A London Mustangs Dynasty

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Like I said in the Rinos dynasty, NHL 10 did not have that name available so the new team will be called the Mustangs.

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NHL.COM

End of Hockey in Georgia

After a couple of bismal seasons in Atlanta, the Thrashers are no longer as they travel north, to land lock London Ontario Canada.

The deal to buy the Thrashers comes from a group of Bay Street Bankers called the Spirit Group. The amount of the deal was not communicated but sources close to the deal explain that both current owners, the NHL, and Leafs/Sabres/Wings were happy with the remuneration package and that no hurdles stand in the way.

"It sad to see our team leave... Our fans have been very loyal with us but I guess we can't always get what we want." LW Ilya Kovalchuk told reports after the press conference.

London Ontario, also known as the Forest City, has a population of about 489,000 and already supports a well known OHL team The London Knights. London is basically half way between Toronto and Detroit and serves as a central hub to South Western Ontario.

Mark Hunter, GM of the London Knights, had this to say. "Our we threaten by having a NHL team here.. the answer to that is no. Many cities have the pleasure of housing both a major and minor hockey teams, and to be honest we are very happy to have the Mustangs here. Its a great way to showcase hockey and I know the fans will love it. Go Mustangs Go."

The Thrashers will be renamed the Mustangs and will sport a silver, red, and white jersey. They will play in the newly commisioned Spirit Center (which seats 22,000) on the banks of the Thames River and the team will have the option to practice at the Labatts Center (Home of the London Knights).

The Mustangs will continue to follow the proposed Thrashers 09/10 schedule and will assume the Thrashers place in the draft in Montreal. It has also been communicated that all players and management will make the trip, and the Chicago Wolves of the AHL will continue to be thier farm team.

"We are enthralled that a NHL team will play here. Many of our hockey fans travel south to Detroit or North to Toronto to catch a game, so this will definately be a positive for the community of London and our local business. Welcome Mustangs, make us proud." London Mayor Anne Marie DeCicco-Best was qouted after the press conference.

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NHL.COM

27th Gets you 1st


A first bit of luck strikes the Mustangs as they win the draft lottery and secure the 1st pick of the 09/10 draft.

"What luck.. I was already planning on moving up the draft anyways, so this definately helps me in that area. Now its a matter of who I pick, John Taveres or Nathan Thompson." Rick Dudley told reporters after he was informed of the good news.

The top two guys in the draft this year are both centers born in Ontario, one from the OHL and the other from the WHL. Both are great workhorses and really know how to create plays in the offensive zone. Here is a breakdown of each CHL player.

John Taveres, an Ontario native, is a 6', 198 lb center born in Mississauga Ontario Canada. He collected 58 goals and 46 assists for 104 pts playing for Oshawa/London. He won the Eddie Powers Memorial Trophy for the leading scorer last year and if not taken for the 1st pick will definately go 2nd.

Nathan Thompson, an Ontario native, is a 5'11", 186 lb center born in Milton Ontario Canada. Started his Junior career in the OHL, was eventually shipped to the WHL were he played for Calgary. He collected 56 goals and 55 assists for 111 pts and was 2nd in the scoring title in the WHL. It is projected that he will either go 1st or 2nd.

"Both players have done very well in thier junior careers. We are looking for a franchise center and either one would fit the bill. Its very exciting when you have not only one player but two that could help you. Should be interesting come draft day." Head scout Marcel Comeau was quoted during a recent press conference.

Draft day is only a couple days away and already the excitement is building. Who will the Mustangs take, Taveres or Thompson?

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NHL.COM

Draft Day Montreal


The Bell Center is already filled to capacity as players, friends, family, and media watch in anticipation as 30 parties down on the floor wait to make thier selections. Its D-day today, it should be interesting.

Commisioner Gary Bettman takes the floor an annouces the first pick, which we all know is the Mustangs pick.

"Good afternoon everyone, welcome to the 09/10 draft. Without taking any more time here we go. The London Mustangs take with thier first pick........ WHL center Nathan Thompson."

A small cheer from the stands eminates around the rink as a young man slips on his new jersey and shakes the hands of Mustang management.

Marked as the new franchise player of the Mustangs, it is expected that Thompson will start right away in the NHL and mostly likely on the first line. If nothing changes from now to the start of the season then he will center a potent line of Vycheslav Kozlov and Ilya Kovalchuk, should be interesting.

The other top 5 picks went as follows:

2nd Islanders: John Taveres
3rd Avalanch: Victor Hedman
4th Kings: Evander Kane
5th Coyotes: Brayden Schenn

[takeshi1191]

Good luck with this. I was enjoying your Dallas' dynasty a lot... This will be better, I'm sure!

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NHL.COM

Not Done Moving Yet


Not yet a full week after the 09/10 draft, Mustang management is on the move with two deals. One much bigger then the other, but both bring youth and enthusiasm to the team. The deals played out like this.

Deal One

Since the move to London, Kovalchuk has repeatively said that he is very unhappy with the move and that he wants to play for a Stanley Cup contender.

"I'm tired of losing, I want out. This move to London was the final straw. Hopefully they hear me." quoted Kovalchuk from his facebook page.

I guess this deal takes care of that as the London Mustangs send winger Ilya Kovalchuck to the Devils for rookie winger Niclas Bergfors, d-man Johnny Oduya, prospect center Patrice Cormier, and the Devils 1st round pick in the 10/11 draft.

In this deal the Mustangs do lose a seasoned superstar in Kovalchuk but gain immensley both in the forward position with a couple of youthful players with alot of upside (Bergfors had 22-29-51pts for Lowell in 08/09 - most likey will play for the Mustangs, while prospect Cormier had 23-28-51pts for Rimiuski in 08/09 - most likely play for the Chicago Wolves) and in the defensive end pick up a 28 year old dd man who has an infectius attitude and is a solid teammate (Johnny Oduya had a +21 last year with the Devils). Lastly to cap off the deal the Mustangs also get a 1st round pick in the 10/11 draft, which gives them 2 1st round picks. Perfect weapons for a rebuilding team.

"I'm happy with this deal. We get a couple of good prospects, a season d-man, and picked up another 1st round draft pick. The only problem now is we kind of have a big hole on the right wing, guess we will need to find someone to fill it." quoted GM Dudley.

Deal Two

The 2nd deal is a little less big then the 1st but still pivitol in the Mustangs rebuild as they traded away a finish goalie and pick up a prospect and another draft pick.

"He was very inconsitent and injury prone. I have two other great goalies in Hedberg and Pavelec that I know can split the season well. So this trade made sense as its for the future and thats our theme this year." Dudley explained after the deal was annouced.

The Mustangs trade goalie Kari Lehtonen to the Stars for prospect d-man Ivan Vishnevskiy and the Stars 4th round pick in the 10/11 draft.

Like Dudley said the Mustangs rid themselves of a troublesome netminder and in exchange pick up another youthful prospect (Vishnevskiy had 6-13-19pts for Peoria -will start in Chicago) as well another draft pick (4th round) in the 10/11 draft. As the mantra goes, this is all for the future.

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Quote: Originally Posted by takeshi1191

Good luck with this. I was enjoying your Dallas' dynasty a lot... This will be better, I'm sure!

Thanks takeshi, I appreciate it.

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NHL.COM

Big Shoes To Fill


The Mustangs are not done yet as they skip across the pond and try and find the missing winger.

With Kovalchuk gone, a big gaping whole sits on the right side of the first line, and has been a sore spot in the Mustangs side. But no worries now as a old veteran makes his way back.

"I have never even been to London or for that matter played for a Canadian team. The Mustangs are soothing with youth and it will give me the opportunity to lead and groom some future NHL talent. Who could resist. Plus maybe I can finally get that one point to get me to 1600, that really has bugged me."

Who is this mystery man. Well its 5 time Lester Pearson Award winner Jaromir Jagr from the KHL. Now details of the deal are not forth coming but its suspected that the 38 year old winger signed either a 1 or 2 year deal with the stipulation that he plays on the 1st line.

What does this mean for the Mustangs? Well they get an extremely seasoned winger who has amassed over 646 goals and 953 assists for 1599 points in 1273 games. He has a trophy case filled with 2 Stanley Cups, 5 Art Rosses, 3 Pearson Awards, 1 Hart, and has been selected for the NHL Allstar team 7 times. His hockey sense, puck handling skills, and shot are still forces to be reckoned with and is a great leader in the locker room. If any one can help assist the team in its rebuild, this is the guy.

"When I heard that Jagr was going to play with us, I nearly slammed my car into a tree. He was definately one of my idols growing up, I can't beleive I'm going to play with him." An estatic Thompson was qouted from his Twitter page, which seems to be the mantra of many Mustang players.

"What can I say, you close a window and a door opens. This is going to be a great season." GM Dudley told reporters at the Spirit Center.

The Mustangs might have lost a superstar Russian but easily picked up the greatest Czech player ever.