NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE RINKS

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds

1. New Mass no more: The University of Massachusetts are your NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey National Champs after pummeling St. Cloud State 5-0 Saturday. I spoke to my good friend Ben Barr, one of UMass’ associate head coaches, the day after final on the Neugsie Sportscast (you can find the interview here: https://bit.ly/3ddmVVA and I still can’t believe he had the energy and time to give me an interview! Type of guy he is!), and he said it wasn’t a ‘5-0’ game. That being said, UMass came in with a great game plan, with more energy – partly because a few of their key players missed the semis vs Minnesota-Duluth in Covid protocols – and fully deserved the win. They love the hashtag “New Mass”, a shout to the fact that they have joined the Boston Colleges and the Boston Universities of the world in the NCAA hockey elite; but I would argue that it isn’t new now. They had a run to the final a couple of years ago, and they clearly did an incredible job developing Cale Makar, and San Jose Sharks youngsters Mario Ferraro and John Leonard. Need a new nickname! Critical Mass? The best Mass? I’ll leave it up to the creatives to figure that one out.
2. Memorial Cup cancelled: The sad, though perhaps unsurprising, news came Tuesday that the Memorial Cup has been cancelled for the second consecutive year. It makes sense for a number of reasons, unfortunately, not the least of which that it was supposed to be in Ontario; meaning two of the four potential participants have not played a game yet this season. To be frank, it does not look like there will be any OHL this year, with case numbers sadly climbing again in my home province, and the details of planning an event potentially involving teams from across the country in this climate would be beyond my understanding. We’re still waiting to hear about whether there will be some sort of WHL playoffs, even if only within division. Hypothetical participants for the Memorial Cup could’ve been Val D’Or and Charlottetown, who have both run roughshod over the QMJHL while already playing 36 and 37 games, respectively, and I could see Edmonton, Saskatoon, Everett, Brandon, or Kamloops as legitimate contenders in the WHL.
3. Mateychuk replaces Lambos: As the Moose Jaw Warriors’ beat writer for the DUBNetwork, I’ve been pumping 2004-born defenceman Denton Mateychuk’s tires the whole season; and it seems I’ve been vindicated in doing so once again. Rumours continue swirl behind the scenes about fine young Winnipeg ICE defenceman Carson Lambos’ injury, and those rumours received another sad boost this past week as Mateychuk has been called in to replace him on Canada’s roster ahead of the IIHF U18s, set to start Apr. 26 in Texas. Lambos, who has been projected as a first rounder in the next NHL draft, was outstanding in Finland to start this year, before only playing two games for the ICE in the Hub. I wrote about Mateychuk’s addition at the DUBNetwork here: https://www.dubnetwork.ca/east-division/warriors-mateychuk-added-to-team-canada-u18s/.
4. Brennan stakes major claim: One Prince George Cougars goaltender, Taylor Gauthier, was an unused third-stringer at the World Juniors this past Christmas; but I get the feeling his partner in northern BC won’t be getting the same treatment at the U18s. The 2003-born Tyler Brennan has been magnificent for PG so far this year, and looks a great bet to be Canada’s starter at the event. Seattle’s Thomas Milic, also headed to Texas with Team Canada, has really shouldered the load for the Thunderbirds in net, so the two WHLers will probably compete for the spot. Ben Gaudreau is the other goaltender, and has the huge disadvantage of not playing a game since the end of the 2019-2020 regular season, as his Sarnia Sting did not make the OHL playoffs. Brennan has been a great story in PG, so we’ll see! I think this is going to be a great Canada team!
5. Lambert and Michkov: This is going to be a great, great tournament for all sorts of reasons including, but not exclusive to the chance to see Shane Wright and Connor Bedard pile up points together. Saskatoon-connected-but-Finnish born and raised Brad Lambert was great for his country at the World Juniors, so I expect the 2022 NHL Draft-eligible forward to really dominate! As a late 2003 birth-year he has been a regular contributor for JYP in the Finnish top league so far this campaign, and is a good bet to go really soon after Shane Wright at the next NHL draft. He’s also a Saskatoon Blades Import pick, so would it not be so cool if we had Connor Bedard, Brad Lambert, and Brayden Yager all in Saskatchewan at once!? Awesome. The other big name outside of Canada is Russia’s electric 2004-born Matvei Michkov, also known as the one guy on earth who could possibly challenge Connor Bedard for No. 1 overall in 2023 (probably not, though). He had 35 goals in 50 games as a very young 16-year-old in the Russian junior league (under-20) this year, and scored 77 goals and 119 points in 34 games (not a typo) against his own age group a season ago. Russians like to have their youth national teams be as old as possible at all levels, so for a 16-year-old to be picked for this tournament, you know he’s uber special.
6. Other non-Canadians to watch at U18: Huge defenceman Simon Edvinsson looks a pretty good bet to go in the Top 10 of the next NHL Draft, and is one of a whole stable-full of Swedes expected to go in the first round. Dynamic Czech D-man Stanislav Svozil is another one I’m keeping a close eye on, while the American squad, who I think are pretty average compared to past USA teams at this event, looks likely to be highlighted by skilled forward Sasha Pastujov: the Notre Dame commit and brother of former New York Islanders pick Nick. It has been reported that Luke Hughes, the youngest brother of NHLers Quinn and Jack, will not be at the event.
7. Moose Jaw’s future goalie?: Moose Jaw’s new general manager Jason Ripplinger was full of confidence for the Warriors near future at his introductory press conference last week, and a big reason for his optimism is that he plans to knock it out of the ballpark with the Europeans he is looking to fill the team’s import spots with next year. The biggest name on that possible list is Swedish goaltender Jesper Wallstedt, who at 18 has been a starter in the Swedish pro league all year, and looks poised to be one of the highest drafted goalies in a long time (some have him as high as No. 4 overall!). If he comes, you put him behind the likes of Denton Mateychuk on the blueline, and Brayden Yager and Jagger Firkus up front, with some reinforcements, then for sure the Warriors are WHL contenders in 2021-2022. That would be fun to watch! Check out my piece outlining all that Ripplinger said at the press conference here: https://www.dubnetwork.ca/insight/moose-jaw-gm-ripplinger-we-want-to-be-contenders-next-year/
8. OJ finally pulls plug: In other sad news, the Ontario Junior Hockey League, the Junior A league on which I really cut my teeth back home, has finally pulled the plug on the season. They only ever played a few series’ of exhibition games, and only about a quarter of teams got any action at all. It was getting pretty late, and the OHL has only sent out vague messages of “we’re trying as hard as we can!” …so junior hockey fans in Ontario might as well hunker down and hope for September/October in my opinion.
9. Leafs’ shopping spree: The good news for Ontario hockey fans, and those in the Leafs Nation diaspora like myself, is that GM Kyle Dubas and company clearly mean business to make a run at the Cup this year. That was made even more evidence by adding big forward Nick Foligno from the Columbus Blue Jackets, solid defenceman Ben Hutton from the Anaheim Ducks, and goaltender David Rittich from the Calgary Flames around the deadline. Did they give a million picks? Sure did. Do I care? Not at all. Foligno is especially the type of player that they need in the playoffs, and the other two add some much-needed depth. I LOVE IT! GO LEAFS GO!
10. Relax Jays fans: Finally, the Jays have not started like a house on fire, as many hoped this young line-up-another-year-older would. The pitching has been great while the hitting has been pretty bad, with a few exceptions; but all I have to say on the matter is this: RELAX. There are 162 games! That’s so many games. Let’s talk about being upset in three months, okay?

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)