The Kalamazoo Wings didn't take too long in their search for a new coach, tabbing Nick Bootland on Thursday. A player with the team for the last four seasons, Bootland seems like a solid choice.
"Priding ourselves on the ability to promote (from) within, Nick, who is a proven leader on and off the ice, (led) us to a championship as a player," general manager Wade Welsh said in press release. "We feel he will do the same as our head coach."
The Wings were coached by Brian Curran last season and he was fired shortly before the Wings missed the playoffs.
There have been a lot of surprised fans on the message boards about this one; I'm not sure why, since I'd been hearing talk of this months ago. Regardless, this seems like a solid hire to me. He knows the city, knows the league, knows the players at this level. I've also heard that this hiring will get some of the Wings' better players back on board early this summer.
Besides, the Wings can't do much worse than last season, when they didn't play inspired and, more importantly, didn't play particularly well.
Meanwhile, the Bloomington PrairieThunder and Flint Generals are continuing their coaching searches. It's not set that Bruce Ramsay will be back with the Muskegon Fury, though I expect he will be.
According to The Bloomington Pantagraph, there were only 15 resumes submitted for the PrairieThunder job as of last week. Wow, that number sure seems low to me. That should be a relatively attractive job, given the venue anyway.
Meanwhile, it was brought to my attention today that there is a vocal group of Penguins fans reading Ice Chips. I replied, it had to be a minority. You're not all pulling for the cheapshot Pens are you?
-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette
If it's a sport team from Detroit, I was raised to hate it..Sorry Cohny
Posted by: Brandon | May 29, 2008 at 08:23 PM
Down with the red wings!
Posted by: Barry Frankeee | May 29, 2008 at 09:04 PM
And I was raised to love them (well, except for maybe the Lions. Can anyone love the hapless group?)
Posted by: Sherry | May 29, 2008 at 09:05 PM
I love the Lions. ... Lions Bengald will meet in the Indianapolis Super Bowl; you heard it here first.
Posted by: Justin Cohn | May 29, 2008 at 09:15 PM
Cohny you can't be serious...better insert my NY Jets for that venue.
Posted by: St.Chris | May 29, 2008 at 09:25 PM
Canuck... got your ears on? Barrel on Friday nite @ 9:15, need me to bring any extra sweaters?
Posted by: St.Chris | May 29, 2008 at 09:35 PM
wifes from detreoit so its the red wings for me(unless they play the rangers)
Posted by: chuckitt | May 29, 2008 at 09:46 PM
The words Lions and superbowl will never happen until the name McMillan is subtracted from that equation.
Posted by: Jerad Shaw | May 29, 2008 at 09:46 PM
Well, that IS true.
Posted by: Justin Cohn | May 29, 2008 at 09:51 PM
You mean Millen?
Posted by: St.Chris | May 29, 2008 at 09:52 PM
Justin...wanna borrow a screwdriver so you can take off your "Zehr" cage from your helmet?LOL!
Posted by: St.Chris | May 29, 2008 at 09:54 PM
Good for Bootland. I hope he does well. But, obviously, not too well. lol.
I've been trying to settle on an NHL team to cheer for, but the closest I came was the Caps. I do respect Crosby as a young star, but he'll have plenty of chances to win Beyond that, there is location. But the Red Wings, Blackhawks and Blue Jackets are all about equal distance. The later two didn't make the playoffs, but cheering for the Detroit is so cliché. Still, you've got to love a team whose fans throw octopuses. It was for that very reason that I threw a stuffed orange octopus in Andy's general direction after game #3 of the finals. And, if I'm not mistaken, it was that very same octopus that later showed up in the JG's slideshow after the Komets won the Turner Cup. It lives!!! So it must have brought them luck. I suppose that it only makes sense for the original octopus throwers to win this year, too. :D
Posted by: Wendy | May 29, 2008 at 10:43 PM
Gary Roberts did the right thing=but not good enough=I've liked Roberts since he was in Calgary=if would of stayed=2 or 3 cups for the FLAMES.
Posted by: mightbite | May 30, 2008 at 05:08 AM
Justin - How much of a shot do you think John Anderson has at the Leaf's job? I guess nothing can happen until they hire a new GM first.
Posted by: Ex-STH | May 30, 2008 at 08:01 AM
Yes Cohn, there are a lot of Pens Fans (Wings haters).
I've been a Pens fan since May 24th, 2008. Does that make me a bandwagon fan?
Posted by: Junior | May 30, 2008 at 08:15 AM
Sorry...have to hate Detroit...my whole family does, and i'd hate to be murdered in my sleep...and cheap shots come in all forms, including the red wings' tomas holmstrom...i have seen him do some pushes and shoves that seemed a little cheap to me, but then again, who doesn't from time to time? i really hate all pittsburgh teams on principal (deuce could tell you why on this one!!) but i am rooting for the lesser of two evils here, plus going for the underdogs. and i love evgeni malkin...he is a really quick and talented player, no matter who he plays for. sorry, cohny, pens in 6!!!
wendy, we could not settle either, but we root for the nashville predators and the san jose sharks...why? my 7 year old likes their logos...why not?! lol we might try for a blue jackets game next season, maybe vs the predators?
btw, cohny, ya crack me up when you do the call-ins on the bear!! hi-larry-ous!
bootland, eh?? interesting...not a fan of his, but we shall see...
Posted by: Cat Eyes | May 30, 2008 at 08:37 AM
Cheap shot Pens??? Are you serious???? Bad actors are the wings. GO PENS!!!!!
Posted by: Greg | May 30, 2008 at 09:07 AM
Yes, so the Pens' fans are fairweather. Typical and figures.
Posted by: Justin Cohn | May 30, 2008 at 12:32 PM
GO WINGS!!!!!! I'm just happy the Pens are trying to make it an entertaining series. I wan tit to go 7 so we can see as much hockey as possible before it goes away for a few months.
Posted by: hobo | May 30, 2008 at 01:07 PM
Bootland can be a success, BUT he will have to make that switch from Player to coach, if he doesn't 1.5 and out.
Posted by: Burgee | May 30, 2008 at 02:17 PM
he-he. Funny you should mention that Cat Eyes. That friend in California that I gave the Kings tickets too wound up cheering for the Sharks (whom they were playing) instead. She liked their colors better. lol. I told her I couldn't argue with that, even when you take other factors into consideration!
Posted by: Wendy | May 30, 2008 at 03:32 PM
MIghtbite,
2 or 3 more cups in Calgary??? Gary Roberts was there a few more years after they won that lone cup and they didn't make out of the first round of the playoffs for years with or without him. Sorry, I disagree with you on that one.
Posted by: Bruiser | May 30, 2008 at 03:55 PM
Wendy...when all else fails, we women will go with the colors or the logos...can't say I have never won a bet going that route before either, so what the heck...and a 7 year old could care less who he roots for...and truth be told he hates the Red Wings because his former bully at school likes them...hmm...might be more there than meets the eye...
And for the record, I'd rather be branded a fair weather Pens fan than ANY sort of a Red Wings fan! lol!!! That one was for the goalie!! (my son the goalie, not theirs)
And though we are rooting for different teams, thanks hobo for making a great point...let's have it go as long as possible...October is a long time coming!!!
Cheers to you, cheers to me, may we never disagree, but if we do...to heck with you, and here's cheers to me!! ha ha!! just kiddin'...enjoy the game Saturday night everyone!! Cheap shots, bad acting, and all!!
Posted by: Cat Eyes | May 30, 2008 at 05:13 PM
There are Wings other than the K-Zoo ones? :) Go Pens! My only reason for being a temporary Pens fan is a couple of my more annoying co-workers are Wings fans. I was hoping the Capitals would go further than they did.
Posted by: FiveMinuteMajor | May 30, 2008 at 06:17 PM
Five Minute Major, besides being a Blackhawk fan, that is pretty much mine. A close number 2 is that Cohn is a Red Wings fan. I guess Red Wing fans should enjoy this trip, cause after next year, it won't happen again!!! New Years Day 2009, will mark the changing of the guard my friends!!!
Posted by: Jerad SHaw | May 30, 2008 at 06:53 PM
I like that kind of talk JS.
All my friends are Wings fans and they are brutally annoying.
Case in point: The majority of the Musky fans are Wings fans, enough said.
Posted by: Junior | May 30, 2008 at 07:19 PM
Hmmmm... I'm getting a "Patriots" vibe the way everyone is talking about the Red Wings. That's not good! :D
I still think they are going to win, though. And I'm really not hearing any non-emotional reasons not to cheer for them. But if anyone has any, I'd love to hear them. :)
Posted by: Wendy | May 30, 2008 at 09:37 PM
Anyone like the AVs? My son is a Red Wings fan and when they play each other alot of smack talk between us. Rooting for the Wings since the Avs are out.
Oilers were my team in the 80's & 90's. Glenn Anderson, Craig McTavish fan! I also liked Glenns brother David that played for the Komets.
I liked Patrick Roy. Kevin Schmidt once told me that Roy is a freaky french man and talked to the goal posts! I guess that is a goalies best friend.
GO WINGS!!!!!!
Posted by: Melissa | May 30, 2008 at 09:40 PM
he-he. I've always heard you have to be a bit crazy to be a goalie.
That reminds me, I found a great page for hockey quotes a few months ago, if anyone is interested. They are great fun to read. Just click the link below.
http://ffbookmarks.com/hockey_quotes.htm
Posted by: Wendy | May 31, 2008 at 05:57 AM
Favorite players=#1 Laraque-#2 Iginla-
Posted by: mightbite | May 31, 2008 at 06:34 AM
Avs? Never heard of them. Oh, wait, punks.
Posted by: Justin Cohn | May 31, 2008 at 08:57 AM
Jerad
One of these days you will leave the Blackhawks and join the dark side.
GO WINGS!!!
Posted by: Rich | May 31, 2008 at 04:21 PM
Bruiser: Flames would of won a couple of years ago= NHL cheated for tampa.
Posted by: mightbite | May 31, 2008 at 05:28 PM
Komets Home Games:
Sat Oct 18 Flint @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Fri Oct 31 Kalamazoo @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sat Nov 8 Bloomington @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Fri Nov 14 Muskegon @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Fri Nov 21 Port Huron @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sat Nov 22 Kalamazoo @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Thurs Nov 27 Flint @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Sat Nov 29 Muskegon @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Sat Dec 6 Bloomington @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Sat Dec 13 Port Huron @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Sat Dec 20 Muskegon @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Sun Dec 21 Kalamazoo @ Fort Wayne 5:00 p.m.
Fri Dec 26 Bloomington @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Mon Dec 29 Kalamazoo @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Wed Dec 31 Flint @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Wed Jan 7 Port Huron @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Fri Jan 9 Flint @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sat Jan 10 Bloomington @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Fri Jan 16 Kalamazoo @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sun Jan 18 Muskegon @ Fort Wayne 5:00 p.m.
Fri Jan 30 Port Huron @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sat Jan 31 Port Huron @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Fri Feb 6 Flint @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sun Feb 8 Muskegon @ Fort Wayne 5:00 p.m.
Fri Feb 13 Kalamazoo @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sat Feb 21 Kalamazoo @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Wed Feb 25 Muskegon @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Fri Feb 27 Flint @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sat Mar 14 Kalamazoo @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Fri Mar 20 Port Huron @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sun Mar 22 Bloomington @ Fort Wayne 5:00 p.m.
Wed Mar 25 Flint @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Fri Mar 27 Flint @ Fort Wayne 8:00 p.m.
Sat Mar 28 Port Huron @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Wed Apr 1 Muskegon @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Sat Apr 4 Muskegon @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Wed Apr 8 Bloomington @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Sat Apr 11 Bloomington @ Fort Wayne 7:30 p.m.
Taken from:
http://finishyourcheck.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=13335
Posted by: Salvucci | May 31, 2008 at 06:40 PM
Well with releasing the schedule that means no new teams for this year. That in itself is a disappointment. I just don't see this league being able to survive with just 6 teams. Some much for all these regional city teams wanting to jump on the boat of the IHL..I will give this league 2 more years to survive with the current members. Most of the current teams lost money this past year with the exception of the K's from what I have heard.
Posted by: ToeBlake | May 31, 2008 at 08:07 PM
They play Flint on the 3 big nights. Homeopener, Thanksgiving, and New Years. Not sure I like that.
Posted by: Jerad Shaw | May 31, 2008 at 10:18 PM
Where are all the smack talking Pens fans this morning? Don't get me wrong, I like penguins, they taste like chicken. Four Stanley Cups in 11 years! Thats impressive. Between the Komets and Red Wings, my cup runeth over! yeah baby yeah!
Posted by: Charlie in Rochester Hills, MI | June 01, 2008 at 08:13 AM
PENS wins 3 in a row=KOMETS
Posted by: mightbite | June 01, 2008 at 09:25 AM