Friday, June 20, 2014

Friday link roundup

A few items of interest to local hockey fans have popped up in the last couple of days, so time for another link roundup.
  • ICYMI, a couple of posts from yesterday: 
  • The NHL Draft is a week away. Three players with Indiana Ice ties were rated in the top 100 by THN's Ryan Kennedy. Josh Jacobs is rated 43rd, 2012-13 Ice player Blake Siebenaler is rated 74th and defenseman Ryan Mantha was rated 85th. The Hockey Writers' Shawn Reznik has Jacobs rated 32nd in his top 60. Several other current and former USHL players are also on the list. THW's profile on Jacobs is here.
  • The United States of Hockey's Chris Peters has an interesting blog post on USA Hockey participation around the nation. Indiana's 5,922 players ranks 21st in the nation, but the growth (2.1%) is higher than the national average.
  • Indiana Ice 2008-09 Clark Cup champion-turned-Boston Bruin Torey Krug has a new website. Check it out at ToreyKrug.com.
  • A few NHL items with potential local interest: 
    • It's been known for some time that the Washington Capitals will host the 2015 Winter Classic. We now know their opponent - the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks will be playing in their second Winter Classic -- they hosted the second one at Wrigley Field -- and third outdoor game. The Hawks also hosted Pittsburgh in a Stadium Series game last season at Soldier Field.
    • Boston Bruins assistant Geoff Ward is taking a head coaching job in Germany, leaving a vacancy on Claude Julien's bench. One candidate widely mentioned to be moving up? Former IHL Ice player and head coach Bruce Cassidy, who is the head coach of the Bruins' AHL affiliate in Providence. Cassidy also has NHL head coaching experience with the Washington Capitals.
    • The Carolina Hurricanes hired Bill Peters as their head coach on Thursday. Peters had previously coached in the Blackhawks' organization in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs.
    • The 2014-15 NHL schedule will be announced Sunday. 
  • The Pan Am Pavilion, where the Indiana Ice played a significant number of home games the last two seasons (as well as a handful of games in previous seasons) is officially closed. The site is slated for redevelopment into a two-tower hotel. Here was their Facebook post on the closing: "This is how it ends. The funeral dirge for Pan Am pavilion, a building that has seen 30 years of hockey figure skating and even curling pass through its doors and onto the ice of two rinks. The altogether unimpressive brick and mortar clothing metal girders has undoubtedly held the echoes of many of you for the last time. From the echo of private conversation to the constant hum of the compressors the building will sit silent because of all the life taken from it. All that life belonging to you our customers, from the die hard, week in and out attendees to those who visited once in a great while you will all be missed. Because in the end Pan Am the building was just that; a building. It was the great people whom passed through those doors that gave it life. It’s from the bottom of our hearts and with the most sincere offering we the staff say thank you. Thank you for bearing through it all with us, and most importantly thank you for helping us chase a dream and afford the blessing of working in a field where our hearts passion was the main focus of our livelihood."

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