NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

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

• Finally: Hockey Canada finally made official the dates and locations of this year’s National Championships at the Junior A, and boys and girls U18 AAA levels Tuesday. Estevan will continue to host the Centennial Cup with the wrinkle that I reported on a month ago, that it will include 10 teams; the nine league champions, and the Estevan Bruins. Regional tournaments will be done away with, as the ending of the respective league championships is staggered. My old league, the Ontario Junior Hockey League, has about six games left in the regular season. The boys and girls U18s, the Telus Cup and Esso Cup, respectively, will both be moved to Calgary from Nova Scotia and Prince Albert, SK, though HC has promised: “to work with those two sites on future events”. I do wonder if I could have finagled Notre Dame to sending me to Cape Breton for the Telus if the Hounds had made it because there are few places on earth as lovely as Cape Breton!
• Playoffs on!: The SJHL playoffs are a weekend-plus in, and it has been every bit as epic as I dreamed. A couple of double overtimes (more on that later), zero roll-overs, fireworks, controversy, great electric crowds! It’s been so much fun. Make sure you get out to your local rink while you still can!
• La Ronge’s Knights in shining armour: Three points, and a whole bunch of thunderous hits in, and my colleague Rory McGouran was right in saying that the best player in the post-season so far has been La Ronge captain Holden Knights. He is quick, aggressive, and worth the price of admission – seriously, he can do it all for the Wolves. That the Warman native has hit the ground running is even more impressive given that he had not played a game since Feb. 16 to an injury before lacing ‘em up for Game 1 vs. the mighty Humboldt Broncos in a packed EPA. I for one just love watching Holden play.
• SAM KROON: What broadcaster doesn’t love to call an OT winner in the playoffs? Sam Kroon of Notre Dame’s point shot through a crowd to beat Boston Bilous in 2OT to give the Hounds a 1-0 lead in the series last Friday was just that opportunity for me, and I tried to take full advantage. Sam has been awesome this year, finishing third in defenceman scoring as a rookie behind veterans Xavier Lapointe and Noah Barlage, and continued where he left off. Here’s a link to my call: https://twitter.com/ndjrahounds/status/1505060663252688900
• Getting old: I am getting old folks. Yes, I’m only 34, but on this past week’s SJ at Noon I first called Brett Pilkington the head coach and GM of the Battlefords North Stars (he’s the coach and GM of MY OWN TEAM, ND), but then I started a sentence meaning to say that while Kevin Anderson doesn’t have any points in the series, he’s still playing well, doing the little things, playing great defence, etc…except I lost my train of thought after saying he didn’t have any points, which made it sound like I was saying the complete opposite of what I meant! I am tired haha.
• Manitoba lifting: What kind of atmosphere are the Battlefords North Stars in for Tuesday night in Flin Flon, MB? I hear the Manitoba restrictions were lifted last week, so this will be the first game in FF since…and the Whitney Forum will be a nuthouse. The Bombers fell in both games in NB, but you would think this 4 vs. 5 series is far from over. The Bombers are a deep, experienced team, especially on the backend and in net, so there is no need to panic from going down 2-0. You know the old saying: “you’re never in trouble in the playoffs until you lose at home.”
• Commish: I was trying to find out when Bill Chow’s successor as the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League’s commissioner was supposed to be to no avail, and though I have an idea whom I would like to see take the spot, I’ll keep that to myself. I have no idea when would make the most sense; to avoid the jockeying for political gain with the new person while Bill is still the boss, while also having the stability of knowing that person once the Centennial Cup is over. Maybe at the Centennial Cup, it should come out? I have no clue.
• Captain Denton: Been about a year now since I wrote that long-form feature on a mostly unknown defenceman for the Moose Jaw Warriors named Denton Mateychuk, and now Denton is captaining one of the teams at the CHL Top Prospects game on Wednesday night! I obviously take absolutely no credit for his notoriety, but I have to admit I saw something really, really special in the kid back then, and whichever NHL team picks him is getting a real star. Here is my article from March 18, 2021: https://www.dubnetwork.ca/east-division/moose-jaws-mateychuk-the-best-rookie-you-havent-heard-of/
• Scary Portland: I have been saying all year that the Edmonton Oil Kings were winning the WHL, and they still are, but if the Kings are the faves, then Cinderella might be the Portland Winterhawks. Yes, they are pretty young on the back end, led by Swift Current native and former Yorkton Terrier Ryan McCleary – a Pittsburgh pick – but between Dante Giannuzzi and Taylor Gauthier, there is no doubt they have the best goaltending in the league. Since coming over from a struggling Prince George, Gauthier is 18-3, with a 1.74 GAA and a .943 save percentage, and has been signed by the Penguins. He is going to make life miserable for anyone the Hawks face in the playoffs.
• Dubas’ gambit: Finally, the NHL Trade Deadline was frustrating from a Toronto Maple Leafs perspective, as the most major area of need was goaltending, and they did absolutely nothing. They tried to snipe Finnish Olympic hero Harri Sateri, but after signing him had to put him on waivers to play, and Arizona sniped him away – and there was no Plan B. Mark Giordano is good, although he’s 38 and isn’t exactly what the Leafs needed, though a healthy Jake Muzzin isn’t something you can get at the deadline. So, it’s Campbell or Mrazek’s job in net to once again ruin a perfectly good Toronto regular season….is Erik Kallgren the man? Who knows.

 (Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)