Former Pontiac Jon Kalinski scored his first NHL goal last night.
This is from the Comcast Sportsnest broadcast.
http://www.box.net/shared/q6hnmc7tde
This is from the Team 1040 out of Vancouver.
http://www.box.net/shared/9ymkkfnzof
This is from 610 WIP out of Philadelphia.
http://www.box.net/shared/7ml892oo9f
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In Drayton Valley, the Fort McMurray Oil Barrons fire 50 shots towards the Thunder net. Ben Lake recorded his first multi point night of the season picking up a goal and two assists. Braely Torris took the loss in net for Drayton Valley who trailed 5-0 after two but did manage 3 goals in the third period. Fort Mac was 3 for 7 on the power play while D.V. was 0 for 4.
The Robb Hunter Blog
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
TUESDAY
Should have said something yesterday but with no games being played the Power Rankings didn't really change. The Rankings will resume this coming Monday.
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If the Drayton Valley Thunder are going to win a game against Fort Mac this year tonight is probably their best bet. Christmas and New Years distractions and someone I was talking to used the term 'turkey legs' yesterday. Probably a good bet to take the MOB but if there ever was a time .....
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R.P.S.:
The third period has been the best so far this year for the Pontiacs. They have scored 55 goals compared to giving up just 39. A 16 goal difference.
There's a 10 goal difference in the first period with 47 goals for and 37 against.
49 goals for in the second with 41 against.
The only part of the game where the opposition have outscored the Pontiacs this year has been in overtime when the Pontiacs have given up 4 goals and have only scored 3 times.
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Most Pontiacs travel back to Bonnyville today from wherever they were celebrating Christmas as practice resumes tomorrow. Here's hoping the roads are good and the airport delays are minimal.
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After having listened to most (I'm sure there are more) of my new uncle-in-law's stories of when he played for a year in the WHL in the 70's I can only imagine that while those players from Kazakhstan didn't enjoy losing 15-0 getting the chance to play against team Canada will be a lifelong highlight. I'm sure they will tell many a family member over the years about the time they got to play against John Tavares.
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If the Drayton Valley Thunder are going to win a game against Fort Mac this year tonight is probably their best bet. Christmas and New Years distractions and someone I was talking to used the term 'turkey legs' yesterday. Probably a good bet to take the MOB but if there ever was a time .....
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R.P.S.:
The third period has been the best so far this year for the Pontiacs. They have scored 55 goals compared to giving up just 39. A 16 goal difference.
There's a 10 goal difference in the first period with 47 goals for and 37 against.
49 goals for in the second with 41 against.
The only part of the game where the opposition have outscored the Pontiacs this year has been in overtime when the Pontiacs have given up 4 goals and have only scored 3 times.
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Most Pontiacs travel back to Bonnyville today from wherever they were celebrating Christmas as practice resumes tomorrow. Here's hoping the roads are good and the airport delays are minimal.
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After having listened to most (I'm sure there are more) of my new uncle-in-law's stories of when he played for a year in the WHL in the 70's I can only imagine that while those players from Kazakhstan didn't enjoy losing 15-0 getting the chance to play against team Canada will be a lifelong highlight. I'm sure they will tell many a family member over the years about the time they got to play against John Tavares.
Monday, December 29, 2008
WORLD JUNIORS
A couple of guys I went to the 2005 World Juniors in North Dakota with have made the trek to Ottawa and are no doubt working on international relations.
Bob McKenzie and James Duthie off the air.
Part of the team
MONDAY
Patiently waiting for the Germany v. Canada matchup this evening I find myself again watching the Spengler Cup. I noticed the clock counting down at the World Juniors and thought it might have been because the tournament is in Ottawa but the clock was also going down in Davos, Switzerland.
When did international hockey competitions start counting down? Aren't the clocks over there supposed to count up to the 20:00 minute mark? Are TSN and Sportsnet just changing the on screen graphics to reflect the typical North American clocks? Am I worrying too much about this?
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Pontiacs Stats:
The Pontiacs coaching staff often talks about 'shot mentality'. The thought process being the more shots you get the more chances you have to score but if you are shooting you are likely in the offensive zone and the more shots you get the more time you spend in the offensive zone.
So how does that translate into wins and losses so far this year?
When the Pontiacs record less than 30 shots they are 8-7-0-2.
When the Pontiacs get more than 30 shots they are 17-6-1-2.
And even better, when they have 35 or more shots they are 12-1-1-1.
Not bad.
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'Miracle' was on TV the other night. The movie is about the Americans gold medal hockey win at the 1980 winter Olympics. I had forgotten how the Canadians finished in that same tournament so I looked it up this afternoon.
I see Czechoslovakia beat Norway 11-0 in that tournament, the Soviets beat the Netherlands 17-4 and Canada beat the dutch 10-1. Apparently the 2009 World Juniors isn't the first tournament to have lopsided victories.
If only the IIHF would go back to an eight team tournament like it used to be. Like it used to be in 1993 for example, only eight teams in that tournament and it featured much more reasonable scores like the Czech and Slovak Republics beating Japan 14-2, Sweden squeaking past Japan 20-1 and Finland winning a nail biter 11-0 against the Germans.
Are 15-0 games thrilling to watch? No, but going back to eight teams isn't going to help that much and to think these blowouts are a new thing doesn't make sense either.
Move the Division 1 championships to September and let the winning nationals that qualify for the elite division play with the 19 year old players that earned their nation the right to play there. There will still be one sided scores but at least those qualifying teams will get to use the players that got them to the top level in the world.
The Canadians finished 6th at the 1980 Olympics by the way.
When did international hockey competitions start counting down? Aren't the clocks over there supposed to count up to the 20:00 minute mark? Are TSN and Sportsnet just changing the on screen graphics to reflect the typical North American clocks? Am I worrying too much about this?
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Pontiacs Stats:
The Pontiacs coaching staff often talks about 'shot mentality'. The thought process being the more shots you get the more chances you have to score but if you are shooting you are likely in the offensive zone and the more shots you get the more time you spend in the offensive zone.
So how does that translate into wins and losses so far this year?
When the Pontiacs record less than 30 shots they are 8-7-0-2.
When the Pontiacs get more than 30 shots they are 17-6-1-2.
And even better, when they have 35 or more shots they are 12-1-1-1.
Not bad.
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'Miracle' was on TV the other night. The movie is about the Americans gold medal hockey win at the 1980 winter Olympics. I had forgotten how the Canadians finished in that same tournament so I looked it up this afternoon.
I see Czechoslovakia beat Norway 11-0 in that tournament, the Soviets beat the Netherlands 17-4 and Canada beat the dutch 10-1. Apparently the 2009 World Juniors isn't the first tournament to have lopsided victories.
If only the IIHF would go back to an eight team tournament like it used to be. Like it used to be in 1993 for example, only eight teams in that tournament and it featured much more reasonable scores like the Czech and Slovak Republics beating Japan 14-2, Sweden squeaking past Japan 20-1 and Finland winning a nail biter 11-0 against the Germans.
Are 15-0 games thrilling to watch? No, but going back to eight teams isn't going to help that much and to think these blowouts are a new thing doesn't make sense either.
Move the Division 1 championships to September and let the winning nationals that qualify for the elite division play with the 19 year old players that earned their nation the right to play there. There will still be one sided scores but at least those qualifying teams will get to use the players that got them to the top level in the world.
The Canadians finished 6th at the 1980 Olympics by the way.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
SUNDAY
I'm listening online to Big 105.5 out of Red Deer as Cam Moon is doing the play by play for the Rebels playing the Kooteny Ice. Mooner is great. He took some time out this summer to record a special wedding greeting for Cheryl and Me.
The game is in a shootout. I much prefer the 3 on 3 double overtime they have in the AJHL. I would just like to see them add 2 on 2.
The Rebels just won by the way.
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Had lunch this afternoon with the voice of the North Battleford North Stars of the SJHL, Dan O'Conner. Not to brag at all but before the game he called Canada over Kazakstan 12-0 and I threw out a 15-0 prediction. I don't know why I'm just thinking about this now but Dan probably should have bought lunch after a call like that.
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Random Pontiacs stat:
Craig Cuthbert leads the team with 16 goals. When he scores the Pontiacs have a record of 7-3-1-1.
Tyler Henry and Shawn Bates both have 14 goals on the year. The Pontiacs are 8-2-0-1 when Henry gets a goal, 10-0-0-1 when Bates scores and 2-0 when they both score in the same game.
Greg Hennessey has 13 goals and the team is 8-1-0-1 when he scores.
And, injured forward Kirk Belyk was on quite the pace when he got hurt. 10 goals in 25 games. He scored in 9 seperate games and the Pontiacs were 8-1 when he lit the lamp.
The game is in a shootout. I much prefer the 3 on 3 double overtime they have in the AJHL. I would just like to see them add 2 on 2.
The Rebels just won by the way.
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Had lunch this afternoon with the voice of the North Battleford North Stars of the SJHL, Dan O'Conner. Not to brag at all but before the game he called Canada over Kazakstan 12-0 and I threw out a 15-0 prediction. I don't know why I'm just thinking about this now but Dan probably should have bought lunch after a call like that.
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Random Pontiacs stat:
Craig Cuthbert leads the team with 16 goals. When he scores the Pontiacs have a record of 7-3-1-1.
Tyler Henry and Shawn Bates both have 14 goals on the year. The Pontiacs are 8-2-0-1 when Henry gets a goal, 10-0-0-1 when Bates scores and 2-0 when they both score in the same game.
Greg Hennessey has 13 goals and the team is 8-1-0-1 when he scores.
And, injured forward Kirk Belyk was on quite the pace when he got hurt. 10 goals in 25 games. He scored in 9 seperate games and the Pontiacs were 8-1 when he lit the lamp.
Friday, December 26, 2008
BOXING DAY
What a day for hockey... Two World Junior games to watch. A Spengler cup game and now I'm watching my Canucks play a miserable second period against the Oilers. Where was the Motor City Bowl game yesterday when I needed it?
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Here's your random Pontiacs stats for the day:
When the Pontiacs score first they are 14-3-0-1 on the year.
When the opposition scores first they are still a game over .500 at 11-10-1-3.
When leading after two periods they are 15-1-0-1.
When tied after two they are 7-5-0-2.
When losing after two they are 3-7-1-1.
When leading after the first period they are 15-3-0-0.
When tied after one they are 4-4-0-2.
When losing after one they are 6-6-1-2.
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Mark Seidel of The Hockey News has two AJHL players ranked in his top 100 NHL draft prospects. One of them will be in Bonnyville on January 2nd. Find out who they are here.
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/21413-Mark-Seidels-Blog-Rising-falling-and-the-top-100-for-the-09-draft.html
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Why would Bob McKenzie where a Swedish coloured blue and yellow tie during the World Junior Preview Show that aired on TSN the last couple days. Was his red one dirty?
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Don't know if good friend Chris Boutilier, who helps us out on our broadcasts on Kool when the Pontiacs play in Calgary, reads this blog ... but I know he's in Windsor, Ontario for Christmas so Chris if you are reading see if you can track me down a Kyle Wellwood Spitfires jersey.
Wellwood just scored on the powerplay to get the Canucks within one.
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Here's your random Pontiacs stats for the day:
When the Pontiacs score first they are 14-3-0-1 on the year.
When the opposition scores first they are still a game over .500 at 11-10-1-3.
When leading after two periods they are 15-1-0-1.
When tied after two they are 7-5-0-2.
When losing after two they are 3-7-1-1.
When leading after the first period they are 15-3-0-0.
When tied after one they are 4-4-0-2.
When losing after one they are 6-6-1-2.
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Mark Seidel of The Hockey News has two AJHL players ranked in his top 100 NHL draft prospects. One of them will be in Bonnyville on January 2nd. Find out who they are here.
http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/21413-Mark-Seidels-Blog-Rising-falling-and-the-top-100-for-the-09-draft.html
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Why would Bob McKenzie where a Swedish coloured blue and yellow tie during the World Junior Preview Show that aired on TSN the last couple days. Was his red one dirty?
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Don't know if good friend Chris Boutilier, who helps us out on our broadcasts on Kool when the Pontiacs play in Calgary, reads this blog ... but I know he's in Windsor, Ontario for Christmas so Chris if you are reading see if you can track me down a Kyle Wellwood Spitfires jersey.
Wellwood just scored on the powerplay to get the Canucks within one.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
MERRY CHRISTMAS
So why do we have to wait for Boxing day for the World Juniors to start? Does tonight work for everybody? yes? okay let's do it.
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Pontiacs Stat of the Day:
Tyler Pugh has a goals against average of 2.32 in his games played with Bonnyville so far this year. Julien Laplante has a GAA of 2.66 in a Pontiacs uniform. They will have to be a little better if they want to break a team record.
The Pontiacs set a team record for fewest goals against last year with 166 against. Through 43 games the team has given up 121 goals. With 19 games left the Pontiacs need to give up fewer than 45 goals to break the record. That's 2.3 goals a game. Just something to keep in mind during that last week of the season when they might be close to the record.
What if it comes down to needing a strong performance in the last game of the season? They are going to need to be good with the high scoring Bryce Williamson and the St. Albert Steel in town on February 22nd.
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Hockey Night in Canada table hockey game for Christmas. Santa must have got his lists mixed up because there is no way I was that good this year. Tournament at my place when I get home.
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Looked everywhere in Mid Town Mall in Saskatoon for Green Magic. The book by Rod Pedersen about the 2007 Saskatchewan Roughrider season. I see on Roddy's blog (link on the right) our very own Mr. Pollock got one. He better bring it on road trips.
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So today ESPN 2 is showing the 2008 World Long Drive Championships recorded earlier this year. ESPN showed it yesterday. However, I can't find anywhere when TSN showed it or when TSN 2 is going to show it. I've seen it on for a number of years now but this year, when I want to watch it, I can't find it anywhere ... and a Canadian wins it this year. What's going on TSN?
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Pontiacs Stat of the Day:
Tyler Pugh has a goals against average of 2.32 in his games played with Bonnyville so far this year. Julien Laplante has a GAA of 2.66 in a Pontiacs uniform. They will have to be a little better if they want to break a team record.
The Pontiacs set a team record for fewest goals against last year with 166 against. Through 43 games the team has given up 121 goals. With 19 games left the Pontiacs need to give up fewer than 45 goals to break the record. That's 2.3 goals a game. Just something to keep in mind during that last week of the season when they might be close to the record.
What if it comes down to needing a strong performance in the last game of the season? They are going to need to be good with the high scoring Bryce Williamson and the St. Albert Steel in town on February 22nd.
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Hockey Night in Canada table hockey game for Christmas. Santa must have got his lists mixed up because there is no way I was that good this year. Tournament at my place when I get home.
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Looked everywhere in Mid Town Mall in Saskatoon for Green Magic. The book by Rod Pedersen about the 2007 Saskatchewan Roughrider season. I see on Roddy's blog (link on the right) our very own Mr. Pollock got one. He better bring it on road trips.
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So today ESPN 2 is showing the 2008 World Long Drive Championships recorded earlier this year. ESPN showed it yesterday. However, I can't find anywhere when TSN showed it or when TSN 2 is going to show it. I've seen it on for a number of years now but this year, when I want to watch it, I can't find it anywhere ... and a Canadian wins it this year. What's going on TSN?
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
CHRISTMAS BLOGGING FROM THE IN-LAWS
It's December 24th which means I must begin my holiday tradition of starting my Christmas shopping.
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A little math for you today. For those of you who are out of the country for the next 2 months and unable to follow how the Pontiacs are doing don't worry. The math never lies ;)
25 wins over the first 43 games puts the Pontiacs on pace for 11 more wins in their next 19.
13 regulation losses will work out to 5 more over the same period.
1 tie in 43 does mean there is room for one more and the 4 OTL averages out to 2 more over the final 19.
So go ahead and skip the country for the next two months. The Pontiacs will finish the regular season with a record of 36-18-2-6 for 80 points.
Why even bother playing the games?
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A little math for you today. For those of you who are out of the country for the next 2 months and unable to follow how the Pontiacs are doing don't worry. The math never lies ;)
25 wins over the first 43 games puts the Pontiacs on pace for 11 more wins in their next 19.
13 regulation losses will work out to 5 more over the same period.
1 tie in 43 does mean there is room for one more and the 4 OTL averages out to 2 more over the final 19.
So go ahead and skip the country for the next two months. The Pontiacs will finish the regular season with a record of 36-18-2-6 for 80 points.
Why even bother playing the games?
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
TUESDAY
Alright... I guess this works... click on the link below to hear the often imitated never duplicated Pontiacs Christmas Poetry Intro. Then let me know if it works for you. I've spent the morning testing it and signing up for a box.net account just to get this to you because blogger doesn't like people uploading audio for some reason.
http://www.box.net/shared/l2izfi7no5
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AJHL All Star teams have now both been announced and the Bonnyville Pontiacs have a pair of players on the North Division squad. Kirk Belyk and Steven Seigo have both been named to the team. These selections are made much ealier in the season so the injuries to Belyk and Seigo probably didn't weigh so much into the decision making process. Also, the work Matthew Register did with Seigo out of the lineup didn't get as much credit as it deserved.
Tyler Henry, Shawn Bates and Tyler Pugh must have also garnered some attention but I don't know who they would replace in the lineup as cases can be made for all the players that made it and a couple who didn't on every team in the North. Enjoy the weekend off boys.
You can find the whole roster here: http://ajhl.ca/news/2008/12/22/1413/
http://www.box.net/shared/l2izfi7no5
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AJHL All Star teams have now both been announced and the Bonnyville Pontiacs have a pair of players on the North Division squad. Kirk Belyk and Steven Seigo have both been named to the team. These selections are made much ealier in the season so the injuries to Belyk and Seigo probably didn't weigh so much into the decision making process. Also, the work Matthew Register did with Seigo out of the lineup didn't get as much credit as it deserved.
Tyler Henry, Shawn Bates and Tyler Pugh must have also garnered some attention but I don't know who they would replace in the lineup as cases can be made for all the players that made it and a couple who didn't on every team in the North. Enjoy the weekend off boys.
You can find the whole roster here: http://ajhl.ca/news/2008/12/22/1413/
Monday, December 22, 2008
POWER RANKINGS
Power Rankings on TheRobbHunter.com are compiled by a panel of media members who follow the AJHL and are based on a combination of last week's play and a squad's overall outlook. Last weeks rankings are in ().
1. Spruce Grove Saints (1) -- Only 8 powerplay goals in 3 games. Must have been a slow week.
2. Grande Praire Storm (2) -- Storm win 5 of 6 on the road to finish 2008. They average almost five goals a game in that stretch. No more silly Star Trek jokes here.
3. Brooks Bandits (4) -- The Bandits are tied for 1st in the South at the Christmas break for the first time in the franchises 10 year history and are sending 5 players to the All Star Game along with coach Brian Curran.
4. Olds Grizzlys (8) -- It was going to be easier to put them here if they didn't lose on Sunday to Camrose but it was in OT and the Grizz now have points in seven straight games and their only other losses in December were to Okotoks and Spruce Grove.
5. Bonnyville Pontiacs (6) -- 3 wins in 4 games this week. The return of Kirk Belyk in the new year will help.
6. Okotoks Oilers (3) -- They beat the Pontiacs last Saturday but drop below them in the standings because since that game they lost to Canmore, tied Drayton Valley and lost to Grande Prairie.
7. Sherwood Park Crusaders (5) -- The Cru won only three games in December. This is a team that needs the Christmas break to refocus.
8. Calgary Canucks (9) -- Bonus points for beating G.P. Aaron Dell didn't start against Lloyd and they pick up a point on the road in Bonnyville. Only two 20 year olds on this team that no one in the South will want to play in the first round.
9. Fort McMurray Oil Barrons (7) -- Pair of losses this week as the rest of the league waits for them to snap back to their usual selves. Nobody has a safe spot on this roster come trade deadline time.
10. Lloydminster Bobcats (11) -- Winners of five straight. Getting hot at the right time as the Cats play 13 games in January. They are another team no one wants to face in the first round.
11. Canmore Eagles (12) -- Only loss this week was against the Storm. This squad is looking up.
12. Drumheller Dragons (10) -- After winning four straight the Dragons have now dropped three in a row. Todd Chinova who was expected to have an impact was 0-0-0 and 17 PIMs in those three games. If you are staying in Drum though be sure to check out the Sandstone Lanes bowling alley. Good times.
13. Camrose Kodiaks (13) -- A busy week with four games results in three points. Having cooled off somewhat will the former champs be buyers or sellers at the deadline?
14. St. Albert Steel (14) -- After losing five in a row the Steel beat Sherwood Park to close out 2008.
15. Drayton Valley Thunder (16) -- They win the battle of divisional cellar dwellers against the Royals but also garner a point against Okotoks and only lose by one in Canmore. Pretty solid road trip.
16. Calgary Royals (15) -- 0-10-0-0 says it all.
1. Spruce Grove Saints (1) -- Only 8 powerplay goals in 3 games. Must have been a slow week.
2. Grande Praire Storm (2) -- Storm win 5 of 6 on the road to finish 2008. They average almost five goals a game in that stretch. No more silly Star Trek jokes here.
3. Brooks Bandits (4) -- The Bandits are tied for 1st in the South at the Christmas break for the first time in the franchises 10 year history and are sending 5 players to the All Star Game along with coach Brian Curran.
4. Olds Grizzlys (8) -- It was going to be easier to put them here if they didn't lose on Sunday to Camrose but it was in OT and the Grizz now have points in seven straight games and their only other losses in December were to Okotoks and Spruce Grove.
5. Bonnyville Pontiacs (6) -- 3 wins in 4 games this week. The return of Kirk Belyk in the new year will help.
6. Okotoks Oilers (3) -- They beat the Pontiacs last Saturday but drop below them in the standings because since that game they lost to Canmore, tied Drayton Valley and lost to Grande Prairie.
7. Sherwood Park Crusaders (5) -- The Cru won only three games in December. This is a team that needs the Christmas break to refocus.
8. Calgary Canucks (9) -- Bonus points for beating G.P. Aaron Dell didn't start against Lloyd and they pick up a point on the road in Bonnyville. Only two 20 year olds on this team that no one in the South will want to play in the first round.
9. Fort McMurray Oil Barrons (7) -- Pair of losses this week as the rest of the league waits for them to snap back to their usual selves. Nobody has a safe spot on this roster come trade deadline time.
10. Lloydminster Bobcats (11) -- Winners of five straight. Getting hot at the right time as the Cats play 13 games in January. They are another team no one wants to face in the first round.
11. Canmore Eagles (12) -- Only loss this week was against the Storm. This squad is looking up.
12. Drumheller Dragons (10) -- After winning four straight the Dragons have now dropped three in a row. Todd Chinova who was expected to have an impact was 0-0-0 and 17 PIMs in those three games. If you are staying in Drum though be sure to check out the Sandstone Lanes bowling alley. Good times.
13. Camrose Kodiaks (13) -- A busy week with four games results in three points. Having cooled off somewhat will the former champs be buyers or sellers at the deadline?
14. St. Albert Steel (14) -- After losing five in a row the Steel beat Sherwood Park to close out 2008.
15. Drayton Valley Thunder (16) -- They win the battle of divisional cellar dwellers against the Royals but also garner a point against Okotoks and only lose by one in Canmore. Pretty solid road trip.
16. Calgary Royals (15) -- 0-10-0-0 says it all.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
SUNDAY
In Okotoks, the Oilers fire 51 shots at Thunder goalie Braely Torris but can't find a way to win as Drayton Valley score a pair of goals 17 seconds apart in the third period to tie the game at 3 while overtime would solve nothing. Courtney Nelson, Tyler Eskesen and Lindsay LeBlanc all score for the Thunder while Justin Daigle, Cody Dion and Brandon "Tick, tick, tick, tick" Hoogenboom tallied for the Oil.
In Calgary, the Royals game sheet is just off but I'm guessing that Grande Prairie fired 57 shots at the Calgary net and scored six powerplay goals on route to a 7-1 win.
In Spruce Grove, the Camrose Kodiaks almost did the rest of the North Division a favour but couldn't hold on to a 3-2 lead in the third against the top team in the league. The Saints come storming back with three goals in the final period from Sam Dezman, Jordan Draper and Shane Lehman to win it 5-3, while "Saints Powerplay Watch '08" was 2 for 3 but they did give up a shorty to Brad McConnell at 18:20 of the second.
In St. Albert, powerplays are the story offensively as all three goals in the game are scored on the man advantage with Nik Yaremchuk picking up the eventual game winner at 15:47 of the second. Rob Kleebaum also scored for the Cru while Bryce Williamson added his 21st of the year for the Steel. Final score 2-1 for the Park. Nick Blair played his second game after missing six with a knee injury suffered back on December 3rd.
In Lloydminster, I guess I didn't jinx them, the Bobcats roll to their fifth win in a row dropping the Calgary Canucks 5-1. John Spigott's favorite official gave the Canucks 10 powerplay opportunities but they could just muster the one goal from Sean Pollard on the man advantage. Brendan Roberts had a pair for the Cats while Brendan Turner, Brody Foster and Logan Gabel also scored for Lloydminster.
In Bonnyville, the Pontiacs come storming out of the gate outshooting the Oil Barrons 14-4 in the first period and out scoring them 3-0. Fort McMurray wouldn't give up and claw their way back into the game only to fall just short as Bonnyville wins their 12th game on home ice this year 4-3. Kirby Halcrow came on in relief after the first 20 minutes and was sharp stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced. Ashton Hewson had the winner on the powerplay at 3:36 of the third.
In Calgary, the Royals game sheet is just off but I'm guessing that Grande Prairie fired 57 shots at the Calgary net and scored six powerplay goals on route to a 7-1 win.
In Spruce Grove, the Camrose Kodiaks almost did the rest of the North Division a favour but couldn't hold on to a 3-2 lead in the third against the top team in the league. The Saints come storming back with three goals in the final period from Sam Dezman, Jordan Draper and Shane Lehman to win it 5-3, while "Saints Powerplay Watch '08" was 2 for 3 but they did give up a shorty to Brad McConnell at 18:20 of the second.
In St. Albert, powerplays are the story offensively as all three goals in the game are scored on the man advantage with Nik Yaremchuk picking up the eventual game winner at 15:47 of the second. Rob Kleebaum also scored for the Cru while Bryce Williamson added his 21st of the year for the Steel. Final score 2-1 for the Park. Nick Blair played his second game after missing six with a knee injury suffered back on December 3rd.
In Lloydminster, I guess I didn't jinx them, the Bobcats roll to their fifth win in a row dropping the Calgary Canucks 5-1. John Spigott's favorite official gave the Canucks 10 powerplay opportunities but they could just muster the one goal from Sean Pollard on the man advantage. Brendan Roberts had a pair for the Cats while Brendan Turner, Brody Foster and Logan Gabel also scored for Lloydminster.
In Bonnyville, the Pontiacs come storming out of the gate outshooting the Oil Barrons 14-4 in the first period and out scoring them 3-0. Fort McMurray wouldn't give up and claw their way back into the game only to fall just short as Bonnyville wins their 12th game on home ice this year 4-3. Kirby Halcrow came on in relief after the first 20 minutes and was sharp stopping 21 of the 22 shots he faced. Ashton Hewson had the winner on the powerplay at 3:36 of the third.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
SATURDAY
Games don't get much bigger than this in December. With both teams eyeing the Christmas break they better stay focused through this one as Fort McMurray trails the Pontiacs by four points in the North but have two games in hand. If the MOB win on the road tonight they will be two points back and still have their two games to be played, but if the Pontiacs can pull it out they move six points up and take a little pressure off that Games Played column.
Steven Legatto took the loss last night in Spruce Grove, allowing 5 goals on 23 shots in just 40 minutes before Kirby Halcrow took over for the third period.
The Pontiacs enter this one the healthiest they have been in quite some time. Kirk Belyk is still out and won't be back until after Christmas and Alex Grill Donovan has an upper body injury but having just two guys out must be a nice change for the team.
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In Canmore, the Eagles use two third period goals to come from behind on the Drayton Valley Thunder for a 5-4 win. Bryden McGhee tied it up early in the third with Logan Sceviour getting the eventual game winner. The Thunder have now lost 6 in a row. Canmore is two games above .500 in their last 5.
In Spruce Grove, the Oil Barrons couldn't find a way to score let alone pick up a couple points on the idle Bonnyville Pontiacs for 4th in the North. Sam Dezman had two goals and an assist as the Saints score 4 on the powerplay and ad a shorty in the second on their way to a 5-0 win. Brett Cameron, Shane Lehman and Brett Switzer also score for Spruce Grove.
In Olds, the Grizzly's continue their roll as they win their sixth in a row doubling up the Drumheller Dragons. The game featured 34 minutes in minor penalties called in the third period alone but neither team really took advantage of the powerplay help with Olds 1 for 11 and Drum 0 for 9 with the man advantage. Ben Wilson got the winner at 16:56 of the second with both teams picking up an extra tally in the third but their would be no come back this night for the Dragons.
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To whoever logged into the blog today from St. Petersburgh, Florida I hope it's warmer there than it is here.
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Joining our broadcast during an intermission tonight will be Justin Fontaine. The former Pontiacs forward is tearing it up at the University of Minnesota Duluth this year and is home for the holidays.
Steven Legatto took the loss last night in Spruce Grove, allowing 5 goals on 23 shots in just 40 minutes before Kirby Halcrow took over for the third period.
The Pontiacs enter this one the healthiest they have been in quite some time. Kirk Belyk is still out and won't be back until after Christmas and Alex Grill Donovan has an upper body injury but having just two guys out must be a nice change for the team.
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In Canmore, the Eagles use two third period goals to come from behind on the Drayton Valley Thunder for a 5-4 win. Bryden McGhee tied it up early in the third with Logan Sceviour getting the eventual game winner. The Thunder have now lost 6 in a row. Canmore is two games above .500 in their last 5.
In Spruce Grove, the Oil Barrons couldn't find a way to score let alone pick up a couple points on the idle Bonnyville Pontiacs for 4th in the North. Sam Dezman had two goals and an assist as the Saints score 4 on the powerplay and ad a shorty in the second on their way to a 5-0 win. Brett Cameron, Shane Lehman and Brett Switzer also score for Spruce Grove.
In Olds, the Grizzly's continue their roll as they win their sixth in a row doubling up the Drumheller Dragons. The game featured 34 minutes in minor penalties called in the third period alone but neither team really took advantage of the powerplay help with Olds 1 for 11 and Drum 0 for 9 with the man advantage. Ben Wilson got the winner at 16:56 of the second with both teams picking up an extra tally in the third but their would be no come back this night for the Dragons.
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To whoever logged into the blog today from St. Petersburgh, Florida I hope it's warmer there than it is here.
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Joining our broadcast during an intermission tonight will be Justin Fontaine. The former Pontiacs forward is tearing it up at the University of Minnesota Duluth this year and is home for the holidays.
Friday, December 19, 2008
FRIDAY
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 9:48 - Michael Westfall for Holding (2 Min.)
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 11:42 - Ross Herzog for Slashing (2 Min.)
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 14:58 - Ashton Hewson for Tripping (2 Min.)
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 16:06 - Matthew Register for Slashing (2 Min.)
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 19:08 - Craig Cuthbert for Holding (2 Min.)
That was the story Wednesday night in Brooks. The Bandits league leading home ice powerplay went to work and 3 for 8 later the Pontiacs were down 5-1 and unable to come back.
Dru Cotterill didn't look too out of place playing forward. We might see that again before the season is out.
The official did a decent job as most of the calls were deserved but a diving call on Shawn Bates? When did the league institute a crack down on diving? With all the embellishing I've see this year, from the Pontiacs AND the opposition, and there hasn't been a single diving call all year. There was even more diving in that game that didn't get called.
Jeff Dort was out of the lineup with symptoms of a concussion and has now gone home to Saskatchewan and is not expected to return.
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As a Canucks fan I have been asked more than once in the last 24 hours what I think of the Mats Sundin signing. I must say I've had a difficult time being a Canucks fan in the last little while. I've discovered I'm a self flagellating Canucks fan. I miss the "glory days" with Ed Jovanovski, Matt Cooke, Jarko Ruutu, Geoff Sanderson and of course Dan Cloutier. No 5 goal lead was safe. The Canucks could find a way to blow any game. You couldn't miss a minute of the action because you would never know when Marek Malik might forget to take his guy in front of the net allowing the flames to win a playoff series. This team might be winning more games but they've lost the excitment.
My favorite Vancouver Canucks player right now is Kyle Wellwood. To me, he symbolizes all that I have grown to love about the Canucks, at least in years past. He can be the best player on the ice some shifts and completely invisible for some games. He even showed up out of shape for camp. I would like to nominate him to participate in the NHL's All Star skills contest where they hand out style points for their shootout competition. Then I would suggest to Kyle that for comic effect he takes his penalty shot while eating a doughnut.
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Spending a week on the road with the boys allows you to learn more about what kind of people they are away from the rink. Turns out Tyler Pugh and I are both stock market junkies so this link is for him. Great predictions over the last few years.
http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1401-starting-in-2006-peter-schiff-goes-prescient
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In Canmore, Morgan MacLean had a pair, Carter Rowney a goal and two assists while Blake Clement picked up three helpers as the Storm down the Eagles 5-2. Tyler "Double-Double" Horton and Lee Reimer both score for the Eagles. It's sad but the two goals against allowed by the Storm actually raised Chad Carder's goals against average.
In Olds, 58 shots later the Grizzly's score 3 third period goals to come from behind and squeek one out agains the Calgary Royals. Mark Friesen is going to start to wonder why the AJHL season is 124 games long when he realizes how many shots he's faced. Curtis deBruyn had two, including the winner, for Olds while Matt Maratz scored his 12th. Spencer Copp and Evan Warner both tallied for the Royals.
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Voice of the Bobcats John Spigott is waiting for his team to win five in a row before he sends up another View Down 897. I wonder if I just jinxed them as they've won their last four.
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 11:42 - Ross Herzog for Slashing (2 Min.)
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 14:58 - Ashton Hewson for Tripping (2 Min.)
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 16:06 - Matthew Register for Slashing (2 Min.)
Bonnyville Pontiacs at 19:08 - Craig Cuthbert for Holding (2 Min.)
That was the story Wednesday night in Brooks. The Bandits league leading home ice powerplay went to work and 3 for 8 later the Pontiacs were down 5-1 and unable to come back.
Dru Cotterill didn't look too out of place playing forward. We might see that again before the season is out.
The official did a decent job as most of the calls were deserved but a diving call on Shawn Bates? When did the league institute a crack down on diving? With all the embellishing I've see this year, from the Pontiacs AND the opposition, and there hasn't been a single diving call all year. There was even more diving in that game that didn't get called.
Jeff Dort was out of the lineup with symptoms of a concussion and has now gone home to Saskatchewan and is not expected to return.
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As a Canucks fan I have been asked more than once in the last 24 hours what I think of the Mats Sundin signing. I must say I've had a difficult time being a Canucks fan in the last little while. I've discovered I'm a self flagellating Canucks fan. I miss the "glory days" with Ed Jovanovski, Matt Cooke, Jarko Ruutu, Geoff Sanderson and of course Dan Cloutier. No 5 goal lead was safe. The Canucks could find a way to blow any game. You couldn't miss a minute of the action because you would never know when Marek Malik might forget to take his guy in front of the net allowing the flames to win a playoff series. This team might be winning more games but they've lost the excitment.
My favorite Vancouver Canucks player right now is Kyle Wellwood. To me, he symbolizes all that I have grown to love about the Canucks, at least in years past. He can be the best player on the ice some shifts and completely invisible for some games. He even showed up out of shape for camp. I would like to nominate him to participate in the NHL's All Star skills contest where they hand out style points for their shootout competition. Then I would suggest to Kyle that for comic effect he takes his penalty shot while eating a doughnut.
-----
Spending a week on the road with the boys allows you to learn more about what kind of people they are away from the rink. Turns out Tyler Pugh and I are both stock market junkies so this link is for him. Great predictions over the last few years.
http://www.37signals.com/svn/posts/1401-starting-in-2006-peter-schiff-goes-prescient
-----
In Canmore, Morgan MacLean had a pair, Carter Rowney a goal and two assists while Blake Clement picked up three helpers as the Storm down the Eagles 5-2. Tyler "Double-Double" Horton and Lee Reimer both score for the Eagles. It's sad but the two goals against allowed by the Storm actually raised Chad Carder's goals against average.
In Olds, 58 shots later the Grizzly's score 3 third period goals to come from behind and squeek one out agains the Calgary Royals. Mark Friesen is going to start to wonder why the AJHL season is 124 games long when he realizes how many shots he's faced. Curtis deBruyn had two, including the winner, for Olds while Matt Maratz scored his 12th. Spencer Copp and Evan Warner both tallied for the Royals.
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Voice of the Bobcats John Spigott is waiting for his team to win five in a row before he sends up another View Down 897. I wonder if I just jinxed them as they've won their last four.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
WEDNESDAY
Had to double check that it actually is Wednedsay. Kind of lost track of what day it is while on this road trip that seems to never end.
Greg Hennessey is feeling a little better and should be back in the lineup tonight. He's not taking somebody healthy out of the lineup as Jeremy Gerhardt picked up an automatic one game suspension for getting involved in a fight while another one was already taking place last night in Drumheller.
I imagine Henny's minutes will be watched closely as he's probably not 100% with the flu.
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The Pontiacs failed to score first again last night but being led by their captain they were able to get back in the game and skate themselves to a 4-1 lead before allowing a late goal as the Dragons made it a little bit closer. Tyler Pugh was great in net one more time making 34 saves and Steven Seigo looked much more comfortable getting a goal and patrolling the blueline.
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Ran into former NHLer Gary Unger in the hotel lobby here in Brooks. He's working at the Banff Hockey Academy and had a couple players in town skating with the Bandits.
Asked around and the common answer from the Pontiacs players when I told them Gary Unger was here was "who's Gary Unger". I guess I am getting older.
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Thanks to Dru Cotterill for the use of his laptop.
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Another thanks to Q13 the radio station here in Brooks for the use of their facilities this morning and to Bruce Barker for paying for lunch. Barks will join our broadcast tonight as colour analyst.
Greg Hennessey is feeling a little better and should be back in the lineup tonight. He's not taking somebody healthy out of the lineup as Jeremy Gerhardt picked up an automatic one game suspension for getting involved in a fight while another one was already taking place last night in Drumheller.
I imagine Henny's minutes will be watched closely as he's probably not 100% with the flu.
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The Pontiacs failed to score first again last night but being led by their captain they were able to get back in the game and skate themselves to a 4-1 lead before allowing a late goal as the Dragons made it a little bit closer. Tyler Pugh was great in net one more time making 34 saves and Steven Seigo looked much more comfortable getting a goal and patrolling the blueline.
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Ran into former NHLer Gary Unger in the hotel lobby here in Brooks. He's working at the Banff Hockey Academy and had a couple players in town skating with the Bandits.
Asked around and the common answer from the Pontiacs players when I told them Gary Unger was here was "who's Gary Unger". I guess I am getting older.
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Thanks to Dru Cotterill for the use of his laptop.
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Another thanks to Q13 the radio station here in Brooks for the use of their facilities this morning and to Bruce Barker for paying for lunch. Barks will join our broadcast tonight as colour analyst.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
TUESDAY
Boys got a game day skate in this morning. Good chance to get on the ice and get stretched out after taking the day off yesterday. AP call up Zach Weisbach of KofC in Edmonton is with the team while Julien Laplante is in P.E.I for the prospect's game.
It should be an interesting game tonight as the Pontiacs are hoping to add to their brief one game winning streak but more importantly stay ahead of Fort McMurray for fourth in the North. The Dragons have put their dreadful November behind them and are playing some very good hockey. A tough loss to Spruce Grove in their last game where they stayed with the Saints but it was that S.G. powerplay that has been so good all year that did the dragons in. The penalty kill allowed three goals in that game.
The last time these two teams faced off was November 7th in Bonnyville when Ashton Hewson recorded a hat trick on route to a 3-1 Bonnyville victory.
I'm looking forward to the broadcast tonight although I left the ol' Sherwood at home. We will be joined by play by play voice of the Dragons, Ron Bell, during the first intermission tonight.
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I've been sporting my St. F.X. gear the last couple days here in drum knowing full well that Dragon assistant coach Jason Hegberg is a Univeristy of New Brunswick grad. I lived in Lethbridge when Jason was playing with the Hurricanes and then after I moved on to St. F.X. I was quite surprised one night when I showed up to a X-men game and saw the familier all white Nike's being sported by some Varsity Red. I even told the guy sitting next to me that a guy in Lethbridge used to wear those. Low and behold it was Jason now playing out east.
Last year when the Pontiacs were in town he spotted my X-ring from almost across the rink and came over to say night. Good guy and a good player. I wish him luck as the season moves on but not so much tonight.
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Some guy just guessed the exact right price on the Showcase Showdown on the Price is Right. No one in this room believes it. Gotta be rigged. He wins both Showcases!!! Maybe we've been on the road for a little too long.
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They aren't exactly toy trains but some of the guys did bring their X-box's with them. Anything to stay occupied while spending time indoors on another cold day in Drumheller. The weather down here actually is a lot better than it has been and I'm told better than what it is in Bonnyville so we shouldn't be complaining.
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Thanks to the boys for not caring that I've been hounding them all week to let me use their computers. I'm on Denis Cadrin's right now.
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Happy Birthday Rod Pedersen. Pedersen pulls double duty as the voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders as well as the WHL's Regina Pats. His blog is available on my blog list to the right. One of the best in the business.
It should be an interesting game tonight as the Pontiacs are hoping to add to their brief one game winning streak but more importantly stay ahead of Fort McMurray for fourth in the North. The Dragons have put their dreadful November behind them and are playing some very good hockey. A tough loss to Spruce Grove in their last game where they stayed with the Saints but it was that S.G. powerplay that has been so good all year that did the dragons in. The penalty kill allowed three goals in that game.
The last time these two teams faced off was November 7th in Bonnyville when Ashton Hewson recorded a hat trick on route to a 3-1 Bonnyville victory.
I'm looking forward to the broadcast tonight although I left the ol' Sherwood at home. We will be joined by play by play voice of the Dragons, Ron Bell, during the first intermission tonight.
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I've been sporting my St. F.X. gear the last couple days here in drum knowing full well that Dragon assistant coach Jason Hegberg is a Univeristy of New Brunswick grad. I lived in Lethbridge when Jason was playing with the Hurricanes and then after I moved on to St. F.X. I was quite surprised one night when I showed up to a X-men game and saw the familier all white Nike's being sported by some Varsity Red. I even told the guy sitting next to me that a guy in Lethbridge used to wear those. Low and behold it was Jason now playing out east.
Last year when the Pontiacs were in town he spotted my X-ring from almost across the rink and came over to say night. Good guy and a good player. I wish him luck as the season moves on but not so much tonight.
-----
Some guy just guessed the exact right price on the Showcase Showdown on the Price is Right. No one in this room believes it. Gotta be rigged. He wins both Showcases!!! Maybe we've been on the road for a little too long.
-----
They aren't exactly toy trains but some of the guys did bring their X-box's with them. Anything to stay occupied while spending time indoors on another cold day in Drumheller. The weather down here actually is a lot better than it has been and I'm told better than what it is in Bonnyville so we shouldn't be complaining.
-----
Thanks to the boys for not caring that I've been hounding them all week to let me use their computers. I'm on Denis Cadrin's right now.
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Happy Birthday Rod Pedersen. Pedersen pulls double duty as the voice of the Saskatchewan Roughriders as well as the WHL's Regina Pats. His blog is available on my blog list to the right. One of the best in the business.
Monday, December 15, 2008
MONDAY
Day off on the road as the Pontiacs are spending time in Drumheller in advance of their game tomorrow night.
The team will stay off the ice today but will have an early morning pre game skate tomorrow.
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The game against Brooks has been rescheduled for Wednesday night. 7:00 puck drop.
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Stayed at the Lakeview Inn in Okotoks. Nice hotel but never did see the view of the Lake.
The team will stay off the ice today but will have an early morning pre game skate tomorrow.
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The game against Brooks has been rescheduled for Wednesday night. 7:00 puck drop.
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Stayed at the Lakeview Inn in Okotoks. Nice hotel but never did see the view of the Lake.
POWER RANKINGS
Power Rankings on TheRobbHunter.com are compiled by a panel of media members who follow the AJHL and are based on a combination of last week's play and a squad's overall outlook. Last weeks rankings are in ().
1. Spruce Grove Saints (1) -- G.P. is close but at this point it's undisputed.
2. Grande Prairie Storm (2) -- Went 4 for 4 on their last Southern road trip. Can they do it again before Christmas?
3. Okotoks Oilers (3) -- Can't beat Olds... can beat everybody else. Get your December 21st tickets early. A win over the visiting Storm would be the best Christmas present of all.
4. Brooks Bandits (6) -- The loss of Jordie Deagle will hurt but this South division powerhouse has beat some impressive teams over the last 2 weeks and deserved better in OT against Sherwood Park.
5. Sherwood Park Crusaders (4) -- Are the Cru not as good as we all thought they were? Is everybody else catching up to them? Is this just a mid season swoon?
6. Bonnyville Pontiacs (5) -- Valient fight back from two goals down in Okotoks but couldn't seal the deal losing on a late powerplay goal. Two more wins on this extended trip South will surely vault them past the Park in the rankings but two more wins are a big if.
7. Fort McMurray Oil Barrons (7) -- Last weekend was a perfect example of their inconsistency offensively, shutout 2-0 by the Cru but bounce back to crush them 5-1 on Saturday...Legatto is playing great lately.
8. Olds Grizzlys (8) -- Chance to create some separation for third in the South with 3 games in hand on Drumheller.
9. Calgary Canucks (11) -- Former teamate Chase Komistek comes back to haunt them getting the shutout for Brooks in a 1-0 OT win.
10. Drumheller Dragons (14) -- Bad November officially behind them. Chance on Tuesday to show what they can do against Bonnyville before facing Olds on Friday to wrap up their pre holiday schedule.
11. Lloydminster Bobcats (12) -- Bobcats on a three game winning streak. All three games were against Drayton Valley but the Cats have a good chance to end 2008 with 5 straight wins and really make a statement heading into 2009.
12. Canmore Eagles (13) -- Impressive showing in Camrose this week. 3 out of a possible 4 points against the former Champs.
13. Camrose Kodiaks (9) -- After showing signs of life the Kodiaks have taken a U-turn with only 2 wins in their last 8 games.
14. St. Albert Steel (10) -- Dropped three straight against the Storm and still have to weather 2 more against Sherwood Park.
15. Calgary Royals (16) -- Mark Friesen has seen more rubber than the tarmac at Pearson International.
16. Drayton Valley (15) -- Bad timing for their coach to leave. Things looked like they were improving. Will be interesting to see how much this sets them back.
1. Spruce Grove Saints (1) -- G.P. is close but at this point it's undisputed.
2. Grande Prairie Storm (2) -- Went 4 for 4 on their last Southern road trip. Can they do it again before Christmas?
3. Okotoks Oilers (3) -- Can't beat Olds... can beat everybody else. Get your December 21st tickets early. A win over the visiting Storm would be the best Christmas present of all.
4. Brooks Bandits (6) -- The loss of Jordie Deagle will hurt but this South division powerhouse has beat some impressive teams over the last 2 weeks and deserved better in OT against Sherwood Park.
5. Sherwood Park Crusaders (4) -- Are the Cru not as good as we all thought they were? Is everybody else catching up to them? Is this just a mid season swoon?
6. Bonnyville Pontiacs (5) -- Valient fight back from two goals down in Okotoks but couldn't seal the deal losing on a late powerplay goal. Two more wins on this extended trip South will surely vault them past the Park in the rankings but two more wins are a big if.
7. Fort McMurray Oil Barrons (7) -- Last weekend was a perfect example of their inconsistency offensively, shutout 2-0 by the Cru but bounce back to crush them 5-1 on Saturday...Legatto is playing great lately.
8. Olds Grizzlys (8) -- Chance to create some separation for third in the South with 3 games in hand on Drumheller.
9. Calgary Canucks (11) -- Former teamate Chase Komistek comes back to haunt them getting the shutout for Brooks in a 1-0 OT win.
10. Drumheller Dragons (14) -- Bad November officially behind them. Chance on Tuesday to show what they can do against Bonnyville before facing Olds on Friday to wrap up their pre holiday schedule.
11. Lloydminster Bobcats (12) -- Bobcats on a three game winning streak. All three games were against Drayton Valley but the Cats have a good chance to end 2008 with 5 straight wins and really make a statement heading into 2009.
12. Canmore Eagles (13) -- Impressive showing in Camrose this week. 3 out of a possible 4 points against the former Champs.
13. Camrose Kodiaks (9) -- After showing signs of life the Kodiaks have taken a U-turn with only 2 wins in their last 8 games.
14. St. Albert Steel (10) -- Dropped three straight against the Storm and still have to weather 2 more against Sherwood Park.
15. Calgary Royals (16) -- Mark Friesen has seen more rubber than the tarmac at Pearson International.
16. Drayton Valley (15) -- Bad timing for their coach to leave. Things looked like they were improving. Will be interesting to see how much this sets them back.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
SUNDAY
Well we have checked into the hotel in drumheller after the 3-2 win in Calgary this afternoon against the Royals.
Sorry about the lack of updates this weekend as its been more difficult than I imagined tracking down computers. I'm using Jordan Krankowski's right now. He's missing two keys on his key pad and typing is proving to be more than difficult.
I'll borrow someone elses computer tomorrow.
Sorry about the lack of updates this weekend as its been more difficult than I imagined tracking down computers. I'm using Jordan Krankowski's right now. He's missing two keys on his key pad and typing is proving to be more than difficult.
I'll borrow someone elses computer tomorrow.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
GAME DAY
TheDrHunter has himself a new laptop with a power adaptor that doesn't work with mine so I'm stuck out in the hotel lobby again. Oh well... nothing like a little adversity on the road.
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After taking one block walk over to BP's and back for pregame meal I take back what I said about it being a relatively nice day out. It's awfully cold.
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I wonder if Chad Mercier has made any phone calls up the highway to Olds today. The Grizzlys are really the only team to beat Okotoks in the last month and a half but that is the challenge that faces the Pontiacs tonight.
The Pontiacs did beat the Oilers in Bonnyville earlier this season but that game should not lead anyone to believe the same will happen tonight. Back then, Okotoks came to the RJ Lalonde a beat up bunch. They were playing their second in back to back games and only dressed 15 healthy bodies and of those 15 how many were actually healthy could be questioned.
Since the Oilers have recovered from their early season injury woes they have been the team many expected. Fast, high scoring and tough to beat.
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The one troubling statistic for the Oilers has to be the work of the powerplay. Overall they are doing just fine but for some reason they are having all sorts of problems on home ice. They are 26% away from home but only 16% at the Okotoks arena. Strange.
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The Pontiacs have not lost in regulation to a South division team all year. Their only blemish on a 7-0-1-0 record is an overtime loss at home to Camrose. This game tonight though might just be their biggest South division challenge to date.
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The Brooks make up game is still up in the air. It would work out best for Bonnyville if they could stay an extra day down South and play the game on Wednesday but the Bandits would have been playing their last game before Christmas on Tuesday night and there might be some travel issues with some of their players already heading home for the holidays. Stay tuned.
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After taking one block walk over to BP's and back for pregame meal I take back what I said about it being a relatively nice day out. It's awfully cold.
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I wonder if Chad Mercier has made any phone calls up the highway to Olds today. The Grizzlys are really the only team to beat Okotoks in the last month and a half but that is the challenge that faces the Pontiacs tonight.
The Pontiacs did beat the Oilers in Bonnyville earlier this season but that game should not lead anyone to believe the same will happen tonight. Back then, Okotoks came to the RJ Lalonde a beat up bunch. They were playing their second in back to back games and only dressed 15 healthy bodies and of those 15 how many were actually healthy could be questioned.
Since the Oilers have recovered from their early season injury woes they have been the team many expected. Fast, high scoring and tough to beat.
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The one troubling statistic for the Oilers has to be the work of the powerplay. Overall they are doing just fine but for some reason they are having all sorts of problems on home ice. They are 26% away from home but only 16% at the Okotoks arena. Strange.
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The Pontiacs have not lost in regulation to a South division team all year. Their only blemish on a 7-0-1-0 record is an overtime loss at home to Camrose. This game tonight though might just be their biggest South division challenge to date.
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The Brooks make up game is still up in the air. It would work out best for Bonnyville if they could stay an extra day down South and play the game on Wednesday but the Bandits would have been playing their last game before Christmas on Tuesday night and there might be some travel issues with some of their players already heading home for the holidays. Stay tuned.
SATURDAY
The team has pulled into Okotoks. As of first thing this morning there was still some debate about what time to leave Brooks and immediately after breakfast ended up being the winner.
The highways from Brooks to Okotoks were in great shape and now that we are here it's actually not that bad of a day. Besides the bitter cold and a little bit of wind it's sunny and clear.
The laptop is officially dead so I'm on a desktop in the hotel lobby. After all that happened yesterday it's time to start thinking about the fact there is another game tonight and we see no reason for it not to get played. I'll have a game preview up after game day meal.
The highways from Brooks to Okotoks were in great shape and now that we are here it's actually not that bad of a day. Besides the bitter cold and a little bit of wind it's sunny and clear.
The laptop is officially dead so I'm on a desktop in the hotel lobby. After all that happened yesterday it's time to start thinking about the fact there is another game tonight and we see no reason for it not to get played. I'll have a game preview up after game day meal.
Friday, December 12, 2008
SNOW
Looks like the game might be made up Wednesday. There is nothing official though so stay tuned and we'll keep you posted.
Both teams were at the rink but there were no refs. Very few fans showed up as well as the weather is quite bad. Both teams did get on the ice as the Bandits practiced for about an hour and then the Pontiacs got on the ice. The suggestion of a scrimmage got shot down pretty quickly.
Making it to Okotoks shouldn't be a problem given lots of time so we expect to be on air tomorrow night.
Both teams were at the rink but there were no refs. Very few fans showed up as well as the weather is quite bad. Both teams did get on the ice as the Bandits practiced for about an hour and then the Pontiacs got on the ice. The suggestion of a scrimmage got shot down pretty quickly.
Making it to Okotoks shouldn't be a problem given lots of time so we expect to be on air tomorrow night.
IN BROOKS
The Pontiacs team bus left the RJ Lalonde a little before 7:00 this morning. With it still being pitch black outside it didn't take long for the team to get back to sleep. Something about teenagers and not wanting to be up before sunrise.
Quiet trip down with pretty good roads and by the looks of it we made it just in time as a Blizzard has rolled into Calgary and we are told is heading this way. Highway 2 from here to Calgary is reportedly already closed in some sections.
The team spends the night here before heading to Okotoks tomorrow. Depending on the weather we might eat pregame here and get to Okotoks late or leave early and check into our hotel and eat pregame there. Hopefully the storm passes and the roads are cleared by tomorrow afternoon.
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Hewson and Seigo will both be in the lineup tonight. It will be great to see Seig's back on the ice. I know he's been anxious to get back into a game for quite some time.
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The weather might actually have an impact tonight. Brooks is one of the more intimidating barns to play in. The rink is small and it feels like the crowd is right on top of you and they have some of the more boisterous fans in the league. Perhaps the snow will keep some people away from the rink and the game might lose some of that Brooks atmosphere.
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The action on the ice, however, will be as intense as ever. The Bandits are in a tight race in the South and need to take their points on home ice and they will also be looking for revenge after losing a game in Bonnyville where they felt they deserved a better fate. On November 21st the Bandits outshot the 31-17 but Tyler Pugh held the fort and the Pontiacs won 2-1. The Bandits got two points out of Fort McMurray the next night.
There were no fights in the game in Bonnyville but there was an altercation at the end of the game where Michael Westfall picked up a cross checking minor while John Stimson got two for roughing and the Bandits bench got a misconduct.
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Had the feeling all trip that I was forgetting something back in Bonnyville. Once we got into the hotel here I realized I'm missing the power cord to the laptop so I'm at 54% battery right now. Will have a chance to charge tomorrow when 'The Dr. Hunter' and 'The Mrs. Hunter' make the trip up from Lethbridge to visit their broadcasting son. Surely Dad will have his laptop and power cord with him.
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Sorry it's late but ... In Camrose, the Eagles blow a 4-1 lead but manage to hang on in the end for a 5-4 win over the Kodiaks. Steven Fernie's second of the night proved to be the game winner for Canmore who picked up their first win against the Kodiaks in three trys this year. Kris Foucault also had a pair for the Eagles with Cody Cartier adding a single. Jacob Johnston got the Kodiaks on the board 23 seconds into the second to tie the score at one but then Canmore scored the next three. Andrew MacWilliam tallied shorthanded to get the Kodiaks within two before the second period was over. Clayton Jardine would make it a one goal game and then after the Eagles pulled in front by two again, Kenny Bradley would get Camrose as close as they were going to get on this night. The teams play again tonight in Camrose.
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45%
Quiet trip down with pretty good roads and by the looks of it we made it just in time as a Blizzard has rolled into Calgary and we are told is heading this way. Highway 2 from here to Calgary is reportedly already closed in some sections.
The team spends the night here before heading to Okotoks tomorrow. Depending on the weather we might eat pregame here and get to Okotoks late or leave early and check into our hotel and eat pregame there. Hopefully the storm passes and the roads are cleared by tomorrow afternoon.
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Hewson and Seigo will both be in the lineup tonight. It will be great to see Seig's back on the ice. I know he's been anxious to get back into a game for quite some time.
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The weather might actually have an impact tonight. Brooks is one of the more intimidating barns to play in. The rink is small and it feels like the crowd is right on top of you and they have some of the more boisterous fans in the league. Perhaps the snow will keep some people away from the rink and the game might lose some of that Brooks atmosphere.
-----
The action on the ice, however, will be as intense as ever. The Bandits are in a tight race in the South and need to take their points on home ice and they will also be looking for revenge after losing a game in Bonnyville where they felt they deserved a better fate. On November 21st the Bandits outshot the 31-17 but Tyler Pugh held the fort and the Pontiacs won 2-1. The Bandits got two points out of Fort McMurray the next night.
There were no fights in the game in Bonnyville but there was an altercation at the end of the game where Michael Westfall picked up a cross checking minor while John Stimson got two for roughing and the Bandits bench got a misconduct.
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Had the feeling all trip that I was forgetting something back in Bonnyville. Once we got into the hotel here I realized I'm missing the power cord to the laptop so I'm at 54% battery right now. Will have a chance to charge tomorrow when 'The Dr. Hunter' and 'The Mrs. Hunter' make the trip up from Lethbridge to visit their broadcasting son. Surely Dad will have his laptop and power cord with him.
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Sorry it's late but ... In Camrose, the Eagles blow a 4-1 lead but manage to hang on in the end for a 5-4 win over the Kodiaks. Steven Fernie's second of the night proved to be the game winner for Canmore who picked up their first win against the Kodiaks in three trys this year. Kris Foucault also had a pair for the Eagles with Cody Cartier adding a single. Jacob Johnston got the Kodiaks on the board 23 seconds into the second to tie the score at one but then Canmore scored the next three. Andrew MacWilliam tallied shorthanded to get the Kodiaks within two before the second period was over. Clayton Jardine would make it a one goal game and then after the Eagles pulled in front by two again, Kenny Bradley would get Camrose as close as they were going to get on this night. The teams play again tonight in Camrose.
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45%
FRIDAY
On the bus in about 20 minutes so I hope the hotel in Brooks has internet and I'll get an update done this afternoon.
Have a good Friday.
Have a good Friday.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
JEFF BATTAH CONT.
Less than half an hour later it's official. Jeff Battah is out as head coach of the Drayton Valley Thunder. Battah has accepted an assistant coaching position with the WHL's Prince George Cougars.
Thunder President Bruce Clemmer says current Thunder assistant coach Kyle Adams will be given the head coaching duties on an interim basis.
This means Battah got thrown out of his last game as coach of Drayton Valley last night against the Bobcats.
Thunder President Bruce Clemmer says current Thunder assistant coach Kyle Adams will be given the head coaching duties on an interim basis.
This means Battah got thrown out of his last game as coach of Drayton Valley last night against the Bobcats.
JEFF BATTAH
The Prince George Citizen is reporting that the Cougars (WHL) are “expected to name Jeff Battah as the new assistant coach in the coming days.” . . . A former goaltender coach with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, Battah is in his first season as GM/head coach of the AJHL’s Drayton Valley Thunder
THE VIEW DOWN 897
The voice of the Lloydminster Bobcats John Spigott will offer his unique perspective on the league every Wednesday (or Thursday) on TheRobbHunter.com
First off, I highly recommend heading over to Dustin Neilson’s MOB Blog and checking out his top calls of the first half of the season, despite the fact the first one came at the expense of the Bobcats. For how excited Neilson was on that call, I was just as depressed. There may or may not have been a headset hurled at the wall in the Thickwood Heights Arena after the Bobcats blew a 4-2 lead with under four minutes to go and lost in double overtime.
The current poll on this website asks who your favourite AJHL referee is, and I didn’t realize Troy Winterhalt’s mother was an avid reader of therobbhunter.com. Winterhalt has one vote on that poll, which is one too many – just ask Drayton Valley head coach Jeff Battah. The Bobcats beat the Thunder 3-2 last night in a game the Thunder led 2-0 early in the second. Now, full credit to Battah and the Thunder, because this is a much improved team from the one that was in Lloydminster and Bonnyville about two and a half weeks ago. The Thunder came out and took it to the Bobcats in the first period, but in the second period, Winterhalt really got involved. The Thunder took six minor penalties in the second, including five in a row at one point that gave the Bobcats two five on three powerplays, and the Bobcats made Drayton pay, connecting three times in the second on their way to going 3 for 9 on the man advantage. Battah got the heave from Winterhalt in the second for arguing calls, and I couldn’t blame him. The officiating in last night’s game was atrocious, and it’s something fans in both Lloydminster and Bonnyville have come to expect when Winterhalt dons the armbands. Very late calls, phantom calls behind the play, and borderline even-up calls are all in the repertoire, and they were in abundance at the Civic Centre last night. Robb and I see Winterhalt more than anyone else in this league, and for my money, there isn’t a more inconsistent or infuriating – or dare I say worse - official in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
The Bobcats are in a crucial stretch before Christmas with four games remaining – two in Drayton Valley this weekend, then a pair of home games next week against St. Albert and the Calgary Canucks. Bobcats brass is cautiously optimistic, but personally I would have to say anything less than six out of eight points would have to be considered a disappointment. Especially when you look at the schedule in January – 13 games in all, with 9 on the road.
Two local boys continue to play very well for the Bobcats. Brody Foster has seven goals in the last 10 games, while David Dziurzynski has been moved to the top line between Adam Matlock and Brendan Turner, and has eight points in his last six games, including a pair of goals last night.
First off, I highly recommend heading over to Dustin Neilson’s MOB Blog and checking out his top calls of the first half of the season, despite the fact the first one came at the expense of the Bobcats. For how excited Neilson was on that call, I was just as depressed. There may or may not have been a headset hurled at the wall in the Thickwood Heights Arena after the Bobcats blew a 4-2 lead with under four minutes to go and lost in double overtime.
The current poll on this website asks who your favourite AJHL referee is, and I didn’t realize Troy Winterhalt’s mother was an avid reader of therobbhunter.com. Winterhalt has one vote on that poll, which is one too many – just ask Drayton Valley head coach Jeff Battah. The Bobcats beat the Thunder 3-2 last night in a game the Thunder led 2-0 early in the second. Now, full credit to Battah and the Thunder, because this is a much improved team from the one that was in Lloydminster and Bonnyville about two and a half weeks ago. The Thunder came out and took it to the Bobcats in the first period, but in the second period, Winterhalt really got involved. The Thunder took six minor penalties in the second, including five in a row at one point that gave the Bobcats two five on three powerplays, and the Bobcats made Drayton pay, connecting three times in the second on their way to going 3 for 9 on the man advantage. Battah got the heave from Winterhalt in the second for arguing calls, and I couldn’t blame him. The officiating in last night’s game was atrocious, and it’s something fans in both Lloydminster and Bonnyville have come to expect when Winterhalt dons the armbands. Very late calls, phantom calls behind the play, and borderline even-up calls are all in the repertoire, and they were in abundance at the Civic Centre last night. Robb and I see Winterhalt more than anyone else in this league, and for my money, there isn’t a more inconsistent or infuriating – or dare I say worse - official in the Alberta Junior Hockey League.
The Bobcats are in a crucial stretch before Christmas with four games remaining – two in Drayton Valley this weekend, then a pair of home games next week against St. Albert and the Calgary Canucks. Bobcats brass is cautiously optimistic, but personally I would have to say anything less than six out of eight points would have to be considered a disappointment. Especially when you look at the schedule in January – 13 games in all, with 9 on the road.
Two local boys continue to play very well for the Bobcats. Brody Foster has seven goals in the last 10 games, while David Dziurzynski has been moved to the top line between Adam Matlock and Brendan Turner, and has eight points in his last six games, including a pair of goals last night.
THURSDAY
In Sherwood Park, the game of the night turned out to disappoint as Spruce Grove skates away from the Cru in their building. The Saints cruised to a 5-0 win with 5 different players scoring goals. Konrad Becker opened the scoring 6:51 into the first period for the Saints and surprise, surprise it was a powerplay goal. Spruce Grove went 2-4 on the night to improve their powerplay potency to 30.2% overall and 32.6% on the road. Josh Keizer, Tyler Barr, Brett Cameron and Scott Allen also scored. Travis Rolheiser made 37 stops in picking up his third shutout of the year. The Park was 0-6 on the man advantage as quarterback Nick Blair is still out of the lineup with a lower body injury. Brett Patchett came on in relief of Matt Esposito when the score was 4-0. Patchett is just relieved to be alive after being involved in a single vehicle accident when his car rolled down a cliff in the mountains of B.C. in early November. Patchett emerged almost unscathed. Unlike his team on this night.
In Lloydminster, the Bobcats down the Thunder 3-2. Voice of the Bobcats John "one G two T's" Spigott will have the recap later this morning.
In Calgary, it took 61:04 to open the scoring but Jarrett Granberg scored his league leading 27th to win it, 1-0, in overtime for Brooks. Chase Komistek made 44 saves against his former team as the 16 year old picked up his second shutout of the season. Aaron Dell stopped 26 in the losing effort. Bandits defenceman Justin Lutz and coach Brian Curran both served their one game suspensions for an altercation involving a referee Sunday afternoon in Sherwood Park. Brooks has now played four straight games that have ended in overtime, winning two, losing one and finishing tied in the other .
In Drumheller, after winning only one game in all of November the Dragons have now lost only one game in December. Drum wins their fourth straight with a 3-1 win over Camrose. Cam Lamoureux had assists on all three Dragon goals as John Bolka, Graham Klassen and Trevor Smyth all score. Matthew Schmermund added the only Kodiaks marker midway through the second period. Camrose tried desperately to come back in the third period, firing 20 shots at goaltender Garrett Sheehan but the only goal went to Smyth and proved to be the insurance marker the dragons wouldn't need. Despite their performance in November, Drumheller still managed to vault themselves back into third place in the South Division.
In Canmore, the Olds Grizzlys keep pace with Drumheller by scoring two third period goals in a come from behind 3-2 win over the Eagles. Shadoe Stoodley opened the scoring just over a minute into the second period off a feed from Brance Orban. David Fitzpatrick answered back 62 seconds later while University of Alaska Fairbanks committed defenceman Kaare Odegard gave Canmore the lead less than half way through the middle frame with his second of the year. Wade Bergman tied the game 3:34 into the third on an unassisted effort while Brance Orban picked up his second point of the night while scoring the eventual winner at 11:30 of the final period. The 20 year old Lethbridge product now has 19 goals on the year but that was his first game winner.
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Today's Economic update is provided by my older brother Jeff who is a ... well lets call him an investment banker ... in Victoria. To be honest I don't really know what he does but we decided long ago that one of us would make money and the other would work in radio.
Economic Models ... explained with cows
SOCIALISM: You have 2 cows.You give one to your neighbour.
COMMUNISM: You have 2 cows.The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM: You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM: You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.
BUREAUCRATISM: You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away...
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.
VENTURE CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public then buys your bull.
A FRENCH CORPORATION: You have two cows. You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION: You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION: You have two cows. Both are mad.
AN IRAQI CORPORATION: Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION: You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.
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Steven Seigo continues to be involved in full practices and should be listed as probably for the game tomorrow night in Brooks.
Ashton Hewson is still day to day with varying bumps and bruises suffered in games all last week. Today's practice will be a good test for 'Hewie' to see if he will be ready to go tomorrow or if he needs to miss a game or two.
Kirk Belyk is starting to handle a puck and even take some shots but the team doesn't expect him back until after Christmas. Good to see him back skating with the team though.
The coaching staff is continuing to stress to their team the importance of winning every battle on the ice and it's the second and third efforts that are going to win hockey games. Practice consists of a lot of one on one and two on two battles with players being told to make decisions sooner and to work for their chances.
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The team leaves for this 4 game in 5 night trip very early tomorrow morning in order to get to Brooks at a decent time to check into the hotel and have a few hours of the bus before game time.
In Lloydminster, the Bobcats down the Thunder 3-2. Voice of the Bobcats John "one G two T's" Spigott will have the recap later this morning.
In Calgary, it took 61:04 to open the scoring but Jarrett Granberg scored his league leading 27th to win it, 1-0, in overtime for Brooks. Chase Komistek made 44 saves against his former team as the 16 year old picked up his second shutout of the season. Aaron Dell stopped 26 in the losing effort. Bandits defenceman Justin Lutz and coach Brian Curran both served their one game suspensions for an altercation involving a referee Sunday afternoon in Sherwood Park. Brooks has now played four straight games that have ended in overtime, winning two, losing one and finishing tied in the other .
In Drumheller, after winning only one game in all of November the Dragons have now lost only one game in December. Drum wins their fourth straight with a 3-1 win over Camrose. Cam Lamoureux had assists on all three Dragon goals as John Bolka, Graham Klassen and Trevor Smyth all score. Matthew Schmermund added the only Kodiaks marker midway through the second period. Camrose tried desperately to come back in the third period, firing 20 shots at goaltender Garrett Sheehan but the only goal went to Smyth and proved to be the insurance marker the dragons wouldn't need. Despite their performance in November, Drumheller still managed to vault themselves back into third place in the South Division.
In Canmore, the Olds Grizzlys keep pace with Drumheller by scoring two third period goals in a come from behind 3-2 win over the Eagles. Shadoe Stoodley opened the scoring just over a minute into the second period off a feed from Brance Orban. David Fitzpatrick answered back 62 seconds later while University of Alaska Fairbanks committed defenceman Kaare Odegard gave Canmore the lead less than half way through the middle frame with his second of the year. Wade Bergman tied the game 3:34 into the third on an unassisted effort while Brance Orban picked up his second point of the night while scoring the eventual winner at 11:30 of the final period. The 20 year old Lethbridge product now has 19 goals on the year but that was his first game winner.
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Today's Economic update is provided by my older brother Jeff who is a ... well lets call him an investment banker ... in Victoria. To be honest I don't really know what he does but we decided long ago that one of us would make money and the other would work in radio.
Economic Models ... explained with cows
SOCIALISM: You have 2 cows.You give one to your neighbour.
COMMUNISM: You have 2 cows.The State takes both and gives you some milk.
FASCISM: You have 2 cows. The State takes both and sells you some milk.
NAZISM: You have 2 cows. The State takes both and shoots you.
BUREAUCRATISM: You have 2 cows. The State takes both, shoots one, milks the other, and then throws the milk away...
TRADITIONAL CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull. Your herd multiplies, and the economy grows. You sell them and retire on the income.
AN AMERICAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You sell one, and force the other to produce the milk of four cows. Later, you hire a consultant to analyze why the cow has dropped dead.
VENTURE CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You sell three of them to your publicly listed company, using letters of credit opened by your brother-in-law at the bank, then execute a debt/equity swap with an associated general offer so that you get all four cows back, with a tax exemption for five cows. The milk rights of the six cows are transferred via an intermediary to a Cayman Island Company secretly owned by the majority shareholder who sells the rights to all seven cows back to your listed company. The annual report says the company owns eight cows, with an option on one more. You sell one cow to buy a new president of the United States , leaving you with nine cows. No balance sheet provided with the release. The public then buys your bull.
A FRENCH CORPORATION: You have two cows. You go on strike, organize a riot, and block the roads, because you want three cows.
A JAPANESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You redesign them so they are one-tenth the size of an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk. You then create a clever cow cartoon image called 'Cowkimon' and market it worldwide.
A GERMAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You re-engineer them so they live for 100 years, eat once a month, and milk themselves.
AN ITALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows, but you don't know where they are. You decide to have lunch.
A RUSSIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows. You count them again and learn you have 2 cows. You stop counting cows and open another bottle of vodka.
A SWISS CORPORATION: You have 5000 cows. None of them belong to you. You charge the owners for storing them.
A CHINESE CORPORATION: You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them. You claim that you have full employment, and high bovine productivity. You arrest the newsman who reported the real situation.
AN INDIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. You worship them.
A BRITISH CORPORATION: You have two cows. Both are mad.
AN IRAQI CORPORATION: Everyone thinks you have lots of cows. You tell them that you have none. No-one believes you, so they bomb you and invade your country. You still have no cows, but at least now you are part of Democracy....
AN AUSTRALIAN CORPORATION: You have two cows. Business seems pretty good. You close the office and go for a few beers to celebrate.
A NEW ZEALAND CORPORATION: You have two cows. The one on the left looks very attractive.
-----
Steven Seigo continues to be involved in full practices and should be listed as probably for the game tomorrow night in Brooks.
Ashton Hewson is still day to day with varying bumps and bruises suffered in games all last week. Today's practice will be a good test for 'Hewie' to see if he will be ready to go tomorrow or if he needs to miss a game or two.
Kirk Belyk is starting to handle a puck and even take some shots but the team doesn't expect him back until after Christmas. Good to see him back skating with the team though.
The coaching staff is continuing to stress to their team the importance of winning every battle on the ice and it's the second and third efforts that are going to win hockey games. Practice consists of a lot of one on one and two on two battles with players being told to make decisions sooner and to work for their chances.
-----
The team leaves for this 4 game in 5 night trip very early tomorrow morning in order to get to Brooks at a decent time to check into the hotel and have a few hours of the bus before game time.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
WEDNESDAY
In Calgary, two third period goals from the Royals made it close but it wasn't enough as Calgary drops their 5th straight, 4-3 to Olds. It didn't take the Grizzlys long to hit the scoreboard as Brance Orban opened the scoring 19 seconds into the hockey game from Matt Marantz and former Spruce Grove Saint Frank 'buy me a sandwich' Carbonaro. It was the first of two assists on the night for Carbonaro. Wade Bergman scored the eventual winner on the powerplay at 15:30 of the second period while Carey Koroluk notched his second of the year and Sean Neumeier got his 3rd. Olds finished 1 for 10 on the powerplay. It was a penalty filled contest as the Royals were 2 for 13 with the man advantage themselves. Chris Smerek had a powerplay marking in the first and added a pair of assists on a pair of Jeff Collett goals in the third. David Briere made 34 saves for the boys in blue.
In Grande Prairie, the Storm out shoot the Steel 35-28 and dominate on the powerplay to snap a two game losing streak and beat St. Albert 5-2. Grande Prairie lost in overtime to Olds and Brooks in their last two games. Carter Rowney, Blake Clement and Zahn Raubenheimer all scored with the man advantage as G.P. goes 3 for 6 on the PP. Morgan MacLean played set up man picking up 3 assists and Bobby Tyson added a pair of helpers on the night. The Steel also used the special teams getting a short handed marker from Alex Perkins and a powerplay goal from Daniel Carr. Bryce Williamson added to his team lead in points with a pair of assists. 117 minutes in penalties were handed out at 19:01 of the second period including eight 10 minute misconducts and 2 game misconducts. The events occurred as Ryan Edens of the Steel, received a five minute major for a hit from behind.
In Grande Prairie, the Storm out shoot the Steel 35-28 and dominate on the powerplay to snap a two game losing streak and beat St. Albert 5-2. Grande Prairie lost in overtime to Olds and Brooks in their last two games. Carter Rowney, Blake Clement and Zahn Raubenheimer all scored with the man advantage as G.P. goes 3 for 6 on the PP. Morgan MacLean played set up man picking up 3 assists and Bobby Tyson added a pair of helpers on the night. The Steel also used the special teams getting a short handed marker from Alex Perkins and a powerplay goal from Daniel Carr. Bryce Williamson added to his team lead in points with a pair of assists. 117 minutes in penalties were handed out at 19:01 of the second period including eight 10 minute misconducts and 2 game misconducts. The events occurred as Ryan Edens of the Steel, received a five minute major for a hit from behind.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
TUESDAY
In Calgary, the Oilers dress only 18 players with Chris Duszynski, Jesse Hudkins, Derek Rodwell and Jonathan Turk all on the roster but not in the line up but still win. Brandon Hoogenboom scores his 14th and 15th of the year to blow things open for Okotoks in the second period on route to a 7-3 win. High River native Corban Knight added to his Oiler team lead in points, now at 35, with a goal and an assist. For the Royals, rookie Kent Fox scored his first of the year while Spencer Copp added his third and Travis Bradshaw his 5th. With the game out of hand in the final minute Bradley Drobot saw some powerplay time for the Royals and picked up roughing and cross checking minors and a ten minute misconduct.
In Drumheller, 523 fans witnessed Justin Faryna score a powerplay marker at 7:55 of the third period to break a 4-4 tie and pace the Dragons to a 5-4 win over the Canucks. It was the third powerplay goal for Drum as they went 3 for 9 with the man advantage. Jeff Young had both other powerplay goals while Robert Nocera added his 11th and Justin Morello his 5th. The Canucks found themselves trailing 3-0 after one but got themselves into early in the second with Matthew MacKay's 14th of the year and first short handed. Mike Pao, Krishan Kaushal and Mitch Kulikowski had the other goals for the Canucks while Aaron Dell made 32 saves in the loss. Next action for Calgary is Wednesday when they host Brooks.
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How much do the Pontiacs miss Kirk Belyk and Steven Seigo? Seig's last game was October 25th while Belyk played 2 more games before playing his last game November 1st. Heading into November the Pontiacs were 25% on the powerplay. Since November 1st the Pontiacs have scored 9 powerplay goals in 71 chances good for 12.67%. Had they remained at 25% they would have scored 17.75 goals, if we round down to 17 that's a difference of 8 goals on the powerplay alone .... not to mention how important that 0.75 of a goal could have been.
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Seigo looked good on the ice yesterday in practice and should be back for this weekend. Belyk is still not skating with the team. Hard practice, I'm sure meant to get the boys back into a hockey frame of mind after a weekend off.
In Drumheller, 523 fans witnessed Justin Faryna score a powerplay marker at 7:55 of the third period to break a 4-4 tie and pace the Dragons to a 5-4 win over the Canucks. It was the third powerplay goal for Drum as they went 3 for 9 with the man advantage. Jeff Young had both other powerplay goals while Robert Nocera added his 11th and Justin Morello his 5th. The Canucks found themselves trailing 3-0 after one but got themselves into early in the second with Matthew MacKay's 14th of the year and first short handed. Mike Pao, Krishan Kaushal and Mitch Kulikowski had the other goals for the Canucks while Aaron Dell made 32 saves in the loss. Next action for Calgary is Wednesday when they host Brooks.
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How much do the Pontiacs miss Kirk Belyk and Steven Seigo? Seig's last game was October 25th while Belyk played 2 more games before playing his last game November 1st. Heading into November the Pontiacs were 25% on the powerplay. Since November 1st the Pontiacs have scored 9 powerplay goals in 71 chances good for 12.67%. Had they remained at 25% they would have scored 17.75 goals, if we round down to 17 that's a difference of 8 goals on the powerplay alone .... not to mention how important that 0.75 of a goal could have been.
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Seigo looked good on the ice yesterday in practice and should be back for this weekend. Belyk is still not skating with the team. Hard practice, I'm sure meant to get the boys back into a hockey frame of mind after a weekend off.
Monday, December 8, 2008
POWER RANKINGS
Power Rankings on TheRobbHunter.com are compiled by a panel of media members who follow the AJHL and are based on a combination of last week's play and a squad's overall outlook. Last weeks rankings are in ().
1. Spruce Grove Saints (2) -- Winners of 6 straight finally take their rightful spot atop the power rankings. Kevin Connauton who?
2. Grande Prairie Storm (1) -- BCHL message board is spreading rumours that Mike Vandekamp is quitting to become coach in Victoria for a guaranteed RBC birth this year. Mike might just beat the Grizzlies at the RBC. Shows those fans in BC are still partaking in too much of their own product.
3. Okotoks Oilers (4) -- A win against Camrose might turn into a loss with 3 more players now out of the lineup ... again. Hottest team in the South but are teh injury troubles returning?
4. Sherwood Park Crusaders (3) -- Play five periods against Bonnyville without Nick Blair who was injured in the first period on Wednesday. Have you seen their schedule of late? .500 is actually pretty good.
5. Bonnyville Pontiacs (6) -- Two wins against the Cru can't move them passed Sherwood Park in the rankings as blemishes against Lloyd and Camrose remain on their record. Another week of solid wins and a Crusader slip up will mean another change in the rankings. Pontiacs head out on their first Southern road swing starting in Brooks and Okotoks.
6. Brooks Bandits (5) -- 3 games in 3 nights and the Bandits get one win and it wasn't in the town most expected. Minus marks for the tie in Drayton but plus points for the win in G.P.
7. Fort McMurray Oil Barrons(7) -- Will be one of the more interesting teams to watch come Jan. 10th.
8. Olds Grizzleys (9) -- Win in Grande Prairie moves them up a spot in the rankings. They did lose to Okotoks and Spruce Grove but who doesn't these days?
9. Camrose Kodiaks (11) -- Second hottest team in the South play the Oilers tough but can't find a way to win one against the top dogs.
10. St. Albert Steel (8) -- Hopefully they are ready for this as 5 of their next 6 are against Grande Prairie and Sherwood Park. The next three are all G.P.
11. Calgary Canucks (10) -- Loss to Canmore is a bummer but at least they finally beat the Royals after going winless in two against their cross-town rivals.
12. Lloydminster Bobcats (12) -- Can't hold onto a 4-1 lead at Thickwood Heights. Get 3 straight against the Thunder this week.
13. Canmore Eagles (14) -- Beat the Canucks and would have shutout the Oilers if they just could have found a way to keep Cody off the board... Fehr and Dion.
14. Drumheller Dragons (13) -- The offense came back but it was against the Royals. Will be interesting to see if they can carry any momentum through this week.
15. Drayton Valley Thunder (16) -- Tie with Brooks and a one goal loss to St. Albert. The Defence is better it's just too bad they traded away most of the offence to get to this point.
16. Calgary Royals (15) -- The Drumheller Dragons beat them in 2 games by a combined score of 16-4. Give up 16 goals and they are now 16th in the Power Rankings.
1. Spruce Grove Saints (2) -- Winners of 6 straight finally take their rightful spot atop the power rankings. Kevin Connauton who?
2. Grande Prairie Storm (1) -- BCHL message board is spreading rumours that Mike Vandekamp is quitting to become coach in Victoria for a guaranteed RBC birth this year. Mike might just beat the Grizzlies at the RBC. Shows those fans in BC are still partaking in too much of their own product.
3. Okotoks Oilers (4) -- A win against Camrose might turn into a loss with 3 more players now out of the lineup ... again. Hottest team in the South but are teh injury troubles returning?
4. Sherwood Park Crusaders (3) -- Play five periods against Bonnyville without Nick Blair who was injured in the first period on Wednesday. Have you seen their schedule of late? .500 is actually pretty good.
5. Bonnyville Pontiacs (6) -- Two wins against the Cru can't move them passed Sherwood Park in the rankings as blemishes against Lloyd and Camrose remain on their record. Another week of solid wins and a Crusader slip up will mean another change in the rankings. Pontiacs head out on their first Southern road swing starting in Brooks and Okotoks.
6. Brooks Bandits (5) -- 3 games in 3 nights and the Bandits get one win and it wasn't in the town most expected. Minus marks for the tie in Drayton but plus points for the win in G.P.
7. Fort McMurray Oil Barrons(7) -- Will be one of the more interesting teams to watch come Jan. 10th.
8. Olds Grizzleys (9) -- Win in Grande Prairie moves them up a spot in the rankings. They did lose to Okotoks and Spruce Grove but who doesn't these days?
9. Camrose Kodiaks (11) -- Second hottest team in the South play the Oilers tough but can't find a way to win one against the top dogs.
10. St. Albert Steel (8) -- Hopefully they are ready for this as 5 of their next 6 are against Grande Prairie and Sherwood Park. The next three are all G.P.
11. Calgary Canucks (10) -- Loss to Canmore is a bummer but at least they finally beat the Royals after going winless in two against their cross-town rivals.
12. Lloydminster Bobcats (12) -- Can't hold onto a 4-1 lead at Thickwood Heights. Get 3 straight against the Thunder this week.
13. Canmore Eagles (14) -- Beat the Canucks and would have shutout the Oilers if they just could have found a way to keep Cody off the board... Fehr and Dion.
14. Drumheller Dragons (13) -- The offense came back but it was against the Royals. Will be interesting to see if they can carry any momentum through this week.
15. Drayton Valley Thunder (16) -- Tie with Brooks and a one goal loss to St. Albert. The Defence is better it's just too bad they traded away most of the offence to get to this point.
16. Calgary Royals (15) -- The Drumheller Dragons beat them in 2 games by a combined score of 16-4. Give up 16 goals and they are now 16th in the Power Rankings.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
SATURDAY
The Pontiacs pick up four points before taking a week off. Next action is not until Friday the 14th when they travel to Brooks.
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I've been asked for my take on the Scott Gabriel hit on Shawn Bates in the 3rd period. From my view Devon Kalinski was carrying the puck down the left boards through the neutral zone with Bates heading through the centre of the ice with both players attacking the blueline. As they reach the line Bates heads hard towards the net against defenceman Scott Gabriel. Gabriel's Defence partner does a good job of angeling off Kalinski so 'Devo' slams on the breaks a few feat inside the line and turns his head to look back to the neutral zone to see if there is a trailer coming in he can find. Before anything else happens Shawn Bates is sprawled out on the ice in front of Esposito in net for the Cru. It was a needless cheapshot and a blatant attempt to injure far away from the puck.
Bates had been beaking at Gabriel (and Gabriel had been giving it back) all night but to think that Bates got what he deserved because he got Gabriel mad is nothing short of lunacy. I bet Tie Domi was pretty mad at Scott Niedermayer when he elbowed him in 2001, doesn't make it right. I'm sure Domi was upset with Ulf Samuelsson when he sucker punched him in 1995. Dale Hunter had to listen to the whole crowd, at Nassau County Coliseum chanting Nah Nah Nah Hey Hey Hey Goodbye when he got frustrated with Pierre Turgeon for scoring another goal in the 1993 playoffs and Steve Moore probably really pissed off Todd Bertuzzi. The fact Bates wasn't seriously hurt doesn't take away the fact it was a clear attempt to injure.
It's my Blog and these are my views.
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Beyond the silly incidents in both games there was some tremendous hockey played by both clubs.
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The Pontiacs not taking the SAT's today are helping out with a food drive in Bonnyville. It might be cold outside but that isn't stopping the team from doing something good for the community.
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The blog reached 10,000 hits last week. Thanks to everyone who visits. The response has been more than I ever imagined.
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I've been asked for my take on the Scott Gabriel hit on Shawn Bates in the 3rd period. From my view Devon Kalinski was carrying the puck down the left boards through the neutral zone with Bates heading through the centre of the ice with both players attacking the blueline. As they reach the line Bates heads hard towards the net against defenceman Scott Gabriel. Gabriel's Defence partner does a good job of angeling off Kalinski so 'Devo' slams on the breaks a few feat inside the line and turns his head to look back to the neutral zone to see if there is a trailer coming in he can find. Before anything else happens Shawn Bates is sprawled out on the ice in front of Esposito in net for the Cru. It was a needless cheapshot and a blatant attempt to injure far away from the puck.
Bates had been beaking at Gabriel (and Gabriel had been giving it back) all night but to think that Bates got what he deserved because he got Gabriel mad is nothing short of lunacy. I bet Tie Domi was pretty mad at Scott Niedermayer when he elbowed him in 2001, doesn't make it right. I'm sure Domi was upset with Ulf Samuelsson when he sucker punched him in 1995. Dale Hunter had to listen to the whole crowd, at Nassau County Coliseum chanting Nah Nah Nah Hey Hey Hey Goodbye when he got frustrated with Pierre Turgeon for scoring another goal in the 1993 playoffs and Steve Moore probably really pissed off Todd Bertuzzi. The fact Bates wasn't seriously hurt doesn't take away the fact it was a clear attempt to injure.
It's my Blog and these are my views.
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Beyond the silly incidents in both games there was some tremendous hockey played by both clubs.
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The Pontiacs not taking the SAT's today are helping out with a food drive in Bonnyville. It might be cold outside but that isn't stopping the team from doing something good for the community.
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The blog reached 10,000 hits last week. Thanks to everyone who visits. The response has been more than I ever imagined.
Friday, December 5, 2008
FRIDAY
Had a nice chat with Ryan Pollock this morning on the radio show and it was a pleasure to actually talk about players coming back from injuries instead of who is out of the lineup.
As for the guys who are still out ... Steven Seigo is close, very close. Sounds like he's itching to get back in but with the Pontiacs playing tonight and the not again for a full week they might lean towards sitting him for one more game so he's 100% when he comes back next week for the Southern road trip.
Kirk Belyk is still at least a week away.
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It will be very interesting to see what kind of hold over there is from the game on Wednesday. There is certainly some build up for this game tonight but sometimes when there is this much intrigue entering a contest it doesn't live up to its billing. I mean, what are people expecting? Ross Kenny to turn green and burst out of his shirt in true Hulk fashion? Really, if that doesn't happen some might consider the game a disappointment.
At some point, both teams will remember there are two points on the line and will decide to play some hockey.
Let the league figure out what there is to do about Wednesday. If anything.
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I'm not Catholic. I just went to a Catholic university.
As for the guys who are still out ... Steven Seigo is close, very close. Sounds like he's itching to get back in but with the Pontiacs playing tonight and the not again for a full week they might lean towards sitting him for one more game so he's 100% when he comes back next week for the Southern road trip.
Kirk Belyk is still at least a week away.
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It will be very interesting to see what kind of hold over there is from the game on Wednesday. There is certainly some build up for this game tonight but sometimes when there is this much intrigue entering a contest it doesn't live up to its billing. I mean, what are people expecting? Ross Kenny to turn green and burst out of his shirt in true Hulk fashion? Really, if that doesn't happen some might consider the game a disappointment.
At some point, both teams will remember there are two points on the line and will decide to play some hockey.
Let the league figure out what there is to do about Wednesday. If anything.
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I'm not Catholic. I just went to a Catholic university.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
THURSDAY
The only thing that was almost as impressive as Tyler Pugh was last night was the debut of Alex Grill Donovan. A-G-D picked up what turned out to be a game winning goal in his first game as a member of the Bonnyville Pontiacs. He was also impressive playing a large roll in killing penalties as typically you don't see guys who are not used to the systems playing on specialty teams but he did very well.
The story of the game the was Pugh who stopped all 41 shots he faced and more than a few were of the spectacular variety. Take out Pugh's numbers with the Thunder and he has a GAA of 2.05 and a 93.73 save percentage. Those are among the best in the league.
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Something needs to be done about the nets around the league. They came off way too easily last night at the RJ but that's not the only building that happens in. Sherwood Park and Grande Prairie are the first that come to mind but I'm sure there are others. The last thing you want is to see a player get injured because they ran into a crossbar that didn't give but there has to be a happier medium.
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It's been a while since I've seen Chad Mercier get into it verbally with another coach. A game in G.P. last year comes to mind but I haven't seen a coach get into it with the crowd the way Ross Kenny, coach of the crusaders, did last night. I'm of the opinion that fans pay good moneyto be able to yell at coaches and players and by all means if they want to give it back then go for it even though you are probably just going to encourage more of it if you respond. I only hope all parties keep it clean.
I'm not naive enough to believe all that was being said last night was clean so if you are going to yell there is no need to curse or be crude. Beyond that ... Heckle away.
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Missed saying it yesterday but a Happy Feast of St. Francis Xavier Day to the Catholics out there. December 3rd marks the day St. Francis Xavier University students who are graduating receive their 'x-rings'. There are a few of us 'X' grads here in Bonnyville and some of us got together for a drink after the game last night. Cheers to all and congrats to the new grads back in Nova Scotia.
We'll have an injury update a little later.
The story of the game the was Pugh who stopped all 41 shots he faced and more than a few were of the spectacular variety. Take out Pugh's numbers with the Thunder and he has a GAA of 2.05 and a 93.73 save percentage. Those are among the best in the league.
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Something needs to be done about the nets around the league. They came off way too easily last night at the RJ but that's not the only building that happens in. Sherwood Park and Grande Prairie are the first that come to mind but I'm sure there are others. The last thing you want is to see a player get injured because they ran into a crossbar that didn't give but there has to be a happier medium.
-----
It's been a while since I've seen Chad Mercier get into it verbally with another coach. A game in G.P. last year comes to mind but I haven't seen a coach get into it with the crowd the way Ross Kenny, coach of the crusaders, did last night. I'm of the opinion that fans pay good moneyto be able to yell at coaches and players and by all means if they want to give it back then go for it even though you are probably just going to encourage more of it if you respond. I only hope all parties keep it clean.
I'm not naive enough to believe all that was being said last night was clean so if you are going to yell there is no need to curse or be crude. Beyond that ... Heckle away.
-----
Missed saying it yesterday but a Happy Feast of St. Francis Xavier Day to the Catholics out there. December 3rd marks the day St. Francis Xavier University students who are graduating receive their 'x-rings'. There are a few of us 'X' grads here in Bonnyville and some of us got together for a drink after the game last night. Cheers to all and congrats to the new grads back in Nova Scotia.
We'll have an injury update a little later.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
THE VIEW DOWN 897
The voice of the Lloydminster Bobcats John Spigott will offer his unique perspective on the league every Wednesday on TheRobbHunter.com
I have a simple answer for Mr. Hunter regarding the Bonnyville-Lloydminster rivalry.
The only reason it seemed as though the game didn’t have any spark was because so much of it was played on special teams.
Referee Gary Tremblay made sure that the team with the best power play decided the outcome of Saturday night’s game – and almost, surprisingly – it was the Bobcats. 4 for 12 on the power play for the ‘Cats ensured they would take the game, and I for one certainly cannot emphasize enough how much Jared Jagow has meant to the Bobcats offensively.
I have no doubt that if Jagow played a full 62-game schedule in the AJHL, he would have between 80 and 90 points. He is that skilled. Jagow isn’t afraid to mix it up either, as the Pontiacs really started to challenge him physically as that game wore on. But for being a smaller, skilled forward, he doesn’t shy away from physical play.
How much do the Pontiacs miss Steven Seigo on the point and Greg Hennessey in front of the net? Wow. No disrespect to Tyler Henry, Shawn Bates, or Matthew Register, but the Bonnyville power play is a lot less terrifying without Seigo. The Pontiacs have one of the top power plays in the AJHL, but with nearly five consecutive minutes on the power play between the end of the second and the start of the third, the Pontiacs mustered only one goal, and they were up five on three for about half of that, and in eight chances total they often looked lost. It does help that when the Pontiacs were threatening, they were stonewalled by goaltender Calvin Bartel, who was outstanding.
A couple of moves worth noting in Bobcats Country this week as well, as the team traded Dan Hillman to Kindersley to free up another import card down the road. Tough to see Hillman go, as he was a good mucker and a good kid, but those import cards are too valuable. Worth noting that’s three players the Bobcats have traded to Kindersley in the last month.
Two players on board as well, as the Bobcats acquired a pair of 18-year-old Calgary forwards in Logan Gabel and defenceman Jeremie Perron. A curious trade, in that the Bobcats didn’t give up a thing to get a forward with 17 points on a terrible team, and a defenceman who had 12 points. Gabel will make his debut tonight against Spruce Grove, while Perron won’t play until this weekend in Fort McMurray.
I have a simple answer for Mr. Hunter regarding the Bonnyville-Lloydminster rivalry.
The only reason it seemed as though the game didn’t have any spark was because so much of it was played on special teams.
Referee Gary Tremblay made sure that the team with the best power play decided the outcome of Saturday night’s game – and almost, surprisingly – it was the Bobcats. 4 for 12 on the power play for the ‘Cats ensured they would take the game, and I for one certainly cannot emphasize enough how much Jared Jagow has meant to the Bobcats offensively.
I have no doubt that if Jagow played a full 62-game schedule in the AJHL, he would have between 80 and 90 points. He is that skilled. Jagow isn’t afraid to mix it up either, as the Pontiacs really started to challenge him physically as that game wore on. But for being a smaller, skilled forward, he doesn’t shy away from physical play.
How much do the Pontiacs miss Steven Seigo on the point and Greg Hennessey in front of the net? Wow. No disrespect to Tyler Henry, Shawn Bates, or Matthew Register, but the Bonnyville power play is a lot less terrifying without Seigo. The Pontiacs have one of the top power plays in the AJHL, but with nearly five consecutive minutes on the power play between the end of the second and the start of the third, the Pontiacs mustered only one goal, and they were up five on three for about half of that, and in eight chances total they often looked lost. It does help that when the Pontiacs were threatening, they were stonewalled by goaltender Calvin Bartel, who was outstanding.
A couple of moves worth noting in Bobcats Country this week as well, as the team traded Dan Hillman to Kindersley to free up another import card down the road. Tough to see Hillman go, as he was a good mucker and a good kid, but those import cards are too valuable. Worth noting that’s three players the Bobcats have traded to Kindersley in the last month.
Two players on board as well, as the Bobcats acquired a pair of 18-year-old Calgary forwards in Logan Gabel and defenceman Jeremie Perron. A curious trade, in that the Bobcats didn’t give up a thing to get a forward with 17 points on a terrible team, and a defenceman who had 12 points. Gabel will make his debut tonight against Spruce Grove, while Perron won’t play until this weekend in Fort McMurray.
WEDNESDAY
As has been reported the Pontiacs have traded Kevin Carpenter to Flin Flon of the SJHL. 'Carp' was a good guy on and off the ice and I hope he finds a home with the Bombers. The SJHL seems a little more suited to his style of play so I wish him luck with his new organization.
The Pontiacs have also added 18 year old Calgary born D-man Alex Grill Donovan. Donovan played 38 games with the Brandon of the WHL. He split time this year with Brandon and the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins. In 5 games he had 1 assist with the Bruins before coming to Bonnyville. Perhaps most importantly he's from Calgary and doesn't count as an import. The Pontiacs are now back down to their max 8 import cards.
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A reminder to bring a donation to the foodbank to the game tonight. Another reminder to stick around after the game at the Weatherford Lounge as we will again move the Bear Slashings post game show to the lounge where we will be joined by assistant coach Ryan Pollock and whichever player Ryan brings with him. Hopefully someone who plays well.
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Let's make some noise tonight at the RJ. It's one of the toughest buildings for opposing teams to win in but after nest weekend when the Pontiacs finish up their first southern road trip of the year the team will have 14 home games left and only 7 left on the road. Anyone who doesn't think AJHL athletes aren't affected by a boisterous home crowd are kidding themselves.
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I think the NHL did Sean Avery a favour by not letting him play last night. Should have made him play and told Dion he wouldn't be held responsible for anything he did. That would have been a more suitable punishment.
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The teddy bears we collected at the game on November 22nd when Dave Tymo made good on his lost bet will be donated to the Emergency room of the Bonnyville Health Centre and to Bonnyville Victim's Services. Both good causes. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
The Pontiacs have also added 18 year old Calgary born D-man Alex Grill Donovan. Donovan played 38 games with the Brandon of the WHL. He split time this year with Brandon and the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins. In 5 games he had 1 assist with the Bruins before coming to Bonnyville. Perhaps most importantly he's from Calgary and doesn't count as an import. The Pontiacs are now back down to their max 8 import cards.
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A reminder to bring a donation to the foodbank to the game tonight. Another reminder to stick around after the game at the Weatherford Lounge as we will again move the Bear Slashings post game show to the lounge where we will be joined by assistant coach Ryan Pollock and whichever player Ryan brings with him. Hopefully someone who plays well.
-----
Let's make some noise tonight at the RJ. It's one of the toughest buildings for opposing teams to win in but after nest weekend when the Pontiacs finish up their first southern road trip of the year the team will have 14 home games left and only 7 left on the road. Anyone who doesn't think AJHL athletes aren't affected by a boisterous home crowd are kidding themselves.
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I think the NHL did Sean Avery a favour by not letting him play last night. Should have made him play and told Dion he wouldn't be held responsible for anything he did. That would have been a more suitable punishment.
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The teddy bears we collected at the game on November 22nd when Dave Tymo made good on his lost bet will be donated to the Emergency room of the Bonnyville Health Centre and to Bonnyville Victim's Services. Both good causes. Thanks to everyone who contributed.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
TUESDAY
The 6-1 loss in Lloydminster doesn't get any easier to handle 3 days later.
Is the rivalry between Lloydminster and Bonnyville starting to lose some of it's luster? Neither team looked all that intense on Saturday night. I expect we will see more emotion at the RJ Lalonde tomorrow night when Sherwood Park comes to town. Now the Cru and the Pontiacs played a hard fought first round playoff series last year that went the maximum five games, the two teams are closer together in the standings and the CJHL continues to rank Sherwood Park #1 in the country and if you can't get up for the best team in the country then perhaps you need a heart monitor.
I did a quick and likely inaccurate survey around the office with a question of "what was the most memorable Pontiacs game this year?" with the follow up being "Do you remember the two games Lloyd played at the RJ so far this season?". The answers I got for the first question ranged from "The game against that Calgary team with all the fights in the third" to "that game where they lost in overtime to Camrose was pretty good even though they lost" to "when Sherwood Park was here, can't wait for the game tomorrow, should be a good'er". I had one person who remembered a game against Lloyd who said "Didn't Shawn Bates score like four goals against them back at the start of the season or something? I remember Bates getting four... was that against Lloyd?". Yes, that was against the Bobcats.
So why is the rivalry not what it could be? Is it the lack of a recent playoff matchup? There hasn't really been an excessively dirty play to get the players and fans mad at one another. I don't notice many Bobcats fans making the trip up from Lloyd to the RJ to get into it vocally with Pontiacs fans, has life just been too busy in the Northeast part of the province for the past 3 years? Does the Pontiacs Blogger not get into enough with the play by play guy from Lloyd? I mean, heck, he even lets the Lloyd guy blog on his sight on Wednesdays. What do you think needs to happen. Let me know.
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For those of you from out of town or in town who just haven't been following it the Bonnyville Bingo Association has had to move buildings because the place they were set up is being moved. The Bonnyville Pontiacs organization works many Bingo's to help support the club and it was a bit of a concern, on behalf of the Pontiacs and the 36 other community groups that need the funding, the Bingo Association wouldn't find a place to move. Long story short the new Bingo hall is almost set to go as they have been putting the finishing touches on it all weekend and will continue to do so right up until tomorrow night.
I received this e-mail Monday morning and was given permission to share it.
Good morning Robb
The Bonny. Bingo Assoc. closed one chapter & turned a new page in relocating to the Centennial Bldg. ( Agri. Plex. ) last night . They will be opening up Wend. Dec. 3rd. Free coffee all
night & a Bonanza Special will happen . The 36 community
groups that form the Assoc. needed help with the move . At 9:30 last night they got it .. " when the going gets tough the tough get going " The entire Jr. A team showed up including staff , Chad , Ryan & Jimmy . B&R provided tractor - trailer , Matt Wojec came out of holidays to drive & help Marcel Robinson Supervisor & equip. operator . Century Steak loaned us a cube - van . Bingo hall staff Roger , Dave & Roger stayed as well as Pontiac Team Bingo members John , Cora , Doris , John & Rose . It continues today . They were all incredible , just great . They are winners . I could hear the players talking , they were happy to help , understood the importance of that help and were saying to one another " I don't want you to follow me , but I want to lead by example " It gave me chills . Go Pontiacs
Pontiacs Team Bingo
Coach & G.M.
John Smith
PS.. I'm still recruiting . looking for those that want to help make a difference .
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Portage College's annual food drive is underway and they will be collecting non perishable food items at the game tomorrow night.
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I also just got off the phone with former Pontiacs forward Matt Cook. Matt just won a gold medal for Canada at the World Sledge Hockey Championships. My interview with Matt will air during the first intermission of Friday night's game from Sherwood Park.
Is the rivalry between Lloydminster and Bonnyville starting to lose some of it's luster? Neither team looked all that intense on Saturday night. I expect we will see more emotion at the RJ Lalonde tomorrow night when Sherwood Park comes to town. Now the Cru and the Pontiacs played a hard fought first round playoff series last year that went the maximum five games, the two teams are closer together in the standings and the CJHL continues to rank Sherwood Park #1 in the country and if you can't get up for the best team in the country then perhaps you need a heart monitor.
I did a quick and likely inaccurate survey around the office with a question of "what was the most memorable Pontiacs game this year?" with the follow up being "Do you remember the two games Lloyd played at the RJ so far this season?". The answers I got for the first question ranged from "The game against that Calgary team with all the fights in the third" to "that game where they lost in overtime to Camrose was pretty good even though they lost" to "when Sherwood Park was here, can't wait for the game tomorrow, should be a good'er". I had one person who remembered a game against Lloyd who said "Didn't Shawn Bates score like four goals against them back at the start of the season or something? I remember Bates getting four... was that against Lloyd?". Yes, that was against the Bobcats.
So why is the rivalry not what it could be? Is it the lack of a recent playoff matchup? There hasn't really been an excessively dirty play to get the players and fans mad at one another. I don't notice many Bobcats fans making the trip up from Lloyd to the RJ to get into it vocally with Pontiacs fans, has life just been too busy in the Northeast part of the province for the past 3 years? Does the Pontiacs Blogger not get into enough with the play by play guy from Lloyd? I mean, heck, he even lets the Lloyd guy blog on his sight on Wednesdays. What do you think needs to happen. Let me know.
-----
For those of you from out of town or in town who just haven't been following it the Bonnyville Bingo Association has had to move buildings because the place they were set up is being moved. The Bonnyville Pontiacs organization works many Bingo's to help support the club and it was a bit of a concern, on behalf of the Pontiacs and the 36 other community groups that need the funding, the Bingo Association wouldn't find a place to move. Long story short the new Bingo hall is almost set to go as they have been putting the finishing touches on it all weekend and will continue to do so right up until tomorrow night.
I received this e-mail Monday morning and was given permission to share it.
Good morning Robb
The Bonny. Bingo Assoc. closed one chapter & turned a new page in relocating to the Centennial Bldg. ( Agri. Plex. ) last night . They will be opening up Wend. Dec. 3rd. Free coffee all
night & a Bonanza Special will happen . The 36 community
groups that form the Assoc. needed help with the move . At 9:30 last night they got it .. " when the going gets tough the tough get going " The entire Jr. A team showed up including staff , Chad , Ryan & Jimmy . B&R provided tractor - trailer , Matt Wojec came out of holidays to drive & help Marcel Robinson Supervisor & equip. operator . Century Steak loaned us a cube - van . Bingo hall staff Roger , Dave & Roger stayed as well as Pontiac Team Bingo members John , Cora , Doris , John & Rose . It continues today . They were all incredible , just great . They are winners . I could hear the players talking , they were happy to help , understood the importance of that help and were saying to one another " I don't want you to follow me , but I want to lead by example " It gave me chills . Go Pontiacs
Pontiacs Team Bingo
Coach & G.M.
John Smith
PS.. I'm still recruiting . looking for those that want to help make a difference .
-----
Portage College's annual food drive is underway and they will be collecting non perishable food items at the game tomorrow night.
-----
I also just got off the phone with former Pontiacs forward Matt Cook. Matt just won a gold medal for Canada at the World Sledge Hockey Championships. My interview with Matt will air during the first intermission of Friday night's game from Sherwood Park.
Monday, December 1, 2008
POWER RANKINGS
Power Rankings on TheRobbHunter.com are compiled by a panel of media members who follow the AJHL. Last weeks rankings are in ().
1. Grande Prairie Storm (3) -- A date with Grande Prairie is like a visit to a Star Trek convention. There isn't a whole lot of scoring going on. We have a new leader after the Storm sweep 4 games on a Southern road swing. Carter Rowney with a big weekend.
2. Spruce Grove Saints (2) -- Deserve better after outscoring this week's opponents 17-5 but like Ball St. in the BCS it's the strength of schedule that does them in. This weeks random BCS comparison is brought to you by American Thanksgiving.
3. Sherwood Park Crusaders (1) -- Tough to keep focused through an entire 62 game schedule and it looks like the Cru have just hit one of the patches where they put it in cruise control.
4. Okotoks Oilers (6) -- Beat the Bandits by more than a touchdown. We said here a month ago the Oilers would be dangerous when they were healthy. They are healthy and they are dangerous.
5. Brooks Bandits (5) -- Sometimes a game can get out of hand. Take the 12-3 loss to Okotoks out and the Bandits had a good week picking up 3 of a possible 4 points including a point against Grande Prairie. It continues to be the Gunderson/Grandberg show.
6. Bonnyville Pontiacs (4) -- One win in their last 4 and the Pontiacs play a pair against the Cru this week. Injuries remain an issue but with Captain Craig Cuthbert back in the lineup the team still lost 6-1 in Lloyd.
7. Fort McMurray Oil Barrons (7) -- Loss, Win, Loss, Win, Loss....inconsistency continues...powerplay 1 for 20 over the weekend.
8. St. Albert Steel (8) -- They were here last week because everyone below them lost. This week they were pressed from behind by teams winning but the Steel take one from Sherwood Park so they keep their Ranking and almost overtake Fort McMurray.
9. Olds Grizzly's (9) -- Jordan Kwas hat trick paces the Gizz over the Oilers and Olds picks up 3 of 4 points for the week.
10. Calgary Canucks (10) -- 5 of 6 points and the Canucks have righted the ship. Chase Komistek the story in double OT loss to Brooks while Aaron Dell picks up a pair of wins and a shutout.
11. Camrose Kodiaks (12) -- Brad McConnell has 6 points in 5 games since being acquired and has added claws to this Kodiaks attack. They could be higher if they had found a way to beat Okotoks but they get another shot at the Oilers this week.
12. Lloydminster Bobcats (14) -- The Bobcats outscored their two opponents this week 11-2. Calvin Bartel is having a Gavin McHale type impact. Cats also add a pair of 18 year olds from Calgary before the week is out. We'll see if this hot streak burns out faster than a meteorite but things are looking up in the border city.
13. Drumheller Dragons (11) -- Remember the old days... when the Dragons were in first place in the South a quarter of the way through the season? What happened to those days? Big matchup tomorrow against rival Brooks.
14. Canmore Eagles (13) -- They are here only because they beat the Royals at the start of the week. Played 5 games this week and finished with 4 losses. That's 8% of their schedule they won't get back.
15. Calgary Royals (16) -- Overtime winner over Drayton Valley has them back out of the Rankings cellar.
16. Drayton Valley Thunder (15) -- You would think a point against Sherwood Park would be enough to keep the Thunder out of last place but it was the head to head matchups that decided the final 3 spots in the Rankings, in reality they were the hardest 3 spots to finalize.
1. Grande Prairie Storm (3) -- A date with Grande Prairie is like a visit to a Star Trek convention. There isn't a whole lot of scoring going on. We have a new leader after the Storm sweep 4 games on a Southern road swing. Carter Rowney with a big weekend.
2. Spruce Grove Saints (2) -- Deserve better after outscoring this week's opponents 17-5 but like Ball St. in the BCS it's the strength of schedule that does them in. This weeks random BCS comparison is brought to you by American Thanksgiving.
3. Sherwood Park Crusaders (1) -- Tough to keep focused through an entire 62 game schedule and it looks like the Cru have just hit one of the patches where they put it in cruise control.
4. Okotoks Oilers (6) -- Beat the Bandits by more than a touchdown. We said here a month ago the Oilers would be dangerous when they were healthy. They are healthy and they are dangerous.
5. Brooks Bandits (5) -- Sometimes a game can get out of hand. Take the 12-3 loss to Okotoks out and the Bandits had a good week picking up 3 of a possible 4 points including a point against Grande Prairie. It continues to be the Gunderson/Grandberg show.
6. Bonnyville Pontiacs (4) -- One win in their last 4 and the Pontiacs play a pair against the Cru this week. Injuries remain an issue but with Captain Craig Cuthbert back in the lineup the team still lost 6-1 in Lloyd.
7. Fort McMurray Oil Barrons (7) -- Loss, Win, Loss, Win, Loss....inconsistency continues...powerplay 1 for 20 over the weekend.
8. St. Albert Steel (8) -- They were here last week because everyone below them lost. This week they were pressed from behind by teams winning but the Steel take one from Sherwood Park so they keep their Ranking and almost overtake Fort McMurray.
9. Olds Grizzly's (9) -- Jordan Kwas hat trick paces the Gizz over the Oilers and Olds picks up 3 of 4 points for the week.
10. Calgary Canucks (10) -- 5 of 6 points and the Canucks have righted the ship. Chase Komistek the story in double OT loss to Brooks while Aaron Dell picks up a pair of wins and a shutout.
11. Camrose Kodiaks (12) -- Brad McConnell has 6 points in 5 games since being acquired and has added claws to this Kodiaks attack. They could be higher if they had found a way to beat Okotoks but they get another shot at the Oilers this week.
12. Lloydminster Bobcats (14) -- The Bobcats outscored their two opponents this week 11-2. Calvin Bartel is having a Gavin McHale type impact. Cats also add a pair of 18 year olds from Calgary before the week is out. We'll see if this hot streak burns out faster than a meteorite but things are looking up in the border city.
13. Drumheller Dragons (11) -- Remember the old days... when the Dragons were in first place in the South a quarter of the way through the season? What happened to those days? Big matchup tomorrow against rival Brooks.
14. Canmore Eagles (13) -- They are here only because they beat the Royals at the start of the week. Played 5 games this week and finished with 4 losses. That's 8% of their schedule they won't get back.
15. Calgary Royals (16) -- Overtime winner over Drayton Valley has them back out of the Rankings cellar.
16. Drayton Valley Thunder (15) -- You would think a point against Sherwood Park would be enough to keep the Thunder out of last place but it was the head to head matchups that decided the final 3 spots in the Rankings, in reality they were the hardest 3 spots to finalize.
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