It's that time of the year folks, Training Camps open tomorrow, the 6th of October, and while not all rosters are finalized with more signings on the way, i think it's time to sum up what the league is looking like this season.
6th Place: Kalamazoo Wings, This team, to be honest, is in shambles at this point, they are going to have to depend on some guys that are role players to provide offense, such as enforcer Jeremy Stevenson if they want to make the playoffs. They have some good playmakers in the lineup, but no clear cut scorers, and no depth. Jason Tapp is a capable goaltender if he gets the help he needs....but i don't expect much help out of this defense.
Team MVP: Glenn Detulleo
Other key signs: Jason Tapp, Justin Cross, Lucas Drake.
5th Place: Flint Generals, The Generals don't have much to offer this season other than plenty of toughness, they are going to rely heavily on scoring and goaltending go make a playoff spot, they have a promising young goaltender in Derek MacIntyre, and a top of the line scorer in Steve Rymsha...and that's really about it other than playmaker Greg Bullock, Jared Dumba has been converted to a defenseman, and i would think he will be the top guy there.
Team MVP: Steve Rymsha
Other key signs: Greg Bullock, Derek MacIntyre, Josef Fojtik, Jared Dumba.
4th Place: Bloomington Prairie Thunder, The Thunder have compiled kind of an odd team to be honest....they have great goaltending when Scott Fankhouser is in net, some solid defensive defenseman, and a mix bag of European forwards that im unsure of until i see some of them to be honest. They will be better than last season, but just barely make the playoffs.
Team MVP: Scott Fankhouser
Other key signs: Tomo Haffner, Jon Booras, Don Parsons, Jeff MacMillan, Christian Ban.
3rd Place: Muskegon LumberJacks, Muskegon has impressed with their offensive signings, and have a solid group of defenseman, their goaltending is decent with the 2 returnees from last season, they will no doubt rely on a heavy offensive attack to get them wins.
Team MVP: Todd Robinson
Other Key Signs: Clayton Pool, Chad Woollard, Frank Littlejohn, Steven Later, Bill Collins, Matt Gens.
2nd Place: Port Huron Icehawks, The Icehawks have signed some bigtime players to balance out the roster, Daniel Tetrault is a big time d-man, and the goaltending duo of former NHL'er Mike Minard and Larry Sterling will be the best in the league provided they stay healthy.
Team MVP: Larry Sterling
Other key signs: Mike Minard, Nicklas Lindberg, Jamie Carroll, Tab Lardner, Jeff Zehr, Daniel Tetrault, Jamie Lovell,Kris Vernarsky.
1st Place: Fort Wayne Komets, The Komets haven't really impressed me with their signing as compared to last season, they lost two main puzzle pieces to their success in Luciano Aquino and Justin Hodgman and did nothing to replace them, other than add a depth scoring piece in Dominic Osman. Their defense also looks a little worse than last year, and goaltending should be fine this season with 2 very solid goaltenders.
Team MVP: Guy Dupuis
Other Key Signs: Nick Boucher, Sebastien Laplante, Dominic Osman, Konstantin Shafronov, Colin Chaulk, Mathieu Curadeau, Jason Beckett, P.C. Drouin.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
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