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Harry Ainlay Titans grad Jordan Baker, who will spend the next few years playing for the Alberta Golden Bears, has caught the eye of national men's basketball coach Leo Rautins.
The same applies to Mangisto Arop, the talented youngster who learned from David Youngs as a Ross Sheppard Thunderbird and will play next season at Spokane, Wash., for the Gonzaga Bulldogs.
In his prime, Rautins came out of Syracuse University to be a first-round draft choice of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. He served as a glamorous role model for Canadian players, much as Steve Nash does these days.
Rautins still praises the late Jack Donahue, who taught an entire generation about this game during his long run as national coach, and new evidence suggests Rautins is still learning.
His appreciation of Baker and Arop, as expressed after an impressive clinic on Friday, is a good start.
Only a few seasons ago, Rautins showed something close to contempt for the skill and potential of Steve Sir and Jermaine Bucknor of Edmonton and Kyle Landry of Calgary.
All three, now in their mid-20s, had solid, sometimes outstanding, careers in NCAA Division One schools.
They never got a good shot at qualifying for the national team.
Canada's dismal recent record on the national stage makes it fair - no, essential - to question at least some of his manpower decisions.
MEMORIES OF PERRY
Every time I see Mike Babcock behind the bench of the Detroit Red Wings, I think of Perry Pearn.
Both coached in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, Babcock with the Red Deer Kings and Pearn with the NAIT Ooks (then Ookpiks) when NAIT simply overwhelmed all opposition, east and west.
They both served as head coaches in what now is the Western Hockey League. They both went on to the NHL.
Babcock deserves every ounce of the credit he gets as a head coach. Pearn laboured year after year as a top assistant without getting serious public consideration for the top job.
Pearn, who still calls Edmonton home, was let go by the Rangers as part of the housecleaning that put John Tortorella in Tom Renney's old job. Pearn has not found a new gig.
These days, Marc Crawford and Pat Quinn are named as possible replacements for Craig MacTavish. They get mentioned whenever a job comes open.
San Jose assistant Todd Richards looks like a deer in the headlights whenever a television camera looks his way during the Sharks' annual playoff collapse. He has received notice, too.
The list, in fact, is almost endless - but Pearn's name never comes up. Something is wrong with this picture.
THE CRUISE LINE
The unpleasant cracks about Dustin Penner keep coming.
On Thursday, a friend referred to famous old hockey lines: the Production Line, the ABC Line, the KLM (Air)Line, the Punch Line, to name a few.
The conversation ended this way: "Give Penner the right two partners and you'd have an automatic Cruise Line."
If the Oilers could deal for Joe Thornton and keep Robert Nilsson, the line would be complete.
JCSHORT@SHAW.CA