Moose Jaw is in town

Warriors coming off a 7-6 victory over Portland yesterday, Americans will be playing their 6th game in 8 days.  The guys had the day off yesterday to get some rest, which they needed I'm sure.  They played very aggressive against Spokane and Kamloops (huzzah!) so hope they have some good gas left in the tank.

"It has been a tough grind the last couple of weeks," said Americans goaltender Drew Owsley, who leads the WHL with 32 wins. "We need to give the legs a rest. It's hard on your body to play that much. We have a tough bunch of guys, but it's nice to have a day off."

Forward Brooks Macek agreed.

"The legs get heavy and you have to rest," Macek said.

"Cheese (trainer Brian Cheeseman) keeps us stretched out and makes sure we drink lots of water. We'll be ready for (today)."  (Herald)

Doesn't look like Kruise will be back quite yet, which sucks but at the same time, need him to heal up properly and get ready for playoffs.  

Who will be in net?  Who knows.  Drew's been playing brilliantly, but I'm sure Bob wants to see From Russia With No Rebound Control get back to form (or just to form, really). 
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The New York Times has an article about the large number of Canadian hockey players that shoot left-handed (even though a majority are right-handed individuals).  It's sortof funny that this came up because Scotty Wazz and I were just discussing this the other day after he'd been out stick shopping.  The article doesn't state it, but Wazz says that a lot of that is due to the fact that many young Canadian players are coached to put their dominant hand on the top of the stick for control.  Now, I've haven't spent a lot of time with a hockey stick in my hand, but I used to golf and I am right handed, I cannot even imagine how awkward it would be to have my right hand at the top of the golf grip and swing with my left hand.  Anyways, it's an interesting article and just funny since we were just talking about it.  Have a read here.

According to sales figures from stick manufacturers, a majority of Canadian hockey players shoot left-handed, and a majority of American players shoot right-handed. No reason is known for this disparity, which cuts across all age groups and has persisted for decades.

Most Canadians, like most Americans, are naturally right-handed, so the discrepancy has nothing to do with national brain-wiring. And how you hold a pencil, say, has little or no bearing on how you hold a stick. A left-handed shooter puts his right hand on top; a right-hander puts the left hand there.