All year long fans have debated the comparison between the IHL and the CHL, and the players were always reluctant to go on the record during the season.
Nick Boucher:
``It took us 20, 25 games to realize you have to compete every night. There were a lot of games at the start of the year where we just didn't compete and we lost. We got what we deserved at the start of the year. We're not the big dogs on the block any more, and I think running the table like we had in the IHL, maybe a lot of guys, and I'm not excluding myself, maybe we felt it was going to come easy. Teams in this league are young, fast and hungry. We weren't the big dog on the block any more and there wasn't the fear of Fort Wayne like there had been. If there's anything we can take away from this season, it's that we have to compete and bring it every night. The league skill-wise isn't any better than the `I' was, but it's competitve. Look at Quad City, they didn't have a ton of talent, Bloomington... there were some teams without a lot of talent, but they just worked and they had good seasons because of it.''
Colin Chaulk:
``I don't think the league is a better league. I believe it's more of a skating league. It might be a touch faster, but players skate more. They move their feet more because of the obstruction and the rules. (Management) will look at that.''
