Finally.
A married GM with a child has won...triumphed through the Gathering of 12 and has broken the curse of the ring or the Hex. Congratulations to Doug and the modern-era Highlander team that struggled for 14 LONG years since their early back-to-back year 2 and 3 victories.
He joins Dan and the Great Whites franchise to win 3 Predator cup trophies.
Plus he had the swagger to join Cameron of the Severed Heads to win the Triple Crown, by collecting the Challenge Cup and the Omnivore Award. ALSO, the fact that he had no major long-term injuries the entire season meant the Fates smiled on him and the Furies smiled on the rest of the FUNHL.
Brian of the Bladerunners traded and traded, including Malkin and attempted to trade before the deadline to maintain a lead the diminished, fluctuated, and was lost. A valiant effort and perhaps most years would have been sufficient. Defending this Champion title is difficult and Brian tried everything in his power, but a gaping hole at centre undermined his year in the end.
Dan of the Great Whites decided it was more prudent to build for next year, than make a run for the top. Having never actually having the lead all year he geared up with obtaining top prospects like Kessel, Carter and the Lost Boys 1st prospect pick [3rd overall]. The fact fact Gaborik didn't play {groin injury} for 40+ games didn't help.
The Shadowmen took over 1st for several weeks around Xmas and the injuries pounded the team, no matter what trading they did. A fourth place finish is where they landed.
The Knights Templar provided a dramatic rise in the standing from 10th to finish 5th. A well-built team with a plethora of prospects that make up for mediocre FPs. But Vanek, Weber, Radulov among others brings power for next year.
Similarly, the Wolves managed to snag Hart-nominee FP Luongo and improve his prospects by obtaining Stastny, Parise and Eminger to go along with Toews, Phaneuf, Suter among others. After a shaky start, Rob finished 6th, but a well-drafted team recovered and he has built a great prospect launch for winning next year.
The Personal Vendetta had problems right from the draft. Injuries ravaged the team and Darrell was left asking: oh Forsberg, oh Forsberg, why hast thou forsaken me? [again] Foppa or Floppa really hurt Darrell on the FP front and his usual gem draft picks were average. Question: Will Forsberg finally be dropped as an FP? One thing is certain, however, an off-year for the Personal Vendetta means Vengence Inc. next year - regardless of rfas or prospects 0wned.
Corey and the Cavemen {Ramapithicines} had another tough year with injuries abound and prospect patchwork...His FPs were saviours in Chara and Turco. Still he drafted well enough to keep himself afloat but I suspect he'll never draft Bertuzzi again -> the 1st rnd bust of only 13 games [oh my back!]
The Severed Heads thought it was going to be his year, the 1st pick, Kipper, Spezza, awesome FPs in Jagr (97pts) and Heatley (a 50G/50a) year repeat! But he learned the hard way, drafting defense helps. The other Achilles Heel was what everyone else seemed to suffer at some point [except the Highlanders], deep cutting long term injuries like Havlat and Ruutu.
The Lost Boys finished 10th. 5 pts behind the 'Heads. Richard was a new GM, finishing in that 7th to 10th group. -40+ pts out of 6th. 2 goals he had set...top 6, beat the'Heads. It goes without saying that meant no Herbivore, please. He improved his FP situation to Kovalchuk and B.Richards. He amassed a plethora of decent rfas. Despite some questionable trades [see Gonchar for Kovalev], which hindsight gives us pause, the Lost Boys had a good debut season.
The Scourge avoided the basement thanks to Preissing' plus/minus, a career points season from FP Tanguay and both Datsyuk and Zetterberg waking up in the 2nd half of the season. He placed 2nd for the Omnivore, but managed to avoid the Herbivore. FP Sundin days are numbered but Chris will pick 2nd in the prospect draft. Time to build from 11th and as the 2nd new GM this year, the future can only look bright through a better prepared draft and more confidence in trading.
Alas the Herbivore -> 12th. The Edge and Collin had multiple life changing events, the injuries to the team hardly seem fair, but alas it was meant to be. Will FP Elias be dropped? Drafting with confidence will be key next year. My Condolescences Funhl-wise.
I could go on, but I'll let the Highlanders to their very detailed ad hoc post season analysis...
So why these few reflections? A very brief season in review.
Doug and I have chatted about winning, repeating and preparing...
M- So you did it! How do you feel?
D- Well, yes , its great, and finally [whew]....but I want start again - I want to keep winning.
M- Do you mean making up for lost time?
D- I guess, but I will enjoy this victory...I have battled mediocry for so long that the concentration and obsession to win took energy that I loved but, now I enjoy the off-season with my family who was truly supportive.
M-Montagne says "Obsession is the beginning of either Genius or Madness". What if you lost?
D- Only you would ask that! I didn't. But it would have been maddening if I had and would be questioning and second-guessing a lot of the moves I made to secure to win. [or failed to]
M-At the beginning of the season we talked about the 1200 rule or using 1200 as the benchmark number of points needed to win. You came close to 1200 pts...
D- The 1200 pts threshold is a theory not a rule. Both Brian [of the Bladerunners] and myself got to >1100pts. But as we talked in the pre-season, maybe you can draft that team...we always talk about Darrell drafting to win - and thank goodness I didn't have to deal with him too in this race - think though, goalie 100 pts, 3 centres 300 pts, 3 rw at 200, 3 lw at 200 and 6 d at 300 plus 2 tgs with an extra 100 pts total. That's ideal, but possible, maybe -> but 1200 pts. And if you are in-between 1050 and 1150pts, why not a winning formula?
M- Ideal, barring injury, and some of the baseline omnivore scores bears this out.
D- Yes
M- Injury broke my team among many others, how did you avoid it?
D- I sold my soul to the devil [what soul?] -> or dumb luck.
M- Okay GM Faust...
D- Always Doug, I GM and coach andd develop my team, unlike you and your outsourcing for coaches, fighting the future etc
M- My apologies, Doug, enough.
D- Hey, joking around, but you should develop a farm team, keep FPs or I can't see you winning, as start always behind.
M- Perhaps you're right, last question before I bore the blog...2 parts a. you got pretty self-congratulatory towards the end of the season and b. is that because you picked yourself to win after the draft?
D- Ouch. I was excited at the end and doing the stats updates and commentary, I guess I got a bit over-exuberant, I didn't mean to come off as arrogant and as for b. as you said players predictions are only as good as the paper.
M-Like my mistake in picking Richards overLeCavalier as an FP.
D- I made draft errors too. We both made trading errors at one point or another.
M-You finally sacrificed the future to win -> M.Staal, J.Carter, Kessel.
D- Earlier you spoke of Madness - I'm glad I won
M-1st time since expansion in a true 12 player league. You may have 3 Championships now, but this one must be special.
D-Believe me - after 14 years, this one is sweet.
M- Congratulations Doug...as they say "Mission Accomplished". ALSO, good luck defending.
D- Thanks.
This interview was designed for the blog. I congratulate Doug on his win, and sympathizes with Brian who sacrificed a lot for only 2nd.
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