More IHL Chatter

I'm sure I'm not the only person out there getting tired of all the news related to the IHL folding. Woody over at the Blades blog has this story on what the Quad-City Mallards options. And this story from the Ft. Wayne Gazette talks about what the Komets (I seriously hate that name) are facing. The story from the Ft. Wayne Gazette has a great breakdown on the differences between the IHL, ECHL, and CHL. I do find his opinion on why it would be bad for the Komets to enter the ECHL very irritating.

It's so silly I'm going to quote it.

"They would be unable to keep some popular, older players from the current team. The team won’t like seeing its stars called-up midseason. Travel costs will be higher than in the IHL, making things tougher for ownership."

Yes, it sucks to lose beloved veterans that have won you three championships in a row. I'm not going to deny that the ECHL's rules limiting a team to four veterans (the league consider a player with 260 professional games a veteran) does tend to run the most experienced guys off, I have no problem admitting that.

The part of this story that irritates me is the mention of call-ups somehow being a bad thing. How is a player who worked his butt off getting a chance to move one step closer to the NHL a bad thing. Look at this list of some of the names of the 443 ECHL players that have made it to the NHL. That's quite am accomplishment for a developmental league. I find it hard to believe that a professional hockey players greatest dream is to win a Turner Cup (or a Kelly Cup for that matter). I also, find it hard to believe that the fans in Ft. Wayne would feel any different about seeing a guy they watched in the early stages of his career make it to the big time than Blades fans feel. I devoted a post to McFlickier getting a hat-trick in the AHL, and one to Khudobin playing in his first NHL game because I was happy for their achievements and I new that other Blades fans were happy for them as well. I love being able to say I saw a player before he hit it big, that I saw his first professional point, or hat-trick or shut-out. I know it sucks to lose players when you need them, and ECHL rosters can be a revolving door at times. It's a trade-off, and I don't think it's a bad trade.

I also don't really buy that travel is going to be difficult for the Komets. I've been working on this Google map of all the teams locations in the ECHL (I've added Ft. Wayne to help see where they are in relation to other teams).


View ECHL Team Locations in a larger map

The distance to Toledo, Kalamazoo, Cincinnati and even Wheeling is much closer than any team the Everblades play. If our team can afford to bus 10 hours to play the South Carolina Stingrays (the closest ECHL team to the Everblades), I'm sure two hours to Toledo won't break the bank. The ECHL will also allow teams to set their own schedule for the most part. The Komets don't have to pay for travel to play here if they can't budget it. They can just wait until the Blades head up to take on the Walleye, K-Wings, and Cyclones.

I apologize for the long rant, but that writer really irked me. To make it up to you here's a picture from Thursday of the sunset on Ft. Myers beach.

(At least it's not another cat picture)

Friday Links and a Goodbye

This is definitely not a happy Friday, Woody over at the Blades Blog broke the news (click the link to see intelligent commenter's on the Blades Blog for once) yesterday that Scott Hotham is off to Norway to play for Lillehammer IK. It's sad to see him go, he was one of the players I was most excited about seeing come back next year. Unfortunately, players make more money in Europe, and can sometimes get the attention they're not getting here. I guess I'm going to have to get comfortable with google translate to keep you guys updated on how he's doing. 

On to the Links!

- I found this blog during one of my (many) google searches for ECHL fan blogs (seriously, if you know of one or want to start one drop me a line). It's pretty interesting to get a glimpse into what goes on behind the scenes in an ECHL team's front office.

- Your Wikipedia Hockey page- "Ice Hockey in Africa"

- This is a really great article on Tara Black, the Chief Operating Officer of our new AHL affiliate the Charlotte Checkers (that still feels odd).

- This is another awesome article from greatesthockeyegends.com- "Is Hockey Fixed?"

- I love old school hockey masks, I'd love to buy this and hang it on my wall.

YouTube Tuesday

There is no video more appropriate to post on this YouTube Tuesday than the highlights from game 5 of the Kelly Cup Finals. Major congratulations have to go out to the Cyclones, their players, staff, and fans. Two cups in three years is quite an accomplishment, and coming back from being down in a series twice is even more amazing (pretty much steamrolling what was the best team in the ECHL during the regular season, is not to shabby either).



I think a lot of Everblades fans would agree that it will be pretty awesome when the Blades accomplish this next season.

Friday Links

Happy Friday everybody. As always, enjoy some links.

- The Cyclones have a chance to win the Kelly Cup tonight. A re-cap of last night's game can be found here. They take on the Steelheads tonight at 7:30.

- A very appropriate Wikipedia hockey page "Kelly Cup"

- There are some rumblings coming from the Rochester fan base. This may not end well...

- Here is a great list of the best and worst hockey movies. I'm proud to say I've seen four of the top five. Although it seems to be missing The Rocket: The Legend of Rocket Richard (you have to listen to the movie in it's original French, it's so awesome).

- If you find the business side of hockey interesting, you have to check out CapGeek.com, it's great way to keep track of NHL contracts and cap space.

- They forgot Tim Tebow...


see more Funny Graphs

YouTube Tuesday

Time to get pumped up for game three between the Cyclones and Steel heads. Enjoy the highlights from the Cyclones and Reading series.



I'll try to keep updating the score on twitter (you can check back here as well, the twitter box on the side should show the tweets too).

Kelly Cup Update

As much as I wish the Everblades were in the Kelly Cup Final, they're not, so I'm left cheering for the Cyclones (beating the Royals and representing our conference is enough for me). The best part is they're actually up 2-0 in their series with the Steelheads. Both wins came from goals in the closing seconds of the third period. Can you believe they finished the conference final last Wednesday, traveled to Idaho for games on Friday and Saturday, and won both games against a team that's 5-0 at home? It's almost enough to make me forgive the entire populace of Cincinnati for Skyline Chili. Almost.

(My Sicilian great grandmother just rolled over in her grave)

The next three games are in Cincinnati, including game three tomorrow night at 7:30. You can check out this link to catch the radio broadcast of your choice.

Friday Links

Another Friday, another set of links. I hope the Everblades announce some new soon.

- The Cincinnati Cyclones came from behind in their series with the Reading Royals to win game 7, and advance to the Kelly Cup Finals. They take on the Idaho Steelheads tonight.

- This hockey card belt is awesome!  

- Reason #285 why living in Florida sucks hockey-wise.

- This is one of the most hideously decorated houses I've ever seen. The air hockey table in the kitchen is cool though.

- This reporter was able to learn how to drive a Zamboni! I'm terrible jealous.

- This story on Marguerite Norris, the first woman to get her name on the Stanley Cup, is pretty interesting. You can check out the Wikipedia page on her too. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a book about her. She seems like a very interesting woman.

- I must have this cake at my wedding!

YouTube Tuesday: Kelly Cup Playoff Re-Cap

The National Conference series is all tied up 2-2 thanks to a 7-2 game from the Stockton Thunder. The American Conference series between the Cincinnati Cyclones and Reading Royals is now 3-2 hanks to a huge effort from the Cyclones to win game four 6-4 and win game five 5-0. For some reason, the Royals were not happy about losing two in a row, they seem to have lost their cool. I don't think anyone who was at the Everblades game against the Royals in the early part of the season would forget the three fights in a row, and how much they can behave like a bunch of undisciplined thugs.

Here are three videos of the 5-0 games insanity....










Is it possible the Royals have lost their cool, or are the Cyclones just great when the cards are stacked against them? We won't find out untill 7:35 Tomight. The series between the Steel heads and Thunder will also be played at 9:10 our time (7:10 theirs) tonight as well. If you're interested you can check those game out on the B2 networks like you would for Everblades games.

Remember David Leggio?

This seems to be quite the year for ex-Blades goalies. Both Anton Khudobin and Justin Peters made their NHL debuts this season, both winning in those starts. Now, David Leggio has won a championship in the Finnish hockey league, and been selected to represent the US in the World Championships happening right now in Germany.

In the playoffs with his Finnish team, TPS Turku, Leggio had a record of 5-2, a 1.58 GAA, and a .942 SVP. TPS Turku had fallen on some rough times and was the Cinderella story of the Finnish leagues playoffs (you can find out about that here).

Leggio joins goalies Scott Clemmensen of the Florida Panthers, and Ben Bishop of the Peoria Rivermen. If you are interested in watching the games USA Hockey has a link on it's website for a pay-to view site (sadly, what they charge per international game is way cheaper than what B2 charges for ECHL games).

I'm hoping Leggio gets a chance to prove himself, and maybe find a spot back in the States. Then my game worn, signed 3rd jersey may be worth some money...

Friday Links

Another Friday, another set of links.

- A few months ago, I was planning a post on weird goalie superstitions (inspired by Brusty's pad tapping, and Marc-Andre Fleury's pirouetting). That post never materialized, but this story from a 1977 edition of Sports Illustrated covers the weird to the boring.

- My plan to own a Zamboni may be in danger. This step by step list mentions some things I hadn't thought of...

- A Florida native and admitted Panthers fan is ranked #61 for the upcoming NHL draft. I guess hockey is making (slow) progress down here after all. (via Litter Box Cats)

- Your Wikipedia hockey page- "Sledge Hockey"

- You have to check out this list of the greatest photos in hockey history. I can't decide which is my favorite.

- Turns out, that Ross Carlson "ooh" face wasn't a one time thing...

Kelly Cup Playoff Update

I'm sorry this didn't occur to me sooner.I had assumed everyone would lose interest in the ECHL playoffs once the Blades were out. Turns out, things are getting kind of interesting.

In the American conference, the Royals are stomping yet another team.  They're up 3-0 in their series with the Cincinnati cyclones. A big reason for the Royals getting this far has got to be Matt Dalton. This dude has not lost in regulation in the post season, and he does this all while sleeping on the floor of the team bus.

The Royals take on the Cyclones at 7:05 this Saturday. A win means a trip to the the Kelly Cup Finals to take on the winner of the National conference. You can check out a story on this from a local paper in Reading here.

In the National conference the Idaho Steelheads are up 2-1 in their series with the Stockton Thunder. They had to go into triple overtime for the third game to be decided, eventually leading to a 1-0 win for the Thunder. The next game is Friday at 10:30 (7:30 PT).

If last season is any indication of who will be winning the Kelly Cup, the Royals are a lock. Ask the Stingrays.

YouTube Tuesday

There has been no news from the Everblades lately. It would be nice if the off season would hurry up and end. To hold you over until October, enjoy this odd goal.