GAMESPEAK FEDERATED HOCKEY LEAGUE NEWSLETTER

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1 January 8, 2015 Vol. 5, No. 2 Join the Living FHL Experience and follow us on Twitter and Get Game updates Welcome to the January 2015 Edition of Gamespeak. FHL All Star Rosters are announced (P.1). The APC! Hockey Fans have spoken. Congratulations to those teams that have players on the All Star Teams. This issue will also discuss the upcoming FHL Winter Classic (P.3); FHL Team Statistics (P.4); FHL Trade Central (P.6); and From the Commissioner s Office (P.7)! Enjoy! FHL All Star Teams National Conference 1 st Team: LW Alexander Ovechkin (MNS) C Sidney Crosby (CAZ) RW David Krecji (ICH) D Duncan Keith (QND) D Shea Weber (QND) G Carey Price (QND) Republic Conference 1 st Team LW Alex Steen (KCI) C Patrick Sharp (EXI) RW Corey Perry (NYD) D Erik Karlsson (NYD) D Dustin Byfuglien (CIS) G Kari Lehtonen (KCI) National Conference 2nd Team Republic Conference 2nd Team LW - Max Pacioretty (MNS) LW - Chris Kunitz (CLB) C - Tyler Johnson (SPB) C - Jon Tavares (KCI) RW - Joe Pavelski (ICH) RW - Brad Richards (NYD) D - Tobias Enstrom (TGD) D - James Wisniewski (RYS) D - Kevin Shattenkirk (ICH) D 1 - Marek Zidlicky (NYD) G - Roberto Luongo (CBH) G - Jaroslav Halak (NYD)

2 FHL All Star Teams National Conference 3rd Team Republic Conference 3rd Team LW - Jarome Iginla (ICH) LW - Patrik Marleau (CLB) C - Martin St. Louis (ICH) C -Bryan Little (MCA) RW - Kyle Okoposo (MNS) RW - Patrick Kane (BOW) D - Brent Seabrook (SPB) D - Keith Yandle (MCA) D - Victor Headman (ICH) D - Ryan McDonagh (EXI) G - Sergei Bobrovsky (CAZ) G - Josh Hardin (EXI) The FHL would like to extend hearty congratulations to all the FHL Manager/Coaches who have a player on the FHL All Star Teams! Please note that FHL All Star players are based on Star Points Awarded after each game. As in every balloting there are several good players who are left off. Please feel to post to the FHL Yahoo User s Group or FHL Facebook if you think one of your players deserves to be on the FHL All Star Team but was left off! Notable players not included in this year s rosters: Anton Kudobin (ICH), Jordan Eberle (EXI), Jonathan Toews (QND), Claude Giroux (GCB), Tyler Seguin (CAZ). Sidney ( Sid the Kid ) Crosby (pictured left) of the California Zephyrs current leads the FHL in total points with 22 goals and 41 assists with 63 points. He is trailed by his teammate Tyler Seguin who has 14 goals and 40 assists with 54 points. This is the first time in the FHL that two teammates that have led the league in points in the #1 and #2 position overall. Crosby trails only Minnesota North Star s Alexander Ovechkin in All Star voting 330,000 to 280,000. Although he is often heralded as one of the best player in the FHL, he hasn t been heard of much in recent years due to his multitude of injuries. Not this season though, as he has helped lead the California Zephyrs to their West Division leading record with 62 points. Needless to say, he has been voted by the fans as Captain of the National Conference 1 st Team All Stars! Congrats! him! 2

3 The 5 th Annual FHL Winter Classic By Chad Pridemore The FHL Winter Classic will be held at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh featuring the Cleveland Barons against the Toledo Goaldiggers on January 3. The sports media outlets have already labeled this game as the Battle of I-90. This name picked up speed from the Toledo fan base as the University of Toledo Rockets plays the Bowling Green Falcons annually for the Peace Pipe Trophy in the Battle of I-75 in college football action. The Barons will bring Patrick Marleau to Pittsbugh who is 14th in the FHL league leaders for goals at 17 going into the month of January. Patrik Elias will arrive in style as well being in the FHL 19 th in assists with 24 going into January. Zdeno Chara will be the star of the Barons defense as they see the 6 9 Slovakian with a monster slap shot lumbering around Heinz Field. The crowd will more than likely see Craig Anderson in net for the Barons who was white hot and led the FHL in save % and GAA going through October but has cooled off of late. The Goaldiggers will look to Kyle Turris and Sean Monohan to lead the offensive charge against the Barons. Kevin Bieska and T.J. Brodie will lead the defense with matching defensive ratings of 7.6. We should expect to see Bieska or Brodie following the dangerous Patrick Marleau around the football field turned ice rink of Heinz Field. We expect a last minute decision to be made for the net minder representing Toledo in the FHL Winter Classic. With the Barons offense continuing to move forward and along with the consistent goaltending by Craig Anderson, the prediction being made for this game gives the Barons a 6-3 win with Marleau lighting the lamp twice in the game and Chara seeing his offensive stats increase as well. For those who missed last year s 4 th annual FHL Winter Classic need not worry. This historic game played between by the McGregor Condors and the then Columbus Jaguars (now the Chicago Blackhawks) can be seen in its entirety. This was the first game that debuted on FHL TV. To view the game press CTRL key and click on the link below: FHL Photo- The ice rink at Heinz Field has reached the final stages in this photo taken on December 24 th. 4th Annual FHL Winter Classic on FHL TV 3

4 FHL Team Statistics Hockey is probably the most team oriented sports there is. In Professional Baseball the key matchup is the pitcher and the batter. In Professional Basketball it seems more about 2 on 2 or 3 on 2 (i.e. one team s 2 super stars against the other team s 2 super stars) while everyone else stands around. In Professional Football there is a team element but there seems to be a lot of hot dog type players who stress their individual heroics over the team (ex. remember T.O.). However to have a successful hockey team you ve got to have everyone pulling the same way. Selfish individual show boats don t last too long in the world of professional hockey. That is why Gamespeak is happy to present you with the Team Statistics section. We hope you enjoy this presentation of statistics that celebrates the entire team! The Top Power Play Teams (Power Play % converted): 1. Indianapolis Checkers 32.0% 2. California Zephyrs 31.0% 3. Gatineau City Bulldogs 24.0% 4. Rye Seahawks 23.5% 5. Boston Whalers 23.3% 6. Kansas City Ice Twisters 23.3% 7. Exton Igloos 22.1% 8. New York Dolphins 21.9% 9. Minnesota North Stars 21.7% 10. Montreal Canadiens 19.8% Top Teams with most Shots on Goal Against per game (SA) 1. Montreal Canadiens New York Dolphins Rye Seahawks Chicago Blackhawks Florida Everblades 33.2 The Top Penalty Killing Teams (Penalty Kill % stopped): 1. Indianapolis Checkers 90.8% 2. California Zephyrs 90.2% 3. Rye Seahawks 85.7% 4. Minnesota North Stars 85.3% 5. Gatineau City Bulldogs 82.8% 6. New York Dolphins 82.7% 7. Kansas City Ice Twisters 81.7% 8. Quebec Nordiques 81.5% 9. Detroit Bandits 81.3% 10. Exton Igloos 80.2% Top Teams with most hits on opposing players per game: 1. Cleveland Barons Indianapolis Checkers Exton Igloos Detroit Bandits Spokane Bombers

5 Top Teams in PIM per game 1. Florida Everblades Rye Seahawks Detroit Bandits Montreal Canadiens Kansas City Ice Twisters Cincinnati Swords Gatineau City Bulldogs Spokane Bombers New York Dolphins Cleveland Barons 7.8 Top Shoot Out Teams (SOW) 1. Minnesota North Stars 5 2. Indianapolis Checkers 5 3. Boston Whalers 4 4. Kansas City Ice Twisters 4 5. McGregor Condors 4 6. New York Dolphins 4 7. Cincinnati Swords 3 8. Los Angeles Monarchs 3 9. Montreal Canadians Rye Seahawks 3 Top Fighting Teams in number of Total Fights 1. Rye Seahawks Florida Everblades Detroit Nordiques 8 4. Indianapolis Checkers 7 5. Cincinnati Swords 5 6. Kansas City Ice Twisters 4 7. Toledo Goaldiggers 4 8. Chicago Blackhawks 3 9. Montreal Canadiens Los Angeles California Zephyrs Cleveland Barons Gatineau City Bulldogs McGregor Condors Boston Whalers 1 5

6 FHL Trade Central All the trades in this season to date. 6

7 From the Commissioner s Office: We are now at the half way point in the 5 th FHL Season and the biggest surprise in the FHL is the expansion team Rye Seahawks led by Craig Musselman. They have done surprisingly well with a record and 44 points which is good enough for 2 nd place in the West Central. The Seahawks are only 6 points out of first place held by Kansas City. They have split their series at 2-2 with division leading Kansas City and have gotten some impressive road wins against playoff teams Quebec (6-2), Boston (7-3), New York (4-1), and Exton (3-0). This is pretty amazing considering they are just 2 years removed from the Expansion draft alongside the Spokane Bombers which are in last place in the West Central Division where one would expect an expansion team to be. How are they doing this? Well it starts first with the goalie tandem of Ben Scrivens with record, a save PCT..925, and a GAA 2.55, and Marc-Andre Fleury (8-8,.910, and 2.89 respectively). They have stolen many games. Then veteran defenseman James Wisniewski (2 nd team FHL All Star) leads the team with 37 points with 5 goals and 32 assists. Many will remember him on the Exton Igloos game 7 Crystal championship 2-0 victory over the New York Dolphins when he scored the first goal to break a scoreless tie and that would turn out to be the game winning goal. Then a balanced scoring attack with Jussi Jokinen 11 goals, 23 assists; Martin Hanzal 11 goals, 14 assists; and Patrik Berglund 10 goals, 11 assists. The big question is if they can keep up the pace? Block 4 begins against Los Angeles, and then come Indianapolis, and Kansas City. 7 Indianapolis Checkers first line LW Joe Pavelski (pictured left) has quietly forged a career season for himself in the FHL. He was nowhere to be seen last season and now he is in the top 4 in scoring with 22 goals, 27 assists, 49 points, and a +/- of +26 (4 th best in FHL)! He leads the FHL in game winning goals with 7. He plays on both the regular shift first line at LW, the first power play unit at LW, and also the first penalty kill team at LW. He does it all for owner/manager Andrew Smith. He is a big reason the Indianapolis Checkers are in first place in the West Central with record with 61 points.