Post by GoVoysGo on Sept 29, 2015 0:55:11 GMT -5
YGFHL Returns At Last
TFHN - Daniel Ronel, Sept. 29
Seattle, WA • It's that time of year, folks.
The Younger Gunz Fantasy Hockey League is set to kick off the regular season, holding their draft last night. Despite talks of expansion, and co-commissioner Daniel Ronel claiming he found four new potential owners, only six teams registered for the draft. One of his new owners (Noah Rotman) replaced Red Deer owner Mark Korodetz — who mercilessly walked away from the league — and another (Ryan Balter) purchased Milwaukee from Shmuel Kantor — who could not afford to run his team. It is unclear whether either franchise will remain in their cities or maintain their team name, but as Ronel tells us, "We didn't really give a s*** right now. We just wanted all the teams registered and rostered. We'll deal with it tomorrow or something."
Ronel did mention that his team would remain in Seattle, but held a fan vote for the team name. Last year's Blazers did not even make top three, with Juggernauts taking top place in the poll. Co-commissioner and owner Adam Stier has announced the team will remain in Grand Rapids, and will reveal the team name later today.
Ahead of potential expansion, and as an eventual result of lots of ownership change (Isaac Reich nearly sold his team as well), the league decided to do a complete redraft. This allowed all teams to start from scratch and get a second chance; this is the first clean slate since the very first year of the league. Ronel thinks this is very beneficial for the league:
"My teams have had a lot of ups and downs, I've made good decisions and bad decisions, and I've had strong years and weak years. But the thing that always bothered me is that I never got any kind of redemption. Until last year, I never really was able to have such great keepers, while much of the league would draft already one step ahead of me. Well, this year is different, because, as Michel Bergeron once said, '[the puck is] black for everyone.'"
The league released a fan poll on which team they predict to win the Max Sky Cup; 90% of seven thousand votes tallied in favour of the team known last year as the Hamilton Huskies (owned by Adam Sharvit) an hour before the draft even began. It's no surprise, seeing as Sharvit has overseen all three champion teams in YGFHL history, but 90% does seem a little overkill.
Regardless, a new scoring system is set in place, new ownership is established, new players have been drafted, and a new excitement and energy fills the air. That's right! It's hockey time, so get ready for the game we all love, because it is on its way!