Going High Tech

• We are going high tech next season on Rockets broadcasts on AM 1150. That's right the can attached to a string is out and we are getting with the times. Starting next season away games will sound as crystal clear as Rockets home games. Astral Media has purchased a piece of equipment that will make all games sound 'studio quality'. It's not necessarily new technology, as I understand it's been available for 5 years now. But you are talking to an old school broadcaster who still to this day uses a hand held mic, not a headset with a mic attached to it like you see today's broadcasters using, so this new/old technology is something I have had to come to grips with. Now if I can only break the habit of using my manual typewriter in the newsroom!!
• The WHL awards will be handed out Wednesday in Calgary, and it will be interesting to see if Colin Long attends. The Kelowna Rockets forward is the Western Conference nominee for Sportsmanlike Player of the Year. If he doesn't attend, that tells me one thing. He isn't the winner.
• It looks like Brady Leavold is sidelined with an injury. The former Kelowna Rocket is on the Victoria Salmon Kings injury reserve list. No word on the extent of his injury though.
• I got off the plane Friday only to hear on my voicemail that Jeff Truitt called. The former Rockets head coach left a message hoping to catch up with me now that his and my hockey season is over. Truitt was an assistant coach with the Springfield Falcons of the AHL this past season. Truitt and his wife Shauna will be spending the summer down in Springfield, meaning a trip to the Okanagan to see friends won't be in the cards for the personable Truitt.
• The 2008 NHL draft is starting to intrigue me. With so many Kelowna Rockets expected to hear their names called that weekend, maybe it's worth considering a trip out East to take in the day first hand. It's almost a give both Luke Schenn and Tyler Myers will be selected in the opening round, plus Brandon McMillan and Colin Long will surely hear their names called. Even defenseman Riley McIntosh may be a late pick as teams take a chance on a player who saw limited ice time on the back end this past season. I know fellow broadcaster Jon Keen will be there. Keen and I attended the draft representing the Swift Current Broncos when it was held in Calgary back in 1999.
• I will be watching for one thing in the WHL final. No it's not who out coaches who, or who takes advantage of the other teams mistakes. It will be interesting to see what type of atmosphere is created inside the Lethbridge Enmax Centre. Traditionally it's been an extremely dull building with little to no atmosphere. That obviously should change when games three and four are played in that building against either Spokane or Tri City.
• The season the Hurricanes won the WHL title - 1997 - they beat the Seattle Thunderbirds, the Western Conference representative.