Developing The Future

WHL brass are in Edmonton for the league's bantam draft. It goes Thursday (815 AM start)with three of the Saskatchewan teams having high picks. The Portland Winter Hawks will have the first pick followed by Moose Jaw, Chilliwack, Red Deer, Regina and Prince Albert. Previous number one picks over the past few years include Jay Bouwmeester, Braydon Coburn, Jared Cowen and Colten Teubert.
The Warriors have stated they would like a defenceman and there are several good ones out there including Weyburn's Derrick Pouliot and Notre Dame's Morgan Reilly. The Pats have indicated they wouldn't mind grabbing a forward with their first round pick. Weyburn's Taylor Balog is considered a high pick by scouts but the team may look to Alberta and grab Mike Winther if he is still there at number 5. Winther has been playing with Airdrie. The names won't mean anything now but look back to the 2004 draft and some first round picks were Luke Schenn and WHL player of the year Brett Sonne. Look back at the 2003 draft and the first pick overall was Jonathan Toews. He elected to go to North Dakota though instead of Tri-Cities. Needless to say, the road to NHL stardom begins for some today.
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I wonder what Don Cherry thinks about the three nominees for the Hart Trophy. Grapes must be rolling over in his gaudy sportsjackets over the fact three Russians are up for the MVP. No surprise to see Malkin and Ovechkin in there but I am surprised to see Pavel Datsyuk in the final three. Nothing against the Detroit winger but I thought Zach Parise would be there. I wonder if Anaheim had done better in the regular season if Ryan Getzlaf would have gotten any consideration. I heard I believe it was Scott Laughlin from XM Radio saying the other day that he believes Getzlaf would get Crosby like attention if he played in the East and that he might be a better all around player. I wouldn't argue that.
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The swine flu is dominating the headlines and for good reason. I'm not too scared of it at this time but one has to wonder what is going to happen as it seems to be getting worse and not better. I can't see people wearing masks when they go out and about in Saskatchewan but you just never know.
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A Canadian sports broadcasting legend has passed on. Ted Reynolds is probably best known for his work with CBC covering Olympic swimming. He also did the first play by play games of Vancouver Canuck contests for Hockey Night in Canada. Reynolds was 83.
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Everyone is starting to pick up on the Brett Favre story. Many, many people think the quarterback is ready to come back again after he got his release from the Jets. The fact the Jets no longer owe Green Bay anything because of this move and the fact Favre never really seems to keep his promise of retirement has a lot thinking he could be wearing Vikings purple. He has sent out a statement saying he is staying retired but I'm not buying that and won't be until training camp starts. Who's kidding who, the Vikings aren't really set at quarterback with Sage Rosenfels and Tavaris Jackson and Brett really wanted to play there last year before getting traded to the Jets. I can't imagine what it would be like at Lambeau Field if the Vikings came in there with Brett Favre running the show for the Packers division rival. What a gong show that would be!!!
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I see the NHL has now taken control of the Phoenix Coyotes. Would they have to do the same thing in Winnipeg??? The league says the team isn't going anywhere and I have to ask why?? Its obvious the NHL is not working in the desert. Once the season is over, do what is necessary and move this team. I know some think the league returning to Winnipeg is nothing but a pipe-dream but I believe the team could survive there. I think a lot more people from Regina would head to Winnipeg to catch a game before going to Calgary. Saskatoon folks might still head to Edmonton more but its safe to say there would be a solid Saskatchewan presence at the MTS Centre. The old Winnipeg Arena is where I saw my first ever NHL game. My dad and I took the Greyhound to Winnipeg on a Friday night in 1979 to see the Bruins play the Jets. We got tickets that were about two rows from the top of the ancient stadium. The game ended in a 3-all tie. Peter Sullivan scored with about 5 minutes left in the 3rd and it looked like Winnipeg would win but Wayne Cashman tied it with about 30 seconds to go. From as high up as we were it looked like black dots were playing against white dots but I didn't care because I was at my first ever NHL game. When the game was over, we got back on the Greyhound and the bus driver had to wake both of us up in Indian Head to tell us we were home. The last thing I remember was the bus pulling out of the depot. I can't remember why we didn't take the car to Winnipeg. I think the weather was bad and Dad knew I wanted to go so we took the bus. It was one of two memorable sports trips I have taken with Dad. I'm not going to get into the other one right now but lets just say it ends with the two of us having to sleep in the car because he made a little mistake---and it had nothing to do with Mom. I still rag on him about that trip!!
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Thanks for checking in!! More and more of you are coming to this page on a daily basis and I do thank you for that and ask once again. Have you got nothing better to do with your meagre little lives????? Just kidding!! (Again, the level of sarcasm isn't as strong in print as it is when over the air.)