Repeat.... Storm Win The BFHL Cup

After a long and grueling sesason, Storm was able to drink from BFHL Cup again.  This marked Storm's 4th visit to the finals in 5 years and 3rd championship.

It was an especially challenging year for Storm management.  Storm made some very tough decisions with the cap dropping from 70.2mn to 64.3mn.  Among the players that moved on after the 2012 - 2013 season were Unrestricted Free Agents:  Andy Greene, Alex Steen, Mike Richards and Travis Zajac.  

Storm also completed 2 blockbuster trades: acquiring defensive centre Jordan Staal for Jeff Carter and trading star goalie Cory Schneider to Nespressos for stud prospect Rasmus Ristolainen and a 1st round pick in the upcoming entry draft

Staal was instrumental in this season's cup run.  Staal was the team's 1st line centre.  Often playing against the opposition's top offensive centre, Staal still had 70 pts during the regular season with a +23 rating.  Staal's presence allowed Logan Couture and Nicklas Backstrom to settle nicely into the 2nd and 3rd line centre positions respectively.  Furthermore, it allowed Couture and Backstrom to play in more offensive situations (ie.  PP) 

Storm's defensemen were outstanding led by the dynamic Erik Karlsson.  Karlsson had 93 points and was +26.

At the trade deadline, Storm acquired MA Fleury for Ondrej Pavelec and Marko Dano, the 47th pick in this year entry draft.  Fleury provided Storm with the championship calibre goaltending that every champsionship team needs.

Looking forward, difficult decisions need to be made with respect to the following FA:

       F:  Nicklas Backstrom, Dave Bolland, Derick Brassard, Ryan Johansen, James Neal, Travis Meon

       D:  Paul Martin, Ladislav Smid, Johnny Boychuk

Rumors are abound and it seems like Storm is open to trades involving Nicklas Backstrom, Brassard, Enstrom, Kadri, and rights to all pending FA.

With a solid prospect pool, Tomas Hertl will likely be fighting for a job on the big club in the upcoming year.

That's a wrap....