Hello sports fans! With the CCHL season over, we are coming to you with a recap of the Icecats' season. The Icecats came off of a very disappointing season which saw them miss the playoffs. The only consolation prize was getting Bowen Byram in the draft. From there, GM Saouaf went to work to assemble a team that could compete for the coveted Kehler Cup.
Siberia's first move was in late April, acquiring Evander Kane and Erik Johnson from Las Vegas. Ryan Ellis went back go Vegas in the deal. GM Saouaf traded the offensive dman to get some additional toughness on the backline and on the wings. Kane would be the 2nd line LW and Johnson would likely be Burns' partner on the top defensive pairing.
GM Saouaf then went to the champion Norsemen in April, getting scoring winger Alexander Radulov. Radulov was slated to be Bergeron's RW on the second line.
GM Saouaf was not done dealing with Minnesota. In July, he acquired an anchor on defense, Victor Hedman, from the champion Norsemen. Hedman was a huge acquisition for the Icecats as it gave them someone else to run the defense, which would free up Brent Burns from the toughest matchups.
In October, GM Saouaf felt that young dmen Rasmus Dahlin and Miro Heiskanen were not quite ready and went out and acquired some additional help on D by acquiring veteran Ian Cole from Gillam. Ian would form a nice 3rd line pairing with another veteran, Dan Girardi.
On the same day, seeing as Radulov was not clicking with Bergeron, GM Saouaf went out and acquired winger Victor Arvidsson. Victor was a bit injury prone, but GM Saouaf was hoping that he would click with alternate captain Bergeron. Click they did. Arvidsson cemented his spot on the second line and would only relinquish it for a few weeks due to an injury. Thankfully, the Icecats' depth allowed them to weather the injury to Arvidsson.
Not satisfied with the team he assembled, GM Saouaf was at it again 2 days before Christmas, acquiring a pair of grizzled vets in Andy Greene and Zach Parise. GM Saouaf was counting on their leadership to help guide this team throughout the season. GM Saouaf was all in. He was hoping the depth and talent he built would carry his team in the regular season and in the playoffs.
Siberia played very well all year, challenging the Falcons for first overall all season. Fort Erie was the best team in the league and led the power rankings all year. Siberia's first significant challenge came during a span of a week when they lost #2 center Bergeron for 2 weeks, #2 LW Parise for 40 days and #2 dman Hedman also for 40 days. Siberia's depth would be tested. The Icecats buckled down and played some of their best hockey through the injuries.
Late in the season, the Icecats got all of their injured players back, in time for a match against #1 Fort Erie, with first overall on the line. Fort Erie previously humbled the Icecats 2-0. Siberia was looking for revenge. It was a great game won 5-3 by Siberia. After the game many wondered if this was a preview of the finals. Siberia ended up tied with Fort Erie in points in the regular season at 126, but the Falcons held the tiebreaker in wins. Could this be the advantage that the Falcons needed in the playoffs?
The first round of the playoffs came and the Icecats had a bye. The Cats needed to stay focused and not lose the momentum from the regular season. By the time the second round started, the Icecats were facing a young but talented Sudbury team. Sudbury came out and stunned the Icecats, wining both games in Siberia. Could the Miners upset the favored Icecats, bringing back memories of the Tampa Bay Lightning epic collapse against Columbus? Coach Brian Leetch held a closed door meeting with the players and challenged them to play the way they have been all year. The rust of a first round bye was obvious. The Icecats responded by winning 4 straight and beating the tough Miners.
There was no time to celebrate as the Icecats now faced the uber talented Hamilton Tigers in the Canosa Conference finals. The Tigers had the second best record in the Canosa Conference. Coming off their 4 game winning streak, the Icecats swept the Tigers in 4, moving on to the Kehler Cup finals. One step closer to their goal.
The Icecats' biggest hurdle of the year stood in the way of their first ever Kehler Cup, the #1 Falcons. Siberia came out gunning as they took the first 3 games of the series, running their winning streak to 11 games. Could the Icecats sweep the powerful Falcons? The Falcons made adjustments and took games 4 and 5 by identical 4-3 scores. Could it be that the Falcons had figured out the Icecats and would mount an epic comeback? The Falcons shut down McDavid in both games. Captain McDavid got up in the locker room and challenged himself and his teammates to rise up and win. He nearly made a Messier-like "we will win" prediction in that room, but decided to trust in his team. The Icecats went out and played their toughest game of the year, winning game 6 by a score of 4-2, and with it the first ever Kehler Cup for Siberia. In a celebration interview with GM Saouaf he said "This is amazing! After taking over this franchise from Murfreesboro in late 2014, we knew we had a long road to being competitive. We thank our fans who stood by us through some tough early years, but it was worth it!" This truly was a Clash of the Titans final!
The Icecats now go into the offseason positioning themselves to try to repeat, but that will be a daunting task. See you next season, sports fans!
