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 great for the ICE to play the entire B.C. Division in road trip that starts this weekend. 2 years ago the ICE went 4-0-1 on the road against those 5 teams but they didn’t play them all in one trip. They visited Kamloops and Kelowna in November and then Prince George, Chilliwack and Vancouver in February.
2. I think the ICE will be in Kelowna when the Grey Cup is played on Sunday. A few of years ago they were in Kamloops when the Super Bowl was played. You’ll notice the WHL doesn’t schedule games on these days.
3. I think from what we saw last weekend, Regina and Swift Current have teams that are a lot better than their record indicates. They’re both to watched closely as a couple of teams that go on long winning streaks and make a major move up the standings. Last year Kelowna and Brandon were the teams that picked up the pace in the middle part of the season. The Pats main concern is the 6 weeks they’ll be missing Jordan Eberle and Colton Teubert to the WJHC.
4. I think the instigator penalty that includes a 10-minute misconduct, should only be called when a player is on the ice only looking to start a fight. Lately we’ve seen many players defend their teammates after receiving a big hit (legal and illegal) and then be out of the game for 17 minutes. Make it 2 for roughing and 5 for fighting and give the other player 5 minutes.
5. I think the ICE will be fined $500 for their second multiple fight of the season on Saturday against Swift Current. First offence was $250 in the game against Red Deer.
6. I think it’s great to see the support that the WHL play-by-play announcers give to each other. Everyone puts each other links on their blogs and how great are the interviews from around the league on the WHL Radio Show. Good stuff.
7. I think it’s the ICE and Portland that still have room to add an over-ager. Swift Current is the only team that has one too many.
8. I think I haven’t seen WHL head honchos Rob Robison or Richard Doerksen in person this year.
9. I think the best research of the month came from the Pat’s Dan Plaster who had this in the game notes in the game against the ICE. Two of the 11 players in the top 10 WHL scoring -- Brayden Schenn and Igor Revenko are 6-foot-0; the remainder are shorter than that. Brandon Kozun, 5-9; Brendan Shinnimin, 5-10; Jordan Eberle, 5-10; Jordan Weal, 5-9; Willie Coetzee, 5-10; Bretton Cameron, 5-11; Craig Cunningham, 5-10; Cody Eakin, 5-11; and, Matt Calvert, 5-10.
10. I think these are my non-hockey thoughts.
a) It’s funny how many people waited until Saskatchewan beat Calgary on Sunday to suddenly say they are fans of the Green & White. A majority of Roughriders fans let it be known of their support all year long and that is great to see, but I had to smirk at the people who are now making some noise. I expect there will be even more if they win the Grey Cup on Sunday.
b) Baseball free agent signing are coming soon. I predict Roy Halliday will be traded to Boston and Matt Holliday will sign with the Red Sox. Trail native Jason Bay will sign with Seattle. Yankees will get pitcher John Lackey. Just guessing.
c) The new wii game where 4 people can play Mario Brothers at the same time will be a huge seller. Always hated waiting for my turn.