IN GENERAL:  Flint's late season surge in the International Hockey League season has been head-shaking.  The team simply won't be denied, forcing a tie between them and the PrairieThunder for the final playoff spot going into the last day of the regular season.  The PrairieThunder were too easily denied in the final two weeks--that is, until the midpoint of the next-to-last game of the season at Port Huron, which was as intense as any playoff game at any level.  That's the Thunder we know exists.  Why that Thunder didn't show up in the other final five games of the season when it meant the most is nothing short of mystifying.  It made sense to promote the playoffs at the final home game; after all, the playoffs were still possible on the final day of the season, but the team left the organization with egg on its face.  Coach Jarrod Skalde has said there was no on-ice leadership, and that was painfully evident in the final two weeks.  The coach says he'll address it.  On the upside, the team was the best one fielded here in the young history of the franchise, and has improved under Skalde's leadership.  Let's hope Flint appreciates the playoffs; you sure couldn't sense much appreciation when Bloomington visited on the final weekend, judging by the shockingly small crowd there for a game of massive importance.

HE JUST KEEPS GOING AND GOING:  It just occurred to me that as of December 1, I've been putting a headset on and yapping away at various fields and gyms for 30 years.  I mention this as a public way of thanking everyone who has been a part of it all, from my first game at Bollman Field House in New Bedford, Illinois in December of 1979 to now, including the last seven-plus years here at WJBC.  I don't keep such records, but I estimate I'm closing in on the 3,000 broadcast mark.  I am being totally honest when I tell you that I have enjoyed every one of them.