PR - Wheat Kings

Here they come, Down the Stretch.

The playoff race which has been hot all season in the West is now entering the
final stretch run.  With nine points separating fifth from seventh there is
little room for error.  Both the Blades and Achaeans made smart moves near the
deadline which have substantially improved their rosters, while after decent runs
the Ice and Kings have been treading water and the 'Hawks, Renegades and
Apocalypse have all flat-lined.

In other news, the Wheat Kings completed two deals at the deadline, sending
Erkka Leppanen and Nik Tselios to the Raiders for Cam Barker and picking-up
Mattias Ritola, Andy McDonald and a pick from the Misconduct for Brian McConnell,
Eric Nystrom, Danny Roussin, and Mark Fistric.

"Some might question the math, giving up so much youth," GM Tyler Young
commented to the media, "but we're looking at our roster for the near future and
thinking what we will need and what we won't need.  We needed another right-winger
who could handle playing on the second line and we needed a guy who could be a
solid #4 d-man.  Ritola is a well-rounded scoring winger with a lot of maturity
for his age.  We hope he will turn into another Eric Fehr, a guy who will be
reliable 25-30 goal scorer and solid defensively, a secondary threat on one of
the top two lines.  Barker is an upgrade on Leppanen/Fistric, stronger
defensively, tougher and also closer to being pro-ready."

News&Notes: In his first game Ritola picked-up an assist before being injured
by Marian Gaborik.  "It was a cheap knee-on-knee hit," coach Mike Keenan fumed
after the game, "why a guy like Gaborik needed to take-out a good kid like Ritz
I don't know... just cheap, bush-league c**p, and then Gaborik doesn't get
suspended..." . . . Is there finally chemistry among the big three?  The unit of
Kazionov, Josh Hennessy and Steve Bernier lit-it-up against the Pain on Saturday
with four goals and a combined nine points.  Historically the three have not
played well together, but if they can find their collective mojo, the Kings could
finally have the kind of #1 line which is so critical for success in the TFHL. 
Although one game is not much, Wheat-watchers have slept easy for a couple
nights with memories of Keith Tkachuk, Daymond Langkow, and Daniel Briere dancing
in their head.  Coach Keenan has said that the unit will finish the season
together and will receive plenty of playing
time.