The National Strat-O-Matic Hockey League Newsletter League Established May 1, 1997 Volume #12, Issue #18 - July 4, 2009 ********************************************************************* Current League Officers: Commissioner: Doug Norris Vice-Commissioner: Brian Leahy (7/15/07 to present) Email the whole league: mailto:nshl at yahoogroups dot com NSHL Chat List: mailto:nshlchat at yahoogroups dot com Web Page Administrator: Guy Caron League Web Site: http://nshl.org Files Adminstrator: Brian Leahy / Tom Vinacci League Files Site: http://www.highrantdistrict.com/SOM/NSHL Team Websites: Capital City Cougars: http://members.tripod.com/~CapCity/ Seattle Rainiers: http://math.colorado.edu/~norrisdt/rainiers/rainiers.html ********************************************************************* QUICK OVERVIEW: We're down to the final two! Good luck to both Andy and Doug as they fight for the right to call themselves NSHL champion. Thank you to Tom for his excellent newsletter article! Tom's club didn't even make the playoffs this year, which makes me wonder why none of the playoff owners have been excited enough about their squads to write an article. Anyhow, let's get to the July 4th newsletter! ********************************************************************* CONFERENCE FINALS IN REVIEW: And there will be a first-time Farley Cup champion! Andy Bartalone's St. Michael's Privateers and Doug North's Topeka Tarantulas will square off for the 2009 Farley Cup, after each team knocked a heavy underdog in a pair of epic conference finals. The home team won 12 of 13 contests. In the West, despite their lofty seeds, neither Topeka nor the Nevada Thunder were expected to advance to the Cup Finals. Nevada sold off many of their top players at the trade deadline, while Topeka - despite gearing up for the playoffs - was not expected to defeat powerful Vancouver. Yet there they were, and Ilya Kovalchuk and Wade Dubielewicz paced the way for a six-game series win for the Tarantulas. Kovalchuk scored two goals in each of Games Two, Three and Six, while Dubielewicz blanked the Thunder in both Game One and Game Five. Out East, a strong St. Michael's squad eked past Quebec City in seven games, despite a strong thirty-seven shot outburst by the visitors in the deciding game. Tim Thomas and Jean-Sebastien Giguere played like stars on home ice but couldn't come up with enough big saves on the road, and Pavel Datsyuk had a two-point night in the ultimate game. Despite holding the top seed in their conference for the fourth time, this is the Privateers' first trip to the championship round. Topeka has been to the Cup finals twice, falling to Lyndonville in 2003 and Long Island in 2005. Good luck to both Bartalone and North! ********************************************************************* SUMMERTIME IN THE KENNEL by Tom Vinacci, Buffalo owner What does one do in the world of Strat-O-Matic Hockey when one's team is not good enough to make a run at the Farley Cup, possibly not good enough to even make the playoffs, yet not bad enough to land a top-three pick in the 2010 draft? Yeah, I don't know either, but slow improvement is the path the Buffalo Bulldogs will be taking. Because there aren't one or two older extremely dominant players on the current roster, moving them to try to head south in the standings to a better 2010 draft slot doesn't make sense. With three first-rounders and three second-rounders in the upcoming draft, the Bulldogs have the luxury or drafting for two or three seasons out instead of having score a guy or two who can contribute right now ... not that a player like that wouldn't be taken, but not worrying about bringing in guys who must contribute immediately for the upcoming season makes for a peaceful approach to the upcoming draft. That being said, prospects will have to be thoroughly scouted as at least four productive NSHLers will have to come out of Buffalo's first six selections. A review of the team's current roster will show where their draft needs will be. Between the pipes, the Bulldogs are set long-term with Cam Ward and possibly Rick DiPietro should he come back from hip surgeries successfully. If this is the case, keeping both youngsters on the roster ensures that at least one will be able to give Buffalo a strong goalie for the majority of a season each and every year. Stephen Valiquette makes for an adequate filler for a few games, but is expendable should someone have an interest in him. Interestingly, Buffalo's current group of goalies combined with the team's lack of ability to go the distance in 09-10 means there is little reason to continue their historical selection of low-GP freak goalies in the 2009 draft. All it would do is worsen their 2010 draft position, and one freak goalie won't be enough to deliver a Cup in the coming season. Buffalo looks set in net. The Bulldogs' youngsters on the blueline are developing nicely making the defense corps something of an area of long-term strength. Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Braydon Coburn and Jack Johnson provide a deep young long-term answer on the left side and make Francois Beauchemin expendable. On the right side the top spot is anchored by Dion Phaneuf who mentor up-and-coming Alex Goligoski. Marc-Andre Bergeron will sit at the third RD slot and contribute on the power play, but is not a long-term solution and could move for a prospect. Nathan Paetsch, Tom Preissing and Niclas Wallin will fill in as needed but none are in the Bulldogs' long-range plans. Up front is where the real mess is as there is no depth at any of the forward positions. This is where Buffalo hopes to fill long-term spots through the draft. At the center position Mike Ribeiro occupies the first-line spot but current lacks a finisher to bury the chances he will create. Andrew Cogliano is a second-line center who is still learning his way, but with killer speed he's expected to produce in the 25-30 goal range in the near future. After those two, the rest of the middle is patchwork. Scott Nichol is a decent third-line checker who will get significant penalty-killing minutes and Fernando Pisano could see his stock rise if his health improves to the point where he doesn't have to keep running to the bathroom. Jordan Staal is still coming into his own but is a long-term lock at first- or second-line left wing. Beyond that Rusty Olesz may grow into a second- or third-liner eventually but hopes aren't high. Jerred Smithson and Kirk Maltby are decent defensively and will also pitch in on the PK but neither will score enough goals to push their plus/minus into the plus. Mark Recchi mans the top spot on the right side and will benefit from Ribeiro's passing, but he's hinted more than once at retirement after the 10-11 NSHL season. Buffalo has until then to find a suitable replacement, as behind him the pickins are slim. Sergei Kostitsyn is an enigma and the possibility that his dodgy play has been influenced by connections to the Russian mob hasn't endeared him to home fans. Richard Zednik will be on line two but is expected to bolt for Russia in a year so he becomes trade bait. Fan fave Jordin Tootoo is likely a career third- or fourth-liner and everyone else on the roster is essentially a fill-in ruffian. With the lack of prospects on the wings, Buffalo is known to covet Kansas City's fat floater Dustin Byfuglian who they hope to acquire and point towards the gym and the salad bar. Three first-round picks and three second-round picks will be used to re-fill the proverbial prospect well. It may take a few seasons, but the Bulldogs will have bite again! ********************************************************************* "HELP WANTED" SIGN HUNG ON RAINIER DOOR, BLUELINERS WANTED by Doug Norris, Seattle owner Although Seattle Rainier management generally does not put out feelers in the press, local sources expect that general manager Doug Norris will look to acquire another veteran defenseman as his club looks to rebound after missing the playoffs for just the second time in team history. Despite the impressive firepower on the Seattle roster this past year, the club struggled to a fifth-place finish in the Northwest Division. "We had no transition game to speak of last year," remarked Norris, who wouldn't name names, but the reliance upon older, slower defensemen such as Chris Chelios and Nick Boynton. Seattle may dangle a goaltender on the market this summer, with three netminders - incumbents Dwayne Roloson and Vesa Toskala, and newcomer Mike Smith - vying for two spots on the roster. Top prospect Jonathan Bernier is at least another year away, but Toskala's sub-0.900 save percentage in 69 games was a clear disappointment who expected more from the Finn. "Goalies need to stop pucks," said goaltending consultant Ian Young, "but Vesa needed some help back there. He can't do it all by himself." ********************************************************************* FARLEY CUP FINAL MATCHUP: #2 TOPEKA TARANTULAS at #1 ST. MICHAEL'S PRIVATEERS ********************************************************************* OVERUSAGE PENALTIES: Penalties coming soon, but these are the overusage situations (and culprits) as determined by Brian and myself: Buffalo Fernando Pisani, one game. Corner Creek Matt Cullen, two games. Nevada Doug Weight, one game. North Calgary Joe DiPenta, five games. North Calgary Thomas Pock, one game. Pittsburgh SC Curtis Joseph, two games. Quebec City Sergei Zubov, one game. If you see your team's name here, expect penalties. If you don't, then you're free for the year (and thank you for your compliance!) ********************************************************************* CONFERENCE FINAL RESULTS: Nevada 0, at Topeka 3 [Topeka leads series, 1-0] TPK Brent Burns - goal, assist, two takeaways, hit TPK Wade Dubielewicz - twenty-six saves, shutout, 4/4 GR TPK Viktor Kozlov - two assists, takeaway Nevada 3, at Topeka 4 [Topeka leads series, 2-0] TPK Ilya Kovalchuk - two goals, two takeaways, hit NEV Sergei Fedorov - power-play goal, takeaway, hit TPK Shea Weber - goal, assist, takeaway Topeka 4, at Nevada 5 [Topeka leads series, 2-1] NEV Mike Sillinger - two goals, takeaway TPK Ilya Kovalchuk - two goals, takeaway, two hits NEV Michael Peca - goal, assist, takeaway Topeka 1, at Nevada 2 [Series tied, 2-2] NEV Martin Gerber - thirty-two saves, 4/5 GR NEV Steve Staios - two takeaways, two hits TPK Wade Dubielewicz - twenty-five saves, 4/5 GR Nevada 0, at Topeka 5 [Topeka leads series, 3-2] TPK Wade Dubielewicz - twenty-five saves, shutout, 3/3 GR TPK Adrian Aucoin - power-play goal, assist, takeaway TPK Andrei Kostitsyn - goal, assist, two hits Topeka 5, at Nevada 2 [Topeka wins series, 4-2] TPK Ilya Kovalchuk - two goals, takeaway TPK Alexander Radulov - goal, assist, takeaway TPK Patrick O'Sullivan - goal, assist Quebec City 2, at St. Michael's 3 [St. Michael's leads series, 1-0] STM Pavel Datsyuk - game-winning goal, assist STM Filip Kuba - power-play goal, assist QCP Petr Sykora - two goals, takeaway Quebec City 2, at St. Michael's 4 [St. Michael's leads series, 2-0] STM Jean-Pierre Dumont - three assists STM Tim Thomas - thirty-five saves, 10/12 GR QCP Jochen Hecht - goal, assist, two takeaways St. Michael's 2, at Quebec City 3 [St. Michael's leads series, 2-1] QCP Jean-Sebastien Giguere - thirty-four saves, 8/8 GR QCP Kevin Bieksa - two assists, two hits STM Martin St. Louis - goal, two takeaways, hit St. Michael's 2, at Quebec City 4 [Series tied, 2-2] QCP Max Talbot - game-winning goal, three takeaways QCP Olli Jokinen - power-play goal, takeaway, two hits QCP Jean-Sebastien Giguere - thirty-one saves, 3/4 GR Quebec City 4, at St. Michael's 5 (OT) [St. Michael's leads series, 3-2] STM Nik Antropov - two goals QCP Brian Rolston - two goals, assist STM Pavel Datsyuk - PP goal at 0:49 of overtime, assist, 10-of-12 faceoffs St. Michael's 1, at Quebec City 2 [Series tied, 3-3] QCP Jean-Sebastien Giguere - thirty saves, 7/8 GR QCP Jochen Hecht - goal, takeaway STM Tim Thomas - thirty-five saves, 6/7 GR Quebec City 2, at St. Michael's 3 [St. Michael's wins series, 4-3] STM Pavel Datsyuk - game-winning goal, assist, hiit STM Duncan Keith - goal, takeaway, three hits STM Tim Thomas - thirty-five saves, 4/6 GR ********************************************************************* 2008-09 REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE STANDINGS: NORTHEAST DIVISION GP W L OL SL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Pittsburgh Hornets 82 50 24 4 4 108 0.659 259 229 26-11- 2- 2 24-13- 2- 2 Brooklyn Fourteenth 82 39 30 3 10 91 0.555 269 253 23-12- 0- 6 16-18- 3- 4 Long Island Berserkers 82 41 34 5 2 89 0.543 268 263 19-17- 3- 2 22-17- 2- 0 Corner Creek Green Cal 82 42 36 1 3 88 0.537 256 246 22-18- 0- 1 20-18- 1- 2 Buffalo Bulldogs 82 34 44 0 4 72 0.439 232 271 18-20- 0- 3 16-24- 0- 1 Lyndonville Blades 82 30 47 2 3 65 0.396 218 270 17-23- 0- 1 13-24- 2- 2 ATLANTIC DIVISION GP W L OL SL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road St. Michael's Privatee 82 53 22 2 5 113 0.689 290 192 33- 6- 1- 1 20-16- 1- 4 Montreal Wanderers 82 44 29 5 4 97 0.591 244 245 25-13- 2- 1 19-16- 3- 3 Quebec City Patriotes 82 44 35 1 2 91 0.555 264 242 23-16- 1- 1 21-19- 0- 1 Florida Hellcats 82 40 40 2 0 82 0.500 216 254 19-21- 1- 0 21-19- 1- 0 Manayunk Bullies 82 35 43 2 2 74 0.451 212 275 18-21- 1- 1 17-22- 1- 1 Stone Harbor Sound 82 21 56 1 4 47 0.287 188 287 8-30- 0- 3 13-26- 1- 1 NORTHWEST DIVISION GP W L OL SL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Vancouver Whitecaps 82 68 13 0 1 137 0.835 332 169 35- 6- 0- 0 33- 7- 0- 1 Nevada Thunder 82 50 25 3 4 107 0.652 272 246 24-11- 2- 4 26-14- 1- 0 Seattle Sasquatch 82 49 26 1 6 105 0.640 263 224 29- 9- 1- 2 20-17- 0- 4 Fort Garry Fiddler Cra 82 49 27 0 6 104 0.634 285 227 22-15- 0- 4 27-12- 0- 2 Seattle Rainiers 82 39 33 5 5 88 0.537 257 251 19-19- 2- 1 20-14- 3- 4 North Calgary Hawks 82 24 48 5 5 58 0.354 205 304 8-26- 2- 5 16-22- 3- 0 CENTRAL DIVISION GP W L OL SL Pts Pct GF GA Home Road Topeka Tarantulas 82 52 27 1 2 107 0.652 267 226 27-11- 1- 2 25-16- 0- 0 Pittsburgh Sound Chase 82 47 30 3 2 99 0.604 266 233 23-14- 2- 2 24-16- 1- 0 Houston Aeros 82 45 31 2 4 96 0.585 285 243 27-12- 1- 1 18-19- 1- 3 Capital City Cougars 82 35 27 6 14 90 0.549 241 240 18-15- 3- 5 17-12- 3- 9 Hampton Roads Hounds 82 33 44 3 2 71 0.433 211 291 16-21- 3- 1 17-23- 0- 1 Minneapolis Massasauga 82 20 53 4 5 49 0.299 181 300 9-30- 2- 0 11-23- 2- 5 ********************************************************************* 2008-09 EXPANDED LEAGUE STATISTICS: EXPANDED STATISTICS Total Home Road NORTHEAST DIVISION REG OVT SHO REG OVT SHO REG OVT SHO Pittsburgh Hornets 41-24 2- 4 7- 4| 20-11 2- 2 4- 2| 21-13 0- 2 3- 2 Brooklyn Fourteenth 37-30 1- 3 1-10| 23-12 0- 0 0- 6| 14-18 1- 3 1- 4 Long Island Berserkers 37-34 1- 5 3- 2| 16-17 1- 3 2- 2| 21-17 0- 2 1- 0 Corner Creek Green Calv 35-36 3- 1 4- 3| 19-18 1- 0 2- 1| 16-18 2- 1 2- 2 Buffalo Bulldogs 24-44 6- 0 4- 4| 14-20 2- 0 2- 3| 10-24 4- 0 2- 1 Lyndonville Blades 26-47 2- 2 2- 3| 16-23 1- 0 0- 1| 10-24 1- 2 2- 2 ATLANTIC DIVISION REG OVT SHO REG OVT SHO REG OVT SHO St. Michael's Privateer 46-22 4- 2 3- 5| 27- 6 4- 1 2- 1| 19-16 0- 1 1- 4 Montreal Wanderers 40-29 0- 5 4- 4| 23-13 0- 2 2- 1| 17-16 0- 3 2- 3 Quebec City Patriotes 37-35 1- 1 6- 2| 18-16 0- 1 5- 1| 19-19 1- 0 1- 1 Florida Hellcats 30-40 1- 2 9- 0| 15-21 0- 1 4- 0| 15-19 1- 1 5- 0 Manayunk Bullies 26-43 3- 2 6- 2| 13-21 2- 1 3- 1| 13-22 1- 1 3- 1 Stone Harbor Sound 16-56 2- 1 3- 4| 6-30 1- 0 1- 3| 10-26 1- 1 2- 1 NORTHWEST DIVISION REG OVT SHO REG OVT SHO REG OVT SHO Vancouver Whitecaps 63-13 2- 0 3- 1| 34- 6 0- 0 1- 0| 29- 7 2- 0 2- 1 Nevada Thunder 44-25 3- 3 3- 4| 22-11 2- 2 0- 4| 22-14 1- 1 3- 0 Seattle Sasquatch 35-26 5- 1 9- 6| 22- 9 5- 1 2- 2| 13-17 0- 0 7- 4 Fort Garry Fiddler Crab 42-27 4- 0 3- 6| 19-15 2- 0 1- 4| 23-12 2- 0 2- 2 Seattle Rainiers 33-33 3- 5 3- 5| 15-19 3- 2 1- 1| 18-14 0- 3 2- 4 North Calgary Hawks 20-48 3- 5 1- 5| 7-26 0- 2 1- 5| 13-22 3- 3 0- 0 CENTRAL DIVISION REG OVT SHO REG OVT SHO REG OVT SHO Topeka Tarantulas 41-27 4- 1 7- 2| 19-11 2- 1 6- 2| 22-16 2- 0 1- 0 Pittsburgh Sound Chaser 40-30 4- 3 3- 2| 20-14 1- 2 2- 2| 20-16 3- 1 1- 0 Houston Aeros 39-31 0- 2 6- 4| 24-12 0- 1 3- 1| 15-19 0- 1 3- 3 Capital City Cougars 28-27 4- 6 3-14| 15-15 2- 3 1- 5| 13-12 2- 3 2- 9 Hampton Roads Hounds 26-44 1- 3 6- 2| 11-21 0- 3 5- 1| 15-23 1- 0 1- 1 Minneapolis Massasauga 18-53 2- 4 0- 5| 9-30 0- 2 0- 0| 9-23 2- 2 0- 5 ********************************************************************* 2008-09 NSHL NORRIS POWER INDEX 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 0.139 goals). NPI: projected "power" of the given team VAR: variation in a team's NPI. SOS: strength of schedule (average NPI of opponents to date) NORRIS POWER INDEX NPI VAR SOS LW 1. Vancouver Whitecaps 1.950 6.141 -0.018 1 2. St. Michael's Privateers 1.183 6.674 -0.099 2 3. Topeka Tarantulas 0.743 6.977 0.046 4 4. Seattle Sasquatch 0.725 5.265 0.106 3 5. Fort Garry Fiddler Crabs 0.608 8.061 0.104 5 6. Houston Aeros 0.586 7.564 0.059 6 7. Quebec City Patriotes 0.561 6.857 -0.024 7 8. Pittsburgh Sound Chasers 0.462 5.835 0.012 8 9. Nevada Thunder 0.326 6.289 0.170 9 10. Pittsburgh Hornets 0.311 6.783 -0.082 10 11. Capital City Cougars 0.218 5.111 0.189 11 12. Seattle Rainiers 0.146 5.813 0.100 12 13. Corner Creek Green Calves 0.134 8.497 0.024 13 14. Brooklyn Fourteenth -0.004 8.603 -0.034 14 15. Long Island Berserkers -0.121 8.021 -0.070 16 16. Montreal Wanderers -0.127 6.914 -0.021 15 17. Florida Hellcats -0.534 7.494 0.028 17 18. Buffalo Bulldogs -0.562 5.258 -0.015 18 19. Lyndonville Blades -0.784 6.024 0.001 19 20. Manayunk Bullies -0.817 7.541 -0.019 20 21. Hampton Roads Hounds -0.838 7.722 0.104 21 22. North Calgary Hawks -1.272 9.297 0.180 22 23. Stone Harbor Sound -1.437 6.922 0.026 23 24. Minneapolis Massasauga -1.458 5.960 0.157 24 ********************************************************************* INCENTIVE POINTS: 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. BUF: -1 IP, newsletter article CUMULATIVE INCENTIVE POINTS: FLO -1 IP HOU -3 IP LIB -1 IP MAN -4 IP MIN 2 IP NEV 5 IP PIH -2 IP PIT 2 IP STM -1 IP SES -1 IP TPK -1 IP VAW -3 IP ********************************************************************* ASSOCIATE LIST: SINCE GP Dale Ripley September 11, 2007 28 Francois Lessard December 10, 2006 8 Steve Kramer December 13, 2004 0 Greg Ralls December 14, 2004 0 Andrew Smith November 19, 2005 0 J.J. Schrems May 1, 2006 0 Scott Bruner June 18, 2007 0 Steve Beren February 2, 2008 0 If you're still an active associate, and aren't on this list, please get in contact with me. Thanks! Doug ********************************************************************* FARLEY CUP FINALS INJURY REPORT: (no injuries to begin the Farley Cup Finals) This will change with every playoff game, and will be announced to the relevant owners at that time. ********************************************************************* TRANSACTIONS: All free agents *must* play in at least six of your team's games the following biweek. Violation of this results in the player being released immediately. ********************************************************************* 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 at verizon dot net) Doug Norris, Commissioner Brian Leahy, Vice-Commissioner Andy Bartalone, St. Michael's owner (vacant) *********************************************************************