Vernon Wins RBC Cup Again

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The Vernon Vipers have captured their second consecutive RBC Cup title after defeating the host Dauphin Kings in a 8-1 drubbing today in Manitoba. It is the 6th national title for the club since it first won the national Jr. A championship in 1990. The team is now a perfect 6-0 when in the final game.

Vernon went 3-1 through the round robin portion of the tournament, the loss coming at the hands of the Kings in the opening game back on May 1st. The Vipers rattled off 5 straight victories including 4-2 over La Ronge, 5-3 against Oakville, 4-2 over Brockville. Vernon shutout Brockville 2-0 in the semi-finals before trouncing Dauphin in their own rink.

MPS added to Team Sweden

Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson has been added to Sweden's roster for the World Championship. MPS was added Sunday before Tre Kronor's game against Norway. He joins fellow Oiler prospect Linus Omark on team Sweden. No doubt Oilers brass will be watching closely to see how both prospects might stack up next year in either the NHL or AHL.

It would also be nice to see Jordan Eberle get in a game or 2 and see how his game measures up.

Connolly Says Hip is A-OK

Brett Connolly is a top prospect for the upcoming draft and someone TPS has been excited about even before he joined us in studio last year during the WHL awards/draft week. The Prince George Cougar forward also does some guest blogging for us, and you know we'll be checking in with him before the draft once again.

I had one scout tell me this year that if Connolly was healthy, he might have been able to sneak into the Hall/Seguin discussion and make a case for being a top 3 pick. It's my belief if he slips out of the top 5, whichever team snags him is getting a steal of a draft pick...if he stays healthy. Connolly had major hip problems this year, but in a conversation with Chris Botta recently proclaims his hip problems to be in the past. It's a good read, and definitely worth your time. Click here to check it out.

Is Brent Parker Stepping Down?

The Regina Pats have called a news conference for today, and speculation is that G.M. Brent Parker will step down and former Moose Jaw Warrior G.M. Chad Lang will be his replacement.

Hartikainen Deadline Flip Flops

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So remember how on April 26th I mentioned that the Oilers had to sign both Phil Cornet and Teemu Hartikainen by June 1st, but was then corrected by the organization that the date didn't actually affect the Finn? It sounded odd to me then but that's what the team told me.

Then on May 3rd I passed on the further details of Edmonton's explanation as to why they actually had until June 15th to sign Hartikainen.

Well guess what?

Tyler's Tale: From a Tiger to a Pirate to a Sabre.

Last night Sabres rookie Tyler Ennis - pictured celebrating his first NHL goal- joined us for most of the first segment in studio. The Edmonton product just returned last week after suiting up for the Sabres in their first round playoff loss.

Phil Cornet Signs

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The Edmonton Oilers have announced that they have inked 2008 5th round selection Philippe Cornet to a 3-year entry level deal. Details can be found here.

After 3 years with the Rimouski Oceanic, Cornet ended his QMJHL career with the Huskies of Rouyn-Noranda where he matched his scoring total of 77 points from the previous season.

Cornet ended his junior days with a total of 224 points, just shy of a point-per-game as he appeared in 235 QMJHL contests.

The Quebec native represented the QMJHL during last year's Subway Series against the Russian Selects and also earned a tryout for Team Canada's entry for the 2010 World Junior Championship in Saskatoon but was a late cut.

Sea Dogs need to turn it around

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So much for the QMJHL President's Cup final being a hard-fought, tight-checking series guaranteed to go seven games. The Moncton Wildcats have owned the Saint John Sea Dogs in the first two games, punctuated by a 9-3 win Sunday in Moncton. Saint John coach Gerard Gallant snapped, climbing the glass because he felt Moncton's Danny Flynn was disrespecting his team by putting the backup goalie in in the late stages.

Coming Down the Pipe Tonight: Tyler Ennis

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The AHL Rookie of the Year and key prospect of the Buffalo Sabres will be in studio during this week's edition of The Pipeline Show.

We're excited to have Tyler Ennis live and in person with us for about 45 minutes on Tuesday. Not sure if we'll open the phone lines to take live calls or not but you sure can email us your questions or comments for Tyler.

Oilers Facing Two Deadlines

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Players who were drafted in 2008 have either been signed already or will need to be in the coming weeks or else they will be dropped back into the prospect pool and available once again in the 2010 NHL Draft. The Edmonton Oilers have a pair of players that they still need to get under contract but there are different deadlines for each one.