- I had an interesting opportunity yesterday at Quebec City's Morrin Centre.
They were hosting a writer's festival called Imagination and one of the feature authors was Todd Denault.
I had the pleasure of being asked by organizers to interview Todd for an event that they titled "Hockey Night in Canada Replays".
It was a lot of fun to get to spend some time with a writer whose work I truly enjoyed. His books, Jacques Plante, The Man Who Changed The Face of Hockey, and the Greatest Game (about the December 31st 1975 Montreal Canadiens-Soviet Red Army clash), are remarkably well researched and superbly written.
After the interview we headed to the St-Alex pub to have a couple of pops and watch the Habs vs. the Bruins.
I hate to say it, but it looks as though the old Montreal curse still has a grip on the Boston club. Two words: Carey Price.
- One player who seems to have seen some of the luster wear off his star is Chicago's Jonathan Toews.
It was not that long ago that he was a media darling, but now that his club is down 3-0 to Vancouver, he is getting ripped for being too vocal and lacking respect towards both his opponents and refs.
- It'll also be interesting to see which, if any, Chicago players will be joining team Canada at the World Hockey Championships in Bratislava once the Canucks finish them off.
- Still with the Vancouver-Chicago series, you have to believe that Raffi Torres is going to get suspended for his shoulder hit to Chicago defenceman Brent Seabrook's head as the latter was coming out from behind his net with his head down.
Not that long ago, that hit would have been considered fair and square, but with the renewed concerns about brain injuries in hockey, it becomes a play that will likely cost Torres, who was in his first game back after serving four games for a hit to the head, quite a few more games away from the ice.
- A series I can't get excited about: Detroit-Phoenix.
- This coming Wednesday will mark the beginning of the Fred Page Cup tournament in Terrebonne, Quebec.
What's the Fred Page Cup you ask? Well it's a Junior A tournament that features the winners of the Central Junior Hockey League (Ottawa Valley and 1000 Islands area), the QJAAAHL champs, the title holders from the Maritime Hockey League, as well as the host team.
The winner of this tournament will head to Camrose, Alberta, to compete for the Royal Bank Cup, symbol of Canadian Junior A hockey supremacy.
- The CJHL representatives in this tourney are the Pembroke Lumber Kings. A veritable powerhouse in their league, the Kings just wrapped up their 5th consecutive league title, defeating the Cornwall Colts in 6 games.
The general manager/coach of the Lumber Kings is Sheldon Keefe.
Those who follow hockey may well remember him as being one of the so-called "Brampton Boys", a group of players who were once coached by David Frost.
You can google it if you want to know more, but suffice it to say that a few years back the CBC investigative news program The Fifth Estate did a story on them.
- In addition to host Terrebonne, the Quebec League is represented by the Collège Français from Longueil, who defeated Valleyfield in 5 games.
- The Maritimes are represented by the Summerside Western Capitals.
The Caps really turned it on in the second half of the regular season, finishing second overall behind the Woodstock Slammers.
After making short work of their first round opponent, Miramichi, in four games, the Caps defeated Woodstock in a highly dramatic 7 games series.
As in a movie script, the Caps scored twice within the last 1:10 of the seventh game to send it into overtime, when they completed the upset.
Riding high on the excitement of their hard-earned win over the regular season champs, Summerside swept the Weeks Crushers, from Pictou County, Nova Scotia, in four games.
The Caps are coached by Gordie Dwyer, a Quebec Major Hockey League grad, and former member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization, playing with them at the same time was the Pembroke coach, the aforementioned Sheldon Keefe.
Some good hockey to look forward to in Terrebonne.
- Another series that merits attention in these parts is the Quebec-Shawinigan QMJHL tilt. It looked as the though Patrick Roy-coached Remparts would just roll right through this series, but the Cataractes are showing signs that they are willing and able to put up a fight. Game 7 of that series goes Tuesday in what should be a packed Colisée in Quebec City.
The winner of this series will face off against Gatineau, while St-John will take on Lewiston in the other semi-final.
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