Sioux add D-man Hill
UND has added Sioux Falls Stampede defenseman Ryan Hill to the roster for next season.
Hill should give the Sioux added depth at the defense position. Hill will join Andrew MacWilliam and Joe Gleason as rookies on the blue line.
Hill, a 6-foot-3, 197-pound Hermantown, Minn., product, had no goals and six assists in the USHL last season. He played for both Waterloo and Sioux Falls.
For more on Hill, read the Herald story here.
Posted by: Schlossman on Thursday, July 02 at 8:02 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink
Toews to compete for Olympic spot
Zach Parise and T.J. Oshie aren't the only two former Sioux players who will be trying to make an Olympic team this summer.
Jonathan Toews will compete at Hockey Canada's Orientation Camp in August.
A total of 46 players were invited to the Canadian camp. Toews, who won medals at the 2007 and 2008 world championship with Canada, is one of four 1988-born players who will attend the camp.
The camp will be held Aug. 24-27 in Calgary.
Toews previously won gold in both the World Juniors and the World Championship with Team Canada.
Goaltenders (5)
Martin Brodeur (Montreal, Que./New Jersey, NHL)
Marc-André Fleury (Sorel, Que./Pittsburgh, NHL)
Roberto Luongo (Montreal, Que./Vancouver, NHL)
Steve Mason (Oakville, Ont./Columbus, NHL)
Cam Ward (Sherwood Park, Alta./Carolina, NHL)
Defencemen (16)
François Beauchemin (Sorel, Que./Anaheim, NHL)
Jay Bouwmeester (Edmonton, Alta./Calgary, NHL)
Dan Boyle (Ottawa, Ont./San Jose, NHL)
Brent Burns (Ajax, Ont./Minnesota, NHL)
Drew Doughty (London, Ont./Los Angeles, NHL)
Mike Green (Calgary, Alta./Washington, NHL)
Dan Hamhuis (Smithers, B.C./Nashville, NHL)
Duncan Keith (Penticton, B.C./Chicago, NHL)
Scott Niedermayer (Cranbrook, B.C./Anaheim, NHL)
Dion Phaneuf (Edmonton, Alta./Calgary, NHL)
Chris Pronger (Dryden, Ont./Philadelphia, NHL)
Robyn Regehr (Rosthern, Sask./Calgary, NHL)
Stéphane Robidas (Sherbrooke, Que./Dallas, NHL)
Brent Seabrook (Tsawwassen, B.C./Chicago, NHL)
Marc Staal (Thunder Bay, Ont./N.Y. Rangers, NHL)
Shea Weber (Sicamous, B.C./Nashville, NHL)
Forwards (25)
Jeff Carter (London, Ont./Philadelphia, NHL)
Dan Cleary (Carbonear, N.L./Detroit, NHL)
Sidney Crosby (Cole Harbour, N.S./Pittsburgh, NHL)
Shane Doan (Halkirk, Alta./Phoenix, NHL)
Simon Gagné (Ste-Foy, Que./Philadelphia, NHL)
Ryan Getzlaf (Regina, Sask./Anaheim, NHL)
Dany Heatley (Calgary, Alta./Ottawa, NHL)
Jarome Iginla (St. Albert, Alta./Calgary, NHL)
Vincent Lecavalier (Île-Bizard, Que./Tampa Bay, NHL)
Milan Lucic (Vancouver, B.C./Boston, NHL)
Patrick Marleau (Aneroid, Sask./San Jose, NHL)
Andy McDonald (Strathroy, Ont./St. Louis, NHL)
Brenden Morrow (Carlyle, Sask./Dallas, NHL)
Rick Nash (Brampton, Ont./Columbus, NHL)
Corey Perry (Peterborough, Ont./Anaheim, NHL)
Michael Richards (Kenora, Ont./Philadelphia, NHL)
Derek Roy (Rockland, Ont./Buffalo, NHL)
Joe Sakic (Burnaby, B.C./Colorado, NHL)
Patrick Sharp (Thunder Bay, Ont./Chicago, NHL)
Ryan Smyth (Banff, Alta./Colorado, NHL)
Martin St-Louis (Laval, Que./Tampa Bay, NHL)
Eric Staal (Thunder Bay, Ont./Carolina, NHL)
Jordan Staal (Thunder Bay, Ont./Pittsburgh, NHL)
Joe Thornton (St. Thomas, Ont./San Jose, NHL)
Jonathan Toews (Winnipeg, Man./Chicago, NHL)
Posted by: Schlossman on Thursday, July 02 at 11:53 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink
Tour BSU's new arena
The WCHA will be a big recruiting tool for Bemidji State in the coming years. So will the brand new Events Center that's being built there.
BSU radio announcer Brian Schultz posted a virtual tour on his blog. It's worth checking out.
It will be another nice arena for a league full of them.
Posted by: Schlossman on Wednesday, July 01 at 8:40 PM | Comments (5) | Permalink
Oshie, Parise to compete for Olympic spot
USA Hockey announced its roster for the men's Olympic orientation camp and former Sioux forwards T.J. Oshie and Zach Parise will be there competing for a spot.
Roseau's Dustin Byfuglien also will compete for a forward spot.
A total of 19 forwards, 12 defensemen and three goalies were picked for the camp, which will be held Aug. 17-19 in Illinois.
USA Hockey says the final roster will be a total of 23 players -- 20 forwards-defensemen and three goalies. So there will likely be 13 forwards and seven defensemen.
Former UND forward Jason Blake -- an American representative at the 2006 Torino games -- was not included on the camp roster.
Six of the 10 WCHA teams have a representative at the camp.
Wisconsin has four (Tom Gilbert, Brian Rafalski, Ryan Suter and Joe Pavelski), Minnesota has four (Paul Martin, Erik Johnson, Phil Kessel and Kyle Okposo), St. Cloud State has Ryan Malone, MSU-Mankato has David Backes and Denver has Paul Stastny.
GOALIES (3)
Ryan Miller 6-2 (188) 166 (75) 1/17/80 L East Lansing, Mich. Buffalo Sabres
Jonathan Quick 6-1 (185) 216 (98) 1/21/86 L Milford, Conn. Los Angeles Kings
Tim Thomas 5-11 (180) 201 (91) 4/15/74 L Flint, Mich. Boston Bruins
DEFENSEMEN (12)
Tom Gilbert 6-3 (191) 206 (93) 1/10/83 R Minneapolis, Minn. Edmonton Oilers
Tim Gleason 6-0 (183) 217 (98) 1/29/83 L Clawson, Mich. Carolina Hurricanes
Ron Hainsey 6-3 (191) 205 (93) 3/24/81 L Bolton, Conn. Atlanta Thrashers
Erik Johnson 6-4 (193) 219 (99) 3/21/88 R Bloomington, Minn. St. Louis Blues
Jack Johnson 6-1 (185) 225 (102) 1/13/87 L Indianapolis, Ind Los Angeles Kings
Mike Komisarek 6-4 (193) 243 (110) 1/19/82 R West Islip, N.Y. Montreal Canadiens
Paul Martin 6-1 (185) 195 (89) 3/5/81 L Minneapolis, Minn. New Jersey Devils
Brooks Orpik 6-2 (188) 219 (99) 9/26/80 L San Francisco, Calif. Pittsburgh Penguins
Brian Rafalski 5-10 (178) 191 (87) 9/28/73 R Dearborn, Mich. Detroit Red Wings
Rob Scuderi 6-0 (183) 218 (99) 12/30/78 L Syosset, N.Y. Pittsburgh Penguins
Ryan Suter 6-1 (185) 194 (88) 1/21/85 L Madison, Wis. Nashville Predators
Ryan Whitney 6-4 (193) 219 (99) 2/19/83 L Boston, Mass. Anaheim Ducks
FORWARDS (19)
David Backes 6-3 (191) 216 (98) 5/1/84 R Minneapolis, Minn. St. Louis Blues
David Booth 6-0 (183) 212 (96) 11/24/84 L Detroit, Mich. Florida Panthers
Dustin Brown 6-0 (183) 207 (94) 11/4/84 R Ithaca, N.Y. Los Angeles Kings
Dustin Byfuglien 6-3 (191) 247 (112) 3/27/85 R Minneapolis, Minn. Chicago Blackhawks
Ryan Callahan 5-11 (180) 188 (85) 3/21/85 R Rochester, N.Y. New York Rangers
Chris Drury 5-10 (178) 190 (86) 8/20/76 R Trumbull, Conn. New York Rangers
Scott Gomez 5-11 (180) 200 (91) 12/23/79 L Anchorage, Alaska New York Rangers
Patrick Kane 5-10 (178) 175 (79) 11/19/88 L Buffalo, N.Y. Chicago Blackhawks
Ryan Kesler 6-2 (188) 205 (93) 8/31/84 R Livonia, Mich. Vancouver Canucks
Phil Kessel 6-0 (183) 180 (82) 10/2/87 R Madison, Wis. Boston Bruins
Jamie Langenbrunner 6-1 (185) 205 (93) 7/24/75 R Cloquet, Minn. New Jersey Devils
Ryan Malone 6-4 (193) 224 (102) 12/1/79 L Pittsburgh, Pa. Tampa Bay Lightning
Mike Modano 6-3 (191) 210 (95) 6/7/70 L Livonia, Mich. Dallas Stars
Kyle Okposo 6-1 (185) 200 (91) 4/16/88 R St. Paul, Minn. New York Islanders
T.J. Oshie 5-11 (180) 170 (77) 12/23/86 R Warroad, Minn. St. Louis Blues
Zach Parise 5-11 (180) 190 (86) 7/28/84 L Minneapolis, Minn. New Jersey Devils
Joe Pavelski 5-11 (180) 195 (89) 7/11/84 R Stevens Point, Wis. San Jose Sharks
Bobby Ryan 6-2 (188) 208 (94) 3/17/87 R Cherry Hill, N.J. Anaheim Ducks
Paul Stastny 6-0 (183) 205 (93) 12/27/85 L Quebec City, Quebec Colorado Avalanche
Posted by: Schlossman on Tuesday, June 30 at 11:15 AM | Comments (10) | Permalink
Bemidji celebrates; CCHA reacts
Bemidji State celebrated its admission into the WCHA on Monday afternoon and held a press conference on campus. In reading the stories posted on the Bemidji Pioneer site, it seems that Tom Serratore's comments are the most interesting and they are all dead-on accurate (get used to that type of stuff coming from him).
A quick, general roundup of his comments:
- Getting into the WCHA is bigger than going to the Frozen Four. The Frozen Four may eventually fade from memory, but the WCHA will be there week in and week out.
- This never would have happened without Bemidji getting a new rink.
- This will open up new doors in recruiting. How many times do you hear kids say that they want to play in the WCHA?
- Bemidji State will have to adjust to playing the WCHA schedule. He said it's one thing to play a WCHA every now and then, but having to do it week in and week out is going to be a big, new challenge.
Someone in the comments section asked about the CCHA's reaction. CCHA commish Tom Anastos sent out a statement on Friday that said:
"We are disappointed to hear of UNO's decision to leave the CCHA, as they have been a very good member for our league, and we wish them well. We have an excellent league, with very strong membership, and we will continue to focus all of our attention on being a great conference and a leader in helping to shape the future of college hockey. At this time, it serves no purpose to speculate on how this latest decision will impact the future makeup of the CCHA membership. There is a process being followed with respect to admittance or any new member and we are committed to following that process."
During Friday's conference call, WCHA commish Bruce McLeod said he ran into Anastos in San Antonio earlier this month and the two talked about what was going on. Anastos made it clear to McLeod that he did not want to lose UNO.
McLeod said: "We went into this process above board, trying to do things the right way, the best way we possibly could, and part of that was keeping Tom informed. I hope we followed through on that. He made it perfectly clear that he did not want to lose Omaha and he made other suggestions to me. But in the end, when we were taking a broad look at things and I needed to step back and do what's best for college hockey in general. I hoped that if in fact this worked out with Omaha or someone else, that it would open a slot in the CCHA and it could save another program. I can't tell them what to do, but hopefully that slot can be filled by Huntsville."
Posted by: Schlossman on Tuesday, June 30 at 1:47 AM | Comments (2) | Permalink
One more at-large bid
One item that has not been heavily discussed during the conference realignment process is that ultimately, there is going to be one more at-large bid available to the NCAA tournament. The CHA will no longer be getting an auto bid.
This would have gotten one extra WCHA team in each of the last two years. MSU-Mankato was the last team left out in 2008. Wisconsin and Minnesota were the last teams left out in 2009. I also believe that St. Cloud State was the last team left out in 2006. Don't remember 2007.
The last few years, the WCHA race has been extremely tight. It might not have had as many teams in the top five, but one of the reasons is that they all have beaten up on each other. Nobody has been allowed to run away with the conference title and a bunch of teams have lined up right on the bubble.
Maybe one of those bubble teams, who have perhaps done more to earn a spot in the NCAAs over the course of the year than the CHA champion, will be rewarded under the new conference setup.
I haven't heard whether or not the CHA will get its waiver to have an auto bid again this year -- its final as a league. But either way, another NCAA tournament slot is opening up soon.
Posted by: Schlossman on Sunday, June 28 at 3:06 PM | Comments (10) | Permalink
Some more NHL draft notes
Here are a few more notes compiled after yesterday's NHL draft, which saw Corban Knight, Derek Rodwell and Mike Cichy get picked:
- Five incoming freshmen this fall are draft picks: Danny Kristo (2nd), Brett Bruneteau (4th), Mike Cichy (7th), Joe Gleason (7th) and Andrew MacWilliam (7th).
- UND will have a total of 15 draft picks on the roster next season. If that's not a record, it's going to be close. It certainly hasn't happened since the 1980s.
- Kristo (No. 56 overall) will be the highest draft pick on the team next season.
- UND will not have a first-round draft pick on the team this season. The last time that happened was 1999-00, also UND's last national title. In fact, the only first-round pick to win a national title at UND was James Patrick in 1982.
- Derek Rodwell continued a recent trend of NHL teams going off the board to get a Sioux recruit. Rodwell was unranked by Central Scouting. Other guys who were unranked by Central Scouting when they committed to UND but ended up going in the draft: Knight, Brett Hextall and Matt Frattin. Jason Gregoire was unranked at midterm by Central Scouting, but committed after the final rankings came out, where he was No. 145. Brett Bruneteau was unranked in the final rankings, but had a spot at midterm.
- UND's numbers were down a little bit with three guys going (the Sioux had six in each of the last two years). But it still ranked fifth in all of college hockey. Only St. Cloud State (6), Minnesota (6), Boston College (5) and Miami (4) had more. Draft-eligible recruits who were not selected were Danny Mattson, Mike Fink, Aaron Dell and Carter Rowney.
- With all of this talk about draft picks, it is worth pointing out that UND's two best players last year were Ryan Duncan and Chay Genoway -- both undrafted players. In fact, three of UND's top four scorers last season were undrafted free agents.
Posted by: Schlossman on Sunday, June 28 at 11:35 AM | Comments (3) | Permalink
NHL draft day two live blog
The NHL draft is complete, the results are below. Check the Herald site later for stories.
UND'S DRAFT BOARD
Corban Knight (selected Round 5, No. 135 by Florida Panthers)
Danny Mattson
Mike Cichy (selected Round 7, No. 199 by Montreal Canadiens)
Derek Rodwell (selected Round 5, No. 144 by New Jersey Devils)
AREA DRAFT BOARD
Roseau's Mike Lee (selected Round 3, No. 91 by Phoenix Coyotes)
Roseau's Nick Oliver (selected Round 4, No. 110 by Nashville Predators)
WCHA DRAFT BOARD
Round 2
No. 41 -- Nashville Predators -- Zach Budish, F, Minnesota recruit
No. 43 -- San Jose Sharks -- William Wrenn, D, Denver recruit
No. 44 -- Florida Panthers -- Drew Shore, F, Denver recruit
Round 3
No. 63 -- Pittsburgh Penguins -- Ben Hanowski, F, St. Cloud State recruit
No. 67 -- Florida Panthers -- Josh Birkholz, F, Minnesota recruit
No. 71 -- Edmonton Oilers -- Troy Hesketh, D, Wisconsin recruit
No. 89 -- Chicago Blackhawks -- Dan Delisle, F, Minnesota-Duluth recruit
No. 91 -- Phoenix Coyotes -- Mike Lee, G, St. Cloud State recruit
Round 4
No. 98 -- Nashville Predators -- Craig Smith, F, Wisconsin recruit
No. 110 -- Nashville Predators -- Nick Oliver, F, St. Cloud State recruit
No. 114 -- New Jersey Devils -- Seth Helgeson, D, Minnesota recruit
Round 5
No. 135 -- Florida Panthers -- Corban Knight, F, UND recruit
No. 141 -- Calgary Flames -- Spencer Bennett, F, Alaska-Anchorage recruit
No. 144 -- New Jersey Devils -- Derek Rodwell, F, UND recruit
No. 150 -- Detroit Red Wings -- Nick Jensen, D, St. Cloud State recruit
Round 6
None
Round 7
No. 182 -- Minnesota Wild -- Erik Haula, F, Minnesota recruit
No. 195 -- Chicago Blackhawks -- Paul Phillips, D, Denver recruit
No. 196 -- Philadelphia Flyers -- Oliver Lauridsen, D, St. Cloud State recruit
No. 198 -- Los Angeles Kings -- Nic Dowd, F, St. Cloud State recruit
No. 199 -- Montreal Canadiens -- Mike Cichy, F, UND recruit
No. 202 -- St. Louis Blues -- Max Tardy, F, Minnesota-Duluth recruit
Posted by: Schlossman on Saturday, June 27 at 9:10 AM | Comments (12) | Permalink
NHL draft round one updates
The first round of the NHL draft is over. Four WCHA players were selected -- the highest was future Gopher defenseman Nick Leddy. All results are below. College players are in bold, WCHA players in red.
1. New York Islanders -- John Tavares, OHL
2. Tampa Bay Lightning -- Victor Hedman, Sweden
3. Colorado Avalanche -- Matt Duchene, OHL
4. Atlanta Thrashers -- Evander Kane, WHL
5. Los Angeles Kings -- Brayden Schenn, WHL
6. Phoenix Coyotes -- Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Sweden
7. Toronto Maple Leafs -- Nazem Kadri, OHL
8. Dallas Stars -- Scott Glennie, WHL
9. Ottawa Senators -- Jared Cowen, WHL
10. Edmonton Oilers -- Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Sweden
11. Nashville Predators -- Ryan Ellis, OHL
12. New York Islanders -- Calvin deHaan, OHL
13. Buffalo Sabres -- Zach Kassian, OHL
14. Florida Panthers -- Dmitry Kulikov, OHL
15. Anaheim Ducks -- Peter Holland, OHL
16. Minnesota Wild -- Nick Leddy, D, Minnesota recruit
17. St. Louis Blues -- David Rundblad, Sweden
18. Montreal Canadiens -- Louis LeBlanc, F, Harvard recruit
19. New York Rangers -- Chris Kreider, F, Boston College recruit
20. New Jersey Devils -- Jacob Josefson, Sweden
21. Columbus Blue Jackets -- John Moore, D, Colorado College recruit
22. Vancouver Canucks -- Jordan Schroeder, F, Minnesota
23. Calgary Flames -- Tim Erixon, Sweden
24. Washington Capitals -- Marcus Johansson, Sweden
25. Boston Bruins -- Jordan Caron, QMJHL
26. Anaheim Ducks -- Kyle Palmieri, Notre Dame recruit
27. Carolina Hurricanes -- Philippe Paradis, QMJHL
28. Chicago Blackhawks -- Dylan Olsen, D, Minnesota-Duluth recruit
29. Tampa Bay Lightning -- Carter Ashton, WHL
30. Pittsburgh Penguins -- Simon Despris, QMJHL
Posted by: Schlossman on Friday, June 26 at 5:58 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Expansion conference call notes
The WCHA conference call regarding the vote to add Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha has now concluded. Here are a few notes before it's time to type up the story:
- Commish Bruce McLeod's three phrases to describe the day: "awful excited," "awful happy" and "awful proud."
- McLeod says St. Cloud State's athletic director Morris Kurtz played a key role when negotiations seemed to break down.
- Dean Blais: "My deep down love is for the WCHA and I'm happy to be back."
- McLeod does not want to talk specifics about the deals he brokered with UNO and BSU.
- No scheduling system has been worked out yet for regular season or for playoffs. McLeod thinks the playoffs will be six first-round games. Two games on Thursday, two on Friday and one on Saturday.
- McLeod hopes that the CCHA will pick up Huntsville now.
- The vote was 9-0-1. One school decided not to vote. It wasn't happy with the process. No word on which school that was.
- McLeod says it was not an easy process. "Trev, you can be a tough guy to deal with and I've got some scars to prove it." Alberts says "I wouldn't say Bruceis easy himself, and I say that kindly."
- BSU coach Tom Serratore said "This is like a 200 pound monkey off of our backs."
Posted by: Schlossman on Friday, June 26 at 4:45 PM | Comments (6) | Permalink
