Pages

The World of Georic 1989-Present

Saturday, December 7, 2019

To Those Who Will Make it in Hockey only in NHL19

Things have been crazy enough that I haven't even been able to distract myself with hockey on the xBox.

Just about a season and a half into franchise mode for the Seattle Dragons (Boise Ice Drakes) and I've mastered the mid-range difficulty.  Every once in awhile the AI blows me out in spectacular fashion, but so long as I land hits on opposing players, I'm able to keep up,

As the probability of the game is wont to do, I suffered a flurry of injuries at both the NHL and AHL levels, just enough to mess up my normal call-ups.

This has forced me to call up Patrick McGrath for his first NHL-ever game, which would never happen in real life.

In real-life, Pat McGrath was the local-kid-done-good for our local AHL farm team.  His skills more atuned to the ECHL level of hockey, his local ties and penchant for hitting opposing players in the face with his first made him a fan favorite.  He didn't score much, got scratched from the line-up often, but boy did he sell t-shirts and create standing-room only events out of signings.

Except that last season, the team's coach resigned, and the team literally stole away the 2019 Calder Cup winning coach and goalie mere weeks after winning it all.  Pat was not offered a contract and ended up playing the same role for the Utah Grizzlies of the ECHL (farm team for the Colorado Eagles and Colorado Avalanche).

When I built my expansion team, my lack of knowledge on quality Estonian hockey players in the Canucks organization (and elsewhere) forced me rely on signing available current (and former) Penguins.  The Carl Hagelins and Tommy Kühnhackls have fared well in Seattle, and the a lot of AHL penguins fill Boise's roster.

But with that rash of injuries, the most veteran (and competent) Right Winger to call up the NHL was one Pat McGrath.

I love flip-flopping my 4th line between rookies and grinders, and with a weakened roster, grinders were all I had, so fit in perfectly, and got a good eight minutes of neutral ice time.

Until, of course, up two goals against them with a minute left, the opponent pulled the goalie... with my 4th line out there. 

A few seconds of extra-man chaos later, the Dragons got possession of the puck, drove up the left side under pressure, and eeked out a dribble of a pass to McGrath in center ice to seal the win with an empty netter.

He was sent down to Boise before morning skate the next day, and will probably never return to Seattle under normal circumstances, but until he retires in the game, at least NHL19 Patrick McGrath will have NHL stats:  1 G 0 A 1Pt  2 PIM.

No comments:

Post a Comment