PR - Eastern All-Star Team Announced

Hi all,

Below is the list of players that will make up the Eastern All-Star team. It was a tough selection process, but I tried to be as fair as possible. The top eight teams all have 2 players selected (with the exception of the Aces which have 3), and the bottom 4 teams have 1 player represented (with the exception of the Rednex who had 2 players voted in). I didn't really set out to make things that even, it just sort of worked out that way. Anyway, without further ado, your Eastern All-Stars:

PO HD CD IJ IT SP ST EN DU DI SK PA PC DF SC EX LD OV
Peter Forsberg C L OK 77 80 70 87 73 65 74 97 87 75 78 74 86 85 (Patriots)
Mike Modano C L OK 53 83 73 87 94 76 84 77 78 65 79 88 86 81 (Owls)
Jason Allison C R OK 73 68 85 87 88 66 68 91 80 70 70 74 72 81 (Clubbers)
Joe Thornton C L OK 83 83 89 82 91 48 75 99 84 74 80 48 55 87 (Owls)
Joe Sakic C L OK 76 80 58 87 99 80 84 83 80 75 68 92 92 81 (Saints)
Todd Bertuzzi LW L OK 81 74 85 80 87 59 74 87 82 71 88 61 83 86 (Rednex)
Paul Kariya LW L OK 69 86 56 88 99 79 88 73 84 65 79 80 85 81 (Colt 45)
Pavol Demitra LW L OK 59 81 69 76 99 78 86 77 79 69 83 72 56 81 (Aces)
Alexei Kovalev RW L OK 68 84 73 95 79 76 83 85 78 65 84 61 55 83 (Rednex)
Jaromir Jagr RW L OK 50 71 83 84 82 78 89 86 84 62 80 85 86 83 (Bobcats)
Jarome Iginla RW R OK 76 75 74 89 99 70 74 78 86 71 93 66 63 85 (Clubbers)
Chuck Kobasew RW R OK 55 73 74 74 92 54 70 80 76 67 79 43 60 77 (Saints)
Miko Kalteva D L OK 89 88 43 76 88 84 88 95 32 53 88 30 27 78 (Spirit)
Brad Ference D R OK 89 79 81 76 98 32 63 73 63 77 53 42 53 78 (Marauders)
Bryan Mccabe D L OK 90 69 79 84 99 55 68 73 75 74 79 67 87 81 (Hurricanes)
Ossi Vaananen D L OK 82 84 83 83 94 73 73 68 64 77 71 35 33 80 (Marauders)
Andy Delmore D R OK 77 70 72 72 90 90 77 73 83 85 81 58 55 82 (Bobcats)
Brett Skinner D R OK 85 55 44 78 84 65 85 70 92 74 82 38 35 79 (Patriots)
Barry Brust G L OK 92 89 82 78 86 69 78 99 81 NA NA 54 63 81 (Aces)
Roman Cechmanek G L OK 80 88 86 83 69 82 86 69 82 NA NA 55 48 79 (Misconducts)

Also, if Geoffrey will allow it, a few more guys to sit in the stands in case there's an injury:

Not Dressed:
Jason Ryznar LW L OK 81 73 53 78 89 87 84 70 56 66 88 33 25 76 (Patriots)

Eric Brewer D L OK 84 72 87 84 98 81 72 69 69 74 66 43 39 80 (Owls)
Chris Osgood G L OK 69 82 74 92 90 82 84 69 83 25 25 67 65 76 (Mauraders)

Bring on those training camp points! :D

- Dave

Hurricanes - PR

HURRICANES DIGGING THEIR WAY OUT OF THE BASEMENT

The Calgary Hurricanes, and much of the pre-season favourites in the Eastern Conference, have all been spinning around in the bottom of the standings in the league. The Hurricanes currently are sitting with 33 points, and only 2 points out of a playoff position, are starting to come around. "This is the first time this season that we've actually won 3 games in a row, it's a good feeling." Said Captain Chris Pronger.

The Hurricanes made many significant moves to improve their roster. The biggest was the youngster Pascal LeClaire, a flop with many other teams, couldn't handle the pressure of playing for one of the leagues powerhouses. The Hurricanes, once renowned for their defensive game as well as their offensive game have been simply relegated to offense only. The tandem of Chris
Pronger and Bryan Mccabe wasn't enough. GM Derek Major, after a fury outburst a weeks ago, acquired several key players.

Defensively, Calgary moved Bill Guerin to the Wheat Kings in exchange for Martin Cibak. Cibak has been a force on a line with super sniper Jason King and the playmaking Brendan Morrison. Cibak has amassed 12-points in 14 games for the 'Canes.

Following this move, Calgary traded goaltender Pascal LeClaire to the Flames in exchange for veteran Brian Boucher and forward Shane Endicott, who was previously traded earlier this season out of Calgary. Brian Boucher has become a staple-mark on the Hurricanes roster boasting an 18-9-2 record, which has proved to be much valuable as a Hurricane. "This team has a lot of great players. They have veterans like Naslund, Pronger and McCabe. This team is deep and I think we are seeing stability now." Said the new starting goaltender Brian Boucher.

The Hurricanes then flipped Shane Endicott to division rival the Bobcats in exchange for defenseman Brian Campbell. "We need a guy that was young. Our top two guys are 2 years away from unrestricted free agency, we need to have someone in here that can grow with the organization. Campbell is the guy, and at 26 years of age, we'll have him for quite
some time." Said GM Major.

Finally, during all of this fury of activity, Coach Marc Crawford was let go. After a TFHL Championship, and 3 and a half seasons as the Hurricanes coach, he was replaced by Craig MacTavish. MacT has had an immediate impact on the club as the team begins to climb the standings again.

"We have a lot of work to do. But I'll tell you this much, we'll be in the playoffs. We'll be back." MacTavish was quoted as saying.


Calgary Sun 2005

Saints - PR

Saints Shuffle Pays off against hoity toity Flames

June 9, 2005

After a week long trading frenzy which is too complex to explain, GM Young finally announced today his intentions over the next (oh lets say 20 games). "This morning I assigned many of our underperforming 20 year old players to the Praetorian, in hopes to add to that already dominant farm franchise..." Joining the Praetorian are Andrei Kostitsyn, Denis Grebeshkov, David Turon and rejoining the farm team after a brief and successful Pro tryout (injury replacements) are future stars Devin Setogouchi and Frederik Sjostrom. Call ups include Mike Motteau, Bruno St. Jacques and GM Young also announced that Alexei Tezikov will now be called on to play roughly 20 min a game as the Saints #5 d-man - a unique honour, Tezikov is the only player from the original Saints Roster of the new TFHL (the one we joined with). "I hope that on the farm, some of these talented, yet young players, can develope their skills a bit more. Kostitsyn has showed promise on our pro roster by scoring a point a game since arriving here from the Wheat Kings but I don't feel that he can yet log the ice time needed of him."

Tucker rejoined the Saints roster for today's game - Tucker was the first player GM Young ever traded upon joining the new TFHL (to the Hurricanes for Radek Bonk). "Tucker has always played very well for us as a top end checker who can still rack up some points. The fans were very happy to see Tucker return for a run for the cup!" It is rumoured that Tucker will likely be dealt after this season as he is a RFA and starting next year there will be a surplus of younger talent available to the franchise.

On the goaltending front - after the shocking trade that saw league leading young goalie Ilja Bryzgalov leaving the Saints to join cross town Sasktoon rival Wheaties, the Saints goaltending situation looks better than ever. "I'm excited from what I'm seeing from Rask, our 18 year old starter on the farm...not to mention superb play by back-up Oliver Michaud!" And on the Pro, Martin Brodeur starts off with an impressive win over the "best of the west" Flames. The 3-1 win today over the flames came with the absence of #1 centre Sakic and Spezza line-mate McConnell...but to be fair to the Flames, Williams wasn't at 100% condition.

"We plan on winning the farm championship this year, and repeat the extraordinary season of TFFHL 11. We have the goaltending, we have the offence and now we have the defence which is comparable to many Pro lineups!" - Laurie Boschman, Ottawa Praetorian Head Coach.

Hurricanes - PR

HURRICANES ARE DISMANTLING: GUERIN GONE, CRAWFORD FIRED

As GM Derek Major walked the halls, he yelled back at everyone listening....

"Chris Pronger, Markus Naslund and Pascal LeClaire are all available, there is nobody untouchable right now!"

This message is on the heel of the firing of Coach Marc Crawford. Replacing Crawford will be Craig MacTavish.

The Calgary Hurricanes are in last place for the first time in nearly 12 seasons. The first casualty was Hurricane TFHL Champion Bill Guerin, who's pricey 5.1 million dollar contract was dealt to the Wheat Kings in exchange for Martin Cibak. Now the axe has fallen on the former TFHL Champion Marc Crawford.

"We got young too fast. I think that is the main casualty for this club right now. Unfortunately when things happen like this, there needs to be a big shake up. This is just the beginning." Said GM Derek Major.

According to the new coach it appears he is looking to find experienced forwards as well as younger defensive minded defenseman. "I think this situation will be tough. This team has a lot of great history behind it and we'll just need to battle back and climb into the post-season race. Nothing is ever out of the question, nor is this situation." Said newly appointed coach Craig
MacTavish.

There you have it folks, the flood gates are open with some of the best players from the last few seasons. Send those offers in. Just because I am shaking up doesn't mean I'll take sub-par offers, I'd expect equal value.

Cheers

Derek

Wheat Kings - PR

Shock Swap in Sas'toon

The Saskatchewan Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Saints completed one of the largest deals in TFHL history Thursday with both teams seeing their current rosters and prospects, both immediate and long term, significantly altered.

Heading from Kingship to Sainthood are the one-time Wheatie go-to guy Keith Tkachuk, disappointing young guns Jakub Hulva, Andrei Kostitsyn, Rosario Ruggeri, back-up Manny Legace, prospect Tuuka Rask, and picks in the year 17 draft. Joining the royal family are youngsters Lance Monych, Konstantin Glazachev, veteran Martin Cibak, prospects James Howard and Drew Stafford, the Saints top two picks in year 18, and the key to the deal, Ilja Bryzgalov. A couple days later the Kings shipped Martin Cibak to the Hurricanes for Bill Guerin.

"This deal was no doubt shocking, likely even more-so the our preseason Luongo deal," GM Tyler Young commented to the media. "But I've been trying to work on deals for the last while that would accomplish what this deal did in the end. As I said after the Luongo trade our current success is very much ahead of our plans and that despite our standing, and our desire to continue it, we would not waver from the rebuilding plan on which we set out at the beginning of last season. So with that plan in mind, the primary concern was our longterm goaltending situation: there are so few quality goaltenders twenty-five and under in this league that having one basically guarantees a team's future success in three or so years, the very point at which our team should be peaking. Moreover, I was worried about our financial situation and our ability to maintain our core - these two deals allows us that promise of stability. Dmitri Kazionov, Steve Bernier, Josh Hennesy, Dan Sprang, Matt
Jones, and now Ilja Bryzgalov will be our team for the next decade; this deal not only allows us to add one more player to that core group in a critical position without giving up any core players, but also allows us the financial leeway to keep that group together for a long, long time."

While the arrival of Bryzgalov and Monych help solidify the Kings' defensive ability, the loss of a proven scorer like Tkachuk and gifted, although not overly reliable nor productive, snipers Hulva and Kostitsyn could seriously comprimise the Wheaties offensive prowess.

"Yes, we will suffer some loss of goals for," Mr. Young stated in response to this concern. "But I do believe the reacquisition of Bill Guerin will fill the hole made by the departure of Tkachuk, plus I do think that Glazachev and Monych were somewhat underperforming on the Saints, so we will get some goals from them. Plus we have players like Daymond Langkow, Eric Fehr, and Josh Henessy, who given more opportunities, should respond well. So in the end our hope is that in the immediate future the loss of goals will not be devastating, and will be moreover counter-acted by improved defensive proficiency. In the long term our hope, given the youthful nature of our roster, is that the offence will continue to grow into its own as it matures and will continue to give us the high level of play, of which we have now grown accustomed."

Pain - PR

The Michigan Pain have a case of the championship blues. Most teams are
probably muttering "cry me a river," but in fact the Pain as a team and a
managerial unit are going through the motions. As of late the players have
come together to replace the beginning of the season with a nice stretch of
wins. Stomping notables like the Aces (P.S. don't mess around, or Paille
will put you out 5 games again) , Patriots, and giving a school lesson to
the smart ass Flames who spoiled Banner night in Michigan at the home
opener. The point here is that the Pain are waiting for the playoffs as
there mentality suggests that the regular season is long and meaningless. GM
Elliot has even got a case of the "Mondays." "Lately it has not been
business as usual. I have paid minimal attention to the league, and have not
examined other GM offers to the extent that they deserve. I think it is only
natural after two remarkable seasons to go on a mental vacation." It should
be noted that the Pain have won in the last two seasons but have never
finished on top of the conference. It begs the question how much does the
regular season impact the road to the cup.

Offseason Impact

The Michigan Pain lost corner stone defencemen Roman Hamrlik to free agnecy.
"Unfortunatley we could not retain Roman's services due to the fact the
Clubbers offered a exceptional price that did not meet our budget. He will
be missed." That was said a few months ago by GM Elliot but the defence is
one of the tops in the league without their heart and soul.
Also in the Free agnecy process GM Goodlet of the Spirit munched on a few
sour grapes. After the loss to the Pain in the finals that was billed an
ugly series from the standpoint of the players on the SPirit, GM Goodlet
bids aggresively on Pain players. "I have a good memory for these types of
things, I will have my day and raise his salaries" GM Elliot responded.
It seems the trading of young star Ryznar for Tallackson was a risky move
that paid off. He is second on the team in scoring in his rookie year.
Another surprise is the emergene of Yonkman on defence. HE has become a
solid d-man in his own right.

This season is already shaping up to be another dog fight in the West. The
Wheaties are right however, the President trophy winners are at the top of
the class but have to wait the whole year to take the exam. This goes for
every team; many teams will not even look the same come the trade deadline
(aka Misconduct/Flames/Wheat King). So the Pain will just have to wait; wait
for the time of the year that turns a sleepy city into a frenzy. A time of
the year that excites even a back-to-back champion. The TFHL Cup Playoffs.

Michigan Press