“Within 10 days everything will come to light,” - Sandra Slater, CHLPA on August 20th.
The Canadian
Hockey League Players Association has made a lot of noise over the last
few weeks but very little is still known about who they are, what they
want and how they hope to achieve their goals.
It's also still unclear whether a CHLPA is actually needed or even supported by the players in the CHL.
Despite the declaration quoted above, 16 days later we're still left with more questions than we have answers.
- Unlike with most teams I've done thus far in this series, the Carolina Hurricanes presented a bit of a different sort of challenge. With other teams it was hard to narrow it down to a single guy because there were so many players that I like. That's not really the case with the 'Canes.
No offence meant to "Cane-iacs" out there but I've kind of given up on guys I once expected big things for - Drayson Bowman, Zach Boychuk and Zac Dalpe for example. It might be premature on my part but that's where I am, just being honest.
It didn't help that the team just traded Brian Dumoulin to Pittsburgh, arguably their top prospect. You could make a valid argument for Ryan Murphy and now he probably is the guy on top of the list.
This time I picked someone based almost entirely on where he'll play this year because I will get to see a lot of him.
~ Day 2 of the 2011 NHL Entry unfolded while we were on the air and that meant a couple of live interviews with players of local interest from here in Edmonton. We also heard scrums from Minnesota involving two of the newest Edmonton Oilers. Like every week, Daren Millard joined us to give us his thoughts on the various trades that teams executed over the last couple of days as well as the one still apparently in the works. Plus a special guest host in studio as Dean Millard was on a plane coming back from the draft.
~ I love the NHL entry draft. It's the culmination of an entire year of research and hard work, preparing for the big day which has become a weekend event with a two or three day lead in if you are there in person (like Dean Millard has been this week). With as much study and research as we put into it over the course of the year, you naturally come up with some things you hope to see happen at the draft because it will make for a great story or because you've come to respect a certain prospect and hope for the best for him.
This year is no different and there are a bunch of things I would like to see happen in Minnesota this weekend. Here are a bunch of them as well as some predictions like who I think might go where.
~ February and March mark the final drive through the CHL regular season and into the playoffs as well as the NCAA conference playoffs plus the start of the NCAA national tournament. Obviously it's an exciting time of year as teams gear up for crunch time while others seem to hit a wall and fade down the stretch.
We spoke with a number of players, scouts, coaches and media members with insight on the draft class of 2011 during that time. Here's a recap of February and March...
~ This morning Guy and I recapped every CHL and NCAA playoff game, went in depth with 3 different CHL series and a bracket of the NCAA tournament and discussed concussions and why one NHL rookie has the most impressive stats in the Calder trophy race. Click here to go inside the world of prospects hockey.
~ The 2011 NHL Entry Draft is now a mere 5 months away. That might seem like a long time but with the local NHL club already 20 points out of a playoff spot (OK, it's only 18), the draft is the next exciting thing on the calendar for Oilers fans. What might make it a little more interesting this year is that there are a number of local WHL players of interest for the big event in June.
~ I had a chance on Monday evening to watch the first day of main camp for the Edmonton Oil Kings. The club played a trio of inter-squad games and a number of players made an impression on me which made the lengthy trek out to Fort Saskatchewan a worthwhile one.
I finally had an opportunity to meet new head coach Derek Laxdal who we previously tried to book as a guest on The Pipeline Show but were unable to thanks to a Northern Saskatchewan fishing trip.
More on my first impression of the new coaching staff and several of the players...
~ With the Iva Hlinka Memorial Tournament now in the books, the 2010-11 hockey season is officially underway. There are a plethora of items to discuss these days and this as good a time and place to do it as any other. With that said, here are some things kicking around the cranium right now...
~ The Edmonton Oil Kings have quietly made some more cuts as they prepare for the start of the 2009-10 season this Saturday against the Calgary Hitmen. There has been no official release from the team but The Pipeline Show has learned that the team has gotten down to the three 20-year-olds that they will begin the year with and have also sent a couple other players out of camp.
I'm told that defenceman Drew Nichol has won the final overage roster spot and that the team has sent fellow blueliner Garret Thiesen back to the BCHL where he will play with the Prince George Spruce Kings.
Netminder Laurent Brossoit has also been cut from camp but I was not able to ascertain where he will actually end up yet - the team maybe looking for a new home for him as we speak. The 16-year-old had a good camp but his WHL career will really begin next season after 20-year-old Torrie Jung has played out his eligibility.
With Jesse Pearson still a scratch due to concussion symptoms carried over from last season, the Oil Kings are down to 7 defencemen. Mark Pysyk, Tyler Hlookoff, , Adrian Van de Mosselaer, Henrik Tervonen, Braeden Laroque, Drew Nichol and 16-year-old rookie Keegan Lowe.
With Colton Stephenson also sidelined with concussion symptoms and 15-year-old Mitchell Moroz too young to stick, the Oil Kings are also down to 14 forwards to start the season with.
Here now are my own personal Top 5 Oil Kings of interest in 2009-10:
5. Keegan Lowe - Defence
Yes... he is the son of the Oilers president, the same NHL team that falls under the ownership umbrella of Darryl Katz. However, throw your preconceived notions of nepotism aside - this Lowe is here because he's earned his place on the roster all on his own. It's kind of fitting that during the exhibition schedule the team wore jerseys without name bars because no one I have spoken with (WHL scouts, team sources, etc) has even slightly suggested that Keegan Lowe is getting any sort of preferential treatment because of his last name.
Personally, he makes my list of interesting layers to watch simply because I haven't gotten to see him play yet. Aside from 10 minutes or so in St. Albert against Medicine Hat before he bruised a shoulder, Lowe has been scratched whenever I've been in attendance.
Will be be an impact player at 16? Probably not. There is no reason to expect right now that he'll be anything more than a 6-7th guy for the Oil Kings this year unless injuries come into play. But that fact that he bumped some guys with WHL experience off the roster has definitely peaked my interest.
4. Brett Breitkreuz - Forward
A few moments before the first Oil Kings game I saw this pre-season, I had a conversation with GM Bob Green where I asked the inevitable question: "Who has impressed you so far in camp?" He told me that Brett Breitkreuz had clearly dedicated himself over the summer because he had reported to camp looking like a completely different player.
To some degree I took his comment with a bit of salt - of course the GM is going to pump up one of his key guys this year. Give credit where its due, Breitkreuz has delivered.
He earned an invite to Oilers rookie camp and opened some eyes with the NHL club and is now really and honestly on their radar as a player to follow this year. What may have begun as a token gesture to the Oil Kings, and I think it was actually more than that but you never know, Breitkreuz has taken and capitalized on. A strong season this year as an overage player could lead to another audition with the Oilers, or another NHL club, down the road.
3. Michael St. Croix - Forward
Obviously this is one of the key guys who will help determine the amount of success the Oil Kings enjoy this year. He's only 16 but Michael St. Croix could very well be one of the top rookie scorers in the league. Top line? Second line? Maybe the latter to start with but it will be up to him to see if he can carve out a bigger role for himself as the year goes on.
I don't know who his linemates will be (I'll tell you if I get the expected call/email/text from A.J. Jakubec) but you know he's going to put up some points this year. He's not NHL Draft eligible until 2011 but there will be scouts watching him this year in order to get an early feel for him. He'll have the World U17s like he did last year so the team will have to live without him for a couple of weeks.
2. Dylan Wruck - Forward
Another new face to the team but coming in as a 17-year-old should be a bit of an advantage for the diminutive forward. Wruck is an offensive dynamo that always seems to be on the score sheet every time I hear the summary from an exhibition game this fall.
He's playing with a lot of confidence, which is exactly why Green, Randy Hansch and Steve Pleau sent him back to the Beardy's Blackhawks last year. He dominated the league and now joins the 'Dub club knowing nothing but how to win and produce a ton of points.
I think that it will be very interesting to see who actually finishes the season with more points - Wruck or St. Croix. At this point I might throw my money behind Wruck
1. Mark Pysyk - Defence
This one really should have been obvious. He'll be the first Edmonton Oil King chosen in the 1st round of the NHL Entry Draft, the only question right now is how high he'll go. Recently I've been told that after the way he played in the Ivan Hlinka tournament, Hockey Canada might invite him to the December WJC camp if he gets off to the start they think he will. I'll believe it when I see it but hearing that rumor from someone in the know but with no vested interest in the Oil Kings was very interesting.
I first met Pysyk in the TEAM 1260 golf tournament back in 2007. He was in my foursome and, no word of a lie, was our designated ringer - the kid could spank the golf ball a mile and straight as an arrow. He comes across as a bt of an introvert although maybe that's just around media types. On the ice he's a workhorse that never seems to tire. Green once told me that Pysyk doesn't come off the ice because he's tired, he only comes off because his 45 or 55 seconds are up.
Pysyk is an exceptional talent but like a lot of high caliber blueliners, he doesn't always standout because he's so efficient that he doesn't have to make a lot of flashy, highlight real plays. Positionally strong, a terrific skater, crisp and accurate passer, unquestionably high hockey IQ and a quality individual. He's the real deal.
Honorable Mentions: I got done my list and laughed out loud wen I noticed that two of the team's bigger names aren't even in my top 5 right now. Torrie Jung and Tomas Vincour are probably MVP candidates for the team this year but I left them off of this particular list simply because we know so much about them already.
If Jung is only as good as he was last year then the Oil Kings are going to be in great shape. If, as a goalie with another year under his belt, Jung is somehow better than last season then Edmonton could legitimately be a team that strikes fear into other clubs in the Eastern Conference.
As for Vincour, reports out of Dallas have included a quote from GM Joe Nieuwendyk who called the Czech forward one of the most pleasant surprises from their prospect tournament in Traverse City. Health will be a question mark. He's battled shoulder problems on both sides but if he can stay in the line up this year, he could set new franchise records for points.
Season #3 gets underway on Saturday when the Calgary Hitmen visit Rexall Place.
Photos courtesy: Edmonton Oil Kings and Andy Devlin
We kicked off the 5th season of The Pipeline Show last night and had more interviews and discussion than we could possibly fit inside our two-hour time limit so there is bonus material in the archives.
As always, a new season also means a new intro to the show... and this one might be the best we've had yet. The intro from the last couple of seasons has been a bit long, this one is much shorter but packs in even more clips and highlights. (And it's still maybe not 100% done... I'm doing some tweaking).
This is a good place to mention some new sponsors who have joined us for Season 5. Madbrothers is THE place to go to get your officially licensed gear from Slap Shot and Youngblood. Jerseys, hats, t-shirts... and a lot more. "Old time hockey is just a mouse click away!" We're happy to be awarding a special $20 promo code each week during Bad Ass Trivia plus all of our listeners can now get a discount from MadBrothers simply by using PIPELINE as your promo code when purchasing!
We've also got a new apparel sponsor coming on board: Tee Box Apparel is in the process of making our new hats and toques which will be available to win during Bad Ass Trivia or in our contests.
J&J Wholesale Auto is now also on board sponsoring the Sports Doctor's updates. "Why pay retail when you can buy wholesale?"
When it comes to guest, we started the new season off with a bang. Each year we've spoken with the 1st overall pick from the upcoming NHL draft and yesterday the projected #1 prospect for 2010... Taylor Hall. The Windsor Spitfires star forward spoke with us at length about the Memorial Cup win, how he spent his summer and how much he's looking forward to getting the OHL year underway. What about the WJC in Saskatoon/Regina? The draft? Statistical goals? Taylor Hall talks about it all... HERE.
From the OHL we moved to the WHL and specifically our own back yard as the Oil Kings' annual pre-season tournament enabled us to catch up with a few players of note. Brett Breitkreuz might be a leading candidate for captaincy this year and will be expected to carry much of the offensive load for the team. We spoke with him about the upcoming year and about his invite to Oilers camp.
Keegan Lowe is the son of Oilers president Kevin Lowe and because of that, his selection by the Oil Kings had skeptics screaming "Nepotism!" Well, no one is sayng that now as the 16-year-old is pushing hard for a spot on the team, a full year before most expected he'd be. He's already made the choice to go the WHL route and we talked to him about that and everything else... HERE.
One extra interview that we couldn't squeeze in was with rookie forward Dylan Wruck who could be an impact player for the Oil Kings. He's a 17-year-old rookie but has enough offensive talent that he might be amongst the leading scorers fro freshmen this year. Hear that bonus interview HERE.
another player we spoke with in St.Albert was Buffalo Sabres prospect Tyler Ennis. Are his WHL days behind him? Ennis believes so and so does head coach Willie Desjardins. You can hear a conversation we had with Ennis at the end of the segment with Breitkreuz and Lowe plus HERE is an unaired discussion with coach Desjardins in regards to the Tigers this season and coaching for Canada at the 2010 WJC.
At the top of the hour we played some Bad Ass Trivia and talked to Corey Graham.
Last week Dean missed the live show because he was in Calgary taking in part of the Olympic camp. This week we played the interviews he did with the would-be Olympic rookies; Jonathon Toews, Milan Lucic, Drew Doughty and Steve Mason. Can any of these guys crack the line up? Are any of them considered to be a sure fire olympian? Which one of these "kids" already has 35 games with Hockey Canada under his belt, just 5 fewer than veteran Jarome Iginla? Hear it all, right HERE.
We ended this edition of TPS with some interviews we did with some Oiler prospects earlier this summer that we've just never aired; Jeff Petry and Alex Plante, two defencemen that are considered key prospects in the organization. Petry talks about his difficulties last year, how there is such a thing as too much ice time, the Steven Kampfer incident, and more. Plante looks back at the year that was, burying the hatchet with Dave Lowry and looks ahead to his pro career. Hear both of those interviews HERE.
I also spoke with Cam "Bam-Bam" Abney of the Everett Silvertips who Edmonton drafted last June. The WHL bruiser talked about last season, getting drafted, what the coaching change in Everett might mean for him and also how he plans to become the toughest of the league's togh guys. Hear that bonus interview HERE.
Like I said, a really overloaded show to kick of the new season.
Next Week: we begin our CHL previews by looking at the QMJHL plus we'll speak with a player considered to be one of the top prospects outside of the NHL and obviously lots of stuff from Oilers rookie camp as well!
~ The 3rd Annual Edmonton Oil Kings Invitational Pre-season tournament was held this past weekend in St. Albert. There were 6 teams involved although Red Deer only played one game and Moose Jaw played twice. Swift Current, Regina, Medicine Hat and the host side were the other four clubs in attendance.
As always, with so many teams in one place there were a number of scouts around and the conversations that go on in the stands or between periods and games is quite interesting. I had an interesting conversation with some scouts, including one from a NHL club, about the NHL combine interviews from last year - specifically about the "gay" questioning of Tomas Tatar and the Islanders alcohol inquisition of Zack Kassian. The latter seemed to be OK with everyone I asked but the former, everyone agreed that whoever asked Tatar if he was gay was crossing the line.
I missed most of the tournament because of a wedding but being able to take in the event on Sunday still provided me with enough for a Top 5 things I saw and heard about from the weekend.
5. Keegan Lowe
The Oil Kings are going to have some really tough decisions to make over the next few weeks. It's a good problem to have obviously but now, three years into their existence, they genuinely have young players who are skilled and talented enough to give some veterans a real challenge at making the team. Keegan Lowe is one of them.
He's 16-years-old and when he was taken in the 6th round of the 2008 draft, you could hear the skeptics with their calls of nepotism. (Lowe is the son of Oilers president Kevin Lowe). well no one is claiming anymore that Keegan wasn't worthy of being drafted because everyone that I have spoken with over the last week or so is telling me that not only is he vastly improved from a year ago but that they expect him to make the final Oil Kings roster.
For a team that has 9 blueliners still in camp with WHL experience plus two other guys who could factor in somehow, scouts suggesting Lowe is probably going to make the team definitely took me by surprise. (Lowe is wearing the cage in the photo above).
Lowe was injured in Sunday's game so we didn't get much of a read on him in that one but we did speak with him afterwards, a conversation you can hear tonight on TPS, and liked what we heard. He's soft spoken but intelligent and the fact that he has played in WHL exhibition games means that any possible chance of going the NCAA route is now a thing of the past. Normally a 16-year-old doesn't make that choice unless he knows he's got a future in major junior and evidently, Keegan Lowe's could start much sooner than most expected.
4. Tyler Ennis
Another guy that Dean and I spoke with on Sunday was Tyler Ennis who was in attendance as a spectator and not as a player. He still has a year of eligibility left but even Tigers head coach Willie Desjardins told us that his club is moving on as though their star forward won't be back. Ennis hasn't yet signed on with Buffalo but everyone seems to think that will happen sometime this month.
Ennis, or K-Billy as he's known around the TPS studio, hopes to follow in the footsteps of past Sabres who have overcome apparent size issues to have NHL success. Guys like Daniel Briere and prospect Nate Gerbe immediately come to mind. OH, and why K-Billy? Because Ennis sounds exactly like this:
3. Mike Brown
Honestly, one of the guys from the Swift Current Broncos who catches my every year at this tournament is Mike Brown, an undrafted 6'2 200 lb winger. He skates well, uses his body, looks strong and aggressive and in my mind is a guy I would like to see more of. His stats over the last year and a half suggest he might be playing with a ringuette stick, he's only got 16 points in 105 WHL games, but I think this could be a big year for him. Just a guy I'll be interested to watch this year.
2. Torrie Jung to Brandon?
I was talking with a NHL scout recently and was asking him if he was surprised that Tampa Bay didn't sign him. We chatted a bit and then out of the blue he said to me "He probably ends up in Brandon wouldn't you think?". To be honest, the thought had never even occurred to me.
My response was that if the Oil Kings traded Jung, their MVP last year, they'd be screwed. The scout basically agreed with me. However, that conversation was before this past weekend and with the way both Cam Lanigan and Laurent Brossoit played, perhaps Edmonton wouldn't be as bad off as I first imagined. I still would be shocked if Bob Green pulled a trigger though unless we get closer to the deadline and the Oil Kings are clearly not a league contender... getting something for Jung in that situation would be smart asset management but at the same time, this team should be in the top half of the Eastern Conference.
Brandon could definitely use a stud netminder this year as they host the Memorial Cup. They traded away James Priestner last week and are left with Andrew Hayes, former Oil King castaway Dalyn Flette and a pair of would-be rookies. Jung would be a massive step up from what they currently have.
By the way, I floated the idea to GM Bob Green... "Would you even consider trading Torrie Jung to Brandon" and his quick response: "For who... Brayden Schenn?"
1. Drew Nichol vs Geordie Wudrick
This was what everybody was talking about on Sunday - the licking that Oil Kings defencemen Drew Nichol gave Swift Current forward Geordie Wudrick (LA) on Saturday night. As the story goes, Nichol hammered another Broncos player and Wudrick, a tough hombre himself, stepped in to challenge the Edmonton defenceman.
As its been described to me, and I wasn't there so I'm going on second hand information but from about 20 different people, Wudrick was clocked by Nichol above the left eye (see photo above) and immediately started leaking crimson. Nichol, 6'2 and 200ish lb, is on the bubble as one of five 20-year-olds in camp but may have helped his cause with this fight that will undoubtedly make it's way through the league's grapevine.
The damage: Wudrick was taken for sewing and I've heard various reports as to how many stitches it took to close the wound. I've been told somewhere between 28-34 stitches but I asked the trainer from Medicine Hat (always good sources for that sort of stuff, they all talk to each other) and he said that Swift's trainer told him that there were 12 stitches inside and 18 more on the outside to close the cut. Another person told me that the gash went bone-deep which above the eye isn't all that shocking I guess. You can tell from the second photo though that the damage was extensive and the quick fight was certainly on eveyone's hot topic list a day later.
By the way, clicking on the photo gives you a bigger version... you can really get an idea of how that first punch opened up Wudrick's forehead.
(Photos Courtesy: Andy Devlin of the Edmonton Oil Kings and oilkings.ca)
