NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

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

1. Blades going for it: The biggest Dub news came out of Saskatoon this past week when the Blades dealt fine 2002-born goaltender Koen MacInnes to Everett in exchange for 2002-born winger Brendan Lee. With two sure-fire WHL starters in long-time Saskatoon stalwart Nolan Maier and MacInnes both in tow, and potential 2004-born stars Ethan Chadwick and Austin Elliot waiting in the wings, something had to give; and to deal MacInnes, who was great at the Hub, is a clear signal that the Blades plan to keep the talented Maier at No. 1 and make a real run at a WHL championship. Even if the young San Jose Sharks keep Tristen Robins, the likes of potential 2021-22 WHL scoring champ Kyle Crnkovic, Chicago Blackhawks’ second-rounder Colton Dach, Rhett Rhinehart, and 2005-born sensation Tanner Molendyk mean the Blades are still very deep and very good. 
2. More on the Blades goalies: The 2004 situation between two Sask boys in net to back up Maier is interesting, though local boy Chadwick was the one who was with the club in the Regina Hub as the No. 3. If the Sask U18 season had gone forward last year, it would have been easy to see these two Blades prospects as the two best goaltenders in the league as Elliot was off to a remarkable start with the Notre Dame Hounds. Dealing from an embarrassment of riches is a nice place to be! 
3. Pats fans outraged: Speaking of riches, it appears Regina Pats fans are enraged at the large price hikes levelled from the club in a clear attempt to take advantage of the expected bump in attendance caused by Connor Bedard’s second ‘year’ with the team. One person I saw mentioned that their season tickets went from $800 to $1,400 a seat. Easy for me to say given that I’m not a season ticket holder, but when you get a magician like Bedard around, things like this are par for the course worldwide. I guess we’ll see if this has an impact on that full barn or not.
4. Dub makes vax call: According to the WHL website: “Effective immediately, all WHL roster players, hockey operations staff and other team and WHL Office personnel along with officials must be fully vaccinated with a Health Canada approved COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before the start of the 2021-22 WHL Regular Season. The WHL Regular Season opens Friday, October 1, 2021. In addition to players, the mandatory vaccination policy will apply to General Managers, Coaches, Head Scouts or Director of Player Personnel, Trainers, Equipment Managers, On-ice and Off-ice Consultants, On-ice Officials and ice level Off-ice Officials (penalty box attendants; timekeepers and scorekeepers) and any other individuals who interact directly and regularly with players.” Wonder if some anti-vaxxers will just quit, or look for moves, or what; there are far more of those than some might think!
5. SJ makes one vax call: Will this lead to the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League making a similar call? I don’t know, honestly, and I suspect not. That being said, the league did let it be known, based on Manitoba government regulations, that anybody going to play in Flin Flon must be fully vaccinated. Will we see some interesting healthy scratches or conspicuous absences when teams go up there? I wouldn’t be surprised. 
6. McGrath bomb: The league got a relatively big surprise when the Weyburn Red Wings dealt their No. 1 prospect in 2003-born Connor McGrath, and the rights to Kyle Bailey, to Humboldt for cash. McGrath is an alum of the 2019-2020 Moose Jaw Warriors U18s who very well might have gone on and won the Telus Cup if there was one, and though he only played in seven SJ games over the last two years (due to the pandemic, of course), represented a huge part of what might have been the core of the Wings moving forward. He’s a local boy to the Broncos, from nearby LeRoy, so on top of being a highly talented player, is a great element for Humboldt to continue to connect to the nearby community as well. McGrath is a pure shooter, led those Warriors U18s in scoring, and should be a very nice piece for a Humboldt attack that has been very potent every year under Scott Barney. 
7. Holm goes west: Many, including myself, rate the La Ronge Ice Wolves very highly heading into this new campaign. That feeling was dealt at least a minor blow Tuesday when big massive 2002-born defender Logan Holm was moved to Alberni Valley of the BCHL. The Wolves will have all sorts of weapons up front, and one of the few proven goalies in the league in Xavier Cannon, so it’ll be on the back end behind Tristan Lambert where the question-marks will come. Holm, a one-time Edmonton Oil Kings prospect, was a very effective, steady presence as a youngster during the great 19-20 campaign in La Ronge, but it’s always a ‘see how it goes’ situation when a Sask-based kid moves to the BC league.
8. The Eagle has landed: In the other direction the Estevan Bruins keep adding and adding ahead of their Centennial Cup-hosting campaign, this time acquiring mammoth 6-foot-5, 225-pound bruiser Lucas Eagle to their blue line from the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta League. I know Eagle was well-coached there by my good pal Clayton Jardine, so I expect good things from the young man who will turn 19 during the first half of the campaign. Jason Tatarnic’s job on loading the Bruins up has been staggering, on paper anyway, but paper never won anything! I’m sure more news from Estevan will be on the way all season.
9. Welcome back Steve!: Also speaking of loading up, the Weyburn Red Wings have added veteran broadcaster Steve Wilson back as their play-by-play voice, and as he’s a good buddy of mine, I’m happy to have him back among the elite ranks of SJHL game-callers. He’s local, knows the Wings in and out, and is a great guy and broadcaster – so it’s good news all around! He has taken the chair left vacant by fellow good-guy Nicky Nielsen, who moved to the job with Kindersley Klippers! Oh, we SJ broadcasters have fun together! I have heard the choice for the Estevan Bruins voice to replace Rob Mahon has been made, but I’ll let them make that call, though I haven’t personally heard anything about who is jumping in for Matty Barrett in Melfort. 
10. Kudos to Rutzy: I’ll end up this week with a shout-out to my good pal Garrett Rutledge, who was hired as the new head coach and director of hockey ops for the Carolina Thunderbirds of Federal Prospects Hockey League, one of those minor pro leagues in the States. Way to go Rutzy! He and I were part of an incredible staff/family for the Oakville Blades Junior A a couple of years ago and put away a lot of nachos at the Stout Monk across the street from the beautiful Sixteen Mile Sports Complex.

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)