SASKATOON — Long before Seth Jones and Nathan MacKinnon were the top-ranked players for the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, they were friends. And before they became good friends, they were roommates.

The two junior superstars first met in Los Angeles at an elite summer camp run by the agency – CAA - that represents both players. They were barely 15 and still relatively under the radar in the grand scheme of hockey’s star system.

They spent two weeks rooming together.

“We just started bonding and sharing each other’s similarities,” said Jones, a defenceman with the Portland Winterhawks. “It’ just took off from there.”

[2013 Memorial Cup: Do the host Saskatoon Blades have what it takes?]

In every summer camp since that initial meeting, they’ve continued to share a room.

“Seth is a neat guy for sure,” said MacKinnon, a forward with the Halifax Mooseheads. “He’s pretty easy going. We like to have some late night food runs in the room and it’s pretty simple... he’s pretty solid and we like to have a goodRead More »from 2013 Memorial Cup: Seth Jones and Nathan MacKinnon were friends before becoming foes

Craigslist ad from hockey mad mom-to-be

There are six teams in the Canadian Hockey League waiting for the opportunity to get their tickets punched to the 2013 Memorial Cup in Saskatoon. But for fans of the Portland Winterhawks and Halifax Mooseheads -- who have the opportunity to see their teams clinch league titles at home -- tickets to Game 5 might be tougher to get.

How far would you go to see your favourite team win a championship?

The Portland Winterhawks have been to two straight WHL finals, but twice they've come up short. On Friday night, however, they have the chance to win their first league title since 1997-98 on home ice when they host the Edmonton Oil Kings. The Winterhawks, with a 3-1 series lead, have already sold the 10,947 tickets available at the Rose Garden. People are getting desperate.

One woman took to Craigslist to say she'll delay the birth of her child if she's able to get a ticket to Game 5. And, you never know, the excitement of a Winterhawks victory might send her into labour anyway.

Another Portland

Read More »from Babies, baked goods and best offers for coveted WHL, QMJHL tickets

Halifax star Nathan MacKinnon wearing the celebratory fur.HALIFAX — On this night, the smell of success for Nathan MacKinnon is more pungent than pure. A three-goal performance on this evening means the sweat-soaked MacKinnon is walking around the basement of the Halifax Metro Centre in black baseball cap, red undershirt, and a chocolate brown fur coat.

He might look ridiculous, but there's swagger in MacKinnon's walk.

The fur is a totem the Halifax Mooseheads have been giving their player of the game to wear this season. Its provenance is unknown, though it looks like something you might find in grandma’s attic.

And the coat reeks. Badly. It’s a gag-inducing mix of hockey sweat and wet fur.

“I’m sure you can smell it from here,” says MacKinnon, laughing and standing a foot away.

Yes, you can.

“It’s getting pretty gross,” he continues. “This is the ninth (playoff) game we’ve played and nobody showers before putting it on, so it’s definitely a little stinky. But it adds character, for sure.”

Character is something MacKinnon knows all too well.

Read More »from Playoff nirvana: Smells like team spirit for MacKinnon's Mooseheads

Martin Frk came through with the winner in Game 2 (Richard Wolowicz, Getty Images)

If Andre Tourigny was upset his words might not have betrayed him, but his demeanor certainly did. After all, he had just watched his Rouyn-Noranda Huskies squander a two goal lead against the top-ranked Halifax Mooseheads in the third period to force overtime.

“We took penalties to give them a chance to get back,” said the coach and GM after their 5-4 OT loss in Game 2 of their best-of-seven QMJHL semifinal. “They scored their first goal of the rally on a power play. It’s too bad we have to talk about that at this time of the season. I guess it’s a learning process.”

Then, just five minutes into the extra frame, overage defenceman Mathieu Brisebois lost his cool and punched Mooseheads star Jonathan Drouin in the face to earn a roughing penalty. It was not only unnecessary, but given the critical juncture of the game, not very smart. Rouyn quickly started to unravel despite Tourigny’s best efforts to calm his club.

“I tried to stay composed,” said Tourigny. “It was a bad penalty obviously; it was outside of the play. At this point you’re in overtime and there’s nothing you can do. You have to live with it.”

Read More »from Martin Frk comes through for Mooseheads after Huskies squander chance

Rouyn-Noranda Huskies forward Nikita Kucherov.HALIFAX — Armed with a master's degree, Svetlana Kucherov was looking for work. It was the late 90's and opportunities in Moscow were hard to come by for her. One day she spotted a newly constructed arena. She went in and talked her way into a job.

It was on that ice that her son, Nikita, then five, first learned to skate.

“She worked at the rink and she would bring me,” said the now 19-year-old Kucherov. “All the small kids would come and start to practice.”

It was evident, even at an early age, that Kucherov had a natural talent for hockey. And now as a member of the QMJHL’s Rouyn-Noranda Huskies, he’s only getting better.

“He’s always one play ahead of the game,” said Huskies coach and general manager Andre Tourigny. “When he gets the puck he knows all his options and what he has to do. He knows where the pressure is. His hockey sense and his IQ are through the roof.

“He’s very passionate about the game.”

It’s partly that passion that has helped Kucherov find a new gearRead More »from Nikita Kucherov finds new focus after trade to Rouyn-Noranda Huskies

Rouyn-Noranda head coach Andre Tourigny

HALIFAX — The narrative in advance of the QMJHL semifinal between the Halifax Mooseheads and the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies is rather predictable. It’s your classic Bad News Bears up against the Yankees.

At this point in the playoffs, both sides are wary of providing bulletin-board fodder.

“Please,” said Huskies star forward Nikita Kucherov, nervous about his English. “I don’t want to say anything bad.”

Still, the eighth-seed Huskies are more than happy to talk about their role as underdogs against the top-ranked team in the Canadian Hockey League when their series begins on Saturday.

“If you look at the first two series (against Drummondville and Quebec) we were voted against,” said Huskies defenceman Andrew O’Brien. “I like being the underdog, there’s no pressure on us. It’s all on the other team.”

It was a mantra repeated often by the Huskies after their spirited practice on Friday afternoon.

“We would rather be underdogs,” said Rouyn-Noranda head coach Andre Tourigny. “All the pressure

Read More »from Rouyn-Noranda Huskies relish role of QMJHL underdogs

Interim head coach of the Portland Winterhawks Travis Green.At age 42, Travis Green is hardly a sage old man.

But turning pro at 19 and spending 14 seasons in the National Hockey League have provided him a life experience to which very few people can relate.

Now, as the interim head coach of the Western Hockey League’s Portland Winterhawks, he says there are times he wishes he could go back to his early playing days and do things a little differently.

“I joke about it,” says Green. “I never knew how important coaches were until I started coaching.

“I’ve learned what a pain in the ass I must have been as a player. At 19 when I turned pro until 37 when I retired, I learned a lot over that time and I look back now and, joking aside, I’m a little embarrassed at how I was as a young guy. I see a lot of that in our own players. It doesn’t surprise me some of the things these young guys will do or say or even how they’ll play at certain times of the game. They’re young and they haven’t been through a lot in their hockey careers. But

Read More »from Pressed into coaching duty, Travis Green’s Winterhawks aim for WHL title

Undertaking his first Ontario Hockey League playoff run, Barrie Colts defenceman Michael Webster has a little more confidence than your average rookie.

Barrie Colts goalie Mathias Niederberger. (Getty)No one ever wants to make a mistake, especially in the postseason, where every aspect of the game is magnified. But Webster believes he and his fellow Barrie blueliners have a 5-foot-11, 171-pound safety net.

They have goaltender Mathias Niederberger.

“You don’t have to worry about getting beat or giving up a challenging shot because he’s proven he can keep that door shut,” said the 17-year-old Webster. “He doesn’t give up many rebounds and he really makes a defenceman’s job easy.”

It looked easy on Sunday night when Niederberger made 35 saves to shut out the Oshawa Generals 4-0 and steal an important road victory. The only time the Generals came close was early in the first period when the 20-year-old netminder made an initial save, but lost the puck in his crease. He fell flat on his back, with the puck smothered

Read More »from Barrie Colts goalie Mathias Niederberger stands tall as the last wall of defence