Welcome to your premier roundup of varying minor hockey leagues that tend not to get the media attention globally, where we will try to keep you informed of what’s happening in hockey worldwide. Each week, a contributor from Reddit’s r/hockey will give a rundown of the past week’s action in their particular league, along with what to look forward to in the next week. The playoffs are already in full force in the KHL and are beginning in both Swedish leagues this week, so there’s plenty to read about.
To jump directly to a league, just click the following links, but if you’re looking for a good hockey read, just start scrolling.
KHL – Pan (Eastern-ish) European League
Hockeyallsvenskan – Swedish 2nd League
Western Hockey League – US/Canada Major Junior League
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KHL WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by /u/LockstheFox
Sixteen has become eleven in the KHL playoffs, as five teams have been sent packing so far in Round 1.
Current playoff bracket:
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EIHL WEEKLY ROUNDUP Contribution by Effy (/u/zooey1) – Sheffield Steelers fan, art student, all-round good egg.
This week’s EIHL action kicked off with the Challenge Cup Semi-Finals taking place. For those unaware, the Challenge Cup is a tournament that runs alongside the regular season. The 10 EIHL teams are split into their Conferences and play everyone else in their group once at home and once away. These games have no effect on the regular season standings or regular season conference standings. Then, the top 4 of both groups move onto the Quarter Finals, with each team playing a team from the other Conference in a home & away leg. After this, the final 4 move onto the Semi Finals, with teams playing a home & away leg. Finally, the two winners from the Semi Finals play for the Cup itself at Sheffield Arena in a one-legged final.
On Tuesday, the current reigning Challenge Cup holders the Cardiff Devils would place one hand on the Challenge Cup by defeating the Belfast Giants 3-1 away in their Semi Final 2nd Leg matchup. This would give the Devils an 8-4 aggregate win, as the 1st Leg in Cardiff had finished 5-3. Cardiff goals: Salters (18th of season), Hudson (11), Haddad (15). Belfast goals: Forney [2006 3rd round – Thrashers].
Cardiff would return to league action during the week with the aim of holding onto their first place spot in the league standings. However, this was not the case as they would endure a rough week at the hands of the Fife Flyers and Coventry Blaze. Firstly, the Devils would make the long trek north to Scotland for the game vs the Flyers in Fife Ice Arena. With the eyes of the rest of the league, especially the Devils’ title rivals in Sheffield and Nottingham, on Twitter for updates, Cardiff would fall to a 3-1 defeat. Cardiff goals: Russell [2005 7th round – Rangers, brother of Kris Russell from CBJ/Flames] (5). Fife goals: Fox (23 & 24), Dingle (22). Following this defeat, the Devils would return back to Cardiff Bay on Sat 27th for a home game vs the Blaze, in what was the final game played in their ‘temporary’ rink, the BBT (Big Blue Tent) after 10 years, as they are due to move into the new Ice Arena Wales on Sat 12th March. The Blaze would have other plans however, and ended up ruining the festivities by taking a 2-1 win away from the Bay and helping their push for a playoff spot. Cardiff goals: Martin (26). Coventry goals: Bruton (20), Pietrus.
Now eliminated from the Challenge Cup, the Belfast Giants would be able to focus all their attention on making a huge push for the league title, which they happen to be dark horses for. After the loss to the Devils in the CC, the Giants would cross the Irish Sea on Friday 26th for a doubleheader of games, first against the Nottingham Panthers and then against the Braehead Clan on Saturday 27th. This would be the second matchup between the Giants and the Panthers in two weeks, with the Panthers on the receiving end of a 6-2 mauling from the Giants; if they were hoping that this game would be more forgiving, those hopes would be dashed as the Giants would steamroll the Panthers 5-1 in their own arena, much to the frustration of the Nottingham faithful, who are still in 3rd place in the standings but had games in hand over Sheffield and need wins to close the gap at the top. Belfast goals: Rutherford (3), Radja (26), Peacock (17), Shields [2000 6th rnd – Flyers] (16), Forney. Nottingham goals: Kolnik [1999 4th round – Islanders, 221 NHL games for Panthers] (29).
The next night, the Giants would take on playoff rivals Braehead Clan. Clan, who had suffered a rough week previous were hoping to end their recent poor run of form and pick up a win that would kickstart their league title push again. It couldn’t have gone more wrong for the Scotsmen, as the Giants ran rampant again, scoring 5 in a 5-2 win. Belfast goals: Beech [1999 1st round – Capitals, 198 NHL games w/ Capitals, Penguins, Predators, Blue Jackets & Canucks] (20 & 21), Desmarais [1999 9th round – Blues] (21), Forney (20), Ganzak (9). Braehead goals: Keith [2001 2nd round – Blackhawks, 20 games for CHI in 03/04] (17), Meyer [2003 2nd round – Panthers, 16 games for Flames in 10/11] (19).
On Tues 23rd & Weds 24th, the Nottingham Panthers and Sheffield Steelers would play both legs of their Challenge Cup Semi-Final. The 1st Leg in Sheffield on Tuesday couldn’t have gone better for the Panthers, who romped to their largest ever win over their closest rivals from Sheffield with an 8-0 win (a game that your Steelers-supporting writer had unfortunately driven 2 hours each way for) in a game that they dominated from the first puck drop to the final buzzer, going 3-0 up by the end of the 1st period. Nottingham goals: Mosey (12), Myers (13), Kolnik (27 & 28), Clarke, Janssen [2002 4th round – Devils, 171 NHL games for Devils, 165 for Blues] (4), Waugh [2002 3rd round – Stars] (4), Moran [1998 7th round – Sabres, 8 NHL games for CBJ & Canucks] (14).
With the Semi Final all but wrapped up in the Panthers’ favour, they would finish the job the next night in the National Ice Center in Nottingham with a 2-0 win, giving them a 10 (ten)-0 aggregate win over the Steelers in the Semi Finals, setting up a Devils vs Panthers Challenge Cup Final, played at Sheffield Arena on Sunday 6th March. Nottingham goals: Bohmbach (21), Lawrence [2005 3rd round – Lightning] (12). However, where the Hockey Gods giveth, they also taketh; after giving the Panthers two wins in a row, they would give the Panthers two losses: first 5-1 to the Belfast Giants and then 4-2 to the Braehead Clan, which would help the Clan return to winning ways. Nottingham goals: Clarke (20), Farmer (7). Braehead goals: McIver [2003 8th round – Canucks, 36 NHL games for VAN] (3), Pitt (18, 19 & 20).
– After the embarassment of losing 10-0 on to the Panthers, the Sheffield Steelers would attempt to continue their march towards their 2nd league title in a row, and would shut-out the Dundee Stars 7-0 to capitalise on Cardiff’s shock loss to Fife and go joint top of the EIHL standings along with the Devils. Sheffield goals: Nelson [2006 6th round – Bruins] (21), Legue, Coyle (9), Roy (27), Desbiens [2003 4th round – Thrashers, 23 NHL games for CGY & VAN], Mosienko (26), Ferrara (4).
On the back of this 7-0 win, the Steelers would fail to take the top spot for themselves on Sunday 28th, losing 4-2 to the Coventry Blaze in the Coventry Skydome. Sheffield have had trouble winning here for many seasons and this looks to have continued into 2016. Coventry goals: Robinson (19), Walker (5 & 6), Pietrus (21). Sheffield goals: Desbiens (8), Legue (15).
– Rounding off the week’s fixtures were the games between the Manchester Storm and Dundee Stars, and the East Scottish Derby between the Edinburgh Capitals and the Fife Flyers. The Storm would defeat the Stars 6-2 to hold onto the final playoff place in the standings for another week, with Coventry closing in on them. Manchester goals: Sisca (32 & 33), Scarsella (27 & 28), Salazar (23), Roehl (2). Dundee goals: Gray (10), Switzer (19).
In the latest installment of the Battle of East Scotland, the Capitals, rooted to the bottom of the standings with nothing to play for, would give a strong effort over the Flyers but would ultimately fall 5-4 in the shoot-out, giving Fife a 4 point week. Edinburgh goals: Dickin (13), Gerling (22), Berra (1), Lukacevic [2004 4th rnd – Kings] (9). Fife goals: Stockton (19, 20, 21), Lee (9).
CURRENT STANDINGS (as of 29th Feb)
THE WEEK AHEAD (week beg. 29th Feb)
(Key games in italics)
Tuesday 1st:
– Fife Flyers vs Belfast Giants @ Fife Ice Arena, 7:30pm GMT/2:30pm ET
Friday 4th:
– Nottingham Panthers vs Cardiff Devils @ NIC Nottingham, 7:30pm GMT/2:30pm ET (Prelude to the CC Final on Sunday)
Saturday 5th:
– Belfast Giants vs Braehead Clan @ SSE Arena Belfast, 7pm GMT/2pm ET
– Coventry Blaze vs Edinburgh Capitals @ Coventry Skydome, 7pm GMT/2pm GMT
– Sheffield Steelers vs Fife Flyers @ Sheffield Arena, 7pm GMT/2pm ET (Depending on NP/CD result the night before, Steelers could take top spot in the standings)
Sunday 6th:
– [Challenge Cup Final] Nottingham Panthers vs Cardiff Devils @ Sheffield Arena, 4pm GMT/11am ET
– Manchester Storm vs Fife Flyers @ Altrincham Ice Arena (Manchester), 5pm GMT/12pm ET
– Edinburgh Capitals vs Coventry Blaze @ Murrayfield Ice Rink (Edinburgh), 5:30pm GMT/12:30pm ET
– Dundee Stars vs Braehead Clan @ Dundee Ice Arena, 6:30pm GMT/1:30pm ET (Dundee 2nd in Conference w/ 29gp & & 35pts, Braehead 4th in Conference w/ 27gp & 33pts)
For more information, visit http://www.eliteleague.co.uk/
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DEL WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by (/u/BoilerUp218)
The march to the playoffs continues, and the narrative is much the same as it was last week. Eisbären Berlin, EHC München, and the Iserlohn Roosters now sit within two points (one OT/SO win) of first place in the league. This week, all three teams secured their place in the quarterfinals, ensuring that they would not have to play in the best-of-five round between the 7th through 10th placed teams. Joining them are the Thomas Sabo Ice Tigers of Nuremberg. Two more teams, Grizzly Wolfsburg and Düsseldorfer EG have assured themselves a playoff spot, though still not the bye into the Quarterfinals with three games remaining, they are all but assured of a Quarterfinals spot, having a 9 point edge over the 7th placed team, Adler Mannheim.
Meanwhile, in the fight for the last playoff spots, Hamburg Freezers lost some ground on 10th place Straubing Tigers with the Freezers getting 2 points on the week while Straubing took home 3, as both teams managed to go 1-2. Meanwhile, Augsburger Panther gained some ground by gathering 5 points on the week, leaving three games remaining and only three points separating 10th (in the playoffs) from 12th (out of the playoffs).
Standings:
Important games of next week:
Wednesday: Augsburger Panther host Straubing Tigers – With three points separating the two, this will be a playoff-before-the-playoffs for both teams.
Sunday: Straubing vs Hamburg – Another playoff atmosphere, this time in the season’s last game. With two points separating the two, this game may determine which team makes the playoffs.
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SHL WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by /u/Jean-Paul_van_Sartre
The two “locked in” teams at the top, Skellefteå (SKE) and Frölunda (FHC), have started resting some of their veteran players as they get ready for the imminent playoffs. Both teams have rested their captains, Joel Lundqvist in Frölunda and Jimmie Ericsson in Skellefteå. Not a lot of movement in the table this week, Luleå (LHF) had a fantastic week where they managed to get 8 out of 9 possible points and thus climbed back to the third place position they lost during their slump last week.
Headlines
Linus Lindström born 1998, scored his first SHL goal in his first SHL game when his Skellefteå AIK beat MODO 5-0 on tuesday. Assists on the goal went to two other SHL rookies, Andreas Wingerli and Sebastian Ohlsson, both born 1997. Probably not the prettiest goal he’ll score.
6-7 was the result between Linköping (LHC) and Rögle (RBK). The highest scoring game of the season was finally won by Rögle in overtime when Patrik Cehlin completed his hat trick with 10 seconds left before penalty shots.
Anssi Salmela, is back from his early season injury and might be the final piece to help his Brynäs (BIF) advance into a quarterfinal position in these final four games.
Standings
Games to watch
Luleå – Frölunda (Tue 2016-03-01 19:00 GMT+1)
3rd place Luleå take on 2nd place Frölunda at home. A Luleå coming off a very hot week with 8 out of 9 possible points won versus a Frölunda that only managed to get 3 out of 9. As officials are starting to take a bit more of a backseat role when we approach the playoffs we might see something looking like playoff hockey this game and a quite possible semi final match up.
Brynäs – Färjestad (Fri 2016-03-04 19:00 GMT+1)
Färjestad – Brynäs (Sat 2016-03-05 16:00 GMT+1)
These back-to-back games could be the deciding factor between these two teams as the series comes to a close. Currently 7 points separate them but with 6 points on the line in “one” match-up we could see the table around 5th to 8th place move around quite a bit in the final week.
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HOCKEYALLSVENSKAN WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by (/u/iTegis)
This week was packed with games as every team played games every other day.
There were a few talking points this week in Hockeyallsvenskan and we’re going to start off with a sad one.
On Monday, Björklöven announced that their goaltending coach Magnus Andersson had passed away after a short illness at the age of 48.
On Thursday there was yet more sadness in the league when AIK made a post on their website saying that their equipment manager Roger Andersson had passed away after a long battle with illness.
On a more positive note, the regular season is now over and the final between the top 2 teams in the league (AIK 1st and Tingsryds 2nd) will start on Tuesday and the playoffs will begin on Wednesday
The Final is a best of five series where the winner will face the last place team in the SHL (Karlskrona HK) in a best of seven series. AIK will have home ice advantage since they finished higher in the standings.
The playoffs are an entirely different story, as it will feature six teams playing a round robin with the winning team facing the loser of the series between AIK and Tingsryd.
In the playoffs a team is rewarded extra points based on their regular season spot: Oskarshamn will get 3 points for finishing 3rd, Karlskoga will get two points for finishing 4th and Leksand will get one point for finishing 5th. Mora, Almtuna and Timrå will not get any extra points for finishing 6th, 7th and 8th.
Each team will play five games and have a possible 15 points so the extra points might seem useless but they can make a difference. Last season Malmö Redhawks, who currently play in the SHL, had three extra points and finished on 8 points after going 1-1-3, beating out Björklöven who finished on 7 points with no extra points, after going 1-2-2.
The winning team will face the loser of the finals in a best of three series and the winner of that series will face the second to last team in the SHL (currently Modo) in a best of seven.
The winner of Guldgallret, the award for the best rookie, was announced this week, and the winner was AIK’s Robin Kovacs. Kovacs has played 44 games this season and scored 21 goals and 13 assists for a combined of 34 points. He was drafted in 2015 by the New York Rangers in the 3rd round and number 62 overall.
The other finalists for Guldgallret were:
Jesper Bratt, AIK, born 1998, LW/RW
Bratt is eligible for the 2016 NHL draft. He has scored 17 points in 47 games this season
Pierre Engvall, Mora, born 1996, LW/RW
Drafted in 2014 by the Toronto Maple Leafs as number 188 overall, he scored 24 points in 50 games this season.
Jonathan Dahlén, Timrå, born 1997, C/LW
Top prospect for the 2016 NHL draft, ranked 30th by eliteprospects.com. He has scored 29 points in 51 games this season.
Olle Alsing, Almtuna, born 1996, D
He has scored 22 points in 51 games this season though is not eligible for the 2016 NHL draft nor has he already been drafted.
One last note: Robin Jacobsson, Leksands IF was given a game misconduct for a knee hit on Björklöven’s Tommy Wargh. Wargh had to be lead off the ice and returned later during the game with no noticable injury. Jacobsson was given a game misconduct in the last game these two teams played against each other when he elbowed Kim Karlsson in the head. In that instance, Karlsson had to be stretchered off the ice and rushed to the hospital for an x-ray, where it was confirmed that he had suffered a severe concussion and would be out for the rest of the season. Jacobsson got suspended for nine games, three of which were turned into a fine.
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WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE WEEKLY ROUNDUP contribution by (/u/82hky82)
Another solid week in the DUB with some big matchups as the seasons is grinding to a halt. The big games of last week are as follows:
On Tuesday #10 Calgary Hitmen took down # 11 Portland Winterhawks in decisive fashion, 6-2. A wild game on Wednesday took place with # 12 Regina beating # 4 Lethbridge 9-8 in a SO! Wild scores like this are awesome to see but must drive the bench bosses wild. Also on Wednesday, # 2 Kelowna Rockets shook off # 8 Everett 6-5 in OT. The Rockets have what it takes to win the league no question.
Notable games from Friday and Saturday were the dominance displayed by the # 1 Victoria Royals. They took down # 10 Calgary and # 5 Red Deer both by scores of 6-2. This is the # 1 team in the league and play a suffocating fashion of hockey. On Friday, the matchup of the week may have been the #3 Brandon Wheat Kings winning over the # 4 Lethbridge Hurricanes by a score of 5-2. These two teams may very well meet in the playoffs and what a matchup it would be. Lastly, # 7 Seattle Thunderbirds defeated the #8 Everett Silvertips in a cross town battle 2-0, with Isles first round pick Mathew Barzal dominating the game.
The players of the week come from the same team, the Lethbridge Hurricanes. Tyler Wong had 3 goals and 7 assists for 10 points in only three games played. In the same amount of games Brayden Burke had 3G and 5A for 8 points.
On to the next week where each matchup becomes even more important.
Standings
