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Thread: Neal's Notes

  1. #21

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    we can only pray to God that Hamilton stays on the bench...he is totally hopeless as a starter...we would be better off going with the Grizzlies backupman...Rathjen plays the remainder of the season...he gives us a chance...

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by the Royal Flush View Post
    we can only pray to God that Hamilton stays on the bench...he is totally hopeless as a starter...we would be better off going with the Grizzlies backupman...Rathjen plays the remainder of the season...he gives us a chance...
    I agree completely !! The team has no confidence with Hamilton between the pipes !! Hopefully we can make some adjustments on the PP and have some success there !! Way too much dumping it in and coming up dry on puck possession . Need to find a way to gain the blueline in control of the puck !! Need a big effort from everyone against the Giants tonight !! Go Royals Go !!

  3. #23
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    Default 13 Mar

    As I sit here at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre typing this blog, U2’s “Beautiful Day” is playing over the loud speakers, which couldn’t be any further from the truth in Victoria. Rainy, gusty winds are the order of the day here.

    Anyhow, the Victoria Royals are down to their final two games of the regular season and they get the Portland Winterhawks into town Wednesday and Friday. The Royals are back in eighth spot in the Western Conference thanks to their loss to the Everett Silvertips Saturday and the fact both teams lost in overtime yesterday. Hard to believe that three goals were enough for the Silvertips in all four meetings with the Royals this season, with a quartet of regulation losses, no less. The 3-0 set-back for Victoria Saturday was first loss that wasn’t 3-2 to the Silvertips and that Ryan Harrison didn’t score the game winning goal. Everett goalie Kent Simpson stopped 119 of 125 shots he faced from the Royals in the season series, posting a .952 save percentage and 1.50 goals against average.

    The Royals have Seattle in their rear-view mirror, who sits three points out with two games in hand. But that win by the Royals Friday in Kelowna, broadcast on Shaw, was a solid team win and then earning a hard-fought point in Vancouver yesterday should be enough to get them into the playoffs. As difficult as it is for the Royals to knock off Portland in either of these two games coming up this week, Seattle has a home-and-home with Spokane and dates with Everett and Portland. The Chiefs have won five of six in the season series with the Thunderbirds and the Winterhawks are 10-1 against Seattle this season. Keep in mind Spokane is battling for home-ice advantage in the first round against Vancouver and enter this week two points back with a pair of games in hand. Portland will likely still be going at with Tri-City for first overall, or at least the division title. It’s hard to imagine Seattle can pick up four points in their final four games. Since the start of 2012, the Thunderbirds are 7-25-1-0 and are going to need to get points like they haven’t before to get into the post-season. Seattle has only two points in extra time this season, compared to 10 for Everett and seven for Victoria.

    Prince George, after surrendering a 3-1 lead in a 5-3 loss to the Tri-City Americans yesterday, has little hope of getting in now. The Cougars can still mathematically catch Everett and Victoria for a playoff spot, but their final three games are in Tri-City and a home-and-home with Kamloops. That’s why they play the games in sports, but it looks like the Cougars will be entering the Bantam Lottery this season.
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    The Royals have had two prior meetings with Portland on December 28 and 30. The Royals have scored nine goals in the two games, but lost 6-3 and 7-6. What may help the Royals is the fact Sven Bartschi may still be up with the Calgary Flames on an emergency call-up because of injuries. The Swiss born forward, a 13th overall pick of the Flames in the 2011 NHL Draft, scored his first NHL goal yesterday against the Minnesota Wild. He will return to the Winterhawks as soon as two of the Flames’ injured forwards get back into the line-up. The Royals could avoid having to play against Bartschi all season, since he missed the late December games attending the World Junior’s in Alberta.

    Robin Soudek did not play yesterday with an undisclosed injury and his status is day-to-day right now. That’s 27 goals in the line-up that could be out of action this week, although Robin is a guy you know will play if there’s any way that he can, especially since this could be it for his WHL career. The other 20-year-old, Captain Hayden Rintoul, continues to get the job done, with a goal and an assist yesterday. Rintoul tied the game with 22 seconds left in regulation time to secure the one point for the Royals, which could be a huge point as this week unfolds. His 13 power play goals are still tops among WHL defencemen.
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    Two final regular season games on Shaw TV this week. The Prince Albert Raiders are in Saskatoon to face the Blades tomorrow, starting at 6:00pm PT. I was in PA, my hometown, for last week’s game between the two and did it ever live up to the rivalry. Two teams that purely don’t like each other and it had a good pace to it and stellar goaltending. That was defenceman Duncan Siemens first game back for the Blades after he sat out 13 with a concussion. Siemens was back to his usual, hard to play against self. I handled rinkside host duties along with my usual WHL Central host job, so I was going back and forth between the two benches, which I could access easily around the old rink. On the Raiders side, a couple of players were sitting on a side bench, just blasting Siemens and really hated the 11th overall pick of Colorado in the 2011 NHL Draft. I went over the Blades side and right after Siemens had knocked a Raiders’ player down along the boards, a Blades’ defenceman on the bench made a comment to Assistant Coach Dave Struch about Duncan. Struch responded, “Yah, that guy is a $&*@ing man!” Just some funny things you can hear in that role of reporting from the rink.

    Finally, the Vancouver Giants will host Kelowna Friday night at Pacific Coliseum, which starts at 7:30pm. That game could have big meaning for the Giants, who will look to get home ice against Spokane in the first round.
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    Brendan Shinnimin of the Tri-City Americans continues to run away with the WHL scoring title, with 129 points on the season, 13 more than Portland’s Ty Rattie. Shinnimin has a 20-game point streak, the longest in the WHL this season, with 26 goals and 55 points over that span. Patrick Holland has been very impressive, but has been overshadowed by his Americans’ teammate. Holland, who had 30 points in February, tied with the Winterhawks’ Sven Bartshi for second to Shinnimin’s 43, is on a 17-game point streak, with an assist in all 17. Holland has four goals and 31 helpers during his run and leads the WHL with 81 assists, the first player to 80 assists since Todd Robinson 15 years ago for Portland.

    There are eight WHL players with 100 points right now, with Bartschi at 94 and Michael Ferland of Brandon at 93 with outside chances. Of course Bartschi has to come back from the Flames, but Ferland has three games to get seven points. That’s the first time since 2000-01 that eight players have hit 100 points. The WHL had four, 100-point men last year. Another question is can anyone else get to 50. Tri-City’s Adam Hughesman and Hunter Shinkaruk of Medicine Hat both sit at 46 with three games to go. Hughesman has seven goals in a four game goal scoring streak and Shinkaruk has six goals in the last six games, but just one in four

  4. #24
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    Default THOUGHTS ON GAMES 1 AND 2 IN KAMLOOPS

    26 Mar 12

    It’s been too long in between blogs, so I was glad to see Andy Kemper in Portland give himself a hard time about not posting one for a while too. Between getting ready for games for Shaw and trying to be a family man, I’ve been busier than expected.

    Back in Victoria for games 3 and 4 of this KAL-Tire Western Conference Quarter-Final series between the Royals and Kamloops Blazers. The Blazers, the #2 seed in the West for the opening round thanks to their first BC Division title since 2002, have a 2-0 series lead with wins in the opening two games by scores of 4-1 and 7-4. In one of those stats that are impossible to put a finger on why it happened, the Blazers have scored eight of their 11 goals in the series in the second period. I’ve asked coaches, and many others have, why a period is so much more trouble than the other two if stats indicate they are. Now looking back on it, what’s the point in asking cause if they knew the answer to it, then there would likely be something done about it.

    Royals’ Head Coach and General Manager Marc Habscheid said after game 1 that his top players needed to be top players in game two to have success. Good news is Robin Soudek has scored in back-to-back games to open the series, Jamie Crooks, who led the team in scoring with 37 goals and 67 points on the season, scored again in game 2, and Logan Nelson found the back of the net in the second game as well. But the Royals had too much of a mountain to climb in the third period of Saturday’s game, after surrendering five in the second period and trailing 6-1 through two periods. Of course, with a goaltending change in game 2, the question has been asked about a starter in game 3 for the Royals. The goaltending question comes into focus after Jared Rathjen took the ball for eight straight games near the end of the season. Who knows if that has been answered in the locker room yet, or if the coaching staff will sleep on it and make their decision tomorrow.

    The Royals started the series very well, with an excellent first period in game 1 Friday. Very physical, won many races to loose pucks and really set a tempo for that first frame. But it’s got to be difficult to play that way for 60 minutes against such a talented team, but Crooks says that’s how they have to play. “It’s tough to play like that the whole way, but that’s what we have to do to win the series. That’s what we’ve talked about and that’s our goal is to maintain that and play that way for a full 60.”
    They came out of that opening 20 minutes tied at one and as they faced a team that hadn’t won a playoff game, let alone a series, in seven years with a streak of 19 consecutive losses, there was absolutely a nervous energy at the Interior Savings Centre.

    But the Blazers adjusted well in the second period and picked up their pace, they were winning races and their overall talent took over. Tim Bozon, the Western Conference nominee for WHL Rookie of the Year, was very strong with three goals in two games and JC Lipon, who went undrafted in the 2008 WHL Bantam Draft, was terrific, with two assists in each game. The Blazers really answered the bell physically, too, and out-shot the Royals 53-28 in game 2. The Blazers are full value for the 2-0 lead.

    But the Royals are a team that feed off the energy of a loud and energetic crowd. Take the two games against Portland in the final week as a prime example. Two sell-outs, two wins, in critical games and the physical play was a big part of it. The Blazers have to expect a frantic opening period, certainly the first 10 minutes and the Royals could get themselves back in the series if they dictate the pace early.

    “That’s where we need to set the tone for the rest of the game and what we need to do is play our game and keep it going,” added Crooks. “Everybody likes to play in front of a big crowd and a crowd that’s this exciting, so it’ll be fun to get out on the ice and start a game here at home.”

    The Blazers have strong team speed and are very quick in transition. Their puck movement was flawless in game 2. Again, the banging of bodies to disrupt that timing will be a key for the Royals. It would also be interesting to see how both teams react if the Royals get a lead for the first time in the series. Puck drop is at 7:08pm both nights because of the Shaw broadcasts. Those of you coming to the game are encouraged to wear blue at the rink.
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    Well, all the talk in Kamloops prior to game 1, and I mean all the talk, surrounded the appearance of Royals’ President and Alternate Governor Dave Dakers at the WHL Playoff Launch media conference in Kamloops on Thursday. I’ll be quick cause it’s old news, but I couldn’t help but laugh when Mr. Dakers, after everyone prior had given more politically correct speeches, just walked up to the podium and gave a blast to the media for not giving the team respect heading into the series, saying “I don’t even know why we’re here.” Then called out a writer at a Kamloops newspaper for naming the Royals “Grizzlies” in a story. It was one of those “did you see” topics of discussion that lasted well into Friday. I feel bad for the writer, who doesn’t need to be named by me. Those things happen once in a while and unfortunately in this case, just before a media conference. Hey, I forgot who was playing one night on the air, which is probably worse. Dave and I had a good chat about it during the second intermission of game 1 on Shaw. All day prior to the interview, I was going over in my head how I was going to bring it up during our piece and still didn’t know how to best handle it when the time came.
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    I want to give a big congrats to the Royals for a fantastic job they did for the team awards day on Saturday, March 17. Many teams, not all but many, do their awards just prior to puck-drop in the last game of the year. The Royals turned the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre ice surface into a banquet hall and took advantage of the new video screens for videos throughout the day. Jamie Crooks was named the team MVP.

    “It was a great honor,” said Crooks. “Lots of guys could have won it that are in that locker room. But it’s in the past now and I just have to focus on the playoffs.”

    The Royals’ Awards Ceremony press release has all the winners. The Kelowna Rockets and the Prince Albert Raiders are other teams that I can think of that do an actual awards banquet at the end of the season. There might be more, but those are the only ones that I know do.
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    For the most part, higher seeds have held serve on home ice through the first two games of each Conference Quarter-Final series. Only Regina and Brandon took home-ice advantage away from their opponents. The Wheat Kings, who play their first round home games at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, are up 2-1 on the Calgary Hitmen. Regina, who played the Moose Jaw Warriors tough all season, took game 1 on the road, 3-2.

    Jordan Martinook has the early playoff scoring lead with three goals and eight points in the first two games of the Vancouver Giants’ series with the Spokane Chiefs, which were both won by the Giants. Martinook has been named the WHL’s Player of the Week for his performance. He scored 40 goals this season after he posted 11 last year.

    The Edmonton Oil Kings, who have nobody on their roster that has won a WHL playoff series, have the reigning champion Kootenay Ice down 2-0 in their Husky Eastern Conference Quarter-Final series. The Oil Kings were the top team overall and have kept it going against last year’s WHL Champions with wins of 3-0 and 4-3, respectively.
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    Bruce Vance, the Business Manager and Director of Marketing for the Prince Albert Raiders, summed up the WHL Bantam Draft lottery results the best that day on twitter. Bruce, one of my favourites in the league, posted, “Haven’t won much all year. #notsurprised” The Raiders, who had the best chance of winning the first overall pick in the 2012 WHL Bantam Draft on May 3 in Calgary, were bumped out of the number-1 spot by the Seattle Thunderbirds in the lottery on March 21. Only two teams could have done that, the T-Birds and the Prince George Cougars, since the winner moves up two spots. Lethbridge, Swift Current and Red Deer would have been fine for the Raiders, but it turned out to be Seattle. This is the second straight year and fourth time out of six since 2007 that a team that did not finish last overall had their ball drawn first in the lottery. The Kamloops Blazers, a team that had the least chance to win in 2011, moved from sixth to fourth last year. Only the Cougars in 2010 and the Portland Winterhawks in 2007 won the lottery with the best chance to win it.

    Can you imagine Ryan Nugent-Hopkins with the Portland Winterhawks last season? That could have happened in 2008 when the Winterhawks had the best chance of winning the lottery, but it was taken by the Red Deer Rebels, who had finished 21st in the league, but were 18 points ahead of Portland during the 2007-08 season. Mind you, Portland would not have had Ty Rattie if they got RNH, but it’s fun to think about what ifs. In fact, Portland traded the first overall pick to the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2007, which allowed the Warriors to take Quinton Howden. The Winterhawks drafted fifth overall and took Brad Ross, but that trade also gave Portland defenceman Joe Morrow in the second round, 28th overall, who is a first round pick of the Pittsburgh Penguins last year.

    Seattle is the first team to go from the third pick to first, compliments of the lottery, since 2007.

  5. #25
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    Default First Round Wrap Up 31 Mar 12

    There’s no question the better team won the KAL-Tire Western Conference Quarter Final series between the Victoria Royals and the Kamloops Blazers. The Blazers finished things off Wednesday night with a 4-1 victory, the same score they opened the series with last Friday. With the sweep, the Blazers are finally through a playoff series for the first time since Royals’ Head Coach and General Manager Marc Habscheid took them to the WHL final in 1999. The Blazers’ transition game is very strong, with overall high end speed. The Blazers’ depth showed in the series, despite being without Captain Chase Schaber for most of game3 and then 4 with a cut to the back of one of his legs from a Zane Jones’ skate. We have since found out that Schaber is gone for the season, a huge blow for the Blazers. Kamloops also played the final two games of the series without 50-point defenceman Austin Madaisky, who served a suspension for a check to the head penalty called against him on Jones early in game 2. Dylan Willick, a hard-working, honest player, led all goal scorers in the series with five tallies and JC Lipon’s seven points was the most in the series. Jamie Crooks led all Royals’ skaters with four goals and five points in four games, which included the first hat-trick in Royals/Chilliwack Bruins playoff history in game 3. Surprising stat was that the Blazers’ leading scorer during the regular season, Brendan Ranford, had three points in the series. However, he was the most dangerous Blazers’ player in the two games at the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre and could have had far more stats than he had.

    For whatever reason, the second period did the Royals in against Kamloops. The Blazers out-scored the Royals 22-11 in the series and notched 16 second period goals to just three for Victoria. In fact, the Royals out-scored Kamloops 4-3 in both the first and third periods of the series. The goaltending and overall defensive play for the Royals had gone through tough knocks throughout the season and it continued into the playoffs. Poor Jared Rathjen, who stopped all seven shots he faced in the first period Tuesday in game 3, allowed five goals on 14 shots in the second frame and was given the hook. The turn of events that happened in that period, which saw Victoria go from a 2-0 lead to trailing 3-2 just 4:36 into the frame, had to be crushing in the minds of the hosts. But Habscheid said after the game that he was pleased with his team’s resolve to fight back, and take the lead back. But it was short lived, as Victoria surrendered the lead for the second time when the Blazers scored three times in a four-minute span late in the second, which included the second short-handed goal allowed by the Royals in the game.

    Then in game 4, when the Royals scored first for the second straight night, Matt Needham beat Keith Hamilton glove side from the left wing on a shot that just can’t go in. Looking back on the highlights of that game and seeing that goal, Hamilton’s reaction tells you he’d be the first to admit that. But it wasn’t just goaltending. Bill Wilms, Shaw’s color analyst, said after game 3 that the Royals were just too soft in front of their own goal, which allowed for too many point blank chances for a talented Blazers’ forward corps. Cole Cheveldave at the other end made enough saves to win each night. He allowed four and five goals in games 2 and 3, but his team had already scored six times. Then when it was tighter in games 1 and 4, he made the big saves, a number of them in the finale.
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    Being the host of WHL on Shaw, I’ve had the privilege to work with Peter Loubardias, a long-time broadcaster, first with the Reginal Pats a number of years ago and the voice of major junior hockey in Canada on Sportsnet until this year. His presence on the air for Shaw this season has added so much to the show and I am lucky to be able to learn from a true pro. For Games 1 and 2 in Kamloops, Peter was with me as an analyst and WHL Insider, while Dan Russell and Bill Wilms had the call from upstairs. When Peter isn’t doing a Shaw broadcast, he’s also a scout for the Red Deer Rebels. I don’t know how much he saw of the Royals during the regular season, but he saw enough in the first two games of the series to conclude that this was a team that would be challenging for far more than a playoff spot in the coming years. This was also my first chance to really watch Ben Walker play and the Edina, Minnesota, product can be an electrifying player in this league. It would stand to reason that a full summer of a WHL workout program and training camp in Victoria prior to the start of the 2012-13 season will add to his already impressive skill set. But you think about what this year will do for players like Logan Nelson, Zane Jones, Austin Carroll and Taylor Crunk and add the fact that Steven Hodges and Brandon Magee will be going into year three of their WHL careers, this team has a lot to look forward to. Jamie Crooks could easily be a 40-goal man next year as a 20-year old and one would figure that scoring won’t be a problem.

    The question for this team lies in its back end and between the pipes. Sure, first round pick Joe Hicketts will likely be on the team next year, but will only be 16 and everyone takes their lumps in their first year. I was really impressed with Brett Cote this season and can he, along with Kade Pilton and Keegan Kanzig take big jumps next year and be influential players on the back end? Huge if Stahl comes back as a 20 and Fransoo will be a key in his 19-year-old year.

    Then there’s the goaltending. Speaking with other media around the league, a few are convinced that the Royals will have two completely different goaltenders next season. Age is the biggest enemy for Keith Hamilton, who enters his 20-year-old season. That and his .880 save percentage and 4.10 goals against average during the season. It’s not out of the question to think that Ty Rimmer, the Western Conference nominee for WHL’s top goaltender, will be playing somewhere other than Tri-City next year, with it being his 20-year-old season and 17-year-old Eric Comrie ready to take over. Jared Rathjen had a .837 save percentage and a g.a.a. close to five, not numbers that have “heir apparent” written all over them. Cole Vollrath, a third round pick in the 2010 WHL Bantam Draft, had a solid season in the Alberta Major Midget League for the Calgary Buffaloes, so there is a hope he may be ready to go, even as a 17-year-old. With the success Saskatoon had with Andrey Markarov and Patrik Bartosak in Red Deer, perhaps the import draft might be where the Royals look to improve in goal. The Royals needed more timely saves and watching as close as we did in their first round set with Kamloops; there were just too many deflating and momentum changing goals that found the back of the net.
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    Not sure yet which second round series Shaw will pick up in round 2, but almost guaranteed to be an Eastern Semi-Final. During game 4 between the Royals and Blazers, I had a chance to speak with Blazers General Manager Craig Bonner, the Western Conference nominee for Executive of the Year. This was during the first intermission. The interview was going fine until all of a sudden, the big spotlights on the WHL Central set went out and we were in the dark, literally and figuratively. Neither of us knew if we were still on, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in broadcasting is that you just keep going until someone tells you otherwise. So I asked another question to Craig, who looked like he truly believed no-one was hearing what he was saying. I did get word in my ear to wrap it up, I think, but with the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre so loud during the intermission, I couldn’t make out completely what he said. What didn’t help is that a TV monitor that I have went black, too, which I use for the out-of-town scoreboards and really a cue for when I’m on. Turns out we were on the air no problem and that a fuse blew upstairs where we were parked, which caused the black-out. Fortunately, with a three and a half minute highlight package from games the night before about to show after the break, everything was restored to normal during commercials.
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    As I write this, seven of the eight first round series are already done. Only the Vancouver Giants and Spokane Chiefs will see their series go past five games. The Chiefs, without leading scorer and Western Conference Defenceman of the Year nominee Brenden Kichton due to a broken jaw, took a 3-2 series lead home for game 6 Sunday with a 5-1 win in Vancouver Friday night. The Giants were leading that series 2-0 and the Chiefs’ game 5 win was the first for a road team in the series. Along with the Blazers in the first round, Tri-City, Portland, Edmonton and Medicine Hat all earned sweeps, while Moose Jaw and Brandon got their series’ over with in five games. The four conference semi-finals will begin next Friday. We know Portland will face Kamloops, while in the East, Edmonton gets Brandon and Moose Jaw faces Medicine Hat.
    Ty Rattie had 10 goals in four games against the Rockets, with two hat-tricks and a four-goal game Thursday in the series clincher for the Winterhawks. He had an amazing series and leads the playoffs in scoring with 13 points. Not far behind is teammate Sven Bartschi, who had 11 points, nine of which assists. Seven of Rattie’s 10 goals saw Bartschi pick up an assist, with six of those first assists. Going through highlights of that series, Bartschi just looked like a man among boys. I certainly don’t mean to take anything away from what Rattie has done in four games, but he had some easy finishes on plays that Bartschi set up. The highlight goal of the series was Bartschi sauntering through three waiting Kelowna defenders before dishing to Rattie at the lip of the crease for a tap-in in game 1.

    I’m also curious to know if Emerson Etem’s fantastic first round for Medicine Hat against Saskatoon has earned him some votes for Eastern Conference Player of the Year. Although it’s based on regular season play, voting may still be going on. There is a points system among five votes for three players in each conference which are picked from each WHL market’s GM, Head Coach (Assistant if team has the same GM and Coach, like Victoria), the play-by-play announcer and two other members of the local media. For my money, Etem should get the nomination, but Mark Stone in Brandon could get serious consideration. I’m wondering if there is anyone on the fence between the two or anyone else in the conversation who may have taken his seven goals and 12 points in four games against the Blades into consideration to tip the scales. We will know who is up for WHL Player of the Year on Wednesday, April 18.

  6. #26
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    Default ROUND 2 OF WHL PLAYOFFS 06 Apr 12

    Arrived in Moose Jaw Thursday afternoon for the start of the Husky Eastern Conference Semi-Final series between the Warriors and Medicine Hat Tigers on Shaw TV. Games 1 and 2 will be played at Mosaic Place in Moose Jaw Friday and Saturday, and then heads to Southern Alberta for games 3 and 4 Tuesday and Wednesday. I will be on location for the first four games of the series, which means I will fly home to Victoria Sunday and then hit the air again Monday.

    This should be an outstanding series between the Warriors and Tigers, who have both won four straight. The Tigers swept the Saskatoon Blades in round 1 in a series dominated by 61-goal man Emerson Etem, who had seven goals and 12 points in four games and was just too much for the Blades. In fact, Etem factored in 11 straight Tigers’ goals that stretched all four games. The other super sniper for the Tigers is Hunter Shinkaruk, who had a goal and six helpers in the series. One would think the Tigers have the edge in goal with 20-year-old and Edmonton Oilers prospect Tyler Bunz. Bunz is the Eastern Conference nominee for Goaltender of the Year. In front of him on defence to watch are James Bettauer, who had 21 goals and 58 points on the season, and Matt Konan, who recently signed an entry level deal with the Philadelphia Flyers.

    The Warriors won the East division for the first time since 2006, a year that saw them reach the WHL final before they lost to a powerhouse Vancouver Giants’ team. The Warriors are a deep team up front and on the blueline. Quinton Howden is the most recognizable name among Warriors’ forwards after he played the last two years for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championship. Howden had nine points, with three goals, in a five game victory in round 1 against the Regina Pats. But Howden has an impressive group around him, which includes two key trade deadline pick-ups. James Henry was acquired from the Vancouver Giants and leads the Warriors in playoff scoring with 10 points, and Cam Braes led the Warriors in scoring with 82 points and was picked up from Lethbridge. In fact, Braes and Henry finished 1-2 in Warriors’ scoring during the regular season. Now the Warriors have added 2011 first round Bantam pick Brayden Point, who hardly looks out of place with three goals and four points in five games.

    Dylan McIlrath, a first round pick of the New York Rangers, leads a big, physical Warriors’ defence corps. There was a hope that Morgan Reilly, the highly touted defensive prospect for the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, would return to the line-up as early as round 1 for the Warriors after he suffered an ACL injury in early November. However, we found out at the Warriors’ skate Thursday that Reilly would not play at all in the second round. Although Reilly is in full practices with the Warriors and in a regular practice jersey, not the ones injured players wear, he and the Warriors need a doctor’s clearance for him to get into game action and he has to get that done in Vancouver.

    Dan Russell and Bill Wilms have the call and Peter Loubardias is on the broadcast for analysis and rinkside hosting, while I’ll continue in the WHL Central position. Can’t wait to get this series started, should be a dandy. The Warriors tied Portland for the best home record in the league and the Tigers shared the best mark away from home with Kamloops.
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    In the other series in the conference semi-final round, the Edmonton Oil Kings face the Brandon Wheat Kings. Edmonton had no-one on their roster with second round experience in the WHL playoffs. But they just took out the champs, the Kootenay Ice, in four straight, so if things go wrong against the Wheat Kings, experience can’t really be an excuse now. It wouldn’t shock me to see the Wheat Kings give Edmonton a run in this round. Brandon has big-time weapons up front and Ryan Pulock and Eric Roy are a pair of ’94-born defencemen who have been great this season and neither is eligible for the NHL draft until 2013. Now that the Edmonton Oilers have played their final home game for the 2011-12 season, what an opportunity that lies ahead for the Oil Kings to make their mark on the City of Champions. It’s great to see crowds that reached 8400-8900 in Edmonton for their first round series with Kootenay, now will they get over 10K? We’ll find out this weekend. After playing their three home games against Calgary in Winnipeg in round 1, the Wheat Kings are back in Brandon for their home games against the Oil Kings.

    The Tri-City Americans open at home against the Spokane Chiefs in what is going to be a heated showdown between two bitter US division rivals. Despite losing their top scorer during the season, defenceman Brendan Kichton, the Chiefs turned an 0-2 hole against the Vancouver Giants into a six-game series win. Mitch Holmberg had six goals in six games against the Giants and will be a key for the Chiefs, along with Mike Aviani, who has a team high 11 points in the post-season. Tri-City, the top seed in the West, is banged up right now. Defenceman Drydn Dow suffered a broken arm early in their first round sweep of the Everett Silvertips. Up front, Jesse Mychan suffered a torn Achilles tendon in game 3, so he’s also gone for the playoffs. Marcus Messier left game 4 with a concussion. Former Victoria Royal Mitch Topping will be a key on the Americans’ blue-line with Dow out of the line-up. Topping had a goal and three points in four games, and was a +4 in the series.

    Portland gets Kamloops and with the shake-up in seeds in the second round, the Blazers have to try and earn home-ice advantage away from the Winterhawks. Both teams had sweeps in the first round; the Royals were victimized by the Blazers and Portland breezed by Kelowna. Huge loss for the Blazers in round 1 when Captain Chase Schaber was taken out of the playoffs by an errant skate of Royals’ forward Zane Jones in game 3. But the Blazers do get defenceman Austin Madaisky back for game 1, which is huge for them. Massive challenge lies ahead with Ty Rattie and Sven Bartschi playing out of this world right now for the Winterhawks. Rattie leads the playoffs with 10 goals and 13 points, while Bartschi has nine assists and 11 points.
    __________________________________________________ ______
    No doubt Kamloops and Edmonton is swarming with WHL team’s personnel this weekend as the prestigious Kamloops International Bantam Ice Hockey tournament is underway. Meanwhile, the Western Canadian Bantam AAA Championship has started in Stony Plain, AB, which ends Sunday. This is big draft coming for the Royals with the eighth and 13th overall selections, respectively. It takes time to develop a championship contender, and this draft is going to be a key in a few years if the Royals can nab a pair of impact players out of it. The Royals are a team that is very confident the pieces are coming into place to put them into a position where they will still be playing at this time of the year in a couple of years. But it takes time and the franchise was set back, prior to Marc Habscheid’s arrival in Chilliwack in 2009, when they did not deal assets on the roster for future prospects and draft picks a few years ago, specifically Mark Santorelli and Oscar Moller. Great players, but the Bruins missed a chance to help boost a contending team while stocking their own cupboards in the process.

    Look at the Edmonton Oil Kings and the Kamloops Blazers as prime examples of a five year plan. The teams were patient and stuck to their guns of building a contender, while fans may have been getting restless in Kamloops and not overly interested in Edmonton. Now, those teams are seeing the fruits of their labour. Both teams’ General Managers are up for executive of the year: Bob Green from the Oil Kings and Craig Bonner for Kamloops. 16 players on the Oil Kings roster were bantam draft picks and they were the top team in the WHL with 107 points. The Blazers earned their first BC division title, in a runaway, since 2002.

  7. #27
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    Default ETEM BACK FOR TIGERS & NELSON, HODGES GET FINAL DRAFT RANKINGS 10 Apr 12

    Into Medicine Hat Monday night for games 3 and 4 of the Husky Eastern Conference Semi-Final series between the Moose Jaw Warriors and Tigers on Shaw. Although the Warriors have a 2-0 series lead, it’s game on with Emerson Etem back in the line-up for Game 3 tonight. Etem served a one game suspension for a knee-on-knee collision with Torrin White in game 1. The hit happened just three and a half minutes into the game, so Etem essentially missed the first two games of the series. There was some surprise with the suspension when it looked like Etem was going for a clean, open ice hit. But knee-on-knee collisions are not something the league wants to tolerate, whether it’s by accident or not. Richard Doerkson, Vice President of Hockey for the Western Hockey League, told me that the right call was absolutely made on the ice for a five minute major and game misconduct, shortly after two minutes was posted on the scoreboard. This is Etem’s first suspension, so that was put into consideration on the final ruling, which came down on Monday. What was also put into consideration is White’s injury, so we may see him back in the Warriors’ line-up over the next two nights.

    So now the series hits the Medicine Hat Arena Tuesday and Wednesday, one of my favourite stops in the WHL. It’s an older barn with a very good crowd, which has supported the Tigers like no other team in the league over the last number of years. Now with Etem back and with the Tigers holding the last change, it’s going to be difficult for the Warriors to keep their win streak going, which sits at six games. However, the Warriors defence has been fantastic, especially in game 2. Dylan McIlrath was matched up against Tigers’ sniper Hunter Shinkaruk in Moose Jaw and did a terrific job, although credit goes to Shinkaruk for his battles with the much bigger McIlrath. Shinkaruk scored a short-handed goal and almost made it 2-0 in the second period in game 2, but hit the goal post. In both cases, McIlrath wasn’t on the ice. Funny trend so far is the fact the Tigers’ best offensive chances have come while short-handed. Now with Etem, and his league high 10-short-handed goals back in the fold, it’s an area that has to be a confidence boost for the Tigers. The Warriors have one goal in eight power play tries, which includes a pair of five minute man advantages in game 1. One thing the Warriors have done a great job of is discipline and not taking penalties, and that’s got to continue against a top 5 power play unit in the league.

    Games 3 and 4 are tonight and tomorrow in Medicine Hat, starting at 6:00pm Pacific Time on Shaw.
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    Along with Etem’s suspension, the league also has handed Portland Winterhawks’ forward Oliver Gabriel a four game suspension for supplemental discipline after he ran into Kamloops Blazers’ goalie Cole Cheveldave in the final two minutes of game 1. Cheveldave did not play game 2 and won't play in game 3. The Winterhawks enjoy a 2-0 series lead, after they swept the Kelowna Rockets in four straight in the opening round. Sven Bartschi is the WHL’s Player of the Week after six points (3G, 3A) in the opening two games against the Blazers for the Winterhawks. All I can go on are highlights, but from what I’ve seen, Bartschi has made it look real easy to dominate. I had to wonder how the Blazers’ 5-3 loss in Portland in game 1, which saw Kamloops with a 3-1 lead through 40 minutes, was going to affect them in game 2. Can’t say for sure it did, but the Winterhawks won 4-1.
    __________________________________________________ ______

    The Edmonton Oil Kings take a 17-game win streak into game 3 of their series with the Brandon Wheat Kings. Did some number crunching on the Oil Kings’ win streak and found some interesting stats. As they kept on winning, I kept on thinking that they seem to be having to come from behind a lot. Sure enough, the Oil Kings have trailed at some point in nine of their 17 wins and gave up the first goal seven times. Only twice have the Oil Kings trailed by two goals and never more than that. However, the Oil Kings were usually in good shape in the third period. First off, they have out-scored their opposition 29-6 in the final frame and only trailed in the third period three times. The fact they have not scored a third period goal yet against the Wheat Kings in two games is going well against the grain for Edmonton. For the Wheat Kings, it’s their first game at Westman Place in Brandon since March 17, the final regular season game against Regina. They played their three first round series’ games at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, and won all three, because of the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair.
    Tri-City and Spokane, who are tied at one in the series, play game 3 in Spokane Wednesday.
    __________________________________________________ _____

    Logan Nelson is the highest ranked Victoria Royals’ player on NHL Central Scouting’s final rankings. Nelson is ranked 73rd among all North American skaters eligible for the draft, while Steven Hodges, who was ranked 55th in the mid-season rankings, came in at 85. For Nelson, his place is a jump of 35 spots, after being ranked 108th in the mid-season rankings. Nelson finished tied for 4th in WHL rookie scoring with 62 points, with 23 goals. Hodges had 21 goals and 46 points on the year.

    Everett Silvertips defenceman Ryan Murray has moved up to second in the rankings, behind Nail Yakupov of the Sarnia Sting. Yakupov is widely regarded as the player who will go first overall. Murray, the smooth skating product of White City, Saskatchewan, played a large role in getting the Everett Silvertips to the post-season, when it looked like there was no hope of that mid-way through the year. Murray took over the second spot from Russian Mikhail Grigorenko of the Quebec Remparts. Defenceman Morgan Reilly of the Moose Jaw Warriors, who hasn’t played because of a knee injury since November 6, is still ranked fifth, while fellow blueliners Griffin Reinhart (Edm), Matt Dumba (RD) and Derek Pouliot (Por) are ranked 10th, 11th and 12th, respectively. Kelowna forward Colton Sissons, who also had a long injury to deal with late in the year, is ranked 14th overall, which makes him the highest ranked WHL forward.
    The rankings came out just in time for the NHL Draft lottery, which goes today. Columbus has the best chance for the first overall pick, while the Edmonton Oilers, who have picked first the last two years, have the second best chance.
    __________________________________________________ _____

    Nice to see WHL players having a strong impact at the World Under-18 Championship that is underway in the Czech Republic. Canada finished its exhibition schedule with a 5-4 win over the hosts yesterday, with Prince George Cougars forward Troy Bourke notching the game winner in overtime. Matt Dumba of the Red Deer Rebels also scored, while Sam Reinhart of the Kootenay Ice had two assists and Mike Winther of the Prince Albert Raiders also had a helper. Dominik Volek of the Regina Pats scored the tying goal for the Czech’s with one second left in regulation time.

    Canada starts the round robin portion of the tournament against Denmark Thursday. The tournament ends with the gold medal game on Sunday, April 22.

  8. #28
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    Default MORE SHORT PLAYOFF SERIES & WHL IMPACT AT WORLD U18

    13 April 12

    Well it’s another long break for me and the WHL on Shaw. After we watched the Kamloops Blazers get through the Victoria Royals in four straight, there was plenty of hype for our second round series between the East champion Moose Jaw Warriors and the fourth seeded Medicine Hat Tigers. At least game four was a classic, but the Warriors took out the Tigers in four, with a 4-3 overtime win in the clincher. Brayden Point, the 14th overall selection in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft, scored the goal to send the Warriors to round three for the first time since 2006. The kid, who turned 16 just a month ago, has been an outstanding story in these playoffs and leads the post-season in game winning goals with three, and two of those are in overtime. He’s part of a Warriors team that just gets better as a game goes on, and although they got away from disciplined hockey in the first period Wednesday, they got back to what got them there and were able to survive a 3-1 first period deficit. The news gets even better for Moose Jaw, who will have Morgan Reilly back on the blue line. Reilly, who is ranked fifth among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting for the upcoming NHL Draft, will be ready for the Edmonton Oil Kings when the Eastern Conference Final starts at Rexall Place in Edmonton April 20. For a defence that played fantastic against the Tigers to add Reilly, what a big boost for the Warriors.

    It’s a shame the talk after game 4 was about the penalty Tigers’ Captain Cole Grbavac took that led to Point’s winner. Grbavac ripped the stick out of the hands of a Warriors defender and watched from the penalty box as his WHL career came to an end. It was a tough way to finish a tough season for Grbavac, who had no goals in the playoffs in eight games, after he had 10 in 13 outings last year.

    Moose Jaw has been my pick to get out of the Eastern Conference since before the playoffs began, but the Oil Kings are going to be a new level of opponent for them. Edmonton has not only been perfect in eight playoff games, they have won 19 straight games. Not only that, but they are doing this with some stress involved, too. The Oil Kings have trailed in 10 of those 19 consecutive victories, and have allowed the first goal in eight of them. But they trailed by two goals only twice during the streak and only three times in the third period. In fact, Edmonton has out-scored the opposition 33-6 in third periods. They are the deepest team and well deserving of the Scotty Munro Trophy as the league’s top regular season team. It’s going to take quite an effort to stop them from being the best in the playoffs as well. With all the depth they have up front, it’s a 17-year-old rookie who leads the way in scoring. Curtis Lazar, a 1995-born product of Vernon, BC, leads the Oil Kings with four goals and 10 points.

    I would hope this series lasts longer than four games, but we’re coming off a series where many figured it would go at least six games. That’s why they play the games.
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    Although the Kamloops Blazers are facing a steep challenge to erase a 3-0 series deficit to the very talented Portland Winterhawks, they pulled off a comeback of a lifetime Wednesday night in game 4 in Kamloops. In front of what has be a very discouraging crowd of 3587 at the Interior Savings Centre, the Blazers found themselves down 4-0 to the Winterhawks just two seconds short of the 11 minute mark of the first period. But the Blazers stormed back and won the game with five unanswered goals, capped off with Dylan Willick’s sixth of the post-season at 7:37 of the third on the power play for the eventual winner. That’s a gutsy win for a team facing not only elimination, but a long bus ride to Portland to try and do the same in a hostile environment. Game 5 of the series is Saturday night.
    __________________________________________________ ___

    Well it looks like the Spokane Chiefs are involved in the best series of this round again. After going a first round high six games against Vancouver, they will go at least six with the Tri-City Americans after their second overtime victory of the series Friday, 3-2. Dominik Uher scored the winning goal for the Chiefs, who are 3-0 in this season’s playoffs in overtime. Not only is that series tied at two, but all four games have been decided by a goal and if the puck had crossed the line a split second sooner for the Chiefs at the end of game 2, they could have played three of the first four in extra time. The Chiefs have really battened down the hatches in their own zone since the first two games of the opening round against the Giants. Eric Williams, who was acquired from the Prince Albert Raiders earlier in the year, took over for Mac Engel in net after the Giants had scored 14 goals in the first two games, both Chiefs’ losses. Williams and the Chiefs have not allowed more than two goals in eight consecutive games. They also just handed Americans’ forward, and league scoring champion, Brendan Shinnimin his first game off the scoresheet since January 29 in Calgary, which was also a loss. Until game 4 against the Chiefs, Shinnimin had a point streak that lasted 30 games, with an astonishing 34 goals and 38 assists for 72 points in that span, an average of 2.4 points/game. The Americans took 8 of 12 during the season series with the Chiefs, but it may take all seven games just to get four.
    __________________________________________________ ____

    It is great to see WHL players making a collective impact at the World Under-18 championship in the Czech Republic. That group got stronger with the additions of forward Hunter Shinkaruk of the Medicine Hat Tigers and Brandon Wheat Kings` defenceman Ryan Pulock. Matt Dumba of the Red Deer Rebels is Canada`s Captain and had a goal and an assist in a 6-1 tournament opening win over Denmark Thursday. Troy Bourke of the Prince George Cougars had a goal and assist and Mike Winther of the Prince Albert Raiders also scored. Winther`s Raiders` teammate Josh Morrissey had an assist, along with Kelowna Rocket Damon Severson and Seattle Thunderbird Branden Troock. Canada will face Finland Saturday. The tournament ends April 22.

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