The World Strat-O-Matic Hockey League Newsletter League Established January 1, 2002 Volume #1, Issue #19 - May 20, 2004 ************************************************************************** Current League Officers: Commissioner: Mike Webb Vice-Commissioner: Dan Irvine Newsletter Editor: Scott Shigemi Email List Administator: Mike Webb Email the whole league: mailto:wshlfun@yahoogroups.com WSHL Games List (WL): mailto:WSHLWL@yahoogroups.com WSHL Games List (NAL): mailto:WSHLNAL@yahoogroups.com Web Page Administrator: Mike Webb League Web Site: http://members.rogers.com/avanderburg9569/ WSHL Archive: http://www.geocities.com/lugnutgm/wshl_archives.html Yahoogroups Main: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WSHLFUN Yahoogroups World: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WSHLWL Yahoogroups N. American: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WSHLNAL ************************************************************************** EDITORIAL SIDEBAR Before getting into the deep, heavy stuff for this newsletter, I've got a few things I'd like say, or people to thank. I'd like to congratulate Dan Irvine on his NAL championship. Mad props go to Trader Dan for taking home the ultimate hardware! I'd also like to congratulate every one of the other North American League members that are helping to build this league. Each of you deserves to take a bow for the hard work that keeps the league flowing. And one more pat on the back goes to Mike Webb for performing all the commissioner duties for both leagues. I personally don't see how he can do it. So here's a standing ovation for everybody! Scott Shigemi Seattle Tsunami - 2004/05 NAL Champions! ^-^ ************************************************************************** NORTH AMERICAN FINALS REVIEW by Scott Shigemi Could the North American League's finals be any better than what it turned out to be? It was a back and forth series. In the first four games, each team managed one road win. Games 5 through 7 were grudge matches. About the only things that didn't happen was game seven going into overtime and neither team recording a shutout. The fact that there were no shutouts might be the most surprising thing about these finals. During the regular season, Iowa found themselves shutout six times. The Moose on the other hand were held scoreless just three times, while recording seven shutouts. Add the fact that Labrador also boasted the league's lowest goals against average, Iowa was almost assured of laying a goose egg on the scoreboard. Labrador won the series on the backs of their top line, Palffy, Lemieux and Kovalev. The three combined for 42 goals in the playoffs. Taking away Milan Hedjuk's 15 goals from Iowa, the Wolves as a team scored 50 goals. Not even Roman Cechmanek could stand on his head long enough to stop all of those shots. Without a defensive answer to Mario, Palffy and Kovalev, Iowa had no chance. Don Cherry stated during one Coach's Corner, "Now I'm not one for praising those European goalies, but that Cechmanek fellow, when he was playing aggressively, challenging the shooters instead of relying on his glove, the Wolves did okay. But the biggest difference was how Iowa attacked Turco. With sustained pressure, Mario and them others couldn't get their shots and lost the three games. When Iowa fell back in their own end, that's where the ran into trouble, I tell you. They don't have the grit that a team like Campbell River has to play the game in the corners." In the three Iowa wins, Cechmanek was solid, stopping over 90% of his goalie ratings. But the largest eye-popping stat is the number of split goals the Wolves allowed. In the four losses, they gave up 10 goals through no fault of their goalie. Spotting a team two goals per game will cause any manager and coach to rip out their hair. While Iowa doesn't want to hear this, there's always next season. Although for the Wolves, Al MacInnins won't be a full-time member if he ends up playing at all. A game seven injury will probably put him on the shelf for all of next season. He plans on getting surgery to repair torn knee cartilage and the rehab will take the better part of six to 10 months to get back in game shape. It begs the question if he'll even bother to make a come-back. Fortunately for the rest of the league, Labrador will be hard pressed to reassemble the same team next year. Mario's continuing back problems seem likely to force him into retirement. Several key players have less than stellar NHL years, so does this mean that the NAL will have a new league champion in 2005? Not if Trader Dan has anything to say about it! ************************************************************************** WORLD LEAGUE FINALS PREVIEW by Scott Shigemi With the series tied at two games apiece, home ice advantage seems to be the key. Both teams seem to be unbeatable in their home rinks, which begs the question, what will the Campbell River Canucks do to win one away from home? In their first four games, Mason Harris seems reluctant to play Radek Bonk on the road. In Bonk's place, he's sending out the feisty winger, Scott Hartnell. About the only change that the Lions seem to use is rotating goalies. Going on a hunch, Webb started Olli the Goalie in game one. Kolzig's post season play until that game had been less than spectacular. With a 2-3 record in six games, Kolzig was being passed up in favor of over-sized jersey wearing Garth Snow. But in game one of the finals, Kolzig ended up playing one of his best games of the year, stopping 10 out of 12 goalie ratings and 31 out of 34 total shots. His reward for helping to win game one, riding pine for game two. The rotating goalie door put Garth Snow back in between the pipes. "Sure he played a fine game for us," remarked Mike Webb about Kolzig. "But he did have the help of our offensive explosion." The Lions busted out for six goals in game one. Without Bonk's playmaking in the line-up and a strategy of sitting back, waiting for Monarch to commit errors and turnovers, the Canuck's can ill-afford to keep playing the same way. Using the same basic strategy in game two, Campbell River once again gave up six goals to the Monarch Lions. Learning from their mistake, Bonk would return to the Canuck line-up for games 3 and 4. Using the last line change to their advantage, Monarch was hard pressed in game three. Campbell River's attack was relentless, putting 47 shots against Garth Snow, who nearly won the game by himself. Out of 16 goalie ratings, Snow stopped all but one, a feat that had his back-up, Kolzig staring on in amazement. In the fourth game, the goaltenders for both teams skated on cracked ice. But with equally shaky play by the forwards and defensemen, the Lions would fail to gain the 3-1 games lead. After reaching double digits in goalie ratings in every game, the two teams struggled to get 10 ratings combined. Monarch was stifled by the Canuck defense, which did not have Hartnell on the ice for the second straight game. Which begs the question, will Bonk sit in game 5? If Campbell River wants to win the series and an essential road game, they should consider putting the gifted forward in the line-up. What started off as a seven game series has now boiled down to a three game grudge-match. Since home ice has been the difference, the odds on favorite has to be the Monarch Lions. But if the Canucks can win game five, it should be a slam-dunk with game six concluding the series. If Bonk plays game five, plan the parades in Campbell River, else Monarch will party like it's 1999! ************************************************************************** NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE TRADING RESUMES With the playoffs over, teams in the North American League may begin trading players and picks. General managers should be aware that each team may only keep 14 players from their roster before the draft. These do not include any Right of Retention players (skaters with 20 or fewer games played, or goalies with 10 or fewer games played). RoR players may not play any games in the NAL's 2004-05 season. They also take up one roster spot out of the team maximum of 27 players. ************************************************************************** NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE DRAFT INFORMATION The draft lottery and playoffs are complete. Please check the WSHL archives for the full draft order list and a list of currently available players in the 2004 draft (will be updated as teams cut players). The following list comprises the first two rounds. Traded picks are denoted by the original drafting team's initials in parentheses. NAL members, be sure to check the lists. If there's an error and we get to the draft without a correction, tough cookies. For instance, if a player you want to draft is supposed to be on the draftable player list, but isn't, you won't be able to draft him. The same goes for the draft order. I think I've got all the traded picks worked out. There weren't too many since a team is only allowed to trade one pick in year one. North American League Draft Order FIRST ROUND: 1. Hartford Whalers - 2. West Coast Express - 3. Seattle Tsunami - 4. Calgary Grizzlies - 5. Wellington Dukes - 6. Kentucky Ice Tigers - 7. Kent Kounty Killer Kittens - 8. Brandon Wheat Kings - 9. Saratoga Sting - 10. Seattle Tsunami (ALA) - 11. West Coast Express (RDA) - 12. West Coast Express (INS) - 13. Iowa Wolves - 14. Kent Kounty Killer Kit (Lab) - SECOND ROUND: 15. Hartford Whalers - 16. Kentucky Ice Tigers - 17. Seattle Tsunami - 18. West Coast Express - 19. Calgary Grizzlies - 20. Wellington Dukes - 21. Kent Kounty Killer Kittens - 22. Brandon Wheat Kings - 23. Saratoga Sting - 24. Alaska Aces - 25. Red Deer Avros - 26. Inside Shots - 27. Iowa Wolves - 28. Labrador Moose - ************************************************************************** NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE PLAYOFF MVP Mike Webb was on hand at the end of game seven to give Mario Lemieux his first Beliveau Trophy. Super Mario's domination in the playoffs was based on his 40 points he posted in 19 games. He scored 14 goals and assisted on another 26. Though he never scored a game winning goal, his playmaking did not go unnoticed. His linemate, Zigmund Palffy was second in scoring, with 32 points. In voting, Iowa's Milan Hedjuk came in second place with one lone vote to go along with his third place point total of 29. Beliveau Trophy Awarded to the league's top postseason performer Mario Lemieux - 8 Milan Hedjuk - 1 ************************************************************************** GAME RESULTS PLAYOFFS FINALS NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE Eastern Conference #1 Labrador Moose Vs. #1 Iowa Wolves GM#1 - Iowa Wolves 1 at Labrador Moose 5 [LAB leads series 1-0] LAB Mario Lemieux - 2 goals, 1 assist, 6 shots, +2, 2 TA LAB Marty Turco - 28/29 saves, 11/11 GRS LAB Zigmund Pallfy - 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, +1 GM#2 - Iowa Wolves 4 at Labrador Moose 3 [Series tied 1-1] IOW Petr Sykora - 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, +1, GWG LAB Mario Lemieux - 1 goal, 1 assist, 4 shots, 1 TA IOW Al MacInnis - 4 shots, +1, 4 TA GM#3 - Labrador Moose 2 at Iowa Wolves 3 [IOW leads series 2-1] IOW Al MacInnis - 2 assists, +2 IOW Milan Hejduk - 1 goal, 1 shot, GWG IOW Roman Cechmanek - 40/42 saves, 10/10 GRS GM#4 - Labrador Moose 3 at Iowa Wolves 2 [Series tied 2-2] LAB Keith Primeau - 1 goal, 3 shots, 3/5 FO, 2 TA, GWG IOW Milan Hejduk - 2 assists, 1 shot, +1, 1 TA LAB Marty Turco - 31/33 saves, 10/10 GRS GM#5 - Iowa Wolves 4 at Labrador Moose 5 [LAB leads series 3-2] LAB Alexei Kovalev - 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 shots, +3, GWG LAB Mario Lemieux - 2 goals, 1 assist, 6 shots, +1 IOW Milan Hejduk - 1 goal, 2 assists, 7 shots GM#6 - Labrador Moose 3 at Iowa Wolves 7 [Series tied 3-3] IOW Olli Jokinen - hat trick, 1 assist, 7 shots, +2, 1 TA IOW Milan Hejduk - 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 shots IOW Petr Sykora - 1 goal, 4 shots, 1 TA, GWG GM#7 - Iowa Wolves 2 at Labrador Moose 6 [LAB wins series 4-3] LAB Zigmund Palffy - hat trick, 2 assists, 6 shots, +3 LAB Mario Lemieux - 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 shots, +2, 1 TA LAB Brenden Morrow - 1 goal, 2 shots, +1, GWG ************************************************************************** GAME RESULTS PLAYOFFS FINALS WORLD LEAGUE World League Eastern Conference #1 Monarch Lions Vs. #1 Campbell River Canucks GM#1 - Campbell River Canucks 3 at Monarch Lions 6 [MON leads series 1-0] MON Mats Sundin - hat trick, 6 shots, +1, 10/13 FO, 1 TA, GWG MON Jeremy Roenick - 1 goal, 2 shots, 5/6 FO MON Zigmund Palffy - 3 assists, 4 shots, 2 TA GM#2 - Campbell River Canucks 1 at Monarch Lions 6 [MON leads series 2-0] MON Steve Poapst - 1 goal, 1 assist, 2 shots, +2, 3 TA, GWG MON Mats Sundin - 1 goal, 2 assists, 7 shots, +1, 1 TA MON Jeremy Roenick - 1 goal, 1 assist, 6 shots, +3 GM#3 - Monarch Lions 2 at Campbell River Canucks 3 [MON leads series 2-1] CRC Rob Blake - 2 goals, 8 shots, 3 TA, GWG MON Garth Snow - 44/47 saves, 15/16 GRS MON Ziggy Palffy - 2 goals, 7 shots, +1, 1 TA GM#4 - Monarch Lions 3 at Campbell River Canucks 4 [leads series tied 2-2] CRC Teemu Selanne - 2 goals, 1 assist, 3 shots, +1 CRC Keith Primeau - 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots, +3 MON Dick Tarnstrom - 1 goal, 1 assist, 1 shot GM#5 - Campbell River Canucks at Monarch Lions GM#6 - Monarch Lions at Campbell River Canucks *GM#7 - Campbell River Canucks at Monarch Lions * - if necessary ************************************************************************** Important Dates May 22nd - Cup finals should be completed by this date. Some time in July - Constitution proposals need to be submitted. August - Constitution Ballot Late August/Early September - Roster cuts will be required. Late September/Early October - Live Draft Weekend for NAL! October - 2004-05 Season begins! And let's all hope the NHL doesn't have a lockout. ************************************************************************** NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: SITTLER DIVISION GP W L T OL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Labrador Moose 82 53 18 10 1 117 .713 319 192 28- 5- 7- 1 25-13- 3- 0 Alaska Aces 82 45 23 9 5 104 .634 264 212 25-10- 5- 1 20-13- 4- 4 Inside Shots 82 44 25 11 2 101 .616 266 195 27-10- 4- 0 17-15- 7- 2 Kent Kounty Killer 82 38 38 6 0 82 .500 265 290 21-15- 5- 0 17-23- 1- 0 Wellington Dukes 82 33 34 11 4 81 .494 253 285 16-19- 4- 2 17-15- 7- 2 Kentucky Ice Tiger 82 24 41 13 4 65 .396 226 295 15-20- 4- 2 9-21- 9- 2 Hartford Whalers 82 14 62 3 3 34 .207 165 329 7-30- 2- 2 7-32- 1- 1 ORR DIVISION GP W L T OL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Iowa Wolves 82 43 28 8 3 97 .591 260 248 24-12- 4- 1 19-16- 4- 2 Red Deer Avros 82 37 23 17 5 96 .585 236 217 20- 9-11- 1 17-14- 6- 4 Saratoga Sting 82 40 28 11 3 94 .573 246 222 24-11- 5- 1 16-17- 6- 2 Brandon Wheat King 82 43 34 5 0 91 .555 279 265 27-12- 2- 0 16-22- 3- 0 Calgary Grizzlies 82 33 39 6 4 76 .463 236 247 16-20- 4- 1 17-19- 2- 3 West Coast Express 82 29 37 14 2 74 .451 245 273 16-16- 8- 1 13-21- 6- 1 Seattle Tsunami 82 27 37 16 2 72 .439 227 252 16-19- 5- 1 11-18-11- 1 ************************************************************************** WORLD LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS: HOWE DIVISION GP W L T OL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Monarch Lions 82 46 21 12 3 107 .652 303 242 24- 9- 7- 1 22-12- 5- 2 Aberdeen Flying 82 47 25 7 3 104 .634 283 233 26-11- 3- 1 21-14- 4- 2 Ottawa Axemen 82 41 30 9 2 93 .567 279 249 23-13- 4- 1 18-17- 5- 1 Floral Park Falco 82 41 31 9 1 92 .561 253 238 26-11- 4- 0 15-20- 5- 1 Portland Buckaroo 82 33 37 10 2 78 .476 273 289 18-18- 5- 0 15-19- 5- 2 Peoria Rivermen 82 24 44 9 5 62 .378 224 295 16-16- 6- 3 8-28- 3- 2 Barbary Coast Wha 82 15 56 8 3 41 .250 164 288 9-28- 4- 0 6-28- 4- 3 MANIAGO DIVISION GP W L T OL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Campbell River Can 82 47 26 8 1 103 .628 266 197 29-10- 1- 1 18-16- 7- 0 Hibbing Stink Badg 82 45 24 10 3 103 .628 239 204 24-12- 4- 1 21-12- 6- 2 Kodiak Attack 82 48 29 4 1 101 .616 278 210 29- 9- 3- 0 19-20- 1- 1 Ibiza Corsairs 82 40 33 7 2 89 .543 249 235 20-17- 3- 1 20-16- 4- 1 Saginaw Sentinels 82 37 34 9 2 85 .518 222 202 18-16- 6- 1 19-18- 3- 1 Saskatoon Blades 82 30 43 7 2 69 .421 212 268 14-22- 4- 1 16-21- 3- 1 Dakota Mustangs 82 21 50 9 2 53 .323 213 308 11-25- 5- 0 10-25- 4- 2 ************************************************************************** The steps for playing and reporting your games. 1. Download the league file 1a. World League - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WSHLWL/files 1b. North American League - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WSHLNAL/files 1c. Use your e-mail, Mike sends them to the league mailing lists. 2. Unzip the files into your SOMH/DATA folder, overwriting if necessary. Make sure that SOMH is not running. 3. Start SOMH 4. Create a computer manager and export it. 5. Send your unzipped road manager to Mike and/or your league 6. Wait for Mike to release an updated league zip with the bi-week's road managers. 7. Download the league file 7a. World League - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WSHLWL/files 7b. North American League - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WSHLNAL/files 7c. Use your e-mail, Mike sends them to the league mailing lists. 8. Unzip the files into your SOMH/DATA folder, overwriting if necessary. Make sure that SOMH is not running. 9. Start SOMH 10. Play your home games. 11. Save your home boxscores and export files. 12. Send your unzipped home boxscores and export files to your league mailing list. Do not send them to the general list! WSHL Games List (WL): WSHLWL@yahoogroups.com WSHL Games List (NAL): WSHLNAL@yahoogroups.com ************************************************************************** PLAYOFF PRIMER With the playoffs starting, the teams that made it will have to do some things that the others will not. 1. Download the playoff game files once Mike has posted them. They'll be located in their proper league mailing list yahoo groups.com location. This should be fairly normal since we've been doing it all year. 2. Place the unzipped league files in your SOMH/DATA directory. 3. Start your SOMH game and create your manager, but there are some additonal guidelines you'll need to follow. 3a. Overtime in the playoffs is 5 on 5, not 4 on 4. 3b. Line combinations follow 3rd period rules, this means you may double shift ONE forward. 3c. Defensemen double shifting in overtime uses the same defenseman for each overtime period. Unrealistic, but it's all we can to do. 4. Player usage is more limited in the playoffs than the regular season. 4a. Goalies are limited in games per series to their fatigue rating. 4b. A goalie must have started in 10 WSHL games during the regular season. 4c. Forwards and defensemen are limited to play in a number of games equal to their NHL games divided by 10, rounding up all fractions. Any forward or defenseman with 60+ games may play any number of games. 4d. Check your regular season over-usage. Players who were played beyond their NHL games played, may be suspended for 1-3 games, based on the number or games they were over-extended. Players with 70 or more NHL games played are excused from this rule. 5. Play each game individually, importing the road exports to keep the statistics as accurate as possible. This also means that you should allow the road team to send a new manager after each game is played, i.e. after playing game one, ask if your opponent wants to send a new manager for game two. 6. Importing game results requires that you download the export file that is sent with the box score. Put it in your SOMH/IMPORT folder. Start the SOMH game if it isn't already running. Select the playoff for the league and then pull the STATISTICS menu down. Choose the IMPORT GAME RESULTS option. A box will appear with the exported game results in the small window. Check the game and hit the IMPORT button. The game should inform you that 1 game has been successfully imported. Then you can go play your next game after loading the new road manager. Current Playoff Suspensions NONE! ^-^ ************************************************************************** Common Questions & Answers Q: Is there a deadline for getting playoff games finished? A: Yes, the commissioner has set a deadline of two days per game. This means that each series has a maximum of two weeks to play their games. Got a question that you think needs an answer in the Newsletter, e-mail me and just ask! ************************************************************************** Player of the Round North American League Round 1: Milan Hejduk (IOW) - 7 GP, 10 G, 6 A, +1, 25.6 s% Round 2: Zigmund Palffy (LAB) - 6 GP, 6 G, 6 A, +2, 20.7 s% Round 3: Mario Lemieux (LAB) - 7 GP, 6 G, 7 A, +4, 17.7 s% MVP: Mario Lemieux (LAB) - 19 GP, 14 G, 26 A, +6, 15.4 s% World League Round 1: Jarome Iginla (MON) - 5 GP, 5 G, 2 A, +1, 23.8 s% Round 2: TBD Round 3: ************************************************************************** Goaltender of the Round North American League Round 1: Ed Belfour (INS) - 4 GP, 4-0, .941 sv%, 1.75 GAA Round 2: Roman Cechmanek (IOW) - 4 GP, 4-0, .947 sv%, 1.75 GAA Round 3: Marty Turco (LAB) - 7 GP, 4-3, .901 sv%, 3.25 GAA World League Round 1: Roberto Luongo (CRC) - 6 GP, 4-2, .952 sv%, 1.50 GAA Round 2: TBD Round 3: ************************************************************************** ASSOCIATE LIST: SINCE GP If you're still an active associate, and aren't on this list, please get in contact with me. Thanks! Mike (avanderburg9569@rogers.com) ************************************************************************** INCENTIVE POINTS Just keeping track of who's putting in a little extra effort. Total number of incentive points listed in parentheses. Dan Irvine (ABE/LAB) (+8.5) Jason McCorrister (RDA) (+2) Sal Tesoro (+1) ************************************************************************** TRANSACTIONS WORLD LEAGUE: ************************************************************************** TRANSACTIONS NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE: ************************************************************************** League Governing Boards Responsibilities of the following governing boards are outlined in the Constitution. Mike Webb, Commissioner Dan Irvine, Vice-Commissioner **************************************************************************