The Friday Night Hockey crew is in the midst of a busy stretch as the NHL lockout has allowed us to add a couple of games to the schedule, including last Wednesday’s Drummondville/Blainville-Boisbriand match.
We debuted PK Subban in a secondary analyst’s role and he made it out alive, but not without having his mug snapped by some of the Habs faithful attending the game.
Watching JF Houle run practice, it’s easy to see why he’s already considered a top coach in the QMJHL. Some of his drills were so simple, yet so effective.
I totally appreciate how the Armada has an organizational vision that predicates player procurement on character first. Too often teams get caught up in skill and forget about the person.
I haven’t seen a goalie handle the puck like Storm Phaneuf since watching Scott Dickie for the Kitchener Rangers some ten years ago.
One thing you can say about Drummondville, you’ll always know when you’ve come out of a game against the Volts – they play hard.
And their "smother defence" is always a treat to play against.
Louis-Philip Guindon looks like he’s poised to make the most of his draft-year minutes for the Volts.
Friday, it was back to London to watch the Knights extend their winning streak to 17 games. You know a team is good when members from the opposing team are content with measuring themselves against London.
I see why scouts are starting to really get excited about Nikita Zadorov. The more comfortable he gets with North America, the more confidence he gleans and the better he plays.
As for a shut-down guy, Tommy Hughes is the most under-appreciated defender in the OHL.
Marty Williamson has two NHL’ers on his team in Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Strome. We’ll see just how good a poker player Marty is as the lockout continues and the trade deadline approaches.
Canada’s World Junior camp is in full swing, hence the late edition of this weeks’ Coz for Thought. Looks like head coach Steve Spott can breathe easy at least for a little while. With the NHL having cancelled games up to Dec.30, there’s a pretty good chance, the six or seven NHL potentials will be able to play against Germany on the 26th, Slovakia on the 28th and most likely the U.S. on Dec. 30. After that, who knows???
I’ll be riveted watching the likes of Jake Paterson in goal, Matthew Dumba and Ryan Sproul on defence, and especially interested in Jonathan Drouin, Nathan MacKinnon and Hunter Shinkaruk up front.
People continue to make comparisons to the 2005 team, but I just don’t see it.
Really looking forward to getting to the Enmax Centre on Wednesday. I snuck in there for a game last year and the renovations weren’t complete, but from what I saw of the overhaul, it should put it as one of the CHL’s top barns.
And you can’t beat a visit with Rich Preston and Matt Kabayama.
Brent Sutter finally lost a game in his second incarnation as the Rebels bench boss. It took the Wheaties overtime to do it on Saturday.
We’ll get to see the Rebels first-hand on Friday Night Hockey, when they take on the Victoria Royals.
Don’t forget to check out Patrick King right here.
Stat trick
Edmonton’s Tristan Jarry has the best numbers of any qualifying goalie in the CHL:
| Team | GP | MIN | RECORD | GAA | SV% | SO | |
| Tristan Jarry | EDM | 11 | 631 | 7-3-0-0 | 1.62 | .931 | 2 |
| Mac Carruth | POR | 15 | 853 | 13-2-0-0 | 1.69 | .936 | 2 |
| Franky Palazzese | KIT | 14 | 832 | 6-3-1-3 | 1.87 | .939 | 1 |
| Etienne Marcoux | BLB | 17 | 988 | 12-3-0-1 | 2.00 | .919 | 1 |
| Cole Cheveldave | KAM | 25 | 1503 | 18-5-0-1 | 2.16 | .916 | 2 |
| Malcolm Subban | BEL | 26 | 1550 | 15-7-3-0 | 2.17 | .932 | 2 |
NOTE:
The WHL has a 600-or-more minute qualification based on Tuesday’s stats. The OHL’s minimum requirement is 763, while the QMJHL has a 754 minute qualification cut-off.
Completely Off Topic:
What other team in baseball can trade away two legit starting pitchers and still survive? This year will be the true test of Tampa Bay’s ability to evaluate talent and we’ll get our most genuine read on how good Rays manager Joe Maddon really is.