Rookie Watch: Winnipeg Jets

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Each day until September 15th TPS will take a look at one team from the Eastern conference and one club from the West, spotlighting a rookie or two to watch for this season. This afternoon we explore the freshmen candidates of the Winnipeg Jets.

The Geat Outdoors for the WHL?

I've been hearing for a while now that the Western Hockey League is planning an outdoor game, possibly next season. The site I've heard is Taylor Field in Regina. Makes sense to me. Can fit a lot of fans into stands, would bring whole province in for it and keeps it in the prairies which is the heart of the WHL. This week the WHL awards and bantam draft are being held in Edmonton so I'll be trying to sniff out the details on this.

Speaking of the WHL awards, here's picks from TPS:

WHL Rookie of the Year - Jim Piggott Memorial Trophy
Eastern Conference: Jordan Weal – Regina Pats-Flaming
Western Conference: Brett Connolly – Prince George Cougars-Millard

WHL Goaltender of the Year - Del Wilson Trophy
Eastern Conference: Braden Holtby – Saskatoon Blades-Millard/Flaming
Western Conference: Chet Pickard, Tri-City Americans

WHL Defenseman of the Year - Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy
Eastern Conference: Paul Postma – Calgary Hitmen-Flaming
Western Conference: Jonathon Blum – Vancouver Giants-Millard

WHL Coach of the Year - Dunc McCallum Memorial Trophy
Eastern Conference: Lorne Molleken – Saskatoon Blades-Millard/Flaming
Western Conference: Don Hay – Vancouver Giants

WHL Executive of the Year - Lloyd Saunders Memorial Trophy
Eastern Conference: Kelly Kisio – Calgary Hitmen-Millard/Flaming
Western Conference: Scott Bonner – Vancouver Giants

WHL Player of the Year - Four Broncos Memorial Trophy
Eastern Conference:Brett Sonne-Calgary Hitmen-Millard
Western Conference:Casey Pierro-Zabotel-Vancouver Giants-Flaming

Unstoppable?

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Here's a confession for you: I grew up a comic book dork. A Big time nerdo, that's me.

Spider-man, The X-Men and all the other Marvel titles especially although as I got older and moved to the the city where actual comic book stores existed I discovered titles like Grendel, Watchmen and Sin City.

The big dude pictured here is Cain Marko, better known as The Unstoppable Juggernaut. At the risk of going all-out geek on you... The Juggernaut was one of the absolute toughest dudes in the Marvel Comics universe. Once he started moving he'd use his momentum and nothing could stop him - buildings, tanks, bombs, the Hulk... nothing.

That's kind of how I see the Calgary Hitmen right now.

The #1 ranked CHL team has reached the league championship with a perfect 12-0 record after steamrolling over the Edmonton Oil Kings, Lethbridge Hurricanes and now the Brandon Wheat Kings. Calgary completed their 4-game sweep of Brandon yesterday on the strength of a 6-4 road victory.

A perfect 12 game streak is impressive, even more so considering the teams they have beaten along the way. The Hurricanes with Luca Sbisa, Zach Boychuk, Kyle Beach, Carter Ashton and Colton Sceviour were expected to give the Hitmen a run for their money and yet arguably were not as tough of a challenge as Edmonton presented in round 1.

The Wheat Kings had reached the Conference final riding an unblemished playoff record of their own and people wondered if they might be the team to bring Calgary back down to Earth but that didn't happen.

What is the most impressive thing to me about Calgary is that although the quality of their opposition is naturally getting stronger as the playoffs advance, they see to be getting that much better as well.

The Hitmen scored 15 goals against Edmonton, 19 times against Lethbridge and then struck for 24 goals versus the Wheaties. They had only allowed a total of 7 goals against through the Edmonton and Lethbridge rounds but Brandon was finally able to show that Calgary can be scored on, finding the back of the net 14 times... not that it led to a better fate.

How are they doing it? With unbelievable depth.

Eleven players have at least 10 points through the 12 games Calgary has played to date and four of them are defencemen. Joel Broda (WSH), the only 50-goal scorer in the WHL this year, leads the team with 18 points. Often overlooked Kyle Bortis (UFA) is right behind Broda with 17 points. Brandon Kozun, who went undrafted last year but will get picked up this June, has continued his strong 108-point seasonal play.

Kris Foucault has come out of nowhere (tier I) earlier this season to become an impact player with the Hitmen. He only played 26 regular season games this year but has been money in the playoffs and his offence has been coming in bunches. He's only been held of the score sheet in 3 of the 12 playoff games but 8 of his 14 points have come in 3 other games.

He missed a few games due to an undisclosed injury but Brett Sonne (STL) still has 10 points in 8 contests. Fellow Blues draft pick Ian Schultz has been a catalyst as has Carson McMillan (MIN).

Dean and I have spoken often about the strength of Calgary's back end but when I look and see that Alex Plante (EDM) is leading the group in scoring - I have to admit being surprised. Plante (pictured) has become known more for his defensive play but with 11 points he's also showing the ability to contribute at the other end of the rink too.

Recently signed Paul Postma (ATL) is tied with Plante in scoring although they were separated by almost 40 points during the regular season. Postma is considered by some as Calgary's MVP so teams are likely keying on him which might account for a bit of a dip in production.

Keith Seabrook (WSH) also has 11 points after a solid 55-point campaign. Michael Stone (PHX) rounds out the top four on the blueline and has 10 points under his belt.

Between the pipes you find Martin Jones (LA) who hasn't been nearly as forgettable as his common-man name. He's got a 1.73 GAA and a .917 sv% which are good but not over-the-top mind-blowing like we've seen some WHL goalies produce in the past (see Dustin Tokarski, Chet Pickard and Tyson Sexsmith in 2008).

Calgary now sits and waits to see who survives the Vancouver/Kelowna series and either opponent should, on paper, have what it takes to legitimately challenge the Hitmen. But considering the speed bumps that Calagry turned Lethbridge and Brandon into, I'll believe it when I see it.

I called it back in March - I said the Hitmen are the best team in the CHL, my pick to not only be WHL Champs but to win the Memorial Cup and I've seen absolutely nothing to make me change my mind. They are an Unstoppable Juggernaut and only getting better.

(photos courtesy: Calgary Hitmen, WHL, Marvel Comics)

Border battle: Canada Vs. U.S.A, the Hitmen keep on coming, and the Terriers lose 2

Canada took on the host U.S.A in a border battle at the World Under 18 championship in Fargo tonight. Despite the rising waters in southern Manitoba and in Fargo itself the Urban Plains Centre was flooded with Canadian and American supporters for Friday's semi-final game between last year's champs and the bronze medalists from a year ago, team U.S.A.

However the roles have been reversed this time around as it'll be Canada playing for 3rd and the Americans going for Gold after a hard fought 2-1 victory. Future TPS guest blogger Dylan Olsen (Camrose, AJHL) scored what was looking to be the game winner for Canada on a second period power play point shot. Zach Kassian (Peterborough, OHL) ranked 19th in the March ISS report provided a nice screen for Olsen, who is slated 34th, but who should rise after a good tournament when the new rankings come out next week.

But the U.S. didn't fade away in the 3rd, using a pair of power plays of their own to tie things and take the lead for good with 7 minutes to play. Jeremey Morin, (U.S. Nat dev team) projected to be a late first round pick tucked in a Cam Fowler (U.S. Nat dev team) rebound to tie things at 1, before Jerry D'Amigo (U.S. Nat dev team) who picked up the other assist on the tying goal, tipped in a Cam Fowler shot for the game winner. Fowler who's not elegible until 2010 proved why he's a projected top 5 pick with a strong game.

Canadian goaltender Michael Zador was brilliant stopping 42 of 44 shots the Yanks fired at him. He was especially brilliant in the 3rd when the Americans mounted massive pressure outshooting Canada 21-7. Zador isn't currently listed in the ISS report, but you should be seeing him in the April addition. He's using the U-18 experience much like Jake Allen did a year ago when he posted the best goals against average and save percentage and shot up the rankings to become a second round pick of the St. Louis Blues.

Canada will now face Finland in Sunday's bronze medal game while the Americans will take on Russia for Gold.

In the WHL tonight, the Calgary Hitmen destroyed Brandon in game one of the Eastern Conference final. Things started out okay for the visiting Brandon Wheat Kings as they trailed only 1-0 after the first period. Then the Hitmen opened fire scoring 6 times in the middle frame on route to a 9-3 thrashing of the Wheat Kigs. 9 Hitmen players had atleast 2 points with defencmean Paul Postma (Atlanta, 7th round 2007) and Kris Foucault (undrafted) both had 3 points. Foucault now has 8 goals in 9 playoff games after scoring just 9 times in the regular season. Oilers 2007 first round pick Alex Plante scored once as well. Game 2 will go Sunday in Calgary, while Kelowna and Vancouver get going Saturday night (8:00 PM MST-SHAW TV).

In the OHL London evened their semi-final series with Windsor thanks to a pair of goals from John Tavares and 2 goals and an assist from blueliner John Carlson (Washington 1st round 2008). Phil Varone (undrafted) netted the overtime winner for London. I said from the beginning if London can make this a special teams battle they can win it and the Knights notched 3 power play goals tonight. Game 2 goes Sunday afternoon on Rogers Sportsnet starting at 2 PM MST. The other semi-final seems pretty lopsided right now as Brampton smoked Belleville 7-2 to grab a 2-0 series lead. Evgeni Grachev (New York Rangers 3rd round 2008) scored twice and the Battalion let the big guns loose in the 3rd outshooting the Bulls 17-1.

In the Q, Drummondville proved why they were the top ranked Q team in the CHL's top 10. The #3 ranked Voltigeurs anialated Memorial Cup host Rimouski 8-1. Dmitry Kulikov sitting 8th according to ISS had 3 assists for Drummondville who scored just 11 seconds into the game and lead the series 1-0. Quebec doubled up Shawinigan in the other semi-final, which could be seen as an upset, butI picked the Remparts to win the series so it doesn't surprise me. The game was a tight one, tied at 2 heading to the 3rd, before Mikhail Stefanovich (Toronto 4th round 2008) netted the winner 41 seconds into the final frame. Frederick Roy added insurance in a 4-2 victory.

A few other notes, after winning the NCAA national championship, the Boston University Terriers are paying for their success. They already knew senior defenceman Matt Gilroy (TPS guest from March 24th) wasn't coming back and today the Hobey Baker award winner siged a one way, 2 year deal worth $3.5 million with the New York Rangers. BU also saw power forward and Hobey Baker nominee Colin Wilson end his college career after inking an entry level deal with Nashville. The 7th overall pick from last year was expected to leave school this year after a 55 point season in just 43 games. He's physially dominant and when TPS interviewed him before last year's draft seemed very mature. He's a work out freak, and as a bonus grew up in Winnipeg so you know he's a good kid.

One final thought, my good friend and collegue at Global Sports John Sexsmith and I were chatting about coaches today and he brought up a interesting name. Boris Rybalka. John is a fan of TPS, so you know he's smart, but in all seriousness he knows how high we are on the Camrose Kodiak coach. John wasn't throwing Rybalka's name out as a replacement for Craig MacTavish, but maybe for an assistant coaching spot with Springfield next year. I'd have to say I agree with him, in fact it's something I've even spoke to Rybalka about in the past.

Playing Catch Up

Easter - it's more than just chocolate eggs and bunny rabbits, especially when you marry a Catholic. I found out early in my relationship with my wife that for Catholics, and maybe other religions too (I have no idea), Easter is a bigger holiday than Christmas. That didn't much make sense to me at the time, after all what could be bigger than Jesus' birthday? My wife, who is always able to dumb things down to my level, explained it best: Everyone has a birthday, not everyone returns from the dead and therefore Easter > Christmas.

Suffice to say that I've been busy the last few days and so this is my first chance to get caught up on the hockey events of the past weekend.

NCAA Champions

Boston University claimed the national title in an exciting come from behind victory over Miami on saturday night. The RedHawks blew a late 3-1 lead as BU scored twice in the final minute of regulation time to even the score and force sudden death (or sudden victory as I was hearing the politically correct refer to it recently!).

Colby Cohen scored the game winner at the 11:47 mark of the overtime. Kevin Shattenkirk made a drop pass at the offensive blueline to set up Cohen who let fly a blast that was partially blocked, but not enough as the puck flipped high into the air eluding everyone before it landed over the shoulder of Cody Reichard and into the back of the net. Cohen could have been the goat because he had taken more than his fair share of penalties during the game but ended up being the hero.

Edmontonian Kieran Millan stopped 29 of 32 shots for the win although the broadcast duo of Barry Melrose and Gary Thorne described the goalie as "fighting the puck" and "looking nervous" for much of the game.

For anyone not staunchly behind the Terriers, this was a painful end to the RedHawks' season. With a minute left to play I remember clearly thinking that with the way the rest of the tournament had played up to this point, "would it really be a surprise if BU was able to come back to tie this game in the dying seconds?" And sure enough...

I felt horrible for Enrico Blasi's club. Miami (of Ohio) has never won a national championship in any sport and here they were less than a minute away from stealing one from the #1 ranked hockey team in the country... only to let it slip away. Failure to convert on their 7 power play opportunities has to be considered the biggest reason why they couldn't get it done. Tommy Wingels played another terrific game for Miami after his big contribution against Bemidji State in the semi-finals. Carter Camper showed he could dangle when he set up the second Miami goal, and Justin Mercier impressed me as well.

One last thought on the NCAA final game - thanks to Corey Graham from the TEAM 1260's Post Game Show for texting me after he stumbled across the live coverage of the game on The Score network. I don't know if promoted it at all but if not for the text i would have missed the game and it was a beauty.

Here are the highlights from ESPN:


Hobey Baker

He was the runner-up on my list two weeks ago but since my own pick didn't make the Hobey Hat Trick, I was pleased that Matt Gilroy took home the award for the top NCAA player. Now that the Frozen Four is over, the Gilroy watch is on to see which NHL team signs the 24-year-old defenceman.

CHL Playoffs

The QMJHL is almost down to the final 4 teams. The semi-finals are almost set pending the outcome of the Quebec/Cape Breton series which could conlude tonight should the Screaming Eagles knock of Patrick Roy's Remparts in Game 6.

So far the playoffs have pretty much gone as expected with Drummondville sweeping through the first and second round. The Voltigeurs will now play the Memorial Cup host Rimouski Oceanic who are a much better team now that they are healthy compared to during the season when they were regularly missing big contributors. The Volts should still be the favored club as they played the fewest number of game possible yet have the four leading scorers in the playoffs. Yannik Riendeau has 28 points in 8 games, Chris Didomenico (pictured) and Dany Massé both have 25 points for Drummondville.

Their opponents from Rimouski seem to be getting it done in large part because of their netminder. Keven Veilleux leads them in scoring with 15 points but goalie Maxime Gougeon has the best GAA in the Q playoffs with a paltry 1.78.

The Shawinigan Cataractes await the winner of Quebec/Cape Breton and will be the favourite no matter which team they face.

Tuesday night on The Pipeline Show we plan on speaking with someone on the scene covering the Q playoffs so we can get all of the particulars and sidebar stories going on.

In Ontario, the semi-finals feature the four teams that pretty much everyone predicted would there. Belleville will face Brampton while the London Knights take on the Windsor Spitfires. Both series begin on Wednesday so all four clubs are benefitting from a nice rest.

Brampton, my pick to be OHL champs, have Cody Hodgson (VAN), Matt Duchene ('09), Evgeny Grachev (NYR) as well as Thomas McCollum (DET) between the pipes. Belleville counters with Eric Tangradi (PGH), P.K. Subban (MTL), Luke Pither (UFA) and goalie Mike Murphy (CAR). I still like the Battalion.

The other series features a pair of teams that will do whatever it takes to win including huge deals at the trade deadline. London's addition of John Tavares ('09) gives them the series marquee players but the Knights also have Nazem Kadri ('09), Michael Del Zotto (NYR) and Phil Varone. My pick is Windsor though thaks to Taylor Hall ('10), Andrei Loktionov (LA), Ryan Ellis ('09) and Greg Nemisz (CGY). Could you imagine if the New York Islanders took Dean's advice and sent Josh Bailey back for the Memorial Cup run too?

A couple of weeks ago we spoke with Sam Cosentino of Rogers Sportsnet for his take on the OHL playoffs, we'll speak with another OHL contact tomorrow night on the show.

Out west it's been an entertaining post season. The Calgary Hitmen swept through Edmonton and Lethbridge in 8 straight games and arguably had a tougher time with the Oil Kings than the Hurricanes - as much a credit to the OK Kids as a sign that the Hitmen just keep getting better.

It's no suprise that the Hitmen have reached the Eastern Conference finals and their opponent isn't really a stunner either although no one expected that the Brandon Wheat Kings would also be a perfect 8-0. The Wheaties cruised past Kootenay and then a battle weary Medicine Hat team to get this far and they've put up big numbers in the process. Brayden Schenn ('09) and Scott Glennie ('09) both have 15 points, more than any Calgary player, and Matt Calvert (CLB) has an even dozen which is equal to the higest Hitmen scorers.

The goaltending edge has to go to Calgary's Martin Jones (LA) but Andrew Hayes has been solid for Brandon to this point as well.

The Western Conference Final will feature the Kelowna Rockets and against either the Vancouver Giants or the Spokane Chiefs. Spokane failed to close out their series last night allowing the Giants to force a game 7 back home after a 3-2 overtime win. The numbers for Dustin Tokarski (TBY) and Tyson Sexsmith (SJ) are pretty much a saw-off as one has a slighty better GAA while the other's save perentage is a touch better.

Casey Pierro-Zabotel (PGH) may have led the league in regular season scoring but he's well behind the postseason race. He has just 11 points thus far, as does Evander Kane ('09). Leading scorer for Vancouver is actually defenceman Jonathan Blum (NSH) with 15 points.

Spokane's defensive game has served them well but they need to get more offence out of what I consider to be an underrated collection of forwards. Drayson Bowman (CAR)and Mitch Wahl (CGY) only have 13 points apiece and Ondrej Roman has a disappointing 5 points. Levko Koper ('09) is third in team scoring right now with 10 points but guys like Tyler Johnson, Brady Calla (FLA) and Justin McCrae have barely factored into offence for the Chiefs so far.

Meanwhile the Rockets get a nice rest as they await the outcome of Game 7. Jamie Benn (DAL) has been a dynamo and leads the WHL in playoff scoring with 23 points. Recently signed Cody Almond is second in team scoring with 17 points followed by Tyler Myers (BUF), Tyson Barrie ('09), Colin Long (PHX) and Mikael Backlund who missed 3 games due to injury.

Tomorrow night we'll be joined by Regan Bartel, voice of the Rockets, who can give us a recap of Kelowna's series wins over Tri-City and Kamloops.

NHL Signings

A couple weeks ago I wrote up a list of signings from the month of March and there have been a bunch more worth mentioning since then. Here's a recap:

The San Jose Sharks came to terms with goalie Alex Stalock who they drafted back in 2005. Stalock has played the last two years in Duluth with the Bulldogs and was great for them in the playoffs but outside of that stretch drive, his record is downright vanilla. He seems like a pretty average goalie prospect to me but the Sharks have proven over the years that they know what they're doing with goalies and they chose this guy over Timo Pielmeier so...

Duluth also lost defenceman Evan Oberg to the Vancouver Canucks. The former Camrose Kodiak went undrafted and spent the last two seasons with the Bulldogs. His offensive numbers jumped from 3 points as a freshman to 27 this past year as a sophomore. The two-way blueliner hails from Forestburg, AB.

The Detroit Red Wings also signed a goalie taking Notre Dame's Jordan Pearce. Pearce spent his first two NCAA years playing back up to David Brown (PGH) but took the Irish to the NCAA title game last year and was terrific again this year, until the national tournament upset loss to Bemidji State. This could be a very good signing for the Wings but can't be good news for Thomas McCollum. It will also be interesting to see what happens next year with Jimmy Howard and Daniel Larsson in regards to what Detroit does at the NHL level. The Wings have a lot of excellent prospect goalies right now.

Dan Sexton, a 5'9 forward from Bowling Green, was signed by the Anaheim Ducks. I don't know anything about Sexton outside of his stats line but it's not bad at all: 21 points as a freshman followed by 39 this past year as a sophomore. Taken in context, he's about to turn 22-years-old, and he's producing as you'd expect someone his age to do at the NCAA level but he's diminutive and on a poor team. Bob Murray found Dustin Penner and some other NCAA unknowns though so maybe this pans out for them down the road.

Buffalo just signed Michigan Wolverines senior forward Travis Turnbull. He had a career high 28 points this past year but appears to be a role player of average size and ability. He's appeared in 3 games already for the Portland Pirates but has no points to show for it.

Marco Scandella was a 2nd round pick by the Minnesota Wild in 2008 and now he's playing out the year in Houston with the AHL affiliate. The Val d'Or defender had 37 points in 58 games, number that don't scream "sign immediately" yet the Wild are obviously very high on the Montreal native.

Calgary Hitmen star defenceman Paul Postma was recently inked by the Atlanta Thrashers. That's a hell of a 7th round pick by Atlanta assuming his late development continues as a pro. Postma was arguably the best blueliner in the WHL's eastern conference this year and was probably the MVP for the Hitmen, the #1 ranked CHL team.

The New York Islanders signed a pair of prospects yesterday in Mark Katic and Justin DiBenedetto. Katic was a 3rd rounder in 2007 while DiBenedetto was taken in 6th round just last year. Katic is a small but smooth skating defenceman who played with the Sarnia Sting for four season. DiBenedetto is a winger that also skated with Sarnia this past season.

Like I mentioned before, the watch is now ongoing to see who lands Hobey Baker winner Matt Gilroy. I've heard that as many as 24 teams have kicked tires in regards to him although I am also told that Oiler fans shouldn't expect to hear that their team is in the running. I have it on pretty good authority that the Oilers aren't looking at signing undrafted NCAA grads this year.

(Photos Courtesy: ESPN, Melissa Wade of USCHO.com, L.Express, WHL, Kelowna Rockets, Minn.Duluth, OHL, Brandon Wheat Kings)