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| Jake Leschyshyn (#19) wins a battle in the corner for the Pats |
The player personal staffs of the Vegas Golden Knights and
the Philadelphia Flyers might one day look back in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft and
give themselves a pat on the back for their bravery.
Both clubs each picked a player from the WHL who had their
respective 2016-17 campaigns cut considerably short due to injury.
The Golden Knights selected 18-year-old centre Jake
Leschyshyn of the Regina Pats in the second round and 62nd overall.
Leschyshyn was limited to 47 regular season games and missed the Pats entire
post-season run to the WHL Championship series after tearing the anterior
cruciate ligament in his knee.
The Flyers picked centre Nolan Patrick, who will turn 19 in
September, in the first round and second overall. The Brandon Wheat Kings star
was often projected to be the first overall selection, but two sports hernia
injuries limited him to 33 regular season games and kept him out of the
playoffs.
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| Nolan Patrick in action for the Wheat Kings in May of 2016. |
Any teams that passed on either player might regret that
decision one day. If you are an elite athlete that plays any sport at a high
level over a lengthy period of time, chances are high you will eventually have
to deal with a major injury in your career.
Due to the fact Leschyshyn and Patrick are really young
looking at the grand scheme of the hockey picture, they have lots of time to
make respective full recoveries and return better than ever.
Leschyshyn, who stands 5-foot-11 and weighs 182 pounds,
first really turned heads in the WHL after putting on a gritty performance in
the 2016 playoffs. He had a goal and three assists in 12 games as the Pats
advanced to the second round before falling 2-1 in a series deciding Game 7 to
the Red Deer Rebels. During that post-season, Leschyshyn was noticeable on the
ice due to a fierce work ethic that was displayed when he had to battle in the
hard areas.
This season, Leschyshyn piled up 17 goals and 23 assists in
47 regular season games. When he did hit the ice, he gave the Pats a dynamic
one, two, three punch at centre playing behind Sam Steel and Adam Brooks.
Leschyshyn played a big part in helping the Pats post the best record in the
league at 52-12-7-1.
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| Jake Leschyshyn (#19) creates a screens a goalie for the Pats. |
He comes from a real good family that is tied into the game
too. Father, Curtis, had a lengthy NHL career as a defenceman and younger
sister, Anna, is a star centre with the Saskatoon Stars female midget AAA team.
Thanks to his family, Jake will have great guidance when it comes to a career
in the NHL.
As for Patrick, he watched the New Jersey Devils pick
18-year-old centre and Switzerland product Nico Hischier first overall. Flyers
proceeded to select Patrick with the second overall pick.
It almost seemed like Patrick’s spectacular sophomore season
with the Wheat Kings in 2015-16 was forgotten. The Winnipeg product appeared in
all 72 of the Wheat Kings regular season games piling up 41 goals and 61
assists.
He played a huge role in helping the Wheat Kings capture the
WHL Championship in 2016 recording 13 goals and 17 assists in 21 post-season
games. Patrick, who stands 6-foot-3 and weighs 198 pounds, was named the MVP of
the playoffs that season.
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| Nolan Patrick (#19) sets up in the offensive zone in May of 2016. |
Due to his later in the year birth date, Patrick wasn’t
eligible for the NHL Entry Draft until the end of his 18-year-old season. After
he played so spectacular as a 17-year-old, it seemed almost inevitable Patrick would
be a first over selection.
Having played such a big role in Brandon in 2015-16, one
wondered what more amazing things he could do for an encore. Injuries hampered
those hopes.
Patrick also comes from a good family that has a strong
hockey background. His father, Steve, played six seasons in the NHL at right
wing in the 1980s. His uncle, James, had a lengthy career as a defenceman.
The influence of both Steve and James, who is the new head
coach of the WHL’s Kootenay Ice, will ensure Nolan has a pretty good heads up
regarding waters he will have to navigate as a professional.
The injuries both Jake Leschyshyn and Nolan Patrick had to
battle through would definitely create doubts for some. At the moment, their
ability to help a club in the immediate short term is still questionable.
Over the long term, both the Golden Knights and Flyers will
likely be rewarded with their sound selections of the two respective centres.
Rush thank you commercial sweet touch
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| The Rush players salute the SaskTel Centre fans. |
The Saskatchewan Rush gave a salute to their fans since
their National Lacrosse League campaign came to an end.
In both years the NLL franchise has been based out of
Saskatoon, the Rush have advanced to the best-of-three league championship
series. A year ago, the Rush swept the Buffalo Bandits 2-0 to claim the
Champion’s Cup.
Game 2 of that series was one for the ages as Rush
defenceman Jeff Cornwall went coast-to-coast to score the series-winning goal
with 12 seconds to play that broke a 10-10 tie and gave the Rush an 11-10
victory before 15,182 spectators at the SaskTel Centre.
Having won the Champion’s Cup in 2015 when the team was
still located in Edmonton, the Rush franchise was trying for the three-peat
this season. The Rush returned to the NLL championship series only to be swept
2-0 by the Duluth-based Georgia Swarm. Game 2 of the series was a heartbreaker
for the Rush, who fell 15-14 in overtime at the SaskTel Centre on June 10.
During the regular season, the Rush topped the Western
Division standings with a 12-6 mark. Between the regular season and playoffs,
the Rush always drew over 14,000 spectators to each of their home games. The
energy created by the fans at Rush games is second to none.
Since falling in the NLL finals, the Rush have run
commercials on local television to thank the fans. The commercial is also
posted on the team’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
It was a classy move by the team and one that will always
payoff in some positive way down the road.
Back in the Express with Roughriders
analysis
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| Kevin Glenn (#5) throws a pass downfield at Roughriders training camp. |
I was back in the pages of the Saskatoon Express this past
week with a column that provide analysis about the Saskatchewan Roughriders
prospects for the 2017 CFL season.
Due to the nature of writing for a weekly publication, the
piece went to print before the team announced final cuts on June 17. The issue
of the Express that contained the piece hit the streets on June 19.
Since that time, the Roughriders opened the regular season
dropping a 17-16 heartbreaker on the road to the Alouettes in Montreal last
Thursday. I wrote in my piece that playoffs are possible for the Roughriders,
and I still hold on to that despite the opening day result.
When you check social media lines, the loss to the Alouettes
has some Roughriders fans jumping ship. Had Roughriders kicker Tyler Crapigna
nailed a 45-yard field goal attempt on the game’s final play to win it, you would
see fans jumping on the bandwagon. Those reactions come with the territory of
following Saskatchewan’s CFL franchise.
The season opening game likely worked out a lot of emotion
regarding Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones and Alouettes
and former Roughriders franchise quarterback Darian Durant. Jones traded Durant
to the Alouettes in January as part of a huge effort to retool the Roughriders.
After Crapigna missed his kick, Durant gave a big
celebration directed at the Roughriders bench. Jones walked off the field
looking more upset than normal after the setback. It was obvious from their
respective reactions and both Durant and Jones have personal upset feelings
regarding the end of Durant’s time in Saskatchewan.
With all that said, the CFL regular season is a marathon and
not a sprint due to the fact every club plays 18 regular season games. The
Roughriders return to action this coming Saturday, when they host the Winnipeg
Blue Bombers at 7 p.m. at new Mosaic Stadium.
The piece I wrote on the Roughriders for the Express can be
found here.
If you have any
comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them
to stankssports@gmail.com.
