Winterhawks about to be clipped?

This past August the Windsor Spitfires were handed a $400,000 fine for recruiting violations.  A month later it was reduced to a $250,000 fine, as well as, some draft pick relief.

TPS has learned from multiple sources in the WHL that the Portland Winterhawks could be the next CHL club to face sanctions for player recruitment.

Branch Shoots Down Spitfires

Friday was a huge day in the Ontario Hockey League and quite possibly for the entire structure of North American amateur hockey. David Branch, the President of the Canadian Hockey League and Commissioner of the OHL, dropped a bomb on the Windsor Spitfires in the form of massive fines and the stripping of several high end draft picks. 

The official statement released by the OHL can be read here. Media friends of TPS wrote several fantastic features on the subject and a couple of them will be on the show as guests later this Saturday morning. Neate Sager from Yahoo! and Buzzing the Net can add to this piece written by Cam Charron. 

TPS regular Patrick King's story can be found at Sportsnet.ca.

Chris Peters offers the American based perspective and it's a terrific read. You can find that here and he'll touch on it with me on the radio this morning as well.    

After the jump, I'll offer my own initial thoughts which are more about, "What happens next?"

From Russia with Love & Campbell has Hound Power

Tuesday night on TPS our CHL insider Sam Cosentino hinted about the Russian roster for the upcoming Subway Series with the CHL. It gets started on November 7th in Victoriaville and wraps up 10 days later in Moose Jaw.

Jack Campbell... Trade Bait??

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The winds of change are already blowing through the OHL this season as Memorial Cup host Mississauga has assembled a formidable team. This past week the Kingston Frontenacs added Ryan Spooner from Peterborough to their line up and it's safe to assume other teams will soon become buyers as others shift to the role of sellers.

The Windsor Spitfires have two of the biggest assets in the league with Zack Kassian (BUF) and Ryan Ellis (NSH) rumored to be available. But is it possible that they Spits would also consider parting ways with their rookie netminder, Dallas Stars first round pick Jack Campbell?

It's not nearly as crazy as it sounds, in fact... I'm now completely sold that it will happen.

Is The 3 Peat Dream Over?

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A pretty big trade in the OHL might be putting a halt to any 3 peat talk when it comes to the Windsor Spitfires. The 2 time defending Memorial Cup Champions gave a nice boost to this year's Memorial Cup hosts. OHL Prospects has this story on it here

Kassian Fight Stalls Contract Talks With Sabres

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So a 19 year old gets into a bar fight and leaves his opponent with a chipped tooth and a bleeding mouth. Normally it wouldn't' be that big of news, but that 19 year old is 13th overall draft pick in 2008 and a Memorial Cup champion Zack Kassian.

Now it appears the incident at a Windsor night club may be giving the Buffalo Sabres second thoughts on signing him.

You can read the story here.

I highly doubt this will make the Sabres bail on Kassian all together, unless there is more to the story.

Wheat Kings and Windsor: Winner takes all.

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The city of Brandon is buzzing with nervous excitement as their team will play in a Memorial Cup final for the first time since 1979. Brandon will be looking for it's first title in franchise history. Windsor on the other hand is looking to go back to back and win their 7th straight Memorial Cup game after rattling off 3 straight last year to take the title.

What to do if you're Brandon, Calgary and Windsor

Tonight Brandon and Calgary meet up at the Mastercard Memorial Cup to determine who gets last change in Friday night's semi final. That's it, that's all. And as longtime WHL scribe Greg Drinnan just said to me, 'if you can't coach without last change, you're in trouble' Both Kelly McCrimmon and Mike Williamson can.

So what should we expect tonight? Some think it will be a feisty game where both clubs try and send a message and possibly some players to the injured list. I ask why? If I was Calgary I wouldn't play Martin Jones and rest a few others as well. My message before the game would be 'don't do anything stupid.'

These two teams know each other inside and out. Brandon beat Calgary 3 of 4 times during the regular season, while the Hitmen took out the Wheat Kings in the Eastern Conference final in 5 games. In fact Calgary has ended Brandon's season 3 of the last 4 years. Why would either team risk an injury? While the fans might not like it, I think we're in for a glorified game of shinny tonight. However, once these guys hit the ice and remember the rivalry, things could get intense.

As for Windsor, they don't play for real until Sunday night. So what do you do if you're Warren Rychel and Bob Boughner? I get out of dodge for a while. Take a trip to the Peace Gardens or Riding Mountain National Park. Hell they could fly home and sleep in their own beds they have so much time off right now. The Spitfires didn't practice today, and might take tomorrow off as well.

Taylor Hall was hit hard a few times last night, once by Brandon Gormley where he was slow to get up. When I asked him about it after the game he said it wasn't the Gormley hit so much that slowed him down, but a lingering effect from the Travis Hamonic crushing on opening night. However, he was quick to point out, it wasn't anything serious. By the way he's playing, I'm not sure anything can slow him down.

Windsor wins 11th straight, ends Wildcats season

In the 2001 Memorial Cup, the Red Deer Rebels had already secured a spot in the final when they took the ice against the host Regina Pats. The Pats won, picking up their first victory of the tournament to force a tie breaker game. They dispatched Ottawa in that affair before losing in the semi-final.

For most of Tuesday night's tilt at the Mastercard Memorial Cup it was looking like deja vu all over again. Moncton came into the contest winless, while Windsor had already punched it's ticket to Sunday's final. The scrappy Wildcats led by goaltender Shane Owen (more on his incredible story in a second)held leads of 1-0 and 3-2 before Windsor forced overtime and eventually won it on an Eric Wellwood goal.

This was the best game of the tournament so far, and tomorrow's could be the least interesting as both Brandon and Calgary will meet again in Friday's Semi-Final.

As for Shane Owen, he almost became the biggest story of the week, which has been Taylor Hall, after he started in place of an ill Nicola Riopel. Owen was waived through the entire Ontario Hockey League and was shelled earlier this season for 8 goals by Windsor. On this night though he stood on his head facing 52 shots as wave after wave of Windsor goal seeking forwards came at him. Windsor put up 20 shots in the 3rd and outshot Moncton 13-2 in overtime. The match up between Brandon Gormley, a top Dman for this year's draft and Taylor Hall was a great one to watch, and Hall was held to just a single assist. Gormley scored once and added an assist with a +1 rating and seemed to be out every second shift. Fellow blueline draft prospect Cam Fowler was very good as well, scoring a late first period goal that allowed the Spitfires to start the second period tied.

The Spitfires now have 3 full days before Sunday night's final, where they will either face Brandon or Calgary.

Major 2011 Memorial Cup Hosts.

The CHL announced today that Mississauga will host the 2011 Mastercard Memorial Cup. The release is here.

A lot of people were thinking Windsor was going to get it, but that would mean 3 straight years for the Spitfires and I think that works against them. It's a pretty great recruiting advantage. The Majors had a good regular season finishing 5th overall and losing out to Barrie in the OHL's Eastern Conference final.

As for this year's tournament, the 3 billet family finalists have been announced. One will be very familiar to Edmonton and WHL fans. Read that release here.

Also I know a lot of people in Manitoba are excited about the re dedication ceremony that will take place at CFB Shilo. Here's another way the host committee is involving the Military.

Tomorrow night Guy and I will welcome representatives from all 4 participating teams, as well as continue our look ahead to the 2010 NHL draft.

www.thepipelineshow.com for details.

Skin To Win?

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You can be sure the Oilers brass are still keeping their eye on possible first overall pick Taylor Hall of the Windsor Spitfires. Hall outscored his draft competition Tyler Seguin by 6 points in the Windsor/Plymouth series, but now he's on the opposite end of the spectrum as the Spitfires are down 2-0 to Kitchener. Rangers forward Jeff Skinner who netted 50 this year, has 4 goals in 2 games - Hall has one.

Spitfires Already Reloading for 2010-11

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The defending Memorial Cup champions are a favorite for this year's tournament and have already taken steps to ensure that they are in a similar position next season. Considering the Spits are the front runners to be chosen as the hosts of the 2011 Memorial Cup, the team has a historic three-peat of CHL domination on their mind.

The Spitfires could potentially lose a number of key players from their current roster or, like with the Brandon Wheat Kings this year, they could all return. If the squad remains intact, the new additions should make Windsor damn near unstoppable.

2010 Draft Prospect Cam Fowler

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While much of the focus of the 2010 draft has been spent on Taylor Hall and Tyler Seguin, whichever team draws the 3rd spot is going to get a terrific defenceman. That player joined Guy and myself Tuesday night.

We started our conversation with Cam Fowler asking him if he had done any gloating in the Windsor dressing room after winning gold at the World Junior Championship with Team USA. Wisely he hadn't as 4 of his Spitfire teammates were on the losing squad in the gold medal game and as smooth as Fowler is on the ice, I don't think he could escape all 4 of them.

Kassian Gets 20 Games

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OHL commish David Branch today announced that Windsor Spitifires forward Zack Kassian has been suspended for 20 games after his hit on Barrie's Matt Kennedy.

The official release is here.

When Sportsnet's Sam Cosentino was on the program Tuesday, he spoke about an angle he saw that night that showed, frame by frame, Kassian not leaving his feet.

So what do you think... too light, too heavy or just right? we offer up 2 different video replays of the incident and our thoughts after 'Read More'.

Windsor Wins 2009 Memorial Cup

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The Windsor Spitfires haev captured their first Memorial Cup win their franchise's history on the strength of an early first period onslaught that powered them to a 4-1 win over Kelowna.

No team had ever lost their first two games at the tournament and gone on to win the Memorial Cup but that is what Windsor managed to do on Sunday. The Rockets had a chance to eliminate the Spitfires from the tournament on Tuesday but couldn't get it done and it came back to haunt them. Windsor defeated Rimouski in the tie breaker and then Drummondville in the semi-final before taking it to the WHL champs in the title game.

The first period was about as bad as it gets if you're on the side of the Kelowna Rockets. First, Mikael Backlund's lackadaisical breakout was broken up by fellow Flames prospect Greg Nemisz who stripped the Swede and fed Adam Henrique who wired a shot past Mark Guggenberger.

A minute and a half later, Dale Mitchell's routine shot from the sideboards somehow eluded Guggenberger up high on the short side and suddenly Windsor was up 2-0.

Kelowna coach Ryan Huska immediately called a time out to try and calm down his troops and slow the momentum of the Spitfires. It didn't work.

With Kyle St. Denis in the box for a knee on Mark Cundari, Windsor would strike again. Rob Kwiet converted on an opportunity with Andrei Loktionov and Henrique picking up assists on the goal.

Mark Guggenberger was given the hook after allowing 3 goals on 3 shots and in came 17-year-old Adam Brown who hadn't started a game since March 14th and that was the his only action in that month. Brown (pictured above) was immediately tested as Mitchell barreled in alone on a breakaway but the youngster made two saves to get his first feel of the game. Brown saw 6 shots in the period and stopped them all.

Kelown'a bad luck wasn't limited to their poor goaltending; three key players went down to injury and although all of them returned to play they were clearly a little worse for wear. Jamie Benn went down hard after missing Taylor Hall with what would have been a huge hit. Hall was able to duck under Benn who collided into the boards hurting his tailbone.

Tyler Myers bloked a shot on his the inside of his knee and skated off awkwardly and missed his next shift. Captain Colin Long was taken out by an aggressive Lane MacDermid right at the end of the 1st period and had to be helped off the ice.

Windsor outshot Kelowna 9-5 in the first period although scoring chances may actually have been in favor of the Rockets.

However, the Rockets burst out of the gate to start the second period and scored just 8 second in as Long made good on the power play. Kelowna had a bunch of momentum at that point and had several more scoring chances but couldn't beat Andrew Engelage.

The momentum wouldn't last forever though and when Ryan Ellis hammered a point blast off the post and behind Brown, the Spitfires appeared to assume complete control.

There was one scary moment as Jamie Benn slashed Mark Cundari in the mouth and received a double-minor for the high stick. Windsor failed to capitalize on the 4-minute man advantage but they did carry the 4-1 lead into the final period.

There was no scoring in the final frame as Windsor sunk into defensive mode and a deflated looking Rockets squad couldn't muster any offence.

The final shots in the game were 28-22 in favor of the new CHL champs. Adam Henrique, a New jersey Devils 3rd round pick in 2008, and Jamie Benn of the Rockets led the tournament in scoring with 9 points each. Taylor Hall of the Spitfires was chosen as the tournament MVP.

The image of seeing the team posing for the traditional photo with Mickey Renaud's #18 jersey draped around the trophy... fans of any team would have to admit that it was a great moment.

It was the first time since 2002 that the host league was not represented in the Memorial Cup final. It was also the first time since 2003 that the host team was not playing in the final game either.

Next year the Brandon Wheat Kings will host the tournament.

Memorial Cup Head-to-Head: Defences

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Like yesterday's examination of the four goaltenders at the Memorial Cup, here is a comparison of the defences that will be on display.

Rimouski Oceanic

Offensively, the Oceanic have a pair of defencemen that recorded at least 60 points during the regular season. Sebastien Piché led the blueline in scoring with 72 points including 23 goals. Marc-Andre Bourdon, a 3rd round pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, was acquired during the year and he contributed 60 points combined between Rimouski and Rouyn-Noranda. 5'9 Emmanuel Boudreau also factored in the scoring with 10 goals and 31 points.

Bourdon has kept pace in the playoffs but Piché's production has stalled.

Defensvively, most of Rimouski's blueliners ended the regular season on the good side of the +/- rating. The injured Maxime Ouimet, who came over from Baie-Comeau, posted an impressive +22 in just 27 games with the Oceanic. (He had a -22 rating with the Drakkar). He won the Kevin Lowe trophy as the league's top defenceman so his absence will be felt.

Looking at their roster sheet, the first thing that jumps out at me is their size. It's like the old Wendy's commercial: "Where's the Beef!?"

The biggest Oceanic defenceman is Bourdon who checks in at a solid 6'0 and 215 lbs. That's fine and dandy but there is no one else that cracks the 200 lb plateau (according to their roster).

Drummondville Voltigeurs

For the Voltigeurs it probably starts with 2009 eligible Dmitri Kulikov who led the team's defenders in scoring with 62 points - as a 17-year-old just getting used to North America. 20-year-old Marc-Antoine Desnoyers came next in scoring with 42 points, a pretty big dropoff from Kulikov's numbers but decent on its own. Outside of those two there isn't a lot of flash from the backend in Drummondville.

In the playoffs Kulikov has been a point-per-game player with 19 points. Desnoyers has chipped in 12 points and veteran Czech import Patrik Prokop has upped his production slightly with 8 points in 19 post season games.

The Volts were one of four teams that surrendered fewer than 200 goals during the regular season (189) while Rimouski allowed 223.

Size is going to be a concern as like Rimouski, there is no one that will pose much of a physical threat. Desnoyers is 6'1 and 190 lbs but he's the tallest and the only +200 lb player is Andrew Randazzo who tilts the scale at 215 lbs but stands just 5'10. But a fire hydrant can pack a punch although Randazzo's 40 PIM this year don't suggest an overly aggressive player.

None of Drummondville's defencemen have NHL ties although we know that will change in June as Kulikov is predicted to go in the top 15.

Windsor Spitfires

Ryan Ellis was tops in the OHL for scoring by a defenceman with 89 points, 13 more than the next closest player. His 67 assists were tops in the entire league regardless of position. He finished a single point behind Taylor Hall atop his team in scoring, a club with a celebrated offence. Not enough can be said about what Ellis brings to the table from an offensive standpoint.

Rob Kwiet had a great year with 67 points and Ben Shutron (CHI) provides another veteran punch although the latter is being counted on much more for his defensive play.

The main job of Windor's blueline group, outside of Ellis and maybe Kwiet, is to take care of their own end. The Spitfires have so much firepower up front that they don't really need to do much offensively except get the puck up to their attackers.

Compared to their Quebec-based opponents, the Spitfires defencemen look big. Certainly Harry Young, at 6'4 and 205 lbs, woould be big on any team. Kwiet is 6'1 and nearly 220 lb, while the rest of the group (sans Ellis) hovers near around the 195 lb mark.

Kelowna Rockets

Tyson Barrie is the Rockets' version of Kulikov or Ellis - a smallish, 2009 eligible offensive minded defenceman who more than makes up for his lack of size with his abundance of production. He had 52 points during the regular season.

Converted forward Brandon McMillan (ANH) has been terrific since making the switch to the backend. His offensive instincts are still there but his greatest asset is his speed - he won the fastest skater competition at the 2008 Top Prospects Game in Edmonton.

The biggest name on Kelowna's d-line might be the biggest player in the CHL, from a literal perspective. Tyler Myers (BUF) stands 6'7 on dry land and weighs in at 211 pounds. He is to the WHL what Zdeno Chara is to the NHL. Myers had 42 points during the regular season but has stepped it up in the playoffs with 20 more in just 22 games.

Colin Bowman has a chance at making the Memorial Cup a family affair after his brother Drayson won the trophy last year with Spokane. Bowman is a 2009 eligible prospect.

No question that this is the biggest defensive group in the tournament. Bowman is 6'2, Tysen Dowzak is 6'5 and 212 lbs and then of course there is Myers.

Comparisons

The head-to-head match up between Kulikov and Ellis will be front and center. Both are considered top 15 caliber players for the 2009 draft so all eyes will be on them in this tournament. My co-host wonder aloud on Tuesday if Tyson Barrie might be a "poor man's Ryan Ellis" for Kelowna and I think it's a valid statement. How much will a strong tournament here raise his draft stock, especially if he is able to out perform and possibly outscore his counterparts?

Kelowna has a size advantage but without seeing all of the teams in action this year it would be impossible to argue which 7-man unit is more defensively sound or potent at the other end of the ice.

My hunch is that if there was a coach poll done asking which defensive unit, as a whole, is best over all aspects of the game... that Kelowna's would come out on top. All have offence, all have veteran leadership, all have good two-way puck movers but only the Rockets have the size to match the biggest forwards at the Memorial Cup.

Wednesday Re-Set

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Our 4th Annual Memorial Cup Coach's Show was last night and although we weren't able to speak with all four coaches, due to the late Game 7 in the Q, it was a great preview for the upcoming tournament.

We began the program talking about a few different things: Could Kelowna hope to match the offensive prowess of a team like Windsor? Will they have to follow Spokane's successful plan of smothering defensive play with an effective counter attack? Are we disappointed not to see the Calgary vs Windsor dream match up? Who are the 2009 eligible players in the tournament that we'll be watching for?

Our first coach of the night was the host, Clement Jodoin of the Rimouski Oceanic. It was Jodoin's second time on our program after leading Lewiston to the 2007 QMJHL title and joining us before the tournament in Vancouver that year.

Jodoin answered questions about Logan MacMillan and his lack of offence, Philippe Cornet, what his team has been doing for the last three weeks, if the layoff is a positive because they are well rested or a negative because they'll be rusty and what being swept by Drummondville meant for his team. Coach Jodoin was also asked if his goaltending was good enough and that produced one of his most memorable answers of the night and generated a nice story as well.

We then played some Bad Ass Trivia with an obvious focus on the Memorial Cup.

At the top of the second hour we welcomed in the GM of the Windsor Spitfires, Warren Rychel. Coach Bob Boughner was unable to join us so the GM stepped in to take his place, perhaps not wanting to chance the bad karma.

Rychel discussed a number of his players including Taylor Hall, Andrei Laktionov, Greg Nemisz, Ryan Ellis and others. we asked him to tell us if it was an easy decision to not play Josh Unice in net, a goalie with Memorial Cup experience, and go with an undrafted overager in Andrew Engelage instead. Engelage had a fantastic regular season though and Rychel quickly put any goalie controversy to rest.

After a bit of phone tag we then hooked up with Kelowna Rockets coach Ryan Huska (who is in this picture but currently sports a shaved head and glasses). The big hit on Mikael Backlund and his impressive fortitude to recover and stay in the game was an early subject. Coach Huska's recounting of the hit and Backlund's version of it was memorable. We also talked about netminder Mark Guggenberger's sudden rise to fame, how Kelowna's offence is underrated and then we got into some specific players like Tyler Myers, Cody Almond, Colin Long and Tyson Barrie.

Our final coach of the night couldn't make it as Guy Boucher and the Voltigeurs had finally finished off the resilient Shawinigan Cataractes in Game 7 about 40 minutes before the end of our show. Dean and I did our best to talk about some of the key players the Volts will showcase in Rimouski like Yannick Riendeau, Chris Didomenico and Dmitri Kulikov.

At the end of each coach interview Dean asked: "If your team is successful and you win, try not to break (or 'Spokane') the trophy". It was a joke comment that drew different reactions from our guests. Two openly chuckled but one took it quite seriously and showed that he's already got his game face on.

The Memorial Cup gets going on Friday with Rimouski taking on Kelowna, Drummondville and Windsor square off on Saturday. All games can be seen on Rogers Sportsnet with our pals Peter Loubardias and Sam Cosentino painting the audio pictures.

If you missed it live, click the archive... HERE!

John Moore Headed to the OHL?

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Last year the London Knights lured defenceman John Carlson out of his NCAA commitment and north to the Canadian Hockey League. In similar style, Ethan Werek of the Kingston Frontenacs opted to stay in Canada rather than join Boston University where he was initially headed. Not long ago Trevor Lewis skipped the NCAA for Owen Sound.

This year it looks like John Moore of the Chicago Steel is the player mostly likely to join their club.

I had a conversation yesterday with someone out of the OHL that suggested to me that he wouldn't be surprised at all to see Moore get chosen in Saturday's OHL Priority Draft. Moore, 18, signed a written letter of intent with Colorado College last November but his name has come up a few times in conversations I've had with people who wonder if he'll actually head north to play next year.

I'm told that his name is being circulated in OHL circles as someone to consider for the draft, this wasn't the case in previous years but this is the last spring he is eligible to be selected. I am also told that 4 teams have made serious contact with Moore - the ususal suspects being London, Windsor as well as Kitchener with a surprise team kicking tires who I believe to be the Barrie Colts.

When Moore was a guest on The Pipeline Show last February, he admitted that his future wasn't set and that he'd be weighing all of his options. I recently contacted Moore, one of our guest bloggers this season, but all he would confirm for me at this point is that there has been contact with a few OHL teams and that he is still considering every option available to him. He did tell me that he would likely not be making any firm decision until after the NHL draft in June when he could get the input from the NHL team that ends up picking him up.

You can expect Moore to make a return appearance on TPS this summer when whatever choice he makes has been confirmed. At that time we'll be able to discuss the decision making process, all of the things he had to consider, the pros and the cons of both the NCAA and OHL route in regards to his playing career and to his education. Until then we can only speculate.

What will be interesting to see is who does draft him tomorrow. Kitchener, one of the teams in the hunt, picks third but with Moore decidedly on the fence it would be a big risk to take him that early. Barrie, the team I believe to have expressed an interest most recently, picks 8th. London is in the 19th spot while Windsor closes out the draft order in the 20th position.

Why should only the same three or fours teams be the ones getting the top Euros and the top NCAA defectors. If it's really a level playing field, a no one really believes it is, shouldn't Sault Ste. Marie or Sudbury have just as much success landing these types of players?

Somebody told me yesterday that the Erie Otters have interviewed a number of highly ranked players only to have been told "if you draft me, I'm going to the NCAA". Erie picks 10th overall but might have to take a player not ranked in the first two rounds just to ensure they get someone who will actually report to them. That is complete crap and it makes the league look stupid.

If I'm a team like Peterborough in the 6th overall slot... I seriously consider drafting Moore. That way, if one of those other teams are that interested in Moore than Peterborough can get fair value for him even though there may be little to no chance the player would consider suiting up for Chris Pronger's old team. Moore was Chicago's captain this year and also played in the USHL All-Star game. He's considered a top 20 pick in this June NHL Draft too so he's obviously a player who would be worth a ton to any team he'd be willing to play for.

Would a team really draft Moore simply to stick it to London, Windsor or Kitchener? I don't know but part of me would love to see it happen.

For Moore, I'm sure he's going to get a great education package from the OHL or from the NCAA so the school part isn't really an issue.

What must be the biggest factor is where he thinks he'll develop the best as a hockey player. 35-40 games in college with more time to train off the ice or 68 regular season games plus the playoffs in the OHL. Things like being able to partake in NHL training camps and end the year in the AHL are other pluses to the CHL route whereas college players don't have either of those options.

Moore will definitely be drafted on Saturday but who takes him and whether he picks the OHL over Colorado College and the NCAA won't be known for some time. From now until that time, and even beyond then, you'll be able to read a series of blog entries written by the player himself - the next installment of Moore From the Pipeline is expected on Monday.

SATURDAY EDIT: Moore was taken by Kitchener with their first pick in the second round (23rd overall).

(Photos courtesy: OHL and USHL)

Send them Back for Memorial Cup runs

Here's an open letter to a few NHL teams, namely the New York Islanders and Minnesota Wild. The Islanders are battling it out for John Tavares to play with Kyle Okposso and Josh Bailey and the trio could be deadly for years to come. But this year Garth Snow should send Bailey back to Windsor. I'm not aware of a rule that says a player can't be returned to junior after the trade deadline (if I'm wrong let me know) Bailey would get the chance to go deep into the playoffs and possibly the Memorial Cup with the CHL's #1 team. I think the Minnesota Wild should do the same with Colton Gillies, but in Doug Risebrough's defence, the Wild is in a playoff chase right now. The Saskatoon Blades could seriously use his muscle and presence, especially after the Calgary Hitmen tooned them in the other night on Rogers Sportsnet. The Hitmen now lead the Blades by 20 points in the WHL's Eastern conference and right now look like the favorites to represent the WHL at the Memorial Cup in Rimouski. There might be others who should be sent back to junior if their clubs are looking like they could make a run.

Tavares tops 200 as the Knights edge the Rangers in O.T.

Just finished watching the London Knights/Kitchener Rangers tilt on Rogers Sportsnet with TPS favorites Peter Loubardias and Sam Cosentino calling the game and it was a beauty.

John Tavares won it for London in overtime with his 200th career goal and 43rd this season, it was a power play goal. I haven't watched many Windsor games, and I know they have supreme talent and a massive lead in the standings, but I'm wondering out loud if they'll be able to beat the Knights in the playoffs, especially if London gets a wack of power play time. Sure London has struggled somewhat lately with just 4 wins in their past 10 but I mean when you can throw out Tavares, Nazim Kadri, Michael Del Zotto, John Carlson,(pictured) Phillip McCrae or Justin Taylor on the power play it's deadly. They have 367 points between them, and 54 goals with the man advantage, heck the super 6 have 17 shorthanded goals this year. Carlson has a cannon of a shot, can sneak down low and dish the puck, making him the perfect pp quarterback. The League's 2nd leading rookie scorer and Washington Capitals prospect will join us Tuesday on TPS, click here to find out who else will be on the show.

Having said all that, the guy I might have been the most impressed with was Kitchener's Jeff Skinner. A guy who will be a high end pick in the 2010 draft is 4th on team scoring with 41 points in 51 games, including 22 goals. He's also plus 5 on a team 5 games below 500. Skinner is 10th in rookie scoring as a 16 year old and showed a never quit attitude during the game, especially on the game tying goal in which he fired 2 shots on net before wrapping it around to send it to overtime. Skinner also added an assist, a penalty minute and was plus 1 in the loss.