Spirit - PR

Spirit “unaware” playoffs began, says GM.

The Spirit fell behind early in their series against the Chepstow Aces in yesterday’s game, held in Guelph, as they were shellacked 9-1. A summary of the game is basically useless, as everyone on the Aces did very, very well, and everyone on the Spirit stunk.

“Here’s what happened,” explained GM Goodlet. “This Dave Walter waltzes into the league and inherits a team full of awesome players that had been underperforming due to poor management. Making moves that even a stupid chimpazee could figure out, his team suddenly “gets better”. Then, suspiciously, a free 24 of beer arrives on my doorstep Saturday morning. The next thing I remember, it’s time to go to work on Monday, and I find out the playoffs started yesterday!”

Rumours continue to swirl that Goodlet, in a drunken stupor, ordered the local Timbits hockey team to take the ice against the Aces, because “he thought it would be funny.” Goodlet maintains that Walter somehow broke into his house, stole some of his DNA, cloned him, and forced that clone to issue the Timbits order. Police have so far refused comment.

“We’ll be ready to go today” avowed Goodlet. “I mean, we managed to hold them to 9 goals and even scored one yesterday, and we iced a team of six-year olds.”

The Spirit, lacking top centre Radek Bonk, will look to even the series today.

TFHL14: Play-Off Preview - By Tyler Young

Eastern Conference

Rednex vs Colt 45
Ah, of all the series, this one best exemplifies the class, the sophistication, the all-around haute couture of l'esprit de hockey. The Rednex, the Colt 45'S - to say it is like speaking a Botacelli painting, or another tour de force from Kid Rock. Yes, for all ya Hillbillies, Hicks, and Rubes out there, we give you the one and only Pick-Up Truck Classic. The Rednex have ascended to the top of the East through some good moves by GM Ambrose Garvey and deservedly took the conference this year. They don't have a lot of depth, but who needs depth when you have the top four they do, led by Rocket Richard winner Alexei Kovalev. The Colt 45's similarly made it into the playoff by virtue of some savy moves; GM Justin Mastrangelo pulled-off a significant coup and playoff-making deal by getting Marty Turco and Patrice Bergeron from the Saints for Pascal Leclaire. However, in this battle of Middle America, those of the red neck should take it. Rednex in four.

Owls vs Clubbers
The Owls have a couple big hooters, that's for sure. Mike Modano and Joe Thornton are the biggest one-two combo in the league, the problem is that the Owls don't have much depth. But the Clubbers have a nice pair of knockers as well with Jarome Iginla and Pavol Demitra. This may turn into an interesting series, but it will likely end up being rather shallow. The Owls in five.

Hurricanes vs Saints
I'll bet Saint's GM and league commish Geoff Young is running around in circles and shouting: "Yeaaah!" The Saints are no doubt revelling at the chance to know-off their longtime nemesis; this is the TFHL's longest running and most heated rivalry - although it has sorted of been put on simmer for the last while, this may just be the thing needed to make it boil again. The Saints are lead by Jason Spezza, while former Cup champs the Hurricanes still have one of the most formidable rosters in the league. This series will come down to grit. Here's a question for GM Young: do you pull up you hot-shot young goalie, Pascal Leclaire, and give him another shot? His talent will likely be required, yet his five hole is a big liability. Canes in six.

Spirit VS Aces
This should be the most watched series in the East. The Aces and the Spirit have oodles of awesome, bronzed young talent, plus two of the oldest, moldiest veteran GMs in the league. The Spirit are compelled by Vlad "Who?" Orszagh, Zach "the Dakota Kid" Parise, Krys "If I had a middle name with a K it would be really embarrasing" Kolanos, and Marian "it's Ha-SAH" Hossa. In the red corner, the Aces have so much talent, one must wonder why they aren't sitting at the top of league: Ilya Kovalchuk, Ziggy Palffy, Paul Kariya, Vaclav Nedorost; and then the kids, my goodness!, the kids: Dominic D'Amour, Andy Berenzweig, Alex Kostitsyn, and Tim Brent. I hate to break the Spirit's, well, spirit, but it's all Aces. Aces in five.



Western Conference

Wheat Kings vs Canucks
The Wheat Kings? The Wheat Kings? What the...? Yes, you can rightly say that Mr. "I've been in a coma the last two months." It seems being at the bottom of the league is good for something - it forces the team's GM to deal, and deal, and put together a team that can go from .389 to .613 in fifty games and handedly win the President's Trophy. What is perhaps most interesting about this series is that it features some of the best young talent in the game: the Canucks' Jonas Johansson and the Wheaties' Dmitri Kazionov tore-up the league this year; also featured are Matt Jones, Eric Staal, Jakub Hulva, Steve Bernier, and Dany Heatly. It's hard to see the Wheaties falling, but the Canucks are the sort of team that could pull-off an upset. That being said, the Kings have handled the Canucks quite easily this season. Wheat Kings in six.

Achaeans vs Renegades
The hardy men of Hellas may have nothing to fear in this battle. The Renegades can claim a victory just by making it out of the 88 game epic struggle which we in the Western Conference call the regular season - but like poor Aeneas, they will be renegades indeed, and off to find their future. The Achaeans, although with some rust starting to show on their armour, boast four lines of rolling thunder and some of the finest snipers in the league. Dan Cloutier has never been a bettin' man's favourite, but all he needs to do is let in less goals than his team scores - simple enough, right? Achaeans in four.


Pain vs Blackhawks
Ah the Pain, the Pain... After starting the season tormenting the league, the defending champs looked like they had this season in a sinch; then fate entered and they started to lose - going through a troubling second half, watching their reign of terror collapse in the face of the little upstart corporals, apply named Kings. That being said, this series is the Pain's to lose - but they may just lose it: the Hawks are proven playoff competitors and just the team to take on the Pain. The Pain could find themselves dispatched to the guilatine, but with their talent they will likely live to die another day. Pain in six.


Blades vs Ice
A High Noon Showdown at the OK Economy as the two Saskatoon rivals go at. Needless to say, the Blades were the surpise of the season, consistently playing at the top of the West and in the end deserving of home ice advantage. Backed-up in net by the solid Jose Theodore and piloted by Sergei Gonchar, the Blades may just continue their season long success. The Ice on the other hand are the TFHL's Scotsmen - stingy, stingy, stingy. The best defensive team in the league, they finished the season with 13 less goals against than the second most defensive team. Of course lack of goals could ice the Ice, but unless Theodore can win the series by himself, the Ice should have this one. Ice in six.

Blackhawks - PR

Well folks welcome back to the most exciting time of the year, the TFHL playoffs! The Blackhawks are in the show yet again since their expansion season TFHL 12 when they went to the cup finals and took the Hurricanes to 7 games only to lose a hearbreaking close series.

Many fans in the Chicago area however feel this year may be different. Hey let's face it, this team doesn't have much time. With no draft picks, TC points or many young prospects coming up in the system, for the Hawks the time is now.

Coach Brian Sutter was finally reached for comment after hours of team meetings and the usual playoff preparations. "This first series is gonna be a close one. We went undefeated against the Pain this season going 2-0-1 and we only allowed 3 goals in those 3 games against their formidable offense. We just gotta keep doing the little things right and take it to them night after night. Their is no reason why we can't compete with the best teams in this league even if they are the reining champions. We have the experience in every position and when Khabby shows up to play he is one of the hardest goalies to break on any given night."

After hours of press confrences the Blackhawks players all looked primed and ready to go. They face off in game 1 tonight and by looks on their faces they won't dissapoint. It's going to be close, it's going to be tough, but thats Blackhawk hockey and what better time of year to show the world what you're made of.

The Blackhawk Reporter, Playoffs Round 1

Aces - PR

'Aces Wild' in 9-1 Shellacking of Spirit in Game 1

By I.P. Freely, Chepstow Times

Game 1 of this much anticipated series saw the Aces go on an unexpected 9-1 route of the Spirit on their turf. Chepstow took the crowd out of it early scoring 6 unanswered goals before Glen Murray managed to pour one in late in the second period. The surprisingly unprepared Spirit squad looked weak in the opener, while the focused Chepstow team appeared to be on a mission to make a clear statement early in this series.

Going into game 1, concern over the lack of playoff experience among the Ace's young core of players was certainly a concern, but coming out in fine fashion it was clear that the kids were out to prove their detractors wrong. Leading the pack was 19-year old Dominic D'Amour who kept the score keepers busy with a head spinning 5 points.

Team veteren Pierre Turgeon commented after the game that although this was a big win, the team had to stay focused. "Sometimes after a big win you tend to come out slow the next time around. The Spirit are going to be out for blood in game 2, so we will have to be ready. Us old guys are going to make sure that the young guys on this team understand that."

Coming off a surprise season, Milan Hnilicka proved that he's no fluke, backstopping the Aces in a solid effort allowing 1 goal on 25 Spirit attempts. When asked how he was handling the unfamiliar "number 2" role, goalie Jocelyn Thibault humbly stated his support of Hnilicka, simply saying "...he deserves it. Milan had an amazing season, and although I'd like to be on the ice, I'm glad he's having so much success."

The only negative for the Aces was an injury to Wayne Primeau midway through the second. Primeau is listed as day-to-day, suffering with a severe Charley Horse. Jeff Farkas will get the nod to replace him in game 2.

Pain - PR

The Michigan Pain have gone through the slump of a championship team. The Pain started the season like they finished Season 13. Although once the realization of having to play a whole 88 game season to get back to meanigful hockey, they slumped in the last hafl of the season. Now the Pain should have a that feeling of excitement that they once have had. They will be ready to go, and they will be feared. Everyone questions the defence and the goaltending of the Pain year after year. But this year the stats speak for themselves. Gigy was the only goalie to finsih with a .900 save percentage. The team as a whole was third in goals against and fifth in goals for. Although the Pain finsihed 3rd in the west, what people should remember is that the Pain finsihed last year in 5th. If the Pain are to repeat, they must come together as a team again.

The Pain will face the Bulin Wall and the Blawkhawks. The Blawkhawks will not be an easy team to advance from. If the Pain are to be succesful tehy will need to control the Center of the ice with two former all-stars, Lindros, and Christensen. The Pain will also need to get to the Bulin Wall fast, but reports are that Nikolai is not feeling up to par. GM Elliot was questioned as to what he thought about the Hawks, "This could be the last time we see the Blawkhawks in ahwile because they have traded away all their future for this moment. That moment is a shotgun start tournament at Pebble Beach in a weeks time." GM Elliot all jokes before the game, but come game time, the mood shall change.

RELATED NEWS

- Raiders fans RIOT after final game of the season. Raiders GM Goodlet, benched 7 superstars including their franchise player Alfie to give away games so that they could have a better draft pick. The league had no comment on the matter but said it will look into it.

Michigan Press

Flames - PR

Well, it's that time again and the Flames are not in the playoffs for the 2nd consecutive year. The Flames are in a rebuilding stage and no one said it would be pretty the first few years. The team now boasts some of the best young talent in the league and has amazing depth in top 9 forwards and top 6 defense. The Flames are also posed to continue to add youth with four 2nd round picks this year and two 1st round picks the following year. The Flames are filled with young players who will continue to get better. They also have 95 TC poitns which will make them even more dangerous the next year. The Flames struggled early with forced GM Patrick Amantea to make trade, after trade, after trade which did not allow for any team chemistry. After the franchise put Patrick on a trade embargo near the deadline, the team went .500 hockey through the last stretch. This was even with their #1 goalie out for a few weeks of play. The Flames look incredible and there are rumors they have the
ir rookie, Dvorak on the blocks and already have a deal in place. The other rumor is they will have a ton of free cash in the offseason to make a big jump on a true #1 goalie. With the team finally coming together, it looks like the Flames are in a position to contend next year. Flames, GM had the following comments before the start of the playoffs. "We are on the outside looking in again but that is fine with the franchise. We didn't expect immediate results but knew it would take time. Many still believe in the conspiracy about the Flames and their poor start and believe the commish was still mad at the Flames team having a gangbang with his wife during last offseason but what can you do. Where the team has struggled to make money in the arena, the naked pictures and hardcore movie they made is settign record sales on the internet."

The team is getting ready for next season and their next film. I heard the GM of the Wheatkings wife and sister are hot as well....

Patrick
Flames

Hurricanes - PR

HURRICANES COMPLETE MOST DISAPPOINTING SEASON SINCE TFHL11

Calgary, AB - It came down to the wire and the Hurricanes just couldn't deliver. The team could have had first overall in the Eastern Conference but fell into a miserable slump going into the playoffs. A terrible 2-5-3 record in the last 10 games spelled the end for a third franchise consecutive 100-point plateau season.

The team is entering a trying playoff season which will see them take on the rival Senators in what should be an exciting and eventful matchup. Not in the lineup against the Senators will be top centre Shawn Bates and winger Shane Endicott. Bates is expected back for Game 2 while Endicott is expected to be out possibly until the 3rd round, if the Hurricanes make it that far.

The Hurricanes top line against the Senators today will be Alexandre Svitov, recently moved back to centre, which is a position he was drafted at. On Svitov's side he will have Markus Naslund and Bill Guerin. The crafty wingers are expected to produce a bulk of the output for this club.

Hurricanes Report Card


OFFENSE: A+
The Hurricanes boast an impressive lineup of scoring talent including the likes of Alexandre Svitov, Markus Naslund, Bill Guerin, Brendan Morrison, Anson Carter, and Shane Endicott.

DEFENSE: C+
The Hurricanes lost a vital asset of their defense core with the trade that sent Janne Niinimaa to the Senators for Shane Endicott. With only Chris Pronger as the strongest defenseman on the team, it leaves a gapping hole with only players such as Pavel Kubina, Richard Matvichuk, Marek Malik and Robert Schnabel.


GOALTENDING: B+
Roman Cechmanek played well this season and helped turn around woes for the Hurricanes franchise. His contract is up for renewal, its a wonder whether or not the Hurricanes may renew it.


PLAYOFF PREVIEW

Calgary is up for a tough challenge. There is no All-Star goaltender like Sean Burke, and no tough defense core that helped drive the Hurricanes in the past. If the Hurricanes can overcome their season issues against the Senators and defeat them, it is likely this club will have the ability to go to the TFHL Championship final. The team needs to regroup and focus, otherwise it will be over before it even starts.


Calgary Sun 2005

Hurricanes - PR

CALGARY HURRICANES IN BATTLE FOR PRESIDENT'S TROPHY

The 'Canes are not as mighty as they once were, but they are still battling for 1st overall

CALGARY, AB - The Hurricanes have shifted a lot of their team over the last season which all started with the retirement of all-star goaltender Sean Burke. The team has since seen the season starting with a rookie tandem of goaltenders and then quickly a change in guard with the addition of Roman Cechmanek who can warm up faster than a pizza pop and cool off quicker than an ice cube on the beaches of Cancun. Markus Naslund will likely not hit the 100-point plateau, nor will his counterparts in Shawn Bates or Bill Guerin. Chris Pronger is a almost a shoe in for the Norris Trophy for the first time in his career in the TFHL, and the rookie sensations of Ryan Kesler, Brandon Reid and Jason King continue to tear it up on the farm team.

Not too bad.

The Hurricanes are battling with five other teams for first place overall in the TFHL: Owls, Rednexs, Wheat King, Pain and Achaeans. Each team packs as much fire power as the mighty 'Canes and are all serious contenders when the playoffs start in mere weeks. With the season almost over, lets take a look at some of the top performers and who just might light it up for the Hurricanes in the final games of the season.

(1)

MARKUS NASLUND

The reigning two-time League MVP has been the heart and soul of this franchise. Markus is known for firing it up in the final games leading up to the playoffs, this time it might decide whether or not he will hit that elusive 100 point plateau.

(2)

ALEXANDRE SVITOV

This 19-year old sophmore helps compliment the teams aggressive scoring line up. Only a point behind Markus Naslund's team leading 82 points, its expected this crafty winger will explode on a line featuring Brendan Morrison and last seasons Rocket Richard trophy winner Bill Guerin.

(3)

CHRIS PRONGER

This might be the season Chris Pronger wins the Norris Trophy. The past two seasons he's seen Nicklas Lidstrom take home the trophy. If the Captainof the Hurricanes continues his steady and resilient performance this season, he'll be a shoe-in for the leagues top defenseman.

(4)

SHAWN BATES

Although Shawn won't come close to what his break out season was last season, being the top centre between Markus Naslund and Shane Endicott, Shawn should be able to compliment the scoring finess of Naslund and the aggressive force of Endicott.

(5)

BILL GUERIN

A true veteran and one of the top power forwards in the league. Although he is not putting up the numbers like he used to, its expected this born-leader to take the team by the horns in the final stretch.

Stay Tuned for the Calgary Sun's 1st round playoff preview for the Hurricanes.....

Calgary Sun ©