Chicago Wolves v. Peoria Rivermen 12.9

Nearly 4500 votes were cast this week in an AHL poll for the team most likely to win the West Division. All those eyes and fingers voted 25 percent for Milwaukee, 21 percent for Houston, and 17 percent for both Peoria and Chicago. So, with our next game, Friday, against the Rivermen, the West Division may be at stake.

Peoria has been a hot and unknown product for Western fans this season, the former Worcester Ice Cats have come into the West and become a new, hot rival. Sunday they had a 5-1 victory over the Admirals, extending a three game streak. Unwritten in that statement is a two game victory in Iowa on Saturday, completing a suspended game from November 13 following dangerous ice conditions.

They stand in second place with 31 points. There is an intervening game, against Omaha on Wednesday.

The St. Louis Blues parent club, however, is suffering a humiliating season, and it seems a matter of time before the Rivermen lose their skilled prospects. In fact, by early January, according to some Rivermen fans, players such as Peter Sejna and Mike Glumac, leading scorers for the Rivermen, will be skating for the Blues. So, the Rivermen individually will be pushing to get their shot at the NHL, and as a team too, as they will not have the power in the mid-winter push, to continue their assault on the West.

Jason Bacashihua is saving 90.1 percent of shots and has a GAA of 2.61. Defense men Trevor Byrne and Mike Mottau are tied with 15 points each. Rocky Thompson is holding his place among the top 10 AHL goons with 90 penalty minutes so far this season.

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Post game analysis Omaha 12.3

Omaha 6, Wolves 4.

First, I have a theory on why this team is spinning its wheels. It's staring us in the face. Or at least it was when Malt was out there. There is no captain: no leader on the ice. That sums up its problem. It can't make a decision about captain, can't make a decision on the ice.

Second, Jani Hurme is a great big sieve. He has shown less talent than guys we got rid of earlier in the year. I'll say a prayer for the man, that he continues to recover the strength and talent that he once possessed. That, whether for us or against us, he fills the pipes again. Right now, he sucks. How long will we have to endure this assignment from Atlanta?

I just don't see offence on the ice. 15 shots on goal tonight, 20 shots in the last five periods. The PP is all about puck control with these guys, not putting the biscuit on the goal. It defies logic to control the puck to the point where there are no shots on goals, what's the point anymore? The defense has to step up. But wait, is there a defense at all? Three goals in the last period. Okay, sieve let one in through the 5 hole. Umm.... you gotta be able to stop those. He was down and in position, why the 5 hole? Germyn's second period goal, he was down on his knees and Germyn hadn't even shot yet. The shot went over his shoulder. Komarniski's 3rd period break away from the penalty box I felt we let our guard down, but I didn't notice sieve, I mean Hurme, warning the players that Komarniski was about to get out of the sin bin. Did he warn the Wolves that the penalty was about timed out?

Finally, I just want to throw some more meat out. Wolves fans keep hearing about slow starts. One of the reasons for the slow start is that we don't play many games, compared to other teams, in the first two months. To turn that around, Houston has already played six games more than the Wolves. So you would expect them to have more points, and they do. Milwaukee has played 20 games, and is six points behind the Aeros. The Rivermen, 21 games and are five points behind the Aeros. The Wolves have played the fewest number of games of any other AHL team, 19, tied with Providence. The average number of games played to date is 22.8. However, even factoring that in, we're not doing well. A better index to use, for leadership, at this point in the season, may be the percent of games won. And, we're losing games.

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Post game analysis Admirals 12.2

The Wolves 1, Admirals 3.

I just don't see any improvement here. The Thrashers are not using the Wolves to develop younger players, so we don't have the talent pool that some of the other AHL teams have. Without the deeper pockets of the Thrashers we are not going to see the younger player that this new game demands. The Thrashers spent their money on free agents. With the CBA cap many teams are not using the AHL teams to park players for development, as they had in years past, look at Bingo for example. So, it's not just that the coaching staff can't develop talent, I don't know if I agree with that yet, it's that we don't have it to develop. So, we have a shallow pool of talent this year and we are battling other teams that have parents with a different philosophy. We're losing this battle. Anderson & Co. need a new game plan, quick

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Scouting the Binghamton Senators

With Christmas coming, why not look at the AHL teams that are little presents for the fans of other AHL teams, for example, Binghamton, New York. Bingo is the town that Syracuse looks down on. And, for the most part, so does the rest of the AHL. With a 6-12-2-1 record, the Senators have just 15 points, not as bad as the San Antonio Rampage, yet a welcome present on the schedule of any AHL team. The Wolves will not have the fortune of meeting this offering of victory this year, so as a Christmas present to those who need to know, what is it that makes the Senators suck so bad?

Scoring on an impressive 27.7 percent of powerplay opportunities, the second best in the AHL, you need to wonder. Could it be their almost equally disasterous lack of penalty kills? It is near the bottom of the league at 78.8 percent.

There is further problems in the pipes, or perhaps the poor penalty kill is a symptom of problems in the crease. The team has two goalies in the bottom of the standings, Billy Thompson is ranked 37 of the 40 AHL goalies listed with a GAA of 4.32, stopping 87.7 percent of shots, while his partner Kelly Guard, a particularly unfortunate name, is stopping 89.9 percent of shots, with a GAA of 3.15. Thompson’s production has fallen markedly this year. Last year he had a streak of 7 victories, an overall recored of 19-8-2 and a GAA of 2.44. Guard’s great moment was leading the Kelowna Rockets to the Memorial Cup in 2003-4 with a 1.56 GAA, then a record in the CHL. What has happened?

Steve Martins leads the team’s scorers with 7 goals and 13 assists, followed by Brandon Bochenski with 5 goals and 12 assists. Filip Novak, a d-man, is ranked 9th in the league with 4 goals and 11 assists. Rookie Patrick Eaves, has 5 goals and 7 assists. Rookie Gregg Johnson with 4 goals and three assists completes the list of AHL notables. Except for Filip Novak, none of these players cracks the top 20 of their category. Every other team I’ve written about has several players in the top 20 of rookie, d-man, goalie or scorer, except Binghamton.

Lance Ward, with 73 penalty minutes and Brennan Evans with 57 Pims at least give the team a presence in the sin bin, providing the team with more than a quarter of its penalties. That’s always nice work, if you can get it.

Dave Cameron took the team to a division title in 2004. The head coach coached the St. Michaels Majors to 87-30-10 during his time at the helm there, and coached the Canadian U-18 Gold medal World Cup team in 2003. He is backed by Mike Busniuk, a successful coach from the Muskegon Fury.

Juniors include Danny Bois, a captain on the London Knights. I won’t go into the detail as the Wolves are unlikely to meet the junior Senators this season. But, as is the case with the rest of the AHL, there is a bench of junior talent. Why do they suck? Lack of goals, goalies not able to stop the biscuit from finding the back of the net. For more information, a blog follows the Bingo team.

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Post game- Omaha 11.26

Hurme was a sieve and our defense didn't help. Although Hurme made some nice saves late in the game, they came to few and too late. He needs to get it together or be sent down. The breakaway and short handed goal by Stewart was wonderful. Stewie has it together as a threat. He agitates and he scores. That must be causing real headaches for our opponents. Abid didn't do something stupid tonight. I'm not sure if that is anything to celebrate... but hey! He also scored a goal. We were unable to convert most of our power play chances, that was to be expected.

Omaha looked great on the PK. They were buzzing us like mad and we had problems penetrating their defensive zone on our PP. I'd thought this young and fast group would jell later in the year, and with their now fifth win in a row (my boo-boo on the earlier call of five in a row, the media kit difference caught my eye immediately.) they are becoming a real threat in the West.

It was my impression that this Knight goalie, Krahn, was outstanding down low. He had a great butterfly and no five hole. But, he lost sight of the puck up high. It bounced off his chest twice when we put it up high and I think with a different bounce, those could have been rebounded in. Whatever problems the Nebraska team had with goalies earlier in the year seems to have been resolved with Krahn and McElhinney.

Brandon Prust played well tonight. Like a lot of the Knights, he's fresh out of juniors, but the London Knights were outstanding last year. He was worth watching. Looking back, I wouldn't have expected him to be the outstanding player of the match.

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Omaha 11.26

The Knights enter the game coming out of a five game at-home winning streak. With a 9-8-0-3 record, the Knights have 21 points. They have the worst power play in the league, scoring on only 5.5 percent of their chances, but one of the best PK teams, successfully stopping scores on 89.9 percent of the penalty kills when away, 87 percent overall.

Rookie goalie Curtis McElhinney is stopping 92.6 percent of the shots on goal, fourth best in the AHL, with a 2.1 GAA. Brent Krahn is stopping 91.3 percent of the shots on goal and has a GAA of 2.73. Both rank among the top 20 goalies of the AHL in these two measures. In addition, both have enjoyed at least one shutout this year.

Mark Giordano is ranked the top defenseman by the AHL with 17 points, including 4 goals. He is backed by Richie Regehr with three goals and nine assists. Tomi Maki is ranked among the top rookies with six goals and eight assists. Carson Germyn has recorded 11 goals this season. Cam Severson is up to 75 Pims so far.

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Milwaukee 12.2

The Admirals will be coming to the AA after a four game trip to Texas, proceeded by a home game against the Rampage. Needless to say, any trip to San Antonio hits pay dirt for a decent team and the Ads are no slouches. They picked up two against the Rampage away, one at home against the Rampage just prior to the road trip. As of this writing, Saturday night, they were shut down by the Aeros and play one more against the Aeros before heading to Peoria for a sea battle with the Rivermen.

Overall, the Ads lead the Wolves with a season of 10-5-0-1 and 21 points. This is the third meeting of the two teams, with a win for each so far. Pekka Rinne is looking better and better as the season progresses. He is now ranked second in the AHL with a GAA of 1.9, saving 92.5 percent of shots. He has seven wins this season and is backed by Brian Finley: This is as tough a pair of pipe men as we will face this year.

Our favorite ex-Wolf to hate, Simon Gamache, has been reassigned to the Ads on a “conditioning assignment.” Admiral Kevin Klein is one of the leading defense men of the league with 12 points.

They are converting 18.6 percent of their away power play opportunities, 22 percent overall. The PK is 88 percent overall, 82 percent away.

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Not scouting the London Racers

I’m not going to be writing a typical column about the London Racers. Monday, the team decided to go dark. Management cites two incidents that sparked this decision. On November 5th Blaz Emersic of the Nottingham Blaze suffered a serious facial injury when he contacted a “protruding object” in the safety barrier. In addition, at a game on November 13th, the safety glass in one section “exploded”. Apparently no one was hurt by the glass breakage. However the team says this isn’t wasn’t the last time that section of glass shattered.

The Lee Valley Park has also been critisized by Racer fans for failing to maintain the ice facility. Fans on the Racers discussion boards say there are five-year-old patches on the safety board.

In sum, the team said it felt the safety of the players and the public was at risk at the Lee Valley Ice Centre. The team says it attempted to relocate, but says London doesn’t have another professional ice facility. As a result the British Elite League has lost one ice hockey team.

The story of the death of an ice hockey team in Britain may all be quaint. The fans will find the sun rises tomorrow, the skaters and staff will go on to other things. However, I noticed that Lee Valley plans on hosting at least two 2012 Olympic events.

What would be the effect of an Olympian or a group of international visitors testing the safety of a barrier at Lee Valley? If Lee Valley’s resources are already stretched, how much worse will the situation be as the IOC pushes it to upgrade and complete new facilities?

This situation points to a failure that impacts the international community. Emeric’s accident could cast a cloud over London’s Olympic moment. The Lee Valley Park Authority seems unable to deal with an AA level of professional sport. It should tell the public why it thinks it will be able to safely handle the highest level of sport and hundreds of thousands of foreign and domestic visitors.

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American Hockey League Western Conference, Western Division predictions

As I finish the final installment of the scouting series, on all the AHL teams in the Western Conference, Western Division., it is time, I think to take a look at the season so far. I found this posted in the Connecticut Post under the Sound Tigers Weekly Column (11/17/05)

POWER RANKINGS
1. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton — Who'll slow these guys down? 2. Grand Rapids — Hudler, Manlow off to torrid starts. 3. Houston — Aeros, on hot streak, play their 20th game tonight. 4. Portland — Yet another Dineen coaching career off to a nice start. 5. Manchester — Monarchs have picked up steam. 10. Bridgeport — Sound Tigers getting everything going. 27. Binghamton — Denis Hamel has a great week: Sens still just 2-2 in four games. 26. San Antonio — Can Yanick Lehoux lift them? 25. Philadelphia — Phantoms were reeling until Binghamton came to town. 24. Chicago — Unfamiliar spot for the Wolves. 23. Albany — Rats had dropped five in a row going to banged-up Lowell Wednesday.

Pretty interesting perspective. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has lovely fans, a great team and what I think of as the most hated management in the league. But, you can disagree. It would be a treat to see them come to the Midwest for a game this year, but it is not to be. Browse over to the AHL stats site and look at how dominating they are in virtually every category. To top the stats, the WBS team is set to receive Marc-Andre Fleury from Pittsburgh. Did you see his play on OLN on Wednesday? Damn fine win against a Philadelphia team that looked a lot like the Calder Cup champion last year. Damn sea garbage may just win the Cup this time.

The Aeros in number three? I think the most talented team we play is Omaha. But, I don’t expect Omaha to be much of a factor in the Western Conference, Western Division. The Knights team is full of amazing talent. I think they are failing this year due to a lack of experience on the AHL team: there are no experienced players to help the players bind together, to help the younger members grow.

Peoria has been fun to watch from afar. The coaching staff is fresh and the team has lots of young talent. The two enforcers, the natural rivalry with St. Louis that exists with Chicago… This team will test Milwaukee for which team we love to hate more… Okay, I still hate the Penguins more, but that’s me.

Milwaukee faces a rebuilding year. The players there are getting older in a very young league. Surprising to say that, huh? The Rampage… I’m continually surprised that we lose to these guys. My prediction, last place for the Rampage this year. Iowa won’t fare much better. The future of hockey in the corn state is still up for grabs, though the team is currently outdrawing the Rivermen and the Aeros.

In short, I don’t expect the Wolves to end up on the bottom at the end of the year. Iowa and San Antonio, alone, will cushion our fall in the West. And there are such wonderful hockey towns as Bingo, Syracuse and Cleveland too, who will fall before we do.

Peoria has been a great addition to the West and I’m looking forward to years of heated rivalry with the Rivermen. The Aeros, always tough, they seem to be looking at a great year. The Sads, well, like us, a year to rebuild and struggle.

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Scouting the Peoria Rivermen

It is the first time Steve Pleau has managed a hockey team. The former assistant coach of the Worcester IceCats is backed by another rockie coach, Brent Thompson.

The Rivermen are playing in the Carver Arena, an older facility in downtown Peoria. It is a small arena that probably rocks to the tune of Ted Nugent and Kiss. It needs a major overhaul, as much of its concert series as its seating and glass. Nevertheless, an easy drive for Chicago fans, especially those in the Southwest suburbs.

The Rivermen enter the game 9-4 on the season, second in the Division to the Aeros. The teams pk is the second best in the league at 88.5 percent. That’s good, because the team is drawing a lot of penalties: 431 penalty minutes so far this season, which the AHL ranks as the 6th highest.

Their last “game”, at Iowa’s Wells Fargo Arena, hasn’t yet been decided. This was the game where the ice was declared to dangerous to use, Sunday Novermber 13. That game will be completed in December, however the Rivermen were in the lead when the game was called. Officially, Peoria is on a two game losing streak.

In the pipes are Jason Bacashihua. He played for the Chicago Freeze before moving on to Utah and Worcester. He was a Dallas Stars first round draft pick in 2001. Last season he had a 2.51 GAA, with an 18-13 record. So far this season he has a 2.54 GAA with a 5-2 record. He has two shut outs so far this year, third in the AHL behind former teammate Curtis Sanford. Currently ranked 13th among AHL pipemen for GAA and 20th for saves, he is backed by Reinhard Divis who played for the Austrian team Heraklith VSV Ec till last year.

A young and talented team starts with Peter Sejna who skated for Colorado College through the 2003 season. That last season there he scored 82 points. He came roaring out of the box this year but hasn’t been able to keep the pace of early October, when he scored a hat trick in the first game and two more goals in the second game. He received the CCM/ Vector Player of the Week award for his play that week. Sejna has been called up to St. Louis and sent back down since then. His play that week, remember he scored five goals, has kept him among the top skaters in the AHL, with ten goals overall (ranked 12th) and 17 points.

Mike Glumac, who played college hockey at Miami (Ohio) University, scored 52 points in his last full season with Worcester. Playing a partial season last year, he scored 29 points in 45 games. He has a +/- of 7 this season, ranking him 19th among AHL skaters. Trevor Byrne skated for Dartmouth through 2003, ending as the team captain. Since then he has skated for the ECHL Rivermen and Worcester. Trevor has +/- 9, the eighth best in the AHL. Byrne is current among the top AHL defense men with 11 points. Close behind with nine points is teammate Mike Mottau. Troy Riddle played for the University of Minnesota through the 2004 campaign, including playing on the 2003 NCAA championship team. He best season there was 51 points as a senior. He has spent his career since at Worcester and ECHL Peoria. He has a +/- of 7 this season, which ranks him 18th among AHL players.

Jon DiSalvatore scored 42 points at Providence College in the 2002 campaign and 48 points in the 2003 campaign. After moving to the AHL’s Baron’s, he scored 46 points in the 2004 campaign. At Worcester, last year, he scored 45 points.

Ryan Ramsay played for a number of OHL teams including the Petes, the Whalers and the Rangers. In the 2003 campaign with the Whalers he scored 88 points, the next season, also at the Whalers, 77. He spent most of last season with the Ice Cats, but played two games in the ECHL Rivermen. Trent Whitfield scored 54 points while on the ice with the Portland Pirates.

Mike Stuart, a Chicagoan, played at Colorado College in 2002. Moving to the ECHL Rivermen, he has bounced between the Blues, the Ice Cats and the Rivermen since. Brendan Brooks has recently played for the ECHL Rivermen and the Quad City Mallards. Blake Evans has played for the ECHL Rivermen. Brendan Buckley played with the Quad City Mallards.

Aaron MacKenzie played for the University of Denver. Colin Hemingway played for the University of New Hampshire and the ECHL Rivermen. D.J. Kingplayed with the Kelowna Rockets in 2003-4 and the Lethbridge Hurricanes before and after that. Doug Lynch played with the Red Deer Rebels and the Spokane Chiefs until 2003.

Jeff Woywitka played with the Red Deer Rebels till 2003. Charles Linglet played for the Baie-Comeau Drakkar in 2002-3. Colin Hemingway scored 66 points in the 2002 season with the University of New Hampshire. In 2003 his production dropped to a still respectable 47 points. He moved to the ECHL Rivermen in the 2004 campaign, where he had 44 points in 36 games with the Rivermen and two more with the Ice Cats. The 2005 campaign saw yet another drop in production with 25 points in 44 games. Don’t blink, he may disappear on us yet.

Reed Low, an enforcer for the Blues, had 234 Pims in the 2003 campaign. He is backed by another enforcer, the wonderfully picturesque and named Rocky Thompson. Thompson has not been sent up to the NHL yet, but has still managed to take out his frustrations while playing for the Toronto and Edmonton Roadrunners. He had 275 Pims with the 2003 Rampage, 196 with Toronto and 231 with Edmonton in 2005. He is ranked sixth among AHL enforcers.

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Scouting the Rochester Americans

When the Wolves step on the ice of the War Memorial Stadium in downtown Rochester they face 50 years of history, six Calder banners hang from the rafters, and ten more banners show how close the team has come in other years. Rochester has averaged 7,314 attendance this year, just behind the Wolves, 8,027, Wilkes-Barre, Manchester and finally, Providence, number one with 8,241 average. With the possible retirement of the Moose as mascot this year, could the Amerks follow-up with inviting the Accordian Man to play the National Anthem?

It’s drums, it’s a mascot called The Moose, it’s a guy grifting for quarters playing “Take me out to the Hockey Game…” It’s Saturday night hockey in Ra-Cha-Cha.

The Amerks enter the fray with a record of 7-4, prior to a game with the Moose on Friday. A Friday night grudge match with the Manitoba Moose will influence the play on Saturday, as the Amerks will be going all out to revenge their disappointing end to the 2004-5 campaign at the hands of the Manitoba team.

The AHL reports they have a 28.9 percent home power play and an overall power play of 30.3 percent, the best in the league. They are also killing 90 percent of the power plays against opponents at home, 88.6 percent overall, the sixth best in the AHL. However, it should be noted that Derek Roy was a big guy on the ice for the Amerks and he is now playing in nearby Buffalo.

Coach Randy Cunneyworth has led the team to the post-season in each of his five seasons at the helm. Last year the team won 70 percent of its games and ended the season with the best record in the AHL, but was unable to transfer that to the post-season. Overall, Cunneyworth has a 198-129-54-16 career record, all with the Amerks. He is supported by assistant coach Doug Houda in his first year as a coach.

Michael Leighton, from the Norfolk Admirals and Blackhawk organizations is the main guy in pipes. The last season he played was with Norfolk where he posted a 1.83 GAA. So far this year he is averaging a save percent of 89.3 which earned him the 17th best record in AHL stats so far for GAA. (I know, mixing apples and oranges). Two of his wins have been shutouts, leading to seventh best record in shut-outs in the league.

He is backed by Jean-Marc Pelletier, reprising his role as second string goallie again. Despite this, his five wins put him near the top of the AHL stats for wins and is a hefty share of the overall wins at the Rochester team.

Top guys on the ice include veteran Chris Taylor who scored 79 points with the Amerks last year.

Clarke MacArthur joined the team for the playoffs last year from the Medicine Hat Tigers where he scored more than 74 points each year for the past three seasons. He is considered a leading rookie in the league, with nine points so far this season. And, Jason Pominville has scored 14 points this season, including ten goals. He is among the league’s leading scorers.

The Amerks have a bench of talent, much of it young. Michael Ryan joins from Northeastern University. He was a second round Stars pick in the 1999 draft. Kamil Kreps is out of the Brampton Battalion. He spent last year in the San Antonio Rampage and shows the new duo affiliation of the Amerks with the Sabres and the Panthers.

Chris Thorburn played with the North Bay Cenntennials, the Saginaw Spirit and most recently with the Plymouth Whalers. Last year with the Amerks he had 175 Pims and 29 points. Nathan Paetsch comes from the Moosejaw Warriors. Last year he had 23 points with 150 Pims.

Greg Jacina came up from the Mississaugua Ice Dogs and played with the Rampage last year. There he scored 31 points and 150 Pims. Mark Mancari is fresh from the Ottawa 67’s. He scored 68 points last year, 65 the year before.

Stefan Meyer is fresh from the Medicine Hat Tigers where he scored 77 points and 104 Pims last year and 75 points the prior year. He was a second round Panther pick in 2003. Daniel Paille was a first round Sabre draft pick in 2002. Last year he scored 29 points with the Amerks.

Rob Globke is a second round Panther pick out of Notre Dame. Last year, assigned to the Rampage, he scored just 12 goals. Matt Hendricks comes out of St. Cloud State. Jeremy Swanson is from the Barrie Colts.

Sean McMorrow is the enforcer for the Amerks. Last year he had 288 Pims, and that’s pretty consistant. He had 287 Pims in the 2003-4 campaign and 315 in the previous campaign for the Amerks. This year he has just five Pims, although he has only appeared in two games yet. As you can see, he is backed by a cloud of young guys willing to mix it up. Also on the roster in this vein is Doug Janik who has 32 Pims so far this year. Last year, with the Amerks, he had 196.

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Scouting the Syracuse Crunch

The Crunch enter the contest in last place in their division and tied for last in the conference with a 4-7-0-0 record. They are in the bottom third of the league in power play goals and in penalty killing. They enter the contest on a five game losing streak, having lost to Cleveland, two games to Grand Rapids, Wilkes-Barre and Hamilton. They have lost six out of the last seven games. They last won against the Amerks on October 22.

Gary Agnew leads the Crunch. He has a .526 winning average which seems disappointing compared to some of the coaches we’ve seen, but which is the best the Crunch have ever had. Crunch are affiliated with Blue Jackets.

The Crunch list three people in pipes, Andrew Penner has a 2.7 GAA last season. 3.00 so far this year. Also in pipes is Pascal Leclaire. Even worse at 2.34 GAA, 4.01 this season. And a Professional Try Out with Mike Ayers who played at Dayton in the ECHL last season. He had a 2.90 GAA.

Two familiar faces at the Crunch: Mike Hartigan played for the Wolves in the 2002-3 season. Last season, with the Crunch, he had 59 points. Also, Ben Simon, from our team last year, scored 21 points for us in our last season.

Rookie Geoff Platt has been bouncing around the OHL, most recently in Erie where he scored 79 points last season. The rookie is ranked 14th scorer in the AHL so far this season with 10 goals and 14 points. This tops the current crop of rookies and includes five power play goals, two short hand goals also among the leaders of the AHL.

On defense, Aaron Johnson and Andy Delamore are ranked 9th and 10th d-men with nine points each. Delamore had six power play assists, which is among the best of the AHL.

The juniors of note include Joe Motzko who played for St. Cloud State in 2003. Last season, at the Crunch, he scored 66 points. Alexandre Picard played for the Lewiston team of the Quebec juniors. In 2003-4 he scored 85 points for Lewiston, 80 for them in 2003-4. Marc Methot was a member of the London Knight Memorial Cup team. Andrew Murray scored 38 points for Bemidji State last season.

Tyler Kolarik played for Harvard two seasons ago, where he scored 30 points. Andy Canzanello is out of Colorado College. Ole-Kristian Tollefsen played for the Brandon Wheat Kings.

Brandon Sugden is one of their enforcers with 252 Pims last season. He has 59 Pims so far this year, which is just five minutes behind the Caveman’s.

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A hockey fan ranting

Regardless of what you think of Simon Gamache, the guy knew how to play and score on his terms in a league that was a lot less merci'ful to people standing in front of the pipes. Why is the "new" and "better" hockey not allowing people with skills to play? Waivers? That's b*llsh*t. In the AHL there are people who are not playing this year because of the National Hockey League's Collective Bargaining Agreement. I know, I know... broken record... The hardcore fan is getting sick of this. It's the rules, it's the CBA, it's new hockey and it s*cks.

They've taken some good steps in getting rid of the trap and replaced it with stuff that is apparently more appealing to someone, though the hard-core fan hasn't a clue who this mythical spectator is. Why not share the demographic target with us? Are those of us who watch too blue-collar to understand the musings of the gods of hockey?

In the minors, the situation is even more desperate. This (Gamache not being allowed to play in Milwaukee is an example of "this") minor league game has become what the AHL's East Coast fans have been calling for: a development league. Every team I've profiled so far is full of juniors and people two or three years out of the juniors.

Take this development league philosophy and shove it. It isn't leading to team loyalty, that comes from exciting games and player and fan chemistry. These new rules are excluding that. I don't follow the NHL. I follow the AHL. I follow the Chicago Wolves, the Belfast Giants and that is it. I only follow the NHL with regard to the people I've seen who have played HERE. (HEY BHAWKS, LISTEN UP)

If you want to talk about AHL excitement and development league philosophy, you must be from Wilkes-Barre, because there is more and better entertainment choices in Chicago, and a slew of sports entertainment choices too, that places like Wilkes-Barre envy.

Scouting the Milwaukee Admirals

The Ads enter the game on a two game streak. The Ads have had a two streaks this year, first a four game losing streak, now a two game winning streak. Claude Noel continues as the Ads head coach. Since starting as the head coach two years ago, Noel has a 93-48-12-7 record and has taken the Ads to the post-season each year. With a skilled goalie backed by a veteran goalie, the Ads have no problems in the pipes. So why are they so slow to start this year?

The Ads currently have the number one penalty killing team at home. Doug Pettit may end up replacing Kyle Schultz in the broadcast booth. That role is currently filled with an apparent rotation of local talent.

Simon Gamache has not produced in the NHL and will not clear waivers and is therefore not expected back in Milwaukee. Here is a quote apparently from a Nashville source: “Short-shifted: Forward Simon Gamache barely saw the ice in Wednesday's loss to the Blue Jackets, getting just four shifts and 2:02 ice time.

"He had a couple shifts early and I didn't feel very confident in his game, so I made that decision early," Trotz said. "The way the game was going, with all the special teams, I just thought I'd need other personnel more.

"We do have a large amount of small, skilled guys, so he's looking at the time guys like (Martin Erat, Paul Kariya and Steve Sullivan) would get. That limits Simon's abilities."

Pekka Rinne (Does anyone know how to pronounce Pekka?) is a fresh-faced Finn who has been the Ads mainstay in the pipes. He has scored a very respectable 1.76 GAA so far this year. That is the fourth-best in the AHL this season. Matched by his save percentage of .937. Milwaukee fans are already comparing him to Kari Lehtonen.

He is backed by Brian Finley. Finley hasn’t spent much time playing this season yet. He was a first round, number six overall pick for the Predators. Last season he had 2.29 GAA.

Scottie Upshall played for the Kamloops Blazers and the Silver-medal winning Canadian juniors in 2002. He is turning into a Milwaukee fan favorite. Shea Weber was a leading defenseman on the 2004 and 2003 cup winning Kelowna Rockets. He had 32 points in the Kelowna 2003-4 campaign and 41 points while on the 2004-5 campaign. He was also on the 2005 Canadian gold medal junior team. Jordin Tootoo, whose seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings noted 214 Pims, 172, 272 and 216 Pims, remains a 182 pounder unable to make it in the NHL. He went up to Nashville earlier this season, but has been sent down. He had 266 Pims last season in the Ads and started in two games this year with 27 Pims. For some reason, perhaps his Inuit background, he remains a fan favorite.

Juniors of interest include Timofei Shishkanov a Russian who played with the Quebec Remparts during juniors, earned 35 points last year with the Ads and 43 points the year before. Paul Brown played two years ago for the Kamloops Blazers. He had 229 and 222 Pims there in his last two years, with 56 and 31 points respectively. Marco Rosa played last season with the Long Beach Ice Dogs after time at Merrimack College. The ECHL was good to Marco as he more than doubled his point production to 65 from 25. Greg Zanon played on the University of Nebraska-Omaha team before skating with the Ads two years ago. He is wearing the C.

Brandon Segal played with the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL. Kevin Klein played on the Guelph Storm and the Toronto St. Michael's Majors. Robert Snowball played with the Victoriaville Tigres until two seasons ago. He has played most of the season with the Toledo Storm and has not yet played a game with the Ads. Libor Pivko is two years out of the Czech leagues has been generally unremarkable, except for a hat trick scored against Chicago last year. Ryan Glenn has not been an entity since graduating from St. Lawrence University.

Returning to the Ads are Darren Haydar. He scored 59 points in the Ads Calder winning season and 50 points last year. And also, Vernon Fiddler scored 42 points last season while with the Ads. He was recalled to Nashville on October 28 due to an injury to Greg Johnson. He is expected to return soon.

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Scouting the Houston Aeros

The Aeros come into the 2005-6 campaign with new experience at the helm: Rob Daum,a new coach to the AHL, has lots of great experience and it will be exciting to watch. Rob was formerly an assistant with Team Canada, and has a great record coaching the University of Alberta Golden Bears. His record there since 2001 is 120-9-11. WOW! The Golden Bears under Daum won 3 back-to-back national titles and six Canada West titles in ten seasons.

He’s backed by Matt Shaw. Shaw coached for the Wolves, though most locals will remember his time with the Quad City Mallards, where he led the team to a 53-15-5 season in 1999-00.

It should be apparent that Daum has an ability to motivate young players and the AHL has lots of them this year. The Aeros most exciting young prospect is the unlikely fellow in the adjoining photo. He’s a Belarus named Roman Voloshenko. Voloshenko played in Russia’s Krylja Sovetov last season. He played on the silver medal Russian U-18 team. He scored 9 points in 8 games so far this year.

Josh Harding is in goal. Two seasons out of the juniors, where he played most recently for the Brandon Wheat Kings and the Regina Pats, he had a 2.01 GAA in the previous season.

The back-up goalie is Czech Miroslav Kopriva.

Kurtis Foster, a one time Wolf, is back playing D. He was traded for Niclas Havelid. Foster 42 points in the 2002-3 Wolves campaign, 30 points in the 2003-4 Wolves campaign and 42 points in the Cincy Ducks final season.

Here’s a rundown of the rest of the youngsters. Adam Courchaine is fresh from the Vancouver Giants where he scored at least 78 points in each of the last three seasons. Patrick O’Sullivan from the Mississauga Ice Dogs
Last four seasons where he scored 92, 81 82 and 90 points in each of the last four seasons. Clayton Stoner is fresh from the Tri-City Americans. He scored 31 and 46 points in the last two seasons there. Petr Taticek is two years out of the Sault-Ste.-Marie Greyhounds where he scored 63 points and 53 points in the last two seasons. Last year in San Antonio he scored 22 points.

Joel Ward is fresh from the University of Prince Edward Island. Bill Kinkel has played for the Kingston Frontenacs in the 2003-4 campaign. More recently he has taken on the role of goon, racking up 180 Pims in 30 ECHL games in 2004-5, 41 Pims in the 2004-5 Aeros season of 12 games and 28 Pims so far this year. Peter Olvecky last year in Slovakia Dukla Trencin. Ryan Stokes played with the Mississauga Ice Dogs in the 2003-4 campaign.

Finally there is Curtis Murphy who won two Eddie Shore (old time hockey) D man awards in the AHL. He earned 53 points with the Admirals in their championship season, last year he played in Russia for Yaroslavl Lokomotiv. And, Chris Heid is two years out of the Spokane Chiefs. He had 45 points in the 2002-3 campaign.

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Looking the Elephant in the eye

The elephant. Or maybe the Elephant.

My family has called it the elephant for years. I don’t know why. It is a metaphor. A big stinky animal that occupies your house. You ignore it. You share your house with it and step over it on the way through a room.

I remember James Michener in Colorado said Western pioneers stopped on their way west when they saw the elephant. Maybe they settled in Wyoming or Missouri. Maybe they turned back. Different animal. Same idea: fear.

And, I know that some people who I talk to refer to the same thing as the monkey or the giraffe. I guess the monkey clings to you. It won’t let go of you. The giraffe is probably easier to describe than an elephant, just as hard to acknowledge.

I think elephants are things someone else brings into the house: alcoholism, a classic. Maybe I have a monkey. A monkey, it’s brought into the house by you. Whatever it is, it is something I don’t want to discuss. I’m trying to look the monkey in the eye. I’m trying to blog the monkey.

The monkey is in my right kidney. The urologist said he doesn’t know what the monkey is. Technically it is a cyst. It is a liquid-filled body that may be inside my kidney, or may be on top of it. It may have a blood supply. That would be bad, but it doesn’t appear to have a supply. It may be cancerous. That would be very bad. The urologist doesn’t know. He doesn’t want to biopsy it.

My hand actually stuttered there. I actually typed “bbe cancerous…”

If there is nervousness, I guess it just manifested itself.

I haven’t fully recovered, as I write this, from an appendectomy. It, the appendectomy, has occupied my thoughts for most of the last few weeks. It became infected. The infection delayed my full recovery. And, on top of that, I had just started a job at the Chicago Tribune eight days before I was admitted to the hospital. I’ve been worried about a new job. I was worried about whether I even had a job as the days-off blew through all my personal days and sick days and vacation days.

I have no days left till January. I am back at work. I can’t get sick again this year.

I was awake last night, late. There is nothing unusual about that, I’ve worked a third shift for about 17 years. I often wake-up at 2 A.M. But, last night I stayed up, looking at bills. Can I pay all my bills? Well, no. Some bills will have to wait.

So, already, the medical problems are starting. As the case with many Americans, they are manifesting themselves as financial problems. I have disability insurance. It kicks in at 30 days. But I know now that the problems start before that.

Blogging the monkey won’t make it go away. The urologist, said he may take the right kidney away. The kidney seems to be functioning. Why does it have to be removed if it is working and there is no sign of cancer? I don’t know. How did it start?

Larger question, that one. About three years ago I had my second serious kidney stone attack. There were several procedures. One of the procedures may have knicked my kidney. Perhaps something was left behind in the procedure and the cyst developed, like a pearl that surrounds a grain of dirt.

I don’t think of this cyst as pearl-like.

Perhaps it is just a cyst. I’m told that about half of adults over 50 have cysts.

In February the urologist will have another look at the cyst. In the meantime, he said to forget about it. He forgot to prescribe the medicine that will allow that to happen.

Scouting the Iowa Stars

I’m torn, but I compare the Iowa Stars to the Childrens Crusade. In total, there were 23 members on their roster, one is wanted in several states and provinces, 18 are less than three years out of the juniors, and only four played in professional hockey, ECHL, AHL or NHL more than three years ago. Where is the store of wisdom? Whom do they go to learn from? The coaching staff?

Director of hockey operations Scott White has no NHL experience and has spent the last four years at the Columbia Inferno where he went to the finals twice (finished second once), and prior to that a year at the Greensboro Generals and five years at Michigan Tech.

Dave Allison, Iowa’s head coach, is an old friend of the Wolves from IHL days with Milwaukee. He also coached the Griffins and before that the Ottawa Senators for a year, where they made the playoffs. So there! He may know his way around the rink.

But what a group. It’s almost all kids. Or like kids. Because, there, among the children, the innocent ones, is the one called the Cave-man, Garrett Burnett. In only two games he has already accumulated 43 Pims. This is on pace to be a record year, I guess those magic pills for anger management aren’t working. The 43 minutes in two games this year are way above the pace set at the UHL Danbury Trashers of 48 Pims in seven games last year, or the 184 Pims in 39 games with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks, the 346 Pims in the previous year with the Hartford Wolf Pack or the astounding 506 Pims in 58 games set back in 1999-2000 with the Kentucky Thoroughblades.

What does he have to be angry about? Without interviewing the 230, 6’2” lefty, I’d have to say… I don’t know. And I don’t want to get within swinging distance of this southie. Here’s the widely acclaimed Hockeyfights.com description of a 2003 bout with Kip Brennan: “They drop the gloves after a faceoff and have a decent squareoff. Burnett throws a decent jab that connects just before they grab onto each other. Brennan is definitely the busier fighter as Burnett is caught in his jersey. Both go to their knees and the refs actually let them get back up on their skates. Burnett now has his jersey totally over his head and both go down.” There is another fight there with Brennan in which Brennan draws blood and Burnett gets up and goes after the Kipper again. Enjoy.

The other “kids”, BJ Crombeen, fresh from being the captain Of the Barrie Colts, has more than 46 points in each of the last 3 seasons. Francis Walthier a junior from the Gatineau Olympiques was on the President’s Cup team. He has earned at least 25 points a season in the last three years, 35 points last year.

I think everyone remembers Junior Lessard. The curly red-head from PQ played for the Aeros last season where he earned 22 points. A recent grad of the University of Minnesota- Duluth, he earned 67 points in his senior year there, almost equaling the 30 and 37, respectively in the two previous years.

Kyle Brodziak played for the Roadrunners last year where he notched 32 points. His junior record with the Moosejaw Warriors, though, should have us worried. He increased his seasonal points from 0 to 10 to 20 to 62 and finally to 93 two years ago. Clearly, something is clicking with this guy. So far this year he has 1 point.

Loui Eriksson was a 2003 1st round (33rd overall) draft pick by the Stars. One of five Swedes on the Iowa team, he is two years out of the minors. He last played in the Bofors IK, but most of his time in the Swedish clubs has been with the Vastra Frolunda HC. He has 3 points so far this year. Dan Baum has played for the Roadrunners in their various towns, and the Prince George Cougars in juniors. Janos Vas, a Hungarian, this is his first year playing professional hockey in the US. He was drafted #32 in 2002 by Houston. He spent most of the last few years, including his juniors, playing hockey in Sweden, particularly for the Halmstad Hammers. D man Matt Greene is fresh from the University of North Dakota. Named to the USHL all-star team, he played for the U-18 national team. Vojtech Polak played for Karlovy Vary and Dukla Jihlava in the Czech leagues last year. He played in a junior team, Karlovy Vary Jr before that. He was drafted 2nd choice, second round, and 36th overall in NHL Entry Draft. Yan Stastny, played for Notre Dame University before moving to the German Elite League’s Nurnberg Ice Tigers where he scored 54 points last year. Yared Hagos played in the Swedish league team Timra IK He was a 2001 2nd choice by the Stars, third round, 70th overall in NHL Entry Draft. Jason Platt has played for the Roadrunners since getting out of Providence College.

It’s hard to see what they see or saw in this guy: Zach Stortini played for the Sudbury Wolves last season. I’m not sure what’s going on here, his production fell in his final year at the Wolves, despite having more games played… Oh! Wait! He’s goon number 2. And, what’s better is goon two has fought numero primo goon in a preseason game this year.

Nicklas Grossman was named captain of the Swedish junior team, Sodertalje SK Jr. He plays defense. Shawn Belle D man. Won a gold medal with Team Canada at 2005 World Junior Championships. Won a silver medal with Team Canada at 2004 World Juniors. Won Bobby Orr Fastest Skater Award at 2003 CHL Top Prospects Skills Competition. He played for the Tri-City Americans in last years junior league, where he scored 45 points. St. Louis' 1st choice, first round, 30th overall in NHL Entry Draft in 2003. Brian Fahey of Glenview, has played for the Worcester Ice Cats and the Hershey Bears, but has not been able to make the points to get noticed by the big guys. He plays D.

Dan Jancevski, a D-man, already has 4 points and 10 Pims in 4 games. He’s a refugee from Utah and more recently was playing in Hamilton.

Mario Scalzo is just out of Rimouski Oceanic last year. He also played for the Victoriaville Tigers last year. He scored 74 points in the Quebec juniors last year; 73 the year before. He already has 3 points this year. He plays D.

Goalie Mike Smith played for the Aeros and the Grizzlies since coming out of the Sudbury Wolves. He let 11 pucks slip by in two games this season. If there wasn’t a shortage of goalies…. Dan Ellis, Goalie, from the University of Nebraska has played for the Bulldogs and Grizzlies. He won a game in Dallas in 2003-4 season. So far this year, 1-1.

Patrick Traverse has the most extensive NHL experience so far on the team. A D man, Canadiens had him in 2002-3 and the Aeros since then. However, his production is going south, 26 points two years ago, 15 last year, admittedly on a smaller base. He looks to be on the way out. Although he scored 5 points so far this season.

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Post game Moose 10.15

Moose 3. Chicago 1.

Neumenko was respectable in the pipes. He didn't get bombed and that is to the good. Real bad news about D Mac, our captain broke his ankle and is out for several months. And, we need to get the PP together. Goals are getting scored on the PP and without it, there is no offence.

Goaltending-- well, we are just in big trouble there. But everyone knows that.

The Moose-- McVicker was a great acquisition by the parent club. It will be exciting watching him develop. The rest of the Manitoba team is up to the tough standard set by preceeding years. I'm sort of glad they're not in our division.

Officiating needs to be standardized. Stuff gets called, doesn't get called, minor stuff called, stuff that should be called missed--- on and on it goes. I stand by my statement, they need another on-ice official. The new off-ice official is not enough.

Last point on this game, the Omaha goon who "rubbed out" Mojzis earlier this week, Lynn Loyns, has been suspended for five games. That means he'll be back... let's see (3... 4 is Grand Rapids...) just in time to play us.

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Scouting the Chicago Wolves

The constant loss of goalies in the NHL affiliate Thrashers is causing serious problems for the Wolves. Now, people who follow the ECHL affiliate of the Thrashers/Wolves, the Gwinett Gladiators, say the well has run dry: the next guy up isn’t up to the job.

The Thrashers are in trouble enough, they at least have our good goalies. Who have the Wolves got left? I guess that remains to be seen. In net for the Wolves as of today is Gregg Naumenko. Naumenko, a Chicago native, played two games for the Disney-owned Mighty Ducks in 2000-1, but has spent most of his time in ECHL clubs in the last few years. His best GA was 3.09 in this period.

I don’t want to slight Naumenko, but we are accustomed to better stuff here.

Lord help the Wolves. Here’s a rundown of the rest of the team. Obviously, we’ll need some decent defense (and the new rules are crippling the defense). All the Black Aces of the championship-run team from last year are gone. That includes Greg Hawgood. Hawgood wasn’t loved by the fans and I remember even screaming from my seat to stop dumping the puck when no one was chasing it in. But, he is missed now.

Chris Tamer an NHL vet with 85 points in 644 is anchoring the d. He also had 1183 Pims. He sat last season out. Travis Roche put 50 points on the board last year. He has some NHL experience and I think is a bit underappreciated. They are backed by two guys from the juniors, Pat Dwyer of the University of Michigan and professional AHL player Nick Naumenko, a Chicago native and brother of Greg, our goalie.

This thin line of defense is protecting us, but backing a strong offense, you’d think. Well, Steve Maltais is simply missing. The organization is not discussing plans for Maltais, who was the captain for several years. Rumors fly that Maltais is retiring or headed for Europe. I think the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement is to blame, though I could be wrong, it could be the cap of four AHL “veterans” on each team. Maltais is one of the few active players in the world who meet the definition of veteran as defined by the AHL. So he may be hung up on either losing tens of thousands of dollars to play with the Wolves, or a bureaucratic definition that seems to have been almost aimed at him. Jezz Steve, it’s only money, get over it.

Ramzi Abid played for the Penguins since being traded by the Coyotes. 23 pts in 49 games. Welcome to town Ramzi. Can you please stay out of the sin bin? Since starting with the Wolves, Abid has sat out 11 minutes in two games. Fans are crying, why take STUPID penalties? Looking over the Internet Hockey Database of his career, you have to go back to the days he was a junior to find him racking up Pims like this. He comes from some tough teams that like to get physical. Abid needs to stay focused on the game.

Scott Barney, was with the Monarchs and Kings in 2003-4. He has already scored 5 pts in 2 games. In his last year he scored 45 points, some at the NHL level, in 63 games. He has been all over the offense and will be very exciting to see for the first time on Saturday. Captain Derek MacKenzie is a fan favorite. Several veterans from last years team return to help him bring the biscuit to the five hole. Karl Stewart is back. There are lots of continuing concern about his concussion last year in the playoff when he was slashed, while unconsious. Remember the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks responsible for this? It was a team effort by ????? and ?????
Stewart is just out of the Plymouth Whalers, it must be remembered. Last year he had 226 Pims and 26 pts in the regular season and 32 Pims and 6 pts in his abbreviated post season. He is an agitator, and a fan favorite. Colin Stuart, a native of Oak Park, is out of Colorado College. last year he scored 9 pts in 44 games in Gwinett and at the Wolves. Brian Maloney has played two seasons with the Wolves without being called and Brad Larsen, an NHL veteran whose time to move up is about expired, join former Cincy Duck Mark Popovic and another NHL vet who played 2004-5 in the Czech leagues, Tomas Kloucek. Together they will back D Mac on the offense.

The remaining juniors on the team include Guillaume Desbiens, is a 20-year old junior out of the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies. Guillaume has fans very excited. Jim Slater is fresh from Michigan State where he scored more than 44 points in each of the last 3 seasons. This guy looks great. He is a 1st round Thrashers pick and #30 pick overall.

Jimmy Sharrow was with the Halifax Mooseheads last year. Data is difficult to get on Sharrow, but it appears he was a good scorer. And finally, Adam Smyth was with the Gladiators last year. He had 217 Pims and 16 pts in 49 games.


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Scouting the Manitoba Moose

It wouldn’t be the Manitoba Moose without Jimmy Roy. A professional AHLer, Jimmy is back, still hoping, perhaps, for that crack at the big game. Known as an agitator and as “Mr. May,” Roy joins a Moose team that is full of younger players and a few old friends.

The Moose have said they plan on being fast and pursuing the puck this year. As a result of that, and the changes caused by the end of the lock-out, lots of young players and a few older pros are playing. It looks like they mean to season their young team with the experienced players, especially between the pipes. Here’s the down and dirty. They look strong in the pipes, but inexperienced on defense. They may be relying to much on older players for their offence.

The Moose are rebuilding their their defense line this year. Two go-to guys on d are gone and six younger men, some from last year, are two years or less from juniors or college. They are D man Kevin Bieksa, two years out of Bowling Green, and expected NHL Canucks pick was injured in pre-season play when a intra-squad game tangle-up sprained his ankle.

D man Tomas Mojzis two years out of the Seattle Thunderbirds WHL has been a disappointment for the club. There is a report on the Moose board that he was injured in play on Wednesday against the Knights. D man Brett Skinner, fresh out of the University of Denver. D man Prestin Ryan, two years with the Crunch and prior to that with the University of Maine. He had 161 Pims with the Crunch last season.

Defense man Nathan McIver from the Toronto St. Michael's Majors joins this year. And, James DeMone from the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns joins defense this year.

Mike Keane, hasn’t played in the minor leagues since 1988. He apparently didn’t play at all last year, but two years ago played 64 games in Vancouver, scoring 8 goals and 17 assists. A reporter, at his first drill in 17 months, said Keane was ready to go. Keane will be challenged, by the new rules, but said he is ready to go. Keane is a Manitoba guy and a fan favorite.

Three veterans of the ice are wearing a rack, Josh Green returns, the NHL vet had good numbers with several NHL teams in the past few years, but at 38 may be considered to old for the big game. He will be a continuing threat with good numbers (more than 21 goals last year with the Moose, plus 19 assists.)

Jason Jaffray is on a Professional try out with the Moose. Last year he earned 14 goals in 44 AHL games, plus 6 goals in 23 ECHL games. Or 20 goals plus 16 assists in 67 games.

Craig Darby, 33, has played up and down the IHL, the AHL and for the Canadiens and New Jersey.

Jozef Balej’s trade for Fedor Fedorov has been praised by Moose fans, who think the Czech will allow greater club house cohesion this year. Coming out of the Portland Winter Hawks WHL in 2002, he joined the Hamilton Bulldogs. He played 17 games in the big circus, had 42 points with Hartford last season.

Another face from the past, “Flats” Wade Flaherty is returning in goal. Flats is now 37, and will be important in any Moose run for the Calder Cup as he has loads of experience. Last year he had a 2.33 GA, which is an improvement on his AHL career. In Milwaukee, during their Calder Cup victory, he had a 2.18 GA. He’s never been fun to face and will make it a tough team to beat again.

He is backed by a goalie from the Brandon Wheat Kings, Robert McVicar. McVicar ended his time with the juniors with a 2.7 GA in 2003.

My favorite for Ritalin poster child, is Rick Rypien. Rypien. An agitator and fiesty addition to last year’s line-up is back. It’s hard to believe, after the effect he had in the previous season that he spent most of last year in the WHL at Regina Pats. Here’s a great pix of him in a fight with Ole-Kristian Tollefsen Despite all the press and hoopla, he scored no points in post season, but did collect 40 Pims. I hope he’s adoptable, because his style of play is being forced out by enforcement of the rules.

There are lots of people out of the juniors and college on offence. Some making the second trip with the Moose this winter. They include Mike Brown, a local from Northbrook, IL, he played with the University of Michigan last year. Jesse Shultz, of the Kelowna Rockets, returns. Shultz scored 24 points last regular season, plus 5 in post-season play. Marc-Andre Bernier comes up from the Halifax Mooseheads this year. He scored 50 points in 67 games there last year. Brandon Nolan, of the Oshawa Generals, returns to his 2nd season with the Moose. Maxime Fortunus returns to the Moose for a 2nd season, he had played minors with the Baie-Comeau Drakkar (the Vikings).

Brett Lysak played the 2004-5 season in the DEL (German Elite League) Frankfort Iserlohn (Lions), where he collected 18 points. At Lowell, in 2004 he collected 35 points. Alexandre Burrows, named the 2004-5 team’s hardest working player, returns again. He collected 26 points last season in the AHL, plus six in the ECHL, he also had 3 post season points.

A recent addition to the D line is Jason Doig, 28. The Moose signed Doig to a professional try out contract early this month. He brings some needed experience from the NHL, although he took last year off. His previous NHL experience was with the Capitals in 2003-4. Sven Butenschon fills out the D men ranks. He comes with big game resume, 132 NHL games. Last season he played for the DEL Mannheim Adler (Eagles). He is 29.

The Moose will be ending a five game opening road trip. They’ll have been in Milwaukee on Friday. As I write this, they’ve lost two to the Rivermen, by one goal each. But defeated Omaha by one goal.

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A Bob Greene column

There's something about Italian beef. Here in Chicago, it is a local sandwich, a layer of marinated roast beef, some juice on a French baggette. Simple? As I've gotten older I've realized it's not all the same. Jays does a good job. Romas, on Milwaukee, (there is another unrelated Romas on Cicero that I continue to like), unfortunately fell out of favor with me this year. The texture of the beef and ultimately its taste was lacking. A little place in Cicero, Freddy's Grocery is the best place I've ever had.

I don't think the beef has to be Scala's, I'm not even sure if that helps. But I know it has to be real beef (sorry Arby's, whatever the roast beef cut you serve is, it's not the same cut), thinly sliced and marinated overnight.

Really, Italian beef, because it is often a restaurant by restaurant product, is much more a local product than the hot dog. Even the choice of bread, often a bakery product delivered in the morning, seems regional, based on the which of the local bakeries delivers in that area.

I've had the impression that South Side and West Side beef, including Cicero, are the best. I'm from the North Side, and we have good beef joints here. But, they aren't the best. Part of that strength is that there is a strong Italian community in parts of the city that enjoy a good beef.

On the North Side, my neighbors enjoy Korean, Thai and Mexican rather than Italian dinners. It's so chic to be eating stuff you can't make at home I guess. And, they have the impression that a dog or a beef are bad for you.

Dipped, wet or dry (try to find a common explanation of that, please), hot, sweet, giardinara or without. I'll choose Italian beef.

Scouting San Antonio Rampage

It was hard to get excited by last years games against the San Antonio Rampage and maybe you weren’t. But then again, this year’s Rampage aren’t last year’s Rampage, they are a lot of last years Utah Grizzlies instead. Isn’t that better?

Yes, friends, its true, all your hope for some exciting AHL Texas hockey lie again in Houston, where there are some cool things happening. Wayne Gretzky and Steve Passmore are about the best things on the horizon coming out of the river city right now, and Gretzky won’t be coaching the Rampage, he’s off coaching the NHL affiliate Coyotes.

Where is the Gretzky touch? What is the Gretzky touch? Will we ever see a lean and mean Rampage in our lives?

As I’m writing this, the Rampage are 1-1, having defeated the Aeros at home through power play goals. Passmore, who spent time with the Wolves in 2000, and is mainly known here for his time with the Blackhawks took the lockout as a chance to bone up on his German, playing with the DEL (German Elite League) Adler Mannheim (Mannheim Eagles).

The local newspaper, the San Antonio Express-News, in a preseason feature, indicated that Gretzky and Rampage coach Pat Conacher plan on using a fast-paced style of play on offense and an ice-clogging defence. “We want to play that up-tempo game as much as we can,” Conacher told the Express-News.

Conacher said the disappointing Utah record, where he coached for one year, was due to having a slow start, “it’s tough for a team like that, with young guys, when you start out like that… By the end of the season, we were competitive with anyone in the league,” he told the Express-News.

Just as a fact check, the Grizzlies ended the 2004-5 season 23-50-2-5. In their last ten games they were 4-6-0-1. The slow start? 1-9. (click here for 2004-5 results)

It’s a young team, no doubt, the old men of the group is 34 year old Passmore, who the team is placing a lot of hope on. Passmore and Jarrod Skalde. Skalde is one of ten players who once wore a grizzly on their chest, but now playing for the Rampage. Some people may remember his stints here in Chicago with the Wolves and the Blackhawks.

Two players with extensive NHL experience are joining the team, d man Chris McAllister has played for the played for the Rangers, the Avalanche, the Flyers, the Maple Leafs and the Canucks. During the lockout he played in the BNL for the Newcastle Vipers. Another d man from the big game is Brad Ference. He played for les Pingouins of Morzine-Avoriaz (France) last season and for the Coyotes and Panthers prior to that.

Joe Callahan, a 2004 graduate of Yale, Matt Jones, a graduate of the University of North Dakota, Lance Monych a junior from the Brandon Wheat Kings, and Kiel McLeod of Kelowna round out the young talent. As I’m writing this, the team announced it assigned Tim Jackman, a former Crunch to the Rampage.

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Wolves take opener against Knights

The Chicago Wolves won their season opener against the Omaha Knights 5-2. It was a great night for the Chicago goalie, Adam Berkhoel, who had 40 saves. Brian Maloney earned a Gordie Howe hat trick and new comers Scott Barney and Ramzi Abid punched in goals too. Derek MacKenzie was named the team captain, he follows Steve Maltais.

One lucky SOB

It all started about a month ago. I asked for a refill on a prescription for Imitrex, it treats migraines. My doctor being a thorough guy approved one more refill, but told me there would be no more till I came in for a check-up.

It seems that over the years my blood pressure has risen moderately and I’ve put on some weight. So, he had some concern that the Imitrex, combined with the blood pressure medication and too much weight, would cause more problems.

That request for a refill led to an appendicitis operation on Wednesday morning.

There’s no guessing about this, I’m one lucky son-of-a-bitch. I have a high threshold for pain, I have a history of kidney stones and I was assigned in my first week at work to a new company to work an area about 50 miles from home, and literally, in the corn fields.

So, although there were some signs of something going wrong, particularly on Monday, I ignored them. The signs were gas and the movement of a kidney stone…

But, I’m getting ahead of myself here. About two weeks ago I reported to the doctor as requested. High blood pressure and overweight, neither of them extreme, was concerning my doctor. That would be Edward Blumen. I doubt he’ll mind my mentioning him here as he clearly comes out knowledgeable and thorough. A hero of my little story.

Blumen ordered me to undergo a stress test and return to the office afterwards. I think everyone knows a stress test involves getting your heart using 85 percent of its estimated capacity. Maybe you forgot that they are using ultrasound imaging on you in the process. The down and dirty was that my stress test came out okay. My heart is strong, thanks.

However, a radiologist at Evanston Hospital noticed that I have a cyst in my right kidney. Now the kidney is not the focus of the stress test, so this radiologist noticed something in a part of the ultrasound that wasn’t the focus of the work. That’s worth noting, good work…

A cyst is a fluid filled body, in this case smaller than a billiard ball and larger than a buckeye. They can be cancerous. I didn’t tell my wife, though I talked to my daughter, who is undergoing her own ordeal with kidney stones.

Blumen now orders me back to an urologist and before I get there, could I get a CAT scan of the kidney.

I don’t know what a CAT scan is, though I’ve had them several times. The machine consists of a ring which allows your body to enter, it spins around you and takes very detailed images of your body in such a way that a three-dimensional representation of the inside can be formed.

That was Tuesday at about Noon. In the meantime, I’ve been coming home from work tired. Tired to the point of dropping immediately into bed from exhaustion. Plus, there was the slight pain in my kidney and some night sweats. So, on Tuesday, I went to bed for several hours.

At this point my wife still didn’t know about the kidney exam. Could it have been the same radiologist? Anyway, while I was sleeping, the radiologist had gotten on the telephone with Blumen and told him to get me in immediately, he or she saw an enflamed appendix.

Again, nice work. The kidney was the focus of the exam, not the appendix.

These aren’t the easiest calls to take right after you’ve woken up, a nurse somewhere saying the doctor thinks you are suffering appendicitis. Did I hurt? No, not particularly. Just some back pain (not usually associated with appendicitis). Fever? No, just a bit of night sweats. Vomiting, nausea, anything? No, no and no.

The nurse and I paused… I said, “my wife is an RN, it’s time to bring her into this. We’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

Jane had had an exhausting day at work. The beginning of the school year is like that. So, she was laying down, listening to some program when I walked in to have this discussion. She says that she thought I was pulling her leg, but realized I wasn’t when she saw my eyes. I’d fessed up about the cyst, why else could I explain that the doctor’s office was calling about my appendix?

Anyway, down on the bed and some poking around and I hit the ceiling. My symptoms weren’t normal, but that would be explained later by the surgeon. I had one classic hot point for appendicitis. We were spending the night at the ER.

Am I the only person who takes a shower before going into the ER? Am I the only person who packs two MP3 players, books and a change in clothes, as well as their toothbrush? That night, I was ready for an operation. I was ready to stay. At that point, I was hoping I could return to work by late week. After all, I’d just started and I have no sick time this year.

The ER triage nurse asked why I was there. I knew it was going to be a long night… “I have appendicitis.” Did I hurt? No, not particularly. Just some back pain. Fever? No, just a bit of night sweats. Vomiting, nausea, anything? No, no and no. What gave me the idea I was suffering appendicitis? “My doctor told me I was.” And did he do an exam? No.

Okay, wait (for several hours) out there, till we call you.

It was about four hours after I entered the ER when the ER doctor saw me. Did I hurt? No, not particularly. Just some back pain. Fever? No, just a bit of night sweats. Vomiting, nausea, anything? No, no and no. Lift your shirt. OUCH! How did your doctor know? The long story of the prescription refill, the stress test, the ultra sound, the CAT scan.

Evanston hospital has something way cool. These images are associated with my file electronically, so that any doctor who is seeing me can see my tests and office visits. So, the ER had access to the CAT.

Okay, there is a way for this to happen, I’m calling in the surgeon, he’ll be here soon.

Surgeon gets there just a few minutes later. There are no more questions now. A brief exam, he says there’s a third year med-student and a resident who will interview me, he’ll be back in a bit. He went to call Blumen.

When the surgeon returns he says he’s 80 percent certain I’ve appendicitis. My blood work doesn’t show it yet, and the pain shouldn’t be on the back, unless my appendix is tucked into my back. I can undergo surgery now, in the morning or go home and wait. Waiting increases the certainty of the problem.

My only question was, at nearly midnight, how fresh is the surgery team? Should we wait for a fresh team in the morning? No, they are ready.

The cut for this surgery is only a few inches. I compare it now to the C-Section that allowed my first wife to give birth to my daughter. For two days now I’ve struggled to straighten myself, to stand, and I’ve shuffled along like an old man. Good god, they’ve got me out for a week, and I have no sick time left.

But, frankly, I feel very fortunate. This could have been much worse. Two good radiology readings and a thorough doctor. I think they may have saved my life.

Omaha Knights

It’s a brand new campaign for the Wolves, starting with a game against a new rival, the Ak-Sar-Ben Knights'. The Knights are getting some great media coverage in Omaha, in part due to the inspired invitation of Gordie Howe, to the opening festivities.

Howe, 77 years old now, was a former Knight before making it to the big game. More than 1,000 fans are reported to have stood in line to meet the NHL great.

The Knights marketing effort is based in part on recalling the days when another Knights played in Omaha. Known now more for fanatical football than hockey, the club is also being heavily advertised as an affiliate of the Calgary Flames.

The Knights themselves are a recreated St. Johns Flames, St. Johns not having played a hockey game since the 2002-3 campaign. That team won the 2001 Calder Cup at home against the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Several of the Knights staff were previously with the Mississippi Sea Wolves and the Beaumont Wildcatters. The Omaha World-Herald reports equipment manager Greg Sieg left Mississippi just prior to Katrina landing, while Rita effected athletic trainer D.J. Amadio.

The Flames sent Brent Krahn down to fill the pipes this week. The Knights had been concerned about their lack of strength there, especially following a food poisoning of prospect goalie Paulo Colaiacovo earlier this week. Krahn has time in the NHL at Calgary and the AHL in Lowell and San Antonio. At Lowell last year he racked up a 20-11-2 record, with 6 shut outs and a 2.49 average. Back-up goalie for the game is Curtis McElhinney.

Craig MacDonald played for Florida and Boston in the NHL recently, as well as putting in time in Lowell and San Antonio. MacDonald will be wearing the C for the team.

Brett Palin will be moving up from the juniors this year to play for the Knights. He helped the Kelowna Rockets take home the Memorial Cup twice while playing defence.

Richie Regehr is the younger brother of Robyn Regehr. Also from Kelowna, he played with the Lock Monsters last season, he finished in the top ten in team scoring with a goal and seven points in eleven games during the Calder Cup finals.

Eric Nystrom was the captain of the 2004-5 University of Michigan team. He is also the son of Bob Nystrom.

Cam Severson is an alum of our friends the Sads. Playing 63 games, he racked up 255 Pims in 2004-5.

Brandon Prust was on the London Knights 2005 Memorial Cup team. He has 174 Pims in just 48 games.

Defenceman Steve Marr played for the WHL Medicine Hat Tigers in 2004, helping them in a bid for the Memorial Cup.

The ECHL affiliate of the Knights is the Las Vegas Wranglers.

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