Just a few things going on in the world of the National Hockey League:
This week will be a busy one for Saskatchewan, as both Regina and Saskatoon will play host to a total of 3 NHL Preseason games. As part of the ongoing New York Islanders' training camp, which has been going on at the Credit Union Centre in Saskatoon all week, The Calgary Flames will take on the Isles tomorrow night, and 24 hours later, the Oilers will be in town against the Islanders. On Monday, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Ottawa Senators will be in Regina for a preseason matchup. Although it is never known who exactly you may see in preseason games, Saskatchewan fans will be hoping to see the likes of Jarome Iginla, Dion Phaneuf, Jay Bouwmeester, Sam Gagner, John Tavares, Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Alex Kovalev, and Jason Spezza. Certainly one of these great players would be a treat to watch. There is also a large collection of "home-grown" talent on these 5 clubs that we may get see play, such as:
OTTAWA
Ryan Keller - Saskatoon
Zack Smith - Maple Creek
Jeremy Yablonski - Meadow Lake
Craig Schira - Spiritwood
Eric Gryba - Saskatoon
Jared Cowen - Allan
TAMPA BAY
Dustin Tokarski - Watson
Blair Jones - Central Butte
James Wright - Saskatoon
NEW YORK ISLANDERS
Blake Comeau - Meadow Lake
Jeremy Reich - Craik
Brendan Witt - Humboldt
Scott Munroe - Moose Jaw
CALGARY FLAMES
Riley Armstrong - Lloydminster
Curtis Glencross - Kindersley
Garth Murray - Regina
Keith Aulie - Rouleau
Cory Sarich - Saskatoon
Theoren Fleury - Oxbow (we'll get to this in a bit)
EDMONTON OILERS
Jordan Eberle - Regina
Steve MacIntyre - Brock
Devan Dubnyk - Regina
Matt Glasser - Saskatoon
So you can see that these franchises have their fair share of SK-born talent.
Making headlines this week:
THEOREN FLEURY ATTEMPTS A RETURN TO THE NHL
At the ripe young age of 41, Theoren Fleury, once the Calgary Flames all time scoring leader has been working on a return back to the NHL. Fleury has been away from the league for quite some time after he violated the NHL's substance
abuse policy and was suspended indefinitely. How fitting is it that Fleury is trying to go back where it all began...back to Calgary. Now, many believe that Fleury may not be able to keep up with today's game, but maybe the veteran presence of Fleury on the ice and in the locker room may be what the team needs to make a serious run at the cup. Fleury helped the Flames win the cup in '89. He left the team 10 years later in a trade to Colorado that involved fellow SK players Robyn Regehr and Wade Belak, and now, 10 years later, he is attempting to return, and inject some identity into the Flames in their 30th Anniversary season.I guess Fleury scoring the shootout winner in a game 2 days ago says something.
TYLER BOZAK IS MAKING A STATEMENT
Toronto Maple Leafs' rookie hopeful Tyler Bozak flew right under the PrairiePuck
's radar, and we completely forgot about him on our players to watch, because he is from SASKATCHEWAN!! This Regina native took the college route in his hockey career, playing for the University of Denver for the past 2 years. This tough and very skilled 23 year old forward was one of the most coveted NCAA free agents this season, and Brian Burke once again made a good move to improving and transforming the culture of the Leafs.Just take a peak at this goal from Bozak in an earlier preseason matchup against Boston this week:
BRIAN BURKE GETS WHAT HE WANTS
After weeks, and possibly months of speculation and rumors, Leafs' GM Brian Burke made a huge move on Friday, completing a trade with the Boston Bruins, sending a collection of questionably high draft picks for Bruins' forward Phil Kessel. We say questionable picks, because according to TSN, Toronto gave up 2 first round picks and a second round pick for Kessel. Probably a good move in the long run though. Kessel, a restricted free agent, who was unable to generate a deal with Boston, was traded to the Leafs, and immediately signed a reported 5 year deal worth approximately $27 million.
PP
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