The Web Hockey League News - Volume 01

The Web Hockey League News Volume 01 10-31-2000

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the 'The Web Hockey League News'. This week's contribution from the league has been rather poor, however we are assuming it has more to do with the fact that no one was prepared for the Magazine's publishing. Now knowing that the Magazine will be published regularly, we are hoping for greater input from the league's General Managers.

First let me describe what I want from the General Managers:

1) Player(s)-of-the-Week:   Generally based on scoring(or saving for goalies), I would like the names and statistics of players on your team who you feel should be acknowledged for their performances.

2) Team news items:   Anything you'd like to say about your team, use this Magazine for your bragging or whining purposes. Nothing will be edited except for spelling.

3) Classified Ads:   Do you have a player on the market? Do you have a player on your team who is not performing at all and you want him out? Are your players demanding to be traded to Toronto?? ;) Name them here! Submit a list of available players.

4) Special Articles:   Have an idea for something new? Have a feature article you want printed? Submit them here and have them printed in 'The Web Hockey League News'.

All items should be sent to: mailto:magazine@platinumcomputing.com

Ok, now that that is over with, let's get on with the real News!

Players of the Week

Rather a dismal showing this week. But...

Corinthians:    Jason Ward
                Mats Sundin

Bulls:          Jeff Hackett

                Player               GP   G   A PTS +/- PP SH GW GT    S PIM   PCT
Stallions:      Eric Lindros          5   5   3    8   3   3   0   0 0   18   15 20.8
                Joe Sakic             5   4   3    7   4   1   0   1 0   35    7 11.9

Team News

From the Quebec City Corinthians

Quebec City - After going undefeated in their first 10 games last season, eventually building on that early season success to win the President's Trophy, the newly relocated Quebec City Corinthians are off to a slow start this season. The team went undefeated in it's first 4 games, but that's when things started getting ugly. The Corinthians are now riding a 3 games loosing streaks. The good news it that those losses came against league powerhouses the Express, Stallions and Voodoo, and it took the Voodoo all they had in store to beat the Corinthians, winning in overtime. Has anyone pushed the panic button? No, but coach Kevin Lowe is said to be unsatisfied with the play of a few veterans. He didn't give us any names but it is easy to point to Valeri Bure for one. Bure has given the team a very inconsistent effort, and has collected only 1 assist in 7 games. Bure is in the greatest shape of his career, and now in his sixth season in the WHL, his 4th with the Corinthians, many think he has finally reached maturity and expect him to have a breakthrough season, but we have yet to see this player this season. Another deception is recent acquisition Darryl Shannon. GM Hebert thought he was getting a WHL level defenseman when he acquired Shannon from the Endless in the off-season but apparently, Shannon would be better suited for the WFHL. Asked about Shannon, rookie coach Lowe had this to say: "Darryl is a great all around guy. He's good in the player's room, and as soon as Lecavalier is healthy, that's where his talents will be used. Let's say things like they are, on the ice, he sucks."

As well, special teams, especially penalty killing, are an issue this season. Usually one of the most disciplined team in the WHL, the Corinthians have been collecting over 40 penalty minutes a game since the beginning of the season, the league's worst. Combine that with the league's worst penalty killing unit and you've got a serious problem on your hands. It's nothing new though, as the Corinthians have been struggling on the pk for several seasons now. When asked if he was involved in any trade discussions night now to address the issue, GM Hebert had this to say:

"Nothing's changed during the summer, team politics still say that in order to win, you have to outscore the opponent, not allow less goals than him. We have a young goaltender between the pipes, only in his second WHL season, the first one being during WHL2 with the Warriors, we're gonna give him time to bring his play level up to WHL level. Irbe has been bothered by a groin injury, nothing to warrant placing him on the injury reserve list, but still bothering him enough to be careful and use him as backup until he's %100. Our defence is also pretty young with guys like Mathieu Biron, Chris Phillips and Sheldon Souray but I believe that with time, and with prospects Miroslav Guren, Jonathan Girard and Nick Boynton in Chambly, our defense will only get better. So no, I'm not shopping for reinforcements as of right now."

- Matthias Brunet pour La Presse

From the Oakville Bulls

Oakville - After 7 games into the season the Oakville Bulls have shown that they will be a contender this year. Although the Bulls have a record of what is now 4 wins and 3 losses, it does not tell the whole story. The Bulls have held first place in their division and have shown that they will keep the goals against down in comparison to last year's numbers.

The Bulls have recently acquired Steve Yzerman who will put to rest the rumors about the Bulls needing a first line centre to be true contenders. The rumor mill continues to turn as it is expected that the Bulls are close to making yet another deal that would see one of their defenseman traded in a deal landing them a forward.

The Bulls PLAYER-OF-THE-WEEK goes to goaltender Jeff Hackett. Jeff has been amongst the top one or two goalies since the regular season got underway, and he shows no signs of slowing down. Hackett has a .929 Save Percentage, and a 2.20 G.A.A. in five starts this year. He is a great team player and will never.... EVER!.... be satisfied until the Bulls make the play-offs.

From the Victoria Islanders

Victoria - The biggest news off of the Island is the departure of the ever classy, Steve Yzerman. This trade generated several opposing viewpoints on it's merits, but suffice to state, management is pleased to welcome 24 year old center Jeff O'Neill to the team. We believe the emerging O'Neill is one of the cornerstones of this franchise. Marty McInnis also returns to Victoria which will finally solidify left wing. Minor league right wing, Mike Knuble was also acquired for journeyman Mike Sullivan to complete the deal.

The Isles have become a better balanced club but the question remains if the chemistry is right to challenge for a playoff spot. Obviously the weakest link is still in goal. Brathwaite and Fernandez are both capable WHL players but may be a year or two away from making their presence felt. The process of finding a proven or promising netminder for immediate leadership may not be that easy.

From the Toronto Stallions

Toronto - Everything is working out well. After the first five games we are competitive, we are scoring, we are playing sound defensively and our special teams are working well. Specifically the powerplay, which was the biggest problem we had last year (in the last 5 games of the Cyber Cup final we managed only 3 goals on 24 chances). Eric Lindros is the main factor in that turn-around. He has completely changed our approach to powerplays. Penalty-killing still needs some fine tuning, but otherwise we are playing great. With just one loss in five games we are satisfied with our current system, and changes are not expected.

Classified Ads

Quebec City Corinthians
# Player               St Inj H Ps   Ag Qk Pw Fa In Pn Sk Pa PC Ck Sh Ttl
29 Darryl Shannon        0      L D    7 6 7 7 9 5 6 5 5 6 4 67

Toronto Stallions
# Player               St Inj H Ps   Ag Qk Pw Fa In Pn Sk Pa PC Ck Sh Ttl
22 Andrei Nikolishin     0      L C    5 8 5 7 6 8 7 6 7 6 5 70
36 Mike Eagles           1+     L C    7 6 7 4 6 8 6 5 5 7 3 64
21 Geoff Sanderson       0      L LW   5 9 6 9 9 9 8 7 8 7 7 84
11 Todd Warriner         0      R LW   6 8 7 7 7 7 8 6 6 8 6 76
15 Stephane Richer       0      R RW   4 7 6 6 8 8 7 6 8 4 8 72
7 Johan Lindbom         0      L RW   7 5 8 6 7 4 5 6 4 6 7 65
4 Michal Sykora         2+     L D    6 6 7 7 3 8 7 6 7 6 7 70
31 Kevin Dahl            0      R D    8 6 7 6 6 8 6 5 5 7 4 68
32 Don Sweeney           0      L D    5 8 5 7 7 7 7 6 6 7 3 68
34 Stewart Malgunas      0      R D    7 6 7 6 6 6 5 5 5 7 5 65
2 Jaroslav Modry        0      L D    6 6 6 6 2 7 6 5 6 5 6 61
44 Dean Malkoc           1-     L D    8 5 8 6 4 2 5 3 3 6 2 52
8 Corey Schwab          0      L G    9 8 9 7 7 1 7 6 8 - - 62
16 Darby Hendrickson     0      L C    7 7 5 5 7 7 6 4 5 6 5 64
14 Yanic Perreault       0      L C    3 5 2 4 5 5 3 4 5 3 4 43
7 Derek King            0      L LW   5 6 7 5 7 7 7 6 7 6 6 69
24 Chris Tancill         0      R LW   6 6 7 7 5 8 6 4 5 6 3 63
53 Rusty Fitzgerald      0      L RW   6 8 7 6 6 8 7 5 6 6 5 70
41 Tie Domi              0      R RW   9 6 8 8 8 0 6 5 5 5 5 65
6 Peter Ratchuk         0      L D    5 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 61
23 J.J. Daigneault       0      L D    6 6 6 6 7 6 6 4 5 5 4 61
33 Craig Billington      0      L G    5 9 5 8 9 7 6 5 8 - - 62
31 Kirk McLean           0      L G    8 6 7 6 6 7 5 7 6 - - 58

Oakville Bulls
Everyone!

Mississauga Icedogs
Everyone!

Special Articles

7 to Watch in WHL7

1) Martin Brodeur, Vancouver Voodoo. The Voodoo have been one of the WHL's elite teams the past four seasons but have very little playoff success to show for it. With Brodeur now guarding the Voodoo net, GM Darren Kinnaird now has a proven #1 goaltender to go to war with. The pressure on Brodeur is immense, and the repercussions for the entire Voodoo team are huge if they fail in the playoffs again.

2) Eric Lindros, Toronto Stallions. Lindros' situation is almost the same as Brodeur's except they play different positions. The Stallions have also been very close and even came within a victory of the Cyber Cup last season, but GM Brian Howe recognized that his offensive depth didn't rival that of other WHL powerhouses. Lindros gives the Stallions the 1-2 punch at centre that Howe hopes will push them over the top. If Lindros fails to help the Stallions win the Cyber Cup this year, the window of opportunity to win may have escaped the Stallions completely.

3) Seattle Saints. Denny McEwen has quietly put together a playoff team in Seattle, that will be a definite contender in a few seasons. The trade for Mike Modano in the off-season was his first "big" move in his tenure as general manager, which indicates that even he thinks the Saints are getting closer. This is a pivotal year for the Saints as they approach respectability. If the young players like Scott Gomez, Robyn Reghyr and Martin Biron continue to improve the Saints could surprise the West's big guns if they are not careful.

4) Jon Lemoine and Chris Kubinec. One veteran WHL GM has been heard to whisper that these two have trouble sleeping at night, if they hadn't made a move that day. At the time it was unsure if the comment was made in jest but the bottom line is that these two have done a remarkable job with their respective teams, considering the state that they were both in when they each took over. It's still early but both clubs like they could be playoff teams which would be an incredible accomplishment. However their rosters today will more than likely change a fair amount by this year's trade deadline so they will have to be more careful in the deals they make.

5) Jason Spezza, OHL's Missisauga Icedogs. At this point, Spezza is the consensus #1 pick for next summer's Entry Draft, and a probable franchise centre. Obviously a lot can happen during the season but so far Spezza has done nothing to hurt his cause with 25 points in his first 13 games. Other prospects to keep an eye on include Brad Richards, David Aebischer, Andrei Markov, Stephen Weiss, Dan Blackburn and Pascal Leclaire.

6) Pavol Demitra, Missisauga Vipers. Demitra broke out last season and became the first WHL player to win the Art Ross and Hart Trophies while playing for a non-playoff team. With all of his accomplishments last year Demitra will no longer sneak up on the opposition. It'll be interesting to see what kind of numbers he follows up with.

7) Rocky Mountain Express. Three titles in four years? Can they do it? They're another year older but the talent and experience is still there and they are still the Cyber Cup Champs, at least until the spring.

mailto:magazine@platinumcomputing.com