NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds/DUBNetwork MJ Warriors Beat Writer

1. What A Time: Thoroughly enjoyed calling the seven games of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League final with my good pals Rory McGouran, Jordan Frey, Dave Thomas, Jacob Faith, Daniella Ponticelli, Producer Rusty, and the whole crew! We all had an absolute blast! The better team on paper, the Estevan Bruins, won the day, and they deserve a ton of credit for pulling it out in the end; but at the same time, the Bombers were absolutely banged up big-time by Game 7. I counted about nine (9!!) Flin Flon guys, many of them key, were either out or playing pretty hurt, so pushing it that far was pretty impressive. But the real heroes in all of it were the fanbases, who were so electric, so supportive, and so much fun. The romantic junior hockey fan in me was so excited to be in both atmospheres, and while the Bruins hoisted the cup, both communities were the winners after a great series.
2. What Could Have Been?: As with many series, especially the ones that go to Game 7, it could definitely have gone the other way. Game 5 in Estevan, the series tied 2-2, Flin Flon had a 2-1 lead with about 26 seconds left and big Bomber Drew Kuzma is potentially tripped on a foray up the ice with a chance to put one in the empty cage. It could have put the Bombers up 3-1 in the game, 3-2 in the series, and likely sent the series back to the rocking Whitney Forum with a chance for Flin to win it all at home. Granted, much had to happen in the next 20 seconds or so for the puck to get back into the Flin Flon zone, for the Bruins to win a board battle, get it to Nolan Jones at the point, and for Eric Houk to tip it home to tie it with 5.8 ticks left on the clock. Ultimately, the Bruins put the Bombers on the brink with a deflected point shot in overtime off the stick of Olivier Pouliot, but those were just a few of many little moments that could have gone one way or the other. As Estevan coach Jason Tatarnic could say now: it’s about what his guys did, and not what the Bombers could have done! In the end, Game 7 was a picture-perfect defence-first game in which you could easily count Flin Flon’s real scoring chances on one hand.
3. Where It’s At: So, the Centennial Cup (Junior A National Championship) begins eight days from the time of writing, May 19 at noon, with a matchup that I think will boil down to an all-Ontario matchup of the Ontario Junior Hockey League champs (which is far from settled), and the Superior League kings the Red Lake Miners. The Ottawa-area league (CCHL) is far from settled too, while the Manitoba league final between Steinbach and Dauphin is going to Game 7 on Wednesday night, and the Northern Ontario title could belong to the Hearst Lumberjacks by the time you read this column!
4. Neugsie At The Centennial?: I had a ton of people during the finals, and since, ask me what I’ll be doing at the Centennial Cup. The truth is, I have no idea. Nobody has told me a thing, so I wait with bated breath! I really, really appreciate all the positivity people of all sorts of fanbases sent my way the last while, though, and it means the world to me!
5. Telus: The Telus Cup, the boys U18 National Championship, kicks off May 16 in Okotoks, AB, and the Notre Dame boys have as good a chance as any! Keep an eye on the outstanding, Top 2-round WHL lock pick Joby Baumuller on ND – he’s so good and is only a 2007 birth-year playing with 2004s. His line with Cole Wirun and Ethan Look has a ton of chemistry and is dangerous at all times. I’ll of course be watching the Junior A Hounds signings especially close, with a ready-made D pairing of Sammy Borschowa and Vinny Palmarin playing really well, and Keagan Merriman and Andrew Altwasser upfront. Do I wish we could keep all the U18 Hounds boys? For sure I do, but that’s just not the world we live in! I hear the Moncton Flyers are the team to beat at the event, though.
6. Esso: The Notre Dame U18 Hounds girls have smashed their way through the Saskatchewan league and the regionals to their national championships, which will go at the same time in the same place; which I think is pretty neat and maybe something they should look into all the time! Craig Perrett’s girls are deep, with the best goaltender in Canada in future Russian national teamer Eva Fillipova in the sticks, a couple of outstanding D1 NCAA commits on the blueline in Payton Evans and Ellie Gauvin, and all sorts of weapons up front led by D1 commit Ryan Perrett, Kyra Anderson (Kev’s sister), Alyssa Rasmuson (Blake’s sister), Keanna McKibbin…well I could list the whole team, it’s pretty deadly
7. Kudos to Mylly: Speaking of ND, big news came out this past week that the College’s Director of Hockey Jeremy Mylymok will be stepping down this summer to take a gig at an academy in Idaho. His tenure included a ton of success and development of players, and he (and his family) was always so good and kind to me. Will definitely miss him! No word yet on who might replace him!
8. Worlds: Canada’s entry at the 2022 IIHF World Championships is, as usual, a pretty interesting squad (which you can find in its entirety here: https://www.eliteprospects.com/team/1616/canada?tab=club-stats#players) . The tournament starts on Friday in Finland, and Canada will look to ride the likes of Matt Barzal and Pierre-Luc Dubois to a gold. Pretty cool to see Regina’s Cole Sillinger get in there after a really solid rookie campaign with the Columbus Blue Jackets straight out of the USHL as an 18-year-old (he turns 19 during the event). He and Kent Johnson could both play on this team and then for the World Junior team in August, so that would be interesting to see. Canada opens the Worlds vs. Germany on the 13^th on TSN!
9. Still An Enigma: Yeah, the Maple Leafs, is still an enigma. Tuesday night is pretty much do-or-die, so I’ll be hiding in my turtle shell until tomorrow morning.
10. A New Hound: Finally, I found it pretty interesting to announce the signing of the new Hound Junior A forward Dominic Passalacqua-Main this past week! The 2003-born speedster played with Rod Pedersen’s favourite human being Connor Bedard at West Van Prep a couple of years ago, so I look forward to asking Dom all sorts of ridiculous questions about Regina’s chosen one.

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)