Friday Night Hockey
Laurent Brossoit looks like a different player. He seems more cerebral, more confident, and in his post-game interview with Rob Faulds on Friday, said he has been working on letting the game come to him. If he’s that locked in for the entire playoffs, the Oil Kings are a good bet to repeat.
Trevor Cheek has seemingly been invigorated with not only his move to a Cup contender, but moving from wing to centre. He played with a burr in his saddle and paid more attention to his defensive responsibilities than I can remember in the past.
The Killer B’s could have a significant impact on Edmonton’s playoff success. Luke Bertolucci, Brandon Baddock and Cole Benson give head coach Derek Laxdal a fourth line that no other CHL team has.
You can’t have a championship team without guys like Stephane Legault. He can play up and down your lineup, wing or centre, PP or PK and doesn’t make a peep when asked to switch roles.
Speaking of depth, Dysin Mayo was inserted for Ashton Sautner on the back end, and now Laxdal can’t get going without Mayo. He saved Oilers prospect Martin Gernat’s bacon on a couple of occasions Friday night.
Nice to see Ryan McGill back in the WHL. He’s a great coach who’s had to adapt his style from the last time he was running a bench in the AHL. He wants his young, skilled and speedy group to play a puck possession game and attack with vigor in the offensive zone.
He looks 10 years younger than he did behind the Calgary Flames bench as Brent Sutter’s assistant two years back.
Jeff Chynoweth had a long short-list of coaches to choose from, but the job was McGill’s to turn down.
Not to mention I made McGill’s quote book. I’d love to thumb through that thing one day.
Mackenzie Skapski re-tooled his game around November when the teachings of Ice goalie coach Mike Bergren started to sink in. He should be set for a monster 19-year-old season.
Bergren was hired on a recommendation from former Ice goalie Jeff Glass, out of the World Pro Goaltending school.
Sam Reinhart made three plays in that game that made you just shake your head. His hockey sense is like that of a 10-year NHL veteran.
He’s a lock to captain Canada’s U-18 team.
Kootenay speculation
As of Friday night, Kootenay will play in Cranbrook next season. But there are no guarantees beyond that, and a number of possibilities exist.
The Ice have 10 years left on their lease with Western Financial Place operated by the city of Cranbrook.
The Ice experienced seven of the worst crowds in franchise history this season. Mind you, they were terrible in the first half. Wednesday’s Game 4 represented the worst crowd ever (2,042).
The average attendance in Kootenay was 2,411, representing the lowest average attendance (and a drop of more than 15 per cent from the 2011-12 season) since moving into Western Financial 13 years ago.
The Ice have made the playoffs each of the last 15 seasons, including 3 trips to the Mastercard Memorial Cup, winning it in 2002.
The Ice tied a WHL record with 14 consecutive .500 or better seasons.
If nothing else look to Ontario, where there’s been nothing but stability in the ownership and on the hockey side in Brampton. And if a town of 525,000 people can’t support the product, what makes anyone think a tourist town of 20,000 can support its team?
Kootenay has one of the smallest operating budgets in the CHL.
Don’t forget, the Niedermayers (Rob and Scott) are 24.5 per cent owners of the Ice.
WHL
Couldn’t help but feel for Saskatoon Blades GM and coach Lorne Molleken as he walked off the Medicine Hat Arena ice surface with his head down after getting swept by the Tigers.
How will the Saskatoon Blades ready themselves for their next game, May 17 versus the OHL champ in Game 1 of the MasterCard Memorial Cup?
How tough would it be to be for a hockey fan in the province of Saskatchewan? First you have no playoffs for the Pats or the Warriors. Next you have the Raiders swept, the Broncos ousted in five, the Blades sitting in the waiting room and less than a month ago, the Huskies bowed out in two straight as hosts of the University Cup. Ouch.
For the second straight year, and for the fourth time in the last five years, the host team will not play in its respective league championship.
This does not reflect well on the CHL. But what it will do is give London a leg up on both Windsor and Barrie to host in 2014. The Knights should have the best on-ice product of the three host candidates. Further, the off-ice issues that continue to plague Windsor may put the Spitfires right out of the mix.
Not as surprising as the Medicine Hat sweep was the Red Deer Rebels ousting the Prince Albert Raiders. For most of the first half of the season, the Raiders were the toast of the Eastern Conference.
QMJHL
Moncton
The Wildcats have a passionate owner in Robert Irving whose No. 1 goal is to win a MasterCard Memorial Cup. The President’s Cup is simply not good enough. Hosting in 2006 and getting another taste in 2010 has surely whetted his appetite.
Having said that, removing Danny Flynn as head coach was a mistake. No one works harder and no one is more prepared — just ask Ted Nolan. Flynn kept Nolan gainfully employed for a number of years, including his last NHL stint on Long Island.
The Wildcats’ organizational pyramid is very confusing. Technically, Jeff Rose is the GM, but he has little to do with the hockey side. Roger Shannon is the director of scouting and assistant director of player personnel and hockey operations. Flynn is now the director of hockey operations, but essentially the de facto GM.
Some names to consider as Flynn’s replacement are: Fabian Joseph (current associate in Moncton), Troy Smith (assistant coach of the Kitchener Rangers), a current unnamed assistant coach in the WHL.
And, does Flynn get a say in choosing his replacement? Can you say awkward?
Flynn is too good a coach to be sitting on the sidelines.
The thought of CIS coaches Trevor Stienburg (Saint Mary’s) and Gardiner MacDougall (UNB) are really only locally based rumours. I’d have a hard time thinking either one of those two would leave their respective programs.
What a difference a year can make. Last year the Victoriaville Tigres were swept in Round 1 by an unsuspecting Baie-Comeau team. This year, they turned the tables in five games over heavily favoured Moncton.
And it didn’t sit well with the Danault family. Former Tigre Phillip Danault missed what was likely his last junior game based on a video review sent into the league before Game 5. Danault’s family has close ties to the Victoriaville organization, but maybe not so much anymore.
Eric Veilleux has his Baie-Comeau Drakkar playing well. The Drakkar made quick work of Sherbrooke and in impressive fashion, outscoring the Phoenix 27-7.
The Shawinigan Cataractes should’ve hired Danny Dupont after Veilleux left for Baie- Comeau. Instead they hired Denis Chalifoux, who resigned at season’s end, and now Shawinigan is right back where it was after the Cats won the MasterCard Memorial Cup in 2012.
OHL
I’ve questioned the health of Kitchener Rangers goalkeeper John Gibson all season long. If he can stay healthy throughout the playoffs, the Rangers have a legit chance to play for the J. Ross Robertson Cup.
The end of the Brampton Battalion reminded me a lot of the end of Expos. There was a core group of people that really cared, but that core group wasn’t enough to sustain. It got so bad, even head coach and GM Stan Butler wasn’t on the bench to see it (thanks to a suspension).
By the way, forgot to mention in last week’s post that I saw Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi at two OHL games, and I know he attended at least two others on the back end of the NHL’s GM meetings in Toronto.
Stat trick
A look at Edmonton’s series win over Kootenay
GF: 25
GA: 4
PP: 5-for-19 (26.3 per cent)
PK: 21-for-21 (100 per cent)
Players with at least one point: 19 (all but goaltender Brossoit)
Players with at least one goal: 12
Completely off topic
Watched a great documentary on the weekend. Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks was riveting, and I’m not a huge hoops fan.
FNH
TBD
More CHL
For more on the CHL, be sure to check out the latest from Patrick King.