The Gump Worsley Memorial Hockey League is looking to fill some ownership vacancies as we head into the 2011-2012 regular season! Read on to find out more…
Author Archive
Cows Escape Barn, Take Flight
In GLP on August 15, 2011 at 8:56 amAfter entering the league in 1999, the South Park Cows are no more. The franchise’s new ownership, which signed on this summer, has announced the team’s rebirth as the Great Lakes Pilots.
The Pilots will adopt new team colors for the 2011-2012 season and play out of the Solar Palace.
Bulldogs to Denver; Oregon Heads Down I-5
In DEN, News, SFS on August 1, 2011 at 11:16 am
The Midland Bulldogs are pulling up roots and heading to Denver, team officials have announced. The former ‘Dogs will be reborn as the Denver Spurs beginning in the 2011-2012 season.
In a long-rumored move, the Oregon Rugrats have also found a new home, heading down the coast to become the San Francisco Seals.
Time Machine: A Look Back at the GWMHL’s Early Days
In Special Features on July 9, 2011 at 8:43 amWe’ve got a real treat today – the very first issue of the official league newsletter, Between the Pipes. This was originally created by commissioner Mike Haley prior to the league’s inaugural season in 1993 and was physically mailed to league members.
Take a look inside and you’ll find:
- Talk about league rules as they were being written!
- Controversy in cyberspace! Concern over the GEnie service!
- Franchise draft results!
- A call for members to bug our very own Jim Connell about game features!
The 4 Shortest Careers in League History
In CHA, PIT, Special Features, STE, STL on July 5, 2011 at 7:21 amBlah-blah-blah-thousands. Blah-blah-blah-generational talent. We like to celebrate amazing careers and statistical milestones here. But what about the other end of the spectrum?
Here’s our look at the four shortest careers in Gump Worsley Memorial Hockey League history – careers that came and went in the time it takes for you to brush your teeth. Look at it as a celebration of incredible efficiency! Maybe these guys were all just really, really fast.
Zoom.
Midland and Vancouver Swap Forwards
In DEN, News, Transactions, VAN on July 2, 2011 at 9:28 am
The Midland Bulldogs and Vancouver Night Train have kicked off the summer with a center-for-winger swap.
The move sends pivot Tomas Plekanec to Vancouver, who are looking to recapture the ’09-’10 form of a team that was deep up the middle, for winger David Jones.
The Bulldogs are hoping that Jones, who has played 64 games over three seasons for Vancouver, gives them a top-six goal-scorer to play alongside the likes of Vincent Lecavalier, Danny Briere, Mike Richards, and Matt Duchene. Plekanec, meanwhile, is coming off a disappointing year (21 points in 61 games) but will likely see more icetime behind Jonathan Toews on the Night Train.
Checkers, Veterans Head List of Off-Season Player Releases
In BOS, DEL, GLP, NAS, News, SAL, SCA, SFS, STE, STL, Transactions, VAN, WIN on July 1, 2011 at 6:42 pmThe GWMHL has officially announced the list of player releases due to under-use, effective immediately. The list is headlined by veterans like Mike Modano, Adam Foote, and Chris Osgood, as well as two surprises – utility winger Tomas Kopecky, formerly of Delta, and center Darren Helm, who recently helped the Salem Wannabees to its second straight Gump Cup Finals.
All players who are now free agents who, if eligible, will be available in the pre-season Free Agent Draft.
The full list:
Gump Cup Hero: Alexander Semin
In Special Features, WVR on July 1, 2011 at 9:56 am
West Virginia‘s Alexander Semin is the kind of sniper you appreciate for their goal-scoring prowess while wondering about their commitment to the game.
Semin was drafted by the River Rats – then based in Bristol – 13th overall in 2004, between John-Michael Liles and Marek Svatos.
But he wasn’t Bristol’s marquee draft pick. This is the year management had decided to blow the whole thing up, dealing away most of its top players for draft picks. By draft day, they’d accumulated a staggering number of them – they had six picks in the first round and 10 in the top 30.
That year, they snagged the likes of Eric Staal, Joni Pitkanen, Dan Hamhuis, Antoine Vermette, Fedor Tyutin, Brent Burns, and Anton Babchuk… and Alex Semin.
Semin played one season for Bristol and failed to light it up, then bolted for Russia. In the meantime, Bristol became the West Virginia River Rats and Semin had matured into a big-time scorer. He potted 56 in his first year back, then 28, 40, and finally set a career high with 60 goals in ’10-’11.
West Virginia Wins It All! River Rats Sweep Salem to Lift the 2011 Gump Cup!
In News, SAL, WVR on June 30, 2011 at 5:35 pmThe West Virginia River Rats, headed by original GWMHL member Jim Connell, have won their first-ever Gump Cup!
After shocking the Salem Wannabees – who were in the finals for the second straight year – at home in games 1 and 2, the River Rats took it to West Virginia and sealed the sweep in front of the home crowd. They won game 3 by the score of 5-2, then took the Gump Cup with a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory that saw Alex Semin score the cup-winning goal. Semin finished tied for the playoff scoring lead with linemate Sidney Crosby. Each had 24 points in 17 games.
We’d like to congratulate Jim – you won’t find a finer GM and better guy! Congrats! And thank you to all our members on another great GWMHL season!
You can catch up on all the action from the 2010-2011 Gump Cup Playoffs right here.
What Got Us Here: 5 Trades That Shaped Today’s GWMHL
In GLP, SAL, SCA, Special Features, WIN, WVR on June 29, 2011 at 6:16 pm
With trading set to reopen once the finals are done and back-room talks already ramping up, it’s a good time to look back at some of the bigger deals in recent years – the moves that shook the GWMHL, shifted the balance of power, and got us where we are today.
GMs haven’t exactly been shy about moving marquee names, but these five game-changing trades are different: their effect is still being felt in the GWMHL today.
5. South Carolina trades Dany Heatley, Braydon Coburn, and Rich Peverley to Salem for Loui Eriksson, Jeff Carter, and Tomas Kaberle (2010)
Why? Heatley, Peverley and Coburn are all producers for the Fire Ants, there’s no question. Heatley, in particular has scored 38 and 40 goals as a Fire Ant, and the trade is pretty equal when you consider each team’s needs at the time.
But the move came at a time when the Wannabees were turning into serious contenders. If there’s a move that made its current run to the Gump Cup Finals possible, it’s this one. Eriksson has already had two 40-goal years for the Wannabees, and tallied 119 points this season. Carter had a down year behind Pavel Datsyuk and Nicklas Backstrom but is only a season removed from 54 goals. And Kaberle took a deep defense corps and made it ridiculous.
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