Rank the seven IHL teams from what they have signed so far. Who do you think is the top team and why?
1. Fort Wayne: Best continuity, defense and goaltending signed so far. Getting Syroczynski, Woods and Haun I think are the key signings so far.
2. Muskegon: Almost ditto. Like the Komets, wonder if age will catch up to them. League's best offense.
3. Port Huron: Always have a lot of respect for Stan Drulia and how he puts teams together. Kevin Hansen will be great for them in the smaller rink.
4. Bloomington: Finally, the PT have some continuity behind the bench and on the ice. They won't have to spend the first three months introducing themselves to each other. Might have league's second-best scoring.
5. Flint: Generals may end up with the league's top offensive foward line with Pascal Rheaume and Greg Bullock and someone else. Those are the type of players who can help recruit others.
6. Dayton: Gems have an excellent start on defense with Joe Van Cullin and Greg Labenski.
7. Quad City: Frank Anzalone is known for putting together good lineups. Looking foward to seeing Seabass (Laplante) get to play every day. They could move up quickly.
It's still very early yet, and as usual, the depth and quality of the league will be determined by the goaltending and the improvement of the rookies. Toughness looks like it could be a much bigger factor around the league.
What do you think?
Comments
I think the Komets vs bloomington and also musky there should be some good fight match ups.
Here is how I rank them just going on what is on paper right now.
1) Komets
2) Muskegon
3) Bloomington
4) Port Huron
5) Dayton
6) Quad City
7) Flint......they have 4 guys signed
Bloomington is the team to watch closely....as is Quad City I think, they could bring in lots more good players with the connections that team has in affiliations and their director of hockey operations. Watch out for Quad City, they might bring in alot more talent as the year goes along. It will be a work in progress with their late start, and if they are in line for a playoff spot, they will be a dangerous team in the end.
I don't often disagree with you Blake, but ranking Flint above QC & Dayton when they only have four players signed is just plain weird.
I think I completely agree with Hit's rankings.
i just hope flint makes it thru the 1st month without hearing a bunch of bad news about the franchise.
im not so sure to rank quad cities last, dont forget the flyers will be sending them a couple of players that couldnt make the A.H.L AND E.C.H.L.
It's a good thing this topic isn't "utterly ridiculous" since we don't even know who will be around after teams hold their camps. Almost sounds like an earlier post that was shot down. Seem familiar, Alan?
Hi RunningKomet. You know, when I first read the topic I thought of you and how you would respond. I was going to wait to see what you had to say before posting. Yes, this seems very familiar. I had no trouble at all with your original topic. I thought it was relevant, and I responded to it. This is also a good topic for the sake of discussion, but is hard to judge one team above the others due to the diversity among the franchises in terms of players signed. We'll know a lot more in three weeks.
I'm definitely not saying this topic has anything wrong with it. I love this topic and think it's a fun one to toss out there. I'm loving everything everyone has said.
I'll take defense over firepower anyday and twice on sunday.
Musky ranked way to high this year, bloomington finishes runner up to our beloved K's.
Blake, not too sure how you can put Syro, woods and haun as the "key signings" for the Komets. Maybe key "new blood" but Chaulk, Drouin, and Boucher should probably be inserted instead of those guys........
Hi everyone,
I don't know if anyone has reported this yet, but I just read that Brent Henley has been invited to the New York Rangers Training Camp. Good Luck Brent!
http://www.newsday.com/blogs/sports/blue-notes-1.811976/dubinsky-listed-on-training-camp-roster-10-others-added-1.1440312
rankings are worth about as much as the paper they are written on but they do make for interesting discussions which is what the blog is all about!!
I couldn't agree more about pre-season rankings talk, chuckitt. To me, it feels like when I was a young child and my mom would say, "Honey, why don't you go out on the porch for a while and count birds."
I have a Peyton Manning jersey card that is a 1 of 1!!!!!
For all the talk of Grabill Days that I saw on here, it sure was a flop! Growing up in the area, I went there each year growing up. Went back this year and it was a joke. If it's around in 5 years I'll be shocked. From some of the sellers there I know, the organizers made table prices so high that most people just don't bother coming back. Too bad, used to be a nice festival.
Don't really know what the booth charge is, but yeah, I'm sure it is high. A few years ago there were the most vendors I had seen in recent memory. Last year, thanks to the declining economy, a lot of them had disappeared. This year it was even sparser. But I was expecting that. Looking around at the people coming and going, I did notice something. Very few people were toting bags. Usually, you see people heading to their cars with large decorative items in tow. This year, most of the people I saw leaving were empty-handed. I guess they just came to eat because they still LOOKED happy enough. But regarding the festival, fear not. I'd be very surprised if they discontinued it. The fact is that it has gone through ups and downs before, and when the economy is sluggish, it always takes a hit. But they make adjustments. The economy picks up again. Then, as David Bowie would say, things get "ever so cheerful again".
You're more optimistic than I am, but I hope you're right. It used to be a nice fair. Prices have gone up, but that's expected. Woodburn Days used to be a huge festival too, but that's gone the way of the dodo. Harlan Days is just barely topping pathetic. I just miss having all the great festivals that were around when I grew up. Junkfood Alley (or whatever healthier name they have for it now) at TRF is even to the point of leaving a lot to be desired these days. TRF has gotten so bad, no one even came out to shoot people at the Midway this year!
This topic started out as a forum to rank the IHL teams in terms of players already signed. It, somehow, turned into a forum of analyzing various fairs and festivals. I never would have seen that coming! Back to hockey, and in response to Burgee: yes, the old adage that defense wins championships is true. The Komets won the Turner Cup last year because, ( in my opinion), the Komets could not only nearly match the firepower of the Lumberjacks, but had the overall team speed to forecheck, backcheck, and create plays in the offensive zone. They flew around the Muskegon defense with little trouble. Speed + skill + goaltending = Champions.
Get over it, Alan, it's the off-season. Was this complaint made when Wendy pushed the fair on the other topic, or when dog biscuits were being sold on here? However, if you just want to restate what someone else said over and over, I guess those count as blog hits for Blake's bonus just the same.
I think we're all ready to just have some hockey played so we can actually comment on things that really happened, as opposed to people philosophizing on what they think will happen and pulling stats out of nowhere that no one else has the time or desire to look up. When it comes down to it, I can honestly say I'd rather see some action than the power struggle for dominance on a little blog. In any event, it's fun watching/reading people on here. What do I know? The ancient Greeks had plenty of use for philosophers. Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, the list goes on and on. We all use Socratic Method daily in our lives because it's so important. Those of you who know your history will note that Socrates was sentenced to death and forced to drink a cup of hemlock (that's poison to any who aren't familiar).
Running Komet - how do you pull a stat out of nowhere? Doesn't it have to be written down somewhere? Also, stats are useful, correct? Wouldn't you as a coach want to know what you are getting before signing someone? I know I would. And since you brought up Socrates, I thought I would add to that. You are correct, Plato was the student Socrates, but did you know that there are no writings from Socrates? We only know about him due to his student, Plato. So I guess you could say, that Plato recorded the statistics of Socrates, and we, look at that. Hmm, interesting stuff. Have a great day everyone.
Statistics can be turned to say anything you want them to. 96% of people know that 79% of statistics are correct 46% of the time when 31% of the people taking them know 54% of the job they are doing.
Andrea: Actually, a lot of the things we know from Socrates come from what Aristotle taught Alexander, who preserved much of his knowledge when he made many libraries and increased education throughout his empire, the Macedonians. We can talk history all day, but some people would probably get ticked because this is a hockey blog, or so I read sometimes. Have a great day all! Oh, and on the hockey note, when the preseason gets going, we'll probably be able to see Hodgman play on tv.
I'm impressed with your statistics that you used. See, they are useful. Also, you are correct about Aristotle teaching Alexander, but remember, Plato was Aristotle's teacher at the Academy. Gosh, I love history...I think we should talk history during intermission of a hockey game. Hockey and history on the same night, it doesn't get better than that.
I think we need to get something staight here. I didn't submit that post to ruffle anyone's feathers. Just so we all understand each other, I don't need "to get over it." As I said before, I will post anything I want, when I want and no one (except Blake) will tell me to stop. I don't believe anything on my post was anything "someone else said over and over." I didn't use any "philosophy" or pull any "stats out of nowhere." I have no idea where you think there is a "power struggle for dominance" on this blog. I enjoy every post and those who post them (including you, RunningKomet). As far as Socrates and Plato....well they're all Greek to me. For those of you who have trouble with my contributions I would advise you to just skip over them. OK Burgee....how much penalty time do I get for this???
No penalty time, Alan! You're free to ruffle feathers on here just as much as the rest of us are. It's a Monday, that's the point! Sorry if I got you fired up, but Mondays get boring and you're one of the few I knew wouldn't let it go all day without responding and getting things going. I LOVE IT!
I'll admit i wasn't anticipating another jumping in, but in the scheme of things I did find another fellow history dork in Andrea. Andrea, I will admit I hate the ancient stuff, but I'll try to keep up with you on it. This is fun, what's next?!?
Alan== I enjoy your posts. I must admit the Greek stuff is geek stuff to me. I still think this is a "Hockey Blog". Now are you not all happy my vacation is over? Come on October!! It is tough not to have access to a computer for a whole week but very relaxing. The only thing that barked at me for 10 days was my dog! I did miss keeping up with the signings.
I really don't have much connection to anything "Greek." I know George Kotsopolous pretty well. George wore #10 and was a pretty good hockey player. Lots of times we forget about guys like George. During the playoffs against Muskegon, George sat in front of me and was real interesting to listen to as the game progressed. I had forgotten that George played for Muskegon at one time in his career. The only other Greek thing I know of would be gyros. So, in order to keep a hockey theme alive with this post I am proposing that the Memorial Coliseum start to offer gyros at the concession stands. How is that for tying two themes under one common topic???
I played with plato as a kid and molded dinosaures out of it and rockets and stuff like that, I really enjoyed mixing the many different colors.
Yes, I know what hemlock is. I rule hemlock. And lots of other dark and sinister things. Try me. And since it isn't hockey season yet, let me add that I know what you mean about Harlan Days. It used to be the highlight of my summer. The trabant was my favorite.
But whoa... I wasn't "pushing" anything. I brought it up in regards to the Komets. I couldn't remember if they were yearly fixtures in the parade or not. Then, yeah, I said "come on out" because it is a good time even if all you do is eat. And you could have seen my date/nut cookies, which took first place in the exhibition competition, and the dog biscuits I had on display there. Speaking of which, my mentioning the dog biscuits before was more of a plea for help than just me looking to sell them. I was going to put any money I made towards a Komets season ticket. Well, so much for that. In my experience, people are only interested in helping others when it's a big, organized charity. If someone simply walks up and asks for help, they get ignored.
Burgee, I think you played with "Playdoh", not Plato... Not unless you're interested in playing with old men... But, to each his own hahahaha!
Dschebig: I'm definitely ready for you to get back to work so I have some hockey to watch. Right now all I'm doing is working, cooking for me'lady, four-wheeling, and working. Oh wait, I already said working once... Guess that shows how much I miss the summer. COME ON, HOCKEY!!
Hey, DON'T RUN DOWN Wendys dog biscuits. They are GOOD enough for you to eat./ I hope Henley gets to play tomorrowvs. Boston./I have 2 Henley game worn jerseys=Norfolk & Pensacola
Wendy-Can I get a couple dozen Doggy thing-a-kabob's for a large dog? Bubba loves to eat treats. RK--I have been ready for well over a month. It is obvious that Burgee is off his meds again. My grandaughter loves to mix the colors but she is only 4 yrs. old.