Week #4 — November 8 2009

Well Jacks fans, here we are again after a great weekend of Jacks hockey!  What can I say about how the Jacks are playing this early in the season.  I don’t want to jinx anything, so lets get to the highlights!

So first of all, congrats to the entire team on a great three wins in three nights!  It has been great to see how the offense handles the different looks the Ice Rays and Mudbugs were giving on defense.  Defensively, the Jacks have been on top of their game, clearing the trash in front of Toivenen and Martin.  Congrats to the Jacks on earning the first wins against Bossier-Shreveport since December 2002, the first year after the WPHL and CHL merged.  In addition, I have to give a huge congrats to both of the Jacks special teams!  While the powerplay was a little on the flat side this weekend, 8 goals were scored on 23  attempts (35%), which continues a streak of scoring 2 or more powerplay goals in their last 8 games!  The penalty killers were no slouches either, allowing just 2 powerplay goals on 14 attempts (86%).  The penalty killers have not allowed more than 2 goals all season!  Finally, a congrats to all of the Jacks on being voted #1 in the first coaches poll this season.

Now on to the individual accolades, and there are a few I have to mention.  First of all, congrats to Kory Karlander and Kenny Bernard who accounted for 6 of the 12 goals (3 each) scored over the 3 games, and also got 2 assists each!  Congrats to Dominic Leveille who scored 1 goal, and had 3 assists, leading the league with 17 points over all (3 goals and 14 assists).  Congrats to Phil Plante who had 1 goal, and 4 assists over the 3 games.  Congrats to Alex Dunn on getting 1 goal and 3 assists in the 3 games.  Congrats to Jeff Pierce, Sebastien Thinel, and Mike Ramsay who each had 1 goal and 1 assist over the 3 game span.  Congrats to Colin Circelli who had 2 assists in the 3 games.  Congrats to  Jean Bourbeau, Dave Van Drunen and Juha Toivenen, thats right Toivenen, on each getting 1 assist over the 3 games.  Toivenen joins the ranks of I believe two or three other goalies who have gotten at least one assist this season.  I wish the league would actually put goalies on the scoring leaders list so that I could confirm this quickly.  Congrats to Bernard who continues on a 7 game goal streak, and to Plante who is on a 7 game point streak!

Toivenen, the leagues leading goalie, stopped 37 of 40 shots on goal against the Ice Rays on Thursday, and 14 of 15 shots on goal against the Mudbugs on Saturday night, improving to a 5-0 record.  Joel Martin stopped 21 of 22 shots on goal against the Mudbugs on Friday night, improving to a 3-1-1 record and is now ranked third in the league.  It has to be great for Gillis and Cressman to look at the goalie leaders and see #1 and #3 for Odessa.  Good goalies, good defense, good offense, good special teams, what else can be said!

Now that all of the accolades are done, I have one rant I need to get off my chest, which has been brought up before:  the stupid penalties.  Seriously guys, this is something ya’ll need to work on NOT doing!  I know that it sometimes seem necessary to take a penalty, usually on odd man rushes, but in that millisecond think about it.  Is the defender making a play on the puck, or just defending?  Is the offense making a rush, that as a defender you know you can catch up with?  Is the goalie out of position on a rush, or where is the offense shooting from?  I know its alot to think about, but it can definitely show benefits when executed.  While I know that our penalty killers can step up to the task when called upon now, there could be a point down the road, that a powerplay goal gets through and determines the outcome of a game.  Once again, we got rid of one of the biggest offenders of stupid penalties, so lets work on not committing anymore.

The Jacks are back at home on Friday for a game against the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees.  This is the first game of a four game home stand, so lets pack the Jack Shack this weekend Odessa and Midland, and show this team we really support all of their hard work!

Around the League

• Where’s the beef?  The Texas Brahmas were 1-2 over the weekend, losing to Amarillo (4-3) on Friday and the Mudbugs (2-1) on Sunday afternoon.  Boasting a 4-4-2 record so far, the defending champs have not really shown they’re championship material.  Now granted, it is early in the season, but here’s a sobering for Dan Wildfong and his bunch:  if the playoffs were to start today, the Brahmas would be on the golf course since they are in 6th place.
• The Buck stops here?  After dropping a disastrous 9-0 loss to Arizona on Wednesday night, the Bucks rallied to win back-to-back games against Arizona on Friday (3-2 SO) an Saturday (4-3).
• The Eagles finally left their nest on Saturday, and posted a 4-2 win over Amarillo.
• Why is everybody always picking on me?  I see that Karl Sellan was up to his old tricks on Friday and Saturday night.  Roughing and Goalie Interference at the 9:20 mark of the 1st, sounds like a James Hiebert move.  On what appears to be his next shift after serving the penalties, Holding the stick minor at 13:43.  And to top off his 1st period shenanigans, a Roughing minor at the 17:40 mark.  Seriously Hillman, talk to the idiots in charge, force them to dump the bozo’s like Sellan, Fleck, and Lewis, and bring over some of the Knoxville Icebears you won back-to-back SPHL championships with.
• At first glance, it looks like an even distribution of penalties over the weekend, although interference calls may be leading.  It would be interesting to see if a plausible theory about penalty quotas could be made.

Week #3 — November 2 2009

Well fans, here we are again after another exciting weekend of Jackalopes hockey.  The Jacks only played one game, but it was a really exciting one.  So off to the highlights.

The Jacks only game this weekend was on Friday versus the Corpus Christi Ice Rays, and it ended in another win during a shoot-out.  However, this one only needed 4 rounds, with the Jacks getting 2 goals and the Ice Rays getting zero.  Congrats to Sebastien Thinel on getting his 200th career goal, and the 1st in seven games this season.  Sebby also got one of the 2 goals in the shoot-out, and an assist on Phil Plante’s goal, so hopefully the monkey’s off his back now.  Congrats to Mike Ramsay who had a goal and shoot-out goal.  Congrats to Phil Plante who had a goal and an assist.  Congrats to Kory Karlander who had 2 assists.  Congrats to Colin Circelli, Dominic Leveille, and Alex Dunn also had assists Friday night.  The Jacks were 2 for 7 on the power play, while Corpus Christi was 2 for 9.

I was a little shocked to see Joel Martin in net, but he was good against Corpus Christi on opening night, and he was good again Friday night.  Martin stopped 48 of the 52 shots on goal, while the Ice Rays Kris Tebbs stopped 31 of the 35 Jacks shots on goal.

The Jacks are back in Corpus Christi on Thursday night, and in one of the more ridiculous scheduling things I’ve seen so far, in Bossier-Shreveport on Friday and Saturday night.

Around the League

• It was finally announced that James Hiebert is a cow.  Congrats.  Rumor is that cow management is looking to rename the team the Charlestown Chiefs.  Look for a movie deal in the cows future.
• The Allen Americans are still undeafeated in regulation, only losing in a shoot-out to the cows on Saturday night.
• Congrats to the Missouri Blazers on the franchise’s first win.  The lucky victims:  the Wichita Thunder.
• Interesting factoid:  There was one shoot-out per game night over the weekend (Fri:  Jacks over the Ice Rays, Sat:  Cows over Americans, Sun:  Killer Bees over Bucks).

Week #2.1 — Oct 28 2009

THE GORMAN CURSE IS OVER!!!!!!

That’s right, the Jacks were finally able to get a check in the W column when playing against former Jacks goaltender, Mike Gorman at the Jack Shack.  Gorman is now 3-1 when playing the Jacks at his former home, and hopefully now the Jacks will realize he can be beat.

Now on to the rest of the highlights and impressions from last nights game.  Congrats to reigning CHL Performance of the Week winner Colin Circelli, Kory Karlander, and Paul Kelly, who each had 2 goals last night!  Congrats to Alex Dunn for getting the Gordie Howe hat-trick last night, getting the assist on Kelly’s first goal, the fight with Karl “The Turtle” Sellan, and the goal on a powerplay with 18 seconds left in the game!  Congrats to 3rd period penalty killers for getting two short-handed goals on one powerplay, 12 seconds apart!!  Congrats to Dominic Leveille who got an assist in each period last night.  Congrats to Sebastien Thinel who tallied two more assists to his career totals.  Congrats to Kenny Bernard who had a goal and assist in the 3rd period.  The Jacks were 2 for 7 on the powerplay last night, and Missouri was 1 for 5.  Juha Toivenen stopped 25 of 26 shots on goal, with some really good stops.

The only “bad” thing I really saw on the ice, was that except for Juha Toivenen, the rest of the guys just looked like they were performing at 80%.  Now I know we are battling some injuries, playing through pain and all, but it was still a game, and every point counts.  And honestly, who knows what the final score would’ve been if the boys were playing at 100%, but I definitely see it as going double digits — 20-1, 50-1, 99-1, the possibilities were endless.  I wasn’t aware till game time, that J.R. Bria was put on the IR, and that Michael Grenzy was the kid sporting the #3 jersey last night.

Tom Steinel was up to his old tricks last night, with several missed or bad calls on both teams.  Seriously Wayne Bonney, I think YOU should start paying the teams who have to endure his ineptness for their games.

Last but not least, I would like to congratulate Scott Hillman on entering the Jacks “ring of fame” last night.  Hillman, who played in 446 games for the Jacks from 1999-2007, scored 66 goals, and is 2nd behind Thinel with 260 assists for the Jacks.  Hillman won two SPHL championships with the Knoxville Ice Bears, and is now the head coach of the expansion Missouri Mavericks.

With that out of the way, I would like to give some advice based on what I saw last night:  Get the egos in check.  All the old Blazer’s players appear to be playing like they were still in Oklahoma City with Doug Sauter behind the bench.  Jeff Christian, Bill and Ted Vandermeer, and former Jackalope Andrew Davis are some good players, but are hindered by some of the players around them.  Tell Tyler Fleck to stop crying to the referee every time something doesn’t go the Mavericks way.  And last but not least, get rid of Karl Sellan, who is a cancer on and off the ice.  I mean seriously, Rule 64 in the CHL Rulebook (Diving/Embellishment) was renamed in his “honor”!  There is some definite potential on that team, but the guys need to know who’s boss.

Around the League

• While still Jacks news, I decided to put the league awards down here.  So first of all, congratulations to Jeff Pierce who was announced as the Oakley Player of the Week on Monday.  Pierce had 5 goals and 2 assists in three games (10/20, 10/23, 10/24) last week.
• Congratulations to Colin Circelli on winning the CHL Performance of the Week (Oct 16 & 17th) for his game tieing goal with 32 seconds left in the 3rd, and shoot-out winning goal on opening night versus Corpus Christi.
• While it has not been officially confirmed by the Brahmas, it appears former Laredo Buck goon James Hiebert is the newest steak.  Jacks fans will remember Hiebert for his intentional charging of Juha Toivenen during the conference semi-finals last season.  It is my guess that Dan Wildfong and the Brahma management are fine playing Slapshot hockey now that they won a cup.  Maybe ya’ll can trade one of your truly good players like Jordan Cameron or Tyler Skworchinski to Tulsa for Rick “The Big Goon” Kozak.  Or better yet, I heard a rumor that David Silverstone is panhandling on the Amarillo street corners.  Maybe Jason Dietsch can learn how to truly injure another player from one of these goons.

Week #2 — Oct. 26 2009

Well here we are again Jacks fans.  Another weekend of good Jacks hockey has been played, and we find the Jacks 3rd in the south with a 3-1-1 record, behind Allen (4-0) and Amarillo (5-1).  I would have to say its not a bad start to the season!  The Jacks are a little banged up, but hopefully this “bug” will be history when the second half of the season rolls around.

Now lets get to some highlights from this weekend shall we!

First of all, I have to admit that I had a family get together on Friday night, and did not get to listen to the game.  But what I saw when I was able to check the scores in the 3rd surprised me!  Congrats to Jeff Pierce on his first professional hat trick (I was corrected on this).  Congrats to Garrett Gruenke on his first professional goal.  Just remember Gruenke, we love you as fighter too, so please don’t give that up!  I have to say its good to see our power play clicking like it did last season!  The Jacks were 4 for 9 on Friday, with Alex Dunn and Paul Kelly getting a goal and assist on the PP, Dominic Leveille getting 3 assists on the PP, and Jeff Pierce and Kenny Bernard with the other two PP goals.  Great job guys, and keep up all the hard work!

Now as for Saturday, I am still proud of the boys despite the shoot-out loss.  They played their butts off out there, but just fell short.  And thats why I am still proud.  Yeah I would’ve loved the win, but when you look at the only two blemishes so far this season, they were both close.  Now coach Gillis might see it different, and would at least want a blow out so he could have something to blame, but I’m fine with that.  I do have to say though, that the boys need to focus on dominating teams.  I mean, we were up 3-0 at the end of the 1st, and when the 2nd period started, it looked like the boys were really tired.  Now I know we are banged up now, and it sounds like some guys are playing through some pains, but you can’t sit back and just play defense against a good team.  With all that being said, on to the highlights.  Congrats to Sebastien Thinel for getting his 300th assist and 500th point, while putting up 3 assists during the game.  Congrats to Colin Circelli on getting a goal and 2 powerplay assists.  And congrats to rookie defenseman, Derek May on his assist and first professional point Saturday night.

Now as far as the shoot-out, what can I really say.  It took 11 rounds to decide the outcome, with both goalies doing there best to stop every shot that came their way.  Joel Martin stopped 9 of 11 shooters with Simon Mangos getting both Mudbugs goals.  John Decaro stopped 10 of 11 shooters, with Mike Ramsay getting the lone Jacks goal.  I would like to give some advice to the Jacks though in regards to shoot-outs, and this can actually be applied to anyone’s game.  So listen up boys and girls!  First of all, go watch some NHL shoot-outs, to see exactly what I’m talking about here.  While the shoot-out is relatively “new” to the NHL game, they do have a handle on the general strategy involved.  Second, practice the lost art of “goalie faking”.  A good deke can go along way to getting a goalie out of position.  Finally, if you are shooting from the red-line/goal-line midway point, the goalie is able to provide a bigger wall.  Shooting from the blue-line/goal-line midway point is a little better, but the goalie is still able to provide a bigger wall than when you are closer.  Do slap shots get through?  Of course they do, but I would guess that this is a smaller percentage, like 20%, than getting the goalie out of position and shooting.  While I have not played hockey, I do consider myself a student of the game, watching as much as I can, so take my advice how you will.

I am looking forward to Tuesday night, when the expansion Missouri Mavericks travel to Odessa for the only home meeting this season.  In addition, Missouri coach and former Jacks great Scott Hillman, will be added to the “ring of honor” located above the “suites” on the east end of the coliseum.

Notes from around the league

• Texas lost back-to-back meetings against the Mississippi Riverkings this weekend.  Friday night, the Riverkings beat the defending champs 3-2, after a four round shootout, Mississippi getting 3 goals to 1.  On Saturday night, Texas’ home opener and banner raising, the Riverkings won 5-3, going 4 for 12 on the powerplay.  Texas’ Jason Deitsch did not play Friday night, after he was suspended by the league for 1 game, after an attempt to injure a Colorado Eagles player last weekend.
• The Allen Americans are still undefeated, boasting a 4-0 record.  Now while some may be getting worried, and Allen could be taking Colorado’s place as the AHL-caliber team in our league, there are still plenty of games to play.  Looking at the overall numbers:  Allen has made 14 goals, but have also given up 9 goals, and I’m not checking on the shots on goal for these games, but all 4 games were close 1 or 2 point games.  Its a silver lining anyway for the doom-and-gloom sayers in the league.  Allen has 4 games coming up against tough Southern Conference teams (2 vs Texas, 2 vs Corpus Christi), so we will see if the shine comes off this new expansion team.

I was asked the following question Saturday by a reader of the blog, and while I can’t remember my exact response, I will try to give my answer here.

Q.  Do you love antagonizing Mr. Bonney?

A.  No I do not love antagonizing Wayne Bonney.  I believe the fans of the Central Hockey League deserve better officiating than what we have received over the last six years that Bonney has been the Supervisor of Officials.  We are constantly being told that the CHL is a development league, not only for the players but the officials as well.  While the majority of players do usually continue positive development, some going on to higher level leagues, the officials do not.  In fact the officials seem to get worse year to year, especially those who continue to call games in this league.  Why?  Is CHL management really that satisfied with Bonney’s overall job?  I can’t speak for each teams owners, management, coaches, and players, but the fans all over the league are dissatisfied with the consistent inconsistency of the leagues officials!  In fact, if I would’ve had the same overall satisfaction with my work performance, I would’ve been fired 5 years ago!

Its constantly being thrown in our face that two officials, Frederick L’Ecuyer and Gord Dwyer are NHL refs now, but that doesn’t say much when others are not moving up into the NHL and AHL!  In fact, I would say that if the NHL put whistles in the hands of Tom Steinel or Tudor Floru, just examples, that the NHL fans would eat those guys for lunch!  The NHL would send them packing, not back to the CHL, black balling them from ever officiating in professional or collegiate games ever again.

So Mr. Bonney, answer some of the fans questions.  Are there meetings to discuss the good, bad and missed calls from each game with all on-ice officials?  Are there performance evaluations?  And if yes, what happens when an official accrues multiple negative evaluations?

Until next time Jacks fans!  GO JACKS GO!

Opening Weekend + Tuesday

The start of the 2009-10 season has been one of highs and lows for the Jacks and their fans.  For the first game of the season, we were treated to some last minute heroics from Colin Circelli, and a six round shootout with Circelli putting the go ahead goal in.  On Saturday night, the boys were in Ape country, and it appeared they did everything they could to come back in that one.  In both of these games, Joel Martin looked pretty comfortable between the pipes during regulation and overtime, but not so much during the shootout.  But he hung in there and was able to stop one more than Corpus Christi’s goalie.

And then there was the game Tuesday night against Rio Grande Valley…  I’m not sure yet what to really think about the game, and that’s even after sleeping on it.  I mean on one hand, it appeared the vaunted power play from last year had returned with a vengeance scoring on 5 of 7 power plays.  However, can that be attributed to Gillis stressing power play offense during practice, or the Bee’s not gelling yet on the penalty kill?  We’ll have to see how  the boys play on Friday night when they take on the Apes again.

Juha Toivenen looked amazing Tuesday night, stopping all 24 shots from the Bee’s, and getting his sophomore season off to a great start!  During warm-ups, he blocked all but one shot against him, and you could just tell he wasn’t going to let anything else get by him for the rest of the evening.

Now just a few points of emphasis that I hope Gillis starts/continues working on:

1.  Power-play — yeah we looked great Tuesday night, but game 1 (2 for 8 ) and game 2 (0 for 10) could definitely be improved on.  There were a few times where the opponents penalty killers was keeping the powerplay in the Jacks zone, and the Jacks were not really pressuring to get the puck back.  Now obviously you don’t want to mess up, and give up a short-handed goal, but whether its 5 on 4, 5 on 3, or 4 on 3, there is a manpower advantage and you should never let the penalty killers dictate how you play.

2. Simple play — There have been some great plays, especially Friday night, where it seemed more “complex” than necessary from where I was sitting.  This was occurring on breakaways, power plays, or extended zone play.  This was evident during both preseason games, and carried over to the Friday and Saturday games, but was “missing” from last nights game and look what happened!  If you need an example of what I’m talking about, here you go:  Sebby with the puck and Pierce are on a breakaway.  Now Sebby has a split second to decide whether to shoot or pass the puck.  Well Friday night, every multi-player breakaway that I recall was a pass, and the receiver was always a step behind, and the puck was sent into the corner.  This type of play obviously develops over a season, and I fully expect that by January we will be connecting on 70% of these plays.  But for right now, I think we just need to keep it simple.  If we get caught up in trying to make spectacular plays every time we have the puck, we will find ourselves on the short end every time.

3.  Stupid penalties — These will kill a team every time, and I’ve counted at least 3 that have occurred during the first two home games, with 2 happening last night.  The biggest being a hooking/high stick during a clear out of the Bee’s zone, on a player that was heading to the bench!  We got rid of one of the biggest offenders of this, and I don’t want to see someone else take his place.

4.  Clearing the zone — There were several times last night where it appeared there was some indecision to clear the puck, which lead to some good chances for the Bee’s to score.  If you’re going to make the decision to try and clear the puck, then do it.  If you are going to get checked, then take it, but clear that puck!

The Southern Conference is still the one to beat this year, and we will definitely be seeing tougher conference  match ups.  The Jacks just need to make sure they bring their A game every night, because we all know that every point counts.  The Jacks are starting off good with a 2-1 conference record, with one more conference game (@ Amarillo) before the first non-conference game against Bossier-Shreveport.  I want the Jacks in that #1 spot with home ice advantage, because it really does make all the difference, ask Texas.

Around the League

– Surprising to me is the 3-0 start Amarillo is off too.  From what I could tell listening to game Saturday with the Jacks, the Apes appear to be gelling, which is good for a team that was 19-42-3 last season.  Time will tell though if this team is a contender or just a fluke.

– Texas and Colorado split their first two games, in what was billed as a rematch from the Finals.  ~Yawn~

–  The two new expansion teams had different opening weekends, with Allen winning both games against Arizona, and Missouri losing both of their games against Rapid City.

– Is there a quota that has to be reached for interference penalties this year?  Or is this the default penalty to call when you can’t or don’t want to determine the true penalty.  On Friday there were 14 interference penalties assessed, with 6 coming in the Corpus Christi vs. Jacks game, officiated by Jon McIsaac, once of the new guys.  And to all the fans out there, really watch this guy.  I could even make the correct call on some of these interference calls.  On Saturday there were 12 interference penalties, and in the single games on Sunday and Tuesday, 2 interference penalties were assessed respectively.  Thats 30 interference penalties in 16 games played.  Any response to this Mr. Bonney?  Didn’t think so.

– And finally to Mr Bonney, you have made the statement that this seasons officials are some of the finest the CHL has ever seen.  Well I’m certainly not impressed yet, especially with the new guys.  I will hold my challenge until the All-Star game, and reassess the situation at that time.  But really, you kept Steinel??  What were you thinking?

2009-2010 CHL Schedule Impressions – Northern Conference

Okay, its time for my impressions on our schedule in regards to the Northern Conference.  Even though we do not play these guys that much, we still have some rivalries, although I will miss the Oklahoma City one after Sauters meltdown last season.  We do get to play Missouri and Rapid City a few times, so thats a good thing.

Colorado Eagles

• 2008-09 — 0-1
• 2009-10 — 4 games, 2 each way
• In all honesty, I wish we could have taken on Colorado either before, or a few weeks after the All-Star break last season.  I just don’t think the boys were completely ready to get back on the ice, especially since Colorado had played together recently.
• With the way that Texas out-played Colorado during the championships, I honestly believe it would have been the same outcome if it would have been Jacks vs. Eagles.
• With the even split in games, it will be cool to see the Colorado Eagles back at the ECC.  Over the last 4 seasons, this series has always gone to the home team, and except for last season, there has been at least 2 games per season.  In 2005-06, the Jacks beat the Eagles in a 6-5 shootout on Mar 4th.  In the 2006-07 season, the Jacks pummeled the Eagles 7-0 at the ECC on Dec. 1st.  In the 2007-08 season, the Jacks beat the Eagles 5-2 at the ECC on Feb. 29th.
• With Pankewicz retiring earlier this week, it will be interesting to see how the Eagles on-ice will change.

Rapid City Rush

• 2008-09 — Didn’t playthem
• 2009-10 — 4 games, 2 each way
• This will be the first time we get to play the Rush after coming into the league last season.
• While the Jacks are familiar with Rush coach Joe Ferras, there are several players on the roster, that the Jacks have not had an opportunity, as far as I can tell, to play against.  The Jacks have seen veteran goalie, Miguel Beaudry, whether it was with the Austin Ice Bats, Memphis Riverkings, or New Mexico Scorpions, so there is one positive among the unknowns.
• With the scorers on both teams, this could be a high scoring series.

Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs

• 2008-09 — 0-1
• 2009-10 — 3 games, 1 home, 2 away
• The Jacks lost the only game they played against the Mudbugs last season, which came early in the annual rodeo-road trip.
• I am not sure yet what to really make of this series, but I do find it interesting that all 3 games are played early in the season:  10-24 (home), 11-6/7 (away).

Missouri Mavericks

• 2008-09 — Not in league
• 2009-10 — 3 games, 1 home, 2 away
• With the announcement of former Jacks great, Scott Hillman as the new coach of the Mavericks, this can honestly be seen as a possible new rivalry.  Hillman brought consecutive SPHL championships to the Knoxville Ice Bears, and it will be interesting to see what he does in this league.
• Former Jacks goalie Mike Gorman joins the Mavericks, and if his record against the Jacks last season is any indication, this could be a really good series.  Gorman was 3-0 when playing against the Jacks last seasons for the Amarillo Gorillas.
• It is rumored that the only home game this year, on Oct. 27th, will also be the night that Hillmans number is retired.

Mississippi Riverkings

• 2008-09 — 1-2
• 2009-10 — 1 away game
• With only one game this year, I’m not really expecting much from this “series”.  The game does come during the rodeo road-trip, so it will be interesting to see how the Jacks handle the road games this year.
• Mississippi did finish last season with a great record of 44-17-3, and took Colorado to 6 games in the conference championships.

Wichita Thunder

• 2008-09 — 1-0-1
• 2009-10 — 1 away game
• This is another “series” that I’m not really expecting much from.  Wichita ended a dismal year, with a 20-41-3 record.
• Since this is an away game, we won’t be able to watch the game unless in person, since Wichita refuses to get with the times.  I just hope the radio feeds are better this year than last year.

So we play the Northern Conference a total of 16 times during the regular season, with the possibility of some new and interesting rivalries.  It’s sad that Tulsa is the only team we don’t get to play this year, after going 4-0 against them last year.

2009-2010 CHL Schedule Impressions – Southern Conference

Jackalopes hockey is right around the corner folks, and the CHL has released the new season schedule.  I decided to break my impressions down into 2 posts, one for each conference.  I will go over the schedule, giving last seasons results, and any notes of interest for the team, leaving more details for my season preview posts.  I will start with the Southern Conference, and go down the list, in order of the number of times we play an opponent.  So without further ado…

Amarillo Gorillas

• 2008-09 — 6-3
• 2009-10 — 11 games, home:  6, away: 5
• Amarillo is the opponent we play the most this season, and it should be a better series from last year.  Coach Brian Pellerin will get the chance to turn the Gorillas fortunes around this year, after taking over at the All-Star break.
• Following in the success of Juha Toivenen, Amarillo has signed a goalie out of Finland, Tuomas Lohtander, who played three years in the Finnish Mestis league along with Juha, and earned the MVP for the 2007-08 season.  In addition, Amarillo has signed Keith Longo out of Hobart College.
• In addition, several players have re-signed with Amarillo, and new players are being signed.  I will go into more detail before the the season starts, in my season preview posts.
• Amarillo was a bit of a thorn in the Jacks side last season, despite the record.  That thorn’s name was Jacks former goalie, Mike Gorman.  Gorman was 3-0 in games against the Jacks, including a close 6-5 win in which he came in at the start of the 2nd period.  This season, Gorman, along with former OKC goalie Andy Groenstege, will be playing for Scott Hillman’s Missouri Mavericks, so we will see if this “curse” follows to this team with two former Jacks greats.

Arizona Sundogs

• 2008-09 — 5-1-1
• 2009-10 — 9 games, 4 home, 5 away
• With 9 games, this is the next Southern Conference opponent that we play the most, and another of the “old” rivalries.  Last season was a disappointment for Arizona, after winning the 2007-08 Championship, as they went 27-32-5, and missed the playoffs.  Arizona lost a bunch of good players from that 2007-08 team, and it really showed in their performances.
• Since last season could be considered a rebuilding year, it will be interesting to see what coach Marco Pietroniro can put together this season.  I definitely think this will be another of the good season series, with the signings that have taken place so far.

Laredo Bucks

• 2008-09 — 3-1
• 2009-10 — 7 games, 4 home, 3 away
• Laredo is coming off a good year, 36-23-5, in which they did not reach the conference championships for the first time in their history.  And we all know who it was that kicked them to the curb.    Terry Ruskowski returns for another year as “god” in Laredo, the first season since assuming every powerful position in the organization.  It will be interesting to see if all that power will help or hurt the Bucks.
• I am left wondering if “Roscoe” will hold a grudge for the almost miraculous comeback sweep by the Jacks, or if his eye is on the bigger prize.  With Texas coming in an shaking up the old Southeast division, the powerhouse known as Laredo was finally dethroned.
• It does look like “Roscoe” may be going young this year, dropping two veteran goalies, for rookie goalie Gerry Festa and WHL “vet” Dustin Slade.
• The biggest news for me came in the booting of Rick Kozak to Tulsa, who we don’t play this season.  Hope the Northern Conference fans enjoy his goonery.

Corpus Christ Ice Rayz

• 2008-09 — 7-1-1
• 2009-10 — 7 games, 4 home, 3 away
• Last seasons series against Corpus Christi was another of those weird ones, where the final result doesn’t reflect what really took place.  6 out of 9 games were determined by 1 or 2 points, with 4 of those being 1 point games.
• CHL journeyman, and former Jack, Jeff Alcombrack has signed with the Ice Rayz for this season, which adds to the normal cast of Ice Rayz characters, including Quenneville, Tebbs, Powell, and Richards.

Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees

• 2008-09 — 3-2-2
• 2009-10 — 6 games, 3 each
• Rio Grande Valley was one of those enigma teams to the Jacks, who technically had a losing record against them.  Every game in the series was decided by 1 or 2 points, with 5 of those being 1 point games.
• With an even number of games, it will be interesting to see if one team dominates or the seasons series is split.
• Rio Grande Valley has signed the other former OKC goalie, Andy Franck, as well as former Rocky Mountain star, Daymen Rycroft, so it will be interesting to see how they will contribute.

Texas Brahmas

• 2008-09 — 2-3-1
• 2009-10 — 4 games, 2 each
• After a game 7 meltdown, in a series that was better than the finals, the Jacks have something to prove to the Texas Brahmas this season.
• It does appear that Texas, like the Jacks, are not changing up their core roster, including re-signing goalie Brett Jaeger, who in my opinion was the best Brahma in their Cup run.
• Last seasons ridiculous scheduling was rectified this year, but there are those that would like to see more games in what is a new bitter rivalry.  And while I can see the point, it is my opinion that the schedulers would screw up again, given the home ice advantage to Texas.  That’s my opinion, no conspiracy theory or anything, take it or leave it.

Allen Americans

• 2008-09 — Inactive
• 2009-10 — 4 games, 3 home, 1 away
• The Jacks get to play the expansion Allen Americans 3 times at home this year, which will be a treat for the Jacks fans.
• It will be interesting to see how Allen fills out its roster, because I certainly cannot give an impression with who has currently been announced.

With the current conference only alignment, and 5 out of 8 Southern teams fighting for a spot, the 2009-10 season is really shaping up to be an exciting one.  Gone is the home-ice advantage for winning your division, now its all about #1 and #2.  It is my opinion, that just like last year, the Southern Conference will dominate and be the one to beat.

Kory Karlander Returns!

I don’t know about the rest of you Jacks fans, but for me, this is extremely good news, and currently tied for greatest off-season signing this year.  While the numbers Karlander put up were some of the best on the team (#3) and in the league (#7), it was Kory’s presence that I remember most from last season.  You could tell when he was on the ice, everyone else wanted to score or shutdown the opposition.  Kory was just one of those players any Jacks fan could enjoy watching and is a good ambassador of the game.

Also announced was the signing of goalie Joel Martin, who returns after playing 10 games for the Jacks in the 2003-2004 season.  Martin was one of four in the backup-go-round of goalies behind Gorman, with a 3-4-2 record, with a 3.19 GAA and .912 save percentage.

With this latest signing, the Reid trade, Vinny leaving, and Juha up in the air, I do have to admit we currently have a goalie situation in Odessa.  But I’m not worried, because the season is still 3 months away.  Several fans have pointed out that having a veteran goalie is a definite plus when it comes playoff time, and I can look back and agree.  So who is that veteran goalie?  Is it Martin?  Is it Reid?  Is it someone we don’t know about?

There are still plenty of questions to be answered, but next years roster is really shaping up good.  I can’t wait to see what happens during training camp, and how that finishes up the roster for 2009-10.

The Southern Conference was put on notice last year:  the Jacks aren’t a push over team anymore.  Man I love this game!

The Oklahoma City Situation

Well, first of all, let me apologize to the Blazer’s fans. When I initially read that article, it was made to sound like the Blazers as an organization were headed to the AHL. Upon further reading, including some of the Oklahoma City newspapers, it was made clearer that it was in fact a “new” team, and that the Blazers were ceasing operations.

So now the aftermath of the secrecy and double-dealing of Express Sports is that there will be no hockey in Oklahoma City for a year, so the fans get to find other ways to spend their hard earned money. Good idea there…

I admit that there are just some cities that are better suited for higher level leagues than others, Oklahoma CIty being one of them now. But they have the Blazers to thank for that. One poster on the newsok.com article did have something stupid to say, about the Blazers fans not being real hockey fans. Yeah, okay.

Good luck to all the players and their families that were thrown out on the streets due to the under-handedness of Express Sports.

Ramsay and Gruenke Re-sign!

Mike Ramsay and Garrett Gruenke are returning for the 2009-10 season. Rammer will be coming back for his 3rd season as a Jack (2006-07, 2008-09), and was ranked 6th in Jacks scoring with 51 points (15 goals + 36 assists.) Gruenke will be returning for his sophmore season, after taking up the slack for the injured Mario Joly, and posted 149 penalty minutes. I’m not sure if he will be fulfilling the enforcer role, so it will be interesting to see what Gillis has in store.

I just read on the CHL website that New Mexico and Oklahoma City would not be in the 2009-10 season. I hate to see New Mexico go dark, but we have been wondering about this since the end of the season. The Oklahoma City news caught me by surprise though. If they did get picked up by the AHL, then I say good riddance. Although they’ve obviously been a CHL staple, its the surprise part that doesn’t sit well with me. It will be interesting to see how the powers that be decide to re-align the league with all these changes. Hopefully, they do keep in mind that Rocky Mountain and New Mexico could always be back in the future. I do hope however, they get rid of the play in round (Round 1), since there’s not that many teams now to justify.