BHL SEASON 4 - TEAM PREVIEWS

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All GM's from the 6 Franchises have now assigned a minimum of 14 players to thier FHL Affiliates. In addition, they have announced their Starting Lineup for the 2016/2017 BHL Season.

2017 BHL Season Preview

LES PHOQUES

The Seals are  filled with plenty of depth on the backend

with several players capable of playing up front or on the point.

Veteran Leadership is also very apparent in Les Phoques

 lineup this season with several players possessing

plenty of experiences at all levels of

hockey here in NZ and overseas.

If skipper Aaron Somerville can get his troops working

together, the Seals will make some noise in 2017.

Forwards:

Aaron Somerville  - Matt Harvey - Ravil Gabaydullin

Matt Fuscic - Rob Moon - Peter Oikin

Estephano Bonafante - Chris Van Poppell - Lucas Betts

Defencemen:

Lewis Commons      Teppei Harada

Matty Roxborough   Maxime Rainville

Goaltender:

Luke Christie

Flex Player

Jeremy Parker

 

BURNING QUESTION : 

After slowly building thier roster

since thier inception into the Backyard,

Will this be the year the purple puckeaters find a way to

go beyond the Conference Finals and chase the Cup ?

ONE TO WATCH :

Chris Van Poppell F/D - USA 

  The 3rd pick in this years draft. Great hockey IQ,

Responsible,deceptive speed, can play in any situation

and blessed with soft hands.

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TOP CHEESE

Top Cheese are viewed as a team with great depth

and they continued thier trend of drafting quality

players this summer. The Cheese had a huge offensive

hole to fill after they lost 2015 BHL Top Forward,

Josh Stove . Dispite the subtraction, the green and

gold were able to address thier biggest hole this

off season when they drafted two of the top

defenceman in this years draft, Blake Jackson 

& Andrew Gouldstone. If the pieces come together

as they hope we could see the Cheese again in March. 

Forwards:

Shaun Dickinson - Vadim Novikov - Kieran Judge

Cam Green - Sean Abe - Robbie Chamberlain

Rachel Park - Tom Joseph* - Ryan Langford

* = Rob Murphy

Defenceman:

Blake Jackson     Jeff Albert

Andrew Gouldstone    Leon Tabb

Goaltender:

Brad Hill

Flex Player:

Tyler Ireton

BURNING QUESTION: Can the Cheese finish

the race ? Each season has seen Top Cheese

improve thier regular season record. Last year

they went on an 11 game winning streak claiming

thier first Founder's Cup (Most Points-Team) but

lost in 4 games in the Backyard Cup Final for the

2nd time in 3 years.

ONE TO WATCH: Sean Abe - F - Canada 

After being ranked pre-draft at number 6,

teams were puzzled to see Abe still on the board

in Round 3. The slick, sniper could quite possibly

become the steal of the draft, only time will tell.

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ICEHOLES

The Iceholes have always been an offensive

juggernaut lead by the offence of one man,

team captain and BHL Career Leading Scorer,

Ritchie Hopkinson. This season will be different

as the Hoppy Brothers were winner's of the final

BHL Lottery and were able to select first overall

and as a result they chose New Zealand Ice Black

Jordan Challis. In later rounds the Holes were

able to add a plethora of offensive talent with most

of the high profile picks coming straight from the

Sabres inline squad that placed 2nd in the

Nationals recently. After a 14-1 pummelling over

last years Champions in the preseason the Holes

have high hopes for 2017. 

Forwards:

Jordan Challis - Ritchie Hopkinson - Johnnie Andrews-Nye

Maxim Kaluhzny - Andy Hart - Dmitriy Chaykovskiy

Raneria Harris - Logan Hansen - Dominic Fritsche

Defencemen:

Chris Grisdale   Thomas Heather

Karl Parker   Joel Stirling

Goaltender:

Mikey Hopkinson

Flex Player:

Callum Lawson

BURNING QUESTION: After amazing regular season

performances followed by early exits each year in the

Backyard Cup playoffs.... Will this be the year the Holes

can peak at the right time and advance to thier first BHL Final?

ONE TO WATCH:  Thomas Heather - F/D - New Zealand 

After competing in the trail season of the FHL and

demonstrating great playmaking ability and speed,

Heather made his presence felt in the preseason.

The Iceholes have traditionally never had a clear cut

#1 defender that can quarterback their high impact

offence. Thomas could very well be that guy.

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LES PYLONES

Skill and comeraderie are Les Pylones formula for

success. The red machine has been the team that

always competes hard and enjoys playing as a unit.

That was most evident last season when they came

from behind in the conference finals to come 1-goal

shy of advancing to thier 3rd consecutive Backyard

Cup final. Gary Goodall & Phil Lyle have been now

named as captains for 2016/2017 as GM Chris Noble

has taken up the flex player position.

Forwards:

Sam Pillidge - Tim McKay - Scott Henry

Elliot Osbourne - James Currey - Gary Goodall

Sam Kay - Richard DeVere - Carey McGregor

Matt Beattie

Defencemen:

Glen Terlesk      Dale Dalton

Mike Attwell    Phil Lyle

Goaltender:

Tony Simmis

Flex Player:

Chris Noble

BURNING QUESTION:Can the Red Machine Return

to thier post-season form from year's past, retain some

of that magic from last year's postseason and become

the first BHL team to claim two Backyard Cups ?

ONE TO WATCH:

Mike Attwell - D - New Zealand

Atts has been an aggressive role player with the

NZIHL's Botany Swarm for quite some time now.

If he can adjust his game to suit the BHL style and

keep his emotions in check he has the skill set to

completely take over games.

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TOE DRAGONS

The Toe Dragons made a major overhaul of their

roster this season and added several key weapons

around BHL 2-time MVP Justin Daigle. The development

of players like Wesley Binedell, Jo Hyun & Adam Laycock

has benfited the Dragons and the addition of a few key

members of the Admirals coaching staff will only further

thier development moving forward.

Forwards:

Denny Monk - Chad Croft - Csaba Kercos-Magos Sr

Bryce Rouse - Chris Jefferies - Willy Noy

Joe Hyun - Mike Harvey - Adam Laycock

Defencemen:

Justin Daigle    Eric Chung

Russell Black   Jordan Hills

Goaltender:

Alain Giauque

Flex Player:

Wesley Binedell

BURNING QUESTION: After revamping 3/4 of last

years roster in the draft will the changes change thier

post season fortunes and allow them to raise the silver

chalice for the 2nd time in 3 years ?

ONE TO WATCH: Denny Monk - F - Canada

Monk is a playmaker pure and simple and it was

no surprise when he was passed over by the Iceholes

that the Dragons were quick to the draw to snatch

him up. Denny is gifted with some of the slickest

mitts in the country. If you dont know who he is now

you will by week 3.

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LES CASTORS

After raising the Cup in March, Les Castors will deal

with thier toughest battle to date ... Defending their Title.

Ondrej Kozak has left the BHL and as a result the beavers

are left searching for someone to help Stephen Mawson

to carry the load offensively. The addition of Les Castors

original Devin Fennell and the draft saw the black

and gold bulk up on the backend which should help

goaltender Gaston Bruneau.

Forwards:

Ian Wannamaker - Stephen Mawson - Ivan Kitslitskiy

Dwayne Maki - Damien Peters - Mike Dobbs

Taylor Campbell - Mark Foster - Joe Durie

Defencemen:

Even Terlesk     Devin Fennell

Hamish Lewis   Andy Richmond

Jeremy Allen

Goaltender:

Gaston Bruneau

Flex Player:

Ben Johnston

BURNING QUESTION: Can the Beavers overcome

the loss of Kozak and his 83 point output in 2015 / 2016,

adapt to a bunch of changes to thier roster and repeat

as Backyard Cup Champions ?

ONE TO WATCH: Stephen Mawson - F - New Zealand

The reigning NZIHL Rookie of the Year will be

tested this season to maintain his ridiculous point

totals since entering the BHL. If he can power through

it all once again the Beavers will again be a very

dangerous team to play night in and night out.

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