The Rivermen get a new coach.
Dave Allison is going to be the bench boss for the Rivermen (sans Berehowski – congrats by the way – and Danny Brooks who is moving on to STL). Looking at his last stint in the AHL with Iowa I have to say that I am remarkably underwhelmed. Yes, he has an impressive list of players that he has helped develop, but his overall experience in the AHL was less than stellar.
The good news is this tidbit found in Eminian’s article:
“His teams have a reputation of playing hard whistle-to-whistle, and he can coach with whatever cards he’s dealt.”
We need a team that is known for that. Last season, ours wasn’t. I really hope that Allison works out, I would hate to see this team languish further. I know that pessimism doesn’t help at all, so I am reserving judgement until the season begins and then we shall see what happens. But it does seem that Blues GM Doug Armstrong is trying to put the band back together from his Dallas days.
Charlotte, we hardly knew ye.
Hey look kids, divisional realignment! The AHL Board of Governors (otherwise known as the whiz kids who cut the opening round of the playoffs to a best of 5) shuffled the deck again and made some changes… (from AHL)
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WESTERN CONFERENCE |
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North Division |
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Midwest Division |
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South Division |
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| Also see: NHL affiliations list |
Changes from last year’s alignment include Abbotsford moving to the North Division, Grand Rapids moving to the Midwest Division and Charlotte moving to the renamed South Division.
While we’ll see Charlotte again, at least they won’t be a divisional rival. I, for one, am glad. Coming in and mucking up the Midwest Division just once was enough for me, thank you.
Video Killed The Incomprehensible Idea That The Puck Didn’t Go In I Mean It Was RightthereunderthecrossbarandIsawitgoinwithmywontwoeyeshowcanyounotseethatwharrrbgggle.
From the AHL again:
The Board has approved the use of a video goal-review system for AHL games beginning with the 2012-13 season.
And there was much rejoicing.
The AHL changes the rules.
Last tidbit will make the game look different for at least a while.
• Rule 67.2 (“Handling the Puck”) now calls for a minor penalty “any time a player places his hand over the puck while it is on the ice in order to conceal it from or prevent an opponent from playing the puck”.
• Rule 76.4 (“Face-offs”) states that “both players facing off are prohibited from batting the puck with their hand in an attempt to win the face-off.” Violation of this rule will result in a minor penalty for delay of game.
• The Board has also approved a test of a variation on Rule 81 (“Icing”) at the request of the National Hockey League, that will, in the event of a potential icing violation, complete the play should a defending player be the first to reach the end zone face-off dots and provided the puck has crossed the goal line at that point. This rule will be in effect until Nov. 19, 2012, at which time its continued use will be determined by the Board. This was the only rules test approved.
Of particular note here is the new icing rule. I understand what they are doing here, and I am frankly okay with it. The purist in me wants to scream and gnash its teeth but it is just going to have to get used to change. This is a player safety issue.
Let me put it simply. If Milwaukee ices the puck (the puck having crossed the goal line) and the first guy back to the face off dots is a Rivermen player then the ref will blow the play dead, and icing is the call. However, if there is a tie, or Milwaukee is there first the play continues. I imagine in a close call the instructions are to err on the side of the Rivermen player so that both don’t go crashing into the boards and get horribly, terribly killed.
This is a GOOD thing.
New season, new dates to be excited about.
So, the home opener is October 19, 2012… a Friday.
The six dates we know that there will be hockey at Carver Arena are as follows:
The six guaranteed home dates are as follows:
- Friday, October 19
- Saturday, November 24
- Saturday, December 15
- Monday, December 31
- Saturday, January 19
- Saturday, January 26
The rest of the schedule will be out later this summer.
Brendan Burke, not just a voice for radio.
Burke has his own blog now, where he is expressing some thoughts beyond the 140 character limit he suffers with under Twitter. While he has only a couple of entries in right now it is worth a read, and I am sure will offer a lot of extra information that you might want to know.
Hell, he might even just run me right out of business, seems how he is the inside guy. Heh.
