NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

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

1. What did I say?: What did I say all year about the Western Hockey League? Nobody is touching the Edmonton Oil Kings, even the heart-and-soul Seattle Thunderbirds. We saw a great goaltending matchup between soon-to-be Detroit Red Wings/Canada World Juniors No. 1 Sebastian Cossa of Edmonton and draft-eligible Thomas Milic for the Birds, but the depth of the Kings was too much – even without a healthy Dylan Guenther. I guess in this business you have to throw out an “I told you so” once in a while, but I think that’s because sports writers are just like you and your buddies hanging out – the old “WHAT DID I SAY??” line has to come out once in a while!
2. Memer favourites: Are the Oil Kings the favourites at the Memorial Cup, which begins June 20 in Saint John, New Brunswick? I’d say they’re 1b since the Shawinigan Cataractes of the Q ARE A WAGON! Assistant coached by my old pal and Notre Dame coach Phil Roy, their Top 3 forwards Olivier Nadeau, Xavier Bourgault, and Mavrik Bourque are probably the most formidable trio in Canadian Junior Hockey, and veteran Antoine Coulombe has been lights out in the net. Edmonton has a shot, especially if they get Guenther back, with the top D pair in Junior Hockey, WHL Playoff MVP Kaiden Guhle (who will be a Montreal Canadiens regular next year), and Nashville pick Luke Prokop playing big minutes. 100-point man Logan Morrison and absolutely NHL-ready (Anaheim) Mason McTavish lead the OHL champion Hamilton Bulldogs into the cup, so it’ll be one of the small margins. As far as the host Sea Dogs are concerned…well, thanks for coming out.
3. SJ Draft: Covered the Saskatchewan Junior League draft right before I came out, alongside the talented Daniella Ponticelli, and Rod’s producer Clark Munroe and staff, and we had a great time. Future Yorkton AAA man Rhett Vedress went first overall to Weyburn, a big, mobile, minute-munching right-shot D-man that all coaches want, and I really do think this draft is going to land more impactful SJHLers than ever before simply because they drafted 15-year-olds instead of 14! We’ve been over that debate already in this column, but it isn’t just because I come from Ontario – I honestly think having that U18 experience is huge for the scouting staffs and GMs to have a much better sense of what a kid is all about.
4. Loved it: Yes, it was my first draft, but I LOVE drafts, and I loved every minute of it. The hockey community is generally so generous with insight and information – hockey guys love talking about players – so I got a ton of great tips from all sorts of spots on kids. My buddy’s kid Lukas Borne went to Battlefords in the sixth round, which I think is a steal and a half, not just because I’m biased, and I also know it will be a great spot for him because Brayden Klimosko is not only a great person and coach, but he really gives young guys a chance. I’m excited about the young crop coming through in Battlefords next year, and if they can sort out their goaltending, they are going to be so dangerous in 22-23. WHAT A JOB on this draft by Producer Clark and the IKS Team! I can see why Rod and Darren love those guys so much.
5. NAHL draft: I mean all the respect to the North American Hockey League in the world, but their draft makes me laugh. A million rounds, loads of teams passing, 20-year-olds getting drafted from all over the place; it’s the wild, wild west! It’s working though, because that league keeps getting more commitments, and more talent as a result, and a big part of that is the money spent on marketing itself properly. The ‘NAHL’ is truly the USA’s version of the CJHL, while the USHL is really closer to Major Junior up here, and obviously the fact that it is IN the USA, aka where all the American colleges are (duh), gives them another leg up in terms of simple proximity for recruiting coaches, so kudos to them.
6. Duts: A few SJHL notes out of the NAHL draft was that the SJ’s second-leading goal-scorer Elliot Dutil of Notre Dame was picked up by the Minnesota Wilderness, a club near Duluth, and potential future Flin Flon Bomber Zach Vockler, the brother of Bombers’ forward Jacob, was nabbed by a great club in Aberdeen, so who knows what will come of either of those. Another ND 2003-born forward, Will Dawson, who had an awesome second half last year, signed his tender with Aberdeen too, so he’s the only one of these three I know for sure will be off. In other news, former Notre Dame high schooler Logan Kroyman was picked by Maryland, a team coached by ex-ND Junior A coach Clint Mylymok, twin brother of former ND Hockey boss Jeremy Mylymok, so there’s some connection for you as well!
7. Onward to a wild Cup: Once the Lightning got past the Leafs, I was among many that just shrugged and said: “Oh well, Tampa is going to win again. Ho-hum”. I think probably the team that can maybe out-talent them, if anyone, is the Colorado Avalanche, to whom they are down 2-0 in the Cup final, so does anybody really feel good about picking the winner of this? I don’t! Colorado won Games 1 & 2 partly because Andrei Vasilevskiy was not great, but he has always, always responded so well to any sort of setback or downtime when it really matters, so I’m still picking the team with the best goalie and the best defenceman on planet Earth, Tampa, but it’s going the distance!
8. Catching: Much hullaballoo about what the Blue Jays should do with their “wealth” of catchers with Danny Janssen, Alejandro Kirk, and now Gabriel Moreno. I think it’s way too early to assume that that is a dynamite trio…those three could go ice cold starting tomorrow (and Janssen keeps getting hurt!). It IS very hard to find catchers that can hit, always has been, but let’s wait and see before we consider dumping one of these guys. Decisions will be made for the front office with injury, and struggle anyways and boy is it a long season. I’m still not comfortable with this pitching staff outside of my guy Alek Manoah, who I really hope is an all-star. What’s your favourite Blue Jay right now?
9. Kudos to Ruller: Was so pumped to see Regina’s very own Amanda Ruller, with whom I’ve broadcasted SJHL games before, get hired by the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL as a running backs coach! She has used the power of positivity, and backed it all up with incredibly hard work and determination, and is so deserving of what she has achieved so far. She is another example that you can be kind and have success at the same time, and in the end, it’s a far better way to go about it!
10. Humid: Finally, I’ve been home in the Toronto area since June 11 (hence the lateness getting this column to Rod), but I saw the Jays, and plan to see three soccer games! The humidity and the traffic here are just next level! Whenever I am stuck behind a train in Regina I say to myself “at least I’m not on the Don Valley Parkway!”. Ha! Thanks for reading folks.

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)