11-28-2019, 03:33 AM
TORONTO - The Guelph Storm dominated last season, except when it mattered most. Jim Gentile Jersey .The Ontario Hockey League champions came up short in the Memorial Cup final, losing 6-3 to the WHLs Edmonton Oil Kings. While the Storm would love to become the 10th team in Memorial Cup history to win major junior hockeys top prize the year after losing the final, coach Scott Walker is careful when discussing his teams chances.I think that would be a little bit of an aggressive statement, Walker said. I think well be half decent, but I dont think were there yet. We lost a lot of depth and high-end players.Gone are forwards Kerby Rychel, Scott Kosmachuk, Scott Mitchell and Brock McGinn as well as defencemen Matt Finn and Nick Ebert, all of whom played a significant role in helping Guelph win the OHL championship.Returnees who will play key roles in trying to help the Storm get back to the Canadian junior hockey championship include forwards Robbie Fabbri, Jason Dickinson and Tyler Bertuzzi, along with defencemen Zac Leslie and Ben Harper. Goalies Justin Nichols and Matthew Mancina are also returning this season, which opens Wednesday.Fabbri could be one of the best players in the league, Walker said. This guy is competitive and probably the most exciting player from this years draft. Even in exhibition games hes drawing oohs and aahs from the fans.Fabbri was third in club scoring last season with 45 goals and 42 assists in 58 games while Dickinson had 26 goals and 52 assists in 68 games. Bertuzzi had 10 goals and seven assists in 18 playoff games.If the Storm is to get back to the Memorial Cup, it will not be easy.In the Western Conference, the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds have a host of returning players and Sheldon Keefe has proven himself to be a highly effective coach. GM Kyle Dubas has departed for the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he leaves behind a star-studded group that includes centre Sergey Tolchinsky, who scored 31 goals and added 60 assists last season, as well as forwards Bryan Moore, Michael Bunting, Blake Speers and Jared McCann.The big question surrounds rugged defenceman Darnell Nurse, a first round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in 2013, who could make the jump to the NHL. The feeling is Nurses game could use some fine-tuning at the junior level.The Erie Otters also have several of returnees, including blue-chip prospect Connor McDavid, who is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the 2015 NHL draft.Fellow centre Dylan Strome will compete with McDavid for ice time and is expected to be a high draft pick next June. Also, left-winger Andre Burakovsky, a first round pick of the Washington Capitals, may be sent back, but because he is from Austria, he could play in the American Hockey League.The London Knights could be a factor depending on who they get back from the NHL. Max Domi is likely to start the season in Arizona with the Coyotes and Bo Horvat could make the Vancouver Canucks even though neither had a particularly strong season last year. Russian defenceman Nikita Zadorov started last season in the NHL playing seven games with Buffalo and if he is returned to London along with Domi and Horvat, the Knights could contend.In the East, the Oshawa Generals should be a dominant team if left-winger Michael Dal Colle is returned by the New York Islanders who chose him fifth overall in the 2014 NHL draft. The Islanders do not have a lot of depth up front which could play a role in Islanders management electing to keep the 18-year-old. Dal Colle and centre Cole Cassels will lead the offence.The Kingston Frontenacs have been assured theyll get scoring whiz Sam Bennett back from the Calgary Flames and all eyes will be behind the bench where 28-year-old Paul McFarland takes over as coach after a two-year stint in Oshawa as D.J. Smiths assistant.The Peterborough Petes took huge strides toward respectability under coach Jody Hull last season and if tough left-winger Nick Ritchie is returned by the Anaheim Ducks, there is every reason they will continue to rise. Ritchie, who recorded 31 goals and 43 assists with 136 penalty minutes last year, could be one of the most dominant players in the OHL.The Niagara IceDogs, led by centre Carter Verhaeghe and left-winger Brendan Perlini, will also be very competitive. Vince Dunn is a steady defenceman while centre Johnny Corneil is expected to take a bigger role.Note to readers: This is a corrected story. A previous version quoted Walker as saying Fabbri is eligible for this years draft. he has already been drafted. Rick Dempsey Jersey . Case in point: LeBron James vs. Ben McLemore. James was driving to the rim in the first quarter and McLemore decided to try to take the charge, which was quite admirable and predictably futile. Pat Gillick Jersey . Roma has a game in hand but now second place is even at risk for the capital side as Napoli moved to within three points with the win. "The result is not always fair," Roma coach Rudi Garcia said. "If we play like this until the end we will win many matches. https://www.cheaporioles.com/ . Or maybe he already did. Clark hit his first homer, Wily Peralta pitched into the seventh inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 4-1 Wednesday night.Nine players on three NHL teams have contracted mumps this season, an unexpected outbreak that the league and the players association are trying to contain.Ryan Suter recently joined Minnesota Wild teammates Keith Ballard, Marco Scandella, Jonas Brodin and Christian Folin, Corey Perry, Clayton Stoner and Francois Beauchemin of the Anaheim Ducks and Tanner Glass of the New York Rangers to be diagnosed with the disease.Those infected with mumps can have a fever, headaches, muscle aches, fatigue and loss of appetite, followed by the swelling of salivary glands, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league has been in contact with team doctors and training staffs about best practices to prevent the spread of mumps, which has caught everyone off guard.It is certainly an outbreak that was unexpected and has caused unwanted disruption at the team level, but it is not something we have any significant control over, Daly said. As long as our clubs are doing what they need to do to minimize risk of contraction, we are hopeful that the wave of cases will run their course and life will return to normal in the relatively near term.Nine out of some 600 players getting the mumps is not a full-fledged epidemic, but the lack of familiarity about mumps has made it a talking point around the league. As Wild star Zach Parise joked to the Star-Tribute in Minneapolis: What is this, the Oregon Trail? Where are we right now? Every team seems to get the flu once a year, but the mumps?When Perry and Beauchemin were ill and eventually tests showed they had mumps, the NHL/NHLPA joint health and safety committee began working with teams to prevent further spread.The NHLPA has been actively educating the players regarding the recent outbreak, while providing best practices on how to avoid contracting and spreading mumps, spokesman Jonathan Weatherdon said.The mumps virus is spread through saliva or mucus, usually from coughing, sneezing or talking, according to the CDC. Sharing drinks and utensils can also contribute to spreading the infection.Its something were aware of, Vancouver Canucks NHLPA representative Kevin Bieksa said. The PAs addressed it, weve sent out a couple emails with some of the symptoms and some of the warning signs. Most of us haave been vaccinated, so were doing whatever we can to prevent it. Luis Aparicio Jersey. The Canucks arent the only ones taking precautions. Rangers coach Alain Vigneault told reporters that his team would be getting booster shots after they found out Glass had the mumps.According to the Winnipeg Free Press, the Jets have told their players not to share water bottles or towels and have been disinfecting dressing rooms when on the road.The first mumps vaccine was licensed in the United States in 1967, according to the CDC. The measles-mumps-rubella vaccine began to be administered in Canada in the early 1970s, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada.Originally, one dose of the MMR vaccine was administered to a child aged between 12 and 15 months. In 1989, several health agencies recommended the vaccine be increased to two doses, the second given between ages 4 and 6.The CDC says two doses of the vaccine are 88 per cent effective at preventing mumps, while one dose is 78 per cent effective.Theres no one common theme to the spread of mumps in the NHL, as the nine players range in age from 21 to 34 and are of three different nationalities. Suter (born in 1985) and Ballard (1982) are American; Perry (1985), Beauchemin (1980), Stoner (1985), Scandella (1990) and Glass (1983) are Canadian; while Brodin (1993) and Folin (1991) are Swedish.Even though he got vaccinated, Bieksa acknowledged being taken aback by news that mumps is going around.Obviously when theres a little bit of a small epidemic in the league, you kind of get concerned, he said. We played a lot of those teams (like) Anaheim, when they were going through it.Each new case brings more conversation about the mumps virus. Bieksa knew about the cases with the Ducks and Wild but hadnt heard of Glass getting it.Told the league couldnt anticipate this outbreak, Bieksa said: And rightfully so. Who would expect us to have the mumps?---A look at the NHL players who have contracted mumps and how many games they missed:Keith Ballard, Wild: 8 gamesJonas Brodin, Wild: 7 gamesChristian Folin, Wild: 5 gamesCorey Perry, Ducks: 5 gamesFrancois Beauchemin, Ducks: 5 gamesClayton Stoner, Ducks: 5 games Tanner Glass, Rangers: 3 gamesRyan Suter, Wild: 2 games (Ongoing absence)Marco Scandella, Wild: 2 games---Follow @SWhyno on Twitter ' ' '