NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

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

1. Sad Week Pt 1: Tough week for the hockey world as the three Surrey-based junior hockey players Caleb Reimer, Ronin Sharma, and Parker Magnuson all passed away in a car crash last Saturday morning. Reimer, 16, spent his rookie year in 20-21 with the Edmonton Oil Kings and was off to a great start in an outstanding organization. So gut-wrenching for all three families. I beg you, I plead with you if you’re reading this: don’t wait or hold off to tell people you love them and don’t wait or hold off to forgive those who hurt you, and don’t wait to ask forgiveness from those you’ve hurt – life is way too short to hold on to those things. 
2. Sad Week Pt 2: The crushing news continued this past week as news came out of the death of Boston-born former NHLer Jimmy Hayes at the age of 31 at his Milton, MASS home. It hits so close to home because he celebrated his kid’s second birthday a day before he passed, and my daughter turned two last May. I’ll say it again: love, forgive, seek forgiveness. Stop reading this column, text, or call someone to tell them you love them, then keep reading. So sad for his family. 
3. The Connor Whisperer: In better news, I was thrilled to see the Edmonton Oilers invited Notre Dame Hounds Telus Cup champ and Regina Pats assistant captain (and an all-around good guy) Drew Englot to their rookie camp this September. I was joking around with him that maybe they’ll throw him straight on a line with Connor McDavid, which would make plenty of sense since he knows all about playing with Connors, doing well while playing alongside Pats young superstar Connor Bedard – he’s the Connor whisperer! He also looked great this summer at the Frei brother’s Regina-based Next Level Hockey camp, so it’s a great opportunity for a great kid!  
4. Estevan’s Goalie Situation: It’s SJHL camp season, folks, with the Centennial Cup host Estevan Bruins kicking it off on Aug. 20! Head coach/GM Jason Tatarnic has a lot of veteran players who have not played together before coming in, so it makes sense to me to start camp early, ascertain player fitness, and try to figure out what he has in this collection. An Estevan trade that went under the wire for me was that they have moved from goaltender Emerik Demers, sending the 20-year-old to Neepawa in the Manitoba League to make room for in-coming Western Hockey League vet Boston Bilous. It looks as though big B.C. native (and outstanding NHL video game player) Eric Clark will stick around for the time being to back Bilous up, but it’ll be an interesting situation to keep an eye on. Bilous had an up-and-down time in the Regina Hub with the Moose Jaw Warriors, but on a couple of occasions was absolutely spectacular, and by all accounts was very sharp when he started the year with the Bruins a year ago. 
5. Sychie’s Time: ND Hounds camp is still two weeks off but one guy I’m excited to watch the development of is the big-bodied, smooth-skating 2003-born defender Jaryd Sych. At 6’3, 200 pounds he has the frame, but I know from his work ethic, and from what I’m hearing from those watching closely down at the Dunc, that with his accelerated development arc started four years ago, he will absolutely be someone to watch closely this year coming up (and beyond). Will he ever be a dominant offensive producer from the back end? I’m not sure, but big mobile minute munchers great for locker rooms often find jobs. 
6. No Fans in Calgary? Been fun to watch a bit of the IIHF World Women’s Hockey Championship in Calgary this past week, but it’s weird that they could not find a way to have some fans. I get it, the IIHF is exceptionally squeamish about fans in the pandemic, but it seems like every other event is finding a way to have attendance…so it feels wrong to me. Canada and the USA are unsurprisingly 2-0 at the time of writing, with that always testy clash of the titans coming Aug. 26 at 4 M.T. on TSN. The gold medal game is Aug. 31, and if those two aren’t in that as well, then I’ll be stunned out of my absolute mind.  
7. Huge Showcase: I’ve already had college and university coaches message me saying that they are looking forward to attending the SJHL’s annual Showcase in Warman this October coming up! I think the SJ’s rep keeps growing, for which I give all the credit to the coaches and players in this great league! I can’t wait to see everyone up there! Rumour is that Rory and I might have an SJ at Noon episode live from the Legends Centre, but we’ll see!  
8. My Maine Men: Really cool to see how many of the people I know from different parts of the hockey world come together with the University of Maine men’s hockey program. Freshly hired head coach Ben Barr and assistant Jason Fortier are long-time pals, and they could have as many as four Notre Dame Hounds in the line-up when they kick off their non-conference schedule vs. the University of Prince Edward Island of USports Oct. 3. I owe so much of the start of my career to getting hired by and working with Fortier, who has been as outstanding a coach and GM in North American junior hockey as anyone over the last 15 years or so. Man, what I would give for one post-game hangout in that Maine coaches office this year! Ha! Those kids in Orono are in incredible, incredible hands. 
9. Are The Jays dead? Yep. Move on. Okay, I’ll say a bit more…I saw one tweet that I agreed with this past week that said “I’ve never seen a group squeeze less out of a great orange than this team”. Great starting pitching, thunderous line-up, all derailed by mental mistakes, injuries, and a shallow shallow bullpen. Pumped to see them live this week though! 
10. CAN’T WAIT: Speaking of what I’m pumped for, the final round of Canada’s soccer World Cup qualifying kicks off this Sept. 2 in Toronto vs. Honduras, AND I’LL BE THERE! I’m so so excited. They are going to face the USA in Nashville on Sept. 5 – which I hear might be on TSN – and El Salvador back in Toronto on Sept. 8, and I have never felt anywhere near this level of optimism for Canada’s national soccer teams (they haven’t even been at this level of qualifying in over 20 years!).  

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)