F Matt Strueby (Regina, 2006-10) signed a contract for this season with the Perth Thunder (Australia, AIHL). He had five goals and seven assists in 16 games with the University of Regina Cougars (CIS) and two goals and four assists in 23 games with the Colorado Eagles (ECHL) this season. The Australia regular season started May 4 and ends Sept. 1.
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A little of this and some of that:
1. The Halifax Mooseheads’ white sweaters are much better for the TV viewer than the ones they wore Saturday.
2. The person whose decision it was to hand out those noisemakers for Sunday’s Memorial Cup game should
have his/her pass revoked. Watching on TV, it often sounded as though the building was in the throes of a mosquito infestation.3. The Sportsnet telecast on Sunday began with an ode to Halifax F Nathan MacKinnon and his three-goal opener. What the talking heads forgot to mention is that MacKinnon was the beneficiary of some leaky goaltending by Mac Carruth of the Portland Winterhawks. Of Halifax’s seven goals in the opener, Carruth likely would want five of them back and three of those were scored by MacKinnon.
4. If Carruth had turned in many efforts like that in the WHL regular season or playoffs, the Winterhawks would have been on the beach long before now. BTW, anyone expecting Portland head coach Travis Green to change goaltending horses in midstream hasn’t been paying attention. . . . And how did Carruth handle things when he met the media on Sunday? He said his club didn’t get the goaltending. Check out this piece right here by Neate Sager of Yahoo! Sports.
5. Let’s thank the Saskatoon Blades for turning this into a tournament. Gee, you mean there’s more to this thing than Drouin, MacKinnon and Jones? . . . The Blades’ 5-2 victory over Halifax on Sunday means that if Portland beats the London Knights tonight, everyone is 1-1 and the fun really begins.
6. Saskatoon G Andrey Makarov won the goaltending battle last night, and the Blades won the game. That’s what can happen when your goaltender plays extremely well. . . . Of course, it helps when you're a bigger and more physical team that scores five times.
7. The Sunday game had its nasty moments. There were at least three really ugly knee-on-knee hits and that’s three too many.
8. The Blades went into Sunday having lost 13 straight postseason games. . . . Saskatoon F Josh Nicholls may be sore today, especially one knee, while F Lukas Sutter is likely going to need treatment on a shoulder.
9. The attendance on Sunday was 8,934, and there are people wondering why the Credit Union Centre, with a capacity of 15,195, isn’t full. Maybe it’s the ticket prices, the game being televised, summer-like weather. Or maybe it is what it is and this is what the major junior tournament is going to draw in Saskatoon. . . . You’ve gotta wonder what it would draw in Spokane or, say, Portland?
10. Alexis Normand is scheduled to sing O Canada prior to Tuesday’s Memorial Cup game. Yes, Normand is the singer who botched the The Star Spangled Banner on Saturday. Kevin Mitchell of the Saskatoon StarPhoenix has a story right here that details how she has dealt with that moment and all that has followed.
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If you are wondering what is happening with the film rights to that book over there on the right — Sudden Death: The Incredible Saga of the 1989 Swift Current Broncos — you’ve come to the right place. . . . Shayne Putzlocher and Holly Baird are in attendance at the Cannes International Film Festival as they work to spread the good word and canvas potential investors. . . . If you’re in Saskatoon at the Memorial Cup, there are copies of the book available at any of the three Coles stores (Midtown Plaza, Sask. Market Mall, Lawson Heights) or the Indigo store in The Centre.
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The AJHL-champion Brooks Bandits beat the host Summerside Western Capitals 3-1 on Sunday to win the RBC Cup, the national junior A championship. . . . This was the first time the Bandits have won the title. . . . F Cam Maclise, a ninth-round selection by the Edmonton Oil Kings in the 2007 WHL bantam draft, had an empty-net goal and an assist for Brooks. He was named the CJHL’s player of the year on Friday. . . . The final game drew a tournament record crowd of 4,211. . . . Brooks was the CJHL’s top-ranked team for the final 22 weeks of the regular season. . . . The Bandits are the first AJHL team to win the title since 2001 when the Camrose Kodiaks did it. . . . The 2014 RBC Cup is scheduled to be held in Vernon, B.C.———
THE COACHING GAME:
Adrian Dater of the Denver Post is reporting that Patrick Roy, the co-owner, general manager and head coach of the QMJHL’s Quebec Remparts, is a “strong candidate” to be the next head coach of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche. Dater’s report is right here.———
From Neate Sager (@neatebuzzthenet) of Yahoo! Sports): “Watching from the media room again b/c the wireless doesn't work on press row. Great Memorial Cup, Saskatoon.”
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One more from Sager: “This is what the #memorialcup is becoming, host team sits out for weeks, wears down a legitimate skilled team. All about the money, though”
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One more from Sager: “Alright, no more tweets about the Credit Union Centre wifi, kvetching gets old. Saskatoon's made it a tournament. #positives.”
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From Saskatoon Express editor Cam Hutchinson (@camhutchinson): “@neatebuzzthenet Enjoy your stay in our city and may you find a hotspot or a dial up connection ... #didsomebodyshitinyourcornflakes”
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From Matthew Gourlie (@MattGourlie) of the Moose Jaw Times-Herald: “Per twitter former MJ Warrior Jordan Henry is engaged to season 14 Bachelor contestant Jessie Sulidis. Henry is playing in Finland.”
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