Ice Chips 06'-07'

Ice Chips has moved. Bookmark it, baby.

Salutations, loyal readers of Ice Chips.

The address for this page has changed. Please bookmark the following page and use it in the future: http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/Section?Category=BLOGS11

I would appreciate it if you passed on the change to any interested parties now and in the future.

We'll see you at the new digs.

-- Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

Changes on the horizon

Before we go any further, I must let you know that Ice Chips will be undergoing some exciting changes in the near future. On Wednesday, be sure you come to the web site (you should be several times daily, anyway), so you can see what we have in store for you.

Meanwhile, some of the Komets' most hated rivals will not be back in the International Hockey League next season. Robin Bouchard, the longtime over-hyped star of the Muskegon Fury, is going to play for the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League; and Tyler Willis, the great agitator from the Kalamazoo Wings, is going to Europe.

I should have linked to this earlier, but those of you wishing to catch up on the status of Jason Baird, the recently signed Muskegon player who was horrifically injured when the lawnmower he was riding exploded, his wife has a blog that is quite emotional: Click here.

And, I've had lot of people ask me, on this blog and elsewhere, how they can get their hockey fix in Fort Wayne this time of year. Well, the best bet is to go to McMillen Ice Arena to check out the league action Wednesdays. There are games at 5:30 and 7 p.m. (Yes, I'm playing. Go Blue!) The playoffs of that league, which features players of various skill levels, begins Aug. 13. There will be an off week and then the championships on Aug. 27.

There also is some good pickup hockey which you can see or participate in, Fridays, at 9:15 p.m.

Come the fall, there will be tons more you can partake in at McMillen. Check out their site by clicking here.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette

K's look IHL's best ... so far

I've been giving some thought as to which teams in the International Hockey League look the best so far. Here are the rankings, bearing in mind it's still early in the offseason and this will all drastically change:

1) Fort Wayne: The defending champions have already signed much of their star talent, including Colin Chaulk, Guy Dupuis, P.C. Drouin and Nick Boucher, and coach Al Sims is back. They still need to bring in some more youthful skill players, to replace Mathieu Curadeau and Luciano Aquino, assuming they don't return. But things look really good in Fort Wayne so far.

2) Port Huron: Like the Komets, the Icehawks aren't messing with a good thing. Goalie Larry Sterling is solid. Jamie Carroll, Tab Lardner and Jeff Zehr will light it up offensively. And Jamie Lovell is a nice defenseman.

3) Muskegon: Lots of big moves, lots of new talent, like Frank Littlejohn, Chad Woollard. Losing Jason Baird to a horrific offseason injury -- he was burned badly in an accident -- will hurt the Fury, but there's time for it to recover. Still, I'm waiting for the Fury to take on the physical persona of its coach, former Komet Bruce Ramsay.

4) Flint: I'm not too impressed so far, mostly because the faces are too familiar. With a full season, Justin DePretis should be a star in this league, though, and a healthy Matt Spezza could be a good goalie. But I'm surprised the Generals stuck with Peter South as coach, after he took over on an interim basis last season, and I'm not sure they have any players yet who will scare the opposition offensively or physically.

5) Bloomington: I'm really not sure about the hire of Jarrod Skalde as coach. I just believe, given the region and the arena, this should be a really attractive job, but the PrairieThunder hasn't gone with proven coaches. Still, with new ownership, hopefully this team will pay the bills and actually get and keep some talent. So far, there's some promise, with forwards Don Parsons and Jon Booras, but there's much work to be done for a team that simply must win this season.

6) Kalamazoo: Wow, new rookie coach Nick Bootland has nothing we can even analyze yet. Jason Tapp is a so-so goalie and Glenn Detulleo is  a solid center. Beyond that, the Wings have lots of work to do. It would be sad to see a proud market field another mediocre-to-bad team this season.

• Fort Wayne-native Brian Gratz, a former goaltender with the Komets, has been hired to coach the Jersey Rockhoppers of the  Eastern Professional Hockey League. Last season, he coached the Indiana (Penn.) Ice Miners of the Mid-Atlantic Hockey League, which suspended operations when his team was 31-1-0.

-- By Justin A. Cohn, The Journal Gazette