The Pipeline Show: April 19, 2019
This week on The Pipeline Show we put a cap on the NCAA season, look closely at the conference finals in both the Ontario and the Western Hockey Leagues plus pluck a conversation out of the archive vault.
NCAA Campus Report: Nate Ewell
The tournament is over, the title has been claimed and so it’s time to put a lid on the season that was in the NCAA. College Hockey Inc has been a long time supporter of The Pipeline Show and it’s become tradition to have someone from the organization on as a guest to recap the Frozen Four and look ahead through the summer to next season.
Nate Ewell shared his thoughts on a memorable Frozen Four in Buffalo where the UMD Bulldogs successfully defended their claim as the top team in Division 1 hockey. We discussed the three games, some of the story lines that played out, the Hobey Baker going to Cale Makar and coach Greg Carvel taking home the Spencer Penrose Award.
We also discussed the growing reach of NCAA hockey that is attracting more and more players from Europe than ever before. Plus we talked about the NHL’s growing interest in college coaches too.
Finally, what does College Hockey Inc do from now until next Fall?
OHL Round 3 Preview
Only four teams remain in the Ontario Hockey League and this week on The Pipeline Show we get a preview of the conference finals through the lens of Mike Farwell, the voice of the Kitchener Rangers.
We begin with the Guelph Storm who pulled off a miraculous comeback against the powerhouse London Knights. Down 3-0 in the series, the Storm rebounded to win four straight and now, three days later, get set for the Saginaw Spirit.
Farwell previews the series by looking at the strengths of both squads and answers whether he sees an edge for either team when comparing them head-to-head.
Other other side of the league there are the heavy favorites, the Ottawa 67s, taking on another team coming off an emotional series win. The Oshawa Generals were the lower seed against Niag-ara but took just 6 games to dispatch the IceDogs. Can they do it again against the top ranked team in the OHL?
WHL Round 3 Preview
Lucas Punkari is my guest to help preview the conference finals in the Western Hockey League. Lucas is the beat writer from the Prince Albert Daily Herald that covers the top ranked team in the league, the Prince Albert Raiders. The Raiders move on to the conference final after eliminating their arch rivals, the Saskatoon Blades, in six games.
Awaiting the Raiders are the Edmonton Oil Kings who made short work of the Calgary Hitmen in round 2. It’s fair to say that Edmonton should expect a far stronger opponent than they have faced this far in the post season. That said, the Oil Kings did manage to do something that few teams did this year – win a game in Prince Albert.
Meanwhile out west, the Vancouver Giants swept aside the Victoria Royals and now take on the Spokane Chiefs who surprised many by knocking off Everett in five games. Can Spokane continue their roll and be Giant Killers in round 3?
Both series begin this weekend.
TPS Rewind
Every once in a while I’ll open the archive vault and select one of the classic interviews from years gone by. Looking to fill a last minute vacancy this week, I decided to do that again and the audi-ence chose an interview with former London Knights star Robbie Schremp.
This particular interview came during the 2009 season with Schremp stuck in the American Hockey League on the farm team of the Edmonton Oilers. At that time, Craig MacTavish was the GM of the Oilers and he had just publicly, and harshly criticized the former 1st round pick. The relationship between player and organiztion seemed to be at a crossroads. We reached out to Schremp and he ducked no questions and we fired away to get his response to Craig MacTavish’s comments.
Guy Flaming is the host of The Pipeline Show, a year round, 100% prospect orientated podcast now in its 14th season. Since 2006, the mandate of the program has been to introduce the audience to the future of the NHL and that is accomplished every week by speaking with the top players, coaches, general managers, scouts and media that junior and college hockey have to offer. It is free to subscribe to The Pipeline Show and is available via iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Spreaker, the Podcast App and www.thepipelineshow.com