NEUGSIE’S AROUND THE SJHL

By: Jamie Neugebauer
Voice of the ND Hounds

1. What do the extension of the current measures mean?: Not much, to be honest. I wrote in a column awhile ago that Feb. 15 was the absolute earliest I could imagine a restart to hockey in this province, and the final hope for the 20-21 season, without a lot of creativity, might be the next Moe-Shahab update. The media questions at the press conference were really disheartening: nothing about sports, nothing about mental health, all about “why not be more intense with your measures?”. Rod is right: the powers and mainstream media do not care about sports. I thought it mattered a bit more across Canada. I feel so much for the players: how can they get a job when they have to tell their employers, oh I might have to leave in two weeks? Their stress levels must be through the roof.
2. Moe on our side?: I am certainly not a conspiracy theorist, but while I hear from a good source that Premier Moe is actually working, and pushing SaskHealth to let hockey happen in the province, I wonder if that matters at all. Obviously, it’s better than if he didn’t care at all, but I cannot help but feel those in charge at SaskHealth (and the many doctors across the province who reportedly have written letter after letter arguing that we should all be Covid-proof cages) haven’t given the importance of sport, or mental health in general, much value in the decision-making process. I know, I wrote about trying to be a more positive person…breath Jamie, breath.
3. America open for business: It was suggested to me that American college and junior hockey are all open for business is somehow pushing or forcing a return to play here. Clubs are losing players to those leagues, as they are to the still-running Maritime Junior A League, and while I guess that kind of stinks from one perspective, I don’t see how Canadian clubs could want to play more than they already do, regardless of what is happening in the USA. The Boards of Governors in Canadian Junior Leagues will be the ones with the power once the provincial health authorities give the thumbs up, and really most of what they care about is keeping the clubs running from a financial standpoint (hard to blame them…you need money have hockey). The pressure that might come from an operating USHL and NAHL is on general managers and coaches, and truly those people are as helpless right now as I am. As someone who tries to err on the side of ‘players-first’, I am thrilled that those leagues are going, not only for the kids I know down there already, but that there is somewhere reasonable for kids to go and play at all!
4. The ‘extra year of eligibility’ debate: It was also suggested that the Canadian Junior Hockey League should make an emergency provision to allow 20-year-olds another year of eligibility, like USports and other bodies have for their graduating players. The specific suggestion I saw included a strong cap, so that maybe only three 2000 birth-years be allowed per-team. Now, this is a hard, hard debate for me, because I know and care about a ton of 2000s in junior, but I would have to vote against it (not that I have a vote). I could probably write a whole column on this subject, but in a nutshell, I feel it would gum up spots for young kids coming out of the U18 level, just like the USports move has done for Junior A 20-year-olds trying to get to Canadian University. I’ve said and written it many times: the future of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, like every Junior A league, should be geared towards getting younger, and towards the NCAA Division I level. You have to know certain clubs would also take advantage by adding a 21-year-old WHLer or two who really just wants to play one more year of competitive hockey, while the spirit of the law would obviously be to give guys more games to be seen for post-secondary opportunities. I understand that the CJHL has already opted to not give an extra year of eligibility already, and while I would celebrate and be happy for the kids I know who it would benefit, I think it’s the wrong long-term move.
5. SJ Sim!: In happier news, the SJHL announced yesterday that the league will be running an SJHL Showcase Simulation tournament on Jan. 29-30. In lieu of the annual SJHL-MJHL Showcase, four SJHL age-specific teams will be assembled and put into the EA Sports video game NHL 21. Those virtual teams will then square off in some computer-on-computer simulated hockey action, broadcasted on Twitch by the fine folks at Munz Media. At the very least, it’ll give college scouts some names to look at the next time real players can hit the ice, so I guess that’s something practical about it! Either way, it’s sure to be a lot of fun and I hope to be involved somehow as I was at the wildly popular and brilliantly put-together sim of the remainder of the playoffs that was run this past summer. Be sure to check out the SJHL’s social media platforms for all the details! One more point: the genius himself Alex ‘Moneyball’ Watson will be the one actually putting the teams into the game, making the player ratings as realistically as possible. That’s great news, he’s awesome.
6. The WHL: The WHL’s BoG voted to have a 24-game season last Friday, causing the proverbial church bells of hope to ring out near and far. It is great news to be sure that the diverse owners of the Western Hockey League are committed to playing, in spite of what is sure to be great cost and difficulty; but it doesn’t actually mean more than that they are committed. Just like with the SJHL, they are at the mercy of the health people, but it can only be good news as well that the NHL is going forward in rinks IN CANADA; so maybe this can happen too! Positive news at all is very much welcomed!
7. Stars get their guy: In some actual player movement news Holden Doell, the leading scorer in Sask’s U18 league a year ago with 77 points in only 42 games, and the younger brother of La Ronge forward Nolan Doell, has committed to the Battlefords North Stars for next season. Battlefords boss Brayden Klimosko told me that they would’ve liked Holden for this year too, but he wanted to be part of that wild arms race in Saskatoon U18 hockey, suiting up for a stacked Blazers club in an attempt to take down the also stacked Contacts. Should Holden stick around, I predict he’ll be an SJHL superstar very, very soon. He and Cole Duperreault, currently of the Flin Flon Bombers, were monsters together for Beardy’s in 19-20.
8. Zawa’s Eurotrip: Didn’t report on it at the time, but former Notre Dame Hound and Yorkton Terrier Alec Zawatsky is off to a solid start in his post-junior career. The son of big-time Yorkton minor hockey mover and shaker Ed Zawatsky has five points in eight games for Blue Devils Weiden of Germany’s professional third tier. There was a lot of hype about Chantz Petruic jumping straight from the SJ and the Terriers to pro in the East Coast Hockey League, but I guess Zawatsky making a similar move went a bit more under the radar! Just for fun, check out pictures of Alec on twitter and tell me if he couldn’t play Justin Bieber in a movie.
9. Petruic doing fine: Speaking of Mr. Petruic, he of the first-shot first-goal in pro for the Wichita Thunder, he is doing just fine in Kansas! Rory McGouran and I spoke to the Moose Jaw native on our SJ at Noon show this past week, and he felt like he had the confidence in his game to make the jump straight from 109 points in the SJHL to the ECHL. So far, he has two points in seven contests, but he hasn’t been healthy scratched, and even took a shot in a shootout! Can he learn the details of the defensive side of the puck to a strong enough degree to last in pro hockey? It’s up to him to prove it, but I believe in his mind to figure it out!
10. Deadlines: Lastly, a little detail that Bill Chow threw out during our chat that I found interesting was that Hockey Canada has moved the Junior A trade deadline from Jan. 10 to Feb. 25, and the drop-dead roster freeze date from Feb. 15 to March 7. I said it in my column last week, but if they intended to simply pull the plug right now, why bother figuring out new dates? Raise a glass of whatever you want to hope, because for 2020-2021, that’s still all we have right now!

(Follow Jamie on Twitter at @Neugsie)