Junior and College players copy cat NHL stars

It doesn't look like hockey players at any level are learning lessons from dangerous hits and lengthy suspensions. Take your pick from the NHL from the non spendable hits from Mike Richards on David Booth or Matt Cooke on Marc Savard to the Maxime Lapierre cheap shot on Scott Nichol which earned him a 4 game suspension and just 2 days ago Alexander Ovechkin running Brian Campbell from behind that has him watching for 2 games. All 4 hits were dangerous and has the hockey world buzzing about changes to the rules.

However it's not just the pro's who are playing reckless on the ice. Mike Liambas and Patrice Cormier were both suspended for the remainder of their OHL and QMJHL seaons respectively for head shots. Marco Scandella and Zack Kassian were also benched by their leagues, and on the weekend two more scary hits, one in the QMJHL and another in the NCAA.

Congrats to Guy

Just wanted to send out some congrats to my co-host Guy Flaming after his story regarding Kenndal McArdle appeared in the latest edition of The Hockey News. I don't know about you, but I consider this a pretty big deal. THN was my bible growing up and it's pretty cool to work with someone who's made it into the bible....even though Guy likes that other book called the bible.

Congrats Guy, the magazine is on store shelves now.

Wednesday Re-Set

"The only thing better than a glass of beer is tea with Miss McGill!" - Patrick Swayze as Derek Sutton in Youngblood

Every week on TPS we talk about the Future of Hockey and while we certainly did that yesterday it was in a bit of a different fashion than normal; for one, it was one of those rare occasions where we didn't have a single player interview. You can count on there being a number of Youngblood references though and our first guest had a beauty when it came to Miss McGill... even if it was just one word!

The March 10th edition of TPS began with our new weekly debate where Dean and I go head-to-head over 5 different topics. This week:

- Tyler Ennis is a junior standout but will he be successful as a pro?
- Who has been the Oil Kings MVP this year?
- Who is the best choice for a WHL playoff dark horse?
- Should Jeff Petry leave MSU now?
- Should the host site for the Memorial Cup be announced mid-season?

Our first guest of the night was Kevin Forbes from Hockey's Future. Forbesy lives in Halifax and covers the Q for HF so we picked his brain (which never takes long) and got an update on who to watch for as the playoffs rapidly get closer.

Then we touched base with the voice of the Edmonton Oil Kings A.J. Jacubec who gave us an idea of what the last week of the regular season will be like for the local 'Dub team.

The Hockey News released their annual Future Watch issue a couple weeks ago and to explain the ins and outs of putting the issue together we invited contributing writer Ryan Kennedy on the show. We talked about who took the #1 spot and by how much seperation there was from the cover boy that came in second. Also why some players weren't on the list and the criteris for even being considered. I still think Dustin Tokarski deserved to be there - a Memorial Cup MVP and a WJC Gold Medal under his belt in the last 10 months... it's about time he started getting some recognition.

Bad Ass Trivia was fairly short this week but we still got a winner! I seriously didn't think there was a hockey fan above the age of 12 who wouldn't get the first question though... it was the easiest one I had come up with before the show.

Finally we headed south of the border for out weekly NCAA segment but with a twist - we spoke with Damien Goddard of the popular blog called LetsGoDU. We tried talking hockey and got serious about the ongoing "Denver-Boone" mascot controversy but somehow kept coming back to the two ladies posing in the 'Welcome to Boonetown' T-shirts.

Big props to D.G. for donating a couple of those shirts to Millard and I and we apologize for blatantly "borrowing" the photo here... we hope you don't sue us but somehow feel that it might even be worth it if you did!

(photos courtesy: The Hockey News, Miss McGill and LetsGoDu.com)

THN Future Watch - Goalies

The Hockey News recently released their annual prospects focused issue called Future Watch and as usual, there's lots of interesting stuff to be found.

First off, whether you agree with the rankings of the prospects who are already drafted or on the lists for the 2009, 2010 or even the 2011 NHL drafts... you have to remember that these things are all done on opinion.

As a guy who has been a part of Hockey's Future since 2003, I've been a part of my fair share of prospect rankings and I can tell you first hand that they are (1)extremely difficult (2)never 100% correct and (3)completely subjective.

Try getting ten people in the same room to agree on what kind of pizza to order or which Star Wars movie was the best... it'll never be a conscensus and that's OK because everyone has their own opinion.

One thing that stood out to me about THN Future Watch this year is the goalies who did and didn't make the list. I've talked to plenty of scouts and some have told me that they have a hard time projecting goalies. In fact, that's why some teams have specific goalie scouts.

Without breaking any copyright laws here, I'm going to list the goalies who made the top 50 but not tell you exactly where they placed on the list. If you really want to know everything... go pick up your copy or better yet, get a subscription.

Anyway, here are the names of the goalies THN considered worthy of the Top 50 this year:

- Jacob Markstrom (Florida)
- Tuuka Rask (Boston)
- Simeon Varlamov (Washington)
- Ondrej Pavelec (Atlanta)
- Chet Pickard (Nashville)
- Jonathon Bernier (Los Angeles)
- Cory Schneider (Vancouver)
- Brian Elliot (Ottawa)
- Jake Allen (St. Louis)

A couple guys just missed out on the top 50 but consider them as honorable mentions...

- Justin Pogge (Toronto)
- Thomas McCollum (Detroit)

Now I'm not going to assume to know all the ins and outs for qualifying for THN Future Watch, we'll have Ryan Kennedy on The Pipeline Show this Tuesday and he can explain that. All I'm going to say is that there are some goalies in the Top 50 who I'm not sure are even the best goalie in their respective organizations. Plus some pretty good ones didn't make the grade at all either.

One of the factors to consider is the difference between the time the list was made and the time it was published. Is Jonathon Bernier still LA's top goalie prospect or was Jonathon Quick ineligible because he'd recently blown past Bernier into a NHL spot? (Personally Bernier would be higher for me anyway).

Jake Allen made the grade ahead of Ben Bishop and that one could be debated by Blues fans I'm sure.

Here are a few others names that I'm sure received recognition but for whatever reason, fell short.

Jhonas Enroth (Buffalo) - He's seeing the bulk of the action for the Portland Pirates this year and has pretty respectable numbers as a rookie in the league. Enroth has WJC experience with Sweden and was a 2nd round pick in 2006.

Leland Irving (Calgary) - Was he the reason Everett was so strong in the WHL or was he more a product of Kevin Constantine's uber-defensive systems? As a rookie in the AHL this year the former 1st rounder's numbers aren't as good as Enroth's but they are still OK. He might not be the slam dunk many thought he was during his draft year but I still think Irving has NHL starter potential. Irving July '07 on TPS

Matt Keetley (Calgary) - kind of the opposite to Irving as a junior, Keetley came out of nowhere and usurped a starting job in Medicine Hat and was taken in the 5th round by the Flames because few saw him enough. He's had a tough year on the farm though with an .899 save percentage and just 7 wins in 30 games. Keetley Fall '08 on TPS


Jimmy Howard (Detroit) - He's posting the best GAA and SV% of his pro career and is in a position where the Red Wings are either going to have to play him or deal him next year. He's a former 2nd round pick (2003) and he had an excellent NCAA career at Maine.

Daniel Larsson (Detroit) - He's splitting time with Howard in Grand Rapids but the Wings 3rd round pick from 2006 is 20-9-2 so far this year. Hockey's Future ranks him as Detroit's top goalie prospect ahead of both Howard and McCollum.

John Curry (Pittsburgh) - Undrafted, Curry joined the Penguins after a stellar 4-year career at Boston University. He's currently backstopping the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins in the AHL and has a 24-11-0 record with .916 sv%. He's unheralded but one to watch for.

Tyson Sexsmith (San Jose) - He's been one of the best WHL goalies in each of the last 3 seasons, won a Memorial Cup as a rookie with the Vancouver Giants and was one of four players to try out for the WJC in December. There might be some of the same question around him that Leland Iriving faced - product of the system under Don Hay or not. Sexsmith on TPS

Dustin Tokarski (Tampa Bay) - Has won a Memorial Cup and a gold medal at the WJC and he's still only 19-years-old. His numbers in Spokane are even better than they were last year despite a poorer record for the team. Team Canada chose him over two goalies that did make THN's top 50 list. Tokarski May '08 on TPS

Riku Helenius (Tampa Bay) - Only 14 starts for Norfolk this year but his .932 sv% and 2.27 GAA suggest he's got the pro potential everyone believed he did during his draft year. The big Finn was taken 15th overall in 2006 ahead of Irving, Neuvirth, Enroth, Steve Mason and Larsson.

Braden Holtby (Washington) - Has been outstanding this season with the Saskatoon Blades and should see his stock sky rocket no matter what happens in the playoffs. He has a 40-14-3 record and has help take a team that pre-season polls described as a non-playoff club and has backstopped them to a 2nd place finish in the Eastern Conference. Holtby on TPS

Michal Neuvirth (Washington) - Excellent OHL goalie (aside from the Memorial Cup debacle with Plymouth) that has bounced around the ECHL, AHL and even the NHL this year. He's got the ability to play at the top level and THN ranks him ahead of Holtby on the Caps page.

A Toronto Schenn-sation

Much to the chagrin of The Kelowna Rockets, the Toronto Maple Leafs made it official in regards to their intention of keeping rookie Luke Schenn with them this season.

Maybe The Clash put it best when they penned "Should I stay or Should I Go?"

We posed the question to Adam Proteau of The Hockey News prior to the start of the season and back then he found it highly unlikely that Schenn would stick with the Leafs. With a plethora of NHL capable blueliners with the team, the argument was made that Toronto didn't need to have Schenn filling a depth spot.

Yet Schenn isn't just playing a small role while he gets his feet wet, he's carrying more than his fair share of the workload.

The question still remains though if this is the best thing for the Leafs and their budding star. Few believe that Toronto is a playoff team with or without Schenn so why burn a year off of his contract?

To me the answer is pretty simple. If he's proving that he can not only handle but thrive at the NHL level, then you have to keep him. Would he develop as much going back to the WHL? I would suggest practicing with NHL players on a daily basis would be more beneficial to development than playing in the WHL.

This isn't a slight on the WHL or on the coaching available in the CHL, although some would suggest that was what Leafs bench boss Ron Wilson was doing when he said "This may sound arrogant on my part but I truly believe he can get better coaching at this level (than in junior)."

Greg Drinnan has a wonderful take on that sentence alone, you can find it here.

No for me, the bottom line is that you shouldn't hold back a player if he's proving capable of making the jump. What this does now for the Leafs is provide some surplus that they could potentially uses in a trade... if any of the other 29 NHL teams agree with them that their excess blueliners are indeed NHL calibre.

But that's my perspective, I'd like to hear yours.