Canada's Under 18 Roster

Hockey Canada has announced it's roster for the upcoming Ivan Hlinka tournament in the Czech Republic and Slovakia starting Tuesday August 12th:

Goalies:
Bryce O'Hagan Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) 2010 Draft
Nathan Lieuwen Westside (BCHL) 2009 Draft

Defence
Jared Cowen Spokane (WHL) 2009 Draft
Brayden McNabb Kootenay (WHL) 2009 Draft
Simon Després Saint John (QMJHL) 2009 Draft
Hubert Labrie Gatineau (QMJHL) 2009 Draft
Stefan Elliott Saskatoon (WHL) 2009 Draft
Ryan Ellis Windsor (OHL) 2009 Draft
Taylor Doherty Kingston (OHL) 2009 Draft

Forwards
Carter Ashton Lethbridge (WHL) 2009 Draft
Zack Kassian Peterborough (OHL) 2009 Draft
Taylor Hall Windsor (OHL) 2010 Draft
Garrett Mitchell Regina (WHL) 2009 Draft
Ryan O'Reilly Erie (OHL) 2009 Draft
Louis Leblanc Lac St-Louis, QC MAAA 2009 Draft
Jimmy Bubnick Kamloops (WHL) 2009 Draft
Brayden Schenn Brandon (WHL) 2009 Draft
Cody Eakin Swift Current (WHL) 2009 Draft
Casey Cizikas Mississauga (OHL) 2009 Draft
Scott Glennie Brandon (WHL) 2009 Draft
Evander Kane Vancouver (WHL) 2009 Draft
Matthew Duchene Brampton (OHL) 2009 Draft

The Roster Battle: The Fan Favourite

I've been covering the Oilers prospects since 2002 and I can say without hesitation that when it comes to young players who can polarize the fanbase there hasn't been anyone like Rob Schremp.

He was drafted back in 2004, became a dominant OHL player over the next two seasons, turned pro with a so-so debut but took his game to a new level last year finishing inside the top 10 of AHL scoring. For some that's a career path that indicates a somewhat late bloomer making the adjustment one level at a time. Others see Schremp as a player who will just be another in the long line of junior stars who fail to stick in the NHL (see Peter Sarno and his back-to-back +120 point OHL seasons).

Schremp got his OHL start with the Mississauga IceDogs and in his 16-year-old season he finished second in team scoring with 26 goals and 74 points. A 17-year-old Patrick O'Sullivan led the IceDogs that year with 81 points. A dispute between Mississauga's brass and Schremp's agent led to a much publicized trade demand and the beginning of the "bad attitude" labelling that the player is still trying to shrug off.

The London Knights gladly took Schremp on and the already talented squad became a powerhouse for the next 3 seasons. The Fulton, NY product was a key player during London's record breaking season in 2004-05 and the Memorial Cup title that year as well. Schremp's six points in the year-end tournament was second only to Corey Perry's seven as the host team downed Sidney Crosby's Rimouski Oceanic in the final.

The 2004 Draft pundits were equally split on Schremp's worth. ISS considered him a sure-fire top 5 pick citing him as the 3rd most talented player available behind Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Malkin. Redline Report wasn't nearly as supportive and were leading the charge when it came to the "Schremp has attitude" critiques.

In August of 2004 I conducted a nearly hour-long phone interview with Schremp for a feature I was doing at Hockey's Future. Schremp was training in Chicago with other players who share the same agent, LA Kings forward Dustin Brown being one. The purpose of the interview was simple; find out one way or another exactly what kind of kid this was and put the attitude to the test. Schremp spoke candidly and didn't shy away from direct questions. I'll admit I baited him a few times, (asking him about being benched in the OHL playoffs for example) just to see what reaction I would get. You can read that feature here.

I'm a big fan of Stephen King, the author most identified with classic chillers like Carrie and IT while his best work is more often the source material for movies like The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and Stand By Me. I remember reading a review that someone had given to King's The Dark Tower series which was short but memorable: "The world is divided into two groups; those who love The Dark Tower books and those that haven't read them yet."

When I hear people say that Rob Schremp has attitude problems I always think about that book review. Those who believe Schremp has an attitude problem haven't taken the time to talk to or get to know the guy. I've talked to coaches, teammates and trainers both past and present and have yet to have a single person describe Schremp to me as a problem. Not one. Period.

Now before this turns into a full fledged love in... Schremp is not perfect.

He's charismatic and engaging, walking the line between confident and cocky. When he was younger he was impulsive in what he said in interviews and on the ice he wasn't much different. One night he borrowed a gulp of water from the opposition goalie's bottle. He's kayak-ed down the ice after socring a game winning shootout goal. In a playoff game he lost his cool and, depending on who you ask, either fired the puck at the other team's bench narrowly missing the coach or else he slapped it at them harmlessly along the ice. This audio-less Youtube video popped up showing Schremp apparently attempting to gut a Kitchener Rangers fan:



But what it didn't show was that the fan had gobbed on Schremp as he was leaving the ice. The end result just gave the critics more fuel to add to their fire.

Schremp eventually turned pro and spent 2006-07 with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. He had 53 points in 69 games which isn't bad considering he was a healthy scratch upwards of half a dozen times that year. It was a learning year for Schremp who had believed he would stick with the Oilers out of training camp. A late season knee injury kept him out of the playoffs and also kept him off the training schedule that he'd need to follow before reporting to Edmonton for a chance of making the team in 2007-08. He was cut again and spent all but 2 games in Springfield with the Falcons where he notched 76 points in 78 games.

Rumors of a potential European option surfaced but were quickly shot down by Schremp and agent Scott Norton. Norton's comments seemed to indicate a level of expectation by agent and player alike that Schremp's minor league days are now behind him and with the depth of the Oiler roster in May, the speculation that a trade around the draft became popular discussion.

However, Schremp was not dealt and has instead dedicated himself to a rigorous off-season training schedule in advance of this coming September's NHL training camp.

The question becomes: Is this the year Rob Schremp makes the Oilers out of camp?

Going back to the scenario I outlined here where there are two forward spots available, you have to believe that Schremp's chances are very good.

Why Schremp will make the team: After two years in the minors he has adapted his offensive game well enough that he was the go-to guy at the age of 21. He's done everything that's been asked of him at the minor league level including making an adjustment to LW, a position he'd never played before last year. It may have taken him a little longer than Oiler fans had hoped but Schremp has proven that his offensive abilities were not left in London.

The knock on Schremp the hockey player has always been two-fold; 'not fast enough' and 'doesn't compete hard enough'. If after this full summer of dedicated workouts under the care of the team's fitness coach and several Oiler veterans Schremp isn't in the best shape of his life then something is wrong. Captain Ethan Moreau recently told listeners to Bob Stauffer's Total Sports that he was impressed with the effort Schremp was putting into getting ready for the year. Coach Craig MacTavish also said he'd heard good things about the player's progress.

In conversations I've had with Schremp he's indicated his belief that the strength and conditioning work he's done in California will address his speed. During his July 8th appearance on The Pipeline Show Schremp made his ambitions for the season crystal clear when he said "Enough screwing around, I want to play in the NHL... I don't want to be a minor league player anymore." If he can show that same desire and drive on the ice then he'll be one step closer.

Why Schremp will not make the team: Three things stand in the way of Schremp and the NHL; Politics, competition and himself. He can only control the latter and as previously described, he seems to be doing his best to prepare this summer.

The competition will definitely be fierce hence the reason I'm doing this little series. As I outlined in the prologue, I see it as a 5-man race for 2 spots so Schremp cannot afford to slack off during practices and will have to contribute in the exhibition schedule not matter who is on his line. Andrew Cogliano, Sam Gagner and Kyle Brodziak all made the team out of camp last year and all, at some point, played alongside non-scorers and still found a way to impress.

By politics I mean contract status. Schremp is entering the final year of his entry-level deal and is still waiver-exempt... which weighs the scale against him. If the battle is tight, if Schremp hasn't clearly distanced himself from the others vying for the job, the team can send him down without risk and historically that's what they've done.

Finally, the last hurdle in Schremp's way is simply convincing the organization that making the team as the 13th forward, not playing every night but practiving every day in a NHL environment with NHL players is better than playing a ton in the AHL. It's a tough sell because most NHL execs I've talked to feel playing is better than watching. It could be a case where Schremp is sent down to the Falcons where they know he'll be the top dog, play 1st power play and bide his time waiting for a hole with the Oilers to open that gets him a recall.

There is no question that Oiler fans want to see Schremp on the team sooner rather than later. In a recent poll on our show's website Schremp was the runaway pick by fans when asked to name their 13th forward. No surprise really, he's always been The Fan Favourite.

The Roster Battle - prologue

The goalie in the picture is Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers, or I should say it was. These days he's just Jeff Deslauriers and he's not sporting the Edmonton Road Runners gear anymore either. I actually still like those sweaters though... not the logo but the colour scheme worked for me.

Anyway, the reason I slapped ol'JDD up here is because he's one of the guys who could very well have an impact on which forwards make the Oilers out of camp. Or maybe more accurately, how many forwards make it. Let me explain.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to talk about the battle over the last couple roster spots as training camp is now about 45 days away.

First I want to remind you that of the 23-man roster there is the very real possibility that the Oilers could have 3 goalies and 8 blueliners, although in that case they'd likely consider Jason Strudwick the 13th forward. Casual fans might forget that Jeff Deslauriers and Mathieu Roy are both in the situation where they would need to clear waivers to get to Springfield in the AHL. Both might pass through unclaimed... but it's a risk and no team wants to just give away assets. It's easier to sneak someone through waivers early in the season - see Patrick Thoresen last year who made it through before Christmas but was scooped up by Philly in the second half.

Unless the Oilers (1) find a taker for Dwayne Roloson's contract either through trade or waivers or (2) try and push JDD back through waivers to the farm... Edmonton will have 3 goalies.

For the sake of argument, let's say they do manage one of the above and also find a way to only carry 7 defenders leaving room for 4 full sets of forwards and the normal 13th and 14th pressbox spots up front.

I am going to go out on a limb (note the sarcasm) and declare 11 of the forward spots already clearly taken. Yeah I know, really a tough job there. Cole, Horcoff, Hemsky, Penner, Gagner, Nilsson, Cogliano, Moreau, Pisani, Brodziak and Stortini are givens.

In my opinion, so is Marc Pouliot and his nice new, bargain basement contract. He'd need to clear waivers to go down (and he wouldn't make it through anymore) and really, you need cheap forwards to round out your bottom 6 so Pouliot... at the very least has a spot waiting for him to claim outright in camp - not the first time he's had that and failed but this year waivers are on his side.

The last 2 spots (if they aren't claimed by the 8th D-man and 3rd goalie) are up for grabs and in my mind it's a 5-man battle. 5 different players; different ages, different talents, strengths and weaknesses, different contract situations and different expectations.

The Fan Favorite, The New Guy, The Wild Card, The Forgotten One and the Underdog.

I'll break them down over the next little bit.

Old Rivals, New Teammates

March 18, 2005... WCHA Semi-Finals... Denver Pioneers vs North Dakota Fighting Sioux. UND defenceman Robbie Bina broke his neck that night after taking a dangerous hit from behind by Oiler prospect Geoff Paukovich.

The play could have ended Bina's hockey career and certainly has had a lasting and negative impact on Paukovich's play. Emotions from the incident carried on for years although bubbling under the surface, that is until Edmonton training camp in 2007 neared and former UND captain Matt Greene met his fellow Oiler prospect for the first time.

Ironically, 3 years later Robbie Bina and Geoff Paukovich may very well be teammates after the former signed a minor league contract with the Springfield Falcons.

I can't take the credit for breaking this story because The Pipeline Show's pal in North Dakota, Brad Elliot Schlossman, tipped me off tonight via e-mail and he'll have the full story in tomorrow's Grand Forks Herald. Once that comes out I'll provide a link.

However, if you want a bit of history on the subject, here's the story I wrote for HF back in June of 2005.

Expect to officially hear about the minor league signing of Bina sometime tomorrow.

EDIT: Here's the link to B.E.S.'s story in the Grand Forks Herald.

Still California Dreamin'

Not a long post here but something I know many of you will at least find interesting, others will find exciting and a couple fans will be ecstatic to hear.

I recently had a conversation with an Oiler prospect who is down in California training with fitness/Jedi Master Chad Moreau and he gave me a list of players who are also there. Not all are Edmonton property anymore but the fact that even the ex-players are still in the same off-season routine speaks highly for Moreau and for the often described 'closeness of the Edmonton dressing room'.

The players:

"[Ethan] Moreau, [Jarret] Stoll, [Matt] Greene, [Sheldon] Souray, [Andrew] Cogliano, [Taylor] Chorney, [Joffrey] Lupul, [Jason] Smith, Kip Brennan, Penner and one other player."

First, I'm assuming that Penner is Dustin Penner but I don't know that and someone correct me if I'm wrong. Oiler fans should be encouraged by that though and that young guys like Cogliano and Chorney see the value already as well.

I was curious so asked about a specific pair of Oiler prospects Alex Plante (who was down for most of May) and Marc Pouliot (who went down briefly in 2007 and has had his conditioning questioned by the organization). Plante has not gone back down since his extended pre-prospect camp sessions and Pouliot has yet to appear. Don't read too much into that, it's not a criticism, I was just curious if those two players were down there or not.

Oh by the way, the 'one other player' on that list has now been in California working out since May. 3 months non-stop? I don't know but every time I've asked, that's where he's been. He's the guy pictured below.

I'll give you 3 guesses and the first 2 don't count.

WHL Overagers

Alan Caldwell has done a terrific job of breaking down the overage situations for every WHL team and the choices they have to face coming into the 2008-09 season. (See his work here.)

There are a couple of things worth noting in regards to the Edmonton Oilers and the Oil Kings.

First, Caldwell speculates that new Oiler defenceman Jordan Bendfeld will return to the Medicine Hat Tigers next season although my Oiler sources have all been telling me otherwise. Since the draft the organization has been talking about the contribution to Springfield (AHL) they think Bendfeld can make, especially in the toughness department.

However, the roster in Springfield was bulging before the addition of Jake Taylor so maybe there isn't room for Bendfeld now. The argument then becomes 'what's better for Bendfeld - the ECHL or the WHL?'

The other thing to consider is contract negotiations. I haven't asked but perhaps talks are going no where which would put Bendfeld back in a Tigers uniform by default. Pure specualtion.

Now for the Oil Kings... and what a situation GM Bob Green is going to find himself in. From Caldwell's report:

Edmonton Oil Kings: Cameron Cepek (D), Brenden Dowd (F), Robin Figren (F), Jeff Lee (F), Brandon Lockerby (D), J-P Szaszkiewicz (F)

Figren is gone pro. The other five should be back; I'm thinking I'd keep Cepek, Dowd, and Szaszkiewicz if I were them but on the other hand, the Oil King blueline is so horrible looking for next year that they might need to keep Lockerby too just to have another veteran guy.

I was not a fan of Cameron Cepek last year; I didn't travel with the team so I didn't see the road games but at Rexall, most nights I thought he was somewhere between average to awful. But, as Caldwell says, the Oil Kings defence is still rather lacking so they might need him back.

Brenden Dowd, while hot and cold, I thought was one of Edmonton's better players; I bring him back. Szaszkiewicz (or 'Jips' to coach Steve Pleau) is a local product and helped out on the ice during the spring prospect camp. I find it hard to imagine he won't be around as he's surely a favorite for the coach (both were in Spokane before the expansion to Edmonton). But he is a depth player.

It gets interesting with Jeff Lee though. Here's a guy they talked out of the NCAA to come and play for them. Edmonton needed a big forward and Lee wasn't playing much for his NCAA prgram in Alaska. However, if he loses his WHL job, he can't go back to the NCAA and for some reason I have a hard time seeing Bob Green doing that to a kid he recently wooed to his team.

Green is very conscious of how the Oil Kings are viewed by agents, players and parents. Last year the team had a verbal agreement with Robin Figren that they wouldn't trade him at the deadline and, despite a really nice offer from Regina, Green kept his word and let the Swede decide if he'd take the trade or not. Figren stayed and spoke publicly about the class and honor that Green and the WHL organization had shown him.

Yet they'll cut Jeff Lee? Maybe, he's certainly not the same sort of impact player that Figren was but it still doesn't seem right. Edmonton does have some incoming youth, especially up front, that could have an impact in helping Green make his decision.

It'll be interesting.

Caldwell also mentions that Kootenay might opt to dump goalie Kris Lazaruk and go with a youth movement. (Lazaruk is the goalie in the photo making the save on J.P. Szaszkiewicz).

Right now it looks like Edmonton will have Dalyn Flette and one of a couple youngsters vying for the back up spot. Flette didn't exactly light the world on fire last year and while the future for the Oil Kings looks fantastic (see Laurent Brossoit and Cam Lanigan) Green might have an interest in a guy like Lazaruk for one more year.

One more thing: Caldwell conveniently lists all the prospects for each WHL team on his site as well. You'll find the links at the top left on his site. Extremely handy for those of us who care about such things. 'Small Thoughts At large' is recommended reading and we've had it listed under Pipeline Pals for some time now.

Invasion of the Bodie Snatchers!

Nothing official yet but it appears the Anaheim Ducks have already or are about to scoop up former Oiler prospect Troy Bodie.

The one time Kelowna Rocket was not tendered a qualifying offer by Edmonton and so their 2003 9th round pick became an unrestricted free agent. Bodie played two pro seasons, one mostly in Stockton (ECHL) and then last season entirely in the AHL with Springfield.

I recently chatted with Bodie while he was in town at the Oilers prospect camp, nothing really in depth just a quick "Hey Guy, how's it going?". I did ask what he is currently tilting the scales at and was told close to 6'5 and 218 lbs. The Manitoba product has always been considered a long-term project but the fact that the once gangly, lanky and awkward Bodie has developed into a fairly dependable 3rd line minor leaguer is a testament to his character and work ethic.

Let's be honest, Bodie likely wasn't headed to the NHL anytime soon with the Oilers so the organization did what many fans have asked them to do with borderline prospects over the years; fish or cut bait. They cut Bodie loose but not after offering him a purely minor league contract, the same sort of one that goalie Glenn Fisher accepted back in May.

It's neither a blow to the Oilers nor a steal for Anaheim, at least not unless something unexpected happens, but it is a bit disappointing for one reason. New Springfield head coach Jeff Truitt coached Bodie for 5 of the last 6 years including all four in the WHL with the Kelowna Rockets. Truitt obviously got to know all of the Falcons players last year but having that long-standing relationship would have been an asset heading into 2008-09. Sure Tyler Spurgeon is still in the system but at last report, the Edmontontian still is feeling the effects of last year's season ending concussion.

Bodie was well liked by the players, was willing to step up and drop the gloves, played hard, took the body and was a beast in the corners. His spot can be filled with other large bodies like Geoff Paukovich or David Rohlfs but it's safe to say Bodie's void will be felt off the ice and in the dressing room.

Bodie was a good soldier, did everything that was asked and expected of him and was determined to turn himself into a professional hockey player. He was successful. Personally I hope he finds more success now that's he's moving on.

Hunting In Our Nations Capital

The Pipeline Show has learned that Curtis Hunt is expected to be named to the Ottawa Senators Coaching staff on Thursday.

Hunt has coached the Pats since 2004 compiling a 132-127-11-18 record. Before Regina, Hunt led the Moose Jaw Warriors for 2 years.

While he's never advanced past the 2nd round of the playoffs, the former Prince Albert Raider player, is recognized as one of the top coaches in the CHL, and has spent time behind the bench for Team Canada's World Junior Championship teams, which is where the connection to new Senators head coach Craig Hartsburg comes from.

Hunt ran the defence with Canada, and Hartsburg is obviously looking for same chemistry they had with Hockey Canada.

Expose the Exhibition Season!

I'm not going to take any credit for this topic although every September it is something I kick myself for not bringing up in July.

No, credit for this goes to 'Bryan in Hawaii', regular listener to the show and known in cyberspace as "Bryanbryoil". Most identify him with his legendary man-crush on Robbie Schremp but occasionally he puts down the (insert the sterotypical Hawaiian object) and has a pretty solid idea. This is one.

Pre-season doesn't get too many people excited. Many season ticket holders give those duckets away or the seats go empty as the general hockey populace sees the exhibition games largely as a waste of time - "just get on with the season already!"

However, as Bryan represents, there is a growing number of die-hards out there that would love to see the pre-season action because it's a way to see the eventual NHL product coming together. Line combinations are experimented with, guys are often literally fighting for jobs and of course prospect junkies like ME... not want, need to see the youth in action!

So with that in mind and the support seen in Bryan's thread at HF, I contacted the Oilers to check if such an endeavour is possible or perhaps even in the works. The following quotes come from the organization via email and were received in the last two days.

Question #1: I have a question about pre-season TV coverage and if it's possible to have the exhibition games televised or shown via the internet. If not, why not? (costs, lack of demand, league policy, etc.)

Allan Watt (Oilers): Our National NHL partners are not interested in carrying local/regional games. Sportsnet is our Regional partner but they are contracted for 48 regular season games. That leaves Oilers PPV as a posibility and in past years we have produced Pre season games on PPV with marginal return - subscriptions barley covered our production and distribution costs and in most cases didn't.

Other outlets, Global, CTV and or City TV are not interested in disrupting their very lucrative mid week fall tv prime time programming to pruchase, produce and distribute Oilers pre season games with marginal advertising revenue compared to their fall schedule.

Once again this fall we will explore pre season games on PPV and measure possible return against production and distribution costs - also measured against cannibalizing our pre season gate revenue.

All pretty reasonable but didn't touch on carrying the games online so I followed up with...

Question #2: Would there be any thoughts on 'broadcasting' the games on the Oiler website (video + Rod & Morley). I know a lot of people who have an interest in seeing the pre-season action and obviously I personally would like to see as many of the prospects in action as possible and won't get to the road games.

If there are complications to having that done, what would they be? I know the AHL games are all available online in this fashion.

Allan Watt: Good question and we are hoping to be able to facilitate. NHL broadcast rules, as agreed to by each member club, provide a defined home team extended broadcast territory - ours is Alberta, Sask, Man and the territories. No TV product (Oilers games) by any means including IPTV can extend beyond those boundaries. The NHL has new technology that will allow us to broadcast on the Web to specific addresses in our territory and we are planning to experiment with such broadcasts even as soon as pre season. Questions of who pays for production, the team or the end user remain.

So I'm not sure that will satisfy the fans who want to know if they'll be able to watch the exhibition games on TV or online. However later on in the thread at HF, Marc Ciampa (Oilers website guru) left this post: "I'm working on getting the pre-season games streamed live on the website - at least the home ones. The road ones (at Dallas, at Calgary, at Vancouver) might be more difficult. Vancouver did it last year so that would mean 5 of 7 pre-season games hopefully if everything works out? We're also working on getting streaming audio play-by-play of the prospects tournament. Stay tuned!"

At the very least it appears that the wheels are in motion. Die-hard fans, prospect junkies and hosts of hockey prospect radio shows are all waiting with fingers crossed. The Oilers do hockey right... I'm sure if it's possible, they'll find a way.

My questions for you the listener/reader: Would you pay to watch? If yes, how much would be reasonable? Would an online-only feed (video and audio) be good enough for you?

I look forward to your comments.

Jury is out on Brule

Tuesday night Dean and I had a special 3-hour edition of The Pipeline Show in honor of the opening to UFA hunting season. The Oilers made news with three seperate trades over the last week and I was asked that night, and have been asked several times since, what my thoughts were on those deals. As I said on the air on Tuesday, I have issues with all 3 but the trade that I have the most concern over, from an Oiler pespective, is the Raffi Torres for Gilbert Brule swap.

First let me say that I felt dealing Torres was smart; big contract, extremely streaky and just seemed to have confidence issues all the time. His goal scoring has dropped significantly over the last 3 season from 27, 15 to 5 last year (injury shortened but on pace for only 12ish).

Still, Torres is at the very least a proven NHL calibre player who does have a pair of 20-goal seasons on his 3.5 year resume. That's why I'm suprised that the best return Lowe was able to find was Brule. As I told Jason Gregor (off the air) during TPS, if the Oilers had traded a prospect who was struggling, say Marc Pouliot, for a player who had Torres' resume... Oiler fans would be ecstatic. (Gregor evidently liked the analogy as he used it on Just A Game about half an hour later).

Now don't get me wrong, I have no vendetta against Gilbert Brule and sincerely hope to one day be proven completely out to lunch with my concerns. I never got to see him in person while he was with the Vancouver Giants but I've spoken with enough scouts over the last few years so I have no trouble recognizing he was a superb WHL star. He had 39 goals and 87 points in 70 appearnaces during his draft year but it was the next campaign when he really hit stardom in my opinion.



He began the year with the Blue Jackets but after 7 games broke his leg and fractured his sternum forcing his return to the Giants. Once he got healthy again he went on a tear racking up 38 points in 27 games to close out the season. Then in the playoffs he had 16 goals and 30 points in just 18 games as he led his squad to the Memorial Cup in Moncton. The Giants didn't reach the finals but I was told by several scouts that Brule was easily the best player in the tournament; "It was the Brule show".

Brule was then chosen 6th overall by Doug MacLean and the Blue Jackets. That year he was my pick for 'over-rated player' amongst the first rounders. He was in my first round but not in my top 10 simply because I didn't believe he could play the same way he did as a junior once he turned pro and still have the same sort of success. So far, I've been right.

Brule is definitely fast, clearly an asset in Edmonton, and he has hands. Yet described more as a goal scorer than a playmaker, somehow after 148 NHL games Brule still has lit the lamp only 12 times and did so just once last year in 61 outings.

He's listed at NHL.com as 5'10 and 189 lbs so it's understandable why his aggressive bowling ball junior mentality hasn't equated to production in an offensive sense; he can't dominate physically and create room for himself now like he did with the Giants.

Bob Stauffer, my colleague at TEAM 1260, is a pretty sharp guy and pointed out that Craig MacTavish has had a lot of success with developing young centermen. That's true but unfortunately since turning pro Brule has been converted to the right wing. Besides, he's not going to play ahead of Horcoff, Gagner, Cogliano or Brodziak so he'd need to acclimate himself to a wing spot in Edmonton anyway.



Aaron Portzline from the Columbus Dispatch was a guest on the last edition of TPS and made it pretty clear that Brule, in his opinion, was rushed into the NHL. The Oilers are receiving a player who was a top line scorer as a junior but might best be suited to a 3rd or 4th line Darcy Tucker-like role as a pro. The feisty energy player who can still contribute on the score sheet from time to time. But something tells me that Brule, not unlike J.F. Jacques and Ryan O'Marra over the last couple years, hasn't come around to that idea yet.

Checking in with Oiler capologist Rick Olczyk on Thursday I confirmed that Brule does not need to clear waivers to be sent to Springfield - yet. With 148 games under his belt, Brule is 12 appearances shy of the 160 game mark at which point waivers will click in.

I personally feel Brule should start the year on the farm to try and rediscover his offensive game while playing on the top line for the Falcons. But how would he take that? He's only played 16 AHL games. Would he take a reassignment to the farm in stride or...

Portzline also described Brule as "quiet, soft spoken and very introspective" then went on to add that some in Columbus questioned how strong his desire is to play the game.

As a junior, Brule's two greatest strengths were his ability to score goals and to dominate physically. Both of those assets have eluded him as a pro so what does that leave? A fast player that can hit and can score but shouldn't be counted on to excel at either every night.

What I would like to see: Keeping in mind that this is early July and I reserve the right to change my opinion once I see him perform at training camp... but to me, a year on the farm would be a good thing with an eye on eventually replacing Fernando Pisani as the 3rd line RW. Moreau-Cogliano-Brule could be an extremely fast checking line in 2009-10.

Brule tidbits: Scored in his 11th game last year meaning he is currently on a 50-game streak without a goal. The game he scored in was in Los Angeles and he only played 5:29 that night, the second lowest minutes he received in a game all year. More often than not he played in excess of 9 minutes and quite often into the mid-teens.