The Halifax Mooseheads are looking more and more like the team to beat at the 2013 Mastercard Memorial Cup. All they basically need is a day of rest in between games, something they will receive throughout the rest of the tournament.
On Tuesday evening, Martin Frk, probably the greatest hockey player ever without a vowel in his last name, registered three goals and an assist as the Mooseheads gave a beat down to the London Knights in a 9-2 win.
In beating the Knights by a converted touchdown last night in Saskatoon, the Mooseheads improve to 2-1 for the week and have clinched a spot in at least the semi-final.
If Portland defeats Saskatoon tonight, the Mooseheads will finish first and go directly to the final Sunday night. However if the Blades beat the Winterhawks, Saskatoon will finish in first place, in what many would consider a major surprise for the round robin portion of the tournament.
For the second consecutive year all four teams in the Memorial Cup have identical records after the fourth day of competition.
On Monday night in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Airdrie raised Ty Rattie, the top prospect of the St. Louis Blues, registered a three point night (two goals and one assist) as the Portland Winterhawks defeated the London Knights 6-3.
It was also a great evening for three Winterhawk players defensively. Defencemen Seth Jones who is projected to be drafted first overall in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Calgary Flames prospect Tyler Wotherspoon and left winger Taylor Leier all were a +4.
We have our first significant surprise at the 2013 Memorial Cup. Just when you thought that the Halifax Mooseheads would be the class of the field at the annual national major junior hockey championship, they looked like a team that was playing their second game of a back-to-back on Sunday night.
Sunday was a time for the host crowd of Saskatoon to cheer, as the Saskatoon Blades defeated the Mooseheads 5-2. It was their first win since beating the Edmonton Oil Kings in a shootout on March 12 and their first regulation win since beating the Medicine Hat Tigers 6-3 on March 8. Interestingly, it was the Tigers that swept the Blades in the first round of the 2013 WHL playoffs.
Over the last few months there hasn’t been a lot to separate the top three prospects in the 2013 National Hockey League Entry Draft. The consensus has been that defenceman Seth Jones of the Portland Winterhawks would be drafted number one, followed by Halifax Mooseheads forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin.
Last night in Saskatoon during the Memorial Cup, was actually a scout’s dream, as the top three prospects were on the ice together at once.
And the player that shoned the most was MacKinnon. The native of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia (ironically the same as NHL superstar Sidney Crosby) registered three goals and an assist in a convincing 7-4 Halifax win over Portland in the first game of the Memorial Cup for both teams.
It was the second straight night that a WHL team lost as the Saskatoon Blades lost 3-2 to the London Knights in the opening game of the tournment on Friday.
After a bit of a summer break, we’re back with another episode of 15 Minutes of Fame – this week on the show we’re talking Shea Weber, Rick Nash & the NHL, along with our expectations for the London Olympics.
In the GABBYs: Oscar Pistorius, the McLaren Racing Team, Ernie Els, the Brazilian soccer team, Dillon Donnelly & Chad Ochocino. The Punchline this week is the Olympic organizers!
The Edmonton Oil Kings simply did not show up to play at key times in the 2012 Memorial Cup. You could absolutely make the argument they were beyond horrendous as an overall unit on Thursday.
I know it is not always appropriate to be overcritical of the performances of amateur athletes in this country, but heck, players in the Canadian Hockey League are given almost everything they need to perform on a regular basis, unlike the true amateur athletes who try to get to the Olympic Games.
Thursday’s performance was unacceptable. The Oil Kings did not come out to play in losing 6-1 to the Shawinigan Cataractes. It was the first time since 2005 that the Western Hockey League champion finished dead last in the tournament and failed to qualify for the semi-finals.
The Edmonton Oil Kings are struggling at a bad time in their season. Tuesday night, the Oil Kings once again fell on the wrong side of the scoreboard in a 4-1 loss to the London Knights in their third and final round robin game at the Memorial Cup.
The loss now means the Oil Kings must now play in the third place tie-breaking game on Thursday night either against the Saint John Sea Dogs or the Shawinigan Cataractes– whoever loses tomorrow night in the battle of the two teams in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
If the Edmonton Oil Kings are going to win the Canadian Major Junior Hockey League’s greatest prize, goaltender Laurent Brossoit must be better.
The draft pick of the Calgary Flames gave up four goals on 33 shots in a 5-2 loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs at the Memorial Cup Monday night in Shawinigan, Quebec.
This week on 15 Minutes of Fame we look into the Edmonton Oilers parting ways with their head coach (and what needs to change for the Oil to turn things around), we check out the latest NFL bounty news, and we run down the problem with umpires in the MLB.
In the GABBYs: Bikini hockey, Jamaican hockey, Matt Bonner, Coors Field, Ozzie Guillen & Stephen Strasburg. The Punchline this week is Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jason Peters!
The top Canadian Major Junior hockey tournament started this past weekend in Shawinigan, Quebec. Among the teams competing are the Edmonton Oil Kings, Saint John Sea Dogs, London Knights and the host Shawinigan Cataractes.
The tournament has been controversial to date on three fronts. First, Friday night’s anthem singer Francois Bastien has been banned by organizers for the rest of the tournament for flashing his shirt which read “Sorry Kyoto” and “Harper.”
Then in the opening game, a Shawinigan goal counted even though the referee originally called “no goal” on the ice, and the replay was not conclusive. Luckily for Oil Kings fans, Edmonton still won 4-3.
Then last night, Saint John’s Jonathan Huberdeau, possibly the face of the tournament as he was the third overall pick last season by the Florida Panthers, delivered a vicious elbow only sixteen seconds into the contest. It will now be interesting to see if the Saint John Sea Dog star will be suspended.
The Edmonton Oil Kings are the 2012 Western Hockey League Champions and winners of the Ed Chynoweth Cup.
Last night, the Oil Kings punched their ticket to Shawinigan, Quebec and the MasterCard Memorial Cup with a 4-1 victory over the Portland Winterhawks in game seven of the championship series.
My initial reaction during the game however was simple. Where were all of the fans? I know perfectly well that there was a satisfactory crowd last night and the 12, 514 fans need to be commended, but the capacity of Rexall Place is 16,839 which is 26% less than a sellout.
The Washington Capitals have fired Bruce Boudreau and named Dale Hunter head coach.
After a strong start to the season, where they won seven straight, the Capitals cooled off with a 2-1 loss in Edmonton and a 7-4 loss in Vancouver at the end of October. In November, the Capitals have only gone 5-7, and have dropped to eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Even though Boudreau to an excellent overall regular season record since 2007 of 201-88-40 over the last four plus seasons, he has failed to take the Capitals to the Eastern Conference Finals, despite all of the talent his team has.
Hunter meanwhile, was one of the NHL’s fiercest agitators. He had 3565 penalty minutes in 1407 games from 1980-1999 with the Washington Capitals, Quebec Nordiques and Colorado Avalanche. Over the last 11 years, he has been coaching the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, winning a Memorial Cup in 2005 on a star studded team led by Corey Perry.
The New Jersey Devils have named Peter DeBoer as their head coach, replacing the retired Jacques Lemaire.
DeBoer spent the last three seasons as the head coach of the Florida Panthers, posting a record of 103-107-36. Even though the Panthers recorded 93 points in 2009 with DeBoer as their head coach, Florida missed the playoffs.
A native of Dunnville, Ontario, DeBoer had an outstanding coaching career in the Ontario Hockey League coaching the Detroit Whalers, Plymouth Whalers and Kitchener Rangers. He posted a record of 539-248-91.
With the Plymouth Whalers, DeBoer was twice named the Ontario Hockey League coach of the year in 1999 and 2000.
While with the Rangers, DeBoer won a Memorial Cup in 2003 and advanced to the Memorial Cup Final in 2008, where Kitchener lost to the Spokane Chiefs 4-1 in the Championship Game.
According to TSN, Devils’ General Manager Lou Lamoriello chose DeBoer over Ken Hitchcock, Adam Oates, Michel Therrien and Guy Carbonneau.
DeBoer was fired by the Florida Panthers on April 10, 2011 and replaced by Kevin Dineen.
For the first time in history a team based in Atlantic Canada has won the Memorial Cup.
Sunday night the St. John Sea Dogs defeated the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors 3-1 in Mississauga’s backyard.
The 2011 Memorial Cup would be a completely different story for Calgary-raised Jacob DeSerres. Last year, DeSerres gave up nine goals in the Memorial Cup final with the Brandon Wheat Kings while playing the Windsor Spitfires. This year, he would only give up one in the championship final.
A draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers, DeSerres made 34 saves in the Championship final.
The Halifax Mooseheads are looking more and more like the team to beat at the 2013 Mastercard Memorial Cup. All they basically need is a day of rest in between games, something they will receive throughout the rest of the tournament.
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