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REGULAR ISSUE:
GHL Power Standings
Will Cox III presents: THE GHL TEAM OF THE WEEK
Players of the Week
Trades by Matt Banks
GHL Rumours
Grienk's HipChecks

GHL Power Rankings
     The Top 10 Teams in GHL(as of Tues, Dec 28, 1999)

LW	TW	Team	Pts	Last 10	Comments
1	1	Royals	65	7-2-1	Number one with a bullet.  GM BA owns the GHL and makes every other team look silly.
2	2	Bearcats	51	5-5-0	Bearcats are faltering.  1-4 record in last 5 games.  They are looking like a typical Canadian Conference team and would surely not be in the place they are in if they had to face the American Conference more regularly.  If they do not recover, they will surely move down the Rankings next issue like the Hurricanes have been recently doing.
3	3	Ice Dawgs	46	5-4-1	Like the Bearcats, the Ice Dawgs have been playing suspect hockey lately.  Also like the Bearcats, they will drop next issue if they continue playing as they have been lately.  Only thing keeping the 'Cats & 'Dawgs where they are in the Rankings is the fact that last issues' 4th, 5th, & 6th rated teams are playing even worse than the Cats & Dawgs are.
8	4	Storm	49	7-3-0	Storm reclaim the position they were in two issues ago.  Storm are slowly turning their season around to the championship form they were in.  Two recent losses to arch-rivals the War Pigs have the Storm looking over their shoulders in the rankings.
9	5	War Pigs	50	7-2-1	Pigs are steadily moving up the rankings with a very consistent team.  Along with the Storm, the Pigs are the biggest movers up the rankings.  Recent excellent play from Stephan Fiset has lead this squad to string some consecutive wins together.
7	6	Wolverines	45	6-4-0	GM Banks will be happy to see his club move up one spot.  Wolves have actually beaten some .500 teams, including #2 seed Bearcats, since last issue.  Wolves have been very consistent and will make the playoffs this year, but will not go far in playoffs without some major talent upgrades.
5	7	Lumberjacks	42	3-6-1	Since dealing away franchise player Forsberg for Kariya, the 'Jacks have left GM Walker scratching his head and the 'Jacks out of the playoffs in the ultra-competitive American Conference.  GM Walker was proud of his teams consistent play but can he return the team to its winning ways.
4	8	Hurricanes	43	4-6-0	The Hurricanes are in a tremendous slump.  They can't seem to find their scoring touch and their overall lack of defense/goaltending is killing them!!!  With the injury to Thibeault, GM Moreau must be desperate for goaltending help!!  Where is Hasek when you need him?
6	9	Odyssey	43	3-6-1	Another slumping team in the Rankings.  .500 hockey in the American Conference will leave you out of the playoffs.  GM Lancaster has made some questionable deals, including acquiring Craig Janney and dealing super-hot O'Neill, which are not showing any returns and could hurt this teams future.
-	10	Earthquake	45	5-4-1	Out of the Power Rankings last week, GM Barkhouse Jr. berated his squad and continued to deal with conference rival Bearcats.   The acquisition of Thomas and Forsberg have helped to shake this club out of its doldrums.  Watch for the Quake to move up with a bullet in future issues.

NOTE: Who will fall out of Power Rankings next week:  Hurricanes, Odyssey, & Lumberjack are all
falling like rocks!!!  Watch out here they come: Arsenal dropped out this week but could come back
any time.  They are hot, hot, hot!!!
 

WILL COX III presents: THE GHL TEAM OF THE WEEK
(EDITOR NOTE: Where oh where has the THIRD gone???  Lots of emails to the Third but no responses.)
 

Hello, and welcome to edition 3 of Team Review by William Cox III. Wait a minute.....the Third is missing this issue so the Grienk has to take over.  Since the Third is missing and I don't want him to review his own team, the woeful Abyss, I think I will pick them apart this week. The Abyss cannot find their stride in Season 4.  Currently they are 13 points out of the playoffs and can be found on their knees praying to the SIMM Gods that they can somehow turn their season around.  It looks like their prayers are going unanswered as in the last 10 games, the Abyss are a dismal 4-6-0 and overall, the Abyss are in second last place in the GHL. On offense, the Abyss look solid enough.  Naslund, Hull, Sykora, and Audette certainly have the scoring numbers that all GHL teams covet.  Hull, however, is simply not a good SIMM player regardless of his numbers.  He just cannot put the puck in the net.  As GM, Will must also have some concern as to whether he has a talented enough centerman in that all-important 1st line center position that every FHL GM needs to be successful.  Regardless of these issues, I feel that the team is talented enough offensively to make the playoffs. How about his goaltending?  Arturs Irbe is a quality #1 'tender.  In 30 games, Irbe has compiled a GAA of 3.45 and a Save Percentage of .886.  Not super impressive, but I think Irbe has played well while facing a league high (or is that low??) 30.7 shots against per game. Why are the Abyss facing so many shots?  Defense....or lack of defense.  For this team to turn things around, they simply MUST focus on defense.  Looking over the Abyss' roster, one sees that they have only three players with greater than 70 for a DF rating.  No wonder they are getting killed with shots!!!  I would look at bringing up Joe Reekie from the minors and maybe shopping around one or two of the three offensive dmen, Housely, Hamrlik, & Johannson, for another solid dman like Matvichuk.  He also has some decent centers in the minors with good DF numbers that he may consider As a GM, Will the Third is a strong member of the GHL and a good solid GM.  He is very active and is definitely not afraid to make a huge deal as he did earlier when he sent Lindros to the Pigs.  Will is very stubborn when dealing, however, and sometimes he leaves you pulling your hair out as he nickels and dimes you out of a 3rd round pick instead of the 4th that you offer.

                                                                                Grienk
 

WEEKLY HONOURS
 

Tenderizer of the Week:  Stephan Fiset Stephan Fiset of the War Pigs has been stonewalling the competition since last issue. This backup goalie has claimed the number one job in Winnipeg after going on a 5 game unbeaten streak.  Currently, he sits atop the Save Percentage leaders with a .910 figure.  His 2.44 GAA is tops among goalies with 17 or more games.  In games that Fiset starts, the War Pigs are a tidy 9-3-3.

Goon of the Week:  Adam Deadmarsh The Odyssey's  Adam Deadmarsh is a power forward that every GM salivates over.  Not only does he lead the Odds in scoring with 34 points but he is second in the league in Penalty Minutes with 101 minutes in 44 games, at that pace he could break 200!!!!!  This hooligan will crash the net hard leaving the goalie looking for his teeth,  he is willing to tangle (he is 1 of the 4 fighters this year!), and he lays his body on the line night after night.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK:   Wayne Gretzky - One Last Kick at the Can Wayne Gretzky of the Avalanche has been finding the net more regularly than any almost all other GHL snipers since last issue.  He has recorded 12 goals in that time period and only the Earthquake's Rod Brind'amour has scored more(15).  But, when you consider Gretzky is playing on a much less talented club while Brind'amour has the best SIMM center in the FHL world (Forsberg), one has to give this award hands-down to the "Great One".  GM Jack Bredehoft says, "Without Gretzky, my Avs certainly would not be in the position that we are in." Merely 10 points out of a playoff spot, Gretzky has positioned this club to make a late season run for the playoffs.  Incredibly, Gretzky is also a +2 as he has a new-found pride in playing both ends of the rink.

GHL Rumours
 

Name the GM Contest Who is this GM? You are on ICQ and this fellow GHL GM messages you.  "Lets make a deal!!" the GM says. "I like so and so" (so and so is one of your best players).  You reply that a deal can be reached and you make an offer.  "No", the GM says, "I don't like that."  So you make another offer. "No I cannot trade him", the other GM says.  So for about an hour you talk.  You making the offers and this other GM saying "No" all the time but also showing real enthusiasm to make a deal.  Eventually you make one last offer.  "That is a really good offer," the other GM says.  "I will get back to you on that." Do they get back to you on that?  NEVER.  Does this GM sound familiar to anyone?  First GM to email [email protected] with the correct GM name wins free tix to the next Pigs game.  BTW.....if this other GM sounds like you.  STOP ACTING LIKE THIS.  IT DRIVES GMs CRAZY!!!!!!

BEEF & BOUQUETS  GM Campbell of the Storm emailed this "BEEF OF THE WEEK".  When grading trades you have to consider the player's NHL statistics and consider that player's rerate potential next year.  I whole heartedly agree with Stormin' Stevie.  A big influencer in any deal should be how the player is performing in the NHL.  When dealing for Keith Primeau, a GM should consider that he might not play this entire NHL season and that he may not be available next year in the GHL.  The trade rater should also consider this.  As for "BOUQUETS OF THE WEEK", I'd like to give a big bouquet to GM Moreau for next getting her panties in a knot when she was named last issues "Slut of the Week".  I was surprised I never got an email on that one from her, but at least she never got upset.  Truly a good sport!! (ED NOTE:  I appreciate all email on the paper.  When I get little  feedback the next issue takes that much longer to put out.  When I get a lot, you will see the next issue within 10 days.)

Rumour du Jour It looks like GM Banks is offering up Byron Dafoe to the highest bidder.  One GHL insider tells me that the Hurricanes are hot for Dafoe as Thibeault is out indefinitely and Hebert is not a stopper who will guide them to a championship.  Our insider mentions GM Walker of the Lumberjacks as another suitor for Dafoe's services..........Was GM Kemp of the Ice Dawgs seriously considering trading my early MVP candidate Boris Mironov??? Bill Guerin's name was also mentioned.  Must be a tought decision for Blaine as Mironov is playing well in the GHL but horrendously in the NHL.  Guerin, currently hurt in the GHL, is catching fire in the NHL.  I look for Blaine to hold on to these guys as long as he is in playoff contention.

GM Belanger Continues to Dismantle Powerhouse Bearcats Am I the only GM out there wondering why Conference leader Bearcat GM Belanger continues to clean house.  His continued dealings with the Earthquake are helping the Quake make the playoffs and are causing the Cats to slump. GM Belanger is surely going to regret these deals come playoff time when he runs into those Earthquake.

HIPCHECKS
(ED NOTE:  This section will be about whatever I want to talk about.)
 

Hello....welcome to issue #3 of the GHL NEWS.  Hope you enjoyed it.    If you did not, make sure you email me. Thanks to GM Banks for his work on the trades section and I hope we see Will III back next issue. Well did anyone read my Xtrastats advice last week?  To recap....I said that the Odd's Bordeleau, the 'Canes' Mellanby and my Pigs' Dvorak and Dackell should get more ice time due to their Xtrastats DIFF rating being a high negative number.  Well....I thought it would be interesting to note that as of press time, the Odd's Bordeleau was second on his team in scoring, yet still centering the third line and his ice time average has decreased from 14 to 13.6 minutes a game.  Mellanby's ice time has decreased from 14 minutes a game to 11.8 and was not on any of GM Moreau's lines.  As for Dackell, I dropped him to third line for a while and moved Dvorak to Dackell's spot.  Dvorak did very well for a while.  Dvorak was a star on one occasion before tailing off.  In all, Dvorak was the only player of the four whose DIFF rating dropped.  The other three got LESS ice time and their DIFF went up.  Oh well....enough of the advice stuff. GM Lancaster suggested that I should do a mid-season awards review.  I thought that was a rather swell idea so here goes: Defenseman of the Year - Boris Mironov.  He is leading the Ice Dawgs out of last year's cellar to respectability.  Not only that but he is leading defensemen in scoring.  Other top Dman, Pronger, Blake, Svehla. Goaltender of the Year - John van Biesbrouck.  What the hell?  Another Ice Dawg!!!! What is going on here?  The Beezer leads the league in SO.  He has the 2nd best record in the league next to Roy. A very respectable .901 Save Percentage, tied for 3rd in Quality Games at 21, and 2.66 GAA are also reasons why I give him the nod as top tender at mid-season.  Other Goalie candidates: Hasek, Kolzig(if he plays more). Rookie of the Year - Chris Drury.  I don't have much use for this award as rookies don't win you games but I guess they do give an indication of your team's future and the future looks bright for GM Bailey's Arsenal.  Not only do they have Drury leading all rookies with 32 points but they also have 2 more in the top 10 (Muckalt, Jokinen). Other Rookie candidates: Hrdina, Kaberle MVP - Chris Pronger.  Who? That's right, Chris Pronger..  Pronger may not get all those Player of the Week awards that SIMM stalwarts Jagr, Forsberg, and Kariya rack up week after week, but he is the most valuable player to his team.  He is an incredible +29, has racked up a princely 32 points. and is the cog in the Royals' defense, which is the heart of the Royals' success. GM BA knows that snipers come and go, but defense wins championships.  The actually MVP is the entire Royals' defense but since I have to choose one player, it must go to Pronger.  Other MVP candidates: Jagr, Forsberg, Mironov, Kariya. GM of the Year - Big Al.  The Royals are amazing.  Year in and year out, they dominate this league.  Lately he is making questionable deals, but his starting roster and line combinations are perfect.  BA has his finger on the pulse of FHL, he looks past the OV ratings and he knows the right mix of Defensive and Offensive player ratings to make his team a consistent winner.   Other GM candidates: Kemp, Banks, maybe even Grienke for that Lindros deal :) I know....I know.....how can Pronger be the MVP, yet not be the defenseman of the year.  The only response I have is that Mironov is playing like the best Dman in the GHL this year, but the Royals are first overall by a long shot and I believe Pronger is the key man on that unstoppable team.  Its the old "does it go to best player in league or most valuable to his team" argument. Oh well.....keep that steady stream of one email coming Campbell!!! I really look forward to your feedback.  Gives me inspiration to write something like Lancaster's idea for mid-season award favorites. Thanks for reading!!!

Until Next Issue........HOW BOUT DA PIGS !!!!

GRIENK
[email protected]