After a fantastic 2009 season which saw the Knockouts completely dominate the league during the regular season, it's likely surprised no one to see them return in 2010 with an almost identical set of players.

     While in one sense, their team might not seem quite as strong as last year since the large rating gains of many of their players means that some of their best lineups from 2009 no longer are legal.  However, it seems quite likely that the marked improvement that several of their players have showcased recently will more then compensate for having slightly less lineup flexibility.   While their bottom boards have made their usual upward progression, two of their likely most important middle boards have done the same, with newly minted IM Mackenzie Molner having gained over a hundred points in the last year enroute to achieving two GM norms, and FM Victor Shen having made a similar rating gain, impressively capturing the U2400 section in the World Open.

     With so many of their players having made such great strides in the past year, one might well be inclined to feel that New Jersey is an even stronger team than 2009 - a scary prospect given their domination which only fell short of a birth in the Championship Match by the narrowest of margins.  If those players can translate their recent success into similar success in the league, along with GM Boris Gulko continuing on his incredible pace of eight straight wins, the Knockouts may well be a real threat to take the USCL by storm once again in 2010.