NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

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

• Laying waste: A word for the Canadian women’s hockey team at the Olympics and boy are they pummeling the competition. Four games, four wins, 33 goals for, five against. One big-time Team Canada women’s national team follower I spoke to said: “it’s too bad, I thought some of the other countries were catching up,” and I agree…but Troy Ryan’s women deserve a ton of credit, they’ve played awesome. We’ve all seen plenty of tournaments where Canada wades in, tries to figure out how to generate offence early on while giving up very little, and then puts it together later: this time it’s been all the time and relentless. How about a 46% power play? Nasty. As I said to that follower: if they smoke the competition then fail against the USA in the Gold Medal Game, none of it will matter.
• Run on commits!: Back to the SJHL and I am so thrilled to see the run on college and university commitments lately! The latest bunch of Notre Dame Hounds especially include Jaryd Sych and his commit to D1 Mercyhurst (Rory laughed at me when I featured him on the SJ at Noon Show last year), and Ryley Osland and Connor Nolan to Canadian club universities, a level which doesn’t get as much respect as it deserves, and where those guys will be happy geographically close to friends and family (without spending a billion dollars on an NCAA DIII). I’m thrilled for the Battlefords commits too lately, with a guy I’ve admired from afar in Dylan Esau going to Red Deer Polytechnic with his teammate Ryland McNinch, and Sam Witt going to the high-flying DIII program Albertus Magnus College in Connecticut. Head to the SJHL website commitments page and keep watching it grow, folks! Many more to come this year and beyond.
• Cautious optimism: Notre Dame has won four in a row, including over Top 3 clubs Estevan and Flin Flon, and have points in six straight; but I’m geared to keep any optimism I have about it at the cautious level. I’m in my fifth season and coming up on Hounds Junior A Game #164 to call and I’ve called a total of FIVE playoff games. It’s not about me at all, obviously, but the logjam from No. 6 to No. 10 in the SJ is and will continue to be nuts.
• When the horses run: Mentioned the Hounds big win over Estevan in Wilcox on Feb. 6 and was that crazy or what! A classic junior hockey 8-7 contest where the Hounds almost blew four 4+ goal leads to hanging on to the very end. Have to give the Bruins credit though: their team with 850+ games of Canadian Hockey League experience is so explosive when they are really going, and there is no doubt they are on paper the most talented SJHL team I’ve seen since I joined the league in 2017. When their horses run, they are deadly. ND goaltender Austin Elliott gave up all seven, but they were not his fault, and he was actually spectacular to keep it to the touchdown. Yes, ND needs wins, but they’ve given up 16 in two games to the Bruins…
• Mercier: Some DI NCAA team needs to snap up Flin Flon forward Jaeden Mercier right now. The 2002 from Saskatoon has dealt with injury this year, and the pandemic last year (like everyone), so I see why it hasn’t happened yet, but the blend of speed, skill, and vision is right around the top of Junior A hockey in Canada, in my opinion. His numbers are not eye-popping because Mike Reagan his coach really rolls the lines, and there has been some rust at times from the long-term injury, but man, he pops off the ice every time I see him play.
• Are they different?: To the NHL and as excited as I am about my Maple Leafs on their current tear (a six-game win streak after rallying against the Metropolitan monsters from Carolina), I just cannot let myself get TOO excited. I’ve been teased with great regular seasons year after year, but the only real playoff-winning defenceman in the crew in my mind is Jake Muzzin, and he can’t stay healthy. The trade deadline is still about a month and a half away, but I wonder if Kyle Dubas will hold on to his belief that Rasmus Sandin and Tim Liljegren need all this ice time AND CAN be real factors for the team to win the cup THIS YEAR. I have my doubts he’ll make a big splash for a defenceman Toronto really needs, but we’ll see. The cap is also a problem, as always.
• Least ever: I had probably the least interest I’ve ever had in my life in the NHL All-Star weekend this past week, but as Jeff Marek said on the 32 Thoughts podcast: they don’t need to cancel a thing just because *I* don’t care…it’s not all about me. Do kids like it? That’s the argument I keep hearing: it’s for the kids! I have no clue.
• MJ figured it out: Quick stop in the ‘Dub’ and I am gratified to see that the Moose Jaw Warriors have in fact figured out how to harness the great talent they’ve assembled into a consistently winning team. Eight wins in a row, Denton Mateychuk and Jagger Firkus’ draft stock keep rising, and Carl Tetachuk has been pretty good in the net! No draft-eligible player born 2003 and later has more goals than Firkus, and if you watch how slippery he is, and how nasty his release is, you can see why. Bedard snipes at high speeds, and that’s awesome for sure, but the game slows right down FOR Firkus. If you ask me, they are both going to be excellent NHL Top 6 forwards.
• Time to tune in to U18: It’s really coming down to it in the most underappreciated hockey league in Saskatchewan: the Sask U18 AAA loup. There are probably five-six teams that could win it all, which is such a rare thing to say about any league, and with tons of stars led by WHL No. 1 overall pick Berkly Catton, it’s almost always worth whatever price of admission. U18 is too easy for Berkly (of the Saskatoon Contacts) right now, so enjoy him while you can. He’ll be a star for Spokane next year.
• We’re going to the World Cup, people: Finally, a severely shorthanded Team Canada men’s soccer team went down to El Salvador last week and won pretty comfortably, and with three matches left and a four-point lead atop the table, I’m all but ready to simply just say: WE ARE GOING TO THE WORLD CUP!!! It’s the first time since 1986, and this is not just going to be a team happy to be there: they have the talent and depth to make some noise! Get onboard the bandwagon if you are not already there! I am hoping to be in Toronto on March 27 if the final home qualifier vs. Jamaica is there (of course pending what is going on with the SJHL playoffs).

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)