A bit of a break

Matt Woodard and Dennis Sicard went on the ice this morning to take shots on Sebastian Dahm. Andrew Martin got a massage, while Cole Ruwe and Preston Briggs did crosswords and puzzles in the newspaper. This is how we spent the morning at the rink. I packed up all the other bags and equipment. Joe ran across the street to get some subway for the two of us. We arrived back at the hotel a little after noon. Joe and I jumped off the bus, and the rest of the team climb on and went to Olive Garden. That is our typical place to stop on game days on the road.

It is weird for me to be sitting in my bed on a game day. Usually I am at the rink getting everything ready. I will probably try and take a little pre-game nap before we get on the bus at 4:15 to go to Flint. Joe, on the other hand, doesn't miss to many. (I can say that because he is in the other bed asleep. He is my usual roommate on the road.

Tonight will feel a lot like a playoff game. It is very important to both teams.

In Port Huron

Ya, so the internet did not work in the hotel last night. We stayed in Port Huron after the game, which was nice because we did not have to mess with packing and unpacking the equipment. We have an optional morning skate at 10:00 am. The guys will come back around 3:30 pm and we will pack up and go to Flint.

We now sit 8 pts ahead of Flint and Quad City. We have a game in hand on Quad, but Flint has 2 games in hand on us, which makes tonight even more important.
Here is the outcomes of the games against Flint this year:
PAST RESULTS
10/31/09 Flint 2 at Bloomington 3
12/04/09 Bloomington 2 at Flint 5
12/11/09 Flint 1 at Bloomington 3
01/17/10 Flint 2 at Bloomington 6
01/22/10 Bloomington 5 at Flint 4 OT
02/03/10 Flint 5 at Bloomington 7
02/26/10 Bloomington 5 at Flint 2
03/14/10 Bloomington 5 at Flint 4 OT
03/19/10 Flint 6 at Bloomington 1

Our record is 3-1-0-0 in Flint, while their record at home is 1-1-2-0. Two of the 4 have been close games.
Our record in Bloomington is 4-1-0-0, Flint is 1-4-0-0 in Bloomington.

This is the time of year, the league has the voting for its awards. Here is how Brendan Savage voted. He does mention a few of the PrairieThunder.
http://www.mlive.com/generals/index.ssf/2010/03/the_international_hockey_leagu.html

This is something I have done before. Check it out:
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100331/SPORTS/3310331/1002

Packing for the road

Well, we made it to Port Huron today. We left at 9:00 am from Bloomington and arrived just before 6:00 pm in Port Huron. When we arrived in town, we stopped at the rink to unload the bus.

Here is what we take when we play on the road:
Game stick bag
Extra stick bag
2 goalie bags
16 player bags
3 medical bags
jersey trunk
equipment trunk
skate sharpener
rivetor trunk
glove dryer
practice jerseys/socks bag
game laundry bag
practice laundry bag
game socks bag
extra equipment bag
Skalde's coaches bag

I think that is it. 34 pieces. Joe packs his 3 medical bags, the players pack their bags, and I get to pack the other 12. I try to provide everything on the road that I provided at home. Each guy has 3 or 4 sticks taped up. I then bring one new stick for each game on the road trip.

Players that did not make the trip:
Matt McIlvane #7
Mike Liambas #8
Matt Spiller #16
Rick Varone #21
Kevin Armstrong #33

Here is the preview for the next two games from the pantagraph:
http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/hockey/professional/minor/ihl/prairiethunder/article_7f32cd1a-3b9f-11df-a3cc-001cc4c03286.html

Congrats to Macdonald and Martin who recieved player of the week awards for last week (week 24):
http://ism3.infinityprosports.com/ismdata/2009062901/std-sitebuilder/sites/200901/www/en/news/index.html?article_id=778

PT Records close to being broken:
Most Points: 69 (2007-2008) - 68
Most Wins: 31 (2007-2008) - 30
Most Powerplay Goals, Season: 15 Jon Booras (2008-2009), Don Parsons (2007-2008) - 15 Craig Macdonald
Most Powerplay Assists, Season: 20 Jon Booras (2008-2009) - 20 Jon Booras
Most Short-handed Assists, Season: 3 Jon Booras (2008-2009) - 3 Zach Pearson, 3 Justin Sawyer

Gotta go to bed, so I can get up and walk to the rink in the morning to finish setting up.

Kinch

Lineup tonight

We are short players with the suspensions and with McIlvane getting called up, so here is what we have for tonight.

61 27 28
12 24 19
29 9 20

18 4
6 2
10

35
37

McIlvane called up again

McIlvane just got called up. 3:45 pm he walked in to get his equipment.

Martin will start tonight.

As expected

Today it was announced that John Snowden and Dennis Sicard have been suspended by the IHL. Check out the details. With those two suspended we will be playing short tomorrow night.

http://ism3.infinityprosports.com/ismdata/2009062901/std-sitebuilder/sites/200901/www/en/news/index.html?article_id=757

Good news is that Jon Booras skated today.
Here are the lines from today.
61 27 28
9 24 19
12 7 20
22 39

18 4
29 2
6 10

Troy asked about McIlvane getting called up, and how many times it could happen before they had to keep him. Well, there is no limit. They can call him up as many times as they want without having to keep him, however, if they keep doing it, someone else might see him and want to sign him.

Flint and Quad City also have the night off tonight.

Suspensions

Look for one or two suspensions to come out of the game last night, however, they won't be against Dayton.

Check out the great blog about Snowden standing up for his teammates.
http://www.pantagraph.com/app/blogs/main/?p=4912

McIlvane called up

Matt McIlvane won't be in our lineup tonight as we take on Dayton. He showed up to the locker room at 3:30 to collect his stuff. He will be playing for Peoria tonight as they take on Chicago in Peoria.

Pantagraph Blog

Mike has updated the pantagraph blog and vows to be more diligent and consistent with it. Check it out:
http://www.pantagraph.com/app/blogs/main/?p=4906

Good news as stated in the blog, Booras and Martin will both be back tomorrow night.

Here is what the lines looked like in practice today

61 27 22
28 24 19
12 7 20
9 39

Movie Review #3 by Justin Sawyer

Shutter Island- OK so this was a movie that i hadn't heard much about and i wasn't sure if it was going to be worth it or not but i had to give Leonardo DiCaprio a chance he usually doesn't let me down. Sure enough he came through and it was a great movie. The storyline was intense and confusing in a good way and there was a lot of suspense and action throughout the film. The only downside i would say is the quick ending where the story is sort of cut off and your left deciding what happened on your own. I'm happy i paid to go see it and i would recommend it 3/5 Stars


Cop Out- This movie looked great in the previews and i couldn't wait to go see it on the big screen. Unfortunately it wasn't as funny as it seemed on the commercial and all the funny parts seemed to be used up in that commercial trailer. It wasn't bad to the point I wanted to leave but it definitely wont be long until it finds itself in the WalMart five dollar bin. Overall i would give it 1/5 Stars.

JUSTIN

Records are meant to be broken.

Congrats to Robin Bouchard, who broke the all-time minor league goals record (683), which was previously held by Don Parsons (682).

I decided to take a look at how our team is doing this year compared to previous years. Here is what I came up with.

PT Records close to being broken:
Most Points: 69 (2007-2008) - 64
Most Wins: 31 (2007-2008) - 28
Most Goals for, Season: 235 (2008-2009) - 204
Most Powerplay Goals, Season: 15 Jon Booras (2008-2009), Don Parsons (2007-2008) - 12 Craig Macdonald
Most Powerplay Assists, Season: 20 Jon Booras (2008-2009) - 18 Jon Booras, 17 Jason Lepine
Most Short-handed Assists, Season: 3 Jon Booras (2008-2009) - 3 Zach Pearson, 3 Justin Sawyer


PT Records that have been broken:
Most Penalty Minutes, Season: 240 Sam Miller (2007-2008) -243 Justin Sawyer
Most Short-handed Goals, Season: 3 Sam Ftorek (2007-2008) - 4 Zach Pearson
Most Game-Winning Goals, Season: 7 Don Parsons (2007-2008) - 10 Craig Macdonald
Most Points by a Defensemen, Season: 33 John Spoltore (2006-2007) - 41 Jason Lepine
Most Assists by a Defensemen, Season: 26 John Spoltore (2006-2007) - 30 Jason Lepine

At Quad City - Update

There will be a little bit of movement tonight for our game in Quad. Peoria has reassigned Matt McIlvane back to us after spending 4 games with the Rivermen. He will add some much needed help at the center position. Andrew Martin will be backing up tonight.

Also, in other news, to make room for McIlvane, Brian Boulay was placed on waivers. The team is at 10 forwards, 6 defenseman, and 2 goalies. Booras, Spiller, Varone, and Armstrong are still out with injuries.

I am sure that we will all be watching the scoreboard in Port Huron as they take on the Flint Generals. Hopefully we will show up and take care of business.

Game day vs. Flint

The next couple of games will be important ones if we are going to separate ourselves from the teams behind us. Check out what Flint is saying about today's game:
http://www.mlive.com/generals/index.ssf/2010/03/flint_generals_to_play_most_im.html

Skalde talked to other teams today, but nothing came up that he liked, so nothing was done today the day of the trade deadline.

Tonight there will be a new guy in the lineup. He will be wearing #39. Also, John Snowden will wear #15. The Shriner's jerseys had been ordered since last month, and I could not get a jersey in time. Pat Street, the backup goalie will wear #35. Martin was a lot easier to cover up than Armstrong.

Cole Ruwe will be back in the lineup tonight. He hasn't played since leaving the game in Dayton with a mild concussion.

March Madness!

How are your brackets doing? Mine took a few blows today as Vanderbilt and Georgetown both got knocked off. I had them both going to the regionals. I was excited to see my alma mater BYU win, it was there first tournament win since 1993. Like I always do, I wasn't going to pick them and ended up doing it in the end. It is funny to see who is leading after the first couple of days in the locker room because some of the guys have no clue about college basketball. Sometimes you have the guys that pick all upsets.

Last night was a huge win for us. We are kind of a wild card right now with the changes that we have made. We also will be getting players back like Booras and Spiller. Many have asked what was the reasoning that Dayton gave up such good players. Both guys were making good money there and Dayton decided that they would cut salaries and bring in guys that they might get to come back next year. I think they also wanted to reward some of the players that played good for them all year by getting to play a longer season. Robinson and Bouchard looked frustrated out there.

Matt Smyth was sent to Dayton today for the future considerations that we gave up to get Rick Varone. Although it was hard to give him up, I think it will benefit him. He will get to play a lot there and with the guys we have coming back he probably would not have received much playing time. I wish him well.

Movement Monday

We arrived home last night around 12:30 am. It was a successful trip considering we finished the trip with 1 goalie, 5 d-men, and 9 forwards. We also got 5 out of 6 pts for the weekend.

Greg McCauley was traded today to Dayton for John Snowden and Preston Briggs. Snowden will wear #22 and Briggs will wear #18.
http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/hockey/professional/minor/ihl/prairiethunder/article_1c06b0fe-3090-11df-9445-001cc4c03286.html

Good news today as Jon Booras and Andrew Martin both skated today.

changing things up!

We are going to take on a little bit of the Boston Bruins image tonight. I decided that I would change things up a little bit and wear our blue socks tonight with our gold jerseys. I am not sure if it will look good or not. I don't know of any other pro team that does this besides the Bruins.

Here is a look into our locker room in Port Huron.

Last night, a few of us were able to attend the wings game and sit in Mr. Kinney's suite, he is the owner of the Port Huron IceHawks. The wings won 5 to 1. Afterwards we were able to get down a see a few of my friends in Minnesota.

I am not sure who is playing tonight, but if I had to guess it would be Armstrong. He was the first goalie off the ice. Dahm stayed on to take extra shot. Matt Woodard arrived this morning from Fort Wayne and skated in the morning skate. He will wear #20.

It turns out that today is not the trade deadline. After a little confusion, we learned that it has been moved back to next Friday.

McIlvane called up to Peoria again

Matt McIlvane has been called up to Peoria again. He flew out of the Detroit Airport today and will join Peoria in Houston for tomorrow nights game.
http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3973790

A few of us are going to the redwings game tonight. They take on the Minnesota Wild. Should be fun to see some old friends.

Muskegon announced the new coach today for their USHL team. I wonder if that will make for a wierd situation for those still there.
http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3973767

The trade deadline is tomorrow. Stayed tuned to see if we make any changes.

Check this out!

Why don't we do something like this?
http://www.centralhockeyleague.com/pressroom/news/index.html?article_id=4383

I know we only have 7 teams, and Fort Wayne would win everything, but it would be kinda fun to see what people think. Also, I think it would make us a better league and give recognition to those that don't normally get it.

Here's my picks on a few of the things in our league besides players (without getting myself in trouble) :

Best Mascot: Fort Wayne (They stole him from the team I grew up watching the Salt Lake Golden Eagles, Icy looked better back then in Red and Yellow)
Best Visiting Locker Room: Fort Wayne
Best PA Announcer: Muskegon
Best Host Hotel: Port Huron / Muskegon
Most Annoying Fans: Flint

We leave tomorrow for a 4 game road trip. 4 games in 5 nights in 4 different cities. Stay tuned for more!

A look inside

This picture is a look into my storage cage. There isn't very much room, so everything has to be neat and orderly. We used to have another smaller cage to put things in, but we let the football team use that one.

Sebastian Dahm will get the start in tonights game.

Derek Hanson is no longer with the team. He had to return to school for a class.

Game day

Congrats to Matt McIlvane,who scored last night for Peoria. It was his 5th game played in the AHL, 1st this year. It was his 1st AHL goal.
Here is the scoresheet:
http://theahl.com/stats/official-game-report.php?game_id=1006959

Today we signed Derek Hanson, who just completed 4 years at the University of Wisconsin-Stout. He will wear #20. In 116 college games he had 140 pts.
http://www.uscho.com/stats/player.php?pid=13635&gender=m

Flint does not play tonight. Dayton is at Quad City. If I had to pick a winner in that game, I would want Dayton to win because Quad is so close to us.

Jesse Dudas

Jesse Dudas has signed with Corpus Christi in the CHL.
http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3971057

Matt McIlvane and Jon Booras

Congrats to Matt McIlvane. Matt was called up to Peoria for tonights game. Yesterday was the NHL trade deadline. St. Louis made a couple of trades that left Peoria a guy short.

I recieved the following release today.

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – Bloomington PrairieThunder center and team captain Jon Booras suffered a partially torn quad tendon above his left knee cap during Sunday’s game at Quad City and will miss at least the next two games.

“He’s day-to-day, but will definitely be out this weekend,” said PrairieThunder trainer Joe Kingdon. “We’ll rest the knee the next few days and evaluate it again on Monday.”

PrairieThunder coach Jarrod Skalde is weighing some options regarding the team roster ahead of Friday’s 7:05 p.m. game against Fort Wayne at U.S. Cellular Coliseum.