Rovers Acquire Experience, Youth

Iqaluit, NU (CP)

The RHL off-season is no time to rest of ones laurels, even for a defending champion. The Baffin Island Rovers have subscribed to that theory and have pulled the trigger on two trades to bolster their present and their future.

First, the Rovers hooked up with the expansion New Jersey Titans to acquire defenseman Niclas Havelid. Havelid, a 12-year RHL veteran, has played 664 games and has posted 49 goals and 165 assists for 214 points. Going the other way are two prospects in defenseman Matt Hunwick and goaltender Ben Bishop, who was recently selected in Crystals dispersal draft. Draft picks were also exchanged. Havelid is known for his strong defensive game and shot-blocking abilities and the Rovers will rely on him to strengthen their back-end. "We've got some guys going to free agency and with that uncertainty we wanted to bring in another vet to shore things up. We're excited about what he'll bring to the blueline".

Then late last night a second trade was consummated... one that sees a three-time Cup winner leave the Rovers fold. With three capable goaltenders already on the roster in Chris Mason, Dan Ellis, and Jaroslav Halak, and with prospect Pekka Rinne expected to make a big push in training camp, it was clear that Baffin Island had one too many 'tenders. The log-jam was cleared when Mason was shipped to Airdrie for young winger David Perron and prospect defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson. Mason had been the Rovers' starter for their RHL17 and 18 titles, but had been relegated to a back-up role last season. As the franchise leader in games played and wins by a goalie, Mason posted an 88-33-18 record in 155 games, with 9 shutouts. Perron made his RHL debut for the T-Men last season, scoring 7 goals and adding 10 assists for 17 points while playing all 66 games while Hjalmarsson suited up for Airdrie's minor-league affiliate. "We want to thank Chris for everything he did for this team. He helped us win our last three titles and he'll be missed. But we couldn't pass up the opportunity to trade from a strength to add two outstanding young players. We expect David to have a great sophomore season and we look forward to Niklas continuing his development at our prospects camp".

With all this activity, the Rovers say they continue to look for ways to improve the club. Talks have linked them to a number of clubs in seeking a first-line winger, but sources say no deals are imminent.

Cougars move up to get their man

In a stunning move for a franchise not known to do many transactions, on Friday night the Cougars did a last minute trade to move up in the draft order of the 1st round of RHL20 entry draft. While the Calgary Browns where on the clock, with the 7th overall pick, they indicated to the league their willingness to move down in the draft order.  The Cougars then entered into negotiations with them and a hour later both teams had switched 1st round picks:  the Browns' pick in the 7th slot, and Cougars' pick in 12th.  In addition to this swap of 1st rounder, the Cougars sent to Calgary their 3rd round pick in next year draft, and prospects Brandon Mashinter and Anssi Salmela.

The Cougars then took front stage and announced the selection of Brayden Schenn as the newest Cougar. Schenn, a centerman with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL, is known to be the complete package at center:  good offensively, good defensively,  a leader on the ice.  Some scouts have compared him to a younger Pat Verbeek or Brendan Shanahan.  He is also the younger brother of Luke Schenn, a RHL prospects who is expected to make his RHL debut this season.  Brayden is no expected in the RHL for another couple of seasons as he continues to mature in the WHL.  Sources within the Cougars organization has indicated that while they had a few prospects they wanted to draft in the 12th slot, they felt that the chance to acquire a player of the skill level of Schenn in the 7th spot was worth the price to pay to move up 5 spots in the draft order.

As for the departing prospects going to Calgary, both were highly regarded by the Cougars.  Mashinter is a sleeper prospect not really on anyone's radar.  But he continues to accumulate good offensive stats with all the teams he plays for in very robust style of play.  Once his skating improve, as area he has been working on,  he could very well become a regular fixture in the RHL as a power forward or as a checking winger role. As for Salmela, the Cougars have been following him ever since he left Europe.  With the right team the mobile defenseman could become a reliable blueliner in the league.

And with the drafting of Brayden Scheen now a done deal, the team is now expected to be done for the rest of the draft.  Without any picks left, and recent talks to acquire additional late-round picks not resulting in any actual transactions, the team is expected to fold its tent, and go home to wait for the start of the free-agent auction.

The night before...

It was the night before the expansion draft, when all through the house 

Not a creature was stirring, not even a hockey player;

The skates were hung by the chimnet with care,

In hopes that the season soon would be there;

The players were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of Kings Cups danced in their heads;

But for eight Cougars players,  tomorrow night could be different and they might be sleeping in a bed in a different town with new dreams.  All of them are exposed in the incoming expansion draft, all for different reasons, all hoping for a different RHL future.

For Peter Forsberg, Joe DiPenta, and Randy Robitaille, they all three have already announced that they will be playing in Europe next season.  Forsberg after have a successful 2-season stint with the team.  Robitaille's performance was less impressive, but he carried the family name proudly.  As for DiPenta, he never found a regular roster spot with the team, more often than not getting relegated to 8th or 9th spot on the blue line depth chart.

Tomas Plilhal's future is also toward Europe, but he has decided to give the RHL one last season.  But as a UFA, this will all likely not occur in Newmarket.

Mike Grier and Adam Foote both came to the team near the trading deadline, knowing full well that their time with the team will be of the order of  a dozen games or so until they become unrestricted free-agent.  But both still have fuel in their tank, and should easily find employment somewhere in the league this season, via the expansino draft or via the free-agent auction.

Andrew Ference is a totally story:  signed 3 years ago, he has been a regular of the team for most of that period.  But trades done by the team in the 2nd half of RHL19 pushed him to 7th on the depth chart, a spot he is expected to continue to hold next season.  For him the expansion draft is his road to regular playing time in the league as a 5th or 6th defenseman.

And finally Stephen Valiquette, our favourite Freak (tm). For former best goalie of the league, and playoff MVP during RHL8, when he singled-handed gave GM Robitaille his one and only championship ring, his return to the RHL last season was disapointing :  3 games played, 2 losses.  More was expected from him in the 3rd goalie role for the Cougars.  RHL20 is going to see him back in that 3rd goalie role, looking for rare games behind Brodeur and Price, unless the draft allows him to escape town and become a backup with one of the new expansion franchises.

All these players are sleeping soundly tonight.  But the expansion draft could change the life of any of them.

RHL readies for Expasion Fever

Tomas Sandstrom. Bryan Smolinski. Ruslan Fedotenko. Steve McCarthy. Chris Osgood. Dave Scatchard. Brendan Morrison. The list is long, but not overly impressive. When it comes to stocking a new franchise with players, such have been considered the cream of their respective crops in past expansion drafts. However, while the list of available players is usually littered with has-beens and never-weres, there can always be a hidden gem, if you are ready to scour for them.

Consider Kurt Sauer, taken 43rd overall in a four-team RHL16 expansion draft by the Cleveland Falcons. Sauer was a young unknown at the time and slowly developed, though not quickly enough for the Falcons who moved him around the league until he was re-drafted in the RHL18 expansion, 12th overall to the Calgary Browns. Sauer now is poised to be a major contributor in RHL20, having blossomed into a legitimate 44 defensive defenseman. Or Rob Scuderi, taken much later in that same RHL18 expansion draft (35th overall), who has also bloomed into a 44 shutdown D.

Or consider the case of a prospect goalie that gets squeezed out in a numbers game. Going into the RHL15 season, the Chicago Gargoyles were set in net with Garth Snow and Manny Legace. However, they had a trio of young prospects pushing for time in Ari Ahonen, Maxime Ouellet, and Ilya Bryzgalov. All warranted pro contracts and when expansion came along, one had to be sacrificed. The victim was Bryzgalov, who was snatched up by the Grand Prairie Stingers and today is the starting goalie on that powerhouse young team.

And then there is the always popular pick-and-trade method of team building. While expansion teams can sometimes have little use for established vets, established teams may pay for their services. The Baffin Island Rovers never saw Brian Leetch or Andrei Nikolishin play for their RHL11 squad, but they did turn those players into Martin Erat, Brian Gionta, and David Legwand via two separate deals.

Wednesday night the RHL will stock the shelves of its two latest franchises, the Express and the Titans. While they have each selected a marquee player in dispersal, now is the time when they'll see who will actually flesh out their RHL20 lines. It won't necessarily be pretty, but it can be productive with the right preparation and a little bit of patience.

A message from the RHL Alumni Association HAG program (hire a geezer)

[Ed. Note: this was originally sent to the RHL mailing list]

It was a sad day for the now defunct Crystals organization.

 

"What is it with sports franchises not making it in Seattle" cried the mayor whose Name I could not be bothered to look up.

 

But harder hit then the mayor, or even the fans of the Crystals are the players who now find themselves out of work, and seeking the unemployment office.

 

"It sucks" said Martin Gelinas after hearing he would not be picked up by another corporation in the industry that is hockey.  "I have given my blood, sweat and tears for this league and my teams.  Now what?  Just because I retired and won't play any games for a team next year they won't pay me?  What kind of BS is this?"

 

Sergei Brylin had a different look at his new found freedom.  "I am happy to be free." said Sergei.  "I can now explore my dreams that I never had time for... like becoming a superstar on that CBC figure skating show!  If Claude Lemieux can do it, I know I can.  I mean I have tonnes of options, I could also apply for hockey gladiators!  My friend Jeff Ware told me all about it.  Fights on ice.  You know, tonnes of options.  So I am fine, really fine.  No need to worry about me.  Can anyone spare a quarter?  I need to call my family and see if they had any luck begging the KHL to take me as a zamboni driver."

For others there is yet hope.  Bret Hedican, Aaron Ward, Olag Kolzig and Fredrik Norrena still believe they will find a home.

 

"It is the nature of the business," Ollie the goalie said, "but I know that I can still offer a team a lot.  Sub par goaltending two to three games a year with a past his prime legend is something I know I can peddle to at least a few teams out there.  Sure I may miss 60 games with injury, but hey their is always the Leafs.  They are sure to pick me up as I am really really old and they always pick us old goalies up."

 

"I figure that it was the salary that scared them away," said Aaron Ward.  "I figure they will ask me to take a SMALL pay cut and then I will have a home.  I mean c'mon, who else could damage Scott Walker's fist so bad?"

 

It is a great time to be a RHL reject, it is Free Agency and most any reject can find a home.

New Jersey Titans Add Dany Heatley

Newark, New Jersey

The New Jersey Titans franchise is just weeks old, but they have already added one of the leagues top scorers in Dany Heatley. In a random drawing, the Titans won and elected to take the first selection in the RHL20 Dispersal Draft. After deep consideration of all available options, the team decided to add a proven and gifted goal scorer. General Manager Dan Sullivan had this to say about the first and newest player of the New Jersey Titans. "We are very pleased to have a player like Dany Heatley on our team. He brings tremendous goal scoring ability to our roster and is a player we can certainly look towards for leadership. He seemed as excited as we were to be the first player in Titans history and we look forward to great things with Dany."

On a smaller note, the Titans also added forward Stephane Veilleux via the Dispersal draft with the 25th overall pick (First selection in second round) and it appears that the Titans are done with the Dispersal and will now turn their attention to the upcoming Expansion and Entry drafts.

Prospect Zac Dalpe joins the Cougars

With the 12th pick in the dispersal draft, the Cougars selected 20 year old Zac Dalpe.  A 3rd round draft pick of the Crystals last season,  the centerman left Ohio State University in the NCAA this spring to turn pro with Albany of the AHL.  "We were really impressed by his intelligence, hockey sense, and his on-ice hockey performances this spring with 6 goals in 9 games in the AHL", said GM Robitaille. "Also, he comes from a good hockey family.  His dad, Paul, even has a hockey equipment business, Tape-2-Tape, where a young Zac can be seen on some of the promotional videos.  We expect Zac to slowly improve in the minors this season, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him with the big club in a couple of years."

Scouting reports on Zac Dalpe indicate that he is a good skater and excellent puck handler, and was one of the captains on his NCAA team last season.

A Branch of the RHL Ownership Tree

Each new off-season (and sometimes mid-season) brings with it a breeze of change for our beloved league: the selection of new prospects fresh out of the junior ranks hoping to make the big club, the pick up of free agents in the competitive auction, amendments made to the governing rules and others...

But the biggest change of all involves new ownership, and the departure of former management colleagues - who've decided for their own personal reasons, to get out of the trials and tribulations of owning an RHL franchise. For some its an easy choice as life continues and the "fantasy" must give way to the reality. After all, those of us who joined this incredible collective as teenagers are now husbands, fathers and slowly but surely approaching middle age. As frightening as that sounds, some of us still persist and try to relive our youth through our participation in This Game.

A while ago through a localized email discussion among the "west side" ownership group, some bits of nostalgia were raised, looking back at how we all got into this mess in the first place. And sure enough, the blame got solely placed on yours truly, the current owner of the Vancouver Olympians (and former RHL South Calgary Spartans, and St. Albert Spartans). For it all began almost seventeen years ago, when huddled in the basement of now Edmonton Eagles owner Chris Bourdeau's parents home, that I mentioned sheepishly that I was playing in a "fantasy league" on the internet. Now back in "those days", the idea of playing over the internet was still very much in its infancy. I can recall I was using a then state-of-the-art 14400 baud modem and 386-powered computer and using a very basic email software called PINE to read up on the latest results of my then FHL-based hockey club.

And when it spurned off to the RHL and the small renegade group was looking for more teams to fill, I approached my then group of school buddies and suggested they join me. How I convinced them to play a text based, no real live game play simulation while we were all engrossed over the then-mind blowing reality of Sega Genesis's NHL93, is still a mystery to me. Some joined the ride for only a short period of time, while Dave (through RHL17) and Chris (still alive and kicking!) are the longest holdouts. I think the pact that we made that one of us had to win the whole darn thing one of these times, is the only thing that is keeping Chris and I in the game. Now if the rest of your owners would just let us capture the trophy just once, I'm sure you will then have your easy pickings of fine young talent such as Kyle Okposo, Jonathan Toews, Jeff Carter, Jordan Eberle, and Mike Richards in a bountiful dispersal draft. :)

And now, its 2010. And I see that I've created a multi-headed Hydra. I think I got the time line straight, and here it is:

The Impossible Dream?

"Expansion doesn't create parity.. if after 10 season(s).. we haven't realized that then the league is going nowhere.." -tfw, Mar. 11, 2002

Thus spake Ted Wollnik, Jr., GM of the Chicago Gargoyles during the RHL10 season during an impromptu debate on the merits of expanding in RHL11 to allow two new teams... one of which would play in Iqaluit. His point had some validity; during its early years the RHL had a prohibitively unfavourable expansion process and those teams struggled mightily in their early years. Later the process produced more available players for expansion teams to peruse, but the success of an expansion team seem to be heavily linked to whether or not there was an accompanying dispersal draft the year that they entered. The recent expandees in RHL10 seemed to be far far away from competing with the fabled Mounties, Vampyres, StrapHangers, and Capones.

Ten seasons later, how has the RHL integrated its expansion franchises? The evidence would say very well. The success of the Baffin Island Rovers has been well-documented, winning four of the past six championships, but it goes well beyond just one team. A look at the RHL19 standings reveals the Rovers (RHL11), Guelph Reapers (RHL14), and Grand Prairie Stingers (RHL15) all earning home playoff dates. The Yellowknife Dangerous Penetrators (RHL13) have built a formidable stable of talent and are solidly a playoff team year in and year out. The Cleveland Falcons and and Victoria Cougars (both RHL16) have become playoff teams, relying on the savvy veteran leadership of GMs helming their second RHL franchises, and were joined in the playoffs by the Vulcan Mind Melds (RHL17). And while none of the three RHL18 expansion teams (Calgary Browns, Banff Grizzly Bears, New Westminster Salmonbellies) made the playoffs in their second season, two of the three (Calgary and Banff) did post more points in their second season than in their first and Calgary missed out on a playoff position by 3 points.

Of course, the historical powerhouses are still holding their own, and their continued excellence is one of the strengths of the league. The Vampyres, Eagles, Sockeyes, Mounties, and Olympians (former Spartans) all posted excellent seasons and continue to be among the cream of the league. The Capones have a list of talent that make most teams drool. The Funboys and StrapHangers, both former Kings Cup winners, can never be counted out. So the established teams haven't gone anywhere, yet a number of newer teams have been able to successfully force themselves into the conversation.

So where has the RHL gone, and where is it going? By any measure, it does seem as though the expansion throughout the second RHL decade has been a success. If the aim is to introduce franchises that can eventually, through smart drafting and trading, develop into consistently competitive entities, then the goal has been met. It's anyone's guess as to how much longer the Rovers current streak can last (no team has ever won four straight championships, so the odds are against them), but there will be others who will replace them. The Penetrators and Reapers have top talent throughout their roster, and (in this writer's opinion) it seems inevitable that the Stingers will eventually hoist the Kings Cup with their eye-popping roster. And while these teams seek to reach the summit of the RHL, the Mounties and Vampyres and other long-standing teams will lurk and continue to claim their victims, just as they should.

So as the New Jersey Titans and Fredericton Express embark on their RHL expansion seasons, look to the past and study how teams have been built. They haven't all been success stories, as the Tampa Bay Celtic Rays (RHL11), Pittsburgh SnowDogs II (RHL12), and Kansas City Monarchs (RHL16) will attest. Though if one thing has been proven, it is that success is attainable. The blueprint is there, written by franchises throughout a league that continues to go anywhere but nowhere.

A growing goalie controversy in Newmarket?

For Martin Brodeur  there are a few things in his RHL life that are a given: a good pay check, an unwritten no-trade clause, taxes, and more than 60 games played per season.  Before RHL19 he didn't play at least 60 games in only two seasons:  during RHL1 when the league only played 56 games (and he managed to play 52 of those), and RHL14 when injuries limited him to 58 games.  Then RHL19 game along, and the Newmarket coaching staff decided to limit his playing time to keep him more rested for the playoffs, and he was limited to only 57 games.  Carey Priced played 10, and Stephen "the freak" Valiquette played 3 games.

Now with RHL20 just around the corner, it is likely that the days of 60+ games for a older Brodeur are over:  young Price is eager to show that he can be a regular RHLer, which could lead to a regular rotation for the starting goalie job between him and Brodeur all season long.  As for Valiquette, it is not clear where he will be playing comes the regular-season since he will be left unprotected in the incoming expansion draft.

This could be a real challenge for the Cougars franchise to keep all these goalkeepers happy over the course of RHL20 and beyond