** FCHL's Toronto Rocket - Official Thread **

[ajs510 122]

To be honest, I don't think I'll finish last place this year. I don't think I have a shot at the playoffs either, but I think I'll finish somewhere between 12th and 14th, and I'd be happy with that spot, as it'll let me get a solid solid prospect for the near future, as we start the building process.

You would have to make a serious effort to finish last this year. The way Jeff is going, he may not win a single game all season. I'm fully expecting Andrew Peters and Colton Orr to suit up for the Reserves this year.

[nell789 0]

No disrespect to Serge, I find the groveling for his support by all these FCHL teams sickening.Serge, I'd like to request that you root against my team, even though I have the most maple leaf contract of all: Toronto Goaltending.

[strategy 4]

You would have to make a serious effort to finish last this year. The way Jeff is going, he may not win a single game all season. I'm fully expecting Andrew Peters and Colton Orr to suit up for the Reserves this year.

I will trade big $$$ for either of these players, right this instant.

[Zach6668 513]

My expansion draft picks:2. zach - demitra, pavol (rich) 5. zach - knuble, michael (mike) 8. zach - morris, derek (biatch) 11. zach - kobasew, chuck (duane) 14. zach - selanne, teemu (arp) 17. zach - miettinen, antti (ollie) 20. zach - clark, brett (rich) 23. zach - madden, john (davey) 26. zach - preissing, tom (john) 29. zach - forsberg, peter (rich) 31. zach - weight, doug (mike)32. zach - zubrus, dainus (adam)I will update the complete roster at a later date, once Nell updates it in my team page.

[Zach6668 513]

Here's the current roster.All of the guys who are listed as RFAs for next season can, and most likely will be signed, for their current salary for 1 to 5 years.

[SBriand 4]

Nice goalies!

[DinkDonk 1]

Wooooooo! Let's go Donks! Can we use stats from 1996? If so, just ship us the title now. In seriousness though, you've got some guys at good prices and a few guys who should perform much better this season than last.

[Zach6668 513]

Acquired for the purposes of dealing at the deadling, imo.

[Zach6668 513]

Ottawa Limidonks Update:8/18/2008 - With the deadline for signing RFAs passed, the Limidonks have announced the following signings:Peter Forsberg, 1 year @ $2.25Teemu Selanne, 1 year @ $2.25John Madden, 3 years @ $1.00Antti Miettinen, 5 years @ $1.00Chuck Kobasew, 5 years @ $1.00Craig Conroy, 2 years @ $0.25Derek Morris, 5 years @ $0.75Taking a nice gamble on Forsberg and Selanne. However, given their relatively cheap salaries, this is a pretty low risk, high reward scenario. Depending on how the early season progresses, either of them could be moved for future assets, or we could hang on to them, hoping to make a playoff run. Madden and Conroy are a couple guys just filling roster spots, as their careers wind down. Both should be able to keep putting some numbers up though, as Madden is only 35, and Conroy is 36. Both are also on quite cheap contracts. Kobasew probably has the highest long term potential of this group, so signing him for 5 years, for that price was a no brainer. Finally, Miettinen should get a lot of ice time in Minnesota, and should be able to put up some points, despite being in their defensive system.8/24/2008 - Made a trade to move the much maligned Bryan McCabe. In return, the Limidonks received Edmonton Oilers forward prospect, and former FCHL 2nd round pick (2008), Jordan Eberle, Senators defenseman Christoph Schubert, and a 2010 2nd round draft pick. In addition to McCabe, the Shaftsbury Wheat Ales also received Canadiens' youngster Guillaume Latendresse, $2 in cap in 09/10 and $3 in 10/11.While we were planning on waiting to see where McCabe ended up playing, and gambling that he'd get back to his point-producing ways, this offer was just too good to refuse. Eberle should be a star sniper in the Oilers very deep system, and should end up playing with other extremely talented youngsters in a few seasons. The 2nd round pick should help to assure that the farm team stays stocked, as some of the current members graduate in the next season or two. Schubert, meanwhile, simply fills McCabe's spot on the roster. Not a lot is expected from him, but his youth and versatility, should keep him in the Sens lineup, and could see some shifts, and even games playing forward, where he has a better chance of putting up points, while still dressing with us as a defenseman.On the other hand, it's tough to part with a guy like Latendresse, who has a lot of potential, but the Limidonks have a pretty good stable of young forwards to bank on, so moving Guillaume was not the end of the world. An additional benefit from the trade, is that moving McCabe helped free up $6.50 in salary to be spent in this years Free Agent auction.9/1/2008 - The free agent auction has come and gone, and the Limidonks "drafted exceptionally well", as mentioned by two competitors in the league. Here is how the Limidonks' portion of the auction went down:Peter Sykora - $7.00David Booth - $3.50Sean Avery - $2.00Christian Backman - $2.00Ville Koistinen - $2.00Mikael Samuelsson - $0.25Kyle Chipchura - $1.00Buffalo Goalies - $0.25Calgary Goalies - $0.25Traded $5.50 in cap for 08/09 for Buffalo prospect Marek Zagrapan, and a 5th round choice in 2009.I came into the auction with no idea what was going to happen, just hoping for the best. I did come in with the second most cap space, so at the very least, I was in a position where I could make a splash, and get some key players. I mostly needed some defensive depth, but was also took the notion that if I had a chance to get a player who could be an asset, regardless of position, I'd take a run at him. The way it turned out, I did short myself on defensemen, as now I only do have 6 on my roster, acquiring only the two today.However, I am feeling that I was VERY succesfull in this draft. I got the player who was basically the best available, in Petr Sykora, and for only $7, which was a bit less than most expected him to go. I also got the player that I was coveting the most, and that was David Booth. While I did really want him, I didn't really want to pay so much that I couldn't lock him up long term. At $3.50, I think I barely made it, so unless he goes off and has a ridiculous year, causing his price to skyrocket, I should be able to lock him up for 5 years at a good price, if only a bit inflated due to the lack of talent in this auction pool.For the rest, we sorta just fell into then. Avery was not in my plans, as I didn't even realize he was a free agent. I only put the one bid for him, and to my amazement, the others who had bid it up so far did not go any further. $2.00 is a good price for a guy like him. If he stays healthy, I certainly expect him to score. Samuelsson was nearly a mistake. I nominated him, and bid 25 cents to get the action going, not planning to invest any more on him, but nobody else wanted him. He's a bit older than the typical guy I was hoping to get, but at 25 cents, it's hard to go wrong, even if he has slid down the depth chart too far.Christian Backman was a similar story. I made it $2 expecting to be outbid, just in an effort to get rid of other people's cap, while at the same time coming away content with landing him. Turned out nobody else wanted him for more than $2. Backman is about 3rd or 4th on the Columbus depth charts, so I don't expect a ton from him. I needed bodies to play defense, and he was as good as any.Ville Koistinen was a nice pickup. Thank the Biatch for not resigning him for $1 as an RFA. He's a young d-man who has some talent to score.The last skater I picked was Chipchura. I was looking for a young guy like him, and had my eye on Lucic, not even knowing Chipcura was available. I put in the bid for $1 on Chipchura, seeing if I could get him, and nobody outbid me there, so I left Lucic, as my roster spots were now full. I expected Lucic to go for more, but with me out of the picture, he only went for $1 as well. I'm not really sure who has the best upside of the two, but Chipchura could possibly have a tougher time getting a regular shift since Montreal is so deep in forwards. Either way, I'm happy I got one, at a price I can resign long term.Finally, the goaltending situation was bizarre for this auction. There were 6 teams available, and 5 people needing to fill up their goaltending (myself needing 2 sets). With Rich missing the auction, unfortunately for him, he'd be stuck with the worst remaining team, and Jeff went early and took Atlanta for 25 cents. Before Atlanta went, Vancouver was up, and people furiously bid on them, with me staying out of the way, until they finally went for $4. Once Vancouver and Atlanta were gone, it left only Buffalo, Calgary, New Jersey, and Carolina, for myself, John, and Rich. In my eyes, Carolina would be the odd team out for Rich to pick up afterwards, and I was quite indifferent between any of the other 3, and apparently John had his eyes set on NJ. I put in min bids for Buffalo and Calgary, and got them uncontested. It was quite the anomoly, and perfect storm, so to speak, as a TON of market factors had to go in to the goalies falling just this way, but I'm happy to be on the good side of it, and now I've got 2 sets of strong goaltenders I can sign for cheap, and build my team around.And, once I got my roster filled up, I still had $5.50 in cap left over, so I shipped it over to Adam in exchange for Marek Zagrapan and a 5th. There was very little I could do with the cash, as I was at my max for roster players, so I'm hoping Zagrapan can pan out, if not, very little was lost.Overall, I am EXTREMELY happy with how the night went. I took my expansion team from a sure fire lottery pick, and trading away my assets (Forsberg, Selanne, etc), to having a very good chance at making the playoffs, and maybe making a nice little run. Unfortunately, I'm in the toughest division, so I'll have to asses the team's future later in the season, and whether or not to try to get some value for my FA players like the Forsbergs and Selannes, and the other bigger name guys like Demitra, etc, or push it the whole way and try to make a run. We are still lacking that superstar name, but hopefully my forward depth can take this team far. On the other hand, I will have to ship one or two players out, because 6 defensemen is probably too few, to ice a competitive team.9/2/2008 - Our roster, through the FA Auction:

[Speed Limit 0]

Bravo, good report. Booth will be fine this year.

[Zach6668 513]

It'd be super sweet if he just missed out on tier 3, and I didn't have to give him a raise. :)With 22+18 last season, that would have given him 31 FCHL points, landing him 8 points outside of tier 3. So basically, what I'm saying, is score 20+20 again, and then blow up in 09/10 after I signed you for 5 years at $3.50. Thanks.I wouldn't HATE if he made tier 3 this year, and I had to pay him $4.25 for 5 years, it's a stretch either way for him to actually breakout that much, off only a 40 point season in Florida. Wishful thinking more than anything, I suppose.

[Speed Limit 0]

It'd be super sweet if he just missed out on tier 3, and I didn't have to give him a raise. :)With 22+18 last season, that would have given him 31 FCHL points, landing him 8 points outside of tier 3. So basically, what I'm saying, is score 20+20 again, and then blow up in 09/10 after I signed you for 5 years at $3.50. Thanks.I wouldn't HATE if he made tier 3 this year, and I had to pay him $4.25 for 5 years, it's a stretch either way for him to actually breakout that much, off only a 40 point season in Florida. Wishful thinking more than anything, I suppose.

Yeah I'm pretty much expecting 40 from him, coach has been drawing up line pairings with Booth getting the shaft from what I've seen, so it's definitely probably he'll miss that third tier. Then if he breaks out after that, well all for the better.

[Zach6668 513]

Ah gay, I can't imagine how he'd be a 3rd liner, but I guess FLA has some forwards. Oh well.

[ajs510 122]

Yeah I'm pretty much expecting 40 from him, coach has been drawing up line pairings with Booth getting the shaft from what I've seen, so it's definitely probably he'll miss that third tier. Then if he breaks out after that, well all for the better.

What do those line mocks say for Matthias and McLean?

[Speed Limit 0]

What do those line mocks say for Matthias and McLean?

It's weird so far for Matthias, I guess he's not the lock to make the team out of camp as I would assume so I've seen some with him on and some with him off. But personally I think he'll be there, I've seen some drawn with him on the second line with Stillman and Olesz. McLean will be just like last year, a workhorse tooling around on the third line, most likely with last years line mate Zednik and Kreps. Zednik might be bumped up, replacing him would either be Greg Campbell or Radek Dvorak.

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

does this look like a good possibility? Its how I had it, with Stillman/Booth interchangeable and maybe Olesz/Zednik interchangeable. Also, Frolik and Stewart as possible roster crashes. I'd be suprised if Matthias isn't given a good opportunity to get the 2nd line C job.STILLMAN WEISS HORTON BOOTH MATTHIAS OLESZ B.MCLEAN KREPS ZEDNIK PELTONEN CAMPBELL DVORAK no offence, but this is one of the weakest lineups in the NHL, battling it out with the Leafs/Marlies. And Im actually a fan of that first line there, I like all 3 players and I think Olesz could be a star.

[Speed Limit 0]

does this look like a good possibility? Its how I had it, with Stillman/Booth interchangeable and maybe Olesz/Zednik interchangeable. Also, Frolik and Stewart as possible roster crashes. I'd be suprised if Matthias isn't given a good opportunity to get the 2nd line C job.STILLMAN WEISS HORTON BOOTH MATTHIAS OLESZ B.MCLEAN KREPS ZEDNIK PELTONEN CAMPBELL DVORAK no offence, but this is one of the weakest lineups in the NHL, battling it out with the Leafs/Marlies. And Im actually a fan of that first line there, I like all 3 players and I think Olesz could be a star.

Yeah, that's pretty much how it looks, Frolik is in the same boat with Matthias, going to be given a good chance in camp but he'll have to work hard.And yes I'm very aware it's a hugely weak 12, this whole "building from the back end out" has been very apparent the past 2 years, with loads (excruciating amounts) of defensemen being shipped in. Anything above 82 points and I'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

[digitalmonkey 929]

I thought Zednik was done in FLA.

[Speed Limit 0]

I thought Zednik was done in FLA.

Nah only the dude that slit his throat.

[Zach6668 513]

9/3/2008 - The Ottawa Limidonks have announced the number changes for this season, amongst incoming players.Christian Backman moves to #2, instead of #5.Brett Clark moves to #55, instead of #5 as well, while Christoph Schubert will keep that number.Teemu Selanne moves back to the #13 he wore in Winnipeg, in his early days, while Matt Cullen keeps his #8.Alexander Steen moves to #25, an homage to his father who wore that number for the Jets many years ago. Booth keeps his #10.Sean Avery goes from #16 to #19 while Andrew Ladd keeps his #16.Antti Miettinen ditches the #20, moving to #18, while Andrew Ladd keeps the #20.Doug Weight will wear #93, as he will in NY, as Dipietro has the #39.Dainus Zubrus switches to his familiar #15, from the #16 he wears in New Jersey.John Madden will move from his familliar #11, electing to don #14 for the FCHL.Everyone else on the roster will wear the numbers they currently wear in the NHL.Additionally, the Limidonks were pleased to announce that Petr Sykora and Matt Cullen have been named alternate captains, while veteran Teemu Selanne has been named team captain, conditional upon his resigning in the NHL.(and yes, I was very bored this morning)

[serge 904]

9/3/2008 - The Ottawa Limidonks have announced the number changes for this season, amongst incoming players.Christian Backman moves to #2, instead of #5.Brett Clark moves to #55, instead of #5 as well, while Christoph Schubert will keep that number.Teemu Selanne moves back to the #13 he wore in Winnipeg, in his early days, while Matt Cullen keeps his #8.Alexander Steen moves to #25, an homage to his father who wore that number for the Jets many years ago. Booth keeps his #10.Sean Avery goes from #16 to #19 while Andrew Ladd keeps his #16.Antti Miettinen ditches the #20, moving to #18, while Andrew Ladd keeps the #20.Doug Weight will wear #93, as he will in NY, as Dipietro has the #39.Dainus Zubrus switches to his familiar #15, from the #16 he wears in New Jersey.John Madden will move from his familliar #11, electing to don #14 for the FCHL.Everyone else on the roster will wear the numbers they currently wear in the NHL.Additionally, the Limidonks were pleased to announce that Petr Sykora and Matt Cullen have been named alternate captains, while veteran Teemu Selanne has been named team captain, conditional upon his resigning in the NHL.(and yes, I was very bored this morning)

Having your captain more likely to play EA sports hockey than NHL hockey is a problem.

[Zach6668 513]

I'm betting Selanne plays this year.

[ajs510 122]

I'm betting Selanne plays this year.

Fo sho.

[MapleLeafpoker 1,462]

9/3/2008 - The Ottawa Limidonks have announced the number changes for this season, amongst incoming players.(and yes, I was very bored this morning)

I guess so!!!Is there like a head moderator I can complain to about this post? Forget as a fellow poster on this board, I'm embarrased to see this from a fellow FCHL owner.Is it too late to retract my vote for Zach's expansion into FCHL??You have brought great shame to the FCHL cause, young one.

[Zach6668 513]

lolololyou're stuck with me now!