UKRAINIAN PRO HOCKEY UPDATE
by Ihor Stelmach
PRO MINOR LEAGUE WRAP-UP
The Providence Bruins completed a remarkable journey from worst to first. The American Hockey League's worst team in 1997-1998, the Baby Bruins completed a stunning reversal of fortune in 1998-1999 by winning the Calder Cup this past summer. Providence bested the Rochester Americans in the finals, four games to one.
Goaltender John Grahame posted 15 playoff wins while forward Peter Ferraro, the club's top post-season scorer with 21 points in 19 games, was named Most Valuable Player of the playoffs.
En route to the first Calder Cup title in the seven-year history of the franchise, Providence won 71 of 99 games, establishing an AHL record for most total victories (regular season and playoffs) in league history. The Bruins set four league records and established 26 franchise records on the trail to the Calder Cup.
"I don't have any hesitation in saying these guys are arguably the greatest team ever to play in the AHL," said their first-year coach Peter Laviolette. "When you consider the winning percentage, the records they broke, the banners they won, these guys are arguably the greatest ever in the AHL."
Below follows a comprehensive statistical listing of all professional minor league hockey players of Ukrainian descent (listed alphabetically) seeing action in 1998-1999. Many players flip-flopped between different leagues. The minor leagues are certainly well represented by Ukrainian hockey hopefuls. The professional minor league ranks have greatly expanded over the past several years, providing employment for many pucksters from overseas.
Stay tuned for the 1999-2000 season.
| Player | Team (League) | GP | MINS | W | L | T | GAA | PCT |
| George Bosak | Waco (WPL) | 19 | 785 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 4.74 | 0.856 |
| Mike Buzak | Albany (AHL) | 48 | 2382 | 22 | 13 | 3 | 2.57 | 0.915 |
| Phoenix (WCL) | 6 | 357 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4.53 | 0.851 | |
| Chris Farion | Dayton (ECL) | 2 | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8.7 | 0.765 |
| Mobile (ECL) | 1 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.63 | 0.75 | |
| Igor Karpenko | St. JohnÕs (AHL) | 23 | 1206 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 3.43 | 0.89 |
| Johnstown (ECL) | 7 | 369 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3.25 | 0.897 | |
| Dieter Kochan | Binghamton (UL) | 40 | 2321 | 18 | 16 | 5 | 2.97 | 0.907 |
| Taras Lendzyk | Charlotte (ECL) | 36 | 2004 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 3.32 | 0.912 |
| Randy Petruk | New Haven (AHL) | 1 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.77 | 0.912 |
| Florida (ECL) | 25 | 1441 | 13 | 10 | 2 | 2.75 | 0.896 | |
| Jeff Salajko | Portland (AHL) | 2 | 80 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5.25 | 0.868 |
| Indianapolis (IHL) | 2 | 80 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.75 | 0.886 | |
| Columbus (ECL) | 54 | 3076 | 30 | 16 | 6 | 3.16 | 0.899 | |
| Todd Shestok | Fresno (WCL) | 12 | 637 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4.9 | 0.871 |
| Konstantin Simchuk | Las Vegas (IHL) | 30 | 1471 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 3.06 | 0.901 |
| Port Huron (UL) | 8 | 405 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2.22 | 0.928 | |
| Eddy Skazyk | Bakersfield (WCL) | 32 | 1677 | 5 | 16 | 4 | 5.69 | 0.85 |
| Sergei Tkachenko | Anchorage (WCL) | 56 | 3106 | 30 | 17 | 4 | 3.36 | 0.897 |
| Player | Position | Team (League) | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| Alexander Alexeev | D | Las Vegas (IHL) | 10 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 4 |
| Tacoma (WCL) | 26 | 2 | 11 | 13 | 28 | ||
| Peter Ambroziak | LW | Detroit (IHL) | 33 | 5 | 8 | 13 | 30 |
| Flint (UL) | 40 | 19 | 27 | 46 | 90 | ||
| Vitali Andreev | F | Alexandria (WPL) | 53 | 13 | 9 | 22 | 46 |
| Greg Andrusak | D | Houston (IHL) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Chad Antonishyn | D | Topeka (CL) | 47 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 89 |
| Jeff Antonovich | C | Tulsa (CL) | 70 | 40 | 60 | 100 | 66 |
| Mike Bajurny | LW | Odessa (WPL) | 40 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 107 |
| Shannon Basaraba | F | Charlotte (ECL) | 58 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 34 |
| Wade Belak | D | St. John s (AHL) | 29 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 92 |
| Frank Bialowas | LW | Portland (AHL) | 30 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 52 |
| Indianapolis (IHL) | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 27 | ||
| Aaron Boh | D | Toledo (ECL) | 65 | 11 | 28 | 39 | 226 |
| Steve Cheredaryk | D | New OrLeans (ECL) | 58 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 135 |
| Dave Chyzowski | LW | Kansas City (IHL) | 67 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 147 |
| Dave Craievich | D | Chicago (lHL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mobile (ECL) | 60 | 10 | 38 | 48 | 90 | ||
| Cam Danyluk | F | South Carolina (ECL) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| Steve Dowhy | C | Bakersfield (WCL) | 67 | 33 | 55 | 88 | 101 |
| Jason Duda | LW | Wichita (CL) | 34 | 13 | 24 | 37 | 20 |
| Brad Federenko | RW | Jacksonville (ECL) | 69 | 27 | 39 | 66 | 34 |
| Brent Gretzky | C | Hershey (AHL) | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 |
| Chicago (IHL) | 39 | 9 | 19 | 28 | 15 | ||
| Asheville (UL) | 32 | 28 | 42 | 70 | 29 | ||
| Garry Gulash | D | Portland (AHL) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| Quad City (UL) | 56 | 10 | 35 | 45 | 342 | ||
| Dwayne Gylywoychuk | D | Central Texas (WPL) | 57 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 80 |
| Steve Halko | D | New Haven (AHL) | 42 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 58 |
| Todd Hlushko | LW | Grand Rapids (IHL) | 82 | 24 | 26 | 50 | 78 |
| Kelly Hrycun | RW | Bakersfield (WCL) | 68 | 24 | 20 | 44 | 40 |
| Scott Humeniuk | D | Baton Rouge (ECL) | 53 | 9 | 27 | 36 | 88 |
| Phil Husak | LW | Saginaw (UL) | 36 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 27 |
| Ryan Huska | C | Lowell (AHL) | 60 | 5 | 13 | 18 | 70 |
| Dave Ivaska | RW | Pensacola (ECL) | 61 | 3 | 7 | 10 | 80 |
| John Kachur | C | Wichita (CL) | 65 | 32 | 25 | 57 | 60 |
| Sergei Klimentiev | D | Philadelphia (AHL) | 43 | 5 | 12 | 17 | 99 |
| Milwaukee (IHL) | 35 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 59 | ||
| Paul Koch | D | Chicago (IHL) | 53 | 0 | 12 | 12 | 85 |
| Jeff Kostuch | C | Miami (ECL) | 37 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 32 |
| Jack Kowal | RW | Miami (ECL) | 65 | 14 | 32 | 46 | 44 |
| Rick Kowalsky | RW | Portland (AHL) | 47 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 85 |
| Stu Kulak | D | Phoenix (WCL) | 42 | 11 | 30 | 41 | 36 |
| Corey Laniuk | D | Phoenix (WCL) | 61 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 153 |
| Andrew Luciuk | F | Florida (ECL) | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| Asheville (UL) | 38 | 16 | 16 | 32 | 31 | ||
| Brad Lukowich | D | Michigan (IHL) | 67 | 8 | 21 | 29 | 95 |
| Yuri Lyaskovsky | D | New Mexico (WPL) | 52 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 25 |
| Dave Lylyk | LW | Abilene (WPL) | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Fort Worth (CL) | 44 | 12 | 11 | 23 | 42 | ||
| Eric Maksimenko | C | Monroe (WPL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dennis Maruk | F | Lake Charles (WPL) | 6 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Tom Maryschak | D | New Mexico (WPL) | 21 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| Jay Mazur | RW | Alexandria (WPL) | 61 | 22 | 53 | 75 | 12 |
| Brad Mehalko | RW | Las Vegas (IHL) | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| Tacoma (WCL) | 49 | 14 | 22 | 36 | 75 | ||
| Marty Melnychuk | D | Kansas City (IHL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Arkansas (WPL) | 28 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 268 | ||
| Glen Metropolit | C | Grand Rapids (IHL) | 77 | 28 | 53 | 81 | 92 |
| Chad Michalchuk | LW | Waco (WPL) | 64 | 32 | 29 | 61 | 224 |
| Jeremy Mylymok | D | Chicago (IHL) | 63 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 194 |
| Yevgeny Namestnikov | D | Lowell (AHL) | 42 | 12 | 14 | 26 | 42 |
| Nick Naumenko | D | Kansas City (IHL) | 75 | 12 | 27 | 39 | 61 |
| David Nemirovsky | RW | St. John's (AHL) | 22 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 18 |
| Fort Wayne (IHL) | 44 | 22 | 13 | 35 | 24 | ||
| Mikhail Nemirovsky | RW | Flint (IHL) | 40 | 17 | 16 | 33 | 28 |
| Stewart Nowosad | F | Toledo (ECL) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jaroslav Obsut | D | Worcester (AHL) | 31 | 2 | 8 | 10 | 14 |
| Manitoba (IHL) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Augusta (ECL) | 41 | 11 | 25 | 36 | 42 | ||
| Ed Olczyk | C | Chicago (IHL) | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Keith Osborne | RW | Saginaw (UL) | 73 | 20 | 49 | 69 | 72 |
| Ron Paleczny | D | Asheville (UL) | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Greg Pankewicz | RW | Kentucky (AHL) | 40 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 91 |
| Jeff Pawluk | D | Monroe (WPL) | 68 | 5 | 26 | 31 | 40 |
| Ryan Pawluk | LW | Arkansas (WPL) | 69 | 43 | 58 | 101 | 20 |
| Doug Pirnak | LW | Tulsa (CL) | 68 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 254 |
| Ryan Pisiak | RW | Pee Dee (ECL) | 22 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 174 |
| Mark Polak | C | Pensacola (ECL) | 67 | 7 | 17 | 24 | 62 |
| Jason Prokopetz | F | Florida (ECL) | 59 | 6 | 9 | 15 | 191 |
| Boris Protsenko | RW | Syracuse (AHL) | 65 | 24 | 24 | 48 | 84 |
| Jay Pylypuik | D | Wheeling (ECL) | 10 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 15 |
| Memphis (CL) | 33 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 24 | ||
| Sergei Radchenko | D | Hamilton (AHL) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Wheeling (ECL) | 28 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 98 | ||
| Peter Ratchuk | D | New Haven (AHL) | 53 | 7 | 20 | 27 | 44 |
| Dan Ratushny | D | Kansas City (IHL) | 70 | 9 | 32 | 41 | 38 |
| Russ Romaniuk | LW | Las Vegas (IHL) | 82 | 43 | 20 | 63 | 91 |
| Bogdan Rudenko | RW | Colorado (WCL) | 51 | 13 | 11 | 24 | 174 |
| Brandy Semchuk | RW | Fresno (WCL) | 39 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 40 |
| Curtis Sheptak | LW | Portland (AHL) | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 32 |
| Utah (IHL) | 60 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 99 | ||
| Dean Shmyr | D | Cleveland (IHL) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| New Mexico (WPL) | 41 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 309 | ||
| Jason Shmyr | LW | Manitoba (IHL) | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 262 |
| San Diego (WCL) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | ||
| Ryan Shmyr | LW | San Diego (WCL) | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 176 |
| Jamie Sokolsky | D | Huntington (ECL) | 65 | 12 | 30 | 42 | 79 |
| Lee Sorochan | D | Saint John (AHL) | 19 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 37 |
| Fort Wayne (IHL) | 45 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 204 | ||
| Andrei Srubko | D | Las Vegas (IHL) | 52 | 0 | 8 | 8 | 164 |
| Wayne Strachan | RW | Thunder Bay (UL) | 72 | 57 | 71 | 128 | 91 |
| Mark Strohack | D | Fort Worth (WPL) | 68 | 6 | 30 | 36 | 69 |
| Joe Suk | C | Macon (CL) | 68 | 15 | 26 | 41 | 63 |
| Steve Suk | C | Macon (CL) | 63 | 18 | 44 | 62 | 40 |
| Chris Szysky | F | Grand Rapids (IHL) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Joey Tetarenko | D | New Haven (AHL) | 65 | 4 | 10 | 14 | 154 |
| Stanislav Tkatch | RW | Chicago (IHL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Memphis (CL) | 30 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 24 | ||
| Dean Trboyevich | D | Anchorage (WCL) | 43 | 2 | 10 | 12 | 133 |
| Josh Tymchak | C | Asheville (UL) | 69 | 5 | 4 | 9 | 206 |
| Troy Walczak | C | Madison (UL) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Chad Wilchynski | D | Mobile (ECL) | 9 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| Alexandria (WPL) | 40 | 3 | 14 | 17 | 71 | ||
| Casey Wolak | F | Baton Rouge (ECL) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 |
| Shawn Yakimishyn | C | Winston-Salem (UL) | 65 | 24 | 26 | 50 | 172 |
| Brendan Yarema | C | Kansas City (IHL) | 69 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 163 |
| Troy Yarosh | D | Phoenix (WCL) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 |
| Wichita (CL) | 35 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 76 | ||
| Boris Zelenko | C | Hampton Roads (ECL) | 29 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 20 |
| Myles Zomok | RW | Asheville (UL) | 65 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 58 |
| Steve Zoryk | LW | South Carolina (ECL) | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 7 |
| Shane Zulyniak | D | Abilene (WPL) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, November 7, 1999, No. 45, Vol. LXVII
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