20 Thoughts That Are Really Five Thoughts by the CCHL Commissioner!

 Hey everyone, your friendly commissioner is back with another one of these columns to discuss the happenings of the CCHL.  

1)  The first-ever CCHL prospect tournament has been a pretty fun experience thus far.  Going into the tournament the top three teams on paper in my eyes proved to be the top three in the tournament so we at least know that the rating system is accurate.  I'd love to know the feedback from everyone that participated in it as well.  Did you like it?  Hate it?  Would rather just run regular games from the 21st to the 31st?  

I know I did not receive as many lines as I thought I might have received for it.  I'm not sure if that's a product of injuries being off, the holidays, or both.  It does not really matter to me as life is easier in the set up I run not to have them but I never mind getting them.  

If we do run it again I would definitely like to be a little less last minute so we can have a better website for it rather than just using the file directory as it has proven challenging for a few people to find what they are looking for.  

2)  A lot of post-Christmas break trade activity is rolling in.  The Halifax Norsemen are really diving deep on a rebuild after a slow month caused Mr. Wendt some concerns about his team's construction this year.  Seeing Claude Giroux, Nicklas Backstrom, Tavares, and Voracek move out in one day could be concerning for their fan base but Blake will have them back in little time I'm sure.  

3)  Still on the trade front, I have never seen so many minor deals made at one time.  It seems like people are just making trades for the sake of making trades!  I know that's not the case but I was surprised at the volume of trades that have come in since the trade freeze was lifted.  I thought everyone would be enjoying time with their families but they were working the phones.  If Santa did not put the player under the tree for you, you're going to go out and get it!  

4)  Game 41 is coming up very soon for everyone so I'm expecting a flurry of trades after that point in time as well.  I really do personally think that we are going to need to look at that rule as the intent was to ensure financial sacrifice was needed but it's led to just a lot of backlogged transactions and pre-arranged trades.  Just speaking for myself I'd much rather see that rule turn into you can trade them before game 41 but the team that signed the UFA should be responsible for paying the first full year of the salary regardless if it's a trade in the preseason or game 7.  This would eliminate the roster inflexibility while keeping that financial implication in place.  

5)  I'll leave you with my wishes for a Happy New Year.  I don't think I need to tell everyone how tough 2020 was as everyone experienced it in their own way.  The one thing I can honestly say is that when we started 2020, I did not think I'd be at the helm of this CCHL ship.  I thought we had a good group at the top and I was sad to see Bill leave the league.  I can only hope one day he'll be back as a GM of the Dayton Musicmen however that time does not appear to be anytime soon.  

What I wanted to do is just say thanks to those that have stepped up to help the league run on a daily basis and to those that have for years.  Of course, thank you to each member of the league as well for the time you spend making it fun for everyone.  I'd like to think that the prospect tournament, moving to an online site draft and auto submitting the lineups have made your lives a bit easier as well.  I would say it has based on the pace we're on for lineup submissions this year and it's exciting to see.  I'm happy we have the group of hockey fanatics we have and look forward to this season and beyond.  

The Nickel Report

 The Nickel Report – Evaluating the 2020-21 Sudbury Miners:  Volume 5

 

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

 

Up to games ending on December 14, 2020

Miners 10-Game (Double Nickel) Record:  6 wins, 2 losses, 2 OT loss.

Miners League Standing:  20 wins, 11 losses, 7 OT Loss = 47 points total.  Currently sit in 3rd place in the Canosa Conference, 6th overall in the CCHL.

Miners Special Teams:  Power Play – 20.2% (10th); Penalty Kill – 80.8% (10th)

Miners Scoring Leader:  Winger Johnny Gaudreau (21G – 27A = 48 pts; 6th Overall in the CCHL)

Complacency is not a word that seems to fit into the vocabulary of the Sudbury Miners Management this season.

It appears that the Miners believe their window to win is wide open and with their two recent acquistions, the Miners are swinging for the fences.

The first move saw the Miners acquire one of the top players in CCHL in Auston Matthews from Bismarck.  This was a huge move for the Miners, as they now boast Matthews, Sebastien Aho and Brayden Point as their top three centers – all of whom are under 25 years old.  The price was not cheap however, as Pierre-Luc Dubois, Brock Boeser along with prospect Philip Broberg and a 2022 1^st round pick would make their way to Bismarck.  

“We know the price may seem steep, but the opportunity to get one of the top players in the CCHL, who is just starting to hit his prime is something that we could not pass on.  We had built enough depth with our prospect pool and draft picks to afford a deal of this nature”, stated General Manager Terry James.

From there, GM James was not done.   He quickly swung another deal to get a top winger to play with Matthews, acquired Johnny Gaudreau from Calgary.   The deal would see the Miners part with young forward Luke Kunin, prospect Alexander Holtz and a 2021 1^st round pick. 

“Johnny Gaudreau is a top echelon player, who is in his prime.  We see him forming a dynamic partnership with Matthews for years to come and really driving our offence.  We are happy to have him in the Nickel City”.

With these recent acquisitions, the message sent to the players was loud and clear.  Miners management believes they are in a window to win and will continue to be aggressive in order to, hopefully, reach their goal.

 

MINERS PLAYER PROFILE:  Brandon Saad

The veteran Saad has always had excellent two-way instincts and hockey sense. Skates very well and also possesses good size.  While he has never been a huge scorer, he can put points on the board with some consistency and is an asset on special teams.  He is not an elite playmaker or goal-scorer, but rather a complementary winger which makes him a good fit with the Miners right now, given their depth up front.

 

MINERS PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW:  Nick Robertson

Robertson is a natural when he has the puck on his stick, as both a playmaker and goal-scorer. He puts up points naturally and can be a big asset with the man advantage.  He is a bit undersized, so he will need to become stronger in order to maximize production at the highest level. He will also need to improve his skating, which is only average. Has good bloodlines as the younger brother of fellow scorer Jason Robertson.  CCHL arrival:  2022-22.

Wisborg World Junior Blog

 WIS players represented in WJC-20

Well, the pre tournament festivities are gone (also called X-mas) and now the real fun begin, the WJC-tournament. This year it will extra fun since Corona has made it harder than ever to see the prospects especially if for the younger ones drafted this year. Will there be undrafted players in NHL that are drafted in CCHL? Are CCHL GMs more clever than the NHL GMs?

Well, on to the parade of player sorted by team, for my reference during games. :-)

Austria -none

Canada -none

Czech republic -1 player

    Michal Teplý (F) drafted by Chicago 105 in 2019 and WIS 83/209

Finland -none

Germany -none

Russia -none

Slovakia - 1 player

    Matej Kaslik (F) undrafted in NHL and drafted by WIS 245/2020

Sweden - 6 players

    Hugo Alnefelt (G) drafted by Tampa Bay 71 in 2019 and drafted by WIS 61/2019

    Calle Clang (G) drafted by Pittsburgh 77 in 2020 and drafted by WIS 113/2020

    Gustav Berglund (D) drafted by Detroit 177 in 2019 and drafted by WIS 259/2019

    Zion Nybeck (W/C) drafted by Carolina 115 in 2020 and drafted by WIS 47/2020

    Lucas Raymond (RW) drafted by Detroit 4 in 2020 and drafted by WIS 3/2020

    Elmer Söderblom (RW/LW) drafted by Detroit 159 in 2019 and drafted by WIS 215/2019

Switzerland - 1 player

    Simon Knak (F) undrafted in NHL and by WIS 201/2020

USA -none

So all in all, there will 9 WIS players in this years tournament. Most from Sweden as expected and all from Europe. Interestingly there are 2 undrafted players from WIS, maybe this will be the window for them to show their skills for next year.

Millers mid-season Prospect Rankings

 

Millers mid-season Prospect Rankings

 

After an off-season spent acquiring vets with big contracts (often with prospects and draft picks attached) the Millers quickly reversed course after a slow start, trading off the vets and adding more picks and prospects. Defensive prospects in particular were upgraded.

The updated prospect list will be presented both numerically and by position.

Bold indicates acquired via trade this season                                 *indicates is included on 2020-21 roster

Top 20 Prospects   1. Alex Newhook 2. Seth Jarvis 3. Ty Smith 4. Joel Farabee 5. Ian Mitchell 6. Scott Perunovich 7. Arthur Kaliyev 8. Lukas Dostal 9. Tyler Madden 10. K’Andre Miller 11. Alex Texier 12. Samuel Fagemo 13. Jared McIssac 14. Brendan Brisson 15. Marat Khusnutdinov 16. Martin Fehervary 17. Helge Grans 18. Martin Chromiak 19. Vladisav Firstov 20. Tyler Tullio

G                                                                                                             

Lucas Dostal

Olle Eriksson Ek

 

D

Ty Smith

Ian Mitchell

Scott Perunovich

K’Andre Miller

Jared McIssac

Martin Fehervary

Helge Grans

 

C

Alex Newhook

Seth Jarvis

Tyler Madden

Brendan Brisson

Marat Khusnutdinov

 

W

Joel Farabee*

Arthur Kaliyev

Alex Texier

Samuel Fagemo

Martin Chromiak

Vladislav Firstov

Tyler Tullio

 

Prospects Traded:

D Andrew Peeke

D Peter DIlibertore

C Barrett Hayton

W Alex Formenton

W Jan Jenik

W Jesse Ylonen

State of the Loons; World Junior Edition

Thankfully the pandemic could not stop the 2021 World Juniors from taking place. Capeside is proud to have 12 players playing in the tournament:  Representing the United States: Trevor Zegras, Henry Thrun, Matt Boldy, Patrick Moynihan and Landon Slaggert (Commesso and Beecher tested positive for the Rona prior to the tournament and were ineligible)  Representing Germany :              Tim Steutzle, Lukas Reichel and Max Glotzl   Representing Russia :                  Yegor Chinakhov and Egor Afanasyev We last took a look at our prospect rankings back in April while we were in the midst of a fire sale. Back then our rankings looked like this: 1.  Zadina 2.  Zegras 3.  Turcotte 4.  Kaliyev 5.  Boldy 6.  Oettinger 7.  Wahlstrom 8.  Afanasyev 9.  Pinto 10.Beecher Like always Capeside has been active on the trade market and Zadina, Turcotte and Kaliyev have been sent packing. Nine months later our prospects look like this: 10. LUKAS REICHEL  Reichel was selected higher then predicted in the NHL draft and continues to preform at a high level in the German DEL against men. Reichel possesses fantastic skating and a goal scoring touch. Should spend at least another year in the DEL adding muscle before coming over to the US.  9. EGOR AFANASYEV Egor was loaned to the KHL prior to the start of the Junior tournament and in 4 games with Moskva he netted 2 goals with an assist. He already has a NHL build and should get an invite to camp with an outside shot of making the Predators this year. 8. HENDRIX LAPIERRE Concerns over the thought that Hendrix had suffered multiple concussions caused him to slide in the NHL draft. Thankfully it seems that it was not concussions but a less serious vertebrae injury. Lapierre is a top 10 talent providing fantastic playmaking skills. If his body holds up the sky's the limit for him. 7. YEGOR CHICAKHOV Biggest surprise of the NHL draft this past year and he has shown that Columbus knew what they were doing when they grabbed him at 21. Playing in the KHL, Yegor has 15 points in 27 games as a 19 year old. After being reacquired Dubois came to us and told us that he wanted Yegor here. What Dubois wants, Dubois gets. 6. OLIVER WAHLSTROM Our first ever draft pick and we are still hoping he can get it together. Oliver has all the skills but questions on his hockey sense and defensive abilities have held him back. Oliver needs a wake up call or he could be a bust. 5. JAKE OETTINGER This is likely Jake's last time on a prospect list as he should be ready for a back up role with the Stars this year after playing well in the AHL and seeing time in two NHL playoff games last year. Loons future number 1 goalie. 4. JAKE BEAN Our best defensive prospect and should be in the NHL this year after a dominant performance in the AHL last year. Questions surrounding Jake are not on his abilities but if there is a spot for him on the deep Carolina blueline. Jake's skills will force Carolina to make a spot for him. 3. TIM STEUTZLE Capeside took a chance on Steutzle and selected him over Quinton Byfield in last year's draft. Even after breaking his arm earlier this year, Steutzle showed Ottawa enough in Worlds to offer him his first pro contract. Steutzle's skating is dynamic and his compete level is fantastic. Our hope is that playing in the German men's league will lessen the shock of NHL, even though we expect Tim to take plenty of lumps in his rookie year. 2. MATT BOLDY This time last year we were ready to write Matt off as he looked overwhelmed in the NCAA. Mid way through Boston College year Matt started to break out and ended up with a solid 26 points in 34 games. This year Matt is showing what a dominant player he had the potential to be. Matt has come roaring out of the gates putting up 8 points in his first 4 games at BC while showing an improved two way game with improved back check and what has stood out in his second season is his willingness to get in the shooting lanes to block shots from the point. Every time Boldy has been on the ice this year for the Eagles he seems to be noticeable in both ends of the ice. I expect this to be Boldy's last year in college and could even get a look with Minnesota or in the AHL once the Eagle's season ends. 1. TREVOR ZEGRAS Concerns around Zegras' game were that he was a one dimensional passer, never looking for his own shot. Zegras was overshadowed by Hughes and Turcotte in the US program. At BU last year Zegras started to put those concerns to rest by showing that he has the ability to take over a game. Even though most of the highlights were still of his ability to seemingly have eyes in the back of his head when finding teammates with a great pass, Trevor still scored 11 goals in 33 games at BU. This year Zegras appears to have taken the next step in his development by showing he can be a scorer at the World Junior tournament. 5 goals and 5 assists in the first 3 games. Zegras has shown the ability to slow the game down being able to go 1 on 3 while waiting for his team to set up. Hopefully we will get to see how Zegras performs against a loaded team Canada this year. Zegras signed his ELC last year and will likely play in the AHL while trying to add some muscle - though his performance at Worlds could give Anaheim reasons to give him a shot in the NHL. For the Loons Zegras will compete with PLD for first line center duties. We had thought of Zegras as another Ryan Johansen. A solid top 6 playmaking center. Our hope is Zegras' compete level will continue to propel him to being more then that with a real chance to be a star. LOONS PROSPECT DEPTH CHART LEFT WING                CENTER                RIGHT WING                DEFENSEMEN            GOALIES T. Steutzle                  T. Zegras                  O. Wahlstrom                    J. Bean                    J. Oettinger M. Boldy                    H. Lapierre                 J. Puljujarvi                      Z. Jones                 D. Commesso    E. Afanasyev               S. Pinto                     Y. Chinakhov                   H. Thrun                 V. Vehvilainen     L. Reichel                   J. Beecher                  J. Perreault                  D. Farrance                  D. Vladar B. Tracey                    J. O'Brien                      D. Bokk                        B. Wilde J. Lauko                   G. Goncalves               A. Beaucage                    I. Moore J. Kuokkanen             L. Hutsko                    Z. Senyshyn                    J. Ahcan        ReplyForward

State of the Loons; Return of the PLD

 It has been a struggle to find positives to blog about this year - but we need that bonus money so here is another riveting State of the Loons!

Our first of many moves when taking over for the Ottawa Barracudas was a blockbuster with Siberia. At the time it was a very controversial trade that required a long, tough 85-minute long phone call with the previous commissioner. But after days of negotiations Silvio and I hammered this deal out:

SIB trades Pierre-Luc Dubois-p, Jakub Zboril-p, Erik Brannstrom-p, Brett Howden-p, Julius Nattinen-p, Z. McIntyre-M, T. Greiss & $2M to NEW for C. Hellebuyck, N. Schmaltz-M, M. Stone, M. Streit, Josh Norris-p & Adam Huska-p...

For Siberia the big fish was Connor Hellebuyck. Goalies were of greater importance in the old sim and Connor was young and on the verge of being one of the top goalies in the NHL. Schmaltz was a rising star at the time of the trade on his way to a break out 50 point season in his sophomore campaign. Though looking back it appears that Josh Norris might end up being the biggest catch of the deal for Siberia.

For Capeside it was all about Dubois. We identified PLD as the player that we wanted to build our franchise around. Dubois led the Loons to the playoffs his first two seasons in Capeside while mainly centering our top line. This past offseason we admittedly made a huge mistake and chose to trade Dubois to Sudbury in order to move up in the draft. Last week we began working to rectify that mistake...

After multiple attempts to engage Sudbury in trade discussions around Dubois we came up with a new plan, we needed Austin Matthews. It took some time and an outrageous offer but we finally got Bismark to consider trading away Matthews. We thought we had him and we already putting together our offer to Sudbury when a trade block came through from Bismark announcing to the league that Matthews was available. We should have been happy that part of our plan had worked however now we had to compete with 20 other CCHL teams to get our best trade chip. We still felt that our offer of multiple first-round draft picks along with Tim Stutzle and another top prospect was a strong offer and could still land Matthews. After an anxious few hours, we were relieved to hear from Bismark that it was down to our offer and a Sudbury offer. We were transparent with Bismark and explained we were really just looking to flip Matthews for Dubois and some Sudbury prospects, but we would be willing to rework our offer if he chose to deal with Sudbury and is able to obtain Dubois. When all was said and done a three-team deal was completed sending Matthews to Sudbury, Dubois to Capeside, and a combination of multiple  2022 firsts and great prospects to Bismark. Everyone got what they wanted.

PLD was rightly frustrated with us when we contacted him via Zoom to inform him that he is coming back to Capeside. He expressed feeling betrayed and devalued after being traded away for a draft pick and was disgusted at the thought of playing with the roster that we were putting out on the ice now.  We presented him with our rebuilding plan and went over the prospects that should be ready to contribute over the next two seasons. We also guaranteed PLD that we would continue to look to improve our current roster when opportunities arise and we handed him our very first and probably last no-trade clause to his contract.

In our next State of the Loons we will focus on our prospect pool and their development. 

Siberia Representation at the Prospect Tournament

 

Hello sports fans. As we get closer to the Christmas and New Years seasons, the CCHL will be holding a special event this season, a prospect tournament. CCHL teams will be paired together and will put forth their best team, with equal representation from both teams. The Siberia Icecats have been paired with the Georgetown Millers. Both teams have a deep prospect pool which should yield a very strong prospect team. Let’s take a look at the representation from the Siberia Icecats.

Goalies

·         Yaroslav Askarov – all-world Russian netminder will be one of the two goalies representing the team. Askarov certainly has the pedigree to backstop this team. He has a ridiculous 0.96 GAA through 7 games in the KHL this season.

Defense – this is the area of strength for the Icecats

·         Bowen Byram – the young Colorado rearguard is well known for his offense. He may anchor a top even strength of power play line

·         Jake Sanderson – the recent fifth overall pick is a “do it all” defenseman and will be relied upon to shut down some of the best prospects in the tournament

·         Thomas Harley – the Dallas dman has been rising up the prospect charts and should spark the Icecats/Millers offense

·         Evan Bouchard – Evan is the most mature of the Icecats defensive prospects and should bring leadership and experience to this young group

Forwards – while not as strong, the Icecats have several talented players ready to contribute

·         Josh Norris – this Senators prospect is being counted in on Ottawa to stabilize the center ice position for years to come. He will be looked upon to do the same in this tournament

·         Vasily Ponomorev – the young Russian center is averaging a ppg this season in the Q and will bring offense to this team

·         Jamieson Rees – this young center came out of nowhere to dominate the OHL last year, averaging over 1.5 ppg

·         Samuel Poulin – this hulking winger has the size to drive opponents crazy in front of the goal. He has been lighting up the Q the past 3 seasons

·         Noel Gunler – the talented Swedish winger is a natural goal scoring ability. Can he translate that into success against the CCHL’s best prospects?

·         Raphael Lavoie – the young winger may end up on McDavid’s wing in the near future, but for now, he will have to put his goal scoring skills to use to help the Icecats/Millers team win. Lavoie averaged .70 goals per game last year in the Q. Wow!

Overall, it seems that the Icecats are well represented in this tournament. Couple that with the equally talented prospects from the Millers and it’s easy to see that this team will be one of the favorites. That’s it for now, sports fans, see you in late December!

 

The Nickel Report – Evaluating the 2020-21 Sudbury Miners: Volume 4

 CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

 

Up to games ending on November 16, 2020

Miners 5-Game (Nickel) Record:  2 wins, 2 losses, 1 OT loss.

Miners League Standing:  13 wins, 7 losses, 3 OT Loss = 24 points total.  Currently sit in 6th place in the Canosa Conference, 10th overall in the CCHL.

Miners Special Teams:  Power Play – 19.3% (12th); Penalty Kill – 81.2% (10th)

Miners Scoring Leader:  Defenceman Roman Josi (7G – 22A = 29 pts; 14th Overall in the CCHL)

 

Inconsistent.

There is no other way to describe the Miners play the past few weeks, and considering the talent level on this club, the results have been a bit disappointing so far.

“We can’t seem to find a rhythm right now”, stated Coach Derek Sutton.  “It seems like we have one line that is good per night, but can never get 2 or 3 rolling at the same time.   It’s a balance and as a coaching staff, we are trying different combinations to get something to work.  But, ultimately it falls on the players to produce, and some of them need to look in the mirror and get it into gear”.

Miners management is not willing to be as patient with this group though, considering its investment.   General Manager Terry James was able to orchestrate a trade to part with under-performing winger Artemi Panarin.  In return, the Miners received wingers Tanner Pearson, Luke Kunin and a couple of draft picks, not to mention the salary savings.

But, the message was sent to the players loud and clear.  Miners management will not sit still and watch this season go off the rails, so it is safe to expect that under producing players could find their way out of the Nickel City.

 

MINERS PLAYER PROFILE OF THE WEEK:  Nikita Kucherov

As goalie’s know around the CCHL, Kucherov is a great shooter.  Has an explosive skating stride and has great one-on-one moves.  He can beat defenders on the outside with relative frequency and ease.  He simply oozes offensive talent.  He is not very big, so you will not see him engage physically with opponents on a regular basis, but that doesn’t take away from what he is – one of the top offensive players in all of the CCHL.

 

MINERS PROSPECT NEED TO KNOW:  Victor Soderstrom

Soderstrom is seen as a talented, all-around defenceman prospect with good upside.  He has very good hockey IQ and overall feel for the game, which are traits that set him apart from other prospect of his age.  He is very mobile and a great skater and excels at both ends of the ice.  He can be relied upon to eat up chunks of ice time in any game situation. He does lacks a little in size and strength for the CCHL game, so he must bulk up in order to maximize his talents.  CCHL arrival:  2023-24.