10 Things I Think I Think is a creation of SI NFL writer Peter King. His Monday Morning Quarterback articles every week are must read for all football fans at si.com. In a tribute to him, which is a nice way of saying I stole his concept, here is my 10 for this week.
1. I think it’s tough to look at the ICE in last place in the standings with a 5-10-0-0 record. 3 of the losses were games in which they arguably outplayed the opposition but still lost the game. Plus, after 15 games, there is a strong chance that all teams have lost a couple of games in overtime. So should the ICE really have a record of 8-5-2-0? Or is the fact that they have lost 10 games a true indication of what this team is really about?
2. I think going into the year the ICE felt they needed really good goaltending to win games. Nathan Lieuwen and Todd Mathews have made some unbelievable saves but there are still 1 or 2 goals a game that they would like to have back. Plus when a team is struggling to get goals those are hard to get back.
3. I think the ICE still have a very young blueline. Of the 8 on the roster, 5 are 18-years-old and 2 are 17-years-old. They went through growing pains last year and there should be improved play as the year goes on.
4. I think the ICE felt they would be a goal-challenged club this year and would need to work hard to get the chances. It’s one thing to have trouble scoring goals and another to not have the chances.
5. I think if the ICE traded for a 20-year-old forward and get totally healthy, things would be okay. Line combinations could be something like this …
Sylvester – Reinhart – New 20-year-old
Fraser – Boomer – King
Czerwonka – Antilla – Pacosvky
Ismond – Magnus – Montgomery
Hurley – Skrudland – Pearce
6. I think the ICE have to remember they have 57 games left in the season and 46 of them are against teams from the Eastern Conference.
7. I think I remember when Kamloops had started the season with a 7-1-2-0 record. Since then they have gone with a 1-6-0-0 record. Head Coach Barry Smith was fired today.
8. I think it would be nice to go back to WHL teams playing each other at least once in every team’s building. When Portland was in Cranbrook on Friday there was 5 players who were on the team the last time they played at the Rec-Plex. 2 years from now there may be only a handful of familiar names and faces.
9. I think it’s great to have CHL Top 10 rankings but the current system doesn’t work. Most markets don’t even mention it and haven’t in a couple of years. Instead of using winning percentages to figure out the top 10, why not use the people who see all the games. Like the Head Coach, GM or media who cover games home and away.
10. I think these are my non-hockey thoughts.
a) My prediction it would be an All-California World Series was way off the mark. Then again I finished in last place in my baseball pool for a reason.
b) If you like sports and you like puzzles visit cross-stat.com. It’s Sudoku for sports.