Yeomans Work for Derek/Michaud Excited Again

I predicted it would end in 5 games, and with the Seattle Thunderbirds loss Friday night it also meant the end of the junior career of Derek Yeomans.

Yeomans will always be remembered for his contribution to the Rockets as a backup to Kelly Guard in 2004 and then leading the Rockets to the W.H.L final one year later, before getting injured in game one of the championship against Brandon.

For my money the biggest save sequence that Yeomans had over his time in a Rockets uniform came against the Everett Silvertips in February of last season when he made 6 big saves as the Tips swarmed the Rockets net.
Yet despite all of the special things he did in a Rockets uniform, I don't think Yeomans was every considered an elite goaltender.
Outside of Kelowna, fans thought he was good but not great, which may have been the reason why he didn't garner a tremendous amount of attention when Hamilton was trying to deal him last summer.
It seemed odd that the Rockets were trading away the teams MVP from the season before but when you had - at the time - a pretty good 18 year-old netminder in Kris Westblom rotting on the bench, a move had to be made.
That's why I can't see Westblom and Torrie Jung co-existing in Kelowna next season.
But I think after what Hamilton learned in the Yeomans deal, Jung will have to be patient in the first half of next season before a deal is consummated.
Hamilton will want to get his money's worth this time around after paying a heavy price by letting Yeomans go for a d-man that just didn't preform to expectations.
Sorry Clayton Barthel, but whether it's fair or not, Rockets fans expected more after giving up a team MVP from a year earlier.

I don't want to see Westy leave K-Town but it just makes sense. The Rockets haven't had the luxury of having an 18 year-old starting goaltender in a long time, and having Torrie Jung sitting on the sidelines for another season isn't right.

Let's get back to Yeomans for just a second.

An undrafted goaltender, you have to wonder what his future holds in the game?
Sure he's had free-agent tryouts in the past, but does he settle for the ECHL or the CHL next season or does he take full advantage of taking his free books and tuition money and head to Canadian College Hockey?
Jeff Harvey was a pretty good goaltender with the Everett Silvertips and after his junior days were over he elected to go to the University of Saskatchewan.
Yeomans is a bright kid, and like most junior players isn't allergic to the classroom.
If he ended up playing in the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) next season I wouldn't be surprised.

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Did Kaspars Saulietis play his final game in the W.H.L Friday night in the Tigers win over the Regina Pats?
Likely so.
I can't see how he would return as a 20-year old next season especially after scoring just once for the Pats in 10 playoff games.
On top of that he's an unsigned player.
The Pats currently have four that become overage players next season including Troy Ofukany, who played as a 19-year old this season (he just turned 20 on February 2nd ).
Or does he want to return?
It wouldn't surprise me if he played next season for a BCHL team contending for a birth at the Royal Bank Cup.
If I was Bruce Hamilton, would I have made that 6 player deal with the Pats in December?
In a heartbeat!
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Cam Paddock is back in the East Coast League.
The former Rocket was return back to the Phoenix Roadrunners this week for an opening round playoff series with Tyler Mosienko's Las Vegas Wranglers.
Paddock had spent the last 2 months with San Antonio of the American Hockey League.
It's also nice to see former Rockets d-men Clayton Barthel suiting up for all three playoff games for the Roadrunners.
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Nathan Smith made his NHL playoff debut Friday night for the Canucks.
I remember Nathan when he broke into the Western Hockey League as a 16-year-old in 1998 with the Swift Current Broncos.
He was one of the shyiest 16-year-old's I have ever met in my 12 year's of junior hockey.
He'd sit behind me in the bus and would say jack squat.
Others around him would crack jokes, and all he'd do is smile.
Smith was a 1st round pick of the Canucks in 2000, the year that I went to the NHL draft in Calgary with S.C Broncos play-by-play man Jon Keen.

More on that in a moment.

You wonder why Jesse Schultz wasn't called up by the Canucks instead of Smith?
I know Schultz didn't have a stellar season with the Manitoba Moose this season (18 goals and 39 points) but he played two games with the big team earlier this season.
Sometime you wonder if the Canucks are more obligated to a 1st rounder than a guy like Schultz who was signed as a free agent.
I am sure the Canucks will do whatever they can to give Nathan Smith every oppertunity to make the team.
I am not saying Nathan Smith didn't have a good year with the Moose, but it was Schultz that was grabbing all the headlines during Canucks training camp this fall and appeared to be on the cusp of making the team.
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Looking back at the year Nathan Smith was drafted in 2000 brings back some great memories.
It was held in Calgary, and that was the summer that Todd McLellan (former Broncos coach) landed a coaching job in the American Hockey League. McLellan was at the draft interviewing for the job at the time.
I went to that draft with what is now Swift Current Broncos play-by-play man Jon Keen.
Keen was like a kid in a candy store that weekend.
'Hey look Jim Hughson', 'Hey look Bob McKenzie', 'Hey look Elliot Freeman'!
Keen had more of a love affair for the media guys that the NHL GM's and coaches back then.
I think he still does, but now he just does a better job of hiding it.
It was following that draft in 2000 that I found a new job in Kelowna as the voice of the Rockets.
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Speaking of getting excited, my color analyst David Michaud may have something to cheer for at the upcoming Memorial Cup in Vancouver.
No he is not a converted Giants fan.
Michaud's Sudbury Wolves are still alive in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, and David just can't hold back his excitement.
The Wolves have advanced to the Eastern Conference final against Belleville.
Michaud and I had planned on going down for a few games during Memorial Cup week, but if his beloved Wolves make it he may be taking some holiday time and sleeping outside Pacific Coliseum in an effort to attend all of the games.
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I was surprised to hear Jeremy Roenick on national television this week say Don Hay was the worst coach he's ever had.
Ok I am not surprised that he spoke the truth, but I found it surprising that Hay was the worst coach he's had at the pro level.
That being said, it always amazes me that even though a coach at the junior level can have so much success guiding a group of mature athletes - men if you will - it's totally a different story in pro.
I guess it's like a real good junior player.
He can shoot the lights out in the W.H.L, but simply can't duplicate that at the pro level.
Many high scoring forwards in junior, have to play a grinders game in the N.H.L.