Thursday, April 17, 2014

(Video) John Tortorella being called "Mike" by reporter



John Tortorella being called Mike by a reporter... Love him or hate him, he's colorful.
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UND Hockey: 2014-15 schedule

Oct. 5 — Canadian exhibition TBA
Oct. 10 — BEMIDJI STATE
Oct. 11 — at Bemidji State
Oct. 17 — at Colorado College
Oct. 18 — at Colorado College
Oct. 24 — PROVIDENCE
Oct. 25 — PROVIDENCE

Nov. 1 — AIR FORCE (Hall of Fame Game)
Nov. 7 — at Wisconsin
Nov. 8 — at Wisconsin
Nov. 14 — MIAMI
Nov. 15 — MIAMI
Nov. 21 — at St. Cloud State
Nov. 22 — at St. Cloud State
Nov. 28 — Nebraska-Omaha
Nov. 29 — Nebraska-Omaha

Dec. 5 — LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
Dec. 6 — LAKE SUPERIOR STATE
Dec. 12 — at Denver
Dec. 13 — at Denver

Jan. 3 — U.S. UNDER-18 (exhibition)
Jan. 9 — DULUTH
Jan. 10 — DULUTH
Jan. 16 — NIAGARA
Jan. 17 — NIAGARA
Jan. 23 — COLORADO COLLEGE
Jan. 24 — COLORADO COLLEGE
Jan. 30 — at Omaha
Jan. 31 — at Omaha

Feb. 13 — DENVER
Feb. 14 — DENVER
Feb. 21 — at Western Michigan
Feb. 22 — at Western Michigan
Feb. 27 — ST. CLOUD STATE
Feb. 28 — ST. CLOUD STATE

March 6 — at Miami
March 7 — at Miami
March 13-15 — NCHC first round
March 20-21 — NCHC tournament (Target Center, Minneapolis)
March 27-29 — NCAA tournament (Scheels Arena, Fargo)
April 9-11 — NCAA Frozen Four (T.D. Garden, Boston)

The NCHC Conference Composite Schedule can be found here.
s/t To Brad Schlosman...
21 home games this season and 15 away games this season.
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More former NHL players sue the NHL over Concussions



I like many NHL fans are watching this with interest.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP)-- Another group of former NHL players has joined the fight for compensation for head injuries they say they incurred while playing, while at the same time targeting the violence of the game that they believe brought about those injuries.

Retired players Dave Christian, Reed Larson and William Bennett filed a class action lawsuit in federal court on Tuesday alleging that the league has promoted fighting and downplayed the risk of head injuries that come from it.

''I think the glorified violence is really the Achilles heel for the NHL,'' said Charles ''Bucky'' Zimmerman, an attorney at Zimmerman Reed that filed the lawsuit on behalf of the players. ''If anything comes of this, the focus on the glorified violence and perhaps the change to that will be a good thing.''

The lawsuit, which is similar to one brought by former football players against the NFL, joins others filed by hockey players in Washington and New York and seeks monetary damages and increased medical monitoring.

''As we have indicated earlier, another lawsuit of this type is not unexpected,'' NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to The Associated Press. ''It's the nature of these types of cases that once one is filed, a number of similarly styled cases follow. Nothing changes our belief that all of these cases are without merit and they will be defended accordingly.''

The NHLPA declined to comment.


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ND Lake Region Basketball Head Coach Joe Kittell on the Division I Hockey Tourney



This is what happens when you compare other major division I sports to division I college hockey. College Hockey is a different animal.The nice thing about college hockey is that the small schools can compete against the bigger schools. There's a level playing field, at least in theory. You can see the whole thing by reading the twitter feed of coach Joe Kitell.



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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Kenny Reiter's mask sporting a Bulldog

Check out this mask. Former UMD Bulldog goalie Kenny Reiter is still sporting the Bulldog on his mask. Reiter is a member of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. If you look at their roster, there are quite a few names that you might recognize.

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(Video) Hockey Night In Canada 2014 Playoff Opening



What an awesome video. Hockey is the greatest game on the planet. The Stanley Cup is also the pinnacle of the NHL's season. Should be a good run. This is one downside of having DirecTV, I no longer get CBC.
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Crosby in Nose Bleed Alley (GIF)

GIF: Sidney Crosby and Brandon Dubinsky not big fans of each ... on Twitpic

Tough being Sidney Crosby....




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Steve Stamkos goal GIF

Just one more look at the Stamkos goal  on Twitpic

Nice goal by Steven Stamkos... It was the game tying goal. Click on the GIF to get it to move.
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Blackhawks vs. Blues: This Rivalry Never Gets Old

Tomorrow is going to probably be the most exciting day in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in a long time. You have all four games being big time rivalry games. However, I think most eyes will be on the battle of Central Division rivals in Chicago and St. Louis.

Chicago, the more offensively flavored team, looks to keep this a high flying, wide open style of game to highlight their great offensive talents. With both Toews and Kane returning for game one, although they say they are 100% who knows if they really are, that just adds that extra offensive flair and swagger Chicago needs to skate around a struggling Blues team.

As for the Blues, they did not end their regular season they way they would have probably wanted. Losing five out of their last seven games, getting beaten and battered with the injury bug, the Blues are going into the playoffs with virtually no momentum what so ever. That being said, Oshie and captain Backes are returning tomorrow night for game one, but like with Toews and Kane, who knows if they are actually at 100%. I guess we will have to see how aggressive they play tomorrow.

To beat the Blackhawks, St. Louis is going to have to keep these games low scoring and be very physical like they love to be. This series is going to remind me a lot of the UND Gopher game from the Frozen Four this year, if it were a seven game series. Every single game will be played with a lot of speed and a lot of physicality.

As for who is going to win this series? If these games turn into high scoring style of game I would have to give the advantage to the Blackhawks. It's just their style of game, but have proven to have a little physicality as well with players like Bickell, Bolig, and Shaw. That being said, St. Louis needs to use their physicality to slow down the game and keep the Hawks off the board.

I picked Chicago to win this series because the Blues are coming in with absolutely no momentum and a struggling Ryan Miller. The series is competitive, but the Blues wont be able to finish off the series.

UND Hockey: Schmaltz, Gothberg and Parks to return to UND for the 2014-15 season




Some good news for UND... I would imagine that Jordan Schmaltz would like to play with his brother Nick. Nice to see the staring goalie Zane Gothberg return as well. Now, we wait on Rocco Grimaldi's decision.
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(Video) UND vs. UMN Frozen Four Semi Final



I decided to put this video up before I deleted the DVR of the UND and UMN game. This game is a tough one to swallow, because UND dominated the Gophers for most of the game and they deserved a better fate than this. I think this game will burn in the minds of the UND players for most of the summer.
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CHN Early top 10 for 2014-15



Looks like College Hockey News thinks highly of the University of North Dakota hockey team going into next season. I am sure the returning players had something to do with this.

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Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Because It's The Cup: 2014 Playoffs



Because it's the Cup.... The 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs start tomorrow night. Who's your pick to win the Stanley Cup?
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Johnny Gaudreau First Career NHL Goal (Video)



Former Boston College Eagle and Hobey Baker Memorial Award winner Johnny Gaudreau scores his first NHL goal, in his first game with the Calgary Flames.
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Minnesota vs. Colorado: What We Should Expect

Minnesota and Colorado have been division rivals since Minnesota has come into the league in 2000, so I guess you could say that these two teams are familiar with each other.

Up until the last couple of seasons, Minnesota has never really had any superstars on their roster, unlike the usual star studded Avalanche of the late 90's and early 2000's. However, the Avalanche recently have been struggling to find success and even had finished 29th in the league out of 30 teams last season.

This year looked as if it was going to be a rebuilding season for Colorado after the firing of head coach Joe Sacco. Before the draft last year, the Avalanche would announce that Patrick Roy would be named their head coach, leaving many scratching their heads wondering how the Avs would fare in this situation. Lets just say a worst to first turn around leaves Roy as a front runner for this year's Jack Adams trophy.

As for the Minnesota Wild, Mike Yeo has this team in a position for a possible playoff run. The main question mark will be in goal. Can Ilya Bryzgalov play like the goalie of 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks? Or will the Bryz, who struggled in the playoffs with the Flyers, show up. If the ladder of the two is to happen, Minnesota's playoff life will be ending earlier then the fans, and the team would like.

Colorado would go 4-0-1 against Minnesota this season, and shocked the league on their extreme turn around with the big youth movement in Colorado. However, a big part of this would be the outstanding play of goalie Semyon Varlamov, who would break Patrick Roy's franchise wins record with 41 wins this season. Also another big weapon for the Avs, besides Duchene, Landeskog, and Stastny, you have to watch out for likely Calder winner Nathan MacKinnon. With his speed, he likes to lead the rush to the outside and also has a very potent snap shot, much like UND fans saw in Danny Kristo's four years at UND. Colorado has three solid lines of scoring who can burn you at anytime you make a mistake. It is no fluke that this team won the Central Division.

Looking back at the two teams head to head playoff history, the teams have met twice in the playoffs. the first time was in the 2002-2003 season, also happens to be the last time that Colorado won their division and Minnesota winning a playoff series, and the second was in the 2007-2008 season when Minnesota would win their first and only division crown.

The most recent series in 2007-2008, the two teams would battle hard in a very tough six game series where Colorado would come out on top, but later lose out of the playoffs. This would be the first season that Minnesota would reach the playoffs in consecutive years, having reached the previous season, but losing to the eventual cup champion Anaheim Ducks in five games.

Now the most memorable series in 2003. Minnesota, just in their third season in franchise history, would make their first ever playoffs, and would be slated a huge underdog against the star studded Avalanche lead by the likes of Sakic, Forsberg, and Roy. Minnesota came out in game one on a mission, making a statement by winning game one. The Avs would have none of it and would rattle off three straight wins to put the Wild on the verge of elimination. Going into game five, nobody counted the Wild as a threat to Colorado anymore and was already preparing for the Avs to move on to round number two. However, Minnesota would be victorious in game five and have one more chance at home to keep their playoff series alive.

The next two games will probably be the most historic games in Minnesota Wild history. On the verge of elimination, the two teams would experience overtime in game six. The Xcel Energy Center was loud, and the fans were on the edge of their seats wondering who was going to play hero. Richard Park would gain the puck at the offensive blue line skate up the right wing and fire, what looked to be a harmless snap shot, at Roy and would beat him to send the Wild back to Colorado for game seven. This would be the first home NHL playoff win in Minnesota since the North Stars did in the early 90's.

Now on to game seven. Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy was virtually unbeatable in the Stanley Cup Playoffs when it came to game sevens, and was unbeaten when it game to game sevens that went into overtime. This game would again end up in overtime, making everyone think that this game was in the bag for Colorado because of Roy in net. This, however, was not the case. Andrew Brunette would get a pass from a teammate, take the puck into the offensive zone, have the presence of mind to go to his backhand and bury the puck in the back of the net, ending the career of Patrick Roy, in his first ever game seven overtime loss.

As for this series, will we see a series like this, or will we see one like in 2008? Honestly I think it will be a high flying series where if the games become more about offense, Minnesota has no chance to advance to the second round. However, if we have one goal, low scoring contests, this could very well go seven games.

Minnesota Wild: A trip down memory lane (videos)


These are two of the biggest goals in Minnesota Wild history... Just think about this, Hall of Fame goalie Patrick Roy lost the last two games that he played in.

Also, the last game of  Roy's NHL career was against the Minnesota Wild. Looking at some of the names of the players, the Av's were loaded.



Watching these old video, I can't imagine the NHL without HD TV. Also, I really don't miss NHL Hockey on ESPN anymore. I think that NBC and NBCSN have done a very good job with the NHL broadcasts.
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7-4, 0.6 Irony...



I just saw this tweet over on the Lieutenant Governor Dew Wrigley's twitter page. Nice!
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Hearld Letter to the Editor: Union, Yale share key trait: Coaches who deliver

 If you haven't read the Grand Forks Herald, this letter to the editor is worth a look. So a Herald Reader wants us to take a look one row back.

If anything, this was probably Dave Hakstol's beat coaching job so far to date. Yeah, I would hate to disappoint this letter writer, but Don Lucia and Dave Hakstol aren't going anywhere. #firehakstol #firelucia
WARREN, Minn. — The past two NCAA hockey champions have been fun to watch. Both Union College, this year, and Yale University the previous year captured the essence of collegiate athletics, in that neither give out athletic scholarships but both still rose to the pinnacle of an NCAA sport.

UND and the University of Minnesota Gophers should also be commended for their fine efforts in reaching the Frozen Four. The expectations for those two schools should be high, in that they are among the elite in resources, both financial and facilities in the collegiate hockey world. Union plays in an arena that seats just over 2,000 fans.

Both Union and Yale had lesser talent, if the number of NHL draftees on their roster is considered. But as ESPN’s lead hockey analyst Barry Melrose pointed out — and I do respect his knowledge of hockey — you could see plays develop and players executing a plan.

The announcers talked in this tournament about the fine traditions of both UND and the Gophers, which is true with many titles in their past. But what brought both Union and Yale to the epitome of the college hockey world was behind the bench. Don Lucia, head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers, last won a title about 11 years ago; but from what I read, there is some pressure developing on him, as the expectations in Dinkytown are high — plus, he now has an athletic director who demands accountability. In Grand Forks, the current regime has yet to win a national championship.

You can only ride the tradition mantra so long. In my mind, part of tradition can be equated to longevity. In that regard, the Chicago Cubs have a fine and long baseball tradition; but not so in championships.

Given the “tradition” but more importantly the resources available, fans of the Gophers and UND should expect more than mere winning records. I commend the players of both teams; their effort cannot be questioned. I look one row back.
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2014 NCAA Early Departures

Jaycob Megna, defense, UNO, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Josh Manson,
defense, NE, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Ryan Faragher, goalie, SCSU, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Nic Kerdiles, forward, UW, sophomore, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Gustav Olofsson,
defense, C.C., freshman, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Kevin Czuczman,
defense, LSSU, junior, NY Islanders (NHL)
Caleb Herbert,
forward, UMD, junior, Washington Capitals (NHL)
Phil Di Giuseppe,
forward, UM, junior, Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Alex Guptill,
forward, UM, junior, Dallas Stars (NHL)
Ryan Dzingel,
forward, OSU, junior, Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Bryce Van Brabant,
forward, QU, Junior, Calgary Flames (NHL)
Ryan Haggerty,
forward, RPI, Jr. NY Rangers (NHL)
Mike Zalewski,
forward, RPI, sophomore, Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Matt Carey,
forward, SLU, freshman, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Trevor van Riemdsyk,
defense, UNH, junior, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Josh Archibald
forward, UNO, junior, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Christian Folin,
defense, UML, sophomore, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Connor Hellebuyck,
goalie, UML, sophomore, Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Scott Wilson,
forward, UML, junior, Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Pheonix Copley,
goalie, MTU, sophomore, Washington capitals (NHL)
Jake McCabe,
defense, UW, junior, Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
Jordan Oesterl,
defense, WMU, junior, Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
Ryan Carpenter,
forward, BGSU, junior, Worcester Sharks (AHL)
Brian Ferlin, forward, CU, junior, Boston Bruins (NHL)
Johnny Gaudreau, forward, B.C., junior, Calgary Flames (NHL)