Close race overshadowed by franchise relocation.
April 17, 2024 by Bob
A very close two-team race for the championship has come down to last few games. With only two days to go, the Walking Birds hold a 16-point lead on the Dutch Ovens. The lead changed hands a couple of times in the last few weeks and only recently has it opened up a bit. It will be tough for the Ovens to come back, but not impossible, as they have 15 games remaining to the Birds’ 10 (if you leave off the bottom three on each team, it’s 12 games left to 8).
As you can see, the two contenders have had pretty even point totals for the past week, and also for the previous month, but the Walking Birds have a narrow 11-point lead this month. Points per game are practically tied.
Edit: Obviously I intended to get this out yesterday. With one day to go, the lead is 18 points, but the Dutch Ovens have 8 counting players playing today, to the Walking Birds 3 players. Can five players make up the 18-point gap? Yes, but it’s very unlikley.
As for the also-rans, there’s not much you can say about the Vegans and Albinos, who trail by almost 200 points. Surprisingly, the Aardvarks, usually a somewhat solid franchise, are 137 points back, in sixth place. They have really fallen off since owner Greg took up the hobby of trepanning. The laughable Minsk Uzbeks, the Savannah Bananas of our league, are in fifth place, and never threatened to win or to entertain. Camrose was in it for a while but faded to a 70-point deficit.
The big story down the stretch was the ongoing uncertainty surrounding the Kentville Moose. The team had a solid start, even grabbing first place at one point. But the strain of playing in a poor market in a small venue (the Hockey Hair Arena) has finally taken a toll. This franchise has moved three times in recent years, and now it can be confirmed that owner Phil Methot is moving them again, this time to Berwick, Nova Scotia. The hope is that the past failures will be forgotten and a new city will lead to a bigger fanbase. There is pressure to finally drop the “Moose” nickname that dates back to the Winnipeg Days, and get a fresh start. Methot is taking suggestions and a prize will be offered to the least offensive name.
Stay tuned for the final standings and an update on the ongoing Moose saga!
If You Could Read My Hockey Pool 