An interesting field in the Calder Chase

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It's early in the season but a few freshman have busted out of the gate and are galloping hard around the first corner. There's a few usual suspects and some refreshing surprises, while other pre-season favourites are pacing themselves. The great thing, and let's hope is stays this way all season, is that no player is running away with it already, and a month from now the top of the list could look totally different.

In the top 6, of which all players have at least 6 points you have a first and second overall pick, a 2nd rounder from 3 years ago, a 4 round pick from 2 drafts past, an undrafted collegiate and a 7th round guy from 2005.

TPS Predictions: Calder Trophy

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Tuesday night on TPS we pulled out the Crystal Square and gazed deep into it for some predictions. We welcomed in Rogers Sportsnets Jamie Thomas (jamie_thomas71 on Twitter) to find out who will come out on top in the race to be the rookie of the year.

Last year I don't remember anyone having Jeff Skinner, Logan Couture and Michael Grabner in their final three, and this year things could be even more wide open. There are so many surprises in NHL training camps, (Guy has a rundown here) that someone might pick a player to win the Calder that others don't think will even play a full season. That actually is the case with Guy's pick.

Rookie Watch: Edmonton Oilers

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Each Day until September 15th TPS will take a look at one team from the East and one team from the West and spotlight a few rookies to watch for this season. Today in the West it’s the Edmonton Oilers.

Win a trip to Jasper by helping out people of Slave Lake

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Starting on Saturday we will have the first of 3 live auctions with the proceeds going to the folks affected by the Slave Lake fires. If a good portion of the town burning down wasn't tough enough, there are now flooding concerns. So here at TPS we want to help make what has been a year from hell just a little better. That's where you come in, and how you can enjoy an amazing getaway.

Oilers sign RNH to max contract

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It didn't take long for the Oilers and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to come to terms on a deal, as RNH signed his entry level contract today at an Edmonton Capitals game where he also threw out the first pitch. The Oilers own the North American Baseball League team.

Kevin Lowe got the ball rolling by contacting the RNH camp and a contract was quickly worked out with Assistant G.M. Rick Olczyk. The pact will pay the first overall pick the maximum $925,000 and with bonuses could jump to $3.775 million. Some of the bonus triggers are goals, assists, points, points per game, ice time, plus/minus and various awards. Interestingly enough winning the Calder trophy is not an eligible bonus do to the current CBA.

Nugent-Hopkins will join other Oilers prospects Monday morning in Sherwood Park at the team's prospect camp.

Saturday Morning Special - June 18th

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There's just one week left before the 2011 NHL Entry draft will be in the books so you know that our already stacked draft coverage is going to be taken to another level. We turned it up to 10 (saving the Spinal Tap 11 for Tuesday) by bringing in the probable #1 overall pick, a terrific analyst of goaltenders, a Hall of Fame writer from Edmonton, our regular NHL Insider and we debated a number of other topics as well.

Head to Head: Nugent-Hopkins Vs. Strome

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The NHL draft is fast approaching and we’ve put together some head to head match ups featuring 20 different prospects. We’ve consulted 10 scouts from 10 different organizations to get their opinions in 5 different categories and ultimately, who they would take if they had the final say.

Enjoy these and tune into The Pipeline Show on Saturday June 25th from 10-Noon MST for a complete, in-depth recap of round one and coverage of day 2.

For now here’s H2H: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins vs. Ryan Strome...

The Class of 2011 on TPS

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This is the time of year where every hockey-related media outlet from the national 24-sports TV networks through the NHL beat writers and even most blogs start focusing on the NHL Draft. Topics on the radio these days are either about the Stanley Cup Finals or about the draft now just 3 weeks away.

I guess you can say we're just slightly ahead of the curve on TPS. And by slightly I mean by months.

No Rush to NHL for 1st Overall

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2006 was the last time that the first player selected in the NHL Entry Draft did not step into the NHL 3 months later. Erik Johnson played a single season with the Minnesota Golden Gophers before moving up to St. Louis in the Fall of 2007. Might 2011 see a repeat of that story? I think that there's a pretty good chance of that happening and it isn't even dependent on Ryan Nugent-Hopkins going 1st overall.

Central Scouting Final Rankings:Rising and Falling

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The NHL Central Scouting Bureau released it's final rankings today and there was quite a bit of movement near the top compared to the mid term rankings, but that's to be expected as some guys have started to separate themselves from the pack.

Ewanyk Cracks Canada's U18 Roster

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The Edmonton Oil Kings were bounced from the playoffs last week, but for atleast one player the season will continue. TPS has learned that guest blogger Travis Ewanyk has been selected to play in the U18 World Championship starting April 14th in Germany.

WHL Playoff Notes:Rebels grab 2-0 lead

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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins wasn't the main story on Saturday night, but he did get the party started for fans at the Enmax Centrium. RNH and Andrej Kudrna picked up Saturday where Friday ended with Nugent-Hopkins 3rd straight goal going back to game 1. After that the Oil Kings did a pretty good job of shutting down and targeting physically the budding star for most of the night. It was Brett Ferguson and Adam Kabeitz who did the damage instead. Both had 3 points as the Rebels grabbed a 2-0 lead in the series. The shots were even at 28, but that was about it, as Edmonton's power play is sputtering. It's 0-9 in the two games and only has clicked once all season vs. Red Deer. The Series shifts to Edmonton for game 3 Monday night (TEAM 1260, SHAW TV)

Game Day Edition: It's Playoff Time

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This morning Guy and I recapped every CHL and NCAA playoff game, went in depth with 3 different CHL series and a bracket of the NCAA tournament and discussed concussions and why one NHL rookie has the most impressive stats in the Calder trophy race. Click here to go inside the world of prospects hockey.

Oil Kings-Rebels: Let the Rivalry Begin

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Game one between Edmonton and Red Deer started off where the last two games left off. Just seconds in It was captain on captain when Red Deer's Colin Archer tried to cream Oil King blueliner Mark Pysyk. The Buffalo Sabre draft pick just got out of the way and avoided most of the hit. Things continued at the other end when Darcy Kuemper gave TJ Foster a face full of leather, drawing a scrum and giving Edmonton their first power play.

Rebels/Oil Kings: Building A Rivalry

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Can you manufacture a rivalry? We’ll find out next Friday. The media in both Edmonton and Red Deer are hoping that facing each other in the post season creates a provincial grudge between the two clubs. It won’t hurt that the two clubs faced each other twice to close out the season and the 2 tilts featured 4 scraps (3 in the first period of Friday night) and both games were essentially one goal games. (RD scored an ENG Saturday night)

Saturday Morning Special - March 19

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Saturday on The Pipeline Show Dean and I spoke with an assortment of guests that cover a wide spectrum of the hockey world. We talked Major Junior, NCAA, AHL, NHL, the NHL Draft and more. In other words, more of what you've come to expect when you tune in to The Pipeline Show.

March Madness For RNH

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Red Deer Rebels forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is bringing it right now. The WHL POW has March Madness with 15 points in 6 games this month. He's racked up 2 hat tricks, a 5 and 4 point game, and he reached the century mark over the weekend. The highest ranked WHL player for the NHL draft has 102 points and sits tied for 3rd in league scoring. RNH has more assists (74) this year than he had points (65) last season.

Tuesday Night Recap

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Tonight on TPS we doubled dipped our 2011 draft segment, went across the CHL and tried to get to the bottom of the Rick Comley fan incident that took place in Alaska over the weekend.

Saturday Morning Special - Feb 12th

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This morning we welcomed back a couple of regular contributors to The Pipeline Show while two others guests made their first appearances on our program. As always, we covered the CHL, NCAA, the NHL and the draft and we also helped set up the newest show at the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton.

Eastern Canada meet RNH

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Ryan Nugent-Hopkins didn't get a chance on the world stage in Buffalo, but took advantage of a national audience tonight in the CHL/NHL Home Hardware Top Prospects game.