Scott Taylor's Blog, page 80

Toews Leads Hawks, Kelowna Heading to Brandon This Weekend

Jonathan Toews was brilliant Tuesday night as he led the Chicago Blackhawks to a 1-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. This weekend, great hockey is headed to Brandon and Portage la Prairie.

Brandon Wheat Kings

Jayce Hawryluk (8) and the Brandon Wheat Kings (Photo by Jeff Miller)

The Scotty Munro Trophy-winning Brandon Wheat Kings have won the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Division championship and will now face the Kelowna Rockets in the best-of-seven final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Game 1 goes at Brandon’s Westman Place on Friday night, May 8, at 7:30 p.m. CDT.

Manitobans in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

In the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Tuesday: Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews logged 19 minutes and two seconds of ice time and ad one shot and one blocked shot as he led the Chicago Blackhawks to a 1-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. The Hawks now lead the Western Conference semifinal 3-0.

Jonathan Toews, captain of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Brandon/Swan River’s Michael Ferland missed his second straight game with what is being called a head injury, but Ferland’s Calgary Flames came from behind to beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime. The Ducks lead the series 2-1.

IIHF Men’s Senior World Championship

Winnipeg’s Cody Eakin and the rest of Team Canada face Sweden on Wednesday in Game 4 of the preliminary round at the World Championships in Prague, Czech Republic. Canada is 3-0 and will play the 3-0 Swedes at 1:15 p.m. CDT on TSN.

Manitobans and Jets Prospects in the AHL

East St. Paul’s Mat Bodie of the Hartford Wolf Pack.

The second round – best-of-seven — AHL playoffs begin on Wednesday night. Of the eight teams remaining in the AHL playoffs, only one team, the Hartford Wolf Pack, with Winnipeg’s Dylan McIlrath and East St. Paul’s Mat Bodie, have Manitobans in the lineup. Hartford opens the second round on Wedensday at 6 p.m. CDT against Hershey.

Manitoba Junior Hockey League

On Sunday, the 2015 MJHL Champion Portage Terriers won the silver medal at the Western Canada Cup (April 25-May 3) in Fort McMurray, Alta. The Terriers will now gear up for the RBC Cup, the National Jr. A hockey championship at the PCU Centre in Portage la Prairie. The tournament begins Saturday at 2 p.m. CDT with Penticton against Portage.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

After a Slow Night, Manitoba Hockey Heats Up This Week

The RBC Cup is coming to Portage on Saturday; the Brandon Wheat Kings meet the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL Final, which opens on Friday; the IIHF World Championships resume for Team Canada on Wednesday; and two games in the Stanley Cup playoffs go tonight: Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks in Minnesota to play the Wild and Michael Ferland (expected back in the lineup) with the Calgary Flames as they play host to the Anaheim Ducks.

Brandon Wheat Kings

Nolan Patrick, Brandon Wheat Kings (Photo By Bruce Fedyck)

The Scotty Munro Trophy-winning Brandon Wheat Kings have won the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Division championship and will now face the Kelowna Rockets in the best-of-seven final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup. Game 1 goes at Brandon’s Westman Place on Friday night, May 8, at 7:30 p.m. CDT.

Manitobans in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

In the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Monday: Head coach Barry Trotz’s Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 1-0 to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal.

IIHF Men’s Senior World Championship

On Sunday in the tournament at Prague, Czech Republic: Winnipeg’s Cody Eakin didn’t get on the scoresheet, but he helped Canada beat the home side, Czech Republic 6-3 to improve to 3-0-0 in the round robin. Taylor Hall (Edmonton Oilers), Jordan Eberle (Edmonton Oilers) and Tyler Toffoli (Los Angeles Kings) led Canada with a goal and an assist each. Winnipeg Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec allowed six goals on 38 shots in the Czech net. Canada plays Sweden on Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. CDT.

Manitobans and Jets Prospects in the AHL

The second round – best-of-seven — AHL playoffs begin on Wednesday night. Of the eight teams remaining in the AHL playoffs, only one team, the Hartford Wolf Pack, with Winnipeg’s Dylan McIlrath and East St. Paul’s Mat Bodie, have Manitobans in the lineup. Hartford opens the second round on Wedensday at 6 p.m. CDT against Hershey.

Manitoba Junior Hockey League

Shawn Bowles, Portage Terriers (Photo by Jeff Miller)

On Sunday, the 2015 MJHL Champion Portage Terriers won the silver medal at the Western Canada Cup (April 25-May 3) in Fort McMurray, Alta. The Terriers will now gear up for the RBC Cup, the National Jr. A hockey championship at the PCU Centre in Portage la Prairie. The tournament begins Saturday at 2 p.m. CDT with Penticton against Portage.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

Did The Fight of the Century Kill Boxing PPV?

The Fight of the Century was dishwater dull. There, I said it.

Almost 48 hours after Floyd Mayweather, now known as the man who beats up women and 36-year-old has-beens, won a unanimous decision over the legendary Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand on Saturday night (Sunday morning).

That told the tale.

Sure, I’m probably being unfair when I call Pacquiao a “has-been” and, certainly, six years ago, when this fight was originally supposed to take place, Manny would have been 30 and in his prime. However, on Saturday night, he was an old 36, a politician and a man who is now 3-3-0 in his last six prize-fights. Manny Pacquiao is not the man who once claimed eight different weight-class belts.

As one wag put it, “This was more a choreographed dance than it was a fight.”

Saturday night’s Fight of the Century between the undefeated Mayweather (48-0-0) and the once wonderful Pacquiao was a tame 12-round waltz around the ring. Mayweather was handed a unanimous victory and after the fight Pacquiao said, “I gave it my best.”

If that was Pacquiao’s best, he would not have fared well on last Thursday night’s High Stakes Havoc card at the Regent Casino Events Centre in Winnipeg. When he hinted that he thought he won the fight, I had to think hard to recall when he landed his second punch.

Sure, amateur boxing coaches probably liked that fight. After all, for the first three rounds, it wasn’t bad. Then we had to watch nine more rounds and for those who didn’t nod off, “Good on ya!”

Granted, Pacquiao did land a decent left hook in the fourth round, a punch that sent the all-defense Mayweather to the ropes, but that was as close as ol’ Manny actually got to winning.Or scoring real points. The rest of the night he tried to catch up to the always moving, always running Mayweather.

The champ.

There was no intrigue at all to this fight. Mayweather ducked and dodged and occasionally landed something that didn’t even appear to startle Pacquiao. According to those who count these things, Mayweather landed 148 punches to Pacquiao’s 81. Really?

Yes, really. Because that number, 148, included Mayweather’s alleged jabs – mostly just taps – while Pacquiao was done after six and shuffled around like Ali at the end.

This was the most hyped fight in more than a decade and in the end, it was a bore, a waste of $99.95 (plus all applicable taxes). USA Today called it “Glorified sparring.”

Worst of all, it might have killed pay-per-view boxing. Real boxing mavens, the guys (the 45-75 demographic) who still believe boxing rules, probably found enough good in that fight to buy another one. However, the younger demographic who wanted to find out if grandpa’s version of UFC was worth the dollar, were shocked by the lack of real action. That was the biggest waste of $100 anyone could possibly imagine.

When you call a sporting event “boring,” you’re calling it worse than “bad.” A bad fight can have some interesting moments. A boring fight is sleep-inducing and when you hand someone sleep-inducing at midnight, you’re just asking them to doze off.

If anyone ever shells out $100 to watch a professional boxing match again, he/she is simply living proof that P.T. Barnum was right: “There is a sucker born every minute.”

Sadly, after the Fight of the Century, there are fewer suckers today than there were on Saturday night.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

A Big Hockey Night in These Parts

It was a huge day and night in hockey in this part of the world…

Brandon Wheat Kings

The Scotty Munro Trophy-winning Brandon Wheat Kings have won the Western Hockey League’s Eastern Division championship and will now face the Kelowna Rockets in the best-of-seven final for the Ed Chynoweth Cup.

Brandon Wheat Kings star Nolan Patrick (Photo by James Carey Lauder)

Manitobans and Jets Prospects in the WHL

In the WHL’s Western Conference final on Sunday night: Winnipeg’s Madison Bowey scored two goals as he led the Kelowna Rockets to a 8-4 win over the Portland Winterhawks in Portland. With the win, the Rockets won the WHL’s Western Conference final 4-2. Winnipeg Jets prospect Josh Morrissey had an assist for Kelowna. Winnipeg Jets prospect Chase De Leo had two goals and an assist for Portland while another Jets prospect, Nic Petan, had two assists.

Manitobans in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

In the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs on Sunday: Winnipeg’s Dale Weise logged only nine minutes and 12 seconds for the Montreal Canadiens in a 6-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning at the Bell Centre, but that more to do with outside forces. Late in the second period he was injured after taking an ugly hit and went to the dressing room for repairs. Then, he came back in the third period and at 11:06 took a 10-minute misconduct. In his brief appearances, Weise had two hits. The officiating has been horrendous in most series during these playoffs but it was especially questionable in the first two games on Sunday night. In fact, it was just outright bad.

Jonathan Toews had another big night for the Hawks.

Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews, the captain of the Chicago Blackhawks, scored the first goal of the game, his fourth goal of the playoffs, as he helped the Hawks beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1. The Hawks have a 2-0 series lead heading to St. Paul on Tuesday. Toews logged 15 minutes and six seconds of ice time and was plsu one with three shots and two hits.

Brandon/Swan River’s Michael Ferland was injured in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinal against Anaheim and did not play for the Calgary Flames in Sunday night’s Game 2, a 3-0 Ducks win.

IIHF Men’s Senior World Championship

On Sunday in the tournament at Prague, Czech Republic: Winnipeg’s Cody Eakin scored two goals as he helped Canada shut out Germany 10-0. Canada is now 2-0 in the round-robin and will face Czech Republic on Monday at 1:15 p.m. CDT on TSN.

Manitobans and Jets Prospects in the AHL

The first round – best-of-five — AHL playoffs continued on Sunday: Winnipeg’s Brendan Leipsic had three shots on goals, Portage la Prairie’s Troy Bodie had two shots and Winnipeg’s Jack Rodewald had a shot on goal, but it didn’t matter. The Grand Rapids Griffins beat Leipsic, Bodie, Rodewald and the Toronto Marlies 3-1 to win the best-of-five Western quarterfinal 3-2.

Of the eight teams remaining in the AHL playoffs, only one team, the Hartford Wolf Pack, with Winnipeg’s Dylan McIlrath and East St. Paul’s Mat Bodie, have Manitobans in the lineup.

Manitoba Junior Hockey League

On Sunday, the 2015 MJHL Champion Portage Terriers won the silver medal at the Western Canada Cup (April 25-May 3) in Fort McMurray, Alta.:

Portage 4 Melfort 2

Tyler Jeanson (Photo by Rusty Barton)

Portage beat the Saskatchewan Champions to finish second behind the Penticton Vees. Kevin Pochuk led the Terriers with two goals while Tyler Jeanson and Chase Faulkner also scored for Portage. Brad Bowles had two assists for the Terriers while Zac Robidoux made 22 saves to get the win.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

We Like Dortmund At the 141st Running of the Kentucky Derby

This Saturday, local thoroughbred racing fans will be headed to Winnipeg’s Assiniboia Downs for the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby.

In fact, there might even be a table for lunch still available. I know I’ll be there for the buffet at 1:30 p.m. (just $14.95 per person) for an entire day of racing from Churchill Downs.

Dortmund with Martin Garcia aboard.

The favorite, at morning odds of 5-2, Arkansas Derby winner American Pharoah will break from post 18. Santa Anita Derby winner Dortmund, made the 3-1 morning line second choice, drew the No. 8.

Among other notables, Toyota Blue Grass Stakes winner Carpe Diem (8-1) landed in the No. 2 post, fellow Todd Pletcher trainee Materiality (12-1) the No. 3,UAE Derby winner Mubtaahij (20-1) in the No. 6 and Wood Memorial winner Frosted (15-1) in No. 15.

I like Dortmund, followed by American Pharoah (too far to come from the 18 hole) and Carpe Diem (Blue Grass and Tampa Bay Derby winner), but Frosted fascinates me (any horse that wins the Wood fascinates me) as does International Star (20-1), which has won three major stakes races at Fair Grounds in New Orleans and also won the Grey Stakes at Woodbine last October.

Still, Dortmund is my pick. Sired by Big Brown, closely inbred to supersire Danzig, Dortmund is out of Our Josephina by Tale of the Cat. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by the brilliant Martin Garcia (Baffert’s first call rider who won the 2010 Preakness and the 2011 Kentucky Oaks), Dortmund has won four straight Derby Prep races – the Santa Anita Derby (April 4), the San Felipe, the Robert B. Lewis Stakes and the Los Alamitos Futurity.

To me, the Derby starts it all at the Downs every spring. Can’t wait.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings… Still

I tend to believe Rick Spielman. When the general manager of the Minnesota Vikings says Adrian Peterson will play for the Vikings in 2015, I have no reason to challenge him. Head coach Mike Zimmer says he wants Peterson in his lineup, so hey, I expect AP to play for the Vikings in 2015.

But I’m not naïve. I know that anything the general manager of a professional sports franchise says is subject to change without notice at any time. After all, BS is the currency with which GMs deal.

Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings.

However, as the Vikings prepare for Thursday night’s NFL draft, I’m pretty sure Spielman isn’t going into anything with the thought that Peterson is going to be moved for draft picks unless those draft picks are a lot better than what’s allegedly been bandied about.

Make no mistake, I believe the Vikings have been offered something for Peterson from the Dallas Cowboys, Arizona Cardinals and Oakland Raiders. I certainly don’t doubt any of the reports that deals are on the table.

However, I also believe Spielman is taking his 11th overall pick into Thursday night’s draft with the idea in his head that he’s going to use it to pick a draft-eligible football player. He is not thinking about trading Peterson to move up, down or all around.

However, I also believe he wouldn’t mind dealing No. 11 for a couple of second-rounders either. At least, that’s what it sounded like on Tuesday.

“Everybody’s targeting this guy or that guy,” Spielman told the Twin Cities media. “But I just went through five different scenarios this morning; what if a potential pass rusher falls down, what if a potential offensive lineman — and there’s multiple offensive linemen that we’re looking at — what if a DB falls down, what if the receivers fall down?”

In other words, Spielman is already greasing the skids, making sure he lets the local media know that if he does deal No. 11 for a few later picks, no matter what happens in the draft he’ll say something like this: “With that 33rd pick we were able to draft a guy we had ranked No. 6 going in. I’m so smart to have made that brilliant trade because we got what we wanted at 33.”

You know the drill.

In the meantime, what will Spielman do if he does stick with No. 11?

We’ll there are a number of names that have been discussed.

Brandon Scherf, Iowa

If Brandon Scherff, the big Offensive Lineman from Iowa is available at No. 11, Spielman would be crazy not to take him. If AP is indeed going to be a Viking, he’ll need all the blocking help he can get and the scouts think Scherff can provide that blocking. And you just can’t have too many offensive linemen.

If Scherff is gone, and there is a good chance he will be, there is a likelihood Spielman and his brain trust will agree on Devante Parker, the highly-touted wide receiver from Louisville. Cordarelle Patterson took a step back last year. If he doesn’t like the contact at the line or over the middle and isn’t going to amount to anything more than a great kick/punt returner (which is just fine), then a can’t-miss prospect like Parker will deserve the Vikings’ attention.

Devante Parker, Louisville

However, there is a very good chance that both Scherff and Parker will be gone at No. 11 and that leaves us with two players that are very likely to be around at No. 11 – Michigan State cornerback Trae Waynes and Kentucky defensive end, Bud Dupree.

I like Waynes, simply because he’s a fast corner (4.3 in the 40-yard dash) and has a physical presence at the line of scrimmage. Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer is a solid defensive coach and he and DBs coach Jerry Gray have the ability to make Waynes one of the top corners in the league, at least after a couple of seasons. With Waynes, Xavier Rhodes and Terence Newman, the Vikings could be set at corner for the next three or four years.

If, instead, the Vikings are chasing another pass rusher, the 270-pound Dupree could be the guy. He’s not very big, but he does have quicks and again, he’s playing for some solid defensive coaches who will only make him better.

Having said all of that, there is not one player on the list that can be called an “eye-popper.” Good players all, but only Scherff and maybe Parker will have any immediate impact.

And because of that, a Draft Day trade by the Vikings is not out of the question. Will Adrian Peterson be part of any deal? Unless, Spielman and Zimmer lie for fun, it’s unlikely.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

Stars’ Eakin Only Manitoban at World Championship

When Team Canada general manager Jim Nill selected his squad for the 2015 IIHFL World Senior Men’s Hockey Championship, he made sure there were plenty of Dallas Stars and at least one Manitoban.

Winnipeg’s Cody Eakin is the only Manitoba representative on Team Canada at the World Championships, which start this week in Czech Republic, but the fact he’s a member of Nill’s NHL Stars makes him a rather obvious choice.

Winnipeg’s Cody Eakin of the Dallas Stars (Photo by Jeff Miller).

Team Canada is already in Austria training. They’ll head to Prague on Wednesday and play their first preliminary-round game against Latvia on Friday (9:15 a.m. CDT). They’ll face Germany on Sunday (9:15 a.m. CDT), Czech Republic on Monday (1:15 p.m. CDT), Sweden on Wednesday (1:15 p.m. CDT), France next Saturday (5:15 a.m. CDT), Switzerland on Sunday, May 10 (1:15 p.m. CDT) and Austria next Tuesday, May 12 (5:15 a.m.). That will wrap up the round-robin portion of the tournament.

“This is my third time doing this and it’s one of the best teams I’ve ever been involved with,” said Nill, the former member of the Winnipeg Jets 1.0. “And I think that says a lot considering my other two experiences with Team Canada at the World Championship both resulted in gold medals.”

Nill played for the Jets from the trade deadline in 1985 until he was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings in 1988. There are no members of the Jets on this edition of Team Canada.

Eakin, meanwhile, had 19 goals and 21 assists in 78 games with Nill’s Stars this season. He is joined on Team Canada by other Stars Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza.

Born and bred in Winnipeg, the son of a Winnipeg police officer and a solid amateur player in his own right, Butch Eakin, Cody started out playing hockey like the rest of the kids in his South End neighborhood. He says that he learned to skate before he could walk.

He plied his trade in the WHL for the Swift Current Broncos for three and a half seasons before playing his last half season with the Kootenay Ice. During that time, Eakin was a point-per-game player, amassing 118 goals and 239 points in 238 career regular season games.

Stars and Team Canada GM Jim Nill at Winnipeg’s MTS Centre (Photo by Jeff Miller)

“Cody’s a good player,” said Nill, who played against Eakin’s father back when they both played in the Western Hockey League. “He is responsible in all zones, he does all the little things right and for his size he is very strong on the puck. He’s just a really responsible, solid, all-around player for us.”

It’s the 200-foot player that Nill wants with Team Canada in Czech Republic.

There is one other Manitoban with Team Canada at the Worlds. Team therapist Rob Malette is also from Winnipeg.

TEAM CANADA 2015

Goaltenders

Martin Jones                  North Vancouver, B.C.                   Kings

Mike Smith                           Kingston, Ont.                           Coyotes

Defense

Tyson Barrie                  Victoria, B.C.                           Avalanche

Brent Burns                  Barrie, Ont.                                    Sharks

Aaron Ekblad                  Belle River, Ont.                           Panthers

Dan Hamhuis                  Smithers, B.C.                           Canucks

Jake Muzzin                  Woodstock, Ont.                           Kings

David Savard                  St.-Hyacinthe, Que.                  Blue Jackets

Sidney Crosby (Photo by Jeff Miller).

Forwards

Sean Couturier                  Bathurst, N.B.                           Flyers

Sidney Crosby                  Cole Harbour, N.S.                  Penguins

Matt Duchene                  Haliburton, Ont.                           Avalanche

Cody Eakin                           Winnipeg, Man.                           Stars

Jordan Eberle                  Regina, Sask.                           Oilers

Tyler Ennis                           Edmonton, Alta.                           Sabres

Claude Giroux                  Hearst, Ont.                           Flyers

Taylor Hall                           Kingston, Ont.                           Oilers

Nathan MacKinnon         Cole Harbour, N.S.                  Avalanche

Ryan O’Reilly                  Varna, Ont.                                    Avalanche

Brayden Schenn                  Saskatoon, Sask.                  Flyers

Tyler Seguin                  Brampton, Ont.                           Stars

Jason Spezza                  Toronto, Ont.                           Stars

Tyler Toffoli                  Scarborough, Ont.                  Kings

General Manager: Jim Nill                                    Hanna, Alta.

Head Coach: Todd McLellan                                    Melville, Sask.

Assistant Coach: Peter DeBoer                           Dunnville, Ont.

Assistant Coach: Bill Peters                                    Three Hills, Alta.

Assistant Coach: Jay Woodcroft                           Toronto, Ont.

 

 

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

Why Having “The Football Mentality,” Messes Up Hockey Fans

On Friday night in St. Louis, the Minnesota Wild made a mockery of their own non-believers.

Marco Scandella, Nino Niederreiter, Mikko Koivu and Charlie Coyle scored and Devan Dubnyk made 36 saves – 19 in the third period – and the Wild drilled the St. Louis Blues 4-1.

Mikko Koivu celebrates the Wild’s first goal.

The victory came on the heels of a 6-1 St. Louis win at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul two nights earlier. T also came on the heels of Wild fans and the Twin Cities sports media getting apoplectic over one loss in the playoffs.

The big discussion, of course, surrounded Dubnyk. Suddenly, the guy who carried the entire team on his back for four months, had become defective and needed to be benched. It was comical just to listen to the nonsense: “The Wild are unraveling,” we heard. “The series was tied 2-2, but a 6-1 loss at home meant the Wild were in trouble,” we were told. “We have to bench Dubnyk,” the experts said.

It was all so silly.

Granted, Dubnyk was pulled from Game 4 after he allowed six goals on 17 shots. But this is hockey. It’s not football. Goalies have the occasional dark night. This past Wednesday, Dubnyk had one. If the Wild got deep into the playoffs, you can bet he will have more.

“It’s been a challenge for both teams,” Wild coach Mike Yeo said during his televised post-game news conference. “They (St. Louis) had a good start tonight, it was tough to give up the first goal but obviously, when your goalie plays like that, you give yourself a chance. Pretty good day, I guess. Our whole group is happy for him.”

Dubnyk, himself, sounded like a typical NHL goaltender.

On Friday, Devan Dubnyk too much for the Blues.

“I don’t think I can explain the lopsided wins,” Dubnyk told nhl.com. “I don’t think either team would have expected that. I think both sides aren’t surprised by the going back and forth. We’re two real good hockey teams, and we knew it was going to be a long, tough series, I’m sure they did too and that’s when it becomes important to put games behind you, win or lose.”

Panic over your team winning or losing a single playoff game – no matter the score – is a relatively new phenomenon. I believe it has slowly become that way because of the rise of football’s popularity and the apparent fall of baseball’s.

American sports fans have developed a football mentality. In the NFL – and in college football, especially – every game is life and death. In college football, one loss and you might not qualify for the playoff series. In the NFL, four or five losses in a 16-game schedule could cost you a playoff (not likely, but certainly possible). Every single game is deathly important. And losses sting for a week.

Hockey is so much closer to baseball in that sense. Even playoff hockey. The baseball mentality is so laid back. If you lose 70 games, there is still a very good chance that you’ll win the World Series. A loss in a baseball game hardly matters because you know you’re going to play the next day.

The NHL’s regular season is pretty close to that. You lose, you play the next day or the day after. Forgetting a loss is simple. In the playoffs, it has to be simpler.

An NFL season is made up of 16 games in four months. The Stanley Cup tournament is potentially 28 games in two months. Losses, no matter how bad they seem, are forgotten in less than 24 hours. What happened to Devan Dubnyk on Wednesday is no indication of what will happen on Friday night.

The Wild shout own the Blues: Marco Scandella checks Ryan Reaves.

And it certainly didn’t in this week’s case. The Blues won 6-1 in St. Paul while the Wild won 4-1 in St. Louis. Go figure? No, it’s not a mystery. It’s hockey!

“Game 6 is obviously going to be a great challenge,” Yeo said. “We have not won anything yet. I think we’re very aware that home ice has not been a huge advantage in this series. That’s going to be a great challenge.”

While fans and the media proved this week they still don’t get it. Yeo has demonstrated that he does. The next game is a completely different game and it’s just a small part of a two-month marathon that is still three full, possibly seven game, series away.

For now, the Wild lead the best-of-seven series with the Blues 3-2 and can close out St. Louis in Game 6 at home on Sunday at 2 p.m. CDT. But don’t count on it.

Minnesota has won Games 1, 3 and 5; St. Louis has won Games 2 and 4: Each game has been decided by at least two goals; the past four by three or more. And so it goes. It’s hockey, not football.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

Jets Clean Out Their Lockers And Head Home. Now What?

The Winnipeg Jets cleaned out their lockers on Friday and some of them might have said “Good-bye,” for the final time.

After losing Game 4 of the best-of-seven Stanley Cup Western Conference quarter-final to the Anaheim Ducks on Wednesday night, the Jets were swept out of the playoffs.

Kevin Cheveldayoff, Jets GM (Photo by James Carey Lauder)

As GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said yesterday, “You have to earn your spot in the playoffs. It isn’t given to you,” ad the Jets certainly earned it this season with a 99-point campaign. However, that’s cold comfort for the players and their passionate fans today. As the Jets cleaned out their lockers and prepared to head East to Czech Republic or West to Vancouver, they all praised the support they were given this season.

“Overall, (the playoff series with Anaheim) was extremely disappointing, but it was a great experience,” said Jets defenseman and team leader Mark Stuart. “Especially to come back here to Winnipeg and play those last two games and have the crowd the way it was, as a player it’s something you’ll never forget.”

For team captain Andrew Ladd, the atmosphere inside MTS Centre on Wednesday was something he’ll never forget. And that says a lot coming from a guy who has already won two Stanley Cups.

“Yeah, it was incredible,” Ladd said. “We take our hats off to those fans. They’ve been great the entire year but it was at a whole new level for these last two games. At they end, when they stood and gave us that ovation, I can tell you we appreciate that in here.

“We understand that they put their heart and soul into this hockey team and their hard-eared money into watching us play, but they should know that it’s definitely appreciated in here. It gets you going. That’s the special thing about our crowd and how involved they are.”

The Whiteout (Photo by Scott Taylor)

Head coach Paul Maurice believes Winnipeg is probably the only place in the NHL where the fans respond the way they do.

“You’re not going to get that in a regular season game, but we get it more than anybody else,” said Maurice. “I do believe, and I’ll say this as much just from people that I talk to on the street, people that will come up to you and talk about your hockey team — that they did appreciate the effort. We’re going to try and make things better next year, beyond our effort. But there was an appreciation there, the fans showed it in the playoffs.

“I’d like to have them cheering at the end of the game for a different reason, but we weren’t able to that. But that was special, the players appreciate it — they appreciated it in game one.  Just the number of unsolicited comments by the players today about how great that was. I certainly appreciated the end of the game, it wasn’t the result we wanted. It wasn’t the series that we wanted to give our fans, but I thought it was great.”

As we mentioned here at mytoba.ca this morning, now that the Winnipeg Jets’ 2014-15 season has come to an end, the Jets brass will turn its attention to the two big responsibilities of summer – the NHL draft (June 25-26 in Sunrise, Fla.) and the re-signing of free-agent players already on the roster.

Which Jets will be back next season? (Photo by Jeff Miller)

The Jets have eight unrestricted free agents – forwards Drew Stafford, Michael Frolik, Jiri Tlusty, TJ Galiardi, Jim Slater, Lee Stempniak and Matt Halischuk and defenseman Adam Pardy. The team also had five restricted free agents – Eric O’Dell, Anthony Peluso, Paul Postma, Keaton Ellerby and Ben Chiarot.

The Jets also have four unrestricted free agents coming up in the summer of 2016 – Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Grant Clitsome and Jay Harrison. There are aso two restricted free agents – Jacob Trouba and Mark Scheifele. Will deals be made to get something in return for future free agents. These are all decisions the brass has to make between now and June 25.

Let’s start in goal. Do the Jets want to ride Ondrej Pavelec, 27, a good NHL goaltender, but not a great one, or open it up to the youngsters, Michael Hutchinson, 25, who carried the Jets for most of the season, and Connor Hellebuyck, 21, who just joined Team USA for the 2015 World Championships? Knowing how much Kevin Cheveldayoff likes Pavelec from their days with the Chicago Wolves, assume Pavy will be back.

On defense, the Jets have 11 defencemen on the roster, and seven of whom are under contract next season: Toby Enstrom, 30, Dustin Byfuglien, 30, Tyler Myers, 25, Mark Stuart, 30, Grant Clitsome, 30, Jacob Trouba 21, and Jay Harrison, 32.

Dustin Byfuglien (Photo by Jeff Miller)

That list doesn’t include restricted free agents Ben Chiarot, 23, Paul Postma 26, and Keaton Ellerby, 26, or 2013 first-rounder Josh Morrissey 20, who will very likely be with the team when it breaks camp next October.

Enstrom was not good during the playoffs. He was either rag-dolled in front of the net or taken off the puck in the corners. Byfuglien is a free agent on July 1, 2016 and Cheveldayoff might look at moving him for a younger player or two or even draft choices, before he moves on to free-agency.

Up front, the Jets big line is back – Bryan Little, 27, Blake Wheeler, 28, and Andrew Ladd, 29. Michael Frolik said on Friday that he liked Winnipeg, but will look seriously at free agency this summer. “It’s the only real chance you get,” said the 27-year-old Frolik.

Stafford, who will be 30, is a free agent and while the Jets would love to have him back, they won’t over-pay. Tlusty, 27, Galiardi, 27, Slater, 33, Peluso, 26, O’Dell, 25, Stempniak 32, and Halischuk, 27,are probably gone, although, Cheveldayoff might try to keep Stempniak if he can. It’s also very likely that the youngsters in the organization — Nik Ehlers, 19, Nic Petan, 20, Chase De Leo, 19, Jan Kostalek, 20, Joel Armia, 22, Brendan Lemieux, 19, and Andrew Copp, 20 — will all get serious opportunities in training camp.

Mark Scheifele (Photo by James Carey Lauder)

Mark Scheifele, 22, Adam Lowry, 22, and Mathieu Perreault, 27, should be fixtures in Winnipeg for years to come. Fact is, the Jets have a very bright future.

“I like our core group, I really do,” said Cheveldayoff yesterday. “But things will come up this summer that change our look in a number of different ways. We have eight free agents and some will stay with us and some won’t. We also might run into an opportunity or two to make trades. Those opportunities will present themselves and we’ll have to decide what we want to do. But I’m looking forward to our off-season and looking forward to having our core group back next season.”

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com

Jets Brass Turns Its Attention to the Draft and its Own Free Agents

Now that the Winnipeg Jets 2014-15 season has come to an end, the Jets brass will turn its attention to the two big responsibilities of summer – the NHL draft (June 25-26 in Sunrise, Fla.) and the re-signing of free-agent players already on the roster.

The Jets salute their fans (Photo by Jeff Miller).

The Jets have seven unrestricted free agents – forwards Drew Stafford, Michael Frolik, Jiri Tlusty, Jim Slater, TJ Galiardi, Lee Stempniak and Matt Halischuk and defenseman Adam Pardy. The team also had five restricted free agents – Eric O’Dell, Anthony Peluso, Paul Postma, Keaton Ellerby and Ben Chiarot.

The Jets also have four unrestricted free agents coming up in the summer of 2016 – Dustin Byfuglien, Andrew Ladd, Grant Clitsome and Jay Harrison. There are aso two restricted free agents – Jacob Trouba and Mark Scheifele. Will deals be made to get something in return for future free agents. These are all decisions the brass has to make between now and June 25.

Who do you sign? Who do you let go? I doubt much attention will be paid to Halischuk, Galiardi, Tlusty or Slater. O’Dell, Ellerby and Peluso are likely gone. I’m sure the Jets want to keep Stafford, Frolik, Pardy and Chiarot. Postma is a toss-up but for the right price he should remain. Same goes for Stempniak.

What is more intriguing is the 2016 group? Do you move Ladd and Byfuglien while you can still get something in return? That will be an extremely interesting discussion going forward. The Jets will certainly re-sign Scheifele and Trouba to their second NHL deals.

Meanwhile, there are still plenty of Manitoba teams and stars involved in post-season hockey at all kinds of levels. Here’s an update:

Manitobans in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

Colin Wilson, Nashville Predators.

In the Playoffs on Thursday night: Winnipeg’s Colin Wilson scored his fifth goal of the playoffs and it turned out to be the winner as the Nashville Predators went on to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-2. In 16 minutes and 43 seconds of ice time Wilson was plus one with one shot on goal and two blocked shots. Winnipeg’s Jonathan Toews logged 18 minutes and 42 seconds of ice time for Chicago and had two shots and four hits.

Manitobans and Jets Prospects in the AHL

The AHL playoffs began on Wednesday night. Oakbank’s Quinton Howden had an assist, was plus one and had three shots on goal but Howden’s San Antonio Rampage were whipped 5-2 by the Oklahoma City Barons.

Brandon Wheat Kings

The Scotty Munro Trophy-winning Brandon Wheat Kings will meet the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL’s Eastern Conference final. The final opens Friday night at 7:30 in Brandon. Game 2 goes Saturday night in Brandon.

Manitobans and Jets Prospects in the WHL

The WHL conference finals open Friday night.

Manitoba Junior Hockey League

Defenseman Tanner Jago (12) and goalie Justin Laforest bar the door for Portage (Photo by James Carey Lauder)

The Portage Terriers are the 2015 MJHL Champions. On Tuesday night, they raised the Turnbull Trophy, emblematic of MJHL supremacy as they went 12-0 in the playoffs.

The Terriers will now represent the MJHL at the Western Canada Cup from April 25-May 3 in Fort McMurray, Alta. The Terriers open the tournament against the Host team on Saturday, April 25 at 8:30 p.m. CDT. They’ll face Saskatchewan on Sunday, April 26 at 3:30 p.m. CDT and then meet B.C. on Tuesday, April 28 at 3:30 p.m. CDT. The Terriers will complete the round-robin portion of the tournament on Thursday, April 30 at 3:30 p.m. against Alberta. The semifinals will be held on Saturday, May 2.

We’ll continue with this update as the post-season unfolds.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com