Minor League Favorites

THIS LIST WAS LAST UPDATED ON 5/14/2007

BLOGS AND FAN SITES

DISCUSSION BOARDS

LINKS TO MINOR LEAGUE NEWS SITES

LINKS TO JOURNALIST BLOGS

LINKS TO TEAM SITES MENTIONED

AHL WEST DIVISION TEAMS

AHL NORTH DIVISION TEAMS

AHL EAST DIVISION TEAMS

AHL ATLANTIC DIVISION TEAMS

UNITED HOCKEY LEAGUE TEAMS

OTHER HOCKEY TEAMS MENTIONED


BLOGS AND FAN SITES



My edited posts

Michael's Confessions of a Hockey Fanatic (Penguins organization)
PPPS- a weekly AHL Podcast
Michael- My Mundane Mid-Life (Chicago Wolves)
Blog on Chicago hockey
Wirtzsucks-- A Chicago Blackhawks fan site
Jeremey Piniak's five hockey talking points
Two Minutes for Cross-Checking- Iowa Stars & Philly Phantoms
Milwaukeehockey.com ’Unofficial’ Milwaukee Admirals fan site
Admirals Zone Norfolk Admirals blog and fan site
BinghamtonHockey.com blog
Dave Wolf’s Grand Rapids Griffins fan site
Michigan minor league hockey blog
Shortymac discusses QC Mallards
S Palmerston's take on the Hamilton Bulldogs
Some futzy woman writes on Milwaukee sports
Four guys discuss Chicago Sports
Heather Creegan's So Very Obsessed- Providence Bruins
Crossbar Minor League blog
Rochester Americans and Florida Panthers blog
Chris Roy's Skate the Plank
Jason watches the Baby Pens from the Igloo
Major Blogs by Dan Hickling
The 300 Level watches Blackhawk hockey
Kansas City Blog
Brian Rosenberg watches the MetroCentre debate
Windy City Sports Blog
Aeros equipment Manager Blog
Chicago Wolves playoff blog
A minor league hockey blog by C J Nordenson
Michigan minor league hockey by Matt MacKinder


DISCUSSION BOARDS


Wolfkeeper
Chicago Wolves discussion board
Smirkin Chicken
Atlanta Thrashers Prospects
Gwinnett Gladiators fan forum
Admirals Crew Milwaukee Admirals discussion board
TalkHawks discussion board
Quad Cities Mallards Mayhem
Rochester Americans discussion board
Wilkes Barre Penguins fan site
PennLive Hershey Bears fan site
Manitoba Moose fan site
Peoria Rivermen fan site
Instigator Alley Houston Aeros fan site
Iowa Stars discussion board
Providence Bruins fan site
IceHogs fan forum
IceHogs fan forum by Rockford Register Star
Michigan Minor League Hockey by MLive
Heckler's Corner- Cincinnati (Forum is active.)
Cleveland Hockey Forum
AHLBoards discussion boardAHL Central, was the
AHL Underground discussion board
AHLfans discussion board
HFBoards Minor League discussion board
Minor League News discussion board
Our Sports Minor League discussion board
M uskegan Fury discussion board
Philadelphia Phantoms discussion board
Belfast Giants discussion board

LINKS TO MINOR LEAGUE NEWS SITES

Patrick Williams AHL column
AHL Beat
AHL League News
MLN- The Raw Feed
Into the Boards
AHL Journal
AHL News
ECHL News
Hockeys Future
ECHL League News
UHL League News
Michigan Minor League Hockey News from MLive
ProHockey News
Hamilton Bulldog news
Iowa Minor League Sports
League news on the Calder Cup Playoffs
English language news of HIFK


LINKS TO JOURNALIST BLOGS


Patrick Williams AHL blog
Aaron Sim's Aaron's Angle (broadcaster of the Milwaukee Admirals)
Lisa Colonno in Des Moines Register
Michael Sharpe in Binghamton Press-Sun Bulletin
Jonathan Bonbulie in WBS Times-Tribune
Lindsay Cramer in Syracuse Post-Standard
Dave Eminian in Peoria Journal Star
Justin Cohn in Fort Wayne Gazzette
Soundin' Off by Michael Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post


LINKS TO TEAM SITES MENTIONED


American Hockey League
AHL WEST DIVISION

Chicago Wolves
Houston Aeros
Iowa Stars
Milwaukee Admirals
Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben-Knights
Peoria Rivermen
San Antonio Rampage

AHL NORTH DIVISION


Manitoba Moose
Grand Rapids Griffins
Hamiton Bulldogs
Toronto Marlies
Rochester Americans
Syracuse Crunch

AHL EAST DIVISION TEAMS


Binghamton Senators
Albany River Rats
Hershey Bears
Norfolk Admirals
Philadelphia Phantoms
Wilkes Barre/ Scranton Penguins
Bridgeport Sound Tigers

AHL ATLANTIC DIVISION TEAMS


Hartford Wolfpack
Manchester Monarchs
Lowell Devils
Portland Pirates
Providence Bruins
Springfield Falcons
Worcester Sharks


UNITED HOCKEY LEAGUE


Bloomington PrairieThunder
Chicago Hounds
Flint Generals
Fort Wayne Komets
Kalamazoo K-Wings
Muskegon Fury
Port Huron Flags
Quad City Mallards
Rockford IceHogs
Rockford IceHogs MySpace site

OTHER HOCKEY TEAMS MENTIONED


Belfast Giants
Alaska Aces
Cincinnati Cyclones
Dayton Bombers
Gwinnett Gladiators
Toledo Storm
Atlanta Thrashers
Chicago Blackhawks
St. Louis Blues
American Hockey League
ECHL Hockey League
National Hockey League

Other sources of Hockey News and Rumors

Yahoo AHL groups
Yahoo minor league hockey groups

Professional Sports Teams Chicago List

A new start

It may be more than 80 degrees out, but hockey season starts in less than two months, and the pre-season and the training camps in just a few weeks. Why am I obsessed with minor league hockey? First, I never got hooked on the Chicago Blackhawks. That is the price of not televising your games. Instead, at the age of 45 I went to see the Chicago Wolves win the Turner Cup.

Today I’m a season ticket holder. The Wolves are one of about 26 professional teams in the Chicago area, and join to become one of about 60 professional teams in the greater area by which I include places like Peoria, Milwaukee and South Bend. Places within about 150 – 200 miles of the city. I won’t even start to list all the NCAA teams in that region. Plus there are interests like harness, horse and greyhound racing, boxing, NASCAR and drag racing, etc.

It is a tough media market. The ads here are expensive. There is a lot of competition.

So, where are the Chicago Hounds in all of this?

The Chicago Hounds plan to skate in the still-to-be-completed Sears Center in Hoffman Estates starting in October. New to the area, they’ll play in the UHL, or United Hockey League. To give some perspective to the casual fan, the Chicago Wolves are in the American Hockey League, the AAA level of hockey. About a third of their players move up and down to the NHL each season.

The next level is the ECHL, which was once known as the East Coast Hockey League. Those players generally move up to the AHL or sometimes the NHL. The UHL is in the next level down of AA Hockey. Maybe one player a season will move to the NHL. The Rockford Ice Hogs were the best development team in the UHL last years, they sent two players to the Chicago Wolves and three players to the Milwaukee Admirals. That’s about a third of their typical lineup.

The Hounds announced an exciting signing of Coach Greg Puhalski from the Fort Wayne Komets. And the first signing of player Greg Koehler. But I’ll be damned if I understand who they are marketing this thing to. The stealth marketing discussed earlier: it is continuing.

What’s more, they aren’t saying value to the hockey fan. My AHL Wolves tickets run about $15 a seat, $18 for a single ticket on day of game. That’s row eight, sort of at the angle behind the net. The same Hound tix look to cost $26 day of game. For that, I give up AAA hockey and accept low AA hockey. Milwaukee Admirals tix, this season are about $19 on the glass, $16 or so for the Rivermen glass seats. And at those AHL games, I saw a lot of NHL talent on the ice.

I’d rather drive the additional 45 minutes and see the Ice Hogs. $19 for a glass seat.

Billy Tibbetts a Bruin

Now Billy Tibbetts has long attracted as many readers to this blog as my entries about Harry Dumas. (I think it's great to write Billy's name and Harry's name in the same sentence, don't you?) Billy will not, apparently, return to the Rockford Ice Hogs. This is frustrating, I think, to Rockford fans, among whom I include myself. But a news report in the Rockford Register Star specifically mentioned Tibbetts as being out.

Where has Billy gone? There’s no word yet from the Chicago Wolves. However, Tibbetts is known to have been accepted for a reality television show starting this fall. The usually reliable Billy Tibbetts website is silent on this matter. However, here is a link to the show So you want to be a Bruin where you can enjoy Billy discussing why he wants to be a Boston Bruin.

Billy’s birthday, by the way, is October 14th, which happens to be the date of the home opener.

DROP THE PUCK ALREADY!

Bloomington Prairie Thunder local connections

It is two months to go till they drop the puck. The site, for the Chicago Wolves, will be the Carver Arena in Peoria, Illinois, home to the Peoria Rivermen. So many things will change between now and October 7th. However here are a few things we now know. First, several ECHL Rivermen players are now wearing sweaters bearing the logo of the Bloomington Prairie Thunder. I took an unofficial look at the US Cellular Arena in downtown Bloomington. It is a place that my wife described as a bride, waiting to be raped by the horde of fans from Rockford and the Quad Cities.

The smell of a new arena… Contrast that, if you will, with the dingy smoke that is the home of the Toledo Storm, the Toledo Sports Arena. I doubt the US Cellular Arena has had a single event yet. It smells of plastic, it has carpets without beer stains or cigarette burns and the blank canvas that lies under every sheet of ice. It is a far cry from the Sports Arena. Yum… can you taste the blood, I mean love?

Give me the Sports Arena, where fans lean over the glass and scream at the players. Where they get ejected for interfering with play, where they drown out the singer of the national anthem screaming curses at the Canadian players. It may not be love, but it is hockey.

We found a wonderful picture taken at the Sports Arena during the Kelly Cup playoffs. The Gwinnett Gladiators had just won the game and were preparing to congratulate the Storm. In the stands you see the fans giving one finger salutes to the Gladiators.

I’ll give the Prairie Thunder this, so far I’ve noticed a great marketing campaign from the team. Although I haven’t been personally contacted, I see ads in the local phone book, on radio and in the visitors guides. I’m impressed by their effort to reconnect with the base of ECHL fans that had followed the Rivermen. Derek Booth was the first clear sign of that effort. Booth was a captain of the Rivermen four years ago, and has coached in the SPHL at Fayetteville, bringing them to the post season twice.

The first player Booth brought aboard was former Rivermen Trevor Baker. Baker will fill a position as player/coach in the position of forward.

Over at the Chicago Hounds they must believe in stealth marketing. I’m definitely a season ticket holder of the Chicago Wolves, but also purchase enough to be considered a low end STH of the Rockford Ice Hogs and the Milwaukee Admirals. I’d think I might be considered in their target demographic? Well, nothing on the horizon so far. Am I not reading the right newspapers or listening to the right radio stations or driving on the right highway? (I only pass by the Sears Center twice a week each way).

What’s wrong with me?

Thank god for Google news alerts.

The first player signed by the Hounds was Greg Koehler. He’s got pretty good stats in the UHL and has been in professional hockey for about ten years. But unlike Baker, I just don’t see a local connection. The same couldn’t be said for the head coach of the Hounds. Greg Puhalski wanted to go to Chicago, leaving a successful coaching position with the Fort Wayne, Indiana Komets organization. I think Puhalski intends to make this area his home for a long time to come. And welcome to you Greg!

How long till they drop the puck?

The Calder series is finished. This quiet time is being used to develop a new blog for my family. In the meantime, I hope to share the comments of people who have been friends and foes on the hockey sites this past year-- the wisdom I've gained from the back and forth with them is beyond what I could ever have hoped for.

Guest scouting report: Ads v Bears

Matt moderates the excellent discussion board MooseHockey.com. Here he previews the Milwaukee Admirals versus Hershey Bears Calder Cup Finals. Thanks Matt!

Milwaukee Admirals: 49-21-6-4 (4th overall, 1st in West)

Vs

Hershey Bears: 44-21-5-10 (7th overall, 2nd in East)

Season Series: 0-0-0-0

All-Time Series: 1-0-1-0 (Milwaukee)

Playoffs: 12-3 (Milwaukee) - 12-3 (Hershey)

Milwaukee Affiliation: Nashville Predators

Hershey Affiliation: Washington Capitals

All-Time Recaps:

Nov 23rd 2002: Milwaukee 3 Hershey 3 (@ Hershey)
Mar 26th 2003: Milwaukee 4 Hershey 1 (@ Milwaukee)

Milwaukee veterans: Simon Gamache, Greg Classen, Sheldon Brookbank, Steve Lingren & Rick Berry

Hershey veterans: Kris Beech, Boyd Kane, Mark Wotton, Colin Forbes & Lawrence Nycholat

Milwaukee Admirals playoff history:

The Milwaukee Admirals have qualified for the post season for the 4th time in their 5 year AHL history

Number of individual series won: 8 Number of individual series lost: 2

Games won: 31 Games lost: 19

Calder Cups: 1 (2004) Losing finalist: 0

Overtime games: 4-1

Hershey Bears playoff history:

The Hershey Bears have qualified for the post season for the 57th time in their 68 year history

Number of individual series won: 54 Number of individual series lost: 48

Games won: 256 Games lost: 233

Calder Cups: 8 (Most recent-1997) Losing finalists: 10 (Most recent-1986)

Overtime games: 44-43

Preview:

Milwaukee and Hershey meet for the first time in the playoffs; previously the two teams have only met twice. That was during the 02-03 season. The teams have changed considerably since then, only current Admirals players to play against Hershey during 02-03 was Darren Haydar and Greg Classen. This is Milwaukee's second trip to the Calder Cup Finals in three seasons, having swept Wilkes-Barre four games to none in the championship series in 2004. Current Admirals Haydar, Classen, Scottie Upshall, Simon Gamache, Brian Finley, Nathan Lutz, Greg Zanon, Brandon Segal and Libor Pivko including head coach Claude Noel (03-04 coach of the year) were part of the 2004 championship team. Hershey's last trip to the Calder Cup came back in 1997 where they defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs four games to one to win there 8th Calder Cup title. Included in that team is current Admiral defenseman Steve Lingren, although he only played 12 games. Milwaukee has defeated Iowa (4-3), Houston (4-0) & Grand Rapids (4-0) to get to the Finals. Hershey swept Norfolk (4-0), Wilkes-Barre (4-0) before downing the Portland Pirates (4-3). Hershey became only the second team in AHL history to start the Calder Cup playoffs a perfect 10-0. This marks the Bears 19th trip to the finals. Milwaukee claimed the Robert W. Clarke Trophy as the Western Conference Champions while Hershey claimed the Richard F. Canning Trophy as the Eastern Conference Champions. Milwaukee is 4-0 all-time in Calder Cup finals games while Hershey is 52-48. The last two Calder Cup finals have resulted in sweeps (Milwaukee over Wilkes-Barre/Scranton 4-0 in 2004 and Philadelphia over Chicago 4-0 in 2005). Milwaukee is coming off a 5-4 win over Grand Rapids and will have had a nine day break in between games.


Upfront Milwaukee is led by Darren Haydar and Simon Gamache. Gamache finished second to Haydar in playoff scoring in 2004. Haydar is 20th overall in Calder Cup playoff scoring history with 66 points in 50 games (29+37) while Gamache is not far behind ranking 21st on the all-time list with 65 points (29+36) in 53 games. Haydar and Gamache have combined for 50 points this post season. The other 25 players to appear in at least one playoff game have combined for 90 points. Greg Classen is third on the team in scoring, after winning the cup in 2004 he played a season in Finland before returning to Milwaukee. Scottie Upshall (48th overall, THN Future Watch) and Jordin Tootoo have been big contributors since coming down from Nashville. Libor Pivko had a career year but is currently injured. 2005-2006 CHL MVP Alexander Radulov is expected to be signed to an ATO after leading his Quebec team to the Memorial Cup. Milwaukee’s top line consists of Greg Classen centering Darren Haydar and Simon Gamache. Hershey is led upfront by former Admiral Kris Beech who played for Milwaukee earlier in the season. Former Moose Jaw Warrior Tomas Fleischmann leads the team in playoff scoring; coming off a tough rookie campaign in Portland in 04-05 he produced 30 goals this season. He even played 14 games with Washington. Veteran winger Boyd Kane won a Calder Cup with Philadelphia last season, he was captain. Centre Brook Laich played 73 games with Washington this season and is having an impressive post season. Fifth year pro Graham Mink is playing in the post season for only the second time in his career and is making the most of it. AHL All-Star and former Brandon Wheat King Eric Fehr (30th overall, THN Future Watch) had a strong regular season but is a streaky player and is finding it tough to draw into the line-up in the post season but scored two big goals in there game seven win over Portland. Graham Mink and Tomas Fleischmann recorded at least a point in all seven games.

Defensively Milwaukee is led by Kevin Klein who has proved his worth to the Nashville organisation having a great sophomore season. His play has continued into the post season. Klein helped lead the Guelph Storm to the Memorial Cup in 2004, although did not win the tournament. Greg Zanon has provided great leadership in just his third pro season out of Nebraska-Omaha. He had a career year offensively while improving his all around defensive game. Steve Lingren was signed towards the end of the season to help fill out the defense, he spent most of the season with Victoria (ECHL) and has put up good numbers. Ryan Parent (67th overall, THN Future Watch) was signed to an ATO a few weeks ago but has just recently been drawing into the line-up and is proving his worth. Shea Weber (4th overall, THN Future Watch) has been Milwaukee's top d-man this post season, the offensively gifted blueliner spent 28 games with Nashville and even potting a pair of goals in in four playoff games with the Preds. Hershey are led by AHL all rookie team Mike Green, who is the leading scorer amongst Bears blueliners. The former Saskatoon Blade has spent 22 games with Washington this season. Veterans Lawrence Nycholat and Mark Wotton both have plenty of playoff experience. Former Moose Tyler Sloan was recently signed to a PTO. Former Caps first round pick Jeff Schultz has made a smooth transition to the pro game since signing an ATO. He signed the ATO when the Calgary Hitmen was eliminated from the playoffs.

In goal, Milwaukee is led by North American pro rookie Pekka Rinne. Rinne is 8-0 since coming down from Nashville and is a major reason why Milwaukee is in the Calder Cup Finals. This is the second straight season a team with a Finnish goalie is in the finals and third in the past five. During his time in Nashville he played two regular season games, mainly serving as Chris Mason's back-up. Rinne has a good chance to win the back-up job in Nashville next season. Rinne was taken 258th overall in 2004 out of Karpat in Finland where he played three seasons including 77 games. During the regular season with Milwaukee he went 30-18-2. Rinne's back-up is former first round pick Brian Finley, Finley started as the number one goalie in the first round against Iowa while Rinne was up with the Preds. Finley then injured his groin forcing ECHL call-up Jake Moreland to play two games including the decisive game seven. Finley was current Moose goalie Wade Flaherty’s back-up when Milwaukee won the cup in 2004. In goal for Hershey is Frederic Cassivi. Cassivi led the AHL in wins during the regular season and has had a superb post season including four shutouts. Cassivi was part of the 2002 Chicago Wolves team which won the Calder Cup. He split time with Pasi Nurminen and Norm Maracle. He played in one NHL game this season with Washington, a 4-3 loss to New Jersey on November 11th 2005. Cassivi was named the top goaltender for the month of February 2005, while he was a member of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks last season and led all goalies with 10 shutouts. His back-up is Kirk Daubenspeck, a seventh round draft pick (151st overall) by Philadelphia in 1992. He has spent the majority of his career in the ECHL. He has just one AHL playoff game to his credit back in 2000 with Rochester.

Notes: Hershey has eight former first round draft picks in their line-up: Kris Beech (7th overall 1999), Dave Steckel (30th overall 2001), Boyd Gordon (17th overall 2002), Mike Green (29th overall 2004), Eric Fehr (18th overall 2003), Jeff Schultz (27th overall 2003), Jakub Klepis (16th overall 2002) and Jonas Johansson (28th overall 2002). Milwaukee has three; Scottie Upshall (6th overall 2002), Brian Finley (6th overall 1999) and Ryan Parent (18th overall 2005). Milwaukee d-man and Manitoba native Rick Berry is a former Hershey Bear, playing parts of three seasons from 1998-2001. Milwaukee d-man Steve Lingren is a former Bear 1996-1998. Current Bear Kris Beech played 48 games with Milwaukee this season, putting up 50 points, before Nashville traded him to Washington. Beech played for Wilkes-Barre in 03-04 and against the same Milwaukee team in the Calder Cup finals before going down 4-0. The past four playoff MVP’s have been goaltenders; Nurminen-02, Holmqvist-03, Flaherty-04 and Niittymaki-05.

A shrinking UHL

The Championship season for hockey is drawing to a close. First, congratulations to the Alaska Aces, winner of the Kelly Cup in a 4-1 series victory over the Gwinnett Gladiators. It is hard to argue with sold-out crowds and an outstanding series victory.

The series in Toledo, which was the outstanding roadtrip of the season, allowed me to see several future Wolves on the ice. I’m primed for next season. Congratulations too, then to the Gladiators, who reached the finals for the first time.

Other notes, the UHL Colonial Cup goes to a local team: the Kalamazoo K-Wings in a 4-1 series victory over the Danbury Trashers. Sadly the UHL is undergoing a shattering number of teams leaving the league.

This is all being prettied up by the UHL as a retrenching of the league into the Midwest. The Richmond River Dogs moving to Hoffman Estates to become the Chicago Hounds; the Fraser City, Mich. Motor City Mechanics closing for a year, the (Glen Falls, NY) Adirondack Frostbite in danger of folding, which in turn threatens the second-place Danbury, Conn. Trashers and the Elmira, NY Jackals, as the travel budgets could not take trips to the next closest teams, about 400 miles west.

The St. Charles, Missouri River Otters are shopping for “investors” or will also pull out of the next season. The Moline, Ill. Quad City Mallards underwent a bruising front office battle that is discussed HERE. Plus, the website ArenaDigest.com noted that the Rockford Ice Hogs are unprofitable. The only bright spots are the new Bloomington, Ill. Prairie Thunder, the outstanding attendance at Fort Wayne, Ind. Komets games and the new Sears Center built for the Chicago Hounds.

While a retrench of the team makes sense, there is a nice tight geographic group in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, it is not encouraging that so many UHL teams have such a short life.

Other notes: The NBA Cleveland Cavs purchased the rights to the AHL Utah Grizzlies and will move the franchise, pending approval, to Cleveland. After all the Cleveland fans went through, it is great that a local group is taking control. AHL hockey is back in Cleveland in the 2007-8 season.

The World Cup of Hockey finished several weeks ago. It goes almost unnoticed in North America, but is the BIG hockey tournament in the rest of civilization. The top teams: GOLD Sweden, SILVER Czech Republic, BRONZE Finland. Here are the rest of the standings: 4th Canada, 5th Russia, 6th Belarus and
7th United States. In total 16 teams were ranked. And the North American game continues to battle for the dominance it once had.

Another key championship is the juniors Memorial Cup, held each year on the Queen’s Birthday. This year saw Moncton, New Brunswick, the home team, battle in the final with the Quebec Remparts. Congratulations to the Remparts for winning. Congratulations too to Moncton. It’s a long way to the Atlantic, but I heard they threw a heck of a party in Moncton.

A key player may come out of the Memorial Cup: Alexander Radulov was named CHL Player of the year. He may join Milwaukee in the Calder Cup Final, filling in one of the lines! There's a good discussion of him HERE.

Before we take a side trip to Milwaukee, however, there is a report on the Wolfkeeper site, citing the Hockey News, that Harry Dumas is not being given a contract for the next season. We’ll miss Harry and his immaturity… No, we actually won’t. See ya’ later Harry. I’m sure you’ll get references from the teams. Harry was written about HERE.

Radulov will be the last player to join the Calder Cup race. The Portland Pirates gave the Hershey Bears a scare when they brought three NHL players from the completed Anaheim Mighty Ducks season to Hershey, Penn. for the game seven conclusion of the Eastern Conference. Center Ryan Getzlaf, left wing Dustin Penner and right wing Corey Perry joined for eight points in the playoffs. A good effort, but not enough to upset the Hershey Bears win.

So, it comes down to the Bears versus the Admirals. The Ads of course have been amazing: nine games in a row, just slaying their opponents. As I said in the previous post, they have surprised me. But here is a wonderful note about the Bears run: the first opponent was the Norfolk Admirals. How many teams have met teams with the same name twice in a league championship? What happened? I wish Bob Howard was around to tell us!

Second, opponent, Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins and the third opponent was the Portland Pirates. How many teams have met this many nautically themed teams? There are only four other teams like this in the AHL, the Peoria Rivermen, the Lowell Lock Monsters, the Albany River Rats and the Cleveland Barons (associated with the San Jose Sharks and they use a shark in their logo.).

I’m giving my nod to the Hershey Bears in six. Not only have they done well for me in the post-season pickem’s, I sense they want it more and have had a harder schedule to the top. But the Ads have surprised me and surprised me again, and then, again… We go to the game tonight at the Bradley Center. Go Bears.

For your pleasure: Crow

The theme of this week’s work is spoiling quickly. So, let’s start by discussing what I don’t know. I’d like to order a heaping order of crow, please. Courtesy of the Milwaukee Admirals hockey team. I just don’t know jack about the MAds.

Early in the season I made mistake one. I’d said the Admirals were rebuilding this year. Some rebuilding effort. This comment, I don’t remember if I left it here, but I do remember leaving it on Wolfkeeper, has proved totally wrong. They were continuing their dynasty, interrupted last year.

This was followed by a January comment that the Houston Aeros were going to be overtaken by the Admirals. I expected that to happen by the end of February. Nope, the Aeros and the Admirals slacked off till the end of the season, the Aeros finally losing their first spot late in the regular season.

By the time of March I’d become disillusioned with the Ads and after seeing them blow several games in Milwaukee decided that they would probably implode in the post season. I stuck with that idea during their playoff run against Iowa, which went to game seven, and Houston.

The Houston series ended in four. Technically we say they swept the Aeros and if I were a Milwaukee fan I’d have brought a broom to the game to throw on the ice. I’m not a fan of Milwaukee, won’t throw any brooms on their behalf, but will reconsider what they are doing.

Houston was a team that only had, I believe this is correct, two call-ups during the regular season. They kept the team together, had a great crew. Yes, I was disappointed in them when I saw them play Peoria in January, and again in a couple of Chicago games. Still, I felt that crew would beat the Milwaukee team which had seen a revolving door in goal and call-ups of Tootoo, Gamache and others. I believe seven Nashville players joined the play-offs in Milwaukee, including Pekka Rinne. I figured all that talent would need time to settle in.

Nope. Serve up the crow.

Last night, with the Grand Rapids Griffins victory over the Manitoba Moose, the puck is set to drop Thursday in Grand Rapids for the semi-final to the Calder Cup. Once again, I’m calling on the Ads to lose. But now I’ve lost my confidence in their individualism blossoming forth in a lack of discipline.

On the other side of the world, the Hershey Bears defeated the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. I never thought this series would be just four games. This is an implosion as stunning as the Challenger. We almost never see these two teams, or at least never see the Pens, as the Chocolate Bears take western swings every other year. It wasn’t so much that the Pens lost, that was almost expected. What wasn’t expected—they did it in just four games. OUCH!

So, that’s what I know I don’t know. Now on to what I think I know. Billy Tibbetts has earned this blog more attention than any other entry. Just look back at the December entry called the “Billy Tibbetts Show.” There are still comments posted every few weeks. Billy went back to the Rockford Ice Hogs at the end of the regular season from the Chicago Wolves, shot two goals, had numerous penalty minutes and assists in their final game, but failed to stave off the end of the season. The Hogs are done. The UHL itself is changing rapidly, as teams fold and are created.

One Wolfkeeper poster, in discussing the apparently limited life of a UHL team noted the team has elected a new strategy of locating in large metro areas with other established hockey teams. That seems accurate, with St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit all having teams. Alas, the Missouri team, located near St. Louis, is ending operations.

OTR and I made a trip to Toledo, Ohio to see an Eastern Championship ECHL game between the Gwinnett Gladiators and the Toledo Storm over the weekend. OTR discusses some of the events here. Toledo is undoubtedly a minor league sports Mecca for Americans due to the presence of the Toledo Mud Hens.

The Storm don’t play in the classy Fifth/Third Field, but in the Toledo Sports Arena, a run-down hole of a building located across the river from downtown next to a marina.

This place smells of burnt food, bad locker room odors, has a Zamboni from the 1940’s and glass you can lean over. Yes, you can touch the players, but that gets you thrown out! The smoke and haze at the beginning of the game hung over the ice creating a light fog. The Zamboni and inadequate ice equipment means the ice is rough and melting in spots. In the corridors, there are places where the width comes down to just two people wide.

Toledo plans to build another facility, but is debating where to place it. Towns people talk about how the Storm suck. Well they were in the playoffs till last night, how good do they need to be to get people’s support? New building good, according to Dawn and Matt, two fans I talked to.

Toledo fans aren’t supporting the Storm, they say, because the building is so old. As I wandered around this old fire trap of a building, I thought that when it comes down there will be many people who realize that it has soul and like so many places where we saw sports played when we were children, it will be missed.

The low glass makes this place unique in North American hockey. The glass is the normal height at ice level, but the stands are built above the ice. If you stand, you can lean over the ice into the play area. That led OTR and I to discuss the Toledo fans intimacy with the players.

Most sports have a line beyond which lies the game. Or, from the players perspective, the fans. It’s an invisible line that each side mutually respects. Although we laugh when we see the Hansons rush the stands, it is, in fact, an intimidating idea to defend yourself from an athletic young man armed with a stick and body armour.

Not only is that line lower in Toledo, the visiting penalty box and visiting bench is only partly enclosed. Between periods the players cross the main corridor from the bench to reach the locker rooms. And, finally, the cool down equipment is located in the corridor.

This is a set of environmental conditions that allow the fans easy access to the players. These Toledo fans are blessed with one of the most liberal access situations in hockey. And, it shows.

The Gladiators played in Toledo Friday, Sunday and Tuesday. I don’t have details on the Tuesday contest, but the Friday and Sunday contest were marked by the fans delaying the game while garbage was cleaned from the ice surface. It’s a violation of the rules, of course. It could have led to penalties and fines against the home team. Fortunately the referee let the game continue after the clean-up without a penalty.

And it is bad that the fans are responding like this as there is a fan there carrying on the hockey tradition of throwing seafood on the ice. His name is Kramer and I can assure you that no seafood, mostly octopus, but some squid, were harmed on Sunday. Replacing the seafood with a cup of cola is a bad idea fans. Still, I wondered if Kramer’s seafood had started the “let’s chuck a beer” thing now taking place. If you read this Kramer, give us your thoughts, please.

Anyway, great fans, except one, and I won’t name anyone, just say don’t sit below the homer in Section 8, Row A, seat 13. Sorry lady, but I’ve met these guys and they are not filthy slime. Yikes!

Aside from the Sports Arena, there was a hockey game on Sunday. The Wyndam was recommended by the team as where Gwinnett was staying.

Walking in, I wasn’t sure… the lobby was full of parents waiting for their little darlings to drive up to a high school prom. There were in fact two proms, a wedding, a bachelor party and a surprised Troy Milam getting ready that night in the lobby. What a mix. I suppose Troy was looking for a ping-pong table. If you don’t understand that slam, you are very fortunate.

We proceeded this Mother’s Day bash by hanging out at the Wyndam bar. It was a safe place, that was showing the spectacular Senators v. Sabres game on Saturday. OTR and I quickly found the hotel bar, a reasonable place where nachos and two scotches cost us about $30 total.

Today, in the US, you can probably count on one hand the number of bars where hockey is shown on the television. So hanging in the bar with Gwinnett fans and player’s parents was great. Twice, some fool attempted to change the channel to see a baseball game and the 12 of us yelled to turn it back. Yahoo! Hockey rules.

The take before the game wasn’t clear on whether the Gladiators would win. But I was impressed that people had driven through the rain from Georgia to see their team play. It was also very nice to meet Derek Nesbitt’s mom. Derek, as you can tell, I don’t know much about hockey, but your mom does! Yes, fans, I was outclassed in hockey knowledge, not only by Nesbitt’s mom, (Happy Mother’s Day btw) but by at least several fans. But what do you expect, they drove all that way, they had to be dedicated.

Troy was one of the fans who should be blogging. He observed that the affiliation agreement between the Wolves, remember them? and the Atlanta Thrashers is up this year. He said his information is the decision in Atlanta on whether to reaffiliate will be made on the basis of whether Atlanta should own its own AHL team.

That is a different take on the situation from the discussions on Wolfkeeper. There, we’ve been discussing whether the coaching style of John Anderson has created a situation that is hurting AHL prospects. Troy said it is his impression that that is accurate, Atlanta seems to feel that Anderson’s independence is hurting the farm system, and their way around it is to control the club.

As I’ve observed before, Hmmmn….

We drove all that distance to see a hockey game, frankly, you can read about it on line. Here’s a look at the prospects. There were several Canadian parents there, including Robert Snowball’s. Snowball is a Milwaukee prospect who landed in Toledo. He has 12 Pims in the playoffs, leading the booster club to sell T-shirts saying “Let’s have a Snowball Fight…” He appears to have the Darryl Bootland tendency to actually play too. He’s a great agitator. He’d be deadly on a bench with Tootoo as part of a second line.

Another key Storm player was in Grand Rapids off and on throughout the playoffs. I’ll call him Ironman, but you can call him Drew MacIntyre. Mac was in pipes for both teams, has only dropped one game in the playoffs, to Gwinnett on Sunday. Till Sunday he had 1.80 GAA. Unfortunately a great story about him in the Sunday May 14 Toledo Blade has been taken down. I’ll quote from it as I have the hard copy: (by Mark Monroe) “Gifted goalie Drew MacIntyre was expected to embark on one more midnight run back to Toledo last night to make another remarkable return to a Storm team that seems to play at another level in front of him.

“MacIntyre was expected to fly from Winnipeg this morning into Toledo Express and be back in net for the Storm at 6 p.m. in the Sports Arena… ‘They’ve been my team all year and I still want to win a Kelly Cup,’ (MacIntyre said).

“MacIntyre was called up to Grand Rapids immediately after he helped the Storm knock Wheeling out of the division finals… He drove overnight from Toronto to West Virginia to lead the Storm to a series-saving win on April 29.” My note, I saw him drive up to the Arena at about 3 p.m. He was in net but looked tired. He returned to Grand Rapids for the seventh game of the finals with the Manitoba Moose on Tuesday, missing the final game against the Gwinnett Gladiators. There, he relieved Joey MacDonald after he gave up four goals, holding on to win the game and allow the Griffins to proceed to the Western finals against Milwaukee.

Ironman. And that sound after he makes a sound isn’t a boo, it’s “DREWWWWW…”

Facing him in Gladiator colours was Sean Fields, probably the only goalie in the Atlanta system we didn’t get to know this year. The game was a damn tight contest, tied for the most part till the third Glads goal in the third period. There were some great saves by this guy at playoff level skill. There was no five-hole I could see, he took stuff on the numbers and pads. There wasn’t a spectacular throw, just solid work in the pipes.

We’ve also been waiting to see Troy Milam, Guillam Desbiens and Lane Manson in Chicago. Lane is 6’9” and likes to stand back to watch fights, not participate in them. Desbiens and Milam threw themselves into some situations and played with heart. A girlfriend or relative of Manson asked him why the Toledo fans hated him so much.

The answer comes from Friday’s game. Desbiens and Milam checked a Toledo player hard. Matt, my off-ice official friend from Toledo, says it was a dirty hit. Okay, I’ll buy that. So, later, the Storm responded and a dance broke out. Manson refused to participate, leading the fans to call him chicken.

I didn’t see Lane refuse to enter the game and use his body in a physical way, checking and using his size to create opportunities. Far from it. He has a great wrap around move that utilizes his size. What Lane doesn’t do is get into fights easily.

There were a couple of other players on the Glads I’d love to see able to work their way to Chicago. It’s a feeling, based on one game, but I liked (the following is in no particular order) Brad Schell, Derek Nesbitt, Scott Mifsud, Matt York, Milan Gajic, Adam Courchaine and Jonathan Awe. York and Awe are instigators and d-men. Gajic and Mifsud seemed to be in the midst of the action. Nesbitt may need more time in Gwinnett, Schell too. But I liked their moves. Courchaine, he was taking penalty minutes and in the action. I thought he played smart and sometime you need to take the Pims to stop things from developing.

My calls for the rest of the series are going to wait till I can look over the stats. I’d love to see Portland return to the Bradley Center. There would be blood on the ice and I frankly don’t know who I’d want to see survive. But my heart is with the Bears and the Griffins. Both teams seem to have what it takes to deserve the cup.

Late edit: OTR wants me to mention the new American heartland interjection to the "Star Spangled Banner," booing. She says of Desbiens and Manson. It wasn't just the classless white trash behind us either, it was the whole crowd.

Ads advance to face Aeros

It wasn’t a beautiful win, but a win is a win and any Milwaukee Admirals fan must be relieved that history did not repeat. It was almost a year ago when an Admirals team lost to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, after blowing a 3-0 series lead. Not only a long lead blown, but against a lower ranked opponent.

Not today. Iowa, called the younger team, the team with legs, came into the bench looking tired. They didn’t protect their goalie, and let the point go. Oh boy, there is just so much to criticize of a team that just wasn’t hungry to win, and may have lost the best chance they had today.

In short the game was Boring.

The Admirals on the other hand did what they had to, good d, took advantage of scoring chances and actually played as a team. They may have lost their goalie this weekend, but maybe help is on the way as the NHL team affiliate seems to be headed for the golf course. That could lead to the Nashville Predators sending Pekka Rinne back to the Admirals. Now, as we’ve sorted out within the last week, sending a player to the AHL from the NHL isn’t an immediate help. The infusion of Blues talent did not take the Rivermen to the next level of play. It takes a few days for the player to get back into the grind with the team.

But, as I write this piece, it appears Rinne will be headed back to Milwaukee. The other challenge for Milwaukee is that they’ve only developed one line. There isn’t really a second scoring line. That line, Darren Haydar, Simon Gamache and Greg Classen, are going to have to carry this team forward. I’ve already written about the NHL bug up Mr. Gamache’s rearend.

Haydar is a great player and a treasure. Will he be able to turn Gamache into a team player for these playoffs? Can he carry the load of team leader and overcome the Aeros?

Houston enters perhaps too rested from their sweep of the Rivermen. However, they have probably the best rookie in the AHL, Patrick O’Sullivan, plus a bench full of leading scorers. Their goalies aren’t as good as Rinne, but Houston has depended on offense to keep opponents unbalanced all season. Overall, the slight advantage Milwaukee has enjoyed all season is overshadowed by their problems in goal. Houston should win if they come out of the gate strong and take one or two of the first games in Milwaukee. As the series goes on, the balance will tip back to Milwaukee. Aeros to win in five.

The other series I can comment on is Grand Rapids v. Manitoba. Man, I love the Moose, but Grand Rapids is firing on all eight cyclinders. It is just tough to see any team take them till they meet their final Calder Cup opponents. The Moose are beaten up from the series in Syracuse. The Grifs are together. Grifs to win in five.

I’ll try predicting again for the East, (where is that crystal ball?) in the next day or two. But, really exciting hockey coming up in Hershey and Wilkes-Barre, while the Pirates blow away the Wolfpack.

Rivermen receive the broom

More brooms out, this time Houston sweeping the St. Louis Rivermen. It was a final result many people expected, not me. The ole’ crystal ball must have been cracked. The Rivermen, opps, did I say St. Louis? The Peoria Rivermen came into the series with a load of talent from St. Louis and some mojo while the Aeros have been drinking from the swag of San Antonio all season, and still sucking. In the one game I saw between the two teams, I saw the Aeros handed their head.

Well, that wasn’t good enough. Even with Patrick O’Sullivan not stepping up as much as he did in the regular season, the Aeros drowned the Peoria team, two overtime wins in Houston, then a decisive 6-1 win in Peoria Monday and another close game, 5-3 Wednesday.

Nevertheless, an exciting season for the former Worcester Ice Dogs. Welcome to the AHL, Peoria.

On the other side of the West the Iowa Stars are fighting it out with the Milwaukee Admirals, hoping to take the Admirals to a seventh game in the Bradley Center. Iowa hasn’t always played 60 minutes of hockey, as is obvious in the blog by Lisa Colonno. Yet, it has used its younger legs to keep the more experienced Admirals from dominating the game.

Special teams and excellent goal keeping by Michael Smith have also played a part in this series. But clearly, the Big Mo’ Iowa was hoping would propel it past Milwaukee, is sputtering. This is another series where I’d expected an upset, based on the momentum of Iowa and it’s youth versus the callups Milwaukee suffered. Assuming Nashville is knocked out of the finals, Milwaukee will get the curse of the NHL players inflicted on it in an Aeros series. Will that be good or bad?

I’ve got Crunch v. Moose notes about bad officiating, nasty physical play, even radio and broadcasters are getting it on in this series, according to journalist and blogger Lindsay Krammer. Where did the rivalry between these two cities hit such a low that local radio broadcasters are after each other?

Here is the quote: “Syracuse is a barren outpost of the American Hockey League.” Which, by the way, is remarkably similar to the feelings of my wife who says “Syracuse is a dark, dark hole. The part of New York that Bingo looks down on.” Yikes! And yes, the former Amerks fan was trash talking hockey.

Here’s something else from the web log by Lindsay Krammer of the Syracuse Post-Standard: “We have to make his (Crunch goalie Pascal Leclaire’s) life a little more challenging in there… we might have bumped their goaltender a little bit, but they’ve taken it to another dimension… Goaltenders aren’t open targets to be hit.”

Responded Syracuse coach Gary Agnew, “It’s up to the referee to protect the goalie. Having said that, you have to be smart about what you’re doing…”

And later in the same blog: "After just two games, this series has turned ugly… Syracuse forward Mark Hartigan was pretty ticked at Moose… Prestin Ryan after… a play where (Moose) Sven Butenschon face-washed Hartigan to the ice. While Hartigan was lying flat on his stomach, Ryan skated at him with his blades headed toward Hartigan’s face. Hartigan moved just in time to take the hit on his helmet instead. ‘It was gutless,’ Hartigan said.”

Can you feel the love? I’m disappointed that it seems Manitoba fans have replaced Skates for Al the Ice Monkey (the finest mayoral candidate Syracuse has ever fielded) for numero uno on the hate list. All of which gives me the excuse to run that picture of Al here again.

The Marlies have had to switch venues to the home of the iced Toronto Maple Leaves following power problems at their home arena. The power went out, leaving fans stranded in the parking lot while players were kept in their locker rooms. That could have led to an interesting headline: “A Switch: Fans locked out; players in the dark.” Sort of a play on last year’s NHL season, if you get it.

And finally, can you believe it? The Penguins are struggling with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, behind 3-2 in the series? I’d hoped, since it became obvious the Wolves weren’t going to do it, to see the baby Pens die in a Grand Rapids final. Now, I may never see them on this side of the Hudson this year. So sad. I may have to replace my cheap MS Paint avatar.

Game play here, according to the Wilkes-Barre fan Jason is marked by poor Penguin coaching decisions and bad officiating. He sums up the series so far: “The Sound Tigers were simply the better team. They out hustled, out hit, and out worked the Penguins. They played disciplined when they had to, and attacked the net very well.”

That’s a sentiment I suspect Mark Fornabaio of the Connecticut Post agrees with. The journalist and blogger sums up the games: “Bridgeport was happy with the chances it got, just wished it could have done more with them… The Penguins blocked a ton of shots. The Sound Tigers seemed to shoot some times they could have passed, passed a lot more times they could have shot...”

NHL no help?

Golf dates for the Norfolk Admirals are already being set. The Virginia Mads went down big, 4-0, to the Hershey Bears. Tom Robinson in the Hampton Roads Pilot newspaper tells how the team spent Saturday night nursing “the chipped tooth, the swollen lip and the gashed eyebrow of the best player, bathed in white light as he receives stitches in the trainer's room.
It's the collective, vacant stare of half-dressed athletes in their hushed dressing quarters, listening to hope slip-slide away.”

Perhaps the hopes slide away with the arrival of “the Chicago Seven,” seven Blackhawks who were sent down as the NHL season ended. Tris Wykes, also of the Hampton Roads Pilot asked whether seven players suddenly added to the roster could have an ill effect on the Admirals playoff chances, “Will the fatigue and chaos of playing two games in two leagues in two time zones within two days be too much?” I guess it was.

Wykes also managed to get a player to publicly address an issue I’ve thought about, the bitterness you feel from some NHL players about playing in the AHL. “Hopefully they’re not bitter at getting sent down,” Admiral Center Eric Meloche said.

While Winger Carl Corazzini said, “it’s a bad situation.”

Another team that isn’t helping its affiliate is the St. Louis Blues. The team, sometimes called the St. Louis Rivermen during the year, sent players up river to Peoria where that team is struggling to overcome the Houston Aeros.

Only five players were sent by St. Louis, perhaps the reason the Rivermen are surviving in the playoffs longer than the Admirals. Yet they too are suffering. The Peoria Journal Star’s Dave Eminian asking why a player can’t step up to make a difference. With all the NHL talent on the Rivermen I had expected the Aeros to be fighting for their lives right now. The series would have been different, of course, if for a bad bounce or two, as described by Kirk Wessler in a description of one of the Aeros two overtime home ice wins.

Another team that expected problems integrating NHL players into the lineup was the Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton Penguins. Although Marc Andre Fleury is perhaps the best goalie in the AHL or the NHL this season, he too plays for a team that is not in the playoffs. The Pittsburgh Penguins make no beefs about letting the chips fall where they may in a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Q and A with Dave Molinari, “the reality is that farm teams exist for the benefit of the parent club, and the top priority for the Penguins during the Calder Cup playoffs should be to get Fleury as much playing time—and, ideally, success, as possible.”

Ouch! Baby Penguins fans. You’re just cannon fodder. As they say, you can love a sports team, but they’ll never love you back.

Comment from Heckler's Grove

Hiya Patrick,

Thanks for emailing me - it's always good to converse with another
hockey fan - especially from Chicago where I've had some great
experiences. :)

Go ahead and keep the quote from Heckler's Grove. I would appreciate it if you'd provide a link though. Thanks. Click inside the preceding hyper link to visit Heckler's Grove, or see the sidebar. Thanks

And I'd be glad to comment on the current situation:

The resurrection of US Bank Arena's dormant ECHL franchise is no real surprise. The RailRaiders were able to secure a large number of full season ticket deposits - somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,660 by the end of the drive. This is more full season ticket holders than any Cincinnati hockey team since the WHA Stingers. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for the financial people who hold the Cincinnati AHL franchise to move forward, but that number seams to have piqued the interest of the Nederlanders.

I think the people running "Cyclones IV" believe the typical Cincinnati hockey consumer either doesn't know or won't care whether they're watching the AHL or the CHL, or that the experience at US Bank Arena will be that much better than what was offered at Cincinnati Gardens, even though the American Hockey League is clearly a superior product. In my opinion, this is a huge miscalculation.

Since Cincinnati moved from the ECHL to the International Hockey League in 1992, Cincinnati hockey fans have been watching future NHL players and highly skilled teams from Chicago, Orlando, Grand Rapids, and Cleveland (all IHL cities at the time). For the period of time where the Ducks and Cyclones were playing at the same time, you can include teams from Louisville, Lexington, Hershey, and Philadelphi (all AHL cities at the time). Cincinnati's fan base became split, but were still watching future NHL stars no matter what team they followed or what arena they attended. When the International Hockey League folded and the ECHL was brought in to fill the void at US Bank Arena, the Cyclones fans held out - at first. However, many realized that the ECHL's product was much different - sloppier and slower - and some either came to watch the AHL at the Gardens, or stopped going altogether.

After talking with many Cincinnati hockey fans over the past 6 months, it has become evident that most have become accustom to the speed, grace and agility that is the American Hockey League.

Cincinnati's fans have become used to seeing players like Lupul, Kunitz, Cole, CheeChoo, Kronwall - players that are tearing up the NHL record books - and they don't want to settle for less. Many people putting down deposits for the RailRaiders wanted to make sure they were buying a ticket to the American Hockey League, and they weren't going to spend that kind of money for a lesser product. Unfortunately, that's exactly what "Cyclones IV" are offering Cincinnati's hockey fans - less of a product for more money.

There is one more thing that has twisted this market. The RailRaiders fell 340 Full Season Tickets short of the goal. On average, a single person will purchase 2.3 tickets, so approximately 160 people could have made the difference. I believe there were enough people who either didn't want to attend games at Cincinnati Gardens, didn't like the RailRaiders ownership group, believed in the many lies and exaggerations that have been perpetuated over the years when Cincinnati had 2 teams, etc. The fact that the fan base remained divided and couldn't get over whatever issue one might have had was the net cause the RailRaiders ticket campaign fell short.

However, those same people expect those of us who have given our heart and soul to the AHL effort to simply turn the other cheek and support the ECHL. For some, that's simply not going to happen, so Cincinnati's fan base will remain split. The owners of the Gardens still own an AHL Franchise, but it's likely the return of the ECHL in this market will block the possibility of the AHL taking the ice for 2007- 8, and they'll end up selling the franchise instead of finding another way to make it work. If the ECHL fails to get the support it will need to remain viable - and I believe that would require 4,000 + paid tickets a game on average - I can't see the Nederlanders throwing millions away every year on this experiment. I don't believe the Nederlanders understand the Cincinnati hockey market or how savvy most Cincinnati hockey fans are. I also believe another failure of professional hockey in Cincinnati could jeopardize a quality product from returning to Cincinnati for more than a decade - if ever.

It's just another chapter in the sick and crazy world of Cincinnati professional ice hockey.

Best regards,

Jim Questa from Heckler's Grove

Cincinnati minor league hockey

Take a look through the blog and you'll find hints of the love-hate relationship I've had as a Wolves fan with Cincinnati hockey. In 2005 I was the person to spread bags of yellow feathers around the Allstate Arena to celebrate the final game of the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks.

Throughout the spring the Robinson family, owners of the AHL franchise in Cincinnati, have been leading a campaign to bring the AHL back. Early on they declared they needed 2000 deposits of $25 each for 2006-7 season tickets. In early March they warned that they hadn't received that level of committment yet and launched a final push.

On April 4 they ended the campaign in failure, about 400 short of the goal.

The anger of the Cincinnati fans was understandable and is best expressed in this post by the owner of the noted hockey web site Heckler's Grove:

Support Not There For AHL / RailRaiders


Well folks, after over 6 months and countless pleas by the RailRaiders staff, fans and other concerned groups such as the Greater Cincinnati Blueliners Club, Cincinnati hockey fans have failed to respond in numbers sufficient enough to allow the franchise to move forward. As a result, RailRaiders President and CEO has announced that the RailRaiders AHL franchise is to be sold and the AHL will leave Cincinnati for good.

The RailRaiders have reached the bridge, and the tracks were taken out by the apathetic fans who either wanted to wait until they knew who the affiliate was, who wanted to see a schedule, who wouldn't support something that wasn't "major league", who thought the 2,000 deposit number was a "marketing ploy", or who simply refused to support hockey at Cincinnati Gardens. A simple $25.00 fully refundable deposit was all that was required - absolutely no risk - but enough so-called "hard core hockey fans" refused to do it and the goal was never reached. Many of you will never know how close the number actually was, but I personally believe that the group of people I mentioned above would have been enough to push the RailRaiders over the top so they could play in October of 2006.

Some "marketing ploy", eh?

Instead, Cincinnati will never see the American Hockey League again. And if you think for one minute the NHL will come to Cincinnati any time soon, then I want some of the drugs your on so the pain I feel in my gut and in my heart right now can be dulled for just a little while.

There are going to be a ton of questions by fans, especially from those of us who put down our money early in the campaign. I'll do my best here to explain the reasoning why the franchise couldn't move forward with fewer than the propertied "2,000 deposits" that were requested since October 20th of 2005.

At the end of the day, financial stability was what the RailRaiders needed to achieve. The "2,000 Full Season Ticket" number was an easy way for fans to grasp the need for approximately $1.0 million dollars of guaranteed revenue. If you divide $1.0 Mil by the average season ticket price, you'll discover a number somewhat close to 2,000, and that's a number that is easier for the average consumer to understand.

Financial advisors set that goal to make sure the franchise had a chance to keep losses at a reasonable pace. Believe it or not, the goal in most sports franchises is not to make money, but to not lose much money. So, until the financial goal was reached (in the name of 2,000 FST's), the accountants would not let the franchise secure an affiliation, and at the end of the day there wasn't enough community support early enough to get it done.

If the goal would have been reached by March 1st or earlier, the RailRaiders would have had anywhere from 3 to 5 different affiliate options from which to choose. As the campaign dragged on into March, fewer and fewer options were available until - finally - no more options were left. But it's important to note that the sole reason why a deal couldn't be struck was the deposit level never reached the threshold of $1.0 Mil by the time affiliations options dried up.

The amount of new business generated by the RailRaiders sales staff was approximately 60% of the received deposits. That statistic shows how successful the franchise was at getting the word out and engaging the general public. The "fans" I listed in the first paragraph all knew the score. They were paying attention and heard the message. They either chose not to believe the organization (and it a way, who could blame then? They've been lied to for years by others...) or chose not to care. We are left with zero top quality hockey in Cincinnati. We will never again be privy to Cincinnati players like Eric Cole, Jaroslav Svoboda, Josef Vasicek, Joffrey Lupul, Chris Kunitz, Michael Holmqvist, Kurtis Foster, Ryan Getzlaf, or visiting players such as Jonathan Cheechoo, Jason Spezza, Niklas Kronwall just to name a few. It's a shame, but that is now Cincinnati's reality

To those of you who put down deposits and supported this effort, thank you for being a part of the solution. There was a tremendous amount of new business and old AHL fans that reportedly made it back by the deadline. It's unfortunate, but we will now have to live without good quality hockey thanks in part to a handful of people who - through the spread of lies, misinformation or whatever else - have failed to put the past behind them. It can be said without question that the staff of the Cincinnati RailRaiders did not lie to the fan base. They said they needed a set amount of revenue (2,000 FST's) or it wouldn't move forward. It did not reach the goal, and it will not move forward.

Will another team call Cincinnati Home? Will lower level hockey make another go in Cincinnati? Probably, but it will require sufficient fan support. A lease will need to be put in place and ticket prices will be AT LEAST what the RailRaiders were asking for to see the stars of tomorrow. Without the support of the community, it will be a money loser for whoever tries it and it won't last more than a season.

All of the fans have lost for the 3rd and final time - this is the end of the rail...

In the end, I doubt if there is a real need for this web site. After some time, Heckler's Grove will probably be just another memory of Cincinnati's storied hockey history. I'll make that decision in the coming days. However, I want to take this opportunity to thank a bunch of people who have made the last 5 years of my life within hockey circles fun and gratifying.

To all of my friends who I've come to know, thank you for your friendship and support of Heckler's Grove over the years. There are people who have contributed graphics and other content to these pages - HockeyRaven - you are the best!. To all of the great fans of Heckler's Grove, we made a great run of it while we were there. We'll never know how good it could have been.

I would like to especially thank the following people who have supported me and those of us in Heckler's Grove. Without their support and consent, Heckler's Grove wouldn't have even been a "thing":

Pete Robinson - for giving Cincinnati the chance to have the best available to us. Pete - I'm sure you had a lot of explaining to do with some of my signs on the "Heckler's Grove Wall of Love". Thank you for letting us have our fun. I wish the rest of the fans would have stepped up to support your vision - I'm so sorry that we couldn't get it done.

To the Ducks / RailRaiders ticket staff of Richard Elvin and "Big" Mike Amshoff. You knew how to treat a season ticket holder right. Please don't be discouraged by the events the way they unfolded - you guys really understand what it takes, and you did an awesome job.

To former employees Tom Gariety, Donn Bagnell, Steve Cowell - God only knows how good it could it have been if you wouldn't have been held back. You all saw the vision too, but realized that there were some fans in this city who just don't get it.

To Don Helbig. I've learned a lot more about hockey from you than most people have forgotten. Thank you for the friendship, insight, and trust you showed me over the time you have known me. You never lied to the fans - you didn't say what they wanted to here, you told them the truth. No one can expect anything more than that from a person, or an organization.

To all of you - thank you for giving Cincinnati this opportunity. Of course, some of the community responded. All of the new business that was generated is a testament to how successful your efforts were. I and many others think you have absolutely done a fantastic job- it was the disgruntled "fan" that let you - and the rest of us - down. Please hold your heads high, as you were able to sell a name and a logo and do better than any organization since the WHA Cincinnati Stingers. You guys deserve better - I only wish the outcome was different, because it would have been awsome...

Make no mistake about it - people are going to second guess every motivation and every action that was made by the RailRaiders staff. They're going to say "they didn't do 'X' " or "they should have done 'Y' ". But to hell with those people. They didn't have their money or their jobs on the line. You did - and you will all pay the ultimate price thanks to the people who wouldn't put down a fully refundable deposit for the 2nd best hockey league in North America.

Lastly, to all of you who thought I didn't know what I was talking about over the last 6 months, I have four words for you:

I TOLD YOU SO...

And in the best tradition of Heckler's Grove, I've got too more words for you:

YOU SUCK!!!

We'll never know what could have been. But at least it wasn't "never was", and the memories of the great times watching and playing hockey will always remain a part of me. Hopefully, history will not judge us too harshly. I can be comfortable knowing that I was on the right side of this issue, even though I will be remorseful that we have lost something that we held in our hands.

Best regards everyone,

Jim Questa
Founder of Hecklers Grove.

Yesterday this story took a strange turn. The Cincinnati Cyclones ECHL franchise announced it will return to play:

Professional Hockey Officially Returns To Cincinnati
Date: April 20, 2006

Contact: Sean Lynn


Cincinnati, OH –U.S. Bank Arena proudly announces that after suspending operations the past two seasons, the Cincinnati Cyclones will participate in the 2006-2007 ECHL season.

The team will rejoin the ECHL’s American North Division. The upcoming season will be the Cyclones fourteenth overall season. The team originated in 1990 as part of the ECHL before moving to the IHL in 1992. The Cyclones returned to the ECHL in 2001.

Season tickets are on sale now. Prices for the 36 game home season are: VIP Seats located within the first 2 rows from the ice $720, neutral zone seats (straightaways) $540, & endzones are $360. Half season packages are also available for $360, $270, and $180 respectably. Single game tickets will cost $22.50, $17.00, & $12.00 and will be available at a later date. Season tickets can be ordered by calling 513-421-PUCK (7825). More information on season ticket packages is available at www.cycloneshockey.com.

“It is our distinct pleasure to bring hockey back to Cincinnati,” said U.S. Bank Arena/Nederlander Chief Financial Officer Ray Harris. “We have been working on bringing back the Cyclones for months and are excited to see our hard work come to fruition. We feel strongly that Cincinnati will support this team. We are dedicated to bringing the people of Cincinnati a great product come October.”

“We are thrilled to have Cincinnati back in the ECHL,” commented ECHL commissioner Brian McKenna. “We see Cincinnati as a vital part of the league’s success and we share the organizations feelings that the community will support this team. The Cyclones history combined with a first class facility such as U.S. Bank Arena should make for a great season of hockey and a great future for Cincinnati hockey and the ECHL.”

The reaction of the fans is complicated. I wouldn't say there is complete support for this ECHL expansion into Cincinnati. Add to this the Cyclones history of affiliation with the San Jose Sharks, a team that has already burned Ohio residents, albiet in Cleveland.

I'm still trying to catch up with April 16

First, congratulations to Olympian Bob Nardella, who announced he is retiring from professional hockey. Although this hurts the playoff chances of the Rockford Ice Hogs, I'll carry fond memories of Nardella's play, particularly with the Chicago Wolves and in the 2006 Italian team Olympic games.

Billy Tibbetts will be suspended for two games with the Ice Hogs in their playoffs against the Fort Wayne Komets, the UHL decided. Most times, players are not punished for infractions in another league, particularly as time served in the UHL will not count towards his debt in the AHL. Tibbetts, who is a mercurial character in the best of times, did not take the team bus home from Milwaukee on Friday. I assume the team will be discussing that with him.

Hockey blogs are falling by the way side like mad. Obsessed with Hockey is still going strong, as are most sites associated with a newspaper. I'll be updating the list of blogs soon.

More incidents of hate at the Milwaukee Admirals games. People (from Milwaukee) screaming at children, Chicago fans being attacked... Earlier this year we went to Milwaukee to watch the Wolves play. It was February and the Wolves were in a death spiral. I never expected the Wolves to win.

Embracing the concept, I purchased a "Wolves Suck" button at the Blueliners Club, or maybe it was the Admirals Crew. It seemed a lucky totem, as I had to continually explain to Chicago Wolves fans the circumstances of the purchase and why I wore it for the rest of the season: The Ads lost big that day. And I like my Wolves Suck button. Not only does it remind me that the Western Division champion had trouble in the midst of our worst period with a team I love, it also diffuses the situation when some cheese headed bozo threatens me. "Wolves Suck"? Sure, here's my button.

Nothing like doing that to confuse 'em.

The Ads had their largest attendence ever at the game, fueled by $2 tickets in the upper bowl. Really, it was a caldron of hate fueled by cheap tickets, and a combination of once-off fans and a group of hard-core fans who the league would be better without.

Visiting another team's home ice always has the potential of creating violence. Security should be better prepared for incidents, and act to end the reign of terror of these bench jockeys in Milwaukee.

Steve Maltais had a memorable send-off when they raised his number to the rafters last week. The blog My Mundane Life has a nice take on it and a fight by Francis Lessard.

Finally, in an earlier post I'd mentioned that the UHL had not yet announced the Colonial Cup Playoff Schedule. Here is the hyperlink to it.

Bad idea-- my predictions for the first round

WHY AM I DOING THIS? This is just inviting me to be stupid but, here goes:

Western Conference
Milwaukee vs Iowa>> Iowa in an upset, 6 games.
Houston vs Peoria>> The Aeros get shot down. Rivermen in 5
Grand Rapids vs Toronto>> GR has an easy time of it, blowing the baby leaves away in 5
Syracuse vs Manitoba>> A tough series, but the Moose crush Syracuse in 7

Eastern Conference
Portland vs Providence>> The former Ducks rape the P-Bruins in 4
Hartford vs Manchester>> Wolfpack in 6. A wild guess on this one.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton vs Bridgeport>> The Tigers are still chillin', Pens in 4
Hershey vs Norfolk>> The Eastern Sads are on a roll, but can't overcome the Bears. Chocolate Bears smear them in 6

A few other hockey notes. There is a great video on the hockeyfights site. I watched it several times, laughing each time.

The roster for the Ice Hogs was announced today. As I alluded, Bob Nardella is not taking the ice with the Hogs in their playoff bid. I've heard Bob is retiring from hockey, though I've also heard he wants some time off to recuperate and has an offer from the Italian team.

Billy Tibbetts, however, is playing for the Ice Hogs in the playoffs. That should give the Hogs a big boost. Tibbetts has been suspended indefintely by the AHL following a slashing in the game, Friday, against Milwaukee. The Ice Hogs are an affiliate of the Milwaukee Admirals. On the Milwaukee line-up that night were two other Ice Hog players: Robin Big Snake and Nathan Lutz. I was on the road on Friday night, and missed the game. However, this line-up did lead to some discussion in our car speculating whether Big Snake and Tibbetts would have a go, though they are team mates.

B2 will be carrying the UHL and AHL games, except those from Fort Wayne. The Komets have not participated in the B2 arrangement. Unlike the Wolves, where all the games are broadcast in an exclusive arrangement with Comcast, the Komets have made a Bill Wirtzian decision to black-out all home games.

Arena Digest is one of the best sites on the web for strange news and stories about the background of the sports business. Here are two stories from this week that demonstrate the worth of this site:

Steeldogs to wear Bible-themed jerseys during AF2 game
April 12

For the first time in sports history, a professional franchise will wear Bible-themed jerseys during a game. On Saturday, May 5th, the Birmingham Steeldogs arena football team will don jerseys with the name of Bible hero SAMSON embroidered on the front as they take on the Louisville Fire at the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex. Specific Bible chapter and verse references will be created by combining the names and numerals on the backs of each player. The jerseys have been produced to replicate the Steeldogs regular game jerseys. Samson replaces Steeldogs across the chest, in reference to the Old Testament hero renowned for his incredible strength. On the back of the jerseys, instead of having the player’s last name, it will be replaced by a book of the Bible. The number on the jersey will correspond to a chapter and verse of that particular book.

It takes a mullet to fill an arena
April 12

Most people charged with filling an 18,000-seat arena with basketball fans would think big. Scotty Adams thinks long. Specifically, he thinks short on the top and long in the back -- the classic mullet. Mullet Madness was also by far the most fully articulated theme night of Adams’ career, a masterpiece of theme realization. It began with the mullets -- Adams found a Chinese source for copper-colored mullet wigs, featuring a sort of a church-lady permanent curl on top and a long, stringy cascade of hair in the back, for $1.50 a piece. He bought about 1,200, and gave them out to the first 1,000 fans to arrive.
But as with most masterpieces, there were homages to the Old Masters. The very idea of luring sports fans by celebrating the mullet hairstyle came from a hockey team up North; hockey players are known for the tail of hair sticking out from the back of their helmets, a classic mullet signifier.

I was out of town over the weekend. So, while I think about all that happened here in Chicago, and there was some hockey news here, here is a summary of the playoff games around the Midwest:

AHL:
Iowa Stars (#4) v. Milwaukee Admirals (#1) in Milwaukee 4/21, 4/22 at 7 P.M. 80 miles
in Iowa 4/24, 4/25, 4/27 at 7.05 P.M. 330 miles from Rosemont, IL

Toronto Marlies (#4) v. Grand Rapid Griffins(#1)
in Grand Rapids 4/21, 4/22 at 7 P.M. Eastern Time. 194 miles from Rosemont.

Peoria Rivermen (#3) v. Houston Aeros (#2)
in Peoria 4/24, 4/26, 4/27 at 7 P.M. 167 miles

ECHL:
Toledo Storm (#1) v. Johnstown Chiefs (#4). Storm are up 3-0 in the series with two games in Johnstown before heading back to Toledo (261 miles) 4/22 at 7.35 Eastern
Toledo is the closest spot to catch any Wolves in Gwinett Colors this season. The Storm is #1 in the American Conference North Division and Gwinett #1 in the American Conference South Division. If they meet, the winner goes to meet the National Conference winner for the Kelly Cup.

UHL:
Kalamazoo Wings (#1) v. Motor City Mechanics (#3). The dates are expected to be announced today. Kalamazoo is 164 miles, Motor City plays in Fraser, Michigan, 325 miles

Quad City Mallards (#3 in Western Conference) v. Danbury Thrashers (#1 Eastern Conference). The dates are expected to be announced today. The Mallards play in Moline, Illinois, 177 miles.

Rockford Ice Hogs (#1) v. Fort Wayne Komets (#2). The dates are expected to be announced today. The Rockford facility is 70 miles. The Fort Wayne facility is 178 miles.

Muskegon Fury (#2 Central Conference) v. Adirondack Frostbite (#2 Eastern Conference). The dates are expected to be announced today. The Fury play is 203 miles away.

Stayin' alive

Stayin’ alive… stayin’ alive. Ah, what a feeling. The Wolves squeezed a 2-1 victory out of the Iowa Stars tonight, tying them with the Ak-sar-ben Knights, who lost a game in Peoria at 81 points each. Iowa is in fourth place at 84 points. And, the last playoff spot in the AHL is still up in the air.

The game sheet shows the Wolves with 34 penalty minutes. But, 20 of those minutes were assessed after the game against the Wolves for an unknown infraction. So, during the game, the Wolves had 14 minutes in the sin bin against just eight for the Stars. Despite continued poor officiating by Gord Dwyer, the Wolves won.

Over in Peoria, however, it was a story of lack of discipline which led to another Peoria victory. Peoria dropping the Omaha Knights. Peoria continues, in my mind, to be the leading contender to win the Western Division and face the North Division post-season champ, probably Grand Rapids. Peoria is close on the heals of the Aeros still. The Houston team had a tough time finishing off the San Antonio Rampage, but did and remains three points ahead of Peoria.

So, tonight here are the magic numbers. The Iowa Stars eliminate the Wolves with four points in their last four games. They eliminate the Knights with six points. The Stars have a game in pocket against the Wolves. The Aeros retain second place by gaining four points in their last four games, they have a game in the pocket against the Rivermen.

Iowa within four points of ending Wolves post season hopes

Poor discipline may have ended the Wolves hopes for a playoff berth last night as the Iowa Stars rolled 4-1 past the Wolves. With the loss, the Stars will end the Wolves playoff hopes with any combination of four points, meaning they could do it themselves with a combination of two wins, one today and another on Tuesday against the Wolves.

The Wolves spent 28 minutes in the penalty box Saturday, versus only 18 for Iowa. Two of Iowa’s goals occurred on power plays, the final goal an empty netter. Now, I’ve continued to believe that a good team can overcome bad officiating. And this game was no exception. Wolves discipline melted in the heat of the competition. Yet you have to wonder at calls like the one by Referee Gord Dwyer at 2.56 in the second period. Nicklas Grossman was called at that point for tripping. His victim, Ramzi Abid was also given two minutes, for diving.

WHAT? Stuff like this is what causes fans to question a referees impartiality and objectivity. Take a class in logic ref… Yikes.

Wolves shot 36 on Michael Smith, who was not named a star of the game. I see it more frequently at the Allstate than in other Midwest venues, no matter the score, at least one Wolf will get a star. Okay, not always. But, I’m confused about this stuff. Michael Smith let some soft stuff dribble through and he was very lucky. I sit pretty close to the west goal, where he defended for two frames. Stuff was getting by him and it would bounce the wrong way (the right way if you were Michael Smith) and miss the goal.

But that stuff happened to Kari Lehtonen last year too. I think Smith deserved one of the stars of the game. Bottom line, stars of the game should have meaning.

By the way, in Omaha, Knights Warren Peters and Kam Cunning were named stars, despite the drubbing the Knights received.

The other contender for the last playoff spot is Omaha. They were defeated at home 5-1 by Peoria. It happened in Omaha too. This game, which was officiated by Steve Kozari, ended with the Knights receiving 35 minutes to the 26 assessed the Rivermen. The Knights are now three points out of fourth place with both teams having five games left. Any combination of seven Stars points ends Omaha’s hopes for post-season play.

Peoria on the other hand is in the interesting situation of being closer to edging the Aeros from second than the Wolves are of making the playoffs. The Aeros, high-flying heroes of Eastern sports pundits who watch (the Eastern Conference of) the AHL, has been in a tail spin. Bad timing going into the playoffs. The Rivermen are just three points from catching the Aeros, although the Aeros have a game in hand against the Rivermen. To end that, and retain home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs, the Aeros must gain five points in their last five games.

The Rockford Ice Hogs visited the Quad City Mallards on Friday. The Mallards won the game 2-1 in a shoot-out, but it was enough to give the Hogs 100 points for the season. The Hogs have had a tough time lately. They are another team that is probably secretly hoping for an early golf season for the Wolves. Bob Nardela and Billy Tibbetts currently play for the Wolves. A source close to Nardella says Nardella has received offers to play for Italy in the post-season, and may not return to Rockford for the playoffs. However, Tibbetts indicated to me, when we met him during an injury time-off a few weeks back, he plans to play in Rockford if the Wolves season ends.

The Mallards themselves have been musing about the idea of moving into the AHL. There has been some open talk between the UHL management, which is based in Fort Wayne and the management of the Mallards, in the newspapers, about this. Here is a Quad City article on the move. If I ever locate the link containing the extended discussion with Richard Brosal, a UHL commissioner and owner of the Fort Wayne Komets, I’ll add it here. Let’s sum up Brosal’s comments with the idea that it’s a bad idea financially for the Mallards to move.

On Friday April 4, there was some blood spilled in the Mallards front office as the pro-UHL supporters overcame the pro-AHL supporters. The story, carried in the Quad City Times here , follows the battle to control the Mallards between President Paul O’Dacre and Vice President Tim Taylor. It isn’t completely accurate to say Taylor was heading the pro-UHL side, however, O’Dacre and two others are out and Taylor has indicated the team is committed to the UHL for another year.

The AHL is not gone yet though. VSG said it is still considering options to sell the team. In the meantime, the team is refurbishing the Mark so the rink meets AHL standards. (Thanks to Dave Wolf of the AHLGriffins.com for the link).

Time to turn around and also note Dave’s excellent rant on the San Jose Sharks and the mistreatment of Cleveland Barons fans, here. Looking at the mess Cincinnati made of rejoining the AHL, I have to wonder if something like that is felt by former fans of the Mighty Ducks, Cyclones and Bees.

Chicago 3, Peoria 2 4/7/06

Every Wolves game now seems to hold the entire season in the balance. As a set-up to a three-game series with Iowa that starts in Chicago tonight and ends Tuesday, there was a 50 mile per hour wind pushing our van down I-55 toward Peoria. The Carver Center, in downtown Peoria, has wonky seats and terrible glass. But the play on the ice has been exciting all year. My last visit there, in January, saw the Rivermen shoot down an anemic Aeros. Check back in the blog and you’ll see me predict then the Aeros decline from top dog in the West and the assent of the Admirals.

It was another must-win game for the Wolves. The set-up was that the Iowa Stars and the Omaha Ak-sar-ben Knights were tied at 80 points, with the last playoff spot in question. As the Knights and the Stars were playing each other, the Wolves had to win to stay just three points behind the Western 4th place team. On Thursday the PPPShow.net had said the Chicago Wolves, despite an eight game win streak, were finished.

And, it seems true. Any loss by the Wolves may doom their season, the Wolves behind by three points.

The local fans were pumped, a visit by the Hanson (Carlson) Brothers and winning hockey were having their way in the river city. And the Peoria team was in a bit of a race itself, hoping to catch the Aeros in their death spiral. It was a question of which team was hungrier. Gavin Morgan made the first mark for the Rivermen at 2.07 in the first.

The fans near us pounded on the glass and let us know we were finished. As the Rivermen came back on the ice it seemed as though they’d lost some discipline, marked by sin time for David Backes and Trevor Byrne, answered only by Ramzi Abid. This didn’t lead to a Wolves goal immediately, but Scott Barney did score finally at 14.39, ending the period tied.

A spirited hockey fight in the first started with D.J. King picking on Kevin Doell. As the shift ended, the Wolves sent out Francis Lessard who promptly dropped gloves with King. It wasn’t two old ladies at center ice, instead two bruisers, neither willing to fall, ended with linemen calling an end for the exhausted contenders.

An early second period power play goal for the Wolves by Justin Morrison at 0.51, put the score at 2-1 Wolves. This was followed by Ramzi Abid scoring another power play goal at 12.53. The Rivermen took 8 minutes in the penalty box in the second period to just 2 minutes for the Wolves. As noted in earlier posts, discipline is becoming a key to winning games as the post-season develops.

Four more penalty minutes in the third period sealed Peoria’s fate, as the Wolves held their sin bin time to just two minutes in the third. A final goal by Tomas Mojzis at 8.07 threatened the Wolves, but a 15.25 penalty by Brendan Buckley put the final nail in the coffin.

Peoria remains the unknown in the West. They have soft hot hands right now, despite their loss to the Wolves. They’ve had their way with the Aeros, as noted earlier. A series between Peoria and any of the teams in the playoff, could easily see the Rivermen the Western Division representative in the Calder race.

The Wolves, meanwhile, face Iowa in three games, Saturday, Sunday in Chicago and then Tuesday in Des Moines. Iowa has defeated Chicago in every game this year. Both teams are fighting for the final playoff spot. Iowa defeated Omaha in a shoot-out in the Friday night game and also has a game in hand against the Wolves. Clearly, the Wolves have to win every game against the Stars, to put them in a sufficient lead over whatever the game in hand both the Knights and the Stars results in. And, even with those wins, the Knights remain an unknown.

If the Wolves break their string of losses against the Stars tonight, it would be the second longest win streak in the franchise history.

Lack of discipline dooms Knights. 3-1 Win for Wolves

Adrenalin. What a rush. It was all adrenalin last night as the Chicago Wolves defeated the Omaha ak-Sar-ben Knights 3-1. The recent surge in Wolves fortunes has been nothing short of a sports miracle. Before it started, and even yesterday morning, I’d pretty much written-off the Wolves chances for post-season play. They are currently three points behind the Knights and the Iowa Stars with six games left on the Wolves schedule, seven games each for the Stars and Knights.

That means that it is still a difficult road for the Wolves, but it is very possible the Wolves will win enough games and the Stars and the Knights lose enough games, so the Wolves end the season in fourth place, good enough to join post-season play.

The game last night was key for both teams. The Wolves needed two points and had to shut the Knights out of any points, i.e., a shoot-out win or over-time win for the Wolves would have been nearly as bad as a loss for them, as they would only have gained a point in the standings on the Knights.

While the Knights, as you can tell from the commentary in the first paragraph, wanted a win, it was the season on the line for the Wolves. The Knights would have come away happy even if the Wolves gained a point on them, provided the Knights won at least a point.

The crowd in the Allstate was a small 4626, probably about half of those were season ticket holders, and many knew the game was key to the team’s post-season hopes. As a season ticket holder, it was a game that makes you look around, as it starts, to absorb the people you’ve sat with and known over the past season and the campaigns before.

The Wolves have had five seven-game winning streaks in their history, prior to last night. A win would make this the fourth longest winning streak in the franchise history. The last time the team had a streak like this was in 2004.

If it ended after this remarkable streak, the letdown would be as devastating as the game two loss in the Allstate to the Phantoms in 2005.

The most remarkable moment in the game was the game-winning goal, by Ramzi Abid, at 18.14 in the third period. Leading up to that moment, the Knights had the Wolves at a numerical disadvantage for much of the third period, Brandon Coburn, Mark Popovic and Karl Stewart each taking penalties. Stewart’s was a five-minute major and game misconduct. Bad enough to lose Stewart, however, the Wolves didn’t put anyone in the sin bin immediately, hoping for a whistle before the penalty expired. Unfortunately, the penalty expired and no one was in the box—the Wolves had to wait for the whistle for their fifth man to join them.

Penalties are where it’s all at this season in hockey. The number of goals scored during power plays is up something like 50 percent over last year, while all goals are up about a third. Seeing any game go into the third period with just one notch for both teams, and the second goal of the game wasn’t scored till Knight Brandon Prust fired a goal in at 16.34 in the third, is rarity, a throwback to previous seasons.

The Wolves had suffered greatly at the hands of the Knights during penalty kills this season. It was a nerve-wracking third period. Of course there were the long moments of Knight power plays. And Prust’s goal took the air out of the building as fast as a pin lets the air out of a balloon. The crowd was chanting ref you suck following the major called on Stewart, the Wolves having put guys in the sin bin for nine minutes in the third, and no responding penalties assessed against the Knights.

Prust scores… silence from the crowd.

It was a significant turn in events for the team from the emotional high following the major against Stewart. Where was the ref as Michael Garnett shoved a Knight out of the crease and when Billy Tibbetts was held?

Remarkably, the ref was there, calling interference on Warren Peters at 18.14, the same time as Abid’s goal. The Knights started to implode. Discipline, required to bring a successful season to a close and roll into a winning post-season, it all evaporated at 18.14 for the Knights.

Thirty-two seconds later, 18.46, another goal by Kip Miller made it 3-1. The Knights on the bench exploded in a fit, a tirade, trading a man in the sin bin. The tension physically marked when Francis Lessard and Brandon Prust began trading blows behind the Knights goal with 21 seconds left in the match.

The match ended with the Wolves holding the puck behind their own goal: the crowd standing for much of the last two minutes. This was play-off level hockey. I wish the people in Omaha, who haven’t supported their team sufficiently, had seen this level of play. WOW!

I’m sitting now in Rockford, not my home, just a business trip. Thinking about the Rockford Ice Hogs as they enter the post-season. Two key members of that team are in Chicago: Tibbetts and 2006 Olympian Bob Nardella. I’d been expecting to spend some of my bread here, and in Peoria, Grand Rapids and Milwaukee, instead of the Allstate, during the playoff push.

The Hogs need Tibbetts and Nardella to successfully conclude their remarkable season. And while I wish them well, I want Tibbetts and Nardella to stay in Chicago as long as necessary for the Wolves in the post-season.

A big sorry, I should have written earlier

So, what’s up with this blog? We entered the time of the year when every hockey fan, except those from San Antonio and teams that have made it like Grand Rapids, are wondering whether their team has the right stuff. New job, taxes. Mundane stuff is causing me to try to get this done, and it has had a lower priority.

But it has been an exciting spring. First my Chicago Wolves seemed to self-destruct. Then they came back from the dead and are currently on a seven game win streak. With just seven games to go, they are five points behind Omaha and Iowa, those two teams being in a tie for the last play-off spot.

There was the great goals by Billy Tibbetts that showed the team had fire in the belly, and the sidelining of Tibbetts as a result of slamming into the goal on one of those great goals. There was, finally, the melt-down in Houston and the equally stunning lack of effort in Milwaukee. This all resulted in Milwaukee taking first place in the West and the slow flame-out of the Aeros.

There is also the equally powerful story of the surge from Peoria, as the Riverguys threaten to torpedo the leaders of the Western Division. The emergence of Grand Rapids in the North Division as the true IHL heirs this year and perhaps the one shot the IHL has of bringing the Calder back home where it belongs.

And, there is the story of the River Rats, Railraiders, Lock Monsters and Barons. And, I should mention all the other cities and fans that are wondering what sort of hockey, if any, they’ll see next year.

There hasn’t been a lack of great stories and ideas. Just following the re-birth of Michael Garnett as our lead goalie would cause the fan of any AHL team to tell the Wolves fan to put a sock in it.

And least I forget, there is the UHL Rockford Ice Hogs, The Hogs were the first American team that I follow to clinch their division, though they have hit a worrisome skid in the last few months. Meanwhile, in Belfast, Theo Flury jumped out of a penalty box to get it on with some fans. The Belfast Giants, who I also follow from afar, are in contention for their second crown of the year. I should have my wife discuss this, however, as she understands the arcane rules of the British Elite league better than I do.

That’s way too much to discuss in one piece, of course. So let’s pick something easy and ease on back into hockey. The Wolves play the Peoria Rivermen on Friday in the Peoria Civic Center. The game will also host the Carlsons, also known as the Hansons, from Slapshot. The Hansons are a business in themselves. However, if you’re nearby, go. Their appearance at the game is benefitting local charities and Peoria isn’t attracting a lot of fans. I’m sure good seats are still available.

Peoria has benefitted from the decision by the St. Louis Blues earlier in the season to dive for the bottom, hoping to gain the first draft choice. As a result, the Rivermen have seen an influx of NHL level players and have become a real threat to the Aeros and the Admirals.

The Wolves have been so anemic this year that a great rivalry between Peoria and Chicago hasn’t really developed yet. Peoria came up from being the ECHL affiliated local team, and the Worcester Ice Cats, the team that actually moved into Rockford, hadn’t played the Wolves that I recall.

However, up in Rockford there is a great Illinois rivalry taking place on the ice as the Hogs host the Quad City Mallards. The Mallards are planning on making a decision on moving to the AHL at the end of the season. Both the UHL and AHL have created strong Midwest cores, almost bus leagues. The UHL is developing teams in Bloomington, Illinois and Hoffman Estates, a suburb between Chicago and Rockford. So the UHL is getting stronger around here. The AHL’s recent move into Omaha, Iowa and Peoria are still new. Omaha gained some ground after the conclusion of the college hockey season and is beginning to attract some fans. Iowa and Peoria are reportedly on the target of what was expected by their owners. Post-season play by Omaha or Iowa would eliminate the Wolves, but would be good for these cities.

You can’t argue with a great rivalry. Although the Hogs have beaten the crap out of the Mallards this season, the Mallards are probably interested in bloodying the Hogs in Rockford and proving a point before the play-offs. If I’m reading the standings right, the Mallards are tied for the last remaining play-off spot. The other team is the Richmond Riverdogs, the same team that is rumored to be moving to Hoffman Estates next season.

Now on the Riverdogs roster is a guy I’d like to spend some time with, Brendan Tedstone. Here’s a picture of him. It doesn’t do him justice. 375 pounds of fun. He doesn’t get much ice time, but I loved watching him mess with the fans in Rockford a few weeks ago. He is a character of the game, amassing 27 penalty minutes in just three games. Put me down as a Tedstone fan. Tedstone is from the LNAH. What is the LNAH? I had to look it up too, look here first: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligue_Nord-Am%C3%A9ricaine_de_Hockey

If the Riverdogs move to Hoffman Estates, I hope Tedstone comes along, if for nothing else, he can work the back office. A most excellent guy.

Finally, where would we be at this time of the year without some speculation about next year? The Wolves released the Alpha Wolf jersey for next season. These jerseys, which you’ve probably seen, are given by the organization to season ticket holders only. They are not available to the public for sale. Traditionally, they have matched colors with the Atlanta Thrashers. Here’s this year’s: Who do you think the Wolves are affiliated with?