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Houston Monthly Rewind October 2020 Before the first game of the season, the GHL head offices sent out a memorandum, reminding all teams and fans that the league had switched this season to a 3-2-1-0 point system. Regulation wins would earn a full point share, while overtime games would result in a 2/1 split. Yes, I totally forgot that that was an option, let alone that I had chosen it. My bad!  Meighan scored the first goal of the season on the powerplay against Milwaukee on 10/05. Laine would take the rare Diving penalty, leading to the Mugs tying the game at 1, but Finnigan regained the lead for the Satellites before the end of the first. Milwaukee would again tie the game on the powerplay in the second, and the game would remain tied until Meighan won it, 3-2 in OT with his second of the game. Whitmore started the season strong, with a .949 on 39 shots against. Facing Yellowknife on 10/08, Luongo would score his first career goal with 7:50 left in the first. Klementyev would add to the lead 4 minutes later, and Robinson made it 3-0 in the second before Yellowknife finally answered on the powerplay. The Diamonds would score on the PP again in the third to make it a 1-goal game, but the Satellites held on to win 3-2. After the game, with the Satellites looking at a mere 20% on the PK, Baranka and Samuelsson would join the second unit in place of Lehto and Maki. The game against Victoria on 10/12 would go scoreless all the way to OT, when defenseman Alex Peters would beat Whitmore for the 1-0 Gardeners win. Brasar would take the loss in his first game of the season vs. Portland on 10/15, with a .900 on 30 shots. Kuznetsov had a goal and Lehto had a goal and an assist in the 3-2 loss. Facing Whitehorse on 10/17, the Satellites would go up by a goal only to let the Huskies tie it, three times. Irving Lucas would take the 4-3 lead for Whitehorse with 1:12 left in the game, and that would be the final score. Whitmore had his first bad game of the season with an .871. A 3-1 win over Regina on 10/22 stopped an 0-0-2-3 slide since the first two games. Meighan, Moger, and Finnigan scored the goals. The Satellites went up 3-1 on Tucson on 10/29 thanks to Finnigan, Glynnensteins, and Laine, only to collapse in the third and lose 4-3. It took OT vs. Kelowna on 10/31 to find a winner, but Voynov gave Houston the 4-3 win in the last game of the month. Baranka had 2-1-3 and Lehto had 3 assists. Record after 12 games: 2-3-2-5, 14 points. 5th Southwest, 21st overall. Analysis: Well, 5 wins out of 12 games isn't great, to say the least. Especially when 3 out of 5 didn't earn full points. Special Teams seems to be what's killing us overall: The powerplay was below average (14.3%, 21st), and the penalty kill greatly improved from 20%, but it still isn't good at all (75%, 28th). We may have to keep an eye on what Assistant Coaches become available and try to boost those areas. Whitmore was fantastic as usual with a .928 SVP. Our second and fourth forward lines are negative in +/-, but not too far. The third defensive pair was such a concern though that, after the last game of the month, GM Goonson went out and made some moves:  Right side Two Way D Erik Cernik, 23, 80 OVR medium Top 6 was a Restricted Free Agent for St. Catharines, but the Panthers had no cap space to offer him a contract. The 6'4" Slovak, a former 2nd round pick, had 12 points and a +11 in 67 games last year, but he was forced to sit the first month of this season without a contract. With no compensatory picks required under $1M, GM Goonson presented Cernik with an offersheet of 3 x $935K, which he signed. St. Catharines was unable to match, and Houston had a new, young bottom-pairing defenseman.  Not finished yet, Goonson also signed 27-year old Swede Frederik Carlsson 80 OVR 7th D to a 1 year, $950K contract. The left side Two Way D-man had 28 points in 155 career games over 5 seasons in Atlanta, Fredericton, and St. John's. With too many spare parts defensemen now clogging up the depth chart, Goonson put out feelers around the league and soon received an offer:   Klementyev, a 7th, and next year's 4th for RW sniper Spencer Fox 80 OVR Top 6. Fox, 26, is on a 1 year, $695K contract. Expected to be a top-line contributor when he was drafted, Fox had languished in the minors his entire career, despite scoring 2 goals in his only 4-game call-up. The fourth line wasn’t working with three Two Way centers, so hopefully Fox on the right wing instead of Tremblay will provide a spark to help turn things around next month. October Stats    October Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are third in the league with a 9-1-0-3 record. Right wing sniper Dainius Galanov is leading the team with 16 points, but only a +4. Khristich, the big D-man, has only 1 point but is +9 on the bottom pair. G Lou Bernier, 25, is putting on quite a show, with 9 wins and a .941 in 11 games.   
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 02:02 on Jan 18, 2021 |
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Jan 18, 2021 01:42
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Houston Monthly Rewind November 2020 The month started strong, with a 3-1 win over Fredericton. Glynnensteins, Solovev, and Samuelsson all scored, and Fox picked up an assist for his first point. Whitmore had a .970 in his first game. After that, unfortunately, the team went on another slide, losing three in a row starting with back-to-back 3-0 shutouts at the hands of Milwaukee and Memphis. Carlsson scored 2 goals and Brasar took the L in the 7-3 loss to Yellowknife that followed. After scoring only three goals in three games, the Satellites exploded for 14 in the next two: a 6-1 win over Red Deer and an 8-3 win over Tucson. All 6 goals in the game against the Bison were from different scorers, while Meighan and Solovev had 2 each in the victory over the Foxes. After a 3-2 OT win over Oklahoma City, Brasar got his first start since he gave up 7 to Yellowknife. He was better in the rematch against Red Deer, but he still gave up 4 in the 4-2 loss. The Satellites just can't catch a break when it comes to backup goalies. Next, Houston beat San Francisco twice, back-to back. The 5-0 shutout over the Friars on the 25th would turn out bittersweet, though, as Meighan would break his collarbone in the game and will be out until January. Voynov returned to the first line and Baranka moved up to the second. The first game without Meighan went better than anyone thought, beating Portland 7-0. Abrahamsson had 1-3-4, and Finnigan and Laine had 2 goals each. Houston would split the last two games of the month, with Whitmore beating Baltimore 2-1 and Brasar taking a 4-2 loss to Moncton to reach 0-5 on the season. Standings after 25 games: 9-4-2-10, 37 points. 7-1-0-5 this month. 4th Southwest, 15th Overall. Analysis: Huge difference from the first month. Eight wins, seven of them in regulation. If this trend continues, the team will keep climbing and a bad October could be left behind. For forwards, the first line was scoring, but are barely positive in +/-. Finnigan has almost half his points this year on the PP (9/20). The second line locked it down defensively this month, with Voynov +8 and Moger and Laine + 11. One concern is Samuelsson, who has just 4P and is -7, yet just got moved up to the third line because of injury. The fourth line just can't seem to get going, with only 4 points spread across 4 players in a combined 53 games. Our defense is doing great. Abrahamsson and Lehto have 17P, the whole D-corps is +5 or better. GM Goonson is looking like a genius with those Free Agent signings. Whitmore had an unbelievable .950 SVP this month, and now leads the league with a .939. Brasar was worse this month than last, dragging down his SVP from merely "slightly below average" to a heinous .861. The powerplay actually fell one spot to 22nd with 13.8%, just .1 behind Fredericton. The penalty kill climbed to 85.7% though, ninth in the league. November Stats    November Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are now 20-1-0-6, 3rd in the league. Jon Murray leads the team with 29 points, +10. On D, Tracy Simpson has 8 points, +11, and Khristich still only has 1 point but is +16. Lou Bernier continues his impressive play with a 17-4 record, .942 SVP and 1.71 GAA.   
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Jan 19, 2021 14:07
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Houston Monthly Rewind December 2020 Fox opened the month's scoring against Jacksonville, but the Satellites found themselves down 3-1 in the third. Glynnensteins scored twice on the powerplay to send the game into OT, but it wasn't enough as Houston fell to the Rivermen 4-3. The Satellites turned it around in the next four games, though, by beating St. John's 5-2, Yellowknife 3-1, St. Catharines 4-1, and Albuquerque 3-2. Finnigan had 3-3-6, Glynnensteins 0-6-6, Abrahamsson 3-2-5, Javanainen 3-1-4, and Lehto 0-3-3 during the 4-game win streak. Since being added to the powerplay at the start of the month, Fox also broke out with 2-3-5 on the PP (and 1 even-strength assist) in the first 4 games. Alas, all good things come to an end, and so it was that Brasar got his first start of the month vs Fredericton. To be fair, the team only spotted him one goal in the 4-1 loss. But an .871 is becoming a sadly common performance for him. Voynov had 1-1-2 in a 3-1 win over Halifax, Fox had 1-1-2 in the 5-4 win over Charlotte, and Moger had 1-1-2 in the 4-3 OT loss to Atlanta. Lehto, Moger, and Baranka all had 1-1-2 and Laine had 1-2-3 in a wild 6-5 OT loss to Whitehorse. On Christmas Eve, it was announced that several Houston players had been invited to the World Juniors:   The month ended with a back-to-back against Iqaluit. Brasar got the first start, dropping game one 7-3 with a .794. Whitmore, surprisingly, didn't do much better the next night, losing 5-3 to end the month. Standings after 37 games: 15-4-5-13, 58 points. 6-0-3-3 this month. 3rd Southwest, 15th Overall. Analysis: Not a bad month to start with, but it could have been much better if they hadn't ended it on an 0-0-2-2 slide. The first line continued their theme of offense over defense, as they were all PPG or more, yet they were also -7 on the month. The second line was fine, about half a PPG and only -2. On the third line Solovev had 6 points, but Samuelsson and Kuznetsov had only 3 points combined. But they also barely got scored on, going -1 this month. Fox was the breakout star on the fourth line with 8 points, while Tremblay and Luongo combined for only 5 points, and the whole line was even in +/-. The defense performed very oddly this month. Abrahamsson had twice as many points as Javanainen (12 to 6), but the first pair were both -6. On the second pair, Lehto had four times as many points as Maki (8 to 2), but they were both +3. For Carlsson and Cernik on the third pair, in their first month together they had 4 points and a +5, but they had 0 points and were -7 this month! In goal, Whitmore appeared in 10 games and went 6-0-3-1, meaning the team earned 21 of 30 possible points in front of him despite a .900 SVP. He was still much better than Brasar, who had an .833 in his two appearances. The Powerplay has been on fire this month, climbing to 18.6%, 12th in the league. The Penalty Kill also improved slightly to 86.1%, 5th in the league. December Stats    Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are now leading the MGHL with a 28-2-1-11 record. Jon Murray still leads the team with 48 points, +15, although 4 other forwards are within 4 points of him. On D, Brian Skidmore is almost PPG with 7-32-39, Tracy Simpson and Isaac Nantais are +21 on the second pair, and Khristich has fallen from +16 to +4. The goalies have cooled off just a bit: Lou Bernier won 6 out of 10 games and reduced his SVP (although still league-leading at .931) despite having 3 shutouts. Jason Sauer won 3 of 5 games, and lowered his SVP just barely, from .928 to .925.    The World Juniors are still in progress, but at the New Year break, Canada and Finland are leading their respective Groups.  Finland leads the individual points board, with this year’s projected first-overall draft pick Aatu Ramo leading the way, followed by 2022 Draft-eligible Bjorn Ambert and Houston’s own Tuukka Ahonen. Indianapolis’ Quin Leonard (currently playing with the MHGL Evansville Grasshoppers) and Kansas City’s Bowen Burch (currently playing with the MGHL Joplin Jets) round out the Top 5.  I wouldn’t expect it to stay that way, though, since Finland’s numbers are a bit inflated by early beatings laid on the worst teams in the tournament.  The rest of the Satellites’ prospects don’t have much to show in the tournament so far: 
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Nov 3, 2022 |
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Jan 21, 2021 22:14
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Houston Monthly Rewind January 2021 On January 1st, the Houston Satellites announced they had made a trade with the Lousiville Kings: G Andreas Brasar and C Jim Buswell for G Mike Sims. Brasar, 28, 80 backup is on the last year of a $1.16M contract. The Swedish netminder, a 2004 7th Round pick (#199) for Tucson, will now be on his seventh team (eighth if you count his two stops in Baltimore) in 12 years. He had no wins in 7 appearances this season, with an .852 SVP and 4.57 GAA. Buswell, 25, 79 medium Top 9 was a 2013 1st Round pick (#29) for Houston. The 6’2” Canadian, a Two-Way Center, had 18-20-38 and +15 in 42GP for the MGHL Austin Sputniks.  Sims, 38, 84 Starter was a 5th Round pick (#154) for Houston in 2001. Sims started the season with the Brandon Harvesters where he went 2-4 with an .899 SVP. He then got traded to Louisville, where he went 4-8 with a .901 SVP. He has a career .908 in 465 games, and is on the last year of a $1.5M contract.  Halfway through the season, the Kings were second-last in the East and 12 points out of a playoff spot. They certainly weren’t going to re-sign a 38-year old goalie for next year, and we aren’t Top 5 in the league any more; we can’t afford to be dropping games thanks to a lousy backup goalie when we’re in a race just to stay in the playoffs. Louisville wasn’t particularly interested in Brasar, unsurprisingly, but they wanted to get rid of Sims and they were interested in Buswell, who is a borderline GHL/MGHL player and still relatively young.  Whitmore started the month with a hard luck loss, as the Satellites fell to Albuquerque 2-1 in the first game of the month despite his .939 on 33 shots. Lehto had the only goal, unassisted. Things didn't improve in the next game, as Houston was shut out 4-0 by Victoria's backup Page Lander in the first game of a back-to-back. Sims got his first start with Houston the next night vs. Regina. He picked up the Satellites' first win of the month, 4-2, with a .938 on 32 shots. Baranka, Fox, Laine, and Solovev were the goal-scorers, and Cernik got his first point of the season by assisting on Baranka’s goal. Whitmore picked up his first win this month with a .925 on 40 shots in a 4-3 OTW over Atlanta. Glynnensteins had 2-1-3 and Fox scored the OT winner. Another vexing 2-1 loss followed, to Tucson this time, punctuating the fact that the Satellites seem to be having trouble scoring this month. The next game vs. Oklahoma City would go to OT, before Voynov finally got the 3-2 game winner with 4 seconds left. Jan. 13 would bring two pieces of good news. First, Thomas Boumedienne and Team Sweden had won Gold at World Juniors!   Boumedienne had 4-6-10, +8 in 7 games playing on Sweden's second line, alongside Fredericton's Alex Holm (9-4-13, +8) and a projected 2nd Round pick for this year's draft, C sniper Melker Sjodin (2-2-4, +8). Sweden defeated Tuukka Ahonen and Team Finland to make it to the Gold Medal Game, while Brandon Irwin and Tracy Simpson with Team USA beat Canada to face them. Finland put up a valiant effort but fell short of the Bronze, despite having the highest-scoring first line in the tournament. Sweden, meanwhile, completed their undefeated streak and blew out Team USA 5-1 to earn Gold.    The second piece of good news was that Scott Meighan had returned from his broken collarbone in time to face Brandon on the 14th. Voynov would push down to the second line and Tremblay (3 points, Even in 35 games) would come out of the lineup. Sims got his second start of the month vs. the Harvesters, earning the first star of the game with a .970 in the 2-1 win. Solovev and Fox scored the goals, and Meighan had 6 SOG but no points in his return from injury. The next game vs. Regina was one to forget, as Houston lost 6-2. The Cyclones got out to a 6-0 lead before Laine and Meighan made the score less embarassing, but the Satellites never had a chance. Heading into the All Star break, Houston beat St. Catharines 4-2. Abrahamsson, Finnigan, and Lehto had 1-1-2, and Luongo also scored against the Panthers. Apparently well-rested after the break, Whitmore and the Satellites earned a 4-0 shutout over Indianapolis. Javanainen had 3 assists, and Solovev and Moger scored. Facing Charlottetown on the 29th, Glynnensteins and Meighan scored, but it wasn't quite enough as Houston lost 3-2. The next night in St. John's, Sims got his third start of the month, facing the Advancers. He made it to OT but couldn't continue his perfect streak, as the Satellites would lose 3-2. Meighan picked up an assist on Finnigan's powerplay goal, meaning that (after his first game back where he didn't score) he had 3-2-5 in the past 5 games. Standings after 49 games: 19-6-6-18, 75 points. 4-2-1-5 this month. 4th Southwest, 13th Overall. Analysis: This was not a great month. We had some unfortunately-timed games where we couldn't score, getting shut out or losing 2-1. The Win/Loss record was basically a seesaw, and the team failed to put together any kind of a streak. Meanwhile, San Francisco apparently had a great month: they leapfrogged Houston to take 3rd in the Southwest, even though the Satellites moved up 2 places in the league overall. Meighan returned to the first line firing on all cylinders, with 5 points and a +2 in 6 games. Finnigan and Glynnensteins both had 9 points, +3. Voynov had 8 points and was Even, but he spent half the month on the first line. Moger and Laine only had 4 points each and were -1, it seems that they were the ones having the scoring problems all month. Not surprising since they were playing with Baranka, who had only 3 points and was -2. The bottom six was dragging this month, too. Solovev had 4 points and Kuznetsov had none, but they were playing with Samuelsson who had just 1 point and was -2. Fox had 3 points +1, Luongo 2 points +1, and Tremblay had zero, although he was +2. On defense, top pair Abrahamsson and Javanainen combined for 13 points, but they were -3. Up next, Lehto had 7 points and Maki had only 1, but they were +2. On the bottom pair, Carlsson had 3 points and Cernik just the one, but they were +1. A huge turnaround for that third pair, who were -7 last month. Whitmore appeared in 9 games and had only 4 wins, although one of them was a shutout. Sims had a 2-0-1-0 with a .939 SVP and 1.95 GAA, total night and day results compared to Brasar. January Stats    Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are 34-2-2-14, 1st in the league. Jon Murray still leads the team with 63 points, +25, but again the whole first line is within 4 points. On D, the first pair is scoring like crazy, almost PPG and +16. The second pair has less than 20 points, but are +25. Khristich has only 3 points on the year but is +4. In goal, Bernier went 6-3 this month. For some reason Sauer only played one game, though.   
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 20:36 on Oct 17, 2021 |
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Jan 25, 2021 12:34
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Houston Monthly Rewind February 2021 The theme of "good and bad" continued this month with the first game, against Portland. Javanainen would score two goals in the third period to give the Satellites the 8-6 win over the Roses, only for it to be revealed after the game that he had suffered a minor fracture in his leg. Houston would be without their #2 defenseman for about two weeks, and this at a critical time leading up to the trade deadline while they were clinging to the second wildcard spot. Not to be overshadowed by the injury, though, is that Finnigan had 1-3-4 and Glynnensteins had 4 assists in the high-scoring game. Robinson would play on the bottom D pair, pushing Cernik to his off-side. Solovev had 2 goals, and Voynov and Meighan had 1-1-2 in the next game, a 5-4 win over Oklahoma City. Although he got two wins, Whitmore had a concerning .854 over the first 2 games, so Sims would get the next start vs. Kelowna. He didn't disappoint, with a .919 in the 4-3 win. Abrahamsson had 2 assists in the game. Whitmore put in another distressing performance with an .878 vs. Brandon, although he did face 41 shots, so the team wasn't making it easy for him. His performance cost him this time, as the Satellites lost 5-4 in OT. He still had a .920 on the season at this point, but he had only played 42 games at this point, so fatigue shouldn't have been a factor in his recent play. Coach Rubinowitz stuck with Whitmore to face Red Deer, and the starter proved the Coach right with a .938 in the 4-2 win. Amazingly, Javanainen would return slightly ahead of schedule, in time to face the Halifax Mariners on the 13th. Whitmore would earn his first shutout of the year, and Abrahamsson scored the only goal for a 1-0 win. Sims got the next start, the first of a back-to-back against San Francisco. Javanainen scored Houston's only goal again, but this time it was a 3-1 loss. More concerning, Voynov injured his foot in the game, and would be out about 2 weeks. The next night, Whitmore got the start and (despite an .879) picked up the win thanks to 7 goals from his teammates. Laine had 2, and Tremblay got one in his first game back in the lineup. After the game, though, the big news came down: Javanainen re-aggravated his leg injury, and this time the prognosis was 3 months recovery time. The 21-year old won't be seen on the ice again this year, unless maybe if the Satellites made it all the way to the Legacy Cup Finals. Whitmore had another good game vs. Moncton (.939 in a 3-2 win) only to follow it up with another game where he got bailed out by goal-scoring vs. Tucson (.848 in a 7-5 win). Sims was supposed to play the next night of the back-to-back vs. Hamilton, but he pulled something in warmups and Whitmore had to play, resulting in an .828 in the 5-2 loss. I actually have no idea what happened there. Either a glitch or the lineup didn't save when I swapped goalies. Sims got his final start in the next game, a 6-5 OTW over Charlotte. Moger had 2-1-3, Lehto had 2 assists, and Samuelsson got the OT winner. Whitmore closed out the month with a .946 on 37 shots to earn the 3-2 OTW over Kelowna. Finnigan and Fox scored in regulation, and Meighan got one final goal to end the month. Standings after 62 games: 27-8-7-20, 104 points. 8-2-1-2 this month. 3rd Southwest, 11th overall. Analysis: At first glance this seems like a great month. We won 10 of 13 games and picked up 27 of a possible 36 points. Look closer, however, and there are some worrying signs. Whitmore, who led the league in Save Percentage earlier in the year, had an .896 in his 10 games. And we lost our 21-year old #2 defender until probably the third round of the playoffs, maybe even the finals. If we even make it that far without him, of course. Overall, though, it seems we were able to outscore our poor defense this month. For forwards, the first line was +4 this month. Glynnensteins had 7-9-16, Finnigan had 3-11-14, and Meighan had 7-7-14. Voynov only had 8 points and was a -4 on the second line this month, but Moger had 6-8-14, Laine had 8-4-12, and both players were even. In the bottom six, Fox had 7 points off the strength of 5 goals and Kuznetsov had 5 points and was +5. On D, Abrahamsson had 3-12-15 and was an impressive +8 this month. Javanainen had 3-2-5 but a -1 in just 4 games before his injury. Luckily Lehto has been playing out of his mind while filling in on the top pair, with 1-13-14 and a +14! Similar to last month, Maki only got 2 assists but he was +1 while playing mostly with Carlsson, who also had 2 assists but was -3. On the bottom pair, Cernik had 4 assists and was even, while Robinson had 1 assist and was -1 in 9 games. Despite his sub-.900 SVP, Whitmore went 7-1-1-1 with a shutout this month. Sims had a .913 in his first two games, but giving up 5 goals in the OTW over Charlotte knocked him down to .896 this month, identical to Whitmore. February Stats    Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The 44-2-3-16 Austin Sputniks remain 1st in the league and have clinched a playoff spot with 139 points! 30-year old Josh Brule leads our minor-league team with 30-47-77 and a +34, although Jon Murray (21) is only 1 point behind him in 6 fewer games. Thomas Boumedienne (19) and Tuukka Ahonen (19) are putting up respectable numbers with 30+ points each, but their Center Brandon Irwin (19) is lagging behind with only 15 points in 65 games. Also worth noting: 35-year old Power Forward Ben Roy with 11-7-18 in just 15 games. For defensemen, Brian Skidmore (22) leads the point race with 11-50-61 and a +23, but Isaac Nantais (21) and Tracy Simpson (19) have him beat defensively with matching +33s. Alexander Khristich (20), the 6'8" Russian, had just 3 points but was +6 on the third pair this month. The "Offensive Defenseman" has only taken 9 official Shots On Goal all year, so 1 goal and 5 assists is maybe not so bad? Lou Bernier (25) is making the most of what may be his last season as a "prospect", with 7 wins in 8 games in net, including a shutout. Jason Sauer (22) had 3 wins in 5 appearances, but he must've had a tough month as he dropped his season SVP from the .920s to just .905.   
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Oct 22, 2021 |
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Oct 20, 2021 13:54
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 GM Goonson got to work early on Trade Deadline day. Finding a second pair Left D wasn't easy, so his first move was for depth, trading LD Dick Lupien 72OVR medium 7th D and a 2021 6th round pick to Oklahoma City for LD Ron Hansen 81OVR Top 6.  Ron Hansen Hansen, 39, was drafted in the first round, 13th overall, in 2000 by the Louisville Kings. A journeyman Two Way D, Houston will be his 9th team as he currently sits at 955 games played. He had 1-13-14 and a -15 this year for the Wranglers, and is on a one year, $650K contract. Lupien, 25, was drafted in the second round by the Hamilton Lightning in 2013. He never played for them, signing with Houston as a free agent in 2017. He didn’t make much of an impact there either, with just 2 assists and a +7 over 11 games from 2017 to 2019 for the Satellites. He has two years left at $690K.  Next, Goonson started making calls for a Left Winger to help out the bottom six. An abundance of Two Way Centers filling all positions wasn’t helping the team’s chemistry. It had to come as something of a shock when St. John’s came to him with an offer: 33-year old two way C Art Tremblay 80OVR Top 9 for 25-year old LW sniper Miles Wong 80OVR medium Top 9, a 2021 3rd round pick (originally from Portland), and a 2021 6th round pick.  Miles Wong Originally drafted by the St. John’s Advancers in the fourth round of 2013, Wong hasn’t quite lived up to his potential, averaging just 22 points and 66 games played per season over five seasons. His defense is his weak spot: although he’s improved from a -21 in his rookie year, he’s currently on pace for the best +/- of his career... with a -1. He’s only managed 7-4-11 in 64GP so far this season, but he’s also been playing a mere 8:09 per game on the fourth line. St. John's were apparently desperate to move their fifth-best Left Wing who still had two years left on a $2.750M contract. Tremblay, on the last year of a $3.250M contract, had just 2-2-4 and an even +/- in 41 games this year for Houston. A first round pick for Brandon in 2005, Tremblay set his career high for points in his rookie season, scoring 45 with the Harvesters in 07/08.  Finally, the GM got a call back from Tucson. The Foxes were 17 points out of the second Wildcard spot, and already have their top 4 D-men locked down for the next 3-7 years. That left 27-year old Swede Jonas Bergman 84OVR Elite as the odd man out.  Jonas Bergman Bergman, on the last year of a $4.166M contract, had 2-13-15 and was -3 for the Foxes this year. Drafted 10th overall by Tucson in 2011, the defensively-focused blueliner hit his career high for points just last season with 2-26-28. That was a bit of an outlier, though, as he averaged only 18 points per season over 9 years. The cost for this rental would be high, though, as Houston sent their 2022 First Round pick the other way. With no Seconds this year or next, there was no wiggle room for negotiations: It was a First or nothing.  There were no major trades around the league, but some of the more interesting ones: Quebec City traded a 4th, a 6th, and LW Michael Repik to Whitehorse for C Adam Repik. The Austrian winger, 32, had just 5 points in 63GP for Quebec City. The Slovak center, 25, had 39 points in 65GP for the minor league Dawson Pups. Kansas City was apparently seeking "veteran leadership" for the playoffs, acquiring 38-year old C Mikko Koski from Kansas City for 26-year old RW Kiefer Sheehan, a 3rd, and a 5th. Koski had 27 points (and a -13) in 60GP for Hamilton, while Sheehan played only 16 games in the minors for the Joplin Jets, but had 16 points. Brandon acquired RW Joel Ahola (16 points in 60GP) from Louisville in exchange for C Cooper Murley and two 4ths. What makes this one strange is that Murley has 57 points in 59GP in the minors, and Brandon still added two picks just to get a guy who's only on pace for 22 points. I guess the allure of a 6'4" power forward is too strong for some GMs to resist. I don't think I mentioned this before, but this game has a "Find A Trade" button. So you can either select the players/picks you want, or what you want to get rid of, and the computer will suggest trades from teams around the league. I force myself to do trades this way so that I can't cheat the computer by, say, stealing a quality prospect by offering up a pile of late picks. I also try to be able to explain why it's a reasonable trade to make, so I usually won't trade with teams that are in a playoff race unless it's a win-win for both teams. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 19:48 on Oct 27, 2021 |
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Oct 26, 2021 01:05
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Houston Monthly Rewind March/April 2021 March started out looking tough, with three games back-to-back. Fox scored less than a minute into game 1, and Whitmore put up a .971 to lead the Satellites to a 2-1 win over Memphis. Voynov then returned from injury, bumping Kuznetsov back to the fourth line. Sims got his first win of the month the next night, 5-4 over Brandon. Fox again opened the scoring, and Glynnensteins and Laine both had a pair of goals. Meighan would strain his bicep during the game, moving Kuznetsov back up for a few days. Finally, the road trip to Kansas City was too much for the tired team, as Luongo scored the only goal in a 3-1 loss. The Springs clinched themselves a playoff spot with the win over Houston. Wong got his first point for Houston with an assist on a Voynov PP goal in the 5-4 win over Albuquerque on 3/5. He then scored his first goal in a 3-1 win over Louisville on 3/10. Fox also scored again in that game, giving him 3 goals in 6 games. Glynnensteins, Meighan, and Finnigan combined for 7 points in a 5-2 win over Indianapolis on 3/12. Houston was now tied for 2nd in their division with Albuquerque. Sims got his second start of the month vs. Hamilton on 3/14, but the team let him down as the Satellites were shut out 4-0. The next night was a win over division leaders Kansas City, however, with Houston clinching a 2021 playoff spot! Glynnensteins had three assists and Bergman got his first point with Houston, an assist on a Solovev goal, in the 5-3 victory. A wild night in Quebec City on 3/21 earned Hansen his first point for Houston in just his second appearance. Moger went on a tear, scoring four goals and adding an assist in the 5-4 win over the Aces. Laine had 1-2-3 and Voynov had 3 assists on the night as well. Laine and Lehto scored in the 4-2 loss to Tucson the following night, dropping Sims' record to 1-0-0-2 this month. The following day news came from Austin that C Brandon Irwin had seriously injured his knee in a game vs. Santa Fe and would be out approximately three months. Irwin, 19, was a second round pick (59) for the Satellites last year, and had 11-6-17 and a +10 in 76 games on the second line for the Sputniks this year. Hansen picked up 3 assists in the 5-4 win over Victoria on 3/26. Two days after turning 40, he now had 4 assists and a +3 in 5 games since being paired with Maki on the second D pair. Bergman, on the other hand, found himself a healthy scratch after tallying just 2 assists and a -6 in 14 games. A back-to-back against Whitehorse and Memphis to close out the month resulted in a 2-1 regulation win for Whitmore and a 3-2 overtime win for Sims. Meighan assisted on all 3 goals and Wong scored to end the game in OT. Sims started the April 1 game vs. Louisville, losing 3-2 in OT. Lehto assisted on goals by Finnigan and Fox. Whitmore took a regulation loss the next night, 4-3. Finnigan, Solovev, and Wong were the goalscorers. With second place in the division locked up, Sims got to start the last two games vs. Kansas City. A 3-1 loss was hardly his fault, with Baranka scoring the only goal. The Satellites would end the season with a 4-2 win in front of the home crowd. Abrahamsson, Glynnensteins, and Solovev scored, Meighan had 1-2-3, and Sims had a .949 on 37 shots against. Final Standings: 38-9-8-27, 140 points. 11-1-1-7 this month. 2nd Southwest, 9th overall. Analysis: A very solid month overall, and a good way to end the season. Baltimore leads the league with 166 points, with last year’s champions Charlottetown and then Kansas City behind them, both at 157. At the bottom of the league, Moncton had 93 points, Regina had 92, and the Fredericton Redlegs took last place with a mere 78 points (22-3-6-51). Glynnensteins had 18 points, finishing just 2 behind last year’s total. Finnigan had 16, a whole 18 fewer than he hit last season. They were both -4. Meighan had 14 points and a -2 in 18GP, leaving him 8 behind last season, but on a 68 point pace if he had stayed healthy. The big difference from last year: No forward is above +9 (Baranka) this season, whereas last year the first line finished at +37! Moger had 14 points this month, giving him a 13 point improvement over last year. Laine had 11, beating last season by 15. While Voynov had 13 points in 19GP, it’s still over 30 short of last year, when he led the team with 92 points. Granted, he’s playing on the second line now, but hopefully he’s not slowing down THAT much at age 34, with another year left at $6.250M. Wong had 4-2-6 and a +3 in 20GP for Houston. Not exactly mind-blowing, but a 25 point pace with a positive +/- isn’t bad for a third-liner. And considering they got some picks with him while shedding salary, it’s looking like a smart trade for Goonson. Baranka, while never seeming to draw attention to himself, finished with 29 points, just one shy of last year. Fox finished with 25 points, a respectable showing for a guy who had spent his entire career stuck in the minors and waiting for a chance. Another good trade by Goonson way back in October. Speaking of smart moves by the GM, he opted to bring back Solovev at age 36 to play bottom 6 minutes. It seems his faith was rewarded, as the Austrian sniper finished with 31 points, 11 more than last year. Kuznetsov finished with 17 points, 2 shy of last season. Luongo, still just 20, had 14 points in 75GP in his first pro season. On Defense, Abrahamsson had 12 points this month to beat last year’s total by 5. Javanainen didn’t play, of course, so his total remains 23 in 56GP. He had 36 in 79GP last year. Considering he’s coming off his ELC this year and is due for his first “real” contract, big questions remain about what he’ll demand and what the Satellites will do with him. Lehto had another 10 points this month, finishing with 22 more than last season thanks to his performance while on the top pair. He also led the team with a +28. Proving that the GM isn’t infallible, though, Bergman was a total bust with Houston. 2 points, -6 in 14 games is rough for a guy who was essentially supposed to replace Javanainen. The fact that he cost a First is what really hurts. We have to admit it, Tucson fleeced us this time. Maki, playing a little over his head on the second pair, still managed 11 points and a +10, 3 points over last year. Hansen, 40 years old, contributed 5 assists and a +1 in 11 games, while playing more minutes than he has since 16/17. Carlsson and Cernik, signed as depth on cheap deals at the end of October, both had 11 points on the bottom pair. Whitmore finished with 40 wins in 62 appearances, a .919, and 4 shutouts, not quite matching last year (43/63, .928, 9 SO). Sims had 7 wins in 13 appearances and a .912 for Houston. Remember, this is the 38-year old who had 6 wins in 18 games and a .900 for the other two teams he played for this season. And he replaced Brasar, who went 0-7 with an .852 for us. Houston's Opponent in Round One: Albuquerque Dukes!  vs.  Final Stats    Final Standings   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In Austin finished first in the Northwest, but second in the league with a 53-6-4-19 record, 175 points. The Savannah Saplings (Atlanta Lumberjacks affiliate) finished 2 points ahead of them, thanks to a perfect 10-0-0-0 run to close out the season. The first line was explosive, with Jon Murray (21) leading the team with 33-63-96, +41 in just 76GP, and Dainius Galanov (23) with 43-49-92, +40 in 82GP. Thomas Boumedienne (19) had 46 points, +9 and Tuukka Ahonen (19) had 45 points, +11 on the second line. Brian Skidmore (23) led the D with 13-61-74, +32 on the first pair. Tracy Simpson (19) had 28 points, +41 and Isaac Nantais (21) had 30 points, +41 on the second pair. Alexander Khristich (20) had 6 points, +14 on the third pair. Lou Bernier (25) looks ready for the big-time: 40W in 53GP, .926, 2.20, 11SO. Jason Sauer (22) was respectable in relief, with 19W in 29GP, .902, 2.87, 3SO.   
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Oct 28, 2021 01:25
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 Game 1 @ Houston The atmosphere was electric as the puck dropped in front of a sold-out crowd in Houston. An early tripping penalty against Albuquerque at 18:41 went nowhere, with only one shot on goal for Houston. Another penalty against the Dukes came at 12:46, a charging penalty against Ross Johnson. This Houston powerplay also only resulted in one shot. Being outshot 11-7 despite having 4 minutes of advantage, things were looking shaky for the Satellites when Wong broke the 0-0 tie with 3:37 remaining in the first. The Satellites tried to press their advantage before the period ended, and they were helped by Adam Lamby taking a hooking penalty with just 50 seconds left. Unfortunately they couldn’t get a rhythm going and the powerplay was now 0-3. Coach Rubinowitz must have had some strong words for the team during the intermission, because the Satellites outshot Albuquerque 8-2 in the first half of the second period. Cernik and Dominic Tanabe took matching roughing penalties, but Tanabe couldn’t let the feud go, as he took another roughing penalty immediately after exiting the box. This led directly to Moger making it 2-0 Houston at 10:27 of the second. The Dukes came back strong, and it could have been bad when Cernik took a slashing penalty with 2:41 remaining, but Bryan Lilley bailed the Satellites out by taking an elbowing penalty off the ensuing faceoff. Hansen took a diving penalty at 17:43, but this actually led to 2 SOG for Houston and none for the Dukes. With the game winding down and Albuquerque getting desperate, Kuznetsov put the nail in the coffin to make it 3-0 at 10:54. Tanabe took his third minor of the game, this one for slashing, but the refs called Finnigan for diving to make it 4-on-4. Mike Lalime scored to make it 3-1 at 3:06, giving Albuquerque some hope. The refs, apparently fed up with Houston, called another diving penalty, this one on Abrahamsson at 2:20. The Dukes pulled their goalie for 2 minutes of 6-on-4, but it wouldn’t be enough as Houston held on. Final Score: Houston 3 - 1 Albuquerque, Houston leads 1-0. Game 2 @ Houston Game 2 started as all Albuquerque, with the Satellites being outshot 12-6 despite having two powerplays, just like last game. Luckily for the Satellites, none of them went in, so the game remained tied at zero. The second period would be more of the same, as Houston was outshot 11-6 despite having three powerplays this time. Fans, coaches, and players alike must have been losing their minds, as things looked worse and worse for the Satellites. The third period started off with a refreshing change of pace, as Houston put up 5 shots unanswered before Cernik and Laine took back-to-back penalties for elbowing and delay of game, respectively. The Satellites’ luck held out, as Albuquerque’s powerplay wasn’t any better than Houston’s. With 12:40 remaining in the third, Kyle Conroy took a cross-checking penalty, and Meighan finally broke through 33 seconds later to give the Satellites a 1-0 lead. Less than 4 minutes later, however, Adam Lamby would tie the game for Albuquerque, 1-1 at 8:22. The teams traded shots for the rest of the period, and a Glynnensteins charging penalty with a minute left in the game led to nothing for the Dukes. The Satellites came hard in overtime, outshooting Albuquerque 14-6 in the first 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the seventh shot would be the one that mattered, as Adam Lamby would sneak one past Whitmore with 5:08 remaining to win Game 2 for the Dukes. Final Score: Houston 1 - 2 Albuquerque OT, Tied 1-1. Game 3 @ Albuquerque Energized by being in front of their hometown crowd, Albuquerque opened the scoring early with a Paul Stanton goal at 17:45 of the first period. Fox put the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty at 15:54, and Meighan added an elbowing minor at 15:30. It only took 12 seconds for Bryan Lilley to capitalize on the 5-on-3, and Albuquerque was now up 2-0. The rest of the period was quiet, but Houston was outshot 14-6 after 20 minutes. The second period didn’t start any better, as Blake Weber put the Dukes up 3-0 at 19:48. This awoke the Satellites, though, as they fired 13 shots on goal before Laine got his first of the playoffs with 4:03 remaining. Houston would add 5 more shots to their total, but Connor Healey was solid in net for the Dukes and the game went into the second intermission 3-1 Albuquerque. Kyle Conroy scored just 7 seconds into the third to make it 4-1 Albuquerque. The rest of the period both teams would trade shots and penalties, but that would remain the final score. After a .960 in the first two games, Whitmore had a putrid .882 in this one, and Glynnensteins couldn’t find the back of the net despite 7 SOG. Final Score: Houston 1 - 4 Albuquerque, Albuquerque leads 2-1. Game 4 @ Albuquerque Game 4 would be a huge one for both teams, as Houston would either tie the series at 2 or come within one game of elimination. Mathieu Pineault gave the Satellites the early advantage with a charging penalty, and Abrahamsson capitalized at 14:29 to make it 1-0 Houston. The rest of the period went without penalties or goals. The referees really seem to have it out for Houston, as Kuznetsov was called for roughing just 6 seconds into the second period. Kyle Conroy wouldn’t let the opportunity pass, and tied the game 1-1 at 19:14 of the second. Solovev took a high-sticking call at 16:50, and Blake Weber made Houston pay 20 seconds later, 2-1 Dukes. The Satellites couldn’t pay Weber back on a late hooking call, but then scored anyways 30 seconds later with Voynov’s first of the playoffs, making it 2-2 going into the third. Laine took a hooking penalty at 18:43 of the third, and who would find the back of the net but Weber again to make it 3-2 Albuquerque. Weber took another minor, slashing at 14:32, but the Satellites again came up empty. Conroy made it 4-2 at 10:56, but Finnigan answered back a minute and a half later to keep Houston within one. Unfortunately for the Satellites, Albuquerque controlled the rest of the game, and there would be no overtime. Final Score: Houston 3 - 4 Albuquerque, Albuquerque leads 3-1. Game 5 @ Houston The series returned to Houston for what could be the final game of the series. The game didn’t start off too well, with Fox being called for interference at 19:29. A minute later, Cernik would take a charging penalty. That’s 5 minors in 5 games for the young D-man. Luckily for him, Whitmore stood tall and the team killed off both penalties. Despite being outshot 9-4, Finnigan found the back of the net at 7:56 to give the Satellites the 1-0 lead. Houston then outshot the Dukes 5-1 before Bryan Lilley got called for delay of game. It took Fox just 44 seconds to capitalize, and suddenly it was 2-0 Houston. A cross-checking penalty by Moger led to nothing for Albuquerque to end the period. Again the Satellites couldn’t stay out of the box, as Maki got caught high-sticking less than a minute in, but then Paul Stanton shortened the Dukes’ powerplay by hooking at 17:44. Things were quiet for a while, until Kyle Conroy finally got Albuquerque on the board at 11:47 of the second. The 24-year old sniper now had 7 points in 5 games. With 4:40 left in the second, Ross Johnson managed to bang one home in front of the net. The 6’5” 4th line Power Forward had only 2 points in 59 games this season, but suddenly the game was tied at 2. Blake Weber took a hooking penalty to start the third, but the Satellites couldn’t cash in. It wasn’t until 15:39 that Baranka broke the tie with his first of the playoffs. Cernik took another delay of game penalty at 12:53, and he now had 12 PIMs in 5 games. After the Satellites killed off that penalty, Laine jumped on the ice just in time to steal an errant pass, broke in all alone, and put home the unassisted goal to regain the 2-goal lead for Houston. The zebras’ love affair with diving penalties continued, this time calling Bryan Lilley on it. Less than 30 seconds into the powerplay, Glynnensteins got his 5th point in 5 games, and now it was 5-2 Houston. The fired-up Latvian added 4 more SOG in the game to give himself an even 10 on the night, but the score would remain 5-2 and Houston would hold off elimination to force a Game 6. Final Score: Houston 5 - 2 Albuquerque, Albuquerque leads 3-2. Game 6 @ Albuquerque Back to New Mexico for Game 6, with Houston hoping to take the series back to Texas tied at 3. Solovev and Voynov would replace Fox and Wong on the powerplay, and Bergman replaced Carlsson on the third pair. Except for a Laine tripping penalty at 14:54, the first period passed quietly with the team trading shots. Houston took 5 of the first 6 shots to open the second period, yet it was Perttu Hyvonen who scored first to give Albuquerque the 1-0 lead. The Satellites went on the powerplay thanks to Ross Johnson roughing again, but the Dukes escaped harm. They wouldn’t be so lucky next time, as Abrahamsson scored on a Paul Stanton penalty and tied that game at 1. Wong gave Houston the lead with 2:17 left in the second, and then it was on to the third period. Meighan made it 3-1 less than a minute in, only to have Blake Weber score from center ice on a dump-in to make it 3-2. Officially there was only three seconds between goals. The Satellites would have one more powerplay, five penalty kills, and a 4-on-4 in the last minute of the game, but they would hang on to win. Two of those penalties, by the way, were Cernik, who now had 1/3 as many PIMs in 6 games as he had in 70 regular season games. Final Score: Houston 3 - 2 Albuquerque, series tied at 3. Game 7 @ Houston Cernik came out of the lineup for Game 7, with Carlsson rejoining the bottom D pair and Bergman playing on his off-side. Samuelsson would also replace Luongo as the 4th line Center.The teams each had one penalty in the first period, but Albuquerque was outshooting Houston 9-4 by the end. Another pair of penalties passed without a goal in the second. Houston was tilting the ice in their favor, yet Nathan Byfuglien finally gave Albuquerque the 1-0 lead at 12:12. The frustration seemed to set in, as Houston had to kill off four penalties in a row after that. Paul Stanton gave the Dukes a 2-0 lead with 2:07 left in the second, but Laine scored less than a minute later to keep the Satellites within one. Houston got an opportunity to tie the game when Bryan Lilley took a delay of game penalty 5 minutes into the third period. It took 45 seconds for Glynnensteins to tie the game at 2, leaving the hometown crowd going wild. Neal Poti would silence them 20 seconds later, though, giving Albuquerque the 3-2 lead. Although Houston poured another 8 shots on goal, it was no use. Final Score: Houston 2 - 3 Albuquerque, Albuquerque wins in 7.  
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Oct 30, 2021 00:07
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Well, another year, another first-round knockout. Houston showed some heart to push it to seven games, but in the end we were just out-matched. Glynnensteins led the team with 2-6-8 and a whopping 43SOG. Meighan and Finnigan weren’t far behind with 6 and 5 points, but that top line was also -2. On the second line, Moger had 1-4-5, Laine had 3-1-4, and Voynov had 1-2-3, and they were all +1. In the bottom six, Wong had 2-1-3 and was Even. The rest of the forwards had 1 or 0 points, and they were all Even. Abrahamsson led the D with 2-3-5, 17SOG, and a +1. Lehto had only 2 assists, although he had 15SOG. That was about it for the defensemen. Hansen and Maki both had 1 assist, but they were -3. Cernik, as previously mentioned, got benched with 0 points after taking 8 minor penalties in 6 games. Bergman had 0 points but was +1 in only 2 games. Whitmore was spectacular, and the team let him down again. His .927 was third-best and his 2.54GAA was fifth-best of all goalies in the playoffs. On May 11, Javanainen returned to skating.    Down in the MGHL, the Sputniks defeated the 5th-place Evansville Grasshoppers in 7 games, then swept the 13th-ranked Chilliwack Greenhearts. They were then eliminated in 5 games versus the 10th-place Airdrie Red Dogs, thanks to 35-year old goalie Cory Schaefer. After putting up a .906 in 9 games with the Red Dogs in the regular season, he had a .936 and one shutout vs. Austin. In 16 games, Jon Murray (21) led the team with 6-10-16. Dainius Galanov (23) had 5-6-11. Tuukka Ahonen (19) had 3-7-10 and Thomas Boumedienne (19) had 2-6-8. On D, Isaac Nantais (21) had 1-7-8, Brian Skidmore (23) had 1-4-5, and Tracy Simpson (19) had 0-4-4. Alexander Khristich (20) had 0 points and not even one Shot On Goal, but he was also Even over 16 games. Lou Bernier (25) was solid in net, going 9-7 with a .914 and a 2.77GAA, including 2 shutouts. The first-place Savannah Saplings swept the first two rounds, then defeated the Long Beach Novices in the third round in 5 games. They were then swept themselves by the Airdrie Red Dogs, led by G Cory Schaefer, who had a .942 and 5 shutouts in the playoffs overall. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 17:31 on Nov 2, 2021 |
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Oct 31, 2021 21:55
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Former Satellite Check-In What happened to the players Houston traded away, you ask? Let's find out! D Alexander Klementyev: 1-1-2 and -7 in 12GP for Houston, he was shipped out with a 4th and a 7th to Whitehorse for Spencer Fox. Klementyev had 6 assists and was -2 in 36GP for the Huskies. G Andreas Brasar: After going 0-6 with an .852 for Houston, the 28-year old Swede was traded (along with Jim Buswell) for Mike Sims. He went to Louisville, where he went 1-6 with an .846. C Jim Buswell: After scoring 38P, +15 in 42GP for Austin, Buswell and Brasar were traded to Louisville, who sent him down to the Bowling Green Knights. He put up 15-16-31, +8 in 26GP there. D Dick Lupien: Moved at the Trade Deadline with a 6th to Oklahoma City for Ron Hansen. Lupien had been riding the pine in the minors, but the Norman Buckaroos put him to use, getting 2-4-6 with a -8 out of him in 19GP. C Art Tremblay: Brought in a 3rd, a 6th, and Miles Wong from St. John's. Tremblay had 2-2-4 and was Even in 41 games for Houston, then scored 1-1-2 and a -6 in 18GP for St. John's. Awards/League Leaders  C Nathan Martinson, Kansas City Most Valuable Player 103 points, +3 in 80 GP  LW Brad LaFleur, Baltimore Playoffs MVP 18 assists, 26 points in 22 playoff games  LW Alexei Ivanov, Charlottetown Goal Scoring Award 51 goals, 400 shots on goal  C Colin McBain, Brandon Playmaking Award, Offensive Player Of The Year, Defensive Forward Award 79 assists, 107 points, +2  D Elias Jonsson, Regina Offensive Defenseman Award 74 points, -4  D Ian McDonald, St. Catharines Defensive Defenseman Award 50 points, +27  LW Alexandre Montenegro, St. John's Rookie Of The Year 25 goals, 51 assists, 76 points  G Ilya Soshnikov, St. Catharines Goalie Of The Year 48 wins in 69 GP, .912, 2.58, 8 SO Best SVP/GAA, starter: G Patrice Foley, Victoria. .930, 2.17, 34W in 48 GP. Best SVP/GAA, backup: G Collin Drulia, Oklahoma City. .939, 2.00 in 2 GP. Most Shutouts: G Petr Mraz, Iqaluit. 10 SO. Best Plus/Minus: RW Alex Taft, Victoria +37 Worst Plus/Minus: D Brent Branch, Regina -38 Futility Award, F: C Nick Schultz, Portland. 79 P, -26 = -105 Futility Award, D: D Brent Branch, Regina. 43 P, -38 = -81 Most points with the worst +/- Backcheck Award, F: C Jonny Bochenski, Fredericton. 5 P, -15. Backcheck Award, D: D Jim Marotte, Yellowknife. 3 P, -24. (Former 1st round pick for Houston, traded last year for the 4th that became Alexander Khristich) Fewest points with the worst +/- Black Hole Award: D Luke Schremp, St. Catharines. 0 points in 82 GP. Fewest points in most GP Snakebite Award: D Brandon Mottau, Charlotte: 1 G, 116 SOG. 0.86% Worst non-zero shooting percentage Frustration Award, Starter: G Igor Samsonov, Fredericton. 18W in 58GP, .310 W% Frustration Award, Backup: G Andreas Brasar, Louisville. 1W in 13GP, .077 W% Worst winning percentage Sieve Award, starter: G Josef Kolena, Regina. .864, 4.22, 15W in 48GP Sieve Award, backup: G Martin Novak, Memphis. .741, 8.19, 2W in 16GP Worst save percentage Retirements  Tomas Solovev, 37. The bottom-six Austrian sniper scored 28-23-51 and was +16 in 140 regular season games across two seasons with the Satellites. He had 2 assists and was Even in 13 playoff games. Solovev, the 5th overall pick by Charlotte in 2003, spent his first 8 seasons there. He then played for 8 different teams in the next 6 seasons before signing with Houston in November 2019. He retires with 401-439-840 and a +21 in 1169 games. Mike Sims, 39. The career backup goalie had a .912 and a 7-6 record for Houston this season. It was an unexpected finish, given that he started the season with a .900 and a 6-12 record between Brandon and Louisville. Originally drafted by the Satellites in the 5th round in 2001, he retires with 195 wins and a .908 in 478 games. D Zlatan Cierny, 44, Yellowknife. 7-18-25 in 82GP. A 3rd round pick in 1996 for Moncton. He spent 4 years in Moncton, 4 years in Atlanta, and then settled in for 14 seasons in Baltimore before signing a 1 year contract in Yellowknife. He retires with 681 points and a +295 in 1635 games. C Joe Thompson, 41, Milwaukee. 18-42-60 in 82GP. The 1st overall pick by Baltimore in 1997, he spent 7 and a half seasons in Baltimore, then 14 and a half in Regina before signing a 1 year contract with Milwaukee. He retires with 1569 points and a +199 in 1718 games. C Jon Gagnon, 41, Regina. 6-12-18 in 82GP. Drafted 2nd overall by Regina in 1997, right behind Joe Thompson. He played 20 years in Regina, spent 2 years in Milwaukee, then returned to Regina for one more season. He retires with 1206 points in 1805 games. C Eric Stoa, 36, Charlotte. Retired despite 43-39-82 in 82GP. The 2nd overall pick in 2003 by the Iqaluit Anglers. He spent his first 12 years in Iqaluit, then 4 seasons in Tucson, then finally 1 year in Charlotte. He retires with 1103 points in 1322 games. Regina announced that they were immediately retiring both Joe Thompson's #19 and Jon Gagnon's #12. Draft Lottery At the draft lottery, Atlanta hit the jackpot, winning the right to pick 1st overall. Portland also got lucky, jumping from 7th to 3rd. Fredericton, despite being the worst team in the league, gets pushed from 1st to 4th.  Our picks: 1(23), 3(69), 3(85), 4(116), 5(147), 6(169) Brettbot fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Nov 11, 2021 |
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Nov 3, 2021 01:51
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2021 GHL Draft The Atlanta Lumberjacks kicked off the 2021 draft by selecting left wing sniper Aatu Ramo. The 18-year old had 12 goals, 6 assists, and was +16 in just 7 games for Team Finland to earn Tournament MVP at the World Juniors.  Selecting 2nd overall, the Regina Cyclones took Slovak center Petr Kasparov, 18. A two-way forward, he had 2 goals and 1 assist in 4 games at the World Juniors, but was also -7. Keep in mind, though, that he was on a weak team in Group A, going 0-0-3-1 against powerhouses like Canada, USA, and Russia.  Rounding out the Top 3 were the Portland Roses, selecting playmaking center Tyler Bonsignore, 18. He contributed 2 goals, 6 assists, +7 in 7 games during Team USA’s run to Silver at the World Juniors. Fredericton, pushed back three spaces in the draft, took left wing sniper Adrien Geoffrion at number 4. He had 1-3-4, +4 in 7 games on the way to Bronze with Team Canada. Moncton drafted the first goalie, Jesper Wall, at number 5. The 18-year old Swede went 7-0 with a .933 to earn Gold at the World Juniors. Louisville took the first defender at number 6, 18-year old Shaun Hough from Canada; the 6'7", 225 lb. right hander is a defense-first defenseman.  Houston drafted the following players: 1 (#23) Anders Holm 18, RW, Sweden. An offensively-focused 6’4” power forward? An old-school GM’s dream come true. Holm had 3-2-5, +4 in 7 games at the World Juniors, and that’s while playing only 11:16 per night. Likely outcome: High chance he makes it into the middle six eventually, but he’s got at least one more year before he’s ready to play in the minors. 3 (#69) Philippe Logan 18, D, Canada. This 6’3” left-side D plays like an offensive defenseman, but his defensive skill may actually be better. This could bring balance to his game… or it could cause problems in his development if he can’t learn to focus on his strengths. 4-7-11 in 40 games in the CJGHL. Likely outcome: He’ll definitely make the MGHL, but whether he can ever be good enough to force a call-up to the big time is the bigger question. 3 (#85) Mathias Niederberger 18, C, Germany. This playmaker had 1 goal and 1 assist in 5 games with the German Junior team. He was also a -10 but, like they said about 2nd overall pick Petr Kasparov, he was on a weaker team that went 1-4 in their Group and lost some games by double-digits. Likely outcome: After the draft, Houston’s scouts let slip that they see Niederberger as a top 6 player some day. That’s quite a prediction for a Late Third Rounder, especially given that he’s got a bit of an injury history already. But he’ll likely stay in Germany for the next few years anyways, so only time will tell. 4 (#116) Thomas Samuelsson 18, D, Sweden. A two-way left-side defenseman, there’s not much to report here. He’s better defensively than offensively, but not especially good at either. 4-10-14 in 45 games in the G20SuperElit, Sweden’s top junior league. Likely outcome: Houston will give him a few years to stay in Sweden and develop. You always hope to hit on your later picks, but sometimes you just have to trust your scouts and take a gamble. 5 (#147) Billy MacKenzie 18, D, USA. A hard-working defensive defenseman who plays on the right, he had 5 assists in 38 games playing U.S. College Hockey. Likely outcome: The scouts are fairly high on this one. They love his discipline and work ethic; he’ll likely get his cup of coffee some day, just by being the kind of guy that coaches love. 6 (#169) Joni Hirvonen 18, G, Finland. The 6’2” Finn went 4-3 with a .900 SVP and 3.00 GAA in 7 games for Team Finland at the World Juniors. He’ll need a few seasons before he comes to America, but it’s hard to believe he was still available when you consider the following: Jesper Wall and his .933 went 5th overall. Baltimore took Switzerland’s Joshua Hegg and his .885 at 31. Hamilton went for Germany’s Dewitt Eckert with a .764 at 130. Meanwhile Hirvonen was just waiting to fall into Houston’s lap at 169. Likely outcome: Scouts aren’t sold that he’s a future starter for sure, but they definitely see something there. Drafting a backup in the 6th round wouldn’t be bad at all. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Nov 12, 2021 |
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Nov 4, 2021 14:17
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First things first, I forgot to add a solicitation for input into the last post. I'm just posting summaries without asking questions because I have readers but no commenters. So please, feel free to chime in! Give me advice, complain about the lineup, ask questions, whatever! Re-Signings 06/26/21 Defense:  It's official! Markus Javanainen has re-signed in Houston for 8 years, $9.685M per year! The 6'1" Finn, who turns 22 next month, is a Two Way left-side D who was limited by injury to just 53 games last year, but still scored 7-16-23 and was -5. He has 92 points in 214 games and is Even over three seasons. Javanainen was a 2017 1st Round pick for Houston. Also returning is Jonas Bergman for 1 year, $4.875M. The 27-year old Swede was a 1st Round pick for Tucson in 2011, and had 161 points, +44 for them in 620 games. After a disappointing 2 points, -6 in 14 games after the Trade Deadline, there were questions whether he'd leave for nothing at the end of the season. But Houston GM Phineas Goonson has indicated that he'd like to bring a more defensive focus to the D corps, and will likely play Bergman on the third pair unless injury strikes.  Jere Maki re-signed for 2 years, $970K per year. The right-side Finnish offensive defenseman, 25, had 11 points, +10 in 82 games on the second pair last season. He has 31 points, +13 in 251 career games spread over 5 years. In the minor leagues, Brian Skidmore returns on a 3-year, $940K contract. The 23-year old American, a left-side offensive D-man, had 74 points, +32 in 82 games with Austin. He may find himself mixing in as the 7th D up in Houston this year. Forwards: With the Top 6 locked up, the only re-signing in the Bottom 6 was Spencer Fox, who returns on a 1-year, $1.070M contract. The 27-year old Canadian sniper had 17-8-25, +5 in 70 games on the third line right wing. Released to Free Agency: C Mikael Samuelsson LW Ben Roy D Ron Hansen D Fredrik Carlsson D Steve Robinson D Glenn Johnson Free Agency 07/01/21 Come July 1st, the Satellites were mostly quiet, only picking up some young depth pieces for Austin. Left wing Alexandre Fotiu 75 medium Top 9 is a 24-year old Canadian Two Way forward. He signed for 2 years, $935K. Fotiu was a 13th forward for Oklahoma City, scoring 6 points in 24 games on the fourth line. Jacob Baker 69 medium Top 6, 21, is a right-side Two Way Canadian defenseman. He was drafted 26th overall in 2018 by Atlanta, but the Lumberjacks never signed him and their rights have now expired. He is signed for 3 years, $845K. 21-year old American center sniper Jay O'Byrne 68 medium Top 9 signed for 3 years, $785K. He was drafted 19th overall in 2018 by Quebec City, but never signed. When asked about the holes in Houston's lineup, GM Goonson was confident that some of the younger players who led the Sputniks last year would be ready to make the leap to the GHL by the start of next season.
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Nov 8, 2021 |
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Nov 8, 2021 01:37
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Training Camp Report 09/01/21 The Assistant Coaches, Trainers, and Scouts have filed their Training Camp reports. Anyone not on these lists should be presumed to have maintained their skill, and there's nothing to report. First, the positives: Markus Javanainen, LD. 86 +2 88 It's a good thing we locked him up for max term. Would probably be a #1 defender on any team. Jere Maki, RD. 80 +7 87 Coaches were blown away by his growth this offseason. He'll play on the second pair, but only becaused Houston is blessed with two "number one"s. He's really looked that good. Jason Sauer, G. 73 +13 86 Maybe that open backup spot in Houston was all the motivation he needed, because Sauer left no doubt at camp that he deserved it. Erik Lehto, LD. 84 +1 85 Looks like he learned a thing or two from playing with Abrahamsson. I wouldn't expect him to set another personal best, but he's capable of it. Tracy Simpson, LD. 69 +12 82 Proof that points aren't the only thing that matters. While some of his fellow D-men beat him by 50 on the tally sheet, Simpson did all the little things that coaches love to see. Now they're convinced that he's ready, and he should start the season with the big club as 7th D. Todd Luongo, C. 79 +2 81 Only 21, another year on the fourth line wouldn't be the end of the world. But the coaches have faith in him, so now the third line center spot is his to lose. Jon Murray, LW. 75 +2 77 Scoring at a 103 point pace will get you attention, even if it's in the MGHL. He should start the year on the fourth line, but if his playmaking doesn't transfer, Alexandre Fotiu is right behind him. Now the negatives: Billy Whitmore, G. 88 -1 87 Lost half a step, maybe, but he's still a good starter. Jarred Moger, C. 85 -1 84 Keep an eye on the 37-year old. Definitely a "middle sixer", not a star any more. Alex Voynov, RW. 85 -2 84 See above. Two years younger than Moger, though. Jonas Bergman, LD. 84 -1 83 His career has seesawed so far, so after last year maybe this is his bounce-back. Robert Baranka, C. 83 -1 82 Probably won't score 30 points again, but he's still a fine bottom sixer. With 3 of 4 goalie spots locked down, Houston signed 30-year old Canadian JF Barber 74 backup for 1 year, $815K to back up Bernier in Austin this year. Barber last played in the majors in 17/18, where he had 3 wins with an .894 in 13 appearances. Headed back to Austin: Mathias Niederberger, C. 56 +10 66 The young German playmaker got his first taste of North American ice, and it seems he liked it. His play made the case for him to stick around, and the GM rewarded him with a 3-year, $665K Entry Level Contract. Brian Skidmore, LD. 74 +5 79 Depth is great for the team, but lousy for guys like Skidmore. Almost point per game in Austin, but he's stuck there another year unless he can prove his worth over guys like Simpson and Bergman. Alexander Khristich, RD. 62 +5 67 The towering Russian D-man has a long way to go before he can hope to make the Satellites roster, but he's putting in the work. Sergei Kuleshov, C. 61 +5 66 Khristich's fellow-"Russian 2020 4th Rounder" gets his ELC after a year back home, 3 years at $810K. His defense is still questionable, but he should definitely put up some points in Austin. Jacob Baker, RD. 69 +4 73 Signed for the minors, he was never expected to make the squad. But it's nice to see he's improving. Brandon Irwin, C. 68 +4 72 Last year's 2nd Round pick had just 17P in 76GP last year, but he was also +10. Another year in Austin will do the 19-year old some good. Jay O'Byrne, C. 68 +4 72 Basically identical to Irwin, only 2 years older. Let's hope he has more than 17P in Austin this year. Thomas Boumedienne, LW. 64 +4 68 Similar to Kuleshov in that the offense is there; it's the defense where he lacks. He's 19 and a 5th Rounder, give it time. Alexandre Fotiu, LW. 75 +3 78 Maybe half a step ahead of Jon Murray, technically, but he's older and coaches see less potential. He's just gotta keep grinding. Tuukka Ahonen, RW. 66 +3 69 There's nothing wrong with his game, he just needs more time. 24G, 45P in your first year is fine. Anders Holm, RW. 65 +2 67 This year's 1st Round pick showed some improvement, and instead of going back to Sweden he earned a 3-year, $710K ELC. Dainius Galanov, RW. 74 +1 75 This one's a tough call. Clearly, he's got talent; 92P in the minors is nothing to sneeze at. But there's plenty of "MGHL All-Stars" who couldn't hack it in the GHL. He can only hope for a call-up to prove himself, because he sure didn't wow the coaches at camp. Lou Bernier, G. 75 0 75 Despite a great season in Austin last year, he came into camp still looking like a minor-leaguer. You never know what could happen with injuries, but there's only two spots for a goalie on the roster. Isaac Nantais, RD. 72 0 72 The Satellites took a flyer on him, picking him up from Free Agency before the 20/21 season. Although he's still only 22, his lack of improvement this year is concerning. Joni Hirvonen will remain in Finland. Thomas Samuelsson and Linus Eriksson will play in Sweden. Billy MacKenzie will go back to college. Philippe Logan will play in the CJGHL. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 04:14 on Nov 11, 2021 |
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Nov 9, 2021 01:21
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Preseason Report Well, here we are with another year of Satellites hockey. After two disappointing first-round exits, questions abound regarding the future in Houston. They may look good on paper, but they have for the past two years, so why can't they make a deep playoff run? Their strengths are goaltending and defense. Whitmore still has the ability to steal games and be a top 10 goalie, and Sauer has looked great in camp so far. And this year they may have the best Top 4 defenders of any team in the league, with Abrahamsson, Javanainen, Lehto, and Maki. The forward corps is a mixed bag, though. While Glynnensteins, Finnigan, and Meighan are still the stars on the top line, you've got aging former-stars on big contracts like Moger and Vonov on the second line ($13.25M between them). You've got some young bucks yet to prove themselves like Luongo and Murray, and the rest are a mix of interchangable Bottom Sixers. The only promising young player in the lineup is Laine, 24, with 49P, +8 on the second line last year. Opening night lineup:    Austin Sputniks lineup:   Around The League Looking back at the 2020 Draft, everyone knows that first overall pick LW Alexandre Montenegro won Rookie Of The Year last season with 76P in 82GP for St. John's. This year he'll finally be competing against numbers 2 and 3 in that draft, as RW Lars Nokie and C Quin Leonard seem set to make their GHL debuts. Nokie, a playmaker, will start on Red Deer's second line, having had 39P in 52GP back home in the SGL. Meanwhile, sniper Leonard joins Indianapolis' fourth line after putting up 60-49-109, +27 in the MGHL last year. Other top 10 picks making their debuts: C Antti Lemery (#4, Brandon), C Chris Chandler (#8, Charlotte), and D Marian Mojzis (#9, Atlanta). As for the 2021 Draft, first overall pick LW Aatu Ramo will go straight to Atlanta's fourth line thanks to 12-6-18, +16 in just 7GP at the World Juniors. 40-year old former Satellite D Ron Hansen has signed a 1 year, $663K contract with the Kansas City Springs and will start the season on their third pair. He currently sits at 966 career games. 28-year old former Satellite C Mikael Samuelsson signed for 3 years, $2.802M per with the Portland Roses. He has 21P in 115 career games, and will play on their third line. There were plenty of trades in the offseason, but only one notable one: Victoria Gardeners traded G Patrice Foley to Brandon Harvesters for C Kyle Turlick. Foley, 36, is a former first overall pick with 1 year left on a $7M contract, and led all goalies last year with a .930 and 2.17 while earning 34 wins in 48 games, including 5 shutouts. Turlick, on the other hand, is a 32-year old third line center with 1 year left at $1.65M. He had 16-42-58 but was -8 playing on Brandon's second line last year. It seems this was a pure cap dump, as Victoria now has $5.645M in cap space after shedding $5.350M. When you think of it that way, the fact that Victoria got a guy who has a career 52 point pace for less than $2M is a pretty good sacrifice to have to make. Real life-related spoilers: If you haven't figured it out, Victoria replaced Vegas, and "Patrice Foley" is Marc-Andre Fleury. I guess the trade AI in this game is pretty good, since it can predict the future! Only difference is that they sent him to Edmonton in this universe. If they find a way to trade Charlotte/Buffalo for Jonathan Conroy/Jack Eichel, then I'll be spooked.
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Nov 9, 2021 19:05
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World Cup 2021 At the start of September, Houston was notified that several of their players had been selected to represent their countries in the World Cup.  Laine would play 4th line LW for Team Finland, while Satellites took up half the defense: Javanainen and Maki on the top pair and Lehto on the third pair. Cernik would play top pair for Team Slovakia, next to former Satellite Alexander Klementyev. Abrahamsson would play second pair for Team Sweden, behind back-to-back GHL Offensive Defenseman Of The Year Elias Jonsson. Kuznetsov would play 3rd line RW for Team Switzerland. Voynov was forced to his off-side for Team Russia, playing 4th line LW. Baranka would center the 4th line for Team Czech Republic. Mathias Niederberger centered the 4th line for Team Germany. In the end, Team USA would take home the Gold, defeating Sweden 3-2. Russia defeated Finland 6-4 to take home the Bronze. This was Sweden’s second Silver in a row, and Russia’s second Bronze in a row.  Halifax’s Egor Malykhin would win tournament MVP for the second year in a row, although he failed to match last year’s 21 points in 7 games. Russia’s only loss in the tournament was to Team USA, in the game that decided who got to play for Gold.  Team Germany managed to earn one point by going 0-0-1-3. Team Slovakia, led by this year’s second overall pick Petr Kasparov, was the only team in the tournament to fail to even reach overtime, going 0-0-0-4. So how did Houston’s players do?  Yikes. Obviously Kuznetsov and Cernik had a rough time. On the plus side, Niederberger managed to be Even in 4 games without scoring a point, on a team with only two GHL-caliber players. While there’s always a few mis-matched games, this year seemed especially unbalanced:  No surprises here, just the usual cream of the crop beating up on the best of the rest. It led to an especially brutal bottom of the stats page this year, though: 
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Nov 12, 2021 23:23
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Houston Monthly Rewind October 2021 On October 1st, Houston announced that they'd made another signing for the Sputniks. 25-year old LW sniper Ryan Kushner 77 med 4th line signed for 2 years, $905K and would report directly to Austin. Undrafted, he had 0 points in 10 games in 18/19 for Indianapolis, the only time he made the GHL. The month started off rough for the Satellites, with three losses in a row. Finnigan scored the only goal in a 2-1 OTL to Jacksonville, Meighan scored the only goal in a 3-1 loss to Whitehorse, and Luongo scored the only goal in a 2-1 loss to Halifax. Whitmore had a .926, but Houston's scoring let him down. They turned it around for Sauer's first start, blowing out Portland 10-4. Abrahamsson had 1-4-5, Glynnensteins and Voynov had 1-3-4, Laine and Meighan had 2-1-3, and Javanainen had 3 assists in the wild game. Red Deer would dismantle the Satellites 7-2 in the next game, though, leading many to question what was happening in Houston. Lehto and Maki were certainly underperforming, with only 2 points combined through 5 games. Other than that, there didn't seem to be any obvious problems. With a record of 1-0-1-3, GM Goonson was asked to comment: "Some teams might be fine with one win in their first five games. 'Oh, it's just the first month.' I don't think we're in that position. We've got some young guys on our team, but we're a Top 10 team in this league. If you can't perform, we'll find somebody who can." Given the team's 4% Powerplay and 69% Penalty Kill, he could've been talking about the coaches as well as the players. Almost as if to prove his point, it was announced the next day that the Austin Sputniks had fired head coach Gabriel McKegney and hired Marty Sterling for 4 years, $672K. McKegney, 42, had gone 59-19-4 in his first season with the Sputniks and 3-1 this season. Among the press it was agreed that Sterling, 44, was the better coach overall, even if this move should have come in the offseason.  Simpson scored his first GHL goal in the 5-3 loss to Brandon that followed. Whitmore would earn his first shutout of the year in the next game, a 1-0 win over Atlanta. Following the game, Houston announced that they were calling up Alexandre Fotiu and Dainius Galanov. The LW two way forward and RW sniper had matching 4-7-11, +11 stat lines in 6 games so far. Murray and Fox, both scoreless and -2, would watch from the pressbox. Sauer got another start, against Yellowknife this time. His .912 on 34 shots was good enough to earn him the 4-3 OTW. In a special teams-heavy game, Fotiu and Galanov were essentially invisible, playing less than 6 minutes in their debuts. Whitmore would suffer a 5-3 loss to Kansas City and a 4-1 loss to St. Catharines before apparently deciding to do it all himself again, earning another shutout over Oklahoma City, 3-0. Sauer would get one more start this month, at Regina. Meighan would score the only goal with 4:22 remaining in the third, and Sauer earned his first GHL shutout, 1-0, in just his third game. Laine was forced to leave the game with an injury, but he was expected to only be out for about a week. Record after 12 games: 4-1-1-6, 15 points. 6th Southwest, 22nd overall. Analysis: A brutal month for the Satellites, and not how anybody pictured this year starting off. You don't want to overreact, but you can't have another month like this, either. The first line is almost Point Per Game, although they're only +2. Voynov is excellent still on the second line with 9 points in 12GP. Laine has 6, which is fine, but Moger isn't getting it done with only 3 points. Granted, he got bumped off the powerplay, but something has to change there. On the third line, Luongo is doing well with 5 in 12GP, but Wong and Kuznetsov aren't scoring with just 5 points between the two of them. The fourth line is a mess, with only 1 point for all five guys who've played there, and they're all a minus. On Defense, the first pair has turned it around since the start of the year, nothing to worry about there. The second pair is a mystery, though: Lehto has only 2 points and is -4. Maki is also -4, but at least he has 5 points (half as many as he had in 82 games last year). For the third pair, Bergman has no points in 9 games, but he's +4. Cernik has no points in 11 and he's only -1. Simpson has 3 points in 4 games, which is great, but he's also -3, which is not so great. In goal, Whitmore has only 2 wins in 9 games, but they were both shutouts. He was killer in the first few games, but he now sits at a .902 with a GAA over 3. I’m willing to place the blame for that almost entirely on the team in front of him. Sauer, on the other hand, is undefeated with a .926, although he’s only played 3 games so far. October Stats    Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are 7-0-0-4, 6th in their division. There's some bad luck there, though, as their 21 points would be enough for 4th or better in any other division. Fotiu and Galanov were good enough to earn their call-ups, although they haven't done much in Houston yet. Brandon Irwin (19) is just 6 points shy of last year's total already, and with a +11 to boot. With Houston's 4th line troubles, Ryan Kushner (25) might get a call-up of his own, with 9P in 11GP. Mathias Niederberger (18) is earning more ice time already with 7P, +5. Anders Holm (18) has 6P but is Even. Sergei Kuleshov (20) is doing well in his first season in America with 5P, +4. Free Agent signing Jay O'Byrne (21) is doing just ok so far, with 5P but -2. On D, Brian Skidmore (23) is Point Per Game but Even. Free Agent pickup Jacob Baker (21) is doing very well with 6P, +7. Isaac Nantais (22) also has 6P, but is Even. Alexander Khristich (20) has surpassed last year's point total already with 7, and he's +6 as well. In goal, Lou Bernier (26) is 5-0-0-1 with an excellent .937 SVP.    Around The League Just to make this update even longer than it already is, here are some notable events that I missed between Training Camp and the end of this month: You may have noticed that Alexei Ivanov is now on the Kelowna Grizzlies. Drafted 1st overall in 2004, the 36-year old LW sniper played his whole career in Charlottetown until this year, when he was traded along with a 1st to Kelowna for 22-year old starting goalie Michael DiPietro, 31-year old top 4 D Tyler Mayer, and a 3rd. Kelowna is apparently loading up this year, as they also acquired 2nd line Two Way winger Tyler Britz from Indianapolis for 25-year old starter Jake Kelly, 36-year old 4th line sniper Loui Ericsson, and a 4th. They also got quality backup goalie Jake Alexander for picks, only to send him to the minors because they have two great goalies already.  Tucson made a shocking move, acquiring 25-year old "low starter/high backup" G Adin Hillen. Why is that shocking? Because it cost them 20-year old playmaker Marco Rosa, their 2020 1st Round pick (9th overall). Rosa had 60P in 81GP as a minor league first liner last year, and now he's playing on the 4th line in MGHL Beaverton. Tough break for the elite Austrian center. The Whitehorse Huskies acquired a 2023 5th from St. Catharines in exchange for 35-year old former-Satellite D Alexander Klementyev. Klementyev had 10P, +2 in 69GP for Houston. He had 1P, -3 in 2GP for MGHL Dawson this year, but St. Catharines is actually playing him in the majors where he has 0P, -3 in 7GP so far. And finally, just four days ago Albuquerque's first line playmaker Nikolaj Elias hurt his back and is expected to be out for more than a month. Given that they're second in our division but only 4 points ahead of us, that could help us make up ground if they can't win without him. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Nov 24, 2021 |
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Nov 23, 2021 20:11
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Houston Monthly Rewind November 2021 November started with a 2-1 win over Charlottetown. Baranka and Meighan scored the goals, and Whitmore had a .970 on 33 shots. It was Baranka’s first point since Oct. 12th, the fourth game of the season. Two days later it took overtime to beat Jacksonville 3-2. Glynnensteins and Abrahamsson both scored on the powerplay, Finnigan had 3 assists, and Javanainen scored the game-winner in OT. Galanov left the game with a knee injury, and the estimate was three weeks to recover. He had zero points and not even a shot on goal in 6 games. San Francisco would hand the Satellites their first loss of the month on the 7th, 3-2. Lehto and Luongo scored, and Glynnensteins couldn’t find the back of the net despite 7 SOG. After the game Laine would return from injury and take his place on the second line. Sauer got his first start of the month on the 9th vs. Whitehorse, resulting in a 5-4 OTW. Laine had 2-1-3 in his first game back, Moger had a goal and an assist (his first points since Oct. 29), and Voynov had 2 assists. Houston kept the good times rolling with a 7-4 win over the Victoria Gardeners on the 12th. Finnigan had 2-2-4, Glynnensteins had 1-3-4, Maki had 2-1-3, and Wong got an assist to pick up his first point since Oct. 17. Abrahamsson tweaked his hamstring in practice, so Cernik would play second pair right D versus Oklahoma City on the 16th. After the 3-2 loss, he had 0 points and a -2 in 12 games, and Abrahamsson would return for the next game. Fox got his first point of the year on the 19th, scoring a goal in the 6-2 win over the Tucson Foxes. Laine had 2-1-3, Voynov had 3 assists, and Moger scored 2 goals. Sauer got another start facing Victoria on the 21st, earning a shutout on 31 shots. Laine and Lehto scored in the 2-0 win, and Voynov had another 2 assists. After the game, Galanov returned from injury, and he and Fotiu were both sent back to Austin after failing to score a single point in a combined 17 games. Murray, with 0 points in 10 games himself, would take over the 4th line left wing. Moger picked up an assist in the 3-1 win over Albuquerque on the 23rd. He now had 6 points in 6 games, after only scoring 3 in the first 15 games of the season. A re-match against the Dukes on the 25th earned Houston one point thanks to a 3-2 OTL. Finnigan and Laine scored the goals. Facing Quebec City on the 29th, Sauer lost his first game of the season after giving up 6 goals on 29 shots in the 6-1 loss. Laine scored the only goal. More concerning, though, was that Maki hurt his back during the game, with an estimated three-week recovery. Bergman would move up to the second pair and Cernik would play on the third. Whitmore would close out the month with a 4-3 win over Atlanta on the 30th. Glynnensteins had a hat trick and Baranka scored the other goal. Record after 25 games: 10-3-2-10, 38 points (6-2-1-4 this month). 4th Southwest, 13th overall. Analysis: A big month for the Satellites. We climbed from four places out of the playoff race to the top wildcard spot. Albuquerque went 5-1-1-8 without Nikolaj Elias, just as we had hoped, clearing the way for us to gain ground. It still would be great to replace Jarred Moger with a legit second-line center sniper, but there’s very few players out there that fit that bill, and no reason yet why teams would be trading them. The first line showed flashes of their old dominance with a combined 42 points in 13 games. They were Even, though, so they’re getting scored on as much as they’re scoring. The second line was a whole different story from October: Moger had only 6 points, but that’s twice as many as last month. Laine and Voynov were locked in with 11 points each, and the whole line was +10. The bottom six continues to look rough. In 13 games Baranka was the best with 2-1-3, -1. Kuznetsov had 2-1-3, -2, Luongo had 1-1-2, -3, Fox had 1G, -2, and Wong had 1A, -3. The first defensive pair continues to score and be Plus players. The second pair turned it around from October, with Lehto scoring 5-1-6, +3 and Maki 3-5-8, +1. Maki now has two more points in 24 games than he had all of last season. For the third pair, Bergman continues his steady defensive style with just 1A but a +1 while Simpson had 3A, +1. Cernik had 0P, -1 in 2 games. In net, the goalies prove the importance of scoring support: with almost identical stat lines, our starter is 8-11 and our backup is 5-1. November Stats    Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are 12-2-2-11, 7th in their division. You’d like to see them having more success, probably, but remember that Houston recalled their best two players for almost a month. We’re more concerned with their overall growth, anyways. Dainius Galanov (24) played in 5 games in his return from injury, scoring 5-2-7 but a -4. Somehow the games weren’t counted on the official scoresheet, but his points were. Alexandre Fotiu (24) had 2-3-5 and was Even. Brandon Irwin (20) had 10-8-18, +2 and he’s not even playing on the powerplay. Ryan Kushner (25) had 10-5-15, +7. Tuukka Ahonen (20) had 4-9-13, +6. Thomas Boumedienne (20) had 0-12-12, +2. Sergei Kuleshov (20) had 4-6-10, +2. Jay O’Byrne (22) had 4-5-9, +5. Anders Holm (18) had 3-5-8, +7. Mathias Neiderberger (18) had 3-3-6, +7. Brian Skidmore (23) exploded this month, scoring 5-4-19, +3. Too bad the left side is over-crowded in Houston. Jacob Baker (21) had 7-6-13, +3. Isaac Nantais (22) had a great month with 1-6-7 and a +9. Alexander Khristich (21) had 1-5-6 but only a +1. Lou Bernier’s (26) save percentage suffered this month, likely from the fact that he played all but one game this month. He went 5-2-1-7 thanks to a 4-game losing streak (all in regulation) to end the month.    Around The League No major trades or injuries to report this month. Albuquerque’s LW Kristian Vaananen (22) currently leads all rookies with 10-14-24 in 27GP. The 2017 24th overall pick had 1 assist in a 5 game try-out back in 18/19. Aatu Ramo (this year’s 1st overall) has 3 goals, +6 on Atlanta’s 4th line. Petr Kasparov (this year’s 2nd overall) had 1-3-4, +5 for Regina before he broke his collarbone in late October and would be out for almost 80 days. Quin Leonard (2020’s 2nd overall) has 6-4-10, -3 for Indianapolis. Lars Nokie (2020’s 3rd overall) has 6-7-13, -4 for Red Deer. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Nov 27, 2021 |
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Nov 27, 2021 07:12
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Houston Monthly Rewind December 2021 On December 1st the Satellites called up Ryan Kushner to try and boost their flagging bottom six. He was Even in the 4-2 loss to St. Catharines on the 3rd, Lehto and Voynov were the goalscorers. The Satellites were up 4-0 entering the third period versus Hamilton on the 7th when Emil Bergstrom put a scare into them by scoring a hat trick. Houston hung on to win, though, and Fox scored for his second point of the year. Laine had 2-1-3 and Lehto and Voynov had 2 assists each. A wild game in Whitehorse on the 10th ended in an 8-4 win. Fox scored again, Wong scored his first two goals of the season, and Kushner scored his first GHL goal. Cernik also had 2 assists to pick up his first points this season. Sauer got his first start of the month versus Louisville on the 12th, and the Satellites beat the Kings 6-2. Laine had 2-1-3, Meighan scored 2 goals, and Finnigan, Glynnensteins, and Moger all had 2 assists. The following day, Houston announced that they had traded the rights to 20-year old G Linus Eriksson to Charlotte for a 2023 5th round pick. Eriksson, a 2020 6th round pick (163), had yet to sign his ELC with Houston. Eriksson will probably amount to nothing, so when Charlotte offered this trade, I figured I might as well take it. Houston earned a point in the 3-2 OTL to Memphis on the 14th. Fox scored again and Abrahamsson had 2 assists. Laine and Voynov were held off the scoresheet for the first time this month, after combining for 7-8-15 in the first 4 games. Wong suffered a pectoral tear in the game and was expected to be out about a month and a half. Kushner moved up to the third line and Murray would see his first action of the month. Moger scored the only goal in a 2-1 loss to Charlottetown on the 16th, assisted by Laine and Voynov. He scored again the next day versus Iqaluit, but Sauer would take the 4-2 loss. Houston stopped the skid with a 4-3 win over Indianapolis on the 19th. Voynov had 2-1-3 and Laine had 1-1-2. Maki returned from injury the next day, pushing Bergman down and Cernik back to the bench. Laine, Moger, and Voynov continued to rack up the points, but Whitmore's .818 against Charlotte resulted in a 6-3 loss. His .939 vs. Brandon was much better, and Fox had 1-1-2 in the 4-2 win on the 23rd. Over the Christmas break, some of the Satellites' players were invited to the World Juniors:  The month ended with a back-to-back against Moncton. Sauer earned the first win, 3-2, but Luongo injured his jaw in the game and would be out at least a week. Fotiu would have to play Center for the last game of the month, a 4-2 win. Record after 37 games: 17-3-3-14, 60 points (7-0-1-4 this month). 4th Southwest, 13th overall. Analysis: A great month for the team, but it just goes to show how hard it is to make up ground once you fall behind in the standings. We earned 22/36 possible points and wound up in the same place we started in. Then again, we're tied for fewest games played in the league, so we've got a few potential points in hand. The first line was just over half a PPG this month, and they were also -3. That's not great, but at least they're close to Even. The second line, on the other hand, was +7 this month. Laine (9-10-19) and Voynov (8-10-18) were symbiotic once Laine came back from injury, and they dragged Moger (5-6-11) with them. The bottom six continues to struggle, although it was better this month than last. Fox had 4-1-5 +4, Baranka had 2-2-4 +4. Some guys have had to play out of position or above their skill level, especially thanks to injuries. After that 1 goal, Kushner had zero points in 9 games. Murray still has zero points after 22 games, but it would cost us to make a trade to replace him and send him back to the minors. Our D was excellent this month. Javanainen (5P) and Abrahamsson (11P) were +3. Lehto had 6P +5. Maki had no points, but only played 4 games. Simpson had 4P Even, Cernik had 3P +2, and Bergman had 1P +2. In goal, Whitmore went 5-4 with a .902 while Sauer was 2-1 with a .912. December Stats    Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are 13-4-4-20, last in their division. The Top 9 (or 10, really) are scoring plenty, and they're almost all positive in +/-. The defense doesn't seem too bad, scoring a lot although their +/- is only okayish. In net is where it all falls apart: Maybe the coaching change really screwed something up, because Lou Bernier's (26) play is totally opposite from last year. He's still playing more than his share of games, although both goalies have been equally bad so I guess it doesn't matter. It's probably too late to save the season in the MGHL's toughest division, but I might sign some 70-something OVR Free Agents to 1 year deals just to fill the empty spots in Austin. I don't care about their record, but I DO care about making sure our young players grow. And if the problem does turn out to be the new coach, well, we've got him for 3 more years...    Around The League Kansas City first line RW Mikko Rasanen broke his thumb on the 17th and is out for a month. He had 37P in 34GP before the injury. Another chance for Houston to gain some ground? Albuquerque's Kristian Vaananen still leads the rookie scoring race with 42P in 40GP. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 16:58 on Nov 30, 2021 |
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Nov 29, 2021 18:14
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Houston Monthly Rewind January 2022 The new year started off right for Houston with a 7-4 win over Memphis. Glynnenstiens had a hat trick plus an assist, Meighan had 1-2-3, and Finnigan had 3 assists. On January 2nd, Iqaluit fired their head coach Jake Gomez. The Anglers reached the 3rd round of the playoffs on the back of 45 wins last year but, after a 12-4-4-18 start, the 29th-place team brought in a coach that's more focused on Defense and PK in Claude Gratton. Also on the 2nd, Houston announced they'd signed RW sniper Ty Rausse 77 Top 9 for 1 year, $650K and C power forward Jordan Nilan 77 Depth for 1 year, $925K. They were both assigned to Austin. Sauer earned a 4-3 win over Portland on the 4th. Finnigan had a goal and an assist. Luongo returned from injury after the game, and Fotiu would become a healthy scratch. The next night in Yellowknife Whitmore took the 4-1 loss. Kuznetsov scored the only goal, assisted by Fox and Baranka. Another 4-1 loss followed vs. Charlotte on the 7th, Voynov scored the goal, assisted by Abrahamsson and Javanainen. After back-to-back sub-.900 games by Whitmore, Coach Rubinowitz stirred up some controversy by going with his backup to face Oklahoma City on the 9th. The game would turn out to be a goalie duel, and it got all the way to OT before Sauer let in the 34th shot and Houston lost, 1-0. Sticking with the hot hand, Sauer got another start vs. Tucson on the 12th, and he came away with a .964 in the 2-1 win over the Foxes. Simpson and Glynnensteins were the goal-scorers. The next day word came in: Canada won the World Juniors, with Atlanta's Melker Sjodin winning Tournament MVP for Team Sweden!  The gold medal game was a high-flying affair, ending with Canada beating Sweden 7-5. It was a more subdued match in the bronze game, as Team USA beat Finland 3-2. Anders Holm had 3-11-17, +16 in 7 games for Sweden, and two way D Thomas Samuelsson had 1-2-3, +9. Samuelsson was selected by Houston in the 4th round last year, but has yet to sign his ELC. G Joni Hirvonen was middle of the pack for Finland with a .906, but here's one to watch: 16-year old goalie Jan Vrana went 3-2 for Czech Republic with a .948, 1.80, and 2 shutouts. He's not draft eligible until next year, but I'm sure every team is keeping tabs on him now. Unfortunately it wasn't all good news, as Thomas Boumedienne hurt his shoulder and would be on IR for about a month. The LW playmaker has 5-28-33 in 47GP for the foundering Austin Sputniks.  Sauer faced Kelowna on the 14th, and his .971 in the 2-1 win over the Grizzlies propelled the Satellites to 3rd in their division. Up against Yellowknife on the 16th, Laine provided 2 goals, five other players had 2 points each, and Sauer had now won three in a row after this 4-2 victory. Alas, all good things must come to an end, and Louisville beat the Satellites 3-1 on the 18th, with Laine scoring the only goal. A week-long stretch without any games allowed Wong to recover before the next game, and the coach took a chance to reconfigure his lines. Murray (pointless in 31GP) and Kushner (1G in 21GP) were sent back to Austin. Whitmore got another chance to right the ship, facing Milwaukee on the 27th. His .889 wasn't pretty, but the scoring showed up and he got the 7-4 win. Voynov had 4 assists in the game. A back-to-back against the bottom two teams in the East would close out the month. Whitmore got the start vs. Halifax, and looked like his old self with a .964 in the 7-1 win. Maki had a goal and 2 assists, Baranka scored, and Wong had a goal in his second game back from injury. Sauer got to face Hamilton the next night, and Moger, Voynov, and Laine all had three points in the 4-2 victory over the Lightning. Record after 49 games: 25-3-4-17, 85 points (8-0-1-3 this month). 1st Southwest, 4th overall. Analysis: An incredible month for the Satellites. Obviously the biggest story is in net: Jason Sauer taking the crease and running with it. 5-0-1-1, .940, 1.84 is the eye-popping stat line. Whitmore, on the other hand, went 3-0-0-2 thanks to an .890 and a 3.42 GAA. Two of those wins, remember, required the team to score 5 goals just to make up for the goaltending, so his record could have been much worse. Whitmore is 35 years old, so we all knew this was coming sooner or later, but it's worth remembering that (even counting this rough year) he's currently #2 all time in SVP and GAA, both regular season and playoffs. He's also got another year under contract after this one, but thankfully it's not too expensive at $4.916M. On the blueline, Javanainen had 5P and Abrahamsson had 8, they were +1. The second pair was solid as Lehto had 4P and Maki had 7, and they were +7. On the bottom, Simpson had 2P and Bergman had zero, but they were +5. Cernik didn't play this month. For the first line, Glynnensteins had 14P, Finnigan had 10, and Meighan 12. They climbed out of the Minus, too, with a +5 month. The second line was still on fire: Laine had 14P, Moger 7, Voynov 14, and they were +11. Moger is the big concern here: After scoring 25 and 27 goals the past two years, he's only got 11 (on pace for 18). He's also only got 1 point on the powerplay all year. In the bottom six, Baranka had 3P +2 and Fox had 2P -2. Wong had 1P -1 in 3GP. It really is shocking how little is happening down there. It's like everyone decided to have career-worst years at the same time. The frustrating part, of course, is that nothing really changed since last year, but the results are a LOT different. January Stats    Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are 17-7-4-24, 8th in their division, 20th in the league. Although they would be 5th in any other division, that would still be 10 points out of a playoff spot, so it doesn't really matter. After his call-up, Dainius Galanov (24) had 7P in 11GP, which is actually slow for him. Jon Murray (22) and Ryan Kushner (25) both failed to score in 2 games after being sent down. The rest of the forwards are chugging along, with 5-8 points and all within +/-5. Mathias Niederberger (19) had 2-3-5, +4 in 11GP. Thomas Boumedienne (20) still has about 2 weeks on his injury, but he had 1-7-8, +3 in 6GP at the start of the month. On defense, Brian Skidmore (23) had 9P and Jacob Baker (21) had 7P, they were +1. Isaac Nantais (22) had 7P, +5. Alexander Khristich (21) had only 3P, -2. If I had told you, at the end of last year, that one of Bernier (40-13, .926) and Sauer (19-10, .902) would be lighting up the GHL, and one would be floundering as the MGHL starter… would you have guessed correctly? Poor Lou Bernier (26) has basically flamed out. Despite going 4-3 with a .920 this month, he's still below .900 for the season. At this age, this is probably his ceiling: a third-string, injury insurance, backup to the backup.   Around The League No major trades or injuries to report. Albuquerque's Kristian Vaananen still leads rookie skaters with 25-30-55 in 51 games. Sauer leads rookie goalies (all three of them) in SVP, although Michael DiPietro (traded to Charlottetown as part of the Alexei Ivanov trade) has 22 wins as their starter. Speaking of Ivanov, I should have pointed out when he was traded that he's currently the all-time goals leader (757+21 so far this season) and second in points (1369+55 so far). The points record is held by Joe Thompson, who retired at the end of last year with 1569.
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Dec 5, 2021 20:27
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Houston Monthly Rewind February 2022 This month was a tough one to write up, but not because it was another tragic month where the team struggled at just the wrong moment, or took two steps forward, one step back. No, this month was like a dream that you don't want to wake up from, because the Satellites just couldn't stop winning. Starting on the 1st, Houston went with Sauer as the starter, and he picked up a 4-1 win over Red Deer with a .967 on 30 shots. Then a 3-1 win over Tucson and a 4-2 win over Regina followed. By this time Houston had reached second place in the league, behind juggernaut St. Catharines, and they never looked back. When it was time for Whitmore's first start of the month, he held strong, putting up a .974 against 39 shots in the 2-1 OTW over Kelowna. Voynov scored the game-winner. Sauer had another strong showing in the 4-1 win over Victoria on the 10th. His first bad game of the month was versus Iqaluit on the 13th, with an .839 on 31 shots, but the team bailed him out for a 7-5 win. Up next was a home-and-home against Albuquerque, and Sauer rebounded with a .941 in the 3-2 OTW. Laine scored the game-winner this time with 14 seconds left in OT. Whitmore played the next day and was rock-solid with a .939 in the 5-2 win. Sauer started the next two games, a 5-1 win over Quebec City and a 4-1 win over Oklahoma City. Whitmore got his third and final start of the month thanks to back-to-back games, and had a .935 in the 5-2 win over Fredericton. For those keeping track at home, that's a 2-1-0-0 month with a .961 and a 1.50GAA for Whitmore. Sauer had another bad game against Indianapolis on the 25th, but the scoring bailed him out again for a 4-3 win, despite his .893 on 28 shots. Alas, the Regina Cyclones had to go and spoil the perfect month by beating the Satellites in the final game, 3-1. If you're wondering, Sauer wasn't bad in that one with a .903 on 31 shots. His monthly total? 8-1-0-1 with a .934 and a 1.97GAA. Record after 62 games: 35-5-4-18, 119 points (10-2-0-1 this month). 1st Southwest, 2nd overall. Analysis: Obviously an insane month for the Satellites. Many felt that they were better than their early-season struggles indicated, but I don't think anyone saw this coming. Here's the thing, though: Meighan had 3 assists vs. Iqaluit, and Voynov had 2-2-4 vs. Quebec City. Other than that, no one had more than 2 points in any game this month! So the scoring was evenly spread and came at regular intervals. This wasn't one guy or even one line getting hot and playing out of their minds... unless you count the goalies. Both of these guys have performed this well before, but never at the same time and for such a long duration. So fans have to be asking themselves: Is it real? Was this just the luckiest season in Satellite history? Some things to consider: Our powerplay didn't get any better this month, hovering around 17.5%. Our penalty kill got a little better, from 80% to 82%. Yet our goal differential is +43, second only to St. Catharines at +62 (next best is 6th place Brandon at +29). On the first line, Glynnensteins had 10-5-15, Finnigan had 4-10-14, Meighan had 3-11-14, and that line was a +3. On the second line, Laine had 7-8-15, Moger had 3-5-8, and Voynov had 5-8-13. That whole line was +16, which is wild. It almost makes you wonder if the first and second lines should be swapped. Would the “first” line be boosted by playing against weaker competition? Or would the “second” line just be less effective against better competition? Moger, by the way, was finally taken off the powerplay, but that doesn't excuse his low point totals: he still had just 1 PP point in 50-something games. In the bottom six, Wong had 5-2-7, Baranka had 2-3-5, Kuznetsov had 1-3-4, and that third line was +4. That's the kind of month we need from our bottom two lines. On the fourth line, however, Fotiu had just 1 goal vs. Victoria on the 10th, his first point after 22 games. Luongo had just 1 assist vs. Fredericton on the 22nd. That was his first point since an assist vs. Louisville on December 12th; he hasn't scored a goal since November 7th vs. San Francisco. Finally, Fox had just 2 goals this month. When he scored on Regina on the 6th, that was his first goal since January 2nd vs. Memphis, and his first point since an assist vs. Yellowknife on January 5th. As bad as it might sound, at least that line was +3. On the blueline, Javanainen had 2-7-9, Abrahamsson had 1-10-11, and they were +11. These guys are on pace to match or exceed their career highs in points, while setting new highs in +/- at the same time. For the second pair, Lehto had 2-3-5, Maki had 2-4-6, and they were +5. While Lehto isn't scoring close to PPG like he was last year, his stats were boosted by playing on the first pair/first PP with Abrahamsson. He's just a solid "25 point, +15" two way guy who kills penalties, too. Maki, on the other hand, is on pace to almost quadruple his career high (41P pace vs. 11P in 20/21). Finally, on the third pair, Simpson had just 1 assist, but he and his partner Bergman were +10. Bergman actually had 1-2-3 this month, more points than he had in the whole season up to this point. He picked up an assist vs. Albuquerque on the 16th and then added a goal and an assist a few days later vs. Fredericton. So here we stand on February 28th, the last day before the Trade Deadline. What will the Satellites do? Do they believe in the team we just saw over the last month? There's only a 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 7th in the cupboard for trade bait this year. Do they give up futures? Or stand pat with the team that's gotten them this far? February Stats    Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In Austin is 22-8-6-29, 8th in their division, 21st overall. Dainius Galanov (24) had another 9P. Brandon Irwin (20) had 6, looking so much better than last year when he only scored 17 in 76 games. Jon Murray (22) had 15P in 13GP. Those guys were all -7, though, and you can't blame that all on the goalies. Tuukka Ahonen (20) had 6P, Ryan Kushner (25) had 12, and Jay O'Byrne (22) had 8. They were all +5. Mathais Niederberger (19) had 7P, Anders Holm (18) had 9, and they were -3. Sergei Kuleshov (21) was -2 and had just 1 assist in 13GP somehow, after scoring at .5PPG in the first 50GP. Thomas Boumedienne (20) just came back from his injury, so he didn't play. On D, Brian Skidmore (23) had 13P and Jacob Baker (21) had 9, but they were -5. Isaac Nantais (22) had 8P but was -2. Alexander Khristich (21) had 3P and was Even. In goal, Lou Bernier (26) actually got worse, going 3-7 with an .865 this month. This total collapse occurred right when the coach was changed, so maybe that's all there is to it. Or maybe not getting the GHL backup job messed with his head. Either way, there's not much more to be said.   Around The League On the 4th, Charlotte’s Jonathan Conroy injured his Achilles and was expected to miss two months. The Queens' first line playmaking Center has 63 points in 53 games. St. Catharines, clear #1 team in the league, clinched a playoff spot mid-month with 130 points in 60 games. Albuquerque's Kristian Vaananen still leads the rookie point race with 34-35-69 in 65GP. Lars Nokie (2020 #3) is 5th with 40P in 60GP. Quin Leonard (2020 #2) is 14th with 22P in 64GP. Aatu Ramo (2021 #1) is 31st with 9P in 63GP. Petr Kasparov (2021 #2) is 38th with 5P in 31GP. Sauer still leads rookie goalies.
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Dec 7, 2021 14:02
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 Trade Deadline Day 2022 was a relatively quiet one for the Satellites. Unlike years past, GM Goonson was more interested in shoring up the bottom six than filling any glaring holes in the lineup. To that end, his first move was to secure a solid third line Center.  Kyle Turlick The Victoria Gardeners, last in the league, were looking to move on from 32-year old two way Center Kyle Turlick 84 Top 6. The 2007 3rd overall pick had just 14-8-22, -20 in 63GP for the Gardeners this year, but the Satellites are obviously expecting him to rebound to his usual 50 point, Even pace on a much better team. He's in the last year of a shockingly cheap $1.650M contract, so they may be thinking about keeping him to replace the aging Jarred Moger, depending on how Free Agency goes.  The return would be RW sniper Dainius Galanov, a 2023 3rd round pick, and a 2024 2nd round pick. Galanov, 24, was drafted 12th overall by Houston in 2015, but never could crack the GHL lineup in six years. Despite 140 points in 126 MGHL games over the last two seasons, the Satellites clearly felt he had run out of time to establish himself in the organization.  Next, the Satellites sent out inquiries about playmaking wingers, and Baltimore offered up Anders Brown 82 medium Top 9.  Anders Brown Brown, 25, was drafted in the 5th round in 2014 and had averaged 20P, +5 per 82 for the Crabs over 4 partial seasons. He even won the Legacy Cup with them in 2021. His relationship had reportedly soured with head coach Eric Gianetti, however, and it would seem to be true: Brown played only one game this season despite being a bona fide third line talent. He still has another year left after this one on his $1.6M contract.  In return, Baltimore acquired 22-year old D Isaac Nantais and a 2023 4th. Nantais was a 2nd round pick by Oklahoma City in 2017, signed in free agency by Houston before the 20/21 season. He was VERY productive in Austin, scoring 64P with a +53 in 147 games across two seasons. Rumor has it that Baltimore initially demanded one of Houston's Top 4 D-men, which was obviously out of the question for the Satellites. GM Goonson instead sold them on a younger defender with Top 4 potential, thus the 4th round pick just to even it up a little. While there's no doubt that Nantais is a talented prospect who will surely make the GHL some day, Houston has an overload of Right D prospects. And with all but the bottom pair spot locked down already, they apparently decided to put their money on Jacob Baker, who is similar to Nantais but a year younger.  After the trades, Houston was left with a thinner but not totally depleted slate of picks.  When asked about the new members of the squad, Coach Rubinowitz admitted that there'd be some adjustment needed. "Yeah, we're hoping to play Miles {Wong} with the new guys on the third line, but, uh, they're both left wings - Brown and Wong, I mean. So one of them will have to play their off-wing, or maybe Fox can fit on that right side, we'll see." With the new arrivals, Baranka would be a healthy scratch for now, and Cernik got sent down to Austin to get him some playing time. Looking around the league, there weren't any big name trades. Milwaukee traded their 2023 1st to Indianapolis for Center playmaker Vladislav Nesterov, who had 34P, +5 in 65GP. There were, however, several teams that gave up on their recent 1st rounders: San Francisco traded LW Jake Nachbaur (80P in 146 minorGP) and a 4th to Charlotte for second pair D Travis Hamhuis. Nachbaur was their 2020 1st pick (26). Albuquerque traded D Ville Heino (5P, +3 in 8 majorGP), to Hamilton for third line power forward Boone Jensen and a 6th. Heino was their 2019 1st pick (20). Iqaluit traded C Ryan Suomi (55P in 63 minor games) to Kansas City for third line LW Andre Bakos and a 4th. Suomi was their 2019 1st pick (28). Oklahoma City traded D Nicolas Braun (111P in 141 minorGP) with a 3rd and a 5th to St. John's for second pair D Will Burch. Braun was their 2018 1st pick (27).
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Dec 8, 2021 16:03
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Houston Monthly Rewind March/April 2022 March started out rough for the Satellites, with three games in three days. Sauer earned a 2-1 win over San Francisco, with Luongo scoring assisted by Kuznetsov and Bergman. The next day Whitmore took a hard-luck 2-1 loss vs. Kelowna despite a .939 on 33 shots. Lehto was the sole goalscorer. The third game, in Kansas City, started off right. Wong scored, assisted by Turlick and Brown for their first points in Houston, and the Satellites were up 3-2 after the first period. But the tired team let up three goals in the third and wound up losing 5-3. Houston faced Memphis next and righted the ship with an 8-3 win. Voynov had a 4 goal night, Maki had 4 assists, and Brown and Turlick each had 1-2-3. The rematch two days later didn't go quite as well, ending in a 4-2 loss. It took overtime to beat Baltimore, 6-5. Brown, Finnigan, Fox, Kuznetsov, and Laine all scored in regulation before Glynnensteins picked up the game-winner. This game also officially clinched a playoff spot for Houston! Unfortunately, the team just couldn't keep it going, as they fell to Milwaukee next, 5-3. The Mugs, on the other hand, were on a 9-win streak, and passed Houston for second place in the league with that win. Whitmore got another start, facing Fredericton. Meighan scored twice, including the OT winner, to take it 3-2. Voynov scored both goals in a 4-2 loss to Kansas City, and now Sauer was suddenly 2-1-0-4 this month. The Coach made some adjustments, moving Fox up and Wong down so that everybody could play their natural positions. Whitmore faced San Francisco on the 19th, and despite Turlick and Simpson scoring, his .828 would lead to a 5-3 loss for Houston. With a chance to redeem himself vs. St. John 2 days later, he earned a 5-3 win despite an .897, thanks to the offense. Sauer started the next day vs. Oklahoma City and was probably happy to walk away with a .906. Javanainen had 1-3-4, Brown had an assist, and Wong, Turlick, and Moger all scored. The Satellites took the Foxes to OT on the 24th, but Tucson would ultimately win it, 3-2. Sauer then took another tough loss against Portland on the 26th, losing 1-0 in regulation. A 6-2 win over Brandon must have been a relief; Brown had 1-2-3, and Finnigan, Glynnensteins, Turlick, Fox, and Javanainen all had 2 point nights. The final game of March was one to forget, as Whitmore and his .839 earned the 5-0 loss to San Francisco. Tragically, Whitmore put up a .943 in the next game vs. Baltimore, but this time the team let him down for a 2-0 loss. Laine had a goal and an assist and Wong scored again the next night, and Sauer got the W in the 4-3 win over St. John's. Baranka got an assist in his first game since the trade deadline, replacing Luongo as 4th line Center. Brown scored, assisted by Turlick, but that was all the offense Houston could muster in a 3-1 loss to Kansas City. It was a different story in the rematch two days later, as Sauer got the shutout to win the final game of the season 3-0. Finnigan had 2-1-3, Meighan had 2 assists, and Abrahamsson scored the other goal. That final win, by the way, was necessary to hold onto second place, as they finished 4 points ahead of KC. Record after 82 games: 42-7-5-28, 145 points (7-2-1-10 this month). 1st Southwest, 2nd overall. Houston's oppenent in Round 1: San Francisco Friars! vs.  Analysis: Well, that certainly wasn't how we hoped to end the year. Leaving 33 of 60 possible points on the table hurts, it doesn't matter if we hung onto second place or not. The team needs to get their heads screwed on straight if they want to have any hope of surviving the playoffs. The first line was just OK, with a -2 over the final 20 games. Glynnensteins had 1-10-11, and although he failed to hit 30 goals like last year, he matched his point total exactly with 73. Finnigan had 6-7-13, finishing with 67, 4 shy of last year. Meighan had 5-7-12 to also hit 67. He only had 49 last year, but he had been on pace for 68. The second line was +2, finishing with a mind-blowing +48. Laine had 4-10-14, finishing with 79P in 79GP. He had 49 last year, so that’s another excellent year of growth from the young Finn. Remember at the start of Season 1 when he was a 22-year old third liner with 22 points? Moger had 5-7-12 for 47 points, 7 fewer than last year. Although he’s no 70+ point man any more, he also never had a +/- over +25 before. Voynov went on a spree, scoring 9-9-18 to finish with 83P in 82GP. That’s 23 more than last year. This line just absolutely clicked this season. On the brand new third line, Brown had 4-6-10. Small sample size, obviously, but that’s a 40P pace, which would double his previous high. Turlick had 4-5-9, which is about on pace for him usually. They were both +6. Fox had 2-1-3, +7 to reach 13P, +8. That’s half the 25P he had last year, but he also played on the fourth line most of the year. If we had a playmaker Center for the third line, maybe Fox and Wong could both play there. The fourth line was +2. Kuznetsov had 2-3-6 for 18P, 1 more than last season. Wong had 4 goals to hit 17P again, matching last year’s total in 18 fewer games. Luongo had 1-2-3 for 13, 1 fewer point in 1 more game. Baranka had 1 assist, -1 in just 3 games to end at 17P, a full 12 shy of last year. On D, Javanainen had 4-6-10 for 42P, 19 more this year. Abrahamsson had 1-7-8 to hit 54, 9 shy of last year. They were Even, but their +23/+26 is way better than last year’s -3/+5. Lehto had 3-5-8 for 31, 25 points less than last season. The reason is obvious: his assists dropped from 45 to just 17 this year. Maki had 2-7-9 for 35, more than tripling last year’s 11. And that pair was +11, about the same for Lehto but a big improvement for Maki at +27/+21. Simpson had 1-2-3, hitting 16P, +22 in his first GHL season. Bergman had 0-2-2 for 7, ending 10 shy of last year. Surprisingly they were -2, but no worries as they were +11/+20 overall. Sauer went 6-1-1-6 with a .907 and a 2.97GAA. Not terrible, but he could've been much better. He finished with 28W in 40GP, a .920 SVP, and a 2.47 GAA. That’s a great rookie year, and we hope he can keep this performance up. Whitmore went 1-1-0-4 with a .901 and a 3.16GAA. The win/loss record was some bad luck, with the team getting shut out twice in front of him, but the save percentage is a different story. He finishes the season with 21W in 42GP, a .907, and a 2.92. That’s a far cry from the 43W/.928, 40W/.919 we saw from him in the last two seasons. Final Stats    Final Standings   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Austin Sputniks finished 30-9-6-37, 114 points. 21st in the league, they missed the playoffs this year by a lot. Looking at the top teams in the league, it’s clear why: While Austin is full of kids trying to develop, those leading the league have borderline (or actual) GHL guys all the way down the lineup. So try not to get too discouraged about a bad season. Brandon Irwin (20) led the team with 27 goals and the forwards with 55P in 82GP. A huge gain from the 17P he had last season, but not a lot in context. Tuukka Ahonen (20) had 49P, 4 more than last year, but he also played on the first line this year, so we’d like to have seen a little more out of him. Jay O’Byrne (22) and Ryan Kushner (25) had 46P, although Kushner did it in 23 fewer games. Thomas Boumedienne (20) had 42P, but he also missed 18 games due to injury. Anders Holm (18) had 39P, and Mathias Niederberger (19) was right behind him with 38. A great season for those two, right out of the draft. Jon Murray (22) had 38P in 32GP, but was pointless in 31GP up in Houston. Hopefully he takes the right lesson from this tough season and comes back stronger next year. Alexandre Fotiu (25) hurt his shoulder near the end of March and missed the last few games. He finished with 36P in 35GP in Austin, but just 1 goal in 30GP in Houston. Not very promising for an older prospect at the end of his development. Finally, Sergei Kuleshov (21) had 34P on the fourth line playing with random MGHLers. He’ll be allright. On D, Brian Skidmore (24) led the team with 62 assists and 83P. That’s 157P in 164GP in Austin. With a third pair right D spot potentially opening up in the GHL, you have to wonder if the GM moves him while his value is at an all-time high? Or do they try and play him on his off side? Jacob Baker (21) had 57P in his first minor league season. Atlanta must have a pretty deep prospect corps to have drafted this guy and never even signed his ELC. Alexander Khristich (21) had 30P, way better than the 6 he had last year. Erik Cernik (24) had 14P in 17GP in Austin. He wasn’t bad in Houston (3P, Even in 21GP), so maybe he’ll get another shot at the start of next year. There’s not much to say about Lou Bernier’s (26) season. Either he’ll recover or he won’t, but if he didn’t earn the GHL backup job after last year’s spectacular season, I don’t think Whitmore or Sauer will be looking over their shoulders after this one. Looking around the league, there were 4 teams with fewer than 20 wins, but the Longueuil Jacks, Quebec City's MGHL affiliate, set a new record low: 5-5-6-66 for 31 out of a possible 246 points, or a .126 point percentage. The crazy part is that 2 of those wins came in the last 10 games, so at one point they had just 3 regulation wins in 72 games.  
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Dec 10, 2021 20:33
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 Game 1 @ Houston Game 1 started slow, with a scoreless first period. 3:34 into the second, though, C Brayden Schremp scored on the first shot of the period for San Francisco to make it 1-0. It took over 13 minutes before Maki answered back with just 3:04 remaining to take the game into the second intermission tied at 1. Moger scored less than two minutes into the third, and suddenly Houston was in the driver's seat, 2-1. After a big penalty kill on a Wong cross-checking call, Wong himself scored with 11:39 remaining to make it 3-1. Moger put the dagger into the Friars' heart with 4:03 left, and 4-1 was the final score. Voynov had 2 assists and Sauer had a .966 on 29 shots against. Final score: Houston 4 - 1 San Francisco, Houston leads series 1-0. Game 2 @ Houston Game 2 started similar to Game 1, with another scoreless first. Moger again opened the scoring in the second, scoring off the period-opening faceoff thanks to a funny bounce. Lehto extended the lead to 2 just over 4 minutes later. Laine made it 3-0 at 14:23, and that's how the game went into the third. The teams traded shots in the third, but San Francisco's four penalties for rough play made it difficult to get any momentum going. Turlick added a garbage goal with 50 second left, and Sauer earned his first career playoff shutout. Voynov had another 2 assists. Final score: Houston 4 - 0 San Francisco, Houston leads series 2-0. Game 3 @ San Francisco In the Bay Area for the first time, Maki wasted no time in scoring on Houston's second shot of the game. But 23-year old C Jordan Kruk answered back 30 seconds later with his first career GHL playoff point, and the game was tied at 1. Unfortunately for the Friars, Glynnensteins and Abrahamsson each scored their first goals of the series, and it was 3-1 after one. Maki extended the lead to 4-1 with his second of the game early in the second period. It took a powerplay on a Bergman boarding penalty for RW Vlad Tereshnikov to beat Sauer and make it 4-2 heading into the third. The Satellites would lock it down in the final period, though, not even allowing a shot on goal on the PK. Laine had 2 assists in the game, and Houston walked out with a commanding series lead. Final score: Houston 4 - 2 San Francisco, Houston leads series 3-0. Game 4 @ San Francisco Both teams came out with purpose for Game 4. Two powerplays for the Friars and one for the Satellites went nowhere in the first. The second was more of the same, as the refs handed out two more penalties each, but neither team could capitalize. Houston had two great opportunities late thanks to slashing calls with 5:24 and 2:43 left in the third, but couldn't score on either of them. Finally, in overtime, 36-year old Center Tyler Benson ended it for San Francisco to avoid the sweep. Final score: Houston 0 - 1 San Francisco, Houston leads series 3-1. Game 5 @ Houston Moger came out for Game 5 with a bee under his bonnet, scoring as soon as he touched the ice at 19:23. He then did it again at 16:36, assisted both times by Maki. It took 10 minutes and an Abrahamsson roughing penalty for D Torey King to get the Friars back within one by the end of the first period. A Baranka hooking call would lead to another powerplay goal for San Fran, and suddenly that early lead had evaporated before the second was even half over. The Friars smelled blood, firing 7 more shots on Sauer before the end of the period, but he stood tall, and we went into the third tied 2-2. It took more than 3 and a half minutes to see the first shot in the third as both teams played carefully. It only took 21 more seconds for Meighan to score his first goal of the series, putting the Satellites up 3-2 at 16:22. Houston bore down, outshooting the Friars 12-4 over the next 11 minutes. San Francisco then managed a run of 5 shots in the last 5 minutes, but pulling their goalie only succeeded in embarrassing Baranka, who missed the empty net twice. Final score: Houston 3 - 2 San Francisco, Houston wins in 5.  Scott Meighan celebrates scoring the game-winning goal to eliminate the San Francisco Friars on Thursday night. Three Stars    Houston's opponent in Round 2: Albuquerque! vs. Around the league: 2017's 2nd overall pick, C Nolan O'Neal, lead the playoffs with 3-7-10, +5 in 7 games for Quebec City. The Aces were eliminated in 7 by Moncton. C Butch Pratt and RW Nail Panteleev both had 9 points in 4 games for St. Catharines as they swept Atlanta. Speaking of St. Catharines, they split their games between their goalies for some reason, and 38-year old backup G Mark Segal currently leads the playoffs with a .967 in 2 games, with only 1 goal allowed in each. He had 4 wins and an .862 in 12 regular season games.
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Dec 12, 2021 23:27
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 Round 2 Game 1 @ Houston Before Game 1, it was announced that Sauer was sick and Whitmore would have to play instead. The game started evenly matched, going 1:24 without a shot, but Albuquerque was outshooting Houston 6-3 by the time Fox scored the first goal at 10:40. Shots were even at 11 at the end of the period, despite the Dukes having 2 powerplays. Lehto scored at 16:25 of the second to make it 2-0. Wong extended the lead to 3 at 11:20. RW Nikolay Golubev took an interference penalty at 7:28, and it only took 11 seconds for Maki to make it 4-0. Houston couldn't capitalize on a Blake Weber cross-checking call at 5:50, but Brown took advantage of the tired defenders and made it 5-0 with 3:07 left in the second. Perttu Hyvonen took a holding call just 38 seconds into the third, and Finnigan made the Dukes pay a minute later. The Satellites sat back after that, and LW Nikolaj Elias finally broke the shutout with 10:58 left in the game, making it 6-1 Houston. Wong rubbed some salt in the wound at 4:14, and 7-1 would be the final score. Maki had 2 assists to go with his goal, and Voynov and Simpson had 2 each, as well. Whitmore had a .970 on 33 shots. Final score: Houston 7 - 1 Albuquerque, Houston leads series, 1-0. Game 2 @ Houston With Sauer returned to the net, Albuquerque came out buzzing in Game 2, outshooting Houston 8-5 over the first 15 minutes, even while killing a penalty. It was the second penalty that hurt them, however, as Laine made it 1-0 with 3:16 remaining. C Bryan Lilley got the Dukes back even at 14:15. At 8:08, Fox got called for holding. 30 seconds into the powerplay, presumptive Rookie Of The Year Kristian Vaananen took a boarding penalty to make it 4 on 4. Albuquerque's captain Blake Weber wasted no time taking advantage of the extra ice and made it 2-1 Dukes at 7:29. The Satellites couldn't take advantage of a shortened 5 on 3 at the start of the third, but when Fox was called for hooking, C Mike Lalime made it 3-1 at 15:54. Connor Healey shut the door for the Dukes after that. Final score: Houston 1 - 3 Albuquerque, series tied at 1. Game 3 @ Albuquerque In New Mexico for Game 3, the game remained scoreless through the first, until Turlick took a charging penalty with 1:12 remaining. Nikolay Golubev scored with just 14 seconds left, but then Dukes C Paul Stanton took a delay of game penalty while trying to clear the puck with just 2 seconds left in the period. With the Satellites starting the second period on a powerplay, it took Laine just 16 seconds to score and tie the game at 1. 30 seconds after killing off a Wong elbowing penalty, Kuznetsov scored his first of the playoffs at 9:12. Houston would go into the third up 2-1. Houston carried the lead all the way to the final minutes of the game. With the goalie pulled, LW Kyle Conroy tied it at 2 with 1:33 left. An elbowing penalty to Albuquerque's captain with 1:03 left gave the Satellites a chance to avoid overtime, but time ran out. In OT, Houston dominated, outshooting the Dukes 5-2 before Turlick tucked one in on a wraparound at 12:34. Final score: Houston 3 - 2 Albuquerque, Houston leads series 2-1. Game 4 @ Albuquerque Kristian Vaananen opened the scoring in Game 4 at 14:40 of the first. Houston successfully killed off two penalties, and it took until there was 2:40 left for Fox to tie the game, 1-1. The second was quiet, although Houston's PK was working hard killing off three more penalties to Albuquerque's one. D Neal Poti took an elbowing penalty at 16:22, and Finnigan sniped one home, putting Houston up 2-1. The rest of the game was a back and forth, but just as Albuquerque was looking to pull their goalie, Bryan Lilley got called for holding with 2:27 left. Unable to put on the extra attacker, the Dukes couldn't make it to overtime. Final score: Houston 2 - 1 Albuquerque, Houston leads series 3-1. Game 5 @ Houston Game 5 didn't start well for Houston, with Maki taking a slashing call less than 30 seconds in. Mike Lalime did it all himself, scoring an unassisted powerplay goal at 17:59. Abrahamsson was called for elbowing at 15:03, and Perttu Hyvonen gave the Dukes a 2-0 lead with 8 seconds left on the powerplay. Houston outshot Albuquerque 12-6 before D Derek Forbes took a delay of game call with 1:07 remaining in the first. The Satellites couldn't make anything happen on the split PP, though, and the score was unchanged until 2:44 in the second, when Perttu Hyvonen tallied another for Albuquerque. He completed the natural hat trick one minute later, making it 4-0 Albuquerque. Nikolaj Elias potted one to make it 5-0, and suddenly the Satellites had given up 3 goals in 2 minutes. Voynov got Houston back on track with his first goal of the playoffs at 17:59, and the Satellites pushed hard before Meighan made it 5-2 with 11:47 remaining. Unfortunately the comeback was not to be, and we would need at least one more game to determine a winner. Final score: Houston 2 - 5 Albuquerque, Houston leads series 3-2. Game 6 @ Albuquerque Game 6 didn't start much better than Game 5 for Houston, as D Logan Stanton scored on the first shot of the game at 18:34. A wild sequence followed: Finnigan got hit for delay of game at 16:37, only to have Javanainen score shorthanded 4 seconds later. Voynov was then called for interference on the ensuing faceoff, and Houston was down 2 men. Off the next faceoff, Nikolaj Elias was called for charging, making it 4 on 3. 11 seconds later, Finnigan scored another shorty to make it 2-1. The Satellites, energized, poured 10 more shots on Connor Healey before the end of the period, but to no avail. The Dukes came out hard in the second, but they had no luck until Nikolay Golubev tied the game with 5:16 left in the period. C Boone Jensen then beat Sauer to make it 3-2 with 2:09 remaining, and that's how the period would end. Neither team could gain an advantage in the third, and as time was running low, Jensen scored his second at 6:02 to make it 4-2 Albuquerque. The Satellites put 6 more shots on Healey, but with no luck. Final score: Houston 2 - 4 Albuquerque, series tied at 3. Game 7 @ Houston Game 7 was looking like another collapse for Houston as the Dukes again scored on their first shot, Kristian Vaananen at 19:28. The Satellites then took 5 penalties to Albuquerque's 1, including a late 5 on 3 with 2 minutes left, but they managed to kill them all. Bergman chose the right time to get his first goal of the playoffs, tying the game 1-1 at 19:37 of the second. Houston was outshot 5-2 over the next 6 minutes, yet Meighan scored the go-ahead goal at 13:31. The momentum then shifted, as Houston outshot Albuquerque 7-3 over the rest of the period. The Satellites had a big 5 on 3 PK early in the third, and they pulled it off, only allowing one shot. When Bryan Lilley took a roughing penalty at 11:16, Houston didn't let the opportunity pass, and Maki scored at 10:21 to make it 3-1. Glynnensteins scored his first of the series just 22 seconds later to make it 4-1. The frustrated Dukes took three more minor penalties in the last 8 minutes, tiring their team out on the PK when they needed a goal, and Sauer easily shut the door. Final score: Houston 4 - 1 Albuquerque, Houston wins in 7.  Scott Meighan scored another goal that turned out to be an eliminator, sending the Albuquerque Dukes home on Monday. Three Stars   Houston's opponent in Round 3: Kelowna! vs.  Around the league: Moncton C Mathew Barry lead the playoffs with 4-10-14, Even in 11 games. The Phoenix were eliminated by Baltimore in 4 games. Honorable mention to Baltimore C Patrick Bergland, and St. Catharines C Butch Pratt and RW Nail Panteleev, who all have 13P in 8 games. Billy Whitmore leads all goalies thanks to his .970 in 1 game, although Baltimore G Leo Ramo is the best starter with an 8-0 record, .944 SVP, and 1.73 GAA.
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Dec 15, 2021 03:53
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 Round 3 Game 1 @ Houston Game 1 versus Kelowna started off with a bang: Moger scored his first goal since Round 1 just 39 seconds in, on Houston’s first shot of the game. The Satellites couldn’t extend their lead on a boarding penalty to C J.T. Millen about halfway through the period, but Finnigan got one 5 on 5 to make it 2-0 with 3:00 remaining. D Nate Schneider got called for hooking at 2:16, and Finnigan took only 10 seconds to make it 3-0 after one. The second period was much quieter, with Houston failing to score on two powerplays. When Voynov took a hooking penalty with 5:15 left, the Satellites successfully killed off 1:45 of it before LW Alexei Ivanov ripped a slapper from the left circle to make it 3-1. Coming into the third, the Satellites had to expect a push from the Grizzlies, but Brown took the wind out of their sails with a goal at 16:45 to make it 4-1. Kelowna outshot Houston 11-6 after that, but Sauer denied them all. C Elias Petersson ended the game with 8 SOG for Kelowna. Final score: Houston 4 - 1 Kelowna, Houston leads series 1-0. Game 2 @ Houston Houston came out energized for Game 2, getting the first 4 shots on goal. When D Quinn Hayes and Alexei Ivanov took penalties a minute apart early in the period, though, the Satellites again failed to score despite the extended advantage. With 6:49 remaining, Wong and Turlick took two penalties 40 seconds apart, and J.T. Millen opened the scoring for Kelowna just seconds after Wong’s penalty expired. The game would go into the first intermission tied 1-1, however, thanks to Glynnensteins stealing an errant pass and scoring unassisted at 2:57. In the second, the Satellites killed off another 2 penalties, their PK looking much better than their PP so far. At 4:28, Javanainen fired a shot from the point and G Thatcher Drake made the initial save, but the rebound found Finnigan, who put it home to make it 2-1 Houston. The third started with another unsuccessful powerplay, although at least the Satellites got 3 shots on net this time. Houston killed off 2 more penalties to Simpson and Wong. They failed again on a powerplay at 11:32, and another at 9:39, and weren’t looking good on another at 6:54. When Elias Petersson made it a 5 on 3 at 6:08, though, the Grizzlies were finally worn down enough that Finnigan scored to make it 3-1. With time winding down for Kelowna, D Jay Boulerice took a foolish boarding penalty at 4:31, but Houston couldn’t score on it. 30 seconds after it ended, D Alexander Edberg got caught holding at 2:02, so the Grizzlies couldn’t pull their goalie for the man advantage. But the Satellites managed only one shot before Meighan was sent off for elbowing with 29 seconds left, making it 4 on 4. Elias Petersson, with another 6 SOG in this game, put a scare into Houston by making it 3-2 with 11 seconds left, but the Satellites managed to clamp down and end it. Final score: Houston 3 - 2 Kelowna, Houston leads series 2-0.  After the game it was revealed that, in the final net-front scramble, Erik Lehto suffered a knee injury and is expected to be out for three months. Lehto had 31P, +27 in 82 regular season games, and 3P, +6 in 14 playoff games. Houston called up RD Erik Cernik, moving Simpson up to the second pair and Bergman to his natural left side. After the sad display in the first two games, Javanainen and Abrahamsson would move up to the first powerplay unit, sending Simpson and Maki to the second unit. Turlick would get a chance on the second unit, after Moger, Wong, and Fox all failed to have an impact there. Game 3 @ Kelowna Houston came into Kelowna for the first time stumbling, taking a holding penalty by Turlick less than a minute into the game. They killed the penalty, but only got their first shot on goal a few seconds before Fox got called for roughing at 14:34. They neutralized that penalty, too, only to have Nate Schneider make it 1-0 for the Grizzlies 30 seconds later. Only 10 seconds later, Fox took another penalty. Yet again the Satellites killed it off, but the coach must have been tearing his hair out behind the bench. An elbowing penalty on Kelowna led to nothing for the Satellites. A penalty to LW Teddy Pederson at 19:11 of the second gave Houston a chance, but they couldn't even up the score. The teams traded shots for a while until 20 year old rookie RW Vasily Prokhorkin scored at 10:14 to give Kelowna the 2-0 lead. A penalty to Alex Edberg lasted less than a minute before Glynnensteins got called for charging and negated the powerplay. Seconds after killing off an Alexei Ivanov slashing penalty, Kelowna LW Tyler Britz made it 3-0 with 2 minutes left, and things were looking dire for Houston. The Satellites again failed to score on a powerplay at 16:13 of the third, but Glynnensteins finally broke through at 11:44 to make it 3-1. Two minutes later, though, Elias Petersson scored on his first and only shot of the game to make it 4-1. With Jay Boulerice in the box for tripping, Voynov did it all himself, going end to end and scoring to make it 4-2. Kelowna then took control of the game, getting the next 5 shots as time wound down. Turlick scored with 27 seconds left, but there would be no miracle comeback tonight. Final score: Houston 3 - 4 Kelowna, Houston leads series 2-1.  In more bad news for the Satellites, Tim Finnigan injured his hip in the loss, and was expected to be out at least a week. Finnigan had been one of Houston's best players, with 13P, +5 in 15 games. All of the Centers would move up, with Todd Luongo seeing his first action of the playoffs. Game 4 @ Kelowna Game 4 started slow for Houston. Despite having 3 powerplays in the first 10 minutes, shots were only 6-5 for Houston. The Satellites then took 3 penalties themselves in the second half of the period, but allowed only 3 shots as they killed them off. Houston came out hard in the second, taking 3 of the period's first 4 shots before Javanainen got his second goal of the playoffs to make it 1-0 Houston. The Satellites killed off three more penalties, including a 5 on 3, before Moger scored with just 1:39 left in the period to make it 2-0. Kelowna poured it on in the third, outshooting Houston 14-6 in the period. D Jordie Bonin got caught slashing at 2:35, however, and with the goalie pulled to make it 5 on 5, Turlick sealed it with an empty-netter. Final score: Houston 3 - 0 Kelowna, Houston leads series 3-1. Game 5 @ Houston Back in the Lone Star State with a chance to end the series, the Satellites had the first three shots of Game 5. Yet when they got a powerplay at 15:18, they were outshot 2-1, and then LW Teddy Pederson gave Kelowna the lead at 12:29. Houston successfully killed a 5 on 3 and a 5 on 4, only to have Teddy Pederson score again with 40 seconds remaining in the period, 2-0 Kelowna. The second didn't start well for Houston, with Baranka putting the puck over the glass for a delay of game penalty at 19:27. But Moger, killing off the penalty, caught the Grizzlies sleeping and scored just 1 second after the penalty expired. The Satellites killed another penalty, but again couldn't score on a powerplay. RW Buzz Borer would make it 3-1 for Kelowna at 7:52, and that's how the second would end. The third was more of the same: Another lifeless PP, another good PK, but when Buzz Borer scored his second of the game and made it 4-1 at 7:32, that was all she wrote. Final score: Houston 1 - 4 Kelowna, Houston leads series 3-2. Game 6 @ Kelowna Game 6 started evenly, but Houston again couldn't score on the powerplay. Their overtaxed PK finally cracked, allowing Vasily Prokhorikin to score at 12:20. J.T. Millen then scored to make it 2-0 a minute later. Turlick was called for elbowing at 3:42, and Buzz Borer made it 3-0 30 seconds later. Not finished yet, Borer scored again with just 22 seconds left. The Satellites outshot Kelowna 6-2 at the start of the second, and when Teddy Pederson was sent to the penalty box at 10:53, it took less than 30 seconds for Laine to finally score his first point of this round, and it was now 4-1. Another PP and PK passed without a goal, and it was on to the third. Turlick scored at 12:13 to cut Kelowna's lead to 4-2. C Bo Holtz answered back at 9:00 to make it 5-2. After another failed PP and successful PK, Turlick took advantage with Buzz Borer in the box to make it 5-3 at 6:09. That would be all, though, and the series would head back to Texas for Game 7. Final score: Houston 3 - 5 Kelowna, series tied at 3. Game 7 @ Houston With the series on the line, Houston started poorly with a penalty to Glynnensteins just 20 seconds in. The Satellites killed it, but Nate Schneider made it 1-0 anyways at 16:15. Houston then failed to score on a Bo Holtz high-sticking, but Fox tied the game at 1 shortly thereafter, at 9:22. Another powerplay and three PKs led to nothing, and the period ended still tied. Another failed powerplay for Houston on an interference penalty opened the second. Seconds later, Houston got another chance on a hooking call, only for Javanainen to take a holding penalty 30 seconds into the powerplay. Laine took 30 seconds of 4 on 4 before he sniped one past Thatcher Drake, and it was now 2-1. Another two scoreless powerplays and a good PK ended the period. The Satellites were now 6/40 on the powerplay in this series, and believe it or not that 15% was actually an improvement from the first few games. In the third, Houston was doing a good job of preventing chances, and by the time Kuznetsov took an elbowing penalty at 11:49, Kelowna had only 3 shots in the period. Although Houston was successful on the PK again, Kelowna took the momentum and ran with it, pouring on the shots as the Satellites were too busy defending to extend the lead. With the goalie pulled with 3:19 left, the Grizzlies got three more shots in before Cernik was sent off for charging with 30 seconds left. Now a 6 on 4 situation, the Satellites allowed only one more shot before the game ended. Final score: Houston 2 - 1 Kelowna, Houston wins in 7.  Raimo Laine (#24) and Scott Meighan (#23) celebrate the series-clinching goal over the Kelowna Grizzlies on Tuesday in Houston. Three Stars   Houston's opponent in the Legacy Cup Finals: St. Catharines! vs.  Around the league: Baltimore's C Patrick Bergland and LW Nick Ratchuk led the playoffs with 19P in 15GP. The Crabs were eliminated by the St. Catharines Panthers in 7 games. Jere Maki leads Defensemen with 16P in 19GP, and Tracy Simpson leads all players with a +13. Whitmore still leads all goalies with his .970, 1.00 in one game, and Baltimore G Leo Ramo still leads starters with his .937, 1.99, 11W in 15GP. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Dec 20, 2021 |
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Dec 18, 2021 22:01
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 Well, folks, this is it: #1 St. Catharines Panthers (48-6-4-24) vs #2 Houston Satellites (42-7-5-28) in the Legacy Cup Finals. Here's how the two teams' regular seasons stacked up:  Erik Cernik, remember, was "stolen" from St. Catharines with an offer sheet at the start of last season. Interestingly, there's a familiar face on the other side of the ice, too: 35-year old D Alexander Klementyev, traded from Houston (2P, -7 in 12GP) to Whitehorse (6P, -2 in 36GP) in November of 2020 for Spencer Fox. He finished the year with the Huskies, then had 1P, -3 in 2 games in the minors at the start of 2021. He was then traded to St. Catharines, where they brought him up to play on their third pair with surprising success (10P, +6 in 72GP). Legacy Cup Finals Game 1 @ St. Catharines The Satellites had an opportunity to take control early in Game 1, with a high-sticking penalty to RW Nail Panteleev at 19:39. Unsurprisingly, it amounted to nothing. LW Alex Korn got called for slashing at 12:25, but Voynov made it 4 on 4 by hooking just 30 seconds later. The Satellites were outshooting the Panthers 11-6 when LW Ondrej Pilar made it 1-0 for St. Catharines with just :53 left in the period. Houston got a glimmer of hope, though, when LW Butch Pratt got caught slashing with :08 left. Opening the second on a powerplay, Meighan took only 8 seconds to tie the game at 1, assisted by Glynnensteins and Turlick. The Panthers had the only shot on goal in the next 3 minutes, yet it was Turlick who scored on the next shot to make it 2-1, assisted by Abrahamsson and Laine. Voynov took another penalty at 13:10, then Glynnensteins was sent off just 20 seconds after that penalty ended. The Satellites killed both penalties, and Glynnensteins scored to make it 3-1 just one minute later, assisted by Moger and Meighan. The Panthers had 6 shots to Houston's 2 after that, but Sauer stood tall. Butch Pratt took another slashing penalty at 19:39 of the third, but Houston didn't even get a shot on net during the powerplay. The Panthers outshot the Satellites 12-5 over the rest of the game, but there would be no more goals tonight. Final score: Houston 3 - 1 St. Catharines, Houston leads series 1-0. The next day, Tim Finnigan returned from injury. He took his place back on the top line and powerplay, and Todd Luongo would stay on the fourth line instead of Robert Baranka. Baranka had 3A, +2 in 20GP, but only 16SOG. Luongo had 0P, Even in 5GP, but he also had 8SOG. Game 2 @ St. Catharines The second game of the series started out evenly matched, with only 3 shots total in the first 7 minutes. Then, suddenly, Nail Panteleev and C Sonny Stanton each scored within 15 seconds, and it was 2-0 Panthers. Houston was outshot 7-4 over the rest of the period, but Sauer kept things from getting worse. The second was much more evenly matched, and the Satellites had a chance to narrow the gap with a powerplay thanks to D Victor Skoog. But they didn't even get a shot on net before Cernik was called for roughing halfway through the powerplay. Another PP after that also went nowhere, and Turlick put the team in a precarious position by taking a penalty with less than 30 seconds remaining in the period. Although the Panthers didn't score on the powerplay, it was only 30 seconds later that C Brandon Sarner beat Sauer to make it 3-0. C Junior Gordon scored on a 4 on 4 to make it 4-0, and C Tyler Johannson made it 5-0 at 10:19. Brown (from Fox and Turlick) kept it from being a shutout with 4:00 remaining, but that was the lone bright spot for Houston. Final score: Houston 1 - 5 St. Catharines, series tied at 1. Game 3 @ Houston With the series coming to Texas for the first time, the Satellites came out strong and looking to erase the last game from their memory. A successful PK on a Laine roughing penalty gave them a boost, but slowly the tide turned until the Panthers were outshooting Houston 7-1 over a 13 minute stretch. D Ian McDonald took an interference penalty at 2:55, though, and Laine made it 1-0 from Cernik and Voynov just 3 seconds after the powerplay ended. The second started evenly matched, but a Sonny Stanton penalty led to 5 shots in a row for Houston... but no goal. A pair of penalties to C Brad Richards and Ondrej Pilar gave Houston more chances to extend their lead, but no luck. The third went almost halfway with the teams trading PPs and PKs, until Ondrej Pilar tied it at 1 at 10:17. On the next shift, though, Laine gave the Satellites the lead back with assists from Moger and Voynov. The teams battled back and forth, but Houston managed to lock it down. Final score: Houston 2 - 1 St. Catharines, Houston leads series 2-1. Game 4 @ Houston Game 4 got off to the best start Houston has had in a while, with Laine scoring just 14 seconds in, assisted by Voynov and Javanainen. Kuznetsov took an elbowing penalty at 10:07, though, and Sonny Stanton tied the game at 1 at 8:44. Butch Pratt then found the back of the net at 3:36, and it was 2-1 Panthers at the end of 1. The second was quiet, going minutes at a time without a shot on goal, but Sonny Stanton scored again at 13:58 to make it 3-1. As we saw in Game 2, the Satellites seemed to fall apart, giving up two goals to Tyler Johannson at 9:44 and 3:14. The first 5 minutes of the third produced only one shot for each team before Fox made it 5-2 from Abrahamsson and Brown. Another two PKs didn't help, but this game was pretty much already out of reach for the Satellites. Final score: Houston 2 - 5 St. Catharines, series tied at 2. Game 5 @ St. Catharines Returning to Canada for Game 5, the first period was uneventful until Ondrej Pilar again opened the scoring at 11:15. Fox got called for interference a minute later, only to have Wong tie the game at 1 (assisted by Kuznetsov and Bergman) seconds after the PK ended. The second period was balanced until the last 5 minutes, when the Panthers ripped off 5 shots in a row, culminating in another Ondrej Pilar goal to make it 2-1 at 2:45. A Simpson high-sticking call off the next faceoff was brutal, as Tyler Johannson made it 3-1 just 7 seconds in. Butch Pratt made it 4-1 with 1:39 left, and the second ended very differently than the first. Tyler Johannson got his second of the game to make it 5-1 just 4 minutes into the third. Finnigan answered back on the powerplay, though, hoping to wake the team up with his first goal of the series. When D Thomas Hicks was sent off for elbowing at 5:03, Meighan made it 5-3 with 4:40 remaining, and suddenly Houston had a chance. Although the Satellites pushed hard with limited time left, they couldn't complete the comeback. Final score: Houston 3 - 5 St. Catharines, St. Catharines leads series 3-2. Game 6 @ Houston Playing in Houston for the final time either way, the Satellites had a chance to take an early lead thanks to a Tyler Johannson interference penalty. But they couldn't capitalize, and the game went into the first intermission scoreless. Houston successfully killed off two penalties, but the third cost them, as Ondrej Pilar scored on a Turlick holding penalty at 12:27. The Satellites were 0/2 on the powerplay at the end of the second. Shots were 4-0 Panthers to open the third period. When Thomas Hicks was called for tripping at 16:20, Houston had to know that this was their best chance to tie the game. It took 1:30 before Meighan finally jammed one home, assisted by Turlick to tie the game at 1. Only 21 seconds later, however, Junior Gordon was left unguarded and put the puck in the net to regain a 2-1 lead for St. Catharines. The Panthers had another 4 shots to Houston's 1 before Kuznetsov took a slashing penalty at 11:23. Nail Panteleev took only 13 seconds to make the Satellites pay, and now it was 3-1. A powerplay on a D Ian McDonald boarding call at 8:31 gave the Satellites an opportunity, but they squandered it, as they were outshot 4-0 despite having the man advantage. As time and hope dwindled, Junior Gordon potted the empty-netter to seal the championship for St. Catharines. Final score: Houston 1 - 4 St. Catharines, St. Catharines wins in 6 
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Dec 20, 2021 17:46
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Well, I guess this is as good a place as any to leave it. Thanks to everybody who stuck around and kept reading through 4 seasons. Although this LP was never super popular to begin with, I guess taking, like, a six month break with no explanation right when everybody was stuck inside with nothing else to do wasn't the best way to retain readership. v v Anyways, I've been playing a lot of Franchise Hockey Manager on PC lately, so maybe we'll see a new, more narrative thread for an alternate history, like "West Coast Hockey League 1946" or "New Japan League 1980" or something!
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Dec 27, 2021 19:22
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Houston Season Recap June 2022 Well, that was a heart-breaking end to this season. Rather than dwell on missed opportunities, let's just look at the numbers: Voynov led our team with 20 points in 25 games, including 18 assists to lead the playoffs. He was followed by Maki with 16 points from the second D pair. Honorable mention to Turlick with 7-7-14 on the third line, and Finnigan with 8-6-14 in only 20 games thanks to his injury. Bergman was defensively solid as a rock, with a +11 in 25 games to tie for playoff lead in that stat. Sauer was great in his wins (2 goals allowed in 2 games) and very bad in his losses (19 allowed in 4). Despite all that, he ended tied for the playoff lead with a .922.    Down in the MGHL, the #1 Savannah Saplings (63-3-7-9) swept the #7 Chiliwack Greenhearts (44-8-2-28) in the finals. At least that gives Atlanta fans something to cheer about, after they were swept from the first round by the eventual-champion Panthers. Former Satellite Check-In RW Dainius Galanov: With 48P in 44GP in the minors, the 24-year old sniper failed to register even a single shot on goal in 6 GHL games. He was traded with a 2nd and a 3rd to Victoria for Kyle Turlick. Victoria kept him in the minors with Chiliwack, where he put up 13-12-25 in 17 games. D Isaac Nantais: After scoring 34P, +12 in 65 games with Austin, the 22-year old was traded with a 4th to Baltimore for Anders Brown. He apparently couldn't earn a spot in MGHL Columbia, as he rode the pine for the Pinch for the rest of the season. G Linus Eriksson: The 21-year old goalie's rights were traded for a 5th to Charlotte, who left him in Sweden to continue developing. Awards/League Leaders Bold indicates a league-leading stat, * among defensemen, ^ among rookies C Colin McBain, Brandon Harvesters Most Valuable Player, Defensive Forward Award 100 points, +22 in 82 GP.  C Butch Pratt, St. Catharines Panthers Offensive Player Of The Year, Playmaking Award, Playoff MVP 116 points, 79 assists, in 82 regular season games. 23 points in 21 playoff games.  C Ludwig Dackell, Brandon Harvesters Goal Scoring Award 52 goals in 82 GP.  D Tyson Marchand, Brandon Harvesters Offensive Defenseman Award 21 goals, 62* assists, 83* points, +14 in 82 GP.  D Jonas Abrahamsson, Houston Satellites Defensive Defenseman Award 54 points, +26 in 81 GP.  LW Kristian Vaananen, Albuquerque Dukes Rookie Of The Year 41^ goals, 42^ assists, 83^ points, +23 in 82 GP. G Ilya Soshnikov, St. Catharines Panthers Goalie Of The Year 50 wins, .910 SVP, 2.63 GAA, 4 SO in 70 GP. Best SVP/GAA, starter: Connor Healey, Albuquerque - .923 in 66 GP. Philipp Gradin, Kansas City - 2.48 GAA in 63 GP. Best SVP/GAA, backup: Sam Mottau, Jacksonville - .921 in 14 GP. Jason Sauer, Houston - 2.47 GAA in 40 GP. Most Shutouts: Connor Healey, Albuquerque/Michael DiPietro, Charlottetown - 8 SO. Honorable mention to Ilya Sorotkin from Moncton who technically led the league with a .971 and 1.00 GAA in one game. Best Plus/Minus: RW Alex Voynov/LW Raimo Laine, Houston - +48 Worst Plus/Minus: RW Eeli Toivonen, Memphis - -30 Futility Award, F: RW Alex Taft, Victoria - 50 P, -28 = -84 overall Futility Award, D: D Torey King, San Francisco - 58 P, -22 = -80 overall Most points with the worst +/- Backcheck Award, F: C Nick Colman, Memphis - 16 P, -26. Backcheck Award, D: D Nick Hillen, Victoria - 7 P, -23. Fewest points with the worst +/- Black Hole Award: LW Jon Murray, Houston - 0 P in 32 GP. Fewest points in most GP Snakebite Award: D David Savage, Hamilton - 1G, 107 SOG. 0.93% Worst non-zero shooting percentage Frustration Award, starter: G Page Lander, Victoria - 17 W in 47 GP, .362 W% Frustration Award, backup: G Brian Ellison, Portland - 6 W in 34 GP, .176 W% Worst winning percentage Sieve Award, starter: G Martin Joss, Halifax - .897, 3.26 GAA, 24 W in 53 GP. Sieve Award, backup: G Brian Ellison, Portland - .851, 4.85 GAA, 6 W in 34 GP. Worst save percentage Honorable mention to Collin Drulia from Oklahoma City with an .839 in 1 game. Retirements G Henrik Lindqvist, Fredericton. The 40-year old Swede had spent his entire career with the Redlegs before signing with Charlottetown at the start of 2020. After 1 season, though, he was traded back to Fredericton and closed out his career with a respectable 13 W, .910, 3.06 this season. The 7th round pick from 2000 earned a 2020 World Cup Silver medal to go with 516 wins in 979 games, a .918 SVP and 2.40 GAA. RW Marian Grosek, Atlanta. Drafted 3rd overall by Tucson in 2000, the Slovakian sniper finally officially retires at age 40 after spending one season in the minors, contributing 64 points in 62 games to this year's champion Savannah Saplings. He scored 421-417-838 and was +111 in 1117 GP. D Johnny Boucha, Moncton. A hard-working defensive defenseman from Canada, Boucha retires at 38 after 6 seasons with Baltimore followed by 8 with the Phoenix. Having only 2 seasons in his career below Even, he retires with 57-163-220 and an impressive +122 in 821 GP. C Travis Zent, St. John's. Drafted in the first round by St. John's in 2004, he spent his entire career with the team. Never a star but always a solid player, the 37-year old from Canada retires with 592 points in 1154 games. C Paul Stanon, Albuquerque. A playmaking center from the US, he retires at 36 after putting up 12-57-69 in 82GP this season and adding 7 more points in 13 playoff games. 282-572-854, +78 in 1109 GP. Draft Lottery At this year's draft lottery, Memphis won the big prize, jumping from 5th to 1st. Red Deer, right behind them, moved from 6th to 2nd and Iqaluit jumped from 8th to 3rd. Victoria, Hamilton, Portland, and Halifax would all get pushed back by the winners, losing three spots each.  Our picks: 3(92), 5(154), 6(185), 7(216). Brettbot fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Nov 3, 2022 |
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Nov 2, 2022 19:25
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2022 GHL Draft With the first overall pick, the Memphis Soul selected center sniper Slater Wight. The young Canadian had 6-9-15, +5 in 14 games while averaging 24:30 per night at the World Juniors, earning a bronze last year and a gold this year.  Red Deer was up next, picking center Matthew Savard from Canada. The 5’9” playmaker had 4-17-21, +5 in 14 games on the same Canadian Junior Team as Slater Wight.  Rounding out the top three, Iqaluit took another center, sniper Bjorn Ambert from Finland. Ambert had 13-11-24 and was +15 in 14 games for the Finnish Junior Team, who memorably dropped the ball twice. While leading the World Juniors in scoring, they lost both games in the finals both years, not even securing a bronze medal. The first defenseman taken in the draft was 5’8” Canadian Rogie Mougenel, taken at number 6 by Portland. A defensive defenseman, he had just 1 assist but was +9 at the World Juniors. St. Catharines took the first goalie at number 31, Alexei Popov from Russia. He had a .917 in 18 games in the Russian Minor Hockey League.  Houston drafted the following players: 3 (92): Simon Wilhelm, C, 18, Germany. At 6’6” and 225 lbs., this German sniper made an impression at the World Juniors with 2-4-6 and 39SOG in 10GP, improving from -13 in last year’s five games to Even in this year’s five. GHL Central Scouting had Wilhelm ranked somewhere around 120, but GM Goonson felt confident picking him up at 92 Likely outcome: If a guy who was just two picks from being a 4th rounder makes it to your middle six some day, that’s a win for any team. Scouts are split on whether Wilhelm will make it there or not, so we’ll just have to wait and see. 5 (154): Martin Zajicek, RW, 18, Czech Republic. While bouncing around the bottom six for the Czech Junior Team, this 6’3” playmaker still managed 5-2-7, +3, and 23SOG in 10GP. Likely outcome: For a 5th round pick this kid shows some promise, but the World Juniors are such a small sample size. Scouts are low on his defensive skill, in particular. 6 (185): Brett Washington, D, 17, USA. A right-side, defensive defenseman who had 3-13-16 in 58GP in the USJL, America’s top amateur junior league. Well-balanced for a DFD, with equal offensive and defensive skill. Likely outcome: Too early to tell. Whether he goes to college or stays in juniors, don’t expect to see him for years. 7 (216): Lukas Grossmann, LW, 17, Switzerland. It seems GM Goonson was watching the World Juniors closely, because here’s yet another international pick. 2-6-8, -2, with 31SOG in 10GP while playing on the top line for the Swiss Junior Team. Likely outcome: A longshot, for sure, but it’s the second-to-last pick of the draft. Switzerland doesn’t produce many top talents, but Grossmann’s taken the first step. Following the draft, Fredericton announced that they had retired Henrik Lindqvist’s number 30.
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Nov 3, 2022 14:30
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Re-Sign Phase, June 2022 I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but when I do contracts I either give the player the years they want and take a discount off their asking price, or I can change the years but I have to give them exactly what they ask for. Otherwise it's too easy to stay under the cap. A large number of players needed to be re-signed before the start of Free Agency. The most notable were: D Jonas Abrahamsson signed for 7 years, $7.910M per year. The 29-year old Swede is a top-pairing defenseman with 408 points and a +67 in 588 career games with Houston.  G Jason Sauer signed for 8 x $5.710M. Still only 23, the young American goalie went 28-12 in his first pro season, with a .920 save percentage and a 2.47 goals against average. It's a risk to hand such a long contract to any goaltender, but Sauer wasn't taking a "bridge deal". He insisted on a long-term contract to be our starter, and our choice was either to hand it to him or see him walk with no one to replace him. C Kyle Turlick signed for 3 x $3.400M. Coming off an underpaid 3 x $1.650M deal that he signed following a career-worst season in Memphis, the 32-year old had a combined 25 points, +7 in 45 games between the regular season and playoffs for Houston. This one I'm not totally sold on. Neither Turlick nor Moger are legit 2nd line centers, but there's no guarantee we can find one in Free Agency either. We'll be actively looking to straighten out the middle of our lineup, so I'd love to trade Turlick for someone slightly better.  RW Alex Voynov signed for 1 x $3.075M. The 35-year old Russian playmaker had a career year with 83 points, +48 in 82 games this season.  C Jarred Moger signed for 1 x $2.660M. At 37 years old, the American sniper still managed 47 points, +48 in 82 games this season. Obviously this is a bit of a risk, but we've had luck with aging snipers in limited minutes before, like Tomas Solovev. If Moger's too run down, it's still a cheap contract. Eight other players were signed for under $2M each: D Tracy Simpson, 4 x $1.820M C Robert Baranka, 2 x $1.750M RW Sebastian Kuznetsov, 1 x $1.165M LW Miles Wong, 1 x $970K C Todd Luongo, 2 x $900K RW Spencer Fox, 1 x $830K G Lou Bernier, 2 x $825K LW Jon Murray, 2 x $770K Notably NOT signed was D Jonas Bergman. We needed that bottom-pair left-side D spot for Tracy Simpson, and there's no sense in paying $4.5M for a 7th D. We'll miss him on the penalty kill, though, that's for sure. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Nov 7, 2022 |
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Nov 7, 2022 19:24
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Free Agency, July 2022 On July 1st, GM Goonson was active, making his first call to Victoria. C Kyle Turlick, LW Ryan Kushner, and a 2024 3rd were headed to B.C., in exchange for Victoria's 2023 1st and Houston's own 2023 3rd. Turlick was acquired from Victoria at the last trade deadline. Kushner, 26, had 46P in 59GP in the minors, but just 1 goal in 21GP in the majors. Both players will help improve Victoria's dreadful bottom six.  Next, Houston turned their attention to two way C Trent Fredheim. A Baltimore RFA, the Crabs had no cap space to re-sign him after a shocking breakout year where he scored 30-39-69 in his first full pro season, plus another 6-10-16 in 15 playoff games. After trying and failing to make a trade work with Baltimore's salary cap situation, Houston's GM submitted Fredheim an offersheet for 5 years, $6 million per. Fredheim signed and Baltimore declined to match, sending Houston's 1st and 3rd to Baltimore. Still just 24, the American center was drafted 29th overall in 2016. He had zero points and was -5 in 17 games before he was demoted to the MGHL in his first year. He had 69P, +5 there, earning the second chance that he took advantage of last season. With the GHL roster mostly locked down, Goonson made a whole raft of signings to fill out Austin's roster: Offensive D Christian Wortman, 27, had 46P, +31 in just 41GP last season in minor league Savannah. LW power forward Steve Gauthier, 27, had 98P, +35 also with Savannah. Defensive D Josh Brand, 28, had zero points but a +9 in 9 games with Savannah. C playmaker Joseph Bandura, 27, had 28P, +19 in the minors with Bowling Green. Two Way D Josh Teal, 27, had 15P, -2 in 27GP with MGHL Maple Ridge. G Ville Haarala, 27, put up a .905, 3.13 while starting 73(!) games in the minors with Long Beach. LW sniper Mackenzie McEachern, 28, scored 69P, +7 also with Long Beach. LW two way C.J. Sims, 28, had 59P, +44 with minor league Asheville. Defensive D Kurtis MacKenzie, 28, had 37P, +27 in 79GP with Airdrie in the MGHL. RW power forward Troy Brewer, 36, had 79P, +14 with MGHL Summerside. Around The League Moncton traded for 23-year old playmaker Nolan O'Neal from Quebec City, then signed him for 2 x $5.835M. Drafted 2nd overall in 2017, O'Neal has failed to live up to expectations, averaging only 28P over his first three seasons before scoring 51 this past year. It's a good thing there's no cap recapture penalties in this league, as Charlotte signed 32-year old free agent G Branden Hart to a 6 year, $9.733M contract. He has a career .916 in 553GP, but played only 13 games last season, earning 7 wins. If he doesn't return to form this year, that contract pretty much makes him untradeable while Charlotte will be stuck waiting for him to retire. Whitehorse brought back D Robin Melin, age 38, for 2 years at $4.156M. A one-team man, Melin has played for the Huskies since 2005, scoring 596P in 1050GP. He had 44P, +31 last season, helping Whitehorse reach the playoffs for just the fifth time in 17 years. They were eliminated in 6 games by Kelowna. Suprising no one, Playoff MVP and elite two way C Butch Pratt re-signed with St. Catharines, 7 x $9.269M. Pratt has 479P in 459GP, including leading the league with 116 last season. Brettbot fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Jan 15, 2023 |
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Nov 8, 2022 16:00
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Training Camp Report Although it was painful how close we made it last season, losing in the Finals in game 6 to St. Catharines, it was certainly an improvement over two straight first-round knockouts. The Satellites are mostly youth, surprisingly, despite the lack of early picks in recent years. The Defensive corps is definitely our strong point. While we have plenty of decent-to-good young Forwards, we lack any elite young talent. The full coaches' report follows, anyone not mentioned has maintained their skill level. D Markus Javanainen 88 +2 90 Still only 23, the #1 D-man set career-highs in assists, points, and plus/minus last season. C Todd Luongo 81 +4 85 Although he has only 27P in 151GP so far, remember that he's still just 22. Coaches say he may have taken the next step, and will get a chance in the middle six this year. D Erik Cernik 80 +2 82 He's a fine, defensive-leaning third pair D. LW Alexandre Fotiu 78 +3 81 Should be a legit 4th-liner but, at age 25, he has to show more than last year's 1P in 30GP. C Tim Finnigan 89 -1 88 67P isn't exactly "1st line sniper" production, but he had 28P on the powerplay alone. It's just a matter of finding that 5-on-5 scoring. D Jere Maki 87 -1 86 Although it's hard to argue with 35P, +21 in 73GP, the fact that he more than tripled his scoring from the prior season raises the question: which one is the real Maki? G Billy Whitmore 87 -2 85 At age 35, with his SVP having declined for 4 years in a row, this is almost certainly Whitmore's last kick at the can… with a cup contender, at least. D Erik Lehto 85 -1 84 Asked to play a more defensive role last year, he dropped off 25 points from the previous, although he kept his +/- the same. RW Alex Voynov 84 -1 83 At 36, there's no denying that he's lost a step, but he's still got the offensive skill to make it work. C Jarred Moger 84 -4 80 The 38-year old sniper can still contribute, but don't expect another 50 points from him on the 4th line. RW Spencer Fox 80 -1 79 With the youth making gains in the bottom six, Fox finds himself as the odd man out. Unless the Satellites are desperate for scoring on the 4th line, he'll probably spend the season in the MGHL. Headed back to Austin: D Jacob Baker 73 +6 79 C Brandon Irwin 72 +2 74 C Sergei Kuleshov 66 +7 73 D Alexander Khristich 67 +6 73 RW Tuukka Ahonen 69 +4 73 C Jay O'Byrne 72 +1 73 LW Thomas Boumedienne 68 +4 72 RW Anders Holm 67 +2 69
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Nov 14, 2022 16:23
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September 2022, Preseason On September 1st, World Cup rosters were announced and Houston was pleased to have 7 players selected.  As the season drew near, a press release came out of Austin: Head Coach Marty Sterling had unexpectedly retired for personal reasons, just 1 year into his 4 year contract. Staring down the barrel of another season riding the bus in the minors with his players, he apparently made the decision that it wasn't worth it after a 36-36-6 season. The organization wished him well, but quickly announced the hiring of their new Head Coach Rob Grenier.  Grenier, 42, was drafted by Houston 38th overall back in 1998. He managed 4 points and 237 PIMs for the Satellites before signing with Moncton in 2005. He retired in 2014 with 54P in 491GP. So after last year's underperformance in the MGHL, I came to believe that the coach's "match percentage" has way more to do with the team's success than his letter grades. So I had to make a change, even though I had just signed a guy who looked good on paper. So I picked the minor league coach with the best fit, even though he's this universe's version of John Erskine. On September 22, it was official: Sweden had won the World Cup!  While Canada beat Russia 7-3 in the Group A semifinals, the Swedes barely snuck by Team Czech Republic, winning 1-0 for the right to play for gold. It was there that Sweden laid a shocking 8-1 beatdown on undefeated Team Canada, while Russia unsurprisingly beat the Czechs 5-1 for bronze. Brandon's Colin McBain took MVP honors for Team Canada with 16P, +9 in 7 games. Kansas City's 22-year old D Cale Major tied for second in scoring with 14P, +16 also for Canada.   Finally, it was September 30th, and the opening night lineup was set for the Satellites.    Fox will start the season with the Sputniks, but the GM and Coach are actively planning to shuffle some guys up and down throughout the year. It all depends on how injuries and team chemistry shake out, but Skidmore and Baker both deserve a chance at the majors, at least.
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Nov 28, 2022 03:07
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Houston Monthly Rewind October 2022 The Satellites' season started out the wrong way with a 6-5 OTL to Halifax on 10/4. Finnigan had 2 assists and Glynnensteins had 2 goals in the back-and-forth game. Unfortunately, to add injury to insult, Laine strained an abdominal in the game and would be out for about two weeks. Luongo moved up to the second line and Baranka would fill the 3C spot. On 10/6 vs. Hamilton, Glynnensteins had another 2 goals in the 3-2 win, giving him 4 in the first 2 games. However the injury bug struck again, as Simpson broke his thumb. He, too, was expected to miss two weeks. Skidmore would be called up from Austin to take his place. The next game, Whitmore's first start of the year, wound up being a 3-2 OTL to Fredericton on 10/8. It wasn't the goalie's fault, as he had a .921 on 38 shots. The next two games were a 5-1 loss to Memphis and a 5-3 loss to Kansas City, and suddenly Houston was in a skid. Whitmore got the rematch vs. Fredericton next, but the team was shutout 2-0 in front of him, wasting his .935. Looking at his goalkeepers' results, Coach Rubinowitz stuck with Whitmore for the next game, a 3-2 win over Regina. Laine then returned from injury, scoring a goal in the 4-1 win over Hamilton on 10/17. Moger was a healthy scratch after going pointless in the first 7 games. On 10/20, Houston took some frustration out on Victoria with a 7-0 shutout. Brown and Fotiu had a pair of goals each, and after the game Simpson returned from his injury. Skidmore had impressed with 1-2-3, +3 in 7 games, but for now he would head back to Austin. After a 3-2 win over Kelowna, Red Deer would finally put a stop to the 4-game winning streak on 10/26, beating Houston 5-2. Sauer then returned to the crease for the first time since the 12th on 10/29. Facing Brandon, he earned a 6-2 win over the Harvesters, his first since the 6th. Glynnensteins had a hat-trick and an assist in that final game of the month. Record after 12 games: 6-0-2-4, 20 points. 2nd Southwest, 11th overall. Analysis: Well, let’s call the sports psychologist, because something’s wrong with Sauer. After securing his big contract and being given the starter’s role, he suddenly couldn’t stop the puck to save his life. .875 and allowing almost 4 goals per game isn’t going to get it done. Luckily Whitmore is the opposite, looking better than he has in years: .931 and a GAA barely over 2. Let’s hope Sauer turns it around soon, or else the team could be in a lot of trouble. Up front, Glynnensteins is tearing it up with 8-4-12 in 12GP. Finnigan has 9P, but 8 of those are assists. That’s not what you want to see from your star sniper, but he’s pouring the shots on with 47, so maybe it’s just puck luck. Offseason acquisition Fredheim has 8P on the second line, and so does 22-year old Luongo, whose career-high is only 14 in 75GP. Laine’s been good, 4-1-5 in only 6GP. Fotiu has 4P, 2 shy of his career high in half as many games. Voynov somehow only has 1 goal and 1 assist, putting him only above Moger who went scoreless in 7GP. On defense, Abrahamsson leads with 3-4-7, but Maki and Lehto are right behind him with 6P each. Javanainen only has 1-2-3, which is not great, but he’s only a -1 while playing the most minutes, so he’s still defensively sound. While Skidmore had 3P in 7GP, Simpson has gone scoreless in 5 without even a single shot on goal. Maybe Skidmore deserves another look with the main squad? October Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are 9-1-1-2, good for 5th in the League but still 3rd in their Division thanks to the 11-0-0-3 Mesa Kits and the 10-0-1-2 Norman Buckaroos ahead of them. Fox(+5), Mathias Niederberger(+5), and Thomas Boumedienne (+7) are all tied to lead forwards with 11P in 13GP, while Tuukka Ahonen and Jon Murray are only 1 point behind them. Sergei Kuleshov has 7P, Brandon Irwin and Anders Holm have 6, and Jay O’Byrne has 5. Every forward is +4 or better. Jacob Baker leads the D-men with 2-7-9, +11. Alexander Khristich has 7P, +3, and Brian Skidmore has 5P and is Even in 6GP. Bernier shows the importance of scoring support, going 7-2 despite an .896 SVP. Now 27, this kid’s career has been one sad story. Haarala, meanwhile, leads the minors with a .966 SVP and a 0.96 GAA in 4 games! His only loss was a 2-1 OT game vs. Summerside. Around The League Moncton acquired 35-year old goaltender Carey Parise from Louisville for 2nd line power forward Josh Bartley. Parise has 4 years left at $10.5M per, and has gone 6-6 for Moncton despite a .923 and 3 shoutouts. After spending last year in the minors, former Satellite Fredrik Carlsson inked a deal with Quebec City. He’s appeared in 9 games for them so far, with 0 points and an Even +/-.  
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Dec 3, 2022 05:47
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Houston Monthly Rewind November 2022 November began with a tour of the bottom of the standings, starting out with a back-to-back. Whitmore was in net for a 7-2 win over Portland, where Cernik, Finnigan, and Laine all had 3 points. Sauer faced Whitehorse the next night and had a .939 on 33 shots, earning a 3-2 win. Fredheim had 1-2-3 in that game. After a 5-4 loss to last-place Halifax and a 4-3 loss to Yellowknife, the Satellites returned the starter's crease to Sauer, who earned a 5-4 OTL to San Francisco. At least they managed to get a point out of it? Prior to the next game vs. Tucson, Skidmore received the call-up from Austin, sending Simpson back down. Simpson had just 1 assist and 3 SOG in 10 games so far. Moger also saw his first action since mid-October, replacing Baranka on the 4th line. Sauer was decent in that one, with a .903, but it didn't matter as Houston lost in overtime 3-2. The losing streak was extended to 5 vs. Baltimore, thanks to a 2-1 loss. Whitmore wasn't to blame, though, with a .938 on 32 shots. This game also broke a 6-game scoring streak for Voynov, who racked up 7 assists this month. Moger was back to the pressbox next game, and Houston finally righted the ship with a 4-3 win over Indianapolis. Unfortunately the next game would doubly hurt, as they not only lost a divisional game 6-1 to Oklahoma City, but Abrahamsson injured his back during the game and would be out about 3 weeks. The Swedish defenseman was fourth on the team in scoring with 15P in 21GP. Thanks to the injury, Jacob Baker received his first GHL call-up. The 22-year old had 18P, +15 in 22GP in Austin so far this year. But tragedy would strike again in the next game, a 4-3 loss to San Francisco: Glynnensteins injured his achilles and is expected to miss 2 months. The 33-year old Latvian was leading the team in scoring with 14-8-22 in 22GP this year. Baker got his first assist in the 4-2 win over Iqaluit on 11/23. Four days of rest followed, then another faceoff with the Portland Roses that ended in a 6-2 loss for Houston. Meighan left that game with an injury, and after the game the news was confirmed: he's expected to miss 3 months with a torn pectoral. Meighan, 27, had 12P in 24GP this year. Moger and Gauthier would now both come off the bench to fill the lineup. The month finally, blissfully ended with a back-to-back against Brandon and Kelowna. Fotiu, Javanainen, Laine, and Voynov all had 2 points in the 6-2 win over the Harvesters. Sauer then stood tall, putting up a .972 in the 2-1 win over the Grizzlies. Record after 24 games: 12-0-4-10, 40 points (6-0-2-6 this month). 3rd Southwest, 15th overall. Analysis: Well, this month wasn’t a total disaster until the very end. Going basically .500 all month barely hurt us, which is lucky, but those major injuries to 2 of our top 3 forwards are only going to make it worse moving forward. On the first line, Glynnensteins had 6-4-10, +1 in 10GP. Meighan had just 0-5-5, +1 in 12GP. Finnigan had 2-12-14, +3 in all 14GP. On the second line, Fredheim had 7-7-14 but was -1. Laine continued to cruise with 7-3-10 +4, and Voynov bounced back from his 2-point first month with 3-9-12, +1. In the bottom six, Brown had 3-3-6, +4 and Luongo had 4-1-5 and was +6. Fotiu had 4-2-6 but was a -2. Wong had 2-2-4 and was -2. Kuznetsov had a rough month, with 2 goals 0 assists and a -6. Baranka was worse, with 1 goal and a -8. Moger continued his scoreless streak and went -1 in 5GP. Gauthier was pointless and Even in just 3GP. On D, Abrahamsson had 1-7-8 in just 9GP, Javanainen had 1-9-10 in 14GP, and that pair was +2. Maki had 2-5-7 but was -7, maybe because he was playing over his head on the top pair. Lehto didn’t have a great month, just 2 assists and a -4. Cernik had 5 assists and was +3. Skidmore had 1-1-2, -1 in 9GP. Simpson had just 1 assist but was +4 in 5GP, and Baker had 1 assist, +2 in 5GP. In net, Whitmore went 3-4 with an .885, dragging his SVP down from .931 to .908 and his GAA up from 2.12 to 2.84. Quite the difference from October. Sauer, meanwhile, also went 3-4 with a .902, but that brought his SVP up 16 points and his GAA down by almost half a goal. November Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In Now 18-2-1-6, the Sputniks are 2nd in their division, 5th overall. Jon Murray and Fox are tied for the team lead with 29P in 27GP. Mathias Niederberger centering them has 23, and that whole line is +15. Thomas Boumedienne has 18P, Tuukka Ahonen 17, and Brandon Irwin has 11. That line is +3. On the third line, Anders Holm has 22P, Sergei Kuleshov has 20, and they're +12. Jay O'Byrne only has 9 points, but he's +14, and he'll now replace Fox on the powerplay to try and get his scoring up. On D, Tracy Simpson has 15P, +9 in just 9 games. Clearly he's too good for the MGHL, maybe he'll get another chance next month to make an impression with the Satellites. Alexander Khristich has 14P, +2 in 23GP. He's basically half way to last year's total already. In net, Haarala is now 13-5 with a .924, while Lou Bernier didn't play a single game this month. Around The League No major trades, injuries, or signings, but let's look at one that I forgot to mention:  LD Jonas Bergman, 29, signed for 3 years, $5.275M with Victoria. Let go in Free Agency by Houston, he has 4P, -2 in 27GP so far on their second pair. Speaking of Victoria, they must be actively tanking, as they have two former Satellites tearing it up in the minors that haven't gotten called up: Dainius Galanov (23P +24 in 27GP) and Ryan Kushner (39P +29 in 27GP). Jacksonville LW Grigori Denisov leads rookie scoring with 9-17-26 in 29GP. The 22-year old Russian playmaker was drafted 15th overall in 2018. Matthew Savard, last year's second overall pick, is in 2nd place with 7-13-20 in 28. Last year's first overall, Slater Wight, is in 5th with 8-9-17 in 25.  
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Dec 14, 2022 |
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Dec 11, 2022 22:38
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Houston Monthly Rewind December 2022 First off, I can't believe I missed this at the time: The game where Dicks Glynnensteins got injured was his 1000th game! Now that I've moved past it, though, we'll wait until he's healthy for a proper celebration. December started with some line shuffling, as Simpson, Fox, and Murray got called back up to the majors, sending Skidmore, Moger, and Gauthier down to Austin. The Satellites have impressive Center depth, but the Wings were looking pretty shaky.  Interestingly, December held no back-to-backs, so the starting goalie would be determined solely by the numbers. Whitmore got handed the reins vs. San Fran on 12/03, a 4-3 OTL. He recovered in the rematch two days later, shutting out the Friars 3-0. Luongo had a pair of goals in that one. Abrahamsson returned from injury in time to face Brandon on 12/08. Due to an injury to Patrice Foley, the Harvesters were running their third-string goalie, Mads Meng from Denmark. It was a wild contest, ending in an 8-7 OTW for Houston. Maki had 3 assists, and Voynov and Abrahamsson had a goal and 2 assists each. Sauer started vs. Jacksonville next, earning a 5-2 win with a .938. Brown, Fredheim, and Fotiu all had 2 points in the game. The Coach stuck with Sauer for the rematch against the Rivermen, where he suffered a hard-luck 1-0 L. Finnigan had 9 shots on goal that game, but no dice. Sticking with the hot hand, Sauer started again on 12/15 vs. Charlottetown. The Satellites fell behind early, down 2-0 by the middle of the first. But two goals just 12 seconds apart in the third sent it to OT, where Laine buried it for the 3-2 OTW. Sauer now had a .952 in his last 3 games. Unfortunately the winning streak stopped there, as Houston lost to St. John's 5-2 on the 17th. On the plus side, one of Houston's goals was scored by Finnigan, who had 20 SOG in the last 3 games without anything to show for it. Hopefully that gets the ball rolling for the 30-year old sniper, who had just 7 goals on the season at that point. Halfway through the month, Murray and Fox both had 0 points and were -3. Trying something new, Murray returned to Austin while Moger and Fox would play together on the 4th line. Coach Rubinowitz stuck with Sauer despite the last loss, and his .897 was enough for a 4-3 W over Kansas City. All 4 goals were from different scorers, including another for Finnigan. Whitmore was back in net to face Memphis on the 21st. Houston scored 1 in the first, 2 in the second, and 3 in the third for a 6-3 W. Finnigan had 2-2-4 and Voynov had 4 assists. The next game was the last before Christmas, but Brown and Javanainen's goals weren't enough in the 3-2 OTL. Over the Christmas break, the rosters for World Juniors were announced.  Three games remained this month, starting with 2 games against Albuquerque. The Satellites went up 2-0 on the Dukes before giving up 4 straight goals. Finnigan scored in the third, but they couldn't get the equalizer and it was a 4-3 regulation loss. Sauer retook the crease for the rematch, and he put up a .939 in the 3-2 W. Finally, facing Tucson on New Year's Eve, the game was tied 1-1 entering the third. Cernik scored less than a minute into the period, and Kuznetsov put the game away for a 3-1 W. Sauer had another great game, stopping 29/30 for a .967 SVP. Record after 39 games: 18-2-6-13, 64 points (6-2-2-3 this month). 3rd Southwest, 13th Overall. Analysis: Well, that actually… went much better than I thought it would. Goaltending is still a shaky prospect, but we're treading water without 2/3 of our top line. We’re just one point behind Kansas City in our Division, with two games in hand. Actually, we climbed two spots in the league overall, for all that matters. Speaking of goaltending, let's start there. Currently both goalies have almost identical stats: Whitmore is 10-10 with a .905 SVP, 3.00 GAA, and 2 SO. Sauer is 10-9 with a .905 SVP, 3.05 GAA, and no shutouts. When viewed in context, though, you realize that, after a hot start, Whitmore gets worse every month; meanwhile, after a cold start, Sauer is getting better every month. Whitmore went 3-3 with an .898 in December, while Sauer had a .937 over his 5-2 run. On defense, Javanainen had 4-8-12, +5 in 13GP and Abrahamsson had 2-8-10, +4 in 11GP. On the middle pair, Maki had 1-10-11, Lehto had 3-4-7, and that pair was +5. That's just a solid Top 4 all around. For the bottom pair, Cernik had 1-3-4, Even, Simpson had no points and was -1, and Baker had no points and was Even in just 2GP. Simpson had 7SOG this month, more than doubling his October output, but it still didn't amount to anything. We're almost 1/3 of the way through the season and he's only got 1 point. He's still only 21, but he had 16P, +11 last year, so it's tough to see him take such a step back. On the first line, Laine had 4-3-7, -1, Finnigan had 8-4-12, Even, and Voynov had 2-11-13, -1. Considering two of those guys are middle-sixers, that's not bad. Finnigan seems to have found his scoring touch at last, too. On the second line, Fotiu had 3-4-7, Fredheim had 3-11-14, and Brown had 3-3-6. Shockingly, that line was +7! I was worried two Two Way Forwards and a Playmaker might not gel, but they're looking good. On the third line, Wong had 2-2-4, Luongo had 6-1-7, and Kuznetsov had 3-3-6. This line, also, was somehow +7. With 20P, +16 in 39GP, Luongo's looking good for potential growth at season's end. Although that could put the Satellites in an awkward (but enviable?) position of having four "Top 2" Centers in Finnigan, Meighan, Fredheim, and Luongo. For the fourth line, Baranka had 0 points and was -4. He's really looking bad this year, but consider the revolving door of wingers he's played with: Fox had 0 points, -4 in 13GP. Murray had 0 points, -3 in 7GP. Moger had 0 points, -1 in 4GP. Gauthier had 0 points, Even in 2GP. December Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are now 28-2-2-9 (90 points), 1st in their Division, 4th in the league. Jon Murray (23) has 33P, +15 in 32GP. Thomas Boumedienne (21) has 25P, +5 in 38GP. Mathias Niederberger (20) has 33P, +14 in 39GP. Jay O’Byrne (23) has 23P, +23 in 39GP. Tuukka Ahonen (21) has 33P, +6. Sergei Kuleshov (21) has 28P, +19. Anders Holm (19) has 28P, +15. Brandon Irwin (21) has 15P, +5. All of those players have played all 41 games. On D, Brian Skidmore (24) has 27P, -2 in 25GP. Jacob Baker (22) has 28P, +19 in 33GP. Alexander Khristich (22) has 23P, +5 in 37 GP. In net, Haarala has come back to earth, with a 17-7 record and a .911 / 2.47. Bernier had a good month, going 6-2; he’s now 13-4 with a .900 / 2.69. Around The League Over the Christmas break, GM Goonson signed 30-year old American playmaking Center Austin Carey 78 4th line to a 1 year, $760K contract to play in Austin. Carey had 50P in 203 GHL games over five seasons. There were no other major signings, injuries, or trades to report. Jacksonville LW Grigori Denisov still leads rookie scoring, now with 12-25-37, -4 in 41GP. The Louisville Kings are riding 19-year old rookie goalie David Nelson hard: he’s already played 30 games, with 19 wins, a .920 SVP and 2.48 GAA. Nelson was drafted in the 3rd round (#67) by Louisville in 2021.  
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Dec 14, 2022 15:56
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Houston Monthly Rewind January 2023 The month started off rough for the Satellites, with a 6-3 loss to Louisville. It was only 2-1 at the end of the second, and Houston managed to tie the game at 3 in the third, only to give up a trio of goals in the last 8 minutes of the game. The next game, against Memphis, didn't get off to a better start, as the Soul scored on their first shot. Houston held a 3-2 lead late but gave up a powerplay goal, sending it to OT where Fredheim scored his second of the game to win it, 4-3. Gauthier also scored, his first of the season in his 7th game. Gauthier got his second tally of the year to open the scoring vs. Milwaukee on 01/06, but that was all the team could manage as they lost 3-1. Whitmore got his first start of the month in the rematch vs. Louisville on the 8th, leading to a 5-4 OTL. Houston had fallen behind 3-0 before Laine scored a pair, rallying the team to tie it, but the Kings' Tyler Taffe ended the hope of a comeback win. Sauer faced Charlotte the next night, and the team wasted his .933 performance in a 2-0 shutout loss. With an 0-1-1-3 record this month and needing some positivity, the Satellites headed back to Texas to honor Dicks Glynnensteins before the next game vs. Oklahoma City.  As a teary-eyed Glynnensteins held his Silver Stick and looked on, the team's PA announcer ran through his achievements: Drafted in the 5th round by Houston in 2007, the 6'3" Latvian broke into the league in the 09/10 season, scoring 41 points in 82 games. He never scored below that rate in the 13 years since, topping out at 89 in 82 during the 15/16 season. He is the first to hit 1000 games with the team. His 369 goals, 487 assists, and 856 points are all team records. He also leads the team with 18-34-52 in 64 Playoff games. A feared power forward, his 790 Penalty Minutes put him 2nd for Houston, only 12 behind the lead and almost 300 ahead of 3rd place. His +49 ties him with Raimo Laine for 5th in team history.  After all that, though, there was still a game to be played. Luckily the hometown crowd had plenty to cheer for, as a fired-up Glynnensteins blasted 8 shots on goal. He and Fotiu both had a pair of goals, and Voynov and Abrahamsson had 3 assists each in the 6-3 win over the Wranglers. Glynnensteins was, of course, also awarded first star of the game. The next day, the World Juniors concluded. In two low-scoring games, USA beat Canada 1-0 for the right to play for Gold, while Sweden squeaked by Finland 4-3. The finals were the opposite, as Canada crushed the Finns 9-0 for Bronze, and Team USA beat Sweden 7-4.  Seven American players completed their medal collection with this win, having won Silver in '21 and Bronze in '22. RW Johan Haglund of Sweden won MVP with an astounding 11 goals, 1 assist in just 7 games. He’s looking like quite a pickup for San Francisco in the 3rd round in 2021. For Houston, Anders Holm and Simon Wilhelm were over a point per game, but that was about everything worth writing home about.  Fotiu scored the only goal in a 3-1 loss to Yellowknife on the 14th, but he also injured his arm and would have to sit for about a week. A 3-2 loss to Indianapolis followed, marking the third straight game where Sauer was OK but not great, with a save percentage somewhere between .905 and .910. Whitmore got another start vs. Kansas City on 01/19. Down 1-0, Moger finally scored his first of the year in his 19th game to tie it, but the Satellites would lose in OT 2-1. Whitmore was very strong in this one, putting up a .939, but the team let him down. A back-to-back followed vs St. John’s and Iqaluit. Fotiu recovered in time for these games, letting Gauthier (who hadn’t scored since the 6th) sit in favor of Moger. Whitmore got game 1, leading to another OTL. Scoreless heading into the second, Finnigan scored halfway through the period, only for Alexandre Montenegro to tie it. Then Fredheim scored early in the third, only for Andreas Johansson to tie it. It only took two shots in OT for Jack Hayes to end the game 3-2 for the Advancers. Sauer was up the next night against Iqaluit, and he impressed with a .935 on 31 shots. Tied at 2 in the third, Finnigan scored a pair of goals (to go along with an earlier assist), winning the game 4-2. The Satellites then had 8 days off before a New Year’s Eve matinee against Charlotte. Voynov, Finnigan, and Fredheim all scored in the 3-2 win, but of course Houston couldn’t have it that easy: Glynnensteins seriously hurt his back in the game, and early reports were that he’s going to miss another month. Record after 51 games: 21-3-9-18, 78 points (3-1-3-5 this month). 3rd Southwest, 15th Overall. Analysis: We just can’t catch a break, can we? It seems like whenever the goalies are playing well, we can’t score and lose 1-0. When the goalies are sieves, we put up 3 or 4 or 5 goals, although that’s sometimes still not enough. And then we just get hit constantly with the injury bug. The one positive of this month, I suppose, is that after an 0-1-1-3 start, we went 3-0-2-2 when Glynnensteins came back. But now he’s hurt for another month, and Meighan is still three weeks from returning… Up front, Finnigan had 5-6-11, Voynov had 2-6-8, and they were both -4. Laine had a rough month bouncing between the top 2 lines, with only 3-1-4, and he was -2. Glynnensteins had 2-3-5 in only 7GP, but was also -2. Fredheim had 5-1-6 and Brown had a good month with 1-6-7, but they were both -2. Luongo, meanwhile, had just 2-2-4 but he was Even. Kuznetsov had 3 assists and was Even. Wong had just 2 assists and was -2. Baranka only had 1 goal, but he was +3, surprisingly. Fotiu had 3-2-5 and was Even in 10GP. Gauthier had 2-1-3, +4 in 9GP, so maybe he deserves another look, but sometimes it’s hard to make the line chemistry work with what we’ve got. Fox had 1 assist but was +2 in 5GP. Moger had just 1 goal and was Even, also in 5GP. On D, at least we weren’t dealing with injuries like the Forwards. Javanainen had 1-7-8, Abrahamsson had 3-6-9, and that pair was -1. On the second pair, Maki had just 3 assists and Lehto just 1 assist, leaving that pair -6. These guys were dynamite together last year, so I’m not sure what the problem suddenly is. Finally, Cernik had 3 assists and Simpson had only 2 assists, but that pair was +4. I think that proves that keeping Simpson up instead of Skidmore makes some sense: Skidmore scores more points, but his defense exposes the goaltenders more, and those guys need all the help they can get. Speaking of the goalies, Sauer picked up 4 wins in 9 games, while Whitmore couldn’t get a single win in only 3 games. Their GAAs and SVPs stayed pretty much exactly the same, though, so neither of them had a particularly good or bad month. January Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In Austin still sits atop their division, 6th in the league with a 31-4-3-12 record. Jon Murray continues to impress with 40P, +13 in 41GP. He probably should have gotten another shot at the GHL during the past month… Tuukka Ahonen has 39P, +4 in 50GP, and Mathias Niederberger has almost matched last year’s total with 34P, +12 in 48GP. Thomas Boumedienne has 33P, +8 in 47GP. Anders Holm is looking great with 35P, +18 in 50GP. Brandon Irwin has 21P, +8 on the season, which isn’t exactly great, but that does mean he had 6P, +2 in only 9GP this month. Sergei Kuleshov has 32P and an impressive +19 in 50GP. Jay O’Byrne has 25P but an even better +23 in 48GP. On D, Brian Skidmore has 33P in 34GP, but is also the only minus player on the whole team with a -3. His partner Jacob Baker has 34P in 42GP, but is +18. Alexander Khristich has 33P in 46GP and is +13. The team continues to outscore the goalies’ play: Haarala went 5-2 to make his overall record 22-9. This being despite his SVP continuing to fall monthly: .966, .924, .911, .907. Bernier, meanwhile, picked up two losses as his SVP fell to .898. Around The League I’m not sure what happened, but somehow St. Catharines goalie Ilya Soshnikov only had 4 wins in 9 games this month. The All-Star Russian goalie’s SVP barely dipped (from .941 to .937), so maybe it was just rotten luck. As a reminder, Jason Sauer had an identical record this month with a .905 SVP. Jacksonville’s Grigori Denisov continues to lead rookie scoring, now with 15-26-41, -4 in 52GP. Charlottetown’s 25-year old defenseman Lucas Johannson has come out of nowhere to tie for second with 12-20-32, +18 in 51GP. He was drafted in the first round, 28th overall, way back in 2016.  
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Dec 22, 2022 15:10
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Houston Monthly Rewind February 2023 On the morning of February 1st, Houston’s GM announced that, rather than wait until the Deadline at the end of the month, they had made a trade: The Satellites acquired Defensive LD Marcus Petersson from the Halifax Mariners.  Marcus Petersson Petersson, 26, was drafted out of Sweden in the second round (#39) by Yellowknife in 2014. After putting up 10P, +5 in 49 games with the Diamonds, they traded him to Halifax where he managed 97P, +25 over the next 4 seasons. This year, however, he has only 9P to go with an ugly -32 in 50GP. He has 3 years left at $4.025M. The return was significant, though: LD Eric Lehto, LD Brian Skidmore, the rights to RD Billy MacKenzie, a 2023 2nd, and a 2023 5th. Lehto, 28, was a 3rd round pick for Houston back in 2012. The Two-Way Finn has 203P, +93 in 523 career games, all with Houston, but only 16P, -5 this year. He has 3 years, $5.8M per remaining. Skidmore, 24, had just 6P, +1 in 20 GHL games, but 46-144-190, +18 in 198 minor games. An Offensive defenseman, he was signed by Houston as an undrafted free agent in 2018. MacKenzie, 20, was drafted by Houston in the 5th round (#147) in 2021. A Defensive defenseman, he’s currently playing US College Hockey.  From Houston’s point of view, they get a slightly younger, slightly cheaper middle-pair defenseman whose defensive play should help out their goalies and replace some of what they lost when Jonas Bergman went to Victoria. Petersson has definitely been struggling this year, but he’s also been playing too many minutes on the last-place team in the league. More importantly, though: Jere Maki will need his first real contract at the end of this season, and the Satellites need to save whatever money they can to pay him. For Halifax, the season is already lost, and they want to stock up on picks and prospects: Before acquiring Skidmore, they only had two players under 26, in the GHL or the MGHL. And he will get a chance to show what he can do in the GHL, as the Mariners will start Skidmore on the third pair. Lehto is a little overpaid for what he is, perhaps, but (if they rebuild right) by the time he needs a new contract they should have the players to replace him. And, in the meantime, his salary will help to keep them from falling under the floor as they shed older players.  Whitmore got the start on the 1st vs. Albuquerque, since Sauer played the night before. He stood tall, earning a 3-0 shutout on 32 shots. Baranka, Luongo, and Abrahamsson were the goalscorers. Sauer would have to wait until the 4th to face Oklahoma City, but it was a night to forget as the Wranglers took the win 5-1, with Fotiu scoring the only goal for Houston. Luckily Sauer didn't have to wait too long to redeem himself, as he won the rematch with the Dukes 5-2 with a .938. Voynov had 1-2-3, Maki had a pair of goals, and Finnigan had a goal and an assist. Up next was a back-to-back. Whitmore got the first start, vs. Atlanta. The Satellites couldn't muster up more than one goal from Luongo, leading to a 3-1 loss despite an OK night from Whitmore. Sauer would have to face Kansas City the next night, who were right behind Houston in the Division. It was a similar story as the night before, as Finnigan got the only goal on the powerplay. Sauer's .938 wasn't enough to save Houston this time, and they lost 2-1.  Laine injured his arm in the game, and he'd be forced to sit for about two weeks. He'd had just one assist in the first five games of the month. Now Houston was missing three of their top six forwards. Austin Carey got the call up to center the 4th line. Quebec City was the next stop on the road trip. It was a mostly quiet game, with Baranka tying it at 1 in the middle of the second, and that would be it until the Aces won the game with just a minute left in OT, 2-1. Finally back at home on Valentine's Day, Sauer decided to gift his teammates a shutout, as Houston beat Portland 2-0. It was his first shutout of the year. Brown had a goal and assisted on Wong's goal, as well. Facing KC again on the 16th, the Satellites were trailing by 1 for most of the game until Voynov tied it early in the third. Two quick goals by the Springs snuffed the comeback, though, and that's how it ended: 3-1. The next game, vs. Kelowna, was a wild and high-scoring affair. The Grizzlies scored twice just 2 minutes apart, but Baranka kept the game within reach. Finnigan tied it early in the second, only for Bo Holtz to give Kelowna the lead again with his second of the game. In the third, the Grizzlies extended their lead to 4-2, but an unassisted Simpson goal and another for Finnigan sent the game to overtime. A holding penalty gave Maki all the room he needed to work, and the Satellites went home as victors, 5-4.  Meighan finally returned from injury for the next game, but he maybe wished he didn't as Atlanta beat Houston 4-1. Despite not playing since November 27th, Meighan still picked up an assist on Freidheim's goal, though, as did Petersson for his first point with his new team. Up next was another back-to-back, and Whitmore got another start vs. Charlottetown as Laine returned from injury. Finnigan got Houston out to a 1-0 lead just 3 minutes into the game, but that was the last time they'd lead as defenseman Tyler Mayer dropped a hat trick on Whitmore. Meighan scored to make it interesting, but the game would end 4-2. The next night vs. St. Catharines, Laine and Maki both scored in the second to put the Satellites up 2-1 on the Panthers. Victor Skoog tied the game with just over 5 minutes left, but Baranka snuck one in with 27 seconds remaining to win it, 3-2. The game vs. Moncton on the 25th was all Satellites, as they jumped out to a 4-0 lead on goals by Laine, Fox, and a pair from Fredheim. Noah Dorion spoiled Sauer's shutout with less than 5 remaining, but Voynov added one on the powerplay for good measure to end it 5-1. The month ended with another back-to-back, and Sauer got the rematch vs. Moncton. At the end of the second, Houston was leading 3-1 on a goal by Simpson and a pair from Finnigan. Meighan had a pair of assists as well. The Phoenix's Anthony Byfuglien came out storming in the third, though, tying the game with a pair of goals. It took just two shots in OT for Moncton to win it, 4-3. Finally, Whitmore got the last game of the month vs. Victoria. A .900 was all he needed to secure the 4-3 win, thanks to a pair of goals from Luongo, 1-2-3 from Laine, and a pair of assists each for Meighan and Javanainen. Record after 66 games: 27-4-11-24, 100 points (6-1-2-6 this month). 2nd Southwest, 12th overall. Analysis: I’m getting tired of saying this, but that could have gone worse! Glynnensteins is due back in another week or two and, if we’re lucky, we’ll have a full healthy squad for the first time since… all year? The goalies were strong this month, so I hate to see us get shutout or lose 2-1 when they’re playing well. Having made their big move already, the Satellites are likely to be silent at the Trade Deadline. We don’t have many assets to flip, nor too much cap space to work with. Up front, Finnigan had a decent 8-3-11 in 15GP, but he was -5. Voynov had 3-7-10 but was -6, thanks to playing on the top line most of the month. Fredheim had 3-5-8, but was only -2. Luongo was very solid, with 4-4-8, +1 on the second line. Baranka almost doubled his point total this month, with 4-1-5, +3. Brown was OK with 2-3-5, Even. Fotiu only had 1-1-2, but he was also +2. Kuznetsov had 2 assists and was +1. Fox had just 1 goal but was +1, at least. Wong had a tough month, with only 1 goal and going -4. Laine picked it up after his injury, scoring 5 points in 5 games to end with 3-3-6, -2 in 10GP. Gauthier had 1 assist and was -1 in 9GP. Meighan managed 1-7-8, +1 in just 6GP. Austin Carey managed no points, -1 in his 5 game tryout. On the top D pair, Javanainen had 5 assists, Abrahamsson had 1-4-5, and that pair was Even. In the middle, Petersson had 1 assist, Maki had 4-4-8, and that pair was -1. Petersson’s not scoring a ton, obviously, but that’s not what he was brought in for. On the bottom pair, Simpson had 2-2-4, Cernik had 5 assists, and that pair was -3. A bit of a rough month for those two, but Simpson is still young, and they were +7/+10 to begin with, so it’s not like they’re way down below Even. In goal, Sauer went 5-6, but he brought his SVP up to .909 and his GAA down below 3.00. I think we saw that there were several games where he could have won it, if he’d had any goal-scoring support. Whitmore only went 2-2, but one of those wins was a shutout and he also improved his stats overall. This is the effect we were hoping to see by bringing in Petersson: Hopefully the goalies’ stats continue to creep up as they’re protected more often than they’re hung out to dry. February Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks are 37-6-4-17 for 127 points, putting them 2nd in their Division and 8th overall. They’ve yet to clinch a playoff spot, thanks to Chattanooga with 124 points and Chilliwack with123 right behind them. To be fair, the Bowling Green Knights have also not clinched yet with 144 points. The 16th place Rankin Worms, meanwhile, have clinched with just 99 points over in the Eastern conference. That’s Divisional playoff seeding for you! On the first line, Jon Murray is over a point per game, with 19-39-58, +17 in 55GP. How he has only 1 assist and a -1 in 41 GHL games I don’t understand. Niederberger has 17-30-47, +16 in 62. Tuukka Ahonen will surely break 30 goals this year, as he currently sits at 28-26-54, +8 in 64. On the second line, Sergei Kuleshov has 17-23-40, +23, Anders Holm has 22-25-47, +19, and Brandon Irwin centering them has 14-16-40, +9. They’ve all played 64. Irwin is just a bit concerning: Even after being put on the first unit powerplay, he’s only got 4 PP points and he’s on pace for 38 points, almost 20 fewer than last year. Then again, he’s only 21, and he got bumped down to the second line this year because of Niederberger. On the third line, Thomas Boumedienne lost some games to injury, and has 16-22-38, +10 in 55. Jay O’Byrne is on pace to fall a few short of last year, with 19-12-31 in 62, but he’s also improved from Even to +26 so we’ll take it. Spencer Fox has made the most of his time down in the MGHL, with 14-15-29, +15 in just 27GP. Jarred Moger, sadly, hasn’t looked too great, even in the minors, with 6-8-14, +6 in 23. I don’t blame the 38-year old for taking another $2.6 million when it was offered, though; I blame the GM for handing it to him. On Defense, Jacob Baker has 10-32-42, +25 in 56GP. With Cernik’s contract expiring at the end of this season, Baker will probably be Houston’s third pair right side next year. Behind him on the second pair, Alexander Khristich has 9-37-46, +21 in 60. In net, it seems like both goalies are seeing very few shots, which throws their stats off a bit. Haarala is 28-13 with a 2.69GAA, which are both good, but his SVP is down to .902 which is well below average. Same with Bernier: He’s 15-8 and has a 3.11 GAA, which are both OK for a backup, but his SVP is now down to .888. This makes sense: Whether you get shelled with 50 shots or only see 10, if you only give up 1 goal you get a win and a 1.00 GAA either way. But in one instance, your SVP will be .980 and in the other it’ll be .900. Around The League No major trades or injuries to report. Jacksonville’s Grigori Denisov (22) still leads all rookies, now with 16-33-49 in 67. His teammate and fellow rookie, 21-year old Spencer Klatt, has appeared in 10 games in net, with a 5-5 record despite a .930. Last year’s 1st overall, Memphis’ Slater Wight, is 4th in rookie scoring with 20-20-40 in 61. Louisville’s David Nielsen has turned 20, and now has 29W in 48GP with a .914.  
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Dec 31, 2022 |
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Dec 26, 2022 17:17
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Just a quick update for the Trade Deadline, since nothing happened for us. I should get the screenshots edited for the final month soon, probably tomorrow. On March 1, the Trade Deadline came and went. It was a busy day, including six 1st round picks being moved. Some of the more interesting trades made today: Jacksonville trades a '26 1st and a '23 4th to Louisville for 31-year old Canadian defenseman Ben Conroy. The defensively-focused Two Way D has 2-8-10, +8 in 58 this season. Once again, the trade AI is scarily accurate. It's a year late, but Florida can't resist giving up a 1st and a 4th for Ben Chiarot. I guess because he's a year older they didn't have to throw in a prospect. Brandon trades a '24 1st to Tucson for 25-year old LW Kirill Karpov. This one seems like a bit of a gamble: The Russian third-line sniper has 20-9-29 in 63 this year, but only had 19P in 82 last season, his first in the GHL. Whitehorse trades a '25 1st to Portland for Dryden Holt, a third line LW power forward. After scoring only 24P in his first 145 games, the 27-year old Canadian had a breakout year last season with 54P in 82. He's somewhere in the middle this year, with 18-7-25, -20 in 60. Charlotte trades C Rasmus Albelin, a '24 2nd and a 4th to Quebec City for 33-year old LW sniper James Van. 2007's second overall pick has 46P this season, and currently sits at 968GP in his career. Albelin, 25, has 204P in 213GP in the minors, yet Charlotte hasn't called him up for three seasons. Kansas City acquired third-line RW power forward Nathan Bogosian from St. John's for C Markus Langhart and a '23 3rd. Bogosian, 25, has 23P in 71 career games, 19 of which came from this year; not bad, in a small sample size, but not exactly a player I'd be busting down the door to get. Langhart, meanwhile, was KC's 1st round pick in 2019. He has 180P in 227GP in the minors on the terrible Joplin Jets, but I guess they were willing to let the 21-year old go. Albuquerque, after making a good trade by giving up a 1st and a 6th for a young middle-pair defenseman, then turned around and traded away a 2nd to Memphis for fourth-liner Nick Colman. The 29-year old Canadian center has never topped 27P in a season, and in the last 3 years combined has just 34P to go with a -34.
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Jan 2, 2023 01:09
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Houston Monthly Rewind March/April Sauer started off the month with a .964, outperforming the best goalie in the league and leading Houston to a 2-1 win over St. Catharines. Luongo's goal was his 20th of the season, and Meighan had the other. He looked a little more human vs. Whitehorse two days later, but the team made sure his .909 was enough for a 4-3 win. Cernik had 1-1-2, and Baranka, Finnigan, and Maki also scored. The good times couldn't last, though, as Regina shut out the Satellites 5-0 on the 9th. Dicks Glynnensteins returned in time to face Victoria on the 11th, which was also Whitmore's first game of the month. It wasn't pretty, but Houston came away with a 6-4 win. Glynnensteins had 1-2-3 in his first game since January 31, Fredheim and Meighan had 3 assists each, and Finnigan and Laine both had 2-1-3. Up next was a back-to-back, and Sauer got the start vs. Red Deer. The Bison scored less than a minute into the game, but Houston scored 4 straight to win it 4-1. Meighan, Fredheim, Laine, and Fotiu were the goalscorers.  Sebastien Kuznetsov injured his arm in the game and would miss three weeks, returning Gauthier to the lineup. Whitmore looked lost the next night vs. Yellowknife, and Fredheim's unassisted goal was the only bright spot in a 5-1 defeat. Whitmore, after looking just as good as Sauer last month, now had an .839 in his two appearances so far. Luongo had the only goal in a 5-1 loss to Baltimore on the 17th. Maybe the team missed Kuznetsov's defense more than they realized because, after going up 1-0 on Memphis on the 20th, they gave up 4 straight goals, and suddenly they were getting outscored 14-3 in the last 3 games. The difference this time, however, is that the Satellites stormed back to score SIX unanswered from six different goalscorers, including Gauthier and Voynov's first of the month. Simpson had 2 assists in the 7-4 win, one of five players with a multipoint night. The scoring continued against San Francisco on the 22nd, as Houston won 6-2. Javanainen and Abrahamsson combined for 7 points, and Petersson got an assist for his first point of the month.  Steve Gauthier suffered a facial fracture in the game, though, and now it was Spencer Fox's turn to rejoin Houston for the next two weeks. Whitmore got another start, vs. Oklahoma City on the 24th. His .864 sank Houston, and they lost 4-2. Tucson was up next on the 27th. Sauer was sparkling yet again, and Wong scored his first of the month in the 2-1 win. That officially clinched a playoff spot for Houston! With a few games to go before the injured players returned, Jon Murray and Jarred Moger got called back up, taking Wong and Fox's places. Facing Whitehorse on the 29th, Laine had a pair of goals and Fredheim had 1-2-3 in the 3-2 victory. It was deja vu in the next game against Red Deer, as Laine had a pair of goals (plus an assist) and Fredheim had 1-2-3 in another 3-2 win. Up against Tucson on April 2nd, Glynnenstiens and Meighan had 1-2-3 in the 5-1 win. Moger had an assist on a Baranka goal, making it 2 points in 24 games. It was his first point since January 19th. Facing Regina next, Sauer had a rough night with an .893, but the scoring support came though as the Satellites won 6-3. Meighan and Glynnensteins both had 3 point nights again, but more importantly: Murray scored his first GHL goal! It was also his first point in the 42 games he'd played since 19/20. Also with that win, the Satellites were now 1st in the division, one point ahead of Albuquerque! Kuznetsov returned for the last game of the regular season, vs. Quebec City, leaving Baranka to sit. Sauer got the start, hoping to hit 30 wins for the first time. The Aces got out to a 2-0 lead in the first, before Laine cut the lead in half with less than 30 seconds in the period. It wasn't until the third period that Luongo tied it, sending the game to OT. Brown added a goal to his earlier assist, winning it for Houston 3-2. Albuquerque lost their final game of the season, meaning that the Satellites clinched the division title! Record after 82 games: 38-5-11-28, 135 points (11-1-0-4 this month). 1st Southwest, 7th overall. Analysis: What a way to end the season! 12 wins in 16 games, a .729 points percentage… this is the team we were waiting to see all season long! Up front, Glynnensteins had 4-11-15, +5 in 13 games, ending with 42P in 42. That pace would have put him 9P ahead of the 73 he had last season. Finnigan had 4-5-9 to end with 66P, 1 fewer than last year. Meighan had 6-11-17, finishing with 37 in 47. At that pace, he would've been 2 or 3 points shy of last year's 67. Both of them were +6 in all 16GP. Laine had 11-4-15, +4. His 47 in 71 pace puts him 25 behind last year, where he was PPG in 79. Fredheim had 5-13-18, +7 for 68P. That's just 1P behind last year in Baltimore. Voynov had just 1-3-4, to end with 49P. He was +4 at least, but that's a whole 34P behind last season. He, Laine, and Moger were unstoppable last year, but you can't stop the march of time, I guess. This line played all 16. Fotiu had 1-3-4, +6, for 28 in 80. That's way ahead of last year, when he only had 1 goal in 30GP. Luongo had 5-1-6, +3, hitting 38P; 25 more than he had in 76GP last year. Brown had 1-3-4, +6, putting him at 31P. Last season he had 10 in 21 after being traded to Houston, so he's technically a little off that pace. All of those players played all 16. Wong had 1-1-2, -2 in 11. He finished with 17P in 77, exactly how many he had last year in 66. Baranka had 2-1-3, +2 in 15, to end with 15P in 78. That's 2P fewer than he had in 65 last season. Kuznetsov had no points and was -3 in 6 games, giving him 17P in 72; one fewer than in all 82 last year. Gauthier had 1 goal and was -1 in 7 games. Moger had 1 assist, +1, Murray had 1 goal, +1, and they both played 5. Fox had no points and was Even in 2 games. Aside from Gauthier, this is nothing but disappointment: Moger had 47P last year and Fox had 13. Murray had none, but he's supposed to be growing, unlike the other two. The three of them combined for 5P in 73GP this year. Ouch. On defense, Javanainen had 1-12-13 to end with 51P, 9 more than last year. Abrahamsson had 2-5-7, and finished with 46P in 75. He had 54 in 81 last season, so his pace is a few points short of matching that. That pair was -4 in all 16 games. Petersson had 2 assists, ending with 3 assists in 31 games for Houston. Maki had 5-9-14 to finish with 49P. That's 10 more than last year's pace, when he had 35P in 73. This pair was an impressive +10 in all 16. Simpson had 2-5-7, doubling his points to end with 14P in 66. That's 2P fewer than last season, but right on the same pace. Cernik had 2-4-6 to end with 28P. He only had 3P in 21 last season, so that's a surprising improvement. That pair was +9 in 16 games. Baker had 1 assist, +2 in the 7 games he appeared in. Sauer went an insane 11-2 with a .921, to end with 30 wins in 52 games, a .912, and 1 shutout. He had 28/40 and a .920 last season. Although he didn't reach such heights this year, he improved greatly after Petersson was brought in. Whitmore went 1-2 with an .847, ending with 13 wins in 30 games and a .901. He had 21/42 and a .907 last year, so that's a third year in a row of decline. Final Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Sputniks finished 49-8-4-21 with 167 points, putting them second in their division and sixth in the league. Jon Murray (23) led the team in Points and forwards in Assists with 23-54-77, +19 in 69 games. That's 211P in 177GP over the last three years, for those keeping track. Tuukka Ahonen (21) is right behind him with 38-38-76, +10, leading the team in goals and shots while adding 30P to last year's total. Sergei Kuleshov (22) had 63P, +32, almost doubling his points and more than tripling his +/-. Anders Holm (19) also had 63P to go with a +28. Mathias Niederberger (20) had 61P, +18 in 80, not to mention only 12 PIMs. Brandon Irwin (21) picked up his scoring eventually, ending up only 10 short of last year with 45P, +17. Thomas Boumedienne (21) lost some time to injury, finishing with 44P, +15 in 73. Finally, Jay O'Byrne (23) hit 39P in 80. 5 shy of last year, but improved his +/- from Even to +37. Jacob Baker (22) had 57P, +38 in 74 games, only missing time when he was called up to Houston. Alexander Khristich (22), behind him on the second pair, also managed 57P to go with a +27, doubling his points from last year. Unfortunately, in the last game of the season he fractured his collarbone, and will spend at least 2 months on IR. Ville Haarala went 36-15, ending up 11th in wins despite his .899. Lou Bernier went 21-10 with an .889/3.14. A great improvement on last year, when he went 26-34 with an identical SVP but a GAA of 3.79. Around The League Charlottetown's 25-year old D Lucas Johannson led all rookies with 60P, +41 in 82. Some will try to diminish his accomplishments because of his age, but I say: A rookie is a rookie! Former Satellite Jim Buswell, traded back in 2021 for G Mike Sims, made MGHL history with 42-101-143, +76 in 82 games for the Bowling Green Knights. He's in the last year of a deal with Louisville, so he's surely guaranteed himself a GHL contract this offseason. 39-year old Ilya Kravchuk, 2001's first overall pick, potted 60 goals for the Asheville Crowns. His playmaking isn't up to Jim Buswell's level, though, so he ended with "only" 88P in 82GP. Charlotte, first in the league, obviously didn't need his help up in the GHL.   Houston's opponent in Round 1: Yellowknife Diamonds! vs 
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Jan 3, 2023 12:03
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