FHL NEWS: 2020-21 FINAL

The Pig Pen - the Ice Hogs home arena - was crammed with 18,000 people on Wednesday afternoon - all erupting at the glorious sound of the final horn; Steve Henry and his Ice Hogs claiming the 2020-21 crown; their 3rd FHL Cup Championship.

There have been plenty of close races in the 28-year history of the FHL. None have been as close as the battle for this year’s Cup - four teams within 4.3 points of each other with two days - two games - remaining in the season. While everyone is hoping for a return to normal next year, there was no denying that this year’s Covid-modified finish was exciting; the Hogs ultimately securing the title with points from an unlikely source.

Before the Ice Hogs hoisted the FHL Cup, there was the draft.

To no ones surprise, GM Henry drafted a goaltender in the first round - two goalies, actually - the Hog boss selecting Andrei Vasilevskiy and Connor Hellebuyck with the 10th and 15th picks of the draft.

GM Henry has had a love affair with the goaltending position since riding goalies to the FHL Cup championship in 2006 and 2007, the Hogs first two years in the league. The Hogs typically draft goaltenders early and often, using the first round to acquire at least one netminder in 2017, 2018, 2019 and this year, 2020.

While Hellebuyck was somewhat of a disappointment - the reigning Vezina trophy winner finishing with a mark of 24-17 - Vasilevskiy was a huge part of the Hogs success, the 26-year-old winning an NHL-best 31 games; five of the wins, bonus-heavy shutouts.

The elite-level play of Vasilevskiy provided the foundation on which GM Henry constructed a championship team - a team led by the unexpected elite-level play of defenseman Jakob Chychrun.

Drafted late in the 7th round - the 38th(!) defenseman taken in the draft - Chychrun enjoyed a breakout year; the 23-year-old ripping an NHL-best 18 goals. Chychrun collected bonus points in eight games, including a rare three-goal, 15.0 point hat trick. Of all the players on the Ice Hogs championship team, none were more important than Chychrun.

The forward position also received unexpected points from a late-round selection. Last year Alex Debrincat scored only 18 goals. With his stock at an all-time low, the Hogs were able to acquire the services of Debrincat in the 6th round of the draft. Debrincat, like Chychrun, would prove to be a huge steal; the 23-year-old scoring 32 goals in just 52 games; a pace of 50 goals over the course of a full 82-game season.


The Ice Hogs taxi squad also got a chance to touch the league’s grand prize (I’m assuming it's the taxi squad as I don’t recall Steve drafting a “Cockburn”) - the overflow crowd at the Pig Pen erupting with applause at the sight of the hoisted FHL Cup.

While there were a number of pivotal players in the Hogs championship run, the Cup was ultimately secured by a bench player in Tyler Myers and a virtual unknown in Travis Hamonic.

With the Hogs in dire need of points to fend-off the last-week advances of the Cherry Pickers, the Hockey Gods infused defenders Myers and Hamonic with the powers of Leetch and Coffey; the unlikely heroes combining for 12.0 points in the penultimate game of the season; a day and a performance that won't soon be forgotten by GM Henry, nor by the members of “Hogs Wild” - the team’s Troy-based fan club.

Lost in the shuffle but almost as important as what transpired in the final week of the season, the Hogs winning the FHL Cup may have prevented GM Henry from taking a trip to the psych ward.

For the all-important final week - citing ambiguous injury reports - GM Henry benched Connor Hellebuyck. The benching marked the first time Hellebuyck was removed as a starting goaltender; both Vasilevskiy and Hellebuyck starting every game of the season; both successfully dodging injuries and Covid protocols.

On the bench, Hellebuyck backstopped a 24 save shutout and a 34 save win; a total of 8.2 points - points the Hogs desperately needed for their run at the Cup. Should the Ice Hogs have lost by anything less than those 8.2 points; it would have been a very tough, gut-wrenching summer for the veteran GM.

Bullet dodged.

For GM Henry, the grandest prize of all is having “Ice Hogs” inscribed on the FHL Cup. That said, the money ain’t bad either; the veteran GM awarded $600.00 for his team’s championship performance. Having won two best-week bonuses, Henry and his Hogs will skate into the summer with much respect and a Cup filled with $620.00.




Brock Boeser couldn’t hide his disappointment when the final horn signaled his team would finish in 2nd place, the Cherry Pickers - despite Boeser’s inspired play - landing a mere 4.0 points short of what would have been their first FHL Cup championship.

The Cherry Pickers were the best of the bunch for much of the season. The team however would struggle down the stretch, falling as far back as 5th place with just four days remaining in the season. The Pickers did recover in time to grab a large share of the $1000.00 purse, GM Recoskie awarded $250.00 for his second-best effort. All told, the Pickers depart the year with $270.00; the team having won $10.00 for their league-best Week 10 and $10.00 for recording the best score of the season (93.6 points).

The Wild Ducks were in danger of finishing out of the money before 5.0 points on the final day placed the team in 3rd place; a position that provided the Ducks with $150.00. The 3rd place finish, combined with the H2H Championship and three best-week bonuses, gifts GM Collard a total of $300.00.

The Lumberjacks were the unlucky loser, the 3rd place Jacks shoved into 4th place on the final day of the season; GM Recoskie failing to secure a share of the Top-3 purse. The first-year franchise won’t skate away empty-handed however, the Jacks awarded $50.00 for their runner-up H2H finish and $30.00 for being the best team in Weeks 2, 6 and 8.




Over the course of the 18-week season, four teams would spend time in the FHL basement. While the Boulder Flyers were buried the longest, Baba Booey was the cellar’s final resident - the first-year franchise strapped with the Laughing Bag for their league-worst finish.

Baba Booey were an unlikely winner of the Laughing Bag. For much of the season the Booeys were in the mix for both the H2H playoffs and possibly, a Top 3 finish. The team however would lose their way in the waning weeks of the season - GM Carling’s squad posting the league’s lowest score in Weeks 17 and 18; ultimately dumping the Booeys into the basement.

The Polar Bears avoided a Bag-to-Bag finish, last year’s Laughing Bag recipient using a strong final week to move from dead-last to 10th place overall.

The Boulder Flyers slipped from 10th place to 11th place on the final day of the season; the veteran franchise however did avoid what would have been their first-ever FHL booby prize.


LINKS:
Final Standings
Prize Money
Scoring Leaders
FHL Cup Champions