NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL
Before we get into this week, I just have to say it was great to be back at it last week, and I appreciate all of you who are back along for the Neugsie Around The SJHL ride!
1. We Have A Schedule! – The league has announced both the pre-season and regular season schedules for the 2019-2020 campaign, and boy has it whetted my appetite! Can we start the season tomorrow, please? Five rivalry games grace the Sept. 13 opening day, with the always intense northwestern battle of Battlefords in Kindersley being the one I am the most interested in seeing. Check out the league site for the whole schedule! FYI, Notre Dame opens up in Humboldt on Sept 14, with the Broncos heading south the next night to complete the home-and-home in Wilcox.
2. Neutral Site Games Continue – The great tradition of neutral-site games will continue for the year, bringing the great product of the SJHL to smaller communities around the province. It all starts with the league showcase in Warman’s Legends Arena Sept. 22 to 25, as every team will play two games in the Saskatoon suburb, hopefully in front of plenty of college scouts. Other neutral-site contests include La Ronge and Yorkton doing battle in Churchbridge, SK on Oct. 19, and in Pinehouse on Dec. 5, Notre Dame taking on Estevan in Southey on 5 Nov., the Hounds once again doing battle with Weyburn in Moosomin on Nov. 9, and on Jan. 18 in Hillmond against the Battlefords North Stars. I’ll write about why ND is so often involved in these at a future date, but one piece of good news to report from that list if you’re a Hounds fan is that the Hillmond game is technically going to be a North Stars’ home game. Either way, three of Notre Dame’s ‘home games’ will be away from the Duncan McNeill Arena when you include the Showcase…
3. Estevan Fans, Get Excited – I spoke at length about the Bruins last week, but purposely failed to mention the deal that sent WHL veteran Trystan DeRoose to the Okotoks Oilers of the Alberta Junior League, for fellow 1999-birth year Tylor Ludwar. I did this on purpose, because I wanted to talk to some players who have faced Ludwar, another ex-Pats Canadian brought in by Chris Lewgood. One SJHL goaltender told me that he expects the one-time Kamloops Blazer to have the hardest shot in the league this year coming up, though his offensive numbers have never caught up in junior to the potential he showed in midget en route to the 2015 Telus Cup bronze medal. Very interested to see Ludwar play with what should be a very remodelled Estevan blue line.
4. Schwartz Sighting – Loved the gimmick of the three Sask-born St. Louis Blues Cup champs, including former Notre Dame Hound Jaden Schwartz, at the Rider game this past week. Schwartz, with Brayden Schenn and Tyler Bozak, came out with their Blues jerseys on and the cup tow. They then ripped off the hockey unis to reveal customized Riders jerseys. The three did a nice tour of Regina, and while Schwartz did see some ND staff, but he did not make the trip down Highway 6 to Wilcox, as I was hoping. Oh well! He did see Notre Dame teacher, counsellor and all-around legend Alice Dumba, though, so I guess he did his ND duty there.
5. ND’s Ice – Speaking of ND, was chatting with an SJHL player this week who opined that perhaps the Hounds are at a bit of a disadvantage overall, given the fact they are constantly adjusting from their Olympic-sized ice to the smaller surfaces around the league. Last year’s team did not have an exceptionally better record at home than on the road, though, so there is no excuse (and the team itself do not make them at any rate). I can see how that adjustment can be difficult. I’m sure teams like Nipawin enjoy the opportunity to stretch their legs in Wilcox, though at the end of the day, winning hockey is winning hockey, no matter if it’s a tiny barn or the spacious Dunc tank!
6. New Rules – The main one is that they are set to introduce hybrid-icing to match the NHL, and we’ll see if teams elect to use the potential to negate icings as a means to generate scoring chances. The other change of note is that the league is going to shift to a three-person disciplinary committee, as opposed to the dictatorial power Commissioner Bill Chow held previously. I actually think Bill did a very good job with that disciplinary power over the years I’ve been around, and a committee opens the opportunity that decisions will take an overly long time to be arrived at…but the people at large seem to be in favour of this new format, and I suppose three sets of eyes have the potential to paint a clearer picture of events than one. We’ll have to see! Compared to a lot of places around the hockey world, I strongly believe SJ fans should be very grateful to have Bill, and his lieutenant Logan Fraser, doing the job that they do.
7. And A Rule Staying Unchanged… – Another major rule that was up in the air at the league meetings in Nipawin at the beginning of June was whether to curtail the amount of 20-year-olds allowed per team, and the decision came back negative. I honestly believe that eight, where it still stands, is too many, as it is a comment on the league’s focus that selling tickets to games is still more important than developing talent, and getting players scholarships to top NCAA programs (as US College scouts tend to look for younger guys and not 20-year-olds); but it isn’t my money on the line, so I get that. The SJHL has made some moves towards getting a bit younger, but it still has to be a league with a higher average age per team as any Junior A outfit in Canada.
8. Spagrud Lands – Speaking of overagers, was happy to see Cody Spagrud, the Battlefords North Stars outgoing captain, and in my opinion the best defenceman in the league last year, land at the University of Saskatchewan for the up-coming campaign. With the plethora of major junior and pro talent available at the U of S, it won’t be easy for the Gull Lake native to see a lot of ice time, but the best Canadian University coaches know that where you came from should matter far less than how you perform today. Spagrud joins league scoring champ Justin Ball with the Huskies, and will also be reunited with long-time teammate, and another SJ scoring king, Layne Young in Toon Town. Congrats Cody! Really loved Cody’s game.
9. Melfort Completes George King Deal – In other news, the Melfort Mustangs have completed their mid-season deal from a year ago to acquire former Regina Pat George King from the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba League. Promising young forwards Braeden Young and all-star Parker Fofonoff are headed east, as far as we stand at time of writing. I really liked the potential I saw in the 2001-born Fofonoff especially, though his ice-time really dwindled last year, and he was a consistent healthy scratch in the Mustangs run to the final.
10. The Goalie Void – Finally, I was thinking about all the goaltenders that were done this past year, and leave a pretty big void in the position for this season coming up. I expect Melfort’s Shawn Parkinson, and Notre Dame’s Riley Kohonick will be the crème of the crop, while it will be interesting to see how much faith Estevan has in Kadin Kilpatrick given the recent departure of Grant Boldt to the NAHL. I wonder if Nipawin’s acquisition of the big-bodied Cody Levesque from the Weyburn Red Wings means Patrick Pugliese, who was outstanding last year along with Declan Hobbs, is off elsewhere. New Kindersley boss Gary Childerhose should feel pretty good about Zach Johnson, and we will see if Ryan Ouellette can repeat his great playoff performances in the Yorkton net. There are a ton of question marks around the position for me heading into the year! Should be interesting.
(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)
