THE PIPELINE SHOW: CHL finals underway
The Pipeline Show: May 4, 2019
This week on The Pipeline Show we get in-depth previews of the final series in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League. Plus a terrific 2019 Draft Spotlight segment with Harvard recruit John Farinacci.
QMJHL Finals Preview
The Rouyn-Noranda Huskies and the Halifax Mooseheads are both headed to the 2019 Memorial Cup so the outcome of the QMJHL final this year doesn’t really mean all that much.
Or does it?
The Huskies have been the top ranked team in the ‘Q’ and the Mooseheads, hosts of the Memorial Cup, have been in the top 10 for pretty much the entire season. Neither of them wants to go to the big tournament as the QMJHL runner up so expect the best from both teams over the next 4-7 games.
I spoke with Jean-Paul Charlesbois, the broadcast voice of the Huskies, to get a preview of the QMJHL final and we started with that very subject. Then we covered the number of notable names on both teams.
Rouyn-Noranda will be the favorites in the series but don’t discount the chance that Halifax can beat them. The series could be longer than some expect.
OHL Finals Preview
The league title and a trip to Halifax is on the line in the final series of the OHL which will feature the top seeded Ottawa 67s and the Guelph Storm.
The 67s have steamrolled everyone on their way to the final having swept Hamilton, Sudbury and Oshawa along the way. Meanwhile Guelph is coming off of two consecutive series where they faced elimination multiple times.
A.J. Jakubec is the voice of the Ottawa 67s and he delivered a comprehensive look at the series to come with deep analysis of both teams strengths. We also discussed the potential Memorial Cup scenario that still exists where the top rated teams from all three CHL leagues could meet in Halifax.
WHL Finals Preview
And then there were two. The Prince Albert Raiders will take on the Vancouver Giants to decide who is the Best in the West and represent the WHL at the 2019 Memorial Cup in Halifax.
To preview the series I called on the voice of the Giants, Dan O’Connor. We began our conversation where all talk of the Giants should start – with Bowen Byram. The defenceman is a true specimen and as O’Connor outlines, has a terrific list of accomplishments this season that makes it easy to forget that he’s 17-years-old.
O’Connor also shared his insight on the rest of the Vancouver roster and then looked across the ice at the extremely deep and formidable opponent from Prince Albert. With the series set in a 2-3-2 best of 7 format, the onus is on the Giants to try and take one of the first games of the series for a chance to win on home ice.
We also touched on Thursday’s WHL Bantam Draft and the drama that unfolded in Red Deer.
2019 Draft Spotlight: John Farinacci
The 2019 Draft Spotlight this week shines on Dexter Southfield forward John Farinacci who is ranked high enough to be considered a solid top 45 candidate for the NHL event in June.
I spoke with the New Jersey native minutes before he was scheduled to meet with an undisclosed NHL team for an informal meeting. We chatted about the season that was for he and his teammates at Dexter. Then we looked back at his career path through Shattuck-St. Mary’s, Dexter and appearances with both the USHL Muskegon Lumberjacks and the US-NTDP.
We also discussed last summer’s Hlinka-Gretzky Cup in Edmonton where he captained Team USA. I asked Farinacci if the controversial semi-final loss to Canada was still a sore spot and we continued on through his choice of Harvard for his NCAA career and what lies ahead with the NHL Draft.
Guy Flaming is the host of The Pipeline Show, a year round, 100% prospect orientated podcast now in its 14th season. Since 2006, the mandate of the program has been to introduce the audience to the future of the NHL and that is accomplished every week by speaking with the top players, coaches, general managers, scouts and media that junior and college hockey have to offer. It is free to subscribe to The Pipeline Show and is available via iTunes, Google Play, Soundcloud, Spreaker, the Podcast App and www.thepipelineshow.com