The IceHL trudges on with another week of fantasy hockey. Here's the line-up:
And now a recap of the week's transactions.
But wait, there's more! Complete and updated stat packs for anyone interested.
We've got final scores for another round of IceHL match-ups. Take a look.
One incredible streak came to an abrupt end in the IceHL WEST this week. The Aviators are flying high after catching the unstoppable Outlaws, who were dealt their first loss of the season following a 5-0 run. Seattle got big points from all three forwards, propelling them to an impressive 84-51 victory. Kris Newbury and Peter Holland combined for 46 points as the team amassed 7 goals and 5 assists.
Dallas' loss was not indicative of any particular shortfalls, however. Sean Couturier picked up 3 goals, an assist and 2 penalty minutes for 17 points while defenseman David Runblad lit it up with 2 goals and 2 assists for 14 points. The Outlaws' talent was on display this week as penalty minutes accounted for only 4 points this week, while the Aviators relied on 35 PIMs. But even if you take away the time spent in the box, Seattle still would've been 2 points ahead overall.
The Beasts showed their teeth with a 78-57 win over the Huskies. Goalie Yann Danis stood tall for 3 victories (18 points) and defenseman Brendan Smith earned 3 assists and 9 penalty minutes (also 18 points). Mike Sgarbossa was impressive as well in his second week with Boulder, grabbing 2 of each stat for 16 points. For Alaska, Jonathan Audy-Marchessault was back to his high-scoring ways with 22 points as Zack Kassian earned another 17.
After an 0-4 start, the Sharpshooters have put together back-to-back victories with a 52-31 win over the Cavalry — who are still looking for their first W of the 2012-13 season. Danny Taylor's shutout win earned him 10 points for Saskatoon as Sami Vatanen picked up 16 points on a goal and 12 penalty minutes. In Calgary, T.J. Brennan and Alex Burmistrov combined for 23 points this week as Jake Gardiner and Roman Horak were left pointless.
The Winterhawks kept their unblemished record alive, improving to 6-0 on a 52-30 win over the red-hot Pioneers. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for Portland, which saw minimal production this week. Justin Schultz, on the other hand, was on fire for Winnipeg. His 2 goals and 5 assists earned him 23 points as Brett Connolly grabbed 4 assists for 12 points.
Taylor Hall carried the Kodiaks to a 54-42 win over the Hellcats. Hall tallied 30 points on a goal, 8 assists and a minor penalty. Tyson Barrie chipped in with a goal and 2 assists for 10 points for Edmonton. Houston suffered up front as two forwards were left without points. The blue line made an effort with a combined 25 points, but it wasn't quite enough to hold on.
Elsewhere, the Wave moved into 2nd overall, powered by 33 points from their defense, with a 61-55 win over the Renegades. The Lumberjacks beat the struggling Gators 54-41. And the Scorpions have only their forwards to thank for a 49-40 win over the Narwhals.
Now on to the other league.
There were a couple of shockers in the IceHL EAST in Week 6. For one, the Arsenal (1-4) knocked off the Nighthawks (4-1) by an 80-59 margin. Atlanta's roster finally came to life in a big way as the entire team pitched in — and not just with penalty minutes either. Every skater had at least one assist and goalie Yann Danis had 3 wins for 18 points.
And it's not like North Carolina was sitting on the bench. Jordan Eberle alone was remarkable with 5 goals, 2 assists and 2 PIMs for 28 points. Brendan Smith also contributed 3 assists and 9 penalty minutes for 18 points. But unfortunately their fifth win was just out of reach this week.
In the other match-up between a 4-1 team and a 1-4 team, the Colonials stunned the Armada 81-59 — very similar to the score of that Nighthawks-Arsenal game. Five players were in double digits for Boston, including 24 points from Brayden Schenn and 30 from the defensive pairing. Only Cody Hodgson was without a point as he's been sidelined with an injury. Together, Nazem Kadri and Zack Kassian had 29 points for Quebec.
Another surprise came in the form of the Olympiques' 79-55 victory over the Lagers. Montreal set a team record for points primarily thanks to a 55-point collaboration between Peter Holland and Taylor Hall. Meanwhile, Milwaukee continues a slow descent from the top of the league standings. The team has now followed a three-game winning streak with a three-game losing streak, despite continued production from players like Zack Boychuk, Justin Faulk and Brett Connolly.
The Barracudas continued their unbeaten run with a 44-38 win over the Steelcats. Both teams got production all the way down the roster. Tampa Bay was led by Tyler Johnson's 3 goals and 2 assists (18 points) while Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nick Leddy teamed up for 21 points for Hamilton. These were two very closely-matched teams in Week 6.
The Archers won a very tight one against the Guardians, 64-59. And it was the defense playing a starring role as Justin Schultz and Oliver Ekman-Larsson teamed up for 38 points. On the other side, Andy Miele started to show a spark with 5 assists and 2 PIMs for 17 points to lead New York. A win from goalie Curtis McElhinney this week would've been enough to put them over the top.
Elsewhere, Tomas Tatar's 5 goals powered the Hitmen to a 51-37 win over the Mariners. The Blue Crabs beat the Sentinels 42-28 on 21 points from Kris Newbury. And the Motorheads dug the Mammoths into a deeper hole — while digging themselves out of one — with a 36-29 victory.
Up next: Will the Barracudas and Winterhawks be able to keep up their winning ways? Will the Cavalry finally catch a break? Can the Aviators and Renegades continue their point domination? All of these questions and more will be answered with another week of IceHL hockey. Stay tuned!
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Get your IceHL fix with the newest episode of our podcast!
In the fourth installment of the IceHL Podcast, host and Sharpshooters GM Tony Pomposelli leads a conversation with Lagers GM Ted Enarson, Huskies AGM Austin Ell and IceHL Commissioner and Barracudas GM Chris Smith to talk about the NHL's ongoing labor dispute, IceHL managerial strategies and interactions with AHL players. The panel also talks about hockey jersey ownership, preferences and dislikes in jersey design.
Recorded 11/17/12
Music from Overclocked Remix. Opening: The Wingless: Pearl Song. Closing: Insert Rupee: Depth Perception, from the album Pilotwings: Take Flight.
Here's what lies ahead in Week 6 for the IceHL.
Now, the roster transactions executed this week.
Let the week's games begin!
Another exciting week of IceHL action has just wrapped up. Check out the scores.
The big question in Week 5 was whether the IceHL EAST's only undefeated team could hang onto that title for yet another week. In fact, they did. The Barracudas topped the Archers 66-53, improving to 5-0 this season. Tampa Bay got double-digit points from all but one member of the team, as Tyler Johnson led the way with 17, including 2 goals and an assist. Goalie Dustin Tokarski's 2 wins made him the Barracudas' second-highest scorer.
For the Archers, Adam Henrique and Justin Schultz combined for 32 points, which included 2 goals and 6 assists. Unfortunately, defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been a disappointment recently. The 2 points he earned this week were his first since grabbing 36 total in Weeks 1 and 2. The good news for both teams was that not a single player was left off the scoresheet this week.
The noteworthy team of the week was the Nighthawks, who tied a league record, scoring 82 points to defeat the Sentinels, who had 52. The forwards shined bright for North Carolina as Kyle Palmieri, Keith Aucoin and Jordan Eberle each finished north of 20 points. But that's not to discount the defensemen, who also pitched in with a couple of assists. The Sentinels were led by blue-liner Jake Gardner who had a goal and 4 assists for 16 points.
It looks like the Motorheads are ready to start turning things around, as they snapped a four-week skid to earn their first victory of the season, 36-31 over the Colonials. Chris Bourque made his mark with a goal, 2 assists and 6 minutes in the box for 16 points. Meantime, Boston extends its losing streak to three games, but not for lack of trying from Brayden Schenn, who accounted for 19 points on 4 goals and an assist.
The Olympiques finally put their offensive power on full display with a 66-34 win over the Mariners. Cory Conacher rose to the top with 21 points on a goal, 3 assists and 8 penalty minutes for Montreal. Even D-man Garrett Stafford tallied 13 points on 3 assists and 4 PIMs. Despite the lost, Radko Gudas was most impressive for Hartford, notching 17 points on a goal, 2 assists and 7 penalty minutes.
Coming off their first loss of the season, the Lagers added another this week, falling 51-39 to the Hitmen. Both teams got points from their entire rosters, but Mark Barberio had 17 alone for Chicago. Milwaukee saw below-average points from all of its skaters while Justin Peters earned a place in the spotlight with a pair of wins, good for 12 points.
Meanwhile, the Guardians thumped the Steelcats 62-38. The Blue Crabs won 53-32 over the Arsenal. And after an anomalous Week 4, the Armada and Mammoths went back to their old ways as Quebec beat Minnesota 40-16.
Now let's take a look at the other conference.
An unbelievable new mark was set in Week 5 by the Pioneers, who earned a stunning 92 points in their 92-66 victory over the Huskies. The record-breaking win catapulted Portland from 11th to 6th in the IceHL WEST standings. Most of the credit goes to an inordinate amount of penalty time, but that wasn't the sole source of Mike Kostka's 43 points! The defenseman picked up a goal and 5 assists to go along with 24 PIMS this week. Joining him was Kyle Palmieri with 27 points. Do the math; together they earned 70 points, the greatest performance by any pair of teammates this season.
Meantime, Alaska's performance was nothing to sneeze at. Three players earned 12 points or more, including 21 from Cory Conacher. And every member of the team contributed this week, which was more than could be said for the Pioneers. If the Huskies had been up against almost anyone else this week, it would've almost surely put them back in the W column.
Also making noise this week was the Sharpshooters, claiming their first win of the season with a 46-40 win over the defending league champion Beasts. Chris Bourque and Radko Gudas combined for 33 points on the Saskatoon side while goalie Yann Dannis led Boulder with 12 points on 2 wins. The Beasts got production from the entire roster, but the skaters were all below their scoring averages.
The Kodiaks continued their run of alternating wins and losses with a 67-37 beatdown of the Narwhals. All but one skater hit double-digit points as the blue line itself tallied a total of 28 points. As a team, Edmonton chalked up an impressive 6 goals and 10 assists. The Narwhals, on the other hand, couldn't find a single goal and no player earned more than one assist. Devante Smith-Pelly's 13 points was the team's best this week.
The undefeated Winterhawks and Outlaws continued their winning ways in Week 5. Winnipeg stunned the Aviators 57-34 on a huge performance from Brett Connolly. The NHLer picked up 3 goals, 2 assists and 4 penalty minutes for 22 points. Meanwhile AHL teammate Tyler Johnson led Seattle with 17 points on 2 goals, 1 assist and 6 PIMs.
Dallas just edged out the Cavalry 45-43, relying heavily on Keith Aucoin's 23-point effort. For Calgary, Jake Gardiner and Eric Tangradi combined for 31 points but got only minimal help from two other teammates. The loss leaves Calgary as the only IceHL team yet to find its way to a win this season.
The once-hot Renegades, who opened the year 3-0, were dealt another blow this week falling just short of the Scorpions, 67-65. Both sides got great efforts, but Nazem Kadri's 27 points were key for Salt Lake City. Regina's forwards were all in double digits with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins leading the way on 4 goals and 2 assists for 22 points.
Elsewhere, the Wave improved to 4-1 with a 54-44 win over the Gators. And the Lumberjacks trumped the Hellcats 47-30, a lead of 17 points, which is exactly what T.J. Hensick put up for Vancouver this week.
Interesting developments overall in Week 5. A new single-week point record. A new individual player point record. And the season's first wins for previously winless teams. We're almost a quarter of the way through the IceHL season and it's proving to be just as exciting without the NHL as it was with it!
Tuesday · Nov 27 · 2012 | 3:00 AM PST