Good article. The only problem seems to be the authors' disrespect of the IHL. It seems some facts regarding affiliations are posted with some leagues but left out while discussing the IHL. This makes it look like the IHL is an inferior league. The truth is that some IHL teams do have affiliations. For example, the Detroit Red Wings two 'AA' level affiliations are both in the IHL - Port Huron and Flint. The Wings have no affiliations with ECHL or CHL teams. Many close to the sport have heard about Darren McCarty's long road to returning to the Red Wings. That return started with McCarty playing for the Flint Generals. In fact, McCarty is the only player that played in this years Stanley Cup finals that came from a 'AA' level team within the last year. The Port Huron Icehawks had two players - Kris Vernarsky and Neil Clark - that were assigned by the Red Wings after attending training camp in Detroit. Also, several IHL players have played in the NHL at one time. With that in mind, the IHL is a very good league, that is on par with the CHL. In fact, because the league allows more veterans (7)- which allows more veteran NHL and AHL level players to join teams - and has a higher salary cap, the point can be made that it is actually better than the CHL. Couple that with the fact that the IHL hasn't sunk to the NHL's grasp on the rules and true fans of the game will find the games more enjoyable to watch. Think of it this way: The players are actually allowed to check other players in the IHL without getting called for a penalty. Fighting is actually tolerated. Penalties are normally only called when they should be: if there is an intent to injure of the offense DIRECTLY interfere's or denies a scoring opportunity. People think that because of this, clutching and grabbing will slow the game down. Wrong! IMO, because players know that they may get hit or be forced to fight for doing something stupid, the bad plays are eliminated. Think: NHL in the early 90s. The rules didn't have to be changed then and there was plenty of scoring. Why? It was before the NHL cracked down on fighting. Players were more careful with their sticks and weak interference moves because they knew they'd have to pay a price. Call it self governing, if you will.
Anyway, that's my rant. I hope it made sense to some of you. It will be nice if Youngstown is able to provide a stable team to the IHL and I think the Steelhounds fans will truly enjoy the product on the ice. Some of you might even find you are able to follow the team on the road, with the competition much closer than it is in the CHL.
Posted on June 11 at 3:13 p.m.
Good article. The only problem seems to be the authors' disrespect of the IHL. It seems some facts regarding affiliations are posted with some leagues but left out while discussing the IHL. This makes it look like the IHL is an inferior league. The truth is that some IHL teams do have affiliations. For example, the Detroit Red Wings two 'AA' level affiliations are both in the IHL - Port Huron and Flint. The Wings have no affiliations with ECHL or CHL teams. Many close to the sport have heard about Darren McCarty's long road to returning to the Red Wings. That return started with McCarty playing for the Flint Generals. In fact, McCarty is the only player that played in this years Stanley Cup finals that came from a 'AA' level team within the last year. The Port Huron Icehawks had two players - Kris Vernarsky and Neil Clark - that were assigned by the Red Wings after attending training camp in Detroit. Also, several IHL players have played in the NHL at one time. With that in mind, the IHL is a very good league, that is on par with the CHL. In fact, because the league allows more veterans (7)- which allows more veteran NHL and AHL level players to join teams - and has a higher salary cap, the point can be made that it is actually better than the CHL. Couple that with the fact that the IHL hasn't sunk to the NHL's grasp on the rules and true fans of the game will find the games more enjoyable to watch. Think of it this way: The players are actually allowed to check other players in the IHL without getting called for a penalty. Fighting is actually tolerated. Penalties are normally only called when they should be: if there is an intent to injure of the offense DIRECTLY interfere's or denies a scoring opportunity. People think that because of this, clutching and grabbing will slow the game down. Wrong! IMO, because players know that they may get hit or be forced to fight for doing something stupid, the bad plays are eliminated. Think: NHL in the early 90s. The rules didn't have to be changed then and there was plenty of scoring. Why? It was before the NHL cracked down on fighting. Players were more careful with their sticks and weak interference moves because they knew they'd have to pay a price. Call it self governing, if you will.
Anyway, that's my rant. I hope it made sense to some of you. It will be nice if Youngstown is able to provide a stable team to the IHL and I think the Steelhounds fans will truly enjoy the product on the ice. Some of you might even find you are able to follow the team on the road, with the competition much closer than it is in the CHL.