GAMESPEAK FHL NEWSLETTER

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1 June 3, 2012 Vol. 2, No. 5 Join the Living FHL Experience and follow us on Twitter and Get Game updates Welcome to the June 3, 2012 Edition of Gamespeak - The FHL Playoff Edition. FHL Playoff Bracket Round 2. 1

2 Table of Contents: P. 1 FHL Playoff Bracket (The Quest for the Crystal) P. 2 - Table of Contents. P. 2 FHL Playoffs Round 2 Predictions by Howard Cosell, Jr. P. 3 Distant Replay: FHL Historical Game 7 Crystal Finals Replay P. 5 Draft Order by Asst. Commissioner Chad Pridemore P. 7 From the Commissioner s Office The Last Shall be First and the First Shall be Last! Conference Finals By Howard Cosell, Jr. Round 1 is complete and now it is time for the Conference Finals, the chance to play for the Crystal. There won t be any boring team breakdowns here; already did that in the first round and the four teams remaining still have the same regular season stats. But a quick moment will be given to the first round predictions, having gone 2-2. That s not bad, not great either. The irony is how that number came to be: missed both in one conference and was nearly spot on in the other conference. We shall see whether this pattern continues. Conference Finals Match Ups VS #3 Montreal vs #4 Cincinnati: The unpredictable team meets the giant slayer. Both teams advanced in six games. Cincinnati sent the #1 team in the FHL off to the golf course, while Montreal dispatched the top defensive team in the FHL. As Cincinnati is another defensive team in nature, that could bode well for Montreal. However, when one turns attention to the head to head meetings, a very different picture gets painted. In five meetings, Cincinnati won four and Montreal just one and no games went into overtime. That type of result usually leads to a slaughter, but not so fast. While Cincinnati enjoyed an early advantage, the games have gotten closer as the season has progressed with the last two being split. This is important as Montreal made a trade down the stretch which may have helped even things up in their games with Cincinnati. The trade makes the difference, it s Montreal in 7. 2

3 VS #2 City vs #4 Columbus: City needed all seven games to dispatch Johnstown, but Columbus marched past the #1 seed Quebec in just five games. Columbus has solid numbers, had a solid season, and did an excellent job of taking advantage of a favorable match in round one. City had better numbers resulting in a higher seed and turned around an unfavorable first round match up to advance. During the regular season, City won 3 meetings and Columbus won 2 and like Montreal and Cincinnati, none of the games went to overtime. However, here is an important note, City won the first 3 meetings and Columbus the last two after City had made a couple of trades. In the end, this too is a real dogfight, but the prediction is City in 7. Distant Replay: FHL Historic Game 7 of Crystal Finals Championship Quebec Nordiques at NY Dolphins (Reprint Gamespeak Vol. 1, No. 13) VS The FHL crowned a new champion May 16, 2011 in a closely contested 7 game series that saw Cliff Dolgins of the NY Dolphins take The Crystal. This championship victory had special meaning for the FHL since it was the inaugural season. Stamkos, despite being the Dolphins lynch pin scoring 49 goals for a FHL best in the regular season, struggled through most of the post season. However in game 7 he came through and was named 2 nd Star in game 7 with 1 assist and 1 goal which turned out to be the game winning goal. Stamkos told Gamespeak during the on ice celebration in NY This was a total team effort. Jaro(slav Halak) played tremendous in net. The entire organization is a class act. Dolphin goaltender Jaroslav Halak was named MVP of the Finals with a stellar Save PCT. (for the entire post season) that lead all post season goalies. Coach Dolgins told Gamespeak Online "I just feel real bad he (Coach Francoeur) couldn t coach the last period. Whether it would have made a difference or not at least he goes down fighting with his coaching. I was up 2-1 with 1:29 left in second when unfortunately (the) game crashed. I killed off a two man (down) penalty in 3 rd and went on to score twice more in a 4-1 win. He (Coach Francoeur) wanted to play Toews against Stamkos line. I tried not to let him have that matchup at all in this game or barely at all. Actually my 4 th line has been key this round and they have scored vs. that line on numerous occasions so guess that was more reason to stick with it. Gamespeak caught up with Coach Francoeur in the losing locker room and he told us "Congrats to Cliff. We will be back stronger next year..." 3

4 Quebec 1 New York 4 (Game 7) May F Quebec New York Scoring Summary Per Time Str Team 1 13:30 PP NYD Upshall(6), assisted by Whitney(5) and Ryan(10) 2 2:08 PP NYD Stamkos(4), assisted by Markov(9) and Ryan(11) 2 5:18 EV QND Staal(3), assisted by Langenbrunner(3) and Vanek(2) 3 7:15 EV NYD Spezza(4), assisted by Stamkos(9) and Gilbert(4) 3 15:24 EV NYD Ryan(7), assisted by E.Johnson(5) and J.Carter(6) Penalty Summary Per Time Team 1 7:13 QND Nash(10), 2:00 - hooking 1 13:11 QND Staal(16), 2:00 - holding 1 19:36 QND Nash(14), 4:00 - high sticking 3 :48 NYD Little(6), 2:00 - holding 3 3:31 NYD Spezza(8), 2:00 - holding 3 3:50 NYD Stamkos(10), 2:00 - interference Cliff Dolgins Coaching Commentary Narrative of the game! SOG 1 SOG 2 SOG 3 Quebec New York QND NYD SOG FOW FO% Hits Blocks Missed Net PIM 8 6 PP TOA 9:41 8:57 Star 1: NYD Ryan 1 G, 3 Pts Star 2: NYD Stamkos 1 G, 2 Pts Star 3: NYD Halak 25 saves GWG: Steven Stamkos Notables: QND Nabokov 40 saves NYD Hanzal 18 faceoffs won NY and Quebec squared off in game 7. Both teams came out feeling each other out and NY got the first break on a Rick Nash hooking penalty at 7:13 of the first period. Quebec killed it off and the game remained scoreless until a Erik Staal hold at 13:30. NY wasted no time winning the draw and Scottie Upshall scored from Whitney and Ryan at 13:30 for the first goal of the game. Quebec caught a bad break at 19:36 of the period when Rick Nash received a 4 minute penalty for drawing blood on Andrei Markov and NY started with the power play in period 2. NY had a shot advantage in period one. Steven Stamkos (Mr. Invisible in the playoffs) re-directed a Markov shot at 2:08 of period two for NY s second Power play goal and a 2-0 lead. Quebec responded by coming out flying off the goal and Erik Staal scored on an up ice rush assisted by Jamie Langenbrunner and Thomas Vanek to make it 2-1 with 14:42 left in the second. The game remained 2-1 until 1:29 left in the second when unfortunately the game froze and because of the resume game function not working Johnny was no longer able to coach his team. The period ended at 2-1 with NY out shooting Quebec 18-6 in the second period and overall. The refs had put their whistles away for over a period but called a tighter game in the third. Bryan Little was nabbed at :48 seconds for holding giving Quebec their first power play of the game. Quebec managed two shots and NY blocked three to kill off the penalty. Jason Spezza was then penalized at 3:31 for holding giving Quebec another power play. Steven Stamkos then was called for interference 19 seconds later and Quebec had a two man advantage. NY penalty killers were all over the ice holding Quebec to only one shot on goal killing off the 5 on 3. Erik Staal then hit the post with 13:28 left keeping it a 2-1 game. Steven Stamkos then knocked Tim Gleason off the puck leading to a 2 on 1 rush and Jason Spezza capitalized to make it 3-1 NY with 12:45 to play. NY added some insurance with a Bobby Ryan deflection on an Erik Johnson shot with 4:36 to play giving NY a 4-1 win. NY out shoots Quebec but the key stat probably is winning 50 of 75 face offs when all series it seemed to go Quebec s way on the draws. Martin Hanzel won an amazing 18 of 21 faceoffs and those were mainly vs. Quebec s top line and when short handed. The three stars awarded by the game were: #1 Bobby Ryan 1 goal and 2 assists, #2 Stamkos 1 goal and an assist, #3 Halak 25 saves. But I would give #1 to Halak who stopped 3 odd man rushes, #2 Hanzal for all his defensive play and #3 Stamkos for the goal and assist -9 shots, 2 hits and the key goal to make it

5 Draft Order 2012 FHL Season* Round 1 Previous Owner Round 2 Previous Owner Round 3 Previous Owner California Boston California California Detroit Exton Detroit Detroit Florida Florida Florida Los Angeles Los Angeles Los Angeles Winnipeg Winnipeg Winnipeg California Boston Boston Florida Boston Indianapolis Indianapolis Indianapolis Exton McGregor McGregor McGregor Columbus Columbus McGregor Columbus/Exton Johnstown City Johnstown Johnstown Exton Kansas City Exton Montreal Exton California New York New York Boston New York Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Montreal Montreal Montreal Cleveland Boston Cleveland/Exton Cleveland City City Indianapolis City Quebec Quebec Quebec Kansas City Kansas City Boston Kansas City Denotes Playoff Team Denotes Draft Pick Trade *The FHL draft will be in reverse order of finish from this season. The only caveat is the bottom 3 teams will compete in a draft lottery for seeding in the upcoming draft. The lottery will be weighted to the worse team having a better chance for the #1 overall pick, the second worse team having a better chance for the 2 nd overall pick, and the third worse team having the best chance for the third pick. 5

6 FHL 2012/2013 DRAFT ORDER Round 4 Previous Owner Round 5 Previous Owner Round 6 Previous Owner California Johnstown California, Boston California Detroit Detroit Detroit Florida Florida Florida Los Angeles Los Angeles Los Angeles Winnipeg Winnipeg Winnipeg Boston Boston California Boston Indianapolis Boston Indianapolis Indianapolis Detroit McGregor/Exton/Boston/Exton McGregor McGregor Columbus Columbus Columbus Johnstown Johnstown Johnstown Cleveland Exton City Exton Exton California New York New York New York Cincinnati Cincinnati Cincinnati Montreal Montreal Montreal Cleveland Cleveland Cleveland City City City Quebec Quebec Quebec Kansas City Kansas City Kansas City Please note playoff teams will be seeded in order of finish in the Post Season with the Crystal winner drafting last. Please consult the FHL Constitution under Draft for details of the draft and lottery. Special thanks go to Chad Pridemore who prepared the draft grid above and kept track of all the trades throughout the regular season. Please note errata change from last issue of Gamespeak Vol. 2., No. 4: Round 3 last pick should have been Boston (prior Kansas City pick) and Round 5 first pick should be Johnstown (prior California, Boston pick). 6

7 From the Commissioner s Office: What recently occurred in Round 1 of the FHL Quest for the Crystal was a shocker! Both top teams during the FHL regular season: Kansas City Ice Twisters (Commissioner s Trophy Winner with the Best Regular Season Point total with 104) and the Quebec Nordiques (runner up to the Commissioner s Trophy Winner with the 102 points) were both eliminated by the two #4 seeds Cincinnati Swords and Columbus Jaguars respectively. Needless to say this confounds the mind and confronts the imagination. In the Republic Conference, Swords Manager/Coach Francois Lessard had a masterful strategy to take care of the mighty Ice Twisters. The Swords played to their strengths utilizing their blueliners to lead the attack for games #1 and #2. Defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, Mike Green, Jamie McBain, and Stephane Robidas scored 1, 1, 2, and 3 goals respectively over the first two games. However Kansas City showed its true mettle and went into Sword Arena winning the next game 5-2 and then won in an OT classic 5-4 to square the series 2-2. Manager/Coach Joshua Pohl adjusted from his earlier games by playing his defense closer to the point which appeared to knock the Swords offense off its game. Francois then adjusted playing a more balanced offense and fed his forwards who dominated at the Sprint Center winning 6-0. Unknown Mike Santorelli dominated with 2 goals in game 5. In the clinching game 6, Mike Horton had a hat trick to lead the Swords to a 6-4 victory and clinched the series 4-2. However the true hero was Cincinnati s goalie King Henrik Lundqvist who came into his own winning MVP honors for the series with a GAA 2.55 and save PCT..913 for the series. Meanwhile in the National Conference, Ashlee Pridemore shocked the FHL World taking out Johnny Francoeur s mighty Quebec Nordiques in 5 games!!! In game #1 the visiting Jaguars jumped on Nordiques goalie Carey Price early for 3 first period goals by Datsyuk, Reasoner, and Filppula! Quebec scored the only goal in the second period on the power play off a point slap shot by Tyler Myers. Then the third period scoring was all Columbus Teemu Selanne who got a hat trick with 3 goals (one on the power play and two at even strength). Tim Thomas stood on his head with 36 saves. In game #2 Quebec got a quick start with goals by Vanek and Langenbrunner in the first period while Columbus was shut out. Then Nash scored in the second period to stake the Nordiques to a 3-0 lead. 7

8 Then Columbus would rally on two power play goals. Hossa scored the first power play goal near the end of the second period. Then Tanguay scored next power play goal near the half way mark in the third period to close the score to 3-2. Then the Nordiques get two empty net goals by Zetterberg and Nash to put the Jaguars away 5-2 to square the series 1-1. Then in game 3 the Quebec Nordiques had a total meltdown in against the Columbus Jaguars. The Jaguars ran away with 10-1 victory. I repeat 10-1!!! Pavel Datyuk scored three goals on the night followed by Cal Clutterbuck and Teemu Selanne scoring two each. Nordique goalie Carey Price was pulled after giving up giving up seven goals on 14 shots. Ribeiro scored the lone goal for Quebec. This game sets the FHL record for most goals scored by team in a single game. Then came the climatic game 5 where Jaguar goalie Tim Thomas leads the Columbus Jaguars to a shocking 1-0 victory over the Quebec Nordiques at Le Colisee! This was a shocking series upset 4-1 over the highly favored Nordiques who were runner up to last year's Crystal Finals and this year's runner up to the Commissioner's Trophy with team 102 points! Quebec finished 14 points ahead of Columbus in the National Conference. The Jaguars were the last team to qualify for the playoffs with 88 points and it took winning their final home game of the season against the McGregor Condors to do that. Thomas stood on his head with 40 saves emphatically slamming the door on any hopes of any Nordique come back. He was the unanimous choice for series MVP with 1.37 GAA and a.958 save PCT. Quebec's goalie Carey Price redeemed himself this game, after letting in 10 goals in game 4, with a 35 save performance in the loss! Quebec Manager/Coach Johnny Francoeur told Gamespeak Online after the game: "Tim Thomas was just the better man tonight, stopping all 40 shots from Quebec. Price was amazing too, but he let 1 in and it was too much as Columbus wins it 1-0. Good luck Ashlee for the rest of the playoffs." Quebec had 7 power plays but were unable to convert on any of them. There was even a 4:00 double minor to Columbus defenseman Jordan Leopold at the 8:01 mark into the second period that the Jaguars killed! The game was very tense with the score tied 0-0 mid way into the third period! Then the Jaguars pounced! Tomas Kopecky at 11:02 mark in the third period got one by Nordique goalie Carey Price to break the scoreless deadlock at 11:02 mark assisted by Sauer and Reasoner. This reminds me of the Bible verse in Matthew 20:16 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first. However in this race Jesus was referring to when people can come to Christ for eternal life and salvation. In Ephesians 2:8-9 its written For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourself. It is a free gift of God and not of works, lest a man should boast. Our life span is very limited as James 4:14 says Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time and then vanish away. Do you know what will happen to you after you die? Read John 5:24 and 3:16. If you are interested in hearing more of the Gospel please me and Chad and we would be glad to discuss! God Bless! 8