The World Strat-O-Matic Hockey League Newsletter League Established January 1, 2002 Volume #2, Issue #2.04 - September 26, 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 ************************************************************************** PRESEASON NOTES With the season set to kick off towards the end of October, it appears as if the World League will have plenty of time to finish their e-mail draft. So far they've drafted though five complete rounds, and are close to finishing the sixth. Trading in the World League has increased since their draft has begun. Trader Dan is hard at work making as many deals as he can. He even went so far as to trade his team's fifth round pick twice! After a minor correction, the over-sight was repaired without much difficulty. For the teams in the North American League, managers have put a stop on their trade negotiations. It seems that the preseason workouts are being used to develop team chemistry and determine if any post-draft trades are necessary. ************************************************************************** WORLD LEAGUE LIVE DRAFT PART II Because the draft by e-mail has slowed to a crawl, Commissioner Mike Webb has asked for a second night of live drafting to be held on Wednesday, September 29th. The time should be around the same as before, 6 PM Pacific/9 PM Eastern. ************************************************************************** NHL LOCKOUT GOT YOU WISHING FOR HOCKEY? by Scott Shigemi The NHL lockout has now lasted for two weeks. I'm sure you're just as sick of it as I am, but fear not, minor league hockey will continue to play. In fact, the price for minor league tickets are much more affordable than the NHL's. But you're going to say the play is much worse since anyone worth watching is in the NHL. That is not so, there are several star players still in the minors. Plus you can later say, "I saw Marcel Hossa when he played for the Portland Winterhawks!" If minor league hockey doesn't interest you, there are other outlets. Check out this link: http://www.nike.com/canada/nikehockey/lockout/ for Nike's take on the lockout. Dan posted a lengthy e-mail to the WSHL mailing list that included a humorous take on the lockout, "Support an NHLer!" Sure this situation is a sad one, but if we're lucky the players and owners will come to some compomise that will allow the game to be played before the entire season is cancelled. Now does anyone want to take a bet as to how long this will last, or when the season will be called off? ************************************************************************** SASKATOON AND OTTAWA SWAP STARS by David Sheedy Blades GM Bernie Federko announced at a press conference today that he'd made another deal, in fine tuning this Blades team that had such promise, only a short time ago. Going to Ottawa is superstar, and near-scoring champion from last year Robert Lang. Coming back is defensive specialist Steve Rucchin, and former 40 goal man Glen Murray. "Anytime I can get two quality players for one, I'm going to do it", said Federko. "Rucchin fills the gap left by our trading Kris Draper (which netted us Roenick and Shanahan), and Glen Murray is going to be rejuvenated with our crafty centermen feeding him the puck." This trade means that the Blades have turned over two bona fide stars in Draper and Lang, for four A ranked players, in Roenick, Shanahan, Rucchin and Murray. "We'll swarm the other team" joked Federko, as reporters shook their heads at the suddenly trade-happy GM. ************************************************************************** FERNANDEZ FOR A PICK? by Scott Shigemi w/quote from Mike Yancharas Initial reports that goaltender Manny Fernandez was traded from Saginaw to Aberdeen for a fifth round pick were wrong. All was not well as the commissioner's office determined that Labrador had already traded their fifth round pick in this year's draft. Thus the deal needed to be re-structured. Instead of a fifth round pick, a third round pick in the 2005 draft will be sent to Saginaw. Mike Yancharas had this to say, "Everybody makes mistakes. I don't blame Dan at all. I made him an inital reoffer of the 3rd rounder and he graciously accepted so its water under the bridge. Besides, I think I'd rather have that 3rd rounder next year than a 5th this year." ************************************************************************** SAGINAW UPGRADING AT CENTRE, ABERDEEN INCREASES DEPTH by Mike Yancharas The Flying Scottsmen of Aberdeen are looking for depth, and they're getting exactly what they want. They've acquired Manny Fernandez to play the back-up role behind Ed Belfour. Now they've delt away Vincent LeCavalier to the Saginaw Sentinals for Shane Doan and Shawn Horcoff. Mike Yancharas had this to say, "We love Lecavelier. My twin brother Mike says he's a joy to coach. It was hard to give up Doan. He's a great player and Horcoff we just didn't know what to expect so we thought the scales were tipped in our favor." Aberdeen was silent when questioned, which probably tells the rest of the league that they're busy trying to make another deal. ************************************************************************** GOMEZ AND HALPERN TO THE AXE? by Steve Izumi The Ottawa Axemen have dealt LD Wade Redden to Suffern for Jeff Halpern and Scott Gomez. This trade signals a distinct shift in the organizations' philosophy of having the defense anchor the team. Whether this new formula is the right one, only time will tell. Steve - Ottawa Axemen ************************************************************************** WORLD LEAGUE DRAFT, FIRST TWO ROUNDS I posted the first two rounds of the North American League draft, so I thought it'd be nice to see who the World League thought were worth a first or second round pick. Sheldon Souray was picked number one overall in both drafts. It'll be interesting to see which team he'll perform better for, Kansas City or Saskatoon. Tuomo Ruutu goes second in both drafts. Other picks that were drafted fairly close together in the first two rounds: Miikka Kiprusoff (1), Jonathan Cheechoo (3), Michael Ryder (4) and Marek Zidlicky (8). Round #1 1. Saskatoon Blades Sheldon Souray, D, Montreal 2. Suffern Succotash Tuomo Ruutu, F, Chicago 3. Albany River Rats Michael Ryder, W, Montreal 4. Saginaw Sentinals Trent Hunter, W, NY Islanders 5. Peoria Rivermen Miikka Kiprusoff, G, Calgary 6. Omaha Knights Ryan Malone, F, Pittsburgh 7. Ibiza Corsairs Jordan Leopold, D, Calgary 8. Floral Park Niholai Zherdev, W, Columbus 9. Saginaw Sentinals Marek Zidlicky, D, Nashville 10. Monarch Lions Jonathan Cheechoo, W, San Jose 11. Ottawa Axemen Nils Ekman, W, San Jose 12. Kodiak Attack Patrice Bergeron, F, Boston 13. Suffern Succotash Fedor Tyutin, D, NY Rangers 14. Longue-Pointe Hitmen Eric Staal, C, Carolina Round #2 15. Suffern Succotash Kari Lehtonen, G, Atlanta 16. Albany River Rats Teemu Selanne, W, Colorado 17. Peoria Rivermen Jay Pandolfo, W, New Jersey 18. Saskatoon Blades Robert Esche, G, Philadelphia 19. Omaha Knights Nathan Horton, F, Florida 20. Saginaw Sentinals Marc-Andre Fluery, G, Pittsburgh 21. Ibiza Corsairs Vesa Toskala, G, San Jose 22. Floral Park Mark Bell, F, Chicago 23. Ottawa Axemen Valeri Bure, W, Dallas 24. Kodiak Attack Joni Pitkanen, D, Philadelphia 25. Monarch Lions Cale Hulse, D, Phoenix 26. Longue-Pointe Hitmen Dan Hamhuis, D, Nashville 27. Saskatoon Blades Jochen Hecht, W, Buffalo 28. Suffern Succotash Brent Sopel, D, Vancouver ************************************************************************** NORTH AMERICAN LEAGUE SCHEDULE - BLOCK 01 10/25/2004 BWK at CAL IOW at RDA SEA at NHH LEX at INS KCO at KKK KIT at WEL 10/26/2004 RDA at CAL NHH at IOW WCE at SEA KKK at KCO INS at WEL LAB at LEX 10/27/2004 CAL at WCE RDA at IOW NHH at BWK INS at KKK KCO at LAB WEL at LEX 10/28/2004 BWK at IOW CAL at RDA SEA at WCE LEX at WEL KIT at INS LAB at KCO 10/29/2004 IOW at NHH WCE at RDA BWK at SEA KKK at KIT WEL at INS LEX at KCO 10/30/2004 RDA at NHH SEA at BWK WCE at CAL INS at LEX KIT at KKK WEL at KCO 10/31/2004 CAL at BWK IOW at SEA NHH at WCE KCO at KIT LAB at WEL KKK at INS 11/01/2004 BWK at WCE CAL at NHH RDA at SEA KKK at LAB KIT at LEX KCO at WEL 11/02/2004 NHH at CAL SEA at RDA WCE at IOW LEX at KIT KCO at INS WEL at LAB 11/03/2004 IOW at WCE RDA at BWK BWK at NHH INS at LAB KKK at LEX KIT at KCO 11/04/2004 CAL at SEA IOW at CAL LAB at KIT WEL at KKK 11/05/2004 SEA at IOW WCE at BWK NHH at RDA LEX at LAB INS at KIT 11/06/2004 LAB at KKK ************************************************************************** WORL LEAGUE SCHEDULE - BLOCK 01 10/25/2004 ARR at LPH HSB at IBI SAG at KOD AFS at OMA FPF at MON OTT at SUF 10/26/2004 IBI at LPH KOD at HSB SAS at SAG MON at FPF OMA at SUF PEO at AFS 10/27/2004 LPH at SAS IBI at HSB KOD at ARR OMA at MON FPF at PEO SUF at AFS 10/28/2004 ARR at HSB LPH at IBI SAG at SAS AFS at SUF OTT at OMA PEO at FPF 10/29/2004 HSB at KOD SAS at IBI ARR at SAG MON at OTT SUF at OMA AFS at FPF 10/30/2004 IBI at KOD SAG at ARR SAS at LPH OMA at AFS OTT at MON SUF at FPF 10/31/2004 LPH at ARR HSB at SAG KOD at SAS FPF at OTT PEO at SUF MON at OMA 11/01/2004 ARR at SAS LPH at KOD IBI at SAG MON at PEO OTT at AFS FPF at SUF 11/02/2004 KOD at LPH SAG at IBI SAS at HSB AFS at OTT FPF at OMA SUF at PEO 11/03/2004 HSB at SAS IBI at ARR ARR at KOD OMA at PEO MON at AFS OTT at FPF 11/04/2004 LPH at SAG HSB at LPH PEO at OTT SUF at MON 11/05/2004 SAG at HSB SAS at ARR KOD at IBI AFS at PEO OMA at OTT 11/06/2004 PEO at MON ************************************************************************** Important Dates September 29th - Live Draft for WL! (6 PM EST/9 PM PST) October 25th - 2004-05 Season begins! Month X, Day X - The NHL resumes play? ************************************************************************** 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 ************************************************************************** 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 I'm just keeping track of who's putting in a little extra effort. The points were reset with the new volume. Get a plus point for each newsletter article and event that shows you're putting a extra effort into the league! The total number of incentive points is listed in parentheses. Joe Hamrahi (+2) Dan Irvine (+1) Steve Izumi +1 article (+2) Paul King (+1) David Sheedy +1 article (+4) Scott Silberfein (+1) Kevin Webber (+1) Mike Yancharas +1.5 article (+3.5) ************************************************************************** TRANSACTIONS WORLD LEAGUE: AFS - TRADE Vincent LeCavalier to Saginaw for Shane Doan and Shawn Horcoff. TRADE AFS05#3 to Saginaw for Manny Fernandez. HSB - TRADES Patrice Brisebois, Tomas Kaberle and HSB04#6 to Ottawa for Simon Gagne, Scott Hannan, Teppo Numminen and Doug Weight. OTT - TRADES Steve Rucchin and Glen Murray to Saskatoon for Robert Lang. TRADES Wade Redden to Suffern for Jeff Halpern and Scott Gomez. TRADES Simon Gagne, Scott Hannan, Teppo Numminen and Doug Weight to Hibbing for Patrice Brisebois, Tomas Kaberle and HSB04#6. SAG - TRADE Shane Doan and Shawn Horcoff to Aberdeen for Vincent LeCavalier. TRADE Manny Fernandez to Aberdeen for AFS05#3. SAS - TRADES Robert Lang to Ottawa for Steve Rucchin and Glen Murray. SUF - TRADES Jeff Halpern and Scott Gomez to Ottawa for Wade Redden. ************************************************************************** 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 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 **************************************************************************