Global United Hockey - NHL playthrough - Guadalajara Conquistadores - Season 1

[ideawithoutamind]

I am the creator of Global United Hockey, but I wanted to do a real playthrough having missed actually playing the game itself. Having been a veteran of the game, I wanted to set a few ground rules as GM.

1. No trades for draft picks more than 3 years out, current season is the priority.
2. No more than 3 picks per round. Along with rule #1, I've grown accustomed to stock piling picks and prospects, I wanted to challenge myself and see how it pans out differently this time.
3. Outside of the initial staff fill-ins, I have turned off attributes. Must go by scouting reports, recommendations, and stats alone.
4. I must scout players before officially signing/trading/or drafting. (I can make offers, but I must have a scouting report before I ink any deals)

I'm midway through my play so far, so I'll post in sections, but wanted to post the initial draft. Some of the screenshots may be after the fact, but I will try to post chronologically in the game.

That said, welcome to the 2020-2021 inaugural season of the Guadalajara Conquistadores! It's August 2020, the Conquistadores are one of 4 Mexican teams making their debut in the NHL. The NHL has expanded to 50 teams, allowing 19 new teams to join the league. The league has been split into 8 divisions, in 2 conferences, bringing back the old naming convention, as well as honoring some NHL greats as division namesakes. For those unfamiliar, here is the National Hockey League of the Global United Hockey World, now spanning over the 3 biggest nations of North America, bring the World's elite into a single league, with only 1 winner, and leaving 49 other fanbases with disappointment. With the introduction of Mexico to the league, it has has created a shift of talent. Many of the international superstars look to the new teams with big pockets. Or a place to establish themselves. The language and culture barrier, may be a deterrent of the traditional North American youth of the NCAA or CHL, but those that take the risk can become new stars in their own right.

Well, let's get to it. Starting the 2020-2021 NHL season, the re-imagined divisions

* Denotes expansion/re-instated team
Wales Conference
Adams Division (The American Northeast)
Boston Bruins
Buffalo Sabres
Hartford Whalers*
New Jersey Devils
New York Islanders
New York Rangers
Philadelphia Flyers

Francis Division (The American Southeast)
Atlanta Thrashers*
Baltimore Bandits*
Carolina Hurricanes
Florida Panthers
Tampa Bay Lightning
Washington Capitals

Patrick Division (The American Rustbelt+Nashville)
Chicago Blackhawks
Columbus Blue Jackets
Detroit Red Wings
Indianapolis Racers*
Nashville Predators
Pittsburgh Penguins

Roy Division (The Canadian East)
Halifax Highlanders*
Hamilton Tigers*
Montreal Canadiens
Ottawa Senators
Quebec Nordiques*
Toronto Maple Leafs



Campbell Conference
Gretzky Division (North Pacific)
Calgary Flames
California Golden Seals*
Edmonton Oilers
Portland Beavers*
San Jose Sharks
Vancouver Canucks

Smythe Division (South Pacific)
Anaheim Ducks
Arizona Coyotes
Hawaii Honu*
Los Angeles Kings
Tijuana Desperados*
Vegas Golden Knights

Hull Division (American Midwest / Mountaintimes)
Colorado Avalanche
Kansas City Scouts*
Minnesota Wild
Saskatoon Silverfoxes*
St. Louis Blues
Winnipeg Jets

Norris Division (Texan / Mexican Re-unification)
Albuquerque Armadillo*
Ciudad de Mexico Azteca*
Dallas Stars
Guadalajara Conquistadores*
Houston Aeros*
Monterray Muertos*


Starting my GM career, I have chosen the Raspberry coloured Conquistadores. Like the rest of the expansion teams, each team has been seeded with 30 players, mostly middle to bottom of the roster players, the roster needs some work.

The Conquistadores roster

While most of those names don't mean anything yet, the strength of the current team probably lies on defensive depth.
Naif al-Selim, a small, yet strong two way defenseman from Qatar, set as the star of the team

Junior Bignoumba, a large strong Gabonese defensive defenseman

Oussama Bennabi, a young smart two-way defenseman with room to grow.


The rest of the lineup is a bit underwhelming, so scouting is a must, and while in poaching season, the Global United Hockey Master League is ripe.

The Conquistadores have the advantage/disadvantage of playing in a the division of 5/6 teams are expansion teams, with Dallas being the elder statesmen of the division. While having a better shot at the playoffs (top 3 teams in each division get an automatic seed to the first round), they risk not being built for the playoffs, and missing out on a lotto ticket shot for the first draft. With talent scattered over the globe, the first step may be poaching some of the big names from the Global United Hockey Master League.

Playoff format - Each conference, 18 teams play, the top 3 teams of each division get an automatic seed to the 1st round, 12 teams total. The 13th and 14th spot get the last 2 guaranteed spots to the 1st round. Teams 15 - 18 will play a best of 3, preliminary playoff round. 15 vs 18, 16 vs 17. Winners of the preliminary round, advance to the 1st round, 16 teams, best of 5. The remaining 8 teams of each division play a best of 7 conference quarter final, followed by 4 teams playing for the conference semi-final. The remaining 2 teams of each play for the conference finals, and the winners advance for a usual best of 7 for the Stanley Cup.

The bottom 7 teams in each conference (14 worst teams) get a shot at the draft lottery for #1-#3 overall in the draft.

Season prediction: While being in the more inexperienced division, I think the Conquistadores have a chance to raise some eyebrows and gain experience. They team will play the season by ear, but they plan on being a competitive expansion team, and hope the GM can bring in the extra help they need to push them to that level.

Anyways, to be continued...

[ideawithoutamind]

Please see this post, about the financials as it's related to the signing strategy for the first season as well as background for how the leagues work moving forward.

It's August of the 2020 off-season, and the Conquistadores have big aspirations.

Scouting the Global United Hockey Master League, they've chosen players at each position to target. With solid depth, they need to find the right key players. Without any previous NHL experience, they have chosen to role the dice with a several big GUH names.

In addition to the GUH, the largely expanded World Cup Tournament happens in early September. The World Cup now features over 80 countries, in 16 divisions of 5, the top 4 of each division are thrown in a 1 game per round 64 team, 6 round playoff. Each Division is sectioned off by real life IIHF scores and past participation, so it's highly competitive, yet opens the doors for some unestablished Nations to get a chance. This year, the 16 teams, reseeded from the group stage, that have reached the semi finals are:
#1 United States vs #57 Indonesia
#2 Azebaijan vs #54 Malaysia
#7 Iran vs vs #43 Germany
#9 Norway vs #40 Finland
#14 Kyrgystan vs #27 Bosnia
#15 Canada vs #23 Chinese Taipei
#16 Iceland vs #20 Israel
#17 Argentina vs #19 Qatar

Culminating to United States lead by Patrick Kane vs. Azebaijan, pushed ahead by 32 year old goal-scoring RWer Blakbar Teymurcinasoy final


From there, the Conquistadores continued onto training camp with some key free agent signings (some screenshots are post season, so International stats may be reflected there)
Relatively unknown, but starting goaltender, German born Rocco Bokk from the Tashkent Huma signed to a 2 year 4.6 deal. A risky move, having only had the change to watch Bokk in a few exhibition games, poaching Bokk by giving him a decent raise and an extension for signing. If the rumors are true, he should be an significant improvement to the goaltending position, solidifying the net.


To build upon the backend, the defensive depth was a strength, so the search for a #1 Defenseman started and ended with Krystof Sechovec. Hailing from the Czech Republic, Sechovec was property of the Vilnius Knights, but decided taking a 2 million dollar salary increase was worth it to defect. The Knights were compensated, but he left a huge gap in their blue line. Sechovec plays a very strong defensive game, while using his speed and size to his advantage. The Conquistadores also applauded his playmaking and puckmoving skills, hoping he can help provide help on both sides of the ice.





Center was a position that needed a lot of work. Currently, the 5'8" Mothophi Kealeboga was the teams top center, and for team building, scouts were sent all over the world to find some potential players to give a shot in this inaugural season. Several offers were made, expecting possibly one or two of the deals to succeed. With the scouting and looming training camp coming up, aggressive offers were made, and not 1 or 2, but 4 quality centers were brought in. At the time, the #1 slot was up for grabs to whomever took the reigns.

6'7" Colombian/Tajik born Juan Diego Bonilla was the first to sign. A two way center styling his game after Anze Kopitar, the signing of Bonilla in addition to the backend provided a sense of legitimacy to this expansion team.


In the attempt to provide a solid 1-2 punch, Hoang Bui was signed shortly after. Of both Cuban and Vietnamese descent, Bui is more of a shooter, but also provides a physical presence to his game, and a versatility allowing him to slot up and down the line up, as well as to either wing.


Other centers were identified, but no official agreements were made, although heavy scouting continued.

With Bui and Bonilla signed, and 2 key backend positions filled, finding some top 6 depth was next on the agenda. Again, having only had the opportunity to scout a few GUH exhibition games, and relying on scout/assistant GM recommendations, Wingers Meysam Ranjbar from the Tehran Swords, David Lei from the Hong Kong Pandas, Gino Bartoo from the Praha Polecats and Sergii Pershyn from the Kiev Mouflon all agreed to contracts before the NHL training camp began. All wingers were scouted and praised for their shooting skill and tendencies, although had balanced games, hoping a few of the pairs could form chemistry with either of the centers.

Several other depth and prospects were signed to help fill out the roster and the farm, Zapopan in the AHL, as well as lending a few players to their SPECHL affiliates (New Orleans Brass and Huntsville Havoc). Notable signings, Pritam Zhang from the Yerevan Arelez, and Blanka Mondecar a highly sought after young center from the Podgorica Tornjak.


Training camp went very successful, winning all 5 of their exhibition games. The team also picked up veteran John Moore via waivers from the Boston Bruins. Unworried about the 2.75 million cap hit, Moore brings in depth and experience to the relatively new defensive group, as well as experience being the first experienced NHL player to join the team.

And that brings us right up to the beginning of the season. Even with the expansion wins, and the promising roster, the team still is seen as an expansion team with growing pains. Ranking 39/50 in the season preview, the Conquistadores have made enough moves to rank above 11 of the other 19 expansion teams.


To be continued, next up. Regular Season

[ideawithoutamind]

Got a little carried away, and I'm a few seasons in, but I'll continue chronologically.

Scouting the GUH, and continuing original contract negotiations, 2 major poaching acts happened after the first month of the Global United Hockey season, Turkish two-way center, scoring over point per game in the GUHML, Sercan Ulker of the Athens Minotaur, signed a huge 12.2 million dollar contract (6.1AAV) for 2 seasons. It was a big blow to the Athens team, one they likely cannot recoup from.

And the Conquistadores picked up John Moore from the Boston Bruins off of waivers.

In the first month, 2 versatile 2-way centers joined the bottom half of the roster, Kim Andre Frydenlund from the Tashkent Huma and Liam Moller from the Zagreb Giants. The Conquistadores were noticeably the strongest of the expansion teams.

After 2 months into the season, the team sat at 10th place in the Campbell conference.


And the team depth chart was nicely filled out after 2 months.


The team, while stumbling a little, was the most consistent out of the expansion teams in both conferences, steadily keeping pace with, but still below the division leading Dallas Stars. Now 9th in the conference, and 20th out of 50 in the overall NHL, the Conquistadores, are making it known they will not be pushovers.


The team had a few surprises along the way. Chemistry between Ranjbar and Ulker, had both over 50 points by the new year, and overall, the team had solid performances from the bottom half of the roster. November pickup, Aghor Suhrawardy, after a falling out with management of the Dhaka Byamgoma, joined the Conquistadores, giving them an anchor for their second pair behind captain, Kristof Sechovec.

Depth center Termirlan Savitsky performing well in the AHL, but buried behind the newly acquired centers was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs looking to strengthen their depth early.

Rookies LW David Lei and LD Pritam Zheng performed above and beyond expectations, perfectly complementing their linemate or pair.

Original roster players that made the team, have provided the needed depth to keep this team in the mix.

By February, the team was just shy of clinching a playoff spot.


The NHL, between 4 divisions in each conference the top 3 teams are automatically seeded into a playoff spot 1-12. The next best 2 teams in the conference grab the 13th and 14th spot. While a 15-18 seeds will battle it out in a best of 3 series.

With the spots already being claimed, and deadline approaching, the Conquistadores want to improve their roster, but also play it conservatively.
Pre-Deadline Conquistadores were very happy with their roster, but were looking for some depth.

Their farm team, the Zappopan Pelador de Maiz, had been performing quite well, keeping an eye on the future, many inquiries came in, but not a lot came out of the talks.


By deadline, with a playoff spot secured, the Conquistadores traded d epth defenseman, Borna Kocjian and speeder young winger Aurelio Tocci to the Indianopolis Racers for Cavid Karimov, and a few picks. A large, hard hitting, two-way winger, added some scoring and size to the bottom half of the roster. With the emergence of David Lei, Tocci was unable to fit into the top 6, and at 5'10" and 165" didn't fit into the grinding role needed, hoping to get a better chance in Indianapolis.

Minor moves of veteran depth players, defenseman John Rey was moved to Tampa Bay for a 2nd round pick. Large 6'8" center Bob Rehman traded to the New York Rangers for 2022 2nd, and a 2021 3rd round pick.

Will the conservative moves be enough to give the Conquistadores any success in the playoffs? Or are they just a strong team in a weak division.

End of Regular Season and Playoffs up next.