Cowen signs deal with Sens, Scary incident in Oil Kings/Rockets game, and Team USA adding 2 blueliners

Jared Cowen has inked an entry level deal with the Ottawa Senators. He was the 9th overall pick in the 2009. Cowen played a big role in the Spokane Chiefs Memorial Cup victory in 2008 when he was +27 with 62 penalty minutes in 68 games. Cowen did suffer a knee injury the next season and while some think he still hasn't recovered, after struggling during the 2010 World Juniors, the Senators seem convinced. Read the release here

Also, things sounded a bit scary in Kelowna as Graham Skilliter was injured and needed help off the ice. No word on his condition. Maybe Rockets play by play man Regan Bartell will have an update. I missed what happen, but heard the voice of the Oil Kings AJ Jakubec talking about it. Maybe it AJ's out there he could let us know in the comments section? The game finished with the two linesman calling it and Kelowna won it in a shoot out.

Team USA is adding 2 defencemen to replace the injured Mike Komisarek and Paul Martin, according Chris Botta. Tim Gleason getting mentioned as one. I was impressed with him Monday, there's not a ton of muscle on the Canes, but Gleason has toughness. Gleason you might remember was picked up from the Canes for Jack Johnson.
(Photo courtesy Claus Anderson/Getty Images)

The Draft: Our 4th Major

Tennis has it's 4 Grand Slam events in the Aussie, French, U.S. Opens and Wimbledon.

Golf features The PGA Championship, The British and U.S. Opens and The Masters.

We here at TPS also have our 'Big Four' as well:

The Frozen Four

The Memorial Cup

The World Junior Championship

The NHL Entry Draft

I've been to 3 out of 4 events in the past and would really like one day to attend the NCAA championship tournament. For that reason alone the Frozen Four is the my PGA Championship. The Memorial Cup is the U.S. Open for me, while the Draft is the British. That leaves the WJC as The Masters for this guy, which are my 2 favorites in golf and hockey.

How about you? Also while you're chiming in, let us know who you think your favorite team is going to draft tonight.

And don't forget about the TEAM 1260's draft coverage today. We start with Just A Game at 2 PM, then Guy and I take over and lead you through the draft and beyond at 5PM MST. Were scheduled to be on until 9 PM tonight but if things go late, so will we. Rounds 2-7 will be covered off by The Fourth Period radio show starting at 8 AM Saturday. Hope you tune in tonight and we hope to hear from you after the draft. You can listen online through our site.

Chiefs' Bowman POW

It's no coincidence that the hottest team in the WHL has the hottest player right now, as Spokane's Drayson Bowman was been named the Boston Pizza player of the week today. You can read the full release here

The defending Memorial Cup champions look poised to make another run as they've rung up 11 straight wins, but thanks to Tri-City and Vancouver also playing pretty well over that span, still sit 3rd in the Western Conference. They weren't in last week's national top ten rankings, but you have to think they'll bowl their way in on Wednesday. This past week the Littleton, Colorado product lit the lamp 5 times and helped do it 5 more while earning a plus 6 rating in 3 Spokane wins.

The 2007 3rd round pick of the Carolina Hurricanes didn't get off to as good of start as he did last year, despite the massive amount of praise he was getting at the World Junior Championship from a certain broadcaster. Bowman played only 66 games last year and recorded 82 points. Up until he left for the WJC he was on pace for just 79 points and that was over a full season. If you pro rated it over the 66 games he suited up for last year it worked out to just 72 points.

Whether it was motivation from the U.S. having a disappointing showing, or that he only notched 4 points in 6 games while playing on the all WHL line with fellow Chief Mitch Wahl and Seattle's Jim O'Brien, Bowman has been lights out since returning to Spokane. He has a 10 game scoring streak going right now racking up 10 goals and 9 assists over the span. He's also been plus 13 with 26 penalty minutes, including a fight with Tri Cities Tyler Schmidt a week ago Saturday. Bowman scorched the Chilliwack Bruins this past Saturday with 3 goals and 2 helpers.


Bowman's sizzling play has his pro rated point totals higher than before the WJC, if he plays in all of the Chiefs remaining 22 games he could top out at 81 points. Just for fun though I pro rated his numbers as if he could keep up his current pace and it would give him 61 second half points ad 94 overall. Regardless if he keeps up his 1.9 point per game pace or not, Bowman should head into the WHL's playoff race red hot, which is where he was deadly for Spokane last year, putting up 20 points in 21 games, then adding 6 goals for 8 points in 4 games as the Chiefs won the 2nd Memorial Cup in team history.

Notes: Drayson Bowman might not be the only Chief getting some hardware this week. Goaltender Dustin Tokarski went 3-0 with 2 shuts outs and 81 saves on 82 shots. The World Junior gold medalist is the WHL's nomination for CHL goaltender of the week, but he'll be in tough to beat out Scott Stajcer of Owen Sound who made 130 saves in 3victories for the Attack.

The OHL's players of the week is Cody Hodgson of the Brampton Battalion. The full release is here. Hodgson beats out his World Junior teammate and current London Knight John Tavares, despite a 6 point outing from the projected #1 pick this June.

Finally in the Q, Chicoutimi Saguenéens forward Jacob Lagacé and Val-d’Or Foreurs goaltender Raffaele D’Orso were named the offensive and defensive players of the week. That release can be found here.

Spokane's Smashing Success

The Spokane Chiefs have done what no American based CHL team has managed to do in the last decade - win the Memorial Cup. Not only did they wreak havoc on the competition but they pretty much destroyed the trophy in the process.

No seriously.



All jokes aside, and you can be sure that captain Chris Bruton will hear a ton of them over the next few weeks, the Spokane Chiefs are worthy champions and have done the WHL proud.

We expect to be speaking with tournament MVP and 2008 NHL Draft eligible goaltender Dustin Tokarski on Tuesday's show. More later on about the Chiefs and their big win.

4 Key Players

The Memorial Cup kicks off tonight with the host Kitchener Rangers taking on the Gatineau Olympiques. Before the tournament begins we wanted to offer up the names of 4 players we think get overlooked and yet could have a major impact on the success or lack their of for their particular squad.

P.K. Subban - Belleville Bulls


Belleville's offensive leader from the backend is the epitome of a team player according to head coach George Burnett. Subban became nationally recognized after making Canada's World Junior team as the 7th defenceman. Drafted 43rd overall in 2007 by Montreal the Toronto native had 8 goals and 46 points in the regular season but has added 8 more goals and 23 points in the OHL playoffs. He's got a big shot and that makes him a threat.

Judd Blackwater - Spokane Chiefs


5th on the team in scoring during the regular season with 31 goals and 60 points but the 20-year-old has stepped it up even more so in the playoffs for the Chiefs. 10 goals and 18 points in 21 games for the Lethbridge born Blackwater helped earn him WHL Player of the Week recently. Head Coach Bill Peters has a ton of confidence in his second line which consists of Blackwater, Ondrej Roman and David Rutherford. The un-drafted Blackwater is 6'0 and 195 lbs and with the way he's played this season it would be hard to believe that a pro tryout somewhere isn't in the future for him.

Patrik Prokop - Gatineau Olympiques


The trade deadline acquisition has paid huge dividends for the Olympiques as Prokop led all QMJHL defencemen in playoff scoring with 28 points in 19 games. The native of the Czech Republic played for his country during the 2008 World Junior Tournament in his homeland. The 20-year-old is also undrafted but could make for a fine free agent signing this summer as every NHL team would like to add a puck mover to their backend. At 6'0 and 190 lbs, Prokop has average size.

Mike Duco - Kitchener Rangers


Duco has been with the Rangers his entire OHL career and the 20-year-old would like nothing more than to cap of his junior days with a Memorial Cup win. He's 5'10 and 195 lbs and when he hits he uses evey inch and ounce to his advantage. Duco is feisty and can be down right nasty; think Steve Ott at the junior level. He set new career highs in goals (32) and points (54) this season but in the playoffs has 16 goals and 22 points in 20 games. He's a leader and he's come to play.

Goaltending Wins Championships

Looking ahead to the Memorial Cup this weekend and one thing is clear; the team that gets the best performance out of their netminder will probably win.

We see it year after year in the Stanley Cup playoffs and it's no different at the minor league, NCAA or junior level. A hot goaltender is more often the not the deciding factor in whether a team wins or loses. In an event like the Memorial Cup where you have 4 teams where there is very little seperating them, at least on paper, it could all come down to which masked man makes the best stand.

It doesn't always work out that way though. Last year Jonathon Bernier and Matt Keetley were the top netminders at the Memorial Cup and yet Vancouver came away with the win. However, Tyson Sexsmith wasn't exactly a shrinking violet in net. Perhaps further to the point, the Plymouth Whalers were completely sunk because their goalie, Michal Neuvirth, really shit the bed and the club paid the price.

With that in mind, here's a look at the four goalies in the 2008 Memorial Cup.

Ryan Mior - Gatineau Olympiques


The un-drafted 20-year-old just set a new record this year with 270 QMJHL games played in a career surpassing Jacques Cloutier's 30-year-old record. Mior also set the new record for career shutouts (15) and a new team record for goose eggs in one season (6) which was previously held by Jose Theodore.

Mior got his start with the PEI Rocket but was dealt to Gatineau days before Christmas in 2006. The native of St. John's Newfoundland was chosen by the Rocket 7th overall in 2003. At 6'0 and 181 lbs he's an average sized goaltender.

Mike Murphy – Belleville Bulls


Like Mior, Murphy is also un-drafted but in this case the goaltender is just finishing the first year as the bona fide starter for his team. You wouldn’t know it though with the way he’s played for the Bulls. This season Murphy was named OHL Goaltender of the Year twice and capped that off by winning the league Goaltender of the Year award as well. Recently on The Pipeline Show’s 3rd Annual Memorial Cup Coach’s Show, Belleville bench boss George Burnett talked about the importance Murphy has had for the success of his club this season. He ended the OHL campaign with the best GAA (2.24) and save percentage (.929).

“The sign of a top goaltender in any league is that he gives you an opportunity to win each and every night and we didn't respond to the effort that he put forth [in Game 7]", said Burnett after his club lost the OHL final to Kitchener.

Murphy was hurt early in Game 1 of the series and did not play in Game 2. With the Bulls down 3-0 to the Rangers, Murphy's play was a big reason Belleville was able to force a 7th game.

"Murph's been outstanding," Burnett added, "I think he's a young man that is motivated by the lack of attention. I expect he's going to be a huge factor for our team over the next two weeks."

Josh Unice – Kitchener Rangers


The rookie has been a fantastic addition to the Rangers this season and has had top 5 stats all year long. Some of that will be attributed to the quality of the team in front of him but there is no denying that the Chicago Blackhawks prospect is a contributor to Kitchener’s strength and not someone along for the ride.

Unice, a 5'11 and 175 lb goaltender, played for the US national Development team last season. The Ohio native was a third round pick by Chicago which looks like a steal of a deal with the way he's played. He was ranked as the 15th best North American goalie heading into the draft but was the 6th masked man snapped up once the actual draft took place.

Unice ended the OHL season with the 3rd best GAA (2.45) and share of the top spot for shutouts (4).

Dustin Tokarski - Spokane Chiefs



Unbelievable. That's the word to describe how Spokane's netminder has played in the post season. Tokarski's 1.38 GAA and .944 SV% is outstanding and a major reason why the Chiefs have reached the Memorial Cup. The 2008 eligible netminder hails from Watson, Sk and is currently listed by Central Scouting as 7th in North America... but that's going to change, guaranteed.

Tokarski is 5'11 and 185 lbs so pretty much par for the course compared to the other 3 netminders at the Memorial Cup. In the WHL's Western Conference series against Tri-City the clubs went the full 7 games but 5 of them needed extra time. Tokarski allowed a total of 10 goals against in that series and just 5 more in the 4-game sweep over Lethbridge to claim the WHL crown.

Another strong performance at the Memorial Cup could lift Tokarski into top 5 contention for goalies in the class of 2008.


This past Tuesday we were pleased to present or 3rd Annual Memorial Cup Coach's Show. If you missed it live you can click the archive... right here.