Big Changes In The Middle; Shadowmen Celebrations Fade As Game 2 Gets Under Way; Scourge Resurge

The official stats for last week are now included in the stats below. The Shadowmen did indeed pull off a narrow (.17pt) victory against the Bladerunners in game one of the Challenge Cup semi-finals but are in tough in game two. The Highlanders continue their dominance of the Severed Heads as their second match gets underway and look to be sweeping the series.

The Predator Cup standings see a lot of movement. The Highlanders still lead the Bladerunners but the real movement is lower down. The Wolves pass the Shadowmen and move into 4th place. The Personal Vendetta pass the Severed Heads to move into 6th place. The Lost Boys and Knights Templar both pass the Ramapithicines, who fall to 10th while the Scourge gain some ground on the Edge.

The Scourge have also moved back into 2nd in the Omnivore standings and now sit only a handfull of points behind the Bladerunners.

The unofficial stats, as of Tuesday's action, are as follows:

Trade Deadline Strikes on Quiet Night

From here on in, the FunHL teams will have to dance with who they have. The FunHL trade deadline hit last night at 6:00 pm Mountain and for the most part all was quiet. All save for the Scourge who made a pair of deals to try and recapture the momentum from the Edge who had relegated them to last spot. While last night was a quiet one, the early returns for the Scourge are encouraging as they pot two points from the only game of the night and pull back ahead of the idle Edge.

The Highlanders also got the most from their one player (R.Dipietro filling in for the ailing D.Hasek) turning aside 56 of 57 shots. Dipietro's contribution helped to extend the Highlanders' lead atop the Predator Cup standings to about a dozen points - but then the Bladerunners didn't have anyone playing last night.

The Challenge Cup semi-finals are now in game two and the setting shifts to the Mausoleum for the Bladerunners and the Shadowmen (still awaiting official confirmation of a Shadowmen victory in game one) and to Stronghold as the Severed Heads visit the Highlanders. The Highlanders had no need for video review in their first game victory and are looking forward to quickly dispatching the Heads to move on to their first Challenge Cup final.

Not much to report from one NHL game on Monday night but here are the unofficial standings:

Edge Record Best Week - Ever; Highlanders Win; Bladerunner/Shadowmen Game Going To Video Review

The Highlanders continue to hold a single digit lead in the Predator Cup race after posting the second-best week in the pool but the story of the week has to be the return of the Edge. The Edge posted the best total of the week (57pts) and their best weekly total of the year (perhaps in the team's history) to pull clear of the Scourge and out of last place. Led by 7pt weeks from K.Lehtinen and J.Spezza as well as 6pt weeks from A.Ovechkin, O.Jokinen and S.Doan - the Edge finally had all cylinders firing.

In the Challenge Cup playoffs the Highlanders finally win their first ever playoff game - against their bitter rivals, the Severed Heads. The other semi-final series may be in dispute. My calculations have the Shadowmen holding on to a very narrow lead and winning the match by less than a half-point. Given that I have been off as much as a point on some of these scores, I think it best to double check the final tally of this game with the official scorer before taking the astrix away just yet. The Shadowmen celebrations of their first-ever Challenge Cup win will have to wait a few days more. In any event, game two starts tonight.

In the Omnivore standings the Bladerunners continue to lead but the Highlanders are now sitting in second as T.Vokoun's fine play of late has started to affect the Scourge's baseline (his totals have now passed the injured Huet's). This coupled with Zetterberg's injury have slowed the Scourge's meteoric rise, at least momentarily.

Here are the unofficial stats as of Sunday's actions:

Highlanders Crack 900pts; Scourge Catch & Pass Edge

The Highlanders are the first team to crack 900pts and continue to hold their lead on top of the Predator Cup standings but the big story was that the Edge stalled on Saturday (actually losing some ground though still holding the best total for the week). The Scourge took advantage and recapture 11th place.

The Shadowmen still hold a narrow lead in the Challenge Cup playoff matchup with the Bladerunners while the Highlanders have extended their lead over the Severed Heads.

After Saturday's games, here are the unofficial stats:

Injuries Hit Highlanders But They Remain In 1st

Busy day so not much time to chit-chat.

Bladerunners make some ground on the Highlanders as both Hasek and Kaberle go down. They also close the gap in their Challenge Cup playoff game with the Shadowmen. The Highlanders do pass the Scourge to move into 2nd in the Omnivore.

Following Friday's action, here are the unofficial stats:

Should the NHL Ban Head Shots?

We've all seen the replay, a talented guy makes a play and has his head down when it should be up. Que the trainwreck hit that leaves talented guy destroyed. First they get rendered unconscious, but even after they recover their senses they have dizziness, nausea, puking, and crippling migraines to look forward to.

In Drury's case Chris Neil lowered the boom (in this case, a shoulder) right to the point of Drury's chin. Out went Drury.

The hit, for it's part is within the rules. Neil may have been guilty of late timing (for which I would have tagged him for), but otherwise the hit is fine.

Lots of media attention follows, much of it centred on the question in the header, should we ban hits to the head?

IMO - No and Yes.

No, because not all hits to the head are created equal. When Lindros was obliterated by Scott Stevens in the playoffs, he too hit Lindros with a clean check. The fact is both Drury and Lindros could have avoided their fates by having their heads up. In each case they were hammered for their lack of attention.

Did Neil and Stevens intend to injure? For sure. Every time you throw a check you are attempting to injure, you just want to do so within the rules.

Going all Bertuzzi on someone? Bad. Very Bad.

Throwing a solid shoulder check into an opposing player? To me, that is still Good.

In contrast to Stevens and Neil, consider Messier, someone who had no problem head hunting. I'm sure there is YouTube video somewhere of Jamie Macoun trying to get back to the Flames bench after he was cold-cocked by a Messier elbow. It's sickening to watch him struggle with his balance, as he repeatedly falls on the way back to the bench.

Recognize villainy where it is, not where it is perceived to be. Let's make elbows to the head a 10 min automatic.

As for the shoulder and hip checks that cause concussions?

- Keep your head up.

The elbows and hits from behind that cause concussions?

- Suspensions and fines to start, and worse if it continues.

The Missing GMs

Ok, here's a strange fact, three of the most computer literate GMs in the FUNHL, Corey, Darrell, and Mike, have not yet registered for the blog, nor even posted to it.

Things that make you go 'hmmmm'.

Perhaps those Calgary GMs who have more frequent contact with them can encourage them to visit and contribute to the greatest blog known to man-kind?

Swedish Touch

Am I the only FUNHL GM who cruises the Swedish Elite League stats?

Some interesting names turned up in my last review of the Elite League standings;

2nd overall in scoring is ex-Ranger, ex-Flyer, ex-Hurrican, ex-NHL prospect, Pavel Brendl!

Tops in scoring is Tony Martensson (17-34-51 in 54) who despite being less than a ppg is nevertheless leading the league. No, I've never heard of him either.

Tied for the ten spot is the ole St Louis Blue Polish Prince, Lubos Bartecko. Other ex-NHL players like Jorgen Jonsson, Niklas Sundstrom (once considered a threat to score 30!), and perhaps weirdest of all, ex-Severed Heads prospect, Steve Kariya!

Me, I was looking for the stats on this guy... (12-28-40 in 44)

Edge Escape Cellar

While the Highlanders continue to lead the Predator Cup race (the lead is now over 10pts), the phenomenal resurgence of the Edge is the real story of the week. +4 for Malik, 6pts from Ovechkin, 5 from Jokinen, Spezza and Doan all helping to produce over 39pts (best in the league so far) this week and we haven't even started the weekend! The Edge are back and are out of last place - at least for the moment. If the Edge's performance over the last couple of weeks has shown anything its that no lead is safe and that a lot can change in a very short period of time.

The Challenge Cup playoffs continue with the home sides trailing after two periods. The Shadowmen hold a narrow lead over the Bladerunners while the Highlanders have a 10pt lead over the Severed Heads.

Darrell's official stats as of Week 21 have been incorporated into these stats which, as of Thursday's action, are as follows:

Quiet Night on Wednesday

The Highlanders remain atop the Predator Cup standings. The Scourge regain a bit of their lead on the Edge after hearing news of Zetterberg's injury. The Bladerunners and Severed Heads are still behind in their Challenge Cup playoff games. The Omnivore race heats up again as the Scourge show new life.

Busy day at work but here are the unofficial stats as of Wednesday night:

Proposal to consider for ED 2008

I read Steven Brunt's column in the Globe this morning, about how the new salary-cap economics are being used by some teams, but no-one in management seems to have mastered the art of the calculator quite yet. That's where this thought is coming from.

My impression is that the FUNHL attempts to mimic the NHL to the greatest extent possible. (see: RFAs, waivers, IRs, and prospects.) Has there been any consideration of introducing a mimic of the salary-cap system to our entry draft?

My father's baseball pool uses a bidding system on each player. The league-fees for them are $20, so they all have a salary pool of 20$, with which to go after their 24 players. As each player is drafted, every team gets a chance to bid on them. Every player on the roster gets a salary of at least a dime, so it's possible to take yourself out of bidding early by reducing yourself to a dime for the remaining slots on your roster. (Nothing sadder than having 3$ left, and no outfielders and just 1 pitcher as I recall from the one draft I participated in.)

What might it look like in the FUNHL?

Trading for players then recieves an extra-dimension, as you begin to consider their worth not only for points but also their impact on your bottom line. Prospects, at a dime apiece for 5 years become wildly valuable. RFA contracts also become interesting, if, for example, I can renew Brindamour for another year at $0.60, or whatever he would have been drafted for, might make him much more valuable.

To accomodate WDs, and give Bob/Brian/Dan and the other monster-traders some flexibility, I'd suggest that the cap grow through the season. So, going into the ED your total salary cap might be $20.80 (including 8 prospects); after the ED through to WD1 total salary cap goes to 23$; after WD1 through to the end of the season you'd get a 25$ salary-cap.

Bidding on just waived-players means you'd have to match their contract in a WD. This would make WDs a chance to slough over-priced deadweight from your roster.

I suspect FPs would have to go. You want Brodeur, you bid for Brodeur; he's not magically in the same equivalent class as Jovanovski "just 'cause."

An immediate downside is that this makes the FUNHL very much a spreadsheet & number crunching league... that may not appeal to a lot of GMs. But, it does get that touch of realism.

Anyway, throwing it out there for thoughts... because I like my number-crunching and spreadsheets.

Richard.

Scourge ready to sell

Ok... it looks like my team is crashing back to earth and the Edge are exploding. With my inability to pick anything up to fend him off i am ready to sell now...

Challenge Cup Playoffs Open With Visitors Taking Leads; Edge Pressure Scourge

The NHL has finished their trade deadline and ours is next Monday's line-up. The headlines in the FunHL, however, are not the usual Predator Cup horse-race (though the Highlanders have extended their lead over the last two nights of play) it is the horse-race at the bottom of the table. What a difference a week can make. The Scourge had been riding H.Zetterberg and P.Datsyuk to a big and growing lead on the last placed Edge and seemed poised to avoid a rookie season Herbivore and then the Edge woke up and made a deal for Jason Spezza. The trade is paying dividends this week to be sure but the real story is the return of players already on the Edge line-up such as O.Jokinen and A.Ovechkin. Think about this. One week ago tonight, Wednesday February 21st, the Scourge had built up a 35+pt lead. As of last night's action the Edge have pulled to within 3pts. That's how fast things can change. A caution for the Highlanders and encouragement for the Bladerunners to be sure.

The Challenge Cup playoffs open up this week with the Severed Heads hosting the Highlanders in one semi-final and the Bladerunners hosting the Shadowmen in the other. In early action it is the visitors who have the lead. As mentioned before, a win by either team would be their first ever in Challenge Cup playoff action. While both the Bladerunners and Heads have been here before and have both won Challenge Cups. Lest you think that the Challenge Cup always goes to the eventual Predator Cup winner, in three of the seven years it has been awarded the Challenge Cup winner has NOT also won the Predator Cup and on two occaisions the Predator Cup winner didn't even make the Challenge Cup final.

Milestones and notes that I had forgotten to make. The Great Whites are now an 800pt team - congrats. The Wolves have passed the Severed Heads who fall to 5th.

Following Tuesday's action, here are the unofficial stats:

NHL Trade Deadline Deals - analysis

Guerin -> Sharks for a 1st, Nieminen and some deep roster prospect.

Is anyone suprised? He'll re-audition as Thornton's port side gunner, after which he'll take a run at scoring 50+ ala Cheechoo last year.

The Penguins picked up; George 'Heavyweight Champion' Laraque, Gary 'Obi-Wan Fitness' Roberts, a Kwiatakowski to fill out the D (and with that name he had better be tougher than Polish leather), and the latest in a long line of goaltending prospects stuck in the Sharks system to pop loose, Nolan Shaeffer, to round out the teams goaltending depth. Well done, I say, well done.

Bertuzzi to the Red Wings for picks. Bertuzzi is the ultimate boom bust proposition. Boom, and you have an unstoppable offensive force, one who can; score 40 goals, assist on 60, record a 100PIM, and bulldoze his way to the net at will. Bust and you have a very expensive locker room cancer with a tricky back and a propensity for near criminal mayhem. My bet is he goes 'boom' in a big, big way, and is an even bet for FP status next year. Essentially this means that Luongo and Kraicjek were traded to the Vancouver Canucks straight up for Bryan Allen and a first.

A smooth move by the Chi-Hawks has them moving a 6th rnd pick and Karl Stewart to get hulking Nikita Alexeev. A little 'fear my wingspan' for a late pick and MIA euro-prospect. Nice.

Dallas adds Mathias Norstrom to their blue-line in what has to be the most underrated moves of the day. They are not going to go gently into that good night come playoff time, and adding a battle tested warrior like Norstrom is proof of that.

The Leafs trade a minor league defenseman and a 2nd rnd pick to the Coyotes for Yanick Perrault. For those of you paying attention, only a few months back Yanick was the last of the free agents signings - so he could have been had for the value of his contract. But it's like free-money when you trade with the Leafs, who come trade deadline are now ready to cough up a 2nd for 5th and a depth prospect for a guy they could have had for free. All in all, the Leafs season is another idiot full of sound and fury signifying nothing.

The Flames picked up David Hale for a 3rd rnd pick. Nice. Hale is a good depth body for a cup drive, and came at a reasonable price. Over this year, Calgary has ADDED; Tanguay, Conroy, Stuart, and Hale. A top line forward, a 2nd line centre, a top 4 defenseman and a depth defender, all of which compliments a franchise forward in his prime, a pair of all-star calibre defensmen, and a cold blooded assassin of a goaltender. Let the playoffs begin!

Now contrast the slow smooth maneuverings of Calgary's Sutter with Edmonton's Lowe, as today Lowe tears the heart of the team out, spits on it, and ships it off to the Islanders. The same GM who is paying everybody's favourite 38 year old backup Dwayne Roloson $4m a year, who signed a way overachieving AHL scoring star Shawn Horcoff to an expensive $3m a year deal, couldn't find it in his heart to pay Smyth $5 and change? Like the Thornton trade to San Jose, this could almost be a franchise killer. Expect Lowe's head.

FunHL Stats On Hold

Hi Guys,

The spreadsheet is all set but CBS sportsline hasn't posted last night's stats (I suspect that they are holding off until the deadline deals are all completed).

I'll keep checking back throughout the day but if not, I'll make the first post of the week tomorrow.

My back of the envelope calculations had me gaining a couple of points on Brian.

Talk to you then.

Doug

Week 21 Ends With Highlanders Holding Narrow Lead

Sorry for the delay everyone, tommorow should be out much quicker.

Until then, here are the unofficial stats as of Sunday night:

Trade: Lost Boys-Shadowmen

Hello,

Bob will confirm this trade via e-mail (maybe here too). He will also circulate my line-up for this week since I will not get home until well after it is due tonight.

To the Lost Boys
Brindamour C Car (RFA)
Clark R Wsh

To the Shadowmen
Roy C Buf (RFA)
O'Neill R Tor
Lost Boys 1st Rd PrD

"Make it so"

Richard.
GM Lost Boys

Bladerunners extend lead; Knights Templar join 700pt club; Shadowmen fall to 4th in Omnivore

The Highlanders were looking poised to retake the lead in the Predator Cup race last night until the Calgary and Los Angeles scores came in. Jerome Iginla's 4pt night along with K.Huselius and L.Visnovsky's 2pt nights was the difference needed to forstall any drop from top position. Indeed, the Bladerunners gained a further two points on the Highlanders and have the league's top point total for the week at over 45pts.

The Knights Templar are having a fine week of their own (over 36pts) and last night crossed over the 700pt mark. The Great Whites are also enjoying a solid week (currently over 34pts) and are poised to cross the 800pt mark tonight.

The fine Great White performance looks to be impacting the Challenge Cup as well, though the fish themselves have been eliminated from the post-season. Should the Great Whites hold on to their lead over the Shadowmen and the Highlanders go on to victory in their game against the Edge, the Highlanders will move into 3rd place ahead of the Shadowmen and avoid the Bladerunners in the first round.

In the Omnivore, the Shadowmen took a +/- hit from defenseman D.Markove last night (he went -3) and are now in fourth place in the Omnivore standings. The Highlanders passed them but still remain 12pts back of the Scourge and 28pts back of the Bladerunners and their impressive +44pt standing.

My appologies in advance but I have a conference out of town tomorrow so the final stats for the week won't be posted until late Monday.

Until then, here are the unofficial stats following Saturday night's action:

Another Quiet Night

The Highlanders gain a quarter point on the Bladerunners last night. Seriously, thats all. Its a rush this morning but here are the unofficial stats as of last night:

Bladerunners Back In Lead

The see-saw battle for the Predator Cup continued last night with the Bladerunners extending their lead in points for the week and finally pulling back ahead of the Highlanders. The Bladerunners garnered half of their points in one game as Lecavalier, Boyle, Kozlov and Hossa accounted for 6pts on the night between them. The lead is only three-quarters of a point so it may not hold after tonights games.

Further down the table, both the Lost Boys and Personal Vendetta have crossed over to the 700pt club. The Lost Boys did it while passing the Vendetta in the standings to now sit in 8th place.

The Challenge Cup standings are in some dispute between the official stats keeper and this board but none of the disagreements affect the playoff teams. With the Severed Heads currently losing their game and the Shadowmen winning theirs the potential exists that the two teams will swap positions but it is looking increasingly likely that our playoff matchups are going to hold.

In the Omnivore, the Bladerunners continue to build on their lead. The Highlanders are closing in on the Shadowmen in their effort to occupy third spot.

Following Thursday's action, here are the unofficial stats: