Today’s story

There’s been a debate going all spring about the validity of changing the United Hockey League name to the International Hockey League. The owners may have disbanded the UHL and started fresh with the IHL, though the fans see a different name but the same teams, coaches and players. 

Many fans believe the renamng is an insult to the former IHL which folded in 2001 (the Komets left in 1999) and tarnishes those players’ accomplishments. No matter what the name, they say, this new league will never equal what the IHL was and what it stood for.

 

There are some people who know something about hockey who disagree with that. On Thursday The News-Sentinel contacted all  the on-ice Komets — nine  players and one coach — who have had their jerseys retired for their reaction. Instead of being insulted, all 10 said they like the change and see the renaming as a sign of respect for what they did.

 

“It’s almost like looking at the IHL as it went through its different eras,” said Colin Chin who retired in 1996. “The league was a lot different back when Eddie (Long) and Lenny (Thornson) played versus the years in the 70s when there were more teams and it was a tougher brand of hockey. Then there’s the era between then and when I came in  and then another when it became the NHL affiliates era. I think it’s almost fitting to name it the IHL and the way I see it they are just starting a new era.’’

 

Long, who retired in 1966, agrees wholeheartedly.

 

“I think it’s really good,” Mr. Komet said. “If it wasn’t for the founding fathers of the league there wouldn’t be hockey here, I think this is going to bring back some of the old rivalries amd that will stimulate things. I hope they have learned that more franchises are not the answer. I like this a lot.”

 

MORE

Some fun stuff coming tomorrow

It might provide some more answers for you. It was certainly a lot of fun to write today. It’s not breaking news or anything like that, but I still think you’ll find it interesting.

Could use some prayers

 

Long-time bloggler Josh Farlee has informed me that his son Dane is going to undergo heart surgery on Tuesday. Dane just turned three and he was born with aortic stenosis. He has already undergone two surgeries. You can read more about him by going to http://www.caringbridge.org and typing in danefarlee. It’s pretty amazing.

As you can see, Dane is ready to try to take the Komets’ goaltending spot when training camp begins.

Draft results

The International Hockey League (IHL) conducted a dispersal draft on Wednesday to disperse players from the 2006-07 final rosters of the Chicago Hounds, Elmira Jackals, Quad City Mallards and Rockford IceHogs.  Those four Member Clubs will not participate in the 2007-08 IHL season.

 The order in which current Member Clubs selected players was based on their winning percentage in the final standings of the 2006-07 season, with lowest-ranked teams choosing first.  By choosing a player in the dispersal draft, IHL teams have the rights to the selected player for the 2007-08 season.

 2007 IHL DISPERSAL DRAFT

 ROUND ONE

(Team)                       (Player)

Bloomington                Don Parsons (F), Quad City

Port Huron                  Marty Magers (G), Chicago

Flint                              Steve MacIntyre (D), Quad City

Kalamazoo                 Chris Busby (D), Chicago

Muskegon                  Todd Grant (LW), Chicago

Fort Wayne                 Sergei Durdin (D), Quad City

 ROUND TWO

Bloomington                Jason Tapp (G), Quad City

Port Huron                  Chris Gehrke (D), Chicago

Flint                              Frederic Cloutier (G), Rockford

Kalamazoo                 Chris Mann (D), Quad City

Muskegon                  Mark Nebus (F), Chicago

Fort Wayne                 Justin Chwedoruk (F), Quad City

 ROUND THREE

Bloomington                Tim Wedderburn (D), Elmira

Port Huron                  Mike Letizia (D), Rockford

Flint                              Brent Currie (D), Quad City

Kalamazoo                 Joel Rechlicz (RW), Chicago

Muskegon                  Matt Johnson (F), Chicago

Fort Wayne                 Brett Pilkington (F), Quad City

 ROUND FOUR

Bloomington                Jason Ralph (F), Rockford

Port Huron                  Robert Chappell (D), Elmira

Flint                              Nathan Lutz (D), Rockford

Kalamazoo                 Jordan Hart (D), Chicago

Muskegon                  Matt Amado (C), Chicago

Fort Wayne                 Jesse Bennefield (RW), Rockford

 ROUND FIVE

Bloomington                B.J. Radovich (C), Chicago

Port Huron                  David Morelli (F), Elmira

Flint                              Paul Brown (RW), Rockford

Kalamazoo                 Tim Plett (F), Chicago

Muskegon                  Sean Starke (F), Quad City

Fort Wayne                 Anthony Pototschnik (F), Quad City

 ROUND SIX

Bloomington                Jake Moreland (G), Rockford

Port Huron                  Bryce Cockburn (RW), Rockford

Flint                              Luke Stauffacher (F), Quad City

Kalamazoo                 Maris Ziedins (C), Chicago

Muskegon                  Bruce Watson (LW), Rockford

Fort Wayne                 Mike Sgroi (LW), Elmira

 ROUND SEVEN

Bloomington                Matt Radoslovich (F), Quad City

Port Huron                  Drew Otten (F), Chicago

Flint                              Dan Veenema (D), Elmira

Kalamazoo                 Matt Gens (D), Rockford

Muskegon                  Corey Hessler (D), Rockford

Fort Wayne                 Travis Granbois (F), Quad City

 ROUND EIGHT
Bloomington                Mike Oliveira (C), Elmira

Port Huron                  Dan Boeser (D), Rockford

Flint                              Luke Fritshaw (D), Rockford

Kalamazoo                 Preston Mizzi (C), Rockford

Muskegon                  Benoit Doucet (LW), Rockford

Fort Wayne                 Erik Anderson (C), Elmira

 ROUND NINE
Bloomington                Andrei Lupandin (D), Elmira

Port Huron                  Darryl McArthur (D), Chicago

Flint                              Jason Notermann (LW), Rockford

Kalamazoo                 Brad Smith (G), Quad City

Muskegon                  Jami Yoder (D), Quad City

Fort Wayne                 Mike Kautz (D), Chicago

 ROUND TEN

Bloomington                Chad Loikets (D), Rockford

Port Huron                  Mike Brolsma (C), Quad City

Flint                              Curtis Tidball (RW), Elmira

Kalamazoo                 Rod Aldoff (D), Chicago

Muskegon                  Kelly Miller (C), Chicago

Fort Wayne                 Will McMahon (F), Quad City

 ROUND ELEVEN

Bloomington                Josh Elzinga (D), Chicago

Port Huron                  Scott Seney (C), Chicago

Flint                              Zach Sikich (G), Elmira

Kalamazoo                 Nicolas Corbeil (C), Rockford

Muskegon                  Thomas Zabkowicz (D), Chicago

Fort Wayne                 Shawn Degagne (G), Elmira

 ROUND TWELVE

Bloomington                Patrick Nadeau (RW), Quad City

Port Huron                  Dave Lemanowicz (G), Chicago

Flint                              T.J. Reynolds (D), Elmira

Kalamazoo                 Andrew Leach (F), Elmira

Muskegon                  Kaleb Betts (F), Rockford

Fort Wayne                 Bobby Kukulka (RW), Elmira

 ROUND THIRTEEN

Bloomington                Mike Doyle (LW), Rockford

Port Huron                  Kevin Ulanski (F), Rockford

Flint                              Pass

Kalamazoo                 Dale Lupul (D), Quad City

Muskegon                  Derek Miller (D), Quad City

Fort Wayne                 Frank Littlejohn (RW), Elmira

 ROUND FOURTEEN

Bloomington                Noah Katz (C), Elmira

Port Huron                  Chad Woollard (F), Quad City

Flint                              Pass

Kalamazoo                 Blake Stewart (LW), Quad City

Muskegon                  Scott Drevitch (D), Elmira

Fort Wayne                 Chaz Johnson (RW), Rockford

 ROUND FIFTEEN

Bloomington                Eric Lind (D), Elmira

Port Huron                  Marc Lefebvre (LW), Elmira

Flint                              —

Kalamazoo                 —

Muskegon                  —

Fort Wayne                 —

 

Just talked to Guy

Here are some of the things he had to say:

Guy Dupuis played the six-team West Coast Hockey League in 2002-03 and says he sees no reason why it can’t work now.

It seems like everything is going to be better for the fans and that’s why we’re here,’’ the all-star defenseman said. “The six-team league I played was good for the fans because they got to know more of the other teams. They got to have a love-hate relationship with players on each team. If a team comes in and they don’t know any players then it’s less exciting for them. If they come in and start to get to know the nicknames of the guys, then it gets personal. That year the fans really got into it.’’

Dupuis said he’s waiting to talk more with Komets General Manager David Franke about a contract for next season and hopes to re-sign with the team.

“I would really hope so,’’ Dupuis said. “That’s my plans and hopefully it will work out.’’

Franke said on Monday he was waiting until returning from the league meetings in Las Vegas last week before trying to finalize negotiations with Dupuis and player/assistant coach Bruce Richardson. He hoped to get both players settled before the end of the week.

Some fans have wondered whether players will have reservations about playing only five teams during the season. He said many players were waiting to see what happened at the league meetings before making a decision, but Dupuis said he’s fine with the smaller roster of opponents.

“That would only be a plus I think,’’ he said. “The more you know them the better you’ll be able to counter them. I think there will be some really good rivalries. There are some teams like Muskegon and Kalamazoo we wanted to play more last year because whenever we played them it was a great game. I think these rivalries will promote games like that because I think there will be six really competitive teams.’’

Dupuis said he believes the overall talent level of the league will go up, especially if the players selected in today’s dispersal draft can be added back into the league.

Also, Dupuis said he’s OK with the IHL dropping the instigation penalties until the final five minutes of the game. The owners said they are trying to encourage more physical play, which means more fighting.

“That will take care of itself,’’ Dupuis said. “I think the majority of the fans want to see more fights. I think guys will have some respect for each other and I doubt they abuse it. If they do, they’ll have to answer to somebody else. It’s never just a done deal if they do take advantage to somebody.’’

Talked to the Frankes

Some highlights:

* No truth to the rumor they were involved in or interested in purchasing either Port Huron or Bloomington. “I think a lot of the discussion came on that because we were involved in all the negotiations in those deals,” Michael Franke said. “With Richard leaving, I was the person in the middle of all that representing the league. Somebody had to be there.”

* There will be a new record book and the league is studying  if all the old IHL trophies are available, and if they are, do they want to use them or go in a different  direction.

* The reason  the  league did not do more to announce the new ownership groups in Port Huron and Flint  was because they wanted those  teams to be able to do it in their own cities.

*  There are  expansion plans, but  the owners won’t be talking about them any time soon. “It’s out there and that’s all we’re going to say right now,” Franke said. “We probably will be less talkative as time goes on about these kind of issues. Talking about some of these things too soon can harm the situations and make it more difficult for you to get things accomplished.” Not to mention some of the rumors were laughable.

*  The league has instituted minimum standards for buildings and ownership  possibilities.

*   Teams are not allowed to speak with players before  Wednesday’s dispersal  draft but they  are allowed to talk to their  agents to see if they are  available.

* David Franke talked with  Pascal Morency today and said, “If he doesn’t play in the AHL this is where he’d like to play.  They are  continuing to see what  opportunities they can get in the AHL, and that probably won’t be finalized until  early August.”

* The Komets hope to have decisions from Guy Dupuis and Bruce Richardson by the end of the week. Richardson  has provided some input for the  dispersal draft.

That’s all for now.

Welcome to the new blog

We’ll be here for the foreseeable future. I’ll have more to post later.