As a fan of all sports what roll do you think teams and or leagues have in treating depression? Look at Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers baseball team he was drafted 1st over all by the Tampa Bay Rays and fell into drugs and alcohol. He went from beening the next big thing to living on the streets and out of baseball. He cleaned up his life with help from is grandma and now a star in Texas . Now he has to have urine samples 3 times a week to make sure he is not using. He also has help everyday, he never goes anywhere by himself. He always has some one with him. He does not carry money as he knows he is a addict and could be tempted at anymoment. His help has all of the control of his money. So do you think that guys with depression should have that kind of help and get better treatment sooner? Should coaches and training staff be trained to spot kids with signs of depression so people like Rick Rypien could of had help years ago?

What should the player get for a penalty for hitting to the head . If the player is hurt should the offender have to sit out until the injured player comes back to play? Three strike rule, first offence 3 games, second offence 5 games, third offence year off with out pay(NHL/Pro)?

Now that Victoria has a WHL team ( Royals ) will  Nanaimo be tring to get their own team. That would be a great rivalry and cut down on travil costs. With teams like Prince George ,Prince Albert, Swift Current and Cranbrook with attendance at or around 2300 fan per game will they be able to stay in these citys. It also dos not help when the WHL keeps making team upgrade their arenas . They want every team to have a jumbo tron like screen in every arena what will that cost. I was told that Medician Hat has to get a new arena or the WHL will pull their team ( not sure how they can do this).  The Tigers sell out every game as they have a smaller arena so it make it harder to get game tickets. People are not able to just walk up and get tickets at the door of game nights, they have to plan ahead if they want to see a game. The Tigers make it a event something that the city of Medician Hat citizens want to see. It is just not a Hockey game but a night out.

That is a big challange. When was the last time a team won back to back Cups. It always seems that when a team wins the cup they are not able to keep the key players that helped them win.

The USA Hockey Annual General Meetings concluded
this past weekend with the certification of the American West Hockey League
(AWHL).


  The AWHL will be comprised of teams in Montana and
Wyoming and will begin play this October. The 6-team league will consist of the
Billings Bulls, Bozeman Icedogs, Gillette Wild, Great Falls Americans, Helena
Bighorns and Missoula Maulers.

Billings, Bozeman, Helena and Missoula were formerly
part of the NorPac hockey league. The new Glacier Nationals team in Whitefish
will play in the NorPac this coming season.


The AWHL was originally formed back in 1992 and
suspended operations in 2003 when the league merged with the North American
Hockey League.


The league will play a minimum of 44 games, which
will include games against current NorPac teams in Whitefish, Butte and Cody,
Wyo. as part of a separation settlement between the two leagues.


“We (AWHL) made a commitment to play the NorPac
teams located in our footprint,” says Great Falls Americans owner, Jim Keough.
“It will present a good opportunity to alleviate travel costs for the NorPac and
will provide a chance to have some spirited competition within the two
leagues.”


According to sources from both leagues, a settlement
agreement was reached which would allow for the AWHL to begin play for the
2011-12 season. Other terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

Posted in Whitefishpilot, Sports on          
Wednesday, June 15, 2011 11:19 am.                     

As a fan of the Dynamiters Hockey Club what would you like to see us do

 The NorPac junior hockey league suffered a major
shakeup last week when four of the 12 teams were suspended for the upcoming
season. The Missoula Maulers, Bozeman Icedogs, Helena Bighorns and the Billings
Bulls have each been banned from play for the upcoming season, the league
reports.


The decision leaves the league with only two teams
in Montana, the Butte Roughriders and the upstart Glacier Nationals in
Whitefish. The other six teams are in Seattle, Bremerton, Wash., Vancouver,
Wash., Eugene, Ore., Medford, Ore., and Cody, Wyo. Great Falls was slated to
join the league this winter but the NorPac website makes no mention of the
team.


 
 
 
 
 
The four suspended clubs were in negotiations with
NorPac to start and join another league in the region, according to Nationals
owner Butch Kowalka. USA Hockey shot down the idea because they have a
moratorium on starting any new leagues. The idea was tabled until 2012-2013 and
the four teams were under contact to not pursue the new league until then.


“Those four teams went for it anyway,”Kowalka
said.


That’s when NorPac suspended them from playing this
coming winter.


Kowalka says those teams are not only putting their
own players at risk of not playing any hockey this year, but they’re also
causing financial strife for the rest of the NorPac.


“There are going to be some significant travel
expenses,” he said.


The eight teams moving forward will play a full
cross schedule. Glacier will play all of the teams at home three times, then
three more times away.


Kowalka was never approached by any of the owners of
the four suspended teams about joining the new league.


“It’s not like we chose the NorPac,”Kowalka said.
“They left us out deliberately. They have not approached me one single bit.”


He said there are a lot of teams talking about
leaving USA Hockey, partly due to insurance reasons. Still, he doesn’t
understand why the four suspended teams didn’t wait out the one-year moratorium
so they could legally pursue starting another league.


He suspects the teams will join a U-18 league this
winter. NorPac is for players 16-20 years old.


Despite the league shake up, the Nationals franchise
is nearly a done deal except for a final stamp of approval from USA Hockey. The
team’s first player is expected to sign as early as this week and Jason Quinn
was hired as the head coach.


Quinn has worked with the TriCity Americans,
Vancouver Giants and Portland WinterHawks. He coached in the NorPac with the
Butte Rough Riders and was a scout for the Helena Big Horns.


The Nationals team bus has been purchased, a website
was launched, and a hockey and lacrosse gear shop is slated to open in the
Stumptown Ice Den’s warming hut.


Grouse Mountain Lodge is penciled in to have their
logo at center ice as a major sponsor. The logo sale was split with the City of
Whitefish and will bring in $16,000 to the Parks Department.


The visitor locker room expansion won’t happen this
season due to a lack of funding. The team will use the Saddle Club as a
secondary locker room instead.


“It’s not a perfect situation,” Kowalka said, “but
it’s better than not having a team.”

By MATT BALDWIN Whitefish
Pilot.

Should hockey Canada change the age of junior hockey players. They always say that the KI is a develpment league. So if the KI is a develpment league so are we only aloud to have 2 16 year old kid on the team and as many 20 year old as we can find. I think that it should be the other way around. You will not have a team full of 16 year old on one team but you might have 3 or 4. Lets develop the younger kids so they can be playing hockey at a higher level at 20.