Well it's been an interesting few weeks. It seems the world has turned upside down in a few respects.
I would be lead to believe that from unsubstantiated talk I’ve heard, that after a great first game win over the Jacksonville Ice Dogs, the Daytona Beach Blaze are no more. A sad thing for the area, It would have been good to host a Junior team here and start developing a good program and following.
Perhaps in the future we may pull from some of the contacts made and develop our own team here in Daytona.
Local Area
On to other news. Great men’s league hockey started this past week with the C level games on Sunday. They were some great games with a lot of action. The Cyclones are starting out another winning season along with the Angry Beavers and the Red Stars. An early prediction would put a run for 1 and 2 spots between the Cyclones and the Beavers with a tight 3 and 4 spot between the Red Stars and Vendettas. The Vendettas would be my wild card, a lot of good players but, a new season for them and if they can pull out some chemistry in the next week or so, they may move into that 1-2 spot. The Red Stars, strong aggressive team, has potential but needs to cool down a bit and find their Chemistry or the wins will be short lived. The Cyclones are bringing back a tight line with serious ability which will be tough to defend and the Beavers have a new chemistry line with a tight defensive hold that will give any opponent a good run.
I haven’t been able to get results for the A/B league and missed games this week so feel free to comment with an update.
Rookie league action on Thursday was tough. Returning teams Blue Thunder and White Lightning (formerly Big Red) posted in the win column this week against the Hedgehogs and TNN Gold respectively. TNN Gold is our third house team and the Hedgehogs join us from their home rink in Jacksonville. Both returning teams showed great development and team chemistry. Our new teams are great competitors and should not be counted out. They held up a great competitive game and are only lacking a little chemistry. It should prove to be an exciting; anyone can take the season development.
ECHL action. The Orlando Solar Bears Posted 2 losses against the Florida Everblades this weekend. Playing in Estero Friday and Saturday night they were defeated 6 – 3 and 5 – 1 in some hard fought games. Orlando new and fresh, still trying to put together a team, showed great potential; while the lines seemed a little flat they are still developing their lines and chemistry. Regular season games start up on October 12 away at the Florida Everblades in Estero Florida. Our first home game is October 20th here at the Amway Arena against the Florida Everblades. We should be building a great in state rivalry the first four games of the season are with the 2011/12 Kelly Cup Champion Everblades, with the first three games Oct 12th ,13th and 19th away and then here at home on the 20th. Come join the action. Estero is only a short 4 to 5 hour drive southwest for you die hards.
NHL – well not much to talk about. Still locked out and no games. We are heading down another no season road. So much for the fans and love of the game. The NFL brought in replacement refs – not the best decision but it made the games very interesting to say the least. Perhaps we should bring in NHL replacement players? We could bring up the AHL to fill the spots or we could hold impromptu tryouts for anyone in local leagues and play the season with them? That would be a lot more fun. A flat 60k salary and bonus for playoffs and Stanley cup. These guys would really want it and it might be the only shot they ever get to put their name on the cup. Could make for a very competitive, exciting and interesting season. As for the current players, cancel their salaries for the year to cover the cost and let them suffer with the rest of the season locked out. As for the owners the season would be played at their expense allowing no income from the games. And let me just say a season full of rookies with a one shot drive for the cup may just bring in some serious revenue.
Looking forward to hearing from everyone
