New comer Matthew Tkachuk scores on his debut, Chinook dominate in home opener win against Orrsmen

CALGARY – For the 2019-20 season, Matthew Tkachuk will be an assistant captain for the Chinook. We’d expect the 21-year-old superstar to try to fill the net every night. And as we saw on Friday night at Scotiabank Bank Saddledome, Tkachuk remains rather capable scoring against the Parry Sound Orrsmen in the season opener, propelling the Calgary to a 5-2 victory.

“Chunky is scoring and hitting everything in sight,” Captain Mark Giordano said. “He is always ready. As teammates, you become a bit used to it, but when you take a step back and look at it, it’s pretty impressive.”

Jakob Silfverberg, flying all night, scores a pair in the first period. Orrsemen Kevin
Labanc scores a quick goal just 3 seconds left in the first period pass Carey Price to get
the Orrsmen back by 1. Pelech would then scores for the Orrsmen to tie the game at 2
in the second period. Then, on a Calgary power play beginning of the third, it was
Aleksander Barkov beating Orrsmen goalie Jacob Markstrom on a one-timer and
eventually the game winning goal.

“They were unbelievable passes,” Barkov said. “When Pasta have the puck, you have
to be ready. You never know when it can come to you, but he made an unbelievable
pass and then Carlson had eyes in the back of his head on the power play there. It was
an amazing pass and I tried to get it off as quick as possible.”

The Chinook, before a sellout crowd of 19,289, were in control for much of the evening.
Tkachuk and Barkov will wear the ‘A’ on an alternating basis, while Giordano is a
permanent captain.

“He is the kind of man and kind of leader and kind of person that our guys look up to,”
GM/Coach Eugene said. “He does everything right every day. He is about winning. He
is a great example for all of us.”

UP NEXT:

Chinook will travel to Parry Sound for the second half of the back to back series against
the Orrsmen on Saturday.

twitter.com/chinookhockey

Millers season preview for 2019-2010

Goalies:

Jordan Bennington, the rookie who has been in the system since 2013, is expected to get the
majority of the time in the net - he can play in a maximum of 48 games. Curtis McElhinney will pick
up the remaining starts, and if Bennington struggles or gets injured can appear in a max of 50
games. Antii Niemi is the 3rd goalie and would only see the ice in an emergency situation.

Defensemen:

Roman Josi returns as team captain and as the #1 Dman. He saw time with several partners in
the pre-season but is expected to open the campaign with Ben Chiarot on his flank. Chiarot has
toiled as the Millers 7th Dman the last couple of years but comes into this season with his best
shot at a regular lineup spot.

Dougie Hamilton and Brett Pesce seem locked-in as the 2nd pairing, with Pesce seen as the
perfect compliment to Hamilton’s offensive aggressiveness. Pesce is no zero with the puck and
could see 2nd unit Power-Play time.

Dmitri Orlov will pair with Troy Stecher on the 3rd pairing. Orlov was on the top unit with Josi
last season but the duo was split up to get Chiarot’s muscle alongside Josi and to spread the
offense across the D pairings. Stecher is not in Pesce’s class as a 2 way defenseman but he’s
solid and would likely move to the top pair if Chiarot struggles.

Mike Green is the 7th Dman and will most often be utilized as a PP specialist in a 7 man D set-
up. None of the blueliners have major injury concerns so Green will only see the ice if the PP
struggles or multiple forwards are hurt. Brett Kulak and Dean Kukan are also around but don’t figure to see much action until next season.

Forwards:

For a team with championship aspirations, the Millers have controversially decided to eschew
using a true #1 Center, instead of using Brayden Schenn and Michael Backlund as their top 6
pivots. Schenn and Backlund’s numbers are not what one expects from a “top-line” Center but
the Millers prefer to attack in waves and still be defensively responsible. Teuvo Teravainen and
Justin Williams will line up as wings on one line with Jakub Voracek and Brett Boeser on the
other but expect a lot of fluidity with this top 6.

The 3rd line features a newcomer, a returnee and a player looking to rebound from a rough
previous season. Paul Byron is the newcomer and he will trade off with returnee Patric Hornqvist
on both wings. Byron will be counted on as a key penalty-killer and also provide around 30 to 40
points. Hornqvist should see some PP time and would be the probable pick to move up if an
injury strikes a top 6 wing. The rebound is hopefully coming from Cody Eakin, who had chances
last season with the Millers but could not keep a lineup spot. Eakin will also be used as a
penalty-killer. Both Byron and Hornqvist have some injury concerns.

Jeff Carter returns to Georgetown after a brief move to Dayton. He has embraced his new role
as bottom 6 forward and PP contributor. Expect Carter to see most of his time at RW, although
he is slated to play C on the 2nd PP unit. He would also move up to the 3rd line if an injury
opened up a spot. Radek Faksa has spent the last couple of years as Georgetown’s 3rd line
Center and chief penalty-killer but seems likely to see his role reduced this year. He’s still
expected to contribute on the PK but it appears Eakin and possibly Backlund have moved
ahead of him in the pecking order. Jordan Martinook rounds out the 4th line - his crash and
bang style and penalty-killing prowess endeared him to Millers fans after his early season
signing last year. He’s counted on to do more of the same this year.

Forward depth will be supplied by Jason Dickinson and Tobias Rieder, with rookies Jesperi
Kotkaniemi and Warren Foegele biding their time in the minors. Dickinson would be most likely
to step into an opening due to injury, and if there were multiple lineup spots open due to health
it’s likely the club would utilize Green as a 7th Dman before letting Rieder see the ice.

Chinook Season Preview (Part two):

Why they should make the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Few teams possess the talent, speed, skill and depth of the Chinook. Pastrnak and Gaudreau give them two elite goal-scorers. Giordano and Carlson are a strong pair on defense, and Price remains one of the top goalies in the League.

Why they could miss the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Chinook appear likely for a postseason berth unless they have to deal with a lot of
major injuries that would challenge their depth. The bottom 2 lines would need to
increase their productions.

Breakout candidate

Tkachuk. The 22-year-old will be in the lineup to open the season and is expected to
expand on his production (44 points) last season. Tkachuk has emerged as an
extremely valuable player for the Chinook. He plays a very complete two-way game,
especially given his age, but the thing that elevates both Tkachuk and his teammates is
that he’s such an incredible pain in the ass to play against. At a very young age, he’s
already emerged as the league’s top agitator.

On the hot seat

Panarin. With his 14 million contracts. Panarin needs to up his production this year to
prove then he is worth the contract or things will goe south really quick.

Quotable

"I think last year was good practice for this year. Going into last year, we had a big
target on our backs, and that hasn't changed this year. I think you look around our
division, and you see every team added a lot, every team got better, and I think our
conference is going to be a lot tougher. It seemed like every free agent that was picked
up came into our conference."  -- Captain Mark Giordano

Bold Predictions:

1. Johnny Gaudreau will lead the CCHL in assists
2. David Pastrnak hits the 50 goals mark
3. Panarin will be traded before the deadline
4. Chinook and Musicmen will have at least 5 trades with each other this season

Chinook Season Preview (Part one):

One last triumph for the financially strapped Chinook

At a glance

2018-19 record: 43-34-5, 91 points, 4th in Corfield Conference, 11th overall standing

2019 Kehler Cup Playoffs: lost to the Dayton Musicmen in seven games in Corfield Conference First Round.

Additions: F: Derek Ryan, Matthew Tkachuk, Bobby Ryan, James Neal; D: Sami
Vatanen, Scott Harrington

Subtractions: F: Henrik Sedin, Tyler Bozak, Jason Pominville, Mikael Backlund; D:
Alex Pietrangelo

The defending champion Calgary Chinook performed well below their expectation with
91 points and got within one win of advancing to the second round of playoff last season
and will have much of the same lineup to try and get over the hump this season.

General manager Eugene Yip was successful in retaining the Chinook core with
contracts for forwards Panarin and O’Reilly, and defenseman Mark Giordano. With
Panarin signing for a whopping 14 million per year contract, the Chinook need to find
ways to fix the financial problem with the projected balance well below the league
average this season. “There’s not much we can do. “said Eugene “Salaries have
inflated exponentially for the elite players in the league over the last few seasons. We
have to find ways to stay competitive. You can’t have four good lines in today’s CCHL
with this trend of increasing salaries.”

That core has been together for the past three to four years but much of it is fairly
young, including Barkov, 24, Gaudreau, 26, forwards Aretmi Panarin 27, Ryan O’Reilly
27, David Pastrnak, 23. Newly acquired Matthew Tkachuk in the offseason is only 22
and will be a big part of the core this season.

“This season would be our last season challenging for the cup. Big changes are coming
regardless of the outcome, it is just sooner or later depending of our performances.”
Said Yip.

Eugene said he expects more scoring and better power-play production out of the
Chinook this season with Barkov, Gaudreau, O’Reilly, Pastrnak and Tkachuk all having
career years in the NHL and Giordano winning the Norris trophy with his close to point
per game production.

Nino Niederreiter, 27, scored 12 goals last season and will be asked to produce more
playing on the bottom two lines. Veteran two-way forwards Jakob Silfverberg and
Defensemen Kris Letang also will be asked to do more offensively.

An Inside look at the Sudbury Miners - 2019-20 CCHL Season Preview

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

Making the playoffs was a bonus for this young, growing core. With another year of experience,
Sudbury continues to trend upward but there will still be some growing pains and the added pressure
from the fan-base to build on last season’s success. Are these young Miners up to the task??

Kehler Cup odds: 35-1

Key Additions: Evgeni Malkin, C; Nicklas Backstrom, C; Ivan Provorov, D; Jake Muzzin, D

Key Departures: Wayne Simmonds, W; Anthony Mantha,W; Christian Dvorak, W

The Sudbury Miners ended their 2018-19 season with a 42-28-12 record, good for 5 th in the
Canosa Conference and in the process, locked up their first playoff berth in franchise history. Despite
getting bounced in 5 games by the Springfield Isotopes, the Miners were very pleased with the season as a whole. Many of their young players took a step forward gaining valuable ice-time and experience as they chased a playoff berth. But, now pressure begins for the Miners. With the unexpected playoff berth, the Miners are now seen as playoff contenders instead of a rebuilding franchise. This rabid fan-base will not be as patient when it comes to a lack of playoff success.

UP AND COMING PLAYER TO WATCH

Highly touted winger, Timo Meier is looking to build upon his first full season in the CCHL. He
has the offensive skills and creativity to become one of the Miners most productive players. He is slated to start on the first line with the newly acquired Evgeni Malkin, and the hope is that these two skilled players can lead the Miners attack. It is not unreasonable to expect 30 goals from Meier this season.

WHAT A SUCCESSFUL 2019-20 SEASON WOULD LOOK LIKE

At this point last year, if you would have asked their fans, most would have probably been
happy with a .500 season. But, given their unexpected results from last year, it seems that simply
contending for the playoffs this year may not be enough. This fan-base is hungry for a winner. Winning a playoff round, or maybe even two while continuing to develop a younger talent base, would have to make one think that the season would be a success. Remaining at status quo doesn’t appear to be a favourable option.

BIGGEST REMAINING QUESTION

Ideally, the hope in Sudbury is that their young players can continue to grow and develop with the help of some veteran off-season acquisitions. If that happens, Sudbury stands to improve upon last year’s record, and with a little luck may even taste some postseason success. But what if they don’t or worse, they regress? If that is the case, then the fans can expect another sled-dog fight to make the postseason in the Nickel City.

PREDICTION: 3rd in Canosa Conference.

2019 Dayton Musicmen Draft Review...

  After having 38 draft picks in the 2018 CCHL Entry Draft, General manager Bill Corfield decided to try and acquire as many picks for this year's draft as he could. Winding up with a total of 49 picks in this year's draft, once again the Musicmen would be able to add to their deep prospect pool.

"We clearly don't have the flashiest or sexiest prospects in the league right now, but our prospect pool is the deepest in the league. We've attempted to maintain a balance the best we could."

Currently, the team has 125 total prospects under its control. Corfield says the following players have been re-assigned to the "reserve-prospect" list: Center Tyler Cammarata, wingers Frederick Tiffels, Jens Looks, and Blaine Byron. Defenseman Josiah Didier will also be sent to the reserve.

Those players have either terminated their contract with the NHL team that owned their rights or seem locked into an AHL/ECHL level of play.

Making up the main Dayton prospect list moving forward are 31 centers, 17 right wings, 12 left wings, 33 defensemen, and 26 goaltenders. Corfield is aware he has a surplus of dmen and an apparent shortage of wingers, especially left-wingers.

"Yes, that's true and in each of the last two drafts, we felt our needs were served best by taking the guys we did. In 2018, our last 11 picks were "non-winger" picks because our scouts liked the guys we took better. This year, we were able to find a few wingers we did like in the last three rounds." said Corfield.

"At some point, we'll identify a few teams that seem to be a good match for us in terms of needs and try and move a few dmen prospects out and bring in a few more wingers."

Asked which picks from this year's draft he was most excited about, Corfield listed the first player chosen by the Musicmen in the draft, OHL standout Tye Felhaber, netminders Lukas Parik, Mat Robson, Jake Kielly and Arturs Silovs as well as other draftees Pavel Shen, Max Crozier, Nikita Palychev and 11th rounder Mikhail Shalagin.

"Again, we didn't draft any blue-chip kids in this draft, we know that. What we did get were 49 young men, each has a package of skills that we like. Will all make the NHL? Of course not. But, we feel a few at each position will be players of impact within 2-4 years. We'll monitor each closely and as they get promoted, we'll figure out how they can best help us."

Asked if there was one kid, in particular, the fans should keep their eye on, Corfield said, "I'd keep an eye on Kirill Tyutyaev, who will play his 2nd season in the Russian junior league. He led his team in scoring - by a lot last year and finished 8th overall in the MHL in scoring. I also have to mention another kid we were thrilled to draft - Mikhail Shalagan - came in second in scoring after missing over 20 games. He posted the highest points per game in the entire league. If they can both develop, they could be major contributors for us here in Dayton."

Sudbury Miners 2019 CCHL Draft Review

CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

Did the Sudbury Miners find some prospect gold?

With the 2019 CCHL Entry Draft now in the books, that’s the question that the collective media
and fans of the Sudbury Miners will be asking General Manager Terry James in the years to come.
James offered up a quick summary to reporters on Friday morning and gave a quick review on
how he felt his team did during this years’ draft.

“We’re very pleased and excited,” James said. “We drafted players we feel can step into
our line-up immediately and compete for a job. Others we feel will take some grooming and
development, and they probably won’t be CCHL-ready for a year or two, but at high-end prospects. I
think we’ve added some skill at different positions and just added further to our depth.”

Armed with 22 picks in the first four rounds of this years CCHL draft, the Miners were able to
continue to stock the cupboards with some talented young men and further add to what is becoming a
deep prospect pool, as they continue to try and build a team that will be in Kehler Cup contention for
years to come.

The Miners draft philosophy has not changed since its first year in the CCHL. The organization
strongly believes in letting these prospects grow and find success at the various collegiate, European,
and AHL levels, and with that approach, it will pay big dividends down the road for a patient
organization.

Below are some of the Miners more notable picks from this years’ draft:

Kirby Dach – C (1st Round, 4th Overall): May need another year of development but this is a big,
talented kid who can play both center and the wing. He should be a fixture in the Miners line-up
for years to come.

Cole Caulfield – W (1st Round, 7th Overall): He may be under-sized but this kid can flat out score
and doesn’t lack confidence. Best pure goal-scorer in this years’ draft.

Bobby Brink – W (2nd Round, 27th Overall): Projected by many to be a 1 st round pick, so the
Miners were pleased that this kid fell to them in the second round. He has a high hockey IQ and
can be lethal with the puck. The Miners may have gotten a bit of a steal with this pick.

Nick Robertson – W (2nd Round, 43rd Overall): This is such a fun kid to watch. The knock on him is his size but there is no doubting the talent and drive that this kid possesses. If he can continue
to develop, he has the chance to become a fan favorite in Sudbury.

Dillion Hamaliuk – W (3rd Round, 55th Overall): This power forward was off to a great start last
year before an injury ended his season. He has good offensive tools and size, but there are
some concerns about his skating. Given who the Miners had already drafted at this point, they
could afford to take a chance on this player.

Overall, one should not expect to see any of these players with the Miners next year, but it
should be a draft that pays dividends down the road, given the high ceiling for a good majority of the
players picked.

Below are the picks that make up the 2019 Sudbury Miners Entry Draft Class:

Kirby Dach, C 1 st Round - 4th Overall
Alex Turcotte, C 1 st Round - 5th Overall
Matt Boldy, W 1 st Round - 6th Overall
Cole Caulfield, W 1 st Round - 7th Overall
Spencer Knight, G 1 st Round - 10th Overall
Peyton Krebs, C/LW 1 st Round - 13th Overall
Philip Broberg, D 1 st Round - 14th Overall
Alex Newhook, C 1 st Round - 15th Overall
Victor Soderstrom, D 1 st Round - 16th Overall
Bobby Brink, W 2 nd Round - 27th Overall
Jakob Pelletier, W 2 nd Round - 29th Overall
Samuel Poulin, W 2 nd Round - 30th Overall
Simon Holmstrom, W 2 nd Round -36 th Overall
Pytor Kochetkov, G 2 nd Round - 38 th Overall
Ryan Johnson, D 2 nd Round - 42nd Overall
Nick Robertson, W 2 nd Round - 43rd Overall
Alex Vlasic, D 3 rd Round - 51st Overall
Ilya Nikoleyev, W 3 rd Round - 52nd Overall
Albin Grewe, W 3 rd Round - 54th Overall
Dillon Hamaliuk, W 3 rd Round - 55th Overall
Alex Beaucage, W 3 rd Round - 65th Overall
Maxim Cajkovic, W 4 th Round - 81st Overall