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Great Lakes Deals Hartnell

In BOS, DEL, DEN, GLP, Transactions on July 2, 2016 at 10:10 am

The Great Lakes Pilots have shipped veteran winger Scott Hartnell to the Delta Sturgeon. In exchange, the Pilots get Brad Richards and Delta’s 4th rounder in 2016. Hartnell is coming off a surprise 52-goal, 92-point season.

From Delta GM Andrew Martin:  “This has nothing to do with Brad Richards. He filled the role we asked him to fill, and was a consummate professional. However, the coaching staff has decided to move Nathan Mackinnon to Center for the upcoming season. This really necessitated us looking at our roster and seeing if we had adequate big bodies to fight in the corners. The answer is a resounding no, and so we have been on the lookout to obtain someone to help dig pucks out for our talented Centermen. We’re happy to have added Scott to our club, and look forward to him helping us in our bid for a playoff spot in the upcoming season.”

In other news, the Boston Banshees sent depth centre Boyd Gordon to the Denver Spurs for Great Lakes’ 4th, previously acquired in the deal that sent Joffrey Lupul to the Pilots.

Boston Swings First Two Deals of Offseason

In Transactions on April 16, 2016 at 1:34 pm

Moments after the Baltimore Crab lifted the 2016 Gump Cup, the Boston Banshees — licking their wounds after a loss to Nashville in the Sawchuk Conference final — finalized a pair of trades.

In the first, the Banshees acquired veteran forwards Jaromir Jagr (the GWMHL’s newly minted all-time leader in points) and Rick Nash, along with a 4th rounder, from the rebuilding Charleston Chiefs for Jason Zucker, Luke Schenn, and San Jose’s 3rd rounder.

The second deal saw Boston shipping steady blueliner Josh Gorges to the Ice Harbor Storm for Daniel Winnik, Cody Franson, and a 4th.

Baltimore Crab Win the Gump Cup!

In BAL, News on April 16, 2016 at 10:06 am

The Baltimore Crab have won the 2016 Gump Cup!

Sami Vatanen’s goal with 5:48 left in game 5 against the Nashville Knights gave them a lead they would not relinquish. And so, in their first playoff appearance in 14 years, after many seasons of rebuilding, the Crab are your new GWMHL champs.

En route to the cup win, the Crabs beat Winnipeg in five and then knocked off the defending three-time champ Salem in a four-game sweep.

Nashville’s Patrick Kane led the league in postseason scoring with 21 points. Knights starter Cory Schneider also led all the goaltending category except the one that matters most in the playoffs — wins. That distinction belonged to the Crab’s Roberto Luongo, who put together a sensational run on the way to his second career championship.

Fire Ants Win Draft Lottery

In SCA, Transactions on April 10, 2016 at 1:24 pm

The South Carolina Fire Ants won the draft lottery today, moving from 3rd to 1st. Will the Ants take Connor McDavid or go off the board? We’ll find out in a few months.

The San Jose Hosers held at 2nd while the Portland Winterhawks, who had the league’s worst record (14-56-12) fell to 3rd overall. Still, in what’s shaping up to be one of the best talent pools to date, the ‘Hawks are all but guaranteed a fine player.

2015-16 Regular Season Ends; Thrilling Playoffs Lie Ahead

In News on March 28, 2016 at 8:08 pm
Another exciting regular season has ended in the GWMHL. Here’s a look ahead to the playoffs, as well as some of the season’s finest performers.
Triumphant Postseason Returns
Three teams have ended long playoff droughts this season, led by the Baltimore Crab. After amassing an impressive group of young guns, the Crab overcame a rocky first half to finish near the top of the league. They’ll be making their first playoff appearance in 14 years. The Winnipeg Falcons also return after a 10-year absence, while the Ice Harbor Storm ended a 9-year streak.
Is This the Year the Salem Juggernaut Falls?
The Sabercats are bound for their 9th straight playoff appearance — a league-leading run that’s seen 5 visits to the finals and 3 straight Gump Cups. Can a team like Nashville, which nearly cracked 60 wins this season, take them down?
The Haves and Have-Nots
The season saw a big shift in the league, as a number of teams fell out of contention and entered rebuilding periods. With Boston, Baltimore, Nashville, and Salem all surpassing 50 wins, a whopping 11 teams skated to sub-.500 finishes.
Tyler Johnson Takes Scoring Crown
For the first time in four season, someone other than a Nashville Knight captured the scoring lead. That honour goes to Baltimore’s Tyler Johnson, who came out of nowhere with 116 points. Alex Ovechkin led the GWMHL in goals with 55; 44 of them at even strength.
Rinne Stumbles
It looked like Vancouver’s Pekka Rinne had best goaltender honours in the bag heading into the final quarter, but a rough patch saw his save percentage plummet from .934 to .924. That opened the way for El Dorado’s Carey Price (.928). The two had 6 shutouts apiece (as did Brian Elliott) although Price did it in just 41 games.
Stone Wins the Rookie Race
Rinne’s teammate Mark Stone led all rookies with 58 points, 6 ahead of Whaler Johnny Gaudreau. Winnipeg Falcon Mike Hoffman was the only rookie to top 30 goals (31).

Playoff Races Heat Up

In News on February 19, 2016 at 1:28 pm

With just 18 games to go, the race for the 8 spots in the 2016 Gump Cup playoffs is heating up.

In the Plante, Baltimore staked its claim to the 2nd spot with a 19-5-0 quarter — more wins than any other team in the league. El Dorado is still puttering along at .500 and sits 5 points back of Great Lakes for the last playoffs berth. It’ll take some major fourth quarter heroics from the Price/Rask tandem to get the Lynx in, but if any duo is up to the task, it’s them.

In the Sawchuk, Farmington (17-5-2) woke up in a big way while New England faded, putting the Fighting Saints one spot ahead of 5th place Ice Harbor. The Storm are after their first shot at a Gump Cup in some seasons. Meanwhile, Nashville became the first team to surpass 100 points this season, and by a comfortable margin.

Boston’s Max Pacioretty still holds the league lead in goals (45), with Great Lakes’ Scott Hartnell (44) nipping at his heels. Meanwhile, Pacioretty’s teammate Nick Foligno leads all point-getters with 86. Notably, a stellar quarter has put West Virginia’s Sidney Crosby right back in the thick of the scoring race (3rd with 80 points).

Pekka Rinne of the Vancouver Night Train fell off a little on the quarter, but he still leads the league in GAA (1.99), save percentage (.934), and shutouts (6).

Delta Ships Ladd to Division Rival

In DEL, NAS, Transactions on January 8, 2016 at 9:25 am

The Delta Sturgeon (18-18-4) may only be three points out of a playoff spot, but that didn’t stop them from shipping out one of its top wingers — to division rival Nashville, no less.

The white-hot Knights (30-4-6) add Ladd, who has 29 points in 40 games, to a forward corps that already boasts three of the season’s top scorers, including Claude Giroux, Jakub Voracek, and Daniel Sedin.

The trade was made during the first half of play but only finalized at the just-opened midseason trade window.

A Stick-Tap for Selanne

In EDH, News on October 14, 2015 at 8:55 am

With retirement on the way and his rights on the verge of being relinquished for good, we bid adieu to one of the GWMHL’s all-time greats.

The El Dorado Lynx‘s Teemu Selanne was unquestionably one of the best offensive players in league history. After 21 seasons, all with the same franchise, Selanne is 1st all-time in both goals and points, and 4th in assists. Those records may fall in the next season or three — Jarome Iginla is 69 goals behind while the ageless Jaromir Jagr trails Selanne by just 38 points — but none of that matters today. Selanne, who began his GWMHL career as the first overall pick in the league’s first ever draft, retires a legend.

Selanne now passes the mantle to Jagr, who is now the only remaining active player from the inaugural GWMHL season.

Selanne’s legacy in a nutshell:

  • – 17 seasons with 20 or more goals, with 5 breaking 50
  • – 4 100-point campaigns
  • – 4 league championships

Check out our first retrospective about the Finnish Flash right here.

Year	Name                    GP   G	  A	PTS	+/-	PIM
93-94	Rochester Chenes Royale	84   73	  39	112	-25	55
94-95	Rochester Chenes Royale	42   26	  19	45	-1	26
95-96	Rochester Chenes Royale	74   27	  29	56	8	12
96-97	Rochester Chenes Royale	79   20	  34	54	8	22
97-98	Morgan Hill Lynx	80   59	  42	101	17	56
98-99	Morgan Hill Lynx	75   50	  33	83	19	50
99-00	Morgan Hill Lynx	75   55	  40	95	30	38
00-01	Morgan Hill Lynx	79   40	  34	74	29	20
01-02	Morgan Hill Lynx	73   31	  47	78	45	44
02-03	Morgan Hill Lynx	82   35	  30	65	19	66
03-04	Morgan Hill Lynx	82   24	  28	52	28	38
04-06	El Dorado Lynx		78   11	  8	19	-22	44
06-07	El Dorado Lynx		80   48	  64	112	16	76
07-08	El Dorado Lynx		82   57	  55	112	32	12
08-09	El Dorado Lynx		26   12	  19	31	7	18
09-10	El Dorado Lynx		69   29	  35	64	-11	56
10-11	El Dorado Lynx		54   26	  34	60	21	16
11-12	El Dorado Lynx		73   32	  54	86	11	37
12-13	El Dorado Lynx		82   25	  52	77	18	64
13-14	El Dorado Lynx		46   14	  17	31	2	24
14-15	El Dorado Lynx		59   3	  7	10	-4	10
Totals			     1,474  697	 720	1,417	247	896

MacKinnon Headlines 2014 Draft

In News, Transactions on November 1, 2014 at 2:06 pm

It was one of the deepest drafts in recent memory, and the Delta Sturgeon took full advantage at the 2014 Rookie Draft. With the first overall pick, the Sturgeon chose phenom Nathan MacKinnon, then followed it with Nikita Kucherov at 10th, John Gibson at 21st, and Cody Ceci at 30th.

By contrast, it was a quiet day for trades, with most teams opting to hold on to their picks. The only move was a late round swap between Salem and Vancouver.

See the full results here.

Huberdeau Kicks Off 2013 Rookie Draft

In News, Transactions on November 23, 2013 at 1:19 pm

The Ice Harbor Storm chose Jonathan Huberdeau to kick off the 2013 Rookie Draft. From there, it was a day of few surprises.  Perhaps most notably, the Pittsburgh Hornets cashed in on the deadline deal that sent Brad Richards and Sergei Gonchar to South Carolina – on top of Travis Hamonic, they drafted Justin Schultz and Mark Psysyk with the Fire Ants’ former picks, alongside Alex Galchenyuk (2nd overall), Beau Bennett, and Petr Mrazek.

The day’s trades included:

– Charleston sending veteran defensemen Derek Morris and Marek Zidlicky to Boston for Michael Rozsival and the Banshee’s 3rd (Alexander Urbom) and 4th (Jordan Schroeder) picks

– New England then picking up Morris from Boston for Tim Gleason

– New England shipping out Mason Raymond and Tomas Tatar to Baltimore for Michael Grabner

– Salem trading Luca Sbisa and its 3rd (Tye McGinn) to Boston for Carl Gunnarsson

– El Dorado moving two 4ths for Great Lakes’ 3rd in 2014

– Vancouver swapping its 4th for New England’s 4th in 2014

Round 1
1. Ice Harbor – Jonathan Huberdeau
2. Pittsburgh – Alex Galchenyuk
3. Delta – Brendan Gallagher
4. Baltimore – Vladimir Tarasenko
5. Winnipeg – Nail Yakupov
6. West Virginia – Dougie Hamilton
7. Sterling – Jonas Brodin
8. Farmington – Tyler Toffoli
9. Pittsburgh (from South Carolina) – Justin Schultz
10. San Francisco – Jakob Silfverberg
11. El Dorado – Mikael Granlund
12. Portland – Brendan Dillon
13. Great Lakes – Danny DeKeyser
14. Denver – Emerson Etem
15. Charleston – Filip Forsberg
16. Boston – Alex Chiasson
17. Baltimore (from Nashville) – Charlie Coyle
18. New England – Chris Kreider
19. Vancouver – Ryan Murphy
20. Salem – Torey Krug

Round 2
21. Vancouver (from Ice Harbor) – Nick Bjugstad
22. Delta – Cory Conacher
23. Baltimore – Alex Killorn
24. Pittsburgh – Beau Bennett
25. Winnipeg – Jake Allen
26. West Virginia – Mikhail Grigorenko
27. Sterling – Jake Muzzin
28. Farmington – J.T. Miller
29. Pittsburgh (from South Carolina) – Mark Psysyk
30. San Francisco – Thomas Hickey
31. El Dorado – Nathan Beaulieu
32. Portland – Ondrej Palat
33. Nashville (from Great Lakes) – Max Reinhart
34. Baltimore (from Denver) – Tyler Johnson
35. Charleston – Taylor Beck
36. Delta (from Boston) – Drew Shore
37. Baltimore (from Nashville) – Jarred Tinordi
38. New England – Jamie Oleksiak
39. Vancouver – Andrej Sustr
40. Salem – Eric Gelinas

Round 3
41. Boston (from Ice Harbor via New England) – Richard Panik
42. Delta – Matt Irwin
43. Baltimore – Sami Vatanen
44. Pittsburgh – Petr Mrazek
45. Winnipeg – Austin Watson
46. West Virginia – Mark Arcobello
47. Sterling – Richard Rakell
48. Farmington – Dmitrij Jaskin
49. Boston (from South Carolina) – Nicklas Jensen
50. San Francisco – Antoine Roussel
51. El Dorado – Quinton Howden
52. Portland – Radko Gudas
53. El Dorado (from Great Lakes via Ice Harbor) – Stefan Matteau
54. Denver – Brian Flynn
55. Charleston – Ryan Stanton
56. Charleston (from Boston) – Alexander Urbom
57. Charleston (from Nashville) – Scott Laughton
58. Vancouver (from New England) – Frank Corrado
59. Vancouver – Jean-Gabriel Pageau
60. Boston (from Salem) – Tye McGinn

Round 4
61. Vancouver (from Ice Harbor) – Mark Stone
62. Delta – Michael Sgarbossa
63. Denver (from Baltimore) – Riley Nash
64. Vancouver (from Pittsburgh) – Alex Petrovic
65. Winnipeg – Zach Redmond
66. West Virginia – Bobby Sanguinetti
67. Sterling – Colby Robak
68. Farmington – Chris Brown
69. South Carolina – Tomas Kundratek
70. San Francisco – Jordie Benn
71. Great Lakes (from El Dorado) – Ryan Spooner
72. Portland – Brandon Bollig
73. Great Lakes – Matt Tennyson
74. Great Lakes (from Denver via El Dorado) – Darcy Kuemper
75. Charleston – Alex Stalock
76. Charleston (from Boston) – Jordan Schroeder
77. Nashville – Oliver Lauridsen
78. New England – Mark Barbiero
79. New England (from Vancouver) – Johan Larsson
80. Salem – Eric Gryba