State of the Loons; Post Draft Edition

As the IceCats began to celebrate their first Kelher Cup, the Loons front office started to discuss the team's future. Once we decided to rebuild, the 2020 draft became our top priority. At the beginning of April the Loons held just 12 picks, best of which was the 44th overall. After meeting with our scouts we decided that no one on our roster was safe, this year's draft was worth the investment. We added the 18th overall for Atkinson, then picked up the 7th overall for Dubois, and then Turcotte was sent out for the 8th overall. After some more wheeling and dealing we soon had the 4, 5 & 22nd. We then made a decision which will end up making or breaking the Loons franchise and will be debated for years to come. After packaging the 4 & 5  to move up to draft phenom Quinton Byfield - Bob McKenzie came into our lives and forced us to take a deeper look at Tim Stutzle. 

Without a doubt, Byfield may end up being the best player from the 2020 draft. However some of our scouts expressed concers that there was also a substantial bust factor with Byfield. There were questions about his effort, questions about how he fared against top competition, and questions over if just his size alone allowed him to dominate the weak defense he was facing in the OHL. Tim Stutzle on the other hand was the opposite. He doesn't possess the size and pure potential that Byfield does, but Stutzle's strengths are his effort and his performance against top competition. Stutzle thrived in the World Juniors and was thriving in a mens league at the age of 17. Ultimately, the tie-breaker came down to our love of Trevor Zegras. The fact that Stutzle has been playing LW would be a perfect fit for a future top line of Stutzle, Zegras and Zadina ; the Z line. After three months of rebuilding and blowing up the transaction list; Tim Stutzle was the first of 38 Loon draft picks.

We won't bore everyone with all 38 names, but the Loons drafted 20 forwards, 5 defensemen and 6 goaltenders. The other 7 picks were used to reacquire former 4th overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi, to move up in the draft and to acquire future draft picks. Coming over with Stutzle from Germany are Lukas Reichel (29th) and Max Glotzl (222nd). Glotzl is a player that we consider the steal of the draft at 222. Like Stutzle, Max was playing against men at 17 and is considered Germany's best defensemen outside of Seider. Many general managers snickered at us jumping up in the draft to take goaltender Drew Commesso at 37. Drew was someone that we were not willing to risk missing out on. After Oettinger and Vehvilainen goal-tending is a weak spot in our system and Commesso will definitely strengthen us there. Drew is a local Mass kid that had a fantastic year for a weakened US National team: 2.05 gaa & .920 save %. He was rated as the second best goaltending prospect in the draft for us.

With this investment in the draft the Loons jumped to third in the CCHL in prospects with 80. Our post draft top 20 prospect list:

1.   Trevor Zegras         C

2.   Filip Zadina           RW

3.   Tim Stutzle           LW

4.   Jake Oettinger       G

5.   Jake Bean             D

6.   Matt Boldy            LW

7.   Oliver Wahlstrom   RW

8.   David Farrance       D

9.   Egor Afanasyev     RW

10. Brayden Tracey     LW

11. Zac Jones              D

12. Janne Kuokkanen  LW

13. Jacob Perreault      C

14. Calen Addison        D

15. Shane Pinto           C

16. John Beecher         C

17. Alex Beaucage      RW

18. Jakub Lauko          C

19. Veini Vehvilianen    G

20. Lukas Reichel       LW

and honorable mention ... Max Glotzl    D

I can't wait to see how the Loons draft compares to the upcoming NHL draft. Maybe I will tune in for more then just the Bruins picks this year!

State of the Loons; pre draft edition

Last time we checked in from the offices at the Nest, the Loons were mid fire sale. Looking at our roster, I feel comfortable saying the fire sale is complete. The Loons look to be a shoe in for the lottery next year. That means another top prospect ready to come to Capeside  - wrong. In one of the worst trades in Capeside history we sent our 2021 first rounder to Niagara along with the hefty contract of Travis Zajac for renowned ladies man, and CCHL vagabond - Phil Kessel. At the time, that deal didn't seem too bad. We expected our pick to be toward the lower end of the first round and we were shedding the salary of Travis Zajac. Kessel looked to still have a lot in the tank and seemed to be inspired after being paired with Taylor Hall. Well it didn't work out and we had to basically pay Minnesota to take that portly gigolo off of our hands and away from our women. This single terrible decision set our franchise back years and pushed us to a complete rebuild.

So with nothing left of value on our 30 man roster let's take a look at where the Loons stand. General Manager Czepiel's first priority was strengthening the minor league system. After adding top prospects like Jake Bean, Jake Oettinger, Owen Tippett, David Farrance and Filip Zadina - I would say that was a success. Czepiel's second goal was adding depth to fill in behind our high end prospects. As of today we own 33 picks in the 2020 draft. The majority are late round selection , but 9 picks in the top 100 isn't bad, including the 5th overall selection. Lafreniere and Byfield appear to be locks to go 1 - 2 in the draft. However, the top 7 project to be can't miss studs which leaves us in a good place to land a top line forward. 

There has been a lot of controversy around this years draft due to the pandemic. For the first time ever the CCHL draft will precede the NHL draft. Without that blueprint in place this year, research will be crucial. Our scouts have been working overtime going through scouting reports and holding zoom meetings with potential draft day targets. We expect that our hours of research will land us a couple of solid CCHLers - and at worst we will have brought in plenty of trade assets to sweeten future deals.

In order to acquire all these draft picks a lot of cash was sent out of Capeside. This year's budget has really been dealt a blow. Right now it is projected to be near $105 million. With no expectations of playoff revenue or any on-ice bonus revenue this year, we expect to lose money this year. Ownership did sign off on this spending only because our payroll appears to be very low for the next few years as our philosophy will be to build through our farm system. By the time Zegras and company are ready for raises - our budget will be ready. Hopefully.

The next step for us in the draft in a few weeks. Sudbury has been announced as the home of this year's draft. We have already let the league know that we have no interest in being quarantined in Sudbury and will conduct the draft remotely from here in Capeside.  We have already reached out to Bill Belichick to see if Nike is available to help with our selections. Fingers crossed!

CCHL announces that Sudbury will host the 2020 CCHL Entry Draft

CANADIAN PRESS (Toronto, ON):

As rumoured  earlier in the week, the CCHL confirmed that the City of Sudbury and the Sudbury Miners would be the host for this years 2020 CCHL Entry Draft.   The dates of the draft have yet to be confirmed, but the feeling is that it will take place in late June.

 “The Sudbury Miners are extremely pleased to have awarded the 2020 CCHL Entry Draft, and we consider it a great honour given these trying times”, said General Manager Terry James.  “Even though it is only our fourth season in Sudbury, we feel that the CCHL views us as an outstanding franchise – one that is capable of hosting such a high profile event.”

When asked to comment during the conference call announcement, the CCHL Commissioner elaborated on why Sudbury was the best choice for this years’ event.

“Sudbury is a blue-collar town…..they like to work hard and play harder.  Try getting a table on a Friday night at Wacky Wings, or go to the LCBO any day of the week and be prepared to wait!  With that being said, they love their Miners and we felt it was good to reward the City, the team and their fans with this.  Besides, given the current state of affairs in the world, we can think of no better place that can adhere to the social distancing protocols better than Sudbury.”

                Other cities that recieved consideration were Tampere, Chippawa, Georgetown, Fort Erie and Parry Sound, due to their ability to adhere to social distancing should this pandemic continue.  It has been rumoured that Happy Jacks in Fort Erie offered to cater the event at no charge if Fort Erie was awarded the draft.  Those reports have not yet been confirmed and no one for the hockey operations department for the Falcons could be reached for comment.

Siberia's 2019-20 Season Recap

Hello sports fans! With the CCHL season over, we are coming to you with a recap of the Icecats' season. The Icecats came off of a very disappointing season which saw them miss the playoffs. The only consolation prize was getting Bowen Byram in the draft. From there, GM Saouaf went to work to assemble a team that could compete for the coveted Kehler Cup.

Siberia's first move was in late April, acquiring Evander Kane and Erik Johnson from Las Vegas. Ryan Ellis went back go Vegas in the deal. GM Saouaf traded the offensive dman to get some additional toughness on the backline and on the wings. Kane would be the 2nd line LW and Johnson would likely be Burns' partner on the top defensive pairing.

GM Saouaf then went to the champion Norsemen in April, getting scoring winger Alexander Radulov. Radulov was slated to be Bergeron's RW on the second line.

GM Saouaf was not done dealing with Minnesota. In July, he acquired an anchor on defense, Victor Hedman, from the champion Norsemen. Hedman was a huge acquisition for the Icecats as it gave them someone else to run the defense, which would free up Brent Burns from the toughest matchups.

In October, GM Saouaf felt that young dmen Rasmus Dahlin and Miro Heiskanen were not quite ready and went out and acquired some additional help on D by acquiring veteran Ian Cole from Gillam. Ian would form a nice 3rd line pairing with another veteran, Dan Girardi.

On the same day, seeing as Radulov was not clicking with Bergeron, GM Saouaf went out and acquired winger Victor Arvidsson. Victor was a bit injury prone, but GM Saouaf was hoping that he would click with alternate captain Bergeron. Click they did. Arvidsson cemented his spot on the second line and would only relinquish it for a few weeks due to an injury. Thankfully, the Icecats' depth allowed them to weather the injury to Arvidsson.

Not satisfied with the team he assembled, GM Saouaf was at it again 2 days before Christmas, acquiring a pair of grizzled vets in Andy Greene and Zach Parise. GM Saouaf was counting on their leadership to help guide this team throughout the season. GM Saouaf was all in. He was hoping the depth and talent he built would carry his team in the regular season and in the playoffs.

Siberia played very well all year, challenging the Falcons for first overall all season. Fort Erie was the best team in the league and led the power rankings all year. Siberia's first significant challenge came during a span of a week when they lost #2 center Bergeron for 2 weeks, #2 LW Parise for 40 days and #2 dman Hedman also for 40 days. Siberia's depth would be tested. The Icecats buckled down and played some of their best hockey through the injuries.

Late in the season, the Icecats got all of their injured players back, in time for a match against #1 Fort Erie, with first overall on the line. Fort Erie previously humbled the Icecats 2-0. Siberia was looking for revenge. It was a great game won 5-3 by Siberia. After the game many wondered if this was a preview of the finals. Siberia ended up tied with Fort Erie in points in the regular season at 126, but the Falcons held the tiebreaker in wins. Could this be the advantage that the Falcons needed in the playoffs?

The first round of the playoffs came and the Icecats had a bye. The Cats needed to stay focused and not lose the momentum from the regular season. By the time the second round started, the Icecats were facing a young but talented Sudbury team. Sudbury came out and stunned the Icecats, wining both games in Siberia. Could the Miners upset the favored Icecats, bringing back memories of the Tampa Bay Lightning epic collapse against Columbus? Coach Brian Leetch held a closed door meeting with the players and challenged them to play the way they have been all year. The rust of a first round bye was obvious. The Icecats responded by winning 4 straight and beating the tough Miners.

There was no time to celebrate as the Icecats now faced the uber talented Hamilton Tigers in the Canosa Conference finals. The Tigers had the second best record in the Canosa Conference. Coming off their 4 game winning streak, the Icecats swept the Tigers in 4, moving on to the Kehler Cup finals. One step closer to their goal.

The Icecats' biggest hurdle of the year stood in the way of their first ever Kehler Cup, the #1 Falcons. Siberia came out gunning as they took the first 3 games of the series, running their winning streak to 11 games. Could the Icecats sweep the powerful Falcons? The Falcons made adjustments and took games 4 and 5 by identical 4-3 scores. Could it be that the Falcons had figured out the Icecats and would mount an epic comeback? The Falcons shut down McDavid in both games. Captain McDavid got up in the locker room and challenged himself and his teammates to rise up and win. He nearly made a Messier-like "we will win" prediction in that room, but decided to trust in his team. The Icecats went out and played their toughest game of the year, winning game 6 by a score of 4-2, and with it the first ever Kehler Cup for Siberia. In a celebration interview with GM Saouaf he said "This is amazing! After taking over this franchise from Murfreesboro in late 2014, we knew we had a long road to being competitive. We thank our fans who stood by us through some tough early years, but it was worth it!" This truly was a Clash of the Titans final!

The Icecats now go into the offseason positioning themselves to try to repeat, but that will be a daunting task. See you next season, sports fans!

Sudbury Miners Prospect Report: Spring 2019 (Pre-CCHL Entry Draft)

Sudbury Miners Prospect Report:  Spring 2019 (Pre-CCHL Entry Draft)



CANADIAN PRESS (Sudbury, ON):

With the CCHL season now complete and a Champion crowned, focus will now turn to the upcoming CCHL Entry Draft, as the Miners will look to add to their prospect cupboard.

There is no doubt that the Miners will be able to add some talent in the upcoming draft, but here are the Miners Top-10 prospects to conclude the 2019-20 season, prior to the CCHL Entry Draft.

To be considered a prospect for this report, the player is not currently on the CCHL active roster and/or has not played one full CCHL season.



Below are the Sudbury Miners top-10 CCHL prospects for Spring 2019

1. Kirby Dach – C.  Dach continues to look like he’ll be a future face of the Sudbury Miners. He is a tremendous passer, with a huge frame and skates very well for his size. Strong on the puck and good in possession, he has very offensive instincts.  He’s just going to get better, and is projected to be a big, offensively-gifted playmaker.  He will be on the Miners roster next season.
2. Martin Necas – C/W.  An explosive offensive talent who can play both centre and the wing, Necas is an excellent skater, and is a highly creative and heady playmaker with deft passing ability.  He possesses incredible speed and agility as well.  His creativity and skill make him a consistent threat in all three zones of the ice.  Along with Dach, expect to see Necas in a Miners uniform next season.
3. Spencer Knight – G.  Seen as one of the top goalie propsects out there, Knight is a superior athlete with excellent size for a goaltender.  He is usually in perfect position to make the routine save and he thinks the game well and can anticipate shooters' tendencies.  Projected to be a future No.1 goaltender with star potential.
4. Grigori Denisenko – W.  Denisenko is your typical, classic Russian winger who enjoys dangling with the puck on his stick from his off-wing (left), and he displays supreme playmaking ability. He has game-breaking skills on offense, but will need to pay attention to defence a little more at the next level.  There is no denying though, that he is a supreme, offensive talent.
5. Cole Caulfield – W.  Don’t let his small stature fool you – this sniper has the wherewithal to go into prime goal-scoring areas and his awareness of where to be on the ice is excellent.  His best asset is his supreme shooting skills, and he is seen as a future, feisty goal scoring winger.
6. Peyton Krebs – C/W.   Is an extremely fast skater with great burst and the ability to be quick with the puck on his stick.  He is responsible when he does not have the puck and is adept at working the defensive side of the game.  Krebs can play both wing and center, which adds to his overall value.
7. Rasmus Sandin – D.  Sandin is an excellent passer who skates very well and thinks the game smartly. While capable of putting up a lot of points, he can also defend his position well due to his cerebral approach and active stick.  A bit under-sized, he just needs to add some bulk and consistency to thrive at the next level.
8. Nick Robertson – W.  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.  There are some concerns about his size, so he will need to become stronger in order to maximize production in the CCHL, but there is no denying he has the talent to succeed.
9. Philip Broberg – D.  With his size and strength, Broberg is not afraid to impose himself physically. He skates very well for his frame and he likes to rush the puck up the ice.   He has the ability to do it all from the back end.  However, he sometimes makes the wrong decision with or without the puck and needs to work on the overall decision-making process to maximize his talent.
10. Liam Foudy – C/W.  An exceptional athlete, Foudy skates like the wind and can wreak havoc on opponents because of his wheels. Displays plenty of offensive potential, and some two-way ability but may need a little more time than usual in order to fully hone his tools.

Honourable Mentions:  Alex Formenton, Victor Soderstrom, Conor Timmins, Mike DiPietro

Millers prospects update 4.14.20

Since the season ended with Georgetown barely missing out on a playoff berth despite undergoing a massive squad overhaul, the team’s recent moves suggest that qualifying for the post-season is a definite goal for the 2020-21 season. 

To that end some prospects and draft picks have been moved out to acquire veteran help. Most notably Rasmus Kupari was sacrificed to bring in Jakub Vrana, and Carl Grundstrom, Rudolfs Balcers, Jett Woo, Taro Hirose, David Ference, Dennis Gilbert and Mads Sogaard were dealt to bring in Kris Letang, Jonathan Toews and Jonas Siegenthaler. 


But some prospects were brought into the fold, notably Joel Farabee in the Ryan Strome trade and Jesse Ylonen and Lukas Dostal when Cal Peterson and Jason Dickinson were shipped to Sudbury.

Below is an updated ranking of the Millers top 20 prospects.

1.       Alex Newhook, C

2.       Barrett Hayton, C

3.       Joel Farabee, LW

4.       Owen Tippett, RW

5.       Ty Smith, D

6.       Ian Mitchell, D

7.       Tyler Madden, C

8.       Samuel Fagemo, RW

9.       Martin Fehervary, D

10.   Akil Thomas, C

11.   Lukas Dostal, G

12.   Michael Anderson, D

13.   Dmitri Samorukov, D

14.   Tuuka Tieksala, LW

15.   Janne Kuokkonen, LW

16.   Vladislav Kolyachonock, D

17.   Jesse Ylonen, RW

18.   Anttoni Honka, D

19.   Oskarii Laaksonen, D

20.   Peter Dilibertore, D

The Millers have 6 picks in the first 3 rounds of the Draft and should be able to add at least a couple of those picks to this list when it’s updated over the summer.

State of the Loons; A Complete Dismantling

Since entering the league two seasons ago the Loons have been arguably the most active team in the CCHL. Just when you thought it could not get any worse - the world goes into a quarantine. With nothing else to do - why not make some trades and drive the other general managers crazy! 

After a frenzy of moves out of Capeside it is clear that the Loons are in the midst of a fire sale - and anything of value must go. As of today, Atkinson, Halak, Ekblad, and Granlund have been sent elsewhere. The Loons currently have only 13 players under contract for $40 million. This was where the Loons were before free agency last year as well - however this year it does not look like Czepiel will be throwing cash at any marquee free agents. What is more likely is that a bunch of cheap scrubs will be brought in to fill out the roster until our prospects are ready to take over. Maybe if we want to maintain our fan base Capeside should broadcast the Northampton Chicks games instead of the Loons?

Speaking of the Chicks... A quick look at our top 10 prospects mid fire sale:

10  John Beecher      C  (Michigan NCAA)

 9   Shane Pinto        C  (UND NCAA)

 8   Egor Afanasyev   W (OHL)

 7   Oliver Wahlstrom W (AHL)

 6   Jake Oettinger     G (AHL)

 5   Matt Boldy          W (BC NCAA)

 4   Arthur Kaliyev      W (OHL)

 3   Alex Turcotte       C  (NHL)

 2  Trevor Zegras       C  (NHL)

 1  Filip Zadina          W  (Loons)

There appears to be plenty to look forward to, but at the rate players are being sent out of town - these next few years are going to be rough in Capeside. Our plan is to just maintain as low of a payroll as possible and improve our finances. We want to be able to add a big name and not have to worry about going bankrupt. 

Some more positive news out of the fire sale is that we have been able to stock up on some picks in this year's draft, if there even is a draft. First we need the season the restart so the Bruins can finish up their championship run. We have started researching players that we think could be available,  As it stands now we own 5 picks in the first 100: 18th, 36th, 56th, 61st, 76th. 

Over the next few weeks of our time in quarantine we will continue to look for new homes for our remaining veterans that should not be apart of a rebuild. Two names that are being actively shopped are Zdeno Chara and Tuukka Rask, Chara is still one of the top shut down defensemen in the CCHL and Tuukka Rask is the best goalie in the NHL.

I hope this helped pass some quarantine time for you - but more importantly this hits my blog bonus! No bankruptcy for the Loons this year!