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 Round 1 Game 1 @ Houston Houston opened Round 1 of the Legacy Cup Playoffs at home, welcoming the Yellowknife Diamonds to town. The Satellites failed to capitalize on two powerplays in the first 5 minutes of the game, but they also successfully killed off a 5-on-3 with 7 minutes left in the period. Just when it seemed the teams would head to the locker room tied, Gauthier jammed one home with :22 remaining. Fotiu put Houston up 2-0 at 17:16 of the second, but LW Rickard Rask scored on the powerplay to get the Diamonds on the board. Houston held the lead until 23-year old D Axel Andreasson scored his first playoff goal in his first playoff game with less than 5:00 remaining in the third, tying the game. The Satellites outshot Yellowknife 6-2 in OT before Abrahamsson scored the game-winner on a slapshot from the point. Final Score: Houston 3 - 2 Yellowknife, Houston leads 1-0.  Robert Baranka left the game late in the third period, and it was soon confirmed: he had broken his collarbone. Baranka had 1 assist and was +1 in the game, but he'd now be on IR for about three months. Game 2 @ Houston Wong joined the lineup for Game 2, moving Gauthier to Center. Things got off to a bad start for the Satellites, as C Andy Abrams sniped one home less than 30 seconds into the game. The game remained mostly even, until C Isac Lundestrom scored his first career playoff goal at 11:44. Wong, perhaps trying clumsily to spark his team, took three minor penalties for boarding, roughing, and charging in the last 10 minutes of the period. It wasn't until Maki scored on the powerplay with about 5:00 left in the second that Houston showed some signs of life. Wong took another minor penalty early in the third, however, and although the Satellites killed it off, the exhausted team soon left LW Max Conroy all alone in front. He didn't waste the opportunity, and Houston allowed a third "first career playoff goal" at 9:34 of the third. Final score: Houston 1 - 3 Yellowknife, series tied at 1. Game 3 @ Yellowknife Unsurprisingly, Wong was out for Game 3, as Moger received the call-up to center the 4th line for the first game in Yellowknife. Finnigan opened the scoring at 12:47 of the first, but Andy Abrams evened the score at 1 less than 30 seconds later. Gauthier, assisted by Moger, got his second of the series two minutes later to restore Houston's lead. After that flurry of goals, the game was quiet until Meighan notched his first of the playoffs with 2:32 left in the second. RW Brock Borer made it 3-2 Houston early in the third, but the Satellites would hold on to win. Final score: Houston 3 - 2 Yellowknife, Houston leads 2-1. Game 4 @ Yellowknife In Game 4, the Diamonds came out with a jump, controlling play before C Sam Sneep scored at 12:44 of the first. Predictably, it was his first career playoff goal. Yellowknife was outshooting Houston 12-5 when Brock Borer gave them the 2-0 lead at 5:39. To Houston's credit, they got the next 4 shots on goal, but it amounted to nothing, and then they didn't even have a shot during a late powerplay. Sneep scored again at 13:18 of the second, making it 3-0. Finally the Satellites woke up, starting to catch up in shots until Javanainen scored his first at 8:25 of the third. There wasn't enough time left, however, and that's how it ended. Final score: Houston 1 - 3 Yellowknife, series tied at 2. Game 5 @ Houston Game 5 started better for Houston than Game 4 did. But in the end, it was still the Diamonds who got on the board first with a Rickard Rask goal at 12:09. The game remained even for 22 minutes, until Maki stole a loose puck and tied the game at 1, unassisted, halfway through the second. Unlike previous games, this one was a long and grinding affair. The teams traded chances, and it was Max Conroy who broke the tie off a bouncing puck 4 minutes into the third. Houston pushed hard, but G John Grant stood on his head, ending with a .970 to win it for the Diamonds. Final score: Houston 1 - 2 Yellowknife, Yellowknife leads 3-2. Game 6 @ Yellowknife Back on the banks of Great Slave Lake, the Diamonds were determined to close out the series and upset Houston. The Satellites, however, came out flying, pouring six shots on goal before Yellowknife got one. Things calmed down after that, though, and it wasn't until the start of the second that Luongo made it 1-0 Houston. The Diamonds tried to answer back, but Finnigan extended the lead to 2-0 halfway through the second. Only 2 minutes into the third, Meighan scored as well and made it 3-0. LW Anthony Dunbar spoiled Sauer's shutout at 9:20 on the third. After Fredheim missed the glass on a clear and was called for Delay Of Game, Sam Sneep scored on the powerplay and suddenly it was 3-2. It was a scary two minutes as the Diamonds pressed and pressed, but luck was on Houston's side as Abrahamsson and Glynnensteins scored just a minute apart. Andy Abrams made it 5-3 with less than 2 minutes left, but the Satellites hung on for dear life. Final score: Houston 5 - 3 Yellowknife, series tied at 3.  The next day, Houston announced that Steve Gauthier had sustained a concussion in Game 6, and would be out for about three weeks. He had 2 goals and was +2 in 6 games. Jon Murray received the call-up from Austin, who had just been shockingly swept by the Chattanooga Blues. Game 7 @ Houston Back home in Texas with the series on the line, Game 7 started as a defensive showcase. With both teams locking it down in front of their goalies, Yellowknife had the only shot on goal in the first 3:30. Houston made their first shot count, though, as Petersson scored at 16:21. Brown was sent off for cross-checking 4 minutes later, and Max Conroy made the Satellites pay, tying the game at 1. Both teams were evenly matched through the rest of the period, and went into the intermission still tied. The second period started like the first, and there were only 3 shots on net before Max Conroy got his second of the game, just over 4 minutes into the second. The Satellites came back hard, and killed off an important penalty on Voynov, but they would head to the second intermission down 2-1. C Trevor Zent took a roughing penalty in the first minute of the third, and the crowd exploded when Luongo tied the game at 2 with his second goal of the series. Houston was an undisciplined mess throughout the third period, but somehow they managed to kill off two 5-on-3s. After finishing the last PK, the first line hopped over the boards, and Simpson fed Glynnensteins, who found Finnigan all alone on the back door to make it 3-2 with just 5:28 remaining. With the scent of blood in the air, the Satellites bore down, preventing Yellowknife from getting a single shot on yet another penalty. As the clock ran out, Houston scraped by the Diamonds by the skin of their teeth. Final score: Houston 3 - 2 Yellowknife. Houston wins in 7.  Tim Finnigan scored the Game Winning Goal Tuesday night, eliminating the Yellowknife Diamonds in 7 games. Analysis: Well, that was a close call! If Yellowknife (#19) had beaten us (#7), that would have been the biggest upset in the playoffs this year. As it is, there was one upset in each conference: #6 Jacksonville beat #2 Baltimore in 5 out East, and #18 Red Deer beat #10 Whitehorse in 6 here in the West.  Speaking of Whitehorse, LW Johnny Gruden can’t be blamed for the team’s upset: He led the playoffs with 4-6-10, +4 in just 6 games. Charlotte RD Rasmus Rissanen leads defensemen with 1-6-7, +7 in 6, although Whitehorse’s top pair both had 1-5-6, +8 in 6. Brandon’s G Patrice Foley leads goalies in both SVP and GAA with .942/1.71 in 4 games. For Houston, our top line got it done: Glynnensteins had 1-5-6, Finnigan had 3-1-4, and Meighan is second in playoff scoring with 2-7-9. That line is +3. The second line is where it fell apart: Laine and Fredheim had just 1 assist each, and Voynov had no points in 7 games. That line was -3, which isn’t terrible all things considered, but the lack of scoring is a real concern. The problem is that there’s no good way to mix up the middle six; Luongo could maybe move up to the second in place of Voynov, but then the third line wouldn’t work with a LW Two Way, a LW Playmaker, and a RW Playmaker. Speaking of our third line, Fotiu had 1 goal, Luongo had 2, and Brown had 1 assist, and that line was Even, which is perfectly acceptable. On the fourth line, it was good despite the injuries and mixing-and-matching: Kuznetsov had 2 assists, +2 in 7GP. Gauthier had 2 goals, +2 in 6. Moger had 1 assist, +1 in 5. Baranka had 1 assist, +1 in 1, and Murray and Wong were both pointless, Even in 1 game. On defense, Javanainen had 1-3-4, Abrahamsson had 2-1-3, but that pair was -2. Not too bad, but not great either. On the second pair, Petersson had 1-2-3, Maki had 2-2-4, and that pair was +3. Petersson, who actually had the most TOI thanks to all the PKs, is shooting like crazy: with 11 shots in 7 games, he’s almost doubled his shooting rate from the regular season (from 1.29 to 2.43 per game). On the third pair, Simpson had 1 assist and Cernik was pointless, but they were +1. I’m no mathematician, but I think that means they didn’t allow a single even-strength goal in 7 games, no? Finally, in goal, Sauer was fantastic with a .923 SVP (5th) and a 2.40 GAA (tied for 3rd). The big thing that kept Yellowknife in the series? The guy right next to Sauer in the standings: John Grant, with a .926 (3rd) and a 2.40. Houston’s opponent in Round 2: Albuquerque Dukes!  vs 
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Jan 6, 2023 15:56
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Round 1 Game 1 @ Houston Houston started off Round 2 firing on all cylinders, as they got the first 5 shots of Game 1 vs. Albuquerque. Even when Moger was called for holding at 14:48, the Satellites killed it off without allowing a single SOG, while adding 3 more of their own. It wasn’t until 11:07 of the first that the Dukes finally got their first shot. Houston killed off two more penalties in the first, looking great but failing to score. The second was a little different, with Fotiu having the only SOG in the first two minutes, but it was LW Kyle Conroy who opened the scoring at 18:03 with his 7th point in 7 games. This put a fire under the Dukes, who had the next 6 shots before Houston got another. It took until Houston went on the powerplay for the first time for Finnigan to tie the game at 3:09, only for RW Nikolay Golubev to retake the lead for Albuquerque less than a minute later. It was his first point of the playoffs. Fredhiem replied right off the hop in the third, tying the game at 2 by scoring his first goal of the playoffs at 19:00. C Mike Lalime was called for boarding at 16:23, and Javanainen gave Houston their first lead of the game, 3-2. As time dwindled, RW Blake Weber sealed his team’s fate by putting the puck over the glass, giving Houston a powerplay with 2:14 remaining. Final score: Houston 3 - 2 Albuquerque, Houston leads 1-0. Game 2 @ Houston Game 2 was a smooth-sailing affair for both teams throughout the first, as the teams traded shots without an interruption for almost 15 minutes. The Satellites failed to score for most of their first powerplay at 5:07, but when the Dukes made it a 5-on-3 at 3:46, Finnigan only needed 10 seconds to make it 1-0 Houston. The second was similar until Houston killed off a 5-3 at 8:47. Both teams shut it down after that, with no shots on goal recorded from 7:19 to 3:35, and then only one more in the period after that. C Cole Pratt broke the shutout at 15:32 of the third to tie the game. The Satellites couldn’t capitalize on a C Nick Colman tripping penalty at 12:44. As time ticked away, RW Ilya Makeyev snuck one home with 3:16 remaining, and suddenly Houston was scrambling from behind. There would be no miracle tonight, though. Final score: Houston 1 - 2 Albuquerque, series tied at 1. Game 3 @ Albuquerque The series moved to New Mexico for Game 3, but Meighan wasted no time silencing the hometown crowd with a goal at 18:56. Cole Pratt, however, answered back at 14:31, and it was now a tie game. Fredheim retook the lead for Houston with his second goal of the series, 2-1 at 7:35, but C Boone Jensen re-tied it just 90 seconds later, 2-2. With more goals scored already in the first period than in either of the first 2 games, Kyle Conroy went ahead and took the lead for the Dukes less than a minute into the second. Boone Jensen got his second of the game at 15:58, and suddenly Houston was behind 4-2. The Satellites couldn’t make the Dukes pay for two penalties, but when Brown was called for hooking at 9:41, Cole Pratt put Albuquerque up 5-2. Fredheim quickly got his second of the game in reply, and now it was 5-3. The Satellites had the first four shots of the third, but Luongo got called for interference at 16:41. Less than a minute after Houston killed it off, Voynov was called for slashing. Finnigan then took an interference penalty 20 seconds into the kill, and Blake Weber scored on the 5-on-3 to make it 6-3 Dukes. 30 seconds later, D Logan Stanton made it 7-3. Meighan got his second of the game at 6:00 (his 12th point in 10 games) but it was too little, too late. Final score: Houston 4 - 7 Albuquerque, Albuquerque leads 2-1.  Wong received the call that he was back in the lineup for Game 4, with Murray headed to the pressbox. Murray hadn’t been bad, but he hadn’t been good either, with 0P, -1, 3SOG in 4 games. Game 4 @ Albuquerque Despite opening the game with a Glynnensteins high-sticking call, the Satellites ripped off 8 shots to Albuquerque’s 3 in the first half of the period. It looked like the game would head to intermission tied, though, until Fredheim scored his 3rd goal in 4 games with under 2 minutes remaining. The second was more balanced, but another high-stick (from Luongo this time) let LW Nikolaj Elias tie the game at 13:12. Glynnensteins didn’t take long to answer, getting his first goal of the series two minutes later. A holding penalty for Kuznetsovand a boarding on D Dylan Deeley led to a 4-on-4 situation, and Nikolaj Elias got his second to tie the game at 2. The Dukes came out firing in the third, out-shooting Houston 5-1 before Blake Weber gave the Dukes the 3-2 lead at 15:50. Wong had the next 2 SOG, and he made one of them count as he tied the game at 3 at 10:38. Houston killed off an elbowing penalty to Petersson, and this one would go to overtime. The situation looked dire for the Satellites in OT, as Albuquerque outshot them 8-4 in the first 10 minutes. Only Sauer standing on his head yet again saved them. Taking advantage of the swing in momentum, though, Houston got the next 4 shots in a row, and Finnigan’s snuck through G Connor Healey at 8:51. Final score: Houston 4 - 3 Albuquerque (OT), series tied at 2. Game 5 @ Houston With Fredheim being the only one scoring on the second line, Laine moved down to the third, moving Luongo up. Despite 29SOG in 11 games, Laine had only 2 assists and was -3. Game 5 started rough for Houston, with Glynnensteins being called for roughing off the opening faceoff. Nikolaj Elias cut the powerplay short a minute later with his own penalty, though, and no goals were scored either way. Houston seemed to have control of the game from there, yet a Moger high-stick led to a Logan Stanton goal, 1-0 Dukes. Kyle Conroy scored at 16:16 of the second, making it 2-0. Once again the Satellites answered, outshooting Albuquerque 8-4, but Nikolay Golubev made it 3-0 at 3:43. Blake Weber made it 4-0 at 15:10 of the third, and now Houston was really in a hole. Totally demoralized, they were outshot 10-7 the rest of the way, even with the benefit of 3 powerplays. On the plus side, Luongo had 5SOG, where he had only 12 in the past 11 games. Final score: Houston 0 - 4 Albuquerque, Albuquerque leads 3-2. Game 6 @ Albuquerque Back home in Albuquerque, the Dukes outshot Houston 5-1 before Nikolaj Elias opened the scoring at 11:19, making it 1-0 Albuquerque. Things didn’t get better from there, as Houston was outshot 13-5 by the end of the period, but they managed to hang on. The second was quiet, with both teams trading shots, until Ilya Makeyev was called for interference with :33 left in the period. Glynnensteins crashed the net off the ensuing faceoff, and he tied the game at 1 with his first goal of the series with only 15 seconds left in the second. Meighan picked up his 14th point of the playoffs off a beauty of a snapshot at 19:44, and Houston had a 2-1 lead with 2 goals in 30 seconds (technically, at least!). But Albuquerque wouldn’t go away, and Kyle Conroy scored on an Abrahamsson penalty just 45 seconds later. The Satellites weren’t letting up, though, and despite being shorthanded twice they outshot the Dukes 11-4 before Luongo scored his first of the series at 4:41. Final score: Houston 4 - 3 Albuquerque, series tied at 3. Game 7 @ Houston Once again, the series had to return to Texas for a Game 7. The first period was a well-played match, with no penalties called on either side. Shots were 15-13 Houston by the end of the first. The second? Not so much. Houston took three minor penalties in the first six minutes, but they managed to outshoot the Dukes 2-1 during that time. They then failed to convert on a Dylan Deeley roughing penalty at 10:10. The Satellites knew they were in trouble when Meighan was called for tripping with just 1:45 remaining, but it seemed they were saved when Boone Jensen was called for elbowing with 20 seconds left. Former Rookie Of The Year LW Kristian Vaananen (now 23) took the puck off the faceoff, though, and picked a great time to score his first of the series with just 5 seconds on the clock. Shots were even at 9 through the start of the third, but no one could gain an advantage. With 3:30 left in the game, the Dukes shut it down defensively, and not a single shot was registered for either team after that. Final score: Houston 0 - 1 Albuquerque, Albuquerque wins in 7. Analysis: Boy, what a tough way to end the season. Honestly, I’m not embarrassed like I would have been if we lost to Yellowknife, but that still stings. Overall, the team just didn’t perform when we needed it the most. What really killed us was penalties: We were averaging 5.5 minors per game by the end of this series, with as many as 7 in one game. Glynnensteins currently leads the playoffs with 16 PIMS, and Voynov is right behind him with 14. Let’s start with our goalie this time. Sauer had a .909/2.96 this series, to end the playoffs 7-7 with a .916/2.68. Not great this series, but perfectly acceptable; he let in a ton of goals when it didn’t really matter, but he was tight when he needed to be. For example, he had a .968 in the 1-0 elimination game, which is well beyond what you can ask of your tender. On defense, Abrahamsson had 6 assists and was -2 in this series, to end with 2-7-9, -4. Javanainen had just 1 goal and was -2, to end with 2-3-5, -4. I’m not sure what to make of this pair. Obviously there’s a big difference between 6 points or just 1 in 7 games, so it’s clear who had the better series. -2 over 7 games isn’t that bad, though, considering the minutes they play and how little they scored to “disguise” goals against, if you know what I mean. I’m more concerned with the guy who has 100P yet is -4, than the guy who’s pointless and -4, right? Anyways, they both had just 7P, -6 in 25 games last year, so they were actually scoring way more per game in these playoffs. On the second pair, Petersson and Maki both had 1 assist, -3. Petersson ended with 1-3-4, Even, and Maki ended with 2-3-5, Even. Although they didn’t perform as well as the first series, this pair was actually pretty balanced: Maki almost halved his scoring from last year (.65 PPG to .36) but he more than halved his goals-against (.56 per game to .20). On the third pair, Simpson and Cernik both had 1 assist and were +1, so Cernik ended up with 0-1-1, +2 and Simpson 0-2-2, +2. Cernik had 0-2-2 and was -2 in 11 games last year, so he showed minor improvement this year. Simpson, on the other hand…I hate to complain about our only Plus defensive pair, but Simpson had 10 assists, +9 in 25 games last year! Maybe he over-performed last year, so we shouldn’t set our sights so high. At forward, Glynnensteins had 2-5-7, Finnigan had 3-3-6, Meighan had 3-2-5, and they were +1 in this series. Overall a solid performance from our first line, you can’t fault any of them for the job they did. Finnigan’s 10P in 14GP is right on pace from last year, while his wingers’ PPG pace is almost double last year. Now we come to the gaping hole in the lineup: the second line. After 15P in 25 last year, Laine had just 1 assist,-1 to end with 0-2-2, -4 in 14 this year. Fredheim was better, with 3 goals, Even, but he still ended with only 3-1-4, -3. And after 20 in 25 last year, 36-year old Voynov had 4 assists, Even to end up with 0-4-4, -3. This line was just a trainwreck, no need to mince words. Laine and Voynov both had “decent but not great” seasons this year compared to last, so I’m not sure why it totally fell apart in the playoffs. Not that the third line was any better. Fotiu and Brown had no points, -4, and Luongo had 1 goal, -3. 5 combined points in 14 games from three players isn’t going to get it done, at least not above the fourth line. Speaking of the fourth line, Kuznetsov and Moger both had no points but were Even in 7 games. After being demoted for his atrocious performance in Game 2 of the first round, Wong had 1 goal, +1 in 4GP. Murray had no points, -1 in 3GP. I have no real issue with any of this; all you can ask your fourth line to do is not cost you the game, and they didn’t. It’s just sad to see Moger turn from a 50-point player last year, to only have 3 points in 30-something games this year. Around the league, Charlotte C Jonathan Conroy leads the playoffs with 5-12-17 in 13, although Brandon C Ryan Norton technically has a better pace with 9-6-15 in 11. Scott Meighan was tied for third with 5-9-14 in 14. Charlotte also leads the defensive leaderboard. LD Lawrence Printz has the most points (4-9-13 in 13), while Rasmus Alstrom and Rasmus Rissanen are both +10 with 11 and 9 points, respectively. In goal, Albuquerque’s Connor Healey just took the lead thanks to his performance against us. He now is 8-5, leading the playoffs in all categories with a .933 SVP, 2.25 GAA, and 3 shutouts. Playoff Stats   
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Jan 13, 2023 19:31
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2023 Playoffs Wrap-up Your 2023 GHL Legacy Cup Champions: The Charlotte Queens!  So the #1 team in the league goes all the way, but at first it looked like they might not get there. After taking 6 games to defeat #12 Milwaukee, they then got taken to 7 by #6 Jacksonville. Once they cleared that hurdle, though, it took only 5 to defeat #4 Iqaluit before sweeping #11 Brandon in the finals. Brandon, by the way, had a wild playoffs themselves: Swept #14 Kelowna, got taken to 7 games by #18 Red Deer, swept #9 Albuquerque (who had just beaten us in 7), and then of course got swept themselves. This young Charlotte team was an offensive dynamo: 26-year old C Jonathan Conroy led playoff scoring (and also had the most assists) with 6-24-30, +1 in 22 games. C Chris Chandler, 22, had the most goals, with 14. LD Rasmus Alstrom, 23, and LD Lawrence Printz, 27, tied for most points by a D-man, with 19 each. Alstrom and his partner RD Rasmus Rissanen, 28, led in +/- with +15. Right behind them is Charlotte’s entire 4th line with a +12 (and 33 points between the three of them, by the way). LW Taylor Hill, one of the oldest players on the team at just 31, led in SOG with 106 in just 22 games. Charlotte G Branden Hart got his team to 16 wins, despite a .904, 2.97, 1SO statline. How does the top of the leaderboard look, though?  Did we face the two hottest goalies in the playoffs, or did we just make them look good? No comment.  One thing worth mentioning: by playing 12 games in the playoffs this year, Jarred Moger moved into 1st on the active players list for Playoff Games Played with 178, one ahead of Baltimore C Patrick Berglund. He’s also 4th among active players in Playoff Goals and 9th in Playoff Points. Awards & League Leaders Bold indicates a league-leading stat, * among defensemen, ^ among rookies  LW Matthew Taylor, Whitehorse Huskies League MVP 36-59-98, +5 in 82 GP Charlotte C Jonathan Conroy had 33-71-104, +34 in 82GP.  C Jonathan Conroy, Charlotte Queens Playoff MVP 6-24 assists-30 points in 22 playoff GP  C Auston Mitchell, Milwaukee Mugs Offensive Player Of The Year 45-63-108 points, +27 in 82 GP  LW Taylor HIll, Charlotte Queens Goal Scoring Award 48 goals-41-89, +32 in 78 GP Brandon C Ludwig Dackell also had 48G, but in 82GP  LW Johnny Gruden, Whitehorse Huskies Playmaking Award 27-74 assists-101, +5 in 82 GP  C Butch Pratt, St. Catharines Panthers Defensive Forward Award 27-51-78, +10 in 82 GP Iqaluit RW Andrei Skachkov had 90P, +39 in 82GP  RD Tony Donato, Fredericton Redlegs Offensive Defenseman Award 21-68 assists*-89 points*, +10 in 82 GP Brandon RD Tyson Marchand had 24G in 82GP  RD John Callahan, Charlottetown Confederates Defensive Defenseman Award 12-61-73, +41 in 82 GP  LD Lucas Johannson, Charlottetown Confederates Rookie Of The Year 18-42-60^ points, +41 in 82 GP  G Ilya Soshnikov, St. Catharines Panthers Goalie Of The Year 45W, .932 SVP, 2.10 GAA, 8 SO in 71 GP Soshnikov’s third GOTY award in a row Best SVP, GAA, most Shutouts, starter: Ilya Soshnikov, St. Catharines Panthers Best SVP, GAA, backup: Spencer Klatt, Jacksonville - .931/2.33 in 12 GP. Most Shutouts, backup: Billy Whitmore, Houston - 3 SO in 30 GP. St. John’s’ Mackenzie Backes started 74 games. Charlotte’s Branden Hart had 47 wins. Best Plus/Minus: RD John Callahan / LD Lucas Johannson, Charlottetown - +41 Worst Plus/Minus: C Nick Schultz, C Christian Drake, RW Clayton Kelleher, Portland - -47 Futility Award, F: C Colin McBain, Brandon - 105 P, -7 = -112 overall Futility Award, D: RD Tyson Marchand, Brandon - 81 P, -15 = -96 overall Most points with the worst +/- Backcheck Award, F: RW Christian Fidler, Portland - 16 P, -21. Backcheck Award, D: LD Niklas Hakansson, Halifax - 0 P, –26. Fewest points with the worst +/- Black Hole Award: RD Adam Labraaten, Brandon - 1 assist in 82 GP. Fewest points in most GP Honorable mention to Halifax LD Niklas Hakansson, with 0P in 34GP. Snakebite Award: LW Mikkel Bednar, Memphis - 1G, 79 SOG. 1.27% Worst non-zero shooting percentage Honorable mention to Oklahoma City RD Ian McFall, 0 G on 90 SOG Frustration Award, starter: G Danny Kumpel, Portland - 18 W in 45 GP, .400 W% Frustration Award, backup: G Eric Barry, St. Catharines - 0 W in 11 GP, .000 W% Worst winning percentage Honorable mention to Milwaukee’s Jack Campedelli, 1 W in 10 GP, .100 W%. Sieve Award, starter: G Danny Kumpel, Portland - .896 SVP, 3.38 GAA, 18 W in 45 GP. Sieve Award, backup: G Eric Barry, St. Catharines - .771 SVP, 7.18 GAA, 0 W in 11 GP. Worst save percentage Honorable mention to Halifax’s Rich Beech, .694 SVP, 11.00 GAA in 1 GP.  Down in the MGHL, the Bowling Green Knights (Louisville Kings affiliate) won the minor-league championship. Not surprising when you remember that’s the team where four players scored 99+ points this season, including former-Satellite Jim Buswell (42-101-143 in 82). Former Satellite Check-In  Speaking of former Satellites, LD Erik Lehto (traded with Skidmore, McKenzie, and 2 picks for Petersson) adjusted well to an increased role on Halifax. He had 10 assists and was -7 in 32 games with the Mariners, which is right about in line with what he was producing in Houston. But he also increased his TOI by 3 minutes per game, and is playing on one of the worst teams in the league.  LD Brian Skidmore had 7 points in 32 games but was an ugly -16. That’s below the pace he had in limited time in Houston (5P, +2 in 16) but, again, Halifax was terrible this year and he’s still got room to grow.  C Kyle Turlick was re-signed by Houston last offseason, before being traded with Ryan Kushner and a 3rd to Victoria for a 1st and a 3rd. Turlick had 5-18-23, -1 in 82 for the last-place Gardeners, which is not surprising. What IS surprising is that he did it on the 4th line, playing only 10:15 per night. Speaking of the last-place Victoria Gardeners, that 1st Round Pick that Houston acquired was Victoria’s. Which means that the Houston Satellites had the best odds at the #1 Overall pick heading into the Draft Lottery!  Unfortunately, in order to discourage tanking, the “best odds” are only less than 20%. And so it was that Tucson won the lottery, jumping from 6th to 1st. Oklahoma City jumped from 9th to 2nd, and Halifax won 3rd, so although they started in 2nd behind the Satellites, they bumped Houston down to 4th overall. 
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Jan 17, 2023 00:48
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Retirements First, those who played in Houston: LD Trevor Darby, 39, officially retires after spending a season with Regina’s minor-league affiliate in Yorkton. Originally drafted by Houston in the 2nd Round in 2002, he played 756 games for the Satellites from ‘03 to ‘15, scoring 231 points to go with a +6. That’s the most GP by a Defenseman for Houston, 3rd among all skaters. After leaving Houston his play was never the same, and he only scored 100 points while going -47 over the next 8 years combined. Nevertheless, he won back-to-back Legacy Cups with Halifax, in 2016 and 2017. He retires with 92-239-331, -41 in 1222 games. LW Ben Roy, 37. He scored 39 points in 150 games for Houston from ‘18-’21. Drafted by Moncton in the 2nd Round of 2004, he had a career-high of 46P in 77GP with them back in 2011. He ended his career tearing up the MGHL, with 171 points in 153 games between Austin and Inuvik. He retires with 137-183-320, -90 in 882 games.  42-year old LD Ron Hansen had 6 assists in only 18 games (regular season + playoffs) for Houston back in the 20/21 season. Many thought he’d retire after that, but Kansas City brought him back for two more years, where he racked up 11 points, +29 in 118 more games. He retires with 50-207-257, +13 in 1084 games. Now, some of the most notable non-Satellites: LD Duncan Kerch, 39, played his whole career with Oklahoma City, winning three Legacy Cups with them in 2010, 2013, and 2015. He played in 1364 games, scoring 143 goals, 592 assists for 735 points. Among Defensemen, that’s 2nd all-time in Assists, 3rd in Points, and his +142 in the regular season puts him 5th. He also scored 13-63-81, +32 in 131 playoff games, putting him 1st all-time in Assists by a D-Man in the Playoffs (and 2nd in Points & +/-).  G Leo Ramo, 36, played 735 regular season games for Baltimore, earning 408 wins (5th all-time). His .920 SVP and 2.32 GAA make him the best regular-season goalie the GHL has ever seen, and his 61 shutouts are enough for 4th all-time. He added 78 wins and 12 shutouts in 131 playoff games (both 2nd), with a ridiculous .927 and 2.33. He won two Legacy Cups, in 2011 and 2021. G Craig Ahern, 42, was drafted in 2001 by Oklahoma City. A mostly average goalie, he retires with a .912 and a 2.77 over 663 regular season games, earning 298 wins. His .929 in 46 playoff games, however, gives him the distinction of being tied for 1st all-time for SVP in the playoffs. Perhaps proving that Wins are a team stat, though, he has only 23 in those 46 playoff games. Oh, and who is he tied with, you ask? Current-Satellite Billy Whitmore, of course, who’s done it over 57 games. 40-year old LW Ilya Kravchuk officially retires after putting up 88 points in 82 games for minor-league Asheville, while parent-club Charlotte goes on to win the Legacy Cup. Kravchuk was a controversial player, due to his willingness to bounce back and forth between the GHL and Russia. In the end, he retires with 143-173-316 in only 496 games. If he had stayed in America for his whole career, he could have been Top 10 all-time in scoring in the GHL. Finally, some mildly-interesting goalie retirements: JF Barber, who went 13-9 with the Sputniks in 21/22, retires at 31. He had an .898 in 34 GHL games. Marcus Hedberg and Cal Peters, both 28, also retired. Hedberg went 5-23 with a .901 in the GHL with Atlanta, but went 16-2 with an .882 en route to an MGHL championship with Savannah last year. Peters only got 19 games with Red Deer, going 10-9 despite a .923, and he also won an MGHL cup (with Airdrie in 2021). Linus Eriksson, just 22, also announced his retirement. Drafted in the 6th round of the 2020 Draft, Houston traded his rights to Charlotte for a 5th round pick one year later. Having never signed a contract or played in North America, Eriksson says he’s done playing hockey so he can focus on his studies to be a botanist. Good for him. 2023 GHL Entry Draft  With the first overall pick, the Tucson Foxes selected 18-year old C Nikita Danilov from Russia. A Two Way Forward, he had 4-8-12, +8 in 10 games at the World Juniors. Skills-wise, he's the most well-balanced of the Top 3 picks.  The Oklahoma City Wranglers looked to Finland for Pick #2, selecting 18-year old Two Way C Ilkka Pulkkinen. Less talented but more offensively-focused than Danilov, he had 6-6-12 but was only +1 in 14 games at the World Juniors.  Rounding out the Top 3, the Halifax Mariners also took a Two Way Center: 17-year old Jakob Ek from Sweden. He had 6-12-18, +12 in 14 games at the World Juniors, and has two Silvers medals to show for it. A future replacement for aging star Center Stefan Moore? The first defenseman selected was RD Emil Asmussen, a Defensive Defenseman from Denmark, going to Portland at #6. He had 1-2-3, -16 in 8 games at the World Juniors and 1 assist, -7 in 10 games at the World Cup. The first goalie selected was Cliff Romanchych from the USA, by the Kelowna Grizzlies at #23. Interestingly, only 3 of the Top 10 players selected were from Canada. That's sure to cause some concern among the old-school types. Houston selected the following players: 1st (#4): RW Andre Carriere. A 17-year old Power Forward, he loves to hit and score in equal amounts. He wasn't selected to represent Canada at World Juniors, and Houston may have raised some eyebrows by selecting him when they did. Likely outcome: According to the Scouts, it's not about selecting the best player now, and they admit he'll need some time to grow. But they believe that Houston got the best player available in the long run. 5th (#155): RW Dominic Coleman. Another 17-year old Canadian, this one is an all-offense Sniper. Not quite skilled enough to play in the MGHL yet, the Satellites will likely leave him in Junior for at least another year. Likely outcome: It's hard to say with these young kids who are just inherently more skilled than their peers; sometimes they're never forced to learn, or to outwork their shortcomings. Especially for a 5th Round pick, it's a long road to the big-time. Next, the Satellites traded their 6th (#180) and a 2026 7th to Atlanta for 6th round pick #163. They used that pick to select RD Tony Graham, a 6'6" Defensive Defenseman from Canada. Likely outcome: Let's put it this way, Graham is as Defensive as Coleman is Offensive. Houston obviously liked something they saw in him, though, since they traded up to make sure they got him. 7th (#211): Finally, it seems that Houston identified a weakness in their depth chart at Right Wing, as they selected Two Way RW Hardy Lindholm from Sweden. Scouts say he's got a higher floor but a lower ceiling than Coleman. Likely outcome: There's not much to report here. As usual, if your late-round picks turn into anything at all, you're happy. Hall Of Fame The GHL Hall Of Fame announced their candidates for induction, players who retired following the 2020-2021 season. These 5 skaters and 2 goalies will be voted on by the Committee, with those accepted to be announced prior to the start of the 2023/24 season. Skaters  C Joe Thompson, Canada. Thompson, retired at 41, was the first overall pick in the first GHL draft back in 1997. He’s 2nd in Games Played with 1718, but the all-time leader in Assists (1131, by almost 200!) and Points (1569). His +199 is nothing to sneeze at, being 7th all-time. And despite not being known as a goal-scorer, he just missed the Top 10 (438, 11th). He also racked up 138 points (6th) in 186 playoff games (3rd), although he was -38. He won a World Junior Gold back in 1997, but the only time he represented Canada in the World Cup was 2005, when they won Silver. It’s a shame that, in 24 seasons, he never won a Cup.  Jon Gagnon was the number 2 pick in 1997, behind Joe Thompson. With over 1800 games played, it’s doubtful anyone will ever match him as #1 all-time. He’s 2nd in Goals (behind Alexei Ivanov who’s still active and racking them up) and 12th in Assists, putting him 7th in Regular Season Points. In the Playoffs he’s 2nd in both Goals and Games Played, 8th in Points. The case against him: while playing on the same Regina team as Joe Thompson, he’s a -25 where Thompson is a +199. But then again, he’s only -7 in the playoffs where Thompson is a -38. And, of course, he never won a Cup either.  LD Zlatan Cierny, Slovakia. Retired at 44, the tallest player in GHL history at 6’9”. His 1635 Regular Season and 182 Playoff Games Played are the most by a Defenseman. He also owns the #1 spot in plus/minus for all skaters, in both Regular Season and Playoffs with an insane +295 and +52, respectively. Among Defensemen, he’s currently 3rd in Goals (212) and 9th in Assists (469) for 6th in Points (681). That lands him just outside the Top 50 for all skaters. He has two World Cup Silvers and one Legacy Cup with Baltimore in 2011.  C Ryan Geran, Canada. Drafted by Yellowknife, he played his entire career with one team, which goes far with the voters in the Hall. If that doesn’t impress you, consider this: 297 Goals (43rd) and 740 Assists (7th) gives him 1037 Points, good for 14th all-time. And he did it in 1135 games, scoring at a rate just slightly better than Joe Thompson… although he played almost 600 fewer games. His +115 is currently 27th. He was an unbelievable playoff performer, with 120 points (T12th) in 125 playoff games and had a +12 to go with it. He won a World Juniors Silver and Gold, as well as a World Cup Silver. His only Legacy Cup, though, came back in 2007.  C Henrik Zetterstrom, Sweden. Speaking of one-team players, Zetterstrom retired at 42, never leaving Indianapolis. With 960 points (18th) in 1082 games and a +160 (10th) to go with it, he was the ultimate Two Way player. In 137 playoff games he scored 120 points, which ties him with Ryan Geran for 12th, and his +41 is 3rd all-time in the Playoffs. He won two Bronzes, a Silver, and a Gold at the World Cup, and he also has 2 Legacy Cups in his trophy case, 2005 and 2008. Goalies  G Ryan Millen, USA. Retired at 40, perhaps the greatest American goalie to play in the GHL. 5th all-time in Games Played (790), 7th in Wins (389), but 1st in both categories among Americans. In the Regular Season, his .915 SVP is tied for 12th, and his 2.55 GAA puts him at #25. He also had 44 shoutouts, 10th all-time. In the Playoffs, he barely cracks the Top 25 in SVP (.913, T20th) and GAA (2.61, 23rd) while landing 14th in Wins (28) in 57 Game Played (15th). It’s worth remembering, though, that he played most of his career on some very lousy teams: for example, he had 15W in 40GP in 13/14 with Charlotte, despite putting up a .923/2.70 at age 34! Or at age 38, when he had 12W in 28GP for Yellowknife, despite a .928/1.89! It should be understandable, then, that he never won a Legacy Cup.  G Jaroslav Hasek, Slovakia. Retired at only 36, he was a dependable workhorse in his career. Although he played the most games for Moncton, he never stayed at one team for more than 4 years. Despite that, he’s 15th all-time in Games Played (564) and 14th in Wins with 299. He’s in the Top 10 all-time with a career .916 (9th) and 2.43 (8th). He also had 51 shutouts, landing at #7. He never got much of a chance in the Playoffs, though. After going 9-12 despite a .923 in the first three seasons of his career with Louisville, he only played in 14 more playoff games in the next 11 years, ending up with 14 W in only 35 GP and a .916 (16th), 2.45 (15th), zero SO statline. He, too, never won a Legacy Cup.
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Jan 25, 2023 21:16
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Re-Sign Phase, June 2023 RD Jere Maki, 6 x $6.505M. The 27-year old second-pair Offensive Defenseman from Finland has 116P in 406 career games. This was his fourth-straight career-best year, with 13-36-49, +1 in 82 this season.  LW Raimo Laine, 4 x $3.420M. A middle-six Sniper, the 26-year old Finn had 32-15-47, +3 in 71 this year, bringing his totals to 231P, +55 in 368 games. That’s a third-line price for a guy who produces like a second-liner, offensively at least.  LW Anders Brown, 4 x $2.325M. In his first full year with Houston, the third-line Playmaker from the USA scored a career-high 12-19-31, +17 in 82, to go with the 10P, +6 he had in 20 last year. With 88P, +34 in 238 career games, he'll be turning 28 shortly before the start of next season.  RW Sebastien Kuznetsov, 1 x $955K. The 30-year old Swiss Playmaker scored 7-10-17, +2 in 72 this year, which has been his steady average for four seasons running on Houston's fourth line: he has 71P, +15 in 299 games. That’s a good contract for a guy that’s as reliable as he is.  LW Alexandre Fotiu, 2 x $700K. The Canadian Two Way forward, 26, finally had his break-out year this season, scoring 14-14-28, +16 in 80. He had only 1 P, -1 in 30 games before that. Unfortunately, given his age, he's likely already hit his ceiling, but at less than $1 million there’s little to worry about.  The Satellites also qualified RD Erik Cernik, 26. The Slovak Two Way D had a career-high 4-24-28, +16 in 82 this year, his final of a 3 x $935K contract. By extending him a Qualifying Offer, Houston retains his rights without signing him to a new contract yet, while they presumably work out a trade. These players also re-signed for less than $1M: RW Tuukka Ahonen, 3 x $750K RD Alexander Khristich, 4 x $650K LD Josh Teal, 1 x $750K LW Thomas Boumedienne, 5 x $795K C Brandon Irwin, 3 x $900K G Joni Hirvonen (3 x $800K) and RW Andre Carriere (3 x $825K) signed their ELCs. Released to Free Agency: Houston C Jarred Moger, 39 RW Alex Voynov, 37 G Billy Whitmore, 36 RW Spencer Fox, 29 LW Miles Wong, 27 Austin C Austin Carey, 30 C Joseph Bandura, 29 G Ville Haarala, 28 Some big names here, obviously. Moger had a long and respectable career, including three good 50-ish point years for Houston before he fell off hard at the start of this season. Including the 2 P in 26 he scored this year, he leaves with 72-72-144, +55 in 272 GP.  Much like recently-retired Ilya Kravchuk, Alex Voynov split his time between Russia and the GHL early in his career. But he was rock-solid for Houston for the past six seasons, with 428 P in 473 GP. His .905 PPG in Houston is second only to Tim Finnigan in team history, and his +102 as a Satellite is a team record.  Billy Whitmore, in only six seasons with Houston, was without a doubt their best goaltender. He had 170 Wins in 296 Games with a .919 SVP, 2.45 GAA, and 30 Shutouts… every single one of those stats is a team record. Jason Sauer currently has him beat in winning percentage (.630 vs .577), but Whitmore played more than three times as many games as Sauer has. In the playoffs he had 13 Wins in 27 Games, which were team records until Sauer passed him this year. His .924/2.45 in the playoffs are also team records (if you ignore the one relief appearance Alexei Vyshedkevich made back in the 18/19 season, where he stopped 5/5 shots in 11 minutes), but he never had a shutout in the playoffs.  Fox and Wong were essentially the exact same players: sniper wingers who were good for 15-20 points per season in the bottom six, guys who are nice to have for under $1.25M or so, if you don’t have any prospects to fill their roles. But Fox had his struggles this year, and Wong just wanted too much money. So they both leave with exactly 40 P for Houston, Fox in 183 games and Wong in 163. Free Agency, July 2023 On July 1st, Free Agency opened and… the Satellites were disappointed with what was available. There were no decent backup goalies to replace Whitmore, so GM Goonson hit the phones, finding the best return he could for Cernik.  Cernik for G Jonathan Borer and a 2024 4th. Borer, 34, is in the last year of a $3.087M contract. Drafted 11th Overall by Red Deer in 2006, he had a .917/2.70 in 32 with Indianapolis last year, and is a career .911/2.65 in 481 games. Unfortunately, given Borer's age, that means Houston will have to go hunting for a backup all over again at the end of next year. The Hoggers, meanwhile, signed Cernik to a 2 x $2.640M contract. As well as a backup goalie, the Satellites also couldn't find a Sniper winger that could be an upgrade from Laine on the second line. So they committed to keeping him on the second and signed a third-liner instead.  LW Andreas Johansson, 28. Drafted in the 7th Round in 2013, the Swedish Sniper had 4 solid seasons in the middle six for Milwaukee and St. John's where he averaged 40P, +6 per season. Last year, though, the Advancers dumped him on the fourth line with no powerplay time, putting him on pace for 27P (which is pretty drat good for just 8:30 per night!). They then traded him to Iqaluit, who played him in a similar role, cratering his scoring even further and leading to just 1 assist in 15 games. This is where the Satellites swooped in, offering him $3.830M for one year, and Johansson accepted. It's definitely a bit of a rich contract, but Houston was willing to pay a little more to make it only one year. Houston only made two more signings that day: C Ivan Baranov, 27, is a Russian Sniper who played his entire career with San Francisco after being drafted by the Friars in the 2nd Round of 2014, putting up 130P, +9 in 478GP in their bottom six. He signed for 3 x $745K, and will likely be the first call-up in case of injury to Houston. RD Connor Carlson, 28, is an American Two Way D. Drafted in the 5th Round by Portland in 2013, they never signed him. Baltimore took a chance on him in 2018, and he managed just 3P, +9 in 50 games. He was killer in the MGHL, though, with 108P, +69 in 230 games with Columbia. Around The League In a money-saving move, Cup champs Charlotte made a rare one-for-one hockey trade: 25-year old RW Tage Thomas, all 6'6" of him, to Kelowna for first line C Adam Gruden. Thomas had only 36 P in his first 188 games before he suddenly exploded, scoring 134 P over the next two years. Kelowna immediately extended him for 5 x $7.565M. Gruden, 26, is a first line Sniper with 201 P in 364 games. He has one year left on a cheap 3 x $2.113M contract, meaning Charlotte will have to either make room again or trade him again at the end of next year. Baltimore somehow managed to move two bottom-six forwards for two 2nds and two 6ths, which is not a bad return. In one season C Cameron Hayes, 26, only had 12 P, +1 while C Jakub Lazo, 23, had 20 P, +13. Nevertheless, they both fetched the same return. Louisville traded second line C Jack Rohloff to Regina for a ‘24 1st and a 3rd. A 2015 1st-Rounder for Albuquerque, Rohloff had two and a half 30-point seasons with the Dukes before they flipped him to Louisville for a 2nd and a 5th. He had three 55-point seasons there before they moved him for a 1st and a 3rd, so congrats to the Kings for some excellent asset management. Second pair LD Maxime Lalor was traded from Albuquerque to Jacksonville for a '27 1st and a '24 7th. Albuquerque had just acquired the 25-year old at the trade deadline this year (for a '26 1st and a '23 6th) so I guess they were thinking of it as a rental and never planned to re-sign him. Jacksonville extended him, 4 x $4.620M.
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Feb 2, 2023 22:07
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Training Camp Report 09/01/23  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 therefore there's nothing to report. Positives: Tracy Simpson, LD: 81 +6 87 Coaches are really excited about Simpson this year. 30P, +24 over 140 GHL games isn't bad, but it looks like he's found a new gear this year; he's looking like a legit second-pair defenseman. Jacob Baker, RD: 79 +5 84 This is perhaps less of a surprise, given Baker's 114P in 156 MGHL games: After getting only 7 games in the GHL last year, Scouts say he's now a "bad" second-pair or very good third-pair D-man. Interestingly, though, the Coaches say his Defense is his strong suit, despite his ridiculous minor-league scoring. Sergei Kuleshov, C: 73 +5 78 After improving from 34 to 63 points in the minors this year, Houston's Coaches want him to earn a spot on the 4th line. Ironically for a "Two-Way" forward, his offense is certainly there, but his lacking defense may be his downfall. Tuukka Ahonen, RW: 73 +4 77 The 21-year old power forward has improved for three straight years in the minors, hitting 76P last year. So now he should get a chance to earn his spot the GHL, too. Markus Javanainen, LD: 90 +2 92 It's hard for a defenseman who scored 51 points last year to improve, but Javanainen somehow does it, little by little. Jere Maki, RD: 86 +2 88 Speaking of 50-point D-men, Maki fell just one point shy of it this year. He's not as good as Javanainen, but he's pretty close. Raimo Laine, LW: 84 +1 85 Laine's hit his peak as a second-line scoring winger who averages 50+ points per season. Not a bad place to be at all. Negatives: Dicks Glynnensteins, LW: 88 -1 87 At age 34, it's understandable that he's slowing just a bit. Although he scored PPG last year, injuries limited him to only 42 games. Andreas Johansson, LW: 83 -1 82 Coaches, of course, were hoping to be pleasantly surprised when they got their first look at Johansson in practice. It seems, though, that Houston didn't get so lucky: he's just a bottom six sniper, which is fine if that's all you're expecting of him. Jonathan Borer, G: 82 -1 81 Having turned 35 in the off-season, it might be foolish to expect him to be as good this year as he was last year. The question is whether he's still good enough to just hold the fort when Sauer needs a rest. Alexandre Fotiu, LW: 81 -1 80 I wouldn't expect him to set another personal-best this year, but that would be an unrealistic expectation anyways. The only hope is that he doesn't regress. Headed back to Austin: Alexander Khristich, RD: 73 +3 76 Improved his points from 6 to 30 to 57. He could maybe have made the jump to the GHL this year, but he's only 22, there's no need to rush it. Thomas Boumedienne, LW: 72 +2 74 Although his Games Played has gone up and down a bit, he's now averaging only 44 points in the minors for three years in a row. Not terrible, but not a good sign if he's ever going to make the jump to the GHL. Joni Hirvonen, G: 69 +4 73 After two years in Finland, Hirvonen earns his ELC and will come to North America and split starts with Lou Bernier. Jay O'Byrne, C: 73 +0 73 From 46P, Even in Year 1 to 39P, +37 in Year 2. Which is more representative of his true skill? Hard to say. Brandon Irwin, C: 74 -1 73 After making a great leap in Year 2 (going from 17P to 55), Irwin took a small step back last year with only 45P. Thomas Samuelsson, LD: 69 +2 71 The 4th Round pick, only 20, has 3P, +10 in 14 games at the World Juniors for Sweden. Now that he's earned his $710K ELC, he'll play on the second pair for the Sputniks. Anders Holm, RW: 69 +1 70 With 63P, +28 last year, Holm is making fine progress towards the Majors. Tony Graham, RD: 60 +6 66 The 6'6" Canadian defensive defenseman impressed the team enough to earn his $780K ELC, and he'll play alongside Kurtis MacKenzie on the third pair in Austin. Mathias Niederberger, C: 66 +0 66 Should Houston be concerned? The team was bragging about his potential when they drafted him in the 3rd round. And when he went from 38P in Year 1 to 61P in Year 2, it looked like they were right. But Scouts say he's just treading water, not really improving since he was drafted... Andre Carriere, RW: 66 +0 66 This year's 4th overall pick gets his ELC, of course, and will play in Austin at just 18. With Samuelsson and Graham taking spots in Austin, GM Goonson found himself with a surplus of minor-league defensemen. Baltimore, thin on defense at GHL and MGHL, offered a trade:  A 2024 3rd for LD Christian Wortman and RD Josh Brand. Wortman, 28, had 76P, +52 in just 67 games alongside Khristich in Austin last year. Brand, 29, had 18P, +23 in 81 on Austin's third pair.
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Feb 12, 2023 22:44
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Player growth spoilers: I don’t think I mentioned this at the end of last year, but a few players had Potential changes. Laine was a “low Top 6”, he’s now cemented as a Top 9. Fotiu was “medium Top 9”, he’s now a 4th Liner. O’Byrne and Irwin in the minors are still growing, but they went from “medium Top 9” to “medium 4th Line”. Houston Monthly Rewind September 2023 Prior to the new season starting, the Selection Committee announced their picks for the first class of the GHL Hall of Fame:  Joe Thompson, first overall pick in the first GHL draft in 1997. REGULAR SEASON: 438 goals, 1131 assists, 1569 points, +199 in 1718 games. 1st: Assists, Points. 2nd: Games Played. 7th: Plus/Minus. 11th: Goals PLAYOFFS: 33 goals, 103 assists, 136 points, -38 in 186 games. 3rd: Playoff Games Played. 6th: in Playoff Points. 1 World Junior Gold, 1 World Cup Silver. Jon Gagnon REGULAR SEASON: 568 goals, 638 assists, 1206 points, -25 in 1805 games. 1st: Games Played. 2nd: Goals. 7th: Points. 12th: Assists. PLAYOFFS: 72 goals, 55 assists, 127 points, -7 in 191 games. 2nd: Playoff Games Played, Goals. 8th: Playoff Points. 1 World Cup Gold and 1 Silver. Zlatan Cierny REGULAR SEASON: 212 goals, 469 assists, 681 points, +295 in 1635 games. All skaters: 1st: Plus/Minus. 3rd: Games Played Defensemen: 1st: Games Played, Penalty Minutes. 3rd: Goals. 6th: Points. 9th: Assists. PLAYOFFS: 18 goals, 50 assists, 68 points, +52 in 182 games. All skaters: 1st: Plus/Minus. 4th: Games Played. Defensemen: 1st: Games Played. 4th: Points. 5th: Assists. 6th: Goals. 2 World Cup Silvers, 1 Legacy Cup (2011). It seems the Committee is taking the “small Hall” approach. All three of these players are solidly in the Top 10 in multiple areas, so there wasn’t much doubt about their qualifications. For the other players nominated this year, they were all in the “15-20” range at best. And apparently the Committee was in no rush to make room for anything but the best of the best. And so, as the sun rose on another season of Satellites hockey, Houston once again had players invited to represent their countries at the World Cup.  In the elimination round, Denmark (1-4) stunned undefeated Sweden (4-0) by a score of 3-2, earning the right to advance to the Bronze medal game. Alas, despite giving Team USA a fright, their Cinderella story was cut short as they lost 3-2, before Canada took Gold 3-1 over the Czechs.   Whitehorse LW Johnny Gruden won MVP with 3-13-16, +7 in 7GP for Team USA. Apparently the judges only cared about points when handing out the award, considering St. Catharines' C Sonny Stanton was snubbed despite leading Canada to Gold with 11-4-15, +12 (also in 7GP). It was a tough year for Houston players, as 4 of their 6 invitees were held pointless; Javanainen and Maki most shockingly, since they were Finland's top D pair. Laine managed 1-1-2, +2 in 5GP and Niederberger had 2-2-4, +1 in 4GP. That had to be a relief for the young German playmaker, who had zero points and was -4 in 8GP over the past two World Cups. Of course, he just turned 20, so he was a boy playing against men, but it's nice to see some growth from him.  With the players returning to Texas, the lineups were set for opening night:   A very young fourth line for the Satellites: Murray is 24, Kuleshov is 22, and Ahonen is also 22. Of the three, only Murray has any GHL experience, with just 2 points in 46 games spread over 3 seasons. Fotiu and Kuznetsov will be the spare forwards, working in and out of the lineup depending on how the kids perform. On D, Baker will get his first real chance at the majors at age 23. As a reminder, he had 1 assist and was +2 in 7 GHL games last season.  In the minors, it’s a mix of prospects and veterans. In fact, exactly half of the team is each: 6 forwards, 3 defensemen, and 1 goalie belong to each group. A strange glitch happened this season: Except for guys who became free agents at the start of this year, every other unsigned player disappeared. Usually there’s, like, 200 players: minor-leaguers to fill out your MGHL squad, and a few major-leaguers who waited all summer for a contract. That’s never happened to me before, so I simulated up to next year’s Free Agency and everyone still existed. So I don’t think it’ll affect us in the future, but I do have to use 60-something auto-generated 4th Liners in the minors this year.
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Nov 10, 2023 00:18
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Houston Monthly Rewind October 2023 Houston started the month off right with a 4-2 win over Charlottetown. After falling behind 2-0, Petersson and Brown tied it up, then Simpson and Abrahamsson both scored to end the game with 2 points each. Luongo had 3 assists in the 6-3 win over Hamilton. He had 6 SOG in that game, as did Fredheim, who had a goal and an assist. Luongo continued his blazing start in the 5-1 win over Fredericton, scoring a natural hat-trick in the first period, all on the powerplay. Laine had a goal and 2 assists, and Fredheim had 3 assists as well. Before the game vs. Memphis on the 10th, it was announced that Abrahamsson was sick and wouldn't play. Khristich got the call-up to play on the second pair alongside Simpson. This game was also Borer's first start of the season. The Satellites went down 2-0 before Baker and Laine tied it, then went down 4-2 before Laine and Meighan tied it again. But Borer let in a Colton Simpson goal with 7:30 left in the game, and that would be the final score, a 5-4 loss. Khristich was Even, with no points or SOG in 25:05 TOI. Finnigan had a pair of goals, including the OT winner, in the 3-2 victory over San Fran on the 12th. Luongo had the other goal, assisted by Fredheim who now had a nice streak going with 9 points in 5 games. Borer got another game, vs. Fredericton, thanks to the back-to-back. It was the same story as his first start, as Houston lost 4-3. Simpson had 1-2-3 and Maki had 3 assists, but Borer now had an .847/4.50 in 2 appearances. Fredheim was held pointless, ending his streak. Sauer was less than his usual self vs. Portland, putting up an .875, but the scoring bailed him out in a 5-4 OT win. Baranka's goal was his first point of the season, and Simpson, Luongo, and Maki all picked up 2 more points. The first line of Glynnensteins, Finnigan, and Meighan all scored in the 4-2 win over Hamilton on the 17th. After 8 games, Ahonen was now the only pointless player on the team. While his -1 wasn't that bad, he also only had 2 SOG, so Coach Rubinowitz decided to give the youngster a break and put Kuznetsov in his place for a few games. Facing Victoria next, it took until halfway through the third until Glynnensteins scored the first goal of the game, but the Gardeners tied it up with a minute left to send yet another game to overtime. Fredheim didn't waste any time at least, scoring 15 seconds in for the 2-1 OTW. Kuznetsov had 2 SOG in his debut. Superstar Colin McBain and the Brandon Harvesters were up next on the schedule. Meighan and Finnigan had 1-1-2 each in the 2-1 win, and McBain was held pointless. Ahonen returned to the lineup and Fotiu replaced Murray for the first time as Borer got one more start this month, facing 5-0-0-6 Whitehorse on the 26th. Shuffling the 4th line didn't matter, though, as Borer gave up 4 straight to put the Satellites in a hole they couldn't climb out of. Glynnensteins and Finnigan scored, but in the end it was a 5-2 loss. Unfortunately, Houston ended the month on a down note, getting shut out for the first time this season by Kelowna, 4-0. Record after 12 games: 5-3-0-4, 21 Points. 2nd Southwest Division, 9th Overall. Analysis: Well, that was a rather disappointing way to end the month. Let's start with the obvious: While Sauer was spectacular (winning 8 of 9 games with a .927), Borer's got to go. 3 of our 4 regulation losses were from him. I know, I know, the goalie's not the only player out there, but he really has looked terrible: .844 and a 4.67 isn't "you need to be better", it's "you don't belong in this league". Only problem is that he's on the last year of a $3.087 million contract. Who's gonna take that off our hands? Maybe it's time to consider shedding one of our Top 4 defensemen? While it sure is nice to have the D Corps we do, we do really have three "first pair" defensemen. Not to mention that Jacob Baker and Todd Luongo are going to need real contracts at the end of this year, both coming off sub-$1 million ELCs. If we could trade Borer plus a top-pair defenseman for even a .900 goalie and a 2nd- or 3rd-pair D-man, we could address this year and the next all at once. Speaking of the defense, though, let's look at how they performed. Javanainen had 6 assists, Abrahamsson had 1-6-7, and that pair was -4. Strangely, Javanainen doesn't have a single point on the powerplay, it's all even strength. On the second pair Simpson has 3-8-11, Maki has 2-4-6, and they're +3. And on the third pair Petersson has 1-2-3, Baker has 1-1-2, and they're +1. Nothing much to complain about there. You'd like to see your top pair with a positive +/- but it's still early. In the top six, Glynnensteins and Meighan both had 4-2-6, Finnigan had 6-5-11, and that first line is Even. The second line, meanwhile, is making the most of their powerplay time: Laine has 5-4-9, Fredheim has 2-10-12, and Luongo has 5-7-12. That line, though, is -1 since they're doing half their scoring on the PP. For the bottom six, Johansson (1-1-2), Baranka (1-0-1), and Brown (1-2-3) are turning out to be a more defensive line, with hardly any points but all being +2. The fourth line wasn't terrible, with Murray having 2 assists, Kuleshov with 3 goals, and Ahonen still pointless. Those players were all -1, not a big deal over 12 games. Kuznetsov and Fotiu only got 3 games between them, and were pointless, Even. October Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In Down in the minors, Austin is 8-1-0-4 for 4th in the League. Thomas Boumedienne (22) is off to a hot start with 16P in 13GP. Jay O’Byrne (23), Andre Carriere (18), and Mathias Niederberger (20) are all right behind him with 10 points. Brandon Irwin (21) and Anders Holm (20) are lagging a bit, with 6 and 5 points, respectively; this is despite them being in the top 3 for forwards’ TOI, alongside Boumedienne. On D, Alexander Khristich (22) has 7P, +6 and Thomas Samuelsson (20) has 6P but is -3. Tony Graham (18) had 2P, +1 in 12 games, then he suffered a concussion and is expected to be sidelined for a few weeks. A tough break for the kid. In net Joni Hirvonen (20) did OK but not great, going 2-3 with a .904 SVP and a 2.95 GAA.  
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Nov 15, 2023 20:40
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Houston Monthly Rewind November 2023 On November 1st, GM Goonson announced a somewhat eyebrow-raising trade:  G Jonathan Borer, LW Jon Murray, and a 2025 4th were headed to Indianapolis. In return, the Hoggers sent G Kaden Fischer 78 medium Backup and LD Joe Hicks 81 Top 6 to Houston. Astute readers may remember that, back on July 1st, GM Goonson had just acquired Borer and a ‘24 4th in exchange for the rights to RD Erik Cernik. That means that, basically, Houston traded a middle-pair D for a bottom-pair D, a young 4th line winger for a backup goalie, and next year’s 4th for this year’s 4th. It’s hopefully not as crazy as it sounds: the 2-1-2-6 Hoggers don’t have much hope already this year. They’re shackled to 4 more years of starter Jake Kelly (3-6, .883), so they might as well sell an OK “young” goalie while he’s got a little bit of worth left. And if they’re tanking for a top pick, Borer will certainly help: 0-3, .844, 4.67 with Houston this year. Jon Murray (drafted in the 2nd Round by Houston in 2017) is technically still a prospect at 24, but with only 2P, -1 in 11 games this year it seems the Satellites ran out of patience with the young American playmaker. Despite 211 points in 177 minor games, he only has 3P, -7 in 57 major-league games, so the Hoggers will be hoping that a new outlook can give him a jumpstart. The Satellites were never going to re-sign Cernik (3P, +1 in 12 with Indy) last year anyways, and Houston’s 4th should be late in the round while Indy’s should be right near the start.  Fischer, 25, is a career .846, but that’s in only 9 games with the Hoggers going back to 2018, so he hardly got a chance. That’s certainly not great, but he went 1-2 with a .910 to start this year. Fischer, by the way, is the only Hungarian player in the league, having come to Canada to play Major Junior in his youth before putting up a .908 in MGHL Evansville last year. Hicks, 27, is a defensively-responsible bottom-pair Two Way left D. He has 0 points and is Even in 11 games this year, which is actually pretty good for being on a bottom-5 team. He has 22P, -7 in 183 games, all with Indianapolis. Houston had no “7th D” on the left side, so the Satellites were happy to take him in case of injury to their starters. Also, he’s in the last year of a $2.675 million contract, so Houston needed to take him to make the money work.  All that being said, Houston threw Fischer right into the fire by starting him on the first game of the month versus Red Deer. It took the Bison 3 minutes to get their first shot on goal, but it still went in, and it was 1-0 Red Deer early. Laine answered less than a minute later, though, then Kuleshov, Luongo, and Glynnensteins made it 4-1. Two late goals by Daniel Spring made it interesting, but Fischer held the line and picked up a 4-3 win with a .912 on 34 shots. Fotiu got an assist on Kuleshov’s goal, his first point of the season in just his 3rd game. Sauer got Yellowknife the next night. Johansson got Houston’s only regulation goal, but Sauer also only allowed one, so the game went to OT where Finnigan won it, 2-1. Sauer ended with a spectacular .968, but he was much less tidy in the next game, a 7-6 OT win over Charlottetown where he earned his .838. Luongo had 3-1-4 (including the game-winner), Finnigan had 2-1-3, Laine had 1-2-3, and Simpson had 3 assists (matching his career-high for points in 55 fewer games). Regina and Kansas City gave both goalies their first losses of the month, then Tucson made it 3 in a row. Brown got his first goal of the month vs. KC, at least, then scored again the next game. Unfortunately the Satellites only scored 7 goals total during the losing streak, while allowing 18. Ahonen, still pointless after 15, came out of the lineup to give Kuznetsov some time. Facing Jacksonville next, Meighan scored early in the first and Sauer locked it down from there, earning a much-needed 1-0 shutout. Houston went down 2-0 to Atlanta on the 16th, but Laine, Fredheim, Kuleshov, and Baranka took over the game to win 4-2. After a 5-3 loss to Albuquerque, the Satellites kept the winning rolling over Kansas City. Fotiu got his first goal of the season and added an assist in that one. He got another, and Luongo had a pair, in the 3-0 win over Moncton. Ahonen returned after the American Thanksgiving break to face Red Deer. The team was shutout by former-Satellite Billy Whitmore, who has an .864 for the Bison this year. Embarrassing. Laine, Meighan, and Glynnensteins all had a pair of goals in the 6-2 win over Kelowna. And finally, Fischer got his third game of the month vs. Brandon. TEN goals were scored in the first, with Houston leading 6-4. The Harvesters tied it in the second, but it wasn’t until OT that Abrahamsson put the game away, 7-6. One of those ten goals in the first was by Ahonen, who finally got his first GHL point after 17 games. Record after 26 games: 11-6-0-9, 45 Points (6-3-0-5 this month). 1st Southwest Division, 7th Overall. Analysis: Well, we did climb 2 spots in the overall standings, but this month was basically the same as the first: one more regulation win and one more regulation loss. Up front, Glynnensteins had 4-6-10 this month, Finnigan had 7-5-12, and Meighan had 5-7-12. That whole line was Even, which you can hardly complain about. On the second line, Laine led the team with 6-8-14, Fredheim had 3-8-11, and Luongo had 8-4-12. That line was also Even, which brings up a good point that was probably not mentioned earlier: In an effort to spread out the ice time, the second line is mostly playing the first powerplay and vice versa. It doesn’t seem to be hurting the first line’s scoring too much while boosting the second’s noticeably, and that’s relevant because you don’t earn a Plus when you score on the PP. On the third line, Johansson had 2 goals, Baranka had a goal and an assist, and Brown had 2-2-4. That line was +3, continuing their defense-first mentality from October. On the fourth line, Kuleshov had 3-2-5, +1 and Fotiu had 2-2-4, +1, both in 14 games. Kuznetsov had 2A, +2 and Ahonen had 1G, -1, both in 7. On D, Javanainen had 5 assists, Abrahamsson had 2-3-5, and that pair was -2. The second pair was on fire, with Simpson scoring 2-8-10, Maki with 10 assists, and that pair was +8! Finally, on the third pair, Petersson had 3 assists, Baker had 5, and they were -2. In net, Sauer went 8-3 with a .913/2.69. He also got 2 shutouts this month. After a great first game, Fischer cooled off a bit, ending the month with 2 wins in 3 games despite an .860/4.54. Small sample size, but still better than Borer was! November Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-in Down in Austin, the Sputniks had a down month with a 6-1-3-5 record, falling to 10th in the league. Thomas Boumedienne (22) now has 29P in 28GP. Jay O’Byrne (24) and Andre Carriere (18) both have 20P. Mathais Niederberger (20) only scored 4 points this month, while Anders Holm (20) scored 9, so they’re tied at 14P each. Brandon Irwin (22) has 11 points. For defense, Alexander Khristich (23) has 17P (and a +10 to go with it). Thomas Samuelsson (20) has 8P but is -7. Tony Graham (18) just returned from his injury and didn’t play a game this month. Joni Hirvonen (20) had a tough month, going 2-2 with an .866/4.16.  
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 02:52 on Dec 6, 2023 |
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Dec 6, 2023 02:46
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Houston Monthly Rewind December 2023 Houston and Sauer started the month out right with a 3-0 shutout over Kansas City on the 3rd. Laine, Javanainen, and Baranka were the goalscorers. They took another 3-0 lead in the rematch two days later, only to fall apart late and lose 4-3 in OT. Facing Kelowna next, they scored 3 goals for the third game in a row to win 3-2. A home-and-home against Baltimore was next, and once again they scored 3 in a back-and-forth game only to lose 4-3 in OT. Fischer’s first start of the month finally broke the trend, but in a good way: a 6-4 win over the Crabs in Baltimore. Glynnensteins, Fotiu, and Maki all had 2 points in that game, and Laine was now on a 5-game point streak (4G 1A). With the 4th Line of Fotiu - Kuleshov - Kuznetsov playing well together (4G 2A in the last 3 games), Ahonen was beginning to look like the odd man out. Rather than let him ride the pine any longer, he was sent down to Austin to get some playing time. Fotiu scored the only goal of a 2-1 loss to Halifax on the 15th, assisted by Kuleshov and Kuznetsov. That broke Laine’s scoring streak. Abrahamsson then had the only goal in a 3-1 loss to Iqaluit. Down in Austin, Andre Carriere took a puck to the face in a 1-0 win over Dawson and would miss at least a week. Things were looking bad when the Satellites went down 2-0 to San Fran next, but Finnigan, Maki, and Glynnensteins turned the game around to win it 3-2. The same night, Kurtis MacKenzie injured his groin in the Sputniks game, so Hicks was sent down to Austin to fill in. Memphis was up next, on the 21st, and it ended in a 6-2 win. Kuleshov and Johansson had 2 goals each, and Javanainen, Abrahamsson, and Maki all had 2 assists. The last game before the Christmas break was St. Catherines, and it was another 3-2 win. One of those goals was Fredheim, who hadn’t scored a goal since the game vs. Kelowna on the 8th. Upon returning from break, the World Juniors rosters were announced:  Fischer got another start vs. Oklahoma City on the 27th. Finnigan scored both Houston goals, assisted by Laine both times, in the 4-2 loss. Down 1-0 in the rematch two days later, Fredheim tied it with 2 minutes left, sending the game to overtime where Abrahamsson won it, 2-1. Finally, on New Year’s Eve, Houston traveled to Tucson to face the Foxes. Luongo and Laine both had a goal and an assist in the 3-2 win. Record after 39 games: 18-7-2-12, 70 Points (7-1-2-3 this month). 1st Southwest Division, 5th Overall. Analysis: A pretty good month overall. We climbed another 2 spots in the league, and we’re only 3 points behind Kelowna/Quebec City for first place. Finnigan had 7-2-9, Glynnensteins had 2-6-8, and Meighan had no goals, 6 assists. That line was +2 this month, which isn’t bad. Although he’s a playmaker, it’s rather odd that Meighan didn’t score even one goal this month. During Fischer’s games, Finnigan and Meighan even got bumped up to the first powerplay just to try and maximize scoring. But, then again, that was only two games this month. On the second line, Laine had 5-5-10, Fredheim had 4-3-7, Luongo had 2-6-8, and that line was Even. Worth noting that both top lines scored noticeably less than last month: All 6 players had double-digit points in November. On the third line, Johansson had 3-1-4, Baranka had 1-1-2, and Brown had just 2 assists. That line was also Even. The fourth line was the big surprise this month: Fotiu had 3-2-5, Kuleshov had 5-1-6, Kuznetsov had 1-2-3, and that line was +8! This is exactly what we need, though: the Bottom 6 have to pick up the slack when the Top 6 have a slow month. On defense, Javanainen had 2-7-9, Abrahamsson had 2-5-7, and that pair was Even. Interestingly, not a single one of those points came from the powerplay. On the second pair, Simpson had 6 assists, Maki had 2-7-9, and that pair was +5. These two just play so well together somehow. Simpson, this season, is just 3 points shy of matching his total from the first 140 games of his career! Finally, on the bottom pair, Petersson had 1 assist, Baker had 2 assists, and that pair was +5. You can’t complain about that. In net, Sauer bore a heavy load, going 7-4 with a .927, 2.14 and 1 shutout. Fischer, meanwhile, went 1-1 despite an .857, 4.01 statline. That brings his record with Houston to 3-2 so, although you’d like to see better performance, you can’t complain too much about winning more than you don’t. December Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-in The Sputniks had a decent month, going 6-2-2-3. They’re still 10th in the league, now with a 20-4-5-12 record. Thomas Boumedienne (22) is taking huge advantage of his increased icetime (13:35 to 23:19), with 42 points in 41 games. He never scored more than 46 in his first 3 seasons with Austin. Likewise, Jay O’Byrne (24) already has 35 points, where his previous high is 46P in 82. Anders Holm (20) has 25 points, and Andre Carriere (18) has 23 in 37. Mathias Niederberger (21) has 22, putting him on pace for 44. That would miss last year’s total (61) by almost 20 points. Given his lack of growth in the 3 years since his draft, it’s another troubling sign for the German playmaker. Tuukka Ahonen (22) had 8P, +5 in 7 games since he was sent down to the minors. On D, Alexander Khristich (23) has 32P, +19 in 40. Thomas Samuelsson (21) has 16P, -6 in 41 and Tony Graham (18) has just 2 assists but is +10 in 25. For those who are curious, although he’s not a prospect: Joe Hicks had 1 goal, +3 with 9 SOG in 4 games. In net, Joni Hirvonen (20) got to take the starter’s reins for the first half of the month, going 4-5 with an .888 SVP. At least one of those losses was in OT? It’s his first year, he’s still young, give him a break.  
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Dec 13, 2023 17:49
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Houston Monthly Rewind January 2024 On January 1st, GM Goonson announced two signings for Austin. 21-year old RW sniper Jacob Pineault 70 low Top 9 signed for 3 years, $750k per. Pineault was drafted 27th overall by Yellowknife back in 2020, but had been unable to come to terms with them on an ELC and their rights were now expired. He had 7P, +5 in 7 games when Canada took gold at the ‘22 World Juniors. 29-year old C playmaker Teodors Berzins 77 4th line signed for 1 year, $750k. “Teddy Bears”, as he’s known to his teammates, was drafted out of Latvia in the 2nd round (53rd) by Halifax back in 2012. Despite 32P, +9 in 97 GHL games, Halifax then buried him in the minors where he had 114P, -104(!) over two seasons with New Glasgow. Houston started the new year off with a “defense-optional” game, beating Milwaukee 5-4. All 5 goals were from different players, and Laine, Luongo, and Meighan all had 2 points. Reversing course from the first game, Luongo had the only goal in a 2-1 loss to Memphis. Luongo had 2 more points vs. St. Catharines in the next game, and Brown and Maki also scored in that 3-1 win. Sauer got another chance in the rematch vs. Milwaukee on the 8th, performing much better in a 4-2 win. Finnigan had a pair of goals in that one, Kuleshov got one assisted by Fotiu, and Brown scored again too. Fischer got his first start the next night, facing off against Jonathan Borer and Indianapolis. It was a close one, going to OT, but the Hoggers took the W, 5-4. Finnigan had another pair of goals in that one. Albuquerque came to town next, leading to a 3-2 loss. Down 2-1 with 2:26 left in the third, Finnigan tied it with his 5th goal in 3 games, but Dukes LW Kristian Vaananen beat Sauer with 21 seconds left to steal the victory. The Satellites took their frustration from that game and apparently used it against Regina, beating the Cyclones 5-1. Once again there were 5 different scorers, including Baranka and Simpson who got their first goals of the month. Sauer picked up a 3-0 shutout over Atlanta, with the Finnigan-Glynnensteins-Meighan line combining for all 3 goals as well as 4 assists on the night. Unfortunately, San Francisco spoiled the mood by beating Houston 7-4 next. Abrahamsson had 1-1-2, and Johansson got his first goal of the month, at least. Fischer then got another start, facing Iqaluit. He didn’t fare much better, with a 7-3 loss. The next night in Moncton, Sauer and the Satellites lost 4-3, and suddenly Houston was on a skid. Laine also left that game with an arm injury, but after the game team doctors announced that it wasn’t too serious and he shouldn’t miss a game. After a few days’ rest, Houston had one more game, vs. Indy on the 31st. Sauer got the start this time, and the Satellites were up 4-2 entering the third before they gave up five unanswered to lose 7-4 in regulation. Record after 51 games: 23-7-3-18, 86 Points (5-0-1-6 this month). 1st Southwest Division, 8th Overall. Analysis: Well, thanks to that 4-game losing streak to end the month, we’re back where we started the year overall. Even if we’d split those games, 7-0-1-4 looks a lot better than 5-1-0-6. I don’t think I can explain suddenly giving up 7 goals per game, either. Once is a fluke, but 3 out of our last 4? In 12 games, Glynnensteins had 1-8-9, Finnigan led the team with 11-4-15, Meighan had 1-10-11, and that line was -1. Obviously the big outlier here is Finnigan, with almost a goal per game. Surprisingly, although he was moved up to the first powerplay, only 4 of those 15 points (2G 2A) came with the man advantage. On the second line, Laine had 5-6-11, Fredheim had 4-2-6, and Luongo had 5-7-12. Obviously Fredheim was lagging behind the rest of the Top 6 this month, but then again this line was +5, so it's hard to complain. Worth noting that Fredheim plays the first PK, so he's only on the second PP with Glynnensteins and Meighan. On the third line, Johansson had 2-1-3, Baranka had 1-1-2, Brown had 3-3-6, and that line was +2. A nice bounce-back month for Brown, who had only 2 assists in December. Finally, on the fourth line, Fotiu had 1 assist, Kuleshov had 1 goal, and Kuznetsov had no points. That line was also -1, which is a huge change from last month's combined 14 points, +8. -1 isn't a big deal when you only had 2 points, but you have to think that Coach Rubinowitz would have been mixing up the lineup if he had realized how "nothing" that line had been. On Defense, Javanainen had 3-4-7, Abrahamsson had 2-5-7, and they were +1. Although these two are still -5 overall, this was a fine month for them. Interesting note: they only have 6 points combined on the powerplay this year. On the second pair, Maki had 1-2-3, Simpson had 1-7-8, and they were -4. A shocking performance this month for a pair that had been really good so far, especially when you consider that both of Maki's assists came on the powerplay, meaning that this whole month he contributed just 1 goal at even strength. In the end, though, they're still +12, so hopefully this is just a fluke, a bump in the road. On the bottom pair, Petersson had 4 assists and Baker had 2, so they now have identical 1-10-11 statlines. Even better? They were +7 this month! Really impressive performance from 23-year old Baker especially, considering that he was still technically a rookie to start this year (1P, +2 in 7GP in 22/23). In net, Sauer went 5-5 with an ugly .893/3.08 statline. If you eliminate those two games where he gave up 7, though, he still would've only gone 5-3 despite a .926 SVP. That sounds to me like he was playing very well on average, but the team didn't support him enough. Fischer went 0-2 with an .844/5.98. Although that sounds bad, consider: in his first game, he had a .914 on 37 shots and lost in OT. It was his second game where he had an unbelievable .774 to drag his average way down. Try as you might to excuse it, though, there's no denying the facts: he's now 3-4 for Houston with an .847/4.74, which is worse than Borer's stats when we traded him! January Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-in The Sputniks are 25-4-6-15, 4th in their Division but pretty solidly in a Wildcard spot unless something goes wildly wrong: They’ve got a 23-point lead on the Norman Buckaroos in their own division, and an 18-point lead on the Dawson Pups in the other. Thomas Boumedienne (22) is still tearing it up with 50P, +5 in 50GP. Jay O’Byrne (24) isn’t far behind him with 42P, +15. Anders Holm (20) has 32P, +17, not too far off from last year. Despite being on the top powerplay unit, Mathias Niederberger (21) has continued plugging along at roughly the same reduced pace, with only 29P, -8. Brandon Irwin (22) has 26P, +3. Andre Carriere (18) has 25P, +2 in 46GP; the kid is putting together a pretty solid first season. Tuukka Ahonen (22) has 23P, +10 in 16GP. It’s gotta be tough for him to be stuck in “tweener” land when the 4th Line in Houston was clicking so well last month. But given their performance this month, he’ll probably see another call-up soon. Jacob Pineault (21) had 3 goals, -1 in 9GP; worth noting, however, that he averaged less than 8:00 per game on the 4th line. He should start next month at Mackenzie McEachern’s spot on the 3rd. On defense, Alexander Khristich (23) has 45P, +26 in 49GP. I think it’s safe to say that he’s going to be playing in the GHL next year. Thomas Samuelsson (21) has 17P, -8 in 50GP. Not bad for Year One. Tony Graham (18) has really proved the GM’s faith in him: only 2P, but +11 in 34GP and playing on the top PK unit. In net, Joni Hirvonen (20) didn’t get a single start. Questionable for player growth, and surely the MGHL coach will hear from the home office. But also: The team only played 9 games this month, so there was no need to rest Bernier (who has a .911/2.63). For the record, though, Hirvonen has 8 wins in 17 games with an .888/3.44. I swear I had Goalie Auto Rotation set to “on” in the minors…  
Brettbot fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Dec 31, 2023 |
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Dec 20, 2023 21:07
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Houston Monthly Rewind February 2024 February started with some transactions for the Satellites. Since Sauer played yesterday, Bernier got the call-up from Austin, sending Fischer down to the minors. Ahonen also returned to Houston, taking the 4th line right wing from Kuznetsov. Unfortunately, it didn’t help much, as Houston lost to Oklahoma City, 6-5 on the 1st. The Satellites were up 3-0 at first, then later 4-2, but in the end Bernier couldn’t hold the fort, ending with a .760 on just 25 shots. Laine had 2-1-3 and Maki had 3 assists. Although Sauer wasn’t great in the next game, with an .889 vs. Albuquerque, it was good enough as Houston won 6-3. Abrahamsson had 2-1-3, Fotiu had a pair of goals, and Ahonen had an assist for his first point of the month. Facing OKC again, Houston fell behind 2-0 before Glynnensteins and Abrahamsson tied it in the 3rd. It only took 30 seconds for Baranka to score the game-winner: 3-2 OTW for the Satellites. Finnigan and Meighan had 2 assists each, and Sauer had a much better .926. Facing Louisville on the first half of a back-to-back, Finnigan would score the Satellites’ only goal, unassisted, in a tough 2-1 OTL. After going 3-0 with a .951/1.33 in the minors, Fischer returned to Houston to face San Francisco on the 9th. His .897 managed to get the team to overtime, but the Friars got the last goal, and it was a 4-3 OTL for the Satellites. One of those goals was scored by Johansson, his first of the month. St. John’s was easily dispatched next, 5-2. It was once again a big night for the first line, as Meighan had 2-1-3, Finnigan had a pair of goals, and Glynnenstiens had 3 assists. Baker picked up an assist, his first point of the month. The yo-yo continued as Red Deer dealt Houston a 4-3 loss in regulation. Brown and Fredheim both scored their first goals of the month in that one, at least. A rematch vs. San Fran led to a 3-2 win, where Simpson scored his first goal. Up against Brandon next, the Satellites fell behind 2-0 before Finnigan and Petersson tied it up. Once again, however, Houston couldn’t close it out, and it was another 3-2 OTL. Facing Louisville next, it was another big win, 6-3. Fredheim had two of the goals, and Ahonen got his first of the month as well. Another back-to-back, this time Halifax and Charlotte. Fischer faced the Mariners, losing 4-2 with an .846. Sauer got the Queens, and he wasn’t much better, losing 4-1 with an .862. It took overtime, but Houston beat Quebec City 2-1 on the 25th. Kuleshov scored the game-winner, and Sauer was a brick wall with a .973 on 37 shots. Finally, the month ended with another back-to-back, Quebec City and Victoria. Sauer picked up another win over the Aces, 4-3. Simpson and Luongo had 1-1-2, and Javanainen also scored his first of the month. Fischer got the Gardeners, and he managed a win! 3-2 in regulation with a .923. Kuleshov, Luongo, and Baranka were the goal-scorers. Record after 65 games: 29-9-6-22, 111 Points (6-2-3-4 this month). 1st Southwest division, 6th Overall. Analysis: Well, for all the back-and-forth between winning and losing, we came out slightly ahead of even. Most of that is the backup goalies: 1-0-1-2 is not a great record. But even Sauer seemed to be seesawing between .880-something and .920-something every game. Just very little consistency. With the Trade Deadline on March 1, the team will have some important decisions to make before finishing off the season. Starting with the forwards as usual, Glynnensteins had 3-7-10, Finnigan led the team again with 10-7-17, and Meighan had 4-11-15. The first line was +9 this month, and Finnigan has now cracked 40 goals on the season! I guess moving him up to PP1 was the right decision, he’s just a pure sniper. On the second line, Laine had 3-6-9, Fredheim had 4-2-6, Luongo had 4-5-9, and that line was -2. Not as great a performance, but overall the scoring is pretty evenly spread across the Top 6. Also we apparently take a lot of penalties, as our top PKers (Glynnensteins and Fredheim) have more TOI than the other four guys in the Top 6 who are outscoring them. For the third line, Brown had 2-4-6, Baranka had 4-1-5, Johansson had 2-2-4, and they were +3. Not terrible for limited ice time, and they continue to impress defensively even if you wish they were all in the 20s, points-wise. Finally, on the fourth line, Fotiu had 2-3-5, Kuleshov had 3-2-5, and Ahonen had 1-2-3, and that line was Even. This is the change the coach was hoping to see from last month, surely, when they had just 2 combined points total. I’m not going to entirely attribute that to Ahonen’s presence, but I think he’s earned the right to stay and prove himself. On defense, Javanainen had 1-10-11, Abrahamsson had 3-6-8, and that pair was +10. A great showing this month from our top pair, and not a single one of those points came on the powerplay. On the second pair, Simpson had 2-5-7, Maki had 8 assists, and they were -2. Not as good as the top pair, obviously, but still better than they did last month. On the bottom pairing, Petterson had a goal and an assist, Baker had 2 assists, and they were +2. Nothing wrong with that, defense-first is their job. In net, Sauer went 7-4 with a .910 SVP/ 2.57 GAA. Overall a perfectly average performance this month, but we’ll take it over last month! The backups, however, were no better than January. I mean, Fischer went 1-2 with an .890/3.25, which technically is better than he’s done for us all year. But it’s still not good. The fact that he went undefeated with a .951 in the minors, meanwhile, just shows how tough making the jump to the GHL is. And Bernier, of course, gave up 6 goals with a .760 in his one loss. February Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  Boy, Charlotte is an absolute wagon this year, aren’t they? MGHL Check-in Down in Austin, the Sputniks are 31-5-8-20, 4th in their division with 111 points. After 64 games, Thomas Boumedienne (22) leads the team with 60P. He had been stuck around 45 for the last 3 years, so this is a great sign for him. Jay O’Byrne (24) has 53P, setting a new high for him, too. Anders Holm (20) has 43P, still lagging slightly from his previous high, despite increased ice time. Brandon Irwin (22) has 35P but is -2. Like Holm, his ice time has increased this year but he’s still looking to take a small step backwards from his peak. Mathias Niederberger (21) has 35P and is -13. Interestingly, although his points are down this year, his shots are through the roof: He’s got 30 more SOG this year than last, with almost 20 games left to go. Andre Carriere (18) has 33P, -5 in 60GP. Jacob Pineault (21) missed a week with an abdominal strain, but he had an impressive 15P, +13 in 20GP. That’s all in the bottom six with no powerplay time, remember. And finally, for those wondering, Berzins has 15P, +12 in 23GP. On D, Alexander Khristich (23) is second in team scoring with 56P, +34 in 63 games. Thomas Samuelsson (21) has 25P, -2 in 64. And Tony Graham (18) still has just 2 assists but is +9 in 48. In net, Joni Hirvonen (20) went 0-3 backing up Bernier, and now has an .879/3.71 statline. It’s tough to see the young kid struggle like this. You can only remind yourself that it’s his first year, and there’s still plenty of time for growth.  
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Jan 3, 2024 13:25
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Trade Deadline On March 1st, GM Goonson orchestrated what will probably be the defining trade of his career:  Houston trades RD Jonas Abrahamsson and a 2024 1st round pick to Louisville. In return, they received RD Jeff Peters 85 Top 4, RW Tyler Taffe 84 Top 6, and Louisville’s 2024 1st and 2nd.  Peters, 36, is on the last year of a $4.754 million contract. The 6’3” American two-way D has 7-20-27, +21 in 65 games this year. He was drafted in the second round in 2006 by Brandon, where he spent the first 6 years of his career before being traded to Louisville. In 989 games, he has 430P and is -74 overall.  Taffe is a 31-year old Canadian sniper, drafted by Red Deer in the second round in 2010. He’s got 17-24-41, +8 in 64 games this season, and 489P, +119 in 825 career games. He’s also on the last year of his contract, $4.25 million. This trade is fascinating for a number of reasons. Louisville is in the second wildcard spot in the East, 4 points up on Iqaluit, so they’re not the usual “Seller”. Their top right D was Cale Foley, who is more of a defensive second-pair D-man. Acquiring Abrahamsson gives them their only offensive defenseman, and a bonafide Top 2 one at that. At forward, Louisville is essentially running one 1st line and three 3rd lines, so although Taffe is a good player, they can work around his absence. In fact, even with Taffe gone, they still have 4 right wings of roughly equal talent. As far as picks, Houston’s should be late in the first, while Louisville’s will probably be around the middle. The Kings, however, were willing to give theirs up because they also have Regina’s first and third round picks. The Cyclones are 6 points out of a playoff spot so, unless something goes really wrong, that pick will be better than Louisville’s own would have been.  Abrahamsson, 31, is an established first pair defenseman, so why would the Satellites trade him? Well for one, he’s been trending downwards for 4 years. In 20/21 he had 63 points, then 54 in 21/22, last year he had 46, and this year he’s on pace for 44. Add on to that the fact that he still has 6 years, $7.91 million left on his contract, and it’s clear that Houston was looking ahead to the future and clearing cap space for re-signing younger players this offseason. If Houston doesn’t make a deep run into the playoffs now, though, GM Goonson could well lose his job over trading such a quality player. Maki, a Top 2 offensive D-man himself, can now move up to the top pair, making room for Peters on the second pair. Taffe will take the 3rd line right wing, moving Andreas Johansson down to his natural left side on the 4th line. Alexandre Fotiu is now the odd man out, and will find himself healthy scratched for the time being.  Aside from that, it was a pretty quiet Trade Deadline. Lots of bottom-sixers and middling prospects flying around in exchange for 3rd or later picks, but Houston’s trade was by far the biggest. The one trade that was maybe interesting: Charlotte acquired third-line LW Marcus Johnsson (40P, +5 with Tucson) and put him on the second line right wing. For that, they gave up 2021 13th-overall pick C Kelly Johnston, a Two Way forward with 51P so far in his first year in the minors. For a team that’s #1 in the league, you’d think Charlotte might be wary of messing with the chemistry and leave their Top 6 forwards alone, but I guess that’s why they’re at the top and we’re left chasing.
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Jan 9, 2024 16:03
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Houston Monthly Rewind March/April 2024 The new-look Houston Satellites started March off by welcoming the #1 team in the league to town. The game was tied 1-1 in the third when Johansson scored what would be the game-winner, 2-1 Houston over Charlotte. The fact that the Queens had started their backup goalie notwithstanding, that was a big win for the team. Yellowknife came to town next. Despite 5 SOG each from Javanainen and Fredheim, the Satellites got goalied as John Grant put up a .969 and Laine had the only goal in a 3-1 loss. Continuing the home stand vs. Portland, Houston picked up another win, 3-2. Peters assisted on both Fredheim and Johansson’s goals, and Glynnensteins scored the one in between. The Satellites then headed out for a 3-game road trip, stopping in Victoria first. Ten different players picked up at least one point in the 4-1 win, including Johansson who now had 3 goals in the last 4 games. In Whitehorse two days later, Maki and Luongo scored in regulation, then both players assisted on Finnigan’s OT winner, 3-2. Fischer got his first start of the month, the next night in Regina. The game went to OT again, but Fischer held on to win it, 5-4. Luongo had 2-1-3 (including the game-winner) and Fredheim had 1-2-3. After going pointless in his first 5 games, Taffe replaced Meighan on the 2nd PP, and that’s where he got his first point with an assist on a Glynnensteins goal. More importantly, though, with that win Houston had secured a playoff berth! 4 in a row for Coach Rubinowtiz. Back home vs. Jacksonville on St. Patrick’s Day, Taffe scored his first goal, the first of three Houston powerplay goals, only to see the Rivermen claw their way back in the 3rd and win it 4-3 in regulation. The second line took over the next game, as Fredheim had 2-2-4, Laine had 2-1-3, and Luongo had 3 assists in the 4-1 win over Memphis. Facing Kansas City next, Sauer shut out the Springs to win it, 3-0. Fredheim had another 2 assists, Luongo had a goal and an assist, and Simpson got his first goal of the month. In Albuquerque, Peters got his first goal and Maki had 2 assists in a 3-2 win over the Dukes. Fischer got another start facing Tucson on the 27th. Down 2-0, Houston tied it thanks to goals from Maki and Javanainen, but the Foxes got the overtime goal to win 3-2. Fischer was good in that one, with a .917. For the last few games of the regular season, the bottom would be six shuffled every game, as Ahonen and Taffe in particular were not seeing results despite the team’s hot month. Fotiu was a non-entity, but Kuleshov scored a goal and Javanainen and Maki combined for 5 assists in Sauer’s 3-0 shutout of the Diamonds. Whitehorse closed out March, and the Satellites picked up another 2-1 win. Meighan had 1-1-2 in that one. Tucson returned on April 2nd and continued to vex Houston, shutting them out 2-0. Fischer faced Portland on the 4th, resulting in a meaningless but ugly 5-1 loss. Kuleshov had the one goal, assisted by Peters and Simpson. Finally, Houston went down 3-0 to St. John’s before storming back to take the 5-4 win. Kuleshov scored for the second game in a row, Glynnensteins had 2-1-3, Fredheim had 3 assists, and Simpson had 1-1-2. Final Record: 38-11-7-26, 143 points. (9-2-1-4 this month). 1st Southwest Division, 5th overall. Analysis: Well that’s a hell of a way to finish off a season! We won 11 out of 16, and our only back to back losses were the third- and second-to-last games of the year. We still finished not only first in our division, but first in the West, as all 4 teams ahead of us are in the East. On the first line, Glynnensteins was basically the only one producing this month, with 7-5-12. Finnigan, meanwhile, had only 3-4-7 and Meighan only got 3-3-6. Let’s look at the bright side: Glynnensteins finished with 21 goals, Finnigan had 44, and Meighan came up just 1 short of 40 assists. That line was -2, which isn’t terrible, and not too surprising given how little they scored. After several months of leading the team in scoring, you just hope that Finnigan and his line just went through a short cold streak and they can turn it back on for the playoffs. On the second line, Laine had 5-4-9, Fredheim led the team with 5-12-17, and Luongo had 7-9-16. That line was +9 this month. Just an excellent stretch for these guys, what more can you say? Putting the team on their back when it counts. On the third line, things were thrown into chaos by the trade. Brown and Baranka had no points and were -6. Taffe had just 1-1-2 and was -2 for the Satellites. Definitely NOT what the GM was expecting when he acquired an “upgrade” for the 3rd line. Although he started out with 3 or 4 SOG per game in the first week or two, Taffe ended with 27 in 16 GP, or just 1.7 per game. And just to make things worse: both of those points actually came on the powerplay. Just out there for a skate at 5-on-5, I guess. Kuleshov had 3-2-5, +5. Johansson, moved down in the lineup by Taffe, had 3 goals, +2. Fotiu had no points but was +3 in 4 games. Ahonen had no points and was +1 in 12. Kuznetsov didn’t play in a single game. On defense, Javanainen had 2-9-11, Maki had 2-11-13, and that pair was +8. Fantastic performance by those players, and Maki has to be happy with his increased ice time. On the second pair, Simpson had 2-7-9, Peters had 1-5-6, and they were -4. You’d like to see a little more defensive focus from these two, but overall you can’t complain with the results. On the bottom pair, Petersson and Baker both had 2 assists and were +4. They’re an excellent defensive pair, and I honestly think they’re a big part of the team’s success. One thing that’s easy to forget: Javanainen is only 24, Baker’s 23, and Simpson is just 22! Good young defense is one thing Houston has in spades. In net, Sauer went 10-3 with a .939, 1.78 statline with 2 shutouts. Absolutely insane performance. It certainly seems like he’s enjoying playing behind Peters more than Abrahamsson. Fischer went 1-2, with an .879/ 3.88 line. Overall… it is what it is. Houston traded for him when he was playing like a decent backup (small sample size though it was), and he just didn’t pan out. He got better (slowly, little by little, but he did), and the Satellites could lean on Sauer during the regular season, so Fischer was basically just there for back-to-back nights. Final Stats   Three Stars  League Leaders  MGHL Check-In The Austin Sputniks finished 36-6-10-30 with 130 points, good enough for 4th in their Division and 14th overall. Not a great year, but good enough to sneak into the playoffs. LW Thomas Boumedienne (22) led the team with 77P, 55 of which were assists, and he was +2. His previous high was a 54P pace (46 in 64), so hopefully this leads to some nice growth next year. C Jay O’Byrne (24) had 34G, 67P, +12. That tied for the team lead in Goals with RW Anders Holm (20), who had 56P, +16. All three of those guys benefited from increased ice time. C Brandon Irwin (22) had 47P, -1. That beat his points from last year by 2, but he was also +17 last year. C Mathias Niederberger (21) ended with 46P, -12; quite a change from last year’s 61P, +18. A tough season for the kid, hopefully he can finally make some strides in the offseason. RW Andre Carriere (18) had 43P, -4 in 78. Not bad for his first year playing pro hockey. RW Jacob Pineault (21) was excellent, with 21P, +14 in just 38GP. On D, no surprises here: RD Alexander Khristich (23) led all D-men with 68P, 57 of which were assists, in 81GP, and he was also +25. LD Thomas Samuelsson (21) had 29P, +5 in his first year in the pros. RD Tony Graham (19), also in his first season, had 1G, 2A and was +9 in 66GP. Talk about polar opposites: while Khristich had 185 SOG, Graham had just ONE (but hey, it went in)! In net, Joni Hirvonen (21) didn’t have a great first season, going 10-19 with an .871/ 3.81/ 1SO statline. While not ideal, I wouldn’t stress about it too much; goalies take a while to develop and he’s still young. Around The League Looks like Charlotte made a big mistake: After trading for Marcus Johnsson and putting him on the second line, the Queens stumbled down the stretch, going 1-1-1-7 in their last 10 games. Once the clear #1 team in the league, they finished #2 behind Atlanta, who finished with a perfect 10-0-0-0 run.  A tough blow for Milwaukee: first line RW Mitch Mayer injured his knee during the last week of the season and will miss at least 2 months. The elite playmaker had 29-63-92, +23 in 72 GP this season, but now the Mugs will have to go without him for the playoffs.   Houston's opponent for the first round: Memphis Soul! 
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Jan 17, 2024 19:40
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2024 Legacy Cup Playoffs Round One  Before Game 1, Coach Rubinowitz announced that Taffe would start on the 4th line right wing, not Ahonen. Other than that, the lineups were untouched as Memphis rolled into town for Game 1 on Saturday the 13th. D-man Ryan Ellison took less than a minute to open the scoring for the Soul, scoring unassisted on the first shot of the game. Shots were 3-0 for Memphis when C Rem Patrick made it 2-0 at 14:18. RW Pavel Balderis made it 3-0 with 8:00 left in the first, and the game looked like a blowout already. The Satellites came out for the second period on fire, though. Kuleshov got his first career playoff point with a goal at 18:35. Despite a Johansson roughing penalty, Houston was outshooting Memphis 7-1 in the period when Maki got Houston within one, 3-2 at 8:42. The third started evenly-matched, but Brown tucked one under G Sergei Sokolov’s pads halfway through the period, and now the score was back to even, 3-3. Memphis came on strong, outshooting Houston 8-2 in the final 10 minutes, but Game 1 would head to overtime. OT was again a back-and-forth, but Javanainen made no mistake with his first shot of the period, winning it 4-3 for Houston. Glynnensteins and Maki both had 2 points, and Fredheim had 5 SOG in Game 1. Final score: Houston 4 - 3 Memphis. Houston leads series 1-0. The Satellites once again fell behind early in Game 2, as a Fredheim tripping penalty led to a LW Filip Friberg goal, 1-0 Memphis at 15:03 of the first. Taffe, playing 4th line right wing, tied the game at 11:33 (assisted by Peters) and he now had as many points in 2 playoff games as he had in 16 regular season games. With just 1 minute remaining in the period, however, D Roman Jacobs scored to send Houston to the locker rooms behind, 2-1. 3:00 into the second, C Colton Simpson scored on a netfront scramble, and now the Satellites were behind by 2 again. It remained that way until Fredheim scored on the powerplay with 10 seconds left, 3-2 Memphis. The third was nothing but disappointment for Houston, as they failed to capitalize on three powerplays, including a charging penalty to C Ryan Johansson on Laine with :28 left in the game. Glynnensteins and Fredheim had 4 SOG each in the loss. Final score: Houston 2 - 3 Memphis. Series tied 1-1. In Memphis for Game 3, the Soul came out blazing in front of their hometown crowd. It wasn’t until Colton Simpson took a holding penalty, though, that Glynnensteins scored the first of the game with under 5:00 remaining in the first. The second period was fairly matched, and Houston had a big penalty kill on a Meighan cross-checking penalty with 6:43 left. Starting the third period up 1-0, Kuleshov scored off the opening faceoff, making it 2-0 Satellites. Ryan Ellison took a roughing penalty near the middle of the period, and Finnigan made Memphis pay with his first goal of the series, 3-0. Two minutes later Meighan scored at 9:39, and that would be the final score: 4-0 Houston. Glynnensteins, Finnigan, and Meighan all had a goal and an assist, and Simpson had 2 assists in that game. Sauer stopped 27 shots, bringing his .908 up to a .935. Final score: Memphis 0 - 4 Houston. Houston leads series 2-1. Game 4 finally got off on the right foot early for Houston, as Luongo and Peters scored back-to-back goals at 8:00 into the first. Johansson made it 3-0 with his first point of the series four minutes later, and the Memphis crowd hadn’t had anything to cheer about after 4 shutout periods. Glynnensteins stretched the Satellites’ lead to 4-0 at 16:15 of the second, before Rem Patrick finally broke the Soul’s scoreless streak 2:30 later, 4-1 Houston. A delay of game penalty to C Luke Kuznik with 5:00 left looked like an opportunity for the Satellites to put the game away, but Finnigan tripped D David Savage on the powerplay. C Matt Dunham scored on the 4-on-4, and suddenly it was 4-2 Houston. The Satellites came out in the third determined to not let this one slip away. They were outshooting Memphis 12-3 when Finnigan put the dagger in it with 2:35 remaining. Glynnensteins, Finnigan, Laine, Fredheim, and Peters all recorded 2 points. Final score: Memphis 2 - 5 Houston. Houston leads series 3-1. Back in Houston with a chance to close out the series, Memphis outshot Houston 6-3 in the first 10 minutes as they tried to gain the early lead. Momentum shifted, however, and Johansson scored a pair of goals at 5:55 and 2:34. Undeterred, Filip Friberg got one with just 1:27 left, and the game would go to first intermission 2-1 Houston. The second period was a slog, as 16 minutes in penalties were called between the teams for charging, elbowing, hooking, slashing, high-sticking, roughing, and boarding. The third started out still 2-1, but Taffe scored barely a minute in to make it 3-1 Houston. Three minutes later Fredheim made it 4-1, and just 1:30 later Glynnensteins made it 5-1. The game wasn’t over, though, as Matt Dunham scored a minute later to make it 5-2. Kuleshov took a delay of game penalty at 13:00, and C Slater Wight scored on the powerplay to make it 5-3. Another 12 minutes of penalties followed as each team tried to grind the other down, but Houston hung on in the end. Final score: Houston 5 - 2 Memphis. Houston wins series, 4-1. Analysis: A nice way to start the playoffs. The entire team is a Plus, the goalie is red-hot, it wasn’t a sweep but it was a “gentleman’s sweep”. The team had to battle through a little adversity, it wasn’t cruise control all the way... the only thing that’s maybe slightly worrying is that the Top 6 is all playing 17+ minutes per game, while the Bottom 6 play 9 minutes per game or less. Some prefer a more balanced contribution from the team, as opposed to such a top-heavy approach. Glynnensteins had 3-4-7, Finnigan had 2-4-6, Meighan had 1-4-5, and that line was +3. PPG or better while also a Plus, nothing to complain about there. Laine had just 2 assists, Fredheim had 2-2-4, Luongo had 1-2-3, and that line was also +3. You’d like to see a little more from Laine, obviously, but it’s a small sample size and it clearly didn’t hurt the team overall. Brown had 1-1-2, Baranka had 2 assists, and Johansson had 3 goals. That line was +1, and they’re back to playing the way they were, before Taffe was added to the mix. Speaking of the 4th line, Fotiu had 2 assists, Kuleshov had 2 goals, and Taffe had 2-1-3. That line was also also +3. It was a tough decision to start Taffe over Ahonen, but it seems to have paid off. You can bet the coaching staff is watching him closely, though. On D, Javanainen had 1-2-3, Maki had 1-3-4, and they were +2. Not a bad performance at all from your top pair. Simpson had 5 assists, Peters had 1-3-4, and that pair was +5. Just a phenomenal performance from those two. Compare this series to the last month of the season, when they combined for 16P in 16 games, but were both -4. Neither Petterson or Baker scored a single point, but they were still +3. Just because they don’t show up on the scoresheet doesn’t mean that defensive players don’t contribute! Case in point: Sauer went 4-1 with a .926/ 2.16/ 1 SO statline. He’s absolutely a talented young goaltender, but he’s also still dependent on the players in front of him. In the playoffs, his SVP is 3rd and his GAA ranks 2nd. Three Stars  Playoff Leaders  Around the league: In the West, Houston was the only team to buck the trend as 3 lower seeds beat their higher opponent. Yellowknife (15) beat (8) Kelowna in 7, Whitehorse (14) beat (11) Brandon in 7, and San Fran (16) beat (10) Albuquerque in 6.  In the East, Atlanta (1) swept (12) Milwaukee. Charlottetown (3) barely beat (7) Iqaluit in 7 games. St. John’s (6) took only 5 to beat (4) Quebec, thanks to a .928/2.40 from G Mackenzie Backes. In the most shocking upset though, Indianapolis (9) beat (2) Charlotte in 7 games. The #1 team in the league (until the last two weeks of the season, at least) knocked out in the first round.  MGHL Check-In Ironically, the Sputniks were eliminated in 6 games by Memphis’ minor-league affiliate, the Chattanooga Blues. It seems the Blues were a defensive powerhouse: Jay O’Byrne, Anders Holm, and Alexander Khristich had 2 points each. Thomas Boumedienne and Andre Carriere had 1 point each. Everyone else was held pointless. Bernier started all 6 games for the Sputniks, and he kept them in the series with a .924/2.17, so this is 100% on the team in front of him. Houston’s next opponent: San Francisco Friars! 
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Jan 24, 2024 21:44
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