Asia league champions Nippon Paper Cranes!!!!!!

Well last week was pretty exciting I went to game 6 and game 7 at the Higashi Fushimi arena on March 22 and 23.Both games were fantastic game 6 was a back and forth affair with Seibu jumping out to a quick 3-1 lead then the Cranes came back to tie it in the third period but Seibu got a late powerplay goal with 45 seconds left in the game  to win it 4-3 and to force the do or die game 7 the next night.This is a picture of the equipment truck for the Seibu team which is folding after this season,they are having a fan festival today at their arena March 28 to say goodbye to the team.

Game 7 do or die with the champagne waiting for the champions,Darcy Mitani scored the first goal a powerplay goal with a great wristshot from the point that found the top of the net.

Here is a picture of the Cranes goalie in game 6,he ended up making 54 saves in game 7 and won the MVP trophy for the finals #61 Hisashi Ishikawa,Seibu tried their hardest to tie up the game in the final minutes of the game but they failed even after pulling their goalie for the extra attacker.I was sitting in the Seibu fans section with my Japanese  friend Kagaya who is a big Seibu fan and I managed to piss off a lot of fans their after I cheered loudly when the Cranes won the game.

Here are some pics of the celebrations on the ice.

Next the fantasy and hockey pool report,well I am screwed in both of my pools 4th place in both with about 2 weeks left in the season.

In the main pool Johnny boy has moved into first but only 1 point ahead of Jay the minister and papa Rog in third he is about 11 points ahead of me and Brian the rookie still in last place in his inaugural season in the pool with the big boys!!!

Fantasy update Kevin from Toronto has solidified his lead at the top and Johnny boy has moved into second and arrogant Dave from Calgary  has overtaken me but only by half a point so I hope I can beat him and my friend from Newfoundland  is in last place but he has not managed his team all season which I am angry about.

Finally the Bruins have clinched first place in the Northeast division and have 102 points with 9 games left they had 6 days off and will play the Maple Laffs on Saturday night ,my buddy Damian might come over to my place on Sunday morning to watch it live in Japan.Tonight is the Tokyo Canadians hockey party at the Muse bar and I am going with my wife and her friend so it should be a good night. Last picture today is a picture of the wife and I at game 6 of the Asia league finals with my new team Canada Salt Lake City Olympics jersey which I bought at the arena.I can’t wait for the playoffs to start and the Bruins to get to the finals,Go Bruins Go!!!!!!!

Asia league playoffs and All Japan Championships

Hi all this has been awhile but I have been busy moving,we are in 2 houses right now.We finally move out of the old place on March 8th Sunday.Hockeywise it has been very busy in Japan,last month was the all Japan championships.I was only able to make it to one of the first games,it was Hosei university against Bushukan high school from Hokkaido,the university team only won 5-2 .I was impressed by a defenceman on the high school team #88 Nakamoto ,he had 2 points in the game and was a solid dman but a little small.As for Hosei,they had a dman #3 Ishikawa who was big and strong but it is not too hard to be tough against high school players. Here are pics of both the players and the final scoreboard.

Well the winner of the tournament was the Seibu Prince Rabbits in their final season ever, they beat the Nippon Paper Cranes in the final 6-5 in a very exciting game.

Next the Asia league playoffs have started and the Nippon Paper Cranes beat High1 in the first round 2-0 in a best of 5 series.The Seibu Prince Rabbits have moved into the finals with a 4 game sweep of the Oji Eagles which I was surprised by because the Eagles are the defending Asia League champs but Seibu is on a mission to win in their final season in the league because they are folding as Seibu has pulled their sponsorship of the club.The other semifinals series is a great one,Anyang Halla has a 3-2 lead in the series as it moves back to Korea for the final 2 games if needed.I hope that Nippon Paper comes back and wins the series but it will be hard for them in the opponent’s rink.

Fantasy and hockey pool update,well in the pool it has been a disaster I have fallen to fourth place as all my players have been playing like minor leaguers and even papa Rog is ahead of me now,it looks like a 2 man race between Jay the minister and Johnny boy who has moved into first place,he has never won the pool so it will be a miracle if he wins.

In Yahoo fantasy I have fallen to second place as Kevin from Toronto has had a great run recently,arrogant Dave from Calgary is in third Johnny boy in 4th,my goalies have kept me in contention and Luongo has finally started to play like the allstar that he is. On the trade front my goon Carcillo has been traded to the Flyers and I hope he can be a Broad Street bully like Dave “the Hammer “Schultz and Bobby Clarke.I hope I can at least finish in second ahead of arrogant Dave.

Finally in the NHL the big bad Bruins have fallen out of first overall as the Detroit Dead Wings took over top spot today,they are 1 point ahead of the Bruins and the Sharks.The Bruins made 2 trades at the deadline picking up oldtimer Mark Recchi from the Tampa Bay Lightning ,he has 2 Stanley Cup rings so I hope he still has some life in left in his legs and he can chip in a few goals and assists in the playoffs.The other trade was picking up Steve Montador a solid stay at home dman from the Ducks for Peteri Nokelainen,he also has a ring he won with the Ducks.

Well the move is almost finished I have to find a new internet provider,might upgrade to the 1GB super high speed internet woo hoo.More news soon about the Asia League championship series.

Asia League regular season is over!!!

Well the headline says it all,the playoffs are set to go next month,Anyang Halla finished in first place so they will get a bye to the semifinals where they will play the winner of the Cranes and High1 series which should be a good one as Ryan Kuwabara plays against his former team the Cranes as a key member of High1.Unfortunately, the China Sharks did not make the playoffs as I thought  they had but they changed the playoff format from last year when 6 teams made the playoffs,however Wade Flaherty former NHLer had the best save% in the league as the Sharks #1 goalie.The Nikko Icebucks had a tough season as they finished in last after losing their last game of the season to the Seibu Prince Rabbits 5-2 in the last regular season game ever for Seibu as they are folding after this season.I attended this game there was a table set up outside trying to save the team by asking fans to sign a petition but I think at this time there is no investor ready to buy the team.This a picture during warm-up of the last regular season game in Seibu Prince Rabbits history,the score was 2-0 after 1 period,3-0 after 2 periods and the final score of 5-2,the game got a little chippy as it wore on and there were some minor skirmishes and shoving matches and a kind of fight but the players didn’t take off their helmets and gloves and trade punches.Here is a pic of a Nikko Ice Bucks player,I was really impressed with #20 Mickey Gilchrist,he is a smooth skater and he made a great pass to set up Nikko’s second goal. The Nikko Fans were pretty intense and vocal too they had a Japanese Taiko drum which they were banging throughout the game here is a pic of them.I am looking forward to seeing some playoff games next month and the All Japan Hockey Championships will be held next month as well where teams from all over Japan compete even University and High School teams as well as the 4 Japanese pro teams.

Well let us get into the fantasy and hockey pool updates,I am the king of the pools right now,in Yahoo I have surged into a 4 point lead over Kevin from Toronto and 5 points over arrogant Dave from Calgary,my Bruins laden team is kicking butt as we say in fantasy hockey land,the only disaster was picking up Sundin but I tossed him away today and picked up Toews from the Blackhawks so I hope he can get me a lot of points.Luongo has also been crappy since he came back into the lineup and I benched him against San Jose as he lost a tough one 2-1 to the Sharks.

In the main pool,I regained first place from Johnny boy with a big 15 point night the first day after the allstar break.Jay the minister has fallen into third as his pickup of Sundin has been a major mistake papa Rog in 4th and the newcomer Brian in last with his many injuries.

In the NHL,the Bruins dream season continues,before the Allstar break they won their first game of the season in which they trailed after 2 periods against the Toronto Marlies oh I meant Leafs with a shootout win against the Laffs.They did lose a tough game today against the Devils after leading with 2 minutes left in the game and lost it in OT.

Finally a blast from the past picture of Miho and I at the NHL game in Japan in 2000 which featured the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Nashville Predators and a picture of Jaromir Jagr from the game.

I won the fastest slapshot competition  outside the arena with a shot of  about 130 km/hFinally the Jaromir  Jagr picture the Predators won the game 3-1 and I tried to find my Russian friend who played on the Predators to get me tickets for the second game but I couldn’t track him down.

Happy New Year and Happy Hockey in 2009!!!

Well we are in 2009 and hockey is in full swing all over the world.In the Asia league a shocking news item from a press release by the league on December 28 that this will be the last year in the league for the Seibu Prince Rabbits as they will discontinue their team after this season is over.Wow I have seen many games at their home arena in Higashi Fushimi,it is a nice arena a little small but not too bad.Here is a pic before a game from last year at Seibu’s home arena in Higashi Fushimi.

 

As for the standings Seibu is in first Anyang Halla in second the Cranes in 3rd the Eagles in 4th High1 in 5th the Sharks in 6th and the Icebucks in last and in danger of missing the playoffs,so the battle for the last playoff spot will be amazing to follow as well as the battle for first place between Seibu and Anyang Halla.

NHL news the Bruins are the best team in the league with 62 points it is turning into a dream season like one from the early 70s for the Boys from Beantown as they are presently on a 10 game winning streak and a 14 game home winning streak.The goaltending tandem of Thomas and Fernandez lead the league in GAA and in other goaltending categories.Marc Savard is #5 in league scoring and Phil Kessel is # 4 in goalscoring.I can see a Sharks Bruins Stanley Cup finals coming up this year!!!!

Pool and Fantasy update well in our main pool sad to say but Jay the minister has taken over first place as my team has been decimated with injuries and I had to use my last trade today to get Hudler from the Red Wings and drop Paul Stastny from the Avs,Jay luckily has 2 trades left so it looks like he will win it all,John is in third and has made up some ground recently Papa Rog in 4th but he has just lost Gaborik to injury and Brian the newcomer in last and piling up more injuries in his first year in our pool.

Yahoo  fantasy update is the good news there is a 3 way tie for first as I write this post between arrogant Dave from Calgary,Kevin from Toronto and yours truly the Philster, I am riding the Bruins wave with 7 Bruins on my team and almost getting points on every Bruins goal and so many game winning goals as well.

Finally on a personal note our dog Lucky passed away on January 1st in a tragic accident so our family is in mourning now for our awesome little friend and buddy.Here is a pic of our wonderful dog a Kaiken Japanese breed. Rest in peace my friend!!!!!!!!

To end today a picture of me skating with Jay the minister’s 2 kids Tyler and Lisa and another friend Patrick who was a member of our old hockey team the Players.

Another visit to the rink to see a game!!!

Hey this is a review of the Seibu Prince Rabbits and Nippon Paper Cranes game of December 7th,the day after a goalfest which ended in a  wild-west shootout 7-6 overtime win for Seibu.Both teams settled in for a defensive struggle,it was 1-0 Seibu after 1 but the Cranes had a lot of powerplays which they failed to capitalize on,they tried to put the big bodies of defencemen Brad Tiley or Kengo Ito in front of the net to screen the goalie but they couldn’t break through the good penalty killing of the Rabbits.

Brad Tiley  #28 impressed with his toughness in this game and he looks pretty solid on his skates and dished  out some solid hits in the game.here is a pic of him .The second period  had a lot more powerplay chances for the Cranes but they still could not score they were using a 1 man at the point formation with 4 guys close to the net but it proved to be ineffective although they did manage to get a lot of shots throughout the game.Seibu scored again to make it 2-0 after 2,there was some pushing and shoving at the end of the period when the Cranes had a 5 on 3 man advantage.The final score was 3-0 for Seibu as Kikuchi #39 got the shutout and the first star of the game and the Rabbits maintained their lead atop the Asia league standings.Finally I met an American guy at the game from San Jose but he said he was a Bruins fan as well,however he was wearing a Canadiens jersey with his name on the back,unacceptable if you are a Bruins fan to buy any Hab scum merchandise.

Bruins continued their strong play as of late,sweeping the 2 Florida teams,they totally outclassed the Panthers in a 4-0 whitewash with backup goalie Fernandez getting the shutout,Phil Kessel one of the main men on my Yahoo Fantasy team is among the league leaders with 16 goals so far this year.They will play 4 games this week,the Lightning worse team in the East,the Capitals and a home and home series with the Thrashers at the end of this week.

Lastly hockey pool update I am still maintaining my lead even with Luongo injured and recovering from his injury.I made my first trade of the season dropping Sakic and picking up Zherdev from the Rangers so I have a full line now Gomez Naslund and Zherdev,I am really hoping for a lot of 3 point goals from those guys.Jay the minister has moved into 2nd place bumping Brian the newcomer down to third .Johnny boy has passed Papa Rog and gotten himself out of the basement,sorry Papa Rog.I will try to do one more post before I go to Thailand for my friend Warren’s wedding,a former member of our pool and hockey team,the last pic today will be a blast from the past,me and Joe Altwasser, Players champions of the Edogawa hockey tournament,the year is 2000 or 2001.When you become 44 the memory starts to fade about the Glory Days!!!

Almost December holy hockey season is flying by!!!!!!

Well I am back after long rest from the blog some crazy things have happened in the Asia league,Claude Lemieux,superpest aka Mr. Cheapshot played in the Asia league at the age of 43 for the China Sharks,his stats were pretty pathetic for a former NHLer,2 games played 1 assist and 4 penalty minutes.Seibu still on top of the league but the Cranes are very hot right now their last game they destroyed High1,Darcy Mitani led the way with a hattrick and an assist.Here is a pic of him after their Asia league championship in 2007.

As for my favourite NHL team ,the Bruins are the hottest team in the league right now with a 10-1-1 record in November as they have moved to the top of the Eastern conference,the most enjoyable game was a 6-1 destruction of the Hab scum and Lucic pounded the crap out of Mike Komisarek knocking him out of the game and Hab lineup with a shoulder injury,it is a fantastic time for Bruins fans.Their next game is against the  Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night Go Bruins Go and the third jersey was released it looks good I like it.

Fantasy update I continue to lead my main pool by 20 points but have suffered a major injury blow as superman Luongo has an adductor strain,I am contemplating whether to trade him or keep him right now,Brian the newcomer is in second but he used his last trade and lost Morrow for the season so he is down to 14 players with no hope,Jay the minister is about 22 back and looking to move into second place,papa Rog is in 4th and slowly moving up and John loserboy is in the basement with his goofy picks such as Brunnstrom who is having a very rough rookie season in the NHL.

Yahoo fantasy, I have moved out of last place finally as I have loaded up on Bruins and they are going to rocket me to the top of the standings.Dave the arrogant guy from Calgary is enjoying a big lead right now but he has never won the pool and Kevin from Toronto is in second.

I got a comment  from a guy in Latvia who likes my blog so I am happy about that,I didn’t know if anyone was reading my blog except for friends and family.

Finally got to see a live game!!

Hi all well got off my butt and went to a game yesterday,it was High1 from Korea against the Seibu Prince Rabbits at Higashi-Fushimi Arena only about 30 minutes by bus and train from my house.I arrived at the game about 2 minutes into the first period,the score was 1-1 after 1 period and both teams were playing hard and skating hard but the Seibu goalie was the star of the game making 44 saves in the 3-2 win,I thought it would be going to overtime,but Seibu scored with about 2 minutes left in the game and hung on for the win.here is a pic of the Seibu goalie Naoya Kikuchi #39

After the game I had a chance to talk to Ryan Kuwabara #71 from High1 and he told me about a game earlier in the season against Anyang Halla where his team High1 scored with 1 second left in the game to tie the game but Anyang Halla protested and the owner of Anyang Halla came down from the stands and ordered his team off the ice and High1 won by forfeit.He said that he is really enjoying living in Seoul and the team is treating him well.He said he joined High1 because he was getting bored in a small city like Kushiro but he did like the years he spent playing for the Cranes.They will play Seibu again on Sunday,I hope they can win that game.I also had a chance to meet Brent Gavreau a former draft pick of the Calgary Flames,Magnus Osterby a Swedish defenceman on High1 and another dman Chris Allen who was drafted by the Florida Panthers in 1996 in the third round.

Finally a hockey pool update,I am in first place in my main pool with a 10 point lead over the newcomer Brian,even with my first pick Lecavalier playing like a minor leaguer with 3 points to start off the season and Teemu Selanne having a slow start too.

In my Yahoo pool,what a disaster my top too goalies have save% in the 80% range just brutal,so I am mired in last place with a miracle needed to move up in the standings.

Lastly,the Bruins had an up and down week losing to the hated Leafs at home 4-2 but getting a big win tonight against the Thrashers 5-4 with big Cam Neely-like Milan Lucic  the first hattrick in his short career and adding an assist.He could be a fantasy sleeper in Yahoo fantasy hockey.

Hockey pool reflections and Asian league update

Hi there all we finished our annual hockey pool on Tuesday night,the participants were Johnny boy,Jay the minister, Brian the newcomer Papa Rog and myself.Jay was lucky to get the first pick and took Crosby over Ovechkin which Rog took at #2,John took Datsyuk at 3 and the big shocker was the neophyte Brian taking Brodeur at 4.I scooped up Lecavalier and Thornton with picks 5 and 6.We picked 14 players and 1 goalie each,players get a point for a goal and an assist and goalies get 1 point for a win and 2 for a shutout,they also get 1 point for a goal or an assist.Johnny boy took a chance on Fabian Brunnstrom with his 15th pick.There are 4 trades allowed during the season and you can check out our pool at 

www,poolexpert.com  the pool name is TokyoGuys there is no password needed to view it.

The Yahoo fantasy league Tokyo SlapshotVII has also kicked off this week,we are waiting for Yahoo to do our Autodraft,only 6 players this year so all teams should be stacked with great players.I am trying to recover from a disastrous season last year when I finished next to last after winning it all 2 years ago.

In Asian league news Seibu continues to be the class of the league and are undefeated after 6 games and they should win both games this weekend in Shanghai against the lowly Sharks who have yet to win a game.In Korea this weekend the Cranes play 2 games against High1 as former Cranes star Ryan Kuwabara plays against his former team as a member of High1.The Icebucks and Eagles will square off for 2 games in this Nikko this weekend it is a beautiful city to visit in Japan,if you have some free time this weekend go check out some hockey,I don’t think I will be going this weekend but I hope to get to a game soon.Here is a link to the arena map in Nikko

http://www.alhockey.com/fanzone/access/icebucks.html

Finally the NHL kicked off last weekend in Europe with 4 games the Rangers beat the new look Lightning with former ESPN commentator in back to back games in Prague in the Czech Republic.The Senators and Penguins split their 2 game series in Stockholm at the Globe Arena.The North American games start on Thursday night and if you want to watch live games on your computer go buy NHL GameCentre Live 159 bucks,outstanding package I had it last year it was wonderful,you can also watch 4 games live at once using split screen.Here is the link

http://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/index.html

Asia League kicks off and other thoughts

Hey I went to the Tokyo  Canadians Fall Classic party a few weeks ago at the Muse in Nishi-Azabu,it was ok a little pricey ¥4000 but a portion went to charity,the doormen their are not very friendly and you can’t take in any knapsacks which is bogus they almost didn’t let me carry my Flames jersey in with me.As for the bash,big club with lots of different rooms and some good door prizes but it was hard  to talk to people because the music was so loud.you can check out the Tokyo Canadians activities here.Jamie and I at the party

www.tokyocanadians.com/ 

The Asia league played its first games last weekend the Seibu team beat Nikko in a home and home series 8-0 in Tokyo  and a 3-2 game in Nikko,the Oji Eagles and Nippon Paper Cranes  split a 2 game series up in Hokkaido.The High1 team beat the  Anyang Halla in a 2 game series in Korea but the second game was controversial as High1 scored with 1 second left in the game to tie it 6-6 but the Anyang Halla team walked off the ice and refused to accept the tying goal and therefore forfeited the game.I will have to ask my friend Ryan Kuwabara who is now playing for High1 after being with Nippon Paper for a few years what happened.Here is a pic of him I took a few years ago when he was with Nippon Paper.Ok there are 2 games on Thursday night,one in Korea between the Oji Eagles and High1 and one in Nikko between the China Sharks and the Ice Bucks,former NHLer Wade Flaherty is playing goal and serving as a goalie coach for the Sharks.

Finally the Bruins Patrice Bergeron had a great return in his first game back with a goal and 3 assists albeit  in an exhibition game as the Bs trounced the Habs 8-3 in Halifax.

Hello all this is my first blog

Hi my name is Phil  Buchan,I am a graduate of the SMWW Hockey GM and Scouting course and a big time hockey fanatic,I will be writing about Japanese hockey, the Asia Hockey League,the NHL,fantasy hockey and all other hockey topics.My favorite team is the Boston Bruins because of Orr and Esposito,I used to sign my name Phil E when I was in elementary school.My second team is the Calgary Flames because I was born in Calgary,I was part-owner of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Hockey Academy in 1995 and 1996,a hockey school that was based in Canmore Alberta.

I did my final project for SMWW on Paul Theriault who was the assistant coach for the Nippon Paper Cranes and it was very informative talking to him about the hockey business.

The Asia Hockey League kicks off its season next week with a tournament in Anyang in Korea,Nippon Paper Cranes and the Oji Eagles will represent Japan in the tournament,the other teams will be the China Sharks,Anyang Halla and High1.

Me and Paul Theriault