WHL WEEKLY VOL.2, number 5 We have a big issue this week, thanks to our special collaborators, Darren Kinnaird of the Voodoo, and the magazine's all new reporter Jason Stumpf of the Lunatics. CONTENTS: 1- Overall team stats 2- Rookie report 3- Player of the week 4- Goaltender of the week 5- Weekly trades 6- Trading blocks 7- GM profiles -By Darren Kinnaird 8- Interwiew with Darren Kinnaird -By Jason Stumpf 9- Penalty box -By Jason Stumpf 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. This was one of those weeks when there were no teams who played outstandingly, except for the Freeze, who seem to be very happy that winter is coming. A lot of teams played around .500. Freeze took first place, in front of the Sparrows. Dominators moved from the third spot to the 11th, and the Vikings from 9th to 16th. HOT FREEZE 5-0-1 QUAKERS 4-1-0 NOT VIKINGS 0-3-1 BREAKERS 1-4-0 DOMINATORS 1-4-0 OVERALL STANDINGS GP W L T GF GA PTS PCT LAST WEEK 1- FREEZE 21 14 6 1 77 50 29 .690 6 2- SPARROWS 21 12 6 3 73 69 27 .642 1 3- KRUSHERS 16 9 5 2 71 53 20 .625 5 4- LUNATICS 21 13 8 0 91 78 26 .619 7 5- WARRIORS 20 10 7 3 77 68 23 .575 8 6- VOODOO 21 12 9 0 82 64 24 .571 12 7- RAPIDS 21 12 9 0 78 73 24 .571 2 8- FURY 21 12 9 0 70 65 24 .571 4 9- MONARCHS 18 10 8 0 68 72 20 .555 14 10- CLOWNS 20 10 8 2 66 67 22 .550 11 11- DOMINATRS 21 10 9 2 77 62 22 .523 3 12- QUAKERS 21 9 8 4 81 82 22 .523 17 13- HUSKIES 20 9 9 2 64 66 20 .500 16 14- BREAKERS 20 9 10 1 73 80 19 .475 10 15- GRUNTS 19 8 9 2 60 62 18 .473 15 16- VIKINGS 19 8 9 2 69 72 18 .473 9 17- CORINTHS 21 9 11 1 84 75 19 .452 18 18- HITMEN 20 9 11 0 66 65 18 .450 13 19- MALLRATS 16 6 8 2 57 62 14 .437 19 20- AGENTS 20 8 11 1 68 85 17 .425 20 21- WOLVES 21 8 13 0 68 74 16 .380 21 22- NORSEMEN 21 6 13 2 57 87 14 .333 23 23- FLAM FISH 20 6 13 1 59 86 13 .325 22 24- MUSTANGS 21 4 14 3 58 77 11 .261 24 2- ROOKIE REPORT Only the players with 10 or more points are shown. It takes up less space and time. The WHL's rookie scoring race is led by defenceman Bryan Berard of the Chicoutimi Sparrows. Berard is the leading scorer of his team and is headed for an outstanding season. Philippe DeRouville is leading the goaltenders but has only played 3 games. One goalie who really stands out is Jose Theodore of the Warriors. He has been in goal for all of the Warriors' games so far this season, and he has managed to maintain a very acceptable GAA of 3.35 with a record of 10-7-3. Rookie scorers: 1- Brian Berard 21 3 22 25 10 59 46 5.0 2- Alexei Morozov 20 12 10 22 10 61 33 19.6 3- Dale Craigwell 21 10 12 22 11 38 6 26.3 4- Brian McCabe 21 6 14 20 10 39 9 15.3 5- Daymond Langkow 16 9 10 19 8 53 51 16.9 6- Zdenek Nedved 21 7 11 18 2 72 10 9.7 7- Jan Vopat 21 4 14 18 -6 13 25 30.7 8- Todd Warriner 21 10 6 16 0 62 29 16.1 9- Teemu Riijarvi 21 8 8 16 0 53 26 15.0 10- Stephane Morin 21 6 10 16 -3 45 28 13.3 11- Radek Dvorak 19 3 13 16 -3 54 16 5.5 12- Miikka Elomo 20 7 8 15 0 50 45 14.0 13- Craig Fisher 21 7 8 15 14 21 51 22.5 14- Miroslav Satan 19 6 8 14 1 41 17 14.6 15- Sergei Samsonov 21 5 9 14 -10 61 17 8.1 16- Barry Richter 20 3 11 14 4 32 23 11.3 17- Saku Koivu 21 7 6 13 -9 66 9 10.6 18- Stephane Yelle 21 7 6 13 8 62 6 11.2 19- Niklas Andresson 16 7 6 13 1 44 17 15.9 20- Jamie Langenbrunner 20 7 6 13 5 39 40 17.9 21- Daniel Briere 20 9 3 12 -3 86 58 10.4 22- Roman Vopat 21 4 8 12 5 43 52 9.3 23- Daniel Alfredsson 21 6 5 11 -4 49 19 12.2 24- Jay McKee 21 5 6 11 9 19 54 26.3 25- Ron Sutter 20 4 7 11 -2 21 23 19.0 26- Jason Doig 20 4 7 11 8 18 54 22.2 27- Craig Conroy 20 3 8 11 4 22 43 13.6 28- Mathieu Dandenault 20 6 4 10 5 47 34 12.7 29- Christer Olsson 16 4 6 10 -3 37 12 10.8 30- Ed Jovanovski 21 3 7 10 -1 43 53 6.9 31- Wade Redden 21 3 7 10 -10 34 47 8.8 32- Jason Botterill 21 3 7 10 6 29 35 10.3 33- Todd Bertuzzi 21 2 8 10 -4 36 30 8.5 Rookie Goaltenders: 1- Phil DeRouville 3 180 2.33 1 2 0 7 83 .916 2- Chris Rogles 1 60 3.00 0 1 0 3 28 .893 3- Jose Theodore 20 1215 3.35 10 7 3 68 600 .887 4- Eric Fichaud 17 1020 3.59 7 10 0 61 472 .871 5- Jason Muzzatti 4 240 3.75 2 2 0 15 117 .872 6- Marc Denis 2 125 3.84 1 0 1 8 55 .855 7- Pat Jablonski 13 780 3.92 8 5 0 51 388 .869 8- Olaf Kolzig 3 180 4.00 1 2 0 12 82 .854 9- Andy Moog 16 970 4.45 4 10 2 72 453 .842 10- Robb Stauber 2 120 5.00 1 1 0 10 57 .825 11- Les Kuntar 1 60 5.00 0 1 0 5 33 .849 3- PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD: I received only 9 or 10 team's nominations for the player and goaltender of the week. That's not bad but I'd like to see still more participation. This week, Pat Lafontaine of the Waterloo Lunatics is our player of the week. He scored two goals, adding 8 assists in 6 games, helping the Lunatics to their record of 4-2-0. The runner up is Mats Sundin of the Kingston Corinthians. GP G A PTS +/- SH PIM PCT Pat Lafontaine LUNATICS 6 2 8 10 4 24 12 8.3 Mats Sundin CORINTHIANS 6 6 4 10 2 31 11 19.4 4- GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK AWARD: Curtis Joseph of the Vancouver Voodoo had an incredible week, in net for all 6 games, for a record of 4-2-0, with a GAA of 2.17 and a save percentage of .940. He even had 2 shutouts. The runners-up were Pat Jablonski of the Lunatics and Chris Osgood of the Grunts. Curtis Joseph VOODOO 6 360 2.17 4 2 0 13 216 .940 Chris Osgood GRUNTS 4 240 2.50 2 2 0 10 122 .918 Pat Jablonski LUNATICS 6 360 3.33 4 2 0 20 182 .890 5- WEEKLY TRADES: There were 4 trades this week, the biggest one between the Mustangs and the Huskies, sending veteran Mark Messier to Bridgeland and Joe Sakic to Milton. Defenseman Sylvain Cote was traded for the second time this season, moving from Halifax to Edmonton. Trade #31 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the Mustangs: Joe Sakic Darren Puppa Mikka Elomo To the Huskies: Mark Messier Ed Belfour Chris Tancil Trade #32 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the Norsemen: Ron Hextall David Bruce Ronnie Stern To the Flaming Fish: Andy Moog Alexei Zhitnik Anatoli Semenov Trade #33 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the Sparrows: Jason Dawe To the Corinthians: Philippe DeRouville Trade #34 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- To the Vikings: Sylvain Cote Andy Moog To the Flaming Fish: Sean Burke Todd Marchant -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6- TRADING BLOCKS: Once again, any GMs who would like to see their players on the block here, send their names to me. If you want their names removed, tell me. SPARROWS: Jon Casey G Darcy Tucker C Sergei Brylin C Travis Green C - Looking for defensemen LUNATICS: Jocelyn Thibault G Jeff Brown D WOLVES: Garth Snow G Joe Mullen RW Brian Benning D Viacheslav Fetisov D DOMINATORS: Bob Bassen LW Mike Hudson Dave Reid Rob Gaudreau Nikolai Khabibulin Derek Plante - Looking for defense CORINTHIANS: Jason Muzzatti G 7- GM PROFILES GM-Lori Steward-Norsemen Is 23 years old and is in the final year of her B.Sc. in Chicoutimi, Quebec. Her major is Math and Computer Science. In the future she plans to move to Saskatoon to pursue a career in the computer industry. Her favorite NHL team is the Colorado Avalanche. She enjoys watching "girly" (her term not mine) sports like figure skating and gymnastics. She enjoys hiking. She is originally from Melfort, Sask. GM-Dave Moore-Grunts Dave is 35 and works at Dr. Dave Cartoon institute and attends School at the Cabot institute. He already has a B.Sc. and B.Ed. and a major in English Lit and is currently studying Graphic Design. He hopes to one day open a small graphic Design business, and get back into coaching minor hockey. His favorite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. He likes to watch the CFL, and sometimes the NFL. He enjoys playing soccer, hockey, basketball, pretty much any team sport and really enjoys volleyball. He lives in St. John's, Newfoundland. Dave also had this to add: "I have a small home-page started at: http://www.seascape.com/~capndave/INDEX.HTML I played both wing and defence during my hockey years, and picked-up the name "FRANCO" while playing competitive touch-football for 7 years. In my spare time, I am a writer, cartoonist, scientist, poet, pro wrestler, artist, philosopher, cook, once saved a small central American village from killer army ants using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I am able to toss a tennis raquet at small targets with astounding accuracy, I can only juggle two objects at once, I have never been to jail, though once hijacked a school-bus full of Danish Stewardesses, the laws of physics do not ALL apply to me, and I have been the subject of many documentaries that aired in Japan in the early 1980s. I also have a pathological fear of ketchup on hotdogs...but have discovered that when combined with mustard - peanut-butter on hot dogs can be incredibly tasty. As it is on smoked kippers. Many know me as DR.DAVE and I have a credit-card for a major gas company that backs that up...though I have never oficially been given a licence to practice any form of medicine. If I did not exist, mankind would find it necessary to invent me." GM-Marc Hebert-Corinthians Marc attends school in Montreal and resides in Chicoutimi. When asked about his future plans he had this to say, "I don't if that is what you mean but I plan to work in animation with youths." He is 20 years old and his favorite NHL team is the Montreal Canadiens. He likes to watch baseball and enjoys to play it as well. He also had this to add: "They have to send in their nominations for player of the week and tender of the week for Wednesday at noon." GM-Brian Howe-Mustangs Brian's a working man. And a hard one at that. He works about 70 hours a week at two jobs. He works for Stelwire Inc. Division of Stelco Inc. and he has his own business PLATINUM Computing Systems. At Stelco he is a general labourer and is in retail, upgrading and programming at PLATINUM. He is 30 years old and his future plans are, "Take over Microsoft....or drink another beer....undecided as yet." I say go for the beer. His favorite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. He enjoys watching Soccer and the CFL. He enjoys playing Soccer and Ball Hockey. He presently resides in Milton Ontario. GM-Jeff McDonald-Warriors Jeff attends school in Waterloo and is majoring in Computer Engineering. He is 19 and in the future just wants to graduate and become rich. His favorite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. He enjoys watching basketball, football, and baseball. He likes to participate in ice hockey and ball hockey. He is originally from Hermitage, Newfoundland. GM-Carson Pierce-Flaming Fish Carson works and attends University. He is in his 4th year of Commerce at Dalhousie University and he runs an indie record label called Flaming Fish Music. He is 23 and counting and in the future plans on, "Expanding my record company, finding a job in the field of internet marketing, turning Flaming Fish into a winning WHL club, trading every player on my roster at least once." He's proud to say his favorite team is the New York Islanders. He enjoys participating in Ice and ball hockey, volleyball, basketball, badminton, and baseball. He is currently living in Halifax, Nova Scotia with his, "beautiful cat and furry wife." He also had this to add: "I'm a total arse to trade with - just call me Mr. Sather." GM-Jason Kolsrud-Dominators Jason does the work thing. He works for International Paper. Jason tells me that it is the largest folding carton plant in the world. They make Carton's for Hostess, Aneheuser Busch, McDonalds and so on. He is 24 and likes to watch NAscar and Indy Racing and likes to go to the local dirt tracks to watch the late model cars. He enjoys playing basketball and softball. His favorite NHL team is the New York Islanders. He currently call Camanche, Iowa home. Jason adds this about his town: "A very small town and is the most eastern town in Iowa. Right on the Mississippi River." GM-Shaun Driver-Huskies Shaun attends school at the University of Calgary where he is majoring in Political Science. He wants to enter law school and become rich and famous...oh yeah and he wants to win the Cyber Cup. The 18 year old's favorite team is the New York Rangers. He also enjoys watching football and likes to play Rugby, Cricket, Volleyball and Basketball. GM-Lee McEwen-Vikings Lee attends the University of Alberta and is also majoring in Political Science. He is 19 years old and when asked his future plans he had this to say, "??????." His favorite team is the Edmonton Oilers. Lee likes to watch baseball, football, and basketball. He likes to take part in ball hockey and skiing. But let me tell you from first hand experience. In his ski racing days he learned more than just how to run a few gates. Lee also happens to be my roomate. Lee had this to add: "I am extremely charismatic and attractive." I for one will say Lee is full of shit. GM-Lars Nordekvist-Wolves Lars works for ABB Industrial Systems AB in Sweden. He is a design engineer and system administrator for their I-deas CAD installation. The 30 year old's future plans are to get older. His favorite NHL team is the Philadelphia Flyers. His favorite player is Mikael Renberg, and he says, "maybe I'll try to trade him over to the Wolves." His favorite team in Sweden is Lulea, who won the Swedish league last year. He also likes to watch soccer. He lives in Sweden Vasteras. GM-Jason Stumpf-Lunatics Jason attends school in Waterloo. He is 19 years old and plans to major in economics with a business management minor and work in the business world. If he can't do that he says, "I will just sit at home and watch talk shows and join more fantasy hockey leagues." His favorite NHL team is the Montreal Canadiens. He likes to watch NFL football, Nascar and the WWF! He enjoys taking part in hockey and football. GM-Adam Ardis-MallRats Adam graduated from the University of Albany with a BA in Computer Science. The 23 year old's future plans include a possible Masters Degree. His favorite team is the New York Islanders and he enjoys to watch baseball, basketball, and football. He likes to play the same and hockey too. He is cuurently working for The Sports Wire, Inc. as a Technical Support Specialist. He resides in Albany, New York. He also had this to add: "YANKEES RULE!" GM-Todd Henry-Quakers Todd is a 20 year old who plans to one day work in the high action world of finance. He is presently attending the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He enjoys watching anything and like to take part in basketball. His home is Pittsburgh and he also had this to add: "I am a huge net junkie" GM-Mike Hebert-Sparrows Mike is into Math and Computers at l'Universite du Quebec a Chicoutimi. This 21 year old plans to move out West to Saskatchewan and go job hunting. His favorite team is the Montreal Canadians. He likes to watch baseball and really likes to play baseball. He is a card collector as well. He also had this to add: "Go Sparrows!" GM-Mike Vader-Breakers Mike is attending school at SHHS in Walkerton. The 18 year old's future plans include something in sports broadcasting. His favorite team is the Toronto Maple Leafs. He also likes to watch football and likes playing any sport. He currently lives in Walkerton and is the only GM still in highschool. (at least of those that replied.) GM-Kevin Beilner-Fury Kevin is 20 years old and lives in Fort Saskatchewan Alberta. He attends school at University of Alberta in the Faculty of Business. His favorite team is the Phoenix Coyotes as he used to be a Jets fan. Kevin likes to play almost any sport especially ice, ball, or road hockey. He enjoys watching almost any sport too. GM-Darren Kinnaird-Voodoo I am 20 years old and am in my third year at the University of Alberta. I am in the faculty of business and am looking at majoring in marketing. I hope to attend Ski Resort Operations Management in Nelson B.C. when I am done and then work at a ski hill the rest of my life. My favorite team is the Vancouver Canucks. I like to watch basketball, football, the Olympics, and any show that has to do with skiing. I, incase you hadn't already guessed, love to ski, and also like to play goal in ball hockey. I am on the same ball hockey team as Kevin and Lee and so far our record this year is 6-0-1. I also like to play basketball and any other stupid sport we try to make up, like our own version of stickball. I also work at a ski shop tuning and renting skis and at Edmonton Ski Club as a ski instructor. I only have three things to say: 1.Beer is really good!!!!, especially Canadian Beer. 2.Cujo rules!!!!! 3.Try and make it to the first annual GM meetings taking place in the summer of 97 here in Edmonton. It will be a hell of a party. 8- INTERVIEW WITH DARREN KINNAIRD FROM THE VANCOUVER VOODOO Brothers and Sisters, welcome to the BROTHER LOVE show. Today I have chose to get up close and personal with BROTHER DARREN from the Vancouver Voodoo. Brother Darren as we all know had to leave on a symbatical for a while and there for was lost, but just this past year we found BROTHER DARREN again and was forunate to have his LOVE back into the LEAGUE. ======================================================================= 1) How does it feel to rejoin the WHL after a brief time when you were unable to participate within this league? Well it great to be back. I had moved to Vancouver to teach skiing, and was unable to participate, I would really like to thank Lee McEwen and Mike Hebert. Lee told Mike I would be returning to Edmonton and when a team became available I got it. I was just lucky to get my old team back. 2) How did your team react after finding out that the GM that dumped them like a sack of potatoes was back to take control over the team? What was the reaction by the players? The team was kind of disappointed. They had become accustomed to high profile lifestyle. This came with the part ownership with the Rolling Stones last year. They brought alot of Hollywood friends and stars to town to see the team. Now there aren't many players still with the team from its original days. I have made many changes since returning. I think the players are glad I am back. I'm sure Joe Sakic doesn't think I am the coolest guy in the world right now but hey he wasn't doing it here so it was time to move him. I really wanted to see Trevor Linden back on the West Coast and getting Paul Coffey really has helped our power play. 3) You are currently tied for 1st in your division, do you feel that this early success is due to your good managing, the play of your stars or the play of your whole team together? Well I think it is the whole team. I have tried to load up the defense core bringing in Paul Coffey and Rob Blake. The play of the rookies on this team has really helped out. Todd Warriner has really come thru for us considering we didn't think he would make the team this year. Satan has been good for us and Nolan Baungartner has been solid matched up with Steve Smith. Getting Pavel Bure doesn't hurt either. 4) What are your chances do you think of going to the Cyber Cup this year? Do you think the current squad you have would be able to do this? Or do you see trades in the near future for your team to contend? When I took over the team I was looking to do well this year. After a poor preseason and slow start I thought about building for the future. Then the team turned things around and so we are looking to go all the way now. I think we have good chances of going to the Cup this year. Cujo is playing phenomenally right now. He has been a big part of our early success. 5) Curtis Joseph is currently playing exceptionally well, he is third in the league for GOA and Save Percentage as well as being 5th in wins and 1st overall in Shut Outs. When you traded for CuJo, did you know that he would be able to play this well? Did you have an easy time with contract negotiations with him? How is the backup situation going with Cujo being so hot? Well the trade was made in a flash actually. Lee and I were sitting around and were bored so we started talking trades. Burke was struggling at the time and so I asked how available Cujo was. Since he was playing back-up in Edmonton Lee said sure. I even got a third rounder for a 4th in the deal. The back up position belongs to Robb Stauber and we had hoped to see him possibly get a little more action this year. He has played well when he has been in, but he knows his role and is ready to go when called upon. 6) Rob Blake has only 6 points and is a -2 in 21 games. Do you feel he is having a hard time adjusting to your way of coaching or are there possibly disagreements going on between you and him and if so, are the rumors about him being traded in the near future true??? No, there are no rumors about him being traded. I didn't really get him for his offensive abilities. I got him for his checking and tough style of play. If he puts in a few points that is good too. I think his minus 2 comes from playing about ten games with the Flaming Fish. 7) Lastly, in the past week it seems that there is a feud going on between you and the Waterloo Lunatics, the claims are that Pavel Bure illegally hit Darren Van Impe from behind and that you encourage this type of play. Do you believe in the motto of "Win, no matter what you do, if you win it is worth it"? Did you discuss this event with Mr. Bure at all? What do you think about Mr. Stumpf's remarks regarding that hit? Well first of all Mr. Stumpf can say what he wants. I beleive that sure it was a dirty hit, but it was deserved. Van "G"Impe two handed Bure about 10 seconds before and Bure took justice into his own hands. Some feel that is wrong, but oh well. I have not discussed the incident with Pavel and don't feel I have to. As you can tell with guys like Antoski and Odgers in the lineup we are built on toughness and checking. I mean there are reasons why we have Ken Daneyko and Gerald Diduck taking regular shifts out there. Intimidation. I encourage tough checking and if someone happens to get hurt in the process, well all I have to say to them is, NEXT TIME KEEP YOUR HEAD UP!!! ========================================================================== Well folks, that is all the time I had to spend with Brother Darren, I would have liked to have spent more but I had to be off. Next week I will be interviewing another one of my brothers or sisters out there in the WHL. Until then, BROTHER LOVE would just like to say, "I LOVE YOU!" 9- PENALTY BOX BROTHERS and SISTERS, BROTHER LOVE has been talking to a few of you this week and this is what some of you had to say around the league: ====================================================================== The penalty box would like to know how the Freeze feel about your team's early success. "We hope the WHL has taken notice that the FREEZE has brought a hard-checking Philly style of hockey to the league, and I think our style has taken alot of teams by surprise and is the biggest reason for our early success" Rob Hite ======================================================================= The penalty box would like to know how you (Jason Kolsrud of the Dominators) feel after being shut out by the Wolves 3-0. "IT BLEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jason Kolsrud ======================================================================= The Penalty Box would like to know what is your (Lori Steward) feeling about your team's (Norsemen) poor success so far this season. "I am very dissapointed with my team." Lori Steward ======================================================================= Hi Carson, the Penalty box would like to know what is your opinion of your team's (Flaming Fish) poor start: "We've got a constantly changing team at the moment - it'll take a while for things to settle in." Carson ======================================================================= The Penalty Box would like to know how you (Brian Howe) feel about your team's (Mustangs) lack of hockey sense. "Well, I wouldn't call it a lack of hockey sense. It is a lack of consistancy." Brian Howe ======================================================================== --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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!