A scary incident in Saturday's Denver/North Dakota game saw Pioneers senior Jesse Martin, who hails from Edmonton, suffered 3 fractures to his vertebrae after being hit by North Dakota senior Brad Malone. Martin was airlifted from Grand Forks to Minneapolis where he is still in hospital.
Another busy show today as we talked to a new NCAA media contact, got the latest from Moncton after the Kirill Kabanov trade, spoke with another potential 1st round pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, chatted with the coach of one of the top Jr.A teams in Canada and also had a weekly visit from our NHL Insider.
The tumultuous tenure in Moncton has come to an end for Kirill Kabanov. Today the Wildcats announced that they have traded the New York Islanders prospect to the Lewiston Maineiacs in exchange for a second and a fourth round draft pick in 2011, a first round pick in the 2011 CHL Import Draft, and a fourth round draft pick in 2012.
As mentioned late yesterday by Dean, the New York Islanders have sent Swiss forward Nino Niederreiter back to the WHL after the NHL rookie's 9-game trial with the big club. The 5th overall pick in the 2010 draft scored one goal and had 2 points during his brief stay on Long Island. His return to the WHL means an already strong team just got a lot stronger.
Every year Dean and I are fortunate enough to recruit a few NHL draft eligible players to do some guest blogging with us. The list of past players who have taken part include Jordan Eberle (EDM), John Moore (CLB), Ethan Werek (NYR), Mike Lee (PHX), Joe Colborne (BOS), Dylan Olsen (CHI), Mark Pysyk (BUF) and Brett Connolly (TBY).
Tuesday night we opened the show by discussing the struggling Brandon Wheat Kings and how they aren't getting Brayden Schenn back from the LA Kings. Tyler Pitlick was suspended 3 games for a kneeing major and how that might cool off the Oilers prospect, and ticket prices across the CHL. From there we got into our guest list...
When it comes to the top WHL rookies there are a number of young hot prospects, but you might be surprised that some of them aren't this list. Guys Like Martin Marincin of Prince George. The Oilers 2010 2nd round pick has 15 points in 13 games so far. Tyler Pitlick, also an Oiler draft pick who joined Medicine Hat after a year in the NCAA, won't be on it either. I don't think an NHL drafted player - or any player who is past their draft year - should be eligible for the Jim Piggott Memorial trophy for the loops top freshman. Instead here are some of the top players eligible for the 2011, 2012 or even 2013 NHL drafts learning their craft in the Western Hockey League.
Let's celebrate the first chilly snowfall in Edmonton and talk some hockey! It's going to be a busy show on Tuesday as we'll try and pack 5 guests into 6 segments.
I thought I'd do a cross-Canada comparison of ticket prices for Major Junior teams that are located in NHL markets. There are 6 NHL teams in the country but 7 CHL clubs with two being based in the greater Toronto region. I explored all of the team websites, called a few for clarification on prices. I now have a solid comparison for what it would cost to get a single game ticket in a few different areas in each rink. Who is the cheapest or the most expensive? The answers may (or may not) surprise you.
The latest 'Gameday' version of TPS over the weekend is bound to get some people talking. Not only did our NHL Insider suggest that the Toronto Maple Leafs are in a better position this year than the Edmonton Oilers (!) but he was also relentless in his verbal assault on Dean. We also spoke with not one but two players eligible for the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, we looked at the youth in the system of the San Jose Sharks and we chatted with a NCAA reporter who is one of the most opinionated out there when it comes to college and CHL debates.
It's still early but a look at attendance figures across the WHL shows that some teams are having a strong start to the year at the gate while others are showing an alarming drop in ticket sales. This isn't limited to just the WHL of course as teams in every North American league have their ups and downs but for now let's just look at the Major junior loop in Western Canada.
The Paper back version of the Peter Pocklington book 'I'd Trade Him Again' written by Terry McConnell and J'Lyn Nye hits shelves today and has a extra chapter that reveals who bailed Pocklington out. Originally it was thought that it was Glen Sather. Here's a snipet.When the former owner of the Edmonton Oilers was arrested and jailed last year, it was not Glen Sather who posted his $1 million US bail.Nye and McConnell research led them to a property in Minnesota that was put up for security, and that property was owned by a Katz company.
Puck's benefactor was instead current Oilers' owner Daryl Katz, who became involved at Sather's request.
“Glen asked Daryl to assist him and he did so out of respect for his friendship with Glen,” says Katz spokesman Steve Hogle.
While Hogle emphasizes “Daryl has no relationship with Peter Pocklington,” Sather makes no such qualifying statement.
“Peter has been a good friend for a lot of years,” Sather told the authors. “I just felt that anything we could do to help him, we should get involved.”
I couldn't be as specific in the title as I wanted to be but this Top 5 is limited to guys who either went really late in the NHL draft or didn't get selected at all. That eliminates the higher profile guys like Sam Brittain at Denver or a future high pick like Dillon Simpson going to North Dakota so don't be surprised when you don't see their names on the list.
I just received a copy of the 'Players to Watch List' that Central Scouting has (or is about to) released today. A quick glance through is at first a bit disappointing because it's rather short. Then again, because it's largely a Junior A and High School list, most of the big names aren't on it.
Everett Silvertips head coach Craig Hartsburg will undergo heart surgery and will be lost to the club for atleast the first half of the season. The Tips release can be found here. Obviously the main concern is Hartsburg's health, but you have to wonder how this will effect the Tips, if it does at all. They're currently 5-2-1-1 in what might be the most competitive division in all of junior hockey, with apologies to the mid-west division of the OHL. 4 of the 5 teams in the WHL's U.S division are atleast 3 games above .500 and Portland leads the way with an 8-2-1 mark.
News today out of the QMJHL that majority owner Bobby Smith is the new head coach of the Halifax Mooseheads. In a brief release today, the team made it clear that outgoing bench boss Cam Russell is still employed and will continue on in a key management role.
It's a great time of year. The CHL is now a month into the season, the new NCAA campaign has kicked off plus the AHL is underway and so there are lots of things to look at at various levels.
It's become tradition. Every year we get a handful of NHL draft eligible players to do some guest blogging for us. The list of past players who have taken part include Jordan Eberle (EDM), John Moore (CLB), Ethan Werek (NYR), Mike Lee (PHX), Joe Colborne (BOS), Dylan Olsen (CHI), Mark Pysyk (BUF) and Brett Connolly (TBY).
The Edmonton Oil Kings haven't had a lot of success against the Medicine Hat Tigers since the OK Kids rejoined the WHL and that continued with a weekend sweep courtesy of the Tigers and Oilers 2010 2nd round pick (31st) Tyler Pitlick.
This weekend we talked to a new Oilers prospect who has been off to a slow start in the WHL this year... until last night. We headed south of the border to meet another potential 2011 NHL Draft 1st rounder, we talked about the NCAA action from Friday and we also went East to Kitchener to find out how the Rangers are getting it done this year after some hefty personnel losses. And of course Saturday means another visit from the other media mogul named Millard.
Taylor Stefishen was hoping to graduate from Ohio State University at the age of 21 with a degree in financial planning. Ironically, his plan won’t happen apparently because of finances.
The Prince George Cougars and Edmonton Oil Kings have a lot in common, so it wasn't surprising that it took 64 minutes, 59.9 seconds to decide things at Rexall Place Monday afternoon in an 8-7 sloppy but entertaining contest.
Last year a good portion of the junior hockey season was dominated by negative headlines. From Mike Liambis to Patrice Cormier the OHL and QMJHL kicked both out by January 25th. The CHL season is just 7 games in and already the WHL is faced with a tough decision.
Former BU Terrier Vinny Saponari will join the arch-rival BC Eagles for 2011-12 after being booted from the program recently. USCHO.com has the story here.
A number of deals over the last few days in the WHL as the October 10th deadline for teams to get down to three 20-year-olds draws closer. The Prince George Cougars have been front and center this week having been involved in a number of deals. A summary of the transactions follows...
If you were listening Tuesday night you might have heard Guy and I talking about a possible trade taking place in the WHL. It wasn't a major block buster but an interesting one.
The NCAA season begins this weekend, highlighted by the IceBreaker in St. Louis featuring Boston University, Wisconsin, Holy Cross and Notre Dame. With a new season come new questions, especially considering how much rosters have changed for many teams since last year. That happens every summer but it seems to have really impacted some teams more than normal this year.
So the Oilers are down to 25 players after sending and hoping to send 8 players to Oklahoma City. On their way to OKC are the following:
The Prince George Cougars had to wait a while for 2005 draft pick Taylor Stefishon, but he will be in the line up this week. You can read the team release here.
He was a bit of a surprise pick in June but the rugged Moose Jaw defenceman stood out in the Class of 2010 as the toughest rearguard available - enough for the New York Rangers to grab him 10th overall. Now after returning to the WHL from Rangers camp, Dylan McIlrath is focused on getting the Warriors to the post season and beyond.
Friday night the Regina Pats and the Edmonton Oil Kings got into an old school melee as a line brawl broke out near the end of the second period that included the two netminders. Some video has turned up and although it certainly misses much of the action, it's better than nothing.
It's that time of year again, the time to get our annual hockey pool going. You know what makes the TPS one different than any other NHL pool right? It only contains rookies, sophomores and guys who hope to just get some time in the league!
Another busy show this weekend as The Pipeline Show looked ahead at the coming NHL season and bravely predicted this year's Calder trophy winners and candidates - with the help of an old friend from Hockey Night In Canada. We also went South to check in on the Barons of OK City as they prepared for their one and only pre-season tilt in advance of the regular season. Our 2011 eligible guest is considered the top player available from the AJHL. And after a wild affair last night in Regina we were joined by someone who was not only in the building but had the call of the brawl between the Pats and the Oil Kings.
