Bruins Move to Island Now Official

~
In an extremely anti-climatic press release it has finally been made official: The Chilliwack Bruins are on the move and will play out of Vancouver Island beginning next season. What has been rumored for more than a month and first confirmed on TPS by Sportsnet CHL Insider Sam Cosentino in late March, the Bruins have been sold and will call the Save On Foods Memorial Centre in Victoria their new home.

Tuesday Night On TPS

~
Tuesday night Guy and I had a live studio audience, went coast to coast in the CHL, introduced you to a Texan eligible for the NHL draft and discussed who would be our 4th nominee for the Calder Trophy.

Regina To Chilliwack Rumours Very Premature

~
A report surfaced this weekend - citing an anonymous source - that the Regina Pats could be on the move to Chilliwack and replacing the Bruins who will end up in Victoria next year. The tale gets even wilder when it says the Manitoba Moose would take up shop in Regina when the NHL returns to Winnipeg.

We spoke to a credible source on this today and here's what Regina Pats President Brent Parker told us...

Saturday Morning Special - April 2

~
It was quite a diverse guest list that graced The Pipeline Show on Saturday. We had a former NHL head coach turned ESPN analyst, a junior goaltender looking to make Memorial Cup history, the head scout of a National program, the voice of a legitimate WHL contender not getting the media respect they deserve and our weekly visit from our NHL Insider.

Rebels, Hawks get out the broom: WHL playoff round up

~
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins did a lot of damage to the Edmonton Oil Kings with his hands, and vision. But it was the Red Deer Rebels leg/knee that did the Kings in for good Thursday night in Edmonton.

Seattle Makes Coaching Change, Update on relocating teams

~
As TPS eluded to last night, the Seattle Thunderbirds have made a move behind the bench, electing to not renew Head Coach Rob Sumner. Here's is the full release with quotes from TBird GM Russ Farwell.

We also wrote about WHL teams relocating/being sold last night. One of the scenarios that was passed onto us was Chilliwack being sold and moving to Victoria and Prince George heading to Chilliwack. According to Cougars G.M. Dallas Thompson, the team has 8 more years left on it's deal in PG, and another source told us that while there is an out clause, it's ridiculously hard for the team to use it.

WHL Notes:Chilliwack to Victoria, Some Nervous Coaches & Jaden Schwartz rumours

~
At Rexall Place tonight for game 3 between Red Deer and Edmonton there were more then 23 NHL scouts/G.M's representing 12 different NHL teams as well as various scouting agency's and WHL personell. Needless to say it was a good place to pick up some information, and here are some things that were passed our way tonight.

Is the WHL moving back to the Island?

Jim Mullin reported recently that the Chilliwack Bruins were fielding offers from a group in Victoria, and could be on the move. TPS received an email tonight stating that a deal was done. We reached out to different people in the league to try and find out more, and received several 'no comments' but noone flat out said it wasn't happening. Another source passed on that if Chilliwack does move to the Island, then Prince George might have an interest in shuffling off to Chilliwack. A well placed source told us the league very much wants to have two more clubs in the Western Conference to make it an even dozen just like the east. Nanaimo has also been long rumoured as a possible destination.

3 New AHL Cities Next Year

~

"What did the 5 fingers say to the face? SLAP!" - Dave Chappelle on Chappelle's Show

The line came during the infamous Rick James sketch and it's a beauty. It came to mind to me today when I heard the that the news was official - the Calgary Flames are moving their AHL affiliate from Quad City to Abbotsford B.C. for next season. Here's the release on the AHL site.

"What did the Calgary Flames say to the WHL? SLAP!"

Dropping a pro hockey franchise into the backyard of the Chilliwack Bruins isn't going to go over very well with the WHL. The Flames aren't making any friends with this move, unless it's quietly the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks who might welcome having their AHL teams located closer and just needed someone else to set the precedent.

The Flames own the Hitmen which makes this an even bigger mess. There will be WHL owners outside of just Vancouver and Chilliwack who oppose what the Calgary ownership is doing.

The news about Austin Texas getting into the AHL is interesting too, especially thr part about it be contingent on them owning a AHL franchise within a year.

Gee, I wonder if there are any AHL franchises available, say one that has been on the shelf for a few years just waiting for an interested partnership.

The Texas Stars will start out being affiliated with Dallas but it might be a good fit for the Oilers in 2010-11 too.

Lastly, the Philadelphia Phantoms are on the move to Glenn Falls, NY. I'm actually a bit surprised by that move considering the Flyers were the envy of every other NHL club in that their farm team was at the end of the hall. Obviously the sale was contingent on the team moving and although I don't know that neck of the U.S. geography off the top of my head, it's not like the Phantoms are moving to Iowa; They'll still be close.

I still think it would be great if Utah, Stockton, Las Vegas and maybe another one of the California based ECHL teams could somehow become AHL Affiliates. With Oklahoma City and Kanasas City still looking for pro hockey teams and the current western AHL clubs, you could have NHL clubs out west much closer to their farm teams which would be a positive. The downer would be that it would mean the relocation of a few Eastern based AHL teams and that is never a good thing... unless the fanbase doesn't care anymore.

WHL Photo Finish and random notes

The Prince Albert Raiders have drawn even with the Edmonton Oil Kings after a shootout win over the Saskatoon Blades on Friday night. The Raiders and the Oil Kings each have 67 points with the final regular season games coming off the season schedule this weekend.

You couldn't script a more exciting finish to the 2009-01 campaign as the Raiders have needed seemingly improbable wins over Brandon and Saskatoon as well as a late comeback against Regina simply to stay alive.

The pressure now falls squarely on Edmonton to respond in kind. The local team has rattled off recent victories against Lethbridge and Kootenay but could regret blowing a 4-1 lead in Moose Jaw on Feb 28th. The Warriors ended up stealing the win in overtime costing Edmonton a single point that could mean the difference between making the playoffs or not.

Both teams are in action tomorrow (Saturday) and if Edmonton is able to beat Red Deer at the Centrium it will guarantee them at least a one-game playoff with Prince Albert as the tie breaker.

You can hear the call of the game on the TEAM 1260 with the voice of the Oil Kings A.J. Jacubec and Kent Simpson. There will also be an extended pre-game show from Red Deer with Bryn Griffiths and myself involved to some degree (or so I understand).

Calgary Flames Making Enemies

Reports this week that the Clagary Flames are hoping to end their tenure in Moline so they can relocate their AHL affiliate to Abbotsford B.C. much to the outrage of the nearby WHL clubs.

Greg Drinnan reacted as has Vancouver Giants owner Ron Toigo. His comments in the Vancouver Sun would have to be considered "fightin' words" wouldn't they?

Logistically a AHL team all by itself in BC doesn't make much sense. It's great for the Flames who will be able to access their farm team much quicker but the rest of the AHL isn't going to think much of the idea. It's basically a bus league and the closest team would be the Maniotba Moose, 3 provinces away.

The Chilliwack Bruins and the Vancouver Giants would be greatly affected and considering the Flames and the Calgary Hitmen are under the same ownership umbrella, might it hurt the WHL team's reputation if it's big brother moved into the backyard of another WHL club and put it out of business?

The situation will get interesting, especially if the Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers want to follow Calgary's example (should they follow through) and move their farm clubs closer. The Oilers have stated publicly that as attractive as Saskatoon would be to have their AHL team located, it wouldn't be practical because it would affect the WHL market there. The Oilers view the other WHL owners and partners in junior hockey so, up to now, haven't wanted to invade on anyone's turf or otherwise compete for market share.

- Calgary Hitmen forward Brett Sonne has singed on with the St. Louis Blues, official release here. Sonne has 47 goals on the season so far with two games left on Calgary's schedule and a realistic chance at cracking the 50-goal plateau.

- Everett Silvertips rookie forward Kellan Tochkin looks set to win the scoring title amongst first year players. However, if one was to go by points per game (because the top rookies were all busy in international tournaments over Christmas and New Year's) then Jordan Weal would be the man. His 69 points in 64 games (1.0781 pts/gp) ranks better than Kelowna's Mikael Backlund (1.0714), Tochkin (1.0286) and Prince George rookie Brett Connolly (.9524).

Bruins Fire GM

The Pipeline Show has learned that the Chilliwack Bruins have fired General Manager Darrel May.

The Bruins are currently in 9th place in the 10-team Western Conference, 6 points back of the 8th and final playoff spot.

Losing Mark Santorelli to the Milwaukee Admirals of the AHL and Oscar Moller to the Los Angeles Kings in the NHL were huge blows to the Bruins early on. Evan Pighin's decision to bolt for the BCHL was another torpedo as was netmined Matt Esposito's choice to hold out from the team in the fall.

EDIT: Just before 5 PM the news hit the WHL website with this official statement.