League Buzz · September 30, 2026 · The WannabeGM Roundtable
The war room's cleared out, the sticks are put away, and somewhere out there a few of you are still finding tape balls in your driveway. Draft Day is done, puck has officially dropped on Season 23, and the first bits of hardware are already out the door. Same four voices back on the stools: Riley "The Scoop" Malone with the numbers, Gordie "The Grizzly" MacTavish with the war stories, Vinnie "The Scream" Russo with the volume, and Larry the Zamboni Driver with... whatever Larry's got this time. Let's get into it.
Let's talk numbers first, because they're brutal in the best way. Nineteen rounds, roughly three hours wall to wall, El Casa Del Blakely once again playing host. And usually you'd expect the chalk to hold for a round or two before anyone gets cute — not this year. Round one was already off the board, multiple times, and instead of settling down it just kept escalating from there. By round ten it barely felt like the same draft that started three hours earlier.
Three hours! Back in my day we'd still be arguing about a keeper deadline three hours in. But I'll give the room this — round one alone had me spitting out my coffee twice, and it never let up from there. Won't name names, but a couple of you reached so hard for a hunch you had no business making that early that I heard your shoulder pop from across the table. That's what this day's for, though. Bad decisions made with confidence right from pick one are a WannabeGM tradition older than half of you.
Round one, pick still warm, and somebody already reached for a guy who's on a THIRD-PAIR THIS SEASON like he was taking a top-four defenceman! Table just let it happen — no pushback, no chirps, nothing, just silence and a guy nodding like he'd cracked the code! And that was ROUND ONE! You'd think it'd settle down after that. It did not settle down after that!
Here's my favorite part of the whole day, and it's got nothing to do with hockey on paper. The second that last pick locked in, sticks came out of trunks and the whole crew rolled over to the Wilson Tennis Court for two, three hours of ball hockey — and a cooler that emptied out a lot faster than it should have for a "quick game or two." I saw at least one guy try to one-time a tennis ball in dress shoes on that court. Committed to the bit, no notes.
This is why I love this league! You people will sit in a chair for three hours making spreadsheets about plus-minus, and the SECOND it's over you're diving on pavement for a ball hockey goal like it's game seven! No refs, no rules, just pure chaos and warm beer! That's a WannabeGM tradition I can get behind!
I'll be feeling that Wilson Tennis Court asphalt for a week, and I mean that as a compliment. Back in my day the draft just ended and everybody went home — no encore. This league turning draft night into a doubleheader, hockey then ball hockey, is one of the few new traditions I'll actually admit I like. Ask me again Monday when my knees have had time to file a complaint.
We're only a few days into the actual season and the trophy case isn't empty anymore. A couple of these were locked in at the draft table itself, and the rest came out of the first handful of games once puck actually dropped on the 29th. Here's what's already been claimed:
| Award | Winner |
|---|---|
| 🐯 Paper Tiger — best team on paper | Symmington |
| 🚨 First Blood — first goal of the season | Pierre (Nylander) |
| 🍽️ The Waiter — first assist | Egan (Rielly) |
| 🍗 Chicken Dinner — first goalie win | Martin (Markstrom) |
| 🍲 No Soup For You — first shutout | Martin (Markstrom) |
| 🗡️ First Dagger — first game-winning goal | Martin (Forsling) |
Symmington walking out of the draft with the Paper Tiger is a bold way to start a season — that trophy comes with a curse attached more often than not, kid, so enjoy September. And somebody explain Martin's roster to me. Markstrom sweeps the win and the shutout before anyone else's goalie found their angles, and then Forsling comes along and bags the first dagger too? That's not a hot start, that's a heist with two guys on the job.
Martin's out here running the table on early hardware like it's a team errand! Markstrom bags two firsts by himself, Forsling grabs a third, three trophies for one roster before September's even out! Meanwhile Pierre and Egan get their names etched in with a Nylander goal and a Rielly helper on literally the first night of hockey — you can't script that kind of timing, folks, and I wouldn't want to!
Larry (RA): Sticks down, cans up, see you all on the ice. Vroom vroom.
AI generated review — seemed close enough. If it's not right, speak to your current/soon-to-be AI overlord representative. Thank you.