Thursday, September 2, 2010

Corbin going to Dallas/Kelowna Rotarians rock

  • The venue changed, but the intensity remained, as the Kelowna Rockets main camp continued this morning at Prospera Place. The ice was in, and despite a flooding glitch halfway through the early morning workout, the ice was keen and the scoring chances were plenty.
  • Who impressed in Thursday's workout? I sure like newly acquired Kevin Smith. Smith can certainly skate and looks like a top 4 defenseman. How he preforms in 'real game action' will give me a better sense if I'm sold on the trade for Collin Bowman.
  • Jesse Astles was the most physical player on the ice during Thursday mornings workout. A big body who can skate, Astles has some good skill. I just hope he can use it a little more often this season.
  • Antoine Corbin is going to an NHL camp. Corbin has been granted a tryout by the Dallas Stars.
  • I am considering 'real time' blogging during Saturday's pre-season game at Prospera Place. I won't give you a play-by-play of the action in print, but will make observations over the course of the game that may be of interest. Just log on Saturday night just before 7 pm (face-off time) and keep pressing REFRESH.
  • My apologies to Stan Johnston, the father of Rockets forward MacKenzie Johnston. I mentioned in a recent blog posting that his name was Larry. Wrong! Sorry Stan. If it helps, I too have had my name butchered over the years. It is pronounced Ree-gun, not Ray-gun.
  • It happens almost every year at around this time. You go into a cold arena after spending time outdoors and you get a cold. The chances of getting a cold at the Capital News Centre were higher considering the temperature in the building was much colder than what you would experience at Prospera Place. The good news was training camp shifted back to Prospera for Thursday mornings workout.
  • They didn't throw us out, nor did they throw food at us when Gord and I made a presentation Tuesday to the Kelowna Rotary Club. In fact, the experience was a pleasurable one. We were asked to speak about our role as radio broadcasters covering a major junior hockey team. While it may seem interesting to us, I often wonder if our stories are boring to a mass audience. If it was boring, the Rotarians didn't show it. They even asked some thoughtful questions at the end of the presentation. We appreciated the invite. The Kelowna Rotarians rock!
  • The WHL picked the right teams to play one another in Whitehorse February 12th during CBC's Hockey Day in Canada. Why? Blazers majority owner Tom Gaglardi and Giants head man Ron Toigo have deep pockets and can share the tab. If the league was covering all expenses would we have seen Moose Jaw against Swift Current instead?
  • What happens to Keen's Korner? That's Jon Keen's blog. Now that he has moved from Swift Current to Kamloops, does the blog change names and is now called 'Keen's Kamloops Blazers Korner?' Does he attempt to match wits with Gregg Drinnan's blog or simply pull out the white flag and surrender?

7 comments:

bigkev said...

is there ice time tonight

Regan Bartel said...

Oh yes. Same times as the Cap News Centre. I want a full report from you on the evening session.

devon said...

amazing blog Regan. My friend Rod Pedersen's is better. He was second place in the running for the Oilers. You weren't.

Jared Comeau said...

What are the work out times?

Regan Bartel said...

I wasn't even considered. Don't believe what you read.

bigkev said...

Wow devon go away , you suck. i guess that the nices thing i can say to you after reading your profile.

jaz301 said...

What a great year we have in stores for the WHL. You have an excellent rivalry game between Vancouver and Kamloops in Whitehorse.(maybe 1 day we will see a Whitehorse team in the WHL) Then you have 2 outdoor arena games between Spokane Chiefs and Kootenay Ice.and the other game between Calgary Hitmen and the Regina Pats. Though none of these have the Rockets in them I still look forward 2 seeing these games. Maybe they will become a routine and we could see the Rockets involved in it 1 day.