Season end review.

Well we are here once again, end of another season and both pro and farm teams have managed to make their respective playoffs once again. The bigger question at this stage is can either bring home the big prize?

Beefs
After a shaky start to the season that saw the Beefs open up with 4 straight losses and a 1-3-3 record 7 games in the Beefs managed to turn around the season into a very competitive one. You might be tempted to think that by making the playoffs as the final seed in the conference that the Beefs didn't have the season they were hoping for but the Prego division containted 3 of the leagues 4 100 point teams, the Beefs being one of them. In the end the Beefs, Victory and Rex were separated by just 1 point which should provide for some interesting playoff match ups. Being the team that finished behind the other 2 however means the Beefs will have to play the Rex on the road while the hated Victory luck themselves into the easier of the first round draws facing the best of a bad bunch in the Peri-Peri division. You have to feel a little for the Cherrypickers who miss the playoffs despite having enough points to top the other Nandos division.

The Beefs turn around seemed to go hand in hand with Tyler Seguin who was acquired in a blockbuster trade to start the season. He started off with an awful +/- and was not putting up any points at all. After some shuffling about the Beefs found a formula that worked and Seguin began racking up the points.... and in a big way. The end result put him 2nd on the team, 3 points back of the leader Duncan Keith and also put him 11th in the entire league. Also the annual goalie controversy was settled by Kent Simpson who ended up leading the league in wins (39) 2nd in GAA (2.89) and 5th in save % (.900). Add all this to one of the few teams with three 40 goal scorers (one more from Seguin and they would be the only team with four) and you have a successful season.

Now all that remains is to see if they can over come the Rex. The regular season series indicates this could be a long series with the teams split almost right down the middle taking 3 regulation and 1 shootout win each.

Baby Beefs
Unlike the pro league, the farm league is remarkably balanced with each conference fielding three 100 point teams. The Baby Beefs ended the season with 121 points putting them top of the Nandos conference meaning they have to face the Downtown Wackdown, farm to the team the Beefs will be taking on. This really is a franchise vs franchise start to the playoffs.

The regular season went as expected for the Baby Beefs despite the annual graduation of a number of stars. The ranks were bolsted by the trade that saw Khoklachev brought into the team and he brought an immediate impact putting up 113 points in his first season with the team. Austin Watson on the other hand had an amazing break out year with 132 point that astonishingly only put him 3rd in the league behind a pair of Pirates that tore the league apart for 273 points between them. The team will have to be wary of that pair should they get past the Wackdown.

Another new comer to the team that stamped his mark was young goalie Yutaka Fukufuji who finished 2nd in the league for wins (48) and 3rd for GAA and save % (2.38 and .912). The end result meant the Baby Beefs were the only team in the conference to finish with less than 200 goals against.

The Baby Beefs finished with 121 points compared to just 83 for their first round opponents however they cannot be taken lightly. In the regular season the Baby Beefs had a near disastrous record going 3-4-1 giving them just 2 regulation wins out of 8. They will need to figure the Wackdown out if they are to have a chance at the trophy that they have so far failed to win.