Daily Dish & CHL Award Finalists

New Logo For the 2013-2014 Season

Not much new for today but had a couple of items to share:

- I have not heard anything about the injury sustained by Brian McMillin at practice yesterday. If I hear anything this afternoon I will update this post.Update: McMillin is on the bus but questionable for Friday night. Will have to wait and see.

- Everyone has probably heard by now that the March 15 & 16 games with Fort Worth have been changed from the Fort Worth Convention to the NYTEX Sports Centre. I heard the reason for the switch was the Brahmas could not afford the cost of the Convention Center.

- The picture above is one of the logos that will be used next year in marketing, media, & team related promotions.

- The same news release announced that the slogan for the upcoming  playoffs will be "Rock Your Red" but something tells me the players will a little different slogan.

- The team leaves at 4:00 PM today for games in Rapid City Friday & Saturday before returning to Allen. The trip is so long they will take two drivers to share the load. It is over 1050 miles and will take close to 20 hours.

- If you recall a while back I mentioned Mike Montgomery had agreed to read the book, Zamboni Rodeo by Josh Cohen.  Cohen spent the 1997-98 season with the now-defunct Austin Ice Bats riding buses and chronicling the day-to-day lives of minor league hockey players "chasing hockey dreams from Austin to Albuquerque". Cohen was given full access to the Austin, Texas-based minor league team for the entire season and the result is an entertaining and eye-opening look at the world of lower-level minor league hockey in not-so-traditional hockey markets. Mike is taking the book on this road trip and has agreed to share his thoughts on "then and now" when he returns. If anyone wants to read the book let me know and I will pass it around when I get it back from Mike.

- I know it is old news but how nice is it to have both Aaron Dell & Jarett Lukin honored by the CHL this week.

- The CHL announced the annual award finalists today and  they are listed below. Congrats to Aaron Dell and Tyler Ludwig for being name finalists.

CHL Award Finalists Announced GLENDALE, AZ (March 6, 2013) – The Central Hockey League (CHL) announced today the five finalists for the CHL Most Valuable Player, Most Outstanding Goaltender (Scott Brower Award), Most Outstanding Defenseman and Rookie of the Year awards.  After a nomination period by CHL teams, the league front office determined the finalists for each award.  Balloting will take place among CHL Head Coaches, team Communications Departments and select media members in CHL markets to determine the winners. 2012-13 CHL Most Valuable Player candidates include Bloomington forward Jon Booras, Allen goaltender Aaron Dell, Denver forward A.J. Gale, Quad City forward Mickey Lang and Missouri forward Sebastien Thinel.  MVP Finalists Jon Booras, Bloomington Aaron Dell, Allen A.J. Gale, Denver Mickey Lang, Quad City Sebastien Thinel, Missouri The finalists for the Most Outstanding Goaltender Award (Scott Brower Award) include Rapid City’s Tim Boron, Allen’s Aaron Dell, Wichita’s Torrie Jung, Denver’s Kieran Millan and Fort Worth’s Kristofer Westblom. MOG Finalists Tim Boron, Rapid City Aaron Dell, Allen Torrie Jung, Wichita Kieran Millan, Denver Kristofer Westblom, Fort Worth The selected player to compete for Most Outstanding Defenseman are Quad City’s Matt Duffy, Allen’s Tyler Ludwig, Missouri’s Dave Pszenyzny, Fort Worth’s Ross Rouleau and Wichita’s Kevin Young. MOD Finalists Matt Duffy, Quad City Tyler Ludwig, Allen Dave Pszenyczny, Missouri Ross Rouleau, Fort Worth Kevin Young, Wichita Rookie of the Year honors will be determined amongst Allen goaltender Aaron Dell, Wichita forward Greger Hanson, Quad City forward Mike Hellyer, Missouri forward Kenton Miller and Fort Worth forward Sy Nutkevitch.  ROY Finalists Aaron Dell, Allen Greger Hanson, Wichita Mike Hellyer, Quad City Kenton Miller, Missouri Sy Nutkevitch, Fort Worth Additional awards to be determined include Coach of the Year, Equipment Manager of the Year and Athletic Trainer of the Year, as determined by their CHL peers, along with six member All-CHL and All-Rookie teams (voted on by CHL Head Coaches).  The CHL’s regular season point leader will receive the Joe Burton Scoring Champion award and based on supporting materials submitted from CHL member teams the CHL front office will announce the Rick Kozuback Award winner (perseverance, determination and commitment to hockey) and the five finalists and winner for the CHL Man of the Year Award (for outstanding leadership and contributions to the community).