Things That Make You Go Hmm

Things that make you go hmm.
C and C Music Factory made the song famous (ok, not so famous) in the 90's with the top 10 hit. Yes, I'll come clean and admit I have the CD in my collection.
I thought I'd use it's title to express some thoughts on what makes me go hmm!

• The Kootenay Ice coaching situation. Is it just me or do you scratch your head over what happened there when assistant Brad Lauer left the team, and head coach Cory Clouston left shorty after. Lauer must have known Clouston was up for a pro job, yet took a head coaching position in the BCHL any way. Lauer must have had a clear indication from management that he was not in the plans of the Ice as a potential head coaching candidate. Seems odd considering that Clouston was promoted from within when Ryan McGill jumped to the American Hockey League. Why not Lauer? If Brad Lauer isn't bitter, I'd be shocked. Jeff Bromley is reporting that Lauer may now be named an assistant to Lane Lambert with the Milwaukee Admirals, meaning his move to the BCHL won't happen. Good for him!
• Ryan Huska is working on his drivers license, but it's not what you think. The Kelowna Rockets head coach has earned his learners to drive the Rockets bus. Huska sees this as a good way of taking some of the pressure off of the Director of Transportation for the Rockets Roger Vandock, who puts in long hours behind the wheel. Huska won't be driving the Rockets bus from Kelowna to Prince George any time soon though, but would likely drive the iron-lung to and from the rink for pre-game skates.
• Now that Huska is a head coach in the WHL, what makes him different than any other coach in the league? Huska is the only head coach to wear glasses. Or so I thought until Jon Keen pointed out that Moose Jaw's Dave Hunchak also wears glasses. Hunch also has his license to drive a bus. Bob Ridley...look out!!
  
• I have to admit David Michaud was extremely well dressed at Tuesday's Rockets news conference. The guy had a friggin suit on, in +30 degree weather! I was the polar opposite wearing shorts and a Rockets golf shirt. The saying in these parts is wearing shorts and saddles is called a 'Okanagan tuxedo'.
  
• Why is the Swift Current Civic Centre expanding with more seats? Sure more luxury boxes are needed for a revenue generator, but increasing the seating capacity to an arena which averages 18 hundred a night makes little sense. Who wants to sit in the end zone ( or behind the net) any way? I know the WHL is pressing the Broncos to improve the facility, but the increased capacity is only going to make home games look worse.
  
• Let me state I am not a journalist. I have never gone to journalism school, nor have any formal training in broadcasting. Can you tell? Ok, don't answer that. I am clearly a cheerleader for the Kelowna Rockets, and while not employed by the team, I broadcast the games with their best interest at heart. Without the Kelowna Rockets, I have no job. It's as clean cut as that. Oldies 1150 makes significant revenue off of the Rockets broadcasts, and without them I do not get paid. I do not feed my children. Without the Rockets, I am unable to do something I have always dreamed of doing. As the saying goes 'don't bite the hand that feeds you'. The Kelowna Rockets are that hand! Some of my sports writing brethren may not like it, but that's just the way it is. If the team doesn't like me, I'm looking for work elsewhere.
  
• Why did the Kelowna Rockets have 5 - 16 year-olds on it's roster last season? The fear that one of them would have considered the BCHL, and potentially a college scholarship was likely the reason. Don't expect the team to have that many this season. Colin Bowman, Tyson Barrie and Jesse Paradis all have a chance to play. Barrie is a guarantee.
• I wonder why Tyson Barrie chose to be a defenseman? His dad Len was a God with the Kamloops Blazers when he put up 85 goals in 1989-90 as a forward. Len Barrie had 100 assists that year. Wow! Isn't scoring goals more fun than keeping them out?
  
• When will Prospera Place get a new score-clock. If Prince George is getting a clock with a video monitor, surely Kelowna can get an upgrade. The clock at Prospera Place makes the one at the Medicine Hat Arena look modern.
• WHL sports writers belong to a writers group, which enables them to share stories with one another. So essentially after a hockey game, the writer will e-mail his story to his place of work to meet a deadline, and will then post it to the writers group. That story can then be used, or the information contained in it, by the other 20 WHL writers. Simply put, it works great. WHL radio broadcasters belong to a similar group. An e-mail account is set up where radio broadcasters can send information to everyone with just one e-mail. But unlike our paper writing brethren (I've used that word twice in this column) it works horribly. As I stated above, radio broadcasters are protective of the teams in which they call games for. They are in no hurry to release information about injuries or what is happening behind the scenes. They too know that if they fall out of favor with the hockey team, they'll be replaced by someone who is waiting in line for their job. I once read a post on Keen's Korner www.jonkeen.blogspot.com where an unnamed individual laughed that few if any would consider being a radio broadcasters. This individual stated that you would have be insane to sit on a bus for endless hours, and spend a winter with a bunch of pimple faced teenagers. Call it insanity, but I know of many who would love to slide into the broadcast booth.