Avery is a girl's name

Avery "Section 106, row V" Wilson re-signed with the team.

Now taking bets on who watches more games from the stands, Avery or the season ticket holders. I've got $5 on Avery.

Return of the Conster

Shut up, I'm a little late. The team re-signed Conrad Martin the other day. All I can say is, "Duh" because I saw that coming on, uh, May 3rd.

Also, apparently US Bank Arena has taken away our home opener and made it one for Dayton. Gee, give our lovely rival some more home attendance. Pricks. I'm sick of drivin' to Fairborn.

Mac-Attack

Quick update... the team re-signed Matt MacDonald today. I'm not entirely surprised. Hope he can capitalize on his progress over the course of last year. I wasn't a big fan of his off the bat, but as the year progressed he seemed to know his position more. Apparently he attented Blackhawks camp, hopefully he comes back with a little more experience under his belt.

Chipotle!

Catching Up

The season is quickly (well, sort of) coming upon us. As I start this post we're at 74 days, 15 hours and some absurd amount of minutes/seconds.

So, getting up to speed, we're at six players now:

• Returning captain Chad "My Plus/Minus is Better Than Yours" Starling: very glad to have him back. Big fan of this guy.
• Returning sometimes-wears-an-A centerman Barret Ehgoetz: another solid faceoff winner that I'm glad to see back, will bring leadership to the table, especially with joining Starls for his third year under Coach Weber.
• Returning forward Scott "the Penalty Killah" Reynolds: extremely happy to see Scotty back. Definitely hoping to see some more playing time, and not just on the PK. Definitely looking to see an increase in his ice presence, as well as his scoring.
• Returning defenseman Greg Gallagher: another good move; I was impressed with Gally's progress over the season. He started off slow, but once he got a considerable amount of playing time he really stepped it up. I look forward to seeing what he can do on a more consistent basis.
• Last returner, Billy Irish-Baker: aside from starting on St. Patrick's Day and packing a ton of energy, I don't remember much about him since he wasn't around for long. Look forward to seeing what he can do full-time.
• Total newb: defenseman Gerard Miller. According to hockeydb.com, he had 57 points in 73 games for Flint (UHL). Including 44 assists. I'm impressed. Not only did he have more than twice as many assists as he did goals -- he's a defenseman. Definitely can't wait to see this guy play.

Other rumblings...

• The team secured a radio deal, on 96.5 FM. Definitely good news for the team, since there hasn't been a radio broadcast in years. It may only be 30 games, but who's to say they won't pick up more if things go well?
• Renewed the affiliation with Montreal & Hamilton - hopefully this opens the door to see a few of the guys they passed along to us last year, if not some incredible new talent.
• Also picked up an affiliation with Nashville & Milwaukee. I think this is great news for the team. A double affiliation might turn out to be difficult if both organizations get strapped at the same time, but hopefully it sets us up for a great load of talent being passed through the ranks to us. Plus, the Predators have signed Grumet-Morris. I will censor my comments on that, though.

And if you just can't wait for October 19th, Concrete Clones will be at the Loveland Meijer this Saturday (8/11), Milford the next (8/18), and finish with Western Hills (8/25).