Bears Rally to Beat Oilers Rooks

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In what was another entertaining edition of an annual tradition, the University of Alberta Golden Bears rallied from a 2-goal third period deficit to steal a win from the Edmonton Oilers rookies with a 4-3 final.

Without marquee forward Jordan Eberle and fellow 1st round pick Alex Plante in the line up the Oilers were a bit shorthanded so rearguard Jesse Dudas played up front for a while.

The final shots on the night favored the Bears by a 43-24 margin while attendance, as always, was at or near capacity for Clare Drake. 3,009 was the official tally but I'm not sure if that included the folks hanging from the rafters.

The rookies struck first when local boy Burke Gallimore found the back of the net behind Real Cyr in the UofA goal. It wasn't a brilliant play or anything but a a scramble that ended when the puck bounced to Gallimore who was in the right spot at the right time, and left all alone. Eberle's replacement on the top line (alongside Milan Kytnar and Philippe Cornet) had no trouble firing the puck into what was basically an empty net.

The lead didn't last long though as the Bears struck right back. Alberta replied 29 seconds later on a 2-on-1 when Dale Mahovsky's quick shot beat Andrew Perugini low blocker side.

The game remained knotted up until the 15:07 mark of the middle frame when former Minnesota Golden Gopher R.J. Anderson lifted a backhand to the top shelf, short side past Olivier Roy who had come in to play midway through the game.

Edmonton Oil Kings forward Brett Breitkreuz gave the visitors a two-goal lead early in the final period when he dug a loose puck out from behind the net and stuffed it behind Roy. Breitkreuz was one of the Oilers better players on the night and was subsequently named the first star of the game for his efforts. At the start of Oil Kings camp GM Bob Green told me that he felt Breitkreuz had really dedicated himself over the summer and that he had reported in and looked like a completely different player. After seeing him play the last couple of weeks I have to say that I agree; he's taken an obvious step ahead in his development.

The second half of the third period belonged to the Bears who somehow had to find a way to claw back out of a two-goal hole. The comeback began when former Oil King blueliner Cameron Cepek unloaded a slap shot from the point that found its way through sticks and legs and past Roy.

Former Regina Pat Michael MacAngus (a teammate of Eberle's last year) evened the score when he snapped a shot past the Cape Breton netminder at the 16:58 mark setting up a thrilling finish.

with a tie, or overtime or shootout (not sure what the tie break system would have been) looming, the Bears scored the winner during a mad goalmouth battle that ended when another local product, Sean Ringrose, corralled the disc and fired it home. The freshman completed a 3-goal period which saw goals scored off stick belong to all first year Golden Bears.

Who looked good for the Oilers? I've been pumping his tires since before camp began and have no reason tonght not to continue - Stepan Novotny has shown me enough potential that I believe Edmonton should offer him a contract. He's raw and far from mistake free but his speed, vision and puck skills are clearly on a higher level than most his age. The Oilers have an exclusive window that closes on September 30th to sign the Czech import who will play a big role for the Kelowna Rockets this year.

I also liked what I saw from Cameron Abney and Jamie Bates. Abney was in every scrum it seemed and was doing his best to rile up emotions from his mates as well as the other team. Bates (photo) seemed to thrive playing against the CIS squad as he was much more noticeable tonight than he was in Leduc against the Canucks.

Dalton Prout had another solid game tonight after an impressive showing against Vancouver in Leduc on Thursday. After the game I spoke with the former Sarnia and Barrie defender about his personal performance during the past week and if he felt he may have earned a longer look at main camp. You can hear that conversation HERE.

Also on the postgame agenda was Saskatoon Blades forward Burke Gallimore who was a guest on TPS a couple of weeks ago. I asked him if he was happy with the way he'd played over the last 5 days and how satisfied he was that, as a goal scorer, he was able to show exactly what he can do. You can hear that interview HERE.

The only member of the Oilers brass that shared his feelings after the game was Kevin Prendergast who complimented a few guys but didn't reveal too much about who might have earned a spot at main camp. Here that scrum HERE.

Main camp begins on Sunday, 8:15 AM at Rexall Place.

(Photos Courtesy: Stockton Thunder, Edmonton Oil Kings, Andy Devlin)

Oilers double up Canucks in rookie game

It was a pretty chippy game that featured hits, fights, goals and saves in Leduc tonight, and saw the Oilers freshmen skate away with a 6-3 win. Here are my thoughts on who stood out good or bad.

Jordan Eberle seemed to be in a scoring spot all night long, made a nice play to help set up the Oilers first goal combining with Milan Kytnar and Philippe Cornet for the marker. Eberle also scored a doosy weighting just long enough to put it into an empty net. Now before we put him on the team, it's just rookie camp, but he did look very good.

I've been impressed with Johan Motin all rookie camp and he was good again tonight. Positionally he was solid and moved the puck well.

Kurtis Mucha made several very good stops as well, especially in the 3rd period.

Oil King forward Michael Burns looked ok, but didn't do anything to stand out, however being at this camp should help him elevate his game this year. I mentioned Kytnar above and the chemistry continued with himself and Jordan Eberle. As pointed out earlier in the week, Kytnar is heading back to Saskatoon. Following him will be Derek Hulak and Burke Gallimore, neither did much tonight.

Here now are 10 players I expect to get an invite to main camp starting Sunday:

G-Bryan Pitton
G-Andrew Perugini
G-Olivier Roy
G-Kurtis Mucha
D-Johan Motin
D-Alex Plante
F-Jordan Eberle
F-Philippe Cornet
F-Jamie Bates
F-Stepan Novotny

Who's on your list that isn't on mine?

Rajala on the mend - Novotny impresses:update

I had a chance to speak with Finish forward Toni Rajal today. The 4th round pick from 2009 hasn't been on skates this week at rookie camp, but says he could be back on the blades in 2-3 weeks. Rajala injured his knee 5 weeks ago while playing for the national team in Slovakia. He will leave for Brandon in about 5 days and join the Wheat Kings. You can hear my interview with Rajala tonight on Global Edmonton Sports.

I'll also have a feature story on Stepan Novotny who's impressed Oilers management through 3 days of camp. If he plays well in the 2 games this week he could earn an invite to main camp. Novotny, who is a camp invite after getting passed over in the draft will return to Kelowna for another WHL season. The Oilers have until September 30th to sign him to a contract or he will head back to next year's draft.

Update: Rookie stories will likely air Friday on Global in light of Mike Comrie signing with the Oilers.

Rookie Camp Day 3

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This will be brief as there wasn't much going on during Wednesday's skate out in Sherwood Park.

Four players were excused from the session so they could partake in the Oilers Annual Golf Tournament - Jordan Eberle, Bryan Pitton, Andrew Perugini and Jamie Bates. The rest of the players simply had a 90-minute practice, mostly systems stuff in preparation for the two games coming up Thursday and Friday. There was no scrimmage.

That said, I spoke with netminder Kris Lazaruk after the practice. we talked about what went wrong in Kelowna last year, how it came about that he ended up in the USHL with the Omaha Lancers (see photo) and what is in store for him this season. You can hear that conversation HERE.

After practice yesterday there was still no clear indication of which goalies would be playing in which games this week but a couple of us media types were told that both Pitton and Perugini probably would not play. This will give the other four netminders here at least a period and a half to show what they can do.

(Photo courtesy: USHL Images)

Oilers Rookie Camp Day 2-Kytnar update

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Day 2 of rookie camp is in the books for Oilers hopefuls. Line combinations were the same as what Guy reported yesterday so I won't go through them, but will share some thoughts I had on day 2 and some of the hilites I saw.

Before that, I had the chance to speak with 2 players and Assistant G.M. Kevin Prendergast. You can here the conversations with Kevin as well as Olivier Roy and Alex Plante here. During the Prendergast interview he reveals that Kytnar will be returning to Saskatoon along with Burke Galllimore and Derek Hulak who are also at rookie camp. Guy and I had thought he would have a chance to play in Springfield, but Prendergast makes a good argument for why going back to the Blades is the Slovakians best option.

As for today's scrimmage Philippe Cornet opened the scoring taking a pass from the point and dragging the puck across the crease and tucking it past Andrew Perugini.

Perugini was tested shortly after that when Jordan Eberle shifted to his backhand in the slot, but the goalie was equal to the task.

At the other end Saskatoon Blade and Edmonton product Burke Gallimore set up Oil King and fellow Edmonton kid Michael Burns but he fired high over the net occupied by Kurtis Mucha.

Mucha wasn't so lucky when Jamie Bates dropped the puck for Jesse Dudas who beat Mucha through a crowd to tie things at 1.

One of the blueliners who impressed me today was Sweden's Johan Motin. He made a nice spin move and moved the puck up ice with poise. He's just 6.01 and 201 pounds but looks pretty comfortable on the ice. He's played with men for a couple of years, was a defence partner of Victor Hedman's and is hoping to make a smooth transition from the SEL to the AHL.

There are 2 to many goalies at this camp, but Bryan Pitton was able to make a nice stop in his limited time between the pipes. Dudas was set up in the slot but Pitton shot out his blocker to keep it out.

That's pretty much it from day 2. I think everyone is looking forward to the games against the Canucks and Golden Bears where the action can really pick up.

Oil Kings Deal Forward

The battle for the Edmonton Oil Kings 3rd 20 year old is now down to a couple of defenceman after Edmonton dealt overage forward Craig McCallum (pictured courtesy www.oilkings.ca) to the Prince Albert Raiders for a conditional bantam draft pick in 2010. From the official team release, here are comments from G.M. Bob Green.

"It is very difficult to make these decisions for our 20 year old roster spots, with the number of talented players we have in camp," says General Manager Bob Green. "Craig is a good kid and a good hockey player. This move will make it possible for him to continue his career in the WHL."

McCallum netted 31 goals in 2 seasons for the Oil Kings. He was absent from the team for 2 games in last year's first round playoff loss to Calgary because of personal reasons, but that wasn't the reason for making this deal. Credit Bob Green for finding a place for McCallum to continue his WHL career, as it was fairly clear to most he wasn't going to stick with the Kings this year.

With Torrie Jung and Brett Breitkreuz pretty much locking up 2 overage spots, it now comes down to Drew Nichol and Garrett Thiessen for the final spot.

Edmonton wraps up the pre season this Friday in Barrhead taking on Calgary.

Top 5 Tuesday: AHL Rookies

The Pipeline Show will coming out with our rookie of the year list in the next few weeks, and you can be sure we'll feature a segment or two on the subject. Today though on 'Top 5 Tuesday' we look at some ROY candidates for the American Hockey League. Mostly it's 2007 draft picks with the odd 2008 choice with a late birthday thrown in. There are some guys who aren't on the list that might make you wonder, but we think players like Colin Wilson (08, Nashville) and Zack Boychuk (08, Carolina) will crack their NHL clubs. So below is a list of 5 AHL freshman to watch out for.

1-James Van Riemsdyk-Adirondack
It seems longer than 2 years since Van Riemsdyk was taken 2nd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers. After a couple of seasons at New Hampshire where he scored 74 points in 66 games, JVR left school and played 11 AHL games (7 reg season, 4 playoff) at the end of last year netting 2 points. The powerful winger is the top prospect in the Flyers system, but there's no need for the club to rush him, so a season with new farm team Adirondack will keep his career moving along nicely. It's about time, 11 players from JVR's draft year have played atleast 30 NHL games.

2-Thomas Hickey-Manchester
The LA Kings shocked most people at the 2007 draft when they took Hickey 4th overall ahead of Karl Alzner. Since then he's captain Canada at the WJC and had back to back double digit goal seasons in Seattle. The Kings have promoted a lot of youth over the past few years, and barring injuries the blueline won't have room for Hickey. Some thought he struggled at the WJC championship while paired with fellow Kings prospect Colton Tuebert, but Hickey skates well enough and notched 7 points in 7 AHL games at the end of last year.

3-Tyler Ennis-Portland
At the time of writing this, Tyler Ennis doesn't have a signed contract with Buffalo. TPS talked to him a week ago and he told us he wasn't concerned with it getting done. So let's assume it happens and Ennis isn't coming back to the Medicine Hat Tigers. Some say he's to small at 5.09, but remember this is the same guy who scored 6 goals in a game against Prince Albert last year. To be small and succeed at the pro game you have to be ultra skilled, for me Ennis is and should have a great year in Portland, with an organization that hasn't had a problem promoting pint size stars.

4-Logan Couture-Worcester
I'm not sure how Logan Couture never made a WJC team in Canada, after all he averaged 34 goals a season for the Ottawa 67's, with 25 in his rookie season and 39 last year. The Sharks took him 9th overall in 2007 and are anxious to see him take the next step. San Jose is likely to deep for him to make a mark at the highest level, but for a Worcester team that had only 2 guys score 20 plus goals his nose for the net could come in handy.

5-Jonathan Blum-Milwaukee
The Nashville Predators are one of my favorite teams when it comes to their prospect pool. Colin Wilson has a spot to lose with the big club while Cody Franson should graduate to the big club this year. That will leave a spot on the blueline with the Admirals for Jonathan Blum. He was recently a guest on TPS and you can hear the interview here. The Long Beach product became the first California kid to be taken in the first round when the Preds grabbed him 23rd in 2007. Since then he set the Vancouver Giants assists record, was named the top blueliner in the CHL, and has captained both the Giants and team USA at the World Junior Championship. Blum isn't the biggest D-man, but is one of the smartest players and it should help him succeed in his first pro year.

There are a few other guys to watch for. Angelo Esposito-Chicago, Nick Petrecki-Worcester and Colten Tuebert-Manchester. The latter (pictured)isn't old enough to play in the AHL, but played 14 regular season games for Regina as a 15 year old, and 6 more in the playoffs, and might be eligible for the AHL because of that. TPS is checking into this a little more and hopes to have the answer in the coming days. Have we missed someone on your list, let us know.

As for tonight, we'll preview the QMJHL, talk to a Canuck rookie hoping to crack the line up and find out who's looking good at Oilers rookie camp. 7-9 PM MST on the TEAM 1260 in Edmonton, or online at www.thepipelineshow.com.

Rookie Camp Begins

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27 NHL hopefuls took to the ice at Rexall Place this morning as the on-ice portion of Oilers rookie camp officially got underway.

It was a fairly quick practice with guys getting on the ice at 9:30 and off again an hour later for a flood. There was a scrimmage to end the day .

The fans care more about the fake game but it's the systems drills that the coaches were keying in on. Coach Tom Renney was on the ice and afterwards he talked about how he was paying more attention to the 5-man units during the breakout drills than any one player in particular.

When asked what he thought of Jordan Eberle's performance, Renney chuckled and admitted that at this point he's still trying to figure out who is who and isn't really aware of the young guys in the system.

Forward Line Combinations

Milan Kytnar played between Jordan Eberle (RW) and Philippe Cornet (LW) on what was, as should be expected, the best line today. There is some nice chemistry between Eberle and Cornet that they first showed last September in Camrose. If the latter makes it to the WJC roster for Canada, someone with Hockey Canada should take note and try them together there as well.

The Saskatoon twosome of Derek Hulak and Burke Gallimore played alongside Oil Kings forward Michael Burns. Hulak played in the middle position there with Gallimore to his right .

Former Oil King captain Jeff Lee was flanked by Saginaw's Jordan Skellett (LW) and 2009 draftee Cameron Abney (RW) of the Everett Silvertips.

Kelowna winger Stepan Novotny and 24-year-old Jamie Bates were the wingers for Brett Breitkruz of the Edmonton Oil Kings.

Defensive pairings featured Alex Plante with Dalton Prout, Jordan Bendfeld played alongside Jesse Dudas (who wore #82 throwing fans for a loop as he was listed as #47), R.J. Anderson was partnered with Adrian Van de Mosselaer leaving Swede Johan Motin to play with Russian Dmitri Kostromitin.

The game saw the teams playing with two full lines each which meant, 15 minutes into it they were bagged and the tempo sagged dramatically. The first goal came off the stick of #73, Burke Gallimore (photo), who snapped a deadly accurate shot just under the crossbar from 20 feet out to the left of netminder Kurtis Mucha.

About 10 seconds after Gallimore's goal Mucha was beaten again. Not his fault though as #66 Dalton Prout coughed up the puck to #59 Brett Breitkreuz in front of the net. The Oil Kings forward quickly spun and jammed it towards the goal and through the Portland Winterhawks netminder.

The third marker was a laser beam wrist shot from the top of the circle that beat Olivier Roy cleanly. Off the bottom of the crossbar and in. It was the second of the morning for Burke Gallimore who did what a goal scorer needs to do at a camp like this: score goals.

Jordan Eberle got his team's first goal and he scored it from his knees. It's wasn't as mind-blowing as it might sound though. At this point of the scrimmage guys were coasting all over the place and so when he got a lose puck at the hashmarks, turned and fell, he still had time to not only regain control but to also get a shot off with no one within 5 feet of him. Eberle's wrister beat Andrew Perugini 5-hole.

The final goal of the day came off the stick of Milan Kytnar who won a minor side-of-the-goal puck battle and put the puck on the net and saw it go in. Not a fancy goal, just a guy working hard and getting rewarded for it. Kris Lazaruk was in net at the time.

That was it. No really notable collisions and no eye-popping saves by any stretch of the imagination today.

After the practice I spoke with 3 participants and you can hear those interviews by clicking on their names: Stepan Novotny, Derek Hulak and Philippe Cornet.

Really quick first impressions: Russian defenceman Dmitri Kostromitin is noticeable. He's 6'3 off the ice and he looks pretty imposing while skating around and bumping into guys. He puts the candy-cane stripes on his stick so he's easy to spot too... Johan Motin needs stickum for his gloves, the Swede kept losing his stick during the drills. I liked that he brought some feisty attitude with him, he was whacking guys as they came across the line towards him... Cam Abney is tall. He's listed as 6'4 which made him the tallest player on the ice. Already one of the more respected pugilists in the WHL, once he fills out his frame he really could be a dangerous tough guy... There are too many goalies here this week. 6 is two, too many. They play two games which means 4 guys can play half a game or 3 guys can play a period each... why bother? Pitton and Perugini should not be here right now, they're not rookies and the team already knows them. (just my opinion)... forward Toni Rajala has yet to arrive in Edmonton as he was scheduled to see his doctor today in Finland before making the trip to North America...

One Down, One To Go For CHL

CHL fans will get to see atleast one talented Russian in action this year as Stanislav Galiev will suit up in the Q. Below is the press release

Press Release from the Saint John Sea Dogs.

Saint John Sea Dogs Director of Hockey Operations Mike Kelly announced on Friday that the transfer of import forward Stanislav Galiev to the Canadian Hockey League has been approved by the International Ice Hockey Federation. Galiev will now be able to skate with the Sea Dogs competitively.

“We’re very pleased that the IIHF has made this decision and we’re excited to be able to officially add Stanislav to our roster,” said Kelly.

Saint John made Galiev the #1 overall selection at the 2009 CHL Import Draft this past June. The 17-year old offensive wizard tallied 29G-35A-64P in 60 games played with the Indiana Ice (USHL) last season, adding 13GP-5G-4A-9P during his team's successful run to a Clark Cup Championship. Galiev also helped Team Russia win a Silver Medal at the 2009 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka Tournament, registering 1G-2A-3P in four games played at the prestigious international event.

Now fans will wait and see if Kirill Kabanov will get a similar ruling and be able to join the Moncton Wildcats. Kabanov was in Moncton recently as you can read here, but will he stay? You can read the reason why he might not here.


(Galiev photo courtesy:Jim Lee/Sioux City Journal, Kabanov photo courtesy:www.thekhl.net.)

Schremp Signs New Deal

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The Pipeline Show has learned that the Edmonton Oilers have come to terms with prospect forward Rob Schremp on a new 1-year, two-way contract.

Schremp, a 1st round pick (25th overall) in 2004, is entering his fourth professional season. To date he has appeared in 7 NHL games and has collected 3 assists. In 2008-09 Schremp scored 7 goals and 42 points in 69 games with the AHL Springfield Falcons which followed a 23 goal, 76 point campaign the year before. The New York native appeared in the 2008 AHL All-Star game.

The former OHL standout will arrive in Edmonton in a week's time and report to main camp with the Oilers. This year Schremp will have to clear waivers before he can be re-assigned to the Falcons should he fail to stick with the big club out of training camp.