Good morning and welcome back for the start of the second week in 2011. Today we've got a some hockey notes as well as some other odds and ends that should dominate the sports talk around the water cooler this morning.It's been a crazy start to 2011 but for the teams that we cover here on the MMWC it's been mostly good.
The Saskatoon Blades continue to roll in the new year and appear to be close to grabbing the biggest name on the market ahead of the WHL's trade deadline today. More on that below.
The Blades are 3-1-0 through 4 games in 2011 and 7-1-0 dating back to December 17th. They'll play host to the Brandon Wheat Kings on Tuesday night.
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The U of S Huskies are off to a great start in the new year as well. The men's hockey team kicked off the new year with a weekend sweep of a home and home series with the University of Regina Cougars. New additions Matt Delahey and Derek Hulak were in the line-up and contributing. Both scored in Saturday's 6-2 win at Rutehrford and for Hulak, his goal and 2 assists earned him the game's second star. He was outshone only by Kyle Bortis who netted a pair on Saturday which followed a two goal effort in a 3-1 win over the same Cougar team a night earlier.
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The women's hockey team also earned a sweep in a home and home with the Cougars and the men's and women's basketball teams earned sweeps in Brandon.
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Over the past week one hot streak ended while another continues in junior hockey in this fine country.
For the SJHL's Kindersley Klippers, their winning streak came to a halt at 8 games thanks to the Melville Millionaires. The Mills knocked off the Jr. K's 5-4 on Saturday night.
In Whitecourt goaltender Jordan Panasiuk has 8 straight shutouts for the NWJHL's Whitecourt Wolverines (Jr. B). Has not been scored on in 494 minutes and 12 seconds. That's an incredible streak in any league.
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The headlines will be mostly dominated today by junior hockey teams in the province as the trade deadline approaches.
Let's start with the biggest news from the past 24 hours and it comes out of Saskatoon where the Blades appear to be on the verge of acquiring the biggest name on the junior hockey market ahead of the 4pm CST trade deadline.
Reports out of Brandon say that the Wheat Kings are finalizing a deal that would send Brayden Schenn back to his hometown of Saskatoon and to the Blades organization.
At this point I do not know what the Blades would give up in such a deal but judging by a move made prior it could be a lot.
Earlier Sunday the Swift Current Broncos dealt forward Cody Eakin for five players and three draft picks. The price was high and the Broncos sold and are cashing in nicely. The future looks bright in Speedy Creek.
That makes a person wonder what the Wheat Kings could possibly get for Schenn if this deal is for real. There is one thing to keep in mind when thinking of what the Blades would give up for the talented hometown boy. That is that the Blades have made it known that they are interested in hosting the 2013 Memorial Cup and in order to be picked the selection committee has to be confident that the host team (who also earns an automatic berth in the tournament) can ice a competitive team. If the Blades sell the farm and a series of draft picks it would really hurt their chances of hosting that Memorial Cup.
On the flip side, this team is very dangerous right now and picking up Schenn would make them a serious threat to represent the WHL at this year's national championship.
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In the SJHL the Melfort Mustangs made the first splash early in the new year acquiring Brayden Metz from the Melville Millionaires who have become clear sellers as the deadline approaches.
The next big splash came courtesy the Yorkton Terriers who acquired 20 year old forwards Justin Buzzeo and Jeremy Boyer for future considerations.
The Broncos then sent forward Riley Gillies to Dauphin in the MJHL The Kindersley Klippers got on board the Broncos sell off and picked up Spencer Braaten for futures which, at the time of this post, appears to be the latest OFFICIAL move.
Word out of Melfort is that the Mustangs have acquired Cody Hanson from the Melville Millionaires although nothing has been officially confirmed at this moment.
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I don't expect to be breaking any trades today but I will be passing along everything I hear so for the latest be sure to follow me on Twitter at Twitter.com/DarrenDupont.
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Former Huskie receiver and current Winnipeg Blue Bomber Scott McHenry re-tweeted the following quote yesterday and I like it so I'm going to pass it along.
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."- Aristotle.
Words to live by.
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Words to live by.
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I really thought that Michael Vick was going to lead the Philladelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl this year but sadly that's not the case. Vick and the Eagles came up short in Sunday's playoff game against the Green Bay Packers.
As it was put by Rider receiver Jason Clermont, with his salary restrictions, Vick is basically volunteering in the NFL. The ring is the only thing right now. I really thought he was going to get it done. Watch for him. He'll get his ring.
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With Vick and the Eagles out I am officially on the Jets bandwagon. I have been on their bandwagon ever since my Titans were officially eliminated from playoff contention. In my dream the Jets and Eagles would meet in the Super Bowl and I wouldn't care who won.
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Here's a tweet from Alberta Golden Bears color commentator Evan Daum.
@evandaum: I'll make my prediction official and tweet it: @HuskieAthletics will be at the University Cup in Fredericton come March.
I hope your right. And with two teams from Canada West going to Fredericton it could very well be the Huskies making the trip.
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It was GX94's Craig Stein who had everyone on pins and needles this past week waiting to hear the news out of Yorkton. He had monstrous news that he couldn't quite share until it became official but when it did it sent shock waves throughout the league.
I've now been on both sides when it comes to announcing or talking about trades that take place in junior hockey. I completely understand the trust and respect that there is between a play-by-play voice and the team that he covers. No play-by-play voice is going to go behind his team's back to break a trade or break that trust by leaking information that was said to them in confidence but with social media taking off like it has people are breaking trades or discussing possibilities like never before. It's really an exciting time for junior hockey in Canada.
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According to Bob Weeks at Score Golf, Weyburn's Graham DeLaet's surgery went well. His agent said that he expects to make a full recovery on schedule. That would mean teeing it up in March.
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Want to check out some behind the scenes footage from TSN and Brayden Schenn? Hit up this link: http://yfrog.com/ngiagz
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That's it for right now. There will be lots more developing today so stay tuned and for the latest follow along on Twitter at Twitter.com/DarrenDupont.
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