Northwest Rink Report

What does Georges Laraque bring to the WHL table?

2012-09-01T12:11:00.001-07:00

It was a wild day a few weeks ago when the 18 month old conversation culminated in a Union for CHL players. What? Yes a Union with reps mandating that the players get better treatment. So when did the high school team go on strike to go to college?

I know that the prospects of getting into the NHL are a key driver to the boys down in the juniors. The notches to the keys for each one of these players is socialization in the hockey world. They need to acquire that key knowledge of where their chemistry strengths and weaknesses are on the ice and in the locker room. The need to know when a fore-check is powerful enough to change the game and that a pay check will come with practice. They need to learn that the net is only 1 percent of the ice surface. These skills are what will get them the time into the NHL. But what Can the CHL offer them?

The CHL has the players in mind when signing a standard players contract.
First to know what the CHL Players Union is looking for we must know what the most similar contract is offering. So far they are offering nothing that the Dub does not already give out.

What first made me pause at the news of this was one, the demographic that the Union was to represent, and what dues players (a majority of which who don't get paid) must pay to join this ill conceived idea with no benefits to it. I still near a month later can't get a full grasp of why the CHL needs a Union.

To answer my first question. Nothing he brings nothing to the table.

Whats with the 20's?

2012-07-30T15:52:00.002-07:00

This past week both Portland and Everett picked up 20 year old goalies. I say why?

For PDX, Brendan Burke was a good pick for their general game play style, he is a goalie who could endure the 64 games on the ice without blink of the eye. Like Mac Carruth before him Brendan a sixteen year old proved to Mike Johnston that he could step out of the shadow of the goalie who took the most shots in the WHL last season. He proved that he could face high Shots On Goal games with out getting to frazzled which lead this fan to believe he could manage the pipes this season. As for Everett Austin Lotz was the next inline, but a bit too eager while standing the blue paint. Yet the eagerness is being calmed as we speak turning Lotz into a solid back door defender.

But why bring in guys who will be shipping off at the end of the sesason? I think for a managed exposure bringing the 2013-2014 season into a new style of play for each team.

CHL's prize: It's all ruined, sort of.

2012-07-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

In 2008 the US division's own Spokane Chiefs won the CHL's Memorial Cup, and promptly dropped it on the ice in this viral video moment. Well we are not the only ones to destroy the Mem Cup. Apparently the 2012's finest have done just as much damage to the cup while touring homes of the players. Shawinigan Cataractes now live in the hall of fame and shame by not returning the pristine cup in the condition they received it. Apparently one of the players was suffering from a balance problem and dropped the cup cracking the wooden base and denting the metal cup.

The Silver lining is that the cup is already a replica, sigh of relief, the real cup is the Hockey Hall of fame in Toronto.

Summer Video

2012-07-23T09:20:00.001-07:00

This summer we saw a titan of the ice retire his skates to the NHL hall of fame. I hope you enjoy the day in the life of Nicholas Lindstrom.

Tips get a Tip of the hat.

2012-07-19T14:26:00.004-07:00

Everett Silvertips have made and gave some big moves in the off season. With Ryan Murray going second the NHL draft, the larger league has taken notice and the ownership feels the pressure of the Scouts. Everett found a gold pot at the end of the rainbow in the the 4 boys (Reece Wilcox, Ben Betker, Tyler Sandhu, and Mitch Skapski) trade for Seth Jones. The pressure by the scouts has only fueled the team to make some other oustanding moves, most recently moving into PDX scouting territory bringing Micro Muller into the mix with Luke Gordon and capping of what has been a solid off season of plugging the holes that plagued them at the beginning of last season.

It will be nice to see what the ice will do for the Silvertips this season.

Summer Video: Neal

2012-07-17T08:41:00.001-07:00

Quick update: The WHL is starting to gear up for camps seeing who has improved their conditioning over the past few months and who will shot up to camp looking for a standard WHL contract.

This video, with 2 games a new contract this boy mean business and surprisingly funny business. Watch all the antics above.

The Players future in jeopardy

2012-07-15T13:47:00.001-07:00

The 2012 NHL season was a coming of age season tale, greater viewership at all levels and the anticipation for the upcoming season 2013 season being the season that viewership could take a bigger leap. But and this is a big but, there is an imbalance in the Big League of pushing pucks. A major publication the New York Times recently published an piece on the negotiations between the two entities within the organization Players vs Owners.

As some publications do, they choose sides; So I'm going to go over some facts. There have been 5 major bankruptcies and NHL interventions since the expansion era. The teams are
1975 Pittsburgh Penguins, 1995 Los Angeles Kings, 1998 Pittsburgh Penguins, 2003 Ottawa Senators, and 2003 Buffalo Sabers. In recent history we have the 2009 Phoenix Coyotes and the 2011 Dallas Stars who have filed for bankruptcy in accordance with the NHL constitution. Beyond that, there are 3 current teams in the NHL who's Net Assets do not meet the valuation of the team. Meaning if the team sold the owner would still have to file for bankruptcy because their investment is not paying off.

All of this makes the NHL look like losing bet and not popular to have outside investment come. What is the NHL going to do about making it's position to investors more enticing, instead of changing the NHL Constitution, it is going to seek profits from the teams themselves so if another team declares bankruptcy the NHL can remain solvent to till the team returns to profits. So for the good of the league the profits must be redistributed so that owners have a chance to bet on a winning game.

That is what the league is doing, but the teams the teams are self correcting their payrolls to reflect the demand (or what the teams view as the lack of demand) for the grinders, the grunt workers, and men down in the AHL. The teams are doing so that the net payroll for the players will save them enough cash to not end up being in the red. All teams are emulating the near bankrupt teams hoping that the 3 teams can bring back their profit margins and grow the sport. The most evident eviedence of this is the median contract holders. these middle of the road contract players are falling by the way side. The boys who used to make 1.3 million to 2.4 million have been reduced by 20 percent this summer contract cycle. This is growing the bottom line for the Stars of the league leaving the 20 players on the bench with less coin.

The players of the WHL are watching, The NHL's biggest talent pool is watching both the League and the Owners shrink their exposure to the teams who make the cup a reality.

WHL Schedule release

2012-07-12T10:51:00.000-07:00

The New Western Hockey League season is going to start in just two months, and this time we all are going to be ready. I know that the schedule was actually released about 2 weeks ago, I have scoured the schedule and and found some nuggets. This next season I am going to keep a running tally of games to look out for, games that are pivotal to the new season's US Division champs.

On September 22nd I foresee the first 395 rivalry setting the tone to who will control the middle of the division. If Tri-City and Spokane will face off with ferocity meanwhile Portland and Seattle will once again spell out who is going to dominate their competition this season. I have a list a games for the month of September below.

Month of September

September 22nd Tri-City vs Spokane and Portland vs Seattle

September 26th Everett vs Tri-City

September 28th Everett vs Vancouver

September 29th Portland vs Kelowna

Summer Videos

2012-07-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Since we cant get out to watch a game in the middle of the heat. How about some recaps why we love the game. Once a week I will be posting a video of to keep us upbeat for the 2012-2013 season. Starting today

Who from the US Div will play all 82 in NHL sweaters?

2012-07-09T16:27:00.000-07:00

Last season we saw a great consolidation of young talent trickle into the dub. South of the boarder we also had a great showing at the 2012 draft with 2 of the top 8 draftees from the US division. So Whats next?

Prospect Camps. Camps are an unofficial invite to a team interested in highly skilled player who was over looked during the frantic excitement of the draft or scouting reports. The players have a chance to prove themselves amongst what soon could be their peers. They might also walk away with a contract in hand too?

In my finite wisdom I am going to list off who is at camp and who is going to make it out of camp into a NHL contract.

Toronto: Brad Ross, Adam Hughesman
Nashville: Cam Reid
Pittsburgh: Joe Morrow, Dominic Uher, Derrick Pouliot
Winnipeg: Zach Yuen
Calgary: Sven Bartschi, Tyler Wotherspoon
San Jose Taylor Peters
Vancouver Jesse Mychan, Corbin Baldwin
Dallas: Branden Troock
Ottawa: Darren Kramer
Columbus: Ryan Murray
Montreal: Patrick Holland
Minnesota: Josh Caron
Florida: Josh Birkholz
Buffalo: Matt Mackinzie
Chicago: Mac Carruth
ST Louis: Ty Rattie (already signed) Nick Walters
Philadelphia: Mitch Elliot, Taylor Leier

US Div Seasons on the Rise

2012-06-26T16:26:00.001-07:00

The US division of WHL has quite a following and I have proof. I was going over the attendance averages for the past season and the average attendance seems to be another good season for the teams south of the border. The chart below has the seasons average for the past 5 years.

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Everett 6425 6030 5701 5807 5278
Spokane 6557 6656 6453 6439 6643
Seattle 4082 4181 3853 4096 4206
Tri City 4245 4424 4480 4702 4653
Portland 4460 3648 4437 5594 6075

The most interesting part of the data is that the worst attendance season for the division was 2010 with an overall average for all 5 teams being 4,984.8. The 2012 season was best attendance season for the division for the past 9 years with an average of 5,371 people attending the games.

Trade time Shake out

2012-01-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the WHL went screaming through the trade deadline with some amazing bargaining chips laid on the table. Some of the Chip were surprising, One chip being a player who is currently playing in the NHL, but if he gets sent back Tri-City can add Brett Connolly to the roster. Second being, Cam Reid getting only a 8th round draft pick for a trade to Portland. Third, being Marcel Noebels leaving Seattle to add another scoring component for division rivals down I-5, the Portland Winterhawks.

The total sum of transactions for the US div is below.

Trade Time, Who will move?

2012-01-07T13:34:00.000-08:00

Photo Courtesy foodcourtlunch.com

The trade deadline for the WHL is fast approaching and some of the unstoppable teams will be assailed to pick apart their top lines so that the teams with fewer W's can thrive for the second half. Bargaining Chips for this round of trade talks will undoubtedly be a higher draft ranking to pick up some of the lower league's finest.

The Team I think that has the most to offer and the highest gamble is Spokane. The Chiefs sitting in the middle of the fight for a playoff spot, they will have to maneuver around the other GM's with utmost grace to bring home another franchise man. Everett Silvertips task for finding second half talent will should focus less on individuals more on whole roster mentality. The boys in the north of the US division should worry less about acquisitions more on identity.

As for the answer to the title, nobody knows, but the second half of the US division is going to force some serious change for the teams with 3,4, and 5 in front of their names on the rankings score sheets.

Son Of a Goal

2012-01-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

Courtesy WHL.ca

The stats would suggest that Calvin Pickard is an average goalie, but if you have seen him play, you know, that he is a goal tender destined to follow his brother to the NHL.

Night in and Night out Calvin faces more than 30 shots per game. He has shown his face in 32 games, and taken 1163 shots so far. Now lets compare, Tyler Bunz of the Medicine Hat Tigers has played 35 games and faced 37 fewer shots, or Luke Seimens of the Moose Jaw Warriors who has played 32 games and faced 280 fewer shots. Tyler and Lukes' stats are a close sampling of the level of play Calvin has been tasked to face when he steps out on the ice. What dose this suggest? Defense

Seattles Defense is iffy at best, the boys rarely go down to defend a shot for their goalie. T-birds D-men's sticks are always in both hands while behind the blue line, nor are using they busy stick technique to defend their zone, nor to do they dig in while occupying the natural zone. The D-men are willing to place the W on Calvin's Shoulders who routinely takes home one of the 3 stars of the game.

The Defensive end must increase their intensity to seek the puck. They are the first string net minders, and winning those one-one battles are what keeps the puck out of the blue ice.

USA out of International Hockey?

2012-01-01T07:19:00.000-08:00

Photo Care of Hockeysence.ca

Well Well Well, On December 30th United States National Hockey team failed to qualify for a medal round in the International Ice Hockey Fedreation U20 Tournee with a loss to the Czech Republic. It was a sad day south of the boarder. Hopes were high on Charlie Coyle and Brandon Saad offensive talent but the abysmally overextended goal tending by Jack Campbell lead to the 2 big losses. The Silver lining is the Canadian Hockey League's BMO rankings.
I would speculate that the WWE would like to sign some contracts with a few London Knights players after the December 26th brawlers bash, which lead the Knights loss and poor showing. The Spectacle should lead to a demotion in BMO rankings enough to put an American Team on top of the CHL's top spot.

The Kennewick Washington based Tri City Americans brought home a New Years Eve game Victory over the Spokane Chiefs and a big W column tally vs the Kelowna Rockets on the 29th. Which should be enough to propel the Americans to the Top of the BMO and put the target on their backs for the top cup contention for either the Ed Chenoweth cup and the Memorial Cup.

Are the Americans Out of International Hockey? NO the USA is just aided by a bunch of Northern boys trying their best. Good on ya Ams!

Update: 1/05/12 As previously stated, The Bank Of Montreals Canadian Hockey Leagues Rankings came out yesterday and Americans are on top.

Rank	Team (Record)	Last Week	# of Weeks
1	Tri-City Americans (29-7-0-0)	2	12
2	London Knights (27-8-0-1)	1	14
3	Quebec Remparts (28-7-2-2)	3	12
4	Plymouth Whalers (25-9-2-1)	6	8
5	Saint John Sea Dogs (29-12-0-2)	4	15
6	Shawinigan Cataractes (26-10-2-2)	5	13
7	Edmonton Oil Kings (25-10-1-3)	8	3
8	Kitchener Rangers (25-10-1-0)	9	4
9	Kamloops Blazers (26-10-1-2)	7	6
10	Moose Jaw Warriors (24-10-4-1)	10	2

	Honourable Mention:
	Brampton Battalion (22-10-1-4)	-	0
	Halifax Mooseheads (24-11-1-3)	-	1
	Portland Winterhawks (25-11-2-1)	-	2

Hat Trick List of 2011-2012 season so far

2011-12-30T11:34:00.000-08:00

The players in the US division are exceptional this year, bringing a few accolades back to their clubs. This is the current list of players in the US division that have Hat tricks.

1. Ty Rattie (with a pants trick) (great hat trick on 12.30.11)
2. Brendan Shinnimin
3. Patrick Holland
4. Mitch Holmberg
5. Anthony Bardaro (no longer on Spokane)
6. Connor Rankin
7. Josh Birkholz

Honorable Mention

Joshua Windquist (for a pre-season hat trick)

Pdx Penalty Shot

2011-12-29T13:00:00.000-08:00

Last night at the Victoria Royals game vs the Portland Winterhawks a penalty shot was awarded to Ty Rattie. The tripping call was made after he Ty opened up a substantial lead on the defender Hayden Rintoul, and he took both of them off of their skates while barnstorming and crashing the Royals net. To me the shoot out was the worst form of hockey, it is mono a mono like boxing, but dose little to progress the sport although it is a necessary evil for competition to right the balance of the game as for skill, until I saw this Amazing Goal.

Spokane's Franchise Men? Part 1

2011-12-28T14:42:00.000-08:00

It was announced earlier today that the Spokane Chiefs would be trading a large portion of their bread and butter in an opportunity to change their coarse. The trade is centered around Anthony Bardaro and Luke Lee-Knight of the Chiefs, for Todd Fiddler and Eric Williams of Prince Albert. The press release stated that,

"We felt it was important for our team to strengthen our goal tending position," Chiefs General Manager Tim Speltz said. "Eric is a proven starter in our league and we feel comfortable that with him and Mac Engel we have done just that."

"Todd Fiddler scored 23 goals as a 17-year-old last season but hasn't found the same success this year. We expect a change will help him achieve those numbers,"

and to keep a healthy goal tending competition going, is a long term wise move.

Frankly, the team switcharoo is not the brightest of ideas why? Two dynamics are at play here: One the bread winners verse the people who butter the team's muffins affectionately known as Revenues vs Payouts. The second of which is the fan experience.

A Franchise Player is paramount to the fan experience, (in the WHL most franchise men are temporary but that is the design of the league) so much that fans will get up and cheer at the slight whisper of the players name. That player fills the seats, that player becomes a symbol, that player makes it to the background of the team's program, that player makes it into folklore, that player spans the generations and that player makes his team valuable. The fans in Portland still talk about Cam Neely in the stands between periods nearly 3 decades later.

Anthony Bardaro is the franchise hopes on a bad day, he is the offensive drive when the team is on a losing streak he is Mr Comeback. To trade him away is like changing the wind direction while trying to cross the ocean. What did the feathered S do? The team took down its sail's and hopes the drift will keep them going through the playoffs.

Without drive a team will fail to fill the seats, fail to earn more for their scouts fail to be able to recruit the next best Coach, you get my drift.

Now all of this is speculation except for one thing, the Fans. Teams having a shut outs night in and night out will bring less spectators to the arena than high scoring games. The NHL is going through this right now. Is it better to have a higher scoring game to fill the seats or is it better to have bigger shot attempts? They say yes and are actively looking for ways to bring the game back up to the scoring levels of the 1980's.

2011-12-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

The Season is back on and things are heating up around the dub. This weeks match-ups will prove to forecast the rest of the season for the US division. Portland is playing the middle of the road Royals for the BC division. The Royals striking distance is short but it is effective (even with it’s current lineup of offence), similar to a majority of the Canadian teams. The Chiefs are facing Kelowona’s home puck, witch will bring the start of the uphill climb to toward an long second half. Everett’s Silvertips and Seattle Thunderbirds will be dueling it out for the final golden ticket to the post season. As in football the Americans have a bi week, facing the same Rockets that could fire off against the Cheifs.

For the Boys in the U20 tournee the hits are fierce and powerful enough to prove if the boys are ready for the big show. Yesterday’s games gave more than a few bumps to the skaters it recorded few broken bones were recorded during the 60 mins of ice time.

Are the Juniors Affecting the NHL Operations?

2011-12-21T03:28:00.000-08:00

Two weeks ago the the National Hockey League announced that it would restructure it's team brackets to that more conform to geographical constraints of the teams. The change was billed as way to create deeper rivalries and a stronger fan base. Sound familiar, 4 brackets, 4 regions, double the meetings of teams that play in your bracket, and more team loyalty. Yep its the same here in the Northwest, but will the NHL's plan work?

For ten years now, the smattering of WHL teams has remained somewhat the same. A few teams have expanded and few have bounce around , but the attendance (the ultimate factor) has also remained nearly the same since 2000. Yet the quality of the product that the WHL offers has improved drastically for 3 reasons.

First is Ownership. The US division teams ownership have restructured their teams away from just wealthy men looking to own a piece of the community. Now the focus is on the General Managers and Coaching Combination finding the space franchise skaters need to bring the right talent, image and accolades to the fans.

Second is quality of the experience. If the team dose not have the cash to update their arenas, they generally seek out community support, and the evidence is clear. If a fan shows up 40 minutes before the game or stays 40 minutes late, there is usually a contest or giveaways to keep the fans coming back.

Third is a winning record. Where the WHL can excel, is in the Subway Series the U18 and the U20s and at the Memorial cup. The Whl can measure itself vs the worlds best which always draws a crowd.

Yes, the WHL is guiding the way for the bigs. If the NHL teams place more emphasis to integrate more into the fabric of the community, bring more players into the franchise player role, and play a few preseason games outside of the league.

Do you know NORPAC?

2011-12-19T20:00:00.001-08:00

NORPAC what is that? NORthern PACific Hockey Leage is a Tier 3 Junior A Ice Hockey League based in two areas the Interstate Five Corridor from Southern Oregon to Seattle and Northern Wyoming to Northern Montana.

The talent pool that come from NORPAC attracts is focused at a collegiate career in ice hockey instead of the WHL who focuses at NHL careers in hockey. The league operates a heavy schedule of nearly 50 games a year to build their skills and experiences. For the players are weighing their education options this maybe a good fit seeing that NCAA refuses to recognize the WHL as amateur hockey and not professional.

As of Now, I do not know many alumni of this league, so I can't speak to the progress of the the players post NORPAC, but for a cheap alternative to the WHL this league fits the bill.

For more info http://norpac.pointstreaksites.com/view/norpac

Flames Prospects Lighting WHL's fire.

2011-12-19T11:25:00.000-08:00

Not only, is one of the Calgary Flames top prospects, keeping the Winterhawks in hunt for the top playoff spot, the other is insuring the that his team remains there.

Coast to Coast Patrick Holland (my affectionate name for the man) took top honors this week notching a Player of the Week award from the WHL. He was instrumental in helping the Americans stage a thrilling comeback from a 3-0 deficit after forty minutes of failed shots in Seattle Saturday night. In the Third he racked up 2 goals and a collaboration point quite a feat for only being on the ice about 7 minutes of play. Good on ya.

Meanwhile Sven Bartschi is off at then World Juniors Camp making the most of his holiday season, giving the Swiss a real chance to bring home a U20's medallion. Fans need to look no further than his focus. Sven zeros in on the puck like it is meal time, and the boy is hungary. Come Playoffs these boy will square off to be some of the deciding factors for the US division.

Silvertips Put Up the Numbers

2011-12-18T23:20:00.000-08:00

500

500, is the number everyone wants to stay above, to make it to the Payoffs.
500, is the number of ice hours most players will see in season.
500, is the number of drills you have to do during practice.

500, is the minimum of fans you want to hear when scoring a goal.
500, is club every one wants to make it to.

To be a talent in the WHL, it takes more than the lumber in your hand and a little balance to keep on your feet. It takes a goal. Night in and Night out, Everett falls below point five hundred, but they consistently do it without their former Captian, Mr 500, Ryan Murray. Murray is the man who can keep the puck out of the Silvertips Goal, Ryan is the man who can squeak one out from the point, and when Mr Murray returns from the U20 tourney, look for 500 to come closer to reality.

The River Rivalry

2011-12-15T14:54:00.000-08:00

In the history of Pacific Northwest hockey we have reached the mighty flow of three seasoned teams. Teams that seem to play with an aggression like the river carving it's way out of the land. For these three teams the the full force of the River Rivalry will happen this season.

To bring you up to speed, in 1982 when the Spokane Flyers flew away and the Kelowna Wings landed (three years later) to stake claim to the Spokane Coliseum with the first drips of the River Rivalry beginning. Later that same season the Spokane shuffle happened between the Portland Winterhawks and the newly minted Chiefs trading a large deal of the skaters to each others benches. Three years later another US team farther down stream sprung forth into the WHL. This team are the descendants of the Westminster Bruins and as soon as the puck dropped that fall of 88, the Tri-City Americans and the Spokane Chiefs, were stepping on each others toes. Eventually the match up would be dubbed the 395 Rivalry.

Over the Past few seasons the Seattle Thunderbirds and Portland Winterhawks deep seeded hatred has lifted ever so slightly. With the antagonism lifted the teams who's tributaries flow into the Columbia River seem to step up into the collective ire culminating into the three way race to top of the US division.

In the 2010-2011 Season the top spot in the division was shared between the three teams and now the 2011-2012 season seams to be a repeat with a little bit of disarray this season. These three teams are the ones to watch come March.

U20 Boys are back

2011-12-14T09:43:00.000-08:00

Its been a fire sale of the US divisions best at the Canadian U20 camp. This morning the decision to discount the division's prime talent who are, Ty Rattie,, Brad Ross and Joe Morrow. Sad to see these boys not getting a fair shake at the rink, but thats what happens when camp is too short.

Strong effort boys.