NLHA '04-'05 Stats

The Cougars lead the Atlantic Division with 64 points. They lost the conference lead to the Krusaders during the past quarter season. The Cougars lead the entire league in goals scored with 179. Leading the way in the scoring department is Joe Sakic with 50 points and 35 assists. Goal scoring is being paced by young phenom Rick Nash who is currently tied for the league lead in goals scored with 31. Jarome Iginla leads the team in the plus/minus department at +30. The blueline is led by Rob Blake and Paul Mara with 33 and 27 points respectively and both at +25. The goaltending has been taken over by Brian Boucher relegating Tomas Vokoun to a backup role. Boucher has been stellar between the pipes in posting a 23-3-1 record in 27 games played. With a 9 point lead over 2nd place Raleigh in the Atlantic the Cougars are in a good position. However, with half the season to go the Division is far from being won yet.

The Renegades of Raleigh are 2nd in the Atlantic and 3rd in the Eastern Conference with 55 points. Leading the Renegades are forwards Sundin(38pts), St. Louis (38pts), rookie Tuomo Ruutu (37pts), Marleau (34pts) and Brunette (33pts). The defense corps is led by Kim Johnsson (30pts), Kalinin (25pts) and Timonen (24pts). Goaltenders Turco and Toskala have split the time between the pipes with 23 and 20GP respectively. The Renegades have a good shot at catching division leader Carolina. Stay tuned to see if the 'gades can turn it up a notch and take the division!

The Long Island Ducks have held onto 3rd in the Atlantic Division. The Ducks have 46 points and are being led by a triumvirate of rookies in forward Trent Hunter (41pts) who leads all NLHA rookies in scoring and defensemen Joni Pitkanen (17pts) and Marc-Andre Bergeron (16pts). The Ducks' scouting combine has sure come up gold this year! Goaltending has been handled very effectively by Robert Esche who has posted a 2.32 gaa and .920 SvPct in 37 GP. Don't get too close to Robert's crease! His astounding 63 PIM for a goalie shows he is very protective of it! With the Ducks being 9 points behind Raleigh and relying heavily on the play of their rookies, it appears that 3rd will be the best they can do this year. But who knows....ya never know what's going to happen in the NLHA! So stay tuned, the Ducks of Commack Arena could surprise! QUACK!

The Miami Matrix have posted 21 points since the quarter season report and have bolted to 4th place in the Atlantic with 38 points. Still below .500 hockey but doing much better, thank you. While they are 8 points behind the Ducks, they certainly have the talent to overtake them with the likes of Lang (31pts), Naslund (30pts), Gaborik (26pts) and Satan (24pts). The net has been manned by Giguere 28GP and Prusek 15 GP. If the Matrix can continue their play of the past quarter season they'll be able to take 3rd in the Atlantic by season's end.

 

The Orlando Monarchs have dropped to 5th in the Atlantic in posting only 4 points since the last report. They are a mere one point ahead of New Jersey. The Monarchs are led by Kvasha (34pts), Horcoff (27pts), Hrdina (22pts) and Korolyuk (21pts). The defense corps is led by blueliners Kubina, Zyuzin and Sami Salo. Goaltending has been a problem and has recently seen the signing of free agent Mike Dunham to take over the goaltending duties. It has been a looong season for the Monarchs and will continue to be so.

 

The Blitzkrieg from Jersey bring up the rear in the Atlantic at 23 points. They picked up 9 points during the past quarter season so are certainly capable of overtaking the Monarchs. The Joisey Boys are led by Zednik (22pts), Amonte (19pts), Damphousse (19pts), Prospal (18pts) and Pahlsson (18pts). The blueline is being led by the surprising Drake Berehowsky (15pts in 28gp) and NLHA vet Eric Weinrich who leads the league in blocked shots with 55. This greybeard can't keep that up, he'll get injured for sure! Work between the pipes is being handled by a trio of goalies with Pasi Nurminen seeing the most work at 25gp. Felix Potvin follows with 11gp and Cechmanek brings up the rear at 9gp.

 

Eastern Conference - Northeast Division

Well, here we are at mid-season and lo and behold, who's leading the President's Cup chase, Eastern Conference and Northeast Division?? Why Kitchener of course!! The division is a lock with 72 points and a 25 point lead. As Curly Howard would say......"This is gettin monotonous...yuk..yuk..yuk". The Mighty Krusaders of Kitchener boast the best team defense in the league with a mere 73 goals allowed in 42gp. The offense is no slouch either, coming in third in the league at 162 goals scored. Yep...the rest of us are mere mortals. Kovalchuk leads the league in scoring with 55 points. Other 'saders leading the way are Thornton (45pts), Murray (33pts) and Guerin (32pts). The blueline sees Scott Niedermayer leading all defensemen in the league in scoring at 36 points with a stellar plus/minus of +34. Goaltending sees gaa (1.56) and SvPct (.938) leader Manny Legace to go along with 24 wins to date. Marc Denis has done well in sharing the goaltending duties checking in with 12 wins in 15 gp with a 2.07 gaa and .914 SvPct. Barring a meltdown, league commissioner and GM Mark Wendling will again be adding the President's Cup, Eastern Conference and Northeast Division trophies to his trophy case. The Aurora Bowl you ask? Stay tuned!!

 

The Strikers are in 2nd place in the Northeast with 47 points. While they have picked up 26 points during the past quarter, they would probably have better luck in catching a ghost rather than the Krusaders. In recently posting a 9-1-0 record, their hopes of picking up ground were dashed when they looked up and saw Kitchener posting the same record. Leading the Strikers on ice product are Jagr (48pts), Jokinen (37pts), Stillman (31pts), Smyth (27pts), Bertuzzi (24pts) and Tomas Kaberle (22pts). The goaltending duties have been shared among Burke, Gerber and Mason. Overcoming the 25 point lead the 'saders currently enjoy will be....as they say...."forget about it"!

 

The Quebec Canadians et Canadiens are still in 3rd in the Northeast with 41 points. They picked up 23 points since the last report. They have one of the best team defenses in the league at 98 goals allowed. Scoring has been a bit of a problem, though, at 104 goals. They are led by Nieuwendyk (30pts), Shanahan (29pts), Leclair (28pts) and Redden (21pts). The brunt of the goaltending has been handled by Eddie 'The Eagle' Belfour who has seen action in 35 games while posting a 2.21 gaa and .912 SvPct.

 

The Boston Rockerboyz have 32 points and remain in 4th in the Northeast. Picking up 14 points the past quarter has been nothing short of a miracle. However, it appears the miracle on ice in Boston may be coming to an end after a recent rash of injuries that sees 4 Boyz on the shelf. Leading the Boyz of Boston in scoring is surprising Alexandre Daigle with 32 points including 23 goals! After him it drops off quite a bit to blueliner Sergei Gonchar (26pts) and forwards Gratton and Rem Murray with 23 points. Another surprise of the Boyz season is winger Grant Marshall, who while chipping in with 18 points, is the only player in the lineup sporting a positive plus/minus stat at +3. It's now official, goalie Evgeni Nabokov is suffering from the 'puck blues' after playing all of the Boyz 42 games and facing a league leading 1436 shots! He's currently working on a song entitled 'Those Hockey Puck Blues', soon to be released on the Slap Shot label. Stay tuned to see if the Boyz can some how, some way, make the playoffs. If they do, a statue should be erected in Nabbie's honor outside the arena. Fer sure!

 

The New Hampshire Freedom are still mired in last place in the Northeast at 28 points. The good news is that they are no longer last in the Conference! Leading the Freedom are Rolston (23pts), Dumont (22), Sopel (19) and rookie Nathan Horton (18pts). The goaltending has been handled almost excusively by Nikolai 'The Bulin Wall' Khabibulin, who in 40 games, has posted a 2.97 gaa and .899 SvPct with 12 wins. Just as a comparison, he has faced 1173 shots, so you can see why Nabbie in Boston is puck shocked.

 

The Eastern Conference based on points, shapes up as follows:

Kitchener	72
Carolina	64
Raleigh	55
Ottawa	47
Long Island	46
Quebec	41
Miami	38
Boston	32
New Hampshire	28
Orlando	24
New Jersey	23