Legends Sports Universe Hockey League

[G-Force]

Legends Sports Universe is a collection of sports dynasties I run gathering the greatest players from each sport in a fictional universe to create the ultimate "what if" scenario.

The Legends Sports Universe Hockey League is in its fourth season.
The LSUHL is a 12 team league with two six-team conferences

The overall LSUHL player pool boasts 1000 players.

Utilizing hockey-reference.com's Point Shares, the list includes the top 200 left wings, centers and right wings, the top 300 defensemen
and the top 100 goalies.

A random number generator was used to list the players randomly
at each position. The first 100 at each of the forward slots, the first 150 defensemen and the first 50 goalies listed were eligible for the inaugural draft.

The rest of the players will enter via subsequent entry drafts.

So, while most of the very top players will be in the league from the very beginning, some terrific talent won't enter the league right at the start.

As for the initial draft, each team selected 6 players at each forward position, 9 defensemen and 3 goalies for a 30 player roster.

As goalies tend to be high in point shares, my only limitation on the draft was that a team couldn't pick more than 2 goalies in the first 10 picks.

I'll begin chronicling the LSUHL here. You can see not only the LSUHL but the other sports in the Legends Sports Universe on my web site HERE

GH

[G-Force]

Portland, Charlotte Dominate November!
The Pioneers (12 wins) and Pilots (10 wins) close out the month with double-digit winning streaks


November ended with a pair of huge winning streaks, both from perennial contenders in the LSUHL. One brought a struggling team to the top of the tightly packed Eastern Conference, while the other saw the leaders out West break away from the pack.
​
At the end of October, the Charlotte Pilots were 6-10-1. But when the calendar flipped, so did the switch. The offense got on track, tallying seven goals in three games during a month that saw them win 10 straight games.

The leader of that attack is Bobby Hull, who leads the league in goals with 21, maintaining his spot as the LSUHL's leading goal scorer through its 3-plus seasons.
​
The Portland Pioneers haven't lost since Nov. 3, and their hot stretch has gone on longer than that.
​
San Diego dropped a 9-1 hammer on Portland Oct. 19 that seemed to trigger things for the Pioneers. They went 5-0-1 to close out October, fell to the Condors again in the opening game of November and then went 14 games without a loss, going 12-0-2, including a 3-0 win over the rival Condors on Nov. 12.
​
Portland's defense has gotten straightened out, led by the top defensive pair of Brian Leetch and Dion Phaneuf. Mike Vernon has been terrific in goal and is getting the bulk of reps over Felix Potvin.
​
But the Pioneers are led by the league's best top line. Frank Mahovlich (14-31-45), Pierre Turgeon (13-24-37) and Jaromir Jagr (14-18-32).

[G-Force]

Gretzky's point streak ends at 24

He's the best player in the league and everyone knows it. Yet he keeps on doing things to wow everyone.

The Calgary center was kept off the board by the league's worst team, the Houston Cottonmouths, to end his point streak at 24 games.

Gretzky's streak began last season and ended Nov. 9. He has tallied a point in six of Calgary's eight games since then.

Gretzky has been absolutely dominant since being taken first overall in the inaugural LSUHL draft, notching 136, 118 and 136 points in his three seasons.

With 17-20-37 in 21 games this season, he may well reach a career high as he tries to lift the Stampede back to a championship.

[G-Force]

Scary injury may cost Stars' Tony Tanti the season
Of all the injuries to ever occur on the ice, the one suffered by Chicago's Tony Tanti on November 18 is the scariest one of all. Thankfully, Tanti avoided the worst outcome.
​
The Stars' 22-year-old right wing suffered what was termed a "severe neck laceration" when he was struck by a skate blade in a game against the Montreal Magnficents.

Tanti is expected to miss 3-4 months, but many think it will be longer.
​
With Chicago since the beginning, Tanti has averaged 19-28-47 over his first three seasons and is a significant loss for a Stars team that has scored the fewest goals in the packed Eastern Conference, where it currently sits in last place.

[G-Force]

November standings & leaders

[G-Force]

Chicago loses Orr
to knee injury
The Stars' captain is expected
to miss three months


Dec. 10, 2023 -- It wasn't as scary as last month's injury to Tony Tanti. But with respect to impact on the Chicago Stars, this injury is even worse.
​
Captain Bobby Orr suffered a torn meniscus last night in a 5-3 win over the Charlotte Pilots, an injury expected to keep the Stars' lead defenseman on the shelf until February.
​
The injury happened with less than three minutes remaining and takes a key cog out of a Chicago lineup desperately trying to stay in the hunt while in the cellar of the tightly competitive Eastern Conference.
​
Orr, with 6 goals and 24 assists, ranks fourth in points among defensemen and, with the loss of Tanti to a neck laceration last month, takes yet another potent offensive force off the ice for the conference's lowest-scoring team.
​
John-Michael Liles has been called up from the reserve squad to take Orr's place. Paul Reinhart will slide into the top pair with Al MacInnis.

[G-Force]

Strange bedfellows: Rival Condors, Stampede make deal


Dec. 23, 2023 -- You wouldn't expect a pair of teams who've beaten each other up over the LSUHL's first three years, each winning a
championship, and currently sitting four points apart for the final two spots in the Western Conference to be making trades with each other.
​
But that's exactly what happened.
​
The San Diego Condors shipped right wing prospect Ziggy Palffy (5-11-16 in 15 games) to the Calgary Stampede in exchange for center Pit Martin (8-20-28 in 38 games).

Palffy will play on the third line in Calgary alongside Andy Bathgate and Valery Kamensky. Martin will center San Diego's third line between Charlie Simmer and Dave Keon.

The deal is the second in the 22-year-old Palffy's short career. San Diego acquired him from Charlotte in February with goalie Tim Thomas for LW Busher Jackson and D P.K. Subban.

[G-Force]

Storm front coming?

The Western Conference has been run by Portland, Calgary and San Diego over the LSUHL's first three seasons. Those three each have a championship and have been the three postseason teams from the conference each season.

But the Seattle Storm are looking to change that.

Seattle put up an impressive 9-3-2 December, and though still 5 points out of a playoff position, they can see San Diego's taillights ahead of them.

Though critics point out that three of those wins came against the league's worst team, Houston, supporters point to a 2-0-1 mark in a three-game set against the Pioneers, Condors and Stampede - who were the tie in the trifecta but who Seattle also beat back on Dec. 2nd.

"There's work to be done," captain Marcel Dionne (14-24-38) said. "But we're up for it."

[jumpSeat]

Originally Posted by G-Force

But the Pioneers are led by the league's best top line. Frank Mahovlich (14-31-45), Pierre Turgeon (13-24-37) and Jaromir Jagr (14-18-32).

Have to say I'm fascinated by some of the possible line combinations. It seems like a gourmet smorgasbord, with dream combos everywhere you look... Love the league concept!

[G-Force]

Originally Posted by jumpSeat

Have to say I'm fascinated by some of the possible line combinations. It seems like a gourmet smorgasbord, with dream combos everywhere you look... Love the league concept!

Thanks, I appreciate it! It's pretty wild to look around and see the talent together in a setup like this.


GH

[G-Force]

Standings & Leaders as of Jan 1, 2024

[G-Force]

Julien takes the fall in Chicago
Stars fire coach, Hartley to take over

Jan. 18, 2024 -- With the Chicago Stars in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time, management decided it was time for a change from the man who brought them their three prior postseason appearances.

Claude Julien was let go today by the Stars, replaced by Bob Hartley.

Chicago has been mired in last place in the tight Eastern Conference, and currently find themselves 11 points out of a playoff spot.

The team has dealt with injuries, most notably the scary neck injury to Tony Tanti followed by the loss of captain Bobby Orr, but management determined the Stars had been playing subpar before those injuries and they weren't going to be used as an excuse.

For his part, Julien took the high road, thanking Chicago for his time and saying he "didn't live up to expectations."

[G-Force]

Seattle's surge comes to a halt


Remember that talk about the Seattle Storm's hot streak and a possible playoff push?

Maybe put that on ice for a while.
​
The Storm went 4-9-1 in January, closing with a five-game losing streak, to fall 10 points out in the playoff race, were leapfrogged by Los Angeles to push them into fifth in the conference and now the rumors have begun to swirl that coach Bruce Boudreau may be shown the door if Seattle fails to make the postseason.

"I don't worry about rumors," Boudreau said. "All I'm worried about is my team righting the ship and playing like we're capable of.
​
Los Angeles went 9-5-1 in January, with three of those losses coming to San Diego, the team the Royals - and Storm - are chasing for the third and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

Mike Bossy had 9 goals and 11 assists on the month for the Royals and his line with Craig Janney and Patrick Kane seems to be building some chemistry. The Royals have also been lifted by Dominik Hasek, who put up a .928 save percentage for the month.