NHL moves into Kansas City [EHM:2007]

[duff88]

Ellis makes big bouce in midterm rankings


Ellis raised from 18th to 8th in the midterm rankings for the 2009 NHL Draft

January 10th 2009 - Following an impressive performance in the World Junior Championship, canadian defenseman Ryan Ellis has jumped into the top 10 of the ISS midterm rankings for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. An offensive defenseman with the Windsor Spitfires, Ellis is considered by many a hit or miss on defense.

1 (1) John Tavares - C - 6'0/200 - Oshawa Generals (OHL) - CAN
2 (2) Victor Hedman - LD - 6'6/220 - Modo (SEL) - SWE
3 (4) Jared Cowen - LD - 6'5/209 - Spokane Chiefs (WHL) - CAN
4 (3) Brayden Schenn - C - 6'0/200 - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) - CAN
5 (5) Matt Duchene- C - 5'11/191 - Brampton Battalion (OHL) - CAN
6 (9) Evander Kane - C - 5'11/163 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - CAN
7 (6) Magnus Svensson-Pääjärvi - LW - 6'1/200 - Timra (SEL) - SWE
8 (18) Ryan Ellis - RD - 6'1/191 - Windsor Spitfires (OHL) - CAN
9 (7) Jordan Schroeder - RW - 5'9/185 - Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA) - USA
10 (13) Nazem Kadri - C - 6'0/176 - London Knights (OHL) - CAN
11 (15) Richard Panik - LW - 6'1/180 - Trinec (CZE) - SVK
12 (23) Seth Helgeson - LD - 6'3/220 - Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) - USA
13 (10) Olivier Roy - G - 6'0/169 - Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) - CAN
14 (14) Simon Després - LD - 6'4/213 - Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) - CAN
15 (8) Stefan Elliot - LD - 6'1/174 - Saskatoon Blades (WHL) - CAN
16 (17) Landon Ferraro - RW - 6'0/169 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - CAN
17 (27) David Rundblad - RD - 6'2/191 - Skelleftea (SEL) - SWE
18 (12) Toni Rajala - RW - 5'9/163 - Ilves (FIN) - FIN
19 (25) Jordan Caron - C - 6'2/200 - Rimouski Oceanics (QMJHL) - CAN
20 (20) Drew Shore - C - 6'2/200 - USNDP - USA
21 (11) Jeremy Morin - C - 5'10/160 - USNDP - USA
22 (59) Tomas Vincour - C - 6'2/185 - Sparta Praha - CZE
23 (24) Louis Leblanc - C - 5'11/171 - Yarmouth (MJAHL) - CAN
24 (36) Tommi Kivistö - RD - 6'2/194 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - FIN
25 (16) Jacob Josefson - C - 6'0/187 - Djurgarden (SEL) - SWE
26 (30) Dmitri Kulikov - RD - 6'1/196 - Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) - RUS
27 (22) Cass Mappin - LW - 6'0/183 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - CAN
28 (97) Éric Gélinas - RD - 6'2/189 - Lewiston MAINEiacs (QMJHL) - CAN
29 (44) Taylor Beck - LW - 6'1/194 - Guelpg Storm (OHL) - CAN
30 (19) Anton Lander - LW - 6'0/189 - Timra (SEL) - SWE

[duff88]

Detroit teaches Coyotes a lesson


NHL leading scorer Marian Hossa scored his 68th and 69th points of the season

January 17th 2009 - The Detroit Red Wings shot 59 times towards an overwhelmed Nikolai Khabibulin while the Kansas City Coyotes defense had no answer to the Wings' fast-paced offensive game, on their way to a 5-1 defeat. Five different players scored for Detroit, although none of the goals were scored on the powerplay; this may be the only positive for the Coyotes who killed 8 penalties thanks to the Bulin Wall. Bret Hedican was the lone scorer on the losing end.

January 12th 2009 : Kansas City vs. Columbus, 5-1 L, (Fritsche 9), Khabibulin [L] (30/35)
January 13th 2009 : Coyotes at Columbus, 3-0 L, Denis [L] (30/33)
January 15th 2009 : Kansas City vs. Calgary, 5-2 W, (Schremp 10, Fritsche 10, Kaspar 12-13, Lundmark 12), Khabibulin [W] (30/32)
January 17th 2009 : Coyotes at Detroit, 5-1 L, (Hedican 3), Khabibulin [L] (54/59)

Kansas City Coyotes (48GP, 11-35-2, 24 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Doug Janik traded to Anaheim


The rights to Logan MacMillan will now belong to Kansas City

January 21st 2009 - The Kansas City Coyotes have traded defenseman Doug Janik to the Anaheim Ducks, along with prospect defenseman Michael Stone, who was ranked 2nd on the team by Hockeysfuture behind Maksim Goncharov, and a 3rd round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft for prospect Logan MacMillan, who was the Ducks' first round pick in 2007.

Son of former NHLer Bob MacMillan, Logan is a 19-years-old two-way forward who currently plays for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. In 42 games this season, the right winger has scored 29 goals and 74 points which places him 6th in league scoring. MacMillan won the silver medal with team Canada at the last World Junior Championships.

Meanwhile, Brett Sterling and Jack Combs have been sent down to the San Antonio Rampage, leaving the Coyotes with a 21-men active roster.

January 18th 2009 : Kansas City vs. Columbus, 3-1 W, (Taffe 2, Carter 22, Kaspar 14), Denis [W] (29/30)
January 20th 2009 : Kansas City vs. Chicago, 5-2 W, (Carter 23-24, Hinote 7, Lepistö 5, Kopecky 3), Denis [W] (22/24)

Kansas City Coyotes (50GP, 13-35-2, 28 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Jackets-Capitals complete major trade

January 24th 2009 - The Washington Capitals traded swedish forward Michael Nylander to the Columbus Blue Jackets for prospects Nikita Filatov and Matt Calvert. In 49 games with the Capitals this season, Nylander had scored 19 goals and 55 points. Filatov had a tough start to his North-American career, scoring only 12 points in 45 games in the AHL with Syracuse; he is still an 18 years old 6th overall selection in the draft so it is not time to give up on him.

In other news, the Pittsburgh Penguins traded defenseman Philippe Boucher to the Buffalo Sabres for defenseman Andrej Sekera and forward Alex Bourret. The trade deadline is closeing in and tons of rumours are appearing. Boston's Zdeno Chara is at the forefront of these discussions, with the Carolina Hurricanes, Nashville Predators and Portland Titans often coming up. A few Kansas City Coyotes could get some attention from other teams for the playoffs: Bret Hedican, Greg de Vries, Dean McAmmond, Anson Carter, Kevyn Adams and Dan Hinote should be popular names come trade deadline.

[duff88]

Fritsche scores first hat-trick

January 26th 2009 - Dan Fritsche scored three goals and added an assist, completing the first hat trick in Coyotes history to lead Kansas City to a 5-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Dean McAmmond, who also scored four points, and Lukas Kaspar scored the other goals for the Coyotes. Marc Denis had a great game in nets, blocking 31 of the 32 shots he recieved. This is the third straight win for the Coyotes.

January 26th 2009 : Coyotes at Chicago, 5-1 W, (Fritsche 11-12-13, McAmmond 9, Kaspar 15), Denis [W] (31/32)

Kansas City Coyotes (51GP, 14-35-2, 30 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Chara a Hurricane


Zdeno Chara will bring a huge presence to the 3rd place Hurricanes

January 27th 2009 - As was brought up in recent rumours, the Boston Bruins have traded towering slovak defenseman Zdeno Chara to the Carolina Hurricanes. In return, the Hurricanes gave up defenseman Joni Pitkänen and prospect Chris Terry.

In 41 games with the Bruins this year, Chara had scored 1 goal and 20 points. He has three years left on a 7.5M$ p/y contract. Pitkänen, a 25 years old defenseman who also has 3 years left on a 4M$ p/y contract, had 4 goals and 11 points in 49 games.

In other news, the Buffalo Sabres have traded defenseman Tony Lydman to the Columbus Blue Jackets for a 3rd round pick. The Montreal Canadiens traded defenseman Mathieu Dandenault to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Denis Grebeshkov. The Anaheim Ducks have fired head coach Randy Carlyle and the New York Islanders have fired their coach Scott Gordon. Glenn Patrick will serve as Carlyle's replacement while Gordon will be replaced by Brian Sutter.

January 27th 2009 : Coyotes at St. Louis, 5-1 W, (Fritsche 14, McAmmond 10, Murphy 3, Kopecky 4, Schremp 11), Khabibulin [W] (22/23)

Kansas City Coyotes (52GP, 15-35-2, 32 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

January ends well


Lukas Kaspar won the January segment of the Sprint Cup

February 1st 2009 - With a 4-game winning streak that ended on January 30th with a loss in the final seconds of the third period to the Edmonton Oilers, there is a lot of positive on the Coyotes' side for the first time this season. Dan Fritsche has scored 6 goals in the last 3 games and both goaltenders are very hot right now. Everyone is contributing both on the scoresheet and on the ice with a constant effort.

Lukas Kaspar was the recipient of the January segment of the Sprint Cup. With 5 goals and 10 assists for 15 points in 13 games this month, the Czech rookie beat Dean McAmmond and Dan Fritsche in the voting process.

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: C Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks (11-9-12-21)
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: D Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames (15-6-11-17)
NHL Rookie of the Month: LW Lukas Kaspar, Kansas City Coyotes (13-5-10-15)
NHL Goals Leader: 36 - LW Markus Näslund, New York Rangers
NHL Assists Leader: 50 - C Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
NHL Points Leader: 80 - C Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
NHL Defenseman Points Leader: 41 - D Nicklas Lidström, Detroit Red Wings
NHL Rookie Points Leader: 42 - LW Lukas Kaspar, Kansas City Coyotes

January 30th 2009 : Coyotes at Edmonton, 3-2 L, (Fritsche 15-16), Khabibulin [L] (32/35)

Kansas City Coyotes (53GP, 15-36-2, 32 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Major blow for Khabibulin and Coyotes


Nikolai Khabibulin suffered a UCL tear that will keep him out for the rest of the season

February 2nd 2009 - The Kansas City Coyotes lost 3-2 to the Kings yesterday in Los Angeles, but the loss came in second to the news they got this mourning from the team doctors. Goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin, who left the game in the second period with the score at 2-2 with an elbow injury, suffered a UCL tear. He will be out for the reminder of the season; this injury should keep him out of action for 4 to 5 months.

Marc Denis, who got the loss on his record for allowing the game winning goal while in replacement of Khabibulin yesterday against the Kings, will now be given the chance he has worked all season long to get. In 23 games so far, Denis had a 8-12-1 record with a 3.32 Goals Against Average and a 89.6% Save Percentage. In comparison, Khabibulin had a 7-24-1 record in 33 games with a 3.46 Goals Against Average and a 89.9% Save Percentage, leading to some fans and media members questionning why he was keeping the starting role.

David McKee has been recalled from the San Antonio Rampage to serve as backup to Denis.

February 1st 2009 : Coyotes at Los Angeles, 3-2 L, (Carter 25-26), Khabibulin (19/21) & Denis [L] (9/10)

Kansas City Coyotes (54GP, 15-37-2, 32 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Trade deadline frenzy starts

February 4th 2009 - The Montreal Canadiens have traded defenseman Andrei Markov to the Florida Panthers. In return, the Canadiens got two young players in forward Anthony Stewart and prospect defenseman Adam Comrie. This move marks the start of trading frenzy until the deadline on February 23rd. There are tons of rumours right now and some big names mentionned include Miroslav Satan, Mike Komisarek, Bret Hedican, Dustin Byfuglien, Marek Zidlicky, Michal Handzus, Craig Conroy, Tom Poti, Dan Hamhuis, Alex Kovalev and Brian Gionta.

Meanwhile, no Kansas City Coyotes have been named to the All-Star game in Montreal this year.

February 3rd 2009 : Kansas City vs. Anaheim, 4-1 L, (Lundmark 13), Denis [L] (27/31)

Kansas City Coyotes (55GP, 15-38-2, 32 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Hedican leaves pre-game warmup

February 6th 2009 - Coyotes defenseman Bret Hedican left the pre-game warmup of tonight's match against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Rumours are saying he has been traded to another western conference team. More details to follow.

Trade: Washington sends Tom Poti to Chicago for prospect Shawn Lalonde
Trade: Montreal trades Mike Komisarek to Minnesota for Marek Zidlicky

[duff88]

Coyotes win insane shootout


Dean McAmmond was the 8th shooter to face Marc-André Fleury in the shootout

February 6th 2009 - Dean McAmmond scored the game-winning shootout goal in the 8th round of shootouts as the Kansas City Coyotes beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3. Lukas Kaspar, Dean McAmmond and Kevyn Adams had scored for the Coyotes who earned their 15th win of the season. Marc Denis blocked 28 of 31 shots for the win.

There is still no official word on the Bret Hedican trade, but there are talks that a deal is being finalised at the moment by GM Nicolas Fillion and another western conference team that would send Hedican for a young defenseman and a high draft pick.

February 6th 2009 - Coyotes at Pittsburgh, 4-3S W, (Kaspar 16, McAmmond 11, Adams 3), Denis [W] (28/31)

Kansas City Coyotes (56GP, 16-38-2, 34 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Hedican traded to the Sharks


Hedican will now wear the San Jose Sharks' uniform

February 7th 2009 - The deal took some time to be announced, but the Kansas City Coyotes have finally officialized the transaction that sent Bret Hedican to the San Jose Sharks. In return, the Coyotes recieved 25-years-old offensive defenseman Reid Cashman and a 2nd round pick in the 2009 draft. San Jose also gets a 5th round pick in 2010 along with the 38-years-old Hedican.

Cashman, a Quinnipiac Bobcats standout, spent time during the last two seasons between the AHL and ECHL. He only played 24 games in the AHL this season this season, scoring 2 goals and 7 assists. Cashman was immediately sent to the San Antonio Rampage. He has two years remaining on a 455,000$ p/y two-way contract.

#5 - D - Reid Cashman - 6'1/191 - Left - 25 years old - USA

[duff88]

Coyoteless all-star fun in Montreal


Sidney Crosby quickly took down all four targets in the shooting accuracy competition with four shots

February 12th 2009 - The All-Star game was held today in Montreal, and since it's an all-star game there was no surprise in the fact that no Kansas City Coyotes took part in the event.

The game was preceded by the skills competition that was won 13-12 by the Eastern All-Stars. Marian Gaborik was the fastest skater, Ed Jovanovski won the hardest shot, Sidney Crosby the shooting accuracy competition and Martin St. Louis the puck control relay. Roberto Luongo too the honors in the goalie competition by blanking the shooters during the breakaway relay.

The game itself was won 7-6 in a shootout by the Western conference. However, the player of the game was an East All-Star; Patrick Elias of the New Jersey Devils scored 3 goals in the loss.

Trade: Islanders trade Shane Doan to Toronto for Justin Pogger and prospect Mikhail Stefanovich.
Trade: Blackhawks trade Brian Campbell to New Jersey for John Madden and a 2nd round pick in 2009.
Trade: Devils ship Colin White to Canucks for Steve Bernier
Trade: Flyers trade Keith Yandle to Los Angeles for two 2009 4th round picks.
Trade: Islanders trade Brendan Witt to Edmonton for Kyle Brodziak
Trade: Canadiens trade Roman Hamrlik to Carolina for right to prospect Michal Jordan.
Trade: Canadiens trade Francis Bouillon and a 3rd round pick in 2009 to Atlanta for Ron Hainsey
Trade: Rangers trade Artem Anisimov and the rights to Derek Stepan to Dallas for Darry Sydor
Trade: Islanders trade Mark Streit to Buffalo for prospect Jordon Southorn
Trade: Blue Jackets trade Derick Brassard and prospect Allen York to New Jersey for Dainius Zubrus
Trade: Devils trade Scott Clemmensen and Johnny Oduya to Hurricanes for Dennis Seidenberg and a 5th round pick in 2009.


February 8th 2009 : Kansas City vs. Toronto, 4-0 L, Denis [L] (40/44)
February 14th 2009 : Kansas City vs. San Jose, 4-2 L, (Schremp 12, Taffe 3), Denis [L] (30/34)
February 16th 2009 : Coyotes at St. Louis, 2-1 OTL, (McAmmond 12), Denis [OTL] (33/35)

Kansas City Coyotes (59GP, 16-40-3, 35 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

McAmmond traded to Pittsburgh


McAmmond will play for a 9th NHL club in his career

February 17th 2009 - In another move for the last-place Coyotes closing in on the trade deadline, Kansas City has traded forward Dean McAmmond to the Pittsburgh Penguins. In return, the Coyotes get massive russian forward Evgeni Artyukhin. The 6'4/213 forward had 7 points in 38 games for the Penguins along with 133 Penalty In Minutes. He is a big intimidating forward who skates relatively well and who can ship it in offensively if asked too. He could be a decent project on the top lines, but if he doesn't pan out he can still serve as an enforcer on the fourth line.

#76 - RW - Evgeni Artyukhin - 6'4/213 - Left - 25 years old - Russia

Artyukhin won't be in Kansas City in time for tonight's game against the Titans. The Coyotes have recalled forward Brett Sterling from the San Antonio Rampage to fill in for McAmmond. Sterling had a lot of success in the AHL during his demotion, scoring 12 goals and 22 points in only 13 games. He will suit up on the second line with Rob Schremp and Jamie Lundmark.

[Icy]

Awesome dinasty, love the NHL09 pics.

[duff88]

Originally Posted by Icy

Awesome dinasty, love the NHL09 pics.

Thanks, I like getting feedback so if you ever want infos about anything that's happening in my little EHM world, don't hesitate to ask!

[duff88]

Hinote to Sabres


Hinote joins Buffalo with career highs 7 goals and 10 assists in 53 games.

February 19th 2011 - GM Nicolas Fillion has continued on his trade deadline sale by sending forward Dan Hinote to the Buffalo Sabres. In return, the Coyotes recieve a 3rd round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Unless something major comes up, this should be Kansas City's last move before the deadline:

"We are now going to try and finish the season strong and prepare the players to come back better next year." said Fillion.

LINES FOR THE NEXT GAME
Kaspar-Fritsche-Carter
Artyukhin-Schremp-Lundmark
Sterling-Kopecky-Comeau
Kolanos-Adams-Taffe

Tjärnqvist-de Vries
Lepistö-Murphy
Kronwall-Semenov

McKee
Denis

Trade: Vancouver trades Jannik Hansen, Shane O'Brien and Mason Raymond to Pittsburgh for Miroslav Satan
Trade: Islanders send Andy Sutton and a 3rd round pick to Minnesota for Nick Schultz

February 17th 2009 : Kansas City vs. Portland, 2-1 W, (Fritsche 17, Comeau 7), Denis [W] (38/39)

Kansas City Coyotes (60GP, 17-40-3, 37 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Artyukhin costs Coyotes in debut


Artyukhin recieved a five minutes major for charging

February 20th 2009 - Forward Evgeni Artyukhin was playing a good game in his debuts with the Kansas City Coyotes through two periods. The team was leading 3-2 and the Russian forward already had 2 shots on net. It didn't end that way though, as the russian forward got a five minutes major midway through the third period for charging Brad Richardsson of the Kings from during a penalty kill. Richardsson came back to haunt the Coyotes with a goal on the 5-on-3 before Kyle Calder scored the game winner during the reminder of Artyukhin's penalty. The Kings went on to win the game 5-3.

"Sometimes you have to tone down your aggressiveness." said coach Pat Quinn

"Well the guy was trying to help the team, he was having a good game." said captain Greg de Vries "It may have been a severe call, but it's the way games are officiated" he added without trying to pinpoint referee Dean Warren as guilthy.

Anson Carter had scored two goals, while Brett Sterling had scored the other. David McKee blocked 35 of 40 shots against during the loss. Cory Murphy left the game with an ankle injury that turned out to be a sprain in ankle ligaments which should make him miss a bit more than a month. Recent acquisition Reid Cashman, who has scored 2 goals and 5 points in 6 games with the Rampage, was recalled from the minors.

February 19th 2009 - Kansas City vs. Los Angeles, 5-3 L, (Sterling 4, Carter 27-28), McKee [L] (35/40)

Kansas City Coyotes (61GP, 17-41-3, 37 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Captain de Vries signs a new deal


Captain de Vries will stay in Kansas City for at least another year

February 20th 2009 - Coyotes captain Greg de Vries has demonstated his intention to spend the rest of his playing career with Kansas City by signing a one-year contract extension. Many teams had demonstrated interest in the steady stay-at-home defender for the playoffs run, but the Coyotes weren't ready to part with an important part of their core.

The team also announced a one year extension with Sami Lepistö and two year extensions with Dan Fritsche, Blake Comeau, Rob Schremp and Lukas Kaspar. Meanwhile, Evgeni Artyukhin has been suspended 2 games for his game misconduct against the Los Angeles Kings. Petteri Nokelainen and Jack Combs have been recalled, Combs will replace him on the second line for the team's next game against Montreal.

Trade: Capitals trade Brent Johnson, Viktor Kozlov and a 2nd round pick to New Jersey for Brian Gionta
Trade: Penguins trade Ryan Whitney and Matt Cooke to Montreal for Alex Tanguay

[duff88]

Insane trade deadline passes


Shane Doan, Alex Tanguay, Mark Streit and Brian Campbell are only four of the big names that changed team at the deadline

February 24th 2009 - This year's NHL Trade Deadline was probably the most memorable one in NHL history. In what might have been a result of the financial uncertainty, teams made multiple important trades and completely shook the foundation of the NHL as we knew it at the start of the season.

Trade: Avalanche trade Ray Macias, Ian Laperrière and prospect Kevin Montgomery to New Jersey for Brian Rolston
Trade: Canadiens trade Tomas Plekanec to Los Angeles for Kyle Quincey and Kyle Calder
Trade: Islanders trade Bruno Gervais and Sean Bergenheim to Boston for Michael Ryder
Trade: Sabres trade Jhonas Enroth to Montreal for Ken Klee
Trade: Sabres trade Nathan Paetsch and 3rd round pick to Calgary for Craig Conroy
Trade: Hurricanes trade Patrick Eaves to New Jersey for Jamie Langenbrunner
Trade: Stars trade Loui Eriksson to New Jersey for Andy Greene
Trade: Sharks trade Justin Daniels to Los Angeles for Sean O'Donnell
Trade: Penguins trade Tyler Kennedy, Hal Gill and prospect Casey Pierro-Zabotel to Nashville for J-P Dumont
Trade: Penguins trade Petr Sykora to New Jersey for Paul Martin
Trade: Blues trade prospect James Livingston to Chicago for Brent Sopel

February 22nd 2009 - Kansas City vs. Montreal, 5-4 OTL, (Schremp 13, Comeau 8, Kopecky 5, Carter 29), McKee [OTL] (19/24)

Kansas City Coyotes (62GP, 17-41-4, 38 points, 15th in the West)

[Travis]

Hey duff, how did you go about setting up the expansion draft? I just did a cursory look over in the game last night and didn't see anything that jumped out at me for getting that rolling (and to be fully honest, I figured it might be easier to ask you so I may have just loaded up my current career and played some of that instead)?

Didn't know if you'd prefer this here or over PM, so however you'd prefer to continue, feel free.

Also, now that the season is winding down, can we expect some insight into what your thoughts are on the upcoming draft/what your strategy will be?

[duff88]

Originally Posted by Travis

Hey duff, how did you go about setting up the expansion draft? I just did a cursory look over in the game last night and didn't see anything that jumped out at me for getting that rolling (and to be fully honest, I figured it might be easier to ask you so I may have just loaded up my current career and played some of that instead)?

Didn't know if you'd prefer this here or over PM, so however you'd prefer to continue, feel free.

Also, now that the season is winding down, can we expect some insight into what your thoughts are on the upcoming draft/what your strategy will be?

For the expansion draft, I took care of everything in the Pre-Game Editor but did it all using "house rules". By that, I mean nothing was controlled by the CPU; both the dispersal and expansion drafts were controlled by me, trying to keep it as real as possible.

First, I made a list of all contracted players for Phoenix and Tampa Bay and changed their contract to new teams according to the Dispersal Draft list I provided. Then, I went from team to team and looked at which players would be protected and which would not for the expansion draft. From then on, I tried to build the two best teams possible, although I used a different building philosophy: I wanted Portland to be more competitive in the early years while Kansas City would take some younger players.

To create the new teams, I simply replaced the Coyotes and Lightning. To make sure the database doesn't corrupt, you have to take two unused teams and rename them to Phoenix Coyotes and Tampa Bay Lightning though; that way the game will still find teams that fits those names.

As for my thoughts on the future, I'll cover it in the post-season press conference. If you have any questions afterwards, feel free to ask them.

[duff88]

February leads to end-of-season sale


Anson Carter was the Sprint Cup winner for February

March 1st 2009 - With starting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin's season ending early due to an injury and the trading away of Bret Hedican, Dean McAmmond and Dan Hinote, the Kansas City Coyotes have pretty much given up hope on making an impact before the end of the season.

Anson Carter was the winner of the February segment of the Sprint Cup. With 7 goals and 3 assists for 10 points in 12 games this month, Carter beat his linemate Lukas Kaspar and forward Kevyn Adams in the votings.

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: C Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks (13-7-12-19)
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: D Wade Redden, New York Rangers (11-3-8-11)
NHL Rookie of the Month: D Jonas Junland, St. Louis Blues (11-2-5-7)
NHL Goals Leader: 41 - LW Markus Näslund, New York Rangers
NHL Assists Leader: 62 - C Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
NHL Points Leader: 99 - C Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
NHL Defenseman Points Leader: 46 - D Nicklas Lidström, Detroit Red Wings
NHL Rookie Points Leader: 52 - LW Lukas Kaspar, Kansas City Coyotes

February 24th 2009 - Kansas City vs. Detroit, 1-0 OTL, Denis [OTL] (35/36)
February 25th 2009 - Coyotes at Columbus, 6-2 L, (Schremp 14, de Vries 5), Denis [L] (45/51)
February 27th 2009 - Coyotes at San Jose, 7-4 L, (Adams 4, Carter 30-31, Artyukhin 5), McKee [L] (23/30)

Kansas City Coyotes (65GP, 17-43-5, 39 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Shanahan a top 10 all-time goal scorer


Shanahan scored his 669th career goal against goaltender Nicklas Backström

March 2nd 2009 - By scoring his 19th goal of the season in a 4-2 Portland Titans win over the Minnesota Wild yesterday, Brendan Shanahan reached the impressive total of 669 career goals, putting him in front of Luc Robitaille as the tenth all-time goal scoring NHLer. The 40 years old captain has slowed down considerably in the last few weeks as it took him two weeks to score the 669th goal after tying Robitaille in mid February.

In 63 games with the Titans this year, Shanahan has 19 goals and 24 assists for 43 points. Maxim Afinogenov leads the team with 55 points in 64 games.

[duff88]

Cashman is money in the bank


Can rookie defenseman Reid Cashman keep this rythm?

March 14th 2009 - A lot of people questionned general manager Nicolas Fillion when he traded away an experienced Bret Hedican who was at the top of his trade value for defenseman Reid Cashman and a late second round pick this past month. The rumour preceding the trade was that Kansas City was going to recieve a very good young defenseman, so fans and media alike were let down by the acquisition of a 25 years old with no NHL experience who had, until then, travelled between the AHL and ECHL.

Reid Cashman was called up from the San Antonio Rampage on February 20th after scoring 5 points in 6 games. Since then, the offensive defenseman has played 10 games with the Coyotes, scoring twice and adding 8 assists for 10 points; an astonishing performance for a rookie defender. In last night's game against the Detroit Red Wings, Cashman scored a goal and added two assists while being named the first star.

"I just go out there and try to do my job." said the man of few words.

It is doubtful that Cashman can keep up this incredible rythm, but he has proven that Fillion had done his job when he acquired him from the San Jose Sharks.

March 3rd 2009 - Coyotes at Dallas, 3-2 W, (Kaspar 17, Lundmark 14, Schremp 15), Denis [W] (35/37)
March 4th 2009 - Coyotes at Anaheim, 3-1 L, (Carter 32), Denis [L] (21/24)
March 6th 2009 - Coyotes at Detroit, 4-3 L, (Artyukhin 6-7, Taffe 4), McKee [L] (29/33)
March 8th 2009 - Kansas City vs. Calgary, 3-2S L, (Cashman 1, Schremp 16), Denis [OTL] (31/33)
March 10th 2009 - Kansas City vs. Columbus, 7-4 W, (Carter 33-34, Kopecky 6, Lepistö 6, Kaspar 18-19, Lundmark 15), Denis [W] (32/36)
March 13th 2009 - Kansas City vs. Detroit, 5-4 W, (Schremp 17, Carter 35-36, Cashman 2, Lepistö 7), Denis [W] (23/27)

Kansas City Coyotes (71GP, 20-45-6, 46 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Kaspar secures Calder in March


Lukas Kaspar is now tied with Anson Carter for the team point scoring lead with 69 points

April 1st 2009 - With a performance of 8 goals and 17 points in 14 games, Lukas Kaspar has done everything in his power to confirm that he is the best candidate for the Calder Trophy, given anually to the best rookie in the National Hockey League. The Coyotes themselves had a very good month with 6 wins, 7 losses and one overtime loss.

Without surprise, Kaspar was the winner of the March segment of the Sprint Cup. He beat Rob Schremp and Marc Denis in the voting. Meanwhile, Evgeni Artyukhin has once again been suspended for three games, therefore the reminder of the season, for elbowing Wojtek Wolski of the Colorado Avalanche in the March 31st 2-0 loss. GM Nicolas Fillion appealed the decision but the league stood their ground.

NHL Offensive Player of the Month: C Vincent Lecavalier, Los Angeles Kings (15-9-13-22)
NHL Defensive Player of the Month: G Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks (12GP-8W-5SO)
NHL Rookie of the Month: LW Lukas Kaspar, Kansas City Coyotes (14-8-9-17)
NHL Goals Leader: 52 - LW Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta Thrashers
NHL Assists Leader: 72 - C Daymond Langkow, Calgary Flames
NHL Points Leader: 113 - C Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
NHL Defenseman Points Leader: 52 - D Lubomir Visnovsky, Edmonton Oilers
NHL Rookie Points Leader: 69 - LW Lukas Kaspar, Kansas City Coyotes

March 14th 2009 - Coyotes at Detroit, 6-3 L, (Schremp 18, de Vries 6, Tjärnqvist 1), Denis [L] (8/12) & McKee (30/32)
March 17th 2009 - Kansas City vs. Colorado, 3-2S W, (Schremp 19, Kaspar 20), Denis [W] (30/32)
March 21st 2009 - Coyotes at Vancouver, 3-1 W, (Kaspar 21-22, Artyukhin 8), Denis [W] (39/40)
March 23rd 2009 - Coyotes at Calgary, 4-2 L, (Kaspar 23, Semenov 2), Denis [L] (33/37)
March 24th 2009 - Coyotes at Minnesota, 6-1 L, (Schremp 20), McKee [L] (26/32) & Denis (7/7)
March 27th 2009 - Kansas City vs. Minnesota, 5-2 W, (Carter 37, Kaspar 24, Artyukhin 9, Kolanos 3, Lepistö 8), Denis [W] (25/27)
March 29th 2009 - Kansas City vs. Detroit, 5-1 L, (Artyukhin 10), Denis [L] (28/33)
March 31st 2009 - Kansas City vs. Colorado, 2-0 L, Denis [L] (35/37)

Kansas City Coyotes (79GP, 23-50-6, 52 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Denis signs one-year extension


Marc Denis has maintained been a revelation in nets for the Coyotes

April 5th 2009 - After a convincing win against the Chicago Blackhawks earlier this week, the Kansas City Coyotes announced that they had come to terms on a one-year contract extension with goaltender Marc Denis. With two games remaining on the regular season calendar, Denis qualifies as one of the best comeback stories of the year. After being demoted to the American league by the Tampa Bay Lightning last year, he has come back to the NHL and posted better stats then his team's starter Nikolai Khabibulin. In 45 games, Denis has a 17-21-4 record with a 3.11GAA and a 90.6 SAV%.

Anson Carter suffered a twisted knee in practice yesterday and will be out of action for two weeks. He will therefore miss the final two games of the regular season. The Coyotes have called up forward Rick Rypien from the San Antonio Rampage. Rypien missed most of the season with a sports hernia, but has scored 6 goals and 10 points in 16 games since returning. Although he is not a heavyweight by any means at 5'11/169, Rypien brings forth an agressive style and he rarely backs down from a fight; he is often mentionned among the best middleweight fighters in hockey.

In other news, prospect Michael Stone suffered a torn MCL in the Calgary Hitmen's 5-3 loss to the Saskatoon Blades in the WHL's Eastern Conference Semi Final Game 2. Stone, who was traded to Anaheim along with Doug Janik for prospect Logan MacMillan earlier this year, will miss at least 8 months of action and may require surgery.

April 3rd 2009 - Kansas City vs. Chicago, 4-1 W, (Lundmark 16, Kaspar 25, Kopecky 7, LepistÖ 9), Denis [W] (29/30)

Kansas City Coyotes (80GP, 24-50-6, 54 points, 15th in the West)

[duff88]

Coyotes finish last in the league

It has been no secret for a while, but with the end of regular season today, the Kansas City Coyotes have finished last in the entire NHL with a dysmal 24 wins, 52 losses and 6 overtime losses record. The Buffalo Sabres won the President Trophy as best regular season club with a 55 wins, 22 losses and 5 overtime losses record, good enough for 115 points.

The Sprint Cup (Player of the Year as voted by the media), Gold Stick (Biggest contributor without recieving praise for his work) and Star Trophy (Player of the Year as voted by the fans) will be given to their respective winner after the conclusion of the NHL Playoffs.

April 5th 2009 - Kansas City vs. St. Louis, 3-1 L, (Fritsche 18), Denis [L] (30/33)
April 7th 2009 - Coyotes at Edmonton, 5-1 L, (Adams 5), Denis [L] (37/42)

Kansas City Coyotes (82GP, 24-52-6, 54 points, 15th in the West, 201GF-283GA, 13.3%PP [28th], 80.3%PK [28th])

NHL Top 10 scorers:
1. C Patrick Marleau, San Jose (82GP - 44G - 75A - 119PTS)
2. C Daymond Langkow, Calgary (82GP - 28G - 76A - 104PTS)
3. C Pavol Demitra, Vancouver (82GP - 50G - 53A - 103PTS)
4. C Vincent Lecavalier, Los Angeles (82GP - 42G - 61A - 103PTS)
5. LW Milan Michalek, San Jose (82GP - 44G - 55A - 99PTS)
6. C Tim Connolly, Buffalo (79GP - 30G - 69A - 99PTS)
7. LW Rick Nash, Columbus (82GP - 49G - 49A - 98PTS)
8. RW Jarome Iginla, Calgary (81GP - 43G - 52A - 95PTS)
9. RW Marian Hossa, Detroit (77GP - 40G - 55A - 95PTS)
10. C Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit (73GP - 36G - 57A - 93PTS)

NHL Top 5 goalscorers:
1. LW Ilya Kovalchuk, Atlanta (74GP - 53 Goals)
2. RW Jonathan Cheechoo, San Jose (82GP - 51 Goals)
3. C Pavol Demitra, Vancouver (82GP - 50 Goals)
4. LW Rick Nash, Columbus (82GP - 49 Goals)
5. LW Markus Näslund, New York R (75GP - 47 Goals)
. LW Thomas Vanek, Buffalo (82GP - 47 Goals)

NHL Top 5 defensemen scorers:
1. D Nicklas LidstrÖm, Detroit (82GP - 17G - 37A - 54 PTS)
2. D Lubomir Visnovsky, Edmonton (82GP - 22G - 30A - 52 PTS)
3. D Dion Phaneuf, Calgary (82GP - 14G - 38A - 52PTS)
4. D Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim (82GP - 14G - 35A - 49 PTS)
5. D Brian Rafalski, Detroit (82GP - 5G - 43A - 48 PTS)

NHL Top 5 rookie scorers:
1. LW Lukas Kaspar, Kansas City (79GP - 25G - 46A - 71 PTS)
2. LW Benoit Pouliot, Minnesota (78GP - 27G - 32A - 59 PTS)
3. C Rob Schremp, Kansas City (77GP - 20G - 28A - 48 PTS)
4. RW Radek Smolenak, Dallas (74GP - 16G - 29A - 45 PTS)
5. RW Bobby Ryan, Anaheim (77GP - 19G - 18A - 37 PTS)

NHL Top 5 goaltender GAA (min. 60GP)
1. G Roberto Luongo (72GP - 45W - 2.18GAA - 92.2SAV% - 7SO)
2. G Ryan Miller (69GP - 48W - 2.41GAA - 91.0SAV% - 5SO)
3. G Tomas Vokoun (67GP - 38W - 2.46GAA - 91.5SAV% - 5SO)
4. G Cam Ward (72GP - 38W - 2.54GAA - 91.5SAV% - 1SO)
5. G Henrik Lundqvist (72GP - 43W - 2.63GAA - 91.4SAV% - 3SO)

Other notable players:
RW Teemu Selänne, Anaheim (69GP - 38G - 54A - 92PTS)
C Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim (82GP - 28G - 61A - 89PTS)
D Chris Pronger, Anaheim (76GP - 6G - 35A - 41PTS)
G Jean-Sébastien Giguère, Anaheim (31GP - 19W - 2.40GAA - 92.1SAV% - 1SO) [UCL TEAR]
C Marc Savard, Boston (81GP - 37G - 49A - 86PTS)
RW Phil Kessel, Boston (82GP - 28G - 53A - 81PTS)
D Andrej Meszaros, Boston (75GP - 7G - 36A - 43PTS)
D Ed Jovanovski, Buffalo (82GP - 7G - 37A - 44PTS)
LW Mike Cammalleri, Calgary (77GP - 37G - 52A - 89PTS)
RW Todd Bertuzzi, Calgary (82GP - 33G - 49A - 82PTS)
LW Ryan Malone, Calgary (82GP - 35G - 45A - 80PTS)
G Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary (69GP - 37W - 2.66GAA - 91.0SAV% - 4SO)
C Eric Staal, Carolina (82GP - 34G - 49A - 83PTS)
D Zdeno Chara, Carolina (71GP - 2G - 37A - 39PTS)
C Jonathan Toews, Chicago (81GP - 19G - 41A - 60PTS)
RW Patrick Kane, Chicago (82GP - 26G - 32A - 58PTS)
RW Milan Hejduk, Colorado (76GP - 33G - 48A - 81PTS)
C Joe Sakic, Colorado (77GP - 31G - 49A - 80PTS)
LW Paul Stastny, Colorado (82GP - 28G - 44A - 72PTS)
D John-Michael Liles, Colorado (89GP - 10G - 36A - 46PTS)
C Olli Jokinen, Columbus (74GP - 30G - 60A - 90PTS)
C Michael Nylander, Columbus (82GP - 27G - 58A - 85PTS)
C Brad Richards, Dallas (82GP - 34G - 57A - 91PTS)
LW Brendan Morrow, Dallas (82GP - 44G - 43A- 87PTS)
LW Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit (69GP - 36G - 41A - 77PTS)
C Shawn Horcoff, Edmonton (78GP - 31G - 56A - 87PTS)
LW Dustin Penner, Edmonton (82GP - 42G - 44A - 86PTS)
RW Ales Hemsky, Edmonton (79GP - 28G - 52A - 80PTS)
RW Nathan Horton, Florida (75GP - 30G - 46A - 76PTS)
D Andrei Markov, Florida (77GP - 10G - 30A - 40PTS)
C Ales Kopitar, Los Angeles (69GP - 20G - 46A - 66PTS)
LW Alexander Frolov, Los Angeles (61GP - 30G - 35A - 65PTS)
RW Patrick O'Sullivan, Los Angeles (67GP - 26G - 39A - 65PTS)
RW Marian Gaborik, Minnesota (60GP - 27G - 28A - 55PTS)
RW Alex Kovalev, Montreal (74GP - 34G - 43A - 77PTS)
LW Andrei Kostitsyn, Montreal (82GP - 30G - 42A - 72PTS)
C Saku Koivu, Montreal (35GP - 10G - 25A - 35PTS)
G Carey Price, Montreal (68GP - 30W - 2.82GAA - 90.8SAV% - 3SO)
LW Patrik Elias, New Jersey (82GP - 38G - 42A - 80PTS)
RW Petr Sykora, New Jersey (79GP - 26G - 49A - 75PTS)
RW Steve Bernier, New Jersey (83GP - 33G - 40A - 73PTS)
C Zach Parise, New Jersey (82GP - 22G - 43A - 65PTS)
D Brian Campbell, New Jersey (78GP - 10G - 31A - 41PTS)
G Martin Brodeur, New Jersey (1GP - 1W)
C Chris Drury, New York R (74GP - 30G - 50A - 80PTS)
RW Nikolai Zherdev, New York R (76GP - 30G - 50A - 80PTS)
D Wade Redden, New York R (62GP - 10G - 37A - 47PTS)
C Scott Gomez, New York R (34GP - 13G - 25A - 38PTS)
LW Dany Heatley, Ottawa (80GP - 40G - 49A - 89PTS)
RW Daniel Alfredsson, Ottawa (72GP - 42G - 43A - 85PTS)
C Jason Spezza, Ottawa (69GP - 29G - 51A - 80PTS)
LW Simon Gagné, Philadelphia (82GP - 36G - 45A - 81PTS)
LW Alex Tanguay, Pittsburgh (72GP - 36G - 47A - 83PTS)
C Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh (76GP - 28G - 47A - 75PTS)
C Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh (69GP - 32G - 34A - 66PTS)
G Marc-André Fleury, Pittsburgh (73GP - 39G - 2.86GAA - 90.9SAV% - 0SO)
RW Maxim Afinogenov, Portland (82GP - 34G - 40A - 74PTS)
C Joe Thornton, San Jose (72GP - 26G - 45A - 71PTS)
D Dan Boyle, San Jose (79GP - 7G - 34A - 41PTS)
G Evgeni Nabokov, San Jose (61GP - 36W - 2.71GAA - 90.2SAV% - 4SO)
RW Martin St. Louis, St. Louis (77GP - 41G - 41A - 82PTS)
C Andy McDonald, St. Louis (82GP - 31G - 46A - 77PTS)
RW Shane Doan, Toronto (82GP - 42G - 41A - 83PTS)
C Peter Mueller, Toronto (82GP - 22G - 48A - 70PTS)
C Daniel Sedin, Vancouver (77GP - 33G - 50A - 83PTS)
C Mats Sundin, Vancouver (38GP - 11G - 22A - 33PTS)
RW Brian Gionta, Washingotn (81GP - 38G - 43A - 81PTS)
RW Alexander Ovechkin, Washington (51GP - 39G - 35A - 74PTS)
LW Alexander Semin, Washington (80GP - 28G - 35A - 63PTS)
C Nicklas Bäckström, Washington (78GP - 19G - 38A - 57PTS)

Eastern Conference:
*1. Buffalo Sabres (55-22-5) - 115 Points
*2. Carolina Hurricanes (45-21-16) - 106 Points
*3. New York Rangers (50-27-5) - 105 Points
4. Toronto Maple Leafs (51-26-5) - 107 Points
5. Ottawa Senators (47-25-10) - 104 Points
6. Florida Panthers (45-29-8) - 98 Points
7. Boston Bruins (43-33-6) - 92 Points
8. Pittsburgh Penguins (42-36-4) - 88 Points
-
9. Washington Capitals (39-35-8) - 86 Points
10. Philadelphia Flyers (40-40-2) - 82 Points
11. Montreal Canadiens (34-37-11) - 79 Points
12. New Jersey Devils (34-40-8) - 76 Points
13. New York Islanders (33-41-8) - 74 Points
14. Atlanta Thrashers (32-42-8) - 72 Points
15. Nashville Predators (29-44-9) - 67 Points

Western Conference
*1. Vancouver Canucks (53-24-5) - 111 Points
*2. Detroit Red Wings (49-28-5) - 103 Points
*3. San Jose Sharks (46-28-8) - 100 Points
4. Columbus Blue Jackets (46-27-9) - 101 Points
5. Edmonton Oilers (46-30-6) - 98 Points
6. Calgary Flames (44-30-8) - 96 Points
7. Los Angeles Kings (43-32-7) - 93 Points
8. Dallas Stars (42-32-8) - 92 Points
-
9. St. Louis Blues (41-32-9) - 91 Points
10. Anaheim Ducks (39-32-11) - 89 Points
11. Colorado Avalanche (39-35-8) - 86 Points
12. Portland Titans (35-41-6) - 76 Points
13. Minnesota Wild (33-44-5) - 71 Points
14. Chicago Blackhawks (31-46-5) - 67 Points
15. Kansas City Coyotes (24-52-6) - 54 Points

NHL Playoffs
1 Buffalo Sabres vs. 8 Pittsburgh Penguins
2 Carolina Hurricanes vs 7 Boston Bruins
3 New York Rangers vs 6 Florida Panthers
4 Toronto Maple Leafs vs 5 Ottawa Senators

1 Vancouver Canucks vs. 8 Dallas Stars
2 Detroit Red Wings vs. 7 Los Angeles Kings
3 San Jose Sharks vs. 6 Calgary Flames
4 Columbus Blue Jackets vs. 5 Edmonton Oilers

[Travis]

Let's go Oil!

How has Schremp been developing for you? I've had a few careers where his offense goes off the charts but his D stats never budge and others where they almost get to green levels in a season or two as well.

[duff88]

Originally Posted by Travis

Let's go Oil!

How has Schremp been developing for you? I've had a few careers where his offense goes off the charts but his D stats never budge and others where they almost get to green levels in a season or two as well.

He looks very promising; more than I would have imagined. He won't ever be a great defensive forward, but he has been performing very well and improving at a decent rate. He should become a good playmaking 2nd line centre, but I obviously wouldn't build my team around him. I expect him to be the 1st line centre in a year or two if we don't get someone with experience, considering we are still a rebuilding team.

[duff88]

9 Coyotes named to World Championships

POOL A
Sweden (D Staffan Kronwall, D Daniel Tjärnqvist)
Switzerland
Latvia
Italy

POOL B
USA (G David McKee)
Czech Republic (LW Lukas Kaspar)
Belarus
Austria

POOL C
Canada (D Greg de Vries)
Slovakia (RW Tomas Kopecky)
Germany
Norway

POOL D
Russia (D Alexei Semenov)
Finland (D Sami Lepistö)
Ukraine
Denmark

[duff88]

2008-09 Season wrap-up press conference

GM Nicolas Fillion and head coach Pat Quinn met with media members today to wrap-up the first season of the Kansas City Coyotes, who finished last in the league. Among the biggest topics covered were the contract status of Nikolai Khabibulin and Anson Carter, the upcoming NHL Entry Draft and the future of the team.

Opening Statement
NF: "The first year of the Coyotes in Kansas City had its up and downs. Obviously you never go into a season with the idea that you will finish last in the league, so this was a definite disappointment. There were still a lot of positives to take out of this whole situation. Our team and staff have developped a great chemistry that will make us a better team in the future. Our young players have improved tremendously and we were in for some nice surprises. The veteran core that we built through the summer proved to be very dedicated to the team's growth and proved to be a great influence to the younger players. There is no doubt that we will have to make adjustments through the summer; we won't go into the next season with the "expansion team" sticker so we will have to provide better results. Through the next few weeks, our staff will go through our personnel and make choices to make us a better team, both for now and for the future. We want to give Kansas City the team that they deserve."

On the players moved out through the season
NF: "There are two ways to look at the moves a team make. One is asset management; obviously you don't want to look at players as asset but as General Manager you have to get the best out of a player for the present and for the future. Sometimes, the best is not the player himself but rather the value he can bring through the transactions market. The other aspect is more on a personal standpoint; if you take a look at guys like McAmmond and Hedican who were traded in the course of the year, they were great players for our team and they brought in some strenghts that we will be missing, but they are in their final active years and you want to give them a chance to win and it wasn't going to happen here this year. Now if you look at the assets we added through those trades: MacMillan is a great young prospect who will join us here next year, Cashman has been a tremendous surprise on defense and Artyukhin adds a new dimension with his size and style of play. We also got picks and we have the confidence that our scouting team can turn those into players"

On looking back at the expectations before the season
NF: "What were the expectations? From the get-go, people in Kansas City were told we had a five-year plan for the team. History has shown that you can't skip a step; you have to build a team gradually if you want to succeed in this league. This is my philosophy, and I think the Coyotes are going to benefit from this. As of right now, we get a chance to see some great young players who may not win a championship, but they will play exciting hockey and that can certainly give any team a tough time."
PQ: "If anything, exceeded my expectations. I can't say I coached a lot of teams that ended at the bottom of the standings, but I sure can say that I haven't coached a lot of teams that were so close and so enclined on getting better. Younger and older players alike, they did a very good job at coming out every game with their best effort. Chemistry is very important to help acclimate the younger players, and if you look at the seasons of guys like Kaspar, Schremp, Fritsche, Lepisto; they went from rookies to NHL players and have become a part of our core."

On the success of the Portland Titans
NF: "I don't know wether to call it success or a different philosophy. Jay [Feaster] and Craig [Patrick] went out there and got some established playersto help their team. Just off the top of my head, they got Afinogenov, Shanahan, McKee, Friesen, Prucha, Marchant... But I don't see a Kaspar. I don't see a Schremp. I don't see a Fritsche. Their youngest regular was 25; as of right now we have nine regulars who were 25 or younger. But again I tell you, Jay has his own philosophy and we have ours. We think that at this point, we'd rather have a young developping team than a older team that will be in the playoffs hunt. I guess the future will tell us if we're right."

On Nikolai Khabibulin
NF: "He isn't happy with the year he had. In the mean time, Denis has proven to be a pleasent surprise. We will re-evaluate our options, but we'd like to have him back. I guess we will have to sit down and talk."
PQ: "If I may add, and I told both of them the same thing, at this point in time and with the way Denis played to end the season, I'm not sure if Khabibulin would have remained starter for the reminder of the season had he not gone down with this injury. If he is coming back, and we are all hoping to reach an agreement, we may be going with a 1A-1B duo with Marc and Khabi."

On Anson Carter
NF: "For a guy heading to retirement at 34 and who had only played 14 games in Switzerland last year, he has been unbelievable for us. The dedication, professionalism, ambition and character of his is really impressive. We will discuss with him; but I'll say that we didn't move him at the deadline because we want him to stay here in Kansas City."

On other players' contract status
NF: "We will re-evaluate this all in the upcoming weeks with Pat [Quinn], Jake [Goertzen] and the rest of the staff. At this point in time, I don't want to talk about it."

On the first overall selection and the 2009 NHL Draft
NF: "The lottery will be held following the end of the playoffs. At this point, our staff is still torn between Tavares and Hedman so the lottery may be a blessing in disguise for me."
[laughs]
"Mark [Yanetti] and his team have done a very impressive job heading into the draft. We are pretty confident at this point that we can add future stars with our first and second round picks. I won't name names, but we've aimed a few gems we hope to manage to put our hands on in the later rounds."

On trading the first pick
NF: "Out of question."

On the free agency market
NF: "We'll be active; but I'll be realist and ask you how receptive players will be? We have the money to spend and the right organization values for the players, but it's no secret that we will not contend for the Cup next year. We need to get players that fit our team and who understand the sacrifices needed."

[duff88]

Kings, Flames and Sens create only first round surprises

Los Angeles Kings defenseman Alec Martinez, who went scoreless in only two regular season games, scored the game winning overtime goal of the 7th game between the Kings and Red Wings to lead the 7th place past the defending Stanley Cup Champions. The Calgary Flames created another first round upset by defeating the San Jose Sharks in only four games. The Ottawa Senators defeated archrivals Toronto in seven games; defeating the Leafs 4-2 in the final match.

FIRST ROUND RESULTS
1 Buffalo Sabres defeat 8 Pittsburgh Penguins in 5 games (BUF G Ryan Miller - 5GP - 4W - 1.16GAA - 95.7SAV%)
2 Carolina Hurricanes defeat 7 Boston Bruins in 6 games (CAR C Matt Cullen - 6GP - 1G - 8A - 9PTS)
3 New York Rangers defeat 6 Florida Panthers in 7 games (NYR LW Markus Näslund GWG (9th goal) at 15:37 of OT1)
5 Ottawa Senators defeat 4 Toronto Maple Leafs in 7 games (OTT C Jason Specca - 7GP - 3G - 6A - 9PTS)

1 Vancouver Canucks defeat 8 Dallas Stars in 6 games (VAN LW Daniel Sedin - 6GP - 5G - 2A - 7PTS)
7 Los Angeles Kings defeat 2 Detroit Red Wings in 7 games (LA C Brad Richardsson - 7GP - 1G - 7A - 8PTS)
6 Calgary Flames defeat 3 San Jose Sharks in 4 games (CGY G Miikka Kiprusoff - 4GP - 4W - 1.76GAA - 93.9SAV%)
4 Columbus Blue Jackets defeat 5 Edmonton Oilers in 4 games (CBJ C Olli Jokinen - 4GP - 4G - 3A - 7PTS)

TOP 5 PLAYOFF SCORERS
1. RW Nikolai Zherdev, NYR (7-4-9-13)
2. LW Markus Näslund, NYR (7-9-3-12)
3. C Chris Drury, NYR (7-0-12-12)
4. C Jason Spezza, OTT (7-3-6-9)
5. C Matt Cullen, CAR (6-1-8-9)

SECOND ROUND MATCHUPS
1 Buffalo Sabres vs. 5 Ottawa Senators
2 Carolina Hurricanes vs. 3 New York Rangers

1 Vancouver Canucks vs. 7 Los Angeles Kings
4 Columbus Blue Jackets vs. 6 Calgary Flames

[duff88]

Multiple new contracts in Kansas City

Tomas Kopecky, Staffan Kronwall, Cory Murphy, Alexei Semenov, Jamie Lundmark and Kevyn Adams have signed one-year contract extensions with the Kansas City Coyotes. Anson Carter has signed a two-years contract entension.

Among all contracted players, Nikolai Khabibulin, Jeff Taffe, Krys Kolanos, Rick Rypien, Tyler Mosienko, Cody Bostock and Bryan Rodney remain unsigned and will become free agents on July 1st if no deal is agreed on.

[duff88]

NHL announces trophy finalists

Calder Memorial Trophy - Best rookie in the NHL
D Jonas Junland, St. Louis Blues, (70GP - 7G - 16A - 23PTS; +15, 14PIM)
LW Lukas Kaspar, Kansas City Coyotes, (79GP - 25G - 46A - 71PTS; 189S, 5GWG)
LW Benoit Pouliot, Minnesota Wild, (78GP - 27G - 32A - 59PTS; 191S)

Frank J. Selke Trophy - Best defensive forward in the NHL
Mathieu Dandenault, Edmonton Oilers, (70GP - 10G -17A - 27PTS; +15)
Adam Mair, New York Islanders, (77GP - 12G - 15A - 27PTS; +15)
Dave Scatchard, Buffalo Sabres, (69GP - 10G - 14A - 24PTS; +15)

Jack Adams Trophy - Best coach in the NHL
Tom Renney, New York Rangers
Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres
Alain Vigneault, Vancouver Canuks

James Norris Trophy - Best defenseman in the NHL
Nicklas Lidström, Detroit Red Wings, (82GP - 17G - 37A - 54PTS; 26:28 ATOI)
Dion Phaneuf, Calgary Flames, (75GP - 14G - 38A - 52PTS; 27:10 ATOI)
Lubomir Visnovsky, Edmonton Oilers, (82GP - 22G - 30A - 52PTS; 26:30 ATOI)

Hart Memorial Trophy - Most Valuable Player in the NHL
Pavol Demitra, Vancouver Canucks, (82GP - 50G - 53A - 103PTS; +26)
Vincent Lecavalier, Los Angeles Kings, (82GP - 42G - 61A - 103PTS; +29)
Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks, (82GP - 44G - 75A - 119PTS; +27)

Lady Bing Trophy - Most sportsmanlike player in the NHL
Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils, (18PIM in 82GP)
Simon Gagné, Philadelphia Flyers, (16PIM in 82GP)
Teemu Selänne, Anaheim Ducks, (14PIM in 79GP)

Vezina Trophy - Best goaltender in the NHL
Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers, (72GP - 43W - 2.63GAA - 91.4SAV% - 3SO)
Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks, (72GP - 45W - 2.18GAA - 92.2SAV% - 7SO)
Vesa Toskala, Toronto Maple Leafs, (40GP - 26W - 1.88GAA - 93.5SAV% - 3SO)

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Only 18 games in second round

The four teams that advanced to the conference finals only needed a total of 18 games to eliminated the four rivals: Three of the series ended in four games while the other needed six to be decided.

SECOND ROUND RESULTS
1 Buffalo Sabres defeat 5 Ottawa Senators in 4 games (BUF G Ryan Miller - 9GP - 8W - 1L - 1.04GAA - 96.0SAV%)
3 New York Rangers defeat 2 Carolina Hurricanes in 4 games (NYR C Chris Drury - 11GP - 1G - 18A - 19PTS)

1 Vancouver Canucks defeat 7 Los Angeles Kings in 4 games (VAN C Pavol Demitra - 10GP - 4G - 10A - 14PTS)
6 Calgary Flames defeat 4 Columbus Blue Jackets in 6 games (CGY RW Jarome Iginla - 10GP - 7G - 8A - 15PTS)

TOP 5 PLAYOFF SCORERS
1. C Chris Drury, New York Rangers (11-1-18-19)
2. LW Markus Näslund, New York Rangers (11-13-5-18)
3. RW Nikolai Zherdev, New York Rangers (11-6-12-18)
4. RW Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames (10-7-8-15)
5. C Pavol Demitra, Vancouver Canucks (10-4-10-14)

CONFERENCE FINALS MATCHUPS
1 Buffalo Sabres vs. 3 New York Rangers
1 Vancouver Canucks vs. 6 Calgary Flames

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Canada wins World Championships

The Canadians beat Finland 5-2 in the World Championships finals in Moscow today to win the Gold Medal. David Legwand scored the game winning shootout goal in the Bronze Medal game as USA barely defeated the surprising Germany 4-3. Ukraine and Latvia were relegated and will be replaced by Kazakhstan and Slovenia who won their respective group of the World Championships Division 1.

Gold Medal: Canada
Silver Medal: Finland
Bronze Medal: USA
4th Place: Germany
5th Place: Russia
6th Place: Sweden
7th Place: Czech Republic
8th Place: Denmark
9th Place: Slovakia
10th Place: Switzerland
11th Place: Italy
12th Place: Austria
13th Place: Norway
14th Place: Belarus
15th Place: Ukraine (Relegated)
16th Place: Latvia (Relegated)

Top 5 Scorers:
1. RW Bobby Ryan, USA - 9GP - 9-7-16
2. LW Vyacheslav Kozlov, RUS - 7GP - 5-10-15
3. C Paul Stastny, USA - 9GP - 4-10-14
4. RW Teemu Selänne, FIN - 9GP - 8-5-13
5. C Brendan Morrison, CAN - 9GP - 6-7-13

MVP: Carey Price (CAN)
Best Forward: Paul Stastny (USA)
Best Defenseman: Ryan Whitney (USA)
Best Goaltender: Carey Price (CAN)

All-Star Team:

Vyacheslav Kozlov (RUS) - Paul Stastny (USA) - Teemu Selänne (FIN)
Brian Campbell (CAN) - Ryan Whitney (USA)
Carey Price (CAN)

Kansas City Coyotes:
LW Lukas Kaspar (CZE) - 5GP - 2-2-4
RW Tomas Kopecky (SVK) - 6GP - 0-3-3
D Staffan Kronwall (SWE) - 7GP - 0-0-0
D Daniel Tjärnqvist (SWE) - 7GP - 0-2-2
D Greg de Vries (CAN) - 6GP - 0-1-1
D Alexei Semenov (RUS) - 7GP - 2-5-7
D Samil LepistÖ (FIN) - 9GP - 2-5-7
G David McKee (USA) - DNP

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Coyotes sign prospect Krysanov

The Kansas City Coyotes retained the rights to russian prospect Anton Krysanov today by signing him to a one-year pro contract rookie deal. Krysanov, a 22 years old centre, was drafted 148th overall by Phoenix in the 2005 NHL Draft. He scored 6 goals and 17 points in 50 games with Lada Togliatti. He had offers from 5 russian teams including Ak Bars Kazan and CSKA Moscow.

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CHL Memorial Cup tournament set

The Belleville Bulls beat the London Knights in 6 games to win the OHL Championship, thanks to stellar performances by Bryan Cameron and Eric Tangradi who scored respectively 43 and 37 points to lead the OHL in playoffs scoring. Bjorn Krupp, son of former NHLer Uwe Krupp, was also an important piece for the Bulls as the draft eligible but unranked defenseman put in 25 points in 23 games.

In the QMJHL, the Lewiston MAINEiacs took care of the Montreal Junior in 4 games to complete the first perfect playoffs in league's history; going 16-0 after finishing first overall in the league. Stellar play by German defenseman Denis Reul and ontarian goaltender Peter Delmas lead the only American team in the QMJHL past Montreal, who featured the best three playoffs scorer in Angelo Esposito, Jean-Simon Allard and T.J. Brennan.

Out west, after a long road to the finals that included three series that went respectively six, seven and seven games, the Saskatoon Blades quickly took care of the Memorial Cup hosts Vancouver Giants by winning four consecutive games by one goal. Colton Gillies, Adam Zamec and Mylan Kytnar were the best producers for Saskatoon who managed to win desptie Evander Kane's 11 points performance which confirmed his playoff leading points total.

The three league champions will now face hosts Vancouver in the four team tournament. The Giants feature a star-heavy team that includes goaltender Tyson Sexsmith, defensemen Jonathon Blum and Brent Regner as well as forwards Casey Pierro-Zabotel, Michal Repik, Lance Bouma, Evander Kane and Spencer Machacek.

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Rangers and Canucks to face in Stanley Cup finals

Lee Goren, a 31 years old forward who hadn't played a regular season NHL game since 2005-2006 and who played barely 65 games in his career, had the game of his life in the seventh match between the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres. Goren, who had played two games in the playoffs for the Rangers, scored the game tying goal with 7 minutes to play in the third period. Then, two minutes into the second overtime, Goren put in the rebound of a Brandon Dubinsky shot on a powerplay to win the series and Eastern Conference Championship for the Rangers. They will face the Canucks, who beat the Flames in five games, in the Stanley Cup Finals.

CONFERENCE FINALS RESULTS
3 New York Rangers defeat 1 Buffalo Sabres in 7 games (NYR C Chris Drury - 18GP - 3-21-24)
1 Vancouver Canucks defeat 6 Calgary Flames in 5 games (VAN C Pavol Demitra - 15GP - 6-13-19)

TOP 5 PLAYOFFS SCORERS
1. C Chris Drury, New York Rangers (18GP - 3-21-24)
2. RW Nikolai Zherdev, New York Rangers (18GP - 8-15-23)
3. LW Markus Näslund, New York Rangers (18GP - 15-7-22)
4. C Pavol Demitra, Vancouver Canucks (15GP - 6-13-19)
5. RW Jarome Iginla, Calgary Flames (15GP - 9-8-17)

STANLEY CUP FINALS
2 New York Rangers vs. 1 Vancouver Canucks

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Lewiston wins Memorial Cup

The MAINEiacs may have lost a game to the Saskatoon Blades, but they continued on their playoffs sucess by beating the Belleville Bulls 3-2 in the finals to take home the Memorial Cup. Once again, defenseman Dennis Reul and goaltender Peter Delmas were the stars for Lewiston in this series.

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Canucks face elimination

The New YOrk Rangers have taken a 3-2 lead in the Stanley Cup Finals.

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ISS releases final 2009 NHL Draft Rankings


Victor Hedman has been second for the whole year, but some teams may still have him in front of Tavares in their personnal rankings

John Tavares is still the top ranked player for the 2009 NHL entry draft. Victor Hedman remains second, but offensive defenseman Ryan Ellis has continued his rise and closed in on Hedman in many teams' rankings.

1 (1-1) John Tavares - C - 6'0/200 - Oshawa Generals (OHL) - CAN
2 (2-2) Victor Hedman - LD - 6'6/220 - Modo (SEL) - SWE
3 (8-18) Ryan Ellis - RD - 6'1/191 - Windsor Spitfires (OHL) - CAN
4 (3-4) Jared Cowen - LD - 6'5/209 - Spokane Chiefs (WHL) - CAN
5 (6-9) Evander Kane - C - 5'11/163 - Vancouver Giants (WHL) - CAN
6 (4-3) Brayden Schenn - C - 6'0/200 - Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) - CAN
7 (13-10) Olivier Roy - G - 6'0/169 - Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL) - CAN
8 (10-13) Nazem Kadri - C - 6'0/176 - London Knights (OHL) - CAN
9 (14-14) Simon Després - LD - 6'4/213 - Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL) - CAN
10 (5-5) Matt Duchene- C - 5'11/191 - Brampton Battalion (OHL) - CAN
11 (11-15) Richard Panik - LW - 6'1/180 - Trinec (CZE) - SVK
12 (7-6) Magnus Svensson-Pääjärvi - LW - 6'1/200 - Timra (SEL) - SWE
13 (15-8) Stefan Elliot - LD - 6'1/174 - Saskatoon Blades (WHL) - CAN
14 (26-30) Dmitri Kulikov - RD - 6'1/196 - Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) - RUS
15 (16-17) Landon Ferraro - RW - 6'0/169 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - CAN
16 (24-36) Tommi Kivistö - RD - 6'2/194 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - FIN
17 (28-97) Éric Gélinas - RD - 6'2/189 - Lewiston MAINEiacs (QMJHL) - CAN
18 (17-27) David Rundblad - RD - 6'2/191 - Skelleftea (SEL) - SWE
19 (19-25) Jordan Caron - C - 6'2/200 - Rimouski Oceanics (QMJHL) - CAN
20 (12-23) Seth Helgeson - LD - 6'3/220 - Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) - USA
21 (9-7) Jordan Schroeder - RW - 5'9/185 - Minnesota Golden Gophers (NCAA) - USA
22 (20-20) Drew Shore - C - 6'2/200 - USNDP - USA
23 (22-59) Tomas Vincour - C - 6'2/185 - Sparta Praha - CZE
24 (30-19) Anton Lander - LW - 6'0/189 - Timra (SEL) - SWE
25 (27-22) Cass Mappin - LW - 6'0/183 - Red Deer Rebels (WHL) - CAN
26 (63-155) Shane Miller - RD - 6'2/220 - Texas Tornado (NAHL) - USA
27 (29-44) Taylor Beck - LW - 6'1/194 - Guelpg Storm (OHL) - CAN
28 (36-77) Chris DeSousa - C - 5'8/180 - Niagara IceDogs (OHL) - CAN
29 (64-66) Oliver Ekman-Larsson - LD - 6'2/174 - Ledksand (SEL) - SWE
30 (103-UR) Vincent Scarsella - C - 5'7/163 - Canisius Golden Griffins (NCAA) - 19 Years Old

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Canuck force 7th game

The Vancouver Canucks won game 6 3-2 to force a seventh and decisive game at the GM Place in Vancouver.

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Game 7 Play-by-Play

VANCOUVER CANUCKS
D. Sedin - Demitra - Satan
H. Sedin - Sundin - Krog
Pyatt - Wellwood - Mayers
Burrows - Kessler - Cowan

Öhlund - Salo
White - Edler
Mitchell - Bieksa

Luongo

-

NEW YORK RANGERS
Näslund - Gomez - Zherdev
Forbes - Drury - Yetman
MacLean - Dubinsky - Moore
Sjöström - Mowers - Ling

Redden - Roszival
Mara - Girardi
Sydor - Kwiatkowski

Lundqvist

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Game 7 Play-by-Play

1:32 - VAN - Miroslav Satan [8] (Pavol Demitra [18] & Mattias Öhlund [7]) [PP]

1-0 Vancouver

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Game 7 Play-by-Play

8:17 - NYR - Greg Moore [5] (Brandon Dubinsky [7] & Donald MacLean [7])

1-1

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Game 7 Play-by-Play

End of 1st Period

Shots: 11-9 Vancouver

Score: 1-1

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Game 7 Play-by-Play

End of 2nd Period

Shots: 20-19 Vancouver

Score: 1-1

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Game 7 Play-by-Play

48:55 - VAN - Pavol Demitra [8] (Daniel Sedin [9] & Colin White [5])

2-1 Vancouver