NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

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

1. Rumsey running riot: The Estevan Bruins faithful weren’t thrilled when their talent-laden squad opened the pre-season with two straight losses to the Weyburn Red Wings, but they should be thrilled with Mark Rumsey. The big 20-year-old Newfoundlander has come as advertised from Cape Breton of the QMJHL and already has 10 points in three games; capped off by a hat trick in 10 minutes Sat. vs. the Yorkton Terriers. I was told he had a rocket of a shot, and all sorts of playmakers at coach Jason Tatarnic’s disposal to put with him, it should be an absolutely monster season for Rumsey. I expect the Bruins will run up the score on a couple of teams this year. 
2. “Make or break”?: Saw a tweet about how this year coming up is a ‘make-or-break’ ‘pivotal’ season for Austin Matthews, Mitch Marner, and the Leafs. Why? Every year is the apocalypse to Leafs Nation, with expectations through the roof, and the delivery smashing through the floor of the basement. So, they’re all another year older, another year into multi-year many million-dollar extensions…so why is this one exceptionally make or break? Nobody from the inside even said Kyle Dubas is on the hot seat, let alone Sheldon Keefe or Brendan Shanahan. Maybe I missed something. As a Leafs fan, I am paying no attention to the promises, or the hatred from other fanbases; I am weary of it all, so put up or shut up Leafers. 
3. ND Pre-season: Notre Dame’s pre-season finally gets underway Tuesday evening in Weyburn and while I have been happy for my fellow broadcasters and their clubs to get games in sooner, I do pretty easily remind myself that games will come thick and fast, and it’s only pre-season anyway. This is the youngest team I’ve ever worked with, maybe tied with the 2011-2012 Vaughan Vipers Junior A (blast from the past there for ya), but the good news for that team is that it had a ton of guys go on to play NCAA D1, and a bunch playing pro right now as well. I’m pretty excited about a couple of guys, but I’ll let the play do the talking about most of them for now. One hint: keep an eye on Colorado-born, Boston resident Johno Hoins…kids a player. 
4. The Laptop Line: Was proud to coin a nickname for the top line in Battlefords that they can have for free: the Laptop Line. Veteran Ryland McNinch, with youngsters Holden Doell, and Jake Southgate should be an excellent, exciting unit to watch – and have looked great in pre-season so far. Anybody want to guess why I call them the ‘Laptop Line’? 
5. Controversy in Columbus: A lot of anti-vaxxer types upset and fearful about how society looks to be dividing in government favour between the vaxxed and the unvaxxed, and the news that the Columbus Blue Jackets fired new assistant coach and former long-time NHLer Sylvain Lefebvre over his refusal to get the shot isn’t going to calm them down. You can complain about this if you want, but organizations have very legally (or illegally) hired and fired people over all sorts of things forever, and will continue to, and the complications of carrying an unvaccinated person based on governmental rules seem like a lot. I’ve said it before, the governments do make the rules, and if they say you gotta be vaccinated to do a, b, or c, it is well within their rights in the forms of government we have in Canada and the United States to do so.  
6. Wonder boy’s lineys loving life in Regina: Nice to be Cole Dubinsky and Zack Stringer! Those are the two tabbed by Regina Pats bench boss Dave Struch to start on a line with Connor Bedard, and so far they’ve combined for 15 points in two preseason games vs. the Winnipeg ICE. Not too shabby! It turned out great for Carson Denomie to play beside boy wonder at the Hub, to take nothing away from the excellent play of the hometown kid Denomie last year, but the Bedard boat will raise many ships. Lines always change over the year, but everything Bedard does from here on in will have a million eyeballs on it. 
7. Camp Warriors: Forty-five minutes west the Moose Jaw Warriors kick off their pre-season Tuesday night at home to Brandon, and maybe the biggest news for their exhibition schedule is going to be who isn’t there. Six key pieces are off to NHL training camps, including captain Daemon Hunt and first-line centre Ryder Korczak, so it’ll be interesting to see what the elevated roles and ice times in the pre-season will do to the likes of Brayden Yager, and Jagger Firkus, and the opportunities afforded to other youngsters. The results won’t be that important, but the performances in the net will be big. Veteran Carl Tetachuk and second-year man Brett Mirwald will likely both get plenty of looks and a chance to grab the reins, but there are plenty of pieces upfront the front office could try to use to move to get another goalie or a right-shot defenceman if needed. Obviously, they hope the guys they have are the ones to thrive! I’ll be at the game vs. Swift Current on Saturday, so I’ll report back my findings next week! 
8. OK…BLUE JAYS….LET’S…PLAY…BALL: YESSSS! BLUE JAYS!!! The hottest team in baseball, and at the time of writing are the holders of the home-field spot in the A.L. Wild Card. Still, plenty of time to fall with around 20 games left, and not a lot to time to gain ground on the A.L. East-leading Tampa Bay Rays; BUT STILL, SO MUCH FUN. We all dreamed this roster could hit like this, and you have to think nobody will want to face them in the playoffs if they keep on going like they are. It feels like just yesterday they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn against the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox at home two weeks ago. 
9. South vs North: I don’t want to talk about Covid too much, but I really feel for the northern parts of the province, and in and around Saskatoon that is just getting crushed by the Delta variant. I have no idea why Regina and the south are doing pretty much fine, we certainly aren’t more careful or anything, but instead of making assumptions, I am just going to say that I hope everyone out there is staying safe and taking care of each other.  
10. SJ at Noon: Finally, it looks like Rory and I are coming back with SJ at Noon starting NEXT MONDAY! Details to come very soon, but we’re thrilled to have real hockey to talk about, and that’s going to be very much the focus: the players, the game, and the rinks you love around the SJHL. Please tune in Mondays at noon! 

 (Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)