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Entries for December 20, 2007
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A Christmas/Memorial Cup Wish
Posted by Les Lazaruk on Thursday, December 20, 2007 at 09:51:00 AM.
Despite a 12-20-2-0 record heading into the Christmas break, my wish is that the Blades' organization...specifically the Brodsky family ownership and General Manager/Head Coach Lorne Molleken don't throw in the towel on the idea of hosting the 2010 Memorial Cup because of the disappointing 2007-2008 log to date!
When it comes right down to it, the biggest thing that drives a Memorial Cup host...as far as the Canadian Hockey League is concerned...is $$$!!! The 2010 Memorial Cup will almost certainly be hosted by an Eastern Conference team as the last two WHL hosts have come from the West (Kelowna in 2004 and Vancouver last year). That means it's the East's turn. If the CHL wants to make money, then you go to the biggest centres with the biggest seating capacity rinks. That would be Calgary and Edmonton...but neither of those places can guarantee their buildings in late May because of Stanley Cup playoffs for either or both of the Flames and Oilers. Sure, you can say that likelihood is a longshot...but people said the same thing about the Flames in 2004 and the Oilers in 2006. You never know, thus the Hitmen and Oil Kings can't make that guarantee. So, where is the next biggest city with the next biggest building in the WHL's Eastern Conference? Yes, that's right...here in Saskatoon. Sure, Brandon and Medicine Hat and Red Deer sell out more often and have had more success in the past few seasons...but Credit Union Centre would make more money than any of those three places!
What about a competitive team, you might ask...don't you have to be a top-flite squad now in order to think about hosting a Memorial Cup in two years?
Not necessarily...a lot can happen to the make-up of a team's roster in two seasons!
Let's take a look at the Blades' current roster and look ahead to who is eligible to be on the team in 2009-2010...
20s - Braden Holtby, Garrett Zemlak, Sam Klassen, Derek Hulak, Colton Gillies, Walker Wintoneak, Ryan Funk, Jordan Braid, Kirk Belyk
19s - Teigan Zahn, Jyri Niemi, Kevin Philp, Gaelan Patterson, Travis Toomey
18s - Stefan Elliott, Curtis Hamilton, Mitch Berg
Of those possible 20s, only three of them could stay. To get Gillies back for a 20-year-old season would be a dream. Heck, he might not be back next season as a 19-year-old as the Minnesota Wild, who drafted him in the 1st round of this past June's NHL entry draft, have a penchant for bringing up top picks to the NHL before their junior eligibility is done (Nick Schultz, Brent Burns, Pierre-Marc Bouchard...James Sheppard this season...come springing to mind!). Now, let's add in some other prospects (and these are just some that I know of off the top of my head)...
20s - Holtby, Zemlak, S. Klassen, Hulak, Gillies, Wintoneak, Funk, Braid, Belyk
19s - Zahn, Niemi, Philp, Patterson, Toomey, Brendan Wall, Cody Wutzke
18s - Elliott, Hamilton, Berg, Woody Klassen, Adam Morrison, Matthew Krahn, Darian Dziurzynski
17s - Charles Inglis, Josh Nicholls, Jamie Crooks
16s - to be drafted in May
For 2009-2010, the Blades are solid in goal, especially if Holtby comes back. On defence, Elliott, Niemi, Zahn and Sam Klassen is a solid top four...for the rest of this season, next and in 2009-10. Up front...the question remains, who will score the goals? But, that's why I say a lot can happen in two years. There's three trade deadlines to go through before the 2010 Memorial Cup Tournament. I have confidence that Lorne Molleken, who has never been afraid to pull the trigger on a trade, will do the right things to insure this franchise is ready for that event...as well as be competitive for the rest of this campaign and next season as well!
That's why, I'm hoping that Saskatoon and the Blades will be the 2010 Memorial Cup hosts!!
Merry Christmas one and all.