Summer League Results, Fox/Snowden Stats, Owners Meeting, Top Players Head To Europe, Veteran Rules Impact

Thought it was time for my weekly update as I have accumulated a few miscellaneous items so here goes.

- The big summer league game between the Whalers (Ludwigs) and the Eagles (Belfour) turned out to be no contest. The Belfour team (Eddie plays defense) had Booter Bootland, Clarke & McMillin while the Whalers had Tyler Ludwig, his brother CJ and Silverthorn. Trevor isn't playing and I think Deitsch normally plays with them as well but didn't play. Here is a quote I got from the winning team, "The score was 11-4. It was such a blowout! Eagles first ever victory over the Whalers. Player/Coach Belfour was very proud."

- An interesting stat on Americans new players Phil Fox and John Snowden. Snowden scored a goal for for the Brahmas every 1.78 games (23 goals in 41 games) while Fox scored a goal every 2.09 games (21 goals in 44 games). Other than Scott Howes who scored a goal a game (21 goals in 22 games) while he was in Allen no other player on the Americans was below 2.50 games per goal. Style of play may factor into this but we have definitely acquired a couple of excellent goal scorers.

- Rapid City coach Joe Ferras appeared on a local radio show yesterday and answered some questions about the league, new ownership etc. He described the new ownership model as a democracy rather than a dictatorship and talked about the upcoming owners meeting which will take place July 17 & 18. We should know after this meeting what if any changes will be taking place for this season. Topics such as veteran rules, rosters, salary caps, and on ice rule changes are sure to be discussed. Hope Coach Martinson attends this meeting to share his thoughts and experiences on how to improve the game with some rule changes.

- I don't track this closely but it sure seems the CHL is losing top players to Europe at a much faster pace this year than in years past. In addition to CHL playoff MVP Brian McMillin heading to England here are just a few of the others:
Ryan Menei - Tulsa leading scorer to England
Sean Erickson - Tulsa top scoring defenseman to England
Neil Trimm - Wichita top scorer to Denmark
Tom Boron - Rapid City top goalie to France
Danny Battochio - Rapid City Goalie and former rookie of the year to Kazakhstan
Kip Brennan - Arizona enforcer, best in the CHL to Finland
These are just the players I have heard about as I am sure there are and will be many others heading to Europe. I have seen many European agents advertising for North American players to play in Europe so the demand is there for those interested.

- Asked Garrett Clarke, who is working for Otherside Landscaping, how a guy who grew up in the cooler climates of Canada was getting along working outside all day in the summer heat of Texas. His response was very short and I quote, "It's brutal"

- Here are the Brahma signings thus far.  There are still many quality players unsigned (Nutkevitch, Mayer, Westblom) :
Tomas Klempa = Tulsa Oilers
John Snowden = Allen Americans
Phil Fox = Allen Americans
T.J.Fox = Denver Cutthroats

- I have had a couple of questions about veterans as that will be a big consideration as Coach Martinson puts the 2013-2014 team together. If the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) from last year remains in effect here is how the rule reads. With new ownership this might change but it would have to be agreed upon by the Professional Hockey Players Association (PHPA). My guess is the rule will remain the same but that is pure speculation.
A Veteran shall mean a Player, other than a goaltender, who has played in 301 or more regular season games of professional hockey (including NHL, AHL, CHL, ECHL, IHL, UHL, or European professional games in equivalent Leagues).
For the 2012-13 season, each team shall be limited to five (5) Veterans (goaltenders exempt), plus one (1) returning Veteran from the previous season on the Clubs Season Ending Roster.
Here is my calculation on games by players from last years roster with over 200 professional games plus John Snowden. If you are under 301 games at the beginning of the season you are good for the entire year. This should help Jamie Schaafsma if he wants to stay in the CHL.

969 - Robinson
689 - Bootland
668 - Snowden
537 - Deitsch
483 - Skinner
391 - Lukin
339 - Pineault
339 - Silverthorn
324 - Hendrikx
305 - McKenzie
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297 - Schaafsma
268 - Trevor Ludwig
240 - Howes
238 - Berube
207 - Tyler Ludwig