The World Strat-O-Matic Hockey League Newsletter League Established January 1, 2002 Volume #2, Issue #2.01 - August 31, 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 ************************************************************************** Lots of management changes in this issue! Please remember to update your address books! ************************************************************************** NEW OWNERSHIP IN ALASKA AND PORTLAND Please welcome Tanya Sigman (candt519@msn.com) as the new owner of the Portland Buckaroos. The team announced plans to relocate the franchise. They will now be known as the Omaha Knights. In Alaska, Mike Kuduk (kuduk@meginc.com) will command the Aces. Mike hasn't said if Alaska will move away. Will the oil rights convince the team to stay put? ************************************************************************** SARATOGA HITCHES A RIDE ON THE TRAIN ALL THE WAY TO NEWARK Saratoga would also like to move its franchise. Newark has a beautiful new downtown arena (heh) with great luxury boxes, practice facilities and crime rates, so I would like to relocate there. Our team will now be known as the Newark Hen House. Thanks, Scott Silberfein ************************************************************************** LOUGUE-POINTE HITMEN UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT! Joe Hamrahi (joechris96@aol.com) will be the new owner and had this to say after being announced to the league. Hi everyone, I'm Joe Hamrahi. I'm very excited to be a part of the WSHL. I look forward to a long career in the league. A little about me... I'm 35 years old, married, and have 3 children. I live on Long Island in New York. I'm a licensed CPA and work as the controller for a boutique public relations firm in Manhattan. I have been playing Strat since I was 12 years old and have participated in numerous leagues. I started with baseball and eventually worked my way through all Strat games. I am still playing baseball (23 years now), football (15 years), hockey (13 years) and basketball (10 years). To say I'm a sports addict would be an understatement. I have been a New York Mets, New York Rangers, and Dallas Cowboys (yes, I know this is crazy!) season ticket holder. I subscribe to numerous online and print sports publications including Sports Weekly, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News, Baseball America, The Hockey News, and SOM World. I also own a satellite dish and have subscriptions to all major sports programming channels through Direct TV (MLB Extra Innings, NFL Sunday Ticket, NBA League Pass, and NHL Center Ice). While we take time to review our roster, we have contacted the Mayflower moving company and instructed them to pack up our gear and head toward NY. Negotiations are ongoing for a new arena, and we hope to issue a press release shortly.... Look forward to meeting everyone. Joe ************************************************************************** CHANGE IN LIVE NAL DRAFT POLICY If a team misses a pick during the draft, they will have a chance to make the pick up upon their next draft pick, or at the end of the draft, which ever is sooner. This is why you should provide a draft list to the commissioner's office prior to the draft. Previously it was stated that the pick would be made up immediately if the team could get their pick in. The Iowa Wolves have submitted their list, have you? ************************************************************************** NEWSLETTER AND NAL FILE UPDATE The archives have been updated with the latest North American League files. The files contain an Excel file with player stats, SOMH ratings, draftable list, draft order, drafted players and other NAL stats. The text files contain the current draft order with drafted players, a list of draftable players and the NAL current rosters. All files have been updated with new team initials. The Newark Hen House, formerly Saratoga Sting are abbreviated, NHH. This newsletter is the first in volume number two. It is my hope that I get more content from league members, especially from the World League (hint, hint). The SOMH files for the NAL will be updated later in the week at the yahoo groups web site. Of course if someone else wants to do this, by all means post an updated version. ************************************************************************** NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE DRAFT UPDATE! The first round has come and gone. Here's are the first 14 to go. FIRST ROUND: 1. Kansas City Outlaws - Sheldon Souray, D, Montreal 2. West Coast Express - Tuomo Ruutu, F, Chicago 3. Seattle Tsunami - Brian Leetch, D, Toronto 4. Calgary Grizzlies - Miikka Kiprusoff, G, Calgary 5. Wellington Dukes - Alyn McCauley, C\L, San Jose 6. Kentucky Ice Tigers - Jassen Cullimore, D, Tampa 7. Kent Kounty Killer Kittens - Michael Ryder, C, Montreal 8. Brandon Wheat Kings - Evgeni Nabokov, G, San Jose 9. Newark Hen House - Scott Gomez, C, New Jersey 10. Seattle Tsunami (ALA) - Dallas Drake, W, St. Louis 11. West Coast Express (RDA) - Trent Hunter, F, NY Islanders 12. West Coast Express (INS) - Richard Zednik, W, Montreal 13. Iowa Wolves - Johnathan Cheechoo, W, San Jose 14. Wellington Dukes (Lab) - Cale Hulse, D, Phoenix ************************************************************************** NHL LOCK-OUT With less than a month to go before the NHL's collective bargining agreement comes to an end, a lock-out seems inevitable. Before the WSHL feels the effects of the player vs. owner struggle, are there any ideas on how our league will handle a prolonged lock-out? What will we do if there isn't a 2004-05 NHL season? There's another question that will need an answer. If the NHL ends up playing a shortened season like they did in 1994-95, we could follow suit and play a shortened WSHL season. But is that the only option? If the season is only 48 games, might we play two seasons back-to-back? Or would we add a percentage of games to every player? Maybe we give players an increase in games that is based on their NHL games played? Or just a flat number of games? Coming up with some ideas now may help to aliviate future problems. Let's begin brainstorming! ************************************************************************** SEATTLE TSUNAMI DRAFT, DAY ONE by Scott Shigemi At the WSHL draft for the North American League, the Seattle Tsunami had two draft picks in the first round. With the third overall pick, it was a no-brainer as to who they were going to select. Veteran defenseman, Brian Leetch was taken 3rd overall. Leetch fills a void on Seattle's blueline and is expected to be their #1 left defenseman. Following a contract dispute, the league forced his release from Calgary during the 2003-04 regular season. The Tsunami surprised everybody with their second first round pick, Dallas Drake. However, looking at the SOMH ratings, Seattle is getting just what they need for their checking ling. Drake is a defense 4 forward that can play either wing. He brings grit and toughness in a line-up that boasts quite a few players that qualify as prima-donnas. "Our primary concerns have been met in the first round," responded Don Cherry. "We got ourselves a stand-up counter-force in Drake and a real number one defenseman in Leetch to play with one of our top right defense- men. With Rucchin and Drake, we hope to shut down some of the opposing top offensive lines. Leetch is simply a world-class all-star." ************************************************************************** Important Dates September 8th & 9th - Live Draft for WL! September 13th & 14th - Live Draft for NAL! October 25th - 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 ************************************************************************** Common Questions & Answers Q: Is there a deadline to getting draft picks in during the e-mail portion of the draft? A: No, a team isn't forced to make a selection during the e-mail draft. But if a team is late during the live draft, they'll lose their draft position and make the pick up at their next pick, or at the end of the draft. So get a draft list in! Got a question that you think needs an answer in the Newsletter, e-mail me and just ask! ************************************************************************** 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. Doug North (KCO) (+1) Dan Irvine (ABE/LAB) (+9.5) Jason McCorrister (RDA) (+2) ************************************************************************** TRANSACTIONS WORLD LEAGUE: AFS - TRADES Scott Walker to Omaha for Steve Konowalchuk. OMA - TRADES Steve Konowalchuk to Aberdeen for Scott Walker. ************************************************************************** TRANSACTIONS NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE: KKK - TRADES KKK04#3 and KKK04#4 to Labrador for KKK04#2 LAB - TRADES KKK04#2 to Kent Kounty for KKK04#3 and KKK04#4 ************************************************************************** League Governing Boards Responsibilities of the following governing boards are outlined in the Constitution. Mike Webb, Commissioner Dan Irvine, Vice-Commissioner Review Board, North American League Steve Izumi, Wellington Dukes Jason McCorrister, Red Deer Avros Kevin Webber, West Coast Express Review Board, World League Joe Wagner, Hibbing Stink Badgers Dave Sheedy, Saskatoon Blades Mike Yancharas, Saginaw Sentinels **************************************************************************