NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

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

1. Playoffs! We talkin’ bout playoffs!: So exciting that the NHL playoffs are here, but it’s torturous to make us wait for the Canadian teams! Oh, the hate-ons are going to be intense! First time the Leafs face the Habs in the playoffs since 1979 (though that would-have-been cup series in ’93 would’ve been some of the most intense hockey ever). Yes, as a Leafs fan I am still afraid of the Habs, and the more people say Toronto in 4 or 5, the more nervous I get. I said in my last column that Florida vs. Tampa was going to be epic…guess I was right! Throw me your Round 1 predictions in the comments! 
2. Hockey Canada announces events: Hockey Canada took a step Tuesday by announcing the locations and dates for its various 2022 events, including May 20-29 in Estevan’s beautiful Affinity Place for the Centennial Cup (National Junior A championship). Sask looks to have two of the three tournaments to look forward to, as the Esso Cup, the Female U18s, will be in Prince Albert’s Art Hauser Centre (the home of the Raiders) in late April. Very exciting! 
3. Worlds roster announced: Speaking of Hockey Canada, they released Canada’s entry to the World Hockey Championship, which kicks off Friday, and boy are they young. No fewer than 10 players on the squad were born in 1999 or sooner, and only four have any senior Team Canada experience. It’ll be interesting how they handle it, but clearly, it was hard to convince more seasoned NHLers to play after what had to be a more-than-usually exhausting season condensed due to the pandemic. Everybody is in the same boat though, so I think it’ll be a fabulous tournament. Will Canada even medal? Well…
4. Super Mario: One guy I was thrilled to see on the team was my good pal Mario Ferraro of the San Jose Sharks. A defenceman with great speed, and energy, he put up 16 assists in his second NHL season this past year, and let me tell you this: he’s the type of person you want in any locker room. Never takes that smile off his face, and has played a lot with some great, veteran Dmen with the Sharks (Burns, Karlsson, Vlasic, etc.). Check out his YouTube channel “Youngest of Plugs”…he just oozes charisma. I am so proud to call him a friend! We go back to his Junior A days back in Ontario!
5. Power: One guy Mario could take under his wing is a super rarity at the event: a draft-eligible player on Canada! Yes, the consensus No. 1 overall pick in the next draft Owen Power will skip playing the U18s and the world Juniors, and go straight to the Men’s Worlds without appearing in either of them! The University of Michigan’s manchild has the size (6’5, 215), the skating, and the awareness to be fine at this event: it’ll more be about the composure to battle with seasoned pros after only 26 college games under his young belt! Will be fascinating to see him! 
6. My Dub Awards picks: I realize the WHL season has been over for a bit, but we were asked as writers at the DUBNetwork to make our season award picks! Here are mine: Top Forward: Peyton Krebs, Top D: Braden Schneider, Top Goalie: Dustin Wolf, MVP: Peyton Krebs, Rookie: Connor Bedard, Coach: Don MacGillivray, Executive: Mark Lamb. Thoughts?
7. USports plans: USports (Canadian University Athletics, if you don’t know) released their adjusted season plans for 2020-2021, and in speaking with a men’s hockey player this past week, I found out that further to the proposed 20-game season (down from 28), the idea is to start beginning of November, play through December (instead of the usual early Dec. break), and try to end at a regular time (that is: March, to not interfere with exams). None of this has been officially approved, nor has any sort of game competition at any level, but like the Hockey Canada announcements, the thought processes are at least a start! Get out and watch all levels of hockey when you can next year folks…USports, U18, SJHL, etc. find out what you’ve been missing!
8. Mosaic bumping: Speaking of USports, the proposed season also includes six regular-season football games, and while nobody knows when the CFL might go again (if ever), it seems pretty probably that the University of Regina Rams will be back at Mosaic Stadium before too long! How about we all promise to pack that stadium when we can for some great Canada West football? I have loved Canadian University football for 20 years now, probably more than the CFL, and I think if you invested in it, you would love it too. How awesome would a packed Mosaic be for a UofR vs UofS game, for example?
9. Why not?: With our province vaccinating so fast, and so efficiently, why can’t the SJHL start on time? I guess it’ll be back to that old question of how many fans? How few fans are possible? Hopefully, I won’t need to recycle old columns from this past year! Still, I am dying to call games again! 
10. Best in Sask: I did get to call some video game hockey this past weekend, and it was pretty cool to see a couple of Saskatchewan’s best NHL 21 Esports athletes go at it on twitch! One of the best in the world lives in Saskatoon, and he’s only 15. A seasoned Esports professional told me that the potential on the kid, who won $2,500 for taking the SJHL Circuit Series ‘Best in Sask’ event I was broadcasting, is just enormous. What does a 15-year-old do with $2,500? That’s my question. Put it away for university? Or is he going to float by on an Esports scholarship? His video game handle is ‘OWNTHEBLUE’ if you’re curious, and boy is he good.

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)