Indy Fuel

Indy Card Exchange is a great one.

Um, in Indianapolis they're doing some amazing work with, uh, the Indy Fuel.

Um, you know, really trying-

Mm-hmm

...

I wanna give out a shout-out to my guy and newest member of the Indy Fuel, Noah Apfelbaum.

Way to go.

Way to go.

Best mustache at prospect camp.

[laughs]

And now he gets to play for the Indy Fuel, my guy.

Not only my favorite member of the Indy Fuel, but my favorite Harry Potter charm, Noah Apfelbaum.

The league is changing, and we're seeing people come into this league now that have opportunities.

Austin D'Orazio, who played here last year, a defenseman, signed a full contract with a team in ECHL, the Indy Fuel.

There are changes happening in this league for the better.

Do you think that the legacy and maybe the perception can start to change now for the FPHL and that higher leagues can start looking at it a little bit differently going, oh, wait, there's another scouting that we're not scouting because they're finding players that are making it to rookie tournaments.

And then Arvid Soderblom rounding things out, wearing number 40.

For Guyann, going to be very interesting to see whether he's used as the third goaltender for the Ice Hogs to begin his first pro season, or there's been some speculation that he could be down with the Indy Fuel at the ECHL level, possibly in a more competitive meaningful role.

So definitely something to keep an eye on when the Blackhawks have to ultimately make that decision.

But real quick before moving on into segment two, just wanted to run through the training camp schedule for anyone who isn't familiar.

After that, he goes and jumps over, has a cup of coffee in Liga in Finland before coming back and getting bounced around the East Coast a little bit.

Indy Fuel, Worcester Raiders and the Rapid City Rush.

Three teams in one season.

That was enough for him to think, fuck that and head back out to Europe.

Right.

And, you know, maybe he wants to watch the games at home, a guy that drives in from Indianapolis multiple times a year, goes to Indy Fuel games.

W- uh, our buddy Windy City Hockey, I ran into him at, at the arena this morning.

He's, he's on it, yeah.

And then a couple of months after, got to actually play for Slovakia at the World Championship, so continues to rack up some good experience as a young netminder.

Now is entering his first year at the professional level and will be with either the Rockford IceHogs in the AHL or the Indy Fuel of the ECHL.

Jared Nightingale, head coach of the IceHogs, who's running things at the showcase this week, he was asked about Gaian's situation and, you know, he s- didn't indicate where he'll be one way or the other.

He kinda said, you know, "That's the purpose of training camp." But that's where we're going to see Gaian, either with the IceHogs or with the Fuel for his first full pro season.

Kind of surprising, in my opinion, that he signed his entry-level contract.

You know, could have gone back to Minnesota Duluth for his junior year, and I'm interested to see whether he's going to be in the AHL with Rockford, or I've seen rumors of him potentially being utilized as the starter for for the Indy Fuel down in the ECHL.

But those are, to me, undoubtedly the top five players to keep an eye on for the Blackhawks in this prospect showcase.

And then as far as some quick storylines to watch as well that I wanted to run through, first and foremost, who's going to be the top player for the Blackhawks? Who's going to lead them in goals and points? I know the two first-round picks, Sasha Boisvert and Merrick Van Acker, those are the likely candidates, but Ryan Rubrick has some quality skills as well.