Saturday Morning Special - Aug 20th

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Who says there is no hockey to talk about in the summer? Saturday morning we had a show that was wall-to-wall hockey featuring a couple of newcomers to TPS, a former TEAM 1260 personality, a regular media contributor from the Hockey East conference and possibly Dean Millard's favorite segment since I blindsided him with an Andy Moog wedding present back in Season 2.

Sons Of NHLers Going Dub Way

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We're seeing more and more kids who grew up in NHL locker rooms suiting up in WHL rinks. Brandon Sutter, Landon Ferraro, David Musil just to name a few, and there seems to be more on the way.

This week Portland announced the signing of Brandon Burke who's father is Sean Burke of 18 NHL seasons fame.

This weekend at the WHL prospect camp in California, there is also an NHL flavour with Eemil Selanne (seen here much younger) and Tyson McLellan who's fathers are the Finnish Flash Teemu and San Jose Shark head coach Todd. McLellan is a no brainer for me as he Todd was very successful behind the bench in Swift Current, but I just assumed that Selanne would head back to Finland when his career wrapped up. But who knows the way he's going maybe him and his son will play together some day in the NHL like Gordie Howe and his kids.

Ferraro A Silvertip, Froese A Rebel

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Red Deer and Everett have swapped forwards, and for the Rebels they rid themselves of a potentially ugly training camp situation. In exchange they get a guy who has played internationally for Canada before and was taken at the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Red Wings Prospect Snap Shot

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The winged wonders have won the the 3rd most Stanley Cups in the NHL behind only original six cousins Montreal and Toronto. They’ve made the post season an astonishing 18 years in a row, but that’s not to say the organization hasn’t seen it’s fare share of lean seasons. From 1967-1983 they played past the regular season just twice, and went past the first round only once in 19 years at one point. Detroit gets a ton of credit for drafting guys like Henrik Zetterberg and Pavel Datsyuk in later rounds, but even Red Wing scouts have admitted in the past that they were lucky to get those players when they did.

As for who might join Datsyuk and Zetterberg in the next few years, here’s a snap shot of the Red Wings top prospects.

One on One: Landon Ferraro

Last week the Red Deer Rebels came to town and I had a chance to speak with a couple of the 2009 eligible players on the roster. I've spoken with a lot of prospects over the last several years but few come close to the level of articulate, intelligent and engaging interviews as I had with Landon Ferraro.

Everyone knows him as the son of Ray Ferraro and I think it's safe to say that you could identify that connection just by hearing Landon speak - they have almost exactly the same voices.

Verbally Landon is as polished as they come and yet he's not one of those young players who enters an interview armed with a book of clichés. You can hear that he's smart and isn't afraid to speak his mind, like when I asked him about the Top Prospects Game. It's hard to believe he hasn't hit his 18th birthday yet.

"Lando" is ranked 13th in North America by NHL Central Scouting (mid-term) and 18th overall by ISS (February release).

I wrote a player feature on Ferraro for Hockey's Future based on this interview and it was released this morning. You can read that feature at HF by clicking HERE. To listen to the interview in its original form click HERE.

2009 Draft Prospect Performers Of The Week

Each week, International Scouting Services (ISS), Sports Management Worldwide (SMWW), Hockey Now, and The Pipeline Show recognize the Top Draft Eligible player from each of the WHL, OHL, QMJHL, & USHL leagues for the upcoming 2009 NHL Entry Draft based on their play over the course of the week. Players are nominated and the selected by graduates of the SMWW Hockey GM & Scouting with each of the winners receiving a gift acknowledging their selection.


In the OHL it's Nazem Kadri of the London Knights. The 6.01, 170 pound centreman is ranked 8th in the October scouting report from ISS. Kadri notched 3 goals and added 4 helpers for London in just 3 games last week. He's currently riding a 10 game point streak and has put up 17 points in the Knights first 12 games. Kadri was picked up from Kitchener (seen with Rangers celebrating a goal from last year's playoffs ) as part of the Steve Mason trade last year, but didn't join London until this season, giving him valuable Memorial Cup experience, something the Knights are hoping will come in handy as they make a run for their 2nd Canadian Junior Hockey championship since 2004.


In the QMJHL, defenceman Gabriel Lemieux of the Shawinigan Cataractes gets the nod after 2 goals and 2 assists in his last 4 outings. Aside from the point per game performance, Lemieux was plus 6, and has amassed 13 points in 15 games, which is only 3 shy of his totals from last year. Lemieux makes a good first pass and has above average vision, which has made him the 17th ranked Q league player by ISS for the upcoming draft.

In the Western Hockey League, while the Red Deer Rebels may be struggling with just 4 wins on the season, their top draft eligible player is having a terrific start to the season. Centerman Landon Ferraro scored 3 times, set up another in 4 games last week and was plus 2 for Jesse Wallin's Rebels. The 2nd overall pick from 2006 Bantam draft has a wicked shot and has used it to light the lamp 8 times this year while adding 6 assists in Red Deers first 13 games. The son of former NHLer and current TSN analyst Ray Ferraro, Landon may earn an invite to Canada's World Junior camp in December, and is projected to be a late first round pick in this June's draft.

In the USHL, it's a Canadian kid playing junior hockey in the states. Louis Leblanc of Kirland, Quebec could have stayed home and played with Val d'Or of the QMJHL, but seems to be leaning towards the college route and is suiting up with Omaha of the USHL right now. The move seems to be agreeing with the 17 year old. He sniped 4 times and added 3 assists in the Lancers 3 games last week, while compiling a plus 4 rating. Known as a strong skating, hard working centerman, Leblanc will have to bulk up his 5.11 170 pound frame before his next step in hockey, but the former midget hockey scoring (pictured with the Lac St. Louis Lions) star has still attracted plenty of attention from NHL scouts, and is currently ranked 27th by ISS for next June's draft in Montreal.

By the way, one of last week's award recipients, Brett Chartier of the Lincoln Stars will join Guy and I Tuesday night to discuss his season thus far. Chartier is ranked 16th among those playing in the States for the upcoming draft. The Pipeline Show can be heard Tuesday nights from 7-9 PM Mountain time on the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton, or online at www.thepipelineshow.com.