1. I Think if the ICE finish their remaining schedule with a .500 record (9-9-1) they'll finish the season with 76 points. To miss the playoffs the 3 of the 4 teams behind them in the standings will have to at least have these records. Lethbridge 10-8-0-0, Regina 12-5-1, Edmonton 12-4-1, Prince Albert 12-3-1.
2. I Think the ICE play Edmonton 2 more times, Prince Albert twice, Regina once and Lethbridge twice.
Edmonton plays Lethbridge 1 more time, Regina once and no more against Prince Albert.
Lethbridge has 1 more game against Regina and no more against Prince Albert.
Prince Albert and Regina meet 2 more times.
3. I Think if the ICE don't finish with a .500 record down the stretch how they do against those mentioned teams will decide their fate.
4. I Think every game feels like a playoff game when you aren't in a comfortable spot in the standings.
5. I Think a stat that has caught my attention is Hayden Rintoul with 7 goals and Brayden McNabb with 6 goals. The ICE haven't had a lot of defensemen in their history that have scored a lot of goals. 43 Steve McCarthy, 36 Mike Busto, 27 Trevor Johnson, 25 Chad Greenan. Busto scored 20 in a season. Now they may have 2 at the same time. Remember they're only 17-years-old. Hitmen Paul Postma leads the league with 16 goals this season and he had 5 as a 17-year-old. Giants Jon Blum also has 16 goals and had 8 when he was 17-years-old.
6. I Think there has been a lot of positive buzz in the Kootenay's with the ICE. Look for another great announcement to come soon.
7. I Think the negative people are still trying to make noise but are being drowned out. Hopefully be to silenced soon. Then again these type of people never give up. So sad.
8. I Think I was disturbed to read on Hitmen insider blog that 960 The Fan's Mike Richards was the MC at the AJHL All-Star banquet and put down the WHL. John Down at http://communities.canada.com/calgaryherald/blogs/hitmeninsider/default.aspx reports "Although we don’t have his exact words, Richards, the emcee, suggested that players were lucky to be in the AJHL because if they were playing in the Dub, they’d have nothing to look forward to once they were done. It’d be back to the lumber yard to work, or something along those lines."
First of all The Fan broadcasts WHL games.
Secondly it's fine to have an opinion of the playing in the WHL or not but at least get the facts right.
9. I Think the game of the week is Friday when Vancouver visits Spokane.
10. I Think these are my non hockey thoughts.
(a) I Think I've been a Steelers fan forever and were a fun team to watch this season.
(b) I Think I picked Federer to win the Australian Open but thought Nadal would win if he got to the final. In my bracket selection I had Nadal out in the quarter-finals. WRONG.
(c) I Think it's been a unique winter in Cranbrook. Except for a 2-week stretch in December where we had tons of snow to shovel everyday, there hasn't been much snow all season.