Drunks Digest

Pre-Season Predictions update (submitted by D. Therres)

At the Beginning of the Season I made some predictions, now well into the
season it is time to do a follow up.

1. Vipers - Could this be the year for the Vipers?? They still have all the
tools to win the Jack.

Currently 5th – The Vipers got off to a very slow start, but have turned
things around, and are heading back to the top, but it is a big mountain to
climb.

2. Battalion - The Battalion will push the Vipers all season. Iron Goalie
Eddie the Eagle will continue to steal the show in Nashville.

Currently 3rd – The Battalion are doing what I expected them to do…win. What
else can you say about the most consistent team in the DWSHL.

3. Galaxy - The Galaxy will win the Euro and gain the #2 Seed for the
playoffs. You can't find a hole in this team

Currently 1st – The Galaxy went on an amazing run at the start of the year,
Things have slowed down a bit as of late, but the Galaxy will be around the
top all year.

4. Kings - A good Solid team, Built a lot like the Galaxy. They will be
right behind the Galaxy in the Euro all year.

Currently 4th – I got one right so far, but with the Vipers closing fast the
kings will be hard pressed to hang on to home ice for the playoffs.

5. Vikings - Todd Bertuzzi will play a big part in this team’s success. If
he gets hurt the Vikings could stumble.

Currently 11th – oops…I really thought this team would do better…something
is missing for the Vikings.

6. Army Ants - Look for these guys to make some noise this year. They lack
Defence, but ask the Spartans how much Defence really matters.

Currently 6th – Another one right!! The Ants are right where I thought they
would be…Again I say, who needs Defence.

7. Prowlers - LOL I owe Pate a big Sorry...I forgot that he had his pro guys
on the Farm Roster...oops.

Currently 9th – The Prowlers have made some moves to try and get their team
into the playoffs, and still they are on the outside looking in. It will be
interesting to see how the rest of the season unfolds for them.

8. Piranhas - The Piranhas Made lots of Noise during Free Agency, while
Solid on offence, they are very weak on Defence...Rob Blake can't play every
shift.

Currently 2nd – The Piranhas have over achieved in the first part of the
season. It will be interesting to see if they can keep up with the Galaxy
and the Battalion all season long.

9. Cannons – Currently 16th – I have no idea what happened to the Cannons. I
really thought they would have a better season.

10. Blaze – Currently 14th – I thought the Blaze were close to a playoff
spot…I guess I was wrong.

11. Hornets – Currently 7th – The Hornets GM has made a lot of good deals
and has his team in a playoff spot.

12. IceBats – Currently 8th – The IceBats made a couple deals and find
themselves fending off the Prowlers for the last playoff spot.

13. Blizzard – Currently 10th – The Blizzard got off to a good start thanks
to Hasek…Hasek is gone and the Blizzard are Falling.

14. Nighthawks – Currently 13th – The Nighthawks are young and need time to
develop, but their time will come.

15. Bandits - Rebuilding – Currently 12th – The Bandits have done a good job
with what they had…Kudos to the New GM

16. Justice - Expansion team – Currently 15th – Tough slugging for this team
will continue for the rest of the season.

Well there you have it…oh how things can change with a few trades, or one team getting off to a slow start, but so far it has been a very interesting year.

Cannons Trade Frenzy (submitted by R. Yamada)
With a displeasing start to the season it seemed obvious that moves would have to be made within the Cannons organization. Still the frenzy of trades that the Texas franchise has made in the past two weeks has been unprecidented in the frachise's history. 29 players and picks moved, working out to the following mass movement:

Mark Rycroft, Mike Zigomanis, Ryan Bayda, Brendan Morrison, Ales Kotalik, Guillaume Lefevbre, Jussi Markkanen, Eric Weinrich, Marc-Andre Thinel, Kenny Jonsson, TEX 2nd and 4th in 06 and TEX 5th in 07.

That's what left the Cannons in the past two weeks. What came back?

Richard Park, Pavel Brendl, Radim Vrbata, Jiri Novotny, Noah Welch, Daniel Cleary, Martin Gerber, Adam Deadmarsh, Antoine Bergeron, Ben Clymer, Andrei Zyuzin, and Denis Pederson.

How are the Cannons reacting to the new moves?

"The previous team we had wasn't working out obviously," coach Darryl Sutter commented. "We moved some older players, like Morrison, Jonsson and Weinrich to get some guys we can develop."

But Cannons fans shouldn't be discouraged with the mention of the word "develop", after all it was only two seasons ago that sniper Justin Williams was acquired in a "developmental" trade.

"We aren't looking to make moves for the sake of making moves," Sutter continued. "What we had wasn't working, but we didn't ship it all away for nothing. We got young players we know will be able to perform and become future stars for this team in short order."

After all, it was 3 short seasons ago that established star Mike Modano was moved for
Chris Drury in another of the Cannons "developmental" moves. Since the trade Drury has been a mainstay on the Cannons top line and perennially at the top of team scoring.

"We thought we had created a winning lineup in the future. With these moves we've got a lot of talent up front, adding Deadmarsh, Vrbata and only having to give up Morrison from our top two lines," Sutter continued. "We feel our offense is set. Defensively, it was tough to part with Kenny Jonsson, but we felt Lukowich has stepped up and can fill his skates and we got a great young defender in Noah Welch who we feel will be a top tier defenseman in a few years."

The moves so far have suited the Cannons just fine. Youngster Radim Vrbata has been flying high on the top line with Drury and Williams while Deadmarsh has found new life on the second line with Morrow and Zherdev. The Cannons are on a season long three game winning streak and suddenly are only 8 points out of the playoffs.

"We are going to keep working hard and keep trying to win," Sutter concluded. "We'll focus on winning as much as possible and let the playoff and point stuff fall where it will."

Across the Pond: Home of the Curse (submitted by B. Ommen)

First, there was the Sports Illustrated Curse, where teams on the cover suffered abysmal defeats. Then there was the EA games curse, where players on the cover of the
games suffered horrific injuries. Now, there is the Across the Pond curse, where Hanover got special treatment and subsequently lost their insurmountable lead and their stellar stats.

The Piranhas now sit tied atop the division and the conference with the Galaxy at 40 points through 25 games. Zurich’s gone 12 and 1 at home, while Hanover lost to the Blizzard, Rams, and Bandits. Both teams are in the top 3 in scoring and defense with Joe Nieuwendyk leading the Piranhas with 36 points and Vinny Lecavalier and Steve Sullivan topping Hanover with 34.

The Piranhas’ strong stretch has made the Euro race interesting, but it has also put the Kings at some distance from the top. Stockholm’s stellar defense has slipped of late with John Leclair’s team leading 38 points not being enough to keep Stockholm at the division pace. They are still head and shoulders above the middle of the Euro, with the Blizzard clinging perilously to a playoff position with 26 points. The Vikings and IceBats are just out of the playoff picture with 23 points. a spurt by the Blaze and a horrific streak by the Nighthawks have given the Euro division a race for the basement with both teams sporting a 6-15-4 mark.

Stockholm’s Olaf Kolzig looks to be on pace to play until his legs give out, just 28 minutes behind JS Giguerre for league lead in minutes played with one game in hand. The leader board doesn’t look terribly dominated by Euro players, but that might just be a sign that the teams across the pond don’t need to rely on single players to win.

That’s the past, here’s the future:
On Day 42, the Kings play the Blizzard in a game that ought to signal how the Blizzard will fare in the Euro. If the blizzard’s status as giant killers hold true, the Kings may find the game more challenging than it appears.

Players to watch are Kolzig as he continues to pile up the appearances, the bright spot in this endurance test is that it prepares Ollie for his post-hockey career of playing shows nightly in Las Vegas as Godzilla along side Wayne Newton. another guy worth watching is Helsinki’s Steve Shields who took the crown away from Birmingham’s Brian Boucher for goalie PIMs leader. No word on whether Steve will be playing Wayne Newton in Kolzig’s show.

GM to watch: I generally don’t like picking Marcel and Aleksi as GMs to watch as they seem entirely too patient to make anything interesting, but with the Galaxy slipping and the Nighthawks falling off the map, it’ll be interesting to see if the true Euros pull anything in the Euro division.

>From right of the Atlantic, I am Across the Pond.