WHL WEEKLY MAGAZINE VOLUME 2, Number 13 So the season is finally over. Now the real season begins, the real thing. Now, we'll see which team has got all it takes to make it all the way to the Cybercup. CONTENTS: 1- Final Overall Team Stats 2- Rookie Report 3- Player of the week 4- Defenseman of the week 5- Goaltender of the week 6- New Divisions preliminary report 7- League Notes -By Michael Hebert 8- Brother Love quotes, by brother Jason 9- Teams' Tidbits - Anyone has a better heading, let me know! 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- NORSEMEN 74 45 23 6 340 261 96 .649 2 2- CORINTHS 74 44 23 7 351 267 95 .642 1 3- WARRIORS 74 44 25 5 315 257 93 .628 4 4- SPARROWS 74 42 23 9 284 218 93 .628 3 5- VIKINGS 74 42 27 5 293 260 89 .601 5 6- GRUNTS 74 40 27 7 307 250 87 .588 13 7- DOMINATRS 74 40 27 7 312 284 87 .588 7 8- FREEZE 74 40 28 6 298 227 86 .581 9 9- FURY 74 39 30 5 252 230 83 .561 12 10- LUNATICS 74 37 29 8 301 275 82 .554 6 11- KRUSHERS 74 37 31 6 309 269 80 .541 8 12- QUAKERS 74 32 28 14 258 252 78 .527 14 13- STALLIONS 74 36 33 5 282 253 77 .520 18 14- STEELCATS 74 36 33 5 272 263 77 .520 11 15- MALLRATS 74 35 32 7 304 271 77 .520 10 16- RAPIDS 74 37 35 2 276 275 76 .514 15 17- HUSKIES 74 32 35 7 241 284 71 .480 16 18- VOODOO 74 27 42 5 258 343 59 .399 19 19- WOLVES 74 26 41 7 265 287 59 .399 20 20- MONARCHS 74 27 44 3 256 306 57 .385 17 21- BREAKERS 74 23 44 7 257 331 53 .358 21 22- FLAM FISH 74 20 46 8 208 277 48 .324 22 23- EAGLES 74 17 51 6 221 378 40 .270 23 24- AGENTS 74 13 54 7 218 358 33 .223 24 2- ROOKIE REPORT: Saku Koivu was the best rookie this season with an outstanding 60 goals and 44 assists. Bryan McCabe was a close second while Bryan Berard, who led for a good while, finished 6th. Samsonov, Dvorak and Elomo finish the top five. Note: Bryan McCabe is the only North American in the top five. PLAYERS: GP G A PTS +/- PP SH GW GT S PIM PCT 1- Saku Koivu 71 60 44 104 32 15 0 7 0 335 39 17.9 2- Bryan McCabe 74 15 68 83 16 0 0 0 0 138 76 10.9 3- Sergei Samsonov 74 33 42 75 4 3 0 3 0 201 44 16.4 4- Radek Dvorak 74 26 47 73 30 6 0 3 0 253 73 10.3 5- Miikka Elomo 73 37 35 72 30 9 0 4 1 259 201 14.3 6- Bryan Berard 74 13 55 68 25 2 0 3 0 157 219 8.3 7- Todd Warriner 77 32 35 67 40 8 2 7 0 256 69 12.5 8- Jan Vopat 74 12 50 62 7 1 1 2 0 63 90 19.0 9- Dale Craigwell 74 22 37 59 -19 12 0 2 0 176 37 12.5 10- Christer Olsson 74 19 39 58 8 2 0 5 0 163 62 11.7 11- Marcus Ragnarsson 74 16 42 58 39 1 0 2 0 93 138 17.1 12- Darcy Tucker 72 27 30 57 31 17 0 4 1 210 218 12.9 13- Stephane Yelle 74 24 30 54 37 0 0 4 0 203 26 11.8 14- Jason Botterill 70 21 23 54 7 3 0 1 0 163 170 12.9 15- Alexei Morozov 74 27 24 51 14 5 0 3 0 226 171 11.9 16- Ed Jovanovski 74 10 40 50 -7 3 1 2 0 153 178 6.5 17- Barry Richter 74 9 40 49 -3 2 0 0 0 115 114 7.8 18- David Ling 74 27 21 48 29 1 0 5 0 165 161 16.4 19- Daymond Langkow 64 21 26 47 22 6 0 9 0 195 164 10.8 20- Teemu Riihijarvi 73 21 26 47 12 9 0 2 0 165 132 12.7 21- Andrew Brunette 74 23 23 46 -18 6 1 4 0 213 142 10.8 22- Jamie Langenbrunner 74 21 23 44 -30 4 0 3 0 158 155 13.3 23- Dimitri Nabokov 73 19 25 44 -3 6 0 1 0 173 67 11.0 24- Stephane Morin 74 18 26 44 5 1 1 1 0 171 48 10.5 25- Craig Fisher 65 17 24 41 27 0 0 4 0 126 129 13.5 26- Pavel Kriz 70 12 29 41 24 0 0 1 0 122 136 9.8 27- Daniel Alfredsson 74 25 13 38 -6 4 4 4 0 209 46 12.0 28- Jay McKee 74 13 25 38 30 1 0 0 0 72 234 18.1 29- Todd Bertuzzi 69 15 22 37 -13 3 0 2 1 123 108 12.2 30- Deron Quint 74 13 24 37 -7 4 2 0 2 101 96 12.9 31- Niklas Sundstrom 55 10 27 37 -5 3 0 3 0 135 0 7.4 32- Wade Redden 71 9 28 37 -5 3 0 1 0 89 103 10.1 33- Patrice Lefebvre 60 15 20 35 11 2 0 1 0 126 98 11.9 Jeff Hackett did a tremendous job when he was called to replace Dominik Hasek, and he's now the #1 rookie tender. Patrick Lalime, Philippe De Rouville and Manny Fernandez continued their good job on their respective teams, while Mike Dunham and Jeff Reese gave their best on very struggling teams. GOALTENDERS: 1- Jeff Hackett 12 725 2.98 8 3 1 0 0 36 358 .899 2- Manny Fernandez 13 785 3.06 8 4 1 0 0 40 378 .894 3- Marc Denis 5 305 3.15 3 1 1 0 0 16 149 .893 4- Patrick Lalime 29 1750 3.29 21 6 2 0 0 96 899 .893 5- Phil DeRouville 51 3085 3.36 35 11 5 0 1 173 1536 .887 6- Ken Wregget 2 125 3.36 0 1 1 0 0 7 54 .870 7- Jamie Storr 49 2950 3.56 30 17 2 0 1 175 1462 .880 8- Tim Cheveldae 13 780 3.69 7 6 0 0 1 48 386 .876 9- Jose Theodore 41 2475 3.76 21 17 3 0 0 155 1272 .878 10- Eric Fichaud 64 3870 3.84 25 33 6 1 2 248 2139 .884 11- Pat Jablonski 35 2120 3.85 18 13 4 0 1 136 1072 .873 12- Jason Muzzatti 7 420 4.14 4 3 0 0 0 29 212 .863 13- Peter Ing 14 840 4.29 5 9 0 0 0 60 440 .864 14- Andy Moog 16 970 4.45 4 10 2 0 0 72 453 .841 15- Chris Rogles 3 180 4.67 1 2 0 0 0 14 85 .835 16- Tommy Soderstrom 1 60 5.00 0 1 0 0 0 5 28 .821 17- Mark Fitzpatrick 16 970 5.07 3 11 2 0 0 82 735 .888 18- Les Kuntar 4 240 5.75 0 4 0 0 0 23 176 .869 19- Dominic Roussel 1 60 6.00 0 1 0 0 0 6 34 .824 20- Robb Stauber 11 665 6.59 2 8 1 0 0 73 450 .838 21- Mike Dunham 11 660 8.18 1 10 0 0 0 90 601 .850 22- Jeff Reese 11 665 8.21 1 9 1 0 0 91 658 .862 3- PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD: The player of the week is the Kingston Corinthians' rookie sensation Saku Koivu. Last week, Koivu scored 12 goals in 5 games, and added 5 assists for a total of 17 points (3.4 per game). The runners up were Mario Lemieux (2.16 per game), of the Albany Mallrats and Tom Chorske (2.16 per game) of the Struer Norsemen. GP G A PTS +/- SH PIM PCT Saku Koivu CORINTHS 5 12 5 17 7 37 0 32.4 Mario Lemieux MALLRATS 18 14 25 39 1 97 29 14.4 Tom Chorske NORSEMEN 6 6 7 13 15 29 4 20.6 4- DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK AWARD: Once again, for the fourth consecutive week, our defenseman of the week is Steve Smith of the Norsemen. Last week, Smith scored 2 goals, adding 13 assists for a total of 15 points in 6 games. There was no runners up as no one was even near him. GP G A PTS +/- SH PIM PCT Steve Smith NORSEMEN 6 2 13 15 15 13 24 15.4 5- GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK AWARD: Our goaltender of the week is Felix Potvin of the Chicoutimi Sparrows. Last week, Potvin was in the net for 6 games, keeping a 5-1-0 record, with a 2.50 GAA and a .918 save percentage. Runners up were Patrick Lalime of the Struer Norsemen and Bill Ranford of the Stallions. GOALTENDER GP MIN AVG W L T GA SA PCT Felix Potvin SPARROWS 6 360 2.50 5 1 0 15 183 .918 Bill Ranford STALLIONS 2 120 2.50 2 0 0 5 58 .914 Patrick Lalime NORSEMEN 6 365 3.12 4 1 1 19 179 .894 6- NEW DIVISIONS PRELIMINARY REPORT New divisions layout, given that nobody decides to move their team and that every GM stays in the League: WALES Conference Adams Division Norris Division -------------- --------------- Boston Agents Hamilton Steelcats Chicoutimi Sparrows Saskatoon Enforcers Halifax Flaming Fish (from Norris) Toronto Stallions Kingston Corinthians Waterloo Lunatics St. John's Grunts Waterloo Warriors Struer Norsemen Winnipeg Wolves (from Adams) CAMPBELL Conference Norris Division Smythe Division --------------- --------------- Albany Mallrats Bridgeland Huskies Chi-Town Krushers Edmonton Eagles (from Norris) Des Moines Dominators (from Smythe) Edmonton Vikings Minneapolis Monarchs Fort Saskatchewan Fury Philadelphia Freeze Vancouver Voodoo Pittsburgh Quakers Whitehorse Rapids Also, I want to change the Conferences' Name, based on the geographical locations, anyone has suggestions? 7- LEAGUE NOTES: - By Michael Hebert - We have a new GM in the league. Patrick Stroem, from Sweden, took over the Walkerton Breakers after Mike Vader retired from the WHL. Mr. Stroem's first move was to send the Breakers to Saskatoon and rename them the Enforcers. - The WHL3 Rulebook has been out for some time now. Every GM should have taken a look at it by now. If not, it can be seen at http://www.geocities.com/colosseum/5455/Whl3rule.txt - Michael Hebert, League's Offices spokesperson, indicated that the World Championship Tournament is a new event that would be great for the league if realised. The Director of Operations and GM of Team Canada for the Tournament, Darren Kinnaird, said that he was still looking for a Commissioner. So if anybody is willing to help make this happen, please contact Darren Kinnaird. The Commissioner of the Tournament doesn't have to be out of the playoffs. 7- QUOTES -by brother Jason Well here are some words from Playoff people from Brother Love: BROTHER LEE, BROTHER LOVE would like to know how you feel about your teams success this season. Do you feel that you as coach will be able to continue this success through the playoffs and be able to take home the CYBER CUP? I am very happy with the play of the team since the acquisition of Brendan Shanahan. We have a nice balance of scoring and defensive strength. If the team continues to play as well as they have, I will be disappointed if we don't seriously challenge for the Cyber Cup. Lee ======================================================================= SISTER LORI, Brother Love would like to know how you feel about your teams chances of continuing to play the way they did in the regular season and I want to know what you think was the main reason why your team did so well in the regular season. Thanks, BROTHER LOVE I am confident that my team has what it takes to bring home the Cup. We have the confidence and the momentum, and some solid players on the ice. Every player on the team has a really positive attitude, and they are playing because they love the game. I feel that this has been a major factor in my team's outstanding performance (the etra special bonus gifts that each player found in his stocking may have helped as well :-) ). The performance of Hextall and Lalime, combined with the power of Bondra and Smith has pushed this team to the very top, and we're not coming down! Lori Steward Coach and GM of the Struer Norsemen ========================================================================= BROTHER LARRY, we would like to know how do you feel, being the last seeded playoff team and having to face the Norsemen led by the might Lori Steward, what your chances are at finding a force within your team to help lead the Steelcats onto the Cyber Cup finals and bring the cup home to the Steeltown? Thanks, BROTHER LOVE Well Brother Love I think this is an interesting match up. There are many players on this team who have played with Ms. Steward's team in the past and that adds some desire and some revenge. Especially D. Nabokov, he has mentioned how Ms. Steward is something akin to Marge Schoot in baseball, and that he would love to stick it to her. Daniel Briere is also begun to pick up his play just before the end of the season, if we are going to win we need an incredible preformance from him. If there is one problem on the team right now it is defence. We have two d-men injured (Pavel Kriz and Cale Hulse) this puts alot of pressure on those remaining and a good portion of them are fighting nagging little injures that are slowing there play. There are a couple of key performers on defence that will need to handle the brunt of the load though, M.Sykora (another ex-norsemen) will really have to pick up his play and Aki Berg just back for the injured list will also be an enormous factor. In net we have a problem, Martin who has played almost the full season was playing a little tired towards the end of the season and will have to put together some stellar performances. All in all I think we should make a competitive first round match up for the Norsemen. I damn the soothsayers who say Norsemen in four games cause that isn't going to happen I guarantee it. Larry Berteotti, GM Hamilton Steelcats 8- TEAMS' TIDBITS: the VIKINGS ----------- For the second straight season, the Edmonton Vikings have won the Smythe Division regular season title. The Vikings went 8-3-1 down the stretch to finish with a club record 42 victories and 89 points. As well with 293 goals the team shattered their old record of 262. Their league record of 217 goals against set last season stood up against a fierce charge by the much-improved Chicoutimi Sparrows. The Sparrows allowed 218 goals against in season 2. The last home game of the season was fan appreciation night and saw the crowning of the Vikings individual award winners as voted on by the fans. For the second straight season Russian scoring sensation took home the team's MVP award. Zhamnov, who set new club records with 61 goals and 109 points, was quick to acknowledge his teammates. "This is such a fun and easy game when your teammates are as good as mine. Every game we feel we can win if we are all trying very hard together. My linemates (Owen Nolan and Radek Dvorak) make it easy for me to get points. This has been a good year so far but we have lots left to go." Other winners included: Top Defenseman: Eric Desjardins (2nd straight year) Top Defensive Forward: Owen Nolan Top Rookie: Radek Dvorak Unsung Hero: Sylvain Cote Most Popular Player: Owen Nolan The playoffs are upon us and the Vikings are looking to erase the painful memories of last season's 2nd round loss to the Kodiaks. Their first round opponent will be the Whitehorse Rapids who are led by rookie left-winger Sergei Samsonov. Samsonov, who led the Rapids with 33 goals, was one of 6 20 goal scorers on the club. "He's a real shifty player who is really strong one on one. He has a good shot and is faster than hell. But we can't try and focus exclusively on him because if we do Fleury or Kovalev or Brind'Amour or Hogue will beat us," said Viking winger Bill Guerin. "They have very good offensive depth as every line can score. The key is for us to play our game and have them worry about shutting down our big guns, not us worrying about shutting down theirs." The season series was split 2-2 with both teams winning two games at home. As well the GF/GA in the series was 17/17, so there is not alot to pick here. Once again their is a small goaltending controversy brewing in Edmonton just in time for the playoffs. Andy Moog peformed incredibly down the stretch for the Vikings farm club and has been called up for the playoffs. There have been some rumors that McEwen may even start Moog in game 1. "As of right now Jamie Storr is starting Game 1. He has been our #1 guy all year and has played very well for us. Andy hasn't played at this level since November so I'm not going to start him. However if Jamie falters I have two high caliber goaltenders waiting in the wings in Moog and rookie Manny Fernandez, who led the team with a 3.06 GAA in 13 games." Viking Press 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! -- End --