- The Express might have a new division foe next year. The City Council in Janesville, Wisconsin unanimously approved spending $229,000 to renovate their ice arena in preparation for an NAHL team. It's still early in the process, but it sounds good at this point. This is great news for hockey fans in Wisconsin, especially after the unmitigated disaster that was the WJHL.
- Springfield Jr Blues coach Chris Wyler was fired last week, and replaced by assistant coach Andy Maher. The move paid immediate dividends last weekend as the Blues beat the NAHL's best team, the Topeka Roadrunners, twice.
- The Motor City Machine traded their best player (Josh Bussell) to their division rival Mahoning Valley Phantoms. You can draw your own conclusions on this one.
- The Albert Lea Thunder also traded one of their best players in Mitch Torrel. He was traded to the Wenatchee Wild on Tuesday last week. I also remember reading somewhere that he committed to the Air Force Academy, but I was too lazy to look up a link confirming that.
- Express forward Dan Cecka was named Honorable Mention Central Division Player of the Week for his performance last weekend. Cecka has scored 15 points in only 10 games since coming to the Express.
- Former Express goalie Nick Hopper was traded to the Wichita Falls Wildcats last week. He had been playing most recently for the Omaha Lancers in the USHL.
- The Express have basically clinched a playoff spot for this season. If the Thunder won their remaining 18 games, and the Express lost their remaining 16 games in regulation, the two teams would be tied at 44 points. I don't know what the tie-breakers would be, but the Express are 10-0 versus the Thunder head-to-head this season.
- From the Express Coaches Show tonight: The 25 man Express roster is locked in for the remainder of the season. 15 forwards, 8 defensemen, and 2 goalies. The only roster move made at the deadline was removing goalie Adam Buegler.
Next up for the Express is a 3 game weekend with a road game Friday night at North Iowa, a home game Saturday night against the Outlaws, and a 5:00pm matinee Sunday against the Albert Lea Thunder.
See you at the rink.
--BK
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A blog devoted to the North American Hockey League's Owatonna Express Junior "A" Hockey team. While it will primarily focus on the Express, the Central Division, and the NAHL in general, discussion on the blog will also include other pertinent items related to "The State of Hockey".
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3 comments:
Long time, no typing. Glad you can back online!
BK-
Here is how tiebreakers shook out last year...
1- Wins
2- Goal differential
3- Head-to-head points
4- Head-to-head goal differential
5- Coin flip
Thanks for the information Paul.
Congratulations on the Bussell trade. He impressed me at the Showcase with a 3 point game against the Express, and should be a real nice player on your Phantom team.
--BK
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