Calgary Chinook End of Season Press Conference...

GM/Coach Eugene Yip walked up to the podium…

Eugene:  Thank you all for coming, first of all I would like to congratulate the Puffin and Mr. Wolter for building an incredible team and playoff run.  This is one of the most competitve playoff that I can remember, every team can easily had a run for the cup.

Reporter 1:  Can you tell us how are you feeling getting sweep 4-0 in the final and the error you made by not knowing Gibson is ineligible for playoff.

Eugene:   I believe my team has tried their best and they have certainly play my “defense first” style of play through out the season.  Our defenese just simply outmatched by Puffin’s fire power in the finals. Letang and Price’s injuries in Game 1 and game 2 are a huge lost.  This season is actually year 3 of our rebuilding and anything more than making the playoff is a bonus for our team.  I take full responsibility of Gibson ineligibility to play in the playoff  and I also thanks Bryzgalov for agreeing to sign a emergency contract with us.

Reporter 2:  What is your plan for the off season?

Eugene:  Draft wise, we don’t have a lot of draft picks but we will try to bring in the best available forwards that we see fits to the team.  We’ve pretty certain we would resign Giordano, he is big part of our defence core, and we will see if we can trade the rights of Marleau and Henrik Sedin.  We will also be looking to aquire a backup goalie to share the price with Price and Gibson next season.

Reporter 1:  Is their anything we can look forward to next season?

Eugene: Next season we will have new comer like Dylan Larkin, Martinook and Bigras ready to play in CCHL.  Also we think that Barkov,  Pastrnak,  Monahan and Gaudreau will be mature enough to be a big part of our team with Sedin and Marleau leaving us next season.  Chinook’s future is bright with Werenski, Provorov, Konecny ready to step in in a few season.

Reporter 3:  Any particular team that caught your attention?

Eugene: Siberia Icecats will be a scary team to play against in a few years with Bennett, McDavid, Parayko, Kylington, Ehlers all gradulating soon from the minors,  they are couple defensemen and a good goalie away from becoming a serious contender.

Eugene:  Thank you for everyone’s time and we will meet again in the training camp next season.

Paddy O’Furniture interviews the newly crowned champion of the CCHK, Reykjavik Puffin GM Chris Wolter...

On special assignment from the WHL, Belfast Blast team spokesman, Paddy O’Furniture, recently caught up with Reykjavik Puffin GM Chris Wolter to discuss his team’s 2016 success…

Chris, I’ve gotta ask you, a 19 game unbeaten streak?  Are you kiddin’ me?  How did you lads pull that off?

Yeah, I can answer that? During much of the season, while we were scoring and losing, equally, many of the beat writers who handle things like the power rankings kept suggesting more defensive help along the blueline.  We made several efforts, but either it was too early for someone to deal or they wanted someone from our core.  Through minor deals, we added Max Talbot, Kyle Brodziak and Nick Spaling to Ben Smith and had a 4th line checking rotation.  Not a whole lot changed. Eventually we decided, if we can’t stop teams from scoring, then we just needed to score even more goals.  We found a suitable partner in Motormouth McCurdy of Seattle, sending him Talbot, Spaling and Smith and picks for Erik Cole, Carl Hagelin, Darren Helm and cash. They’ve each done their part in all aspects of the game to increase the blitzing style we play.  Everything came together down the stretch and even with minor injuries, notably to Kaner, which, incidently, kept him out a game or two, too long, we were able to sustain the streak.  I believe a guy we expect a lot from next year, who’s been waiting for a bigger role, Michal Neuvirth, even got in and won a game during the streak.  The hardest part of the streak was that it ended, while at the same time, didn’t.

You’ve got your hands in several franchises across the APBA universe….what sets a CCHL championship apart from the rest?

Two aspects of the CCHL make it a greater achievement than other championships: First, the knowledge and level of attention paid by the GMs of the CCHL is probably unmatched. Second, having to allocate funds to 30 players, while keeping them satisfied and hungry, as well as the fan base, is a major challenge to any GM.

Take us through the early days of the Puffin, Chris.

When I first took over the franchise, while we were still in Stockholm, which many members of the CCHL may not remember, we inherited a team in financial crisis, with local faves, Henrik Zetterberg, Nik Lidstrom, in his twilight and Peter Forsberg, still hanging on, hoping.  We started slowly, but knew the only way to move forward was to blow it all up and start again. If memory serves me correctly, GM Bill Corfield of Dayton made me an offer for Lidstrom I couldn’t refuse. The details are hazy, but it involved a Canadian Junior player named PK Subban. Interestingly enough, Barrett Jackman was a member of the Moose at the time, so great to see him come full circle. Gone are the days of Petr Prucha and Jarko Immonen….

After a seemingly deliberately slow rebuild, where do the Puffin turn to keep the squad strong?

First, from within. Vladislav Namestnikov’s continued growth as an all around force (including the Kehler Cup winning goal) as well as Jeff Skinner’s return to relevance as a goal scorer, ought to help keep the Puffin in the front of other GM’s minds.  Poor Jeff might have set a record this year with 82 healthy scratches. I guess more, since he didn’t make a playoff appearance and I think we even scratched him for a practice or two.  I think next season, we’ll see Adam Larsson as a mainstay in the lineup, something we’ve waited quite a while for.  We’ve got a few youngsters who’re looking to make a name for themselves, while they await their chance, Andreas Athanasiou, Devin Shore, Vladislav Kamenev and Anthony Cirelli, to name a few. We’ve traded a lot of picks away the last season or two, so getting back on the draft track for 2017-18 is a huge priority. We’ll pay attention during the UFA process, but have no players on the radar as yet.

Although you’ll want to tell me how it is totally a team effort, where can you lay some individual praise for the season’s success? 

Well, it truly is a team effort, and so many guys have had stellar seasons. Players have got to constantly be ready for their next shift, their next game, their next shot, and so on.  That being said, Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been a model of consistency on and off the ice. He’s still very young and the sky’s the limit, but the kids already look up to him.  PK is everywhere, in his opponent’s faces, reporter’s faces, aware of the goal at all times. Claude Giroux overcame a slow start to the season to be amongst the league scoring leaders. And Vlad. All Vlad Tarasenko wants is to win. I’m so happy for the kid. Who can forget Marian Gaborik? Wow, who would have expected 50 goals?  He’s made $9,000,000 look like a bargain.

OK, the difficult part, who’s not coming back?

I have to start with the playoff revelation named Anton Volchenkov.  Anton was the squad’s only blueline addition for the stretch run. Due to the effort he constantly gives, he’s made a career out of missing games.  He sure came to play in these playoffs: a goal and 7 assists in 12 games, before reinjuring himself, forget about it! He’s already advised us he’s hanging’em up.  Erik Cole has played a strong game, but he’s another guy whose body just can’t do it anymore.  The cash that reigned on us from Seattle will help us pay Erik off. Brodzy, well, I don’t see how he makes it back into the fold, though I wouldn’t be opposed to signing him once he’s exposed.

Any finals thoughts to leave the community with before the celebrations begin?

We send out congrats on a wonderful season to Eugene Yip of the Calgary Chinook. Losing Price for Game 2 was difficult, but he beat the odds all year and if only the aging Bryz could have come through, who knows what happens. Thanks go out to the always willing trade partner Matt Young of the Fort Erie Falcons, who hung around longer than I think even he expected.  Matty probably deserves an engraving on the Cup. The Puffin franchise send out thanks to the Dayton Musicmen and GM/Commish Bill Corfield, who we secretly wanted to face (but didn’t really want to) in the finals to avenge our back to back finals losses in the now defunct LHL. Bill and his Ronin compatriot Paul aka the voice of reason Canosa have created quite an elaborate league with everything one could want in one place.  Thanks also to the other league office members, Jason Mote, Chris Kash, Bobby Nicol and team GMs who give their all to make the CCHL the class act that it is.

There ya have it folks, the grinning face of GM Chris Wolter of the CCHL Kehler Cup champion Reykjavik Puffin!   Raise a pint, will ya?

Copenhagen Holds its Year-End Press Conference...

Copenhagen Crusaders Press Conference

First off we would like to congratulate Chris Wolter and his Puffin for a tremendous series.  He has worked carefully building his team over the past several years into the offensive powerhouse it is now. Kudos. After our loss to the Puffin management locked itself away to review what went so wrong this year and what are the next steps for the franchise.

Q: Explain how the Offseason started the issues that plagued the team all year. 

We attempted to make one last push for another championship, but this year was a challenge from the beginning.  Senior management missed a rule change (actually an enforcement of an existing rule) that cost the team a number of roster players to Unrestricted Free Agency when they mistakenly thought that they had an additional resign available.  For this error Senior Management deeply apologizes to our fan base.

Management quickly identified that it had a weakness on the wings and on Left D and went into the free agent market to address these areas. We landed a number of veterans to fill holes in the roster (Vrbata, Iginla, Hartnell, Dupuis) on the wings but struck out on landing a capable Left Dman and had tyo settle for Visnovski.  Even the though we acquired a number of forwards we were never able to get the forward group to gel or find consistent chemistry

Q: You made a number of moves during the regular season can you provide your rational 

Hindsight being 20/20 we moved away from a trade discussion that had the potential to land a premier shutdown dman and an elite tender and this may be why we are not still playing.  We were not happy with the overall output of the squad and felt we needed to bring in some more pieces to round the team out. We mortgaged a lot of our future to land Hedman, Datsyuk and Parise.  All were deemed to be quality individuals that would push this group over the top.

Q: Why didn’t it work, on paper you seemed strong in all positions

Unfortunately it just never worked out, the team went into a tailspin after the acquisitions and then the infighting started.  As you know we went from 1st in our conference at the trade deadline to 4rth.  The coaching staff made numerous line changes but could not find any real chemistry.  A rival GM, indicated that he did not remember a Crusader squad that played so inconsistently within a game as this squad that they seemed to squander leads regularly.  The dressing room become fractured and well you know the rest of it.

Q: So now what: you are bleeding money, your prospect pool is depleted after years of runs at the cup.

We have spent the time looking at where we go from here.  It is obvious that we need to address our salary items to ensure the long term fiscal viability of our club.
We lost $50 Million this season and our payroll was around $150 Million.  We will be walking away from over $20 Million in contracts plus we will investigate moving some additional salaries.

Q: You allude to moving players, have you identified any players yet? 
The players that will be made available are Datsyuk, Iginla, and Parise. Others may be identified at training camp but for now that is who we are looking to move.

Q: Why Iginla and Datsyuk?
They were promised a run at a championship, we see no reason to force them to sit the final years of their respective careers sitting through a retooling.  

Q: Parise is a UFA do you think that there is a market for his services?
We strongly believe that Parise brings a complete 200 foot game and fills a special position on the left wing as one of the elite LW in the game.  He has lots of miles left on the odometer.  There will be interest

As a UFA, we are willing to sign and trade him if a team wants to use their UFA resign on another player.

Q: Any other information that you would like to share?

We are confident that the knowledgeable fans in Denmark will be patient as we go through the required process. We do not anticipate a long process and our plan is to be back in the elite within 2 years.

DAYTON MUSICMEN END OF SEASON PRESS RELEASE

****PRESS RELEASE****

MARCH 21, 2016

DAYTON, OH

(Embargoed until Noon, Dayton time...)

The General Manager of the Dayton Musicmen has released the following statement...

The 2015-16 season for the Musicmen was by all accounts a huge success. 

On the ice, we climbed to first place overall by mid-October and stayed there the entire season. We came within a few goals of setting a new CCHL record for all time fewest goals allowed in a regular season. Our goaltending tandem of Devan Dubnyck and Andrew Hammond lead the league by a wide margin for most of the year and deserve the Jennings Trophy they'll receive at the CCHL Awards banquet coming up later this Spring. Our offense was top notch all year as well with four of our forwards scoring more than 100 points. The team was a delight to work with, they did everything we asked of them and more and this year's squad will be remembered as one of the very best we've ever had here in southwest Ohio.

I want to take a moment and congratulate Eugene Yip and his Chinook on their victory in the Corfield Finals. Calgary gave us fits all season and were the team we were most concerned with in the conference. Mr. Price is a bad-ass, period...

Looking forward, the 16-17 version of the 'men will fundamentally remain the same but many supporting pieces will be playing elsewhere. At this time, we do not plan on resigning any of the current UFA's, which include Paul Gaustad, Matt Greene, Drew Miller, Mikko Koivu, Mark Streit and Mark Stuart. To my fellow General Manager's around the league, if any of those players interest you, give me a shout. We'd be looking for some reasonable cash in exchange for them as opposed to a draft pick at this time. (We're flexible on that, of course...)

We've informed Beau Bennett's agent that we will not be bringing Beau back next year. We had high hopes for Beau when we drafted him, but he's never really been able to put it together in such a way that forced us to use him. Hopefully, he can get a look from another CCHL team and make the most of that opportunity. 

I'd say our roster is pretty set for next year. Our top eleven forwards (Seguin, Spezza, Plekanec, Pavelski, Eberle, Tatar, Johnson, Hornqvist, Higgins and Pirri are pretty well set. Our blueline is also very stable with Carlson, Markov, Staal, Hamhuis, Beauchemin and Shultz projecting as our top six guys.

We'll see more of a group approach in nets next year with the addition of Al Montoya into the mix. Right now, I'd say Jake Allen, Devan Dubnyck and Montoya will handle the majority of the work. 

In terms of the upcoming UFA Bidding period, we expect to be on the hunt for a few complimentary 3rd/4th liners and maybe one dman who can play 3rd pairing minutes. We're not expecting the pool to be that appealling this season and we're pretty happy with the guys we already have on board. If the pool contains a few surprises, we'll re-evaluate the situation but the chances we'd like a FA more than of of our current players isn't very high.

Draft-wise, we have no picks and won't be pursuing anything meaningful to speak of in that regard. 

(FYI: There is no press availability for GM Corfield at this time, we hope to schedule a Q&A session for the press over the coming weeks...)

GEORGETOWN POST MORTEM, ER, END OF SEASON PRESS RELEASE...

Georgetown, KY

After a long silence, partly attributed to a sinus infection that was threatening to turn into bronchitis, and with the commencement of soccer season that has seen hm turn in his GM suit and tie for shorts and cleats, Georgetown Millers General Manager Chris Kash finally addressed the media at an intimate, invitation-only press briefing over craft brews and made to order barbeque at Red State Taps in quaint downtown Georgetown.

Seeing as how local media are fixated on the University of Kentucky’s loss in the NCAA Basketball Tournament, only 2 scribes attended, one from the Georgetown News-Graphic (GNG) and the other from Lexington’s “alternative” paper, Ace Weekly (AW).

GNG: How would you sum up the season?
CK: It was acceptable, given our pre-season goal of reaching the conference finals. Obviously we hated to lose but the Puffin are an extraordinary team and we pushed them to the limit in each game.

AW: How disappointing was it to lose 3 games in Overtime?
CK: It was heart-breaking. To give up late leads and then lose in OT, one of those times short-handed…(pauses, takes a sip of Country Boy Brewing Black Gold Porter)…to be honest it made me question the heart of the team.

GNG: Are you saying there is a leadership vacuum?
CK: You tell me. Nearly blowing a 3 to 1 lead in the 2nd round than getting swept in the conference finals, all by one goal…I just feel that some guys were just happy to be there and weren’t invested as much as they could have been.

AW: Is Coach [Jarrod] Skalde in trouble?
CK: Absolutely not. I’m the one that acquired the players. He has done a fantastic job for us.

GNG: Are you looking to acquire more leaders for the team? Will Backstrom no longer be the Captain?
CK: I think Nik has done a fine job as Captain. Josi is still young and does an admirable job as an Assistant. Fish [Mike Fisher] is a role-model in every sense of the word. and when Doan came back the leadership welcomed him with open arms. I don’t think the fault lies with them.

AW: Then what do you think the problem is?
CK: (Long pause before answering. Orders another Porter and the Opera Street Nachos topped with Pork). I think some of the role players weren’t necessarily happy with their roles, their icetime and the needs of the team. That’s all I will say about that.

GNG: Looking ahead to next year - will Fleury or Talbot be your #1 in net?
CK: Yes.

GNG: Excuse me?
CK: As of right now we have 2 #1 net minders. I’m in no hurry to change that unless we are blown away with an offer.

AW: Which UFA will you re-sign?
CK: We will let the market handle that. Obviously we can only re-sign one guy and we have to see what value other teams place on these guys before we can make that call.

GNG: Are you looking to upgrade anywhere?
CK: In the final interview Eric [Staal] told me he wants to explore the market, so we will need a 2nd line Center. Fish is getting older and is better suited to a 3rd line role, Girgensons will more than likely play on a wing next year, and neither Janmaark or Teravainen are ready for 2nd line responsibilites.

AW: Is there anyone definitely not coming back?
CK. Aside from Staal wanting to exercise his UFA rights, Slater has already signed with a Swiss team for next year. Horcoff, Scuderi, Ellis and Fiddler are extremely doubtful to return.

GNG: Will you be introducing any rookies to the team next season?
CK: We are excited to see Matty Janmark - he’s very talented and will probably slot in on LW on the 3rd line and fill-in higher up when needed. Teuvo Teravainen will also play a full-time role, likely on the bottom 2 lines and on special teams. Faksa will probably spend some time in the minors but could be used if injuries are a problem - we are very confident that he will make a break-through in the next couple of years. Brett Pesce, Alex Marchenko and Dylan McIllrath are also minors bound, more so because we have a dozen Defenders under contract as of right now then on any shortcomings on their part.

AW: Is it a youth movement?
CK: Not really. These younger guys are looked at right now more as depth pieces - bottom 6 forwards and bottom pairing D-men for next year than hopefully they can embrace more responsibility down the road. Also Orlov is healthy and we will find a spot for him on the blue line.

GNG: With Orlov and the 2 rookies you could possibly have 12 Defenseman on the roster, if the RFAs are re-signed. Will you be looking to move any to ease the logjam?
CK: We’re gonna have too. Orlov is going to play and I firmly believe Ristolainen is a star in the making and deserves a bigger role, so at least 2 of the vets will need to move on.

AW: Anyone in particular?
CK: All I will say is that Josi isn’t going anywhere.

GNG: So Kronwall or Braun could be dealt?
CK: Anything is possible.

AW: You’ll probably lose money this season. Is that a concern?
CK: Not really. We can keep our payroll in the top half of the league for another coupe of years without worrying about the balance sheet.

GNG: There was some issues with Rupp Arena, with scheduling conflicts and with the ice conditions. Will you continue to use them as a venue for certain regular-season and all of the playoff games?
CK: We definitely felt like second-class citizens at times when dealing with Rupp management. As of right now I expect Alltech Arena to host all of our games going forward. Expanding the seating capacity has been discussed and will happen in stages over the next couple of seasons. Eventually Alltech expects to seat 12,500 by the 2018-2019 season.

AW: Anything you want to say to the fans?
CK: Hold on to your hats. It’s going to be an interesting off-season.

(This press conference was sponsored by Country Boy Brewing Company and Red State Taps.)

CCHL Playoff Preview: Finals by Dick “Dirty Mitts” Puxindeep

Well that was a fast conference final round wasn’t it?  Yours truly, the crown prince of prognostication, has gone 9-1 in the playoffs thus far, and I’m looking to add my tenth victory this round.

The Calgary Chinook defeated the Dayton Musicmen in overtime in a thrilling game seven to move on to face the Reykjavik Puffin in this season’s final battle.

Calgary (52-17-13) vs. Reykjavik (55-20-7)

After a devastating sweep of the Georgetown Millers, the Puffin just continue to roll at the right time; with only one team standing between them and the CCHL’s ultimate prize, the Kehler Cup!  The opposition is the Calgary Chinook, fresh off an electric game seven overtime win against regular season champion Dayton to move onto the final.

It’s a battle between the #13 offense of Calgary versus the best offense in the league.  Conversely, it is also a battle between the 13th ranked defense of Reykjavik versus the second best defense in the league; a defense backstopped by goaltender Carey Price. As great as the Dayton offense was all season, Price and the Chinook are in a much different series than they saw with Dayton. The Puffin offense is dangerous and they play a wide open style that has allowed them to finish first in the Canosa Conference. Price will have to continue to produce at his current .935 save percentage pace or greater in the finals, but the Puffin shooters will have plenty to say about that.

Claude Giroux leads all playoff scoring with 15 points, followed by teammates Patrick Kane and Vladimir Tarasenko with 14.  The man playing behind Giroux on the Puffin’s second line, Joe Thornton also checks into the top ten scoring with 13 points of his own.  There is no question the Puffin offense could make this the most difficult series of Carey Price’s CCHL career.
Special teams play could be important in this series, as Calgary must avoid giving the Puffin any opportunities on the power play.

The Puffin are denting the twine at an unbelievable 33% in these playoffs, while killing penalties at 87%.  Despite receiving subpar goaltending from Tuuka Rask, who has a save percentage under .900 and a 3.51 goals against average, the Puffin penalty kill has been very good. On the other hand, Calgary have managed to make it to the final with a struggling power play, entering play with the third worst success rate in the playoffs.  The Chinook power play is only better than Victoria and Seattle, who were both eliminated in the first round.  If the Chinook want to capture the Kehler Cup, the power play must figure out a way to score with some regularity in this series.

Calgary are also struggling on the penalty kill, only killing penalties at an 83.9 success rate.  While that is respectable, it has yet to face a five man group like Reykjavik can throw out there on a power play.  With Subban and Ekman-Larsson anchoring the power play units, you can be sure that Calgary’s penalty killers are going to be tired when coming off the ice; provided they aren’t fishing the puck out of their net first.

In the last round I was completely wrong about Calgary, and I might be wrong about them again in this round. Listen, I respect what they have done, but at some point Price will likely succumb to the Puffin attack. If Price doesn’t falter and Calgary win, it would be one of the best goaltending performances in CCHL history.

It’s hard not to take the Puffin when they can continue to run line after line that can score, with a ton of playoff experience in Giroux and Thornton.  With the majority of play in their end, the Calgary defense will eventually tire out; allowing the Puffin to eventually get past the Chinook in spite of Price’s Herculean effort.  Price can only do so much against the Puffin offense, and will fall short in his bid to lead Calgary to their first CCHL championship.

Prediction:  The Winner and NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWW (said in my best Howard Finkle voice)

CCHL Kehler Cup Champions:  the Reykjavik Puffin!  

Playoff MVP:  Despite losing in the Kehler Cup finals, Carey Price takes home the hardware for playoff MVP.  He did it on the thinnest of margins against Dayton and he’ll keep Calgary close in the finals.

There you have it folks, my Kehler Cup final predictions are complete.  Hope you enjoy the final series of the CCHL playoff season. It’s been a great season and couldn’t have been nearly as great without your collective efforts!

About the author:
Dick “Dirty Mitts” Puxindeep has been a CCHL columnist since December of 2015.  When he’s not watching hockey or eating chicken wings, he can be found at local karaoke competitions performing his world famous rendition of ‘Baby Got Back’.  Dick knows what he knows and won’t stray from that.  Enjoy reading Dick’s semi-regular column here when he posts it.

NORSEMEN AGONIZE NOW, BUT LOOK FORWARD TO FUTURE...

Saint Paul | Minnesota :

Saturday morning at Herb Brooks Olympia was a much more subdued atmosphere than just a mere 48 hours earlier when the Minnesota Norsemen were high off a huge 5-3 win over the Millers and taking it back to Georgetown for a Game 7. Unfortunately, the normally disciplined hockey club was anything but in this all-or-nothing contest and took 8 minors to the Millers 1, and were punished for it on two occasions in what would end up being a 3-1 loss in Kenucky.

"We didn't play our game," acknowledged Norsemen captain, Johnny Boychuk from his stall. "In all faucets of that game, we didn't play ours. We were undisciplined when we need to be at our best in not giving them an advantage. Spending as much time as we did on the penalty kill quite simply took us out of ever setting a tone. Credit Georgetown for taking advantage of the gift we were giving them. Our group was better than this, or our fans deserved much more."

The Captain's words were echoed numerous times throughout the morning as players cleaned out their stalls for an agonizingly long offseason.

"I wish we could get right back out there and right the ship if you will," said defenseman Justin Faulk. "It stings. Still stings. We had so many chances throughout the season to run away with this Conference, and position ourselves better in the postseason. We would have played anyone at any time. But we definitely took it on the chin from the Millers."

What the young rearguard was eluding at was the Norsemen playing within the top two seeds in the Canosa Conference literally all season, and giving up the chance at a first round bye in the last couple of games in the regular season. The Reykjavik Puffin were red hot... scratch that, the Puffin were white hot going into the playoffs. They quickly kicked the back-to-back Kehler Cup champion, Crusaders out of the 1 seat in the end, and with the Norsemen's regular season record vs the Millers, Georgetown quietly assumed their spot at #2. Leaving Minnesota in the 3 spot to take on the Long Island Express in Round 1. A series that ended fast for the Express in a sweep.

"I'd be lying if I said we were oozing with confidence in seeing the Millers in the playoffs," said General Manager Blake Wendt. "They had our number all season (2-4 record), and we knew when they were across from us it was going to be a battle. As a huge proponent of this current conference alignment, this is great for building legitimate rivalries. I'd say we've always considered Copenhagen a rival. When I came into this league in 2007, both our clubs were at very similar transitions in our development. Building through the draft and adding pieces as we continued to get better. Obviously Bruce (Niblett, COP GM) absolutely took it to the next level in winning three Cups in five years. But those early years we were fighting tooth and nail for blue chip prospects. This year we started building another true rivalry with Georgetown. Chris (Kash, GEO GM) had consistently paired up well with us. His group got the upper hand on us in the regular season... and now the postseason. They ended our season. So naturally we want to kick their ass next season."

For some players departing today, a handful have played their last in a Norsemen sweater. Pending UFA Boychuk's status with the team was solidified when Zach Parise was traded at the deadline. The Captain isn't going anywhere. He has been assured by management that his contract will be renewed this offseason.

UFA's on their way out are Matt Cullen, Jay McClement, Maxim Lapierre and Dustin Brown. RFA's not expected to be re-signed are Jordan Schroeder and Robert Bortuzzo. It is also expected that Clarke MacArthur will be released at some point.

"We like the group we have here overall," said Wendt. "Obviously things are fluid right and really anyone is movable. But I don't expect a lot of movement from our lineup. We have some young guys like Jyrki Jokipakka and Mike Reilly that will force competition with our top-6 on defense. So that will be fun when we get to camp."

Minnesota's next major agenda will be the Draft. Currently holding a mere five picks, and highest being late in the first round, expect Wendt to do something about getting more and higher picks.

"I'd say we would like more draft options for sure," said Wendt. "We have a few guys earmarked and where they are slotted to go in the mock drafts out there and our own. Positioning for us in the draft is always the biggest thing for us. We know who we want and do an incredible amount of homework. If we have a high pick and want a couple guys high on our list later and we feel comfortable they will be there, we try our damnedest to move around to get them."

The GM was no comment on plans for the 2016-17 season in terms of the direction of the Norsemen. One would be inclined to believe though that Minnesota likes the taste of the postseason, and isn't going to pass the plate any time soon.

#duNord