WHL WEEKLY MAGAZINE PLAYOFF EDITION VOLUME 2, Number 2 CONTENTS: 1- League Notes, by Michael Hebert 2- WHL2 Awards Finalists 3- WHL GMs and Coaches History 4- Division Realignment 5- Teams' Tidbits 1- LEAGUE NOTES: -by Michael Hebert - Last year: the Albany Mallrats won the Cyber Cup, and Mario Lemieux was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoffs Most Valuable Player - 2 new GMs have been introduced in the league in the last few weeks: Fred Holland, who took over the Struer Norsemen, and moved them to Lehigh Valley. They were renamed the Loons. Then Jeff Tetz quickly made his way in the WHL. He took over one of the original WHL franchises, the Waterloo Warriors, left by Jeff MacDonald. The team has been renamed the Venom and moved to Penticton, B.C. - In other league news, League Commissioner and GM of the Chicoutimi Sparrows, Michael Hebert, had some personal problems, which affected a little the league's activities. As most people know, the Norsemen's GM Lori Steward and him have been together for almost 4 years. But now the first woman to have ever been involved in the WHL has new ideas, new dreams, in which Mr.Hebert doesn't have any place. It is said that she has a new lover in Aussie Land, and that she can't wait to get there. Mr.Hebert was unavailable for comments, the only thing that he had to say was that he wanted to thank fellow GMs and close friends Larry Berteotti and Darren Kinnaird for their continuous support and valuable friendship. 2- WHL2 AWARDS FINALISTS: -by Lee McEwen Here are the 1996-97 WHL awards finalists for the season. Norris Trophy Bryan McCabe Des Moines Dominators Steve Smith Struer Norsemen Bryan Berard Chicoutimi Sparrows Vezina Trophy Curtis Joseph Vancouver Voodoo Chris Osgood St. John's Grunts Felix Potvin Chicoutimi Sparrows Hart Trophy Saku Koivu Kingston Corinthians Eric Lindros Albany Mallrats Peter Bondra Struer Norsemen Calder Trophy Saku Koivu Kingston Corinthians Bryan Berard Chicoutimi Sparrows Bryan McCabe Des Moines Dominatots Lady Byng Trophy Joe Juneau Chicoutimi Sparrows Saku Koivu Kingston Corinthians Teemu Selanne Hamilton Steelcats Frank Selke Trophy Stephane Yelle Fort Saskatchewan Fury Mats Sundin Kingston Corinthians Kelly Miller Chicoutimi Sparrows Bill Masterton Trophy Cam Neely St. John's Grunts Curtis Joseph Vancouver Voodoo Brendan Shanahan Edmonton Vikings King Clancy Trophy Mark Recchi Struer Norsemen Eric Lindros Albany Mallrats Doug Gilmour Waterloo Warriors Jack Adams Trophy Darryl Sittler Toronto Stallions Lori Steward Struer Norsemen Gilbert Perrault Chicoutimi Sparrows Top Executive Trophy Lee McEwen Edmonton Vikings Marc Hebert Kingston Corinthians Lori Steward Struer Norsemen The winners as well as the two all-star teams and the all-rookie team will be announced at the WHL awards gala to be held in Fort Saskatchewan, the home of the Fury, at the Royal Canadian Legion, on June 28, 1997. The event is black-tie and will feature a distinguished list of celebrities from both the hockey and Hollywood crowds. The event will also be broadcast live on IRC, and all finalists, GMs, coaches and players are invited to join. The time will be announced at a later date. 3- WHL GMS AND COACHES HISTORY This is a list of everyone whose name appears somewhere in the WHL's history. Andrew Patrick Anderson - original GM, Raleigh Wolfpack, left WHL during first season Adam Ardis - original GM, Albany Mallrats, current GM Albany Mallrats Tom Bedell - original GM, ? Spiders, left WHL during original entry draft Kevin Beilner - original GM, Fort Saskatchewan Fury, current GM Fort Saskatchewan Fury Larry Berteotti - became Coach of the Kalamazoo Kazoos when Carson Pierce became GM of the team, then became GM of the Hamilton Hitmen, still during second season, renamed the Steelcats, current GM Hamilton Steelcats Hu Brietkopf - original GM Coquitlam Glaciers, left during original entry draft Judson Burkett - became GM of the Texas Kodiaks during first season, later moved the team to New York, left WHL at the beginning of second season Lorne Clark - original GM, Hamilton Hitmen, left WHL during second season Charlie Crewe - original GM, Hermitage Explosion, renamed the Bangers during original entry draft, left WHL during first season Melvin Crewe - became co-GM of the Hermitage Bangers during first season, left WHL during first season Shaun Driver - original GM, Bridge City Huskies, moved team to Bridgeland, Alberta after first season, current GM Bridgeland Huskies Robert Friedmann - became GM of the Toronto Beasts during the original entry draft, moved the team to Houghton, Ontario and renamed the Icetasy, left WHL after first season Marc Hebert - became GM of the Newfoundland Gangstaz during first season, after first season moved the team to Kingston, Ontario and renamed the Corinthians, current GM Kingston Corinthians Michael Hebert - original GM, Chicoutimi Sparrows, current GM Chicoutimi Sparrows Todd Henry - original GM, Pittsburgh Quakers, current GM Pittsburgh Quakers Mike Henschel - became Coach of the Bridgeland Huskies after first season, current Coach Bridgeland Huskies Rob Hite - became GM of the New York Kodiaks at the beginning of second season, moved the team to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and renamed the Freeze, current GM Philadelphia Freeze Fred Holland - became GM of the Struer Norsemen after second season, moved team to Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania and renamed Loons, current GM Lehigh Valley Loons Brian Howe - original GM, Milton Mustangs, moved team to Toronto, Ontario during second season and renamed Stallions, current GM Toronto Stallions David Jensen - original GM, Whitehorse Rapids, left WHL after second season Keith Jones - became Coach of the New York Kodiaks when Rob Hite became GM of the team, left WHL at the end of second season Sohyung Kang - became GM of the Calgary Clowns during second season, moved the team to Edmonton, Alberta and renamed the Eagles, current GM Edmonton Eagles Darren Kinnaird - original GM, Vancouver Voodoo, left WHL during first season, came back as GM of the Vancouver Voodoo after first season, current GM Vancouver Voodoo Jason Kolsrud - became GM of the Vancouver Drizzle after first season, moved team to Des Moines, Utah and renamed Dominators, current GM Des Moines Dominators Andreas Larsson - original GM, Minneapolis Monarchs, current GM Minneapolis Monarchs Jeff MacDonald - original GM, Waterloo Warriors, left WHL after second season Xavier Marion - original GM, Chisholm Goalpost, left WHL during first season Mike Martin - became GM of the Texas Kodiaks during first season, left WHL after a couple of weeks Trevor Meade - became GM of the Coquitlam Glaciers during the original entry draft, moved the team to Newfoundland and renamed the Gangstaz, left WHL during first season Lee McEwen - original GM, Edmonton Vikings, current GM Edmonton Vikings Dave Moore - original GM, St. John's Grunts, current GM St.John's Grunts Kevin Nash - became co-GM of the Hermitage Bangers during first season, then GM of the Hermitage Bangers still in the first season, moved the team to Terra Nova and renamed the Thunder after first season, left WHL at the beginning of second season Mike Newman - became GM of the Oakville Blades at the beginning of second season, moved the team to Calgary, Alberta and renamed the Clowns, left WHL during second season Lars Nordekvist - became GM of the Terra Nova Thunder at the beginning of second season, moved the team to Winnipeg, Manitoba and renamed the Wolves, current GM Winnipeg Wolves Jes Ursulak (Golbez) - became GM of the Chi-Town Krushers after the second season, current GM Chi-Town Krushers Jay Patrick - became Coach of the Halifax Flaming Fish during second season, left WHL during second season Gary Alan Peterson - original GM, Texas Kodiaks, left WHL during first season Carson Pierce - became GM of the Raleigh Wolfpack at the beginning of second season, moved the team to Halifax, Nova Scotia and renamed the Flaming Fish, current GM Halifax Flaming Fish Matt Pitt - original GM, Oakville Raptors, left WHL during first season, came back as GM of the Oakville Raptors after first season, renamed the Blades, left WHL at the beginning of second season Scott Rotondo - became GM of the Chisholm Goalpost during first season, left WHL after one week Kevin Sharples - became GM of the Raleigh Wolfpack during first season, left WHL at the beginning of second season Dave Shrewsbury - became GM of the Spiders during original entry draft, moved the team to Moscow, Russia and renamed the Blizzard, left WHL after first season Dave Shumka - original GM, Vancouver Drizzle, left WHL after first season Dave Sprowl - original GM, Boston Agent Orange, current GM Boston Agent Orange Lori Steward - became GM of the Moscow Blizzard after first season, moved the team to Struer, Denmark and renamed the Norsemen, left WHL after second season Patrick Stroem - became GM of the Walkerton Breakers during second season, moved the team to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and renamed the Enforcers, current GM Saskatoon Enforcers Jason Stumpf - original GM, Waterloo Lunatics, current GM Waterloo Lunatics Jared Tashimaro - became GM of the Oakville Raptors during first season, left WHL after first season Jeff Tetz - became GM of the Waterloo Warriors after second season, moved the team to Penticton, British Columbia and renamed the Venom, current GM Penticton Venom Mike Vader - became GM of the Chisholm Goalpost during the first season, later moved the team to Walkerton, Ontario and renamed the Breakers, left WHL just before the second season's playoffs Robert Wysoglad - became GM of the Vancouver Voodoo during first season, left WHL after first season, then came back and became GM of the Houghton Icetasy, moved the team to Chi-Town, Illinois and renamed the Krushers, left WHL after second season Bernie Zeesman - original GM, Toronto Beasts, left WHL during original entry draft 4- DIVISION REALIGNMENT: New divisions layout (not definitive): WALES Conference Adams Division Patrick Division -------------- --------------- Albany Mallrats (from Norris) Hamilton Steelcats Boston Agents Saskatoon Enforcers Chicoutimi Sparrows Toronto Stallions Halifax Flaming Fish (from Norris) Waterloo Lunatics Kingston Corinthians Whitehorse Rapids (from Smythe) St. John's Grunts Winnipeg Wolves (from Adams) CAMPBELL Conference Norris Division Smythe Division --------------- --------------- Chi-Town Krushers Bridgeland Huskies Des Moines Dominators (from Smythe) Edmonton Eagles (from Patrick) Lehigh Valley Loons (from Adams) Edmonton Vikings Minneapolis Monarchs Fort Saskatchewan Fury Philadelphia Freeze Penticton Venom (from Patrick) Pittsburgh Quakers Vancouver Voodoo 5- TEAMS' TIDBITS: -----Corinthians----- Des Moines - Apparently, M. Marc Hebert and M. Marc Hebert, respectively coach and gm of the Corinthians, we're seen together smoking a ciger late yesterday night (the day of their win against the Dominators), in the lobby of the hotel where the team was staying in Des Moines. Apparently, they had been very busy all the time after the team's victory drinking with the players and staff. If we're to believe our informers, coach Marc Hebert was heard saying: " A didn drink any champain... I don wanna hear no one saying a drank champain... Champain's for girlies... We filled th'cup with Jack Daniels. " :) See ya all for the draft! 'till then, let's party! -----Vikings----- Vikings News and Notes The search for a new coaching staff is still ongoing. McEwen has admitted to some interviews including Curt Brackenbury and Peter Stastny. He has also said that he is no closer to filling the positions than he was the day he didn't renew Comeau and Gregg's contracts. With the entry draft upcoming the Vikings scouts have been pouring over the draft lists in the hopes of finding some gems in the later rounds. The Vikings 1st round course is Voodoo property after the Brendan Shanahan deal. The Vikings 1st pick is 25th overall, the Agents 1st pick in the second round. "As usual we're going to go with the best player available. We only have 4 guys on our farm club that are signed to Viking property so we're going to use this draft to stockpile depth. While it'll be tough to nab a superstar we picked 2 guys last year, Sundstrom in the 3rd round and Fernandez in the 6th, who played well for us after some brief time in the minors. Hitch (Ken Hitchcock) has done a wonderful job with our young guys on the farmand I'm extremely confident in our scouts ability to assess talent." McEwen said. "Obviously we need a little help everywhere but are looking for some scoring and banging from the wing. Mike Grier is one name that stands out but I don't know how long he'll last. This is going to be a tough line-up to crack though and ultimately we're probably drafting for a few years down the road." The season ticket drive in Edmonton was successful once again despite the club's poor showing in the playoffs. The club allocates 90% of tickets for season ticket sales and for the 3rd straight year these tickets are sold out. Walk-up tickets will be hard to come by next season in Edmonton. Viking Press That's all for for this week. Thanks for reading! Special Playoff Edition written by Michael Hebert. Thanks to all those who helped by writing something!! --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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!