The Global Hockey League

[kabbott50]

Today, in a MAJOR announcement, Kyle Abbott has stated that he has gotten Gary Bettman fired, and he will be the new Commissioner of the NHL. He has announced plans to contract teams, while also expanding to Europe and other places in North America, that he feels deserve NHL hockey clubs. Dave Andrews of the American Hockey League will also be given strict orders as to what he will do with the AHL, which Mr. Abbott feels should be renamed. The planning starts right away, as Abbott said the new League name will reflect something along the lines of the World Hockey Association, but not to that extent.

Stay tuned folks, as the plans unfold.

[kabbott50]

While the six division, two conference setup will remain intact, re-alignment due to the contraction and expansion will obviously have to occur.

Announced, is the proposed expansion to at LEAST one city in each of the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden and Switzerland, with second teams in these countries being a possibility. A team from Great Britain has been discussed, as with the new O2 Arena, Mr. Abbott believes that the attendance there would be great. Norway, Italy, Belarus, France and an undisclosed location in Asia have also been discussed, but would be more likely suited for AHL teams, if they get one at all.

NHL cities that will LOSE their teams in the upcoming season (but MAY receive AHL clubs as compensation) include Phoenix, Nashville, Raleigh and Columbus. Possible contraction may come from Anaheim, Dallas, Tampa Bay and Miami, while there are some other traditional markets that may have to be considered for the plan to go through. As well, cities in North America who have been looked at for expansion include Hamilton, Quebec, Seattle and Portland, while Las Vegas is also being weakly considered. However, Mr. Abbott has stated he is not fond of putting a professional hockey team in one of the gambling capitals of the world, as he does not want to tempt his players.

Halifax and Cape Breton have already been promised an AHL return by Mr. Abbott, while the status of their Quebec Major Junior teams is now unknown. However, they are expected to stay in the cities, but may be pushed to the Eastern United States. St. John has also been giving a vote of confidence for an AHL team, but nothing has been guaranteed to them.

More to come as it is released. While all these points and plans are still in the works, NOTHING is set in stone as of yet.

[kabbott50]

As for the teams coming into the league from Europe, it was announced in a press release that they will be allowed keep their rosters in tact, however, all affiliations will be changed and setup by Mr. Abbott.

For those teams that are being contracted, all players (including unsigned prospects) and staff will become free agents. This means they will be free to sign anywhere in the world, whether it’s in the new league, or another. As well, the expansion teams coming in, will of course, start from scratch.

[kabbott50]

While travel will remain an issue, and even more so now with European teams, Mr. Abbott has assigned the divisions to the best of his knowledge, however they are not finalized and are open for fan input, as well as suggestions from owners.

At the end of the day, Winnipeg and Quebec were deemed to have unfit buildings for the new league, and thus, were not permitted to join until construction of new buildings were completed, with at LEAST 17,000 seats. The Islanders were also pulled unfortunately, as their building was also deemed unfit as it is less than the 17,000 seats that Mr. Abbott wants to operate his league.

Abbott was quoted as saying, “It’s a sad day for me to have to pull the plug on the Islanders. They have a rich franchise history and this really sucks, but I can’t turn away both Winnipeg and Quebec and allow Long Island to stay for the same reason they cannot join. I apologize to the fans of Long Island, and I hope I can put a team back in your city soon, just as soon as you build a new building.”

When asked about the European cities having smaller venues, he responded, “It’s a sacrifice we have to make. I know most of the venues over there are smaller, but it’s the only way to make this work. It sounds hypocritical, but this has been a dream of mine for quite some time, and I fully intend on making it work. Washington will have quite a bit of travel, but I’m hoping we can get their schedule set so they don’t get too fatigued too quickly.”

On the topic of why there are two teams in Germany, he responded by saying, “We’ve decided to put two teams in Germany as opposed to another country, as they have two large stadiums that we feel we can sell out, and to be honest, if these teams can get the fans, and bring in some money to attract some top talent, they can be champions in a couple of years.”

"As a side note to the fans - the Hamilton team will keep the Bulldogs moniker, but will have to choose a new color scheme, as the Montreal Canadiens will keep the current one they have."

[table][tr][td]Adams

Vancouver
Calgary
Edmonton
San Jose
Los Angeles[/td]

[td]Patrick

Detroit
Minnesota
Colorado
Chicago
St. Louis[/td]

[td]Salming

Frolunda HC
Jokerit HC Oyj
Slavia Praha
Eisbären Berlin
Kölner Haie[/td][/tr]

[tr][td]Lindsay

Boston
New Jersey
Buffalo
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh[/td]

[td]Pearson

Hamilton
Toronto
Ottawa
Montreal
New York[/td]

[td]Tretiak

Washington
SC Bern
London Racers
Dinamo Minsk
SKA Saint Petersburg[/td][/tr][/table]

Minor League affiliations are in the works, and should be announced shortly.

[kabbott50]

The Major-Minor League affiliations have now been announced. Mr. Abbott is keeping in mind that the development of players is one of the most important things in today’s game, so he attempted to keep affiliations in as close proximity as possible to the parent teams.

Boston - Worcester
Buffalo – Rochester
Calgary - Sakatoon
Colorado - Dallas
Chicago - Peoria
Detroit – Grand Rapids
Dinamo Minsk/SKA St. Petersburg - Shakhtar Soligorsk
Edmonton - Winnipeg
Eisbären Berlin/Kölner Haie - Essen Mosquitoes
Frolunda/Jokerit - Borås HC
Hamilton – Syracuse
London (ENG) - Belfast Giants
Los Angeles - Phoenix
Minnesota - Milwaukee
Montreal - Quebec
New Jersey - Bridgeport
New York R – New York I
Ottawa - Halifax
Philadelphia - Hershey
Pittsburgh – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
San Jose - Anaheim
SC Bern - EHC Chur
Slavia Praha - HC Dukla Jihlava
St. Louis – Kansas City
Toronto – St. John’s
Vancouver - Abbotsford
Washington - Carolina

With these affiliations, we see the AHL’s St. John’s Maple Leafs make a return, while the Dallas Stars, Anaheim Ducks, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders and Phoenix Coyotes franchises remain in tact with professional hockey. Also, the return of the Quebec Nordiques to pro hockey has been announced. Cape Breton did NOT receive a team afterall, as their rink was just too small for operations.

Also, an edit, due to the unability to expand the "AHL" to 30 teams, it will remain at 27 as teams will combine their prospects in the minors. The edited list is above.

[kabbott50]

I am going to begin editing the database today, in hopes of creating this in the not to distant future.

Please keep in touch. If you have any suggestions or comments, don't be afraid to post, or PM me.

[kabbott50]

A small update. Mr. Abbott has made the decision to call this new league, the Global Hockey League (GHL). He has not yet named the minor league yet, but that will be forthcoming shortly.

[kabbott50]

Just wanted to give anybody following this, an update. I've been plugging away editing everything. Obviously, not completely knowing what I'm doing, I've been running into errors, but nino33 has kindly offered his guidance in helping me through the process. Some errors were blatant to see and I just overlooked them, as obvious as they were.

Hopefully I'll be able to start running this soon, but only time will tell.

I still haven't been able to decide on a name for the AHL to change to. Is there any suggestions from the community? The only one I've thought of so far was All-World Hockey League, but I don't overly like it.

[kabbott50]

Well, I've got all the editing completed, with the exception of the logos, which isn't a big deal. I'm going to auto-SIM a season to see if it crashes or not, and if it does not, we could be starting as early as tonight!

[kabbott50]

This my friends...should be the last update. I left EHM running in "Vacation" mode overnight, and no crashes. It made it to the 2011 season, so we're looking good. Now...I just need to decide what team to take control of...

[kabbott50]

After running some tests and realizing that only two of the European teams were consistently making the playoffs (both the German teams), and the rest were flops, I have decided to name myself the GM of historic Frolunda HC. Hopefully I can bring success to Frolunda and all of Sweden right away.

Stay tuned, as we start soon!

EDIT: After a failed job interview with Frolunda, Kyle Abbott decided to stay closer to home, and he will GM the Hamilton Bulldogs in their GHL debut.

[kabbott50]

In a surprise, last minute announcement, Kyle Abbott has brought back the North Stars name in Minnesota, while dropping the Wild moniker. We will see the Green, Gold and White return to NHL rinks this fall!

[kabbott50]

Alright...so here we go again...after the crash...

The 2011 offseason begins.

September 4: We sign Bobby Ryan, James Wisniewski, Ryan Getzlaf, Rick Nash, Alex Goligoski, Blake Wheeler and Zach Parise. We also hired Brian Sutter as our Head Coach.

September 5: We sign Stephen Weiss, Eric Staal, Ryan Callahan, Corey Perry, Ron Hainsey and Steve Ott. We also signed Les Jackson and Bill O'Flaherty as scouts, while signing Tom Barasso as our goalie coach, Craig Ludwig as our defence coach and Brent Smith as trainer.

September 6: We sign Ken Morrow as a scout.

September 7: We sign Sean Avery to add some grit and annoyance to our team.

September 10: We sign Marcel Comeau as a scout.

September 12: We sign Gord Hart as a trainer.

September 21: We sign Dennis Endras as our first goalie. This doesn't look promising...

Also, we have our first and only preseason game on the 24th in St. Louis...which we won 6-2.

Code: Select all

G Per Time Team Scorer First Assist Second Assist Info 
1 1 00:40 STL S. NICHOL - - - 
2 1 06:35 HAM C. PERRY E. STAAL Z. PARISE PP 
3 1 10:14 HAM Z. PARISE E. STAAL C. PERRY PP 
4 1 11:11 HAM E. STAAL B. RYAN E. CECCANESE - 
5 1 11:29 HAM B. RYAN E. STAAL J. WISNIEWSKI - 
6 2 30:15 HAM R. NASH E. STAAL B. RYAN - 
7 2 36:51 STL E. FEHR A. MCDONALD A. STEEN - 
8 3 44:36 HAM E. STAAL Z. PARISE R. HAINSEY PP 

Penalty Summary: 
Per Time Player Team PIM Penalty 
1 01:09 E. CECCANESE HAM 2 Slashing 
1 06:09 D. BACKES STL 2 Holding 
1 09:21 C. STEWART STL 2 Holding 
1 16:45 R. GETZLAF HAM 2 Cross-checking 
2 21:43 R. GETZLAF HAM 2 Roughing 
2 21:43 R. GETZLAF HAM 10 Misconduct 
2 21:43 B. MARCHAND STL 2 Roughing 
2 22:06 C. PERRY HAM 2 Tripping 
2 28:09 S. NICHOL STL 2 Slashing 
2 34:18 D. PERRON STL 2 Hooking 
2 39:05 R. POLAK STL 2 Holding 
3 43:53 T. HENSICK STL 2 Hooking 
3 43:59 E. JOVANOVSKI STL 2 Roughing 
3 49:27 T. OSHIE STL 2 Cross-checking 
3 52:40 K. SHATTENKIRK STL 2 Slashing 
3 58:31 A. PIETRANGELO STL 2 Roughing 

After the game, it was announced that we agreed to terms with Dan Sexton to a contract.

[kabbott50]

October 1: We claimed Ville Leino and Jonathan Ericsson off of waivers.

October 3: We signed Tyler Bozak and Josh Harding.

October 6: We opened up the season in Toronto to start things off right away in the OTHER battle of Ontario, but dropped the game 2-1. Alex Goligoski had the lone Hamilton goal late in the third period on a powerplay.

We also added to our young defence core, signing Ryan Ellis to a contract. He will be assigned to Syracuse, the first Bulldog to be sent down.

October 7: Marian Gaborik scored a mere 10 seconds into overtime to give the New York Rangers a 5-4 overtime win today. Ryan Getzlaf, Eric Staal, Bobby Ryan and Zach Parise scored the goals for Hamilton, all in the third period. Josh Harding suffers his second loss of the season.

After the game, it was announced that we had claimed Mike Komisarek off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs...yeah...I know. But with my defensive performance so far this year, I'm hoping he helps.

October 11: Our record dropped to 0-2-1 today as we dropped a 2-1 decisiontto the now 4-0 Buffalo Sabres. Rick Nash scored our lone goal, while Hardings suffers another loss.

October 12: Today, we traded a 2012 4th round pick to Chicago for Christobal Huet to give us a veteran prescence in goal, while Dennis Endras, pending he clears waivers, will be assigned to Syracuse, along with James Livingston, who was claimed today. Dan Sexton was assigned to Syracuse as well, while Ryan Ellis was re-called, as I noticed I only had 5 D-men on y pro roster. We also signed Pierre-Eduord Bellemare and Daniel Larsson to contracts. They will join us at the end of their current contracts in Sweden.

October 14: Kolner Haie claimed Dennis Endras off waivers from us.

We won our first game today, 4-2 over Montreal. Rick Nash scored twice while Tyler Bozak and Ryan Getzlaf got singles. Christobal Huet records the win, while Ryan Ellis recorded his first assist in his first game.

We signed Mario Kempe after the game. He will join the team in April. I also offered contracts to a number of Canadian Hockey League prospects.

October 17: Our win streak is now 2, as we defeated the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1. Nash, Getzlaf and Ericsson get the goals. Huet is now 2-0.

October 18: Our win streak is now 3, as we defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 4-2. Perry, Getzlaf, Weiss and Ott scored the goals, and Huet wins his third in a row.

Jerome Gauthier-Leduc, Mark Schiefle, Kevin Sundher, Ryan Spooner, Devante Smith-Pelley, Cam Fowler, Ryan Murphy, Joey Hishonand Jonathan Huberdeau will join us in June.

October 21: We picked up a come from behind 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. All three goals were scored in the third, and were tallied by Bobby Ryan, Blake Wheeler and Mike Komisarek. Huet is making me look brilliant with that trade.

October 23: Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry scored, while Christobal Huet got the shutout, as we got some semi-revenge on the Leafs, with a 2-0 win.

October 26: We signed Justin Peters in the hopes of getting Syracuse some goaltending, as I have no players on their roster as it is. He's on waivers and hopefully goes unclaimed. Livingston has been sent to the ECHL as he was not performing to expectation in the AHL.

We then proceeded to beat Ottawa 5-1. Ericsson, Weiss, Wisniewski, Ellis and Avery scored the goals. Huet runs his unbeaten streak to six games.

October 27: Justin Peters was claimed by the Minnesota North Stars.

October 28: We saw our winning streak come to an end today. Josh Harding started and allowed six goals in the first period, en route to a 9-5 loss to the Rangers. Huet came in to try and mop up, but allowed three goals in 40 minutes.Bobby Ruan Recorded a hat trick, while Eric Staal and Steve Ott added singles.

After the game, we signed Kris Vernarsky. He is expected to be assigned to Syracuse.

October 31: We traded a 2012 6th round pick to Toronto for defenceman Jake Gardiner. He will be assigned tgo Syracuse.

We ended the month by drubbing Montreal, 7-0. Ott, Weiss, Staal, Goligoski, Hainsey, Perry and Getzlaf scored the goals, while Josh Harding had a bounceback game and recorded the shutout.

[kabbott50]

November 2: We claimed Ivo Ruthemann and signed Brent Krahn. Both have been waived for th epurpose of assigning them to Syracuse.

We also defeated Dinamo Minsk by a score of 4-2. Goligoski, Perry, Parise and Getzlaf with the goals and Huet with the win.

After the game, I realized the Gardiner trade didn't go through, so I re-vamped and sent a 2016 first to Toronto for Gardiner and James Reimer.

November 3: Ruthemann and Krahn were both claimed, and my waiver game is still going terrible. I signed Derek Krestanovich though. He did not have to go through waivers, and was assigned directly to Syracuse.

November 4: We defeated Philadelphia 3-1. Parise, Wheeler and Getzlaf scored, and Huet again gets the win.

We also placed Ville Leino on the block, as he is playing terrible hockey.

Jack Campbell and Jared Knight were signed and will join he team in July. Vince Bellisimo was signed, waived and assigned to Syracuse. Will he pass through? We'll see.

November 7: A rough game against San Jose, but we pulled out a 6-4 victory. Getzlaf, Parise, Ryan, Wisniewski, Ott and Ericsson scored. Huet wins another.

November 9: We waived Ville Leino, due to his inability to play hockey in our system, and nobody wants to trade for him. He will go to Syracuse if he clears.

We signed Levente Szuper and Bates Battaglia after the game, and waived them to send them to Syracuse. Maxime Sauve was also signed, and reported directly to the AHL.

November 11: Leino cleared and was assigned.

We lost to the Rangers for the second time this year, 4-2. Perry and Stall scored, while Huet suffered the loss.

November 12: We signed Colton Teubert and Ryan Kiasewich. The latter was waived to go to Syracuse.

November 13: We dropped a 2-1 decision to Montreal. Staal got the goal and Huet took the loss. We may need to dismantle this team immediately after the season, as we are almost over the cap limit now, and have a ton of players coming in. Stay tuned for that in a couple months.

Tyler Doig and Carter Ashton were signed and sent to Syracuse.

November 15: We shutout Bern 5-0. Weiss and Ryan with two, and Perry with the single. Harding gets the shutout. I'm debating flipping Reimer now, as he would get claimed on waivers if I tried that.

November 16: We pounded London 8-3 tonight. Harding with his second win in as many nights. Getzlaf with two, Ericsson, Perry, Nash, Staal, Ott and Parise with the goals.

November 18: We lost 5-2 to Washington. Harding started while Huet finished up. Ericsson and Nash score the goals.

November 22: We beat up on Vancouver tonight, 5-3. Staal, Parise, Ryan, Perry and Goligoski scored the goals. Huet gets the win.

November 24: Huet and the Dogs shutout Toronto, 6-0. Nash with two, Parise, Getzlaf, Perry and Staal get the goals.

November 25: We hammered Buffalo 8-2. Huet with another win, while Staal and Goligoski scored hat tricks and Hainsey and Parise adding singles.

November 28: We managed to squeak by London 4-3. Wheeler, Ryan, Goligoski and Getzlaf with the goals and Harding getting the win.

November 30: We defeated Dinamo Minsk 4-2. Nash with two, Getzlaf and Staal with singles. Huet gets the win.

[kabbott50]

Just figured I'd let anybody following this know, that because I've been working on the Histories for the next roster update, this has taken a backseat as of now. It should return soon, but also not in the way I was doing it. I may just post Major News.