"The only thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill!" - Patrick Swayze as Derek Sutton in Youngblood
Every week on TPS we talk about the Future of Hockey and while we certainly did that yesterday it was in a bit of a different fashion than normal; for one, it was one of those rare occasions where we didn't have a single player interview. You can count on there being a number of Youngblood references though and our first guest had a beauty when it came to Miss McGill... even if it was just one word!
The March 10th edition of TPS began with our new weekly debate where Dean and I go head-to-head over 5 different topics. This week:
- Tyler Ennis is a junior standout but will he be successful as a pro?
- Who has been the Oil Kings MVP this year?
- Who is the best choice for a WHL playoff dark horse?
- Should Jeff Petry leave MSU now?
- Should the host site for the Memorial Cup be announced mid-season?
Our first guest of the night was Kevin Forbes from Hockey's Future. Forbesy lives in Halifax and covers the Q for HF so we picked his brain (which never takes long) and got an update on who to watch for as the playoffs rapidly get closer.
Then we touched base with the voice of the Edmonton Oil Kings A.J. Jacubec who gave us an idea of what the last week of the regular season will be like for the local 'Dub team.
The Hockey News released their annual Future Watch issue a couple weeks ago and to explain the ins and outs of putting the issue together we invited contributing writer Ryan Kennedy on the show. We talked about who took the #1 spot and by how much seperation there was from the cover boy that came in second. Also why some players weren't on the list and the criteris for even being considered. I still think Dustin Tokarski deserved to be there - a Memorial Cup MVP and a WJC Gold Medal under his belt in the last 10 months... it's about time he started getting some recognition.Bad Ass Trivia was fairly short this week but we still got a winner! I seriously didn't think there was a hockey fan above the age of 12 who wouldn't get the first question though... it was the easiest one I had come up with before the show.
Finally we headed south of the border for out weekly NCAA segment but with a twist - we spoke with Damien Goddard of the popular blog called LetsGoDU. We tried talking hockey and got serious about the ongoing "Denver-Boone" mascot controversy but somehow kept coming back to the two ladies posing in the 'Welcome to Boonetown' T-shirts.Big props to D.G. for donating a couple of those shirts to Millard and I and we apologize for blatantly "borrowing" the photo here... we hope you don't sue us but somehow feel that it might even be worth it if you did!
(photos courtesy: The Hockey News, Miss McGill and LetsGoDu.com)
2 comments:
Haha, glad I could make your night, guys! As is always the case, the pleasure was all yours.
Despite me talking a mile a minute, there were a couple of things I didn't get the chance to mention. (Really, I should have my own radio show, call it the East Coast Post with Kevin Forbes, intro music could be done by Stompin' Tom Connors and Great Big Sea, someone call up the station!)
Right, anyway...
Memorial Cup awarded during the year: The one thing I think we all neglected to mention was the planning aspect of it. The Memorial Cup has become quite a big event, with the fan fest, the CHL awards, the whole shebang. I covered the cup the last time it was in the Q, when it was in Moncton and there were parades, the city had things going on, it was crazy. Planning that sort of expo takes time. They awarded the Cup to Brandon at the beginning of this season, basically giving the organization and the city almost two years to plan for it. Ignoring the on-ice product, this is probably the real reason why it's unlikely to happen. In 1990, the Hamilton Dukes (a short-lived OHL team) dropped out from competing in the Cup as hosts (they had won just 11 games), but the games were still held in Hamilton and the OHL runner-up took the host spot.
That sort of leads me directly into speaking a bit more about Rimouski. I mentioned on air that they would probably benefit from bowing out in the third round and taking some time to heal before the Memorial Cup. Just wanted to explain that a bit more. Keven Veilleux, a Pittsburgh prospect is currently playing with an injured shoulder. He missed two months and was going to have surgery on it and miss the rest of season, playoffs, Mem. Cup, the whole shebang. Instead he opted to rehab it for now and get surgery later. With that said, a Veilleux at 85% was still enough to win offensive player of the week awards last week. Marc-Andre Bourdon is a Philly defensive prospect who's out with a broken finger until the playoffs. He's an extremely talented offensive blueliner and he'll be coming back in the middle of the post season fire. Having time off for these two key players to catch their breath before the Memorial Cup can only help Rimouski. I wouldn't worry about the team not being ready if they do have a bit of a layoff, their coach Clem Jodoin is one of the best in the league and he's been there before with Lewiston in 2007.
As for the second Q team that you might see in the Mem Cup, I identified Drummondville, Shawinigan and Quebec as being the front-runners. I really think that it will come down to Shawinigan and Quebec though. Shawinigan is a much deeper team then Drummondville (leading the season series 5-2). But Quebec is a team I didn't get the chance to talk about.
There are two main reasons why I like Quebec over Drummondville as my choice (season series tied at two games a piece):
1. I like Quebec's depth a bit more, up front they have Toronto prospect Stefanovich, Washington prospect Kugryshev, Colorado prospect Tessier and 2009 eligible Gilbert to name a few, on the blueline they have Philly prospect Marshall (possibly the best defender in the league in my opinion), San Jose prospect Groulx and Dallas prospect Monast.
2. The man behind the bench. Love him or hate him, Roy gets results. He led the team to victory in 2006, the last time the Memorial Cup was held in the QMJHL and he's gearing up to try to do it again. The 2006 team just fed right off of Roy's confidence and it showed in the big games. If he can inspire these kids the same way, look out.
Quebec's only weakness (like Drummondville) is their goaltending with veteran goalie Charles Lavigne, who is solid, but not spectacular. But don't forget, the Remparts were able to win in 2006 on the back of Cedrick Desjardins, another goalie who wasn't considered top flite.
-This is the East Coast Post, with your host, Kevin Forbes
hah
"Lovely".
Thanks Kev.
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