New History - New Dynasty - New Opportunity

[TBiz]

2017 NHL Expansion Draft Story
[2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs]
Moments before Washington's huge 2016 Stanley Cup Victory
The shocking news beforehand was Las Vegas stepping down as the new entry into the NHL.

The NHL in timely fashion were set out to make the adjustments needed to ensure that a new NHL team would make its appearance for the upcoming season.

[During Offseason / Free Agents]
Commissioner Gary Bettman not only found a replacement for the season, but added one more team to the list.

The announcement of the San Francisco Fire & Quebec Nordiques would shock the world come July 1st.

The focus of this article will be on San Francisco, as they look to begin a journey like none other to stamp their new presence into the NHL.

[TBiz]

July 2nd - August 31 2017
[NHL Expansion Draft: San Francisco Fire Are Born]
As most were excited for the draft pick, others wondered on who would take over this newly claimed team. The team's owner was first. A Man by the name of Omran Dhul Fiqar purchased the spot and claimed the name of the team. Not much is known about him, but the 69 Year old Filipino has been noted as a huge fan of Hockey, and was a childhood dream to one day own his own organization.

Added to team we will see GM: Terence Baker stepping into the hot seat for the new team. Not much is known of the 30 Year old, but first impressions will be a must.

Terence quickly announced the coaches that will be working for the team.

Dwayne Roloson will take on the role for Goalie Coach. The well respected Goalie played in 606 NHL Games before retiring from the game.

Wendel Clark best known for his historic career with the Toronto Maple Leafs will take on San Francisco's Skills Coaching. Clark had 793 Games played in the league and will be a great asset to this new organization.

Paul MacLean 719 NHL Career games back in 1977 - 1991, will take on the role of Offensive Coach with the Organization.

Marvello Mante New to the league, coming in as a friend/coworker of owner Omran Dhul Fiqar, he will be taking on the role as Defensive Coach.

[Senko1291]

Excited to follow buddy. Best of luck to you!

[TBiz]

Now that we've taken care of the staff leading the way.
The movements throughout the July-August 31st were a huge process as many came from the draft, others were collected through free agents.

Below are the players you will expect to see a lot during the regular season.


The coaches have put together the projected lines for the upcoming season

[TBiz]

[San Francisco Fire - First NHL Official Pre-Season]
The Fire may have a lot of NHL experience throughout its locker room, but for the organization, this would be the showing of what to expect (Hopefully) from a new organization stepping into the league.

In the 7 Pre-Season Games, the team did extremely well posting a 6-1-0 Record. The impressive part is they scored 26 goals (3.7 Goals a Game Avg) and only allowing 10 Goals (1.4 Goals Against) in the stretch.

Both goalies had some up and downs, but proved to be capable of defending the crease in most night. Antti Raanta got the extra game in hand, but both goalies had split time to figure out, who was going to be the starter.

Terence Baker quoted "This is hard" as he looked at how his goalies performed. Raanta who posted a 3-1-0 record, faced 73 shots and made 67 saves (.918 SV% / 1.50 GAA). Where Zatkoff went undefeated posting a 3-0-0 Record, faced 64 shots and made 60 saves (.938 SV% / 1.30 GAA). Not only that, both these goalies took huge steps last season becoming starters for their teams due to Injuries.

When asked the big question on whom will be the Starter for the game opener, Terence Replied "It will be a game day decision, but I will be taking Dwayne Roloson's thoughts into consideration come the decision". Not only that, he added "Expect both to be actively seen in the start of the season, as this pre-season proved both deserve some time".

Seeing past the goalies, the players also showed up. As expected Tomas Tatar lead the team in Goals and tied for top points on the team with 8. The surprising Jason Zucker was the one to tie Tatar with the 8 points.

Also having big pre-seasons were Mikael Grunlund (7pts), Viktor Arvidsson (7pts) and Ivan Barbashev (6pts)

A few stars that had rough times were Jason Spezza (3pts in 7 games), Kevin Shattenkirk (4 pts in 7 games), Brandon Dubinsky (4 pts in 7 games) and Jack Johnson (3pts in 7 games).

When asked what he thought of his big names having a rough pre-season, Terence defended them stating "Pre-Seasons simply a warm up for the Regular Season. I expect these guys to be huge contributors to the coming season, and have all the faith in the world with the guys I have put together here".

Belows the schedule that the San Francisco Fire had during the pre-season.

[TBiz]

The Regular Seasons about the kick off for the San Francisco Fire, as they've sold out the arena here in their home opener where they'll take on the Dallas Stars.

As we were told before, Terence would make the game day decision on who would start in the opener, which we now find out, Jeff Zatkoff would get the nod.

In what was a tight first two periods with the score going into the third deadlocked at 2 a piece (Goals from Mikael Granlund and Kevin Shattenkirk for the SFF and Patrick Sharp and Devin Shore of DAL).

The game would stay that way up until 9:30 of the 3rd period, when SFF's Brandon Sutter would wire one home to give the home fans something to cheer about. The goal would stand as the game winner, but Tobias Rieder would get an empty netter at the 19:55 to add some icing to the cake, as the San Francisco Fire would win their home opener and first official NHL game 4-2!

Noteworthy
Rookie Defenceman; Cal Foote registered his first NHL point in his first ever NHL game with an assist on the opening goal from Makael Granlund.

Jeff Zatkoff looked good in the crease turning aside 22/24 shots he faced recording a .917 SV% and his first victory of the season.

3 Stars of the Game
3RD STAR: SFF's LW: Jason Zucker (2 Assists)
2ND STAR: DAL's LD: Esa Lindell (1 Assist)
1ST STAR: SFF's RW: Mikael Granlund (1 Goal, 2 Assists)

[TBiz]

10 Games into the Season
The San Francisco Fire have made believers out of many so far just team games into the season.

They've posted a 10-0-0 record against a lot of tough teams. The amazing part about this run is the 6/10 of these contests have been decided by OT(1) and SO's(5). Huge victories over Chicago, LA, St. Louis and San Jose just to name a few.

The big thing in these 10 games have been the Goalies stealing the spotlight. Terence seems to be getting his work cut out for him as he looks at his goalies both being undefeated and both 5-0-0 records.

The only thing separating Antti Raanta & Jeff Zatkoff from one another is the fact Zatkoff has posted back to back shutouts in his two starts. He's also the only one with shutouts this season.

The offense has been lead by Tomas Tatar (5G,7A,12PTS), Jason Spezza (4G,6A,10PTS) and Mikkel Boedker (4G,4A,8PTS)

Also having better starts to the season compared to the pre-season are Jack Johnson (3G,4A,7PTS) and Derek Forbort (0G,6A,6PTS).

Still struggling down the stretch is Brandon Dubinsky (10GP, No Pts).

Cal Foote had his first career pt in his first game of the season which was a huge impression for the youngster. Since then, he has only recorded his first career goal and has 2 pts in 10 games.

belows an image from the team's past 10 games

[TBiz]

20 Games into the Season | Report
San Francisco Fire have come out of the gates with a huge performance in the first 20 games of the season. GM Terence and the rest of the coaching staff could not have expected the turnout so far!

The SFF Club are currently 19-1-0
6/19 of the wins have come off of shootout fashion, 2/19 of the wins have come from overtime victories and 10/19 have been one by only a 1 goal difference.

The team has seen Tomas Tatar keeping pace for the team with points (10G, 15A, 25PTS) along with a few players stepping up their performances so far from Jason Spezza (8G, 17A, 25PTS), Kevin Shattenkirk (6G, 16A, 22 PTS) and the list goes on.

Rookie Defenceman Cal Foote has collected 2 Goals, 5 Assists for 7 Points in his first official 20 Games in the league.

Brandon Dubinsky continues to struggle for the team only recording 1G and 2 Assists in the first 20 games.

The huge factor that has been key for the SFF team has yet again been the goaltending. Antti Raanta has played in 9/20 of the games posting a 8-1-0 record, facing 184 shots giving him a 1.60 GAA and .918 SV% over the stretch. He has recorded 1 SO currently this season.

Jeff Zatkoff has seen action in 11/20 of the seasons games and is still undefeated (4/4 of the wins coming against his former team the LA Kings). Zatkoff is 11-0-0, has faced 240 shots which has given him a 1.44 GAA and .933 SV%. He's also recorded 4 SO during this season.

Considering both goalies were more suited for their past teams as "backup" goalies, they've really given the San Francisco Fire all they could've asked from the two guys so far.

Heading back to Dubinsky's performance, we got to speak with GM Terence to see how he's feeling about the poor performance so far. He was quoted saying "Brandon's been feeling the pressure here as we all are. Being with a new organization can be hard for anyone. Currently we will continue working with him to get him back into tip top shape for the rest of the season".

We also asked him if he would be willing to trade Dubinsky for something and Terence quickly replied "It's a little early to give up on him".

[TBiz]

Matt Niskanen to Play Vs. Minnesota! | San Francisco Debut
Matt Niskanen has been out of action with an injury since Jun 21st. 18 Days after he won the Stanley Cup with the Washington Capitals last season.

The San Francisco Fire picked Matt Niskanen up in the NHL Expansion Draft in the 18th pick.

Matt is set to make his debut for the team this coming Fiday Nov.23.2017 when they'll host the Minnesota Wild. The game should be exciting as the San Francisco Fire are currently leading the conference with an amazing 26-2-2 season so far and will face Minnesota for the first time.

Matt Niskanen was asked how he feels to make his debut for the team and he replied "Can't wait" and also added "The teams doing remarkable so far and I'm hoping I can help contribute more for them to continue onwards". Not only that "I am really looking forward to getting back on the ice, and playing for this organization".

[TBiz]

Mid Season Hype | San Francisco Fire
The mid seasons here, and San Francisco looks strong as they lead their conference. Many games coming to just a 1 goal difference, San Francisco players have kept this new franchise in the spotlight.

Below we have a copy of the Player stats from the team

Brandon Dubinsky has finally popped in some points this past week, but still is under performing for the salary made. The 5M/YR Player has 5 Goals, 6 Assists for 11 Points in 42 games.

Tomas Tatar and Jason Spezza have done exactly what was expected from them when being signed. Tomas Tatar is looking to beat his 72 Point mark from last year playing with the Detroit Red Wings and Spezza is having a fantastic year looking to pass his 55 Points in 82 games last season with the Dallas Stars.

Cal Foote was sent back down to the AHL club after putting up 5G, 5A, for 10PTS in 30 Games. Terence made the move not because the youngsters performance. Terence replied "Cal did well, we wanted him to get experience up here, he got his first goal, first assist and first point in his NHL career throughout the 30 games given". Also adding "Cal will return up here, just allowing him to grow more".

Foote has played 6 games in the AHL, recording 2 Goals, 4 Assists for 6 Points.

We have received the goalie stats, which are below:

Down the stretch, it seems Terence and the rest of the coaching staff determined the starter for the team, but never made it press conference official as of yet.

Jeff Zatkoff has had the most nods in goal for good reason. His remarkable season last season with the Kings while Jonathan Quick was out due to injuries, he posted a 37-15-8 Record for the Kings recording 9 SO's and posting a 2.17 GAA.

This season seems to be continuing on. Zatkoff has posted an amazing 22-3-0 Record and has 7 SO's already this season and has a league leading 1.42 GAA.

On the other hand, Antti Raanta has done his part too. He took on the role of starter when Henrik Lundquist went down last season for the Rangers. He posted a 39-15-8 Record for the Rangers, Recorded 9 SO's and had a 2.29 GAA.

This season, he's got a 12-3-2 record, has 2 SO's, and a remarkable 2.24 GAA.

[TBiz]

Movement Made | Trade Partner with Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs offered Terence an offer for Brandon Dubinsky.
The first proposal was reviewed, but both teams came to an agreement with the final trade below:

Toronto Maple Leafs Receive:
C, Brandon Dubinsky, 31 | GP:61, G:9, A:9, PTS:18
7th Rd Pick in 2018
5th Rd Pick in 2019
Rights to LD, Dennis Choloski, 19

In return, San Francisco Received:
C, Lias Andersson, 19 | [OHL] GP:29, G:22, A:30, PTS:52
RW, William Nylander, 21 | GP:56, G:7, A:30. PTS:37

The trade comes with almost a month times away from the Trade Deadline.

The San Francisco team has clinched a playoff berth (un-officially) but the way it looks, most teams will need to go on a dominating run to even push the San Francisco team to a wild card spot.

This could happen due to Leading Goal Scorer Tomas Tatar going out with a strained achilles tendon he suffered playing against the Chicago Blackhawks. The team were able to win the game in a shootout.

Tatar is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks. Since his injury the San Francisco team is 3-0, two games going to Shootouts and one being won in overtime.

The team has a few games against hard opponents before Tatar will make it to the line up, so will give other teams a good opportunity to push this hot streak the Fire have going for them.

[TBiz]

End season has come and your San Francisco Fire's first season in the NHL has come to an end with a remarkable showing as they'll be headed to their first NHL Playoffs!


The roster you see above was put together from the NHL Expansion Draft, Free Agent Pickups, and trades. Together they came together to make one heck of an exciting season.


They managed to finish no only first in their division. First in their conference... But also First in all NHL teams. Major part coming from Jason Spezza having a huge season. 90 Pts, which he hasn't accomplished since his 2010 Season.

Also Kevin Shattenkirk, who looked like he was going to have a rough season at the beginning of the season, stepped it up, finishing with his best season also.


As we could go on about the players, the above image shows how well everyone did.

The goalies can't be forgotten. Jeff Zatkoff became the Starter half way through the season, and continued to impress as he had his best season yet.

[TBiz]

As the San Francisco Fire prepare to Host the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they've already locked up two key players that helped make this season such a huge year.


Jason Spezza who stepped up his game when Tomas Tatar went down for Three weeks, ended his season with one of his best performances in 10 years. The team were able to lock him up for another year worth 5.9M.


Another huge performance by Jeff Zatkoff has landed him with a new contract. 2 Years straight now, Jeff Zatkoff has performed extremely well. Last season with Los Angeles and now this season with San Francisco.
GM Terence feels confident in Jeff Zatkoff as he has signed the Goalie to a 3 Year Extension worth 3.22M per season.

[TBiz]

Side Note: Sorry I haven't been around much. Been out with an injury for the last 2 weeks, so alots of pain been on, but will be kicking off right where we left off!

[TBiz]

[TBiz]

[TBiz]

[TBiz]

The San Francisco Fire Sweep the Minnesota Wild 4 Games to 0

[TBiz]

[TBiz]