Out With The Old And In With The New

The Central Hockey League has finally announced the new alignments for the 2009-2010 season, and I must say that it definitely is different. There will no longer be divisions as the league has decided to divide the league into two conferences with seven teams in the Northern Conference and eight teams in the Southern Conference. The Northern Conference teams include: the Colorado Eagles, Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs, Mississippi Riverkings, Rapid City Rush, Missouri Mavericks, Tulsa Oilers, and Wichita Thunder. The Southern Conference consists of: the Odessa Jackalopes, Amarillo Gorillas, Texas Brahmas, Allen Americans, Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, Laredo Bucks, Corpus Christi IceRays, and Arizona Sundogs. I personally like this new alignment for the simple fact that this will make the schedules more flexible, and teams will get to play teams that they have rarely played before more often. I also think that it will make the league more competitive since the league will only have two number one teams (each conference) instead of four (each division). An interesting matter to note about the new alignment is that the Southern Conference contains all of the Texas teams plus Arizona, which kind of makes it now Texas versus everybody else. The playoff format will remain the same as it has been the last two seasons, with ten total teams making it to the playoffs (five from each conference). An interesting thing to note here is that since the Northern Conference only contains seven teams, all but two teams in the North will make it to the postseason, while three teams in the South will be left out of postseason play. You can read the full article about the new alignment at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3534.

In other CHL news:

• The Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees have re-signed Zak McClellan for the upcoming season. McClellan played in all of the regular season games for the Killer Bees last season and tallied 37 points in the 64 games (11-26). This is a decent signing for the Bees, but in my eyes, this guy is nothing spectacular.


• John DeCaro has decided to return to the Mudbugs after spending his season last year in the ECHL. This guy is a phenomenal goaltender, and the 'Bugs are very lucky to have him back.


• Finally, on to some news that I am not too thrilled to hear: the Texas Brahmas have re-signed goaltender Brett Jaeger for the 2009-2010 season. As much as I can't stand the Brahmas, I must say that Jaeger is an absolutely phenomenal talent, and I still believe that Jaeger was the difference in the series between the Jacks and Brahmas last season. Hopefully the Jacks can bring in a very good veteran goaltender to counteract Jaeger when we play them next season. I wouldn't mind seeing Sebastien Centomo or Andy Franck in a Jacks sweater next season, although I doubt that will happen. Hey, I can always wish, can't I?

Until next time Jack fans all I have to say is GO JACKS GO!!! and October can't come soon enough!

Talk About A Low Blow!

The Oklahoma City Blazers have suddenly announced that they have ceased operations and will not play in the 2009-2010 CHL season. This has sent shockwaves throughout the league, and the Blazers organization has proven that they could care less about the success of the Central Hockey League as they have delivered the ultimate low blow not only to the league, but to their fans as well. The New Mexico Scorpions have finally announced that they will not be returning next season, but at least they did not throw a massive bomb at the league by giving such crucial news so suddenly like the Blazers organization did. This has obviously upset many people, but perhaps CHL Commissioner Duane Lewis puts it best when he stated: "This decision did not happen overnight, and to continue to work on the schedule and wait until July to inform us is disappointing." If the Blazers did not want to return to the CHL then that is absolutely fine; but they should not have let the CHL believe that they would be returning only to turn around and stab the league in the back. This now makes three teams that will not return to the CHL next season, with those teams being the Rocky Mountain Rage, New Mexico Scorpions, and Oklahoma City Blazers. The only somewhat good news to come out of this is that their will be plenty of talented free agents available, and hopefully the Jacks can snatch up a few. I would love to see Andy Franck in a Jacks sweater, among several other players, but we will have to wait and see if Gillis, Cressman, and Clark can persuade some of these proven free agents to come to the Odessa Jackalopes. The news of the Oklahoma City Blazers ceasing operations has also delayed any news regarding division realignment and scheduling for the other CHL teams, and you better believe that we will probably see division alignments like we have never seen them before. Just when I thought the league was growing and expanding and had the chance to become the premier league in all of AA hockey, we have now learned that we have lost three teams, and have went from a sixteen team league to a fifteen team league. Hopefully teams that want to be in the league, like the New Mexico Scorpions and Rocky Mountain Rage, will return to the CHL, but to teams like the the Oklahoma City Blazers that turn their back on the league that they called home for the past seventeen years, all I have to say is good riddance! You can read the full article regarding this shocking news at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3527.

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

Jacks Re-Sign Two

The Odessa Jackalopes announced today that they have re-signed two fan favorites in Garrett Gruenke and Mike Ramsay. This is very, very good news to hear as the Jacks are bringing back key pieces from last season to try and help bring a championship to Odessa next season. Mike Ramsay was a personal favorite of mine as he always shows heart, and has the talent and potential to put up big numbers season after season. You can view Ramsay's stats at http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdisplay.php?pid=62198. Garrett Gruenke was also re-signed by the Jacks today, and I must say that although I am not as excited about Gruenke re-signing, I am still happy to see him come back to the Jacks for the 2009-2010 season. Gruenke had huge shoes to fill last season when Joly went down for the remainder of the season, and considering he was a rookie, he did do fairly well taking on the role of full time enforcer. The only problem that I had with Gruenke is that he, more often than not, seemed reluctant to drop the gloves or defend a teammate. However, since he was a rookie, I will cut him a little slack. Hopefully he will build on what he accomplished last season, and maybe the Jacks will sign another good enforcer to take some of the pressure off of Gruenke. With the Jacks bringing back two more players that helped with the success that we had last season, every other team in the CHL better watch out, because here the Jacks come and they are going to prove to everybody that they are indeed willing to do "whatever it takes" to bring home the cup next season. You can read the full article about Ramsay and Gruenke at the Jackalopes website which can be viewed at http://www.jackalopes.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=244:07story01&catid=69:newstory&Itemid=119.

In other CHL news:

• The Corpus Christi IceRays announced that they have signed high scoring, veteran forward Chad Woollard for the upcoming season. This is a pretty big signing for the Rays, and maybe they will have more success than they had last season (hopefully no success against the Jacks, of course). You can read the full article on Woollard at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3524.



• The newly named Missouri Mavericks have made a pretty big splash by signing former league MVP, Jeff Christian for the 2009-2010 season. Former Jackalope great and now Maverick coach, Scott Hillman, has been a winner for pretty much his entire career, and you better believe that he will put together a team that is able to contend in the CHL. Their are some critics that say that Christian is lazy, but his numbers do not lie, and you better believe that he will continue with his success in Missouri. You can read the full article on Christian at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3522.



• Finally, former Rage and Jackalope, Aaron Davis has signed with the Tulsa Oilers for the upcoming season. This guy is a capable forward, and he should help the Oilers out tremendously. You can read the full article on Aaron Davis at the league website which can be viewed at http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=3523.

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