1. I think Sunny and +28 for Friday makes it's a perfect day for the ICE Golf Tournament. It's a big fundraiser for the Scholarship Fund.
2. I think it's hard to believe the WHL regular season starts 1 month from today as on Thursday September 22nd Moose Jaw will open their new building against Brandon.
3. I think I'd like to see you at the ICE training camp which starts next week at the Rec-Plex. It's free air conditioning. I'll have complete schedule details soon. Blue-White will be on Sunday September 4th.
4. I think you'll be hearing a new but familiar voice doing colour commentary on the ICE radio broadcasts this season. George Watson has returned to China for another year and we thank him for his dedicated contributions the past few years. We are planning on having Kyle Christensen doing Post-Game interviews from the benches and a few games of guest analyst work. Who is the new person? That will be revealed soon. That is what we call a tease in the radio business.
5. I think the ICE are very happy with their goaltending depth. They have 3 with WHL experience (Lieuwen, Teskey, Skapski) and a prospect (Hoflin)who is coming off a great year.
6. I think the ICE are happy with their defenseman depth considering they lost McNabb (graduated) and Rintoul (traded). Big holes to fill but in junior hockey you expect that year-after-year.
7. I think the ICE are happy with their forwards depth but would like one more top-6 guy. If they trade Antilla or Ismond to finalize the over-ager situation their biggest need is someone on the 2nd line that can score. The top line is solid, the 3rd and 4th lines will feature veterans sprinkled with a few rookies.
8. I think it'll be strange to see Cory Clouston on the visitors bench at the Rec-Plex. That doesn't happen until January 24th.
9. I think I'm enjoying the world of twitter. If you haven't yet, follow JHollick_Ice.
10. I think these are my non-hockey thoughts.
a) This summer I've learned 95% of drivers don't understand what a passing lane is.
b) The only bad thing from the summer holidays was the 1 1/2-2 hour line-up at the Kingsgate border crossing. Over the years it was never longer that 10 minutes. Can't get the new building built quick enough.
c) It's amazing to see how many people are happy to see the Roughriders struggling this year. Are they the Yankees of the CFL? Either you love them or hate them I guess.