but seriously they have had so many changes I have to write a chapter on them and frankly with all the work Bill has done on the CCHL he and his team deserve it.

Ok lets continue with a closer look at the league. Next up is the men of music from Ohio. Talk about a turnover, these guys may have thrown the baby out with the bathwater... Things were basically completely ripped down and renovations promptly begun. In a word "WOW" who would have thunk it about Bill ? Geez Louise the list of new young players is frankly too long to list, let alone to write a review on. For starters looking at the forwards the team's leaders are Neal, Grabovski and Voracek with support from Leino, Giroux, Bailey and Simmonds. Lean pickings there, potential certainly but with the exception of Neal and perhaps Voracek I haven't seen any of their talent translate to the NHL. Dripping potential yes certainly and only time will tell how things work out for the musicmen down the road. Knowing Bill it won't be long before his team is ready for a new run to the finals, this year however probably the team will be lucky to make the playoffs. The blueline on the other hand holds alot more promise from my perspective. Mitchell and Gonchar anchor a very talented blueline, along with White, Schenn, Alzner and Letang rounding out an all star cast with Jack Johnson and Klesla on the bench things look very strong for the team going forward as far as the blueline in concerned. Netminding is well taken care of with MAF hitting his prime. The real challenge for this club is how they are going to take care of the forward position, and to get a better idea we have to take a look at the prospect situation. The cupboards are overrun with kids taken over the years by the team and there are in fact some very nice looking prospects in the form of Schenn and Josefson at center, Filatov on the wing as well as a few very nice defensemen. So in the end I see this as a 1 step backwards two steps forward kind of situation. The half full glass approach would note the fantastic talent on the blueline, while the half empty glass would point to what I feel is a lack of top line talent at forward. The team will have no problem backfilling open roster spots, but how will the forwards pan out ? this will be the deciding factor for Bill's team. He will be content to sit back and increase his bank account and look to outbid for some key free agents in the future (which will solve the high end forward talent problem)

CCHL preseason 2009-10

Well here we are again, another CCHL sim hockey season is just about ready to roll. The new APBA disk was extensively play tested and should provide us with a great season. The off-season free agency bidding was improved through the walk away option. It has reduced salaries to some degree, thanks to all who participated and to those who made suggestions and gave feedback.

What I have noticed from the small sample of the pre-season is how some of the leagues teams have really changed their rosters. Also the finances have started to show its ugly face so I would urge you to really pay attention to the ticking time bomb that salaries have become.

Lets take a closer look at some of the key players heading into this season.

Evgeni Malkin is going to be a monster this season and Beverly Hills is bound to benefit from that. A 5 passing rating is nothing to sneeze at. Mr Malkin is rated to play all 3 forward positions. Another nice rated player in Kimmo Timonen who garnered a 4 DEF rating to go with 4 Sk and Pa. He will log a ton of ice time.

The Ibex have felt the pinch of their playoff runs and championships in the past. The roster is not only tiny but is only a key injury away from being a run of the mill team. Any team that has Kovalchuk will certainly be able to score goals in bunches as his 5 Sk and Pa show. His partner in crime is Alfredsson who has his usual assortment of 4 ratings. Goalie is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed if this team is going to make the playoffs.

Budapest, the newest team in the CCHL parleyed their picks and draft into a fairly solid team. They have nice balance and some good defensive ratings especially at center and LW. The top line of Sedin, Franzen and Iginla should be enough to put this expansion team into the playoffs. The key player is Zdeno Chara who could play about half the game for the Honved.

Calgary has spent a ton of money in free agency over the past few seasons and the talent level of the club shows it. They have good depth especially at LW and despite some low defensive ratings I see the team as making the playoffs. Brian Rafalski got a 5 Pa and should anchor the powerplay, while Huselius received a 5 Sk rating! Money could become an issue but they are well setup to make a run of it for the next season or two before they will have to address the bank account.

Copenhagen has arrived. This is a very good team. They are young, talented and in my opinion could challenge for a cup final run in the next season or two. Richards and Kopitar at center are a very fine 1 - 2 punch with Patrick Kane on the wing everyone else is just gravy. Bobby Ryan, Stamkos, Versteeg, Wheeler, Frolik, Bernier. Wow that is some scary skill levels. Green and Barker on the blueline not to mention Burns and Seabrook round out a very high level blueline. With Quick and Vokoun in nets this team is prime meat and will be a force to be reckoned with.

Dayton ? they suck

but seriously they have had so many changes I have to write a chapter on them and frankly with all the work Bill has done on the CCHL he and his team deserve it.