Alaskan Assassins
Coach: Dave Silman
Years: (1999-Present)
Career Record: (37-26-2), (5-4 Playoffs)
Summary:
Probably the streakiest team in the PFL over the years, Dave's Assassins got hot at the right time in 2001 to claim his first Patzer Bowl. Team is the first and only to win the league championship despite a sub-.500 winning percentage.
1999:
The Alaskan Assassins won an Eastern Division title in his first season in the PFL and advanced to the semi-finals, only to lose to the eventual champion Yukon Icebreakers.
2000:
His second season began horribly, as injuries led to an 0-5 start before reeling off five straight to force his way into the playoff picture. He limped in with three straight losses, including a record 164-38 setback to Grand Rapids and was quickly dispatched by the Hell Harbringers in the first round of the playoffs..
2001:
Again, Dave started the season slowly after injuries knocked out all three of his starting running backs for most of the first half of the season. After opening 1-5, he caught fire, going 4-2-1 down the stretch, including a 36-point come from behind tie against the eventual regular season champion Greased Lightning. They beat Yukon in back to back weeks in week 13 and in the playoffs, then avenged two heartbreaking regular season losses to the Detroit and a tie to Grand Rapids to win the Patzer Bowl in a thriller, 112-109.
2002:
For a change, Dave had a solid start to the season, which carried all the way through the season, winning his second division championship. The season ended with a Semi-final loss to arch-rival Yukon.
2003:
Dave had an excellent draft and was the preseason favorite to win it all. Despite Donovan McNabb's early struggles, the Assassins started strong thanks to Jamal Lewis and Stephen Davis carrying the load. Chad Johnson and Randy Moss starred as receivers but the team faltered a bit down the stretch, despite some very high scores. They tied for the title in a very tough Western Division at 8-4-1. The final week battle, which was a loss to co-champ Muskegon forcing the tie was a league record for combined score, at 158-147. The playoffs kept up the high scoring as they blew out Eugene in the opening round before bowing to eventual champ Grand Rapids in another epic playoff game, losing 140-135.
Regular Season:
1999: 9-4 (Division Champion; #3 seed)
2000: 5-8 (3rd Place; Wild Card)
2001: 5-7-1 (3rd Place; Wild Card)
2002: 10-3 (Division Champion)
2003: 8-4-1 (Division Co-Champ; #4 seed)
Playoffs:
1999: 1-1 (Beat Cucamonga, Lost to Yukon Icebreakers in Semi-Finals)
2000: 0-1 (Lost to Yukon in Wild-Card Round)
2001: 3-0 (Beat Yukon, Detroit and Grand Rapids -- Won Patzer Bowl)
2002: 0-1 (Lost to Yukon in Semi-Finals)
2003: 1-1 (Beat Eugene, Lost to Grand Rapids in Semifinals)