Leave it to BoJangles baby & Summer update

Great news out of the OHL draft as Enloe High School student Matt Gellatly was drafted by the Saginaw Spirit. My favorite part of this nice little interview? His pre-game meal is "BoJangles fried chicken". Same here, even though my "pre-game" meal normally isn't preceeding a physically gruelling athletic event. It also tends to be my "morning after" meal when I need a little grease in the tank. Paint me the picture of good health.

Good luck, Matt.

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Was back in the friendly confines of the RBC Center last night, unfortunately not to see the Canes in a May game -- but nonetheless it was still nice to be in there. The geriatric Van Halen boys rocked the house as much as possible. This thing that flies around before they take the stage is awesome. But the sound is so bad in there acoustic-wise, it's hard to hear anything at all.

The scoreboard was retracted up into the rafters. I was hoping that it had been taken down completely for the inevitable upgrade, but it is certainly not in the budget for the upcoming season (so I hear).

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One thing that the RBC Center staff was paying attention to were my cries for an updated RBCCenter.com and they delivered. w00t!

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I'll be posting as often as possible with any kind of updates this summer, whether it be hockey related, concerts, etc... keep yourselves entertained with my Mom's wonderful blog, All Things Quilty.

Youth Hockey takes a step forward in NC

(TSS Photography)

"The East Coast Eagles are excited to announce the formation of a
partnership with Team Carolina to further the development of Tier I hockey
in the Carolinas.
In keeping with the true spirit of a partnership, Team
Carolina and the East Coast Eagles intend to maintain their respective
identities. With that said, the new offering will be named the Carolina Eagles.
The teams’ logos will be a blend of the Team Carolina and East Coast Eagles
logos.
With this newly formed partnership, we will encourage upper level
players to consider the Carolina Eagles, with the overall goal of developing
players for future collegiate or Junior playing opportunities. In addition,
the Carolina Eagles will introduce a choice of Tier I hockey offerings in
the marketplace.
In the 2008-09 season, the Carolina Eagles plan on fielding teams at the Peewee and Bantam levels. This partnership will give our Peewee team a berth to the Tier I USA Hockey National Championships, as Team Carolina is the host organization. Our Bantams will be National bound as well.
The East Coast Eagles have absolutely no plans to abandon our
position at the Tier II AA level. In fact, we firmly believe the Carolina
Eagles organization will strengthen our Tier II AA position in the market.
Look for our 2008-09 season announcement immediately after the current
season closes.
Additional information is available on the Carolina Eagles
website at www.carolinaeagles.org Questions
can be answered by emailing to ggouin@nc.rr.com"

A big thank you to COI reader Tawnee for the heads up.

Getting Your Summertime Hockey Fix

The RecZone is hosting several different hockey camps coming up in the next few weeks. Varying in skills, age levels and cost, there are many to choose from throughout late June and July. Click here for the schedule. As always, you can skate or participate in public "pick-up games" of hockey there.

The Cary Ice House has their preschool ages 3-5 summer program called, "Rink Rats". What better way to keep your kid(s) exercised, in shape and entertained over the long, hot NC summer?

The Factory Ice House in Wake Forest stays busy with their prep leagues and camps.

Just try and keep yourselves and your loved ones free of on ice injuries!

I recently stumbled upon a wonderful website, HockeyCat. It covers youth and amateur league buzz throughout the Carolinas! Nice to know that others are out spreading the word!

Little League Tryouts

Have hyper children? Like hockey? Why not let your kids wear themselves out playing a sport you both love!

Tryouts for PeeWee league begin this week in Raleigh.

For more info: Raleigh Youth Hockey Association

The C.O.I. Awards

When looking back on the Hurricanes short NHL season, the Canes played themselves out of playoff contention, however they did bring the Stanley Cup to Raleigh, NC of all places last year. We should all still be celebrating that fact.

On the optimistic side of things, here are the Carolina On Ice individual awards:

Hart Trophy (MVP): Ray Whitney.

-Leads the team in scoring at 82 points (32 goals, 50 assists)
-Mr. Clutch
-Has the fastest (natural) hat trick of the regular season in the NHL (1:40 in one period)
-"The Wizard" stayed healthy (for the most part) all year and always created scoring chances

Bill Masterson Memorial Trophy (player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey): Brent Falcon, ECU Pirates, Captain.

In two years of existence, the NY transfer has spear-headed the building of an unknown sport in Eastern North Carolina into a legitimate powerhouse of college hockey. See previous post "The Pirates Are Ready". Congrats to the Pirates, and we will be seeing them in the NCAA Frozen Four in a few years.


Selke Trophy (best defensive forward), Lady Byng Trophy (exemplifies sportsmanship and gentlemanliness (sp?)): Rod Brind'amour.

Things could have been REALLY bad early without our rock of a captain. "Rod the Bod" still wins over 60% of his faceoffs, had a solid (current) 80 points, and plays through almost any injury or illness.

Vezina trophy (Best Goaltender): Cam Ward.

It's not easy following up a rookie season that included Lord Stanley's Cup, The Playoff MVP, and marriage. Ward-O stepped in the #1 goaltender position this year with solid performances and highlight reel saves (30-20-6). Although he would like to have a few of the goals scored against back, the majority of nights he had his teammates to thank for those.

The Jack Adams Award (Best Coach): Hockey Parents

If you're a parent and you invest the time, energy, and financials in your kid playing a game they love; YOU are the best coach of them all. This wonderful sport will continue to embrace our communities with your support.

It's about Dern Tootin' Time

March 23, 2007, and finally there's a SERIOUS youth hockey league around Raleigh now! Like Forslund says, you can pretty much count on someone from the Carolinas being drafted somewhere decent before the end of 2010, and start expecting it a lot more regularly (we hope) when all our lil' tots grow up!



SIGN YOUR KIDS UP (it's a Adobe Acrobat .Pdf file)

GO KIDDIES!