Pro Curling

[kevsim1]

I'm gonna bet on the Monsters. they're hot lately.

Their only two losses however came at the hands of the Pittsburgh Challengers

Valid point, valid point.

[JMurr]

1894 Season 1 Title Match 1

So the champion is, the Milwaukee Monsters.

[thepjguy]

God damned Monsters always messing with my Checkers!! I love this series!!

[BigRed618]

That Monsters logo is awfully detailed for something from the Victorian era.

[JMurr]

Offseason action

On Monday, February 19 it was announced that a new expansion team would be joining the league for the 1895 season. The franchise will be called the St. Louis Steamers and they will play at St. Louis Exposition and Music Hall in St. Louis, Missouri. The owners of the franchise will be Henry Huttleston Rogers and Mark Twain. Rogers is the majority owner with 70% stake in the team, but Twain is the controlling partner.

This is the clubs logo.

On Saturday, March 17 a month after winning the Title Match Milwaukee unveiled the logo for Title Match 2 which they will host. The Title Match is always hosted by the defending champion.

This is the logo.

The offseason schedule was announced as follows

Cut Dates: (in this league cut dates are the days assigned to teams to make decisions about resigning or letting go of free agents and coaches)

Monday, April 2, 1894 – Milwaukee Monsters

Tuesday, April 3, 1894 – Pittsburgh Challengers

Wednesday, April 4, 1894 – Boston Checkers

Thursday, April 5, 1894 – Cleveland Standards

Coach Week: (in this league coach week is the week in which teams that have released their coaches have to sign a new one. all teams must have a coach signed by the end of the week)

Friday, April 6, 1894 – Thursday, April 12, 1894

Signing Dates: (in this league signing dates are the days assigned to each team to sign free agents)

Monday, April 16, 1894 – St. Louis Steamers

Tuesday, April 17, 1894 – Cleveland Standards

Wednesday, April 18, 1894 – Boston Checkers

Thursday, April 19, 1894 – Pittsburgh Challengers

Friday, April 20, 1894 – Milwaukee Monsters

Draft:

Sunday, June 24, 1894

[JMurr]

1895 Schedule

January 5

Boston Checkers @ Cleveland Standards

January 12

Milwaukee Monsters @ Pittsburgh Challengers

Cleveland Standards @ St. Louis Steamers

January 19

St. Louis Steamers @ Boston Checkers

January 26

Milwaukee Monsters @ Boston Checkers

Pittsburgh Challengers @ Cleveland Standards

February 2

Milwaukee Monsters @ Cleveland Standards

Pittsburgh Challengers @ St. Louis Steamers

February 9

St. Louis Steamers @ Milwaukee Monsters

Boston Checkers @ Pittsburgh Challengers

February 16

Cleveland Standards @ Boston Checkers

February 23

Pittsburgh Challengers @ Milwaukee Monsters

St. Louis Steamers @ Cleveland Standards

March 2

Boston Checkers @ St. Louis Steamers

March 9

Boston Checkers @ Milwaukee Monsters

Cleveland Standards @ Pittsburgh Challengers

March 16

Cleveland Standards @ Milwaukee Monsters

St. Louis Steamers @ Pittsburgh Challengers

March 23

Milwaukee Monsters @ St. Louis Steamers

Pittsburgh Challengers @ Boston Checkers

March 30 Title Match II

[JMurr]

Monday, April 2, 1894

Milwaukee Monsters cut date

The Monsters two Alternates were up as free agents. However the Monsters were reluctant to let them go because first Alternate Rudolf Slonimsky had saved their season and helped them get to and win the Title Match. Furthermore when Second Ben Fadden went out in injury during the Title Match the Monsters feared that would cost them the game. However they then inserted Alternate 2 Nicholas Woodger, who was making his debut, turns out Woodger was outstanding and helped the team to a Title Match championship.

One option for the team was to find a trade partner to trade one of their weaker players but when no team would make a deal with the team they decided it would be easier to find a new coach then replace the talents of Slonimsky and Woodger. Thus the Monsters resigned those two players to new three year contracts and let coach Joseph Stumpf go. They also made adjustments to their lineup by moving Slonimsky and Woodger into starting positions, Second and Lead respectively, while Ben Fadden and Arthur Hess were moved to Alternate positions.

The primary coaching target of the Monsters is to steal Boston Checkers coach Woodrow von Bartels away from that team. Von Bartels had previously worked for William Cameron Coup, the owner of the Monsters, when Coup owned the Checkers. Von Bartels is considering the offer.

[JMurr]

Tuesday, April 3, 1894

Pittsburgh Challengers cut date

Like the Monsters the Challengers had both of their alternates up for contract renegotiation. Unlike the Monsters however their decision was a little easier. Quickly they brought Coach Benjamin Whymper back for another season (side note coaches contracts in this league are all year to year). The decision between their two Alternates was easy. 1^st Alternate John Baker had performed consistently for the team, helping them get to the Title Match even when the team lost Vice John Sampson to injury in week 3. 2^nd Alternate Percy Ford however was ineffective on the rear occasion the team used him. Therefore the choice was simple, the team resigned John Baker to a new three year contract and released Percy Ford to free agency. Baker is also thought to be more skilled then Lead William Holland so Coach Whymper also made the adjustment of moving Holland down to the 1^st Alternate position while moving Baker up to the Lead position.

The Challengers plan to pick up a rookie in the draft to fill their vacant 2^nd Alternate position. However this is of course subject to change should they see any free agents come on the market that they fell will fit well on their team.

[grant1woods]

I think this is Bostons year

[Evil G]

Milwaukee will defend!

[kevsim1]

Gotta say, It'll be tough to beat the Monsters, but I'll go off the board ans take Pittsburgh.

[JMurr]

Wednesday, April 4, 1894

Boston Checkers cut date

The Milwaukee Monsters made an offer to Checkers Coach Woodrow von Bartels to become their new head coach. However von Bartels put an end to the speculation that he might leave the Checkers early this morning by signing on to coach the Checkers for another year. With the coaching issue resolved von Bartels was able to focus on what needed to be done for improving the team’s personnel.

The Checkers two players up as free agents were Second Frederick Cullinan and Alternate Two Isham Helton. Helton had proved to be ineffective this season so the Checkers easily let him go with the belief that they could replace him in the draft. Cullinan was also released by the team because they reached an understanding with Cleveland Standards free agent Alfonso Hecht, who is a Boston native. Hecht was key to the Standards improvement in the second half of the season and he approached the Checkers about coming to play in his hometown. Cullinan would not likely have been released had Hecht not sought a position with the Checkers but none the less he did.

So Hecht is likely to walk away from the Cleveland Standards when they go into their cuts tomorrow. In other news the Milwaukee Monsters have now turned their search for a new coach to Cleveland Standards head coach Ben Buchanan. Buchanan is seriously considering the offer especially now that the Standards will be losing a key player.

[JMurr]

Thursday, April 5, 1894

Cleveland Standards cut date

At the half way point of last season the Standards had yet to win a game. However in the second half of their season their Second Alternate Alfonso Hecht emerged as a promising player. With his help the team would tie the Checkers and beat the Challengers. Their success in the second half of the season seemed to be setting them up for a good 1895 season but then Hecht, who is at the end of his contract this offseason, decided he rather play in Boston his hometown. With him announcing his intention to leave in the offseason Coach Ben Buchanan’s decision to accept an offer to become the head coach of the Milwaukee Monsters became an easy one.

Facing a total rebuild of the team they also let go their other free agent Lead Ludwig Macmillan. However they have reached a tentative agreement for him to become the team’s new coach.

So following their cut date this is how their roster looks:

[kevsim1]

Boy, I tell ya, Hecht was a hell of a player. The Checkers seem to be getting stronger by the day. Gonna be tough for my Monsters.

[JMurr]

Friday, April 6, 1894 – Thursday, April 12, 1894

Coach Week

Going into Coach Week there were three coaching vacancies; Milwaukee Monsters, Cleveland Standards, and St. Louis Steamers. Most everyone already knew who they intended to sign so on the first day of Coach Week two of those vacancies were filled and one former head coach signed on to a new deal. The first to sign right away was Ben Buchanan, former Standards coach, who accepted the Milwaukee Monsters head coaching job. Latter on the same day, Friday April 6, The Standards hired their former player Ludwig Macmillan to be their second head coach. Milwaukee Monsters former head coach Joseph Stumpf also found a new job on the first day of Coach Week. The Standards and Steamers both made it known to him that they would hire him as their head coach; however Stumpf preferred to sign with the Boston Checkers as assistant to Woodrow von Bartels. So the man who led the Monsters to the Title Match win last year will spend this season as an assistant coach in Boston. Another promising sign this off-season for the Checkers.

The Steamers job has been viewed around the league as the least desirable. The uncertainty of an expansion team means a coach who signs on for this job has no idea what he will have to work with, most likely a lot of rookies. This meant that the Steamers were not able to sign their coach on the first day of Coach Week; they really had to wait for all other vacancies to fill. Mark Twain the controlling partner in the ownership group of the Steamers offered the job to Milwaukee Monsters former head coach Joseph Stumpf. Stumpf turned down the offer stating he is not interested in coaching in St. Louis. On Saturday, April 7, 1894 the Steamers were finally able to make a hire when they signed former Boston Checker Frederick Cullinan as their head coach.

So that was coaching week and it left us with the following list of head coaches for the 1895 season:

Milwaukee Monsters – Ben Buchanan

Pittsburgh Challengers – Benjamin Whymper

Boston Checkers – Woodrow von Bartels

Cleveland Standards – Ludwig Macmillan

St. Louis Steamers – Frederick Cullinan

[grant1woods]

Gettin psyched for the upcoming season!!!!

[kevsim1]

Maybe some of those coaches will regret passing on the Steamers' job, because I think they could be a competitive team. No real weak team this season. Gonna be a dogfight.

GO MONSTERS!

[JMurr]

So while I like taking time with all of this, I think everyone is eager to get to the next season. So being that tonight is Friday I am going to wrap up the remaining off season details so that I can clear the way to bring you more Curling action.

Monday, April 16, 1894

St. Louis Steamers signing day

The Steamers were unimpressed with the lot of free agents that were available. The only one that seemed to be worth their while is Alfonso Hecht but he has already committed to signing with the Boston Checkers. The team was ready to go with an all rookie team but then coach Cullinan decided it would be beneficial to at least have one voice of experience on the team, so they signed former Pittsburgh Challengers Percy Ford to a 1 year deal as their Second Alternate.

They have decided to fill the remaining five spots on their roster at the draft.

Tuesday, April 17, 1894

Cleveland Standards signing day

The Standards signed no free agents. They have decided to fill their two vacancies at the draft.

[JMurr]

Wednesday, April 18, 1894

Boston Checkers signing day

The big day for Alfonso Hecht and the Boston Checkers. Hecht was finally allowed to sign a new three year deal with the Checkers. The Boston native will play the Second position for the Checkers on a roster that many are calling the most improved for the coming season.

Thursday, April 19, 1894

Pittsburgh Challengers signing day

The Challengers signed no free agents. They have decided to pick up a rookie at the draft to fill their vacancy at Second Alternate.

[JMurr]

_{Friday, April 20, 1894}

_{Milwaukee Monsters signing day}

_{The Monsters have a complete roster so they have no need to sign free agents or attend the draft.}