CCHL Record Breaking season

 Since the CCHL transitioned several years ago to the Simon T simulator, we've seen a lot of interesting historical stats kept that we can look at and review.  With that, we have some records that are unofficially the stats for which we have CCHL records since previous records weren't kept.  

In this Simon T era of the CCHL, we're seeing some records changing this season!  

The first record we've already seen re-written is for goals in a season as Georgetown's Dylan Larkin has 62 goals which erases the previous record of 61 held by Connor McDavid.  

The good news for McDavid is that his 135 point record season is likely safe, as Crosby needs 7 points in the final two games to get there.  Is it impossible?  Absolutely not - but it is very unlikely despite Crosby's season likely to stand as the second-best point total in the Simon era of the CCHL.  

Nobody will get close to the shots taken record as this year's leader will finish almost 90 shots behind all-time shot leader in a season Mika Zabinejad who took a wild 470 shots four seasons ago.  That, along with his faceoff numbers that season, must have led to some very fatigued arms after that year as that is a ton of shots!  

The plus/minus record appears to be safe as well, as Adrian Kempe would need to be plus four in Wisborg's final game of the season - again not impossible but probably quite unlikely.  

Another record that has been broken is the most assists in a single season as Patrice Bergeron's 81 assists four years ago have been bested by Fort Erie's Adam Fox this year.  There's something to be said for operating the point on the league's leading powerplay in Fort Erie, and it certainly shows in the assist totals!  

I'm sure there are more records broken or very close to it but these ones stood out when looking at the stats from this year compared to our league's historical stats.  

Hopefully you enjoyed this look at some of our record breaking season!  

Falcons at the Four Nations event

 With the return of international competition this week, it meant Fort Erie would have an opportunity to see some of their players on a bigger stage than their NHL teams.  

It's always interesting to see who is selected, and for the Falcons it turns out they had a lot of players chosen.  

Canada:  Hagel, Bennett, Marner, Toews, Sanheim and late addition Harley

USA:  Slavin, Fox, Matthews, Trocheck

Sweden: Forsling

Finland:  Luukonen

Canada has a very extensive list of Falcons, with Bennett and Harley being surprise additions after spending most of the season out of the lineup for the team.  While they didn't play a lot this season, their roles will grow next year with Bennett expected to form a vicious checking line with Trocheck and Sherwood - a trio that will have more hits in the NHL this season than any other CCHL line could throw out there.  Will it work?  Who knows.......but that's the beauty of it as Bennett could also find his way onto a line with Draisaitl and Marner given his ability to add some moxy to that line while being able to score.  

The American players on the Falcons are all guys that contribute in different ways.  As the world found out in the USA/Canada game, Jaccob Slavin is just on another level defensively and continues to be the most underappreciated player in hockey.  All he does annually is post 30 points while matching up against the league's best forwards and succeeds in shutting them down.  

Adam Fox is just a steady 70 point guy and will see a massive raise in the CCHL next year but it's a raise that the Falcons can handle.  Trocheck is having a down year in the NHL despite playing 21 minutes a game and winning 60% of his faceoffs, but the addition of real-life best friend JT Miller to the Rangers might kick-start that offence once again.  

Gustav Forsling is a lot like Slavin in that he isn't appreciated nearly enough for his +30 every season, but I can't say he's nearly as underappreciated given his play in the playoffs last year.  Forsling was on the map in a big way there.  

If Germany were to have a team, there's no doubt Draisaitl and Peterka would be headlining it along with Stutzle and Seider.  It'll be exciting to see them all suit up together at the Olympics as German hockey has come a long way in the last 20 years.  

Will having 12 players on the rosters mean playoff success in the CCHL for the Falcons?  It's hard to say but it certainly shows the team is on the right track in terms of finding elite talent to suit up.  

CCHL in-season free agency

 I'm back with another topic of interest this week. While I wouldn't normally discuss a potential change in a blog like this, I am curious about feedback on the idea.  

When looking at the CCHL free agent pool during the season, some players there should likely be on CCHL teams but are not because their NHL salary prohibits it from happening.  

My initial thought is well that is the way the cookie crumbles and it is what it is, but on the other hand, I can't help but wonder why.  Why does it have to be that way?  

If a player remains unsigned through free agency in the spring and passes through the waiver draft, why couldn't they be signed for the CCHL minimum salary for a minimum of two or more years?  The psychology of the player would dictate that they would take the money over sitting out, especially if a team is getting them discounted and making a commitment to them.

 There's likely a benefit to a team having a Brenden Gallagher or Josh Anderson in their lineup on the fourth line as well, or any other players that could find themselves in this spot where they are overpaid by their NHL GM, but could still easily help a team in the CCHL on a contract that represents sane thought.  

Does this make sense to look at changing for the upcoming season(s)?  What are your thoughts?  Hit me up via email or slack and let me know!  

Falcons gearing up for busy off-season

While much has yet to be decided with the CCHL playoffs looming in the not-so-distant future, the Fort Erie Falcons know that they will have some tough decisions this off-season no matter how the playoffs go.  

With three prime time free agents in Steven Stamkos, Zach Hyman and Valeri Nichushkin on the roster, the team recognizes only one of them can be re-signed based on the CCHL rules.  

It has yet to be decided who will receive the contract as negotiations with representatives for all three are underway, but Nichushkin is likely the most attractive given the fit he's had with the team, and the fact he'll only need a 10% raise on a $2.5 million dollar contract.  On the otherhand, that contract and his 100 point season could be really appealing for another CCHL team to come calling, especially a rebuilding team that can wait for him to play more games in an NHL season in another year.  

Hyman and Stamkos will both likely hit the 30 goal marks in the NHL this season as well, making them very attractive to other teams across the CCHL and the team will definitely look at moving two of them.  

Sure, I suppose there is a scenario at play where Fort Erie trades one of their two top ten picks to move back in the draft and have another team do a sign and trade, but that doesn't truly appear to be something they are considering right now.  

Why would they?  

They have both Shane Wright and Matvei Michkov set to join the roster next season so there is depth coming to help.  Keifer Sherwood is almost assured to take the role of Colton Sissons on the fourth line given he leads the NHL in hits by a mile and will score between 15-20 this year.  

The Falcons are primed with depth coming next year.  

Speaking of depth, Thomas Harley's continued development means that likely Devon Toews or Jaccob Slavin will likely be available, though with Slavin's tenure as the longest serving Falcon, I don't see him being a guy that is readily available.  That likely leaves Toews looking for his next CCHL home this off-season and he's a player that can help 20 of the 22 CCHL member clubs.  

While Fort Erie has done everything they can to bolster the team this year, the Kehler Cup is the hardest trophy in sports to win and the odds are Fort Erie will fall short again.  

Either way - they'll have some decisions to make this upcoming off-season and some very good players will be available to other teams.  

Article written by Stevie Cheeseboard and originally published for the Fort Erie Gazette.  

CCHL per game revenue vs. the NHL salary cap

With the recent announcement of the NHL salary cap increasing dramatically over the next three seasons, the CCHL Commissioner and financial czar has gone to work on what that means for the CCHL.  

It is always an interesting process and balancing act between the NHL cap and the CCHL spend due to the 10 team disparity between the leagues.  The CCHL also allows 30 man rosters where the NHL allows for 23 man rosters, creating further disparity.  

The net effect is that with an average CCHL roster of 29 players, that really means that six more teams worth of salaries are added within the 22 team CCHL, thus the CCHL pays for 28 NHL teams worth of players.  

That is about the equivalent of 88% of NHL team's worth of rosters playing in the CCHL.  Conversely, when doing the calculations I've always aimed to hit that 90% mark.  If you love numbers, this blog is likely interesting to you but if they don't excite you, you probably already hate it!  

The reality is that the finances are always a delicate balancing act because we need the finances to count as a league, but not to the point where teams are dying on the vine trying to operate.  This year is different as the dispersal draft clawed back some of the expansion money teams got so I expect everyone should lose money if you added anything of significance from that dispersal draft.  

The interesting wrinkle to the NHL releasing three years worht of expected salary cap upper-limits is that it can allow us as a league to also plan where league revenues for games are going.  

Again, the balancing act here is that rebuilding teams for finances shouldn't be able to struggle for a year with a ridiculously low payroll and be financially healthy again so the losers money cannot be too high, while the winner's cash also cannot be too high.  

The risk of making the winner's money too high is that it could drive salaries wild in free agency, and we saw a bit of that with Kucherov last year, but that's more an exception to the rule as he's likely the best player that's EVER hit free agency in the CCHL.  The reality is though, he's not likely alone because I certainly can see a world where McDavid and Matthews are making $20 million in cap hits in a few years so it's something to think about.  

In any event, the key to the calculation is figuring out what the median wins/losses/SOL or OTL's are around the league to see how much on average is generated per team.  That process is just finishing up and being reviewed versus the desire to hit 90% of NHL spending.  

Much like the NHL, we'll have those numbers out shortly after discussing as an executive committee, but I thought it was pertinent given the recent NHL announcements to explain that it's being worked on and how it's all being calculated.  

If you thought it was a number out of thin air, you'd be mistaken.  I think over the years the process has become even more refined to capture the accuracy and link between NHL expense and the CCHL.  

CCHL Fundraising!

 Good day everyone,

Well, this is probably my least favorite post every two years but it's that time again where we prepare for the upcoming off-season and seasons.  

I think we have a pretty great league but unfortunately, with that, comes the cost of add-ons that other leagues do not do to take their experience to the next level.  

Unfortunately, that is not free and while I'd love to eat most of that cost myself, the director of finance in my house (the wife) says it's a hard no given how much time I invest in the league as it is to run it.  

With that said, I've been reviewing the costs associated with what we do and some have gone up - such as the simulator which has increased significantly in price for two years compared to what it has been.  I look at it as a negative and a positive.  The negative is that it costs more, but the positive is that he has not lost any subscriptions to the software and it seems to have him working harder on it as we're getting quarterly updates now rather than one or two a year.  He's still committed to it which means it'll keep going for our enjoyment.  

Could we take out the cost like the draft website?  Probably but having experienced the email draft last year when we did the dispersal, it's not something I ever want to experience again as the website keeps it moving faster while eliminating duplicated picks that slow us all down.  

Our web hosting is still a very reasonable price given what Simon T is charging to host sim leagues, so I'm happy that we are saving a bit of money on that front while fulfilling what we need to be able to run the site properly.  

Our costs (in Cdn dollars) for each for two years are below:  

So this is where I turn to the league to help finance our collective passion once again.  Understand I hate asking every two years however, it is sadly necessary.  I could do this annually but I think it would be annoying and with two years commitments, we actually save money on things like the site and the simulator.  

I'll never mandate a "it's going to cost everyone X dollars" because I'm not here to assume everyone's financial situation so I simply ask that you give what you are able to do to support the league.  If everyone gave equal dollars, it would be $22.01 Canadian but I know not everyone can or will do that.  Some will go higher to help offset what some can't while others a bit lower if they contribute at all.  

The last two times we have done this collection, we have always managed to cover the league expenses for the most part.  I did eat a bit extra for the 24-25 season out of my own pocket but I can live with that small amount, but not the whole amount.  Should we somehow collect more than the amount owed, it simply stays in the post to reduce what we could need in 2027 (The Landon Dupont draft!).  

If you can contribute, please let the Commissioner know!  We've had some pretty good support in day one of the campaign but we definitely have a ways to go yet.  

In any event, I appreciate whatever support can be provided for the league and look forward to continuing to operate what I consider the best fantasy/sim league going today.  

Thank you all for your time..........let's keep this thing going!  

State of the Loons: Future watch

 In the last State of the Loons we touched on this year's team and since it was posted Capeside clinched a playoff berth. After winning a playoff series last year for the first time our realistic goal ths year is to win multiple series. As much as we want to believe that we are Kehler cup contenders we have to stay patient as long as the Donuts and Falcons are pretty much all star teams.

We have set ourself up with the majority of our team being under 25 and hopefully ready to win multiple cups over the next 10 years with the core we have assembled. However, fear has set in around our finances going forward. With the NHL cap increasing and contracts on the rise will Capeside be in the position to hand out all these second contracts or will we have to make moves? 

As of today we have Matt Boldy, Trevor Zegras, Matty Beniers, Cole Caufield, Brock Faber, K'Andre Miller, Jake Oettinger, and Cam York all playing key roles for the Loons while on their low entry level contracts. Ideally we would be stock piling cash for the future but with Eichel (28, $10m), Werenski (27, $9.5m) and McAvoy (27, $9.5m next year) getting substantial raises we are on pace to lose $9m. 

Some good news is CCHL revenues will likely be on the rise which should help. Also, with a solid group of owners it is unlikely we will be spending $13m in a dispersal draft again. This should be one of Capeside's highest bonus money years in our history. The Loons top line of Kreider, Eichel and Boldy are all in the top 30 for CCHL scoring, with only 47 GP Faber remains in the top 5 amongst rookies, Vatrano keeps hitting anything that moves and as a team we are 5th in PP and 1st on the PK. 

What will have the most significance on franchise stability is our prospect development. I would put our top 10 prospects against anyone's in the CCHL. Them taking the next steps and becoming key contributors on our roster and allowing us to make difficult decisions will be key towards our dynasty goals.

Top 5 under 25  (GP, G, A)

1. Matt Boldy - 23 (55, 18, 27)

2. Cole Caufield - 24 (54, 26, 23)

3. Brock Faber - 22 (51, 5,15)

4. Matty Benier - 22 (56, 12, 18)

5. Trevor Zegras - 24 (31, 6, 9)

Top 10 Prospects (GP, G, A)

1. Ryan Leonard - eta 2026 (26, 23, 11)

2. Will Smith - eta 2025 (48, 8, 14)

3. Frank Nazar - eta 2025 (25, 4, 6)

4. Zeev Buium - eta 2026 (25, 6, 24)

5. Jimmy Snuggerud - eta 2026 (30, 20, 21)

6. Cole Eiserman - eta 2027 (25, 15, 8)

7. Teddy Stiga - eta 2028 (26, 10, 13)

8. Isaac Howard - eta 2026 (29, 21, 20)

9. Drew Commesso - eta 2026

10. Alex Jefferies - eta 2026 (35, 8, 15)