With the first overall pick in the NHL draft the Islanders pick... John Tavares!

The New York Islanders picked John Tavares with the first overall draft pick in the NHL Draft. According to numerous scouts Tavares was the top prospect available in the draft. The 19 year old phenom has very good numbers from his days in the OHL with 433 points in four seasons (215 goals and 218 assists). Mr. Tavares has also won two gold medals with Team Canada at the 2008 and 2009 World Junior Championships. This guy has some great talent and incredible potential, and I have to raise this question: Is there any chance at all that Tavares will play with the Jacks some this season? I guess it is a possibility since the Jacks are the AA affiliate of the Islanders, but the Utah Grizzlies are another of the Islanders AA affiliates while the Bridgeport Sound Tigers are the Islanders AAA affiliate. On the other hand, will Tavares go straight to the AAA Sound Tigers, or will he go straight to the NHL and play with the Islanders? I think it would be amazing if he were to play with the Jacks some this season, but that is definitely a long shot to happen. I guess I can always dream can't I? Wherever Tavares spends his time in the upcoming season, I wish him nothing but the best and hope that he has a fantastic career. You can read the full article about Tavares at the Jackalopes website which can be viewed at http://www.jackalopes.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=242:06story15&catid=69:newstory&Itemid=119

In other CHL news:

• Perhaps the biggest signing of the offseason so far (aside from the Jacks bringing back the reigning CHL MVP in Sebastien Thinel) was announced the other day as the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees snatched up high-scoring forward Daymen Rycroft. I have to admit that I am a bit envious as I was hoping and praying that the Jacks would sign him and bring him to Odessa, but hopefully the Jacks can bring in one of the other quality players from the now dark Rocky Mountain Rage. You can read the full article at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3517


• The Texas Brahmas also made a big acquisition by signing winger Anders Strome. This guy has played with the Brahmas in the past and has put up big numbers throughout his career. He played in Denmark last season, and has now decided to return to the Brahmas to try and bring another championship to North Richland Hills. If the Jacks have their way, it will not matter who the Brahmas sign as the Jacks plan to bring home the cup to Odessa next season. You can read the full article on Strome at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3516.


• After waiting for weeks and weeks, the new Independence team finally has a team name and logo. The team out of Independence, Missouri will be known as the Missouri Mavericks, with their logo supposed to be an angry stallion. To me it looks more like a constipated donkey, but hey that is just my opinion. I am not too fond of the color scheme either as they have chosen orange and a dull, powder blue to be their primary colors. You can read the article about the Missouri Mavericks at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3514.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!!

The Newest Member of the Jackalopes is... Dave LaCouture?

The newest member of the Odessa Jackalopes is Dave LaCouture. While he may not be the huge player signing that we were all hoping for, I believe that he will be a great addition to the Jacks. LaCouture is now the Senior Vice President of Marketing for the Odessa Jackalopes, and he is now also a minority owner of the team. This proves that the Jackalopes are pushing forward and trying to bring in new fans to the Jack Shack. LaCouture played NCAA hockey where he won a national championship with the University of Maine, and he also played in the AHL for a short time. Mr. LaCouture's primary duties will be marketing for the Jacks as well as helping to improve youth hockey in the Odessa area. Hopefully LaCouture will live up to the hype that the the Jacks ownership and General Manager Joe Clark are giving him. Maybe he can make hockey in West Texas more appealing and draw a good crowd for the upcoming season. With the team that the Jacks have had in the last two seasons, they deserve an average crowd of at least 3,500 every game. In reality they deserve much more, and hopefully once new people start attending more Jackalope games they will become hooked and start attending the games regularly. It only took a couple of games for me and I was instantly converted into a die-hard Jackalope fan. I also feel that if the Jacks front office focuses on the Permian Basin's youth in focusing on youth hockey, this will draw more and more fans from around the basin to come to Jacks games and help rock the Jack Shack. If the young people of the Permian Basin get hooked on hockey, parents of these kids will have no choice but to go to the games as well, and after a game or two they will probably be hooked for life. You can read the full story on Mr. Dave LaCouture at the Jacks website which can be viewed at http://www.jackalopes.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=241:06story11&catid=69:newstory&Itemid=119.

In other CHL news:

• The Laredo Bucks raised over $3,000 for WINGS of Laredo. Even though they may be one of the Jack's biggest foes during the hockey season, the Bucks really do take care of their community in many ways. You can read the full article on this particular story at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3511.


• The Amarillo Gorillas resigned defenseman Neil Smith for the upcoming season. Honestly, the Gorillas are going to need a heck of a lot of work to be a contender next season, and I am really not too impressed with Mr. Smith's stats. I am looking forward to the Jacks beating down the apes in the 2009-2010 season. You can read the full article on the Gorilla's recent signing at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3510.


• Still waiting for news out of New Mexico as to whether the Scorps will be returning for the upcoming season or not. I personally hope that they do as they are a key piece of Jackalope history, and the league definitley would not be the same without the Scorpions. Word has it that the announcement will come very shortly, and news regarding division realignment should follow shortly after. I think the divisions are going to be very interesting next season, but we will all have to wait and see how things go.


• The new Independence team will be announcing their team name and logo tomorrow (wednesday) at 3:00 PM. They have narrowed their team name list down to ten possible names which include the Independence IceHawks, the Bullfrogs, and the Missouri Maulers just to name a few. My personal favorite is the Missouri Maulers. You can read the article on this story at the Independence website which can be viewed at http://www.independenceprohockey.com/news/?article_id=7.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!!

Rage Go Dark!

Sad news coming out of the Central Hockey League today as the league confirmed that the Rocky Mountain Rage will suspend its operations for the upcoming 2009-2010 season. You can read the article at the league website which can be located at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3508. Many people are optimistic that the team will return for the 2010-2011 season, but you can bet that the folks in Broomfield are probably taking this news pretty hard as hockey is a pretty big thing in Colorado. I personally hope to see the Rage in the very near future and wish the organization all of the luck in the world. This recent news now means that the fate of two out of the three questionable teams to return for the upcoming season has been decided. The Bossier Shreveport Mudbugs will return to play next season while the Rocky Mountain Rage will not. Now the big question mark is stamped on the New Mexico Scorpions organization as we still do not know if they will return next season. I am hoping that they will as they are a long time divisional foe of the Jackalopes, and the division truly would not be the same without the Scorps.

In other CHL News:

• Perhaps the biggest goon in the CHL has been traded to the Tulsa Oilers. That's right; I am talking about none other than Rick Kozak formerly of the Laredo Bucks. This goon proved to be one of the dirtier players in the league last season, but maybe the Oilers can help him clean up his act a little bit before he gets into even more trouble. You can read the article at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3507. This was a smart move by the Bucks in my opinion as they received two decent players, plus they got rid of Mr. Goon himself, Rick Kozak.


• The Central Hockey League is teasing some sort of addition "just for the fans" in July of this year. I am not really sure what this addition is supposed to be, but some folks at the CHL Forums seem to think that it involves Nifty or maybe even a new league forum.


• Good to see that the Jacks are staying involved with the local community in the offseason as Slapjack and members of the Jackalope front office helped deliver food with "Meals on Wheels" in Midland. The Jacks need to stay in the community as much as possible in order to hopefully grow the Jackalope fan base and expose more and more people to exciting Odessa Jackalope hockey! You can read the full story at the Jackalope website which can be viewed at http://www.jackalopes.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=238:06story06&catid=69:newstory&Itemid=119.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!!

We aint going nowhere!

Good news out of Shreveport, Louisiana today, as the CHL has confirmed and approved the sale of the Mudbugs to their new, currently unknown owners. This means that the Mudbugs will be back for the 2009-2010 season, and although the Jacks do not see the 'Bugs very often, I am absolutley thrilled that the 'Bugs "aint going nowhere". The Mudbugs is perhaps the most storied franchise in CHL history, and the CHL truly wouldn't be the same without Bossier Shreveport in the picture. With that being said, congratulations to all of the Mudbug faithful as you guys will not have to go through a hockey withdrawal for an entire season. Maybe we will see the 'Bugs at the ECC this season as we played ya'll in Shreveport last season. You can read more about the sale of the Mudbugs at the league website at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3506.

In other CHL news:

• Brandon Benedict will not return to the Brahmas for the upcoming season as he has decided to play in Belfast. Good news for the Jacks as he was a very good player and we seem to see the Brahmas a few times during the season (Most of the time in North Richland Hills). Maybe the league schedule-makers will make things more fair this season and make the Brahmas play the Jacks a few more times at the ECC.


• Aaron Lee returns to the Killer Bees. You can read the article pertaining to Lee at the league website which can be located at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3504.


• Adam Smyth will return to the Riverkings for the 09-10 season. This guy is a beast and truly is a force to be reckoned with. Coach "Killer" Kaminski wants to make his team more physical and tougher for the 09-10 season. This is pretty scary to me as the Riverkings were probably one of the meanest opponents of the Jacks last season. Maybe the Jacks will add a little more toughness to their roster which is one of the few faults that I saw in the team last season, especially when Joly went down for the rest of the season. You can read about Smyth's return to the Riverkings at http://riverkings.com/news/index.html?article_id=2163.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!!

Jacks Add Two

The Odessa Jackalopes have announced today that they have signed JR Bria and Paul Kelly for the 09-10 season. Paul Kelly joined the Jacks late last season after spending much of the season with the Rapid City Rush. He proved to be a solid forward who scored timely goals and was very good at faceoffs. JR Bria signs with the Jacks after being sent to Odessa from the Mudbugs to complete the Mark Johnson trade from last season. You can view Bria's statistics at http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=71377. Personally, I like both of these signings. For those of you that read my "who stays and who goes list" on the CHL Forum, you know that Kelly was one of the players that I wanted the Jacks to keep for the upcoming season. He was a total surprise for the Jacks, and I expect big things from him in the 2009-2010 season. As for Bria, I think that he is a good player as well. I think the Jacks needed to improve the defense for the 09-10 season, and they are definitely proving that they are looking for quality defenseman by signing Bria. Although he is not really known for putting up big numbers, his plus/minus rating from last season was very good. Hopefully the Jacks will drop some of the dead weight on the defensive side from last season in Ryan Palmer and Garrett Gruenke. I know that many Jack fans disagree with me on that, but I feel that Palmer took stupid penalties in crucial games while Gruenke never really did impress me. I guess Gruenke can be given a little slack for the simple fact that he was a rookie and had to take a huge role by being the Jack's enforcer when Joly went down for the season. Palmer, on the other hand, must go in my opinion. With that being said, hopefully the Jacks will be announcing some big names pretty soon, and hopefully the 2009-2010 season will finally be the Jacks time to bring home the cup. You can read the article on the signings of Bria and Kelly at the Jackalopes website at

http://www.jackalopes.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=235:06story02&catid=69:newstory&Itemid=119.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!!

Jacks Receive Accolades

The Odessa Jackalopes were honored at the CHL Summer Conference by receiving two awards; the CHL's Most Improved Franchise of the 08-09 season, and the Community Relations Franchise of the Year award. I think the Jackalope players, front office staff, and coaching staff should all be very proud of these acccomplishments as they truly were well deserved. There is no doubt in my mind that the Jacks were the most improved team last season. The Jacks had their best season in franchise history in several ways, and were only one game away from making it to the finals in the playoffs. The Jackalopes also deserved the Community Relations Franchise of the Year award for the simple fact that the Jacks were out in full force in the community for much of the season. The Jacks raised money on several occasions for good causes; the Jacks made several public appearances to sign autographs and meet and greet with fans; and the front office staff helped improve the attendance by being in the public as much as possible. Hopefully our attendance will continue to grow as I honestly believe that the Jacks are only going to get better season after season. The Jackalope ownership has proven that they want to win, and our slogan from last season "Whatever it takes" certainly does apply to our team. I think the Jacks also had a case to take the CHL Franchise of the Year award as well. The Killer Bees definitely deserve credit for a fantastic season, but in my eyes the Jacks proved to be the franchise of the year by making history in several categories, producing the CHL MVP in Sebastien Thinel, having a rookie of the year candidate in Jeff Pierce, and proving that we are no longer the doormat of the CHL by taking out the Laredo Bucks in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. With that being said, congratulations to the Killer Bees and hopefully we will play ya'll a few more times next season to prove that we are the superior team. All in all we did not find too much out from the Summer Conference, but I am definitely proud of the Jacks taking home two great awards. You can read more about the Jacks accolades at http://www.jackalopes.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=234:06story01&catid=69:newstory&Itemid=119

Elsewhere in the CHL:

• No scheduling or realignment news came out of the Summer Conference as the Mudbugs, Scorpions, and Rage were all given an extension to find a new owner. That new extension is now June, 16. Hopefully all three of these teams will be back next season as they truly are important to the CHL.

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!!

Americans Make Statement by Signing Trio of Centers

The Allen Americans announced today three signings which include center Jarret Lukin, center Chris Gaudet, and center Justin Bowers, all of which have AHL experience. This is definitely a strong way to start off a new team in my opinion. All three of these young players have put up pretty impressive numbers in their short careers thus far. Allen is making a big statement very early in the game, and that message is for the CHL to look out because here the Americans come. The Americans may also be sending a message to their "neighbors" and current CHL champs, the Texas Brahmas. These two teams will more than likely be in the same division next season, and I predict a very heated and very fresh rivalry to spark up. With such impressive early signings, the Americans may (although it is still a little too early to be certain) prove to be a contender in the 2009-2010 CHL season. You can also read the league's article on the trio at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3488.

GO JACKS GO!!!

Thinel Signs Through 2011

CHL and team MVP Sebastien Thinel has signed through the 2011 season with the Odessa Jackalopes. In my opinion this is an obvious no brainer for the Odessa Jackalopes. Sebby is a proven player, and Dominic Leveille is usually not too far from Sebby which hopefully means that Leveille will be returning to the Jacks as well. You can read the full article on Sebby returning to the Jacks at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3476.

In other CHL news:

• Scott Hillman becomes the Independence team's head coach after coaching the SPHL's Knoxville IceBears for the past two seasons, which they won two championships under Hillman's reign. I personally found this a little surprising as Hillman was very successful in Knoxville. I am hoping that the Jacks play the Independence team at least once this season. It sure will feel strange to see one of the greatest Jackalopes of all time coaching the opposition.


• The format for the 2009-2010 CHL Allstar Game hosted by the Laredo Bucks was announced today at a press conference in Laredo. This year's allstar game will feature the Laredo Bucks teaming up with fellow South Texas teams and division foes in the Corpus Christi IceRays and Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. I find this to be a fairly interesting format, and I'm hoping that the CHL Allstar team absolutely crushes the South Texas Allstars.

GO JACKS GO!!!

Welcome!

Welcome to The Enforcer! My name is Michael, and I am a die-hard Jackalope fan and current season ticket holder that is very opinionated when it comes to hockey. On this blog you will find my opinions to be very strong, and sometimes even a little controversial. Please remember, however, that these are my opinions and not necessarily those of the Odessa Jackalopes nor the Central Hockey League as I do not work for either of these organizations. With that being said, please enjoy the blog and feel free to comment on my posts. I plan to update my blogs at least once a week, and I truly do strive to make this a place where fans from all over the CHL can come to in order to view the opinions of a very opinionated Odessa Jackalope fan!

GO JACKS GO!!!