October 6th, 2010
Shortly before taking on the Victoria Vipers in Thursday night’s season opener, the London Mustangs will watch a Stanley Cup championship banner make its way to the rafters of their home ice arena.
“When that happens you realize everything you accomplished last year is over with,” Rick Nash said of the banner-raising ceremony.
“When you s so excited about (Thursday) and being part of that.”
“I can only imagine what it might be like for this ceremony,” said defenseman Tyler Myers, who played an integral role in the Mustangs incredible Stanley Cup run.
“It will be loud.”
When the applause and video highlights are done, the team will attempt to get back to playing championship-caliber hockey. But they will have to do so without their top right winger [Kyle Okposo] who will be sidelined for the next three months due to shoulder surgery.
“Nathan Horton will most likely take Kyle’s place on the first line,” said Mustangs GM Blake Wilson. “He will skate with Getzlaf and Nash against Victoria’s top line of probably Kessel, Duchene, and Foligno. Obviously the loss of Kyle is not a good thing for us, but we will do everything it takes to step up and fill that void so we can get off to a good start.”
Thursday night’s celebration, which begins at 6:45 — fans are encouraged to arrive early — could help that process.
“We can use that as a springboard. It’s kind of like turning the page and starting a new chapter,” said center Patrice Bergeron.
“We’ve been talking about it. There’s a lot of new faces on this year’s team and it may take some time to mesh them into the lineup, but we have to be focused on executing, and what this team has to do to be successful.”
There are several reasons for the Mustangs to be optimistic about their immediate future.
First, they added more skilled, young players to their starting lineup. During the offseason, Wilson made several trades to bring in new forwards such as Ryan Getzlaf, Jamie Benn, Bryan Little and goaltender Jonathan Bernier.
Benn skated on the second line with Patrice Bergeron and Jakub Voracek, during practice Tuesday. Bernier will be ready and waiting to get his opportunity in goal for the Mustangs. As of right now, he’s slotted behind Jaroslav Halak and Jonas Hiller on London’s goaltending depth chart. Corey Schneider will also be there waiting in the wings.
Wilson is searching to find combinations on the third forward line that will generate more pressure and help offset the loss of Okposo on right wing.
“We have to find the right match and the right mix; get every player on this team making a contribution,” Wilson said. “We’d like to give our guys four or five games to really try to get a feel for one another, (and) where they expect one another to be. It’s easier said than done in some situations.”
Many people believe the Mustangs offense has improved from last year, and there are several players on the rise that haven’t even reached their potential yet.
“We’re expecting guys like David Perron, Patrik Berglund, and Brandon Sutter to really breakout this year,” said left winger Rick Nash. “They played great in our pre-season games. Perron looked fantastic in the pre-season, he scored five really nice goals.”
Fans without tickets to tonight’s Mustangs/Vipers matchup, will be able to watch the ceremony and the game on a big screen in front of Gate 7.
The brand new big screen will start operating during the pregame, showing playoff game highlights and the Mustangs Stanley Cup celebration.
Theres a line for Fort Drum Killers GM Steven Stryska when it comes to trash talking.
On Monday night, he felt Chiefs GM Mike Nellany crossed it during a Week 10 matchup with the Boston Giants.
“He thinks because he won the award for Best Trash Talker last year, he can just say whatever he wants and get away with it,” said GM Stryska who has led his Killers team to second place in the American Conference. “It was almost like, ‘I don’t care what you think. Throw your dignity out of the window. Dont lose your mind.’ He thinks I’m just going to lay down for him? Steven Stryska doesn’t lay down for nobody.”
Things got crispy after Nellany called Stryska a ‘turkey’ and said the Giants are going to kick his ass this week.
Some GMs in the AFHL might be hesitant to respond to such trash talk, but GM Steven Stryska, however, is not some GMs.
“I told him I didn’t waste 15 months of my life in Iraq to be called a turkey,” Stryska said. “While I was over there defending his freedom, he was probably sucking a *@!k under a highway bridge.”
GM Nellany responded by calling Stryska a p*@sy and telling him to get back in the trailer with his mother. Afterwards, he admitted to giving him a little extra earful but he didn’t think it was a big deal.
“It started to get personal, so I shifted the focus onto his team and said if they make the playoffs, they would be lucky to get past the first round because his players suck,” said Nellany. “How does he expect to win with guys like Chris ‘Geriatric’ Osgood and Ilya Koval-choke?”
“His team is sub .500 right now,” Stryska said. “He talks sh*t only after my team beat his team 10-1 in the season opener.”
Other GMs started to get into it, including Jordan Carbone, GM of the Toronto Red Devils.
“Their emotions were running high,” Carbone said. “Trash talking is part of the game. I’ve trash talked with some guys over the years. It’s fun. If somebody trash talks to me, I’m going to trash talk back and try to win.”
Before the AFHL Commissioner intervened, Stryska and Nellany did exchange a longer set of words.
“There was a lot of trash talking tonight,” said Killers forward Mikko Koivu. “They wanted to trask talk. We wanted to trash talk too. It motivated us. When you trash talk us, you’re just fueling our fire.”
Killers goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff admitted to being motivated by the war of words. Last night he stopped 22 of 24 shots to post a win in the matchup against Boston.
“There’s a difference between talking and doing,” said Kiprusoff. “When we talk, we back it up. Right now, Fort Drum is in the playoff picture, and Deer Park is floundering outside of it. When I look at their team, I see a good goalie and a couple of good forwards. Other than that, they’re really not that good.”
Earlier this morning, GM Stryska cut to the chase when he was speaking to ESPN in Boston: “I really wish I could be more like Nellany and spend a lot of time counting how many four- and five-star players I have on other people’s rosters. I don’t have time for that, unfortunately,” he said.
Anthony Furino, the Commissioner of the AFHL, said he has no problem with trash talking in the league, and he actually encourages it.
“I don’t think there’s anything bad about it. I only step in when it gets too personal,” Furino said. “But talk is just talk. It’s entertaining leading up to their next matchup. It adds to the excitement of the league. What really matters is when that puck is dropped, teams are ready to play hockey and put up points to win. I don’t give much credence to talking, but I do think after what happened last night, everyone is looking forward to their next matchup.”
Their next matchup is less than 10 weeks away so mark your calendars. On February 28th (Week 20), Steven Stryska’s Fort Drum Killers will face Mike Nellany’s Deer Park Chiefs in the second to last matchup of the regular season.
“They’re not too far away from each other in the standings,” said GM Mike Phelan of the Boston Giants. “A lot can change in 10 weeks. We’ll see what happens, maybe that matchup will have playoff implications.”
January 18th, 2011
– Rosters are based on the players in the real NHL All-Star Game. – Coaches were selected based on season standings (top two teams in each conference). – Coaches have until next Monday, January 24th, to submit their lineups to the league commissioner. – TEAM LINEUPS: All-Star Coaches must select 9 Forwards (any positions), 4 Defensemen, 1 Utility, and 2 Goalies – SKILLS COMPETITION: All players will play (no selections necessary) Remember last year’s AFHL All-Star Game? Click HERE to take a little walk down memory lane. |
