Atlas Steelers

Part 2 of our 2020 season preview will look at the Atlas Steelers who are led by their GM Jon Campbell. In his second year behind the wheel of one of the First Four Franchises in the league, Campbell was granted the second overall draft pick. Did Campbell use this advantage to build a team that will restore the once great franchise to glory or will the team embarrass their friends and family with a 5th place finish like last year. Let’s judge them with our harshest eyes.

Campbell, a firm believer in the “892 is better than you” philosophy proved it by selecting three Fonthill players in the first three rounds. Mark Doyle and Eric Sinclair return to the Steelers after their impressive seasons last year, and are joined by longtime Fonthillite Mike Podio. The Upperclassmen of the Niagara Region look to reunite the 1993 Pelham Panther success under the WNHL banner and prove that they are not just Niagara on the Lake Jr.

Moving to the middle rounds Campbell selected Colin Cook. Cook was an Atlas Steeler in the inaugural year of the King Street Cup era. Not only has he returned to the WNHL, but he has brought with him a wife that owns a cookie business, automatically making him a dressing room favorite. While only there for half a season, Cook was an impact player on that inaugural Atlas Steelers team. A long time off, I’d imagine a lot of cookies, and a fourth round pick later, will he be like Kovalchuk on the Kings or Kovalchuk on the Canadiens? Doesn’t matter, bring cookies.

Also in the middle rounds Matt Dusso, a.k.a. “Kevin Shatter-kirk*” made the move over to the Steelers and will bring his red eye Jedi style of play with him. I personally am looking forward to a strong pregame performance from the “Vaped Crusader*”.

*Credit to Matt Sajn

Impressed by the Kings having brothers on their team, Campbell followed suit and picked up Andy Doyle brother of Mark, and Teddy Beadle brother of former Steeler Jeff Beadle who is taking the year off to focus on his career behind the mic for the WNHL. A Jeff takes his matinee good looks in front of the camera his brother Teddy “Ballgame” will be responsible for bringing the Beadle to the WNHL in the 2020 season.

They say that the King Street Cup is won in the later rounds and in those rounds Campbell again went back to the 892 well and brought back two more former Steelers in Justin “I’m also from Pelham” Pupo, and the 2 time WNHL All Star Champion, the 2 time King Street Cup Champion and the future First Ballot WNHL Hall of Famer, Scotty “Is he the biggest asshole in the league” “2 Times” MacLeod.

Now here’s something you may not know about the two time King Street Cup winner, is that he honed his skills, he sharpened his craft, he learned that championship edge in the Pelham minor house league program. So not only have the Steelers added a future hall of famer they’ve added little more of Pelham minor hockey spirit.

The next round was NO SELECTION, because Campbell killed that pick so much they had to have a moment of silence.

In the final two rounds the Steelers picked up former Lincoln Street Legend Curt “Old Curty Bastard” Rousseau, and Chris “I’m just happy somebody picked me” Paco. I believe if Rousseau can get out the protractor and fix the sights on that twig and capitalize on friggin’ 10% of his chances the guy would be a goddamn all star. Jay Thom was quoted as saying this pick is a “steal”, but the guy shoots worse than the bad guys in Die Hard.

Chris Paco moves up from last years Mr. Irrelevant to actually being picked in the draft. A slimmer, more aerodynamic Paco coming into his second year after a tough rookie campaign which saw him miss some time due to injury after running into the runaway bull Lance Romance which looked something like…

And with that the draft was over and the 2020 Atlas Steelers have been assembled. Last year the Steelers scored on pace with the top teams in the league but struggled keeping the puck out of their own net. (Rumors were they heard that their defensive blue line was technically in Welland so so they refused to cross it).

The Steelers enter the 2020 season as a team built on the pedigree of the Pelham Minor Hockey program (and the best arena fries in the game), and a room chemistry built by knowing that you are, in fact, just a little bit better than everybody else.

The journey to proving it starts October 7th against the Merritt Islanders.

Crown Room Kings

The draft balls of destiny landed squarely on the chin on the Crown Room Kings in 2020 and finished with a first round pick right on their faces. Veteran GM Warden has struggled to find success in the WNHL and has yet to raise Welland’s holy grail, however, veteran GM Warden has never been granted the “Golden Choice” before. (Well he has, but it was a long time ago, they were young and he didn’t really know her that well). Did he use it to wisely to build a championship caliber team or will he waste a beautiful gift that was bestowed upon him by the WNHL Gods? Let’s have a look and judge him harshly.

In the first four rounds the Kings drafted two Bering’s, a Boots, and a Wurfel. Taking last years leading scorer Ryan Bering seems like the right choice and finishing the fourth by bringing in his brother Carl can’t hurt. I mean, brothers always get along…

Adding Boots to the roster in the second round is always a great pick if you are looking for a puck moving defenceman who doesn’t speak to anybody in the room and has a secret rivalry with Billy. WNHL rookie Steve Wurfel, who must have impressed at the prospect game, earns the third round pick. That’s a bit of pressure to put on a rookie who has to try to find the unique balance of playing hard, but not being a try hard dick that makes the WNHL the Champagne of Beer Leagues. ™

Moving to the middle rounds, Warden started to fill the roster with a couple of guys who names end in vowels. You know what I mean? Couple guys sound like they are from Niagara Falls. Get it? Couple of guys who probably make mean soppressat? Capiche? Coming straight to the arena from the kitchen in their basement, Frankie Mauro and Gabe Mollo.

In the 7th and 8th rounds Warden took Al Jones and Nate Brady. Two people who do not have much and to say and quite frankly neither do I. Couple of workhorses, not going to hurt you out there, and much like all of your mom’s, they can be used in any position.

Gordie Hudak continues his journey from referee to player in the 9th round, and it was just like when Dangerous Danny Davis joined forces with the Hart Foundation.

Much like Danny Davis, Gordie has yet to taste championship glory and the former Alexander Kuska standout is looking to impress after what some have called a disappointing rookie campaign. (It was me, I said it. Fight me Gordie).

Shoring up the team in the final rounds were Kevin Dyson and “Mr. Irrelevant” Henry Wiens. Warden was happy with Wiens as the last selection and is a believer in the off the glass and out is better than in the back of the net philosophy which Wiens has mastered so well in his time in the WNHL.

And with that Warden has submitted his roster for the Crown Room Kings. Is it enough to bring the King Street Cup home to the Crown Room? Can they make it through a 30 Wednesday grind to hoist Welland’s holy grail or will they choke stumble and fall like Macy Gray?

It all starts on October 7th when the Kings open their season against the Townline Tunnelers.

They don’t ask how, they ask how many. In this case, 65. 65 people joined the WNHL zoom draft. While we missed the Rex, the pizza and the pints of OV, we still managed to draw some battle lines and pick the six teams that will make up the WNHL in the 2020 season.

This year the WNHL is excited to announce the “Game of the month”. One regular season game a month will be chosen to be the game of the month. To add to the already exciting atmosphere of a typical WNHL game, we have decided to raise the stakes just a bit. Each GM will select a charity that they will play for. During the month the teams are encouraged to raise money for their charity, through donations by your team, their friends and family. (maybe you have to return some empties, maybe you have to steal money from your wife’s purse or kid’s piggy bank. It’s really none of my business., as long as you are donating). On game day the pots will be combined and the winning team’s charity will collect all the funds raised, the losing team’s charity will continue to suffer knowing that they are being supported by 13 dudes who suck at hockey. This game will be filmed, there will be interviews conducted by our crack staff of WNHL reporters (who have promised that they have quit smoking crack), with the highlights going on the WNHL youtube channel, so the world can see your success or failure as the case may be.

So with all that being said, there is only one question left, who will hoist the King Street Cup in 2020. Currently the King Street Cup is homeless with no winner being declared in the 2019-2020 season, but there are six new teams ready to battle for Welland supremacy. With just over one week before the season starts, we here at www.wnhlwelland.ca will be providing team by team analysis and give our thoughts on who is looking like the early favorites and who are looking like the early degenerates of the league. So stay tuned here to find out what kind of terrible things are being said about your team and you personally.