The 25th
anniversary season of the WHL saw the
Sudbury Wolves win a record setting 6th WHL Championship and their second in a
row with 466 goals. The previous record
of 5 Championships was first attained by
Bada Bing in 2014-2015 and was then tied
in 2019-2020 when the Anastasia Sea Dogs
won their fifth championship. The Wolves
set several new all-time records and
seasonal records with their run to the
championship. The Sudbury Wolves have
the most seasons in the money standings
all-time with 18, and the highest money
winning total all-time with $6440. Also
setting Team of the Month records with
118 goals for March and 97 goals for a
standard month in January, and MacKinnon
set a new record of 20 goals in one Team
of the Month for players in March. The
Wolves were led by their first round
pick David Pastrnak scoring 61 goals and
players J Hughes 43 goals and MacKinnon
42 goals both obtained in trades and
eight round pick Schiefele with 42
goals. One of the original members of
the WHL GM Jay had a long and boring
thank you speech at the parade thanking
everyone from his dogs, Ronald Reagan,
and his well stocked garage
refrigerator. Contacted by phone by ESPN
all Jay said was "I won?" then hung up.
Coming in second place with an impressive rookie season was the Clucter Pucks with 427 goals. Despite a disappointing season from 1st round pick DeBrincat 27 goals and 3rd round pick Norris 2 goals, the C-Pucks came up with fantastic draft picks like Robertson 46 goals 2nd round, McCann 40 goals 10th round, Cozens in the extra 22nd round with 31 goals, Keller 7th round 37 goals, and Bratt 9th round 32 goals. Not to mention drafting the defenseman of the year Erik Karlsson 25 goals in the 20th round! Freshman GM "The Kid" Tyler stated that "I may be young compared to the other fossils in this league but I still know shit from Shinola, whatever that means?" The C-Pucks also improved by fleecing the king of the fossils Sudbury Wolves GM Jay by obtaining Stutzle 39 goals for the disappointing Debrincat 27 goals. The future looks bright for the Cluster Pucks!
The Vandelay Industries finished in third place with 392 goals their 3rd season in a row in the money standings (after missing in their rookie season) and the highest finish in their short history. Vandelay did very well with their top 4 entry draft picks with 1st pick Rantanen 55 goals, 2nd pick Aho 36 goals, 3rd pick Nylander 40 goals and 4th round pick Meier's 40 goals. One of the best draft picks of the 2022-2023 season saw the Vandelay Industries selecting 37 goal scorer Nugent-Hopkins in the 20th round! Lacking a rookie with the disappointing Wright having only 1 goal they were forced to exchange Aho 36 goals and obtained Perron 24 goals and rookie Quinn 14 goals from the Sudbury Wolves to fill the void. GM JayJ who is also a marine biologist was asked if he could articulate how he felt this season went for his team he said, "Articulate-me? I've never articulated anything, I'm completely incoherent." The Son of Rudy finished in 4th place with 390 goals their 2nd season in the money standings and first since the 2015-2016 season. They were led by the WHL MVP Connor McDavid who tickled the twine 64 times, one short of Ovechkin's record of 65 goals achieved for the Sudbury Wolves back in 2007-2008. Career years for Horvat 38, Hyman 36, Hischier 31, and Hagel 30 insured Son of Rudy would finish strongly. Son of Rudy GM Guido was quoted as saying "this season was a stepping stone for us as we plan on building a dynasty like the Bada Bing and Anastasia Sea Dogs did in the past." We shall see if this bold statement from Guido has any merit real soon, or maybe not.
Rounding out the money standings was Winter is Coming scoring 382 goals to finish in 5th place. This is the third time finishing in the money standings in an 8 year career for Winter is Coming. GM William said "this was a disappointing finish for our organization after being the only team to draft four 40 goal scorers in the entry draft, (Thompson 47, J Hughes 43, Verhaeghe 42, and Kaprizov 40). I was busy dealing with hordes of adoring female fans at one of my gigs (please visit https://jitbtunes.com/) when a call came though from GM Jay of the Sudbury Wolves asking for Jack Hughes and I said yeah, whatever, I'm busy." Unfortunately for Winter is Coming the trade cost him, but he still had a good night! The remaining teams that finished out of the money this season were all contacted to make a short statement regarding their disappointing year.
Fighting Imps GM Dan; "Listen up imitation chicken, I'm having a party at my upstate secluded cabin, don't ever call me here again!" Big Three GM's Ron and Michael; Ron, "My picks worked out fine, it was Michaels picks that were the problem." Michael, "Everyone knows I'm the brains of this organization and will continue to prop up the old man." Helmut GM Kenny; "I am Helmut. I am Helmut. I am Helmut. Aaaaarrrrrrrgggggguuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh...." Anastasia Sea Dogs GM Fred; "You'll be hearing from my lawyers you bumbling shit muffin." Reservoir Dogs GM Jesse; "You kids shouldn't play so rough. Somebody's gonna start crying." Bada Bing GM Joe; "Look... all I remember is that I went to a little diner with the family to have a bite to eat, and all of a sudden everything goes dark!"
INDIVIDUAL PLAYERS
AWARDS FOR THE 2022-2023 WHL
Season
Most Valuable Player:
Connor McDavid
64 goals - Son of Rudy
Rookie of the Year: TIE:
Wyatt Johnston 24 goals
- Winter is Coming || Matty
Beniers 24 goals - Sudbury Wolves
Defenseman of the Year:
Erik Karlsson 25
goals - Cluster Pucks
WHL PLAYOFFS
The third year of WHL Playoffs hockey saw the Vandelay Industries edging out the Son of Rudy in the finals 6 to 5. The Vandelay Industries become the first team to win two playoff championship as they won the inaugural playoffs in 2019-2020. With both teams only having one player, Vandelay's defenseman Montour was able to top Son of Rudy's forward R Smith with a late assist in the final game.
STATISTICAL RECAPS
The standings from the original drafted teams, no
re-entry, no trades.
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