One To Watch: New York Rangers

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The New York Rangers have managed make the most of the draft in recent years and at the same time they have exploited other franchises for their key prospects. The combination has led to a Stanley Cup contender with more top prospects still on the way. 

Derek Stepan, Michael Del Zotto, Carl Hagelin and Chris Kreider were all Rangers picked and Ryan McDonagh was practically stolen from Montreal. 

Potential NHL players still to come include J.T. Miller, Steven Fogarty, Boo Nieves, Brady Skjei and Scott Stajcer.

The player I have settled on for the conclusion of this 30-player feature series is someone I get to see on a regular basis and has the production to get fans excited. 

The WHL's Century Club

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With a goal and an assist last night, Edmonton's Michael St. Croix became the 8th player in the WHL this season to crack the 100-point plateau. It's the first time an Oil King of the modern era has managed to surpass the century mark and the center did it in fine style in front of a nearly sold out Rexall Place.

Comrie/Rimmer Homecomeing

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Some are calling it the 'game of the year' at Rexall Place. Tonight the Edmonton Oil Kings play host to the Tri City Americans. Edmonton leads the Eastern Conference while The Americans are 2 points back of top running Kamloops in the Western Conference.

When you look into the match up statistically it's even more intriguing. Edmonton is the highest scoring team in the league with 208 goals through 48 games while Tri City is #1 defensively with just 112 goals against this season.

Edmonton Fans getting the Royal treatment

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Wow, it must be fun to be an Oil King fan right now.

Edmonton fans - and those across the WHL on Shaw - watched the OK kids run their win streak to an even 10 Wednesday night, doubling up Victoria 6-3. The numbers during the streak are pretty impressive.

The Potential for the Oil Kings is Limitless

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The Oil Kings won very convincingly Thursday night at Rexall Place thumping the Calgary Hitmen 6-1. It was one of their best and most entertaining wins this year, and there have been a lot to choose from with a 10-2 record at home. The game had just about everything fans want to see. A fast pace with big hits, very good goaltending at one end and lot's of goals at the other. The crowd was also into the contest as the more then 5600 were loud all night long. The rink was also packed with scouts. From head men of NHL teams to the boss of NHL Central Scouting Dan Marr it was a fun atmosphere.

The Oil Kings are really rolling right now, and it reminds me a little of the movie Limitless. Like Bradley Cooper's character there were expectations on the Kings, and while they didn't struggle out of the gate they were fairly average. Subsitute the 'pill' that Cooper's character took with very good coaching, high end and depth scoring and exceptional goaltending and you have a character/team that you really enjoy watching. And while of course there is a crash from being so brilliant, in this case a losing streak - Edmonton's longest thus far is 3 and 4 in 5 through BC - the way this club is going I don't see any 5-7 game skids that can derail the hopes of hosting a playoff series. Or any raging bachelor parties like Cooper's other movie. Here are a number of reasons why the Edmonton Oil Kings are surging at the moment with 8 games to go until the halfway point of the season.

St. Croix, Reinhart among those added to Team WHL

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There will now be a trio of Oil Kings that will face the Russians for Team WHL in the Subway series on Rogers Sportsnet. Forward Michael St. Croix and blueliner Griffin Reinhart will take part with Reinhart taking the place of Everett's Ryan Murray. Reinhart will play in Regina, along with Brett Bulmer and Zach Franco of the Kelowna Rockets and Colin Smith from the Kamloops Blazers who were also added the squad. St. Croix will suit up for the final game of the series in Moose Jaw, along with Warrior forward Cody Beach. Oil King captain Mark Pysyk was named to the team originally.

Saturday Morning Special - June 25th

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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.

Draft Day Wishlist & Predictions

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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.

Pickin' Brains - Michael St. Croix

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Part one of this series was released back in Mid-March with a look at how the scouting community views Oil Kings forward Dylan Wruck. Since then, the once un-ranked Wruck has seen his stock soar and is now slotted in at #99 by Central Scouting on their final rankings.

The second part of the "Pickin' Brains" series asked scouts to name the top WHL defenceman from the Class of 2011. It appears to be a two horse race between a pair of products from Sherwood Park, Alberta.

WHL goaltenders were in the spotlight in Part 3. Who is leading the list of pipemen that are eligible for the 2011 draft? The answer to that question might not be the same as the goalie from the league who gets chosen first.

Today it's another Edmonton Oil King under the microscope as we pose Question #4: Is Michael St. Croix on your 'wishlist'?

I asked 10 scouts from 10 different organizations and here is what they said:

Oil Kings & the 2011 NHL Draft

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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.

Prince Added to Top Prospect Game

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As heard on last night's edition of The Pipeline Show, Ottawa 67s forward Shane Prince has been added to the roster for the CHL Top Prospects Game next week. Sam Cosentino of Rogers Sportsnet broke the news in our first segment yesterday which you can hear HERE. The game will be broadcast on Sportsnet next week.

Top 5 Tuesdays: First Impression of Central's Mid-Term List

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It's always much anticipated and then hotly debated but finally NHL Central Scouting's mid-term rankings for the 2011 NHL Draft are out. E.J. McGuire was on the show last weekend and offered up some comments about the, as-then unreleased, ranking, so we knew ahead of time about one surprise - that Portland's Sven Bartschi would be in the top 10. But there are other things that jumped out at me.

Here are the top 5...

CHL Top Prospects Game Rosters

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The 40-player invite list to the 2011 CHL Home Hardware Top Prospects Game will be released on Tuesday. The game is one of the marquee events during the draft year for a prospect trying to elevate and raise his stock in front of a plethora of NHL scouts and executives.

Unfortunately, like every year, some deserving players might be on the outside looking in whether due to injury or simply not getting the invite.

Top 5 Tuesdays: Reasons to Watch the Oil Kings

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Edmonton is a pro-city and an event driven city. The Edmonton Oilers are by far the biggest thing in town and the CFL's Edmonton Eskimos are clearly #2. History has shown that massive events like the Heritage Classic, the World Junior Championship, The World Track and Field Games and others can be held here and the citizens will support it.

That cannot be said for other teams in town. Soccer, basketball, baseball, lacrosse... all very much off the radar for the vast majority of people in Edmonton. All of those sports have their supporters but certainly not nearly as much as the local teams that play them would like.

Hockey isn't immune to that either. The UofA Golden Bears are a perennial powerhouse but don't draw nearly as much as they deserve. There are 3 local AJHL franchises (Spruce Grove, Sherwood Park and St. Albert) and all of them have plenty of room at their home games.

And the Edmonton Oil Kings, now in their 4th season in the league, are averaging 3900 people in a building that holds just under 17,000. We've heard plenty of valid reasons as to why fans have not embraced the team and I can understand most of them. Parking at Rexall Place is an outrageous $15, ticket prices are out of whack when compared to the rest of the league (including other NHL/CHL markets), a lack of star power, poor marketing, the wrong atmosphere at Rexall, etc.

At the risk of coming off as a commercial for the Oil Kings, (the last thing I want to appear as), here are 5 reasons why people should be following the team from a far or buying tickets to Rexall Place and watching the team play.

St. Croix On Fire:Is it enough to push him into the first round?

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Edmonton sophomore Michael St. Croix has the Midas touch, which is a good thing if you're an Oil King fan. Thanks to a hattrick and one assist in a victory over Calgary Wednesday night, St. Croix now has an incredible 17 points in his last 6 games. Those are Sidney Crosby type numbers. The Winnipeg native has points in 8 straight games, and has amassed 6 straight multi-point efforts including back to back 4 point outings. The hot streak has pushed St. Croix near the WHL scoring leaders as he now has the 9th most points in the league with 18 goals and 20 assists, but is his offensive outburst enough to make him a first round pick?

Saturday Morning Special - Dec 4th

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Despite a no-show, Saturday's Game Day edition of TPS was another fun way to start the morning. Not only did we have our weekly session with Daren Millard but we touched base with one of our favorite guys covering the NCAA and also talked with one of the top rated goaltenders available for the 2011 NHL Draft too.

Top 5 Tu... er, Sunday: WHL 2nd Round Forwards

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Our weekly Top 5 lists always come out on Tuesdays but this past week we missed it (Dean tied up at the Canadian Finals Rodeo for Global TV and me... sleeping) so you can consider this one a make up for 5 days ago. That, plus with NHL Central Scouting's list coming out on Monday, I wanted my thoughts to come out a bit before just for the sake of not following in their footsteps.

Today I'm looking at the Top 5 forwards out of the WHL that right now, aren't getting a lot of consideration as 1st round picks. Come June, one or two of these guys might have played their way into the top 30, but at this point in mid-November, no one has really been suggesting that they are 1st rounders.

Tuesday Night on TPS:Injury updates, Across the CHL, OK City Update And More

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Tuesday night on The Pipeline Show featured a lively debate on a scary incident over the previous weekend, an interview with a potential 1st round pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, one of the most respected coaches in the NCAA, the GM of the hottest team in the AHL and of course a visit from CHL Insider Sam Cosentino.

Cougars and Oil Kings Wild West Shoot Out

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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.

This n' That - August 2010

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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...