NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

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

1. SJ IS BACK BABY!: That’s right! The SJHL announced Tuesday government-approved dates for the 2021-2022 season, hoping for a full 58-game season to begin Sept. 24! The Centennial Cup is scheduled to kick off May 20 in Estevan! All so exciting! Check out the league’s website (sjhl.ca) and/or social media for full details, but I can’t wait to get back into a rink soon. Teams have made about a billion signings since Covid shut everything down, so there will be a lot of homework for us broadcasters to do to learn about all these kids. That being said, there are few things I love more than grabbing a coffee, hunkering down at a shop, and making a spotter board full of notes and stats on kids. LET’S GOOOOOOO! 
2. Showcases: Part of those announcements was that both regularly scheduled league Showcases are set to go. The usual one in Warman will be in early Oct., in which every team in the league plays a couple of games at the Legends Centre in the Saskatoon suburb, while the MJHL-SJHL Showcase (all-star-type event) will go in the New Year in Winnipeg for the first time (it had been in Regina it’s previous three iterations, starting in 2017-18). Will they take Rory and me to Winnipeg? I hope so! Rory is from the area, so I’m sure it would be an absolute blast and a half, as every other showcase of the type has been.
3. PURE GOLD: How about Team Canada’s story at the 2021 IIHF World Championship? Started from 0-3, and people making jokes about how it’s good news that there isn’t relegation this year, and ended up winning gold Sunday over Finland! The run included an epic quarter-final overtime win over a stacked Russia, a solid semi-final victory over a similarly youthful American team, and then an equally epic golden-goal OT final in which Ottawa Senator Nick Paul notched the winner, on a pass from fellow Sen Connor Brown. Canada did not lose with Andrew Mangiapane in the line-up, and as I wrote in my last column on this site, the Calgary Flames forward is ready to break out into a genuine all-star folks. I’ll say it one more time: Owen Power is going No. 1 in the draft, I’d bet a ton of money on it.
4. Habs brooms: Did I glean some satisfaction from seeing that the Leafs loss to Montreal wasn’t a complete fluke after the Habs swept Winnipeg this past week? No, not really…especially since Montreal plays unbearably boring hockey. But of course, you have to be insane not to have a huge amount of respect for this group, and especially Carey Price, who was sensational all series once again. The Mark Scheifele hit on Jake Evans was not dirty, in my mind – it was a hard play, that was at worst charging, and in a split-second, Scheif caught a concussion-prone Evans, and that’s that. Kudos to Montreal…they used the juice from rallying around Evans to win four games, while the Leafs only managed three wins from rallying around John Tavares. Way she goes.
5. Cheer for Montreal?: Will I now cheer for Montreal to win the Cup, just because they are the only Canadian team left? Definitely not. The biggest reason I won’t is that they play such a boring brand of hockey, and if I’m not sentimental (aka, if the Leafs aren’t playing), then at least entertain me! They also would never let us hear the end of it if they won, which is also unpleasant. So, if they win the Cup, I won’t be furious or anything, I’ll just shrug and say “ok, what’s next?”. Don’t we all want a Tampa vs Vegas/Colorado final anyway? Just so that the two best teams go to war?
6. Those Isles: One group that seems to be a similar thorn in the side, but without the Montreal circus around it, are those pesky New York Islanders. Say what you want, but Barry Trotz certainly knows how to coach the game of hockey! Guess those people affiliated with Notre Dame know a thing or two after all, eh? Semyon Varlamov and Ilya Sorokin have been an outstanding pair in net too, they deserve a ton of credit, and it’s just been such a great by-committee approach to putting pucks in the net. Won’t be an easy out for anyone!
7. Flippa coin: The real clash of the titans right now is of course the Avalanche-Golden Knights series, and what a treat to watch that has been (so, so much better than Habs-Jets…like…is this the same league??). Flip a coin who is going to win that one as we stand? I like Vegas if they can stay out of the box, but I don’t think they can in what is now a Best of Five. I called an Avs-Lightning final before it all started…sticking to it! That Colorado PP is just INSANE.
8. Goalie moves in the Dub: In Dub news, I wrote about the Moose Jaw Warriors unloading of the CHL rights to Swedish goaltender Jesper Wallstedt to the Portland Winterhawks on the DUBNetwork, and if he ever plays a game in the league, I’ll be stunned out of my mind. After going Top 10 (many have him going to Detroit) in the NHL Draft, he will either stay in Sweden or go to the AHL, so it’s a free 6th-round pick for Moose Jaw. They still need a premium goaltender if they are going to contend for a championship in 21-22! Swift Current and Prince George swapped depth pieces in the net too, as presumptive Yorkton Terriers starter Jacob Herman’s rights were sent to the Broncos. I asked Yorkton coach/GM Matt Hehr about whether Herman wanted to be in the Dub, and he responded that while it’s hard to know exactly right now, he was pretty sure Herman was a committed Terrier. That being said, Herman is a Swift Current kid, so who knows. Isaac Poulter was pretty good for the Broncos at the Hub, so as a quality ’01, you’d think Swift could get something for him in a trade, and work with Herman and the ’04 Reid Dyck for this year coming up. We’ll see!
9. Barr to Maine: Was fired up for my good pal Ben Barr after he got hired as the new head coach of the University of Maine men’s hockey team! Ben was a huge part of putting together the national championship-winning University of Massachusetts squad as its recruiting assistant coach, and has always had time for me over my career! Incredible guy and I’m pumped that I’ll have a bunch of Maine Black Bears to cheer for with Notre Dame kids Nolan Renwick, Brad Morrissey, Tim Gould, and Adam Dawe all slated to be in the line-up next year too! You better know you’ll be getting Maine updates next year on this column! Ha!
10. Shout out Sydney!:  Finally, and in other NCAA news, big-time shout out to Rod’s niece Sydney Pedersen for landing at D1 Mercyhurst University to play hockey next year. Sydney, whose Regina Rebels U18s were stacked this past year and were poised to make a serious Esso Cup run if Covid hadn’t ruined things, had been committed to the dismantled Robert Morris University program, so it’s wonderful she’s found a great spot like ‘Hurst in Erie, P.A. to land. I’ve known a bunch of great kids that loved their time there, so I’m sure she’ll have a blast. 

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)