Classic League year in review

Heading into the State Cup, I thought it might be fun to take a look back at the year.

SURPRISES:
Not many. Pretty much every team finished within 2-3 spots of where they qualified in, with maybe one exception: NTFC Black finished much lower than where they qualified coming in and/or initially seeded.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR NEXT:
Will be interesting to see if Mustangs can win tonight to secure the 10th spot in D1.
DT Stark will also be fighting tonight for a share of 1st place in D3 and a chance to move to D2.

RUMORS AND PREDICTIONS:
Solar will continue to grow and have 3 teams in 05AP and 3 teams in 04AP next season
D'Feeters will continue to slide and become more D2-like
Sting Garrett will disband and will need to combine with Sting Shepard and Sting Parsons
Mustangs will lose some key players and finish toward the bottom of the league
FCD Youth Elite will show biggest improvement 12 months from now

I appreciate you attempting to start a conversation but pretty unimpressive observations from a full LHGCL season.  But you obviously have your favorite team and have called out a few that you must really dislike.  And you also managed to watch both D1 and D3 games?  

I can only speak for D1 but can agree with you that most most teams ended up within 2-3 spots of where they were in FBR before qualifying.  But that is not really saying much.  That is generally the expectation.

Except for the slight shuffle of the top 5, it is hard to say that the overall standings are much of a surprise.  The top were really good.  The bottom teams were the bottom teams.  And there is a clear distinction between the top half and the bottom half as it relates to talent and style of play.  

How about some real surprises tho:
Not sure anyone would have predicted there would be an undefeated team
3 other teams finished with 3 or less losses
The great spring seasons of 2 teams that were in the bottom half of the standings after the Fall season

And youre  really predicting most improved team in 12 months when the age pure summer changes everything?

Another big question: how much turnover will there be with teams moving their byes up to 04 vs staying in 05 and shedding all 2004-born players?

Another poster on a separate thread put the line at 15 open spots to fill thru QT after all byes move up and teams re-form for AP.

I was not impressed at all by the overall level of this age group. I believe 02s, 03s, and 04s were heavier in talent. Also, no big names on the coaching side. Hope it picks up with the AP change.