Hub Phase One Previews and Predictions

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by tonychizzle

by tonychizzle

Now that all teams have begun their training camps in preparation for the upcoming season we will preview each teams broken down hub city by hub city.

This unprecedented format creates a lot of interesting narratives that will make this upcoming season an unforgettable one.

Today we will start with the Vancouver Hub, featuring the hometown Millionaires, along with the Calgary Reds, Edmonton Battalion, Portland Pilots, and the Seattle Kings.

Vancouver Millionaires 15th in the Western Conference last season.

To say that last season was a disappointment would be an understatement. It was probably closer to a dumpster fire or a downright catastrophe. The Millionaires coming into this season with a new GM (Lorne Danielson), a new head coach (Al Taylor), and a slough of new players including the number one draft pick in this years draft (Brazilian Philipe Rua). And while team president Ken Cowl tethered his expectations during a media call over Zoom two weeks ago, he is excited in the potential that a player like Rua can achieve. The 6,6, 210 pounder comes from an excellent development program in Brazil. Having played the last 6 years with the youth squad in Cruziero, he lead the Junior League champions in scoring, points, and in +/- at +14. Both Coach and GM see a tonne of promise, but know that he only
potentially solves one issue. The next glaring issue staring at Taylor is the lack of depth in goaltending. "Without a clear number one goalie we know that this is going to a tough first couple of month, especially given the teams we are completing with in the bubble. My number one priority is going to be to fill that role sooner rather than later".

In a bubble that has the Reds, Kings, and Pilots, all teams that have playoff pedigree and experience, Taylor's squad is going to have a difficult time plugging the holes in the bucket if they intend to be in playoff contention down the line. Our prediction for the first 24 games is an 8-16 record.

Calgary Red's 2nd in the Western Conference, Eliminated in the West Finals.

Experience and explosive offensive talent carry over for a team that was one of the best going into playoffs last season and looked poised for a return to the Queens Cup Finals for the first time since winning in 2007. The power duo of Aussies Glen Turner and Bodhi Jones have been consistently the strongest forward pairing for the last 4 seasons and keeping them together was important for GM Richard Walker, who extended Jones' contract for another five seasons. There are still questions on their blue line, which were given attention when drafting 2 Defensemen in the first 2 rounds.

For a team that is a year older and with a chance to see a lot of some familiar foes often in the first 24 games, I predict a 14-10 record at the break.

Edmonton Battalion 12th in the Western Conference last season.

The Reds longtime rivals to the north have a lot of reasons to be optimistic after hiring longtime Battalion legend Mike Lapthorne as the new head coach. GM Sebastien Rochette had this to say about his the new coach: "Mike (Lapthorne) brings a winners mentality to any young talented team. He understands the culture of the team, of the city of Edmonton, and his ceiling is very high".

The new coach will have a tall order to bring the team back to the playoffs. He has a team full of young talented player who have an opportunity to settle into their respective roles and mature. Last season there were plenty of issues with discipline as they were the most penalized team in the league spending close to 25% of their time on the penalty kill. So tightening up the discipline of the squad will be first order of business. There are also some questions in net for the Battalion as Daniel Leifer comes off a less then stellar season, and continues to rehab from hernia surgery back in February.

The optimism might be high in Edmonton, but in reality, in this hub, they will struggle against more experienced and skilled teams. I predict a 7-17 record through the first 2 months.

Portland Pilots 4th in the Western Conference, eliminated in the second round.

The off-season for the Pilots has been a roller coaster with the firing of longtime head coach Daniel Bell, to the controversy surrounding Greg Smith's, Latrell Freeman's, and Shay Anouby's participation in the more violent demonstrations at the peak of the Portland Black Lives Matter protests and the teams response to them putting their careers in jeopardy. With all the distractions over the summer on top of a global pandemic halting their playoff run and a quick exit once the playoffs did resume, the return to the routines and stability of the regular, as unique as it will be given them the circumstances, will be welcome I'm sure for many in the Pilots organization, who looks to build on the success of the last couple seasons, and hope for a return to the finals.

With no real changes to the core of the team, the off-season for the Pilots was spent finding new development talent to fill roles down the road. The drafting of Andres Pino, and the signing of the rookie sensation from 2 years ago Jeremy Torrens, will bring some depth to the bench that will make them contenders for sure. My prediction through the first 24 games will be an 18-6 record.

Seattle Kings 3rd in the Western Conference, eliminated in the first round.

The pressure is certainly on in the Emerald City. After is disappointing early departure from the playoffs, expectations are especially high coming into this season with a team full of returning talent and a chance to study some familiar foes for the first 24 games of the season. The challenge for the Kings will be how to take a core of now older veterans and get them to carry a team that maybe has the least amount of young depths in the hub. Assuming everyone stays healthy, can the Kings figure out a formula to balance the responsibilities through all 4 lines, while staying competitive in a hub with at least 2 other solid playoff contenders?

My prediction is that they will get out of this phase one hub with a respectable 15-9 record through the first quarter of the season.

Next we will look at the Montreal Hub. Like and follow for more NFHL content.