WHL WEEKLY VOLUME 2, number 10 Another edition of the weekly magazine . The Lunatics are on free fall, the Corinthians, Warriors, and Huskies red hot. Who will get to play in the playoffs, who will try to make some personnel moves to better their chances to make it, who will throw the towel and trade for young players and picks??? So many questions, and so little time. Trading dealine in 14 days, season ending in 24. Time is running out, and the real season's about to begin... CONTENTS: 1- Overall team stats 2- Rookie Report 3- Player of the week 4- Defenseman of the week 5- Goaltender of the week 6- Weekly trades 7- League Notes -By Michael Hebert 8- Rookie Spotlight, Radek Dvorak of the Edmonton Vikings -By Lee McEwen 9- Teams' Tidbits - Anyone has a better heading, let me know! -Texts from Dave Moore, Jason Kolsrud, and Brian Howe 1- OVERALL TEAM STATS: The teams are ranked primarily by the percentage, and then, in case of a tie, by the number of wins, and finally, in case of another tie, by the difference between the GF and GA. OVERALL STANDINGS GP W L T GF GA PTS PCT LAST WEEK 1- DOMINATRS 53 31 18 4 223 186 66 .623 4 2- SPARROWS 53 30 18 5 187 158 65 .613 2 3- LUNATICS 53 31 20 2 215 185 64 .604 1 4- WARRIORS 53 30 19 4 224 185 64 .604 6 5- KRUSHERS 41 22 14 5 169 133 49 .598 3 6- FREEZE 53 30 22 1 187 163 61 .575 5 7- CORINTHS 53 29 21 3 234 190 61 .575 10 8- VIKINGS 47 25 18 4 182 172 54 .574 9 9- NORSEMEN 52 26 21 5 209 196 57 .548 13 10- FURY 53 27 22 4 178 161 58 .547 7 11- QUAKERS 53 24 19 10 186 177 58 .547 12 12- STEELCATS 53 27 23 3 183 180 57 .538 11 13- HUSKIES 49 24 21 4 162 174 52 .531 17 14- RAPIDS 53 27 25 1 195 200 55 .519 15 15- MONARCHS 47 23 22 2 178 189 48 .511 8 16- GRUNTS 47 21 20 6 166 143 48 .511 14 17- MALLRATS 42 19 19 4 161 151 42 .500 18 18- VOODOO 49 21 23 5 179 180 47 .480 16 19- STALLIONS 49 18 27 4 147 171 40 .408 20 20- BREAKERS 48 15 27 6 162 203 36 .375 19 21- WOLVES 50 17 30 3 163 189 37 .370 21 22- CLOWNS 50 12 33 5 142 206 29 .290 22 23- FLAM FISH 46 11 32 3 124 177 25 .272 24 24- AGENTS 53 11 37 5 160 247 27 .255 23 2- ROOKIE REPORT: Saku Koivu is now the number is rookie scorer. Still followed by the 2 awesome Brians, both d-men, Brian McCabe and Brian Berard. PLAYERS: 1- Saku Koivu 50 33 24 57 16 11 0 6 0 220 34 15.0 2- Brian McCabe 53 14 41 56 14 0 0 0 0 93 40 15.1 3- Brian Berard 53 10 42 52 20 2 0 2 0 126 154 7.9 4- Sergei Samsonov 53 17 32 49 -11 1 0 2 0 143 35 11.9 5- Radek Dvorak 47 16 30 46 11 3 0 2 0 165 40 9.7 6- Stephane Yelle 53 21 23 44 32 0 0 4 0 147 24 14.3 7- Dale Craigwell 49 14 30 44 8 4 0 2 0 109 14 12.8 8- Alexei Morozov 53 24 19 43 11 4 0 3 0 172 115 14.0 9- Jan Vopat 53 8 35 43 -3 1 1 0 0 37 57 21.6 10- Todd Warriner 51 21 20 41 17 8 1 4 0 152 45 13.8 11- Jason Botterill 53 13 28 41 11 3 0 1 0 109 125 11.9 12- Vitali Prokhorov 52 20 20 40 5 4 1 1 0 156 10 12.8 13- Miikka Elomo 48 19 20 39 9 6 0 2 1 149 147 12.8 14- Andrew Brunette 47 20 18 38 -3 6 0 4 0 147 85 13.6 15- Teemu Riihijarvi 52 18 18 36 14 7 0 2 0 127 96 14.2 16- Stephane Morin 53 14 22 36 6 1 1 0 0 114 44 12.3 17- Craig Fisher 53 13 21 34 21 0 0 3 0 103 115 12.6 18- David Ling 53 19 14 33 26 0 0 4 0 105 102 18.1 19- Ed Jovanovski 53 6 27 33 -1 2 0 1 0 111 123 5.4 20- Patrice Lefebvre 53 15 17 32 7 2 0 1 0 112 88 13.4 21- Marcus Ragnarsson 47 10 22 32 19 1 0 2 0 60 86 16.7 22- Darcy Tucker 51 18 13 31 8 10 0 2 1 125 155 14.4 23- Jamie Langenbrunner 50 16 15 31 -5 3 0 3 0 107 118 15.0 24- Daymond Langkow 43 15 15 30 12 6 0 7 0 132 131 11.4 25- Christer Olsson 42 9 21 30 1 1 0 2 0 89 40 10.1 26- Todd Bertuzzi 52 10 18 28 -8 2 0 1 0 89 92 11.2 27- Pavel Kriz 52 8 20 28 16 0 0 1 0 104 82 7.7 28- Barry Richter 48 5 22 27 8 2 0 0 0 68 63 7.4 29- Deron Quint 53 10 15 25 -35 3 2 0 2 72 80 13.9 30- Wade Redden 50 7 18 25 -8 3 0 1 0 68 82 10.3 De Rouville is still number 1 and Jamie Storr number 2. Marc Denis, Eric Fichaud, and Patrick Lalime all move up after good weeks. GOALTENDERS: 1- Phil DeRouville 31 1865 3.25 21 9 1 0 0 101 920 .890 2- Jamie Storr 35 2110 3.61 21 12 2 0 1 127 1053 .879 3- Marc Denis 4 245 3.67 2 1 1 0 0 15 121 .876 4- Tim Cheveldae 13 780 3.69 7 6 0 0 1 48 386 .876 5- Eric Fichaud 40 2410 3.73 16 22 2 1 2 150 1240 .879 6- Jason Muzzatti 4 240 3.75 2 2 0 0 0 15 117 .872 7- Jose Theodore 33 1995 3.82 15 15 3 0 0 127 1002 .873 8- Pat Jablonski 25 1505 3.83 13 11 1 0 1 96 740 .870 9- Patrick Lalime 7 425 4.38 2 4 1 0 0 31 201 .846 10- Andy Moog 16 970 4.45 4 10 2 0 0 72 453 .841 11- Chris Rogles 2 120 4.50 0 2 0 0 0 9 56 .839 12- Mark Fitzpatrick 4 240 5.00 1 3 0 0 0 20 178 .888 13- Jeff Hackett 1 60 5.00 0 1 0 0 0 5 29 .828 14- Tommy Soderstrom 1 60 5.00 0 1 0 0 0 5 28 .821 15- Les Kuntar 4 240 5.75 0 4 0 0 0 23 176 .869 16- Robb Stauber 7 425 5.79 2 4 1 0 0 41 284 .856 17- Dominic Roussel 1 60 6.00 0 1 0 0 0 6 34 .824 3- PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD: I got 13 teams nominations this week. That a new record, even better than last week. Amazing, more than 50% participation. I never tought we'd reach such a climax. Don't give up, it's fun when lots of people participate. The pow, dow and gow were choosen by 5 gms, ramdomly picked, to whom I asked to pick from a list I sent them. And for the second consecutive week, Saku Koivu is the WHL's player of the week. Last week, Koivu scored 7 goals, adding 5 assists for a total of 12 points in 5 games. The runners up were Brendan Shanahan of the Voodoo, and Keith Primeau of the Corinthians. GP G A PTS +/- SH PIM PCT Saku Koivu CORINTHS 5 7 5 12 11 29 2 24.1 Keith Primeau CORINTHS 5 5 6 11 4 19 13 26.3 Brendan Shanahan VOODOO 6 8 5 13 4 28 29 28.6 4- DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK AWARD: The first defenseman of the week award goes to Steve Smith of the Struer Norsemen. Last week, Smith scored two goals, adding 8 assists for 10 points and he kept a defensive record of +5. The runners up were Sandis Ozolinsh of the Vancouver Voodoo, and Sylvain Lefebvre of the Kingston Corinthians. GP G A PTS +/- SH PIM PCT Steve Smith NORSEMEN 6 2 8 10 5 19 15 10.5 Sandis Ozolinsh VOODOO 6 3 6 9 2 11 18 27.3 Sylvain Lefebvre CORINTHS 5 3 4 7 8 20 4 15.0 5- GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK AWARD: The goaltender of the week is undoubtedly Ed Belfour of the Huskies. Last week, Belfour was unvanquished, getting 5 wins in 5 games, and he kept an awesome GAA of 1.20, and a no less awesome .963 save percentage. The runner up was Bill Ranford of the Mustangs. Ed Belfour HUSKIES 5 300 1.20 5 0 0 6 164 .963 Bill Ranford MUSTANGS 6 360 2.33 4 2 0 14 179 .922 6- WEEKLY TRADES: Once again, the Sparrows were the most active team, being involved in 4 of the week's 5 trades. Trade #075 February 2, 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------- To the Dominators: Sean Burke To the Flaming Fish: Guy Hebert Trade #076 February 4, 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------- To the Agents: Doug Brown To the Sparrows: Igor Ulanov Trade #077 February 7, 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------- To the Huskies: Dave Thomlinson Michael Eastwood To the Sparrows: Viktor Kozlov Robin Bawa Daniel Gauthier Trade #078 February 9, 1997 --------------------------------------------------------------- To the Steelcats: Viktor Kozlov Sergei Brylin Landon Wilson Scott Levins 6th round draft pick To the Sparrows: Dave Manson Adam Creighton Michal Grosek Brad Lauer Trade #079 February 9, 1997 -------------------------------------------------------------- To the Norsemen: Alan May To the Sparrows: Patrice Tardif 7- LEAGUE NOTES: - The new WHL IRC Night will take place on Thursday evenings, No definite time will be given, but just come on #fantasy_hockey and there will be someone there. - There are still 14 original GMs in the league: A.Ardis, S.Driver, L.McEwen, D.Kinnaird, K.Beilner, Mi.Hebert, D.Jensen, J.Stumpf, D.Moore, T.Henry, J.MacDonald, B.Howe, D.Sprowl, A.Larsson. This came from a report that the League Offices are currently working on about the League's History. 8- ROOKIE SPOTLIGHT on Radek Dvorak -By Lee McEwen Radek-al Rookie Fitting In --------------------------- When GM Lee McEwen set out to form the Edmonton Vikings he managed to obtain alot of the pieces in the first entry draft. Alexei Zhamnov, Owen Nolan, Eric Desjardins, Steve Chiasson and Patrick Roy all filled holes right from the start. The Vikings had a solid season, winning the Smythe Division title in the regular season, before falling to the Kodiaks in four straight games in the second round. Yes three of the four games went to overtime but management knew that the team couldn't quite compete. There were still a few holes on the roster, most noticeably on the left side. Veteran Tony Granato had an admirable season, scoring 22 goals, and was named to the Western Conference all-star team. The other three left wingers, (Daze, Hghes and McAmmond) combined for 20 goals total, which obviously isn't enough. Going into the summer's entry draft McEwen offered the same babble about taking the best player available, but those close to the team knew it had to be the best left winger available. Picking in the 16th spot the Vikings selected Czech Radek Dvorak. Dvorak struggled throughout the pre-season as his play was filled with tension. He didn't seem to want to hold the puck and was constantly deferring to his linemates which changed everyday. When camp broke McEwen decided against sending Dvorak to the farm based on skill alone. "The kid's only 19 and is probably the 3rd most talented guy on the team. It's going to take some time to adjust but when he does, there's no doubt he can be an all-star in this league." Dvorak continued to struggle through the first 2 months of the season. After 29 games Dvorak had 5 goals and 15 assists for 20 points and was even. There were a few bright nights in that stretch though and anyone who was following the team could see Dvorak picking up his play and really playing more confidently. He was reunited permanently on the first line with Zhamnov and Nolan and has scored eleven goals and added fifteen assists for twenty-six points over the last eighteen games. He has helped shore up the first line and is playing smarter defensively as evidenced by his +11 over the same stretch. He's been overshadowed by other rookies like Koivu, Berard and McCabe but Dvorak is quickly ascending the rookie scoring charts. He is still adjusting to life in North America but roommate and best friend Brent Hughes is doing his best to help. "When he first got here it was kind of like living with an alien, I mean he knew some english but I don't know any Czech so it was a struggle for him to understand it was his turn to take out the garbage. He's a smart guy though so he picked up the language pretty quickly, watching TV all day. The guy just loves Dallas. I told him it's been off the air for like 5 years but he doesn't care. He eats Subway and watches TV every afternoon. Every town we're in, after the morning skate he finds a Subway, buys a foot long, comes back to the room and chows down watching Dallas." Hmmmm, maybe the onion breath scares off his opponents? Viking Press 9- TEAMS' TIDBITS: Mustangs news ------------- Over the last 5 game days we were 4-2-0 with 1 Shutout. And we are currently running at a 7-4-1 pace since hiring Darryl Sittler to coach. Players rumoured to be available are: 30 Paul MacDermid RW 8 6 7 7 5 6 6 5 5 7 5 67 9 Brian Benning D 6 6 5 6 5 5 7 5 6 6 5 62 42 Tom Pederson D 6 6 4 5 6 7 6 4 5 6 4 59 Dominators Tidbits ------------------ Jeff Brown is currently on a nine game point streak. Mike Modano is currently on a five game point and assist streak. Here is a little tidbit of how much my team improved since I took over. (They were the Drizzle before I changed their name.) OVERALL RECORD GP W L T PTS. DRIZZLE 74 27 41 6 60 DOMINATORS 53 31 18 4 66 DIVISIONAL RECORD (own division) DRIZZLE 20 5 12 3 13 DOMINATORS 15 9 5 1 19 ROAD RECORD DRIZZLE 37 8 26 3 19 DOMINATORS 28 17 11 0 34 PLAYER GP G A PTS --------------------------------- MODANO 73 31 27 58 (last year) MODANO 53 28 36 64 (this year) PLANTE 50 5 1 6 (last year) PLANTE 22 2 11 13 (this year) Also, five rookies among my top eight scorers. GRUNTS NEWS: Wendel Clark continues to slump, but will be played anyway! W.C. has been stuck with a slump of -2 for 3 or 4 weeks now, but hopes to play his way out of it onthe powerplay. Johansson Returns to line-up! Calle Johansson finally returned to the line-up after 9 games out with an injury. Surprizingly Milos Holan has battled to keep his job from the veteran Johansson and has done an excellent job. In the Grunts last two games, 7 defencemen played so that both could get into the game. Rumors: The Grunts had offers this week for Adam Graves, Olaf Kolzig, Kevin Hatcher, Zubov and centers Reichel and Larionov. No deals were made. The players most likely to move from this team are: Stevenson, Larionov, Holan, Kennedy, Muzzatti (or Kolzig), Kruse, and maybe Grieve. Cam Neely Punches out Kevin Hatcher! Neely slugged Hatcher in a scrimage this past sunday, and for the rest of the day, Hatcher, a heavy-weight in his own right, continually referred to himself as "Barbara Hershey". Hatch was benched until he came around the next day...but in the meantime, his agent signed him to a new movie deal to play opposite Harrison Ford in thriller set in South America, during the second world War. That's all for for this week. Thanks for reading! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Send comments, suggestions, NOMINATIONS... to: MARC HEBERT Official WHL newsman fj491599@er.uqam.ca CAUTION! Involvement in a fantasy hockey league can cause headaches, loss of sleep, and is very addictive. GO READ A BOOK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BECOME AN IDIOT!