Puska on Pucks tonight

Whta time?

What a great show this was! Obviously not a whole lot being said as far as details yet, still a lot to be done on working out details, but I was impressed with the enthusiasm and positiveness of everyone Dennis talked too.

I wasn't aware of the talks between the UHL and CHL five years ago but it shows this is something owners have been thinking about for some time.

Bloomington experiencing a "major spike" in season tickets after the announcement was encouraging and exciting too.

Now we're back to the waiting game, but I think things are on the right track. We need to keep in mind this is a step in a different direction, there are more steps to take and the journey will be longer then one or two seasons.

For example one of the guests speculated on a one league AA system in five years. Don't know if it would happen that fast but it is one of the reasons this is exciting, for me anyway.

I'll be wearing my #8 Dave Schultz jersey. I hope everyone will enjoy thishttp://flyers.nhl.com/

Great post Steve! I agree about getting it done in 5 years. Way to many super inflated egos to deal with. It sure seems they are headed in the proper direction. I have been convineced all along that they have been at this for a very long time. This is not something you can put together and a couple of days. I am sure that there will be people who will be very happy just as there will be those who will not. The important thing is for everyone of the owners to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, make a profit and put on a good show on for their fans. I see no reason they can not do that if they check their egos at the door.

This all sounds great, and we can blindly make comments that this is perfect and this is the correct route to take and so on, but those who say people who question this move are crazy, can say the same about people who think this is perfect or correct. I am just saying, no one should be on their "high horse" on anything about this until we get the full picture of what all this CHL/IHL stuff will end up being.

Things we don't know so far:

teams
divisions
schedule
players
product
# games
coaches
travel
ownership strength
ticket prices
overall product
affiliations
salary cap
PHPA details and contracts
rules on and off ice
and many many many more details

So to take a stance on either side of this thing, is kinda crazy.

I will continue to ask questions, an wait and see.

Please don't bash me for that stance, or for pointing out that too many Positive Patties bash Negative Nellies, when the tables could be turned real easily. Best position currently, until we get some sort of direction and details, smack-dab in the middle.

When might we hear anything from the Vacation in Arizona?

I haven't seen anyone say this is perfect, or anyone say those who question this move (as apposed to having questions about it?) are crazy, or bash you for having doubts about it. Perhaps in how you express yourself at times, but I would bet if there is criticism it's for that. Hit, sometimes I think you try to portray yourself the martyr.

Did you listen to the program? What is your opinion of what the interviewees said? Their enthusiasm about it? Their view of the future of minor league hockey and how this may help form those goals?

I agree with a lot of what you say but from a slightly different perspective, I think. This is a step, not the complete journey. All growth requires change and there will no doubt be more change after this. A process, an evolution if you will. That is the hope in the project.

Will it happen? That's a maybe and won't be answered in one or two seasons. The economy could go farther south and hurt things even more, egos could become offended down the road and work against it, there are possibilities for failure just as there are possibilities for success. That's life, especially in any venture.

This is something that is going to require time to succeed, or fail. All possibilities and questions won't be answered in a season. I will again say I think it will take longer then five seasons.

All the questions you listed are valid concerns which is why there won't be an immediate answer because those details aren't decided yet. They require time and cooperation and thought. That's why when the answers come they probably won't be the final answers, they will change over the next few seasons.

As everyone associated with this has said from the beginning, we will have to wait for the answers because they aren't known yet. I'm betting all the questions won't be answered for at least a few weeks, maybe longer, because it's the nature of things that some of the issues will take longer.

I'm betting next season will be a good one hockey wise. The amount of my wager is the price of my season tickets plus the collateral expenses of going to the games. I also realize that in part I'm helping to fund an experiment but I'm willing to do that.

If others are not that is fine, it's their money and time and I would strongly disagree with anyone who would criticize them for deciding not to spend either. But I will also strongly disagree with those who would bash the project and those supporting it.

In the mean time, as far as hockey goes, I will watch the Stanly Cup finals, listen to the broadcast of the Calder Cup finals when I can, and sit back and wait to see what decisions are made and look forward to opening night. I already miss being at the ice so I guess I'll have to haul myself out to Canlan and watch some hockey.

I can pretty much guarantee you we'll be having this same discussion next year and the year after and the year after, and it won't matter what league the Komets end up in.

Martyr? Whatever...

My thoughts were observations of various blogs overall, not my personal posting.. No one bashed me, because I am not bashing the league or the team, just have questions. Staying in the middle.

My opinion of everything said on the program...

Well, isn't it all pretty much speculation at this point? We have all speculated what may or may not happen. At this point, it all seems to be up in the air.

I will, as I said, stay in the wait and see mode.

Has anyone said perfect? Maybe not those words exactly, but I hear alot of people on both sides.....one side questions the direction with what little information we have, and the other side wants to slam those questions with loyalty questions for the team and the Frankes in particular.

I am not saying me personally either Steve. Just observing everything that is going on. No one has bashed me personally.....but I have seen lots of others with opinions on it that are called "crazy" for not just going along with things.

I guess I shouldn't have said anything at all.

I was just basically commenting on the fact that they leaked a little info out, made basically a press release confirming only the basics of the leaks, and then we get cut off totally of any information at all......and there are season ticket holders left out in the cold wondering what to do with their money and options for next season.

Blake made a point in the interview, it makes more sense to have all your information together, before you put the cart ahead of the horse and you leave the public speculating and guessing all the dang time. It is a great point.

If the league/leagues would have gotten things together in the form of specific information and goals for the summer and next season and beyond and walked the public thru it together, instead of bits and pieces leaked in a paper here or there, and no one really saying anything concrete....then you would have 90% or better of the public behind you and buying into this thing gung ho. There would still be the 10% that don't like it or stand on the sideline for whatever reason.

I am not saying that it is possible at this very moment that they have all the info together. But they could have brought the info out uniformally and also could have reached out to the ticket buyers by giving them a better opportunity to buy tickets or more time to think about buying them.

Steve, would you buy a car on the internet that you have never seen, driven, don't know what year it is, how many miles is on it, if it has been wrecked, if it has 4 tires, etc... and you have been told, just trust me, give me your money and trust me, everything will be just fine, oh by the way, no refunds.

Martyr? I still say whatever to that.

Interested in information: yes
Paid my deposit on ST: yes
Waiting things out: yes
Going to be part of the discussion and ask questions: yes
Confused about the direction of this league: yes
Seen people paint it perfect so to speak: yes
Seen people bashed as negative for questioning things: yes
Critized for "how I express myself": only by Steve, so far.

Go Komets!!!

You could always turn on NBC right now and watch Rugby....

talk about confusing.....what the heck is that all about?

Get on the bandwagon or get yelled at, Hit....

That is what I was thinking......is that what a Martyr means now? LOL

Geez Blake, you could have warned us that you were on last.

Sure, I'd expect Bloomington and QC to be very excited about this. They are closer geographically to the CHL and were probably pushing to go that route. Plus anything new tends to be exciting. The thrill may wear off if those teams start beating them on a regular basis just like we did, but we'll see.

Steve: What is required to make next season a good one hockey-wise from your point of view?

I'd rather watch rugby than soccer. It reminds me of "Andy Capp". :D And in many way it's the missing link between English and American football.

Imagine that. Someone who goes by the moniker "Hit Somebody!!!" getting criticized for not writing in a passive enough voice.

I have drank the "orange kool-aid" I've paid my money upfront,I will be happy,I'll root for the orange & black.We will have all players everyone will like./I have my #8 Dave Schultz jersey on./I saw Schrock at MMA fights last night. Alot of miss-matched fights. Jody Poff lost=38 seconds first round :(

OK, I apologize for the Martyr comment. It was based in my interpretation of your frequent comments on this blog about people bashing you, comments that I haven't seen. I guess you're referring to comments made on other blogs and forums, and the occasional comment you make about deleted posts by yourself where you are just defending yourself. Guess I'll have to start reading some of those forums and blogs if I want to better understand what you're posting on this one.

As I said, basically I think we agree on most of these issues and happenings going on now, I'm just saying we have to accept that all questions won't be answered immediately, all questions won't be answered to everybody's satisfaction or agreement, and those answers won't be valid down the road as things change. And there's nothing any of us can do about it anyway.

I've been involved in minor league hockey for most of my life, almost became an owner myself in the mid '70s. As Blake and others have pointed out, the egos are tremendous. I have my own collection of stories I could tell if I wanted to.

I have a lot of respect for the Frankes, I'm sure I've made that known before. I trust their experience and knowledge in the field of minor league hockey, they are a proven success in a field where there are few proven successes, and they really do care for their staff, players, and fans. I've known owners who's only care is to make money or to have bragging rights about "their" hockey team and not give two cents about anything else. I've also known owners who just plain didn't know what the heck they were doing. So yes, I do get upset when I see them attacked and false accusations made. That doesn't mean I agree with every thing they've done. The closest person to me on this Earth is my wife and I don't agree with her all the time. And at times they will also have their ego issues, but generally I'm confident they will do what they feel is best for the team and the fans and based on their past I'm willing to put trust in them. Besides, what choice do I have??

Go Blackhawks.

http://flyers.nhl.com/ GO FLYERS

Simple Wendy, 4 pete.... :-)

Talk about opening my mouth and then getting pinned down on it!

A good season is a competitive one where most of the teams are close (which we've seen in the IHL) and the skill level is reasonable.

Defining a reasonable skill level is a problem however. It hinges in part on how many open nets are missed, how many passes are missed, how many players are capable of going 2 or 3 hole with their shots, etc. I also want to see using the body, and the occasional fight. Good hands and speed. Vague enough?

I love hockey, I've lived with single A in the past but I'm not sure I could again. At a single A level I'm sure I wouldn't get season tickets but I would probably still attend some games.

When the Komets left the IHL for the UHL I was disappointed in the product at first (although I understood the need to do so) but I feel it improved. I was definitely in the camp that felt we should have gone to the AHL and felt that way for several years. I remember Grant Richison, who had been sent to Quad City for rehab, joking that he could skate faster backwards then some of them could forward. I also remember Paul Willett talking about the heart the guys in the UHL played with and how most of them are there because of their love of hockey, so I tried to keep an open mind.

No doubt also affecting my attitude at the time, I was attending a lot of Predator games and the difference between them and the UHL was light years. I was going to Nashville and watching former IHLers and coming back to the Fort and watching UHLers, it got hard to take for awhile.

I guess what I'm saying is the level of hockey we've seen in the past six years or so is suitable, I can enjoy it and get over some of the mistakes and lack of skill. I think a merger with the CHL or going to the ECHL will maintain that level as long as they don't completely cut out the vets. To me the more vets the more skill we'll see but it needs to be balanced with cost, availability, and opportunity for younger players. To get rookies with good talent (those with great talent won't see AA) there has to be opportunity to develop and move up and I think this could be a step in that direction, something the IHL by itself lacks.

Last night I had a dream (or night mare).
New League (Don't care what name they call it)
32 teams
16 teams per Division
(2) 8 team conferences
72 game schedule
play each team in your conference 4 home 4 away.
play all the other teams in you division 2 times 1 home 1 away.
20 man rosters
$15,000 per week salary cap.
Very good 2 man referees. Now I am dreaming
4 teams in each conference make the play-offs.
play-offs 1st. round best of 5.
Next round best of 7 and the finals best of 7
Play for the "Sebring" Cup.
Of course the Komets win it all again.
I would have liked to kept on dreaming but I woke up.
It was a really nice dream. No pills of Booze at all.

Hawks up 3-0 YEAH

I become more of a Pronger fan with every game...

Deleted posts that I posted about???

Ok, I think you are mixing bloggers.

Get your story straight Stevo....LOL

Not a big deal.

Shake and make-up.....

Next thing you know I will get accused of having red hair, drinking foo foos, cheering for my son's hockey team (don't have a son), being a Sharks fan, taking orange colored pills, being bald, making 2 nutted fruitcakes, having a cardboard cutout of a famous Komet coach, and buying a Flint jersey.

Crap-ola.......It is all my fault.

Now that is being a martyr. Ok Man? LOL

Go Hawks!!

Oh Steve, I forgot to mention.....when you were thinking of owning a team in the 70's, I was busy being born.

ZING................

Next thing you know I will get accused of having red hair, drinking foo foos, cheering for my son

Hey, we get this question every year about this time, so I'll be the one to throw it out there....has anyone heard yet who has gotten the looks from the higher ups and might be going to ECHL/AHL/CHL camps this summer? That's always fun to talk about. Blake, you heard anything "official"? Anyone else heard anything "unofficial"?

CHL FIGHTERS TO WATCH, James Delory,Fraser Filipic,Colt King :)

Hit, could be, I've been confused before, at least once or twice.....sorry about that.

"when you were thinking of owning a team in the 70

hossa goes to the sharks next year & BLB becomes his biggest fan & buys 2 jerseys

Had 2 philly fans sitting behind me, they were annoying! Hawk fans hate Pronger, they were calling him a body part that all of us have and yet no one complained to the ushers, it was more of a chant.

Twirled the red rag and sang doot do da doot doda doot doda doot. Saw a dude in a 00 Griswold jersey.

Saw lots of 81 jerseys, BLB's favorite player.

Even the nosebleed seats were good.

"Sebring Cup". I like it. B)

On the podcast, Blake mentioned some players talking about Europe, too. If it weren't for all the speculation about the league, we'd probably be hearing more chatter about that.

There's no wrong answer there, Steve. It just occurred to me that that question is the real heart of the matter. It is something we all have to answer for ourselves.