Friday Night Hockey
The London-Plymouth series didn’t deserve to end in five games.
Without a doubt, Game 5 was one of the most entertaining games I’ve called in my eight years on the job.
We warned viewers not to go away when it was 4-1 London to start the third.
Max Domi was the best player on the ice in London’s series clinching 5-4 overtime win against the Whalers.
Olli Maata is starting to get back on the offensive.
Anthony Stolarz reminds me of Jack Morris in that he does what he has to do to win games, regardless of the numbers.
Nikita Zadorov is like Bam-Bam from the Flinstones – he has no idea just how strong he is.
Teams can’t win championships without guys like Tyler Ferry.
Despite being a second-round pick, Chris Tierney is highly underrated in all of London’s success.
Speaking of underrated, how about the Whalers’ Rickard Rakell?
I had no idea Garrett Meurs was that fast.
Connor Carrick was a brilliant fifth-round pick by Washington and the same thing can be said for Columbus and the seventh-round selection of Gianluca Curcuruto.
Tom Wilson will play in the NHL next season.
I love seeing guys like Michael Whaley (13th round OHL pick) and Colin MacDonald (14th round) succeed.
For Ryan Hartman to have played in each of the last two games is a minor miracle.
Next year’s Plymouth crop is promising with Alex Nedeljkovic, Alex Peters and Matthew Mistele all projected to go high in the 2014 NHL draft.
QMJHL
Stealing from Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon; calls like the missed offside that ended Game 5 of the Baie-Comeau-Blainville-Boisbriand series can’t be made.
Snap decisions to review all offside goals made by the league the day after should also not be made.
What I wouldn’t pay to be in Baie-Comeau for Game 3 of the President Cup.
Perfect example of how a trade worked for both teams. It is likely that neither one of the participants is playing for a league title if Nathan MacKinnon isn’t dealt to Halfiax by Baie-Comeau.
Touching end to the Halifax-Rouyn-Noranda series as the crowd at Arena Iamgold was on its fee cheering, blowing horns and celebrating the great season of their Huskies for the last five minutes of the third.
And when it ended, older brother Stefan Fournier (Halifax) embraced in a long hug with his younger brother Dillon (Rouyn-Noranda).
Not much left to say about the Drakkar-Armada bench-clearing brawl. It looked just like another Tuesday night in the WHL of the 70’s.
You can bet Baie-Comeau will try to employ its strong-arm tactics against Halifax.
Congrats to Rimouski head coach Serge Beausoleil in getting a three-year contract extension; it’s well deserved.
So glad to see the Rocket (or whatever nickname they end up with) staying in P.E.I. The QMJHL can ill afford to lose a Maritime team.
WHL
How much will losing Griffin Reinhart hurt Edmonton?
Will the Oil Kings respond to their Game 6 loss they way they responded to losses in Games 1 and 3?
A rested Portland Winterhawks team will spell danger for either one of Calgary or Edmonton.
Wouldn’t surprise me to see a WHL team in Nanaimo within 3-5 years, if not sooner.
Pretty cool in that Kamloops’ star forward Tim Bozon has been selected to play for France in the World Championships.
NHL Draft Lottery
Natural fit for Seth Jones to be selected first overall by Colorado, where he learned to love and live hockey.
Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin will go two and three, but not exactly sure in which order. Remember MacKinnon, and Drouin both played extremely well with Jonathan Huberdeau during the Subway Super Series.
The New Jersey Devils sit ninth overall in this year’s draft and they still have to forfeit their first round pick in either 2013 or 2014. I wonder if they’re regretting not having forfeited last year’s first round pick, when Stefan Matteau Jr. was selected 29th overall.
U-18 IIHF World Championship
Hockey Canada Head Scout Kevin Prendergast is to be commended for having gotten contributions from players right across the country in Canada’s gold medal performance over the four-time defending Team USA.
Several players surely helped their draft stock. In order, here’s who I think helped themselves the most; 1.) Philippe Desrosiers, 2.) Madison Bowey, 3.) Laurent Dauphin, 4.) Nicholas Baptiste, 5.) Dillon Heatherington
How high up on Don Hay’s lengthy list of wins does that gold medal stand?
Stat Trick
On July 13, 2011 Halifax traded Carl Gelinas, Francis Turbide (Halifax’s first-round pick in 2012), Quebec’s first-round pick in 2013 and Halifax’s first-round pick in 2013 for Nathan MacKinnon.
Stat Trick
Following the trade that sent Nathan MacKinnon from Baie-Comeau to Halifax
*(1st round pick from Halifax in 2012)
**(acquired from Gatineau for Marc-Oliver Crevier-Morin and Halifax’s 1st round pick from 2013)
***still have Quebec’s first round pick in 2013 (15th overall)
Completely Off Topic
If you’re a Blue Jays fan, when do you hit the panic button?
FNH
We will have the curtain raiser on the President Cup final. It’s Baie-Comeau at Halifax. Be sure to check here for local listings.
More CHL
For more on the CHL, be sure to check out the latest from Patrick King.