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Orixtal Hockey League: Difference between revisions
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| TV = {{unbulleted list | | TV = {{unbulleted list | ||
| '''Tierrador:''' | | '''Tierrador:''' | ||
| [[Qabóri Broadcasting Corporation|QBC]]/[[Cronan Sports Programming Network|CSPN]]<br>[[Televisión Cinco|TV5]]<br>[[Tierrador Broadcasting System|TBS/UQC]]<br>[[OHL Network | | [[Qabóri Broadcasting Corporation|QBC]]/[[Cronan Sports Programming Network|CSPN]]<br>[[Televisión Cinco|TV5]]<br>[[Tierrador Broadcasting System|TBS/UQC]]<br>[[OHL Network]] | ||
| '''Alstin:''' | | '''Alstin:''' | ||
| [[ABS Corporation|ABS]] | | [[ABS Corporation|ABS/CSPN]] | ||
| '''Ceylonia:''' | | '''Ceylonia:''' | ||
| [[ | | [[Ceilônia Televisão|CT1]]<br>[[Sport Yapoké]] | ||
| '''Porlos:''' | | '''Porlos:''' | ||
| [[Telvasaahila 9|TV9 | | [[Telvasaahila 9|TV9]] | ||
| '''Istrenya:''' | | '''Istrenya:''' | ||
| [[IstrenSport | | [[IstrenSport]] | ||
}} | }} | ||
| champion = [[Veraise Raiders]] (1st title) | | champion = [[Veraise Raiders]] (1st title) | ||
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===The "Golden Era" of hockey=== | ===The "Golden Era" of hockey=== | ||
The increasing modernization of the OHL and WHL would earn the nickname "Golden Era of Hockey" for the 1970s and 80s. In 1969, the OHL would sign its first ever television broadcasting contract with [[ | The increasing modernization of the OHL and WHL would earn the nickname "Golden Era of Hockey" for the 1970s and 80s. In 1969, the OHL would sign its first ever television broadcasting contract with [[Qabóri Broadcasting System]], the public broadcaster in Tierrador. Before the contract was signed, people were only able to listen to hockey games through the radio, or by reading their local newspaper the following day. The OHL, now featuring teams in much more popular markets, had accumulated nearly double the revenue of its counterpart, the WHL, in the 1969–70 season. This would begin the downfall of the WHL. On January 9, 1970, the OHL announced it would be adding an expansion team to [[Alstin (City)|Alstin City]] for the 1970–71 season. The new team, nicknamed the [[Alstin Sentinels]], had created a brand new market in the [[Alstin|United Republic]]. The OHL had also signed a second media deal with Alstinian broadcaster [[ABS Corporation|ABS]], who agreed to broadcast all OHL matches in Alstin, though mostly favoring the Sentinels. The following year, the OHL would add the [[Wadičaq Phantoms]] and a second team in Taisgol, the [[Taisgol Marksmen|Marksmen]]. Before the start of the 1971–72 season, the Taisgol Spires had filed a lawsuit against both the Marksmen and the OHL, claiming that the league had violated its own collective bargaining agreement by allowing the Marksmen to play in [[Hacienda, Taisgol]], a neighborhood of the city which was directly in the Spires' market. Eventually, the [[Imperial Court of Tierrador|Imperial Court]] sided with the Spires, ordering the Marksmen to pay massive indemnities to the Spires. This would kickstart a fierce rivalry between the two, known now as the [[Cross-River Classic]]. The Marksmen would eventually move to [[Eastern Bend, Taisgol|Eastern Bend]], 25 miles from [[Woderq, Taisgol|Woderq]], where the Spires played. | ||
Before the end of the 1971–72 season, commissioner [[Alhunô Gourdinaí]] of the WHL, which had incurred heavy revenue losses due to the moves made by the OHL, announced that the WHL would cancel its 1972–73 season. While Gourdinaí had hoped for the league to return to play in late 1973, [[Tulangia Centurions]] owner [[Michael Sutton]] angrily stormed out of the press conference, shouting "We're not coming back!" One week later, on May 9, 1972, the Centurions applied to join the OHL for the 1972–73 season, and were accepted on the same day. Four more teams, the [[Topaqoí Wahoo]], [[Miccubo Heartlanders]], [[Alcosky Prairie Dogs]], and [[Pacuí Mammoth]], followed suit on May 11, 1972. The [[Ominasky Outlaws]] and [[Qazrogzo Wheatmen]] had originally planned to stay in the WHL, but were offered entry into the OHL on June 9, 1972, which they accepted. Due to their entry being four hours before the [[1972 OHL Draft]], both the Outlaws and Wheatmen were ineligible for participation. The remaining four WHL clubs, the [[Concordia Warriors]], [[Yarmouth Kings]], [[Winnecomac Marksmen]], and [[Naqili Hornets (1964–1972)|Naqili Hornets]], folded on October 17, 1972, thus ending the WHL. | |||
The 1973–74 saw the debut of [[Volonia|Volonian]] [[Fyodor Koshchev]], who had been drafted by the Alstin Sentinels. Koshchev would eventually become a household name in the OHL, leading his team to the [[1974 Watson Cup Finals]], where they lost in 7 games to the Qabór Phoenix. After two years of semifinals appearances, Koshchev's Sentinels would return to the Finals in 1977, where they would get their revenge on the Phoenix, beating them in six games. For the 1977–78 season, the OHL would add two more clubs: the [[Vernaza Titans]] and [[Tansher Spirit]]. The Spirit, having earned the first overall pick in the 1977 OHL Draft, used it to draft [[Saukhin Islands|Saukhin]] crown prince and heir to the [[King of Tapkoii|Saukhin throne]], [[King Apaha'enia|Prince Apaha'enia]]. To commemorate Apaha'enia being drafted, then-King of Tapkoii [[King Upta'helini'ia|Upta'helini'ia]] donated a golden trophy to the OHL, which became the [[King of Tapkoii Trophy]]. In Apaha'enia's rookie year, he and Fyodor Koshchev regularly battled for the top scoring spot, and many pundits correctly predicted the Spirit and Sentinels to meet in the Watson Cup Finals for that year. The seven-game war that was the [[1978 Watson Cup Finals]] became the most-viewed Finals in history, almost doubling the view count from the previous year. It is also the highest-scoring Finals to date, with 90 goals scored in all seven games. Fyodor Koshchev's series-winning goal in Game 7's overtime nail-biter triggered one of the loudest crowd reactions in OHL history, with the Alstin crowd even causing a small earthquake around the [[Alstin City Sports Palace]] after their team won their second Watson Cup in a row. | |||
The player rivalry between Apaha'enia and Koshchev and the subsequent team rivalry between the Spirit and Sentinels lasted until 1990, and while the Sentinels would go on to win two more Watson Cups in 1980 and 1981, Apaha'enia would not win a Watson Cup while on the Spirit. In 1980, the OHL added the [[Anloiya Blizzard]], though due to construction issues with the team's arena, they did not begin play until the following season. On March 4, 1983, [[Adin Aibas]] stepped down as commissioner, and was replaced by [[Jon Attakaw]]. That same year, the OHL would add a second Ceylonian club, the [[East Sachia Tubarões]]. Attakaw would also overhaul the league's collective bargaining structure, introducing a [[w:Salary cap|salary cap]] of $4.2 million, and a new [[w:Collective bargaining agreement|CBA]] which introduced revenue-sharing amongst the 22 clubs, and also introduced two new geographic conferences; the [[Patrick Wilson Conference]] in the west, and the [[King of Tapkoii]] in the east. While this move was more popular with the smaller market clubs, many of the larger clubs, including the Taisgol Spires, Qabór Phoenix, Ominasky Outlaws, and the Alstin Sentinels, fiercely opposed the new CBA, and attempted to pressure the OHL's Board of Governors to veto Attakaw's advances. However, the Board of Governors approved the move, following a lopsided 17–5 vote between the member clubs. | |||
The league added a new regular season award in 1984; the [[Woqali's Trophy]]. This was awarded to the team with the most regular season points. The Tansher Spirit would win the first three trophies from 1984 to 1986. In 1985, the Qabór Phoenix became the first team to win three straight Watson Cups, following a Game 6 overtime goal by [[Tyséan Darunavir]] against the Anloiya Blizzard. That following offseason, the OHL would add a second Alstinian club, the [[Utopia Rouges]]. The new club immediately made itself known after a blockbuster trade with the Tansher Spirit, where the Rouges acquired Apaha'enia, who had also became King of Tapkoii that same offseason, and a fourth-round draft, in exchange for [[Kil Faxanen]], [[Isak Katalin]], and $900,000 in cash. The 1985–86 season saw a highly-anticipated matchup for the Patrick Wilson Conference semifinals, between Apaha'enia's Rouges and Fyodor Koshchev's Alstin Sentinels. The Rouges won that series in six games and would go on to win the Watson Cup over the Tansher Spirit, Apaha'enia's former team. King Apaha'enia would would two more Watson Cups with Utopia, in 1988 and 1989, with the 1988 team also winning the Woqali's Trophy and breaking the league record for wins, with a regular season record of 70–10–4, and winning twelve straight playoff wins en route to their Cup victory. | |||
In 1986, the OHL added three new teams: the [[Auqali Shockers]], [[Sačia Tropics]], and [[Tawakee Hurricanes]]. The league also signed another television deal with [[Tierrador Broadcasting System|TBS]], and both QBC and TBS split coverage of the OHL's regular season. Both broadcasters rotated coverage of the two conferences' postseason, typically with the broadcaster that covered the King of Tapkoii half also covering the Watson Cup Finals. In 1990, both King Apaha'enia and Fyodor Koshchev announced their retirement from professional hockey. This was regarded as the end of the OHL's "golden era." | |||
===Modern era=== | ===Modern era=== | ||
The 1990s saw an increase in the amount of players from [[Kiravia]] and [[Audonia]]. [[Joey Abdelkawy]], who was born in [[Tapakdore]] and immigrated to Tierrador in 1986 to play hockey at the [[University of Aracadó]], was drafted 11th overall in 1990 by the [[Hugo Hitmen]]. Abdelkawy, along with Kiravian-born 1992 3rd and 22nd-overall selections [[Ivūlar Sotyktuv]], [[Kárav Katūtiren]], and 1994 33rd overall pick [[Apius Áukśav]], would form the "Hitmen Big Four." The Hitmen would win five Watson Cups with this core, and at least two of the four players appeared in the top-five highest scoring lists. In 1993, the OHL resurrected the [[Naqili Hornets]], and in 1998, the league expanded to [[Istrenya]], with the [[Karaba Mountaineers]]. The move to Karaba was marred with controversy in the team's early years, as the main financer for the team was Arco-Istrenytan petroleum drilling company [[Istrenco]], which had been the center of many non-hockey related issues. In 2002, the OHL forced Istrenco to sell the Mountaineers. In what was a nine-month ordeal which almost saw the Mountaineers being moved to [[Veraise|Gastineau, Veraise]], the team was sold to Istrenyan entrepreneurs [[U'kati Ashkyn]] and [[Askun Utovl]]. The OHL would also add two more teams in Alstin; the [[Sedem Regni Thrones]] and the [[Alstin Sentinels]]. | |||
The late 90s saw the rise of former Rouges and Spirit star Kil Faxanen as head coach along with rookie sensation [[Marcus Kahemki]], with both leading the [[Agualaría Bluewave]] to win the Watson Cup in 2000. In 2005, the Auqali Shockers used their third-overall pick to select [[Andrew Slavachuk]], a center from Volonia. Slavachuk won rookie of the year in the 2005–06 season and ignited a very physical rivalry with Marcus Kahemki and the Hitmen Big Four. The next year, Slavachuk led the Shockers to the Southeast Division title, but they were swept in the first round by the Taisgol Spires. In 2007, the league's television contract with QBC had ended, and they elected not to renew it, instead signing a deal with [[Ambaqwe]]-based [[Televisión Cinco]]. That same year, Kil Faxanen and Marcus Kahemki would lead the Bluewave to another Watson Cup. Slavachuk would not see his first Cup until 2011, when the Shockers, led by Slavachuk, [[Anton Stralburg]], [[Aphío Antonov]], [[Jarmo Kapanen]], and rookie [[Antti Santanen]], led a dominant playoff campaign, which saw the heavily lopsided five-game upset of the Hugo Hitmen, who had shattered many OHL records and led the lead in nearly every category that year, and the Vernaza Titans in six games, who were heavily favored by nearly every sportswriter entering the Finals. | |||
The next year, the [[Veraise Raiders]] would begin play as the fifth Alstinian team. The Santa Maria Blazers became the first non-Tierradorian team to win the Watson Cup since the Utopia Rouges in 1989, ironically doing so in seven games over the Rouges. The early 2010s saw the end of the Hitmen Big Four and the intensification of the player rivalry between Marcus Kahemki and Andrew Slavachuk. In 2015, the Bluewave won the Watson Cup over the Naqili Hornets. This was the final season for Kil Faxanen as a head coach, as he announced his retirement at the Bluewave's championship parade in [[Holčaq]]. One month later, Kahemki announced he would be signing with the Alcosky Prairie Dogs. In his first two years, the Prairie Dogs won two Watson Cups over the East Sachia Tubarões and Auqali Shockers in two of the most controversial Finals series’s in OHL history. In 2016, the OHL added its 32nd and final expansion team, the [[Cuzco Beserkers]], and had also replaced TBS as its main television broadcaster with QBC and CSPN. The Beserkers advanced to the 2018 Watson Cup Finals in their second year of existence, however they were taken down by the Karaba Mountaineers in six games. The next year, the Tawakee Hurricanes, who had seen little to no success since their inception in 1986, shocked the world by winning the Watson Cup in 2019 over the Vernaza Titans. [[Jason Saunders]], who previously coached the Titans and led them to back-to-back Watson Cups in 2013 and 2014 before being abruptly terminated by the club in 2016, led the Hurricanes to the victory. | |||
In 2021, the OHL brought back TBS as a secondary broadcaster. The early 2020s saw a massive gap in talent between a select few clubs and everyone else. In 2021, the Tansher Spirit drafted [[Ranger Roberts]] with the 4th overall pick. His talent and popularity propelled the club back on the global stage, making the King of Tapkoii Finals that same year. Also occurring in 2022, the Taisgol Spires finished the regular season with an impressive 64–13–5 record, and went 16–4 in the postseason en route to a Watson Cup Finals victory over the Tulangia Centurions. The next year, the Prisamarina Mystics would win their first Watson Cup since 1968, defeating the Tansher Spirit in five games. From 2024–2028, the Auqali Shockers, led by former player turned coach [[Aphío Antonov]], would lead a very successful dynasty, shattering many records, along with winning three Watson Cups, including back-to-back victories in 2024 and 2025, and two back-to-back Woqali's Trophies in those same years. The Shockers also became the first OHL club to win more than 70 total games in back-to-back seasons, winning 78 in 2024 and 81 in 2025. The Tulangia Centurions also led a dynasty under the helm of coach [[Barry Adriza]], winning five Watson Cups from 2026 to 2034. Other successful teams in the 2020s-2030s include the Wadičaq Phantoms, Sedem Regni Thrones, Naqili Hornets, and Sačia Tropics. | |||
== Season structure == | == Season structure == | ||