Blast from the Past Bradley takes the helm

Posted on Friday, July 10, 2020 by WCHL Hockey

A day that may live in infamy



July 8 2020 may be a date long remembered in Senators history. For the fans sake hopefully it will be remembered fondly. Ownership has gone thru the history of the WCHL and hired one of the original GMs Andy Bradley.

Thankfully the League Board of Governers have poor memories and Bradley himself refuses to comment, so we're not sure if he was shit-canned, ran out of town, tarred and feathered or simply slipped out quietly on his own over 10 years ago.

What we know of the 'new' GM is that he's more known for icing powerhouse teams and not so much for being present on draft day. When asked about this reputation, "My priority is always the entertainment value for the fans and a commitment to the players that post season success is the ultimate goal," seemed his mission statement.

The start has raised some eyebrows as Head Coach Naserdine was given his walking papers today. Expect to see a more NHL quality Coach announced shortly. Bradley claims that discussions went south with the Coach when discussing icing Draisitl on the Wing and how Barzal playing third line seemed to be a waste in talent. "More experience is needed behind the bench, as well as a GM that can grow with our younger players and give our vets the responsibility they deserve," said the new GM.

"This is a solid team, I need some time to see how they perform before I think about changes to the on ice product." The win last night was a great step forward for this team. It will be interesting to see if over the next few games they can string together some wins to move the team closer to the playoffs.

Leave a comment

Flyers off to hot start

Posted on Sunday, July 5, 2020 by WCHL Hockey

This Week in Philadelphia



The first week of Season 30 is in the books and the Flyers played some fine hockey this week. Your Philadelphia Flyers went 5-1,with a 3-0 record at home and 2-1 on the road. New Flyer goalie Ben Bishop turned in a perfect record at 5-0, while back up goal tender Jake Allen took the only loss of this part of the schedule. At one point Zdeno Chara the ageless sensation lead the Flyers in scoring with 4 assists in 4 games. However the team lead is now held by Bo Horvat with 8 points, while Colton Parayko has 7 points. Four other players, Lindholm, Huberdeau, Ovechkin and Zuccarello are all at a point a game pace with 6.

Ben Bishop
" It was the kind of start you want as a goal tender when you come to a new team, you want the boys to know they can rely on you to give them a chance to win every night, Jake and I, thats what we are all about."

The Flyers both pro and farm team were hit hard by injuries in the first week of play. Down on the farm for Lehigh Valley, both Ryan Donato and Danil Yurtaykin missed considerable time and up on the Pro team in Philadelphia, half of the starting top six, were injured, as Dimitry Kulikov is getting ready to return and both Alex Biega and newly acquired top defender, Esa Lindell have been sidelined for a month.

Gm Bourque
" Its a tough way to start the season, when half your top six go down less than a week into the season. Injuries are a part of the game, sometimes its a failure on the part of the player to make sure they are physically ready and other times its just the roll of the die, shit happens as they say. Claude will work the team with the players we have, this is an opportunity for some guys to step up and play to their potential and a chance for a new guy to show he belongs with the big club."

The injuries have forced some line up juggling on the both squads as call up were the word of the day. Defense-man, Ashton Sautner is the latest to get a chance on the blue line, Colin White who spent extended time last season with the big club was called up once again, its really just a matter of time before White is an everyday pro roster player.

Colin White
" I am excited every time I laced em up for the Flyers, I belong here and I will keep working to prove that point and make it hard for them to send me down. Playing with Gaborik is a blast, he's old enough to be my father, but he plays a lot better than my Dad....hahaha"

Leave a comment

Capitals set lines for Season 31

Posted on Sunday, June 28, 2020 by WCHL Hockey

Washington ready for action as season gets underway



The Washington Capitals are pleased to announce our forward lines for season 31:

Line 1 – Beast Line: Vladimir Tarasenko (LW) Steven Stamkos (C) Brent Burns (RW)

All three are beasts in every face of the game – hard-hitting, lightning quick, and gifted offensively. Tarasenko is the quintessential Russian first-line winger that's been making Caps fans drool for years. Stamkos is the pivot who can score in his sleep and anchors the line, while Burns is the wise veteran who doubles on D, when needed, playing a 200 foot game.

Line 2 – Eagle Line: Rickard Rakell (LW) Nick Bonino (C) Ondrej Palat (RW)

Their eagle eye instincts and vision is second to none and includes a solid ability to score with about a +10 per more defensive skill. Bonino plays a 2-way centre game – collecting assists merely by winning the draw and keeping the puck out of the defensive zone on the penalty kill. Both Rakell and Palat provide potent and fearless secondary scoring who can each jump up to the first line on a dime's notice. Palat and Stamkos have a history of playing together.

Line 3 – Bear Line: Zach Hyman (LW) Nick Suzuki (C) Mattias Janmark (RW)

Every season, the Caps ice a Bear line which is made up of players who have come up from our system – either drafted by the organization and/or developed in Hershey. This season's iteration might be a first in that all three players are Caps' draftees. They can each chip in offensively, are mostly responsible defensively, and can move up or down the line-up as needed. We'll keep an eye on Suzuki's performance in the big league.

Line 4 – Beaver Line: Derek Grant (LW) Brad Richardson (C) Scott Laughton (RW)

The Caps are rounded out by an industrious and hard-working group of Canadians. These guys grind away at their opponents, love to hit, go into the corners, and retrieve the puck in enemy territory. This year's iteration includes a particular ability to score more consistently.

Leave a comment

Ducks dig in for redemption

Posted on Thursday, June 11, 2020 by WCHL Hockey

Anaheim looks to rebound after strong season doesn't result in playoff success



Anaheim Next Season Line combos

1st Line (C) Patrice Bergeron ------(LW) Pavel Zacha --------- (RW) Ryan Couture
2nd Line (C) Ryan Strome -------(LW) Alexander Radulov ---- (RW) Anthony Duclair
3rd Line (C) Mikeal Backlund ---(LW) Michael Grabner --------(RW) Jonathan Drouin
4th Line (C) Curtis Lazar ------- (LW) Sven Baertschi ----------(RW) Richard Panik

Defensive Pairings

1st Pair Victor Hedman -------- Ryan Graves
2nd Pair Sami Vatanen --------- Jake Muzzin
3rd Pair Sea Theodore --------- Marcus Pettersson
4th Pair Victor Hedman --------- Kevan Miller

FORWARD LINES

The 1st line has great offensive potential with the ability to play defense when needed. They have youth sandwiched between our two top veteran forwards. This is our go to unit.

The 2nd line has great speed with youth and a healthy dash of veteran presence. This line has scorers that have good puck handling and passing abilities. This group has some bite and can sneak up and bite you in the ass.

The 3rd Line Has a little of everything They have a Defensive specialist along with forwards that have scoring, passing, and puck handling ability. Two of these players are capable of playing on the 1st or 2nd lines if need be.

The 4th Line Is made up of players that can hold their own against almost any line. Their main purpose is not to give up any goals and to score an occasional goal themselves. We feel they are more than capable of doing just that.

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS

1st Pair, Has a Star defenseman and a shutdown defenseman. Hedman can jump in the play and carry the mail knowing that Graves has his back and will be there to shutdown any attempted breakaways by their opponents. Both have good speed, size and a strength.

2nd Pair, This defensive pair know each other well. They have been playing together as a pair for several seasons with the Ducks. They are both great all-round defensemen that can move the puck for breakouts and play good defense. They are always there for their goalie and seldom leave their goalie out to dry.

3rd Pair, These guys have lots of offensive skill and they play their best defense by playing offense and keeping the puck in their opponents end on the ice. They also have enough speed to get back on defense when needed.

4th Pair, Our top defenseman logs extra minutes with the 4th Pair. Hedman does everything he does so well on the 1st Pairing when paired with Miller who is capable of playing the role that Graves fills on the 1st Pairing.

All in all, most of the faces are the same as last seasons but this is the season for the young players to step up and show their stuff.

Leave a comment

Capital success

Posted on Monday, May 18, 2020 by WCHL Hockey

Washington reflects on season 30



The Washington Capitals completed season 30 with 40 wins and 103 points which was good enough for 3rd in the Metropolitan and 4th in the Eastern conference. The Caps finished with a +44 goal differential.

Scoring. The Caps offence was led by Vladimir Tarasenko (84 points in 82 games played) and Brent Burns (79 points in 77 games played) who both scored at more than a point per game pace. Ten more players – Rickard Rakell (66 points), Steven Stamkos (64 points), Mikko Koivu (54 points), Zach Hyman (49 points), Oscar Klefbom (46 points), Erik Gustafsson (44 points), Nick Bonino (43 points), Jack Johnson (42 points), Brad Richardson (41 points), and Shea Weber (40 points) – recorded at least one point every two games. Tarasenko also led the team in goals (35) and shots (385), Rakell had the most game-winning goals (6), and Burns was the team lead in assists (56).

Various Stats. Johnson led the team with a +22 (+12 with the Caps and +10 with the Buffalo Sabres) and was among 12 players with a positive +/- rating (minimum 10 games played). Johnson also led in other categories: shots blocked (132), penalty minutes (93 PIM), and hits (93). Koivu finished with the top face-off winning percentage of 60.49% (minimum 750 draws taken).

League Leaders. The Caps had the best power play (23.68%) and face-off winning percentage (56.24%) in the WCHL, and were respectably top five in Goals For, Shots Against, and PIM/GP. Koivu and Burns also led the league in face-offs and defenceman production respectively. Both Tarasenko and Burns cracked the top scorers list.

Transactions. The Caps were relatively quiet this season on the trade front but made a couple of deadline deals in bringing back Johnson and shipping out Marco Scandella. Both deals were for picks and Scandella was acquired earlier in the year for Valtteri Filppula. Three defencemen – Burns, Weber, and Jake McCabe – were re-signed.

MVPs. The MVP (Offence) is Tarasenko who was productive and steady all season. The MVP (Defence) is Burns who averaged the most minutes played (23.32) for a blueliner and fueled the power play.

Leave a comment

Flying into the playoffs

Posted on Monday, May 4, 2020 by WCHL Hockey

Philadelphia sets sights on long post-season run



This Week in Philadelphia- Playoff Edition

The regular season is over, the Philadelphia Flyers have finished 2nd in the Met Division with 51 wins and 106 points. Carried by their offense, which scored the 3rd most goals  and had the #1 power play for the season. The Flyers finished the season with a loss to Washington and an OT loss to Carolina. The Flyers received an injury to PK specialist Jay Beagle who will miss the start of the first round. Worse news Captain Zdeno Chara the teams best defensive dman received a 6 game suspension in game 81 and will miss the first 5 games of the first round.

Gm Bourque
" The loss of Jay and Zdeno right out of the gate, hurts the team in a number of areas, leadership and defense among the very top of that list, we are going to have to pull together to weather the storm."

Assist Captain Alex Ovechkin
" Zdeno is our leader and Captain, he got that 6 game suspension sticking up for his team and team mates, we have to play well enough to give him a chance to get into the series, Jay too, we are going to see what we are made of thats for sure."

The Match Up

The Philadelphia Flyers will play Division rival the Washington Capitals. The teams mirror each other in many respects, both a very strong offensive teams, you wouldn't want to try and make a living based on the two teams differences, both have tremendous offensive talent, both have survived on middle of the pack goaltending and wicked power plays, Philadelphia finished 3rd in goals scored, Washington 4th, Philadelphia had 106 points, Washington 103, both teams have been 1-2 on the power play all season long, both teams play in the toughest Division in the WCHL. The difference may be on defense, at the deadline Washington made a move to get a veteran rental dman, Philadelphia had a deal in place but failed to get it in before the deadline add to that Chara's 6 game suspension, 5 games remaining and this could be where the rubber hits the road. The series begins tonight in Philadelphia, the Flyers one of the league's best home teams, Washington is the league's best road team. The season series belongs to Washington at 3-2, they also won all three games after the addition of that all important rental dman. So even though the Flyers have the home ice, most pundits would suggest that a slight edge goes to the Capitals based on the above. Either team that makes it through should be trouble in the 2nd round. Go Flyers Go !

see you at the Wachovia Center.....out for now...peace

Leave a comment

It's Always Sunny in Philaldelphia

Posted on Tuesday, March 31, 2020 by WCHL Hockey


A look at the week that was in Philadelphia

Bo Knows Hockey

Bo Horvat has missed eight games over the last two weeks and the Flyers have really missed his leadership and work ethic, Bo is the consummate team player, no matter what his role, he accepts and always is productive. Bo finally made it back last night as the Florida Panthers came a visiting at the Wachovia Center. The Flyers were a little flat to say the least, even after Bo in his return to the line up, set up James Neal and  gave the home team a 1-0 lead. The Flyers would not score again and lost 5-1.

Bo Horvat
" I am really happy to be back in the line up, life without ice is no life at all, hockey is all I know, I can't remember a time when I wasn't involved in hockey, you know really know how much you miss it until its taken away from you, the team has been just fine without me, but I know I can contribute and help the team, and now that we have moved Ryan, I think I will be playing in other situations."

What Bo is referring to in case you missed it was a blockbuster trade with San Jose to finally provide Bo Horvat with a dynamic top line winger. Jonathan Huberdeau fits that to a tee, the 26 year old former 3rd overall pick has been steadily rounding into a superstar, Huberdeau and Ovechkin may give the Flyers the best top two left wingers in the business and that's important when your centers are Horvat and Duchene, both probably better suited to C2 than C1. Don't get me wrong they are both fine center-men with good upsides, both can drive a line and both are reliable.

The Trade:

To San Jose: Ryan Getslaf, William Nylander and Jacob Chychrun
To Philadelphia: Jonathan Huberdeau

The is the second big trade that Philadelphia has made, involving multiple pieces of youth from the farm, last deal was for Colton Parayko. Both players look to be key blocks in the Philadelphia wall. The deal for Parayko did not involve a pro roster player, this time Ryan Getslaf and important cog in the wheel is moving. Now Getslaf was playing 3rd line center and Huberdeau will play top line left wing, so there is that, Huberdeau is a better offensive weapon and then there's that too.

GM Bourque
" This is an upgrade offensively Huberdeau is one of the game's best players and he appears to be just getting better and he is only 26, Ryan is a terrific player and person with rare leadership skills. Part of this deal was finance as well, we were having a hard time getting Nylander and Chychrun into the line up and Ryan's 9 million dollar price tag was going to have to be moved next season for sure, the timing just seemed right as the team is playing well and looking to try and be a playoff team this season, well you know best laid plans, sometimes its better to just leave things alone, but we think Huberdeau is worth it."

The Games:
835 Philadelphia Flyers (5) vs Minnesota Wild (2)
852 Florida Panthers (2) vs Philadelphia Flyers (3)
871 Philadelphia Flyers (3) vs Colorado Avalanche (4) - OT
881 Philadelphia Flyers (3) vs Detroit Red Wings (1)
892 Florida Panthers (5) vs Philadelphia Flyers (1)

....out for this week....peace ya'all

Leave a comment