HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS (12/16): So far, so good on the homestand, as the PrairieThunder have gotten back to the things that made them successful early in the International Hockey League season--better defense and an offense that's in sync. The goaltending ain't shabby, either. Two newcomers to the PT on defense, veteran Matthew Spiller and younger Noel Coultice, provide different styles on the blue line but add to the team's own zone. Forwards Travis Banga and Mike Liambas have been good additions, also with different styles that seem to fit in so far. The IHL standings are still tighter than the shrink wrap on some of your Christmas gifts, so the area that needs to stay consistent is, well, consistency. Mostly, that means keeping the focus and effort for a full 60 minutes. The past week has been a nice rebound from the mini-slide.
MEET THE STONE FLINTS (12/7): The Flint Generals simply outworked the PrairieThunder in Friday's game for most of the 60 minutes, which continues a troubling trend of the past two weeks. Take a look at two posts down; we were talking about the same things during Thanksgiving week. For some reason, the team has forgotten what made them successful early--stronger defense and smarter passes. Somehow the confidence has to return. Hopefully a six-game homestand, starting this Friday against the same Flint Generals, will be just the thing the team needs. We'll talk about it with the coach on Tuesday night at 6:10 at Show Me's in Bloomington on WJBC.
MORE POWER (12/1): As in power play, which happened once for the PrairieThunder on Sunday in a game that had 100 combined penalty minutes. Not sure how that logically happens. Just sayin'. Anyway, before the hand-wringing gets out of hand, here are some facts--it was only the first time all season that the PrairieThunder did not collect at least a point in back-to-back games, and the PT are only five points out of first, two points out of second and one point out of third. Again, just sayin'. After a trip to Flint on Friday, a six-game homestand begins, which is very conducive to getting healthy, in more ways than one.
HAPPY THUNDER-GIVING (11/23): OK, I've been away for a bit from this page. Hey, it's the most wonderful time of the year (and I don't mean when Santa drags himself down a few million chimneys). Our overlap season (fall sports and winter sports going on at the same time) ends this week. The PrairieThunder learned a lesson in last weekend's home loss to Fort Wayne--focus for 60 minutes. That lesson was reinforced with a rather rigorous practice and video session to start the new week. Here comes a good opportunity to pick up points this weekend, and coach Jarrod Skalde issued a firm reminder of that in the new week's workouts. You'll hear Ed Hammond back on the play-by-play for the road games over this holiday weekend on 93.7 the Oldies Channel and www.wtrxoldieschannel.com, and Eric Stock makes his hockey debut with the Friday home game against Port Huron on www.wjbc.com. I'll be back on Sunday for the 4:05 home faceoff against Dayton. It's my annual trip to the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Volleyball Tournament (this year at Creighton University) for my television duties. I'll give you a special greeting--if you hear me say "Omaha," you'll know it's a special hello just for you.
YOU DESERVE A BREAK TODAY (11/6): Macdonald and the rest of the PrairieThunder will get one after a four-game-in-five-day swing, mostly on the road. Craig Macdonald (the IHL Player of the Week) and the PrairieThunder have historically played tough but with limited success in a tough little barn, McMorran Arena in Port Huron, and getting redemption in Muskegon after being walloped there on opening night isn't a bad thing. The PrairieThunder are better because of an improved physical presence and the offense seems to be in a little more sync. They have been a fun team to watch so far. They'll be home next Friday and Saturday, and I recommend checking it out for yourself. By the way, the November 14th game will provide ways for you to support breast cancer awareness and research with pink sticks and jerseys to be auctioned off after the game, and other methods for you to help as well. I hope to see you at the Coliseum.
PAOLO THE LEADER (10/28): Goalie Paolo Colaiacovo was one of many bright spots in what may have been a coming-of-age weekend for the PrairieThunder. There was his stellar work between the pipes, a physical presence from many, line combinations starting to click and a happy and big home crowd to enjoy it all. Fans and higher-ups acknowledged the need for all of the above. The team is following through on its end, so now all that's left is a consistently loud U.S. Cellular Coliseum. The Thunder stay at home this Friday, Saturday and Wednesday before making a three-game road trip next week. Rest your voice and use it at any or all of those next three games.
GETTING TO KNOW YOU (10/18): It was very apparent that the PrairieThunder became more comfortable with one another during Sunday's 4-2 win at Dayton, especially since it came literally hours after a season-opening shellacking at Muskegon. All facets of the PrairieThunder's game improved dramatically in less than 24 hours in the first win of the season in the first-ever trip for the team to Hara Arena in Dayton. You can't put a price tag on what a win means after a bad loss, and the mood on the trip home reflected it. After a trip to Fort Wayne on Friday, the PT open the home season on Saturday against the Dayton Gems. Let's see if the improvement continues.
AND THE HOME OF THE BRAVE (10/16): And with that, we drop the puck on a new International Hockey League season, the fourth for the Bloomington PrairieThunder. Coach Jarrod Skalde made some tough, tough choices as he set the 20-man roster that's starting the season, but it's obvious in the choices that he's focusing on improving his own end of the ice with more physical defensemen and two near goaltenders. Central Illinois fans will love that Ryan Finnerty, a former Peoria Riverman, is with the PT, and Pekin native Cole Ruwe is on the opening roster. The proof will come soon, of course, but one gets the feeling that the Thunder have hit the ground running. Don't forget that Saturday's season opener at Muskegon will be on WJBC and www.wjbc.com. Otherwise, home games can be heard on www.wjbc.com (scroll down to the bottom of the home page for the correct link) and away games are still on 93.7 the Oldies Channel and www.wtrxoldieschannel.com.
Remember Six Strings in downtown Bloomington is putting all PT road games up on their big screen, and our first coaches' show of the season airs on WJBC at 6:10 this Tuesday night from ShowMe's in downtown Bloomington. Come on out and say hey.
STANDING HEXTALL (9/24): I chatted with the new International Hockey League commissioner, Dennis Hextall, as he visited Bloomington this week, and came away optimistic about the upcoming season. I really like having a "hockey guy" in the post. Hextall promises that the contacts he has in the game (and they are many) will help all of the IHL teams. It looks like the plan is to improve those contacts, which will ultimately help improve the quality of play. Of course, the biggest issue for the league is to improve stability for all franchises, and the jury is still out on that one.
SEVENTH HEAVEN: As expected, the International Hockey League is growing, despite the curious departure of the Kalamazoo Wings in June. Still, while the league is expanding, the two teams entering the IHL are in cities where hockey teams folded after the past season, so there's an uphill battle in both locations. Dayton lost its ECHL team in a level very similar to the "I", and the Quad Cities lost its AHL team and now hopes it can regain the success it had at this level when hockey first came to the arena in Moline. The good news is that it should be more cost-effective for those two communities to support hockey at this level. It's very good news for the PrairieThunder, who lead the league in travel costs; travel to Dayton will be about the same as it was to Kalamazoo, and not having to leave the state will be nice when playing Quad City. By the way, the 2009-2010 schedule is due out any day, and expect a bit of a different look with fewer but longer road trips (and hopefully in turn, longer homestands).
WHOA-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH-OH, THUN-DAH!: We have to wait until October to be Thunderstruck again, but at least that wait has some anticipation behind it. The PrairieThunder had two lousy months out of the six-month season, but that was enough to keep them out of Turner Cup consideration with the strength and parity of the International Hockey League. Thing is, the other four months demonstrated that the team can play some good hockey. Coach Jarrod Skalde no longer has to start practically from scratch, and that will make this off-season more productive and give the PT a bit more of a running start for 2009-2010. Signing the holder of most PrairieThunder records, captain Jon Booras, certainly doesn't hurt, and was a great and symbolic leap into preparations for next season. The team is serious about next year. On a side note, thanks for listening to my learning curve with hockey broadcasting. I had a blast. I knew I would, but it was even better than I had hoped. Credit for that goes to Tim Leighton and a very supportive ownership group, Assistant General Manager Bryan Bloodworth, Head Coach Jarrod Skalde, the staff and a great group of guys that lace up the skates every day. It's a lot easier to spend all that time when you're doing it with great people.