Controversy in Cougars Crease/Oil Kings New Coach

Gutsy call to say the least with the Cougars starting 20 year-old Scott Bowles in game one last night against the Tips.
From what I gather from my writing critic (inside joke) Jim Swanson of the Prince George Citizen, Bowles played very well.
Yet after Real Cyr played like a man possessed in the Cougars opening round playoff series with Kamloops, you would have thought he would get the nod against the Tips?

My concern with starting Bowles in game one last night was how does that affect the mental aspect of Cyr's game?
I play my tail off against the Blazers and I'm rewarded with a seat on the bench as the backup?
I want to get drafted here!
Does Devin Setoguchi scored three goals one game and then get benched the very next night? Doesn't make sense does it?
So let's say the Cougars go back with Cyr in this series, would he not in the back of his mind be thinking even if he plays well there is a good chance he could be yanked despite a first star performance?
Who has the final say on who starts in goal for the Cougars anyway?
My money is on GM Dallas Thompson.
If the situation is anything like in Kelowna, the GM has a huge say in who is traded, who is acquired, who plays and who starts in goal.
I would be shocked of Head Coach Drew Schoneck gets much of any say on who goes between the pipes.
Does he have input?
Yes!
Final say?
Not a chance.

You have to hand it to the Seattle Thunderbirds for capturing game one in Vancouver last night.
I had a chance to watch the overtime period on Shaw and was impressed by how the T-Birds went to the attack and didn't sit back in the overtime session.
While he wasn't to blame for last night's loss, I will go on record as saying the Giants were crazy by not going after a quality goaltender this season.

Nothing against Tysen Sexsmith, but the kid is just 17. As I've stated in a previous blog post, the only goaltender younger than him to lead a team to a W.H.L title was Dan Blackburn of the Kootenay Ice, who was 16 when they won the title and turned 17 at the Memorial Cup.

What I am wondering is, could the Giants have had the goaltender they are now facing in the Western Conference semi final series?

Could Derek Yeomans have been wearing Vancouver Giant colors?

I have to believe Rockets GM Bruce Hamilton approached the Giants offering Yeomans in a potential trade.
Yet according to Bruce, few if any teams showed interest until T-Bird GM Russ Farewell was convinced to make a deal that sent Clayton Barthel to K-Town.

We all know now who won that deal!

The Rockets were interested in Spencer Machacek at the trade deadline in a one-for-one deal involving Chris Ray.
If you were the Giants would you have traded Machacek to the Rockets for Yeomans?
While Machacek would have been a tough loss you have to go for it with the chance of a lifetime of hosting the Memorial Cup in your own backyard.

Maybe the Giants didn't think much of Yeomans, even though he owned them over his career, had a M.C ring and two W.H.L championships in his back pocket?
Instead the Giants elected to fill an overage spot with d-man A.J Thelen.
Defense wins championships, but goaltending, not defenseman win championships.
While the Giants series with Seattle is far from over, the move they failed to make with the Rockets this summer, may be a move that costs them the Memorial Cup.

You would have to think several Western Hockey League assistant coaches are getting a resume ready, or already have them in the mail headed for Edmonton.
The newest team in the Western Hockey League has yet to name it's head coach, and several qualified assistants are waiting in the wings.
Would the Giants be interested in Dave Hunchak (Swift Current), Ryan Huska (Kelowna), or would they go with someone with previous head coaching experience in the league like Steve Young, who was canned in Moose Jaw late in the year?

Would Rob Daum want to leave the A.H.L and come back to Edmonton, a place he helped coach the U of A Golden Bears for so many years?
Or do the Oil Kings go for a big name like Dave King, who was fired last September by a team in the Russian elite league?
King has NHL experience with Calgary, Montreal and Columbus and no doubt has an impressive resume, or is he to technical and not motivational enough for today's junior player?
The Edmonton Ice elected to go with Dave Siciliano as the teams very first coach, and despite being a nice guy the experiment went terribly wrong.

Bottom line is quality candidates are out there, but my general feeling is the Oil Kings will look at a coach who has 'name recognition' - meaning an assistant coach in the W.H.L looking to move up the ranks by becoming the new head coach in Edmonton is a long shot at best.

Clayton Barthel was back in the Phoenix Roadrunners lineup last night in a 4-1 loss to Victoria. Barthel was a +1 in the hockey game, and picked up a 2 minute minor for tripping.
Barthel has been a healthy scratch in the Roadrunners last 4 games.
Barthel was playing against former Rocket Kiel McLeod last night. McLeod has had a pretty good year with the Salmon Kings, 32+30=62 in 64 East Coast Hockey League games.
He's the Salmon Kings captain.

With word that more and more W.H.L drafted players these days are signing pro deals, you wonder how long it will be before we hear the Minnesota Wild signing Rockets goaltender Kristofer Westblom to a deal?
Sure Ty Wishart and Vlad Mihalik of the Prince George Cougars are first round picks of San Jose and Tampa Bay respectively, but Westblom has to be on the Wilds radar?
A quick exit from the NHL playoffs, may force the Wild to focus attention on those players they need to sign by June 1st with Westblom being one of them.