Thursday, June 27, 2013

2013 NHL Mock Draft

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Last week all of the on air personalities at the TEAM 1260 were asked to put together mock drafts for the station's website. You can find those HERE

There are a lot of varying opinions on where players will go this year which makes for an exciting draft day and I hope you'll join Taylor Medak, Marc Majeau and I for our coverage of the event on Sunday. We'll kick things off at 12:30 pm MST and we've got the clearance to go as long as you the listener want us to. We'll take you through all the picks, talk with media folk on location in New Jersey and we want to hear your feedback on what your favorite team does too.

But you came here to see my mock draft so time to get to it. It's the same as I put together last week with more detail and one exception which you'll see early on, feel free to compare the two for yourself. Also notice that the only TEAM 1260 guys brave (dumb?) enough to pick a complete top 30 were Lowetide and I.

Last note: This is a mock and NOT my own personal top 30. The difference would be that aside from Sasha Barkov and Rasmus Ristolainen, I'd be content letting other teams draft the Europeans high and I'd stick to North Americans. Why? The draft is a crapshoot already and, in my personal opinion, I'd want to remove as much potential risk as possible. 

Europeans are more likely to balk at AHL time, not all but some and that's a variable worth considering, because they can play professionally closer to home where they are more comfortable and probably make more money doing so. I would do the same if I were in their shoes so it's not a criticism of their character, but it's a potential hurdle, a headache that is easily avoided. 

I don't draft a Euro early unless I am confident that he can contribute to my NHL roster right away - like Barkov and Ristolainen.  Not Nichushkin, not Lindholm, not Zadorov, Not Zykov and not Wennberg. Good players all of them but I'm OK with someone else taking them because that means a good North American is still there for me to take. 

End Rant. Here is my mock draft:

Thursday, June 20, 2013

2013 Draft Blog: Eamon McAdam Pt.5

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Our season of guest player blogs is nearing its end. Curtis Lazar wrapped his series of entries up last week and now it's time for Eamon McAdam to do the same.

We've had a lot of players blog with us over the years but for whatever reason, we haven't had a lot of goaltenders. Mike Lee (PHX) in 2009 is the only one that immediately comes to mind. Maybe that had something to with how great it was to have Eamon McAdam on board with us all year, having the goalie perspective is often unique. 

We've gotten to know Lazar quite well because he plays right in our own back yard. With Eamon, it's different but through his entries this year and in private correspondence it's easy to tell that he's a guy with a high level of character. It's been a pleasure to read his four previous submissions to the blog and I'm sure this last one will be just as interesting. 

On a side note, both Curtis and Eamon will join us on The Pipeline Show one last time before the draft, this coming Saturday June 22nd 10am-Noon MST (Noon-2pm EST). 

Now, here's Eamon McAdam...  

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Class of 2013 on TPS (pt.2)

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Last week I summarized all the draft related interviews we've done on The Pipeline Show during the first half of Season 8. If you missed it, you can find that post, and all the interviews that are linked within it, by clicking HERE.

Today I'm tackling the second half of Season 8, what we refer to in our media archive as Season 8.5, which includes the months of January-June. Once again it's the players we speak with on just about every edition of the show in the Draft Spotlight segment. But we also speak with scouts, coaches and have the regular feature segments like the ISS Draft Countdown and The School of Block as well. 

The second half of Season 8 after the jump...

Friday, June 14, 2013

Class of 2013 on TPS

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There are a few things that make The Pipeline Show a unique radio program for hockey fans. One is that we focus almost exclusively on levels of hockey below the NHL. Another is that, while based in Edmonton, we spend a significant time on leagues outside of our immediate market including the OHL and QMJHL. We're still, as far as we know, the only hockey radio show in Canada with a regular NCAA segment and we might cover the USHL more than anyone on either side of the border.

Another thing we pride ourselves on is the draft. On just about every episode of TPS we're profiling a player eligible for the next NHL draft. And by 'profiling' I don't mean simply talking about a guy, we have that player on the show so listeners can hear from him directly. While the vast majority of hockey media is gearing up for the draft now, we do it all year long. 

This year our Draft Spotlight segment has featured no fewer than 65 players. When you add in our bi-weekly segments, the ISS Draft Countdown with ISS head scout Ross MacLean and The School of Block with Justin Goldman of The Goalie Guild, we've discussed well over 100 draft eligible prospects this season. 

We recognize that not all hockey fans are prospect crazy like we are but as the draft gets closer, interest in the players we always speak with goes up dramatically. With that in mind, over the next few days I'm going to post links to all the pertinent interview segments we've done over the last 11 months so that new listeners to The Pipeline Show can find them all in one place. 

The batch of interviews from August-December of 2012 follows after the jump.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

2013 Draft Blog: Curtis Lazar Pt.4

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We have had the good fortune this season to have Edmonton Oil Kings forward Curtis Lazar blogging for us. Every two or three months he has summed up chunks of the year to let fans behind the curtain a bit and get a sense of what it's like for him in such a key year of his career. 

The first entry from Edmonton Oil Kings forward Curtis Lazar came to us back in September. If you missed it you can find it HERE. Chapter 2 included his experiences in the early part of the 2012-13 WHL season and the Subway Super Series.  Part 2 is available HERE. Part 3 came out in early February and captured the CHL Top Prospects game and the mid point of the schedule.  Read that entry HERE

Today Curtis has submitted his final installment of his blog series with us. Lazar revisits the WHL playoffs and takes us through the recent NHL Combine.

Just a personal note to thank Curtis for agreeing to do this with us this year and following through for the course of the entire season. For those that don't have the ability to watch him on a regular basis or to get to know him over the last two seasons like we have, we can only impress upon you the high character level this young man possesses. He's a top talent on the ice and an even higher caliber person off of it. 

The Pipeline Show wishes Curtis the best of luck at the draft and beyond.