A Couple of Interesting Links

First up is a great article in the New England Hockey Journal about 2010 commits Mac Bennett and Derek Deblois. They're both cited as being great skaters. DeBlois came in with the reputation of being a scorer but it sounds like he really made his mark on the forecheck and on the boards.

Bennett? Well:
Bennett’s skating is his hallmark, with the kind of speed and east-west agility that some players can only dream about. When at the top of his game, Bennett is like an untamed colt, using his powerful mobility and offensive instincts to push defenses back on their heels and lead the attack.

Western College Hockey has a draft profile on Bennett.

Next is a nice find by Goon about the ongoing saga of how the conferences will end up being aligned. Finally something that makes sense! Straight from the horse's mouth (the AD), the University of Alaska is now exploring the possibility of joining the WCHA. It sounds like we should be hearing more about this story fairly soon as the Chancellor was briefed on May 27.

It really does make sense on a lot of levels. As it is, seven CCHA teams make the trip to Alaska every season. This past year, 7 of the other 9 WCHA schools made the trip up there. So out of the conferences affected by the Alaskan teams, 14 out of the 20 schools had to go up there for conference regular season games. If you get them both in the same conference, you'd cut that number in half. It really wouldn't be that bad. You'd have one two-week trip to Alaska two out of every three years. It makes a lot more sense than what we've got going on right now. Alaska gets a natural rival in conference, UAH gets to keep their program.

For the record, I'm not only behind this move because it would put both Alaskan teams in the WCHA. I'd be just fine if the WCHA took Huntsville (or UNO) and we ended up with Anchorage. It makes a ton of sense to get those two schools in the same conference.