Just a quick note....I hope I didn't mislead anyone about the timeline of these team prospect capsules I'm working up. You won't be seeing any of them before early next week at the earliest and it will probably take me a couple weeks to get all 22 of them posted.
Part of what's holding me up is the lack of final season stats from the Alberta Midget Hockey League (http://www.amhl.ab.ca), since there's a lot of WHL prospects in that league. Also no final stats from the Southern Alberta Midget League (http://www.saml.ca) and there's a number of '92 WHL prospects in that league last year too. The AMHL should make theirs available eventually....I wouldn't be so sure of the SAML doing it though, they did last year but not the year before that. If I have everything else done and still no stats from one or both of those leagues then I'm just going to go ahead and do it without them.
I have the team prospect lists and about 90% of the stats I need so it's just a matter of matching up prospects with stats and looking up heights, weights, etc. Not rocket science stuff but it is time consuming so that's why you won't see anything until after the weekend.
Meantime, keep voting if you haven't already.....Everett, Portland, and Saskatoon are looking like the first teams I'll be doing. After that, it's pretty close down the board....
Friday, May 30, 2008
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Bourdon killed
One of the Vancouver Canucks' top prospects, defenceman Luc Bourdon, was killed this morning in a motorcycle accident in his home province of New Brunswick. Reports are that he lost control of his motorcyle and collided with a semi-trailer.
He was the 10th overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft and won the 2006 and 2007 World Junior gold medals with Canada as well as starring at the 2006 Memorial Cup with the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats.
Very sad.....
He was the 10th overall pick in the 2005 NHL draft and won the 2006 and 2007 World Junior gold medals with Canada as well as starring at the 2006 Memorial Cup with the QMJHL's Moncton Wildcats.
Very sad.....
Team-by-team prospects
Well, it's now the offseason in the WHL, which means there's really only one thing for fans to do: start talking about next year's team! 
So, what I'm going to do over the next little while (days, weeks, however long this takes) is go team-by-team through the prospects of each WHL team. You're not going to get a lot of detail since I don't know a lot about most players, so what you'll get will be the basics: age, position, height, weight, 07-08 stats, and how the team acquired that player's rights.
Doesn't matter to me what order I do the teams in....so what I'll do here is make it interactive and let you readers decide that. I'll set up a poll and you guys can vote on the team you're most interested in.....and when I have time to do a team, I'll look at which team is currently leading the poll. OK?
So, what I'm going to do over the next little while (days, weeks, however long this takes) is go team-by-team through the prospects of each WHL team. You're not going to get a lot of detail since I don't know a lot about most players, so what you'll get will be the basics: age, position, height, weight, 07-08 stats, and how the team acquired that player's rights.
Doesn't matter to me what order I do the teams in....so what I'll do here is make it interactive and let you readers decide that. I'll set up a poll and you guys can vote on the team you're most interested in.....and when I have time to do a team, I'll look at which team is currently leading the poll. OK?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Chiefs dynasty coming?
Could this be just the start of a 2 or 3 year run for the Chiefs? It could very well be....their losses for next season, while not inconsequential, are not crippling either. In fact, of the 23 players on their 07-08 roster, they should have 17 of them back next season. The only six losses will be the three overagers (Blackwater, Bruton, Rutherford) which every team in junior hockey loses, plus three of their six '88s since they can only keep three of them as next year's overagers.
The six overage candidates are Armstrong (G), Compton (F), Falk (D), Glass (D), Kelner (F/D), and McCrae (F). Falk and McCrae may be headed pro since they were both drafted last year, but on the other hand, their NHL teams still have another year yet to sign them so they may end up being returned to junior. If one of both of those guys comes back, they are no-brainers to have overage spots next year. The other no-brainer is Glass, who was probably the team's best defenceman if it wasn't Falk. Compton and Kelner's statuses probably depend on whether Falk and/or McCrae are back, but neither Compton nor Kelner would be a huge loss if they were not back. They were both 3rd/4th line depth players more than key players on this year's team. Valuable depth players, yes, but much more easily replaceable than a top-liner. Armstrong is pretty much a sure thing to be gone since he is the backup goalie and almost nobody keeps overage backup goalies. He'll be traded somewhere else in the WHL for next year, someplace where he can be the starter.
They will definitely return three of their four top scorers (Bowman, Wahl, Roman), plus at least five (Glass, Spurgeon, Reddington, Ulmer, Cowen) of their top six defencemen, and (maybe most importantly) their #1 goaltender, Tokarski. With a few other forwards like Johnson and Koper probably ready to take on larger offensive roles to help offset the loss of guys like Bruton, Blackwater and Rutherford, I don't see why this team can't be just as good next year as they were this year.
Looking even longer-term than this, I think a three-year run is not out of the question for the Chiefs either, given that players like Wahl, Johnson, Koper, Ulmer, Reddington, and Cowen are all 17 or younger and will be around for two more years yet, barring them going to the NHL. 18 year olds like Tokarski and Spurgeon are decent to good bets for overagers in two years as well, because of their height and/or NHL undrafted status. That is a really good core group there for two years from now yet, and assuming the management continues to surround those guys with more good 16/17 year olds this year, they could still be a force in 2009-10.
Couple other notes.....maybe a bit of a rant, actually.
I'm sick already of people (Kitchener fans mostly but not exclusively) talking about how the Rangers "should" have won the Cup and how the Chiefs are destroying the game of hockey with their dull style, yadda yadda yadda.
Let's straighten this out: the only trophy the Rangers should have won is Most Overrated. They were 2-3 at the Memorial Cup: that's not even .500 and some idiots think they deserved to have won it instead of a team that was 4-0? They lost not once but TWICE to Spokane in their own rink, and some idiots still think they deserved to have won it?
The Rangers scored 18 goals in three games against everyone else. They scored two goals in two games against Spokane. The Memorial Cup's most overrated player, Justin Azevedo, scored 11 points against the rest.....ZERO against Spokane. The evidence is clear: Kitchener was not better than Spokane.
Then there's the goofs who have to point out that Kitchener's best player, goalie Steve Mason, did not play in the Cup because he was hurt. And I say, who cares....would Mason have scored a couple goals against Spokane? Because that's what did the Rangers in, their inability to score goals when it counted, and not their goaltending. The Rangers took 91 shots at Dustin Tokarski over two games, and scored on TWO of them. Brutal.
For that matter, anyone who says the Chiefs play a trap is nuts: they gave up 91 shots in those two games. If that's playing the trap, then they are the worst trapping team of all time since one of the signatures of an effective trap is low shot totals. The Chiefs were the 4th-highest scoring team in the WHL this year, and 2nd-best defensively....yes, they stress defence first, but it's not like they don't score. They play very well at both ends of the ice, and that's why they won.
The six overage candidates are Armstrong (G), Compton (F), Falk (D), Glass (D), Kelner (F/D), and McCrae (F). Falk and McCrae may be headed pro since they were both drafted last year, but on the other hand, their NHL teams still have another year yet to sign them so they may end up being returned to junior. If one of both of those guys comes back, they are no-brainers to have overage spots next year. The other no-brainer is Glass, who was probably the team's best defenceman if it wasn't Falk. Compton and Kelner's statuses probably depend on whether Falk and/or McCrae are back, but neither Compton nor Kelner would be a huge loss if they were not back. They were both 3rd/4th line depth players more than key players on this year's team. Valuable depth players, yes, but much more easily replaceable than a top-liner. Armstrong is pretty much a sure thing to be gone since he is the backup goalie and almost nobody keeps overage backup goalies. He'll be traded somewhere else in the WHL for next year, someplace where he can be the starter.
They will definitely return three of their four top scorers (Bowman, Wahl, Roman), plus at least five (Glass, Spurgeon, Reddington, Ulmer, Cowen) of their top six defencemen, and (maybe most importantly) their #1 goaltender, Tokarski. With a few other forwards like Johnson and Koper probably ready to take on larger offensive roles to help offset the loss of guys like Bruton, Blackwater and Rutherford, I don't see why this team can't be just as good next year as they were this year.
Looking even longer-term than this, I think a three-year run is not out of the question for the Chiefs either, given that players like Wahl, Johnson, Koper, Ulmer, Reddington, and Cowen are all 17 or younger and will be around for two more years yet, barring them going to the NHL. 18 year olds like Tokarski and Spurgeon are decent to good bets for overagers in two years as well, because of their height and/or NHL undrafted status. That is a really good core group there for two years from now yet, and assuming the management continues to surround those guys with more good 16/17 year olds this year, they could still be a force in 2009-10.
Couple other notes.....maybe a bit of a rant, actually.
I'm sick already of people (Kitchener fans mostly but not exclusively) talking about how the Rangers "should" have won the Cup and how the Chiefs are destroying the game of hockey with their dull style, yadda yadda yadda.
Let's straighten this out: the only trophy the Rangers should have won is Most Overrated. They were 2-3 at the Memorial Cup: that's not even .500 and some idiots think they deserved to have won it instead of a team that was 4-0? They lost not once but TWICE to Spokane in their own rink, and some idiots still think they deserved to have won it?
The Rangers scored 18 goals in three games against everyone else. They scored two goals in two games against Spokane. The Memorial Cup's most overrated player, Justin Azevedo, scored 11 points against the rest.....ZERO against Spokane. The evidence is clear: Kitchener was not better than Spokane.
Then there's the goofs who have to point out that Kitchener's best player, goalie Steve Mason, did not play in the Cup because he was hurt. And I say, who cares....would Mason have scored a couple goals against Spokane? Because that's what did the Rangers in, their inability to score goals when it counted, and not their goaltending. The Rangers took 91 shots at Dustin Tokarski over two games, and scored on TWO of them. Brutal.
For that matter, anyone who says the Chiefs play a trap is nuts: they gave up 91 shots in those two games. If that's playing the trap, then they are the worst trapping team of all time since one of the signatures of an effective trap is low shot totals. The Chiefs were the 4th-highest scoring team in the WHL this year, and 2nd-best defensively....yes, they stress defence first, but it's not like they don't score. They play very well at both ends of the ice, and that's why they won.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Spokane vs Ktichener
1-1 after one period....the first period unfolded as many expected, with Kitchener coming out extremely hard and carrying the play for the first 8-10 minutes of the period. They get a goal on a pass out of the corner which sees Tokarski play the puck right onto the stick of Brandon Mashinter standing in front of the net. 1-0 Rangers.....not a real big deal, they've scored first in all four games they've played in this tournament and still only won two of them.
Chiefs started coming around a little bit more after the midway point or so and get a powerplay goal from Judd Blackwater after a nice feed into the slot from Ondrej Roman going around the net. Both Rangers d-men decided to chase Roman, leaving the front of the net open....obviously defensive hockey isn't something practiced a lot in Kitchener.
Thought the Chiefs got the benefit on a couple calls/non-calls from the refs. Fans in Kitchener not happy with the refs, they might have a case. No complaints here.
Second period starts soon.....
Update: second period over now and it was a much better one for the Chiefs. They carried the play overall, and two goals in the first five minutes of the period have staked them to a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. Fairly similar goals, the first a partially-screened wrister from Drayson Bowman at the top of the left circle, and then just over a minute later, on a powerplay, Trevor Glass takes the puck off a faceoff and puts a wrister just perfectly into the top right corner from above the right faceoff circle. Neither of them will go on Rangers goalie Josh Unice's career highlight reel but to be fair, that was a hell of a shot from Glass.
Refs were more pro-Kitchener in this period....I'd call them pretty even on the game now. Rangers powerplay is terrible though, while the Chiefs are 2-for-4. Anyone seen CHL "player of the year" Justin Azevedo this afternoon? He has 11 points in three games against Belleville and Gatineau but completely invisible in five periods against the Chiefs so far this tournament.
The Rangers' Mike Duco won the trophy for the CHL's stupidest facial hair, and it's easy to see why it was a unanimous win. He's also very lucky not to have gotten a penalty for cross-checking Dustin Tokarski as time expired in the period.
Chiefs are 20 minutes away from being Memorial Cup champs....if they keep playing like they did in the second period, it'll happen....
Update: game's over.....as I felt at the end of the second, if the Chiefs played the third the way they did in the second, they should win, and they did. The Rangers poured it on and had a number of scoring chances but could not put the puck in the net. The only goal of the period was Josh Cowen's empty-netter to make it a 4-1 final. Going all the way back to the third round of the WHL playoffs, the Chiefs won nine straight games to close out the season. Every champion team wins their last game....how many win their last NINE?
True to form, the two idiots on Sportsnet's broadcast team never stopped yapping about the Rangers, what a great team they were, blah blah blah. Only the usual platitudes were extended to the Chiefs. No respect from those goofs at all. I think Rob Faulds even introduced Mitch Wahl as "Nick Wahl" while interviewing him after the game.
The Chiefs might also end up being the last team to ever win THAT Memorial Cup, since Chiefs captain Chris Bruton dropped the Cup on the ice while trying to pass it off to his teammates, as the Cup broke into two pieces in his hands, the bowl snapping off from the base. I'm sure David Branch gave it a good whack before handing it to Bruton....Branch screwing the Chiefs yet again.
On the positive side, it meant two Chiefs players got to celebrate with the Cup at a time....one hoisting the base while the other hoisted the bowl. Sure cut down the length of time required for on-ice celebrating....
Anyways, that wraps up the junior hockey season. Big congratulations to the Spokane Chiefs and their fans, they did the WHL proud and are clearly the best team in the CHL this year. With their relatively young roster, who knows, they could be back to do it again next year. They'll certainly be one of the big favourites to win the WHL again next year come September.
Oh, and the winner of the WHL quote of the year....
"Oops!"
- Chris Bruton, May 25, 2008.
Chiefs started coming around a little bit more after the midway point or so and get a powerplay goal from Judd Blackwater after a nice feed into the slot from Ondrej Roman going around the net. Both Rangers d-men decided to chase Roman, leaving the front of the net open....obviously defensive hockey isn't something practiced a lot in Kitchener.
Thought the Chiefs got the benefit on a couple calls/non-calls from the refs. Fans in Kitchener not happy with the refs, they might have a case. No complaints here.
Second period starts soon.....
Update: second period over now and it was a much better one for the Chiefs. They carried the play overall, and two goals in the first five minutes of the period have staked them to a 3-1 lead after 40 minutes. Fairly similar goals, the first a partially-screened wrister from Drayson Bowman at the top of the left circle, and then just over a minute later, on a powerplay, Trevor Glass takes the puck off a faceoff and puts a wrister just perfectly into the top right corner from above the right faceoff circle. Neither of them will go on Rangers goalie Josh Unice's career highlight reel but to be fair, that was a hell of a shot from Glass.
Refs were more pro-Kitchener in this period....I'd call them pretty even on the game now. Rangers powerplay is terrible though, while the Chiefs are 2-for-4. Anyone seen CHL "player of the year" Justin Azevedo this afternoon? He has 11 points in three games against Belleville and Gatineau but completely invisible in five periods against the Chiefs so far this tournament.
The Rangers' Mike Duco won the trophy for the CHL's stupidest facial hair, and it's easy to see why it was a unanimous win. He's also very lucky not to have gotten a penalty for cross-checking Dustin Tokarski as time expired in the period.
Chiefs are 20 minutes away from being Memorial Cup champs....if they keep playing like they did in the second period, it'll happen....
Update: game's over.....as I felt at the end of the second, if the Chiefs played the third the way they did in the second, they should win, and they did. The Rangers poured it on and had a number of scoring chances but could not put the puck in the net. The only goal of the period was Josh Cowen's empty-netter to make it a 4-1 final. Going all the way back to the third round of the WHL playoffs, the Chiefs won nine straight games to close out the season. Every champion team wins their last game....how many win their last NINE?
True to form, the two idiots on Sportsnet's broadcast team never stopped yapping about the Rangers, what a great team they were, blah blah blah. Only the usual platitudes were extended to the Chiefs. No respect from those goofs at all. I think Rob Faulds even introduced Mitch Wahl as "Nick Wahl" while interviewing him after the game.
The Chiefs might also end up being the last team to ever win THAT Memorial Cup, since Chiefs captain Chris Bruton dropped the Cup on the ice while trying to pass it off to his teammates, as the Cup broke into two pieces in his hands, the bowl snapping off from the base. I'm sure David Branch gave it a good whack before handing it to Bruton....Branch screwing the Chiefs yet again.
On the positive side, it meant two Chiefs players got to celebrate with the Cup at a time....one hoisting the base while the other hoisted the bowl. Sure cut down the length of time required for on-ice celebrating....
Anyways, that wraps up the junior hockey season. Big congratulations to the Spokane Chiefs and their fans, they did the WHL proud and are clearly the best team in the CHL this year. With their relatively young roster, who knows, they could be back to do it again next year. They'll certainly be one of the big favourites to win the WHL again next year come September.
Oh, and the winner of the WHL quote of the year....
"Oops!"
- Chris Bruton, May 25, 2008.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Chiefs vs. the greatest team ever
It will be the Chiefs against the Kitchener Rangers for the Memorial Cup, after the Rangers laid a horrific beating on Belleville in the semifinal, 9-0. Nine goals is the largest margin of victory ever in a Memorial Cup semifinal or final since the round-robin format was introduced.
This was not the Rangers team we saw in their three round-robin games. This was the team we were expecting to see from the beginning of the tournament. They were very, very good tonight and if they play like this on Sunday, the Chiefs are going to have their work cut out for them.
All that being said, I found the incessant fawning over the Rangers coming from Sportsnet's commentators to be very off-putting. This game was all but over by the end of the first period (when Kitchener lead 4-0 already) and by midway through the second period, those two clowns had abandoned any pretense of calling the action and instead conducted a Rangers love-in for the rest of the game, ignoring the play and just gushing on and on and on about this guy and that guy and the next guy on the Rangers. The dozens of future NHLers on the team, how Peter DeBoer needs a bridge or a national park or something named after him, and I think they might have even dipped into discussing which current Rangers' future offspring will discover the cure for cancer, but I finally had to mute them. The hard-ons these two guys have for Kitchener are unreal....I can understand Cosentino's OHL fixation since I don't think he has ever actually been outside of Ontario, but you'd think Loubardias could temper the Kitchener drooling a little considering he's from Saskatchewan and used to do p-b-p for the Pats....
If the Rangers wallop the Chiefs on Sunday then I'll be the first one to agree they're the best team. But they haven't won anything yet and if the Chiefs beat them on Sunday I certainly hope we'll get to listen to Tweedledee and Tweedledum sing the same kind of praises of the Chiefs players and coaches as they did tonight for the Rangers. I won't hold my breath that they will though.....
This was not the Rangers team we saw in their three round-robin games. This was the team we were expecting to see from the beginning of the tournament. They were very, very good tonight and if they play like this on Sunday, the Chiefs are going to have their work cut out for them.
All that being said, I found the incessant fawning over the Rangers coming from Sportsnet's commentators to be very off-putting. This game was all but over by the end of the first period (when Kitchener lead 4-0 already) and by midway through the second period, those two clowns had abandoned any pretense of calling the action and instead conducted a Rangers love-in for the rest of the game, ignoring the play and just gushing on and on and on about this guy and that guy and the next guy on the Rangers. The dozens of future NHLers on the team, how Peter DeBoer needs a bridge or a national park or something named after him, and I think they might have even dipped into discussing which current Rangers' future offspring will discover the cure for cancer, but I finally had to mute them. The hard-ons these two guys have for Kitchener are unreal....I can understand Cosentino's OHL fixation since I don't think he has ever actually been outside of Ontario, but you'd think Loubardias could temper the Kitchener drooling a little considering he's from Saskatchewan and used to do p-b-p for the Pats....
If the Rangers wallop the Chiefs on Sunday then I'll be the first one to agree they're the best team. But they haven't won anything yet and if the Chiefs beat them on Sunday I certainly hope we'll get to listen to Tweedledee and Tweedledum sing the same kind of praises of the Chiefs players and coaches as they did tonight for the Rangers. I won't hold my breath that they will though.....
Friday notes
Just a few notes from the last few days after an off-day yesterday at the Memorial Cup....
Prince Albert became the third WHL team to sign their 2008 first-round bantam pick yesterday when they inked Mark McNeill. The first two to sign their first-rounders were Edmonton (Michael St. Croix) and Kamloops (Colin Smith). There may actually be others that have already signed, but those are the first three to be announced, anyway. Some teams might not make announcements...
Hot on the heels of the Smith signing though, Kamloops fired director of player personnel Gord Loiselle today. This move comes almost a year to the day after Loiselle was cut loose from his head scouting job with Portland. I'm guessing he didn't see eye-to-eye with new Blazers G.M. Craig Bonner on some PPL management or drafting issues.
Two more WHLers signed NHL contracts this week - Brady Calla of Kamloops signed with Florida, and Calgary's Karl Alzner signed with Washington. The signings probably put an end to any chance of either player returning to the WHL next season.....not that Alzner was ever likely to in the first place, but Calla could have been an overage candidate for the Blazers had he not been able to get signed.
Regina Pats hecklers be warned: the Pats' Garrett Mitchell is also one of the best high school-aged discus and javelin throwers in Saskatchewan. In other words, from the blueline he can throw his stick far enough to hit you, ten rows up behind the far net. Keep that in mind next year before you comment on his abilities.....
Prince Albert became the third WHL team to sign their 2008 first-round bantam pick yesterday when they inked Mark McNeill. The first two to sign their first-rounders were Edmonton (Michael St. Croix) and Kamloops (Colin Smith). There may actually be others that have already signed, but those are the first three to be announced, anyway. Some teams might not make announcements...
Hot on the heels of the Smith signing though, Kamloops fired director of player personnel Gord Loiselle today. This move comes almost a year to the day after Loiselle was cut loose from his head scouting job with Portland. I'm guessing he didn't see eye-to-eye with new Blazers G.M. Craig Bonner on some PPL management or drafting issues.
Two more WHLers signed NHL contracts this week - Brady Calla of Kamloops signed with Florida, and Calgary's Karl Alzner signed with Washington. The signings probably put an end to any chance of either player returning to the WHL next season.....not that Alzner was ever likely to in the first place, but Calla could have been an overage candidate for the Blazers had he not been able to get signed.
Regina Pats hecklers be warned: the Pats' Garrett Mitchell is also one of the best high school-aged discus and javelin throwers in Saskatchewan. In other words, from the blueline he can throw his stick far enough to hit you, ten rows up behind the far net. Keep that in mind next year before you comment on his abilities.....
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Close Cup
Just a thought running through my head after Belleville's OT win over Kitchener in the final round-robin game last night.....I can't ever recall a closer Memorial Cup than this one has been so far.
Six round-robin games played so far, with three of them going to overtime and two others decided by one goal. (Spokane's win over Gatineau was technically a two-goal win but since one was an empty-netter, you could call it a one-goal game).
The only "blowout" game was Belleville's 6-3 win over Gatineau. Usually at the Memorial Cup we see more scoring variance than this. I think that shows how very closely matched all four teams are this year....Gatineau may have been a (small) cut below the other three teams, but any of the other three teams could be the best one there. With an extra bounce here or there, it could very easily be Belleville or Kitchener sitting at 3-0 with the bye to the final instead of Spokane.
In other WHL news, the Portland mess got a little bit messier with the news that former Hawks coach Mike Williamson is now suing the team for $80,000 he says they owe him in salary for this past season. He claims he reached an agreement with the team last June to coach them again this season, but after the team fired him in July they did not pay him last year. I'm no lawyer but this one seems pretty straightforward: if Williamson had a legal contract with the team to coach them last year and the team fired him, they still owe him the money. If he did not have a legal contract, they don't owe him anything. Either way though, it's more bad publicity for a team that has generated entirely too much of that lately. It also seems to me to be incredibly bad business to sign a coach and then fire him two weeks later - all during the offseason! But then, the business IQ of the team's owners is pretty much the issue everyone (including the league) is trying to determine these days.....
Six round-robin games played so far, with three of them going to overtime and two others decided by one goal. (Spokane's win over Gatineau was technically a two-goal win but since one was an empty-netter, you could call it a one-goal game).
The only "blowout" game was Belleville's 6-3 win over Gatineau. Usually at the Memorial Cup we see more scoring variance than this. I think that shows how very closely matched all four teams are this year....Gatineau may have been a (small) cut below the other three teams, but any of the other three teams could be the best one there. With an extra bounce here or there, it could very easily be Belleville or Kitchener sitting at 3-0 with the bye to the final instead of Spokane.
In other WHL news, the Portland mess got a little bit messier with the news that former Hawks coach Mike Williamson is now suing the team for $80,000 he says they owe him in salary for this past season. He claims he reached an agreement with the team last June to coach them again this season, but after the team fired him in July they did not pay him last year. I'm no lawyer but this one seems pretty straightforward: if Williamson had a legal contract with the team to coach them last year and the team fired him, they still owe him the money. If he did not have a legal contract, they don't owe him anything. Either way though, it's more bad publicity for a team that has generated entirely too much of that lately. It also seems to me to be incredibly bad business to sign a coach and then fire him two weeks later - all during the offseason! But then, the business IQ of the team's owners is pretty much the issue everyone (including the league) is trying to determine these days.....
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Memorial Cup playoffs set
No tiebreaker game necessary this year....Spokane beat Gatineau 3-1 last night to finish the round-robin at 3-0 and send Gatineau home at 0-3. So Spokane is going to the final (they knew that before the game of course) and the two OHL teams will play in the semifinal on Friday night for the right to face the Chiefs for the big prize.
Belleville and Kitchener still have to play their round-robin game tonight but the outcome is not that meaningful....tonight's winner will get to be the "home" team in the semifinal, which means the last line change, etc. Other than that though, they're both playing each other in the semifinal no matter who wins tonight.
Belleville and Kitchener still have to play their round-robin game tonight but the outcome is not that meaningful....tonight's winner will get to be the "home" team in the semifinal, which means the last line change, etc. Other than that though, they're both playing each other in the semifinal no matter who wins tonight.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Chiefs to final
Belleville dropped Gatineau 6-3 tonight, clinching first place for the Chiefs and sending them straight into next Sunday's Memorial Cup final. The Chiefs have one more round-robin game to play yet, tomorrow against Gatineau, but the outcome is unimportant to the Chiefs' position in the standings. Win or lose, they will finish first.
I know this thought will never cross the Chiefs' minds, but it might be in their best interests to lose tomorrow night. If they win, then Gatineau finishes 0-3 and go home, with no tiebreaker game required on Thursday. Belleville and Kitchener would meet in the semifinal Friday, with the winner playing the Chiefs on Sunday.
If the Chiefs were to (cough) lose tomorrow night, then a tiebreaker game would be necessary, between the Olympiques and the loser of Wednesday's Belleville-Kitchener game. Should the winner of that tiebreaker then also win the semifinal, then they'll have been forced to play two more games than the Chiefs this week. Having the other team feeling a little more fatigued never hurt anyone's chances.
I'm sure the Chiefs aren't thinking this way though....I expect them to beat Gatineau and finish the round-robin at a perfect 3-0.
I know this thought will never cross the Chiefs' minds, but it might be in their best interests to lose tomorrow night. If they win, then Gatineau finishes 0-3 and go home, with no tiebreaker game required on Thursday. Belleville and Kitchener would meet in the semifinal Friday, with the winner playing the Chiefs on Sunday.
If the Chiefs were to (cough) lose tomorrow night, then a tiebreaker game would be necessary, between the Olympiques and the loser of Wednesday's Belleville-Kitchener game. Should the winner of that tiebreaker then also win the semifinal, then they'll have been forced to play two more games than the Chiefs this week. Having the other team feeling a little more fatigued never hurt anyone's chances.
I'm sure the Chiefs aren't thinking this way though....I expect them to beat Gatineau and finish the round-robin at a perfect 3-0.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Chiefs looking good
Well, a big win over Kitchener today has the Chiefs firmly in the drivers seat now and looking really good for getting the bye into Sunday's final.
There's three round-robin games left, with eight possible outcomes. The remaining games are:
There's three round-robin games left, with eight possible outcomes. The remaining games are:
- Belleville vs Gatineau
- Spokane vs Gatineau
- Belleville vs Kitchener
- Belleville-Gatineau-Belleville: Spokane finishes 1st, Belleville 2nd, Gatineau & Kitchener play the tiebreaker game for 3rd/4th place.
- Belleville-Gatineau-Kitchener: Spokane 1st, Kitchener 2nd, Belleville & Gatineau play the tiebreaker for 3rd/4th.
- Belleville-Spokane-Belleville: Spokane 1st, Belleville 2nd, Kitchener 3rd, Gatineau 4th.
- Belleville-Spokane-Kitchener: Spokane 1st, Kitchener 2nd, Belleville 3rd, Gatineau 4th.
- Gatineau-Gatineau-Belleville: Gatineau 1st, Spokane 2nd, Kitchener & Belleville play tiebreaker for 3rd/4th.
- Gatineau-Gatineau-Kitchener: Spokane-Gatineau-Kitchener in three-way tie for 1st, so goal differential determines 1st place, head-to-head result determines 2nd/3rd. Belleville 4th.
- Gatineau-Spokane-Belleville: Spokane 1st, three-way tie for 2nd so goal differential determines 2nd and the other two teams play the tiebreaker for 3rd/4th.
- Gatineau-Spokane-Kitchener: Spokane 1st, Kitchener 2nd, Gatineau 3rd, Belleville 4th.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Two games in
One-third of the way through the Memorial Cup round-robin now, and what a couple great games we've been treated to already. Both games have gone to overtime and curiously, both also followed a roughly similar script which saw one team (Kitchener & Spokane) significantly outplay their opponent, jump out to 3-0 first period leads, blow the leads to the weaker team, but still win the game in overtime.
In both games, I'd say that without the goaltending of Ryan Mior for Gatineau and Mike Murphy for Belleville, that the games would have been shellings. Kitchener and Spokane were clearly the better teams. Which means the winner of tomorrow's matchup between the two could very well determine first place in the round-robin and who gets the bye into the final. In fact, there's only a couple of possible scenarios where the winner of tomorrow's game does not finish first and get the bye.
For example, if Spokane wins tomorrow, they will finish #1 unless:
In both games, I'd say that without the goaltending of Ryan Mior for Gatineau and Mike Murphy for Belleville, that the games would have been shellings. Kitchener and Spokane were clearly the better teams. Which means the winner of tomorrow's matchup between the two could very well determine first place in the round-robin and who gets the bye into the final. In fact, there's only a couple of possible scenarios where the winner of tomorrow's game does not finish first and get the bye.
For example, if Spokane wins tomorrow, they will finish #1 unless:
- Gatineau beats Belleville on Monday and Spokane on Tuesday, and Belleville beats Kitchener on Wednesday. That would given Gatineau first place and Spokane 2nd. This is the only scenario in which Spokane would definitely not finish first.
- Gatineau beats Belleville on Monday and Spokane on Tuesday, and Kitchener beats Belleville on Wednesday. This would create a three-way tie for first place between Spokane, Kitchener, and Gatineau which cannot be broken by round-robin result. So, it would go to goal differential which Spokane might still win.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Friday notes
It's day 1 of the Memorial Cup.....Gatineau and Kitchener go at it in the opening game tonight at 7pm Eastern.
Kitchener might have a goaltending problem....seems Steve Mason still isn't ready to play, and Josh Unice (who replaced Mason in the OHL playoffs) is dinged up enough that he didn't practice yesterday. If they have to hang the Shooter Tutor in the net to start tonight's game, they might be in trouble.
For another site with very good coverage of the Memorial Cup, check out the special section that the local newspaper, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, has for the tournament. They have looks at all the teams and all kinds of articles on the tournament. Of course the coverage is heavier on the Rangers than anyone else but that's to be expected since they're the Rangers' local paper.
Back to the WHL, a nice article in today's Kelowna paper about the rise of hockey in California and the increasing number of American players finding the WHL to be a good option.
Kitchener might have a goaltending problem....seems Steve Mason still isn't ready to play, and Josh Unice (who replaced Mason in the OHL playoffs) is dinged up enough that he didn't practice yesterday. If they have to hang the Shooter Tutor in the net to start tonight's game, they might be in trouble.
For another site with very good coverage of the Memorial Cup, check out the special section that the local newspaper, the Kitchener-Waterloo Record, has for the tournament. They have looks at all the teams and all kinds of articles on the tournament. Of course the coverage is heavier on the Rangers than anyone else but that's to be expected since they're the Rangers' local paper.
Back to the WHL, a nice article in today's Kelowna paper about the rise of hockey in California and the increasing number of American players finding the WHL to be a good option.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
2006 picks & contracts
The June 1 deadline for NHL teams to sign their 2006 draft picks or lose their rights is approaching just over two weeks away. From my calculations, there were 21 2006 NHL draft picks playing in the WHL this season. Of those 21:
The players who have NOT signed (as best as I can determine anyway) are:
(Sjodin was released by Portland midway through this season and is no longer with Portland, but he did play in the WHL this year so I left him on the list)
Of those names, Logan Pyett is said to be very close to a deal with Detroit, while Dane Crowley was signed to an amateur tryout by Tampa Bay after Everett's season ended (to enable him to play in the AHL for the rest of this year), so they must have some interest in him although he has not signed an NHL contract yet.
Calla and Puustinen are known to be negotiating with their NHL teams as well. The rest.....I have no idea whether there's any interest from the teams or not.
If I'm not mistaken, Fiala and Crowley will become unrestricted free agents if they do not sign by June 1st. With the exception of Seabrook, the rest (including Bendfeld) will all re-enter the 2008 draft. Europeans used to be exempt from this rule but under the new CBA, starting with 2005 picks NHL teams must sign European players within two years as well.
Seabrook is a special case; he was drafted from the Jr A/NCAA ranks and as a result, falls under rule 8.6(c)(ii) of the NHL CBA:
The same rule also affects a player like T.J. Fast of the Americans, who was picked in 2005 but left school, like Seabrook. The Kings own Fast's rights until June 1, 2009. Obviously Fast is too old to play in the WHL next year anyway but I think this rule pretty much guarantees that Seabrook is going to be in the WHL next year as an overager. He didn't blow the doors off anyone with his play this year and the Capitals have the luxury of waiting another couple years yet before they have to make a decision on him.
- 9 have signed with their NHL teams
- 11 have not signed
- 1 has had his rights relinquished by his NHL team (Jordan Bendfeld of Medicine Hat, a Phoenix 5th rounder)
| Leland Irving (Everett) - 1st rd - Calgary |
| Ty Wishart (Moose Jaw) - 1st rd - San Jose |
| Riley Holzapfel (Moose Jaw) - 2nd rd - Atlanta |
| Ben Maxwell (Kootenay) - 2nd rd - Montreal |
| Robin Figren (Edmonton) - 3rd rd - NY Islanders |
| Bud Holloway (Seattle) - 3rd rd - Los Angeles |
| Ryan White (Calgary) - 3rd rd - Montreal |
| James Reimer (Red Deer) - 4th rd - Toronto |
| Levi Nelson (Swift Current) - 6th rd - Boston |
The players who have NOT signed (as best as I can determine anyway) are:
| Ondrej Fiala (Saskatoon) - 2nd rd - Minnesota |
| Keith Seabrook (Calgary) - 2nd rd - Washington |
| Brady Calla (Kamloops) - 3rd rd - Florida |
| Ben Wright (Lethbridge) - 4th rd - Columbus |
| Juuso Puustinen (Kamloops) - 5th rd - Calgary |
| Dane Crowley (Everett) - 6th rd - Tampa Bay |
| Jesse Dudas (Swift Current) - 6th rd - Columbus |
| Cameron Cepek (Edmonton) - 7th rd - Montreal |
| Evan Fuller (Moose Jaw) - 7th rd - Vancouver |
| Logan Pyett (Regina) - 7th rd - Detroit |
| Viktor Sjodin (Portland) - 7th rd - Nashville |
(Sjodin was released by Portland midway through this season and is no longer with Portland, but he did play in the WHL this year so I left him on the list)
Of those names, Logan Pyett is said to be very close to a deal with Detroit, while Dane Crowley was signed to an amateur tryout by Tampa Bay after Everett's season ended (to enable him to play in the AHL for the rest of this year), so they must have some interest in him although he has not signed an NHL contract yet.
Calla and Puustinen are known to be negotiating with their NHL teams as well. The rest.....I have no idea whether there's any interest from the teams or not.
If I'm not mistaken, Fiala and Crowley will become unrestricted free agents if they do not sign by June 1st. With the exception of Seabrook, the rest (including Bendfeld) will all re-enter the 2008 draft. Europeans used to be exempt from this rule but under the new CBA, starting with 2005 picks NHL teams must sign European players within two years as well.
Seabrook is a special case; he was drafted from the Jr A/NCAA ranks and as a result, falls under rule 8.6(c)(ii) of the NHL CBA:
- "If a Player drafted at age 18 or 19 is a bona fide college student at the time
of his selection in the Entry Draft, or becomes a bona fide college student
prior to the first June 1 following his selection in the Entry Draft, and does
not remain a bona fide college student through the graduation of his college
class, his drafting Club shall retain exclusive rights for the negotiation of
his services until the fourth June 1 following his selection in the Entry
Draft. The Club need not make a Bona Fide Offer to such Player to retain
such rights."
The same rule also affects a player like T.J. Fast of the Americans, who was picked in 2005 but left school, like Seabrook. The Kings own Fast's rights until June 1, 2009. Obviously Fast is too old to play in the WHL next year anyway but I think this rule pretty much guarantees that Seabrook is going to be in the WHL next year as an overager. He didn't blow the doors off anyone with his play this year and the Capitals have the luxury of waiting another couple years yet before they have to make a decision on him.
Cup Fever
The Memorial Cup starts tomorrow, so here's some reading material to get you into it.
This article is a good quick look at all four teams in the tournament. Who the players to watch are, etc. Another, similar quick-look kind of preview, is here. And from Sportsnet, a look at four players to watch in the tournament.
Donna Spencer of the Canadian Press offers up a piece on the tournament.
Article on the Bulls' departure for Kitchener, from the Belleville paper.
Here's one on Olympiques sniper Claude Giroux, who has 51 points in 19 playoff games.
From what I have heard and read, the Rangers appear to be the heavy favourites going into the tournament. OK, maybe not HEAVY favourites, but they are definitely favoured. And really, they probably should be....they've been ranked #1 in the CHL for 17 of the last 18 weeks, they owned a ridiculous .809 winning percentage in the OHL regular season (to compare, Tri-City's #1 overall percentage in the WHL was a mere .750), and they squished their competition in the OHL playoffs, going 16-4, and they scored 96 goals in those 20 playoff games. (And three of those losses were to the Bulls in the OHL final, so the Rangers were 12-1 through the first three rounds).
But, they gotta play the games.....in a tournament like this, one bad game can do serious damage to your hopes of winning. Two bad games will probably see you going home emptyhanded.
This article is a good quick look at all four teams in the tournament. Who the players to watch are, etc. Another, similar quick-look kind of preview, is here. And from Sportsnet, a look at four players to watch in the tournament.
Donna Spencer of the Canadian Press offers up a piece on the tournament.
Article on the Bulls' departure for Kitchener, from the Belleville paper.
Here's one on Olympiques sniper Claude Giroux, who has 51 points in 19 playoff games.
From what I have heard and read, the Rangers appear to be the heavy favourites going into the tournament. OK, maybe not HEAVY favourites, but they are definitely favoured. And really, they probably should be....they've been ranked #1 in the CHL for 17 of the last 18 weeks, they owned a ridiculous .809 winning percentage in the OHL regular season (to compare, Tri-City's #1 overall percentage in the WHL was a mere .750), and they squished their competition in the OHL playoffs, going 16-4, and they scored 96 goals in those 20 playoff games. (And three of those losses were to the Bulls in the OHL final, so the Rangers were 12-1 through the first three rounds).
But, they gotta play the games.....in a tournament like this, one bad game can do serious damage to your hopes of winning. Two bad games will probably see you going home emptyhanded.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Rangers/Parker
The OHL playoffs are over, and the Kitchener Rangers have truly earned their way into the Memorial Cup they're hosting. The Rangers beat Belleville 4-1 last night in game seven of the OHL final to win the OHL title. So, this year's "back door" team is Belleville, who will be the only team at the tournament who did not win their league this year.
Kitchener's win last night also snuffed out Belleville's attempt to complete one of the toughest feats in sports, coming back from down 3-0 in a series. The Bulls fought back to force the seventh game but in the end, Kitchener smoked the Bulls in a game 7 that wasn't that close.
The Big Question now for Kitchener is who will be in their net in the Memorial Cup. They made a big trade to bring in Team Canada WJC goalie Steve Mason, but Mason has been out since the first game of the 2nd round of the playoffs with minor knee surgery. It is expected that he'll be ready to play in the Memorial Cup, but in his absence, backup goalie Josh Unice has carried the team through the last three rounds of the OHL playoffs with an 11-4 record and .915 save %. He's hot and he's in game shape....assuming Mason is ready (which I understand isn't a sure thing), do you switch to the perhaps rusty and perhaps-not-100%-yet Mason for the biggest tournament of all?
In WHL news, the Regina Pats announced yesterday that general manager Brent Parker is battling cancer, a soft-tissue sort in his upper back & shoulder, and is undergoing treatment in Calgary.
This news throws his future as Pats G.M. - which is always a topic of discussion in the summers in Regina, it seems - into even murkier waters. Not that whether he's going to be the Pats G.M. next season is the most important thing on his mind, I'm sure.....nor should it be more important on anyone else's mind either, really....
Kitchener's win last night also snuffed out Belleville's attempt to complete one of the toughest feats in sports, coming back from down 3-0 in a series. The Bulls fought back to force the seventh game but in the end, Kitchener smoked the Bulls in a game 7 that wasn't that close.
The Big Question now for Kitchener is who will be in their net in the Memorial Cup. They made a big trade to bring in Team Canada WJC goalie Steve Mason, but Mason has been out since the first game of the 2nd round of the playoffs with minor knee surgery. It is expected that he'll be ready to play in the Memorial Cup, but in his absence, backup goalie Josh Unice has carried the team through the last three rounds of the OHL playoffs with an 11-4 record and .915 save %. He's hot and he's in game shape....assuming Mason is ready (which I understand isn't a sure thing), do you switch to the perhaps rusty and perhaps-not-100%-yet Mason for the biggest tournament of all?
In WHL news, the Regina Pats announced yesterday that general manager Brent Parker is battling cancer, a soft-tissue sort in his upper back & shoulder, and is undergoing treatment in Calgary.
This news throws his future as Pats G.M. - which is always a topic of discussion in the summers in Regina, it seems - into even murkier waters. Not that whether he's going to be the Pats G.M. next season is the most important thing on his mind, I'm sure.....nor should it be more important on anyone else's mind either, really....
Monday, May 12, 2008
Monday
The Memorial Cup participants are all decided now, with the Gatineau Olympiques having beaten Rouyn-Noranda on Friday night to win the QMJHL title in 5 games. This is Gatineau's 3rd QMJHL title in 6 years, which is a pretty impressive record in any league. Their last two trips to the Memorial Cup, they lost in the final both times - in 2003 to Kitchener and 2004 to Kelowna.
The OHL final is anti-climatic as far determining a Memorial Cup berth since both Kitchener and Belleville are going to the Memorial Cup regardless, but what a potentially historical final series it has turned into. Kitchener won the first three games of the series, but Belleville has stormed back to win the next three, forcing a game seven. Only two teams in OHL history (and that's a long history) have rallied from 3-0 deficits to win the series. Belleville will attempt to become the third team tonight when they play game seven in Kitchener. Win or lose tonight, Kitchener kicks off the Memorial Cup on Friday against Gatineau. Belleville starts on Saturday afternoon against Spokane.....just over four days to get ready after the emotional drain of a potential 3-0 comeback win tonight.
I always thought that if the host team also wins their league, then they play the league champ schedule while the league runner-up plays as the host team. But according to the official Memorial Cup site, Kitchener's schedule is already set so they must have chosen to play the host schedule no matter what. I suppose this knowing when you're going to play stuff helps with selling tickets to the local fans, etc, when you think about it.
The Royal Bank Cup wrapped up on the weekend too with an all-prairie final. After the AJHL's Camrose Kodiak (3-0 over the Weeks Crushers) and SJHL's Humboldt Broncos (6-1 over the host Cornwall Colts) both won their semifinals on Saturday, they met in Sunday's final and it was a terrific game. Humboldt won 1-0 on the strength of a 30-save shutout from goaltender Taylor Nelson, which included an amazing clutch glove save on Camrose sniper Joe Colborne with just one second left on the clock. Hopefully somebody puts that save up on YouTube soon so that everyone who didn't watch the game (or see the highlights) can see it too.
That's Humboldt's 2nd Royal Bank Cup in five years, and in a cruel twist of fate for Camrose, they were also on the losing end of the final game in Humboldt's first win back in 2003. The Kodiaks also lost the final in 2005 to Weyburn and lost in the semifinals in 2007. So that's four times in the last six years that Camrose has won the AJHL and then beaten the BCHL champ to go to the Royal Bank Cup, but then failed to win it....including three losses in the final. I think that's enough to make diehard fans suicidal. They did win it in 2001 though!
Speaking of things that you CAN see on YouTube, how about that "goal" Finland scored against the USA in the World Championships yesterday? It's at about the 35 second mark on that video and the only people who watch the replay who can't tell that the puck went through the SIDE of the net are, uh, the video replay officials. I mean, how friggin incompetent do the replay officials have to be to review even the crappiest video of that play and not be able to make the correct call and say it's no goal? It ends up being the difference in the game too....very sad and if the replay officials aren't immediately fired by the IIHF then you have to wonder about the credibility of that organization.
And, I'm glad to see the NHL decided not to suspend the Dallas Stars' Mike Ribeiro for his slash on Chris Osgood of the Wings on Saturday. I mean, Osgood is a freakin' embarrassment to the league for the way he tried to sell that slash. The guy wears a chest protector that can stop 100 m.p.h. slapshots without giving him so much as a bruise, but a half-hearted half-swing from a stick puts him down for the count? Plus Osgood clearly butt-ended Ribeiro in the face right before the slash and there was definitely no provocation for THAT. At least Ribeiro can honestly say he was provoked by the butt-end. Don't get me wrong, Ribeiro shouldn't have slashed Osgood (just as Osgood shouldn't have butt-ended him) but it wasn't any worse than a half-dozen other slashes in that game. If Osgood doesn't do his soccer player imitation the incident barely makes the highlights. And so nobody thinks I'm a homer, I hate Dallas and am rooting for the Wings in this series. I just hate diving goalies like Osgood even more. Seriously, anyone so much as breaths on a goalie in the NHL these days and it's an equipment sale with his stuff flying everywhere as he re-enacts a tragic death scene.
The OHL final is anti-climatic as far determining a Memorial Cup berth since both Kitchener and Belleville are going to the Memorial Cup regardless, but what a potentially historical final series it has turned into. Kitchener won the first three games of the series, but Belleville has stormed back to win the next three, forcing a game seven. Only two teams in OHL history (and that's a long history) have rallied from 3-0 deficits to win the series. Belleville will attempt to become the third team tonight when they play game seven in Kitchener. Win or lose tonight, Kitchener kicks off the Memorial Cup on Friday against Gatineau. Belleville starts on Saturday afternoon against Spokane.....just over four days to get ready after the emotional drain of a potential 3-0 comeback win tonight.
I always thought that if the host team also wins their league, then they play the league champ schedule while the league runner-up plays as the host team. But according to the official Memorial Cup site, Kitchener's schedule is already set so they must have chosen to play the host schedule no matter what. I suppose this knowing when you're going to play stuff helps with selling tickets to the local fans, etc, when you think about it.
The Royal Bank Cup wrapped up on the weekend too with an all-prairie final. After the AJHL's Camrose Kodiak (3-0 over the Weeks Crushers) and SJHL's Humboldt Broncos (6-1 over the host Cornwall Colts) both won their semifinals on Saturday, they met in Sunday's final and it was a terrific game. Humboldt won 1-0 on the strength of a 30-save shutout from goaltender Taylor Nelson, which included an amazing clutch glove save on Camrose sniper Joe Colborne with just one second left on the clock. Hopefully somebody puts that save up on YouTube soon so that everyone who didn't watch the game (or see the highlights) can see it too.
That's Humboldt's 2nd Royal Bank Cup in five years, and in a cruel twist of fate for Camrose, they were also on the losing end of the final game in Humboldt's first win back in 2003. The Kodiaks also lost the final in 2005 to Weyburn and lost in the semifinals in 2007. So that's four times in the last six years that Camrose has won the AJHL and then beaten the BCHL champ to go to the Royal Bank Cup, but then failed to win it....including three losses in the final. I think that's enough to make diehard fans suicidal. They did win it in 2001 though!
Speaking of things that you CAN see on YouTube, how about that "goal" Finland scored against the USA in the World Championships yesterday? It's at about the 35 second mark on that video and the only people who watch the replay who can't tell that the puck went through the SIDE of the net are, uh, the video replay officials. I mean, how friggin incompetent do the replay officials have to be to review even the crappiest video of that play and not be able to make the correct call and say it's no goal? It ends up being the difference in the game too....very sad and if the replay officials aren't immediately fired by the IIHF then you have to wonder about the credibility of that organization.
And, I'm glad to see the NHL decided not to suspend the Dallas Stars' Mike Ribeiro for his slash on Chris Osgood of the Wings on Saturday. I mean, Osgood is a freakin' embarrassment to the league for the way he tried to sell that slash. The guy wears a chest protector that can stop 100 m.p.h. slapshots without giving him so much as a bruise, but a half-hearted half-swing from a stick puts him down for the count? Plus Osgood clearly butt-ended Ribeiro in the face right before the slash and there was definitely no provocation for THAT. At least Ribeiro can honestly say he was provoked by the butt-end. Don't get me wrong, Ribeiro shouldn't have slashed Osgood (just as Osgood shouldn't have butt-ended him) but it wasn't any worse than a half-dozen other slashes in that game. If Osgood doesn't do his soccer player imitation the incident barely makes the highlights. And so nobody thinks I'm a homer, I hate Dallas and am rooting for the Wings in this series. I just hate diving goalies like Osgood even more. Seriously, anyone so much as breaths on a goalie in the NHL these days and it's an equipment sale with his stuff flying everywhere as he re-enacts a tragic death scene.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Friday notes
The Belleville Bulls held off elimination in the OHL final, beating the Rangers last night to cut the Rangers' lead in the series to 3-2. The Rangers lead the series 3-0 at one point so the Bulls are now halfway to the very improbable comeback. Both teams are going to the Memorial Cup no matter what, but unless the Rangers want the "back door" tag hung on them should they win the Memorial Cup the way it was on Vancouver last year, Kelowna in 2004, etc, then they'd better finish off the Bulls.
In the QMJHL, Gatineau leads Rouyn-Noranda 3-1, with the Olympiques' first chance to wrap up the series and clinch their trip to Kitchener coming in game five tonight.
In the Royal Bank Cup, the round-robin is over with the AJHL's Camrose Kodiaks having clinched first place with a perfect 4-0 record. In 2nd place are the host Cornwall Colts, with the SJHL's Humboldt Broncos in third. Fourth place went to the Maritime Junior league's Weeks Crushers, meaning the Ontario champs, the Oakville Blades, miss out on the playoff round. In the semifinals tomorrow, Camrose will play the Crushers while Humboldt plays Cornwall. The winners play in the final on Sunday, so we could still see an all-prairie final if the Kodiaks and Broncos both win in the semis.
Back to the WHL, Regina has traded another import pick, this time with Vancouver. Regina has traded a 2008 first-round import pick to the Giants for the Giants' 2009 first-round import pick. This comes only a week after the Pats acquired Everett's 2008 first round pick in exchange for Regina's 2009 first round pick. Try to follow the Pats' logic here, because I can't: first they trade their 2009 pick for another 2008 pick. Then they trade a 2008 pick for a 2009 pick, essentially reversing the first trade except that in 2008 they'll pick in Everett's spot instead of their own and in 2009 they'll pick in Vancouver's spot instead of their own. For 2008 this makes sense since Everett's pick is a lot higher than Regina's is, but for 2009 the Pats could very well be worse off than the Giants which means they'll be picking a lot later.
Anyway, what these trades amount to is that Everett doesn't have a 2008 pick, which means they probably plan to have the same two imports (Vartovnik and Karamnov) back again. Vancouver will make two first round picks this year so they'll replace both Bliznak and Repik with two 17 or 18 year olds who will be there for two years, rendering their loss of their 2009 pick unimportant. Regina will still make one pick unless they plan to release Rudolf Cerveny.
I mentioned that Trevor Glass has won back-to-back WHL titles now and with different teams. I see Gregg Drinnan dug up an even cooler fact from the final: Lethbridge's Mike Wuchterl played in the WHL finals three times in his five-year career, with three different teams (Everett in 2004, Vancouver in 2007, Lethbridge in 2008) and lost all three times. He did win the Memorial Cup with Vancouver in 2007 though.
And to WHL alumni in the NHL, one of the NHL's longest-serving players with one team appears to be moving on next season. Olaf Kolzig says he will not return to the Capitals after almost 20 years in the organization. Kolzig is a free agent this summer and is upset about watching the playoffs from the bench while Cristobal Huet played, even when the team was down in the series. I see Kolzig's point; he's a classy guy who carried that team on his back for a decade, including a trip to the Cup finals and a lot of other years when they really stunk and he was the only reason they were in a lot of games. His reward for that is for the team to get a new goalie at the trade deadline this year and stick Kolzig's butt on the bench. It doesn't seem fair.....that being said, he didn't have a very good year this year and Huet's performance blew Kolzig away in the regular season. Kolzig is near the end of his career and is probably not more than a backup goalie anywhere next year anyway.
In the QMJHL, Gatineau leads Rouyn-Noranda 3-1, with the Olympiques' first chance to wrap up the series and clinch their trip to Kitchener coming in game five tonight.
In the Royal Bank Cup, the round-robin is over with the AJHL's Camrose Kodiaks having clinched first place with a perfect 4-0 record. In 2nd place are the host Cornwall Colts, with the SJHL's Humboldt Broncos in third. Fourth place went to the Maritime Junior league's Weeks Crushers, meaning the Ontario champs, the Oakville Blades, miss out on the playoff round. In the semifinals tomorrow, Camrose will play the Crushers while Humboldt plays Cornwall. The winners play in the final on Sunday, so we could still see an all-prairie final if the Kodiaks and Broncos both win in the semis.
Back to the WHL, Regina has traded another import pick, this time with Vancouver. Regina has traded a 2008 first-round import pick to the Giants for the Giants' 2009 first-round import pick. This comes only a week after the Pats acquired Everett's 2008 first round pick in exchange for Regina's 2009 first round pick. Try to follow the Pats' logic here, because I can't: first they trade their 2009 pick for another 2008 pick. Then they trade a 2008 pick for a 2009 pick, essentially reversing the first trade except that in 2008 they'll pick in Everett's spot instead of their own and in 2009 they'll pick in Vancouver's spot instead of their own. For 2008 this makes sense since Everett's pick is a lot higher than Regina's is, but for 2009 the Pats could very well be worse off than the Giants which means they'll be picking a lot later.
Anyway, what these trades amount to is that Everett doesn't have a 2008 pick, which means they probably plan to have the same two imports (Vartovnik and Karamnov) back again. Vancouver will make two first round picks this year so they'll replace both Bliznak and Repik with two 17 or 18 year olds who will be there for two years, rendering their loss of their 2009 pick unimportant. Regina will still make one pick unless they plan to release Rudolf Cerveny.
I mentioned that Trevor Glass has won back-to-back WHL titles now and with different teams. I see Gregg Drinnan dug up an even cooler fact from the final: Lethbridge's Mike Wuchterl played in the WHL finals three times in his five-year career, with three different teams (Everett in 2004, Vancouver in 2007, Lethbridge in 2008) and lost all three times. He did win the Memorial Cup with Vancouver in 2007 though.
And to WHL alumni in the NHL, one of the NHL's longest-serving players with one team appears to be moving on next season. Olaf Kolzig says he will not return to the Capitals after almost 20 years in the organization. Kolzig is a free agent this summer and is upset about watching the playoffs from the bench while Cristobal Huet played, even when the team was down in the series. I see Kolzig's point; he's a classy guy who carried that team on his back for a decade, including a trip to the Cup finals and a lot of other years when they really stunk and he was the only reason they were in a lot of games. His reward for that is for the team to get a new goalie at the trade deadline this year and stick Kolzig's butt on the bench. It doesn't seem fair.....that being said, he didn't have a very good year this year and Huet's performance blew Kolzig away in the regular season. Kolzig is near the end of his career and is probably not more than a backup goalie anywhere next year anyway.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Champions
Congratulations to the Spokane Chiefs and their fans.....they say the 4th win is the hardest but the Chiefs didn't make it look too hard tonight with the clinching win.
The Chiefs winning probably doesn't surprise most observers, but a sweep....that part was definitely a surprise to me. Apart from game three and a few segments of tonight's game, the Chiefs made it look easy. They are definitely the deserving champs. They were #2 overall this year and over the last three rounds of the playoffs, they had to beat the #1, #3, and #5 overall teams.....nobody else in the WHL playoffs had a schedule that hard, and the Chiefs beat them all.
Off to Kitchener and the Memorial Cup for them now. The WHL champion has not won the Memorial Cup since Kootenay in 2002 (Kelowna in 2004 and Vancouver in 2007 won it as the host team, not the WHL champion) but I think the Chiefs have a very, very good chance at winning the Memorial Cup this year, and that's not a homer WHL fan pick. I was very impressed with this team and I think they'll do just fine in the tournament.
My early, early, early picks for the Memorial Cup....
1) Spokane
2) Kitchener
3) Belleville
4) Gatineau/Rouyn-Noranda (Gatineau leads Rouyn-Noranda 3-1 in the QMJHL final series)
As a last note, back-to-back WHL titles for Trevor Glass, and with different teams. Going to have to check the record books to see when the last time somebody did that was.....
The Chiefs winning probably doesn't surprise most observers, but a sweep....that part was definitely a surprise to me. Apart from game three and a few segments of tonight's game, the Chiefs made it look easy. They are definitely the deserving champs. They were #2 overall this year and over the last three rounds of the playoffs, they had to beat the #1, #3, and #5 overall teams.....nobody else in the WHL playoffs had a schedule that hard, and the Chiefs beat them all.
Off to Kitchener and the Memorial Cup for them now. The WHL champion has not won the Memorial Cup since Kootenay in 2002 (Kelowna in 2004 and Vancouver in 2007 won it as the host team, not the WHL champion) but I think the Chiefs have a very, very good chance at winning the Memorial Cup this year, and that's not a homer WHL fan pick. I was very impressed with this team and I think they'll do just fine in the tournament.
My early, early, early picks for the Memorial Cup....
1) Spokane
2) Kitchener
3) Belleville
4) Gatineau/Rouyn-Noranda (Gatineau leads Rouyn-Noranda 3-1 in the QMJHL final series)
As a last note, back-to-back WHL titles for Trevor Glass, and with different teams. Going to have to check the record books to see when the last time somebody did that was.....
Tigers/Hawks trade
Portland has traded 17 year old forward Tristan King to Medicine Hat for the rights to 16 year old forward prospect Killian Hutt. This from a press release on the Hawks site.
Kind of odd that the Hawks would trade their 3rd-leading returning scorer, who will only be 18 next year, for an unproven prospect. Hutt is a pretty good prospect, a good offensive player who put up some really good numbers in midget. But given that King has looked pretty good in two years on a bad team and his best years are ahead of him yet, it still seems a bit odd.
Kind of odd that the Hawks would trade their 3rd-leading returning scorer, who will only be 18 next year, for an unproven prospect. Hutt is a pretty good prospect, a good offensive player who put up some really good numbers in midget. But given that King has looked pretty good in two years on a bad team and his best years are ahead of him yet, it still seems a bit odd.
Hurricanes in the hole
Well, that's got to suck for the Hurricanes. They came up with their best effort of the series and were actually the better team for much of last night's game three, but they give up the tying goal with two minutes left in the third, and then lost in overtime.
The Canes are now in the 3-0 hole of death from which almost no team ever emerges. After the game they were saying all the right things (they played well enough to win, if they play this way the rest of the series they can win four straight, etc, etc) but their faces gave it away: their dream of winning the league is over and they know it. They might win a game or two but they aren't going to win four straight against the Chiefs. We'll see how the Canes react to this kind of adversity tonight.
In other WHL news, a new development in the Moose Jaw situation. (Seriously....the Warriors should change their name to the Moose Jaw Situation.). The team has now promised $2.5 million of its own money towards construction of a new arena. $500,000 up front and then $200,000 a year for the next ten years after the building is complete. For a team that already does not make much money (if any profit at all), this is a big commitment and shows how important the team views a new arena to be.
The ball remains in Moose Jaw city council's court....they need to approve the project and get started on construction or the city is going to lose their team. And that loss could come a lot sooner than you might think - apparently Warriors V.P. Gerry Onyskevitch has told CBC News that the team will leave Moose Jaw after next season if the city doesn't get moving on a new rink really quick.
The Canes are now in the 3-0 hole of death from which almost no team ever emerges. After the game they were saying all the right things (they played well enough to win, if they play this way the rest of the series they can win four straight, etc, etc) but their faces gave it away: their dream of winning the league is over and they know it. They might win a game or two but they aren't going to win four straight against the Chiefs. We'll see how the Canes react to this kind of adversity tonight.
In other WHL news, a new development in the Moose Jaw situation. (Seriously....the Warriors should change their name to the Moose Jaw Situation.). The team has now promised $2.5 million of its own money towards construction of a new arena. $500,000 up front and then $200,000 a year for the next ten years after the building is complete. For a team that already does not make much money (if any profit at all), this is a big commitment and shows how important the team views a new arena to be.
The ball remains in Moose Jaw city council's court....they need to approve the project and get started on construction or the city is going to lose their team. And that loss could come a lot sooner than you might think - apparently Warriors V.P. Gerry Onyskevitch has told CBC News that the team will leave Moose Jaw after next season if the city doesn't get moving on a new rink really quick.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Tuesday notes
Sorry about not posting over the weekend....was out of town without access to a computer. I did see the first two games of the WHL final though, and my reaction is much the same as most observers so far: it's gonna be a short series if Lethbridge can't play any better than that. Domination is the word of the series so far.
I love this article though, it seems the Canes have figured out their problem: it's the Hitmen! Yes, they are apparently losing so badly to the Chiefs because the Hitmen didn't give them a stiff enough test in the semifinals. Now, how about my own theory of why they're losing: the Hurricanes are losing to Spokane for the same reason the Hitmen lost to them. That is, they are just getting smoked by a much better team.
Game three goes tonight in Lethbridge and is really a must-win for the Hurricanes. In fact, I would even say they need to win all three of the games in Lethbridge - tonight, tomorrow night, and Friday night.
To other WHL news, I see Kelowna fans may have some reason to be excited, as it appears a longshot pick by their team in last year's import draft might pay off next year. Kelowna gave up their 2008 first round import pick to get an extra first round pick last year which they used on Swedish winger Mikael Backlund. Backlund was signed by the NHL's Calgary Flames over the weekend and could find himself being assigned to Kelowna next year as a 19 year old. He was one of the best players at the World Juniors this year so that would be a serious boost for the Rockets next season if he were to play for them. It is possible though that the Flames might think Backlund's acclimation to the North American game would be better performed in the AHL instead though, in which case the Rockets will never see him. Or who knows, he could crack the NHL roster too. We're seeing more and more 18/19 year olds in the NHL these days and based on Backlund's World Junior performance, he might be ready. We'll see in the fall I guess.
To Jr A now, the Royal Bank Cup got underway over the weekend. This is the Canadian national Jr A championship series and pits four champions plus the host team against one another. This year's reps are the Camrose (AB) Kodiaks (winner of the AJHL/BCHL), Humboldt (SK) Broncos (winners of the SJHL/MJHL), Oakville Blades (Ontario champ), Weeks Crushers (winner of the Quebec/Maritime leagues), and Cornwall Colts (host). The prairie teams always do well at this thing and so far this year is no exception, with Camrose being 2-0 and Humboldt being 1-1 - but Humboldt's loss was to Camrose.
There's not a lot of ex-WHLers on either of the prairie teams, Camrose overage Andre Herman (Red Deer, Moose Jaw & Seattle) being the lone noteable name in that category. There's a few WHL prospects though, the best one being Camrose forward Joe Colborne, who is a Tri-City Americans list player who is a possible (likely?) NHL first-round pick this year. He was just named Canadian Jr A player of the year and will probably never see the inside of the Ams dressing room since he is going to Denver University in the fall. Mike Connolly of Camrose is another WHL prospect (Kootenay) going the NCAA route, to Minnesota-Duluth, as is defenceman Andrew MacWilliam (Medicine Hat), who is going to North Dakota.
And still with Jr A but with a WHL connection, Prince George Spruce Kings (and former WHL Cougars & Blazers) head coach Ed Dempsey is being investigated by the Spruce Kings board of directors after some former Spruce Kings players came forward with complaints about Dempsey's coaching methods. Two of the players named were former Spruce Kings captains Ryan DeVries and Brayden Penner.
Dempsey is well-known for being something of a hard-ass and it's absolutely no surprise that his antics have rubbed a number of players the wrong way. The question is whether he finally crossed the line far enough to lose his job.
I love this article though, it seems the Canes have figured out their problem: it's the Hitmen! Yes, they are apparently losing so badly to the Chiefs because the Hitmen didn't give them a stiff enough test in the semifinals. Now, how about my own theory of why they're losing: the Hurricanes are losing to Spokane for the same reason the Hitmen lost to them. That is, they are just getting smoked by a much better team.
Game three goes tonight in Lethbridge and is really a must-win for the Hurricanes. In fact, I would even say they need to win all three of the games in Lethbridge - tonight, tomorrow night, and Friday night.
To other WHL news, I see Kelowna fans may have some reason to be excited, as it appears a longshot pick by their team in last year's import draft might pay off next year. Kelowna gave up their 2008 first round import pick to get an extra first round pick last year which they used on Swedish winger Mikael Backlund. Backlund was signed by the NHL's Calgary Flames over the weekend and could find himself being assigned to Kelowna next year as a 19 year old. He was one of the best players at the World Juniors this year so that would be a serious boost for the Rockets next season if he were to play for them. It is possible though that the Flames might think Backlund's acclimation to the North American game would be better performed in the AHL instead though, in which case the Rockets will never see him. Or who knows, he could crack the NHL roster too. We're seeing more and more 18/19 year olds in the NHL these days and based on Backlund's World Junior performance, he might be ready. We'll see in the fall I guess.
To Jr A now, the Royal Bank Cup got underway over the weekend. This is the Canadian national Jr A championship series and pits four champions plus the host team against one another. This year's reps are the Camrose (AB) Kodiaks (winner of the AJHL/BCHL), Humboldt (SK) Broncos (winners of the SJHL/MJHL), Oakville Blades (Ontario champ), Weeks Crushers (winner of the Quebec/Maritime leagues), and Cornwall Colts (host). The prairie teams always do well at this thing and so far this year is no exception, with Camrose being 2-0 and Humboldt being 1-1 - but Humboldt's loss was to Camrose.
There's not a lot of ex-WHLers on either of the prairie teams, Camrose overage Andre Herman (Red Deer, Moose Jaw & Seattle) being the lone noteable name in that category. There's a few WHL prospects though, the best one being Camrose forward Joe Colborne, who is a Tri-City Americans list player who is a possible (likely?) NHL first-round pick this year. He was just named Canadian Jr A player of the year and will probably never see the inside of the Ams dressing room since he is going to Denver University in the fall. Mike Connolly of Camrose is another WHL prospect (Kootenay) going the NCAA route, to Minnesota-Duluth, as is defenceman Andrew MacWilliam (Medicine Hat), who is going to North Dakota.
And still with Jr A but with a WHL connection, Prince George Spruce Kings (and former WHL Cougars & Blazers) head coach Ed Dempsey is being investigated by the Spruce Kings board of directors after some former Spruce Kings players came forward with complaints about Dempsey's coaching methods. Two of the players named were former Spruce Kings captains Ryan DeVries and Brayden Penner.
Dempsey is well-known for being something of a hard-ass and it's absolutely no surprise that his antics have rubbed a number of players the wrong way. The question is whether he finally crossed the line far enough to lose his job.
Friday, May 2, 2008
The tall and short of it
Fun facts about the draft.....
Heaviest player taken: Zach Yuen, Tri-City 1st round. 6'0", 200 lb. (the heaviest was actually Garrett Zemlak at 205 lb but he's 19 so he shouldn't count)
Lightest player taken: Tayler Thompson, Portland 9th round. 5'6", 116 lb. New event at Portland fitness testing this year: "How many times can you bench-press Tayler Thompson?". In a close second was Luc Vandale, Edmonton 9th rounder at 5'6" and 118 lb. Thompson might outweigh Vandale after a big meal....
Tallest player taken: Trey Keenan, Seattle 9th round. 6'5", 190 lb. Nobody else taken in the draft was bigger than 6'3" so Keenan wins this category easily.
Shortest player taken: 10-way tie with 10 different players coming in at 5'6". Thompson and Vandale (above) are two of them. The others (in order of selection) are Boston Leier (MH 3rd round), Kale Derksen (CHI 5th round), Nathan Burns (VAN 7th round), Michael Lazo (SC 8th round), Jeremy Ward (EVT 10th rd), Mitchell Fowler (SPO 11th rd), Riley Simpson (KTN 12th round) and Spencer Galbraith (BRN 12th round).
Average height and weight of all players picked: 5'10.5" and 156.5 lbs.
Average height of players picked by each team, in inches:
Seattle: 72.8
Prince Albert: 71.7
Tri-City: 71.5
Calgary: 71.4
Kamloops: 71.2
Moose Jaw: 71.1
Kelowna: 70.9
Lethbridge: 70.8
Regina: 70.7
Vancouver: 70.7
Prince George: 70.6
Chilliwack: 70.5
Everett: 70.4
Saskatoon: 70.3
Spokane: 70.3
Medicine Hat: 70.3
Swift Current: 70.0
Kootenay: 69.9
Portland: 69.9
Brandon: 69.8
Red Deer: 69.7
Edmonton: 69.0
Well, Seattle's picks are on average more than a full inch taller than the next-tallest team, and almost four inches taller than Edmonton's picks, who are far and away the smallest. Does that tell us anything about the styles these teams want to play?
Of course, this isn't terribly meaningful right now since every one of these kids picked will grow a couple more inches at least before he ever plays in the WHL. But, as they say, "you can't teach size" and Seattle knows most of their picks are big enough for the league now, whereas Edmonton has to hope theirs do some growing.
Now one of my favourites, selections by month of birth:
February: 36 (15.79%)
April: 35 (15.35%)
January: 33 (14.47%)
March: 33 (14.47%)
May: 19 (8.33%)
June: 17 (7.46%)
July: 15 (6.58%)
August: 15 (6.58%)
September: 13 (5.70%)
November: 5 (2.19%)
October: 4 (1.75%)
December: 3 (1.32%)
The trend continues: kids born in the first four months (33%) of the year make up 60% of the players picked in the bantam draft. Assuming babies are born at equal rates in every month of the year, this is a staggering discrepancy that really shows how much early-born kids benefit in hockey from being 6, 8, 12 months older and bigger than the other kids.
Moral of the story is, if you want to raise a hockey player, count back nine months from somewhere in January-April.....I won't bore you with the rest of the details.
Draft picks by province/state now:
Alberta: 77 (33.77%)
British Columbia: 48 (21.05%)
Saskatchewan: 46 (20.18%)
Manitoba: 36 (15.79%)
USA: 21 (9.21%)
Guess the experts weren't kidding when they said Alberta was strong this year.
Breakdown of the American kids by state:
California: 7 (33.33%)
Alaska: 3 (14.29%)
Texas: 3 (14.29%)
Washington: 3 (14.29%)
Arizona: 2 (9.52%)
Idaho: 1 (4.76%)
Colorado: 1 (4.76%)
Minnesota: 1 (4.76%)
Heaviest player taken: Zach Yuen, Tri-City 1st round. 6'0", 200 lb. (the heaviest was actually Garrett Zemlak at 205 lb but he's 19 so he shouldn't count)
Lightest player taken: Tayler Thompson, Portland 9th round. 5'6", 116 lb. New event at Portland fitness testing this year: "How many times can you bench-press Tayler Thompson?". In a close second was Luc Vandale, Edmonton 9th rounder at 5'6" and 118 lb. Thompson might outweigh Vandale after a big meal....
Tallest player taken: Trey Keenan, Seattle 9th round. 6'5", 190 lb. Nobody else taken in the draft was bigger than 6'3" so Keenan wins this category easily.
Shortest player taken: 10-way tie with 10 different players coming in at 5'6". Thompson and Vandale (above) are two of them. The others (in order of selection) are Boston Leier (MH 3rd round), Kale Derksen (CHI 5th round), Nathan Burns (VAN 7th round), Michael Lazo (SC 8th round), Jeremy Ward (EVT 10th rd), Mitchell Fowler (SPO 11th rd), Riley Simpson (KTN 12th round) and Spencer Galbraith (BRN 12th round).
Average height and weight of all players picked: 5'10.5" and 156.5 lbs.
Average height of players picked by each team, in inches:
Seattle: 72.8
Prince Albert: 71.7
Tri-City: 71.5
Calgary: 71.4
Kamloops: 71.2
Moose Jaw: 71.1
Kelowna: 70.9
Lethbridge: 70.8
Regina: 70.7
Vancouver: 70.7
Prince George: 70.6
Chilliwack: 70.5
Everett: 70.4
Saskatoon: 70.3
Spokane: 70.3
Medicine Hat: 70.3
Swift Current: 70.0
Kootenay: 69.9
Portland: 69.9
Brandon: 69.8
Red Deer: 69.7
Edmonton: 69.0
Well, Seattle's picks are on average more than a full inch taller than the next-tallest team, and almost four inches taller than Edmonton's picks, who are far and away the smallest. Does that tell us anything about the styles these teams want to play?
Of course, this isn't terribly meaningful right now since every one of these kids picked will grow a couple more inches at least before he ever plays in the WHL. But, as they say, "you can't teach size" and Seattle knows most of their picks are big enough for the league now, whereas Edmonton has to hope theirs do some growing.
Now one of my favourites, selections by month of birth:
February: 36 (15.79%)
April: 35 (15.35%)
January: 33 (14.47%)
March: 33 (14.47%)
May: 19 (8.33%)
June: 17 (7.46%)
July: 15 (6.58%)
August: 15 (6.58%)
September: 13 (5.70%)
November: 5 (2.19%)
October: 4 (1.75%)
December: 3 (1.32%)
The trend continues: kids born in the first four months (33%) of the year make up 60% of the players picked in the bantam draft. Assuming babies are born at equal rates in every month of the year, this is a staggering discrepancy that really shows how much early-born kids benefit in hockey from being 6, 8, 12 months older and bigger than the other kids.
Moral of the story is, if you want to raise a hockey player, count back nine months from somewhere in January-April.....I won't bore you with the rest of the details.
Draft picks by province/state now:
Alberta: 77 (33.77%)
British Columbia: 48 (21.05%)
Saskatchewan: 46 (20.18%)
Manitoba: 36 (15.79%)
USA: 21 (9.21%)
Guess the experts weren't kidding when they said Alberta was strong this year.
Breakdown of the American kids by state:
California: 7 (33.33%)
Alaska: 3 (14.29%)
Texas: 3 (14.29%)
Washington: 3 (14.29%)
Arizona: 2 (9.52%)
Idaho: 1 (4.76%)
Colorado: 1 (4.76%)
Minnesota: 1 (4.76%)
The day after
This blog got 1,278 hits yesterday, which I think tops the previous high (Jan 10, trade deadline day) by about 500 hits. Glad everyone enjoyed checking it out during the draft....
The WHL Final gets underway tonight in Spokane....don't forget to check it out, these are two very good teams and the series should be a great one. The game is on Shaw in Canada, and south of the border it's being carried by Comcast, on channel 78 in the Spokane area at least. Maybe Comcast customers elsewhere in the northwest can get it too, I'm not sure.
Tons and tons of articles on the draft yesterday.....here's the links.
Calgary: #1: Hitmen shore up defence at draft. #2: Hitmen pick D-lighted.
Chilliwack: #1: Bruins get defensive in bantam draft. #2: Bruins elated at landing blueliner.
Edmonton: #1: Oil Kings go on the offensive at draft. #2: Kings snare star. #3: Draft dossier.
Everett: #1: Silvertips draft powerplay specialist. #2: Silvertips pick defenceman in first round.
Kelowna: California speedster Rockets' top pick.
Medicine Hat: Tigers picks already familiar foes.
Moose Jaw: Warriors select Kornelsen.
Portland: #1: Airdrie's Rattie goin' south. #2: Winter Hawks say they're becoming a team to watch. #3: Hawks emphasize offense in bantam draft.
Prince George: #1: Cats take Forsberg in first round. #2: Cougars bantam draft list.
Regina: #1: Bell is swell. #2: Pals are teammates no more. #3: Focusing on draft day trumped any potential trades.
Saskatoon: #1: Blades' future bright. #2: Leier learns WHL draft lesson (a look at local Saskatoon players selected by MH, RDR, SEA, EDM). #3: Warman players populat with WHL.
Swift Current: Broncos invade Alberta in bantam draft.
Tri-City: Ams take defenseman with first bantam pick.
Vancouver: #1: Giants go with who they know. #2: Top pick knows his way around.
If I didn't list your team, it just means there's nothing in their online papers right now.
The WHL Final gets underway tonight in Spokane....don't forget to check it out, these are two very good teams and the series should be a great one. The game is on Shaw in Canada, and south of the border it's being carried by Comcast, on channel 78 in the Spokane area at least. Maybe Comcast customers elsewhere in the northwest can get it too, I'm not sure.
Tons and tons of articles on the draft yesterday.....here's the links.
Calgary: #1: Hitmen shore up defence at draft. #2: Hitmen pick D-lighted.
Chilliwack: #1: Bruins get defensive in bantam draft. #2: Bruins elated at landing blueliner.
Edmonton: #1: Oil Kings go on the offensive at draft. #2: Kings snare star. #3: Draft dossier.
Everett: #1: Silvertips draft powerplay specialist. #2: Silvertips pick defenceman in first round.
Kelowna: California speedster Rockets' top pick.
Medicine Hat: Tigers picks already familiar foes.
Moose Jaw: Warriors select Kornelsen.
Portland: #1: Airdrie's Rattie goin' south. #2: Winter Hawks say they're becoming a team to watch. #3: Hawks emphasize offense in bantam draft.
Prince George: #1: Cats take Forsberg in first round. #2: Cougars bantam draft list.
Regina: #1: Bell is swell. #2: Pals are teammates no more. #3: Focusing on draft day trumped any potential trades.
Saskatoon: #1: Blades' future bright. #2: Leier learns WHL draft lesson (a look at local Saskatoon players selected by MH, RDR, SEA, EDM). #3: Warman players populat with WHL.
Swift Current: Broncos invade Alberta in bantam draft.
Tri-City: Ams take defenseman with first bantam pick.
Vancouver: #1: Giants go with who they know. #2: Top pick knows his way around.
If I didn't list your team, it just means there's nothing in their online papers right now.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Updates
I have some more stats and heights/weights for some of the players who do not have that information given in the round-by-round posts below. I will be filling that stuff in over the rest of the evening....
And the rest....
Not going to go by round anymore, or mention passes. The draft is going to be over pretty soon....
#216, Lethbridge:
#217, Spokane:
#218, Edmonton:
Phil Gervais
Yes, this is the Phil Gervais who played for Swift Current, Vancouver and Portland last year. In fact, two draft picks today - one in the 3rd round and one in the 5th - were traded for him during the year. I guess Portland dropped him earlier today and Edmonton just scooped him up.
#219, Lethbridge:
#220, Saskatoon:
#221, Everett:
#222, Brandon:
#223, Kootenay:
#224, Calgary:
#225, Everett:
#226, Brandon:
#227, Kootenay:
#228, Calgary:
And that's all folks.....my keyboard is smoking and my fingers are but bloody stumps. But it's over for another year.....
#216, Lethbridge:
| Brock McDonald | |||||
| Center, 6'0", 180 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Vernon Renegades (BCAHA AAA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 07-08: Vernon Renegades (KIBIHT) | 7 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
#217, Spokane:
| Mitchell Fowler | |||||
| Center, 5'6", 135 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Spokane Chiefs (KIBIHT) | 5 | 6 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
#218, Edmonton:
Phil Gervais
Yes, this is the Phil Gervais who played for Swift Current, Vancouver and Portland last year. In fact, two draft picks today - one in the 3rd round and one in the 5th - were traded for him during the year. I guess Portland dropped him earlier today and Edmonton just scooped him up.
#219, Lethbridge:
| Adam Reid | |||||
| Center, 6'1", 152 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: L.A. Selects (USA AAA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
#220, Saskatoon:
| Jonathan Robinson | |||||
| Right Wing, 5'10", 150 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Anaheim Jr. Ducks (USA AAA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
#221, Everett:
| Keifer Johnston | |||||
| Defence, 5'11", 165 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Virden (MB AA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 07-08: Virden Golden Bears (WestMan H.S.) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 07-08: Westman South (Directors Cup) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
#222, Brandon:
| Derek Sobkow | |||||
| Defence, 5'9", 130 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Brandon Wheat Kings (WMHA AAA bantam) | 30 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 28 |
| 07-08: Brandon Wheat Kings (WMHA AA midget) | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 07-08: Brandon (Directors Cup) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
#223, Kootenay:
| Jagger Dirk | |||||
| Defence, 5'11", 160 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Penticton (BCAHA AA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
#224, Calgary:
| Alex Roach | |||||
| Defence - 6'3", 180 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Quesnel (BCAHA AA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
#225, Everett:
| Austin Wuthrich | |||||
| Right Wing - 5'10", 160 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Alaska All-Stars (USA AAA bantam) | 45 | 24 | 45 | 69 | 55 |
#226, Brandon:
| Spencer Galbraith | |||||
| Defence - 5'6", 135 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Spruce Grove Timberwolves (AMBHL AAA bantam) | 33 | 8 | 15 | 23 | 85 |
| 07-08: Spruce Grove Timberwolves (AMBHL AAA bantam - PLF) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 07-08: Spruce Grove Timberwolves (Edmonton AAA tournament) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 07-08: Northwest Sharks (Alberta Cup) | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 |
#227, Kootenay:
| Riley Simpson | |||||
| Left Wing - 5'6", 129 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Red Deer Rebels White (AMBHL AAA bantam) | 32 | 18 | 19 | 37 | 18 |
| 07-08: Red Deer Rebels White (AMBHL AAA bantam - PLF) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
#228, Calgary:
| Kevin Shek | |||||
| Center - 5'9", 142 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Winnipeg Hawks (WMHA AAA bantam) | 29 | 8 | 22 | 30 | 0 |
| 07-08: Winnipeg Red (Directors Cup) | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
And that's all folks.....my keyboard is smoking and my fingers are but bloody stumps. But it's over for another year.....
Tenth round picks
#198, Portland:
- Red Deer passes their pick now -
#199, Portland:
#200, Edmonton:
#201, Prince Albert:
Garrett Zemlak
Yes, this is the Garrett Zemlak who played for Saskatoon last year....I'm guessing Saskatoon de-listed him here at the draft and Prince Albert wanted him, so they used a late round pick to take him.
#202, Lethbridge:
- now Chilliwack passes -
#203, Saskatoon:
#204, Everett:
#205, Moose Jaw:
#206, Moose Jaw:
#207, Swift Current:
#208, Brandon:
- Seattle passes now -
#209, Kootenay:
#210, Prince George:
#211, Regina:
#212, Lethbridge:
Yadlowski is the younger brother of Brennan Yadlowski of the Hurricanes.
#213, Calgary:
#214, Vancouver:
#215, Prince George:
And to finish the round, Tri-City passes now.
| Corbin Boes | ||||||
| Goaltender - 5'8", 140 lbs | GP | W | L | T | GAA | SV% |
| 06-07: Saskatoon Frostbite (SMHA AA bantam) | 23 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 3.62 | |
| 07-08: Saskatoon Outlaws (SMHA AA bantam) | 35 | 23 | 7 | 2 | 2.42 | .916 |
- Red Deer passes their pick now -
#199, Portland:
| Seth Swenson | |||||
| Forward - 5'11", 170 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Colorado Thunderbirds (USA AAA bantam) | 57 | 32 | 16 | 48 | 28 |
#200, Edmonton:
| Brock Wellicome | |||||
| Left Wing - 5'9", 150 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 06-07: Cloverdale Colts (Ridge Meadows Tournament) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 |
| 06-07: Cloverdale Colts (Victoria RC Tournament) | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 07-08: Cloverdale Colts (BCAHA AAA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 07-08: Cloverdale Colts (KIBIHT) | 6 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 0 |
#201, Prince Albert:
Garrett Zemlak
Yes, this is the Garrett Zemlak who played for Saskatoon last year....I'm guessing Saskatoon de-listed him here at the draft and Prince Albert wanted him, so they used a late round pick to take him.
#202, Lethbridge:
| Matthew Scarth | |||||
| Left Wing - 5'7", 130 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Calgary Bisons (AMBHL AAA bantam) | 32 | 12 | 17 | 29 | 44 |
| 07-08: Calgary Bisons (AMBHL AAA bantam - PLF) | 11 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 14 |
| 07-08: Calgary Bisons (Edmonton AAA tournament) | 5 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 14 |
| 07-08: Calgary South Flames (Alberta Cup) | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
- now Chilliwack passes -
#203, Saskatoon:
| Adam Iwan | ||||||
| Goaltender - 5'9", 155 lbs | GP | W | L | T | GAA | SV% |
| 06-07: Winnipeg Hawks (WMHA AA bantam) | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3.13 | n/a |
| 07-08: Winnipeg Hawks (WMHA AAA bantam) | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2.25 | n/a |
| 07-08: Winnipeg White (Directors Cup) | 2 | 2 | n/a | n/a | 1.53 | 0.938 |
#204, Everett:
| Jeremy Ward | |||||
| Center - 5'6", 140 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Langley Eagles (BCAHA AAA bantam) | 6 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 0 |
#205, Moose Jaw:
| Kristopher Dalton | |||||
| Defence - ht/wt unknown | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Red Deer Rebels Black (AMBHL AAA bantam) | 32 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 76 |
| 07-08: Red Deer Rebels Black (AMBHL AAA bantam - PLF) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 07-08: Central Thrashers (Alberta Cup) | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
#206, Moose Jaw:
| Garrett Haar | |||||
| Defence, 5'10", 150 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Anaheim Jr. Ducks (USA AAA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
#207, Swift Current:
| Jesse Collins | |||||
| Center, 5'8", 143 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Spokane Chiefs (KIBIHT) | 5 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
#208, Brandon:
| Tanner Butler | |||||
| Defence, 5'9", 135 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Souris (MB AA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| 07-08: Souris Valley Vipers (WestMan H.S.) | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 07-08: Westman South (Directors Cup) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
- Seattle passes now -
#209, Kootenay:
| Cody Bisbing | |||||
| Forward - 5'7", 130 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: DYHA Firebirds (USA AAA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
#210, Prince George:
| Blaine Thomson | |||||
| Defence - 5'9", 166 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 06-07: Assiniboia Chiefs (South Central SK bantam A) | 14 | 9 | 15 | 24 | 18 |
| 06-07: Assiniboia Stingers (SCAHL midget A) | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 07-08: Notre Dame Hounds (SSMHL AAA bantam) | 22 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 14 |
| 07-08: Notre Dame Hounds (SMHL AAA midget) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 07-08: Notre Dame Hounds (KIBIHT) | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| 07-08: Notre Dame Hounds (St. Albert AAA tournament) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
#211, Regina:
| Dayton Reinboldt | |||||
| Center - 5'9", 160 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 06-07: Kindersley Klippers (CFHL AA bantam) | 18 | 17 | 21 | 38 | 12 |
| 07-08: Notre Dame Hounds (SSMHL AAA bantam) | 17 | 19 | 18 | 37 | 8 |
| 07-08: Notre Dame Hounds (KIBIHT) | 7 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 0 |
| 07-08: Notre Dame Hounds (St. Albert AAA tournament) | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
#212, Lethbridge:
| Austin Yadlowski | |||||
| Defence, 5'9", 140 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Edmonton SSAC (AMBHL AAA bantam) | 32 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 46 |
| 07-08: Edmonton SSAC (AMBHL AAA bantam - PLF) | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 07-08: Edmonton SSAC (St. Albert AAA tournament) | 5 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 07-08: Edmonton SSAC (REM midget 15 y.o.) | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 07-08: Edmonton South Bruins (Alberta Cup) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
Yadlowski is the younger brother of Brennan Yadlowski of the Hurricanes.
#213, Calgary:
| Austin Daae | |||||
| Left Wing - 5'10", 163 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 06-07: Estevan Bruins (SSMHL AA bantam) | 26 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 14 |
| 07-08: Estevan Bruins (SSMHL AA bantam) | 26 | 30 | 26 | 56 | 16 |
#214, Vancouver:
| Aaron Hadley | |||||
| Center - 5'11", 160 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Castlegar (BCAHA AA bantam) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
#215, Prince George:
| Jared Linnell | |||||
| Center - 5'9", 150 lbs | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
| 07-08: Fairbanks Arctic Lions (USA AAA bantam) | 21 | 23 | 25 | 48 | 32 |
And to finish the round, Tri-City passes now.
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