Clubbers - PR

Clubbers make it three in a row.....on the road

By Mike Oxolong, The Evening Telegram

It may be hard to believe but The Clubbers have yet to lose this year. After going 3-0 in preseason...the team has continued its winning ways and started the regular season 3-0. Tonights game came at a price for the team, losing Scott Gomez for 2-3 games. Coach Nolan expressed his displeasure on what was obviously a cheap shot. " Only a game misconduct.... Wade gave Scotty a stick facial....it should have been at least a suspension for 3 games.

Even with the loss of their Gomez and Foote, the team managed to hold off a strong Flames team to take a close game. The surprising play of free agent Turek has the team sporting a new level of confidence, only time will tell if Turek can continue to stand on his head.

Flames - PR

The Atlanta Flames started the season off with quite a BANG! The Flames, unluckly had to play their first game against the back to back, TFHL champions, Michigan Pain. Looking at this first game, this did not bode well for a team that needed early confidence to start the season well off. Apparently, this did not matter as the Flames pounced the Pain 8-4. What was truly amazing was the true outburst of offense that shows what the Flames are capable of this season. The Flames managed to make the Pain pull top goalie, J-S Giguere and continue to lightup their backup. Flames GM, Patrick Amantea was quite pleased with the outcome. "What truly amazed me was the scoring in the third period. The Flames managed to score 4 goals in LESS THAN one minute. I was also quited impressed with our PP and even strength play. Last year, our EV play killed us. Our PP was amazing but EV was average at best. Without the Pain's killer PP, the score would have been very one sided. I also believe we s
hould start the playoffs tomorrow so the Flames are locked for a playoff spot." :P

Could the Flames be actually pulling itself together for once? Only time will tell as they prepare for the Saints tomorrow.

Atlanta Times

Hurricanes - PR

HURRICANES TIE FIRST GAME; INJURIES TO BOTH PRONGER AND NASLUND

The Calgary Hurricanes opened the season up in Vancouver with what is being described the most disgusting display of sportsmanship in the TFHL in recent seasons.

"Unbelievable." Said Coach Marc Crawford.

With 32 seconds into the first period period Steve Montador went right for the Hurricanes best player, Markus Naslund. Naslund is only out day to day but was banged up. "We are
taking precautionary measures with Nazzy at this time. Its early on, so we figured we'd give him a rest for Sundays game." Said Coach Crawford. Montador was immediately ejected from the game.

"This is reminiscent of Markus' days in the NHL when Steve Moore went after him. Theres no room for this kind of hockey in our league." And if it wasn't enough Tomas Divisek went after one of the leagues superstar defenseman Chris Pronger in the middle of the third period.
Divisek was ejected immediately.

"Plain and simple, the Misconducts are a dirty and disgusting team. We'll be ready next time we play them." Said Coach Crawford.

Calgary Sun 2005

Misconducts - PR

The Miami Misconducts are ready to take on The Colt 45's tonight. The Misconducts feel as if this is the best team that have fielding since making it to the finals two years ago. Most of the team is new this year, but the fans saw that coming after a dismal performance last year which saw the team finish as one of the worst 5 teams in the league.

However this year appears to be different. GM Maxwell feels as if the team has improved in all areas. " Cechmanek upgrades us in goal . . .while we lost Zubov and Rafalski in free agency this year . .they were really more offense defensemen . . the players we replaced them with our much better in their own end and should help us cut down on the number of goals that were scored against us last year . . .and as far as our forwards are concerned . . .let's just say there are guys on this team that were playing on the first line that are now on our fourth line . . .Palffy is going to help us out tremendously . . . as our young guys like Huselius, Hagman, Kolnik, and Svoboda " GM Maxwell said at a press conference yesterday. While they have seemed to improve a lot and add more depth this year it is going to be hard climb into the playoffs, but this team likes being the underdogs and can't wait for the season to start.

TFHL15: Season Preview - By Tyler Young

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Well, it's about time: the East is actually reaching the point where they have a respectable degree of talent on more than a couple teams. The Rednex won it last year handidly, this year they will have a hard time defending their title: the Spirit are again a threat, the Canes', Pats, Owls, Saints and Aces all have made solid improvement over the last year and now give the East a fair chance of besting the West. Watch especially the Pats: they could walk over everyone, or no one.


OF DF GT OV Comments
Rednexs A- B B+ A- Will be challenged this year for the trailor park crown
Spirit B+ B+ B+ A- The Spirit is upon us: proved themselves amoung the top last season
Hurricanes A- A- B A- Not done yet: betting on some youngsters to keep team wreaking havoc
Patriots A- B+ B B+ THE team to watch: Pats could revolutionize the league
Owls B B+ A- B+ Preseason mega-deal gives them the best goalie in the conference, hoot?
Saints B+ A- B+ B+ Spezza is no longer a martyr; team is improved from last season
Aces A- B- B+ B+ Dealt some pretty good cards, but they need to prove themselves... now?
Bobcats B B B- B Cats no longer purring, not yet roaring; Sundin an interesting addition
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Clubbers B B B B Fleury: is he the next Biron? If so the Clubbers will break into playoffs
Colt 45s B- B- B B- Shouldn't fall out of the saddle: improved from last year over offseason
Marauders B- B- B- B- Marauders will be lurking on the frontier - could sneak into the playoffs
Misconduct C+ C+ C+ C+ Will need everyone thrown out of the game in order to make the playoffs

WESTERN CONFERENCE

The Paint should hold this conference this season, although they may face a challenge from the Flames, if the Flames can figure out why with all their talent they fell on their faces last year, and the Kings, if the departure of Roberto Luongo does not make them into this year's Flames. The Achaeans and Ice will be themselves, as they always are. The Raiders, Hawks, and Blades represent a group of teams of which any could push their way into the top four, or fall to the bottom four.


OF DF GT OV Comments
Pain A A A A The Pain will continue to torment the league; third cup in a row possible
Achaeans A- A- B+ A- Like the Canes' withering, but core still there and some youth add hope
Flames A- A- B A- Like the Pats the Flames need to prove themselves; but on paper... wow!
Ice B A- A A- The Ice will do what they do: not score, not let you score.
Wheat Kings A B+ B- B+ Strange deal in preseason shows still rebuilding: how far will they fall?
Raiders B B+ B+ B+ Collapse last year defies reason: maybe these pirates lack heart?
Blades C+ B+ A B Gonchar and Theodore. Period.
Blackhawks B B A- B The Hawks are wiley and should manage to hold on to their totems.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Canucks B+ C+ B- B- Johansson likely the most talented player in league, just only plays 50
Sioux B- B- B- B- Sioux look like they're rebuilding, but they still have a chance at p-offs
Apocalypse B- B- B- B- There may be some Sion in their future, but it's going to be a wait
Renegades B- C+ B- B- Have an outside chance of avoiding fate and making the play-offs

Wheat Kings - PR

GM YOUNG PULLS OFF SHOCKER

In a move that has sent a shock through 'toontown and will likely go down as one of the most peculiar moves which GM Tyler Young has ever done, the Wheat Kings announced Wednesday that they have sent TFHL14 Vezina finalist and TFHL12 Vezina winner Roberto Loungo to the Owls, along with defenceman Martin Skoula and winger Petr Sykora. Coming to the Kings are center Josh Hennessy, winger Eric Fehr, defenceman Karol Rachunek, and goalie Kevin Weekes.

Triggering the shock is the seeming lack of any reason for this move. The Wheat Kings are already fairly deep at forward with young skilled players and Luongo is one of the league's preeminent goalies. However, the deal is now done and it will no doubt take a few years to demonstrate what was the ultimate result.

"These kind of trades are definately shocking," Tyler Young commented, "but you have to understand we want to build a dominant team here, so the key is to always aim for the bigger picture and not let an infatuation with a chance at immediate success blind us to following through with what the plan was all along: we want our team to be dominant, and all along trading Luongo was expected at a point before his play began to diminish - and thanks to his good season last year his value is as high as it will ever be."

Asked about the departure of Skoula and Sykora, both of whom are not chump-change, plus his plan for goal this season after losing Luongo's intended heir, Kari Lehtonen, in free agency, Mr. Young responded:

"Our hope is that Kevin Weekes will provide adequate goaltending this year - all he has to do is stop the puck eighty-nine percent of the time and we will be fine. We're not demanding excellence from him, heck Roberto wasn't statistically great last year, with our defence letting only about 25 shots against, we only need our goalies not to kill us. As for Sykora and Skoula, we figured it was fair cost for what we got in return. We think Hennessy looks like a young Langkow, and will no doubt be at the core of our team for the next decade. Fehr is the type of guy we've been looking for to fit in on our future third line with Hartnell and Kostitsyn, a versatile skilled guy with defensive instints, but he'll get another year on the farm first. Rachunek is no throw in either, he had fifty points last season and will hopefully add a boost to our dormant power-play, moreover talent-wise he's not too much of drop-off from Skoula in anything but defensive awareness."

TRADE POSSIBILITY: I wouldn't mind acquiring a goalie in a fair trade, if you're looking for something and have netminder you wouldn't mind dealing, then email me. Keith Tkachuk, the perannual 40 goal man and all-star, could definately be had if the deal is right, as could any of my players in a fair trade.

Clubbers - PR

Clubbers Bash their way through Preseason

By Mike Oxolong, The Evening Telegram

Same Clubbers team....different result? Practically the same team that hit the ice last year will be running for the Cup again this year. Coming off a promising preseason, The Clubbers went 3-0 with a combined 28pts scored by the top line. Has coach Nolan finally put together a line that works this year? The emergence of young superstar Tambellini who has scored 9 pts in 3 games is a refreshing change from last years anemic offense that languised near the bottom of the league all last year.

It seems that the recent addition of journeyman defenseman Hamrlik has also ignited a deep desire to win as well. Hamrlik is a premier defenseman but the loss of the 1st and 2nd draft picks in Tfhl 16 may come back to bite the team. Also returning to the Clubbers this year after a 2 year hiatus is Turek. "Large" is expected to share goaltending duties with the young Fleury this year but if he continues to show the same level of play during the regular season as he had in the preseason...... Fleury may find himself in a back-up role this year. Well heres hoping to a better year this year.

Blackhawks - PR

The preseason ended today with the Blackhawks storming through with a perfect 3-0 record which included victories over the Flames, Apocalypse and Raiders. The Blackhawks looked impressive against the three very capable teams and hope to carry their early success into the regular season.

Coach Brian Sutter sounded quite excited and optimistic about the upcoming year. "I really think we've improved. Last year we took the Pain to seven games and it really could have went either way and maybe it would have been us hoisting the cup at the end but maybe's don't cut it in this league. We've picked up some key guys and added a bit of youth as well. I think we have a great mix of experience and youth on this roster and alot of teams will be suprised by what this squad will bring to the rink night in and night out. As for the Flames' GM's comments about our team's age and performance, it doesn't really mean much or affect us due to our constant dominence over them the last few seasons. Maybe if they had something against us like wins or even a playoff spot his comments would have some validity."

In other news wearing the "C" this season for the 'Hawks will once again be Eric Lindros with Fedorov, Ninnima and Zubov sharing the assisting duties.

KEY ACQUISITIONS:
Sergei Zubov (via Free Agency)

Hal Gill (via Trade w/ Aces)

Ryan O'Byrne (via Trade w/ Aces)

Notable Departures:

Owen Nolan

Derian Hatcher

The Blackhawks though are still missing the last piece of the puzzle, their attempts to acquire a younger 75+ have gone unsuccessful. They are still looking and all offers will be looked at.

Look forward to another season of exciting Blackhawk hockey.

The Blackhawk Reporter

Flames - PR

The Atlanta Flames come out of the offseason with a 1-1-0-1 record. The first game was a heart breaker, where they lost in overtime but by the shot count and the late goals by the Blackhawks, the Flames were clearly the better team. It was a late 5 minute major call to Rick Nash, that was borderline that lead to a loss in overtime. The next game was a barn burner where the Flames lost another 1 goal game. The final game, GM Patrick Amantea decided to switch things up. Rookie, Sergei was clrealy not ready to assume control of the team so he was bumped to the 3rd line to give him some experience. Somewhat veteran, Kris Beech was bumped up to #2 line status and given PP duties and ran with the increased responsibilities. The Flames controlled a Rednexs team by a score of 7-0. The impressive thing is that the Rednex has probably the best top line in the league with Bertuzzi and Kovalev. The Flames are looking quite good this preseason and looking to make a bigger splash in the st
andings after noticing some weird trade activity that appears to have made the Wheatkings very weak in goal and on the blueline. LET THE SEASON BEGIN!

Flames

Saints - PR

Saskatoon Saints and Ottawa Praetorian Set for TFHL 15 Season

TFHL 15 ENTRY DRAFT SELECTIONS PART OF YOUNG'S PLAN FOR A SPEZZA LED DYNASTY

At the TFHL 15 Entry Draft on Saturday, the Saskatoon Saints organization had its most active draft since the TFHL 13 Draft in which they chose the core franchise players now visible on the Saints PRO roster: Jason Spezza, Keith Ballard, Chuck Kobasew (formally "Chris Higgins", a name already taken on the Blades roster) as well as many others still developing. The draft saw the Saints selecting ten 18-20 year old players, notably Saskatoon natives, Chris Durand and Saskatoon Blade (WHL) star Devin Setoguchi. As well, GM Geoffrey Young was proud to select cousin Brett Boschman and son of the former captain of the Ottawa Senators Laurie Boschman. Young made several trades at the draft which allowed him to increase and move his picks around. One such acquisition which Young is very much pleased with is his trade and acquisition of Christopher Bourque who Young describes as "one of the top 15 offensive players in this draft" and "the 'sleeper'". Young boasted that this collection of young future stars is comparable to his TFFHL 11 Praetorian farm team which won the TFFHL Cup. He looks forward to allowing the farm to develope these players and within a year or two he explained "we'll add around eight 20 year old players to our Pro roster which will include our current 6 20 year old d-men as well as Spezza, Monych and Kobasew". This is all part of his plan for establishing a dynasty around Spezza which will all be the same age or younger and will develope together over the next 5-10 seasons.

TRADE NEWS

The only concern to the Saints franchise, last year (and every year in both the old and new TFHL in which Young has participated), is his inability to either acquire or retain a #1 goalie in which would allow the Saints to become a Cup contender. "We seem to always have the offence, and compete among the top 5 teams in that category...and I feel that we now have the best collection of young d-men in the TFHL but now we must look to developing a #1 goalie in which can be one of the top 5 as well." Although the acquistion of Martin Brodeur from the Canucks is obviously not a goalie for the future, many Saints fans were very please to see his arrival. Brodeur will hopefully provide veteran goaltending along with providing mentorship to future #1 Ilja Bryzgalov who showed promise in last year's regular season as well as Playoff series win against the arch-rival Hurricanes. Other recent acquistions include veteran star Pavol Demitra amongst others.

SAINTS PRO ROSTER FOR TFHL 15 SEASON

The much anticipated Saints PRO Roster was released today. A tradition which Young seasonally releases but its significance tends to be somewhat farcical - if one was to compare the Season ending roster to the Saints OFFICIAL roster released at the commencement of each season, you'll see nothing too comparible except the team name. Regardless, Young explains that this roster will not likely change as he is quite content with the scoring lines. But rumours are that he will likely still change the wingers on the 'third' (which plays the 4th line as well) as he wishes upgrade the wingers to play with young centre Lance Monych....

Line 1:

Player PO HD IT SP ST EN DU DI SK PA PC DF SC EX LD OV AGE SALARY$ Y/FA

Jason Spezza C R 53 64 57 75 58 75 88 77 86 85 94 33 24 81 20 1,100,000 1R

Pavol Demitra LW L 59 81 69 76 99 78 86 77 79 69 83 72 56 81 31 3,200,000 2U

Jani Rita RW R 75 77 79 55 56 94 78 76 77 79 65 46 54 78 *24 625,000 3R

Dan Sprang D L 48 88 62 50 82 70 65 85 85 98 71 34 31 78 20 620,000 4R
Keith Ballard D R 70 60 74 71 99 72 80 93 65 61 74 42 49 77 *20 187,500 3R

Line 2:

Player PO HD IT SP ST EN DU DI SK PA PC DF SC EX LD OV AGE SALARY$ Y/FA

Joe Sakic C L 76 80 58 87 99 80 84 83 80 75 68 92 92 81 36 15,000,000 1U

Martin Cibak LW L 74 74 76 63 51 91 78 74 72 72 73 50 49 77 *25 281,250 2R

Chuck Kobasew RW R 55 73 74 74 92 54 70 80 76 67 79 43 60 77 *20 187,500 3R

Denis Grebeshkov D R 92 74 71 65 78 75 33 85 77 86 63 29 28 78 20 2,200,000 3R
David Turon D R 45 50 90 41 79 99 74 75 82 58 98 34 42 77 20 600,000 2R

Line 3:

Player PO HD IT SP ST EN DU DI SK PA PC DF SC EX LD OV AGE SALARY$ Y/FA

Lance Monych C R 98 70 95 98 83 84 58 72 61 97 58 30 28 78 20 600,000 1R

Ladislav Nagy LW L 71 78 61 68 90 87 80 66 70 74 77 38 45 76 26 1,050,000 3R

Steven Reinprecht RW L 77 72 66 68 83 93 72 71 72 69 72 43 46 75 29 475,000 1R

Rosario Ruggeri D L 46 60 51 68 96 95 75 69 94 45 86 46 42 75 *20 4,399,999 3R
John Adams D R 63 68 73 82 81 87 76 55 79 83 59 47 38 75 *20 600,000 2R

GOALTENDING:

Martin Brodeur G L 71 89 93 97 97 88 87 72 80 25 25 77 81 81 33 3,000,000 2U
Ilja Bryzgalov G L 80 80 93 60 59 79 79 77 84 NA NA 43 45 75 *25 800,000 1R

SASKUP TOURNAMENT

Another Preseason Tradition is the Saskup Tournament which happens between the Saskatchewan teams and GM's within the TFHL (Saskatoon Ice, Saskatoon Blades, Saskatchewan Wheat Kings and Saskatoon Saints). Here are past results:

SASKUP WINNERS
TFHL 9 Saskatchewan Wheat Kings - Tyler Young
TFHL10 Saskatoon Saints - Geoffrey Young
TFHL11 Saskatoon Sioux - Jasen Berry
TFHL12 No Tournament
TFHL13 No Tournament
TFHL14 Saskatoon Saints - Geoffrey Young
TFHL15 Oh, the suspense...

----------------
TFHL14 Standings
TEAM W - L - T - PTS GF – GA
Saints 2 1 0 4 11 8
Ice 1 1 1 3 8 5
Blades 1 1 1 3 7 6
Wheat Kings 1 2 0 2 6 12

Aces - PR

NEW LOOK ACES GEAR UP FOR PRESEASON
By Eileen Forward, Chepstow Times

Following a busy off-season, the Aces began filtering back into Chepstow today to begin their training camp. The many new faces will meet each other for the first time today at a BBQ scheduled this afternoon at the estate of Aces GM and owner, Dave Walter.

"After going out in 5 games to the Spirit in round one of last year's
play-offs, we knew we were going to have to make some changes." said GM Walter in an exclusive interview with the Times. "Last year we were blessed with an incredibly talented but young team. That youth hurt is in the play-offs, and we knew we needed to add some leadership to this club to help our young guns succeed."

Gone from the Aces are veterans Paul Kariya, Zigmund Palfy, Yanic Pereault, Pierre Turgeon, and goalie Jocelyn Thibault. Joining the team in leadership roles are veterans Owen Nolan, Saku Koivu, Jeremy Roenick, Jason Allison, Derian Hatcher and Patrice Brisbois.

Walter commented that he hated to turn over so many veteran players, but free
agency made Palfy, Pereault and Turgeon too expensive considering the young players waiting to fill their skates, and the salary of Kariya was restricting the Aces' ability to fill holes and remain under the salary cap. It was also time for goalie Jocelyn Thibault to move on with rookie phenom Barry Brust waiting in the wings to claim the #1 net minder spot.

Expected to be announced at this afternoon's BBQ is that Owen Nolan will become the new captain, and that Saku Koivu and Jeremy Roenick will have the 'A' sewn to their jerseys.

Optimism abounds in Chepstow going into pre-season play. Fans of the TFHL will be hard pressed to find a more exciting line than the one of Tim Brent, Ilya Kovolchuk and Jason Allison, backed by sniper defensemen Aaron Rome and the intensity of Braydon Coburn patroling the blue line. Look for the Aces to be a serious force in the East this season.

Season tickets available at 888-444-ACES.

Wheat Kings - PR

WHEATIES PREP FOR PRESEASON

The Saskatchewan Wheat Kings arrived today in Saskatoon after a short off-season reprive with only a couple new faces - a surprising change for the once trade-maniac Kings, but who can blaim them for their inactivity? You don't go playing with a team that topped the league.

The final segment of the break was completed Sunday as the Wheaties drafted Niklas Bergfors (12th overall), Tuukka Rask (61st overall), and Erkka Leppanen (65th overall).

"We were in a relaxed position in drafting," GM Tyler Young commented to the media Sunday, "which meant we could take a bit of a chance with our picks. Bergfors is especially interesting: since we are loaded with young, gifted snipers, we decided to take a chance on finding a premium set-up man, someone to feed our snipers for a long time to come."

While the Wheat Kings did not undergo much change from last season, the President Trophy Champs did gain a year of maturity and their outstanding year lead to much development in the squad:

"Even with the same players as last year, we are still a much more talented club than last year thank to the our overall development," Mr. Young said. "However, there are a lot of teams that have seen much more improvement through trades and player development and are now ready threats to any chance of us repeating at the top; so we'll see what we can do, but our boys know this year that the key is the playoffs."

The only significant editions to the Kings roster are young sniper Alex Kositsyn, acquired from the Aces, and back-up Manny Legace, aquired through free agency. Departing are Mike York and Aaron Rome to the Aces, and Kari Lehtonen via Free Agency.

In other news, the Wheat Kings were big winners at the TFHL awards. Winger Dimtri Kazionov tied with the Canucks' Jonas Johansson for the Calder Trophy, coach Mike Keenan won the Jack Adams, and defenceman Slava Suchy took home the Alka-Seltzer Trophy.

Hurricanes - PR

CALGARY HURRICANES GEAR UP FOR THE PRE-SEASON

The Calgary Hurricanes players began arriving in Calgary in preparation for their pre-season beginning on Tuesday. The Hurricanes have managed to continue keeping the same roster in tact season after season since they won the TFHL Cup in TFHL12. The current Hurricanes roster heading into pre-season action boasts 9 TFHL Cup champions from that team in TFHL12.

"Experience is necessary when it comes to the playoffs. We have character guys on this team that will help the youngsters like the Svitovs, Keslers and Kings of the team that haven't won a cup yet." said Captain Chris Pronger.

WHO'S GONE?
Rosario Ruggeri - Rookie defenseman was traded as part of the acquisition of goaltender Pascal LeClaire.
Roman Cechmanek - Overrated goaltender was traded prior to free agency and his sub-par performance.
Shane Endicott - The Injury prone forward was traded right after the conclusion of the season.
Dan Boyle - Defenseman fell out of favour with Marc Crawfords coaching style
Marek Malik - Worst plus\minus in the history of the Hurricanes.

WHO'S ARRIVED?
Pascal Leclaire - Goaltending sensation Leclaire is expected to fill in the void with two solid defenseman ahead of him, Chris Pronger and Bryan Mccabe.
Bryan Mccabe - Rugged scoring defenseman added to compliment the already powerful defense including the likes of Chris Pronger, Pavel Kubina, Robert Schnabel and Richard Matvichuk.
Sheldon Souray - Souray has been added as a six defenseman on a roster that is full of talent. He is expected to bring experience and leadership.

"We made a lot of changes. But at the same time a lot of young guys really improved in the offseason. Just look at our guys like Ryan Kesler, Jason King and Robert Schnabel. All guys who played on the farm and pro last season will be regulars this season." Said GM Derek Major.

The Hurricanes are prepped and ready for a big season ahead. The team is looking forward to recapturing the TFHL Cup.


Calgary Sun 2005

Flames - PR

The Atlanta Flames head into the preseason ready for business. The team will be lead by one of the best iced lines in the league. The GAN line will be leading the team. The line consists of newly acquired center, Sergei Anshakov and he will be flanked by the prue finesse of Marian Gaborik and the power of Rick Nash. This top line is also one of the fastest lines in the league. It will be amazing, watching this line skate circles around the old, slow and crippled Achaeans. The defense backing this line will be none other than Wade Redden and Tomas Kaberle. The Flames, (after a boring night and no motivation to study for finals) sat around his computer and traded without concern the other night. The Flames were able to acquire a top young rookie defenseman and a top center that gives the Flames arguably the best 1-2-3 punch down the middle, with three very talented star centers. In the deadlings the Flames dealt away two of their 1st round picks for next year and the leader of their team Jason Allison, who has led the team in points year after year. The team was in need of a big change and is ready to make an impact. The Flames look forward to the preseason and hope to play the Achaeans and Pain at least once before the season starts. To be the best, you have to beat the current best. This would be a good benchmark to see where this team satnds as of right now.

Flames

Wheat Kings - PR

FOR KING AND COUNTRY

Emerging from what was their slowest FA period to date, the Kings still managed some small changes. Key was the resigning of Selke finalist Scott Hartnell, forty goal man Petr Sykora, and all-around utility player Danius Zubrus to four year contracts at reasonable rates, as well as the addition of Manny Legace as a back-up for Roberto Luongo.

The surprise of free agency for the Kings was the offer made to goaltending prosepct Kari Lehtonen by the Sioux. The three year, 13.2 million dollar offer was deemed excessive by GM Tyler Young and Lehtonen was bid a fond ado. The Kings received the 12th and 61st overall picks in the upcoming draft as compensation.

The Wheaties are now preparing for the draft. As always, GM Young is maintaining a strict code of secrecy as far as potential picks. The Kings have a history of rare participation in the draft, but of great success when they do so. To date their only pick since the TFHL was reconstituted has been Steve Bernier, chosen 13th overall last year, who cracked the President Trophy champion's roster in the second half of the last season and was a big part of the Kings' late season surge. He has a guaranteed spot on the Kings' first line for the upcoming season alongside Keith Tkachuk and Daymond Langkow.

"There's nothing much that we need, moreover our roster is already fairly young," Tyler Young commented to reporters Sunday. "I think we'll just take the player we think is best at that pick, we have the luxury for the first time since I took over the Kings seven seasons ago to begin to stock the pantry; we can take it slow, not force these kids into the pros until they're ready."

Hurricanes - PR

CALGARY HURRICANES LOOK TO TAKE ON THE WORLD

"Let me tell you this. Those piece of s*** rascals on the Saints are going down this season. I had a good cup of joe with Pascal LeClaire after we pulled him away from their team and he is assuring me we'll knock them down every time."

As GM Major sat in his leather chair at the top of the Saddledome corporate offices in Calgary, he was throwing darts on a dart board that featured the Saints logo. "We've won our division the last 3 seasons in a row for a reason, then they knocked us out, again. We'll be making a
statement this year."

On the topic of the Achaeans bidding on RFA Brendan Morrison for 2.5 million dollars, GM Major responded with a simple catch phrase. "Damn you."

And as he was walking out of the Saddledome offices his assistant Cindy mentioned that 2.5 million isn't that much considering he's paying a farm player 2 million $ in Martin Lapointe, and 2.5 million $ in Richard Matvichuk. GM Major turned to his assistant.

"Damn you too, you're fired."


Calgary Sun

Pain - PR

Pain Fire back at Spirited Hacks:
Rumours flying About Big Names Leaving Michigan

With the upcoming parade in the next few days, what should be celebration turned ugly with GM Goodlet and GM Elliot exchanging shots. GM Elliot was Interviewed on TSN by phone late last night. "It makes me sick that GM Goodlet is supporting the actions of his team. It was the Finals of the playoffs but when your gooning guys to win it completely washes away any respect. When you have Mike Fisher who is one of hte grittest guys gets hurt, you really have to wonder what the other teams motives are. Even their fairy players like Kol-nancy is playing with no respect after his suspension from the Redneck series. You know last season I didn't want the summer to end, but now I can't wait to see the schedule to find out when we get a crack at them again. We will haunt them; Payback in Pain. But its over now, we got out alive. Hey whats that saying, threes a charm? I guess 4 is a charm eh Goody ;)" A very emotional playoffs brought the tension to an alltime high.

In other Pain news, reports are that the following players maybe not in a Michigan uniform for next season. (psst. give me your offers) Big names equals, equal returns

60 Jason Ryznar LW L OK 81 73 53 78 89 87 84 70 56 66 88 33 25 76
24 Brendan Witt D L OK 83 71 85 72 85 70 69 60 67 76 53 57 53 77
56 Ed Jovanovski D L OK 78 76 76 87 99 61 73 74 77 78 80 64 66 81
21 Roman Hamrlik D L OK 68 73 77 85 84 72 73 76 79 71 71 84 69 79

My upcoming 1st round draft pick, formly Misconducts 1st. #rd over all w/o draft lottery! This has to go!

Michigan Press

Flames - PR

The Atlanta Flames are set to resume the new season with vengance. The team looks amazing on paper. Every position has been upgraded and NO player in the offseason got worse. Every player got better, through hard conditioning over the offseason. The team now boasts 6 super star players (80+ OV players) and 11 players waiting to breakout (77-79 OV). That is some amazing depth. The Flames' 3rd line has players who could play solid on other team's 2nd lines or even on their 1st lines. It is hard to determine the core of the Flames because they are so young and every player is special.

Some of the bigger names this year are:

Centers:
Jason Allison (81OV); one of the better playmaking centers in the league. He also ripped it up during last season's all-star game.
Petr Dvorak (82OV); one of the best upcoming 2-way centers. He finished 6th overall last year for rookies and was only a few points out of top 3. He worked really hard during the offseason and really improved his game.

Leftwings:
Marian Gaborik (82OV); there is not much to say about Gaborik. He is just purely amazing. He has really worked on his endurance and defense in the osseason. His skills stats are very similar to Jagr and Kovalev, EXCEPT he is 10 years younger. This kid is just scary.
Kyle Calder (80OV); no one does it like Calder on the PP. Last season he lead the league for PP goals. He has really bulked up and will continue to be a gritty scorer, who will stick up for his teammates.

Rightwings:
Rick Nash (81OV); have you ever seen a train play hockey before? Nash is the fastest, strongest, most physical player in the league. Did I mention his passing and scoring is near the top in the league. This kid already resembles Bertuzzi but with mroe power and skill. Scary isn't it...
Nathan Horton (79OV); Not much was expected out of Horton but his off season training was probably the best out of the bunch. The kid has dedication. During the offseason he trained with Gaborik and Horton is now close to Gaborik's skill level. That is just sick.

The defense is led by Kaberle, Redden, Stuart, Van Ryn, and the newest addition of Ramholt. Ramholt has an amazing shot. Its scary when 3 out of your top 4 defenseman boast passing around the 80 mark. The Flames PP looks like it will remain top in the league.

The Flames have also decided to stick with Boucher as the #1 goalie. He improved over the offseason and was a .500 goalie playing under a team with no chemistry last year. If Lalime can drive to the playoffs, there is no reason why Boucher cannot do it as well.

Dare to look at the Flames roster, it is quick sick. Even the farm team has solid prospects at every position with 2 first rounders and 4 second round picks in the next 2 years. Did I mention 1/2 the team is 20 years old or younger? :P

The Flames future has never looked so bright.

PS - Ptarick, GM of the team has also went through counselling in the offseason and now has grater control over himself. He has received help and will not make 25+ trades like last season.

Pain - PR - TFHL CHAMPIONS!

BACK TO BACK CHAMPIONSHIPS!
PAIN ON BRINK OF DYNASTY

Detroit Michigan:
Last night, the Michigan Pain captured their second TFHL Cup in as many seasons. They stomped the Guelph Spirit 5 - 2 in the 7th and deciding game. Mike Fisher scored his 9th in the first period to what amounted to the eventual Cup winning goal. The series was a most entertaing and gruling affair. The Spirit shocked the Pain in the first game by a score of 3-1.
However the Pain won the next three games in which all three times Patrick Lalime was pulled. The Spirit fought back by forcing a game 7. In the eventual championship game, Patrick Lalime was again pulled after letting in 5 goals. The hype around the series was if the Pain would be able to beat the red hot Lalime. Ironically in last years finals, the same question was said about Curtis Joseph. Well it turns out that both could not handle the high heat. The Series turned ugly in game 2. Weiss ejected fromt he game after charging at Eric Daze. Daze was fine but the intent to injury was there. Game three saw a ruthless cross-check by Joni Pitkanen. He was suspened for his check to the head on Comrie. Again the Spirit's ugly head surfaced in game 4 with Dion Phaneuf's ill use of a stick on Mike Fisher's face. Fisher had to leave the game but before it ended tempers flew as a few blows were exchanged. Phaneuf in game 5 attempted to injure Yashin but was given a game misconduct for his temper. In game 6 Hamrlik was clipped in the eye by an errant Hossa, and Hamrlik needed stiches. In game 7 on the first shift, Yashin hooked
Hossa down and drew a penalty. Hossa then swung his stick and Yashin defended himself by clipping Hossa in the face. Hossa would not return and Yashin was ejected on a contraversal call.

Press Conference

After the game, GM Elliot had a few comments to make. "I am extremely proud to be apart of the this organization on a history making day. To win once in this league is amazin but to win back to back TFHL Cups is amazing. We are the second team in history to accomplsih this and the 4th team to win 2 championships. We plan on continuing this success next year and creating a team for the ages. I can not say enough about our guys. Everyone of them is a work horse; everyone gave it their all. What can I say about the Daze, Yash, and Pail line. They dominated the playoffs; Yashin missing the playoff record of most points by a few. Hamrlik and Markov were warriors on defence for us. Fisher played unbelievable grit hockey, with some big hits. We were sure glad to get Roenick for the playoff run. We decided to pick JR up from the Apocalypse and boy did he come threw. We have to thank GM Sykes for the opportunity. This year is differnet because we won 3 seventh games to win the championship. Last year we never faced elmination once and never lost 2 games in a row. This year we alomst tied the goals scored in a playoff series record. I have to admit that the Spirit's managment decsions were superior. The coaching strategy was tricky at times to compete against. With that said I am a little dissapointed with the Spirit's goon play. They went out to take us out, literally. No one said it wasn't going to be a battle, but they turned it into a war. Well its amazing and we will cherish this Cup but we better make it three!"

BELOW - PICTURES
1. TFHL CUP
2. JR scores on Lalime in game 3
3. Hossa takes JR's legs out with no penalty call
4. A degected Lalime as he gets pulled for the 4th time in the series. The
Offensive Terror could not be stopped!
5. The players piled on the ice when the game ended
6. Vinny holding the holy grail

Pain - PR

The Michigan Pain advanced past the Achaeans to the Western Conference Finals.

The Pain easily handled the Achaeans in 5 games. With a minute and a half left in the 5th game of the series, Yashin scored to send home the Achaeans for the second straight year. Vegas had the Achaeans as the favourites; they predicted a 6 game win for the Achaeans. The 'godly' predictions were wrong, and the wave of offensive Terror moves on to face the Ice. GM Elliot had some thoughts on the Achaeans series. "The news may make it seem like we beat the Achaeans easily but trust me on it, we worked hard for every win. They have many superstars, which was hard to contain. With that said, every player went out and played his role perfectley. With the contracts the Achaeans players have, we won't see the last of them." GM Elliot was then questioned on the comments made by GM Butchart. "What kind of godly herb has he been smoking? I have no idea what he is talking about? Sometimes I wonder..."

PAIN TO FACE ICE

For the second straight year, the Pain and Ice will square off to battle for the right to represent the West in the TFHL Cup Finals. What is ironic about this statement is GM Elliot told the press after last seasons series victory that the Pain would not see the last of the Ice. The Ice are built young, and it is at no surprise that they are in the Conference championships again. It will be the battle of offence vs defence again. Last year the offence was to much even for the stingy Ice. With subtle improvements this year, the Pain pack more punch. GM Elliot made some cracks at the Ice "They will be extremely tough to beat. I think if we stiick to our game plan we can come out of this series with four wins. The Ice play a style which is almost unique to the league. They play so defensively that I hope they don't forget that to win they have to score goals as well. We are ready to go, we will shoot till we break down the mighty Ice Wall."

Michigan Press

p.s. To whom it may concern: I think we skated around you :)