February 28th, 2011
Almost everyone has read it, witnessed it, and knows about it: the vicious, heated rivalry between the Deer Park Chiefs and the Fort Drum Killers. The players hate each other, and so do the GMs.
Another chapter of this storied rivalry will be written this week — the teams’ first meeting since their simmering fued reached full boil back in mid-December when Deer Park GM Mike Nellany started a war of words with Fort Drum GM Steven Stryska during Fort Drum’s Week 10 matchup vs. the Boston Giants.
Click here to see a summary of their last showdown
“Some people think he’s funny, but I think he talks too much,” GM Stryska said at the Killers’ practice earlier this morning. “If he wants to try and trash talk me again, then he can go ahead, do it again – this week my goal is to guide my team to a win over his team. A win is more important than just talk in this league. But if he wants to trash talk again, then I’ll trash talk right back.”
“Like it or lump it, that’s what happens when you try to trash talk to the best,” GM Nellany said when asked about his rivalry with Stryska. “Some people like it, some people don’t. Personally, I like it and that’s why I embarassed him and I came out on top.”
The stage is set for their matchup this week and with playoff implications the stakes couldn’t be much higher. Currently, Fort Drum is in 6th place with 255 points, and Deer Park is in 8th place with 250 points.
“We’re behind them in the standings by only 5 points,” said Chiefs forward Dustin Brown. “With a big win this week, we could easily take 6th place from them.”
Killers’ goalie Miikka Kiprusoff says there’s not much pressure.
“We’re not going to put pressure on ourselves to win just because we don’t like them,” Kiprusoff said. “We are better than them, that’s why we have been ahead of them in the standings all year. If we just play our game and stay healthy throughout the week, this matchup will be a piece of cake.”
Tickets for the matchup have been sold out since early January and currently the cheapest ticket being sold by scalpers in the parking lot is $150.
Ilya Kovalchuk, Ryan Kesler, Chris Stewart, Henrik Lundqvist, Miikka Kiprusoff. The superstars are healthy ready to shine this week, and fans can expect to see plenty of passion on both sides. The AFHL commissioner has assigned the best referrees and linesmen to call this game that is sure to include lots of fights and physical play.
“Fighting is healthy for this league and I’m okay with it,” the AFHL Commissioner said. “We just don’t want it to get out of control.”
March 7th, 2011
It didn’t take long for the matchup between the Fort Drum Killers and Deer Park Chiefs to turn ugly.
When the dust settled it was the Killers taking a 5-4 win in a fight-filled, trash-talking affair in their final matchup of the regular season.
It was the stuff the 15,592 in attendance had in mind when the two rivals met for the first time since their last showdown a couple of months ago.
But it was the extent of the carnage and trash talk — particularly in the middle of the matchup — that brought home the fact that the rivalry between these two teams will continue to be a bitter one.
Chiefs Coach/GM Mike Nellany — who was fined $10,000 by the AFHL for using profanity and vulgarity in his trash talk this week — said that the game just got away from both him and the team.
The Killers came out banging on the first shift with two big hits by Chris Stewart on Chiefs winger Alex Tanguay. Two minutes later, Coach Nellany sent out tough guys Scott Hartnell and Dustin Brown after Fort Drum’s Dan Hamhuis flattened Chiefs forward Ryan Kesler with a hit that was high around Kesler’s head.
Hartnell went after Fort Drum’s Ilya Kovalchuk, mauling him around the head, and Brown jumped Chris Stewart. While that was happening, Killers goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff skated down to the Deer Park blue line and fought with Chiefs goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
After knocking down Lundqvist, Kiprusoff had to take on Hartnell as two other fights broke out at center ice.
While the players were dancing, the coaches got into a swearing match and according to Killers Coach/GM Steven Stryska, it was Nellany who went too far.
“Nellany just started trash talking and screaming at me while I was talking to my players on the bench,” Stryska said after the matchup. “First he said that my team sucked d*ck, and then he called me a turkey for a third time this year. I told him the last time we met, I didn’t go to war for this country to be called a turkey.”
Stryska responded to the initial trash talk by calling Nellany his b*tch. Moments later, Nellany shouted that he wanted to put his d*ck in Stryska’s ass.
“I’m not surprised he was fined for saying that,” Stryska said afterwards. “It’s a pretty good illusion that he was painting. Vulgarity and profanity shouldn’t be tolerated in this league and I think he got what he deserved.”
Here is a video of Nellany and Stryska’s verbal joust:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACK_fFVfbfk
“You get caught in the moment,” Nellany said after media asked him about his verbal spat with Stryska. “Things happen. You just want to be part of it. You just want to be able to trash talk and send a message.”
“At the end of the day we came out on top,” said Stryska. “I don’t know what’s left for them to say because they’re the losers plain and simple. They lost, we won. We proved that we are still the better team.”
If the Chiefs solidify the 8th seed in the standings at the end of this week, these two foes could meet again in the playoffs.
THE AFHL PLAYOFF RACE:
Corey Crawford conjured up an incredible performance this past week by keeping the surging Oshawa City Leafs on course for the AFHL playoffs.
The 26-year-old registered 4 wins and stopped 96 shots in this past week to power the Leafs to a 8-1 win over the Vancouver Heroes.
The win vaulted Oshawa City into ninth place and they are now only one spot away from making the playoffs going into the final week.
“We’re playing great right now and we’re only one point out of 8th place,” Crawford told reporters. “We have a good chance and we have to keep it going.”
Currently, the Chiefs have the 8th and final playoff seed with 261 total points. The Leafs are trailing by only one, with 260 total points.
There are three other teams that are still in the race: Manhattan with 257 points, Los Banos with 252 points, and Lexington with 248 points.
The regular season finales for each of these teams is as follows:
Deer Park (8th place) vs. Boston (13th place)
Oshawa City (9th place) vs. North Bay (1st place)
Manhattan (10th place) vs. Lexington (12th place)
Los Banos (11th place) vs. Fort Drum (8th place)
MORE RIVALRIES?
Another AFHL rivalry is currently in the making with Los Banos Wolves GM Andrew Fiorentino mixing it up with Washington Power GM Ray Irwin late Sunday night into Monday.
“After I signed prospect Tyler Johnson on Saturday, he said Johnson was an amateur and said I shouldn’t drink and make transactions,” said GM Irwin on Monday morning.
“I don’t care about Johnson, I knew about him and dismissed his 100 points already but I just thought the signing was not good,” Fiorentino said at the Wolves practice earlier today. “Later on, he started calling out GMs telling them to release players because of the IR Rules. I told him to [expletive] himself.”
“I think he got a little pissed after I said he was a pretty big dooshbag and a terrible follower of the AFHL’s Rules,” said Irwin.
The AFHL Commissioner got involved and said all of this escalated because the rules regarding players on the IR are not clear enough and the issue will be addressed in the offseason.
The Wolves and Power played against each other in Week 9 of the regular season with the Power beating the Wolves 6-2.
“I’m still in the process of building this team into a contender,” Fiorentino said. “This team was a mess when I took over last summer, but if we make good enough moves in this coming offseason, then I can assure you that the tables will be turned in our next matchup.”
March 28th, 2011
Well, there you have it. The two best teams in the AFHL are set to do battle in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.
So which team to choose?
The Power, of course, are the favorites; they have been a powerhouse from day one this season. In September, the Heroes were picked by some to return to the Finals, but a moribund regular season saw them struggle at times despite a talent-laden lineup. They found a way to make it into the playoffs with the fifth seed.
So, technically, the Heroes are the underdogs, but potent ones. Their goaltending has rised to the occasion again this Spring and they head into the Finals with confidence after knocking out the first place Warriors.
While Washington deserves the favorite label, this series could surprise people.
SEASON SERIES:
Week 11 – Washington won 7-3.
LEADING SCORERS:
Washington – Teemu Selanne (70 pts.)
Vancouver – Daniel Sedin (96 pts.)
WHY THEY’RE HERE:
Washington – Depth remains the Power’s calling card. Even though Dany Heatley produced just a single assist in the last round vs. London, the rest of the offense barely skipped a beat. It also helps to have experience and the Power have plenty of that to go around, too.
Vancouver – Aside from the goaltending of Ryan Miller and Ilya Bryzgalov that has been close to perfect in this year’s playoffs, the skill and vision of the Sedin Twins are key factors in elevating the play of every player on the team.
OFFENSE/DEFENSE:
At first blush, one is tempted to suggest no team in the AFHL has as potent a 1-2 punch as Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin of the Heroes, but going into the Finals, Power forwards Patrick Marleau and Simon Gagne have been every bit as lethal. Teemu Selanne has proven himself to be a valuable trade deadline addition and if Dany Heatley wakes up soon, the Power will be all too powerful on offense. As for defense, the Power’s top four of Boyle, Letang, Seidenberg, and Suter have more pure talent than Vancouver’s top four. Edge: Washington
GOALTENDING:
Washington’s Roberto Luongo is playing the best hockey of his career, and Tim Thomas is still surpassing expectations. Vancouver counters with Ryan Miller and Ilya Bryzgalov. Given the fact Miller and Bryzgalov played in the Finals last year for Vancouver, they have lots of experience, so there are no surprises for them. Luongo and Thomas are new to all of this, but they have been nothing short of sensational through the first two rounds. Washington’s third goalie, Dwayne Roloson, is a wild card and if he gives up some soft goals then he could be the rotten apple to spoil the bunch. Edge: Vancouver
X-FACTORS:
This has the potential to be one of the best Stanley Cup Finals in AFHL history. The Power are a veteran team with depth that has an extremely low panic threshold. The Heroes’ combination of the Daniel and Henrik Sedin is the league’s best. After eliminating first place North Bay last round, the Heroes are oozing confidence and good karma. The players believe in themselves, but if I was the Heroes, I’d be concerned that Washington’s Dany Heatley only has a couple of goals to this point in the playoffs. He could be on the verge of exploding.
DARREN PANG’S PREDICTION:
Washington wins 6-5.
Heroes GM, Power GM, and players talk Finals on AFHL Hour
March 28th, 2011
While players from the Washington Power and Vancouver Heroes met Monday morning with members of the media in Vancouver, the respective GMs of the teams and some players that will meet in the Stanley Cup Finals made guest appearances on the AFHL Hour with Commissioner Anthony Furino. The episode will be aired late Monday afternoon on Sirius Satellite Radio.
Kyle Kebert, who took control of the Heroes franchise from Ben Rauscher at the beginning of the season and has overseen a quick and remarkable turnaround, and Ray Irwin, a fixture at the top of the Power organization since its inception in the AFHL’s inaugural year, were both given opportunities by Furino to address their fan bases with Game 1 starting on Monday night.
“I promise you an entertaining week of good hockey,” Irwin said. “The guys are all focused and we’re going to give it our best try to win the Cup. We’re excited and can’t wait for Game 1.”
“Our guys are going to give everything they’ve got in order to win this Cup,” Kebert said. “We think we have what it takes to do it. That’s our feeling. We never thought it would be this difficult to get back but we’re proud to have gotten back so fast.”
Furino opened his conversation with Kebert by relating a story from this past Sunday, when he was in attendance for the finale of Vancouver’s 5-4 come-from-behind win over North Bay in the second round of the playoffs.
Walking around the concourse of the arena, he came across a fan wearing a Heroes jersey with the number 1 and “Rocky” on the nameplate. It summed up the level to which the fans have embraced not only the players but the entire organization, a dramatic shift from when Kebert took control of the franchise earlier in the season after former GM Ben Rauscher abandoned the team.
“We’ve been very, very fortunate… everyone says they have the world’s greatest fans, but the fans in Vancouver have embraced this team,” Kebert said.
While their return trip to the Finals guarantees they won’t be lacking for fans anytime soon, Kebert pointed to a number of factors that helped the Heroes turn around their season after Rauscher abandoned them.
“Embrace your fans and really work with them,” Kebert said in describing the Heroes’ basic philosophy. “Our players have been great. They’re in the community. They’re around and they’ll never stop and not sign an autograph. They are part of this vibrant city and it’s terrific.”
Power GM Ray Irwin said he hopes to bring the Stanley Cup to Washington after Furino pressed him about the significance of the Finals.
“Making it to the Finals is an incredible feeling,” Irwin said. “It’s such a difficult thing to do, and what you have to go through to make it to the Finals in this league is mind-boggling. And I think this is the greatest, greatest hockey league in the world, as you well know, and I think the playoffs in the AFHL are so much fun and they’re good every step of the way. And if we can get through three rounds to win a Cup, it will be quite an accomplishment.”
afraid to drop the gloves.
The Heroes are back in the Finals for a second straight year after losing to London last Spring, and they’ve done it in remarkable fashion. Their second-round win against the Warriors will be known as one of the most historic comebacks in the history of the AFHL.
“When we were losing in the last game I thought, well we made a good run, we made the good effort, but fate was against us and we weren’t going to return to the Finals,” Kebert said. “I resigned myself to that fact. And here we are on Sunday, trailing in the last game of the series, and lo and behold we come back to win the series 5-4, which to me even makes it more remarkable.”
Irwin said his heart is full of mostly pride at what his team has been able to achieve on its postseason journey.
“This is the most amazing playoffs I think I’ve ever seen,” Irwin said. “I could go on and on and on about all of the obstacles, all of the things that happened over the course of the year that have never happened before. It’s pretty mind-blowing, and I told one of the reporters last night after the game when we beat London and won the series, that this is the most exciting playoffs ever for me and I really hope we win the Cup.”
Also on the AFHL Hour, Furino talked with Mike Richards of the Power and Zach Bogosian of the Heroes.
“We’ve got to be ready for a rough and tough series with the Heroes,” said Richards. “The Heroes have a nasty team and they play on the edge. They play in your face. From their first-line guys to their fourth-line guys, every guy wants to get nasty so it’s going to be fun for me and fun for people watching. There is going to be a lot of skill, but there is also going to be some big hits, some pushing and shoving, some nastiness. Let’s go, let’s do it.”
Richards’ comments aren’t surprising. The Heroes are a feisty bunch as evidenced by their previous encounters with the Deer Park Chiefs during the ‘Rauscher Era’.
“It won’t take long, not with these guys,” Richards said when asked about how long it would take for some good old-fashioned hatred to develop. “I’m sure we’re going to see some fireworks early on.”
The Power played a physical series against London, but it never even came close to touching the proverbial line of nastiness. There was very little pushing and shoving after the whistles, zero borderline checks and not too much running into the goalies, but Washington is planning on the matchup with the Heroes to be the exact opposite of civility.
“It’s part of hockey,” said Richards. “Both teams can play physical, and we’re playing for the Stanley Cup so we’re going to do what we can to win.”
To a point, Heroes’ defenseman Zach Bogosian emphasized.
“It’s going to be chippy, but it’s not going to be anything dirty,” said Bogosian. “You can’t take a bad penalty in the Stanley Cup Finals. I think there is going to be a lot of hard, honest play.”
That doesn’t mean the hate won’t start early.
“No, that won’t be surprising at all,” Bogosian said.