Quick Feature: Former Golden Gopher Ryan Potulny Signs Contract with the Philadelphia Flyers. [03.29.06]
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Adam Berkhoel is 2-0-0 with goals against of 2.50 and a save percentage of .930 in the last two games. 
 
Mike Modano surpassed Brian Bellows' North Stars franchise record for power play goals when he notched his 135th goal with the man advantage against the Flames on Sunday.
 
Luke Curtin has a team record 61 assists and 82 points for the Fresno Falcons.
 
Alaska Anchorage's John Decaro made pro debut on Mar. 22, playing final the 41:56 for the ECHL Alaska Aces, stopping 28 of 30 shots in 5-4 overtime loss at Utah.
 
Jake Riddle has five points (2g-3a) in his last three games with the Phoenix Roadrunners. Teammate and former Denver Pioneer Kevin Ulanski of Madison has six points (2g-4a) in 10 games since joining the team on Mar. 10.  His brother Troy has been reassigned by the AHL Peoria Rivermen to the Alaska Aces of the ECHL.
 
Matt Koalska's Bridgeport Sound Tigers need to win all four of their games this week to clinch a playoff berth.  Their magic number to finish ahead of Grant Potulny's Binghamton Senators is 10 points 8 points to finish ahead of the defending Calder Cup Champion Philadelphia Phantoms.  Koalska was named Hero of the game by the Connecticut Post on Saturday night after scoring a goal and "being near impossible to knock off the puck" in a shootout loss to Adam Hauser and the Manchester Monarchs.  Koalska also tallied once in the shootout.  Koalska is one of two Tigers centerman who has not yet been recalled to the Islanders or lost to injury this season.  He has 17 goals and 24 assists on the year.
 
3M revisited:  The Philadelphia Flyers had the first "3M Line" with three Minnesota boys skating the third line; Trent Klatt, Joel Otto and Shjon Podien.  The Sound Tigers now have their own "3M Line", as coined by beat writer Mike Fornabaio; their third line of Masi Marjamaki, Matt Koalska and David Masse.  Unfortunately, the line, who has been together since mid-December, may be without their 3rd 'M' as Masse went down with an apparant shoulder separation on Saturday after a questionable check from behind.
 
Wyatt Smith cannot return to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the post-season because of NHL trade-deadline and clear-day roster rules.  A player must be on an AHL roster on "clear-day" in order to be eligible for the playoffs.  Smith was on recall to the Islanders and was not included.  Some teams do a "paperwork transaction" like with Barry Tallackson, who was up with the NJ Devils on Clear Day so the Devils reassigned him on paper only to the Albany River Rats on Clear Day so that he could be reassigned to the club once the Devils' season was over. 
 
Jordan Leopold finally broke out of a season-long goal-scoring drought, tallying two goals and 7 assists in the last month.
 
Two former Wild prospective goalies have found themselves in the AHL playoff hunt.  Derek Gustafson was recently recalled by the Providence Bruins after spending most of the season in the UHL.  Barry Brust is splitting time with Adam Hauser in Manchester and just got a new mask with Manchester and Kings emblems along with a depiction of Jabba the Hut.
 
Tim Jackman joins Hauser and demoted Wild forward Alexandre Daigle with the Manchester Monarchs after Daigle was loaned to Manchester by the Wild and Jackman was acquired by the Kings in a trade.
 
John Blue and Gordie Roberts will be honored this weekend as part of the 1990-91 Peoria Rivermen team being inducted into the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame.  The team set 41 professional, league and franchise records in total and broke attendance records. The team's 18-consecutive wins is still a professional hockey record. The team went 58-19-5 in the International Hockey League and won the Turner Cup Championship.
 
David Backes has two goals in his first two professional games with the Peoria Rivermen since leaving Mankato and signing with the Blues.  He also scored a game-winning shootout tally for Peoria.
 
Joe Motzko was named AHL Player of the Week after scoring his four goals and an assist in two games last week.  Included in the tally was Motzko's second hat trick of the season. 
 
Nate DiCasmirro is second in AHL plus/minus with a +26 rating and 49 points for the Grand Rapids Griffins.
 

Quick Facts Exclusive! - Former Golden Gopher defenseman PJ Atherton signed an Amateur Tryout Agreement with the Tampa Bay Lightning's AHL affiliate Springfield Falcons and left to join the team on Monday.  He will likely play in his first game versus former teammate Jake Taylor and the Hartford Wolf Pack on Friday.

Jake Brenk has won the Championship in the Elite League of the Netherlands.  Brenk clinched the title with his team Nijmegen Emperors, which was quite a huge upset since his team just barely qualified for the playoffs and came in as lowest seed.

Ryan Potulny, as expected, has been tendered an offer by the Philadelphia Flyers to join the team for the remainder of the season.  Danny Irmen is expected to receive a same such offer from the Wild.
 
The Minnesota Wild said they received zero complaints about the scheduling conflict between their Saturday night game against the San Jose Sharks and the NCAA Midwest Regional, even prior to the elimination of the Golden Gophers.

The New Jersey Devils will terminate their long-time affiliation with the Albany River Rats as they have announced their intent to purchase the Lowell Lock Monsters franchise as their farm team.

Quick Take:
 
This may seem like a broken record but when is professional hockey going to drop the psuedo macho mentality that allows players to refuse eye protection.  Another young player's career is over because he thought he was invincible or that a shield affected his game.  Well, Mr. Jordan Smith, how does being blind and almost losing your eye affect your game?  Its over for you, your career has been ended by an errant puck just as dozens of players before you have seen their chance to play the game taken from them by a stick or puck.   Jordan Smith of the Pirates took a puck to his left eye on February 24th and the retina is beyond repair, leaving smith completely without sight in the eye.  He is undergoing surgery to try and maintain some integrity to the damaged eye and to "acheive the best cosmetic outcome," said the retinal specialist Dr. Jeffrey Moore in a statement the Pirates released.  
 
The 20-year old Smith was drafted in the second round of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks.  He finished his junior career with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds in 2005 and signed with the Ducks that Spring.  His professional career consisted of 60 total games in which he scored a total of six goals and 8 assists, amassing 145 PIMs.  He was tagged as a future enforcer for the Ducks, and enforcers just can't wear shields because it would detract from their "tough guy" image.  Well how does having your career finished by a puck affect that image Mr. Smith?  All young players from around the world are now required to wear full face protection until a certain age, it is time that hockey took responsibility for those players and their careers and their lives and instituted a mandatory face shield rule.  Perhaps we could have seen Mr. Smith in a Mighty Ducks uniform one day if they had.  Or better yet, he could have seen himself in one. 
 
Quick Take II:
 
Quick Facts has opined on the need for college hockey to standardize officiating across conferences and in accordance with the new NHL rules enforcement, especially with regard to obstruction calls.  Never has this been more apparant than in the last two weeks. 
 
First, most NCAA conference tournaments were held in NHL or AHL buildings, meaning the ice surface reflected the new NHL standard markings, which are quite different from those used in the NCAA.  There is a larger offensive zone thanks to the goal lines and blue lines being moved back, creating a larger zone. Players throughout the country struggled to adapt to the changed angles and it affected the outcome of some games. 
 
Also in the past week or two several NCAA players have joined NHL teams only to find what NHL players discovered during training camp, that the NHL was serious about eliminating clutch & grab tactics from the league.  All penalties are called.  Just ask Matt Carle, who made his debut against the Minnesota Wild after three years at Denver and was whistled for two quick obstruction calls, hooking and holding and was benched for most of the remainder of the game.  Those are not penalties in the WCHA, they are never called; a quick grab of the opponent's arm, a slight tug with the stick. 
 
The Minnesota Gophers, though losing for other reasons, struggled to stay out of the penalty box when faced with the different kind of rule enforcement seen from the Eastern Hockey referee officiating their Regional game.  Consistency in college hockey officiating is what is necessary as well.
 
By creating standard practices for rule enforcement similar to those used in the National Hockey League the NCAA not only will free up the game like the NHL has, but may also guarantee that college players who are drafted will stay in school and play college hockey for a longer period of time as their teams can see that their development is best served in that atmosphere.  Instead now NHL teams can look to Carle's performance as a case-in-point that college players need to come out of school early to play in the minors so that they can learn and become accustomed to the NHL standards and rules.
 
The NCAA needs to create one body for Division I officials, or at the very least, one set of rules and standards, and they need to model those more closely to those used in professional hockey.  The college game will be better served and the players' development will be better served for it.
 
 
Quick Quotes:
 
"Hands down, the Winnipeg Jets. And Teemu Selanne, 76 (goals) his rookie year. I've got to give a little love to Phil Housley. He probably set up 50 of 'em."

- Former Denver defenseman and Winnipeg native on who his favorite team and player was growing up. (Connecticut Post)
 
"It's been nice.  I've been given an opportunity to play some games. The team is a real young team, and we've struggled. ... It's been tough, but hopefully in the future, as the team grows, we'll be good."

- Brandon Bochenski on joining the Chicago Blackhawks after being traded by the Ottawa Senators (Binghamton Press)
 
"I had space there and I just picked a corner.  When you have time to shoot like that at this level, you better put it into the back of the net. I ended up with my first goal and the team won. So no complaints."

- David Backes on scoring his first professional goal with the Peoria Rivermen (Peoria Journal Star)

While his brother was lighting it up in the WCHA Grant Potulny was having a highlight weekend of his own.  Breaking out of a 14-game goal drought the elder Potulny notched four goals in three games for the Binghamton Senators giving him 18 goals and 19 assists with a team-best +13 rating this year.  The B-Sens are behind Matt Koalska's Bridgeport Sound Tigers for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division.

Despite the highest powered offense in the AHL, the Wild affiliate Houston Aeros were shut out in a home-and-home series with the San Antonio Rampage last weekend.  Karl Goehring earned one making 41 saves.

Troy Riddle pulled a muscle in his side shooting a puck during a practice in Peoria a few weeks ago and has been out of the lineup. He returned to the ice Monday to practice with the Rivermen and will likely be available to play when the team plays again on Friday.
 
Former UMD Bulldog and Hobey Baker winner Junior Lessard recorded nine points over a three-game span for the Iowa Stars last week.
 
Andrew Alberts scored his first official NHL goal for the Boston Bruins against the Buffalo Sabres on March 12th.  Mark Stuart made his NHL debut for the Bruins in the same week.  A third Minnesota player, Josh Langfeld, has played 13 games with the Bruins this season.
 
Defenseman Jason Reimers has five points (2g-3a) in nine games since joining the Columbia Inferno on Feb. 25.
 
Luke Curtin leads the ECHL with 36 power-play assists and 44 power-play points.
 
Steve Slaton is tied for the ECHL lead among defensemen with four game-winning goals.
 
Jason Notermann, back with the Rockford Ice Hogs, is the 10th leading scorer in the league with 22 goals and 44 assists and a +21 rating in 30 games with the Hogs as well as amassing 135 PIMs.
 
Former NHL coach Don Jackson helped lead Craig Johnson and the DEG MetroStars to a German Cup Championship. The DEB-Pokal is opened to clubs from the DEL, 2. Bundesliga and Oberliga.  Johnson is the fourth leading scorer in the DEL post-season and the leader on his team with 4 goals and an assist in 3 games for Dusseldorf.  Former Minnesota Moose forward and Johnson's teammate Andy Schneider is tied for 9th in playoff scoring with two goals and two assists in three games.  Andy Hedlund will play for the MetroStars next season.  He came to an agreement with Dusseldorf after playing this season with the Krefeld Pinguine in the same league.
 
With Erik Westrum recalled to the Wild his Houston teammate Kirby Law, and leading scorer in the AHL, is rumored to be close to contract terms to play with with HC Geneve Servette in Switzerland next season.
 
Anthony Blumer is on his fourth team this season, transferring this time from the Muskegon Fury of the UHL to the Elmira Jackals.  Blumer left a team in Europe under questionable circumstances, signed with the Quad City Mallards and was traded to Muskegon.
 
Only the Minnesota Wild and the Florida Panthers came close to the new salary minimum this season, both spending around only $25 million.  With the minimum expected to rise closer to $30 million next season the Wild will be forced to spend more but will still be amongst the lowest salaried teams in the league.  The Wild have two restricted free agents who will be due raises in Marian Gaborik and Pierre-Marc Bouchard.  Gaborik on the open market could expect up to $6 million a season but the Wild will likely force the talented forward into a contract closer to that signed by Manny Fernandez.  Bouchard can also expect a raise, but more in the $3 million range than the $4-6 Garborik can expect.  Also needing to be signed will be unrestricted free agent Filip Kuba.  The Wild may say goodbye to defenseman Andrei Zyuzin and Daniel Tjarnqvist, letting them go to free agency this summer with so many higher grade talent available.  On the open market this offseason will be blueliners Niklas Lidstrom, Bryan McCabe, Kim Johnsson, Pavel Kubina, Zdeno Chara and Ed Jovonoski to mention a few.  The Wild also have defensive prospects like Mikhail Tyulyapkin, Clayton Stoner, Georgi Misharin and perhaps AJ Thelan who may be ready to take the next step.

 
Quick Speculation:
 
There were dozens of NHL scouts in attendance at the WCHA Frozen Five tournament in St. Paul last weekend.  Most notably was the full Philadelphia Flyers contingent including Ron Hextall and Paul Holmgren.  Holmgren, the Assistant GM to Bobby Clarke in Philly is also the General Manager for the USA Men's Select team that will be headed to Latvia this Spring for the World Championships.  They were no doubt paying close attention to draft pick and Hobey Baker favourite Ryan Potulny and will most certainly tender an offer for him to sign with the Flyers following the completion of this season.
 
Tampa Bay scouts were also in attendance to look at their pick PJ Atherton who will likely sign with the team following the conclusion of this season and join their ECHL affiliate, the Johnstown Chiefs since the AHL affiliate Springfield Falcons will not be playing in the postseason.
 
Tampa has great interest in undrafted free agent Chris Harrington, as do dozens of other NHL teams.  Harrington will have a multitude of great offers from which to choose once his season with the Gophers is complete.
 
As for the World Championships, look for a heavily Minnesota-laden roster that could include the likes of Paul Martin, Keith Ballard, Phil Kessel and likely Danny Irmen and Ryan Potulny as well as several Minnesota players already overseas including Craig Johnson, Derek Plante, Brad DeFauw and Brett Hauer.  Darby Hendrickson is recovering from hernia surgery so will not be able to participate.
 

 Quick Quotes:
 
''It wasn't like it won it in OT for us. But, it helped us get our spirits up a little bit there — it looked like we were going to turn it on there. We just have to get the goals going. 'I would have shot sooner, but I was trying to settle the puck, it was bouncing. Biron probably figured I was going to shoot sooner, too. I didn't even know it was in the net until he moved."

- Andrew Alberts on scoring his first NHL goal in his 59th NHL game with the Boston Bruins. (Boston Globe)

Quick Facts Feature: Breaking down the NHL trade deadline deals.

Recently acquired Wild forward Mattias Weinhandl is a prospect with great upside who has never reached his full potential. Weinhandl played on a line with the Sedin Twins for Sweden in the juniors and with Henrik Zetterberg in the World Championships.  He has been one of the top players in the Swedish Elite League and did so with only 10% vision in one eye.  In the 1999 Four Nations Cup Weinhandl was the victim of a vicious stick swining incident by Michal Travnichek, suffering a severe injury to the eye.  Travinchek was suspended from International play for a full year but was still allowed to join the Maple Leafs' system later.    The Wild are hoping to see the forward regain his offensive touch.  Weinhandl's three year deal ends at the end of this season.

Tim Jackman was traded on NHL deadline day from Phoenix to the LA Kings.  He gets to move from bottom-dwelling AHl club San Antonio to contender Manchester Monarchs with Adam Hauser as goalie.  He is reportedly very happy with the move.

Former Wild forward Jim Dowd becomes the fourth former Wild player from the 2003 Stanley Cup run to play for the Colorado Avalanche.  He was traded from Chicago on NHL deadline day.  He took the morning pre-game skate with the Blackhawks and came back that night and played against Chicago in an Avalanche uniform.  The move reunited Dowd with former Wild teammates Andrew Brunette and Antti Laaksonen.  Darby Hendrickson was the first player to join the Avs after being traded from the Wild.

The Griffins Nate DiCasmirro has recorded an even or better rating in 50 of his 59 games played this season, and is tied with teammate Bryan Helmer for third in the AHL at plus-21.

Mark Cullen was recalled to the Chicago Blackhawks and is likely to remain with the NHL club the remainder of the season.
 
Mark Hartigan continues to steal the headlines, with points in 13 straight and 31 of his last 32 games (29g, 29a) with the Syracuse Crunch and earned himself another recall to parent Columbus Blue Jackets.
 
On Tuesday, Patrick OSullivan tallied his third hat trick of the season to help Houston to a 5-4 shootout win over Chicago With 41 goals on the season, O'Sullivan leads all AHL rookies in goal scoring. Teammate Roman Voloshenko, is second with 29.

An anonymous donor is pledging $300 per goal and $100 per assist by Houston Aeros defenseman and former Fighting Sioux Curtis Murphy for the I Have a Dream program at www.ihad.org.
 
After missing nine games due to injury, leading scorer John Pohl returned to the Toronto Marlies on Friday, and set a career high with his 27th goal of the season on Sunday.
 
On Tuesday, 2005 AHL All-Rookie forward Thomas Vanek scored his 20th goal of the season to help Buffalo past Boston, 3-2.
 
Darby Hendrickson consulted former Gopher teammate Craig Johnson about his hernia surgery and ended up selecting the same Munich surgeon.  Johnson has the same operation earlier in the season.

 
Quick Speculation:
 
Hill Murray's Nick Larson has already received two offers from WCHA schools and the University of Minnesota is also reportedly very interested in the prospect.  Don't be surprised to see an announcement of a Larson commitment to the Gophers during following the High School Tournament.
 
Should the Gophers find success against the Alaska Seawolves this weekend, look for a special moment involving the teams' seniors following the last game, their last at Mariucci.

Quick Quote:
 
"It's exciting to be back in the playoff hunt.  Where we were in New York, we were struggling and fighting all year.  We weren't really in the thick of things at all.  There's a lot of excitement that I'm feeling right now, getting right back into the thick of things.  Hopefully I can just contribute in any way that Andy (Murray) feels necessary.  Whether it's on the power play or whatnot, whatever form he feels I can contribute to this team.  At this point in my career all I care about is winning.  Anything I can do to help...that what I'm up for." 

- Mark Parrish on being traded from the NY Islanders to LA Kings.

Quick Facts Feature: Breaking down the NHL trade deadline deals.

03.08.06

Richfield native and former Gopher Darby Hendrickson underwent hernia surgery on February 13th and will miss the remainder of the season for Salzburg Red Bull. Hendrickson had suffered a groin injury earlier in the season which is attributed as the cause of the hernia. Hendrickson is remaining in Austria to follow the team through the playoffs where they lead the Vienna Capitals 2 games to none in the first round.

03.07.06

Geno Parrish, playing with the Stockton Thunder, is third among ECHL defensemen with 19 power-play assists. 

Luke Curtin has a seven-game scoring streak (2g-9a) and leads the Fresno Falcons with 48 assists and 66 points.

Evan Schwabe had two goals on Wednesday and is tied with Matt W. Reid for the Stingrays lead with 18 goals.  Schwabe has multiple points in seven of his last 11 games (9g-8a).
 
On Wednesday Dustin Byfuglien scored in his NHL debut, helping Chicago to a 3-0 win over Nashville.
 
Erik Westrum has regained the AHL scoring lead with two goals and an assist in Houston's 3-2 win over Hamilton last week but Kirby Law jumped ahead one point over the weekend to take the top spot back.  A poll on the AHL's website has Westrum getting 19% of fans votes for who will win the league scoring race, just behind "Someone Else" as the leading selection.
 
Mark Hartigan has scored a goal in 11 straight games for the Syracuse Crunch and has recorded points in 29 of his last 30 (28g, 27a). 
Wild prospect Patrick O'Sullivan repeated as Rookie of the Month in the AHL in February.
 
The AHL released their Top Prospects trading card set last week.  Included in this year's edition of 49 cards are cards featuring Barry Tallackson and Patrick Eaves.  Also included are Wild prospects Josh Harding, Patrick O'Sullivan and Roman Voloshenko.  Cards are available for purchase on theahl.com.
 
John Adams was recalled by the Grand Rapids Griffins from the Florida Everblades.  This is his second stint with the AHL club.
 
Interesting NHL CBA fact:  NHL players receive a meal per diem of $85 a day.  That rate increases each year according to Consumer Price Index (CPI).  If CPI increases 3% so does per diem for following year as determined on July 1st of each year.
 
Darby Hendrickson had 9 goals and 11 assists in 31 games with Red Bull Salzburg this season before a groin injury knocked him out of the lineup.    Salzburg finished in first place in the Austrian league and is playing for the Championship.
 
TJ Caig leads the Netherlands league in scoring with 50 goals and 36 assists in 43 games for Nijmegen Emperors.  Tyler Palmiscno is ranked third with 24 goals and 40 assists in 42 games with Vadeko Flyers Heerenveen.  Dave Iannazzo of the DESTIL Trappers Tilburg ranked 5th in league scoring with 36 goals and 25 assists in 42 games.
 
Ryan Kraft is the second leading scorer on Kassel Huskies with 17 goals and 30 goals in 47 games this season, averaging exactly a point a game.
 
Andrew Hedlund is 6th in scoring for the Krefeld Pinguine of the DEL with 12 goals and 47 assists in 50 games.  Teammate Mike Pudlick has 1 goal and 15 assists in 48 games.
 
John Buccigross of ESPN.com reports that Shjon Podein has decided to hang up the skates after finishing the season with the Nikko Ice Bucks in Japan this spring.
 

Quick Quote:
 
"Darby is an absolute class player and fits very well with Team Red Bull. We know he can do more and he would absolutely like to show us that so he made us very happy that he exercised his option."

-Red Bulls Managing Director Rene Dimter on Darby Hendrickson resigning with Salzburg Red Bulls for next season