From the Pipeline (Sept 30th)

Last night's show was a biggie for a few reasons not the least of which was an interview with the top rated 2009 prospect out there, a preview of the NCAA, an interview with the head coach of Team Canada West before the WJAC and another round of weekly award winners in the 2009 Draft Prospect Performers of the Week.

Let's start there; yesterday we told you who the winners were for the week ending September 28th and last night we spoke with one of them in John Tavares, the guy most people expect to be chosen 1st overall this June at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

We asked the phenom a variety of questions ranging from his WJC experience, the pressures of his draft year in comparison to the microscope he's been living in for the last few years, the rumors of a trade request, his agent status (is his mom really representing him?) and a lot more. you can hear that segment here.

The World Junior A Hockey Challenge takes place in Camrose this year and Team Canada West will be vying for thier thrid consecutive gold medal finish. Behind the bench will once again be Boris Rybalka who also coaches the Camrose Kodiaks. We asked him about what it's like to be hosting the event and trying to end his run with a perfect 3-0 score. Listen to that interview here.

Our friend and my colleague from Hockey's Future and Future Considerations, D.J. Powers stopped by to talk about the NCAA's upcoming season. The National Polls are out... should Boston College have been the top rated team in her mind? Who are the teams to wtch for and who are some of the top incoming freshmen? Find out here.

Also last night we played snippets from several conversations we've had in and around training camps this year. In August I went out on a limb and predicted Ryan Potulny was making the Oilers as the 13th guy... well he's only played in 1 exhibition game so far so it doesn't look to good. I had an exclusive one on one with him and then another with Kevin Prendergast where I asked both about their thoughts on the former Golden Gophers chances at camp.

You can also hear comments from Gilbert Brule, Florida Panthers head coach Pete DeBoer and Swedish prospect Mikael Backlund of the Calgary Flames.

All those clips from training camp can be found here.

Don't forget about the 2 contests we have going on right now... the 3rd Annual Pipeline Show Hockey Pool and the Opening Night Roster Contest. You can find details on both contests here.

As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts on the show... the good, the bad, the Millard (and by that I mean the UGLY). Please feel free to leave your comments below and thanks for listening.