It's been a while (or, gone but not out)

As I alluded to previously, I had my first child last month. This has taken up quite a bit of my time; it has also forced me to adjust my priorities somewhat, and with some mitigating factors coming into play, I am unfortunately not going to be living in the Huntington area past this month. That is not to say I am done with Huntington, and definitely not done with this website. I will continue to work with the material that I've culled thus far, as well as try to make a few excursions to fill in the blanks for the Tri-State League.

In the meantime, if anyone is interested in picking up where I'm (mostly) leaving off, consider this my request for applications for the open position... looking for hockey fans based in the Tri-State area interested in digging deeper into hockey in the Tri-State. Experiences and actual source material you might have in your possession is a plus; I can/will give access to what I have as well.

Beyond that, I will be watching from my perch on the other side of the state. My son's first hockey game will either be a Pens game or a Caps game in all likelihood (or a Johnstown Chiefs game--they're even closer); hopefully I can take him to a game at the Big Sandy Superstore Arena in the near future as well.

Media time!

Last time I was on the radio I had VERY short notice, but this time around I can say next week I'll be on Tri-State Talk with Bobby Nelson on WRVC-AM/FM (930/94.1). Not sure what day--it may have to be on the phone, as they're inducing my wife on Tuesday!

Cleaning!

The other day my wife and I sorted through a box of random CDs in our apartment. Mixed in there, in a small group, was the audio from the Practice in Radio project that got this whole operation running back in 2007! While I'm going to be a bit busy handling baby-related things in the coming weeks, I will be bringing you guys some samplings--in text form at least--of those sessions.

Blink and you'll miss it

I just got to plug this fair webpage on Insider Sportsline--it was very out of nowhere, if I had more time I would have been able to plug it a little more. I discussed the Rutherford article and the prospects for hockey's return, as well as some of the other stuff you can flip through right here at this very page.

For those of you who just found this website from the aforementioned radio appearance--welcome! Feel free to drop a line.

Anyone want some Blizzard stuff?

Ebay lot up right now for a bunch of ticket stubs, a mini-stick, a team-autographed locker room collectible sign, and a photo autographed by a player who I can't quite make out from the picture given. Still pretty cool. I'd bid on it, but I'm in a real cash crunch right now :^(

Kids playing hockey

While we sit and wait to hear any more on Huntington's future prospects in organized hockey*, why not look at future hockey prospects from Huntington? Well, sort of. Back in the final years of the Tri-State Ice Arena, the Junior Blizzard competed in the Buckeye Travel Hockey League, competing in Midget (under 18) and Peewee (under 12) brackets. Their results? Not too bad I reckon...

2002-03: Midget 17U A-Bluegrass Division: 2nd, 9-6-1 (11-7-1 overall)
2003-04: Midget 17U A-Bluegrass Division: 3rd, 12-4-4 (12-6-4)
Peewee B: 7th, 4-16-1 (7-22-1)
2004-05: Midget 18: 8th, 3-20-1 (7-25-1)
Peewee B: 3rd, 6-9-1 (7-10-1)

After the rink in South Charleston was built, they set up their own program as well, which joined the league. There was a little overlap when the Jr. Blizzard and the South Charleston Chiefs played against each other...

2003-04:Midget 17U A-Bluegrass Division: 2nd, 14-5-1 (16-6-1)
2004-05:Midget 18: A 7th, 4-19-1 (5-22-2)

During this stretch Charleston won the series 4-1-2. Then Tri-State went dark, and South Charleston soldiered on...

2003-04: Bantam B-Bluegrass Division: 4th, 6-8-2 (9-9-3)
2005-06: Midget 18 A: 4th, 7-12-1 (8-14-1)

In 2006 the Bantam squad took the moniker "South Charleston Liberty", while the Midgets became merely the Charleston Chiefs. Maybe I read into omens a bit too much, but I don't think the name change had quite the desired effect:

LIBERTY:
2006-07: Bantam A-Mountaineer Division: 7th, 0-24-0 (0-26-0)
2007-08: Bantam A1: 7th, 0-24-0 (0-30-0)

Yes, that reads right--winless in two years of competition. The Chiefs weren't faring much better...

2006-07: Midget 18 A: 5th, 4-15-1 (5-17-1)
2007-08: Midget 18 A: 6th, 2-20-2 (2-26-2)

As far as I can tell the travel program did not continue past 2008, and I don't know what there was beforehand, so anyone out there (players, coaches, etc.) feel free to help me out!

*--something I've learned from following the Team US F1 story is that silence is not necessarily a bad thing.

Thanks Ernie

Ernie Salvatore has died at 87; when I was in the radio portion of this project he was a great help and a great deal of fun to talk with about items both past and present. One of my bigger regrets in this work is that I never got more chances to seek his input... he will be sorely missed throughout the Tri-State, in sports, media, and beyond.

Where are they now: Jim Mill

Dunno if this is a step sideways, but former Blizzard goalie Jim Mill (1993-95: 4 wins, 17 losses, 6.71 GAA, but then most of that was for the abysmal '93-94 season so we'll forgive him for that) has left his former position as executive VP of hockey operations for the American Hockey League to become assistant to Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher--a position that includes being GM himself of the AHL's Houston Aeros. Spiffy gig nonetheless, and congrats to him on the next step in what has been--despite not having the greatest goaltending stats--a long and successful career in hockey.

EDIT: 12:28pm: and also taking a new job in the AHL is Jared Bednar; he leaves his ECHL champion South Carolina Stingrays for an assistant coach's position with the new Abbotsford Heat. Congrats!

Where are they now--Jared Bednar

The South Carolina Stingrays won their third Kelly Cup this weekend, in former Blizzard D Jared Bednar's second year coaching them. Traded to the Stingrays in the middle of the 1995-96 season, he played parts of five of the next six seasons in North Charleston (when he wasn't being called up!), finally retiring after the 2001-02 season and moving into an assistant coach position with the Rays. He got the big bump up in '07-08, and has coached South Carolina to their first back-to-back 40-win seasons in a decade.

(Note--this will be the first of a recurring series :^))

Our man Tony gets sorted out

Former juniors announcer John Meissner sent a much more useful email to HNN than I did. Just to be clear, everyone knows now there is no USHL team in Dubuque.