Ready for grading

This is the first edition of the WKP Platoon News, I hope all enjoy...

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WKP Weekly News

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Roughly 3300+ words (can get an exact amount when I update everything, going to bed for now)

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Below are all the articles written before hand for the last magazine that never made it to publication, Wanted to combine them all here so they could be graded sorry for the massive Post. If you could pay the correct people for their work that would be greatly appreciated.

<a href='index.php?showuser=1045' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-13'>Steelhead77</a> -

The Calgary Dragons remain smoldering coming off their 2nd consecutive trip to the cup finals in S33 after they won the 5th challenge cup in franchise history in S32. The Dragons were not able to defend their cup in S33 though, losing in a hard fought 6 games to the Wolfpack, but still have won 3 cups in the last 7 seasons. It’s been a great run and they do not look to be slowing down heading into S34. The team is still one of the strongest in the entire league and remain the team to beat in the always tough western conference.

The Dragons look to soar in S34. Coming off a big season last year that saw Calgary finish 30-14-6 and win their 2nd straight division title, they have a chance to improve on that this season. League superstar’s Randy Randleman and Nicholas Pedersen set the ice on fire last year with Dragons single season scoring records of 64 and 59 points respectively. They will once again lead the charge for the Dragons in S34, accompanied by up and coming star linemate Shane Gagner who will round out one of the most dangerous lines in the league. The Dragons forward group is very deep as they still boast veteran superstars Esa Anrikkanen, Alex Mack and Pierre Luc-Laflamme who always play at a high level along with their dominant two way face of specialist Schnitinfritz Jagr. Rounding out their forwards are break out candidate and sophomore star Joe Kurczewski and last year’s SMJHL MVP rookie Sepp Reiter. This is a dynamic forward group capable of putting a lot of pucks in the net this year. On the blue line the Dragons still have two all world superstars in former league MVP Bubba Nuck and assist machine Michael “Big Game” Boychuk. These two studs will lead the way on defense again for the Dragons along with up and coming shut down man Hunky Monkey and veterans Fernando Pergher and Jaime Hill. In net of course is the 3 time cup champion and always dependable Hunter Wong who’s backed up by the clutch play of Richard C. Hocolate. The Dragons may have lost Tommmy Creller and Chris Johnson in the off-season, but with a solid foundation and great leadership this team remains stacked and is a good bet to return to the finals in S34.

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<a href='index.php?showuser=881' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-13'>Muerto</a> -

The Manhattan Rage look to rebound from a disappointing S33, and make their way back to the playoffs in S34.

Expectations were high for the team after they won the Eastern Conference Finals in S32, before falling to the Calgary Dragons in the Challenge Cup Finals.

The team is known for its high-octane offense, they were among the league leaders in shots for and goals for. However, they struggled defensively in S33 - the lack of a replacement for retired Rage legend Roy Razin was evident, as the team leaked goals against.

The team looked to address that defensive depth issue by acquiring young defender Barak Obrana in a trade with Portland, and then drafting highly-touted prospect Hermanis Villy in the first round of the SHL Entry Draft.

The team also signed a Rage legend from the past, Tommy Creller, to replace the departing Zallerras Szlerchek. Creller is still a dominant player despite his advancing age, and hopefully the return to the team which drafted him will pay dividends.

The Rage have a potent top 6 forwards. The top line consists of VLAD McZehrl, the league's top point producer in the last 4 seasons at center. Flanking him are wingers Harry Hans, who has emerged as a potent scorer, and Ace Redding, who brings a powerful combination of speed and power to the line. Hans has scored 40 goals in the last 2 seasons, and his only entering his 5th season. Redding has seen improvements in his points and hits totals every season, he is primed to break out in a big way this season.

Their second-line is just as dangerous as the first. Center Kian Hamilton has had 3 straight seasons of 58 points, and last season potted 30 goals. Tommy Creller has never scored less than 30 points in his career, and has been consistent year in and year out. Winger Bryce Collins is still a fine playmaker despite his advancing years, and should fit in nicely on that line.

Journeyman Maximus Sarone and rookie Rurik Razin should see significant playing time on the 3rd line.

The Defense is led by All-Star and Stevens Trophy nominee Wyatt Wollker, who tied for a the defensive scoring lead last season with 48 points, a personal best. He is the only truly elite defenseman on the team right now, but newly acquired Barak Obrana should be ready to fill that void. The rest of the Rage defense is solid if not spectacular, with players such as Pal Vikingstod, Wendell Luna, and Nucky Toohoots expected to help solidify the defensive zone coverage.

Starting goaltender Jason Aittokallio had a spectacular rookie campaign, backstopping the team all the way to the Finals. A bit of sophomore slump perhaps last season, he looks to bounce back into top form this season. Backup Ekaterina Rudnikova continues to develop and is a reliable go-to option when called upon.

In conclusion, if the Rage can maintain their offensive production, and improve their defensive play, there is no reason to doubt they can be back in the playoffs again!

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Player Spotlights


Captain: Harry Hans
Position: Left Wing
Jersey # : 28
Ht: 6' 1" Wt: 181 lbs.
Birthplace: Surrey, BC, Canada
Drafted: S29 6th OV (by SEA)
S33 Stats: 50 GP - 18G 28A 46 Pts
Career Stats: 200 GP - 59G 78A 137 Pts


Alternate Captain: Ace Redding
Position: Right Wing
Jersey # : 15
Ht: 6'9" Wt: 290 lbs.
Birthplace: Scotland
Drafted: S31 9th OV (by MAN)
S33 Stats: 50 GP - 16G 19A 35 Pts
Career Stats: 150 GP - 38G 52A 90 Pts

Alternate Captain: Kian Hamilton
Position: Center
Jersey # : 5
Ht: 6'2" Wt: 213 lbs.
Birthplace: Talsia, Latvia
Drafted: S22 25th OV (by SEA)
S33 Stats: 50 GP - 30G 28A 58 Pts
Career Stats: 554 GP - 196G 255A 451 Pts


S33 Stevens Award Nominee : Wyatt Wøllker
Position: Defense
Jersey # : 2
Ht: 6'3" Wt: 205 lbs.
Birthplace: Bjøndthewall, Iceland
Drafted: S26 1st OV (by TEX)
S33 Stats: 50 GP - 11G 37A 48 Pts
Career Stats: 400 GP - 67G 187A 254 Pts

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<a href='index.php?showuser=1654' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-66'>Allegiant</a> -

The Edmonton Blizzard have made a number of moves this season aimed at rebuilding their cadre of youth, all the while protecting their core. This season’s team will see the return of veterans such as Ivan Koroviev, Nikolaus Scholz, Barney Stinson, and Theo Kane - fresh off of his record-breaking season. What the Blizzard lack in depth, they make up for in starpower, boasting one of the most impressive first lines in the league, along with a solid defensive corps. Expect to see the Blizzard playing a high tempo game, relying on their skilled forwards playing big-minutes to maintain constant offensive pressure. Relying heavily upon special teams, the Blizzard will make or break each game based entirely on their offensive prowess.

The biggest questions that linger for the Blizzard as the season draws nearer are whether young upstart Ryan Vas can continue to take on a more important role for the team, as Stinson and Windsor continue to slow, and whether Nikolaus Scholz can prove himself an adequate replacement for the outgoing Pedro Sarantez. Although the Blizzard have made moves to restock their prospect core, a core built around blue-chipper defenseman Roddy Hawkins, none of them are particularly SHL ready, placing added pressure on a fairly shallow Blizzard line-up. Despite their troubles at depth, expect the Blizzard to compete heavily for a playoff spot. With such a long record of success, Edmonton fans expect post-season play, and are eager to see the team have a chance to redeem themselves for their loss to the Los Angeles Panthers this past year. If Kane can replicate his success, and the Blizzard line-up can step up around him, the team may well surprise, even as experts continue to advocate for the trading away of veteran talent in favour for a full rebuild.


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<a href='index.php?showuser=1485' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>RaiN</a> -

After Toronto surprised everyone last season by taking the eventual Challange Cup Champions, New England to 7 games in the ECF, General Managers Barbashev and Taylor wanted to improve on last years success. This off-season GM Barbashev has acquired 3 new pieces to the depth chart and has opted himself to play defence for the good of the team. Due to Toronto not having a 1st in the S35 Draft, the North Stars are aiming to finally get over the hump and advance to the Challenge Cup Finals. Toronto feels that they have improved their roster enough to compete with New England in the Eastern Conference this time around as New England is the "team to beat". With the departure of Mark Harter in net, Jeff Kirkstone is entering his first season as a starter. Additionally, with the acquisitions of Reed Laing, Zalleras Szlerchek and most recently Robb Wind, Barbashev hopes that these highly talented players can spark an aging veteran core that have been the face of Toronto for the last decade. The ultimate goal for the North Stars is to win the Cup and end the 33 season curse. With a locker room of new faces, the only question is, can this roster achieve what 33 other North Star rosters have failed to do. Will the - what seems impossible, become the possible.

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<a href='index.php?showuser=2310' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-10'>JKortesi81</a> -

Draft Day In St. Louis

It wasn’t for a lack of trying.

The one thing I wanted to do when I came to St. Louis was to make sure we didn’t miss the playoffs two years in a row. I studied the draft like a rabid animal, talking to every prospect I could, hoping they’d be the missing pieces we needed to get back into the playoffs. We did well. Wagner is a good goaltender, he just needed some seasoning. Kennedy hasn’t ever met a hit he didn’t like. Andreoff gave up and can go away forever. Everyone crapped on Villy, but he turned into a hell of a defenseman. Zetterberg got lazy. Digrio, left for dead by some teams, turned out to be a draft steal. 4 out of 6 isn’t bad. But it wasn’t enough.

We still missed the playoffs. We had the players, they just had to grow a bit. We got lucky in the fact that all of our players were coming back to the team this season. We had 3 of the Top 10 picks going into the S34 draft. This was going to be good. Then the lottery came. We got smacked around by it, and instead of picking 2nd like we should be, we got smacked to 5th. The lottery sucks, thank goodness they’re changing it. I studied hard again. I started talking to the draft class, and I realized that a lot of these guys were special. This was a good draft to have 3 Top 10 picks in for sure. This is my draft story.

I’m not going to lie, we needed some defense badly going into this draft. Lucky for us, this draft was extremely deep in defensemen. We decided to eventually target 2 defensemen and a Forward in our first three picks. A lot of math, spreadsheets, rankings, and discussions took place and we felt really confident we’d get our guy at 5. It was pretty obvious who we shouldn’t be getting. Robert Phelps, Sophia Bennett, and Louie Garrett were all studs that warranted No. 1 overall pick consideration. None of them were falling to us. Our draft board, tailored to St. Louis’ needs, had us having Tomas Toothsome at 1, and Finn Kruger at 2. Surely, there was no way we didn’t get one, and there was maybe even an outside chance we got both. Right?

Wrong. I should’ve known that I was too calm heading into the draft. It felt too easy. So sure as the sun will rise, Toothsome went 3rd to Prince George and Kruger went 4th to Colorado. After an exclamation of lots of swear words, and then one last curse at the stupid lottery system, I realized that one of the Big 3 fell to us. And there he was, Louie Garrett. TML99 and I, we didn’t really rank him since we assumed he’d be gone. We were shocked Garrett fell. And apparently so was the rest of the league as three different teams messaged us about trading up to our spot. Was it for Garrett? I’d assume so. While we were in desperate need of Defense, we couldn’t pass up a potential star. We had to really figure things out. We had Khet Chupp on our list too, but we needed to try to figure out if he could be there at 8. It was just two picks.

Halifax picked 6th, and we figured pretty quickly that they’d be taking Gord MacKenzie. The Raiders have been searching for a Center for two drafts now, and I was certain they’d take him. It came down to Colorado at 7. They just took Kruger at 4th overall, so we took a gamble and hoped they’d look at some forwards there. We selected Garrett 5th overall then, feeling semi-confident we’d get our guy at 8th overall too.

Well, we were right about Halifax. They took Mackenzie at 6. I actually smiled, not because I was right, but because I know Leetchy had to be happy with getting the Center he wanted. Now, the moment of truth. The pick was in for Colorado. My heart sank for a half second as I saw that they drafted a D…but then I saw it was Niklaus St. Croix! What a relief! We ran to the podium to select Khet Chupp. We have big hopes for Khet here in St. Louis. Montreal messaged us right away to jokingly yell at me for sniping them on Khet. Before we could even really update our draft board, Montreal had taken Scotty Steele. And that’s when we smiled. We knew what we were going to do.

Our target since before the season even ended last year has been Chuck Goody, Jr. We knew that if he was anything like his father, we wanted him on our team. He came into the league a little early and signed with Halifax for the playoff run. Before the draft class came around and really grew by lots of players, CGJ was the player we wanted when we assumed we’d pick in the Top 2. After the draft class blossomed, we could tell that GMs were falling in love with the pure rookies, and for good reason. But I could sense that the players who had a family tree, or a bloodline in this league were getting a little left behind in the rankings and thoughts. So we gambled that Goody would be there at 10. And he was, so we snatched him up immediately. He should’ve been a top pick, but hey, things work out for a reason.

We didn’t have a third round pick, as we traded it the season before to Colorado to move up in last year’s draft. With that in mind, we ended up using our 4th and 5th round picks on two more defensemen, Caleb Harding, and Bojo Storm. Both players are considered projects, and we’ll do our best to work with them and see if they’re willing to put in the work to end up making the team. If not, that’s okay too.

The draft is the best part of being a general manager. You get to talk to a whole batch of new rookies, and really try to figure out who’s going to be the next SMJHL star. You can wheel and deal your picks, doing your best to get into the position you need to be in to get the players you want. But, no matter how much you prepare, how much you mock draft, or how well you think you have a handle on things, the truth is that you don’t. You can’t. There are too many variables, too many moving parts. But its within all of the unpredictability that makes this the best job in the world.

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<a href='index.php?showuser=2236' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-13'>Wally</a> -

Full Steam Ahead as Portland Sets Sail

As the off-seasons come and go the roster in Portland always tends to be the most active in regards to shaping. Only three seasons ago Portland had only two active players on it following the initiation of a complete rebuild. With time and development, many of the prospects are now becoming impactful SHL players and GM Kyle Wahlters has provided the additions of a few key veterans to speed up the learning curve.

This season the SHL West will have a new team finally ready to compete among the hierarchy of the cream of the crop. Entering his second season with the Admirals, Jonathan Lundberg continues to stay in the limelight while quietly developing into one of the best two-way centers the game has to offer. This season will welcome a few new faces per the norm in Portland. Jackson Cartier, Pedro Sarantez, Marc Andre-Malkin, and Mark Harter all bring great experience and success on both sides of center ice. While many have questioned the win-now mentality in Portland, Wahlters disputes the continued aging acquisitions by saying:

"It is interesting to hear the feedback regarding the acquisitions of Sarantez and Harter. Many are saying we are losing the youthfulness and future longevity. While players like Laing, Bent, Kaiser, and Obrana were difficult to see go, the growth of the latter three were slower than our ideal foundation that we wanted to build around. Laing on the otherhand lacked the ideal team commitment at which our locker room is so drunkenly crazy about. We still have ample youthfulness up and down our roster and a foundation that is second to none in futures' rankings."

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<a href='index.php?showuser=2327' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-69'>ztevans</a> -

Last season, the Winnipeg Jets flirted with snapping a postseason drought dating to Season 28. Despite winning 27 games, the Jets fell three points shy of a playoff spot in the highly competitive Western Conference. With another season of experience under the belt for their younger players, Winnipeg hopes Season 34 marks their return to the postseason.

The famed Winnipeg defensive core remains intact, including two members of the Jets’ Season 25 Challenge Cup squad. Rembrandt Q. Einstein remains a 30-point player, while Big Manious had one of the best seasons of his storied career. The Norwegian monster racked up 43 points, with his 16 goals matching a career-best mark in Season 26. Furthermore, Manious’ 162 hits were the most of any season in his ten-year career. Along with the veterans Einstein and Manious, Scott Robertson and Connor O’Reilly round out a strong top four defensively.

Meanwhile, the Jets forwards are developing nicely into their prime, and a step forward from this unit might be all it takes to make playoffs. The unquestionable offensive leader is Luke Fleming, collecting 56 points in Season 33. Travis Kudleychuk and Don Pellegrino were also just shy of a point-per-game pace, while veteran Yuri Boyka joined the Jets in a deadline deal and remains with the team. For Winnipeg to take the next step, their trio of Season 31 draftees – Corey Bearss, Zach Evans, and Jason Visser – will have to continue their steady improvement. All three players surpassed the 20-point plateau in Season 33, thanks in part to a fiery finish from Evans where he tallied six points in the last seven games of the season.

Lukas Berger remains in net for Winnipeg. While he has struggled at times in recent seasons, with a .895 save percentage in Season 33, the Austrian netminder was nothing short of sensational in IIHF this offseason. Both Berger and the Jets hope that success will carry over to the SHL season.

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<a href='index.php?showuser=2532' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-3'>TheRealBK</a> -

This Is Their Yard

It wasn’t too long ago that St. Louis was considered a juggernaut in the SMJHL. Nowadays, they’re more seen as a building team still looking for a proper identity. After finishing 6 points out of a playoff spot last season, the Scarecrows biggest fault was their lack of all-around game, finishing last in goals for and 6th in goals against. Failing to find consistency in their game, St. Louis was at the bottom looking up all season. Whenever they had a modest winning streak, they followed it up with a longer stretch of losses, which did not help their progress. Not much scoring was found past their top line, consisting of star players Fletcher Carric, Viktor Vorkampfer and Joonas Rasmussen. GM Joe Kerczewski addressed the need of defense in the draft, selecting Khet Chupp 8th overall, as well as Caleb Harding, Bojo Storm, and Chuck Goody, Jr. This will cause competition to start early for ice time, as only three spots are expected to be open. One or more of them will have to fill the void of the now-retired Stuart Minkus, who led defensemen in points for the team. The selection of Louie Garrett 5th overall in the draft also gives them a two-way option in the top 9. With the returning core coming back for another season, as well as the quick development from such players as Matthew Auston, Brett Kennedy and Hermanis Villy, the Scarecrows look more well-rounded than last year, which saw a lot of holes on their defense, which gave Jimmy Wagner a tough rookie season. Expect Wagner to bounce back with a better statistical performance this season. With their bottom 6 lineup looking more defensive than previous, this could be the season St. Louis fans have been looking for. However, the Scarecrows will start this season with a small handicap, with the suspensions of the aforementioned Storm and Vorkampfer as a result of their derogatory racial comments. Players will be expected to fill those roles for the first ten games, which will determine the season St. Louis will have this go around. It could very well be a combustible season in The Gateway City, but the ceiling is very high for their success if they can find the chemistry.

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<a href='index.php?showuser=2325' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-69'>Zoone16</a> -

Austria ends Cinderella run as S33 IIHF Champions!

Austria, a nation no one expected to win, let alone get out of group stage took the sporting world by storm on Sunday as they edged Norway 4-3 in overtime. Maximilian Wächter scored the championship winning goal at 3:51 of the first overtime period to seal it for the Austrian side as they lifted their first ever IIHF gold, and only second ever IIHF medal.
It was a close game throughout all 3 periods with neither team leading for more than 10 minutes. The first period was a tense affair and a goalie duel in it’s finest, purest aspect as both Lukas Berger and Brett Broadway held their teams in the game. A couple of penalties in the first gave way to a flurry of shots from the Norwegian team but Berger held strong.
Scoring finally opened early in the 2nd as Lukas Johnson was sent to the penalty box for tripping a mere 8 seconds in. Jason Forbrook wasted no time in capitalizing on a rebound thanks to a flurry of shots that Broadway could not respond to. But it was Norway who went to the locker rooms with the 2-1 lead after 2 periods as Jean-Luc Reflieux, on a breakaway, and Big Manious, on a deviation at the very end of the period, responded.
The third period would see the team trade goals early on between Pellegrino (Austria) & Falk (Norway). Jon Ross finally tied the game at the tail end of an Austrian power play, as Greta Iversen, who was called for High Sticking, came out of the penalty box. Both teams would keep up the offensive onslaught but as time winded down, each side prepared for the inevitable overtime. Maximilian Wächter would then become a national hero as he completed a tic-tac-toe with Lord Vader and Don Pellegrino to end the tournament.
“We had a special group of individuals this year and we came together very quickly. Everyone did their job to the best of their ability. Not everyone can be a goal scorer so everyone did their job and did it well. Hell, I even stopped a few pucks along the way”, responded winning goaltender Lukas Berger when asked about what made it work for the Austrian side.
“This win was for them. They had to wait so long for us, just to get a medal back in S29 and now in S33 we finally reach the top. We gave the best fans in the world the best medal of all. Gold!”, added Lord Vader on what he wanted to tell the Austrian fans back at home.
Earlier in the day, a goal by Blake Sherrill in overtime secured a 3-2 win for the United Kingdom

the United Kingdom defeated Finland 3-2 in overtime to secure yet another solid result for their side. It was their first medal since S30 when they lost to the same Finland in the grand final

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<a href='index.php?showuser=2077' rel='nofollow' alt='profile link' class='user-tagged mgroup-10'>ej27</a> -

The West Kendall Platoon is looking to rebound after a S33 season that didn't quite meet the experts' expectations. Led by the John McBride and Mike Honcho awards winner Matt Lewis-Flood, the Platoon is hoping for nothing less than one of the top two spots in the East. The team can count on a good amount of veterans, like Smirnov, Wagner, McDoodle or Linna but also some fresh blood like Volkova, Light and Jeziak, who all have played less than three seasons in the SHL. Only time will tell if balance will finally be found in the Floridian team's lines.

Though the road to playoffs is long and winding, the West Kendall Platoon seem to have found a route that gets them there with consistency. Unfortunately, it’s been a long time since they’ve taken that road all the way to the end. Even with a breakout season from goaltender Matt Lewis-Flood--one that won him the S33 John McBride and Mike Honcho awards--the Platoon found themselves once again unable to complete the journey to the Challenge Cup. They’ll will be looking to rebound in season 34, but after repeatedly failing to meet their own expectations, you might be wondering if this is a team that’s getting a little too used to losing when it matters most.

According to veteran defenseman Maria Maximova, the answer to that question is absolutely not. “We've been seen as Cup contenders for many seasons now and even if we haven't missed the playoffs for a while, we never reached our goal. It's disappointing and it would be easy to give up but I believe as long as we keep building our team with players who share our vision for the future and we look ahead instead of back, all our hard work will soon pay off.”

This is still a team with a lot of hope and they’ll be counting on their more experienced players like Maximova, Smirnov, McDoodle, Biscuit, and Wagner to continue to perform at high levels while also looking to the young blood players like Volkova, Light, and Jeziak to hold up their end of the deal. These are players with less than three seasons in the SHL, and a lot will be expected of them in the months to come.

Only time will tell if the Platoon will be able to find some balance in their lines, but with so many key pieces slotting into place, the attitude in Florida is one of excitement, and looking toward the future. Will this be their year? Who knows. But it would be foolish to count them out.

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I believe that is all of them