Former Champs near bottom

(AP) Denver, CO The Spurs have gotten off to a rocky start this season. They currently sport a 1-3 record and are near the bottom of the new league standings format. i.e. All one league, no conferences or divisions for the 22 CCHL franchises. The offensive effort to date is tied for 20th in the league with the defense tied for 16th. Looks like the glory days are over for the entry from Denver and the Rocky Mountain West.
A triumvirate of goaltenders have been utilized so far with Brodeur 1-1, 2.oogaa .943svpct posting the only win. Backup Pekka Rinne in his lone appearance was a woeful 0-1, 7.00gaa .774.svpct. Perhaps he doesn't have the makeup to man the net in the CCHL. Next in the rotation was Steve Valiquette, who while fairing better than Rinne, lost to the Honved in Budapest 4-3 in OT, while posting 3.69gaa .892svpct numbers.
Goal scoring has been non-existent for the punchless Spurs who have managed to pot only 7 goals thus far in 4 games.
Leading the club in scoring to date are Smyth 2g 2a 4pts, Liles 1g 2a 3pts but sports a team low -5 and Captain Sakic who has 3 assists in 3gp out of the 4 total games the Spurs have played to date. There has been a lot of
personnel and line shuffling the first few games. The result being that 27 of the 29 players on the pro roster have been utilzed in the 4 games to date. The lone blueliner who hasn't played, Finger, will be suiting up for the next game with Liles spending some time in the pressbox for the time being with his -5. That will leave only one player yet to see ice time. That being center Andrew Ebbett. His time will come, no doubt.
Coach Quenneville said, "It's been rough, but I have to see who plays best with whom. The chemistry...ya know? To be honest, I don't have a clue yet. John-Michael needs to get his head straight. He's been jumping into the play too much. For some reason he doesn't have the 'feel' yet this season for when to jump in and when to lay back. It's been burning us. But, ya know, he doesn't wear that CCHL Champs ring for nothing. He was a big cog in that championship run a couple of season ago."
Dasher Notes
Brodeur will be between the pipes for the Spurs' next game at the Eissporthalle Linz vs. the Blackwings. After the game the Spurs will board the charter jet for the non-stop all night flight back to Denver to face the Bismarck North Dakota Ibex back home the very next night. While they'll gain about 8 hours or so during the trip it still doesn't bode well....eh? I guess the league office never heard of jet lag! Whoever made up this travel schedule ought to be shot! Winger McCormick was injured in the game vs. Budapest when he was run into the boards with no ensuing penalty! It appears he will be out for an extended period at press time. Coach Q is going to experiment with free agent Jamie Lundmark at LW since he has played the port side earlier in his career. Other players besides Liles are going to sit out with players who didn't play in Hungary suiting up vs. the Ibex. Coach Q is hoping this will combat the travel fatigue factor and result in the 2nd win of the season.

Until Next Time...









This is Peter Puckhead signing off

Start of '09-'10 CCHL Season

(AP) Denver, CO Much has transpired with the Denver CCHL franchise since the last article. After collapsing in the semis last season vs. the Havana Moon after being up 3-1, Spurs' management was displeased to say the least.
GM Poelker said, "What a deplorable way to defend the CC Cup. While I realize the Havana Moon are an excellent club, to fold like that after being up 3 games to 1 was embarrassing. Our congrats go out to Havana, the President's Cup winning Dayton franchise and, of course, to JimLeopardi and his Quebec Remparts on winning the CCHL Cup last season. Congrats to all the playoff clubs of the CCHL last season and all the other outstanding franchises that make up the CCHL for an excellent '08-'09 season."
Well, as things turned out the GM and ownership were more disgusted than most realized. Because during this past off season, Marian Hossa, who had been dubbed the franchise more than once by Poelker, was dispatched to River Cities along with backup netminder Kevin Weekes for a collection of players.
Leading the group was rookie blueliner Matt Hunwick who won a starting position on the 2nd line defense pairing this past training camp.
Also making the club this year from this trade is goaltender Pekka Rinne who will backing up Marty Brodeur to start the season. With Marty getting a bit long in the tooth, the plan is to have him get a lot more games off this season.
There were three other players obtained in the deal, all prospects, those being Joe Colborne centerman, who is currently playing for the University of Denver Pioneers, rearguard Bobby Sanguinetti with the Hartford Wolfpack of the AHL and winger Mike Hoeffel of the University of Minnesota.
In a surprising move Captain Joe Sakic was offered a 2yr deal worth $1.6mil which the free agent quickly accepted. In accepting the offer, Joe said, "It'll be great to be back with some of the guys I won the CCHL Cup with in Denver. This will probably be my last contract and I'll be more than happy to retire as a Denver Spur".
Management certainly hopes that some of Super Joe's 'magic' can rub off on his teammates and the prospects in the organization.
Free agent Left winger Ryan Smyth was resigned to a 2yr deal worth $7.7mil and will man the 1st line LW position with Sakic at the center pivot to start the season. In a startling move, it has been decided to have Milan Lucic man the 1st line RW position after being utilized sparingly in his rookie campaign last season.
In preseason they seemed to click fairly well, it'll be interesting to see what the regular season brings.
To fill some holes at winger and to provide depth at the position, vets Brendan Shanahan, Jamie Lundmark and Landon Wilson were picked up in the waiver draft this year. So it appears that two old warhorses, Sakic & Shanny, might be retiring in Denver Spurs' uniforms. Not bad for a franchise relocated from the wilds of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Only 250 miles (400 km) south of the Arctic Circle.

Dasher Notes:
Other players leaving the club from last season either through contract expiration, cuts or trades were Hlinka (F), MacDonald (F), Malik (D), Paetsch (D), Parrish (F), Peca (F), Richardson (F), Skrastins (D), Stillman (F) and Tkachuk (F).
Other additions either via free agency or from within the system have been Ebbett (F), Giordano (D), Salo (D), Visnovsky (D) and Yelle (F).
Quite a turnover and what came in, sorry guys, doesn't replace what went out.
I'm afraid it'll be a long year for the Spurs. While the playoffs are possible in the new look CCHL (no conferences or divisions), going far probably isn't going to happen.

Until next time this is...









Peter Puckhead signing off...

Spurs Take USA West

(AP) Denver, CO
Well, as they say, better late than never as far as this article. The Spurs took the USA Western Division of the Jazz Conference and are the 3rd seed in the Jazz in defence of their CCHL Cup. This gave the Spurs home ice advantage in the 1st round of the playoffs vs. Linz. The Spurs were able to dispatch the Blackwings in 4 straight outscoring them 19-12 in the series. In the second round of the playoffs vs. the Moon the Spurs currently hold a comfortable 3-1 lead heading into Gm5 at the Humidor in Havana. 'Ol Fidel is none too happy. The Spurs lost Gm1 in Havana 5-2 and then managed to reel off three consecutive 3-2 wins in Gm2 at Havana and Games 3 & 4 at the Coliseum in Denver. Hopefully the magic will continue for the Spurs and they'll reach the Jazz Conference Finals.
Leading the way in the playoffs for the Spurs is the dependable Ryan Smyth who has lit the lamp 6 times along with 7 helpers for 13 points in in 7gp to go along with a +6 rate. His center pivot Vinny Lecavalier has chipped in 12 points with 10 helpers and 2 goals along with a +9 rate. By the end of Game 5 only 3 Spurs, winger McCormick and backup netminders Valiquette and Weekes, will not have seen ice time during the playoffs to date. Hopefully Valiquette and Weekes see none because this would mean starting netminder and team leader Marty Brodeur has been injured. Currently the President Cup winning Dayton Musicmen are in a dogfight with the River Cities Renegades for the other slot in the Jazz Conference Finals. They are tied 2 games a piece heading into Gm5 at Dayton's Soundstage.

Midseason Report

(AP) Denver, CO

The halfway mark of the season sees the defending CCHL Champs with 46 points and in 5th place in the Jazz Conference, one point ahead of division rival Portland. The Spurs currently hold 2nd place in the USA Western Division, one point up on the previously mentioned Portland Owls and three points back of the division leading Beverly Hills Lawmasters.
It has been a disappointing season to date for the Spurs, who have barely managed to stay around .500 hockey all season.
The team seems to be unable to perform well at home, sporting a .500 record at the Coliseum in Denver.
The road has seen the Spurs post a .619 winning percentage to date, which is a repeat of last season when the Spurs were also a good road team. Go figure. If the Spurs were just able to be a bit better on home ice, they'd be in first place in the Division and would probably be knocking on the door of the Conference leading Musicmen of Dayton.
One of the reasons for the team's spotty play is the equally spotty play of netminder Marty Brodeur. He's been up and down all season, following a brilliant performance with an equally mediocre one. Hopefully Marty finds himself over the second half of the season. He'll have to if the Spurs expect to go anywhere come playoff time.

Leading the Spurs in the goal scoring department are Lecavalier (20), Sykora (19) and Hossa (18).

The assist leaders are Stastny (31), Hossa (29) and Smyth (28).
The overall points leaders are Hossa (47), Lecavalier (43) and Smyth (42).

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