By Denis J. Puska
Cleveland, OH - You can look back at several moments in time when sports have helped to heal the collective wounds suffered by communities in cities and countries around the world.

The most recent instance was over the weekend when the New Orleans Saints advanced to their first Superbowl against the Indianapolis Colts. This game is monumental for several reasons. The Saints were sometimes known as the worst team in the league and they were finally able to put together a successful team and advance to the Superbowl. That sweet victory, due to the hard work of players and staff, as well as the support of the community was an opportunity to celebrate the resilience of the city of New Orleans. Fantastic to watch the Gulf Coast continue to heal following Hurricane Katrina.

When that devastating event took place we were in the process of moving from Amarillo, TX to Huntsville, AL and were driving through to our new city just a day or two after the hurricane struck New Orleans. We had stopped for gas just outside of Little Rock, Arkansas in the middle of the night. There were tons of trucks around the gas station with gear and supplies. I asked somebody what is all of this stuff and they said they were off to check on family in the Gulf Coast. One person said he hadn't heard from his mom in Mississippi in three days.

Once we had arrived in Huntsville, AL at our new apartment I found out that several people who were displaced by Katrina were living in our complex. We continued to meet folks who were starting over in new towns all across the southeast over the next year or two.

Another moment in time when sports was on center stage was after the tragedy of 9/11 and the World Series featured the New York Yankees and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The first two games at Yankee Stadium were very emotional for the fans and those involved in the game. Even game seven that the Diamondbacks won was amazing. I think almost the entire country wanted a different outcome just because of what had taken place.

The 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid was another one of those moments. There was a lot of tension in the world because of the events going on with Russia and Afghanistan. When the United States won the Gold Medal in Olympic Hockey it again brought a nation together at a tough time in the world.

If you look at the 1972 Munich Olympics where those athletes were gunned down by the terrorists, the remainder of the games were used as a point of beginning the healing process for the citizens of the countries who lost their beloved athletes.
Will sports someday help heal another nation, Haiti, following the terrible Earthquake? There could be an opportunity for a special sporting event to help raise money for this cause. I think there should be a Friendly Soccer Match where 100 per cent of the proceeds go to help those in Haiti.

I found myself, like everyone, feeling for the people of that small country. I've had the opportunity to get to know many people of Haitian decent as a customer service rep helping people in South Florida apply for financial aid for K-12 education. My experiences working with these families led me to remark how happy and positive they were, and how grateful for the opportunity they were receiving. They all knew they had some homework to do but were positive that with a little help from God that they were going to work hard to get the tasks completed. Let's look forward to continued healing of the all those who have suffered.

The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics hold such promise. One can only hope these games will be promoted in a way to bring people together. Not only to celebrate their own countries and heritage, but to bring the world together in unison and forget their problems and issues for a short period of time as they play and compete and celebrate the tenacity of the human spirit.

By Denis J. Puska
Is it time for a Minor Professional Hockey Hall of Fame? I truly believe that it's something that needs to be explored in the near future.

I know they have added minor league mementos to the NHL Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto Ontario, Canada, but it may be time that a separate Hall be constructed.

I think that this would truly go a long way to help grow the sport. The only logistical problem would be where to house the actual building. There are many viable locations but it would do the Hall the best service if it would be in a classical minor league town like Johnstown, PA, Glens Falls, NY, Ft. Wayne, IN, Kalamazoo, MI or even Tulsa, OK.

ALL-STAR THOUGHTS AND MORE
All-Star games are always a great time for those who are involved and this year's trio of contests in the American Hockey League, Central Hockey League and the ECHL appeared to have been very successful and entertaining for the fans.

The All-Star games brought back memories for me when I participated in the game in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was quite a rush of adrenalin over the few days that I was there. The hardest part of the whole event was the actual trip to New Mexico from Amarillo where we encountered a major snow storm and it took us hours to climb through the mountains coming in from Amarillo, TX. It was a little hair-raising for a while and my wife and I both let out a sigh of relief when we pulled into the host hotel.

The Central Hockey League went back to Laredo TX for this year's all-star game and by all accounts it appears that it was a great success. The score was a bit lopsided as the South Texas All-Stars won 9-4 over the rest of the CHL All-Stars. I am sure in the long run the end result delighted the fans that were in attendance.
All-Star games are a lot of hard work for staffs of the teams who host them. They are not an easy event to organize because you must work on the special activities plus continue to plan and manage the production involved in the rest of the regular season.

It's too bad that the CHL game couldn't get on FSN Southwest because that would have really helped grow the league and give it some great publicity. I was disappointed that fans couldn't watch or listen to the game for free on the internet. That is one thing I will say was great for the ECHL, that they allowed fans to listen or watch the game courtesy of the B2-Networks.

At one point during the night I had on the ECHL All-Star game and the AHL game from Portland Maine. A double all-star helping.

The American Hockey League's All-Star game was carried on NESN and TSN in Canada, as well as several other FSN Affiliates including FSN Ohio where I saw it. I am sure after the first period when Planet USA jumped out to a 5-2 lead, the organizers were getting a little worried that this could be a blowout. But Canada got its act together over the final 40 minutes and it was a fairly exciting contest.

CHL HALL OF FAME?
I think it's time that the Central Hockey League consider putting together an on-line Hall of Fame like the AHL and ECHL. I have toured both of the websites and they look terrific. I think these Halls of Fame allow the leagues to toast some of its movers and shakers that made a difference.

The CHL has had a terrific history over the years and I think a Hall of Fame that combines both the original CHL and the Western Professional Hockey League could be pretty impressive. They could enshrine the all-time leading point getters for both leagues, some of its outstanding coaches as well as other executives.

If professional hockey is going to continue to evolve and grow over the years, I think Halls of Fame are a great way to preserve the past and continue to attract more new fans to the exciting game.

By Denis J. Puska
CLEVELAND, OH - Once all of the all-star games have concluded the second half of the professional hockey season will begin in most of the leagues. It's pretty amazing that through this difficult economy that just one team has closed its doors and that was Chicago Blaze in the All-American hockey League.

The second half of the schedule brings up some interesting points for debate and discussion. The International Hockey League is poised to revamp its Injured Reserve List following a rash of injuries by its member teams. I think this is a good idea to expand the 30 and 45 day lists where teams can put some of their players who are going to be out for quite some time. I was never a big fan of the 7-day IR. I thought that was a way of teams ‘hiding players' instead of releasing them. Now teams won't admit that they ‘hide players' but it's a great way to get around the rules so you don't have to release people right away.

Some of the stories that will be fun to follow in the second half of the season will be to see which teams can keep up their torrid play of what they accomplished in the first half. I have said this for many years working in professional hockey that ‘it's not how you start but how you finish.'

I have seen it happen where teams will get off to a fantastic start and then coast into the playoffs and either not making the playoffs or be eliminated in the first round.

In the ECHL, it's a case of the South Carolina Stingrays and the Idaho Steelheads finishing off their great starts. The Stingrays won the Kelly Cup a year ago and I am sure they would love to win another for their new bench boss Cail MacLean. The Idaho Steelheads have been by far the best out west and could a title come to Derek Laxdall for all of his hard work.

In the Central Hockey League, the Odessa Jackalopes have gotten off to great starts each of the last two seasons. Now can the Jacks finish the job they were unable to do one year ago. Can the Amarillo Gorillas give the fans there something to cheer about and make the post season? Brian Pellerin has been to the President Cup Playoffs before as a player and an Assistant Coach so he knows more than anyone what it takes to win. Will Corpus Christi or Allen be a surprise in the Southern Conference and can Rapid City give their hockey starved fans a playoff trip in just their second season.

The Port Huron Icehawks of the IHL have come so close to taking home the Turner Cup. Will this be their year to finish the mission or does Fort Wayne go on another terrific run. What about the new franchise in Dayton or the Flint Generals. Will they have a say in what happens in the playoffs?

The race to the post season will start in earnest it's going to be exciting to watch it all unfold.

Junior hockey and other thoughts

There was certainly plenty of good hockey over the Christmas and New Years' holiday with the World Junior Hockey Championships and the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge.

The World Junior tournament in Saskatchewan was amazing to watch especially the games involving Canada and the USA. The preliminary round game on New Years Eve was as dramatic as the Gold Medal final. One of the other wild games of the preliminary round was watching the USA and Slovakia. That was a rematch of last year's quarterfinal game that the Americans were upset. This year's game was extremely rough and some bad officiating.

I wish the World Juniors would be available to more of a larger audience in North America. Not everyone gets the NHL Network so it's too bad that Versus didn't pick up the games at all. I think the excitement of the games would have been great for the game of hockey. Since Versus is really starting to add a variety of sports events, the World Juniors and perhaps even some junior hockey on a semi regular basis would be outstanding.

Another event that didn't get a lot of fanfare was the World Under 17 Hockey Challenge which this year took place up in my neck-of-the-woods in Northeastern Ontario. The tournament hadn't been back up there since 1998 when I was part of the organizing committee for the games that took place in Kapuskasing. This year it was great that my hometown got three games including two in one day.

I watched the gold medal final on TSN On-Demand and couldn't help but smile as it was held at McIntyre Arena in Schumacher Ontario. I have probably called and watched close to 100 if not 200 hockey games in that arena. The pictures coming out of that old arena really didn't do it justice. It is such as terrific place to watch a hockey game because you could feel the history of place. So many people that have played or are currently playing in the National Hockey League got their start with games in that arena.

Watching junior hockey over the holidays brought me a little closer to home.

By Denis J. Puska
Cleveland, Ohio

It's hard to believe that it's the end of a decade. Where has all of the time gone?
As we ring in 2010 this week professional hockey has seen a lot of comings and goings throughout the various minor pro leagues, with new teams and leagues starting, striving to carry on the hockey tradition, while others have folded, unable to target their marget. As a new decade begins, what does it have in store for the sport?

Here are what I see as some of the top stories and events that took place in the past decade in professional hockey, in no particular order.

1 - The merger of the Western Professional Hockey League and the Central Hockey League into the new CHL. This certainly faced off the 2001-2002 hockey year with a bang. The Central Hockey League has risen and continues to become a great force in hockey, welcoming new teams and investing in new arenas with its parent company Global. The decade didn't end to well for the CHL as they lost one of their major markets the Oklahoma City Blazers and two teams with new arenas shut their doors, the New Mexico Scorpions and the Rocky Mountain Rage. The CHL will look for some more stability in the decade to come, hopefully with more affiliations with American Hockey League teams. To bring back a theme from this decade, they need to focus on the road ahead.

2 - The merger of the ECHL and the WCHL. This has certainly made the ECHL a much stronger force across the country with new franchises that are doing extremely well in Ontario, California; Victoria, British Columbia, and Las Vegas Nevada, just to name a few. Let's hope the ECHL can warn off any defections by teams and arenas to the AHL. The ECHL remains a strong vibrant league with its latest edition in Western Michigan and Northern Ohio.

3 - The exit of the old International Hockey League, the exit of the United Hockey League and the beginning of the new International Hockey League. That long sentence sums up the fluctuations of those leagues. The old IHL tried to compete with the AHL as a true Triple A league but couldn't handle it. The AHL took/added some of those markets and appears to be on the right track. The United Hockey League got too big and really lost its geographical footprint. If the UHL would have stayed within a clearly defined regional area I think many of the franchises they once had would have remained. Travel costs are what ultimately did them in.
The core teams of the UHL formed the new International Hockey League which is beginning to take a firm hold in the Midwest, with a broad base of loyal, educated die-hard hockey fans. There are some key governors of the IHL teams that know the footprint to the cities that they need to be in and with a solid business model, that should keep them going strong for many years to come. The economy has given clubs in several markets a beating, but hockey continues to draw and with some creative marketing and experienced professional staffing these clubs should continue to strive to thrive.

4 - The arrival of the Southern Professional Hockey League. This circuit has certainly gone through a few teams over its brief history but now it appears they are on the right track and gaining speed. The SPHL has an economic business model that is very appealing to some of its new teams in Pensacola, Mississippi and Louisiana. There have been several imitators of Single A professional hockey that have come and gone like the EPHL and MWHL. What the SPHL needs to do now is get affiliation agreements with Double A teams in the ECHL or perhaps area Central Hockey League teams. If that happens we'll see the SPHL grow yet again and strengthen markets for all involved. The All-American Hockey League its best to be the new Single A hockey league thanks to some affiliation agreements with IHL franchises. The biggest concern with the AAHL is a solid business model. They also need to get their house in order in terms of vetting prospective owners and encouraging qualified professional management of the franchise.

What does the future hold?
If I had a crystal ball I would be able to help you look into the future of professional hockey in the next decade. Unfortunately I believe that we are not done seeing the movement of teams leaving and joining the sport. The economy in some states is still not the best and people don't have the disposable income they once had. I also believe that teams cannot continue to do more with less unless they're making intelligent staffing choices and putting together an experienced team in the front office as well as the hockey operations department.

Talented, motivated people often wear different hats and perform a delicate balancing act in this industry. You need to cover that net with a solid sales & marketing staff and a dedicated ticket sales director. The most successful teams are putting together staffs with solid background in the business that is this hockey industry. Say a prayer for the pretenders who would love to work in the sport but once they get into it can't believe how wild and crazy it is and don't last long. What is the old saying: You get what you pay for? Hockey people are crazy and hearty souls that will persevere through anything especially when the going gets tough. If people see a professional off-ice and on ice product then they will tend to support the venture.