Rookie Watch: Winnipeg Jets

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Each day until September 15th TPS will take a look at one team from the Eastern conference and one club from the West, spotlighting a rookie or two to watch for this season. This afternoon we explore the freshmen candidates of the Winnipeg Jets.

What To Do With Shinnimin?

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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.

Wednesday night an ugly hit in the WHL left one player injured and one facing a lengthy suspension. A couple videos coming up...

Huskies appeal Cormier suspension

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Thanks to Dean Millard and Guy Flaming for inviting me aboard as the new QMJHL correspondent.

Just checking in with a bit of news from the Q that got buried by Team Canada Olympic fever last night.

The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies announced they will be appealing the Patrice Cormier suspension to an independent arbitrator. As most of you probably know, the Atlanta Thrashers prospect was suspended for the rest of the season and the playoffs after elbowing Mikael Tam of Patrick Roy’s Quebec Remparts last month.

Cormier Still Suspended

The QMJHL has updheld the suspension of Patrice Cormier. The official release can be found here. Not much to add to this as I aggree with the league.

Thrashers Prospect Snap Shot

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The NHL returned to the State of Georgia in 1999, almost 20 years after the Atlanta Flames moved north to Calgary in 1980. The Thrashers, a name selected by fan ballot, took to the ice in the Fall of '99 and won just 14 times in their first season. The team has finished with a losing record in 7 of the 9 seasons it has taken part in and is currently teetering near the .500 mark this year.

Atlanta's only post season appearance ended quickly, losing in four consecutive games to the New York Rangers in 2007.

The Thrashers have had their fair share of star power but have never been able to build a winner. Dany Heatley, Ilya Kovalchuk, Marrian Hossa, Marc Savard and Salva Kozlov have all worn the Thrashers sweater (some at the same time) and yet the team has failed to even win a single playoff game let alone a series.

A combination of poor drafting and even worse asset management has hampered the team's chances at improvement. Still, there are players in Atlanta's system that could help the team get to where they want to go. Here is a look at some of the best of that group...

Cormier done, Branch to discuss

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Patrice Cormier was suspended for the rest of the regular season and the playoff, which is over 40 games if Rouyn-Noranda goes 7 games in every series. I haven't heard anyone say it was to long, but a lot that have said it was justified. CHL commish David Branch will appear on The Pipeline Show tomorrow night, and we'll talk with Branch about the lengthy suspensions that have been handed out in junior hockey this year. If you have a question for Branch. pipeup@theteam1260.com.

One on One: Phil Cornet

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Tuesday night on The Pipeline Show I had a chance to catch up with Rouyn-Noranda Huskies forward Philippe Cornet. The QMJHL team has been in the news as of late, first because of their aggressive trade deadline acquisitions that has positioned the club to be a potential contender for the league title. The other newsworthy item featuring the Huskies as of late has been the suspension of forward Patrice Cormier after his dangerous and blatant elbow against Mikael Tam of the Quebec Remparts.

cornet, a prospect of the Edmonton Oilers, talked about joining the Huskies after three years in Rimouski, his failure to crack Canada's WJC roster, the changes to Rouyn-Noranda's roster and what the impact of his friend's actions may have on his team's chances this Spring.

QMJHL Deadline Deals

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Some big names were shuffled around today as the QMJHL trade deadline came crashing down and the division between the contenders and the pretenders is now extremely clear. There was a total of 21 transactions completed and here are a few of the major ones that will have huge ramifications on the league down the stretch to the playoffs and beyond.

Who Will Become Captain Canada?

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Now that the final roster is in place, the next question is who will Hockey Canada look to as the leadership group for the 2010 World Junior Championship. When you have a roster comprised of 22 leaders, it's probably a good problem to have and an easier decision to make. That said, it also makes guessing who will wear the letters might be more challenging too.

Spitfires misfire now 0-2 at Memorial Cup

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Well I guess someone misspoke when he said:

"Goodbye Rimouski"

But in fairness to Guy, I thought the same thing, that if Rimouski had a shot at winning the Mastercard Memorial Cup, they would have to beat Kelowna coming out of the chute to gain momentum.

They didn't and looked really rusty in losing. On the flipside Windsor looked good, but lost in overtime against Drummondville Saturday. So by our theory, Windsor should have handled Rimouski easily today right? Wrong.

It was a wildly entertaining game, but a game where Winsdor received some shoddy goaltending from Andrew Engelage...again. Yesterday he allowed a soft tying goal. Today he gave up a bad game winner to Logan MacMillan (Anaheim, 1st round, 2007)from a sharp angle in the corner.

Windsor pulled within one when Andrei Loktionov (Los Angeles, 5th round, 2008) notched his second of the game. They would have tied it late if it wasn't for the quick stick of Sebastien Piche, who knocked the puck away from a diving Dale Mitchell (Toronto, 3rd round, 2007) and prevented him from getting his second of the game.

The game featured two 2nd period lead changes and 7 goals in the middle frame and for the second straight day, the pre tournament favorite lost by a goal.

Can Windsor battle back to force a tie breaker and reach the final? It will be extremely tough and it will start with a must win game against Kelowna on Tuesday.

I was impressed again with Rimouski netminder Maxime Gougeon, who was strong down the stretch for the Oceanic and gave his club a chance today, especially with a breakaway save on possible first overall pick in 2010 Taylor Hall. Windsor's Loktionov I liked as well, and Rimouski's Patrice Cormier (New Jersey, 2nd, 2008) who scored and played physical as well. The Oceanic's Keven Vielleaux (Pittsburgh, 2nd round 2007) was also effective, coming back after losing some teeth on a Ryan Ellis hit and setting up Luca Cunti (Tampa Bay, 3rd round, 2007) with a beautiful toe drag.

Monday it's Kelowna and Drummondville. Windsor's loss puts the Rockets in a great spot. As Guy mentioned Friday, Drummondville is pretty banged up and might run out of gas. Kelowna has a chance to go 2-0 and secure atleast a berth in the semi-final.

Canada Q-Less?

Yes... that IS Justin Timberlake as a French goalie from the ridiculously bad Love Guru. Why is he on display here at Coming Down the Pipe? Because he's another Q product that's not going to make the WJC team either.

Zero returning players, one goalie, one blueliner and 3 forwards invited. That's the total contribution to Canada's 2009 World Junior camp which begins later this week in Ottawa. It's almost unthinkable to imagine but could this possibly be the year where there isn't a single player from the QMJHL that makes the team?

My first thought is that Hockey Canada wouldn't allow that to happen simply for political reasons - the uproar out East would be enormous.

My second thought is whether Hockey Canada would really take a player from the Q simply for that reason. Surely someone from the five players invited is good enough to earn a spot on his own merit but I'm willing to bet that if there is just one guy who makes it... someone is going to raise an eyebrow and declare that guy to be "the token Q representative".

The goalie in question is Jake Allen. This time last year no one outside of Newfoundland new who he was because he was stuck playing behind Timo Pielmeier with the Fog Devils. Once he got to the U18's though it was a different story and thanks to an outstanding tournament in Moscow (capped off with an 8-0 shutout in the final game) Allen is a legit contender for a roster spot.

Allen was a 2nd round pick by St. Louis last June and since the team relocated to Montreal, he's been the go-to guy in net (Pielmeier is now in Shawinigan). Allen's numbers a solid but not mind-blowing by any stretch of the imagination; 2.92 GAA, .919 SV% and 13 wins in 24 games played.

On his side he has fresh success with Hockey Canada and head coach Pat Quinn, both of which are a big deal. Working against him is his age, he's the youngest of the four invitees as the only '90 born of the group. There will be some who suggest that unless he's clearly in the top 2 then he should be cut with the knowledge that he'll be a frontrunner for the job next year.

On the other hand, the conspiracy theorists might point out that if you were going to go the "token Q player" route... the back up goalie spot would be an easy place to do it.

The only blueliner from the Q is Kevin Marshall of the Quebec Remparts. Marshall took part in the tryout camp in 2008 for Prague as well but fell short of making the final roster. The 2nd round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2007, Marshall is a 6'1, 207 lbs defence first kind of guy. His career high for points is 35, earned last season while still a member of the Lewiston Maineiacs.

It's just my personal opinion but I don't have any trouble putting 8 of the other 13 rearguards at camp ahead of him on my depth chart.

Up front Patrice Cormier of the Rimouski Oceanic, according to Hockey's Future writer and TPS contributor Kevin Forbes, is "by far a much more complete player (than teammate Phil Cornet), able to make room for those less eager for the physical battles to show their stuff. I suspect that's why Cormier gets the invite, as he'll be competing for a third/fourth line spot".

Cormier fought through a myriad of injuries last year but the New Jersey Devils rolled the dice and grabbed him in the second round anyway. So far this year Cormier has 24 points in 27 games but, as Forbes and some others have said, points probably aren't why the forward is part of this camp.

I've never seen him play so I can't tell how he compares to guys like Stefan Della Rovere, Jamie Arniel, Brett Sonne, Riley Nash or Dana Tyrell but I know the last three names I just mentioned bring more to the table than simply an ability to check. However, Cormier's ace in the hole might be that at 6'2 and 205 lbs... he might be the biggest forward at camp.

Chris Didomenico, a 6th round pick of the Maple Leafs in 2007, enjoyed a 95-point campaign with Saint John last year. This season he's off to another good start with 34 points in 26 games. He was originally named to the ADT Canada-Russia Challenge but had to sit out due to "a lower body injury" that had him on the shelf for a couple of weeks.

It will be interesting to see how he matches up with some of the other offensive players in camp, assuming that is the role he'd be expected to fill for Canada. CHL guru Peter Loubardias will guest on The Pipeline Show tomorrow night and will be able to tell us much more about Didomenico and his chances of sticking.

Last but certainly not least is Angelo Esposito who has one last chance to try and crack the WJC roster. He's never really come close so is there any reason to think this year will be any different? Motivation certainly has to be a thing of the past as failure to make the squad would mean getting cut 4 years in a row.

Still, it's not like he's ripping up the scoring race in the Q this season; his 24 points in 20 games sounds great but doesn't put him in the top 50 - and yes I know he's played fewer games than most.

Is Esposito really a more deserving invite than say Ottawa 67's forward Logan Couture? They have similar point production and neither have had any success cracking the WJC roster in the past but this year it is being held in Couture's backyard.

It will be interesting to see how the 5 QMJHL players make out this week. For some reason I think Didomenico has the best shot but I won't be surprised at all to see Jake Allen joining him on the final roster.

Just my opinion though, what's your's?