Some UHL House Cleaning

In keeping up with the hockey seasons that are ending in the respective leagues, today I present the UHL's review. The United Hockey League's season ended on May 24, and the Rockford IceHogs are going out in style. As I have mentioned, the IceHogs are joining the AHL next season, and they took home the Colonial Cup Championship over the Kalamazoo K-Wings. However, there are more moves than just the IceHogs.

The Chicago Hounds have decided to fold due to the lack of a reasonable lease with its home venue, the Sears Centre.

"It is a shame that the Hounds have to close down. I really believe that with reasonable rent and good home dates, the Hounds could have been a very successful franchise," stated Craig Drecktrah, Chicago Hounds Owner. "I would like to thank the fans that did come and support us as well as the Hounds’ staff for all of their hard work and dedication this past year."

"It is unfortunate that a reasonable lease agreement could not be reached between the Hounds and the Sears Centre. However, I understand the position of the ownership because the venue was offering rates that were four times higher than the highest rent in the league," stated Paul Pickard, UHL Chairman of the Board of Governors. "The league would never want to have an owner put its member club in peril with such a financial burden. I applaud Craig Drecktrah for the passion and decision making that he has shown while leading the Hounds."

That's not all. Another team is going, going... almost gone as well.

The Port Huron Flags is ceasing operations for the time being as well. Current ownership chose not to move forward with the operation of the franchise.

"We regret that we were not able to go on further with the Port Huron Flags hockey team, but we are happy that there are continued negotiations with others to keep the Flags in Port Huron for the upcoming UHL season," stated Charlie Barrett, Port Huron Flags Chairman of the Board.

"The league owes a lot to Charlie Barrett and the group of civic minded individuals that kept the Flags going the past two years," stated Richard Brosal, UHL President and CEO. "They have allowed us the time to find new ownership that can hopefully be announced in the next couple of weeks."

The UHL is hopeful that an announcement of a new ownership group can come as early as next week to keep the Flags in Port Huron.

The UHL will commence its 17th consecutive season of play this October. In addition to the moves and contraction of teams, the Board of Governors is reviewing additional applications for entrance into the league as well.

I might as well end this with some good news. Well, congratulations go out to the Fort Wayne Komets who were honoured as the UHL's Member Club of the Year as selected by the Board of Governors.

The Komets finished the regular season with a 51-21-4 record, a Western Conference Title, their fifth-straight Colonial Cup Playoff appearance and the Tarry Cup, awarded to the league’s best team. The Komets led the league in wins with 51, home wins with 27, road wins with 24 and a 20.1% power play conversion rate. Fort Wayne also allowed a league-low 187 goals and set a club record with the second-best penalty kill in the UHL at 87.4%. There were six different skaters who scored 20 or more goals during the regular season and six skaters who had 50 or more points.

Several players also set records and earned postseason accolades this year. Kevin St. Pierre, the Southern Sports Supply UHL Goaltender of the Year, set several records this season including most appearances in goal by a Komets UHL goaltender with 64 appearances, and the franchise record for shutouts with 23. In addition, he extended his UHL record for career shutouts with 26. Guy Dupuis, UHL Defenseman of the Year, ranked first among defensemen and seventh in the league with 11 goals and 65 assists for 75 points. His 65 assists were the second-highest total in the league, and he led the UHL with 39 power play assists. In addition to St. Pierre and Dupuis, center J.C. Ruid and defenseman Mario Larocque were named to the UHL All-Star teams.

"Off the ice, the club continued to make significant contributions to their community. The Komets donated over $7,000 to Fort Wayne area non-profit groups with the proceeds from game worn jersey raffles and the Komets prize wheel. The club also helped those in need this season. They helped bring in 20 barrels of non-perishable food items for the needy in the Fort Wayne area, and they partnered with the U.S. Army Reserves to bring in more than 30 barrels of personal items and groceries for members of the U.S. military stationed over seas. On Feb. 3, the Komets also held their annual Comcast Report Card Night where local students got free tickets with their 'A's'."

"The Komets led the UHL in regular season attendance with 288,375 fans visiting Allen County War Memorial Coliseum. Their per-game average of 7,588 fans was the seventh-highest in professional minor league hockey. Fort Wayne also hosted the successful 2007 UHL All-Star Classic." It is the fourth time that the Fort Wayne Komets have earned UHL Member Club of Year honors, also winning in 1999-00, 2001-02, and 2002-03.

*Disclaimer: I have waited for close to a week for the Elmira Jackals franchise to respond to me by email in regards to posting the images of their new logo and jerseys. I am now posting them due to their lack of a response by email. To any staff of the Elmira Jackals that may read this, please get in touch with me as soon as possible. Thank you.*

There has also been a jersey and logo redesign for a former UHL franchise. The Elmira Jackals have changed their logo from this to this. It marks the first time in Jackals' franchise history that the logo has been significantly altered. The home and road jerseys will also look different than what they did last season.

"We want to create a new era of Elmira Jackals success as we enter the ECHL," said Jackals President Tamer Afr. "We are continuing to raise the bar following our investment in the ECHL and to do that we have to completely revamp how we do things. With a new league, a new coach, a new team and a new look we are creating a fresh and exciting Jackals team and organization that will continue to make our fans proud."

I like the new jerseys, and they are fairly appealing to the eye. The logo is an upgrade from the previous one, and giving the Jackal's face a meaner expression adds to the fierceness the team is trying to portray.

All in all, a busy offseason looms in the UHL. Good luck to both the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL and the Elmira Jackals of the ECHL in your new leagues! Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

- with files from www.theuhl.com and www.jackalshockey.com

The Pokecheck Professor

Where you have you been for the last 25 years? If you're Peter Puck, you've been in hibernation. That is, until 2008. Starting next season on both Hockey Night in Canada and the NHL on NBC, you'll be able to see Peter Puck, the star of television intermissions in the 1970s, once again. As big as Don Cherry is now on Hockey Night in Canada, Peter Puck was huge for CBC and NBC in the 1970s. And with hockey knowledge in the United States at an all-time low, a wisecracking, skating, talking puck may help draw fans in, especially of the younger generation. Peter Puck is your man.

He'd start his segment the same way each week: "Howdy fans, Peter Puck here to lay some facts on you about hockey - the world's fastest team sport."

Brian McFarlane, the son of Hardy Boys author Leslie McFarlane, was working for NBC in the early 1970s. The Canadian sportscaster and author was asked by his boss at NBC to come up with a way to educate people in hockey. McFarlane's idea was Peter Puck, although the name was created by Joe Barbera, president of Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Studios who helped create the look of Peter Puck.

"When I was with NBC in 1973, my boss, Scotty Connell, decided that our intermission features needed to be more instructional in nature," McFarlane said. "He called Joe Barbera out at Hanna-Barbera, and said, 'We need a little animated character to describe hockey.' They asked me to send Hanna-Barbera some of my literature on hockey, some of my books, and describe what an offside is and icing and that sort of thing."

For two years on the NBC NHL Game of the Week, and five more on Hockey Night in Canada, Peter Puck educated and entertained the home audience, keeping viewers glued to their seats as the wisecracking puck would talk about equipment, icings, and offsides.

"NBC brought in a lot of sportscasters and sportswriters from the Southern markets to take them to a hockey game, their first NHL hockey game for most of them," said McFarlane, "and NBC showed them Peter Puck before the game. There were 2, 3, 4 episodes on offsides and icings and what the referee does. It was very successful. And I used to introduce Peter on those shows, and soon people referred to me as 'Peter Puck's father,' and wherever I went, some people would kid around and ask me, 'Mr. Puck, how's your son Peter?'"

The concept of each episode was that Peter was involved in a fast-paced hockey game until he noticed the viewers at home watching the action. Peter would then speak to the viewers about all sorts of hockey-related terms and rules. NHL players and highlights were used to illustrate Peter's lessons. In one memorable episode, Peter Puck showed the audience a three-on-two breakaway used by the Detroit Red Wings' "Production Line" of Sid Abel, Gordie Howe, and Ted Lindsay. Another classic episode, "The Story of the Stanley Cup," described the champion chalice and some of the famous contests played for it.

In being that Peter Puck was a cartoon, kids would be instantly drawn to the information. Adults could understand the information as well as the entire explanation was kept at a high-level of intellectualism. It wasn't long after Peter Puck's debut that kids who had never watched hockey knew an off-side from a two-line pass.

While McFarlane wrote the pieces and introduced Peter Puck on NBC and CBC, the voice of Peter Puck was actually a man by the name of Ronnie Schell. Schell did a myriad of voices for Hanna-Barbara Studios throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Peter Puck lasted for only nine episodes on NBC. Since creating new animated episodes would have cost upwards of $200,000 for a series, McFarlane experimented with some different ideas during Peter's appearances on Hockey Night in Canada. One such idea was the mixing of existing animation with archival hockey footage.

"I didn't have much of a budget," McFarlane commented, "so I would have Peter skip across the screen for 30 seconds, and say, 'I'm going to tell you a story from my hockey history book,' and then I'd go to the videotape and have Peter's voice do the voiceover, and some famous Stanley Cup game footage would air while Peter described it. Then he'd say, 'That's it. Join me for another story from my hockey history book.' That was a very inexpensive way to keep Peter going for a while."

For as long as Peter Puck has been out of hockey circles, teams keep asking McFarlane for permission to use him on their scoreboards. The NHL's Boston Bruins used Peter in their inaugural season at the FleetCenter, while the AHL's Syracuse Crunch have rebroadcast classic Peter Puck episodes during their televised games.

"I get a call at least once a week from somebody, whether it's the new team in Charlotte or some team in Texas or the midwest, saying 'Who is this Peter Puck?" McFarlane joked. "'Someone said we should phone you and see if we can't use Peter Puck on our arena scoreboard.'"

Well, Peter will be a fixture for hockey once again this season. A line of Peter Puck apparel is hitting store shelves and an undisclosed national financial institution has secured a three-year deal in which Peter will be its official "spokespuck". McFarlane has teamed up with Segal Licensing to produce all sorts of merchandise, and a television idea is not far behind.

Stuart Pollock, the president of Segal Licensing, said there's been interest from various broadcasters in a half-hour television program. Ronnie Schell, however, would be replaced with a younger actor.

"We think there's unlimited potential," Pollock said. "We think it will grow as the kids grow."

Keith McIntyre, the president of K.Mac & Associates Marketing, said he can see how Peter Puck will appeal to guys in their 40s who grew up with the character. But he said it will be harder to make him appeal to kids, who are more likely to play hockey on Xbox than to watch the game on TV.

"From a nostalgic point of view, it would get my attention," said McIntyre, 46. "From a kid's point of view, I think it will be a lot more challenging to be relevant."

In any case, the NHL should get its act together and start making this Peter Puck revival part of their marketing strategy. There is no limit to this kind of marketing, especially when there is zero marketing being noticed in the Southern United States.

Here are a few small clips I could find of Peter Puck. I think this is a great idea.

Peter discusses the game of hockey a little.


Peter discusses the mystique of the Stanley Cup.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Some AHL House Cleaning

If you've been reading this blog in the last month, you'll know I have made mention of the AHL franchises that have relocated and joined the league. I assume that the moves and expansion of the AHL are now over for at least another season. The AHL officially published their new divisional and conference alignment on May 30, and there are some significant moves. The newly-founded Lake Erie Monsters join the North Division of the Western Conference. The Quad City Flames and Rockford IceHogs join the West Division of the Western Conference. The West Division will be the only division with eight teams. The other three divisions will still have seven teams per division.

In any case, here are the new divisional and conference alignments. The parent club of the AHL franchise is in parentheses.

Eastern Conference
Atlantic Division
Hartford Wolf Pack (NYR)
Lowell Devils (NJ)
Manchester Monarchs (LA)
Portland Pirates (ANA)
Providence Bruins (BOS)
Springfield Falcons (EDM)
Worcester Sharks (SJ)

East Division
Albany River Rats (CAR)
Binghamton Senators (OTT)
Bridgeport Sound Tigers (NYI)
Hershey Bears (WSH)
Norfolk Admirals (TB)
Philadelphia Phantoms (PHI)
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (PIT)

Western Conference
North Division
Grand Rapids Griffins (DET)
Hamilton Bulldogs (MTL)
Lake Erie Monsters (COL)
Manitoba Moose (VAN)
Rochester Americans (BUF/FLA)
Syracuse Crunch (CBJ)
Toronto Marlies (TOR)

West Division
Chicago Wolves (ATL)
Houston Aeros (MIN)
Iowa Stars (DAL)
Milwaukee Admirals (NSH)
Peoria Rivermen (STL)
Quad City Flames (CGY)
Rockford IceHogs (CHI)
San Antonio Rampage (PHX)

The format for the 2008 Calder Cup Playoffs will be determined at the league's Annual Meeting next month. I assume it will look similar to this season's format, but you never know what may happen.

In other news from the AHL, the Houston Aeros announced on May 29 that they have hired Kevin Constantine to be their new head coach. The former runner-up for the Jack Adams Trophy as the top coach in the NHL had spent the last four seasons as the head coach for the WHL's Everett Silvertips. Constantine, 48, has been behind the bench as a head coach for more than 1,000 combined games in the United States Hockey League (USHL), International Hockey League (IHL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Western Hockey League (WHL). In the NHL, he has a record of 159-153-66 beind the benches of San Jose, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey. He les the Kansas City Blades of the IHL to the Turner Cup Championship in 1991-92 before being hired by the Sharks. He is the only coach in NHL history to lead two #8 seeds over the #1 seeds in NHL Playoff history. He led the 1993-94 Sharks to vitory over the Red Wings, and led the 1998-99 Penguins to victory over the Devils.

"A development team requires a leader who will teach the players the game, while at the same time instilling the discipline, accountability and hard work required to play in the NHL for this organization," Aeros general manager Tom Lynn said. "Kevin has a demonstrated record of all of these elements. In addition, he has had success coaching at all levels of hockey, and in particular in developing younger players."

I think the hiring of Kevin Constantine will prove to be an astute move by the Minnesota Wild and Houston Aeros franchises. As Mr. Lynn said, Constantine is known for his hard-nosed, no-nonsense coaching style, and his leadership will help the young Aeros' players progress into solid NHL players.

Ok, so that should quench your thirst for a little more AHL knowledge. With the NHL Entry Draft coming up, AHL teams will certainly be readying themselves for an infusion of young talent. Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Calder Cup Victory

While the NHL's Stanley Cup avoided returning north of the border, the AHL's Calder Cup will be a Canadian fixture for at least one year. The Hamilton Bulldogs, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens, defeated the Hershey Bears four games to one on Thursday night to win their first Calder Cup Championship. This is a huge accomplishment for a team that, at times, struggled mightily during the season, both on the ice and at the ticket booth. However, all is good in the Canadian steeltown, and the Montreal Canadiens have to be drooling over some of their prospects.

One such player is goaltender Carey Price. Price made 29 saves in the decisive Game Five win over Hershey, and finished the playoffs with a record of 15-6 with a 2.06 goals-against average, a .936 save percentage and two shutouts. The 19-year-old was the fifth overall pick in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, and made his AHL debut with the Bulldogs on April 13. His efforts in the playoffs earned him the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy as the most valuable player of the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs.

Price is only the third goaltender in AHL history, and the first since former Montreal Canadiens goaltending legend Patrick Roy in 1985, to lead his team to a Calder Cup victory as a teenager. You may also remember Carey Price for his heroics at the 2007 World Junior Championships in which he was named the tournament MVP for Canada. He was also a first-team all-star in the WHL this past season, was named the Del Wilson Trophy winner for being the top goaltender in the WHL, and was named Goaltender of the Year in Canadian Major Junior Hockey. Those are some pretty impressive accolades.

Hamilton was the lower seed in each round but never trailed in any of its four series, defeating Rochester (4-2), Manitoba (4-2) and Chicago (4-1) before ousting the defending Calder Cup champs from Hershey in five games as well.

The key to the Dogs playoff run could be pinpointed to one defining game for Carey Price: Game Six versus the Maniotba Moose. Price made 40 saves, and allowed his team to hang with the Moose, eventually winning in overtime 3-2 to eliminate the Moose. Price continually came up with remarkable saves and timely goaltending to keep his team in every game. That is the mark of a champion.

Scoring wasn't a problem for the Bulldogs either. Corey Locke led the Bulldogs in scoring in the playoffs, posting 10 goals and 12 assists in 22 games. Locke's 10 goals tied him for most in the 2007 Calder Cup Playoffs. Defenseman Dan Jancevski scored 3 goals and added 11 helpers for 14 points. Kyle Chipchura, Matt D'Agostini, Andre Benoit, and Duncan Milroy all added 13 points in 22 games as well. Ajay Baines had two short-handed goals, including the game winner in Game Five of the Calder Cup Championship series. Eric Manlow scored three game-winning goals - a sign of veteran leadership and clutch performance. Defenseman Danny Groulx opened the scoring in four games, another sign of the veteran leadership on this team. Andre Benoit (+13), Ryan O'Byrne (+12), and Duncan Milroy (+11) occupied the top three rankings in plus/minus in the playoffs, a credit to their defensive abilities and commitment to backchecking.

All in all, this team wasn't the best team in the AHL all season. They weren't even the best team in their division. The key is that they came together at the right time, and played incredible hockey for a little over a month. That's all you can ask for if your team is in the playoffs. Congratulations to the Hamilton Bulldogs, the 2007 Calder Cup Champions!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

Some NHL House Cleaning

The Rbk Edge Uniform System is spreading quickly as the Washington Capitals won't be the only team in new duds on June 22. I had written about the Capitals' plan to unveil their new uniforms at the draft in Columbus, Ohio in the A Glaring Ommision article. Well, the host team for this year's draft is following suit. The Columbus Blue Jackets have made it official on their website.

"COLUMBUS, OHIO - The Columbus Blue Jackets will introduce their new home and road uniforms prior to the start of the 2007 National Hockey League Entry Draft at Nationwide Arena on Friday, June 22. The unveiling will include two Blue Jackets players and take place on the Entry Draft stage just prior to the start of the draft.

The Blue Jackets will join the other 29 NHL member clubs in wearing the Rbk Edge uniforms beginning with the 2007-08 season. Last January, the NHL and Reebok announced a partnership that has created the new technologically-advanced uniform system, which was worn by the Western and Eastern Conference All-Star Teams at last year's game in Dallas.

The Rbk Edge Uniform System was designed with performance and safety at the forefront. It is the culmination of more than two years of research and testing with active participation by NHL players, the NHL Players' Association and NHL team executives. The launch marks the first time in the history of major North American professional sports leagues that a league-wide uniform innovation has been established.

The 2007 NHL Entry Draft will be held at Nationwide Arena on Friday, June 22 and Saturday, June 23. The first round will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday with rounds 2-7 beginning at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Tickets are free for both days and are available at www.BlueJackets.com. Additional information on special events surrounding the draft will be announced in the coming days."

The Blue Jackets will feature a new logo on these jerseys as well. The rumour is that it will be their current alternate logo. In any case, we now have two teams that will be showing off their new "uniform system" in 14 days.

Hey, if the Hawks can get excited and steal Columbus' draft logo for their own personal use, the 2007 Entry Draft has to be fun, right? And nothing says more fun than seeing new uniforms and logos. Especially if they are bad. Can you imagine what may happen if the Columbus jerseys look horrible? The fans in Ohio might revolt. Maybe that's why Bob Murray declined to position of general manager in Columbus: he was afraid for his life after seeing the new jerseys.

In any case, the draft is upon us. I'll have a big AHL wrap-up tomorrow. Congrats to the Hamilton Bulldogs on their Calder Cup Championship! Until tomorrow, keep your sticks on the ice!