The Bulldogs stop the upset insanity in NCAA tournament action

Wow, what a first day of the NCCA tournament. Minnesota-Duluth became the only favorite to win their opening game, needing overtime to sneak past Princeton 5-4. Brett Wilson scored a pair as the Tigers took a 4-2 lead into the 3rd. Only a Camrose Kodiak connection saved the season for the UMD Bulldogs. With one second left, Evan Oberg scored a goal set up by MacGregor Sharp and Mike Connolly to force overtime. The AJHL came through for the Bulldogs in overtime as Connolly finished off a set up from Oberg and former Bonnyville Pontiac Justin Fontaine.


Meanwhile, after Air Force got things going (see Guy's post below) then Miami took out the 3rd ranked Denver Pioneers 4-2. The Redhawks who lost out in the their conference playoffs and needed an at large bid to the big dance, advances to the regional final for the 3rd straight year, but for the first time in 4 straight years won't have to worry about losing to Boston College. Miami jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second period where they outshot Denver 12-3. Former Camrose Kodiak and TPS blogger Joe Colborne got the Pioneers on the board in the middle frame but Andy Miele regained the 3 goal lead for Miami before the intermission. Denver's Tyler Bozak, a former TPS guest scored in the 3rd to get Denver within 2 again, but that was as close as they would come. Bozak was playing his first game since December 12th due to a knee injury. Miami will now take on Minnesota-Duluth tomorrow in the regional final.

In the other tilt today, yes another underdog comes up large. After it seemed like they called in sick for their conference playoffs, while they partied in Tijuana, Vermont used their wild card bid to oust Yale 4-1. 4 different Catamounts scored for Vermont, while noone had more than a point. Yale's only goal came with just 1:45 to go. So Saturday it will be Vermont taking on Air Force in their Regional Final.

Also on the sked for Saturday:

Bemijdi State Vs. Notre Dame
Ohio State Vs. Boston University
Cornell Vs. Northeastern
New Hampshire Vs. North Dakota

Eberle Assist In First Game & Oil Kings Reflect On Season

Just watching the Springfield Falcons take on the Worcester Sharks right now on the NHL network. There aren't a ton of reasons to want to watch the struggling Falcons right now, but Jordan Eberle is one. So far so good for the 2008 first rounder of the Oilers as he helped set up Ryan Potulny in the first period. It was Potulny's 31st goal and Eberle's first pro point. Currently it's 1-1 after 1. Eberle took a pass from Ryan Stone in the slot, put it towards the net where Potulny finished at the side of the cage.

Guy and I were down at Rexall place today as the Oil Kings met with the media one final time. I was working for Global Guy was there for TPS and the TEAM 1260. Here are some of my thoughts and here is the link to hear all the one-on-ones from the morning.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Mark Pysyk in 2 years and even next season. The guy played more than 20 minutes a game as a 16 year old, steadied the blue line and ran the power play. Very similar to Dion Phaneuf at that age with Red Deer.

Contrary to popular belief, the Kings did win a playoff game. They beat PA to get into the post season. That, combined with their 4 game lesson from the Hitmen should make the club better prepared for next season.

Remember Brenden Dowd, Jeff Lee and Brandon Lockerby next year if the Kings have a good playoff run. They are this year's 3 - 20 year olds that ended their WHL careers Wednesday night, but helped build a winning tradition in Edmonton this year.

Speaking of 20 year olds, the Kings are hoping they have one in net next season. Torrie Jung told me he expects any contract talks with Tampa to begin after the NHL season. The best case scenario for Edmonton is that Jung signs with the bolts and they return him for his overage season with Edmonton. If the Lightning don't sign him, why not the Oilers. They can keep a watch on him and after next year, Jeff Deslauriers and Devan Dubnyk should be ready to mind the twine with the big club and Jung could slide into the AHL spot.

A number of guys took advantage of increased playing time because of the many injuries suffered by the Kings this year. Kieren Friesen, Tyler Hlookoff, Michael Burns, Henrik Tervonen and even midget call up Travis Ewanyk from St. Albert gained valuable experience.

Rocky Thompson's contract is up after this year, and Steve Pleau is in the option year of his, expect them both to be back behind the bench when the season starts next year.

What to expect next year? Michael St. Croix will be looked to for offence, even though he'll only be 16. His midget team won the Manitoba AAA League playoffs this year, with St. Croix putting up 20 points in 8 games. Watch for him at the Telus Cup this year. Fellow Oil Kings draft pick Devin Ballness had 34 penalty minutes in 10 games with the Eastman Selects during the same post season run. Watch for St. Croix at the Canadian Midget championship starting April 20th in Selkirk, Manitoba. TSN will air the final game on April 26th at 5 PM mountain time.

Opening Game Shocker!

Well it certainly didn't take long for the NCAA National Tournament to produce a big upset. In the first game of the event the Michigan Wolverines were shutout and eliminated by Air Force as the Falcons scored a stunning 2-0 victory.

Everything about this game suggests the Wolverines were absolutely dominant. The shots were 43-13 for Michigan and they also controlled the dot winning 41 of 63 faceoffs.

So how did Air Force pull off the big upset?

Andrew Volkening.

You've heard The Pipeline Show talk about him before and like he's done before, Volkening was a one-man giant killer. This was Volkening's third consecutive shutout as he posted blankings in his final two AHA playoff games and now another against Red Berenson's mighty Wolverines squad. In fact, with shutouts against Michigan, Bentley and Mercyhurst behind him, Volkening hasn't allowed a goal since March 15th against Sacred Heart. One goal against in his last four games... that is quality goaltending.

Jacques Lamoureux, another TPS favourite and past guest, scored the second goal for the Falcons helping show why he was named as one of the ten finalists for the Hobey Baker Award this year.

The Falcons opened the scoring on a first period power play, one of only 3 shots they mustered in the opneing frame. They scored again in the second period despite having only fired 7 shots at Michigan starter Bryan Hogan to that point.

Next up for Air Force, the winner between #3 Vermont and #2 Yale and quite frankly, I like the Falcons against either one of them.

Remember that at one point earlier this year Air Force was a perfect 13-0 before losing a close game against Denver. After that they went into a bit of a funk but the Falcons ended the year very strong and cruised through their Conference playoffs in impressive fashion.

Don't look now but... Air Force in the Frozen Four? It's one big step closer to reality after today's upset.

TPS Adds Another Guest Blogger

The Pipeline Show is pleased to welcome yet another guest blogger as we ramp up our draft countdown and coverage. Penning his thoughts will be Camrose Kodiak Defenceman Dylan Olsen who is ranked 34th by ISS for the upcoming draft. Look for his first entry in the next week.

The Calgary kid put up 10 goals and 29 points in 53 games this year for Camrose, his second season with the Kodiaks. 5 of his goals came on the power play and the 6.02, 205 pound rearguard picked up more than 120 penalty minutes. He also notched 7 points in 10 playoff games before Camrose was eliminated. Olsen has committed to the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

Olsen represented Team Canada West at the World Junior A Challenge in November, a tournament held in Camrose, and TPS has learned, Olsen will be picked to wear the Maple Leaf once again this Spring at the Under 18's in Fargo. Team Canada is meeting April 2nd in Minnesota to get ready for the tournament that starts April 9th.
Canada is the defending champions after blowing out Russia 8-0 in last year's final.

I'm not sure when Canada's roster will be officially released, but I'm wondering if Oil Kings blueliner Mark Pysyk will be on it. Sure he's only 16 but he was terrific this year for the Kings playing more than 20 minutes a night, steadying the back end and running the power play. He might not have the points of a Jordan Weal in Regina, but he was just as effective when it comes to first year players.

NCAA Hockey Brackets

The National Tournament for NCAA hockey begins today and 3 Canadians think they know what's going to happen and proudly present... our brackets!

Show hosts Dean Millard and Guy Flaming as well as button pushing ninja Taylor "The Sports Doctor" Medach make up The Pipeline Show NCAA panel.

Northeast Regional

#1 Boston University Terriers VS #4 Ohio State Buckeyes

Millard: BU
Flaming: BU
Sports Dr.: BU

#2 North Dakota Fighting Sioux VS #3 New Hampshire Wildcats

Millard: UND
Flaming: UND
Sports Dr.: UND

Round 2:
Millard: BU over UND
Flaming: BU over UND
Sports Dr. : UND over BU

East Regional

#1 Michigan Wolverines VS #4 Air Force Falcons

Millard: Michigan
Flaming: Michigan
Sports Dr.: Air Force

#2 Yale Bulldogs VS #3 Vermont Catamounts

Millard: Vermont
Flaming: Yale
Sports Dr.: Yale

Round 2
Millard: Michigan over Vermont
Flaming: Michigan over Yale
Sports Dr.: Air Force over Yale

West Regional

#1 Denver Pioneers VS #4 Miami RedHawks

Millard: Denver
Flaming: Denver
Sports Dr.: Denver

#2 Minn.Duluth Bulldogs VS Princeton Tigers

Millard: Princeton
Flaming: Duluth
Sprts Dr.: Duluth

Round 2
Millard: Denver over Princeton
Flaming: Denver over Duluth
Sports Dr.: Duluth over Denver

Midwest Regional

#1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish VS #4 Bemidji State Beavers

Millard: Notre Dame
Flaming: Notre Dame
Sprts Dr.: Notre Dame

#2 Northeasters Huskies VS Cornell Big Red

Millard: Cornell
Flaming: Noertheastern
Sports Dr.: Cornell

Round 2
Millard: Notre Dame over Cornell
Flaming: Notre Dame over Northeastern
Sports Dr.: Notre Dame over Cornell

Frozen Four Teams

Millard: Boston University, Michigan, Denver and Notre Dame
Flaming: Boston University, Michigan, Denver and Notre Dame
Sports Dr.: Boston University, Air Force, Duluth, Notre Dame

National Championship Game

Millard: BU over Denver
Flaming: Bu over Notre Dame
Sports. Dr.: Duluth over Notre Dame

Why TPS Covers the NCAA

Recently Dean was asked why we seem to dedicate so much of our live show to talking about NCAA hockey. Afterall, we're based in Edmonton Canada... about a million miles away from the nearest NCAA hockey school, so who really cares?

We're located in what is now a WHL city and our radio home is the TEAM 1260, the rights holder station for the Edmonton Oil Kings. I've been asked before if it's a conflict of interest for The Pipeline Show to be talking about NCAA or the USHL or even the AJHL in light of the fact that all of those leagues could be seen as competitors to the CHL and the WHL in particular.

The answer is No. It is definitely not a conflict of interest and I can assure everyone of our listeners that The Pipeline Show will not cease our coverage of those other leagues. We strongly believe that covering the NCAA, USHL and Canadian Jr.A is what makes us different and that's one of the reasons why it's a priority for us.

The fact that we dedicate a segment each and every week to the NCAA has brought in a lot of dedicated listeners from well outside of the TEAM 1260's broadcast range. We get a ton of traffic to the blog and the main site from listeners south of the border, many of whom tell us that it's great to hear coverage from outside the immediate NCAA media.

Keep in mind what we do here at TPS; we bring you interviews with the players, coaches and media covering the next wave of NHL stars. A large percentage of that next wave comes from the Canadian Jr.A leagues and the USHL via the NCAA. Here are some numbers to ponder:

The last 5 NHL drafts have had this first round breakdown with the percentage being players who were in or have since gone the NCAA route:

2004 – CHL (12), NCAA (7), Euro (11) = 23.3%
2005 – CHL (17), NCAA (8), Euro (5) = 26.7%
2006 – CHL (16), NCAA (7), Euro (7) = 23.3%
2007 – CHL (16), NCAA (11), Euro (3) = 36.7%
2008 – CHL (21), NCAA (4), Euro (5) = 13.3%

5 year average = 24.7%

Going by that, one could argue that 24.7% of our show should consit of NCAA content... right? That said, Dean and I both feel that not covering NCAA, USHL and Jr.A would be neglecting a huge chunk of our demographic including those geographically nearest to us in Western Canada. Confused?

I don't think the general fan is actually aware of just how many Canadians that there are on NCAA rosters. To that end, I undertook the painstaking task of going through every individual NCAA team's roster (according to USCHO.com) and doing the calculator work to find out.

By NCAA Conference, here is what I found: (Canadians/total players)

Atlantic: 82/211 = 38.9%
CCHA: 80/315 = 25.4%
CHA: 60/106 = 56.6%
ECAC: 150/330 = 45.4%
Hockey East: 69/277 = 24.9%
WCHA: 70/260 = 26.9%
--------
NCAA: 511/1499 = 34.1%

Only 3 teams in the entire NCAA have zero Canadian content, those being the military programs of Air Force and Army (for obvious reasons) and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. That 34.1% number of Canadians is obviously a mixture of budding superstars and players there more for the scholarship than a future in the game - just like the Americans who are in the league.

Some will suggest that the top NCAA teams will have less Canadian content because they can draw the top American players and don't have to resort to filling out their roster from the bottomless pool of available Canadians. There is some truth to that - the Gophers don't even have to go outside of their own state to find players, many Minnesotans dream of wearing that big M.

New Hampshire and Boston College only have a pair of Canadians each while both Miami and Notre Dame have just a single Canuck on their team.

However, some of the traditional powerhouse programs augment their line ups with Canadians and typically these are WCHA clubs like North Dakota (52%) and Denver (33%). Often those players are not just there filling out rosters but are playing lead roles like in Duluth this year where most of the top scorers are former AJHL players.

The 16-team National Tournament begins tomorrow and, excluding Air Force, there are 114 Canadians involved which comes in right around 33% of the participants. Here are some notables to watch for:

Joe Colborne & Jesse Martin (Denver), Kieran Millan (Boston University), Ryan Duncan (North Dakota), coach Red Berenson (Michigan), Riley Nash (Cornell), Lee Jubinville & coach Guy Gadowsky (Princeton), Zac Dalpe (Ohio State) and Mike Connolly (Minn.-Duluth). Aside from all being Canadians, another fact they all share... they've all been on The Pipeline Show.

Considering how key NCAA hockey is to players who come from Canada, not to mention their family and friends who want to follow them once they leave, we feel it's more than just an obligation on our part - it's a corner stone of the show.

Next Tuesday we'll be providing listeners with a 1-hour round table discussion previewing the Frozen Four with a couple of TPS regulars in D.J. Powers (Hockey's Future) and Paula Weston (USCHO). The following week is reserved for our annual Frozen Four Coach's Show where we plan on speaking with the bench bosses of all four programs in advance of the pivotal weekend of NCAA play.

Too much NCAA coverage? To be hoenst, since a typical show consists of 4 guest segments and we dedicate one to college hockey (25%), you could make an argument that we're barely doing enough!

Over the last four years The Pipeline Show has delivered pre-NHL interviews with current or future superstars including Kyle Turris (PHX), James vanRiemsdyk (PHI), Colin Wilson (NSH), Jonathan Toews (CHI), Andrew Cogliano (EDM), Ryan McDonagh (MTL), as well as current top free agents Tyler Bozak and Matt Gilroy.

We like to think that that's a pretty good start... but we're far from done!

Observations on the WHL Western Conference Playoffs so Far.

The Down-Low with Bristowe

Observations on the Western Conference Playoffs so far.

As expected the Prince George Cougars were easily dispatched by the Vancouver Giants in 4 straight. The Giants dominated the first two games in Vancouver winning 8-2 and 9-1. The Cougars looked much better at home which was not a huge surprise considering 18 of their 25 wins came in their own barn. The Cats did not have enough even at home as the Giants rounded out the series with a pair of 3-2 wins, the first one came in overtime.

The Giants looked like a team that could be had. When the Cougars played physical Vancouver backed down. Tyson Sexsmith looked very bad on a few of the Cougars goals, but he also did save the game late in the second period in game 3 with the score tied at 2 on a save that should be one of the top 5 WHL plays of the week. The Giants managed to wrap up the series in front of a couple of their big bosses. Giants owner Ron Toigo made his way to Prince George for the final game of the series along with another person that has a stake in the team, Pat Quinn. I managed to catch up to Pat and will have that interview on Cougar View airing tomorrow on CKPG TV at 4:00 p.m. pacific time and rebroadcast at 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Saturday (Star Choice Satellite channel 325.)

Surprisingly the Kamloops Blazers bowed out in 4 consecutive games against the Kelowna Rockets. The Blazers managed to score the first goal in 3 of the 4 games, and it looked like they had atleast one win as they were up 2-1 in the third game with 3 seconds to go. The Rockets tied it and then won it in overtime. In game 4 they would complete the sweep winning 5-3.

The other two series are still going states side. Spokane is up 3 games to one on the Thunderbirds after taking both games in the Seattle. The Chiefs can wrap it up on Saturday at home. Tri-City has a 2 to 1 series advantage over Everett with game 4 set for Everett on Friday. Chet Pickard has played all 3 games so far after returning from a concussion late in the season.

Right now it looks like the top 4 teams are on a collision course for the second round out west. Likely you won’t see any sweeps in the next round with each team a league contender.

That’s the Down-Low with Bristowe.

Goliath Sweeps David - Oil Kings Done.

The Calgary Hitmen put an end to a successful second season for the Edmonton Oil Kings with a decisive 4-1 victory to win their opening WHL playoff series in 4 straight games.

Make no mistake about it, the Hitmen are an exceptional hockey club. They were without 100-point forward Brett Sonne on Wednesday night and didn't miss a beat firing 43 shots at Edmonton netminder Torrie Jung. Kris Foucault scored twice while Brandon Kozun and Kyle Bortis added singles in the clinching game in front of a lively crowd of 6387 at Rexall Place.

Edmonton's Brett Breitkreuz and Oil prospect Alex Plante had a spirited bout before the game was even two minutes old and that got the crowd into it early.

Edmonton was outshot in the opening period to the tune of 14-6 but most people on the catwalk thought those numbers were off a bit as the home side had played pretty strong. The Oil Kings opened the scoring after Robin Soudek slid a pass across the slot to a wide open Brent Raedeke (DET) for a power play goal.

For the next several minutes Edmonton had Calgary on their heels; Jeff Lee stepped up the physical play by throwing a trio of hits during one single shift including a pair which sent Hitmen flying.


It was apparent early in the second though that Calgary wasn't going to be intimidated and they assumed control over the game in almost every facet. Goalie Martin Jones, the CHL stopper of the week, was sharp when needed and ended the series having allowed just 3 goals in 4 games.

Joel Broda was the point leader for the Hitmen over the series totalling 7 points.

Edmonton head coach Steve Pleau addressed the media after the game and spoke at length about what the short post season this year will mean to his team next season. He also paid tribute to the victorious Hitmen and made a variety of other comments that you can hear HERE.


- This was the final WHL game in the careers of 20-year-old Oil Kings Brandon Lockerby, Brenden Dowd and Jeff Lee. I won't be shocked at all next year if Lockerby, a Manitoba native, is playing for the CIS Bisons and local product Jeff Lee is a member of the UofA Golden Bears. While I think Dowd could get a look from a pro team, he'd be a good fit for the Saskatchewan Huskies.

- The Oil Kings are playing host to the annual WHL Bantam Draft at the end of April. The league awards banquet and draft will take place on Wednesday the 29th and Thursday the 30th respectively. Edmonton will be hosting the event for the next three consecutive years.

- 19-year-old forward Shayne Neigum was a healthy scratch for game 4 after "violating a team rule". Neigum had been one of Edmonton's top performers through the first three games scoring one of their 3 goals but paid the price in the final game of the year. That's a really tough call for Steve Pleau who definitely could have used him but kudos to the coach for not deviating from the policy or making an exception based on the individual despite the team's need. Who says junior hockey teams only think about winning games?

- Finally, the winner of The Pipeline Show's Oil Kings contest for correctly predicting that Edmonton would only score a total of three goals in the opening round is... "RED DEER REBEL". The Oil Kings are in possession of the jersey and once I get it returned to me with everyone's signatures, we'll arrange transfer of ownership over to you. Congratulations and thanks to everyone else who entered. We had entries from as far away as Saskatoon and even one from Sweden!

(Photos Courtesy: Calgary Herald, Edmonton Oil Kings / Andy Devlin)

One on One: Alex Plante

This is one of my favorite pictures of Alex Plante. It was taken after a Calgary Hitmen game at the Saddledome and despite his surroundings he defiantly adorns the colours of the villainous NHL team up the road. Talk about being behind enemy lines!

There is a lot of pressure that goes along with being a first round pick, even more so when you're taken by a Canadian team because you're under the microscope of the fanbase from draft day on.

Plante was Edmonton's second choice at the 2007 NHL Entry Draft and its been a selection that Oiler fans have scrutinized ever since. Many fans felt the Oilers were going off the board when they chose the Calgary Hitmen blueliner. Those draft day critics fed off Plante's injury riddled 2007-08 season and used his problems as evidence of their own personal justification for being against the Oiler draft decision.

Many of those critics have been quieter this year as Plante has rebounded in fine fashion as a key part of the machine that the Hitmen have become. The #1 ranked team in the CHL is loaded with players having career years including Plante who has set personal highs in every category including points and penalty minutes.

On Monday night Dean Millard was able to speak with Plante after the Hitmen captured game 3 of their opening round series against the Edmonton Oil Kings. In the TPS exclusive, Plante discusses everything from the team-bonding mohawks the Hitmen have adopted to the much-publicized training camp hold out, his own personal development this year and his possible future with the Edmonton Oilers as he awaits a contract offer.

You can hear Millard's conversation with Oiler prospect Alex Plante... HERE.

Wednesday Re-Set

Last night on The Pipeline Show...

We began the program with a bang. Matt Gilroy is a 24-year-old senior with the Boston University Terriers and is being followed by NHL scouts who want to get his under contract next month much the same way Fabian Brunnstrom was pursued this time last year.

Gilroy's story is extremely interesting including chapters that could be called "Why I Turned Down the NHL", "No scholarship, no problem!" and "Tribute to Lost Brother". Last night Gilroy talked about it all but we still had time to talk about the NCAA national Tournament and winning the Hockey East title too.

From there we couldn't connect with Dave Starman so Dean and I decided to go through our respective NCAA Hockey National Tournament brackets. We'll post them here before the tournament starts on Friday just so we have documented proof of our prognosticating prowess.

It was then time for another monthly installment of the ISS Draft Countdown where head scout Mike Oke joins us to discuss the newest release from Internation Scouting Services. Last night we discussed teamless Kyle Palmieri, The World U18s, Cape Breton netminder Olivier Roy, Zach Kassian (pictured) of the Peterborough Petes and Brandon forward Scott Glennie.

We also chatted with Edmonton Oil Kings GM Bob Green. We talked about the team's plight in their series against the mighty Calgary Hitmen, got updates on some key injuries and discussed the stellar play of netminder Torrie Jung and if there was optimism he may return as a 20-year-old. Green also gave us some insight into the WHL's Bantam draft which will be held in Edmonton for the next several years.

Finally we ran some exclusive interviews with a handful of Hitmen including 50-goal scorer Joel Broda, defencemen Paul Postma and Alex Plante as well as 100-point man Brett Sonne.

If you missed it live, you can click the archive... HERE!