Saturday On Tap

KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Severstal 3, at Amur 1
Vityaz 3, at Metallurg Nizhnekamsk 0
At Sibir 2, Dinamo Minsk 1
At Salavat Yulav 2, Avtomobilist 1
Traktor 3, at Neftekhimik 1
At Ak Bars 2, Metallurg Magnitogorsk 1 SO
At CSKA 4, Yugra 2
At Slovan 4, Avangard 2
At Barys 4, Lev 2
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.
Roundup is here

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Gatineau at Chicoutimi
Rimouski at Shawinigan
Victoriaville at Rouyn-Noranda
Blainville-Boisbriand at Val-d'Or

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
Belleville at Plymouth
Windsor at Sault Ste. Marie
Peterborough at Ottawa
Saginaw at Owen Sound

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Kootenay at Calgary
Brandon at Regina
Moose Jaw at Swift Current
Prince Albert at Saskatoon
Lethbridge at Medicine Hat
Prince George at Everett
Kamloops at Kelowna
Portland at Seattle
Spokane at Tri-City
Victoria at Vancouver

Friday's Leftovers

KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Lokomotiv 4, Spartak 2
At Atlant 5, Dinamo Riga 2
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.
Roundup is here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Halifax 4, at Cape Breton 3 OT
At Prince Edward Island 6, Moncton 2
Saint John 3, at Acadie-Bathurst 2 OT
At Quebec 9, Chicoutimi 4
Rimouski 5, at Sherbrooke 1
At Baie-Comeau 4, Gatineau 1
Blainville-Boisbriand 5, at Rouyn-Noranda 3
Drummondville 4, at Shawinigan 3
At Val-d'Or 4, Victoriaville 3 SO
Summaries are here.
Roundup is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Kingston 3, Barrie 1
Belleville 3, at Sarnia 1
At Sault Ste. Marie 6, Plymouth 5 OT
Niagara 2, at Brampton 1 SO
At Guelph 4, Saginaw 3 OT
At London 8, Erie 2
Kitchener 3, at Mississauga 0
At Sudbury 4, Oshawa 2
Summaries are here.
Roundup is here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Brandon 3, Regina 2
At Lethbridge 4, Medicine Hat 2
At Moose Jaw 4, Swift Current 3 OT
Saskatoon 2, at Prince Albert 1 SO
Calgary 3, at Red Deer 2
At Kamloops 6, at Kelowna 5 OT
Seattle 5, at Portland 2
Victoria 6, at Vancouver 4
Summaries are here.
Roundup is here.
The Buzzing the Net blog's three stars from Friday in the QMJHL/OHL/WHL are here.

Keeping an Eye on the Future

East or west. Canada or the United States. Much of your attention this hockey season should be focused on the the junior leagues. The future stars are playing there, and with the NHL currently out of the picture, the time is now to get on the web and look for all you can find about the two top prospects for the 2013 draft.

Nathan MacKinnon, a center for the Halifax Mooseheads of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He's a Canadian and a player who grew up -- as any video or print report will tell you -- in the same home town as Sydney Crosby.

Any number of preseason draft forecasts have him at or near the top of the list. And last season, he had the pressure of being compared to the top players like the Quebec Remparts' Mikhail Grigorenko, who was taken in the first round by the Buffalo Sabres last June.



The other person battling for attention as the No. 1 selection in 2013?

Seth Jones, a defenseman for the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League. He's an American. His father, Popeye Jones, played in the NBA.



Both videos are from last spring, and there will be plenty more to watch as the two move through the season, the World Junior Championships and possible runs at their league championships and the Memorial Cup.

Bob McKenzie of TSN broke down his thoughts on MacKinnon and Jones and also rounded out his list of top 10 prospects for the 2014 draft. You think Mel Kiper Jr. knows the NFL draft? McKenzie knows the NHL draft and pretty much any number of levels of hockey beyond just the draft. And he doesn't need a bucket of hair lacquer, either.

I'll try to keep you updated with what is going on in all corners of the rink, so please feel free to join me on the junior beat. I'll be looking at the the Canadian Hockey League (the QMJHL, OHL and WHL compose this association), the United States Hockey League and I also hope to follow the trail of some top players in the CJHL, an association of 10 leagues at the level below the CHL, as well as Minnesota high school hockey and the New England prep leagues.

This is going to be a fun year, even if we don't quite reach the level of enthusiasm displayed in this video for the Victoria Royals of the WHL.

Gangster of Love Sighting and Other Updates

Caught this on the CBC News report on NHLers who are in the Kontinental Hockey League right. Midway through the piece, there is Paul (Wooopwhooo) Maurice, the gangster of love, who is behind the bench of Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Lucky man, he is now coaching Evgeny Malkin.

Any number of coaches in Europe now have a bigger smile when they get up in the morning, knowing that extra bit of talent, for however long they have them on the roster, should lift the spirits and skill levels of their teams.

In Sweden, a court ruling has apparently cleared the way for NHLers to join Elitserien teams, though the Puck Daddy blog notes that this ruling could be overturned on appeal. Until then, the window is open in Sweden's top league.

And as an added starter for your conversation this weekend, Michael Grange of Sportsnet looks at whether the KHL the new World Hockey Association. Let's see about those blue pucks, first. (And I most definitely would have had this game as a kid had they put them on the shelves in Colorado. Heck we had a WHA team once.)

And the latest issue of Sportsnet the magazine is out and look who is on the cover.

Yes, I am a subscriber (iPad through Zinio). It's a sports magazine from Canada and notch above ESPN the magazine and a painter's ladder above Sports Illustrated, as far as the sports I care most about are concerned: hockey, hockey, hockey, baseball, hockey and hockey and maybe a little college football these days.

Friday On Tap

KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Lokomotiv 4, Spartak 2
At Atlant 5, Dinamo Riga 2
Summaries are here.
Standings are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Halifax at Cape Breton
Moncton at Prince Edward Island
Saint John at Acadie-Bathurst
Chicoutimi at Quebec
Rimouski at Sherbrooke
Gatineau at Baie-Comeau
Blainville-Boisbriand at Rouyn-Noranda
Drummondville at Shawinigan
Victoriaville at Val-d'Or

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
Barrie at Kingston
Belleville at Sarnia
Plymouth at Sault Ste. Marie
Niagara at Brampton
Saginaw at Guelph
Erie at London
Kitchener at Mississauga
Oshawa at Sudbury

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
Regina at Brandon
Medicine Hat at Lethbridge
Swift Current at Moose Jaw
Saskatoon at Prince Albert
Calgary at Red Deer
Kelowna at Kamloops
Seattle at Portland
Victoria at Vancouver

Thursday's Leftovers

KONTINENTAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
Severstal 5, at Metallurg Novokuznetsk 3
At Sibir 3, Vityaz 2 SO
At Avtomobilist 4, Yugra 3
At Salavat Yulaev 4, Metallurg Magnitogorsk 3 OT
At Ak Bars 6, Traktor 2
At Dynamo Moscow 7, Dinamo Minsk 2
Barys 3, at CSKA 1
At Lev 3, Avangard 1
Roundup is here.
Standings are here.
Summaries are here.

QUEBEC MAJOR JUNIOR HOCKEY LEAGUE
Acadie-Bathurst 3, at Saint John 1
Roundup is here.
Summary is here.

ONTARIO HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Niagara 4, Erie 2
Barrie 6, at Ottawa 4
Oshawa 5, at Peterborough 2
Owen Sound 6, at Windsor 1
Roundup is here.
Summaries are here.

WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE
At Edmonton 5, Kootenay 3
Roundup is here.
Summary is here.
The Buzzing the Net blog's three stars from the night in the QMJHL/OHL/WHL.

The Wide World of Hockey

Keeping an eye on things around the world is much easier than it used to be. Just a few keystrokes, perhaps some bad translation program, and you are there for hockey around the world.

In previous posts, I've provided some crucial links to the top league in Europe, the Kontinental Hockey League, but here are links to other elite leagues across the Atlantic.

In Sweden, the Elitserien is the top league to watch there. The league has an English-language blog to help draw you in. Here's the league's website. That was a montage for Rogle BK in 2011-12 that you were watching above. The Elitserien is not taking locked-out NHLers unless they sign on for the full season. Anze Kopitar is with Mora IK in the HockeyAllsvenskan, the second-tier or relegation league for professionals. That website is here.

Finland's top-level league is the SM-liiga. Here is the English/condensed version of the league's official website.

Although the KHL has placed a team in the Czech Republic, the Extraliga remains the top domestic circuit in that country. If you do not speak Czech, you will need a translation function on your browser for the league's website.

A number of locked-out NHLers are making their way to Switzerland, where they will play in the National League A, that country's top-level circuit. The league website is here.

At least one NHLer has found work in the DEL, or the Deutche Eishockey Liga, the top circuit in Germany. The league website is here.

And finally, Red Wings prospect Tomas Tatar is playing in the Slovak Extraliga. Here is the website of that league.

Keep in mind that I am not just watching locked-out NHLers, who may be in these leagues for a short time. I am also watching for players who are drafted NHL prospects and those young players who might just find themselves at the NHL draft next summer. More on those players in a later post.