MILLRATS ANNOUNCE ANNOUNCEMENT DATE

The Manchester Millrats have called a press conference for June 21st at Harbour Station, where they will likely announce that they are moving to Saint John for the 2011 Premier Basketball League season.

According to the Millrats Facebook page, the PBL officially announced their approval of the move at the league’s meetings in Chicago this weekend.

“We knew it was going to be approved, but it was officially approved at the meeting,” said Station Nation fan and one of the Millrats owners Ian McCarthy in the Telegraph-Journal.

“The Millrats have been in negotiations with arena management of Harbour Station and City Officials for several weeks regarding the possible move of their team to Saint John, and are prepared to make several announcements on the 21st and answer questions regarding the progress of the venture,” said the team in a press release.

The presser will be open to the public and will begin at noon inside Harbour Station. According to the release, the new high definition video board will be used in some way.

Speakers are expected to include Millrats team owners, Andre Levingston - the President of the Premier Basketball League, Harbour Station Management, Saint John Sea Dogs President Wayne Long, Saint John Mayor Ivan Court, and others.

Currently, the team is still being called the “Millrats” but their Facebook page is asking folks about what they would like the team to be named. Whether the name changes or not, the logo will have to be changed because it features the Manchester skyline.

From T-J:

"Once the team is announced, we're probably going to have a naming contest," McCarthy said.

He added ownership would like the Millrat name to remain, but they're going to change the logo from a rat to a millworker in construction gear.

"The rat was for the kids," McCarthy said.

The page, entitled "Saint John Millrats Pro Basketball Page,” has over 800 fans after starting just a few weeks ago.

TESINK READY FOR ACTION

Ryan Tesink has made his intentions clear.

"I'm hoping to crack the squad first obviously,” said Tesink to the Times & Transcript following his selection at the QMJHL Entry Draft on Saturday. “There's no guarantees, but I want to be on the third line as a 17-year-old.”

Tesink was selected by the Saint John Sea Dogs with the last pick of the first round – 18th overall at the Marcel Dionne Centre on Drummondville, Que. on the weekend.

The Saint John native certainly seemed pleased to be drafted by his hometown club as a picture of him smiling like a maniac appeared on the cover of Monday’s Telegraph-Journal.

"I'm very excited to play in my hometown,'' Tesink said to T-J. "It's going to be fun. There's obviously some added pressure being a local guy, but I think having the support of my family and friends will help me a lot. I think I can deal with it.''

The left winger already has some key experience at the junior level. Along with following his brother, Brad, a former Quebec league player, Tesink already has a year of Junior ‘A’ under his belt with the MJAHL Champion Woodstock Slammers.

“I feel like I have junior experience already and I've won a championship (with Woodstock) so I know what it's like," said Tesink.

With the Slammers last year, the forward registered 10 goals and 19 assists in 44 regular season games. In the post-season, he added four goals and six assists in 14 games while helping Woodstock capture the league title.

Along with his playoff experience, the Port City son skated with Team Atlantic at the World Under-17 Hockey Championships in Timmons, Ont. this past winter. In five games, the 5’11” skater scored two goals and recorded four assists in just five games.

Here is a scouting report from HockeyScene.com:

Tesink, who just turned 17 in late May, played the past season with the Woodstock Slammers of the Maritime Junior Hockey League. He’s an in-your-face forward who doesn’t shirk from the corners and seems to enjoy heavy going and hard hitting play.

The 5’11, 160 pound is an above-average player who is a fiery attacker who scored 41 points the past season while accumulating 183 penalty minutes.

Always in proper position he is efficient in both the defensive and offensive zones and is rated an above avergae skater. He was excellent in the Under 17 Championship in Timins this past season accoring to reports.

One of the coaches from another team in the MJAHL said he was an "in your face competitor that any coach would love to have although most hate to see him on an opposing team. He has experience at the junior level and is very nearly the complete package."

André Touringy named assistant coach of 2011 National Junior Team

PRESS RELEASE

CALGARY – Hockey Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Hockey League, announced on Monday that Dave Cameron, head coach of the OHL’s Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors will be head coach of Canada’s National Junior Team for the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championship, scheduled for December 26, 2010 to January 5, 2011 in Buffalo and Niagara, N.Y.

Cameron will be joined behind Canada’s bench by assistant coaches Bob Boughner (head coach of the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires), Ryan Huska (head coach of the WHL’s Kelowna Rockets) and André Tourigny (head coach and general manager of the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies).

Dave Cameron, 51, will be a part of the National Junior Team coaching staff for the third-consecutive year, having won gold as an assistant coach in 2009 in Ottawa, Ont., before taking silver as an associate coach in 2010 in Regina/Saskatoon, Sask. Cameron also served as head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the 2004 Junior World Cup, winning a gold medal. The Kincora, P.E.I. native has been head coach and director of hockey operations of Mississauga St. Michael’s since the 2007-08 season.

"I am truly honoured and humbled to be named head coach of Canada’s National Junior Team," said Cameron. "I look forward to working with the great staff that we have assembled, and our first objective will be to reclaim gold for Canada at the World Juniors."

Bob Boughner, 39, was the head coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team at the 2009 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka, leading it to its second-consecutive gold medal. Boughner, an 11-year NHL veteran, has led Windsor to Memorial Cup championships in 2009 and 2010, and was named OHL and CHL coach of the year in both 2007-08 and 2008-09.

Ryan Huska, 34, will make his international debut behind the bench at the 2011 IIHF World Championship. The head coach of the Rockets since 2007, Huska is a veteran of seven Memorial Cups as both a player and a coach – he won championships as a player with the Kamloops Blazers in 1992, 1994 and 1995 and as an assistant coach with Kelowna in 2004, and also appeared in the tournament as Kelowna’s assistant coach in 2003 and 2005 and as the team’s head coach in 2009.

André Tourigny, 36, will be an assistant coach with Canada’s National Junior Team for the second year in a row, having served under Willie Desjardins at the 2010 tournament. The Nicolet, Que., native was an assistant coach of Canada’s National Men’s Summer Under-18 Team for the 2008 Memorial of Ivan Hlinka, winning a gold medal. He has been head coach of the Huskies since 2001 and was named QMJHL coach of the year in 2005-06.

"We are very excited about the coaching staff we are naming today for Canada’s National Junior Team," said Brad Pascall, Hockey Canada’s senior director of men’s national teams. "All four of these coaches bring a wealth of experience, and we look forward to working with them this winter in Buffalo."

Hockey Canada will announce details for the National Junior Team’s summer development camp shortly, including the players that will be invited to camp.

Bert’s Bananas – My Thoughts on Draft Day

By Bert Richardson

Station Nation Staff

With one of the holiest days of the calendar year now complete, it is time to look back at just what went down on QMJHL draft day.

WELL DONE
First off, I want to state that I love the Q draft more Barbeque flavored Pringles. The time, effort, and money that the league spends to make the draft top notch is really superb. By making it a miniature version of the NHL’s draft, it is much more enjoyable for fans to watch and follow compared to the WHL and OHL selection processes.

But, finally, the draft went much more “smooth” than in years past. For once, at least in the first round, players that were chosen were the ones that wanted to be chosen. There were no Angelo Esposito’s or Jonathan Huberdeau’s – just legitimate picks that didn’t appear to involve previous meetings in some dark ally about NCAA asperations.

“The matter had become such an embarrassment and headache for a public relations-conscious league — players who stated they weren’t available in the draft naturally also didn’t attend the top prospects luncheon or the draft itself — that something had to be done,” says Chris Cochrane of the Chronicle Herald.

New rules were put into place this past December to try and stop the “I haven’t decided on whether or not I will play junior or NCAA next year” shenanigans. Whether the rules worked or not is a question that may never be answered, but they certainly did not hurt the process.

Whatever stopped the trend, it certainly made for a more enjoyable draft day.

MATHESON SLIDES
The top ranked skater available in the draft – Michael Matheson – slid all the way to the second round because of his believed intentions of continuing his journey to the NCAA ranks.

Matheson was picked up by the Shawinigan Cataractes with the 27th pick of the draft. With all the hype surrounding the new drafting guidelines, Commissioner Gilles Courteau no doubt would have been a bit suspicious if a team wasted a first round draft pick on Matheson. Instead, the Cataractes picked him up in the early part of the second round with their third pick of the day.

It is still unclear if Matheson will join the hockey club, but, as someone pointed out on Twitter, you have to wonder if the 16-year old is not intrigue about playing for a Memorial Cup contending team next season.

UPDATE: Steve Turcott says that the Cataractes have reportedly spoken with the Matheson family.

TWITTER SAVED CHRISTMAS
As we stated in our guide to surviving draft day, the QMJHL website would, without question, blow up at some point. Right on cue in the early parts of the first round, the website broke, throwing fans and media into their usual tailspin.

But, thanks to an amazing invention called Twitter, the annual entry draft was saved. With a number of reporters tweeting live from Marcel Dionne Centre (mostly from Halifax), everyone was kept in the loop with up-to-the-minute news.

You have to wonder, though, why the league doesn’t come up with a better way to broadcast this event. The website crashes every single season – but they don’t change or try to update the site. Just look at Harbour Station, their ticketing website collapsed every five minutes a few years back, but after some updates, the entire process has changed for the better.

Brought up by someone on Twitter was the wondering of why the league didn’t just tweet the entire draft like the USHL did. Yes, it would be time consuming for a particular individual, but I’d image they could easily hook up a feed to the drafting page.

I FEEL BAD FOR… WILDCAT FANS
Here are some words I never thought I’d say: “I feel bad for Moncton Wildcat fans.”

The team easily had the worst coverage of any of the maritime squads on Saturday. They had no Twitter updates, no Facebook updates, no website updates, and no live coverage from any media source. All of this while the Q site failed like my final history project last year.

They did, however, put up some solid videos following the draft. But, I mean, when we are asked by ‘Cat fans who their team drafted, you now there is a problem.

SEVERAL DEALS GO DOWN ON DRAFT DAY

A number of transactions took place on Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Draft Day on Saturday at the Marcel Dionne Centre in Drummondville, Que.

The trades included a few big names trading places in some blockbuster deals.

The action got going early in the great state of Maine. It was a complex deal that was broken down beautifully by the Maine Hockey Journal:

A day after the Lewiston Maineiacs acquired the former Cape Breton Screaming Eagle netminder, Roy was sent to Acadie-Bathurst for two first round picks (5th overall in 2010 and a 2012 1st round pick), a third and fifth round pick in 2010.

In another draft deal saw the Maineiacs acquire the first overall pick from the Baie-Comeau Drakkar for the fifth overall pick, a first round pick in 2012 which was acquired from Acadie-Bathurst, a 2010 second, third, and fifth round pick. Marc-Andre Carre is also heading to the Drakkar. Carre played a couple of games with Lewiston last December and January.

In return Baie-Comeau sent the 21st overall selection to the Maineiacs.

Lewiston Sun Journal reporter Justin Pelletier was first to break the news on the Big Jab morning show.

Just prior to the eighth overall selection of the draft, the Shawinigan Catarctes traded Charles-Olivier Roussel to the Montreal Junior for the number eight pick, Dillon Donnelly, Loik Poudrier, and a fourth round pick in 2011.

The Gatineau Olympiques dealt Denis Kindl to the Junior for a second round draft choice.

Alex Wall of the Moncton Wildcats was traded to the Quebec Remparts for a second round draft pick. It was the ‘Cats highest selection of the draft.

After dealing away Oliver Roy, the Maineiacs managed to their hands on another goaltender. Former Acadie-Bathurst Titan net minder Nicholas Champion was traded from the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies to Lewiston in exchange for Mathieu Brisebois, a fourth round draft pick, and a fifth round pick in 2011.

Kevin Bissonneau was sent to Victoriaville from Gatineau for an eighth round pick.

Pierrick Martel was acquired by Baie-Comeau, sending a fourth round pick back to the Cataractes.

In an expected deal, goaltender Francois Lacerte was traded to Cape Breton along with a 2011 sixth round pick. Bathurst received a 2011 fifth round draft selection in return.

Anthony Courcelles was sent from Montreal to Rouyn-Noranda for a ninth round pick.

Finally, one of the biggest deals of the draft took place in the final hour of picking. Highly touted Montreal Canadiens prospect Louis Leblanc had his QMJHL rights traded from the Chicoutimi Sagueneens to the Junior in a blockbuster deal. The Montreal junior squad gave up Guillaume Asselin and a 2011 first round pick to acquire the 2009 Habs first round draft pick and a 2011 third round pick.

It is still unclear if Leblanc will report to the Junior next season.

"They only wanted Asselin and I didn't want to trade him," Montreal Junior general manager Pascal Vincent said to Willy Palov about the transaction - a deal that took all day to hammer out.

DOGS HARVEST A NEW CROP

DRUMMONDVILLE - The Saint John Sea Dogs completed their sixth Quebec Major Junior Hockey League entry draft earlier this afternoon at the Marcel Dionne Centre in Drummondville, Que.

Some clubs were busy wheeling and dealing all afternoon while other teams completely rebuilt their roster. But the Port City squad stayed relativity quiet on draft day 2010, making no huge splashes that created much commotion.

The Sea Dogs drafted local boy Ryan Tesink of the Woodstock Slammers 18th overall, closing out the opeing round at the draft.

To read the full story on Tesink, click HERE.

In the second round, Saint John was without a pick after trading it at the draft last season to acquire Zach Phillips from the Lewiston MAINEiacs.

The Sea Dogs were busy in the third round, selecting two players.

The first was Guillaume Cloutier, a defenseman who plays with Collège Charles-Lemoyne of the Quebec Midget ‘AAA’ League.

Here is a scouting report on Cloutier from a Quebec ‘AAA’ blog:

A big framed offensive defenseman with all the right tools. He only lacks that 'quarterback' mentality of taking the puck and initiating a rush/play. He tends to let others bring it to the net and he'll rush there without it. (thanks to Lorne for pointing this website out)

Cloutier was not ranked by QMJHL Central Scouting. He is 6’01" and weighs 160 lbs.

With their other pick, 54th overall, Saint John selected Dartmouth Subway Devon Oliver-Dares. The forward played in 30 regular season games with the Subways, registering 18 goals and 33 assists. He added five assists in seven playoff games.

Oliver-Dares competed in one MJAHL game this past year, recording no points with the Bridgewater Lumberjacks.

In the fourth round, Saint John selected Quebec Cyclones defender Benjamin Hade. Hade was named to the all-star team as his squad fell 2-1 in the Midget Espoir Tournament Final. Not only was Hade not ranked by CSR, but he was not even predicted to go in any particular round.

The Sea Dogs drafted their first goalie of the draft when they selected Sebastien Auger in round five – 74th overall. Auger won the Mario-Gosselin Trophy as one half of the QCMAAA's top goaltending duo in 2009-10 with Maxime Lagacé.

In the sixth round, Saint John drafted Jason Cameron – the brother of Moncton Wildcat Randy Cameron. The forward recorded 10 goals and seven assists in 47 games with the MJAHL’s Summerside Western Capitals.

With their seventh pick at 120th overall, Saint John looked south of the border by drafting Newburyport, Massachusetts native Chris Eiserman. The goaltender had a record of 14-4 with a 3.35 G.A.A. and a 0.901 SV% in the EJHL.

Brock Morrison of the Cape Breton Tradesmen was selected in the eighth round, 120th overall by Saint John.

“Morrison netted 30 goals and dished out 31 assists for 61 points in the NSMMHL last year, finishing third on his team in scoring in the process,” reports SaintJohnSeaDogs.com.

Also in the eighth round, Anthony St-Onge-Dostie was selected with the 144th pick. The 6’0” defenseman recorded two goals and 10 assists in 38 games with the St. Francois Blizzard last season.

Colin Campbell, who is not THE Colin Campbell, was taken in the ninth round, 151st overall. Campbell recorded 30 goals and 38 assists last season with the Cape Breton Tradesmen in 68 tilts.

Soon after, Saint John Vito Alex Simpson was taken with 162nd pick of the draft. Simpson scored a goal and added an assist in 34 games with the ‘AAA’ club.

Michael Paliotta from the United States National Team Development Program was taken with the 180th pick of the choosing process. The 6’4”, 185 lbs. defenseman scored one goal and registered six assists in 32 games with the program last year.

Paliotta seems like a long shot at this point as he is expected to go the NCAA route.

With their final pick, Saint John drafted Vito Jason Thorpe. The forward had a goal and six assists in 19 games with the Saint John club last season.

A full list of players drafted by the Sea Dogs on Saturday can be found below:

ROUND 1 – 18th Overall: Ryan Tesink, Forward (Woodstock, MJAHL)
ROUND 3 – 44th Overall: Guillaume Cloutier, Defenseman (C.C. Lemoyne, QCMAAA)
ROUND 3 – 54th Overall: Devon Oliver-Dares, Forward (Dartmouth, NSMMHL)
ROUND 4 – 55th Overall: Benjamin Hade, Defenseman (Quebec Cyclones, Midget Espoir)
ROUND 5 – 74th Overall: Sébastien Auger, Goaltender (St. Francois, QCMAAA)
ROUND 6 – 91st Overall: Jason Cameron, Forward (Summerside, MJAHL)
ROUND 7 – 120th Overall: Chris Eiserman, Goaltender (New Hampshire, EJHL)
ROUND 8 – 128th Overall: Brock Morrison, Forward (Cape Breton, NSMMHL)
ROUND 8 – 144th Overall: Anthony St-Onge-Dostie, Defenseman (St. Francois, QCMAAA)
ROUND 9 – 151st Overall: Colin Campbell, Forward (Cape Breton, NSMMHL)
ROUND 9 – 162nd Overall: Alex Simpson, Defenseman (Saint John, NBPEIMMHL)
ROUND 10 – 180th Overall: Michael Paliotta, Defenseman (USNTDP)
ROUND 11 – 198th Overall: Jason Thorpe, Forward (Saint John, NBPEIMMHL)