The final of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, will finally come to a head this Friday afternoon in Cairo. With the top two scoring countries in the tournament, Algeria, and Senegal getting their rematch. In the last five head to head games, Algeria has taken four of them.
A rivalry that dates back to 1934 in Italy, where they played in a World Cup Qualifier. Since then the USMNT has faced off with Mexico 67 times, with Mexico leading the series 34–15–19. It all comes to a head at Soldier Field in Chicago, this was ironically the site, where Mexico suffered it’s only Gold Cup final loss, 2-1 to the US back in 2007.
Tonight at Rogers Arena in Vancouver will be host to the NHL Entry draft, with the New Jersey Devils getting the first overall selection. Now it was only two years ago, the Devils selected highly touted Nico Hischier. The expectation is that Jack Hughes will go to the Devils, although Kaapo Kakko has certainly made the debate interesting. Thanks to a fantastic showing at the IIHF tournament.
As of now, the debate rolls on as to who goes first in the Draft between Kaapo Kakko and Jack Hughes. Kakko is a 6″2 left-handed shooting right winger. You could argue, he is the most complete winger available in this year’s draft. He was able to work his way up through the TPS youth system, going back to 2015 with the U16 squad when he was only 14 years old. He ended his 2018 season with 22 goals and 16 assists in 45 games for TPS.
An agile 6-foot-1, 180-pound center for the Barrie Colts. Ryan Suzuki will be hoping to join his older brother Nick, who was drafted 13th overall in 2017 to the Vegas Golden Knights. Suzuki had very solid offensive performances for both his OHL club and internationally in 2018. Led all Colts scorers in points, contributing 25 goals, and 50 points in 65 games. An incredible spike in production from the year previously, where he had just 44 total points in one fewer games. Playing for Canada U18 at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, he put up one goal and seven assists in five games played.
Thomas Harley has seen solid growth over the last couple of seasons, as he continues to take on a bigger role and more minutes the production has indeed followed. With the Mississauga Steelheads this past season, he finished eighth among OHL defensemen with 11 goals and 58 points leading all OHL draft-eligible defenders. He also added four assists as the Steelheads were swept in the first round of the OHL playoffs by the Sudbury Wolves.
Metropolitano Stadium on Saturday will be an all England matchup for the Champions League final. The second all-English Champions League final in history. This matchup is a miracle of sorts. As both Liverpool and Tottenham had very similar roads they needed to go down in order to get themselves to this stage of the tournament.
The Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues were back at TD Garden for Game 2 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. The Blues down 1-0 in the series were looking to knot up the series and bring it back to St Louis with the home-ice advantage. Blues Forward Robert Thomas was scratched from this game after picking up an injury from the open ice hit by Torey Krug. Thomas has not been participating in most practices and morning skates. Robby Fabbri would take his spot in the lineup.
The Edmonton Oilers have found their new head coach in long time Coyotes bench boss Dave Tippett. This signing was the first real move by the new general manager Ken Holland.
What might set a player like Victor Soderstrom apart from a lot of draftees, is the fact he is a dependable right-handed defenseman. Those sorts of players are certainly hard to come by. With Soderstrom you are getting, more of stay-at-home defensemen, posting just four goals and seven points in 44 games for Brynäs IF last season.
There are two players in Kappo Kakko and Jack Hughes, that seem to be the consensus top selections, but after them, its a lot more uncertain how the next tier shakes up. Alex Turcotte has been projected to go as high as third and as low as eleventh overall.
Quite possibly the player with the biggest question marks, for the 2019 NHL Entry Draft is Vasili Podkolzin. However, in terms of sheer talent, there is little to question about what Podkolzin, brings to the table. The powerful winger impressed on the international and domestic scenes, climbing up the rankings with his performance at the 2018 Hlinka/Gretzky Cup. He recorded 11 points in five games, which tied with top 2020 draft prospect Alexis Lafreniere, for most points scored in the tournament, and his eight goals were the most among players. Most impressively was how, he was able to make the Russia U20 roster, contributing three points in seven games.
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