The National Strat-O-Matic Hockey League Newsletter League Established May 1, 1997 Volume #9, Issue #22 - July 19, 2005 ************************************************************************** Current League Officers: Commissioner: Doug Norris Vice-Commissioner: Eric Goodman Email the whole league: mailto:nshl@yahoogroups.com NSHL Chat List: mailto:nshlchat@yahoogroups.com Web Page Administrator: Brian Leahy League Web Site: http://www.geocities.com/nshlweb Files Adminstrator: Brian Leahy / Tom Vinacci League Files Site: http://www.highrantdistrict.com/SOM/NSHL ************************************************************************** BERSERKERS BECOME FIRST TWO-TIME CUPWINNER WITH DRAMATIC WIN IN TOPEKA The NSHL's ninth annual Farley Cup championship round featured the yin and yang of the league's elite class. On one hand, the Long Island Berserkers, whose unparalled regular-season success has only led to one title and comparisons to baseball's Atlanta Braves. On the other hand, the Topeka Tarantulas have enjoyed great success in the playoffs the past few seasons, always advancing deep into the Farley Cup tournament, with the only thing escaping them being a championship. With Long Island suffering after a tough series against St. Michael's, Topeka came storming out in the first game of the championship round. Unfortunately for the Tarantulas, they had to contend with netminder Jose Theodore, who stopped all eleven Goalie Ratings he faced (33 saves) as the Berserkers showed why they have been the class of the NSHL with a 3-2 win. Evgeni Nabokov was no slouch, either, but his 6-of-7 GR performance was not enough. Topeka was not about to disappoint their home fans twice in a row, and after what must have been a stern tongue-lashing from Coach North, the Tarantulas came out swinging in a 3-2 Game Two win. Joe Sakic, Brad Richards and Martin Rucinsky game Topeka an lead that proved insurmountable despite a late Long Island charge. It took a forty-save performance from Theodore (8/9 GR), but the Berserkers captured Game Three with a 3-1 win. Trent Hunter, Zigmund Palffy, and trade-deadline acquisition Dave Andreychuk put the 'Zerks up early. Topeka managed to square the series at two games apiece with a dominating first half of Game Four, building a 4-0 lead before coasting to a 4-3 win. Nabokov (10/12 GR) was the hero in this one, stopping thirty-one shots. Goaltending was the name of the game in Game Five as both Nabokov (36 saves, 4/5 GR) and Theodore (26 saves, 5/7 GR) did their best to win and gain the advantage. Joe Sakic came to the rescue again for the Tarantulas breaking a one-all tie in the third period to secure the victory. Needing a victory on home ice to stay alive, Long Island dominated Game Six for the final two periods. After Steve Yzerman's tying goal seconds into the middle frame, Long Island scored the next six goals as Palffy, Fedorov and Naslund each registered four-point evenings to send the series to a mutual elimination game. In the deciding Game Seven, it was special teams that derailed Topeka and sent Long Island to the Cup celebration. The Berserkers went a phenomenal four-for-seven with the man advantage. Topeka kept things close as the game was a one-goal affair after two periods, but goals by Hunter and Vincent Lecavalier broke things open. Congratulations to Patrick Shea and the Long Island Berserker organization for their unprecedented second Farley Cup win, as well as to Doug North and the Topeka Tarantulas for their postseason efforts. The Jean Beliveau Trophy winner, as postseason most valuable player, will be announced shortly along with the Long Island Cup names. ************************************************************************** AWARD FINALISTS ANNOUNCED; FINAL VOTES DUE JULY 31 Here are the eagerly-awaited finalists for our annual end-of-season league awards. In order to be on the final ballot, a candidate must have received a number of votes which would place him in the top N (including ties), where N was the maximum one voter was allowed to select. This led to a very good field for the final ballot, with some interesting entrants. Please return your final ballot to me by the end of this month; I would absolutely love to see all owners and associates vote. Please e-mail me with any questions or comments. (vote for one of the following) GRETZKY TROPHY Awarded to the league's most valuable player FGF Roberto Luongo TPK Joe Sakic HOU Mats Sundin (vote for one of the following) SAWCHUK TROPHY Awarded to the league's top goaltender BRK Olaf Kolzig FGF Roberto Luongo LIB Jose Theodore (vote for one of the following) ORR TROPHY Awarded to the league's top defenseman CCC Adrian Aucoin HOU Rob Blake TPK Brian Leetch PIT Scott Niedermayer HOU Chris Pronger (vote for one of the following) LEMIEUX TROPHY Awarded to the league's top first-year player VAW Patrice Bergeron SES Joni Pitkanen SFH Michael Ryder BRK Nikolai Zherdev (vote for one of the following) BLAKE TROPHY Awarded to the league's top coach STM Andy Bartalone QCP Jean-Francois Boutet HOU Eric Goodman (vote for one of the following) GAINEY TROPHY Awarded to the league's top defensive forward CGC Kris Draper BRK Steve Konowalchuk HOU Brenden Morrow STM Brian Rolston (vote for one of the following) HARVEY TROPHY Awarded to the league's top defensive defenseman LIB Zdeno Chara STM Scott Hannan CCC Wade Redden (vote for one of the following) PARENT TROPHY Awarded to the league's comeback player of the year MAN Mark Messier HOU Chris Pronger NCH Sheldon Souray (vote for one of the following) NORRIS TROPHY Awarded to the owner/associate who best exemplifies the spirit of the league and its members HOU Eric Goodman CCC Brian Leahy SES Scott Shigemi (Note: I exempted myself from the list of finalists, although I appreciated the support in this race.) (vote for two of the following) ALL-LEAGUE LEFT WING HOU Patrik Elias BUF Ilya Kovalchuk LIB Markus Naslund SFH Michael Ryder PIT Keith Tkachuk (vote for two of the following) ALL-LEAGUE CENTRE SEA Patrick Marleau TPK Joe Sakic HOU Mats Sundin FGF Joe Thornton (vote for two of the following) ALL-LEAGUE RIGHT WING QCP Milan Hejduk FGF Marian Hossa PIT Jarome Iginla SFH Martin St. Louis (vote for four of the following) ALL-LEAGUE DEFENSE CCC Adrian Aucoin HOU Rob Blake TPK Brian Leetch HOU Nicklas Lidstrom SHS Bryan McCabe PIT Scott Niedermayer HOU Chris Pronger CCC Wade Redden (vote for two of the following) ALL-LEAGUE GOALTENDER NCH Miikka Kiprusoff BRK Olaf Kolzig FGF Roberto Luongo TPK Evgeni Nabokov LIB Jose Theodore ************************************************************************** THE TRANSACTION WINDOW is now open! With the league (NHL) hopefully returning this week, it could make for some interesting transactions over the summer and beyond. Enjoy! ************************************************************************** 2005 FARLEY CUP FINALS: Long Island 3, at Topeka 2 [Game One] LIB Jose Theodore - thirty-three saves, 11/11 GR LIB Vincent Lecavalier - two power-play goals LIB Zigmund Palffy - power-play goal, two assists Long Island 2, at Topeka 3 [Game Two] TPK Martin Rucinsky - game-winning goal, assist TPK Brad Richards - powr-play goal, assist TPK Marek Malik - takeaway, four hits Topeka 1, at Long Island 3 [Game Three] LIB Jose Theodore - forty saves, 8/9 GR LIB Dave Andreychuk - goal, assist, takeaway, hit LIB Trent Hunter - power-play goal, assist Topeka 4, at Long Island 3 [Game Four] TPK Martin Rucinsky - game-winning goal, two assists TPK Evgeni Nabokov - thirty-one saves, 10/12 GR TPK Scott Stevens - three takeaways Long Island 1, at Topeka 2 [Game Five] TPK Evgeni Nabokov - thirty-six saves, 4/5 GR TPK Joe Sakic - game-winning goal midway through third period LIB Jose Theodore - twenty-six saves, 5/7 GR Topeka 3, at Long Island 8 [Game Six] LIB Zigmund Palffy - two goals, two assists LIB Sergei Fedorov - goal, three assists LIB Markus Naslund - goal, three assists Long Island 5, at Topeka 3 [Game Seven] LIB Markus Naslund - power-play goal, assist LIB Jeremy Roenick - power-play goal, assist LIB Trent Hunter - power-play goal, assist ************************************************************************** NORRIS POWER INDICES: To calculate the predicted margin of victory for an upcoming game, take the NPI of the home team, subtract the NPI of the visiting team, and add the calculated home-ice advantage (currently 0.210 goals). ## TEAM NPI LW 1. Houston Outlaws 1.961 1 2. Quebec City Patriotes 1.229 2 3. Long Island Berserkers 1.089 4 4. Topeka Tarantulas 1.015 3 5. St. Michael's Privateers 0.931 6 6. Fort Garry Fiddler Crabs 0.930 5 7. North Calgary Hawks 0.829 7 8. Seattle Rainiers 0.614 8 9. Lyndonville Blades 0.444 9 10. Capital City Cougars 0.398 10 11. Montreal Wanderers 0.355 11 12. Pittsburgh Sound Chasers 0.249 12 13. Corner Creek Green Calves 0.024 13 14. San Francisco Hedgehogs -0.043 14 15. Seattle Sasquatch -0.073 15 16. Manayunk Bullies -0.280 16 17. Brooklyn Fourteenth -0.325 17 18. Florida Hellcats -0.596 18 19. Buffalo Bulldogs -0.833 19 20. Hampton Roads Hounds -0.939 20 21. New York Lancers -1.409 21 22. Stone Harbor Sound -1.424 22 23. Vancouver Whitecaps -1.559 23 24. Minneapolis Massasauga -2.583 24 ************************************************************************** 2004-05 REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE STANDINGS: NORTHEAST DIVISION GP W L T OL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Long Island Berserkers 82 49 25 6 2 106 0.646 281 220 25-11- 4- 1 24-14- 2- 1 Corner Creek Green Cal 82 42 32 6 2 92 0.561 234 256 27- 9- 3- 2 15-23- 3- 0 Lyndonville Blades 82 41 31 10 0 92 0.561 230 179 16-18- 7- 0 25-13- 3- 0 Brooklyn Fourteenth 82 36 36 9 1 82 0.500 186 217 24-13- 3- 1 12-23- 6- 0 Buffalo Bulldogs 82 28 47 5 2 63 0.384 210 271 13-25- 3- 0 15-22- 2- 2 New York Lancers 82 17 52 9 4 47 0.287 174 272 10-25- 4- 2 7-27- 5- 2 ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L T OL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road St. Michael's Privatee 82 46 18 14 4 110 0.671 272 202 26- 7- 7- 1 20-11- 7- 3 Quebec City Patriotes 82 48 21 9 4 109 0.665 324 217 27-11- 2- 1 21-10- 7- 3 Montreal Wanderers 82 41 25 10 6 98 0.598 231 198 22-12- 5- 2 19-13- 5- 4 Manayunk Bullies 82 30 37 12 3 75 0.457 222 239 18-18- 3- 2 12-19- 9- 1 Florida Hellcats 82 26 40 13 3 68 0.415 203 242 14-17- 8- 2 12-23- 5- 1 Stone Harbor Sound 82 18 52 11 1 48 0.293 159 276 10-23- 7- 1 8-29- 4- 0 NORTHWEST DIVISION GP W L T OL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Fort Garry Fiddler Cra 82 48 22 11 1 108 0.659 254 180 27- 9- 5- 0 21-13- 6- 1 Seattle Rainiers 82 47 22 12 1 107 0.652 271 216 27-10- 4- 0 20-12- 8- 1 North Calgary Hawks 82 44 22 11 5 104 0.634 249 199 21-10- 6- 4 23-12- 5- 1 San Francisco Hedgehog 82 35 32 13 2 85 0.518 235 238 17-17- 5- 2 18-15- 8- 0 Seattle Sasquatch 82 35 37 7 3 80 0.488 230 236 19-17- 2- 3 16-20- 5- 0 Vancouver Whitecaps 82 19 56 5 2 45 0.274 194 321 8-29- 2- 2 11-27- 3- 0 CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L T OL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Houston Outlaws 82 58 17 6 1 123 0.750 350 181 31- 7- 3- 0 27-10- 3- 1 Topeka Tarantulas 82 49 19 12 2 112 0.683 288 204 24- 8- 8- 1 25-11- 4- 1 Capital City Cougars 82 41 29 10 2 94 0.573 258 225 23-10- 6- 2 18-19- 4- 0 Pittsburgh Sound Chase 82 42 34 3 3 90 0.549 264 253 20-19- 1- 1 22-15- 2- 2 Hampton Roads Hounds 82 24 44 9 5 62 0.378 234 310 10-24- 6- 1 14-20- 3- 4 Minneapolis Massasauga 82 10 64 7 1 28 0.171 92 293 2-32- 6- 1 8-32- 1- 0 ************************************************************************** INCENTIVE POINTS: CGC: overusage penalty (pending) NYL: overusage penalty (pending) PIT: overusage penalty (pending) Incentive points are not discretionary, and are assigned strictly per formula, without respect to extenuating circumstances. Incentive points may be appealed through the Review Board. CUMULATIVE INCENTIVE POINTS: BRK: -3 IP BUF: 4 IP CCC: -4 IP CGC: 2 IP FLO: -1 IP HOU: exempt LIB: 1 IP MAN: 2 IP NYL: -1 IP PIT: -1 IP SFH: 2 IP SES: -10 IP SHS: 5 IP TPK: -1 IP VAW: -1 IP ************************************************************************** ASSOCIATE LIST: SINCE GP Dan Irvine July 20, 2004 46 Larry Spencer April 27, 2004 0 Ryan Barckert May 17, 2003 0 Steve Kramer December 13, 2004 0 Greg Ralls December 14, 2004 0 If you're still an active associate at and aren't on this list at please get in contact with me. Thanks! Doug ************************************************************************** TRANSACTIONS: ************************************************************************** League Governing Boards Responsibilities of the following governing boards are outlined in the Constitution. Review Board Tom Vinacci, Buffalo Bulldogs Patrick Shea, Long Island Berserkers Mark McNeil, Lyndonville Blades Constitutional Council Head: Patrick Shea (patrickjshea@verizon.net) Doug Norris, Commissioner Eric Goodman, Vice-Commissioner Andy Bartalone, St. Michael's owner Lance Milligan, associate **************************************************************************