Saturday, February 23, 2008

PR - Hurricanes

WITHIN HOURS - HURRICANES MOVE GETZLAF TO CONFERENCE RIVAL

Hurricanes - The Hurricanes are 6 points back of the Ignite for the
final playoff spot. To muddy waters a bit more the Hurricanes have
moved Ryan Getzlaf within hours of announcing his availability to the
Marauders who are only 4 points ahead of the 'Canes.

"First, thanks to all the teams for the inquiries. We managed to pick
up a heck of a hockey player today in Alexander Sulzer.' said GM
Major. The Hurricanes have transformed their blue line into something
that they hope will develop into a real shut down group next season.
The top three are now Bryan Mccabe, David Turon and Alex Sulzer.
"This is a pretty exciting deal as we add more depth to our blue line
and we also manage to keep a respectful scoring unit up front. There
is still some work to do."

The Hurricanes are planning for next season. The top 6 forwards
include Alex Sundstrom, Alex Svitov, Jason King, Boyd Gordon, Simon
Gagne and rookie Viktor Stahlberg. The farm team still has many
hopefuls for next season looking for a starting spot which includes
Brandon Sutter, Kim Johansson, and Martin Karsums. On the backend the
'Canes already have the Big 3, but also have up and coming prospects
Badass Jack and Ryan Parent who both started full time duty and are
expected to crack the Top 4 next season.

The only question mark for the Hurricanes is in goal. Boucher is
getting older and has been very inconsistent this season. Rookies
Cory Schneider and Jeremy Smith both have some time to go before they
are ready to become the next go to guy for the Hurricanes.

Don't expect the 'Canes to move either of these two goaltenders as
they have been burned once before. Tobias Stephan is a former draft
pick of the Hurricanes and is now the top goaltender for the Donkey
Punchers. Wouldn't he have looked good back in goal for the 'Canes?

With the trade deadline fast approaching there could still be some
more moves. The Hurricanes still have 7 draft picks for the upcoming
draft. Who knows what could still happen.....


Calgary Sun 2008

Thursday, February 21, 2008

PR - Fog Devils

*opening plays for TSN's Trade Center 08*

(a clip from a press conference of GM Jon Osborne announcing that the team
had acquired Brock Radunske)

GM Osborne: Today our organization has traded Michael Tessier to the Pain
for forward Brock Radunske and a 1st and 3rd round draft picks. We feel this
is an excellent trade for the Fog Devils. Tessier was coming to the end of
his contract and we had zero intentions of re-signing him. While Tessier is
a skilled froward, we did not believe his recent points production and his
average of 50 games per season could allow us to keep him at the salary he
would request. Rather than losing him as a RFA and getting some draft picks
for him, we traded for Brock Radunske. Radunske is a great power forward
that loves to check and has the ability to produce points wise. As well the
first and third round picks we acquired will help build our club in the long
run as well.

(Clip ends and we cut to Pierre McGuire)

Pierre McGuire: This is how trades are supposed to work!!! Both teams
benefitting from the deal. Both teams had star players they were not happy
with and were not playing. The Pain not happy with his play were playing
Radunske on their third line, while the Fog Devils frustrated with Tessier’s
constant injury problems and poor pont production for someone of his caliber
decided it as time to move him.

Radunske is tough, I like this player, he is in the top ten for hits and he
loves physical play, but does it smart with very few penalties. He can put
up the same kind of points as Tessier has in recent seasons and will
solidify the Fog Devils penalty kill. The draft picks are icing on the cake
as any time a team sits with two first round picks, they increase their
chance of drafting that star player of the future.

With Tessier the Pain get a player who has the ability to be one of the top
players in the league. As always the issue with him is keeping him healthy.
To my knowledge Tessier has never played a full season, as GM Osborne was
quoted as saying “ this guy could get in the shower in the morning and
injures himself for three months. If Tessier can shake this injury bug that
seems to follow him around, then the Pain could make a very serious run at
the championship this season.

Many see this trade as the beginning of the flood gates for trades before
the deadline, this could very well be the case as at the end of his press
conference GM Osborne suggested more moves could be on their way “ I’m not
done, I got some forwards I can move to acquire some good young players for
this team” His closed the press conference with a sly smile and this
statement, “my phone is always on”.

For TSN I’m Pierre McGuire

(End)

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

PR - Pain

Tessier Arrives in Detroit , Michigan :

Pain Much Improved

With the trade deadline looming, The Michigan Pain traded away underachieving Radunske for disgruntled play-maker Michael Tessier. With Tessier being benched for the last few weeks, the Fog Devils made it obvious that Tessier was on the move. The Fog Devils also received a 1st and a 3rd round draft pick.

Today, Tessier was all smiles during the morning skate as the Pain host the Ignite later tonight. “I am extremely happy to be given a fresh start for an extremely talented team. I look forward to helping the Pain win a championship.” Tessier said after the skate.

The Pain have finely shown their true colours after a dismal start. The Pain had a case of the TFHL Cup blues as they came up short in last years finals. They now sit in 4th with an opportunity to take the Conference. With Tessier being added and a new set of confidence for an already powerful squad, the rest of the TFHL should take notice.

Breaking News:
Star Forward Cam Janssen will be out for 3 weeks due to a cheap by Ignite player Ben Ulmer.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

PR - Hurricanes

HURRICANES IN DANGER OF MISSING PLAYOFFS
Calgary Sun

The once Mighty 'Canes of Calgary have been sitting in the bottom of
the TFHL basement for several weeks now. The team has undergone a
radical change that has seen players signed as UFA's, traded to other
teams, acquired from other teams and bumped around to the farm and
back. "Well, we are certainly planning for the future. We are
focusing on moving a lot of our younger guys to the farm team to help
us out in Prince George with the Baracudas. It only makes sense to
give these guys a better environment to be successful and more ice
time." said GM Major.

The Hurricanes have made a lot of changes in the last couple of
months. Acquiring sniper Simon Gagne, adding power forward Boyd
Gordon and top-two defenseman David Turon are all part of the plan for
the upcoming season. "We've made changes and aligned the stars for
next season. But don't count us out yet. We just shut out the Sioux
4 - 0 and beat the Donkey Punchers 3 - 1. Both are playoff teams at
this point. We feel we can compete, its just a matter of getting back
in the race." said Major.

The Eastern Conference is a highly competitive environment with the
Hurricanes only 6 points back of the Marauders for the 8th and final
playoff spot. The team hopes to get Alex Sundstrom back soon as he is
listed day to day. Badass Jack is gone to what could be the playoffs
or golfing season at this point.

"We struggled a lot this year. This is a big transition year
everybody has to go through once and awhile. Our guys got older and
we didn't grow our farm system as well as we should. I'm happy with
the way we are now and I am hoping we can string together a few wins
here to get us back in the hunt." said the GM.

The Hurricanes have recently signed UFA's Brian Pothier, Ville
Nieminen, and Wayne Primeau (who was injured his first game, must of
been a bit rusty). Most of the young prospects the Hurricanes have
were moved to the farm team to help out including Ty Wishart, Brandon
Sutter, Kenneth McArdle and Jeremy Smith. It's expected once the team
has a few players back that Martin Karsums will head back to the farm
to polish his game for next season.


Calgary Sun 2008