Of general hockey-related note this afternoon:
- The Detroit News’s Matt Schoch penned an article about a player-owned hockey league called the Interstate Hockey League, which is starting up in Michigan:
Drake MacKenzie thinks hockey culture stinks throughout Michigan. So the brash 24-year-old Hadley native is trying build it from the ground up.
“We have to build that foundation,” MacKenzie said. “Minnesota didn’t wake up one day and have 1,000 hockey rinks, people filling the barn every day. It started from somewhere and we have to figure out where that somewhere is and we have to start that here.”
If MacKenzie has his way, it starts with his 12-team, single-A, semi-pro Interstate Hockey League starting this fall throughout Michigan. It’s an owner-free league with players earning a revenue share.
The word is getting out to minor league hockey players across the region, a group used to driving long miles across several states, often for disappointment.
“You’ve got a lot of players and you have limited spots,” said Josh Cicurillo, 36, who drove 10 hours from New Jersey for the tryouts. “What’s great about what they’re doing is putting a show together, and leaving the (stuff) to the side. Hopefully these guys will prosper.”
2. Michigan Hockey’s Michael Caples posted a video and photo gallery from St. Louis Blues forward and Michigan native MacKenzie MacEachern’s day with the Stanley Cup, which included a visit to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor:
3. And the Red Wings posted a Tweet in which Anthony Mantha dekes and dangles while playing “summer hockey.” The commentary is less than scintillating:
Anthony Mantha wires it home! @DetroitRedWings pic.twitter.com/iiHGr750PF— MTL Pro League (@mtlproleague) July 24, 2019
