By request it's a return of "10 Things" which is rip off of a feature done by SI's NFL writer Peter King who covers that league better than anyone.
1. I think the best thing about returning to Cranbrook after a week out of town for holidays was hearing all those great commercials on the radio stations promoting the Kootenay ICE. It's great to hear from the 99.99% of the population who have a great attitude about the team and the WHL instead of the 0.01% who are negative and usually complain anonymously.
2. I think that the Memorial Cup format is as good as you can make a 10-day 4-team tournament but I still don't like it. The ICE were a team that didn't seem beatable in a best of 7 format. This year was such an even tournament you can play it 4 times and have 4 different winners. The 3 2-minute TV timeouts per period also prevented the ICE from using their bench strength. For the the fans and players I hope not winning the Memorial Cup doesn't spoil what a great run the ICE had this season. It was a very very special year.
3. I think Nathan Lieuwen, twice passed over, will be selected in next weeks NHL Draft. So will Jagger Dirk. In the history of the ICE only in 1998 and 2008 did they not have a player selected.
4. I think the ICE will take part in this month's Import Draft. More on that next week.
5. I think it's always great to watch the National Media work behind the scenes at a Memorial Cup or NHL Draft. I really notice which reporters work hard and love their job and which ones don't. I wish I could have spent more time with Yahoo! Sports Neate Sager (Buzzing The Net link to the right) who seemed to always be at the rink. I started following his daily CHL reports midway through the season and appreciate his positive and unique coverage of the 3 leagues.
6. I think once the ICE season ticket totals reach 2,000-2,200 for this season there will be little or no coverage from the out of town media who went in-depth when there was a hint of negativity to talk about. I feel there is nothing wrong about reporting on the challenges the ICE faced this season, but report on the whole story.
7. I think it feels strange that training camp is only 9 weeks away. It's too early to guess who will make the team as training camp always has some pleasant surprises. Non-drafted players Luke Paulsen, Brock Montgomery, Eric Benoit and John Neibrandt are the most recent to receive camp invites and earn a spot on the roster.
8. I think it's great to see coaching stability in the WHL. Only 2 coaches were let go (Moose Jaw and Seattle) and one left (Everett) to go to the NHL.
9. I think it's amazing how far we have come in following prospects in hockey. 10 years ago there were only reports on recent NHL players drafted and some of the top players available in the next draft. Now there are reports on the entire list of players for the current NHL Draft, next years draft and even 2 years down the road. Plus there are websites following 14-year-old players who are eligible for the upcoming WHL Bantam Draft.
10. I think these are my non-hockey thoughts.
a) The book I'm looking to reading this summer is "Those Guys Have All The Fun. Inside The World Of ESPN". It'll be the 1st book I read on an iPad which a good thing as it has almost 800 pages.
b) There will be no NFL games missed because of a lockout but I miss having free agents/trade/training camp to talk about all summer.
c) The NBA will miss at least 50% of next season because of no labor agreement.
d) I will try harder to follow the CFL this season.
e) How good is Disneyland? I'm not a big fan of Disney movies and don't like midway rides and had an amazing 3 1/2 days there last week.