With the season upon us, it’s time for my annual tour around the league. I’m going to pick out one subject for each team and say what it is that I’m looking for and why it’s important. At the end of the year I’ll look back and see what the […]
Flaming Hot Takes
Flaming Hot Takes – A conversation with Ron Robison
All throughout July on my program, The Pipeline Show, I have been speaking with various commissioners and presidents from a variety of different leagues. I’ve spoken with David Branch from the OHL, Gilles Courteau of the QMJHL, the CJHL’s commissioner Kevin Abrams who also oversees the CCHL, and both Bill […]
Flaming Hot Takes – June 10, 2019
At the start of the 2018-19 season I offered up “22 Teams, 22 Questions” as my version of a preview for the coming WHL campaign. My twist on it was to take one aspect from each of the league’s 22 teams and spotlight what I was watching for over the […]
Flaming Hot Takes – Bantam Draft Edition
Flaming Hot Takes – Bantam Draft Edition As the Western Hockey League Bantam Draft nears, I wanted to touch on a few things that I’ve learned over the years and a few thoughts on the overall event. DRAFT AGE Let’s get this one out of the way and right out […]
Flaming Hot Takes – “Down the Stretch They Come!”
Two weeks. That’s all that remains of the WHL’s regular season schedule and there is still so much to be decided. It really does remind me of a horse race but with 7 or 8 steeds all galloping hard down the stretch towards a photo finish. Here are some deep […]
Flaming Hot Takes: January 25, 2019
It’s a great time of the season as the stretch drive begins in earnest and there is still so much to be decided across the WHL. Not all of today’s takes are going to be about the playoff chase as there are a lot of other things happening around the […]
Flaming Hot Takes – Trade Deadline Edition
The January 10th deadline is rapidly approaching and a number of teams will be deciding whether they are buyers or sellers. Some teams are clearly in one or the other category while others will have tougher decisions to make, especially considering the returns we have already seen for players who […]
Flaming Hot Takes – 2019 World Juniors Edition
December is an exciting month for junior hockey fans and for hockey fans who mostly focus their attention on the NHL too. World Junior season is fast approaching and that means even fans who don’t know the difference between Wheat Kings and Oil Kings will have their eyes glued to […]
Flaming Hot Takes – November 5th, 2018 – Canada Russia Series Edition
A Better Option for the Canada/Russia Series Long time listeners of The Pipeline Show will be very familiar with this subject as its one I’ve talked about annually on the program for the last decade. The annual Canada-Russia Series begins this week and will feature a touring Russia squad playing […]
Flaming Hot Takes – October 25, 2018
We’re a solid month into the 2018-19 WHL season which provides a large enough sample size for fans and pundits alike to start picking things apart. Here are my Hot Takes from what I’ve seen so far this season. -Everyone who picked Prince Albert Raiders forward Brett Leason to lead […]
