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The Web Hockey League News        Volume 09      03-03-2001

Table of Contents

1) Contributing Writers
2) Players of the Week 
3) Team News           
4) Special Articles    
5) Spotlight           
6) Classified Ads      


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

Mike Hebert
Chris Kubinec
Marc Hebert
Jon Lemoine
Dave MacDougall
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Players of the Week


Player of the week for week #11 is Brian Leetch of the Victoria Islanders.

Goaltender of the week goes to Jeff Hackett of the Oakville Bulls.


              Player              GP   G   A  PTS +/-  PP  SH GW GT    S  PIM   PCT
Islanders:     Brian Leetch          5   3  11   14  11   1   0   0  0   18    5  16.7
Bulls:         Shane Doan            5   5   6   11  11   0   1   1  0   18    0  27.8
Stallions:     Eric Lindros          5   7   0    7   3   2   2   1  0   26   11  26.9
Sparrows:      Sebastien Bordeleau   5   4   3    7   0   2   1   0  0   28    6  14.3
Corinthians:   Saku Koivu            5   4   2    6   2   3   0   1  0   19   13  21.1
Icedogs:       Theoren Fleury        5   2   4    6   2   0   0   1  0   19    6  10.5


               Goalie               GP   MIN   AVG  W   L   T  EN  SO  GA   SA  PCT
Bulls:         Jeff Hackett           5   300  2.40  5   0   0   0   0  12  153 .922
Icedogs:       Ed Belfour             5   300  3.00  4   1   0   0   0  15  149 .899
Sparrows:      Marc Denis             5   300  3.20  3   2   0   0   0  16  145 .890
Corinthians:   Jose Theodore          5   300  2.80  3   2   0   0   0  14  160 .913
Islanders:     Guy Hebert             5   305  2.75  3   1   1   0   1  14  154 .909
Stallions:     Corey Schwab           2   120  1.00  2   0   0   0   0   2   55 .964
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Team News

Stallions getting ready for another run

Toronto, Ontario (AP)- This week saw the Stallions take nine of a possible ten points with three wins, a tie and a loss. Toronto beat Montreal 5-4 in overtime on a goal from rarely used Stewart Malgunas 22 seconds in to the extra frame. Next game they lost to the Chicoutimi Sparrows 4-3. They next played the streaking New England Dropkicks, and managed a 4-4 tie, due largely in part to Wendel Clark's 2 goals and 1 assist. Derek King tied the game with 40 seconds left in the third. Toronto next faced the slumping Pittsburgh Endless, and easily won 7-1 with the Big "E" getting 4 goals on 10 shots. Eric followed that with a two goal performance against his old team, the Edmonton Vikings helping Toronto to a 6-1 win.

That game saw Todd Warriner, Darryl Sydor and Boris Mironov play their last games in a Stallion's jersey. As all three left for new teams and Toronto welcomed the likes of Brian Leetch, Steve Duchesne and Kenny Jonsson. Toronto prepares to face the hapless Pittsburgh Endless and Waterloo Lunatics along with the Mississauga Vipers, Chicago Krushers and Southhampton Seagulls next week. Toronto continues to pursue the Vancouver Voodoo for the President's Trophy, they currently sit 5 points behind them with 29 games left in the season. Toronto and Vancouver face each other once more this season in Vancouver with the Voodoo winning the first two meetings.



Bulls streak continues...

Oakville, Ontario (AP)- This week the Bulls climbed up to 6th in their conference thanks in large part to a 5 game winning streak. The Bulls are starting to really gel into coach Jacques Martin's system. As the trade deadline approaches the Bulls have seen over five different deals fall apart completely, after half of them were nearly complete. Although extremely angered by this, Bulls GM Kubinec, has not given up on dealing just yet. The Bulls are still looking to acquire another offensive minded winger, and possibly acquire another first/second line defenseman for the play-off run. Rumors are swirling that the Bulls are shopping around guys like Valeri Bure and youngsters like Mark Bell and Remi Royer for the right deal.


Victoria welcomes Mironov

Victoria, British Columbia - Islanders welcome Boris Mironov to Victoria where he had an immediate impact scoring his first goal with the Isles down 2 nothing against the Raiders. It was enough to rally the Isles to a 3-3 tie and Big Bo was a plus three. An impact player ... you bet.

"We loved the way he came in, surveyed the situation and took control" said head coach Al Arbour, "and we feel this is just the beginning. We didn't realize how big and aggressive he is...we used him in every situation including the powerplay, killing penalties and he excelled everywhere, definitely a world-class talent."

GM Dave MacDougall gave a smile of satisfaction. "It's not everyday you trade a superstar like Brian Leetch. Brian was our leader and always gave more than we could ask. He had 14 points in the last 5 games which shows just how determined he is to win. Out of respect for Brian, we discussed the possibility of a trade and where he would most like to go about a month ago. Obviously he has paid his dues and is deserving of a cup while still in his prime. The Stallions were the team he coveted. So we scouted them and basically came to the conclusion that Boris would be
a great fit and take us in the direction we want to go. Bo is just entering his prime and at 6 foot three and 220 some pounds he does everything big, big shot, big skater ..... big everything. This is another turning point in our franchise and we believe it will pay long tern dividends."

Asked if additional changes were being considered, the GM responded the team was looking at their next superstar saying it was a coin toss between promoting veteran Brett Hull or goalie phenom Manny Fernandez.



Quebec City tuning up for the Playoffs

The Corinthians have gone 3-2 in their last 5 games. In their first game of the week, the team lost to the Seagulls 3-1. They then beat the Saints 6-2 and the Hawks 5-2. In the following matchup, they met with division rival the Sparrows and lost 3-1. They concluded their week with a second convincing win in the week against the Hawks 7-4.

The Corinthians have done some fine tuning in the last few weeks. Here's the breakdown of the teams' moves:

Outgoing:
        C Michal Sivek
        LW Dallas Drake
        RW Valeri Bure
        D Nick Boynton
        D Dmitri Yakushin
        G Arturs Irbe

Incoming:
        LW Greg Adams
        RW Daniel Alfredsson
        RW Bill Muckalt
        RW Oleg Petrov
        D Karel Rachunek
        D Philippe Boucher
        G Marcel Cousineau

The Corinthians acquired two solid RW in Daniel Alfredsson and the underrated Petrov. Alfredsson is a true leader but there was too much pressure on him to perform in Oakville. In Quebec City, with Jagr ahead of him, he's producing more on the second line than he did on the first in Oakville. The other 2 moves are moves towards the future. Irbe is 34 years old and the Corinthians have Brent Johnson and Jean-Sebastien Giguere waiting to step up so moving Irbe was a logical move, though the Corinthians got very little for him. Karel Rachunek should be playing on the pro next season, replacing the soon to retire Tinordi.
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Special Articles


Well I know it's a little past the mid way point of the season, but here it is the first annual WHL CSB Rankings.  That's right the CSB will be releasing there rankings every mid season and just before the draft.  No word yet about a preseason list but that could happen.  Anyways so lets get into it.  The CSB will rank who we believe to be the top 30 prospects for the draft and give a small little analysis of the player.  So let's get this going.

1) Ilja Kovalchuk - Kovalchuk is probably the most talented Russian. Very quick, outstanding stick-handling. Has superstar potential. He scored 10 goals and 4 assists in 6 games during the Challenge Cup in Timmins (Canada) against the best Canadians, Americans, Czechs, Germans and Finland players of his age.

2) Jason Spezza - As the season progresses knocks against his skating will be heard. He won't get many breakaways but make no mistake about it, once in the offensive zone he is a goal-producing machine with a special talent level.

3) Stephen Weiss - There may be some perceptions that perhaps Weiss benefited from playing with top notch line mates such as Tomas Kurka, but if anything it was the other way around. A creative, highly skilled center with good wheels, puck-handling ability, and vision.

4) Pascal Leclaire - No comments available.

5) Alexandre Svitov - Svitov obtained tremendous stats for a young player in the Russian league : 4 goals, 3 assists, 7 points and 61 PIM in 24 games. Svitov is probably the most complete player amongst all 2001 Draft Eligible Russians.

6) Tuomo Ruutu - Tuomo seems to have almost everything one can ask for. He isn't the fastest skater, but his skating is pretty smooth and he has good balance. He has very good hockey sense and he is a good team player. So far his size and strength have helped him. Now it looks like he is going to be only 6-0, but he is still one of the top hitters in SM-liiga. Anyway, in NA there are stronger players than Tuomo. He doesn't benefit from his size as much as in Europe. His enthusiasm and work ethic have made him the player he is right now.

7) R.J Umberger - No comments available.

8) Dan Hamhuis - No comments available.

9) Mikko Koivu - People often compare Mikko to his brother Saku. The biggest difference is obviously the size. Mikko is much bigger than Saku and he can use his size. Like his brother Mikko also has very good skills. Mikko likes to keep the puck and look for an opportunity to score or make good passes.

10) Jiri Novotny - A great player, offensively gifted, hard working, Jiri can play aggressively and dominate along the boards. Very good skater with a perfect hockey sense and vision. Knows how to use his body, isn't afraid to go the net and scores goals from everywhere. Great passer, creates perfect scoring chances, an excellent player.

11) Jay Harrison - The prospect factory that is the Brampton Battalion continues where it left off last year. A big, mobile defenceman with a mean streak, Harrison by- passed the Under-18 National Team and went straight to the National Junior Camp this past August.

12) Mike Komarsek - No comments available.

13) Daniel Blackburn - Big goalie, plays angles great, very mobile, excellent concentration, ability to make big save. Will rarely be beat on breakaways. Plays rebounds effectively, needs work on puck handling.

14) Stanislav Chistov - No comments available.

15) Mark Popovic - The new captain of the Majors, Popovic put up an impressive 40 points last year and would be close to a point-per-game this year if his supporting cast was better. He is improving his play in his own end of the rink, and it remains the one area needing continual improvement. Offensively he has all the tools.

16) Duncan Milroy - Duncan has great offensive skills that will improve over the next few years. He has the potential to be a leader, whether he be on or off the ice. A sportsmanlike player who could improve his bodychecking ability and learn to take the body and use his defensively more often.Adding some weight to his relatively thin frame could help. He only had twenty penalty minutes through 68 games, the lowest of the Broncos. towards the end of the season ,played on the number one line with the likes of Layne Ulmer, Lawrence Nycholat, and Jeremy Reich.

17) Ryan Whitney - No comments available.

18) Tim Gleason - Tim is without a question known for his excellent skating ability. He is a very smooth, very crafty skater, and is without a doubt one of the strongest and fastest skaters in the league. With that being his strongest asset, it plays well when it comes to supporting the rest of his game. He is the type of defenceman who can take the puck with ease out of his own end and carry it the rest of the way down. His lack of experiencing caused him to make quite a few turnovers, but his speed enabled him to make up for his mistake without anyone noticing. His offensive game is strong and effective. He has a terrific shot, and an insightful vision when looking to create a scoring chance. To aid his excellent all around game is his ability to mix it up. As a 16 year old, Tim was in the thick of things, mixing it up with the opponent's best players. He has no fear thus making him a valuable asset to the Spits success.

19) Mike Cammalleri - No comments available.

20) Ales Hemsky - No comments available.

21) Jiri Jakes - No comments available.

22) Carlo Colaiacovo - A steady defenseman with a hard shot and decent size.

23) Jay McClement - The 1st-round selection (2nd over-all) of the Battalion in 1999, McClement impressed right away as a checking-line center, but also has the ability to appreciably increase his offensive numbers. A solid two-way player.

24) Brendan Bell - Bell has good size and mobility, and can put up the offensive numbers. A member of the National Under-18 Team.

25) Fredrik Sjostrom - No comments available.

26) Greg Watson - No comments available.

27) Rob Globke - No comments available.

28) Matthew Spiller - No comments available.

29) David Steckel - No comments available.

30) Jens Karlsson - No comments available.

Well this is the first ever CSB and all player comments analysis were taken from Hockeys future.  I hope this was of some interest and well see if it's at all accurate, and how it change before the draft.  Well that's it from the draft headquarters and we'll see you next time just before the draft.

Produced by WHL Central Scouting Bureau.
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Olympic Update

With the deadline of March 10th approaching, the Canadian management team nominations look like this:

        GM Nominations:
                Marc Hebert
                Chris Kordyback
                Brian Howe
                Kris Pongratz
                Darren Kinnaird
                Lee McEwen
                Larry Berteotti
        Coach Nominations:
                Darryl Sittler
                Jacques Martin
                Larry Berteotti
                Tom Fowler


The American nominations will be:

        GM Nominations:
                Scott Baden
                Jason Kolsrud
                Philipp Gittersberger
                Richard Lomax
        Coach Nominations:
                Scott Baden
                Jason Kolsrud
                Richard Lomax

The Swedish nominations will be:

        GM Nominations:
                Magnus Nilsson
                Filip Bily
                Patrick Stroem          
        Coach Nominations:
                Magnus Nilsson
                Filip Bily
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Hot and Cold

HOT
Bulls      15-4-1 in their last 20 games - Taking a run at the top four in the Wales
Dropkicks  11-1-3 in their last 15 games - Strong play gives them 2nd in Campbell

COLD
Oceanics   5-18-1 in their last 24 games - The wheels have fallen off this cart
Dominators 5-12-2 in their last 19 games - Fallen just out of the playoffs, must improve
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Playoff Report

This will serve as a playoff picture preview for now:


                        Wales Conference

               GP   W   L   T   GF   GA   PTS    PCT  LAST 10  STREAK
 1) STALLIONS  57  37  15   5  255  181    79   .693   7-1-2   4G winning
 2) SPARROWS   57  36  19   2  241  186    74   .649   7-3-0   2G winning
 3) ICEDOGS    57  35  17   5  218  179    75   .658   8-2-0   6G winning
 4) CORINTHS   57  34  17   6  248  190    74   .649   7-3-0   1G winning
 5) SEAGULLS   58  29  23   6  204  209    64   .552   4-4-2   1G losing
 6) BULLS      57  29  24   4  227  195    62   .544   8-1-1   7G undefeated
 7) ENFORCERS  57  24  25   8  190  190    56   .491   6-3-1   2G losing
 8) STEELCATS  57  24  26   7  178  188    55   .482   2-7-1   2G winning
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-5  VIPERS     57  23  30   4  227  233    50   .439   5-4-1   3G winless
-5  J-NAUGHTS  57  23  30   4  187  216    50   .439   4-4-2   1G winning
-13 HAWKS      57  16  31  10  185  225    42   .368   3-5-2   2G undefeated
-30 LUNATICS   57  10  42   5  155  235    25   .219   1-8-1   3G winless



                        Campbell Conference

               GP   W   L   T   GF   GA   PTS    PCT  LAST 10  STREAK
 1) VOODOO     57  39  12   6  278  185    84   .737   7-3-0   4G winning
 2) DROPKICKS  56  32  17   7  230  187    71   .634   7-1-2   1G losing
 3) EXPRESS    57  30  19   8  256  198    68   .596   3-5-2   3G undefeated
 4) KRUSHERS   57  26  22   9  201  177    61   .535   4-4-2   1G losing
 5) VIKINGS    57  23  22  12  209  217    58   .509   2-3-5   5G winless
 6) RAIDERS    57  24  29   4  180  214    52   .456   6-3-1   1G winning
 7) ISLANDERS  57  21  28   8  175  198    50   .439   4-2-4   5G undefeated
 8) CHIEFS     57  19  29   9  199  245    47   .412   3-6-1   2G losing
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1  DOMINATRS  57  21  32   4  196  230    46   .404   1-7-2   6G winless
-3  SAINTS     57  19  32   6  194  237    44   .386   2-7-1   4G losing
-4  OCEANICS   57  19  33   5  184  244    43   .377   0-10-0 10G losing
-9  ENDLESS    57  17  36   4  175  233    38   .333   3-7-0   2G losing
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Classified Ads

Oakville Bulls
 # Player               St Inj H  Ps   Ag Qk Pw Fa In Pn Sk Pa PC Ck Sh Ttl
65 Mark Bell             0      L  C    7  6  6  7  6  6  5  7  6  7  7  70
29 Kris Draper           0      L  C    5  8  6  6  6  8  6  5  6  7  6  69
18 Jim Campbell          0      R  C    5  7  6  6  7  6  7  5  6  4  7  66
23 Mike Watt             0      L  LW   6  7  7  5  7  9  6  5  6  6  5  69
30 Dallas Drake          0      L  LW   7  7  6  6  5  5  7  7  6  6  6  68
43 Dan Bylsma            0      L  LW   7  6  7  7  5  7  6  4  4  7  3  63
94 Valeri Bure           0      R  RW   4  8  4  9  9  7  8  7  8  5  8  77*
42 Dan Kesa              0      R  RW   6  5  7  6  5  7  6  6  5  4  8  65
 9 Jeff Buchanan         0      R  D    9  6  8  7  8  3  7  7  6  7  6  74
 3 Garry Galley          0      L  D    8  6  7  6  7  7  6  7  6  6  6  72
 5 Uwe Krupp             0      R  D    5  5  8  6  5  7  5  6  5  7  6  65
 6 Remi Royer            0      R  D    6  6  5  5  7  3  7  6  7  4  8  64
35 Corey Hirsch          0      L  G    8  9  7  9  8  7  7  7  9  -  -  71


Toronto Stallions
        Toronto is looking for another RW with a big shot. Age is not an issue.
 # Player               St Inj H  Ps   Ag Qk Pw Fa In Pn Sk Pa PC Ck Sh Ttl
22 Andrei Nikolishin     1-     L  C    5  8  5  7  6  8  7  6  7  6  5  70
36 Mike Eagles           0      L  C    7  6  7  4  6  8  6  5  5  7  3  64
14 Derek King            0      L  LW   5  6  7  5  7  7  7  6  7  6  6  69
17 Wendel Clark          0      L  LW   8  6  8  7  3  4  6  6  7  6  7  68
15 Stephane Richer       0      R  RW   4  7  6  6  8  8  7  6  8  4  8  72
 7 Johan Lindbom         1-     L  RW   7  5  8  6  7  4  5  6  4  6  7  65
 4 Michal Sykora         1-     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           1-     L  D    5  8  5  7  7  7  7  6  6  7  3  68
34 Stewart Malgunas      1-     R  D    7  6  7  6  6  6  5  5  5  7  5  65
 8 Corey Schwab          1+     L  G    9  8  9  7  7  1  7  6  8  -  -  62


Quebec City Corintians
 # Player               St Inj H  Ps   Ag Qk Pw Fa In Pn Sk Pa PC Ck Sh Ttl
37 Patrick Poulin        0      L  C    6  7  8  5  8  8  6  4  6  6  5  69
51 Petr Sykora II        0      R  C    7  8  6  6  6  7  7  6  6  6  7  72
23 Trent Whitfield       0      L  C    4  5  4  4  3  7  6  4  5  5  5  52
20 Kent Manderville      0      L  LW   6  5  8  6  6  6  6  4  5  6  4  62
22 Kris King             0      L  LW   5  3  6  4  7  2  3  2  3  3  3  41
49 Brian Savage          1-     L  RW   6  7  7  6  5  7  7  6  7  4  7  69
61 Jason Ward            1-     R  RW   8  4  7  7  4  5  5  6  7  7  7  67
16 Bill Muckalt          0      R  RW   7  6  6  5  4  8  7  6  6  6  5  66
39 Turner Stevenson      0      R  RW   6  5  8  6  5  5  5  6  5  6  5  62
24 Kirk Maltby           0      R  RW   6  6  7  6  6  6  5  3  4  6  6  61
21 Tony Granato          0      R  RW   6  5  6  4  4  6  6  5  5  5  5  57
62 Steve Webb            0      R  RW   9  6  7  6  6  1  5  4  5  3  4  56
98 Alexandre Volchkov    0      L  RW   5  6  6  5  3  6  6  4  5  2  4  52
45 Arron Asham           0      R  RW   6  4  6  4  2  4  5  4  5  3  4  47
 5 Stephane Quintal      1-     R  D    5  6  7  7  8  5  6  6  6  7  6  69
 6 Sylvain Lefebvre      0      L  D    6  5  6  6  8  6  5  5  5  9  4  65
17 Ricard Persson        0      L  D    5  6  6  6  5  7  6  5  5  5  5  61
60 Ray Schultz           0      L  D    8  4  8  5  5  2  4  3  3  5  3  50
56 Vladimir Chebaturkin  0      L  D    7  3  5  3  1  4  4  2  2  4  2  37
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