has been in the lineup night in and night out but hasn't recorded a PIM, goal, or assist. Is he stapled to the bench?
Pretty low event week, but the races at the top and bottom are tightening up with a 4/5 position swap. We are down to 3, 0 PIM players. Most heartbreaking of which is probably Levi Astil who failed to get even a slash in a game with 71 PIM, that is just so soft. In other news water is wet, the sun has risen in the east, and Toren Fron got 12 PIM in a game, then he did it again the very next night. Somebody needs to stop that guy, he's a menace.
First of all a little house keeping on the player side, Justin's Brandon Gray played his first game so there will be no Wyatt Sorkin skaters in October, there is a goalie in that zone right now so we'll see (but no one cares about goalies). That also means that advanced stats are now live so look forward to some of those updates. Derek also had an immense birthday weekend thanks in no small part to Marshall Wagner taking an exception to the existence of a goaltender (honestly, so relatable) and getting 30 PIM. Also sophomore (for us at least) Toren Fron speed running the Landon Janz arc and turning himself into a scoring threat with 5/1/6 bringing his year totals up to an excellent 9/4/63. Finally I apologize for the lack of point chart this week, I had some issues with my formulas and it got all bunged up.
Huge week for Jerome putting up 145.1 points on the back of some big PIM numbers from some top guys like Griffin Brown of the Golden Rockets, who has yet to score a goal but has put up 47 PIM in 3 games. James continues to stumble out of the starting blocks finding himself nearly 100 points back of 3rd place already. Wyatt Sorkin Rule watch after month 0 is on for Justin's Brandon Gray who has yet to suit up for the Border Bruins.