Date: Thu, 07 Mar 1996 17:21:07 -0800 Subject: WHL: WHL Weekly Hello and welcome to the first edition of the WHL Weekly, the new Web-azine that will be mailed weekly to all WHL owners. WHL Weekly In this issue: 1. WHL Board of Directors 2. Races and Rivalries 3. Midseason Picks 4. Player of the Week 5. Team of the Week 6. Commisioner's Report 1. WHL Board of Directors Wednesday, March 6, the WHL Board of Directors was formed. The formation of the Board of Directors is a giant step in insuring the popularity and well-being of the WHL. I now present to you the WHL Board of Directors: TITLE NAME Chairperson: Shaun Driver External Director: Todd Henry Promotions Director: Dave Shumka Financial Director: Lorne Clark Internal Director: Michael Hebert Player Personnel Director: Lee McEwen Assistant Financial Director: Drew Anderson Publications Director: Andreas Larsson These owners were chosen by Shaun Driver to help him with the upkeep of the league, possible rule changes, etc. We have ammended some of the rules already and we will probably change the playoff format from the top four teams in the division to the top eight teams from each conference. We will also be implementing a money system, but some kinks have to be worked out. One thing is for certain: Participation in the league will be very benificial. 2. Playoff Race (under the new top 8 team format) WALES Conference GP W L T GF GA PTS PCT LAST 10 BANGERS 44 27 12 5 194 161 59 .670 3-6-1 MONARCHS 43 26 12 5 175 131 57 .662 5-4-1 WARRIORS 44 25 14 5 182 163 55 .625 5-5-0 LUNATICS 42 23 14 5 157 139 51 .607 6-3-1 GRUNTS 44 23 16 5 156 139 51 .579 4-4-2 MALLRATS 44 23 17 4 152 142 50 .568 3-5-2 ICETASY 41 23 16 2 160 138 48 .585 6-4-0 AGENTS 43 19 21 3 155 145 41 .476 4-4-2 GANGSTAZ 35 18 13 4 121 120 40 .571 6-3-1 HITMEN 44 18 22 4 153 149 40 .454 3-5-2 RAPTORS 44 15 23 6 141 167 36 .409 3-4-3 SPARROWS 41 11 23 7 107 145 29 .353 2-3-5 Well, it is quite a race for first place between the Bangers, the Monarchs, the Warriors and, well, the top six teams all have a shot at it. This is gonna be one hell of a ride. There is no guarantee that the standings will look like this, in fact I guarantee they won't. The Gangstaz have nine games in hand compared to most of the teams, they may surprise some people. They may even come in fourth and get home-ice advantage. All the teams have a chance to make the playoffs except the Sparrows who may have a first overall draft pick to look forward to. CAMPBELL Conference GP W L T GF GA PTS PCT LAST 10 HUSKIES 44 26 16 2 164 135 54 .613 6-4-0 RAPIDS 44 23 18 3 165 149 49 .556 6-2-2 GOALPOST 41 19 18 4 146 140 42 .512 5-4-1 VIKINGS 37 18 15 4 132 115 40 .540 5-4-1 WOLFPACK 41 19 20 2 121 133 40 .487 2-8-0 VOODOO 44 16 24 4 136 156 36 .409 3-4-3 DRIZZLE 40 15 21 4 140 148 34 .425 5-3-2 QUAKERS 44 15 26 3 142 172 33 .375 5-5-0 MUSTANGS 41 15 24 2 130 144 32 .390 5-5-0 KODIAKS 36 13 19 4 137 147 30 .416 4-4-2 BLIZZARD 39 13 22 4 125 149 30 .384 4-6-0 FURY 42 12 24 6 121 155 30 .357 4-5-1 There are so many races in this conference and every team has a shot. The Huskies should have first place wrapped up, but there is plenty of time for changes and the Rapids might make a run. The Goalpost, the Vikings, the Wolfpack, the Voodoo, the Drizzle and the Quakers are all looking to get third or fourth place in the conference, but some of those teams may not make the playoffs. Only six points separate the twelfth and sixth teams. This is far from decided. 3. Midseason Picks Well, we're a little more than halfway through this inaugural WHL season, and the end of this year's campaign is almost in sight, soooo it seems like a great time to check out the front runners in the trophy department. Hart Trophy: Take a wild guess. That's right, Sergei Fedorov of the Bangers. He has been absolutely dominant this season. At this point (44 games in) he leads the league in points with 72. The closest anyone else comes to this is 57 points, that's a 15 point margin. Wow! He's in a five-way tie for second in goals with 29, and leads the league with 43 assists. He also leads in short-handed goals, shots and plus/minus. Runners-up: Alexei Zhamnov of the Vikings and Eric Lindros of thr Mallrats. Norris Trophy: Well, this one is not so obvious. I would have to give the nod to Larry Murphy of the Bangers. He leads the league's defensemen with 49 points and a plus/minus of 32. Runners-up: Al MacInnis of the Monarchs, Paul Coffey of the Huskies, and Steve Duchesne of the Icetasy. Vezina Trophy: This would be a toss-up, but we would need an eleven-sided coin. Mike Vernon of the Monarchs, Patrick Roy of the Vikings, John Vanbiesbrouck of the Agents, Bill Ranford of the Bangers, Dominik Hasek of the Hitmen, Mike Richter of the Drizzle, Ed Belfour of the Mustangs, Jim Carey of the Rapids, Trevor Kidd of the Mallrats, Kay Whitmore of the Icetasy, and Guy Hebert of the Blizzard. This may end up being between Vanbiesbrouck, Vernon, Kidd, and Roy. Selke Trophy: Fedorov. Leads the league in plus/minus and short-handed goals. He's a great two-way player. Runners-up: None, Fedorov is truly in a league of his own. Jack Adams Award: Kevin G. Nash and Charlie Crewe of the Bangers, Andreas Larsson of the Monarchs, Dave Jensen of the Grunts, Shaun Driver of the Huskies, Jason Stumpf of the Lunatics, Jeff MacDonald of the Warriors are all choices. This is tough to call. Executive Trophy: Kevin G. Nash and Charlie Crewe of the Bangers and Andreas Larsson of the Monarchs are probably the front runners for this award. I'm gonna have to lean towards Larsson on this one. The Monarchs have caught the once untouchable Bangers due to moves Larsson has made, yes this european style of hockey seems to be working. Art Ross Trophy: Fedorov. I might as well glue my fingers to the F, E, D, O, R, and V keys of my keyboard. 72 points. Wow. Jennings Trophy: Mike Vernon, 2.98 GAA. Alka Seltzer Trophy: Fedorov... again, +34. Lester Pearson Trophy: Aaaagh. FEDOROV!!!! Lady Byng, Calder, Masterson, Bud Light Man of the Year, and King Clancy are all very hard to call. You decide. 4. Player of the Week(Feb. 29 - Mar. 6) The Player of the Week is Mike Ridley of the Rapids. He had 4 goals, and 6 assists for a total of 10 points. But, this week was an interesting one, the most interesting parts come from the "Blast From the Past" department. The two runners-up for the Player of the Week award are Jari Kurri of the Drizzle and Mats Naslund of the Monarchs. That's right, two of my favorite Europeans from the eighties. I'm sure all the owners are ligning up to sign Hakan Loob. 5. Team of the Week(Feb. 29 - Mar. 6) There were three really dominant teams this week. The Warriors had 8 points in 6 games (.667), and the Lunatics earned 7 points in 5 games (.700), but the most dominant team was the Rapids who had 9 points in 6 games (.750) giving them the distinction of the Team of the Week. Way to go, guys!! 6. Commissioner's Boring Bureaucratic Update SASKATOON (CP)- The Head Office of the Web Hockey League has been busing with action with secretaries constantly sending out phone calls and GM's constantly contacting the office to discover what's going on for the rest of the league and for the future. One may think with the amount to action that has been taking place that the Web Hockey League was considering folding but as I discovered not some two hours ago the Web Hockey League is growing... and quickly. The commissioner stated in a comment to clear the air, "I am determined to make the Web Hockey League the most efficient, well-maintained, and most importantly exciting hockey league on the net. The Web Hockey League will ROCK!" The league has been planning to grow not by adding more teams but by ensuring the quality of the league is ensured. The first step in the process was by creating a Board of Directors, from 7 General Managers in the league. Each Director was specifically in charge of the development of a Web-azine which has so been titled as the WHL Weekly. The directors each have a major goal that will be soon undertaken but more growth will occur after the WHL Owner's Manual has been revamped to incorporate the rules that the GM's want to see. The new manual will be introduced to the league in about a week and it will include such radical changes as: player contracts, arena costs, business contributions, and ticket sales...GUARANTEED to make the league more interesting. The odd GM have complained that the league should simply allow the simulator to do its job and nothing more but Shaun Driver commented on that idea by saying, "It seems that every league on the net is simply using the simulator and, frankly, its boring. If they want to be a part of a league like that then they can move their team when the season is over BUT for those who stay they will welcomed into the WHL with open arms and will be introduced to the most interactive, informative, interesting, and entertaining league in all the net. In short, the Web Hockey League will ROCK!" In other news the Commissioner stated that with the growth of the league the office in Saskatoon is getting too cramped. So as the month of June rolls around the league will see the office move to Calgary, Alberta (in other words I'm moving). The league will be closed down, for hopefully no longer than a week or two to allow an internet account to be set up in Calgary but hopefully the league will be in the off-season by then so the league will not be hurt by the move. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE HUSKIES HOWL SASKATOON (CP)- The Huskies' after some outstaning trades and excellent management from Shaun Driver have quickly developed into the best team in the Campbell conference and when asked about it GM Shaun Driver had just one thing to say, "The Wolfpack were starting to think that they we're god's gift to the Web Hockey League but as of late have found there proper home in the dog pound. The Battle of the Dogs is no longer prominent in the Norris Division and maybe the team should do a serious gut-check because Huskies don't back down and will simply shread the Wolves to pieces. After all, "Who needs a slogan when their team is"...as good as MINE! (Dave Shumka, signature)