NASHL

Final
CHI	4
OTT	1

Game 4
CHI
OTT

Standings Tree

	1	2	3	Series
Chicago	4	2	4	1
Ottawa	5	4	1	2

News

Buffalo Sabres are NASHL Stanley Cup Champions

The Buffalo Sabres and their fans salute the billionaire owner who bankrolled this whole ordeal.

Buffalo, NY (AP) - No need to bury the lede here: the Buffalo Sabres have claimed NASHL's Season 15 Stanley Cup.

It is the first championship in franchise history as well as the first win for a NASHL team playing in the Northeast Division. These immortal players have now etched their legendary names on both the Cup and Buffalo sports lore.

'I can't describe this feeling,' said Dion Phaneuf, the team's reigning Norris Trophy winner and number one defenceman. 'I know it's cliche to say, but this is the happiest day of my life.'

Phaneuf is the one and only player that was drafted and developed by the Sabres who appeared in the playoffs for them this spring. From star Swedish centremen to young defenders and everyone in between, every other player with their name engraved onto the Cup this year was acquired at some point after they had been drafted by another franchise.

Some of those, like the understated but reliable Ian White, were brought in ages ago and saw their talent nurtured at KeyBank Center. Others, like playoff heroes Chris Drury and Anson Carter, were veterans brought in this season to help finally put the team over the top.

'This was the most talented roster I've ever assembled,' said GM Gary Mok, who won his first career FHLSim championship today. 'It wasn't just a single trade or signing that made this happen for us, but a series of moves over the course of many seasons that got us where we are today.'

Having said that, there's no doubt that three transactions stick out as being incredibly consequential for the building of this champion.

It was Season 6 when the Sabres acquired a 20-year-old Henrik Zetterberg who was, until their most recent acquisition of Nicklas Backstrom, the most singularly talented forward in Buffalo history. Zetterberg not only won the Art Ross and Hart in Season 12, but he has also been consistently dominant in the postseason, shutting down opposition top lines while posting franchise-leading offensive numbers himself.

In the offseason after Zetterberg was acquired, the Sabres held the fifth overall pick and made a second pivotal decision when they selected Phaneuf. The hulking Canadian honed his craft under the tutelage of fellow hulking Canadians Chris Pronger and Adam Foote, who served as both teammates and mentors to the Norris winner. Phaneuf has since taken on the mantle of the team's cornerstone defenceman and helped the franchise achieve heights it had never previously reached.

Finally, arguably the most consequential transaction of this era of the Sabres revolved around the most important position on the ice. As the team sought a successor for the legendary Nikolai Khabibulin, the Sabres struggled to find the right answer until they landed on American goaltender Jimmy Howard. Howard was the team's best player on this run, and they needed him to be exactly that to achieve immortality. Iffy results at 5-on-5 all postseason were salvaged by a suddenly red-hot powerplay and the miracles granted by their savant in the crease.

The parade route is now being sketched out and roster plans are being made to mount a championship defence in Season 16. The first step to roster building in the offseason comes at the draft, where the team's scouts and executives will gather to discuss who they will select with their solitary selection: Buffalo's own third round pick.

Thanks to their recent exploits, it will now be the final pick of the draft.

Just like they always hoped it would be.

Blue Jackets Wrap Up Off-Season, Ready for Season 16

Assistant Coach Dan Hinote leads the group at orientation camp

The Columbus Blue Jackets are officially ready for the 16th installment of the NASHL!

After an eventful run to the Conference Finals, the Blue Jackets chose to re-tool and make minor changes throughout their lineup. With several players retiring or on expiring contracts, the Blue Jackets chose to reload from both outside and within the organization. As well, the Blue Jackets were needing to name a new captain, and with no surprise named Alex Pietrangelo as the newest leader of Columbus, replacing Nicklas Backstrom who was traded to the Cup winning Buffalo Sabres.

With several players needing new contracts, and the lack of cap movement, the Blue Jackets chose to move two respected veterans in Kyle Chipchura and Brent Seabrook to the Florida Panthers for cap friendly contracts in Sam Gagner, Claude Giroux, Dan Hamhuis, and Michal Kempny. This was the only trade from the Blue Jackets this off-season, viewed as a great trade deal for the Blue Jackets, perhaps one of the best trade deals ever.

While GM Scherbak had big plans for free agency, it was a lot of swings and misses with several targeted players going to different clubs for significantly more money than he was ready to spend. One win did come in as Paul Ranger signed a one year deal worth $2.705 Million and is potentially a UFA re-sign for the club should the team move on from Kenny Jonsson.

The team will be relying on two recent call-ups to fill in key roles at fourth line center and backup goalie. With the league desperately needing a solution to the backup goalie problem, the team is relying on Allen York to push the team through behind Steve Mason, at least until the trade deadline.

It was also a quiet year at the draft table for Columbus, adding defenseman Brett Kulak and forward Zach Aston-Reese who are both expected to remain in juniors until their 21st birthday.

Out:

- Kyle Chipchura (Traded to Florida)

- Brent Seabrook (Traded to Florida, Traded to Anaheim)

- Dustin Penner (UFA - Signed with Winnipeg 3 years @ 3.00 Million)

- Alexei Morozov (UFA - Unsigned)

- Tom Poti (UFA - Unsigned)

- Brendan Morrison (Retired)

- Sergei Gonchar (Retired)

- Kim Johnsson (Retired)

- Tomas Vokoun (Retired)

In:

- Sam Gagner (Trade from Florida)

- Claude Giroux (Trade from Florida)

- Dan Hamhuis (Trade from Florida)

- Michal Kempny (Trade from Florida)

- Paul Ranger (UFA Signing - 1 year @ 2.705 Million)

Call-Ups:

- TJ Hensick (75 OV Center)

- Alec Martinez (75 OV Defense)

- Allen York (69 OV Goalie)

Drafted:

- Round 2 Pick 41: Brett Kulak (69 OV Defense)

- Round 3 Pick 81: Zach Aston-Reese (66 OV C/LW/RW)

Depth Chart:

1st Line Forwards: James Neal - Ryan Getzlaf - Pavel Bure

2nd Line Forwards: Ryan Malone - Tyler Bozak - Sam Gagner

3rd Line Forwards: Raffi Torres - P-M Bouchard - Claude Giroux

4th Line Forwards: Matt Pettinger - TJ Hensick - Steve Downie

1st D Pairing: Chris Pronger - Kenny Johnsson

2nd D Pairing: Paul Ranger - Alex Pietrangelo

3rd D Pairing: Dan Hamhuis - Alec Martinez

Starting G: Steve Mason

Backup G: Allen York

The Evolution of Matt Taormina

Matt Taormina, 25, was selected 61st overall in the 3rd round of the Season 9 draft (2005), an unlikely future star or Captain of any NASHL team. Matt was just that for the Devils over the past 4 seasons, and he's grown into a 'star' defenseman for the Devils during that time. The team went into a rebuild at the start of his tenure, and the team lacked young talent to develop. Matt was called up as a rookie in season 12 at age 21, was named captain, and was camped heavily.

In season 12 he was rated 73ov at 21, and jumped to 77 in season 13, things were looking good!!! But the sim had other ideas, and he rated down in season 14 and was stuck at 77 even after camps that season. Thankfully he hasn't regressed again and climbed to 79 in season 15, and this season is a strong 82.

The experiment to create a defenseman paid off as he's grown in an anchor on the Devils defense. Last season he helped lead the Devils back into the playoffs alongside Kyle Mclaren and superstar goalie Semyon Varlamov. The Devils finished tied for 2nd in the league with the fewest goals allowed at 221 (with CBJ), behind only Edmonton's 213 goals allowed.

This season the Devils look to lean on Varlamov, Matt, and Kyle even more, but Matt is passing the captaincy torch onto another young superstar in the making, Evgeny Kuznetsov. Matt tells us this trio has the defensive end covered, but offensively they need help and hope to see Kuzy step up.

I think it would be a great, although a painstaking process, to look at the late round picks and see how many have made it to 'star' status. So if anyone else has any similar player projects, please share!!!

The evolution of Matt Taormina's ratings:

Season IT SP ST EN DU DI SK PA PC DF SC EX LD OV

16 84 81 84 82 80 82 80 61 70 85 61 74 66 82

15 80 80 80 81 79 82 80 57 65 82 58 63 65 79

14 76 80 76 81 79 87 80 57 65 80 58 59 53 77

13 74 80 74 82 79 84 80 60 65 78 61 54 48 77

12 69 77 69 80 77 87 77 54 62 76 57 47 38 73