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| 08-09 AP Ranking: 11th Finished in: 7th |
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| 07-08 AP Ranking: 1st Finished in: 1st |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 1st Finished in: 3rd |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 3rd |
| Regular Season History 2007-2008: 1st (13-8-2) 2008-2009: 3rd (10-9-4) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: 2nd Finished in: 4th |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 4th Finished in: 1st |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 1st |
| Regular Season History 2002-2003: 3rd 2003-2004: 2nd 2005-2006: 4th (12-8-2) 2006-2007: 3rd (14-7-2) 2007-2008: 4th (14-7-2) 2008-2009: 1st (16-4-3) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: 3rd Finished in: 5th |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 3rd Finished in: 9th |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 4th |
| Regular Season History 2002-2003: 2nd 2003-2004: 1st 2005-2006: 1st (20-2-0) 2006-2007: 4th (13-7-3) 2007-2008: 5th (13-8-2) 2008-2009: 9th (9-10-4) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: N/A |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 7th Finished in: 10th |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 5th |
| Regular Season History 2008-2009: 10th (10-11-2) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: 5th Finished in: 2nd |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 2nd Finished in: 6th |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 2nd |
| Regular Season History 2006-2007: 5th (11-9-3) 2007-2008: 2nd (14-7-2) 2008-2009: 6th (8-12-3) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: 9th Finished in: 11th |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 12th Finished in 11th |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 11th |
| Regular Season History 2003-2004: 7th 2005-2006: 7th (6-14-2) 2006-2007: 9th (6-13-4) 2007-2008: 11th (5-17-1) 2008-2009: 11th (7-15-1) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: 7th Finished in: 11th |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 10th Finished in 8th |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 6th |
| Regular Season History 2002-2003: 4th 2003-2004: 3rd 2005-2006: 3rd (15-7-0) 2006-2007: 6th (9-10-4) 2007-2008: 11th (5-15-3) 2008-2009: 8th (11-11-1) |
| 07-08 APRanking: 8th Finished in: 3rd |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 5th Finished in: 4th |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 7th |
| Regular Season History 2002-2003: 5th 2003-2004: 4th 2005-2006: 2nd (15-5-2) 2006-2007: 2nd (14-2-7) 2007-2008: 3rd (16-5-2) 2008-2009: 4th (11-9-3) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: 10th Finished in: 6th |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 9th Finished in: 2nd |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 8th |
| Regular Season History 2005-2006: 6th (11-10-1) 2006-2007: 7th (11-11-1) 2007-2008: 6th (9-7-7) 2008-2009: 2nd (13-7-3) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: 11th Finished in: 8th |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 8th Finished in: 5th |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 9th |
| Regular Season History 2002-2003: 1st 2003-2004: 6th 2005-2006: 9th (5-17-0) 2006-2007: 12th (5-17-1) 2007-2008: 8th (10-11-2) 2008-2009: 5th (12-9-2) |
| 07-08 AP Ranking: 12th Finished in: 12th |
| 08-09 AP Ranking: 6th Finished in: 12th |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 12th |
| Regular Season History 2006-2007: 10th (7-12-4) 2007-2008: 12th (0-20-3) 2008-2009: 12th (6-14-3) |
| questions? coments? let them be heard on the league message board ... |
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| Previous Seasons Associated Press Power Rankings: |
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| 07-08 AP Ranking: N/A |
| 09-10 Associated Press Ranking: |
| 10th |
| Regular Season History 2005-2006: 5th (11-10-1) 2006-2007: 11th (5-16-2) 2007-2008: N/A 2008-2009: 7th (9-11-3) |
| Last Year: 16-4-3 The Grrrowl were in last place after week 7 but rallied together an 18 game unbeaten streak to win their fourth Eastern Division Championship and captured their first Copenhagen Cup. |
| Last Year: 10-9-4 A slow start found the Iceholes in the leagues cellar at the all-star break. They climbed into 3rd place but were upset in the first round by the Gangbang. |
| Last Year: 9-10-4 The Twisters had their worst finish ever last year and missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. |
| Last Year: (10-11-2) Markerville didnt win a game until week 9, they put together a decent season winning 5 of their last 7 games; only to finish one point out of a playoff spot.. |
| Last Year: 8-12-3 Fort Mac battled injuries all season long and crawled into the sixth and final playoff spot. There cinderella run landed them in the finals only to be defeated by Scott City. |
| Last Year: 7-15-1 Olchowyville appeared to be in contention early on but the wheels fell off the wagon and the Leafs finished in 11th, only two points ahead of the last place Petes. |
| Last Year: 11-11-1 An up and down season for ended with the Falcons finishing one point behind the Fort Macfie Gangbang and missing the playoffs for the second straight year. |
| Last Year: 11-9-3 The Slammers made the playoffs for the sixth straight year but were defeated in the semi's by the Grrrowl due to a Brian Elliot shutout on the last night of the series. |
| Last Year: 13-7-3 The Assassins were in first place for the majority of the season and ended up finishing in second, they were swept by the cinderella Gangbang in the semi finals. |
| Last Year: 12-9-2 RumpyVill had a strong surge to start the season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. They were eliminated in the first round by the Slammers. |
| Last Year: 6-14-3 The Petes had another horrendous year but managed to actually win a game unlike 2007-2008. They finished in deadlast for the second straight year. |
| Last Year: (9-11-3) They surprised everyone after they were reinstated in the league and ended up tied with Fort Mac for 6th, but because of their fewer win total they missed the playoffs. |
| Fort Macfie Gangbang |
| Dionland Twisters |
| Scott City Grrrowl |
| Bergland Iceholes |
| Adamville Falcons |
| Fort Mac snagged some talent early on in the draft in spite of having the last pick in the first round of the draft. Marc Savard returns to FMac after he was selected twelfth overall in the first round. Martin St. Louis and Roberto Luongo went in rounds two and three to the Gangbang. By selecting quality players in the heart of the draft that had injury shortened campaigns last year such as Paul Kariya, Brad Richards, and Danny Briere - make the Gangbang treacherously dangerous offensively. The d-men are fundamentally solid and rank among the leagues average d-corps. Roberto Luongo and Marc-Andre Fleury the two francophone goaltenders will take the majority of the load in goal which should be a rock-solid unyielding duo. After the Cinderella run last year the Gangbang are going to have to focus on staying healthy so they won�t have to make that last minute push for a playoff spot. The Gangbang organization has not missed the playoffs in their three years of existence. Despite being the only married GM in the SHL, Craig Macfie�s Gangbang should finish in the top 2. |
| Brantown Slammers |
| Missing the post-season for the first time in franchise history was quite a disappointment for the Dionland Twisters. So what do they do? Let go of the legend Wayne Gretzky as the head coach and they hired the Adamville Falcons assistant coach Gordon Bombay as the new Head Coach. They also hired Charlie Conway and Adam Banks as Assistant Coaches. This was a nice start to a new attitude up in Ranchford. If you were to have a conversation with Twisters GM Dion Berg he would tell you this is the greatest team to ever grace an SHL arena. Although, all you have to do is look at the team on paper and wonder if this guy was actually smart enough to graduate high school and go to college in Moose Jaw, SK. First round selection Ilya Kovalchuk and second round selection Dany Heatley should be very productive for the Twists. The rest of the forwards in Dionland are considered to be very underrated by GM Berg but time will only tell on that. The defence is possibly the best in the league with former Grrrowl Zdeno Chara, along with Sheldon Souray and Tomas Kaberle; the blueline is top quality. The goaltending is questionable; Berg expects big things out of Ray Emery, Ryan Miller, and Pasclar Leclaire but there is a lot of debate that these tendies are actually �shit.� Dionland will probably squeak into the playoffs but have an early playoff exit. |
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| Sidney Crosby started his career as an Adamville Falcon and after being selected third overall in this years draft by GM Adam Wilkinson, Sid the Kid is back in town. He now has four years of SHL experience and the 22 year old has the ability to single handedly lead the flock into the post-season. Crosby will be accompanied up front by one time leading scorer and one time Captain of a Copenhagen Cup winning team (Gilmore Gold Jackets) Vinny Lecavalier. The next top three forwards in Adamville will establish if they are a playoff team � Olli Jokinen, Milan Michalek, and Brian Gionta. They are not big time scorers but have the ability to help fly the Falcons into the leagues top six. Defensively, Shea Weber, Brian Campbell, Dennis Wideman, and Bryan McCabe are rated above average. Henrik Lundqvist and Tim Thomas are probably the second best goaltending duo in the league and should be able to put some shut outs on the board for Adamville. The Falcons will end their two year playoff-less drought with a sixth place finish. Considered a feat of modern architecture and engineering the A&W Omniplex will be rocking for the first playoff game since they were eliminated in the �07 quarter finals by the Grrrowl. |
| Marktown Petes |
| Markerville Six Guns |
| RumpyVill Roughousers |
| Consistently this team always puts together a strong finish and never misses the playoffs. The absence of GM Brandon Allen at the 2009 draft in Nut Town definitely hurt the Slammers especially in the late rounds of the draft. They still cashed in big though, being the recipient in the draft lottery of the 2nd overall selection in the draft. They used it to acquire last seasons point leader Russian Evgeni Malkin. The Slammers have two more big time offensive weapons in Rick Nash and injury prone Marion Gaborik. Some of the late round selections at forward have some experts saying this is finally the year that Brantown hits the golf courses early. The defense is not remarkable but with all of the blue liners being in their 30�s, their years of production are behind them and this may lead to declining numbers this year on the scoreboard and attendance at the Brantown Communiplex. Tomas Vokoun, Pekka Rinne, and Martin Biron will be the goalies in Brantown this year. No one can really speculate the numbers they put it up but it will probably be fluky high knowing the luck of the Slammers. Brantown�s coaching as well as the dedication from GM Brandon Allen to constantly juggle the lineup on a week to week basis always helps the Slams get in the playoff picture. Nevertheless, the AP has declared that this will be the year they miss the post season for the first time. |
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| Gregville Assassins |
| The Nut Town Natives were the hosts of the 2009-2010 draft at the Infincty Center. The city erupted in cheers when the Natives were awarded the first selection of the draft a week prior to the draft. Using it like probably any other franchise in the SHL would do the Natives selected Russian sniper Alexander Ovechkin first overall. The Ovy jerseys are already being sold out around the city known for its electrical magnificence. Jonathon Toews and Shane Doan will be Ovechkins linemates. They will need to dish the puck to Ovechkin as much as possible .The blueline is as average and boring as they come with veterans Rob Blake and Jovocop along with Marek Zdlicky and Brent Seabrook rounding out the top four. In net Cam Ward will be asked to stop a lot of pucks. Backing him up will be Nutting�s childhood hero the Bulin Wall and third stringer Scott Clemmensen. When GM Travis Nutting is not buying new vehicles or new real estate purchases, he finds some time to evaluate his franchise. The teams Achilles heel last year was poor management and coaching. The Natives have a solid core this year but unless Nutting can dedicate himself to the team and edit the line up they will finish in the cellar. |
| SCOTT CITY, TC -- The Associated Press (AP) has released its fourth annual Saskatchewan Hockey League Power Rankings. Last year the AP predicted four of the six teams that ended up making the playoffs to finish in the top six spots. The AP predicted correctly the Iceholes, Grrrowl, Gangbang and Slammers. They predicted Marktown to finish in sixth spot, however they let the AP down by finishing in deadlast for the second straight year. They also predicted the Dionland Twisters to finish in 3rd but they were one of the four teams that finished within one point of a playoff spot. The Twisters finished the season in ninth. RumpyVill was ranked in 8th spot and ended up finishing in 5th spot. The Gregville Assassins really made the AP look bad as they were originally ranked to finish in 9th and ended up in second place. Every year following the SHL Draft, the AP analyzes each team from top to bottom and predicts where they will finish in the regular season. This years Power Rankings delivers the best in depth analysis the AP has ever released including past years finishes and records along with each teams draft results. |
| Nut Town Natives |
| Olchowyville Leafs |
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| Draft Results 1. (8) Martin Brodeur 2. (17) Pavel Datsyuk 3. (32) Mike Richards 4. (41) Jason Spezza 5. (56) Thomas Vanek 6. (65) Anze Kopitar 7. (80) Sergei Gonchar 8. (89) Brad Boyes 9. (104) Jonas Hiller 10. (113) Brent Burns 11. (128) Milan Hejduk 12. (137) Patrice Bergeron 13. (152) Joe Corvo 14. (161) Chris Mason 15. (176) Nikita Filatov 16. (185) Peter Mueller 17. (200) Lubomir Visnovsky 18. (209) Brian Rolston 19. (224) Mathieu Schneider 20. (233) Doug Weight 21. (248) Christopher Higgins 22. (257) Radim Vrbata 23. (272) Andrew Brunette |
| Draft Results 1. (12) Marc Savard 2. (13) Roberto Luongo 3. (36) Martin St. Louis 4. (37) Marc-Andre Fleury 5. (60) Daniel Alfredsson 6. (61) Marian Hossa 7. (84) Danny Briere 8. (85) Brian Rafalski 9. (108) Brenden Morrow 10. (109) Brad Richards 11. (132) Paul Kariya 12. (133) Patrick Sharp 13. (156) Michael Ryder 14. (157) Todd White 15. (180) J.P. Dumont 16. (181) Mark Recchi 17. (204) Rod Brind'Amour 18. (205) Mikael Samuelsson 19. (228) Filip Kuba 20. (229) Drew Doughty 21. (252) Wade Redden 22. (253) Corey Crawford 23. (276) Jimmy Howard |
| Draft Results 1. (7) Ilya Kovalchuk 2. (18) Dany Heatley 3. (31) Zdeno Chara 4. (42) Ray Emery 5. (55) Ryan Miller 6. (66) Sheldon Souray 7. (79) Alexander Frolov 8. (90) Mikko Koivu 9. (103) Paul Stastny 10. (114) Ales Hemsky 11. (127) Tomas Kaberle 12. (138) Jason Arnott 13. (151) Bryan Little 14. (162) Mattias Ohlund 15. (175) Chris Drury 16. (186) Pascal Leclaire 17. (199) Kyle Okposo 18. (210) Mikhail Grabovski 19. (223) Steve Sullivan 20. (234) Ryan Whitney 21. (247) Pierre-Marc Bouchard 22. (258) Wojtek Wolski 23. (271) Mike Modano |
| Draft Results 1. (9) Miikka Kiprusoff 2. (16) Evgeni Nabokov 3. (33) Eric Staal 4. (40) Michael Cammalleri 5. (57) Andrei Markov 6. (64) John Tavares 7. (81) Steven Stamkos 8. (88) Henrik Sedin 9. (105) Mike Ribeiro 10. (112) Niklas Kronwall 11. (129) Derick Brassard 12. (136) Jordan Staal 13. (153) Stephen Weiss 14. (160) Cody Hodgson 15. (177) Drew Stafford 16. (184) Rene Bourque 17. (201) Tim Connolly 18. (208) Jaroslav Spacek 19. (225) Jack Johnson 20. (232) Mike Comrie 21. (249) Anton Babchuk 22. (256) Mike Smith 23. (273) Jean-Sebastien Giguere |
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| Draft Results 1. (2) Evgeni Malkin 2. (23) Rick Nash 3. (26) Marian Gaborik 4. (47) Johan Franzen 5. (50) Devin Setoguchi 6. (71) Chris Pronger 7. (74) Tomas Vokoun 8. (95) Michael Frolik 9. (98) Pekka Rinne 10. (119) Mike Knuble 11. (122) Travis Zajac 12. (143) Tuomo Ruutu 13. (146) Patrick O'Sullivan 14. (167) Shawn Horcoff 15. (170) Daymond Langkow 16. (191) Pavel Kubina 17. (194) John-Michael Liles 18. (215) Joni Pitkanen 19. (218) Petr Sykora 20. (239) Vaclav Prospal 21. (242) David Legwand 22. (263) Martin Biron 23. (266) Keith Ballard |
| Draft Results 1. (6) Corey Perry 2. (19) Alexander Semin 3. (30) Patrick Kane 4. (43) Patrik Elias 5. (54) Martin Havlat 6. (67) Alex Kovalev 7. (78) Scott Niedermayer 8. (91) Jonathan Cheechoo 9. (102) Zach Bogosian 10. (115) Braydon Coburn 11. (126) Ryan Kesler 12. (139) Saku Koivu 13. (150) Scottie Upshall 14. (163) Jarret Stoll 15. (174) Todd Bertuzzi 16. (187) Kari Lehtonen 17. (198) Vesa Toskala 18. (211) Steve Montador 19. (222) Chuck Kobasew 20. (235) Colby Armstrong 21. (246) Craig Conroy 22. (259) Dwayne Roloson 23. (270) Tobias Enstrom |
| Draft Results 1. (10) Ryan Getzlaf 2. (15) Jarome Iginla 3. (34) Niklas Backstrom 4. (39) Simon Gagne 5. (58) Carey Price 6. (63) Bobby Ryan 7. (82) Jay Bouwmeester 8. (87) Mark Streit 9. (106) Duncan Keith 10. (111) Milan Lucic 11. (130) Ryane Clowe 12. (135) Dave Bolland 13. (154) Ryan Suter 14. (159) Ryan Malone 15. (178) T.J. Oshie 16. (183) Mike Fisher 17. (202) Sam Gagner 18. (207) Andrew Cogliano 19. (226) Antoine Vermette 20. (231) Curtis Glencross 21. (250) Andrew Ladd 22. (255) Dustin Byfuglien 23. (274) Tom Gilbert |
| Draft Results 1. (5) Joe Thornton 2. (20) Patrick Marleau 3. (29) Dan Boyle 4. (44) Joe Pavelski 5. (53) Nicklas Lidstrom 6. (68) Steve Mason 7. (77) David Krejci 8. (92) Ilya Bryzgalov 9. (101) Kris Versteeg 10. (116) Jason Pominville 11. (125) Scott Gomez 12. (140) Slava Kozlov 13. (149) Cam Barker 14. (164) Kevin Bieksa 15. (173) Marc-Edouard Vlasic 16. (188) Dustin Penner 17. (197) Andy McDonald 18. (212) R.J. Umberger 19. (221) Ales Kotalik 20. (236) Owen Nolan 21. (245) Theo Fleury 22. (260) Craig Rivet 23. (269) Sean Avery |
| Draft Results 1. (11) Jeff Carter 2. (14) Mike Green 3. (35) Nicklas Backstrom 4. (38) Daniel Sedin 5. (59) Jason Blake 6. (62) Cristobal Huet 7. (83) Derek Roy 8. (86) Ray Whitney 9. (107) Kristian Huselius 10. (110) Nikolai Zherdev 11. (131) Teemu Selanne 12. (134) Loui Eriksson 13. (155) Alexei Ponikarovsky 14. (158) Semyon Varlamov 15. (179) Keith Tkachuk 16. (182) Christian Ehrhoff 17. (203) Fedor Tyutin 18. (206) Kimmo Timonen 19. (227) Andrei Kostitsyn 20. (230) Martin Erat 21. (251) Craig Anderson 22. (254) Steve Ott 23. (275) Kyle Quincey |
| Draft Results 1. (3) Sidney Crosby 2. (22) Henrik Lundqvist 3. (27) Vincent Lecavalier 4. (46) Tim Thomas 5. (51) Shea Weber 6. (70) Olli Jokinen 7. (75) Brian Campbell 8. (94) Milan Michalek 9. (99) Dennis Wideman 10. (118) Brian Gionta 11. (123) Bryan McCabe 12. (142) Matt Duchene 13. (147) Brandon Dubinsky 14. (166) Sergei Samsonov 15. (171) Daniel Carcillo 16. (190) Valtteri Filppula 17. (195) Patrik Berglund 18. (214) Evander Kane 19. (219) Kris Letang 20. (238) Alex Goligoski 21. (243) Pavol Demitra 22. (262) Ty Conklin 23. (267) Matthew Lombardi |
| Draft Results 1. (1) Alexander Ovechkin 2. (24) Cam Ward 3. (25) Jonathan Toews 4. (48) Shane Doan 5. (49) Nikolai Khabibulin 6. (72) David Booth 7. (73) Scott Hartnell 8. (96) Jamie Langenbrunner 9. (97) Phil Kessel 10. (120) Chris Kunitz 11. (121) Alex Burrows 12. (144) Blake Wheeler 13. (145) Nik Antropov 14. (168) Brooks Laich 15. (169) Rob Blake 16. (192) Ed Jovanovski 17. (193) Marek Zidlicky 18. (216) Brent Seabrook 19. (217) Daniel Cleary 20. (240) David Moss 21. (241) Ethan Moreau 22. (264) Stephane Robidas 23. (265) Scott Clemmensen |
| Draft Results 1. (4) Zach Parise 2. (21) Henrik Zetterberg 3. (28) Dion Phaneuf 4. (45) Chris Osgood 5. (52) Marty Turco 6. (69) David Backes 7. (76) Bill Guerin 8. (93) Dustin Brown 9. (100) Ryan Smyth 10. (117) Joffrey Lupul 11. (124) Ryan Callahan 12. (141) Alex Tanguay 13. (148) Nathan Horton 14. (165) David Perron 15. (172) Erik Cole 16. (189) Alexander Edler 17. (196) Ron Hainsey 18. (213) Paul Martin 19. (220) David Clarkson 20. (237) Jon Quick 21. (244) Nick Foligno 22. (261) Tomas Plekanec 23. (268) Shane O'Brien |
| If you have finished in dead last for two straight years what would it take for us not to rank the Petes in 12th? Quite a bit; and unfortunately for the Petes they do not have a lot. Corey Perry was selected in the first round and will need to be sensational. Line mates Alexander Semin and Patrick Kane will also need immense production if the Petes want to finish anywhere near a playoff spot. With the exception of veteran Scott Nidermayer the blueline in Marktown is brutal. The Petes tendy�s resemble the quality of a Pasquia Hockey League line up. Vesa Toskala was the top wins getter out of the trio with only 22. It is fair to say the goalies are fucking terrible. Kari Lethonen and Mike Smith finished last season with 19 and 14 wins respectively. Despite acquiring the veteran leadership of Captain Pete himself, Ryan Smyth in a deal with Olchowyville for Ryan Kesler late in the week the Petes will not have the make up to be a playoff team this year. The new alternate logo and addition of former junior A player Scott Hosaluk as an assistant coach will not be enough to get out of the basement. They will finish dead last for the third straight year breaking their own record of worst franchise to ever be associated with the Saskatchewan Hockey League. |
| Zach Parise and Henrik Zetterberg should be a deadly 1-2 punch in the land of hay bales and ale. The rest of the forwards are rated below average. Nick Foligno and David Clarkson� to quote the great baseball classic Major League "Who are these fucking guys?" They seem like the type of players that were on the 0-20-3 Marktown Petes of 2007-2008. Defenseman Dion Phaneuf is expected to have a big year and GM Adam Olchowy would like to see that happen after drafting him in the third round. If Phaneuf can quarterback a good PP for the Leafs they may have an outside shot. Marty Turco and Chris Osgood are getting old but they still should have the ability to both get win totals in the mid 30�s. A couple breaks short handed and some lucky bounces this year and the Leafs may be able to fight for a playoff spot down the stretch. This isn�t very likely to occur. The Leafs have not made the playoffs in their five years of existence. Don�t bet on Olchowyville to shatter that streak this year; they have finished in 11th for the last two years and will do so again this year. |
| For the second straight year the Grrrowl selected two goalies in the first two rounds of the draft. Long time Grrrowl Mikka Kiprusoff was selected in the first round ninth overall and Evgeni Nabokov was drafted fifteenth overall in the second round. This combination should be able to secure a couple wins for the defending Copenhagen Cup Champions. The forwards are simply good and have the potential to be dangerous. Selecting John Tavares in the sixth round will be reflected on at the end of the year as the best play of the 09 draft or the worst play. Derrick Brassard also has the potential to get some big numbers after exploding out of the gate last year to have an injry end his season early on. The Staal Brothers, Michael Cammalerri, and Henrik Sedin will need to put up numbers on a regular basis if the Grrrowl want to match last years regular season success. The defence in Scott City is average. Andrei Markov returns to the Grrrowl and will be in charge of the blueline. This organization is known for its early to mid season pick-ups which led them to a league championship last season. They have already picked up youngster James Neal to compliment the already relative young talented line up. The Grrrowl are on a league record 18 game undefeated streak heading into week one action against the Assassins. Expect for this to continue and for Scott City to be atop the league again. |
| The �holes snatched up the first Goaltender in the 2009-2010 SHL Draft selecting veteran Martin Brodeur eighth overall. Marty will have to be stellar between the pipes for the �holes as he returns from an injury plagued season last year where he suffered a torn bicep tendon. Backing up Brodeur will be youngster Jonas Hillier and third stringer Chris Mason. The offence in Bergland looks rather potent. Pavel Datsyuk, Jason Spezza and Mike Richards will lead the team offensively up front. On the back-end GM Derek Berg selected a lot of underrated defensemen that he hopes can come up with some numbers this season in the likes of Brent Burns, Sergei Gonchar, Joe Corvo, and Lubomir Visnovsky. Bergland has proved in their two years of existence that they are one of the best managed franchises in the league. They should not be ruled out of a playoff spot because of their ability to pick up key free agents throughout the course of the year. Expect Derek Berg and the Iceholes to reach the post-season yet again. Rumors have been circulating around that at the wedding of Gangbang GM Craig Macfie; Derek Berg became extremely intoxicated, possibly overdosed on cocaine or meth and passed out in the back of a vehicle when Mark Peterson got in the vehicle and tried to steal it. Berg confirmed in an interview that he doesn�t recall this happening but can assure he was not involved in any drugs. Mark Peterson also has no recollection of this happening. The only witnesses to this event were Dionland residents Eldon and Debbie Danielson. |
| Several outbursts from the Six Guns management staff during the draft were really uncalled for and made managers around the league believe there is a sense of urgency in Markerville. If the Six Guns deliver another shitty start like last year they may be the next Harperbeach Harpoons and be without a franchise in the SHL. GM Mark Macfie was even close to being suspended with some of his angry rants at the draft but the league let it go this time. Away from the staff and looking at the squad they are fairly decent. Ryan Getzlaf and Jarome Iginla should be a pretty dangerous pair to defend against this year. The first two lines can compete with the rest of the league but it�s the bottom half of the forwards that make or break a team and the Six Guns might not have what it takes to compete. Jay Bouwmeester, Mark Streit, and Duncan Keith should be able to contribute at the point. Bouwmeester and Streit will be great PP quarterbacks and get the �Guns much needed PP points. Between the pipes Nicklas Backstrom and Carey Price will be able to steal a game or two. Markerville is good enough to make the playoffs so the AP has slotted them in. It�s up to their GM to ensure they have a healthy starting line up all year and they should finish in 5th no problem. |
| GM Trent Rumpel�s boner for Joe Thornton continues as the �housers franchise player Captain Joe Thornton is reunited with Rumpel after being selected in the first round fifth overall. Thornton was only a non-member of the Roughousers in one season since the SHL�s inauguration. The �housers reached the post-season last year for the first time since 2004 and were able to build back up the fan base on the south coast. They have a tough schedule to open the season with the exception of visiting Marktown in week one. This could make for a rough start but they should be able to bounce back. Supporting Thornton up front will be Patty Marleau, and Joe Pavelski (in other words, not much.) Dan Boyle and Nick Lidstrom should be a pretty sick pair on the blueline for the red and black. Last years Rookie of the Year and Co-Goalie of the Year winner Steve Mason will be the starter in RumpyVill after being selected in the sixth round. They should be an interesting team to watch. If Kris Versteeg avoids the sophomore slump and Dustin Penner can finally produce like he is paid to do, the �housers may be playoff contenders. Because of their shitty forward lineup they are ranked to miss the post-season. |
| The Assassins had a marvelous season last year; in fact it was the best in their four year franchise history. Going into 2009-2010, they have Jeff Carter returning after he was selected eleventh overall in the first round. Gregville also had a huge pick up in the start of round 2 - Mike Green. Green was the first defensemen to go in this year�s draft. As a member of the Six Guns last year Green had unreal numbers and will try to do the same for the Assassins this seasons. Timonen, Tyutin, and Ehrhoff should be able to assist Green on the blue line to an extent. Jeff Carter doesn�t have a lot to work with in the likes of the Assassins forwards. Nicklas Backstrom and Daniel Sedin will need to produce career high numbers if the Manson Family Center wants to host another playoff game this year. The goaltending in Gregville could be classified as the leagues worst. Cristobal Huet, Semyon Varlamov, and Craig Anderson are the triad that will be assigned to stopping pucks for Gregville this year. Cristobal Huet had the most wins out of the three tendies last year with 20. Gregville will be close but won�t be able to deliver down the stretch. Their goaltending is a problem and will be the reason they miss the playoffs. |
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| 2009-2010 AP Power Rankings Released |