Ivan Hlinka Tournament Coming to Edmonton?

Awaiting official confirmation, The Pipeline Show has learned that plans are in motion that would see the annual Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament played in Edmonton.

The Ivan Hlinka tournament, held every August, is the unofficial beginning to the new hockey season. The scouting community flocks to the event as it's the first tournament of the year featuring players eligible for the next NHL Draft the following June. 

More on this developing story after the jump. 

New fighting rule sucker punches AJHL

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A rule change to Junior A hockey for the upcoming season has left owners in the Alberta Junior Hockey League feeling like they've been fed so many rights they're begging for a left. Hockey Canada has imposed a new one fight rule for Junior A hockey across the country, meaning if you drop the gloves, you get the gate.  

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One To Watch: New York Islanders

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No longer a laughing stock but still earning respect, the New York Islanders have built a pretty decent stable of young players after years of less than mediocre results at the NHL level. The Islanders have prospects on the way at every position so the pieces are there for the once floundering organization to finally right the ship for the long haul. 

GM Garth Snow, a goaltender in his NHL days, selected a pair of NCAA netminders in June - one coming off a fantastic freshman season, the other hoping to make his own mark in college this coming year as a rookie. Stephon Williams was terrific for Minnesota State and Eamon McAdam could become Penn State's starter as the program moves to the Big 10 conference. 

Forwards in the system include Brock Nelson, Ryan Strome, Taylor Cammarata and Kirill Kabanov. But with the amount of blueliners the Islanders have drafted over the last four years, my pick today shouldn't come as any surprise. 

2012 Choice: Scott Mayfield - The big defenceman had just completed his freshman year at Denver and I wanted to know what steps forward his development would take as a sophomore. This year may prove even more interesting for Mayfield after turning pro last spring. This year Mayfield will play in Bridgeport and hope to adapt quickly as the organization is flush with defencemen on the way.

My selection for Islanders prospect of 2013-14 to be One To Watch comes after the jump. 

Prendergast/Tugnutt Done with Hockey Canada

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Rumored over the last couple of days, it's now confirmed that Hockey Canada has cut ties with head scout Kevin Prendergast and goalie coach Ron Tugnutt. 

Prendergast was hired in September of 2010 and oversaw the U18 and U20 teams and worked with the U17 program as well.

How did they do? We'll check the record after the jump.

Canada U20 Roster (Guy)

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Yesterday Dean threw caution to the wind and offered up his final roster for Hockey Canada heading into the 2013 WJC. Today it's my turn. Three goaltenders, seven defencemen and thirteen forwards who will head to Russia on a quest to capture Canada's first gold medal since 2009.

And as Dean pointed out yesterday, a lot can change between now and the end of camp including injuries - just ask Ty Rattie and Dana Tyrell. 

4 Countries Unveil WJC Camp Rosters

December is World Junior Championship month on The Pipeline Show. As one of our four "Majors" on our seasonal calendar, you can expect a lot of talk focusing on the 2013 WJC. 

Today the preliminary and camp rosters of four different countries were named. A quick rundown follows after the jump.

Hockey Canada Compiling the Invite List

The 2013 World Junior Championship is two months away making it a hectic 60 days for Hockey Canada between now and then. The upcoming Canada-Russia Subway Series will be a major factor in deciding which 40-some players receive invitations to the December camp before 22 are chosen to go to Russia. 

Head scout Kevin Prendergast was a guest on The Pipeline Show this past Saturday and updated our audience on the search for players to end Canada's two-year gold medal drought.

Canada Names Ivan Hlinka U18 Roster

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After what has been described as one of the most competitive summer U18 camps ever, Canada has named it's 22-man roster that will play in the annual Memorial of Ivan Hlinka tournament. 

The squad will consist of 9 players from the WHL, 7 from the OHL and 6 based in the QMJHL. Headliners on the team include Nathan MacKinnon, Curtis Lazar, Zach Fucale, Max Domi, Anthony Duclair and Jonathan Drouin. 

The full roster can be found HERE. 

The team will leave for the Czech Republic shortly and then begin play on Monday August 13th against Switzerland. The other two teams in Canada's pool are Sweden and Slovakia.   

 

Roy Confirms on TPS: Brown University

Anaheim Ducks prospect Kevin Roy put an end to rumors and speculation when he confirmed on The Pipeline Show Saturday that he will play at Brown University in 2012-13. 

The 19-year-old native of Lac Beauport, Quebec shattered USHL scoring records this past season as a member of the Lincoln Stars. He was selected by the Ducks in the 4th round of the NHL Draft last month and recently participated in Anaheim's summer development camp. 

Roy was a guest on The Pipeline Show this past Saturday and discussed the year in Lincoln, the draft, heading to Russia in August with Canada's U20 team and his summer training schedule. He also set the record straight on where he will play next season.

Some surprising names in Hockey Canada U20 list

For years other countries have been taking what Hockey Canada has done and used it to their advantage.  There was a time when USA hockey would ignore CHL players with American passports, while Canada welcomed NCAA players from Canada and a few of them were key cogs in gold medal efforts.  Now it's Hockey Canada who is borrowing a concept and it's one that Guy Flaming has been talking about for a while.  Instead of a regular summer camp this year, Canada will take on Russia in a 4 game series.  2 in Halifax and 2 in Yaroslavl to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the 1972 Summit Series, as well as raising money for the horrific plane crash last year that claimed an entire KHL team.  Today Hockey Canada released it's list of 28 players named to it's team and I wonder why a few of them are there? You can find the complete roster here. 

Ryan Murray Gets Call From Canada

Photo: Jon Howe / WHL.ca

As reported Saturday evening by Dean Millard via Twitter, Hockey Canada has talked to and is expected to invite 2012 draft eligible defenceman Ryan Murray to join their entry to the Men's World Championship in Sweden/Finland.

"We have confirmed that Ryan Murray has been approached by Hockey Canada to play in the World Championship.Should be announced tomorrow," was how Dean's tweet read.

As expected, the instant reaction from fans was surprise but that quickly gave way to speculation of what this may mean for the entry draft this June.

Final cut last year - Bourke first named to Canada U18 team

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Last August Prince George Cougar forward Troy Bourke was the final cut for team Canada's entry into the U18 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament. It could have been a devastating blow for the teenager, and it looked for a while that Bourke wasn't yet over the disappointment as he struggled out of the gate.

However he finished strong and it's why TPS has learned Hockey Canada has tapped him for their team this spring.

Canadian U20 Camp in Russia This Summer

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Sometimes even the most bitter rivalries should be left on the ice and forgotten. Calgary and Edmonton worked together to put together the 2012 World Junior Championship this past winter. Finland and Sweden are teaming up for the Men's World Championship this spring. But perhaps the best example is what Hockey Canada is doing this summer for Russia.

Last night on The Pipeline Show head scout Kevin Prendergast confirmed that Hockey Canada was going to hold their summer U20 camp in Russia. We'll tell you why after the jump.

Blues Sign Schwartz

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The St. Louis Blues have announced that they have signed 2010 1st round draft pick Jaden Schwartz to an entry level contract. The 19-year-old product of Wilcox, SK will join the team in on the road in Chicago tomorrow night.

Schwartz was chosen 14th overall in 2010 and has spent the last two seasons with the Tigers of Colorado College. The forward totaled 47 points in his freshman season, 41 as a sophomore. Colorado College's season came to an end on the weekend with an upset loss at the hands of Michigan Tech. The Huskies swept the Tigers in two straight games with Schwartz earning just a lone assist over the weekend.

The 5'10 forward is listed at 193 lbs by the Blues but was pegged at 5'9.5 and 190 lbs by Hockey Canada during the 2012 World Junior Championship. Schwartz captained the Red and White during the tournament in Alberta, it was his second stint at the U20 WJC.

Before his college career, Schwartz was a standout for the Tri-City Storm of the USHL where he led the league in scoring as a rookie with 83 points.

Canada's Goalies for 2013 WJC

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Goaltending was not the reason why Canada failed to end its World Junior gold-less streak in Alberta. Both Mark Visentin and Scott Wedgewood were adequate netminders that played very well at times during the 2012 event in Edmonton and Calgary. Still, the position is a concern for Hockey Canada moving forward and it won't get any easier in 2013 as it will be four new goalies vying for the coveted role as the starter.

Visentin, Wedgewood and even the other two camp invites (Tyler Bunz and Louis Domingue) are all too old to take another crack at the WJC. So who stands the best chance to be between the pipes for Canada in Ufa, Russia come Boxing Day 2012?

Team Canada Complete; Reaction

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"I'm looking for players that can play a 200 ft game; at all ends of the ice, all areas of the ice and that can adjust to different roles. We're going to ask some real top-end skill guys to play different roles than they're used to."

That's what Canada's coach Don Hay said the morning they revealed the initial 41-man camp roster. Now that the final team has been picked (pending injuries*), we can reflect on those statements and see how true they are.

Canada Announces 7 Cuts

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Hockey Canada spent the wee hours of the third morning of WJC camp breaking hearts as they trimmed their roster from 42 to 35. Three defencemen and four forwards got the bad news on Tuesday, the remaining players will take on a mixed-CIS team tonight with the final cuts coming on Wednesday.

Here's a list of who was sent home.

Smith-Pelly & Connolly News: Great for Canada and Maybe Prince George Too

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Kevin Prendergast and the coaching staff for Team Canada received 2 early presents Thursday night when it was announced by Anaheim and Tampa Bay that Devante Smith-Pelly and Brett Connolly would be loaned to the Canadian World Junior team.

And then there were 41

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Canada announced it's training camp roster this morning. Guy had his say, now it's my turn. Tomorrow we will provide what we think will be the final team based on the 41 players invited to the camp in Calgary starting December 11th. The official list can be found here.

Canada Invites 41 - Initial Reaction

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This morning Hockey Canada held two simultaneous press conferences in Edmonton and Calgary to announce the names of the 41-man selection camp who will compete for a roster spot beginning December 10th. As always, there will be as much talk about names not on the list as those that did make the cut. Here is the official list for the selection camp.

Both Dean and I will offer up our initial reaction today, starting with me...