WHL WEEKLY : Season Edition, Season 2, First Issue In this issue, 1. WHL News 2. Wolfpack Announcement 3. Web Hockey League Awards 4. Retired Players 5. Rerated Players 6. Dead Players 7. Special Thanks 1. WHL News After one season, the league officials feel there is a need for new division settings. Here are the proposed new divisions: Adams Division Boston Agent Orange Chicoutimi Sparrows (from Patrick) Hermitage Bangers Kingston Corinthians St. John's Grunts Struer Norsemen (from Norris) Patrick Division Hamilton Hitmen Milton Mustangs (from Norris) Oakville Blades Walkerton Breakers (from Norris) Waterloo Lunatics Waterloo Warriors Norris Division Albany Mallrats (from Adams) Houghton Icetasy (from Patrick) Kalamazoo Kazoos Minneapolis Monarchs (from Adams) New York Kodiaks Pittsburgh Quakers Smythe Division Bridge City Huskies (from Norris) Des Moines Dominators Edmonton Vikings Fort Saskatchewan Fury Vancouver Voodoo Whitehorse Rapids In total, 8 teams would be changing divisions. The changes are proposed first to equilibrate the divisions, and also to restore the geographical repartition of the teams. 2. Wolfpack Announcement The Wolfpack have annouced that they are backing up the gear and moving North. They have just purchased a new stadium in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Talks are underway with the city, team and league officials as to whether they will be changing their name from the Wolfpack. Rumor has it that they will be named the Kalamazoo Krashers. But this could not be confirmed at press time. The Wolfpack are no more. Due to poor attendance last year at home the Wolfpack have moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan. They will be renamed the Kalamazoo Kazoo's. 3. Web Hockey League Awards - James Norris Trophy (Top Defenseman) Winner: Raymond Bourque Waterloo Warriors Runners-up: Eric Desjardins Edmonton Vikings Larry Murphy Hermitage Bangers - Vezina Trophy (Top Goaltender) Winner: John Vanbiesbrouck Boston Agent Orange Runner-up: Patrick Roy Edmonton Vikings - Hart Trophy (League M.V.P.) Winner: Sergei Fedorov Hermitage Bangers Runner-up: Mario Lemieux Albany Mallrats - Calder Trophy (Top Rookie) Winner: Peter Forsberg Minneapolis Monarchs Runners-up: Sergei Krivokrasov Houghton Icetasy Chris Osgood St. John's Grunts - Lady Byng Trophy (Sportmanship) Winner: Brett Hull Vancouver Voodoo Runners-up: Joe Juneau Chicoutimi Sparrows Pat Lafontaine Moscow Blizzard Joe Mullen Hermitage Bangers - Frank J. Selke Trophy (Best Defensive Forward) Winners: Sergei Fedorov Hermitage Bangers Alexei Zhamnov Edmonton Vikings Runner-up: Tony Granato Edmonton Vikings - Bill Masterton Trophy (Dedication to the Game) Winners: Wayne Gretzky Waterloo Lunatics Mats Sundin Newfoundland Gangstaz Runner-up: John Leclair Albany Mallrats - King Clancy (Leadership On & Off the Ice) Winner: Ron Francis New York Kodiaks Runners-up: Theoren Fleury Whitehorse Rapids Joe Sakic Vancouver Voodoo - Jack Adams Trophy (Top Coach) Winner: Adam Ardis Albany Mallrats Runners-up: Shaun Driver Bridge City Huskies Kent Nilsson Minneapolis Monarchs - Executive Trophy (Top GM) Winner: Andreas Larsson Minneapolis Monarchs Runner-up: Adam Ardis Albany Mallrats 1st All-Star Team 2nd All-Star Team C Sergei Fedorov Mario Lemieux LW Brendan Shanahan Keith Tkachuk RW Alexander Mogilny Jaromir Jagr D Larry Murphy Raymond Bourque D Eric Desjardins Steve Chiasson G John Vanbiesbrouck Mike Vernon 4. Retired Players The following players announced that they were retiring: Scott Arniel, Oakville Blades Dave Brown, Bridge City Huskies Garth Butcher, New York Kodiaks Joe Cirella, New York Kodiaks Gord Donnelly, New York Kodiaks Gary Emmons, Walkerton Breakers Bob Errey, Boston Agent Orange Pat Flatley, Boston Agent Orange Jody Gage, Whitehorse Rapids Gaston Gingras, Fort Saskatchewan Fury Dirk Graham, Hermitage Bangers Mark Howe, St. John's Grunts Charlie Huddy, Waterloo Warriors Duane Joyce, Milton Mustangs Kelly Kisio, Albany Mallrats Mikhail Kravetz, Minneapolis Monarchs Mike Krushelnyski, New York Kodiaks Tom Kurvers, Hermitage Bangers Mike Lalor, Kalamazoo Kazoos Steve Larmer, Waterloo Warriors Stephan Lebeau, Chicoutimi Sparrows Brett Lindros, Pittsburgh Quakers Craig MacTavish, Boston Agent Orange Sergei Makarov, Des Moines Dominators Craig Muni, Des Moines Dominators Mats Naslund, Minneapolis Monarchs Dave Poulin, Minneapolis Monarchs Mike Ramsey, Hermitage Bangers Gary Roberts, Kalamazoo Kazoos Peter Stastny, Kalamazoo Kazoos Tim Watters, Vancouver Voodoo Randy Wood, Houghton Icetasy Wendell Young, Bridge City Huskies Rick Zombo, Hamilton Hitmen 5. Rerated Players Randomly, 5 players per team (Pro) were chosen. Then, depending on their age, they had chances of going +3, +2, +1, 0, -1, -2, or -3. Finally the categories were randomly chosen for the players who were going + or -. The whole procedure will be included in the next release of the rulebook. 5.1 The following players will have +1 in the categories indicated: Patrice Brisebois, Whitehorse Rapids Ag, Ck, In Sergei Brylin, Chicoutimi Sparrows Fa, Pa, Pa Kris Draper, Albany Mallrats Ck, Qk Brent Fedyk, Kalamazoo Kazoos In Brent Gilchrist, Hermitage Bangers Sh Brent Grieve, St. John's Grunts Pn John Gruden, Fort Saskatchewan Fury Pn Guy Hebert, Des Moines Dominators Pw, Pw, Sk Jaromir Jagr, Pittsburgh Quakers Ag, Pw Chris Joseph, Waterloo Warriors In, Pa, Pn Alexander Karpovtsev, Kingston Corinths In Igor Korolev, Whitehorse Rapids Fa, Sh Kirk Maltby, Fort Saskatchewan Fury Fa, Pn Marty McSorley, Waterloo Lunatics Ag, In, In Boris Mironov, Edmonton Vikings Pa Pat Neaton, Boston Agent Orange Pc Michal Nylander, St. John's Grunts Ag, Pa, Pw Fredrik Olausson, Hermitage Bangers Pn Dan Quinn, Houghton Icetasy Sh Paul Ranheim, Waterloo Lunatics Pa, Pa Mike Rathje, Whitehorse Rapids Pw, Sh Steve Rucchin, Hamilton Hitmen Pn, Sh, Sk Tommy Salo, Hamilton Hitmen Pn Teemu Selanne, Waterloo Warriors In Darryl Shannon, Oakville Blades Pn, Pn, Pw Jeff Shevalier, Struer Norsemen Pa, Pa Jiri Slegr, Chicoutimi Sparrows Ag, Ck, Pw Jason Smith, Edmonton Vikings Sh Scott Stevens, Kingston Corinthians Pw Mats Sundin, Kingston Corinthians Sk Chris Therien, Whitehorse Rapids Pc Keith Tkachuk, Hamilton Hitmen Pn, Pw John Tucker, Struer Norsemen Ck, Pw Steve Washburn, Edmonton Vikings Fa, In, Qk Kay Whitmore, Houghton Icetasy Pc, Pn, Pw Chris Winnes, Houghton Icetasy Pw, Sh 5.2 The following players were considered but are not changing: Tommy Albelin, Oakville Blades Sergei Bautin, Pittsburgh Quakers Bill Berg, Walkerton Breakers Marc Bureau, Des Moines Dominators Patrick Carnback, Minneapolis Monarchs Zdeno Ciger, Albany Mallrats Paul Coffey, Bridge City Huskies Mike Craig, Kalamazoo Kazoos Russ Courtnall, Fort Saskatchewan Fury Chris Dahlquist, Boston Agent Orange Brad Dalgarno, Pittsburgh Quakers Vincent Damphousse, Hamilton Hitmen Ken Daneyko, Vancouver Voodoo Wade Flaherty, Bridge City Huskies Rob Gaudreau, Des Moines Dominators Alexei Gusarov, Boston Agent Orange Bill Huard, Bridge City Huskies Valeri Karpov, Fort saskatchewan Fury Darius Kasparaitis, Hamilton Hitmen Todd Krygier, Houghton Icetasy Patrick Labrecque, Waterloo Lunatics Blaine Lacher, Oakville Blades Pat Lafontaine, Struer Norsemen John Leclair, Albany Mallrats Gary Leeman, New York Kodiaks Sylvain Lefebvre, Walkerton Breakers Vladimir Malakhov, St. John's Grunts Dmitri Mironov, Albany Mallrats Jaroslav Modry, Houghton Icetasy Kirk Muller, Waterloo Warriors Larry Murphy, Hermitage Bangers Sergei Nemchinov, New York Kodiaks Jeff Odgers, Vancouver Voodoo Joel Otto, Milton Mustangs Ed Patterson, Chicoutimi Sparrows Michal Pivonka, St. John's Grunts Patrick Poulin, Vancouver Voodoo Yves Racine, Edmonton Vikings Bill Ranford, Hermitage Bangers Dave Reid, Des Moines Dominators Mike Richter, Des Moines Dominators Tomas Sandstrom, Struer Norsemen David Shaw, Kingston Corinthians Steve Smith, Vancouver Voodoo Paul Stanton, Kalamazoo Kazoos Josef Stumpel, Oakville Blades Peter Taglianetti, Minneapolis Monarchs Mark Tinordi, New York Kodiaks John Vanbiesbrouck, Boston Agent Orange Dennis Vaske, New York Kodiaks Sergei Zholtok, Milton Mustangs 5.3 The following players have -1 in the categories indicated: Ken Baumgartner, Milton Mustangs Pc, Sk Jimmy Carson, Waterloo Warriors Pa, Pn, Sh Evgeny Davydov, Boston Agent Orange Pn, Pw, Sh Paul Dipietro, Walkerton Breakers Pa, Pw Steve Duchesne, Bridge City Huskies In, Pw, Sk Craig Duncanson, Kalamazoo Kazoos Qk, Qk Grant Fuhr, Pittsburgh Quakers Qk Garry Galley, Waterloo Lunatics Pa Adam Graves, St. John's Grunts Sh Bret Hedican, Vancouver Voodoo Sh Dale Hunter, Fort Saskatchewan Fury Pw, Qk Jim Johnson, Bridge City Huskies Sh Kris King, Albany Mallrats Fa Uwe Krupp, Waterloo Warriors In, Pc Grant Ledyard, Walkerton Breakers In Jocelyn Lemieux, Oakville Blades Pc, Sk Mike Ridley, Whitehorse Rapids Pa Vincent Riendeau, Kingston Corinthians Pa Luc Robitaille, Milton Mustangs Pn Patrick Roy, Edmonton Vikings Pn Kjell Samuelsson, Milton Mustangs Pa, Qk Richard Smehlik, Walkerton Breakers Sh Ronnie Stern, Kalamazoo Kazoos Ag Gary Suter, New York Kodiaks In, Pw, Sh Magnus Svensson, Chicoutimi Sparrows Pa Steve Thomas, Minneapolis Monarchs Sh, Sk Kevin Todd, Pittsburgh Quakers Pc, Sh, Sh Ron Tugnutt, Waterloo Lunatics Qk Oleg Tverdovsky, Struer Norsemen Sh Mike Vernon, Minneapolis Monarchs Pa Craig Wolanin, Minneapolis Monarchs Ck, Fa, Pn Trent Yawney, Boston Agent Orange Fa, Fa Udpated rosters will be sent to the league very soon. 6. Dead Players Even though he died last week, Jeff Batters will stay in the WHL for the next season. 7. Special Thanks I want to thank Kevin Nash for all his help, his answers and advice. He is always ready to help out when I ask him questions about the game, running the league, etc. That's why I have decided to name him the official WHL Special Counsellor. Created and written by Michael Hebert, Commissioner of the Web Hockey League.