The World Hockey League, It's Back!!!

[Jacobseye]

19 hours ago, JCRGraphix said:

1996-97

 

 

The 1996-97 season saw one of the most dominant performances in the history of the WHL in Winnipeg's Mario Lemieux scoring an insane 73 goals in 72 games to capture the Delvecchio Trophy for leading scorer and the Howe Trophy for league MVP. The Lakers finished off way on top of the Western Division. In the Eastern European Division, Dominik Hasek has a career season finishing with a 1.22 GAA leading the Prague Golems for first place in the division. London had a great season finishing first in the Western European Division. Patrick Roy had yet another competitive season helping the Montreal Quebecois finish first in the Eastern Division. The Warsaw Winged Hussars just missed the playoffs, but had a great performance from rookie of the year Jarome Iginla. 

 

Winnipeg was as dominant in the playoffs sweeping the Phoenix Cougars in the first round and the Saskatoon Blazers in the second round after the Blazers defeated the St. Louis Clydesdales in 5 games. The Eastern Division was much more competitive with the Montreal Quebecois eliminating the Toronto Bucks in 7 games while the Boston Irish knocked out the Washington Eagles in 6 games. The Irish also eliminated the Quebecois in 6 games. 6 ended up being unlucky for the Irish though in the conference final as number 66 lead the Lakers to a win in game 6 to earn their first trip to the Global Cup.

 

In the Eastern European Division, the Prague Golems knocked out the St. Petersburg Horsemen in 6 games despite a great performance from the Horsemen. The Moscow Stars eliminated the Kiev Angels in 6 thanks to some amazing play by Nikolai Khabibulin and Sergei Fedorov. They went on to beat the Golems in 7 after losing a few difficult matches to open the series. In the West, the London Crown struggled to knock out the Belgrade Wolves in 7 games while the Cologne Magi beat the Helsinki Icebreakers in 5. The Magi went on to beat the injury-depleted London Crown in 6, but fell to the Moscow Stars in 7 games in the conference final. 

 

The Global Cup Finals were a wild one with Mario Lemieux playing other-worldly-caliber hockey. Fedorov led the scoring in the first few games helping the Stars jump to a 2-game lead, but Lemieux rallied the troops, and went on to score all 4 of the Lakers' goals in game 6 to win the Global Cup. After the celebration, Lemieux announced that he would not be returning for the 1997-98 season due to his illness. The Lakers immediately retired his number.

 

Regular Season Standings:

 

European Conference:

 

Eastern Division:
1. Prague Golems
2. Moscow Stars
3. Kiev Angels
4. St. Petersburg Horsemen
5. Nizhny Novgorod Comets
6. Minsk Bisons
7. Riga Griffins

 

Western Division:
1. London Crown 
2. Helsinki Icebreakers
3. Cologne Magi
4. Belgrade Wolves
5. Warsaw Winged Hussars
6. Stockholm Norsemen
7. Copenhagen Hammer

 

North American Conference:

 

Eastern Division:
1. Montreal Quebecois
2. Boston Irish
3. Washington Eagles
4. Toronto Bucks
5. Brooklyn Emperors
6. Buffalo Thunder
7. Chicago Cardinals

 

Western Division:
1. Winnipeg Lakers
2. Saskatoon Blazers
3. St. Louis Clydesdales
4. Phoenix Cougars
5. Ontario Americans
6. Seattle Orcas
7. Houston Stealth

 

LET'S GOOOOOOOO!  IT'S OUR TIME TO SHINE BABY!! It kinda hurts that Lemieux is gone. He will be missed by Laker fans. Its sort of bittersweet to think about it

[DCBayernfan28]

I really like the look of Saskatoon. Put me down as a fan! 

[BostonStrong13]

50 minutes ago, DCBayernfan28 said:

I really like the look of Saskatoon. Put me down as a fan! 

Let's not start with this again...

[JCRGraphix]

1997-98

 

The 1997-98 season was a rebuilding season for some of the powerhouses of the past few years. After starting off with 8 straight losses, the Kiev Angels traded star goalie Martin Brodeur to the Phoenix Cougars for Byron Dafoe, Joe Nieuwendyk, Paul Kariya, and their first round pick. The Boston Irish suffered through injuries the whole season but managed to sign Pavol Demitra and Ulf Samuelsson. Neither the Anges or Irish would make the playoffs in 1998. The Eastern European Division had some of the tightest competition with the Prague Golems and Moscow Stars duking it out for first place. Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek had stellar seasons helping the Golems finish first. Moscow had a fantastic season with Nikolai Khabibulin finishing second in voting for the Tretiak to Hasek. Rookie Sergei Samsonov also had a stellar season playing on the top line with Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure. The Niznhy Novgorod Comets had a late season run to make the playoffs for the first time. In the Western European Division, the Helsinki Icebreakers had an excellent year backstopped by Olaf Kolzig. They just beat out the Cologne Magi for first place. In the Eastern North American Division, the Toronto Bucks led by Wayne Gretzky had a solid season finishing first in the division in front of Montreal. The Buffalo Thunder earned their first trip to the playoffs as well. In the West, the newly re-branded Oakland Americans got a great performance from Trevor Kidd that put them atop the division. The Phoenix Cougars rode their new goalie to a second place finish and the Houston Stealth made their first trip to the playoffs since relocating from Halifax.

 

In the playoffs, the Oakland Americans beat the Houston Stealth in 5 games while the Phoenix Cougars eliminated the Winnipeg Lakers in 7 games. The Cougars went on to surprise the Americans in 6. In the East, the Toronto Bucks beat the Buffalo Thunder in 5 games while the Washington Eagles shocked the Montreal Quebecois in 6 games. The Bucks went on to knock out the Eagles in 7. The Bucks then had the bad fortune of being the first WHL franchise to blow a 3-0 lead as the Phoenix Cougars mounted an epic comeback to stamp their ticket to the Global Cup. 

 

In the Western European Division, the Helsinki Icebreakers used all 7 games to eliminate the Belgrade Wolves while the Cologne Magi needed 6 to knock out the London Crown. The Icebreakers went on to beat the Magi in 5 to win the division. In the Eastern Division, the Prague Golems swept the Nizhny Novgorod Comets. The St. Petersburg Horsemen almost advanced to the next round, but were halted by the Moscow Stars in 7 games.  The Stars had an easier time against the Prague Golems, but still needed 6 games to eliminate them. The Stars then went on to knock out the Helsinki Icebreakers in 5 games to return to the Global Cup. 

The Global Cup Final featured an unlikely matchup with the Phoenix Cougars facing the Moscow Stars, but the Stars were just too much for the Cougars knocking them out in 6 games to win their first Cup.

 

During the off-season, some big changes were made to the WHL. The Cologne Magi relocated to Amsterdam to become the Dutchmen while the Seattle Orcas moved across the border to become the Vancouver Spirits. Also, the league returned to the Los Angeles area and to Germany to fill the voids left by the Americans and Magi.

 

Regular Season Standings:

 

European Conference:

 

Eastern Division:
1. Prague Golems
2. Moscow Stars
3. St. Petersburg Horsemen
4. Nizhny Novgorod Comets
5. Kiev Angels
6. Riga Griffins
7. Minsk Bisons

 

Western Division:
1. Helsinki Icebreakers
2. Cologne Magi
3. London Crown
4. Belgrade Wolves
5. Stockholm Norsemen
6. Warsaw Winged Hussars
7. Copenhagen Hammer

 

North American Conference:

 

Eastern Division:
1. Toronto Bucks
2. Montreal Quebecois
3. Washington Eagles
4. Buffalo Thunder
5. Boston Irish
6. Brooklyn Emperors
7. Chicago Cardinals

 

Western Division:
1. Oakland Americans
2. Phoenix Cougars
3. Winnipeg Lakers
4. Houston Stealth
5. St. Louis Clydesdales
6. Saskatoon Blazers
7. Seattle Orcas

 

[New York's Greatest]

2 hours ago, JCRGraphix said:

 

For the this thread, I will not be getting in to the IHA, however, if anybody is interested in starting their own thread chronicling the IHA and even creating their own history, uniforms, franchises, etc. in addition to the ones I've already done in the original thread, you have my permission to use my graphic work to that end. Please PM me, and I'd be happy to send you the logos.

 

3 hours ago, BostonStrong13 said:

@JCRGraphix any chance u want me to do where the IHA teams relocate to?

Would it be possible if I could get in on the creating of more IHA franchises?

[JCRGraphix]

29 minutes ago, New York's Greatest said:

 

Would it be possible if I could get in on the creating of more IHA franchises?

 

PM BostonStrong13 on that. More concepts coming soon!

[Uglybus]

2 hours ago, DCBayernfan28 said:

I really like the look of Saskatoon. Put me down as a fan! 

I like you. 

 

Sincerely, the owner of the Saskatoon Blazers. 

[VitorioArts]

Okay. Caught up.

[willmoen]

12 minutes ago, VitorioArts said:

Wait, this is back up? Very confused. 

This time around, JCR is just giving a season by season review of the WHL. He showed all of the uniform histories for the original teams at the start, as you probably saw and when each new expansion team comes into the league, like this upcoming season, he will show the uniform histories for them. The only involvement from other members this time is helping write up certain seasons. The issue the first time was that it was turning into a simulation-type thread and not a concept orientated thread. Hopefully this all makes sense.

[VitorioArts]

1 minute ago, willmoen said:

This time around, JCR is just giving a season by season review of the WHL. He showed all of the uniform histories for the original teams at the start, as you probably saw and when each new expansion team comes into the league, like this upcoming season, he will show the uniform histories for them. The only involvement from other members this time is helping write up certain seasons. The issue the first time was that it was turning into a simulation-type thread and not a concept orientated thread. Hopefully this all makes sense.

 

Thanks bud!

[Spanna65]

Houston didn't come last in their division! About time.

[BurdBranding]

11 hours ago, JCRGraphix said:

1997-98

 

The 1997-98 season was a rebuilding season for some of the powerhouses of the past few years. After starting off with 8 straight losses, the Kiev Angels traded star goalie Martin Brodeur to the Phoenix Cougars for Byron Dafoe, Joe Nieuwendyk, Paul Kariya, and their first round pick. The Boston Irish suffered through injuries the whole season but managed to sign Pavol Demitra and Ulf Samuelsson. Neither the Anges or Irish would make the playoffs in 1998. The Eastern European Division had some of the tightest competition with the Prague Golems and Moscow Stars duking it out for first place. Jaromir Jagr and Dominik Hasek had stellar seasons helping the Golems finish first. Moscow had a fantastic season with Nikolai Khabibulin finishing second in voting for the Tretiak to Hasek. Rookie Sergei Samsonov also had a stellar season playing on the top line with Sergei Fedorov and Pavel Bure. The Niznhy Novgorod Comets had a late season run to make the playoffs for the first time. In the Western European Division, the Helsinki Icebreakers had an excellent year backstopped by Olaf Kolzig. They just beat out the Cologne Magi for first place. In the Eastern North American Division, the Toronto Bucks led by Wayne Gretzky had a solid season finishing first in the division in front of Montreal. The Buffalo Thunder earned their first trip to the playoffs as well. In the West, the newly re-branded Oakland Americans got a great performance from Trevor Kidd that put them atop the division. The Phoenix Cougars rode their new goalie to a second place finish and the Houston Stealth made their first trip to the playoffs since relocating from Halifax.

 

In the playoffs, the Oakland Americans beat the Houston Stealth in 5 games while the Phoenix Cougars eliminated the Winnipeg Lakers in 7 games. The Cougars went on to surprise the Americans in 6. In the East, the Toronto Bucks beat the Buffalo Thunder in 5 games while the Washington Eagles shocked the Montreal Quebecois in 6 games. The Bucks went on to knock out the Eagles in 7. The Bucks then had the bad fortune of being the first WHL franchise to blow a 3-0 lead as the Phoenix Cougars mounted an epic comeback to stamp their ticket to the Global Cup. 

 

In the Western European Division, the Helsinki Icebreakers used all 7 games to eliminate the Belgrade Wolves while the Cologne Magi needed 6 to knock out the London Crown. The Icebreakers went on to beat the Magi in 5 to win the division. In the Eastern Division, the Prague Golems swept the Nizhny Novgorod Comets. The St. Petersburg Horsemen almost advanced to the next round, but were halted by the Moscow Stars in 7 games.  The Stars had an easier time against the Prague Golems, but still needed 6 games to eliminate them. The Stars then went on to knock out the Helsinki Icebreakers in 5 games to return to the Global Cup. 

The Global Cup Final featured an unlikely matchup with the Phoenix Cougars facing the Moscow Stars, but the Stars were just too much for the Cougars knocking them out in 6 games to win their first Cup.

 

During the off-season, some big changes were made to the WHL. The Cologne Magi relocated to Amsterdam to become the Dutchmen while the Seattle Orcas moved across the border to become the Vancouver Spirits. Also, the league returned to the Los Angeles area and to Germany to fill the voids left by the Americans and Magi.

 

Regular Season Standings:

 

European Conference:

 

Eastern Division:
1. Prague Golems
2. Moscow Stars
3. St. Petersburg Horsemen
4. Nizhny Novgorod Comets
5. Kiev Angels
6. Riga Griffins
7. Minsk Bisons

 

Western Division:
1. Helsinki Icebreakers
2. Cologne Magi
3. London Crown
4. Belgrade Wolves
5. Stockholm Norsemen
6. Warsaw Winged Hussars
7. Copenhagen Hammer

 

North American Conference:

 

Eastern Division:
1. Toronto Bucks
2. Montreal Quebecois
3. Washington Eagles
4. Buffalo Thunder
5. Boston Irish
6. Brooklyn Emperors
7. Chicago Cardinals

 

Western Division:
1. Oakland Americans
2. Phoenix Cougars
3. Winnipeg Lakers
4. Houston Stealth
5. St. Louis Clydesdales
6. Saskatoon Blazers
7. Seattle Orcas

 

We.... we won? Oh wow geez.... What a time

[DCBayernfan28]

Sucks to see Saskatoon not make the playoffs. Hopefully next season they can. 

[BostonStrong13]

Ph...pho... Phoenix..?

[osctheg]

cmon belgrade. get out of first round. u r like the bengals

[JCRGraphix]

Now that we're moving on to the 1998-99 season, let's take a look at the first of the expansion teams, the Hollywood Dragons:

 

The Dragons took to the ice with these retro-inspired jerseys in 1998:

 

In 2007, the Dragons made a change to their white jersey:

 

In 2011, the Dragons updated their red jersey:

 

In 2013, a red and metallic gold alternate jersey was added:

[JCRGraphix]

The other expansion team was the Mannheim Motors, named for Mannheim being the home of Karl Benz, the inventor of the automobile. I lived in Mannheim for a year, and it's a very cool and hip city, so they got a modern and cool look in 1998:

 

In 2008, the Motors updated their look:

 

In 2012, the Motors followed the retro trend and came up with a more traditional look:

[JCRGraphix]

1998-99

 

 

The 1998-99 season saw a resurgence of some former powerhouses, and the emergence of some others. Two years prior, the Montreal Quebecois traded up to the first overall draft pick of the 1997 draft, where they picked Joe Thornton. He would make his WHL debut in the 1998-99 season leading rookies with 41 goals. With Thornton's solid rookie season, Steve Yzerman playing well, and Patrick Roy winning the Tretiak Trophy, the Montreal Quebecois looked better than ever. The Toronto Bucks finished second in the division behind Montreal thanks to the outstanding play of goalie Sean Burke, defensemen Chris Chelios, and Wayne Gretzky who announced it would be his final season. Third and fourth place were earned by the Boston Irish and Washington Eagles respectively. The Irish returned to power thanks to a solid year by goalie Ed Belfour, the defense of Niklas Lidstrom, and the scoring of young stars Pavol Demitra and Martin St. Louis. 

 

In the Western Division, the Winnipeg Lakers recovered well from the departure of Mario Lemieux with the gritty play of Claude Lemieux and Wendell Clark, the scoring of Brett Hull, and the goaltending of Mike Vernon elevating them back to first in the division. The Phoenix Cougars had another excellent season backstopped by Martin Brodeur finishing second. The St. Louis Clydesdales had an interesting season, jumping out to a huge division lead, but settling down and finishing third. They were led by Steve Shields in net, and the scoring power of Jason Allison and Alexei Zhitnik. The Vancouver Spirits (formerly the Seatte Orcas) found their way back to the playoffs thanks to Mark Messier and Joe Sakic recovering from multi-season slumps. They still had some serious concerns in net with Dan Cloutier serving as their starter.

 

In the Eastern European Division, the Moscow Stars were dominant again thanks to amazing play by Sergei Fedorov and Alexei Yashin. The Prague Golems had another decent season with Jaromir Jagr winning the Delvecchio Trophy as leading scorer and Dominik Hasek having an excellent year in net. The Riga Griffins returned to the playoff picture thanks to a good performance by Arturs Irbe and youngsters Milan Hejduk and Vincent Lecavlier. The Kiev Angels also returned to the playoffs thanks to a solid year by Byron Dafoe, Joe Nieuwendyk, Paul Kariya, and Mike Modano.

 

The Western European Division was dominated by the Helsinki Icebreakers who led the entire year thanks to the outstanding play of Olaf Kolzig, Eric Lindros, and Peter Forsberg. The Belgrade Wolves finished second in the division with Mike Richter in net, and Keith Tkachuk and Chris Pronger leading the club. The Stockholm Norsemen found their way back to the playoffs thanks to a good year by John Vanbiesbrouck, Jeremy Roenick, and Daniel Alfredsson. Perhaps the most surprising team was the brand new Mannheim Motors who made some big trades to acquire Ron Tugnutt from Toronto. Tugnutt along with youngsters Scott Niedermayer and Olli Jokinen helped the Motors to a 10 game win streak to make the playoffs in their first year.

 

The 1999 playoffs had somme pretty big upsets, but ended up with some familiar faces finishing well. In the Easter European Division, the Moscow Stars knocked out the Kiev Angels in 6 games while the Riga Griffins fought their way through 7 games with the Prague Golems. The Stars went on to eliminate Griffins in 6 games to win the division. In the Western European, the Mannheim Motors upset in the heavily-favored Helsinki Icebreakers in 7 games while the Belgrade Wolves beat the Stockholm Norsemen in 6. The Wolves had no problem with the Motors though in the division finals beating them in 5, however they would go on to fall to the Moscow Stars in 5 ensuring the Stars third consecutive trip to the Global Cup finals.

 

In the North American Conference, things were more decisive. In the East, the Montreal Quebecois swept the Washington Eagles while the Toronto Bucks eliminated the Boston Irish in 5 games. The Bucks went on to beat the Quebecois in 6 games. In the West, the Winnipeg Lakers fell to the Vancouver Spirits in 6 games, and the Phoenix Cougars beat the St. Louis Clydesdales in 5. The Spirits went on to knock out the Cougars in 6 games. The North American Conference Finals was a whale of a matchup going to game 7 which was setted in overtime by Kris Draper of the Bucks to earn the Bucks' first trip to the finals since 1992.

 

The 1999 Global Cup Finals weren't very competitive, but were a great way for the great one to go out. After beating the Stars in the first two games in Moscow, the Bucks got to take the series back to Toronto. Game 3 was settled by a John Cullen goal in double overtime to put the Bucks up 3 games to none. Game 4 was essentially won in the first period when Wayne Gretzky netted two goals and Chris Chelios added a third. Two more Bucks goals were scored and the Stars added one, but going into the thrid period, the game was over. With a minute left in the game, Wayne Gretzky took to the ice for the final time to thunderous applause which continued until the clock ticked down to zero and the Toronto Bucks were presented the Global Cup. After the game, the Bucks announced that they would be immediately retiring the number 99. 

 

During the offseason, the Houston Stealth announced that the 1999-2000 season would be their last in Texas and they were moving back to Halifax. Another expansion was announced for the 2000-01 season with new WHL teams in Minnesota and another in the Ukraine.

 

Regular Season Standings:

 

European Conference:

 

Eastern Division:
1. Moscow Stars
2. Prague Golems
3. Riga Griffins
4. Kiev Angels
5. St. Petersburg Horsemen
6. Nizhny Novgorod Comets
7. Minsk Bisons

 

Western Division:
1. Helsinki Icebreakers
2. Belgrade Wolves
3. Stockholm Norsemen
4. Mannheim Motors
5. London Crown
6. Warsaw Winged Hussars
7. Amsterdam Dutchmen
8. Copenhagen Hammer

 

North American Conference:

 

Eastern Division:
1. Montreal Quebecois
2. Toronto Bucks
3. Boston Irish
4. Washington Eagles
5. Chicago Cardinals
6. Buffalo Thunder
7. Brooklyn Emperors

 

Western Division:
1. Winnipeg Lakers
2. Phoenix Cougars
3. St. Louis Clydesdales
4. Vancouver Spirits
5. Saskatoon Blazers 
6. Oakland Americans
7. Houston Stealth
8. Hollywood Dragons

 

[New York's Greatest]

YYYYEEEESSSSS LES QUEBECOIS GOT JUMBO JOE THORNTON!!!!

[JCRGraphix]

So here's the deal moving forward, since we have new content writers starting next season. I will post the starting goalie. and top stars of each team. The new writer will PM me the summary of the season and final season standings as well as the first and second rounds of the playoffs. To ensure fairness, I will handle the conference finals and Global Cup Finals. I do reserve the right to veto any wild trades, so let's keep this realistic and fun! Once I've had the chance to review and provide the artwork, I'll post it giving the writer the appropriate credit.

 

The following seasons are still available: 2001-02, 2009-10, 2010-11