2013 Draft Blog: Eamon McAdam Pt.2

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The first chapter of Eamon McAdam's blog series this season arrived back on October 7th. If you missed that introduction you'll definitely want to check it out HERE. 

Since then, the USHL season has begun and the World Junior A Challenge also took place in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia with McAdam backstopping TEAM USA in the event. 

Sharing his thoughts and experiences of the last two months, The Pipeline Show is pleased to be able to present the second blog entry from Waterloo Black Hawks goaltender Eamon McAdam.

USA Strikes WJAC Gold... Again

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The United States has captured its third straight gold medal finish at the World Junior A Challenge on the strength of a third period comeback including 5 unanswered goals against Canada East. The final score on Sunday evening saw the Americans skate away with an impressive 6-4 victory.

TPS Reset - Oct 27th

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If you missed Tuesday's edition of The Pipeline Show, don't worry, that's what audio archives are for! Here is what you missed:

Dean and I were very excited to have been able to line up Theoren Fleury for the program. (OK, credit Dean for doing all the legwork on setting that interview up). Fleury has been on a whirlwind, cross-Canada book tour to promote his sold out autobiography called Playing With Fire. We were pleased to have been able to speak with the former Calgary Flames forward for two full segments and he spoke on several subjects. Of course he discussed the motivation behind writing the book and his coming forward in regards to acknowledging that he was abused by his former coach Graham James. Much of his life is now dedicated to helping others who have, or are, facing similar stories. For more on that subject we encourage you to visit his website HERE

We also talked to Fleury about other less-heavy subjects like his fond memories of his junior hockey career with the Moose Jaw Warriors and his experiences at the World Junior Championship playing for Team Canada. Of course Fleury was a catalyst for the Punch-Up at Piestany in 1987 and also a part of the gold medal winning squad the next year. To Hear both segments we had with Theo Fleury, click HERE .

Every week on The Pipeline Show we like to introduce fans to another player eligible for the next NHL Entry Draft. One such 2010 player is Joey Hishon of the Owen Sound Attack. Although he's currently injured, Hishon is, in our mind, a player to watch for this season. He played in the U18 tournament in Fargo last April but oddly enough, wasn't a part of Canada's summer entry to the Ivan Hlinka tournament. Hishon touches on that as well as many other subjects including his foot injury. You can hear everything that Hishon had to say by clicking HERE

Last year we spoke with coach Mark Carlson before the 2008 WJAC in Camrose, a tournament that his American squad went on to win. The problem with that interview was that it came just days before his team roster was formally announced so he couldn't say a whole lot about the make up of the team. This year we had no such problem so we got a great amount of information about what Team USHL, er... Team USA will look like this year in PEI. Carlson talks specifically about several players including his goaltending tandem, a pair of USHL netminders with less that exciting stats right now in that league. David Gerths is the only returning player but there are several others he is expecting big things from at the tournament. Hear what coach Carlson said about his sqaud by clicking HERE .

Last but not least, we had a conversation with goaltender Jake Allen. Allen is the marquee player with the Montreal Juniors of the QMJHL, he's a 2nd round pick of the St. Louis Blues and he's quite probably the starter for Canada at the 2010 WJC in Saskatoon/Regina.. We had lots to talk to Allen about and he had lots to say; hear it all by clicking HERE.

Draft Keeper - Part 1

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The Pipeline Show is excited to bring you a series of guest player blogs by some of the top players eligible for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. For a complete recap of the blogs so far, click on '2009 Guest Blogs' under 'Labels' down the right-hand side of your screen. To date we have heard from John Moore from the Chicago Steel in the USHL, Ethan Werek of the Kingston Frontenacs and Dylan Olsen of the Camrose Kodiaks.

Here now is the first entry from Fargo Force netminder Mike Lee...

American Domination!

There is absolutely no way to sugar coat it - Team USA was by far the best team at the 2008 World Junior 'A' Challenge and they proved it with a commanding 7-1 victory over the 2-time defending champions from Canada West.

It was ugly right from the get go for Canada when the Americans got the first goal on one that netminder Kevin Genoe is going to see in his nightmares for the next few weeks. USA defenceman Lee Moffie fired a long slap shot that would have sailed well high but Genoe opted to play it but failed to snag it cleanly. The puck tipped off the top of his trapper, bounced high and landed directly behind him and wobbled into the net.

USA struck again just 2 minutes later when David Gerths was Johnny-on-the-spot for a rebound and fired it into a gaping net past Genoe.

Canada actually got a moment of life when Notre Dame Hound forward Rylan Schwartz beat Mike Lee in a goal mouth scramble as the puck had settled inches from the goal line behind the Fargo Force goalie.

USA would re-establish their two-goal edge before the end of the opening period thanks to a bad angle goal by eventual tournament MVP Mike Cichy. The Tri-City Storm forward corraled a loose puck, curled behind the net then spun and roofed a shot that fooled Genoe who was yanked unceremoniously with just over 3 minutes left in the period.

Coming into the game Genoe had posted the best goalie stats in the tournament and back up Andrew Bodnarchuk hadn't seen a minute of ice time since the upset to Belarus on opening night a week ago. I was a bit suprised that coach Rybalka pulled Genoe rather than let him settle during the intermission.

Not that it would have mattered.

USA popped four goals in on Canada West in the second period including markers from Danny Kristo (MTL), Max NiCastro (DET), Josh Birkholz and Josh Balch. Kristo went on to be named the game's top player for the Americans having a goal and an assist on the night but looked very dangerous throughout.

Canada West stuck to their game which had been successful all week long but unfortunately they couldn't run USA out of the rink with physical play. When Andrew MacWilliam (TOR) stepped into Kristo with a thunderous hit, some thought the smallish skilled forward would turn into a shrinking violet the rest of the game but he came right back. The Americans just wouldn't be intimidated and it showed.

Mike Cichy (pictured) was given the MVP award and deserved it for leading the event in scoring with 10 points. He was obviously selected to the all-star team too along with American goalie Lee, defenceman Matt Donovan (NYI) and forward Craig Smith. Canadians Andrew MacWilliam and 16-year-old Jaden Schwartz rounded out the winners.

Netminder Mike Lee (pictured with WJAC trophy) posted a perfect 4-0 record with a sparkling 1.75 GAA and .933 SV%. In my personal opinion he would have been as good of a choice for MVP as he was clearly the top goalie in the tournament and made numerous stellar saves all week. For his efforts he'll be a guest with Dean and I on Tuesday's edition of The Pipeline Show.

I will be writing up a complete event review for Hockey's Future in the next couple of days. In the meantime, here is a link to the post game interviews for the Championship game featuring USA head coach Mark Carlson, forwards Mike Cichy and Danny Kristo as well as Canada West coach Boris Rybalka and captain Andrew MacWilliam.

All in all it was a solid event. Room for improvement I think in terms of teams coming in (would have liked the Canadian and USA squads to all be late 90's and 91's so all players were undrafted) but no event is ever perfect. The organizing committee did a tremendous job, the bulding was fantastic and the crowds got better as the week went on but I'm not sure if ticket sales will end up being considered a success or not. (I hope so!)

Can't wait for next year... although we'll have to wait a few weeks to find out where the 2009 site will be. I've heard the most interest is coming from towns in either Saskatchewan or Manitoba though.

USA vs Canada in WJAC Final

It's been a long week in Camrose but it will all be over on Sunday night after the gold medal game which features the United States and Canada West.

The expression is: even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.

Well since Dean and I both correctly predicted this match up three weeks ago that must mean we're either geniuses or just that the expression needs updating to 'two blind squirrels'.

There were three games on Saturday, let's go in order.

Russia 8 - Germany 2

Russia dominated Germany pretty much from the outset of the game but it became clear to me that it was because they weren't having to pay a physical price like they did with their North American opponents. In this game the highly skilled Russians, and there are some beauties here let me tell you, they were able to do whatever they wanted to and the final score is indicative of that.

Jerome Flaake (TOR) actually got the Germans off to an early lead but like I said, from then on it was all Russia.

Kirill Kabanov had a strong game with a goal and two assists, Stanislav Bocharov had a hat trick but those weren't the guys I'm going to remember from this game.

#15 Evgeny Kuznetsov has the hands, vision and creative instincts of a 30-year-old veteran but my 4-year-old son could teach him a thing or two about maturity. I have never seen a player smack his stick on the ice, slam the door on the bench, shake his head at teammates or generally sulk and pout like this kid does. After every whistle this guy is whining. It's a shame because he's a super talent but man... what a cry baby!

#19 Alexander Burmistrov was phenomenal today. There was one shift where he started the play from his own end, lugged it the entire length of the ice and was able to control it in Germany's zone... about a 40 second span never losing control of the puck once. He's shifty and really quick. It was by far his best game and I wonder how much of that was because of who the opponent was, but today he was terrific.

#23 Maxim Kitsin has been really hot and cold in this event, at least to me, and that continued today. He has the great combination on size, speed and skill but doesn't always use them together. At one point he took a great pass from Kuznetsov, dangled his way to the front of the net but then fired it 2 feet over the crossbar. Later he was given a penalty shot and it might have been the worst attempted deke I have seen in the last 2 years (pictured). Still, whenever I'd talk to a scout about the Russians, it wasn't long before his name came up.

I have decided that Russian head coach Vladimir Plyuschev needs anger management. At every whistle a quick glance at the Russian bench earns a person a view of Plyuschev gesturing wildly as he rips into one of his players. It doesn't matter whether the score is 1-0 or 6-0, whether Russia is winning or losing... if your shift just ended there is a 1 in 5 chance that you're going to get an earful. It's comical and embarrassing all at the same time.

Germany goes home in last place but in a sense it was mission accomplished. To understand what I mean you'll have to hear it from assistant coach Jeff Tomlinson who I spoke with after the game.

USA 5 - Canada East 1

In my opinion, Team USHL is the best squad here and they are on a roll that I don't think will end without a gold medal. They have scored 18 goals in the last 3 games and have only allowed 6 against in that span. Today it was a rematch with CAN East who they beat 5-3 in the round robin.

Danny Kristo was back in the line up and his high ankle sprain (or flu!) didn't seem to affect him much. Matt Donovan (NYI) has a pair of goals including the game winner. One guy I haven't really mentioned this week is #8 Mike Cichy but he's been very good and was again in this one today.

In net Mike Lee was again very strong. Dean asked me a couple hours ago who my tournament MVP would be to this point and Lee's name was the one that came to the front of my brain (where there is ample room for it to roll around).

Canada East was a disappointment for me. It should be mentioned that the American squad is older, bigger and more mature and I think it was a definite factor. However, the Eastern Canadians were not much of a threat in this game and I honestly can't recall a stretch where they had momentum or any kind of pressure.

I spoke with head coach Mark Grady afterwards.

From the USA side, I had postgame chats with Matt Donovan (NYI-4th) and Max NiCastro (DET-3rd) as well as coach Mark Carlson.

Canada West 4 - Belarus 1

This game was a lot closer that it should have been. Belarus was not out of this game until midway through the third despite taking a ton of penalties. I give a ton of credit to goalie Vitali Bialinski who was named player of the game for Belarus after seeing 43 shots, many of them during Canadian power plays.

The Belarussians actually had some jump and resilience in their game tonight. #12 Mikalai Susla is the only 1991 born player on the team but he was one of the best on the ice and scored his side's only goal of the night. #15 Siarhei Drozd has been dynamite but was held off the score sheet in this one.

For Canada it was a pair of players who haven't gotten much mention yet who got rave reviews tonight. #23 Brodie Reid and #21 Curtis McKenzie had a ton of chemistry going and impressed friend of The Pipeline Show Peter Loubardias who took in the festivities with me tonight.

The game started to slip away from Belarus as the second period wound on. They had just tied the game then got into penalty trouble which got momentum back behind Canada. Once the hosts struck for a 2-1 lead the Belarussians looked a bit frazzled and when Canada made it 3-1 before the end of the period, you could hear the air being let out of their tires.

I give them credit, they hung in their as best they could and halfway through looked as legit as Canada did but in the end they ran out of gas.

Sunday Night Preview

You could make a case that there is more on the line that Canadian - American bragging rights. I asked both head coaches if underneath the National flags there was also a sense of American tier I vs Canadian Tier I... some USHL vs BCHL/AJHL/SJHL...

You can hear what they said here.

I also spoke with Canadian players Justin Schultz (ANH-2nd) and Derek Grant (OTT-4th) about the tournament and some player profile type stuff.

Game time is 6 PM and can be seen on TSN 2 with a tape delay later on TSN.

WJAC Semi-Finals Set

Victories by the United States and Belarus have solidified the schedule for Saturday at the WJAC as the semi-final match ups are now official.

Canada East will take on USA while Canada West will hook up with Belarus in matches featuring familiar opponents. The Americans beat the East during round robin play and of course Belarus kicked off the tournament with a stunning upset of the host squad last Sunday.

Russia and Germany will meet at noon on Saturday to see who doesn't finish last in the tournament standings.

The Russians looked completely disinterested in their 8-2 loss at the hands of the U.S. during Thursday's early game. It was 4-0 after the first period and aside from occasional spurts of energy, Russia was outmatched and outplayed.

USA was without their top player, Danny Kristo who coach Mark Carlson said was "out with the flu". However, Kristo actually suffered a high ankle sprain near the end of the second period against Canada East on Tuesday night which is the true reason for his absence. He is questionable for the rest of the tournament but definitely wants to get back into the fray.

On the ice the Americans didn't really appear to miss him much as they had more than enough firepower to get passed Russia.

Remember goalie Dmitry Shikin, the backup who made the TSN highlights for saluting the Camrose crowd on Tuesday by using his stick as a make-shift penis? Well he got the start but lasted only 13:20 before getting the hook after letting in 2 very weak goals and a third that some scouts in attendance also felt he should have stopped.

Kirill Kabanov was decent and made a pretty nice pass on Russia's second goal but overall it was a pretty average performance by his team. Edmonton Sun scribe Derek Van Diest and I spoke with him after the game, you can hear an edited version of that conversation here. You can hear the full version this Tuesday night (Nov 11th) on The Pipeline Show - and you definitely do not want to miss it! How does he feel about the KHL? About the potential of playing in the CHL? On the difference between hockey in Russia and over here? Many eyebrow raising answers, I guarantee it.

Would you really be surprised to learn that talks have already begun with Patrick Roy and the Quebec Remparts? The Windsor Spitfires and London Knights are in the mix too. On Tuesday, find out why the Remparts are of particular interest to Kabanov.

Team USA had a strong performance from North Dakota recruit Mike Cichy, netminder Mike Lee as well as Pat Dullane and Craig Smith.

The Americans have momentum on their side and I'll stick to my pre-tournament prediction of a Canada West / USA final on Sunday.

Post game comments from Mike Lee and Calgary Flames draftee Nick Larson an be heard here. Larson is now a Pipeline Show favorite after he told me: "Hey, I listen to your show online!" Sounds to me like he's got the hockey sense and decision making skills far exceeding those of your typical 4th round pick.

I only stuck around for half of the Belarus/Germany game. Believe me, it was like watching two rec league teams go at it. There were a combined total of 13 shots on goal in the first period and the score was 4-2 for Belarus. A goaltending duel it was not.

Two notes though; German forward and Toronto prospect Jerome Flaake returned to action. I wrote a feature on him for Hockey's Future earlier this week which you can read here. Interesting that he's another European that really wants to play Major Junior in Canada - The Prince George Cougars own his rights.

The other note from this game was that Belarus forward Siarhei Drozd recorded the fastest hat trick in World Junior A Challenge history, scoring three times in 3:46 – all of the goals coming on the powerplay. Yes the tournament is only 3 years old but still... that's some quick sniping. Drozd also set tournament records for goals in one tournament (7) and powerplay goals in one tournament (5).


Saturday Game Times

Noon: Russia vs Germany
4PM: USA vs Canada East
8PM: Belarus vs Canada West

No Love For Russia...This Year

A recent question from the guys at Illegal Curve is the inspiration for this blog. The fellas wanted to know about Russians for the upcoming draft. We here at The Pipeline Show pride ourselves on knowing the draft (Guy went 27-30 last year and has pegged 3 of the last 4 Oilers first round picks) so I thought I would throw my two cents out and try to answer the question.

It doesn't appear to be a good year for Russians in Montreal this June, in fact I don't think a Russian will be taken in the first round, which hasn't happened since 2005 when the first Russian, Vitali Anikeyenko was taken in the 3rd round, 70th overall by Ottawa. According ISS, which is the exclusive scouting source for TPS, there isn't a Russian ranked in the first round, which does include 7 Europeans. In fact the highest ranked Russian among the top 30 Euros is Anton Burdasov, who is rated 11th among those from across the pond. Burdasov was supposed to be in Camrose with the Russian team for the World Junior A Challenge, but an injury kept him off the team. The next highest Ruskie is D-man Dmitry Orlov, who is suiting up in Camrose. I thought Orlov, who is listed at 5.11 and 176 pounds played a decent game Tuesday night. For a small player, he is above average on the physical side, and didn't make it fun to park in front of the net for Canadian players. He's a good skater, but does paint himself into a corner sometimes when carrying the puck out of his own end, by either making one to many moves, or waiting to long to make a pass. The only other Russian ranked in the top 30 Europeans is Georgy Berkyukov, who I didn't notice at all Tuesday night.

However, keep your eye on Mother Russia for 2010 as there could be a boatload drafted in the first round. The leader of the pack is Kirill Kabanov, as guy talked about earlier this week. While he does have a wicked shot, he's also very emotional, and that could scare teams in the top 3 away. Some have compared him to Alexander Ovechkin and Evgeni Malkin, and yet some say he's better than those two at his age which is 16 right now. I was really impressed Tuesday night with Maxim Kitsin, who will turn 17 in December and is already 6.03 and almost 180 pounds. He played in every situation, and for me was Russia's most dangerous player. Vladamir Tarasenko is another Russian getting a lot of hype in draft circles, as Guy pointed out in an earlier post, he did score a beauty of a goal, but seem to disappear as the game wore on and Canada became more physical. In fact the only time I noticed him after the first period was when Guy pointed him out to me.

We will be running a feature this Tuesday on Team Russia where we get more in depth about the countries draft prospects for the 2009 and 2010 draft.

We would have loved to speak to some of the Russians Tuesday night but were told - at first by Hockey Canada - that we weren't allowed to. Which is kind of like Edmonton Oilers PR man JJ Hebert telling the media that after a game against Minnesota we wouldn't be allowed to talk to Wild players. After some of us (Derek Van Diest of the Edmonton Sun, Cam Tait of the Edmonton Journal and myself) raised a bit of a fuss, Hockey Canada changed it's story and said it was the Russians that didn't want to speak, which was kind of funny since Hockey Canada member Jason Larose had earlier mentioned to me that he hadn't asked the Russians about it, and that it was his decision. I have no problem with a team saying they won't talk. I don't agree with it, but it is their decision. What I had a big problem with was Hockey Canada deciding that the Russians weren't talking, after a rough game in which Team Canada West received the benefit of some brutal officiating. The Russians embarrassed themselves with childish antics and obscene gestures ( Cam Tait has more on this story in his blog as well) and I think HC was hoping to avoid negative publicity. In this case mission failed. Eventually, a women who I think was the Russian translator told us "no comment" which we accepted.

Back to the team, I am really looking forward to seeing the Russian World Junior squad at the 2010 and 2011 tournaments as there will be some extremely exciting players to watch.

WJAC Update

Last week I boldly precicted that the gold medal game at the 2008 World Junior A Challenge would feature Canada West and Team USA. In response to that prediction both teams fell flat in their opening game and were upset by far weaker opponents.

Two days after Belarus downed Canada West in a shootout it was the Americans who got caught napping and allowed Germany to overcome a 2-0 deficit and skate away with a 5-2 victory.

The Germans actually looked pretty darn good at times although it should be kept in mind that their team is almost all 18 and 19-year-olds... only one player on the roster is draft eligible for the first time this year.

Still, Germany had solid performances from three players in particular, at least in my opinion. #22, Toni Ritter, had a great goal on a nifty slap shot from the side wall that caught the American goalie a bit by surprise. Ritter has nice wheels, good size and played with a bit of a jump.

#23 Steven Rupprich stood out for me today with his tenacity, speed and playmaking. He was creative, not always successful but I like to see players who think outside the box sometimes and he did that. He had 2 helpers.

I also thought David Wolf, #11, was pretty impressive. He too has size and speed to his credit. He didn't impact the scoresheet tonight but I thought he contributed plenty.

The Americans were not all that good, perhaps 4 days of waiting around for their first game was a factor?

Seth Helgeson is a force though; at 6'5 he's easy to pick out of a crowd and he plays pretty tough. John Moore had some good moments too.

I was a bit disappointed that Mike Lee didn't get the nod in goal but assume that it was the token game for Joe Howe and that we'll see the top draft eligible USHL goalie the rest of the way.

The late game saw Canada West take on Russia and it was a wild affair. Russia completely dominated at times during the opening period, had a big lead in shots at one point and carried a 1-0 lead into the second period.

Then things got a little ugly. The scoresheet has Russia taking 10 straight penalties in the middle frame and considering Canada scored 5 power play goals on the night... well you can see where this is going right?

The Russians were completely pissed off at the officiating and in some cases I think they had a right to be. One of Russia's star players, and I assume a favorite of Barry Manilow, Kirill "Copa" Kabanov was hit from behind and left the game early in the 3rd period... no call.

It was a very undisciplined game from both sides at times but much moreso from Russia. Still, there were some standout performances from the visitors too.

#23 Maxim Kitsin was dangerous all night. He's got really good size, speed and hands. Drives to the net, plays tough, sets stuff up and can finish too. He looks really promising already for 2010.

The first goal of the game went to #10 Vladimir Terasenko who dazzled with an individual effort by beating a defenceman one-on-one before lifting the puck passed Canadian goalie Kevin Genoe. Another fast and gritty forward but doesn't have the size that Kitsin or Kabanov have.

Speaking of Kabanov... he's getting a lot of hype for 2010 already, one scout I talked to tongiht suggested he's the best bet if you're looking for someone to push Taylor Hall as the #1 overall pick in 2010. Yet, another NHL scout I checked in with gave Kabanov a big thumbs down for his undisciplined and somewhat selfish play. His brutally late interference after a whistle directly led to Canada's second goal... the eventual winner. As I mentioned, he left the game in the third due to an undisclosed injury but as Millard pointed out, he was so far in the doghouse by that point he might not have played much in the period anyway.

Canada looked awful in the first period but got it going in the second. Boris Rybalka explained how in his postgame discussion with the assembled media.

BCHL goalie Kevin Genoe, a free agent if a WHL team is looking, played very well outside of a bad second goal to Russia. However, in the first when his team needed him the most, Genoe was a wall. Millard and I spoke with him after the game too about the tournament, how he got here and where he hopes the exposure will take him.

Player of the Game for Canada though was 16-year-old Jaden Schwartz. He was drafted by the Tri-City Americans whose GM, Bob Torrey, was in the building tonight and liked what he saw. Dean and I also spoke with the Notre Dame Hound after the game.

More as the week continues...

(PHOTOS COURTESY: LA Media & Hockey Canada)

Upset Of The Century???

Okay, that's probably just a little bit overstated, but there was an upset tonight on the international scene.

Belarus beat Team Canada West 4-3 in a shootout in the opening game of the World Junior A Challenge in Camrose.

This is the same Team Canada West that is the 2 time defending champions of the tournament. And it's also a Belarusian team without an NHL drafted player, and only 2 in their draft year. As Guy pointed out in his preview, they do have heart and determination and obviously caught Canada off guard, possibly taking the Belarusians lightly.

To see the damage for yourself, I'll have hilites tonight at 11 PM mountain time on Global Edmonton sports.

WJAC Kicks off Today

The 2008 World Junior A Challenge gets going to day in Camrose with the opening tilt between Belarus and the host squad, Canada West.

I recently wrote a preview of the event for Hockey's Future which you can read here.

Dean and I will both be in Camrose this week to take in as many games as we can. I will be writing up some player features for HF including the first one on Camrose Kodiak blueliner Dylan Olsen with quotes taken from my interview with him on The Pipeline Show back on October 14th.

You can read that feature here and hear the TPS interview here.

There are two websites to check out for coverage of the 2008 WJAC beginning with Hockey Canada's page (here) but the Camrose organizing committee also has one which is pretty sharp. (here)

See you in Camrose!

WJAC Rosters all Set

Last night we had Mark Carlson, the Head Coach of Team USA, on the program to talk about his club's approach to the 2008 WJAC that kicks off in Camrose on November 2nd. Today, the roster for Team USA was formally announced. (see here)

It's a decent team with some notable names from the 2008 draft and more so for the 2009 draft.

Russia's line up looks like this while the rosters for both Belarus and Germany can be found here courtesty of our friend Nate Fournier.

Here are Team Canada East and Team Canada West.

Dean and I had a healthy debate last night based around the comparison of the USHL vs the Tier I JR A leagues in Canada. We both agree that the USHL probably is a slightly higher calibre of league than any single Jr. A league in Canada but not to the standards of the CHL.

Dean feels that since this year's American entry in the WJAC is basically a USHL All-Star team, they should enter the tournament as the favorites to win gold. On the other hand, I believe that because Team Canada West is an All-Star team consisting of four Jr. A leagues (BCHL, AJHL, SJHL and MJHL) that they should still be the top seed.

I am on record now as predicting a Team Canada West vs Team USA final though.

You can hear last night's show by clicking here.

Hockey Canada has a page on thier main site dedicated to this event where you can hear all 4 of our WJAC Preview interviews as well. (see here)

Another place where you can go to find information on tickets and stuff around the Camrose event is here.

A Slew Foot Of Junior Notes

How about the sentence handed down by the OHL this week. Garrett Wilson of the Owen Sound Attack has been suspended 15 games for slew footing Dan Kelly of Kitchener. Kelly broke an ankle on the play. I think slew footing might become the new "hit to the head" that leagues will start cracking down on. If you recall last week, Dallas Stars captain Brendan Morrow did the dirty deed on Columbus Blue Jacket forward Michael Peca, the Stars scored, Peca was very upset, grabbed the ref and he was suspended 5 games by the NHL. Leagues everywhere will be on the look out for this very dangerous play.

Congratulations to Brampton's Stan Butler, who recorded his 400th victory last Friday. The only coach Brampton has ever had reached the milestone with a 1-0 victory. Butler has also coached in Oshawa of the OHL and in Prince George of the WHL.

This next story is very Ugly. Michigan Wolverines defenceman Steve Kampfer was seriously injured Sunday morning, in what looks like an assault from a Wolverines football player. Unbelievably a similar incident took place on the campus of Michigan State over the weekend as well.

Team Russia has been announced for the upcoming World Junior A Challenge, starting November 2nd in Camrose, Alberta.

This does not seem to be a strong year for Russians at the 2009 draft, as according to International Scouting Services, no one from the former land of hammer and sickle is expected to be taken the first round. Of course a lot could change in the next 8 months, and some of it might take place in Camrose.

It should be noted that while no Russians are projected to be first round picks right now, the top Russian prospect will be at the World Junior A Hockey Challenge. Anton Burdasov is a 6.03, 180 pound right winger is playing for Traktor Chelyabinsk in the Russian first division from what I can tell. He suited up for Russia at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament and helped his country win gold. He has obvious size and from what I've read has decent hands. ISS has him ranked as their 11th best European, and first Russian, but that could mean 3rd round in June. also coming over for Russia that you might see drafted is D-man Georgy Berdyukov. The One guy you'll really want to watch if you're heading to Camrose is Kirill Kabanov, who could be a top 3 pick in 2010. By the way we'll be interviewing USA head coach Mark Carlson Tuesday on TPS see below for listening details, and if you want to take in the 2008 WJAC in Camrose, we'll be giving away a tournament pass Tuesday night.

A few other notes, from one storm to another, 2008 Carolina Hurricanes 1st round pick (14th overall) Zach Boychuk has returned to the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes. Boychuk played 2 games with the Senior Canes, and could be in the Junior Canes line up when they host Prince George Tuesday night. Without the 72 point man from last year Lethbridge has scored an Eastern Conference low 30 goals, and sit 4th in the Central Division. They could also use Luca Sbisa in the line up, but the Swiss blueliner who was also a 2008 (19th overall) first round pick of Philly is to valuable to the Flyers right now. He played a season high 21:05 last week versus Montreal.

Saskatoon netminder Braden Holtby has signed with the Washington Capitals, it's a standard 3 year entry level deal. Holtby was interviewed by TPS recently and talked about his training camp experience. He's the main man in toon town in his 3rd WHL season and will be a key reason if the Blades sneak into the playoffs. Right now he has a sub 2.25 goals against average and a save percentage of .922 (before Tuesday night)and the Blades are second in the East Division just 2 points back of front running Swift Current. (again before Tuesday night)

One other WHL note, Brandon Wheat Kings forward Jay Fehr (no relation to former Wheat King and current Washington Capital Eric Fehr) has been named the Boston Pizza WHL player of the week. Fehr notched 9 points in 3 games for the Wheat Kings, including a 4 point outing against Edmonton a week ago Monday.


Fehr's head coach Kelly McCrimmon, along with head scout for ISS Mike Oke, Lincoln Stars forward and last week's 2009 draft prospect performer of the week Brett Chartier along with Mark Carlson will join Guy and myself tonight on The Pipeline Show. You can listen in Edmonton on THE TEAM 1260 from 7-9 PM mountain time, or online at www.thepipelineshow.com where you can also listen to archived programming.

Carlson Calling The Shots

The Pipeline Show has learned that U.S.A. Hockey has named Mark Carlson as it's head coach for the upcoming World Junior A Challenge, starting November 2nd in Camrose, Alberta.

The United States will play in pool B with Team Canada East, and Germany, and will open the tourney against the Germans November 4th. Last year the Americans went 2-0 in the round robin before losing to eventual gold medal winners Canada West in the semi-final. They rebounded to beat Russia for the 2nd time in the event and claim the bronze medal.

Carlson is currently the Head Coach and G.M. of the Cedar Rapids Roughriders of the USHL, and has held the position since 1999. He's led the team to 8 straight playoff spots, and won the league title, The Clark Cup, in 2004-2005.

A former draft pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Clark helped shape current Calgary Flame David Moss, as well as future Red Wing Justin Abdelkader and LA King Teddy Purcell while they were in Cedar Rapids.

Purcell was just on TPS last week, you can hear the interview here, and this Tuesday, Mark Carlson will join us to discuss the upcoming tournament and what team U.S.A will look like. Tune in from 7-9 PM mountain time The TEAM 1260 locally, or around the world online.

Update: Team Canada East has announced it's roster for the upcoming tourament, you can check it out here.

7th Heaven For AJHL

Team Canada West was named today for the upcoming World Junior A Challenge.

The top notch tournament starts November 2nd in Camrose, and Kodiaks bench boss Boris Rybalka will be walking the beat for what definitely will be the home side.

Rybalka stuck close to home today, naming 7 players from the AJHL.

You can view the complete list from Hockey Canada but there are a few players you will likely know if you follow the AJHL.

Dylan Olsen and Andrew MacWilliam will patrol the blueline and represent the home town Kodiaks, Aaron Dell of the Calgary Canucks will mind the twine, Steven Seigo of Bonnyville is the 2nd highest scoring D-Man in the AJ. Up front Matt Mackay is close to a point per game pace for the Calgary Canucks this year, Derek Rodwell of Okotoks will provide some muscle, and Grande Prairie's Tanner Fritz has put up 16 points in 14 games thus far in the young AJHL season.

3 Players from Team Canada West were drafted this past June:

Andrew MacWilliams-Toronto-7th round
Justin Schultz-Anaheim-2nd Round
Derek Grant-Ottawa-4th Round

There are 8 players who will be considered for this June's NHL draft in Montreal. 8 players that will hope to join the likes of Joe Colborne, Nikita Filatov, and Kyle Turris who all played in this event in the past and were all first round picks.

Two other players to watch will be Rylan and Jaden Schwartz from the Hounds of Notre Dame of the SJHL. Both starred for the Hounds a few years back in the Mac's Midget tournament and will hope to do the same in Camrose. Head Coach Mike Vandenberghe of Notre Dame has the luxary of the top two scorers from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey league, and like the former Brandon Wheat King D-man does in Wilcox, Boris Rybalka will lean heavily on the brothers and use the Schwartz to propel Team Canada West. The Duo have combined for 55 points in the Hounds first 12 games. Jaden is one of the 8 players NHL scouts will be eyeing up for this June's draft.

Team Canada West will play in a pool with Belarus and Russia, and will open the tournament against Belarus at 6:00 PM MST, Sunday November 2nd. The U.S.A, Germany and Team Canada East will battle it out in pool B. The roster for Team Canada East will be announced later this week. This Tuesday on TPS, we'll be interviewing the head coach for the United States, who that is will be announced shortly by Hockey USA. Keep checking our website for updates, and make sure you listen on Tuesday for your chance to win a complete tournament pass to the World Junior A Challenge.