New Talent: Write about which S8 trade will or did have the biggest impact in the playoffs.
I don’t know that anyone outside of New Orleans would have expected the Second Line to make the playoffs so soon after a substantial rebuild. The GMs there have done a tremendous job getting that team competitive in a short amount of time. Analysts and fans are left to wonder how much they gave up and how long their success will last, but for this season, no one can argue with a playoff berth and a shot at the Ultimus.
So who’s their new talent who contributed so much to their success this season? Well, it’s pretty much everyone. They built their team from the ground up, with tons of free agent signings and some solid draft picks. There is essentially no one on that team who was there back when they were the Legion. The whole team has contributed to their success, and they’re basically all new talent. Thus, the big free agent move and/or trade would have to be building the entire team. They may not have gotten the job done and brought home the ultimate trophy (Oh, I get the name now!), but no one can deny the excellent work that their front office did in making that team into a competitor.
Word count: 206
Playoff Series MVP: Choose an MVP for one of the playoff series and write about why you chose them.
My MVP for the Ultimus game is an excellent candidate, though maybe not the one everyone would expect. Based on season performance and importance of the position, it looks like Mat Akselsen would be the consensus pick for MVP of that game; however, he’s not my pick. He was important in that victory, sure. He threw for a ton of yards, ran for a few more, and threw for a key touchdown that arguably put the game away for the Wraiths. But the man who put more points on the board and really set the tone for that entire game was Yellowknife running back Robby Rainey. He had two touchdowns in the first half and outscored the Second Line offense all by himself. He may not have run for 100 yards, and his YPC was nothing to write home about, but his ability to get it done when it mattered the most is what was so valuable to his team. The defense did their work as well, holding New Orleans to only 13 points in four quarters, but you can’t win if you don’t score points, and the Wraiths -- and Robby Rainey -- scored plenty of them. That’s why he’s my MVP.
Word count: 201
Hate the player or the game: Tell us which team made the playoffs and shouldn't have, or which team didn't and should have?
It’s always hard to say one team who didn’t do so should have made the playoffs, because it means one of the teams who did get in shouldn’t have. Nevertheless, sometimes a case needs to be made, and this year was a real doozy as far as the NSFC playoff race was concerned. The Wraiths were the obvious favorites going in to the season, and they did not disappoint. Posting an 11-3 record, no one else in the conference was even close to challenging them for the top spot. The other three teams made it tricky, however, as to who would get in behind them. Both the Hawks and the Liberty were able to get seven wins apiece, and the Yeti were close behind at six wins. The Hawks ended up getting in, but who should have gotten in instead?
As a Yeti fanboi, you might expect me to argue for them. After all, they had an incredible season that defied all expectations, and they even managed to beat the ever-competitive Otters at home. But no, they didn’t do quite enough in the end to get into the playoffs, so it was right that they were kept out. Rather, it was the Liberty that should have gotten in over the Hawks. In what turned out to be Oles’ last ride in the NSFL, it would have been nice to see him get one last shot in the playoffs and see what he could do. But after the fire sale that saw almost all of their talent leave at the trade deadline, it was not meant to be.
Word count: 267
Unsung Hero:Who was the unsung hero of the playoffs, convince us.
While he’s not a player who flies under the radar, exactly, Dermot Lavelle had an excellent run in the playoffs that ultimately saw his team win the most coveted prize in the NSFL, the Ultimus Trophy. What made his play particularly special was his ability to contribute on both sides of the ball. As far as I’m aware, no other player has ever been as successful at playing on both offense and defense (and even in the return game!) as Lavelle. There are players like Boss Tweed, Eli Kamaka, and Angus Winchester who have transitioned from one side of the ball to the other, but that’s a far different feat than playing in all facets of the game in a single performance.
He was no slouch on offense or defense either. In fact, his presence in just about every minute of the game didn’t seem to have a negative impact on his play at all. In the first playoff game against the Baltimore Hawks, he had one catch for 31 yards, but it just happened to be a touchdown. On defense, he amassed 9 tackles before the end of the game. In the Ultimus championship game, he was credited with another 2 catches for 49 yards and added 5 tackles, 2 passes deflected, and an interception. With performances like that on both offense and defense, it’s easy to see why he was my unsung hero of the playoffs.
Word count: 238
I don’t know that anyone outside of New Orleans would have expected the Second Line to make the playoffs so soon after a substantial rebuild. The GMs there have done a tremendous job getting that team competitive in a short amount of time. Analysts and fans are left to wonder how much they gave up and how long their success will last, but for this season, no one can argue with a playoff berth and a shot at the Ultimus.
So who’s their new talent who contributed so much to their success this season? Well, it’s pretty much everyone. They built their team from the ground up, with tons of free agent signings and some solid draft picks. There is essentially no one on that team who was there back when they were the Legion. The whole team has contributed to their success, and they’re basically all new talent. Thus, the big free agent move and/or trade would have to be building the entire team. They may not have gotten the job done and brought home the ultimate trophy (Oh, I get the name now!), but no one can deny the excellent work that their front office did in making that team into a competitor.
Word count: 206
Playoff Series MVP: Choose an MVP for one of the playoff series and write about why you chose them.
My MVP for the Ultimus game is an excellent candidate, though maybe not the one everyone would expect. Based on season performance and importance of the position, it looks like Mat Akselsen would be the consensus pick for MVP of that game; however, he’s not my pick. He was important in that victory, sure. He threw for a ton of yards, ran for a few more, and threw for a key touchdown that arguably put the game away for the Wraiths. But the man who put more points on the board and really set the tone for that entire game was Yellowknife running back Robby Rainey. He had two touchdowns in the first half and outscored the Second Line offense all by himself. He may not have run for 100 yards, and his YPC was nothing to write home about, but his ability to get it done when it mattered the most is what was so valuable to his team. The defense did their work as well, holding New Orleans to only 13 points in four quarters, but you can’t win if you don’t score points, and the Wraiths -- and Robby Rainey -- scored plenty of them. That’s why he’s my MVP.
Word count: 201
Hate the player or the game: Tell us which team made the playoffs and shouldn't have, or which team didn't and should have?
It’s always hard to say one team who didn’t do so should have made the playoffs, because it means one of the teams who did get in shouldn’t have. Nevertheless, sometimes a case needs to be made, and this year was a real doozy as far as the NSFC playoff race was concerned. The Wraiths were the obvious favorites going in to the season, and they did not disappoint. Posting an 11-3 record, no one else in the conference was even close to challenging them for the top spot. The other three teams made it tricky, however, as to who would get in behind them. Both the Hawks and the Liberty were able to get seven wins apiece, and the Yeti were close behind at six wins. The Hawks ended up getting in, but who should have gotten in instead?
As a Yeti fanboi, you might expect me to argue for them. After all, they had an incredible season that defied all expectations, and they even managed to beat the ever-competitive Otters at home. But no, they didn’t do quite enough in the end to get into the playoffs, so it was right that they were kept out. Rather, it was the Liberty that should have gotten in over the Hawks. In what turned out to be Oles’ last ride in the NSFL, it would have been nice to see him get one last shot in the playoffs and see what he could do. But after the fire sale that saw almost all of their talent leave at the trade deadline, it was not meant to be.
Word count: 267
Unsung Hero:Who was the unsung hero of the playoffs, convince us.
While he’s not a player who flies under the radar, exactly, Dermot Lavelle had an excellent run in the playoffs that ultimately saw his team win the most coveted prize in the NSFL, the Ultimus Trophy. What made his play particularly special was his ability to contribute on both sides of the ball. As far as I’m aware, no other player has ever been as successful at playing on both offense and defense (and even in the return game!) as Lavelle. There are players like Boss Tweed, Eli Kamaka, and Angus Winchester who have transitioned from one side of the ball to the other, but that’s a far different feat than playing in all facets of the game in a single performance.
He was no slouch on offense or defense either. In fact, his presence in just about every minute of the game didn’t seem to have a negative impact on his play at all. In the first playoff game against the Baltimore Hawks, he had one catch for 31 yards, but it just happened to be a touchdown. On defense, he amassed 9 tackles before the end of the game. In the Ultimus championship game, he was credited with another 2 catches for 49 yards and added 5 tackles, 2 passes deflected, and an interception. With performances like that on both offense and defense, it’s easy to see why he was my unsung hero of the playoffs.
Word count: 238
![[Image: cHAD.jpg]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/319945672310784010/405609245862658059/cHAD.jpg)
