WHL: WEEKLY MAGAZINE VOL.3, NUMBER 5 Once again guys, sorry for the paper being sooooo very late. The last few days have been terrible and I barely can find time to breathe. As you probably have noticed, this season's Weekly Mag is packed with a lot of interesting stats like team offense and defense ratings, star leaders etc. Well, all of those stats are provided Brian Howe, GM of the Toronto Stallions, and owner of Platinum Computing. Well, this week, Brian strikes again. The HLS2 magician has now designed a new program, this time for the Rookie Report. Look what he's done with the rookie report guys, really, it's great (and it saves me about an hour and a half). Thanks Brian. Contents: 1- Overall Team Standings 2- Forward of the Week 3- Defenseman of the Week 4- Goaltender of the Week 5- Rookie Report 6- Brother Love Interview 7- Weekly 3-Star Award/Hat Trick/5+ Point/10+ Shot 8- PLATINUM 3 Stars Cup Leaders 9- 1st/2nd/3rd Stars Leaders 10- Hat Tricks Leaders 11- 5+ Shots Games Leaders 12- 10+ Shots Games Leaders 13- Team Offense Rating - Goals For 14- Team Offense Rating - Shots For 15- Team Defense Rating - Goals Against 16- Team Defense Rating - Shots Against 17- Roster Moves Report 18- Teams Tidbits 1- OVERALL TEAM STANDINGS 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 goals for and goals against. GP W L T GF GA PTS PCT LAST WEEK 1- GRUNTS 25 16 3 6 102 62 38 .760 2 2- QUAKERS 26 19 6 1 104 81 39 .750 1 3- STALLIONS 25 16 6 3 112 78 35 .700 5 4- VOODOO 27 17 6 4 163 109 38 .667 4 5- STRANGERS 24 16 8 0 118 86 32 .667 3 6- LUNATICS 25 15 9 1 97 79 31 .620 7 7- CORINTHS 25 14 9 2 89 76 30 .600 9 8- FREEZE 25 13 10 2 94 85 28 .560 12 9- MALLRATS 24 13 11 0 97 92 26 .542 8 10- N.O.D. 24 11 9 4 86 76 26 .542 10 11- MONARCHS 26 12 10 4 94 84 28 .538 6 12- KRUSHERS 23 11 10 2 79 71 24 .522 14 13- DOMINATRS 27 12 12 3 126 112 27 .500 15 14- WOLVES 25 12 12 1 99 89 25 .500 11 15- VENOM 25 12 12 1 102 95 25 .500 16 16- VIKINGS 26 12 13 1 85 88 25 .481 13 17- SPARROWS 25 10 14 1 84 92 21 .420 19 18- SAINTS 27 10 17 0 85 117 20 .370 17 19- ROSES 26 8 16 2 66 107 18 .346 18 20- STEELCATS 25 8 17 0 85 107 16 .320 20 21- ENFORCERS 22 5 14 3 62 96 13 .295 21 22- FURY 24 5 17 2 82 121 12 .250 23 23- AGENTS 25 5 18 2 88 149 12 .240 22 24- VIPERS 24 5 18 1 67 114 11 .229 24 2- FORWARD OF THE WEEK AWARD This week's player of the week is Mike Modano of the Vancouver Voodoo. Last week, Modano had 10 assists and also scored 3 goals for a total of 13 points in 5 games. The runners up were teammate Zigmund Palffy and Pierre Turgeon of the Chicoutimi Sparrows. GP G A PTS +/- Sh Pn Sh% Mike Modano VOODOO 5 3 10 13 8 35 0 8.6 Zigmund Palffy VOODOO 5 9 1 10 8 47 14 19.1 Pierre Turgeon SPARROWS 6 7 4 11 5 28 6 25.0 3- DEFENSEMAN OF THE WEEK AWARD This week's defenseman of the week is Bryan Berard of the Chicoutimi Sparrows. Last week, Berard scored 3 goals adding 7 assists for a total of 10 points in 6 games. Berard also was +5 last week. The runner up was Scott Niedermayer of the Penticton Venom. GP G A PTS +/- Sh Pn Sh% Bryan Berard SPARROWS 6 3 7 10 5 10 9 30.0 Scott Niedermayer VENOM 5 2 7 9 2 15 5 13.3 4- GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK AWARD This week's goaltender of the week is Corey Schwab of the Toronto Stallions. Last week, Schwab was between the pipes for 3 games. He kept a 1.33 gaa and a .960 save percentage, leading his team to a 3-0-0 record. The runners up were Eric Fichaud of the Chicoutimi Sparrows and Patrick Roy of the Waterloo Lunatics. GP Min Gaa W L T Ga Sh Sv% Corey Schwab STALLIONS 3 180 1.33 3 0 0 4 101 .960 Eric Fichaud SPARROWS 3 180 2.67 2 1 0 8 88 .909 Patrick Roy LUNATICS 2 120 1.50 2 0 0 3 61 .953 5- ROOKIE REPORT - Provided by Brian Howe Rookie Scoring Statistics ************************* Top 50 Point Earners P # Player GP G A PTS +/- PP SH GW GT S PIM PCT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- F 89 Dainius Zubrus 27 7 16 23 20 0 0 2 0 71 15 9.9 F 44 Jonas Hoglund 25 7 13 20 -9 1 0 1 0 41 0 17.1 D 44 Janne Niinimaa 27 7 13 20 -21 1 0 0 0 57 21 12.3 D 4 Per Gustafsson 26 3 16 19 14 0 0 1 0 32 48 9.4 F 13 Andreas Dackell 26 7 11 18 7 0 0 2 0 61 18 11.5 F 25 Mike Grier 27 10 7 17 6 0 0 2 0 72 43 13.9 F 4 Sami Kapanen 26 7 10 17 -6 3 1 2 1 68 2 10.3 D 3 Mattias Ohlund 26 4 13 17 0 2 0 0 0 25 48 16.0 F 16 David Nemirovsky 23 7 9 16 -8 1 0 0 0 34 45 20.6 F 39 Brian Wesenberg 22 6 8 14 0 4 0 0 0 43 27 14.0 F 15 Chris Simon 25 6 8 14 6 0 0 0 0 40 115 15.0 F 32 Darren McCarty 27 6 8 14 4 0 0 1 0 73 101 8.2 D 23 Dan McGillis 25 3 11 14 -2 0 0 0 0 12 54 25.0 D 5 Jason Holland 23 1 13 14 5 0 0 0 0 18 49 5.6 F 16 Jim Campbell 25 4 9 13 2 0 0 1 0 51 59 7.8 F 35 Jeff O'Neill 24 6 6 12 -5 2 0 0 1 46 13 13.0 F 11 Ed Ronan 25 4 7 11 -20 3 0 0 0 47 27 8.5 D 11 Aaron Ward 27 4 7 11 9 0 0 0 0 30 38 13.3 D 14 Mattias Norstrom 23 2 9 11 12 0 0 0 0 16 50 12.5 F 94 Ryan Smyth 22 6 4 10 10 1 0 0 0 44 43 13.6 F 45 Vaclav Prospal 14 4 6 10 14 0 0 1 0 31 6 12.9 F 27 Joey Kocur 26 2 8 10 2 0 0 0 0 45 69 4.4 F 11 Alex Hicks 25 6 3 9 2 6 0 0 0 72 65 8.3 F 17 Rem Murray 27 6 3 9 -4 2 0 0 0 40 22 15.0 D 36 Rhett Warrener 27 5 4 9 0 0 0 0 0 33 40 15.2 F 22 Gerard Gallant 26 4 4 8 4 0 0 2 0 39 93 10.3 D 18 Ian Moran 24 3 5 8 -7 0 0 0 0 35 20 8.6 D 3 David Wilkie 25 3 5 8 10 0 0 0 0 26 14 11.5 D 32 Denis Gauthier 21 1 7 8 -11 1 0 0 0 21 67 4.8 F 6 Andrei Lomakin 17 3 4 7 2 0 0 2 0 30 18 10.0 D 16 Ken Klee 25 2 5 7 -4 0 0 1 0 27 54 7.4 D 11 Joel Bouchard 22 1 6 7 -1 0 0 0 0 6 33 16.7 D 34 Scott Walker 22 1 6 7 2 1 0 0 0 16 27 6.3 D 43 Al Iafrate 25 1 6 7 -8 0 0 0 0 9 61 11.1 F 18 Gary Shuchuk 25 5 1 6 -4 0 0 1 0 74 58 6.8 F 77 Anson Carter 10 3 3 6 0 0 0 1 0 30 8 10.0 D 27 John Slaney 11 3 3 6 4 1 0 0 0 14 4 21.4 F 10 Brantt Myrhes 24 3 3 6 -2 0 0 0 0 29 67 10.3 F 21 Alexei Lojkin 21 2 4 6 2 0 0 1 0 16 26 12.5 D 10 Ricard Persson 25 1 5 6 -22 0 0 0 0 16 37 6.3 D 4 Mike Wilson 15 0 6 6 -1 0 0 0 0 7 39 0.0 F 16 Cory Stillman 20 4 1 5 -6 2 0 2 0 38 44 10.5 D 31 Vlastimil Kroupa 8 1 4 5 2 0 0 0 0 6 0 16.7 F 25 Sergei Berezin 22 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 38 36 2.6 F 23 Christian Dube 21 4 0 4 -1 0 0 0 0 31 19 12.9 F 18 Stephen Guolla 23 4 0 4 -2 0 0 0 0 34 20 11.8 F 50 Rob Zamuner 8 3 1 4 3 1 0 0 0 20 5 15.0 F 14 Brad Smyth 19 2 2 4 -3 1 0 0 0 18 56 11.1 F 25 Bruce Gardiner 7 1 3 4 3 0 0 0 0 17 6 5.9 D 11 Denis Tsygurov 19 1 3 4 -14 0 0 0 0 11 49 9.1 Top 20 Goal Scorers P # Player GP G A PTS +/- PP SH GW GT S PIM PCT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- F 25 Mike Grier 27 10 7 17 6 0 0 2 0 72 43 13.9 F 16 David Nemirovsky 23 7 9 16 -8 1 0 0 0 34 45 20.6 F 44 Jonas Hoglund 25 7 13 20 -9 1 0 1 0 41 0 17.1 F 4 Sami Kapanen 26 7 10 17 -6 3 1 2 1 68 2 10.3 F 13 Andreas Dackell 26 7 11 18 7 0 0 2 0 61 18 11.5 D 44 Janne Niinimaa 27 7 13 20 -21 1 0 0 0 57 21 12.3 F 89 Dainius Zubrus 27 7 16 23 20 0 0 2 0 71 15 9.9 F 94 Ryan Smyth 22 6 4 10 10 1 0 0 0 44 43 13.6 F 39 Brian Wesenberg 22 6 8 14 0 4 0 0 0 43 27 14.0 F 35 Jeff O'Neill 24 6 6 12 -5 2 0 0 1 46 13 13.0 F 15 Chris Simon 25 6 8 14 6 0 0 0 0 40 115 15.0 F 11 Alex Hicks 25 6 3 9 2 6 0 0 0 72 65 8.3 F 32 Darren McCarty 27 6 8 14 4 0 0 1 0 73 101 8.2 F 17 Rem Murray 27 6 3 9 -4 2 0 0 0 40 22 15.0 F 18 Gary Shuchuk 25 5 1 6 -4 0 0 1 0 74 58 6.8 D 36 Rhett Warrener 27 5 4 9 0 0 0 0 0 33 40 15.2 F 45 Vaclav Prospal 14 4 6 10 14 0 0 1 0 31 6 12.9 F 16 Cory Stillman 20 4 1 5 -6 2 0 2 0 38 44 10.5 F 23 Christian Dube 21 4 0 4 -1 0 0 0 0 31 19 12.9 F 18 Stephen Guolla 23 4 0 4 -2 0 0 0 0 34 20 11.8 Top 20 Shot Takers P # Player GP G A PTS +/- PP SH GW GT S PIM PCT ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- F 18 Gary Shuchuk 25 5 1 6 -4 0 0 1 0 74 58 6.8 F 32 Darren McCarty 27 6 8 14 4 0 0 1 0 73 101 8.2 F 11 Alex Hicks 25 6 3 9 2 6 0 0 0 72 65 8.3 F 25 Mike Grier 27 10 7 17 6 0 0 2 0 72 43 13.9 F 89 Dainius Zubrus 27 7 16 23 20 0 0 2 0 71 15 9.9 F 4 Sami Kapanen 26 7 10 17 -6 3 1 2 1 68 2 10.3 F 13 Andreas Dackell 26 7 11 18 7 0 0 2 0 61 18 11.5 D 44 Janne Niinimaa 27 7 13 20 -21 1 0 0 0 57 21 12.3 F 16 Jim Campbell 25 4 9 13 2 0 0 1 0 51 59 7.8 F 11 Ed Ronan 25 4 7 11 -20 3 0 0 0 47 27 8.5 F 35 Jeff O'Neill 24 6 6 12 -5 2 0 0 1 46 13 13.0 F 27 Joey Kocur 26 2 8 10 2 0 0 0 0 45 69 4.4 F 94 Ryan Smyth 22 6 4 10 10 1 0 0 0 44 43 13.6 F 39 Brian Wesenberg 22 6 8 14 0 4 0 0 0 43 27 14.0 F 44 Jonas Hoglund 25 7 13 20 -9 1 0 1 0 41 0 17.1 F 15 Chris Simon 25 6 8 14 6 0 0 0 0 40 115 15.0 F 17 Rem Murray 27 6 3 9 -4 2 0 0 0 40 22 15.0 F 22 Gerard Gallant 26 4 4 8 4 0 0 2 0 39 93 10.3 F 16 Cory Stillman 20 4 1 5 -6 2 0 2 0 38 44 10.5 F 25 Sergei Berezin 22 1 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 38 36 2.6 Top 20 G.A.A. GOALTENDER GP MIN AVG W L T EN SO GA SA PCT PIM AS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Corey Schwab 10 605 2.88 6 3 1 0 0 29 313 .907 0 0 Chris Rogles 17 1030 2.97 9 6 2 0 0 51 547 .907 0 0 Manny Legace 10 600 3.10 6 4 0 0 0 31 294 .895 0 0 Dominic Roussel 18 1080 3.11 13 5 0 0 2 56 528 .894 0 0 Marcel Cousineau 21 1280 3.14 10 7 4 0 0 67 604 .889 0 0 Corey Hirsch 23 1395 3.74 15 5 3 0 0 87 754 .885 0 0 J.S. Giguere 13 780 4.15 4 9 0 0 1 54 467 .884 0 0 Steve Shields 19 1140 4.47 7 12 0 0 1 85 700 .879 0 0 Top 20 Save Percentages GOALTENDER GP MIN AVG W L T EN SO GA SA PCT PIM AS ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Corey Schwab 10 605 2.88 6 3 1 0 0 29 313 .907 0 0 Chris Rogles 17 1030 2.97 9 6 2 0 0 51 547 .907 0 0 Manny Legace 10 600 3.10 6 4 0 0 0 31 294 .895 0 0 Dominic Roussel 18 1080 3.11 13 5 0 0 2 56 528 .894 0 0 Marcel Cousineau 21 1280 3.14 10 7 4 0 0 67 604 .889 0 0 Corey Hirsch 23 1395 3.74 15 5 3 0 0 87 754 .885 0 0 J.S. Giguere 13 780 4.15 4 9 0 0 1 54 467 .884 0 0 Steve Shields 19 1140 4.47 7 12 0 0 1 85 700 .879 0 0 6- BROTHER LOVE INTERVIEW - with Capt'n Dave, GM of the St-John's Grunts, by Jason Stumpf 1. This season, your Grunts are one of the best teams in the league, showing night in and night out that everyone on your team gives 100%. Even though this season your team has such stars as Cam Neely and Mathieu Schneider underachieving and you have been plagued with injuries to other stars such as Sergei Zubov and Darius Kasparaitus, you still keep winning and dominating. What do you attribute to this success? Well I have made it a point since I was awarded this franchise back in expansion days, to get the best character players that I could...The Very first GRUNT was Cam Neely, the Second was Adam Graves...and the trend was set from there. Along the way the team has picked-up other great character guys...guys who like to go into the corners, or who score clutch goals, or who are good checkers or who play a good solid physical game....guys like: Turner Stevenson, Kevin Hatcher, Paul Kruse, Wendel Clark, Brian Bellows, Terry Carkner, Gerry Flemming, Darius Kasparitus, etc... When the chance came along to grab skill guys like Reichel, Pivonka, Larionov, Zubov, Johansson, and Ragnarsson...well you see a pretty balanced team...we basicly have the ability to play any team with any style of game we choose...so it makes this easier on me as a coach when guys are hurt or slumping...I just switch the emphasis over to a different type of game. So far it has worked well. It certainly doesn't hurt that this team plays infront of two of the best goalies in Fantasy hockey in Osgoode and Vernon...both of these guys know that if they slump at all, the other guy will take their job. It is a coach's dream. Funny enough though...before this season started, I thought that the GRUNTS would be weaker from losing Verbeek and Ferraro, and on paper, we are...but some of the other vets decided to dedicate this season to those guys forced into retirement after our shocking play-off rout last season in four straight. The GRUNTS have an attitude and something to prove I guess you might say. 2. You have once of the strongest defence corps in the league. Even though they are not putting up big numbers, they are playing more of a defensive system shutting down the oppostion. Was this something you work on all last year, to obtain a supreme defense and do you think your defense can continue to hold out through a full schedule? Yes, my style of coaching is to try NOT to over-work my defensemen..especially important when you take alot of penalties. It was something I learned from my time spent coaching in the much fabled IHHHL and re-inforced in the KHL...that playing physical hockey can be as or more effective than playing offensive super-stars..as long as players get rested occasionally and you keep your team Fa ratings high. I aways avoid double shifting players on the powerplay...you will notice that while my team gets a good pile of goals...the scoring is always spread-out nicely too...other coaches really can't afford to put out a tired player against the GRUNTS..and double-shifting a star against us can really burn you...most games I use 7 d-men, just to make sure everybody is fresh. Guys like Holland have really responded well to this strategy. 3. Mikael Nylander is your teams leading scorer followed by Calle Johansson. Two unlikely players to be leading your team. Have these players blossomed under a new coaching system or did you hold a new type of summer training program throughout the off season? They would tell you themselves, that their line-mates are a big factor here, when you put a finese guy like Nylander on the ice with a Cam Neely, an Adam Graves (or Wendel Clark), a Kevin Hatcher, and a Terry Carkner...well you know that the other guys will be doing the digging and getting the puck to the guy with the finnishing touch or the soft hands passing. 4. Your special team as well are doing extremely well. Do you find that the experience back on your blue line, Calle Johansson, Kevin Hatcher, Mathieu Schneider and Sergei Zubov have helped you to the 2nd best record on the power play or again is this a new coaching strategy that you are using this season to attribute to the new found success? It is really a lot of factors...but as many a smart coach has said: "Smart hockey and good defence will win more games than great offense." Certainly, come play-off time everybody worries about d-fense then...I just think it is smart to have these guys play that way all season. It works for New Jersey and Florida in the NHL. 5. Do you feel that your team can continue throughout the season on this simply awesome streak and do you think you have what it takes to bring the cyber cup home? Really, I don't think so...we are lacking one more key dominant player...a banging power center perhaps...or yet another tower on defense... a guy rated about 75+...then I might be cocky...The temptation is there to trade a top draft-choice or two for such a player before the play-offs... but we can't count on more VOODOO type fire-sales again this season. We have to be realistic, with streaks and slumps and injuries..anything could happen...and our run of hot play has turned luke-warm of late with back to back ties. We started the season really poorly too, and every guy on my team knows that a slump could be just around the corner. This TEAM is a TEAM of REAL GRUNTS...as long as they work hard...anybody can be beaten...and I just hope that we can keep banging all through the play-offs...if we are lucky enough to get there. Thank you Brother Capt'n Dave. 7- WEEKLY 3-STAR AWARD/HAT TRICK/5+ POINT/10+ SHOT - Provided by Brian Howe First Star Leaders Player Team 1st ------------------------------------ Pierre Turgeon SPARROWS 3 Niklas Andersson KRUSHERS 2 Corey Schwab STALLIONS 2 J.S. Giguere STEELCATS 2 Sergei Petrenko FREEZE 2 Jeremy Roenick KRUSHERS 1 Owen Nolan LUNATICS 1 Patrick Roy LUNATICS 1 Mark Recchi LUNATICS 1 Mario Lemieux MALLRATS 1 ------------------------------------ Second Star Leaders Player Team 2nd ------------------------------------ Zigmund Palffy VOODOO 4 Grant Fuhr N.O.D. 2 Bryan Berard SPARROWS 2 Mark Messier STRANGERS 2 Ed Belfour STRANGERS 2 Rick Tocchet DOMINATRS 2 Sergei Krivokrasov KRUSHERS 1 Bryan Smolinski KRUSHERS 1 Steve Duchesne KRUSHERS 1 Bernie Nicholls LUNATICS 1 ------------------------------------ Third Star Leaders Player Team 3rd ------------------------------------ Jocelyn Thibault LUNATICS 2 Raymond Bourque N.O.D. 2 Dominic Roussel QUAKERS 2 Blaine Lacher VENOM 2 Mike Modano VOODOO 2 Chris Rogles KRUSHERS 2 Mark Fitzpatrick AGENTS 1 Owen Nolan LUNATICS 1 John Leclair LUNATICS 1 Mark Recchi LUNATICS 1 ------------------------------------ Hat Trick Leaders Player Team HT ------------------------------------ Theoren Fleury STRANGERS 1 Esa Tikkanen STRANGERS 1 Zigmund Palffy VOODOO 1 Stephane Morin DOMINATRS 1 Igor Larionov GRUNTS 1 ------------------------------------ 5+ Point Game Leaders Player Team 5+ ------------------------------------ Martin Gelinas VOODOO 1 ------------------------------------ 10+ Shot Game Leaders Player Team 10+ ------------------------------------ Mario Lemieux MALLRATS 2 Esa Tikkanen STRANGERS 2 Zigmund Palffy VOODOO 2 John Leclair LUNATICS 1 Steve Larouche SPARROWS 1 Craig Janney STEELCATS 1 Mark Messier STRANGERS 1 Steve Yzerman VENOM 1 Mike Modano VOODOO 1 ------------------------------------ 8- PLATINUM 3 STARS CUP LEADERS - Provided by Brian Howe Player Team 1st 2nd 3rd Total ----------------------------------------------------- Jaromir Jagr QUAKERS 5 6 4 47 Chris Osgood GRUNTS 5 4 1 38 Mario Lemieux MALLRATS 5 3 1 35 Mark Recchi LUNATICS 5 2 3 34 Theoren Fleury STRANGERS 6 1 1 34 Mike Modano VOODOO 5 2 2 33 Alexei Yashin QUAKERS 4 3 3 32 Pierre Turgeon SPARROWS 5 1 2 30 Mark Messier STRANGERS 4 3 1 30 Sergei Fedorov WOLVES 5 1 2 30 Zigmund Palffy VOODOO 1 7 2 28 Doug Weight VOODOO 3 3 3 27 Joe Nieuwendyk DOMINATRS 3 3 3 27 Sean Burke DOMINATRS 3 2 5 26 Alexander Mogilny STALLIONS 0 8 1 25 ----------------------------------------------------- 9- 1ST/2ND/3RD STARS LEADERS - Provided by Brian Howe First Star Leaders Player Team 1st ------------------------------------ Theoren Fleury STRANGERS 6 Mark Recchi LUNATICS 5 Mario Lemieux MALLRATS 5 Jaromir Jagr QUAKERS 5 Pierre Turgeon SPARROWS 5 Mike Modano VOODOO 5 Sergei Fedorov WOLVES 5 Chris Osgood GRUNTS 5 Andrew Brunette MONARCHS 4 Mikael Renberg MONARCHS 4 ------------------------------------ Second Star Leaders Player Team 2nd ------------------------------------ Alexander Mogilny STALLIONS 8 Zigmund Palffy VOODOO 7 Jaromir Jagr QUAKERS 6 Marcel Cousineau MONARCHS 5 Dominic Roussel QUAKERS 5 Chris Rogles KRUSHERS 4 Peter Bondra N.O.D. 4 Mats Sundin CORINTHS 4 Ed Belfour STRANGERS 4 Blaine Lacher VENOM 4 ------------------------------------ Third Star Leaders Player Team 3rd ------------------------------------ Sean Burke DOMINATRS 5 Jocelyn Thibault LUNATICS 4 Jaromir Jagr QUAKERS 4 Dominic Roussel QUAKERS 4 Mark Fitzpatrick AGENTS 3 Mark Recchi LUNATICS 3 Eric Lindros MALLRATS 3 Trevor Kidd MALLRATS 3 Alexei Yashin QUAKERS 3 Felix Potvin SPARROWS 3 ------------------------------------ 10- HAT TRICKS LEADERS - Provided by Brian Howe Player Team HT ------------------------------------ Alexei Yashin QUAKERS 2 Mats Sundin CORINTHS 2 Theoren Fleury STRANGERS 2 Bryan McCabe VOODOO 2 Joe Nieuwendyk DOMINATRS 2 Jeremy Roenick KRUSHERS 1 Mario Lemieux MALLRATS 1 Peter Bondra N.O.D. 1 Jaromir Jagr QUAKERS 1 Pierre Turgeon SPARROWS 1 ------------------------------------ 11-5+ POINT GAME LEADERS - Provided by Brian Howe Player Team 5+ ------------------------------------ Jeremy Roenick KRUSHERS 1 Eric Lindros MALLRATS 1 Peter Bondra N.O.D. 1 Derek Mayer ROSES 1 Saku Koivu CORINTHS 1 Andrei Nikolishin STALLIONS 1 Daniel Briere STEELCATS 1 Theoren Fleury STRANGERS 1 Mark Messier STRANGERS 1 Brendan Shanahan VIKINGS 1 ------------------------------------ 12-10+ SHOT GAME LEADERS - Provided by Brian Howe Player Team 10+ ------------------------------------ Mike Modano VOODOO 6 Esa Tikkanen STRANGERS 4 Zigmund Palffy VOODOO 4 Mark Messier STRANGERS 3 Doug Weight VOODOO 3 Mario Lemieux MALLRATS 2 Alexei Yashin QUAKERS 2 Alexei Zhamnov VIKINGS 2 Sergei Samsonov KRUSHERS 1 Vincent Damphousse LUNATICS 1 ------------------------------------ 13- TEAM OFFENSE RATING - GOALS FOR - Provided by Brian Howe Overall Home Road Team GP GF Avg. GP GF Avg. GP GF Avg. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vancouver Voodoo 27 163 6.04 14 78 5.57 13 85 6.54 Surrey Strangers 24 118 4.92 13 67 5.15 11 51 4.64 Des Moines Dominators 27 126 4.67 10 45 4.50 17 81 4.76 Toronto Stallions 25 112 4.48 13 68 5.23 12 44 3.67 St. John's Grunts 25 102 4.08 13 52 4.00 12 50 4.17 Penticton Venom 25 102 4.08 14 62 4.43 11 40 3.64 Albany Mallrats 24 97 4.04 11 39 3.55 13 58 4.46 Pittsburgh Quakers 26 104 4.00 14 55 3.93 12 49 4.08 Winnipeg Wolves 25 99 3.96 9 29 3.22 16 70 4.38 Waterloo Lunatics 25 97 3.88 9 41 4.56 16 56 3.50 Philadelphia Freeze 25 94 3.76 15 54 3.60 10 40 4.00 Minneapolis Monarchs 26 94 3.62 12 46 3.83 14 48 3.43 Georgetown N.O.D. 24 86 3.58 11 44 4.00 13 42 3.23 Kingston Corinthians 25 89 3.56 18 74 4.11 7 15 2.14 Boston Agents 25 88 3.52 13 37 2.85 12 51 4.25 Chi-Town Krushers 23 79 3.43 10 38 3.80 13 41 3.15 Fort Saskatchewan Fury 24 82 3.42 12 41 3.42 12 41 3.42 Hamilton Steelcats 25 85 3.40 12 33 2.75 13 52 4.00 Chicoutimi Sparrows 25 84 3.36 10 28 2.80 15 56 3.73 Edmonton Vikings 26 85 3.27 15 46 3.07 11 39 3.55 Seattle Saints 27 85 3.15 16 52 3.25 11 33 3.00 Saskatoon Enforcers 22 62 2.82 11 36 3.27 11 26 2.36 Guelph Vipers 24 67 2.79 13 35 2.69 11 32 2.91 Oakland Roses 26 66 2.54 12 34 2.83 14 32 2.29 14- TEAM OFFENSE RATING - SHOTS FOR - Provided by Brian Howe Overall Home Road Team GP SF Avg. GP SF Avg. GP SF Avg. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Vancouver Voodoo 27 1347 49.89 14 661 47.21 13 686 52.77 Surrey Strangers 24 996 41.50 13 536 41.23 11 460 41.82 Pittsburgh Quakers 26 938 36.08 14 511 36.50 12 427 35.58 Kingston Corinthians 25 868 34.72 18 654 36.33 7 214 30.57 Toronto Stallions 25 853 34.12 13 502 38.62 12 351 29.25 Penticton Venom 25 853 34.12 14 480 34.29 11 373 33.91 Edmonton Vikings 26 877 33.73 15 503 33.53 11 374 34.00 Georgetown N.O.D. 24 802 33.42 11 387 35.18 13 415 31.92 Waterloo Lunatics 25 833 33.32 9 317 35.22 16 516 32.25 St. John's Grunts 25 833 33.32 13 447 34.38 12 386 32.17 Chicoutimi Sparrows 25 828 33.12 10 354 35.40 15 474 31.60 Philadelphia Freeze 25 822 32.88 15 507 33.80 10 315 31.50 Albany Mallrats 24 774 32.25 11 376 34.18 13 398 30.62 Boston Agents 25 803 32.12 13 421 32.38 12 382 31.83 Chi-Town Krushers 23 732 31.83 10 326 32.60 13 406 31.23 Guelph Vipers 24 759 31.63 13 445 34.23 11 314 28.55 Minneapolis Monarchs 26 810 31.15 12 388 32.33 14 422 30.14 Des Moines Dominators 27 841 31.15 10 313 31.30 17 528 31.06 Fort Saskatchewan Fury 24 736 30.67 12 381 31.75 12 355 29.58 Saskatoon Enforcers 22 663 30.14 11 348 31.64 11 315 28.64 Winnipeg Wolves 25 750 30.00 9 277 30.78 16 473 29.56 Seattle Saints 27 801 29.67 16 491 30.69 11 310 28.18 Oakland Roses 26 757 29.12 12 369 30.75 14 388 27.71 Hamilton Steelcats 25 727 29.08 12 361 30.08 13 366 28.15 15- TEAM DEFENSE RATING - GOALS AGAINST - Provided by Brian Howe Overall Home Road Team GP GA Avg. GP GA Avg. GP GA Avg. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- St. John's Grunts 25 62 2.48 13 33 2.54 12 29 2.42 Kingston Corinthians 25 76 3.04 18 57 3.17 7 19 2.71 Chi-Town Krushers 23 71 3.09 10 32 3.20 13 39 3.00 Pittsburgh Quakers 26 81 3.12 14 44 3.14 12 37 3.08 Toronto Stallions 25 78 3.12 13 36 2.77 12 42 3.50 Waterloo Lunatics 25 79 3.16 9 28 3.11 16 51 3.19 Georgetown N.O.D. 24 76 3.17 11 30 2.73 13 46 3.54 Minneapolis Monarchs 26 84 3.23 12 37 3.08 14 47 3.36 Edmonton Vikings 26 88 3.38 15 53 3.53 11 35 3.18 Philadelphia Freeze 25 85 3.40 15 54 3.60 10 31 3.10 Winnipeg Wolves 25 89 3.56 9 27 3.00 16 62 3.88 Surrey Strangers 24 86 3.58 13 51 3.92 11 35 3.18 Chicoutimi Sparrows 25 92 3.68 10 42 4.20 15 50 3.33 Penticton Venom 25 95 3.80 14 56 4.00 11 39 3.55 Albany Mallrats 24 92 3.83 11 41 3.73 13 51 3.92 Vancouver Voodoo 27 109 4.04 14 60 4.29 13 49 3.77 Oakland Roses 26 107 4.12 12 49 4.08 14 58 4.14 Des Moines Dominators 27 112 4.15 10 38 3.80 17 74 4.35 Hamilton Steelcats 25 107 4.28 12 39 3.25 13 68 5.23 Seattle Saints 27 117 4.33 16 71 4.44 11 46 4.18 Saskatoon Enforcers 22 96 4.36 11 51 4.64 11 45 4.09 Guelph Vipers 24 114 4.75 13 70 5.38 11 44 4.00 Fort Saskatchewan Fury 24 121 5.04 12 59 4.92 12 62 5.17 Boston Agents 25 149 5.96 13 74 5.69 12 75 6.25 16- TEAM DEFENSE RATING - SHOTS AGAINST - Provided by Brian Howe Overall Home Road Team GP SA Avg. GP SA Avg. GP SA Avg. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Minneapolis Monarchs 26 745 28.65 12 326 27.17 14 419 29.93 Kingston Corinthians 25 718 28.72 18 515 28.61 7 203 29.00 Pittsburgh Quakers 26 757 29.12 14 384 27.43 12 373 31.08 Waterloo Lunatics 25 743 29.72 9 248 27.56 16 495 30.94 Penticton Venom 25 748 29.92 14 399 28.50 11 349 31.73 Toronto Stallions 25 751 30.04 13 380 29.23 12 371 30.92 Edmonton Vikings 26 783 30.12 15 440 29.33 11 343 31.18 St. John's Grunts 25 754 30.16 13 371 28.54 12 383 31.92 Georgetown N.O.D. 24 729 30.38 11 317 28.82 13 412 31.69 Chicoutimi Sparrows 25 764 30.56 10 315 31.50 15 449 29.93 Surrey Strangers 24 745 31.04 13 381 29.31 11 364 33.09 Oakland Roses 26 827 31.81 12 360 30.00 14 467 33.36 Chi-Town Krushers 23 745 32.39 10 297 29.70 13 448 34.46 Albany Mallrats 24 778 32.42 11 330 30.00 13 448 34.46 Vancouver Voodoo 27 886 32.81 14 424 30.29 13 462 35.54 Winnipeg Wolves 25 822 32.88 9 269 29.89 16 553 34.56 Philadelphia Freeze 25 846 33.84 15 536 35.73 10 310 31.00 Hamilton Steelcats 25 913 36.52 12 407 33.92 13 506 38.92 Des Moines Dominators 27 1003 37.15 10 336 33.60 17 667 39.24 Seattle Saints 27 1011 37.44 16 583 36.44 11 428 38.91 Boston Agents 25 988 39.52 13 519 39.92 12 469 39.08 Saskatoon Enforcers 22 875 39.77 11 448 40.73 11 427 38.82 Fort Saskatchewan Fury 24 1002 41.75 12 456 38.00 12 546 45.50 Guelph Vipers 24 1070 44.58 13 607 46.69 11 463 42.09 17- ROSTER MOVES REPORT - By Michael Hebert After Day 21 -Sparrows promote Aaron Miller -Voodoo promote Dale Craigwell -Saints demote Vladimir Tsyplakov and promote Brian Savage -Vikings promote Brian Benning -Wolves demote Bob Wilkie and promote Craig Fisher -Monarchs demote Patrick Carnback and promote Andrei Trefilov After Day 22 -Vipers trade Jason Bonsignore to the Wolves for Brent Gretzky -Stallions trade Bill Ranford to the Wolves for Dave Gagner -Stallions trade Dave Gagner and Rory Fitzpatrick to the N.O.D. for Adam Oates and Kevin Dahl -Sparrows trade Darcy Tucker to the Wolves for Eric Fichaud -Wolves bring up Jason Bonsignore, Bill Ranford and Darcy Tucker -Vipers waive Denis Pederson and promote bring up Gretzky -Stallions bring up Adam Oates and Kevin Dahl -Sparrows demote Mathieu Dandenault, bring up Eric Fichaud and promote Roman Vopat -Voodoo demote Vitali Yachmenev and promote Teemu Selanne After Day 23 -Steelcats trade Oleg Tverdovsky and Sergei Brylin to the Enforcers for Alexander Volchkov, Josh Holden and Daniel Goneau -Steelcats promote Daniel Goneau, Paul Laus and Scott Levins -Enforcers bring up Oleg Tverdovsky and Josh Holden -Enforcers claim Denis Pederson off waivers -N.O.D. bring up Dave Gagner and Rory Fitzpatrick -Dominators promote Joe Sacco After Day 24 -Steelcats trade Wade Redden and the N.O.D.'s 3rd round draft pick to the Quakers for Daniel Alfredsson -Quakers bring up Wade Redden -Steelcats bring up Daniel Alfredsson -Wolves promote Kai Nurminen -Enforcers demote Glenn Healy to make room for player claimed off waivers After Day 25 -Strangers trade Alexei Kovalev and their 5th round draft pick to the Enforcers for Andrei Kovalenko -Strangers trade Darryl Shannon to the Enforcers for Grant Ledyard and their own 5th round draft pick -Lunatics trade Bernie Nicholls and Paul Coffey to the Dominators for Rick Tocchet and Vladimir Malakhov -Saints trade Brad Smyth to the Dominators for Derek Plante -Lunatics trade Larry Murphy and their 5th round draft pick to the Strangers for Wayne Gretzky -Vikings trade Pavel Bure, Jeff Shantz, Darcy Wakaluk and their 6th round draft pick to the Strangers for Rod Brind'Amour, Andrei Kovalenko and Tommy Soderstrom -Strangers bring up Larry Murphy, Pavel Bure and Grant Ledyard, and promote Alexander Kharlamov and Jayson More -Enforcers bring up Alexei Kovalev and Darryl Shannon -Dominators waive Ryan McGill, promote Stefan Ustorf, and bring up Bernie Nicholls, Paul Coffey and Derek Plante -Lunatics bring up Rick Tocchet, Vladimir Malakhov and Wayne Gretzky -Vikings bring up Rod Brind'Amour and Andrei Kovalenko -Saints bring up Derek Plante -Corinthians demote Jean-Francois Jomphe 18- TEAMS TIDBITS the LUNATICS ------------ Rumor Mill: The Waterloo Lunatics who recently dealt center Bernie Nicholls are looking for some help on the left side and right wingers Scott Young and newly aquired Rick Tocchet are two names that are being offered around the league. As well it is still rumored that defenceman Larry Murphy is possible going to be dealt in a deal for another veteran center but we are not sure at this time who that may be. Murphy's name has been floating around the league for some time about a possible deal. the STALLIONS ------------- Sittler's After Five Report --------------------------- Well, 25 games into the regular season and once again I have been asked to put pen to paper and give my comments on team development. Last season I was approached by local dailies to write a weekly column on the team. This year it will be printed in the WHL Weekly as well. This inaugural "Report" will encompass the past twenty-five games. (More circulation, no more money! Who do I work for Sinden?) After 25 games, this club finds itself in an enviable position. Fourth overall in the league standings, second in the conference. That's quite an achievement. This team struggled in the start of the last two seasons. By this point last year, Toronto(then Milton) was ranked last out of the 24 teams. With a record of 4 wins, 14 loses and 3 ties after 21 games. That was a dismal showing, having finished the first season 21st overall, and having taken two great players in the draft this club expected more. (General Manager and THEN Head Coach) Brian (Howe) was frantically trying to improve his club. Trades, benchings, firings, rantings and ravings were all a part of the day's normal activities. So we are happy with where we are today. This club as usual has some great players. Many are natural talents. Look through this lineup and you will find three of the WHL's all time leading scorers; Rnk Player GP G A Pts. 15) Stephane Richer 164 77 89 166 16) Joe Sakic 154 76 89 165 18) Adam Oates 164 56 106 162 All three are nursing minor injuries this season, but they are all quality players, and all are performing up to expected standards so far. The top performers to-date this season are... # Player GP G A PTS +/- PP SH GW GT S PIM 20 Joe Sakic 25 15 13 28 6 6 0 2 0 86 48 26 Jason Lafreniere 25 17 10 27 15 6 0 2 0 78 15 89 Alexander Mogilny 25 16 10 26 13 4 1 2 0 95 9 44 Stephane Richer 25 9 16 25 8 2 0 1 0 80 15 3 Boris Mironov 25 5 20 25 15 0 0 1 0 30 66 Four players from last year's great Cup run, which saw us make it to the Final-Four. And one new-comer. Jason Lafreniere has been our biggest surprise. He had a disappointing season last year. Redeemed himself in the playoffs with 11 points in 20 games. And this season seems to be a career year for him. To give you an idea of his improvement, he is already within one point of last years total production. And has 5 more goals now then last years total. Not to mention that last year he finished with a -11. His playoff line has been reunited this season, and they are continuing where they left off. Team captain Joe Sakic, proving he is a "lead-by-example" captain, leads the team with 28 points. Doing this while nursing an injury. He was hurt(-1) two games into the preseason. He was treated by team doctors and was cleared to start teh season. And again, two or three games in he is reinjured. He has opted to play through the injury. And even hurting he leads the team forward. Alex Mogilny is another surprise. He was traded to Toronto...nah let's not get into that Koivu bashing again...last season. He came over, and played average enough to total 45 points in 65 games. He struggled during the playoffswith only 8 points in 20 games. (I can't help but think of what could have been had he 100%) But this year is his breakthrough season for us. His personal best was achieved in season #1, when he amassed 85 points in 87 games. He is currently on pace to get 79 points this year. New arrival Boris Mironov has delighted fans, and shown he was worth his cost. One of the top defencemen in the league at this point, he leads the team in assists with 20. He sees regular duties on special teams and has been a workhorse all season long. All the players are looking great right now and the best part is, they haven't even begun to play their best. With no less than 9 players currently nursing some sort of injury, three fringe players have picked up the slack, and three others are putting in overtime. Toronto is deemed the lowest team in penalty minutes, on average. This means we are smart players. But being smart doesn't mean being right. This club been pushed around to the point that we are prepared to unleash players like Barnaby, Baumgartner, Elomo, Lafreniere and Keane. Currently "I" instill a belief that retaliation penalties, when we are tied or behind in a game, are not acceptable. But this may have to be shelved for a couple of weeks, while we re-affirm that we will not be pushed around. Something has to give sooner or later. But be sure, when this team is healthy again, they will be a force. That's it for this week, watch for Toronto to try to improve their record as they meet the Fury and the Vipers on the road, then head home to play the Enforcers, Venom and Vikings. the VOODOO ---------- The Vancouver Voodoo have hired "Iron" Mike Keenan. Keenan will be an assistant coach for right now and will join Tom Renney and Glen Hanlon on the bench , while Howie Meeker will move up to the press box to work on more hockey analysis. In other Voodoo noos, on the farm players are developing nicely. GM Kinnaird, "Stan is really doing a good job down there, and players are really developing nicely. Already we have had Greg Adams, and Dale Craigwell jump back up here, which is great. We are looking for more guys to make the jump. Brad Ference is developing really well, and may get a shot soon, but most likely next year." With Waterloo getting the all star game, the group who had been putting Vancouver's bit together was quite disappointed. Kinnaird spoke on it, "Yeah people were pretty disappointed, There had been a lot of tentative arrangements been made, but we look forward to the game in Waterloo, and wis them the best in hosting the event." That is all for now. Darren Kinnaird That's all for for this week. Thanks for reading! Thanks to all those who contributed to this edition of the WHL Weekly Magazine. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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!