Marquee matchups and quick hits around the league

January 19th, 2013

After a Stanley Cup championship run that stunned everybody but the players in the Hamilton Firestorm locker room, they’re ready to attempt the improbable again.

 

The Firestorm will launch the lockout shortened AFHL season today by handing out their rings and raising their first championship banner at their home ice arena prior to their matchup with the Ottawa Knights. Then they will embark on a new journey to become the first team to capture back-to-back titles in AFHL history, and they hope to do it with a roster that is almost fully intact from last year.

Some of the many star players remaining with the club include Marc-Andre Fleury, Claude Giroux, Patrick Sharp, Brad Richards, Teemu Selanne, Shea Weber and Ryan Suter. The belief within the Firestorm organization is that what this group of players did last spring was the start of something special.

Just ask general manager Gates Imbeau.

“There’s no doubt in my mind about these players after what they did in the playoffs,” Imbeau told a media scrum after a team practice yesterday. “It made me have a newfound appreciation for all of these guys. There’s no doubt they’re going to build on it. So much of this season is mental, and they’ve got the mental toughness to do it.”

While their core roster hasn’t changed, their reputation will never be the same – but the Firestorm are confident they can handle the scrutiny in an abbreviated season after many ups and downs last year.

 

Claude Giroux will once again be the backbone of the Firestorm multifaceted attack.

“We know we have the experience and the leadership to handle the short amount of time,” said Claude Giroux. “We know we’re going to be targeted by every team that comes in here and in every building we go to on the road, but we’re ready for that.”

Team captain Shea Weber believes having the same coaching staff and the same philosophies will be an advantage for them.

“Winning starts with leadership,” said Weber. “We’re very fortunate to have Gates Imbeau at the helm. He’s a smart man who knows how to win. He has all of us very excited to start this next chapter.”

Here is the timetable for the festivities surrounding Hamilton’s opener today at their home ice arena and their Stanley Cup banner raising ceremony:

11:00 AM: Pregame Fan Fest outside of the arena, featuring street hockey, face painting, a tattoo artist, merchandise sales, and giveaways from their mascot and Ice Girls.

12:15 PM: The Stanley Cup will be on display at center ice at a neighborhood rink in a small town near-by. Ice to open for skating at 11 AM.

12:30 PM: Firestorm coach Gates Imbeau and star forward Claude Giroux will sign autographs at the Toyota display outside of the home ice arena.

1:00 PM (approximately): Stanley Cup to be marched from neighborhood rink into home ice arena.

1:30 PM: Live pregame show broadcast.

2:00 PM: Firestorm request that fans with tickets be in their seats.

2:30 PM: On-ice ceremony to begin. The ceremony will be broadcast live, in its entirety, on NBC.

3:00 PM (approx.): Puck drop for the matchup with the Ottawa Knights, to be broadcast on NBC and aired on 1250 and the Firestorm radio network.

 

*

 

With the AFHL season set to begin, the questions and stories surrounding the abbreviated season are aplenty. Here are some of the things going on around the league.

The season debuts with the first of two heated rivalry matchups scheduled between the Toronto Red Devils and the Lakehead IceHoles.

“It’s going to be awesome,” said Lakehead forward Steven Stamkos. “The energy in the building is going to be through the roof. There’s not a better team we’d like to play in the first game.”

Toronto forward Bobby Ryan said it will feel “like the first game of the playoffs. There’s extra motivation because of the rivalry. It didn’t take me long to get a hatred for that team. I learned not to like them fast. And I think that goes for everybody who lives in Toronto and guys that put on a Red Devils jersey.”

The Montreal Xtreme and No. 1 overall draft pick Nail Yakupov will open against the 2012 President Trophy winning North Bay Warriors.

 

“It’s been a long time and we’re a day away,” Xtreme coach Keith Cancilla said. “We’ve got some new faces and more talent in our lineup. Our organization is excited to take the next step in our rebuilding plan.”

There are plenty of rookie-of-the-year candidates this season, including Alex Galchenyuk (Manhattan), Jakob Silfverberg (Pittsburgh), Dougie Hamilton (Oshawa City), Chris Kreider (Deer Park), Jonathan Huberdeau (Montreal) and Mikael Granlund (Twin City).

But expect Justin Schultz (San Diego) and Nail Yakupov (Montreal) to be in a season-long battle for the rookie scoring lead. By the way, Victoria rookie Damien Brunner is not eligible because at age 26 he’s too old.

The headaches are gone for Sid the Kid, whose post-concussion symptoms have nagged one of the game’s greatest stars for the last two years. Crosby, 25, is ready to help the Buffalo Phantoms return to the Stanley Cup Finals after falling short to Hamilton last Spring.

Like other teams in the league, the San Diego Gulls are also offering a few incentives to encourage fans to buy tickets and come out and cheer on the team. For the first two games of the season, food and merchandise at the game will be half-price and the 50/50 draw is guaranteed to be a whopping $100,000. On opening night, there will also be player introductions and a give-away of 75 autographed jerseys. The team will give more prizes away during the game and fans will be treated to an autographed game used stick giveaway at the end of the night.

San Diego GM Lucas Main says he’s still rebuilding the Gulls after taking over the struggling only six months ago and it continues to be a long process, but he’s enjoying the challenge.

“We had plenty of time to prepare for this rebuild and get ready for this season so we had a good plan and the players came in. My coaching staff and I have to give the players credit – they came into the shortened camp ready to play. They came in in great shape. We’ve had some great workouts. We look forward to the youth movement this year.”

In Victoria, there is concern for Vipers goaltender Carey Price, who didn’t practice after tweaking a groin injury in an intra-squad game on Thursday night. Coach Chris Hartley said his No. 1 goalie will play.

Mark Scheifele will be in the opening night lineup for the Fort Drum Killers. GM Stryska expects him to play second fiddle to Mikko Koivu for the entire season.

After finishing the past two regular seasons with the best overall record in the AFHL, the North Bay Warriors are chomping at the bit to win it all this year.

“This team has been built to win it all for the past two years,” said GM Brunetta. “We’ve been waiting too long to start this season. It was weird to have a shortened camp and power through everything at top speed. But we know what’s on the line. We know the energy in the arena is going to be crazy from the get go. Hockey’s back and we couldn’t be more ready to start winning.”

AFHL teams had only six days of camp with no pre-season games to prepare, so injuries are expected aplenty. There are lots of concerns over groin pulls and other injuries to players who didn’t keep in game shape by playing in Europe during the lockout.

There is also concern for how fans will react after a lockout that seemed to many like a needless squabble between millionaire players and billionaire owners. However, AFHL arenas are expected to be packed as usual for the openers.

As of late Friday night, tickets for the Firestorm sold-out opener were being offered for as high as $1,500 on StubHub for a seat in the lower section.

 

This year could be a rough one for the Fort Drum Killers.

With his team off to a disappointing 1-21-2 start, Killers Coach/GM Steve Stryska put his troops through a tough practice Monday that ended with a bag skate — a series of repetitive skating drills and sprints in which there’s nary a puck to be found — and a stick throwing incident.

If you’ve ever watched “Miracle,” you might know bag skates as “Herbies” — think of Team USA coach Herb Brooks yelling “again” as his players did skating drills and you’ll get the idea. A bag skate was also part of the plot in “D2: The Mighty Ducks,” when Gordon Bombay grinds his young players through skating drills after a bad game.

About halfway through the Killers’ bag skate on Monday, Stryska grabbed captain Mikko Koivu’s stick and threw the stick, javelin-style, at second line center Jussi Jokinen because he felt Jokinen wasn’t skating as hard as he could skate.

“I had to send a message today,” Stryska said after the practice. “We’re not good enough to just play haphazard.”

For the past two years, the Killers have been an ongoing study in the law of diminishing returns. Despite calls from fans, media and many experienced AFHL people to acknowledge the obvious and take a sledgehammer to the roster so that a full top-to-bottom rebuild can begin in earnest, GM Stryska started a rebuild at the beginning of the 2011 season when he traded Ilya Kovalchuk but then instead of tanking the season for a top pick in the draft (because he traded away his first rounder for that year) he chose to keep several veterans on the team (such as Dupuis, Talbot, Hamhuis) and doubled down on his core of Mikko Koivu and Miikka Kiprusoff.

The Killers haven’t made the playoffs since the inaugural season in 2009. They have potential to be competitive enough to challenge for a playoff spot this year but they are far away from being as elite as some of the other teams in the league. The prospect pool is good but not great. A clearing of the decks and reboot seems in order: trade the remaining veterans for kids and picks, focus on scouting for the draft, and prepare for a rough year or two.

Trading the remaining veterans is easier said than done, however. It’s not as if the dealing of Kiprusoff or even Koivu would be an instant cure-all for Fort Drum. As one former GM told TheAFHL.com, “Remember what Fort Drum got for trading Ilya Kovalchuk: Niclas Bergfors, Ryan Murphy, Thomas Greiss, Philip McRae, 2013 first round pick (Toronto) and 2013 second round pick (Washington).” In other words, the return for a star is not often going to be the foundation upon which your future is built. The pain of trading Kiprusoff or especially Koivu would be felt in Fort Drum for years to come.

 

But look at the standings. If the Killers don’t start winning soon then they’re going to have to do one of two things: tank the season for a top pick in the 2013 draft by trading the remaining veterans for prospects and/or picks at the trade deadline, or suddenly turn into the Detroit Red Wings scouting machine and draft star players at every point in the draft.

February 7th, 2013

Evgeni Malkin, Miikka Kiprusoff, Mikael Granlund — there are some big names in play this year, which should make for a very interesting deadline day. TheAFHL.com and TSN will be following all of the trades today and providing some analysis of the deals as they happen. And we’ll hear lots from Pierre LeBrun, Barry Melrose, Scott Burnside and Scott McKenzie who is at TSN’s studios for Tradecentre.

So, feel free to stay on the page and refresh for updates, which begin below:

9:45 am  Bob McKenzie: Hey everybody! Happy Trade Deadline Day!!

9:51 am  Barry Melrose: I’m predicting 15 to 20 trades today. Lots of teams are still in on Malkin. Not sure if a deal will get done though.

10:05 am  Pierre LeBrun: Keep an eye on the Montreal Xtreme today. They are hungry to make a deal. As I said before they even called Boston about Malkin.

10:11 am  Scott Burnside: First trade of the day happened around 3 am between Toronto and Deer Park. Toronto got Mats Zuccarello and a 2013 third round pick. Deer Park got Keith Kinkaid and Jeff Frazee.

10:15 am  Scott Burnside: Just talked to Manhattan GM Tony Furino. He has something in the works involving Filip Forsberg. He recently finished drinking his fourth Red Bull. Been up since 2:30 am lol

10:35 am  Pierre LeBrun: All quiet so far as we get things up and rolling. EJ Hradek on his way to Warriors practice. Pierre McGuire will be texting us from Boston where he is on Evgeni Malkin watch. Mike Milbury is in Hamilton, where rumours are running wild. We’ve also got Jeremey Roenick on deck from Philadelphia.

10:55 am  Barry Melrose: Reports from everyone so far: It is very, very quiet.

11:01 am  Bob McKenzie: Hearing about a trade to be announced between Ottawa and Manhattan.

11:05 am  Bob McKenzie: Manhattan just dealt Peter Holland and Filip Forsberg to Ottawa for Ryan Strome. Also exchanged 2013 second round picks.

11:09 am  Scott Burnside: Wow. Furino must have a hard-on for Strome. Way to overpay!!

11:15 am  Barry Melrose: The Philadelphia Crunch cancelled their practice today.

11:23 am  Pierre LeBrun: Text message from Lakehead GM Jason Briggs: Malkin will probably stay put. I can’t wait for the NEW GM in Boston to trade him.

11:27 am  Scott Burnside: Heard there is some friction between Lakehead GM Briggs and Boston GM Phelan. Source tells me they don’t like each other. Possibly a future rivalry there.

11:42 am  Scott Burnside: Most likely Fort Drum Killers to be traded? Kiprusoff, Dupuis and Jokinen.

11:53 am  Bob McKenzie: All quiet on the Phantoms so far, though Buffalo radio guys sure would like Kane to be traded back home.

12:15 pm  Barry Melrose: Wolfpack GM Rick Charron says he hopes to seal the deal on a trade today for some help up on right wing.

12:32 pm  Barry Melrose: A guy Wolfpack have been watching for awhile is Loui Eriksson. Nice fit. Next to impossible to get.

1:09 pm  Scott Burnside: Text from Montreal GM Cancilla: I just traded a third round pick to Manhattan for Killers GM Steven Stryska’s mother lol

1:16 pm  Bob McKenzie: I’m hearing that Boston is seeking three top line forwards for Evgeni Malkin.

1:24 pm  Barry Melrose: Talking to a friend with Twin City. Could see some activity there today. Lots of buzz on Granlund and Tarasenko, good chance both could be on the move.

1:32 pm  Bob McKenzie: Like last year, several teams asking Leafs GM McNeill about Parise. McNeill says he’s untouchable. “I need Parise for the playoffs this year.”

1:40 pm  Pierre LeBrun: Source in Manhattan tells me GM Furino already has buyer’s remorse from his trade for Strome this morning. He thinks he might have given up too much.

1:49 pm  Barry Melrose: So, it’s exceedingly slow right now, but that is par for the course. The first half of deadline day is typically a dead zone.

1:55 pm  Scott Burnside: Malkin arrived at the rink in Boston at 10:20 this morning. “Just another morning,” he said, with a smile.

2:04 pm  Scott Burnside: London GM Plachta says the Mustangs are not looking to make any moves before the deadline.

2:06 pm  Barry Melrose: Patrik Elias may be staying put in Toronto.

2:07 pm  Barry Melrose: Toronto GM Carbone tells me they are “out of the Malkin sweepstakes by the looks of it.”

2:10 pm  Pierre LeBrun: TSN reporting the IceHoles and Red Devils are on the verge of a deal.

2:12 pm  Pierre LeBrun: James Neal to the Red Devils.

2:13 pm  Bob McKenzie: My source in Toronto says Max Pacioretty is part of that deal.

2:14 pm  Pierre LeBrun: Just to repeat: James Neal to Toronto appears to be on the verge of being completed. No word what the IceHoles get back.

2:17 pm  Bob McKenzie: There’s some speculation that this Toronto-Lakehead deal is a big one and some draft picks are going to Lakehead along with Pacioretty and Jiri Hudler (again, no confirmation). Just as an FYI, a bunch of sources I’ve talked to in the last little while say all the GMs in the league are trying to stockpile high picks for 2013, which is shaping up to be an exceptional draft year.

2:20 pm  Scott Burnside: Ottawa continues to shop Dan Ellis. GM Armstrong getting lots of offers for Toews but he insists that Toews isn’t going anywhere.

2:23 pm  Pierre LeBrun: Toronto GM Carbone has announced a trade with Lakehead. Toronto receives James Neal and David Perron. Lakehead receives Max Pacioretty, Jiri Hudler, two third round picks in 2013, and a second round pick in 2014. Wow.

2:41 pm  Barry Melrose: Told an hour ago that Giants Evgeni Malkin trade talk was in a holding pattern, that signs continue to point toward Malkin staying put… for now.

3:02 pm  Pierre LeBrun: Source says Manhattan GM Tony Furino was just seen crying while eating McDonald’s in his office. That’s a serious case of buyer’s remorse.

3:20 pm  Scott Burnside: London no longer standing pat. GM Plachta says Lecavalier might be on his way out of town.

3:39 pm  Barry Melrose: Lots of talk in Victoria, as we now have 8 hours to go until the deadline. Vipers GM Hartley is shopping around Grigorenko, Killorn, Paajarvi and Kruger.

3:41 pm  Bob McKenzie: I’ve been told that Toronto has struck yet another deal. This one is with San Diego. Toronto acquires Bozak, Hanzal, Frk and John Moore for Loktionov, Jaskin, and three second round picks in 2013. That makes three trades for Toronto on Trade Deadline Day.

3:49 pm  Pierre LeBrun: TSN reporting the Warriors are a front-runner in the Malkin sweepstakes.

3:58 pm  Barry Melrose: Told San Diego and Pittsburgh are completing a trade, one is close/near done.

4:01 pm  Barry Melrose: San Diego acquires Tyler Toffoli, Rhett Rhakshani, Brett Connolly, Mark Jankowski, Mark Barberio, 2014 third round pick, 2015 second round pick and third round pick. Pittsburgh acquires T.J. Oshie, Kyle Okposo, Roman Josi and Hamilton’s 2013 first round pick.

4:21 pm  Bob McKenzie: Text from Pittsburgh GM Jason Henley: I’ve got some irons in the fire, feelers are out there and any other phrases that mean I still want to move some players.

4:52 pm  Scott Burnside: San Diego GM Lucas Main on trade with Pittsburgh Heroes. “I think both teams have met a need to say the least.”

5:39 pm  Bob McKenzie: Source telling me Boston GM Mike Phelan is strongly considering a trade that would send Evgeni Malkin to North Bay for Patrick Kane and Rick Nash.

5:53 pm  Barry Melrose: Some Killers fans on the internet are talking about starting a riot if GM Stryska doesn’t trade Kiprusoff today.

6:38 pm  Pierre LeBrun: Twin City GM Phil Svoboda on Vikings plans for the rest of the day: We’re still actively looking, this isn’t going to end until 11:59 pm [EST]. We’re trying to improve this hockey team, we want to go for the whole thing, so we’re looking at some really creatively type of things top help improve us.

7:10 pm  Barry Melrose: Firestorm forward Patrick Sharp says trade deadline is nothing but stress, tension and awkward goodbyes.

7:30 pm  Bob McKenzie: Boston GM Phelan won’t say how many teams have made offers for Malkin, only that he’s been having  “substantial” discussions today. “The price is high. I don’t apologize for that. It has to be high. He’s the best player in the league.”

8:42 pm  Barry Melrose: TSN reports the London Mustangs have traded Lecavalier and Hishon to the Victoria Vipers for Grigorenko, Maatta and Dansk.

8:50 pm  Scott Burnside: Talks are starting to heat up with three hours to go. Source in North Bay telling me they just pulled off a deal for Bobby Ryan.

9:19 pm  Scott Burnside: North Bay has in fact acquired Bobby Ryan. Dealt Lehner, Bishop, Palmieri for Ryan, Anisimov, Klefbom.

9:37 pm  Pierre LeBrun: Tweet from Leafs forward John Tavares: I’m pretty confident that at 12:00 am, I will still be an Oshawa City Leaf.

9:40 pm  Barry Melrose: London has just sent Spencer Mechacek to North Bay for Olli Jokinen.

9:46 pm  Bob McKenzie: Quiet in Toronto. They’ve done their deals, I’m led to believe.

10:05 pm  Bob McKenzie: Quick round-up of names floating around the Twittersphere with two hours until the deadline: Evgeni Malkin (Boston), Adam Larsson (Boston), David Clarkson (Comox Valley), Miikka Kiprusoff (Fort Drum), Dan Ellis (Ottawa), Pascal Dupuis (Fort Drum), Mikael Granlund (Twin City), Vladimir Tarasenko (Twin City), Teemu Selanne (Hamilton) and Daniel Alfredsson (Hamilton).

10:45 pm  Pierre LeBrun: North Bay makes another trade. Acquires Clarkson, Bieksa, Latendresse and Horak from Comox Valley for Zajac, Gaudreau, Orlov and Riley Nash.

10:57 pm  Pierre LeBrun: Word is Comox Valley is done. No deals pending.

11:05 pm  Barry Melrose: Trade deadline is one hour away!! It’s about to get intense any minute now.

11:32 pm  Scott Burnside: Just hung up with a GM who commented on how busy it is now. He said, “I’m talking to 7, 8, 9 GMs at once. Madness. Absolutely insanity.”

11:59 pm  Bob McKenzie: Flurry of deals to be announced in the final moments…

12:00 am  Bob McKenzie: Ottawa sends Dan Ellis to Oshawa City for 2013 second round pick.

12:02 am  Bob McKenzie: Manhattan deals Al Montoya to Toronto for two third round picks in 2013.

12:03 am  Bob McKenzie: Victoria acquires Jeremey Morin and a 2013 third round pick from San Diego for Cal Clutterbuck and a 2013 second round pick.

12:09 am  Barry Melrose: Malkin stays put and remains a Boston Giant. The Toronto Red Devils and the North Bay Warriors were making the biggest pitches today, but apparently GM Phelan’s asking price was too high.

12:13 am  Bob McKenzie: We saw a  grand total of 11 trades get done. Who won? Who lost? Biggest trade? Most improved? Top contenders? Discuss in the comments below…