Overager prospects - as of the end of July

Shane McColgan:

@pdxwinterhawks and fans... Really excited to start fresh with a great club see you in August #london2014
— Shane McColgan (@Shane18McColgan) July 20, 2013

I really like this deal.  If I was in charge, this is one of the guys I would be going after.  Saskatoon has something like 10 overagers - they almost all have to be available.

Most of my opinion on this guy stems from that 6 game series with Kelowna a few years back.  I mean, that series was largely Adam Brown & Tyson Barrie - but McColgan was huge in that series.  I want to say he was on a line with Franko, who was also really good.  Sometimes I get the feeling he's been riding that playoff run ever since, but looking at his numbers - they are pretty good, and oddly consistent:  He was within 3 points of leading his team in scoring as a 16 - and was the leading scorer the next two years.  He's maintained approximate a point a game pace for his entire junior career:  Kelowna, Saskatoon, regular season, and playoffs.



The Rangers took him in the 5th round, and passed on signing him.  One could make comparisons to Troy Rutowski, as he just went through a similar situation.  McColgan should be motivated, and this forward group should put up a ton of goals this year.  Of course, is there room to add a top 6 forward, with the guys who need ice time?  That's a longer discussion, and a nice problem to have (see also, Jonathan Milhouse).

Garrett Haar:

It's official I'm going to play for the Portland Winterhawks in the WHL next season #westcoast #stoked
— Garrett Haar (@HaarDaddy4) July 29, 2013

I've been following this story since he was deemed academically ineligible - I'm guessing that Drinnan posted it first.  Haar's rights belonging to Medicine Hat left them with 6 overage candidates, so there's room for movement there, and voila. 

Haar was picked 4 spots from the end of the draft, which is the same neighborhood as the winningest playoff goalie in WHL history.  Take a look at Dylan's piece about Haar - he's got some good links on there.  If you piece them together, I get the impression the Capitals took a flyer on him with that 7th round pick, and shortly thereafter decided they really liked him.  Seems like the Caps found him a college, rather than the player finding the right fit.  This appears to have alienated his USHL team as well as his NCAA team.

Haar's running out of options at this point - so he's got to make the most of this year.  Guys who run hockey teams often times love the reclamation project:  "I can straighten this player out.  He just needs the proper guidance...."   Not making grades doesn't concern me all that much - many of us aren't cut out for university studies.  I'm a big second-chance guy.  I feel that this country is founded on second-chances.  That being said, this Andy Murray quote is fairly damning:

“I met with Garrett more in the two years that he was here than I’ve met with any player I’ve ever coached in my career in wanting to help him,” said Murray, who has more than 20 years of NHL coaching experience. “We feel for Garrett and his family, but ultimately our team comes first.”

I poked around the Caps website, and didn't see any obvious connections between Mike Johnston and their front office, but that doesn't mean they don't have a working relationship - and if they don't already I'm sure they have started one.

The 'Hawks have stayed away from players who could be distractions in the past (Charles Inglis, I'm looking at you).  I'm optimistic that MJ can handle it.

 Cody Thiel:

 Let me just say - I've never heard of this dude.  The only reason I'm aware of him is that Alan Caldwell has him listed as Winterhawks property on his overager shuffle post.  According to hockeydb, he's got 105 games of WHL experience, albeit nondiscript service.  I see no harm in bringing him into camp and seeing what happens.

The 'Hawks have had success in finding late bloomers & players that were overlooked lately:  Joey Baker, Adam de Champlain, Joe Mahon, Shaun MacPherson - hell, no one wanted to give Ryan Johansen a shot in this league.  I'm not sure what MJ could teach him that Brent Sutter didn't already, but you never know in juniors. 

The 2013 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, and what it means to you

What is the Ivan Hlinka tournament, you say?  You are not alone - it takes a certain level of hockey nerd-dom to follow it, as well has having players involved that you already follow.  You are in luck.

Short story is that this is a pre-season tournament, world junior style, featuring players in their 17 year old year.  This creates a buzz due to having the top draft eligible players representing their countries, even if its off the radar of your casual fan.

The 2012 Team Canada entry brought home the gold, featuring Nic Petan (as well as McKinnon & Drouin).  Derrick Pouliot has a gold medal from his 2011 efforts.

The 2013 tournament runs August 5-10.  Why it matters to you is that there are 3 Winterhawks playing, all for Team USA!  Paul Bittner, Dominic Turgeon, and Keegan Iverson have been named to the team. One could interpret these developments as the 'Hawks have 25% of the best forwards the USA has to offer.  We've been fortunate enough to watch these 3 players for a season now, and the sky's the limit with how far these guys can go.  Coach Johnston recently told Yahoo! that this trio will be taking on a bigger role with the 'Hawks this year, which should be fun to watch (there's some other interesting MJ quotes in there - give it a read).

Our friends over at the Pipeline Show had a segment which touched on this USA team, as well as some other levels of USA hockey.  Sounds like the enthusiasm for these kids' potential extends well beyond Oregon.

I'm not sure what kind of coverage this tournament will have.  You would guess there's some sort of webstream - I'll keep an eye out for it, and will try and post via twitter.  If you come up with anything, let me know.

Open letter to Gustav Olofsson

First off, congratulations for being drafted #46 overall by the Minnesota Wild!

I'm sure that it was a pretty special experience:




I'm sure that your hockey journey has been a pretty fun ride to this point - from your native Sweden, as well as Northern California & Colorado.  As a guy who grew up in USHL country, I'm sure that your season in Green Bay was great for your development, and the Wild appear to feel the same way.

Folks in Colorado Springs are pretty excited about the prospect of seeing you suit up for Colorado College this season, and I can't blame 'em.  Defenseman like yourself with good size & a knack for moving the puck well are really valuable to a hockey team.

Being able to play the game at a high level coupled with a quality education is a great position to be in, which is what playing for the Tigers represents.  Earning a 4 year college degree is a great move, especially with life after hockey.  Of course, the Wild most likely have you penciled in to go pro around 2 years from now - being a high draft pick and all.

Some would make the argument that if a player like yourself is probably going pro in 2 years, that you would be better off playing in a pro-style league, like major junior.  Playing in the WHL means a 72 game regular season, as well as 4 rounds of 7 game series for their playoff format.  William Wrenn, also a defenseman & 2nd round pick, played 1 1/2 seasons for Denver University, as well as 1 1/2 seasons in Portland.  Ultimately he played more playoff games in the WHL than total games in his NCAA career.  That workload did wonders for his development.

Players in the WHL are required to take classes in addition to their game schedule, so they have a head start if they choose to pursue a degree later.  They also have a year of school paid for every year played, although signing a pro contract voids this benefit.

My advice to you would be to reach out to some of your new Wild family.  Nino Niederreiter would be a good one to ask about playing in Portland, how Coach Johnston runs his bench, what a long playoff run is like.  Jared Spurgeon would be a good guy to touch base with, as a D man who played in the US Division of the 'dub.  I've got to guess that you know Dominic Turgeon from both being Denver kids - ask him some questions next time you see him around town.

There are a lot of Winterhawks fans who have been excited about the idea of your brother Fredrik playing in Portland - when he visited our barn it looked like a nice fit.  For a guy who likes to play an up-tempo style, there's not a better place to play than Portland:  they love to push the pace.  A guy who makes a good first pass out of his own zone is going to rack up assists on a team like the 'Hawks.  There are tons of quality forwards to go up against in this league, which can only help you grow.

Portland is bringing back 5 of their top 6 forwards, including the top two scorers in the league.  This is a team defending a championship, and we expect them to do some damage again in the playoffs this year. They just need you to get 'em the puck.

A player like yourself is in a great position, and there is no wrong answer between playing in the NCAA and the WHL.  You would be wise to look very closely at both options, and things will work out well in the end.

Sincerely,

Chad Balcom
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Portland VS Halifax: Memorial Cup Final

no goal

scoresheet

highlights

photo gallery

real time fan discussion

faxplease

I have been watching and following junior hockey since 1979 ... I simply dont recall a big game ...championship game where one player (non goalie) ...one player was the difference - absolutely dominating performance by McKinnon

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Scott Sepich

The Hawks had one more push, scoring twice in the last six minutes to pull within 5-4, but Nathan MacKinnon scored his third goal of the game into an empty net to give the Mooseheads their first Memorial Cup title.

“The guys are pretty upset,” said Portland acting head coach Travis Green about coming up one win short. “They played hard all year and losing a game of this magnitude is tough.

“We didn’t have the first period that we wanted but showed a lot of heart to get back into it. As a coach I have to be proud of the way our team fought back.”

What can you say?

That 3 goal lead the 'Hawks spotted the Moose is gonna sink you almost every time.  This one was different, in that generally when giving up the first 3 goals you can point to mistakes:  the goalie should have had this one, the D man had a bad pinch - sending the opposition on a odd man break, etc.  It felt to me that all of the Halifax goals were just really good players making unstoppable plays.   I'm not sure you can point to much and say, "If player X would have done a better job...."

The 2nd period was fun -  bringing the 'Hawks right back into the game.  I had to remind some folks that this team was capable of scoring 3, 4, 5 - or more - goals in a game.  They had done it all year.  The 4 they ended up with wasn't enough on this night.

Of course you can play 'what if' - Taylor Leier was having a hell of a tournament prior to his injury.  Bittner didn't seem to click on that line, although they didn't have much time to adjust to each other.  Preston Kopeck was having a pretty good playoff run as well - played his role just as he was asked to.

There was the crossbar that Bjorkstand rung - 1" lower on the shot, and its a tie game.  I really thought that Rattie disallowed goal was going to stand: anywhere else on the ice, if the puck goes off of a player from the other team, the hand pass is canceled.  Ethier one of those plays goes in the 'Hawks favor, and we might have a different outcome.

They made it to the last possible game, and were in it for 59 minutes.  In any other league, 16 wins = hoist the cup and go home.  58 other CHL teams would love to trade places with the 'Hawks.  Its just gonna be hard to realize how special that WHL championship is after coming so close to the Memorial Cup.
 

Portland VS Halifax: Memorial Cup Final preview

The Winterhawks victory over London puts them in the Memorial Cup Championship Game.  Its been an interesting tournament, and the main thing to consider is everything is based off of such a small sample size.  That being said, lets look at these teams and where they are trending.

How Portland got here:

7-4 loss to Halifax

6-3 win vs London

4-2 win vs Saskatoon

2-1 win vs London

 Goaltending is critical in any situation, but its never more critical than a single elimination tournament.  In 4 games, Carruth allowed 7,3,2, and 1 goals - in that order.  The logical conclusion would be to give up zero on Sunday, so you heard it here first.  He was bad in that first game, vs Halifax, and he'll be the first to tell you that. Most of us thought he would rebound from that game, and he has.

Dylan Bumbarger made the point coming into this tournament that the round robin portion was essentially a series of "Game 1's" - and the 'Hawks were 2-2 in Game 1's this playoff year.  That includes a loss to Everett, who had half the wins that Portland earned.  They also were 4-0 in Game 2's, which demonstrates their ability to make adjustments & correct mistakes.  London was the only team they've seen twice, and took care of business.  They have game tape vs Halifax, and know exactly what mistakes were made.

Special teams have been an issue all week.  By my math, Portland's powerplay is clicking at 12.5% right now, after going 24.5% on the powerplay in the WHL playoffs and 23.4% in the regular season.  I've heard a lot about bad ice, which really hurts the kind of flashy plays these guys thrive on, but you'd like to think they can adapt.  A goal (or 2) would go a long ways in the final.

The penalty kill has been even more of a problem:  a 64.3 % kill rate is a failing grade.  The PK was 93.7% in the playoffs and  87.9% in the regular season, and its my opinion that killing penalties was the #1 reason for team success this year.  The 'Hawks gave up 4 PPG's against in the entire WHL playoffs (while scoring 5 shorthanded), and have given up 5 this week.

A stellar special teams performance, and we are likely celebrating a Memorial Cup win on Memorial Day.

How Halifax got here:

7-4 win vs Portland

5-2 loss to Saskatoon

9-2 win vs London

I think the Mooseheads are smoke & mirrors.

They won 2 games, against Portland & London.  As we touched upon earlier, Carruth was terrible in that game.  Its been thrown around that 5 of those goals were bad - if he stops those, that game is 4-2 the other way.

The London game featured a complete goaltending disaster.  To recap, London committed to Stolarz for the OHL playoffs, and he was good.  In the league finals, they went down 3-1, and went with Patterson for the final 3 games - which they won.  No one knew who they would go with for Game 1 vs Saskatoon.  London played 2 round robin games featuring both goalies, and 1 game where the starter finished.  Give credit to Patterson for a good game VS Portland in the elimination round, but that's a different topic.

The other game Halifax played, they lost 5-2 to Saskatoon:  a team that had lost their last 13 postseason games.  What did the Blades have going for them?  Competent goaltending.  The only game that Halifax was in this week where they saw decent goaltending, they scored 2 goals & lost.  

The simple answer is to employ an above-average goalie performance against them, and the 'Hawks have the guy for that.

 Conclusion:

This game features a team that's played every other day since the tournament began VS a team that last played on Tuesday, going on Sunday.  You hear all the time about getting into a rhythm, they love to play every other day.  

The loss of Taylor Leier is pretty big, and the good fortune the 'Hawks have enjoyed with few major injuries this season were huge in their success.   Bittner hasn't clicked on the 2nd line just yet, but we've seen what he can do when given the opportunity, and the future is really bright with this kid.  Portland's depth is solid:  they've got kids in street clothes good enough to star on a lot of WHL teams.

This is a matchup where one goalie has 17 league playoff games of experience, and the other has 18 games of league finals experience.  Fucale is a much hyped 17, who is getting 1st round draft talk.  He might turn out to be something truly special, and that's great - but on Sunday he's still going to be a 17 year old goalie up against an overager with a pro contract in his pocket.  I like these odds.

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#winforleier

London VS Portland: Memorial Cup Semi-final game

Much like the 1st meeting between these two teams, they got off to a slow start.  That trapping defensive style that London plays is a little tough to watch sometimes.  However, the 'Hawks were patient, for the most part.  Shots ended up 14-9 for London.

The 2nd period also was like the round robin game - each team scored a goal.  The London goal was on the powerplay, and came off of a broken play.  It seems like all playoffs that's been the only way to beat Carruth: funny bounces, broken plays, and perfect shots.  We've seen several plays like this one - a blocked shot that came right back to the shooter.  Carruth was playing the initial shot, so he was drawn out of position for the second shot.  That goal brought Max Domi to a final statline of 5 games / 1G / 2A / -9.

The Portland goal was a nice play with Wotherspoon shooting from the half boards with Leipsic screening in front.  Leipsic was right on the border of interference with the goalie, but the play was ruled legal.  It looked to me like #28 almost was holding the defenceman, pulling him into a screen position.  I don't think I've seen a forward do that before.

Shots for the period were 17-9.  The 'Hawks were buzzing for the last 6 or 7 minutes of the period - looking pretty good moving forward.  It was pretty fortunate that the 'Hawks were carrying the play, as on a rush Ryan Rupert slashed Carruth on the back of the calf on the way by the net - right where the goalie has no padding.  He seemed like he was in a good amount of pain, but didn't have any work for several minutes after the slash.

The 3rd period was more of a chess match, until Rattie scored a highlight reel goal midway through.  The release on that kid is world class - the goalie never stood a chance.  Walked in from the half wall, D man in decent position, but Rattie let an unbeatable shot loose - picked the top corner.  Perfect shot.

After that Rattie goal, it mostly came down to bend-but-don't-break, limit their chances.  Carruth's experience & maturity really showed in this stage of the game. He got some help, which was crucial, but staying cool, calm, and composed really payed off.  Shots ended up 12-8 London.

Upon seeing the replay of the last frantic seconds, a key play was Rattie batting a puck out of the air into the corner using his glove.  The biggest players make the biggest plays in the biggest games.  That is Ty Rattie.

scoresheet

photo essay

video highlights

presser video 

Carruth / Rattie post game

real time fan discussion

united001

I'm bummed ... only one more game to watch our overagers and Ty and several others, gonna miss 'em, hope they go out in great style in Sunday. I think we'll see their best no matter the outcome, GO HAWKS! I'm outta here guys and gals ... thanks Dylan!

Scott Sepich

“He was great tonight,” Hawks acting head coach Travis Green said of Carruth, who stopped 34 of 35 shots against a Knights team that beat Saskatoon 6-1 in Thursday’s tiebreaker to reach the semifinal. “I thought it was his best game of the tournament, and just a great performance by a guy we’ve leaned on for a long time now.”

Carruth faced heavy fire late in the game, and came up with huge saves on London stars Max Domi and Olli Maata in the frantic final 90 seconds. Afterward, he deflected credit toward the guys in front of him.

“(London) brought a lot of pressure late but our guys did great,” said Carruth. “They blocked shots, took sticks away and let me see the puck.”

Jason Vondersmith

Carruth was up to the challenge, and the 20-year-old goalie enters the championship game playing very well. Since allowing seven goals against Halifax, he has allowed six in the past three games — three to London, two to Saskatoon and one to London in the semifinal.

 The Canadian Press

 Portland’s victory now sets up a dream final involving Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones, the No. 1 ranked North American skater ahead of next month’s NHL draft, and Mooseheads forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin, who are second and third on the list. Halifax beat Portland 7-4 during round robin play.

Globe and Mail

 Winterhawks defenceman Seth Jones said the final moments were tense as London, which fought back from a 3-1 series deficit in the Ontario Hockey League final and scored the series clincher with less than a second to go in Game 7, crashed the Portland net looking for the equalizer.

“My heart was beating 1,000 beats a minute and I was out there doing whatever I could to keep the puck out of the net — sliding around everywhere,” said a relieved Jones. “It was definitely a big win for us tonight. We fought hard (but) it was a little closer than I wanted.”

 whl.ca

 Carruth, a 20-year-old from Shorewood, MN, turned in a masterful performance, stopping 34 of 35 shots he faced, including making several outstanding saves over the final few minutes of the third period as London poured on the pressure.

“As a team, we’ve had big games in the past, and that’s what we draw from,” said Carruth, deflecting praise to his team mates.  “We got off to a slow start but the boys played well late in the game, and as the game wore on, we were the better team.”

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#winforleier

Saskatoon VS Portland: Memoral Cup Game 3

Apparently the NHL handles supplemental discipline in this tournament (as well as goal replays).  Its my opinion that they will come down on Thrower, judging on how they have handled things this season.  I'm concerned with Leier: short term & long term as well.  That kid is a huge part of this team, and will be next season as well.

Other highlights from the 1st were:

Pouliot's stick work - there were 2 or 3 noticeable instances where the play was headed towards the 'Hawks end and #51 stuck his stick out and picked off the puck, and BAM the play was headed the other way.  Looked really good with his stick position in the period to me.

One of the biggest plays in the entire game was the save Carruth  made on the Stransky breakaway.  I'm a glass-half-full guy, and often times if a goalie is struggling and/or the shooter is hot I'm especially optimistic of our goalie making the save.  That being said, I wasn't all that sure on this one, until Carruth came up victorious on this play.  That's a huge momentum play, as well as confidence - as all goalies have struggled in this tournament.


One thing that was fun was when Ferland took Iverson into the camera well between the benches:

The smile on Iverson's face was great - as well as him touching on it during a mid-game interview.


2nd Period:

How 'bout that Pouilot goal: was it soft?  He just threw a wrister on net, as both teams were changing.  I felt he was rewarded for his good play over the game.

Powerplays were a big part of the 2nd.  The two that stand out were the 5-on-3 that the Blades had & the double minor on Ferland.

 The first penalty was on Pouliot, for taking a guy into the crossbar behind Carruth.  The Blades were trying extra hard to get into Carruth's kitchen all night, and the defense corps had to clean up extra garbage because of it.  I'm not sold that Pouliot's X-check was worth 2 minutes, but I'd feel pretty good if it was - I've got no problem with taking a penalty to help establish your goalies crease - especially from a guy who plays his position like Pouliot does.

Then Taylor Peters took a high sticking penalty.  The replay looked bad:  the puck was head high, he swung his stick at it and whacked a dude.  I've heard some in house accounts that the puck hit the other guy in the face, rather than #25's stick, but you can't get your stick in the vicinity of anyone's face and think you're in the clear.  This is a huge issue, now that you have one of your top 4 defenseman AND your #1 draw man / penalty killing forward in the box for a minute-and-a-half.  Petan took the draw, and eventually Rattie took off on a breakaway.  That's how the 'Hawks kill penalties - in my mind their PK is the #1 reason for the success they've had all year.

Then, after killing off the 2 man short portion, the Blades get a flukey goal:  centering pass goes off of Rutowski's stick, and past a screened Carruth.  Part of me thinks he should have had that one, but between the screen + deflection, I'm not sure.

How many times this year have we seen a 'Hawks powerplay that moves the puck like magic, but has zero sense of urgency to shoot?  Its often discussed that you can't just shoot whenever you want, as teams are so good blocking shots & heading the other way (and we saw that too on this PP) - but you have to get some shots AT SOME POINT - which just didn't happen.  Four goddamned minutes, like 2 shots got through.  Not good enough. 

Ferland had 10 pim through 2 periods.  That ain't good.

1 -1 after 2 periods.

The 'Hawks have been a 3rd period team for a few years - many credit that to their conditioning.

There were a few moving parts to the DeLeo goal: 'Spooner shot the puck so hard that it knocked the stick clean out of  Makarov's hand (at least I'd like to think it did).  The rebound ends up behind the net with Bjorkstrand setting up DeLeo out front -  with Bittner planted firmly in the slot.  DeLeo put that shot right where the goalie's stick would normally be.  Bittner ultamitley had little to do with that goal, but I sure liked the look of that big Minnesotan causing a ruck in the slot.  I could get used to that.

Shortly thereafter there was the Leipsic goal: #leipsnipe.  This has been a "blood in the water" team - they get one, they generally get a couple more.  This goal felt like that.  During intermission rumor broke that Leipsic signed a pro deal.  He hadn't done much to this point of the tourney, then buried this goal - which was huge.

Rattie with the casual 4th goal - dude acted like he's been there before.

Josh Nichols made it interesting with a goal with 3:33 left - good shot, good player, right time to score.  Brought the Blades back in it, if only briefly.

Its been fun watching the national (Canadian) media get used to Mac Carruth.  Things like being the last one off the ice after warm ups, to getting guys faces in scrums, to playing the puck ALL THE TIME, to things like intentionally fanning on the puck as a fake - he's got too much character to get used to in 4 years - let alone 10 days.

sportsnet highlights

scoresheet

photo essay

Buzzing The Net: Leier hit

BTN: 3 stars

O-live twitter reaction to the Leier hit

Winterhawks prevail:

 How was a four-minute penalty kill actually counterproductive for the Blades? In their win, the Blades were buoyed by the combo of a late second period penalty kill and an out-of-the-box breakaway goal by Matej Stransky.

It was 1-all with 4:10 left in the second period when Saskatoon overage Michael Ferland got a double minor. Thanks in part to both Brett Stovin blocking "five or six" shots — by his own rough guesstimate — and the puck bouncing on some bad ice, the Winterhawks didn't capitalize. It didn't lift the Blades, though, despite a huge ovation at the end of the period from the announced crowd of 9,239. It took a lot out of them.

"It was probably our only positive of the game," Nicholls said. "Unfortunately, the period ended. What we really needed was a good first five minutes of the third period to keep that momentum. We weren't able to do that. We kind of slowed the game down. We have to keep pushing the pace and use our endurance to push teams to the brink."

"It took a lot of energy out of us," Blades coach-GM Lorne Molleken added. "We had some mistakes that Portland took advantage of."

Friday night should be fun:  1 win away from the Memorial Cup game.  I like these odds.

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clean hits don't draw blood