PR - Wheat Kings

WHEAT KINGS SEND PETER THE GREAT PACKING IN 10 PLAYER DEAL

The Wheat Kings, struggling to climb out of the Western Conference cellar,
decided that it was time to give the team a significant shake-up.  Peter Forsberg,
a multi-million dollar free agent addition this previous offseason was
dispatched to the Misconduct as part of a massive ten player trade.

Leaving Saskatoon are Forsberg, defenseman Karol Rachunek, back-up Kevin
Weekes, utility players Andy McDonald and Peter Buzek.  Arriving are center Craig
Conroy, winger Brian Rolston, defencmen Jay McKee and Nikos Tselios, and
goaltender Tomas Vokoun.

"I think Forsberg is the end of an era for us," GM Tyler Young said. "We've
always had at least one high-priced talent on our team, but has often only lead to
disappointment.  We've had some talented players like Forsberg play for us, but
only Tkachuk ever performed well - I just don't know what it is with the
Wheaties jersey which brings out the worst in top-end players.  I don't think we will
be looking at high-priced talent anymore, rather concentrating on developing
and keeping our young core group together. 

Anyways, I like this deal since we address some key concerns: we acquired two
quality forwards - Conroy will hopefully produce as well as Forsberg was for us,
and Rolston gives us another offensive weapon to spread around the depth. 
Although it may turn-out foolish to give up on a player of Forsberg's skill, he was
the producing well below expectations and the real heart and soul of this team
are the youngsters like Josh Hennessy, Dimitri Kazionov, and Stever Bernier -
getting two skilled veterans increases our depth and that should take some of
the pressure off the young guns.  We also felt our defense was weak and needed to
be toughened up and improved in the defensive awareness.  McKee is a solid
veteran defensive d-man, and Tselios is a tough SOB - we can eat his penalty
minutes, and that kind-of player is sometimes necessary to keep the other team on
their toes.  Lastly, we picked-up another quality goalie.  Plus, although he was
statistically good, Luongo has often al
lowed us to lose one goal decisions, and Vokoun may have more killer instinct,
or at the very least his presence should push Luongo.  Essentially, we now have
two #1 goalies from which to choose."

Wheat Kings - PR

QUARTERLY REPORT: THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS

The first quarter of this season has been bizarre.  Many solid clubs - the
Pain, Ice, Achaeans, Spirit - were swimming at the bottom of their conferences for
much of the first twenty games, and the Wheat Kings found themselves amongst
them.  Meanwhile the top of the league is inhabited by many surprise teams - what
is up is down, what is down is up...

This same phenomenon happened last year: the Achaeans and Spirit made the
season with second half bursts, the Pain also didn't start overly strong - on the
flip-side the Kings had and unbelievable first half and then capsized after the
All-Star break.

One would expect as similar trend this year - indeed certain teams who started
the season hot are already on their way down.

What is most surprising to Wheat-watchers is that statistically the Kings are
quite respectable: 3rd in goals for, 1st in PK, 3rd in PP; fiver players are on
their way to 35 or more goal seasons, Roberto Luongo is among the league
leaders - yet the Kings are struggling to maintain a .500 record. 

One problem is the defence - the Kings have long been a stingy team to play
against, but this season the Kings have been letting more shots against than in
the past - yet their GAA is acceptable, the exception being Kevin Weekes'
atrocious record.

Hence while statistically there are not many problems, two issues have arisen:
first, the lack of a killer instinct - the Kings are losing too many one goal
games; two, Luongo is playing-out too fast and Weekes has been incapable of
returning to his form of last season.

PR - Wheat Kings

WHEAT KINGS START ON SEE-SAW

The Wheat Kings started the season somewhat erratic, but seem to have evened-up over the last few games, climbing back over .500.

The season so far has been a mix of surprises: if some had asked before the season who would be leading the team in goales at game 14 - Dmitri Kazionov, Peter Forsberg, Stever Bernier, or Masi Marjamaki? How many could have imagined that it would be Marjie? Or try this one: who would be the Kings' best FA acquisition: Peter Forsberg or Sergei Fedorov? Urr! Fedorov, go figure.

Forsberg stuggled in six games before being injured. He had four points and was minus 1, a great disappointment for fifteen million. What perhaps is worse is that he failed to gel with sniper Kazionov, and the two of them often looked like ducks out of water while Marjamaki kept the other team occupied. Captain Daymond Langkow is off to his typical slow-start, and Josh Hennessy struggled on left wing, but has blossomed as the third line center.

None of the new faces other than Forsberg have seriously dissapointed: Teemu Laakso has been a pleasant surprise, and Mark Stuart and Mike Rathje have been a couple of monsters on the backline.

The Kings are rumoured to be dangling Matt Jones and goalie Jamie Howard on the market. The rumours state that the Kings are looking to deal both of them for an upgrade over Jones.

PR - Hurricanes

OH CAPTAIN MY CAPTAIN: CHRIS PRONGER TRADED TO OWLS IN A BLOCKBUSTER DEAL
Hurricanes captain traded to conference rivals

CALGARY, AB - The Calgary Hurricanes announced today that captain Chris Pronger was traded to the Owls. Along with Chris Pronger will be another defenseman Pavel Kubina and young forwards Ryan Kesler and Ryan Flinn. Coming back to the Hurricanes will be a slew of new players including defensemen Wade Redden and Kenny Jonsson, as well as forwards Matthew Lombardi, Maxim Afinogenov and Justin Williams.

"We made a significant change in our team today. We had to make a choice with our defensemen. Quite simply we had both Bryan Mccabe and Chris Prongers' contracts
expiring at the end of the season. Chris would have simply costed too much for us to keep him, therefore we can still keep Mccabe but also surround our team with another talented
defenseman in Wade Redden." said GM Derek Major.

Both Chris Pronger and Pavel Kubina were key players in the TFHL12 Hurricanes championship team and will undoubtedly be missed. Players throughout the team were stunned to learn of the change of the guard in Calgary. "Chris has been our leader for several seasons, its going to be a different atmosphere for sure. But I realize the business side of
things takes precedence sometimes." said Markus Naslund.

"We have a lot of depth in this organization. We expect all of the 5 guys we brought to our team today to contribute for many seasons. Today is an exciting day."

The Calgary Hurricanes have also announced that they will not name a new captain until the new season. Bryan Mccabe was added as an alternate captain along with existing alternate captains Markus Naslund and Shawn Bates.


Calgary Sun 2006

Apocolypse - PR

The Coquitlam Apocalypse weren't looking to shake up their team this
offseason, just add a little talent. And they did that when they signed
unrestricted free agent Peter Bondra. But when their financial
situation got tight due to a couple of generous offers on restricted
free agents Michael Tessier and Matt Ellison, GM James Sykes decided he
needed to create a little breathing room with the salary cap.
Considering GM Sykes was disappointed with Ellison's development and the
rumours that he was being shopped around last season, the former Rookie
of the Year was the obvious choice to be traded. Ellison was shipped
off to the Flames for R.J. Umberger, an exciting young playmaker Sykes
has had his eye on for some time.

"I felt secure enough in our goal scorers that I didn't think it would
hurt to trade for a set-up man who's not going to get many goals
himself." GM Sykes told a news conference yesterday.

The Apocalypse also held a mini training camp this week where GM Sykes
was impressed by the progress of a number of players, including
Umberger. "R.J.'s stick handling and skating are even better than I
expected, he really worked hard over the off season."

He also mentioned the progress of Michael Tessier and prospect Warburton
Pike but saved most of his praise for young goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
"We were amazed to see how far this kid has come in such a short time.
His speed and puck control have improved so much that he could be in the
pro line-up tomorrow."
But he won't be. The GM and coaching staff believe he's better off
developing a little more in the minors. "He's going to be a stellar
goalie in this league," head coach Terry Crisp said. "We don't want to
rush him into action and we're confident in the goaltending duo we have
right now with Jo [Jocelyn Thibault] and Wade [Dubielewicz]."

As far as more trading before the new season begins, GM Sykes had this
to say: "There's a little more fat I'd like to trim, but we're not
looking at anything major."
The fat that he's refering to is widely believed to be veterans who will
see little playing time due to the signing of Bondra and the emergence
of younger players, namely:

25 Niklas Sundstrom RW L OK 67 74 72 65 92 69 71 72 68 78 62 75 78 75
13 Dan Hinote RW R OK 96 71 69 53 74 68 71 59 58 78 63 53 50 72
44 Alexei Zhitnik D L OK 72 71 64 83 99 68 77 72 67 63 31 75 70 71
28 Chris Nielsen LW R OK 78 76 81 55 59 90 80 70 70 75 64 50 58 76

Third Time's a Charm

TFHL 15 was supposed to be the year of 3 championships in a row. It was
however another 3 that broke the Michigan team. The Achaeans did not let the
Michigan Pain embarrass them 3 years in a row. The undisputable team to beat
this year fell to a team that has fallin short of great expectations in
years past. The TFHL 15 season predictions discounted the Achaeans of TFHL
cup glory. So with young talent and little expectations they rose to the
ultimate glory; eliminating the burden of playoff failure.

The Michigan Pain offseason began alot sooner then most of players expected.
The sting of their first playoff loss since thear of the Hurricane does not
sit well with the players, fans and local sports meadia. The media and fans
are pointing fingers at Coach Wilson. Even though the top line was
unsuccessful in the first two games, averaging a plus/minus of -2, coach
Wilson stuck with his guns and limited Daze and Yashin's playing time. This
proved to be their fatal flaw.

GM Elliot had a few comments the past season, "It is a shame to have our
best regular season effort go to waste. Everything in the second round just
didn't go our way; it happens to the best of them from time to time.
Unfortunatly its back to business and I will need to make few tough changes.
As for the Achaeans, am I happy for them? You know not really because I now
see how it feels to know that we lost to the champs. With that said, I give
Butchart and the players all the credit in the world but I am still bitter
about the loss. However we will be back and in full force next season.
Redemption will be our word for the year.

Wheat Kings - PR

WHEAT KINGS OFF-SEASON PERSPECTIVE

After their spectacular late season collapse and early playoff dismissal by the eventual champions, the Achaeans, the Wheat Kings have a had a lot of things to think about and a lot of time to do it. The two benefits of the season have been that, first, it gave the young team another year to develop, and second, in calamity the various strengths and weaknesses of the team came to the fore. However, Kings GM Tyler Young has pledged that this year he will minimize the trades: "We have a plan to get what we need through the off-season, and then in all likely hood our opening day roster will remain intact throughout the season. Our team is pretty much set now, and if I learned anything this season, it's that if you force a trade you will only be decimated by it."

FORWARDS

A disappointing 2.76 GF after being amoung the league leaders in scoring the previous season, the Wheat Kings will likely be looking to find some help here over the off-season. One lesson learned, perhaps a little too harshly, is that the offence of the Kings is bound and chained to Dimitri Kazionov - when he scores, they do, when he doesn't, they don't: in the first half of the season with the Kings hovering around .700 while Kaz was on track to a record-breaking 68 goal season, in the second half he failed to carry through and only broke the 45 goal mark thanks to a late season surge. The deadline addition of Eric Staal and the development of Masi Marjamaki, Steve Bernier, Eric Fehr, and Josh Hennesy should all help the Kings next year. Niklas Bergfors was the highlight of the season: the 18-year old rookie racked-up 51 points in 64 games, a pace which would have put him second in rookie scoring had he played the whole year, yet after such a season the still quite young
Bergfors may find himself playing next season in the minors.

Likely changes: look for the Kings to try and pick-up one forward. Pavel Bure was not overly impressive in his tenure in Saskatoon and will likely be allowed to depart; the Kings have about 25 million dollars in cap room, so they will likely use that money to pull in a replacement for Bure/Guerin/Tkachuk.

DEFENCE

The Kings defence was somewhat re-shaped for this season - Dan Sprang and Karol Rachunek came in for Kim Johnsson and Martin Skoula. Both of them were solid and improvements over the former two, the real problem came to be with the play of the team's #4 d-man. At the beginning of the season TFHL14 Alka-Seltzer Trophy winner, Slava Suchy, was considered a safe bet and a defensive stalwart, but over the course of the year it became apparent that he was inadequate to play in the team's top 4 and was indeed comprimising the unit as a whole. A desperate search began for a decent fourth d-man, Brian Leetch and then Brian Rafalski were brought in and both were horrible. Matt Jones continued his development, albeit at a slightly slower pace than was hoped, towards becoming a legitimate elite defenceman in this league and an eventual Norris contender. Sprang is an interesting wildcard: he has the talent to wrack-up both points and at the same time prevent them, but only rarely s
howed glimpses of realizing that talent. Rachunek was a revelation with the Kings, arguably their best defenceman this year, he provided one stabilizing element on the back, when it was often in chaos.

Likely changes: If the Kings do anything this off-season, they must acquire a capable defenceman to play in their top four.

GOALTENDING

The Kings had one of the best tandems in the first half, one of the worst in the second half, and the blame for this collapse seems to have fallen on Ilja Bryzgalov. Immediately after the season the talk around Saskatoon was that, being as Bryzgalov was the Kings goalie of the future, Weekes was likely on his way out and the Kings would sign or trade for a veteran goalie. After his playoff showing Weekes earned the respect of the Kings management, which meant that Bryzgalov, whom the Kings paid grossly to bring into the fold, was on his way out. The Wheaties found an oppotunity to bring back long time Wheat King, one-team team MVP, and former Vezina winner, Roberto Luongo in exchange for Bryzgalov, giving the Kings likely their best goaltending tandem ever.

Likely changes: none, now.

PROSPECTS

The Kings have long used their draft picks for trade leverage, which has had the unfortunate effect of preventing them from stocking the cupboard. Despite their trade-induced deprivation, the Kings have had success drafting with what little they have had - their two first rounders, Steve Bernier and Nik Bergfors, are both solid pros and key components of the team even at their young age - a point coupled with the relative youth of their pro roster that relieves the general lack of talent in the system. No player is capable of stepping up now: Byron Bitz needs another year; Drew Stafford, Leo Tjay, Greg Moore, Jamie Howard and Erka Lepannen are more longterm projects.


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

TRADE POSSIBILITY

I don't really have a player to use my contract extension on, so if you have a player entering UFA I would be willing to give you some picks or something for him before you loose him. That way you get something instead of nothing.

AND...

Congratulation to Matthew, who has finally claimed the cup after years upon years of careful management and guidance. I should also thank him for winning, since it makes my first round loss to his eventual championship team bearable. The Achaeans were definately a sleeper this year, but a careful perusal of his roster and the little gems here and there shows the careful and quiet work which Matt has done in building his team into a Cup winner. So congrats again, and it looks like the top echelon of the Western Conference continues to get more crowded - sleeper no more.

PR - Achaeans

Against seemingly impossible odds (with Cloutier in goal), and when no one seemed to give them a chance, the Ayton Achaeans won the TFHL cup.
This was the first cup win for GM Matthew Butchart - who had to this point only made the finals once before in TFHL as the Stormtroopers in
TFHL 8.

The Achaeans were seeded 5th overall in the West, and were always the road team throughout the playoffs.  However, they never went past Game
6 in any of the series that they played in.

The Wheat Kings gave them their toughest challenge, taking 2 of the 6 games that they played against each other.  The Wheat Kings will most
definitely be a good team this season, assuming that they keep their roster together.

After defeating the Kings, the Achaeans had the unenviable task of playing against the extremely talented Pain team.  This seemed to many
as the end of their playoff run, since the Pain had knocked them off the past 2 seasons.  However, the Pain were knocked out of the
playoffs for the first time, ending their series winning streak at 9 and denying them their "Ultimate Hat Trick".

The Flames were next opponent.  The Flames had the Achaeans number all season, until now.  It appeared that both teams were feeling the
effect of the playoff season, but the Flames seemed to suffer more, losing 2 key players during series (one to a suspension in the series
against the Ice).  Due to this, the Flames were dispatched in 4 games, a result not fitting of a talented Flames team that surely was
disappointed with this result.

The Aces were the finalists of the Eastern Conference, and looked to be quite the force to be reckoned with. They had been getting terrific
goaltending from rookie sensation Barry Brust and Tim Brent had been playing fantastic leading into the series.  Due to the length of the
playoffs, both teams were forced into using their backup goaltenders for fear of injury to either Cloutier (who finally won something for
someone) and Brust.  In the battle of the backups, J.S. Aubin clearly won over Milan Hnlinka.  This turned the tide in the series, and the
Achaeans were able to take the next 4 straight games in a series that appeared to be a battle of eventual attrition.

For the Achaeans, Elias played outstanding and should be considered for the Conn Smyth.  He led the team in scoring, and was consistently
named as one of the three stars throughout the playoffs.

Sophomore LW and 2 time! Lady Byng winner Gregory Campbell also had a terrific post season, picking up where he left off during the regular
season.  Big things are expected from this man for years to come.

Craig MacDonald, viewed as a mistake in Ayton as a preseason RFA pickup, played a very impressive post season.  The Achaeans were
forced into giving up their 1st round pick this upcoming draft, but it appears that the gamble played off when it really counted.

Rookie Alexander Ovechkin, who will be a rookie next season, looks to be a future force as well, as he posted great numbers during the post
season.

The best surprise came from Clark Wilm in the final game of the season.  He may have only played 5 minutes, but these were arguably the greatest 5 minutes in the history of hockey.  He scored his first goal of the post season, short handed to put the Achaeans up 3-0 at
the time.  After the Aces had tied the game up, Wilm scored his second goal of the game, on the power play in overtime.  While he was -1, he scored these 2 goals on 3 shots,  and had a hit to boot.  All he needed was a regular strength goal for one of those rare cycle hat
tricks.

Ok, enough gloating about my team.  I barely finished above .500 in the regular season, so now everyone will get a nice fuzzy feeling when they beat me this year.  I'm looking forward to this season, and hopefully making the playoffs.

Matthew - I have no fancy pictures, since I lack the time and effort to find and doctor them like some have in the past.

Round 3 Predictions - by Tyler Young

Round 3 Predictions

Boy oh boy! man oh man! Well the Achaeans toppled the seemingly impenetrable citadel of Pain - no doubt it involved a wooden horse or something - and now the odyssey begins! With the Prez cupped 'Canes also taking an early trip to the links, the playoffs having suddenly become the most open I can remember since the old timey TFHL.

Spirit vs Aces

Two solid clubs which faced off in the first round of last year's playoffs. I picked the Aces back then to wallop the Spirit, and the Spirit ended-up taking it in five. Both of these teams have a good combination of youth and veterans - the Spirit's seventh game, overtime, series winning goal was potted by their fourth overall pick of a couple years ago, Dion Pheneuf, assisted by their other top 10 pick of that draft, Zach Parise; while the Aces are being capably powered by youngster Tim Brent. The Aces real trump card though is the potent Pavel Demitra. Despite winning, Barry Brust has been a liability, and the Aces have had an easier trip to the conference finals, while the Spirit have had to knock-off the top two teams in the conference to get there. Lalime is playing well and as long as the rest of the Spirit keep their Geist up, this should be theirs. Spirit in six.


Achaeans vs Flames

Well, imagine my pleasure at seeing the Achaeans knock-off the Pain - it's always a good thing when the team which beat you keeps the show going. That being said, the Achaeans will have a heck of a challenge in getting by the Flames: Jose Theodore, acquired mid-season from the Blades for a thank you card, is playing incredible and, besides Jose, the Flames are firing on all cylinders - with such going on they ought to be a safe bet to win it all. However, I'm going to take a flyer here and put my money on the Achaeans: they aren't exactly Achilles, indeed the Flames have a few sons of Pellas while the Achaeans are stuck with your average, run-of-the-mill type heroes, but sometimes you just have to cheer for the seeming underdog. Besides you don't knock-off the Pain with peanuts. Achaeans in seven.

Aces - PR

Aces Prepare for Conference Final
By: Phil Erup, Chepstow Times

After stumbling into the playoffs following a lackluster second half of the season, many are surprised that the Aces are still around to contend for the Conference title. And to make things more interesting, the Aces will meet the arch rival Spirit who eliminated the Aces in round 1 of last year's playoffs.

Coming off a big game 7 win against the heavily favoured Hurricanes in round 2, the Aces are going to have to expect the Spirit to come out firing on all cylinders in game 1. The Aces have the luxury of having a rested team, but with that rest comes the onus of having to regain the momentum gained when they sent the Clubbers golfing in 5 games.

The Spirit have made it this far with the stellar play of netminder Patrick Lalime, while the Aces have managed to win in spite of the below average performance of their rookie goaltender, Barry Brust. Can the Aces win? It will all depend on what happens between the pipes. If Barry Brust can get back to his heroic regular season form, and if the Aces' snipers can find a way to solve Lalime, then yes. If not, the Aces are screwed I'm afraid.

CHANGING OF THE GUARD

On another note, one thing is for sure in the TFHL this season, and that is that with the Pain and Hurricanes defeated, Season 15 will crown a first time cup winner. Giddy Up!

PR - Round 2 Predictions, by Tyler Young

Round 2 Predictions

Considering I at least got the right team in more than half of the round 1 series, I guess I ought to continue this daunting challenge with a look at yeat another round of playoffs (which are all rather time consuming, shouldn't we just give the cup to the Pain and get on with the off-season? ;))

Spirit vs Hurricanes

The two old time GMs will now go at it with the Prez Cup Canes taking on another late season surger. This should be a very good series, a lot of talent, a lot of cheap shots, but not a lot of excitement - like watching any NHL Eastern conference series. The Spirit, piloted by the respectable Patrick Lalime will likely take this series unless the Canes' power hitters run rampant. Spirit in seven.

Clubbers vs Aces

Both of these teams fooled me in the first round, winning against younger clubs. I liked the Aces once upon a time until they were decimated by the Spirit in the first round of last year, but their last round kind-of brought me back into the fold. The Clubbers are a good, sold, all-around club, lead by a king, but the Aces have five Jacks and an Ace up their sleeve. Aces in six.

Achaeans vs Pain

Well, having suffered the wrath of the Achaeans I ough to hope they will spread a little more pain and k.o. the two-time defending champ... not likely though, Pain in six.

Ice vs Flames

Fire and ice, hot and cold, opposites perhaps, but they are both rather dry - the masters of ho-hum, the Ice, take on the errant erratics, Flames. The problem here is if I say the Ice will win in seven, the Flames will walk over the Ice in four; if I say the Flames will walk over the Ice in four, the Ice will triumph over the Flames in seven - so who do I like more? hehe, perhaps I should entertain bribes... Flames in four.

PR - Wheat Kings

Wheat Kings Season Review (Sept 1)

The Wheat Kings season can best be summed-up in one word: cursed. Despite making the playoffs, finishing fourth in their conference, fifth in the league, nothing went well for the Kings this year: standing on top of the league at the mid-point the Kings played below .500 hockey for the last part of the season and lost a lot of ground, over half their roster finished on the negative side of +/-, their goaltending tandem of Kevin Weekes and Ilja Bryzgalov collapsed in the most epic fashion and have left a most troubling question as to the competive future of the Kings, but perhaps most hurtful of all has been their bad fortune in trades - time and again the Kings would send-off a player playing well below his ability only to see that below suddenly come alive with his new time and perform beyond all possible expectations: Scott Hartnell, Martin Cibak, Andre Kostitsyn. This only compounded the pain being felt by the Kings as their own players were almost all to the man playin
g below their ability, the only player that in any way surpassed expectations was eighteen year-old Niklas Bergfors. Bergfors, the Kings first round selection (12th overall) in the last draft, was not expected to make pro, but because of his solid play ended-up playing sixty-four games and earning fifty-one points, at which ppg over the course of the full season he would have been at the top of the rookie-scorers and a very worthy Calder candidate.

Other than Bergfors though this season was a terrible disappointment to the Wheat Kings and GM Tyler Young recently went on record stating that he will try to make some significant changes over the course of the off-season. Free agency would be the most immediate option and with only about twelve million dollars tied-up for next year the Kings could definately throw their weight around there; GM Young also stated that trades are also possible with no King being untouchable, although core-players such as Dimitri Kazionov, Stever Bernier, Nik Bergfors, and Matt Jones would likely be somewhat more difficult to attain.

"We'll have to see what happens in the playoffs," Mr. Young said, "but after our last forty games I'm not expecting much. So yeah, expect a major overhaul: we will need to work on all our positions, defence - maybe deal one or two of our guys and bring in some other guys - forwards need some work, I'll see if I can do anything as far as trades, but we will need to add at least one more player - and goal, we need to pick-up a veteran, talented goalie so we have someone we can rely on."

TFHL15: Play-Off Preview - By Tyler Young

EASTERN CONFERENCE

Rednex vs. Hurricanes

The biggest question of course is the sustainability of the 'Canes. Like the Wheat Kings last year the Hurricanes this year benefited from an incomprehensible rocket ride to the President's Trophy and like the Kings they may not have the muscle to hold their ground. On paper there is not a lot of difference between the two teams and this series could be a tight one, however the Canes do have the advantage of a long history of making it through at least the first round and have the grit to make it through this series, so expect them to at least limp through to the next round. Canes in six.

Spirit vs. Owls

The Owls are a worthy team, composed of a fair degree of skill and depth, which is enough to get you second in the East. The Spirit, like the Rednex, were Eastern surprise bottom dwellers at the mid-point and managed to climb into the playoffs over the course of the second half. Early season predictions had the Spirit among the cream of the conference and their team is still the same unit as then, so Owls beware! The second half is the real indicator of the spirit of, well, umm, the Spirit. Spirit in five.

Bobcats vs. Aces

GM Glenn Merkir did some interesting maneouvres over the course of the season, attempting to position his team among at the top of the East. His roster is definately solid now, but the question which needs to be answered is whether this squad has enough time to develop into a team? The Aces sort of stumbled in the second half of the season after a solid first half. The team is overall quite decent, but doesn't really have the 'it' needed to take it to the next level and Barry Brust may need some time before he can sing baritone and take this team into the deep play-ifs. Cats in seven.

Clubbers vs Saints

The Saints are looking good, especially after a series of well-healed moves and fortunate developements. They have a young squadron and (finally) a more-than-less reliable goalie in Roberto Luongo. Luongo, however, has a history of playoffs flops, while on the other hand the Saints have a long history of playoff upsets. The Clubbers are a solid club lead by superstar Jarome Iginla, but are somewhat questionable in goal. This series will be an interesting competition between two very well built clubs - the Saints are young and looking to prove themselves, the Clubbers are a team in their prime and looking to cash-in on their current state, going to be fun to watch! Saints in seven.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Renegades vs Pain

The Renegades played a solid season of hockey and were one of the surprises of the year, no doubt earning respect around the league. Tommy Salo, once much maligned, finally had the type of season which more than one GM has hoped and expected to get from him, pulling the Renegades into the playoffs. That being said, it would be easy enough in this situation to say that they have done themselves well and should just pack-up and go home, but they will no doubt stick around and hope for a few lucky bounces: they face-off against the TFHL powerhouse Pain, a team built for playoff supremacy and with fourth-liners twenty-three GMs in this league should envy. Pain in five.

Blackhawks vs Flames

The Flame recouped from an aweful season last year and finally did well for themselves, rising to second by playing consistent six hundred hockey while the Kings and Ice fell with late season slumps. That being said, it may not have been much of a reward in the end, for their consistency they draw perenial playoff pests the Hawks, a team which could well snuff the Flames. On paper this series will be a battle of goalies, Khabibulan and Theodore, but in reality this series will be a fight between the heart of the scrappy Hawks and the skill of the languid Flames. Hawks in seven.

Raiders vs Ice

Well the Ice certainly surprised us this season, dealing away their secret to playoff success, Martin Biron, plus their prime sniper Simon Gagne to the Bobcats in return for some interesting variables, none of which though can currently fill those two players sizable gaps - a fact demonstrated by the last twenty or so games of the season. The Raiders on the other hand played a solid season, carried by the impressive Evgeny Nabokov. However, Nabo is already tired from a long season (refreshed he could take the Ice), but as he is and given the long history of the Ice managing to win despite the odds, this series should be carried by the Ice. Ice in six.

Achaeans vs Wheat Kings

The Kings had a tragic season worthy of Homer, while the Achaeans are in transition with some solid youth in position to take over from the veterans. This series is going to be all about perplexity: both of these teams are legitimate contenders, but also legitimate losers - it all depends on what team shows up, especially in the case of the Kings. If you want to get the true jist of this series just look in net: the Achaeans have Dan Cloutier, never overly capable, but back in the Achaean's day he was by no means an impediment to the power of the Achaean onslaught; at the mid-point of this season the Wheatie's tandem of Kevin Weekes and Ilja Bryzgalov were atop the league in every significant statistic, nary a puck squeezed its way past them, but then in the last forty games both Weekes and Bryzgalov were as easy as bribing a Liberal, and the Kings had no chance of victory with the two of them in net. Hence this series is a mystery and who really knows what will happen, b
ut the Achaeans are the more reliable pick. Achaeans in six.

PR - Bobcats

CP - After the Bobcats first year disappointment of not making the playoffs, the team strived forward in the next years offseason bolstering the teams depth with some key acquisitions. After a TFHL15 season that saw a dominant team away from the friendly confines of "The Cage" and a disappointing performance at home, the Bobcats go into there first playoffs under the management of Glenn Merkir the under dog which may prove to be a blessing in disguise. The Bobcats first round match up are the powerful Aces lead by the solid goaltending of Barry Brust and solid players like Demitra, Roenick and Pallfy the Aces not only have a solid team all around but the experience needed in the playoffs. When GM Glenn Merkir was asked what he thought his team needed to do in order to move onto the next round of the playoffs he replied "Bottom line is we need all lines firing on all cylinders and solid goaltending the Bobcats have come accustomed to from Marty Biron. Its the teams chemistry that got us here and its up to those guys in the dressing room to win this as a team!!!". Big words coming from a rookie GM that seems to have all the confidence in the world in his coach, his players his TEAM!!

PR - Pain

Michigan Looking for the Ultimate Hatrick

The Pain enter this years playoffs in hopes of an unprecedented third championship in as many years. The team has never finished the regular season on top of the Western Conference. This must be of most horrofic concern for any unlucky team to face the Offensive Terror of the Michigan Pain. Never before have they been so powerful. With the aquistions of Roman and Guerin, the Pain have added depth and security heading into the playoffs. Although the Pain are feared by all who enter their house, the Pain are not unbeatable. Michigan lost first line D-man Nolan Yonkman for the entire playoffs. The depth on D comes in very handy but it will still be
hard to replace Nolan. Another concern for the Pain was the lack luster of effort after the all-star game. The team slumped out of first only to regain its composure for the final stretch. Although the players shy away from stating they lost the President's trophy race on their own accord, they must feel as though it is their own fault. The Pain only needed to cruise through the final stretch but they let teams like the Ice and Hurricanes back into the race. However the playoffs is where the Pain shine. They have proven that the playoffs is a whole new season; they start their quest for the grail tonight.

PAIN vs. RENEGADES

The Renegades have been quite the hang nail to the Michigan Pain in the regular season. The Renegades seem to match up against the previous champions very well. They are not full of superstars but they play as a team which can produce great chemistry. The Pain will be gunz a blazin in hopes to smuther the Gades quickly.

Michigan Press

PR - Blackhawks

Blackhawks Ready for Battle!

Well its that time of year again...Playoffs!! The Blackhawks have suprised yet again and have staked their place in the post season against another formidable foe... in fact its against their bitter division rivals...the Flames.

The two teams split their season series 3-3 with the Flames narrowly outscoring the Hawks 13-12. It would appear that it will once again come down to goaltending and the major question remains: "can Khabbibulin return to his playoff form of 3 seasons ago when he led the 8th seeded Hawks to the cup finals?".

Lets not forget to mention the abundance of talent on this Flames roster which greatly over powers the Hawks. The Blackhawks will have to rely on their gritty play to shut down the snipers on the loose in Atlanta. Not only that but the Hawks traded away two of their top playoff performers at the deadline. Lindros and Fedorov's numbers will greatly be missed for as long as the Hawks can survive in the post season. All these questions remain to be unanswered as this tale of David vs. Goliath begins to unfold.

The strong play of newly acquired centreman Jason Williams has been a welcomed suprise in Chicago and it will be needed ten-fold during the playoffs. Blackhawk coach Brian Sutter says the work ethic of this team is second to none and it will be the deciding factor in whether or not they advance. "No one can question why we are in the playoffs again....Yet again they told us we wouldn't be here but here we are. We have to come out every night and prove again and again why we are here. We aren't going to lay down and let them take this easily. If they want to move on, they're going to have to want it more than us and I'm telling you that isn't going to be an easy task."

Its shaping up to be an exciting series and as we all know, anything can happen in the TFHL playoffs. The action begins tomorrow in Atlanta. GO HAWKS GO!!!

The Blackhawk Reporter --- August 30th, 2005

PR - Spirit

Guelph Spirit rev up for Playoffs

Another regular season is in the books and the Guelph Spirit are counting their lucky stars to be in the playoffs. The first two-thirds of the season were terrible for the Spirit. After 62 games they had only 48 points and were playing .387 hockey. Their starting goalie, Patrick Lalime, had been traded to the Saints for Martin Brodeur, and then re-acquired for Brodeur later in the season. They had suffered through stretches of no wins for 10 games and another of one win in 9 games.

But then something happened. No one's quite sure what, but it was big. "If I knew what I did," says GM Warren Goodlet, "I'd bottle it and make millions. Instead I run a fantasy hockey team. I think that says something."

What happened was, the Spirit turned their entire season around. They beat the Renegades, then the Sioux, then reeled of six more consecutive wins. They acquired David Turon on defence and cashed in some younger chips for UFA-to-be Eric Lindros. His arrival sparked another five game winning streak, and then a five game undefeated streak to lead the Spirit to seventh place. Over the last 26 games, the Spirit are 19-6-1, good for a .750 winning percentage. They have scored the fifth most amount of goals in the league (fourth best among teams in the playoffs).

The Spirit will open the playoffs on the road against the Owls. The Spirit won the season series 4-2 against the Owls, outscoring them 23-20. No one should be taking the Spirit lightly, but it's still possible the team from the first half will show up.

"We've been a weird team all year," stated winger Marian Hossa, one of three 40-goal scorers on the team. "Consistently inconsistent. The last three weeks have been great though. It's been really fun coming to the rink. And I must admit, even though I thought Lindros was a total jackass pansy who I'd never want to play with, he's been good for us. He hasn't been afraid to drop the gloves and he's pumped in a ton of points (17 points in 15 games)."

"We're ready for the war of the playoffs," assured gap-toothed defenceman Dion Phaneuf, proud winner of this year's Dave Schultz trophy for most PIM. "No one's coming around our net without paying the price."

An exciting first round matchup is up next - ain't playoff hockey great?

TFHL Award Nominees

Regular Season Award Nominees

Following is nominations for reg.season award voting. Please send your votes in to me by the end of the week. Also is the list of the automatic winners for awards. I'll be away throughtout this week so goodluck in your first couple games, and forgive me if I miss some of your e-mails until the weekend or so.

Thanks,
Geoffrey Young

The following trophies will be awarded based on voting by franchise gm's and coaches

at the end of the season. The nominations are:



- Hart Trophy (League MVP)
Todd Bertuzzi (Rednexs)
Peter Forsberg (Patriots)
Barry Tallackson (Pain)

- Lady Byng Trophy (Sportsmanship)
Gregory Campbell (Achaeans)
Nicklas Lidstrom (Ice)
Jaromir Jagr (Bobcats)

- Norris Trophy (Top Defenseman)
Nicklas Lidstrom (Ice)
Mikko Kalteva (Spirit)
Sergei Gonchar (Blades)

- Calder Trophy (Top Rookie)
Marc Pouliot (Patriots)
Chuck Kobasew (Saints)
Tim Brent (Aces)

- Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender)
Jose Theodore (Flames)
Evgeni Nabakov (Raiders)
Brian Boucher (Hurricanes)

- Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward)
Adam Henrich (Raiders)
Petr Dvorak (Flames)
Scottie Upshall (Ice)

- Executive Trophy (Top GM)
Patrick Amantea (Flames)
Glenn Mirkir (Bobcats)
Geoff Elliot (Pain)
Derek Major (Hurricanes)

- Jack Adams (Top Coach)
Craig McTavish (Hurricanes)
Ron Wilson (Pain)
Bob Hartley (Ice)

- Press Release Award (Best Pr of the Year)
Derek Major (Hurricanes)
Tyler Young (Wheat Kings)
Geoff Elliot (Pain)
Patrick Amantea (Flames)


The following trophies are awarded based on season stats :


- Rocket Richard Trophy (Most Goals in a Season)
T.BERTUZZI (Red)

- Art Ross Trophy (Most Points in a Season)
T.BERTUZZI(Red)

- William Jennings Trophy (Lowest Goal Against Average)
J.THEODORE (Fla)

- Alka Seltzer Trophy (Best Plus/Minus)
T.NELSON (Ice)

- President Trophy (Best team in the regular season)
Calgary Hurricanes

- Dave Schultz Trophy (Most PIM)
D.PHANEUF (Spi)

- Chepstow Cup (Most Improved team from last Season)
Flames (29 pts)

PR - Hurricanes

HURRICANES PREPARE FOR ROUND 1 VERSUS THE REDNEXS

The Calgary Hurricanes have propelled themselves back to the top of the TFHL. Capturing the President's Trophy and now looking forward to taking on the 8th seed Rednexs.

SEASON IN REVIEW
The Hurricanes struggled early on in the season. The goaltending was weak and defense lagged even with newly acquired Bryan Mccabe. Quickly goaltender Pascal Leclaire and veteran Bill Guerin were quickly moved out to the Western conference, which then saw Brian Boucher, Martin Cibak and Brian Campbell join the Hurricanes.

FORWARDS
This season's line up for the Hurricanes contains the greatest scoring punch the franchise has ever possessed. Markus Naslund provided 105 points after starting the season on a low end. His linemates in Shawn Bates and Alexandre Svitov tallied 87 points and 79 points respestively. The second line, which could substitute as a first line on many teams saw Brendan Morrison, Jason King and Martin Cibak score 86 points, 76 points and 61 points respectively. 20-year-old sensation Alexandre Svitov finished the season with 45 goals, which was best for
the Hurricanes.

DEFENSE
Bryan Mccabe took him the award as the best Hurricane defenseman as his consistant play throughout the season helped the Hurricanes rejuvenate. Captain Chris Pronger stepped up to the plate at the All-Star break and quickly became one of the league's best defensemen once again. Mccabe finished the season with 62 points while Pronger finished with 57 points. Other notables included Pavel Kubina with 43 points and Brian Campbell finishing the season +19.

GOAL
Critics will all agree, the Hurricanes would not be successful without the sensational goaltending of veteran Brian Boucher. Boucher, who should receive nods for the Vezina Trophy, compiled a 55-17-4 record while being arguably the best goaltender in the TFHL. His 2.63 goals against average and even tallying 13 assists made him among the leaders in statistics for the TFHL.

UP NEXT....The Rednexs

The Hurricanes will be taking on the Rednexs and the top two scorers in the TFHL, Todd Bertuzzi and Alexei Kovalev. The key to beating the Rednexs will be to contain these two players as the Rednexs struggled to make it to the playoffs this season. The Hurricanes high octane scoring machine should be able to take down the weak Rednex defense while countering their own defensive style with goaltender Boucher and defensemen Chris Pronger, Bryan McCabe and Brian Campbell.

Calgary Sun 2005

PR - Hurricanes

HURRICANES CAPTURE PRESIDENT'S TROPHY WITH A 6-1 WIN OVER THE RENEGADES

The fans of the Calgary Hurricanes gave a standing ovation for their team after a 6 - 1 thumping of the 8th seed Western Conference team. Markus Naslund was the typical Markus Naslund as he scored 2 goals. Goaltender Brian Boucher continued his miracle season by stunning the opposition.

Brian Boucher, one of the strongest candidates for the Vezina Trophy has one of the best GAA's while also being goaltender with the most wins in the entire TFHL at 55 wins. The next closest goaltender sits at only 43 wins, which is J.S. Giguere of the Michigan Pain.

"There is no doubt that Brian is one of the key reasons this club did so well down the stretch. Since the first day you came to our team we have been unbelievable. It makes a big difference when you have this much confidence in your goalie." said Assistant Captain Shawn Bates.

On the backend, Chris Pronger and Bryan Mccabe solidied themselves as a top duo in the TFHL. The defense core for the Hurricanes is quite deep with other notables including Brian Campbell, Pavel Kubina and Richard Matvichuk.

Up front, the Hurricanes, who in the past have been noted as a one-line team now have two forceful lines. The top line combination of Shawn Bates, Alexandre Svitov and Markus Naslund have excelerated like before but now the addition of Brendan Morrison, Jason King and Martin Cibak on the 2nd line has been incredible. The Hurricanes top scorers are all young including Svitov at 20 years old, King at 23 years old and Cibak at 25 years of age. The veterans of Morrison (30), Naslund (32) and Bates (30) have proven to be a group of strong leaders for the youngsters.

On the farm, it appeared the farm team went from being a contender for the TFFHL Cup and then slid down the standings right when the parent club began to excel. Although bright notables include goaltender Peter Budaj, who continues to develop, as well as forwards Alexandre Sundstrom and Martin Karsums. On defense both Ryan Parent and Frank Redliker
continued to improve. It's expected Parent will be able to develop into a top-four defenseman in a couple of seasons.

With the seeds pretty much defined for the playoffs, the Hurricanes will find out later today whether or not they will be playing the Rednexs or Marauders in the first round of the TFHL playoffs. Keep an eye out for the Hurricanes post-season report prior to the playoffs.

Calgary Sun 2005