Drunks Digest

Greetings from Across the Pond!

The Euro division comes into the 2004 season with high hopes following a moderately successful 2003 season and some fast-paced off-season wheeling and dealing. The Piranhas, 2003 Drunk Cup semi-finalists and Jack Daniels finalists and new residents of Zurich, come into the season with the addition of Byron Dafoe in goal with most of the 2003 team still in place save for a few retirements. For the most part, most Euro teams stuck close to the Piranhas’ game plan and altered very little. Teams like the Galaxy and Vikings are almost identical to their 2003 squads. The Nighthawks helped themselves in free agency by picking up solid center Bobby Holik and the Blaze lost Keith Primeau and picked up Eric Lindros in the off season. The IceBats made several changes to a roster so anonymous the changes do not merit further explanation. The one move the IceBats did make was with the Euro rival Stockholm Kings. The Kings made several intra-division trades giving up Dafoe to the Piranhas following the acquisition of Olaf Kolzig, a pricey pick up that makes the Kings instant contenders. The Kings also swapped Shane Willis for Antwerp’s John Madden.

With the rosters solidifying, the division has already benefited from new GMs who now get the chance to work a full season. Also, the old GMs, including 2003 GM of the year Darnell Therres and co-commissioner Marcel Gryzb to name but a few, have new pressure to succeed given the infusion of young blood and the seemingly renewed commitment to the European continent. With 2003’s continual talk of moving and folding franchises, 2004 promises to be an exciting one in Europe.

Preseason opens with two intra-division games, the Blaze @ Kings and the Nighthawks @ Vikings. All in all 20 preseason matchups of 120 will involve 2 Euro rivals. Speaking of rivalries, given last years contested division crown, it appears some unique rivalries have formed in the division. With the Piranhas edging the Galaxy based on wins (there was a tie in points), those two squads become the Euro’s hottest rivalry. The Nighthawks and Blaze fought to keep the other in the Euro cellar, but with a few new players, both teams appear that their rivalry will be about more than a fight for 6th place. The Vikings and the IceBats finished one point apart in the final standings and both were left outside the playoff picture, so look for those teams to battle for a combination of pride in the rivalry, a place in the playoffs, and avoidance of the Nighthawks and Blaze. The Kings, with their new and improved roster become threats to any Euro team the play, and are likely to maintain a rivalry with the Vikings and Nighthawks, though they may also create some tension-filled games with the division’s top teams as well.

I’d hazard a guess at the ranking of these teams, but I’m obviously biased, so in keeping the European peace, I’ll conclude with this brief prediction, a 4th team from the Euro division will make the playoffs, and one Euro team will compete with the powerhouse Jack Daniels teams of the East, Nashville and New York.

If you’re interested, the DWSHL preseason previews had total rankings for the Euro as follows:

Galaxy 10.5 stars
Kings 10 stars
Vikings 10 stars
Piranhas 8.5 stars
Nighthawks 8 stars
IceBats 8 stars
Blaze 6 stars

(note: I’ve adjusted these rankings to account only for the new goalie changes in Zurich and Stockholm).

Matchup to watch: Day 3 Galaxy @ Kings

Euro Player to watch: Eric Lindros of the Blaze

Euro Player of the week: TBD

Euro Team of the week: TBD

From Across the Pond, this has been Brett Ommen.

Seattle Spartans Scary Scoring

Brett Harvie

The Seattle Spartans have assembled what could be the best ever offense in the history the DWSHL. As if Jagr and Naslund weren't enough, the Spartans went out and pulled the trigger to land super sniper Teemu Selanne. The team now has four guys who can easily, and currently are, be in the top ten. Teemu Selanne has silenced all critics who said that Selanne couldn't score enough to replace the teams number one and three blueliners with a league leading 20 points. Selanne is on pase for an astounding 200 points, and if it is at all possible for anybody after Wayne Gretzky to reach that sum, Selanne is on the team for that to happen. What makes this truely incredible is that Selanne hasn't even been on the same line as Jagr or Naslund. Selanne has played on the teams second line and second power play unit and you have to ask, what he would do if he did play on the first line and unit? The teams whole offense isn't just up front though. The team has the the leagues scoring leader among blueliners. Todd Reirden has 12 points in eight games, but is very modest. "Well with the guys we have up front, it seems like every time I move the puck up ice to one of our guys they make something happen," laughed Reirden. The teams ability to make teams pay on the powerplay has been the key to the Spartans offense. Clicking at an astounding 42.3% success rate, teams face a double edged sword; leave the star players alone and have them score on you, or, play aggressive and tough and run the risk of taking a penalty. The Spartans big guns were blazing on day 8 when the Spartans blew out the Long Beach Brahmas. The Brahmas scored 5 goals which on most nights is enough for teams to get a win, and you'd have to think, what more can you ask from an offense? How about a league record 11? Even after eliminating the big three's goals on the night-Naslund, Selanne, and Jagr all had a pair- the rest of the team still scored enough toequal a team who had a good night in the offensive zone. The Spartans are, for the most part, reckognized as the scariest offense in the DWSHL; but still the team has some major holes. The defense is the worst among serious contenders, and the goaltending of Irbe has been questionable at the best of times this year. But hope appears on the way. Goalie prospect Andrei Medvedev, who is critisized as being to out of shape, has carried his uncanny play into his first appearances in the DWSHL. The young Russian who has backstopped the Russian nation junior team to three consecutive championships, looked brilliant in his first appearance for the Spartans. So while their are questions about the team in their own end, there is a lot of potential. When that potential is combined with the superstar cast of forwards that the team has, the sky is the limit and a re-peat from the leagues raining champions, and a cash deposit of $40 US into the bank account of Mr. Matt Visser not only appears possible but likely.

The Digest is back for the 2004 season. With the new commish's rankings, the power rankings from last season have dropped for now and we'll rely mostly on your guys' contributions. The first edition this season features 2 articles, one from Brett Ommen of the Ice Bats and one from Brett Harvie of the Ice Dogs. I'll also be adding a feature or two of my own and this week's feature will a trade of the week analysis.... So, without further ado, here's my Trade of the Week:

To Icedogs: Mats Sundin and a conditional 2nd and 4th round pick in the 2006 entry draft
To Storm: Nikita Alexeev, Carlo Colaiacovo and 3 2nd rounders in the 2006 entry draft.

The Dogs get one of the top centers in the league leaving them with a great rotation up the middle of Sundin, Kozlov and Peca. Sundin is a pending UFA and at 4.0 million currently, he'll be expecting a decent raise which it remains to be seen if the Dogs can give. If not, the Dogs will recieve a couple of picks in what looks to be a fairly deep draft. The Storm continue the rebuilding movement getting a good young sniper in Alexeev, a top defensive prospect in Colaiacovo and 3 high round picks in the 2006 draft.

Overall, the Storm get a slight edge here. Sundin alone isn't enough to put the Dogs into the top 4 or 5 in the league so the young propspects and bevy of picks heading back to the Storm fit their needs more than Mats fits the Dogs' needs at this point. If the Dogs can pick up a winger or two and improve the depth there, this trade could become even or even slant back to their advantage but as it stands today, I've gotta go with the Storm by a hair here...