First Home Win of Season

(AP) Denver, Colorado

The Spurs have finally won their first home game of the CCHL '08-'09 season. While the Spurs are the defending champs as Commish Corfield has so graciously pointed out, they haven't been able to win in front of the home town folks until now. Day 32, over a month into the season, the Spurs defeated the visiting Linz Blackwings 5-0. Brodeur had a fairly easy time of it with having to face and stop 15 shots during the contest. The Spurs launched 40 at Blackwings' netminder Leclaire with 5 lighting the lamp. Amazingly, the Spurs managed this performance without number 1 center Vinny Lecavalier who is sidelined with a strange malady.
It appears the defending champs are snake bit this season. They have a 9-8 record, 18 points, and are in 3rd place in the USA Western Division behind Portland and the division leading Beverly Hills Lawmasters.
After Marty Brodeur's shutout of the Blackwings, he has a record of 6-7-0 in 13gp with a 2.69gaa and .910 SvPct. The shutout has gone a long ways to bring Brodeur's goals against and save percentage numbers into an acceptable range. Acceptable for him, that is.
Time will tell if this shutout can propel the Spurs to better performances here on out.

Spurs trade for Sykora

(AP) Denver, CO

Yesterday the Spurs completed a deal with the Springfield Homers that put winger Petr Sykora in a Spurs uni. Going to the Homers was blueliner Ossi Vaananen and Denver's 2nd round entry draft pick. While Sykora brings with him a hefty salary of $5 mil for this season and next season, he's looked at as an upgrade over Svatos on the 2nd line RW and 2nd power play unit. Whether he stays there will depend upon his performance. He also offers some flexibility in that he can play on the left side also if needed. Vaananen is currently on the inactive CCHL list but returns for another stint next season for the last year of his contract at $800k+ per season. With this move, right winger Mark Parrish is officially on the trading block. While he's a UFA he could help some team in the CCHL this season. All that's expected in return is a 5th round draft pick.

Spurs tied for 1st in the West

(AP) Denver, Colorado

After 4 games the Spurs find themselves tied for 1st in the USA Western Division with the Beverly Hills Lawmasters. Both teams currently sport 3-1 records for 6 points.
The Spurs had the CCHL Cup Champion banner raising ceremonies prior to the home opener. I guess the ceremony was too emotional for the Spurs players because they lost the home opener to the Lawmasters 3-1. The good news is that the Spurs have won all three of their road games to date in posting the current 3-1 record. If not for the home opener loss to the lawmen, they Spurs would be a prefect 4-0.
It appears the dismal preseason was a result of taking the preseason a bit too lightly in light of the start of the Spurs season.
Marty Brodeur is back to his old self in posting a 3-1 record in 4 games with a 2.48 gaa and .918 SvPct. Marty suffered a slightly pulled groin in the last game, a 4-3 win vs. the Ronin at Paul's Place in Victoria. Valiquette was pressed into service for the 3rd period and stopped 13 of 14 sog in preserving the win for Marty.
Keith Tkachuk currently leads the Spurs in scoring with 7 points (2g 5a). A pleasant surprise to date has been youngster Cody McCormick who has 1 goal in 2 games played, a game winner, and sports a +2 in 18 minutes of ice time. Looks like Mr. McCormick has earned himself a few more starts at the 4th line right wing position. The loser in this deal right now is Mark Parrish, who was a primary cog in the march to the Cup last season.
Dasher Notes
On another note, Congrats to owner, GM and Coach Derek Chaiken of the Lawmasters for his recent success in passing the California Bar!
The puck away endorsement by Marty Brodeur has been shelved for the time being as it was roundly frowned upon by the CCHL league officials.
Can't take a joke

Preseason Woes

(AP) Denver, CO

So far this preseason the Spurs are not playing like the 2008 defending Cup Champions. Actually more like a basement dweller. It appears the Spurs have partied a bit too hearty over the summer and have a ways to go to get in game shape.
After 4 preseason games the Spurs are a woeful 1-3, having lost to Havana 5-2 on home ice, then losing 3-2 at Thunder Bay, winning at Niagara Falls 3-2 with Steve Valiquette in net and losing the 4th game of preseason at the Broadmoor Arena in Colorado Springs to the visiting Karlstad Killers 5-1. Pitiful performances for a CCHL Cup winning club.
As if the losses weren't bad enough, what's even more of a concern is the mysterious woeful play of Marty Brodeur between the pipes who was instrumental in the Spurs winning the Cup a scant 6 months ago.
In the three games he started he is 0-3 with a 4.04 gaa and .859 SvPct. Certainly not Martin Brodeur numbers. More like Hardy 'the Swedish Sieve' Aastrom of Colorado Rockies and Don Cherry lore.
Add to that the scoring average of 2 goals per game for a team that led the league in goals scored per game last season and there's a lot to be concerned about. Granted, the defense is not exactly the same as last year with some player changes at forward positions also, but the core of the club is still intact.
Dasher Notes
It could be that not retaining Captain Joe and his $10M contract was a big mistake. Right now it certainly appears that he WAS the heart and soul of this club. There's little management can do at this point player-wise. Hopefully the coaching staff and players can turn it around come the start of the regular season. In the meantime Marty is in the process of placing a person to person call to Dany Sabourin. Marty said, "Hey I need all the help I can get. SHHHHH...mums the word. Bill Corfield and Paul Canosa don't need to know a thing. My family needs the paycheck and I can't afford a suspension. Hey, you don't really think I've been putting up those eerily similar numbers the past few season without a little help do you? Come on!"
This just in: The Spurs have also lost the 5th and final game of preseason with Marty between the pipes, 4-2 at Victoria. One was an empty netter. The puck away didn't arrive in time for the game. An overnight FedEx shipment is being expedited.

Preseason News

(AP) Denver, Colorado, USA

The CCHL 2008 Champs participated in the annual waiver draft recently.

To fill out the roster the Spurs selected role players Craig MacDonald, Cody McCormick and Cody McLeod. MacDonald is a center, McCormick is a right wing with McLeod completing the MAC ATTACK on left wing.
With the expected injuries the Spurs are expected to sustain due to the hearty partying with the CCHL Cup, as it made it's way around the Spurs' organization, coupled with the lack of training over the summer, they are expected to eventually fill some vital rolls on the club this coming season. Possibly beyond.

At press time the current starting lineup shakes out to be:
1st Line Lecavalier Tkachuk Hossa Liles McCabe
2nd Line Stastny Smyth Svatos Sauer Finger
3rd Line Peca Guite Laperriere Malik Staios
4th Line Hlinka Lucic, Parrish
Goal Brodeur, Valiquette

Whether those lines get shuffled or guys on the bench inserted, will depend upon performance and the aforementioned injuries.

The club is excited to see what rookie portsider Milan Lucic can bring to the table along with Czech import Jaroslav Hlinka. Backup netminder Steve Valiquette was picked up in the free agent draft earlier this year.
Lucic is known for his gritty style of play with Hlinka being more of a playmaker. Valiquette shoould be more than adequate backing up Marty Brodeur.

Dasher Notes:
During the offseason GM & Coach Richard 'Dick' Poelker was elected to the CCHL Hall of Fame!!!
In accepting the award Mr. Poelker said, "I am humbled and honored in accepting this award. I will forever cherish this and the CCHL Cup. This award is for the entire Denver Spurs' organization. From management, to the players to the concession vendors in the Coliseum. Well done Denver Spurs' organization. It's all due to the support of the greatest fans in the CCHL."

UFA Laperriere re-signed

(AP) Denver, CO, USA

Today the defending CCHL Champion Denver Spurs re-signed checking forward Ian Laperriere to a 3 year contract worth $3.3M usd.
At the news conference GM Poelker said, "We are happy to bring Lappy back as he was an integral part of our club last year in winning the CCHL Cup. Ian, I and the entire management team of the Spurs congratulate you and are extremely pleased we were able to offer you a contract that brought you back to the Spurs. We hated to release you to free agency but you were a true professional in understanding the business side of our great sport. We've decided to sew the 'C' on your sweater! Thanks for re-signing and welcome back Captain Laperriere!"
Ian exclaimed, "Wow! Thanks so much! Captain! Iam honored. I will do my best to fill Joe's shoes, but it will be tough. I hope to finish my career with the Spurs and will do my best to represent our club in a professional manner on and off the ice."
As far as this writer is concerned, that won't be a problem, as Ian has been known for his charity work throughout the Rocky Mountain Region in the short time he's been here. As far as on the ice, he always goes above and beyond and also stands up for his 'mates. Everyone around the CCHL knows that Ian doesn't back down from anyone.
Sports journalist Terry Frei of the Rocky Mountain News asked,
"So, I take it that this means you won't be offering Captain Joe Sakic a contract that would bring him back for his final year or two? How can you do that?!?! He's the heart and soul of this club! You had him signed for another year and dumped his contract. You've talked about player loyalty in the past. Where's management's?!?!"
To this GM Poelker replied, "Now Terry, calm down. We've had this discussion before. What are you trying to stir up? We met at length with Joe and being the professional he is, he fully understood why we released him and his $10 million usd contract. We certainly know Joe was a great leader for us and primary to winning the Cup this past May. However, Joe understands the financial landscape being what it is and that when the league offered every club the opportunity to cut one contract this off season, that we simply had to cut his for the future financial health of the organization. We understand that Joe has received a top UFA offer from the Hamilton Predators. We wish him well and can tell the Preds they'll be getting one of the classiest players in the CCHL. But hey, everyone knows that about Joe....eh! We do hope that when the time comes that Joe will enter the CCHL Hall of Fame as a Spur. But that, of course, is entirely up to him."
Dasher Notes
The Spurs had made offers to 7 other unrestricted free agents but it appears at press time that those 7 will be signing elsewhere for much higher contracts than what management was willing to offer.
With the release of Joe Sakic, it's obvious that youngster Paul Stastny will be given the job of pivoting the 2nd line. His linemates project to be Ryan Smyth & Marek Svatos at this time. It is hoped that Svatos will adequately replace the departed Teemu Selanne (ufa). The 1st line of Lecavalier-Tkachuk-Hossa is back intact for the upcoming season while the 3rd line shakes out to be Peca-Guite-Laperriere at this time.
The defense corps looks like Liles, McCabe, Finger, Staios, Malik and Sauer. Bergeron, Paetsch & Skrastins will most likely play secondary roles. Between the goal posts will be all world netminder Martin Brodeur who was re-signed to a hefty $5mil+ per year contract for the league minimum raise. Management couldn't pass up that deal. But you never know what may happen between now and the drop of the puck on opening day!

SPURS WIN CCHL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

-Denver Coliseum- Denver, CO

The Spurs won the coveted CCHL Cup tonight at the Coliseum in Denver! They took Game 6 by a score of 7-4 in winning the Championship Finals in 6 games over the Wisborg Donuts. It was a hard fought series for both clubs with injuries, unfortunately, playing a factor. Donuts' starting netminder Mason went down early in the 1st with a recurrence of the injury he sustained earlier in the playoffs. Of course, Ryan Smyth whacking away at a loose puck just might have had something to do with it....eh. In the game Marian Hossa, Keith Tkachuk and Mark Parrish all scored 2 goals for the Spurs with Smyth chipping in with one. The final series was offensive with the Spurs scoring 28 goals in the 6 games and the Donuts 22. Awarding the Conn Smythe Trophy (MVP of the Playoffs) is going to be tough as several players are worthy. In the Playoffs, Hossa (15g-19a-34pts) led the Spurs in scoring, with Keith Tkachuk (16g-17a-33pts), Joe Sakic (8g-25s-33pts), Teemu Selanne (11g-20a-31pts) and Vinny Lecavalier (8g-22a-30pts) close behind. Ryan Smyth finished the playoffs with 15g-9a-24pts along with 4 game winners.
So, all are certainly worthy of consideration. Being the modest guys they are, they will all say it was a team effort. Of course, this is so true as it always is when any team wins a championship. Not to be overlooked is the defense corps led by Bryan McCabe (4g-10a-14pts +12) while averaging 27 minutes per game, John-Michael Liles (2g-13a-15pts +13), Marc-Andre Bergeron (4g-13a-17pts +14) and Steve Staios (2g-7a-9pts +15).
Netminder Marty Brodeur played in 22 of the 23 playoff games posting a 3.23 gaa, .909 SvPct with a 15-6 won-loss record.
Dasher Notes
You can be sure the CCHL Cup celebration will be going on for days in Denver. The Mile High City has never seen the type of celebrating these Spurs fans have begun. It's a sight to see! The fans are certainly a mile high in their happiness in the Mile High City! Congrats to the Wisborg Donuts on a great series and season! Congrats to all the CCHL clubs on a fine season and thanks to Bill Corfield, Paul Canosa, Dave Kehler, Jason Mote, Johan Kallum and Johan Eriksson for all they do in bringing us the CCHL each season. Of course, especially Bill & Paul!

Spurs Sweep Jazz Conference Finals!

(AP) Denver, CO

Last night the Spurs swept the Hawaii Sandblasters at the Denver Coliseum. Game 4 was won in OT 6-5 on Ryan Smyth's 9th of the playoffs. It also completed a hat trick for Smyth in the game! The Spurs had also took Game 1 in Hawaii in OT. In the Jazz Conference Finals the Spurs scored 21 goals in the four games while the Sandblasters netted 12. Only Game 2 in Hawaii was won by a wide margin, that being 8-2. The other three games were all one goal affairs with the aforementioned two going to OT. These three games could easily have gone either way. It appears the Spurs may have just caught 'blasters netminder Henrik Lundqvist on some 'off' days.
Leading the Spurs in the scoring department so far in the Playoffs are Tkachuk (11g-15a-26pts), Selanne (11g-14a-25pts) and Captain Joe Sakic (6g-19a-25pts). Marian Hossa is second in the goal scoring department with 10 to date. Selanne leads the team with 3 game winners while Tkachuk and Lecavalier have two.
Dasher Notes
The Blues Conference Finals are currently tied at 2-2 between the Wisborg Donuts and the Karlstad Killers.
The Spurs will get some much needed rest while waiting for the outcome of the hotly contested Blues Conference title. It's a hot time in Denver while the fans
and the Spurs wait for the CCHL Finals for the first time in the history of the Yellowknife/Denver franchise!

Spurs Advance To Conference Finals

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO

Sunday night the Spurs defeated the defending CCHL Champion Dayton Musicmen 5-3 and in doing so advanced to the Jazz (USA) Conference Finals. This will be the Spurs second consecutive appearance in the Conference Finals. Last year the Spurs advanced to the World Conference finals being in the other conference prior to league realignment. It was a nail biter of a back and forth 7 game series with two games being decided in OT. Dayton won Gm2(road), Gm3(home) and Gm6(home in OT). Denver took Games 1, 4(OT), 5 and 7. Both OT games were in Dayton.
Scoring for the Spurs in the contest were Hossa (4), Stastny (2), Selanne (8,9) and Staios (1). On the Musicmen's side was Gaborik (right pic) with his phenominal 14th of the playoffs in only 11 games, Gonchar (3) and Michalek (3).
Gaborik scored 33% of the goals the Musicmen had in their 11 games in the playoffs. He had 9 in this series alone!
Dasher Notes
The Spurs face the Jazz (USA) regular season Conference Champs Hawaii Sandblasters in the Conference Finals.
Home ice advantage go to the 'blasters of course and it will be an uphill battle for the Spurs. The Spurs hope to knock the Master Blaster Niclas Selberg off his perch on top of the Jazz Conference mountain!

Spurs Take Gm1

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO

The Spurs took game one of the Jazz (aka USA) Conference semis from the defending CCHL Cup Champion Dayton Musicmen 4-3 in comeback fashion. The story of the game was not all world netminder Marty Brodeur for the Spurs but rather his youthful backup, Joey MacDonald. Brodeur went down 4 minutes into the game and was replaced by MacDonald. MacDonald turned in a stellar performance in stopping 27 of 29 shots (.931 SvPct.).
The Spurs were down 3-2 after the 2nd but scored two unanswered goals in the 3rd for the 4-3 win.
Scoring for the Spurs in the 1st period was Ryan Smyth (4) on the power play with assists from Sakic and Selanne.
Smyth (5) struck again in the 2nd assisted again by Sakic and Selanne. In the 3rd, blueliner McCabe (1) from Lecavalier and Hossa followed by Tkachuk (7), the game winner, assisted by Paul Stastny.
Scoring for the Musicmen was Gaborik (6,7) in the 1st and 2nd period. Keith, Michalek, Datsyuk and Meszaros assisted on Gaborik's goal. The other goal for the 'men was scored by Datsyuk, unassisted, in the 1st period.
Gaborik's second goal was on the power play in the 2nd period.
Dasher Notes
At press time Brodeur's injury was undisclosed, but it is a definite that Joey MacDonald will be between the pipes for the Spurs in game 2. Hopefully he can repeat his game 1 heroics.

Selanne Answers for the Spurs!

- The Nest - Portland, OR, USA

The improbable happened as the Spurs won game 6 in Portland 7-4. In doing so, they won all 3 games on Portland's home ice while only being able to take 1 of 3 at the Coliseum in Denver. In game 6 they found a chink in the armor of the Owls' Nik Backstrom in being able to put 6 past the stellar rookie netminder. The Spurs struck for 3 in the 2nd and 4 in the 3rd while the Owls put 2 in the 1st and one in both the 2nd and 3rd past Spurs' goalie Marty Brodeur. The Spurs were 1 for 4 on the PP, while the Owls were stifled by the PK units of the Spurs going
0-6 with the man advantage. Coach Q was very pleased with the PK efforts in this contest considering the woeful performances earlier in the series.
The Owls had a 3-0 lead by 00:58 of the 2nd period on goals by Satan (1), A. Ward (1) and S.Kozlov (3) before the Spurs got on the board. At that point it was looking like a game 7 back in Denver but then the Spurs kicked the pony into high gear.
Scoring six consecutive goals for the Spurs from the 2nd into the 3rd period were Malik (1), Selanne with a HAT TRICK (3,4,5), Tkachuk (6), Hossa (2) and John-Michael Liles (1), an empty netter.
Vanek (3), scored Portland's 4th goal at 18:21 of the 3rd with Liles empty netter coming 5 seconds later.
Dasher Notes
One opening round series still needs to be decided in the Blues Conference, that being the matchup between Karlstad and Quebec. Advancing in the Jazz Conference are the Spurs, Sandblasters, Musicmen and Express. In the Blues Conference so far it's the Donuts, Chinook, Ibex. The Spurs will face the defending CCHL Champs Musicmen in the Jazz semi-finals while the Sandblasters will face the Express.

Spurs Split Games 4 & 5

(AP) Denver, CO

The Spurs took Gm 4 of the opening Jazz Conference playoff series in Portland and when they returned home with the chance to put the series away, lost Gm 5 on home ice. Go figure these Spurs.
They took Gm 4 over the Owls and goalie Martin Gerber 5-2 with 3 unanswered tallies in the 3rd period enroute to the win. They actually scored 4 unanswered goals after the Owls took a 2-1 lead at 6:19 of the 2nd period. The Owls tallies were netted by Glen Murray (3) and Dumont (3).
Lighting the lamp for the Spurs were Smyth (2,3), Hossa (1), Lecavalier (2) and Tkachuk (5).
Gerber stopped 42 of 47 (.894) shots while Brodeur stopped 22 of 24 (.917).
Game 5 at the Coliseum in Denver saw the Portland Owls facing elimination. In a wild back and forth contest they came out on top 5-4! Goals were scored in every period by both clubs with each netting 2 a piece in the 3rd period. The Spurs penalty killing units went asleep again as the Owls hit on 3 of 7 man advantage opportunities. The last two coming in the 3rd period to tie and win the game! Both coming while Ian Laperriere was serving a 5 minute major and was not available for penalty killing duty. It appears that Craig Adams may not be able to pick it up in Lappy's absence.
Scoring for the Owls were Lang (1), Dumont (4,5) - left pic, Kozlov (2) and Vanek (2).
Denting the twine for the Spurs were Sakic (2), Lecavalier (3,4) and Selanne (2).
Nik Backstrom (right pic), back from his injury, stopped an impressive 52 of 56 shots (.929) in helping the Owls stave off elimination.
His counterpart, Marty Brodeur of the Spurs, stopped 22 of 27 (.815) in the loss.
Noticing a pattern with Brodeur?
Dasher Notes
The Owls had some bad news during the contest when winger Glen Murray went down with what looked like a possible high ankle sprain when he went hard into the boards behind the Spurs net. Word is that he could be out for an extended period. No penalty on the play on what was deemed a legal check by the refs. The Owls, of course, are not too happy with Spurs blueliner Bryan McCabe.
Game 6 is in Portland next with the Spurs leading 3 games to 2. Can the Owls stave off elimination again and send the game back to Denver for a game 7? Stay tuned!

Spurs Take Game 3

- The Nest - Portland, OR, USA

The Spurs came into the Nest intent on taking game 3 and indeed they did in convincing fashion 6-3 with 4 goals in the 1st period and 2 goals in the 3rd. After two periods, however, it was 4-3 Spurs and at that time it didn't look so convincing.
Scoring in the first period for the Spurs (all first time scorers in the playoffs this year) were Lecavalier, Sakic, Smyth and Selanne. The Portland Owls answered in the second period with goals from Slava Kozlov, Vanek and Legwand, all firsts this playoff season for them also.
In the 3rd period Keith Tkachuk continued his hot hand for the Spurs scoring his 4th of the playoffs which was also his 4th in two games. Closing out the scoring for the Spurs was Craig Adams with his 1st of the playoffs at 17:54 of the third.
The Owls had some bad news when their rookie of the year candidate, goalie Nik Backstrom, was injured in a goal mouth scramble three minutes into the 3rd period. Martin Gerber came on in relief and gave up the Spurs' two 3rd period goals. The extent of Backstrom's injury was not known at press time but it appears he may not be available for Game 4 in Portland.
Ian Laperriere and Tim Gleason had a heckuva toe to toe midway through the 3rd with Gleason getting a 2 minute minor and game misconduct in addition to the fighting major. Keith Tkachuk scored on the subsequent power play essentially putting the game away.
Dasher Notes
The leading scorers for the Spurs in the game were Ryan Smyth and Teemu Selanne (right pic). Each had 3 points on 1 goal and 2 helpers.

Tkachuk's Hat Trick Wns Gm2

- Denver Coliseum - Denver. Colorado

What a difference a day makes as the Spurs take Game 2, 4-3! Re-uniting Tkachuk with Lecavalier & Hossa certainly paid dividends in Game 2 with Tkachuk registering a hat trick! Without it, the Spurs may not have taken Game 2 from the Owls. Owls' goalie Backstrom played well but couldn't stop the freight train known as Keith Tkachuk. Tkachuk scored at 14:09 of the 1st from Hossa and Liles, at 18:30 of the 1st from Liles and Lecavalier and the game winner at 6:13 of the 3rd from Sakic and Selanne.
Backstrom stopped 38 of 42 Spurs' shots and nearly backstopped his club to another victory.
On the other hand, Marty Brodeur might start to be called the Cardiac Kid by the Spurs faithful after he allowed the Portland Owls to score 3 goals on only 21 shots. Another less than acceptable SvPct of .857.
'Ol Marty will again be spending some quality time with goaltender coach Curtis 'CuJo' Joseph.
Dasher Notes
Coach Q said there would be not be a lineup or line assignments change for Gm3 in Portland. Other than the possible line juggling once in a while as the game play dictates.
Coach Q also said, "I'm not concerned about Marty since some in the media seem to think I should be. He's one of the primary reasons we had the season we did. He's our #1 goalie throughout the playoffs. Period."
Well, you can't get more of a vote of confidence than that...eh

Spurs Lose Playoff Opener

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO

The Spurs and Marty Brodeur were soundly beaten by the Portland Owls tonight 4-1. While the Spurs peppered opposing netminder Nik Backstrom (pic) with 53 shots, they were only able to get one by the stellar rookie. We all know a hot 'tender can take a team through the playoffs. Hopefully for the Spurs, that doesn't turn out to be the case here. Marty Brodeur was less than adequate in this one for the hometown Spurs, allowing the 4 goals on only 27 shots for a paltry .852 SvPct.
Coach Q had no comment when pressed by the local media after the game. GM Poelker, however, wasn't as gracious in defeat. Poelker said, "I'm totally embarrassed for our great fans and the City of Denver. To allow Portland to come into our barn and kick our collective butts like this is totally unacceptable. This group of overpaid under achievers better get it in gear...NOW!"
Well, he didn't leave anything open to interpretation...eh
Dasher Notes
Game 2 is tomorrow night, here in Denver. Coach Q said he was going back with Tkachuk as 1st line LW, where he played all season with linemates Lecavalier and Hossa. The top line with Smyth at LW was absolutely horrendous tonight. Smyth will go back to the 2nd line playing with Captain Joe and Teemu Selanne. Ian Laperriere is also going back to 1st line PK with Mike Peca after the PK units only killed off one of two power play chances for the Owls.

End Of Regular Season

- Ice House - Beverly Hills, CA, USA

The Spurs ended their CCHL '07-'08 regular season on a high note defeating the division rival Lawmasters 5-0 at the Ice House in Beverly Hills. They'll enter the playoffs on a 3 game winning streak which is always good. Netminder Martin Brodeur turned in his 4th shutout of the season in his 78th game played. He was so hot he was melting the ice in the Ice House!
Lighting the lamp for the Spurs vs. lawmen goalie Mikka Kiprusoff were Selanne (38), Arnason (5), Stastny (26), Giordano (2) and Svatos (5). Hopefully Marty Brodeur and his Spurs teammates can continue this type of effort in the upcoming second season.
Dasher Notes
Congrats to the Wisborg Donuts in taking the President's Cup and regular season Blues Conference crown. They now have the all important home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.
The management of the Spurs also wish to extend congratulations to the Hawaii Sandblasters on their taking the regular season Jazz Conference crown giving them home ice advantage through the Conference Finals.
Of course, congrats to all the playoff teams and ALL the CCHL franchises on another fine season!
The Spurs open the playoffs Monday night at the Coliseum versus the Portland Owls.
Denver was 7-1 vs. Portland in the season series while outscoring them 51-19 in the eight games.
But, as they say, the playoffs are the 2nd season and anything can happen! Stay tuned....

Hossa Pots 50th!

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO

Marian Hossa dented the twine for his 50th goal of the season in the Spurs 5-2 win over the visiting Portland Owls on Friday night. The goal came at 12:15 of the 2nd period assisted by rearguard Malik and Captain Joe. Rearguard Marc-Andre Bergeron potted two (17,18), while Captain Joe (46) and Vinny Lecavalier (55) closed out the scoring for the Spurs.
Slava Kozlov (24) and Legwand (13) lit the lamp for the visiting Owls.
Netminder Marty Brodeur gave up his customary 2 goals in backstopping the Spurs to the win. His counterpart, Marty Gerber of the Owls, faced 30 Spurs' shots in allowing the 5 markers.
Dasher Notes
The Hawaii Sandblasters have clinched the Jazz Conference title coveted by the Spurs. Congrats to GM Niclas Selberg and his Master Blaster Sandblasters. The 'blasters could also clinch the coveted President's Cup with a win tonight vs. Lahr at home coupled with a Wisborg Donuts loss on the road to Stockholm. However, the Donuts look mighty determined to bring the President's Trophy and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs home to Wisborg!
Hossa joins teammates Lecavalier (55) and Smyth (51) in reaching the 50 goal plateau this CCHL season. Certainly a high water mark for the Denver Spurs' franchise!

Spurs Nip Homers

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO

The Spurs returned home from the long flight looking a bit raggedy. The resting of certain key players in anticipation of the playoffs almost turned into a disaster as the Spurs barely got by the visiting Homers of Springfield, 2-1.
Scoring for the Spurs were Ben Guite (2) and Martin Lapointe (8). Lapointe's was the game winner. Picking up helpers were Stastny, Paetsch and Adams.
Denting the twine for the Homers was Sykora (23) from Zubrus and Gelinas at 19:09 of the 3rd to close out the scoring in the contest.
Peter Budaj, former Spur, played extremely well in stopping 41 of 43 shots. One could tell that he really wanted to beat his old 'mates. On the other side of the ice, Marty Brodeur stopped 19 of 20 Homers' shots.
Dasher Notes
Coach Q and GM Poelker are not sure what they'll do for the next game. Suit up the key players or possibly rest more. You'll know come game time.
Next contest is Monday night, here at the Coliseum, against division rival Beverly Hills.

Smyth Scores 50th, Spurs Win!

- Ice Surfer's Palace - Honolulu Hawaii

It was a wild one in Hawaii on Friday night. When
the ice chips settled, the Spurs had come away with a 7-6 win in OT on Ryan Smyth's 51st goal of the season! He had also lit the lamp at 19:42 of the 2nd period in potting his 50th of the season. Assisting were Malik and Selanne in putting the Spurs up 5-3 at the close of the 2nd. They also assisted on Smyth's OT game winner.
Selanne put in a marvelous performance with 4 helpers.
Scoring summary follows...

# TEAM PER  TIME  PLAYER        GOAL#  ASSIST #1      ASSIST #2      TYPE
-- ---- --- -----  ------------- -----  -------------  -------------  ------
1  HAW  1  00:21  Kovalchuk       32   O.Jokinen      Alfredsson     EST
2  HAW  1  19:56  Brind'Amour     18   Alfredsson     Schneider      EST
3  DEN  2  00:57  Lecavalier      54   Liles          McCabe         EST
4  DEN  2  06:19  Mrn.Hossa       49   Lecavalier     Tkachuk        EST
5  HAW  2  09:14  Cheechoo        26   Schneider      O.Jokinen      EST
6  DEN  2  16:51  Sakic           44   Selanne        Liles          PPG
7  DEN  2  17:59  Parrish         25   Laperriere     P.Stastny      EST
8  DEN  2  19:42  Smyth           50   Malik          Selanne        EST
9  DEN  3  03:20  Liles           22   McCabe         Selanne        PPG
10  HAW  3  06:14  O.Jokinen       32   Kovalchuk      Pronger        EST
11  HAW  3  14:04  O.Jokinen       33                                 EST
12  HAW  3  18:55  Nash            40   Schneider      McDonald       EST
13  DEN  4  01:17  Smyth           51   Malik          Selanne        EST

Dasher Notes
The Spurs return home to play the Springfield Homers Saturday night at the Coliseum. Hopefully they get some sleep on the non-stop from Honolulu to DIA for tonight's contest. It's likely some players will be rested after the long plane trip with fatigue lending to the possibility of injury. With the playoffs looming, now is not the time to lose any key players to injury.

Donuts Bake Spurs

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO

The Wisborg Donuts came to town and beat the Spurs like a drum 6-3. The race for the President's Trophy is now between the Donuts and Sandblasters. The Master Blasters are one point back of the Donuts and have a 4 point lead on the Spurs for the Jazz Conference title. Yep, the Spurs are going backwards at the worst time of the season.
Following is the scoring summary from the contest.

 # TEAM PER  TIME  PLAYER        GOAL#  ASSIST #1      ASSIST #2      TYPE
-- ---- --- -----  ------------- -----  -------------  -------------  ------
1  WIS  1  00:20  Ohlund          16   Jagr           Gomez          EST
2  WIS  1  09:41  Doan            24   Zubov          Jovanovski     PPG
3  DEN  1  14:13  Selanne         34   Skrastins      Sakic          EST
4  WIS  1  16:50  Lehtinen        25   Jovanovski     Sharp          EST
5  WIS  2  17:06  Jagr            34   Gomez          Jovanovski     EST
6  WIS  2  19:26  Doan            25   Stumpel        Rolston        EST
7  DEN  3  00:11  Smyth           49   Selanne        Sakic          PPG
8  DEN  3  17:43  Mrn.Hossa       48   Lecavalier     Tkachuk        EST
9  WIS  3  19:48  Jovanovski      13                                 PPG/EN

The Spurs launched 42 shots at Donut netminder Mason (left pic),
who was up to the task in stopping 39 of 'em. Brodeur turned in
yet another so-so performance in stopping 28 of 33 shots.
Nope, that's not gonna get it done.
Dasher Notes
Next on the schedule are the Master Blaster Sandblasters at their
house in Hawaii. The outcome of this game will probably decide the
winner of the Jazz Conference.

Spurs Over Scorpions

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, CO

Monday night the Spurs returned home and got back on the winning track versus the division rival Southwest Scorpions.
Of the 7 goals scored in the 5-2 win for the Spurs, 6 of them came in the 3rd period. The Spurs netted 4 in the period while the Scorpions got both of theirs in the 3rd. The contest was much closer than the score indicates with two of the Spurs' tallies being empty netters.

                                  GOALS
                                 -----
  # TEAM PER  TIME  PLAYER        GOAL#  ASSIST #1      ASSIST #2      TYPE
 -- ---- --- -----  ------------- -----  -------------  -------------  ------
  1  DEN  2  08:12  Laperriere       5   Staios         Peca           EST
  2  DEN  3  05:38  Selanne         33   Sakic          Smyth          PPG
  3  SWS  3  06:26  Gill             9   Fedotenko      H.Sedin        EST
  4  SWS  3  15:35  M.Koivu         19   D.Sedin        Z.Michalek     EST
  5  DEN  3  18:00  Smyth           48   Selanne        P.Stastny      EST
  6  DEN  3  19:40  Tkachuk         38   Skrastins      Mrn.Hossa      EST/EN
  7  DEN  3  19:57  Skrastins        2   Tkachuk        Lecavalier     EST/EN

Dasher Notes
Next up for the Spurs are the league leading Wisborg Donuts on Wednesday night here in
Denver. A must win for the Spurs if they hope to challenge for the President's Trophy.

Spurs Lose Again

- Hamilton, Ontario -

The Spurs lost to the Preds tonight by a score of 3-2. Unfortunately for the Spurs, the Dominator (Preds goalie Dom Hasek) was on his game while Brodeur wasn't for the Spurs.

   # TEAM PER  TIME  PLAYER        GOAL#  ASSIST #1      ASSIST #2      TYPE
-- ---- --- -----  ------------- -----  -------------  -------------  ------
1  HAM  2  02:22  M.Holmqvist      3   Reinprecht     Streit         PPG
2  DEN  2  11:33  Sakic           43   B.Clark        Selanne        PPG
3  HAM  2  18:17  Kotalik         17   Handzus        Iginla         EST
4  DEN  3  00:54  Mrn.Hossa       47   Tkachuk        Lecavalier     EST
5  HAM  3  07:06  Souray          27   T.White        Franzen        EST

A very disappointing 1-2 road trip at the worst point in the season.
Dasher Notes
Coach Q said there isn't a lot he can do about it at this point. He'll try juggling some things.
Seems like this club doesn't want the Conference title or Presidents' Trophy. Everytime, the past several weeks, they are in a position to open some ground, they lose.
As Dayton GM & Commish Corfield said, Denver overpaid for some players.
That statement is obvious now.

Spurs Split Again

(AP) Denver, CO

The Spurs last two games were on the road. In the first contest the Spurs were soundly beaten by the defending Champion Dayton Musicmen 4-2. The score itself does not indicate that the Spurs were outplayed in all facets of the game. The PK units disappeared as the 'men went 3 for 6 on the PP, while the defense corps also was out to lunch with the 'men peppering Brodeur with 51 shots.
Pavel Datsyuk (left pic) notched 2 goals and an assist in leading the Musicmen to the win.
The second contest saw the Spurs defeat Portland 4-2 in a more closely played contest. The Spurs outshot the Owls 44-37 with blueliner John-Michael Liles (right pic) leading the Spurs with his 20th and 21st goals of the season. John-Michael was credited with the lone power play tally of the game near the end of the contest and also picked up the game winner early in the 3rd.
Dasher Notes
The Spurs pulled two points ahead of the Master 'Blasters from Hawaii for the Jazz Conference lead with the 'blasters having a game in hand.
Next up are the Hamilton Predators in Hamilton tomorrow night. That makes it 3 road games in 3 nights. The Spurs need to salvage the road trip with a win vs. the Preds.

Spurs Nip Moon

- The Humidor - Havana, Cuba

The Spurs squeaked by the Moon 2-1, disappointing Fidel immensely. Marian Hossa (46) and Keith Tkachuk (36) scored for the Spurs with Sakic assisting on both tallies. Tkachuk's was on the power play and the game winner. Lighting the lamp for the Moon was Eric Staal (27). The Spurs had the SOG advantage in the contest 45-24 in giving Moon netminder DiPietro a workout.
Dasher Notes
Next up for the Spurs are the defending CCHL Champion Dayton Musicmen on Wednesday night at the Soundstage in Dayton. A 'must win' for both clubs.

Spurs Win one, Lose one

(AP) Denver, CO

The last two games have seen the Spurs defeat the Division rival Lawmasters and then lose 1-0 on the road to the Niagara Falls Thunder. Nikolai Khabibulin, "The Bulin Wall", literally stood on his head and lived up to his nickname in turning aside 51 Spurs' shots, making many spectacular saves in the process.
Dasher Notes
The Wisborg Donuts have pulled into a lead in the quest for the President's Trophy and what's more, the Hawaii Sandblasters have pulled into a tie for the Jazz Conference lead with Denver. Denver does have a game in hand on the 'blasters.
Next up for the Spurs are the Havana Moon in Havana on Monday night. Maybe Selanne can get the Spurs going again and put the Spurs on the right road the remainder of the season starting with leading them to a win versus his former team.

Lecavalier Nets 50th, Spurs Clinch Playoff Spot!!

- The Court House - Lahr, Germany

Vinny Lecavalier netted his 50th goal of the season at the 1:01 mark of the first period. In doing so he became the second player in the history of the Denver Spurs/Yellowknife Diamonds franchise to score 50 goals in a season!
Todd Bertuzzi lit the lamp 57 times for the '03'04 Yellowknife Diamonds. Of course, these numbers pale in comparison to some of the stats put up in the past by members of the defending CCHL Champion Dayton Musicmen.
Marian Hossa led the Spurs in the 5-2 road victory in potting 2 goals (44 & 45) including the game winner. Lighting the lamp for the 'justiz were Brad Richards (20) and Antropov (6). SOG in the contest were equal with the Spurs launching 35 at former Spur Tim Thomas and the 'justiz launching 34 at Marty Brodeur.
Dasher Notes
With this win the Spurs clinched a playoff spot.
During the contest blueliner Brett Clark was an astounding +4 with only 9 minutes of ice time! You don't see that often...eh
The win coupled with the Donuts' loss has again pulled Denver and Wisborg into a tie for most points in the CCHL this season. Wisborg has one more win than the Spurs. The Spurs pulled 4 points ahead of the Hawaii Sandblasters in the race for the Jazz Conference crown.
The next game is Thursday night at division rival Beverly Hills. The Spurs can't wait to get to the plush clubhouse that the Master Lawmaster Derek Chaiken provides.

Sakic Reaches 100

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, Colorado

Captain Joe Sakic reached the century mark tonight in the Spurs 8-0 shellacking of the visiting River City Renegades. Captain Joe assisted on the last two goals of the game in the 3rd period by Smyth & Selanne to give him 100 points on the season. Leading the Spurs in the win were Smyth, Hossa and Selanne, with each garnering 3 points in the contest. Netminder Martin Brodeur stopped 20 'gades shots in finally notching his 3rd shutout of the season.
Dasher Notes
The Spurs now have 4 players who have reached the century mark in points this season. Hossa (132), Lecavalier (113), Tkachuk (105) and now the aforementioned Sakic with 100. Also closing in on the century mark is portsider Ryan Smyth, who currently has 93 points.
Tonight the Spurs are winging it to Europe for a game versus the Lahr Lynchjustiz tomorrow night at the Court House.

Selanne Nets Two In Loss

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, Colorado

Teemu Selanne netted his 29th & 30th goals of the season while his teammates lost to the visiting Remparts Saturday night at the Coliseum. The Spurs led 1-0 entering the 3rd when the floodgates opened and the Quebecers put 4 past Spurs' netminder Marty Brodeur.
Scoring for the Remparts were Whitney(42), Brunette(27), M.Johnson(7) and S.Walker(21).
Final score, Remparts 4 Spurs 2.
Dasher Notes
No new injuries reported for the Spurs after the game. Most likely blueliners Marc-Andre Bergeron and Steve Staios will be returning to the lineup for the next game.

Spurs Top 100 Points

- White Sands Auditorium - Las Cruces, New Mexico

The Spurs defeated the Southwest Scorpions tonight in a USA Western Division matchup. In doing so, the Spurs eclipsed the 100 point barrier garnering their 101st point on the season. The Spurs are now tied with the Wisborg Donuts for the most points in the CCHL this season. The Donuts have more wins. Ryan Smyth (41,42) and Paul Stastny (22,23) led the Spurs in the victory along with blueliner McCabe who registered 4 helpers. Teemu Selanne also added his 28th goal of the season. Lighting the lamp for the hometown Scorpions were Afanasenkov (5) and Smolinski (13). The Spurs were an impressive 50% (2 for 4) on the powerplay.
Dasher Notes
Defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron joined Ben Guite and Steve Staios on the IR. The training staff reports that it will be just a few days before both Bergeron and Staios should be ready to return to the lineup. Coach Q has indicated that newly acquired blueliner Mark Giordano may see his first action in a Spurs uni come Saturday night versus the Quebec Remparts at the Coliseum in Denver.

Express Clobber Spurs

- Sarah Hughes Arena - Long Island, New York

The Spurs came to the Island full of themselves and were easily dispatched by a determined Express squad 6-3. The inconsistent Brodeur showed his inconsistency again in allowing 5 goals on 39 shots for a paltry .872 SvPct. Hard to say what his problem is. He should be performing much better.
Leading the Express to the victory was Jason Blake with 2 goals, along with Crosby and Parise who had 3 points each. Parise continues to haunt his former team.
Dasher Notes
This loss makes it 5 losses in the last 10 for the Spurs. The wheels are coming loose and Wisborg now has the lead for the President's Trophy by 2 points. They also have 2 more wins than the Spurs in the same number of games played. The next game for the Spurs is in 3 days back home against the Portland Owls. Hopefully the Spurs have themselves strightened out by then. Blueliner Paetsch suffered a minor injury in the contest.

Lecavalier's Natural Leads Spurs

- Denver Coliseum - Denver, Colorado

Vinny Lecavalier's natural hat trick led the Spurs to a 6-2 win over the visiting Linz Blackwings tonight at the Coliseum. The first two he scored within 7 seconds during the 2nd period, simply amazing. The third came about 4 minutes later to close out the scoring in the period. Lecavalier now has 43 goals on the season. Sakic netted his 40th in the contest while Smyth potted two and now has 37 to date. Marian Hossa had a hat trick of assists in helping Vinny pot his natural and leads the league in helpers by a wide margin.
Netminder Marty Brodeur gave up his customary two goals in the victory.
Dasher Notes
Newcomer Selanne picked up 2 assists in the contest during 24 minutes of ice time.
Blueliner McCabe was an impressive +4.
The Spurs travel to Long Island for a game against the Express for their next game.