NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds

• Death By A Million Cuts: It finally happened: The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League cancelled its season Monday night. I feel like this year was a death by a million cuts, starting with the time it took to get going in the first place (remember when we waited two months from September to November to just play the first game?), and then various times we thought maybe there was a chance, all the way up to the Bubble-talk that started around the New Year and ended Monday? I had good sources very close to the situation that felt very good about the chances of the league playing up until the weekend. I talk even more about what happened in my DUBNetwork piece, so please check it out here: DUBNetwork.ca
• Mental Health: I love what Rod said on his show Tuesday morning when he was talking about the toll this has all taken on the players and staff, really for the whole season, but especially while in quarantine for the last three weeks-plus waiting to try to jump right in. He talked about how the clubs need to be proactive in seeking out these young men to give them space to be real, to talk, and start the process of moving forward from such an emotionally exhausting year at such a formative time. I know from a lot of experience: the players rarely will come to you, even if you throw it out there to them that you’re available. Hockey is a central element in the identity of so many of these young men, so to have it ripped away is like a ripping of their identity…there’s a word for that, it’s “trauma”. If you’re a player reading this and need someone, I’m there for you, but reach out to someone you trust.
• Whose Fault Is It?: Covid…it’s Covid’s fault. It isn’t Premier Moe, or Dr. Shahab, or Bill Chow, or the committee, at the real root of this, it’s Covid. The SJHL is a community-run league, and all these coaches and GMs (and Bill) answer to Boards of Governors who hold their clubs together by threads in normal times. Was the government slow to respond and did so unhelpfully when they did? Probably, it’s the government. But the reality is that to run a Bubble patterned after the WHL’s in Regina, the resources and know-how needed to be at a really high level. The committee worked extremely hard on this, so they definitely deserve all of our thanks. Also, as I said in my DUBNetwork piece, the variants definitely have the government afraid; and as I also have said in many other pieces, it is just a fact that our government, and the governments around Canada, have chosen to try to manage this unprecedented crisis extremely differently to the United States. This event fits in our history, like it does in the history of every nation on earth: the Americans were born out of rebellion, a violent demanding of what they decided are their rights. We were born out of negotiation, coaxing, and trying our best to pacify everyone…usually nobody is happy in that situation, so I guess Dr. Shahab and Premier Moe are not that interested in whether you’re happy, and that really fits in our national narrative! As Humboldt coach Scott Barney is fond of saying, “we’re just going to move on”!
• SJHL All-Stars In USports: So move on we shall! This year was supposed to be the beginning of two new programs in USports and CanadaWest, with MacEwan and Trinity Western joining the Canadian University ranks. Obviously that did not happen, so it looks like those debuts will carry over into next year. So, next season SJHL fans should keep their eyes close on Trinity Western, because it feels like half the team is made up of SJ alums and Saskys! It should not come as a surprise, since their coach Barrett Kropf is a former SJHLer from Estevan, and assistant coach Chris Trendall played college hockey at Briercrest College! My good friend Jarrett Penner (Humboldt and Notre Dame) is going there, as is reigning SJ Goalie of the Year Berk Berkelev (Melville), as I mentioned last week, as well as Melfort’s Adam Nobes, and numerous others already on the roster. I have heard another Humboldt Bronco is heading there next year too, on top of Penner, but I’ll let them break their own news!
• Yager Watch: I am really enjoying the evolution of Moose Jaw’s 05-born star Brayden Yager so far at the Hub. I go into what’s going on with him even more in my Warriors notebook here: https://www.dca/east-division/warriors-notebook-i-compare-him-to-nathan-mackinnon/, but one of things that MJ head coach Mark O’Leary said that stuck out was that he reminded him a lot of Nathan MacKinnon. Not bad, folks. Yager has a goal, three assists, and a shootout winner under his belt already, not to mention looks like a real bulldog to play against in his own end. I think he’s a split second slow getting his plays off in the offensive zone so far, but he’s just turned 16 and has only played in these six games since the Sask U18 season was called back in November; so it’s not surprising or a concern. One thing’s for sure, and I’ve said this a number of times already: it is fantastic for hockey in south Saskatchewan that these two young men are going to be around doing battle for a while!
• Another 05: Not sure how many people in the media outside of Saskatoon Blades’ broadcaster Les Lazaruk are talking about this guy, but the 2005 on their roster Tanner Molendyk looks fantastic too. The second defenceman taken in the 2020 draft out of Yale Hockey Academy in BC, the recently-turned 16-year-old clearly has his coach Mitch Love’s attention, since he was on the ice late in a one-goal game Sunday vs. the Moose Jaw Warriors, when the Blades are stacked with experience. He was OVER two points per game as a DEFENCEMAN last year (55 points in 27 games), but looks extremely solid defensively as well. I’ve been huge on Denton Mateychuk, the Warriors blue-chip rookie defender, but Molendyk is blowing me away too. Even Brett Pilkington, the Notre Dame Hounds Junior A head coach, is super impressed by the kid…and he’s super hard to impress.
• BC Is A Go: I have chosen to not feel a dagger when I see the Alberta League and Maritime Leagues (not to mention every junior league in America) playing, and I will stick to that this weekend as the BCHL gets going too. The details of their schedule, which you can find here: https://bchl.ca/bchl-announces-schedule-for-2020-21-season, includes 20 games per team, in five pods around the province. I was talking to Mark Recchi yesterday, whose son Cam plays for the Salmon Arm Silverbacks, and he was saying they’re literally just going to play Vernon and West Kelowna the whole season. Hey, that sounds cool to me, not to mention just hanging around the Okanagan Valley, which is where the Garden of Eden was in the Bible (probably). Really happy for Cam, Owen Philps on Cowichan Valley, and all those boys out there! Jealousy is a self-inflicted disease that only hurts the one who has it.
• CHL Teens In The AHL Argument: Watching Daemon Hunt as I have covering the Warriors the last six games, not to mention the likes of Brandon’s Braden Schneider, P.A.’s Kaiden Guhle and Ozzy Wiesblatt, Saskatoon’s Tristen Robins, to name a few, I think to myself: man, these are pros, there’s no doubt about it. The most recent Hockey News had an interesting article arguing to allow teenage CHLers to play in the AHL in normal years (which they aren’t ever), and it’s hard to argue under certain circumstances. I have no problem with those guys I mentioned playing in the CHL though, it’s a great league, but maybe they can institute an Exceptional Status situation like 15-year-olds have in the CHL, to allow for specific situations? How do you argue Peyton Krebs for example is more deserving than Braden Schneider or vice versa though? I really don’t know where I stand on this…someone out there convince me!
• The Black and Blue Jays: I am a big-time Blue Jays fan, so I plan on talking about them in this column from now on. If you don’t like it, skip to the next point! But here is my first thought: “Man, if they didn’t have bad luck, they’d have no luck.” Injuries to big money signings George Springer and Kirby Yates already (Yates is really bad), injuries to important prospects Nate Pearson and Thomas Hatch! Brutal! The pitching was thin without injuries, it’s getting thinner by the day. Enough spring training already … let’s get R.A. Dickey and Mark Buehrle in there to toss slow pitch to the other team the rest of spring training, and save what arms are left for the real deal! It all starts against the Yankees in the Bronx Apr. 1, and Bo, Vladdy and the boys will really have to slug it out this year if the Jays are going to contend for a wild card spot if it keeps going on like this. At any rate OKAY, BLUE JAYS, LET’S PLAY BALL!
• On A Personal Note: On a personal note, if you are reading this and don’t think Covid is real, I can tell you you’re dead wrong. I have family in rough shape from Covid and there isn’t a thing I can do to help them, and it’s brutal. May God deliver us from the pestilence.

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)