CH 6: THE FINAL LAP FOR THE DRYDEN CUP

Nic Lindstrom Leads Canucks Run For the Cup

With 5 Chapters completed in the 2011-12 KDHL season, the Dallas Stars continue to lead the race for the KDHL playoffs:

Dallas Stars (101)*
Washington Caps (92)
Chicago Blackhawks (86)*
Colorado Avalanche (85)*
Carolina Hurricane (84)
Detroit Red Wings (78)
Vancouver Canucks (78)
Buffalo Sabres (76)*

and just missing the cutoff:

LA Kings (76)
NY Rangers (74)

* Division leader 


Dallas has been the powerhouse of the league throughout the season and they show no signs of letting up.  Patrick Kane (55), Loui Ericsson (54) and Johan Franzen (49) provide the 4th best KDHL offense, Zbynek Michalek (+25) and Jordan Leopold (+25) control the blue line and G Tim Thomas (32-7-3 (1.84)) leads the #1 KDHL defense.  The only potential weakness in a playoff context would be the 7th ranked power play and the 8th ranked penalty killing teams in the league. Nevertheless, they do not rank less than 8th in any of those categories and are strong favorites to win the 2nd Ken Dryden Cup. 

The Washington Capitols (92 points) were just assessed a 9 point penalty for the overuse of a player.  The penalty will be assessed at the end of the year and could drastically effect if and where they will be placed in the KDHL playoff list.  The penalty could have been as much as 18 points but mitigating factors such as self reporting, computer software issues and human error in misusing COAs reduced the penalty to 9 points and the suspension of Brian Downie for the remainder of the regular season.  While there are other instances where players have been overused, the cause of the misuse apparently were not controllable due to the absence of ownership or computer software problems or human error.

Despite the penalty, the Caps have the top scoring KDHL team, averaging 3.71 goals per game thanks mainly to the efforts of Jonathan Toews (67), Ryan Kessler (66), and Ryane Clowe (62). Stephanie Robidas (+32) and Brett Clark (+29) control the blue line and Antti Niemi (31-8-5 (2.14)) has done surprisingly well in minding the pipes and the end result is the 5th best KDHL defense. The Caps also rank 2nd in power play conversions and 4th in penalty killing so their special team play could make the difference in a tight playoff series.




The Chicago Blackhawks, 86 points, welcomed new owner Jim Atkinson but Atkinson is currently on a leave of absence given some recent family illnesses.  The Blackhawks have a number of overused players which were the result of the absence of ownership.  The league office has posted a Chapter 6 COA which will eliminate a number of players from participating in the remainder of the season and everyone hopes Jim will make it back in time for the league playoffs should the Blackhawks survive the final lap for the playoff run.  


Bryan Sakolsky has engineered the resurgence of the Colorado Avalanche franchise (70 points).  Corey Perry (70), Patrick Sharp (63) and Jeff Carter (57) lead the best KDHL offense and Sergei Bobrovsky (22-7-3 (2.43)) has the 4th best save percentage among KDHL goalies.  The Avalanche rank 6th in team defense, 5th in power play conversions and 5th in penalty killing efficiency so they look like one of the toughest teams to beat in the upcoming playoffs.


The Carolina Hurricanes, 84 points, rank 5th in KDHL offense thanks to the efforts of Thomas Vanek (55) and David Backes (40).  The Hurricanes seem to be a house of cards ready to fall given they rank 12th in team defense, 13th in save percentage, and 13th in penalty killing efficiency. 


The Detroit Red Wings, 78 points, seem to be a much more solid team. Eric Staal (49), Nik Kulemin (45), and  Danny Heatley (43) lead the 5th ranked power play team and the  11th ranked team offense. Warhorse Henrik Lundqvist (26-22-5 (2.38)) ranks 4th in save percentage. The Red Wings could used some improved play along the blue line given they rank 9th in team defense and 9th in penalty kill percentage.

Vancouver, 78 points, could be the surprise team in the playoffs given their record does not match their superb underlying numbers.  Jarome Iginla (69), Patrick Marleau (54) and Scott Hartnell (46) lead the 6th ranked KDHL offense. Nic Lidstrom (50) is making a claim for KDHL MVP and Jay Bouwmeester (+14) gives the Canucks the 3rd best KDHL defense and the 3rd ranked penalty killing special team unit. If Jonathan Quick can improve on the 6th ranked save percentage, the Canucks could really surprise their fans in the playoffs.

The Buffalo Sabres, 76 points, make the current playoff cut given they maintain a 2 point lead over the over achieving NY Rangers in the East Division.  Shea Weber (+10) and Brad Stuart (+13) give the Sabres the 6th best penalty kill unit and the 6th best defensive unit.  Joe Thornton (52), Ilya Kovalchuk (47) and Patrice Bergeron (42) lead the 7th best offensive unit. Nevertheless, the Sabres need Craig Anderson (22-16-7 (2.47)) to improve on his 12th rank save percentage.

Two teams remain close to the playoff cut but are currently on the outside looking in.  The LA Kings, 77 points, basically rely on the 3rd best offensive unit thanks to the efforts of D Dustin Byfuglien (58), and Fs Justin Williams (52) and Tuomo Ruutu (42). The Kings really do not have any other playoff caliber strengths to speak of.  The NY Rangers, 74 points, are only 2 points behind the Sabres in the East Division.  The Rangers can only use Sidney Crosby for 6 games in CH 6 but they have saved G James Reimer (14-5-2 (1.86)) to mind the nets for most of CH6 and hope Reimer will continue his high level of play and lead the Rangers past the Sabres for the East Division Title.


Given the results after 5 Chapters, the following players appear to be the top performers in the KDHL at their respective positions:


F  Corey Perry-Col- (32.38.70)
F  Jarome Iginla-Van- (35.34.69)
F  Jonathan Toews-Wash- (24.43.67)
D  Dustin Byfuglien-LAK- (29.29.58)
D  Nic Lindstrom-Van- (14.36.50)
G  Tim Thomas-Dal- (32-7-3 (1.84))


Reminder: All KDHL Owners are reminded that the league overuse rules will be closely monitored during CH6.At the current time, all teams have owners and although Chicago owner Jim Atkinson is on a leave of absence, if the Chicago COA is used, Chicago should not incur any penalties. The rest of us need to make sure we create COAs which do not result in any overuse in CH6 and make sure we use our opponents COAs.

SOUTHWEST CONFERENCE WINS ALL STAR GAME 3-2

Tim Thomas claims All Star MVP

The Southwest Conference defeated the Northeast Conference 3-2 in the second annual KDHL All Star game.  The game, played in Winnipeg, drew a sell out crowd.

Johan Franzen opened the scoring with an even handed goal at 3:40 and Patrick Marleau followed at the 4:20 mark.  to give SW a 2-0 lead after the first quarter.  The teams exchanged power play goals by Patrick Sharp and Ilya Kovalchuk to make it 3-1 after 2 periods.  Alex Burrows made it close with a goal at 4:22 in the 3rd period but Thomas shutdown the Northeast All Stars the rest of the way for a 3-2 win....

Here is the game summary:

 

 September 31 1901                                                   02-26-2012

                                     1   2   3     F
1900-01 SOUTHWEST    1-0-0-0         2   1   0     3
1900-01 NORTHEAST    0-1-0-0         0   1   1     2

Scoring Summary
Per Time Str Team
 1  3:40  EV  SW  Franzen(1), assisted by Horton(1) and Carter(1)
 1  4:20  EV  SW  Marleau(1), assisted by Giroux(1)
 2  8:31  PP  SW  Sharp(1), assisted by Carter(2) and Tallinder(1)
 2 18:29  PP  NE  Kovalchuk(1), assisted by Ovechkin(1)
 3  4:22  EV  NE  Burrows(1), assisted by Boyle(1) and Toews(1)

Penalty Summary
Per Time Team
 1  7:15 SW  Keith(2), 2:00 - delay of game
 1  9:28 SW  Bouwmeester(2), 2:00 - roughing
 1  9:28 NE  Burns(2), 2:00 - roughing
 2  7:20 NE  Staal(2), 2:00 - checking from behind
 2 12:27 SW  Iginla(2), 2:00 - roughing
 2 12:27 NE  Chara(2), 2:00 - roughing
 2 18:07 SW  Byfuglien(4), 4:00 - high sticking
 3 18:40 SW  Byfuglien(8), 4:00 - high sticking

                SOG 1  SOG 2  SOG 3
SOUTHWEST        13     10      7
NORTHEAST        12     13     12

                 SW         NE
SOG              30         37
FOW              17         35
FO%            32.7       67.3
Hits             26         13
Blocks           20          8
Missed Net       13         20
Shot Attempts    51         77
Scoring Chances   4          3
PIM              12          4
PP              1-1        1-3
TOA            4:19      14:06


Star 1: SW Thomas 35 saves
Star 2: NE Kovalchuk 1 G
Star 3: NE Burrows 1 G

GWG: Patrick Sharp

Notables: SW  Thomas,T 35 saves
          NE  None


  SOUTHWEST      GA SV  Save%    TOI    W  L OL   Rate
G Thomas,T        2 35   .946  60:00    1  0  0    8.9 (-0.5)

  NORTHEAST      GA SV  Save%    TOI    W  L OL   Rate
G Price           3 27   .900  58:44    0  1  0    8.0 (+0.3)

         SOUTHWEST      G A P +/-  PIM P#   S Ms Hit Gv Tk Bs  FW FL    F%    TOI Shft   Ave     PP    SH     EV
D        Keith          - - -  +1    2  1   5  2   2  1  1  1   -  -     -  21:49   19  1:09   0:49  1:27  19:33
RW       Perry,C        - - -   0    -  -   -  1   1  -  -  1   -  -     -  21:10   14  1:31   0:22  4:15  16:33
LW C RW  Sharp          1 - 1   0    -  -   3  1   2  -  -  1   5 11  31.3  21:10   14  1:31   0:22  4:15  16:33
D        Lidstrom       - - -   0    -  -   -  -   1  1  -  2   -  -     -  20:24   17  1:12   0:22  2:15  17:47
D        Bouwmeester    - - -   0    2  -   -  1   2  1  -  4   -  -     -  20:16   17  1:12   0:49  3:27  16:00

D        Byfuglien      - - -   0    8  2   4  2   6  2  -  -   -  -     -  20:00   16  1:15      -  2:00  18:00
D        Karlsson       - - -  +1    -  -   1  -   1  -  -  -   -  -     -  19:20   15  1:17      -     -  19:20
D        Tallinder      - 1 1   0    -  -   1  1   -  1  1  1   -  -     -  18:24   16  1:09   0:22  2:15  15:47
LW       Vanek          - - -   0    -  -   2  1   1  -  -  -   -  -     -  17:30   10  1:45   0:49     -  16:41
RW       Horton         - 1 1   0    -  -   1  1   -  -  -  2   -  -     -  16:13   11  1:28   0:49     -  15:24

C RW     Giroux         - 1 1  +1    -  -   3  1   3  -  1  3   2  - 100.0  16:12   15  1:05   0:49  0:18  15:05
LW RW    Franzen        1 - 1   0    -  -   2  -   3  -  -  -   -  1   0.0  15:24   10  1:32      -     -  15:24
RW       Iginla         - - -  +1    2  1   1  -   2  1  -  2   -  1   0.0  14:52   15  0:59      -  0:18  14:34
LW C     Marleau        1 - 1  +1    -  -   3  -   -  -  -  1   3  8  27.3  14:26   16  0:54      -  1:09  13:17
C RW     Carter,J       - 2 2   0    -  -   1  1   1  -  1  -   5  7  41.7  13:42   13  1:03   0:22  1:09  12:11

LW       D.Sedin        - - -   0    -  -   -  1   1  1  -  1   -  -     -   7:32   11  0:41      -     -   7:32
RW       Kane           - - -   0    -  -   1  -   -  -  -  1   -  -     -   5:57   10  0:36      -     -   5:57
C        H.Sedin        - - -   0    -  -   2  -   -  -  -  -   2  7  22.2   5:57   10  0:36      -     -   5:57

         NORTHEAST      G A P +/-  PIM P#   S Ms Hit Gv Tk Bs  FW FL    F%    TOI Shft   Ave     PP    SH     EV
LW RW    Kovalchuk      1 - 1   0    -  -   4  1   -  -  1  1   -  -     -  22:57   17  1:21   3:27  0:31  18:59
LW       Ovechkin       - 1 1   0    -  -   6  1   2  -  -  1   -  2   0.0  22:26   16  1:24   3:27     -  18:59
D        Burns          - - -   0    2  -   3  -   -  -  -  -   -  -     -  22:22   13  1:43   2:00     -  20:22
D        Suter          - - -   0    -  -   3  -   -  -  -  1   -  -     -  21:45   13  1:40   2:00     -  19:45
D        Weber          - - -  -1    -  -   -  2   2  1  -  3   -  -     -  21:25   16  1:20   0:44  0:22  20:19

D        Chara          - - -  -1    2  1   2  3   3  -  -  -   -  -     -  21:02   16  1:19   2:58  0:49  17:15
C        Kesler         - - -   0    -  -   -  2   2  -  -  1  11  6  64.7  20:28   14  1:28   3:27  0:22  16:39
D        Boyle          - 1 1   0    -  -   3  1   -  -  -  -   -  -     -  17:13   16  1:05   0:44  0:22  16:07
D        Doughty        - - -   0    -  -   1  2   1  -  -  1   -  -     -  16:50   14  1:12   2:58  0:49  13:03
LW RW    Burrows        1 - 1   0    -  -   2  1   1  -  1  -   -  -     -  15:49   12  1:19      -  0:18  15:31

LW RW    Clowe          - - -   0    -  -   1  3   -  -  1  -   1  - 100.0  15:31   11  1:25      -     -  15:31
C        Lecavalier     - - -  -1    -  -   3  1   -  -  -  -   -  1   0.0  14:21   15  0:57   1:31  0:31  12:19
C        Toews          - 1 1   0    -  -   -  1   -  1  -  -   7  3  70.0  14:01   11  1:16      -  0:22  13:39
LW RW    Heatley        - - -  -1    -  -   3  1   -  -  1  -   -  -     -  12:56   14  0:55   0:44  0:18  11:54
C        Thornton       - - -  -1    -  -   1  -   1  -  2  -   8  4  66.7  12:38   13  0:58   0:44     -  11:54

LW C     Datsyuk        - - -   0    -  -   -  1   -  -  1  -   8  1  88.9   9:30   11  0:52   2:47     -   6:43
C        Staal          - - -   0    2  1   2  -   1  -  -  -   -  -     -   7:49    9  0:52   1:31     -   6:18
C        Tavares        - - -   0    -  -   3  -   -  -  -  -   -  -     -   7:02    9  0:47   0:44     -   6:18

DALLAS RETAINS TOP SPOT IN DRYDEN CUP RACE

BLACKHAWKS'  JASON LABARBERA (7-0-0-1.29) 


1. DALLAS (86 )


While the Dallas Stars continue to dominate regular season play with 86 points, many teams are beginning to demonstrate they will provide stiff competition over the rest of the regular season.  

Dallas continues to lead the league in team defense by only allowing 2.14 GAA.  Tim Thomas continues to stymie opponents with a  .928 save percentage but the Stars are also 3rd in the KDHL team offense by averaging 3.21 goals scored per game.  Patrick Kane (12.36.48),  Johan Frazen ((24.19.43) and Loui Eriksson (15.27.42) are providing the Stars' scoring power.

2. COLORADO (73 )


Colorado (73 points) is ranked 2nd in the KDHL and depend on the best offense in the league (3.73 GPG)  which is supported by the best Power Play in the league (26.2%).  
Corey Perry (26.34.60), Patrick Sharp (25.30.55), Jeff Carter (24.25.49), Nathan Horton (15.27.42) and Martin Havlat (16.24.40) all seem to score in waves and leave opponents shell shocked.  


3. WASHINGTON (72)


The Capitols are a very balanced team and rank 2nd in offense (3.56 GPG), second in power play percentage (20.7) and second in defense (2.48 GA).   The Caps are strong up the middle with Jon Toews (19.33.52), Ryan Kessler (26.24.50), Ryan Clowe (15.32.47) and Alex Burrows (14.27.41) and Antti Niemi (25-5-3-1.88) has been stellar between the pipes.


4. CAROLINA (64)


The Hurricanes rank 5th in team offense (2.92 GPG) and rely mainly on Tomas Vanek (19.26.45).


5. DETROIT (63)


The Red Wings have used the hot goal tending of Jason Labarbera (7.0.0-1.29) but Jason only has 10 games left to play .
 

WHO CAN STOP THE DALLAS STARS

DALLAS LEADS KDHL 

The Dallas Stars continued to dominate the Ken Dryden Hockey League despite playing in the South Division of the KDHL, the home of 4 of the top 8 teams in the league.

Here is a brief sketch of  the top 8 teams and how they are achieving success...

4th in Scoring: 3.56
1st in Goals Allowed: 2.02
1st in Save %: .932
6th in PP %: .189
9th in PK%: .842
61 Points 


Tim Thomas continues to make a strong case for KDHL MVP.  Thomas has a 26-4-2 record and an outstanding .949 Save %. Zbynek Michalek, Tim Gleason and Tyler Myers provide superior defense at the blue line while Johan Frazen (20-16-36,10 PPG) and Patrick Kane (11-30-41)lead the 4th best offense in the KDHL.

2nd in KDHL:  51 Points 
 2nd in Scoring: 3.56
10th  in Defense: 2.69
5th in Save %: .918
1st in PP%: 25.8
8th in PK%:  84.5


Bryan Sakolsky has done a great job resurrecting this franchise mainly due to the scoring trio of Corey Perry (21-24-45), Jeff Carter (21-17-38) and Patrick Sharp (18-19-37).  Victor Hedman and Erik Carlsson lead the blueline along with Dennis Wideman (5 PPG).  Jonas Hiller (12-9-2-.929) minds the Avalanche net.

LA KINGS 

3rd in the KDHL:  51 Points
3rd in Scoring:  3.08
9th in Defense: 2.67
4th in Save %: .918
9th in PP%: .171
3rd in PK%: .863


Justin Williams (13-24-37), Stephen Weiss (14-16-30) and D Dustin Byfuglien (18-14-32) all have more than 30 points so far this season and Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are a fine pair to shutdown any opponent.  Netminder Corey Crawford (19-10-3) has been solid between the pipes.  

Washington Capitals 
49 Points
1st in Scoring:  3.67
4th in Defense: 2.53
12th in Save %:  .910
2nd in PP%: 23.7
7th in PK%:  84.8




The Caps do a good job passing around the puck and spread out their scoring among Ryan Kesler (22-15-37), Dave Moss (10-22-32), Alex Burrows (10-22-32), Jonathan Toews (13-19-32) and Ryane Clowe (6-22-38). 
Brent Burns and Kevin Bieska lead the blueline defense while Antti Niemi (15-2-3- .931) takes advantage of his offensive support.

Buffalo Sabres: 49 Points 
7th in Scoring: 2.93
7th in Defense: 2.60
10th in Save %: .912
10th in PP%: .20
2nd in PK%: 86.6

Ilya Kovalchuk (16-13-29) has posted 10 PPG to give the Sabres a lethal penalty killing special team and Joe Thornton (7-24-31) passes the puck very well.  Alex Goler and Shea Weber control the blueline while Craig Anderson (15-8-0-.904) is the Sabres' #1 goaltender.

 Detroit Red Wings: 49 Points

8th in Scoring:  2.85
13th in Defense:  2.83
7th in Save %: .914
5th in PP%: .20
12th in PK%: .83




Jason Spezza (12-20-32), Dan Heatley (10-20-30) and Eric Staal (12-16-28) lead the offense,Jack Johnson and Dion Phaneuf man the blueline and Henrik Lundqvist (17-11-4-.920) stops enough shots to keep the Red Wings in the KDHL playoff hunt.

Carolina Hurricanes: 48 Points
6th in Scoring: 2.97
15th in Defense: 2.95
9th in Save %: .912
4th in PP%: 20.1
20th in PK%: 76.1


Carolina seems to be living on the edge with smoke and mirrors and remains one of the top 8 teams in the league despite having the worst penalty killing squad in the league. Tomas Vanek (14-20-34) is the only forward with more than 30 points and Cam Ward (17-11-5-.919) plays well enough to keep the Hurricanes in the hunt for the KDHL cup.

Tampa Bay Lightning
44 Points 
13th in Scoring: 2.59
3rd in Defense: 2.41
8th in Save %: .913
17th in PP%: 13.5
6th in PK%: .850


Alan Raylesburg led TBL to the first Dryden Cup final until they lost to the San Jose Sharks. This year they have had trouble finding the net with nobody at the 30 point level so far but count on Phil Kessel (9-17-26) and Brad Richards (12-13-25) to change that before too long. TBL relies heavily on its defensive unit led by Sergei Gonchar and Eric Brewer while Ryan Miller (13-14-4-(2.35)) gallantly defends the TBL net.  Miller is quite capable of getting very hot in any playoff situation so the Lightning are a very dangerous team.

New Owners for Pittsburgh and Chicago Franchises

New Owners in the KDHL

League Commissioner Jim Doyle announced today Bob Simons is the new owner of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise while Jim Atkinson takes over the Chicago Blackhawks.   The league is also attempting to finalize plans to announce the new owner of the Carolina Hurricane franchise once a bio has been submitted by the new owner.   

 Bob Simons is 45 years old and works for the gas control department of Vermont.  An avid golfer , he loves the Bruins and all Vermont University sports teams.  His sports heroes include Jack Nicklaus, Ray Bourque, Larry Bird and Cam Neely.  

Jim Atkinson is a Delta Air retiree from Georgia who loves the Flames, Braves and Georgia Bulldogs.   Atkinson is also a member of another DK hockey league so we hope we can show him why he should spend alot of time working in this league.


Please welcome Jim and Bob to the KDHL...

DALLAS DOMINATES CHAPTER 2

Dallas G Tim Thomas (14-2-0-.954)

 After 2 Chapters, the top 8 leading teams in the KDHL look like this:


1. Dallas (43-20-6-0-3)
2. Carolina (37-16-8-0-5)
3. Colorado (34-16-6-0-2)
4. Washington (34-16-6-0-2)
5. Philadelphia (32-15-9-0-2)
6. Chicago (31-15-9-0-1)
7. Los Angelos (29-14-9-0-1)
8. Boston (29-14-12-0-1)


Here is how they are doing it:


1. The Dallas Stars (43-20-6-0-3) rode the hot goaltending of Tim Thomas to take the lead in the race for the Ken Dryden Cup, dominating the tough Southern Division of the league.   In addition to leading the lead with a 2.03 GAA, the Stars rank 4th with a 20.3 PP %.   Johan Franzen (9 PPGs) and Loui Erickson (4 PPGs) led the way.

2. Carolina holds down the second slot in the southern division and are using a team approach to hold down the second position in the league.  G Cam Ward (12-7-0-4), Tom Vanek (11-16-27), David Backes (11-9-20) and Devin Setoguchi(9-8-17) are the leaders on the team.

3. Colorado leads the KDHL with 3.58 GPG and rely on the top 3 scorers in the KDHL .  The trio consists of Corey Perry (17-17-34), Patrick Sharp (16-16-32) and Jeff Carter (16-13-29).   G Sergi Bobrovsky (9-1-0-2.10) has provided some hot goal tending and the Avalanche  lead the league with a PP% of 24.8.  Sharp (7), Perry (5) and Nathan Horton (4) provide the firepower on the power play.


4.  Washington holds down the 3rd spot in the Southern Division.  The Southern Division currently has 3 of the top 4 teams in the KDHL after 2 Chapters.  The Capitals rank second in the league in GPG of 3.46.  The Capital sharpshooters include Ryan Kessler (13-10-23), Tyler Ennis (6-14-20) and Jonathan  Toews (8-11-19).   Antti Niemi (11-0-0-2-.940) propelled the Caps to a 2.42 GAA , 4th in the league.  

5. Philadelphia holds down the 1st position in the Northern Division mainly because they rank 3rd in the league with a 2.35 GAA largely due to the play of G Roberto Luongo (12-7-0-2-.924).  The Flyers also lead the KDHL with a PPK% of 89.8 %.  Leading the penalty killers are Drew Doughty and Mark-Edouard Vlasic. 

6. Chicago holds down the 6th spot in the league and the second slot in the North with a 2.35 GAA , a .932 Save %, and a 83.6 PK%.  Carey Price (10-6-0-1-.941) and Jason LaBarbera (5-0-0-0-.970) have been stellar between the pipes while Hal Gill and Kevin Klein have thwarted opponent's power plays better than any other KDHL team except for the Philadelphia Flyers.

7. Los Angeles has combined a 3.08 GPG average with effective special teams which include a 85 PK%.  Justin Williams (10-15-25), Bobby Ryan (8-12-20) and Stephen Weiss (7-8-15) lead the offensive charge while Duncan Keith and Marc Staal have led the penalty killers.

8. Boston scores 3.11 GPG and have great special teams which have been stingy with a PK% of 24.1% and a 85.2 PP%.  Derek Roy (9-20-29), Jason Ponimville (12-11-23) and Alex Ovechkin (9-14-23) provide offensive firepower while Adrian Aucoin and Matt Greene fortify the defensive end.


After 2 Chapters of play, the following players would make a great KDHL All Star Team:

W-  Tom Vanek- Car
C - Ryan Kesler- WSH
W- Corey Perry- Col
D-  Dustin Byfuglien- Car
D- Brent Burns- WSH
G- Tim Thomas- Dal

KDHL CHAPTER 1 REVIEW

Phil Kessel leads KDHL in Scoring 

Phil Kessel took an early lead in the KDHL scoring race , posting 7 goals and 7 assists for 14 points and earning the MVP of Chapter 1.  The all Chapter 1 team included Kessel and the following players:

Patrick Sharp  C   Colorado

The Avalanche are being resurrected by the shrewd moves of Owner Bryan Sakolsky and the play of players like Sharp.  Sharp blasted 6 goals and distributed 8 assists for 14 points.

Claude Giroux  W   Philadelphia

Giroux holds the 3rd position in the scoring race with 13 points on 5 goals and 8 assists and also 15 takeaways.

Ryan Suter   D    Chicago 

Suter was the best two way defensive player , leading defensemen in scoring .

Rob Scuderi  D  Minn  

Scuderi  was among the league leaders with 30 blocks.

Tim Thomas  G  Dal

Thomas rounded out the All Chapter 1 team by stopping about 96% of all shots.

The   KDHL has completed all Chapter 1 games and 4 teams have claimed an early lead after all games through 11.15.11.    Here are the top five teams:

1.  Minnesota Wild    15 points  (6-3-0-3)

2. Washington Caps  15 points (7-2-0-1)

3. Philadelphia Flyers  15 points  (7-6-0-1)

4. Tampa Bay Lightning  15 points  (7-7-0-1)

5.  New York Islanders   14 points  (7-2-0-0)

Colorado is the early offensive force, leading the league with 3.6 Goals per Game and the Avalanche also have the best Power play in the league, scoring on 27.5% of its power play opportunities.   Dallas rode the hot goaltending of Tim Thomas to hold opponents to 1.50 Goals a Game while the Minnesota Wild have the most efficient penalty kill squad in the league, killing nearly 90% of all opponents power plays.