Reviving A City: An NHL 19 Expansion Dynasty

[Funkycorm]

I have won multiple league and world championships from building teams in football, basketball, baseball, and even soccer. But the one I haven't been able to win a championship in is hockey.

My history with the NHL games is long, but scattered. My first experience with NHL was back with NHL 99. I had a blast with this game. I wasn't into franchise building back then, I just enjoyed playing every single game from every single team with a bunch of created players added. My next was in 2005 and it didn't feel the same. I next picked up NHL 14 and once again could not relive my childhood memories through this game. Last year I got NHL 18 and had some fun with it. By this time, I enjoyed rebuilds in sports games. I made multiple attempts to build a dynasty and failed. I tried the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, Colorado Avalanche, and the Detroit Red Wings. The furthest I ever made it was the Western conference finals 7 seasons in with the Arizona Coyotes and couldn't get back there in years 8 and 9.

My goal is simple in this series. Prove I can build a dynasty in a sport I have to this point been unsuccessful in. I know a good bit about hockey and I hope to succeed. Either way, this is my journey.

Let’s have some fun along the way.

Welcome to the thread!

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

Announcement

Funkycorm Sports Network (FCN)

Analyst: Welcome to the Funkycorm Sports Network, my name is Scott Trevino. In an announcement from the site of the most recent expansion team, Las Vegas, the NHL commissioner announced that a new expansion team would begin play at the start of the 2018-19 season to bring the total number of teams in the NHL to 32.

Spoiler

That team is the Hartford Whalers. The team that moved to Carolina in 1997, will be re-invigorated as the brand-new Hartford Whalers. The team will be bought by an ownership group willing to keep the team in Hartford for the long haul. The NHL announced that the new ownership immediately hired former Quebec Nordiques player, Pierre Donaldson, to be the new General Manager. A man who understands the pain a city can feel when it loses a sports franchise.

The Whalers have been given their record and history from their original stint in Hartford. This includes 2 Conference Championships, 4 Division Championships, 8 playoff appearances, and their time in the WHA as the New England Whalers. They have been granted their all-time record of 534-709-177, with the 177 being ties as it was before the introduction of the shootout loss.

The Whalers will be using a very similar color scheme and modification of the original logo. Ownership stressed the uniforms would have a similar feel but will be more modernized. They are designed to be a tribute, according to ownership, and not be a replica.

The team will be playing in the newly completed Highlander Arena in a state of the art, modern arena.

To facilitate another team in the Eastern Conference, the Detroit Red Wings will move back to the Central Division and be in the West again. Columbus will move from the Metro to Atlantic Division, and the Whalers will be the 8th team in the Metro Division.

Their AHL affiliate will be the Ohio Rockets.

From time to time on the show, we will host newly appointed Whalers GM Pierre Donaldson to the show.

Welcome back to the NHL, Hartford. This is Scott Trevino, signing off.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

Housekeeping

Settings:

Most games will be simulated. I will play 1-2 per month to get a feel for the team.
Sliders: Default, Starting on Pro difficulty and adjusting up/down as needed.
System: PS4
Game: NHL 19
Fog of War: Off
Pro Scouting: Auto. I will maintain 8 scouts for this even with fog of war off. I tried fog of war on and I feel like I didn’t know enough about what was going on around the league.
Amateur Scouting: Manual
Owner Mode: Off. I do not want to worry about finances and GM firing.
Relocation will be off.
Current rosters from EA on 9/13/18. Includes Karlsson trade.
No trades allowed by me until January 1, 2019.
I will keep moves realistic and try not to hose the CPU.


Funkycorm Sports Network (FCN): So, I thought this would add a little flair to my dynasty. I am not a big graphics guy, so I thought mixing this in once in a while would be fun. In my last franchise with the New York Jets, I did a weekly article with box score and that is when I felt some burnout.

To combat this burnout, I tend to rotate once weekly or more frequently between 3-4 different sports games on top of other games, mostly RPGs or RTS.

To keep some added realism, I will add the occasional tidbit about my other games’ dynasties. I will occasionally add a quick line or two about my Orioles rebuild, my Sacramento Kings rebuild, or my Colts rebuild. All built in to the actual timeline in this. Obviously, hockey will be my focus, but I thought that added bit makes the FCN more realistic.


How updates will happen?

I will update for each in game month, a preseason update, an end of season update, a playoff update, a free agency update, a draft update, and any other updates I feel are important (e.g. trades near the deadline, etc.)

Some updates may be big, some may be small, it all depends.

How my updates function may change as I decide what should and should not be covered.

Stay tuned for uniform unveiling.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

Team Firsts and Team History

Will eventually contain spoilers.

Firsts

First game: 9/25/18 @Carolina W 4-2
First game (regular season): 10/12/18 @ Dallas SOL 1-2
First home game: 9/27/18 vs. N.Y. Islanders SOL 8-9
First home game (regular season): 10/17/18 vs. N.Y. Rangers W 5-3
First win: 10/15/18 @Florida W 6-1
First goal: Mark Letetsu, 10/12/18, @ Dallas
First goal(home): Boone Jenner, 10/17/18 vs. N.Y. Rangers
First assist: Marcus Foligno, T. Plekanec, 10/12/18, @ Dallas
First assist(home): Michael Frolik, 10/17/18 vs. N.Y. Rangers
First penalty: Boone Ritchie, holding, 10/12/18 @ Dallas
First penalty(home): Michael Frolik, game misconduct, 10/17/18 vs. N.Y. Rangers
First shutout: 11-23-18 @Colorado W 1-0
First shootout loss:10-12-18 @ Dallas SOL 1-2
First shootout loss(home):
First shutout(home):
First shootout win:
First shootout win(home):
First overtime win:
First overtime win(home):
First playoff game:
First playoff win:
First playoff series win:
First wildcard berth:
First division title:
First conference championship:
First Stanley Cup Championship:

Season Records

Goals:
Assists:
Points:
Penalty Minutes:
Lowest GAA:
Highest Save %:

[Funkycorm]

Uniform Unveiling

These are not meant to be exact replicas, but I did want to give somewhat of an homage to the old Whaler uniforms. Reveal for AHL affiliate Ohio Rockets will come soon as well.

Last pic is Highlander Arena.

[Funkycorm]

You may post freely!

[Funkycorm]

Expansion Draft (June 21,2018)

Rules:
1. Max of 5 skaters and 1 goalie rated over 80.
2. All drafted players must be on roster until at least January 1, 2019. Either in NHL or AHL.
3. Start at Anaheim and draft from each team alphabetically. I can't go back and change. I can't look ahead and plan.
4. No age/contract/potential restrictions.

Expansion Draft Results:

1. Anaheim: D Andrej Sustr – 81 overall, top 4 D exact
2. Arizona: G Darcy Kuemper – 81 overall, starter exact
3. Boston: D Kevan Miller – 80 overall, top 6 D exact
4. Buffalo: G Linus Ullmark – 79, fringe starter medium
5. Calgary: RW Michael Frolik – 81 overall, top 6 F exact
6. Carolina: LW Phillip DiGuiseppe – 75 overall, bottom 6 F high
7. Chicago: D Brandon Davidson – 75 overall, 7th D medium
8. Colorado: RW Scott Hosmachuk – 72 overall, AHL top 6 F medium
9. Columbus: LW Boone Jenner – 80 overall, top 9 F medium
10. Dallas: RW Brett Ritchie – 79 overall, top 9 F medium
11. Detroit: D Jonathan Ericcson – 79 overall, top 6 D exact
12. Edmonton: C Kyle Brodziak – 79 overall, top 6 F exact
13. Florida: C Mark Letetsu – 79 overall, top 9 F exact
14. Los Angeles: LW Emerson Etum – 76 overall, bottom 6 F medium
15. Minnesota: LW Marcus Foligno – 79 overall, top 9 F low
16. Montreal: C. Tomas Plekanec – 79 overall, top 9 F exact
17. Nashville: D Matt Irwin – 78 overall, top 6 D exact
18. New Jersey: LW Eric Tangradi – 72 overall, AHL top 6 F exact
19. New York Islanders: RW Tom Kuhnhackl – 79 overall, top 9 F high
20. New York Rangers: D. Fredrik Cleasson – 77 overall, 7th D medium
21. Ottawa: C Jean-Gabriel Pageau – 79 overall, top 6 F medium
22. Philadelphia: G Anthony Stolarz – 71 overall, starter medium
23. Pittsburgh: C Derek Grant – 79 overall, top 6 F exact
24. San Jose: D Brenden Dillon – 82 overall, top 4 D exact
25. St. Louis: D. Petter Lindbohm – 74 overall, 7th D medium
26. Tampa Bay: C Gabriel Dumont – 73 overall, bottom 6 F exact
27. Toronto: RW Josh Jooris – 76 overall, bottom 6 F exact
28. Vancouver: D Erik Gudbranson – 76 overall, 7th D medium
29. Washington: LW Nathan Walker – 73 overall, bottom 6 F medium
30. Winnipeg: RW Marko Dano – 77 overall, top 9 F low


Stay tuned for the 2018 NHL Entry Draft Recap.

Thanks for reading!

[Funkycorm]

2018 NHL Entry Draft (June 23, 2018)

Rules:

1. No trades up or down for the 2018 draft.
2. No restrictions on who I can draft. I can reach as much as I want if I feel it will benefit the team.

Going in we are at #2 in the lottery.

The draft class for 2018 for this mode is randomized it seems. All prospects were scouted only once for us so we only have limited intel.

There is, albeit only scouted once, a RW sitting at 11 in the scout rankings with low franchise potential. We are going to more than likely reach and use our pick on him. If we bust, we bust, but if he is truly franchise potential, that is an amazing early bit of luck for us.

Draft Results:

2018 NHL Entry Draft - Hartford Whalers Recap
Pick	Team	Player	Pos	POT	OVR
1(2)	Hartford Whalers	Artem Bykov	RW	63	med elite
2(3)	Hartford Whalers	Boris Andronov	D	62	low top 4 D
3(3)	Hartford Whalers	Cyrus Conley	RW	58	low top 9 F
4(3)	Hartford Whalers	Charles Backman	RW	56	med bottom 6F
5(3)	Hartford Whalers	Sergey Lazarev	D	46	low top 4 D
6(3)	Hartford Whalers	Cameron Cizek	D	49	med 7th D
7(3)	Hartford Whalers	Lukas Rousela	C	63	med AHL top 6 F

Analysis:

Overall, it was not a bad draft for us. Bykov will be a big contributor for years to come even though he was not franchise talent and not currently NHL ready. All players were only scouted once by AI, so we took wild stabs at some players. We landed a few that can become contributors and a few that will be lifetime AHL players. I am also excited to see how Defenseman Boris Andronov develops. All in all, not too shabby of a start.

Thanks for reading!