NAHL Day 24 - Whalers finally break down Steelers' defense

Whalers players celebrate after taking down Pons Aelius, image credit to Global News

Pons Aelius concedes three goals for the first time, Londinium slides while Eboracum gains, and Isca Town whomps Vinovium.

Pons Aelius Steelers 2, Sept-Iles Whalers 3: Talk about different. In these teams' first two encounters, both games ended 1-0 in favor of the Steelers. In Pons Aelius' first 23 games, they never conceded more than two goals. Well, now both things have changed. Not only did the Whalers win (on the road, no less), but they put three pucks past Brett McQueen and the Steelers defense for the first time this season. Rene Kelly and Denis Babin scored in the first period for Sept-Iles, which seemed to put the Steelers on the back foot. They are not used to trailing by two goals or conceding so early and so often. They didn't play well in the second either, but the Whalers could only get one goal, this one from Michel Picard to put them up 3-0. Trailing 3-0 going into the third period, it's amazing that Pons Aelius made a game of it, but Dirk Ziegler and Joe Strickland scored at 10:38 and 15:27, respectively, to make it a 3-2 game. All of a sudden, the Steelers' home crowd was back in it. But the gallant Quebecois team held firm against the late attack, and escaped hostile territory with a much-needed two points. Sept-Iles is one back of Newfield and two back of Labrador; if they can surpass those two teams, they will be in the playoff conversation, a big leap for last year's last-place team. Pons Aelius will look to recover against a Sharpshooters team that is also gunning for the playoffs.

Londinium Royals 1, DC Oilers 3: Two opportunities to climb higher in the standings, two losses for Londinium. Ben Malone scored in the first period, but the Oilers got goals from Wally McMillan, Jeff Sutton, and Shane Manning in the second and third periods to overwhelm the Royals and take the victory. Royals head coach Paul Bowman was frank after the game: "We had been playing so well, that it's disappointing to see us failing to take advantage of chances against the big boys. This is a young team, but we're not looking to just make the playoffs. We want a good seed and we want a championship. If we're not careful, we just might miss out." Oilers head coach Sherm Willis' postgame press conference was full of praise for his supporting players, noting it was the first time in a while the first line didn't score. The Oilers are still in second place and will host lowly Vinovium next. Londinium gets Portus Abonae, who are playing well, in a crucial bounce-back affair.

Aquae Sulis Bears 2, Eboracum Sharpshooters 2 (2-3 SO): Darin Drake and Cal Malone scored in the third period to rally the Bears from a 2-0 deficit, but the Sharpshooters would not be stopped in the shootout, taking the victory. Glen Gray, Tim Smith, and Will Richardson scored in the shootout, while goalie Wes Singleton made three saves to hold off Aquae Sulis. Between Eboracum's win and Londinium's loss, the Sharpshooters are just two points out of playoff position after falling sharply behind during Londinium's hot streak. The Bears did pick up one point, but will be looking for more in their next game against Mancunium. They've got a ways to go before they're relevant, but it starts with winning games against the bottom half. As for the Sharpshooters, they've now won four in a row, but face a tough assignment against Pons Aelius next.

Vinovium Lumberjacks 2, Isca Town Captains 5: It's not often you see Isca Town break out for five goals, but their control style of play is designed to expose opponent's weaknesses, and Vinovium fell into their trap. The Captains led 3-0 after the first, and never looked back. Jonathan Barnes, Shaun Webster, and Jason Gross had goals in the first, with Barnes' coming on the power play. Robbie Reid added a goal in the second, and Zeke Moseley scored in the third to cap it off. Vinovium got goals from Kevin Morgan and Jake Roundtree, but they made the score 4-1 and 5-2, respectively, so it was cold comfort. The Captains have won their last four after suffering a shock defeat to Mancunium on the road, and remain three points clear of their closest rivals. Vinovium is still in last place, having lost three in a row.

Labrador Caribou 1, Portus Abonae Privateers 2: That's the way to bounce back after your three-game winning streak comes to a mistake-filled end. The Privateers went on the road and got goals from Archie Cole and Jesse Brock to earn their ninth win and fourth in the last five games. Cole struck first, at 15:25 of the first period, zinging a snap shot past Dave Francis, who had just conceded five goals in the last game against DC. Brock made it 2-0 at 7:39 of the second when Labrador's Johnny Ramsey was whistled for hooking and Portus Abonae went on the man advantage. Victor Hall scored at 14:48 of the third to pull the Caribou within one, but good defensive hockey and a nifty save by "Rusty" Barbour foiled Labrador's attempts to tie the game and the Privateers left the ice with a win. These two teams are traveling in opposite directions, with the Privateers having momentum and the Caribou having stalled out, just 1-6-0 in their last seven games. Labrador had hopes, before this stretch, of competing with Londinium for the final playoff spot, but they have fallen six points behind and been surpassed by Eboracum as the primary challenger. They will get Sept-Iles next.

Newfield Rangers 2, Mancunium Raiders 2 (2-0 SO): Winning your games against the teams in the cellar isn't always a recipe for success, but not doing so is a recipe for failure. In two games against bottom-feeding Vinovium and Mancunium this round-robin, Newfield is 2-0-0, which brings their record against them to 3-0-3 for the year. This one wasn't able to be decided in regulation, however, as a late goal by Mancunium's Matt Harmon tied the score at two. The two teams battled the whole way through, with Newfield taking a 1-0 lead, Mancunium tying it, and Newfield going back in front 2-1 before Harmon's goal. In the shootout, Brady Dowell and Earl Switzer scored, but it was Augustin Gauthier who was the MVP, making four saves to deny the Raiders any chance of success. Newfield has now climbed within one point of Labrador for sixth place, though they remain significantly out of playoff position. They will take on Isca Town next, a daunting task. As for the Raiders, this is their first non-regulation loss, so the one point they scraped from this game is the difference between them and Vinovium right now. It's looking increasingly like a lost season, 17 points out of playoff position.

NAHL Day 23 - Three close wins, three not so close

DC Oilers players celebrate after their rout of Labrador, image credit to NBC Sports

DC, Eboracum, and Aquae Sulis raced to easy wins, while Isca Town, Pons Aelius, and Newfield found it a little more difficult.

DC Oilers 5, Labrador Caribou 1: Talk about starting off with a bang! The Oilers began their third round-robin with a 5-1 thrashing of the Labrador Caribou. In the first two games these teams played, DC escaped with a shootout win and a 1-0 win, but here it was DC domination from start to finish. Julian Stephens and Sammy Jensen scored in the first, Owen Jones and Reed Harrison made it 4-0 in the second, and Malcolm Hogg put the icing on the cake with the fifth goal in the third period. Oilers backup goalkeeper Chris Bennett, getting a start after Ted Carpenter had appeared in the vast majority of games this year, lost the chance for his first shutout of the year by conceding a goal to Victor Hall at 14:24 of the third. But Bennett made 27 other saves and was backed by more than enough offense to earn the victory. DC's offense continues to lead the league; only Eboracum has more than 50 goals scored, at 62. Labrador head coach Graham Ashton was tight-lipped after the game: "We lost badly. Clearly our heads weren't in it. We've got a lot of work to do." One doesn't blame him; four-goal losses are demoralizing. The Caribou are 1-5-0 in their last six games and now closer to last place than first, points-wise. They will try to right the ship against Portus Abonae.

Eboracum Sharpshooters 3, Mancunium Raiders 0: Mancunium came into the year having made two big signings in Quinn Baird and Heath Lindsay, expecting to play decently if not contend. But instead they find themselves languishing at the bottom of the standings and were clearly outplayed tonight in Eboracum. Head coach Cary Hodges was at a bit of a loss for words following the defeat: "I don't know what to tell you. We clearly need to clean things up on both sides of the ice. We've got to play better." In contrast to Mancunium's tailspin, the Sharpshooters have won three straight and five of their last six games. They are drawing ever closer to playoff position after struggling to find consistency before this recent string of wins. Especially encouraging was their defensive performance; the Sharpshooters have scored 62 goals, good for a 2.7/game average, but have allowed 56, or 2.4/game. If they can maintain their scoring punch while getting a lid on their opponents' attack, they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Sept-Iles Whalers 2, Aquae Sulis Bears 6: This was a surprise. Usually Sept-Iles is incredibly tough to beat at "Le Navire", but struggles on the road. Last night it looked like the opposite, as Aquae Sulis pretty much had their way with the Whalers for most of the game. Sept-Iles put up a good fight for one period, even striking first when Gaston Fortin beat Art Morrison at 5:38 of the first period. But two goals in under two minutes, one by Nick May and one by Martin Wong, at 16:31 and 18:24, seemed to break their spirit. They only trailed 2-1 going into the second, but didn't play like it was a close game. May scored his second at 4:22, and David Richter made it 4-1 at 12:09, and the Bears were firmly in control. Darin Drake and Kip Maddox scored in the third, putting Aquae Sulis ahead 6-1, and rendering James McDaniel's goal at 15:52 meaningless except for stat-padding purposes. Boos cascaded down, unsurprising considering that Aquae Sulis entered the day seventeen points out of playoff position and seven points behind the Whalers. This is a massive confidence boost for the Bears, letting them release some frustration heading into a game against surging Eboracum. For the Whalers, they'll have to shake this one off and find some confidence going into a difficult game at Pons Aelius.

Isca Town Captains 1, Londinium Royals 0: A win for the Royals would have put them three points behind the Captains, six points clear of Eboracum, and eight points up on Labrador. That's a strong position to be in. Instead, they were beaten by an extremely competent Isca Town squad and lost just their second game of their last ten. Robbie Reid notched the only goal at 18:44 of the first period and try as they might, the Royals could not and did not find an equalizer in the remaining forty minutes to keep them in the game. Eli Boyd did do a good job of stopping Isca Town from building on the lead, making 29 stops, including 20 in the last two periods. But Sheldon Cook, Eric Benson, Daniel Roberts, Thomas Bailey, Nico Nielsen, Ben Malone, and others were all denied by Justin Smith, who made 32 saves. The Royals have a tough assignment in DC the next time out; a win would put them just two back of the Oilers, while another loss might allow the Sharpshooters and Caribou to gain ground on them.

Portus Abonae Privateers 0, Pons Aelius Steelers 1: All that momentum the Privateers had built up during their three-game winning streak came to a screeching, grinding, crashing halt in Portus Abonae last night. In fact, it was a little like this. A good day, coming off three wins, you loosen up the playbook a little and let the guys roam and create. So many opportunities to put the puck in the net, to control the game, to avoid driving straight into the- aw shucks, another loss. The Steelers didn't play their best game, but they survived and let the Privateers make their own mistakes, then took advantage. Aaron Black scored the only goal at 7:41 of the third period and the Steelers' defense took care of it from there. They kept pace with Isca Town and DC, staying four points and one point behind them, respectively. It was a good bounceback for them, having lost the past two games 1-0 to Isca Town and DC. The Privateers get Labrador next. 

Vinovium Lumberjacks 0, Newfield Rangers 1: The Rangers entered this game seven points clear of Vinovium, and with the conviction that this was a must-win game. You don't build experience for the future or try to claw into near-contention by losing to last-place teams on the road. This may be the easiest road game you can get, theoretically. But it was anything but. Both sides jockeyed for position all night, with plenty of hard hits and good defensive stick work interspersed with strong performances by backup goalies Simon Barnett and Bradley Gibbs. Newfield entered the final period with a 22-19 shot advantage and a narrow possession advantage. More than halfway into the period, a Vinovium forward was whistled for interference and the Rangers went on the power play. They used the man advantage to get Elliott Parrish open for a quick wrister that sneaked by Barnett to give Newfield the lead. The Rangers held on for the 1-0 victory, their ninth of the year. Newfield will have a chance to build on this win when they take on the other last-place team Mancunium next. Vinovium has a tougher assignment against Newfield.

Learn more about Nova Anglicana - Getting around

Getting around in Nova Anglicana

#1: Getting to Nova Anglicana

There are three ways to get to Nova Anglicana: land, sea, and air. Land or air are probably the most convenient. Coming to Nova Anglicana by sea typically means you're taking a cruise, though some choose to come by sea from other countries.

There are two ways to come to Nova Anglicana by land: by car or by train. Either way, your best bet is through Quebec or through Maine. Traveling from Maine, the first major city you'll encounter is probably Durovernum Cantiacorum, the southernmost city in New Brunswick, though if you're taking Highway 95 all the way to Canada, you'll run into Vinovium instead. Traveling from Quebec, you can either take Route 138 from Quebec City north all the way up to Sept-Iles, or you can cut east and arrive in Edmundston, in the northwestern corner of New Brunswick. The train is largely the same: a southern rail line from Maine to Durovernum Cantiacorum, or a northern rail line from Maine to Vinovium. There is also train service between Quebec City and Sept-Iles or between Riviere-du-Loup and Edmundston. 

By air, there are a few ways to come as well: again, if you're coming from Maine, Boston, or New York, you can fly in to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island, and if you're coming from Quebec City or Montreal, you can fly in to Sept-Iles, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Prince Edward Island. Getting to Londinium is a little trickier from the US; you'll likely have to get a connection out of Eboracum or another Nova Anglican airport. There are direct flights out of Montreal. Mancunium, unfortunately, is inaccessible to international flights. If you're coming from Europe, you will likely fly directly into Londinium. It will be a long flight, as it is trans-Atlantic. There are two principal carriers in Nova Anglicana: NovaAir and LionAir. Despite the one sounding like a state-owned company and the other like a budget airline, neither is true. They are both privately owned and compete with each other on price, availability, and quality of travel. Wherever you're flying to Nova Anglicana from, you will almost certainly be on one of those two airlines.

By sea, you can take a ferry from Bar Harbor, Maine to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The trip will take you across the Gulf of Maine and features all the amenities you'll need for your 3.5 hour journey. Eat, drink, do some duty-free shopping, watch a movie, take in the air and water above deck, there's even a children's play area. There isn't a ferry from Quebec, but you can take a pleasure cruise from Quebec City up the St. Lawrence River that stops in Sept-Iles, or you can take a ferry from Matane on the Gaspe Peninsula to Godbout, both in Quebec, and then drive to Sept-Iles. You can also take a ferry back and forth from Anticosti Island to Sept-Iles.

Getting around in Nova Anglicana

So now you're here in Nova Anglicana and you want to travel around a bit. How do you do that? Well, any of Nova Anglicana's largest municipalities have airports that can get you to any other city in Nova Anglicana. This is how you get to Mancunium up in Labrador; take a flight from Sept-Iles, Londinium, Portus Abonae, or Aquae Sulis for the shortest trip. You can also take chartered flights at several small domestic airports scattered across the country. Airports are owned by the municipalities, but flights are privately operated; the Nova Anglican Interior Ministry provides security checks and air marshals at all airports. 

If you want to travel by land, you're in luck! Nova Anglicana has spent massively on improving infrastructure across its provinces, so renting a car and driving around is easy. However, it also maintains a strong public transport system, both in and out of urban areas. Most large cities will have either a metro/subway/light rail system for getting around the city and the surrounding area, and bus service is ubiquitous in cities with a population of 25,000 or more. Residents of urban areas often take public transport to work, and those in the suburbs often find that driving to the station and taking the metro into work is preferable to fighting traffic.

Traveling across the country can be done via several private long-distance bus services or by renting a car, but the best way to travel by land in Nova Anglicana is by train. The state-owned NovaRail system connects cities in the various provinces of Nova Anglicana and is widely regarded as an efficient and affordable way to travel within or between provinces. The major lines are of course between the major cities, but many mid-sized towns have railway stops and there are several spur lines, so no place in Nova Anglicana is often too far from a railway stop. There is high-speed rail or TGV (train a grande vitesse) in Nova Anglicana; currently, it only operates between the New Brunswick Triangle of Vinovium-Durovernum Cantiacorum-Noviomagus. Drive times between those three cities range from an hour and fifteen minutes to about two hours, while the high-speed rail can make it in roughly half the time. There are plans to expand it from Noviomagus to Eboracum and Eboracum to Pons Aelius next.

As for sea travel, Nova Anglicana is a maritime country, so there are connections by ferry to various provinces. For example, you can travel from Durovernum Cantiacorum in New Brunswick to Nova Scotia by ferry across the Bay of Fundy, or from Prince Edward Island to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, or Newfoundland. There is also ferry service from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia and from the northern tip of Newfoundland over to eastern Quebec or southern Labrador.

Nova Anglicana is a lovely place to visit, and offers a variety of comfortable, convenient, and affordable travel options. Our next segment will focus on cuisine of Nova Anglicana, or what you can expect to chow down on once you've entered the country.

NAHL Day 22 - Isca Town tops table one-third of the way through

A solitary farmhouse on Prince Edward Island, image credit to CNN

Isca Town stays atop the standings, DC wins the battle for second place, and a rivalry game is the third straight win for Portus Abonae.

Isca Town Captains 2, Labrador Caribou 0: Easy peasy, lemon squeezy for the Captains in this game. Although a 2-0 win isn’t exactly a blowout, this is exactly the kind of game Isca Town likes to play. They spent a lot of time controlling the puck, passing it around, looking for an opening, and limiting Labrador’s chances. A goal in the first from Shaun Webster and then a goal from Jason Gross in the second gave them a lead they would never relinquish. After the game, the Caribou’s star center Victor Hall expresses his frustration: “It was a tough one tonight. We didn’t do a good enough job asserting ourselves and we let them run the show for the most part. You hate to see that against any team, but if we want to be a playoff team this year, we’ve got to stand toe-to-toe with the big boys like Isca Town.” The Captains stay atop the standings and are quite close to their miraculous pace of 116 points of last year. If they simply repeated these results over the next two-thirds of the season, they would end on 111 points, also one of the highest point totals ever. For the Caribou, they were competing with Londinium for the fourth playoff spot, but have now fallen behind. Their offense has been a pleasant surprise, but they need to shore up their defense to really be competitive. 

DC Oilers 1, Pons Aelius Steelers 0: The best explanation for this result is that DC beat Pons Aelius at their own game. Usually the Steelers defend, defend, defend, and wait for the right moment to counterattack. This time around, the Oilers found the right moment to catch the Steelers off-guard and hit them with the counterstrike. The Steelers were on the attack, but Ted Carpenter made a save and quickly slipped the puck out to Julian Stephens, and the swiftness of the Oilers’ passing took the Steelers by surprise. They reversed the ice really quickly, and Stephens finished off a give-and-go to give the Oilers the lead late in the second period. The Oilers took over second place and remain three points behind the Captains for first place and securely in playoff position. As for the Steelers, they are just one point up on the Royals, but still in playoff position. Their excellent defense is allowing only 0.5 goals/game, keeping them in the hunt.

Portus Abonae Privateers 3, Aquae Sulis Bears 2: This rivalry game in Portus Abonae was a tale of two periods. In the first period, the Privateers scored three times, as Archie Cole, Jessie Brock, and Jamie Atwood found the net. There was talk of taking out Bears netminder Art Morrison, but he stayed in the game. In the second period, Martin Wong and Nick May scored to pull the Bears to within one with five minutes remaining. But for the final twenty-five minutes, the play was back and forth, and both netminders were up to the challenge, each making double-digit third-period saves. Portus Abonae skated off with the win, now 2-0 in these rivalry games this season. The Bears are sitting in 10th place, but one point out of last, along with fellow no-hopers Mancunium and Vinovium. It’s a dreadful 45-point season they are on pace for, which would be disappointing to say the least. In this third round-robin before the All-Star break, they at least need to be competitive, or this could be a truly awful season. By contrast, the Privateers seem to have awakened from their early season slump somewhat, having won three in a row now. They have some momentum and sit just two points out of 7th place. A good third round-robin that puts them only single-digit points out of playoff position is imperative if they expect to compete.

Newfield Rangers 3, Eboracum Sharpshooters 5: A hat trick from Newfield's Brady Dowell couldn't stop Eboracum from securing a big road win to end the second round-robin. The Rangers winger and leading scorer scored once each in the first, second, and third periods. Unfortunately, his goals never tied the game, but only brought them within 2-1, 3-2, and 4-3. The Sharpshooters put the game to bed with an empty-netter in the last minute of the game. Eboracum will finish the first third of the season with an above-.500 record and 26 points, six behind fourth-place Londinium. They’ve clearly established themselves as a top-half team with a great offense, but their defensive inconsistencies are holding them back. They’ll also have to challenge the top three or four teams more if they expect to compete. Newfield’s been scrappy this year, and while they aren’t on pace to be competitive, they are on target to improve from last year. 

Vinovium Lumberjacks 1, Londinium Royals 2: The Lumberjacks had a chance, they had a lead, but they collapsed in the third period, and the Royals rallied for the 2-1 victory. Roman Massey scored in the first, and the Lumberjacks held the lead for over a period. But the fast skating and better conditioning of the Royals began to tell, and Londinium began getting more open shots. Nico Nielsen beat Mel Pinson after weaving his way through the defense to tie the game, and at 16:02, Ben Malone got an open snap shot that beat Pinson high to put the Royals ahead. They've won eight of their last nine games. A win for Vinovium would have meant not being in last place for basically the first time all season. As is, their dismal results project a point total of 42, which would have been last by far the previous season. They will need to improve. As for the Royals, they're in fourth place, one point behind the Steelers and six points clear of Labrador and Eboracum. They're on pace for 96 points, their best result in recent history.

Sept-Iles Whalers 1, Mancunium Raiders 0: These two teams would likely want to be flying up and down the ice much more than they did in this game, but it was a hard-fought game nonetheless. Denis Babin flipped a shot into the net at 13:24 of the third period, catching Heath Lindsay off guard and bringing "Le Navire" to its feet in celebration. But for the first 53 minutes, there was hard checking, more than one penalty, and excellent penalty kill and defensive work on both sides. Jack Green, Troy Buchanan, and Jed Greenfield for Mancunium especially frustrated "Les Balinieres". But they couldn't hold on forever, and the nimble Whalers finally found an opening for Babin. A third of the way through, Sept-Iles sits in seventh place, topping the bottom half of the league. Their one point per game average would have situated them in eighth place last year, a significant improvement over their actual last place. Can this young team put something together and make a run? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, Mancunium is tied for last with Vinovium, an ignominious position to be in.

NAHL Day 21 - Captains break Steelers defense

The colorful Battery neighborhood in Londinium, image credit to Travel Zoo

In close games, Isca Town triumphs over Pons Aelius, Londinium and Eboracum win in overtime, and Vinovium sends Labrador to another home loss.

Pons Aelius Steelers 0, Isca Town Captains 1: The last time these two titans played, it ended 0-0 after overtime, and Isca Town took the shootout 2-1. There was a single, solitary goal this time, but Isca Town won again. After two periods of excellent glove, stick, and pad work from both netminders (McQueen and Smith), Robbie Reid found the net at 5:26 of the third period, sneaking one in under the pads of McQueen. The Steelers threatened, but their offense isn't good enough to match up against Isca Town when the Captains don't make a mistake. The win puts Isca Town alone in first on 35 points. These head-to-head wins against top teams are key to get separation at the top and potentially break ties for playoff seeding. Isca Town will host Labrador next, while the Steelers get the opposite of a breather: a matchup against DC for second place.

Londinium Royals 0, Newfield Rangers 0 (1-0 OT): Either the Royals have a talent for winning close games, or they're lucky. During their six-game winning streak that was snapped last game, they won four one-goal games and two in shootouts. Here tonight, they couldn't break down Rangers goalie Augustin Gauthier until the waning moments of overtime, despite putting 34 shots on net. What won this game for them was their ability to limit Newfield's attack; the Rangers found themselves under constant pressure, unable to easily move the puck from the defensive to offensive zone. Even when they got it into their opponents' end, the Royals were pesky on defense, sticks and skates seemingly everywhere. The Royals' offense hasn't been spectacular; in fact, it's been fairly weak for the league, but their defense has carried them through. They are still in fourth place, playoff position. For the Rangers, the key here was surviving the onslaught and earning a point for going to overtime. While nine points behind Londinium for the playoffs, their grinding style could earn them a top-half finish, which would be a great result for a team that has struggled so much recently.

Eboracum Sharpshooters 4, Sept-Iles Whalers 4 (5-4 OT): This one was wild and woolly, which suited the Sharpshooters just fine. The lead changed hands three times, with Eboracum going in front 1-0, then Sept-Iles going up 3-1, then Eboracum charging back to take a 4-3 lead before conceding an equalizer with barely twenty seconds remaining on the clock. Glen Gray had his second of the night at 3:34 of overtime to end it in favor of the Sharpshooters. Both teams showed a lot of fight in this one, and the 9,800 fans in attendance roared their approval. The Whalers are a young team, which has its ups and downs. They can pour it on as they did when going up 3-1 or they can find the energy for a late equalizer, but they can also collapse like they did in giving up their 3-1 lead. They did get one point from it, which helps. Eboracum will travel to pesky Newfield, while the Whalers will host a Mancunium side with a leaky defense.

Labrador Caribou 0, Vinovium Lumberjacks 1: It was no 5-1 beatdown, but the Lumberjacks got revenge for their 5-1 defeat that cost former head coach Robert Petrie his job. And even sweeter, they broke the hearts of Labrador's home fans in the bargain. The game was scoreless for the first two periods, and looked like it was heading to overtime when it remained scoreless fifteen minutes into the third period. But Max Getz rifled one by Pete Henderson, Labrador's backup goalie, at 15:54 to finally put the Lumberjacks up. In the ensuing four minutes of regulation, the Caribou rang the pipes twice and forced Mel Pinson to make multiple good saves, but he was up to the task and the Lumberjacks skated off with the win. Vinovium has gone 5-4-1 over their last ten games, good for a .500 record and 11 points. That's an acceptable pace and one that might remove the "interim" tag from Dean Collins if it continues. Labrador has now lost three straight home games, and losing to the bottom-feeding Lumberjacks stings. They'll travel to Isca Town to try to knock off the leaders.

Aquae Sulis Bears 2, DC Oilers 3: It came down to the last three minutes of the game, and it came down to a power play. DC's Sammy Jensen beat Art Morrison with a wicked slap shot at 17:54 of the third to give the Oilers the win. Oilers head coach Sherm Willis was ecstatic after the game, saying, "Our attack's the best in the league; when [Bears forward Nick] May took that penalty, I knew we were going to win. You can't give our team a man advantage late in the game and not expect us to convert." The win keeps the Oilers one back of Pons Aelius and three back of Isca Town in the race for first. DC gets the Steelers at home next game, and since they lost their first matchup and the Steelers knocked them out of first place, they've been waiting for this one. It will be another major matchup to end the second round-robin and will be key in determining playoff position or even first place. For the Bears, this was a missed opportunity. They competed hard and skated well at home with one of the best teams in the league, but a badly timed penalty cost them a chance at at least one point. They will try to regroup against rival Portus Abonae, who are building a bit of momentum.

Mancunium Raiders 2, Portus Abonae Privateers 4: This was a complete game for the Privateers, something they've really struggled to put together in recent weeks. Jordon Upshaw, Cliff Holt, mike Henry, and Scottie Richards all scored in the first two periods to basically put this one to bed before the last twenty minutes. They led 4-0 going into the third, and so Todd Hagan and Brandon Scanlon's goals were essentially meaningless. This is Portus Abonae's second consecutive win after a string of six straight losses, which gives head coach Ken Keller some hope: "We've dealt with some losing streaks here early in the season, but I think the boys are starting to round into form. We've got our rivalry game against the Bears next, and we're definitely going to be ready." The Privateers will indeed take on Aquae Sulis next, and the two teams are very close in the standings, so it should be exciting. Mancunium's lost two in a row and gets Sept-Iles next, as they try to avoid getting leapfrogged by a suddenly competent Vinovium squad.

NAHL Day 20 - Two six-game streaks come to an end

Fjords near Portus Abonae, image credit to Royal Caribbean

One six-game losing streak comes to an end, one six-game winning streak, comes to an end, and Isca Town and Pons Aelius both win.

Portus Abonae Privateers 2, Eboracum Sharpshooters 1: It finally happened! Privateers fans have seen a succession of mostly close losses sink their team as low as a tie for tenth with woeful Mancunium. But they got off the schneid with a 2-1 win in front of the home fans, and against a team in Eboracum that fancies itself a playoff competitor as well. Jordon Upshaw scored within the first two minutes, and Cliff Holt added a goal late in the first to make it 2-0. "Rusty" Barbour was able to preserve the win from there, despite allowing a goal to Gavin Kirkwood midway through the third. Portus Abonae is still searching for that midseason form that pushed them into the playoffs last year, but this is a step forward. They just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other, something they have seriously struggled with this year. They'll be playing Mancunium next; the key is to play good defense, as they allowed nearly four goals per game during this losing streak. Eboracum is looking for some consistency themselves; they just took down DC and now they fall flat on their faces. They will host a dangerous Sept-Iles team next.

Londinium Royals 0, Labrador Caribou 1: On the other end of the spectrum, Londinium's six-game winning streak came to an end tonight. During the streak, the Royals ground out wins of 2-1 (twice), 3-2, 1-0, and twice in a shootout. They proved themselves remarkably capable of winning close games (or just incredibly lucky), but they had to lose a close game sometime, and this was it. Labrador's Johnny Ramsey beat Eli Boyd in the second period to give the Caribou the lead, and Dave Francis preserved it from there, making 29 saves. Londinium drops out of third place with this loss, and they will take on Newfield next, who are suddenly surging. Labrador inches closer to fourth place with the win, and they will travel to a Vinovium squad itching for revenge after their 5-1 demolition last time out.

Vinovium Lumberjacks 0, Pons Aelius Steelers 4: You knew the Steelers were waiting for this one. Three games ago, they got revenge on Newfield (4-1) for beating them last time, and tonight, they beat Vinovium to a pulp in front of the Lumberjacks' home fans for the crime of having defeated the Steelers in their last game. Aaron Black had two goals and Dirk Ziegler had three assists in the rout. With the win, Pons Aelius officially doesn't have the worst offense in the league, but they continue to have the best defense, being the only team that hasn't allowed double-digits in goals yet. For Vinovium, it was a dismal performance. Interim head coach Dean Collins said, "This wasn't pretty. We just have to learn from it and move on as quickly as we can so we can take on Labrador." Labrador routed Vinovium 5-1 last time around, resulting in the firing of head coach Robert Petrie, and the Lumberjacks will want to make a better showing. The Steelers, for their part, will match up against Isca Town in a battle for first place that should be epic.

Isca Town Captains 1, Aquae Sulis Bears 0: It wasn't the prettiest win, but it was a win. Two periods saw the Captains narrowly outshot and outpossessed, but Justin Smith's 19 saves were keeping them in the game, while Art Morrison for the Bears had stopped all 17 attempts on his net. But on a mad scramble in front of the net following a rebound, Shaun Webster jammed the puck into the net under Morrison's pads, and the Captains finally had a lead at 9:27 of the third. The Bears couldn't break down Smith in the time remaining, and the Captains claimed their 16th win of the year. They remain tied atop the standings, while the Bears hover in 10th place. Aquae Sulis gets DC next, in another tough matchup. 

Newfield Rangers 2, Sept-Iles Whalers 0: This battle for seventh place came down to a Newfield defense that the Whalers' attack could not break down. After an early goal from Seth Sharp, the Rangers and Whalers played a balanced game with neither team scoring. Augustin Gauthier was in net for Newfield, and he made 30 saves, including twelve in a furious third period that saw the Whalers throw everything but the kitchen sink at Gauthier. But he proved up to the task, even with a sixth skater for Sept-Iles, and Earl Switzer had an empty-net goal to pad the final margin. Newfield has now won three in a row, while Sept-Iles had their three-game winning streak snapped. This is the ninth time Sept-Iles has failed to score a goal this season, and their fifth-ranked defense isn't enough to overcome their inconsistencies on offense.

DC Oilers 5, Mancunium Raiders 3: A balanced attack and just enough defense were the keys for DC in their home victory over Mancunium. Leading 2-1 after the first, they stretched their lead to 4-2 after two and weathered a furious counterattack from the Raiders in the third. Julian Stephens, Malcolm Hogg, Sammy Jensen, Owen Jones, and Reed Harrison each had a goal for the Oilers. Matt Harmon and Todd Hagan scored for Mancunium in the first two periods, and Quinn Baird had a goal that pulled the Raiders to within 4-3 at 8:12 of the third, but they couldn't find an equalizer and let in the fifth goal late. With the Royals' loss, DC is back alone in third, three points behind. Their league-leading offense continues to keep them in contention. As for Mancunium, their two-game winning streak was snapped; they remain in 11th place and will take on Portus Abonae next. 

NAHL Day 19 - Top teams go down

A Royal and a Steeler fight for the puck along the boards, image credit to NHL

All three top teams lose (one more shocking than the others), Sept-Iles keeps winning, and Vinovium shows resiliency

Pons Aelius Steelers 0, Londinium Royals 0 (0-2 SO): This was a big game for both teams. Pons Aelius, one point behind Isca Town, needed a win to keep pace, tie, or maybe even take over first place. The Royals were riding a five-game winning streak and sitting just two back of DC for third place. And it maybe played out a little tight for sides. There were mistakes made in all three periods, and the teams looked a bit out of sorts. Even early in the season, important games can have a big impact on the playoffs and both teams seemed a bit nervous. It suited Pons Aelius a bit more, as they are better at defending than attacking, but they couldn't muster anything, and Brett McQueen made 24 easy saves in regulation and overtime. In the shootout, it was Sheldon Cook and Daniel Roberts who scored for Londinium, and Eli Boyd stopped four Pons Aelius shots to preserve the victory. Londinium got their sixth straight win and moved into a tie for third with DC, while the point that the Steelers picked up tied them at 31 with the Captains, giving them a share of first place. These two teams feature the first and third-ranked defenses in the league, so maybe it wasn't a surprise it went to a shootout. Pons Aelius' single-digit overall goals-allowed run will survive another day. Londinium has a quasi-rivalry game with the Caribou next, while Pons Aelius wants to avenge their loss against Vinovium.

Mancunium Raiders 2, Isca Town Captains 1: Well, if this ain't a kick in the head for Isca Town. Fighting to stay on top of the league, facing the second-worst team, and they lose what should be a gimme game on the road. There aren't any gimme games in the NAHL, and they learned that tonight. Mancunium took a 1-0 lead when Matt Harmon fired a snap shot past Justin Smith in the first period, and they held that lead into the second period. Then Robbie Reid skated past two defenders on a counterattack and, alone with Heath Lindsay, didn't miss, tying the score at 6:39. This state of affairs continued until Jason Gross, Captains d-man, was caught out of position and had to hook a Raiders player to avoid the offensive advantage. He was quickly whistled up and on the ensuing power play, Brandon Scanlon found an opening and rifled one past Smith for the eventual winning goal. Raiders fans went crazy for the upset when the final horn sounded, and the Captains skated off in disgust. Mancunium gets DC next; maybe they can pull a Sept-Iles and beat those two teams in back-to-back games?

Eboracum Sharpshooters 2, DC Oilers 0: And our trifecta of top teams losing is complete with the Sharpshooter taking down the Oilers in Eboracum. At the end of the first period, it looked like anyone's game, with the Oilers having a 10-9 shot advantage and both teams pressing hard. But in the second, DC got whistled for two penalties within 40 seconds, which gave the Sharpshooters 1:20 of five-on-three action. They converted 23 seconds later when Christian Ball took a wide-open shot that beat Ted Carpenter top shelf, and Eboracum had a lead. Still on the power play for a minute and a half, Tim Smith scored against a shorthanded Oilers team to provide the final margin. Although DC probably outplayed the Sharpshooters in the third period, they couldn't find a goal and went down to a scoreless defeat. This is a bad time for the Oilers to be losing games; they've lost three of their last four at precisely the time when they need to be taking advantage of Isca Town losing two of their last three games. We will see if they can get their league-leading offense back on track against Mancunium next. Eboracum got a much needed win to pull within two points of fifth-place Labrador and will travel to slumping Portus Abonae next. 

Sept-Iles Whalers 4, Portus Abonae Privateers 2: This wasn't as close as it looked. In front of 8,500 fans at "Le Navire", the Whalers scored two goals in each of the first two periods to essentially put this game to bed. Rene Kelly, Denis Babin, James McDaniel, and Jean-Luc Broussard were the goal-scorers for Sept-Iles, and by the time Portus Abonae's Mike Henry scored in the third, it was too late. The Whalers now have a three-game winning streak and have moved into seventh place. For the Privateers, they are living in hell, also known as a tie for 10th place. They've scored the goals, averaging 2.1/game, good for third in the league, but their goals allowed per game of 2.7 is league-worst, which is what is really tripping them up. They will get a chance to break their six-game losing streak when they host Eboracum next. The Whalers will head to Newfield; a Whalers win means they're on the outside edge of competition, a Rangers win means they'll have leapfrogged Sept-Iles into seventh. 

Aquae Sulis Bears 0, Vinovium Lumberjacks 2: Backup goaltender Simon Barnett made 26 stops and Tyler Foster scored his first goal of the season to help Vinovium to a 2-0 road win tonight. Of Barnett's performance, interim head coach Dean Collins said, "Simon did a great job for us tonight. Having a solid guy in net and good performances from the d-men in front of him, I think, loosened us up and allowed us to really play more of our game." The Lumberjacks snapped a two-game losing streak with this win. The Bears have not found that consistent offense yet; they are tied for fifth in offense, but they aren't distributing their goals particularly well. They've lost four in a row by an aggregate score of 12-4. Vinovium has now achieved the rare feat (for them) of going .500 over their last eight games, winning four and losing four. They are still in last place, but any progress is good progress. Aquae Sulis gets Isca Town on the road next, pretty tough sledding for any team.

Labrador Caribou 1, Newfield Rangers 3: Labrador's scoring has returned to normal levels, being limited to one goal in their last game by defensive mavens Pons Aelius, and only managing one against a mediocre Rangers defense. Perhaps worse for them is that they've now lost two straight home games; failing to defend home turf is a great way to squander your chances in the NAHL. In this game, Victor Hall scored first for Labrador, at 7:25 of the first period, and the Caribou held that lead throughout the period. But Elliott Parrish found the net for Newfield early in the second, and Seth Sharp scored late to put the Rangers up 2-1. It looked like the Rangers took coach Teddy Clegg's words about the third period seriously, as they frustrated Labrador's attempts to score an equalizer, limiting them to just seven on-target shots. With their defense and Toby Swan's tap-in at 14:31, the Rangers sewed this one up for their second consecutive win. Newfield remains one back of Sept-Iles for seventh, while Labrador is now four back of DC and Londinium.

NAHL Day 18 - Sept-Iles goes headhunting again

Moosehead brand beer is popular in Nova Anglicana, image credit to Beer Connoisseur

Sept-Iles takes down a second straight high-level opponent, two high-scoring games, and two of the "big three" take advantage of the other's misfortune.

DC Oilers 2, Sept-Iles Whalers 3: Another day, another upset pulled by the Sept-Iles Whalers. After taking down the top team in the league, Isca Town, they defeat the number two team, the DC Oilers. This could be the start of something for the Whalers. They have struggled to build momentum this year, but they're now in seventh place, three points behind a slumping Eboracum team. DC struck first on an Owen Jones wrister, but Denis Babin answered back before the end of the first to tie the game. They exchanged goals in the second before the pivotal third period. DC's Wally McMillan was whistled for interference, and the Whalers went on the power-play attack. They cycled the puck through a few times before the Oilers' defense seemingly got a little tired, and Gaston Fortin took the opportunity to shoot, lightning-quick, and squeeze the puck past Ted Carpenter for the winning goal at 16:38 of the third. The home loss dropped the Oilers to third place, and every point counts in what is sure to be a tight playoff race. 

Newfield Rangers 5, Portus Abonae Privateers 5 (6-5 OT): Believe it or not, this is the second consecutive 6-5 loss for Portus Abonae. They hosted DC last time out, and had backup netminder Will Boone in net, while this time they traveled to Newfield with their starter, "Rusty" Barbour, but they got the same result. Newfield led 2-1 and 3-2 at the end of the first and second period before coming away with the 6-5 OT win, and Teddy Clegg, the head coach was disappointed with their third period effort. "You have to give credit to Brady [Dowell] for scoring two and getting the winner there in OT, but I thought we had a chance, up two, to put it away midway through the third. We just didn't get it done. We'll have to shape up on defense." The Privateers have now lost five straight and are alone in 10th place; the team's front office is purportedly considering a shakeup to fix the league-worst defense and try to inject some life into the team. The Rangers are only 2-7 in their last nine games, but two wins in three games is a sign of life as they try to claw back to mid-table status.

Vinovium Lumberjacks 5, Mancunium Raiders 6: Turns out the Lumberjacks were just what the doctor ordered for the Raiders, who snapped a four-game losing streak on the road with an offensive explosion. Quinn Baird, Todd Hagan, and Brandon Scanlon (twice) scored in a veritable barrage of first-period goals. With a 4-0 lead after one period, it was amazing that the game ended so closely. The Lumberjacks narrowed the deficit to 5-3 after two periods, but Matt Harmon scored for the Raiders to make it 6-3, and Kevin Morgan's goal at 19:54 was just too late to make a difference. For Mancunium, this was a much-needed win going into a tough matchup against Isca Town. For Vinovium, at least the goal-scoring was encouraging, even if the game wasn't terribly competitive. Simon Barnett will get the start in net for Vinovium next.

Isca Town Captains 3, Eboracum Sharpshooters 1: Isca Town's feathers weren't ruffled by the upset going on DC. In fact, they enjoyed it. "When we heard that [DC and Sept-Iles] were locked in a tight battle, it just made us feel that much better," said defenseman Jason Gross. "Any chance we get to pick up a point or two on them is crucial." The Sharpshooters have now lost four of their past five games, and they didn't look competitive against the Captains. Jonathan Barnes, Gross, and Shaun Webster had a goal each in the three periods, and the Captains outshot and outpossessed the Sharpshooters. Isca Town is the first team to fifteen wins, remains in first place, and will travel to Mancunium next. Eboracum is in danger of slipping back into the bottom half of the league, but righting the ship against DC next will be a challenge.

Labrador Caribou 1, Pons Aelius Steelers 2: Stopping Labrador's suddenly surging offense was a point of emphasis for the Steelers coming into the game. Dirk Ziegler, Pons Aelius' leading d-man, said, "Coach [Porter Herman] said they were finding a lot of open spaces and getting good shots on goal. So we were determined to clog the offensive zone and not give them any space." And they did. Caribou forwards found little room to operate and were not able to generate much offense. The Steelers made good use of all sorts of checks to dispossess and harass their opponents, and found enough offense with a power-play goal and a wicked slap shot to come away with the 2-1 win. With the win, the Steelers now leap into second place and remain one point behind Isca Town. Labrador has fallen back into fifth and will try to bounce back against Newfield.

Londinium Royals 2, Aquae Sulis Bears 1: Don't look now, but the Royals are two points back of DC for third place. Could the "big three" clustered at the top be in danger? With DC's loss, and Londinium's home win over Aquae Sulis, the Oilers are on 28 points and the Royals on 26. The Oilers' two wins over the Royals are what's keeping them from being tied or reversed at this point. But DC is sitting on a goal differential of +15, more than double the Royals' +7. Have the Royals been lucky? Eric Benson wouldn't say so. "We really played well out there tonight," the Royals winger said after their win over Aquae Sulis. "We played together, and I think that's been the key to our recent play." Londinium has won five straight, while the Bears have lost three in a row. Aquae Sulis will try to stop the slide against Vinovium next. 

Learn more about Nova Anglicana - Government

Nova Anglican Government and Politics

The outside of the Nova Anglican Parliament building, complete with the guardian lions

So you've heard about how Nova Anglicana came to be, and a little about what kinds of people live there. But how is Nova Anglicana run? Given the circumstances of its founding, its official religion, and the fact that two-thirds of its residents profess some form of Anglicanism, is Nova Anglicana an Anglican theocracy? By no means! Let's dive in. 

Nova Anglicana is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, and a unitary parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy. So what does that mean? Well, a parliamentary democracy is a kind of government where the executive, the person responsible for carrying out the laws and day-to-day functions of the legislature, is elected by the legislature, who in turn are elected by the people. It usually has a Prime Minister as the head of government, instead of a President. Additionally, in a parliamentary system, the head of government, the executive, is different than the head of state, the person who represents that country on the world stage. This is where the "Commonwealth of Nations" and "constitutional monarchy" bits come in. 

You see, as a former part of Canada (and therefore the British Empire), and given its faith, Nova Anglicana has Her Majesty, Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom, Nova Anglicana, and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith, to use her full title, as its head of state. What does this mean in practice? Occasionally, Liz will make a state visit to Nova Anglicana; otherwise, there is a Governor-General who acts as a stand-in for Her Majesty on various state occasions. Because this is a constitutional monarchy, the Queen holds very little actual power and actually exercises next to none. For Americans who have immigrated to the country, having a Queen takes a bit of getting used to, given the Revolution, but one adjusts in time, and Queen Elizabeth is seen as a sort of beloved grandmother to the country.

So if there's no president, and Queen Elizabeth doesn't really do anything, who runs the country? Nova Anglicana has a legislative branch, like Congress, called the Nova Anglican Parliament, that makes laws for the country and from which the Prime Minister is drawn. The lower house is called the House of Deputies, and the upper house, the Senate. The Prime Minister is elected by his/her colleagues in the House of Deputies, and must receive more "aye" votes than "no" votes to be elected. Once elected, he/she must go about selecting fellow members of Parliament to serve as Cabinet Ministers, or heads of the various government departments. The Prime Minister and the Ministers of the various departments are collectively referred to as "the (insert name of Prime Minister) government." Those who vote against the Prime Minister are collectively referred to as "the opposition" and there is usually a designated "Leader of the Opposition". To keep the government honest, the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister engage in "Prime Minister's Questions" (PMQs), a sort of televised weekly debate where the Leader of the Opposition forces the Prime Minister to defend his/her government's actions.

The House of Deputies proposes any legislation that it deems necessary for the execution of its duties and, after careful study in committee, votes on it as a body. A simple majority is required for passage. After a bill passes the House of Deputies, it goes to the Senate. The Senate has the power to approve, reject, or revise legislation from the House of Deputies. If the bill is approved, the Governor-General signs the bill and it becomes law. If the bill is rejected, it is dead unless a 3/5 majority of the House of Deputies votes to override the rejection. If the bill is revised, then the House of Deputies must vote in favor of the revised bill, or it is dead.

The Senate's main duties, besides voting on legislation (they do not propose bills), are to approve or reject of Supreme Court nominees, ambassadors, and other various sub-Cabinet officials of the government. All Parliamentary committee meetings, PMQs, and proceedings on the floors of both houses are broadcast on PPAN (Parliamentary Public Access Network), a publicly-owned corporation. They are also recorded and the recordings subject to open-records laws.

The judicial branch of Nova Anglicana is composed of municipal courts, regional (multiple municipalities) courts, provincial courts, and the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court consists of five members, chosen to serve for lifelong terms, and holds the power of judicial review.

Nova Anglicana has five provinces, each of which have their own House of Deputies that governs the province. The various provinces have authority to make laws and collect taxes in their respective territories, though since Nova Anglicana is a "unitary" state, Parliament has the power to give to or take away power from the provincial governments, or even abolish them, though it rarely exercises any of those powers. Nova Anglicana also has local government, which is usually a mayor/council system, with the mayor serving as the executive and the council as the legislature.

Elections in Nova Anglicana

So how are Parliament and the provincial governments elected? To elect the House of Deputies, both nationally and provincially, Nova Anglicana has a system called mixed-member proportional representation, or MMP. MMP is sort of a hybrid of a full-on proportional representation system and a US-style election system. Half the Deputies are elected from electoral districts, with the most votes winning (minimum threshold is 35%). The other half are elected by proportional representation. When any non-incarcerated Nova Anglican citizen 18 years or older goes into the voting booth, they will have two boxes to check: the first is the candidate for their electoral district they wish to select, and the second is the political party they wish to vote for on a nationwide level. Many times these are the same, but not always. You may vote for a candidate and not a party, or a party and not a candidate if you wish; the former is more common than the latter, but most people fill out both. 

The second vote, the nationwide political party vote, is then tallied to see how many seats each party should get. For example, if Party A wins 40% of the vote, Party B wins 35% of the vote, and Party C wins 25% of the vote, then they should get 40%, 35%, and 25% of the seats, respectively. Election officials look at the number of electoral districts each party won, then add proportional seats until the number of seats equals the percentage of the vote that party won. There is a minimum threshold of 2% of the vote for a party to get any proportional seats. Sometimes, parties will win more electoral district(s) than their proportional vote suggests they should get; for example, a regionally based party that wins seats in one area, but is unpopular nationwide. In that case, the size of the House of Deputies is expanded by however many "extra" seats that party won. See this video for a quick explanation of MMP. Deputies are eligible to serve up to six three-year terms.

The Senate, which has 25 members, is elected differently. Five senators are elected from each province. Each political party nominates a number of candidates to be on the ballot. Voters rank their preferred candidates in order. If one or more candidates meets the electoral threshold of 20% of the vote (100%/5 senators), they are immediately elected. If no candidate meets the threshold, then the candidate with the least number of first-ranked votes is eliminated, and those voters' votes move to their second choice. This repeats until five candidates have met the threshold. There is no requirement to rank all the candidates in order (if every political party nominates the maximum five candidates, then there can be over thirty candidates in some areas, though every party usually doesn't), and most people don't, but some do. This system was put in place to elect multiple candidates at a time, while reducing "wasted" votes and allowing voters to express multiple preferences. For an explanation of Single Transferable Vote, as this system is called, see this video. Senators are eligible to serve up to two six-year terms.

Political Parties of Nova Anglicana

One of the strongest principles in Nova Anglican politics is Christian democracy. Christian democracy is the idea that modern democratic values and traditional Christian values can co-exist in the political sphere and that using ideas from both traditions uplifts all. It incorporates ideas from conservatism, liberalism, and social democracy, and so scrambles some traditional ideas of politics. Most parties in Nova Anglicana profess some level of commitment to Christian democracy.

There are two dominant major parties in Nova Anglicana, which usually hold 70% or more of the seats in Parliament combined.

Progressive Justice Party: The Progressive Justice Party, or PJP, is the liberal or progressive wing of the movement that founded Nova Anglicana. They have governed the country, either as a majority or in coalition, for much of the country's history. The PJP is a big-tent party, ranging from individuals who would see themselves as moderates, to liberals/progressives, the "Christian left", and even some folks who are social democratic in outlook. As such, no one wing of the party is dominant, and compromise is inevitable. Some of their strongest commitments, however, are to foreign aid, a rehabilitative model of incarceration, free trade, immigration, soft power, and a living wage. Most members of the party support same-sex marriage and are openly Christian. They also support a universal single-payer healthcare model and are big proponents of infrastructure. They would be centre to centre-left on the political spectrum.

People's Party: The Nova Anglican People's Party is the conservative wing of the movement that founded Nova Anglicana. They are similar to what many people think of when they think "Christian right" or "religious right". They combine a commitment to social conservatism with a preference for lower government spending and taxation. They are pro-military and favor limiting immigration and privatizing state-run enterprises. They have recently turned towards protectionism, though they have their fair share of free traders. They range from European-style moderate conseratives, to Bob Dole/Jack Kemp who are socially moderate and focused on fiscal responsibility, to George Bush-style "compassionate conservatives" who support the military, to "movement conservative" zealot types like Ted Cruz. They would be centre-right to right-wing on the political spectrum.

There are four non-dominant major parties in Nova Anglicana, which are always represented in Parliament, but usually hold fewer than 30% of the seats.

Stewardship Party: Their commitment to Christian democracy can be seen in the name, "Stewardship", referring to Genesis and God entrusting humans with the world. We are supposed to take care of the world until Christ's return. Thus, the Stewardship Party is a broadly environmentalist party united in its commitment to clean water, clean air, and clean energy. They are also opponents of environmental racism and win significant support from First Nations/Indigenous people for making advocacy of their interests a key part of their platform. Historically very close with the PJP. If you see environmentalism and think, "Oh, great. Jill Stein-style conspiracies about cell phones and vaccines", think again. They are supportive of all types of science and much closer to Green Parties in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, or European countries, which are part of the political mainstream. They would be centre to centre-left on the political spectrum.

Liberal Secularists: As you might expect from the name, they are the party in Nova Anglicana that diverges most sharply from Christian democracy and Nova Anglicana's religiosity. They are united by a commitment to secularism in government, scientific advancement, comprehensive sex education, and free university. Other than that, they're a big-tent party. They range from garden-variety secularists who want to get rid of the official religion, to French-style supporters of laïcité who want a complete banishment of religious symbols and religion from the public square. On economics, they range from nearly libertarians to socialists. It is not only non-religious individuals who support this party, but also members of minority religions such as Judaism and mainstream religious individuals uncomfortable with the level of public religion in the country.

Libertarian Party: They're libertarians, so their commitment is to more freedom. To quote from a popular libertarian trope, they want "gay married couples to be able to protect their marijuana plants with guns". They support same-sex marriage, drug legalisation or decriminalisation (not just marijuana), few restrictions on gun ownership, low and/or flat taxes, balanced budgets, few regulations, and devolution of authority from Parliament to the provinces and local governments. It is this last stance that wins them consistent support in the province of Quebec, always eager to govern their own affairs. Justin Amash and Gary Johnson are prominent libertarian or libertarian-leaning comparisons. They would be centre-right to right-wing on the political spectrum.

National Party: The Nova Anglican National Party, to use its full name, is a right-wing split from the People's Party, formed when a former PP Senator lost the leadership election. The National Party can be classified as right-wing populist and lies on the right-wing to far-right side of the spectrum. They are vehemently anti-immigration, including deportation, and anti-welfare spending, while being pro-military, pro-police, and pro-free market. They are also pro-tariff and support incentives for domestic manufacturing. Severely socially conservative too. Think Trumpism and points right, without being actual fascists.

There are also several minor parties in Nova Anglicana. Minor parties usually are only represented at the provincial or local level.

Equality: This is a coalition of leftists, feminists, social progressives, and LGBTQ+ people. They try to represent LGBTQ+ interests and women's interests, as well as promote social democracy. They are pro-choice, pro-family leave, pro-immigration, and want stronger non-discrimination laws. Think Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Centre-left to left-wing on the political spectrum.

Democracy: This is a single-issue party that advocates abolishing the Senate and moving to a full-on proportional representation system. They believe it would be a fairer election system and a more efficient government.

Socialist Workers' Party: This is a party aligned with Trotskyism. They support worldwide socialist revolution, the unity of the working class around the world, and mass action, especially through unions, to cripple capitalism and bring it down. Compare any number of small socialist/communist parties.

Newfoundland Independence Party: What it says on the tin. They want a separate and independent Newfoundland, based on shared Newfoundland culture and identity. Anti-immigration. Kind of like Texas secessionists.

Dominionist Party: Fringe far-right party that supports religious tests for public office, a government run completely on "Biblical values", and a role for religious officials in the government.

NAHL Day 17 - Upset in Sept-Iles

A young couple on the Sept-Iles waterfront, image credit to Quebec Original

Sept-Iles goes headhunting, DC and Labrador get their goals on, and Vinovium is no longer alone in last place. 

Sept-Iles Whalers 0, Isca Town Captains 0 (2-1 SO): "Le Navire" was packed for this one. Despite the Whalers' recent struggles, when the Captains come to town, it's always a full house. More than 9,000 fans were screaming their heads off as the two teams battled back and forth, with Rene Kelly ringing the pipes and Jonathan Barnes making Clement Charbonneau make brilliant save after brilliant save. But it finally came down to the shootout. Charbonneau stopped Barnes and backup goalie Kerry McCormick stopped Gaston Fortin. But Kelly and Babin beat Fortin, while only Robbie Reid was able to get one by Charbonneau. Cheers and chants filled the arena as Jason Gross' shot was stopped, ending the game in victory for the Whalers. This is a much needed win for Sept-Iles, as it snaps a four-game losing streak for them. As for the Captains, they earn a point, which enables them to stay ahead of DC and Pons Aelius.

Portus Abonae Privateers 5, DC Oilers 6: Hard luck for the Privateers; five goals scored and all they have to show for it is their fourth consecutive loss. They recorded 33 shots on goal, but they conceded 37 and backup goalie Will Boone was not up to the challenge of stopping them all. Julian Stephens scored twice for the Oilers, and Reed Harrison and Malcolm Hogg had a goal and an assist each. Six goals for the Oilers gives them 49 for the season, or nearly three per game, leading the league. Their win puts them a single point behind Isca Town for second place, while the Privateers are sliding further down the standings. 

Aquae Sulis Bears 3, Labrador Caribou 6: 6-3 is a scoreline you're much more likely to see with Aquae Sulis participating than Labrador, but the Caribou have been surprising in the second round-robin. They've won four of six games, scoring 21 goals along the way. That's well over their usual average, and a big reason why they have continued to be competitive. In this game, they took a 3-0 lead in the first period, stretching it to 5-0 in the second before the Bears pulled back to 5-3 at 14:24 of the third period. It was a balanced attack, with Victor Hall, Stan Colvin, Philippe Laurent, Johnny Ramsey, Wade Hamilton, and Don Betts scoring a goal each. The Bears hit double-digit losses and are nine points back of a playoff spot. They will host the Royals, while Labrador gets Pons Aelius at home. For Aquae Sulis, they've got to be able to beat good teams, while the Caribou will try to keep the offensive streak going against the Steelers' stifling defense.

Eboracum Sharpshooters 3, Vinovium Lumberjacks 3 (1-0 SO): Eboracum had a tougher time than they expected, but they managed to take down the Lumberjacks and pick up a much-needed win. Tim Smith, Will Richardson, and Christian Ball scored for the Sharpshooters, who led 3-1 going into the third. Their defense wasn't up to the task in the third, though, as the Lumberjacks' Max Getz and Parker Martindale scored at 3:21 and 11:35 to tie the game. Then Glen Gray had the only, and winning, goal in the shootout. Vinovium loses their winning streak, but the point they picked up gives them ten for the year, tying them with Mancunium for eleventh place. Eboracum remains four points back of Londinium and Labrador, but in contention for fourth place.

Pons Aelius Steelers 4, Newfield Rangers 1: With DC and Labrador breaking out and scoring six goals, it looks like Pons Aelius didn't want to be left out. Unfortunately, they're not really capable of scoring six goals; it's not in their nature. But four goals is an explosion of offense for Pons Aelius, and they routed the Rangers. The Rangers did take a brief 1-0 lead, scoring the small victory of breaking the Steelers' streak of five consecutive shutouts. But they were buried under an avalanche of goals in the first and second periods, with Aaron Black, Brooks Worrell, Joe Strickland, and Hank Gross all scoring for Pons Aelius. You could tell the Steelers were itching for a rematch after the Rangers nipped them 1-0 in Newfield, and they took it out on a team that has now lost seven of their last eight games after a promising start. Newfield will try to get back on track versus another struggling team in Portus Abonae.

Mancunium Raiders 0, Londinium Royals 1: The Raiders have now lost four straight games, including three consecutive games by a 1-0 scoreline. That is a rough stretch. This one saw them look particularly out of sorts, outplayed by a more youthful and energetic Royals squad. Heath Lindsay made 31 saves on the night, or it could have looked a lot worse in front of the home fans. Nico Nielsen scored at 11:27 of the first for the game's only goal .With this loss and the point Vinovium picked up for their shootout loss to Eboracum, Mancunium and Vinovium are tied at the bottom of the standings. Meanwhile, Londinium picks up their 11th win to keep pace with Labrador for fourth place. 

NAHL Day 16 - Isca Town back in first

A trendy street in Isca Town, image credit to Discover Charlottetown

The Captains reclaim a first-place spot, Newfield snaps their losing streak, two rivalry games, and Vinovium on a winning streak?

Newfield Rangers 4, DC Oilers 3: What a way to snap a six-game losing streak! The Rangers host a top team in the Oilers, fall behind early, and rally to win it. When Julian Stephens and Owen Jones scored in the first period, many Newfield fans looked around. They knew the feeling. The Rangers have lost more than their fair share of games in the past few years, and a two-goal deficit felt almost insurmountable for a team that entered the night with an eleventh-ranked offense. But Toby Swan and Earl Switzer scored in the second period to draw the Rangers level, and Brady Dowell scored early in the third to put them up one! DC wasn't going to go easy, though, and Sammy Jensen beat backup goalie Bradley Gibbs at 9:59 to tie the game. With time winding down, Elliott Parish whacked a slap shot into the net with less than a minute to go. He was mobbed by his teammates and the Rangers were able to run out the clock on their losing streak. With their loss, the Oilers drop into a second-place tie with the Steelers. They will travel to Portus Abonae next, looking to take advantage of the Privateers' inconsistency and get back on the winning trail themselves. The Rangers scored more goals in this one than they scored during their entire losing streak, but goals will be hard to come by as they take on Pons Aelius next.

Isca Town Captains 3, Portus Abonae Privateers 2: The Captains are back on top! One game after losing their winning streak and their exclusive grip on first place, they bounce back to defeat Portus Abonae and, with DC's upset loss, they are alone in first again. Louis Tremblay, Robbie Reid, and Shaun Webster scored in the first twenty-five minutes to put Isca Town up 3-1, and despite a goal from the Privateers' Mike Henry at 14:41 of the third, they put the game to bed pretty easily. Their fourteenth win puts them two points clear of DC and Pons Aelius; they will travel to Sept-Iles next to try to preserve that edge. The Privateers have now lost three in a row and are floundering around a bit, nine points out of playoff position. They will need to get their act together against the Oilers next, or risk sinking further down the standings.

Pons Aelius Steelers 2, Aquae Sulis Bears 0: Aaron Black and Dirk Ziegler scored five minutes apart in the second period and Christophe Collier made 29 saves filling in for Brett McQueen as Pons Aelius throttled Aquae Sulis tonight. After the game, Collier gave credit to his d-men: "I'm incredibly lucky to play on a team with people like Dirk and Eric [Ferguson]. They hustle and hit hard and make my job a lot easier." With DC's loss and the Steelers' win, the two teams are now tied for second on 26 points. Pons Aelius has now won six in a row and recorded five consecutive shutouts, an impressive streak, though not as long as Isca Town's more than 400-minute streak earlier this year. They will face Newfield next, who upset them the last time out. Aquae Sulis had a two-game winning streak snapped. This was a missed opportunity for them; with Eboracum's loss, a win here would have meant they would nearly be level with the Sharpshooters and threatening fourth place. They will host Labrador next.

Vinovium Lumberjacks 0, Sept-Iles Whalers 0 (1-0 SO): Who'd a thunk it? The Lumberjacks have an actual winning streak now. They've won two straight and three of their last five, and now sit just a point behind Mancunium. Their winning streak came at the expense of the Whalers, who lost to the Royals late in regulation last game, and now lose in a shootout to Vinovium. The Whalers were starting backup goaltender Maxime Dugas, and he made 30 saves in regulation and overtime to push it to a shootout. Unfortunately, Kevin Morgan went top shelf to beat him in the shootout, and veteran goalie Mel Pinson denied Gaston Fortin, Rene Kelly, Denis Babin, James McDaniel, and Marc Levesque to seal the win. The Lumberjacks have a real chance to escape the cellar, even if it's just for a little while. They will have to jump on a Sharpshooters team that may be a little down after losing their rivalry game. The Whalers will host Isca Town next, and hope to get revenge after a 3-0 wipe-out on the road last time.

Londinium Royals 4, Eboracum Sharpshooters 4 (3-0 SO): Last time these two teams met, a pair of amazing goals from Sheldon Cook and Eric Benson gave the Royals a 2-1 regulation road win. This time, they needed a shootout to win in front of their home crowd, who were roaring all night for their beloved Royals. More than 13,000 fans rose to their feet when Ben Malone scored the opening goal for Londinium in the first, but Eboracum's Will Richardson answered back. In the second, it was Daniel Roberts giving his team back the lead, but the Sharpshooters' Christian Ball tied it. In the third, Thomas Bailey and Sheldon Cook scored, but were matched again by Glen Gray and Gavin Kirkwood. Overtime was scoreless, so it went to a shootout, where Eli Boyd made four saves, while Benson, Cook, and Roberts beat Wes Singleton on their first three shots to salt it away. Eboracum has now scored 17 goals in their last five games, but they only have a 2-2-1 record to show for it. They have allowed 15 goals in those five games, the likely culprit for their subpar performance. The Royals will try to avoid a trap game at Mancunium next, while the Sharpshooters have fallen four back of the Royals and Caribou in the race for fourth.

Labrador Caribou 1, Mancunium Raiders 0: With Labrador's win in this rivalry game, all of the home teams won tonight. Before this game, the home win rate had been slightly under 50% (44/90); this now boosts it up to 52.1%. Teams are holding their own on the road. But here the home team Labrador triumphed. They got a goal from Wade Hamilton at 12:48 of the second period, the only shot of 32 that Heath Lindsay allowed past. He just wasn't supported by his offense. The Raiders' 25 goals in 16 games is just under 1.6/game, a rate which ranks eighth in the league. Their 35 goals allowed are tied with Portus Abonae and Aquae Sulis for eighth. They may have been a bit unlucky, but their efforts are not cutting the mustard. They will host Londinium next; the Raiders defeated the Royals last time, so Londinium will be out for revenge. Labrador remains tied with the Royals for 4th. 

NAHL Day 15 - The streak is over

The St John river near the Bay of Fundy and Durovernum Cantiacorum, image credit to The Globe and Mail

Isca Town's streak is over, Newfield's losing streak continues, and Labrador scores seven goals!

DC Oilers 3, Isca Town Captains 1: Thirteen is all you get, Isca Town! After losing their first game, the Captains had won an impressive thirteen games in a row before running into a brick wall in net in the form of DC's Ted Carpenter. Carpenter didn't shut them out, but he did make 33 saves to more than corral the Captains. But more impressive than Carpenter's stops was DC's breaking down of the Captains' defense. Isca Town was riding a shutout streak of more than 400 minutes coming in, and had allowed at least three goals only once this season. DC broke that shutout streak at 3:14 when Wally McMillan beat Justin Smith, and they made it 2-0 just five minutes later, courtesy of Sammy Jensen. The Captains struck back in the second when Jonathan Barnes scored, but Jeff Sutton banged one home off of a rebound with just 26 seconds to go in the second to restore the two-goal lead. With the win, DC becomes the first team to 40 goals and ties Isca Town for first place. The Captains, Oilers, and Steelers are all within two points of each other and look like they are consolidating things at the top. It will be tough for any team to break through, but for these teams, top-two status means they will be hosting the first round of the playoffs, a big advantage.

Aquae Sulis Bears 3, Newfield Rangers 1: It's six in a row now for Newfield, who have not won since game nine, when they beat Sept-Iles in a shootout. The crazy thing is, they haven't been severely outplayed or anything; they've been outscored 9-3 with an OT loss and a shootout loss. A couple of bounces here or there, an extra goal, and they might be right in the thick of it. Even the final score here is a little deceptive; the Bears' Martin Wong scored an empty-netter late to provide the two-goal final margin. Otherwise, this was quite competitive; David Richter scored for the Bears at 4:24 of the first, but Newfield's Toby Swan answered back at 6:53 of the second to tie the score. Art Morrison made several nice saves in the third, and 28 for the game, that kept the Bears in it until Mike Morrill found the back of the net at 12:09 of the third for the eventual winning goal. Both teams will have tough assignments next; the Bears traveling to Pons Aelius and the Rangers hosting the Oilers.

Eboracum Sharpshooters 4, Labrador Caribou 7: How did we get here? The Caribou have jumped from the bottom half of goal-scoring teams to tied for third in a single game. Much of it had to do with their strong power play, which converted on four of seven opportunities. Eboracum couldn't get out of its own way, committing penalties for tripping, hooking, interference, and holding. Their penalty kill allowed Victor Hall to score twice, and Johnny Ramsey and Wade Hamilton once each. The Caribou went up 3-1 in the first, 5-3 after the second, and Stan Colvin added an empty-net goal in the waning seconds to make it 7-4 by the end. Glen Gray had two goals and an assist to lead Eboracum, who returned to their goal-scoring ways after being shut out by Pons Aelius in the last game. With the win, Labrador remains tied for fourth with Londinium, while the Sharpshooters missed a golden opportunity to leapfrog a rival. Eboracum will head to Londinium next for a big rivalry game, while Labrador will face their own rival in a slumping Mancunium team who has lost six of seven.

Sept-Iles Whalers 2, Londinium Royals 3: Youthful talent was on display here, as the Whalers and Royals clashed in "Le Navire". All the goalscorers were 25 or younger, and a majority of all players were under 28. But in this matchup of young vs. young, the Royals claimed the victory, disappointing the near-capacity crowd of 8,845, the vast majority of whom were Whalers partisans. Throughout the first period, when the Whalers led 1-0 on a James McDaniel goal, "Meilleurs que vous" could be heard echoing throughout the stadium, but the chants died down in the second when Ben Malone and Eric Benson beat Clement Charbonneau to put the Royals up 2-1. Gaston Fortin scored his eighth of the season to tie the game at 6:43 of the third and the place was rocking again. But heartbreak struck at 16:29 when Sheldon Cook found Thomas Bailey for a snap shot that found the back of the net to give the Royals the 3-2 win. Londinium gets Eboracum at home in a tough rivalry game between direct competitors, while the Whalers will try to right the ship on the road against an improving Vinovium team.

Portus Abonae Privateers 0, Vinovium Lumberjacks 1: Big win for Vinovium, as they claim points on the road and a little momentum, having won two out of their last four and only lost by one in the other two games to good teams. Interim head coach Dean Collins said after the game, "Little by little, we're improving. The mood in the locker room is getting better and I think we're starting to see guys pick their heads up a bit more. We just want to keep it going." Parker Martindale had the only goal for the Lumberjacks, a wraparound at 17:56 of the first period that beat "Rusty" Barbour on his weak side. Vinovium will host Sept-Iles next; both teams will be scrapping for points. The Privateers are left shaking their heads, enduring some derision from the home fans, and wondering why they couldn't take advantage at home of a Lumberjacks team that has not played well this year. They've lost three out of four to begin the second round-robin, the same as the first, and are looking seriously wobbly.

Mancunium Raiders 0, Pons Aelius Steelers 1: Not much to see here; an outmatched Raiders team put 29 shots on net, but Brett McQueen stopped all of them with relative ease. Meanwhile, the Steelers took advantage of a hooking penalty on Mancunium's Jed Greenfield and converted the power-play opportunity into a Brooks Worrell second-period goal. Pons Aelius continues to be a nearly unstoppable defensive machine, having won four straight games by a score of 1-0, and five straight overall. With Isca Town conceding three goals tonight, the Steelers are the last team who have not yet allowed double-digit goals (7). Their goal-scoring is only a paltry 1.2/game, but they are allowing less than 0.5 goals/game, which makes them incredibly tough to beat. With Isca Town's loss, they are just two points behind them and DC for first place; their 21st and 22nd games, against Isca Town and DC, will be ones to watch. The Raiders head into their intra-Labrador rivalry with the Caribou carrying double-digit losses and just three points out of last place.