Two Canadian schools to join NCAA?

And you know what sport they would play for sure, right?

From USA Today:

Two years after the NCAA opened its doors to Canadian schools, at least one — Simon Fraser in Burnaby, British Columbia — is poised to walk in.

The University of British Columbia likewise is weighing a move to join its rival as the NCAA's first international members. Both would join Division II.

The annual NCAA membership application deadline is June 1. Schools can be full members in as little as three years.

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The perfect draft

Joe Posnanski does a thought experiment on what if a team had a perfect draft -- picked all the best available talent at their spots. He goes through what was and what might have been for the Kansas City Royals. If you like baseball especially you might enjoy it. He takes long asides, but he's good enough you'd read him to Peru and back.

We’re going to use the Kansas City Royals as an example, but you can obviously do the following with any team. The Royals are just a good example because they have been lousy for fifteen years.

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Regan Q&A up

I chatted with Kevin Regan last night and the Q&A is up at HF. It's important to read it in a South Boston accent for flavor.



One note is that Pyle did not rule out Nastiuk returning to Gwinnett. It sounded like that wasn't the plan now, but "if something happens" he would. I guess something happening would be a trade by the Boston system.
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Regan to debut for ECHL Gladiators tonight

Bruins prospect Kevin Regan was assigned to the ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators yesterday, and will make his debut for the team tonight. The rookie pro out of UNH will wear #31.

Regan at morning skate today. That bright yellow Bruins mask is going to clash badly with the Gladiators sand and mauve third jerseys.


Coach Jeff Pyle seemed to take special care to make Regan feel welcome. Tonight's an important game against division leader the Florida Everblades. Anton Khudobin (MIN) will start for the Blades. Jeff Mason, normally a defenseman for the Gladiators, will play wing. Brad Schell, still out with a back injury (2-3 more weeks), will debut a new white shirt as he runs the defensive pairs. He has to expand his wardrobe now that he's behind the bench.
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Otters to have outdoor scrimmage

This looks like fun, the OHL Erie Otters are holding an outdoor intra-squad scrimmage at Presque Isle State Park, which if you're not familiar, is a finger-shaped peninsula on Lake Erie. I wondered if they were playing on the bay, which does freeze over in the winter, but it looks like a pond instead. Safer, but less romantic.

From the Erie Daily News:

The Erie Otters will hold their own Winter Classic – with an added bonus.
Through the inaugural Pucks on Presque Isle event Feb. 8 at Presque Isle State Park’s Rotary Pavilion, fans can watch an intra-squad scrimmage on a frozen pond while enjoying different winter activities.

And the Otters flyer.

Central Scouting 2009 Mid-terms

Here's a link to the Central Scouting Mid-term rankings for the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

When quoting Central Scouting, it's always important to specify whether it's the North American or the European list because the two have to be combined with the goalies in the draft, so a player's rank on Central Scouting is usually going to be significantly better than where they go in the draft.

Hello world again

As I transition to more generalized hockey prospects coverage, I thought I would get this domain name tacked down. Welcome.