Dutchess Luke here again, this time with a preview of what to expect for week 1 of the NABHL 2026 Fall Season. This week I chose to add a (vaguely, slightly) relevant Simpsons line to each writeup.
Game 1: Black Squirrels vs. Liabilities - This should be a classic stylistic clash of a powerful offense playing against a powerful defense. If this were a playoff game, the general wisdom would be that the defense would take the game. I heard many rumors of people joining the Squirrels roster, but as of this moment it is looking very similar to the lineups I've seen in past seasons. For Liabilities though, I've heard that Bramson is volunteering his services on defense, which makes me madder than a yak in heat, but my hunch is that Liabilities will come out of the gate with an offense first lineup that simply can't be stopped, and Black Squirrels will keep things close, but won't have the firepower to keep up.
Liabilities 5 - Black Squirrels 2
Game 2: Baseball Bats vs. More Tooth - A week 1 rematch of the championship game from last season, could go down as the game of the week if the lineups are right. Bats has gone through a change of leadership and has yet to submit a proper roster for the season outside of the statement "most of the boys are back". Tooth similarly hasn't submitted a roster for the season, but has talked about player movement and their need to recruit this offseason. If these squads truly look different from last season, I will have no idea what to expect, but something tells me both of these teams are gonna look a bit better than the top half of the paragraph would suggest. I'm looking at new father Lucas to put his mark on this game, but it has a chance to be a higher scoring affair than the average More Tooth game. If the Bats lose again, they'll start wondering if the lesson is to never try.
More Tooth 4 - Baseball Bats 3
Game 3: Flying Hellfish vs. Steinway Baby Grands - The Baby Grands are looking to build momentum off last season where they kept things close pretty much every week, and I expect it to be similar this week vs the Flying Hellfish. The Hellfish looked very different week over week last season depending on attendnace, and this season I expect it to be no different. They're missing some of their top line and overall power couple Tom and Rose, but still have a deep enough roster to do some damage. I honestly have no idea what the Baby Grands lineup will look like, since as of this post they still haven't submitted a roster, nor has a single player signed the waiver. I don't know if their captain has gotten really popular, or if there's some sort of "secret wink-wink", but based on the little I do know about the teams rosters, I'm guessing Hellfish should be a little younger and faster, and that will make the difference this week.
Flying Hellfish 3 - Steinway Baby Grands 2
Game 4: Dutch Killer Bees vs. Terminators - There's a ton of unknowns in this game, but often these games end up being the most exciting. The Dutch Killer Bees have a good number of new players who could bring some much needed youth and energy, but will also be playing league games for the first or second time. Terminators have even more new players, but after seeing them on the rink last week, they have a more than reasonable shot in the game. They also have a full time coach to help run the bench, and I don't anticipate some of the difficulties expansion squads have. All this in mind, new franchises always tend to struggle out the gate, so I have to assume the more seasoned team pulls down the W in this one. If Sky can in fact figure out how to pull a victory in Terminators' first game, his ideas will intrigue me, and I wish to subscribe to his newsletter.
Dutch Killer Bees 4 - Terminators 3
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