February 15 1999
 
TEAM REPORT CARDS and PLAYOFF PREVIEW
Teams are slowly gearing up for the playoffs
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 With the regular season heading into it’s last quarter segment and 
the playoffs fast approaching, teams captains have begun fine tuning 
their offensive and defensive pairings, while making sure they get 
all their part time players qualified for post season play.
 
 This has been a strange season thus far. Other than the Bluedogs, 
who had an 11 game winning streak, and the Renegades who opened the 
season like gangbusters winning 5 straight, the 4 other CASC 
franchises have been models of inconsistency, incapable of putting 
together a winning streak of more than 2 games. Games have been hard 
to predict, with CASC prognosticators Paul and Jimmy struggling with 
an 18-18 record against the Las Vegas spread. Scheduling is partly 
to blame; how are you supposed to get into a groove when there are 
no games 4 of the last 8 Fridays before Christmas, including a 3 week 
period in November? October and January have been the only full 
months of play. 
 
Here’s an overview of each team’s chances of winning the big prize. 
 
 
 
 
 Bluedogs
 
The team to beat, plain and simple. It all starts in between the 
pipes with Regent Proulx having yet another stellar season. On the 
blue line, Keith Myers, Mike Callaghan and Kim Nethersole are
3 highly skilled players with uncanny hockey sense, who are can do 
it all at both ends of the floor.. Don’t try to dipsy doodle around 
these guys cause it will only make you look foolish. The offense
runs through these guys and has been the key to their success this 
season.
 
While none of the Bluedog forwards are superstars who can take over 
a game by themselves, they all hard workers who play a relentless 
brand of hockey and can dig the ball out of the corners. If
Darren Roberts can be prevented from unleashing his vicious 
slapshot, the Bluedog forwards can be kept under control.
 
The Bluedogs will head into the playoffs with a surplus of bodies. 
Five defenseman ( G.Phendler, L.Digenova, M.Callaghan, K.Myers, 
K.Nethersole) and 6 forwards (F.Baird, T.Ricci, A.Ramdeen, M.Murphy, 
D.Roberts, B.Ponting) will qualify for playoffs. This could hurt 
their championship chances as we all know that’s it’s harder to get 
into the flow of the game when having to sit out every 3rd shift. 
This could mean some discontent dogs and their possible undoing in 
the playoffs. Let’s hope so (no pun intended). 
 
 
 
 
  Renegades
 
After winning their first 5 games, the Renegades have played 
uninspired hockey, going 3-5-1 the rest of the way. With superstar 
Darryl Vineberg out for the season, second line scoring has been a
major problem. The first line of Joe Lazzara and Paul Iacurto has 
been productive, scoring 46% of the Renegade goals. Ian Foster, 
Peter Knapp and Chris Nadeau are the other offensive catalysts.
 
Regular goaltending has also been a major headache, with Billy Mark 
participating in only 6 of 15 games. The Renegades have lost their 
last 3 games and look like a team without any bite. Team morale is 
at an all time low. They have 6 games to put things together but 
still remain worthy championship contenders. They are a very 
balanced team and can skunk any team in the league on any given night. 
 
 
 
 
 Dragons
 
The Dragons Achilles heel coming into the playoffs will be lack of 
scoring depth. They are last in the league in goals scored (80), 
with Ralph Reiber accounting for 40% of their offensive output. Nobody else on the Dragons has more than 9 goals. With players being shadowed more carefully in
the playoffs, Reiber may have a more difficult time popping them 
in. He will also have to stay out of the penalty box which has been 
a difficult chore for him this season. 
 
Unless somebody else steps up offensively, the Dragons will have to 
result to a tight checking system in order to make it to the finals. 
But how many CASC games are low scoring affairs? Thus far, only 7 
regular season games have had 10 combined goals or less.
 
Goaltender Ronan Nathan will be the most important piece to the 
puzzle. He will have to be at his absolute best if the Dragons 
have any chance of winning the big prize. 
 
 
 
 
  Four Aces
 
Don’t be fooled: this isn’t the same Four Aces team that began the 
season 0-4. Gone are Sean Ellis, Vito Racanelli and goaltender 
Yannick Medou and a whole host of subs. Enter Philippe Gaudreau, 
Gary Laxton, Brian Crompton and Jimmy Garoufalis as their regular 
goaltender.
 
The Four Aces are the hottest team in the league with consecutive 
victories versus the top two teams in the standings (Bluedogs 9-7, 
Renegades 9-4). Up front, they are led by Sean Marcellin who is
the best pure talent in the league. He and Gary Laxton are arguably 
the best offensive duo in the league. While not possessing blinding 
speed, Laxton has superior stick skills and is very dangerous from 
in close.Laxton and Marcellin are a constant scoring menace every 
time they step on to the floor.
 
The Four Aces have a very respectable second line; Philippe Gaudreau 
and Francis Brisebois are both formidable scoring threats. Gaudreau 
is 6th in the league in goal scoring (20) while Brisebois uses his 
speed to motor around opponents.
 
The Four Aces can be unbeatable provided their defense remains 
solid. But I am not sold on their blue line corps. Brian Compton 
has been a key acquisition but may not qualify for the playoffs.
John Wong is a shot blocker extraordinaire, but all in all, the Four 
Aces defense can be dissected, especially when the forwards don’t 
come back and help. They are last in the league in goals against,
giving up an average of 8 goals a game.
 
Jimmy Garoufalis is one of the better goaltenders in the league but
needs to add a little more consistency to his game. When he’s off 
his game, Garoufalis goes down too early and becomes vulnerable 
upstairs. The first playoff game will be the ultimate measuring 
stick for Mr Garoufalis. A solid playoff will mean instant superstar 
status for Garoufalis. 
 
 
 
 
 Heat
 
The Heat are enjoying their best run of the season with consecutive 
victories over the Renegades (7-6) and the Dragons (15-6).
 
Eric Savage is their most dangerous scoring threat and is one of the 
premier stick handlers in the league. He leads the CASC with 38 
goals and has accounted for 40% of their offensive output. Eric Roy 
is the only other Heat player with more than 10 goals. The Heat will 
definitely need more scoring depth if they hope to make a serious 
playoff run. Someone will have to step up to take some of the 
scoring burden away from Savage; when he has an off night, the Heat 
become easy preys for the opposition.
 
The Heat will also need to tighten their defense and play with a 
little more fire and intensity if they hope to make it through to 
the finals; this also implies beating the top teams in the league, 
which they have not accomplished so far this season (0-2 vs Bluedogs 
and 0-2 vs Four Aces). 
 
The Heat become a vastly improved team when they stick to just 
playing hockey. They have done so the last 2 games (both wins) but 
I seriously doubt that they will maintain this tendency for the
remainder of the regular season and into the playoffs. They lead 
the league in penalty minutes and have an act to blow their 
collective stacks a little bit too often and especially at the 
wrong time. This puts them out of many games and will probably mean 
another early exit from the playoffs. 
 
 
 
 
  Blizzard
 
With only one loss in their last 4 games, including a 6-6 tie against
the Bluedogs, the Blizzard are peaking at the right time. Their 
premier offensive weapon is rookie Chris Callihoo, who’s tied for
4th in the league with 25 goals. Callihoo looks almost lazy out 
there but manages to single-handedly dominate games at times. 
Stephane Cyr is the other Blizzard forward to watch out for; he’s 
come out of nowhere with 20 points in 5 games. Stephane Gobeil and 
Jocelyn Plouffe complete a very respectable offensive quartet. The 
Blizzard can score goals with anyone in the league.
 
The Blizzard defense is good but not great. Bob Staric is their best 
offensive defenseman (11 goals in 13 games) and goaltender Leonard 
Luedu is having an unspectacular, yet solid season. 
 
The Blizzard is the CASC team we know the least and fear the most. 
They are my dark horse pick to make it to the finals.