PR - Wheat Kings

We Three Kings
Gonchar, Samsanov and O'Marra Join Wheaties

As the season passes out of its first quarter and with the Wheat Kings mired among the mediocre of the West, Coach-GM Tyler Young decided to offer Wheat-watchers a bit of an early Christmas gift.

Dispatching Alexei Shkotov, Jakubs Redlihs and Chuck Kobasew to the Brantford Bobcats, the Kings have added Sergei Gonchar, Sergei Samsonov and Ryan O'Marra.

"This is a heckuva trade to pull-off in the middle of the season," Mr. Young commented to the media tonight, "I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to add these guys. Gonchar is one of the few premier defencemen in the league, a former Norris winner, Samsonov has been a consistent point producer for years and has great experience, and O'Marra shows great promise as an playmaking center."

"Sure we gave up a lot, especially in youth, but we have quite a young team and we felt we could afford it. Now my hope is that this deal will shake us out of the malaise we've been in so far and put us into a safe (if there is such a thing in the West) playoff position."

Cynics might suggest that Mr. Young was forced into such a move by dealing away his first rounder this year and is just digging the hole deeper, giving up more youth, but he defended himself against the charge:

"The core remains in place, we're still quite young, in fact I think we were too young. A deal like this adds more depth to our organization in respect to experience and leadership, it gives us valuable intangibles."

PR - Ignite

Indy Looks to Ignite Offense

The typical Ignite season usually looks somthing like this: Teams scores loads of goals. Team allows loads of goals. Team loses early in playoffs due to
lack of defense. In the offseason, Indianapolis GM Adam Harrison looked for remedies to this issue, and managed to find a combination of defensemen
to this point, have kept the goals against low. Amongst the top few teams in the league defensively this year, it is the offensive this year that seems
to be the real let down. "I'm not sure if its the line combinations, the talent on the team or what", team captain Jerome Iginla said. "I think we really
have a good combination of forwards who can score but it just hasn't been happening for us."

Not content being mired in mediocraty, GM Harrison started his search for some offensive firepower. In a deal with the Misconduct (NOW WAAAAYYY!!!),
the Ignite shipped off free agent let down, Brooks Orpik and his 8 million dollar contract, along with long time Ignite winger Patrick Marleau and a 2nd rd
pick to the Misconduct for two offensive talents in Sami Kapanen and Blair Betts as well as young prospect Vladamir Ulianov and a few late round picks.
"We decided that the contract we signed Orpik to in the offseason was too much for what he was giving us, and thought he would be the perfect trade
bait to acquire some goal scoring", stated Harrison. While Kapanen has been a perenial talent for much of his career, Betts has played the journeyman
role recently, hoping now that he has found a home in Indy. "I think we have the type of talent to contend on any night now", said Betts, "as long as we
find some chemistry early and get this ship sailing."

The Ignite organization knows that there may be some initial growing pains early, but are optimistic that they will improve and return to one of the
better teams in the East once again.

Indianapolis Chronicle

PR - Saints

The New Saskatoon Saints: A Member of the TFHL Elite

It’s now TFHL 19: the Saskatoon Saints and GM Geoffrey Young are an established part of a long TFHL history. The league was founded in 1993 and has weathered fourteen years – give or take a few months here and there – in which hundreds of GM’s have come and gone; and a dozen Commissioners have led the league through varying trials and triumphs. In a recent interview with this Saskatoon StarPhoenix reporter, GM Geoffrey Young nostalgically mused on his six years and eleven seasons in the TFHL. The Saints this season have started their best season in franchise history and are, without question, one of the elite teams in the TFHL. Their top line of Higgins, Paille and Kovalchuk, along with Ballard on defense, is the number one offensive line this season. Management has expressed its expectation and intention to win the Eastern Conference Title this season, and realizes how important conference games will be. At home in Saskatoon, the Saints have gone 8-0-0.

Geoffrey Young: “I got involved with the TFHL after my brother became GM of a struggling team that he would go on to rename the Saskatchewan Wheat Kings. After a couple months of watching and learning from his rookie mistakes – David Easton rip-off deals and other ‘fantasy hockey league’ conventions of humiliation – I decided to apply to join the league. So in TFHL 8 I took over the Mirkava Mutants and moved them to Saskatoon, renaming them the Saints. Of course, in an apprenticeship befitting of an older brother, Tyler introduced me to the essentials of league rules and politics in the traditional TFHL manner: over the course of the next few seasons, I was the most active GM in the league. I remember one trade my brother and I made which involved four teams and over 20 players as well as twice as many picks: We were cowboys! And our season performance reflected that.

When the league switched simulators, everything I had built was erased; but it was an opportunity to start from square one. This meant trading and drafting: two things I enjoy most.

Now after a few seasons, I have built a foundation on a few core players. The Spezza for Higgins trade might have been the cornerstone to the current franchise edifice. Around Higgins, I have compiled about 8 players, all currently around the mid-twenties age range, and I have been patient with them in their developing years. Now I believe it’s the make or break point for our team. Last season was our first semblance of playoff success, losing in the second round to the Aces in a hard-fought seven game series. But we are no beyond our ‘rebuilding years:’ now I expect results. I hope the fans in Saskatoon are excited about what they’ve already seen at home and they can expect their team to do anything to bring home our first franchise Championship.”

The Saskatoon Saints defeated their arch-rivals, the Calgary Hurricanes, today 6-3. The league has changed; the TFHL elite are admitting new members.