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The World Hockey League, It's Back!!!

JCRGraphix

By JCRGraphix
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eick74

eick74

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On 1/8/2017 at 8:11 PM, JCRGraphix said:

PLAYOFFS: Round One

Europe West

Amsterdam falls to London in 5 games

Warsaw ousts Belgrade 4-3

 

ROUND TWO

Europe West

London handles the Hussars 4-1

Western Division:

 

1. London Crown

2. Warsaw Winged Hussars

3. Belgrade Wolves

4. Amsterdam Dutchmen

 

PLAYOFFS02.png

 

 

Something Odd happened here. Warsaw beat Belgrade, then London beats Warsaw and yet somehow Belgrade is representing the Western Division in the European finals instead of London.....

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JCRGraphix

JCRGraphix

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2002-03

 

2002-03.png

 

by @Jacobseye

 

The 2002-2003 season of the World Hockey League had another collapse of a powerhouse. This time, It was the Moscow Stars falling to the 6th seed. The Defending champions the Riga Griffins finished on top of the Eastern division with Minsk behind them. St. Petersburg was in 3rd place of the division and the Comets would perform well enough to get back into the playoffs. In West Europe, the Winged Hussars took the top seed in the Western division as Belgrade would crack the 2nd seed.The Crown, with Teemu Selanne leading the way placed 3rd in the division with Mannheim reaching the playoffs for the second time in the teams history. In North America, a massive trade of goalies occurred with Ed Belfour being sent to Phoenix for Martin Brodeur. Aside from that, Boston would take 1st place again in the East. Halifax had one of the best defenses in the league with Brian Boucher at goalie and Scott Stevens at defense. Rob Blake's Cardinals placed at 3rd, and Washington Cracked the playoff mark at the 4th spot. In the West, Vancouver yet again is #1, Winnipeg, with Mario Lemieux back, make the second spot. Phoenix, now with Ed Belfour finish at 3rd place and Saskatoon returns to the playoffs at 4th, and Oakland finished a disappointing 6th place.

 

Europe East

1.Riga Griffins

2.Minsk Bison

3.St. Petersburg Horsemen

4.Nizhny Novogorod Comets

5.Kiev Angels

6.Moscow Stars

7.Prague Golems

8. Kharkiv Devils

 

Europe West

1.Warsaw Winged Hussars

2.Belgrade Wolves

3.London Crown

4.Mannheim Motors

5.Amsterdam Dutchmen

6.Helsinki Icebreakers

7.Copenhagen Hammer

8. Stockholm Norsemen

 

North America East

1.Boston Irish

2. Halifax Bombers

3.Chicago Cardinals

4. Washington Eagles

5.Buffalo Thunder

6.Toronto Bucks

7.Brooklyn Emperors

8.Montreal Quebecois

 

West North America

1. Vancouver Spirits

2. Winnipeg Lakers

3. Phoenix Cougars

4.Saskatoon Blazers

5. St. Louis Clydesdales

6. Oakland Americans 

7. Minneapolis Geminis

8. Hollywood Dragons

 

Playoffs

In the Europe East division, the Griffins dominated the Comets in 5 games while St. Petersburg collapsed again vs Minsk in 6 games. The second round had Minsk shockingly win on a last second goal in 7 games by Miroslav Satan. The Western Division had the Hussars sweep the Mannheim Motors with ease and Belgrade taking down the Crown in six games. The Second Round Had the Hussars taking it in 5 games. North America had Boston overpower Washington in a 4-1 series win. Halifax continued to dominate, sweeping the Chicago Cardinals and winning against Boston in 6 games. The West had Vancouver dousing the Blazers in what was expected to be a quick and easy series, but turned out being a 7 game series. The Lakers took out the Cougars in 6 games. In the Second round, The Lakers avenged their playoff losses vs the Spirits in 7 games.

 

<This is where I take over>

 

The Halifax Bombers had all of the momentum on their side when they faced off against the Winnipeg Lakers, and finished them off rather quickly taking them in 5 games to earn their first trip to the Global Cup Finals. In Europe, the Warsaw Winged Hussars started strong winning games one and two in Warsaw, but then melted down when Jarome Iginla suffered a concussion early in game 3. The Minsk Bisons with Patrick Roy in goal then skated to four straight wins to earn their first trip to the Global Cup Finals. 

 

Before the Finals began, Patrick Roy announced that the series would be his last, and furthermore guaranteed a Bisons win. After trading two wins each, the Bisons then shut out the Bombers in game 5. Going into game 6, Roy was absolutely amped. In a press conference, he once again guaranteed a Bisons victory and that he'd shut out the Bombers. Late in the third period, with the score tied 0-0, Jamie Langenbrunner was tripped on a breakaway setting up a penalty shot. As he skated in, he absolutely undressed Roy leaving him sprawled across the crease, but hit the post. On the next shift, Miroslav Satan put in a one-timer from point blank range to put the Bisons up 1-0. The Bombers yanked Boucher in favor of another attacker and peppered Roy, but they couldn't beat him, and the Bisons won the Global Cup.

 

After the series, the Montreal Quebecois signed Patrick Roy to a one-day contract so he could retire as a Quebecois. Montreal officially retired the number 33 while the Minsk Bisons took it out of circulation unofficially. 

 

PLAYOFFS03.png

 


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JCRGraphix

JCRGraphix

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2003-04 Star Players

 

Amsterdam Dutchmen
Patrick Lalime
Tomas Holmstrom
Simon Gagne

Robert Lang


Belgrade Wolves
Mike Richter / Miika Kiprusoff
Keith Tkachuk
Chris Pronger
Tomas Kaberle


Boston Irish
Martin Brodeur
Niklas Lidstrom
Pavol Demitra
Martin St. Louis


Brooklyn Emperors
Stephane Fiset / Tomas Vokoun
Joe Juneau
Luc Robitaille
Eric Desjardins

Daymond Langkow


Buffalo Thunder
Jeff Hackett / Martin Biron
Owen Nolan
Doug Weight
Mathieu Schneider

Petr Sykora


Chicago Cardinals
Chris Osgood
Rob Blake
Jeff Friesen
Patrik Stefan

Corey Stillman


Copenhagen Hammer
Manny Legace
Ed Jovanovski
Mats Sundin
Alexander Mogilny

Petr Nedved

 

Halifax Bombers
Brian Boucher / Marty Turco
Adam Oates
Scott Stevens

Jamie Langenbrunner

Marian Gaborik


Helsinki Icebreakers
Olaf Kolzig
Eric Lindros
Peter Forsberg

Jere Lehtinen

Zigmund Palffy


Hollywood Dragons
Jamie McLennan / Roberto Luongo
John LeClair
Patrick Marleau

Ryan Smyth

Jason Spezza

 

Kharkiv Devils

J-S Aubin / Kari Lehtonen
Michal Handzus
Vaclav Prospal

Alexander Semin

Dany Heatley


Kiev Angels
Byron Dafoe / Kevin Weekes
Joe Nieuwendyk
Paul Kariya
Mike Modano


London Crown
Roman Cechmanek / J.S. Giguere
Teemu Selanne
Peter Bondra
David Legwand

Brad Richards


Mannheim Motors
Ron Tugnutt / Manny Fernandez
Scott Niedermayer
Olli Jokinen
Marco Sturm

 

Minneapolis Geminis
Marc Denis / Fred Brathwaite

Anson Carter

Daniel Briere

Maxim Afinogenov

Rick Nash


Minsk Bisons
Robert Esche / Dwayne Roloson
Jozef Stumpel
Miroslav Satan
Jeff O'Neill

Darius Kasparaitis


Montreal Quebecois
Roman Turek / Marc - Andre Fleury
Steve Yzerman
Joe Thornton

Marian Hossa

Patrice Bergeron


Moscow Stars
Nikolai Khabibulin
Sergei Fedorov
Alexei Yashin

Ilya Kovalchuk


Nizhny Novgorod Comets
Damian Rhodes / Rick DiPietro
Ron Francis
Alexei Kovalev
Saku Koivu

Markus Naslund


Oakland Americans
Trevor Kidd / Ryan Miller
Mike Ricci

Brent Burns
Shane Doan


Phoenix Cougars
Ed Belfour / Felix Potvin
Pierre Turgeon
Zdeno Chara

Scott Gomez


Prague Golems
Dominik Hasek
Jaromir Jagr
Patrik Elias

Jonathan Cheechoo


Riga Griffins
Arturs Irbe / Jose Theodore
Sandis Ozolinsh
Milan Hejduk
Vincent Lecavlier


St. Louis Clydesdales
Steve Shields / Vesa Toskala
Jason Allison
Alexei Zhitnik
Ryan Kesler


St. Petersburg Horsemen
Evgeni Nabokov / Curtis Joseph
Rod Brind’Amour
Vyacheslav Kozlov
Sergei Gonchar

Ray Whitney


Saskatoon Blazers
Tommy Salo
Tony Amonte
Mark Recchi
Darren McCarty


Stockholm Norsemen
John Grahame / Henrik Lundqvist
Daniel Alfredsson
Jeremy Roenick

Henrik Zetterberg


Toronto Bucks
Sean Burke / Guy Hebert
Oleg Tverdovsky
Chris Chelios
Kris Draper


Vancouver Spirits
Dan Cloutier / Christobal Huet
Mark Messier
Joe Sakic
Pavel Datsyuk


Warsaw Winged Hussars
Jocelyn Thibault
Jarome Iginla
Brendan Shanahan
Mariusz Czerkawski


Washington Eagles
Tim Thomas / Ray Emery

Eric Staal
Bobby Holik
Rob Niedermayer


Winnipeg Lakers
Ilya Bryzgalov

Mario Lemieux
Claude Lemieux
Brett Hull
Vincent Damphousse

 

2003-04 season is coming right up. @Darknes will be our writer...


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JCRGraphix

JCRGraphix

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2003-04

 

2003-04.png

 

by @Darknes

 

 

The 2003 Season of the World Hockey League began with a couple of  big trades with the Motors trading a whole year of Draft picks to Moscow in exchange for Ilya Kovalchuk and the Irish who hungry for more scoring power traded a first rounder plus Pavol Demitra to Prague in exchange for Jaromir Jagr. The Motors jumped to second in the division with Winged Hussars topping them followed by the Wolves and Crown in Western Europe. The Stars would fall to dead last in the league while the Griffins kept their grip hard on the Eastern Division thanks to the show-stopping goaltending of the Tretiak Trophy winning  Arturs Irbe, the Bison fell to fifth following the retirement of Patrick Roy while the Angels slipped back into the playoffs at 4th behind the Horsemen and the Comets.

In North America, the East was an Arms race between the Irish and the Bombers which culminated in a bench clearly brawl involving a goalie fight and a league record 332 Penalty minutes in a single game. The Irish however would get the best of the Bombers behind the scoring of the Delvecchio Trophy winning winger Jagr. The Cardinals slipped in second place followed by the Bombers and the Thunder who slipped in over the Eagles which was decided on the last day of the season with Doug Weight scoring a game winning goal. A Vintage Mario Lemieux would propel Winnipeg back into first place in the West and him winning the Howe Trophy, the Spirits were after the Lakers, while the Cougars stayed in Third while the Geminis behind an impressive duo of Rick Nash and Maxim Afinogenov lead Minneapolis to Fourth place.
 

Europe East

1.Riga Griffins

2.St. Petersburg Horsemen

3.Nizhny Novogorod Comets

4.Kiev Angels

5.Minsk Bison

6.Kharkiv Devils

7.Prague Golems

8. Moscow Stars

 

Europe West

1.Warsaw Winged Hussars

2.Mannheim Motors

3.Belgrade Wolves

4.London Crown

5.Amsterdam Dutchmen

6.Helsinki Icebreakers

7.Stockholm Norsemen

8. Copenhagen Hammer

 

North America East

1.Boston Irish

2. Chicago Cardinals

3.Halifax Bombers

4. Buffalo Thunder

5.Washington Eagles

6.Toronto Bucks

7.Montreal Quebecois

8.Brooklyn Emperors

 

West North America

1. Winnipeg Lakers

2. Vancouver Spirits

3. Phoenix Cougars

4. Minneapolis Geminis

5. Saskatoon Blazers

6. St. Louis Clydesdales

7. Oakland Americans

8. Hollywood Dragons

 


The Playoffs began with a monumental upset of the Geminis taking down the Lakers in five games, behind a powerful Rick Nash. Ed Belfour and Zdeno Chara stonewalled Datsyuk and Sakic leading to Phoenix to victory in Seven. The Irish promptly swept the Thunder in 4 taking them out of the playoffs as soon as they got in, while Halifax took care of Chicago in 6 with Jamie Langenbrunner scoring a Hat Trick in Game 6 to seal the win. Out in Europe, the Hussars would again take care of the Crown in 6 games behind the scoring of Jarome Iginla and Brendan Shanahan, the Motors kept with their rise in taking out the Wolves in 5 games. Riga swept Kiev in their return to the playoffs with Irbe allowing no Angel goals in all 4 games while the Comets beat their countrymen in a hard-fought 7 games series. The Irish and the Bombers had come to hate each other over the past couple seasons as the Quebecois were no longer the most hated team for Irish Fans, any time the Bombers came to Boston, the fans made sure they weren’t welcome. The hostile environments kept both teams on their toes with Boston fighting out to 7 games with Jagr scoring a game winner in front of the Boston Faithful. The Geminis kept up their Cinderella run as they took out the Cougars in 6 games with the help of Rich Nash and an untimely arm fracture of Ed Belfour. In Europe Mannheim and Warsaw went to war on both on the ice and off the ice; with German and Polish Fans engaging in fist fights in the stands when Jarome Iginla scored a series winning goal in Overtime in game 7 in Warsaw.  The Griffins kept up their dominance with yet another sweep of the series, Arturs Irbe pitching 2 more shutouts against the Comets.

 

<this is where I take over>

 

The Irish, wanting all of the luck on their side, once again enlisted the help of Father James O'Connolly to bless their gear before they took on the Cinderella-story Minneapolis Geminis. They needed all the luck they could get as the Geminis forced a game 7 in Boston. Game 7 was a circus of a game if there ever was one. Before the game, a couple local businesses handed out fake priest collars. The 'Boston Faithful' loved it and wore them proudly, however things didn't look so hot for the Irish as they quickly found themselves down by 4 goals in the second period. One disappointed fan threw his collar on the ice after Brodeur let in yet another goal to put the Irish down 6-1. As a sarcastic joke, Martin St. Louis picked up the collar and put it on. He then went on to score a hat trick and provided another two assists to tie the score back up in the third. After giving up so many goals so quickly, the Geminis pulled Fred Brathwaite in favor of Marc Denis who wasn't 100% healed from a late-season hip injury. With just a few seconds left in the third period, Niklas Lidstrom was clearing the puck from the Irish end so they could get a change, but the puck took a funny bounce and went straight towards the net. Denis had skated out a ways to handle the puck in its original trajectory, but took an awkward stride and couldn't make it back to the net in time for Boston's 7th goal in the 7th game. The Luck of the Irish had struck yet again.

 

Although it also went to 7 games, the European Conference Final wasn't as wild as the North American one. Arturs Irbe was playing top-notch quality hockey and was difficult to beat. Warsaw threw everything they had at him, but the Griffins emerged victorious. Irbe's luck ran out though when they faced the Irish. With Riga finishing a little better than the Irish in the regular season, they got the first two games in Latvia, but the Boston Faithful still showed up along with a large group of rowdy fans from Ireland. The Irish rolled over the Griffins in the first two games 4-2 and 8-3. With the next two games in Boston, the Irish were unbeatable. Not only was the Boston Garden packed, but Fenway Park was also packed where the game was being shown on gigantic screens. The priest collars were all over the city, and all was green as far as the eye could see as the Irish hammered the Griffins 3-2 and 9-0 in the final two games to win their second Global Cup. 

 

The story of the offseason was dominated by the 2004 draft. The St. Petersburg Horsemen traded Curtis Joseph, Ray Whitney, and their 2nd and 3rd round picks to the Hollywood Dragons for their 2nd overall pick and Jamie MacLennan. They took Evgeni Malkin with the 2nd overall pick. Moscow also made some huge moves. After taking Alexander Ovechkin with the first overall pick, they sent their other first round pick and Alexei Yashin to Vancouver for Pavel Datsyuk, a trade Vancouver would come to regret. The Stars also made some fantastic draft picks grabbing David Krejci in the second round, and relatively unknown Finnish goalie Pekka Rinne late in the fourth.

 

PLAYOFFS04.png


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