In this, the first installment of a series of tributes to retiring Reaper players, we wish a fond farewell to a veteran of the RHL wars, Jason Woolley.
Jason Woolley is as old as the RHL itself, and then some. He began play in RHL 1 splitting time between the Boston Bandits and the Spartans of Southern Calgary. He remained a Spartan until RHL 5 when he joined the Aviators, the team with whom he would spend the majority of his career. He remained with the Aviators until RHL 8 when he joined the San Jose Killer Bees partway into the season. RHL 8 marked a career high point for Jason Woolley. He set a career high in goals with 13 in that season, and a career high in playoff points with 7. RHL 8 also marked Jason Woolley's only RHL Kings Cup Championship, and the only one for the San Jose Killer Bees.
Jason continued moving around, splitting time three ways in RHL 9, between the Roadkill, Aviators, and Spectres. It marked his second tour with the Aviators, despite being only 30 games. The Spectres would be the team he ended the season with, although a first round knock out was a far cry from his championship the year before.
Woolley was a Saskatoon Fun Boy in RHL 10, a Tampa Bay Celtic Ray for both their years in existence (RHL 11 and 12), a member of the Wicked Ale in RHL 13 and then he became a member of the Airdrie T-Men in RHL 14. It would mark his first playoff appearance since RHL 10. RHL 15 was spent injured before joining the Capones and Thundercats in RHL 16. He finally joined the Guelph Reapers, his final team in his stellar RHL Career. He retired on several high notes. Despite not being wanted elsewhere in the RHL, the Reapers gave him a late season chance and he made use of it. Despite just playing in 9 games, Woolley netted 2 assists. The final points of his regular season career. For Woolley, it gave him 351 career points, hitting the 350 point mark before his career ended. But that was just the start for Woolley. He became a regular for the Reapers in the playoffs, and played in all 7 games netting 4 points. He ends his career with 35 career playoff points.
Woolley proved in his final games that older low rated players with experience can be quite useful. Jason ended his career with 6 points in 16 games as a Reaper, and a plus 2 on a weaker highly negative team. Those are stellar numbers for any defenseman, but especially one so far on the end of his career.
Woolley will be missed, as there remain fewer and fewer RHL original year players left.
Monday, July 28, 2008
History of the Guelph Reapers
It is time to re-educate the RHL, its GMs and all those who are interested on the beginnings for the Guelph Reapers, the team name, franchise location and logos. The common belief is the Guelph Reapers began as an RHL Expansion team. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now someone might claim to be a huge expert, and say that the team began in another league called the IHHHL. They are closer to the truth, and still way off. The Guelph Reapers actually began as a franchise way back in 1997 in the now defunct MRHL as a farm team. I set forth to create a unique team name, something never used before, and something near and dear to me. Since the MRHL was an NHL team pro league, the only creative outlet was in naming your farm team. I chose the Reapers over my second choice, the Slayers. The main reason was my love of the image of the Reaper, and yes a fixation with death. Not a morbid way, just having seen all my family die (save for my Mom and Brother) while in school, and thus at young ages, I found myself at funeral homes frequently in early years. To better understand that which seemed so confusing, frustrating and fearful I did what most kids do... ask questions and read on the topic. Having grown up in the religious side as a regular every week Catholic church attendee, I needed something to associate to death away from the Church. I refused to believe death which is sad and painful is something I wanted linked to my faith. Life eternal yes, death no. So for death I pictured a villain, as most comic book fans do. The Reaper was the easiest fictional face to put to death, and to blame for each loss. Ironically the fixation grew and by the time I began fantasy hockey, I actually admired the form of the Reaper. I collect Reaper sculptures, and similar such figures and toys (such as Soul Taker from the Spawn line). The Slayer came from the same line of thinking, but the opposite end. The Slayer (not specifically vampire slayer but along the lines) was the protector who fought demons and monsters like the Reaper I had made. Unfortunately for the Slayer, my fixation with the ghostly image of the Reaper was far more striking and the team became the Reapers (sorry Sarah Michelle Gellar). The location of Guelph was simply because I was living in Guelph, attending University in Guelph when I created the team (between 1996-2000). From their early beginnings in the downtown Guelph arena to the Eaton Centre Plaza, where a major new state of the art facility was built in 1999 in downtown Guelph (true story), the Reapers were the MRFHL farm champions in their 2nd year. In 1999 the team would move up in the professional ranks. Then the team hit the pro ranks. The 1996 IHHHL Champions, the East Lansing Spartans were in need of a new GM. The team had struggled since winning in 1996, missing the playoffs three straight years. Revenues were down, attendance was down and the new owners hired GM Steve Gandour and moved the team to Guelph. With his ties with the City, Steve owning the team name rights, the Guelph franchise became known as the Reapers. Now the IHHHL had one rule for all teams, a mandatory logo. With a relocating franchise, the Spartans logo would no longer be sufficient. At that time, the team held a contest for team logo ideas, and commissioned a sketch artist frequented by the league to facilitate the winning design at the time into a logo. Thus, the first logo for the Guelph Reapers was created way back in 1999. The original Reaper Logo looked like this...
+Logo.gif)
At the time, the logo was considered one of the most innovative and unique team logos in pro sports, and unlike so many other team logos, it was clearly not a copy from any other pro sports league, truly a unique logo. The Reapers took great pride in their creation, and awarded the fan who sent the idea with seasons tickets. The logo in case it won't load depicts a gray hooded Reaper wielding a scythe that curves into a hockey stick on the bottom, and has the usual scythe blade on the top. The Logo was done in Black and Red, with Blood red in the background, and a lighter more child friendly / animated style of blood red Grim Reapers text in big letters, with little of Guelph on the bottom.
The team went on to great success in the IHHHL. Though it never won a title in the league, it drafted in its tenure the likes of Rick Nash, Nikolai Zherdev, Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Roberto Luongo, Alexander Semin, Zach Parise, Jack Johnson and more top end talent then any team in past history. However before the core of these players had developped, I had left the league as GM. The league still exists to this day, and so do the Reapers under the management of William Kinnaird. The Reapers logo still remains the original logo first designed in 1999. The league can be viewed at http://www2.hawaii.edu/~dwayne/index.html. Will has done an amazing job keeping the team intact that I built, and it keeps getting better. It was a thrill to allow him to keep the team name when I left over four years ago now, and a sign of great respect for the organization and the city that he maintains it still.
The Guelph Reapers however made their biggest pro impact as most people know it when they joined the RHL as an expansion team in RHL 14. At that time, I submitted our team logo when I joined to the league to put on the site. Realizing the league had a logo page, I was glad to have my own logo up against the other RHL logos, proud of it as still nearly a decade later one of the most unique in pro sports. The team went on to have great success in the RHL, winning its league in only its 2nd year, which if it had not been a split league could have beaten the Rovers record of third year championship. The Reapers also have been a playoff team in every season since joining, an accomplishment rare and to be proud of.
Most recently, I commissioned a new logo to be designed by another graphics art design firm. This logo which was built now going on a year ago, remains not yet in use. It will be primarily used as a third logo, as most franchises in pro hockey tend to do. The third logo, a year old now but never released to the league is...
For those who can't see it (in case again it won't load) it is a triangle standing on a single point, with a screaming reaper skull in a blue/gray cloak charging (as if on attack in battle) scythe in hand, the top blade of the scythe making the top of the triangle, with the word Reapers in big blue/gray/black animated letters along the top, and Guelph all in black on the background of the silver scythe.
The Reapers enter their fifth year in the RHL this season. They enter their 10th season (a decade of hockey) in the IHHHL this season. The team celebrates a Dozen Years of fantasy hockey as the Guelph Reapers this year, and celebrate its 10 year annivesary of their logo next year. All in all this team has a wonderful history, and yes RHL, we do and always have, had a logo.
This will be posted on my blog, to honour the team's history
+Logo.gif)
At the time, the logo was considered one of the most innovative and unique team logos in pro sports, and unlike so many other team logos, it was clearly not a copy from any other pro sports league, truly a unique logo. The Reapers took great pride in their creation, and awarded the fan who sent the idea with seasons tickets. The logo in case it won't load depicts a gray hooded Reaper wielding a scythe that curves into a hockey stick on the bottom, and has the usual scythe blade on the top. The Logo was done in Black and Red, with Blood red in the background, and a lighter more child friendly / animated style of blood red Grim Reapers text in big letters, with little of Guelph on the bottom.
The team went on to great success in the IHHHL. Though it never won a title in the league, it drafted in its tenure the likes of Rick Nash, Nikolai Zherdev, Alexander Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Roberto Luongo, Alexander Semin, Zach Parise, Jack Johnson and more top end talent then any team in past history. However before the core of these players had developped, I had left the league as GM. The league still exists to this day, and so do the Reapers under the management of William Kinnaird. The Reapers logo still remains the original logo first designed in 1999. The league can be viewed at http://www2.hawaii.edu/~dwayne/index.html. Will has done an amazing job keeping the team intact that I built, and it keeps getting better. It was a thrill to allow him to keep the team name when I left over four years ago now, and a sign of great respect for the organization and the city that he maintains it still.
The Guelph Reapers however made their biggest pro impact as most people know it when they joined the RHL as an expansion team in RHL 14. At that time, I submitted our team logo when I joined to the league to put on the site. Realizing the league had a logo page, I was glad to have my own logo up against the other RHL logos, proud of it as still nearly a decade later one of the most unique in pro sports. The team went on to have great success in the RHL, winning its league in only its 2nd year, which if it had not been a split league could have beaten the Rovers record of third year championship. The Reapers also have been a playoff team in every season since joining, an accomplishment rare and to be proud of.
Most recently, I commissioned a new logo to be designed by another graphics art design firm. This logo which was built now going on a year ago, remains not yet in use. It will be primarily used as a third logo, as most franchises in pro hockey tend to do. The third logo, a year old now but never released to the league is...
For those who can't see it (in case again it won't load) it is a triangle standing on a single point, with a screaming reaper skull in a blue/gray cloak charging (as if on attack in battle) scythe in hand, the top blade of the scythe making the top of the triangle, with the word Reapers in big blue/gray/black animated letters along the top, and Guelph all in black on the background of the silver scythe.
The Reapers enter their fifth year in the RHL this season. They enter their 10th season (a decade of hockey) in the IHHHL this season. The team celebrates a Dozen Years of fantasy hockey as the Guelph Reapers this year, and celebrate its 10 year annivesary of their logo next year. All in all this team has a wonderful history, and yes RHL, we do and always have, had a logo.
This will be posted on my blog, to honour the team's history
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
BREAKING NEWS - Lecavalier Deal Details
We have just gotten wind of the Lecavalier trade details and you will hear it here first.
Exclusive to the BLOG Verse, the deal sees the Reapers package off first round dispersal pick Kimmo Timonen, along with their first in next years draft, AVI 2nd this years draft and Patrik Berglund for Vinnie Lecavalier and cash.
It is believed that the Reapers had held out to ensure they kept their first this year (12th overall) feeling confident their first next year would be no better even if there were no expansion teams where this year there were 3.
The pick will likely be used to replace the depletion of youth with Berglund's departure. That means the Reapers will have lost only a 2nd round prospect from this years list of futures to move up and select Vincent Lecavalier. Berglund however will be terribly missed, as he brought a plethora of skills to the table, and even though he would not have been in the RHL this year or next year, his potential down the line in a few years is quite high.
Lecavalier is arguably the best forward in the game, and comes with a locked in contract for 2 years at a not too exorbatant price. He will be the face of the franchise for the next 2 years at least, and will have plenty of talent along side him up front.
Reporting for your Reapers,
Sal Trachan
Exclusive to the BLOG Verse, the deal sees the Reapers package off first round dispersal pick Kimmo Timonen, along with their first in next years draft, AVI 2nd this years draft and Patrik Berglund for Vinnie Lecavalier and cash.
It is believed that the Reapers had held out to ensure they kept their first this year (12th overall) feeling confident their first next year would be no better even if there were no expansion teams where this year there were 3.
The pick will likely be used to replace the depletion of youth with Berglund's departure. That means the Reapers will have lost only a 2nd round prospect from this years list of futures to move up and select Vincent Lecavalier. Berglund however will be terribly missed, as he brought a plethora of skills to the table, and even though he would not have been in the RHL this year or next year, his potential down the line in a few years is quite high.
Lecavalier is arguably the best forward in the game, and comes with a locked in contract for 2 years at a not too exorbatant price. He will be the face of the franchise for the next 2 years at least, and will have plenty of talent along side him up front.
Reporting for your Reapers,
Sal Trachan
Reapers Interesting Stories
Heading into RHL 18, the Reapers have many interesting stories for the fans and team to watch.
Amongst the many stories is the goaltending glut controversy the team faces. Not wanting to lose Craig Anderson in the expansion draft, the team had little choice as they had to protect the two goalies they felt could be most useful, both for long term value and for ability to play regular amounts of games.
Even with Anderson gone, there remains yet a glut in net. Ryan Miller who backstopped the team last year to an unlikely playoff spot is a bit of a fan fave. However he is commanding an astronomical salary for his skills and the Reapers are unlikely to keep their RFA, even unlikely to meet his demand to retain rights.
Alex Auld has been a Reaper for two seasons now, posting amazing numbers. However Auld's ratings have plummetted and he is unlikely to make the team next year. Still he has a contract that keeps him locked up into RHL 19 which makes moving him difficult.
The two dispersal pickups are the most likely to share duties in net this year. Manny Legace and Martin Gerber both post decent if not great numbers. Both goalies have reasonable salaries, and the two should be stable enough on the back end with the offense in front of them to win some big games.
The next question is on the blueline. The team enters free agency with two contracted dmen for next year. All their others are RFAs or UFAs. The gaps require major attention. Who they will go after is a different question. The team if they can shed some large salary may make a big pitch, but it is believed instead they will try a platoon of solid but not spectacular dmen this year. The emergence of Travis Roche is huge for the team, in a time when they need dmen worse then ever.
Travis is also one of those interesting stories for the Reapers entering RHL 18. Originally drafted in the Reapers first ever Entry Draft, Roche sat and sat and sat and sat awaiting his chance to make the lineup. Now more then 4 years after being drafted, he will get to play in his first game. Roche has developped his skills nicely entering into this season, though many feel he has no long term value. Still for an original Reaper and the first that they drafted in that first year to make the team, it is a great story. The Reapers just didn't think it would take 4 years before any of the 12 picks they had that inaugural year would crack their lineup.
Another intriguing story is the return of two more original Reapers. Niko Kapanen was a Reaper for their first year, then left, then came back last year to have a career season. Unfortunately he has seen his stock plummet over the summer, but the Reapers opted to keep him on out of respect for his history with the organization. Also, Radim Vrbata is in a similar boat but on a different side of the lake. Vrbata was an original Reaper who had success his first year, then struggled and last year returning to the Reapers was quite brutal. However he has turned his career around, looks to be much more useful this season and could be a key piece for the Reapers next year as well.
Finally the last of the interesting scenario's takes place with Teemu Selanne. Teemu was to be an initial pick of the Reaper organization in their first ever expansion draft. Right up until the deadline, the team had him pencilled in. In the last minute the team had a change of mind, and forfitted the pick. Now, over four years later, Selanne finally arrives in Guelph where he nearly ended up so many seasons ago. This time he is welcomed with open arms as the team locked up the UFA to be instantly, and hopes he can bring in added scoring to their lineup.
Last year the scoring was limited to one line. Shane Doan, Martin Straka and Niko Kapanen were the majority of the offensive attack. All three return this year, but the additions of Vincent Lecavalier, Jiri Hudler and Teemu Selanne will give the Reapers two dynamic offensive lines to hopefully offset for their shortfalls on D and maybe in goal.
This season promises to be a more exciting one, with higher scoring games.
By the way, as an exclusive to the BLOG Verse faithful, rumour has it that the Reapers will be trying to resign Peter Forsberg in auction to return him to the team where he had so much success for two seasons. More on that to follow.
Reporting for your Reapers,
Sal Trachan
Amongst the many stories is the goaltending glut controversy the team faces. Not wanting to lose Craig Anderson in the expansion draft, the team had little choice as they had to protect the two goalies they felt could be most useful, both for long term value and for ability to play regular amounts of games.
Even with Anderson gone, there remains yet a glut in net. Ryan Miller who backstopped the team last year to an unlikely playoff spot is a bit of a fan fave. However he is commanding an astronomical salary for his skills and the Reapers are unlikely to keep their RFA, even unlikely to meet his demand to retain rights.
Alex Auld has been a Reaper for two seasons now, posting amazing numbers. However Auld's ratings have plummetted and he is unlikely to make the team next year. Still he has a contract that keeps him locked up into RHL 19 which makes moving him difficult.
The two dispersal pickups are the most likely to share duties in net this year. Manny Legace and Martin Gerber both post decent if not great numbers. Both goalies have reasonable salaries, and the two should be stable enough on the back end with the offense in front of them to win some big games.
The next question is on the blueline. The team enters free agency with two contracted dmen for next year. All their others are RFAs or UFAs. The gaps require major attention. Who they will go after is a different question. The team if they can shed some large salary may make a big pitch, but it is believed instead they will try a platoon of solid but not spectacular dmen this year. The emergence of Travis Roche is huge for the team, in a time when they need dmen worse then ever.
Travis is also one of those interesting stories for the Reapers entering RHL 18. Originally drafted in the Reapers first ever Entry Draft, Roche sat and sat and sat and sat awaiting his chance to make the lineup. Now more then 4 years after being drafted, he will get to play in his first game. Roche has developped his skills nicely entering into this season, though many feel he has no long term value. Still for an original Reaper and the first that they drafted in that first year to make the team, it is a great story. The Reapers just didn't think it would take 4 years before any of the 12 picks they had that inaugural year would crack their lineup.
Another intriguing story is the return of two more original Reapers. Niko Kapanen was a Reaper for their first year, then left, then came back last year to have a career season. Unfortunately he has seen his stock plummet over the summer, but the Reapers opted to keep him on out of respect for his history with the organization. Also, Radim Vrbata is in a similar boat but on a different side of the lake. Vrbata was an original Reaper who had success his first year, then struggled and last year returning to the Reapers was quite brutal. However he has turned his career around, looks to be much more useful this season and could be a key piece for the Reapers next year as well.
Finally the last of the interesting scenario's takes place with Teemu Selanne. Teemu was to be an initial pick of the Reaper organization in their first ever expansion draft. Right up until the deadline, the team had him pencilled in. In the last minute the team had a change of mind, and forfitted the pick. Now, over four years later, Selanne finally arrives in Guelph where he nearly ended up so many seasons ago. This time he is welcomed with open arms as the team locked up the UFA to be instantly, and hopes he can bring in added scoring to their lineup.
Last year the scoring was limited to one line. Shane Doan, Martin Straka and Niko Kapanen were the majority of the offensive attack. All three return this year, but the additions of Vincent Lecavalier, Jiri Hudler and Teemu Selanne will give the Reapers two dynamic offensive lines to hopefully offset for their shortfalls on D and maybe in goal.
This season promises to be a more exciting one, with higher scoring games.
By the way, as an exclusive to the BLOG Verse faithful, rumour has it that the Reapers will be trying to resign Peter Forsberg in auction to return him to the team where he had so much success for two seasons. More on that to follow.
Reporting for your Reapers,
Sal Trachan
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Reapers Surprising Many at the Draft
Going into the Dispersal draft, the Reapers were the team that looked in complete rebuild. With no number one netminder locked into contract, only one dman of note contracted, and only three forwards capable of being regulars contracted, the team looked like it was set to explore youth only in the dispersal draft. Indeed, GM Gandour admits after sitting down with his committee that was the plan.
"Darren Madill and I had some closed door sessions discussing strategies," GM Gandour admitted, "and while we laughingly said even in rebuild Lecavalier would have to be our first overall choice, we knew he would not make it. So we went on creating our list as if we had every pick in the draft. Who would we take first overall, second overall, third overall, etc. The result was a master list, and a strategy. Looking at our position, we realized that the three or four top end superstars we targetted would not slip to 12th, and by that point we had much deeper lists of younger players with ratings. Our strategy was laid out for us from our homework. We were going to focus on a rebuild with pieces already RHL ready."
"We had eyed Joffrey Lupul as a player that might be available that we would take at 12th," Darren Madill added, "it was our plan anyway. Names like Hudler, Lupul, Hartnell, Malone, Ranger, Krejci, Frolik, Kostitsyn, Komisarek and Varlamov were the guys we targetted, hoping to land two of them in the first two rounds. We knew by round 3 that these players would be gone, and we were correct. Krejci was the top name on our list in round 3, the only one left from the above, but he went before our 12th overall selection."
"Something interesting happened though," GM Gandour admitted. "We were contacted with the possibility of moving up to first, taking the first overall pick in the dispersal draft. We were so stunned we had no plan for this. In no scenario we had ran had we ever thought we could piece together an offer fitting of Lecavalier. We had laughed off the likelihood of he being our first round pick, but then it was suddenly a possibility. I called Darren right away."
"Steve was on the phone to me at my office pesturing me for a good half hour while I was trying to work!" Darren laughingly admitted. "I was so torn by the talks. Yes, we both had agreed that Lecavalier hands down was the best player in this draft, and no matter what we had in mind... if we picked first he would have been our pick. Some teams would say 'we are rebuilding so even first overall we would take a vanek' or such, but we knew even if we had committed to taking only 1st year players, if we had the first pick we would not have passed on Lecavalier. The debate for me was never whether we should get Lecavalier, rather it was would getting Lecavalier for this package be a good deal?"
"Darren brought up a great point," Steve continued. "He said that yes, if we picked first overall we would take Vincent Lecavalier. But we weren't picking first overall. In that scenario we get the best player. In this scenario, we would sacrifice more then just a vanek or lupul selecting lecavalier. We would lose picks and a prospect. The goal as Darren said of a Dispersal draft is to improve your team at no cost, this is the one chance to do so without any compensation, monetary or trade. If we did this, we waste our first round pick by acquiring an asset, rather then just adding one for nothing. However I looked at it and said, every team will improve in the dispersal draft. The key is not to improve, but to improve more significantly then the other teams will do. If that costs us some future assets, but we walk away with a player no one else got, then lets do it."
"It was a long back and fourth talk, but eventually we agreed the price was just a tad too high." Steve continued. "So we contacted the Browns and told them we could not pay that price. Luckily however we were able to continue the line of conversation open, and compromise. It was a very small compromise, but we both felt it was just enough to justify accepting the deal."
The compromise, as with the return, remains unknown at this time. However the fact is the Reapers added Vincent Lecavalier in Round one. However then they made an about face in round 2.
"We never strayed from our plan," GM Gandour said, "which was to follow our master list. The strategy we anticipated unfolding was a rebuild, as we saw a lot more young names that intersted us then veteran names. Lecavalier was not a vere from the plan, it was right in line with our plan, just never expected to be in play. In Round 2 we knew there was no vet we wanted as much as we wanted Jiri Hudler. Hudler is the typical type of skilled forward we want to build this team around. He will work well with Hudler developping together as both will be Reapers for a while."
"Hudler had a great playoff last year," Darren added, "and we identified him as a major player in this draft who had still some upside. Landing him in round 2 was very good for our club."
By round three as stated above the top name on the list was David Krejci. With him out of play before the team picked, the Reapers master list still had a superstar on it!
"When we made the list," GM Gandour continued, "we had a couple superstars at the top, and then a long list of good young guys, then a few more superstars not as valueable as the young guys but more valueable then taking a project wild card prospect... or a steady but unspecatacular prospect... and it so happened that one of them was still there at a time where our top young player on the list was a Paille or Chipchura, a player projected to be a third liner with potential as a second liner if he remains on a weak club and all goes extraordinarily well. Teemu Selanne however we knew what we were getting."
"The list had dwindled down for the top end youth in round 2," Darren admitted, "and coming into round 3 it was third liners, fourth dmen and these guys didn't have huge untapped potential."
With Teemu Selanne, the team lept to sign him to a contract. Selanne who made 3.3 last year was only asking for a 100,000 raise this year despite his nice improvement for the upcoming year. In adding Selanne, the team still has over 6 mil to spend to reach the leagues min spending policy.
With three rounds down, the Reapers now have their top two lines set entering next year.
Radim Vrbata - Vincent Lecavalier - Shane Doan
Jiri Hudler - Martin Straka - Teemu Selanne
The team has its eye heading into rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7 on filling in depth spots on its roster. However the team did say they have their eye on someone special with the upcoming pick.
"There is one guy left we REALLY want to land," Darren admitted, "and if we get him we would feel extremely lucky. We had him going in the second round on our list. He would be a great fit for our club."
"I would love to land this one guy," Steve admitted, "the top name on our list has been on our list since the beginning, and was a 2nd rounder for our list. If we land him we feel we add another key piece to our team."
With 4 picks to come, there are a few superstar names still out there, but the salaries likely will prevent them from going until the last picks if at all.
Peter Forsberg, Mike Peca, Jaromir Jagr and Todd Bertuzzi could all slip right out of the draft due to outrageous salary demands. Still any team landing them could certainly make use of them immediately.
Reporting for your Reapers,
Sal Trachan
"Darren Madill and I had some closed door sessions discussing strategies," GM Gandour admitted, "and while we laughingly said even in rebuild Lecavalier would have to be our first overall choice, we knew he would not make it. So we went on creating our list as if we had every pick in the draft. Who would we take first overall, second overall, third overall, etc. The result was a master list, and a strategy. Looking at our position, we realized that the three or four top end superstars we targetted would not slip to 12th, and by that point we had much deeper lists of younger players with ratings. Our strategy was laid out for us from our homework. We were going to focus on a rebuild with pieces already RHL ready."
"We had eyed Joffrey Lupul as a player that might be available that we would take at 12th," Darren Madill added, "it was our plan anyway. Names like Hudler, Lupul, Hartnell, Malone, Ranger, Krejci, Frolik, Kostitsyn, Komisarek and Varlamov were the guys we targetted, hoping to land two of them in the first two rounds. We knew by round 3 that these players would be gone, and we were correct. Krejci was the top name on our list in round 3, the only one left from the above, but he went before our 12th overall selection."
"Something interesting happened though," GM Gandour admitted. "We were contacted with the possibility of moving up to first, taking the first overall pick in the dispersal draft. We were so stunned we had no plan for this. In no scenario we had ran had we ever thought we could piece together an offer fitting of Lecavalier. We had laughed off the likelihood of he being our first round pick, but then it was suddenly a possibility. I called Darren right away."
"Steve was on the phone to me at my office pesturing me for a good half hour while I was trying to work!" Darren laughingly admitted. "I was so torn by the talks. Yes, we both had agreed that Lecavalier hands down was the best player in this draft, and no matter what we had in mind... if we picked first he would have been our pick. Some teams would say 'we are rebuilding so even first overall we would take a vanek' or such, but we knew even if we had committed to taking only 1st year players, if we had the first pick we would not have passed on Lecavalier. The debate for me was never whether we should get Lecavalier, rather it was would getting Lecavalier for this package be a good deal?"
"Darren brought up a great point," Steve continued. "He said that yes, if we picked first overall we would take Vincent Lecavalier. But we weren't picking first overall. In that scenario we get the best player. In this scenario, we would sacrifice more then just a vanek or lupul selecting lecavalier. We would lose picks and a prospect. The goal as Darren said of a Dispersal draft is to improve your team at no cost, this is the one chance to do so without any compensation, monetary or trade. If we did this, we waste our first round pick by acquiring an asset, rather then just adding one for nothing. However I looked at it and said, every team will improve in the dispersal draft. The key is not to improve, but to improve more significantly then the other teams will do. If that costs us some future assets, but we walk away with a player no one else got, then lets do it."
"It was a long back and fourth talk, but eventually we agreed the price was just a tad too high." Steve continued. "So we contacted the Browns and told them we could not pay that price. Luckily however we were able to continue the line of conversation open, and compromise. It was a very small compromise, but we both felt it was just enough to justify accepting the deal."
The compromise, as with the return, remains unknown at this time. However the fact is the Reapers added Vincent Lecavalier in Round one. However then they made an about face in round 2.
"We never strayed from our plan," GM Gandour said, "which was to follow our master list. The strategy we anticipated unfolding was a rebuild, as we saw a lot more young names that intersted us then veteran names. Lecavalier was not a vere from the plan, it was right in line with our plan, just never expected to be in play. In Round 2 we knew there was no vet we wanted as much as we wanted Jiri Hudler. Hudler is the typical type of skilled forward we want to build this team around. He will work well with Hudler developping together as both will be Reapers for a while."
"Hudler had a great playoff last year," Darren added, "and we identified him as a major player in this draft who had still some upside. Landing him in round 2 was very good for our club."
By round three as stated above the top name on the list was David Krejci. With him out of play before the team picked, the Reapers master list still had a superstar on it!
"When we made the list," GM Gandour continued, "we had a couple superstars at the top, and then a long list of good young guys, then a few more superstars not as valueable as the young guys but more valueable then taking a project wild card prospect... or a steady but unspecatacular prospect... and it so happened that one of them was still there at a time where our top young player on the list was a Paille or Chipchura, a player projected to be a third liner with potential as a second liner if he remains on a weak club and all goes extraordinarily well. Teemu Selanne however we knew what we were getting."
"The list had dwindled down for the top end youth in round 2," Darren admitted, "and coming into round 3 it was third liners, fourth dmen and these guys didn't have huge untapped potential."
With Teemu Selanne, the team lept to sign him to a contract. Selanne who made 3.3 last year was only asking for a 100,000 raise this year despite his nice improvement for the upcoming year. In adding Selanne, the team still has over 6 mil to spend to reach the leagues min spending policy.
With three rounds down, the Reapers now have their top two lines set entering next year.
Radim Vrbata - Vincent Lecavalier - Shane Doan
Jiri Hudler - Martin Straka - Teemu Selanne
The team has its eye heading into rounds 4, 5, 6 and 7 on filling in depth spots on its roster. However the team did say they have their eye on someone special with the upcoming pick.
"There is one guy left we REALLY want to land," Darren admitted, "and if we get him we would feel extremely lucky. We had him going in the second round on our list. He would be a great fit for our club."
"I would love to land this one guy," Steve admitted, "the top name on our list has been on our list since the beginning, and was a 2nd rounder for our list. If we land him we feel we add another key piece to our team."
With 4 picks to come, there are a few superstar names still out there, but the salaries likely will prevent them from going until the last picks if at all.
Peter Forsberg, Mike Peca, Jaromir Jagr and Todd Bertuzzi could all slip right out of the draft due to outrageous salary demands. Still any team landing them could certainly make use of them immediately.
Reporting for your Reapers,
Sal Trachan
Friday, July 11, 2008
A Sneak Peak at Expansion
The Reapers protection list won't be released for several days yet, but yours truly is breaking it here first.
I have had a sneak peak at the protection lists for your Guelph Reapers.
No surprises really here, as the team has so few contracted players that it can leave only UFAs available and protect all its contracted assets. The only noticeable event here is the Reapers with perhaps Ryan Miller as their franchise goalie, have left him UNPROTECTED. Miller, RFA this offseason, was left off their lists while the team seems to be leaning towards protecting either 2 goalies (Auld and Anderson) or deciding which one. No matter who it is, Miller will be available come the expansion draft.
The only other noteable exposed is Adrian Aucoin. Aucoin is UFA so it is not that noteable, but a bit of a surprise since the team did chose to date to protect other UFAs such as Wayne Primeau. The final list will depend on remaining selections, but until that point we will have to wait.
Reporting for your Guelph Reapers,
Sal Trachan
I have had a sneak peak at the protection lists for your Guelph Reapers.
No surprises really here, as the team has so few contracted players that it can leave only UFAs available and protect all its contracted assets. The only noticeable event here is the Reapers with perhaps Ryan Miller as their franchise goalie, have left him UNPROTECTED. Miller, RFA this offseason, was left off their lists while the team seems to be leaning towards protecting either 2 goalies (Auld and Anderson) or deciding which one. No matter who it is, Miller will be available come the expansion draft.
The only other noteable exposed is Adrian Aucoin. Aucoin is UFA so it is not that noteable, but a bit of a surprise since the team did chose to date to protect other UFAs such as Wayne Primeau. The final list will depend on remaining selections, but until that point we will have to wait.
Reporting for your Guelph Reapers,
Sal Trachan
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Reapers Trade Up In Dispersal Draft
Their is a new face of the franchise, as once again the Reapers have managed to snag their man in the dispersal draft. In their expansion year the Reapers took Pavel Kubina first in a weaker dispersal draft. In their next year, they snagged the face of the franchise for two years in Roberto Luongo first overall in a dispersal draft. Now breaking news from Guelph has the team trading up in this years, the deepest dispersal draft in RHL history, for Vincent Lecavalier!
Deals are not allowed to be announced until after the trade embargo, so much like the NBA this one won't be official for a while, but the word has already leaked out and none of the parties involved is denying this report.
What was dealt remains to be seen, but it is firmly believed that the package involved several picks and a prospect.
Reporting for your Reapers, breaking all the news worth breaking,
Sal Trachan
Deals are not allowed to be announced until after the trade embargo, so much like the NBA this one won't be official for a while, but the word has already leaked out and none of the parties involved is denying this report.
What was dealt remains to be seen, but it is firmly believed that the package involved several picks and a prospect.
Reporting for your Reapers, breaking all the news worth breaking,
Sal Trachan
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