The Chicago Blackhawks made five selections in the 2006 PÜHL Entry Draft, starting with the first #1 overall pick in team history.

-- 1st rd, 1st overall || RD Ravil Goroshin
-- 6-3/224 || born (RUS)
[has his own article]

-- 2nd rd, 34th overall || LD Esteban Berry
-- 5-10/164 || born April 22nd 1988 (USA)
In his freshman season with the University of Massachusetts Minutemen, Berry scored 11 points and was +25 in 27 games. He plays a very steady defensive game and is an excellent skater. Doesn't have too much of an offensive game, and his size may hold him back at higher levels. He is the younger brother of teammate Alex Berry, who was drafted by Edmonton in 2004 and is now property of the Vancouver Canucks. Was 33rd on International Scouting Services' rankings.

-- 2nd rd, 50th overall || LD Trevor Pinkett
-- 5-11/184 || born January 8th 1988 (CAN)
Their third pick results in a third defensemen taken by the Blackhawks, despite it being a position of strength among their prospect group. Pinkett, dubbed "Pinky" by teammates, scored nine goals and 26 points for the Oshawa Generals this past season, but offense is not his strong point. Like Goroshin and Berry, he is a strong skater and a dedicated worker. Was 54th on ISS's rankings. Pick acquired from LA in Schneider/Dempsey trade.

-- 3rd rd, 64th overall || C/LW Jamie Elik
-- 6-2/208 || born November 9th 1988 (CAN)
Elik is a good-skating two-way winger. Due to a mix-up with Central Scouting, he was eligible for this Draft even though he has a late birthday. He scored 82 goals and 149 points in 64 games, finishing two points behind Finnish import Sampo Kolehmainen for the lead in the QMJHL. Despite his good size, he is not a physical player, although he doesn't run away from people. Was alternate captain of the P.E.I. Rocket. Was 24th on ISS's rankings.

-- 5th rd, 124th overall || LW/RW Linus Persson
-- 5-11/165 || born December 29th 1985 (SWE)
One of the fastest players in this year's Draft, Persson comes from the same team as Blackhawk prospect Mattias Wennerberg, although Persson should make the AHL. The 20-year-old had 23 goals and 45 points in 58 games, almost identical numbers to what he did the season previous, when he scored 22 goals and 48 points in 58 games. He definitely needs to gain strength. Was 86th on ISS's rankings.

The team's 4th rd pick was traded to Los Angeles in October 2005, who used the pick on Blair Yaworski.

PÜHL commissoner Gary Bettman approaches the podium. He smiles in that half-creepy, half-leprechaun way of his.

Bettman taps the microphone once, then clears his throat and clasps his hands behind his back. The moment he opens his mouth to speak, an anonymous teenage male in an Edmonton Oilers jersey lets out a boo that lasts the better part of two minutes. He is eventually spotted by burly security guards and escorted out, his feet dragging useless behind him. The camera zooms in on the name spelled out on the back of the jersey: "Conkkanen."

Bettman wets his lips and stares directly into the camera.

[Gary Bettman] "Welcome, hockey fans, to the 2006 PÜHL Entry Draft. I'd like to thank the city of Vancouver for hosting this year and for their hospitality, except for that one guy who is being "taken care of." Before we get to the first selection, I'd like to congratulate the Montréal Canadiens on their amazing playoff run --"

He is interrupted by a short burst of applause with the occassional boo.

[Gary Bettman] "-- and I'd also like to congratulate the Colorado Avalanche on winning their third league championship, and their first Ümläüt Cüp!"

The crowd's response is applause mixed with a large smattering of boos.

[Gary Bettman] "And now, what we really came here for: the first pick in the woeful 2006 PÜHL Entry Draft belongs to the Chicago Blackhawks."

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Jayzin Smith and assistant GM Sakari Pietilå walk up the steps. Pietilå carries in his hands a red Blackhawks jersey with 06 on the back. Smith stands behind the podium, closes his eyes, and sighs loudly before speaking.

[Jayzin Smith] "With the first pick of the 2006 Draft, the Chicago Blackhawks are sort of proud to select, from the Gatineau Olympiques, defenseman Ravil Goroshin."

[Olivier Meklau] "Wow."

The crowd falls deathly ill ... I mean silent. Until ...

[The lone Blackhawk fan in the stands is heard] "That's it! I'm done with this team! Idiots!"

Then again, silence.

The screen cuts abrubtly to reveal two suited men in their 40s are seated behind an insanely long desk.

[Dougie Riaboff] "That was ... unexpected."

[Olivier Meklau] "You can say that again."

[Dougie Riaboff] "Ravil Goroshin. He's a bit of a late riser, and we thought some team would take him much higher than he was rated, but for him to go number one is a bit of a shock."

A series of video clips of Goroshin plays on the screen. The first has him clearing the crease in front of his goaltender, the next poking the puck away from an opponent in the neutral zone, and the third shows him struggling to keep the puck in near his own blueline. Other clips play on while the two talking heads babble.

[Dougie Riaboff] "He's a big kid, came over from Russia to play in the QMJHL this season. Had a good year: 10 goals, almost 30 points. Plays more of a defensive game, can play the body, skates well."

[Olivier Meklau] "Still ..."

[Dougie Riaboff] "Still, a bit of a reach. You may be wondering if Smith's stay with the team is in question. Goroshin was not listed as even a definite top 30 pick by any of the major Draft ranking services. The Hockey News had him the highest, and even that was just as a longshot late first round pick."

The clips end and the camera returns to the two men. Riaboff tilts his head like a confused dog, listening to his earpiece.

[Dougie Riaboff] "We now go to Knud Branch down on the floor. Knud?"

[Knud Branch] "Thanks, Doug."

The camera cuts to a man in his mid-30s, also suited, standing amongst a throng of tables and people.

[Knud Branch] "The selection of Goroshin first overall has gotta shock you, but we've said all along that there was no clear-cut number one player this year. Some have even said there isn't even ten players who are on most team's top 50 board. The Blackhawks clearly had Goroshin very high, and decided against trading down."

The camera cuts back to the desk.

[Olivier Meklau] "Well, they were shopping the pick, but I think it was more that they couldn't find a partner rather than wanting Goroshin that much more than anyone else."

View returns on Branch.

[Knud Branch, looking slightly annoyed] "What's the difference, Olivier, really, when you get right down to it? Chicago may have been asking for too much in return."

Meklau starts to answer, but is interrupted.

[Dougie Riaboff] "We now go back to Gary Bettman at the podium."

The camera shakily tries to focus on Bettman.

[Gary Bettman] "The Buffalo Sabres are now on the clock."

After a dismal showing in last year's postseason, the Colorado Avalanche capped an impressive late season surge with a sensational 16-4 playoffs run, thus clinching their first Umlaut Cup. After taking a commanding 3-1 lead in the series in Montreal, the Avs finished off the Canadiens at home, getting the Cup winner from an unlikely source: Antti Laaksonen, 4th line checking winger.

More than the stellar play of its established stars, it was its spread out scoring that allowed Colorado to advance this far: the ability to roll four dangerous lines which mixed offensive talent with tough physical play was the key to their successful run. Franchise sniper Milan Hejduk did win the Conn Smythe and All-Star Dman Rob Blake did average more than a point per game in the playoffs, but it was Chris Gratton who scored the most game winners and Wojtek Wolski, who was centering the 4th line, scored eleven points in sixteen games. Offence and toughness, when you find the right combination of those two (toughence), it'll get you Cups, there's no doubt about it.

Grit is something the Avs' opponent in the Finals, the Montreal Canadiens, lacked to be a real match: their relative softness cost them big as they lost their leading scorer Jan Bulis in the Conference Finals and Richard Zednik in the Finals to chest injuries. Would a healthy quebecquois squad have made any difference? First there's no such thing as a fully (mentally) healthy quebecquois bunch (but that's another story). Second, maybe the series would have lasted a little longer, but in the end the Canadiens simply didn't have the muscles to survive a 7-game encounter against the Avs.

Colorado ended the regular season 4th in the Western Conference and, en route to its first Umlaut Cup Finals appearance, it defeated both the 1st and 2nd western seeds. It then went on to crush the 2nd seed in the Eastern Conference. Are the Avs a true cinderella story? According to an anonymous source from Edmonton management: "You gotta be f. kidding me, the Avs are no underdog... we saw them turn their game around a couple weeks before the trade deadline... they evidently couldn't catch us for the division title, but we knew they were the team to beat in the Western Conference and guess what, we blew it".

But how did the Avs manage this transformation? Maybe team captain Joe Sakic has the answer: "Well it may sound cliche, but we knew from the start what we were capable of. Even last year we believed in our chances and the 1st round exit was even more painful. Time's running out on guys like Adam, Rob, Bob and myself, we felt we had all the tools to get it done last year, it's a shame management let us down." Hockey players need a supportive and stable environment to succeed. Losing their original GM to a nervous breakdown was a tough hurdle to begin with. Learning their new general manager was a donkey-raping shit-eater surely didn't help shore up the Avs' self-confidence either, and not surprisingly they failed miserably in the 2004-2005 playoffs. When it was announced in the middle the 2005-2006 season that the inept GM had finally been let go and that the cheese-eating surrender monkey was back in charge, the guys began to believe again: "We knew our GM was serious about that Cup run when he brought in Jeremy (Roenick) at the trade deadline: his willingness to give up a promising young forward in Marek Svatos for a playoffs rental proved he had faith in our team's potential" says veteran Dman Rob Blake. "Jeremy posted a workhorse performance for us in the playoffs, making our team much better on both ends of the rink. I know he's elected for free agency but I hope he returns in an Avs uniform next year, we have a title to defend".

Colorado is not expected to be a major player on the UFA market this year though: "First we have to deal with the re-signings of our own players", says GM El Burri, adding that "we don't know yet if we'll have any money to spend on the UFA market, financial constraints are to be taken into consideration... damn this salary cap sucks, I'm out of here!"

Associated Press

Will Face Bruins Again In First Round

The Atlanta Thrashers are well on their way to proving that last season's success was no fluke, finishing the 2005-06 PÜHL season with 113 points and improving on the franchise-best mark set last season at 102. Star centre Dany Heatley led the way and set new franchise and personal bests in goals (51), assists (71), and points (122). Thanks in part to a late-season surge from Atlanta's vaunted top scoring line, Heatley was able to pass Boston's Joe Thornton down the stretch to finish the season as the league's top scorer, locking up the Art Ross Trophy and making a very strong case for Hart Memorial Trophy consideration. Heatley's linemates, team captain Paul Kariya (42+65=107) and Russian sensation Ilya Kovalchuk (51+53=104) also set new personal bests with their fine seasons and finished 5th and 7th respectably in PÜHL scoring. The real testament to the play of Atlanta's top line, however, might be the outstanding plus/minus numbers produced. Again, Heatley led the way with an astounding +52, and Kariya (+49), Kovalchuk (+48), defencemen Brian Rafalski (+43 in 63 games) and Garnet Exelby (+42) locked up the top four spots and five of the top ten in league-best plus/minus.

Atlanta starting goalie Kari Lehtonen dispelled any notions of a sophomore slump with another superb season. Lehtonen led the league in save percentage (.895), tied for the league lead in wins (47) with Phoenix's Mika Noronen, tied for second in shutouts (4), and finished a close second to Edmonton rookie Jeff Deslauriers in goals-against average (2.68). Lehtonen's outstanding play will garner him serious consideration for this year's Vezina Trophy, which he won last year as a rookie.

It wasn't just Atlanta's star players who produced; the "ASS Line" showed good chemistry and put up solid numbers as Marc Savard (27+38=65), Patrik Stefan (25+38=63), and Nik Antropov (27+27=54) all improved on their career-best points totals. Role-player and fan favorite Ronald Petrovicky (19+41=60 +25) surprised many with his improvement in offensive production while continuing to play a solid two-way game. Second-year defender Braydon Coburn (11+40=51 +19) continued his development and filled in nicely for Brian Rafalski (9+46=55 in 63 games) who was enjoying a Norris-calibre season before being sidelined for a month with a broken rib. "Night Train" Lane Manson continued his development into one of the league's most feared defenders, finishing the season at +23 and setting a new team record for PIM in a single season with 250 penalty minutes.

Newcomers Todd Marchant and Stephane Yelle, brought in for more defensive presence, immediately bought into Atlanta's system and made solid contributions.

Looking ahead, the Thrashers will face the 8th-seeded Boston Bruins in the first round of the Umlaut Cup Playoffs, a rematch of last season's first round where the Thrashers swept the injury-riddled Bruins in four straight games. This year's matchup looks to be a greater challenge for Atlanta, as Boston heads into the playoffs with no significant injuries. The two teams are strikingly similar, both with a dominating top line and solid supporting cast, but hockey insiders predict another Thrashers victory due to their tough defense and Lehtonen's outstanding work between the pipes.

Phoenix Coyotes GM Phillip Guay knew his team had a lot of holes heading into the off-season and also knew that it would be difficult to fill them all in such a short period of time. Phoenix ended up being one of the most active teams in the off-season and numerous moves were made.

Although he had been completely quiet in his tenure as GM, Guay began to make his moves during the annual PÃœHL draft. With the 9th overall pick he selected defenseman Jack Johnson, whom he believes will be a top 2 d-man. He wasn't done there, however. After seeing Tom Mannino, a future NSÜHLer or even PÜHLer was still available he began to mention that he was interested in acquiring a 2nd round pick. The Vancouver Canucks came calling and a deal was made. Phoenix sent steady defenseman Sean O'Donnell along with a 4th round pick in the 2006 PÜHL entry draft to the Canucks for Vancouver's 1st round pick in 2006 and the 52nd overall pick in the 2005 draft, which was used to select Tom Mannino.

GM Guay wasn't done there, however. With the UFA season open and ready for business he took out his rifle and targeted a number of players. Involved in bidding wars galore Phoenix eventually ended up signing, or overpaying for a number of players, the most important being Kris Beech. Beech will likely step into a top 6 forward position this season. Beech is also projected to be the team's future 2nd line centre behind league favorite Mike Comrie and will be a defensive stalwart for the Coyotes, despite his expensive $8 million/year price tag.

The Coyotes also had a huge black hole behind the bench, sucking the life out of their youngsters and veterans. There is no doubt the lack of a PÜHL calibre coach hurt the team last year and that hole was also filled, with the signing of Jeff Diaz to a lucrative contract (worth $1.25 million/year for 7 years). hen asked why he chose to go to Phoenix Diaz responded, "Can you see how much they're paying me? That GM has to be on crack or something, giving me $8.25 million. Holy Crap". Diazis likely to bring big changes to Phoenix this year and will be counted upon to teach the youngsters while keeping the veterans happy, no small feat when you have Mike Comrie and Brett Hull on the same team, possibly on the same line.

Finally, the "I"s and "T"s were dotted on the off-season with a yet unconfirmed trade. In a massive deal with the Buffalo Sabres, aka the "New Age" Philly Flyers, the Coyotes filled another hole up front as well as the gaping five-hole in goal. The deal apparently is broken down like this: Heading to Buffalo are power-forward Scott Hartnell, promising power-forward prospect Darren McLachlan, Goaltender David Leneveu, Vancouver's 1st round pick in 06 and Phoenix's 3rd round pick in 06. In return the Coyotes recieve #1 Goaltender Mika Noronen, playmaker Jochen Hecht and Buffalo's first round pick in 07.

Mika Noronen is rumoured to be happy to leave Buffalo, where he played only 37 games last season. He will need to step up big time, along with others such as Mike Comrie and Paul Mara in order for the Coyotes to challenge for a playoff spot. Barring injury, they should be in the race this season.

-Mike Comrie and others will need to step up for the Phoenix Coyotes in the coming season.