| IDIOT!WHL WEEKLY MAGAZINE PLAYOFF EDITION VOLUME 2, Number 1 CONTENTS: 1- League Notes, by Michael Hebert 2- Feature Interview 3- Krushers Press Release 4- Teams' Tidbits 1- LEAGUE NOTES: -by Michael Hebert - Last year: the Albany Mallrats won the Cyber Cup, and Mario Lemieux was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy for playoffs Most Valuable Player - It is almost certain now that the Whitehorse Rapids will have to be sold. Their owner and GM David Jensen seems to have disappeared. League Commissioner Michael Hebert indicated that he gave Mr. Jensen several chances to show his interest in the WHL, which seemed almost inexistant since the preseason. David Jensen was one of the original WHL GMs. - Some GMs expressed their concern about the use and behaviour of the streaks and slumps. The matter has been brought up to the Board of Directors, but no decision has been made yet. 2- FEATURE INTERVIEW: -written by Darren Kinnaird Du Du dunna na nan na na (The music to the beginning of Coaches Corner) Ron McLean: Well Don what do you think of the game so far tonight? (Stallions vs Corinthians, hey CBC loves the Leafs so they would likely be giddier than shit with the Stallions) Don Cherry: Well you know Ron, it comes down to the play of the Beezer. I mean he is stopping everything that the Corinthians can fire at him. I am sure that it is becoming frustrating for them. That Kuvie guy or whatever his name is can't get er going. The Stallions got good hard working kids like Warriner goin for em. Ron McLean: speaking of kids, I understand that you have invited some of the youngsters who are looking forward to the draft this summer. Don Cherry: Yes Ron we have, like we do every year at this time, come on out here boys. Okay boys let's have you introduce yourself. Hi I'm Cameron Mann. Hey, I'm Josh Holden. I'm Nick Boyton. Alyn McAuley. Hello I am Patrick Luongo. Hey I'm Joe Thorton. I'm Boyd Devereaux. I am Mike Grier. And I guess that would make me Eric Rasmussen. Don: Welcome to the show boys. That is some pretty good hockey out there eh? All: yeah Don: okay I just want to get to know a little more about each of you so we have some questions for you. First one is for Patrick: Where do you think you will end up playing next year? Patrick: Wel I tink I may be good Enuf to play in the WHL by nex season. The Foory have show some interst in me an I haf spoken to Mr. Beilner a great deal. I will be happy to go anywhere tho. Don: Okay Joe, It is no secret that the Voodoo have coveted your services a great deal and barring a bizarre occurence you will be looking for property in Vancouver. Tell me what you think about the organization and your future there. Joe: umm, Well the Voodoo are a great organization with a lot of young guys there. The city of Vancouver is great, it is really nice, and the fans seem to be decent there. It was a rough year for them and if the Voodoo take me I look forward to making it exciting there. Don: Allright, okay Mikey Grier, what do you see as your greatest attributes and where do u see yourself going? Mike: I like to mix it up and play the body. As for where I see myself, ummm I don't know. It will be an honour just to be selected. Ummm the Vikings have said they were interested, the Mallrats are a team that I have spoken too quite a bit, Umm the Agents have shown mild intrest. I will just be happy to go anywhere. Don: Okay. I am getting the were running out of time signs so we'll just ask one more question. Alyn McAuley: You have just won the player of the year in the CHL yet you don't seem to be rated to go that high. Why do you think that is? Alyn: I think teams may be afraid because of my size. I am going to be working hard all summer to bulk up and hopefully I will make whichever team drafts me. Don: don't listen to em kid. All of you keep working hard and best of luck in the future. Ron: Youngsters and the biggest kid of them all on this installment of the coaches corner. Du Du dunna na nan na na 3- KRUSHERS PRESS RELEASE: New Owner Vows: "Hell no, we won't go!" As of today, the Chi-Town Krushers are under new ownership. Zycom Industries, a large machinery giant, has purchased the Krushers for an undisclosed price. Amidst rumours that the team will be on the move, GM/Coach/President Jes Ursulak (Golbez) has stated that no such action shall take place. "It would not make a lot of sense to move this team," said Ursulak, "Chicago has a great economic base, lots of devoted fans, and a great stadium." "It is nice to know they are staying," stated Earl Mantha, a devoted fan, "in this day and age of money, it is nice to know the fans get something too." Zycom was rumoured to have plans to move the Krushers to Miami or Raleigh. Some of the fans even staged a rally in front of City Hall. "With new ownership, come new questions," Ursulak added, "There will be changes off and on the ice. The one thing that will not change is the location." What kind of changes does the newly appointed Ursulak plan to make? For one, the United Centre will have a new name: The Zycom Palladium. As for trades, Ursulak says he plans to shop for a solid defenseman. "The playoffs have not even finished yet! It would be foolish to think about trading now." And who is this Jes Ursulak? He is a well known coach in many international leagues and has the reputation as being a "Player's" coach. "I like to implement a good forecheck, I use team speed for good team backchecking and we create chances from other team's mistakes," said Ursulak, "but the main keyword is TEAMWORK. A good team effort and comradery always makes for a winning team." Joining Jes Ursulak in coaching duties include Duc Tran, farm team coach for the Krushers; Glen Hanlon, goaltending coach; and Jim Lowry, assistant GM. Ursulak plans to scout the remaining playoff games and prepare for the next amateur draft. 4- TEAMS' TIDBITS: -Dominators- Sean Burke, when acquired was the worst goalie in the league and has now led the Dominators to the Conference Finals with only one loss. Bob Bassen who had 22 points in 74 regular season games this year is leading the Dominators in scoring with 9 goals and 8 assists for 17 points in 11 games. The Dominators are averaging 5.9 goals a game in the playoffs. The four on four line of Brett Hull, Vlad Konstantinov, Scott Lachance and Bob Bassen lead the league in +/- with a +14. Jason Kolsrud GM DES MOINES DOMINATORS WHL -Lunatics- WATERLOO - After this past weekends Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach, which the Vancouver Voodoo had won, GM Jason Stumpf of the Waterloo Lunatics went totally ape S**T over his teams poor play. "What the hell is this" Jason said, "You guys really suck. I mean I know that the VOODOO have been on the golf course right after the ALL-STAR break, but that doesn't mean you have to play that crappy. Hell, a bunch of girls could play better then you guys. (Don't beat me down over that live Lori)" After going on this little rant Mr. Stumpf pulled out his 3-iron and started to beat on head coach The Undertaker saying that he was the one person who let the team become a bunch of babies. "I hire the meanest and toughest guy in the league to toughen my team up, but he did squat, he deserves to be beaten down." After that, Jason then started chasing star forward Pat Lafontaine around the course in his golf cart until Mr. Stumpf crashed Lafontaine into the 14th sand trap. "Ha, he deserved that" Mr Stumpf yelled as Patti was left seeing stars. "The guy lead our team all year until the playoffs, we don't need someone like that." After seeing all the commotion, Voodoo forward Pavel Bure came over to talk to Mr. Stumpf to see what was the problem. After talking it over, Bure and Mr. Stumpf tied forward Doug Weight down on the driving range and started driving ball at him to see who could hit the centerman the most. "I like the way Jason thinks", Bure said "I could really get to like this guy, to bad I am not playing on his team next year." After that rumors started to flare as Lafontaine, Weight, Ronning, Larry Murphy and Paul Coffey all were upset about Mr. Stumpf's actions and are looking to be moved or traded. As well, Mr. Stumpf and Voodoo management also met and they discussed Bure's contract and possiblity of being traded. Nothing was solved but I do believe something may come out of this past event sometime soon. -Mallrats- Rumors are abound Albany that the Mallrats, down 2-0 against the Dominators, might try to triple shift Eric Lindros and Mario Lemieux. Coach Ardis was unavailable for comment, but losing 2 close games on the road are making fans in Albany very nervous. The defending champs have their backs against the wall, but they're not out yet. -Stallions- Comments from Toronto: This series has managed to draw a lot of attention. Of course everyone is focusing on Saku Koivu and how he will factor in on this series. Toronto GM Brian Howe was asked what he thinks about Saku's comments at the end of Round #2. Here is an excerpt from "Brother Love's" Report; Saku Koivu: "...I'm glad we face the Stallions, I'll be able to make them regret trading me..." GM Howe: "I can't believe he holds so much animosity! He should be reminded that we traded some good talent, including Luc Robitaille, in order to get the pick that gave us his rights. We made a lot of sacrifices in order to get him, and when we did he comes in and plays as poorly as he did. We no sooner trade him and he starts playing like the second coming of Wayne Gretzky! His choice! I'm sorry he feels that way, but we feel better with dedicated rookies like Elomo, Warriner, Lafreniere, Baumgartner, Peltonen and Bergkvist. "In fact I've been gauging Miikka's performance against Koivu and although Koivu has more Molson stars, they are neck-and-neck in most other categories. I wish Saku all the success in the future, but his comments may, in fact, come back to haunt not only him, but his whole team. You see Darryl has posted a copy of these comments in the dressing room, and that `I'm glad we face the Stallions` statement has angered a lot of players." Here are some Round #3 stats that catch my eye; Goalie Shots Ag. Goals Ag. G.A.A. Save % John Vanbiesbrouck 71 3 1.50 .958 Phil DeRouville 55 7 3.50 .873 Player Goals Assists Points Shots +/- Joe Sakic 2 2 5 2 Mats Sundin 2 2 7 -1 Miikka Elomo 2 1 3 3 2 Saku Koivu 1 1 13 -2 Roman Hamrlik 1 1 2 3 2 Sylvain Lefevbre -2 The little battles are making the difference in this series. -Vikings- Vikings News and Notes Another disappointing end to the Vikings season as they fell in the second round of the playoffs to the Albany Mallrats 4 games to 1. No one managed to get on track against the Mallrats and stars Alexei Zhmanov, Owen Nolan and Brendan Shanahan were severely outplayed by Mario Lemieux and Eric Lindros. For the second straight season the Vikings were an elite team but fell way short in the playoffs so GM Lee McEwen has a long summer ahead of him attemtping to figure out just what went wrong. Goaltending was obviously an issue all season long as rookies Jamie Storr, Manny Fernandez and Andy Moog failed to provide the team with the playoff goaltending all championship teams need. McEwen is said to have confidence in Storr and Fernandez but don't rule out a goalie being taken with one of the three secound round picks the Vikings have. (Agents, Norsemen and their own.) The core of the team is still relatively young though with Tony Granato and Sylvain Cote being the only regulars to have reached the ripe old age of thirty. Big things are expected from RW'er Adam Deadmarsh next season and a full season in Edmonton should do wonders for Brendan Shanahan. Radek Dvorak had a promising rookie season and Alexei Zhamnov and Owen Nolan are proven WHL superstars. Young centers Niklas Sundstrom and Jason Arnott should continue to improve as well. Sundstrom was especially effective in the playoffs, tieing for the team lead in scoring with RW'er Scott Young who came on after a brutal regular season. The defence will continue to be lead by Eric Desjardins and Steve Chiasson with Boris Mironov likely to see more ice-time next season. Prospects Steve Kelly and Richard Park should challenge Jeff Shantz, Brent Hughes and Tony Granato for jobs in the fall. Looking over the Vikings roster it's tough to figure out why exactly they lost but the penalty killing was one are that defineltly needs to be improved. The future is still bright in Edmonton, but for now there are only questions with no answers. Viking Press That's all for for this week. Thanks for reading! Special Playoff Edition written by Michael Hebert, with the help of Darren Kinnaird. Thanks to all those who sent an article!! - Send comments, suggestions, NOMINATIONS... to: MARC HEBERT Official WHL newsman fj491599@er.uqam.ca CAUTION! 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