Looking at the schedule it looks like Seattle(big surprize), Missoula and River City got the worst of the early games but someone had to play them. Eugene and Tri are in tough taking on the slumping Bighorns and Yellowstone and the game of the weekend will truly be Rogue Valley vs Butte(if Adamo doesn't play).

Here are my predictions and hopefully this will generate some chat.

Thursday 1/7
Yellowstone vs Tri City- Tri is surging as of late but Yellow is to big and will wear them down. Quake wins
Bozeman vs Seattle- Even without league leading scorer Beede Totems win
Butte vs River City- I will go with RC but Adamo will have a say in this
Helena vs Eugene- Game of the day for sure. Helena is in a funk but I have to stick with them. Eugene is good but there is lots of pressure for them to have a BIG game
Missoula vs Puget Sound- Missoula
Bilings vs Rogue Valley- Billings

Friday 1/8
Missoula vs River City- Missoula is to much for RC in this one although the fact that RC practices at the crack of dawn may play into their favor but still not enough- Missoula
Butte vs Eugene- Eugene
Bozeman vs Puget- This a pickem but I will roll with Bozeman
Yellowstone vs Rogue- Yellow
Helena vs Tri- Helena
Billings vs Seattle- Billings will put up a good fight here on their home ice in the marquis game of the night but the Totems will find a way

Saturday 1/9
Helena vs River City- Helena
Missoula vs Seattle- A true shame that this is a morning game, if this game was back to back with the Yellow/Eug game you could sell out the doubleheader. Tough, tough game for both. I should pick Miss as they play early on Friday and Seattle will just be getting to sleep but I can't- Totems
Butte vs Rogue Valley- If Adamo plays it's Butte but if not it's all RV. For the sake of picking I will go with- Rogue Valley
Bozeman vs Tri City- Tri
Yellowstone vs Eugene- Fun game to watch- Eugene
Billings vs Puget Sound- Billings

So from a division standpoint it looks like this.
America West: Overall 10-8. Helena 3-0, Yellow 2-1, Missoula 2-1, Billings 2-1, Boz 1-2, Butte 0-3
Pacific: Overall 8-10. Seattle 3-0, Eugene 2-1, Tri 1-2, River 1-2, RV 1-2, PS 0-3.

Best of luck to most...... Enough said

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Helena winless in 2010? Cunningham must be tearing chalkboards off the wall! The problem is likely the usual one. The kids had the chance to sit around over the holidays and realize they had lost only one game all season, so assume that all they have to do is lace up to get a win. The Maulers had a different plan, and they are not to be taken lightly this year, as they proved. Still, the 'horns have the most talent in the league and will likely come to grips with the notion that to win you must play. Coach C will have some of them on the bench or traded off to Butte if they don't get off their buttes. The ;riders could use a few warm bodies so they can put a third line together.

Seattle didn't exactly shine over the weekend, either, having to score in the last minute then pot one in the second OT to down a lesser opponent.

Sometimes these kids are just hard to reach.

On another front, how come 'new player' is in so many games lately, yet the 'transactions' board reports NO activity?

The teams in this league are woefully remiss in their care and feeding of the fan base. But then what's new about that?

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Decider; I guess 9:30 or 10:00am is the norm at nationals(along with no people in the box, announcers or goal judges) so it's alright I guess and peelers ,brews , and pi**ing a few people off makes for a heck of a day!!

Snaphook; Billings has graciously agreed to host the showcase.

NewFan; Bubba has been part timing it as he is in Aviator school in Eberg. Beede is serving 1 game for to many 10's. As far as the Bighorns go on the PIM monger it should come as no surprize that I feel that if you have someone that can keep other teams idiots honest it is just good old fashioned housekeeping and if you have the biggest, baddest housekeeper you make sure no one pi**es on your floors.

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Is Adamo really back in Butte? Another short stint in the NAHL? How can he be so good in the norpac, but get cut over and over from NAHL teams?

Rogue Flying to Butte for the showcase. New ownership must have a pretty penny. Rogue goes 2 and 1 in the showcase.. wait and see

A whole slew of Norpac Lifers are back at it. Parkhouse, Kaufman etc...

Adamo put up great numbers in his stint in the NAHL, but look where he went...Wenatchee. Take a look at their roster and their track record. By looking at it, you would swear they are at the bottom of the standings as they have sifted through so many players this year. While it is good to have an NA team in the area, it is unfortunate that it has to be run by these guys. Player loyalty certainly isn't in their handbook. Before you all whine and cry about players earning it, I was looking at their players who did produce and were shipped off. Wenatchee brought in a goalie from Canada with a higher profile so Adamo was dumped.

As far as the difference between the NAHL and NPHL, I have seen both. There is a difference. The talent pool is generally better. Most teams in the NPHL have 2-5 guys who are capable of playing in the NPHL. This was somewhat legitimized last season when an all star team comprised of players from Norpac's Eastern division beat Wenatchee in their barn in December. Sure its one game, but I don't think pride puts a timeline on things. Wenatchee lost in the NA finals last year. 2 of my boys were recruited by these guys. They have a slick presentation and make a ton of promises. In speaking with some parents of players there, we decided to look elsewhere. I would have liked to have kept him in the US but we already had one go through the NA and USHL and it was a great distance for us to watch him. The Alberta league has been great for him. Smaller rosters and he played enough as a rookie to develop into a top 6 forward this year. He already has a D-1 commitment so it worked out for him. While we are appreciative, we have already had 2 others who took different paths.

Despite the jet set to the big dance in Billings, Rogue goes 0-3. We waited, we saw. Like the rest of the Western teams, they simply were outclassed by the East.

Back to Adamo, had he started vs. Eugene the Roughies would likely have beaten Eugene.

It was a dismal weekend for the West. 2-16 is no way to pump up next year's recruits.

Their only wins came when the #1 West seed (Eugene) squeaked by the #6 East seed (Butte) and the #5 West seed (Puget) beat the #4 East seed (Billings).

TS2 was quoted as scribing "A whole slew of Norpac Lifers are back at it. Parkhouse, Kaufman etc..."

OK, so you mentioned 2 names. Parkhouse is in college and his brother plays in the WSHL and Kaufman is in school and playing close to home. So, pleeeaase humor us and add to this "slew" of players you refer.

Back to Wenatchee...I see they dropped Mort down to Missoula. Ol' man Mort must have flipped his lid. How dare anyone in hockey dictate to a parent where his kid plays. In his defence, I'm sure he was given the keys to the city in Wenatchee to get his kid to play there. Kharma is a good thing. He deserves those two teams. The 3 of them deserve each other. Maybe he should buy another team. I have another kid on the way up who could use a free ride and it won't come courtesy of Mizzou.

By all accounts, the showcase was long overdue. I'm sure the naysayers will come out of the woodwork but just to have the event was a good guage for teams. Thanks to Billings to give us something to talk about.

Last thing, these boards are indeed dead. It is either AJ, Decider or a couple of others that keep it alive. There isn't much involvement from coaches or owners, which would be nice. The Helena owner used to be a mainstay and he is rarely on to set us straight. The Missoula guy used to get on incognito and was flushed out of the weeds and has since gone away. The 'ol Fort Van coach used to make appearances, as did their GM, but they are gone. NewFan keeps those who refuse to read a boxscore, informed. I wish the league website had better stories. It kinda sucks.

Some parent of a guy from the Quake-O-Neers is also gone since his kid bolted for a CDN league.