Hello fellow Jackalope fans. It is a rainy evening here in Odessa, and the Jacks recently announced that Garrett Gruenke and Joel Martin will both return to the Odessa Jackalopes for the 2010-2011 season.
Obviously, it has been a while since I last posted, but I have been pretty busy as of late. I am in the process of attempting to write a book, so unfortunately I haven't been able to update the blog as much as I would like to. Anyway, a lot has happened both in the CHL and with the Odessa Jackalopes over the last month or so.
Lets start off with the most recent news pertaining to the Jacks, which is the news that both Gruenke and Martin will be Jackalopes next season. This is fantastic news! I haven't always been a huge fan of Gruenke's, but he has steadily progressed over the last couple of seasons, and gives it his all every time he is on the ice. Plus, it doesn't hurt that he is willing to drop the gloves with just about anybody. I'm expecting bigger and better things from Gruenke in the upcoming season, and am very happy to see him back in the Permian Basin.
Also, finding out that arguably the best goalie in the entire league is returning to the Jacks is even more great news. Joel Martin was a great goalie last season, and I think we all feel very comfortable when he is in net for the Jacks. According to a poster from the CHL Forum, at least one of our other goalie candidates will be a rookie. We all know what Juha Toivonen did during his rookie season, so I am very anxious to see this new candidate. I do, however, believe that Martin will be the starter for the Jacks next season, and I personally doubt that we will see the every-other-game rotation that we saw last season with Juha and Joel. I could be wrong, though, especially if the Jacks are able to sign another great goalie. I would like to say welcome back to both Gruenke and Martin, and we are expecting to see that Presidents Cup at the Ector County Coliseum next year!
Moving on, lets stick with more Jackalope news that has been announced over the last month or so. I'm just going to give ya'll a quick run down of what has happened, since most of this news is probably old news to most: The Jacks are still staying involved in the community as they announced that the Jacks would be playing poker for the homeless in the 2nd Annual Links West Texas Hold'Em. This is good to see that the Jacks are still doing great things for our community. The Jacks also announced that the Premium Ice Level seats will be returning next season, as opposed to the round tables with chairs that they had last season. This is also great news, as I didn't really care for the tables and chairs last season. Finally, the Jacks announced that Kenny Bernard will be returning to Odessa for the upcoming season. Great news yet again. I'm a big fan of Bernard's, and I'm really looking forward to seeing him do big things on the ice next season. The Jacks also announced that they have signed defenseman Pierre-Olivier Beaulieu. Try saying that three times quickly. In all seriousness, this guy is another big body for the Jacks blue line, as he is 6'4" and weighs 215 pounds. I'm thinking that Gillis is really wanting to add some size and toughness to next season's team since they were basically bullied out of the playoffs by the Allen Americans.
With that said, a couple of the usually "in the know" posters on the CHL Forums are claiming that some huge news pertaining to the Jacks will be revealed in the near future, so stay tuned to the Jackalope's website as well as the blog for more updates. I'm going to go ahead and wrap things up here, and will hopefully be blogging again when news related to the Jacks is announced in the future.
CHL News:
- The CHL/IHL "affiliation" will include all thirteen of the CHL teams, plus five of the IHL teams. The IHL teams that will be playing in the CHL next season include the Bloomington Prairie Thunder, the Dayton Gems, the Quad City Mallards, the Fort Wayne Komets, and a new team in the Evansville IceMen. I fully expect this "affiliation" to eventually turn out to be a full merger within the next year or so. I just can't see the IHL teams leaving a more stable league in order to attempt to revive, yet again, another version of the IHL. Not only that, but the Mallard's owner has already stated that they have signed on to play in the CHL, and that the IHL commissioner was not an owner, so he can't speak for his team. I think it's safe to say that Quad City won't be one of the teams to attempt to revive the IHL in the next couple of years, should that happen.
- Travis Clayton will be back with the Mudbugs for the upcoming season.
- Jordan Lane has signed on to play with the RiverKings for the 2010-2011 season.
- Both Scott Wray and Brendon Hodge have re-signed with the reigning CHL champions, the Rapid City Rush. Both of these guys were key players for the Rush, so I'm sure that the Rapid City faithful are very happy to see them returning.
- Finally, Derek Landmesser has re-signed with Mississippi. The former all-star would appear to be a good signing for the 'Kings, but apparently several of their fans feel differently: http://www.chlforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1401
Until next time Jackalope fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment