2018-19 CHL thread

[Destroydacre]

PA is real trouble as they drop their second game 6-3 to the Huskies of the QMJHL

Disappointing to see yet another WHL champion lay an egg in the Memorial Cup. I believe the WHL champion has now lost 12 straight games at the Memorial Cup (Red Deer and Regina have both won games as hosts in recent years) and if PA loses tomorrow it will be the 4th consecutive Memorial Cup where the WHL champion will have been the first team eliminated. The WHL only has 1 Memorial Cup victory since 2009. Really left scratching my head at what happened to the WHL in this tournament.

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

Get used to the name Ian Scott.

...for letting in the most goals ever at the Mem Cup, apparently.

 

[dash]

Disappointing to see yet another WHL champion lay an egg in the Memorial Cup. I believe the WHL champion has now lost 12 straight games at the Memorial Cup (Red Deer and Regina have both won games as hosts in recent years) and if PA loses tomorrow it will be the 4th consecutive Memorial Cup where the WHL champion will have been the first team eliminated. The WHL only has 1 Memorial Cup victory since 2009. Really left scratching my head at what happened to the WHL in this tournament.

I have been wondering about this for some time and I think there's too much emphasis being put on team systems and winning over skills developments (especially at the forward position) in the Dub. When was the last time that the Dub produced a top end scoring forward in the NHL? Do we have to go back as far as Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla? Ryan Getzlaf has had a fine career, but the top three forwards currently in the NHL who played junior hockey in the Dub are Draisaitl, Brayden Point, and Mathew Barzal (all three are fine players, but are just a notch below elite in my opinion). I guess you could also add Mark Stone to the three guys above.

The Dub still produces fine defensemen and goalies, but definitely seems to be lacking at the forward position. I think they need to take a serious look at what the National Development program is doing in the States along with what they doing in Finland as the Finns are churning out skilled forwards that are excelling in the NHL in large numbers these days.

 

[Destroydacre]

I have been wondering about this for some time and I think there's too much emphasis being put on team systems and winning over skills developments (especially at the forward position) in the Dub. When was the last time that the Dub produced a top end scoring forward in the NHL? Do we have to go back as far as Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla? Ryan Getzlaf has had a fine career, but the top three forwards currently in the NHL who played junior hockey in the Dub are Draisaitl, Brayden Point, and Mathew Barzal (all three are fine players, but are just a notch below elite in my opinion). I guess you could also add Mark Stone to the three guys above.

The Dub still produces fine defensemen and goalies, but definitely seems to be lacking at the forward position. I think they need to take a serious look at what the National Development program is doing in the States along with what they doing in Finland as the Finns are churning out skilled forwards that are excelling in the NHL in large numbers these days.

I'd maybe put Jamie Benn in that forwards mix as well, although he did have kind of a down year, but that's actually a really good point about forwards. All the real elites have come from the OHL, Q, USA or overseas. Hopefully the Dub gets it figured out sooner rather than later. I mean I get that it's really hard to win the Memorial Cup, but I'd like to see them at least be competitive.

 

[jstewismybastardson]

Disappointing to see yet another WHL champion lay an egg in the Memorial Cup. I believe the WHL champion has now lost 12 straight games at the Memorial Cup (Red Deer and Regina have both won games as hosts in recent years) and if PA loses tomorrow it will be the 4th consecutive Memorial Cup where the WHL champion will have been the first team eliminated. The WHL only has 1 Memorial Cup victory since 2009. Really left scratching my head at what happened to the WHL in this tournament.

My stock “excuse” would be to blame the grinding travel lol. But at least they let the dub teams fly for the championship series now.

2007-2008 was the last year the whl had 20 teams. Expansion has taken them to 22 teams. I guess you can say its just 2 teams but i think that dilutes the talent level on each team

I also think junior a in western canada takes some talent too. If you look at the finalists for the rbc/junior a championships for the past 11 years, 15 of the 22 teams have come from western canada

 

[jstewismybastardson]

I have been wondering about this for some time and I think there's too much emphasis being put on team systems and winning over skills developments (especially at the forward position) in the Dub. When was the last time that the Dub produced a top end scoring forward in the NHL? Do we have to go back as far as Joe Sakic and Jarome Iginla? Ryan Getzlaf has had a fine career, but the top three forwards currently in the NHL who played junior hockey in the Dub are Draisaitl, Brayden Point, and Mathew Barzal (all three are fine players, but are just a notch below elite in my opinion). I guess you could also add Mark Stone to the three guys above.

The Dub still produces fine defensemen and goalies, but definitely seems to be lacking at the forward position. I think they need to take a serious look at what the National Development program is doing in the States along with what they doing in Finland as the Finns are churning out skilled forwards that are excelling in the NHL in large numbers these days.

I have no real guess as to why “star” forwards dont develop in the whl other than to say because of the sheer population numbers in Ontario/Quebec, there is a higher likelihood that a superstar outlier player will come from that region than the west

Im not sure what the whl can do differently in terms of development ... afterall they are probably following the same hockey canada program that the ohl and qmjhl follow

When you talk about development you have to look at what the kids are doing before they get to the dub. 3 years ago, hockeycanada went to half ice hockey for the novice levels (which is more of a US type model) in hopes of increasing skill development.

Lets see how the scene look in 5-10 years. Some major shifts have happened. In BC, its the increase in big money academy programs (go look at this years whl bantam draft and try and find a bc player drafted from a community hockey association). In alberta, you have these renegade elite leagues that are playing outside the hockey canada program. Both say they are emphasizing kids skill development in a best on best environment. (Im more of the mind that theyre cashing in on parents inflated dreams lol)

 

[Bloody Brian Burke]

I have no real guess as to why “star” forwards dont develop in the whl other than to say because of the sheer population numbers in Ontario/Quebec, there is a higher likelihood that a superstar outlier player will come from that region than the west

I think the WHL region probably outpopulates the Q region now.

 

[dash]

It will be two teams from the QMJHL (Huskies vs. Mooseheads) for the 2019 Memorial Cup.

 

[juliansteed]

Go Huskies!

 

[naslundfan19]

1-0 Halifax after 1.

 

[naslundfan19]

2-2 after 2.

 

[naslundfan19]

4-2 Huskies.

 

[juliansteed]

Just started watching in the 3rd. It's barely been in the Huskies end since I started watching.

 

[naslundfan19]

Halifax hasn’t been able to do anything on the 3rd.

 

[dash]

Love it when small towns like Rouyn-Noranda win the Mem Cup.

 

[naslundfan19]

Don’t break the trophy, Huskies.

 

[juliansteed]

Congrats to the Huskies. They were definitely the best team in the country from start to finish.

 

[Destroydacre]

Congrats to the Huskies. They were definitely the best team in the country from start to finish.

Indeed, and I always prefer to see a league champion win over a non champion host. Congrats to Rouyn-Noranda!

 

[juliansteed]

What's impressive is that RN was 1 goal away from winning this tournament just 3 years ago, and they've been quite good during the other 2 seasons. I'm not sure if it's the same in the other leagues but in the Q it is very cyclical as teams tend to build around a certain age group. RN never sold the farm or bottomed out during their time between Memorial Cup finals appearances, which is why they still had some players from the 2016 team on this year's team.

 

[dash]

I'm hearing that Shaun Clouston and the Tigers have parted ways. Clouston leaves with the most wins as a coach in Tigers history and the Tigers made the playoffs in 8 out of 9 seasons with him as head coach and GM.

Could this pave the way for WillieD to make a return to Medicine Hat?!?