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| SportsThursday, October 18, 2007 8:37 PM CDT |
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6-team IHL creates intense rivalries, but at what expense?
BLOOMINGTON — If familiarity breeds contempt, the six teams in the newly resurrected International Hockey League should have a snoot full by midseason. Which is just what IHL officials are hoping for ahead of Saturday’s season opener, although they are quick to note the league’s return to old-style, physical hockey won’t leave room for goon squads and on-ice mayhem. “We’re trying to take a combination of the old IHL when it was in its glory days and it was a small bus league with strong ownership, but getting away from the goon tactics and bringing it to the year 2007 where you might have occasional fisticuffs but not to the extent you saw in the old IHL,” said IHL commissioner Paul Pickard. “We will make an example of players if they’re going to cross the line we’ve drawn as far as what’s acceptable. We’re just not going to tolerate or accept anything that would remotely come close to goon hockey.” The second-year Bloomington PrairieThunder will be joined in the new IHL by the other five holdovers from the now-disbanded United Hockey League: Fort Wayne, Muskegon, Flint, Kalamazoo and Port Huron. League members will be operating under a series of rules changes designed to produce more physical play. Referees have been instructed to call things tighter in the neutral zone to promote more of an offensive flow to the game but looser in the corners and in front of the nets to promote more physical play. Game-day rosters have also been increased from 18 players to 19, providing an opening for an extra enforcer. Brad Jones, vice president of hockey operations for the IHL, said the move to more physical play began early last season in the UHL. “We broke away from the NHL as far as the way they structured the game the last couple of years,” Jones said. “We certainly listened to the fans and owners as far as the game was called, and we loosened up the standard the last 20 weeks. “By calling the game tighter through the neutral zone, we feel the speed and skill will also pick up, which in turn will allow for bigger hits. Allowing the play to continue in the attacking zone and those battles to develop, we’re going to see the physical side of the game that’s been lacking for the last five or six years.” The IHL will play a 76-game schedule designed to develop more rivalries, and that should be easily accomplished with each team playing four opponents 15 times and the fifth 16 times. “It’s going to be a tough year,” said Thunder coach Derek Booth. “It’s six teams battling it out every night. It’s going to be a lot of competition and a lot like last year where everybody beat everybody. That’s what fans pay for. They want those rivalries, and they want those competitive games.” Veteran Thunder center and player/coach Jarrod Skalde, who played for the IHL’s last Turner Cup champions (the 2001 Orlando Solar Bears), said rivalries will be key to success. “You would prefer a little more than a six-team league, but it’s going to create some good rivalries,” Skalde said. “We play each other so much — one right after the other, it seems. The fans will enjoy it. You play a Muskegon on a Saturday, and they’re right back here the next weekend. “Fans will start to get to know the other teams and the enemy players they don’t like. We’ll see how it goes.” Newly named Thunder captain Jason Ralph, a member of the UHL champion Rockford IceHogs last season, knows firsthand about the nuances of playing in a smaller league. “When I was out in the old West Coast League we had seven or eight teams,” Ralph said. “We played Fresno 18 times one year. So if you get in a fight early in the season with a guy there’s a good chance you’re going to fight him three or four times just because you’re seeing each other so much. “You get those guys that get under people’s skins, and it’s just going to accumulate and you’ll probably see more fights.” Ralph said the Thunder is equipped to mix it up with anyone. “If you look around we have a pretty big team,” Ralph said. “(Jeff) Ewasko is a (6-foot-7, 235-pound) giant who is going to be intimidating. (Jamison) Orr is going to be a real punishing body checker. We’ve got guys who are going to drop the gloves. “They’re not fighters, but it helps out that you know someone has your back when you’re out there. You need that where all five guys play as a unit and they have each other’s backs. That way each player can play tougher.” Pickard has been encouraged by the positive feedback he received during the IHL preseason. “I’m sure we’re going to have a lot of leagues watching us as well as fans and media to see how it unfolds,” Pickard said. “In the last couple of weeks, I’ve done some interviews with radio stations in Canada that are very excited. The (thing) I kept hearing was it’s very refreshing to see a league bring back the old style of play. “The jury is obviously still out, but if we can measure what we’ve seen in the preseason it’s certainly positive.” PrairieThunder vs. Generals When: 6:30 p.m., Saturday Where: Perani Arena, Flint, Mich. Records: Season opener Internet: www.wjbc2.com Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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Rozanne wrote on Oct 21, 2007 11:19 AM:
Hey Rod wrote on Oct 21, 2007 9:40 AM:
To I Agree wrote on Oct 20, 2007 9:17 PM:
Peoria bites wrote on Oct 20, 2007 8:51 AM:
To Hockey Fan wrote on Oct 19, 2007 3:03 PM:
I see it has begun.... wrote on Oct 19, 2007 2:51 PM:
Rod wrote on Oct 19, 2007 2:25 PM:
Hockey Fan wrote on Oct 19, 2007 11:59 AM:
um wrote on Oct 19, 2007 11:27 AM:
attendance wrote on Oct 19, 2007 9:18 AM:
I agree wrote on Oct 19, 2007 8:41 AM:
What wrote on Oct 19, 2007 8:35 AM:
To: Hockey Fan wrote on Oct 19, 2007 8:15 AM:
Hockey Fan wrote on Oct 19, 2007 8:15 AM:
What are the odds... wrote on Oct 19, 2007 8:01 AM:
Ha wrote on Oct 19, 2007 7:27 AM:
Hockey Fan wrote on Oct 18, 2007 10:11 PM:
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