Still Evolving

In The Beginning

The #MAHL has gone through drastic changes in nearly every way since I began this project nearly 5 years ago. What started with rough graphics and little to no storytelling has turned into something larger than I could have ever imagined. This whole process has been something that I have had to develop and adapt over time. When the league first started, the playoffs were constantly changing. It started as single elimination, then became a series, then a longer series, then single elimination again. All the while the number of teams, leagues, and regions were also growing exponentially, changing the format of the playoffs seemingly every year. Even things such as the number of teams from each league making the playoffs haven't always been what they are now. There was a period where only the top 3 teams from each league made the postseason and way back at the start only the top 2 from the Twin Cities and Iron Range competed in the playoffs.

Early MAHL Graphic of the 1st Kellogg Cup

Where We Are Now

The league has since settled into their own playoff format with the top 4 teams in each league competing in single elimination playoffs, separated into 4 regions; North, Central, Twin Cities, & South. Four teams advance out of each region and advance to the Super Series which is held every other year at the St. Paul Civic Center and Met Center in Bloomington. One of the biggest developments in the history of the #MAHL is simulating the Super Series via NHL video games. Starting in the 1983 Season, I thought it would be fun to actually “watch” the Super Series. After simulating the playoffs up to that point, I used the Create a Team feature in NHL 21 to make the Super 16 teams as close as I could within the templates of the game. Rosters were picked by looking at European teams in the game and assigning them to different ranks. I then used the Playoffs game mode and entered the teams. I thought it would be really fun to stream the games on Twitch to see if anyone wanted to watch along with me doing play by play commentary. This proved to be a success and I have done it for every Super Series since.

Modern MAHL Graphic of the 1988 Kellogg Cup

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