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.