BRET BAILEY BRINGS THE McCARTNEY CUP BACK TO THE UNITED KINGDOM FOR THE 5TH TIME IN 7-YEARS
The "Cup" is getting used to the United Kingdom. For the 5th time in the it's 7-year existence the McCartney Cup has been won by a team based in the U.K. - and it's won for the 4th time in 7-years by a team based in Ireland. Canada and the United States of America have each had one championship season (Saskatchewan Seals: 95-96, and Santa Fe Extreme: 96-97). Knights GM Bret Bailey entered the McCartney Cup Championship Final in a "no-lose financial" situation, as he already was to be awarded the $175.00 for the Commissioner's Award - and set to receive $100.00 for the McCartney Cup Runner-up. Instead, Bailey takes home a cool $475.00 for winning both the McCartney Cup and Commissioner's Award - a feat that has never been accomplished prior to this season. The PMNHL congratulates Bret Bailey and the entire staff of the CastleRock Knights - and all the other PMNHL Owners, GM's and Franchises for a successful season. Throughout the summer this site will update you on expansion for next season, and rule changes as they happen.
Here is the final prize breakdown for the 1999-2000 PMNHL Fantasy Hockey League Season. The CastleRock Knights shall receive $300.00 for the McCartney Cup Championship - and $175.00 for the Commissioner's Award. The Brandon Blades shall receive $100.00 for their appearance in the McCartney Cup Championship Series - and $75.00 for the Maple-Stars Conference Championship.
TWO ESTABLISHED FRANCHISES BATTLE FOR THEIR 1ST McCARTNEY CUP CHAMPIONSHIP...
And then there were two... The Commissioner Award Winning CastleRock Knights are attempting a clean sweep of the PMNHL this season, as they seek their first McCartney Cup Championship in their four-year history with the PMNHL. Standing in their way are the Brandon Blades. The well established team has been in the PMNHL since 1995, and although they have yet to win a McCartney Cup Title, the Blades have been near the top of the standings most seasons. In 1996-97 the Blades finished 4th in the PMNHL's final season of "pool" format play. The next season Brandon accumulated a stellar 49-22-21 record for 119-pts. Last season, as the previous management departed, the Blades suffered their worst season by missing the playoffs, along with perennial playoff franchise Kingston. The Knights haven't been as successful as the Blades prior to this year. The Knights just qualified for the post-season last year in 8th spot, and the previous season they sat dead last in the PMNHL with an Albany-like 55-points. That result was the last season the Knights were under their previous ownership. Since Brett Bailey has owned and managed the club, they have failed to miss the post-season. The most remarkable stat in the McCartney Cup playoffs this season is that Brandon is consistantly scoring in the high-50's and low-60's without Eric Lindros, Scott Niedermayer and others. Because of this, Brandon enters the McCartney Cup Championship Final as the favourite. Plus, no team has ever won the Commissioner's Award and McCartney Cup in the same season.
The PMNHL has announced the following breakdown for prize money. The McCartney Cup Champion will be awarded a prize of $300.00 - the Commissioner's Award Winner & All-World Conference Champion (CastleRock Knights) will receive $175.00 - the McCartney Cup runner-up will receive $100.00 - and finally the Maple-Stars Conference Champion (Brandon Blades) will receive $75.00.
THE FINAL FOUR ARE SET...
The opening round of the PMNHL McCartney Cup Playoffs produce no upsets. All higher seeded teams won their playoff rounds. That being said, the Beverly Hills Boilermakers must be commended for taking the Brandon Blades down to the wire. Al "Davis" Cole's squad produced 52.50-points during their playoff week, one of their highest point totals of the season. If the Boilermakers were seeded 8th instead of 7th, they would have eliminated the Commissioner's Award winning CastleRock Knights. The other close playoff matchup was the much controversial meeting between the London Fire and Kingston Scout Marauders. Both teams were obviously affected by the rejected trade, as both squads produced point totals in the 30's. Kingston won the opening round by 3-points (37.00-to-34.00), early returns indicate that if "the trade" hadn't been rejected, the Fire would have been on the other end of a close result. The PMNHL McCartney Cup Semi-Final matchups can be found in the PLAYOFFS section.
TRADE REJECTED!
THE PMNHL VOIDS DEAL BETWEEN THE FIRE & EXTREME!
For the first time in PMNHL history, Commissioner John P. McCartney has rejected a trade sent into PMNHL Offices. The PMNHL states that "...in the best interest of the integrity of the league, the deal between the Santa Fe Extreme & London Fire has been rejected. For the second season in a row, the London Fire & Santa Fe Extreme have completely a lop-sided trade just prior to the playoffs. We feel that it's in the best interest of the league, and the Extreme franchise, that this deal be rejected..." The PMNHL would also like to state that proper procedure was followed. Any time there is an official complaint, the Executive Council votes. We feel it's a fair assumption that Santa Fe & London would vote to approve the deal (as they were the parties), the other two members were then polled (Iceland & Kingston), with there being a 2-2 tie, a league vote was taken, and the deal was very quickly rejected. Every voting member quoted last seasons lop-sided deal between the same two franchises as one of, but not the only reason they rejected the deal.
'ICELAND vs SYDNEY' and 'KINGSTON vs LONDON' HILIGHT OPENING ROUND OF THE POST-SEASON!
The quest for the fantasy hockey holy grail has begun. The CastleRock Knights captured the Commissioner's Award, and the right to play the 8th seed, Tel Aviv Titans. But, if last week was the opening round of the playoffs, Tel Aviv would have upset the regular season champions. The Brandon Blades won the Maple Stars Conference Title, and will meet the Beverly Hills Boilermakers in the opening round. The Blades storm into the playoffs with 66.50-points this week, but without Eric Lindros. The Iceland Icebears meet the Sydeney Sabotage in what could be the best match-up of the opening round. The Sabtoage and Icebears were seperated by 1-point last week, with Sydney having the advantage. The final match-up sees the 4th seed Kingston Scout Marauders face the London Fire. It would appear that Kingston is heading into the playoffs on a good note, having 65.50 this week, but Kingston has rarely put together a string of big weeks throughout the season. All the match-ups can be found in the playoff section.
3-TEAMS BATTLE FOR THE FINAL PLAYOFF SPOT WITH THE REGULAR SEASON ABOUT TO END...
As the trade-deadline approaches, so does the end of the PMNHL regular season. It's been a "quirky" year from the start (with the season starting 4-weeks late - failed expansion - and stats provider problems) and this is just another example of the Y2K PMNHL Season. Next weeks report will conclude the PMNHL regular season - with the stats report being published as early as possible (Monday, March 20th - prior to 11PM/ET) so teams may begin their playoff participation. Three teams are fighting for the last playoff spot. Santa Fe has made a couple of late moves, both taking affect on Monday, March 20th (the trades were sent ot league offices on Tuesday, March 14th) if they make it into the post season. Harryville is struggling, but haven't been mathematically eliminated yet. The PMNHL apologizes for the late stats report - it was unavoidable.
5 TEAMS CLINCH PLAYOFF SPOTS AS PMNHL BASEMENT DWELLERS OFFICIALLY BOUNCED...
You do the math. It all adds up to what we all knew long ago, Albany and Clearwater won't be appearing in the PMNHL McCartney Cup Playoffs. The two woefull teams from the Maple-Stars Conference have been officially eliminated from post-season contention, and must now either start thinking about next season, or the PMNHL's upcoming trading deadline. On that subject (drum-roll please) the PMNHL would like to announce that Sunday, March 19th, 2000 will be the final day for any player moves this season. The trading deadline traditionally falls 48-hours following the NHL's trade deadline, but do to committments at PMNHL Offices, the date has been moved 3-days to allow for proper handling of any late moves that may occur.
8-POINTS BETWEEN 1ST AND 5TH...
The battle for the PMNHL Commissioner's Award (Top Regular Season Team) continues as 5-teams are within 8-points of 1st place. Brandon, London, Iceland, Kingston, and CastleRock are all within 1-weeks striking distance of the top spot as the PMNHL enters the final month of the regular season.
BRANDON GM RANDY KITT CALLS BIG WEEK AS BLADES MOVE BACK ON TOP!
"I'm having a big week... It's 4-and-0 and back on top Johnny..." Those were the words spoken by Brandon Blades GM Randy Kitt early this week to rival GM John P. McCartney of the Kingston Scout Marauders. Kitt wasn't kidding, his Blades put together 69pts, and defeated Kingston in back-to-back games en route to a 4-and-0 week, and back into top spot in the PMNHL. "I didn't know what to make of what he said when he said it..." McCartney remarked. "He's going on about his big week and I'm thinking it's pretty early to start making predictions... but I guess he had the last laugh... they kicked our ass two times..." Brandon and Kingston don't meet again untill the 2nd last week of the season in Kingston, their final regular season meeting of the year.
BRANDON & KINGSTON BATTLE FOR TOP NORTH AMERICAN HONOURS
With the All-Star selections temporarily delayed the focus of the PMNHL switched back to the battle at the top of the standings. The top five teams in the PMNHL overall standings are separated by only 4-points. Iceland leads the pack with Kingston, Brandon, CastleRock and London all within 4-points of the current Commissioner's Award leaders. Another close battle has Kingston and Brandon with identical records at the top of the Maple Stars Conference. The tie-breaker for such a situation is fantasy points. Kingston holds a lead in that category, but Brandon remains in striking distance. Another note, with each team having 24-games remaining on their schedule, no franchise has clinched, or been eliminated from post season play. Also of note this week, the PMNHL All-Star selections have been delayed.
A DREAM, OR NIGHTMARE
AN ODD PMNHL SCHEDULE GIVES SANTA FE & BEVERLY HILLS (24.50-PTS & 20.00-PTS) 2-1-1 RECORDS
You won't be hearing Jeff Penn (Owner; Santa Fe Extreme) or Al "Davis" Cole (Owner; Beverly Hills Boilermakers) complaining about the PMNHL Schedule this week, but the story may be different in Sydney, Australia. The Extreme and Boilermakers went 2-1-1 while managing 24.50 & 20.00 points respectively. Compare that to Mark Sliwowicz's squad down under who collected 45.50, and earned just 1 extra point in the standings compared to Santa Fe and Beverly Hills. It's all in the schedule, as both the Extreme and Boilermakers played struggling teams, while the Sabotage faced Kingston (60.50-PTS) in their 1st game this week.
A BIG WEEK BY BOTH BRANDON AND CASTLEROCK CAUSE CHANGES AT THE TOP OF THE PMNHL STANDINGS
The Brandon Blades are once again on top of the hill looking down on the rest of the PMNHL. The Blades recorded a near 50-point effort this week to re-take the top spot in the overall standings. Also having a big week was the CastleRock. The financially strapped team (still unable to pay their league entry fee) has battled to the top of the All-World Conference once again, by putting up a 45-point effort, good for 4-wins this week. Most notably with the Knights is their gamble to acquire Dominik Hasek. It was beleived that signing Hasek and losing Patrick Lalime would bring short term pain for long term gain. The short term pain has yet to appear, and the long term gains of the deal could become reality as soon as the All-Star break.
ICELAND BECOMES ONLY THE 3RD TEAM TO LEAD THE PACK THIS SEASON!
Following their 23-game record breaking run, the Icebears have taken over top spot in the PMNHL's overall standings. The Icebears become only the 3rd team to sit in top spot overall this season. First it was the CastleRock Knights holding down top spot when they started the season with 12-straight wins. Then it was the Brandon Blades taking over top spot with their record setting run. Finally, Iceland has just barely moved into the top spot with another undefeated week. The Icebears went 2-0-2 this week, are tied with Brandon at 62-pts, but are given top spot honours as the Icebears have won more games. Other news this week has the Wolfwoods Warriors winless once again, and the Knights signing injured goalie Dominik Hasek to a new deal, and releasing Patrick Lalime.
THE ICEBEARS WIN 23-STRAIGHT - A NEW PMNHL RECORD!
Not to long ago the headline read "All Good Things Come to an End...". That was being said to the Brandon Blades when their magical 21-game winning streak ended. Most thought that the record would stand for a very long time before someone could re-write the books. They were wrong. As Brandon was shocking the PMNHL with 21-straight wins, the Icebears were quietly winning their 7th straight game. It seemed like nothing at the time, just two good weeks for the Icebears. As the weeks continued it was 11-straight, then 2-weeks past (during the Christmas schedule) and the streak was at 20-games, one away from the 21-game record. The Icebears easily pushed aside the Extreme and Warriors to re-write the record at 22-games. Then, the record was truly past over to the Icebears when they defeat the previous record holders for win number 23. But, as the headline read just a few weeks ago "All Good Things Must Come to an End". That end was at the hands of the London Fire. If you're wondering about the Fire, they've won 4-straight. Only 19 more straight wins for the record.
ICEBEARS 1-GAME AWAY FROM THE RECORD BOOKS...
Jamie Reidel and the Iceland Icebears have come a long way from their early season shouting matches with the Santa Fe Extreme about who was the better of the two lower-tier teams. Reidel was quoted as saying "...we had the most fantasy points last year so let him write was he wants (on the message board)...". Now Riedel's Icebears need only 1-win to tie the Brandon Blades for the longest winning streak in the PMNHL's history. If the Icebears are to tie the Blades mark, they'll have to beat the previously mentioned Santa Fe Extreme, I'm sure Jeff Penn has his troops fired up to play spoiler for their early season rivals. Not to look to far to the future, but whould Iceland defeat Santa Fe for win 21, they meet the basement dwelling Albany Wolfwoods Warriors in Iceland for win 22. The Warriors haven't even reached 8-wins, and the PMNHL season is 37-games old. All eyes will be on Iceland as Jamie Riedel and his Icebears reach for the record book.
BRANDON EXPERIENCES THEIR 1ST WINLESS WEEK OF THE SEASON
To hear the words "winless" and "Brandon" in the same sentence is definately odd to say the least, but it has happened. The powerhouse Brandon Blades experienced their very first winless week under new owner Randy Kitt. It doesn't really matter much when you think of it. The Blades continue to sit on top of the PMNHL standings with a sparkling 24-4-5 record, 19-points ahead of Beverly Hills for top spot in the Maple-Stars Conference, and 7-points ahead of the CastleRock Knights for the Commissioners' Award as the PMNHL's top regular season team.
In the All-World Conference the Iceland Icebears are just 4-points behind the Knights for top spot. Jamie Reidel's squad have been red-hot, knocking off 16-straight wins, and going inbeaten in 17-games. Their last defeat came in week-4 to the Harryville Hazard. The Icebears are approaching the PMNHL record of 21-straight wins set by the Blades to start this season. Final note, any weekly player moves are listed in the TRANSACTIONS section as usual.
AFTER FINALLY LOSING THEIR 1ST GAME OF THE SEASON LAST WEEK, THE BLADES SLICED UP THEIR COMPETITION FOR 6-WINS THIS WEEK!
The PMNHL's traditional 6-game Christmas week served only to pad the win column for the Brandon Blades. The powerhouse franchise under 1st year owner Randy Kitt picked up right where they left off following last week's defeat to the Iceland Icebears. The Blades current streak now sits at 8-games, and it appears as only when the Blades will break records for most wins, most points, and fewest losses in a PMNHL season...
Other news this week: Two teams pulled off small player moves, they can be found in the TRANSACTIONS section; and the PMNHL can't give you a 100% promise, but we hope to be Y2K ready.
THE 1ST GAME OF A 3-GAME WEEK ENDS THE BLADES HISTORY MAKING RUN...
Just call the Icebears 'spoilers'. The gritty group from Iceland marched into the Brandon Memorial Gardens and handed the Blades something they are used to receiving, they handed the Blades something their fans haven't seen happen since last season, the Icebears handed the Blades their 1st loss in their 21st game of the 1999-2000 PMNHL season. The PMNHL will post reaction from Blades Owner & General Manager Randy Kitt about finally losing his 1st game in the PMNHL, and Icebears Owner & General Managers Jamie Riedel about snapping the historical streak.
Elsewhere, the CastleRock Knights cleaned out the crease this week by dumping both their netminders and replcing them with free-agents. The Albany Wolfwoods Warriors dumped "Mr.October" and filled his void on their roster. Finally, both "McCartney's" are a little irked that this week was a short week in the PMNHL. Their teams put up the leagues top-2 point totals for the week, but didn't get 4-wins out of it, they didn't even get 3. The Hazard and Scout Marauders played each other, so instead of 4-wins (from a usual PMNHL weekly schedual) they each put up a record of 2-0-1.
ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END...
As the saying goes, so went the CastleRock Knights 12-game season-opening winning streak. The Knights 12-0-0 record was shattered in their first match-up this week against the still undefeated Brandon Blades. Under new ownership, the Blades have erased all thoughts losing seasons from the past to open the 1999-2000 season with a sparkling 14-0-2 record, the best start in PMNHL history. It's not like they broke a age old record however, the Knights set the old mark for the best start in history only last week.
Of note this week... There were no player moves this week, A couple of teams have been hot lately, but lost in the Knights & Blades hype. The Titans have only 1-defeat in their last 8-games, while the Scout Marauders have won 6 of their last 8-games since starting the season with only 1-win in their first 8-contests.
THE KNIGHTS ROLL INTO THE RECORD BOOKS WITH THE BEST START IN PMNHL HISTORY!
The CastleRock Knights continue to dominate the PMNHL. At 12-0-0 it's hard to beleive that Knights General Manager is still actively moving players. The Knights acquired Michal Handzus and Kevin Weekes this week to their power-house line-up. Loss in all the CastleRock hype is Brandon. Under new ownership, the Blades have quietly gone undefeated (10-0-2) through 12-games this season. That mark would have been good enough to break the best all-time start to a PMNHL season had CastleRock not rolled out 12-wins in a row.
Also of note this week: The stats/standings/report were late for schedualing reasons here at PMNHL Offices. The Sydney Sabotage attempted to acquire Handzus, but were beaten to the punch by the Knights. Also going 4-0-0 this week (besides CastleRock and Brandon) were the Kingston Scout Marauders, with the Iceland Icebears going 3-0-1, their only loss coming to the Scout Marauders.
"ALL OR NOTHING" AS FOUR TEAMS GO 4-AND-0, WHILE THREE TEAMS GO 0-AND-4!
Just another week dominated by the CastleRock Knights. In the PMNHL's first back-to-back week of games, the Knights easily rolled over the London Fire in CastleRock, Tel Aviv next fell to the Knights at home, then Icebears dropped 2-straight in Reykjavik to allow the Knights to embark on a 8-0-0 start to the season. The STANDINGS section has been improved from last week to show your teams weekly fantasy point total. Of note next week, another set of back-to-back games for all of the PMNHL teams. Divisonal match-ups include the Hazard and Titans meeting in Tel Aviv for 2-games, and the Extreme and Blades hooking up for 2-games in Brandon.
THE BOILERMAKERS AND KNIGHTS GO 4-0, AS ICELAND WINS THEIR EARLY SEASON SHOWDOWN WITH SANTA FE
Normally November 15th wouldn't be much of an eventful week in the PMNHL. This season is different, not only did the PMNHL finally start meaningful play, this week saw off-season rivals Iceland and Santa Fe meet in the leagues' marquee match-up. For a good part of the off-season Iceland and Santa have exchanged messages back and forth on the PMNHL's message board regarding player moves. This all started last year prior to the PMNHL's trading deadline during the now infamous Chris Pronger deal. It's a story that won't go away (the Pronger deal) and has snowballed into a rivalry between the Icebears and Extreme. In this installment of the new rivalry, the Icebears scored the first victory over the Extreme. Iceland is credited with 37.50 in week-1, while the Extreme answered with 33.25. During the week of December 6th-12th the Icebears and Extreme meet again, this time in Reykjavik, Iceland.
PMNHL REGULAR SEASON BEGINS
Finally! The PMNHL regular season has begun, over 1-month late, and a day early, all at the same time. The Initial October 1st start date for the season has long been forgotten, and the date of Sunday, November 7th/1999 marks the official begin to the 1999-2000 season. True, PMNHL play begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, but for the 1st week of the season, we'll make an exception and start play with NHL games Sunday night. Owners - you should have already received an e-mail directing you to the new "STATS REPORT" format. Nothing has changed in terms of your teams standings in the PMNHL (click on STANDINGS - and the standings will appear), however there is a slight change in the manner you will collect your teams, and other teams, stats. Enjoy the season!
ROSTER REPORT
Full protected lists rosters are now available in the ROSTERS section. Although these rosters are listed as "protected" owners have full control over players, and may trade them to another PMNHL franchise. No free-agent signings may be made until after the PMNHL Entry Draft on November 2nd. Protected players have begun earning points for their PMNHL teams - and games will begin at once. Teams will play their regularly scheduled games with only 11-players on the roster. This is an excellent way to test the new stats company - and ensure that all will work smoothly during the season following the PMNHL Entry Draft. Any questions, comments, or concerns should be forwarded to PMNHL Offices immediately. This notice also serves as a reminder that updates, league news, and other information are posted here, or on the message boards. Private mass e-mails are no longer used. it is your responsibility to acquire any information needed through this medium. Let the games begin!
TRADING FRONT REPORT
The Iceland Icebears have been busy putting the finishing touches on a pair of deals prior to the protected list deadline. In one deal the Icebears acquired Dominik Hasek from Sydney, then in the other the Icebears shipped injured forward Rod Brind'Amour to Kingston. The full transaction details can be found in the TRANSACTIONS section.
**PMNHL OWNERS NEWS RELEASE**
Dear PMNHL Owner...
GREAT NEWS! Officials from PMNHL League Offices have found a prospective stats provider for the PMNHL's 1999-2000 Season... However - a test of their system and service must be done before the PMNHL commits to a full season with this organization...
Due to this situation your Protected Player List must submitted ASAP... A deadline of October 12th, 1999 has been set for each team's list. Any team that doesn't send in their list by 11:59pm on October 12th will be given their 11-top scoring players from last season - regardless of their current position (examples include Wayne Gretzky & Alexie Yashin as current players that are in-active, but would be automatically placed on a protected list should one not be provided)...
Furthermore - the PMNHL has set the preliminary date of November 2nd, 1999 to holds it annual entry draft, where the completion of all rosters will take place. Please inform the PMNHL immediately if this date is not suitable. However the PMNHL shall admit at this time that a date suitable for everyone may not be found at this late hour - and therefor teams may have to make alternate arrangements for drafting their team...
Your protected player list consists of eleven (11) players... THEY MUST HAVE: 1-goalie, 2-defencemen, 3-forwards... THEY MUST NOT EXCEED: 2-goalies, 6-defencemen, 9-forwards... ***YOU CAN PROTECT 11-PLAYERS BUT ONLY WITHIN THE PARAMETERS LISTED ABOVE**
This timeline gives owners six (5) days to complete any pre-protection list submission trades - and gives the PMNHL added time to test the new stats company...
A positive note to the delay - almost 100% of PMNHL League Fees will be headed for the prize pool should this system work - and the possibility of free player trades may arise...
>BR> Please make all necessary arrangements and documents so that the 8th PMNHL Fantasy Hockey League Season may begin...
Sincerely,
PMNHL Commissioner John P. McCartney
IT'S THAT TIME OF THE YEAR AGAIN...
Yes, it's that time of the year again when things change. I'm not talking about the leaves on the trees changing colours, I'm talking about what you're seeing right now. For the 4th straight season the PMNHL has given the "PMNHL's Home Ice on the Net" a facelift for the new season. Technically it's called Version-5, but who cares about technical terms. If you're interested Versions 2-3-4 can be viewed in the PMNHL's Archive area.
As for draft news, the date is set and October 1st will be the launch date for the PMNHL 1999-2000 Season. Location of the draft has yet to be determined. If expansion plans go through, the draft may be moved from their usual location (league headquarters) due to space concerns (we don't want another incident of a GM stealing a pick from another team). But, as seen in the headlines above, expansion plans are not going as we would have liked them to. All the details you need to know will be posted here!
HAIL TO THE VICTORS VALIANT...
A headline stolen straight from the University of Michigan, but hopefully they won't sue us. October 1st, 1999 hopefully will be the crowning moment for Tony Walsh and his London Fire franchise. A dedicated owner and member of the Executive Council, Mr. Walsh is set to be presented with the newly engraved McCartney Cup on that date. However, Walsh may miss the ceremony due to committments in London. We're told it has been a summer-long party in London, with parade after parade and so on. Walsh, the dedicated owner that he is, has attended virtually every event honoring him and the great championship team he assembled. The PMNHL hopes Walsh will be able to attend his coronation as champion, but if not, will accept the honour on his behalf, and hold a private ceremony at a later date.