Hey sports fans, it's time to lift the lid off the local sports scene and see what's cooking.
For the appetizer, I'll start with some professional hockey
notes first.
Former Sudbury Wolves' defenceman and Azilda native and current
head coach of the Anaheim Ducks, Randy Carlyle, has guided his
team to the Western Conference Championship.
It's the second straight season Carlyle has coached the Ducks
into the conference final. The Ducks lost to the Edmonton
Oilers last year.
Anaheim dumped the Vancouver Canucks 2-1 in double overtime
last week in Game 5 to win the second round series in five
games. In the first round, the Ducks breezed by Minnesota in
five games as well.
This is only Carlyle's second season behind the bench in
Anaheim, and also his second year as a head coach in the
NHL.
The 50-year-old has already forged an impressive head-coaching
resume. Last year, Anaheim finished with 98 points and 12th
overall. This past regular season, the Ducks finished with 110
points and fourth overall.
Carlyle helped Anaheim achieve its best season ever as a
franchise in 2006-07.
The only thing missing from Carlyle's resume now is a Stanley
Cup. In an NHL career that spanned over 1,000 games, Carlyle
never won the Stanley Cup.
It would be fitting if he can coach the Ducks to the promised
land and finally get that championship ring he deserves.
Now, for the main course, which is a few of my thoughts on the
2007 OHL Priority Draft, which transpired this past
Saturday.
Every year, the draft becomes more and more of a pointless
endevour. It's a great day for most kids, but a few teams make
the whole process kind of a joke.
It's become a recruitment ritual much like the NCAA where the
teams with the best "cooked" deal get the best players.
Take Kitchener for example. They finished the third best record
overall this past season and their first pick was 18th
overall.
They used the selection to take defenceman Cam Fowler from the Detroit Honeybaked minor midgets. Fowler was the top-rated defenceman for the draft, and many scouts had him as the consensus top pick overall.
Fowler claimed he was going to play for the United States
Under-17 squad and then made a verbal commitment to Notre-Dame
of the NCAA. Many clubs backed away from taking Fowler as no
team wanted to blow its first-round pick on a player who will
never show up and play elsewhere.
So a few eyebrows were raised when Kitchener spent their
first-round selection on Fowler. They obviously came up with
the best deal, whatever it may have involved, to land Fowler
and get him to agree to come if they drafted him.
So the rich just keep getting richer. It happens more and more
every season.
London is another team capable of coming up with these
suspicious "cooked" deals. Last year, they selected Philip
McRae 20th overall when he was rated to go in the top
three.
Personally, I think it's time to stop this hogwash act.
Every team should get the same opportunities to draft the same
players.
I think the OHL should void these selections of players who
make verbal agreements to play elsewhere, and then end up being
picked by an OHL team and playing in this league rather than
elsewhere.
If a player wants to compete in the OHL, then they should be
happy, and feel privileged to go wherever they're drafted.
Another interesting note from the draft was the final
destinations of the top three local players available - Marcus
Foligno, Jamie Haines and Nick Esposto. Foligno was picked by
Sudbury, while Haines was selected by Sault Ste. Marie and
Esposto was nabbed by Oshawa.
Finally, here's dessert.
It was interesting to watch the Sudbury Wolves versus the
Plymouth Whalers on national television in Game 2 of the OHL
Championship. The game was broadcast live on Rogers Sportnet.
It's always fun to listen to the announcers (this time Peter
Loubardias and Sam Cosentino) as they realize what kind of
talent and quality of hockey is being contested at the Major
Junior level. Both announcers raved non-stop about Wolves'
defenceman Marc Staal throughout the entire game indicating he
was ready for the NHL right now. Every national media outlet,
for the most part, ignores the Major Junior scene until it gets
down to the championship finals or the Memorial Cup tournament.
I believe the big networks should pour more resources into
covering Major Junior hockey on a daily basis since a good
portion of all future NHL talent comes from the three leagues
in Canada.
