Matt Koalska finds himself in another business transaction mess with the New York Islanders.  The Islanders transferred Koalska to the Hershey Bears of the AHL when they did not have enough room on their primary affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers' roster. The Islanders requested that Hershey commit to keeping Koalska, who scored three goals and two assists in eleven games with the Bears, for the remainder of the season. The Bears balked, forcing the Islanders to recall Koalska on December 14th.  Per terms of the CBA Koalska cannot be reassigned to the Sound Tigers again, meaning he has been in limbo and without a place to play since the recall. According to news reports the Islanders are trying to trade Koalska's rights to another team or find another team to take the former Gopher on loan.
 
Brandon Bochenski is the 4th leading scorer in the AHL, behind three Chicago Wolves, including former Colorado standout Brett Sterling who is ranked third.  Bochenski, playing with the Norfolk Admirals has 22 goals and 25 assists in 26 games and is in the midst of a 13-game scoring streak.  Sterling is the leading scorer amongst all AHL rookies.
 
Jeff Taffe has a 4-game scoring streak going playing for the San Antonio Rampage.
 
Erik Westrum remains amongst the top scorers in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies, scoring 10 goals and 24 assists in 33 games.  Westrum is a virtual lock for an AHL All Star nod.
 
Former Wild prospect Lawrence Nycholat is the leading scorer amongst defenseman in the AHL with 3 goals and 25 assists for the Hershey Bears.  Roseau's Dustin Byfuglien is ranked 5th in scoring amongst blueliners with 7 goals and 13 assists for the Norfolk Admirals.
 
Karl Goehring has a 2.87 goals against average for the Milwaukee Admirals and has an 11-8-3 record, ranking him amongst the top in AHL netminding stats.
 
Luke Curtin is ranked 18th amongst ECHL scorers with 4 goals and 26 assists in 20 games with the Fresno Falcons and is the leading scorer on his team.  Curtin has three straight multi-assist games (7a) and is tied for fifth in ECHL with 24 assists.
 
Gino Guyer has an outstanding +8 rating to go with two goals and three assists in 6 games with the Alaska Aces since being acquired from the Texas Wildcatters.
 
Adam Berkhoel remains the top ranked goaltender in the ECHL with a 2.03 goals against average, .915 save percentage and a 12-4 record, even recording an assist for the Dayton Bombers.  He is 7-1-0 with goals-against average of 2.43 in his last eight starts.
 
Reggie Berg is the second leading scorer for the Florida Everblades, and is coming off ECHL player-of-the-week honors.  Berg has 11 goals and 17 assists and a +7 rating in 24 games with the Blades.
 
PJ Atherton is having a great start to his pro career with the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL.  THe former Gopher blueliner has 2 goals and 12 assists in 24 games with the Chiefs and has used his physicality to earn 34 PIMs.
 
Tyler Mosienko leads his Las Vegas Wranglers in scoring with 8 goals and 15 assists in 25 games.
 
Troy Riddle is back with the Trenton Titans after a brief recall to the Phantoms and has 7 goals and 8 assists in 19 games for the Titans.  His brother Jake has five points (1g-4a) in six games since joining the Utah Grizzlies at the start of December.  
 
Jake Riddle's Utah teammate Andy Sertich has a goal and 7 assists in 27 games with the Grizzlies.
 
Peter Kennedy has 5 assists and a +5 rating for the New Mexico Scorpions this season. He is one of only 8 players on the team to have played every game this season.
 
Chris Hartsburg, son of former North Star and current Team Canada coach Craig Hartsburg is one of the leading scorers in the Central Hockey League.  Chris has 11 goals and 18 assists in 24 games with the Colorado Wranglers, ranking him 12th in the league.
 
Former Wild fan favorite Stacey Roest is team captain for Team Canada in the Spengler Cup competition in Europe.  Former Wild forward Alexandre Daigle is playing for HC Davos in the Spengler competition.  Former North Stars coach Pierre Page is the head coach of Eisbaren Berlin, also in the competition.  Playing for Berlin is Kelly Fairchild.  Team Canada is undefeated in the tournament thus far.
 
Jake Brenk has returned to Europe after starting the season with the New Mexico Scorpions, rejoining the Nijmegen Emperors in the Netherlands.
 
Matt DeMarchi has returned from Siberia and has been signed by the Iowa Stars of the AHL. Visa problems plagued DeMarchi in Russia.
 

QUICK FEATURE:
NHL Team Values

Toronto Marlies forward Erik Westrum has recorded points in 12 of the team's first 14 games, including an assist in Saturday's loss to Hamilton at Air Canada Centre. Westrum leads all Toronto players with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) and is + 1. Chris Harrington is first among Toronto defencemen and tied for third among all players with 10 points (three goals, seven assists). (Toronto Marlies)

Luke Curtin has an eight-game scoring streak (4g-11a) and leads the Fresno Falcons with 17 points (4g-13a).
 
Defenseman Beau Geisler leads Stockton Thunder with nine points (2g-7a).
 
Gino Guyer had to wait until a Texas player was added to the Injured Reserve to be added to the roster, so the Wildcatters wouldn't be over the cap, which wasn't finalized until this past Saturday. His contract is now official, and he is now on the Texas roster. He was a -1 with one shot on goal in his first official pro game Saturday.
 
Matt Koalska's made a memorable start on Saturday with the Hershey Bears, scoring his first goal of the season, on his first shot for the Bears, the first goal of the game in the Bears' rout of Manitoba. He's playing with Matt Hendricks and Chris Bourque on the Bears who acquired Koalska on loan from the Bridgeport Sound Tigers.
 
Andy Sertich is tied for the team lead in assists with 5 for the Utah Grizzlies.

Nick Angell is the 4th leading scorer for Brynäs IF in Sweden and has only 10 PIMs on the season.
 
Marco Peluso has a three-game point streak going for the Las Vegas Wranglers scoring two goals and two assists in the span.
 
Worcester rookie Joe Pavelski has earned an assist in 10 consecutive games, only the third assist streak of at least 10 games in the AHL over the last eight seasons.
 
Johnstown Chiefs’ defenseman P.J. Atherton is tied for the team lead with 10 assists and tied for third with 10 points.
 
Troy Riddle was released from his professional tryout with the Philadelphia Phantoms and returned to the ECHL Trenton Titans.
 
Former Gopher Peter Kennedy has played in all eight games with the New Mexico Scorpions this season, with a solid +8 rating.  
 
Thomas Vanek was snubbed by the NHL and has not been included on the All Star Ballot while five of his teammates have.  Despite leading the league in +/- for the majority of the season and being amongst the top in scoring the NHL once again went by last year's statistics when naming players to the ballot.
 
Josh Langfeld has been recalled by the Detroit Red Wings.
 
John Adams has been recalled to the Springfield Falcons from the ECHL Johnstown Chiefs.
 
(Some info from the AHL & ECHL).

Troy Riddle was recalled by the Philadelphia Phantoms after playing three games with the Trenton Titans and leading the team in scoring with three goals and an assist in three games.  He will be a teammate of Ryan Potulny when Ryan returns from a knee strain.  Potulny began skating again last week but they are not rushing him back into action.
 
Gino Guyer was deemed a free agent and removed from the Texas Wildcatters roster on October 22nd.  He had originally signed with the Augusta Lynx, who placed him on waivers.  Texas claimed him off waivers on October 19th but he never played a game with the team. His agent Ben Hankinson is currently looking for opportunities for Guyer.
 
Nick Angell is doing very well with Brynäs IF in the Swedish Elitesieren this season.  He has 6 goals and an assist in 12 games and only 8 PIMs so far.
 
Judd Stevens scored his first official point as a professional, an assist, for IFK Arboga IK.  He has played 9 games in the Allsvenskan League.
 
Despite being ranked 15th in scoring in the Deutche Eishockey Liga with 7 goals and 3 assists in 15 games for the DEG Metro Stars Craig Johnson still has a -6 rating.
 
Kelly Fairchild has a goal and 8 assists in 13 games with Eisbären Berlin.
 
Adam "No Respect" Hauser has risen to the top of the Deutch Eishockey Liga, he is ranked first in Save Percentage, stopping 92.58% of all shots he's faced this season for Kölner Haie and is ranked second in the league in Goals Against Average, a stellar 2.44.  
 
Darby Hendrickson's Salzburg Red Bulls have started the season leading the Austrian Bundesliga with 20 points in 13 games played.  He has 3 goals and 8 assists and has played in all the games so far this season.
 
Phil Kessel scored the second goal of his career Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens in a game that wasn't even completed.  The referees called the game because the Canadiens tied the score with two seconds left in the game on a late power play and Boston fans littered the ice with bottles and trash.
 
Paul Martin continues to log inordinate amounts of ice time for the New Jersey Devils.  Playing in every situation (full strength, power play and penalty kill) Martin is second only to Brian Rafalski with an average ice time of 25:16 per game.  Rafalski averages 26:00 per game.  Unbelievably, Martin's ice time ranks only 18th in the league.  Zdeno Chara of the Bruins skates for more than an entire period of ice time a game, with an average of 30:39 per game.
 
Luke Curtain is once again off to a hot start in ECHL action this year, he has cored a goal and three assists in the last two games and leads the Fresno Falcons with five assists and six points.

Former Gopher Matt Koalska is on his way back to the Twin Cities. The New York Islanders made a move to acquire Eric Boguniecki, which left no room on the club's AHL roster for Koalska. The Islanders have several young forwards in the system who took up the remaining roster spots with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Koalska will remain in the Twin Cities until the Islanders can find a willing trade partner.
 
Phil Kessel scored his first NHL goal on Saturday October 21st but the Bruins still lost the game.  Kessel has three points in 7 games with Boston, and a -3 rating while averaging 15:28 of ice time per game. His teammate Andrew Alberts has one assist, a +3 rating and 10 PIMs on the year.
 
It is the pairing with Maxim Afinogenov that has given Thomas Vanek the catapult into the NHL lead in +/-.  Afinogenov, the super speedy winger has always been known as a great skater but until he was matched with Vanek this year has never found consistency in scoring.  The skating styles of the two forwards, along with their centerman Derek Roy, compliment each other amazingly well, allowing all three to pad their numbers and help the Sabres to their 9-0 record.  Their line alone amassed 24 points through the first 7 games of the season. While Vanek and Afinogenov are not known for their defensive prowess, sometimes, as is the case with the Sabres, the best defense is a prolific offense.  
 
While the Sabres started the season 9-0 their minor league affiliate in Rochester has also started the year undefeated, going 6-0 to begin the season.  Drew Stafford has five points for the Amerks.
 
Mark Hartigan was reassigned to the Syracuse Crunch by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
 
While Visors are mandatory for all AHL players this season, former Gopher tough guy Jake Taylor started wearing one last year after he suffered a fractured orbital bone after a slap shot from his coach struck him in the face during practice. Ironically the coach was Ryan McGill, whose career was ended by an eye injury. Taylor was forced to don a collegiate-style cage and then a visor while healing but later in the season he was nailed by a punch from an opponent, what some deemed a sucker punch, and he broke another orbital bone, this time requiring metal plates to be surgically implanted in his face to repair the injury. Taylor is still recovering from a fractured clavicle suffered in preseason action with the NY Rangers.
 
 
Quick Quotes:
 
"Obviously the league is doing this because they want guys to be safe.  So for that side of it, it's obviously good because the league is looking out for us as players. They don't want us getting hurt in the AHL so a guy doesn't have a chance to play in the NHL because he lost his eye, so they're trying to prolong our careers as much as they can. I look back over the last two years, and I think it was stupid not to have a visor on. There are two injuries where I could easily have lost an eye. After the first injury, which was a totally fluke thing and something that Ryan felt bad about, it's like, `What was I thinking even taking it off?' I should have just stuck with it."

- Jake Taylor on the new mandatory visor rule in the AHL (Hartford Courant)
 
"I think that it is probably a good idea for the players to have face masks(half shields) because there are so many injuries on the face that have been career ending for some players, which would suck if it happened to you. But I am sure that the league would save a lot of money on insurance and not as many stitches would be put in the players. Another issue would be that the league could get more dirty and cheaper because players wouldnt keep their sticks down and play more recklessly."

- Matt DeMarchi on the new AHL mandatory visor rule.
 
"The possibility came up during our PHPA AHL union meetings and the majority of the players voted to have it grandfathered.  The same way the NHL did with the no helmet rule being thrown out.  I wear a face shield and think it helps when discussing eye injurys.  At the same time I have to look out for those players who don't believe in face shields.  I think the best thing to do is grandfather it in.  Let the old guys go with no shield and the young guys make it mandatory.  All of the leagues are wearing them
anyways so their are no excuses (college, junior, european, etc.). Eventually everyone will be wearing them anyway. The only guys who have a problem are the so called "tough guys." That can be eliminated by having a shield that can be snapped off if they do want to fight.  In the end I think it is the best thing for the future."

- Erik Westrum on the AHL implementing the mandatory visor rule this season.
 
"I dont like it, because it is removing players choices, and they did not even ask us."

- Grant Potulny on the AHL mandatory visor rule.

"I think it's a good idea for the safety of the players and it's important that players are protected. The part I disagree with is that some guys just don't feel as comfortable as others with them and some players might not play as well with them."

- Wild forward Stephane Veilleux on the AHL implementing the mandatory AHL visor rule.

"It will happen, just don't know when.  Things happen for a reason, its all good here.  I am excited for a new start!"

- Matt Koalska on returning to Minnesota to await news of a trade from the New York Islanders organization.

Matt DeMarchi has yet to suit up for his Siberian hockey team as he is still awaiting a transfer card.  He expects to be cleared to play next week.

Justin Maiser was traded by the Trenton Titans.  

Erik Westrum and Chris Harrington are one and two in scoring for the Toronto Marlies of the AHL.  Westrum has 2 goals and 4 assists in 4 games while rookie Harrington has a goal and two assists through 4 games.  Former Badger Robbie Earl is third in scoring for the team with a goal and 2 assists.
 
Sam Gagner, who had committed to play for the University of Wisconsin but instead chose to play for the London Knights of the OHL, is lighting up the Canadian Junior league. He has 31 points, 24 of them assists.  Gagner's father, former North Star Dave Gagner is the assistant coach for the Knights and the team is owned in part by Gagner's former teammate Basil McRae.  Gagner is expected to be a high first round pick in the NHL Entry Draft next summer.
 
PJ Atherton was assigned to the Johnstown Chiefs of the ECHL by the Springfield Falcons.  He joins fellow Minnesotan John Adams on the Chiefs' blueline.
 
Gino Guyer will start the season with the Augusta Lynx of the ECHL after being reassigned by the Peoria Rivermen. The Lynx placed Guyer on waivers where he was claimed by the Texas Wildcatters, the ECHL affiliate of the Minnesota Wild.
 
Matt Koalska has been a healthy scratch in two of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers' first three games this season.
 
Grant Potulny is off to a good start with the Binghamton Senators this season.  He is third in team scoring with two goals and an assist in five games.  Teammate Andy Hedlund has 3 assists and a team-best +4 rating.
 
Josh Langfeld is second in team scoring for the Grand Rapids Griffins so far this season averaging a point a game he has 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games.  Matt Hussey of the Griffins has a goal and two assists so far this year.
 
Danny Irmen scored his first official professional goal on Friday October 13th in the Houston Aeros' 3-4 loss to the Iowa Stars. According to Aeros' press man Ryan Stanzel, Irmen stole the puck at center ice and pushed it ahead and beat two Stars down the ice and slid a backhander under goaltender Tobias Stephan with the Stars on a 4 on 3 power play. The Aeros have yet to win a game this season.
 
Bruising Dustin Byfuglien may see some time with the Chicago Blackhawks sooner rather than later if he keeps things up. The Northern Minnesota native has three goals and three assists in three games with the Norforlk Admirals this season. Teammate Brandon Bochenski doesn't have as hot a hand with only two goals and an assists in three games.
 
Kris Chucko scored his first goal as a pro
 
 
Quick Quotes:
 
"I wanted to come in with a clean slate without expectations but I did not want to limit myself either. I wouldn't trade last year (when he skated for Sioux City of the United States Hockey League) for anything, but parts of me wanted to be (in London). I missed my family and the Canadian lifestyle.  I can watch hockey 24/7 again and be on the ice every day. And for sure, this season has gone better than I was expecting."  

- Sam Gagner on his decision to play Major Junior instead of playing NCAA hockey this season. (Toronto Sun)

"My coach in Minnesota, J.P. Parise, would say 'Good game. But remember, they wrap fish with yesterday's newspaper.'"

- Former North Star Dave Gagner on his advise to his son on how to avoid a big head from the attention of being a leading scorer in the OHL. (Toronto Sun)

"We're talented but young.  That's good. Young guys, they just want to play. They want to work. They're happy when they score goals. They want to make a good impression."

- Matt Koalska on he and fellow third-year pro Steve Regier being called veterans for the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. (Connecticut Post)

Former Gopher Troy Riddle has signed with the Trenton Titans of the ECHL.
 
Paul Martin and Erik Rasmussen were finally signed by New Jersey after the NHL gave the Devils special dispensation on the salary of Alexander Mogilny, allowing his $3.5 million to not count against the cap.  The Devils earlier traded Vladmir Malakhov shedding his salary, making just enough room to sign Martin, Rasmussen and Brian Gionta, David Hale and Scott Clemmensen the day before the start of the season.  Martin will earn at least $2 million a season under his new contract.  Martin scored his first goal of the season in the Devils' wild 7-6 shootout win over the Maple Leafs on Thursday.
 
Keith Ballard will be out of the Coyotes' lineup for a few weeks after breaking his hand after blocking a shot.  
 
Marty Sertich scored two goals for the Iowa Stars in their season opening 6-4 win against the Houston Aeros.  Fellow Hobey winner Junior Lessard also had a goal for the Stars with Toby Petersen tallying an assist.  Danny Irmen and Bryan Lundbohm were scoreless in the loss and Wyatt Smith had two assists for the Aeros.   Lessard was named AHL Player of the Week. The two teams had a rematch on Thursday.
 
Sertich had to wear a full face shield in the Stars' home opener after being hit in the face with a puck during practice earlier in the week.  Junior Lessard got into a fight with Wild prospect Benoit Pouliot during the game, a 3-1 win for the Stars.  Wyatt Smith scored the lone goal for the Aeros.
 
Thomas Vanek has been employed as of late on the Buffalo Sabres penalty kill.  Vanek, known for his offense, has not been depended upon in a defensive role in the past.  Vanek helped the Sabres win their first shootout of the season over the Montreal Canadiens, assisting on the game-tying goal and scoring the game-winning shootout goal.
 
Phil Kessel got his first professional point in his second game for the Bruins, an assist.  But he remains a -2.  The Bruins have paired Minnesota defensemen Andrew Alberts and Mark Stuart together on the blueline.
 
According to a New Jersey Newspaper Paul Martin's Devils teammates have taken to calling him "Pistol" for "Pistol" Pete Maravich.  Martin reportedly gained the nickname for his skills on the basketball court.  Martin played all four major sports, Basketball, Baseball, Football and Hockey growing up in Elk River.  
 
Former Wild Defenseman Alex Henry has been assigned to the Milwaukee Admirals by the Nashville Predators.  Henry is still recovering from a broken foot.
 
Former Badger Joe Pavelski is off to a hot start with the new Worcester Sharks of the AHL, he had a goal and an assist in his first pro game, and had two assists in his second.
 
Last season Grant Potulny scored seven goals in eight games against the Rochester Americans, who have started 2-0 this season.  Thursday night Potulny and the Binghamton Senators meet the Amerks for the first time this year.  Andy Hedlund is also back with the B-Sens this season.
 
Former Gopher Todd Richards began his first season as head coach of the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins with an overtime victory.  His Baby Pens beat the Manitoba Moose on opening night 3-2.
 
Todd's brother Travis was named the Hockey Director for The Edge Ice Arena in Grand Rapids Michigan.  Travis will be honored by the Grand Rapids Griffins on November 24th by having his jersey retired.  He's the only Griffins' player to play in all of the team's first 10 seasons.
 
Matt Hendricks helped his Hershey Bears to a 7-4 victory over the Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins scoring his first goal of the year on the power play.
 
Bryce Lampman has found himself amongst a bevy of defensemen with the Hartford Wolf Pack, meaning he will be rotated as a healthy scratch for the start of the season.  Jake Taylor, also with the Wolf Pack, is still recovering from clavicle surgery and is out of the lineup.
 
The Lowell Devils lost Kurt Kleinendorst's coaching debut to Albany 5-3.  Barry Tallackson is playing with Steven Gionta, younger brother of Devils star Brian Gionta, on the Baby Devils.  That makes two brother acts with the Devils, including the Parise brothers.
 
There are two Minnesota native head coaches in the AHL this season, Kurt Kleinendorst of the Lowell Devils and Todd Richards of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.  Ken Gernander is the heir apparant for the head coaching job in Hartford with the Wolf Pack; he is the assistant coach to Jim Schoenfeld who is likely to move on sooner than later.
 
Kris Chucko scored his first goal as a professional in preseason action with the Omaha Knights, scoring on the power-play, but it was to be the only goal for the Knights as they fell to the Iowa Stars.  He has yet to score in the regular season.
 
Jeff Taffe scored an unassisted goal for the San Antonio Rampage in their season opening 5-4 overtime win against the Grand Rapid Griffins.  Josh Langfeld had a goal and assist for the Griffins in the loss.
 
Kelly Fairchild, returning from injury in the playoffs last season, has a goal and 7 assists in 11 games with Eisbären Berlin in the Deutche Eishockey Liga.  He also has 20 PIMs.
 
Former Gopher Craig Johnson has 4 goals and 3 assists with the DEG MetroStars, but holds a -6 rating.
 
Former Wild blueliner Jason Marshall leads the DEL in PIMs with 66 minutes in the box for Kölner Haie.  He also has 4 goals an 3 assists.
 
Former Gopher Adam Hauser is the third ranked goaltender in the Deutche Eishockey Liga with a 92.10 save percentage through 12 games with Kölner Haie.  His goals against average is 2.56, also good for a number 3 ranking behind only former NHLrs Jimmy Waite and Jamie Storr.
 
Judd Stevens has played four games for IFK Arboga IK in the Swedish Allsvenskan, with no points on 5 shots and 2 PIMs.  He wears the jersey #22.
 
Nick Angell is the 8th leading defenseman in the Swedish Elitesieren through 10 games this season.  Angell has 4 goals and an assists and has a +3 rating for Brynäs IF.
 
Aaron Fox's succeeded in his tryout with HK Acroni Jesenice in Slovenia and was signed for the season.  Fox played last season in Germany.
 
Jake Brenk, who played in the Netherlands last season, has signed with the New Mexico Scorpions, where he will play with former Gopher Peter Kennedy.

 
Gopher Hockey Quick Facts:
 
Gopher Junior Evan Kaufmann has been converted to a Right Wing by coach Don Lucia so far this season.  He also switched numbers from #20 to #19, the number he wore in High School.  He thought it may bring him luck. Kaufmann came into this season with some serious muscle gain. Gopher trainers said that Kaufmann worked out at least five times a week and sometimes twice daily for hours to earn his Ironman title.  His extra size should prove to help him with battles in the corners and in front of the net.
 
The line to watch for the Golden Gophers this season is the Frosh/Kid Line of Jay Barriball, Mike Carmen and Ryan Flynn.  There will obviously be a learning curve for the freshmen, but through the first two exhibition games for the Gophers they have shown the most jump, the most speed, and seem to have a nose for the net.  Jay Barriball, the replacement for departed forward Phil Kessel, plays far larger than his size, and likes to play physically, but is one of the speediest skaters on the club.
 
And speaking of speed and physicality, returning senior Tyler Hirsch seems to have come back with an attitude adjustment, a mean one.  Hirsch threw some nasty checks against the Lethbridge Horns in exhibition play, and mixed it up with the Horns bench during the game.  Hirsch doesn't seem to have lost a bit of his speed, however, and is always a scoring threat, especially on the power play.
 
Speed may be an issue for the Gophers this year, they don't seem to have the zip of previous seasons. Passing and timing are also issues through the first two games of the season, but with nine freshmen, there will likely be a breaking in period for all linemates.
 
"It was unbelieveable I was really happy but it would have been a lot nicer to get a win out of it. I found myself sitting in the locker room saying "This is it, this is what I've dreamed about my whole life" and to go out and get a goal it felt pretty cool." - Jay Barriball on scoring a goal in his first game as a Gopher.
 
 
Quick Quotes:
 
"There's just more in the States. Instead of six brands of soap in the store here, there's 10 brands there. The transition here from the U.S. is as little culture shock as you can get... except for all the 'eh's"

- A joking Tom Preissing on the transition from playing in the US to playing in Ottawa, Ontario. (Ottawa Sun)
 
"(Was) wondering when one of those Woog babies would come out with a "hockey stick""

- Dan Woog after being congratulated on the first male grandchild for former Gopher Coach Doug Woog.
 
"He’s gonna be a good one.  You could see that right away. This is a long season, and he’s not used to playing this many games, so he might get worn down some, but I like what I’ve seen so far.  The best to tell how good he is, is if you ask anyone else on the team, who do they want to be out there on the ice with, they’d all say it was him. It’s obvious he has great offensive skills but he knows how to play defense, too. You watch him, and he’s always right where he should be.”
 
- Worcester Sharks head coach Roy Sommer on Joe Pavelski. (Worcester Telegram)

“It was a good win.  We created some predicaments in the third period. We didn’t play very good, we didn’t manage the game well in the final 10 minutes of the game. I thought for 50 minutes we played well as a group. There were some breakdowns, but I think those are to be expected in the first game of the year. And really we’ve only had a day and a half with guys to work on the things that we need to work on.”

- Wilkes Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Todd Richards on notching his first head coaching victory. (WBS Penguins)

"Some of my greatest hockey memories are from my youth playing days.  To have the opportunity to share my experiences with young hockey players and help them create their own memories is a wonderful opportunity. It was always something that I wanted to do was work with youth hockey. It's always been a passion of mine. The number one thing that I want to do is send a message of taking a step back; youth sports in general has gone a little haywire.  It's all about the kids and having fun. So much pressure gets put on these kids."  -Todd Richards on becoming the hockey director at a The Edge Ice Arena in Grand Rapids, MI. (Grand Rapids Press)

"No, the coaches don't want it.  They may say they want it, but they don't." - WCHA Director of Officials Greg Shepherd on whether the WCHA would consider adopting the stricter rules enforcement standards (cracking down on stick infractions and obstruction) as the NHL, AHL, ECHL, IIHF and USA Hockey have.


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